,,past ,,and ,,present              ,by 
,thomas ,carlyle    ,appreciation by    
,ralph ,waldo ,emerson      ,first      
published #ahdc        ,,thomas         
,,carlyle1 born in #agie at             
,ecclefechan1 the son of a  stonemason4 
,educated at ,edinburgh ,university4    
,schoolmaster for  a short time1 but    
decided on a literary career1 visiting  
,paris  and ,london4  ,retired in #ahbh 
to ,dumfriesshire to write4  ,in #ahcd  
moved to ,cheyne ,row1 ,chelsea1 and    
died there in #ahha4                    
,,introduction    ,being an appreciation
 from ,the ,dial 7,july #ahdc7          
by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson      ,here is 
,carlyle's new poem1 his ,iliad of      
,english woes1 to  follow his poem on   
,france1 entitled the ,history of the   
,french  ,revolution4  ,in its first    
aspect it is a political tract1 and     
since ,burke1 since ,milton1 we have had
 nothing to compare with  it4  ,it      
grapples honestly with the facts lying  
before all men1  groups and disposes    

them with a master's mind1 and1 with a  
heart  full of manly tenderness1 offers 
his best counsel to his  brothers4      
,obviously it is the book of a powerful 
and  accomplished thinker1 who has      
looked with naked eyes at the  dreadful 
political signs in ,england for the last
 few years1  has  conversed much on     
these topics with such wisemen of all   
ranks and  parties as are drawn to a    
scholar's house1 until1 such daily and  
nightly meditation has grown into a     
great connection1 if not a  system of   
thoughts2  and the topic of ,english    
politics becomes  the best vehicle for  
the expression of his recent thinking1  
recommended to him by the desire to give
 some timely counsels1  and to strip the
 worst mischiefs of their plausibility4 
,it is a  brave and just book1 and not a
 semblance4  ,no new truth1 say  the    
critics on all sides4  ,is it so8       
,truth is very old1 but the  merit of   
seers is not to invent but to dispose   
objects in their  right places1 and he  

is the commander who is always in the   
mount1  whose eye not only sees details1
 but throws crowds of details  into     
their right arrangement and a larger and
 juster totality  than  any other4  ,the
 book makes great approaches to true    
contemporary history1 a very rare       
success1 and firmly holds up to         
daylight the absurdities still tolerated
 in the ,english and  ,european system4 
,it is such an appeal to the conscience 
and  honour of ,england as cannot be    
forgotten1 or be feigned to be          
forgotten4  ,it has the merit which     
belongs to every honest book1  that it  
was self-examining before it was        
eloquent1 and so hits  all other men1   
and1 as the country people say of good  
preaching1  comes bounce down into every
 pew4  ,every reader shall carry  away  
something4  ,the scholar shall read and 
write1 the farmer and  mechanic shall   
toil1 with new resolution1 nor forget   
the book  when they resume their labour4
    ,though no theocrat1 and more than  

most philosophers1 a believer  in       
political systems1 ,mr4 ,carlyle very   
fairly finds the calamity  of the times1
 not in bad bills of ,parliament1 nor   
the remedy in  good bills1 but the vice 
in false and superficial aims of the    
people1 and the remedy in honesty and   
insight4  ,like every work  of genius1  
its great value is in telling such      
simple truths4  ,as  we recall the      
topics1 we are struck with force given  
to the plain  truths2  the picture of   
the ,english nation all sitting         
enchanted1  the poor1 enchanted so that 
they cannot work1 the rich1 enchanted   
so that they cannot enjoy1 and are rich 
in vain2  the exposure of  the progress 
of fraud into all arts and social       
activities2  the  proposition that the  
labourer must have a greater share in   
his  earnings2  that the principle of   
permanence shall be admitted  into all  
contracts of mutual service2  that the  
state shall  provide at least           
schoolmaster's education for all the    

citizens2  the exhortation to the       
workman that he shall respect the work  
and  not the wages2  to the scholar that
 he shall be there for light2  to the   
idle1 that no man shall sit idle2  the  
picture of ,abbot  ,samson1 the true    
governor1 who is not there to expect    
reason and  nobleness of others1 he is  
there to give them of his own reason    
and nobleness2  the assumption          
throughout the book1 that a new         
chivalry and nobility1 namely the       
dynasty of labour1 is replacing  the old
 nobilities4   ,these things strike us  
with a force which  reminds us of the   
morals of the ,oriental or early ,greek 
masters1  and of no modern book4  ,truly
 in these things is great reward4  ,it  
is not by sitting so at a grand distance
 and calling the human  race larvae1    
that men are to be helped1 nor by       
helping the  depraved after their own   
foolish fashion2  but by doing          
unweariedly the particular work we were 
born to do4  ,let no man  think himself 

absolved because he does a generous     
action and  befriends the poor1 but let 
him see whether he so holds his         
property that a benefit goes from it to 
all4  ,a man's diet should  be what is  
simplest and readiest to be had1 because
 it is so  private a good4  ,his house  
should be better1 because that is for   
the use of hundreds1 perhaps of         
thousands1 and is the property of  the  
traveler4  ,but his speech is a         
perpetual and public  instrument2  let  
that always side with the race and yield
 neither  a lie nor a sneer4  ,his      
manners1--let them be hospitable and    
civilising1 so that no ,phidias or      
,raphael shall have taught  anything    
better in canvas or stone2  and his acts
 should be  representative of the human 
race1 as one who makes them rich in  his
 having1 and poor in his want4    ,it   
requires great courage in a man of      
letters to handle the  contemporary     
practical questions2  not because he    
then has all  men for his rivals1 but   

because of the infinite entanglements of
  the problem1 and the waste of strength
 in gathering unripe  fruits4  ,the task
 is superhuman2  and the poet knows well
 that a  little time will do more than  
the most puissant genius4  ,time  stills
 the loud noise of opinions1 sinks the  
small1 raises the  great1 so that the   
true emerges without effort and in      
perfect  harmony to all eyes2  but the  
truth of the present hour1 except  in   
particulars and single relations1 is    
unattainable4  ,each man  can very well 
know his own part of duty1 if he will2  
but to  bring out the truth for beauty1 
and as literature1 surmounts the  powers
 of art4  ,the most elaborate history of
 today will have the  oddest dislocated 
look in the next generation4  ,the      
historian of  today is yet three ages   
off4  ,the poet cannot descend into the 
turbid present without injury to his    
rarest gifts4  ,hence that  necessity of
 isolation which genius has always felt4
  ,he must  stand on his glass tripod1  

if he would keep his electricity4       
,but when the political aspects are so  
calamitous that the  sympathies of the  
man overpower the habits of the poet1 a 
higher  than ,literary inspiration may  
succour him4  ,it is a costly proof  of 
character1 that the most renowned       
scholar of ,england should  take his    
reputation in his hand and should       
descend into the ring2  and he has added
 to his love whatever honour his        
opinions may  forfeit4  ,to atone for   
this departure from the vows of the     
scholar and his eternal duties to this  
secular charity1 we have  at least this 
gain1 that here is a message which those
 to whom it  was addressed cannot choose
 but hear4  ,though they die1 they must 
listen4  ,it is plain that whether by   
hope or by fear1 or were it  only by    
delight in this panorama of brilliant   
images2 all the  great classes of       
,english society must read1 even those  
whose  existence it proscribes4  ,poor  
,queen ,victoria--poor ,sir ,robert     

,peel--poor ,primate and ,bishops--poor 
,dukes and ,lords6  ,there is  no help  
in place or pride or in looking another 
way2  a grain of  wit is more           
penetrating than the lightning of the   
night-storm1  which no curtains or      
shutters will keep out4  ,here is a book
  which will be read1 no thanks to      
anybody but itself4  ,what pains1  what 
hopes1 what vows1 shall come of the     
reading6  ,here is a book  as full of   
treason as an egg is full of meat1 and  
every lordship  and worship and high    
form and ceremony of ,english           
conservatism  tossed like a football    
into the air1 and kept in the air1 with 
merciless kicks and rebounds1 and yet   
not a word is punishable by  statute4   
,the wit has eluded all official zeal2  
and yet these  dire jokes1 these cunning
 thrusts1 this darning sword of         
,cherubim  waved high in air1           
illuminates the whole horizon1 and shows
 to  the eyes of the universe every     
wound it inflicts4  ,worst of all  for  

the party attacked1 it bereaves them    
beforehand of all  sympathy1 by         
anticipating the plea of poetic and     
humane  conservatism1 and impressing the
 reader with the conviction that  the   
satirist himself has the truest love for
 everything old and  excellent in       
,english land and institutions1 and a   
genuine respect  for the basis of truth 
in those whom he exposes4    ,we are at 
some loss how to state what strikes us  
as the fault of  this remarkable book1  
for the variety and excellence of the   
talent displayed in it is pretty sure to
 leave all special  criticism in the    
wrong4  ,and we may easily fail in      
expressing the  general objection which 
we feel4  ,it appears to us as a certain
  disproportion in the picture1 caused  
by the obtrusion of the  whims of the   
painter4  ,in this work1 as in his      
former labours1  ,mr4 ,carlyle reminds  
us of a sick giant4  ,his humours are   
expressed with so much force of         
constitution that his  fancies are more 

attractive and more credible than the   
sanity of  duller men4  ,but the        
habitual exaggeration of the tone       
wearies  whilst it stimulated4    ,it is
 felt to be so much deduction from the  
universality of the  picture4  ,it is   
not serene sunshine1 but everything is  
seen in  lurid   storm lights4  ,every  
object attitudinises1 to the very       
mountains and stars almost1 under the   
refraction of this  wonderful humorist2 
and instead of the common earth and sky1
 we  have a ,martin's ,creation or      
,judgment ,day4  ,a crisis has always   
arrived which requires a deus ex        
machina4  ,one can hardly  credit1      
whilst under the spell of this magician1
 that the world  always had the same    
bankrupt look1 to foregoing ages as to  
us--as  of a failed world just          
re-collecting its old withered forces to
  begin again and try to do a little    
business4  ,it was perhaps  inseparable 
from the attempt to write a book of wit 
and  imagination on ,english politics1  

that a certain local emphasis  and love 
of effect1 such as is the vice of       
preaching1 should  appear1 producing on 
the reader a feeling of forlornness by  
the  excess of value attributed to      
circumstances4  ,but the splendour  of  
wit cannot out--dazzle the calm         
daylight1 which always shows  every     
individual man in balance with his age1 
and able to work  out his own salvation 
from all the follies of that1 and no    
such  glaring contrasts or severalties  
in that or this4  ,each age has  its own
 follies1 as its majority is made up of 
foolish young  people2  its             
superstitions appear no superstitions to
 itself2  and if you should ask the     
contemporary1 he would tell you1 with   
pride or with regret 7according as he   
was practical or poetic71  that he had  
none4  ,but after a short time1 down go 
its follies  and weakness and the memory
 of them2  its virtues alone remain1    
and its limitation assumes the poetic   
form of a beautiful  superstition1 as   

the dimness of our sight clothes the    
objects in  the horizon with mist and   
colour4  ,the revelation of ,reason is  
this of the un-changeableness of the    
fate of humanity under all  its         
subjective aspects2  that to the        
cowering it always cowers1  to the      
daring it opens great avenues4  ,the    
ancients are only  venerable to us      
because distance has destroyed what was 
trivial2  as the sun and stars affect us
 only grandly1 because we cannot  reach 
to their smoke and surfaces and say1 ,is
 that all8    ,and yet the gravity of   
the times1 the manifold and increasing  
dangers of the ,english ,state1 may     
easily excuse some over-  colouring of  
the picture2  and we at this distance   
are not so far  removed from any of the 
specific evils1 and are deeply          
participant in too many1 not to share   
the gloom and thank the  love and the   
courage of the counselor4  ,this book is
 full of  humanity1 and nothing is more 
excellent in this as in all ,mr4        

,carlyle's works than the attitude of   
the writer4  ,he has the  dignity of a  
man of letters1 who knows what belongs  
to him1 and  never deviates from his    
sphere2  a continuer of the great line  
of  scholars1 and sustains their office 
in the highest credit and  honour4  ,if 
the good heaven have any good word to   
impart to this  unworthy generation1    
here is one scribe qualified and clothed
 for  its occasion4  ,one excellence he 
has in an age of ,mammon and of         
criticism1 that he never suffers the eye
 of his wonder to close4  ,let who will 
be the dupe of trifles1 he cannot keep  
his eye oft  from that gracious         
,infinite which embosoms us4    ,as a   
literary artist he has great merits1    
beginning with the main  one that he    
never wrote one dull line4  ,how        
well-read1 how  adroit1 what thousand   
arts in his one art of writing2  with   
his  expedient for expressing those     
unproven opinions which he  entertains  
but will not endorse1 by summoning one  

of his men of  straw from the cell1--and
 the respectable ,sauerteig1 or         
,teufelsdrockh1 or ,dryasdust1 or       
,picturesque ,traveler1 says what  is   
put into his mouth1 and disappears4     
,that morbid temperament  has given his 
rhetoric a somewhat bloated character2  
a luxury to  many imaginative and       
learned persons1 like a showery         
south-wind  with its sunbursts and rapid
 chasing of lights and glooms over  the 
landscape1 and yet its offensiveness to 
multitudes of  reluctant lovers makes us
 often wish some concession were        
possible on the part of the humorist4   
,yet it must not be  forgotten that in  
all his fun of castanets1 or playing of 
tunes  with a whip-lash like some       
renowned charioteers1--in all this  glad
 and needful venting of his redundant   
spirits1 he does yet  ever and anon1 as 
if catching the glance of one wise man  
in the  crowd1 quit his tempestuous key1
 and lance at him in clear level  tone  
the very word1 and then with new glee   

return to his game4  ,he is like a lover
 or an outlaw who wraps up his message  
in a  serenade1 which is nonsense to the
 sentinel1 but salvation to the  ear for
 which it is meant4  ,he does not dodge 
the question1 but  gives sincerity where
 it is due4    ,one word more respecting
 this remarkable style4  ,we have in    
literature few specimens of             
magnificence4  ,plato is the purple     
ancient1 and ,bacon and ,milton the     
moderns of the richest strains4  ,burke 
sometimes reaches to that exuberant     
fullness1 though  deficient in depth4   
,carlyle in his strange1 half mad way1  
has  entered the ,field of the ,cloth of
 ,gold1 and shown a vigour and  wealth  
of resource which has no rival in the   
tourney play of  these times--the       
indubitable champion of ,england4       
,carlyle is the  first domestication of 
the modern system1 with its infinity of 
details1 into style4  ,we have been     
civilising very fast1 building  ,london 
and ,paris1 and now planting ,new       

,england and ,india1 ,new  ,holland and 
,oregon--and it has not appeared in     
literature2  there  has been no         
analogous expansion and recomposition in
 books4  ,carlyle's style is the first  
emergence of all this wealth and  labour
 with which the world has gone with     
child so long4  ,london  and ,europe1   
tunneled1 graded corn-lawed1 with       
trade-nobility1 and  ,east and ,west    
,indies for dependencies1 and ,america1 
with the  ,rocky ,hills in the horizon1 
have never before been conquered in     
literature4  ,this is the first invasion
 and conquest4  ,how like  an           
air-balloon or bird of ,jove does he    
seem to float over the  continent1 and  
stooping here and there pounce on a fact
 as a  symbol which was never a symbol  
before4  ,this is the first  experiment1
 and something of rudeness and haste    
must be pardoned  to so great an        
achievement4  ,it will be done again and
 again1  sharper1 simpler2  but         
fortunate is he who did it first1 though

  never so giant-like and fabulous4     
,this grandiose character  pervades his 
wit and his imagination4  ,we have never
 had anything  in literature so like    
earthquakes as the laughter of ,carlyle4
  ,he  shakes with his mountain mirth4  
,it is like the laughter of the  ,genii 
in the horizon4  ,these jokes shake down
 ,parliament-house  and ,windsor        
,castle1 ,temple and ,tower1 and the    
future shall echo  the dangerous peals4 
,the other particular of magnificence is
 in  his rhymes4  ,carlyle is a poet who
 is altogether too burly in his  frame  
and habit to submit to the limits of    
metre4  ,yet he is full  of rhythm1 not 
only in the perpetual melody of his     
periods1 but  in the burdens1 refrains1 
and returns of his sense and music4     
,whatever thought or motto has once     
appeared to him fraught with  meaning1  
becomes an omen to him henceforward1 and
 is sure to  return with deeper tones   
and weightier import1 now as threat1 now
  as confirmation1 in gigantic          

reverberation1 as if the hills1 the     
horizon1 and the next ages returned the 
sound4        ,,bibliography    ,life of
 ,schiller 7,lond4 ,mag41 #ahbc-d71     
#ahbe1 #ahde4  7,supplement  published  
in the ,people's ,edition1 #ahgc7       
,wilhelm ,meister's  ,apprenticeship1   
#ahbd4  ,elements of ,geometry and      
,trigonometry  7from the ,french of     
,legendre71 #ahbd4  ,german ,romance1   
#ahbg4  ,sartor ,resartus 7,fraser's    
,mag41 #ahcc-d71 #ahce 7,boston7 #ahch4 
,french ,revolution1 #ahcg1ahci4        
,critical and ,miscellaneous ,essays1   
#ahci1 #ahdj1 #ahdg1 #aheg4  7,in these 
were reprinted ,articles from           
,edinburgh ,review1 ,foreign ,review1   
,foreign ,quarterly ,review1  ,fraser's 
,magazine1 ,westminster ,review1 ,new   
,monthly ,magazine1  ,london and        
,westminster ,review1 ,keepsake1        
,proceedings of the  ,society of        
,antiquaries of ,scotland1 ,times47     
,chartism1 #ahdj4  ,heroes1             
,hero-worship1 and the ,heroic in       

,history1 #ahda4  ,past and  ,present1  
#ahdc4  ,oliver ,cromwell's ,letters and
 ,speeches2  with  ,elucidations1 #ahde4
  ,thirty-five ,unpublished ,letters of 
,oliver  ,cromwell1 #ahdg 7,fraser74    
,original ,discourses on the ,negro     
,question 7,fraser1 #ahdi71 #ahec4      
,latter-day ,pamphlets1 #ahej4  ,life   
of ,john ,sterling1 #ahea4  ,history of 
,friedrich ,,ii4 of ,prussia1  #aheh-fe4
  ,inaugural ,address at ,edinburgh1    
#ahff4  ,shooting  ,niagara2 and ,after8
 #ahfg 7from ,macmillan74  ,the ,early  
,kings of  ,norway2  also an ,essay on  
the ,portraits of ,john ,knox1 #ahge4   
,there were also contributions to       
,brewster's ,edinburgh  ,encyclopaedia1 
vols4 xiv4 xv41 and xvi42  to ,new      
,edinburgh  ,review1 #ahba1 #ahbb2      
,fraser's ,magazine1 #ahcj1 #ahca2  ,the
 ,times1  #ai ,june1 #ahdd 7,mazzini72  
#bh ,november1 #ahgf2  #e ,may1 #ahgg2  
,examiner1 #ahdh2  ,spectator #ahdh4    
,first ,collected ,edition of ,works1   
#aheg-eh 7#af vols47    ,reminiscences  

7ed4 ,j4,a4 ,froude71 #ahha2  7ed4      
,c4,e4 ,norton1 #ahhg1  and preprinted  
in ,everyman's ,library2  #aicb1 with an
 added  article on ,professor ,john     
,wilson--,christopher ,north7           
,reminiscences of my ,irish journey in  
#ahdi1 #ahhb4  ,last ,words of  ,thomas 
,carlyle1 #ahhb 7ed4 by ,j4,c4,a47      
,last ,words of ,thomas  ,carlyle1      
#ahib4  ,rescued ,essays 7ed4 ,p4       
,newberry7 #ahib4  ,historical ,sketches
 of ,notable ,persons and ,events in the
 ,reign of  ,james ,i4 and ,charles ,i4 
7ed4 ,a4 ,carlyle71 #ahih4    ,sir      
,leslie ,stephen's article on ,carlyle  
in the ,dictionary of  ,national        
,biography gives a list of his          
occasional writings which  have never   
been collected or reprinted4            
,contents    ,book ,i--,proem    ,i4    
,midas4  ,,ii4 ,the ,sphinx  ,,iii4     
,manchester ,insurrection  ,,iv4        
,morrison's ,pill  ,v4 ,aristocracy of  
,talent  ,,vi4 ,hero-,worship      ,book
 ,,ii--,the ,ancient ,monk    ,i4       

,jocelin of ,brakelond  ,,ii4 ,st4      
,edmundsbury  ,,iii4 ,landlord ,edmund  
,,iv4 ,abbot ,hugo  ,v4 ,twelfth        
,century  ,,vi4 ,monk ,samson  ,,vii4   
,the ,canvassing  ,,viii4 ,the ,election
  ,,ix4 ,abbot ,samson  ,x4 ,government 
,,xi4 ,the ,abbot's ,ways  ,,xii4 ,the  
,abbot's ,troubles  ,,xiii4 ,in         
,parliament  ,,xiv4 ,henry of ,essex    
,,xv4  ,practical-,devotional  ,,xvi    
,st4 ,edmund  ,,xvii  ,the ,beginnings  
,book ,,iii--,the ,modern ,worker    ,i4
 ,phenomena1  ,,ii4 ,gospel of          
,mammonism  ,,iii4 ,gospel of           
,dilettantism  ,,xv4 ,happy  ,v4 ,the   
,english  ,,vi4 ,two ,centuries  ,,vii4 
,over-,production  ,,viii4 ,unworking   
,aristocracy  ,,ix4 ,working            
,aristocracy  ,x4 ,plugson of ,undershot
  ,,xi4 ,labour  ,,xii  ,reward  ,,xiii4
 ,democracy  ,,xiv  ,sir ,jabesh        
,windbag  ,,xv4 ,morrison ,again        
,book ,,iv--,horoscope    ,i4           
,aristocracies  ,,ii4 ,bribery          
,committee  ,,iii4 ,the ,one            

,institution  ,,iv ,captains of         
,industry  ,v4 ,permanence  ,,vi4 ,the  
,landed  ,,vii4 ,the ,gifted  ,,viii    
,the ,didactic    ,summary              
,book ,i--,proem      ,chapter ,i       
,midas      ,the condition of ,england1 
on which many pamphlets are now in the  
course of publication1 and many thoughts
 unpublished are going on  in every     
reflective head1 is justly regarded as  
one of the most  ominous1 and withal one
 of the strangest1 ever seen in this    
world4  ,england is full of wealth1 of  
multifarious produce1  supply for human 
want in every kind2  yet ,england is    
dying of  inanition4  ,with unabated    
bounty the land of ,england blooms and  
grows2  waving with yellow harvests2    
thick-studded with  workshops1          
industrial implements1 with fifteen     
millions of  workers1 understood to be  
the strongest1 the cunningest and the   
willingest our ,earth ever had2  these  
men are here2  the work  they have done1
 the fruit they have realised is here1  

abundant1  exuberant on every hand of   
us3  and behold1 some baleful fiat as   
of ,enchantment has gone forth1 saying1 
,touch it not1 ye workers1  ye          
master-workers1 ye master-idlers2  none 
of you can touch it1  no man of you     
shall be the better for it2  this is    
enchanted  fruit6  ,on the poor workers 
such fiat falls first1 in its rudest    
shape2  but on the rich masterworkers   
too it falls2  neither can  the rich    
master-idlers1 nor any richest or       
highest man escape1  but all are like to
 be brought low with it1 and made 'poor'
  enough1 in the money-sense or a far   
fataller one4    ,of these successful   
skillful workers some two millions1 it  
is now  counted1 sit in ,workhouses1    
,poor-law ,prisons2  or have 'out-door  
relief' flung over the wall to          
them1--the workhouse ,bastille  being   
filled to bursting1 and the strong      
,poor-law broken asunder  by a          
stronger499  ,they sit there1 these many
 months now2  their  hope of deliverance

 as yet small4  ,in workhouses1         
pleasantly so  named1 because work      
cannot be done in them4  ,twelve hundred
  thousand workers in ,england alone2   
their cunning right-hand  lamed1 lying  
idle in their sorrowful bosom2  their   
hopes1  outlooks1 share of this fair    
world1 shut in by narrow walls4  ,they  
sit there1 pent up1 as in a kind of     
horrid enchantment2  glad to be         
imprisoned and enchanted1 that they may 
not perish  starved4  ,the picturesque  
,tourist1 in a sunny autumn day1        
through this bounteous realm of         
,england1 describes the ,union          
,workhouse on his path4  ',passing by   
the ,workhouse of ,st4 ,ives  in        
,huntingdonshire1 on a bright day last  
autumn1' says the  picturesque ,tourist1
 ',i saw sitting on wooden benches1 in  
front  of their ,bastille and within    
their ringwall and its railings1  some  
half-hundred or more of these men4      
,tall robust figures1  young mostly or  
of middle age2  of honest countenance1  

many of  them thoughtful and even       
intelligent-looking men4  ,they sat     
there1 near by one another2  but in a   
kind of torpor1 especially  in a        
silence1 which was very striking4  ,in  
silence3  for1 alas1  what word was to  
be said8  ,an ,earth all lying round1   
crying1 ,come  and till me1 come and    
reap me2--yet we here sit enchanted6    
,in  the eyes and brows of these men    
hung the gloomiest expression1  not of  
anger1 but of grief and shame and       
manifold inarticulate  distress and     
weariness2  they returned my glance with
 a glance  that seemed to say1 ,do not  
look at us4  ,we sit enchanted here1  we
 know not why4  ,the ,sun shines and the
 ,earth calls2  and1 by  the governing  
,powers and ,impotences of this         
,england1 we are  forbidden to obey4    
,it is impossible1 they tell us6  ,there
 was  something that reminded me of     
,dante's ,hell in the look of all  this2
  and ,i rode swiftly away4    ---------
  99 ,the ,return of ,paupers for       

,england and ,wales1 at ,ladyday1 #ahdb1
  is1 ,in-door #bba1fhg1 ,out-door      
#a1bjg1djb1 ,total #a1dbi1jhi4--        
7,official ,report7  ---------    ,so   
many hundred thousands sit in           
workhouses3  and other hundred          
thousands have not yet got even         
workhouses2  and in thrifty  ,scotland  
itself1 in ,glasgow or ,edinburgh ,city1
 in their  dark lanes1 hidden from all  
but the eye of ,god1 and of rare        
,benevolence the minister of ,god1 there
 are scenes of woe and  destitution and 
desolation1 such as1 one may hope1 the  
,sun never  saw before in the most      
barbarous regions where men dwelt4      
,competent witnesses1 the brave and     
humane ,dr4 ,alison1 who speaks  what he
 knows1 whose noble ,healing ,art in his
 charitable hands  becomes once more a  
truly sacred one1 report these things   
for us3  these things are not of this   
year1 or of last year1 have no          
reference to our present state of       
commercial stagnation1 but only  to the 

common state4  ,not in sharp fever-fits1
 but in chronic  gangrene of this kind  
is ,scotland suffering4  ,a ,poor-law1  
any and  every ,poor-law1 it may be     
observed1 is but a temporary measure2   
an anodyne1 not a remedy3  ,rich and    
,poor1 when once the naked  facts of    
their condition have come into          
collision1 cannot long  subsist together
 on a mere ,poor-law4  ,true            
enough3--and yet1  human beings cannot  
be left to die6  ,scotland too1 till    
something  better come1 must have a     
,poor-law1 if ,scotland is not to be a  
byword among the nations4  ,o1 what a   
waste is there2  of noble  and          
thrice-noble national virtues2  peasant 
,stoicisms1 ,heroisms2  valiant manful  
habits1 soul of a ,nation's             
worth1--which all the  metal of ,potosi 
cannot purchase back2  to which the     
metal of  ,potosi1 and all you can buy  
with it1 is dross and dust6    ,why     
dwell on this aspect of the matter8  ,it
 is too indisputable1  not doubtful now 

to any one4  ,descend where you will    
into the  lower class1 in ,town or      
,country1 by what avenue you will1 by   
,factory ,inquiries1 ,agricultural      
,inquiries1 by ,revenue ,returns1 by    
,mining-,labourer ,committees1 by       
opening your own eyes and looking1  the 
same sorrowful result discloses itself3 
you have to admit  that the working body
 of this rich ,english ,nation has sunk 
or is  fast sinking into a state1 to    
which1 all sides of it considered1      
there was literally never any parallel4 
,at ,stockport ,assizes1--  and this too
 has no reference to the present state  
of trade1  being of date prior to       
that1--a ,mother and a ,father are      
arraigned  and found guilty of poisoning
 three of their children1 to defraud  a 
'burial-society' of some #ca4hs4 due on 
the death of each  child3  they are     
arraigned1 found guilty2  and the       
official  authorities1 it is whispered1 
hint that perhaps the case is not       
solitary1 that perhaps you had better   

not probe farther into that  department 
of things4  ,this is in the autumn of   
#ahda2  the crime  itself is of the     
previous year or season4  ,brutal       
savages1  degraded ,irish1 mutters the  
idle reader of ,newspapers2  hardly     
lingering on this incident4  ,yet it is 
an incident worth  lingering on2  the   
depravity1 savagery and degraded        
,irishism  being never so well admitted4
  ,in the ,british land1 a human        
,mother and ,father1 of white skin and  
professing the ,christian  religion1 had
 done this thing2  they1 with their     
,irishism and  necessity and savagery1  
had been driven to do it4  ,such        
instances  are like the highest mountain
 apex emerged into view2  under  which  
lies a whole mountain region and land1  
not yet emerged4  ,a  human ,mother and 
,father had said to themselves1 ,what   
shall we do  to escape starvation8  ,we 
are deep sunk here1 in our dark cellar2 
and help is far4--,yes1 in the ,ugolino 
,hungertower stern things  happen2      

best-loved little ,gaddo fallen dead on 
his ,father's  knees6--,the ,stockport  
,mother and ,father think and hint3     
,our poor  little starveling ,tom1 who  
cries all day for victuals1 who will    
see only evil and not good in this      
world3  if he were out of  misery at    
once2  he well dead1 and the rest of us 
perhaps kept  alive8  ,it is thought1   
and hinted2  at last it is done4  ,and  
now  ,tom being killed1 and all spent   
and eaten1 ,is it poor little           
starveling ,jack that must go1 or poor  
little starveling ,will8--  ,what an    
inquiry of ways and means6    ,in       
starved sieged cities1 in the uttermost 
doomed ruin of old  ,jerusalem fallen   
under the wrath of ,god1 it was         
prophesied and  said1 ',the hands of the
 pitiful women have sodden their own    
children4'  ,the stern ,hebrew          
imagination could conceive no  blacker  
gulf of wretchedness2  that was the     
ultimatum of degraded  god-punished man4
  ,and we here1 in modern ,england1     

exuberant with  supply of all kinds1    
besieged by nothing if it be not by     
invisible ,enchantments1 are we reaching
 that8--,how come these  things8        
,wherefore are they1 wherefore should   
they be8      ,nor are they of the ,st4 
,ives workhouses1 of the ,glasgow lanes1
  and ,stockport cellars1 the only      
unblessed among us4  ,this  successful  
industry of ,england1 with its plethoric
 wealth1 has as  yet made nobody rich2  
it is an enchanted wealth1 and belongs  
yet  to nobody4  ,we might ask1 ,which  
of us has it enriched8  ,we can  spend  
thousands where we once spent hundreds2 
but can purchase  nothing good with     
them4  ,in ,poor and ,rich1 instead of  
noble  thrift and plenty1 there is idle 
luxury alternating with mean  scarcity  
and inability4  ,we have sumptuous      
garnitures for our  ,life1 but have     
forgotten to live in the middle of them4
  ,it is  an enchanted wealth2  no man  
of us can yet touch it4  ,the class  of 
men who feel that they are truly better 

off by means of it1  let them give us   
their name6    ,many men eat finer      
cookery1 drink dearer liquors1--with    
what  advantage they can report1 and    
their ,doctors can3  but in the  heart  
of them1 if we go out of the dyspeptic  
stomach1 what  increase of blessedness  
is there8  ,are they better1            
beautifuller1  stronger1 braver8  ,are  
they even what they call 'happier8  ,do 
they look with satisfaction on more     
things and human faces in  this ,god's  
,earth2  do more things and human faces 
look with  satisfaction on them8  ,not  
so4  ,human faces gloom discordantly1   
disloyally on one another4  ,things1 if 
it be not mere cotton and  iron things1 
are growing disobedient to man4  ,the   
,master ,worker  is enchanted1 for the  
present1 like his ,workhouse ,workman2  
clamours1 in vain hitherto1 for a very  
simple sort of ',liberty3'  the liberty 
'to buy where he finds it cheapest1 to  
sell where he  finds it dearest4'  ,with
 guineas jingling in every pocket1 he   

was  no whit richer2  but now1 the very 
guineas threatening to vanish1  he feels
 that he is poor indeed4  ,poor ,master 
,worker6  ,and the  ,master ,unworker1  
is not he in a still fataller situation8
  ,pausing amid his game-preserves1 with
 awful eye1--as he well may6  ,coercing 
fifty-pound tenants2  coercing1 bribing1
 cajoling2  doing what he likes with his
 own4  ,his mouth full of loud          
futilities1 and arguments to prove the  
excellence of his  ,corn-law299  and in 
his heart the blackest misgiving1 a     
desperate  half-consciousness that his  
excellent ,corn-law is indefensible1    
that his loud arguments for it are of a 
kind to strike men too  literally dumb4 
-------------  99 ,digital transcriber  
note3  ,the corn-law that ,carlyle      
repeatedly refers to was an ,english    
sliding-scale tariff on  grain1 which   
kept the price of bread artificially    
inflated4  -------------    ,to whom1   
then1 is this wealth of ,england wealth8
  ,who is it that  it blesses2  makes   

happier1 wiser1 beautifuller1 in any way
  better8  ,who has got hold of it1 to  
make it fetch and carry for  him1 like a
 true servant1 not like a false         
mock-servant2  to do  him any real      
service whatsoever8  ,as yet no one4    
,we have more  riches than any ,nation  
ever had before2  we have less good of  
them than any ,nation ever had before4  
,our successful industry is  hitherto   
unsuccessful2  a strange success1 if we 
stop here6  ,in  the midst of plethoric 
plenty1 the people perish2  with gold   
walls1 and full barns1 no man feels     
himself safe or satisfied4  ,workers1   
,master ,workers1 ,unworkers1 all men1  
come to a pause2  stand fixed1 and      
cannot farther4  ,fatal paralysis       
spreading  inwards1 from the            
extremities1 in ,st4 ,ives workhouses1  
in  ,stockport cellars1 through all     
limbs1 as if towards the heart  itself4 
,have we actually got enchanted1 then2  
accursed by  some god8--    ,midas      
longed for gold1 and insulted the       

,olympians4  ,he got gold1  so that     
whatsoever he touched became gold1--and 
he1 with his long  ears1 was little the 
better for it4  ,midas had misjudged the
  celestial music-tones2  ,midas had    
insulted ,apollo and the gods3  the gods
 gave him his wish1 and a pair of long  
ears1 which also  were a good appendage 
to it4  ,what a truth in these old      
,fables6          ,chapter ,,ii    ,the 
,sphinx      ,how true1 for example1 is 
that other old ,fable of the ,sphinx1   
who  sat by the wayside1 propounding her
 riddle to the passengers1  which if    
they could not answer she destroyed     
them6  ,such a ,sphinx  is this ,life of
 ours1 to all men and societies of men4 
,nature1  like the ,sphinx1 is of       
womanly celestial loveliness and        
tenderness2  the face and bosom of a    
goddess1 but ending in claws  and the   
body of a lioness4  ,there is in her a  
celestial beauty1--  which means        
celestial order1 pliancy to wisdom2  but
 there is  also a darkness1 a ferocity1 

fatality1 which are infernal4  ,she is a
 goddess1 but one not yet disimprisoned2
  one still  half-imprisoned1--the      
inarticulate1 lovely still encased in   
the  inarticulate1 chaotic4  ,how true6 
,and does she not propound her  riddles 
to us8  ,of each man she asks daily1 in 
mild voice1 yet  with a terrible        
significance1 ,knowest thou the meaning 
of this  ,day8  ,what thou canst do     
,today2  wisely attempt to do8  ,nature1
  ,universe1 ,destiny1 ,existence1      
howsoever we name this grand  unnameable
 ,fact in the midst of which we live and
 struggle1 is as  a heavenly bride and  
conquest to the wise and brave1 to them 
who  can discern her behests and do     
them2  a destroying fiend to them  who  
cannot4  ,answer her riddle1 it is well 
with thee4  ,answer it  not1 pass on    
regarding it not1 it will answer itself2
  the  solution for thee is a thing of  
teeth and claws2  ,nature is a  dumb    
lioness1 deaf to thy pleadings1 fiercely
 devouring4  ,thou  art not now her     

victorious bridegroom2  thou art her    
mangled  victim1 scattered on the       
precipices1 as a slave found            
treacherous1  recreant1 ought to be and 
must4    ,with ,nations it is as with   
individuals3  ,can they rede the riddle 
of ,destiny8  ,this ,english ,nation1   
will it get to know the meaning  of its 
strange new ,today8  ,is there sense    
enough extant1  discoverable anywhere or
 anyhow1 in our united twenty-seven     
million heads to discern the same2      
valour enough in our  twenty-seven      
million hearts to dare and do the       
bidding thereof8  ,it will be seen6--   
,the secret of gold ,midas1 which he    
with his long ears never could          
discover1 was1 ,that he had offended the
 ,supreme ,powers2--that he  had parted 
company with the eternal inner ,facts of
 this ,universe1  and followed the      
transient outer ,appearances thereof2   
and so was  arrived here4  ,properly it 
is the secret of all unhappy men and    
unhappy nations4  ,had they known       

,nature's right truth1 ,nature's  right 
truth would have made them free4  ,they 
have become  enchanted2  stagger        
spell-bound1 reeling on the brink of    
huge  peril1 because they were not wise 
enough4  ,they have forgotten  the right
 ,inner ,true1 and taken up with the    
,outer ,sham-true4  ,they answer the    
,sphinx's question wrong4  ,foolish men 
cannot  answer it aright6  ,foolish men 
mistake transitory semblance for        
eternal fact1 and go astray more and    
more4    ,foolish men imagine that      
because judgment for an evil thing is   
delayed1 there is no justice1 but an    
accidental one1 here below4  ,judgment  
for an evil thing is many times delayed 
some day or two1  some century or two1  
but it is sure as life1 it is sure as   
death6  ,in the centre of the           
world-whirlwind1 verily now as in the   
oldest  days1 dwells and speaks a ,god4 
,the great soul of the world is  just4  
,o brother1 can it be needful now1 at   
this late epoch of  experience1 after   

eighteen centuries of ,christian        
preaching for  one thing1 to remind thee
 of such a fact2  which all manner of   
,mahometans1 old ,pagan ,romans1 ,jews1 
,scythians and heathen ,greeks1  and    
indeed more or less all men that ,god   
made1 have managed at  one time to see  
into2  nay which thou thyself1 till     
'redtape'  strangled the inner life of  
thee1 hadst once some inkling of3  ,that
 there is justice here below2  and even1
 at bottom1 that  there is nothing else 
but justice6  ,forget that1 thou hast   
forgotten all4  ,success will never more
 attend thee3  how can it  now8  ,thou  
hast the whole ,universe against thee4  
,no more  success3  mere sham-success1  
for a day and days2  rising ever        
higher1--towards its ,tarpeian ,rock4   
,alas1 how1 in thy soft-hung  ,longacre 
vehicle1 of polished leather to the     
bodily eye1 of  redtape philosophy1 of  
expediencies1 clubroom moralities1      
,parliamentary majorities to the mind's 
eye1 thou beautifully  rollest3  but    

knowest thou whitherward8  ,it is       
towards the  road's end4  ,old          
use-and-wont2  established methods1     
habitudes1  once true and wise2  man's  
noblest tendency1 his perseverance1  and
 man's ignoblest1 his inertia2          
whatsoever of noble and  ignoble        
,conservatism there is in men and       
,nations1 strongest  always in the      
strongest men and ,nations3  all this is
 as a road  to thee1 paved smooth       
through the abyss1--till all this end4  
,till men's bitter necessities can      
endure thee no more4  ,till  ,nature's  
patience with thee is done2  and there  
is no road or  footing any farther1 and 
the abyss yawns sheer--    ,parliament  
and the ,courts of ,westminster are     
venerable to me2  how venerable2  grey  
with a thousand years of honourable age6
  ,for a thousand years and more1       
,wisdom and faithful ,valour1           
struggling amid much ,folly and greedy  
,baseness1 not without most  sad        
distortions in the struggle1 have built 

them up2  and they  are as we see4  ,for
 a thousand years1 this ,english ,nation
 has  found them useful or supportable2 
they have served this ,english          
,nation's want2  been a road to it      
through the abyss of ,time4  ,they are  
venerable1 they are great and strong4   
,and yet it is  good to remember always 
that they are not the venerablest1 nor  
the greatest1 nor the strongest6  ,acts 
of ,parliament are  venerable2  but if  
they correspond not with the writing on 
the  ,adamant ,tablet1 what are they8   
,properly their one element of          
venerableness1 of strength or greatness1
 is1 that they at all  times correspond 
therewith as near as by human           
possibility they  can4  ,they are       
cherishing destruction in their bosom   
every hour  that they continue          
otherwise4    ,alas1 how many causes    
that can plead well for themselves in   
the  ,courts of ,westminster2  and yet  
in the general ,court of the  ,universe1
 and free ,soul of ,man1 have no word to

 utter6  ,honourable ,gentlemen may find
 this worth considering1 in times  like 
ours4  ,and truly1 the din of triumphant
 ,law-logic1 and all  shaking of        
horse-hair wigs and learned-sergeant    
gowns having  comfortably ended1 we     
shall do well to ask ourselves withal1  
,what  says that high and highest ,court
 to the verdict8  ,for it is the  ,court
 of ,courts1 that same2  where the      
universal soul of ,fact and  very ,truth
 sits ,president2--and thitherward1 more
 and more  swiftly1 with a really       
terrible increase of swiftness1 all     
causes  do in these days crowd for      
revisal1--for confirmation1 for         
modification1 for reversal with costs4  
,dost thou know that  ,court2  hast thou
 had any ,law-practice there8  ,what1   
didst thou  never enter2  never file any
 petition of redress1 reclaimer1        
disclaimer or demurrer1 written as in   
thy heart's blood1 for thy  own behoof  
or another's2  and silently await the   
issue8  ,thou  knowest not such a       

,court8  ,hast merely heard of it by    
faint  tradition as a thing that was or 
had been8  ,of thee1 ,i think1 we  shall
 get little benefit4    ,for the gowns  
of learned-sergeants are good3          
parchment records1  fixed forms1 and    
poor terrestrial justice1 with or       
without  horse-hair1 what sane man will 
not reverence these8  ,and yet1  behold1
 the man is not sane but insane1 who    
considers these alone  as venerable4    
,oceans of horse-hair1 continents of    
parchment1 and  learned-sergeant        
eloquence1 were it continued till the   
learned  tongue wore itself small in the
 indefatigable learned mouth1  cannot   
make unjust just4  ,the grand question  
still remains1 ,was  the judgment just8 
,if unjust1 it will not and cannot get  
harbour  for itself1 or continue to have
 footing in this ,universe1 which  was  
made by other than ,one ,unjust4        
,enforce it by never such  statuting1   
three readings1 royal assents2  blow it 
to the four  winds with all manner of   

quilted trumpeters and pursuivants1 in  
the rear of them never so many gibbets  
and hangmen1 it will not  stand1 it     
cannot stand4  ,from all souls of men1  
from all ends of  ,nature1 from the     
,throne of ,god above1 there are voices 
bidding  it3  ,away1 away6  ,does it    
take no warning2  does it stand1 strong 
in its three readings1 in its gibbets   
and artillery-parks8  ,the  more woe is 
to it1 the frightfuller woe4  ,it will  
continue  standing1 for its day1 for its
 year1 for its century1 doing  evil all 
the while2  but it has ,one enemy who is
 ,almighty3  dissolution1 explosion1 and
 the everlasting ,laws of ,nature       
incessantly advance towards it2  and the
 deeper its rooting1 more  obstinate its
 continuing1 the deeper also and huger  
will its ruin  and overturn be4    ,in  
this ,god's-world1 with its             
wild-whirling eddies and mad            
foam-oceans1 where men and nations      
perish as if without law1 and  judgment 
for an unjust thing is sternly delayed1 

dost thou think  that there is therefore
 no justice8  ,it is what the fool hath 
said in his heart4  ,it is what the     
wise1 in all times1 were wise  because  
they denied1 and knew forever not to be4
  ,i tell thee  again1 there is nothing 
else but justice4  ,one strong thing ,i 
find here below3  the just thing1 the   
true thing4  ,my friend1 if  thou hadst 
all the artillery of ,woolwich trundling
 at thy back in  support of an unjust   
thing2  and infinite bonfires visibly   
waiting ahead of thee1 to blaze         
centuries long for thy victory on       
behalf of it1--,i would advise thee to  
call halt1 to fling down  thy baton1 and
 say1 ,in ,god's name1 ,no6  ,thy       
'success8'  ,poor  devil1 what will thy 
success amount to8  ,if the thing is    
unjust1  thou hast not succeeded2  no1  
not though bonfires blazed  from ,north 
to ,south1 and bells rang1 and editors  
wrote  leading-articles1 and the just   
thing lay trampled out of sight1  to all
 mortal eyes an abolished and           

annihilated thing4  ,success8  ,in few  
years1 thou wilt be dead and dark1--all 
cold1 eyeless1  deaf2  no blaze of      
bonfires1 ding-dong of bells or         
leading-articles  visible or audible to 
thee again at all forever3  ,what kind  
of  success is that6--    ,it is true   
all goes by approximation in this world2
  with any not  insupportable           
approximation we must be patient4       
,there is a noble  ,conservatism as well
 as an ignoble4  ,would to ,heaven1 for 
the  sake of ,conservatism itself1 the  
noble alone were left1 and the  ignoble1
 by some kind severe hand1 were         
ruthlessly lopped away1  forbidden ever 
more to skew itself6  ,for it is the    
right and  noble alone that will have   
victory in this struggle2  the rest is  
wholly an obstruction1 a postponement   
and fearful imperilment of  the victory4
  ,towards an eternal centre of right   
and nobleness1  and of that only1 is all
 this confusion tending4  ,we already   
know  whither it is all tending2  what  

will have victory1 what will  have none6
  ,the ,heaviest will reach the centre4 
,the ,heaviest1  sinking through complex
 fluctuating media and vortices1 has its
  deflexions1 its obstructions1 nay at  
times its resiliences1 its  reboundings2
  whereupon some blockhead shall be     
heard jubilating1  ,see1 your ,heaviest 
ascends6--but at all moments it is      
moving  centreward1 fast as is          
convenient for it2  sinking1 sinking2   
and1  by laws older than the ,world1 old
 as the ,maker's first ,plan of  the    
,world1 it has to arrive there4         
,await the issue4  ,in all battles1 if  
you await the issue1 each  fighter has  
prospered according to his right4  ,his 
right and his  might1 at the close of   
the account1 were one and the same4  ,he
  has fought with all his might1 and in 
exact proportion to all his  right he   
has prevailed4  ,his very death is no   
victory over him4  ,he dies indeed2  but
 his work lives1 very truly lives4  ,a  
heroic  ,wallace1 quartered on the      

scaffold1 cannot hinder that his        
,scotland become1 one day1 a part of    
,england3  but he does hinder  that it  
become1 on tyrannous unfair terms1 a    
part of it2  commands still1 as with a  
god's voice1 from his old ,valhalla and 
,temple of the ,brave1 that there be a  
just real union as of  brother and      
brother1 not a false and merely semblant
 one as of  slave and master4  ,if the  
union with ,england be in fact one of   
,scotland's chief blessings1 we thank   
,wallace withal that it was  not the    
chief curse4  ,scotland is not ,ireland3
  no1 because brave  men rose there1 and
 said1 ,behold1 ye must not tread us    
down like  slaves2  and ye shall        
not1--and cannot6  ,fight on1 thou brave
  true heart1 and falter not1 through   
dark fortune and through  bright4  ,the 
cause thou fightest for1 so far as it is
 true1 no  farther1 yet precisely so    
far1 is very sure of victory4  ,the     
falsehood alone of it will be conquered1
 will be abolished1 as it  ought to be3 

but the truth of it is part of ,nature's
 own ,laws1  cooperates with the        
,world's eternal ,tendencies1 and cannot
  be conquered4    ,the dust of         
controversy1 what is it but the         
falsehood flying  off from all manner of
 conflicting true forces1 and making    
such a  loud dust-whirlwind1--that so   
the truths alone may remain1 and        
embrace brother-like in some true       
resulting-force6  ,it is ever  so4      
,savage fighting ,heptarchies3  their   
fighting is an  ascertainment1 who has  
the right to rule over whom2  that out  
of  such waste-bickering ,saxondom a    
peacefully cooperating ,england  may    
arise4  ,seek through this ,universe2   
if with other than owl's  eyes1 thou    
wilt find nothing nourished there1      
nothing kept in  life1 but what has     
right to nourishment and life4  ,the    
rest1 look  at it with other than owl's 
eyes1 is not living2  is all dying1  all
 as good as dead6  ,justice was ordained
 from the foundations  of the world2    

and will last with the world and longer4
      ,from which ,i infer that the     
inner sphere of ,fact1 in this present  
,england as elsewhere1 differs          
infinitely from the outer sphere  and   
spheres of ,semblance4  ,that the       
,temporary1 here as elsewhere1  is too  
apt to carry it over the ,eternal4      
,that he who dwells in  the temporary   
,semblances1 and does not penetrate into
 the eternal  ,substance1 will not      
answer the ,sphinx-riddle of ,today1 or 
of  any ,day4  ,for the substance alone 
is substantial2  that is the  law of    
,fact3  if you discover not that1 ,fact1
 who already knows  it1 will let you    
also know it by and by6    ,what is     
justice8 that1 on the whole1 is the     
question of the  ,sphinx to us4 ,the law
 of ,fact is1 that justice must and will
 be  done4  ,the sooner the better2  for
 the ,time grows stringent1  frightfully
 pressing6  ,what is justice8 ask many1 
to whom cruel  ,fact alone will be able 
to prove responsive4  ,it is like       

jesting  ,pilate asking1 ,what is       
,truth8  ,jesting ,pilate had not the   
smallest chance to ascertain what was   
,truth4  ,he could not have  known it1  
had a god shewn it to him4  ,thick      
serene opacity1  thicker than amaurosis1
 veiled those smiling eyes of his to    
,truth2  the inner retina of them was   
gone paralytic1 dead4  ,he  looked at   
,truth2  and discerned her not1 there   
where she stood4  ,what is justice8     
,the clothed embodied justice that sits 
in  ,westminster ,hall1 with penalties1 
parchments1 tipstaves1 is very  visible4
  ,but the unembodied justice1 whereof  
that other is  either an emblem1 or else
 is a fearful indescribability1 is not  
so visible6  ,for the unembodied        
,justice is of ,heaven2  a ,spirit1  and
 ,divinity of ,heaven1--invisible to all
 but the noble and pure  of soul4  ,the 
impure ignoble gaze with eyes1 and she  
is not  there4  ,they will prove it to  
you by logic1 by endless ,hansard       
,debatings1 by bursts of ,parliamentary 

eloquence4  ,it is not  consolatory to  
behold6  ,for properly1 as many men as  
there are in  a ,nation who can withal  
see ,heaven's invisible ,justice1 and   
know it to be on ,earth also omnipotent1
 so many men are there who  stand       
between a ,nation and perdition4  ,so   
many1 and no more4  ,heavy-laden        
,england1 how many hast thou in this    
hour8  ,the  ,supreme ,power sends new  
and ever new1 all born at least with    
hearts of flesh and not of stone2--and  
heavy ,misery itself1 once  heavy       
enough1 will prove didactic6--          
,chapter ,,iii    ,manchester           
,insurrection      ,blusterowski1       
,colacorde1 and other ,editorial        
prophets of the  ,continental           
,democratic ,movement1 have in their    
leading-articles  shewn themselves      
disposed to vilipend the late           
,manchester  ,insurrection1 as evincing 
in the rioters an extreme backwardness  
to battle2  nay as betokening1 in the   
,english ,people itself1  perhaps a want

 of the proper animal-courage           
indispensable in  these ages4  ,a       
million hungry operative men started up1
 in utmost  paroxysm of desperate       
protest against their lot2  and1 ask    
,colacorde and company1 ,how many shots 
were fired8  ,very few in  comparison6  
,certain hundreds of drilled soldiers   
sufficed to  suppress this              
million-headed hydra's and tread it     
down1 without  the smallest appeasement 
or hope of such1 into its subterranean  
settlements again1 there to reconsider  
itself4  ,compared  with our revolts in 
,lyons1 in ,warsaw and elsewhere1 to say
  nothing of incomparable ,paris ,city  
past or present1 what a  lamblike       
,insurrection6--    ,the present ,editor
 is not here1 with his readers1 to      
vindicate  the character of             
,insurrections2  nor does it matter to  
us whether  ,blusterowski and the rest  
may think the ,english a courageous     
people or not courageous4  ,in passing1 
however1 let us mention  that1 to our   

view1 this was not an unsuccessful      
,insurrection2  that as ,insurrections  
go1 we have not heard lately of any that
  succeeded so well4    ,a million of   
hungry operative men1 as ,blusterowski  
says1 rose  all up1 came all out into   
the streets1 and--stood there4  ,what   
other could they do8  ,their wrongs and 
griefs were bitter1  insupportable1     
their rage against the same was just3   
but who are  they that cause these      
wrongs1 who that will honestly make     
effort  to redress them8  ,our enemies  
are we know not who or what2  our       
friends are we know not where6  ,how    
shall we attack any one1  shoot or be   
shot by any one8  ,o1 if the accursed   
invisible  ,nightmare1 that is crushing 
out the life of us and ours1 would  take
 a shape2  approach us like the         
,hyrcanian tiger1 the ,behemoth  of     
,chaos1 the ,archfiend himself2  in any 
shape that we could see1  and fasten    
on6--,a man can have himself shot with  
cheerfulness2  but it needs first that  

he see clearly for what4  ,shew him the 
divine face of justice1 then the        
diabolic monster which is  eclipsing    
that3  he will fly at the throat of such
 monster1 never  so monstrous1 and need 
no bidding to do it4  ,woolwich         
grapeshot  will sweep clear all streets1
 blast into invisibility so many        
thousand men3  but if your ,woolwich    
grapeshot be but eclipsing  ,divine     
justice1 and the ,god's-radiance itself 
gleam recognisable  athwart such        
grapeshot1--then1 yes then is the time  
come for  fighting and attacking4  ,all 
artillery-parks have become weak1  and  
are about to dissipate3  in the         
,god's-thunder1 their poor  thunder     
slackens1 ceases2  finding that it is1  
in all senses of  the term1 a brute     
one6--    ,that the ,manchester         
,insurrection stood still1 on the       
streets1  with an indisposition to fire 
and bloodshed1 was wisdom for it  even  
as an ,insurrection4  ,insurrection1    
never so necessary1 is a  most sad      

necessity2  and governors who wait for  
that to instruct  them1 are surely      
getting into the fatallest              
courses1--proving  themselves ,sons of  
,nox and ,chaos1 of blind ,cowardice1   
not of  seeing ,valour6  ,how can there 
be any remedy in insurrection8  ,it  is 
a mere announcement of the              
disease1--visible now even to ,sons  of 
,night4  ,insurrection usually 'gains'  
little2  usually wastes  how much6  ,one
 of its worst kinds of waste1 to say    
nothing of the  rest1 is that of        
irritating and exasperating men against 
each  other1 by violence done2  which is
 always sure to be injustice  done1 for 
violence does even justice unjustly4    
,who shall compute the waste and loss1  
the obstruction of every  sort1 that was
 produced in the ,manchester region by  
,peterloo  alone6  ,some thirteen       
unarmed men and women cut down1--the    
number  of the slain and maimed is very 
countable3  but the treasury of  rage1  
burning hidden or visible in all hearts 

ever since1 more or  less perverting the
 effort and aim of all hearts ever      
since1 is  of unknown extent4  ,how ye  
came among us1 in your cruel armed      
blindness1 ye unspeakable ,county       
,yeomanry1 sabres flourishing1  hoofs   
prancing1 and slashed us down at your   
brute pleasure2  deaf1 blind to all our 
claims and woes and wrongs2  of quick   
sight and sense to your own claims only6
  ,there lie poor sallow  workworn      
weavers1 and complain no more now2      
women themselves are  slashed and       
sabred1 howling terror fills the air2   
and ye ride  prosperous1 very           
victorious1--ye unspeakable3  give us   
sabres  too1 and then come-on a little6 
,such are ,peterloos4  ,in  all hearts  
that witnessed ,peterloo1 stands        
written1 as in  fire-characters1 or     
smoke-characters prompt to become fire  
again1  a legible balance-account of    
grim vengeance2  very unjustly          
balanced1 much exaggerated1 as is the   
way with such accounts2  but payable    

readily at sight1 in full with compound 
interest6  ,such things should be       
avoided as the very pestilence4  ,for   
men's  hearts ought not to be set       
against one another2  but set with  one 
another1 and all against the ,evil      
,thing only4  ,men's souls  ought to be 
left to see clearly2  not jaundiced1    
blinded1 twisted  all awry1 by revenge1 
mutual abhorrence1 and the like4  ,an   
,insurrection that can announce the     
disease1 and then retire with  no such  
balance-account opened anywhere1 has    
attained the highest  success possible  
for it4    ,and this was what these poor
 ,manchester operatives1 with all the   
darkness that was in them and round     
them1 did manage to perform4  ,they put 
their huge inarticulate question1 ,what 
do you mean to  do with us8 in a manner 
audible to every reflective soul in this
  kingdom2  exciting deep pity in all   
good men1 deep anxiety in all  men      
whatever2  and no conflagration or      
outburst of madness came  to cloud that 

feeling anywhere1 but everywhere it     
operates  unclouded4  ,all ,england     
heard the question3  it is the first    
practical form of our ,sphinx-riddle4   
,england will answer it2  or1 on the    
whole1 ,england will perish2--one does  
not yet expect  the latter result6      
,for the rest1 that the ,manchester     
,insurrection could yet discern  no     
radiance of ,heaven on any side of its  
horizon2  but feared  that all lights1  
of the ,o',connor or other sorts1       
hitherto  kindled1 were but deceptive   
fish-oil transparencies1 or bog         
will-o'-wisp lights1 and no dayspring   
from on high3  for this  also we will   
honour the poor ,manchester             
,insurrection1 and augur  well of it4   
,a deep unspoken sense lies in these    
strong men1--  inconsiderable1 almost   
stupid1 as all they can articulate of it
  is4  ,amid all violent stupidity of   
speech1 a right noble instinct  of what 
is doable and what is not doable never  
forsakes them3  the strong inarticulate 

men and workers1 whom ,fact patronises2 
of whom1 in all difficulty and work     
whatsoever1 there is good  augury6      
,this work too is to be done3           
,governors and ,governing  ,classes that
 can articulate and utter1 in any       
measure1 what the  law of ,fact and     
,justice is1 may calculate that here is 
a ,governed  ,class who will listen4    
,and truly this first practical form of 
the ,sphinx-question1  inarticulately   
and so audibly put there1 is one of the 
most  impressive ever asked in the      
world4  ,behold us here1 so many        
thousands1 millions1 and increasing at  
the rate of fifty every  hour4  ,we are 
right willing and able to work2  and on 
the ,planet  ,earth is plenty of work   
and wages for a million times as many4  
,we ask1 ,if you mean to lead us towards
 work2  to try to lead us1  --by ways   
new1 never yet heard of till this new   
unheard-of ,time8  ,or if you declare   
that you cannot lead us8  ,and expect   
that we  are to remain quietly unled1   

and in a composed manner perish of      
starvation8  ,what is it you expect of  
us8  ,what is it you mean to  do with   
us8  ,this question1 ,i say1 has been   
put in the hearing  of all ,britain2    
and will be again put1 and ever again1  
till some  answer be given it4          
,unhappy ,workers1 unhappier ,idlers1   
unhappy men and women of this  actual   
,england6  ,we are yet very far from an 
answer1 and there  will be no existence 
for us without finding one4  ,a fair    
day's-wages for a fair day's-work3  it  
is as just a demand as  ,governed men   
ever made of ,governing4  ,it is the    
everlasting  right of man4              
,indisputable as ,gospels1 as           
arithmetical  multiplication-tables3  it
 must and will have itself fulfilled2   
--and yet1 in these times of ours1 with 
what enormous difficulty1  next-door to 
impossibility6  ,for the times are      
really strange2  of a complexity        
intricate with all the new width of the 
ever-widening world2  times here of     

half-frantic velocity of  impetus1 there
 of the deadest-looking stillness and   
paralysis2  times definable as shewing  
two qualities1 ,dilettantism and        
,mammonism2--most intricate obstructed  
times6  ,nay1 if there  were not a      
,heaven's radiance of justice1          
prophetic1 clearly  of ,heaven1         
discernible behind all these confused   
worldwide  entanglements1 of ,landlord  
interests1 ,manufacturing interests1    
,tory-,whig interests1 and who knows    
what other interests1  expediencies1    
vested interests1 established           
possessions1  inveterate ,dilettantisms1
 ,midas-eared ,mammonisms1--it would    
seem to everyone a flat impossibility1  
which all wise men  might as well at    
once abandon4  ,if you do not know      
eternal  justice from momentary         
,expediency1 and understand in your     
heart of hearts how justice1 radiant1   
beneficent1 as the  all-victorious      
,light-element1 is also in essence1 if  
need be1  an all-victorious             

,fire-element1 and melts all manner of  
vested  interests1 and the hardest iron 
cannon1 as if they were soft wax1  and  
does ever in the long-run rule and      
reign1 and allows nothing  else to rule 
and reign1--you also would talk of      
impossibility6  ,but it is only         
difficult1 it is not impossible4        
,possible8  ,it  is1 with whatever      
difficulty1 very clearly inevitable4    
,fair day's-wages for fair-day's-work6  
exclaims a sarcastic man2  alas1 in what
 corner of this ,planet1 since ,adam    
first awoke on  it1 was that ever       
realised8  ,the day's-wages of ,john    
,milton's  day's-work1 named ,paradise  
,lost and ,milton's ,works1 were ,ten   
,pounds paid by instalments1 and a      
rather close escape from death  on the  
gallows4  ,consider that3  it is no     
rhetorical flourish2  it is an          
authentic1 altogether quiet             
fact1--emblematic1 quietly  documentary 
of a whole world of such1 ever since    
human history  began4  ,oliver ,cromwell

 quitted his farming2  undertook a      
,hercules' ,labour and lifelong wrestle 
with that ,lernean  ,hydracoil1 wide as 
,england1 hissing heaven-high through   
its  thousand crowned1 coroneted1       
shovel-hatted quackheads2  and he  did  
wrestle with it1 the truest and         
terriblest wrestle ,i have  heard of2   
and he wrestled it1 and mowed and cut it
 down a good  many stages1 so that its  
hissing is ever since pitiful in        
comparison1 and one can walk abroad in  
comparative peace from  it2--and his    
wages1 as ,i understand1 were burial    
under the  gallows-tree near ,tyburn    
,turnpike1 with his head on the gable of
  ,westminster ,hall1 and two centuries 
now of mixed cursing and  ridicule from 
all manner of men4  ,his dust lies under
 the  ,edgeware ,road1 near ,tyburn     
,turnpike1 at this hour2  and his       
memory is--,nay1 what matters what his  
memory is8  ,his memory1 at  bottom1 is 
or yet shall be as that of a god3  a    
terror and horror  to all quacks and    

cowards and insincere persons2  an      
everlasting  encouragement1 new memento1
 battleword1 and pledge of victory to   
all the brave4  ,it is the natural      
course and history of the  ,godlike1 in 
every place1 in every time4  ,what god  
ever carried it  with the ,tenpound     
,franchisers2  in ,open ,vestry1 or with
 any  ,sanhedrim of considerable        
standing8  ,when was a god found        
agreeable to everybody8  ,the regular   
way is to hang1 kill1  crucify your     
gods1 and execrate and trample them     
under your  stupid hoofs for a century  
or two2  till you discover that they    
are gods1--and then take to braying over
 them1 still in a very  long-eared      
manner6--,so speaks the sarcastic man2  
in his wild  way1 very mournful truths4 
,day's-wages for day's-work8 continues  
he3  ,the ,progress of ,human  ,society 
consists even in this same4  ,the better
 and better  apportioning of wages to   
work4  ,give me this1 you have given me 
all4  ,pay to every man accurately what 

he has worked for1 what he  has earned  
and done and deserved1--to this man     
broad lands and  honours1 to that man   
high gibbets and treadmills3  what more 
have  ,i to ask8  ,heaven's ,kingdom1   
which we daily pray for1 has come2      
,god's will is done on ,earth even as it
 is in ,heaven6  ,this is  the radiance 
of celestial justice2  in the light or  
in the fire  of which all impediments1  
vested interests1 and iron cannon1 are  
more and more melting like wax1 and     
disappearing from  the pathways of men4 
,a thing ever struggling forward2       
irrepressible1 advancing inevitable2    
perfecting itself1 all  days1 more and  
more1--never to be perfect till that    
general  ,doomsday1 the ultimate        
,consummation1 and ,last of earthly     
,days4    ,true1 as to 'perfection' and 
so forth1 answer we2  true enough6  ,and
 yet withal we have to remark1 that     
imperfect ,human ,society  holds itself 
together1 and finds place under the     
,sun1 in virtue  simply of some         

approximation to perfection being       
actually made  and put in practice4  ,we
 remark farther1 that there are         
supportable approximations1 and then    
likewise insupportable4  ,with some1    
almost with any1 supportable            
approximation men are  apt1 perhaps too 
apt1 to rest indolently patient1 and    
say1 ,it  will do4  ,thus these poor    
,manchester manual workers mean only1 by
  day's-wages for day's-work1 certain   
coins of money adequate to  keep them   
living2--in return for their work1 such 
modicum of  food1 clothes and fuel as   
will enable them to continue their work 
itself6  ,they as yet clamour for no    
more2  the rest1 still  inarticulate1   
cannot yet shape itself into a demand at
 all1 and  only lies in them as a dumb  
wish2  perhaps only1 still more         
inarticulate1 as a dumb1 altogether     
unconscious want4  ,this is  the        
supportable approximation they would    
rest patient with1 ,that  by their work 
they might be kept alive to work        

more6--,this once  grown unattainable1  
,i think1 your approximation may        
consider  itself to have reached the    
insupportable stage2  and may prepare1  
with whatever difficulty1 reluctance and
 astonishment1 for one of  two things1  
for changing or perishing6  ,with the   
millions no  longer able to live1 how   
can the units keep living8  ,it is too  
clear the ,nation itself is on the way  
to suicidal death4    ,shall we say     
then1 ,the world has retrograded in its 
talent of  apportioning wages to work1  
in late days8  ,the world had always a  
talent of that sort1 better or worse4   
,time was when the mere  handworker     
needed not announce his claim to the    
world by  ,manchester                   
,insurrections6--,the world1 with its   
,wealth of ,nations1  ,supply-and-demand
 and such like1 has of late days been   
terribly  inattentive to that question  
of work and wages4  ,we will not say1   
the poor world has retrograded even     
here3  we will say rather1  the world   

has been rushing on with such fiery     
animation to get  work and ever more    
work done1 it has had no time to think  
of  dividing the wages2 and has merely  
left them to be scrambled for  by the   
,law of the ,stronger1 law of           
,supply-and-demand1 law of              
,laissez-faire1 and other idle ,laws and
 ,un-laws1--saying1 in its  dire haste  
to get the work done1 ,that is well     
enough6    ,and now the world will have 
to pause a little1 and take up that     
other side of the problem1 and in right 
earnest strive for some  solution of    
that4  ,for it has become pressing4     
,what is the use  of your spun shirts8  
,they hang there by the million         
unsaleable2  and here1 by the million1  
are diligent bare backs that can get no 
hold of them4  ,shirts are useful for   
covering human backs2  useless          
otherwise1 an unbearable mockery        
otherwise4  ,you have  fallen terribly  
behind with that side of the problem6   
,manchester  ,insurrections1 ,french    

,revolutions1 and thousandfold phenomena
  great and small1 announce loudly that 
you must bring it forward a  little     
again4  ,never till now1 in the history 
of an ,earth which  to this hour nowhere
 refuses to grow corn if you will plough
 it1  to yield shirts if you will spin  
and weave in it1 did the mere  manual   
two-handed worker 7however it might fare
 with other  workers7 cry in vain for   
such wages as he means by fair  wages1  
namely food and warmth6  ,the ,godlike  
could not and cannot  be paid2  but the 
,earthly always could4  ,gurth1 a mere  
swineherd1  born thrall of ,cedric the  
,saxon1 tended pigs in the wood1 and did
  get some parings of the pork4  ,why1  
the four-footed worker has  already got 
all that this two-handed one is         
clamouring for6  ,how  often must ,i    
remind you8  ,there is not a horse in   
,england1 able  and willing to work1 but
 has due food and lodging2  and goes    
about sleek-coated1 satisfied in heart4 
,and you say1 ,it is  impossible4       

,brothers1 ,i answer1 if for you it be  
impossible1  what is to become of you8  
,it is impossible for us to believe it  
to be impossible4  ,the human brain1    
looking at these sleek  ,english horses1
 refuses to believe in such             
impossibility for  ,english men4  ,do   
you depart quickly2  clear the ways     
soon1 lest  worse befall4  ,we for our  
share do purpose1 with full view of the 
enormous difficulty1 with total         
disbelief in the impossibility1  to     
endeavour while life is in us1 and to   
die endeavouring1 we and  our sons1 till
 we attain it or have all died and      
ended4    ,such a ,platitude of a       
,world1 in which all working horses     
could be  well fed1 and innumerable     
working men should die starved1 were it 
not best to end it2  to have done with  
it1 and restore it once  for all to the 
,jotuns1 ,mud-giants1 ,frost-giants and 
,chaotic  ,brute-gods of the ,beginning8
  ,for the old ,anarchic ,brute-gods it 
may be well enough1 but it is a         

,platitude which ,men should be  above  
countenancing by their presence in it4  
,we pray you1 let  the word impossible  
disappear from your vocabulary in this  
matter4  ,it is of awful omen2  to all  
of us1 and to yourselves  first of all4 
,chapter ,,iv    ,morrison's ,pill      
,what is to be done1 what would you have
 us do8 asks many a one1  with a tone of
 impatience1 almost of reproach2  and   
then1 if you  mention some one thing1   
some two things1 twenty things that     
might  be done1 turns round with a      
satirical tehee1 and1 ,these are your   
remedies6  ,the state of mind indicated 
by such question1 and  such rejoinder1  
is worth reflecting on4    ,it seems to 
be taken for granted1 by these          
interrogative  philosophers1 that there 
is some 'thing1' or handful of 'things1'
  which could be done2  some ,act of    
,parliament1 'remedial measure  or the  
like1 which could be passed1 whereby the
 social malady  were fairly fronted1    
conquered1 put an end to2  so that1 with

  your remedial measure in your pocket1 
you could then go on  triumphant1 and be
 troubled no farther4  ,you tell us the 
evil1  cry such persons1 as if justly   
aggrieved1 and do not tell us how  it is
 to be cured6    ,how it is to be cured8
  ,brothers1 ,i am sorry ,i have got  no
 ,morrison's ,pill for curing the       
maladies of ,society4  ,it  were        
infinitely handier if we had a          
,morrison's ,pill1 ,act of  ,parliament1
 or remedial measure1 which men could   
swallow1 one  good time1 and then go on 
in their old courses1 cleared from all  
miseries and mischiefs6  ,unluckily we  
have none such2  unluckily  the ,heavens
 themselves1 in their rich              
pharmacopoeia1 contain none  such4      
,there will no 'thing' be done that will
 cure you4  ,there  will a radical      
universal alteration of your regimen and
 way of  life take place2  there will a 
most agonising divorce between you  and 
your chimeras1 luxuries and falsities1  
take place2  a most  toilsome1 all but  

'impossible' return to ,nature1 and her 
veracities1 and her integrities1 take   
place3  that so the inner  fountains of 
life may again begin1 like eternal      
,light-fountains1  to irradiate and     
purify your bloated1 swollen1 foul      
existence1  drawing nigh1 as at present1
 to nameless death6  ,either death or   
else all this will take place4  ,judge  
if1 with such diagnosis1  any           
,morrison's ,pill is like to be         
discoverable6    ,but the ,life-fountain
 within you once again set flowing1     
what innumerable 'things1' whole sets   
and classes and continents  of 'things1'
 year after year1 and decade after      
decade1 and  century after century1 will
 then be doable and done6  ,not         
,emigration1 ,education1 ,corn-,law     
,abrogation1 ,sanitary ,regulation1     
,land ,property-,tax2  not these alone1 
nor a thousand times as much  as these4 
,good ,heavens1 there will then be light
 in the inner  heart of here and there a
 man1 to discern what is just1 what is  

commanded by the ,most ,high ,god1 what 
must be done1 were it  never so         
'impossible4'  ,vain jargon in favour of
 the palpably  unjust will then abridge 
itself within limits4  ,vain jargon1 on 
,hustings1 in ,parliaments or wherever  
else1 when here and there a  man has    
vision for the essential ,god's-,truth  
of the things  jargoned of1 will become 
very vain indeed4  ,the silence of here 
and there such a man1 how eloquent in   
answer to such jargon6  ,such jargon1   
frightened at its own gaunt echo1 will  
unspeakably  abate2  nay1 for a while1  
may almost in a manner disappear1--the  
wise answering it in silence1 and even  
the simple taking cue from  them to hoot
 it down wherever heard4  ,it will be a 
blessed time2  and many 'things' will   
become doable1--and when the brains are 
out1 an absurdity will die6  ,not easily
 again shall a ,corn-,law  argue ten    
years for itself2  and still talk and   
argue1 when  impartial persons have to  
say with a sigh that1 for so long back1 

they have heard no 'argument' advanced  
for it but such as might  make the      
angels and almost the very jackasses    
weep6--    ,wholly a blessed time3  when
 jargon might abate1 and here and  there
 some genuine speech begin4  ,when to   
the noble opened heart1  as to such     
heart they alone do1 all noble things   
began to grow  visible2  and the        
difference between just and unjust1     
between  true and false1 between work   
and sham-work1 between speech and       
jargon1 was once more1 what to our      
happier ,fathers it used to be1         
infinite1--as between a ,heavenly thing 
and an ,infernal3  the  one a thing     
which you were not to do1 which you were
 wise not  to attempt doing2  which it  
were better for you to have a  millstone
 tied round your neck1 and be cast into 
the sea1 than  concern yourself with    
doing6--,brothers1 it will not be a     
,morrison's ,pill1 or remedial measure1 
that will bring all this  about for us4 
,and yet1 very literally1 till1 in some 

shape or other1 it be  brought about1 we
 remain cureless2  till it begin to be  
brought  about1 the cure does not begin4
  ,for ,nature and ,fact1 not ,redtape  
and ,semblance1 are to this hour the    
basis of man's life2  and on  those1    
through never such strata of these1 man 
and his life and  all his interests do1 
sooner or later1 infallibly come to     
rest1--  and to be supported or be      
swallowed according as they agree with  
those4  ,the question is asked of them1 
not1 ,how do you agree with             
,downing-streets and accredited         
,semblance8 but1 ,how do you agree  with
 ,god's ,universe and the actual        
,reality of things8  ,this  ,universe   
has its ,laws4  ,if we walk according to
 the ,law1 the  ,law-,maker will        
befriend us2  if not1 not4  ,alas1 by no
 ,reform  ,bill1 ,ballot-box1           
,five-point ,charter1 by no boxes or    
bills or  charters1 can you perform this
 alchemy3  ',given a world of ,knaves   
to produce an ,honesty from their united

 action6'  ,it is a  distillation1 once 
for all1 not possible4  ,you pass it    
through  alembic after alembic1 it comes
 out still a ,dishonesty1 with a  new   
dress on it1 a new colour to it4        
',while we ourselves  continue valets1  
how can any hero come to govern us8'    
,we are  governed1 very infallibly1 by  
the 'sham-hero1'--whose name is  ,quack1
 whose work and governance is           
,plausibility1 and also is  ,falsity and
 ,fatuity2  to which ,nature says1 and  
must say when it  comes to her to speak1
 eternally ,no6  ,nations cease to be   
befriended of the ,law-,maker1 when they
 walk not according to  the ,law4  ,the 
,sphinx-question remains unsolved by    
them1 becomes  ever more insoluble4     
,if thou ask again1 therefore1 on the   
,morrison's-,pill hypothesis1  ,what is 
to be done8 allow me to reply3  ,by     
thee1 for the present1  almost nothing4 
,thou there1 the thing for thee to do   
is1 if  possible1 to cease to be a      
hollow sounding-shell of hearsays1      

egoisms1 purblind dilettantisms2  and   
become1 were it on the  infinitely small
 scale1 a faithful discerning soul4     
,thou shalt  descend into thy inner man1
 and see if there be any traces of a    
soul there2  till then there can be     
nothing done6  ,o brother1  we must if  
possible resuscitate some soul and      
conscience in us1  exchange our         
dilettantisms for sincerities1 our dead 
hearts of  stone for living hearts of   
flesh4  ,then shall we discern1 not one 
thing1 but1 in clearer or dimmer        
sequence1 a whole endless host  of      
things that can be done4  ,do the first 
of these2  do it2  the second will      
already have become clearer1 doabler2   
the  second1 third and three-thousandth 
will then have begun to be  possible for
 us4  ,not any universal ,morrison's    
,pill shall we  then1 either as         
swallowers or as venders1 ask after at  
all2  but  a far different sort of      
remedies3  ,quacks shall no more have   
dominion over us1 but true ,heroes and  

,healers6      ,will not that be a thing
 worthy of 'doing2'  to deliver         
ourselves  from quacks1 sham-heroes2  to
 deliver the whole world more and  more 
from such8  ,they are the one bane of   
the world4  ,once clear  the world of   
them1 it ceases to be a ,devil's-world1 
in all fibres  of it wretched1 accursed2
  and begins to be a ,god's-world1      
blessed1 and working hourly towards     
blessedness4  ,thou for one  wilt not   
again vote for any quack1 do honour to  
any edge-gilt  vacuity in man's shape3  
cant shall be known to thee by the sound
  of it2--thou wilt fly from cant with a
 shudder never felt before2  as from the
 opened litany of ,sorcerers' ,sabbaths1
 the true ,devil-  worship of this age1 
more horrible than any other blasphemy1 
profanity or genuine blackguardism      
elsewhere audible among men4  ,it is    
alarming to witness1--in its present    
completed state6  ,and  ,quack and      
,dupe1 as we must ever keep in mind1 are
 upper-side and  under of the selfsame  

substance2  convertible personages3     
turn  up your dupe into the proper      
fostering element1 and he  himself can  
become a quack2  there is in him the due
 prurient  insincerity1 open voracity   
for profit1 and closed sense for  truth1
 whereof quacks too1 in all their kinds1
 are made4    ,alas1 it is not to the   
hero1 it is to the sham-hero that1 of   
right and necessity1 the valet-world    
belongs4  ',what is to be  done8'  ,the 
reader sees whether it is like to be the
 seeking and  swallowing of some        
'remedial measure6'          ,chapter ,v
    ,aristocracy of ,talent      ,when  
an individual is miserable1 what does it
 most of all behove  him to do8  ,to    
complain of this man or of that1 of this
 thing or  of that8  ,to fill the world 
and the street with lamentation1        
objurgation8  ,not so at all2  the      
reverse of so4  ,all moralists  advise  
him not to complain of any person or of 
any thing1 but of  himself only4  ,he is
 to know of a truth that being miserable

 he  has been unwise1 he4  ,had he      
faithfully followed ,nature and her     
,laws1 ,nature1 ever true to her ,laws1 
would have yielded fruit and  increase  
and felicity to him3  but he has        
followed other than  ,nature's ,laws2   
and now ,nature1 her patience with him  
being  ended1 leaves him desolate2      
answers with very emphatic  significance
 to him3  ,no4  ,not by this road1 my   
son2  by another  road shalt thou attain
 well-being3  this1 thou perceivest is  
the  road to ill-being2  quit this6--,so
 do all moralists advise3  that  the man
 penitently say to himself first of all1
 ,behold ,i was not  wise enough2  ,i   
quitted the laws of ,fact1 which are    
also called  the ,laws of ,god1 and     
mistook for them the laws of ,sham and  
,semblance1 which are called the        
,devil's ,laws2  therefore  am ,i here6 
,neither with ,nations that become      
miserable is it fundamentally           
otherwise4  ,the ancient guides of      
,nations1 ,prophets1 ,priests1 or       

whatever their name1 were well aware of 
this2  and1 down to a  late epoch1      
impressively taught and inculcated it4  
,the modern  guides of ,nations1 who    
also go under a great variety of names1 
journalists1 ,political ,economists1    
,politicians1 ,pamphleteers1  have      
entirely forgotten this1 and are ready  
to deny this4  ,but it  nevertheless    
remains eternally undeniable3  nor is   
there any  doubt but we shall all be    
taught it yet1 and made again to        
confess it3  we shall all be striped and
 scourged till we do  learn it2  and    
shall at last either get to know it1 or 
be striped  to death in the process4    
,for it is undeniable6  ,when a ,nation 
is  unhappy1 the old ,prophet was right 
and not wrong in saying to it3  ,ye have
 forgotten ,god1 ye have quitted the    
ways of ,god1 or ye  would not have been
 unhappy4  ,it is not according to the  
laws of  ,fact that ye have lived and   
guided yourselves1 but according to  the
 laws of ,delusion1 ,imposture1 and     

wilful and unwilful  ,mistake of ,fact2 
behold therefore the ,unveracity is worn
 out2  ,nature's long-suffering with you
 is exhausted2  and ye are here6        
,surely there is nothing very           
inconceivable in this1 even to the      
,journalist1 to the ,political          
,economist1 ,modern ,pamphleteer1 or    
any two-legged animal without feathers6 
,if a country finds  itself wretched1   
sure enough that country has been       
misguided3  it is with the wretched     
,twenty-seven ,millions1 fallen         
wretched1  as with the ,unit fallen     
wretched3  they as he have quitted the  
course prescribed by ,nature and the    
,supreme ,powers1 and so are  fallen    
into scarcity1 disaster1 infelicity2    
and pausing to  consider themselves1    
have to lament and say1 ,alas1 we were  
not  wise enough4  ,we took transient   
superficial ,semblance for  everlasting 
central ,substance2  we have departed   
far away from  the ,laws of this        
,universe1 and behold now lawless ,chaos

 and  inane ,chimera is ready to devour 
us6--',nature in late centuries1'  says 
,sauerteig1 'was universally supposed to
 be dead2  an old  eight-day clock1 made
 many thousand years ago1 and still     
ticking1  but dead as brass1--which the 
,maker1 at most1 sat looking at1 in  a  
distant1 singular1 and indeed incredible
 manner3  but now ,i am  happy to       
observe1 she is everywhere asserting    
herself to be not  dead and brass at    
all1 but alive and miraculous1          
celestial-  infernal1 with an emphasis  
that will again penetrate the thickest  
head of this ,planet by and by6--       
,indisputable enough to all mortals now1
 the guidance of this  country has not  
been sufficiently wise3  men too foolish
 have  been set to the guiding and      
governing of it1 and have guided it     
hither2  we must find wiser1--wiser1 or 
else we perish6  ,to  this length of    
insight all ,england has now advanced2  
but as yet  no farther4  ,all ,england  
stands wringing its hands1 asking       

itself1 nigh desperate1 ,what farther8  
,reform ,bill proves to be a  failure2  
,benthamee ,radicalism1 the gospel of   
',enlightened  ,selfishness1' dies out1 
or dwindles into ,five-point ,chartism1 
amid the tears and hootings of men3     
what next are we to hope or  try8       
,five-point ,charter1 ,freetrade2       
,church-extension1 ,sliding-  scale2    
what1 in ,heaven's name1 are we next to 
attempt1 that we  sink not in inane     
,chimera1 and be devoured of            
,chaos8--,the case is  pressing1 and one
 of the most complicated in the world4  
,a ,god's-  message never came to       
thicker-skinned people2  never had a    
,god's-  message to pierce through      
thicker integuments1 into heavier ears4 
,it is ,fact1 speaking once more1 in    
miraculous thunder-voice1 from  out of  
the centre of the world2--how unknown   
its language to the  deaf and foolish   
many2  how distinct1 undeniable1        
terrible and  yet beneficent1 to the    
hearing few3  ,behold1 ye shall grow    

wiser1  or ye shall die6  ,truer to     
,nature's ,fact1 or inane ,chimera will 
swallow you2  in whirlwinds of fire1 you
 and your ,mammonisms1  ,dilettantisms1 
your ,midas-eared philosophies1         
double-barreled  ,aristocracies1 shall  
disappear6--,such is the ,god's-message 
to  us1 once more2 in these modern days4
    ,we must have more ,wisdom to govern
 us1 we must be governed by the         
,wisest1 we must have an ,aristocracy of
 ,talent6 cry many4  ,true1  most true2 
but how to get it8  ,the following      
extract from our  young friend of the   
,houndsditch ,indicator is worth        
perusing3  ',at this time1' says he1    
'while there is a cry everywhere1       
articulate or inarticulate1 for an      
,aristocracy of ,talent1 a  ,governing  
,class namely which did govern1 not     
merely which took  the wages of         
governing1 and could not with all our   
industry be  kept from misgoverning1    
corn-lawing1 and playing the very deuce 
with us1--it may not be altogether      

useless to remind some of the           
greener-headed sort what a dreadfully   
difficult affair the  getting of such an
 ,aristocracy is6  ,do you expect1 my   
friends1  that your indispensable       
,aristocracy of ,talent is to be        
enlisted  straightway1 by some sort of  
recruitment aforethought1 out of the    
general population2  arranged in supreme
 regimental order2  and  set to rule    
over us8  ,that it will be got sifted1  
like wheat out  of chaff1 from the      
,twenty-seven ,million ,british         
subjects2  that  any ,ballot-box1       
,reform ,bill1 or other ,political      
,machine1 with  ,force of ,public       
,opinion never so active on it1 is      
likely to  perform said process of      
sifting8  ,would to ,heaven that we had 
a  sieve2  that we could so much as     
fancy any kind of sieve1 wind-  fanners1
 or ne-plus-ultra of machinery1         
devisable by man1 that  would do it6    
',done nevertheless1 sure enough1 it    
must be2  it shall and will  be4  ,we   

are rushing swiftly on the road to      
destruction2  every  hour bringing us   
nearer1 until it be1 in some measure1   
done4  ,the  doing of it is not         
doubtful2  only the method and the      
costs6  ,nay  ,i will even mention to   
you an infallible sifting-process       
whereby  he that has ability will be    
sifted out to rule among us1 and that   
same blessed ,aristocracy of ,talent be 
verily1 in an approximate  degree1      
vouchsafed us by and by3  an infallible 
sifting-process2  to which1 however1 no 
soul can help his neighbour1 but each   
must1  with devout prayer to ,heaven1   
endeavour to help himself4  ,it is1  ,o 
friends1 that all of us1 that many of   
us1 should acquire the  true eye for    
talent1 which is dreadfully wanting at  
present6  ,the  true eye for talent     
presupposes the true reverence for      
it1--,o  ,heavens1 presupposes so many  
things6    ',for example1 you ,bobus    
,higgins1 ,sausage-maker on the great   
scale1 who are raising such a clamour   

for this ,aristocracy of  ,talent1 what 
is it that you do1 in that big heart of 
yours1  chiefly in very fact pay        
reverence to8  ,is it to talent1        
intrinsic manly worth of any kind1 you  
unfortunate ,bobus8  ,the  manliest man 
that you saw going in a ragged coat1 did
 you ever  reverence him2  did you so   
much as know that he was a manly man  at
 all1 till his coat grew better8        
,talent6  ,i understand you to  be able 
to worship the fame of talent1 the      
power1 cash1 celebrity  or other success
 of talent2  but the talent itself is a 
thing you  never saw with eyes4  ,nay   
what is it in yourself that you  are    
proudest of1 that you take most pleasure
 in surveying  meditatively in          
thoughtful moments8  ,speak now1 is it  
the bare  ,bobus stript of his very name
 and shirt1 and turned loose upon       
society1 that you admire and thank      
,heaven for2  or ,bobus with  his       
cash-accounts and larders dropping      
fatness1 with his  respectabilities1    

warm garnitures1 and pony-chaise1       
admirable in  some measure to certain of
 the flunkey species8  ,your own degree 
of worth and talent1 is it of infinite  
value to you2  or only  of              
finite1--measurable by the degree of    
currency1 and conquest of  praise or    
pudding1 it has brought you to8  ,bobus1
 you are in a  vicious circle1 rounder  
than one of your own sausages2  and will
  never vote for or promote any talent1 
except what talent or sham-  talent has 
already got itself voted for6'--,we here
 cut short  the ,indicator2 all readers 
perceiving whither he now tends4        
',more ,wisdom' indeed3  but where to   
find more ,wisdom8  ,we have  already a 
,collective ,wisdom1 after its          
kind1--though 'class-  legislation1' and
 another thing or two1 affect it        
somewhat6  ,on  the whole1 as they say1 
,like people like priest2  so we may    
say1  ,like people like king4  ,the man 
gets himself appointed and  elected who 
is ablest--to be appointed and elected4 

,what can the  incorruptiblest ,bobuses 
elect1 if it be not some ,bobissimus1   
should they find such8    ,or1 again1   
perhaps there is not1 in the whole      
,nation1 ,wisdom  enough1 'collect' it  
as we may1 to make an adequate          
,collective6  ,that too is a case which 
may befall3  a ruined man staggers down 
to ruin because there was not wisdom    
enough in him2  so1 clearly  also1 may  
,twenty-seven ,million collective       
men6--,but indeed one of  the           
infalliblest fruits of ,unwisdom in a   
,nation is that it cannot  get the use  
of what ,wisdom is actually in it3  that
 it is not  governed by the wisest it   
has1 who alone have a divine right to   
govern in all ,nations2  but by the     
sham-wisest1 or even by the  openly     
not-so-wise if they are handiest        
otherwise6  ,this is the  infalliblest  
result of ,unwisdom2  and also the      
balefullest1  immeasurablest1--not so   
much what we can call a poison-fruit1   
as a universal death-disease1 and       

poisoning of the whole tree4  ,for      
hereby are fostered1 fed into gigantic  
bulk1 all manner of  ,unwisdoms1        
poison-fruits2  till1 as we say1 the    
life-tree  everywhere is made a         
upas-tree1 deadly ,unwisdom             
overshadowing all  things2  and there is
 done what lies in human skill to stifle
 all  ,wisdom everywhere in the birth1  
to smite our poor world barren of       
,wisdom1--and make your utmost          
,collective ,wisdom1 were it  collected 
and elected by ,rhadamanthus1 ,a,eacus  
and ,minos1 not to  speak of drunken    
,tenpound ,franchisers with their       
ballot-boxes1 an  inadequate            
,collective6  ,the ,wisdom is not now   
there3  how will  you 'collect' it8  ,as
 well wash ,thames mud1 by improved     
methods1  to find more gold in it4      
,truly1 the first condition is          
indispensable1 ,that ,wisdom be  there3 
but the second is like unto it1 is      
properly one with it3  these two        
conditions act and react through every  

fibre of them1  and go inseparably      
together4  ,if you have much ,wisdom in 
your  ,nation1 you will get it          
faithfully collected2  for the wise love
  ,wisdom1 and will search for it as for
 life and salvation4  ,if you  have     
little ,wisdom1 you will get even that  
little ill-collected1  trampled under   
foot1 reduced as near as possible to    
annihilation2  for fools do not love    
,wisdom2  they are foolish1 first of    
all1  because they have never loved     
,wisdom1--but have loved their own      
appetites1 ambitions1 their coroneted   
coaches1 tankards of heavy-  wet4  ,thus
 is your candle lighted at both ends1   
and the progress  towards consummation  
is swift4  ,thus is fulfilled that      
saying in  the ,gospel3  ,to him that   
hath shall be given2  and from him that 
hath not shall be taken away even that  
which he hath4  ,very  literally1 in a  
very fatal manner1 that saying is here  
fulfilled4    ,our ',aristocracy of     
,talent' seems at a considerable        

distance yet2  does it not1 ,o ,bobus8  
,chapter ,,vi    ,hero-,worship      ,to
 the present ,editor1 not less than to  
,bobus1 a ,government of  the ,wisest1  
what ,bobus calls an ,aristocracy of    
,talent1 seems the  one healing remedy3 
but he is not so sanguine as ,bobus with
  respect to the means of realizing it4 
,he thinks that we have at  once missed 
realising it1 and come to need it so    
pressingly1  by departing far from the  
inner eternal ,laws and taking up  with 
the temporary outer semblances of ,laws4
  ,he thinks that  'enlightened         
,egoism1' never so luminous1 is not the 
rule by  which man's life can be led4   
,that ',laissez-faire1' ',supply-and-   
demand1' ',cash-payment for the sole    
nexus1' and so forth1 were  not1 are    
not1 and will never be1 a practicable   
,law of ,union for a  ,society of ,men4 
,that ,poor and ,rich1 that ,governed   
and ,governing1  cannot long live       
together on any such ,law of ,union4    
,alas1 he  thinks that man has a soul in

 him1 different from the stomach  in any
 sense of this word2  that if said soul 
be asphyxied1 and  lie quietly          
forgotten1 the man and his affairs are  
in a bad way4  ,he thinks that said soul
 will have to be resuscitated from its  
asphyxia2  that if it prove             
irresuscitable1 the man is not long  for
 this world4  ,in brief1 that           
,midas-eared ,mammonism1 double-        
barreled ,dilettantism1 and their       
thousand adjuncts and corollaries1  are 
not the ,law by which ,god ,almighty has
 appointed this his  ,universe to go4   
,that1 once for all1 these are not the  
,law3  and then farther that we shall   
have to return to what is  the          
,law1--not by smooth flowery paths1 it  
is like1 and with  'tremendous cheers'  
in our throat2  but over steep untrodden
  places1 through stormclad chasms1     
waste oceans1 and the bosom of          
tornadoes2  thank ,heaven1 if not       
through very ,chaos and the  ,abyss6    
,the resuscitating of a soul that has   

gone to asphyxia is  no momentary or    
pleasant process1 but a long and        
terrible one4      ,to the present      
,editor ',hero-worship1' as he has      
elsewhere named  it1 means much more    
than an elected ,parliament1 or stated  
,aristocracy1 of the ,wisest2  for1 in  
his dialect1 it is the  summary1        
ultimate essence1 and supreme practical 
perfection of  all manner of 'worship1' 
and true worships and noblenesses       
whatsoever4  ,such  blessed  ,parliament
 and1 were it once in  perfection1      
blessed ,aristocracy of the ,wisest1    
god-honoured and  man-honoured1 he does 
look for1 more and more perfected1--as  
the  topmost blessed practical apex of a
 whole world reformed from              
sham-worship1 informed anew with        
worship1 with truth and  blessedness6   
,he thinks that ,hero-worship1 done     
differently in  every different epoch of
 the world1 is the soul of all social   
business among men2  that the doing of  
it well1 or the doing of  it ill1       

measures accurately what degree of      
well-being or of ill-  being there is in
 the world's affairs4  ,he thinks that  
we1 on the  whole1 do our ,hero-worship 
worse than any ,nation in this world    
ever did it before3  that the ,burns an 
,exciseman1 the ,byron a  ,literary     
,lion1 are intrinsically1 all things    
considered1 a baser  and falser         
phenomenon than the ,odin a ,god1 the   
,mahomet a ,prophet  of ,god4  ,it is   
this ,editor's clear opinion1           
accordingly1 that we  must learn to do  
our ,hero-worship better2  that to do it
 better  and better1 means the awakening
 of the ,nation's soul from its         
asphyxia1 and the return of blessed life
 to us1--,heaven's blessed  life1 not   
,mammon's galvanic accursed one4  ,to   
resuscitate the  ,asphyxied1 apparently 
now moribund1 and in the last agony if  
not  resuscitated3  such and no other   
seems the consummation4                 
',hero-worship1' if you will1--yes1     
friends2  but1 first of all1  by being  

ourselves of heroic mind4  ,a whole     
world of ,heroes2  a  world not of      
,flunkeys1 where no ,hero-,king can     
reign3  that is  what we aim at6  ,we1  
for our share1 will put away all        
,flunkeyism1  ,baseness1 ,unveracity    
from us2  we shall then hope to have    
,noblenesses and ,veracities set over   
us2  never till then4  ,let  ,bobus and 
,company sneer1 ,that is your ,reform6  
,yes1 ,bobus1 that  is our ,reform2  and
 except in that1 and what will follow   
out of  that1 we have no hope at all4   
,reform1 like ,charity1 ,o ,bobus1  must
 begin at home4  ,once well at home1 how
 will it radiate  outwards1             
irrepressible1 into all that we touch   
and handle1 speak  and work2  kindling  
ever new light1 by incalculable         
contagion1  spreading in geometric      
ratio1 far and wide1--doing good only1  
wheresoever it spreads1 and not evil4   
,by ,reform ,bills1 ,anti-,corn-,law    
,bills1 and thousand other bills  and   
methods1 we will demand of our          

,governors1 with emphasis1 and  for the 
first time not without effect1 that they
 cease to be  quacks1 or else depart2   
that they set no quackeries and         
blockheadisms anywhere to rule over us1 
that they utter or act no  cant to      
us1--that it will be better if they do  
not4  ,for we shall  now know quacks    
when we see them2  cant1 when we hear   
it1 shall  be horrible to us6  ,we will 
say1 with the poor ,frenchman at the    
,bar of the ,convention1 though in wiser
 style than he1 and 'for  the space' not
 'of an hour' but of a lifetime3  ,je   
demande  l'arrestation des coquins et   
des laches4  ',arrestment of the  knaves
 and dastards3'  ah1 we know what a work
 that is2  how long  it will be before  
they are all or mostly got              
'arrested3'--but  here is one2  arrest  
him1 in ,god's name2  it is one fewer6  
,we  will1 in all practicable ways1 by  
word and silence1 by act  and refusal to
 act1 energetically demand              
arrestment1--le  demande cette          

arrestation-la6--and by degrees         
infallibly  attain it4  ,infallibly3    
for light spreads2  all human  souls1   
never so bedarkened1 love light2  light 
once kindled  spreads1 till all is      
luminous2--till the cry1 ,arrest your   
knaves and dastards rises imperative    
from millions of hearts1 and  rings and 
reigns from sea to sea4  ,nay1 how many 
of them may we  not 'arrest' with our   
own hands1 even now2  we6  ,do not      
countenance them1 thou there3  turn away
 from their lackered  sumptuosities1    
their belauded sophistries1 their       
serpent  graciosities1 their spoken and 
acted cant1 with a sacred horror1  with 
an ,apage ,satanas4--,bobus and         
,company1 and all men will  gradually   
join us4  ,we demand arrestment of the  
knaves and  dastards1 and begin by      
arresting our own poor selves out of    
that  fraternity4  ,there is no other   
reform conceivable4  ,thou and ,i1  my  
friend1 can1 in the most flunkey world1 
make1 each of us1  one non-flunkey1 one 

hero1 if we like3  that will be two     
heroes  to begin with3--,courage6 even  
that is a whole world of heroes to  end 
with1 or what we poor ,two can do in    
furtherance thereof6    ,yes1 friends3  
,hero-kings and a whole world not       
unheroic1 there  lies the port and happy
 haven1 towards which1 through all these
  stormtost seas1 ,french ,revolutions1 
,chartisms1 ,manchester  ,insurrections1
 that make the heart sick in these bad  
days1 the  ,supreme ,powers are driving 
us4  ,on the whole1 blessed be the      
,supreme ,powers1 stern as they are6    
,towards that haven will we1 ,o         
friends2  let all true men1 with what of
 faculty is in them1 bend  valiantly1   
incessantly1 with thousandfold          
endeavour1 thither1  thither6  ,there1  
or else in the ,ocean-abysses1 it is    
very clear  to me1 we shall arrive4     
,well2  here truly is no answer to the  
,sphinx-question2  not the  answer a    
disconsolate ,public1 inquiring at the  
,college of ,health1  was in hopes of6  

,a total change of regimen1 change of   
constitution  and existence from the    
very centre of it2  a new body to be    
got1  with resuscitated soul1--not      
without convulsive travail-throes2  as  
all birth and new-birth presupposes     
travail6  ,this is sad news  to a       
disconsolate discerning ,public1 hoping 
to have got off by  some ,morrison's    
,pill1 some ,saint-,john's corrosive    
mixtures and  perhaps a little blistery 
friction on the back6--,we were prepared
  to part with our ,corn-,law1 with     
various ,laws and ,unlaws3  but  this1  
what is this8    ,nor has the ,editor   
forgotten how it fares with your        
ill-boding  ,cassandras in ,sieges of   
,troy4  ,imminent perdition is not      
usually  driven away by words of        
warning4  ,didactic ,destiny has other  
methods in store2  or these would fail  
always4  ,such words  should1           
nevertheless1 be uttered1 when they     
dwell truly in the  soul of any man4    
,words are hard1 are importunate2  but  

how much  harder the importunate events 
they foreshadow6  ,here and there a     
human soul may listen to the words1--who
 knows how many human  souls8 whereby   
the importunate events1 if not diverted 
and  prevented1 will be rendered less   
hard4  ,the present ,editor's  purpose  
is to himself full of hope4    ,for     
though fierce travails1 though wide seas
 and roaring gulfs  lie before us1 is it
 not something if a ,loadstar1 in the   
eternal  sky1 do once more disclose     
itself2  an everlasting light1 shining  
through all cloud-tempests and roaring  
billows1 ever as we emerge  from the    
trough of the sea3  the blessed beacon1 
far off on the  edge of far horizons1   
towards which we are to steer           
incessantly  for life8  ,is it not      
something2  ,o ,heavens1 is it not all8 
,there  lies the ,heroic ,promised      
,land2  under that ,heaven's-light1 my  
brethren1 bloom the ,happy              
,isles1--there1 ,o there6  ,thither     
will we2         ,there dwells the great

 ,achilles whom we knew499              
-------------  99 ,tennyson's ,poems    
7,ulysses7  -----------    ,there dwell 
all ,heroes1 and will dwell3  thither1  
all ye heroic-  minded6--,the ,heaven's 
,loadstar once clearly in our eye1 how  
will  each true man stand truly to his  
work in the ship2  how1 with  undying   
hope1 will all things be fronted1 all be
 conquered4  ,nay1  with the ship's prow
 once turned in that direction1 is not  
all1  as it were1 already well8  ,sick  
wasting misery has become noble  manful 
effort with a goal in our eye4  ',the   
choking ,nightmare  chokes us no longer2
  for we stir under it2  the ,nightmare 
has  already fled4'--    ,certainly1    
could the present ,editor instruct men  
how to know  ,wisdom1 ,heroism1 when    
they see it1 that they might do         
reverence  to it only1 and loyally make 
it ruler over them1--yes1 he were  the  
living epitome of all ,editors1         
,teachers1 ,prophets1 that  now teach   
and prophesy2  he were an               

,apollo-,morrison1 a  ,trismegistus6 and
 effective ,cassandra6  ,let no ,able   
,editor hope  such things4  ,it is to be
 expected the present laws of copyright1
  rate of reward per sheet1 and other   
considerations1 will save him  from that
 peril4  ,let no ,editor hope such      
things3  no2--and yet  let all ,editors 
aim towards such things1 and even       
towards such  alone6  ,one knows not    
what the meaning of editing and writing 
is1  if even this be not it4    ,enough1
 to the present ,editor it has seemed   
possible some  glimmering of light1 for 
here and there a human soul1 might lie  
in these confused ,paper-,masses now    
intrusted to him2  wherefore  he        
determines to edit the same4  ,out of   
old ,books1 new ,writings1  and much    
,meditation not of yesterday1 he will   
endeavour to select  a thing or two2    
and from the ,past1 in a circuitous way1
  illustrate the ,present and the       
,future4  ,the ,past is a dim           
indubitable fact3  the ,future too is   

one1 only dimmer2  nay  properly it is  
the same fact in new dress and          
development4  ,for  the ,present holds  
in it both the whole ,past and the whole
  ,future2--as the ,,life-,,tree        
,,igdrasil1 wide-waving1 many-toned1 has
  its roots down deep in the            
,death-kingdoms1 among the oldest dead  
dust of men1 and with its boughs reaches
 always beyond the stars2  and in all   
times and places is one and the same    
,life-tree6          ,book ,,ii--,the   
,ancient ,monk        ,chapter ,i       
,jocelin of ,brakelond      ,we will1 in
 this ,second ,portion of our ,work1    
strive to penetrate  a little1 by means 
of certain confused ,papers1 printed and
 other1  into a somewhat remote         
,century2 and to look face to face on   
it1  in hope of perhaps illustrating our
 own poor ,century thereby4  ,it  seems 
a circuitous way2  but it may prove a   
way nevertheless4  ,for man has ever    
been a striving1 struggling1 and1 in    
spite of  wide-spread calumnies to the  

contrary1 a veracious creature3  the    
,centuries too are all lineal children  
of one another2  and often1  in the     
portrait of early grandfathers1 this and
 the other  enigmatic feature of the    
newest grandson shall disclose itself1  
to mutual elucidation4  ,this ,editor   
will venture on such a thing4           
,besides1 in ,editors' ,books1 and      
indeed everywhere else in the  world of 
,today1 a certain latitude of movement  
grows more and  more becoming for the   
practical man4  ,salvation lies not in  
tight  lacing1 in these times2--how far 
from that1 in any province  whatsoever6 
,readers and men generally are getting  
into strange  habits of asking all      
persons and things1 from poor ,editors' 
,books  up to ,church ,bishops and      
,state ,potentates1 not1 ,by what       
designation are thou called2  in what   
wig and black triangle dost  thou walk  
abroad8  ,heavens1 ,i know thy          
designation and black  triangle well    
enough6  ,but1 in ,god's name1 what art 

thou8  ,not  ,nothing1 sayest thou6     
,then if not1 ,how much and what8  ,this
 is  the thing ,i would know2  and even 
must soon know1 such a pass  am ,i come 
to6--,what weather-symptoms1--not for   
the poor ,editor of  ,books alone6  ,the
 ,editor of ,books may understand withal
 that if1  as is said1 'many kinds are  
permissible1' there is one kind not     
permissible1 'the kind that has nothing 
in it1 le genre  ennuyeux2'  and go on  
his way accordingly4    ,a certain      
,jocelinus de ,brakelonda1 a            
natural-born ,englishman1 has  left us  
an extremely foreign ,book199 which the 
labours of the  ,camden ,society have   
brought to light in these days4         
,jocelin's  ,book1 the ',chronicle1' or 
private ,boswellean ,notebook1 of       
,jocelin1 a certain old ,st4            
,edmundsbury ,monk and ,boswell1 now    
seven centuries old1 how remote is it   
from us2  exotic1  extraneous2  in all  
ways1 coming from far abroad6  ,the     
language  of it is not foreign only but 

dead3  ,monk-,latin lies across not  the
 ,british ,channel1 but the ninefold    
,stygian ,marshes1 ,stream of  ,lethe1  
and one knows not where6  ,roman ,latin 
itself1 still  alive for us in the      
,elysian ,fields of ,memory1 is domestic
  in comparison4  ,and then the ideas1  
life-furniture1 whole  workings and ways
 of this worthy ,jocelin2  covered      
deeper than  ,pompeii with the          
lava-ashes and inarticulate wreck of    
seven  hundred years6    ----------  99 
,chronica ,jocelini de ,brakelonda1 de  
rebus gestis ,samsonis  ,abbatis        
,monasterii ,sancti ,edmundi3 nunc      
primum typis mandata1  curante ,johanne 
,gage ,rokewood4  7,camden ,society1    
,london1 #ahdj7  ----------    ,jocelin 
of ,brakelond cannot be called a        
conspicuous literary  character2  indeed
 few mortals that have left so visible a
 work1  or footmark1 behind them can be 
more obscure4  ,one other of those      
vanished ,existences1 whose work has not
 yet vanished2--almost a  pathetic      

phenomenon1 were not the whole world    
full of such6  ,the  builders of        
,stonehenge1 for example3--or alas1 what
 say we1  ,stonehenge and builders8     
,the writers of the ,universal ,review  
and ,homer's ,iliad2  the paviers of    
,london streets2--sooner  or later1 the 
entire ,posterity of ,adam6  ,it is a   
pathetic  phenomenon2  but an           
irremediable1 nay1 if well meditated1 a 
consoling one4    ,by his dialect of    
,monk-,latin1 and indeed by his name1   
this  ,jocelin seems to have been a     
,norman ,englishman2  the surname de    
,brakelonda indicates a native of ,st4  
,edmundsbury itself1  ,brakelond being  
the known old name of a street or       
quarter in  that venerable ,town4  ,then
 farther1 sure enough1 our ,jocelin was 
a ,monk of ,st4 ,edmundsbury ,convent2  
held some 'obedientia1'  subaltern      
officiality there1 or rather1 in        
succession several2  was1 for one thing1
 'chaplain to my ,lord ,abbot1 living   
beside him  night and day for the space 

of six years2'--which last1 indeed1  is 
the grand fact of ,jocelin's existence1 
and properly the origin  of this present
 ,book1 and of the chief meaning it has 
for us now4  ,he was1 as we have hinted1
 a kind of born ,boswell1 though an     
infinitesimally small one2  neither did 
he altogether want his  ,johnson even   
there and then4  ,johnsons are rare2    
yet1 as has  been asserted1 ,boswels    
perhaps still rarer1--the more is the   
pity  on both sides6  ,this ,jocelin1 as
 we can discern well1 was an  ingenious 
and ingenuous1 a cheery-hearted1        
innocent1 yet withal  shrewd1 noticing1 
quick-wilted man2  and from under his   
monk's  cowl has looked out on that     
narrow section of the world in a  really
 human manner2  not in any simial1      
canine1 ovine1 or  otherwise inhuman    
manner1--afflictive to all that have    
humanity6  ,the man is of patient1      
peaceable1 loving1 clear-smiling nature2
  open for this and that4  ,a wise      
simplicity is in him2  much  natural    

sense2  a veracity that goes deeper than
 words4  ,veracity3  it is the basis of 
all2  and1 some say1 means genius       
itself2  the prime essence of all genius
 whatsoever4  ,our  ,jocelin1 for the   
rest1 has read his classical            
manuscripts1 his  ,virgilius1 his       
,flaccus1 ,ovidius ,naso2  of course    
still more1 his  ,homilies and          
,breviaries1 and if not the ,bible1     
considerable  extracts of the ,bible4   
,then also he has a pleasant wit2  and  
loves a timely joke1 though in mild     
subdued manner3  very amiable  to see4  
,a learned grown man1 yet with the heart
 of a good  child2  whose whole life    
indeed has been that of a child1--,st4  
,edmundsbury ,monastery a larger kind of
 cradle for him1 in which  his whole    
prescribed duty was to sleep kindly1 and
 love his  mother well6  ,this is the   
,biography of ,jocelin2  'a man of      
excellent religion1' says one of his    
contemporary ,brother ,monks1  'eximiae 
religionis1 potens sermone et opere4'   

,for one thing1 he had learned to write 
a kind of ,monk or ,dog-  ,latin1 still 
readable to mankind2  and1 by good luck 
for us1 had  bethought him of noting    
down thereby what things seemed         
notablest  to him4  ,hence gradually    
resulted a ,chronica ,jocelini2  new    
,manuscript in the ,liber ,albus of ,st4
 ,edmundsbury4  ,which  ,chronicle1 once
 written in its childlike transparency1 
in its  innocent good-humour1 not       
without touches of ready pleasant wit   
and many kinds of worth1 other men liked
 naturally to read3  whereby it failed  
not to be copied1 to be multiplied1 to  
be  inserted in the ,liber ,albus2  and 
so surviving ,henry the  ,eighth1       
,putney ,cromwell1 the ,dissolution of  
,monasteries1 and all  accidents of     
malice and neglect for six centuries or 
so1 it got  into the ,harleian          
,collection1--and has now therefrom1 by 
,mr4  ,rokewood of the ,camden ,society1
 been deciphered into clear print2  and 
lies before us1 a dainty thin quarto1 to

 interest for a few  minutes whomsoever 
it can4    ,here too it will behove a   
just ,historian gratefully to say that  
,mr4 ,rokewood1 ,jocelin's ,editor1 has 
done his editorial function  well4  ,not
 only has he deciphered his crabbed     
,manuscript into  clear print2  but he  
has attended1 what his fellow editors   
are  not always in the habit of doing1  
to the important truth that the         
,manuscript so deciphered ought to have 
a meaning for the reader4  ,standing    
faithfully by his text1 and printing its
 very errors in  spelling1 in grammar or
 otherwise1 he has taken care by some   
note  to indicate that they are errors1 
and what the correction of them  ought  
to be4  ,jocelin's ,monk-,latin is      
generally transparent1 as  shallow      
limpid water4  ,but at any stop that may
 occur1 of which  there are a few1 and  
only a very few1 we have the comfortable
  assurance that a meaning does lie in  
the passage1 and may by  industry be got
 at2  that a faithful editor's industry 

had  already got at it before passing   
on4  ,a compendious useful  ,glossary is
 given2  nearly adequate to help the    
uninitiated  through3  sometimes one    
wishes it had been a trifle larger2     
but1 with a ,spelman and ,ducange at    
your elbow1 how easy to have  made it   
far too large6  ,notes are added1       
generally brief2  sufficiently          
explanatory of most points4  ,lastly1 a 
copious  correct ,index2  which no such 
,book should want1 and which  unluckily 
very few possess4  ,and so1 in a word1  
the ,chronicle of  ,jocelin is1 as it   
professes to be1 unwrapped from its     
thick  cerements1 and fairly brought    
forth into the common daylight1 so  that
 he who runs1 and has a smattering of   
grammar1 may read4    ,we have heard so 
much of ,monks2  everywhere1 in real and
  fictitious ,history1 from ,muratori   
,annals to ,radcliffe ,romances1  these 
singular two-legged animals1 with their 
rosaries and  breviaries1 with their    
shaven crowns1 hair-cilices1 and vows of

  poverty1 masquerade so strangely      
through our fancy2  and they are  in    
fact so very strange an extinct species 
of the human family1--  a veritable     
,monk of ,bury ,st4 ,edmunds is worth   
attending to1 if by  chance made visible
 and audible4  ,here he is2  and in his 
hand a  magical speculum1 much gone to  
rust indeed1 yet in fragments  still    
clear2  wherein the marvelous image of  
his existence does  still shadow itself1
 though fitfully1 and as with an        
intermittent  light6  ,will not the     
reader peep with us into this singular  
camera lucida1 where an extinct species1
 though fitfully1 can  still be seen    
alive8  ,extinct species1 we say2  for  
the live  specimens which still go about
 under that character are too  evidently
 to be classed as spurious in ,natural  
,history3  the  ,gospel of ,richard     
,arkwright once promulgated1 no ,monk of
 the old  sort is any longer possible in
 this world4  ,but fancy a deep-  buried
 ,mastodon1 some fossil ,megatherion1   

,ichthyosaurus1 were  to begin to speak 
from amid its rock-swathings1 never so  
indistinctly6  ,the most extinct fossil 
species of ,men or ,monks  can do1 and  
does1 this miracle1--thanks to the      
,letters of the  ,alphabet1 good for so 
many things4    ,jocelin1 we said1 was  
somewhat of a ,boswell2  but            
unfortunately1  by ,nature1 he is none  
of the largest1 and distance has now    
dwarfed him to an extreme degree4  ,his 
light is most feeble1  intermittent1 and
 requires the intensest kindest         
inspection2  otherwise it will disclose 
mere vacant haze4  ,it must be owned1   
the good ,jocelin1 spite of his         
beautiful childlike character1 is  but  
an altogether imperfect 'mirror' of     
these old-world things6  ,the good man1 
he looks on us so clear and cheery1 and 
in his  neighbourly soft-smiling eyes we
 see so well our own shadow1--  we have 
a longing always to cross-question him1 
to force from him  an explanation of    
much4  ,but no2  ,jocelin1 though he    

talks with  such clear familiarity1 like
 a next-door neighbour1 will not  answer
 any question3  that is the peculiarity 
of him1 dead these  six hundred and     
fifty years1 and quite deaf to us1      
though still  so audible6  ,the good    
man1 he cannot help it1 nor can we4     
,but truly it is a strange consideration
 this simple one1 as we go  on with him1
 or indeed with any lucid simple-hearted
 soul like  him3  ,behold therefore1    
this ,england of the ,year #abjj was no 
chimerical vacuity or dreamland1 peopled
 with mere vaporous  ,fantasms1 ,rymer's
 ,foedera1 and ,doctrines of the        
,constitution1 but  a green solid place1
 that grew corn and several other       
things4  ,the ,sun shone on it2  the    
vicissitude of seasons and human        
fortunes4  ,cloth was woven and worn2   
ditches were dug1  furrowfields         
ploughed1 and houses built4  ,day by day
 all men and  cattle rose to labour1 and
 night by night returned home weary to  
their several lairs4  ,in wondrous      

,dualism1 then as now1 lived  nations of
 breathing men2  alternating1 in all    
ways1 between  ,light and ,dark2        
between joy and sorrow1 between rest and
 toil1  between hope1 hope reaching high
 as ,heaven1 and fear deep as very      
,hell4  ,not vapour ,fantasms1 ,rymer's 
,foedera at all6  ,coeur-de-  ,lion was 
not a theatrical popinjay with greaves  
and steelcap on  it1 but a man living   
upon victuals1--not imported by ,peel's 
,tariff4  ,coeur-de-,lion came palpably 
athwart this ,jocelin at ,st4           
,edmundsbury2  and had almost peeled the
 sacred gold ',feretrum1'  or ,st4      
,edmund ,shrine itself1 to ransom him   
out of the ,danube ,jail4    ,these     
clear eyes of neighbour ,jocelin looked 
on the bodily  presence of ,king ,john2 
the very ,john ,sansterre1 or ,lackland1
  who signed ,magna ,charta afterwards  
in ,runnymead4  ,lackland1  with a great
 retinue1 boarded once1 for the matter  
of a  fortnight1 in ,st4 ,edmundsbury   
,convent2  daily in the very  eyesight1 

palpable to the very fingers of our     
,jocelin3  ,o  ,jocelin1 what did he    
say1 what did he do2  how looked he1    
lived  he2--at the very lowest1 what    
coat or breeches had he on8  ,jocelin is
 obstinately silent4  ,jocelin marks    
down what interests  him2  entirely deaf
 to us4  ,with ,jocelin's eyes we       
discern  almost nothing of ,john        
,lackland4  ,as through a glass darkly1 
we  with our own eyes and appliances1   
intensely looking1 discern at  most3  ,a
 blustering1 dissipated1 human figure1  
with a kind of  blackguard quality air1 
in cramoisy velvet1 or other uncertain  
texture1 uncertain cut1 with much       
plumage and fringing2  amid  numerous   
other human figures of the like2  riding
 abroad with  hawks2  talking noisy     
nonsense2--tearing out the bowels of    
,st4  ,edmundsbury ,convent 7its larders
 namely and cellars7 in the most        
ruinous way1 by living at rack and      
manger there4  ,jocelin notes  only1    
with a slight subacidity of manner1 that

 the ,king's  ,majesty1 ,dominus ,rex1  
did leave1 as gift for our ,st4 ,edmund 
,shrine1 a handsome enough silk         
cloak1--or rather pretended to  leave1  
for one of his retinue borrowed it of   
us1 and we never got  sight of it again2
  and1 on the whole1 that the ,dominus  
,rex1 at  departing1 gave us 'thirteen  
sterlingii1' one shilling and one       
penny1 to say a mass for him2  and so   
departed1--like a shabby  ,lackland as  
he was6  ',thirteen pence sterling1'    
this was what the  ,convent got from    
,lackland1 for all the victuals he and  
his had  made away with4  ,we of course 
said our mass for him1 having           
covenanted to do it1--but let impartial 
posterity judge with what  degree of    
fervour6    ,and in this manner vanishes
 ,king ,lackland2  traverses swiftly our
  strange intermittent magic-mirror1    
jingling the shabby thirteen  pence     
merely2  and rides with his hawks into  
,egyptian night  again4  ,it is         
,jocelin's manner with all things2  and 

it is men's  manner and men's necessity4
  ,how intermittent is our good         
,jocelin2  marking down1 without eye to 
us1 what he finds  interesting6  ,how   
much in ,jocelin1 as in all ,history1   
and indeed  in all ,nature1 is at once  
inscrutable and certain2  so dim1 yet   
so indubitable2  exciting us to endless 
considerations4  ,for ,king  ,lackland  
was there1 verily he2  and did leave    
these tredecim  sterlingii if nothing   
more1 and did live and look in one way  
or the other1 and a whole world was     
living and looking along  with him6     
,there1 we say1 is the grand            
peculiarity2  the  immeasurable one2    
distinguishing1 to a really infinite    
degree1  the poorest historical ,fact   
from all ,fiction whatsoever4  ,fiction1
  ',imagination1' ',imaginative         
,poetry1' c4 c41 except as the  vehicle 
for truth1 or fact of some sort1--which 
surely a man  should first try various  
other ways of vehiculating1 and         
conveying safe1--what is it8  ,let the  

,minerva and other ,presses             
respond6--,but it is time we were in    
,st4 ,edmundsbury ,monastery1  and      
,seven good ,centuries off4  ,if indeed 
it be possible1 by any  aid of ,jocelin1
 by any human art1 to get thither1 with 
a reader  or two still following us8    
,chapter ,,ii    ,st4 ,edmundsbury      
,the ,burg1 ,bury1 or ',berry' as they  
call it1 of ,st4 ,edmund is  still a    
prosperous brisk ,town2  beautifully    
diversifying1 with  its clear brick     
houses1 ancient clean streets1 and      
twenty or  fifteen thousand busy souls1 
the general grassy face of ,suffolk2    
looking out right pleasantly1 from its  
hill-slope1 towards the  rising ,sun3   
and on the eastern edge of it1 still    
runs1 long1  black and massive1 a range 
of monastic ruins2  into the wide       
internal spaces of which the stranger is
 admitted on payment of  one shilling4  
,internal spaces laid out1 at present1  
as a botanic  garden4  ,here stranger or
 townsman1 sauntering at his leisure    

amid these vast grim venerable ruins1   
may persuade himself that  an ,abbey of 
,st4 ,edmundsbury did once exist2  nay  
there is  no doubt of it3  see here the 
ancient massive ,gateway1 of            
architecture interesting to the eye of  
,dilettantism2  and farther  on1 that   
other ancient ,gateway1 now about to    
tumble1 unless  ,dilettantism1 in these 
very months1 can subscribe money to     
cramp  it and prop it6    ,here1 sure   
enough1 is an ,abbey2  beautiful in the 
eye of  ,dilettantism4  ,giant ,pedantry
 also will step in1 with its huge       
,dugdale and other enormous ,monasticons
 under its arm1 and  cheerfully apprise 
you4  ,that this was a very great       
,abbey1 owner  and indeed creator of    
,st4 ,edmund's ,town itself1 owner of   
wide  lands and revenues2  nay that its 
lands were once a county of  themselves2
  that indeed ,king ,canute or ,knut was
 very kind to it2  and gave ,st4 ,edmund
 his own gold crown off his head1 on one
  occasion3  for the rest1 that the     

,monks were of such and such a  genus1  
such and such a number2  that they had  
so many ,carucates  of land in this     
hundred1 and so many in that2  and then 
farther  that the large ,tower or       
,belfry was built by such a one1 and the
  smaller ,belfry was built by c4       
c4--,till human nature can stand  no    
more of it2  till human nature          
desperately take refuge in              
forgetfulness1 almost in flat disbelief 
of the whole business1  ,monks1         
,monastery1 ,belfries1 ,carucates and   
all6  ,alas1 what  mountains of dead    
ashes1 wreck and burnt bones1 does      
assiduous  ,pedantry dig up from the    
,past ,time1 and name it ,history1 and  
,philosophy of ,history2  till1 as we   
say1 the human soul sinks  wearied and  
bewildered2  till the ,past ,time seems 
all one  infinite incredible grey void1 
without sun1 stars1 hearth-fires1  or   
candle-light2  dim offensive            
dust-whirlwinds filling universal       
,nature2  and over your ,historical     

,library1 it is as if all the  ,titans  
had written for themselves3  ,,dry      
,,rubbish ,,shot ,,here6      ,and yet  
these grim old walls are not a          
dilettantism and dubiety2  they are an  
earnest fact4  ,it was a most real and  
serious purpose  they were built for6   
,yes1 another world it was1 when these  
black  ruins1 white in their new mortar 
and fresh chiseling1 first saw  the sun 
as walls1 long ago4  ,gauge not1 with   
thy dilettante  compasses1 with that    
placid dilettante simper1 the ,heaven's-
  ,watchtower of our ,fathers1 the      
fallen ,god's-,houses1 the ,golgotha  of
 true ,souls departed6    ,their        
architecture1 belfries1 land-carucates8 
,yes1--and that is  but a small item of 
the matter4  ,does it never give thee   
pause1  this other strange item of it1  
that men then had a soul1--not  by      
hearsay alone1 and as a figure of       
speech2  but as a truth that  they knew1
 and practically went upon6  ,verily it 
was another  world then4  ,their        

,missals have become incredible1 a sheer
  platitude1 sayest thou8  ,yes1 a most 
poor platitude2  and even1  if thou     
wilt1 an idolatry and blasphemy1 should 
any one persuade  thee to believe them1 
to pretend praying by them4  ,but yet it
  is pity we had lost tidings of our    
souls3--actually we shall  have to go in
 quest of them again1 or worse in all   
ways will  befall6  ,a certain degree of
 soul1 as ,ben ,jonson reminds us1 is   
indispensable to keep the very body from
 destruction of the  frightfullest sort2
  to 'save us1' says he1 'the expense of
  salt4'  ,ben has known men who had    
soul enough to keep their  body and five
 senses from becoming carrion1 and save 
salt3--men1  and also ,nations4  ,you   
may look in ,manchester ,hunger-mobs and
  ,corn-law ,commons ,houses1 and       
various other quarters1 and  say whether
 either soul or else salt is not        
somewhat wanted  at present6--          
,another world1 truly3  and this present
 poor distressed world  might get some  

profit by looking wisely into it1       
instead of  foolishly4  ,but at lowest1 
,o dilettante friend1 let us know       
always that it was a world1 and not a   
void infinite of grey haze  with        
fantasms swimming in it4  ,these old    
,st4 ,edmundsbury walls1 ,i  say1 were  
not peopled with fantasms2  but with men
 of flesh and  blood1 made altogether as
 we are4  ,had thou and ,i then been1   
who  knows but we ourselves had taken   
refuge from an evil ,time1 and  fled to 
dwell here1 and meditate on an          
,eternity1 in such fashion  as we could8
  ,alas1 how like an old osseous        
fragment1 a broken  blackened shin-bone 
of the old dead ,ages1 this black ruin  
looks  out1 not yet covered by the soil2
  still indicating what a once  gigantic
 ,life lies buried there6  ,it is dead  
now1 and dumb2  but  was alive once1 and
 spake4  ,for twenty generations1 here  
was the  earthly arena where painful    
living men worked out their life-       
wrestle1--looked at by ,earth1 by       

,heaven and ,hell4  ,bells tolled  to   
prayers2  and men1 of many humours1     
various thoughts1 chanted  vespers1     
matins2--and round the little islet of  
their life rolled  forever 7as round    
ours still rolls1 though we are blind   
and deaf7  the illimitable ,ocean1      
tinting all things with its eternal hues
  and reflexes2  making strange         
prophetic music6  ,how silent now2  all 
departed1 clean gone4  ,the             
,world-,dramaturgist has written3       
,exeunt4  ,the devouring ,time-,demons  
have made away with it all3  and in its 
stead1 there is either nothing2  or what
 is worse1  offensive universal         
dustclouds1 and grey eclipse of ,earth  
and  ,heaven1 from 'dry rubbish shot    
here6'--      ,truly1 it is no easy     
matter to get across the chasm of ,seven
  ,centuries1 filled with such material4
  ,but here1 of all helps1 is  not a    
,boswell the welcomest2  even a small   
,boswell8  ,veracity1  true simplicity  
of heart1 how valuable are these always6

  ,he that  speaks what is really in    
him1 will find men to listen1 though    
under never such impediments4  ,even    
gossip1 springing free and  cheery from 
a human heart1 this too is a kind of    
veracity and  speech2--much preferable  
to pedantry and inane grey haze6        
,jocelin is weak and garrulous1 but he  
is human4  ,through the thin  watery    
gossip of our ,jocelin1 we do get some  
glimpses of that  deep-buried ,time2    
discern veritably1 though in a fitful   
intermittent manner1 these antique      
figures and their life-method1  face to 
face6  ,beautifully1 in our earnest     
loving glance1 the old  centuries melt  
from opaque to partially translucent1   
transparent  here and there2  and the   
void black ,night1 one finds1 is but the
  summing up of innumerable peopled     
luminous ,days4  ,not parchment         
,chartularies1 ,doctrines of the        
,constitution1 ,o ,dryasdust2  not      
altogether1 my erudite friend6--        
,readers who please to go along with us 

into this poor ,jocelini  ,chronica     
shall wander inconveniently enough1 as  
in wintry  twilight1 through some poor  
stript hazel-grove1 rustling with       
foolish noises1 and perpetually         
hindering the eyesight2  but  across    
which1 here and there1 some real human  
figure is seen  moving3  very strange2  
whom we could hail if he would answer2--
  and we look into a pair of eyes deep  
as our own1 imaging our  own1 but all   
unconscious of us2  to whom we for the  
time are  become as spirits and         
invisible6          ,chapter ,,iii      
,landlord ,edmund      ,some three      
centuries or so had elapsed since       
,beodric's-worth99  became ,st4         
,edmund's ,stow1 ,st4 ,edmund's ,town   
and ,monastery1  before ,jocelin entered
 himself a ,novice there4  ',it was1'   
says  he1 'the year after the ,flemings 
were defeated at ,fornham ,st4          
,genevieve4'    -------------  99       
,dryasdust puzzles and pokes for some   
biography of this ,beodric2  and repugns

 to consider him a mere ,east-,anglian  
,person of  ,condition1 not in need of a
 biography1--whose script weorth  or    
worth1 that is to say1 ,growth1         
,increase1 or as we should  now name it1
 ,estate1 that same ,hamlet and wood    
,mansion1 now ,st4  ,edmund's ,bury1    
originally was4  ,for1 adds our erudite 
,friend1 the  ,saxon script1 equivalent 
to the ,german werden1 means to  grow1  
to become2  traces of which old vocable 
are still found  in the ,north-country  
dialects1 as1 ',what is word of him8    
meaning ',what is become of him8' and   
the like4  ,nay we in modern  ,english  
still say1 ',woe worth the hour' 7,woe  
befall the  hour71 and speak of the     
',weird ,sisters2'  not to mention the  
innumerable other names of places still 
ending in weorth or  worth4  ,and       
indeed1 our common noun worth1 in the   
sense of  value1 does not this mean     
simply1 ,what a thing has grown to1     
,what a man has grown to1 ,how much he  
amounts to1--by the                     

,threadneedle-street standard or        
another6  --------------    ,much passes
 away into oblivion3  this glorious     
victory over  the ,flemings at ,fornham 
has1 at the present date1 greatly       
dimmed itself out of the minds of men4  
,a victory and battle  nevertheless it  
was1 in its time3  some thrice-renowned 
,earl of  ,leicester1 not of the ,de    
,montfort breed1 7as may be read in     
,philosophical and other ,histories1    
could any human memory retain  such     
things17 had quarreled with his         
sovereign1 ,henry ,second of  the name2 
had been worsted1 it is like1 and       
maltreated1 and  obliged to fly to      
foreign parts2  but had rallied there   
into new  vigour2  and so1 in the year  
#aagc1 returns across the ,german ,sea  
with a vengeful army of ,flemings4      
,returns1 to the coast of  ,suffolk2  to
 ,framlingham ,castle1 where he is      
welcomed2  westward  towards ,st4       
,edmundsbury and ,fornham ,church1 where
 he is met by  the constituted          

authorities with posse comitatus2  and  
swiftly  cut in pieces1 he and his1 or  
laid by the heels2  on the right  bank  
of the obscure river ,lark1--as traces  
still existing  will verify4    ,for the
 river ,lark1 though not very           
discoverably1 still runs or  stagnates  
in that country2  and the battle-ground 
is there2  serving at present as a      
pleasure-ground to his ,grace of        
,newcastle4  ,copper pennies of ,henry  
,,ii are still found there2--  rotted   
out from the pouches of poor slain      
soldiers1 who had not  had time to buy  
liquor with them4  ,in the river ,lark  
itself was  fished up1 within man's     
memory1 an antique gold ring2  which    
fond  ,dilettantism can almost believe  
may have been the very ring  ,countess  
,leicester threw away1 in her flight1   
into that same ,lark  river or ditch499 
,nay1 few years ago1 in tearing out an  
enormous  superannuated ash-tree1 now   
grown quite corpulent1 bursten1         
superfluous1 but long a fixture in the  

soil1 and not to be  dislodged without  
revolution1--there was laid bare1 under 
its  roots1 'a circular mound of        
skeletons wonderfully complete1' all    
radiating from a centre1 faces upwards1 
feet inwards2  a  'radiation' not of    
,light1 but of the ,nether ,darkness    
rather2  and  evidently the fruit of    
battle2  for 'many of the heads were    
cleft1 or had arrow-holes in them4  ,the
 ,battle of ,fornham1  therefore1 is a  
fact1 though a forgotten one2  no less  
obscure  than undeniable1--like so many 
other facts4    ----------              
99,lyttelton's ,history of ,henry ,,ii4 
7#bnd ,edition71 v4 #afi1 c4  ----------
    ,like the ,st4 ,edmund's ,monastery 
itself6  ,who can doubt1 after  what we 
have said1 that there was a ,monastery  
here at one time8  ,no doubt at all     
there was a ,monastery here2  no doubt1 
some three  centuries prior to this     
,fornham ,battle1 there dwelt a man in  
these parts1 of the name of ,edmund1    
,king1 ,landlord1 ,duke or  whatever his

 title was1 of the ,eastern             
,counties2--and a very  singular man and
 landlord he must have been4    ,for his
 tenants1 it would appear1 did not      
complain of him in the  least2  his     
labourers did not think of burning his  
wheatstacks1  breaking into his         
game-preserves2  very far the reverse of
 all  that4  ,clear evidence1           
satisfactory even to my friend          
,dryasdust1  exists that1 on the        
contrary1 they honoured1 loved1 admired 
this  ancient ,landlord to a quite      
astonishing degree1--and indeed at  last
 to an immeasurable and inexpressible   
degree2  for1 finding  no limits or     
utterable words for their sense of his  
worth1 they  took to beatifying and     
adoring him6  ',infinite admiration1' we
  are taught1 'means worship4'    ,very 
singular1--could we discover it6  ,what 
,edmund's specific  duties were2  above 
all1 what his method of discharging them
 with  such results was1 would surely be
 interesting to know2  but are  not very

 discoverable now4  ,his ,life has      
become a poetic1 nay a  religious       
,mythus2  though1 undeniably enough1 it 
was once a  prose ,fact1 as our poor    
lives are2  and even a very rugged      
unmanageable one4  ,this landlord       
,edmund did go about in leather  shoes1 
with femoralia  and bodycoat of some    
sort on him2  and  daily had his        
breakfast to procure2  and daily had    
contradictory  speeches1 and most       
contradictory facts not a few1 to       
reconcile  with himself4  ,no man       
becomes a ,saint in his sleep4  ,edmund1
 for  instance1 instead of reconciling  
those same contradictory facts  and     
speeches to himself2  which means       
subduing1 and1 in a  manlike and godlike
 manner1 conquering them to             
himself1--might  have merely thrown new 
contention into them1 new unwisdom into 
them1 and so been conquered by them2    
much the commoner case6  ,in that way he
 had proved no ',saint1' or             
,divine-looking ,man1 but  a mere       

,sinner1 and unfortunate1 blameable1    
more or less ,diabolic-  looking man6   
,no landlord ,edmund becomes infinitely 
admirable in  his sleep4    ,with what  
degree of wholesome rigour his rents    
were collected we  hear not4  ,still    
less by what methods he preserved his   
game1  whether by 'bushing' or how1--and
 if the partridge-seasons were          
'excellent1' or were indifferent4       
,neither do we ascertain what  kind of  
,corn-bill he passed1 or wisely-adjusted
 ,sliding-scale3--  but indeed there    
were few spinners in those days2  and   
the  nuisance of spinning1 and other    
dusty labour1 was not yet so  glaring a 
one4    ,how then1 it may be asked1 did 
this ,edmund rise into favour2  become  
to such astonishing extent a recognised 
,farmer's ,friend8  ,really1 except it  
were by doing justly and loving mercy1  
to an  unprecedented extent1 one does   
not know4  ,the man1 it would seem1     
'had walked1' as they say1 'humbly with 
,god2'  humbly and  valiantly with ,god2

  struggling to make the ,earth         
heavenly1 as he  could3  instead of     
walking sumptuously and pridefully with 
,mammon1 leaving the ,earth to grow     
hellish as it liked4  ,not  sumptuously 
with ,mammon8  ,how then could he       
'encourage trade1'--  cause ,howel and  
,james1 and many wine-merchants to bless
 him1 and  the tailor's heart 7though in
 a very short-sighted manner7 to  sing  
for joy8  ,much in this ,edmund's ,life 
is mysterious4    ,that he could1 on    
occasion1 do what he liked with his own 
is1  meanwhile1 evident enough4         
,certain ,heathen ,physical-,force      
,ultra-  ,chartists1 ',danes' as they   
were then called1 coming into his       
territory with their 'five points1' or  
rather with their five-  and-twenty     
thousand points and edges too1 of pikes 
namely and  battleaxes2  and proposing  
mere ,heathenism1 confiscation1         
spoliation1 and fire and sword1--,edmund
 answered that he would  oppose to the  
utmost such savagery4  ,they took him   

prisoner2  again required his sanction  
to said proposals4  ,edmund again       
refused4  ,cannot we kill you8 cried    
they4--,cannot ,i die8 answered  he4    
,my life1 ,i think1 is my own to do what
 ,i like with6  ,and he  died1 under    
barbarous tortures1 refusing to the last
 breath2  and  the ,ultra-,chartist     
,danes lost their propositions2--and    
went  with their 'points' and other     
apparatus1 as is supposed1 to the       
,devil1 the ,father of them4  ,some say1
 indeed1 these ,danes were  not         
,ultra-,chartists1 but ,ultra-,tories1  
demanding to reap where  they had not   
sown1 and live in this world without    
working1 though  all the world should   
starve for it2  which likewise seems a  
possible hypothesis4  ,be what they     
might1 they went1 as we say1  to the    
,devil2  and ,edmund doing what he liked
 with his own1 the  ,earth was got      
cleared of them4    ,another version is1
 that ,edmund on this and the like      
occasions  stood by his order2  the     

oldest1 and indeed only true order of   
,nobility known under the stars1 that of
 just ,men and ,sons of ,god1  in       
opposition to ,unjust and ,sons of      
,belial1--which latter indeed  are      
second-oldest1 but yet a very           
unvenerable order4  ,this1  truly1 seems
 the likeliest hypothesis of all4       
,names and  appearances alter so        
strangely1 in some half-score centuries2
  and all fluctuates chameleon-like1    
taking now this hue1 now that4  ,thus   
much is very plain1 and does not change 
hue3  ,landlord  ,edmund was seen and   
felt by all men to have done verily a   
man's  part in this life-pilgrimage of  
his2  and benedictions1 and  outflowing 
love and admiration from the universal  
heart1 were his  meed4  ,well-done6     
,well-done6 cried the hearts of all men4
  ,they  raised his slain and martyred  
body2  washed its wounds with fast-     
flowing universal tears2  tears of      
endless pity1 and yet of a  sacred joy  
and triumph4  ,the beautifullest kind of

 tears1--indeed  perhaps the            
beautifullest kind of thing3  like a sky
 all flashing  diamonds and prismatic   
radiance2  all weeping1 yet shone on by 
the everlasting ,sun3--and this is not a
 sky1 it is a ,soul and  living ,face6  
,nothing liker the ,temple of the       
,highest1 bright  with some real        
effulgence of the ,highest1 is seen in  
this world4    ,o1 if all ,yankee-land  
follow a small good ',schnuspel the     
distinguished ,novelist' with blazing   
torches1 dinner-invitations1  universal 
hep-hep-hurrah1 feeling that he1 though 
small1 is  something2  how might all    
,angle-land once follow a hero-martyr   
and great true ,son of ,heaven6  ,it is 
the very joy of man's heart  to admire1 
where he can2  nothing so lifts him from
 all his mean  imprisonments1 were it   
but for moments1 as true admiration4    
,thus  it has been said1 'all men1      
especially all women1 are born          
worshipers2'  and will worship1 if it be
 but possible4  ,possible  to worship a 

,something1 even a small one2  not so   
possible a mere  loud-blaring ,nothing6 
,what sight is more pathetic than that  
of  poor multitudes of persons met to   
gaze at ,king's ,progresses1'  ,lord    
,mayor's ,shews1 and other              
gilt-gingerbread phenomena of the       
worshipful sort1 in these times2  each  
so eager to worship2  each1 with a dim  
fatal sense of disappointment1 finding  
that he  cannot rightly here6  ,these be
 thy gods1 ,o ,israel8  ,and thou art   
so willing to worship1--poor ,israel6   
,in this manner1 however1 did the men of
 the ,eastern ,counties take  up the    
slain body of their ,edmund1 where it   
lay cast forth in the  village of       
,hoxne2  seek out the severed head1 and 
reverently  reunite the same4  ,they    
embalmed him with myrrh and sweet       
spices1  with love1 pity1 and all high  
and awful thoughts2  consecrating  him  
with a very storm of melodious adoring  
admiration1 and sun-  dyed showers of   
tears2--joyfully1 yet with awe 7as all  

deep joy  has something of the awful in 
it71 commemorating his noble deeds  and 
godlike walk and conversation while on  
,earth4  ,till1 at  length1 the very    
,pope and ,cardinals at ,rome were      
forced to hear  of it2  and they1       
summing up as correctly as they well    
could1  with ,advocatus-,diaboli        
pleadings and their other forms of      
process1 the general verdict of mankind1
 declared3  ,that he had1  in very fact1
 led a hero's life in this world2  and  
being now  gone1 was gone as they       
conceived to ,god above1 and reaping his
  reward there4  ,such1 they said1 was  
the best judgment they  could form of   
the case2--and truly not a bad judgment4
  ,acquiesced in1 zealously adopted1    
with full assent of 'private  judgment1'
 by all mortals4      ,the rest of ,st4 
,edmund's history1 for the reader sees  
he has now  become a ,saint1 is easily  
conceivable4  ,pious munificence        
provided him a loculus1 a feretrum or   
shrine2  built for him  a wooden chapel1

 a stone temple1 ever widening and      
growing by new  pious gifts2--such the  
overflowing heart feels it a blessedness
  to solace itself by giving4  ,st4     
,edmund's ,shrine glitters now  with    
diamond flowerages1 with a plating of   
wrought gold4  ,the  wooden chapel1 as  
we say1 has become a stone temple4      
,stately  masonries1 longdrawn arches1  
cloisters1 sounding aisles buttress  it1
 begirdle it far and wide4  ,regimented 
companies of men1 of  whom our ,jocelin 
is one1 devote themselves1 in every     
generation1  to meditate here on man's  
,nobleness and ,awfulness1 and celebrate
  and shew forth the same1 as they best 
can1--thinking they will do  it better  
here1 in presence of ,god the ,maker1   
and of the so ,awful  and so ,noble made
 by ,him4  ,in one word1 ,st4 ,edmund's 
,body has  raised a ,monastery round it4
  ,to such length1 in such manner1 has  
the ,spirit of the ,time visibly taken  
body1 and crystallised  itself here4    
,new gifts1 houses1 farms1              

katalla99--come ever in4  ,king ,knut1  
whom men call ,canute1 whom the         
,ocean-tide would not be  forbidden to  
wet1--we heard already of this wise     
,king1 with his  crown and gifts2  but  
of many others1 ,kings1 ,queens1 wise   
men and  noble loyal women1 let         
,dryasdust and divine ,silence be the   
record6  ,beodric's-,worth has become   
,st4 ,edmund's ,bury2--and  lasts       
visible to this hour4  ,all this that   
thou now seest1 and  namest ,bury ,town1
 is properly the ,funeral ,monument of  
,saint or  ,landlord ,edmund4  ,the     
present respectable ,mayor of ,bury may 
be  said1 like a ,fakeer 7little as he  
thinks of it71 to have his  dwelling in 
the extensive1 many-sculptured          
,tombstone of ,st4  ,edmund2  in one of 
the brick niches thereof dwells the     
present  respectable ,mayor of ,bury4   
---------  99 ,goods1 properties2 what  
we now call chattels1 and still more    
singularly cattle1 says my erudite      
friend6  ---------    ,certain ,times do

 crystallise themselves in a magnificent
 manner2  and others1 perhaps1 are like 
to do it in rather a shabby one6--  ,but
 ,richard ,arkwright too will have his  
,monument1 a thousand  years hence3  all
 ,lancashire and ,yorkshire1 and how    
many other  shires and countries1 with  
their machineries and industries1 for   
his monument6  ,a true pyramid or       
'flame-mountain1' flaming  with steam   
fires and useful labour over wide       
continents1 usefully  towards the       
,stars1 to a certain height2--how much  
grander than  your foolish ,cheops      
,pyramids or ,sakhara clay ones6  ,let  
us withal  be hopeful1 be content or    
patient4          ,chapter ,,iv         
,abbot ,hugo      ,it is true1 all      
things have two faces1 a light one and a
 dark4  ,it is true1 in three centuries 
much imperfection accumulates2  many an 
,ideal1 monastic or other1 shooting     
forth into practice as  it can1 grows to
 a strange enough ,reality2  and we have
 to ask  with amazement1 ,is this your  

,ideal6  ,for1 alas1 the ,ideal always  
has to grow in the ,real1 and to seek   
out its bed and board there1  often in a
 very sorry way4  ,no beautifullest     
,poet is a ,bird-of-  ,paradise1 living 
on perfumes2  sleeping in the aether    
with  outspread wings4  ,the ,heroic1   
independent of bed and board1 is  found 
in ,drury ,lane ,theatre only2  to avoid
 disappointments1 let  us bear this in  
mind4    ,by the law of ,nature1 too1   
all manner of ,ideals have their fatal  
limits and lot2  their appointed        
periods1 of youth1 of maturity  or      
perfection1 of decline1 degradation1 and
 final death and  disappearance4  ,there
 is nothing born but has to die4  ,ideal
  monasteries1 once grown real1 do seek 
bed and board in this  world2  do find  
it more and more successfully2  do get  
at length  too intent on finding it1    
exclusively intent on that4  ,they are  
then like diseased corpulent bodies     
fallen idiotic1 which merely  eat and   
sleep2  ready for 'dissolution1' by a   

,henry the ,eighth  or some other4      
,jocelin's ,st4 ,edmundsbury is still   
far from this  last dreadful state3  but
 here too the reader will prepare       
himself to see an ,ideal not sleeping in
 the nether like a bird-  of-paradise1  
but roosting as the common woodfowl do1 
in an  imperfect1 uncomfortable1 more or
 less contemptible manner6--      ,abbot
 ,hugo1 as ,jocelin1 breaking at once   
into the heart of the  business1        
apprises us1 had in those days grown    
old1 grown rather  blind1 and his eyes  
were somewhat darkened1 aliquantulum    
caligaverunt oculi ejus4  ,he dwelt     
apart very much1 in his  ,talamus or    
peculiar ,chamber2  got into the hands  
of flatterers1  a set of mealy-mouthed  
persons who strove to make the passing  
hour easy for him1--for him easy1 and   
for themselves profitable2  accumulating
 in the distance mere mountains of      
confusion4  ,old  ,dominus ,hugo sat    
inaccessible in this way1 far in the    
interior1  wrapt in his warm flannels   

and delusions2  inaccessible to all     
voice of ,fact2 and bad grew ever worse 
with us4  ,not that our  worthy old     
,dominus ,abbas was inattentive to the  
divine offices1  or to the maintenance  
of a devout spirit in us or in himself2 
but the ,account-,books of the ,convent 
fell into the frightfullest  state1 and 
,hugo's annual ,budget grew yearly      
emptier1 or filled  with futile         
expectations1 fatal deficit1 wind and   
debts6    ,his one worldly care was to  
raise ready money2  sufficient for  the 
day is the evil thereof4  ,and how he   
raised it3  ,from  usurious insatiable  
,jews2  every fresh ,jew sticking on him
 like a  fresh horseleech1 sucking his  
and our life out2  crying  continually1 
,give1 ,give6  ,take one example instead
 of scores4  ,our ,camera having fallen 
into ruin1 ,william the ,sacristan      
received charge to repair it2  strict   
charge1 but no money2  ,abbot ,hugo     
would1 and indeed could1 give him no    
fraction  of money4  ,the ,camera in    

ruins1 and ,hugo penniless and          
inaccessible1 ,willelmus ,sacrista      
borrowed ,forty ,mares 7some            
,seven-and-twenty ,pounds7 of ,benedict 
the ,jew1 and patched up our  ,camera   
again4  ,but the means of repaying him8 
,there were no  means4  ,hardly could   
,sacrista1 ,cellerarius1 or any public  
officer1 get ends to meet1 on the       
indispensablest scale1 with  their      
shrunk allowances3  ready money had     
vanished4    ,benedict's ,twenty-seven  
pounds grew rapidly at                  
compound-interest2  and at length1 when 
it had amounted to ,one hundred pounds1 
he1 on  a day of settlement1 presents   
the account to ,hugo himself4  ,hugo    
already owed him another ,one hundred of
 his own2  and so here it  has become   
,two hundred6  ,hugo1 in a fine frenzy1 
threatens to  depose the ,sacristan1 to 
do this and do that2  but1 in the mean  
while1 ,how to quiet your insatiable    
,jew8  ,hugo1 for this couple  of       
hundreds1 grants the ,jew his bond for  

,four hundred payable at  the end of    
four years4  ,at the end of four years  
there is1 of  course1 still no money2   
and the ,jew now gets a bond for ,eight 
hundred and eighty pounds1 to be paid by
 installments1 ,four-score  pounds every
 year4  ,here was a way of doing        
business6    ,neither yet is this       
insatiable ,jew satisfied or settled    
with3  he  had papers against us of     
'small debts fourteen years old2'  his  
modest claim amounts finally to ',twelve
 hundred pounds besides  interest2'--and
 one hopes he never got satisfied in    
this world2  one almost hopes he was one
 of those beleaguered ,jews who hanged  
themselves in ,york ,castle shortly     
afterwards1 and had his usances  and    
quittances and horseleech papers        
summarily set fire to6  ,for            
approximate justice will strive to      
accomplish itself2  if not in  one way1 
then in another4  ,jews1 and also       
,christians and  ,heathens1 who         
accumulate in this manner1 though       

furnished with  never so many           
parchments1 do1 at times1 'get their    
grinder-teeth  successively pulled out  
of their head1 each day a new grinder1  
till they consent to disgorge again4  ,a
 sad fact1--worth  reflecting on4       
,jocelin1 we see1 is not without        
secularity3  ,our ,dominus ,abbas  was  
intent enough on the divine offices2    
but then his ,account-  ,books--8--,one 
of the things that strike us most1      
throughout1 in  ,jocelin's ,chronicle1  
and indeed in ,eadmer's ,anselm1 and    
other  old monastic ,books1 written     
evidently by pious men1 is this1 ,that  
there is almost no mention whatever of  
'personal religion' in  them2  that the 
whole gist of their thinking and        
speculation  seems to be the 'privileges
 of our order1' 'strict exaction of  our
 dues1' ',god's honour' 7meaning the    
honour of our ,saint71 and  so forth4   
,is not this singular8  ,a body of men1 
set apart for  perfecting and purifying 
their own souls1 do not seem disturbed  

about that in any measure3  the ',ideal'
 says nothing about its  idea2  says    
much about finding bed and board for    
itself6  ,how  is this8    ,why1 for one
 thing1 bed and board are a matter very 
apt to come  to speech3  it is much     
easier to speak of them than of ideas2  
and they are sometimes much more        
pressing with some6  ,nay1 for  another 
thing1 may not this religious reticence1
 in these devout  good souls1 be perhaps
 a merit1 and sign of health in them8   
,jocelin1 ,eadmer1 and such religious   
men1 have as yet nothing of             
',methodism2'  no ,doubt or even root of
 ,doubt4  ,religion is not a  diseased  
self-introspection1 an agonising        
inquiry3  their duties  are clear to    
them1 the way of supreme good plain1    
indisputable1  and they are traveling on
 it4  ,religion lies over them like an  
all-embracing heavenly canopy1 like an  
atmosphere and life-  element1 which is 
not spoken of1 which in all things is   
presupposed without speech4  ,is not    

serene or complete ,religion  the       
highest aspect of human nature2  as     
serene ,cant1 or complete  ,no-religion1
 is the lowest and miserablest8         
,between which two1  all manner of      
earnest ,methodisms1 introspections1    
agonising  inquiries1 never so morbid1  
shall play their respective parts1  not 
without approbation4      ,but let any  
reader fancy himself one of the         
,brethren in ,st4  ,edmundsbury         
,monastery under such circumstances6    
,how can a ,lord  ,abbot1 all stuck over
 with horse-leeches of this nature1     
front  the world8  ,he is fast losing   
his life-blood1 and the ,convent  will  
be as one of ,pharaoh's lean kine4  ,old
 monks of experience  draw their hoods  
deeper down2  careful what they say3    
the monk's  first duty is obedience4    
,our ,lord the ,king1 hearing of such   
work1 sends down his ,almoner to make   
investigations3  but what  boots it8    
,abbot ,hugo assembles us in ,chapter2  
asks1 ,if there  is any complaint8  ,not

 a soul of us dare answer1 ,yes1        
thousands6 but we all stand silent1 and 
the ,prior even says that  things are in
 a very comfortable condition4          
,whereupon old ,abbot  ,hugo1 turning to
 the royal messenger1 says1 ,you        
see6--and the  business terminates in   
that way4  ,i1 as a brisk-eyed1 noticing
  youth and novice1 could not help      
asking of the elders1 asking of         
,magister ,samson in particular3  ,why  
he1 well-instructed and a  knowing man1 
had not spoken out1 and brought matters 
to a  bearing8  ,magister ,samson was   
,teacher of the ,novices1 appointed  to 
breed us up to the rules1 and ,i loved  
him well4  ,fili mi1  answered ,samson1 
the burnt child shuns the fire4  ,dost  
thou not  know1 our ,lord the ,abbot    
sent me once to ,acre in ,norfolk1 to   
solitary confinement and bread and      
water1 already8  ,the ,hinghams1  ,hugo 
and ,robert1 have just got home from    
banishment for speaking4  ,this is the  
hour of darkness3  the hour when        

flatterers rule and  are believed4      
,videat ,dominus1 let the ,lord see1 and
 judge4    ,in very truth1 what could   
poor old ,abbot ,hugo do8  ,a frail old 
man2  and the ,philistines were upon    
him1--that is to say1 the  ,hebrews4    
,he had nothing for it but to shrink    
away from them2  get back into his warm 
flannels1 into his warm delusions again4
  ,happily1 before it was quite too     
late1 he bethought him of  pilgriming to
 ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury4  ,he set  
out1 with a fit  train1 in the autumn   
days of the year #aahj2  near ,rochester
 ,city1  his mule threw him1 dislocated 
his poor kneepan1 raised incurable      
inflammatory fever2  and the poor old   
man got his dismissal from  the whole   
coil at once4  ,st4 ,thomas a ,becket1  
though in a  circuitous way1 had brought
 deliverance6  ,neither ,jew usurers1   
nor grumbling monks1 nor other          
importunate despicability of men  or    
mud-elements afflicted ,abbot ,hugo any 
more2  but he dropt his  rosaries1      

closed his account-books1 closed his old
 eyes1 and lay  down into the long      
sleep4  ,heavy-laden hoary old ,dominus 
,hugo1  fare thee well4    ,one thing we
 cannot mention without a due thrill of 
horror3  namely1 that1 in the empty     
exchequer of ,dominus ,hugo1 there was  
not found one penny to distribute to the
 ,poor that they might  pray for his    
soul6  ,by a kind of godsend1 ,fifty    
shillings did1 in  the very nick of     
time1 fall due1 or seem to fall due1    
from one of  his ,farmers 7the          
,firmarius de ,palegrava71 and he paid  
it1 and  the ,poor had it2  though1     
alas1 this too only seemed to fall  due1
 and we had it to pay again afterwards4 
,dominus ,hugo's  apartments were       
plundered by his servants1 to the last  
portable  stool1 in a few minutes after 
the breath was out of his body4         
,forlorn old ,hugo1 fare thee well      
forever4          ,chapter ,v           
,twelfth ,century      ,our ,abbot being
 dead1 the ,dominus ,rex1 ,henry ,,ii1  

or ,ranulf de  ,glanvill ,justiciarius  
of ,england for him1 set ,inspectors or 
,custodiars over us2--not in any        
breathless haste to appoint a new       
,abbot1 our revenues coming into his own
 ,scaccarium1 or royal  ,exchequer1 in  
the meanwhile4  ,they proceeded with    
some rigour1  these ,custodiars2  took  
written inventories1 clapt-on seals1    
exacted everywhere strict tale and      
measure3  but wherefore should  a living
 monk complain8  ,the living monk has to
 do his devotional  drill-exercise2     
consume his allotted pitantia1 what we  
call pittance1 or ration of victual2    
and possess his soul  in patience4      
,dim1 as through a long vista of ,seven 
,centuries1 dim and very  strange looks 
that monk-life to us2  the              
ever-surprising  circumstance this1     
,that it is a fact and no dream1 that we
 see  it there1 and gaze into the very  
eyes of it6  ,smoke rises daily  from   
those culinary chimney-throats2  there  
are living human  beings there1 who     

chant1 loud-braying1 their matins1      
nones1  vespers2  awakening echoes1 not 
to the bodily ear alone4  ,st4          
,edmund's ,shrine1 perpetually          
illuminated1 glows ruddy through  the   
,night1 and through the ,night of       
,centuries withal2  ,st4  ,edmundsbury  
,town paying yearly ,forty pounds for   
that express end4  ,bells clang out2  on
 great occasions1 all the bells4  ,we   
have  ,processions1 ,preachings1        
,festivals1 ,christmas ,plays1          
,mysteries  shewn in the ,churchyard1 at
 which latter the ,townsfolk sometimes  
quarrel4  ,time was1 ,time is1 as ,friar
 ,bacon's ,brass ,head  remarked2  and  
withal ,time will be4  ,there are three 
,tenses1  ,tempora1 or ,times2  and     
there is one ,eternity2  and as for us1 
',we are such stuff as ,dreams are made 
of6'    ,indisputable1 though very dim  
to modern vision1 rests on its hill-    
slope that same ,bury1 ,stow1 or ,town  
of ,st4 ,edmund2  already a             
considerable place1 not without traffic1

 nay manufactures1 would  ,jocelin only 
tell us what4  ,jocelin is totally      
careless of  telling3  but1 through dim 
fitful apertures1 we can see  ,fullones1
 ',fullers1' see cloth-making2  looms   
dimly going1  dye-vats1 and old women   
spinning yarn4  ,we have ,fairs too1    
,nundinae1 in due course2  and the      
,londoners give us much  trouble1       
pretending that they1 as a metropolitan 
people1 are  exempt from toll4  ,besides
 there is ,field-husbandry1 with        
perplexed settlement of ,convent rents3 
comricks pile themselves  within burgh1 
in their season2  and cattle depart and 
enter2  and  even the poor weaver has   
his cow1--'dung-heaps' lying quiet at   
most doors 7ante foras1 says the        
incidental ,jocelin71 for the  ,town has
 yet no improved police4  ,watch and    
ward nevertheless we  do keep1 and have 
,gates1--as what ,town must not2        
thieves so  abounding2  war1 werra1 such
 a frequent thing6  ,our thieves1 at    
the ,abbot's judgment bar1 deny2  claim 

wager of battle2  fight1  are beaten1   
and then hanged4  ',ketel1 the thief1'  
took this  course2  and it did nothing  
for him1--merely brought us1 and  indeed
 himself1 new trouble6    ,every way a  
most foreign ,time4  ,what difficulty1  
for example1 has  our ,cellerarius to   
collect the repselver1 'reaping silver1'
 or  penny1 which each householder is by
 law bound to pay for cutting  down the 
,convent grain6  ,richer people pretend 
that it is  commuted1 that it is this   
and the other2  that1 in short1 they    
will not pay it4  ,our ,cellerarius     
gives up calling on the rich4  ,in the  
houses of the poor1 our ,cellerarius    
finding1 in like  manner1 neither penny 
nor good promise1 snatches1 without     
ceremony1 what vadium 7pledge1 wad7 he  
can come at3  a joint-  stool1 kettle1  
nay the very house-door1 'hostium2'  and
 old  women1 thus exposed to the        
unfeeling gaze of the public1 rush out  
after him with their distaffs and the   
angriest shrieks3  'vetulae exibant cum 

colis suis1' says ,jocelin1 'minantes   
et exprobrantes4'    ,what a historical 
picture1 glowing visible1 as ,st4       
,edmund's  ,shrine by night1 after      
,seven long ,centuries or so6  ,vetulae 
cum  colis3  ,my venerable ancient      
spinning grandmothers1--ah1 and ye  too 
have to shriek1 and rush out with your  
distaffs2  and become  ,female          
,chartists1 and scold all evening with  
void doorway2--and  in old ,saxon1 as we
 in modern1 would fain demand some      
,five-point  ,charter1 could it be      
fallen in with1 the ,earth being too    
tyrannous6--,wise ,lord ,abbots1 hearing
 of such phenomena1 did in  time abolish
 or commute the reap-penny1 and one     
nuisance was  abated4  ,but the image of
 these justly offended old women1 in    
their old wool costumes1 with their     
angry features1 and spindles            
brandished1 lives forever in the        
historical memory4  ,thanks to  thee1   
,jocelin ,boswell4  ,jerusalem was taken
 by the ,crusaders1 and  again lost by  

them2  and ,richard ,coeur-de-,lion     
'veiled his face'  as he passed in sight
 of it3  but how many other things went 
on1  the while6    ,thus1 too1 our      
trouble with the ,lakenheath eels is    
very great4  ,king ,knut1 namely1 or    
rather his ,queen who also did herself  
honour by honouring ,st4 ,edmund1       
decreed by authentic deed yet  extant on
 parchment1 that the ,holders of the    
,town ,fields1 once  ,beodric's1 should1
 for one thing1 go yearly and catch us  
four  thousand eels in the marsh-pools  
of ,lakenheath4  ,well1 they went1  they
 continued to go2  but1 in later times1 
got into the way of  returning with a   
most short account of eels4  ,not the   
due six-  score apiece2  no1 ,here are  
two-score1 ,here are twenty1 ten1--     
sometimes1 ,here are none at all2       
,heaven help us1 we could  catch no     
more1 they were not there6  ,what is a  
distressed  ,cellerarius to do8  ,we    
agree that each ,holder of so many acres
  shall pay one penny yearly1 and let go

 the eels as too slippery4  ,but alas1  
neither is this quite effectual3  the   
,fields1 in my  time1 have got divided  
among so many hands1 there is no        
catching  of them either2  ,i have known
 our ,cellarer get seven and twenty     
pence formerly1 and now it is much if he
 get ten pence farthing  7vix decem     
denarios et obolum74  ,and then their   
sheep1 which  they are bound to fold    
nightly in our pens1 for the manure's   
sake2  and1 ,i fear1 do not always fold3
  and their aver-  pennies1 and their   
avragiums1 and their foder-corns1 and   
mill-and-market dues6  ,thus1 in its    
undeniable but dim manner1  does old    
,st4 ,edmundsbury spin and till1 and    
laboriously keep its  pot boiling1 and  
,st4 ,edmund's ,shrine lighted1 under   
such  conditions and averages as it can4
      ,how much is still alive in       
,england2  how much has not yet come    
into life6  ,a ,feudal ,aristocracy is  
still alive1 in the prime of  life2     
superintending the cultivation of the   

land1 and less  consciously the         
distribution of the produce of the land1
 the  adjustment of the quarrels of the 
land2  judging1 soldiering1  adjusting2 
everywhere governing the people1--so    
that even a  ,gurth born thrall of      
,cedric lacks not his due parings of the
 pigs  he tends4  ,governing2--and1     
alas1 also game-preserving1 so that a   
,robert ,hood1 a ,william ,scarlet and  
others have1 in these days1  put on     
,lincoln coats1 and taken to living1 in 
some universal-  suffrage manner1 under 
the greenwood tree6    ,how silent1 on  
the other hand1 lie all ,cotton-trades  
and such  like2  not a steeple-chimney  
yet got on end from sea to sea6  ,north 
of the ,humber1 a stern ,willelmus      
,conquestor burnt the  ,country1 finding
 it unruly1 into very stern repose4     
,wild fowl  scream in those ancient     
silences1 wild cattle roam in those     
ancient solitudes2  the scanty sulky    
,norse-bred population all  coerced into
 silence1--feeling that1 under these new

 ,norman  ,governors1 their history has 
probably as good as ended4  ,men  and   
,northumbrian ,norse populations know   
little what has ended1  what is but     
beginning6  ,the ,ribble and the ,aire  
roll down1 as yet  unpolluted by dyers' 
chemistry2  tenanted by merry trouts and
  piscatory otters2  the sunbeam and the
 vacant wind's-blast alone  traversing  
those moors4  ,side by side sleep the   
coal-strata and  the iron-strata for so 
many ages2  no ,steam-,demon has yet    
risen  smoking into being4  ,saint      
,mungo rules in ,glasgow2  ,james ,watt 
still slumbering in the deep of ,time4  
,mancunium1 ,manceaster1  what we now   
call ,manchester1 spins no cotton1--if  
it be not  wool 'cottons1' clipped from 
the backs of mountain sheep4  ,the      
,creek of the ,mersey gurgles1 twice in 
the four-and-twenty hours1  with eddying
 brine1 clangorous with sea-fowl2 and is
 a ,lither-  ,pool1 a lazy or sullen    
,pool1 no monstrous pitchy ,city1 and   
,seahaven of the world6  ,the ,centuries

 are big2  and the birth-  hour is      
coming1 not yet come4  ,tempus ferax1   
tempus edax rerum4          ,chapter    
,,vi    ,monk ,samson      ,within      
doors1 down at the hill-foot1 in our    
,convent here1 we are  a peculiar       
people1--hardly conceivable in the      
,arkwright ,corn-,law  ages1 of mere    
,spinning-,mills and ,joe-,mantons6     
,there is yet no  ,methodism among us1  
and we speak much of ,secularities3  no 
,methodism2  our ,religion is not yet a 
horrible restless ,doubt1  still less a 
far horribler composed ,cant2  but a    
great heaven-  high ,unquestionability1 
encompassing1 interpenetrating the whole
  of ,life4  ,imperfect as we may be1 we
 are here1 with our litanies1  shaven   
crowns1 vows of poverty1 to testify     
incessantly and  indisputably to every  
heart1 ,that this ,earthly ,life1 and   
its riches and possessions1 and good and
 evil hap1 are not  intrinsically a     
reality at all1 but are a shadow of     
realities  eternal1 infinite2  that this

 ,time-world1 as an air-image1          
fearfully emblematic1 plays and flickers
 in the grand still  mirror of          
,eternity2  and man's little ,life has  
,duties that are  great1 that are alone 
great1 and go up to ,heaven and down to 
,hell4  ,this1 with our poor litanies1  
we testify and struggle  to testify4    
,which1 testified or not1 remembered by 
all men1 or forgotten by  all men1 does 
verily remain the fact1 even in         
,arkwright ,joe  ,manton ages6  ,but it 
is incalculable1 when litanies have     
grown  obsolete2  when fodercorns1      
avragiums1 and all human dues and       
reciprocities have been fully changed   
into one great due of cash  payment2    
and man's duty to man reduces itself to 
handing him  certain metal coins1 or    
covenanted money-wages1 and then shoving
  him out of doors2  and man's duty to  
,god becomes a cant1 a doubt1  a dim    
inanity1 a 'pleasure of virtue' or such 
like2  and the  thing a man does        
infinitely fear 7the real ,hell of a    

man7 is  'that he do not make money and 
advance himself1'--,i say1 it is        
incalculable what a change has          
introduced itself everywhere into  human
 affairs6  ,how human affairs shall now 
circulate everywhere  not healthy       
life-blood in them1 but1 as it were1 a  
detestable  copperas banker's ink2  and 
all is grown acrid1 divisive1           
threatening dissolution2  and the huge  
tumultuous ,life of ,society  is        
galvanic1 devil-ridden1 too truly       
possessed by a devil6  ,for1  in short1 
,mammon is not a god at all2  but a     
devil1 and even a  very despicable      
devil4  ,follow the ,devil faithfully1  
you are sure  enough to go to the       
,devil3  whither else can you go8--,in  
such  situations1 men look back with a  
kind of mournful recognition  even on   
poor limited ,monk-figures1 with their  
poor litanies2  and  reflect1 with ,ben 
,jonson1 that soul is indispensable1    
some degree  of soul1 even to save you  
the expense of salt6--    ,for the rest1

 it must be owned1 we ,monks of ,st4    
,edmundsbury are  but a limited class of
 creatures1 and seem to have a somewhat 
dull life of it4  ,much given to idle   
gossip2  having indeed no  other work1  
when our chanting is over4  ,listless   
gossip1 for most  part1 and a mitigated 
slander2  the fruit of idleness1 not of 
spleen4  ,we are dull1 insipid men1 many
 of us2  easy-minded2  whom prayer and  
digestion of food will avail for a life4
  ,we have  to receive all strangers in 
our ,convent1 and lodge them gratis2    
such and such sorts go by rule to the   
,lord ,abbot and his special  revenues2 
such and such to us and our poor        
,cellarer1 however  straitened4  ,jews  
themselves send their wives and little  
ones  hither in war-time1 into our      
,pitanceria2  where they abide  safe1   
with due pittances1--for a              
consideration4  ,we have the  fairest   
chances for collecting news4  ,some of  
us have a turn for  reading ,books2  for
 meditation1 silence2  at times we even 

write  ,books4  ,some of us can preach1 
in ,english-,saxon1 in ,norman  ,french1
 and even in ,monk-,latin2  others      
cannot in any language or  jargon1 being
 stupid4    ,failing all else1 what     
gossip about one another6  ,this is a   
perennial resource4  ,how one hooded    
head applies itself to the  ear of      
another1 and whispers--tacenda4         
,willelmus ,sacrista1 for  instance1    
what does he nightly1 over in that      
,sacristy of his8  ,frequent bibations1 
'frequentes bibationes et quaedam       
tacenda1'  --eheu6  ,we have 'tempora   
minutionis1' stated seasons of          
bloodletting1 when we are all let blood 
together2  and then  there is a general 
free-conference1 a sanhedrim of clatter4
  ,for  all our vow of poverty1 we can  
by rule amass to the extent of  'two    
shillings2'  but it is to be given to   
our necessitous  kindred1 or in charity4
  ,poor ,monks6  ,thus too a certain    
,canterbury ,monk was in the habit of   
'slipping1 clanculo from  his sleeve1'  

five shillings into the hand of his     
mother1 when she  came to see him1 at   
the divine offices1 every two months4   
,once1  slipping the money              
clandestinely1 just in the act of taking
  leave1 he slipt it not into her hand  
but on the floor1 and  another had it2  
whereupon the poor ,monk1 coming to know
 it1  looked mere despair for some days2
  till1 ,lanfranc the noble             
,archbishop1 questioning his secret from
 him1 nobly made the sum  seven         
shillings1 and said1 ,never mind6       
,one ,monk of a taciturn nature         
distinguishes himself among these       
babbling ones3  the name of him ,samson2
  he that answered  ,jocelin1 ,fili mi1 
a burnt child shuns the fire4 ,they call
 him  ',norfolk ,barrator1' or litigious
 person2  for indeed1 being of  grave   
taciturn ways1 he is not universally a  
favourite2  he has  been in trouble more
 than once4  ,the reader is desired to  
mark  this ,monk4  ,a personable man of 
seven-and-forty2  stout-made1  stands   

erect as a pillar2  with bushy eyebrows1
 the eyes of him  beaming into you in a 
really strange way2  the face massive1  
grave1 with 'a very eminent nose2'  his 
head almost bald1 its  auburn remnants  
of hair1 and the copious ruddy beard1   
getting  slightly streaked with grey4   
,this is ,brother ,samson2  a man  worth
 looking at4    ,he is from ,norfolk1 as
 the nickname indicates2  from          
,tottington  in ,norfolk1 as we guess2  
the son of poor parents there4  ,he has 
told me1 ,jocelin1 for ,i loved him     
much1 ,that once in his ninth  year he  
had an alarming dream2--as indeed we are
 all somewhat  given to dreaming here4  
,little ,samson1 lying uneasily in his  
crib at ,tottington1 dreamed that he saw
 the ,arch ,enemy in person1  just      
alighted in front of some grand         
building1 with outspread  bat-wings1 and
 stretching forth detestable clawed     
hands to grip  him1 little ,samson1 and 
fly off with him3  whereupon the little 
dreamer shrieked desperate to ,st4      

,edmund for help1 shrieked and  again   
shrieked2  and ,st4 ,edmund1 a reverend 
heavenly figure1 did  come1--and indeed 
poor little ,samson's mother1 awakened  
by his  shrieking1 did come2  and the   
,devil and the ,dream both fled away    
fruitless4  ,on the morrow1 his mother1 
pondering such an awful  dream1 thought 
it were good to take him over to ,st4   
,edmund's own  ,shrine1 and pray with   
him there4  ,see1 said little ,samson at
  sight of the ,abbey-,gate2  see1      
mother1 this is the building ,i  dreamed
 of6  ,his poor mother dedicated him to 
,st4 ,edmund1--left  him there with     
prayers and tears3  what better could   
she do8  ,the  exposition of the dream1 
,brother ,samson used to say1 was this3 
,diabolus with outspread bat-wings      
shadowed forth the pleasures  of this   
world1 voluptates hujus saeculi1 which  
were about to  snatch and fly away with 
me1 had not ,st4 ,edmund flung his arms 
round me1 that is to say1 made me a monk
 of his4  ,a monk1  accordingly1        

,brother ,samson is2  and here to this  
day where his  mother left him4  ,a     
learned man1 of devout grave nature2    
has  studied at ,paris1 has taught in   
the ,town ,schools here1 and done  much 
else2  can preach in three languages1   
and1 like ,dr4 ,caius1  'has had losses'
 in his time4  ,a thoughtful1           
firm-standing man2  much loved by some1 
not loved by all2  his clear eyes       
flashing  into you1 in an almost        
inconvenient way6    ,abbot ,hugo1 as we
 said1 has his own difficulties with    
him2  ,abbot  ,hugo had him in prison   
once1 to teach him what authority was1  
and  how to dread the fire in future4   
,for ,brother ,samson1 in the time  of  
the ,antipopes1 had been sent to ,rome  
on business2  and1  returning           
successful1 was too late1--the business 
had all misgone  in the interim6  ,as   
tours to ,rome are still frequent with  
us  ,english1 perhaps the reader will   
not grudge to look at the method  of    
traveling thither in those remote ages4 

,we happily have1 in  small compass1 a  
personal narrative of it4  ,through the 
clear  eyes and memory of ,brother      
,samson1 one peeps direct into the very 
bosom of that ,twelfth ,century1 and    
finds it rather curious4  ,the  actual  
,papa1 ,father1 or universal ,president 
of ,christendom1 as  yet not grown      
chimerical1 sat there2  think of that   
only6  ,brother ,samson went to ,rome as
 to the real ,light-fountain of this    
lower world2  we now--6--,but let us    
hear ,brother ,samson1 as to  his mode  
of traveling3    ',you know what trouble
 ,i had for that ,church of ,woolpit2   
how ,i  was despatched to ,rome in the  
time of the ,schism between ,pope       
,alexander and ,octavian2  and passed   
through ,italy at that season1  when all
 clergy carrying letters for our ,lord  
,pope ,alexander were  laid hold of1 and
 some were clapt in prison1 some hanged2
  and  some1 with nose and lips cut off1
 were sent forward to our ,lord  the    
,pope1 for the disgrace and confusion of

 him 7in dedecus et  confusionem ejus74 
,i1 however1 pretended to be ,scotch1   
and  putting on the garb of a           
,scotchman1 and taking the gesture of   
one1 walked along2  and when anybody    
mocked at me1 ,i would  brandish my     
staff in the manner of that weapon they 
call  gaveloc199 uttering comminatory   
words after the way of the  ,scotch4    
,to those that met and questioned me who
 ,i was1 ,i made no  answer but3  ,ride1
 ride ,rome2  turne ,cantwereberei4 9999
 ,thus did  ,i1 to conceal myself and my
 errand1 and get safer to ,rome under   
the guise of a ,scotchman4    ----------
  99 ,javelin1 missile pike4  ,gaveloc  
is still the ,scotch name for  crowbar4 
9999 ,does this mean1 ,rome forever2    
,canterbury not 7which  claims an unjust
 ,supremacy over us76  ,mr4 ,rokewood is
 silent4  ,dryasdust would perhaps      
explain it1--in the course of a week or 
two of talking2  did one dare to        
question him6  ----------    ',having at
 last obtained a ,letter from our ,lord 

the ,pope  according to my wishes1 ,i   
turned homewards again4  ,i had to pass 
through a certain strong town on my     
road2  and lo1 the soldiers  thereof    
surrounded me1 seizing me1 and saying3  
,this vagabond  7iste solivagus71 who   
pretends to be ,scotch1 is either a spy1
  or has ,letters from the false ,pope  
,alexander4  ,and whilst they  examined 
every stitch and rag of me1 my leggings 
7caligas71  breeches1 and even the old  
shoes that ,i carried over my shoulder  
in the way of the ,scotch1--,i put my   
hand into the leather scrip ,i  wore1   
wherein our ,lord the ,pope's ,letter   
lay1 close by a little  jug 7ciffus7 ,i 
had for drinking out of2  and the ,lord 
,god so  pleasing1 and ,st4 ,edmund1 ,i 
got out both the ,letter and the jug    
together2  in such a way that1 extending
 my arm aloft1 ,i held the  ,letter     
hidden between jug and hand3  they saw  
the jug1 but the  ,letter they saw not4 
,and thus ,i escaped out of their hands 
in  the name of the ,lord4  ,whatever   

money ,i had they took from me2         
wherefore ,i had to beg from door to    
door1 without any payment  7sine omni   
expensa7 till ,i came to ,england again4
  ,but hearing  that the ,woolpit       
,church was already given to ,geoffry   
,ridell1 my  soul was struck with sorrow
 because ,i had laboured in vain4       
',coming home1 therefore1 ,i sat me down
 secretly under the ,shrine  of ,st4    
,edmund1 fearing lest our ,lord ,abbot  
should seize and  imprison me1 though ,i
 had done no mischief2  nor was there a 
monk  who durst speak to me1 nor a laic 
who durst bring me food except  by      
stealth4    ,such resting and welcoming 
found ,brother ,samson1 with his worn   
soles1 and strong heart6  ,he sits      
silent1 revolving many  thoughts1 at the
 foot of ,st4 ,edmund's ,shrine4  ,in   
the wide ,earth1  if it be not ,saint   
,edmund1 what friend or refuge has he8  
,our  ,lord ,abbot1 hearing of him1 sent
 the proper officer to lead him  down to
 prison1 clap 'foot-gyves on him' there4

  ,another poor  official furtively     
brought him a cup of wine2  bade him be 
comforted in the ,lord4  ,samson utters 
no complaint2  obeys in  silence4  ',our
 ,lord ,abbot1 taking counsel of it1    
banished me to  ,acre1 and there ,i had 
to stay long4'    ,our ,lord ,abbot next
 tried ,samson with promotions2  made   
him  ,subsacristan1 made him ,librarian1
 which he liked best of all1  being     
passionately fond of ,books3  ,samson1  
with many thoughts in  him1 again obeyed
 in silence2  discharged his offices to 
perfection1 but never thanked our ,lord 
,abbot1--seemed rather as  if looking   
into him1 with those clear eyes of his4 
,whereupon  ,abbot ,hugo said1 ,se      
nunquam vidisse1 he had never seen such 
a  man2  whom no severity would break to
 complain1 and no kindness  soften into 
smiles or thanks3--a questionable kind  
of man6      ,in this way1 not without  
troubles1 but still in an erect clear-  
standing manner1 has ,brother ,samson   
reached his forty-seventh  year2  and   

his ruddy beard is getting slightly     
grizzled4  ,he is  endeavouring1 in     
these days1 to have various broken      
things  thatched in2  nay perhaps to    
have the ,choir itself completed1 for   
he can bear nothing ruinous4  ,he has   
gathered 'heaps of lime and  sand2'  has
 masons1 slaters working1 he and        
,warinus monachus  noster1 who are joint
 keepers of the ,shrine2  paying out the
  money duly1--furnished by charitable  
burghers of ,st4 ,edmundsbury1  they    
say4  ,charitable burghers of ,st4      
,edmundsbury8  ,to me ,jocelin  it seems
 rather1 ,samson and ,warinus1 whom he  
leads1 have privily  hoarded the        
oblations at the ,shrine itself1 in     
these late  years of indolent           
dilapidation1 while ,abbot ,hugo sat    
wrapt  inaccessible2  and are           
struggling1 in this prudent way1 to have
  the rain kept out6--,under what       
conditions1 sometimes1 has ,wisdom  to  
struggle with ,folly2  get ,folly       
persuaded to so much as thatch  out the 

rain from itself6  ,for1 indeed1 if the 
,infant govern  the ,nurse1 what        
dexterous practice on the ,nurse's part 
will  not be necessary6    ,it is regret
 to us that1 in these circumstances1 our
 ,lord the  ,king's ,custodiars1        
interfering1 prohibited all building or 
thatching from whatever source2  and no 
,choir shall be completed1  and ,rain   
and ,time1 for the present1 shall have  
their way4  ,willelmus ,sacrista1 he of 
'the frequent bibations and some things 
not to be spoken of2'  he1 with his red 
nose1 ,i am of opinion1  had made       
complaint to the ,custodiars2  wishing  
to do ,samson an  ill turn3--,samson his
 ,sub-sacristan1 with those clear eyes1 
could not be a prime favourite of his6  
,samson again obeys  in silence4        
,chapter ,,vii    ,the ,canvassing      
,now1 however1 come great news to ,st4  
,edmundsbury3  ,that there is  to be an 
,abbot elected2  that our interlunar    
obscuration is to  cease2  ,st4         
,edmund's ,convent no more to be a      

doleful widow1 but  joyous and once     
again a bride6  ,often in our widowed   
state had we  prayed to the ,lord and   
,st4 ,edmund1 singing weekly a matter of
  'one-and-twenty penitential ,psalms1  
on our knees in the ,choir1'  that a fit
 ,pastor might be vouchsafed us4  ,and1 
says ,jocelin1 had  some known what     
,abbot we were to get1 they had not been
 so  devout1 ,i believe6--,bozzy        
,jocelin opens to mankind the floodgates
  of authentic ,convent gossip2  we     
listen1 as in a ,dionysius' ,ear1  to   
the inanest hubbub1 like the voices at  
,virgil's ,horn-,gate of  ,dreams4      
,even gossip1 seven centuries off1 has  
significance4  ,list1 list1 how like men
 are to one another in all centuries3   
,dixit quidam de quodam1 ,a certain     
person said of a certain  person1 ,he1  
that ,frater1 is a good monk1 probabilis
 persona2  knows much of the order and  
customs of the church2  and though  not 
so perfect a philosopher as some others1
 would make a very  good ,abbot4  ,old  

,abbot ,ording1 still famed among us1   
knew little  of letters4  ,besides1 as  
we read in ,fables1 it is better to     
choose a log for king1 than a serpent1  
never so wise1 that will  venomously    
hiss and bite his                       
subjects4--,impossible6 answered  the   
other3  ,how can such a man make a      
sermon in the chapter1 or  to the people
 on festival days1 when he is without   
letters8  ,how  can he have the skill to
 bind and to loose1 he who does not     
understand the ,scriptures8  ,how--8'   
,and then another said of another1 alius
 de alio1 ,that  ,frater is a homo      
literatus1 eloquent1 sagacious2         
vigorous  in discipline2  loves the     
,convent much1 has suffered much for    
its sake4  ,to which a third party      
answers1 ,from all your  great clerks   
good ,lord deliver us6  ,from ,norfolk  
barrators1 and  surly persons1 ,that it 
would please thee to preserve us1 ,we   
beseech thee to hear us1 good ,lord6'   
,then another quidam  said of another   

quodam1 ,that ,frater is a good manager 
7husebondus72  but was swiftly answered1
 ,god forbid that a  man who can neither
 read nor chant1 nor celebrate the      
divine  offices1 an unjust person       
withal1 and grinder of the faces of the 
poor1 should ever be ,abbot6'  ,one man1
 it appears1 is nice in  his victuals4  
,another is indeed wise2  but apt to    
slight  inferiors2  hardly at the pains 
to answer1 if they argue with him  too  
foolishly4  ,and so each aliquis        
concerning his aliquo1--  through whole 
pages of electioneering babble4  ,for1' 
says  ,jocelin1 ,so many men1 as many   
minds4  ,our ,monks at time of          
blood-letting1 tempore minutionis1'     
holding their sanhedrim of  babble1     
would talk in this manner3  ,brother    
,samson1 ,i remarked1  never said       
anything2  sat silent1 sometimes        
smiling2  but he took  good note of what
 others said1 and would bring it up1 on 
occasion1 twenty years after4  ,as for  
me ,jocelin1 ,i was of  opinion that    

some skill in ,dialectics1 to           
distinguish true from  false1' would be 
good in an ,abbot4  ,i spake1 as a rash 
,novice in  those days1 some            
conscientious words of a certain        
benefactor of  mine2  and behold1 one of
 those sons of ,belial' ran and reported
  them to him1 so that he never after   
looked at me with the same  face again6 
,poor ,bozzy6--    ,such is the buzz and
 frothy simmering ferment of the general
 mind  and no-mind2  struggling to make 
itself up1' as the phrase is1  or       
ascertain what it does really want3  no 
easy matter1 in most  cases4  ,st4      
,edmundsbury1 in that ,candlemas season 
of the year  #aahb1 is a busily         
fermenting place4  ,the very clothmakers
 sit  meditative at their looms2        
asking1 ,who shall be ,abbot8  ,the     
sochemanni speak of it1 driving their   
ox-teams afield2  the old  women with   
their spindles3  and none yet knows what
 the days will  bring forth4      ,the  
,prior1 however1 as our interim chief1  

must proceed to work2  get ready        
',twelve ,monks1' and set off with them 
to his ,majesty at  ,waltham1 there     
shall the election be made4  ,an        
election1 whether  managed directly by  
ballot-box on public hustings1 or       
indirectly  by force of public opinion1 
or were it even by open alehouses1      
landlords' coercion1 popular club-law1  
or whatever electoral  methods1 is      
always an interesting phenomenon4  ,a   
mountain  tumbling in great travail1    
throwing up dustclouds and absurd       
noises1 is visibly there2  uncertain yet
 what mouse or monster it  will give    
birth to4    ,besides it is a most      
important social act2  nay1 at bottom1  
the  one important social act4  ,given  
the men a ,people choose1 the  ,people  
itself1 in its exact worth and          
worthlessness1 is given4  ,a  heroic    
people chooses heroes1 and is happy2  a 
valet or flunkey  people chooses        
sham-heroes1 what are called quacks1    
thinking them  heroes1 and is not happy4

  ,the grand summary of a man's         
spiritual  condition1 what brings out   
all his herohood and insight1 or all    
his flunkeyhood and horn-eyed dimness1  
is this question put to  him1 ,what man 
dost thou honour8  ,which is thy ideal  
of a man2  or  nearest that8  ,so too of
 a ,people3  for a ,people too1 every   
,people1 speaks its choice1--were it    
only by silently obeying1  and not      
revolting1--in the course of a century  
or so4  ,nor are  electoral methods1    
,reform ,bills and such like1           
unimportant4  ,a  ,people's electoral   
methods are1 in the long-run1 the       
express  image of its electoral talent2 
tending and gravitating  perpetually1   
irresistibly1 to a conformity with that3
  and are1  at all stages1 very         
significant of the ,people4  ,judicious 
readers1 of these times1 are not        
disinclined to see how  ,monks elect    
their ,abbot in the ,twelfth ,century3  
how the ,st4  ,edmundsbury mountain     
manages its midwifery2  and what mouse  

or  man the outcome is4                 
,chapter ,,viii    ,the ,election       
,accordingly our ,prior assembles us in 
,chapter2  and1 we adjuring  him before 
,god to do justly1 nominates1 not by our
 selection1 yet  with our assent1       
,twelve ,monks1 moderately satisfactory4
  ,of whom  are ,hugo ,third-,prior1    
,brother ,dennis a venerable man1       
,walter the  ,medicus1 ,samson          
,subsacrista1 and other esteemed        
characters1--  though ,willelmus        
,sacrista1 of the red nose1 too is one4 
,these  shall proceed straightway to    
,waltham2  elect the ,abbot as they  may
 and can4  ,monks are sworn to          
obedience2  must not speak too  loud1   
under penalty of foot-gyves1 limbo1 and 
bread and water3  yet monks too would   
know what it is they are obeying4  ,the 
,st4  ,edmundsbury ,community has no    
hustings1 ballot-box1 indeed no open    
voting3  yet by various vague           
manipulations1 pulse-feelings1 we       
struggle to ascertain what its virtual  

aim is1 and succeed better  or worse4   
,this question1 however1 rises2  alas1 a
 quite preliminary  question3  ,will the
 ,dominus ,rex allow us to choose       
freely8  ,it  is to be hoped6  ,well1 if
 so1 we agree to choose one of our own  
,convent4  ,if not1 if the ,dominus ,rex
 will force a stranger on  us1 we decide
 on demurring1 the ,prior and his       
,twelve shall demur3  we can appeal1    
plead1 remonstrate2  appeal even to the 
,pope1 but  trust it will not be        
necessary4  ,then there is this other   
question1 raised by ,brother ,samson3   
,what if the ,thirteen should  not      
themselves be able to agree8  ,brother  
,samson ,subsacrista1  one remarks1 is  
ready oftenest with some question1 some 
suggestion1 that has wisdom in it4      
,though a servant of servants1  and     
saying little1 his words all tell1      
having sense in them2  it seems by his  
light mainly that we steer ourselves in 
this  great dimness4    ,what if the    
,thirteen should not themselves be able 

to agree8  ,speak1 ,samson1 and         
advise4--,could not1 hints ,samson1 ,six
 of our  venerablest elders be chosen by
 us1 a kind of electoral  committee1    
here and now3  of these1 with their hand
 on the  ,gospels1 with their eye on the
 ,sacrosancta1' we take oath that  they 
will do faithfully2  let these1 in      
secret and as before ,god1  agree on    
,three whom they reckon fittest2  write 
their names in a  ,paper1 and deliver   
the same sealed1 forthwith1 to the      
,thirteen3  one of those ,three the     
,thirteen shall fix on1 if permitted4   
,if  not permitted1 that is to say1 if  
the ,dominus ,rex force us to           
demur1--the ,paper shall be brought back
 unopened1 and publicly  burned1 that no
 man's secret bring him into trouble4   
,so ,samson advises1 so we act2  wisely1
 in this and in other  crises of the    
business4  ,our electoral committee1 its
 eye on the  ,sacrosancta1 is soon      
named1 soon sworn2  and we striking up  
the  ,fifth ,psalm1 ',verba mea1        

,give ear unto my words1 ,o ,lord1      
,my meditation weigh1'    march out     
chanting1 and leave the ,six to their   
work in the  ,chapter here4  ,their     
work1 before long1 they announce as     
finished3  they1 with their eye on the  
,sacrosancta1 imprecating  the ,lord to 
weigh and witness their meditation1 have
 fixed on  ,three ,names1 and written   
them in this ,sealed ,paper4  ,let      
,samson  ,subsacrista1 general servant  
of the party1 take charge of it4  ,on   
the morrow morning1 our ,prior and his  
,twelve will be ready to get  under way4
    ,this then is the  ballot-box and   
electoral winnowing-machine they  have  
at ,st4 ,edmundsbury3 a mind fixed on   
the ,thrice ,holy1 an  appeal to ,god on
 high to witness their meditation3  by  
far the  best1 and indeed the only good 
electoral winnowing-machine1--,if  men  
have souls in them4  ,totally worthless1
 it is true1 and even  hideous and      
poisonous1 if men have no souls4  ,but  
without soul1  alas what                

winnowing-machine in human elections1   
can be of  avail8  ,we cannot get along 
without soul2  we stick fast1 the       
mournfullest spectacle2  and salt itself
 will not save us6      ,on the morrow  
morning1 accordingly1 our ,thirteen set 
forth2  or  rather our ,prior and       
,eleven2  for ,samson1 as general       
servant of  the party1 has to linger1   
settling many things4  ,at length he too
  gets upon the road2  and1 'carrying   
the sealed ,paper in a leather  pouch   
hung round his neck2  and froccum       
bajulans in ulnis'  7thanks to thee     
,bozzy ,jocelin71 'his frock-skirts     
looped over his  elbow1' skewing        
substantial stern-works1 tramps stoutly 
along4  ,away across the ,heath1 not yet
 of ,newmarket  and horse-jockeying2    
across your ,fleam-dike and             
,devil's-dike1 no longer useful as a    
,mercian ,east-,anglian boundary or     
bulwark3  continually towards  ,waltham1
 and the ,bishop of ,winchester's ,house
 there1 for his  ,majesty is in that4   

,brother ,samson1 as purse-bearer1 has  
the  reckoning always1 when there is    
one1 to pay2  'delays are  numerous1'   
progress none of the swiftest4    ,but1 
in the solitude of the ,convent1        
,destiny thus big and in her  birthtime1
 what gossiping1 what babbling1 what    
dreaming of  dreams6  ,the secret of the
 ,three our electoral elders alone know3
  some ,abbot we shall have to govern   
us2  but which ,abbot1 ,o which6  ,one  
,monk discerns in a vision of the       
night-watches1 that we shall  get an    
,abbot of our own body1 without needing 
to demur3  a  prophet appeared to him   
clad all in white1 and said1 ,ye shall  
have one of yours1 and he will rage     
among you like a wolf1  saeviet ut      
lupus4  ,verily6--then which of ours8   
,another ,monk  now dreams3  he has seen
 clearly which2  a certain ,figure      
taller  by head and shoulders than the  
other two1 dressed in alb and  pallium1 
and with the attitude of one about to   
fight2--which  tall ,figure a wise      

,editor would rather not name at this   
stage of  the business6  ,enough that   
the vision is true3  that ,saint ,edmund
  himself1 pale and awful1 seemed to    
rise from his ,shrine1 with  naked feet1
 and say audibly1 ,he1 ille1 shall veil 
my feet2  which part of the vision also 
proves true4  ,such guessing1           
visioning1 dim perscrutation of the     
momentous future3  the very             
clothmakers1 old women1 all townsfolk   
speak of it1 'and more than  once it is 
reported in ,st4 ,edmundsbury1 ,this one
 is elected2  and  then1 ,this one and  
,that other4'  ,who knows8      ,but    
now1 sure enough1 at ,waltham 'on the   
,second ,sunday of  ,quadragesima1'     
which ,dryasdust declares to mean the   
#bb;d day of  ,february1 year #aahb1    
,thirteen ,st4 ,edmundsbury ,monks are1 
at last1  seen processioning towards the
 ,winchester ,manorhouse2  and in  some 
high ,presence-chamber1 and ,hall of    
,state1 get access to  ,henry ,,ii in   
all his glory4  ,what a ,hall1--not     

imaginary in the  least1 but entirely   
real and indisputable1 though so        
extremely  dim to us2  sunk in the deep 
distances of ,night6  ,the ,winchester  
,manorhouse has fled bodily1 like a     
,dream of the old ,night2  not          
,dryasdust himself can skew a wreck of  
it4  ,house and people1  royal and      
episcopal1 lords and varlets1 where are 
they8  ,why  there1 ,i say1 ,seven      
,centuries off2  sunk so far in the     
,night1  there they are2  peep through  
the blankets of the old ,night1  and    
thou wilt seel ,king ,henry himself is  
visibly there1 a vivid1  noble-looking  
man1 with grizzled beard1 in glittering 
uncertain  costume1 with earls round    
him1 and bishops and dignitaries1 in    
the like4  ,the ,hall is large1 and has 
for one thing an altar near  it1--chapel
 and altar adjoining it2  but what gilt 
seats1 carved  tables1 carpeting of     
rush-cloth1 what arras-hangings1 and a  
huge  fire of logs3--alas1 it has ,human
 ,life in it2  and is not that  the     

grand miracle1 in what hangings or      
costume soever8--    ,the ,dominus ,rex1
 benignantly receiving our ,thirteen    
with their  obeisance1 and graciously   
declaring that he will strive to act    
for ,god's honour1 and the ,church's    
good1 commands1 'by the ,bishop  of     
,winchester and ,geoffrey the           
,chancellor1'--,galfrides               
,cancellarius1 ,henry's and the ,fair   
,rosamond's authentic ,sons  present    
here6--commands1 ,that they1 the said   
,thirteen1 do now  withdraw1 and fix    
upon ,three from their own ,monastery4  
,a work  soon done2  the ,three hanging 
ready round ,samson's neck1 in that     
leather pouch of his4  ,breaking the    
seal1 we find the names1--  what think  
ye of it1 ye higher dignitaries1 thou   
indolent  ,prior1 thou ,willelmus       
,sacrista with the red bottle-nose8--the
  names1 in this order3  of ,samson     
,subsacrista1 of ,roger the  distressed 
,cellarer1 of ,hugo ,tertius-,prior4    
,the higher dignitaries1 all omitted    

here1 'flush suddenly red in  the face2'
  but have nothing to say4  ,one curious
 fact and  question certainly is1 ,how  
,hugo ,third-,prior1 who was of the     
electoral committee1 came to nominate   
himself as one of the  ,three8  ,a      
curious fact1 which ,hugo ,third-,prior 
has never yet  entirely explained2  that
 ,i know of6--,however1 we return1 and  
report to the ,king our ,three names2   
merely altering the order2  putting     
,samson last1 as lowest of all4  ,the   
,king1 at recitation  of our ,three1    
asks us3  ,who are they8  ,were they    
born in my  domain8  ,totally unknown to
 me6  ,you must nominate three others4  
,whereupon ,willelmus ,sacrista says1   
,our ,prior must be named1  quia caput  
nostrum est1 being already our head4    
,and the ,prior  responds1 ,willelmus   
,sacrista is a fit man1 bonus vir est1--
  for all his red nose4  ,tickle me     
,toby1 and ,i'll tickle thee6           
,venerable ,dennis too is named2  none  
in his conscience can say  nay4  ,there 

are now ,six on our ,list4  ,well1 said 
the ,king1  they have done it swiftly1  
they6  ,deus est cum eis4  ,the  ,monks 
withdraw again2  and ,majesty revolves1 
for a little1 with  his ,pares and      
,episcopi1 ,lords or ',law-wards'99 and 
,soul-  ,overseers1 the thoughts of the 
royal breast4  ,the ,monks wait  silent 
in an outer room4    --------  99 or    
,lawyers--digital editor  --------      
,in short while1 they are next ordered1 
,to add yet another three2  but not from
 their own ,convent2  from other        
,convents1 for the  honour of my        
kingdom4  ,here1--what is to be done    
here8  ,we will  demur1 if need be6  ,we
 do name three1 however1 for the nonce3 
the ,prior of ,st4 ,faith's1 a good     
,monk of ,st4 ,neot's1 a good ,monk  of 
,st4 ,alban's2  good men all2  all made 
abbots and dignitaries  since1 at this  
hour4  ,there are now ,nine upon our    
,list4  ,what the  thoughts of the      
,dominus ,rex may be farther8  ,the     
,dominus ,rex1  thanking graciously1    

sends out word that we shall now strike 
off  three4  ,the three strangers are   
instantly struck off4  ,willelmus       
,sacrista adds1 that he will of his own 
accord decline1--a touch  of grace and  
respect for the ,sacrosancta1 even in   
,willelmus6  ,the ,king then orders us  
to strike off a couple more2  then yet  
one more3  ,hugo ,third-,prior goes1 and
 ,roger ,cellerarius1 and  venerable    
,monk ,dennis2--and now there remain on 
our ,list two  only1 ,samson            
,subsacrista and the ,prior4    ,which  
of these two8  ,it were hard to say1--by
 ,monks who may get  themselves         
foot-gyved and thrown into limbo1 for   
speaking6  ,we  humbly request that the 
,bishop of ,winchester and ,geoffrey the
  ,chancellor may again enter1 and help 
us to decide4  ,which do you  want8 asks
 the ,bishop4  ,venerable ,dennis made a
 speech1  'commending the persons of the
 ,prior and ,samson2  but always in  the
 corner of his discourse1 in angulo sui 
sermonis1 brought  ,samson in4'  ,i see6

 said the ,bishop3  ,we are to          
understand  that your ,prior is somewhat
 remiss2  that you want to have him  you
 call ,samson for ,abbot4  ,either of   
them is good1 said  venerable ,dennis1  
almost trembling2  but we would have the
  better1 if it pleased ,god4  ,which of
 the two do you want8  inquires the     
,bishop pointedly4  ,samson6 answered   
,dennis2  ,samson6 echoed all of the    
rest that durst speak or echo  anything3
  and ,samson is reported to the ,king  
accordingly4  ,his  ,majesty1 advising  
of it for a moment1 orders that ,samson 
be  brought in with the other ,twelve4  
,the ,king's ,majesty1 looking at us    
somewhat sternly1 then says3  ,you      
present to me ,samson2  ,i do not know  
him3  had it been your  ,prior1 whom ,i 
do know1 ,i should have accepted him3   
however1 ,i  will now do as you wish4   
,but have a care of yourselves4  ,by the
  true eyes of ,god1 per veros oculos   
,dei1 if you manage badly1 ,i  will be  
upon you6  ,samson1 therefore1 steps    

forward1 kisses the  ,king's feet2  but 
swiftly rises erect again1 swiftly turns
  towards the altar1 uplifting with the 
other ,twelve1 in clear  tenor-note1 the
 ,fifty-first ,psalm1 ',miserere mei    
,deus1         ',after thy              
loving-kindness1 ,lord1       ,have     
mercy upon me2'    with firm voice1 firm
 step and head1 no change in his        
countenance  whatever4  ,by ,god's eyes1
 said the ,king1 that one1 ,i think1    
will govern the ,abbey well4  ,by the   
same oath 7charged to your  ,majesty's  
account71 ,i too am precisely of that   
opinion6  ,it is  some while since ,i   
fell in with a likelier man anywhere    
than this  new ,abbot ,samson4  ,long   
life to him1 and may the ,lord have     
mercy on him as ,abbot6      ,thus1     
then1 have the ,st4 ,edmundsbury ,monks1
 without express  ballot-box or other   
good winnowing-machine1 contrived to    
accomplish the most important social    
feat a body of men can do1  to winnow   
out the man that is to govern them3  and

 truly one sees  not that1 by any       
winnowing-machine whatever1 they could  
have done  it better4  ,o ye kind       
,heavens1 there is in every ,nation and 
,community1 a fittest1 a wisest1        
bravest1 best2  whom could we  find and 
make ,king over us1 all were in very    
truth well2--the  best that ,god and    
,nature had permitted us to make it6    
,by what  art discover him8  ,will the  
,heavens in their pity teach us no  art2
  for our need of him is great6         
,ballot-boxes1 ,reform ,bills1          
winnowing-machines3  all these are      
good1 or are not so good2--alas1        
brethren1 how can these1 ,i  say1 be    
other than inadequate1 be other than    
failures1 melancholy  to behold8  ,dim  
all souls of men to the divine1 the high
 and  awful meaning of ,human ,worth and
 ,truth1 we shall never1 by all  the    
machinery in ,birmingham1 discover the  
,true and ,worthy4  ,it is  written1 'if
 we are ourselves valets1 there shall   
exist no hero  for us2  we shall not    

know the hero when we see him2'--we     
shall take the quack for a hero2  and   
cry1 audibly through  all ballot-boxes  
and machinery whatsoever1 ,thou art he2 
be  thou ,king over us6    ,what boots  
it8  ,seek only deceitful ,speciosity1  
godlike ,reality  will be forever far   
from you4  ,the ,quack shall be         
legitimate  inevitable ,king of you2  no
 earthly machinery able to exclude the  
,quack4  ,ye shall be born thralls of   
the ,quack1 and suffer under  him1 till 
you hearts are near broken1 and no      
,french ,revolution or  ,manchester     
,insurrection1 or partial or universal  
volcanic  combustions and explosions2   
never so many1 can do more than  'change
 the figure of your ,quack2'  the       
essence of him  remaining1 for a time   
and times4--,how long1 ,o ,prophet8 say 
some1 with a rather melancholy sneer4   
,alas1 ye unprophetic1  ever till this  
come about3  ,till deep misery1 if      
nothing softer  will1 have driven you   
out of your ,speciosites into your      

,sincerities2  and you find there either
 is a ,godlike in the  world1 or else ye
 are an unintelligible madness2  that   
there is a  ,god1 as well as a ,mammon  
and a ,devil1 and a ,genius of ,luxuries
  and canting ,dilettantisms and ,vain  
,shows6  ,how long that will be1        
compute for yourselves4  ,my unhappy    
brothers6--          ,chapter ,,ix      
,abbot ,samson      ,so then the bells  
of ,st4 ,edmundsbury clang out one and  
all1 and  in church and chapel the      
organs go3  ,convent and ,town1 and all 
the west side of ,suffolk1 are in gala2 
knights1 viscounts1  weavers1 spinners1 
the entire population1 male and female1 
young  and old1 the very sockmen with   
their chubby infants1--out to have  a   
holiday1 and see the ,lord ,abbot       
arrive6  ,and there is  'stripping      
barefoot' of the ,lord ,abbot at the    
,gate1 and solemn  leading of him in to 
the ,high ,altar and ,shrine2  with     
sudden  'silence of all the bells and   
organs1' as we kneel in deep prayer     

there2  and again with outburst of all  
the bells and organs1 and  loud ,te     
,deum from the general human windpipe2  
and speeches by  the leading viscount1  
and giving of the kiss of brotherhood2  
the  whole wound up with popular games1 
and dinner within doors of  more than a 
thousand strong1 plus quam mille        
comedentibus in  gaudio magno4    ,in   
such manner is the selfsame ,samson once
 again returning  to us1 welcomed on    
this occasion4  ,he that went away with 
his  frock-skirts looped over his arm1  
comes back riding high2  suddenly made  
one of the dignitaries of this world4   
,reflective  readers will admit that    
here was a trial for a man4  ,yesterday 
a  poor mendicant1 allowed to possess   
not above two shillings of  money1 and  
without authority to bid a dog run for  
him1 this man  today finds himself a    
,dominus ,abbas1 mitred ,peer of        
,parliament1  ,lord of manorhouses1     
farms1 manors1 and wide lands2  a man   
with  ',fifty ,knights under him1' and  

dependent swiftly obedient  multitudes  
of men4  ,it is a change greater than   
,napoleon's2  so  sudden withal4  ,as if
 one of the ,chandos daydrudges had1 on 
awakening some morning1 found that he   
overnight was become ,duke6  ,let       
,samson with his clear-beaming eyes see 
into that1 and discern  it if he can4   
,we shall now get the measure of him by 
a new scale  of inches1 considerably    
more rigorous than the former was4  ,for
  if a noble soul is rendered tenfold   
beautifuller by victory and  prosperity1
 springing now radiant as into his own  
due element and  sunthrone2  an ignoble 
one is rendered tenfold and hundredfold 
uglier1 pitifuller4  ,whatsoever vices1 
whatsoever weaknesses were  in the man1 
the parvenu will shew us them enlarged1 
as in the  solar microscope1 into       
frightful distortion4  ,nay1 how many   
mere  seminal principles of vice1       
hitherto all wholesomely kept latent1   
may we now see unfolded1 as in the solar
 hothouse1 into growth1  into huge      

universally-conspicuous luxuriance and  
development6      ,but is not this1 at  
any rate1 a singular aspect of what     
political  and social capabilities1 nay 
let us say what depth and opulence  of  
true social vitality1 lay in those old  
barbarous ages1 ,that  the fit ,governor
 could be met with under such disguises1
 could be  recognised and laid hold of  
under such8  ,here he is discovered     
with a maximum of two shillings in his  
pocket1 and a leather  scrip round his  
neck2  trudging along the highway1 his  
frock-  skirts looped over his arm4     
,they think this is he nevertheless1    
the true ,governor2  and he proves to be
 so4  ,brethren1 have we no  need of    
discovering true ,governors1 but will   
sham ones forever do  for us8  ,these   
were absurd superstitious blockheads of 
,monks2  and we are enlightened         
,tenpound ,franchisers1 without taxes on
  knowledge6  ,where1 ,i say1 are our   
superior1 are our similar or at  all    
comparable discoveries8  ,we also have  

eyes1 or ought to have2  we have        
hustings1 telescopes2  we have lights1  
link-lights and  rushlights of an       
enlightened free ,press1 burning and    
dancing  everywhere1 as in a universal  
torch-dance2  singeing your  whiskers as
 you traverse the public thoroughfares  
in town and  country4  ,great souls1    
true ,governors1 go about under all     
manner  of disguises now as then4  ,such
 telescopes1 such enlightenment1--  and 
such discovery6  ,how comes it1 ,i say2 
how comes it8  ,is it  not lamentable2  
is it not even1 in some sense1 amazing8 
,alas1 the defect1 as we must often urge
 and again urge1 is less a  defect of   
telescopes than of some eyesight4       
,those superstitious  blockheads of the 
,twelfth ,century had no telescopes1 but
 they had  still an eye3  not           
ballot-boxes2  only reverence for       
,worth1  abhorrence of ,unworth4  ,it is
 the way with all barbarians4  ,thus    
,mr4 ,sale informs me1 the old ,arab    
,tribes would gather in  liveliest      

gaudeamus1 and sing1 and kindle         
bonfires1 and wreathe  crowns of honour1
 and solemnly thank the gods that1 in   
their  ,tribe too1 a ,poet had shewn    
himself4  ,as indeed they well might2   
for what usefuller1 ,i say not nobler   
and heavenlier thing could  the gods1   
doing their very kindest1 send to any   
,tribe or ,nation1  in any time or      
circumstances8  ,i declare to thee1 my  
afflicted  quack-ridden brother1 in     
spite of thy astonishment1 it is very   
lamentable6  ,we ,english find a ,poet1 
as brave a man as has been  made for a  
hundred years or so anywhere under the  
,sun2  and do we  kindle bonfires1 thank
 the gods8  ,not at all4  ,we1 taking   
due  counsel of it1 set the man to gauge
 ale-barrels in the ,burgh of           
,dumfries2  and pique ourselves on our  
'patronage of genius4'    ,genius1      
,poet3  do we know what these words     
mean8  ,an inspired  ,soul once more    
vouchsafed us1 direct from ,nature's own
 great  fire-heart1 to see the ,truth1  

and speak it1 and do it2  ,nature's  own
 sacred voice heard once more athwart   
the dreary boundless  element of        
hearsaying and canting1 of twaddle and  
poltroonery1 in  which the bewildered   
,earth1 nigh perishing1 has lost its    
way4  ,hear once more1 ye bewildered    
benighted mortals2  listen once  again  
to a voice from the inner ,light-sea and
 ,flame-sea1 ,nature's  and ,truth's own
 heart2  know the ,fact of your         
,existence what it  is1 put away the    
,cant of it which it is not2  and       
knowing1 do1  and let it be well with   
you6--    ,george the ,third is         
,defender of something we call 'the     
,faith' in  those years2  ,george the   
,third is head charioteer of the        
,destinies of ,england1 to guide them   
through the gulf of ,french             
,revolutions1 ,american ,independences2 
and ,robert ,burns is ,gauger  of ale in
 ,dumfries4  ,it is an ,iliad in a      
nutshell4  ,the  physiognomy of a world 
now verging towards dissolution1 reduced

  now to spasms and death-throes1 lies  
pictured in that one fact1--  which     
astonishes nobody1 except at me for     
being astonished at it4  ,the fruit of  
long ages of confirmed ,valethood1      
entirely confirmed  as into a ,law of   
,nature2  cloth-worship and             
quack-worship3  entirely confirmed      
,valethood1--which will have to         
unconfirm  itself again2  ,god knows1   
with difficulty enough6--    ,abbot     
,samson had found a ,convent all in     
dilapidation2  rain  beating through it1
 material rain and metaphorical1 from   
all  quarters of the compass4           
,willelmus ,sacrista sits drinking      
nightly1 and doing mere tacenda4  ,our  
larders are reduced to  leanness1 ,jew  
,harpies and unclean creatures our      
purveyors2  in  our basket is no bread4 
,old women with their distaffs rush out 
on a distressed ,cellarer in shrill     
,chartism4  ',you cannot stir  abroad   
but ,jews and ,christians pounce upon   
you with unsettled  bonds2'  debts      

boundless seemingly as the ,national    
,debt of  ,england4  ,for four years our
 new ,lord ,abbot never went abroad but 
,jew creditors and ,christian1 and all  
manner of creditors1 were  about him2   
driving him to very despair4  ,our      
,prior is remiss2  our ,cellarers1      
officials are remiss1 our monks are     
remiss3  what  man is not remiss8       
,front this1 ,samson1 thou alone art    
there to  front it2  it is thy task to  
front and fight this1 and to die or     
kill it4  ,may the ,lord have mercy on  
thee6    ,to our antiquarian interest in
 poor ,jocelin and his ,convent1  where 
the whole aspect of existence1 the whole
 dialect1 of  thought1 of speech1 of    
activity1 is so obsolete1 strange1 long-
  vanished1 there now superadds itself a
 mild glow of human  interest for ,abbot
 ,samson2  a real pleasure1 as at sight 
of man's  work1 especially of governing1
 which is man's highest work1 done      
well4  ,abbot ,samson had no experience 
in governing2  had served  no           

apprenticeship to the trade of          
governing1--alas1 only the  hardest     
apprenticeship to that of obeying4  ,he 
had never in any  court given vadium or 
plegium1 says ,jocelin2  hardly ever    
seen a court1 when he was set to preside
 in one4  ,but it is  astonishing1      
continues ,jocelin1 how soon he learned 
the ways of  business2  and1 in all sort
 of affairs1 became expert beyond       
others4  ,of the many persons offering  
him their service 'he  retained one     
,knight skilled in taking vadia and     
plegia2'  and  within the year was      
himself well skilled4  ,nay1 by and by1 
the  ,pope appoints him ,justiciary in  
certain causes2  the ,king one of  his  
new ,circuit judges3  official ,osbert  
is heard saying1 ,that  ,abbot is one of
 your shrewd ones1 disputator est2  if  
he go on  as he begins1 he will cut out 
every lawyer of us6    ,why not8  ,what 
is to hinder this ,samson from          
governing8  ,there is  in him what far  
transcends all apprenticeships2  in the 

man  himself there exists a model of    
governing1 something to govern  by6     
,there exists in him a heart-abhorrence 
of whatever is  incoherent1             
pusillanimous1 unveracious1--that is to 
say1 chaotic1  ungoverned2  of the      
,devil1 not of ,god4  ,a man of this    
kind  cannot help governing6  ,he has   
the living ideal of a governor in  him2 
and the incessant necessity of          
struggling to unfold the  same out of   
him4  ,not the ,devil or ,chaos1 for any
 wages1 will he  serve2  no1 this man is
 the born servant of ,another than them4
  ,alas1 how little avail all           
apprenticeships1 when there is in your  
governor himself what we may well call  
nothing to govern by3  nothing2--a      
general grey twilight1 looming with     
shapes of  expediencies1 parliamentary  
traditions1 division-lists1 election-   
funds1 leading-articles2  this1 with    
what of vulpine alertness  and          
adroitness soever1 is not much6    ,but 
indeed what say we1 apprenticeship8     

,had not this ,samson  served1 in his   
way1 a right good apprenticeship to     
governing2  namely1 the harshest        
slave-apprenticeship to obeying6  ,walk 
this  world with no friend in it but    
,god and ,st4 ,edmund1 you will  either 
fall into the ditch1 or learn a good    
many things4  ,to  learn obeying is the 
fundamental art of governing4  ,how much
  would many a ,serene ,highness have   
learned1 had he traveled  through the   
world with water-jug and empty wallet1  
sine omni  expensa2  and1 at his        
victorious return1 sat down not to      
newspaper-paragraphs and                
city-illuminations1 but at the foot of  
,st4 ,edmund's ,shrine to shackles and  
bread and water6  ,he that  cannot be   
servant of many1 will never be master1  
true guide and  deliverer of many2--that
 is the meaning of true mastership4     
,had  not the ,monk-life extraordinary  
'political capabilities' in it2  if not 
imitable by us1 yet enviable8  ,heavens1
 had a ,duke of  ,logwood1 now rolling  

sumptuously to his place in the         
,collective  ,wisdom1 but himself       
happened to plough daily1 at one time1  
on  seven-and-sixpence a week1 with no  
out-door relief1--what a  light1        
unquenchable by logic and statistic and 
arithmetic1 would  it have thrown on    
several things for him6    ,in all      
cases1 therefore1 we will agree with the
 judicious ,mrs4  ,glass3  ',first catch
 your hare6'  ,first get your man2  all 
is  got3  he can learn to do all things1
 from making boots1 to  decreeing       
judgments1 governing communities2  and  
will do them  like a man4  ,catch your  
no-man1--alas1 have you not caught the  
terriblest ,tartar in the world6        
,perhaps all the terribler1 the  quieter
 and gentler he looks4  ,for the        
mischief that one  blockhead1 that every
 blockhead does1 in a world so          
feracious1  teeming with endless results
 as ours1 no ciphering will sum up4     
,the quack bootmaker is considerable2   
as corn-cutters can  testify1 and       

desperate men reduced to buckskin and   
list-shoes4  ,but the quack priest1     
quack high-priest1 the quack king6  ,why
 do  not all just citizens rush1        
half-frantic1 to stop him1 as they      
would a conflagration8  ,surely a just  
citizen is admonished by  ,god and his  
own ,soul1 by all silent and articulate 
voices of this  ,universe1 to do what in
 him lies towards relief of this poor   
blockhead-quack1 and of a world that    
groans under him4  ,runs  swiftly2      
relieve him1--were it even by           
extinguishing him6  ,for  all things    
have grown so old1 tinder-dry1          
combustible2  and he is  more ruinous   
than conflagration4  ,sweep him down1 at
 least2  keep him strictly within the   
hearth3  he will then cease to be       
conflagration2  he will then become     
useful1 more or less1 as  culinary fire4
  ,fire is the best of servants2  but   
what a master6  ,this poor blockhead too
 is born for uses3  why1 elevating him  
to  mastership1 will you make a         

conflagration1 a parish-curse or        
world-curse of him8          ,chapter ,x
    ,government      ,how ,abbot        
,samson1 giving his new subjects        
seriatim the kiss of  fatherhood in the 
,st4 ,edmundsbury chapterhouse1         
proceeded with  cautious energy to set  
about reforming their disjointed        
distracted way of life2  how he managed 
with his ,fifty rough  ,milites 7,feudal
 ,knights71 with his lazy ,farmers1     
remiss  refractory ,monks1 with ,pope's 
,legates1 ,viscounts1 ,bishops1 ,kings2 
how on all sides he laid about him like 
a man1 and putting  consequence on      
premiss1 and everywhere the saddle on   
the right  horse1 struggled incessantly 
to educe organic method out of  lazily  
fermenting wreck1--the careful reader   
will discern1 not  without true         
interest1 in these pages of ,jocelin    
,boswell4  ,in  most antiquarian quaint 
costume1 not of garments alone1 but of  
thought1 word1 action1 outlook and      
position1 the substantial  figure of a  

man with eminent nose1 bushy brows and  
clear-flashing  eyes1 his russet beard  
growing daily greyer1 is visible1       
engaged  in true governing of men4  ,it 
is beautiful how the chrysalis          
governing-soul1 shaking off its dusty   
slough and prison1 starts  forth winged1
 a true royal soul6  ,our new ,abbot has
 a right  honest unconscious feeling1   
without insolence as without fear or    
flutter1 of what he is and what others  
are4  ,a courage to quell  the proudest1
 an honest pity to encourage the        
humblest4  ,withal  there is a noble    
reticence in this ,lord ,abbot3  much   
vain  unreason he hears2  lays up       
without response4  ,he is not there to  
expect reason and nobleness of others2  
he is there to give them  of his own    
reason and nobleness4  ,is he not their 
servant1 as we  said1 who can suffer    
from them1 and for them2  bear the      
burden  their poor spindle-limbs totter 
and stagger under2  and in virtue       
thereof govern them1 lead them out of   

weakness into strength1  out of defeat  
into victory6      ,one of the first    
,herculean ,labours ,abbot ,samson      
undertook1 or the  very first1 was to   
institute a strenuous review and radical
  reform of his economics4  ,it is the  
first labour of every  governing man1   
from ,paterfamilias to ,dominus ,rex4   
,to get the  rain thatched out from you 
is the preliminary of whatever  farther1
 in the way of speculation or of action1
 you may mean to  do4  ,old ,abbot      
,hugo's budget1 as we saw1 had become   
empty1 filled  with deficit and wind4   
,to see his account-books clear1 be     
delivered from those ravening flights of
 ,jew and ,christian  creditors1        
pouncing on him like obscene harpies    
wherever he  shewed face1 was a         
necessity for ,abbot ,samson4    ,on the
 morrow after his instalment1 he brings 
in a load of money-  bonds1 all duly    
stamped1 sealed with this or the other  
,convent  ,seal3  frightful1            
unmanageable1 a bottomless confusion of 

,convent  finance4  ,there they         
are2--but there at least they all are2  
all  that shall be of them4  ,our ,lord 
,abbot demands that all the  official   
seals in use among us be now produced   
and delivered to  him4                  
,three-and-thirty seals turn up2  are   
straightway broken1  and shall seal no  
more3  the ,abbot only1 and those duly  
authorised by him shall seal any bond4  
,there are but two ways of  paying debt3
  increase of industry in raising       
income1 increase of  thrift in laying it
 out4  ,with iron energy1 in slow but   
steady  undeviating perseverance1 ,abbot
 ,samson sets to work in both           
directions4  ,his troubles are manifold3
  cunning milites1  unjust bailiffs1    
lazy sockmen1 he an inexperienced       
,abbot2  relaxed lazy monks1 not        
disinclined to mutiny in mass3  but     
continued vigilance1 rigorous method1   
what we call 'the eye of  the master1'  
work wonders4  ,the clear-beaming       
eyesight of ,abbot  ,samson1 steadfast1 

severe1 all-penetrating1--it is like    
,fiat  luxe in that inorganic waste     
whirlpool2  penetrates gradually to  all
 nooks1 and of the chaos makes a kosmos 
or ordered world6    ,he arranges       
everywhere1 struggles unweariedly to    
arrange1 and  place on some intelligible
 footing1 the 'affairs and dues1  res ac
 redditus1' of his dominion4  ,the      
,lakenheath eels  cease to breed        
squabbles between human beings2  the    
penny of  reap-silver to explode into   
the streets the ,female ,chartism of    
,st4 ,edmundsbury4  ,these and          
innumerable greater things4             
,wheresoever ,disorder may stand or lie1
 let it have a care2  here  is the man  
that has declared war with it1 that     
never will make  peace with it4  ,man is
 the ,missionary of ,order2  he is the  
servant not of the ,devil and ,chaos1   
but of ,god and the ,universe6  ,let all
 sluggards and cowards1 remiss1         
false-spoken1 unjust1 and  otherwise    
diabolic persons have a care3  this is a

 dangerous man  for them4  ,he has a    
mild grave face2  a thoughtful          
sternness1 a  sorrowful pity3  but there
 is a terrible flash of anger in him    
too2  lazy monks often have to murmur1  
,saevit ut lupus1 ,he  rages like a     
wolf2  was not our ,dream true6  ,to    
repress and  hold-in such sudden anger  
he was continually careful1 and         
succeeded well3--right1 ,samson2  that  
it may become in thee as  noble central 
heat1 fruitful1 strong1 beneficent2  not
 blaze out1  or the seldomest possible  
blaze out1 as wasteful volcanoism to    
scorch and consume6      ,we must first 
creep1 and gradually learn to walk1 had 
,abbot  ,samson said of himself1 at     
starting4  ,in four years he has become 
a great walker2  striding prosperously  
along2  driving much  before him4  ,in  
less than four years1 says ,jocelin1 the
 ,convent  ,debts were all liquidated3  
the harpy ,jews not only settled  with1 
but banished1 bag and baggage1 out of   
the ,bannaleuca  7,liberties1 ,banlieue7

 of ,st4 ,edmundsbury1--so has the      
,king's  ,majesty been persuaded to     
permit4  ,farewell to you1 at any  rate2
  let us1 in no extremity1 apply again  
to you6  ,armed men  march them over the
 borders1 dismiss them under stern      
penalties1  --sentence of               
excommunication on all that shall again 
harbour them  here3  there were many dry
 eyes at their departure4    ,new life  
enters everywhere1 springs up           
beneficent1 the ,incubus of  ,debt once 
rolled away4  ,samson hastes not2  but  
neither does he  pause to rest4  ,this  
of the ,finance is a life-long business 
with  him2--,jocelin's anecdotes are    
filled to weariness with it4  ,as       
indeed to ,jocelin it was of very       
primary interest4    ,but we have to    
record also1 with a lively satisfaction1
 that  spiritual rubbish is as little   
tolerated in ,samson's ,monastery as    
material4  ,with due rigour1 ,willelmus 
,sacrista1 and his bibations  and       
tacenda are1 at the earliest            

opportunity1 softly1 yet  irrevocably   
put an end to4  ,the bibations1 namely1 
had to end2  even the building where    
they used to be carried on was razed    
from  the soil of ,st4 ,edmundsbury1 and
 'on its place grow rows of  beams3'    
,willelmus himself1 deposed from the    
,sacristry and all  offices1 retires    
into obscurity1 into absolute           
taciturnity  unbroken thenceforth to    
this hour4  ,whether the poor ,willelmus
  did not still1 by secret channels1    
occasionally get some slight  wetting of
 vinous or alcoholic liquor1--now grown1
 in a manner1  indispensable to the poor
 man8  ,jocelin hints not2  one knows   
not  how to hope1 what to hope6  ,but if
 he did1 it was in silence and          
darkness2  with an ever-present feeling 
that teetotalism was his  only true     
course4    ,drunken dissolute ,monks are
 a class of persons who had better  keep
 out of ,abbot ,samson's way4  ,saevit  
ut lupus2 was not the  ,dream true6     
murmured many a ,monk4  ,nay ,ranulf de 

,glanville1  ,justiciary in ,chief1 took
 umbrage at him1 seeing these strict    
ways2  and watched farther with         
suspicion3  but discerned  gradually    
that there was nothing wrong1 that there
 was much the  opposite of wrong4       
,chapter ,,xi    ,the ,abbot's ,ways    
,abbot ,samson shewed no extraordinary  
favour to the ,monks who had  been his  
familiars of old2  did not promote them 
to offices1--  nisi essent idonei1      
unless they chanced to be fit men6      
,whence  great discontent among certain 
of these1 who had contributed to  make  
him ,abbot3  reproaches1 open and       
secret1 of his being  'ungrateful1      
hard-tempered1 unsocial1 a ,norfolk     
barrator  and paltenerius4'    ,indeed1 
except it were for idonei1 'fit men1' in
 all kinds1 it  was hard to say for whom
 ,abbot ,samson had much favour4  ,he   
loved  his kindred well1 and tenderly   
enough acknowledged the poor part  of   
them2  with the rich part1 who in old   
days had never  acknowledged him1 he    

totally refused to have any business4   
,but  even the former he did not promote
 into offices2  finding none of  them   
idonei4  ',some whom he thought suitable
 he put into  situations in his own     
household1 or made keepers of his       
country  places3  if they behaved ill1  
he dismissed them without hope of       
return4  ,in his promotions1 nay almost 
in his benefits1 you would  have said   
there was a certain impartiality4  ',the
 official person  who had1 by ,abbot    
,hugo's order1 put the fetters on him at
 his  return from ,italy1 was now       
supported with food and clothes to the  
end of his days at ,abbot ,samson's     
expense4'    ,yet he did not forget     
benefits2  far the reverse1 when an     
opportunity occurred of paying them at  
his own cost4  ,how pay  them at the    
public cost2--how1 above all1 by setting
 fire to  the public1 as we said2       
clapping 'conflagrations' on the public1
  which the services of blockheads1     
non-idonei1 intrinsically  are6  ,he was

 right willing to remember friends1 when
 it could be  done4  ,take these        
instances3  ',a certain chaplain who had
  maintained him at the ,schools of     
,paris by the sale of holy water1       
quaestu aquae benedictae2--to this good 
chaplain he did give a  vicarage1       
adequate to the comfortable sustenance  
of him4  ',the  ,son of ,elias1 too1    
that is1 of old ,abbot ,hugo's          
,cupbearer1 coming  to do homage for his
 ,father's land1 our ,lord ,abbot said  
to him in  full court3  ,i have1 for    
these seven years1 put off taking thy   
homage for the land which ,abbot ,hugo  
gave thy ,father1 because  that gift was
 to the damage of ,elmswell1 and a      
questionable one3  but now ,i must      
profess myself overcome2  mindful of the
 kindness  thy ,father did me when ,i   
was in bonds2  because he sent me a cup 
of the very wine his master had been    
drinking1 and bade me be  comforted in  
,god4'    ',to ,magister ,walter1 son of
 ,magister ,william de ,dice1 who wanted

  the vicarage of ,chevington1 he       
answered3  ,thy ,father was ,master  of 
the ,schools2  and when ,i was an       
indigent clericus1 he  granted me freely
 and in charity an entrance to his      
,school1 and  opportunity of learning2  
wherefore ,i now1 for the sake of ,god1 
grant to thee what thou askest4'  ,or   
lastly1 take this good  instance1--and a
 glimpse1 along with it1 into           
long-obsolete  times3  ',two ,milites of
 ,risby1 ,willelm and ,norman1 being    
adjudged in ,court to come under his    
mercy1 in misericordia  ejus1' for a    
certain very considerable fine of twenty
 shillings1  'he thus addressed them    
publicly on the spot3  ,when ,i was a   
,cloister-monk1 ,i was once sent to     
,durham on business of our  ,church2    
and coming home again1 the dark night   
caught me at  ,risby1 and ,i had to beg 
a lodging there4  ,i went to ,dominus   
,norman's1 and he gave me a flat        
refusal4  ,going then to ,dominus       
,willelm's1 and begging hospitality1 ,i 

was by him honourably  received4  ,the  
twenty shillings therefore of mercy1 ,i1
 without  mercy1 will exact from        
,dominus ,norman2  to ,dominus ,willelm1
 on  the other hand1 ,i1 with thanks1   
will wholly remit the said sum4'  ,men  
know not always to whom they refuse     
lodgings2  men have  lodged ,angels     
unawares6--      ,it is clear ,abbot    
,samson had a talent2  he had learned to
 judge  better than ,lawyers1 to manage 
better than bred ,bailiffs3--a  talent  
shining out indisputable1 on whatever   
side you took him4  ',an eloquent man he
 was1' says ,jocelin1 'both in ,french  
and  ,latin2  but intent more on the    
substance and method of what was  to be 
said1 than on the ornamental way of     
saying it4  ,he could  read ,english    
,manuscripts very elegantly1            
elegantissime3  he was  wont to preach  
to the people in the ,english tongue1   
though  according to the dialect of     
,norfolk1 where he had been brought  up2
  wherefore indeed he had caused a      

,pulpit to be erected in our  ,church   
both for ornament of the same1 and for  
the use of his  audiences4'  ,there     
preached he1 according to the dialect of
  ,norfolk3  a man worth going to hear4 
,that he was a just clear-hearted man1  
this1 as the basis of all  true talent1 
is presupposed4  ,how can a man1 without
 clear vision  in his heart first of    
all1 have any clear vision in the head8 
,it  is impossible6  ,abbot ,samson was 
one of the justest of judges2  insisted 
on understanding the case to the bottom1
 and then  swiftly decided without feud 
or favour4  ,for which reason1  indeed1 
the ,dominus ,rex1 searching for such   
men1 as for hidden  treasure and healing
 to his distressed realm1 had made him  
one of  the new ,itinerant judges1--such
 as continue to this day4  ,my  curse on
 that ,abbot's court1 a suitor was heard
 imprecating1  ,maledicta sit curia     
istius ,abbatis1 where neither gold nor 
silver can help me to confound my enemy6
  ,and old friendships  and all         

connexions forgotten1 when you go to    
seek an office from  him6  ,a kinless   
loon1 as the ,scotch said of ,cromwell's
 new  judges1--intent on mere           
indifferent fair-play6    ,eloquence in 
three languages is good2  but it is not 
the best4  ,to us1 as already hinted1   
the ,lord ,abbot's eloquence is less    
admirable than his ineloquence1 his     
great invaluable 'talent of  silence6'  
',deus1 ,deus1 said the ,lord ,abbot to 
me once1 when  he heard the ,convent    
were murmuring at some act of his1 ,i   
have  much need to remember that ,dream 
they had of me1 that ,i was to  rage    
among them like a wolf4  ,above all     
earthly things ,i dread  their driving  
me to do it4  ,how much do ,i hold in1  
and wink at2  raging and shuddering in  
my own secret mind1 and not outwardly at
  all6  ,he would boast to me at other  
times3  ,this and that ,i  have seen1   
this and that ,i have heard2  yet       
patiently stood it4  ,he had this way1  
too1 which ,i have never seen in any    

other man1  that he affectionately loved
 many persons to whom he never or       
hardly ever shewed a countenance of     
love4  ,once on my venturing  to        
expostulate with him on the subject1 he 
reminded me of  ,solomon3  ,many sons ,i
 have2  it is not fit that ,i should    
smile  on them4  ,he would suffer       
faults1 damage from his servants1 and   
know what he suffered1 and not speak of 
it2  but ,i think the  reason was1 he   
waited a good time for speaking of it1  
and in a  wise way amending it4  ,he    
intimated1 openly in chapter to us all1 
that he would have no eavesdropping3    
,let none1 said he1 come  to me secretly
 accusing another1 unless he will       
publicly stand to  the same2  if he come
 otherwise1 ,i will openly proclaim the 
name  of him4  ,i wish1 too1 that every 
,monk of you have free access to  me1 to
 speak of your needs or grievances when 
you will4'    ,the kinds of people      
,abbot ,samson liked worst were these   
three3  ,mendaces1 ebriosi1 verbosi1    

,liars1 drunkards1 and wordy or  windy  
persons2'--not good kinds1 any of them6 
,he also much  condemned 'persons given 
to murmur at their meat or drink1       
especially ,monks of that disposition4  
,we remark1 from the very  first1 his   
strict anxious order to his servants to 
provide  handsomely for hospitality1 to 
guard 'above all things that there  be  
no shabbiness in the matter of meat and 
drink2  no look of  mean parsimony1 in  
novitate mea1 at the beginning of my    
,abbotship2'  and to the last he        
maintains a due opulence of table  and  
equipment for others3  but he is himself
 in the highest  degree indifferent to  
all such things4    ',sweet milk1 honey1
 and other naturally sweet kinds of     
food1 were  what he preferred to eat3   
but he had this virtue1' says ,jocelin1 
'he never changed the dish 7ferculum7   
you set before him1 be  what it might4  
,once when ,i1 still a novice1 happened 
to be  waiting table in the refectory1  
it came into my head' 7rogue that  ,i   

was67 to try if this were true2  and ,i 
thought ,i would place  before him a    
ferculum that would have displeased any 
other  person1 the very platter being   
black and broken4  ,but he1 seeing  it1 
was as one that saw it not3  and now    
some little delay taking  place1 my     
heart smote me that ,i had done this2   
and so1 snatching  up the platter       
7discus71 ,i changed both it and its    
contents for  a better1 and put down    
that instead2  which emendation he was  
angry at1 and rebuked me for1'--the     
stoical monastic man6  ',for  the first 
seven years he had commonly four sorts  
of dishes on his  table2  afterwards    
only three1 except it might be presents1
 or  venison from his own parks1 or     
fishes from his ponds4  ,and if1 at  any
 time1 he had guests living in his house
 at the request of  some great person1  
or of some friend1 or had public        
messengers1  or had harpers             
7citharoedos71 or any one of that sort1 
he took  the first opportunity of       

shifting to another of his              
,manor-houses1  and so got rid of such  
superfluous individuals1'--very         
prudently1  ,i think4    ,as to his     
parks1 of these1 in the general repair  
of buildings1  general improvement and  
adornment of the ,st4 ,edmund ,domains1 
'he  had laid out several1 and stocked  
them with animals1 retaining a  proper  
huntsman with hounds3  and1 if any guest
 of great quality  were there1 our ,lord
 ,abbot with his ,monks would sit in    
some  opening of the woods1 and see the 
dogs run2  but he himself never  meddled
 with hunting1 that ,i saw4'      ',in  
an opening of the woods2'--for the      
country was still dark  with wood in    
those days2  and ,scotland itself still 
rustled  shaggy and leafy1 like a damp  
black ,american ,forest1 with cleared   
spots and spaces here and there4        
,dryasdust advances several  absurd     
hypotheses as to the insensible but     
almost total  disappearance of these    
woods2  the thick wreck of which now    

lies  as peat1 sometimes with huge      
heart-of-oak timber logs imbedded in    
it1 on many a height and hollow4  ,the  
simplest reason doubtless  is1 that by  
increase of husbandry1 there was        
increase of cattle2  increase of hunger 
for green spring food2  and so1 more and
 more1  the new seedlings got yearly    
eaten out in ,april2  and the old       
trees1 having only a certain length of  
life in them1 died  gradually1 no man   
heeding it1 and disappeared into peat4  
,a sorrowful waste of noble wood and    
umbrage6  ,yes1--but a  very common one2
  the course of most things in this     
world4  ,monachism itself1 so rich and  
fruitful once1 is now all rotted  into  
peat2  lies sleek and buried1--and a    
most feeble bog-grass  of ,dilettantism 
all the crop we reap from it6  ,that    
also was  frightful waste2  perhaps     
among the saddest our ,england ever saw4
  ,why will men destroy noble ,forests1 
even when in part a nuisance1  in such  
reckless manner2  turning loose         

four-footed cattle and                  
,henry-the-,eighths into them6  ,the    
fifth part of our ,english soil1        
,dryasdust computes1 lay consecrated to 
'spiritual uses1' better  or worse2     
solemnly set apart to foster spiritual  
growth and  culture of the soul1 by the 
methods then known3  and now--  it too1 
like the four-fifths1 fosters what8     
,gentle shepherd1  tell me what6        
,chapter ,,xii    ,the ,abbot's         
,troubles      ,the troubles of ,abbot  
,samson1 as he went along in this       
abstemious1 reticent1 rigorous way1 were
 more than tongue can  tell4  ,the      
,abbot's mitre once set on his head1 he 
knew rest no  more4  ,double1 double1   
toil and trouble2  that is the life of  
all  governors that really govern3  not 
the spoil of victory1 only the  glorious
 toil of battle can be theirs4  ,abbot  
,samson found all  men more or less     
headstrong1 irrational1 prone to        
disorder2  continually threatening to   
prove ungovernable4    ,his lazy ,monks 

gave him most trouble4  ',my heart is   
tortured1'  said he1 'till we get out of
 debt1 cor meum cruciatum est4'  ,your  
heart1 indeed2--but not altogether ours6
  ,by no devisable  method1 or none of  
three or four that he devised1 could    
,abbot  ,samson get these ,monks of his 
to keep their accounts straight2  but   
always1 do as he might1 the ,cellerarius
 at the end of the  term is in a coil1  
in a flat deficit1--verging again       
towards debt  and ,jews4  ,the ,lord    
,abbot at last declares sternly he will 
keep  our accounts too himself2  will   
appoint an officer of his own to  see   
our ,cellerarius keep them4  ,murmurs   
thereupon among us3  ,was  the like ever
 heard8  ,our ,cellerarius a cipher2    
the very  ,townsfolk know it3           
subsannatio et derisio sumus1 we have   
become a laughingstock to mankind4  ,the
 ,norfolk barrator  and paltener6       
,and consider1 if the ,abbot found such 
difficulty in the mere  economic        
department1 how much in more complex    

ones1 in spiritual  ones perhaps6  ,he  
wears a stern calm face2  raging and    
gnashing  teeth1 fremens and frendens1  
many times1 in the secret of his  mind4 
,withal1 however1 there is noble slow   
perseverance in him2  a strength of     
'subdued rage' calculated to subdue most
 things3  always1 in the long-run1 he   
contrives to gain his point4            
,murmurs from the ,monks1 meanwhile1    
cannot fail2  ever deeper  murmurs1 new 
grudges accumulating4  ,at one time1 on 
slight cause1  some drop making the cup 
run over1 they burst into open mutiny3  
the ,cellarer will not obey1 prefers    
arrest on bread and water to  obeying2  
the ,monks thereupon strike work2       
refuse to do the  regular chanting of   
the day1 at least the younger part of   
them  with loud clamour and uproar      
refuse3--,abbot ,samson has withdrawn   
to another residence1 acting only by    
messengers3  the awful  report          
circulates through ,st4 ,edmundsbury    
that the ,abbot is in  danger of being  

murdered by the ,monks with their       
knives6  ,how  wilt thou appease this1  
,abbot ,samson8  ,return2  for the      
,monastery  seems near catching fire6   
,abbot ,samson returns2  sits in his    
,thalamus or inner room1  hurls out a   
bolt or two of excommunication3  lo1 one
 disobedient  ,monk sits in limbo1      
excommunicated1 with foot-shackles on   
him1  all day2  and three more our      
,abbot has gyved 'with the lesser       
sentence1 to strike fear into the       
others6'  ,let the others think  with   
whom they have to do4  ,the others      
think2  and fear enters  into them4     
',on the morrow morning we decide on    
humbling  ourselves before the ,abbot1  
by word and gesture1 in order to        
mitigate his mind4  ,and so accordingly 
was done4  ,he1 on the  other side1     
replying with much humility1 yet always 
alleging his  own justice and turning   
the blame on us1 when he saw that we    
were  conquered1 became himself         
conquered4  ,and bursting into tears1   

perfusus lachrymis1 he swore that he had
 never grieved so much  for anything in 
the world as for this1 first on his own 
account1  and then secondly and chiefly 
for the public scandal which had  gone  
abroad1 that ,st4 ,edmund's ,monks were 
going to kill their  ,abbot4  ,and when 
he had narrated how he went away on     
purpose till  his anger should cool1    
repeating this word of the philosopher1 
,i  would have taken vengeance on thee1 
had not ,i been angry1 he  arose        
weeping1 and embraced each and all of us
 with the kiss of  peace4  ,he wept2  we
 all wept3'--what a picture6  ,behave   
better1  ye remiss ,monks1 and thank    
,heaven for such an ,abbot2  or know at 
least that ye must and shall obey him4  
,worn down in this manner1 with         
incessant toil and tribulation1  ,abbot 
,samson had a sore time of it2  his     
grizzled hair and beard  grew daily     
greyer4  ,those ,jews1 in the first four
 years1 had  'visibly emaciated him3'   
,time1 ,jews1 and the task of           

,governing1  will make a man's beard    
very grey6  ',in twelve years1' says    
,jocelin1 'our ,lord ,abbot had grown   
wholly white as snow1 totus  efficitur  
albus sicut nix4'  ,white1 atop1 like   
the granite  mountains3--but his        
clear-beaming eyes still look out1 in   
their  stern clearness1 in their sorrow 
and pity2  the heart within him  remains
 unconquered4    ,nay sometimes there   
are gleams of hilarity too2  little     
snatches  of encouragement granted even 
to a ,governor4  ',once my ,lord ,abbot 
and ,i1 coming down from ,london through
 the ,forest1 ,i inquired of  an old    
woman whom we came up to1 ,whose wood   
this was1 and of what  manor2  who the  
master1 who the keeper8'--,all this ,i  
knew very  well beforehand1 and my ,lord
 ,abbot too1 ,bozzy that ,i was6  ,but  
'the old woman answered1 ,the wood      
belonged to the new ,abbot of  ,st4     
,edmund's1 was of the manor of ,harlow1 
and the keeper of it  was one ,arnald4  
,how did he behave to the people of the 

manor8 ,i  asked farther4  ,she answered
 that he used to be a devil  incarnate1 
daemon vivus1 an enemy of ,god1 and     
flayer of the  peasants'                
skins1'--skinning them like live eels1  
as the manner of  some is3  but that now
 he dreads the new ,abbot1 knowing him  
to be  a wise and sharp man1 and so     
treats the people reasonably1  tractat  
homines pacifice4'  ,whereat the ,lord  
,abbot factus est  hilaris1--could not  
but take a triumphant laugh for himself2
  and determines to leave that ,harlow  
manor yet unmeddled with1 for  a while4 
,a brave man1 strenuously fighting1     
fails not of a little triumph1  now and 
then1 to keep him in heart4  ,everywhere
 we try at least  to give the adversary 
as good as he brings2  and1 with swift  
force or slow watchful manoeuvre1       
extinguish this and the other  solecism1
 leave one solecism less in ,god's      
,creation2  and so  proceed with our    
battle1 not slacken or surrender in it6 
,the  ,fifty feudal ,knights2  for      

example1 were of unjust greedy temper1  
and cheated us1 in the                  
,installation-day1 of ten               
knights'-fees2--  but they know now     
whether that has profited them aught1   
and ,i  ,jocelin know4  ,our ,lord      
,abbot for the moment had to endure it1 
and say nothing2  but he watched his    
time4    ,look also how my ,lord of     
,clare1 coming to claim his undue 'debt'
  in the ,court at ,witham1 with barons 
and apparatus1 gets a ,rowland  for his 
,oliver6  ,jocelin shall report3  ',the 
,earl1 crowded round  7constipatus7 with
 many barons and men at arms1 ,earl     
,alberic  and others standing by him1   
said1 ,that his bailiffs had given  him 
to understand they were wont annually to
 receive for his  behoof1 from the      
,hundred of ,risebridge and the bailiffs
 thereof1  a sum of five shillings1     
which sum was now unjustly held back2   
and he alleged farther that his         
predecessors had been infeft1 at  the   
,conquest1 in the lands of ,alfric son  

of ,wisgar1 who was ,lord  of that      
,hundred1 as may be read in ,domesday   
,book by all persons4  --,the ,abbot1   
reflecting for a moment1 without        
stirring from his  place1 made answer3  
,a wonderful deficit1 my ,lord ,earl1   
this  that thou mentionest6  ,king      
,edward gave to ,st4 ,edmund that entire
  ,hundred1 and confirmed the same with 
his ,charter2  nor is there  any mention
 there of those five shillings4  ,it    
will behove thee  to say1 for what      
service1 or on what ground1 thou        
exactest those  five shillings4         
,whereupon the ,earl1 consulting with   
his  followers1 replied1 ,that he had to
 carry the ,banner of ,st4 ,edmund  in  
war-time1 and for this duty the five    
shillings were his4  ,to  which the     
,abbot3  ,certainly1 it seems           
inglorious1 if so great a  man1 ,earl of
 ,clare no less1 receive so small a gift
 for such a  service4  ,to the ,abbot of
 ,st4 ,edmund's it is no unbearable     
burden  to give five shillings4  ,but   

,roger ,earl ,bigot holds himself duly  
seised1 and asserts that he by such     
seisin has the office of  carrying ,st4 
,edmund's ,banner2  and he did carry it 
when the ,earl  of ,leicester and his   
,flemings were beaten at ,fornham4      
,then again  ,thomas de ,mendham says   
that the right is his4  ,when you have  
made  out with one another1 that this   
right is thine1 come then and  claim the
 five shillings1 and ,i will promptly   
pay them6  ,whereupon the ,earl said1   
,he would speak with ,earl ,roger his   
relative2  and so the matter cepit      
dilationem1' and lies  undecided to the 
end of the world4  ,abbot ,samson       
answers by word  or act1 in this or the 
like pregnant manner1 having justice on 
his side1 innumerable persons3  ,pope's 
,legates1 ,king's ,viscounts1           
,canterbury ,archbishops1 ,cellarers1   
,sochemanni2--and leaves many  a        
solecism extinguished4    ,on the whole1
 however1 it is and remains sore work4  
',one time1  during my chaplaincy1 ,i   

ventured to say to him3  ,domane1 ,i    
heard thee1 this night after matins1    
wakeful1 and sighing deeply1  valde     
suspirantem1 contrary to thy usual wont4
  ,he answered3  ,no wonder4  ,thou1 son
 ,jocelin1 sharest in my good things1 in
  food and drink1 in riding and such    
like2  but thou little  thinkest        
concerning the management of ,house and 
,family1 the  various and arduous       
businesses of the ,pastoral ,care1 which
 harass  me1 and make my soul to sigh   
and be anxious4  ,whereto ,i1 lifting   
up my hands to ,heaven3  ,from such     
anxiety1 ,omnipotent ,merciful  ,lord   
deliver me6--,i have heard the ,abbot   
say1 ,if he had been as  he was before  
he became a ,monk1 and could have       
anywhere got five  or six mares of      
income1' some three pound ten of yearly 
revenue1  'whereby to support himself in
 the schools1 he would never have  been 
,monk nor ,abbot4  ,another time he said
 with an oath1 ,if he  had known what a 
business it was to govern the ,abbey1 he

 would  rather have been ,almoner1 how  
much rather ,keeper of the ,books1  than
 ,abbot and ,lord4  ,that latter office 
he said he had always  longed for1      
beyond any other4  ,quis talia          
crederet1' concludes  ,jocelin1 ',who   
can believe such things8'    ,three     
pound ten1 and a life of ,literature1   
especially of quiet  ,literature1       
without copyright1 or world-celebrity of
 literary-  gazettes1--yes1 thou brave  
,abbot ,samson1 for thyself it had been 
better1 easier1 perhaps also nobler6    
,but then1 for thy  disobedient ,monks1 
unjust ,viscounts2  for a ,domain of    
,st4 ,edmund  overgrown with ,solecisms1
 human and other1 it had not been so    
well4  ,nay neither could thy           
,literature1 never so quiet1 have  been 
easy4  ,literature1 when noble1 is not  
easy2  but only when  ignoble4          
,literature too is a quarrel1 and       
internecine duel1 with  the whole ,world
 of ,darkness that lies without one and 
within  one2--rather a hard fight at    

times1 even with the three pound ten    
secure4  ,thou1 there where thou art1   
wrestle and duel along1  cheerfully to  
the end2  and make no remarks6          
,chapter ,,xiii    ,in ,parliament      
,of ,abbot ,samson's public business we 
say little1 though that also  was great4
  ,he had to judge the people as justice
 ,errant1 to  decide in weighty         
arbitrations and public controversies2  
to  equip his milites1 send them duly in
 war-time to the ,king2--  strive every 
way that the ,commonweal1 in his quarter
 of it1 take  no damage4    ,once1 in   
the confused days of ,lackland's        
usurpation1 while ,coeur-  de-,lion was 
away1 our brave ,abbot took helmet      
himself1 having  first excommunicated   
all that should favour ,lackland2  and  
led  his men in person to the siege of  
,windleshora1 what we now call          
,windsor2  where ,lackland had          
entrenched himself1 the centre of       
infinite confusions2  some ,reform      
,bill1 then as now1 being  greatly      

needed4  ,there did ,abbot ,samson      
'fight the battle of  reform1'--with    
other ammunition1 one hopes1 than       
'tremendous  cheering' and such like6   
,for these things he was called 'the    
magnanimous ,abbot'    ,he also attended
 duly in his place in ,parliament de    
arduis  regni2  attended especially1 as 
in arduissimo1 when 'the news  reached  
,london that ,king ,richard was a       
captive in ,germany4'  ,here  'while all
 the barons sat to consult1' and many of
 them looked  blank enough1 'the ,abbot 
started forth1 prosiliit coram  omnibus1
 in his place in ,parliament1 and said1 
,that he was  ready to go and seek his  
,lord the ,king1 either clandestinely by
  subterfuge 7in tapinagio71 or by any  
other method2  and search  till he found
 him1 and got certain notice of him2  he
 for one6  ,by which word1' says        
,jocelin1 'he acquired great praise for 
himself1'--unfeigned commendation from  
the ,able ,editors of  that age4    ,by 
which word2--and also by which deed3    

for the ,abbot actually  went 'with rich
 gifts to the ,king in ,germany2'       
,usurper ,lackland  being first rooted  
out from ,windsor1 and the ,king's peace
  somewhat settled4    ,as to these     
'rich gifts1' however1 we have to note  
one thing3  ,in  all ,england1 as       
appeared to the ,collective ,wisdom1    
there was not  like to be treasure      
enough for ransoming ,king ,richard2  in
 which  extremity certain ,lords of the 
,treasury1 ,justiciarii ad  ,scaccarium1
 suggested that ,st4 ,edmund's ,shrine1 
covered with  thick gold1 was still     
untouched4  ,could not it1 in this      
extremity1 be peeled off1 at least in   
part2  under condition1 of  course1 of  
its being replaced1 when times mended8  
,the ,abbot1  starting plumb up1 se     
erigens1 answered3  ,know ye for        
certain1  that ,i will in no wise do    
this thing2  nor is there any man who   
could force me to consent thereto4  ,but
 ,i will open the doors of  the ,church3
  ,let him that likes enter2  let him   

that dares come  forward6  ,emphatic    
words1 which created a sensation round  
the  woolsack4  ,for the ,justiciaries  
of the ,scaccarium answered1  'with     
oaths1 each for himself3  ,i won't come 
forward1 for my  share2  nor will ,i1   
nor ,i6  ,the distant and absent who    
offended  him1 ,saint ,edmund has been  
known to punish fearfully2  much more   
will he those close by1 who lay violent 
hands on his coat1 and  would strip it  
off6  ,these things being said1 the     
,shrine was not  meddled with1 nor any  
ransom levied for it4    ,for ,lords of 
the ,treasury have in all times their   
impassable  limits1 be it by 'force of  
public opinion' or otherwise2  and in   
those days a ,heavenly ,awe overshadowed
 and encompassed1 as it  still ought and
 must1 all earthly ,business whatsoever4
          ,chapter ,,xiv    ,henry of   
,essex      ,of ,st4 ,edmund's fearful  
avengements have they not the           
remarkablest instance still before their
 eyes8  ,he that will go  to ,reading   

,monastery may find there1 now tonsured 
into a mournful  penitent ,monk1 the    
once proud ,henry ,earl of ,essex2  and 
discern  how ,st4 ,edmund punishes      
terribly1 yet with mercy6 ,this         
,narrative  is too significant to be    
omitted as a document of the ,time4     
,our  ,lord ,abbot1 once on a visit at  
,reading1 heard the particulars  from   
,henry's own mouth2  and thereupon      
charged one of his monks  to write it   
down2--as accordingly the ,monk has     
done1 in ambitious  rhetorical ,latin2  
inserting the same1 as episode1 among   
,jocelin's garrulous leaves4  ,read it  
here2  with ancient yet with  modern    
eyes4      ,henry ,earl of ,essex1      
standard-bearer of ,england1 had high   
places  and emoluments2  had a haughty  
high soul1 yet with various flaws1  or  
rather with one many-branched flaw and  
crack1 running through  the texture of  
it4  ,for example1 did he not treat     
,gilbert de  ,cereville in the most     
shocking manner8  ,he cast ,gilbert into

  prison2  and1 with chains and slow    
torments1 wore the life out of  him     
there4  ,and ,gilbert's crime was       
understood to be only that of  innocent 
,joseph3  the ,lady ,essex was a        
,potiphar's ,wife1 and had  accused poor
 ,gilbert6  ,other cracks1 and branches 
of that  widespread flaw in the         
,standard-bearer's soul we could point  
out3  but indeed the main stem and trunk
 of all is too visible in this1  ,that  
he had no right reverence for the       
,heavenly in ,man1--that far  from      
shewing due reverence to ,st4 ,edmund1  
he did not even shew  him common        
justice4  ,while others in the ,eastern 
,counties were  adorning and enlarging  
with rich gifts ,st4 ,edmund's resting- 
place1 which had become a city of refuge
 for many things1 this  ,earl of ,essex 
flatly defrauded him1 by violence or    
quirk of law1  of five shillings yearly1
 and converted said sum to his own poor 
uses6  ,nay1 in another case of         
litigation1 the unjust ,standard        

bearer1 for his own profit1 asserting   
that the cause belonged not  to ,st4    
,edmund's ,court1 but to his in ,lailand
 ,hundred1 'involved  us in travelings  
and innumerable expenses1 vexing the    
servants of  ,st4 ,edmund for a long    
tract of time3  ,in short1 he is without
  reverence for the ,heavenly1 this     
,standard-bearer2  reveres only  the    
,earthly1 ,gold-coined2  and has a most 
morbid lamentable flaw  in the texture  
of him4  ,it cannot come to1 good4      
,accordingly1 the same flaw1 or         
,st4-,vitus' tic1 manifests itself  ere 
long in another way4  ,in the year      
#aaeg1 he went with his  ,standard to   
attend ,king ,henry1 our blessed        
,sovereign 7whom we  saw afterwards at  
,waltham71 in his ,war with the ,welsh4 
,a  somewhat disastrous ,war2  in which 
while ,king ,henry and his force  were  
struggling to retreat ,parthian-like1   
endless clouds of  exasperated ,welshmen
 hemming them in1 and now we had come to
 the  'difficult pass of ,coleshill1'   

and as it were to the nick of           
destruction1--,henry ,earl of ,essex    
shrieks out on a sudden  7blinded       
doubtless by his inner flaw1 or 'evil   
genius' as some  name it71 ,that ,king  
,henry is killed1 ,that all is          
lost1--and  flings down his ,standard to
 shift for itself there6  ,and1         
certainly enough1 all had been lost1 had
 all men been as he2--  had not brave   
men1 without such miserable jerking tic-
  douloureux in the souls of them1 come 
dashing up1 with blazing  swords and    
looks1 and asserted ,that nothing was   
lost yet1 that  all must be regained    
yet4  ,in this manner ,king ,henry and  
his  force got safely retreated1        
,parthian-like1 from the pass of        
,coleshill and the ,welsh ,war499  ,but1
 once home again1 ,earl ,robert  de     
,montfort1 a kinsman of this            
,standard-bearer's1 rises up in the     
,king's ,assembly to declare openly that
 such a man is unfit for  bearing       
,english ,standards1 being in fact      

either a special  traitor1 or something 
almost worse1 a coward namely1 or       
universal  traitor4  ,wager of ,battle  
in consequence2  solemn ,duel1 by the   
,king's appointment1 'in a certain      
,island of the ,thames-stream at        
,reading1 apud ,radingas1 short way from
 the ,abbey there4  ,king1  ,peers1 and 
an immense multitude of people1 on such 
scaffoldings  and heights as they can   
come at1 are gathered round1 to see what
  issue the business will take4  ,the   
business takes this bad issue1  in our  
,monk's own words faithfully rendered3  
----------  99,see ,lyttelton's ,henry  
,,ii41 ii3 #chd4  ----------    ',and it
 came to pass1 while ,robert de         
,montfort thundered on him  manfully    
7viriliter intonasset7 with hard and    
frequent strokes1  and a valiant        
beginning promised the fruit of victory1
 ,henry of  ,essex1 rather giving way1  
glanced round on all sides2  and lo1 at 
the rim of the horizon1 on the confines 
of the ,river and land1 he  discerned   

the glorious ,king and ,martyr ,edmund1 
in shining armour1  and as if hovering  
in the air2  looking towards him with   
severe  countenance1 nodding his head   
with a mien and motion of austere       
anger4  ,at ,st4 ,edmund's hand there   
stood also another ,knight1  ,gilbert de
 ,cereville1 whose armour was not so    
splendid1 whose  stature was less       
gigantic2  casting vengeful looks at    
him4  ,this  he seeing with his eyes1   
remembered that old crime brings new    
shame4  ,and now wholly desperate1 and  
changing reason into  violence1 he took 
the part of one blindly attacking1 not  
skillfully defending4  ,who while he    
struck fiercely was more  fiercely      
struck2  and so1 in short1 fell down    
vanquished1 and it  was thought1 slain4 
,as he lay there for dead1 his kinsmen1 
,magnates of ,england1 besought the     
,king1 that the ,monks of ,reading      
might have leave to bury him4  ,however1
 he proved not to be dead1  but got well
 again among them2  and now1 with       

recovered health1  assuming the ,regular
 ,habit1 he strove to wipe out the stain
 of  his former life1 to cleanse the    
long week of his dissolute  history by  
at least a purifying sabbath1 and       
cultivate the  studies of ,virtue into  
fruits of eternal ,felicity3      ,thus 
does the ,conscience of man project     
itself athwart whatsoever  of knowledge 
or surmise1 of imagination1             
understanding1 faculty1  acquirement1 or
 natural disposition he has in him2     
and1 like  light through coloured glass1
 paint strange pictures 'on the rim  of 
the horizon' and elsewhere6  ,truly1    
this same 'sense of the  ,infinite      
nature of ,duty' is the central part of 
all with us2  a  ray as of ,eternity and
 ,immortality1 immured in dusky many-   
coloured ,time1 and its deaths and      
births4  ,your 'coloured glass'  varies 
so much from century to century2--and1  
in certain money-  making1              
game-preserving centuries1 it gets so   
terribly opaque6  ,not a ,heaven with   

cherubim surrounds you then1 but a kind 
of  vacant leaden-coloured ,hell4  ,one 
day it will again cease to be  opaque1  
this 'coloured glass4'  ,nay1 may it not
 become at once  translucent and        
uncoloured8  ,painting no ,pictures more
 for us1  but only the everlasting      
,azure itself8  ,that will be a right   
glorious consummation6--    ,saint      
,edmund from the horizon's edge1 in     
shining armour1  threatening the misdoer
 in his hour of extreme need3  it is    
beautiful1 it is great and true4  ,so   
old1 yet so modern1 actual2  true yet   
for every one of us1 as for ,henry the  
,earl and ,monk6  ,a  glimpse as of the 
,deepest in ,man's ,destiny1 which is   
the same for  all times and ages4  ,yes1
 ,henry my brother1 there in thy extreme
  need1 thy soul is lamed2  and behold  
thou canst not so much as  fight6  ,for 
justice and ,reverence are the          
everlasting central  ,law of this       
,universe2  and to forget them1 and have
 all the  ,universe against one1 ,god   

and one's own ,self for enemies1 and    
only the ,devil and the ,dragons for    
friends1 is not that a  'lameness' like 
few8  ,that some shining armed ,st4     
,edmund hang  minatory on thy horizon1  
that infinite sulphur-lakes hang        
minatory1 or do not now hang1--this     
alters no whit the eternal  fact of the 
thing4  ,i say1 thy soul is lamed1 and  
the ,god and all  ,godlike in it marred3
  lamed1 paralytic1 tending towards     
baleful  eternal death1 whether thou    
know it or not2--nay hadst thou never   
known it1 that surely had been worst of 
all6--    ,thus1 at any rate1 by the    
heavenly ,awe that overshadows earthly  
,business1 does ,samson1 readily in     
those days1 save ,st4 ,edmund's         
,shrine1 and innumerable still more     
precious things4        ,chapter ,,xv   
,practical--,devotional      ,here      
indeed1 perhaps1 by rule of antagonisms1
 may be the place to  mention that1     
after ,king ,richard's return1 there was
 a liberty of  tourneying given to the  

fighting men of ,england3  that a       
,tournament was proclaimed in the       
,abbot's domain1 'between  ,thetford and
 ,st4 ,edmundsbury1'--perhaps in the    
,euston region1 on  ,fakenham ,heights1 
midway between these two localities3    
that it  was publicly prohibited by our 
,lord ,abbot2  and nevertheless was     
held in spite of him1--and by the       
parties1 as would seem1  considered 'a  
gentle and free passage of arms4'       
,nay1 next year1 there came to the same 
spot four-and-twenty young  men1 sons of
 ,nobles1 for another passage of arms2  
who1 having  completed the same1 all    
rode into ,st4 ,edmundsbury to lodge for
  the night4  ,here is modesty6  ,our   
,lord ,abbot1 being instructed of  it1  
ordered the ,gates to be closed2  the   
whole party shut in4  ,the morrow was   
the ,vigil of the ,apostles ,peter and  
,paul2  no  outgate on the morrow4      
,giving their promise not to depart     
without permission1 those               
four-and-twenty young bloods dieted all 

that day 7manducaverunt7 with the ,lord 
,abbot1 waiting for trial  on the       
morrow4  ',but after dinner1'--mark it1 
posterity6--'the  ,lord ,abbot retiring 
into his ,thalamus1 they all started up1
 and  began caroling and singing        
7carolare et cantare72 sending  into the
 ,town for wine2  drinking1 and         
afterwards howling                      
7ululantes72--totally depriving the     
,abbot and ,convent of their            
afternoon's nap2  doing all this in     
derision of the ,lord ,abbot1  and      
spending in such fashion the whole day  
till evening1 nor  would they desist at 
the ,lord ,abbot's order6  ,night coming
 on1  they broke the bolts of the       
,town-,gates1 and went off by           
violence6'  ,was the like ever heard of8
  ,the roysterous young  dogs2          
caroling1 howling1 breaking the ,lord   
,abbot's sleep1--after  that sinful     
chivalry cock-fight of theirs6  ,they   
too are a  feature of distant centuries1
 as of near ones4  ,st4 ,edmund on the  

edge of your horizon1 or whatever else  
there1 young scamps1 in  the dandy      
state1 whether cased in iron or in      
whalebone1 begin  to caper and carol on 
the green ,earth6  ,our ,lord ,abbot    
excommunicated most of them2  and they  
gradually came in  for repentance4      
,excommunication is a great recipe with 
our ,lord ,abbot2  the  prevailing      
purifier in those ages4  ,thus when the 
,townsfolk and  ,monks-menials quarreled
 once at the ,christmas ,mysteries in   
,st4  ,edmund's ,churchyard1 and 'from  
words it came to cuffs1 and from  cuffs 
to cuttings and the effusion of         
blood1'--our ,lord ,abbot               
excommunicates sixty of the rioters1    
with bell1 book and candle  7accensis   
candelis71 at one stroke4  ,whereupon   
they all come  suppliant1 indeed nearly 
naked1 'nothing on but their breeches1  
omnino nudi praeter femoralia1 and      
prostrate themselves at the             
,church-door4'  ,figure that6    ,in    
fact1 by excommunication or persuasion1 

by impetuosity of  driving or adroitness
 in leading1 this ,abbot1 it is now     
becoming  plain everywhere1 is a man    
that generally remains master at last4  
,he tempers his medicine to the malady1 
now hot1 now cool2  prudent though      
fiery1 an eminently practical man4  ,nay
 sometimes  in his adroit practice there
 are swift turns almost of a  surprising
 nature6  ,once1 for example1 it chanced
 that ,geoffrey  ,riddell ,bishop of    
,ely1 a ,prelate rather troublesome to  
our ,abbot1  made a request of him for  
timber from his woods towards certain   
edifices going on at ,glemsford4  ,the  
,abbot1 a great builder  himself1       
disliked the request2  could not however
 give it a  negative4  ,while he lay1   
therefore1 at his ,manorhouse of        
,melford  not long after1 there comes to
 him one of the ,lord ,bishop's men  or 
monks1 with a message from his          
,lordship1 ,that he now begged          
permission to cut down the requisite    
trees in ,elmswell ,wood1 so  said the  

monk3  ,elmswell1 where there are no    
trees but scrubs  and shrubs1 instead of
 ,elmset1 our true nemus1 and high-     
towering oak-wood1 here on ,melford     
,manor6  ,elmswell8  ,the ,lord  ,abbot1
 in surprise1 inquires privily of       
,richard his ,forester2  ,richard       
answers that my ,lord of ,ely has       
already had his  carpentarii in ,elmset1
 and marked out for his own use all the 
best trees in the compass of it4  ,abbot
 ,samson thereupon answers  the monk3   
,elmswell8  ,yes surely1 be it as my    
,lord ,bishop  wishes4  ,the successful 
monk1 on the morrow morning1 hastens    
home to ,ely2  but1 on the morrow       
morning1 'directly after mass1'  ,abbot 
,samson too was busy6  ,the successful  
monk1 arriving at ,ely1  is rated for a 
goose and an owl2  is ordered back to   
say that  ,elmset was the place meant4  
,alas1 on arriving at ,elmset1 he  finds
 the ,bishop's trees1 they 'and a       
hundred more1' all felled  and piled1   
and the stamp of ,st4 ,edmund's         

,monastery burnt into  them1--for       
roofing of the great tower we are       
building there6  ,your importunate      
,bishop must seek wood for ,glemsford   
edifices in  some other nemus than this4
  ,a practical ,abbot6    ,we said      
withal there was a terrible flash of    
anger in him3  witness his address to   
old ,herbert the ,dean1 who in a too    
thrifty  manner has erected a wind-mill 
for himself on his glebe-lands at       
,haberdon4  ,on the morrow1 after mass1 
our ,lord ,abbot orders the             
,cellerarius to send off his carpenters 
to demolish the said  structure brevi   
manu1 and lay up the wood in safe       
keeping4  ,old  ,dean ,herbert1 hearing 
what was toward1 comes tottering along  
hither1 to plead humbly for himself and 
his mill4  ,the ,abbot  answers3  ,i am 
obliged to thee as if thou hadst cut off
 both my  feet6  ,by ,god's face1 per os
 ,dei1 ,i will not eat bread till  that 
fabric be torn in pieces4  ,thou art an 
old man1 and shouldst  have known that  

neither the ,king nor his ,justiciary   
dare change  aught within the           
,liberties1 without consent of ,abbot   
and ,convent3  and thou hast presumed on
 such a thing8  ,i tell thee1 it will   
not  be without damage to my mills2  for
 the ,townsfolk will go to thy  mill1   
and grind their corn 7bladum suum7 at   
their own good  pleasure2  nor can ,i   
hinder them1 since they are free men4   
,i  will allow no new mills on such     
principle4  ,away1 away2  before  thou  
gettest home again1 thou wilt see what  
thy mill has grown  to6--,the very      
reverend1 the old ,dean totters home    
again1 in all  haste2  tears the mill in
 pieces by his own carpentarii1 to  save
 at least the timber2  and ,abbot       
,samson's workmen1 coming up1  find the 
ground already clear of it4      ,easy  
to bully down poor old rural ,deans1 and
 blow their windmills  away3  but who is
 the man that dare abide ,king          
,richard's anger2  cross the ,lion in   
his path1 and take him by the whiskers6 

,abbot  ,samson too2  he is that man1   
with justice on his side4  ,the case    
was this4  ,adam de ,cokefield1 one of  
the chief feudatories of ,st4  ,edmund1 
and a principal man in the ,eastern     
,counties1 died1  leaving large         
possessions1 and for heiress a daughter 
of three  months2  who by clear law1 as 
all men know1 became thus ,abbot        
,samson's ward2  whom accordingly he    
proceeded to dispose of to  such person 
as seemed fittest4  ,but now ,king      
,richard has another  person in view1 to
 whom the little ward and her great     
possessions  were a suitable thing4     
,he1 by letter1 requests that ,abbot    
,samson  will have the goodness to give 
her to this person4  ,abbot ,samson1    
with deep humility1 replies that she is 
already given4  ,new  letters from      
,richard1 of severer tenor2  answered   
with new deep  humilities1 with gifts   
and entreaties1 with no promise of      
obedience4  ,king ,richard's ire is     
kindled2  messengers arrive at  ,st4    

,edmundsbury1 with emphatic message to  
obey or tremble6  ,abbot  ,samson1      
wisely silent as to the ,king's threats1
 makes answer3  ,the ,king can send if  
he will1 and seize the ward3  force and 
power he has to do his pleasure1 and    
abolish the whole ,abbey4  ,i  never can
 be bent to wish this that he seeks1 nor
 shall it by me  be ever done4  ,for    
there is danger lest such things be made
 a  precedent of1 to the prejudice of my
 successors4  ,videat  ,altissimus1 ,let
 the ,most ,high look on it4            
,whatsoever thing  shall befall ,i will 
patiently endure4    ,such was ,abbot   
,samson's deliberate decision4  ,why    
not8  ,coeur-de-  ,lion is very         
dreadful1 but not the dreadfulest4      
,videat  ,altissimus4 ,i reverence      
,coeur-de-,lion to the marrow of my     
bones1  and will in all right things be 
homo suus2  but it is not1  properly    
speaking1 with terror1 with any fear at 
all4  ,on the  whole1 have ,i not looked
 on the face of ',satan with outspread  

wings2'  steadily into ,hellfire these  
seven-and-forty years2--and  was not    
melted into terror even at that1 such   
the ,lord's goodness  to me8            
,coeur-de-,lion6    ,richard swore      
tornado oaths1 worse than our armies in 
,flanders1  ,to be revenged on that     
proud ,priest4  ,but in the end he      
discovered that the ,priest was right2  
and forgave him1 and even  loved him4   
',king ,richard wrote1 soon after1 to   
,abbot ,samson1  ,that he wanted one or 
two of the ,st4 ,edmundsbury dogs1 which
 he  heard were good4  ,abbot ,samson   
sent him dogs of the best2  ,richard    
replied by the present of a ring1 which 
,pope ,innocent the  ,third had given   
him4  ,thou brave ,richard1 thou brave  
,samson6  ,richard too1 ,i suppose1     
'loved a man1' and knew one when he  saw
 him4    ,no one will accuse our ,lord  
,abbot of wanting worldly wisdom1 due   
interest in worldly things4  ,a skillful
 man2  full of cunning  insight1 lively 
interests2  always discerning the road  

to his  object1 be it circuit1 be it    
short-cut1 and victoriously  traveling  
forward thereon4  ,nay rather it might  
seem1 from  ,jocelin's ,narrative1 as if
 he had his eye all but exclusively     
directed on terrestrial matters1 and was
 much too secular for a  devout man4    
,but this too1 if we examine it1 was    
right4  ,for it  is in the world that a 
man1 devout or other1 has his life to   
lead1 his work waiting to be done4  ,the
 basis of ,abbot ,samson's1  we shall   
discover1 was truly religion1 after all4
  ,returning from  his dusty pilgrimage1
 with such welcome as we saw1 'he sat   
down  at the foot of ,st4 ,edmund's     
,shrine4'  ,not a talking theory that2  
no1 a silent practice3  ,thou ,st4      
,edmund with what lies in thee1  thou   
now must help me1 or none will6    ,this
 also is a significant fact3  the       
zealous interest our ,abbot  took in the
 ,crusades4  ,to all noble ,christian   
hearts of that era1  what earthly       
enterprise so noble8  ',when ,henry     

,,ii41 having taken  the cross1 came to 
,st4 ,edmund's1 to pay his devotions    
before  setting out1 the ,abbot secretly
 made for himself a cross of linen      
cloth3  and1 holding this in one hand   
and a threaded needle in  the other1    
asked leave of the ,king to assume it6' 
,the ,king could  not spare ,samson out 
of ,england2--the ,king himself indeed  
never  went4  ,but the ,abbot's eye was 
set on the ,holy ,sepulchre1 as on  the 
spot of this ,earth where the true cause
 of ,heaven was  deciding itself4  ',at 
the retaking of ,jerusalem by the       
,pagans1  ,abbot ,samson put on a cilice
 and hair-shirt1 and wore under-        
garments of hair-cloth ever after2  he  
abstained also from flesh  and          
fleshmeats 7carne et carneis7           
thenceforth to the end of his  life4'   
,like a dark cloud eclipsing the hopes  
of ,christendom1  those tidings cast    
their shadow over ,st4 ,edmundsbury too3
  ,shall  ,samson ,abbas take pleasure  
while ,christ's ,tomb is in the hands of

  the ,infidel8  ,samson1 in pain of    
body1 shall daily be reminded of  it1   
admonished to grieve for it4    ,the    
great antique heart3  how like a child's
 in its simplicity1  like a man's in its
 earnest solemnity and depth6  ,heaven  
lies  over him wheresoever he goes or   
stands on the ,earth2  making all  the  
,earth a mystic ,temple to him1 the     
,earth's business all a kind  of        
worship4  ,glimpses of bright creatures 
flash in the common  sunlight2  angels  
yet hover doing ,god's messages among   
men3  that  rainbow was set in the      
clouds by the hand of ,god6  ,wonder1   
miracle encompass the man2  he lives in 
an element of miracle2  ,heaven's       
splendour over his head1 ,hell's        
darkness under his feet4  ,a great ,law 
of ,duty1 high as these two             
,infinitudes1 dwarfing all  else1       
annihilating all else1--making royal    
,richard as small as  peasant ,samson1  
smaller if need be6--,the 'imaginative  
faculties8'  ',rude poetic ages8'  ,the 

'primeval poetic element8'  ,o for      
,god's  sake1 good reader1 talk no more 
of all that6  ,it was not a             
,dilettantism this of ,abbot ,samson4   
,it was a ,reality1 and it is  one4     
,the garment only of it is dead2  the   
essence of it lives  through all ,time  
and all ,eternity6      ,and truly1 as  
we said above1 is not this comparative  
silence of  ,abbot ,samson as to his    
religion1 precisely the healthiest sign 
of  him and of it8  ',the ,unconscious  
is the alone ,complete4' ,abbot  ,samson
 all along a busy working man1 as all   
men are bound to be1  his religion1 his 
worship was like his daily bread to     
him2--which  he did not take the trouble
 to talk much about2  which he merely   
ate at stated intervals1 and lived and  
did his work upon6  ,this  is ,abbot    
,samson's ,catholicism of the ,twelfth  
,century2--something  like the ,ism of  
all true men in all true centuries1 ,i  
fancy6  ,alas1 compared with any of the 
,isms current in these poor days1  what 

a thing6  ,compared with the            
respectablest1 morbid1  struggling      
,methodism1 never so earnest2  with the 
respectablest1  ghastly1 dead or        
galvanised ,dilettantism1 never so      
spasmodic6    ,methodism with its eye   
forever turned on its own navel2  asking
  itself with torturing anxiety of ,hope
 and ,fear1 ,am ,i right1 am ,i  wrong8 
,shall ,i be saved1 shall ,i not be     
damned8--what is this1  at bottom1 but a
 new phasis of ,egoism1 stretched out   
into the  ,infinite2  not always the    
heavenlier for its infinitude6          
,brother1 so soon as possible1 endeavour
 to rise above all that4  ,thou art     
wrong2  thou art like to be damned3     
consider that as  the fact1 reconcile   
thyself even to that1 if thou be a      
man2--then  first is the devouring      
,universe subdued under thee1 and from  
the  black murk of midnight and noise of
 greedy ,acheron2  dawn as of  an       
everlasting morning1 how far above all  
,hope and all ,fear1  springs for thee1 

enlightening thy steep path1 awakening  
in thy  heart celestial ,memnon's music6
    ,but of our ,dilettantisms1 and     
galvanised ,dilettantisms2  of          
,puseyism--,o ,heavens1 what shall we   
say of ,puseyism1 in comparison  to     
,twelfth-,century ,catholicism8  ,little
 or nothing2  for indeed  it is a matter
 to strike one dumb4         ,the       
,builder of this ,universe was wise1    
,he plann'd all souls1 all systems1     
planets1 particles3       ,the ,plan ,he
 shap'd ,his ,worlds and ,aeons by      
,was--,heavens6--,was thy small         
,nine-and-thirty ,articles8    ,that    
certain human souls1 living on this     
practical ,earth1 should  think to save 
themselves and a ruined world by noisy  
theoretic  demonstrations and laudations
 of the ,church1 instead of some        
unnoisy1 unconscious1 but practical1    
total1 heart-and-soul  demonstration of 
a ,church3  this1 in the circle of      
revolving  ages1 this also was a thing  
we were to see4  ,a kind of  penultimate

 thing1 precursor of very strange       
consummations2  last  thing but one8    
,if there is no atmosphere1 what will it
 serve a  man to demonstrate the        
excellence of lungs8  ,how much         
profitabler  when you can1 like ,abbot  
,samson1 breathe2  and go along your    
way6          ,chapter ,,xvi    ,st4    
,edmund      ,abbot ,samson built many  
useful1 many pious edifices2  human     
dwellings1 churches1 church-steeples1   
barns2--all fallen now and  vanished1   
but useful while they stood4  ,he built 
and endowed 'the  ,hospital of          
,babwell2'  built 'fit houses for the   
,st4 ,edmundsbury  ,schools3  ,many are 
the roofs once 'thatched with reeds'    
which he  'caused to be covered with    
tiles2'  or if they were churches1      
probably 'with lead4'  ,for all ruinous 
incomplete things1  buildings or other1 
were an eye-sorrow to the man4  ,we saw 
his  'great tower of ,st4 ,edmund's2'   
or at least the roof-timbers of  it1    
lying cut and stamped in ,elmset ,wood4 

,to change combustible  decaying        
reed-thatch into tile or lead1 and      
material1 still more1  moral wreck into 
rain-tight order1 what a comfort to     
,samson6      ,one of the things he     
could not in any wise but rebuild was   
the  great ,altar1 aloft on which stood 
the ,shrine itself2  the great  ,altar1 
which had been damaged by fire1 by the  
careless rubbish  and careless candle of
 two somnolent ,monks1 one night1--the  
,shrine escaping almost as if by        
miracle6  ,abbot ,samson read his       
,monks a severe lecture3  ,a ,dream one 
of us had1 that he saw ,st4  ,edmund    
naked and in lamentable plight4  ,know  
ye the  interpretation of that ,dream8  
,st4 ,edmund proclaims himself  naked1  
because ye defraud the naked ,poor of   
your old clothes1 and  give with        
reluctance what ye are bound to give    
them of meat and  drink3  the idleness  
moreover and negligence of the          
,sacristan and  his people is too       
evident from the late misfortune by     

fire4  ,well  might our ,holy ,martyr   
seem to be cast out from his ,shrine1   
and  say with groans that he was stript 
of his garments1 and wasted  with hunger
 and thirst6    ,this is ,abbot         
,samson's interpretation of the         
,dream2--  diametrically the reverse of 
that given by the ,monks themselves1    
who scruple not to say privily1 ,it is  
we that are the naked and  famished     
limbs of the ,martyr2  we whom the      
,abbot curtails of all  our privileges1 
setting his own official to control our 
very  ,cellarer6  ,abbot ,samson adds1  
that this judgment by fire has  fallen  
upon them for murmuring about their meat
 and drink4    ,clearly enough1         
meanwhile1 the ,altar1 whatever the     
burning of it  mean or foreshadow1 must 
needs be reedified4  ,abbot ,samson     
reedifies it1 all of polished marble2   
with the highest stretch  of art and    
sumptuosity1 reembellishes the ,shrine  
for which it is  to serve as pediment4  
,nay farther1 as had ever been among his

  prayers1 he enjoys1 he sinner1 a      
glimpse of the glorious ,martyr's  very 
,body in the process2  having solemnly  
opened the ,loculus1  ,chest or sacred  
,coffin1 for that purpose4  ,it is the  
culminating  moment of ,abbot ,samson's 
life4  ,bozzy ,jocelin himself rises    
into  a kind of ,psalmist solemnity on  
this occasion2  the laziest monk        
'weeps' warm tears1 as ,te ,deum is     
sung4    ,very strange2--how far        
vanished from us in these unworshiping  
ages of ours6  ,the ,patriot ,hampden1  
best beatified man we have1  had lain in
 like manner some two centuries in his  
narrow home1  when certain dignitaries  
of us1 'and twelve grave-diggers with   
pulleys1' raised him also up1 under     
cloud of night2  cut off his  arm with  
penknifes1 pulled the scalp off his     
head1--and otherwise  worshiped our     
,hero ,saint in the most amazing manner6
  ,let the  modern eye look earnestly on
 that old midnight hour in ,st4         
,edmundsbury ,church1 shining yet on us1

 ruddy-bright1 through the  depths of   
seven hundred years2  and consider      
mournfully what our  ,hero-worship once 
was1 and what it now is6  ,we translate 
with all  the fidelity we can3    ',the 
,festival of ,st4 ,edmund now           
approaching1 the marble blocks  are     
polished1 and all things are in         
readiness for lifting of the  ,shrine to
 its new place4  ,a fast of three days  
was held by all  the people1 the cause  
and meaning thereof being publicly set  
forth to them4  ,the ,abbot announces to
 the ,convent that all must  prepare    
themselves for transferring of the      
,shrine1 and appoints  time and way for 
the work4  ,coming therefore that night 
to  matins1 we found the great ,shrine  
7feretrum magnum7 raised upon  the      
,altar1 but empty2  covered all over    
with white doeskin  leather1 fixed to   
the wood with silver nails2  but one    
panel of  the ,shrine was left down     
below1 and resting thereon1 beside its  
old column of the ,church1 the ,loculus 

with the ,sacred ,body yet  lay where it
 was wont4  ,praises being sung1 we all 
proceeded to  commence our disciplines  
7ad disciplinas suscipiendas74  ,these  
finished1 the ,abbot and certain with   
him are clothed in their  albs2  and1   
approaching reverently1 set about       
uncovering the  ,loculus4  ,there was an
 outer cloth of linen1 enwrapping the   
,loculus and all2 this we found tied on 
the upper side with  strings of its own3
  within this was a cloth of silk1 and  
then  another linen cloth1 and then a   
third2  and so at last the  ,loculus was
 uncovered1 and seen resting on a little
 tray of wood1  that the bottom of it   
might not be injured by the stone4      
,over  the breast of the ,martyr1 there 
lay1 fixed to the surface of the        
,loculus1 a ,golden ,angel about the    
length of a human foot2  holding in one 
hand a golden sword1 and in the other a 
banner3  under this there was a hole in 
the lid of the ,loculus1 on which  the  
ancient servants of the ,martyr had been

 wont to lay their  hands for touching  
the ,sacred ,body4  ,and over the figure
 of the  ,angel was this verse          
inscribed3         ,martiris ecce zoma  
servat ,michaelis agalma 99    ,at the  
head and foot of the ,loculus were iron 
rings whereby it  could be lifted4      
--------------  99 ,this is the         
,martyr's ,garment1 which ,michael's    
,image guards4  --------------          
',lifting the ,loculus and ,body1       
therefore1 they carried it to the       
,altar2  and ,i put-to my sinful hand to
 help in carrying1 though  the ,abbot   
had commanded that none should approach 
except called4  ,and the ,loculus was   
placed in the ,shrine2  and the panel it
 had  stood on was put in its place1 and
 the ,shrine for the present  closed4   
,we all thought that the ,abbot would   
shew the ,loculus to  the people2  and  
bring out the ,sacred ,body again1 at a 
certain  period of the ,festival4  ,but 
in this we were woefully mistaken1  as  
the sequel shews4    ',for in the fourth

 holiday of the ,festival1 while the    
,convent  were all singing              
,completorium1 our ,lord ,abbot spoke   
privily  with the ,sacristan and ,walter
 the ,medicus2  and order was taken     
that twelve of the ,brethren should be  
appointed against midnight1  who were   
strong for carrying the panel-planks of 
the ,shrine1 and  skillful in unfixing  
them1 and putting them together again4  
,the  ,abbot then said that it was among
 his prayers to look once upon  the     
,body of his ,patron2  and that he      
wished the ,sacristan and  ,walter the  
,medicus to be with him4  ,the ,twelve  
appointed ,brethren  were these3  ,the  
,abbot's two ,chaplains1 the two        
,keepers of the  ,shrine1 the two       
,masters of the ,vestry2  and six more1 
namely1 the  ,sacristan ,hugo1 ,walter  
the ,medicus1 ,augustin1 ,william of    
,dice1  ,robert1 and ,richard4  ,i1     
alas1 was not of the number4    ',the   
,convent therefore being all asleep1    
these ,twelve1 clothed in  their albs1  

with the ,abbot1 assembled at the       
,altar2  and opening  a panel of the    
,shrine1 they took out the ,loculus2    
laid it on a  table1 near where the     
,shrine used to be2  and made ready for 
unfastening the lid1 which was joined   
and fixed to the ,loculus  with sixteen 
very long nails4  ,which when1 with     
difficulty1 they  had done1 all except  
the two forenamed associates are ordered
 to  draw back4  ,the ,abbot and they   
two were alone privileged to look  in4  
,the ,loculus was so filled with the    
,sacred ,body that you  could scarcely  
put a needle between the head and the   
wood1 or  between the feet and the wood3
  the head lay united to the body1  a   
little raised with a small pillow4  ,but
 the ,abbot1 looking  close1 found now a
 silk cloth veiling the whole ,body1 and
 then a  linen cloth of wondrous        
whiteness2  and upon the head was spread
  a small linen cloth1 and then another 
small and most fine silk  cloth1 as if  
it were the veil of a nun4  ,these      

coverings being  lifted off1 they found 
now the ,sacred ,body all wrapt in      
linen2  and so at length the lineaments 
of the same appeared4  ,but here  the   
,abbot stopped2  saying he durst not    
proceed farther1 or look  at the sacred 
flesh naked4  ,taking the head between  
his hands1 he  thus spake groaning3     
,glorious ,martyr1 holy ,edmund1 blessed
 be  the hour when thou wert born4      
,glorious ,martyr1 turn it not to my    
perdition that ,i have so dared to touch
 thee1 ,i miserable and  sinful2  thou  
knowest my devout love1 and the         
intention of my  mind4  ,and proceeding1
 he touched the eyes2  and the nose1    
which  was very massive and prominent   
7valde grossum et valde  eminentem72    
and then he touched the breast and arms2
  and  raising the left arm he touched  
the fingers1 and placed his own  fingers
 between the sacred fingers4  ,and      
proceeding he found the  feet standing  
stiff up1 like the feet of a man dead   
yesterday2  and he touched the toes1 and

 counted them 7tangendo numeravit74     
',and now it was agreed that the other  
,brethren should be called  forward to  
see the miracles2  and accordingly those
 ten now  advanced1 and along with them 
six others who had stolen in  without   
the ,abbot's assent1 namely1 ,walter of 
,st4 ,alban's1 ,hugh  the               
,infirmirarius1 ,gilbert brother of the 
,prior1 ,richard of  ,henham1 ,jocellus 
our ,cellarer1 and ,turstan the ,little2
  and all  these saw the ,sacred ,body1 
but ,turstan alone of them put forth    
his hand1 and touched the ,saint's knees
 and feet4  ,and that there  might be   
abundance of witnesses1 one of our      
,brethren1 ,john of  ,dice1 sitting on  
the roof of the ,church1 with the       
servants of the  ,vestry1 and looking   
through1 clearly saw all these things4  
,what a scene2  shining luminous        
effulgent1 as the lamps of ,st4  ,edmund
 do1 through the dark ,night2  ,john of 
,dice1 with vestrymen1  clambering on   
the roof to look through2  the ,convent 

all asleep1  and the ,earth all         
asleep1--and since then1 ,seven         
,centuries of  ,time mostly gone to     
sleep6  ,yes1 there1 sure enough1 is the
  martyred ,body of ,edmund landlord of 
the ,eastern ,counties1 who1  nobly     
doing what he liked with his own1 was   
slain three hundred  years ago3  and a  
noble awe surrounds the memory of him1  
symbol  and promoter of many other right
 noble things4    ,but have not we now  
advanced to strange new stages of ,hero-
  worship1 now in the little ,church of 
,hampden1 with our penknives  out1 and  
twelve grave-diggers with pulleys8  ,the
 manner of men's  ,hero-worship1 verily 
it is the innermost fact of their       
existence1  and determines all the      
rest1--at public hustings1 in private   
drawing-rooms1 in church1 in market1 and
 wherever else4  ,have  true reverence1 
and what indeed is inseparable          
therefrom1  reverence the right man1 all
 is well2  have sham-reverence1 and     
what also follows1 greet with it the    

wrong man1 then all is ill1  and there  
is nothing well4  ,alas1 if             
,hero-worship become  ,dilettantism1 and
 all except ,mammonism be a vain        
grimace1 how  much1 in this most earnest
 ,earth1 has gone and is evermore going 
to fatal destruction1 and lies wasting  
in quiet lazy ruin1 no man  regarding   
it6  ,till at length no heavenly ,ism   
any longer coming  down upon us1 ,isms  
from the other quarter have to mount up4
  ,for the ,earth1 ,i say1 is an earnest
 place2  ,life is no grimace1  but a    
most serious fact4  ,and so1 under      
universal ,dilettantism  much having    
been stript bare1 not the souls of men  
only1 but  their very bodies and        
bread-cupboards having been stript bare1
  and life now no longer possible1--all 
is reduced to desperation1  to the iron 
law of ,necessity and very ,fact again2 
and to temper  ,dilettantism1 and       
astonish it1 and burn it up with        
infernal fire1  arises ,chartism1       
,bare-backism1 ,sansculottism so-called6

  ,may  the gods1 and what of           
unworshiped heroes still remain among   
us1  avert the omen4--      ,but however
 this may be1 ,st4 ,edmund's ,loculus1  
we find1 has the  veils of silk and     
linen reverently replaced1 the lid      
fastened  down again with its sixteen   
ancient nails2  is wrapt in a new       
costly covering of silk1 the gift of    
,hubert ,archbishop of  ,canterbury3    
and through the sky-window ,john of     
,dice sees it  lifted to its place in   
the ,shrine1 the panels of this latter  
duly  refixed1 fit parchment documents  
being introduced withal2--and  now ,john
 and his vestrymen can slide down from  
the roof1 for all  is over1 and the     
,convent wholly awakens to matins4      
',when we  assembled to sing matins1'   
says ,jocelin1 'and understood what had 
been done1 grief took hold of all that  
had not seen these things1  each saying 
to himself1 ,alas1 ,i was deceived4     
,matins over1 the  ,abbot called the    
,convent to the great ,altar2  and      

briefly  recounting the matter1 alleged 
that it had not been in his power1  nor 
was it permissible or fit1 to invite us 
all to the sight of  such things4  ,at  
hearing of which1 we all wept1 and with 
tears  sang ,te ,deum laudamus2  and    
hastened to toll the bells in  the      
,choir4    ,stupid blockheads1 to       
reverence their ,st4 ,edmund's dead     
,body in  this manner8  ,yes1           
brother2--and yet1 on the whole1 who    
knows how  to reverence the ,body of a  
,man8  ,it is the most reverend         
phenomenon under this ,sun4  ,for the   
,highest ,god dwells visible in  that   
mystic unfathomable ,visibility1 which  
calls itself ,i on  the ,earth4         
',bending before men1' says ,novalis1   
'is a reverence  done to this           
,revelation in the ,flesh4  ,we touch   
,heaven when we  lay our hand on a human
 ,body4'  ,and the ,body of one         
,dead2--a  temple where the ,hero-soul  
once was and now is not3  ,oh1 all      
mystery1 all pity1 all mute awe and     

wonder2  ,supernaturalism  brought home 
to the very dullest2  ,eternity laid    
open1 and the  nether ,darkness and the 
upper ,light-,kingdoms2--do conjoin     
there1  or exist nowhere6  ,sauerteig   
used to say to me1 in his peculiar  way3
  ,a ,chancery ,lawsuit2  justice1 nay  
justice in mere money1  denied a man1   
for all his pleading1 till twenty1 till 
forty years  of his ,life are gone      
seeking it3  and a ,cockney ,funeral1   
,death  reverenced by hatchments1       
horsehair1 brass-lacker1 and            
unconcerned bipeds carrying long poles  
and bags of black  silk3--are not these 
two reverences1 this reverence for      
,death  and that reverence for ,life1 a 
notable pair of reverences among  you   
,english8    ,abbot ,samson1 at this    
culminating point of his existence1 may1
  and indeed must1 be left to vanish    
with his ,life-scenery from the  eyes of
 modern men4  ,he had to run into       
,france1 to settle with  ,king ,richard 
for the military service there of his   

,st4  ,edmundsbury ,knights2  and with  
great labour got it done4  ,he had  to  
decide on the dilapidated ,coventry     
,monks2  and with great  labour1 and    
much pleading and journeying1 got them  
reinstated2  dined with them all1 and   
with the ',masters of the ,schools of   
,oxneford1'--the veritable ,oxford      
,caput sitting there at dinner1  in a   
dim but undeniable manner1 in the ,city 
of ,peeping ,tom6  ,he  had1 not without
 labour1 to controvert the intrusive    
,bishop of  ,ely1 the intrusive ,abbot  
of ,cluny4  ,magnanimous ,samson1 his   
life  is but a labour and a journey2  a 
bustling and a justling1 till  the still
 ,night come4  ,he is sent for again1   
over sea1 to advise  ,king ,richard     
touching certain ,peers of ,england1 who
 had taken the  ,cross1 but never       
followed it to ,palestine2  whom the    
,pope is  inquiring after4  ,the        
magnanimous ,abbot makes preparation for
  departure2  departs1 and--,and        
,jocelin's ,boswellean ,narrative1      

suddenly shorn through by the scissors  
of ,destiny1 ends4  ,there  are no words
 more2  but a black line1 and leaves of 
blank paper4  ,irremediable3  the       
miraculous hand that held all this      
theatric-  machinery suddenly quits     
hold2  impenetrable ,time-,curtains rush
  down2  in the mind's eye all is again 
dark1 void2  with loud  dinning in the  
mind's ear1 our real-phantasmagory of   
,st4  ,edmundsbury plunges into the     
bosom of the ,twelfth ,century again1   
and all is over4  ,monks1 ,abbot1       
,hero-worship1 ,government1  ,obedience1
 ,coeur-de-,lion and ,st4 ,edmund's     
,shrine1 vanish like  ,mirza's ,vision2 
and there is nothing left but a         
mutilated black  ,ruin amid green       
botanic expanses1 and oxen1 sheep and   
dilettanti  pasturing in their places4  
,chapter ,,xvii    ,the ,beginnings     
,what a singular shape of a ,man2  shape
 of a ,time1 have we in this  ,abbot    
,samson and his history2  how strangely 
do modes1 creeds1  formularies1 and the 

date and place of a man's birth1 modify 
the  figure of the man6    ,formulas    
too1 as we call them1 have a reality in 
,human ,life4  ,they are real as the    
very skin and muscular tissue of a      
,man's  ,life2  and a most blessed      
indispensable thing1 so long as they    
have vitality withal1 and are a living  
skin and tissue to him6  ,no man1 or    
man's life1 can go abroad and do        
business in the world  without skin and 
tissues4  ,no2  first of all1 these have
 to  fashion themselves1--as indeed they
 spontaneously and inevitably  do4      
,foam itself1 and this is worth thinking
 of1 can harden into  oyster-shell2  all
 living objects do by necessity form to 
themselves a skin4    ,and yet1 again1  
when a man's ,formulas become dead2  as 
all  ,formulas1 in the progress of      
living growth1 are very sure to do6     
,when the poor man's integuments1 no    
longer nourished from within1  become   
dead skin1 mere adscititious leather and
 callosity1  wearing thicker and        

thicker1 uglier and uglier2  till no    
heart  any longer can be felt beating   
through them1 so thick1 callous1        
calcified are they2  and all over it has
 now grown mere calcified  oystershell1 
or were it polished mother-of-pearl1    
inwards almost  to the very heart of the
 poor man3--yes then1 you may say1 his  
usefulness once more is quite           
obstructed2  once more1 he cannot  go   
abroad and do business in the world2  it
 is time that  he take to bed1 and      
prepare for departure1 which cannot now 
be distant6    ,ubi homines sunt modi   
sunt4  ,habit is the deepest law of     
human  nature4  ,it is our supreme      
strength2  if also1 in certain          
circumstances1 our miserablest          
weakness4--,from ,stoke to ,stowe is  as
 yet a field1 all pathless1 untrodden3  
from ,stoke where ,i  live1 to ,stowe   
where ,i have to make my merchandises1  
perform my  businesses1 consult my      
heavenly oracles1 there is as yet no    
path  or human footprint2  and ,i1      

impelled by such necessities1 must      
nevertheless undertake the journey4     
,let me go once1 scanning my  way with  
any earnestness of outlook1 and         
successfully arriving1  my footprints   
are an invitation to me a second time to
 go by the  same way4  ,it is easier    
than any other way3  the industry of    
'scanning' lies already invested in it  
for me2  ,i can go this  time with less 
of scanning1 or without scanning at all4
  ,nay the  very sight of my footprints1
 what a comfort for me2  and in a       
degree1 for all my brethren of mankind6 
,the footprints are  trodden and        
retrodden2  the path wears ever broader1
 smoother1  into a broad highway1 where 
even wheels can run2  and many travel   
it2--till--till the ,town of ,stowe     
disappear from that locality  7as towns 
have been known to do71 or no           
merchandising1 heavenly  oracle1 or real
 business any longer exist for one      
there3  then  why should anybody travel 
the way8--,habit is our primal1         

fundamental law2  ,habit and ,imitation1
 there is nothing more  perennial in us 
than these two4  ,they are the source of
 all  ,working and all ,apprenticeship1 
of all ,practice and all ,learning1  in 
this world4    ,yes1 the wise man too   
speaks1 and acts1 in ,formulas2  all men
 do  so4  ,in general the more          
completely cased with ,formulas a man   
may  be1 the safer1 happier is it for   
him4  ,thou who1 in an ,all of  rotten  
,formulas1 seemest to stand nigh bare1  
having indignantly  shaken off the      
superannuated rags and unsound          
callosities of  ,formulas1--consider how
 thou too art still clothed6  ,this     
,english  ,nationality1 whatsoever from 
uncounted ages is genuine and a fact    
among thy native ,people1 and their     
words and ways3  all this1 has  it not  
made for thee a skin or second-skin1    
adhesive actually as  thy natural skin8 
,this thou hast not stript off1 this    
thou wilt  never strip off3  the humour 
that thy mother gave thee has to  shew  

itself through this4  ,a common1 or it  
may be an uncommon  ,englishman thou    
art3  but good ,heavens1 what sort of   
,arab1  ,chinaman1 ,jew-,clothesman1    
,turk1 ,hindoo1 ,african ,mandingo1     
wouldst  thou have been1 thou with those
 mother-qualities of thine6    ,it      
strikes me dumb to look over the long   
series of faces1 such as  any full      
,church1 ,courthouse1 ,london-,tavern   
,meeting1 or miscellany  of men will    
shew them4  ,some score or two of years 
ago1 all these  were little red-coloured
 pulpy infants2  each of them capable of
  being kneaded1 baked into any social  
form you chose3  yet see now  how they  
are fixed and hardened1--into artisans1 
artists1 clergy1  gentry1 learned       
sergeants1 unlearned dandies1 and can   
and shall  now be nothing else          
henceforth6    ,mark on that nose the   
colour left by too copious port and     
viands2  to which the profuse cravat    
with exorbitant breastpin1 and the      
fixed1 forward1 and as it were menacing 

glance of the eyes  correspond4  ,that  
is a ',man of ,business2'  prosperous   
manufacturer1 house-contractor1         
engineer1 law-manager2  his eye1  nose1 
cravat have1 in such work and fortune1  
got such a  character3  deny him not thy
 praise1 thy pity4  ,pity him too1 the  
,hard-handed1 with bony brow1 rudely    
combed hair1 eyes looking out  as in    
labour1 in difficulty and uncertainty2  
rude mouth1 the  lips coarse1 loose1 as 
in hard toil and lifelong fatigue they  
have got the habit of hanging3--hast    
thou seen aught more  touching than the 
rude intelligence1 so cramped1 yet      
energetic1  unsubduable1 true1 which    
looks out of that marred visage8  ,alas1
  and his poor wife1 with her own hands1
 washed that cotton  neckcloth for him1 
buttoned that coarse shirt1 sent him    
forth  creditably trimmed as she could4 
,in such imprisonment lives he1  for his
 part2  man cannot now deliver him3  the
 red pulpy infant  has been baked and   
fashioned so4    ,or what kind of baking

 was it that this other brother-mortal  
got1  which has baked him into the genus
 ,dandy8  ,elegant ,vacuum2  serenely   
looking down upon all ,plenums and      
,entities1 as low and  poor to his      
serene ,chimeraship and ,nonentity      
laboriously  attained6  ,heroic ,vacuum2
  inexpugnable1 while purse and present 
condition of society hold out2  curable 
by no hellebore4  ,the  doom of ,fate   
was1 ,be thou a ,dandy6  ,have thy      
eye-glasses1 opera-  glasses1 thy       
,long-,acre cabs with white-breeched    
tiger1 thy  yawning impassivities1      
pococurantisms2  fix thyself in         
,dandyhood1  undeliverable2  it is thy  
doom4    ,and all these1 we say1 were   
red-coloured infants2  of the same  pulp
 and stuff1 few years ago2  now         
irretrievably shaped and  kneaded as we 
see6  ,formulas8  ,there is no mortal   
extant1 out of  the depths of ,bedlam1  
but lives all skinned1 thatched1 covered
  over with ,formulas2  and is1 as it   
were1 held in from delirium  and the    

,inane by his ,formulas6  ,they are     
withal the most  beneficent1            
indispensable of human equipments3      
blessed he who  has a skin and tissues1 
so it be a living one1 and the heart-   
pulse everywhere discernible through it4
  ,monachism1 ,feudalism1  with a real  
,king ,plantagenet1 with real ,abbots   
,samson1 and their  other living        
realities1 how blessed6--      ,not     
without a mournful interest have we     
surveyed this authentic  image of a     
,time now wholly swallowed4  ,mournful  
reflections crowd  on us2  and yet      
consolatory4  ,how many brave men have  
lived  before ,agamemnon6  ,here is a   
brave governor ,samson1 a man fearing   
,god1 and fearing nothing else2  of whom
 as ,first ,lord of the  ,treasury1 as  
,king1 ,chief ,editor1 ,high ,priest1 we
 could be so glad  and proud2  of whom  
nevertheless ,fame has altogether       
forgotten to  make mention6  ,the faint 
image of him1 revived in this hour1 is  
found in the gossip of one poor ,monk1  

and in ,nature nowhere else4  ,oblivion 
had so nigh swallowed him altogether1   
even to the echo  of his ever having    
existed4  ,what regiments and hosts and 
generations of such has ,oblivion       
already swallowed6  ,their  crumbled    
dust makes up the soil our life-fruit   
grows on4  ,said ,i  not1 as my old     
,norse ,fathers taught me1 ,the         
,life-tree ,igdrasil1  which waves round
 thee in this hour1 whereof thou in this
 hour  art portion1 has its roots down  
deep in the oldest ,death-  ,kingdoms2  
and grows2  the ,three ,nornas1 or      
,times1 ,past1  ,present1 ,future1      
watering it from the ,sacred ,well6     
,for example1 who taught thee to speak8 
,from the day when two  hairy-naked or  
fig-leaved ,human ,figures began1 as    
uncomfortable  dummies1 anxious no      
longer to be dumb1 but to impart        
themselves  to one another2  and        
endeavoured1 with gaspings1 gesturings1 
with  unsyllabled cries1 with painful   
pantomime and interjections1 in a  very 

unsuccessful manner1--up to the writing 
of this present  copyright ,book1 which 
also is not very successful6  ,between  
that  day and this1 ,i say1 there has   
been a pretty space of time2  a  pretty 
spell of work1 which somebody has done6 
,thinkest thou  there were no poets till
 ,dan ,chaucer8  ,no heart burning with 
a  thought1 which it could not hold1 and
 had no word for2  and  needed to shape 
and coin a word for1--what thou callest 
a  metaphor1 trope1 or the like8  ,for  
every word we have1 there was  such a   
man and poet4  ,the coldest word was    
once a glowing new  metaphor1 and bold  
questionable originality4  ',thy very   
,,attention1 does it not mean an        
attentio1 a ,,stretching-,,to8'  ,fancy 
that act of the mind1 which all were    
conscious of1 which  none had yet       
named1--when this new 'poet' first felt 
bound and  driven to name it6  ,his     
questionable originality1 and new       
glowing  metaphor1 was found adoptable1 
intelligible2  and remains our  name for

 it to this day4      ,literature3--and 
look at ,paul's ,cathedral1 and the     
,masonries and  ,worships and           
,quasi-,worships that are there2  not to
 speak of  ,westminster ,hall and its   
wigs6  ,men had not a hammer to begin   
with1 not a syllabled articulation3     
they had it all to make2--  and they    
have made it4  ,what thousand thousand  
articulate1 semi-  articulate1          
earnest-stammering ,prayers ascending up
 to ,heaven1  from hut and cell1 in many
 lands1 in many centuries1 from the     
fervent kindled souls of innumerable    
men1 each struggling to pour  itself    
forth incompletely as it might1 before  
the incompletest  ,liturgy could be     
compiled6  ,the ,liturgy1 or adoptable  
and  generally adopted ,set of ,prayers 
and ,prayer-,method1 was what we  can   
call the ,select ,adoptabilities1       
',select ,beauties' well-edited  7by    
,oecumenic ,councils and other          
,useful-,knowledge ,societies7 from     
that wide waste imbroglio of ,prayers   

already extant and  accumulated1 good   
and bad4  ,the good were found adoptable
 by men2  were gradually got together1  
well-edited1 accredited3  the bad1      
found inappropriate1 unadoptable1 were  
gradually forgotten1  disused and burnt4
  ,it is the way with human things4     
,the first  man who1 looking with opened
 soul on this ,august ,heaven and       
,earth1 this ,beautiful and ,awful1     
which we name ,nature1 ,universe  and   
such like1 the essence of which remains 
forever ,,unnameable2  he who first1    
gazing into this1 fell on his knees     
awestruck1 in  silence as is            
likeliest1--he1 driven by inner         
necessity1 the  'audacious original'    
that he was1 had done a thing1 too1     
which  all thoughtful hearts saw        
straightway to be an expressive1        
altogether adoptable thing6  ,to bow the
 knee was ever since the  attitude of   
supplication4  ,earlier than any spoken 
,prayers1  ,litanias1 or ,leitourgias2  
the beginning of all ,worship1--  which 

needed but a beginning1 so rational was 
it4  ,what a poet  he6  ,yes1 this bold 
original was a successful one withal4   
,the  wellhead this one1 hidden in the  
primeval dusks and distances1  from whom
 as from a ,nile-source all ,forms of   
,worship flow3--  such a ,nile-river    
7somewhat muddy and malarious now67 of  
,forms of  ,worship sprang there1 and   
flowed1 and flows1 down to ,puseyism1   
,rotatory ,calabash1 ,archbishop ,laud  
at ,st4 ,catherine ,creed's1 and        
perhaps lower6    ,things rise1 ,i say1 
in that way4  ,the ,iliad ,poem1 and    
indeed  most other poetic1 especially   
epic things1 have risen as the  ,liturgy
 did4  ,the great ,iliad in ,greece1 and
 the small ,robin  ,hood's ,garland in  
,england1 are each1 as ,i understand1   
the well-  edited ',select ,beauties' of
 an immeasurable waste imbroglio of     
,heroic ,ballads in their respective    
centuries and countries4  ,think what   
strumming of the seven-stringed heroic  
lyre1 torturing  of the less heroic     

fiddle-catgut1 in ,hellenic ,kings'     
,courts1 and  ,english wayside ,public  
,houses2  and beating of the studious   
,poetic brain1 and gasping here too in  
the semi-articulate  windpipe of ,poetic
 men1 before the ,wrath of a ,divine    
,achilles1  the ,prowess of a ,will     
,scarlet or ,wakefield ,pinder1 could be
  adequately sung6  ,honour to you1 ye  
nameless great and greatest  ones1 ye   
long-forgotten brave6    ,nor was the   
,statute ,de ,tallagio non concedendo1  
nor any  ,statute1 ,law-method1         
,lawyer's-wig1 much less were the       
,statute-  ,book and ,four ,courts1 with
 ,coke upon ,lyttleton and ,three       
,estates  of ,parliament in the rear of 
them1 got together without human        
labour1--mostly forgotten now6  ,from   
the time of ,cain's slaying  ,abel by   
swift head-breakage1 to this time of    
killing your man in  ,chancery by       
inches1 and slow heart-break for forty  
years1--there  too is an interval6      
,venerable justice herself began by     

,wild-  justice2  all ,law is as a tamed
 furrowfield1 slowly worked out1  and   
rendered arable1 from the waste jungle  
of ,club-,law4  ,valiant  ,wisdom       
tilling and draining2  escorted by      
owl-eyed ,pedantry1 by  owlish and      
vulturish and many other forms of       
,folly2--the valiant  husbandman        
assiduously tilling2  the blind greedy  
enemy too  assiduously sowing tares6    
,it is because there is yet in          
venerable wigged justice some wisdom1   
amid such mountains of  wiggeries and   
folly1 that men have not cast her into  
the ,river2  that she still sits there1 
like ,dryden's ,head in the ,battle of  
the ,books1--a huge helmet1 a huge      
mountain of greased parchment1  of      
unclean horsehair1 first striking the   
eye2  and then in the  innermost corner1
 visible at last1 in size as a hazelnut1
 a real  fraction of ,god's justice1    
perhaps not yet unattainable to some1   
surely still indispensable to all2--and 
men know not what to do  with her6      

,lawyers were not all pedants1          
voluminous voracious  persons2  ,lawyers
 too were poets1 were heroes1--or their 
,law had  been past the ,nore long      
before this time4  ,their ,owlisms1     
,vulturisms1 to an incredible extent1   
will disappear by and by1  their        
,heroisms only remaining1 and the helmet
 be reduced to  something like the size 
of the head1 we hope6--    ,it is all   
work and forgotten work1 this peopled1  
clothed1  articulate-speaking1          
high-towered1 wide-acred ,world4  ,the  
hands  of forgotten brave men have made 
it a ,world for us2  they1--  honour to 
them2  they1 in spite of the idle and   
the dastard4  ,this ,english ,land1 here
 and now1 is the summary of what was    
found  of wise1 and noble1 and accordant
 with ,god's ,truth1 in all the         
generations of ,english ,men4  ,our     
,english ,speech is speakable  because  
there were ,hero-,poets of our blood and
 lineage2  speakable in proportion to   
the number of these4  ,this ,land of    

,england has its conquerors1 possessors1
 which change from epoch  to epoch1 from
 day to day2  but its real conquerors1  
creators1  and eternal proprietors are  
these following1 and their              
representatives if you can find them3   
,all the ,heroic ,souls that  ever were 
in ,england1 each in their degree2  all 
the men that  ever cut a thistle1       
drained a puddle out of ,england1       
contrived a  wise scheme in ,england1   
did or said a true and valiant thing in 
,england4  ,i tell thee1 they had not a 
hammer to begin with2  and  yet ,wren   
built ,st4 ,paul's3  not an articulated 
syllable2  and yet  there have come     
,english ,literatures1 ,elizabethan     
,literatures1  ,satanic-,school1        
,cockney-,school1 and other             
,literatures2--once  more1 as in the old
 time of the ,leitourgia1 a most waste  
imbroglio1 and world-wide jungle and    
jumble2  waiting terribly to  be        
'well-edited1' and 'well-burnt6'        
,arachne started with  forefinger and   

thumb1 and had not even a distaff2  yet 
thou seest  ,manchester1 and ,cotton    
,cloth1 which will shelter naked backs1 
at  two-pence an ell4    ,work8  ,the   
quantity of done and forgotten work that
 lies silent  under my feet in this     
world1 and escorts and attends me1 and  
supports and keeps me alive1 wheresoever
 ,i walk or stand1  whatsoever ,i think 
or do1 gives rise to reflections6  ,is  
it not  enough1 at any rate1 to strike  
the thing called ',fame' into total     
silence for a wise man8  ,for fools and 
unreflective persons1 she  is and will  
be very noisy1 this ',fame1' and talks  
of her  'immortals' and so forth3  but  
if you will consider it1 what is  she8  
,abbot ,samson was not nothing because  
nobody said anything  of him4  ,or      
thinkest thou1 the ,right ,honourable   
,sir ,jabesh  ,windbag can be made      
something by ,parliamentary ,majorities 
and  ,leading ,articles8  ,her          
'immortals6' ,scarcely two hundred years
  back can ,fame recollect articulately 

at all2  and there she but  maunders and
 mumbles4  ,she manages to recollect a  
,shakspeare or  so2  and prates1        
considerably like a goose1 about        
him2--and in  the rear of that1 onwards 
to the birth of ,theuth1 to ,hengst's   
,invasion1 and the bosom of ,eternity1  
it was all blank2  and the  respectable 
,teutonic ,languages1 ,teutonic         
,practices1 ,existences  all came of    
their own accord1 as the grass springs1 
as the trees  grow2  no ,poet1 no work  
from the inspired heart of a ,man needed
  there2  and ,fame has not an          
articulate word to say about it6  ,or   
ask her1 ,what1 with all conceivable    
appliances and mnemonics1  including    
apotheosis and human sacrifices among   
the number1 she  carries in her head    
with regard to a ,wodan1 even a ,moses1 
or  other such8  ,she begins to be      
uncertain as to what they were1  whether
 spirits or men of mould1--gods1        
charlatans2  begins  sometimes to have a
 misgiving that they were mere symbols1 

ideas  of the mind2  perhaps            
nonentities1 and ,letters of the        
,alphabet6  ,she is the noisiest1       
inarticulately babbling1 hissing1       
screaming1  foolishest1 unmusicalest of 
fowls that fly2  and needs no           
'trumpet1' ,i think1 but her own        
enormous goose-throat1--measuring       
several degrees of celestial latitude1  
so to speak4  ,her 'wings1'  in these   
days1 have grown far swifter than ever2 
but her goose-  throat hitherto seems   
only larger2  louder and foolisher than 
ever4  ,she is transitory1 futile1 a    
goose-goddess3--if she were  not        
transitory1 what would become of us6    
,it is a chief comfort  that she forgets
 us all2  all1 even to the very ,wodans2
  and  grows to consider us1 at last1 as
 probably nonentities and  ,letters of  
the ,alphabet4    ,yes1 a noble ,abbot  
,samson resigns himself to ,oblivion    
too2  feels  it no hardship1 but a      
comfort2  counts it as a still resting- 
place1 from much sick fret and fever and

 stupidity1 which in the  night-watches 
often made his strong heart sigh4  ,your
 most sweet  voices1 making one enormous
 goose-voice1 ,o ,bobus and ,company1   
how  can they be a guidance for any ,son
 of ,adam8  ,in silence of you  and the 
like of you1 the 'small still voices'   
will speak to him  better2  in which    
does lie guidance4    ,my friend1 all   
speech and rumour is shortlived1        
foolish1 untrue4  ,genuine ,,work alone1
 what thou workest faithfully1 that is  
eternal1  as the ,almighty ,founder and 
,world-,builder himself4  ,stand thou   
by that2  and let ',fame' and the rest  
of it go prating4        ,heard are the 
,voices1       ,heard are the ,sages1   
,the ,worlds and the ,ages3             
,choose well1 your choice is            
,brief and yet endless4         ,here   
eyes do regard you1       ,in           
,eternity's stillness2       ,here is   
all fulness1       ,ye brave1 to reward 
you2       ,work1 and despair not4      
--,goethe          ,book ,,iii--,the    

,modern ,worker        ,chapter ,i      
,phenomena      ,but1 it is said1 our   
religion is gone3  we no longer believe 
in  ,st4 ,edmund1 no longer see the     
figure of him 'on the rim of the  sky1' 
minatory or confirmatory6  ,god's       
absolute ,laws1 sanctioned  by an       
eternal ,heaven and an eternal ,hell1   
have become ,moral  ,philosophies1      
sanctioned by able computations of      
,profit and  ,loss1 by weak             
considerations of ,pleasures of ,virtue 
and the  ,moral ,sublime4    ,it is even
 so4  ,to speak in the ancient dialect1 
we 'have  forgotten ,god2'--in the most 
modern dialect and very truth of the    
matter1 we have taken up the ,fact of   
this ,universe as it is  not4  ,we have 
quietly closed our eyes to the eternal  
,substance  of things1 and opened them  
only to the ,shews and ,shams of things4
  ,we quietly believe this ,universe to 
be intrinsically a great  unintelligible
 ,,perhaps2  extrinsically1 clear       
enough1 it is a  great1 most extensive  

,cattlefold and ,workhouse1 with most   
extensive ,kitchen-ranges1              
,dining-tables1--whereat he is wise who 
can find a place6  ,all the ,truth of   
this ,universe is uncertain2  only the  
profit and loss of it1 the pudding and  
praise of it1 are  and remain very      
visible to the practical man4    ,there 
is no longer any ,god for us6  ,god's   
,laws are become a  ,greatest-,happiness
 ,principle1 a ,parliamentary           
,expediency3  the  ,heavens overarch us 
only as an ,astronomical ,time-keeper2  
a butt  for ,herschel-telescopes to     
shoot science at1 to shoot              
sentimentalities at3--in our and old    
,jonson's dialect1 man has  lost the    
soul out of him2  and now1 after the due
 period1--  begins to find the want of  
it6  ,this is verily the plague-spot2   
centre of the universal ,social         
,gangrene1 threatening all modern       
things with frightful death4  ,to him   
that will consider it1 here  is the     
stem1 with its roots and taproot1 with  

its world-wide  upas-boughs and accursed
 poison-exudations1 under which the     
world  lies writhing in atrophy and     
agony4  ,you touch the focal-centre  of 
all our disease1 of our frightful       
nosology of diseases1 when  you lay your
 hand on this4  ,there is no religion2  
there is no  ,god2  man has lost his    
soul1 and vainly seeks antiseptic salt4 
,vainly3  in killing ,kings1 in passing 
,reform ,bills1 in ,french              
,revolutions1 ,manchester               
,insurrections1 is found no remedy4     
,the  foul elephantine leprosy1         
alleviated for an hour1 reappears in    
new force and desperateness next hour4  
,for actually this is not the real fact 
of the world2  the world  is not made   
so1 but otherwise6--,truly1 any ,society
 setting out  from this ,no-,god        
hypothesis will arrive at a result or   
two4  ,the  ,unveracities1 escorted1    
each ,unveracity of them by its         
corresponding ,misery and ,penalty2  the
 ,phantasms1 and ,fatuities1  and       

ten-years ,corn-,law ,debatings1 that   
shall walk the ,earth at  noonday1--must
 needs be numerous6  ,the ,universe     
being  intrinsically a ,perhaps1 being  
too probably an 'infinite ,humbug1'  why
 should any minor ,humbug astonish us8  
,it is all according to  the order of   
,nature2  and ,phantasms riding with    
huge clatter  along the streets1 from   
end to end of our existence1 astonish   
nobody4  ,enchanted ,st4 ,ives'         
,workhouses and ,joe-,manton            
,aristocracies2  giant ,working         
,mammonism near strangled in the        
partridge-nets of giant-looking ,idle   
,dilettantism1--this1 in all  its       
branches1 in its thousand thousand modes
 and figures1 is a  sight familiar to   
us4      ,the ,popish ,religion1 we are 
told1 flourishes extremely in these     
years2  and is the most                 
vivacious-looking religion to be met    
with  at present4  ,elle a trois cents  
ans dans le ventre1 counts ,m4          
,jouffroy2  c'est pourquoi je la        

respecte6--,the old ,pope of  ,rome1    
finding it laborious to kneel so long   
while they cart him  through the streets
 to bless the people on ,corpus-,christi
 ,day1  complains of rheumatism2        
whereupon his ,cardinals consult2--     
construct him1 after some study1 a      
stuffed cloaked figure1 of  iron and    
wood1 with wool or baked hair2  and     
place it in a  kneeling posture4        
,stuffed figure1 or rump of a figure2   
to this  stuffed rump he1 sitting at his
 ease on a lower level1 joins1 by  the  
aid of cloaks and drapery1 his living   
head and outspread  hands3  the rump    
with its cloaks kneels1 the ,pope looks1
 and  holds his hands spread2  and so   
the two in concert bless the  ,roman    
population on ,corpus-,christi ,day1 as 
well as they can4    ,i have considered 
this amphibious ,pope1 with the         
wool-and-iron  back1 with the flesh head
 and hands2  and endeavoured to         
calculate his horoscope4  ,i reckon him 
the remarkablest ,pontiff  that has     

darkened ,god's daylight1 or painted    
himself in the human  retina1 for these 
several thousand years4  ,nay1 since    
,chaos first  shivered1 and 'sneezed1'  
as the ,arabs say1 with the first shaft 
of sunlight shot through it1 what       
stranger product was there of  ,nature  
and ,art working together8  ,here is a  
,supreme ,priest who  believes ,god to  
be--,what in the name of ,god does he   
believe ,god  to be8--and discerns that 
all worship of ,god is a scenic         
phantasmagory of wax-candles1           
organ-blasts1 ,gregorian ,chants1       
mass-brayings1 purple monsignori1       
wool-and-iron rumps1  artistically      
spread out1--to save the ignorant from  
worse4    ,o reader1 ,i say not who are 
,belial's elect4  ,this poor amphibious 
,pope too gives loaves to the ,poor2    
has in him more good latent  than he is 
himself aware of4  ,his poor ,jesuits1  
in the late  ,italian ,cholera1 were1   
with a few ,german ,doctors1 the only   
creatures whom dastard terror had not   

driven mad3  they descended  fearless   
into all gulfs and bedlams2  watched    
over the pillow of  the dying1 with     
help1 with counsel and hope2  shone as  
luminous  fixed stars1 when all else had
 gone out in chaotic night3  honour  to 
them6  ,this poor ,pope1--who knows what
 good is in him8  ,in a  ,time otherwise
 too prone to forget1 he keeps up the   
mournfulest  ghastly memorial of the    
,highest1 ,blessedest1 which once was2  
which1 in new fit forms1 will again     
partly have to be4  ,is he not  as a    
perpetual death's-head and cross-bones1 
with their  ,resurgam1 on the grave of a
 ,universal ,heroism1--grave of a       
,christianity8  ,such ,noblenesses1     
purchased by the world's best           
heart's-blood1 must not be lost2  we    
cannot afford to lose them1  in what    
confusions soever4  ,to all of us the   
day will come1 to a  few of us it has   
already come1 when no mortal1 with his  
heart  yearning for a ',divine          
,humility1' or other ',highest form of  

,valour1' will need to look for it in   
death's-heads1 but will see  it round   
him in here and there a beautiful living
 head4    ,besides1 there is in this    
poor ,pope1 and his practice of the     
,scenic ,theory of ,worship1 a frankness
 which ,i rather honour4  ,not  half and
 half1 but with undivided heart does he 
set about  worshiping by                
stage-machinery2  as if there were now1 
and could  again be1 in ,nature no      
other4  ,he will ask you1 ,what other8  
,under this my ,gregorian ,chant1 and   
beautiful wax-light  ,phantasmagory1    
kindly hidden from you is an ,abyss1 of 
black  ,doubt1 ,scepticism1 nay         
,sansculottic ,jacobinism2  an ,orcus   
that  has no bottom4  ,think of that4   
',groby ,pool is thatched with          
pancakes1'--as ,jeannie ,deans's        
,innkeeper defied it to be6  ,the       
,bottomless of ,scepticism1 ,atheism1   
,jacobinism1 behold1 it is  thatched    
over1 hidden from your despair1 by      
stage-properties  judiciously arranged4 

,this stuffed rump of mine saves not me 
only from rheumatism1 but you also from 
what other isms6  ,in  this your        
,life-pilgrimage ,nowhither1 a fine     
,squallacci marching-  music1 and       
,gregorian ,chant1 accompanies you1 and 
the hollow ,night  of ,orcus is well    
hid6    ,yes truly1 few men that worship
 by the rotatory ,calabash of the       
,calmucks do it in half so great1 frank 
or effectual a way4  ,drury-lane1 it is 
said1 and that is saying much1 may learn
 from  him in the dressing of parts1 in 
the arrangement of lights and  shadows4 
,he is the greatest ,play-actor that at 
present draws  salary in this world4    
,poor ,pope2  and ,i am told he is fast 
growing bankrupt too2  and will1 in a   
measurable term of years 7a  great way  
within the 'three hundred'71 not have a 
penny to make  his pot boil6  ,his old  
rheumatic back will then get to rest2   
and  himself and his stage-properties   
sleep well in ,chaos forevermore4       
,or1 alas1 why go to ,rome for          

,phantasms walking the streets8         
,phantasms1 ghosts1 in this midnight    
hour1 hold jubilee1 and  screech and    
jabber2  and the question rather were1  
,what high  ,reality anywhere is yet    
awake8  ,aristocracy has become         
,phantasm-  ,aristocracy1 no longer able
 to do its work1 not in the least       
conscious that it has any work longer to
 do4  ,unable1 totally  careless to do  
its work2  careful only to clamour for  
the  wages of doing its work1--nay for  
higher1 and palpably undue  wages1 and  
,corn-,laws and increase of rents2  the 
old rate of  wages not being adequate   
now6  ,in hydra-wrestle1 giant          
',millocracy' so-called1 a real giant1  
though as yet a blind one  and but      
half-awake1 wrestles and wrings in      
choking nightmare1  'like to be         
strangled in the partridge-nets of      
,phantasm-  ,aristocracy1' as we said1  
which fancies itself still to be a      
giant4  ,wrestles1 as under nightmare1  
till it do awaken2  and  gasps and      

struggles thousandfold1 we may say1 in a
 truly painful  manner1 through all     
fibres of our ,english ,existence1 in   
these  hours and years6  ,is our poor   
,english ,existence wholly becoming a   
,nightmare2  full of mere ,phantasms8-- 
,the ,champion of ,england1 cased in    
iron or tin1 rides into  ,westminster   
,hall1 'being lifted into his saddle    
with little  assistance1' and there     
asks1 ,if in the four quarters of the   
world1 under the cope of ,heaven1 is any
 man or demon that dare  question the   
right of this ,king8  ,under the cope of
 ,heaven no man  makes intelligible     
answer1--as several men ought already to
 have  done4  ,does not this ,champion  
too know the world2  that it is a  huge 
,imposture1 and bottomless ,inanity1    
thatched over with bright  cloth and    
other ingenious tissues8  ,him let us   
leave there1  questioning all men and   
demons4    ,him we have left to his     
destiny2  but whom else have we found8  
,from this the highest apex of things1  

downwards through all  strata and       
breadths1 how many fully awakened       
,realities have we  fallen in           
with3--alas1 on the contrary1 what      
troops and  populations of ,phantasms1  
not ,god-,veracities but                
,devil-,falsities1  down to the very    
lowest stratum1--which now1 by such     
superincumbent weight of ,unveracities1 
lies enchanted in ,st4  ,ives'          
,workhouses1 broad enough1 helpless     
enough6  ,you will walk  in no public   
thoroughfare or remotest byway of       
,english ,existence  but you will meet a
 man1 an interest of men1 that has given
 up  hope in the ,everlasting1 ,true1   
and placed its hope in the  ,temporary1 
half or wholly ,false4  ,the ,honourable
 ,member complains  unmusically that    
there is 'devil's-dust' in ,yorkshire   
cloth4  ,yorkshire cloth1--why1 the very
 ,paper ,i now write on is made1 it     
seems1 partly of plaster-lime           
well-smoothed1 and obstructs my         
writing6  ,you are lucky if you can find

 now any good ,paper1--any  work really 
done2  search where you will1 from      
highest ,phantasm  apex to lowest       
,enchanted basis6    ,consider1 for     
example1 that great ,hat seven-feet     
high1 which now  perambulates ,london   
,streets2  which my ,friend ,sauerteig  
regarded  justly as one of our ,english 
notabilities2  the topmost point as     
yet1 said he1 would it were your        
culminating and returning  point1 to    
which ,english ,puffery has been        
observed to reach6--,the  ,hatter in the
 ,strand of ,london1 instead of making  
better felt-  hats than another1 mounts 
a huge lath-and-plaster ,hat1 seven-feet
  high1 upon wheels2  sends a man to    
drive it through the streets2  hoping to
 be saved thereby4  ,he has not         
attempted to make  better hats1 as he   
was appointed by the ,universe to do1   
and as  with this ingenuity of his he   
could very probably have done2  but  his
 whole industry is turned to persuade us
 that he has made  such6  ,he too knows 

that the ,quack has become ,god4  ,laugh
 not at  him1 ,o reader2  or do not     
laugh only4  ,he has ceased to be comic2
  he is fast becoming tragic4  ,to me   
this all-deafening blast of  ,puffery1  
of poor ,falsehood grown necessitous1 of
 poor ,heart-  ,atheism fallen now into 
,enchanted ,workhouses1 sounds too      
surely  like a ,doom's-blast6  ,i have  
to say to myself in old dialect3  ,god's
 blessing is not written on all this1   
,his curse is written  on all this6     
,unless perhaps the ,universe be a      
chimera2--some  old totally deranged    
eightday clock1 dead as brass2  which   
the ,maker1 if there ever was any       
,maker1 has long ceased to  meddle      
with8--,to my ,friend ,sauerteig this   
poor seven-feet  ,hat-manufacturer1 as  
the topstone of ,english ,puffery1 was  
very notable4    ,alas1 that we natives 
note him little1 that we view him as a  
thing of course1 is the very burden of  
the misery4  ,we take it  for granted1  
the most rigorous of us1 that all men   

who have made  anything are expected and
 entitled to make the loudest possible  
proclamation of it2  call on a          
discerning public to reward them  for   
it4  ,every man his own trumpeter2  that
 is1 to a really  alarming extent1 the  
accepted rule4  ,make loudest possible  
proclamation of your ,hat3  true        
proclamation if that will do2  if  that 
will not do1 then false                 
proclamation1--to such extent of        
falsity as will serve your purpose2  as 
will not seem too false  to be          
credible6--,i answer1 once for all1 that
 the fact is not so4  ,nature requires  
no man to make proclamation of his      
doings and  hat-makings2  ,nature       
forbids all men to make such4  ,there is
 not  a man or hat-maker born into the  
world but feels1 at first1 that  he is  
degrading himself if he speak of his    
excellencies and  prowesses1 and        
supremacy in his craft3  his inmost     
heart says to  him1 ,leave thy friends  
to speak of these2  if possible1 thy    

enemies to speak of these2  but at all  
events1 thy friends6  ,he  feels that he
 is already a poor braggart2  fast      
hastening to be a  falsity and speaker  
of the ,untruth4    ,nature's ,laws1 ,i 
must repeat1 are eternal3  her small    
still  voice1 speaking from the inmost  
heart of us1 shall not1 under  terrible 
penalties1 be disregarded4  ,no one man 
can depart from  the truth without      
damage to himself2  no one million of   
men2  no  ,twenty-seven ,millions of    
men4  ,shew me a ,nation fallen         
everywhere  into this course1 so that   
each expects it1 permits it to others   
and himself1 ,i will shew you a ,nation 
traveling with one assent  on the broad 
way4  ,the broad way1 however many      
,banks of ,england1  ,cotton-,mills and 
,duke's ,palaces it may have6  ,not at  
happy  ,elysian fields1 and everlasting 
crowns of victory1 earned by  silent    
,valour1 will this ,nation arrive2  but 
at precipices1  devouring gulfs1 if it  
pause not4  ,nature has appointed happy 

fields1 victorious laurel-crowns2  but  
only to the brave and  true3  ,unnature1
 what we call ,chaos1 holds nothing in  
it but  vacuities1 devouring gulfs4     
,what are ,twenty-seven ,millions1 and  
their unanimity8  ,believe them not3    
the ,worlds and the ,ages1 ,god  and    
,nature and ,all ,men say otherwise4    
',rhetoric all this8'  ,no1 my brother1 
very singular to say1 it is  ,fact all  
this4  ,cocker's ,arithmetic is not     
truer4  ,forgotten in  these days1 it is
 old as the foundations of the          
,universe1 and  will endure till the    
,universe cease4  ,it is forgotten now2 
and  the first mention of it puckers thy
 sweet countenance into a  sneer3  but  
it will be brought to mind              
again1--unless indeed the  ,law of      
,gravitation chance to cease1 and men   
find that they can  walk on vacancy4    
,unanimity of the ,twenty-seven         
,millions will do  nothing3  walk not   
thou with them2  fly from them as for   
thy  life4  ,twenty-seven ,millions     

traveling on such courses1 with gold    
jingling in every pocket1 with vivats   
heaven-high1 are  incessantly advancing1
 let me again remind thee1 towards the  
firm-land's end1--towards the end and   
extinction of what  ,faithfulness1      
,veracity1 real ,worth1 was in their way
 of life4  ,their noble ancestors have  
fashioned for them a 'life-road6'--in   
how many thousand senses1 this6  ,there 
is not an old wise ,proverb  on their   
tongue1 an honest ,principle articulated
 in their hearts  into utterance1 a wise
 true method of doing and despatching   
any  work or commerce of men1 but helps 
yet to carry them forward4  ,life is    
still possible to them1 because all is  
not yet ,puffery1  ,falsity1            
,mammon-worship and ,unnature2  because 
somewhat is yet  ,faithfulness1         
,veracity and ,valour4  ,with a certain 
very  considerable finite quantity of   
,unveracity and ,phantasm1 social  life 
is still possible2  not with an infinite
 quantity6  ,exceed  your certain       

quantity1 the seven-feet ,hat1 and all  
things upwards  to the very ,champion   
cased in tin1 begin to reel and         
flounder1--  in ,manchester             
,insurrections1 ,chartisms1             
,sliding-scales2  the ,law  of          
,gravitation not forgetting to act4     
,you advance incessantly  towards the   
land's end2  you are1 literally enough1 
'consuming  the way4'  ,step after step1
 ,twenty-seven ,million unconscious     
men2--till you are at the land's end2   
till there is not  ,faithfulness enough 
among you any more3  and the next step  
now is  lifted not over land1 but into  
air1 over ocean-deeps and  roaring      
abysses3--unless perhaps the ,law of    
,gravitation have  forgotten to act8    
,o1 it is frightful when a whole        
,nation1 as our ,fathers used to  say1  
has 'forgotten ,god2'  has remembered   
only ,mammon1 and what  ,mammon leads   
to6  ,when your self-trumpeting         
,hatmaker is the  emblem of almost all  
makers1 and workers1 and men1 that make 

anything1--from soul-overseerships1     
body-overseerships1 epic  poems1 acts of
 parliament1 to hats and shoe-blacking6 
,not one  false man but does uncountable
 mischief3  how much1 in a  generation  
or two1 will ,twenty-seven ,millions1   
mostly false1  manage to accumulate8    
,the sum of it1 visible in every street1
  marketplace1 senate-house1            
circulating-library1 cathedral1         
cotton-mill1 and union-workhouse1 fills 
one not with a  comic feeling6          
,chapter ,,ii    ,gospel of ,mammonism  
,reader1 even ,christian ,reader as thy 
title goes1 hast thou any  notion of    
,heaven and ,hell8  ,i rather apprehend1
 not4  ,often as  the words are on our  
tongue1 they have got a fabulous or     
semifabulous character for most of us1  
and pass on like a kind of  transient   
similitude1 like a sound signifying     
little4    ,yet it is well worth while  
for us to know1 once and always1 that   
they are not a similitude1 nor a fable  
nor semi-fable2  that they  are an      

everlasting highest fact6  ,no ,lake of 
,sicilian or other  sulphur burns now   
anywhere in these ages1 sayest thou8    
,well1  and if there did not6  ,believe 
that there does not2  believe it  if    
thou wilt1 nay hold by it as a real     
increase1 a rise to higher  stages1 to  
wider horizons and empires4  ,all this  
has vanished1 or  has not vanished2     
believe as thou wilt as to all this4    
,but that  an ,infinite of ,practical   
,importance1 speaking with strict       
arithmetical exactness1 an ,infinite1   
has vanished or can vanish  from the    
,life of any ,man3  this thou shalt not 
believe6  ,o  brother1 the ,infinite of 
,terror1 of ,hope1 of ,pity1 did it not 
at  any moment disclose itself to thee1 
indubitable1 unnameable8  ,came it      
never1 like the gleam of preternatural  
eternal ,oceans1  like the voice of old 
,eternities1 far-sounding through thy   
heart  of hearts8  ,never8  ,alas1 it   
was not thy ,liberalism then2  it was   
thy ,animalism6  ,the ,infinite is more 

sure than any other fact4  ,but only men
 can discern it2  mere building beavers1
 spinning  arachnes1 much more the      
predatory vulturous and vulpine species1
  do not discern it well6--    ',the    
word ,hell1' says ,sauerteig1 'is still 
frequently in use  among the ,english   
,people3  but ,i could not without      
difficulty  ascertain what they meant by
 it4  ,hell generally signifies the     
,infinite ,terror1 the thing a man is   
infinitely afraid of1 and  shudders and 
shrinks from1 struggling with his whole 
soul to  escape from it4  ,there is a   
,hell therefore1 if you will consider1  
which accompanies man1 in all stages of 
his history1 and  religious or other    
development3  but the ,hells of men and 
,peoples  differ notably4  ,with        
,christians it is the infinite terror of
  being found guilty before the just    
,judge4  ,with old ,romans1 ,i          
conjecture1 it was the terror not of    
,pluto1 for whom probably  they cared   
little1 but of doing unworthily1 doing  

unvirtuously1  which was their word for 
unmanfully4  ,and now what is it1 if    
you pierce through his ,cants1 his      
oft-repeated ,hearsays1 what he  calls  
his ,worships and so forth1--what is it 
that the modern  ,english soul does1 in 
very truth1 dread infinitely1 and       
contemplate with entire despair8  ,what 
is his ,hell2  after all  these         
reputable1 oft-repeated ,hearsays1 what 
is it8  ,with  hesitation1 with         
astonishment1 ,i pronounce it to be3    
,the terror  of ,not succeeding2  of not
 making money1 fame1 or some other      
figure in the world1--chiefly of not    
making money6  ,is not that a  somewhat 
singular ,hell8    ,yes1 ,o ,sauerteig1 
it is very singular4  ,if we do not     
'succeed1'  where is the use of us8  ,we
 had better never have been born4       
,tremble intensely1 as our friend the   
,emperor of ,china says3  there is the  
black ,bottomless of ,terror2  what     
,sauerteig calls  the ',hell of the     
,english6'--,but indeed this ,hell      

belongs  naturally to the ,gospel of    
,mammonism1 which also has its          
corresponding ,heaven4  ,for there is   
one ,reality among so many  ,phantasms2 
about one thing we are entirely in      
earnest3  ,the  making of money4        
,working ,mammonism does divide the     
world with  idle game-preserving        
,dilettantism3--thank ,heaven that there
 is  even a ,mammonism1 anything we are 
in earnest about6  ,idleness is  worst1 
,idleness alone is without hope3  work  
earnestly at  anything1 you will by     
degrees learn to work at almost all     
things4  ,there is endless hope in work1
 were it even work at making money4     
,true1 it must be owned1 we for the     
present1 with our ,mammon-  ,gospel1    
have come to strange conclusions4  ,we  
call it a ,society2  and go about       
professing openly the totalest          
separation1  isolation4  ,our life is   
not a mutual helpfulness2  but rather1  
cloaked under due laws-of-war1 named    
'fair competition' and so  forth1 it is 

a mutual hostility4  ,we have profoundly
 forgotten  everywhere that             
,cash-payment is not the sole relation  
of human  beings2  we think1 nothing    
doubting1 that it absolves and          
liquidates all engagements of man4  ,my 
starving workers8  answers the rich     
,mill-owner3  ,did not ,i hire them     
fairly in the  market8  ,did ,i not pay 
them1 to the last sixpence1 the sum     
covenanted for8  ,what have ,i to do    
with them more8--,verily                
,mammon-worship is a melancholy creed4  
,when ,cain1 for his own  behoof1 had   
killed ,abel1 and was questioned1 ,where
 is thy  brother he too made answer1 ,am
 ,i my brother's keeper8  ,did ,i  not  
pay my brother his wages1 the thing he  
had merited from me8    ,o sumptuous    
,merchant-,prince1 illustrious          
game-preserving ,duke1 is  there no way 
of 'killing' thy brother but ,cain's    
rude way6  ',a  good man by the very    
look of him1 by his very presence with  
us as  a fellow wayfarer in this        

,life-pilgrimage1 promises so much3'    
woe to him if he forget all such        
promises1 if he never know that  they   
were given6  ,to a deadened soul1 seared
 with the brute  ,idolatry of ,sense1 to
 whom going to ,hell is equivalent to   
not  making money1 all 'promises1' and  
moral duties1 that cannot be  pleaded   
for in ,courts of ,requests1 address    
themselves in vain4  ,money he can be   
ordered to pay1 but nothing more4  ,i   
have not  heard in all ,past ,history1  
and expect not to hear in all ,future   
,history1 of any ,society anywhere under
 ,god's ,heaven supporting  itself on   
such ,philosophy4  ,the ,universe is not
 made so2  it is  made otherwise than   
so4  ,the man or nation of men that     
thinks it  is made so1 marches forward  
nothing doubting1 step after step2  but 
marches--whither we know6  ,in these    
last two centuries of  ,atheistic       
,government 7near two centuries now1    
since the blessed  restoration of his   
,sacred ,majesty1 and ,defender of the  

,faith1  ,charles ,second71 ,i reckon   
that we have pretty well exhausted what 
of 'firm earth' there was for us to     
march on2--and are now1 very  ominously1
 shuddering1 reeling1 and let us hope   
trying to recoil1  on the cliff's       
edge6--    ,for out of this that we call
 ,atheism come so many other isms  and  
falsities1 each falsity with its misery 
at its heels6--,a ,,soul  is not like   
wind 7spiritus1 or breath7 contained    
within a  capsule2  the ,,almighty      
,,maker is not like a ,clockmaker that  
once1  in old immemorial ages1 having   
made his ,horologe of a ,universe1  sits
 ever since and sees it go6  ,not at    
all4  ,hence comes  ,atheism2  come1 as 
we say1 many other isms2  and as the sum
 of  all1 comes ,valetism1 the reverse  
of ,heroism2  sad root of all  woes     
whatsoever4  ,for indeed1 as no man ever
 saw the above-said  wind-element       
enclosed within its capsule1 and finds  
it at bottom  more deniable than        
conceivable2  so too he finds1 in spite 

of  ,bridgewater ,bequests1 your        
,clockmaker ,almighty an entirely       
questionable affair1 a deniable         
affair2--and accordingly denies  it1 and
 along with it so much else4  ,alas1 one
 knows not what and  how much else6     
,for the faith in an ,invisible1        
,unnameable1  ,godlike1 present         
everywhere in all that we see and work  
and  suffer1 is the essence of all faith
 whatsoever2  and that once  denied1 or 
still worse1 asserted with lips only1   
and out of bound  prayerbooks only1 what
 other thing remains believable8  ,that 
,cant  well-ordered is marketable ,cant2
  that ,heroism means gas-lighted       
,histrionism2  that seen with 'clear    
eyes' 7as they call ,valet-  eyes71 no  
man is a ,hero1 or ever was a ,hero1 but
 all men are  ,valets and ,varlets4     
,the accursed practical quintessence of 
all  sorts of ,unbelief6  ,for if there 
be now no ,hero1 and the ,histrio       
himself begin to be seen into1 what hope
 is there for the seed of  ,adam here   

below8  ,we are the doomed everlasting  
prey of the  ,quack2  who1 now in this  
guise1 now in that1 is to filch us1 to  
pluck and eat us1 by such modes as are  
convenient for him4  ,for  the modes and
 guises ,i care little4  ,the ,quack    
once inevitable1  let him come swiftly1 
let him pluck and eat me2--swiftly1 that
 ,i  may at least have done with him2   
for in his ,quack-world ,i can  have no 
wish to linger4  ,though he slay me1 yet
 will ,i despise  him4  ,though he      
conquer nations1 and have all the       
,flunkeys of the  ,universe shouting at 
his heels1 yet will ,i know well that he
 is  an ,inanity2  that for him and his 
there is no continuance  appointed1 save
 only in ,gehenna and the ,pool4  ,alas1
 the ,atheist  world1 from its utmost   
summits of ,heaven and ,westminster     
,hall1  downwards through poor sevenfeet
 ,hats and ',unveracities fallen        
hungry1' down to the lowest cellars and 
neglected hunger-dens of  it1 is very   
wretched4    ,one of ,dr4 ,alison's     

,scotch facts struck us much499     ,a  
poor  ,irish ,widow1 her husband having 
died in one of the ,lanes of            
,edinburgh1 went forth with her three   
children1 bare of all  resource1 to     
solicit help from the ,charitable       
,establishments of  that ,city4  ,at    
this ,charitable ,establishment and then
 at that she  was refused2  referred    
from one to the other1 helped by none2--
  till she had exhausted them all2  till
 her strength and heart  failed her3    
she sank down in typhus-fever2  died1   
and infected  her ,lane with fever1 so  
that 'seventeen other persons' died of  
fever there in consequence4  ,the humane
 ,physician asks thereupon1  as with a  
heart too full for speaking1 ,would it  
not have been  economy to help this poor
 ,widow8  ,she took typhus-fever1 and   
killed seventeen of you6--,very curious4
  ,the forlorn ,irish ,widow  applies to
 her fellow-creatures1 as if saying1    
,behold ,i am  sinking1 bare of help3   
ye must help me6  ,i am your sister1    

bone  of your bone2  one ,god made us3  
ye must help me6  ,they answer1  ,no2   
impossible3  thou art no sister of ours4
  ,but she proves  her sisterhood2  her 
typhus-fever kills them3  they actually 
were her brothers1 though denying it6   
,had man ever to go lower  for a proof8 
------------  99 ,observations on the   
,management of the ,poor in ,scotland3  
,by  ,william ,pulteney ,alison1 ,m4,d4 
7,edinburgh1 #ahdj7  ------------       
,for1 as indeed was very natural in such
 case1 all government of  the ,poor by  
the ,rich has long ago been given over  
to ,supply-and-  demand1 ,laissez-faire 
and such like1 and universally declared 
to  be 'impossible4'  ,you are no sister
 of ours2  what shadow of  proof is     
there8  ,here are our parchments1 our   
padlocks1 proving  indisputably our     
money-safes to be ours1 and you to have 
no  business with them4  ,depart6  ,it  
is impossible6--,nay1 what  wouldst thou
 thyself have us do8 cry indignant      
readers4  ,nothing1  my friends1--till  

you have got a soul for yourselves      
again4  ,till  then all things are      
'impossible4'  ,till then ,i cannot even
 bid  you buy1 as the old ,spartans     
would have done1 two-pence worth of     
powder and lead1 and compendiously shoot
 to death this poor ,irish  ,widow3     
even that is 'impossible' for you4      
,nothing is left but  that she prove her
 sisterhood by dying1 and infecting you 
with  typhus4  ,seventeen of you lying  
dead will not deny such proof  that she 
was flesh of your flesh2  and perhaps   
some of the living  may lay it to heart4
    ',impossible3'  of a certain        
two-legged animal with feathers1 it  is 
said if you draw a distinct chalk-circle
 round him1 he sits  imprisoned1 as if  
girt with the iron ring of ,fate2  and  
will die  there1 though within sight of 
victuals1--or sit in sick misery  there1
 and be fatted to death4  ,the name of  
this poor two-legged  animal is--,goose2
  and they make of him1 when well       
fattened1  ,pate de foie gras1 much     

prized by some6          ,chapter ,,iii 
,gospel of ,dilettantism      ,but after
 all1 the ,gospel of ,dilettantism1     
producing a ,governing  ,class who do   
not govern1 nor understand in the least 
that they  are bound or expected to     
govern1 is still mournfuler than that of
  ,mammonism4  ,mammonism1 as we said1  
at least works2  this goes  idle4       
,mammonism has seized some portion of   
the message of ,nature  to man2  and    
seizing that1 and following it1 will    
seize and  appropriate more and more of 
,nature's message3  but ,dilettantism   
has missed it wholly4  ',make money3'   
that will mean withal1 ',do  work in    
order to make money4'  ,but1 ',go       
gracefully idle in  ,mayfair1' what does
 or can that mean8  ,an idle1           
game-preserving  and even corn-,jawing  
,aristocracy1 in such an ,england as    
ours3  has the world1 if we take thought
 of it1 ever seen such a  phenomenon    
till very lately8  ,can it long continue
 to see such8    ,accordingly the       

impotent1 insolent ,donothingism in     
,practice1 and  ,saynothingism in       
,speech1 which we have to witness on    
that side of  our affairs1 is altogether
 amazing4  ,a ,corn-,law demonstrating  
itself openly1 for ten years or more1   
with 'arguments' to make  the angels1   
and some other classes of creatures1    
weep6  ,for men  are not ashamed to rise
 in ,parliament and elsewhere1 and speak
  the things they do not think4         
',expediency1' ',necessities of         
,party1' c4 c46  ,it is not known that  
the ,tongue of ,man is a  sacred organ2 
that ,man himself is definable in       
,philosophy as an  ',incarnate ,word2'  
the ,word not there1 you have no ,man   
there  either1 but a ,phantasm instead6 
,in this way it is that  ,absurdities   
may live long enough1--still walking1   
and talking for  themselves1 years and  
decades after the brains are quite out6 
,how are 'the knaves and dastards' ever 
to be got 'arrested' at  that rate8--   
,no man in this fashionable ,london of  

yours1 friend ,sauerteig  would say1    
speaks a plain word to me4  ,every man  
feels bound to  be something more than  
plain2  to be pungent withal1 witty1    
ornamental4  ,his poor fraction of sense
 has to be perked into  some            
epigrammatic shape1 that it may prick   
into me2--perhaps  7this is the         
commonest7 to be topsyturvied1 left     
standing on its  head1 that ,i may      
remember it the better6  ,such grinning 
inanity  is very sad to the soul of man4
  ,human faces should not grin on  one  
like masks2  they should look on one    
like faces6  ,i love  honest laughter1  
as ,i do sunlight2  but not dishonest3  
most  kinds of dancing too2  but the    
,st4-,vitus kind not at all6  ,a        
fashionable wit1 ach ,himmel1 if you    
ask1 ,which1 he or a ,death's-  head1   
will be the cheerier company for me8    
pray send not him6    ,insincere        
,speech1 truly1 is the prime material of
 insincere  ,action4  ,action hangs1 as 
it were1 dissolved in ,speech1 in       

,thought whereof ,speech is the shadow2 
and precipitates itself  therefrom4     
,the kind of ,speech in a man betokens  
the kind of  ,action you will get from  
him4  ,our ,speech1 in these modern     
days1  has become amazing4  ,johnson    
complained1 ,nobody speaks in  earnest1 
,sir2  there is no serious conversation4
  ,to us all  serious speech of men1 as 
that of ,seventeenth-,century ,puritans1
  ,twelfth-,century ,catholics1 ,german 
,poets of this ,century1 has  become    
jargon1 more or less insane4  ,cromwell 
was mad and a  quack2  ,anselm1 ,becket1
 ,goethe1 ditto ditto4      ,perhaps few
 narratives in ,history or ,mythology   
are more  significant than that ,moslem 
one1 of ,moses and the ,dwellers by  the
 ,dead ,sea4  ,a tribe of men dwelt on  
the shores of that same  ,asphaltic     
,lake2  and having forgotten1 as we are 
all too prone to  do1 the inner facts of
 ,nature1 and taken up with the         
falsities  and outer semblances of it1  
were fallen into sad conditions1--      

verging indeed towards a certain far    
deeper ,lake4  ,whereupon it  pleased   
kind ,heaven to send them the ,prophet  
,moses1 with an  instructive word of    
warning1 out of which might have sprung 
'remedial measures' not a few4  ,but no3
  the men of the ,dead ,sea  discovered1
 as the valet-species always does in    
heroes or  prophets1 no comeliness in   
,moses2  listened with real tedium to   
,moses1 with light grinning1 or with    
splenetic sniffs and sneers1  affecting 
even to yawn2  and signified1 in short1 
that they found  him a humbug1 and even 
a bore4  ,such was the candid theory    
these  men of the ,asphalt ,lake formed 
to themselves of ,moses1 ,that  probably
 he was a humbug1 that certainly he was 
a bore4    ,moses withdrew2  but ,nature
 and her rigorous veracities did not    
withdraw4  ,the men of the ,dead ,sea1  
when we next went to visit  them1 were  
all 'changed into ,apes2'99 sitting on  
the trees there1  grinning now in the   
most unaffected manner2  gibbering and  

chattering complete nonsense2  finding  
the whole ,universe now a  most         
indisputable ,humbug6  ,the ,universe   
has become a ,humbug to  these ,apes who
 thought it one6  ,there they sit and   
chatter1 to  this hour3  only1 ,i think1
 every ,sabbath there returns to them a 
bewildered half-consciousness1          
half-reminiscence2  and they sit1  with 
their wizened smoke-dried visages1 and  
such an air of  supreme tragicality as  
,apes may2  looking out1 through those  
blinking smoke-bleared eyes of theirs1  
into the wonderfulest  universal smoky  
,twilight and undecipherable disordered 
,dusk of  ,things2  wholly an           
,uncertainty1 ,unintelligibility1 they  
and it2  and for commentary thereon1    
here and there an unmusical chatter  or 
mew3--truest1 tragicalest ,humbug       
conceivable by the mind of  man or ape6 
,they made no use of their souls2  and  
so have lost  them4  ,their worship on  
the ,sabbath now is to roost there1 with
  unmusical screeches1 and half-remember

 that they had souls4    ,didst thou    
never1 ,o ,traveler1 fall in with       
parties of this tribe8  ,meseems they   
are grown somewhat numerous in our day4 
---------  99 ,sale's ,koran            
7,introduction74          ,chapter ,,iv 
,happy      ,all work1 even             
cotton-spinning1 is noble2  work is     
alone noble3  be that here said and     
asserted once more4  ,and in like manner
 too  all dignity is painful2  a life of
 ease is not for any man1 nor  for any  
god4  ,the life of all gods figures     
itself to us as a  ,sublime             
,sadness--earnestness of ,infinite      
,battle against ,infinite  ,labour4     
,our highest religion is named the      
',worship of ,sorrow4'  ,for the son of 
man there is no noble crown1 well worn1 
or even  ill worn1 but is a crown of    
thorns6--,these things1 in spoken       
words1 or still better1 in felt         
instincts alive in every heart1  were   
once well known4    ,does not the whole 
wretchedness1 the whole ,atheism as ,i  

call  it1 of man's ways1 in these       
generations1 shadow itself for us in    
that unspeakable ,life-philosophy of    
his3  ,the pretension to be  what he    
calls 'happy8'  ,every pitifulest       
whipster that walks  within a skin has  
his head filled with the notion that he 
is1  shall be1 or by all human and      
divine laws ought to be1 'happy4'  ,his 
wishes1 the pitifulest whipster's1 are  
to be fulfilled for  him2  his days1 the
 pitifulest whipster's1 are to flow on  
in  ever-gentle current of enjoyment1   
impossible even for the gods4  ,the     
prophets preach to us1 ,thou shalt be   
happy2  thou shalt love  pleasant       
things1 and find them4  ,the people     
clamour1 ,why have we  not found        
pleasant things8    ,we construct our   
theory of ,human ,duties1 not on any    
,greatest-  ,nobleness ,principle1 never
 so mistaken2  no1 but on a ,greatest-  
,happiness ,principle4  ',the word ,soul
 with us1 as in some  ,slavonic         
dialects1 seems to be synonymous with   

,stomach4  ,we  plead and speak1 in our 
,parliaments and elsewhere1 not as from 
the ,soul1 but from the                 
,stomach2--wherefore1 indeed1 our       
pleadings  are so slow to profit4  ,we  
plead not for ,god's justice2  we are   
not ashamed to stand clamouring and     
pleading for our own  'interests1' our  
own rents and trade-profits2  we say1   
,they are  the 'interests' of so many2  
there is such an intense desire for     
them in us6  ,we demand ,free-,trade1   
with much just vociferation  and        
benevolence1 ,that the poorer classes1  
who are terribly ill-  off at present1  
may have cheaper ,new-,orleans bacon4   
,men ask on  ,free-trade platforms1 ,how
 can the indomitable spirit of          
,englishmen be kept up without plenty of
 bacon8  ,we shall become a  ruined     
,nation6--,surely1 my friends1 plenty of
 bacon is good and  indispensable3  but1
 ,i doubt1 you will never get even bacon
 by  aiming only at that4  ,you are men1
 not animals of prey1 well-used  or     

ill-used6  ,your ,greatest-,happiness   
,principle seems to me fast  becoming a 
rather unhappy one4--,what if we should 
cease babbling  about 'happiness1' and  
leave it resting on its own basis1 as it
  used to do6    ,a gifted ,byron rises 
in his wrath2  and feeling too surely   
that  he for his part is not 'happy1'   
declares the same in very violent       
language1 as a piece of news that may be
 interesting4  ,it  evidently has       
surprised him much4  ,one dislikes to   
see a man and  poet reduced to proclaim 
on the streets such tidings3  but on the
  whole1 as matters go1 that is not the 
most dislikable4  ,byron  speaks the    
truth in this matter4  ,byron's large   
audience  indicates how true it is felt 
to be4    ',happy1' my brother8  ,first 
of all1 what difference is it whether   
thou art happy or not6  ,today becomes  
,yesterday so fast1 all  ,tomorrows     
become ,yesterdays2  and then there is  
no question  whatever of the            
'happiness1' but quite another question4

  ,nay1  thou hast such a sacred pity   
left at least for thyself1 thy very     
pains once gone over into ,yesterday    
become joys to thee4  ,besides1 thou    
knowest not what heavenly blessedness   
and  indispensable sanative virtue was  
in them2  thou shalt only know  it after
 many days1 when thou art wiser6--,a    
benevolent old  ,surgeon sat once in our
 company1 with a ,patient fallen sick by
  gourmandising1 whom he had just1 too  
briefly in the ,patient's  judgment1    
been examining4  ,the foolish ,patient  
still at intervals  continued to break  
in on our discourse1 which rather       
promised to  take a philosophic turn3   
,but ,i have lost my appetite1 said he1 
objurgatively1 with a tone of irritated 
pathos2  ,i have no  appetite2  ,i can't
 eat6--,my dear fellow1 answered the    
,doctor  in mildest tone1 it isn't of   
the slightest consequence2--and         
continued his philosophical discoursings
 with us6    ,or does the reader not    
know the history of that ,scottish iron 

,misanthrope8  ,the inmates of some     
town-mansion1 in those ,northern  parts1
 were thrown into the fearfulest alarm  
by indubitable  symptoms of a ghost     
inhabiting the next house1 or perhaps   
even  the partition-wall6 ,ever at a    
certain hour1 with preternatural        
gnarring1 growling and screeching1 which
 attended as running  bass1 there began1
 in a horrid1 semi-articulate1 unearthly
 voice1  this song3  ,once ,i was       
hap-hap-happy1 but now ,i'm mees-erable6
  ,clack-clack-clack1 gnarr-r-r1 whuz-z3
  ,once ,i was hap-hap-happy1  but now  
,i'm mees-erable6--,rest1 rest1         
perturbed spirit2--or  indeed1 as the   
good old ,doctor said3  ,my dear fellow1
 it isn't of  the slightest consequence6
  ,but no2  the perturbed spirit could  
not rest2  and to the neighbours1       
fretted1 affrighted1 or at  least       
insufferably bored by him1 it was of    
such consequence  that they had to go   
and examine in his haunted chamber4  ,in
 his  haunted chamber1 they find that   

the perturbed spirit is an              
unfortunate--,imitator of ,byron8  ,no1 
is an unfortunate rusty  ,meat-jack1    
gnarring and creaking with rust and     
work2  and this1  in ,scottish dialect1 
is its ,byronian musical                
,life-philosophy1  sung according to    
ability6      ,truly1 ,i think the man  
who goes about pothering and uproaring  
for  his 'happiness1'--pothering1 and   
were it ballot-boxing1 poem-  making1 or
 in what way soever fussing and exerting
 himself1--he  is not the man that will 
help us to 'get our knaves and dastards 
arrested6'  ,no2  he rather is on the   
way to increase the number1  --by at    
least one unit and his tail6  ,observe1 
too1 that this is  all a modern affair2 
belongs not to the old heroic times1 but
 to  these dastard new times4           
',happiness our being's end and aim' is 
at bottom1 if we will count well1 not   
yet two centuries old in  the world4    
,the only happiness a brave man ever    
troubled himself with asking  much about

 was1 happiness enough to get his work  
done4  ,not ,i  can't eat6 but ,i can't 
work6 that was the burden of all wise   
complaining among men4  ,it is1 after   
all1 the one unhappiness of  a man4     
,that he cannot work2  that he cannot   
get his destiny as a  man fulfilled4    
,behold1 the day is passing swiftly     
over1 our life  is passing swiftly over2
  and the night cometh1 wherein no man  
can work4  ,the night once come1 our    
happiness1 our unhappiness1--  it is all
 abolished2  vanished1 clean gone2  a   
thing that has  been3  'not of the      
slightest consequence' whether we were  
happy  as eupeptic ,curtis1 as the      
fattest pig of ,epicurus1 or unhappy as 
job with potsherds1 as musical ,byron   
with ,giaours and  sensibilities of the 
heart2  as the unmusical ,meat-jack with
 hard  labour and rust6  ,but our       
work1--behold that is not abolished1    
that has not vanished3  our work1       
behold1 it remains1 or the want  of it  
remains2--for endless ,times and        

,eternities1 remains2  and  that is now 
the sole question with us forevermore6  
,brief  brawling ,day1 with its noisy   
phantasms1 its poor paper-crowns        
tinsel-gilt1 is gone2  and divine       
everlasting ,night1 with her            
star-diadems1 with her silences and her 
veracities1 is come6  ,what hast thou   
done1 and how8  ,happiness1 unhappiness3
  all that  was but the wages thou      
hadst2  thou hast spent all that1 in    
sustaining thyself hitherward2  not a   
coin of it remains with  thee1 it is all
 spent1 eaten3  and now thy work1 where 
is thy  work8  ,swift1 out with it1 let 
us see thy work6      ,of a truth1 if   
man were not a poor hungry dastard1 and 
even  much of a blockhead withal1 he    
would cease criticising his  victuals to
 such extent2  and criticise himself    
rather1 what  he does with his victuals6
          ,chapter ,v    ,the ,english  
,and yet1 with all thy theoretic        
platitudes1 what a depth of  practical  
sense in thee1 great ,england6  ,a depth

 of sense1 of  justice1 and courage2  in
 which1 under all emergencies and world-
  bewilderments1 and under this most    
complex of emergencies we now  live in1 
there is still hope1 there is still     
assurance6    ,the ,english are a dumb  
people4  ,they can do great acts1 but   
not  describe them4  ,like the old      
,romans1 and some few others1 their     
,epic ,poem is written on the ,earth's  
surface3  ,england her ,mark6  ,it is   
complained that they have no artists3   
one ,shakspeare  indeed2  but for       
,raphael only a ,reynolds2  for ,mozart 
nothing but  a ,mr4 ,bishop3  not a     
picture1 not a song4  ,and yet they did 
produce one ,shakspeare3  consider how  
the element of ,shakspearean  melody    
does lie imprisoned in their nature2    
reduced to unfold  itself in mere       
,cotton-mills1 ,constitutional          
,governments1 and such  like2--all the  
more interesting when it does become    
visible1 as  even in such unexpected    
shapes it succeeds in doing6  ,goethe   

spoke of the ,horse1 how impressive1    
almost affecting it was that  an animal 
of such qualities should stand          
obstructed so2  its  speech nothing but 
an inarticulate neighing1 its handiness 
mere  hoofiness1 the fingers all        
constricted1 tied together1 the         
fingernails coagulated into a mere hoof1
 shod with iron4  ,the  more            
significant1 thinks he1 are those       
eye-flashings of the  generous noble    
quadruped2  those prancings1 curvings of
 the neck  clothed with thunder4      ,a
 ,dog of ,knowledge has free utterance2 
but the ,warhorse is  almost mute1 very 
far from free6  ,it is even so4  ,truly1
 your  freest utterances are not by any 
means always the best3  they are  the   
worst rather2  the feeblest1 trivialest2
  their meaning  prompt1 but small1     
ephemeral4  ,commend me to the silent   
,english1  to the silent ,romans4  ,nay1
 the silent ,russians too ,i believe to 
be worth something3  are they not even  
now drilling1 under much  obloquy1 an   

immense semi-barbarous half-world from  
,finland to  ,kamtschatka1 into rule1   
subordination1 civilisation1--really in 
an old ,roman fashion2 speaking no word 
about it2  quietly hearing  all manner  
of vituperative ,able ,editors speak6   
,while your ever-  talking1             
ever-gesticulating ,french1 for example1
 what are they at  this moment          
drilling8--,nay1 of all animals1 the    
freest of  utterance1 ,i should judge1  
is the genus ,simia3  go into the       
,indian woods1 say all ,travelers1 and  
look what a brisk1 adroit1  unresting   
,ape-population it is6      ,the spoken 
,word1 the written ,poem1 is said to be 
an epitome of  the man2  how much more  
the done ,work4  ,whatsoever of morality
  and of intelligence2  what of         
patience1 perseverance1  faithfulness1  
of method1 insight1 ingenuity1 energy2  
in a word1  whatsoever of ,strength the 
man had in him will lie written in the  
,work he does4  ,to work3  why1 it is to
 try himself against  ,nature1 and her  

everlasting unerring ,laws2  these will 
tell a  true verdict as to the man4  ,so
 much of virtue and of faculty did  we  
find in him2  so much and no more6  ,he 
had such capacity of  harmonising       
himself with me and my unalterable      
ever-veracious  ,laws2  of cooperating  
and working as ,i bade him2--and has    
prospered1 and has not prospered1 as you
 see6--,working as great  ,nature bade  
him3  does not that mean virtue of a    
kind2  nay1 of  all kinds8  ,cotton can 
be spun and sold1 ,lancashire operatives
  can be got to spin it1 and at length  
one has the woven webs and  sells them1 
by following ,nature's regulations in   
that matter3  by  not following         
,nature's regulations1 you have them    
not4  ,you have  them not2--there is no 
,cotton-web to sell3  ,nature finds a   
bill  against you2  your ',strength' is 
not ,strength1 but ,futility6  ,let     
faculty be honoured1 so far as it is    
faculty4  ,a man that can  succeed in   
working is to me always a man4    ,how  

one loves to see the burly figure of    
him1 this thick-skinned1  seemingly     
opaque1 perhaps sulky1 almost stupid    
,man of ,practice1  pitted against some 
light--adroit ,man of ,theory1 all      
equipt with  clear logic1 and able      
anywhere to give you ,why for           
,wherefore6 ,the  adroit ,man of        
,theory1 so light of movement1 clear of 
utterance1  with his bow full-bent and  
quiver full of arrow-arguments1--       
surely he will strike down the game1    
transfix everywhere the  heart of the   
matter2  triumph everywhere1 as he      
proves that he  shall and must do8  ,to 
your astonishment1 it turns out oftenest
  ,no4  ,the cloudy-browed1 thick-soled1
 opaque ,practicality1 with no          
logic-utterance1 in silence mainly1 with
 here and there a low  grunt or growl1  
has in him what transcends all          
logic-utterance3  a ,congruity with the 
,unuttered6  ,the ,speakable1 which lies
 atop1  as a superficial film1 or outer 
skin1 is his or is not his3  but  the   

,doable1 which reaches down to the      
,world's centre1 you find  him there6   
,the rugged ,brindleys has little to say
 for himself2  the rugged  ,brindley1   
when difficulties accumulate on him1    
retires silent1  'generally to his bed2'
  retires 'sometimes for three days     
together to his bed1 that he may be in  
perfect privacy there1'  and ascertain  
in his rough head how the difficulties  
can be  overcome4  ,the ineloquent      
,brindley1 behold he has chained seas   
together2  his ships do visibly float   
over valleys1 invisibly  through the    
hearts of mountains2  the ,mersey and   
the ,thames1 the  ,humber and the       
,severn have shaken hands3  ,nature most
 audibly  answers1 ,yea6  ,the man of   
,theory twangs his full-bent bow3       
,nature's ,fact ought to fall stricken1 
but does not3  his logic-  arrow glances
 from it as from a scaly dragon1 and the
 obstinate  ,fact keeps walking its way4
  ,how singular6  ,at bottom1 you will  
have to grapple closer with the dragon2 

take it home to you1 by  real faculty1  
not by seeming faculty2  try whether you
 are  stronger or it is stronger4       
,close with it1 wrestle it3  sheer      
obstinate toughness of muscle2  but much
 more1 what we call  toughness of heart1
 which will mean persistance hopeful and
 even  desperate1 unsubduable patience1 
composed candid openness1  clearness of 
mind3  all this shall be 'strength' in  
wrestling  your dragon2  the whole man's
 real strength is in this work1 we      
shall get the measure of him here4      
,of all the ,nations in the world at    
present we ,english are the  stupidest  
in speech1 the wisest in action4  ,as   
good as a 'dumb'  ,nation1 ,i say1 who  
cannot speak1 and have never yet        
spoken1--  spite of the ,shakspeares and
 ,miltons who skew us what              
possibilities there are6--,o ,mr4 ,bull1
 ,i look in that surly face  of thine   
with a mixture of pity and laughter1 yet
 also with  wonder and veneration4      
,thou complainest not1 my illustrious   

friend2  and yet ,i believe the heart of
 thee is full of sorrow1  of unspoken   
sadness1 seriousness1--profound         
melancholy 7as some  have said7 the     
basis of thy being4  ,unconsciously1 for
 thou  speakest of nothing1 this great  
,universe is great to thee4  ,not  by   
levity of floating1 but by stubborn     
force of swimming1 shalt  thou make thy 
way4  ,the ,fates sing of thee that thou
 shalt many  times be thought an ass and
 a dull ox1 and shalt with a god-like   
indifference believe it4  ,my           
friend1--and it is all untrue1  nothing 
ever falser in point of fact6  ,thou art
 of those great  ones whose greatness   
the small passer-by does not discern4   
,thy  very stupidity is wiser than their
 wisdom4  ,a grand vis  inertiae is in  
thee2  how many grand qualities unknown 
to small  men6  ,nature alone knows     
thee1 acknowledges the bulk and strength
  of thee3  thy ,epic1 unsung in words1 
is written in huge  characters on the   
face of this ,planet1--sea-moles1       

cotton-trades1  railways1 fleets and    
cities1 ,indian ,empires1 ,americas1    
,new-  ,hollands2  legible throughout   
the ,solar ,system6    ,but the dumb    
,russians too1 as ,i said1 they1        
drilling all wild  ,asia and wild       
,europe into military rank and file1 a  
terrible yet  hitherto a prospering     
enterprise1 are still dumber4  ,the old 
,romans also could not speak1 for many  
centuries3--not till the  world was     
theirs2  and so many speaking           
,greekdoms1 their logic-  arrows all    
spent1 had been absorbed and abolished4 
,the logic-  arrows1 how they glanced   
futile from obdurate thick-skinned      
,facts2  ,facts to be wrestled down only
 by the real vigour of  ,roman          
thews6--,as for me1 ,i honour1 in these 
loud-babbling days1  all the ,silent    
rather4  ,a grand ,silence that of      
,romans2--nay the  grandest of all1 is  
it not that of the gods6  ,even         
,triviality1  ,imbecility1 that can sit 
silent1 how respectable is it in        

comparison6  ,the 'talent of silence' is
 our fundamental one4  ,great honour to 
him whose ,epic is a melodious hexameter
 ,iliad2  not a jingling ,sham-,iliad1  
nothing true in it but the hexameters   
and forms merely4  ,but still greater   
honour1 if his ,epic be a  mighty       
,empire slowly built together1 a mighty 
,series of ,heroic  ,deeds1--a mighty   
,conquest over ,chaos2  which ,epic the 
',eternal  ,melodies' have1 and must    
have1 informed and dwelt in1 as it sung 
itself6  ,there is no mistaking that    
latter ,epic4  ,deeds are  greater than 
,words4  ,deeds have such a life1 mute  
but undeniable1  and grow as living     
trees and fruit-trees do2  they people  
the  vacuity of ,time1 and make it green
 and worthy4  ,why should the  oak prove
 logically that it ought to grow1 and   
will grow8  ,plant  it1 try it2  what   
gifts of diligent judicious assimilation
 and  secretion it has1 of progress and 
resistance1 of force to grow1  will then
 declare themselves4  ,my much-honoured1

 illustrious1  extremely inarticulate   
,mr4 ,bull6--    ,ask ,bull his spoken  
opinion of any matter1--oftentimes the  
force  of dulness can no farther go4    
,you stand silent1 incredulous1 as  over
 a platitude that borders on the        
,infinite4  ,the man's  ,churchisms1    
,dissenterisms1 ,puseyisms1             
,benthamisms1 ,college  ,philosophies1  
,fashionable ,literatures1 are          
unexampled in this  world4  ,fate's     
prophecy is fulfilled2  you call the man
 an ox and  an ass4  ,but set him once  
to work1--respectable man6  ,his spoken 
sense is next to nothing1 nine-tenths of
 it palpable nonsense3  but his unspoken
 sense1 his inner silent feeling of what
 is true1  what does agree with fact1   
what is doable and what is not          
doable1--this seeks its fellow in the   
world4  ,a terrible worker2             
irresistible against marshes1 mountains1
 impediments1 disorder1  in             
civilisation2  everywhere vanquishing   
disorder1 leaving it  behind him as     

method and order4  ,he 'retires to his  
bed three  days1' and considers6    ,nay
 withal1 stupid as he is1 our dear      
,john1--ever1 after infinite  tumblings1
 and spoken platitudes innumerable from 
barrelheads and  parliament-benches1 he 
does settle down somewhere about the    
just  conclusion2  you are certain that 
his jumblings and tumblings  will end1  
after years or centuries1 in the stable 
equilibrium4  ,stable equilibrium1 ,i   
say2  centre-of-gravity lowest2--not the
  unstable1 with centre-of-gravity      
highest1 as ,i have known it done  by   
quicker people6  ,for indeed1 do but    
jumble and tumble  sufficiently1 you    
avoid that worst fault1 of settling with
 your  centre-of-gravity highest2  your 
centre-of-gravity is certain to  come   
lowest1 and to stay there4  ,if         
slowness1 what we in our  impatience    
call 'stupidity1' be the price of stable
 equilibrium  over unstable1 shall we   
grudge a little slowness8  ,not the     
least  admirable quality of ,bull is1   

after all1 that of remaining  insensible
 to logic2  holding out for considerable
 periods1 ten  years or more1 as in this
 of the ,corn-,laws1 after all arguments
  and shadow of arguments have faded    
away from him1 till the very  urchins on
 the street titter at the arguments he  
brings4  ,logic1  --,greek the ',art of 
,speech1'--does indeed speak so and so2 
clear enough3  nevertheless ,bull still 
shakes his head2  will see  whether     
nothing else illogical1 not yet         
'spoken1' not yet able  to be 'spoken1' 
do not lie in the business1 as there so 
often  does6--,my firm belief is1 that1 
finding himself now enchanted1          
hand-shackled1 foot-shackled1 in        
,poor-,law ,bastilles and  elsewhere1 he
 will retire three days to his bed1 and 
arrive at  a conclusion or two6  ,his   
three-years total stagnation of trade1  
alas1 is not that a painful enough      
'lying in bed to consider  himself8'    
,poor ,bull6    ,bull is a born         
,conservative2  for this too ,i         

inexpressibly honour  him4  ,all great  
,peoples are conservative2  slow to     
believe in  novelties2  patient of much 
error in actualities2  deeply and       
forever certain of the greatness that is
 in ,,law1 in ,custom once  solemnly    
established1 and now long recognised as 
just and final4  --,true1 ,o ,radical   
,reformer1 there is no ,custom that can1
 properly  speaking1 be final2  none4   
,and yet thou seest ,customs which1  in 
all civilised countries1 are accounted  
final2  nay1 under the  ,old ,roman name
 of ,mores1 are accounted ,morality1    
,virtue1 ,laws  of ,god ,himself4       
,such1 ,i assure thee1 not a few of them
 are2  such almost all of them once     
were4  ,and greatly do ,i respect the   
solid character1--a blockhead1 thou wilt
 say2  yes1 but a well-  conditioned    
blockhead1 and the                      
best-conditioned1--who esteems all      
',customs once solemnly acknowledged' to
 be ultimate1 divine1 and  the rule for 
a man to walk by1 nothing doubting1 not 

inquiring  farther4  ,what a time of it 
had we1 were all men's life and trade   
still1 in all parts of it1 a problem1 a 
hypothetic seeking1 to be  settled by   
painful ,logics and ,baconian           
,inductions6  ,the ,clerk in  ,eastcheap
 cannot spend the day in verifying his  
,ready-,reckoner2  he must take it as   
verified1 true and indisputable2  or his
 ,book-  keeping by ,double ,entry will 
stand still4  ,where is your ,posted    
,ledger8 asks the ,master at            
night4--,sir1 answers the other1 ,i  was
 verifying my ,ready-,reckoner1 and find
 some errors4  ,the  ,ledger            
is--6--,fancy such a thing6    ,true1   
all turns on your ,ready-,reckoner being
 moderately correct1  --being not       
insupportably incorrect6  ,a            
,ready-,reckoner which has  led to      
distinct entries in your ,ledger such as
 these3  ',creditor an ,english ,people 
by fifteen hundred years of good        
,labour2  and ,debtor to lodging in     
enchanted ,poor-,law ,bastilles3        

,creditor by conquering the largest     
,empire the ,sun ever saw2  and ,debtor 
to ,donothingism and ,impossible written
 on all  departments of the government  
thereof3  ,creditor by mountains  of    
gold ingots earned2  and ,debtor to ,no 
,bread purchasable by  them3'--such     
,ready-,reckoner1 methinks1 is beginning
 to be  suspect2  nay is ceasing1 and   
has ceased1 to be suspect6  ,such       
,ready-,reckoner is a ,solecism in      
,eastcheap2  and must1 whatever be  the 
press of business1 and will and shall be
 rectified a little4  ,business can go  
on no longer with it4  ,the most        
,conservative  ,english ,people1        
thickest-skinned1 most patient of       
,peoples1 is  driven alike by its ,logic
 and its ,unlogic1 by things 'spoken1'  
and by things not yet spoken or very    
speakable1 but only felt and  very      
unendurable1 to be wholly a ,reforming  
,people4  ,their ,life as  it is has    
ceased to be longer possible for them4  
,urge not this noble silent ,people2    

rouse not the ,berserkir-rage  that lies
 in them6  ,do you know their           
,cromwells1 ,hampdens1 their  ,pyms and 
,bradshaws8  ,men very peaceable1 but   
men that can be made  very terrible6    
,men who1 like their old ,teutsch       
,fathers in  ,agrippa's days1 'have a   
soul that despises death2'  to whom     
'death1' compared with falsehoods and   
injustices1 is light2--'in  whom there  
is a range unconquerable by the immortal
 gods6'  ,before this1 the ,english     
,people have taken very preternatural-  
looking ,spectres by the beard2  saying 
virtually3  ,and if thou  wert          
'preternatural8'  ,thou with thy        
'divine-rights' grown  diabolic wrongs8 
,thou1--not even 'natural2'             
decapitable2  totally                   
extinguishable6--,yes1 just so godlike  
as this ,people's  patience was1 even so
 godlike will and must its impatience   
be4  ,away1 ye scandalous ,practical    
,solecisms1 children actually of the    
,prince of ,darkness2  ye have near     

broken our hearts2  we can and  will    
endure you no longer4  ,begone1 we say2 
depart1 while the  play is good6  ,by   
the ,most ,high ,god1 whose sons and    
born  missionaries true men are1 ye     
shall not continue here6  ,you and  we  
have become incompatible2  can inhabit  
one house no longer4  ,either you must  
go1 or we4  ,are ye ambitious to try    
which it  shall be8    ,o my            
,conservative friends1 who still        
specially name and struggle  to approve 
yourselves ',conservative1' would to    
,heaven ,i could  persuade you of this  
world-old fact1 than which ,fate is not 
surer1 ,that ,truth and justice alone   
are capable of being  'conserved' and   
preserved6  ,the thing which is unjust1 
which is  not according to ,god's ,law1 
will you1 in a ,god's ,universe1 try to 
conserve that8  ,it is so old1 say you8 
,yes1 and the hotter haste  ought you1  
of all others1 to be in to let it grow  
no older6  ,if  but the faintest whisper
 in your hearts intimate to you that it 

is not fair1--hasten1 for the sake of   
,conservatism itself1 to  probe it      
rigorously1 to cast it forth at once and
 forever if  guilty4  ,how will or can  
you preserve it1 the thing that is not  
fair8  ',impossibility' a thousandfold  
is marked on that4  ,and ye  call       
yourselves ,conservatives1              
,aristocracies3--ought not honour  and  
nobleness of mind1 if they had departed 
from all the ,earth  elsewhere1 to find 
their last refuge with you8  ,ye        
unfortunate6    ,the bough that is dead 
shall be cut away1 for the sake of the  
tree itself4  ,old8  ,yes1 it is too    
old4  ,many a weary winter has  it swung
 and creaked there1 and gnawed and      
fretted1 with its dead  wood1 the       
organic substance and still living fibre
 of this good  tree2  many a long summer
 has its ugly naked brown defaced the   
fair green umbrage2  every day it has   
done mischief1 and that  only3  off with
 it1 for the tree's sake1 if for nothing
 more2  let the ,conservatism that would

 preserve cut it away4  ,did no         
wood-forester apprise you that a dead   
bough with its dead root  left sticking 
there is extraneous1 poisonous2  is as a
 dead iron  spike1 some horrid rusty    
ploughshare driven into the living      
substance2--nay is far worse2  for in   
every windstorm  7'commercial crisis' or
 the like71 it frets and creaks1 jolts  
itself to and fro1 and cannot lie quiet 
as your dead iron  spike would6    ,if  
,i were the ,conservative ,party of     
,england 7which is another  bold figure 
of speech71 ,i would not for a hundred  
thousand pounds  an hour allow those    
,corn-,laws to continue6  ,potosi and   
,golconda  put together would not       
purchase my assent to them4  ,do you    
count  what treasuries of bitter        
indignation they are laying up for you  
in every just ,english heart8  ,do you  
know what questions1 not as  to         
,corn-prices and ,sliding-scales alone1 
they are forcing every  reflective      
,englishman to ask himself8  ,questions 

insoluble1 or  hitherto unsolved2       
deeper than any of our ,logic-plummets  
hitherto will sound3  questions deep    
enough1--which it were  better that we  
did not name even in thought6  ,you are 
forcing us  to think of them1 to begin  
uttering them4  ,the utterance of them  
is begun2  and where will it be ended1  
think you8  ,when two  millions of one's
 brother-men sit in ,workhouses1 and    
five  millions1 as is insolently said1  
'rejoice in potatoes1' there are        
various things that must be begun1 let  
them end where they can4                
,chapter ,,vi    ,two ,centuries    ,the
 ,settlement effected by our ',healing  
,parliament' in the ,year  of ,grace    
#affj1 though accomplished under        
universal acclamations  from the four   
corners of the ,british ,dominions1     
turns out to have  been one of the      
mournfulest that ever took place in this
 land of  ours4  ,it called and thought 
itself a ,settlement of brightest  hope 
and fulfilment1 bright as the blaze of  

universal tar-barrels  and bonfires     
could make it3  and we find it now1 on  
looking back  on it with the insight    
which trial has yielded1 a ,settlement  
as  of despair4  ,considered well1 it   
was a settlement to govern  henceforth  
without ,god1 with only some decent     
,pretence of ,god4    ,governing by the 
,christian ,law of ,god had been found a
 thing of  battle1 convulsion1          
confusion1 an infinitely difficult      
thing3  wherefore let us now abandon it1
 and govern only by so much of  ,god's  
,christian ,law as--as may prove quiet  
and convenient for us4  ,what is the end
 of ,government8  ,to guide men in the  
way wherein  they should go2  towards   
their true good in this life1 the portal
  of infinite good in a life to come8   
,to guide men in such way1  and         
ourselves in such way1 as the ,maker of 
men1 whose eye is upon  us1 will        
sanction at the ,great ,day8--,or alas1 
perhaps at bottom  is there no ,great   
,day1 no sure outlook of any life to    

come2  but only this poor life1 and what
 of taxes1 felicities1 ,nell-  ,gwyns   
and entertainments1 we can manage to    
muster here8  ,in that  case1 the end of
 ,government will be1 ,to suppress all  
noise and  disturbance1 whether of      
,puritan preaching1 ,cameronian psalm-  
singing1 thieves'-riot1 murder1 arson1  
or what noise soever1 and  --be careful 
that supplies do not fail6  ,a very     
notable  conclusion1 if we will think of
 it2  and not without an abundance  of  
fruits for us4  ,oliver ,cromwell's body
 hung on the ,tyburn-  gallows1 as the  
type of ,puritanism found futile1       
inexecutable1  execrable1--yes1 that    
gallows-tree has been a fingerpost into 
very strange country indeed4  ,let      
earnest ,puritanism die2  let  decent   
,formalism1 whatsoever cant it be or    
grow to1 live6  ,we  have had a pleasant
 journey in that direction2  and        
are--arriving  at our inn8    ,to       
support the ,four ,pleas of the ,crowns 
and keep ,taxes coming in3  in very sad 

seriousness1 has not this been1 ever    
since1 even in  the best times1 almost  
the one admitted end and aim of         
,government8  ,religion1 ,christian     
,church1 ,moral ,duty2  the fact  that  
man had a soul at all2  that in man's   
life there was any  eternal truth or    
justice at all1--has been as good as    
left  quietly out of sight4  ,church    
indeed1--alas1 the endless talk and     
struggle we have had of ,high-,church1  
,low-,church1 ,church-  ,extension1     
,church-in-,danger3  we invite the      
,christian reader to  think whether it  
has not been a too miserable screech-owl
  phantasm of talk and struggle1 as for 
a ',church1'--which one had  rather not 
define at present6    ,but now in these 
godless two centuries1 looking at       
,england and  her efforts and doings1 if
 we ask1 ,what of ,england's doings the 
,law of ,nature had accepted1 ,nature's 
,king had actually furthered  and       
pronounced to have truth in them1--where
 is our answer8  ,neither the ',church' 

of ,hurd and ,warburton1 nor the        
,anti-church  of ,hume and ,paine2  not 
in any shape the ,spiritualism of       
,england3  all this is already seen1 or 
beginning to be seen1 for what it  is2  
a thing that ,nature does not own4  ,on 
the one side is  dreary ,cant1 with a   
reminiscence of things noble and divine2
  on the other is but acrid ,candour1   
with a prophecy of things  brutal1      
infernal4  ,hurd and ,warburton are sunk
 into the sere and  yellow leaf2  no    
considerable body of true-seeing men    
looks  thitherward for healing3  the    
,paine-and-,hume ,atheistic theory1 of  
'things well let alone1' with ,liberty1 
,equality and the like1 is  also in     
these days declaring itself naught1     
unable to keep the  world from taking   
fire4    ,the theories and speculations 
of both these parties1 and1 we may  say1
 of all intermediate parties and        
persons1 prove to be things  which the  
,eternal ,veracity did not accept2      
things superficial1  ephemeral1 which   

already a near ,posterity1 finding them 
already  dead and brown-leafed1 is about
 to suppress and forget4  ,the          
,spiritualism of ,england1 for those    
godless years1 is1 as it were1  all     
forgettable4  ,much has been written3   
but the perennial  ,scriptures of       
,mankind have had small accession3  from
 all ,english  ,books1 in rhyme or      
prose1 in leather binding or in paper   
wrappage1 how many verses have been     
added to these8  ,our most  melodious   
,singers have sung as from the throat   
outwards3  from  the inner ,heart of    
,man1 from the great ,heart of ,nature1 
through  no ,pope or ,philips1 has there
 come any tone4  ,the ,oracles have     
been dumb4  ,in brief1 the ,spoken ,word
 of ,england has not been  true4  ,the  
,spoken ,word of ,england turns out to  
have been trivial2  of short endurance2 
not valuable1 not available as a ,word1 
except for the passing day4  ,it has    
been accordant with  transitory         
,semblance2  discordant with eternal    

,fact4  ,it has been  unfortunately not 
a ,word1 but a ,cant2  a helpless       
involuntary  ,cant1 nay too often a     
cunning voluntary one3  either way1 a   
very  mournful ,cant2  the ,voice not of
 ,nature and ,fact1 but of  something   
other than these4    ,with all its      
miserable shortcomings1 with its wars1  
controversies1 with its trades-unions1  
famine-insurrections1--it  is her       
,practical ,material ,work alone that   
,england has to shew for  herself6      
,this1 and hitherto almost nothing more2
  yet actually  this4  ,the grim        
inarticulate veracity of the ,english   
,people1  unable to speak its meaning in
 words1 has turned itself silently  on  
things2  and the dark powers of         
,material ,nature have answered3  ,yes1 
this at least is true1 this is not      
false6  ,so answers  ,nature4  ,waste   
desert-shrubs of the ,tropical swamps   
have become  ,cotton-trees2  and here1  
under my furtherance1 are verily woven  
shirts1--hanging unsold1 undistributed1 

but capable to be  distributed1 capable 
to cover the bare backs of my children  
of  men4  ,mountains1 old as the        
,creation1 ,i have permitted to be      
bored through3  bituminous fuel-stores1 
the wreck of forests that  were green a 
million years ago1--,i have opened them 
from my  secret rock-chambers1 and they 
are yours1 ye ,english4  ,your huge     
fleets1 steamships1 do sail the sea3    
huge ,indias do obey you2  from huge    
,new ,englands and ,antipodal           
,australias1 comes profit  and traffic  
to this ,old ,england of mine6  ,so     
answers ,nature4  ,the  ,practical      
,labour of ,england is not a chimerical 
,triviality3  it  is a ,fact1           
acknowledged by all the ,worlds2  which 
no man and no  demon will contradict4   
,it is1 very audibly1 though very       
inarticulately as yet1 the one ,god's   
,voice we have heard in these  two      
atheistic centuries4      ,and now to   
observe with what bewildering           
obscurations and  impediments all this  

as yet stands entangled1 and is yet     
intelligible to no man6  ,how1 with our 
gross ,atheism1 we hear it  not to be   
the ,voice of ,god to us1 but regard it 
merely as a ,voice  of earthly          
,profit-and-,loss4  ,and have a ,hell in
 ,england1--the  ,hell of not making    
money4  ,and coldly see the             
all-conquering  valiant ,sons of ,toil  
sit enchanted1 by the million1 in their 
,poor-,law ,bastille1 as if this were   
,nature's ,law2--mumbling to  ourselves 
some vague janglement of ,laissez-faire1
 ,supply-and-  demand1 ,cash-payment the
 one nexus of man to man3  ,free-trade1 
,competition1 and ,devil take the       
hindmost1 our latest ,gospel  yet       
preached6    ,as if1 in truth1 there    
were no ,god of ,labour2  as if godlike 
,labour and brutal ,mammonism were      
convertible terms4  ,a serious1  most   
earnest ,mammonism grown ,midas-eared2  
an unserious  ,dilettantism1 earnest    
about nothing1 grinning with            
inarticulate  incredulous incredible    

jargon about all things1 as the         
enchanted ,dilettanti do by the ,dead   
,sea6  ,it is mournful  enough1 for the 
present hour2  were there not an endless
 hope in  it withal4  ,giant ,,labour1  
truest emblem there is of ,god the      
,world-,worker1 ,demiurgus1 and ,eternal
 ,maker2  noble ,,labour1 which  is yet 
to be the ,king of this ,earth1 and sit 
on the highest  throne1--staggering     
hitherto like a blind irrational giant1 
hardly allowed to have his common place 
on the street-pavements2  idle          
,dilettantism1 ,dead-,sea ,apism1 crying
 out1 ,down with him1 he  is dangerous6 
,labour must become a seeing rational   
giant1 with a soul in the  body of him1 
and take his place on the throne of     
things1--leaving  his ,mammonism1 and   
several other adjuncts1 on the lower    
steps of  said throne4          ,chapter
 ,,vii    ,over-,production      ,but   
what will reflective readers say of a   
,governing ,class1 such  as ours1       
addressing its ,workers with an         

indictment of  ',overproduction6'       
,over-production3  runs it not so8  ,ye 
miscellaneous1 ignoble manufacturing    
individuals1 ye have  produced too much6
  ,we accuse you of making above        
two-hundred  thousand shirts for the    
bare backs of mankind4  ,your trousers  
too1 which you have made1 of fustian1 of
 cassimere1 of ,scotch-  plaid1 of jane1
 nankeen and woollen broadcloth1 are    
they not  manifold8  ,of hats for the   
human head1 of shoes for the human      
foot1 of stools to sit on1 spoons to eat
 with--,nay1 what say we  hats or shoes8
  ,you produce gold-watches1            
jewelleries1 silver-  forks and         
epergnes1 commodes1 chiffoniers1 stuffed
 sofas--  ,heavens1 the ,commercial     
,bazaar and multitudinous ,howel-and-   
,jameses cannot contain you4  ,you have 
produced1 produced2--he  that seeks your
 indictment1 let him look around4       
,millions of  shirts1 and empty pairs of
 breeches1 hang there in judgment       
against you4  ,we accuse you of         

over-producing3  you are  criminally    
guilty of producing shirts1 breeches1   
hats1 shoes and  commodities1 in a      
frightful overabundance4  ,and now there
 is a  glut1 and your operatives cannot 
be fed6    ,never surely1 against an    
earnest ,working ,mammonism was there   
brought1 by ,game-preserving            
aristocratic ,dilettantism1 a stranger  
accusation1 since this world began4  ,my
 lords and gentlemen1--  why1 it was you
 that were appointed1 by the fact and by
 the  theory of your position on the    
,earth1 to 'make and administer         
,laws1'--that is to say1 in a world such
 as ours1 to guard against  'gluts2'    
against honest operatives1 who had done 
their work1  remaining unfed6  ,i say1  
you were appointed to preside over the  
,distribution and ,apportionment of the 
,wages of ,work done2  and to  see well 
that there went no labourer without his 
hire1 were it of  money-coins1 were it  
of hemp gallows-ropes3  that function   
was  yours1 and from immemorial time has

 been2  yours1 and as yet no  other's4  
,these poor shirt-spinners have         
forgotten much1 which by  the virtual   
unwritten law of their position they    
should have  remembered3  but by any    
written recognised law of their         
position1  what have they forgotten8    
,they were set to make shirts4  ,the    
,community with all its voices commanded
 them1 saying1 ,make  shirts2--and there
 the shirts are6  ,too many shirts8     
,well1 that  is a novelty1 in this      
intemperate ,earth1 with its            
nine-hundred  millions of bare backs6   
,but the ,community commanded you1      
saying1  ,see that the shirts are well  
apportioned1 that our ,human ,laws be   
emblem of ,god's ,laws2--and where is   
the apportionment8  ,two  million       
shirtless or ill-shirted workers sit    
enchanted in  ,workhouse ,bastilles1    
five million more 7according to some7 in
  ,ugolino ,hunger-cellars2  and for    
remedy1 you say1 what say you8--  ,raise
 our rents6  ,i have not in my time     

heard any stranger  speech1 not even on 
the ,shores of the ,dead ,sea4  ,you    
continue  addressing those poor         
shirt-spinners and over-producers1 in   
really a too triumphant manner3    ,will
 you bandy accusations1 will you accuse 
us of  overproduction8  ,we take the    
,heavens and the ,earth to witness  that
 we have produced nothing at all4  ,not 
from us proceeds this  frightful        
overplus of shirts4  ,in the wide       
domains of created  ,nature1 circulates 
no shirt or thing of our producing4     
,certain  fox-brushes nailed upon our   
stable-door1 the fruit of fair  audacity
 at ,melton ,mowbray2  these we have    
produced1 and they are  openly nailed up
 there4  ,he that accuses us of         
producing1 let him  shew himself1 let   
him name what and when4  ,we are        
innocent of  producing2--ye ungrateful1 
what mountains of things have we not1   
on the contrary1 had to 'consume1' and  
make away with6  ,mountains  of those   
your heaped manufactures1 wheresoever   

edible or  wearable1 have they not      
disappeared before us1 as if we had the 
talent of ostriches1 of cormorants1 and 
a kind of divine faculty  to eat8  ,ye  
ungrateful6--and did you not grow under 
the shadow of  our wings8  ,are not your
 filthy mills built on these fields of  
ours2  on this soil of ,england1 which  
belongs to--whom think you8  ,and we    
shall not offer you our own wheat at the
 price that  pleases us1 but that partly
 pleases you8  ,a precious notion6      
,what would become of you1 if we chose1 
at any time1 to decide on  growing no   
wheat more8    ,yes1 truly1 here is the 
ultimate rock-basis of all ,corn-,laws2 
whereon1 at the bottom of much arguing1 
they rest1 as securely as  they can3    
,what would become of you1 if we        
decided1 some day1 on  growing no more  
wheat at all8 ,if we chose to grow only 
partridges  henceforth1 and a modicum of
 wheat for our own uses8  ,cannot we  do
 what we like with our own8--,yes1      
indeed6  ,for my share1 if ,i  could    

melt ,gneiss ,rock1 and create ,law of  
,gravitation2  if ,i  could stride out  
to the ,doggerbank1 some morning1 and   
striking  down my trident there into the
 mudwaves1 say1 ,be land1 be  fields1   
meadows1 mountains and fresh-rolling    
streams6 by ,heaven1  ,i should incline 
to have the letting of that land in     
perpetuity1 and sell the wheat of it1 or
 burn the wheat of it1  according to my 
own good judgment6  ,my ,corn-,lawing   
friends1 you  affright me4      ,to the 
',millo-cracy' so-called1 to the        
,working ,aristocracy1  steeped too deep
 in mere ignoble ,mammonism1 and as yet 
all  unconscious of its noble destinies1
 as yet but an irrational or            
semirational giant1 struggling to awake 
some soul in itself1--the  world will   
have much to say1 reproachfully1        
reprovingly1  admonishingly4  ,but to   
the ,idle ,aristocracy1 what will the   
world  have to say8  ,things painful and
 not pleasant6    ,to the man who works1
 who attempts1 in never so ungracious   

barbarous a way1 to get forward with    
some work1 you will hasten  out with    
furtherances1 with encouragements1      
corrections2  you  will say to him3     
,welcome1 thou art ours2  our care shall
 be of  thee4  ,to the idler1 again1    
never so gracefully going idle1  coming 
forward with never so many parchments1  
you will not hasten  out2  you will sit 
still1 and be disinclined to rise4  ,you
 will  say to him3  ,not welcome1 ,o    
complex ,anomaly2  would thou hadst     
staid out of doors3  for who of mortals 
knows what to do with  thee8  ,thy      
parchments3  yes1 they are old1 of      
venerable  yellowness2  and we too      
honour parchment1 old-established       
settlements1 and venerable use and wont4
  ,old parchments in very  truth3--yet  
on the whole1 if thou wilt remark1 they 
are young to  the ,granite ,rocks1 to   
the ,groundplan of ,god's ,universe6    
,we  advise thee to put up thy          
parchments2  to go home to thy place1   
and make no needless noise whatever4    

,our heart's wish is to save  thee3  yet
 there as thou art1 hapless ,anomaly1   
with nothing but  thy yellow parchments1
 noisy futilities1 and shotbelts and    
fox-  brushes1 who of gods or men can   
avert dark ,fate8  ,be counselled1      
ascertain if no work exist for thee on  
,god's ,earth2  if thou find  no        
commanded-duty there but that of going  
gracefully idle8  ,ask1  inquire        
earnestly1 with a half-frantic          
earnestness2  for the  answer means     
,existence or ,annihilation to thee4    
,we apprise thee  of the world-old fact1
 becoming sternly disclosed again in    
these  days1 ,that he who cannot work in
 this ,universe cannot get existed  in  
it3  had he parchments to thatch the    
face of the world1 these1  combustible  
fallible sheepskin1 cannot avail him4   
,home1 thou  unfortunate2  and let us   
have at least no noise from thee6       
,suppose the unfortunate ,idle          
,aristocracy1 as the unfortunate        
,working one has done1 were to 'retire  

three days to its bed1'  and consider   
itself there1 what o'clock it had       
become8--    ,how have we to regret not 
only that men have 'no religion1' but   
that they have next to no reflection2   
and go about with heads  full of mere   
extraneous noises1 with eyes wide-open  
but  visionless1--for most part1 in the 
somnambulist state6        ,chapter     
,,viii    ,unworking ,aristocracy       
,it is well said1 ',land is the right   
basis of an ,aristocracy2'  whoever     
possesses the ,land1 he1 more           
emphatically than any other1  is the    
,governor1 ,viceking of the people on   
the ,land4  ,it is in  these days as it 
was in those of ,henry ,plantagenet and 
,abbot  ,samson2  as it will in all days
 be4  ,the ,land is ,mother of us  all2 
nourishes1 shelters1 gladdens1 lovingly 
enriches us all2  in how many ways1 from
 our first wakening to our last sleep on
  her blessed mother-bosom1 does she1 as
 with blessed mother-arms1  enfold us   
all6    ,the ,hill ,i first saw the ,sun

 rise over1 when the ,sun and ,i and    
all things were yet in their auroral    
hour1 who can divorce me  from it8      
,mystic1 deep as the world's centre1 are
 the roots ,i  have struck into my      
,native ,soil2  no tree that grows is   
rooted  so4  ,from noblest ,patriotism  
to humblest industrial ,mechanism2  from
 highest dying for your country1 to     
lowest quarrying and  coal-boring for   
it1 a ,nation's ,life depends upon its  
,land4  ,again  and again we have to    
say1 there can be no true ,aristocracy  
but  must possess the ,land4    ,men    
talk of 'selling' ,land4  ,land1 it is  
true1 like ,epic ,poems  and even higher
 things1 in such a trading world1 has to
 be  presented in the market for what it
 will bring1 and as we say be  'sold3'  
but the notion of 'selling1' for certain
 bits of metal1  the ,iliad of ,homer1  
how much more the ,land of the ,world-  
,creator1 is a ridiculous impossibility6
  ,we buy what is saleable  of it2      
nothing more was ever buyable4  ,who    

can1 or could1 sell  it to us8          
,properly speaking1 the ,land belongs to
 these two3  ,to  the ,almighty ,god2   
and to all ,his ,children of ,men that  
have ever  worked well on it1 or that   
shall ever work well on it4  ,no        
generation of men can or could1 with    
never such solemnity and  effort1 sell  
,land on any other principle3  it is not
 the property  of any generation1 we    
say1 but that of all the past           
generations  that have worked on it1 and
 of all the future ones that shall  work
 on it4  ,again1 we hear it said1 ,the  
soil of ,england1 or of  any country1 is
 properly worth nothing1 except the     
labour  bestowed on it3  ,this1 speaking
 even in the language of  ,eastcheap1 is
 not correct4  ,the rudest space of     
country equal in  extent to ,england1   
could a whole ,english ,nation1 with all
 their  habitudes1 arrangements1 skills1
 with whatsoever they do carry  within  
the skins of them1 and cannot be stript 
of1 suddenly take  wing1 and alight on  

it1--would be worth a very considerable 
thing6  ,swiftly1 within year and day1  
this ,english ,nation1 with  its        
multiplex talents of ploughing1         
spinning1 hammering1 mining1            
road-making and trafficking1 would bring
 a handsome value out of  such a space  
of country4  ,on the other hand1 fancy  
what an  ,english ,nation1 once 'on the 
wing1' could have done with itself1  had
 there been simply no soil1 not even an 
inarable one1 to  alight on8  ,vain all 
its talents for ploughing1 hammering1   
and  whatever else2  there is no        
,earth-room for this ,nation with its   
talents3  this ,nation will have to keep
 hovering on the wing1  dolefully       
shrieking to and fro2  and perish       
piecemeal2  burying  itself1 down to the
 last soul of it1 in the waste          
unfirmamented  seas4  ,ah yes1 soil1    
with or without ploughing1 is the gift  
of  ,god4  ,the soil of all countries   
belongs evermore1 in a very             
considerable degree1 to the ,almighty   

,maker6  ,the last stroke of  labour    
bestowed on it is not the making of its 
value1 but only  the increasing thereof4
    ,it is very strange1 the degree to  
which these truisms are  forgotten in   
our days2  how1 in the ever-whirling    
chaos of  ,formulas1 we have quietly    
lost sight of ,fact1--which it is so    
perilous not to keep forever in sight6  
,fact1 if we do not see  it1 will make  
us feel it by and by6--,from much loud  
controversy  and ,corn-,law debating    
there rises1 loud though inarticulate1  
once  more in these years1 this very    
question among others1 ,who made  the   
,land of ,england8  ,who made it1 this  
respectable ,english ,land1             
wheat-growing1 metalliferous1           
carboniferous1 which will let  readily  
hand over head for seventy millions or  
upwards1 as it  here lies3  who did make
 it8--,we6 answer the much-consuming    
,aristocracy2  ,we6 as they ride in1    
moist with the sweat of  ,melton        
,mowbray3  ,it is we that made it2 or   

are the heirs1  assigns and             
representatives of those who did6--,my  
brothers1 ,you8  ,everlasting honour to 
you1 then2  and ,corn-,laws as many as  
you  will1 till your own deep stomachs  
cry ,enough1 or some voice of  human    
pity for our famine bids you ,hold6  ,ye
 are as gods1 that  can create soil4    
,soil-creating gods there is no         
withstanding4  ,they have the might to  
sell wheat at what price they list2  and
  the right1 to all lengths1 and        
famine-lengths1--if they be  pitiless   
infernal gods6  ,celestial gods1 ,i     
think1 would stop  short of the         
famine-price2  but no infernal nor any  
kind of god  can be bidden              
stop6--,infatuated mortals1 into what   
questions are  you driving every        
thinking man in ,england8    ,i say1 you
 did not make the ,land of ,england2    
and1 by the  possession of it1 you are  
bound to furnish guidance and           
governance to ,england6  ,that is the   
law of your position on this            

,god's-,earth2  an everlasting act of   
,heaven's ,parliament1 not  repealable  
in ,st4 ,stephen's or elsewhere6  ,true 
government and  guidance2  not          
no-government and ,laissez-faire2  how  
much less1  misgovernment and           
,corn-,law6  ,there is not an imprisoned
 ,worker  looking out from these        
,bastilles but appeals1 very audibly in 
,heaven's ,high ,courts1 against you1   
and me1 and every one who is  not       
imprisoned1 ,why am ,i here8  ,his      
appeal is audible in  ,heaven2  and will
 become audible enough on ,earth too1 if
 it  remain unheeded here4  ,his appeal 
is against you1 foremost of  all2  you  
stand in the front-rank of the accused2 
you1 by the  very place you hold1 have  
first of all to answer him and ,heaven6 
,what looks maddest1 miserablest in     
these mad and miserable ,corn-  ,laws is
 independent altogether of their 'effect
 on wages1' their  effect on 'increase  
of trade1' or any other such effect3  it
 is  the continual maddening proof they 

protrude into the faces of all  men1    
that our ,governing ,class1 called by   
,god and ,nature and the  inflexible law
 of ,fact1 either to do something       
towards governing1  or to die and be    
abolished1--have not yet learned even to
 sit  still1 and do no mischief6  ,for  
no ,anti-,corn-,law ,league yet asks    
more of them than this2--,nature and    
,fact1 very imperatively1  asking so    
much more of them4  ,anti-,corn-,law    
,league asks not1 ,do  something2  but1 
,cease your destructive misdoing1 ,do ye
 nothing6    ,nature's message will have
 itself obeyed3  messages of mere ,free-
  ,trade1 ,anti-,corn-,law ,league and  
,laissez-faire1 will then need  small   
obeying6--,ye fools1 in name of ,heaven1
 work1 work1 at the  ,ark of            
,deliverance for yourselves and us1     
while hours are still  granted you6     
,no3  instead of working at the ,ark1   
they say1 ,we  cannot get our hands kept
 rightly warm2  and sit obstinately     
burning the planks4  ,no madder         

spectacle at present exhibits  itself   
under this ,sun4      ,the ,working     
,aristocracy2  ,mill-owners1            
,manufacturers1 ,commanders  of ,working
 ,men3  alas1 against them also much    
shall be brought in  accusation2        
much1--and the freest ,trade in ,corn1  
total abolition  of ,tariffs1 and       
uttermost ',increase of ,manufactures'  
and  ',prosperity of ,commerce1' will   
permanently mend no jot of it4  ,the    
,working ,aristocracy must strike into a
 new path2  must  understand that money 
alone is not the representative either  
of  man's success in the world1 or of   
man's duties to man2  and  reform their 
own selves from top to bottom1 if they  
wish ,england  reformed4  ,england will 
not be habitable long1 unreformed4      
,the ,working ,aristocracy--,yes1 but on
 the threshold of all this1  it is again
 and again to be asked1 ,what of the    
,idle ,aristocracy8  ,again and again1  
what shall we say of the ,idle          
,aristocracy1 the  ,owners of the ,soil 

of ,england2  whose recognised function 
is that  of handsomely consuming the    
rents of ,england1 shooting the         
partridges of ,england1 and as an       
agreeable amusement 7if the             
purchase-money and other conveniences   
serve71 dilettante-ing in  ,parliament  
and ,quarter-,sessions for ,england8    
,we will say  mournfully1 in the        
presence of ,heaven and ,earth1--that we
 stand  speechless1 stupent1 and know   
not what to say6  ,that a class of  men 
entitled to live sumptuously on the     
marrow of the earth2  permitted simply1 
nay entreated1 and as yet entreated in  
vain1 to  do nothing at all in return1  
was never heretofore seen on the  face  
of this ,planet4  ,that such a class is 
transitory1  exceptional1 and1 unless   
,nature's ,laws fall dead1 cannot       
continue4  ,that it has continued now a 
moderate while2  has1 for  the last     
fifty years1 been rapidly attaining its 
state of  perfection4  ,that it will    
have to find its duties and do them2  or

 else that it must and will cease to be 
seen on the face of  this ,planet1 which
 is a ,working one1 not an ,idle one4   
,alas1 alas1 the ,working ,aristocracy1 
admonished by ,trades-unions1  ,chartist
 conflagrations1 above all by their own 
shrewd sense kept  in perpetual         
communion with the fact of things1 will 
assuredly  reform themselves1 and a     
working world will still be possible3-- 
but the fate of the ,idle ,aristocracy1 
as one reads its horoscope  hitherto in 
,corn-,laws and such like1 is an abyss  
that fills one  with despair4  ,yes1 my 
rosy fox-hunting brothers1 a terrible   
,hippocratic look reveals itself 7,god  
knows1 not to my joy7  through those    
fresh buxom countenances of yours4      
,through your  ,corn-,law ,majorities1  
,sliding-,scales1 ,protecting-,duties1  
,bribery-  ,elections and triumphant    
,kentish-fires a thinking eye discerns  
ghastly images of ruin1 too ghastly for 
words2  a handwriting as  of ,,mene1    
,,mene8 ,men and brothers1 on your      

,sliding-scale you seem  sliding1 and to
 have slid1--you little know whither6   
,good ,god6  did not a ,french          
,donothing ,aristocracy1 hardly above   
half a  century ago1 declare in like    
manner1 and in its featherhead  believe 
in like manner1 ,we cannot exist1 and   
continue to dress  and parade ourselves1
 on the just rent of the soil of        
,france2  but we must have farther      
payment than rent of the soil1 we must  
be exempted from taxes too1--we must    
have a ,corn-,law to extend  our rent8  
,this was in #aghi3  in four years      
more--,did you look  into the ,tanneries
 of ,meudon1 and the long-naked making  
for  themselves breeches of human skins6
  ,may the merciful ,heavens  avert the 
omen2  may we be wiser1 that so we be   
less wretched4      ,a ,high ,class     
without duties to do is like a tree     
planted on  precipices2  from the roots 
of which all the earth has been         
crumbling4  ,nature owns no man who is  
not a ,martyr withal4  ,is  there a man 

who pretends to live luxuriously housed 
up2  screened  from all work1 from want1
 danger1 hardship1 the victory over     
which is what we name work2--he himself 
to sit serene1 amid down-  bolsters and 
appliances1 and have all his work and   
battling done  by other men8  ,and such 
man calls himself a noble-man8  ,his    
fathers worked for him1 he says2  or    
successfully gambled for  him3  here he 
sits2  professes1 not in sorrow but in  
pride1  that he and his have done no    
work1 time out of mind4  ,it is the  law
 of the land1 and is thought to be the  
law of the ,universe1  that he1 alone of
 recorded men1 shall have no task laid  
on him1  except that of eating his      
cooked victuals1 and not flinging       
himself out of window4  ,once more ,i   
will say1 there was no  stranger        
spectacle ever shewn under this ,sun4   
,a veritable fact  in our ,england of   
the ,nineteenth ,century4  ,his victuals
 he does  eat3  but as for keeping in   
the inside of the window1--have not  his

 friends1 like me1 enough to do8        
,truly1 looking at his ,corn-  ,laws1   
,game-,laws1 ,chandos-,clauses1         
,bribery-,elections and much  else1 you 
do shudder over the tumbling and        
plunging he makes1  held back by the    
lappelles and coatskirts2  only a thin  
fence of  window-glass before him1--and 
in the street mere horrid iron  spikes6 
,my sick brother1 as in                 
hospital-maladies men do1 thou  dreamest
 of ,paradises and ,eldorados1 which are
 far from thee4  ',cannot ,i do what ,i 
like with my own8'  ,gracious ,heaven1  
my  brother1 this that thou seest with  
those sick eyes is no firm  ,eldorado1  
and ,corn-,law ,paradise of ,donothings1
 but a dream of thy  own fevered brain4 
,it is a glass-window1 ,i tell thee1 so 
many  stories from the street2  where   
are iron spikes and the law  of         
gravitation6    ,what is the meaning of 
nobleness1 if this be 'noble8'  ,in a   
valiant suffering for others1 not in a  
slothful making others  suffer for us1  

did nobleness ever lie4  ,the chief of  
men is he  who stands in the van of men2
  fronting the peril which frightens    
back all others2  which1 if it be not   
vanquished1 will devour the  others4    
,every noble crown is1 and on ,earth    
will forever be1 a  crown of thorns4    
,the ,pagan ,hercules1 why was he       
accounted a  hero8  ,because he had     
slain ,nemean ,lions1 cleansed ,augean  
,stables1 undergone ,twelve ,labours    
only not too heavy for a god4  ,in      
modern1 as in ancient and all societies1
 the ,aristocracy1 they  that assume the
 functions of an ,aristocracy1 doing    
them or not1  have taken the post of    
honour2  which is the post of           
difficulty1  the post of danger1--of    
death1 if the difficulty be not         
overcome4  ,il faut payer de sa vie4    
,why was our life given us1 if not  that
 we should manfully give it8  ,descend1 
,o ,donothing ,pomp2  quit thy          
down-cushions2  expose thyself to learn 
what wretches  feel1 and how to cure it6

  ,the ,czar of ,russia became a dusty  
toiling shipwright2  worked with his axe
 in the ,docks of ,saardam2  and his aim
 was small to thine4  ,descend thou3    
undertake this  horrid 'living chaos of 
,ignorance and ,hunger' weltering round 
thy  feet2  say1 ,i will heal it1 or    
behold ,i will die foremost in  it4     
,such is verily the law4  ,everywhere   
and everywhen a man has  to 'pay with   
his life2'  to do his work1 as a soldier
 does1 at  the expense of life4  ,in no 
,piepowder earthly ,court can you sue   
an ,aristocracy to do its work1 at this 
moment3  but in the ,higher  ,court1    
which even it calls ',court of ,honour1'
 and which is the  ,court of ,necessity 
withal1 and the eternal ,court of the   
,universe1  in which all ,fact comes to 
plead1 and every ,human ,soul is an     
apparitor1--the ,aristocracy is         
answerable1 and even now  answering1    
there4      ,parchments8  ,parchments   
are venerable3  but they ought at all   
times to represent1 as near as they by  

possibility can1 the  writing of the    
,adamant ,tablets2  otherwise they are  
not so  venerable6  ,benedict the ,jew  
in vain pleaded parchments2  his        
usuries were too many4  ,the ,king said1
 ,go to1 for all thy  parchments1 thou  
shalt pay just debt2  down with thy     
dust1 or  observe this tooth-forceps6   
,nature1 a far juster ,sovereign1 has   
far terribler forceps4  ,aristocracies1 
actual and imaginary1  reach a time when
 parchment pleading does not avail them4
  ,go  to1 for all thy parchments1 thou 
shalt pay due debt6 shouts the          
,universe to them1 in an emphatic       
manner4  ,they refuse to pay1           
confidently pleading parchment3  their  
best grinder-tooth1 with  horrible      
agony1 goes out of their jaw4  ,wilt    
thou pay now8  ,a  second grinder1 again
 in horrible agony1 goes3  a second1 and
 a  third1 and if need be1 all the teeth
 and grinders1 and the life  itself with
 them2--and then there is free payment1 
and an  anatomist-subject into the      

bargain6    ,reform ,bills1 ,corn-,law  
,abrogation ,bills1 and then ,land-,tax 
,bill1  ,property-,tax ,bill1 and still 
dimmer list of etceteras2  grinder      
after grinder3---my lords and gentlemen1
 it were better for  you to arise1 and  
begin doing your work1 than sit there   
and  plead parchments6      ,we write no
 ,chapter on the ,corn-,laws1 in this   
place2  the ,corn-  ,laws are too mad to
 have a ,chapter4  ,there is a certain  
immorality1 when there is not a         
necessity1 in speaking about  things    
finished2  in chopping into small pieces
 the already  slashed and slain4  ,when 
the brains are out1 why does not a      
,solecism die6  ,it is at its own peril 
if it refuse to die2  it  ought to make 
all conceivable haste to die1 and get   
itself  buried6  ,the trade of          
,anti-,corn-,law ,lecturer in these     
days1 still  an indispensable1 is a     
highly tragic one4    ,the ,corn-,laws  
will go1 and even soon go3  would we    
were all as  sure of the ,millennium as 

they are of going6  ,they go swiftly in 
these present months2  with an increase 
of velocity1 an ever-  deepening1       
ever-widening sweep of momentum1 truly  
notable4  ,it is  at the ,aristocracy's 
own damage and peril1 still more than at
 any  other's whatsoever1 that the      
,aristocracy maintains them2--at a      
damage1 say only1 as above computed1 of 
a 'hundred thousand  pounds an hour6'   
,the ,corn-,laws keep all the air hot3  
fostered  by their fever-warmth1 much   
that is evil1 but much also1 how  much  
that is good and indispensable1 is      
rapidly coming to life  among us6       
,chapter ,,ix    ,working ,aristocracy  
,a poor ,working ,mammonism getting     
itself 'strangled in the  partridge-nets
 of an ,unworking ,dilettantism1' and   
bellowing  dreadfully1 and already black
 in the face1 is surely a disastrous    
spectacle6  ,but of a ,midas-eared      
,mammonism1 which indeed at  bottom all 
pure ,mammonisms are1 what better can   
you expect8  ,no  better2--if not this1 

then something other equally disastrous1
 if  not still more disastrous4         
,mammonisms1 grown asinine1 have to     
become human again1 and rational2  they 
have1 on the whole1 to  cease to be     
,mammonisms1 were it even on compulsion1
 and pressure  of the hemp round their  
neck6--,my friends of the ,working      
,aristocracy1 there are now a great many
 things which you also1 in  your extreme
 need1 will have to consider4      ,the 
,continental people1 it would seem1 are 
'exporting our  machinery1 beginning to 
spin cotton and manufacture for         
themselves1 to cut us out of this market
 and then out of that6'  ,sad news      
indeed2  but irremediable2--by no means 
the saddest  news4  ,the saddest news   
is1 that we should find our ,national   
,existence1 as ,i sometimes hear it     
said1 depend on selling  manufactured   
cotton at a farthing an ell cheaper than
 any other  ,people4  ,a most narrow    
stand for a great ,nation to base itself
  on6  ,a stand which1 with all the     

,corn-,law ,abrogations  conceivable1 ,i
 do not think will be capable of        
enduring4    ,my friends1 suppose we    
quitted that stand2  suppose we came    
honestly down from it1 and said3  ,this 
is our minimum of  cottonprices4  ,we   
care not1 for the present1 to make      
cotton any  cheaper4  ,do you1 if it    
seem so blessed to you1 make cotton     
cheaper4  ,fill your lungs with         
cotton-fuzz1 your hearts with           
copperas-fumes1 with rage and mutiny2   
become ye the general  gnomes of        
,europe1 slaves of the lamp6--,i admire 
a ,nation which  fancies it will die if 
it do not undersell all other ,nations1 
to  the end of the world4  ,brothers1 we
 will cease to undersell  them2  we will
 be content to equal-sell them2  to be  
happy  selling equally with them6  ,i do
 not see the use of underselling  them4 
,cotton-cloth is already two-pence a    
yard or lower2  and  yet bare backs were
 never more numerous among us4  ,let    
inventive  men cease to spend their     

existence incessantly contriving how    
cotton can be made cheaper2  and try to 
invent1 a little1 how  cotton at its    
present cheapness could be somewhat     
justlier  divided among us6  ,let       
inventive men consider1 ,whether the    
,secret  of this ,universe1 and of      
,man's ,life there1 does1 after all1 as 
we  rashly fancy it1 consist in making  
money8  ,there is ,one ,god1  just1     
supreme1 almighty3  but is ,mammon the  
name of him8--,with a  ,hell which means
 ',failing to make money1' ,i do not    
think there is  any ,heaven possible    
that would suit one well2  nor so much  
as an  ,earth that can be habitable     
long6  ,in brief1 all this ,mammon-     
,gospel1 of ,supply-and-demand1         
,competition1 ,laissez-faire1 and       
,devil take the hindmost1 begins to be  
one of the shabbiest  ,gospels ever     
preached on ,earth2  or altogether the  
shabbiest4  ,even with ,dilettante      
partridge-nets1 and at a horrible       
expenditure of pain1 who shall regret to

 see the entirely  transient1 and at    
best somewhat despicable life strangled 
out of  it8  ,at the best1 as we say1 a 
somewhat despicable1 unvenerable  thing1
 this same ',laissez-faire2'  and now1  
at the worst1 fast  growing an          
altogether detestable one6    ,but what 
is to be done with our manufacturing    
population1 with  our agricultural1 with
 our ever-increasing population8 cry    
many4--,aye1 what8  ,many things can be 
done with them1 a hundred  things1 and a
 thousand things1--had we once got a    
soul1 and begun  to try4  ,this one     
thing1 of doing for them by             
'underselling all  people1' and filling 
our own bursten pockets and appetites by
 the  road2  and turning over all care  
for any 'population1' or human  or      
divine consideration except cash only1  
to the winds1 with a  ,laissez-faire and
 the rest of it3  this is evidently not 
the  thing4  ',farthing cheaper per     
yard3'  no great ,nation can stand  on  
the apex of such a pyramid2  screwing   

itself higher and  higher2  balancing   
itself on its great-toe6  ,can ,england 
not  subsist without being above all    
people in working8  ,england  never     
deliberately purposed such a thing4  ,if
 ,england work better  than all people1 
it shall be well4  ,england1 like an    
honest  worker1 will work as well as she
 can2  and hope the gods may  allow her 
to live on that basis4  ,laissez-faire  
and much else  being once well dead1 how
 many 'impossibles' will become         
possible6  ,they are 'impossible1' as   
cotton-cloth at two-pence an  ell       
was--till men set about making it4  ,the
 inventive genius of  great ,england    
will not forever sit patient with mere  
wheels and  pinions1 bobbins1 straps and
 billy-rollers whirring in the head  of 
it4  ,the inventive genius of ,england  
is not a ,beaver's1 or a  ,spinner's or 
,spider's genius3  it is a ,man's       
genius1 ,i hope1  with a ,god over him6 
,supply-and-demand8  ,one begins to be  
weary of such work4  ,leave  all to     

egoism1 to ravenous greed of money1 of  
pleasure1 of  applause3--it is the      
,gospel of ,despair6  ,man is a ,patent-
  ,digester1 then3  only give him ,free 
,trade1 ,free digesting-room2  and each 
of us digest what he can come at1       
leaving the rest to  ,fate6  ,my unhappy
 brethren of the ,working ,mammonism1 my
 unhappier  brethren of the ,idle       
,dilettantism1 no world was ever held   
together in that way for long4  ,a world
 of mere ,patent-,digesters  will soon  
have nothing to digest3  such world     
ends1 and by ,law of  ,nature must end1 
in 'over-population2'  in howling       
universal  famine1 'impossibility1' and 
suicidal madness1 as of endless dog-    
kennels run rabid4  ,supply-and-demand  
shall do its full part1 and  ,free      
,trade shall be free as air2--thou of   
the shotbelts1 see thou  forbid it not1 
with those paltry1 worse than           
',mammonish'  swindleries and           
,sliding-scales of thine1 which are seen
 to be  swindleries for all thy canting1

 which in times like ours are  very     
scandalous to see6  ,and ,trade never so
 well freed1 and all  ,tariffs settled  
or abolished1 and ,supply-and-demand in 
full  operation1--let us all know that  
we have yet done nothing2  that  we have
 merely cleared the ground for doing4   
,yes1 were the ,corn-,laws ended        
tomorrow1 there is nothing yet  ended2  
there is only room made for all manner  
of things  beginning4  ,the ,corn-,laws 
gone1 and ,trade made free1 it is as    
good as certain this paralysis of       
industry will pass away4  ,we  shall    
have another period of commercial       
enterprise1 of victory  and prosperity2 
during which1 it is likely1 much money  
will  again be made1 and all the people 
may1 by the extant methods1  still for a
 space of years1 be kept alive and      
physically fed4  ,the strangling band of
 ,famine will be loosened from our      
necks2  we shall have room again to     
breathe2  time to bethink ourselves1  to
 repent and consider6  ,a precious and  

thrice-precious space of  years2        
wherein to struggle as for life in      
reforming our foul  ways2  in           
alleviating1 instructing1 regulating our
 people2  seeking1 as for life1 that    
something like spiritual food be        
imparted them1 some real governance and 
guidance be provided  them6  ,it will be
 a priceless time4  ,for our new period 
or  paroxysm of commercial prosperity   
will and can1 on the old  methods of    
',competition and ,devil take the       
hindmost1' prove but a  paroxysm3  a new
 paroxysm1--likely enough1 if we do not 
use it  better1 to be our last4  ,in    
this1 of itself1 is no salvation4  ,if  
our ,trade in twenty years1             
'flourishing' as never ,trade           
flourished1 could double itself2  yet   
then also1 by the old  ,laissez-faire   
method1 our ,population is doubled3  we 
shall  then be as we are1 only twice as 
many of us1 twice and ten  times as     
unmanageable6      ,all this dire       
misery1 therefore2 all this of our poor 

,workhouse  ,workmen1 of our ,chartisms1
 ,trades-strikes1 ,corn-,laws1          
,toryisms1  and the general downbreak of
 ,laissez-faire in these days1--may we  
not regard it as a voice from the dumb  
bosom of ,nature1 saying to  us3        
,behold6  ,supply-and-demand is not the 
one ,law of ,nature2  ,cash-payment is  
not the sole nexus of man with man1--how
 far from  it6  ,deep1 far deeper than  
,supply-and-demand1 are ,laws1          
,obligations sacred as ,man's ,life     
itself3  these also1 if you will        
continue to do work1 you shall now learn
 and obey4  ,he that will  learn them1  
behold ,nature is on his side1 he shall 
yet work and  prosper with noble        
rewards4  ,he that will not learn them1 
,nature  is against him2  he shall not  
be able to do work in ,nature's         
empire1--not in hers4  ,perpetual       
mutiny1 contention1 hatred1  isolation1 
execration shall wait on his footsteps1 
till all men  discern that the thing    
which he attains1 however golden it look

  or be1 is not success1 but the want of
 success4    ,supply-and-demand1--alas6 
,for what noble work was there ever yet 
any audible 'demand' in that poor sense8
  ,the man of ,macedonia1  speaking in  
vision to an ,apostle ,paul1 ,come over 
and help us1  did not specify what rate 
of wages he would give6  ,or was the    
,christian ,religion itself accomplished
 by ,prize-,essays1  ,bridgewater       
,bequests1 and a 'minimum of ,four      
thousand five  hundred a year8''  ,no   
demand that ,i heard of was made then1  
audible in any ,labour-market1          
,manchester ,chamber of ,commerce1 or   
other the like emporium and hiring      
establishment2  silent were  all these  
from any whisper of such                
demand2--powerless were all  these to   
'supply' it1 had the demand been in     
thunder and  earthquake1 with gold      
,eldorados and ,mahometan ,paradises for
 the  reward4  ,ah me1 into what waste  
latitudes1 in this ,time-,voyage1  have 
we wandered2  like adventurous          

,sindbads2--where the men go  about as  
if by galvanism1 with meaningless       
glaring eyes1 and have  no soul1 but    
only a beaver-faculty and stomach6  ,the
 haggard  despair of ,cotton-factory1   
,coal-mine operatives1 ,chandos ,farm-  
labourers1 in these days1 is painful to 
behold2  but not so  painful1 hideous to
 the inner sense1 as the brutish god-   
forgetting ,profit-and-,loss            
,philosophy1 and ,life-theory1 which we 
hear jangled on all hands of us1 in     
senate-houses1 spouting-  clubs1        
leading-articles1 pulpits and platforms1
 everywhere as the  ,ultimate ,gospel   
and candid ,plain-,english of ,man's    
,life1 from the  throats and pens and   
thoughts of all but all men6--          
,enlightened ,philosophies1 like        
,moliere ,doctors1 will tell you3       
,enthusiasms1 ,self-sacrifice1 ,heaven1 
,hell and such like3  yes1  all that was
 true enough for old stupid times2  all 
that used to  be true3  but we have     
changed all that1 nous avons change tout

  cela6  ,well2 if the heart be got     
round now into the right side1  and the 
liver to the left2  if man have no      
heroism in him deeper  than the wish to 
eat1 and in his soul there dwell now no 
,infinite  of ,hope and ,awe1 and no    
divine ,silence can become imperative   
because it is not ,sinai ,thunder1 and  
no tie will bind if it be  not that of  
,tyburn gallows-ropes1--then verily you 
have changed  all that2  and for it1 and
 for you1 and for me1 behold the ,abyss 
and nameless ,annihilation is ready4    
,so scandalous a beggarly  ,universe    
deserves indeed nothing else2  ,i cannot
 say ,i would save  it from             
,annihilation4  ,vacuum1 and the serene 
,blue1 will be much  handsomer2  easier 
too for all of us4  ,i1 for one1 decline
 living  as a ,patent-,digester4        
,patent-,digester1 ,spinning-,mule1     
,mayfair  ,clothes-,horse3  many thanks1
 but your ,chaosships will have the     
goodness to excuse me6          ,chapter
 ,x    ,plugson of ,undershot      ,one 

thing ,i do know3  ,never1 on this      
,earth1 was the relation of  man to man 
long carried on by ,cash-payment alone4 
,if1 at any  time1 a philosophy of      
,laissez-faire1 ,competition and        
,supply-and-  demand1 start up as the   
exponent of human relations1 expect that
  it will soon end4    ,such            
philosophies will arise3  for man's     
philosophies are usually  the           
'supplement of his practice2'  some     
ornamental ,logic-varnish1  some outer  
skin of ,articulate ,intelligence1 with 
which he strives  to render his dumb    
,instinctive ,doings presentable when   
they are  done4  ,such philosophies will
 arise2  be preached as ,mammon-        
,gospels1 the ultimate ,evangel of the  
,world2  be believed1 with  what is     
called belief1 with much superficial    
bluster1 and a kind  of shallow         
satisfaction real in its way3--but they 
are ominous  gospels6  ,they are the    
sure1 and even swift1 forerunner of     
great  changes4  ,expect that the old   

,system of ,society is done1 is dying   
and fallen into dotage1 when it begins  
to rave in that fashion4  ,most ,systems
 that ,i have watched the death of1 for 
the last three  thousand years1 have    
gone just so4  ,the ,ideal1 the ,true   
and ,noble  that was in them having     
faded out1 and nothing now remaining but
  naked ,egoism1 vulturous ,greediness1 
they cannot live2  they are  bound and  
inexorably ordained by the oldest       
,destinies1 ,mothers of  the ,universe1 
to die4  ,curious enough3  they         
thereupon1 as ,i have  pretty generally 
noticed1 devise some light comfortable  
kind of  'wine-and-walnuts philosophy'  
for themselves1 this of ,supply-and-    
demand or another2  and keep saying1    
during hours of mastication  and        
rumination1 which they call hours of    
meditation3  ,soul1 take  thy ease1 it  
is all well that thou art a             
vulture-soul2  --and pangs of           
dissolution come upon them1 oftenest    
before they  are aware6    ,cash-payment

 never was1 or could except for a few   
years be1 the  union-bond of man to man4
  ,cash never yet paid one man fully his
  deserts to another2  nor could it1 nor
 can it1 now or henceforth  to the end  
of the world4  ,i invite his ,grace of  
,castle-,rackrent  to reflect on        
this2--does he think that a ,land       
,aristocracy when  it becomes a ,land   
,auctioneership can have long to live8  
,or that  ,sliding-scales will increase 
the vital stamina of it8  ,the          
indomitable ,plugson too1 of the        
respected ,firm of ,plugson1 ,hunks  and
 ,company1 in ,st4 ,dolly ,undershot1 is
 invited to reflect on  this2  for to   
him also it will be new1 perhaps even   
newer4  ,bookkeeping by double entry is 
admirable1 and records several  things  
in an exact manner4  ,but the           
,mother-,destinies also keep  their     
,tablets2  in ,heaven's ,chancery also  
there goes on a  recording2  and things1
 as my ,moslem friends say1 are 'written
 on  the iron leaf4'    ,your ,grace and

 ,plugson1 it is like1 go to ,church    
occasionally3  did you never in vacant  
moments1 with perhaps a dull parson     
droning to you1 glance into your ,new   
,testament1 and the cash-  account      
stated four times over1 by a kind of    
quadruple entry1--in  the ,four ,gospels
 there8  ,i consider that a             
cash-account1 and  balance-statement of 
work done and wages paid1 worth         
attending  to4  ,precisely such1 though 
on a smaller scale1 go on at all        
moments under this ,sun2  and the       
statement and balance of them in  the   
,plugson ,ledgers and on the ,tablets of
 ,heaven's ,chancery are  discrepant    
exceedingly2--which ought really to     
teach1 and to have  long since taught1  
an indomitable common-sense ,plugson of 
,undershot1 much more an unattackable   
uncommon-sense ,grace of  ,rackrent1 a  
thing or two6--,in brief1 we shall have 
to dismiss the  ,cash-,gospel rigorously
 into its own place3  we shall have to  
know1 on the threshold1 that either     

there is some infinitely  deeper        
,gospel1 subsidiary1 explanatory and    
daily and hourly  corrective1 to the    
,cash one2  or else that the ,cash one  
itself  and all others are fast         
traveling6      ,for all human things do
 require to have an ,ideal in them2  to 
have some ,soul in them1 as we said1    
were it only to keep the ,body          
unputrefied4  ,and wonderful it is to   
see how the ,ideal or ,soul1  place it  
in what ugliest ,body you may1 will     
irradiate said ,body  with its own      
nobleness2  will gradually1 incessantly1
 mould1  modify1 new-form or reform said
 ugliest ,body1 and make it at last     
beautiful1 and to a certain degree      
divine6--,o1 if you could  dethrone that
 ,brute-god ,mammon1 and put a          
,spirit-god in his  place6  ,one way or 
other1 he must and will have to be      
dethroned4  ,fighting1 for example1 as  
,i often say to myself1 ,fighting with  
steel murder-tools is surely a much     
uglier operation than  ,working1 take it

 how you will4  ,yet even of ,fighting1 
in  religious ,abbot ,samson's days1 see
 what a ,feudalism there had  grown1--a 
'glorious ,chivalry1' much besung down  
to the present  day4  ,was not that one 
of the 'impossiblest' things8  ,under   
the  sky is no uglier spectacle than two
 men with clenched teeth1 and  hellfire 
eyes1 hacking one another's flesh2      
converting precious  living bodies1 and 
priceless living souls1 into nameless   
masses  of putrescence1 useful only for 
turnip-manure4  ,how did a  ,chivalry   
ever come out of that2  how anything    
that was not  hideous1 scandalous1      
infernal8  ,it will be a question worth 
considering by and by4    ,i remark1 for
 the present1 only two things3  first1  
that the  ,fighting itself was not1 as  
we rashly suppose it1 a ,fighting       
without cause1 but more or less with    
cause4  ,man is created to  fight2  he  
is perhaps best of all definable as a   
born soldier2  his life 'a battle and a 
march1' under the right ,general4  ,it  

is  forever indispensable for a man to  
fight3  now with ,necessity1  with      
,barrenness1 ,scarcity1 with ,puddles1  
,bogs1 tangled ,forests1  unkempt       
,cotton2--now also with the             
hallucinations of his poor  fellow ,men4
  ,hallucinatory visions rise in the    
head of my poor  fellow man2  make him  
claim over me rights which are not his4 
,all ,fighting1 as we noticed long ago1 
is the dusty conflict of  strengths each
 thinking itself the strongest1 or1 in  
other words1  the justest2--of ,mights  
which do in the long-run1 and forever   
will in this just ,universe in the      
long-run1 mean ,rights4  ,in  conflict  
the perishable part of them1 beaten     
sufficiently1 flies  off into dust3     
this process ended1 appears the         
imperishable1 the  true and exact4      
,and now let us remark a second thing3  
how1 in these baleful  operations1 a    
noble devout-hearted ,chevalier will    
comfort  himself1 and an ignoble godless
 ,bucanier and ,chactaw ,indian4        

,victory is the aim of each4  ,but deep 
in the heart of the noble  man it lies  
forever legible1 that1 as an ,invisible 
just ,god made  him1 so will and must   
,god's justice and this only1 were it   
never  so invisible1 ultimately prosper 
in all controversies and  enterprises   
and battles whatsoever4  ,what an       
,influence2  ever-  present1--like a    
,soul in the rudest ,caliban of a body2 
like a  ray of ,heaven1 and illuminative
 creative ,fiat-,lux1 in the  wastest   
terrestrial ,chaos6  ,blessed divine    
,influence1 traceable  even in the      
horror of ,battlefields and garments    
rolled in blood3  how it ennobles even  
the ,battlefield2  and1 in place of a   
,chactaw  ,massacre1 makes it a ,field  
of ,honour6  ,a ,battlefield too is     
great4  ,considered well1 it is a kind  
of ,quintessence of ,labour2  ,labour   
distilled into its utmost concentration2
  the significance  of years of it      
compressed into an hour4  ,here too thou
 shalt be  strong1 and not in muscle    

only1 if thou wouldst prevail4  ,here   
too thou shalt be strong of heart1 noble
 of soul2  thou shalt  dread no pain or 
death1 thou shalt not love ease or life2
  in  rage1 thou shalt remember mercy1  
justice2--thou shalt be a ,knight  and  
not a ,chactaw1 if thou wouldst prevail6
  ,it is the rule of  all battles1      
against hallucinating fellow ,men1      
against unkempt  ,cotton1 or whatsoever 
battles they may be which a man in this 
world has to fight4    ,howel ,davies'  
dyes the ,west ,indian ,seas with blood1
 piles his  decks with plunder2         
approves himself the expertest ,seaman1 
the  daringest ,seafighter3  but he     
gains no lasting victory1 lasting       
victory is not possible for him4  ,not1 
had he fleets larger than  the combined 
,british ,navy all united with him in   
bucaniering4  ,he1 once for all1 cannot 
prosper in his duel4  ,he strikes down  
his man3  yes2  but his man1 or his     
man's representative1 has no  notion to 
lie struck down2  neither1 though slain 

ten times1 will  he keep so lying2--nor 
has the ,universe any notion to keep him
 so  lying6  ,on the contrary1 the      
,universe and he have1 at all  moments1 
all manner of motives to start up again1
 and desperately  fight again4  ,your   
,napoleon is flung out1 at last1 to ,st4
 ,helena2  the latter end of him sternly
 compensating the beginning4  ,the      
,bucanier strikes down a man1 a hundred 
or a million men3  but  what profits it8
  ,he has one enemy never to be struck  
down2  nay  two enemies3  ,mankind and  
the ,maker of ,men4  ,on the great scale
  or on the small1 in fighting of men or
 fighting of difficulties1  ,i will not 
embark my venture with ,howel ,davies3  
it is not the  ,bucanier1 it is the     
,hero only that can gain victory1 that  
can do  more than seem to succeed4      
,these things will deserve meditating2  
for they apply to all battle and        
soldiership1 all struggle and  effort   
whatsoever in this ,fight of ,life4  ,it
 is a poor ,gospel1  ,cash-,gospel or   

whatever name it have1 that does not1   
with clear  tone1 uncontradictable1     
carrying conviction to all hearts1      
forever keep men in mind of these       
things4    ,unhappily1 my indomitable   
friend ,plugson of ,undershot has1 in a 
great degree1 forgotten them2--as1 alas1
 all the world has2  as1  alas1 our very
 ,dukes and ,soul-,overseers have1 whose
 special trade  it was to remember them6
  ,hence these tears4--,plugson1 who has
  indomitably spun ,cotton merely to    
gain thousands of pounds1 ,i  have to   
call as yet a ,bucanier and ,chactaw2   
till there come  something better1 still
 more indomitable from him4  ,his       
hundred  ,thousand-pound ,notes1 if     
there be nothing other1 are to me but as
  the hundred ,scalps in a ,chactaw     
wigwam4  ,the blind ,plugson3  he  was a
 ,captain of ,industry1 born member of  
the ,ultimate genuine  ,aristocracy of  
this ,universe1 could he have known it6 
,these  thousand men that span and      
toiled round him1 they were a regiment  

whom he had enlisted1 man by man2  to   
make war on a very genuine  enemy3      
,bareness of back1 and disobedient      
,cotton-fibre1 which  will not1 unless  
forced to it1 consent to cover bare     
backs4  ,here  is a most genuine enemy2 
over whom all creatures will wish him   
victory4  ,he enlisted his thousand men2
  said to them1 ,come1  brothers1 let us
 have a dash at ,cotton6  ,they follow  
with  cheerful shout2  they gain such a 
victory over ,cotton as the  ,earth has 
to admire and clap hands at3  but1 alas1
 it is yet only  of the ,bucanier or    
,chactaw sort1--as good as no victory6  
,foolish  ,plugson of ,st4 ,dolly       
,undershot3  does he hope to become     
illustrious by hanging up the scalps in 
his wigwam1 the hundred  thousands at   
his banker's1 and saying1 ,behold my    
scalps8  ,why1  ,plugson1 even thy own  
host is all in mutiny3  ,cotton is      
conquered2  but the 'bare backs'--are   
worse covered than ever6  ,indomitable  
,plugson1 thou must cease to be a       

,chactaw2  thou and  others2  thou      
thyself1 if no other6    ,did ,william  
the ,norman ,bastard1 or any of his     
,taillefers1  ,ironcutters1 manage so8  
,ironcutter1 at the end of the          
campaign1 did not turn off his thousand 
fighters1 but said to  them3  ,noble    
fighters1 this is the land we have      
gained2  be ,i  ,lord in it1--what we   
will call ,law-ward1 maintainer and     
keeper of ,heaven's ,laws3  be ,i       
,law-ward1 or in brief  orthoepy ,lord  
in it1 and be ye ,loyal ,men around me  
in it2  and  we will stand by one       
another1 as soldiers round a captain1   
for  again we shall have need of one    
another6  ,plugson1 bucanier-  like1    
says to them3  ,noble spinners1 this is 
the ,hundred  ,thousand we have gained1 
wherein ,i mean to dwell and plant      
vineyards2  the hundred thousand is     
mine1 the three and sixpence  daily was 
yours3  adieu1 noble spinners2  drink my
 health with  this groat each1 which ,i 
give you over and above6  ,the entirely 

unjust ,captain of ,industry1 say ,i2   
not ,chevalier1 but ,bucanier6          
',commercial ,law' does indeed acquit   
him2  asks1 with wide eyes1  ,what else8
  ,so too ,howel ,davies asks1 ,was it  
not according to the  strictest         
,bucanier ,custom8  ,did ,i depart in   
any jot or tittle  from the ,laws of the
 ,bucaniers8    ,after all1 money1 as   
they say1 is miraculous4  ,plugson      
wanted  victory2  as ,chevaliers and    
,bucaniers1 and all men alike do4  ,he  
found money recognised1 by the whole    
world with one assent1 as  the true     
symbol1 exact equivalent and synonym of 
victory2--and  here we have him1 a      
grim-browed1 indomitable ,bucanier1     
coming  home to us with a 'victory1'    
which the whole world is ceasing  to    
clap hands at6  ,the whole world1 taught
 somewhat impressively1  is beginning to
 recognise that such victory is but half
 a  victory2  and that now1 if it please
 the ,powers1 we must--have  the other  
half6    ,money is miraculous4  ,what   

miraculous facilities has it yielded1   
will it yield us2  but also what        
never-imagined confusions1  obscurations
 has it brought in2  down almost to     
total extinction  of the moral-sense in 
large masses of mankind6  ',protection  
of  property1' of what is 'mine1' means 
with most men protection of  money1--the
 thing which1 had ,i a thousand padlocks
 over it1 is  least of all mine2  is1 in
 a manner1 scarcely worth calling  mine6
  ,the symbol shall be held sacred1     
defended everywhere with  tipstaves1    
ropes and gibbets2  the thing signified 
shall be  composedly cast to the dogs4  
,a human being who has worked with      
human beings clears all scores with     
them1 cuts himself with  triumphant     
completeness forever loose from them1 by
 paying down  certain shillings and     
pounds4  ,was it not the wages ,i       
promised  you8  ,there they are1 to the 
last sixpence1--according to the  ,laws 
of the ,bucaniers6--,yes1 indeed2--and1 
at such times1 it  becomes imperatively 

necessary to ask all persons1 bucaniers 
and  others1 ,whether these same        
respectable ,laws of the ,bucaniers are 
written on ,god's eternal ,heavens at   
all1 on the inner ,heart of  ,man at    
all2  or on the respectable ,bucanier   
,logbook merely1 for  the convenience of
 bucaniering merely8  ,what a           
question2--whereat  ,westminster ,hall  
shudders to its driest parchment2  and  
on the  dead wigs each particular       
horsehair stands on end6    ,the ,laws  
of ,laissez-faire1 ,o ,westminster1 the 
laws of industrial  ,captain and        
industrial ,soldier1 how much more of   
idle ,captain and  industrial ,soldier1 
will need to be remodelled1 and         
modified1 and  rectified in a hundred   
and a hundred ways1--and not in the     
,sliding-scale direction1 but in the    
totally opposite one6  ,with  two       
million industrial ,soldiers already    
sitting in ,bastilles1 and  five million
 pining on potatoes1 methinks           
,westminster cannot  begin too soon6--,a

 man has other obligations laid on him1 
in  ,god's ,universe1 than the payment  
of cash3  these also  ,westminster1 if  
it will continue to exist and have      
board-wages1  must contrive to take some
 charge of3--by ,westminster or by      
another1 they must and will be taken    
charge of2  be1 with  whatever          
difficulty1 got articulated1 got        
enforced1 and to a  certain approximate 
extent1 put in practice4  ,and1 as ,i   
say1 it  cannot be too soon6  ,for      
,mammonism1 left to itself1 has become  
,midas-eared2  and with all its gold    
mountains1 sits starving for  want of   
bread3  and ,dilettantism with its      
partridge-nets1 in this  extremely      
earnest ,universe of ours1 is playing   
somewhat too high  a game4  ',a man by  
the very look of him promises so much3' 
yes2  and by the rent-roll of him does  
he promise nothing8--      ,alas1 what a
 business will this be1 which our       
,continental  friends1 groping this long
 while somewhat absurdly about it and   

about it1 call ',organisation of        
,labour2'--which must be taken out  of  
the hands of absurd windy persons1 and  
put into the hands of  wise1 laborious1 
modest and valiant men1 to begin with it
  straightway3  to proceed with it1 and 
succeed in it more and  more1 if        
,europe1 at any rate if ,england1 is to 
continue habitable  much longer4        
,looking at the kind of most noble      
,corn-,law ,dukes or  ,practical ,duces 
we have1 and also of right reverend     
,soul-  ,overseers1 ,christian          
,spiritual ,duces 'on a minimum of four 
thousand five hundred1' one's hopes are 
a little chilled4  ,courage1            
nevertheless2  there are many brave men 
in ,england6  ,my  indomitable          
,plugson1--nay is there not even in thee
 some hope8  ,thou art hitherto a       
,bucanier1 as it was written and        
prescribed  for thee by an evil world3  
but in that grim brow1 in that          
indomitable heart which can conquer     
,cotton1 do there not  perhaps lie other

 ten times nobler conquests8            
,chapter ,,xi    ,labour      ,for there
 is a perennial nobleness1 and even     
sacredness1 in ,work4  ,were he never so
 benighted1 forgetful of his high       
calling1 there  is always hope in a man 
that actually and earnestly works3  in  
,idleness alone is there perpetual      
despair4  ,work1 never so  ,mammonish1  
mean1 is in communication with ,nature2 
the real  desire to get ,work done will 
itself lead one more and more to  truth1
 to ,nature's appointments and          
regulations1 which are truth4  ,the     
latest ,gospel in this world is1 ,know  
thy work and do it4  ',know thyself3'   
long enough has that poor 'self' of     
thine  tormented thee2  thou wilt never 
get to 'know' it1 ,i believe6  ,think it
 not thy business1 this of knowing      
thyself2  thou art an  unknowable       
individual3  know what thou canst work  
at2  and work  at it1 like a ,hercules6 
,that will be thy better plan4    ,it   
has been written1 'an endless           

significance lies in ,work2'  a  man    
perfects himself by working4  ,foul     
jungles are cleared away1  fair         
seedfields rise instead1 and stately    
cities2  and withal the  man himself    
first ceases to be a jungle and foul    
unwholesome  desert thereby4  ,consider 
how1 even in the meanest sorts of       
,labour1 the whole soul of a man is     
composed into a kind of real  harmony1  
the instant he sets himself to work6    
,doubt1 ,desire1  ,sorrow1 ,remorse1    
,indignation1 ,despair itself1 all these
 like  helldogs lie beleaguering the    
soul of the poor dayworker1 as of  every
 man3  but he bends himself with free   
valour against his  task1 and all these 
are stilled1 all these shrink murmuring 
far  off into their caves4  ,the man is 
now a man4  ,the blessed glow  of       
,labour in him1 is it not as purifying  
fire1 wherein all  poison is burnt up1  
and of sour smoke itself there is made  
bright blessed flame6    ,destiny1 on   
the whole1 has no other way of          

cultivating us4  ,a  formless ,chaos1   
once set it revolving1 grows round and  
ever  rounder2  ranges itself1 by mere  
force of gravity1 into strata1          
spherical courses2  is no longer a      
,chaos1 but a round compacted  ,world4  
,what would become of the ,earth1 did   
she cease to revolve8  ,in the poor old 
,earth1 so long as she revolves1 all    
inequalities1  irregularities disperse  
themselves2  all irregularities are     
incessantly becoming regular4  ,hast    
thou looked on the ,potter's            
wheel1--one of the venerablest objects2 
old as the ,prophet  ,ezechiel and far  
older8  ,rude lumps of clay1 how they   
spin  themselves up1 by mere quick      
whirling1 into beautiful circular       
dishes4  ,and fancy the most assiduous  
,potter1 but without his  wheel2        
reduced to make dishes1 or rather       
amorphous botches1 by  mere kneading and
 baking6  ,even such a ,potter were     
,destiny1 with  a human soul that would 
rest and lie at ease1 that would not    

work  and spin6  ,of an idle unrevolving
 man the kindest ,destiny1 like  the    
most assiduous ,potter without wheel1   
can bake and knead  nothing other than a
 botch2  let her spend on him what      
expensive  colouring1 what gilding and  
enamelling she will1 he is but a  botch4
  ,not a dish2  no1 a bulging1 kneaded1 
crooked1 shambling1  squint-cornered1   
amorphous botch1--a mere enamelled      
vessel of  dishonour6  ,let the idle    
think of this4    ,blessed is he who has
 found his work2  let him ask no other  
blessedness4  ,he has a work1 a         
life-purpose2  he has found it1  and    
will follow it6  ,how1 as a free-flowing
 channel1 dug and torn  by noble force  
through the sour mud-swamp of one's     
existence1  like an ever-deepening river
 there1 it runs and flows2--draining    
off the sour festering water1 gradually 
from the root of the  remotest          
grass-blade2  making1 instead of        
pestilential swamp1 a  green fruitful   
meadow with its clear-flowing stream4   

,how blessed  for the meadow itself1 let
 the stream and its value be great or   
small6  ,labour is ,life3  from the     
inmost heart of the ,worker  rises his  
god-given ,force1 the sacred celestial  
,life-essence  breathed into him by     
,almighty ,god2  from his inmost heart  
awakens  him to all nobleness1--to all  
knowledge1 'self-knowledge' and  much   
else1 so soon as ,work fitly begins4    
,knowledge8  ,the  knowledge that will  
hold good in working1 cleave thou to    
that2  for ,nature herself accredits    
that1 says ,yea to that4  ,properly     
thou hast no other knowledge but what   
thou hast got by working3  the rest is  
yet all a hypothesis of knowledge2  a   
thing to be  argued of in schools1 a    
thing floating in the clouds1 in endless
  logic-vortices1 till we try it and fix
 it4  ',doubt1 of whatever  kind1 can be
 ended by ,action alone4'      ,and     
again1 hast thou valued ,patience1      
,courage1 ,perseverance1  ,openness to  
light2  readiness to own thyself        

mistaken1 to do  better next time8  ,all
 these1 all virtues1 in wrestling with  
the  dim brute ,powers of ,fact1 in     
ordering of thy fellows in such         
wrestle1 there and elsewhere not at all1
 thou wilt continually  learn4  ,set    
down a brave ,sir ,christopher in the   
middle of black  ruined ,stoneheaps1 of 
foolish unarchitectural ,bishops1       
redtape  ,officials1 idle ,nell-,gwyn   
,defenders of the ,faith2  and see      
whether he will ever raise a ,paul's    
,cathedral out of all that1  yea or no6 
,rough1 rude1 contradictory are all     
things and  persons1 from the mutinous  
masons and ,irish hodmen1 up to the     
idle ,nell-,gwyn ,defenders1 to         
blustering redtape ,officials1  foolish 
unarchitectural ,bishops4  ,all these   
things and persons  are there not for   
,christopher's sake and his             
,cathedral's2  they  are there for their
 own sake mainly6  ,christopher will    
have to  conquer and constrain all      
these1--if he be able4  ,all these are  

against him4  ,equitable ,nature        
herself1 who carries her  mathematics   
and architectonics not on the face of   
her1 but deep  in the hidden heart of   
her1--,nature herself is but partially  
for  him2 will be wholly against him1 if
 he constrain her not6  ,his  very      
money1 where is it to come from8  ,the  
pious munificence of  ,england lies     
far-scattered1 distant1 unable to speak1
 and say1 ,i  am here2--must be spoken  
to before it can speak4  ,pious         
munificence1 and all help1 is so silent1
 invisible like the gods2  impediment1  
contradictions manifold are so loud and 
near6  ,o  brave ,sir ,christopher1     
trust thou in those1 notwithstanding1   
and  front all these2  understand all   
these2  by valiant patience1  noble     
effort1 insight1 by man's strength1     
vanquish and compel all  these1--and1 on
 the whole1 strike down victoriously the
 last  topstone of that ,paul's         
,edifice2  thy monument for certain     
centuries1 the stamp ',great ,man'      

impressed very legibly on               
,portland-stone there6--,yes1 all manner
 of help1 and pious  response from ,men 
or ,nature1 is always what we call      
silent2  cannot speak or come to light1 
till it be seen1 till it be spoken  to4 
,every noble work is at first           
impossible4  ,in very truth1 for  every 
noble work the possibilities will lie   
diffused through  ,immensity2           
inarticulate1 undiscoverable except to  
faith4  ,like  ,gideon thou shalt spread
 out thy fleece at the door of thy tent2
  see whether under the wide arch of    
,heaven there be any bounteous          
moisture1 or none4  ,thy heart and      
life-purpose shall be as a  miraculous  
,gideon's fleece1 spread out in silent  
appeal to  ,heaven2  and from the kind  
,immensities1 what from the poor unkind 
,localities and town and country        
,parishes there never could1  blessed   
dew-moisture to suffice thee shall have 
fallen6    ,work is of a religious      
nature3--work is of a brave nature2     

which it is the aim of all religion to  
be4  ',all work of man is  as the       
swimmer's3'  a waste ocean threatens to 
devour him2  if he  front it not        
bravely1 it will keep its word4  ,by    
incessant wise  defiance of it1 lusty   
rebuke and buffet of it1 behold how it  
loyally supports him1 bears him as its  
conqueror along4  ',it  is so1' says    
,goethe1 with all things that man       
undertakes in  this world4'    ,brave   
,sea-captain1 ,norse                    
,sea-king1--,columbus1 my hero1 royalest
  ,sea-king of all6  ,it is no friendly 
environment this of thine1 in  the waste
 deep waters2  around thee mutinous     
discouraged souls1  behind thee disgrace
 and ruin1 before thee the unpenetrated 
veil  of ,night4  ,brother1 these wild  
water-mountains1 bounding from  their   
deep bases 7ten miles deep1 ,i am told71
 are not entirely  there on thy behalf6 
,meseems they have other work than      
floating thee forward3--and the huge    
,winds1 that sweep from ,ursa  ,major to

 the ,tropics and ,equators1 dancing    
their giant-waltz  through the kingdoms 
of ,chaos and ,immensity1 they care     
little  about filling rightly or filling
 wrongly the small shoulder-of-  mutton 
sails in this cockle-skiff of thine6    
,thou art not among  articulate-speaking
 friends1 my brother2  thou art among   
immeasurable dumb monsters1 tumbling1   
howling wide as the world  here4        
,secret1 far off1 invisible to all      
hearts but thine1 there  lies a help in 
them3  see how thou wilt get at that4   
,patiently  thou wilt wait till the mad 
,southwester spend itself1 saving       
thyself by dexterous science of defence1
 the while2  valiantly1  with swift     
decision1 wilt thou strike in1 when the 
favouring  ,east1 the ,possible1 springs
 up4  ,mutiny of men thou wilt sternly  
repress2  weakness1 despondency1 thou   
wilt cheerily encourage3  thou wilt     
swallow down complaint1 unreason1       
weariness1 weakness  of others and      
thyself2--how much wilt thou swallow    

down6  ,there  shall be a depth of      
,silence in thee1 deeper than this ,sea1
 which  is but ten miles deep3  a       
,silence unsoundable2  known to ,god    
only4  ,thou shalt be a ,great ,man4    
,yes1 my ,world-,soldier1 thou of  the  
,world ,marine-service1--thou wilt have 
to be greater than  this tumultuous     
unmeasured ,world here round thee is3   
thou1 in  thy strong soul1 as with      
wrestler's arms1 shalt embrace it1      
harness it down2  and make it bear thee 
on1--to new ,americas1 or  whither ,god 
wills6          ,chapter ,,xii          
,reward      ',religion1' ,i said2  for 
properly speaking1 all true ,work is    
,religion3  and whatsoever ,religion is 
not ,work may go and dwell  among the   
,brahmins1 ,antinomians1 ,spinning      
,dervishes1 or where it  will2  with me 
it shall have no harbour4  ,admirable   
was that of  the old ,monks1 ',laborare 
est ,orare1 ,work is ,worship4'         
,older than all preached ,gospels was   
this unpreached1  inarticulate1 but     

ineradicable1 forever-enduring ,gospel3 
,work1  and therein have well-being4    
,man1 ,son of ,earth and of ,heaven1    
lies there not1 in the innermost heart  
of thee1 a ,spirit of  active ,method1 a
 ,force for ,work2--and burns like a    
painfully  smouldering fire1 giving thee
 no rest till thou unfold it1 till  thou
 write it down in beneficent ,facts     
around thee6  ,what is  immethodic1     
waste1 thou shalt make methodic1        
regulated1 arable2  obedient and        
productive to thee4  ,wheresoever thou  
findest  ,disorder1 there is thy eternal
 enemy2  attack him swiftly1 subdue     
him2  make ,order of him1 the subject   
not of ,chaos1 but of  ,intelligence1   
,divinity and ,thee6  ,the thistle that 
grows in thy  path1 dig it out1 that a  
blade of useful grass1 a drop of        
nourishing milk1 may grow there instead4
  ,the waste cotton-shrub1  gather its  
waste white down1 spin it1 weave it2    
that1 in place  of idle litter1 there   
may be folded webs1 and the naked skin  

of  man be covered4    ,but above all1  
where thou findest ,ignorance1          
,stupidity1 ,brute-  mindedness1--yes1  
there1 with or without ,church-tithes   
and  ,shovel-hat1 with or without       
,talfourd-,mahon ,copyrights1 or were it
  with mere dungeons and gibbets and    
crosses1 attack it1 ,i say2  smite it   
wisely1 unweariedly1 and rest not while 
thou livest and  it lives2  but smite1  
smite1 in the name of ,god6  ,the       
,highest  ,god1 as ,i understand it1    
does audibly so command thee2  still    
audibly1 if thou have ears to hear4     
,he1 even ,he1 with his  unspoken voice1
 awfuler than any ,sinai thunders or    
syllabled  speech of ,whirlwinds2  for  
the ,,silence of deep ,eternities1 of   
,worlds from beyond the morning-stars1  
does it not speak to thee8  ,the unborn 
,ages2  the old ,graves1 with their     
long-mouldering  dust1 the very tears   
that wetted it now all dry1--do not     
these  speak to thee1 what ear hath not 
heard8  ,the deep ,death-kingdoms1  the 

,stars in their never-resting courses1  
all ,space and all ,time1  proclaim it  
to thee in continual silent admonition4 
,thou too1 if  ever man should1 shalt   
work while it is called ,today4  ,for   
the  ,night cometh1 wherein no man can  
work4    ,all true ,work is sacred2  in 
all true ,work1 were it but true        
hand-labour1 there is something of      
divineness4  ,labour1 wide as  the      
,earth1 has its summit in ,heaven4      
,sweat of the brow2  and up  from that  
to sweat of the brain1 sweat of the     
heart2  which  includes all ,kepler     
calculations1 ,newton meditations1 all  
,sciences1 all spoken ,epics1 all acted 
,heroisms1 ,martyrdoms1--up  to that    
',agony of bloody sweat1' which all men 
have called  divine6  ,o brother1 if    
this is not 'worship1' then ,i say1 the 
more pity for worship2  for this is the 
noblest thing yet  discovered under     
,god's sky4  ,who art thou that         
complainest of thy  life of toil8       
,complain not4  ,look up1 my wearied    

brother2  see  thy fellow ,workmen      
there1 in ,god's ,eternity2  surviving  
there1  they alone surviving3  sacred   
,band of the ,immortals1 celestial      
,bodyguard of the ,empire of ,mankind4  
,even in the weak ,human  ,memory they  
survive so long1 as saints1 as heroes1  
as gods2  they  alone surviving2        
peopling1 they alone1 the unmeasured    
solitudes  of ,time6  ,to thee ,heaven1 
though severe1 is not unkind2  ,heaven  
is kind1--as a noble ,mother2  as that  
,spartan ,mother1 saying  while she gave
 her son his shield1 ,with it1 my son1  
or upon it6  ,thou too shalt return home
 in honour2  to thy far-distant ,home1  
in honour2  doubt it not1--if in the    
battle thou keep thy shield6  ,thou1 in 
the ,eternities and deepest             
,death-kingdoms1 art not an  alien2     
thou everywhere art a denizen6          
,complain not2  the very  ,spartans did 
not complain4    ,and who art thou that 
braggest of thy life of ,idleness2      
complacently shewest thy bright gilt    

equipages2  sumptuous  cushions2        
appliances for folding of the hands to  
mere sleep8  ,looking up1 looking down1 
around1 behind or before1 discernest    
thou1 if it be not in ,mayfair alone1   
any idle hero1 saint1 god1  or even     
devil8  ,not a vestige of one4  ,in the 
,heavens1 in the  ,earth1 in the        
,waters1 under the ,earth1 is none like 
unto thee4  ,thou art an original figure
 in this ,creation2  a denizen in       
,mayfair alone1 in this extraordinary   
,century or ,half-,century  alone6  ,one
 monster there is in the world3  the    
idle man4 ,what is  his ',religion8'    
,that ,nature is a ,phantasm1 where     
cunning1  beggary or thievery may       
sometimes find good victual4  ,that ,god
 is  a lie2  and that ,man and his ,life
 are a lie4--,alas1 alas1 who of  us is 
there that can say1 ,i have worked8     
,the faithfulest of us  are unprofitable
 servants2  the faithfulest of us know  
that best4  ,the faithfulest of us may  
say1 with sad and true old ,samuel1     

,much of my life has been trifled away6 
,but he that has1 and  except 'on public
 occasions' professes to have1 no       
function but  that of going idle in a   
graceful or graceless manner2  and of   
begetting sons to go idle2  and to      
address ,chief ,spinners and  ,diggers1 
who at least are spinning and digging1  
,ye scandalous  persons who produce too 
much--,my ,corn-,law friends1 on what   
imaginary still richer ,eldorados1 and  
true iron-spikes with law  of           
gravitation1 are ye rushing6      ,as to
 the ,wages of ,work there might        
innumerable things be said2  there will 
and must yet innumerable things be said 
and spoken1 in  ,st4 ,stephen's and out 
of ,st4 ,stephen's2  and gradually not a
 few  things be ascertained and written1
 on ,law-parchment1 concerning  this    
very matter3--',fair day's-wages for a  
fair day's-work' is  the most           
unrefusable demand6  ,money-wages 'to   
the extent of  keeping your worker alive
 that he may work more2'  these1 unless 

you mean to dismiss him straightway out 
of this world1 are  indispensable alike 
to the noblest ,worker and to the least 
noble6    ,one thing only ,i will say   
here1 in special reference to the       
former class1 the noble and noblest2    
but throwing light on all  the other    
classes and their arrangements of this  
difficult  matter3  ,the 'wages' of     
every noble ,work do yet lie in ,heaven 
or  else ,nowhere4  ,not in             
,bank-of-,england bills1 in ,owen's     
,labour-  bank1 or any the most improved
 establishment of banking and           
money-changing1 needest thou1 heroic    
soul1 present thy account of  earnings4 
,human banks and labour-banks know thee 
not2  or know  thee after generations   
and centuries have passed away1 and thou
  art clean gone from 'rewarding1'--all 
manner of bank-drafts1  shoptills1 and  
,downing-street ,exchequers lying very  
invisible1 so  far from thee6  ,nay1 at 
bottom1 dost thou need any reward8  ,was
  it thy aim and life-purpose to be     

filled with good things for thy         
heroism2  to have a life of pomp and    
ease1 and be what men call  'happy1' in 
this world1 or in any other world8  ,i  
answer for thee  deliberately1 ,no4     
,the whole spiritual secret of the new  
epoch  lies in this1 that thou canst    
answer for thyself1 with thy whole      
clearness of head and heart1            
deliberately1 ,no4    ,my brother1 the  
brave man has to give his ,life away4   
,give it1 ,i  advise thee2--thou dost   
not expect to sell thy ,life in an      
adequate manner8  ,what price1 for      
example1 would content thee8  ,the just 
price of thy ,,life to thee1--why1      
,god's entire ,creation  to thyself1 the
 whole ,universe of ,space1 the whole   
,eternity of  ,time1 and what they hold3
  that is the price which would content 
thee2  that1 and if thou wilt be candid1
 nothing short of that6  ,it is thy all2
  and for it thou wouldst have all4     
,thou art an  unreasonable mortal2--or  
rather thou art a poor infinite  mortal1

 who1 in thy narrow clay-prison here1   
seemest so  unreasonable6  ,thou wilt   
never sell thy ,life1 or any part of thy
  ,life1 in a satisfactory manner4      
,give it1 like a royal heart2  let the  
price be ,nothing3  thou hast then1 in a
 certain sense1  got ,all for it6  ,the 
heroic man1--and is not every man1 ,god 
be  thanked1 a potential hero8--has to  
do so1 in all times and  circumstances4 
,in the most heroic age1 as in the most 
unheroic1  he will have to say1 as      
,burns said proudly and humbly of his   
little ,scottish ,songs1 little dewdrops
 of ,celestial ,melody in an  age when  
so much was unmelodious3  ,by ,heaven1  
they shall either  be invaluable or of  
no value2  ,i do not need your guineas  
for  them6  ,it is an element which     
should1 and must1 enter deeply  into all
 settlements of wages here below4  ,they
 never will be  'satisfactoy' otherwise2
  they cannot1 ,o ,mammon ,gospel1 they 
never can6  ,money for my little piece  
of work 'to the extent that  will allow 

me to keep working2'  yes1 this1--unless
 you mean that  ,i shall go my ways     
before the work is all taken out of me3 
but  as to 'wages'--6--    ,on the      
whole1 we do entirely agree with those  
old ,monks1  ,laborare est ,orare4  ,in 
a thousand senses1 from one end of it   
to the other1 true ,work is ,worship4   
,he that works1 whatsoever be  his work1
 he bodies forth the form of ,things    
,unseen2  a small  ,poet every ,worker  
is4  ,the idea1 were it but of his poor 
,delf  ,platter1 how much more of his   
,epic ,poem1 is as yet 'seen1'          
halfseen1 only by himself2  to all      
others it is a thing unseen1            
impossible2  to ,nature herself it is a 
thing unseen1 a thing  which never      
hitherto was2--very 'impossible1' for it
 is as yet a  ,no-thing6  ,the ,unseen  
,powers had need to watch over such a   
man2  he works in and for the ,unseen4  
,alas1 if he look to the ,seen  ,powers 
only1 he may as well quit the business2 
his ,no-thing will  never rightly issue 

as a ,thing1 but as a ,deceptivity1 a   
,sham-  thing1--which it had better not 
do6    ,thy ,no-thing of an ,intended   
,poem1 ,o ,poet who hast looked merely  
to reviewers1 copyrights1 booksellers1  
popularities1 behold it  has not yet    
become a ,thing2  for the truth is not  
in it6  ,though  printed1 hot-pressed1  
reviewed1 celebrated1 sold to the       
twentieth  edition3  what is all that8  
,the ,thing1 in philosophical           
uncommercial language1 is still a       
,no-thing1 mostly semblance1 and        
deception of the sight2--benign         
,oblivion incessantly gnawing at  it1   
impatient till chaos to which it belongs
 do reabsorb it6--    ,he who takes not 
counsel of the ,unseen and ,silent1 from
 him will  never come real visibility   
and speech4  ,thou must descend to the  
,mothers1 to the ,manes1 and            
,hercules-like long suffer and  labour  
there1 wouldst thou emerge with victory 
into the sunlight4  ,as in battle and   
the shock of war1--for is not this a    

battle8--  thou too shalt fear no pain  
or death1 shalt love no ease or life2   
the voice of festive ,lubberlands1 the  
noise of greedy ,acheron  shall alike   
lie silent under thy victorious feet4   
,thy work1 like  ,dante's1 shall 'make  
thee lean for many years4'  ,the world  
and  its wages1 its criticisms1         
counsels1 helps1 impediments1 shall be  
as a waste ocean-flood2  the chaos      
through which thou art to swim  and     
sail4  ,not the waste waves and their   
weedy gulf-streams1  shalt thou take for
 guidance3  thy star alone1--',se to    
segui tua  stella6'  ,thy star alone1   
now clear-beaming over ,chaos1 nay now  
by fits gone out1 disastrously eclipsed3
  this only shalt thou  strive to       
follow4  ,o1 it is a business1 as ,i    
fancy1 that of  weltering your way      
through ,chaos and the murk of ,hell6   
,green-  eyed dragons watching you1     
three-headed ,cerberuses1--not without  
sympathy of their sort6  ,eccovi l'uom  
ch'e stato all',inferno4  ,for in fine1 

as ,poet ,dryden says1 you do walk hand 
in hand with  sheer ,madness1 all the   
way1--who is by no means pleasant       
company6  ,you look fixedly into        
,madness1 and her undiscovered1         
boundless1  bottomless ,night-empire2   
that you may extort new ,wisdom out of  
it1 as an ,eurydice from ,tartarus4     
,the higher the ,wisdom1 the  closer was
 its neighbourhood and kindred with mere
 ,insanity2  literally so2--and thou    
wilt1 with a speechless feeling1 observe
  how highest ,wisdom1 struggling up    
into this world1 has oftentimes  carried
 such tinctures and adhesions of        
,insanity still cleaving  to it hither6 
,all ,works1 each in their degree1 are a
 making of ,madness sane2--  truly      
enough a religious operation2  which    
cannot be carried on  without religion4 
,you have not work otherwise2  you have 
eye-  service1 greedy grasping of wages1
 swift and ever swifter  manufacture of 
semblances to get hold of wages4        
,instead of  better felt-hats to cover  

your head1 you have bigger lath-and-    
plaster hats set traveling the streets  
on wheels4  ,instead of  heavenly and   
earthly ,guidance for the souls of men1 
you have  ',black or ,white ,surplice'  
,controversies1 stuffed hair-and-leather
  ,popes2--terrestrial ,law-wards1      
,lords and ,law-bringers1  'organising  
,labour' in these years1 by passing     
,corn-,laws4  ,with  all which1 alas1   
this distracted ,earth is now full1 nigh
 to  bursting4  ,semblances most smooth 
to the touch and eye2  most  accursed   
nevertheless to body and soul4          
,semblances1 be they of  ,sham-woven    
,cloth or of ,dilettante ,legislation1  
which are not  real wool or substance1  
but ,devil's-dust1 accursed of ,god and 
man6  ,no man has worked1 or can work1  
except religiously2  not  even the poor 
day-labourer1 the weaver of your coat1  
the sewer of  your shoes4  ,all men1 if 
they work not as in a ,great            
,taskmaster's  eye1 will work wrong1    
work unhappily for themselves and you4  

,industrial work1 still under bondage to
 ,mammon1 the rational soul  of it not  
yet awakened1 is a tragic spectacle4    
,men in the  rapidest motion and        
self-motion2  restless1 with convulsive 
energy1 as if driven by ,galvanism1 as  
if possessed by a ,devil2  tearing      
asunder mountains1--to no purpose1 for  
,mammonism is  always ,midas-eared6     
,this is sad1 on the face of it4  ,yet  
courage3  the beneficent ,destinies1    
kind in their sternness1 are  apprising 
us that this cannot continue4  ,labour  
is not a devil1  even while encased in  
,mammonism2  ,labour is ever an         
imprisoned  god1 writhing unconsciously 
or consciously to escape out of         
,mammonism6  ,plugson of ,undershot1    
like ,taillefer of ,normandy1  wants    
victory2  how much happier will even    
,plugson be to have a  ,chivalrous      
victory than a ,chactaw one4  ,the      
unredeemed ugliness  is that of a       
slothful ,people4  ,shew me a ,people   
energetically  busy2  heaving1          

struggling1 all shoulders at the wheel2 
their  heart pulsing1 every muscle      
swelling1 with man's energy and         
will2--,i ,shew you a ,people of whom   
great good is already  predicable2  to  
whom all manner of good is yet certain1 
if their  energy endure4  ,by very      
working1 they will learn2  they have1   
,antaeus-like1 their foot on ,mother    
,fact3  how can they but learn8    ,the 
vulgarest ,plugson of a ,master-,worker1
 who can command ,workers  and get work 
out of them1 is already a considerable  
man4  ,blessed  and thrice-blessed      
symptoms ,i discern of ,master-,workers 
who are  not vulgar men2  who are       
,nobles1 and begin to feel that they    
must  act as such3  all speed to these1 
they are ,england's hope at  present6   
,but in this ,plugson himself1 conscious
 of almost no  nobleness whatever1 how  
much is there6  ,not without man's      
faculty1 insight1 courage1 hard energy1 
is this rugged figure4  ,his words none 
of the wisest2  but his actings cannot  

be  altogether foolish4  ,think1 how    
were it1 stoodst thou suddenly in  his  
shoes6  ,he has to command a thousand   
men4  ,and not imaginary  commanding2   
no1 it is real1 incessantly practical4  
,the evil  passions of so many men 7with
 the ,devil in them1 as in all of us7   
he has to vanquish2  by manifold force  
of speech and of silence1  to repress or
 evade4  ,what a force of silence1 to   
say nothing of  the others1 is in       
,plugson6  ,for these his thousand men  
he has to  provide raw-material1        
machinery1 arrangement1 house-room2  and
  ever at the week's end1 wages by due  
sale4  ,no ,civil-,list1 or             
,goulburn-,baring ,budget has he to fall
 back upon1 for paying of  his regiment2
  he has to pick his supplies from this 
confused  face of the whole ,earth and  
,contemporaneous ,history1 by his       
dexterity alone4  ,there will be dry    
eyes if he fail to do it6--,he          
exclaims1 at present1 'black in the     
face1' near strangled with  ,dilettante 

,legislation3  ,let me have elbow-room1 
throat-room1  and ,i will not fail6     
,no1 ,i will spin yet1 and conquer like 
a  giant3  what 'sinews of war' lie in  
me1 untold resources towards  the       
,conquest of this ,planet1 if instead of
 hanging me1 you  husband them1 and help
 me6--,my indomitable friend1 it is     
true2  and thou shalt and must be       
helped4    ,this is not a man ,i would  
kill and strangle by ,corn-,laws1 even  
if  ,i could6  ,no1 ,i would fling my   
,corn-,laws and ,shotbelts to the       
,devil2  and try to help this man4  ,i  
would teach him1 by noble  precept and  
law-precept1 by noble example most of   
all1 that  ,mammonism was not the       
essence of his or of my station in      
,god's  ,universe2  but the adscititious
 excrescence of it2  the gross1         
terrene1 godless embodiment of it2      
which would have to become1  more or    
less1 a godlike one4  ,by noble real    
legislation1 by  true noble's-work1 by  
unwearied1 valiant1 and were it wageless

  effort1 in my ,parliament and in my   
,parish1 ,i would aid1  constrain1      
encourage him to effect more or less    
this blessed  change4  ,i should know   
that it would have to be effected2  that
  unless it were in some measure        
effected1 he and ,i and all of us1  ,i  
first and soonest of all1 were doomed to
 perdition6--,effected  it will be2     
unless it were a ,demon that made this  
,universe2  which ,i1 for my own part1  
do at no moment1 under no form1 in the  
least believe4    ,may it please your   
,serene ,highnesses1 your ,majesties1   
,lordships  and ,law-wardships1 the     
proper ,epic of this world is not now   
',arms  and the ,man2'  how much less1  
',shirt-frills and the ,man3'  no1 it   
is now ',tools and the ,man3'  that1    
henceforth to all time is now  our      
,epic2--and you1 first of all others1 ,i
 think1 were wise to  take note of that6
          ,chapter ,,xiii    ,democracy 
,if the ,serene ,highnesses and         
,majesties do not take note of that1    

then1 as ,i perceive1 that will take    
note of itself6  ,the time  for levity1 
insincerity1 and idle babble and        
play-acting1 in all  kinds1 is gone by2 
it is a serious1 grave time4  ,old      
long-vexed  questions1 not yet solved in
 logical words or parliamentary laws1   
are fast solving themselves in facts1   
somewhat unblessed to  behold6  ,this   
largest of questions1 this question of  
,work and  ,wages1 which ought1 had we  
heeded ,heaven's voice1 to have begun   
two generations ago or more1 cannot be  
delayed longer without  hearing ,earth's
 voice4  ',labour' will verily need to  
be somewhat  'organised1' as they       
say1--,god knows with what difficulty4  
,man  will actually need to have his    
debts and earnings a little better  paid
 by man2  which1 let ,parliaments speak 
of them or be silent  of them1 are      
eternally his due from man1 and cannot1 
without  penalty and at length not      
without death-penalty1 be withheld4     
,how much ought to cease among us       

straightway2  how much ought to  begin  
straightway1 while the hours yet are6   
,truly they are strange results to which
 this of leaving all to  ',cash2'  of   
quietly shutting up the ,god's ,temple1 
and gradually  opening wide-open the    
,mammon's ,temple1 with ',laissez-faire1
 and  ,every man for himself1'--have led
 us in these days6  ,we have  ,upper1   
speaking ,classes1 who indeed do 'speak'
 as never man spake  before2  the       
withered flimsiness1 the godless        
baseness and  barrenness of whose       
,speech might of itself indicate what   
kind of  ,doing and practical ,governing
 went on under it6  ,for ,speech is  the
 gaseous element out of which most kinds
 of ,practice and  ,performance1        
especially all kinds of moral           
,performance1 condense  themselves1 and 
take shape2  as the one is1 so will the 
other be4  ,descending1 accordingly1    
into the ,dumb ,class in its ,stockport 
,cellars and ,poor-,law ,bastilles1 have
 we not to announce that they  also are 

hitherto unexampled in the ,history of  
,adam's ,posterity8    ,life was never a
 ,may-game for men3  in all times the   
lot of the  dumb millions born to toil  
was defaced with manifold sufferings1   
injustices1 heavy burdens1 avoidable and
 unavoidable2  not play  at all1 but    
hard work that made the sinews sore1 and
 the heart  sore4  ,as bond-slaves1     
villani1 bordarii1 sochemanni1 nay      
indeed as dukes1 earls and kings1 men   
were oftentimes made weary  of their    
life2  and had to say1 in the sweat of  
their brow and of  their soul1 ,behold  
it is not sport1 it is grim earnest1 and
 our  back can bear no more6  ,who knows
 not what massacrings and  harryings    
there have been2  grinding1             
long-continuing1 unbearable             
injustices1--till the heart had to rise 
in madness1 and some ,eu  ,sachsen1     
nimith euer sachses1 ,you ,saxons1 out  
with your gully-  knives then6  ,you    
,saxons1 some 'arrestment1' partial     
'arrestment  of the ,knaves and         

,dastards' has become                   
indispensable6--,the page  of ,dryasdust
 is heavy with such details4    ,and yet
 ,i will venture to believe that in no  
time1 since the  beginnings of ,society1
 was the lot of those same dumb millions
 of  toilers so entirely unbearable as  
it is even in the days now  passing over
 us4  ,it is not to die1 or even to die 
of hunger1  that makes a man wretched2  
many men have died2  all men must       
die1--the last exit of us all is in a   
,fire-,chariot of ,pain4  ,but  it is to
 live miserable we know not why2  to    
work sore and yet  gain nothing2  to be 
heart-worn1 weary1 yet isolated1        
unrelated1  girt in with a cold         
universal ,laissez-faire3  it is to die 
slowly  all our life long1 imprisoned in
 a deaf1 dead1 ,infinite  ,injustice1 as
 in the accursed iron belly of a        
,phalaris' ,bull6  ,this is and remains 
forever intolerable to all men whom ,god
  has made4  ,do we wonder at ,french   
,revolutions1 ,chartisms1  ,revolts of  

,three ,days8  ,the times1 if we will   
consider them1  are really unexampled4  
,never before did ,i hear of an ,irish  
,widow reduced to 'prove her  sisterhood
 by dying of typhus-fever and infecting 
seventeen  persons1'--saying in such    
undeniable way1 ,you see1 ,i was your   
sister6  ,sisterhood1 brotherhood was   
often forgotten2  but not  till the rise
 of these ultimate ,mammon and ,shotbelt
 ,gospels1 did  ,i ever see it so       
expressly denied4  ,if no pious ,lord or
 ,law-  ward would remember it1 always  
some pious ,lady 7',hlaf-dig1'          
,benefactress1 ',loaf-giveress1' they   
say she is1--blessings on  her beautiful
 heart67 was there1 with mild           
mother-voice and hand1  to remember it2 
some pious thoughtful ,elder1 what we   
now call  ',prester1' ,presbyter or     
',priest1' was there to put all men in  
mind of it1 in the name of the ,god who 
had made all4    ,not even in ,black    
,dahomey was it ever1 ,i think1         
forgotten to the  typhus-fever length4  

,mungo ,park1 resourceless1 had sunk    
down to  die under the ,negro           
,village-,tree1 a horrible ,white object
 in the  eyes of all4  ,but in the poor 
,black ,woman1 and her daughter who     
stood aghast at him1 whose earthly      
wealth and funded capital  consisted of 
one small calabash of rice1 there lived 
a heart  richer than ',laissez-faire3'  
they1 with a royal munificence1  boiled 
their rice for him2  they sang all night
 to him1 spinning  assiduous on their   
cotton distaffs1 as he lay to sleep3    
,let us  pity the poor white man2  no   
mother has he to fetch him milk1 no     
sister to grind him corn6  ,thou poor   
black ,noble ,one1--thou  ,lady too3    
did not a ,god make thee too2  was there
 not in thee  too something of a ,god6--
      ,gurth born thrall of ,cedric the 
,saxon has been greatly pitied by       
,dryasdust and others4  ,gurth with the 
brass collar round his  neck1 tending   
,cedric's pigs in the glades of the     
wood1 is not  what ,i call an exemplar  

of human felicity3  but ,gurth1 with the
  sky above him1 with the free air and  
tinted boscage and umbrage  round him1  
and in him at least the certainty of    
supper and social  lodging when he came 
home2  ,gurth to me seems happy1 in     
comparison with many a ,lancashire and  
,buckinghamshire man1 of  these days1   
not born thrall of anybody6  ,gurth's   
brass collar did  not gall him3  ,cedric
 deserved to be his ,master4  ,the pigs 
were  ,cedric's1 but ,gurth too would   
get his parings of them4  ,gurth had    
the inexpressible satisfaction of       
feeling himself related  indissolubly1  
though in a rude brass-collar way1 to   
his fellow-  mortals in this ,earth4    
,he had superiors1 inferiors1 equals4-- 
,gurth is now 'emancipated' long since2 
has what we call  ',liberty4'  ,liberty1
 ,i am told1 is a ,divine thing4        
,liberty when  it becomes the ',liberty 
to die by starvation' is not so divine6 
,liberty8  ,the true liberty of a man1  
you would say1 consisted in  his finding

 out1 or being forced to find out the   
right path1 and  to walk thereon4  ,to  
learn1 or to be taught1 what work he    
actually was able for2  and then1 by    
permission1 persuasion1 and  even       
compulsion1 to set about doing of the   
same6  ,that is his  true blessedness1  
honour1 'liberty' and maximum of        
wellbeing3  if  liberty be not that1 ,i 
for one have small care about liberty4  
,you do not allow a palpable madman to  
leap over precipices2  you  violate his 
liberty1 you that are wise2  and keep   
him1 were it in  strait-waistcoats1 away
 from the precipices6  ,every stupid1   
every  cowardly and foolish man is but a
 less palpable madman3  his true        
liberty were that a wiser man1 that any 
and every wiser man1  could1 by brass   
collars1 or in whatever milder or       
sharper way1  lay hold of him when he   
was going wrong1 and order and compel   
him  to go a little righter4  ,o if thou
 really art my ,senior1  ,seigneur1 my  
,elder1 ,presbyter or ,priest1--if thou 

art in very  deed my ,wiser1 may a      
beneficent instinct lead and impel thee 
to  'conquer' me1 to command me6  ,if   
thou do know better than ,i what  is    
good and right1 ,i conjure thee in the  
name of ,god1 force me to  do it2  were 
it by never such brass collars1 whips   
and handcuffs1  leave me not to walk    
over precipices6  ,that ,i have been    
called1  by all the ,newspapers1 a 'free
 man' will avail me little1 if my       
pilgrimage have ended in death and      
wreck4  ,o that the ,newspapers  had    
called me slave1 coward1 fool1 or what  
it pleased their sweet  voices to name  
me1 and ,i had attained not death1 but  
life6--  ,liberty requires new          
definitions4    ,a conscious abhorrence 
and intolerance of ,folly1 of ,baseness2
  ,stupidity1 ,poltroonery and all that 
brood of things1 dwells deep  in some   
men3  still deeper in others an         
unconscious abhorrence  and intolerance1
 clothed moreover by the beneficent     
,supreme  ,powers in what stout         

appetites1 energies1 egoisms so-called1 
are  suitable to it2--these latter are  
your ,conquerors1 ,romans1  ,normans    
,russians1 ,indo-,english2  ,founders of
 what we call  ,aristocracies3  ,which  
indeed have they not the most 'divine   
right' to found2--being themselves very 
truly greek1 ,,bravest1  ,,best2 and    
conquering generally a confused rabble  
of ,,worst1 or at  lowest2  clearly     
enough1 of ,,worse8  ,i think their     
divine right1  tried1 with affirmatory  
verdict1 in the greatest ,law-,court    
known  to me1 was good6  ,a class of men
 who are dreadfully exclaimed  against  
by ,dryasdust2  of whom nevertheless    
beneficent ,nature has  oftentimes had  
need2  and may1 alas1 again have need4  
,when1 across the hundredfold poor      
scepticisms1 trivialisms1 and           
constitutional cobwebberies of          
,dryasdust1 you catch any  glimpse of a 
,william the ,conqueror1 a ,tancred of  
,hauteville or  such like1--do you not  
discern veritably some rude outline of a

  true ,god-made ,king2  whom not the   
,champion of ,england cased in  tin1 but
 all ,nature and the ,universe were     
calling to the throne8  ,it is          
absolutely necessary that he get        
thither4  ,nature does not  mean her    
poor ,saxon children to perish1 of      
obesity1 stupor or  other malady1 as    
yet3  a stern ,ruler and ,line of       
,rulers therefore  is called in1--a     
stern but most beneficent ,perpetual    
,house-  ,surgeon is called in1 by      
,nature1 and even the appropriate fees  
are provided for him6  ,dryasdust talks 
lamentably about ,hereward  and the ,fen
 ,counties2  fate of ,earl ,waltheof2   
,yorkshire and the  ,north reduced to   
ashes2  all which is undoubtedly        
lamentable4  ,but even ,dryasdust       
apprises me of one fact3  ',a child2  in
 this  ,william's reign1 might have     
carried a purse of gold from end to  end
 of ,england4  ,my erudite friend1 it is
 a fact which outweighs  a thousand6    
,sweep away thy constitutional1         

sentimental and other  cobwebberies2    
look eye to eye1 if thou still have any 
eye1 in  the face of this big burly     
,william ,bastard3  thou wilt see a     
fellow of most flashing discernment1 of 
most strong lionheart2--  in whom1 as it
 were1 within a frame of oak and iron1  
the gods  have planted the soul of 'a   
man of genius6'  ,dost thou call that   
nothing8  ,i call it an immense         
thing6--,rage enough was in this        
,willelmus ,conquestor1 rage enough for 
his occasions2--and yet the  essential  
element of him1 as of all such men1 is  
not scorching  fire1 but shining        
illuminative light4  ,fire and light are
  strangely interchangeable2  nay1 at   
bottom1 ,i have found them  different   
forms of the same most godlike          
'elementary substance'  in our world3  a
 thing worth stating in these days4     
,the  essential element of this         
,conquestor is1 first of all1 the most  
sun-eyed perception of what is really   
what on this ,god's-,earth2--  which1   

thou wilt find1 does mean at bottom     
',justice1' and  ',virtues' not a few3  
,conformity to what the ,maker has seen 
good to make2  that1 ,i suppose1 will   
mean ,justice and a ,virtue  or two8--  
,dost thou think ,willelmus ,conquestor 
would have tolerated ten  years' jargon1
 one hour's jargon1 on the propriety of 
killing  ,cotton-manufactures by        
partridge ,corn-,laws8  ,i fancy1 this  
was  not the man to knock out of his    
night's-rest with nothing but a  noisy  
bedlamism in your mouth6  ,assist us    
still better to bush  the partridges2   
strangle ,plugson who spins the         
shirts8--,par  la ,splendeur de         
,dieu6--,dost thou think ,willelmus     
,conquestor1 in  this new time1 with    
,steam-engine ,captains of ,industry on 
one hand  of him1 and ,joe-,manton      
,captains of ,idleness on the other1    
would  have doubted which was really the
 ,,best2  which did deserve  strangling1
 and which not8    ,i have a certain    
indestructible regard for ,willelmus    

,conquestor4  ,a resident               
,house-,surgeon1 provided by ,nature for
 her beloved  ,english ,people1 and even
 furnished with the requisite 'fees1' as
  ,i said2  for he by no means felt     
himself doing ,nature's work1  this     
,willelmus1 but his own work            
exclusively6  ,and his own work  withal 
it was2  informed 'par la ,splendeur de 
,dieu4'--,i say1 it  is necessary to get
 the work out of such a man1 however    
harsh  that be6  ,when a world1 not yet 
doomed for death1 is rushing down  to   
ever-deeper ,baseness and ,confusion1 it
 is a dire necessity of  ,nature's to   
bring in her ,,aristocracies1 her       
,,best1 even by  forcible methods4      
,when their descendants or              
representatives  cease entirely to be   
the ,best1 ,nature's poor world will    
very  soon rush down again to ,baseness2
  and it becomes a dire  necessity of   
,nature's to cast them out4  ,hence     
,french  ,revolutions1 ,five-point      
,charters1 ,democracies1 and a mournful 

list of ,etceteras1 in these our        
afflicted times4    ,to what extent     
,democracy has now reached1 how it      
advances  irresistible with ominous1    
ever-increasing speed1 he that will     
open his eyes on any province of human  
affairs may discern4  ,democracy is     
everywhere the inexorable demand of     
these ages1  swiftly fulfilling itself4 
,from the thunder of ,napoleon battles1 
to the jabbering of ,open-vestry in ,st4
 ,mary ,axe1 all things  announce       
,democracy4  ,a distinguished man1 whom 
some of my readers  will hear again with
 pleasure1 thus writes to me what in    
these  days he notes from the ,wahngasse
 of ,weissnichtwo1 where our  ,london   
fashions seem to be in full vogue4  ,let
 us hear the ,herr  ,teufelsdrockh      
again1 were it but the smallest word6   
',democracy1 which means despair of     
finding any ,heroes to govern  you1 and 
contented putting up with the want of   
them1--alas1 thou  too1 mein ,lieber1   
seest well how close it is of kin to    

,atheism1 and other sad ,isms3 he who   
discovers no ,god  whatever1 how shall  
he discover ,heroes1 the visible        
,temples of  ,god8--,strange enough     
meanwhile it is1 to observe with what   
thoughtlessness1 here in our rigidly    
,conservative ,country1 men  rush into  
,democracy with full cry4  ,beyond      
doubt1 his ,excellenz  the              
,titular-,herr ,ritter ,kauderwalsch von
 ,pferdefuss-,quacksalber1  he our      
distinguished ,conservative ,premier    
himself1 and all but  the thicker-headed
 of his ,party1 discern ,democracy to be
  inevitable as death1 and are even     
desperate of delaying it much6    ',you 
cannot walk the streets without         
beholding ,democracy announce  itself3  
the very ,tailor has become1 if not     
properly  ,sansculottic1 which to him   
would be ruinous1 yet a ,tailor         
unconsciously symbolising1 and          
prophesying with his scissors1 the      
reign of ,equality4  ,what now is our   
fashionable coat8  ,a thing of          

superfinest texture1 of deeply meditated
 cut2  with ,malineslace  cuffs2        
quilted with gold2  so that a man can   
carry1 without  difficulty1 an estate of
 land on his back8  ,keineswegs1 ,by no 
manner of means6  ,the ,sumptuary ,laws 
have fallen into such a  state of       
desuetude as was never before seen4     
,our fashionable  coat is an amphibium  
between barn-sack and drayman's doublet4
  ,the cloth of it is studiously coarse2
  the colour a speckled  sootblack or   
rust-brown grey2--the nearest approach  
to a  ,peasant's4  ,and for shape1--thou
 shouldst see it6  ,the last            
consummation of the year now passing    
over us is definable as  ,three ,bags3  
a big bag for the body1 two small bags  
for the arms1  and by way of collar a   
hem6  ,the first ,antique ,cheruscan    
who1 of  felt-cloth or bear's-hide1 with
 bone or metal needle1 set about  making
 himself a coat1 before ,tailors had yet
 awakened out of  ,nothing1--did not he 
make it even so8  ,a loose wide poke for

  body1 with two holes to let out the   
arms2  this was his original  coat3  to 
which holes it was soon visible that two
 small loose  pokes1 or sleeves1 easily 
appended1 would be an improvement4      
',thus has the ,tailor-art1 so to speak1
 overset itself1 like most  other       
things2  changed its centre-of-gravity2 
whirled suddenly  over from zenith to   
nadir4  ,your ,stulz1 with huge         
,somerset1  vaults from his high        
shopboard down to the depths of primal  
savagery1--carrying much along with him6
  ,for ,i will invite thee  to reflect  
that the ,tailor1 as topmost ultimate   
froth of ,human  ,society1 is indeed    
swift-passing1 evanescent1 slippery to  
decipher2  yet significant of much1 nay 
of all4  ,topmost  evanescent froth1 he 
is churned up from the very lees1 and   
from  all intermediate regions of the   
liquor4  ,the general outcome he1       
visible to the eye1 of what men aimed to
 do1 and were obliged and  enabled to   
do1 in this one public department of    

symbolising  themselves to each other by
 covering of their skins4  ,a smack of  
all ,human ,life lies in the ,tailor3   
its wild struggles towards  beauty1     
dignity1 freedom1 victory2  and how1    
hemmed in by ,sedan  and ,huddersfield1 
by ,nescience1 ,dulness1 ,prurience1 and
 other sad  necessities and laws of     
,nature1 it has attained just to this3  
,grey ,savagery of ,three ,sacks with a 
hem6    ',when the very ,tailor verges  
towards ,sansculottism1 is it not       
ominous8  ,the last ,divinity of poor   
mankind dethroning himself2  sinking his
 taper too1 flame downmost1 like the    
,genius of ,sleep  or of ,death2        
admonitory that ,tailor-time shall be no
 more6--,for  little as one could advise
 ,sumptuary ,laws at the present epoch1 
yet nothing is clearer than that where  
ranks do actually exist1  strict        
division of costumes will also be       
enforced2  that if we  ever have a new  
,hierarchy and ,aristocracy1            
acknowledged veritably  as such1 for    

which ,i daily pray ,heaven1 the ,tailor
 will reawaken2  and be1 by volunteering
 and appointment1 consciously and       
unconsciously1 a safeguard of that      
same4'--,certain farther  observations1 
from the same invaluable pen1 on our    
never-ending  changes of mode1 our      
'perpetual nomadic and even ape-like    
appetite for change and mere change' in 
all the equipments of our  existence1   
and the 'fatal revolutionary character' 
thereby  manifested1 we suppress for the
 present4  ,it may be admitted that     
,democracy1 in all meanings of the word1
 is in full career2  irresistible by any
 ,ritter ,kauderwalsch or other ,son of 
,adam1 as  times go4  ',liberty' is a   
thing men are determined to have4       
,but truly1 as ,i had to remark in the  
meanwhile1 'the liberty of  not being   
oppressed by your fellow man' is an     
indispensable1 yet  one of the most     
insignificant fractional parts of ,human
 ,liberty4  ,no man oppresses thee1 can 
bid thee fetch or carry1 come or go1    

without reason shewn4  ,true2  from all 
men thou art emancipated3  but from     
,thyself and from the ,devil--8  ,no    
man1 wiser1 unwiser1  can make thee come
 or go3  but thy own futilities1        
bewilderments1  thy false appetites for 
,money1 ,windsor ,georges and such like8
  ,no  man oppresses thee1 ,o free and  
independent ,franchiser3  but does  not 
this stupid ,porter-pot oppress thee8   
,no ,son of ,adam can bid  thee come or 
go2  but this absurd ,pot of ,heavy-wet1
 this can and  does6  ,thou art the     
thrall not of ,cedric the ,saxon1 but of
 thy  own brutal appetites1 and this    
scoured dish of liquor4  ,and thou      
pratest of thy liberty8  ,thou entire   
blockhead6    ,heavy-wet and gin3  alas1
 these are not the only kinds of        
thraldom4  ,thou who walkest in a vain  
shew1 looking out with  ornamental      
dilettante sniff and serene supremacy at
 all ,life and  all ,death2  and amblest
 jauntily2  perking up thy poor talk    
into  crotchets1 thy poor conduct into  

fatuous somnambulisms2--and art  as an  
'enchanted ,ape' under ,god's sky1 where
 thou mightest have  been a man1 had    
proper ,schoolmasters and ,conquerors1  
and  ,constables with cat-o'-nine tails1
 been vouchsafed thee3  dost  thou call 
that 'liberty8'  ,or your unreposing    
,mammon-worshipper1  again1 driven1 as  
if by ,galvanisms1 by ,devils and       
,fixed-,ideas1  who rises early and sits
 late1 chasing the impossible2          
straining  every faculty 'to fill       
himself with the east wind '--how       
merciful  were it1 could you1 by mild   
persuasion or by the severest tyranny   
so-called1 check him in his mad path1   
turn him into a wiser one6  ,all painful
 tyranny1 in that case again1 were but  
mild 'surgery2'  the pain of it cheap1  
as health and life1 instead of galvanism
  and fixed-idea1 are cheap at any      
price4    ,sure enough1 of all paths a  
man could strike into1 there is1 at  any
 given moment1 a best path for every    
man2  a thing which1  here and now1 it  

were of all things wisest for him to    
do2--which  could he be but led or      
driven to do1 he were then doing 'like a
  man1' as we phrase it2  all men and   
gods agreeing with him1 the  whole      
,universe virtually exclaiming          
,well-done to him6  ,his  success1 in   
such case1 were complete2  his felicity 
a maximum4  ,this path1 to find this    
path and walk in it1 is the one thing   
needful for him4  ,whatsoever forwards  
him in that1 let it come to  him even in
 the shape of blows and spurnings1 is   
liberty3  whatsoever hinders him1 were  
it wardmotes1 open-vestries1            
pollbooths1 tremendous cheers1 rivers of
 heavy-wet1 is slavery4    ,the notion  
that a man's liberty consists in giving 
his vote at  election-hustings1 and     
saying1 ,behold now ,i too have my      
twenty-  thousandth part of a ,talker in
 our ,national ,palaver2  will not  all 
the gods be good to me8--is one of the  
pleasantest6  ,nature  nevertheless is  
kind at present2  and puts it into the  

heads of  many1 almost of all4  ,the    
liberty especially which has to         
purchase itself by social isolation1 and
 each man standing  separate from the   
other1 having 'no business with him' but
 a  cash-account3  this is such a       
liberty as the ,earth seldom saw2--  as 
the ,earth will not long put up with1   
recommend it how you may4  ,this liberty
 turns out1 before it have long         
continued in action1  with all men      
flinging up their caps round it1 to be1 
for the  ,working ,millions a liberty to
 die by want of food2  for the ,idle    
,thousands and ,units1 alas1 a still    
more fatal liberty to live in  want of  
work2  to have no earnest duty to do in 
this ,god's-,world  any more4  ,what    
becomes of a man in such predicament8   
,earth's  ,laws are silent2  and        
,heaven's speak in a voice which is not 
heard4  ,no work1 and the ineradicable  
need of work1 give rise to  new very    
wondrous life-philosophies1 new very    
wondrous life-  practices6              

,dilettantism1 ,pococurantism1          
,beau-,brummelism1 with  perhaps an     
occasional1 half-mad1 protesting burst  
of ,byronism1  establish themselves3  at
 the end of a certain period1--if you go
  back to 'the ,dead ,sea1' there is1   
say our ,moslem friends1 a very  strange
 ',sabbath-day' transacting itself      
there6--,brethren1 we  know but         
imperfectly yet1 after ages of          
,constitutional  ,government1 what      
,liberty is and ,slavery is4            
,democracy1 the chase of ,liberty in    
that direction1 shall go its  full      
course2  unrestrainable by him of       
,pferdefuss-,quacksalber1 or  any of his
 household4  ,the ,toiling ,millions of 
,mankind1 in most  vital need and       
passionate instinctive desire of        
,guidance1 shall  cast away             
,false-,guidance2  and hope1 for an     
hour1 that ,no-  ,guidance will suffice 
them3  but it can be for an hour only4  
,the  smallest item of human ,slavery is
 the oppression of man by his           

,mock-,superiors2  the palpablest1 but  
,i say at bottom the  smallest4  ,let   
him shake off such oppression1 trample  
it  indignantly under his feet2  ,i     
blame him not1 ,i pity and commend  him4
  ,but oppression by your               
,mock-,superiors well shaken off1 the   
grand problem yet remains to solve3     
,that of finding government  by your    
,real-,superiors6  ,alas1 how shall we  
ever learn the  solution of that1       
benighted1 bewildered1 sniffing1        
sneering1  godforgetting unfortunates as
 we are8  ,it is a work for  centuries2 
to be taught us by tribulations1        
confusions1  insurrections1             
obstructions2  who knows if not by      
conflagration  and despair6  ,it is a   
lesson inclusive of all other lessons2  
the  hardest of all lessons to learn4   
,one thing ,i do know3  ,those ,apes    
chattering on the branches by  the ,dead
 ,sea never got it learned2  but chatter
 there to this  day4  ,to them no ,moses
 need come a second time2  a thousand   

,moseses would be but so many painted   
,phantasms1 interesting  ,fellow-,apes  
of new strange aspect1--whom they would 
'invite to  dinner1' be glad to meet    
with in lion-soirees4  ,to them the     
voice  of ,prophecy1 of heavenly        
monition1 is quite ended4  ,they chatter
  there1 all ,heaven shut to them1 to   
the end of the world4  ,the             
unfortunates6  ,o1 what is dying of     
hunger1 with honest tools in  your hand1
 with a manful purpose in your heart1   
and much real  labour lying round you   
done1 in comparison8  ,you honestly quit
  your tools2  quit a most muddy        
confused coil of sore work1 short       
rations1 of sorrows1 dispiritments and  
contradictions1 having now  honestly    
done with it all2--and await1 not       
entirely in a  distracted manner1 what  
the ,supreme ,powers1 and the ,silences 
and  the ,eternities may have to say to 
you4    ,a second thing ,i know3  ,this 
lesson will have to be learned1--  under
 penalties6  ,england will either learn 

it1 or ,england also  will cease to     
exist among ,nations4  ,england will    
either learn to  reverence its ,heroes1 
and discriminate them from its          
,sham-,heroes  and ,valets and          
gaslighted ,histrios2  and to prize them
 as the  audible ,god's-voice1 amid all 
inane jargons and temporary market-     
cries1 and say to them with             
heart-loyalty1 ,be ye ,king and         
,priest1 and ,gospel and ,guidance for  
us3  or else ,england will  continue to 
worship new and ever-new forms of       
,quackhood1--and so1  with what         
resiliences and reboundings matters     
little1 go down to  the ,father of      
,quacks6  ,can ,i dread such things of  
,england8  ,wretched1 thick-eyed1       
gross-hearted mortals1 why will ye      
worship  lies1 and ',stuffed            
,clothes-suits1 created by the          
ninth-parts of  men6'  ,it is not your  
purses that suffer2  your farm-rents1   
your  commerces1 your mill-revenues1    
loud as ye lament over these2  no1  it  

is not these alone1 but a far deeper    
than these3  it is your  ,souls that lie
 dead1 crushed down under despicable    
,nightmares1  ,atheisms1 ,brain-fumes2  
and are not ,souls at all1 but mere     
succedanea for salt to keep your bodies 
and their appetites  from putrefying6   
,your cotton-spinning and               
thrice-miraculous  mechanism1 what is   
this too1 by itself1 but a larger kind  
of  ,animalism8  ,spiders can spin1     
,beavers can build and shew             
contrivance2  the ,ant lays up          
accumulation of capital1 and has1  for  
aught ,i know1 a ,bank of ,antland4  ,if
 there is no soul in man  higher than   
all that1 did it reach to sailing on the
 cloud-rack  and spinning sea-sand2     
then ,i say1 man is but an animal1 a    
more  cunning kind of brute3  he has no 
soul1 but only a succedaneum  for salt4 
,whereupon1 seeing himself to be truly  
of the beasts  that perish1 he ought to 
admit it1 ,i think2--and also           
straightway  universally kill himself2  

and so1 in a manlike manner1 at least1  
end1 and wave these bruteworlds his     
dignified farewell6--          ,chapter 
,,xiv    ,sir ,jabesh ,windbag          
,oliver ,cromwell1 whose body they hung 
on their ,tyburn ,gallows  because he   
had found the ,christian ,religion      
inexecutable in this  country1 remains  
to me by far the remarkablest ,governor 
we have  had here for the last five     
centuries or so4  ,for the last five    
centuries1 there has been no ,governor  
among us with anything like  similar    
talent2  and for the last two centuries1
 no ,governor1 we  may say1 with the    
possibility of similar talent1--with an 
idea in  the heart of him capable of    
inspiring similar talent1 capable of    
coexisting therewith4  ,when you        
consider that ,oliver believed in  a    
,god1 the difference between ,oliver's  
position and that of any  subsequent    
,governor of this ,country becomes1 the 
more you reflect  on it1 the more       
immeasurable6    ,oliver1 no volunteer  

in ,public ,life1 but plainly a         
ballotted  soldier strictly ordered     
thither1 enters upon ,public ,life2     
comports himself there like a man who   
carried his own life itself  in his     
hand2  like a man whose ,great          
,commander's eye was always  on him4    
,not without results4  ,oliver1         
well-advanced in years1  finds now1 by  
,destiny and his own ,deservings1 or as 
he himself  better phrased it1 by       
wondrous successive ',births of         
,providence1'  the ,government of       
,england put into his hands4  ,in       
senate-house  and battle-field1 in      
counsel and in action1 in private and in
  public1 this man has proved himself a 
man3  ,england and the voice  of ,god1  
through waste awful whirlwinds and      
environments1 speaking  to his great    
heart1 summon him to assert formally1 in
 the way of  solemn ,public ,fact and as
 a new piece of ,english ,law1 what     
informally and by ,nature's eternal ,law
 needed no asserting1 ,that  he1        

,oliver1 was the ,ablest-,man of        
,england1 the ,king of ,england2  that  
he1 ,oliver1 would undertake governing  
,england4  ,his way of  making this same
 'assertion1' the one way he had of     
making it1  has given rise to immense   
criticism3  but the assertion itself in 
what way soever 'made1' is it not       
somewhat of a solemn one1  somewhat of a
 tremendous one6    ,and now do but     
contrast this ,oliver with my right     
honourable  friend ,sir ,jabesh         
,windbag1 ,mr4 ,facing-both-ways1       
,viscount  ,mealymouth1 ,earl of        
,windlestraw1 or what other ,cagliostro1
  ,cagliostrino1 ,cagliostraccio1 the   
course of ,fortune and  ,parliamentary  
,majorities has constitutionally guided 
to that  dignity1 any time during these 
last sorrowful hundred-and-fifty  years6
  ,windbag1 weak in the faith of a ,god1
 which he believes  only at ,church on  
,sundays1 if even then2  strong only in 
the  faith that ,paragraphs and         
,plausibilities bring votes2  that      

,force  of ,public ,opinion1 as he calls
 it1 is the primal ,necessity of        
,things1 and highest ,god we            
have3--,windbag1 if we will consider    
him1 has a problem set before him which 
may be ranged in the  impossible class4 
,he is a ,columbus minded to sail to the
  indistinct country of ,,nowhere1 to   
the indistinct country of               
,,whitherward1 by the friendship of     
those same waste-tumbling  ,water-,alps 
and howling waltz of ,all the ,winds2   
not by conquest  of them and in spite of
 them1 but by friendship of them1 when  
once they have made up their mind6  ,he 
is the most original  ,columbus ,i ever 
saw4  ,nay1 his problem is not an       
impossible one3  he will infallibly     
arrive at that same country of          
,,nowhere2  his  indistinct ,whitherward
 will be a ,thitherward6  ,in the ,ocean
  ,abysses and ,locker of ,davy ,jones1 
there certainly enough do he  and his   
ship's company1 and all their cargo and 
navigatings1 at  last find lodgement4   

,oliver knew that his ,america lay      
,,there1 ,westward ,ho2--and it was  not
 entirely by friendship of the          
,water-,alps1 and yeasty insane         
,froth-,oceans1 that he meant to get    
thither6  ,he sailed  accordingly2  had 
compass-card1 and ,rules of             
,navigation1--older  and greater than   
these ,froth-,oceans1 old as the        
,eternal ,god6  ,or  again1 do but think
 of this4  ,windbag in these his        
probable five  years of office has to   
prosper and get ,paragraphs3  the       
,paragraphs of these five years must be 
his salvation1 or he is a  lost man2    
redemption nowhere in the ,worlds or in 
the ,times  discoverable for him4       
,oliver too would like his ,paragraphs2 
successes1 popularities in these five   
years are not undesirable  to him3  but 
mark1 ,i say1 this enormous             
circumstance3  after  these five years  
are gone and done1 comes an ,eternity   
for ,oliver6  ,oliver has to appear     
before the ,most ,high judge3  the      

utmost flow  of ,paragraphs1 the utmost 
ebb of them1 is now1 in strictest       
arithmetic1 verily no matter at all2    
its exact value zero2  an  account      
altogether erased6  ,enormous2--which a 
man1 in these  days1 hardly fancies with
 an effort6  ,oliver's ,paragraphs are  
all  done1 his battles1 division-lists1 
successes all summed3  and now  in that 
awful unerring ,court of ,review1 the   
real question first  rises1 ,whether he 
has succeeded at all2  whether he has   
not been  defeated miserably            
forevermore8  ,let him come with        
world-wide  ,io-,paens1 these avail him 
not4  ,let him come covered over with   
the world's execrations1 gashed with    
ignominious death-wounds1  the          
gallows-rope about his neck3  what      
avails that8  ,the word  is1 ,come thou 
brave and faithful2  the word is1       
,depart thou  quack and accursed6    ,o 
,windbag1 my right honourable friend1 in
 very truth ,i pity thee4  ,i say1 these
 ,paragraphs1 and low or loud votings of

 thy poor  fellow-blockheads of mankind1
 will never guide thee in any           
enterprise at all4  ,govern a country on
 such guidance8  ,thou  canst not make a
 pair of shoes1 sell a pennyworth of    
tape1 on  such4  ,no1 thy shoes are     
vamped up falsely to meet the market2   
behold1 the leather only seemed to be   
tanned2  thy shoes melt  under me to    
rubbishy pulp1 and are not veritable    
mud-defying  shoes1 but plausible       
vendible similitudes of shoes1--thou    
unfortunate1 and ,i6  ,o my right       
honourable friend1 when the  ,paragraphs
 flowed in1 who was like ,sir ,jabesh8  
,on the swelling  tide he mounted2      
higher1 higher1 triumphant1 heaven-high4
  ,but  the ,paragraphs again ebbed out1
 as unwise ,paragraphs needs must3  ,sir
 ,jabesh lies stranded1 sunk and forever
 sinking in ignominious  ooze2  the     
,mud-nymphs1 and ever-deepening         
bottomless ,oblivion1  his portion to   
eternal time4  ',posterity8'  ,thou     
appealest to  ,posterity1 thou8  ,my    

right honourable friend1 what will      
,posterity  do for thee6  ,the voting of
 ,posterity1 were it continued through  
centuries in thy favour1 will be quite  
inaudible1 extra-forensic1  without any 
effect whatever4  ,posterity can do     
simply nothing for  a man2  nor even    
seem to do much1 if the man be not      
brainsick4  ,besides1 to tell thee      
truth1 the bets are a thousand to one1  
,posterity will not hear of thee1 my    
right honourable friend6  ,posterity1 ,i
 have found1 has generally his own      
,windbags  sufficiently trumpeted in all
 market-places1 and no leisure to       
attend to ours4  ,posterity1 which has  
made of ,norse ,odin a  similitude1 and 
of ,norman ,william a brute monster1    
what will or  can it make of ,english   
,jabesh8  ,o ,heavens1 ',posterity6'    
,these poor persecuted ,scotch          
,covenanters1 said ,i to my inquiring   
,frenchman1 in such stinted ,french as  
stood at command1 ils  s'en appelaient  
a--,a la ,posterite1 interrupted he1    

helping  me out4--,ah1 ,monsieur1 non1  
mille fois non6  ,they appealed to  the 
,eternal ,god2  not to ,posterity at    
all6  ,c'etait different4               
,chapter ,,xv    ,morrison ,again       
,nevertheless1 ,o ,advanced ,liberal1   
one cannot promise thee any  ',new      
,religion1' for some time2  to say      
truth1 ,i do not think we  have the     
smallest chance of any6  ,will the      
candid reader1 by way  of closing this  
,book ,third1 listen to a few transient 
remarks on  that subject8    ,candid    
readers have not lately met with any man
 who had less  notion to interfere with 
their ,thirty-,nine1 or other ,church-  
,articles2  wherewith1 very helplessly  
as is like1 they may have  struggled to 
form for themselves some not            
inconceivable  hypothesis about this    
,universe1 and their own ,existence     
there4  ,superstition1 my friend1 is far
 from me2  ,fanaticism1 for any  ,fanum 
likely to arise soon on this ,earth1 is 
far4  ,a man's  ,church-,articles are   

surely articles of price to him2  and in
  these times one has to be tolerant of 
many strange ',articles1'  and of many  
still stranger ',no-articles1' which go 
about  placarding themselves in a very  
distracted manner1--the numerous  long  
placard-poles1 and questionable infirm  
paste-pots1  interfering with one's     
peaceable thoroughfare sometimes6       
,fancy a man1 moreover1 recommending his
 fellow men to believe in  ,god1 that so
 ,chartism might abate1 and the         
,manchester ,operatives  be got to spin 
peaceably6  ,the idea is more distracted
 than any  placard-pole seen hitherto in
 a public thoroughfare of men6 ,my      
friend1 if thou ever do come to believe 
in ,god1 thou wilt find  all ,chartism1 
,manchester riot1 ,parliamentary        
incompetence1  ,ministries of ,windbag1 
and the wildest ,social ,dissolutions1  
and  the burning up of this entire      
,planet1 a most small matter in         
comparison4  ,brother1 this ,planet1 ,i 
find1 is but an  inconsiderable         

sandgrain in the continents of ,being3  
this  ,planet's poor temporary          
interests1 thy interests and my         
interests  there1 when ,i look fixedly  
into that eternal ,light-,sea and       
,flame-  ,sea with its eternal          
interests1 dwindle literally into       
,nothing2  my speech of it is--silence  
for the while4  ,i will as soon think   
of making ,galaxies and ,star ,systems  
to guide little herring-  vessels by1 as
 of preaching ,religion that the        
,constable may  continue possible4  ,o  
my ,advanced-,liberal friend1 this new  
second  progress1 of proceeding 'to     
invent ,god1' is a very strange one6    
,jacobinism unfolded into               
,saint-,simonism bodes innumerable      
blessed  things2  but the thing itself  
might draw tears from a ,stoic6--,as    
for me1 some twelve or thirteen ,new    
,religions1 heavy ,packets1  most of    
them unfranked1 having arrived here from
 various parts of  the world1 in a space
 of six calendar months1 ,i have        

instructed  my invaluable friend the    
,stamped ,postman to introduce no more  
of  them1 if the charge exceed one      
penny4      ,henry of ,essex1 duelling  
in that ,thames ,island1 near to        
,reading  ,abbey1 had a religion4  ,but 
was it in virtue of his seeing armed    
,phantasms of ,st4 ,edmund 'on the rim  
of the horizon1' looking  minatory on   
him8  ,had that1 intrinsically1 anything
 to do with  his religion at all8       
,henry of ,essex's religion was the     
,inner  ,light or ,moral ,conscience of 
his own soul2  such as is vouchsafed    
still to all souls of men2--which ,inner
 ,light shone here 'through  such       
intellectual and other media' as there  
were2  producing  ',phantasms1'         
,kircherean ,visual-,spectra1 according 
to  circumstances6  ,it is so with all  
men4  ,the clearer my ,inner  ,light may
 shine1 through the less turbid media2  
the fewer  ,phantasms it may            
produce1--the gladder surely shall ,i   
be1 and not  the sorrier6  ,hast thou   

reflected1 ,o serious reader1 ,advanced-
  ,liberal or other1 that the one end1  
essence1 use of all religion  past1     
present and to come1 was this only3  ,to
 keep that same  ,moral ,conscience or  
,inner ,light of ours alive and         
shining--which  certainly the           
',phantasms' and the 'turbid media' were
 not  essential for6  ,all religion was 
here to remind us1 better or  worse1 of 
what we already know better or worse1 of
 the quite  infinite difference there is
 between a ,good man and a ,bad2  to    
bid us love infinitely the one1 abhor   
and avoid infinitely the  other1--strive
 infinitely to be the one1 and not to be
 the  other4  ',all religion issues in  
due ,practical ,hero-worship3  ,he  that
 has a soul unasphyxied will never want 
a religion2  he that  has a soul        
asphyxied1 reduced to a succedaneum for 
salt1 will  never find any religion1    
though you rose from the dead to preach 
him one4    ,but indeed1 when men and   
reformers ask for 'a religion1' it is   

analogous to their asking1 ',what would 
you have us to do8' and  such like4     
,they fancy that their religion too     
shall be a kind of  ,morrison's ,pill1  
which they have only to swallow once1   
and all  will be well4  ,resolutely once
 gulp down your ,religion1 your         
,morrison's ,pill1 you have it all plain
 sailing now2  you can  follow your     
affairs1 your no-affairs1 go along      
money-hunting1  pleasure-hunting1       
dilettanteing1 dangling1 and miming and 
chattering like a ,dead-,sea ,ape3  your
 ,morrison will do your  business for   
you4  ,men's notions are very           
strange6--,brother1 ,i  say there is    
not1 was not1 nor will ever be1 in the  
wide circle  of ,nature1 any ,pill or   
,religion of that character4  ,man      
cannot  afford thee such2  for the very 
gods it is impossible4  ,i advise  thee 
to renounce ,morrison2  once for all1   
quit hope of the  ,universal ,pill4     
,for body1 for soul1 for individual or  
society1  there has not any such article

 been made4  ,non extat4  ,in  ,created 
,nature it is not1 was not1 will not be4
  ,in the void  imbroglios of ,chaos    
only1 and realms of ,bedlam1 does some  
shadow  of it hover1 to bewilder and    
bemock the poor inhabitants there4      
,rituals1 ,liturgies1 ,creeds1          
,hierarchies3 all this is not  religion2
  all this1 were it dead as ,odinism1 as
 ,fetishism1 does  not kill religion at 
all6  ,it is ,stupidity alone1 with     
never so  many rituals1 that kills      
religion4  ,is not this still a ,world8 
,spinning ,cotton under ,arkwright and  
,adam ,smith2  founding ,cities  by the 
,fountain of ,juturna1 on the ,janiculum
 ,mount2  tilling  ,canaan under        
,prophet ,samuel and ,psalmist ,david1  
man is ever man2  the missionary of     
,unseen ,powers2  and great and         
victorious1 while  he continues true to 
his mission2  mean1 miserable1 foiled1  
and  at last annihilated and trodden out
 of sight and memory1 when he  proves   
untrue4  ,brother1 thou art a ,man1 ,i  

think2  thou are not a  mere building   
,beaver1 or two-legged ,cotton-,spider2 
thou hast  verily a ,soul in thee1      
asphyxied or otherwise6  ,sooty         
,manchester1--it too is built on the    
infinite ,abysses2  overspanned by the  
skyey ,firmaments2  and there is birth  
in it1  and death in it2--and it is     
every whit as wonderful1 as fearful1    
unimaginable1 as the oldest ,salem or   
,prophetic ,city4  ,go or  stand1 in    
what time1 in what place we will1 are   
there not  ,immensities1 ,eternities    
over us1 around us1 in us3              
',solemn before us1       ,veiled1 the  
dark ,portal1       ,goal of all        
mortal3--       ,stars silent rest o'er 
us1       ,graves under us silent'      
,between these two great ,silences1 the 
hum of all our spinning  cylinders1     
,trades-,unions1 ,anti-,corn-,law       
,leagues and ,carlton ,clubs  goes on4  
,stupidity itself ought to pause a      
little1 and consider  that4  ,i tell    
thee1 through all thy ,ledgers1         

,supply-and-demand  ,philosophies1 and  
daily most modern melancholy ,business  
and ,cant1  there does shine the        
presence of a ,primeval ,unspeakable2   
and  thou wert wise to recognise1 not   
with lips only1 that same6    ,the      
,maker's ,laws1 whether they are        
promulgated in ,sinai ,thunder1  to the 
ear or imagination1 or quite otherwise  
promulgated1 are  the ,laws of ,god2    
transcendant1 everlasting1 imperatively 
demanding obedience from all men4       
,this1 without any thunder1 or  with    
never so much thunder1 thou1 if there be
 any soul left in  thee1 canst know of a
 truth4  ,the ,universe1 ,i say1 is made
 by  ,law2  the great ,soul of the      
,world is just and not unjust4  ,look   
thou1 if thou have eyes or soul left1   
into this great shoreless               
,incomprehensible3  in the heart of its 
tumultuous ,appearances1  ,embroilments1
 and mad ,time-vortexes1 is there not1  
silent1  eternal1 an ,all-just1 an      
,all-beautiful2  sole ,reality and      

ultimate controlling ,power of the      
whole8  ,this is not a figure of        
speech2  this is a fact4  ,the fact of  
,gravitation known to all  animals1 is  
not surer than this inner ,fact1 which  
may be known to  all men4  ,he who knows
 this1 it will sink1 silent1 awful1     
unspeakable1 into his heart4  ,he will  
say with ,faust3  ,who  dare name ,,him8
  ,most rituals or 'namings' he will    
fall in with  at present1 are like to be
 'namings'--which shall be nameless6    
,in silence1 in the ,eternal ,temple1   
let him worship1 if there be  no fit    
word4  ,such knowledge1 the crown of his
 whole spiritual  being1 the life of his
 life1 let him keep and sacredly walk   
by4  ,he has a religion4  ,hourly and   
daily1 for himself and for the  whole   
world1 a faithful1 unspoken1 but not    
ineffectual prayer  rises1 ,thy will be 
done4  ,his whole work on ,earth is an  
emblematic spoken or acted prayer1 ,be  
the will of ,god done on  ,earth1--not  
the ,devil's will1 or any of the        

,devil's servants'  wills6  ,he has a   
religion1 this man2  an everlasting     
,loadstar  that beams the brighter in   
the ,heavens1 the darker here on ,earth 
grows the night around him4  ,thou1 if  
thou know not this1 what  are all       
rituals1 liturgies1 mythologies1        
mass-chantings1 turnings  of the        
rotatory calabash8  ,they are as        
nothing2  in a good many  respects they 
are as less4  ,divorced from this1      
getting half-  divorced from this1 they 
are a thing to fill one with a kind of  
horror2  with a sacred inexpressible    
pity and fear4  ,the most  tragical     
thing a human eye can look on4  ,it was 
said to the  ,prophet1 ,behold1 ,i will 
shew thee worse things than these3      
women weeping to ,thammuz4  ,that was   
the acme of the ,prophet's              
vision1--then as now4    ,rituals1      
,liturgies1 ,credos1 ,sinai ,thunder3   
,i know more or less  the history of    
these2  the rise1 progress1 decline and 
fall of  these4  ,can thunder from all  

the thirty-two azimuths1 repeated  daily
 for centuries of years1 make ,god's    
,laws more godlike to me8  ,brother1    
,no4  ,perhaps ,i am grown to be a man  
now2  and do not  need the thunder and  
the terror any longer6  ,perhaps ,i am  
above  being frightened2  perhaps it is 
not ,fear1 but ,reverence alone1  that  
shall now lead me6--,revelations1       
,inspirations8  ,yes3  and  thy own     
god-created ,soul2  dost thou not call  
that a  revelation8'  ,who made ,,thee8 
,where didst ,thou come from8  ,the     
,voice of ,eternity1 if thou be not a   
blasphemer and poor asphyxied  mute1    
speaks with that tongue of thine6  ,thou
 art the latest  ,birth of ,nature2  it 
is 'the ,inspiration of the ,almighty'  
that  giveth thee understanding6  ,my   
brother1 my brother6--    ,under baleful
 ,atheisms1 ,mammonisms1 ,joe-,manton   
,dilettantisms1  with their appropriate 
,cants and ,idolisms1 and whatsoever    
scandalous rubbish obscures and all but 
extinguishes the soul of  man1--religion

 now is2  its ,laws1 written if not on  
stone tables1  yet on the ,azure of     
,infinitude1 in the inner heart of      
,god's  ,creation1 certain as ,life1    
certain as ,death6  ,i say the ,laws are
  there1 and thou shalt not disobey     
them4  ,it were better for thee  not4   
,better a hundred deaths than yes4      
,terrible 'penalties'  withal1 if thou  
still need 'penalties1' are there for   
disobeying4  ,dost thou observe1 ,o     
redtape ,politician1 that fiery infernal
  ,phenomenon1 which men name ,,french  
,,revolution1 sailing1 unlooked-  for1  
unbidden2  through thy inane ,protocol  
,dominion3--far-seen1  with splendour   
not of ,heaven8  ,ten centuries will see
 it4  ,there  were ,tanneries at ,meudon
 for human skins4  ,and ,hell1 very     
truly  ,hell1 had power over ,god's     
upper ,earth for a season4  ,the        
cruelest ,portent that has risen into   
created ,space these ten  centuries3    
let us hail it1 with awestruck repentant
 hearts1 as  the voice once more of a   

,god1 though of one in wrath4  ,blessed 
be  the ,god's-voice2  for it is true1  
and ,falsehoods have to cease  before   
it6  ,but for that same preternatural   
quasi-infernal  ,portent2  one could not
 know what to make of this wretched     
world1  in these days' at all4  ,the    
deplorablest quack-ridden1 and now      
hunger-ridden1 downtrodden              
,despicability and ,flebile ,ludibrium1 
of redtape ,protocols1 rotatory         
,calabashes1 ,poor-,law ,bastilles3  who
 is there that could think of its being 
fated to continue8--    ,penalties      
enough1 my brother6  ,this penalty      
inclusive of all3  ,eternal ,death to   
thy own hapless ,self1 if thou heed no  
other4  ,eternal ,death1 ,i say1--with  
many meanings old and new1 of which  let
 this single one suffice us here3  ,the 
eternal impossibility  for thee to be   
aught but a ,chimera1 and               
swift-vanishing  deceptive ,phantasm1 in
 ,god's ,creation2--swift-vanishing1    
never to  reappear3  why should it      

reappear6  ,thou hadst one chance1 thou 
wilt never have another4  ,everlasting  
ages will roll on1 and no  other be     
given thee4  ,the foolishest            
articulate-speaking soul now  extant1   
may not he say to himself3  ,a whole    
,eternity ,i waited to  be born2  and   
now ,i have a whole ,eternity waiting to
 see what ,i  will do when born6  ,this 
is not ,theology1 this is ,arithmetic4  
,and thou but half-discernest this2     
thou but half-believest it8  ,alas1 on  
the shores of the ,dead ,sea on         
,sabbath1 there goes on  a ,tragedy6--  
,but we will leave this of ',religion2' 
of which1 to say truth1 it  is chiefly  
profitable in these unspeakable days to 
keep silence4  ,thou needest no ',new   
,religion2'  nor art thou like to get   
any4  ,thou hast already more 'religion'
 than thou makest use of4  ,this  day1  
thou knowest ten commanded duties1 seest
 in thy mind ten  things which should be
 done1 for one that thou doest6  ,do one
 of  them2  this of itself will skew    

thee ten others which can and  shall be 
done4  ,but my future fate8  ,yes1 thy  
future fate1  indeed8  ,thy future fate1
 while thou makest it the chief         
question1 seems to me--extremely        
questionable6  ,i do not think it  can  
be good4  ,norse ,odin1 immemorial      
centuries ago1 did not he1  though a    
poor ,heathen1 in the dawn of ,time1    
teach us that1 for  the ,dastard there  
was and could be no good fate2  no      
harbour  anywhere1 save down with ,hela1
 in the pool of ,night6  ,dastards1     
,knaves1 are they that lust for         
,pleasure1 that tremble at ,pain4  ,for 
this world and for the next1 ,dastards  
are a class of  creatures made to be    
'arrested2'  they are good for nothing  
else1  can look for nothing else4  ,a   
greater than ,odin has been here4  ,a   
greater than ,odin has taught us--not a 
greater ,dastardism1 ,i  hope6  ,my     
brother1 thou must pray for a soul2     
struggle1 as  with life-and-death       
energy1 to get back thy soul6  ,know    

that  'religion' is no ,morrison's ,pill
 from without1 but a reawakening  of thy
 own ,self from within3--and1 above all1
 leave me alone of  thy 'religions' and 
'new religions' here and elsewhere6  ,i 
am  weary of this sick croaking for a   
,morrison's-,pill religion2  for  any   
and for every such4  ,i want none such2 
and discern all such  to be impossible4 
,the resuscitation of old liturgies     
fallen  dead2  much more1 the           
manufacture of new liturgies that will  
never be alive3  how hopeless           
,stylitisms1 eremite fanaticisms and    
fakeerisms2  spasmodic agonistic        
posturemakings1 and narrow1  cramped1   
morbid1 if forever noble wrestlings3    
all this is not a  thing desirable to   
me4  ,it is a thing the world has done  
once1  --when its beard was not grown as
 now6      ,and yet there is1 at worst1 
one ,liturgy which does remain forever  
unexceptionable3  that of ,praying 7as  
the old ,monks did withal7  by ,working4
  ,and indeed the ,prayer which         

accomplished itself in  special chapels 
at stated hours1 and went not with a    
man1 rising  up from all his ,work and  
,action1 at all moments sanctifying the 
same1--what was it ever good for8       
',work is ,worship3'  yes1 in a  highly 
considerable sense1--which1 in the      
present state of all  'worship1' who is 
there that can unfold6  ,he that        
understands it  well1 understands the   
,prophecy of the whole ,future2  the    
last  ,evangel1 which has included all  
others4  ,its cathedral the ,dome  of   
,immensity1--hast thou seen it8 coped   
with the star-galaxies2  paved with the 
green mosaic of land and ocean2  and for
 altar1  verily1 the ,star-throne of the
 ,eternal6  ,its litany and psalmody    
the noble acts1 the heroic work and     
suffering1 and true ,heart-  utterance  
of all the ,valiant of the ,sons of     
,men4  ,its choir-music  the ancient    
,winds and ,oceans1 and deep-toned1     
inarticulate1 but  most speaking voices 
of ,destiny and ,history1--supernal ever

 as of  old4  ,between two great        
,silences3         ',stars silent rest o
  o'er us1       ,graves under us       
silent6'    ,between which two great    
,silences1 do not1 as we said1 all human
  ,noises1 in the naturalest times1 most
 preternaturally march  and roll8--     
,i will insert this also1 in a lower    
strain1 from ,sauerteig's  ,aesthetische
 ,springwurzel4   ',worship8' says he3  
',before that  inane tumult of ,hearsay 
filled men's heads1 while the world lay 
yet silent1 and the heart true and open1
 many things were  ,worship6 ,to the    
primeval man whatsoever good came1      
descended on  him 7as1 in mere fact1 it 
ever does7 direct from ,god2  whatsoever
  duty lay visible for him1 this a      
,supreme ,god had prescribed4  ,to  the 
present hour ,i ask thee1 ,who else8    
,for the primeval man1 in  whom dwelt   
,thought1 this ,universe was all a      
,temple2  ,life  everywhere a ,worship4 
',what ,worship1 for example1 is there  
not in mere ,washing6  ,perhaps one of  

the most moral things a man1 in common  
cases1 has  it in his power to do4      
,strip thyself1 go into the bath1 or    
were  it into the limpid pool and       
running brook1 and there wash and be    
clean2  thou wilt step out again a purer
 and a better man4  ,this  consciousness
 of perfect outer pureness1 that to thy 
skin there  now adheres no foreign speck
 of imperfection1 how it radiates in  on
 thee1 with cunning symbolic influences1
 to thy very soul6  ,thou hast an       
increase of tendency towards all good   
things  whatsoever4  ,the oldest        
,eastern ,sages1 with joy and holy      
gratitude1 had felt it so1--and that it 
was the ,maker's gift and  will4  ,whose
 else is it8  ,it remains a religious   
duty1 from  oldest times1 in the        
,east4--,nor could ,herr ,professor     
,strauss1  when ,i put the question1    
deny that for us at present it is still 
such here in the ,west6  ,to that dingy 
fuliginous ,operative1  emerging from   
his soot-mill1 what is the first duty ,i

 will  prescribe1 and offer help        
towards8  ,that he clean the skin of    
him4  ,can he pray1 by any ascertained  
method8  ,one knows not  entirely3--but 
with soap and a sufficiency of water1 he
 can wash4  ,even the dull ,english feel
 something of this2  they have a        
saying1 ,cleanliness is near of kin to  
,godliness3--yet never1 in  any country1
 saw ,i operative men worse washed1 and1
 in a climate  drenched with the softest
 cloud-water1 such a scarcity of        
baths6'--,alas1 ,sauerteig1 our         
'operative men' are at present  short   
even of potatoes3  what 'duty' can you  
prescribe to them6    ,or let us give a 
glance at ,china4  ,our new friend1 the 
,emperor  there1 is ,pontiff of three   
hundred million men2  who do all live   
and work1 these many centuries now2     
authentically patronised by  ,heaven so 
far2  and therefore must have some      
'religion' of a  kind4 ,t his           
,emperor-,pontiff has1 in fact1 a       
religious belief of  certain ,laws of   

,heaven2  observes1 with a religious    
rigour1 his  'three thousand            
punctualities1' given out by men of     
insight1 some  sixty generations since1 
as a legible transcript of the same1--  
the ,heavens do seem to say1 not totally
 an incorrect one4  ,he has  not much of
 a ritual1 this ,pontiff-,emperor2      
believes1 it is  likest1 with the old   
,monks1 that ',labour is ,worship4'     
,his most  public ,act of ,worship1 it  
appears1 is the drawing solemnly at a   
certain day1 on the green bosom of our  
,mother ,earth1 when the  ,heavens1     
after dead black winter1 have again with
 their vernal  radiances awakened her1 a
 distinct red ,furrow with the          
,plough1--  signal that all the ,ploughs
 of ,china are to begin ploughing and   
worshipping6  ,it is notable enough4    
,he1 in sight of the ,seen and  ,unseen 
,powers1 draws his distinct red ,furrow 
there2  saying1 and  praying1 in mute   
symbolism1 so many most eloquent things6
    ,if you ask this ,pontiff1 ,who made

 him8  ,what is to become of him  and   
us8 he maintains a dignified reserve2   
waves his hand and  pontiff-eyes over   
the unfathomable deep of ,heaven1 the   
',tsien1'  the azure kingdoms of        
,infinitude2  as if asking1 is it       
doubtful  that we are right well made8  
,can aught that is wrong become  of     
us8--,he and his three hundred millions 
7it is their chief  'punctuality'7 visit
 yearly the ,tombs of their ,fathers2   
each man  the ,tomb of his ,father and  
his ,mother3  alone there1 in silence1  
with what of 'worship' or of other      
thought there may be1 pauses  solemnly  
each man2  the divine ,skies all silent 
over him2  the  divine ,graves1 and this
 divinest ,grave1 all silent under him2 
the pulsings of his own soul1 if he have
 any soul1 alone audible4  ,truly it may
 be a kind of worship6  ,truly1 if a man
 cannot get  some glimpse into the      
,eternities1 looking through this       
portal1--  through what other need he   
try it8    ,our friend the              

,pontiff-,emperor permits cheerfully1   
though with  contempt1 all manner of    
,buddhists1 ,bonzes1 ,talapoins and such
  like1 to build brick ,temples1 on the 
voluntary principle2  to  worship with  
what of chantings1 paper-lanterns and   
tumultuous  brayings1 pleases them2  and
 make night hideous1 since they find    
some comfort in so doing4  ,cheerfully1 
though with contempt4  ,he  is a wiser  
,pontiff than many persons think6  ,he  
is as yet the one  ,chief ,potentate or 
,priest in this ,earth who has made a   
distinct  systematic attempt at what we 
call the ultimate result of all         
religion1 ',practical ,hero-worship3'   
he does incessantly1 with  true anxiety1
 in such way as he can1 search and sift 
7it would  appear7 his whole enormous   
population for the ,wisest born among   
them2  by which ,wisest1 as by born     
,kings1 these three hundred  million men
 are governed4  ,the ,heavens1 to a     
certain extent1 do  appear to           
countenance him4  ,these three hundred  

millions actually  make porcelain1      
souchong tea1 with innumerable other    
things2  and  fight1 under ,heaven's    
flag1 against ,necessity2--and have     
fewer  ,seven-,years ,wars1             
,thirty-,years ,wars1                   
,french-,revolution ,wars1 and  infernal
 fightings with each other1 than certain
 millions  elsewhere have6      ,nay1 in
 our poor distracted ,europe itself1 in 
these newest times1  have there not     
religious voices risen1--with a religion
 new and  yet the oldest2  entirely     
indisputable to all hearts of men8      
,some ,i do know1 who did not call or   
think themselves ',prophets1'  far      
enough from that2  but who were1 in very
 truth1 melodious  ,voices from the     
eternal ,heart of ,nature once again2   
souls  forever venerable to all that    
have a soul4  ,a ,french ,revolution  is
 one phenomenon2  as complement and     
spiritual exponent thereof1  a ,poet    
,goethe and ,german ,literature is to me
 another4  ,the old  ,secular or        

,practical ,world1 so to speak1 having  
gone up in fire1  is not here the       
prophecy and dawn of a new ,spiritual   
,world1  parent of far nobler1 wider1   
new ,practical ,worlds8  ,a ,life of    
,antique devoutness1 ,antique veracity  
and heroism1 has again  become possible1
 is again seen actual there1 for the    
most  modern man4  ,a phenomenon1 as    
quiet as it is1 comparable for          
greatness to no other6  ',the great     
event for the world is1 now as  always1 
the arrival in it of a new ,wise ,man4' 
,touches there are1  be the ,heavens    
ever thanked1 of new ,sphere-melody2    
audible once  more1 in the infinite     
jargoning discords and poor scrannel-   
pipings of the thing called             
,literature2--priceless there1 as the   
voice of new ,heavenly ,psalms6         
,literature1 like the old ,prayer-      
,collections of the first centuries1    
were it 'well selected from  and burnt1'
 contains precious things4  ,for        
,literature1 with all  its              

printing-presses1 puffing-engines and   
shoreless deafening  triviality1 is yet 
'the ,thought of ,thinking ,souls4'  ,a 
sacred  'religion1' if you like the     
name1 does live in the heart of that    
strange froth-ocean1 not wholly froth1  
which we call ,literature2  and will    
more and more disclose itself           
therefrom2--not now as  scorching ,fire3
  the red smoky scorching ,fire has     
purified itself  into white sunny       
,light4  ,is not ,light grander than    
,fire8  ,it is  the same element in a   
state of purity4    ,my ingenuous       
readers1 we will march out of this      
,third ,book with a  rhythmic word of   
,goethe's on our tongue2  a word which  
perhaps  has already sung itself1 in    
dark hours and in bright1 through  many 
a heart4  ,to me1 finding it devout yet 
wholly credible and  veritable1 full of 
piety yet free of cant2  to me joyfully 
finding much in it1 and joyfully missing
 so much in it1 this  little snatch of  
music1 by the greatest ,german ,man1    

sounds like a  stanza in the grand      
,road-,song and ,marching-,song of our  
great  ,teutonic ,kindred1 wending1     
wending1 valiant and victorious1        
through the undiscovered ,deeps of      
,time6  ,he calls it ,mason-            
,lodge1--not ,psalm or ,hymn3           
,the ,mason's ways are       ,a type of 
,existence1       ,and his persistance  
,is as the days are       ,of men in    
this world4         ,the ,future hides  
in it       ,good hap and sorrow2       
,we press still thorow1       ,nought   
that abides in it       ,daunting       
us1--onward4         ,and solemn before 
us1       ,veiled1 the dark ,portal1    
,goal of all mortal3--       ,stars     
silent rest o'er us1       ,graves under
 us silent4         ,while earnest thou 
gazest1       ,comes boding of terror1  
,comes phantasm and error1              
,perplexes the bravest       ,with doubt
 and misgiving4         ,but heard are  
the ,voices1--       ,heard are the     
,sages1       ,the ,worlds and the      

,ages3       ,choose well1 your choice  
is       ,brief and yet endless3        
,here eyes do regard you1       ,in     
,eternity's stilness2       ,here is all
 fulness1       ,ye brave1 to reward    
you2       ,work1 and despair not4      
,book ,,iv--,horoscope        ,chapter  
,i    ,aristocracies      ,to predict   
the ,future1 to manage the ,present1    
would not be so  impossible1 had not the
 ,past been so sacrilegiously           
mishandled2  effaced1 and what is worse1
 defaced6  ,the ,past cannot be seen2   
the ,past1 looked at through the medium 
of ',philosophical ,history'  in these  
times1 cannot even be not seen3  it is  
misseen2  affirmed to have existed1--and
 to have been a godless  ,impossibility4
  ,your ,norman ,conquerors1 true royal 
souls1 crowned  kings as such1 were     
vulturous irrational tyrants3  your     
,becket  was a noisy egoist and         
hypocrite2  getting his brains spilt on 
the floor of ,canterbury ,cathedral1 to 
secure the main chance1--  somewhat     

uncertain how6  ,enthusiasm1 and even   
honest  ,enthusiasm1--yes1 of course3   
',the ,dog1 to gain his private ends1   
,went mad1 and bit the ,man6'--    ,for 
in truth1 the eye sees in all things    
'what it brought with it  the means of  
seeing4'  ,a godless century1 looking   
back on  centuries that were godly1     
produces portraitures more miraculous   
than any other4  ,all was inane discord 
in the ,past2  brute ,force  bore rule  
everywhere2  ,stupidity1 savage         
,unreason1 fitter for  ,bedlam than for 
a human ,world6  ,whereby indeed it     
becomes  sufficiently natural that the  
like qualities1 in new sleeker          
habiliments1 should continue in our time
 to rule4  ,millions  enchanted in      
,bastille ,workhouses2  ,irish ,widows  
proving their  relationship by          
typhus-fever3  what would you have8  ,it
 was ever  so1 or worse4  ,man's        
,history1 was it not always even this3  
,the  cookery and eating up of imbecile 
,dupedom by successful  ,quackhood2  the

 battle1 with various weapons1 of       
vulturous ,quack  and ,tyrant against   
vulturous ,tyrant and ,quack8  ,no ,god 
was in the  ,past ,time2  nothing but4  
,mechanisms and ,chaotic                
,brute-gods3--how  shall the poor       
',philosophic ,historian1' to whom his  
own century  is all godless1 see any    
,god in other centuries8    ,men believe
 in ,bibles1 and disbelieve in them3    
but of all ,bibles  the frightfulest to 
disbelieve in is this ',bible of        
,universal  ,history4'  ,this is the    
,eternal ,bible and ,god's-,book1 'which
 every  born man1' till once the soul   
and eyesight are distinguished in  him1 
'can and must1 with his own eyes1 see   
the ,god's-,finger  writing6'  ,to      
discredit this1 is an infidelity like no
 other4  ,such infidelity you would     
punish1 if not by fire and faggot1      
which are difficult to manage in our    
times1 yet by the most  peremptory      
order1 ,to hold its peace till it got   
something wiser  to say4  ,why should   

the blessed ,silence be broken into     
noises1 to  communicate only the like of
 this8  ,if the ,past have no ,god's-   
,reason in it1 nothing but              
,devil's-,unreason1 let the ,past be    
eternally forgotten3  mention it no     
more2--we whose ancestors  were all     
hanged1 why should we talk of ropes6    
,it is1 in brief1 not true that men ever
 lived by ,delirium1  ,hypocrisy1       
,injustice1 or any form of ,unreason1   
since they came to  inhabit this        
,planet4  ,it is not true that they ever
 did1 or ever  will1 live except by the 
reverse of these4  ,men will again be   
taught this4  ,their acted ,history will
 then again be a ,heroism2  their       
written ,history1 what it once was1 an  
,epic4  ,nay1 forever  it is either     
such2  or else it virtually             
is--,nothing4  ,were it  written in a   
thousand volumes1 the ,unheroic of such 
volumes  hastens incessantly to be      
forgotten2  the net content of an       
,alexandrian ,library of ,unheroics is1 

and will ultimately shew  itself to be1 
zero4  ,what man is interested to       
remember it1  have not all men1 at all  
times1 the liveliest interest to forget 
it8--',revelations1' if not celestial1  
then infernal1 will teach  us that ,god 
is2  we shall then1 if needful1 discern 
without  difficulty that ,he has always 
been6  ,the ,dryasdust ,philosophisms   
and enlightened ,scepticisms of the     
,eighteenth ,century1 historical  and   
other1 will have to survive for a while 
with the  ,physiologists1 as a memorable
 ,nightmare-,dream4  ,all this  haggard 
epoch1 with its ghastly ,doctrines1 and 
death's-head  ,philosophies 'teaching by
 example' or otherwise1 will one day    
have become1 what to our ,moslem friends
 their godless ages are1  'the ,period  
of ,ignorance4      ,if the convulsive  
struggles of the last ,half-,century    
have taught  poor struggling convulsed  
,europe any truth1 it may perhaps be    
this as the essence of innumerable      
others3  ,that ,europe requires  a real 

,aristocracy1 a real ,priesthood1 or it 
cannot continue to  exist4  ,huge       
,french ,revolutions1 ,napoleonisms1    
then ,bourbonisms  with their corollary 
of ,three ,days1 finishing in very      
unfinal  ,louis-,philippisms3  all this 
ought to be didactic6  ,all this may    
have taught us1 ,that ,false            
,aristocracies are insupportable2  that 
,no-,aristocracies1                     
,liberty-and-,equalities are impossible2
  that ,true ,aristocracies are at once 
indispensable and not  easily attained4 
,aristocracy and ,priesthood1 a         
,governing ,class and a ,teaching       
,class3  these two1 sometimes separate1 
and endeavouring to  harmonise          
themselves1 sometimes conjoined as one1 
and the ,king a  ,pontiff-,king3--there 
did no ,society exist without these two 
vital  elements1 there will none exist4 
,it lies in the very nature of  man3    
you will visit no remotest village in   
the most republican  country of the     
world1 where virtually or actually you  

do not find  these two powers at work4  
,man1 little as he may suppose it1 is   
necessitated to obey superiors4  ,he is 
a social being in virtue  of this       
necessity2  nay he could not be         
gregarious otherwise4  ,he  obeys those 
whom he esteems better than himself1    
wiser1 braver2  and will forever obey   
such2  and even be ready and delighted  
to  do it4    ,the ,wiser1 ,braver3     
these1 a ,virtual ,aristocracy          
everywhere and  everywhen1 do in all    
,societies that reach any articulate    
shape1  develop themselves into a ruling
 class1 an ,actual ,aristocracy1  with  
settled modes of operating1 what are    
called laws and even  private-laws or   
privileges1 and so forth2  very notable 
to look  upon in this                   
world4--,aristocracy and ,priesthood1 we
 say1 are  sometimes united4  ,for      
indeed the ,wiser and the ,braver are   
properly but one class2  no wise man but
 needed first of all to  be a brave man1
 or he never had been wise4  ,the noble 

,priest was  always a noble ,aristos to 
begin with1 and something more to end   
with4  ,your ,luther1 your ,knox1 your  
,anselm1 ,becket1 ,abbot ,samson1       
,samuel ,johnson1 if they had not been  
brave enough1 by what  possibility could
 they ever have been wise8--,if1 from   
accident or  forethought1 this your     
,actual ,aristocracy have got           
discriminated  into ,two ,classes1 there
 can be no doubt but the ,priest ,class 
is  the more dignified2  supreme over   
the other1 as governing head is  over   
active hand4  ,and yet in practice      
again1 it is likeliest the  reverse will
 be found arranged2--a sign that the    
arrangement is  already vitiated2  that 
a split is introduced into it1 which    
will  widen and widen till the whole be 
rent asunder4    ,in ,england1 in       
,europe generally1 we may say that these
 two  ,virtualities have unfolded       
themselves into ,actualities1 in by far 
the noblest and richest manner any      
region of the world ever saw4  ,a       

spiritual ,guideship1 a practical       
,governorship1 fruit of the  grand      
conscious endeavours1 say rather of the 
immeasurable  unconscious instincts and 
necessities of men1 have established    
themselves2  very strange to behold4    
,everywhere1 while so much  has been    
forgotten1 you find the ,king's ,palace1
 and the  ,viceking's ,castle1 ,mansion1
 ,manorhouse2  till there is not an     
inch of ground from sea to sea but has  
both its ,king and  ,viceking1 long due 
series of ,viceking1 its ,squire1 ,earl1
 ,duke or  whatever the title of        
him1--to whom you have given the land   
that  he may govern you in it4    ,more 
touching still1 there is not a hamlet   
where poor peasants  congregate1 but by 
one means and another a                 
,church-,apparatus has  been got        
together1--roofed edifice1 with revenues
 and belfries2  pulpit1 reading-desk1   
with ,books and ,methods3  possibility1 
in  short1 and strict prescription1     
,that a man stand there and speak  of   

spiritual things to men4  ,it is        
beautiful2--even in its great           
obscuration and decadence1 it is among  
the beautifulest1 most  touching objects
 one sees on the ,earth4  ,this         
,speaking ,man has  indeed1 in these    
times1 wandered terribly from the point2
  has1  alas1 as it were totally lost   
sight of the point3  yet1 at  bottom1   
whom have we to compare with him8  ,of  
all public  functionaries boarded and   
lodged on the ,industry of ,modern      
,europe1 is there one worthier of the   
board he has8  ,a man even  professing1 
and never so languidly making still some
 endeavour1  to save the souls of men3  
contrast him with a man professing to   
do little but shoot the partridges of   
men6  ,i wish he could find  the point  
again1 this ,speaking ,one2  and stick  
to it with  tenacity1 with deadly       
energy2  for there is need of him yet6  
,the  ,speaking ,function1 this of      
,truth coming to us with a living       
voice1 nay in a living shape1 and as a  

concrete practical  exemplar3  this1    
with all our ,writing and ,printing     
,functions1 has  a perennial place4     
,could he but find the point            
again1--take the  old spectacles off his
 nose1 and looking up discover1 almost  
in  contact with him1 what the real     
,satanas1 and soul-devouring1           
world-devouring ,devil1 now is6         
,original ,sin and such like are  bad   
enough1 ,i doubt not3  but distilled    
,gin1 dark ,ignorance1  ,stupidity1 dark
 ,corn-,law1 ,bastille and ,company1    
what are they6  ,will he discover our   
new real ,satan1 whom he has to fight2  
or  go on droning through his old       
nose-spectacles about old extinct       
,satans2  and never see the real one1   
till he feel him at his  own throat and 
ours8  ,that is a question1 for the     
world6  ,let us  not intermeddle with it
 here4    ,sorrowful1 phantasmal as this
 same ,double ,aristocracy of ,teachers 
and ,governors now looks1 it is worth   
all men's while to know that  the       

purport of it is and remains noble and  
most real4  ,dryasdust1  looking merely 
at the surface1 is greatly in error as  
to those  ancient ,kings4  ,william     
,conqueror1 ,william ,rufus or          
,redbeard1  ,stephen ,curthose himself1 
much more ,henry ,beauclerc and our     
brave  ,plantagenet ,henry3  the life of
 these men was not a vulturous          
,fighting2  it was a valorous           
,governing1--to which occasionally      
,fighting did1 and alas must yet1 though
 far seldomer now1  superadd itself as  
an accident1 a distressing impedimental 
adjunct4  ,the fighting too was         
indispensable1 for ascertaining  who had
 the might over whom1 the right over    
whom4  ,by much hard  fighting1 as we   
once said1 'the unrealities1 beaten into
 dust1  flew gradually off2'  and left  
the plain reality and fact1 ,thou       
stronger than ,i2  thou wiser than ,i2  
thou king1 and subject ,i1  in a        
somewhat clearer condition4    ,truly we
 cannot enough admire1 in those         

,abbot-,samson and ,william-  ,conqueror
 times1 the arrangement they had made of
 their ,governing  ,classes4  ,highly   
interesting to observe how the sincere  
insight1  on their part1 into what did1 
of primary necessity1 behove to be      
accomplished1 had led them to the way of
 accomplishing it1 and in  the course of
 time to get it accomplished6  ,no      
imaginary  ,aristocracy would serve     
their turn2  and accordingly they       
attained a real one4  ,the ,bravest men1
 who1 it is ever to be  repeated and    
remembered1 are also on the whole the   
,wisest1  ,strongest1 every way ,best1  
had here1 with a respectable degree of  
accuracy1 been got selected2  seated    
each on his piece of  territory1 which  
was lent him1 then gradually given him1 
that  he might govern it4  ,these       
,vicekings1 each on his portion of  the 
common soil of ,england1 with a ,head   
,king over all1 were  a ',virtuality    
perfected into an ,actuality' really to 
an  astonishing extent4    ,for those   

were rugged stalwart ages2  full of     
earnestness1 of a  rude                 
,god's-truth3--nay1 at any rate1 their  
quilting was so  unspeakably thinner    
than ours2  ,fact came swiftly on them1 
if  at any time they had yielded to     
,phantasm6  ',the ,knaves and           
,dastards' had to be 'arrested' in some 
measure2  or the world1  almost within  
year and day1 found that it could not   
live4  ,the  ,knaves and ,dastards      
accordingly were got arrested4          
,dastards upon  the very throne had to  
be got arrested1 and taken off the      
throne1--by such methods as there were2 
by the roughest method1  if there       
chanced to be no smoother one6          
,doubtless there was much  harshness of 
operation1 much severity2  as indeed    
government and  surgery are often       
somewhat severe4  ,gurth born thrall of 
,cedric1  it is like2  got cuffs as     
often as pork-parings1 if he            
misdemeaned himself2  but ,gurth did    
belong to ,cedric3  no human  creature  

then went about connected with nobody2  
left to go his  ways into ,bastilles or 
worse1 under ,laissez-faire2  reduced to
  prove his relationship by dying of    
typhus-fever6--,days come when  there is
 no ,king in ,israel1 but every man is  
his own king1 doing  that which is right
 in his own eyes2--and tarbarrels are   
burnt to  ',liberty1' ',tenpound        
,franchise' and the like1 with          
considerable  effect in various ways6-- 
,that ,feudal ,aristocracy1 ,i say1 was 
no imaginary one4  ,to a  respectable   
degree1 its ,jarls1 what we now call    
,earls1 were  ,strong-,ones in fact as  
well as etymology2  its ,dukes ,leaders1
  its ,lords ,law-wards4  ,they did all 
the ,soldiering and ,police of  the     
country1 all the judging1 ,law-making1  
even the ,church-  ,extension2          
whatsoever in the way of ,governing1 of 
,guiding and  ,protecting could be done4
  ,it was a ,land ,aristocracy2  it     
managed  the ,governing of this ,english
 ,people1 and had the reaping of the    

,soil of ,england in return4  ,it is1 in
 many senses1 the ,law of  ,nature1 this
 same ,law of ,feudalism2--no right     
,aristocracy but a  ,land one6  ,the    
curious are invited to meditate upon it 
in these  days4  ,soldiering1 ,police   
and ,judging1 ,church-,extension1 nay   
real  ,government and ,guidance1 all    
this was actually done by the  ,holders 
of the ,land in return for their ,land4 
,how much of it is  now done by them2   
done by anybody8  ,good ,heavens1       
,laissez-  faire1 ,do ye nothing1 eat   
your wages and sleep1 is everywhere  the
 passionate half-wise cry of this time2 
and they will not so  much as do        
nothing1 but must do mere ,corn-,laws6  
,we raise ,fifty-  two millions1 from   
the general mass of us1 to get our      
,governing  done1--or1 alas1 to get     
ourselves persuaded that it is done3    
and  the 'peculiar burden of the ,land' 
is to pay1 not all this1 but to  pay1 as
 ,i learn1 one twenty-fourth part of all
 this4  ,our first  ,chartist           

,parliament1 or ,oliver ,redivivus1 you 
would say1 will  know where to lay the  
new taxes of ,england6--,or1 alas1      
taxes8  ,if  we made the ,holders of the
 ,land pay every shilling still of the  
expense of ,governing the ,land1 what   
were all that8  ,the ,land1 by  mere    
hired ,governors1 cannot be got         
governed4  ,you cannot hire  men to     
govern the ,land3  it is by a mission   
not contracted for in  the              
,stock-,exchange1 but felt in their own 
hearts as coming out of  ,heaven1 that  
men can govern a ,land4  ,the mission of
 a ,land  ,aristocracy is a sacred one1 
in both the senses of that old word4    
,the footing it stands on1 at present1  
might give rise to thoughts  other than 
of ,corn-,laws6--    ,but truly a       
',splendour of ,god1' as in ,william    
,conqueror's rough  oath1 did dwell in  
those old rude veracious ages2  did     
inform1  more and more1 with a heavenly 
nobleness1 all departments of  their    
work and life4  ,phantasms could not yet

 walk abroad in mere  ,cloth ,tailorage2
  they were at least ,phantasms 'on the 
rim of the  horizon1' pencilled there by
 an eternal ,light-beam from within4  ,a
 most 'practical' ,hero-worship went on1
 unconsciously or half-  consciously1   
everywhere4  ,a ,monk ,samson1 with a   
maximum of two  shillings in his pocket1
 could1 without ballot-box1 be made a   
,viceking of1 being seen to be worthy4  
,the difference between a  good man and 
a bad man was as yet felt to be1 what it
 forever is1  an immeasurable one4  ,who
 durst have elected a ,pandarus ,dog-   
draught1 in those days1 to any office1  
,carlton ,club1 ,senatorship1  or place 
whatsoever8  ,it was felt that the arch 
,satanas and no  other had a clear right
 of property in ,pandarus2  that it were
  better for you to have no hand in     
,pandarus1 to keep out of  ,pandarus his
 neighbourhood6  ,which is1 to this     
hour1 the mere  fact2  though for the   
present1 alas1 the forgotten fact4  ,i  
think  they were comparatively blessed  

times those1 in their way6  ',violence1'
 'war1' 'disorder3'  well1 what is war1 
and death  itself1 to such a perpetual  
life-in-death1 and 'peace and peace     
where there is no peace6'  ,unless some 
,hero-worship1 in its new  appropriate  
form1 can return1 this world does not   
promise to be  very habitable long4     
,old ,anselm1 exiled ,archbishop of     
,canterbury1 one of the purest-  minded 
'men of genius1' was traveling to make  
his appeal to ,rome  against ,king      
,rufus1--a man of rough ways1 in whom   
the 'inner  ,light-beam' shone very     
fitfully4  ,it is beautiful to read1 in 
,monk ,eadmer1 how the ,continental     
populations welcomed and  venerated this
 ,anselm1 as no ,french population now  
venerates  ,jean-,jacques or            
giant-killing ,voltaire2  as not even an
 ,american  population now venerates a  
,schnuspel the distinguished ,novelist6 
,they had1 by phantasy and true insight1
 the intensest conviction  that a ,god's
 ,blessing dwelt in this ,anselm1--as is

 my conviction  too4  ,they crowded     
round1 with bent knees and enkindled    
hearts1  to receive his blessing1 to    
hear his voice1 to see the light of  his
 face4  ,my blessings on them and on    
him6--,but the notablest  was a certain 
necessitous or covetous ,duke of        
,burgundy1 in  straitened circumstances 
we shall hope1--who reflected that in   
all likelihood this ,english            
,archbishop1 going towards ,rome to     
appeal1 must have taken store of cash   
with him to bribe the  ,cardinals4      
,wherefore he of ,burgundy1 for his     
part1 decided to  lie in wait and rob   
him4  ',in an open space of a wood1'    
some  'wood' then green and growing1    
eight centuries ago1 in ,burgundian     
,land1--this fierce ,duke1 with fierce  
steel followers1 shaggy1  savage1 as the
 ,russian ,bear1 dashes out on the weak 
old ,anselm2  who is riding along there1
 on his small quiet-going pony2         
escorted only by ,eadmer and another    
poor ,monk on ponies2  and1  except     

small modicum of roadmoney1 not a gold  
coin in his  possession4  ,the steelclad
 ,russian ,bear emerges1 glaring3  the  
old whitebearded man starts not1--paces 
on unmoved1 looking into  him with those
 clear old earnest eyes1 with that      
venerable  sorrowful time-worn face2  of
 whom no man or thing need be  afraid1  
and who also is afraid of no created man
 or thing4  ,the  fire-eyes of his      
,burgundian ,grace meet these clear     
eye-glances1  convey them swift to his  
heart3  he bethinks him that probably   
this feeble1 fearless1 hoary ,figure has
 in it something of the  ,most ,high    
,god2  that probably he shall be damned 
if he meddle  with it1--that1 on the    
whole1 he had better not4  ,he plunges1 
the  rough savage1 from his warhorse1   
down to his knees2  embraces the  feet  
of old ,anselm3  he too begs his        
blessing2  orders men to  escort him1   
guard him from being robbed1 and under  
dread  penalties see him safe on his    
way4  ,per os ,dei1 as his ,majesty  was

 wont to ejaculate6    ,neither is this 
quarrel of ,rufus and ,anselm1 of ,henry
 and ,becket1  uninstructive to us4  ,it
 was1 at bottom1 a great quarrel4  ,for1
  admitting that ,anselm was full of    
divine blessing1 he by no means         
included in him all forms of divine     
blessing3--there were far  other forms  
withal1 which he little dreamed of2  and
 ,william  ,redbeard was unconsciously  
the representative and spokesman of     
these4  ,in truth1 could your divine    
,anselm1 your divine ,pope  ,gregory    
have had their way1 the results had been
 very notable4  ,our ,western ,world had
 all become a ,european ,thibet1 with   
one  ,grand ,lama sitting at ,rome2  our
 one honourable business that of        
singing mass1 all day and all night4    
,which would not in the  least have     
suited us6  ,the ,supreme ,powers willed
 it not so4    ,it was as if ,king      
,redbeard unconsciously1 addressing     
,anselm1  ,becket and the others1 had   
said3  ,right ,reverend1 your ,theory of

  the ,universe is indisputable by man  
or devil4  ,to the core of our  heart we
 feel that this divine thing1 which you 
call ,mother  ,church1 does fill the    
whole world hitherto known1 and is and  
shall be all our salvation and all our  
desire4  ,and yet--and yet  --,behold1  
though it is an unspoken secret1 the    
world is wider  than any of us think1   
,right ,reverend6  ,behold1 there are   
yet  other immeasurable ,sacrednesses in
 this that you call ,heathenism1        
,secularity6  ,on the whole ,i1 in an   
obscure but most rooted  manner1 feel   
that ,i cannot comply with you4         
,western ,thibet and  perpetual         
mass-chanting1--,no4 ,i am1 so to speak1
 in the family-  way2  with child1 of ,i
 know not what1--certainly of something 
far  different from this6  ,i have--,per
 os ,dei1 ,i have ,manchester           
,cotton-trades1 ,bromwicham             
,iron-trades1 ,american ,commonwealths1 
,indian ,empires1 ,steam ,mechanisms and
 ,shakspeare ,dramas1 in my  belly2  and

 cannot do it1 ,right ,reverend6--,so   
accordingly it was  decided3 and ,saxon 
,becket spilt his life in ,canterbury   
,cathedral1  as ,scottish ,wallace did  
on ,tower-,hill1 and as generally a     
noble  man and martyr has to do1--not   
for nothing2  no1 but for a divine      
something1 other than he had altogether 
calculated4  ,we will  now quit this of 
the hard1 organic1 but limited ,feudal  
,ages2  and  glance timidly into the    
immense ,industrial ,ages1 as yet all   
inorganic1 and in a quite pulpy         
condition1 requiring desperately  to    
harden themselves into some organism6   
,our ,epic having now become ,tools and 
the ,man1 it is more than  usually      
impossible to prophesy the ,future4     
,the boundless ,future  does lie there1 
predestined1 nay already extant though  
unseen2  hiding1 in its ,continents of  
,darkness1 'good hap and sorrow3'  but  
the supremest intelligence of man cannot
 prefigure much of  it3--the united     
intelligence and effort of ,all ,men in 

all coming  generations1 this alone will
 gradually prefigure it1 and figure  and
 form it into a seen fact6  ,straining  
our eyes hitherto1 the  utmost effort of
 intelligence sheds but some most       
glimmering  dawn1 a little way into its 
dark enormous ,deeps3  only huge        
outlines loom uncertain on the sight2   
and the ray of prophecy1  at a short    
distance1 expires4  ,but may we not say1
 here as  always1 ,sufficient for the   
day is the evil thereof6  ,to shape the 
whole ,future is not our problem2  but  
only to shape faithfully a  small part  
of it1 according to rules already known4
  ,it is  perhaps possible for each of  
us1 who will with due earnestness       
inquire1 to ascertain clearly what he1  
for his own part1 ought to  do3  this   
let him1 with true heart1 do1 and       
continue doing4  ,the  general issue    
will1 as it has always done1 rest well  
with a  ,higher ,intelligence than ours4
    ,one grand 'outline1' or even two1  
many earnest readers may  perhaps1 at   

this stage of the business1 be able to  
prefigure for  themselves1--and draw    
some guidance from4  ,one prediction1 or
  even two1 are already possible4  ,for 
the ,life-tree ,igdrasil1 in  all its   
new developments1 is the selfsame       
world-old ,life-tree3  having found an  
element or elements there1 running from 
the very  roots of it in ,hela's        
,realms1 in the ,well of ,mimer and of  
the  ,three ,nornas or ,,times1 up to   
this present hour of it in our own      
hearts1 we conclude that such will have 
to continue4  ,a man has1  in his own   
soul1 an ,eternal2  can read something  
of the ,eternal  there1 if he will look6
  ,he already knows what will continue2 
what cannot1 by any means or appliance  
whatsoever1 be made  to continue6       
,one wide and widest 'outline' ought    
really1 in all ways1 to be  becoming    
clear to us2  this namely3  ,that a     
',splendour of ,god1'  in one form or   
other1 will have to unfold itself from  
the heart  of these our ,industrial     

,ages too2  or they will never get      
themselves 'organised2'  but continue   
chaotic1 distressed1  distracted        
evermore1 and have to perish in frantic 
suicidal  dissolution4  ,a second       
'outline' or prophecy1 narrower1 but    
also  wide enough1 seems not less       
certain3  ,that there will again be  a  
,king in ,israel2  a system of ,order   
and ,government2  and every  man shall1 
in some measure1 see himself constrained
 to do that  which is right in the      
,king's eyes4  ,this too we may call a  
sure  element of the ,future2  for this 
too is of the ,eternal2--this too  is of
 the ,present1 though hidden from most2 
and without it no  fibre of the ,past   
ever was4  ,an actual new ,sovereignty1 
,industrial ,aristocracy1 real not      
imaginary ,aristocracy1 is              
indispensable and indubitable for us4   
,but what an ,aristocracy2  on what new1
 far more complex and  cunningly devised
 conditions than that old ,feudal       
fighting one6  ,for we are to bethink us

 that the ,epic verily is not ,arms and 
the ,man1 but ,tools and the ,man1--an  
infinitely wider kind of  ,epic4  ,and  
again we are to bethink us that men     
cannot now be  bound to men by          
brass-collars1--not at all3  that this  
brass-  collar method1 in all figures of
 it1 has vanished out of ,europe        
forevermore6  ,huge ,democracy1 walking 
the streets everywhere in  its ,sack    
,coat1 has asserted so much2            
irrevocably1 brooking no  reply6  ,true 
enough1 man is forever the 'born thrall'
 of  certain men1 born master of certain
 other men1 born equal of  certain      
others1 let him acknowledge the fact or 
not4  ,it is  unblessed for him when he 
cannot acknowledge this fact2  he is in 
the chaotic state1 ready to perish1 till
 he do get the fact  acknowledged4  ,but
 no man is1 or can henceforth be1 the   
brass-  collar thrall of any man2  you  
will have to bind him by other1  far    
nobler and cunninger methods4  ,once for
 all1 he is to be  loose of the         

brass-collar1 to have a scope as wide as
 his  faculties now are3--will he not be
 all the usefuler to you1 in  that new  
state8  ,let him go abroad as a trusted 
one1 as a free  one2  and return home to
 you with rich earnings at night6       
,gurth  could only tend pigs2  this one 
will build cities1 conquer waste        
worlds4--,how1 in conjunction with      
inevitable ,democracy1  indispensable   
,sovereignty is to exist3  certainly it 
is the  hugest question ever heretofore 
propounded to ,mankind6  ,the  solution 
of which is work for long years and     
centuries4  ,years  and centuries1 of   
one knows not what complexion2--blessed 
or  unblessed1 according as they shall1 
with earnest valiant effort1  make      
progress therein1 or1 in slothful       
unveracity and  dilettantism1 only talk 
of making progress4  ,for either        
progress  therein1 or swift and ever    
swifter progress towards dissolution1   
is henceforth a necessity4      ,it is  
of importance that this grand           

reformation were begun2  that           
,corn-,law ,debatings and other jargon1 
little less than delirious  in such a   
time1 had fled far away1 and left us    
room to begin6  ,for the evil has grown 
practical1 extremely conspicuous2  if it
  be not seen and provided for1 the     
blindest fool will have to feel  it ere 
long4  ,there is much that can wait2    
but there is  something also that cannot
 wait4  ,with millions of eager ,working
  ,men imprisoned in ',impossibility'   
and ,poor-,law ,bastilles1 it is  time  
that some means of dealing with them    
were trying to become  'possible6'  ,of 
the ,government of ,england1 of all     
articulate-  speaking functionaries1    
real and imaginary ,aristocracies1 of me
  and of thee1 it is imperatively       
demanded1 ,how do you mean to  manage   
these men8  ,where are they to find a   
supportable  existence8  ,what is to    
become of them1--and of you6            
,chapter ,,ii    ,bribery ,committee    
,in the case of the late ,bribery       

,committee1 it seemed to be the         
conclusion of the soundest practical    
minds that ,bribery could not  be put   
down2  that ,pure ,election was a thing 
we had seen the last  of1 and must now  
go on without1 as we best could4  ,a    
conclusion  not a little startling2  to 
which it requires a practical mind of   
some seasoning to reconcile yourself at 
once6  ,it seems1 then1 we  are         
henceforth to get ourselves constituted 
,legislators not  according to what     
merit we may have1 or even what merit we
 may  seem to have1 but according to the
 length of our purse1 and our           
frankness1 impudence and dexterity in   
laying out the contents of  the same4   
,our theory1 written down in all books  
and law-books1  spouted forth from all  
barrel-heads1 is perfect purity of      
,tenpound ,franchise1 absolute sincerity
 of question put and answer  given2--and
 our practice is irremediable bribery2  
irremediable1  unpunishable1 which you  
will do more harm than good by          

attempting  to punish6  ,once more1 a   
very startling conclusion indeed2       
which1 whatever the soundest practical  
minds in parliament  may think of it1   
invites all ,british men to meditations 
of  various kinds4    ,a ,parliament1   
one would say1 which proclaims itself   
elected and  eligible by bribery1 tells 
the ,nation that is governed by it a    
piece of singular news4  ,bribery3  have
 we reflected what bribery  is8         
,bribery means not only length of purse1
 which is neither  qualification nor the
 contrary for legislating well2  but it 
means dishonesty1 and even impudent     
dishonesty2--brazen  insensibility to   
lying and to making others lie2  total  
oblivion1  and flinging overboard1 for  
the nonce1 of any real thing you can    
call veracity1 morality2  with dexterous
 putting on the cast-  clothes of that  
real thing1 and strutting about in them6
  ,what  ,legislating can you get out of
 a man in that fatal situation8  ,nonce 
that will profit much1 one would think6 

,a ,legislator who  has left his        
veracity lying on the door threshold1   
he1 why verily  he--ought to be sent out
 to seek it again6    ,heavens1 what an 
improvement1 were there once fairly1 in 
,downing-  street1 an ,election-,office 
opened1 with a ,tariff of ,boroughs6    
,such and such a population1 amount of  
property-tax1 ground-  rental1 extent of
 trade2  returns two ,members1 returns  
one  ,member1 for so much money down3   
,ipswich so many thousands1  ,nottingham
 so many1--as they happened1 one by one1
 to fall into  this new ,downing-street 
,schedule ,a6  ,an incalculable         
improvement1  in comparison3  for now at
 least you have it fairly by length of  
purse1 and leave the dishonesty1 the    
impudence1 the unveracity  all          
handsomely aside4  ,length of purse and 
desire to be a  ,legislator ought to get
 a man into ,parliament1 not with1 but  
if  possible without the unveracity1 the
 impudence and the  dishonesty6  ,length
 of purse and desire1 these are1 as     

intrinsic  qualifications1 correctly    
equal to zero2  but they are not yet    
less than zero1--as the smallest        
addition of that latter sort  will make 
them6    ,and is it come to this8  ,and 
does our venerable ,parliament  announce
 itself elected and eligible in this    
manner8  ,surely such  a ,parliament    
promulgates strange horoscopes of       
itself4  ,what is  to become of a       
,parliament elected or eligible in this 
manner8  ,unless ,belial and ,beelzebub 
have got possession of the throne of    
this ,universe1 such ,parliament is     
preparing itself for new  ,reform-bills4
  ,we shall have to try it by ,chartism1
 or any  conceivable ism1 rather than   
put up with this6  ,there is  already in
 ,england 'religion' enough to get six  
hundred and  fifty-eight ,consulting    
,men brought together who do not begin  
work with a lie in their mouth4  ,our   
poor old ,parliament1  thousands of     
years old1 is still good for something1 
for several  things2--though many are   

beginning to ask1 with ominous anxiety1 
in these days3  ,for what thing8  ,but  
for whatever thing and  things          
,parliament be good1 indisputably it    
must start with other  than a lie in its
 mouth6  ,on the ,whole1 a ,parliament  
working with  a lie in its mouth1 will  
have to take itself away4  ,to no       
,parliament or thing1 that one has heard
 of1 did this ,universe  ever long yield
 harbour on that footing4  ,at all hours
 of the day  and night1 some ,chartism  
is advancing1 some armed ,cromwell is   
advancing1 to apprise such ,parliament3 
,ye are no ,parliament4  ,in the name of
 ,god1--go6    ,in sad truth1 once more1
 how is our whole existence1 in these   
present days1 built on ,cant1           
,speciosity1 ,falsehood1 ,dilettantism2 
with this one serious ,veracity in it3  
,mammonism6  ,dig down where  you will1 
through the ,parliament-floor or        
elsewhere1 how  infallibly do you1 at   
spade's depth below the surface1 come   
upon  this universal ,liars-rock        

substratum6  ,much else is ornamental2  
true on barrel-heads1 in pulpits1       
hustings1 ,parliamentary  benches2  but 
this is forever true and truest3  ,money
 does bring  money's worth2  ,put money 
in your purse4  ,here1 if nowhere else1 
is the human soul still in thorough     
earnest2  sincere with a  prophet's     
sincerity3  and 'the ,hell of the       
,english1' as ,sauerteig  said1 'is the 
infinite terror of ,not getting on1     
especially of  ,not making money4'      
,with results6      ,to many persons the
 horoscope of ,parliament is more       
interesting  than to me3  but surely all
 men with souls must admit that  sending
 members to ,parliament by bribery is an
 infamous solecism2  an act entirely    
immoral1 which no man can have to do    
with1 more  or less1 but he will soil   
his fingers more or less4  ,no ,carlton 
,clubs1 ,reform ,clubs1 nor any sort of 
clubs or creatures1 or of  accredited   
opinions or practices1 can make a ,lie  
,truth1 can make  ,bribery a ,propriety4

  ,the ,parliament should really either 
punish  and put away ,bribery1 or       
legalise it by some ,office in ,downing-
  street4  ,as ,i read the ,apocalypses1
 a ,parliament that can do  neither of  
these things is not in a good way4--,and
 yet1 alas1  what of ,parliaments and   
their ,elections8  ,parliamentary       
,elections  are but the topmost ultimate
 outcome of an electioneering which     
goes on at all hours1 in all places1 in 
every meeting of two or  more men4  ,it 
is we that vote wrong1 and teach the    
poor ragged  ,freemen of ,boroughs to   
vote wrong4  ,we pay respect to those   
worthy of no respect4    ,is not        
,pandarus ,dogdraught a member of select
 clubs1 and admitted  into the          
drawingrooms of men8  ,visibly to all   
persons he is of  the offal of          
,creation2  but he carries money in his 
purse1 due  lacker on his dog-visage1   
and it is believed will not steal       
spoons4  ,the human species does not    
with one voice1 like the  ,hebrew       

,psalmist1 'shun to sit' with           
,dogdraught1 refuse totally to  dine    
with ,dogdraught2  men called of honour 
are willing enough to  dine with him1   
his talk being lively1 and his champagne
  excellent4  ,we say to ourselves1 ,the
 man is in good society1--  others have 
already voted for him2  why should not  
,i8  ,we  forget the indefeasible right 
of property that ,satan has in          
,dogdraught1--we are not afraid to be   
near ,dogdraught6  ,it is we  that vote 
wrong2  blindly1 nay with falsity       
prepense6  ,it is we  that no longer    
know the difference between ,human      
,worth and ,human  ,unworth2  or feel   
that the one is admirable and alone     
admirable1  the other detestable1       
damnable6  ,how shall we find out a     
,hero  and ,viceking ,samson with a     
maximum of two shillings in his  pocket8
  ,we have no chance to do such a thing4
  ,we have got out  of the ,ages of     
,heroism1 deep into the ,ages of        
,flunkeyism1--and  must return or die4  

,what a noble set of mortals are we1    
who1  because there is no ,saint ,edmund
 threatening us at the rim of the       
horizon1 are not afraid to be whatever1 
for the day and hour1 is  smoothest for 
us6    ,and now1 in good sooth1 why     
should an indigent discerning ,freeman  
give his vote without bribes8  ,let us  
rather honour the poor man  that he does
 discern clearly wherein lies1 for him1 
the true  kernel of the matter4  ,what  
is it to the ragged grimy ,freeman of  a
 ,tenpound-,franchise ,borough1 whether 
,aristides ,rigmarole ,esq4 of  the     
,destructive1 or the ,hon4 ,alcides     
,dolittle of the ,conservative  ,party  
be sent to ,parliament2--much more1     
whether the two-  thousandth part of    
them be sent1 for that is the amount of 
his  faculty in it8  ,destructive or    
,conservative1 what will either of  them
 destroy or conserve of vital moment to 
this ,freeman8  ,has he  found either of
 them care1 at bottom1 a sixpence for   
him or his  interests1 or those of his  

class or of his cause1 or of any class  
or cause that is of much value to ,god  
or to man8  ,rigmarole and  ,dolittle   
have alike cared for themselves         
hitherto2  and for their  own clique1   
and self-conceited crotchets1--their    
greasy dishonest  interests of pudding1 
or windy dishonest interests of praise2 
and not very perceptibly for any other  
interest whatever4  ,neither ,rigmarole 
nor ,dolittle will accomplish any good  
or any  evil for this grimy ,freeman1   
like giving him a five-pound note1  or  
refusing to give it him4  ,it will be   
smoothest to vote  according to value   
received4  ,that is the veritable fact2 
and he  indigent1 like others that are  
not indigent1 acts conformably  thereto4
    ,why1 reader1 truly1 if they asked  
thee or me1 ,which way we meant  to     
vote8--were it not our likeliest answer3
  ,neither way6  ,i1 as  a ,tenpound    
,franchiser1 will receive no bribe2  but
 also ,i will  not vote for either of   
these men4  ,neither ,rigmarole nor     

,dolittle  shall1 by furtherance of     
mine1 go and make laws for this country4
  ,i will have no hand in such a        
mission4 ,how dare ,i6  ,if other men   
cannot be got in ,england1 a totally    
other sort of men1 different  as light  
is from dark1 as star-fire is from      
street-mud1 what is  the use of votings1
 or of ,parliaments in ,england8        
,england ought  to resign herself2      
there is no hope or possibility for     
,england4  ,if ,england cannot get her  
,knaves and ,dastards 'arrested1' in    
some degree1 but only get them          
'elected1' what is to become  of        
,england8    ,i conclude1 with all      
confidence1 that ,england will verily   
have to  put an end to briberies on her 
,election ,hustings and elsewhere1  at  
what cost soever2--and likewise that we1
 ,electors and  ,eligibles1 one and all 
of us1 for our own behoof and hers1     
cannot  too soon begin1 at what cost    
soever1 to put an end to  bribeabilities
 in ourselves4  ,the death-leprosy1     

attacked in  this manner1 by purifying  
lotions from without1 and by rallying   
of the vital energies and purities from 
within1 will probably  abate somewhat6  
,it has otherwise no chance to abate4   
,chapter ,,iii    ,the ,one ,institution
      ,what our ,government can do in   
this grand ,problem of the ,working     
,classes of ,england8  ,yes1 supposing  
the insane ,corn-,laws totally          
abolished1 all speech of them ended1 and
 'from ten to twenty  years of new      
possibility to live and find wages'     
conceded us in  consequence3  ,what the 
,english ,government might be expected  
to  accomplish or attempt towards       
rendering the existence of our          
,labouring ,millions somewhat less      
anomalous1 somewhat less  impossible1 in
 the years that are to follow those 'ten
 or  twenty1' if either 'ten' or        
'twenty' there be8    ,it is the most   
momentous question4  ,for all this of   
the ,corn-,law  ,abrogation1 and what   
can follow therefrom1 is but as the     

shadow  on ,king ,hezekiah's ,dial3  the
 shadow has gone back twenty years2  but
 will again1 in spite of ,free-,trades  
and ,abrogations1 travel  forward its   
old fated way4  ,with our present system
 of individual  ,mammonism1 and         
,government by ,laissez-faire1 this     
,nation cannot  live4  ,and if1 in the  
priceless interim1 some new life and    
healing be not found1 there is no second
 respite to be counted  on4  ,the shadow
 on the ,dial advances thenceforth      
without pausing4  ,what ,government can 
do8  ,this that they call ',organising  
of  ,labour' is1 if well understood1 the
 ,problem of the whole ,future1  for all
 who will in future pretend to govern   
men4  ,but our first  preliminary stage 
of it1 ,how to deal with the ,actual    
,labouring  ,millions of ,england8 this 
is the imperatively pressing ,problem of
  the ,present1 pressing with a truly   
fearful intensity and  imminence in     
these very years and days4  ,no         
,government can longer  neglect it3     

once more1 what can our ,government do  
in it8      ,governments are of various 
degrees of activity3  some1 altogether  
,lazy ,governments1 in 'free countries' 
as they are called1 seem in  these times
 almost to profess to do1 if not        
nothing1 one knows  not at first what4  
,to debate in ,parliament1 and gain     
majorities2  and ascertain who shall be1
 with a toil hardly second to ,ixion's1 
the ,prime ,speaker and ,spoke-holder1  
and keep the ,ixion's-,wheel  going1 if 
not forward1 yet round8  ,not altogether
 so3--much1 to  the experienced eye1 is 
not what it seems6  ,chancery and       
certain  other ,law-,courts seem        
nothing2  yet in fact they are1 the     
worst  of them1 something3  chimneys for
 the devilry and contention of  men to  
escape by2--a very considerable         
something6--,parliament too  has its    
tasks1 if thou wilt look2  fit to wear  
out the lives of  toughest men4  ,the   
celebrated ,kilkenny ,cats1 through     
their  tumultuous congress1 cleaving the

 ear of ,night1 could they be  said to  
do nothing8  ,hadst thou been of them1  
thou hadst seen6  ,the feline heart     
laboured1 as with steam up-to the       
bursting  point2  and death-doing energy
 nerved every muscle3  they had a  work 
there2  and did it6  ,on the morrow1 two
 tails were found  left1 and peaceable  
annihilation2  a neighbourhood delivered
  from despair4    ,again1 are not      
,spinning-,dervishes an eloquent emblem1
 significant  of much8  ,hast thou      
noticed him1 that solemn-visaged ,turk1 
the  eyes shut2  dingy wool mantle      
circularly hiding his figure2--         
bell-shaped2  like a dingy bell set     
spinning on the tongue of  it8  ,by     
centrifugal force the dingy wool mantle 
heaves itself2  spreads more and more1  
like upturned cup widening into upturned
  saucer3  thus spins he1 to the praise 
of ,allah and advantage of  mankind1    
fast and faster1 till collapse ensue1   
and sometimes  death6--    ,a           
,government such as ours1 consisting of 

from seven to eight  hundred            
,parliamentary ,talkers1 with their     
escort of ,able ,editors  and ,public   
,opinion2  and for head1 certain ,lords 
and ,servants of  the ,treasury1 and    
,chief ,secretaries and others1 who find
  themselves at once ,chiefs and        
,no-,chiefs1 and often commanded  rather
 than commanding1--is doubtless a most  
complicate entity1  and none of the     
alertest for getting on with business6  
,clearly  enough1 if the ,chiefs be not 
self-motive and what we call men1  but  
mere patient lay-figures without        
self-motive principle1 the  ,government 
will not move anywhither2  it will      
tumble  disastrously1 and jumble1 round 
its own axis1 as for many years  past we
 have seen it do4--,and yet a           
self-motive man who is not a            
lay-figure1 place him in the heart of   
what entity you may1 will  make it move 
more or less6  ,the absurdest in ,nature
 he will make  a little less absurd2    
he4  ,the unwieldiest he will make to   

move2--that is the use of his existing  
there4  ,he will at least  have the     
manfulness to depart out of it1 if not2 
to say3  ,i  cannot move in thee1 and be
 a man2  like a wretched drift-log      
dressed in man's clothes and minister's 
clothes1 doomed to a lot  baser than    
belongs to man1 ,i will not continue    
with thee1  tumbling aimless on the     
,mother of ,dead ,dogs here3--,adieu6   
,for1 on the whole1 it is the lot of    
,chiefs everywhere1 this same4  ,no     
,chief in the most despotic country but 
was a ,servant withal2  at once an      
absolute commanding ,general1 and a poor
 ,orderly-  ,sergeant1 ordered by the   
very men in the ranks1--obliged to      
collect the vote of the ranks too1 in   
some articulate or  inarticulate shape1 
and weigh well the same4  ,the proper   
name of  all ,kings is ,minister1       
,servant4  ,in no conceivable           
,government can  a lay-figure get       
forward6  ,this ,worker1 surely he above
 all  others has to 'spread out his     

,gideon's ,fleece1' and collect the     
monitions of ,immensity2  the poor      
,localities1 as we said1 and  parishes  
of ,palace-yard or elsewhere1 having no 
due monition in  them4  ,a ,prime       
,minister1 even here in ,england1 who   
shall dare  believe the heavenly omens1 
and address himself like a man and  hero
 to the great dumb-struggling heart of  
,england2  and speak  out for it1 and   
act out for it1 the ,god's-justice it is
 writhing  to get uttered and perishing 
for want of1--yes1 he too will see      
awaken round him1 in passionate burning 
all-defiant loyalty1 the  heart of      
,england1 and such a 'support' as no    
,division-,list or  ,parliamentary      
,majority was ever yet known to yield a 
man6  ,here  as there1 now as then1 he  
who can and dare trust the heavenly     
,immensities1 all earthly ,localities   
are subject to him4  ,we will  pray for 
such a ,man and ,first-,lord2--yes1 and 
far better1 we will  strive and         
incessantly make ready1 each of us1 to  

be worthy to  serve and second such a   
,first-,lord6  ,we shall then be as good
  as sure of his arriving2  sure of many
 things1 let him arrive  or not4        
,who can despair of ,governments that   
passes a ,soldiers'  ,guardhouse1 or    
meets a redcoated man on the streets6   
,that a body  of men could be got       
together to kill other men when you bade
  them3  this1 a priori1 does it not    
seem one of the impossiblest  things8   
,yet look1 behold it3 in the stolidest  
of ,donothing  ,governments1 that       
impossibility is a thing done4  ,see it 
there1  with buff-belts1 red coats on   
its back2  walking sentry at            
guardhouses1 brushing white breeches in 
barracks2  an  indisputable palpable    
fact4  ,out of grey ,antiquity1 amid all
  finance-difficulties1                 
scaccarium-tallies1 ship-monies1 coat-  
and-conduct monies1 and vicissitudes of 
,chance and ,time1 there1  down to the  
present blessed hour1 it is4    ,often1 
in these painfully decadent and         

painfully nascent ,times1  with their   
distresses1 inarticulate gaspings and   
'impossibilities2'  meeting a tall      
,lifeguardsmans in his snow-  white     
trousers1 or seeing those two statuesque
 ,lifeguardsmen in  their frowning      
bearskins1 pipe-clayed buckskins1 on    
their coal-  black sleek-fiery          
quadrupeds1 riding sentry at the ,horse-
  ,guards1'--it strikes one with a kind 
of mournful interest1 how1  in such     
universal down-rushing and wrecked      
impotence of almost  all old            
institutions1 this oldest ,fighting     
,institution is still  so young6        
,fresh-complexioned1 firm-limbed1 six   
feet by the  standard1 this fighting-man
 has verily been got up1 and can  fight4
  ,while so much has not yet got into   
being2  while so much  has gone         
gradually out of it1 and become an empty
 ,semblance or  ,clothes-suit2  and     
highest king's-cloaks1 mere chimeras    
parading  under them so long1 are       
getting unsightly to the earnest eye1   

unsightly1 almost offensive1 like a     
costlier kind of scarecrow's-           
blanket1--here still is a reality6      
,the man in horsehair wig advances1     
promising that he will get me           
'justice3'  he takes me into ,chancery  
,law-,courts1 into decades1             
half-centuries of hubbub1 of distracted 
jargon2  and does get                   
me--disappointment1 almost desperation2 
and one refuge3  that of  dismissing him
 and his 'justice' altogether out of my 
head4  ,for  ,i have work to do2  ,i    
cannot spend my decades in mere arguing 
with other men about the exact wages of 
my work3  ,i will work  cheerfully with 
no wages1 sooner than with a ten-years  
gangrene  or ,chancery ,lawsuit in my   
heart6  ,he of the horsehair wig is a   
sort of failure2  no substance1 but a   
fond imagination of the  mind4  ,he of  
the shovel-hat1 again1 who comes forward
 professing  that he will save my       
soul--,o ye ,eternities1 of him in this 
place  be absolute silence6--,but he of 

the red coat1 ,i say1 is a success  and 
no failure6  ,he will veritably1 if he  
get orders1 draw out a  long sword and  
kill me4  ,no mistake there4  ,he is a  
fact and not  a shadow4  ,alive in this 
,year ,forty-three1 able and willing to 
do  his work4  ,in dim old centuries1   
with ,william ,rufus1 ,william of       
,ipres1 or far earlier1 he began2  and  
has come down safe so far4  ,catapult   
has given place to cannon1 pike has     
given place to  musket1 iron mail-shirt 
to coat of red cloth1 saltpetre         
ropematch  to percussion cap2           
equipments1 circumstances have all      
changed1  and again changed3  but the   
human battle-engine1 in the inside of   
any or of each of these1 ready still to 
do battle1 stands there1  six feet in   
standard size4  ,there are              
,pay-,offices1 ,woolwich  ,arsenals1    
there is a ,horse-,guards1 ,war-,office1
 ,captain-,general2  persuasive         
,sergeants1 with tap of drum1 recruit in
 market-towns  and villages2--and1 on   

the whole1 ,i say1 here is your actual  
drilled fightingman2  here are your     
actual ,ninety-thousand of  such1 ready 
to go into any quarter of the world and 
fight6    ,strange1 interesting1 and yet
 most mournful to reflect on4  ,was     
this1 then1 of all the things mankind   
had some talent for1 the  one thing     
important to learn well1 and bring to   
perfection2  this  of1 successfully     
killing one another8  ,truly you have   
learned it  well1 and carried the       
business to a high perfection4  ,it is  
incalculable what1 by arranging1        
commanding and regimenting1 you  can    
make of men4  ,these thousand           
straight-standing firm-set  individuals1
 who shoulder arms1 who march1 wheel1   
advance1  retreat2  and are1 for your   
behoof1 a magazine charged with fiery   
death1 in the most perfect condition of 
potential activity3  few  months ago1   
till the persuasive sergeant came1 what 
were they8  ,multiform ragged losels1   
runaway apprentices1 starved weavers1   

thievish valets2  an entirely broken    
population1 fast tending  towards the   
treadmill4  ,but the persuasive sergeant
 came2  by tap  of drum enlisted1 or    
formed lists of them1 took heartily to  
drilling them2--and he and you have made
 them this6  ,most potent1  effectual   
for all work whatsoever1 is wise        
planning1 firm  combining and commanding
 among men4  ,let no man despair of     
,governments who looks on these two     
sentries at the ,horse-,guards1  and our
 ,united-,service ,clubs6  ,i could     
conceive an ,emigration  ,service1 a    
,teaching ,service1 considerable        
varieties of ,united and  ,separate     
,services1 of the due thousands strong1 
all effective as  this ,fighting        
,service is2  all doing their work1 like
 it2--  which work1 much more than      
fighting1 is henceforth the necessity   
of these ,new ,ages we are got into6    
,much lies among us1  convulsively1 nigh
 desperately struggling to be born4     
,but mean ,governments1 as mean-limited 

individuals do1 have stood  by the      
physically indispensable2  have realised
 that and nothing  more4  ,the ,soldier 
is perhaps one of the most difficult    
things to  realise2  but ,governments1  
had they not realised him1 could not    
have existed3  accordingly he is here4  
,o ,heavens1 if we saw an  army         
ninety-thousand strong1 maintained and  
fully equipt1 in  continual real action 
and battle against ,human ,starvation1  
against ,chaos1 ,necessity1 ,stupidity1 
and our real 'natural  enemies1' what a 
business were it6  ,fighting and        
molesting not  'the ,french1' who1 poor 
men1 have a hard enough battle of their 
own in the like kind1 and need no       
additional molesting from us2  but      
fighting and incessantly spearing down  
and destroying  ,falsehood1 ,nescience1 
,delusion1 ,disorder1 and the ,devil and
 his  ,angels6  ,thou thyself1          
cultivated reader1 hast done something  
in  that alone true warfare2  but1 alas1
 under what circumstances was  it8      

,thee no beneficent drill-sergeant1 with
 any effectiveness1  would rank in line 
beside thy fellows2  train1 like a true 
didactic artist1 by the wit of all past 
expedience1 to do thy  soldiering2      
encourage thee when right1 punish thee  
when wrong1  and everywhere with wise   
word-of-command say1 ,forward on this   
hand1 ,forward on that6  ,ah1 no3  thou 
hadst to learn thy small-  sword and    
platoon exercise where and how thou     
couldst2  to all  mortals but thyself it
 was indifferent whether thou shouldst  
ever  learn it4  ,and the rations1 and  
shilling a day1 were they  provided     
thee1--reduced as ,i have known brave   
,jean-,pauls1  learning their exercise1 
to live on 'water without the bread8'   
,the rations2  or any furtherance of    
promotion to corporalship1              
lance-corporalship1 or due cato'-nine   
tails1 with the slightest  reference to 
thy deserts1 were not provided4         
,forethought1 even  as of a pipe-clayed 
drill-sergeant1 did not preside over    

thee4  ,to corporalship1                
lance-corporalship1 thou didst attain2  
alas1  also to the halberts and cat3    
but thy rewarder and punisher  seemed   
blind as the ,deluge3  neither          
lancecorporalship1 nor  even drummer's  
cat1 because both appeared delirious1   
brought  thee due profit4    ,it was    
well1 all this1 we know2--and yet it was
 not well6  ,forty  soldiers1 ,i am     
told1 will disperse the largest         
,spitalfields mob3  forty to            
ten-thousand1 that is the proportion    
between drilled and  undrilled4  ,much  
there is which cannot yet be organised  
in this  world2  but somewhat also which
 can1 somewhat also which must4  ,when  
one thinks1 for example1 what ,books are
 becoming for us1  what ,operative      
,lancashires are become2  what a ,fourth
 ,estate1 and  innumerable ,virtualities
 not yet got to be ,actualities are     
become  and becoming1--one sees         
,organisms enough in the dim huge       
,future2  and ',united ,services' quite 

other than the redcoat one2  and  much1 
even in these years1 struggling to be   
born6      ,of ,time-,bill1             
,factory-,bill and other such ,bills the
 present  ,editor has no authority to   
speak4  ,he knows not1 it is for others 
than he to know1 in what specific ways  
it may be feasible to  interfere1 with  
,legislation1 between the ,workers and  
the ,master-  ,workers2--knows only and 
sees1 what all men are beginning to see1
  that ,legislative interference1 and   
interferences not a few are             
indispensable2  that as a lawless       
anarchy of supply-and-demand1  on       
market-wages alone1 this province of    
things cannot longer be  left4  ,nay    
interference has begun3  there are      
already ,factory  ,inspectors1--who seem
 to have no lack of work4  ,perhaps     
there  might be ,mine-,inspectors       
too3--might there not be ,furrowfield   
,inspectors withal1 and ascertain for us
 how on seven and sixpence  a week a    
human family does live6  ,interference  

has begun2  it  must continue1 must     
extensively enlarge itself1 deepen and  
sharpen itself4  ,such things cannot    
longer be idly lapped in  darkness1 and 
suffered to go on unseen3  the ,heavens 
do see them2  the curse1 not the        
blessing of the ,heavens is on an ,earth
 that  refuses to see them4    ,again1  
are not ,sanitary ,regulations possible 
for a ,legislature8  ,the old ,romans   
had their ,aediles2  who would1 ,i      
think1 in direct  contravention to      
supply-and-demand1 have rigorously seen 
rammed  up into total abolition many a  
foul cellar in our ,southwarks1         
,saint-,gileses1 and dark poison-lanes2 
saying sternly1 ,shall a  ,roman man    
dwell there8  ,the ,legislature1 at     
whatever cost of  consequences1 would   
have had to answer1 ,god forbid6--,the  
,legislature1 even as it now is1 could  
order all dingy  ,manufacturing ,towns  
to cease from their soot and darkness2  
to  let in the blessed sunlight1 the    
blue of ,heaven1 and become clear  and  

clean2  to burn their coal-smoke1       
namely1 and make flame of  it4  ,baths1 
free air1 a wholesome temperature1      
ceilings twenty  feet high1 might be    
ordained by ,act of ,parliament1 in all 
establishments licensed as ,mills4      
,there are such ,mills already          
extant2--honour to the builders of them6
 ,the ,legislature can say  to others3  
,go ye and do likewise2  better if you  
can4    ,every toiling ,manchester1 its 
smoke and soot all burnt1 ought it  not1
 among so many world-wide conquests1 to 
have a hundred acres  or so of free     
greenfield1 with trees on it1 conquered1
 for its  little children to disport in2
  for its all-conquering workers to     
take a breath of twilight air in8  ,you 
would say so6  ,a willing  ,legislature 
could say so with effect4  ,a willing   
,legislature  could say very many       
things6  ,and to whatsoever 'vested     
interest1'  or such like1 stood up1     
gainsaying merely1 ,i shall lose        
profits1--the willing ,legislature would

 answer1 ,yes1 but my  sons and         
daughters will gain health1 and life1   
and a soul4--  ,what is to become of our
 ,cotton-trade8 cried certain ,spinners1
  when the ,factory-,bill was proposed2 
,what is to become of our  invaluable   
,cotton-trade8  ,the ,humanity of       
,england answered  steadfastly3         
,deliver me these rickety perishing     
souls of  infants1 and let your         
,cotton-trade take its chance4  ,god    
,himself  commands the one thing2  not  
,god especially the other thing4  ,we   
cannot have prosperous ,cotton-trades at
 the expense of keeping  the ,devil a   
partner in them6--    ,bills enough1    
were the ,corn-,law ,abrogation ,bill   
once passed1 and  a ,legislature        
willing6  ,nay this one ,bill1 which    
lies yet  unenacted1 a right ,education 
,bill1 is not this of itself the sure   
parent of innumerable wise ,bills1--wise
 regulations1 practical  methods and    
proposals1 gradually ripening towards   
the state of  ,bills8  ,to irradiate    

with intelligence1 that is to say1 with 
order1 arrangement and all blessedness1 
the ,chaotic1  ,unintelligent3  how1    
except by educating1 can you-accomplish 
this8  ,that thought1 reflection1       
articulate utterance and  understanding 
be awakened in these individual million 
heads1  which are the atoms of your     
,chaos3  there is no other way of       
illuminating any ,chaos6  ,the sum-total
 of intelligence that is  found in it1  
determines the extent of order that is  
possible for  your ,chaos1--the         
feasibility and rationality of what your
 ,chaos  will dimly demand from you1 and
 will gladly obey when proposed by  you6
  ,it is an exact equation2  the one    
accurately measures the  other4--,if the
 whole ,english ,people1 during these   
'twenty years  of respite1' be not      
educated1 with at least schoolmaster's  
educating1 a tremendous responsibility1 
before ,god and men1 will  rest         
somewhere6  ,how dare any man1          
especially a man calling  himself       

minister of ,god1 stand up in any       
,parliament or place1  under any pretext
 or delusion1 and for a day or an hour  
forbid  ,god's ,light to come into the  
world1 and bid the ,devil's ,darkness   
continue in it one hour more6  ,for all 
light and science1 under  all shapes1 in
 all degrees of perfection1 is of ,god2 
all  darkness1 nescience1 is of the     
,enemy of ,god4  ',the schoolmaster's   
creed is somewhat awry8'  ,yes1 ,i have 
found few creeds entirely  correct2  few
 light-beams shining white1 pure of     
admixture3  but  of all creeds and      
religions now or ever before known1 was 
not  that of thoughtless thriftless     
,animalism1 of ,distilled ,gin1 and     
,stupor and ,despair1 unspeakably the   
least orthodox8  ,we will  exchange it  
even with ,paganism1 with ,fetishism2   
and1 on the  whole1 must exchange it    
with something4    ,an effective        
',teaching ,service' ,i do consider that
 there must be2  some ,education        
,secretary1 ,captain-,general of        

,teachers1 who will  actually contrive  
to get us taught4  ,then again1 why     
should  there not be an ',emigration    
,service1' and ,secretary1 with         
adjuncts1 with funds1 forces1 idle      
,navy-ships1 and ever-  increasing      
apparatus2  in fine an effective system 
of  ,emigration2  so that1 at length1   
before our twenty years of  respite     
ended1 every honest willing ,workman who
 found ,england too  strait1 and the    
',organisation of ,labour' not yet      
sufficiently  advanced1 might find      
likewise a bridge built to carry him    
into  new ,western ,lands1 there to     
'organise' with more elbow-room some    
labour for himself8  ,there to be a real
 blessing1 raising new  corn for us1    
purchasing new webs and hatchets from   
us2  leaving  us at least in            
peace2--instead of staying here to be a 
,physical-  ,force ,chartist1 unblessed 
and no blessing6  ,is it not scandalous 
to consider that a ,prime ,minister     
could raise within the year1 as  ,i have

 seen it done1 a ,hundred and ,twenty   
,millions ,sterling to  shoot the       
,french2  and we are stopt short for    
want of the  hundredth part of that to  
keep the ,english living8  ,the bodies  
of  the ,english living2  and the souls 
of the ,english living3--these  two     
',services1' an ,education ,service and 
an ,emigration ,service1  these with    
others will actually have to be         
organised6    ,a free bridge for        
,emigrants3  why1 we should then be on a
 par  with ,america itself1 the most    
favoured of all lands that have no      
government2  and we should have1        
besides1 so many traditions and         
mementos of priceless things which      
,america has cast away4  ,we  could     
proceed deliberately to 'organise       
,labour1' not doomed to  perish unless  
we effected it within year and          
day2--every willing  ,worker that proved
 superfluous1 finding a bridge ready for
 him4  ,this verily will have to be     
done2  the ,time is big with this4  ,our

 little ,isle is grown too narrow for   
us2  but the world is  wide enough yet  
for another ,six ,thousand ,years4      
,england's sure  markets will be among  
new ,colonies of ,englishmen in all     
quarters  of the ,globe4  ,all men trade
 with all men1 when mutually            
convenient2  and are even bound to do it
 by the ,maker of men4  ,our friends of 
,china1 who guiltily refused to trade1  
in these  circumstances1--had we not to 
argue with them1 in cannon-shot at      
last1 and convince them that they ought 
to trade6  ',hostile  ,tariffs' will    
arise1 to shut us out2  and then again  
will fall1  to let us in3  but the ,sons
 of ,england1 speakers of the ,english  
language were it nothing more1 will in  
all times have the  ineradicable        
predisposition to trade with ,england4  
,mycale was  the ,pan-,ionian1          
rendezvous of all the ,tribes of ,ion1  
for old  ,greece3  why should not       
,london long continue the ,all-,saxon-  
home1 rendezvous of all the ',children  

of the ,harz-,rock1'  arriving1 in      
select samples1 from the ,antipodes and 
elsewhere1 by  steam and otherwise1 to  
the 'season' here6--,what a ,future2    
wide  as the world1 if we have the heart
 and heroism for it1--which1 by         
,heaven's blessing1 we shall3    ',keep 
not standing fixed and rooted1  ,briskly
 venture1 briskly roam2  ,head and hand1
 where'er thou foot it1  ,and stout     
heart are still at home4    ,in what    
land the sun does visit1  ,brisk are we1
 whate'er betide3  ,to give space for   
wandering is it  ,that the world was    
made so wide8' 99    --------  99       
,goethe1 ,wilhelm ,meister  --------    
,fourteen hundred years ago1 it was by a
 considerable ',emigration  ,service1'  
never doubt it1 by much enlistment1     
discussion and  apparatus1 that we      
ourselves arrived in this remarkable    
,island1--  and got into our present    
difficulties among others6      ,it is  
true the ,english ,legislature1 like the
 ,english ,people1 is  of slow temper2  

essentially conservative4  ,in our      
wildest periods  of reform1 in the ,long
 ,parliament itself1 you notice always  
the  invincible instinct to hold fast by
 the ,old2  to admit the  minimum of    
,new2  to expand1 if it be possible1    
some old habit or  method1 already found
 fruitful1 into new growth for the new  
need4  ,it is an instinct worthy of all 
honour2  akin to all strength and  all  
wisdom4  ,the ,future hereby is not     
dissevered from the ,past1  but based   
continuously on it2  grows with all the 
vitalities of  the ,past1 and is rooted 
down deep into the beginnings of us4    
,the  ,english ,legislature is entirely 
repugnant to believe in 'new  epochs4'  
,the ,english ,legislature does not     
occupy itself with  epochs2  has1       
indeed1 other business to do than       
looking at the  ,time-,horologe and     
hearing it tick6  ,nevertheless new     
epochs do  actually come2  and with them
 new imperious peremptory  necessities2 
so that even an ,english ,legislature   

has to look up1  and admit1 though with 
reluctance1 that the hour has struck4   
,the  hour having struck1 let us not say
 'impossible3'--it will have to  be     
possible6  ',contrary to the habits of  
,parliament1 the habits  of             
,government8'  ,yes3  but did any       
,parliament or ,government ever  sit in 
a ,year ,forty-three before8  ,one of   
the most original1  unexampled years and
 epochs2  in several important respects1
  totally unlike any other6  ,for ,time1
 all-edacious and all-  feracious1 does 
run on3  and the ,seven ,sleepers1      
awakening hungry  after a hundred years1
 find that it is not their old nurses   
who  can now give them suck6    ,for the
 rest1 let not any ,parliament1         
,aristocracy1 ,millocracy1 or  ,member  
of the ,governing ,class1 condemn with  
much triumph this  small specimen of    
'remedial measures2' or ask again1 with 
the  least anger1 of this ,editor1 ,what
 is to be done1 ,how that  alarming     
problem of the ,working ,classes is to  

be managed8  ,editors are not here1     
foremost of all1 to say ,how4  ,a       
certain  ,editor thanks the gods that   
nobody pays him three hundred  thousand 
pounds a year1 two hundred thousand1    
twenty thousand1 or  any similar sum of 
cash for saying ,how2--that his wages   
are very  different1 his work somewhat  
fitter for him4  ,an ,editor's          
stipulated work is to apprise thee that 
it must be done4  ,the  'way to do it1' 
is to try it1 knowing that thou shalt   
die if it  be not done4  ,there is the  
bare back1 there is the web of cloth2   
thou shalt cut me a coat to cover the   
bare back1 thou whose trade  it is4     
',impossible8'  ,hapless ,fraction1 dost
 thou discern ,fate  there1 half        
unveiling herself in the gloom of the   
future1 with  her gibbet-cords1 her     
steel-whips1 and very authentic         
,tailor's  ,hell2  waiting to see       
whether it is 'possible8'  ,out with thy
  scissors1 and cut that cloth or thy   
own windpipe6          ,chapter ,,iv    

,captains of ,industry      ,if ,i      
believed that ,mammonism with its       
adjuncts was to continue  henceforth the
 one serious principle of our existence1
 ,i should  reckon it idle to solicit   
remedial measures from any ,government1 
the disease being insusceptible of      
remedy4  ,government can do  much1 but  
it can in no wise do all4  ,government1 
as the most  conspicuous object in      
,society1 is called upon to give signal 
of  what shall be done2  and1 in many   
ways1 to preside over1 further1  and    
command the doing of it4  ,but the      
,government cannot do1 by  all its      
signalling and commanding1 what the     
,society is radically  indisposed to    
do4--,in the long-run every ,government 
is the exact  symbol of its ,people1    
with their wisdom and unwisdom2  we have
 to  say1 ,like ,people like            
,government4--,the main substance of    
this  immense ,problem of ,organising   
,labour1 and first of all of  ,managing 
the ,working ,classes1 will1 it is very 

clear1 have to be  solved by those who  
stand practically in the middle of it2  
by  those who themselves work and       
preside over work4  ,of all that can  be
 enacted by any ,parliament in regard to
 it1 the germs must  already lie        
potentially extant in those two         
,classes1 who are to  obey such         
enactment4  ,a ,human ,chaos in which   
there is no light1  you vainly attempt  
to irradiate by light shed on it3  order
 never  can arise there4    ,but it is  
my firm conviction that the ',hell of   
,england' will  cease to be that of 'not
 making money2'  that we shall get a    
nobler ,hell and a nobler ,heaven6  ,i  
anticipate light in the  ,human ,chaos1 
glimmering1 shining more and more2      
under manifold  true signals from       
without ,that light shall shine4  ,our  
deity no  longer being ,mammon1--,o     
,heavens1 each man will then say to     
himself3  ,why such deadly haste to make
 money8  ,i shall not go  to ,hell1 even
 if ,i do not make money6  ,there is    

another ,hell1 ,i  am told6             
,competition1 at railway-speed1 in all  
branches of  commerce and work will then
 abate3--good felt-hats for the head1   
in every sense1 instead of seven-feet   
lath-and-plaster hats on  wheels1 will  
then be discoverable6  ,bubble-periods1 
with their  panics and commercial       
crises1 will again become infrequent2   
steady modest industry will take the    
place of gambling  speculation4  ,to be 
a noble ,master1 among noble ,workers1  
will  again be the first ambition with  
some few2  to be a rich ,master  only   
the second4  ,how the ,inventive ,genius
 of ,england1 with the  whirr of its    
bobbins and billy-rollers shoved        
somewhat into the  backgrounds of the   
brain1 will contrive and devise1 not    
cheaper  produce exclusively1 but fairer
 distribution of the produce at  its    
present cheapness6  ,by degrees1 we     
shall again have a ,society  with       
something of ,heroism in it1 something  
of ,heaven's ,blessing  on it2  we shall

 again have1 as my ,german friend       
asserts1  'instead of ,mammon-,feudalism
 with unsold cotton-shirts and          
,preservation of the ,game1 noble just  
,industrialism and ,government  by the  
,wisest6'    ,it is with the hope of    
awakening here and there a ,british man 
to  know himself for a man and divine   
soul1 that a few words of  parting      
admonition1 to all persons to whom the  
,heavenly ,powers  have lent power of   
any kind in this land1 may now be       
addressed4  ,and first to those same    
,master-,workers1 ,leaders of ,industry2
  who  stand nearest1 and in fact       
powerfulest1 though not most  prominent1
 being as yet in too many senses a      
,virtuality rather  than an ,actuality4 
,the ,leaders of ,industry1 if ,industry
 is ever to be led1 are  virtually the  
,captains of the ,world2  if there be no
 nobleness in  them1 there will never be
 an ,aristocracy more4  ,but let the    
,captains of ,industry consider3  once  
again1 are they born of  other clay than

 the old ,captains of ,slaughter2       
doomed forever to  be no ,chivalry1 but 
a mere gold-plated ,doggery1--what the  
,french well name ,canaille1 ',doggery' 
with more or less gold  carrion at its  
disposal8  ,captains of ,industry are   
the true  ,fighters1 henceforth         
recognisable as the only true ones3     
,fighters against ,chaos1 ,necessity and
 the ,devils and ,jotuns2  and  lead on 
,mankind in that great1 and alone true1 
and universal  warfare2  the stars in   
their courses fighting for them1 and all
  ,heaven and all ,earth saying audibly1
 ,well-done6  ,let the ,captains  of    
,industry retire into their own hearts1 
and ask solemnly1 ,if  there is nothing 
but vulturous hunger1 for fine wines1   
valet  reputation and gilt carriages1   
discoverable there8  ,of hearts  made by
 the ,almighty ,god4    ,i will not     
believe such a thing4  ,deep-hidden     
under wretchedest  god-forgetting       
,cants1 ,epicurisms1 ,dead-,sea ,apisms2
  forgotten as  under foulest fat ,lethe

 mud and weeds1 there is yet1 in all    
hearts born into this ,god's-,world1 a  
spark of the ,godlike  slumbering4      
,awake1 ,o nightmare sleepers2  awake1  
arise1 or be  forever fallen6  ,this is 
not playhouse poetry2  it is sober fact4
  ,our ,england1 our world cannot live  
as it is4  ,it will connect  itself with
 a ,god again1 or go down with nameless 
throes and  fire-consummation to the    
,devils4  ,thou who feelest aught of    
such  a ,godlike stirring in thee1 any  
faintest intimation of it as  through   
heavy-laden dreams1 follow it1 ,i       
conjure thee4  ,arise1  save thyself1 be
 one of those that save thy country4    
,bucaniers1 ,chactaw ,indians1 whose    
supreme aim in fighting is that  they   
may get the scalps1 the money1 that they
 may amass scalps  and money3  out of   
such came no ,chivalry1 and never will6 
,out of  such came only gore and wreck1 
infernal rage and misery2  desperation  
quenched in annihilation4  ,behold it1  
,i bid thee1  behold there1 and         

consider6  ,what is it that thou have a 
hundred  thousand-pound bills laid up in
 thy strong-room1 a hundred scalps  hung
 up in thy wigwam8  ,i value not them or
 thee4  ,thy scalps and  thy            
thousand-pound bills are as yet nothing1
 if no nobleness from  within irradiate 
them2  if no ,chivalry1 in action1 or in
 embryo  ever struggling towards birth  
and action1 be there4    ,love of men   
cannot be bought by cash-payment2  and  
without love1  men cannot endure to be  
together4  ,you cannot lead a ,fighting 
,world without having it regimented1    
chivalried3  the thing1 in a  day1      
becomes impossible2  all men in it1 the 
highest at first1  the very lowest at   
last1 discern consciously1 or by a noble
  instinct1 this necessity4  ,and can   
you any more continue to lead  a        
,working ,world unregimented1 anarchic8 
,i answer1 and the  ,heavens and ,earth 
are now answering1 ,no6  ,the thing     
becomes not  'in a day' impossible2  but
 in some two generations it does4  ,yes1

 when fathers and mothers1 in ,stockport
 hunger-cellars1 begin  to eat their    
children1 and ,irish widows have to     
prove their  relationship by dying of   
typhus-fever2  and amid ,governing      
',corporations of the ,best and         
,bravest1' busy to preserve their  game 
by 'bushing1' dark millions of ,god's   
human creatures start  up in mad        
,chartisms1 impracticable               
,sacred-,months1 and ,manchester        
,insurrections2--and there is a virtual 
,industrial ,aristocracy as  yet only   
half-alive1 spellbound amid money-bags  
and ledgers2  and  an actual ,idle      
,aristocracy seemingly near dead in     
somnolent  delusions1 in trespasses and 
double-barrels2  'sliding1' as on       
inclined-planes1 which every new year   
they soap with new  ,hansard's-jargon   
under ,god's sky1 and so are 'sliding'  
ever  faster1 towards a 'scale' and     
balance-scale whereon is written  ,thou 
art found ,wanting3--in such days1 after
 a generation or  two1 ,i say1 it does  

become1 even to the low and simple1 very
  palpably impossible6  ,no ,working    
,world1 any more than a ,fighting       
,world1 can be led on without a noble   
,chivalry of ,work1 and laws  and fixed 
rules which follow out of that1--far    
nobler than any  ,chivalry of ,fighting 
was4  ,as an anarchic multitude on mere 
,supply-and-demand1 it is becoming      
inevitable that we dwindle in  horrid   
suicidal convulsion1 and self-abrasion1 
frightful to the  imagination1 into     
,chactaw ,workers4  ,with wigwam and    
scalps1--  with palaces and             
thousand-pound bills2  with savagery1   
depopulation1 chaotic desolation6  ,good
 ,heavens1 will not one  ,french        
,revolution and ,reign of ,terror       
suffice us1 but must there  be two8     
,there will be two if needed2  there    
will be twenty if  needed2  there will  
be precisely as many as are needed4     
,the ,laws  of ,nature will have        
themselves fulfilled4  ,that is a thing 
certain to me4    ,your gallant         

battle-hosts and work-hosts1 as the     
others did1 will  need to be made       
loyally yours2  they must and will be   
regulated1  methodically secured in     
their just share of conquest under      
you2--  joined with you in veritable    
brotherhood1 sonhood1 by quite other    
and deeper ties than those of temporary 
day's wages6  ,how would  mere redcoated
 regiments1 to say nothing of           
chivalries1 fight for  you1 if you could
 discharge them on the evening of the   
battle1 on  payment of the stipulated   
shillings1--and they discharge you on   
the morning of it6  ,chelsea ,hospitals1
 pensions1 promotions1  rigorous lasting
 covenant on the one side and on the    
other1 are  indispensable even for a    
hired fighter4  ,the ,feudal ,baron1    
much  more1--how could he subsist with  
mere temporary mercenaries round  him1  
at sixpence a day2  ready to go over to 
the other side1 if  sevenpence were     
offered8  ,he could not have            
subsisted2--and his  noble instinct     

saved him from the necessity of even    
trying6  ,the  ,feudal ,baron had a     
,man's ,soul in him2  to which anarchy1 
mutiny1  and the other fruits of        
temporary mercenaries1 were intolerable3
  he had never been a ,baron otherwise1 
but had continued a ,chactaw  and       
,bucanier4  ,he felt it precious1 and at
 last it became  habitual1 and his      
fruitful enlarged existence included it 
as a  necessity1 to have men round him  
who in heart loved him2  whose  life he 
watched over with rigour yet with love2 
who were  prepared to give their life   
for him1 if need came4  ,it was         
beautiful2  it was human6  ,man lives   
not otherwise1 nor can live  contented1 
anywhere or anywhen4  ,isolation is the 
sum-total of  wretchedness to man4  ,to 
be cut off1 to be left solitary3  to    
have a world alien1 not your world2  all
 a hostile camp for you2  not a home at 
all1 of hearts and faces who are yours1 
whose you  are6  ,it is the frightfulest
 enchantment2  too truly a work of  the 

,evil ,one4  ,to have neither superior1 
nor inferior1 nor equal1  united manlike
 to you4  ,without father1 without      
child1 without  brother4  ,man knows no 
sadder destiny4  ',how is each of us1'  
exclaims ,jean ,paul1 'so lonely1 in the
 wide bosom of the ,all6'  ,encased each
 as in his transparent 'ice-palace2'    
our brother  visible in his1 making     
signals and gesticulations to us2--     
visible1 but forever unattainable3  on  
his bosom we shall never  rest1 nor he  
on ours4  ,it was not a ,god that did   
this2 no6    ,awake1 ye noble ,workers1 
warriors in the one true war3  all this 
must be remedied4  ,it is you who are   
already half-alive1 whom ,i  will       
welcome into life2  whom ,i will conjure
 in ,god's name to  shake off your      
enchanted sleep1 and live wholly6       
,cease to count  scalps1 gold-purses2   
not in these lies your or our salvation4
  ,even these1 if you count only these1 
will not long be left4  ,let            
bucaniering be put far from you2  alter1

 speedily abrogate all  laws of the     
bucaniers1 if you would gain any victory
 that shall  endure4  ,let ,god's       
justice1 let pity1 nobleness and manly  
valour1  with more gold-purses or with  
fewer1 testify themselves in this  your 
brief ,life-transit to all the          
,eternities1 the ,gods and  ,silences4  
,it is to you ,i call2  for ye are not  
dead1 ye are  already half-alive3  there
 is in you a sleepless dauntless        
energy1 the prime-matter of all         
nobleness in man4  ,honour to you  in   
your kind4  ,it is to you ,i call3  ye  
know at least this1 ,that  the mandate  
of ,god to ,his creature man is3  ,work6
  ,the future  ,epic of the ,world rests
 not with those that are near dead1 but 
with those that are alive1 and those    
that are coming into life4    ,look     
around you4  ,your world-hosts are all  
in mutiny1 in  confusion1 destitution2  
on the eve of fiery wreck and madness6  
,they will not march farther for you1 on
 the sixpence a day and                 

supply-and-demand principle3  they will 
not2  nor ought they1 nor  can they4    
,ye shall reduce them to order1 begin   
reducing them4  ,to order1 to just      
subordination2  noble loyalty in return 
for  noble guidance4  ,their souls are  
driven nigh mad2  let yours be  sane and
 ever saner4  ,not as a bewildered      
bewildering mob2  but  as a firm        
regimented mass1 with real captains over
 them1 will  these men march any more4  
,all human interests1 combined human    
endeavours1 and social growths in this  
world1 have1 at a certain  stage of     
their development1 required organising3 
and ,work1 the  grandest of human       
interests1 does now require it4    ,god 
knows1 the task will be hard3  but no   
noble task was ever  easy4  ,this task  
will wear away your lives1 and the lives
 of your  sons and grandsons3  but for  
what purpose1 if not for tasks like     
this1 were lives given to men8  ,ye     
shall cease to count your               
thousand-pound scalps1 the noble of you 

shall cease6  ,nay the  very scalps1 as 
,i say1 will not long be left if you    
count only  these4  ,ye shall cease     
wholly to be barbarous vulturous        
,chactaws1  and become noble ,european  
,nineteenth-,century ,men4  ,ye shall   
know  that ,mammon1 in never such gigs  
and flunky 'respectabilities1' is  not  
the alone ,god2  that of himself he is  
but a ,devil1 and even  a ,brute-god4   
,difficult8 ,yes1 it will be difficult4 
,the short-fibre cotton2  that too was  
difficult4  ,the waste cotton-shrub1    
long useless1  disobedient1 as the      
thistle by the wayside1--have ye not    
conquered it2  made it into beautiful   
bandana webs2 white woven  shirts for   
men2  bright-tinted air-garments wherein
 flit  goddesses8  ,ye have shivered    
mountains asunder1 made the hard  iron  
pliant to you as soft putty3  the       
,forest-giants1 ,marsh-  jotuns bear    
sheaves of golden grain2  ,aegir the    
,sea-demon himself  stretches his back  
for a sleek highway to you1 and on      

,firehorses  and ,windhorses ye career4 
,ye are most strong4  ,thor red-bearded1
  with his blue sun-eyes1 with his      
cheery heart and strong thunder-        
hammer1 he and you have prevailed4  ,ye 
are most strong1 ye ,sons  of the icy   
,north1 of the far ,east1--far marching 
from your rugged  ,eastern              
,wildernesses1 hitherward from the grey 
,dawn of ,time6  ,ye  are ,sons of the  
,jotun-land2  the land of ,difficulties 
,conquered4  ,difficult8  ,you must try 
this thing4  ,once try it  with the     
understanding that it will and shall    
have to be done4  ,try it as ye try the 
paltrier thing1 making of money6  ,i    
will bet  on you once more1 against all 
,jotuns1 ,tailor-gods1 ,double-         
barrelled ,law-wards1 and ,denizens of  
,chaos whatsoever6          ,chapter ,v 
,permanence      ,standing on the       
threshold1 nay as yet outside the       
threshold1 of a  ',chivalry of ,labour1'
 and an immeasurable ,future which it is
 to  fill with fruitfulness and verdant 

shade2  where so much has not  yet come 
even to the rudimental state1 and all   
speech of positive  enactments were     
hasardous in those who know this        
business only by  the eye1--let us here 
hint at simply one widest universal     
principle1 as the basis from which all  
organisation hitherto has  grown up     
among men1 and all henceforth will have 
to grow3  ,the  principle of ,permanent 
,contract instead of ,temporary4        
,permanent not ,temporary3--you do not  
hire the mere redcoated  fighter by the 
day1 but by the score of years'         
,permanence1  persistance is the first  
condition of all fruitfulness in the    
ways of men4  ,the 'tendency to         
persevere1' to persist in spite of      
hindrances1 discouragements and         
'impossibilities3'  it is this  that in 
all things distinguishes the strong soul
 from the weak2  the civilised burgher  
from the nomadic savage1--the ,species  
,man  from the ,genus ,ape6  ,the ,nomad
 has his very house set on wheels2  the 

,nomad1 and in a still higher degree the
 ,ape1 are all for  'liberty2'  the     
privilege to flit continually is        
indispensable  for them4  ,alas1 in how 
many ways1 does our humour1 in this     
swift-rolling self-abrading ,time1 shew 
itself nomadic1 apelike2  mournful      
enough to him that looks on it with     
eyes6  ,this humour  will have to abate2
  it is the first element of all        
fertility in  human things1 that such   
'liberty' of apes and nomads do by      
freewill or constraint abridge itself1  
give place to a better4  ,the civilised 
man lives not in wheeled houses4  ,he   
builds stone  castles1 plants lands1    
makes lifelong marriage-contracts2--has 
long-dated hundred-fold possessions1 not
 to be valued in the  money-market2  has
 pedigrees1 libraries1 law-codes2  has  
memories  and hopes1 even for this      
,earth1 that reach over thousands of    
years4  ,life-long marriage-contracts3  
how much preferable were  year-long or  
month-long--to the nomad or ape6        

,month-long contracts please me little1 
in any province where  there can by     
possibility be found virtue enough for  
more4  ,month-  long contracts do not   
answer well even with your              
house-servants2  the liberty on both    
sides to change every month is growing  
very  apelike1 nomadic2--and ,i hear    
philosophers predict that it will       
alter1 or that strange results will     
follow3  that wise men1  pestered with  
nomads1 with unattached ever-shifting   
spies and  enemies rather than friends  
and servants1 will gradually1  weighing 
substance against semblance1 with       
indignation1 dismiss  such1 down almost 
to the very shoeblack1 and say1 ,begone2
  ,i  will serve myself rather1 and have
 peace6  ,gurth was hired for  life to  
,cedric1 and ,cedric to ,gurth4  ,o     
,anti-,slavery ,convention1             
loud-sounding long-eared                
,exeter-,hall--,but in thee too is a    
kind  of instinct towards justice1 and  
,i will complain of nothing4  ,only1    

black ,quashee over the seas being once 
sufficiently  attended to1 wilt thou not
 perhaps open thy dull sodden eyes to   
the 'sixty-thousand valets in ,london   
itself who are yearly  dismissed to the 
streets1 to be what they can1 when the  
season  ends2'--or to the               
hunger-stricken1 pallid1 yellow-coloured
  ',free ,labourers' in ,lancashire1    
,yorkshire1 ,buckinghamshire1 and  all  
other shires6  ,these ,yellow-coloured1 
for the present1 absorb  all my         
sympathies3  if ,i had a ,twenty        
,millions1 with ,model-,farms  and      
,niger ,expeditions1 it is to these that
 ,i would give it6  ,quashee has already
 victuals1 clothing2  ,quashee is not   
dying of  such despair as the           
yellow-coloured pale man's4  ,quashee1  
it must  be owned1 is hitherto a kind of
 blockhead4  ,the ,haiti ,duke of       
,marmalade1 educated now for almost half
 a century1 seems to have  next to no   
sense in him4  ,why1 in one of those    
,lancashire  ,weavers1 dying of hunger1 

there is more thought and heart1 a      
greater arithmetical amount of misery   
and desperation1 than in  whole gangs of
 ,quashees4  ,it must be owned1 thy eyes
 are of the  sodden sort2  and with thy 
emancipations1 and thy twenty-          
millionings and long-eared clamourings1 
thou1 like ,robespierre  with his       
pasteboard ,etre ,supreme1 threatenest  
to become a bore  to us1 ,avec ton ,etre
 ,supreme tu commences m'embeter6--     
,in a ,printed ,sheet of the assiduous1 
much-abused1 and truly  useful ,mr4     
,chadwick's1 containing queries and     
responses from far  and near1 as to this
 great question1 ',what is the effect of
  ,education on workingmen1 in respect  
of their value as mere  workers8' the   
present ,editor1 reading with           
satisfaction a  decisive unanimous      
verdict as to ,education1 reads with    
inexpressible interest this special     
remark1 put in by way of  marginal      
incidental note1 from a practical       
manufacturing ,quaker1  whom1 as he is  

anonymous1 we will call ,friend         
,prudence4  ,prudence  keeps a thousand 
workmen2  has striven in all ways to    
attach them  to him2  has provided      
conversational soirees2  playgrounds1   
bands  of music for the young ones2     
went even 'the length of buying  them a 
drum3'  all which has turned out to be  
an excellent  investment4  ,for a       
certain person1 marked here by a black  
stroke1  whom we shall name ,blank1     
living over the way1--he also keeps     
somewhere about a thousand men2  but has
 done none of these  things for them1   
nor any other thing1 except due payment 
of the  wages by supply-and-demand4     
,blank's workers are perpetually        
getting into mutiny1 into broils and    
coils3  every six months1  we suppose1  
,blank has a strike2  every one month1  
every day  and every hour1 they are     
fretting and obstructing the            
short-sighted  ,blank2  pilfering from  
him1 wasting and idling for him1        
omitting  and committing for him4  ,i   

would not1 says ,friend ,prudence1      
exchange my workers for his with seven  
thousand pounds to boot4    ------------
  99,report on the ,training of ,pauper 
,children 7#ahda71 p4 #ah4  ------------
    ,right1 ,o honourable ,prudence2    
thou art wholly in the right3  ,seven   
thousand pounds even as a matter of     
profit for this world1  nay for the mere
 cash-market of this worrd6  ,and as a  
matter of  profit not for this world    
only1 but for the other world and all   
worlds1 it outweighs the ,bank of       
,england6--,can the sagacious  reader   
descry here1 as it were the outmost     
inconsiderable  rockledge of a universal
 rock-foundation1 deep once more as the 
,centre of the ,world1 emerging so1 in  
the experience of this good  ,quaker1   
through the ,stygian mud-vortexes and   
general ,mother of  ,dead ,dogs1        
whereon1 for the present1 all swags and 
insecurely  hovers1 as if ready to be   
swallowed8      ,some ,permanence of    
,contract is already almost possible2   

the  principle of ,permanence1 year by  
year1 better seen into and  elaborated1 
may enlarge itself1 expand gradually on 
every side  into a system4  ,this once  
secured1 the basis of all good results  
were laid4  ,once permanent1 you do not 
quarrel with the first  difficulty on   
your path1 and quit it in weak disgust2 
you  reflect that it cannot be quitted1 
that it must be conquered1 a  wise      
arrangement fallen on with regard to it4
  ,ye foolish ,wedded  ,two1 who have   
quarrelled1 between whom the ,evil      
,spirit has  stirred up transient strife
 and bitterness1 so that                
'incompatibility' seems almost nigh1 ye 
are nevertheless the ,two  who1 by long 
habit1 were it by nothing more1 do best 
of all  others suit each other3  it is  
expedient for your own two foolish      
selves1 to say nothing of the infants1  
pedigrees and public in  general1 that  
ye agree again2  that ye put away the   
,evil  ,spirit1 and wisely on both hands
 struggle for the guidance of  a ,good  

,spirit6    ,the very horse that is     
permanent1 how much kindlier do his     
rider  and he work1 than the temporary  
one1 hired on any hack principle  yet   
known6  ,i am for permanence in all     
things1 at the earliest  possible       
moment1 and to the latest possible4     
,blessed is he that  continueth where he
 is4  ,here let us rest1 and lay out    
seedfields2  here let us learn to dwell4
  ,here1 even here1 the  orchards that  
we plant will yield us fruit2  the      
acorns will be  wood and pleasant       
umbrage1 if we wait4  ,how much grows   
everywhere1 if we do but wait6  ,through
 the swamps we will shape  causeways1   
force purifying drains2  we will learn  
to thread the  rocky inaccessibilities2 
and beaten tracks1 worn smooth by mere  
traveling of human feet1 will form      
themselves4  ,not a difficulty  but can 
transfigure itself into a triumph2  not 
even a deformity  but1 if our own soul  
have imprinted worth on it1 will grow   
dear  to us4  ,the sunny plains and deep

 indigo transparent skies of  ,italy are
 all indifferent to the great sick heart
 of a ,sir ,walter  ,scott3  on the back
 of the ,apennines1 in wild spring      
weather1 the  sight of bleak ,scotch    
firs1 and snow-spotted heath and        
desolation1 brings tears into his       
eyes499    -----------  99,lockhart's   
,life of ,scott  -----------    ,o      
unwise mortals that forever change and  
shift1 and say1 ,yonder1  not ,here6    
,wealth richer than both the ,indies    
lies everywhere for  man1 if he will    
endure4  ,not his oaks only and his     
fruit-trees1  his very heart roots      
itself wherever he will abide2--roots   
itself1 draws nourishment from the deep 
fountains of ,universal  ,being6        
,vagrant ,sam-,slicks1 who rove over the
 ,earth doing  'strokes of trade1' what 
wealth have they8  ,horseloads1         
shiploads  of white or yellow metal3  in
 very sooth1 what are these8  ,slick    
rests nowhere1 he is homeless4  ,he can 
build stone or marble  houses2  but to  

continue in them is denied him4  ,the   
wealth of a  man is the number of things
 which he loves and blesses1 which he   
is loved and blessed by6  ,the herdsman 
in his poor clay shealing1  where his   
very cow and dog are friends to him1 and
 not a cataract  but carries memories   
for him1 and not a mountain-top but nods
 old  recognition3  his life1 all       
encircled as in blessed mother's-  arms1
 is it poorer than ,slick's with the    
ass-loads of yellow  metal on his back8 
,unhappy ,slick6  ,alas1 there has so   
much grown  nomadic1 apelike1 with us3  
so much will have1 with whatever  pain1 
repugnance and 'impossibility1' to alter
 itself1 to fix  itself again1--in some 
wise way1 in any not delirious way6     
,a question arises here3  ,whether1 in  
some ulterior1 perhaps some  not        
far-distant stage of this ',chivalry of 
,labour1' your ,master-  ,worker may not
 find it possible1 and needful1 to grant
 his  ,workers permanent interest in his
 enterprise and theirs8  ,so  that it   

become1 in practical result1 what in    
essential fact and  justice it ever is1 
a joint enterprise2  all men1 from the  
,chief  ,master down to the lowest      
,overseer and ,operative1 economically  
as  well as loyally concerned for       
it8--,which question ,i do not  answer4 
,the answer1 near or else far1 is       
perhaps1 ,yes2--and yet  one knows the  
difficulties4  ,despotism is essential  
in most  enterprises2  ,i am told1 they 
do not tolerate 'freedom of debate'  on 
board a ,seventy-four6  ,republican     
senate and plebiscita  would not answer 
well in ,cotton-,mills4  ,and yet       
observe there  too3  ,freedom1 not      
nomad's or ape's ,freedom1 but man's    
,freedom2  this is indispensable4  ,we  
must have it1 and will have it6  ,to    
reconcile ,despotism with               
,freedom3--well1 is that such a mystery8
  ,do you not already know the way8  ,it
 is to make your ,despotism  just4      
,rigorous as ,destiny2  but just too1 as
 ,destiny and its  ,laws4  ,the ,laws of

 ,god3  all men obey these1 and have no 
',freedom' at all but in obeying them4  
,the way is already known1  part of the 
way2--and courage and some qualities are
 needed for  walking on it6             
,chapter ,,vi    ,the ,landed      ,a   
man with fifty1 with five hundred1 with 
a thousand pounds a  day1 given him     
freely1 without condition at all1--on   
condition1  as it now runs1 that he will
 sit with his hands in his pockets  and 
do no mischief1 pass no ,corn-,laws or  
the like1--he too1 you  would say1 is or
 might be a rather strong ,worker6  ,he 
is a ,worker  with such tools as no man 
in this world ever before had4  ,but in 
practice1 very astonishing1 very ominous
 to look at1 he proves  not a strong    
,worker2--you are too happy if he will  
prove but a  ,no-worker1 do nothing1 and
 not be a ,wrong-worker4    ,you ask    
him1 at the year's end3  ,where is your 
three-hundred  thousand pound2  what    
have you realised to us with that8  ,he 
answers1 in indignant surprise3  ,done  

with it8  ,who are you that  ask8  ,i   
have eaten it2  ,i and my flunkeys1 and 
parasites1 and  slaves two-footed and   
four-footed1 in an ornamental manner2   
and  ,i am here alive by it2  ,i am     
realised by it to you6--,it is1 as  we  
have often said1 such an answer as was  
never before given  under this ,sun4    
,an answer that fills me with boding    
apprehension1 with foreshadows of       
despair4  ,o stolid ,use-and-wont  of an
 atheistic ,half-century1 ,o ,ignavia1  
,tailor-godhood1 soul-  killing ,cant1  
to what passes art thou bringing        
us6--,out of the  loud-piping whirlwind1
 audibly to him that has ears1 the      
,highest  ,god is again announcing in   
these days3  ,idleness shall not be4    
,god has said it1 man cannot gainsay4   
,ah1 how happy were it1 if he this      
,aristocrat ,worker would1 in  like     
manner1 see his work and do it6  ,it is 
frightful seeking  another to do it for 
him4  ,guillotines1 ,meudon ,tanneries1 
and  half-a-million men shot dead1 have 

already been expended in that  business2
  and it is yet far from done4  ,this   
man too is  something2  nay he is a     
great thing4  ,look on him there3  a man
  of manful aspect2  something of the   
'cheerfulness of pride' still  lingering
 in him4  ,a free air of graceful       
stoicism1 of easy  silent dignity sits  
well on him2  in his heart1 could we    
reach  it1 lie elements of generosity1  
self-sacrificing justice1 true  human   
valour4  ,why should he1 with such      
appliances1 stand an  incumbrance in the
 ,present2  perish disastrously out of  
the  ,future6  ,from no section of the  
,future would we lose these noble       
courtesies1 impalpable yet              
all-controlling2  these dignified       
reticences1 these kingly                
simplicities2--lose aught of what the   
fruitful ,past still gives us token of1 
memento of1 in this man4  ,can we not   
save him3--can he not help us to save   
him6  ,a brave  man he too2  had not    
undivine ,ignavia1 ,hearsay1 ,speech    

without  meaning1--had not ,cant1       
thousandfold ,cant within him and around
  him1 enveloping him like choke-damp1  
like thick ,egyptian  darkness1 thrown  
his soul into asphyxia1 as it were      
extinguished  his soul2  so that he sees
 not1 hears not1 and ,moses and all the 
,prophets address him in vain4    ,will 
he awaken1 be alive again1 and have a   
soul2  or is this  death-fit very death8
  ,it is a question of questions1 for   
himself  and for us all6  ,alas1 is     
there no noble work for this man too8   
,has he not thick-headed ignorant boors2
  lazy1 enslaved farmers2  weedy lands8 
,lands6  ,has he not weary heavy-laden  
ploughers of  land2  immortal souls of  
men1 ploughing1 ditching1 day-drudging2 
bare of back1 empty of stomach1 nigh    
desperate of heart2  and  none peaceably
 to help them but he1 under ,heaven8    
,does he find1  with his three hundred  
thousand pounds1 no noble thing trodden 
down in the thoroughfares1 which it were
 godlike to help up8  ,can  he do       

nothing for his ,burns but make a       
,gauger of him2  lionise  him1 bedinner 
him1 for a foolish while2  then whistle 
him down  the wind1 to desperation and  
bitter death8--,his work too is         
difficult1 in these modern1             
far-dislocated ages4  ,but it may be    
done2  it may be tried2--it must be     
done4    ,a modern ,duke of ,weimar1 not
 a god he either1 but a human duke1     
levied1 as ,i reckon1 in rents and taxes
 and all incomings  whatsoever1 less    
than several of our ,english ,dukes do  
in rent  alone4  ,the ,duke of ,weimar1 
with these incomings1 had to govern1    
judge1 defend1 every way administer his 
,dukedom4  ,he does all  this as few    
others did3  and he improves lands      
besides all this1  makes                
river-embankments1 maintains not        
soldiers only but  ,universities and    
,institutions2--and in his ,court were  
these four  men3  ,wieland1 ,herder1    
,schiller1 ,goethe4  ,not as parasites1 
which  was impossible2  not as          

table-wits and poetic ,katerfeltoes2    
but  as noble ,spiritual ,men working   
under a noble ,practical ,man4          
,shielded by him from many miseries2    
perhaps from many  shortcomings1        
destructive aberrations4  ,heaven had   
sent1 once  more1 heavenly ,light into  
the world2  and this man's honour was   
that he gave it welcome4  ,a new noble  
kind of ,clergy1 under an  old but still
 noble kind of ,king6  ,i reckon that   
this one ,duke of  ,weimar did more for 
the ,culture of his ,nation than all the
  ,english ,dukes and ,duces now extant1
 or that were extant since  ,henry the  
,eighth gave them the ,church ,lands to 
eat1 have done for  theirs6--,i am      
ashamed1 ,i am alarmed for my ,english  
,dukes3  what  word have ,i to say8     
,if our ,actual ,aristocracy1 appointed 
',best-and-,bravest1' will  be wise1 how
 inexpressibly happy for us6  ,if       
not1--the voice of  ,god from the       
whirlwind is very audible to me4  ,nay1 
,i will thank  the ,great ,god1 that ,he

 has said1 in whatever fearful ways1 and
  just wrath against us1 ,idleness shall
 be no more6  ,idleness8  ,the awakened 
soul of man1 all but the asphyxied soul 
of man1  turns from it as from worse    
than death4  ,it is the life-in-death   
of ,poet ,coleridge4  ,that fable of the
 ,dead-,sea ,apes ceases to be  a fable4
  ,the poor ,worker starved to death is 
not the saddest of  sights4  ,he lies   
there1 dead on his shield2  fallen down 
into the  bosom of his old ,mother2     
with haggard pale face1 sorrow-worn1    
but stilled now into divine peace1      
silently appeals to the  ,eternal ,god  
and all the ,universe1--the most silent1
 the most  eloquent of men4             
,exceptions1--ah yes1 thank ,heaven1 we 
know there are exceptions4  ,our case   
were too hard1 were there not           
exceptions1 and partial  exceptions not 
a few1 whom we know1 and whom we do not 
know4  ,honour to the name of           
,ashley1--honour to this and the other  
valiant ,abdiel1 found faithful still2  

who would fain1 by work  and by word1   
admonish their ,order not to rush upon  
destruction6  ,these are they who will1 
if not save their ,order1 postpone the  
wreck of it2--by whom1 under blessing of
 the ,upper ,powers1 'a  quiet          
euthanasia spread over generations1     
instead of a swift  torture-death       
concentred into years1' may be brought  
about for  many things4  ,all honour and
 success to these4  ,the noble man can  
still strive nobly to save and serve his
 ,order2--at lowest1 he  can remember   
the precept of the ,prophet3  ,come out 
of her1 my  people2  come out of her6   
,to sit idle aloft1 like living statues1
 like absurd ,epicurus'-  gods1 in      
pampered isolation1 in exclusion from   
the glorious  fateful battlefield of    
this ,god's-,world3  it is a poor life  
for a  man1 when all ,upholsterers and  
,french-,cooks have done their  utmost  
for it6--,nay1 what a shallow delusion  
is this we have all  got into4  ,that   
any man should or can keep himself apart

 from  men1 have 'no business' with     
them1 except a cash-account  business6' 
,it is the silliest tale a distressed   
generation of  men ever took to telling 
one another4  ,men cannot live isolated3
  we are all bound together1 for mutual 
good or else for mutual  misery1 as     
living nerves in the same body4  ,no    
highest man can  disunite himself from  
any lowest4  ,consider it4  ,your poor  
',werter blowing out his distracted     
existence because ,charlotte  will not  
have the keeping thereof3'  this is no  
peculiar phasis2  it is simply the      
highest expression of a phasis traceable
  wherever one human creature meets     
another6  ,let the meanest  crookbacked 
,thersites teach the supremest          
,agamemnon that he  actually does not   
reverence him1 the supremest            
,agamemnon's eyes  flash fire           
responsive2  a real pain1 and partial   
insanity1 has  seized ,agamemnon4       
,strange enough3  a many-counselled     
,ulysses is  set in motion by a         

scoundrel-blockhead2  plays tunes1 like 
a  barrel-organ1 at the                 
scoundrel-blockhead's touch1--has to    
snatch1  namely1 his sceptre cudgel1 and
 weal the crooked back with bumps  and  
thumps6  ,let a chief of men reflect    
well on it4  ,not in  having 'no        
business' with men1 but in having no    
unjust business  with them1 and in      
having all manner of true and just      
business1  can either his or their      
blessedness be found possible1 and this 
waste world become1 for both parties1 a 
home and peopled garden4    ,men do     
reverence men4  ,men do worship in that 
'one temple of the  world1' as ,novalis 
calls it1 the ,presence of a ,man6      
,hero-  worship1 true and blessed1 or   
else mistaken1 false and accursed1  goes
 on everywhere and everywhen4  ,in this 
world there is one  godlike thing1 the  
essence of all that was or ever will be 
of  godlike in this world3  the         
veneration done to ,human ,worth by the 
hearts of men4  ,hero-worship1 in the   

souls of the heroic1 of the  clear and  
wise1--it is the perpetual presence of  
,heaven in our  poor ,earth3  when it is
 not there1 ,heaven is veiled from us2  
and  all is under ,heaven's ban and     
interdict1 and there is no worship1  or 
worthship1 or worth or blessedness in   
the ,earth any more6--                  
,independence1 'lord of the lion-heart  
and eagle-eye'--alas1 yes1  he is a lord
 we have got acquainted with in these   
late times3  a  very indispensable lord1
 for spurning off with due energy       
innumerable sham-superiors1             
,tailor-made3  honour to him1 entire    
success to him6  ,entire success is sure
 to him4  ,but he must not  stop there1 
at that small success1 with his         
eagle-eye4  ,he has  now a second far   
greater success to gain3  to seek out   
his real  superiors1 whom not the       
,tailor but the ,almighty ,god has made 
superior to him1 and see a little what  
he will do with these6  ,rebel against  
these also8  ,pass by with minatory     

eagle-glance1  with calm-sniffing       
mockery1 or even without any mockery or 
sniff1  when these present themselves8  
,the lion-hearted will never dream  of  
such a thing4  ,forever far be it from  
him6  ,his minatory  eagle-glance will  
veil itself in softness of the dove3    
his lion-  heart will become a lamb's2  
all is just indignation changed into    
just reverence1 dissolved in blessed    
floods of noble humble love1  how much  
heavenlier than any pride1 nay1 if you  
will1 how much  prouder6  ,i know him1  
this lion-hearted1 eagle-eyed one2  have
  met him1 rushing on1 'with bosom      
bare1' in a very distracted  dishevelled
 manner1 the times being hard2--and can 
say1 and  guarantee on my life1 ,that in
 him is no rebellion2  that in him  is  
the reverse of rebellion1 the needful   
preparation for  obedience4  ,for if you
 do mean to obey ,god-made superiors1   
your  first step is to sweep out the    
,tailormade ones2  order them1  under   
penalties1 to vanish1 to make ready for 

vanishing6    ,nay1 what is best of all1
 he cannot rebel1 if he would4          
,superiors whom ,god has made for us we 
cannot order to withdraw6  ,not in the  
least4  ,no ,grand-,turk himself1       
thickest-quilted  tailor-made ,brother  
of the ,sun and ,moon can do it3  but an
 ,arab  ,man1 in cloak of his own       
clouting2  with black beaming eyes1 with
  flaming sovereign-heart direct from   
the centre of the ,universe2  and also1 
,i am told1 with terrible 'horse-shoe   
vein' of swelling  wrath in his brow1   
and lightning 7if you will not have it  
as  light7 tingling through every vein  
of him1--he rises2  says                
authoritatively3  ,thickest-quilted     
,grand-,turk1 tailor-made  ,brother of  
the ,sun and ,moon1 ,no3--,i withdraw   
not2  thou shalt  obey me or withdraw6  
,and so accordingly it is3  thickest-   
quilted ,grand-,turks and all their     
progeny1 to this hour1  obey that man in
 the remarkablest manner2  preferring   
not  to withdraw4    ,o brother1 it is  

an endless consolation to me1 in this   
disorganic1 as yet so quack-ridden1 what
 you may well call hag-  ridden and     
hell-ridden world1 to find that         
disobedience to the  ,heavens1 when they
 send any messenger whatever1 is and    
remains  impossible4  ,it cannot be     
done2  no ,turk grand or small can do   
it4  ',skew the dullest clodpole1' says 
my invaluable ,german  friend1 'shew the
 haughtiest featherhead1 that a soul    
higher than  himself is here2  were his 
knees stiffened into brass1 he must     
down and worship4          ,chapter     
,,vii    ,the ,gifted      ,yes1 in what
 tumultuous huge anarchy soever a ,noble
 human  ,principle may dwell and strive1
 such tumult is in the way of  being    
calmed into a fruitful sovereignty4  ,it
 is inevitable4  ,no  ,chaos can        
continue chaotic with a soul in it4     
,besouled with  earnest human           
,nobleness1 did not slaughter1 violence 
and fire-  eyed fury1 grow into a       
,chivalry2  into a blessed ,loyalty of  

,governor and ,governed8  ,and in ,work1
 which is of itself noble1  and the only
 true fighting1 there shall be no such  
possibility8  ,believe it not2  it is   
incredible2  the whole ,universe        
contradicts it4  ,here too the ,chactaw 
,principle will be  subordinated2  the  
,man ,principle will1 by degrees1 become
  superior1 become supreme4    ,i know  
,mammon too2  ,banks-of-,england1       
,credit-,systems1 worldwide             
possibilities of work and traffic2  and 
applaud and admire them4  ,mammon is    
like ,fire2  the usefulest of all       
servants1 if the  frightfulest of all   
masters6  ,the ,cliffords1 ,fitzadelms  
and  ,chivalry ,fighters 'wished to gain
 victory1' never doubt it3  but         
victory1 unless gained in a certain     
spirit1 was no victory2  defeat1        
sustained in a certain spirit1 was      
itself victory4  ,i say  again and      
again1 had they counted the scalps      
alone1 they had  continued ,chactaws1   
and no ,chivalry or lasting victory had 

been4  ,and in ,industrial ,fighters and
 ,captains is there no nobleness        
discoverable8  ,to them1 alone of men1  
there shall forever be no  blessedness  
but in swollen coffers8  ,to see beauty1
 order1  gratitude1 loyal human hearts  
around them1 shall be of no moment2  to 
see fuliginous deformity1 mutiny1 hatred
 and despair1 with the  addition of half
 a million guineas1 shall be better8    
,heaven's  blessedness not there2       
,hell's cursedness1 and your            
half-million  bits of metal1 a          
substitute for that6  ,is there no      
profit in  diffusing ,heaven's          
blessedness1 but only in gaining        
gold8--,if so1  ,i apprise the          
,mill-owner and ,millionaire1 that he   
too must  prepare for vanishing2  that  
neither is he born to be of the         
sovereigns of this world2  that he will 
have to be trampled and  chained down in
 whatever terrible ways1 and            
brass-collared safe1  among the born    
thralls of this worrd6  ,we cannot have 

,canailles  and ,doggeries that will not
 make some ,chivalry of themselves3  our
 noble ,planet is impatient of such2  in
 the end1 totally  intolerant of such6  
,for the ,heavens1 unwearying in their  
bounty1 do send other souls  into this  
world1 to whom yet1 as to their         
forerunners1 in ,old  ,roman1 in ,old   
,hebrew and all noble times1 the        
omnipotent guinea  is1 on the whole1 an 
impotent guinea4  ,has your half-dead   
avaricious ,corn-,law ,lord1 your       
half-alive avaricious ,cotton-,law      
,lord1 never seen one such8  ,such are1 
not one1 but several2  are1  and will   
be1 unless the gods have doomed this    
world to swift dire  ruin4  ,these are  
they1 the elect of the world2  the born 
champions1 strong men1 and liberatory   
,samsons of this poor world3  whom the  
poor ,delilah-world will not always     
shear of their  strength and eyesight1  
and set to grind in darkness at its poor
  gin-wheel6  ,such souls are1 in these 
days1 getting somewhat out  of humour   

with the world4  ,your very ,byron1 in  
these days1 is at  least driven mad2    
flatly refuses fealty to the world4     
,the world  with its injustices1 its    
golden brutalities1 and dull yellow     
guineas1 is a disgust to such souls3    
the ray of ,heaven that is  in them does
 at least pre-doom them to be very      
miserable here4  ,yes3--and yet all     
misery is faculty misdirected1 strength 
that  has not yet found its way4  ,the  
black whirlwind is mother of the        
lightning4  ,no smoke1 in any sense1 but
 can become flame and  radiance6  ,such 
soul1 once graduated in ,heaven's stern 
,university1 steps out superior to your 
guinea4    ,dost thou know1 ,o sumptuous
 ,corn-,lord1 ,cotton-,lord1 ,o mutinous
  ,trades-,unionist1 gin-vanquished1    
undeliverable2  ,o much-enslaved        
,world1--this man is not a slave with   
thee6  ,none of thy  promotions is      
necessary for him4  ,his place is with  
the stars of  ,heaven3  to thee it may  
be momentous1 to him it is indifferent1 

whether thou place him in the lowest    
hut1 or forty feet higher at  the top of
 thy stupendous high tower1 while here  
on ,earth4  ,the  joys of ,earth that   
are precious1 they depend not on thee   
and thy  promotions4  ,food and raiment1
 and1 round a social hearth1 souls  who 
love him1 whom he loves3  these are     
already his4  ,he wants  none of thy    
rewards2  behold also1 he fears none of 
thy  penalties4  ,thou canst not answer 
even by killing him3  the case  of      
,anaxarchus thou canst kill2  but the   
self of ,anaxarchus1 the  word or act of
 ,anaxarchus1 in no wise whatever4  ,to 
this man  death is not a bugbear2  to   
this man life is already as earnest  and
 awful1 and beautiful and terrible1 as  
death4    ,not a ,may-game is this man's
 life2  but a battle and a march1 a     
warfare with principalities and powers4 
,no idle promenade  through fragrant    
orange-groves and green flowery spaces1 
waited  on by the choral ,muses and the 
rosy ,hours3  it is a stern  pilgrimage 

through burning sandy solitudes1 through
 regions of  thick-ribbed ice4  ,he     
walks among men2  loves men1 with       
inexpressible soft pity1--as they cannot
 love him3  but his  soul dwells in     
solitude1 in the uttermost parts of     
,creation4  ,in  green oases by the     
palm-tree wells1 he rests a space2  but 
anon  he has to journey forward1        
escorted by the ,terrors and the        
,splendours1 the ,archdemons and        
,archangels4  ,all ,heaven1 all         
,pandemonium are his escort4  ,the stars
 keen-glancing1 from the  ,immensities1 
send tidings to him2  the graves1 silent
 with their  dead1 from the ,eternities4
  ,deep calls for him unto ,deep4       
,thou1 ,o ,world1 how wilt thou secure  
thyself against this man8  ,thou canst  
not hire him by thy guineas2  nor by thy
 gibbets and  law-penalties restrain    
him4  ,he eludes thee like a ,spirit4   
,thou  canst not forward him1 thou canst
 not hinder him4  ,thy penalties1  thy  
poverties1 neglects1 contumelies3       

behold1 all these are good  for him4    
,come to him as an enemy2  turn from him
 as an unfriend2  only do not this one  
thing1--infect him not with thy own     
delusion3  the benign ,genius1 were it  
by very death1 shall guard  him against 
this6--,what wilt thou do with him8  ,he
 is above thee1  like a god4  ,thou1 in 
thy stupendous three-inch pattens1 art  
under him4  ,he is thy born king1 thy   
conqueror and supreme  lawgiver3  not   
all the guineas and cannons1 and leather
 and  prunella1 under the sky can save  
thee from him4  ,hardest  thickskinned  
,mammon-world1 ruggedest ,caliban shall 
obey him1 or  become not ,caliban but a 
cramp4  ,oh1 if in this man1 whose eyes 
can flash ,heaven's lightning1 and make 
all ,calibans into a cramp1  there dwelt
 not1 as the essence of his very being1 
a ,god's  justice1 human ,nobleness1    
,veracity and ,mercy1--,i should tremble
  for the world4  ,but his strength1 let
 us rejoice to understand1  is even     
this3  ,the quantity of ,justice1 of    

,valour and ,pity that  is in him4  ,to 
hypocrites and tailored quacks in high  
places1 his  eyes are lightning2  but   
they melt in dewy pity softer than a    
mother's to the downpressed1 maltreated2
  in his heart1 in his  great thought1  
is a sanctuary for all the wretched4    
,this world's  improvement is forever   
sure4    ',man of ,genius8'  ,thou hast 
small notion1 meseems1 ,o ,mecaenas     
,twiddledee1 of what a ,man of ,genius  
is6  ,read in thy ,new  ,testament and  
elsewhere1--if1 with floods of          
mealymouthed  inanity1 with miserable   
froth-vortices of ,cant now several     
centuries old1 thy ,new ,testament is   
not all bedimmed for thee4  ,canst thou 
read in thy ,new ,testament at all8     
,the ,highest ,man  of ,genius1 knowest 
thou him2  ,godlike and a ,god to this  
hour8  ,his crown a ,crown of ,thorns8  
,thou fool1 with thy empty  ,godhoods1  
,apotheoses edgegilt2  the ,crown of    
,thorns made into a  poor jewel-room    
crown1 fit for the head of blockheads2  

the  bearing of the ,cross changed to a 
riding in the ,long-,acre ,gig6  ,pause 
in thy mass-chantings1 in thy           
litanyings1 and ,calmuck  prayings by   
machinery2  and pray1 if noisily1 at    
least in a  more human manner4  ,how    
with thy rubrics and dalmatics1 and     
clothwebs and cobwebs1 and with thy     
stupidities and grovelling              
baseheartedness1 hast thou hidden the   
,holiest into all  but invisibility6--  
',man of ,genius3'  ,o ,mecaenas        
,twiddledee1 hast thou any notion  what 
a ,man of ,genius is8  ,genius is 'the  
inspired gift of ,god4'  ,it is the     
clearer presence of ,god ,most ,high in 
a man4  ,dim1  potential in all men2  in
 this man it has become clear1 actual4  
,so says ,john ,milton1 who ought to be 
a judge2  so answer him the  ,voices of 
all ,ages and all ,worlds4  ,wouldst    
thou commune with  such a one1--be his  
real peer then3  does that lie in thee8 
,know thyself and thy real and thy      
apparent place1 and know him  and his   

real and his apparent place1 and act in 
some noble  conformity therewith4       
,what6  ,the star-fire of the ,empyrean 
shall  eclipse itself1 and illuminate   
magic-lanterns to amuse grown  children8
  ,he1 the god-inspired1 is to twang    
harps for thee1 and  blow through       
scrannel-pipes2  soothe thy sated soul  
with visions  of new1 still wider       
,eldorados1 ,houri ,paradises1 richer   
,lands of  ,cockaigne8  ,brother1 this  
is not he2  this is a counterfeit1 this 
twangling1 jangling1 vain1 acrid1       
scrannel-piping man4  ,thou dost  well  
to say with sick ,saul1 ,it is naught1  
such harping6--and in  sudden rage grasp
 thy spear1 and try if thou canst pin   
such a one  to the wall4  ,king ,saul   
was mistaken in his man1 but thou art   
right in thine4  ,it is the due of such 
a one3  nail him to the  wall1 and leave
 him there4  ,so ought copper shillings 
to be  nailed on counters2  copper      
geniuses on walls1 and left there for  a
 sign6--    ,i conclude that the ,men of

 ,letters too may become a ',chivalry1' 
an actual instead of a virtual          
,priesthood1 with result                
immeasurable1--so soon as there is      
nobleness in themselves for  that4      
,and1 to a certainty1 not sooner6  ,of  
intrinsic ,valetisms  you cannot1 with  
whole ,parliaments to help you1 make a  
,heroism4  ,doggeries never so          
gold-plated1 ,doggeries never so        
escutcheoned1  ,doggeries never so      
diplomaed1 bepuffed1 gas-lighted1       
continue  ,doggeries1 and must take the 
fate of such4          ,chapter ,,viii  
,the ,didactic      ,certainly it were a
 fond imagination to expect that any    
preaching  of mine could abate          
,mammonism2  that ,bobus of ,houndsditch
 will  love his guineas less1 or his    
poor soul more1 for any preaching  of   
mine6  ,but there is one ,preacher who  
does preach with effect1  and gradually 
persuade all persons3  his name is      
,destiny1 is  ,divine ,providence1 and  
his ,sermon the inflexible ,course of   

,things4  ,experience does take         
dreadfully high school-wages2  but  he  
teaches like no other6    ,i revert to  
,friend ,prudence the good ,quaker's    
refusal of 'seven  thousand pounds to   
boot4'  ,friend ,prudence's practical   
conclusion  will1 by degrees1 become    
that of all rational practical men      
whatsover4  ,on the present scheme and  
principle1 ,work cannot  continue4      
,trades' ,strikes1 ,trades' ,unions1    
,chartisms2  mutiny1  squalor1 rage and 
desperate revolt1 growing ever more     
desperate1  will go on their way4  ,as  
dark misery settles down on us1 and our 
refuges of lies fall in pieces one after
 one1 the hearts of men1  now at last   
serious1 will turn to refuges of truth4 
,the eternal  stars shine out again1 so 
soon as it is dark enough4    ,begirt   
with desperate ,trades' ,unionism and   
,anarchic ,mutiny1 many  an ,industrial 
,law-ward1 by and by1 who has neglected 
to make  laws and keep them1 will be    
heard saying to himself3  ,why have ,i  

realised five hundred thousand pounds8  
,i rose early and sat  late1 ,i toiled  
and moiled1 and in the sweat of my brow 
and of my  soul ,i strove to gain this  
money1 that ,i might become             
conspicuous1 and have some honour among 
my fellow-creatures4  ,i  wanted them to
 honour me1 to love me4  ,the money is  
here1 earned  with my best lifeblood3   
but the honour8  ,i am encircled with   
squalor1 with hunger1 rage1 and sooty   
desperation4  ,not honoured1  hardly    
even envied2  only fools and the        
flunkey-species so much  as envy me4  ,i
 am conspicuous1--as a mark for curses  
and  brickbats4  ,what good is it8  ,my 
five hundred scalps hang here in  my    
wigwam3  would to ,heaven ,i had sought 
something else than the  scalps2  would 
to ,heaven ,i had been a ,christian     
,fighter1 not a  ,chactaw one6  ,to have
 ruled and fought not in a ,mammonish   
but in  a ,godlike spirit2  to have had 
the hearts of the people bless me1  as a
 true ruler and captain of my people2   

to have felt my own  heart bless me1 and
 that ,god above instead of ,mammon     
below was  blessing me1--this had been  
something4  ,out of my sight1 ye        
beggarly five hundred scalps of         
banker's-thousands3  ,i will try  for   
something other1 or account my life a   
tragical futility6    ,friend           
,prudence's 'rock-ledge1' as we called  
it1 will gradually  disclose itself to  
many a man2  to all men4  ,gradually1   
assaulted  from beneath and from above1 
the ,stygian mud-deluge of ,laissez-    
faire1 ,supply-and-demand1 ,cash-payment
 the one ,duty1 will abate  on all      
hands2  and the everlasting             
mountain-tops1 and secure               
rock-foundations that reach to the      
centre of the world1 and rest  on       
,nature's self1 will again emerge1 to   
found on1 and to build  on4  ,when      
,mammon-worshippers here and there begin
 to be ,god-  worshippers1 and          
bipeds-of-prey become men1 and there is 
a ,soul  felt once more in the          

huge-pulsing elephantine mechanic       
,animalism  of this ,earth1 it will be  
again a blessed ,earth4    ,men cease to
 regard money8 cries ,bobus of          
,houndsditch3  ,what  else do all men   
strive for8  ,the very ,bishop informs  
me that  ,christianity cannot get on    
without a minimum of ,four thousand     
five hundred in its pocket4  ,cease to  
regard money8  ,that will be  at        
,doomsday in the afternoon6--,o ,bobus1 
my opinion is somewhat  different4  ,my 
opinion is1 that the ,upper ,powers have
 not yet  determined on destroying this 
,lower ,world4  ,a respectable1 ever-   
increasing minority1 who do strive for  
something higher than  money1 ,i with   
confidence anticipate2  ever-increasing1
 till there  be a sprinkling of them    
found in all quarters1 as salt of the   
,earth' once more4  ,the ,christianity  
that cannot get on without a  minimum of
 ,four thousand five hundred1 will give 
place to  something better that can4    
,thou wilt not join our small  minority1

 thou8  ,not till ,doomsday in the      
afternoon8  ,well2  then1 at least1 thou
 wilt join it1 thou and the majority  in
 mass6    ,but truly it is beautiful to 
see the brutish empire of ,mammon       
cracking everywhere2  giving sure       
promise of dying1 or of being  changed4 
,a strange1 chill1 almost ghastly       
dayspring strikes up  in ,yankeeland    
itself3  my ,transcendental friends     
announce there1  in a distinct1 though  
somewhat lankhaired1 ungainly manner1   
that  the ,demiurgus ,dollar is         
dethroned2  that new unheard-of         
,demiurgusships1 ,priesthoods1          
,aristocracies1 ,growths and            
,destructions1 are already visible in   
the grey of coming ,time4  ,chronos is  
dethroned by ,jove2  ,odin by ,st4      
,olaf3  the ,dollar  cannot rule in     
,heaven forever4  ,no2  ,i reckon1 not4 
,socinian  ,preachers quit their pulpits
 in ,yankeeland1 saying1 ,friends1  this
 is all gone to a coloured cobweb1 we   
regret to say6--and  retire into the    

fields to cultivate onion-beds1 and live
 frugally  on vegetables4  ,it is very  
notable4  ,old godlike ,calvinism       
declares that its old body is now fallen
 to tatters1 and done2  and its mournful
 ghost1 disembodied1 seeking new        
embodiment1  pipes again in the         
winds2--a ghost and spirit as yet1 but  
heralding new ,spirit-worlds1 and better
 ,dynasties than the  ,dollar one4      
,yes1 here as there1 light is coming    
into the world2  men love not  darkness1
 they do love light4  ,a deep feeling of
 the eternal  nature of justice looks   
out among us everywhere1--even through  
the dull eyes of ,exeter ,hall2  an     
unspeakable religiousness  struggles1 in
 the most helpless manner1 to speak     
itself1 in  ,puseyisms and the like4    
,of our ,cant1 all condemnable1 how much
  is not condemnable without pity2  we  
had almost said1 without  respect6  ,the
 inarticulate worth and truth that is in
 ,england  goes down yet to the         
,foundations4    ,some ',chivalry of    

,labour1' some noble ,humanity and      
practical  ,divineness of ,labour1 will 
yet be realised on this ,earth4  ,or why
  will2  why do we pray to ,heaven1     
without setting our own  shoulder to the
 wheel8  ,the ,present1 if it will have 
the ,future  accomplish1 shall itself   
commence4  ,thou who prophesiest1 who   
believest1 begin thou to fulfil4  ,here 
or nowhere1 now equally as  at any time6
  ,that outcast help-needing thing or   
person1 trampled  down under vulgar feet
 or hoofs1 no help 'possible' for it1 no
  prize offered for the saving of       
it1--canst not thou save it1  then1     
without prize8  ,put forth thy hand1 in 
,god's name2  know  that 'impossible1'  
where ,truth and ,mercy and the         
everlasting  ,voice of ,nature order1   
has no place in the brave man's         
dictionary4  ,that when all men have    
said ,impossible1 and  tumbled noisily  
elsewhither1 and thou alone art left1   
then first  thy time and possibility    
have come4  ,it is for thee now3  do    

thou  that1 and ask no man's counsel1   
but thy own only and ,god's4  ,brother1 
thou hast possibility in thee for much3 
the possibility  of writing on the      
eternal skies the record of a heroic    
life4  ,that noble downfallen or yet    
unborn ',impossibility1' thou canst     
lift it up1 thou canst1 by thy soul's   
travail1 bring it into  clear being4    
,that loud inane ,actuality1 with       
millions in its  pocket1 too 'possible' 
that1 which rolls along there1 with     
quilted trumpeters blaring round it1 and
 all the world escorting  it as mute or 
vocal flunkey1--escort it not thou2  say
 to it1  either nothing1 or else deeply 
in thy heart3  ,loud-blaring            
,nonentity1 no force of trumpets1 cash1 
,long-,acre art1 or  universal          
flunkeyhood of men1 makes thee an       
,entity2  thou art a  ,nonentity1 and   
deceptive ,simulacrum1 more accursed    
than thou  seemest4  ,pass on in the    
,devil's name1 unworshipped by at least 
one man1 and leave the thoroughfare     

clear6    ,not on ,ilion's or ,latium's 
plains2  on far other plains and  places
 henceforth can noble deeds be now done4
  ,not on ,ilion's  plains2  how much   
less in ,mayfair's drawingrooms6  ,not  
in victory  over poor brother ,french or
 ,phrygians2  but in victory over       
,frost-jotuns1 ,marsh-giants1 over      
demons of ,discord1 ,idleness1          
,injustice1 ,unreason1 and ,chaos come  
again4  ,none of the old ,epics  is     
longer possible4  ,the ,epic of ,french 
and ,phrygians was  comparatively a     
small ,epic3  but that of ,flirts and   
,fribbles1  what is that8  ,a thing that
 vanishes at cock-crowing1--that        
already begins to scent the morning air6
  ,game-preserving  ,aristocracies1 let 
them 'bush' never so effectually1 cannot
  escape the ,subtle ,fowler4  ,game    
seasons will be excellent1 and  again   
will be indifferent1 and by and by they 
will not be at all4  ,the ,last         
,partridge of ,england1 of an ,england  
where millions of  men can get no corn  

to eat1 will be shot and ended4         
,aristocracies with beards on their     
chins will find other work to  do than  
amuse themselves with trundling-hoops4  
,but it is to you1 ye ,workers1 who do  
already work1 and are as  grown men1    
noble and honourable in a sort1 that the
 whole world  calls for new work and    
nobleness4  ,subdue mutiny1 discord1    
widespread despair1 by manfulness1      
justice1 mercy and wisdom4  ,chaos is   
dark1 deep as ,hell2  let light be1 and 
there is instead  a green flowery       
,world4  ,o1 it is great1 and there is  
no other  greatness4  ,to make some nook
 of ,god's ,creation a little           
fruitfuler1 better1 more worthy of ,god2
  to make some human  hearts a little   
wiser1 manfuler1 happier1--more blessed1
 less  accursed6  ,it is work for a     
,god4  ,sooty ,hell of mutiny and       
savagery and despair can1 by man's      
energy1 be made a kind of  ,heaven2     
cleared of its soot1 of its mutiny1 of  
its need to  mutiny2  the everlasting   

arch of ,heaven's azure overspanning it 
too1 and its cunning mechanisms and tall
 chimney-steeples1 as a  birth of       
,heaven2  ,god and all men looking on it
 well pleased4    ,unstained by wasteful
 deformities1 by wasted tears or        
heart's-  blood of men1 or any          
defacement of the ,pit1 noble fruitful  
,labour1 growing ever nobler1 will come 
forth1--the grand sole  miracle of ,man2
  whereby ,man has risen from the low   
places of  this ,earth1 very literally1 
into divine ,heavens4  ,ploughers1      
,spinners1 ,builders2  ,prophets1       
,poets1 ,kings2  ,brindleys and         
,goethes1 ,odins and ,arkwrights2  all  
martyrs1 and noble men1 and  gods are of
 one grand ,host3  immeasurable2        
marching ever forward  since the        
,beginnings of the ,world4  ,the        
enormous1 all-conquering1  flame-crowned
 ,host1 noble every soldier in it2      
sacred1 and alone  noble4  ,let him who 
is not of it hide himself2  let him     
tremble  for himself4  ,stars at every  

button cannot make him noble2  sheaves  
of ,bath-garters1 nor bushels of        
,georges2  nor any other  contrivance   
but manfully enlisting in it1 valiantly 
taking place  and step in it4  ,o       
,heavens1 will he not bethink himself2  
he too  is so needed in the ,host6  ,it 
were so blessed1 thrice-blessed1  for   
himself and for us all6  ,in hope of the
 ,last ,partridge1 and  some ,duke of   
,weimar among our ,english ,dukes1 we   
will be patient  yet a while4           
,the ,future hides in it       ,gladness
 and sorrow2       ,we press still      
thorow1       ,nought that abides in it 
,daunting us1--onward4      ,,the ,,end 
-------------------      ,summary       
,book ,i--,proem    ,chap4 ,i  ,midas   
,the condition of ,england one of the   
most ominous ever seen in  this world3  
,full of wealth in every kind1 yet dying
 of  inanition2  ,workhouses1 in which  
no work cane be done4  ,destitution in  
,scotland4  ,stockport ,assizes4        
,england's  unprofitable success3       

,human faces glooming discordantly on   
one  another4  ,midas longed for gold1  
and the gods gave it him4      ,chap4   
,,ii4  ,the ,sphinx    ,the grand       
unnamable ,sphinx-riddle1 which each man
 is called upon  to solve4  ,notions of 
the foolish concerning justice and      
judgment4  ,courts of ,westminster1 and 
the general ,high ,court of  the        
,universe4  ,the one strong thing1 the  
just thing1 the true  thing4  ,a noble  
,conservatism1 as well as an ignoble4   
,in all  battles of men each fighter1 in
 the end1 prospers according to  his    
right3  ,wallace of ,scotland4  ,fact   
and ,semblance4  ,what is  justice8  ,as
 many men as there are in a ,nation who 
can see  ,heaven's justice1 so many are 
there who stand between it  and         
perdition4      ,chap4 ,,iii4           
,manchester ,insurrection    ,peterloo  
not an unsuccessful ,insurrection4      
,governors who wait  for ,insurrection  
to instruct them1 getting into the      
fatalest  courses4  ,unspeakable ,county

 ,yeomanry4  ,poor ,manchester          
operatives1 and their huge inarticulate 
question3  ,unhappy  ,workers1 unhappier
 idlers1 of this actual ,england6  ,fair
 day's-  wages for fair day's-work3     
,milton's 'wages2'  ,cromwell's4  ,pay  
to each man what he has earned and done 
and deserved2  what more  have we to    
ask8  ,some not insupportable           
approximation  indispensable and        
inevitable4      ,chap4 ,,iv4           
,morrison's ,pill    ,a state of mind   
worth reflecting on4  ,no ,morrison's   
,pill for  curing the maladies of       
,society3  ,universal alteration of     
regimen  and way of life3  ,vain jargon 
giving place to some genuine ,speech    
again4  ,if we walk according to the    
,law of this ,universe1 the  ,law-,maker
 will befriend us2  if not1 not4        
,quacks1 sham heroes1  the one bane of  
the world4  ,quack and ,dupe1 upper side
 and under  of the selfsame substance4  
,chap4 ,v4  ,aristocracy of ,talent     
,all misery the fruit of unwisdom3      

,neither with individuals nor  with     
,nations is it fundamentally otherwise4 
,nature in late  centuries universally  
supposed to be dead2  but now everywhere
  asserting herself to be alive and     
miraculous4  ,that guidance of  this    
country not sufficiently wise4          
,aristocracy of talent1 or  government  
by the ,wisest1 a dreadfully difficult  
affair to get  started4  ,the true eye  
for talent2  and the flunky eye for     
respectabilities1 warm garnitures and   
larders dropping fatness3  ,bobus and   
,bobissimus4      ,chap4 ,,vi4          
,hero-worship    ,enlightened ,egoism1  
never so luminous1 not the rule by which
  man's life can be led3  ,a soul1      
different from a stomach in any  sense  
of the word4  ,hero-worship done        
differently in every  different epoch of
 the world4  ,reform1 like ,charity1    
must begin  at home4  ,arrestment of the
 knaves and dastards1 beginning by      
arresting our own poor selves out of    
that fraternity4  ,the  present         

,editor's purpose to himself full of    
hope4  ,a ,loadstar  in the eternal sky3
  glimmering of light1 for here and     
there  a human soul4      ,book         
,,ii--,the ,ancient ,monk      ,chap4   
,i4  ,jocelin of ,brakelond    ,how the 
,centuries stand lineally related to    
each other4  ,the one  ,book not        
permissible1 the kind that has nothing  
in it4  ,jocelin's  ',chronicle1' a     
private ,boswellean ,note-book1 now     
seven centuries  old4  ,how ,jocelin1   
from under his monk's cowl1 looked out  
on that  narrow section of the world in 
a really human manner3  ,a wise         
simplicity in him2  a veracity that goes
 deeper than words4  ,jocelin's         
,monk-,latin2  and ,mr4 ,rokewood's     
editorial helpfulness  and fidelity4  ,a
 veritable ,monk of old ,bury ,st4      
,edmunds worth  attending to4  ,this    
,england of ours1 of the year #abjj3    
,coeur-de-  ,lion3  ,king ,lackland1 and
 his thirteenpenny mass4  ,the poorest  
historical ,fact1 and the grandest      

imaginative ,fiction4      ,chap4 ,,ii4 
,st4 ,edmundsbury    ,st4 ,edmund's     
,bury1 a prosperous brisk ,town3        
,extensive ruins of  the ,abbey still   
visible4  ,assiduous ,pedantry1 and its 
rubbish-  heaps called ',history4'      
,another world it was1 when those black 
ruins first saw the sun as walls4  ,at  
lowest1 ,o dilettante  friend1 let us   
know always that it was a world4  ,no   
easy matter  to get across the chasm of 
,seven ,centuries3  ,of all helps2 a    
,boswell1 even a small ,boswell1 the    
welcomest4      ,chap4 ,,iii4  ,landlord
 ,edmund    ',battle of ,fornham1' a    
fact1 though a forgotten one4  ,edmund1 
,landlord of the ,eastern ,counties3  ,a
 very singular kind of  'landlord4'     
,how he came to be 'sainted4'  ,seen and
 felt to have  done verily a man's part 
in this life pilgrimage of his4  ,how   
they took up the slain body of their    
,edmund1 and reverently  embalmed it4   
,pious munificence1 ever growing by new 
pious gifts4  ,certain ,times do        

crystallise themselves in a magnificent 
manner2  others in a rather shabby one4 
,chap4 ,,iv4  ,abbot ,hugo    ,all      
things have two faces1 a light one and  
dark3  ,the ,ideal has  to grow in the  
,real1 and to seek its bed and board    
there1 often  in a very sorry manner4   
,abbot ,hugo1 grown old and feeble4     
,jew  debts and ,jew creditors4  ,how   
approximate justice strives to          
accomplish itself4  ,in the old monastic
 ,books almost no ,mention  whatever of 
'personal religion4'  ,a poor ,lord     
,abbot1 all stuck-  over with           
horse-leeches3  ,a 'royal commission of 
inquiry1' to no  purpose4  ,a monk's    
first duty1 obedience4  ,magister       
,samson1  ,teacher of the ,novices4     
,the ,abbot's providential death4       
,chap4 ,v4  ,twelfth ,century           
,inspectors of ,custodiars2  the ,king  
not in any breathless haste  to appoint 
a new ,abbot4  ,dim and very strange    
looks that monk-  life to us4  ,our     
venerable ancient spinning grandmothers1

  shrieking1 and rushing out with their 
distaffs4  ,lakenheath eels  too        
slippery to be caught4  ,how much is    
alive in ,england1 in that  ,twelfth    
,century2  how much1 not yet come into  
life4  ,feudal  ,aristocracy2           
,willelmus conquaestor3  ,not a         
steeple-chimney yet  got on end from sea
 to sea4      ,chap4 ,,vi4  ,monk       
,samson    ,monk-,life and              
,monk-,religion3  ,a great heaven-high  
,unquestionability1 encompassing1       
interpenetrating all human  ,duties4    
,our modern ,arkwright ,joe-,manton     
ages3  ,all human dues  and             
reciprocities1 changed into one great   
due of 'cash-payment'  ,the old monks   
but a limited class of creatures1 with a
 somewhat  dull life of it4  ,one ,monk 
of a taciturn nature distinguishes      
himself among those babling ones4  ,a   
,son of poor ,norfolk parents4  ,little 
,samson's awful dream3  ,his poor       
,mother dedicates him to  ,st4 ,edmund4 
,he grows to be a learned man1 of devout

 grave  nature4  ,sent to ,rome on      
business2  and returns too successful3  
,method of traveling thither in those   
days4  ,his tribulations at  home3      
,strange conditions under which ,wisdom 
has sometimes to  struggle with folly4  
,chap4 ,,vii4  ,the ,canvassing    ,a   
new ,abbot to be elected4  ,even gossip1
 seven centuries off1 has  significance4
  ,the ,prior with ,twelve ,monks1 to   
wait on his  ,majesty at ,waltham4  ,an 
'election' the on important social act3 
,given the ,man a ,people choose1 the   
worth and worthlessness of the  ,people 
itself is given4    ,chap4 ,,viii4  ,the
 ,election    ,electoral methods and    
manipulations4  ,brother ,samson ready  
oftenest with some question1 some       
suggestion that his wisdom in  it4  ,the
 ,thirteen off to ,waltham1 to choose   
their ,abott3  ,in the  solitude of the 
,convent1 ,destiny thus big and in her  
birthtime1  what gossiping1 babbling1   
dreaming of dreams6  ,king ,henry ,,ii  
in  his high ,presence-chamber4  ,samson

 chosen ,abbot3  the ,king's  royal     
acceptation4  ,st4 ,edmundsbury ,monks1 
without express ballot  box or other    
winnowing machine4  ,in every nation and
 ,community  there is at all times a    
fittest1 wisest1 bravest1 best4  ,human 
,worth and human ,worthlessness4        
,chap4 ,,ix4  ,abbot ,samson    ,the    
,lord ,abbot's arrival at ,st4          
,edmundsbury3  ,the self-same  ,samson  
yesterday a poor mendicant1 this day1   
finds himself a  ,dominus ,abbas and    
mitred ,peer of ,parliament4  ,depth and
  opulence of true social vitality in   
those old barbarous ages4  ,true        
,governors go about under all manner of 
disguises now as  then4  ,genius1 ,poet2
  what these words mean4  ,george the   
,third1  head charioteer of ,england2   
and ,robert ,burns1 gauger of ale in    
,dumfries4  ,how ,abbot ,samson found a 
,convert all in dilapidation4  ,his     
life-long harsh apprenticeship to       
governing1 namely obeying4  ,first get  
your ,man2  all is got4  ,danger of     

blockheads4      ,chap4 ,x4  ,government
    ,beautiful1 how the chrysalis       
governing-soul1 shaking off its  dusty  
slough and prison1 starts forth winged1 
a true royal soul6  ,one first labour1  
to institute a strenuous review and     
radical  reform of his economics4       
,wheresoever ,disorder may stand or lie1
  let it have a care2  here is a man    
that has declared war with it4  ,in less
 than four years the ,convent debts are 
all liquidated1 and  the harpy ,jews    
banished from ,st4 ,edmundsbury4  ,new  
life springs  beneficent everywhere3    
,spiritual rubbish as little tolerated  
as material4      ,chap4 ,,xi4  ,the    
,abbot's ,ways    ,reproaches1 open and 
secret1 of ingratitude1 unsociability2  
,except for 'fit men' in all kinds1 hard
 to say for whom ,abbot  ,samson had    
much favour4  ,remembrance of benefits4 
,an eloquent  man1 but intent more on   
substance than on ornament4  ,a just    
clear  heart the basis of all true      
talent4  ,one of the justest of  judges2

  ,his invaluable 'talent of silence4'  
,kind of people he  liked worst4        
,hospitality and stocism4  ,the country 
in those days  still dark with noble    
wood and umbrage2  ,how the old trees   
gradually died out1 no man heeding it4  
,monachism itself1 so rich  and fruitful
 once1 now all rotted into peat4        
,devastations of  four-footed cattle and
 ,henry-the-,eighths4      ,chap4 ,,xii4
  ,the ,abbot's ,troubles    ,the       
troubles of ,abbot ,samson more than    
tongue can tell4  ,not the  spoil of    
victory1 only the glorious toil of      
battle1 can be theirs  who really       
govern4  ,an insurrection of the ,monks3
  ,behave better1  ye remiss ,monks1 and
 thank ,heaven for such an ,abbot4      
,worn down  with incessant toil and     
tribulation3  ,gleams of hilarity too2  
little snatches of encouragement granted
 even to a ,governor4  ,how  my ,lord of
 ,clare1 coming to claim his undue      
'debt1' gets a  ,roland for his ,oliver4
  ,a ,life of ,literature1 noble and    

ignoble4      ,chap4 ,,xiii4  ,in       
,parliament    ,confused days of        
,lackland's usurpation1 while           
,coeur-de-,lion was  away3  ,our brave  
,abbot took helmet himself1             
excommunicating all  who should favour  
,lackland4  ,kind ,richard a captive in 
,germany4  ,st4 ,edmund's ,shrine not   
meddled with3  ,a heavenly ,awe         
overshadowed and encompassed1 as it     
still ought and must1 all  earthly      
,business whatsoever4      ,chap4 ,,xiv4
  ,henry of ,essex    ,how ,st4 ,edmund 
punished terribly1 yet with mercy2  ,a  
,naratice  significant of the time4     
,henry ,earl of ,essex1 standard-bearer 
of  ,england3  ,no right reverence for  
the ,heavenly in ,man4  ,a traitor  or  
coward4  ,solemn ,duel1 by the ,king's  
appointment4  ,an evil  ,conscience doth
 make cowards of us all4      ,chap4    
,,xv4  ,practical-,devotional    ,a     
,tournament proclaimed and held in the  
,abbot's domain1 in spite  of him4      
,roystering young dogs brought to       

reason4  ,the ,abbot a  man that        
generally remains master at last3  ,the 
importunate  ,bishop of ,ely outwitted4 
,a man that dare abide ,king ,richard's 
anger1 with justice on his side4  ,thou 
brave ,richard1 thou brave  ,samson6    
,the basis of ,abbot ,samson's life     
truly religion4  ,his  zealous interest 
in the ,crusades4  ,the great antique   
heart1 like  a child's in its           
simplicity1 like a man's in its earnest 
solemnity and depth4  ,his comparative  
silence as to his religion  precisely   
the healthiest sign of him and it4      
,methodism1  dilettantism1 ,puseyism4   
,chap4 ,,xvi4  ,st4 ,edmund    ,abbot   
,samson built many useful1 many pious   
edifices3  ,all  ruinous1 incomplete    
things an eye-sorrow to him4            
,rebuilding the  great ,altar3  ,a      
glimpse of the glorious ,martyr's very  
,body4  ,what  a scene2  how far        
vanished from us1 in these unworshipping
 ages  of ours6  ,the manner of men's   
,hero-worship1 verily the innermost     

fact of their existence1 determining all
 the rest4  ,on the whole1  who knows   
how to reverence the ,body of man8      
,abbot ,samson1 at the  culminating     
point of his existence3  ,our           
real-phantasmagory of  ,st4 ,edmundsbury
 plunges into the bosom of the ,twelfth 
,century  again1 and all is over4       
,chap4 ,,xvii4  ,the ,beginnings        
,formulas the very skin and muscular    
tissue of a ,man's ,life3  ,living      
,formulas and dead4  ,habit the deepest 
law of human nature4  ,a pathway through
 the pathless4  ,nationalities4  ,pulpy 
infancy1  kneaded1 baked into any form  
you choose3  ,the ,man of business2  the
 hard-handed ,labourer2  the genus      
,dandy4  ,no ,mortal out of the  depths 
of ,bedlam but lives by ,formulas4  ,the
 hosts and  generations of brave men    
,oblivion has swallowed3  ,their        
crumbled  dust1 the soil our life-fruit 
grows on4  ,invention of ,speech2       
,forms of ,worship2  ,methods of        
,justice4  ,this ,english ,land1 here   

and now1 the summary of what was wise   
and noble1 and accordant  with ,god's   
,truth1 in all the generations of       
,english ,men4  ,the  thing called      
',fame4'        ,book ,,iii4--,the      
,modern ,worker      ,chap4 ,i4         
,phenomena    ,how men have 'forgotten  
,god2'  taken the ,fact of this         
,universe as  it is not2  ,god's ,laws  
become a ,greatest-happiness ,principle1
 a  ,parliamentary ,expediency4  ,man   
has lost the soul out of him1  and      
begins to find the want of it4  ,the old
 ,pope of ,rome1 with  his stuffed dummy
 to do the kneeling for him4  ,few men  
that  worship by the rotatory ,calabash1
 do it in half so great1 frank  or      
effectual a way4  ,our ,aristocracy no  
longer able to do its  work1 and not in 
the least conscious that it has any work
 to do4  ,the ,champion of ,england     
'lifted into his saddle4'  ,the hatter  
in  the ,strand1 mounting a huge        
lath-and-plaster ,hat4  ,our noble      
ancestors have fashioned for us1 in how 

many thousand sense1 a  'life-road2'    
and we their sons are madly1 literally  
enough1  'consuming the way4'           
,chap4 ,,ii4  ,gospel of ,mammonism     
,heaven and ,hell1 often as the words   
are on our tongue1 got to be  fabulous  
or semi-fabulous for most of us4  ,the  
real ',hell' of the  ,english4          
,cash-payment1 not the sole or even     
chief relation of  human beings4        
,practical ,atheism1 and its despicable 
fruits4  ,one  of ,dr4 ,alison's        
melancholy facts3  ,a poor ,irish widow1
 in the  ,lanes of ,endinburgh1 proving 
her sisterhood4  ,until we get a  human 
soul within us1 all things are          
impossible3  ,infatuated  geese1 with   
feathers and without4      ,chap4 ,,iii4
  ,gospel of ,dilettantism    ,mammonism
 at least works2  but ',go gracefully   
idle in ,mayfair1'  what does or can    
that mean8--,impotent1 insolent         
,donothingism in  ,practice and         
,saynothingism in ,speech4  ,no man now 
speaks a plain  word3  ,insincere       

,speech the prime material of insincere 
,action4  ,moslem parable of ,moses and 
the ,dwellers by the ,dead sea3  ,the   
,universe become a ,humbug to the ,apes 
that thought it one4      ,chap4 ,,iv4  
,happy    ,all work noble2  and every   
noble crown a crown of thorns4  ,man's  
pitiful pretension to be what he calls  
happy2  ,his ,greatest-  ,happiness     
,principle fast becoming a rather       
unhappy one4  ,byron's  large audience4 
,a philosophical ,doctor3  ,a           
disconsolate ,meat-  jack1 gnarring and 
creaking with rust and work4  ,the only 
'happiness' a brave man ever troubled   
himself much about1 the  happiness to   
get his work done4      ,chap4 ,v4  ,the
 ,english    ,with all thy theoretic    
platitudes1 what a depth of practical   
sense in thee1 great ,england6  ,a dumb 
people1 who can do great  acts1 but not 
describe them4  ,the noble ,warhorse1   
and the ,dog of  ,knowledge3  ,the      
freest utterances not by any means the  
best4  ,the  done ,work1 much more than 

the spoken ,word1 an epitome of the man4
  ,the ,man of ,practice1 and the ,man  
of ,theory3  ,ineloquent ,brindley4     
,the ,english1 of all ,nations the      
stupidest in speech1 the wisest  in     
action3  ,sadness and seriousness3      
,unconsciously this great  ,universe is 
great to them4  ,the silent ,romans4    
,john ,bull's  admirable insensibility  
to ,logic4  ,all great ,peoples         
conservative4  ,kind of ,ready-,reckoner
 a ,solecism in ,east-cheap4  ,berserkir
 rage4  ,truth and ,justice alone       
capable of being  'conserved4'  ,bitter 
indignation engendered by the           
,corn-,laws in  every just ,english     
heart4      ,chap4 ,,vi4  ,two          
,centuries    ,the ',settlement' of the 
year #affj one of the mournfulest that  
ever took place in this land of ours4   
,the true end of ,government  to guide  
men in the way they should go3  ,the    
true good of this  life1 the portal of  
infinite good in the life to come4      
,oliver  ,cromwell's body hung on the   

,tyburn gallows1 the type of            
,puritanism found futil1 inexecutable1  
execrable4  ,the  ,spiritualism of      
,england1 for two godless centuries1    
utterly  forgettable3  ,her practical   
material ,work alone memorable4         
,bewildering obscurations and           
impediments3  ,valiant ,sons of ,toil   
enchanted1 by the million1 in their     
,poor-,law ,bastille4  ,giant  ,labour  
yet to be ,king of this ,earth4         
,chap4 ,,vii4  ,over-,production    ,an 
idle ,governing ,class addressing its   
,workers with an indictment  of         
',over-production4'  ,duty of justly    
apportioning the ,wages  of ,work done4 
,a game-preserving ,aristocracy1        
guiltless of  producing or apportioning 
anything4  ,owning the soil of ,england4
  ,the ,working ,aristocracy steeped in 
ignoble ,mammonism3  ,the ,idle         
,aristocracy1 with its yellow parchments
 and pretentious futilities4      ,chap4
 ,,viii4  ,unworking ,aristocracy       
,our ,land the ,mother of us all3  ,no  

true ,aristocracy but must  possess the 
,land4  ,men talk of 'selling' ,land3   
,whom it belongs  to4  ,our             
much-consuming ,aristocracy3  ,by the   
law of their  position bound to furnish 
guidance and governance4  ,man and      
miserable ,corn-,laws4  ,the ,working   
,aristocracy1 and its terrible          
,new-,work3  ,the ,idle ,aristocracy1   
and its horoscope of despair4  ,a  ,high
 ,class without duties to do1 like a    
tree planted on  precipices4  ,in a     
valiant suffering for others1 not in a  
slothful  making others suffer for us1  
did nobleness ever lie4  ,the pagan     
,hercules2  the ,czar of ,russia4       
,parchments1 venerable and not          
venerable4  ,benedict the ,jew1 and his 
usuries4  ,no ,chapter on the           
,corn-,laws3  ,the ,corn-,laws too mad  
to have a ,chapter4      ,chap4 ,,ix4   
,working ,aristocracy    ,many things   
for the ,working ,aristocracy1 in their 
exteme need1 to  consider4  ,a national 
,existence supposed to depend on        

'selling  cheaper' than any other       
,people4  ,let inventive men try to     
invent  a little how cotton at its      
present cheapness could be somewhat     
justlier divided4  ,many                
'imposibilities' will have to become    
possible4  ,supply-and-demand3  ,for    
what noble work was there ever  yet any 
audible 'demand' in that poor sense8    
,chap4 ,x4  ,plugson of ,undershot      
,man's ,philosophies usually the        
'supplement of his practice3'  ,symptoms
 of social death4  ,cash-,payment3  ,the
 ,plugson ,ledger1 and  the ,tablets of 
heaven's ,chancery1 discrepant          
exceedingly4  ,all  human things do     
require to have an ,ideal in them4  ,how
 murderous  fighting became a 'glorious 
,chivalry4'  ,noble devout-hearted      
,chevaliers4  ,ignoble ,bucaniers and   
,chactaw ,indians3  ,howel  ,davies1    
,napoleon flung out1 at last1 to ,st4   
,helena2  the latter  end of him sternly
 compensating for the beginning4  ,the  
indomitable ,plugson1 as yet a ,bacanier

 and ,chactaw4  ,william  ,conqueror and
 his ,norman followers4  ,organisation  
of ,labour3  ,courage1 there are yet    
many brave men in ,england6      ,chap4 
,,xi4  ,labour    ,a perennial nobleness
 and even sacredness in ,work4          
,significance  of the ,potter's ,wheel4 
,blessed is he who has found his ,work2 
let him ask no other blessedness4  ,a   
brave ,sir ,christopher1 and  his       
,paul's ,cathedral3  ,every noble work  
at first 'impossible4'  ,columbus       
royalest ,sea-king of all3  a depth of  
,silence1 deeper  than the ,sea2  a     
silence unsoundable2  known to ,god     
only4      ,chap4 ,,xii4  ,reward       
,work is worship3  ,labour1 wide as the 
earth1 has its summit in  ,heaven4  ,one
 monster there is in the world1 the idle
 man4  ',fair  day's-wages for a fair   
day's-work1' the most unrefusable       
demand4  ,the 'wages' of every noble    
,work in ,heaven1 or else ,nowhere3     
,the  brave man has to give his ,life   
away4  ,he that works bodies  forth the 

form of ,things ,unseen4  ,strange      
mystic affinity of  ,wisdom and         
,insanity3  ,all ,work1 in its degree1 a
 making of  ,madness sane4  ,labour not 
a devil1 even when encased in           
,mammonism3  ,the unredeemed ugliness1 a
 slothful ,people4  ,the  vulgarist     
,plugson of a ,master-,worker1 not a man
 to strangle by  ,corn-,laws and        
,shotbelts4      ,chap4 ,,xiii4         
,democracy    ,man must actually have   
his debts and earnings a little better  
paid by man4  ,at no time was the lot of
 the dumb millions of  toilers so       
entirely unbearable as now4             
,sisterhood1 brotherhood  often         
forgotten1 but never before so expressly
 denied4  ,mungo  ,park and his poor    
,black ,benefactress4  ,gurth1 born     
thrall of  ,cedric the ,saxon3  ,liberty
 a divine thing2  but 'liberty to die   
by starvation' not so divine4  ,nature's
 ,aristocracies4  ,william  ,conqueror1 
a resident ,house-,surgeon provided by  
nature for her  beloved ,english        

,people4  ,democracy1 the despair of    
finding ,heroes  to govern us1 and      
contented putting-up with the want of   
them4  ,the very ,tailor unconsciously  
symbolising the reign of ,equality4     
,wherever ranks do actually exist1      
strict division of costumes  will also  
be enforced4  ,freedom from oppression1 
an indispensable  yet most insignificant
 portion of ,human ,liberty4  ,a best   
path  does exist for every man2  a thing
 which1 here and now1 it  were of all   
things wisest for him to do4  ,mock     
,superiors and  ,real ,superiors4       
,chap4 ,,xiv4  ,sir ,jabesh ,windbag    
,oliver ,cromwell1 the remarkablest     
,governor we have had for the  last five
 centuries or so3  ,no vulunteer in     
,public ,life1 but  plainly a balloted  
soldier3  ,the ,government of ,england  
put into  his hands4  ,windbag1 weak in 
the faith of a ,god2  strong only in    
the faith that ,paragraphs and          
,plausibilities bring votes4  ,five     
years of popularity or unpopularity2    

and after those five  years1 an         
,eternity4  ,oliver has to appear before
 the ,most ,high  ,judge3  ,windbag1    
appealing to ',posterity4'      ,chap4  
,,xv4  ,morison ,again    ,new          
,religions3  ,this new stage of         
progress1 proceeding 'to invent  ,god1' 
a very strange one indeed4  ,religion1  
the ,inner ,light or  ,moral ,conscience
 of a man's soul4  ,infinite difference 
between a  ,good man and a ,bad4  ,the  
,great soul of the ,world1 just and not 
unjust3  ,faithful1 unspoken1 but not   
ineffectual 'prayer4'  ,penalities3     
,the ,french ,revolution2  cruelest     
,portent that has  risen into created   
,space these ten centuries4  ,man needs 
no ,new  ,religion2  nor is like to get 
it3  spiritual ,dastardism1 and  sick   
folly4  ,one ,liturgy which does remain 
forever  unexceptionable1 that of       
,praying by ,working4  ,sauerteig on the
  symbolic influences of ,washing4      
,chinese ,pontiff-,emperor and his      
significant 'punctualities4'  ,goethe   

and ,german ,literature4  ,the  great   
event for the world1 now as always1 the 
arrival in it of a  new ,wise ,man4     
,goethe's ,mason-,lodge4        ,book   
,,iv4--,horoscope      ,chap4 ,i4       
,aristocracies    ,to predict the       
,future1 to manage the ,present1 would  
not be so  impossible1 had not the ,past
 been so sacrilegiously mishandled3  a  
godless century1 looking back to        
centuries that were godly4  ,a  new real
 ,aristocracy and ,priesthood4  ,the    
noble ,priest always a  noble ,aristos  
to begin with1 and something more to end
 with4  ,modern ,preachers1 and the real
 ,satanas that now is4  ,abbot-  ,samson
 and ,william-,conqueror times4  ,the   
mission of a ,land  ,aristocracy a      
sacred one1 in both senses of that old  
word4  ,truly a ',splendor of ,god' did 
dwell in those old rude veracious  ages4
  ,old ,anselm traveling to ,rome1 to   
appeal against ,king  ,rufus4  ,their   
quarrel at bottom a great quarrel4  ,the
 boundless  future1 predestined1 nay    

already extant though unseen4  ,our     
,epic1 not ,arms and the ,man1 but      
,tools and the ,man2  an  infinitely    
wider kind of ,epic4  ,important that   
our grand  ,reformation were begun4     
,chap4 ,,ii4  ,bribery ,committee       
,our theory1 perfect purity of ,tenpound
 ,franchise2  our practice1             
irremediable bribery4  ,bribery1        
indicative not only of length of  purse1
 but of brazen dishonesty3  ,proposed   
improvements4  ,a  parliament1 starting 
with a lie in its mouth1 promulgates    
strage  horoscopes of itself4  ,respect 
paid to those worthy of no  respect3    
,pandarus ,dogdraught4  ,the indigent   
discerning ,freeman2  and the kind of   
men he is called upon to vote for4      
,chap4  ,,iii4  ,the ,one ,institution  
,the ',organisation of ,labour1' if well
 understood1 the ,problem of  the whole 
,future4  ,governments of various       
degrees of utility4  ,kilkenny ,cats2   
spinning-,dervishes2  ,parliamentary    
eloquence4  ,a  prime-,minister who     

would dare believe the heavenly omens4  
,who  can despair of ,governments1 that 
passes a ,soldier's ,guardhouse8--      
,incalculable what1 by arranging1       
commanding and regimenting1 can  be made
 of men4  ,organisms enough in the dim  
huge ,future2  and  ',united ,services' 
quite other than the red-coat one4      
,legislative  interference between      
,workers and master-,workers            
increasingly  indispensable4  ,sanitary 
,reform3  ,people's ,parks3  ,a right   
,education ,bill1 and effective         
,teaching ,service4  ,free bridge for   
emigrants3  ,england's sure markets     
among her colonies4  ,london  the       
,all-,saxon-,home1 rendezvous of all the
 ',children of the  ,harz-,rock4'  ,the 
,english essentially conservative3      
,always the  invincible instinct to hold
 fast by the ,old1 to admit the  minimum
 of ,new4  ,yet new epochs do actually  
come2  and  with them new peremptory    
necessities4  ,a certain ,editor's      
stipulated work4      ,chap4 ,,iv4      

,captains of ,industry    ,government   
can do much1 but it can in nowise do    
all4  ,fall of  ,mammon3  to be a noble 
,master among noble ,workers1 will again
 be  the first ambition with some few4  
,the ,leaders of ,industry1  virtually  
the ,captains of the world3  doggeries  
and ,chivalries4  ,isolation1 the       
sum-total of wretchedness to man4  ,all 
social  growths in the world have       
required organising2  and work1 the     
grandest of human interests1 does now   
require it4      ,chap4 ,v4  ,permanence
    ,the 'tendency to persevere1' to    
persist in spite of hindrances1         
discouragements and 'impossibilities1'  
that which distinguishes  the ,species  
,man from the ,genus ,ape4  ,month-long 
contracts1 and  ,exeter-,hall           
purblindness4 ,a practical manufacturing
 ,quaker's care  for his workmen4       
,blessing of permanent ,contract3       
,permanence in  all things1 at the      
earliest possible moment1 and to the    
latest  possible4  ,vagrant             

,sam-,slicks4  ,the wealth of a man the 
number of  things he loves and blesses1 
which he is loved and blessed by4  ,the 
,worker's interest in the enterprise    
with which he is  connected4  ,how to   
reconcile ,despotism with ,freedom4     
,chap4 ,,vi4  ,the ,landed    ,a man    
with fifty1 with five hundred1 with a   
thousand pounds a  day1 given him       
freely1 without condition at all1 might 
be a  rather strong ,worker3  ,the sad  
reality1 very ominous to look at4  ,will
 he awaken1 be alive again2  or is this 
death-fit very  death8--,goeth's ,duke  
of ,weimar4  ,doom of ,idleness4  ,to   
sit idle  aloft1 like absurd            
,epicurus'-gods1 a poor life for a man4 
,independence 'lord of the lion-heart   
and eagle-eye3'  ,rejection  of sham    
,superiors1 the needful preparation for 
obedience to  real ,superiors4          
,chap4 ,,vii  ,the gifted    ,tumultuous
 anarchy calmed by noble effort into    
fruitful  sovereignty4  ,mammon1 like   
,fire1 the usefulest of servants1 if    

the frightfulest of masters4  ,souls to 
whom the omnipotent guinea  is1 on the  
whole1 an impotent guinea3  ,not a      
,may-game is this  man's life2  but a   
battle and stern pilgrimage3  ,god's    
justice1  human ,nobleness1 ,veracity   
and ,mercy1 the essence of his very     
being4  ,what a man of ,genius is4  ,the
 ,highest ',man of ,genius4'  ,genius1  
the clearer presence of ,god ,most ,high
 in a man4  ,of  intrinsic ,valetism you
 cannot1 with whole ,parliaments to help
  you1 make a heroism4    ,chap4 ,,viii4
  ,the ,didactic    ,one preacher who   
does preach with effect1 and gradually  
persuade  all persons4  ,repentant      
,captains of ,industry3  ,a ,chactaw    
,fighter  becomes a ,christian ,fighter4
  ,doomsday in the afternoon4  ,the     
',christianity' that cannot get on      
without a minimum of ,four-             
thousand-five-hundred1 will give place  
to something better that  can4          
,beautiful to see the brutish empire of 
,mammon cracking  everywhere3  ,a       

strange1 chill1 almost ghastly dayspring
 in  ,yankeeland itself4  ,here as      
there1 ,light is coming into the  world4
  ,whoso believes1 let him begin to     
fulfil3  ',impossible1'  where ,truth   
and ,mercy and the everlasting ,voice of
 ,nature order1  can have no place in   
the brave man's dictionary4  ,not on    
,ilion's  or ,latium's plains2  on far  
other plains and places henceforth  can 
noble deeds be done4  ,the last         
,partridge of ,england shot and  ended3 
,aristocracies with beards on their     
chins4  ,o1 it is  great1 and there is  
no other greatness3  ,to make some nook 
of  god's ,creation a little fruitfuler2
  to make some human hearts a  little   
wiser1 manfuler1 happier3  ,it is work  
for a ,god6