,,seraphita      ,by ,honore ,de ,balzac
        ,translated by ,katharine       
,prescott ,wormeley                     
,,dedication      ,to ,madame ,eveline  
de ,hanska1 nee ,comtesse ,rzewuska4    
,madame1--,here is the work which you   
asked of me4 ,i am happy1 in    thus    
dedicating it1 to offer you a proof of  
the respectful    affection you allow me
 to bear you4 ,if ,i am reproached for  
impotence in this attempt to draw from  
the depths of mysticism a    book which 
seeks to give1 in the lucid transparency
 of our    beautiful language1 the      
luminous poesy of the ,orient1 to you   
the    blame6 ,did you not command this 
struggle 7resembling that of    ,jacob7 
by telling me that the most imperfect   
sketch of this    ,figure1 dreamed of by
 you1 as it has been by me since        
childhood1    would still be something  
to you8      ,here1 then1 it is1--that  
something4 ,would that this book could  
belong exclusively to noble spirits1    
preserved like yours from    worldly    

pettiness by solitude6 ,,they would know
 how to give to it    the melodious     
rhythm that it lacks1 which might have  
made it1 in    the hands of a poet1 the 
glorious epic that ,france still awaits4
    ,but from me they must accept it as 
one of those sculptured    balustrades1 
carved by a hand of faith1 on which the 
pilgrims    lean1 in the choir of some  
glorious church1 to think upon the end  
of man4      ,i am1 madame1 with        
respect1    ,your devoted servant1      
,de ,balzac4          ,,seraphita       
,,chapter ,i4 ,,seraphitus      ,as the 
eye glances over a map of the coasts of 
,norway1 can the  imagination fail to   
marvel at their fantastic indentations  
and serrated  edges1 like a granite     
lace1 against which the surges of the   
,north ,sea  roar incessantly8 ,who has 
not dreamed of the majestic sights to be
 seen  on those beachless shores1 of    
that multitude of creeks and inlets and 
little bays1 no two of them alike1 yet  
all trackless abysses8 ,we may  almost  

fancy that ,nature took pleasure in     
recording by ineffaceable  hieroglyphics
 the symbol of ,norwegian life1         
bestowing on these coasts  the          
conformation of a fish's spine1 fishery 
being the staple commerce of  the       
country1 and well-nigh the only means of
 living of the hardy men who  cling like
 tufts of lichen to the arid cliffs4    
,here1 through fourteen  degrees of     
longitude1 barely seven hundred thousand
 souls maintain  existence4 ,thanks to  
perils devoid of glory1 to year-long    
snows which  clothe the ,norway peaks   
and guard them from profaning foot of   
traveller1  these sublime beauties are  
virgin still2 they will be seen to      
harmonize  with human phenomena1 also   
virgin--at least to poetry--which here  
took  place1 the history of which it is 
our purpose to relate4    ,if one of    
these inlets1 mere fissures to the eyes 
of the eider-ducks1 is  wide enough for 
the sea not to freeze between the       
prison-walls of  rock against which it  

surges1 the country-people call the     
little bay  a 8fiord10--a word which    
geographers of every nation have adopted
 into  their respective languages4      
,though a certain resemblance exists    
among all these fiords1 each has its own
 characteristics4 ,the sea has          
everywhere forced its way as through a  
breach1 yet the rocks about each        
fissure are diversely rent1 and their   
tumultuous precipices defy the  rules of
 geometric law4 ,here the scarp is      
dentelled like a saw2 there  the narrow 
ledges barely allow the snow to lodge or
 the noble crests of  the ,northern     
pines to spread themselves2 farther on1 
some convulsion of  ,nature may have    
rounded a coquettish curve into a lovely
 valley flanked  in rising terraces with
 black-plumed pines4 ,truly we are      
tempted to call  this land the          
,switzerland of ,ocean4    ,midway      
between ,trondhjem and ,christiansand   
lies an inlet called the  ,strom-fiord4 
,if the ,strom-fiord is not the         

loveliest of these rocky  landscapes1 it
 has the merit of displaying the        
terrestrial grandeurs  of ,norway1 and  
of enshrining the scenes of a history   
that is indeed  celestial4    ,the      
general outline of the ,strom-fiord     
seems at first sight to be that  of a   
funnel washed out by the sea4 ,the      
passage which the waves have  forced    
present to the eye an image of the      
eternal struggle between old  ,ocean and
 the granite rock1--two creations of    
equal power1 one through  inertia1 the  
other by ceaseless motion4 ,reefs of    
fantastic shape run out  on either side1
 and bar the way of ships and forbid    
their entrance4 ,the  intrepid sons of  
,norway cross these reefs on foot1      
springing from rock  to rock1 undismayed
 at the abyss--a hundred fathoms deep   
and only six  feet wide--which yawns    
beneath them4 ,here a tottering block of
 gneiss  falling athwart two rocks gives
 an uncertain footway2 there the        
hunters or the fishermen1 carrying their

 loads1 have flung the stems of         
fir-trees in guise of bridges1 to join  
the projecting reefs1 around and        
beneath which the surges roar           
incessantly4 ,this dangerous entrance to
  the little bay bears obliquely to the 
right with a serpentine movement1  and  
there encounters a mountain rising some 
twenty-five hundred feet  above         
sea-level1 the base of which is a       
vertical palisade of solid  rock more   
than a mile and a half long1 the        
inflexible granite nowhere  yielding to 
clefts or undulations until it reaches a
 height of two  hundred feet above the  
water4 ,rushing violently in1 the sea is
 driven  back with equal violence by the
 inert force of the mountain to the     
opposite shore1 gently curved by the    
spent force of the retreating  waves4   
,the fiord is closed at the upper end by
 a vast gneiss formation crowned  with  
forests1 down which a river plunges in  
cascades1 becomes a torrent  when the   
snows are melting1 spreads into a sheet 

of waters1 and then  falls with a roar  
into the bay1--vomiting as it does so   
the hoary pines  and the aged larches   
washed down from the forests and scarce 
seen amid  the foam4 ,these trees plunge
 headlong into the fiord and reappear   
after  a time on the surface1 clinging  
together and forming islets which float 
ashore on the beaches1 where the        
inhabitants of a village on the left    
bank of the ,strom-fiord gather them up1
 split1 broken 7though sometimes        
whole71 and always stripped of bark and 
branches4 ,the mountain which  receives 
at its base the assaults of ,ocean1 and 
at its summit the  buffeting of the wild
 ,north wind1 is called the ,falberg4   
,its crest1  wrapped at all seasons in a
 mantle of snow and ice1 is the sharpest
 peak  of ,norway2 its proximity to the 
pole produces1 at the height of eighteen
  hundred feet1 a degree of cold equal  
to that of the highest mountains of  the
 globe4 ,the summit of this rocky mass1 
rising sheer from the fiord  on one     

side1 slopes gradually downward to the  
east1 where it joins the  declivities of
 the ,sieg and forms a series of        
terraced valleys1 the  chilly           
temperature of which allows no growth   
but that of shrubs and  stunted trees4  
,the upper end of the fiord1 where the  
waters enter it as they come down  from 
the forest1 is called the               
,siegdahlen1--a word which may be held  
to  mean 8the shedding of the           
,sieg10--the river itself receiving that
 name4  ,the curving shore opposite to  
the face of the ,falberg is the valley  
of ,jarvis1--a smiling scene overlooked 
by hills clothed with firs1             
birch-trees1 and larches1 mingled with a
 few oaks and beeches1 the  richest     
coloring of all the varied tapestries   
which ,nature in these  northern regions
 spreads upon the surface of her rugged 
rocks4 ,the eye  can readily mark the   
line where the soil1 warmed by the rays 
of the sun1  bears cultivation and shows
 the native growth of the ,norwegian    

flora4  ,here the expanse of the fiord  
is broad enough to allow the sea1 dashed
  back by the ,falberg1 to spend its    
expiring force in gentle murmurs upon   
the lower slope of these hills1--a shore
 bordered with finest sand1  strewn with
 mica and sparkling pebbles1 porphyry1  
and marbles of a  thousand tints1       
brought from ,sweden by the river       
floods1 together with  ocean waifs1     
shells1 and flowers of the sea driven in
 by tempests1  whether of the ,pole or  
,tropics4    ,at the foot of the hills  
of ,jarvis lies a village of some two   
hundred  wooden houses1 where an        
isolated population lives like a swarm  
of bees  in a forest1 without increasing
 or diminishing2 vegetating happily1    
while wringing their means of living    
from the breast of a stern ,nature4     
,the almost unknown existence of the    
little hamlet is readily accounted  for4
 ,few of its inhabitants were bold      
enough to risk their lives  among the   
reefs to reach the deep-sea             

fishing1--the staple industry of        
,norwegians on the least dangerous      
portions of their coast4 ,the fish of   
the fiord were numerous enough to       
suffice1 in part at least1 for the      
sustenance of the inhabitants2 the      
valley pastures provided milk and       
butter2 a certain amount of fruitful1   
well-tilled soil yielded rye  and hemp  
and vegetables1 which necessity taught  
the people to protect  against the      
severity of the cold and the fleeting   
but terrible heat of  the sun with the  
shrewd ability which ,norwegians display
 in the two-fold  struggle4 ,the        
difficulty of communication with the    
outer world1 either  by land where the  
roads are impassable1 or by sea where   
none but tiny  boats can thread their   
way through the maritime defiles that   
guard the  entrance to the bay1 hinder  
these people from growing rich by the   
sale  of their timber4 ,it would cost   
enormous sums to either blast a channel 
out to sea or construct a way to the    

interior4 ,the roads from ,christiana   
to ,trondhjem all turn toward the       
,strom-fiord1 and cross the ,sieg by a  
bridge some score of miles above its    
fall into the bay4 ,the country to  the 
north1 between ,jarvis and ,trondhjem1  
is covered with impenetrable  forests1  
while to the south the ,falberg is      
nearly as much separated  from          
,christiana by inaccessible precipices4 
,the village of ,jarvis might  perhaps  
have communicated with the interior of  
,norway and ,sweden by  the river ,sieg2
 but to do this and to be thus brought  
into contact with  civilization1 the    
,strom-fiord needed the presence of a   
man of genius4  ,such a man did actually
 appear there1--a poet1 a ,swede of     
great  religious fervor1 who died       
admiring1 even reverencing this region  
as one  of the noblest works of the     
,creator4    ,minds endowed by study    
with an inward sight1 and whose quick   
perceptions  bring before the soul1 as  
though painted on a canvas1 the         

contrasting  scenery of this universe1  
will now apprehend the general features 
of  the ,strom-fiord4 ,they alone1      
perhaps1 can thread their way through   
the  tortuous channels of the reef1 or  
flee with the battling waves to the     
everlasting rebuff of the ,falberg whose
 white peaks mingle with the  vaporous  
clouds of the pearl-gray sky1 or watch  
with delight the curving  sheet of      
waters1 or hear the rushing of the ,sieg
 as it hangs for an  instant in long    
fillets and then falls over a           
picturesque abatis of  noble trees      
toppled confusedly together1 sometimes  
upright1 sometimes  half-sunken beneath 
the rocks4 ,it may be that such minds   
alone can dwell  upon the smiling scenes
 nestling among the lower hills of      
,jarvis2 where  the luscious ,northern  
vegetables spring up in families1 in    
myriads1  where the white birches bend1 
graceful as maidens1 where colonnades   
of beeches rear their boles mossy with  
the growth of centuries1 where  shades  

of green contrast1 and white clouds     
float amid the blackness of  the distant
 pines1 and tracts of many-tinted       
crimson and purple shrubs  are shaded   
endlessly2 in short1 where blend all    
colors1 all perfumes of  a flora whose  
wonders are still ignored4 ,widen the   
boundaries of this  limited ampitheatre1
 spring upward to the clouds1 lose      
yourself among  the rocks where the     
seals are lying and even then your      
thought cannot  compass the wealth of   
beauty nor the poetry of this ,norwegian
 coast4  ,can your thought be as vast as
 the ocean that bounds it8 as weird as  
the fantastic forms drawn by these      
forests1 these clouds1 these shadows1   
these changeful lights8    ,do you see  
above the meadows on that lowest slope  
which undulates around  the higher hills
 of ,jarvis two or three hundred houses 
roofed with  8noever10 a sort of thatch 
made of birch-bark1--frail houses1 long 
and  low1 looking like silk-worms on a  
mulberry-leaf tossed hither by the      

winds8 ,above these humble1 peaceful    
dwellings stands the church1 built  with
 a simplicity in keeping with the       
poverty of the villagers4 ,a  graveyard 
surrounds the chancel1 and a little     
farther on you see  the parsonage4      
,higher up1 on a projection of the      
mountain is a  dwelling-house1 the only 
one of stone2 for which reason the      
inhabitants  of the village call it 8the
 ,swedish ,castle40 ,in fact1 a wealthy 
,swede  settled in ,jarvis about thirty 
years before this history begins1 and   
did  his best to ameliorate its         
condition4 ,this little house1 certainly
 not  a castle1 built with the intention
 of leading the inhabitants to build    
others like it1 was noticeable for its  
solidity and for the wall that  inclosed
 it1 a rare thing in ,norway where1     
notwithstanding the abundance  of stone1
 wood alone is used for all fences1 even
 those of fields4  ,this ,swedish house1
 thus protected against the climate1    
stood on rising  ground in the centre of

 an immense courtyard4 ,the windows were
 sheltered  by those projecting         
pent-house roofs supported by squared   
trunks of  trees which give so          
patriarchal an air to ,northern         
dwellings4 ,from  beneath them the eye  
could see the savage nudity of the      
,falberg1 or  compare the infinitude of 
the open sea with the tiny drop of water
 in  the foaming fiord2 the ear could   
hear the flowing of the ,sieg1 whose    
white sheet far away looked motionless  
as it fell into its granite  cup edged  
for miles around with glaciers1--in     
short1 from this vantage  ground the    
whole landscape whereon our simple yet  
superhuman drama was  about to be       
enacted could be seen and noted4    ,the
 winter of #agii-ahjj was one of the    
most severe ever known to  ,europeans4  
,the ,norwegian sea was frozen in all   
the fiords1 where1 as a  usual thing1   
the violence of the surf kept the ice   
from forming4 ,a wind1  whose effects   
were like those of the ,spanish         

levanter1 swept the ice of  the         
,strom-fiord1 driving the snow to the   
upper end of the gulf4 ,seldom  indeed  
could the people of ,jarvis see the     
mirror of frozen waters  reflecting the 
colors of the sky2 a wondrous site in   
the bosom of  these mountains when all  
other aspects of nature are levelled    
beneath  successive sheets of snow1 and 
crests and valleys are alike mere  folds
 of the vast mantle flung by winter     
across a landscape at once so           
mournfully dazzling and so monotonous4  
,the falling volume of the ,sieg1       
suddenly frozen1 formed an immense      
arcade beneath which the inhabitants    
might have crossed under shelter from   
the blast had any dared to risk         
themselves inland4 ,but the dangers of  
every step away from their own          
surroundings kept even the boldest      
hunters in their homes1 afraid lest  the
 narrow paths along the precipices1 the 
clefts and fissures among the  rocks1   
might be unrecognizable beneath the     

snow4    ,thus it was that no human     
creature gave life to the white desert  
where  ,boreas reigned1 his voice alone 
resounding at distant intervals4 ,the   
sky1 nearly always gray1 gave tones of  
polished steel to the ice of the  fiord4
 ,perchance some ancient eider-duck     
crossed the expanse1 trusting  to the   
warm down beneath which dream1 in other 
lands1 the luxurious  rich1 little      
knowing of the dangers through which    
their luxury has come  to them4 ,like   
the ,bedouin of the desert who darts    
alone across the sands  of ,africa1 the 
bird is neither seen nor heard2 the     
torpid atmosphere1  deprived of its     
electrical conditions1 echoes neither   
the whirr of its  wings nor its joyous  
notes4 ,besides1 what human eye was     
strong enough to  bear the glitter of   
those pinnacles adorned with sparkling  
crystals1 or  the sharp reflections of  
the snow1 iridescent on the summits in  
the rays  of a pallid sun which         
infrequently appeared1 like a dying man 

seeking to  make known that he still    
lives4 ,often1 when the flocks of gray  
clouds1  driven in squadrons athwart the
 mountains and among the tree-tops1 hid 
the sky with their triple veils ,earth1 
lacking the celestial lights1 lit       
herself by herself4    ,here1 then1 we  
meet the majesty of ,cold1 seated       
eternally at the pole  in that regal    
silence which is the attribute of all   
absolute monarchy4  ,every extreme      
principle carries with it an appearance 
of negation and  the symptoms of death2 
for is not life the struggle of two     
forces8 ,here  in this ,northern nature 
nothing lived4 ,one sole power--the     
unproductive  power of ice--reigned     
unchallenged4 ,the roar of the open sea 
no longer  reached the deaf1 dumb inlet1
 where during one short season of the   
year  ,nature made haste to produce the 
slender harvests necessary for the food 
of the patient people4 ,a few tall      
pine-trees lifted their black pyramids  
garlanded with snow1 and the form of    

their long branches and depending       
shoots completed the mourning garments  
of those solemn heights4    ,each       
household gathered in its               
chimney-corner1 in houses carefully     
closed from the outer air1 and well     
supplied with biscuit1 melted  butter1  
dried fish1 and other provisions laid in
 for the seven-months  winter4 ,the very
 smoke of these dwellings was hardly    
seen1 half-hidden  as they were beneath 
the snow1 against the weight of which   
they were  protected by long planks     
reaching from the roof and fastened at  
some  distance to solid blocks on the   
ground1 forming a covered way around    
each building4    ,during these terrible
 winter months the women spun and dyed  
the woollen  stuffs and the linen       
fabrics with which they clothed their   
families1  while the men read1 or fell  
into those endless meditations which    
have  given birth to so many profound   
theories1 to the mystic dreams of the   
,north1 to its beliefs1 to its studies  

7so full and so complete in one         
science1 at least1 sounded as with a    
plummet71 to its manners and its        
morals1 half-monastic1 which force the  
soul to react and feed upon  itself and 
make the ,norwegian peasant a being     
apart among the peoples of  ,europe4    
,such was the condition of the          
,strom-fiord in the first year of the   
nineteenth century and about the middle 
of the month of ,may4    ,on a morning  
when the sun burst forth upon this      
landscape1 lighting the  fires of the   
ephemeral diamonds produced by          
crystallizations of the snow  and ice1  
two beings crossed the fiord and flew   
along the base of the  ,falberg1 rising 
thence from ledge to ledge toward the   
summit4 ,what were  they8 human         
creatures1 or two arrows8 ,they might   
have been taken for  eider-ducks sailing
 in consort before the wind4 ,not the   
boldest hunter  nor the most            
superstitious fisherman would have      
attributed to human  beings the power to

 move safely along the slender lines    
traced beneath  the snow by the granite 
ledges1 where yet this couple glided    
with the  terrifying dexterity of       
somnambulists who1 forgetting their own 
weight  and the dangers of the slightest
 deviation1 hurry along a ridge-pole and
  keep their equilibrium by the power of
 some mysterious force4    8,stop me1   
,seraphitus10 said a pale young girl1   
8and let me breathe4 ,i  look at you1   
you only1 while scaling these walls of  
the gulf2 otherwise1  what would become 
of me8 ,i am such a feeble creature4 ,do
 ,i tire you80    8,no10 said the being 
on whose arm she leaned4 8,but let us go
 on1 ,minna2  the place where we are is 
not firm enough to stand on40    ,once  
more the snow creaked sharply beneath   
the long boards fastened to  their feet1
 and soon they reached the upper terrace
 of the first ledge1  clearly defined   
upon the flank of the precipice4 ,the   
person whom ,minna  had addressed as    
,seraphitus threw his weight upon his   

right heel1  arresting the plank--six   
and a half feet long and narrow as the  
foot of  a child--which was fastened to 
his boot by a double thong of leather4  
,this plank1 two inches thick1 was      
covered with reindeer skin1 which       
bristled against the snow when the foot 
was raised1 and served to stop  the     
wearer4 ,seraphitus drew in his left    
foot1 furnished with another  8skee10   
which was only two feet long1 turned    
swiftly where he stood1  caught his     
timid companion in his arms1 lifted her 
in spite of the long  boards on her     
feet1 and placed her on a projecting    
rock from which he  brushed the snow    
with his pelisse4    8,you are safe     
there1 ,minna2 you can tremble at your  
ease40    8,we are a third of the way up
 the ,ice-,cap10 she said1 looking at   
the  peak to which she gave the popular 
name by which it is known in ,norway2   
8,i can hardly believe it40    ,too much
 out of breath to say more1 she smiled  
at ,seraphitus1 who1  without answering1

 laid his hand upon her heart and       
listened to its  sounding throbs1 rapid 
as those of a frightened bird4    8,it  
often beats as fast when ,i run10 she   
said4    ,seraphitus inclined his head  
with a gesture that was neither coldness
  nor indifference1 and yet1 despite the
 grace which made the movement  almost  
tender1 it none the less bespoke a      
certain negation1 which in a  woman     
would have seemed an exquisite coquetry4
 ,seraphitus clasped the  young girl in 
his arms4 ,minna accepted the caress as 
an answer to her  words1 continuing to  
gaze at him4 ,as he raised his head1 and
 threw back  with impatient gesture the 
golden masses of his hair to free his   
brow1  he saw an expression of joy in   
the eyes of his companion4    8,yes1    
,minna10 he said in a voice whose       
paternal accents were charming  from the
 lips of a being who was still          
adolescent1 8,keep your eyes on  me2 do 
not look below you40    8,why not80 she 
asked4    8,you wish to know why8 then  

look60    ,minna glanced quickly at her 
feet and cried out suddenly like a child
  who sees a tiger4 ,the awful sensation
 of abysses seized her2 one glance      
sufficed to communicate its contagion4  
,the fiord1 eager for food1  bewildered 
her with its loud voice ringing in her  
ears1 interposing  between herself and  
life as though to devour her more       
surely4 ,from the  crown of her head to 
her feet and along her spine an icy     
shudder ran2  then suddenly intolerable 
heat suffused her nerves1 beat in her   
veins  and overpowered her extremities  
with electric shocks like those of the  
torpedo4 ,too feeble to resist1 she felt
 herself drawn by a mysterious  power to
 the depths below1 wherein she fancied  
that she saw some monster  belching its 
venom1 a monster whose magnetic eyes    
were charming her1  whose open jaws     
appeared to craunch their prey before   
they seized it4    8,i die1 my          
,seraphitus1 loving none but thee10 she 
said1 making a  mechanical movement to  

fling herself into the abyss4           
,seraphitus breathed softly on her      
forehead and eyes4 ,suddenly1 like  a   
traveller relaxed after a bath1 ,minna  
forgot these keen emotions1  already    
dissipated by that caressing breath     
which penetrated her body  and filled it
 with balsamic essences as quickly as   
the breath itself had  crossed the air4 
8,who art thou80 she said1 with a       
feeling of gentle terror4 8,ah1 but ,i  
know6 thou art my life4 ,how canst thou 
look into that gulf and not die80   she 
added presently4    ,seraphitus left her
 clinging to the granite rock and placed
 himself at  the edge of the narrow     
platform on which they stood1 whence his
 eyes  plunged to the depths of the     
fiord1 defying its dazzling invitation4 
,his  body did not tremble1 his brow was
 white and calm as that of a marble     
statue1--an abyss facing an abyss4      
8,seraphitus6 dost thou not love me8    
come back60 she cried4 8,thy danger     
renews my terror4 ,who art thou to have 

such superhuman power at thy  age80 she 
asked as she felt his arms inclosing her
 once more4    8,but1 ,minna10 answered 
,seraphitus1 8you look fearlessly at    
greater  spaces far than that40    ,then
 with raised finger1 this strange being 
pointed upward to the blue  dome1 which 
parting clouds left clear above their   
heads1 where  stars could be seen in    
open day by virtue of atmospheric laws  
as yet  unstudied4    8,but what a      
difference60 she answered smiling4      
8,you are right10 he said2 8we are born 
to stretch upward to the  skies4 ,our   
native land1 like the face of a mother1 
cannot terrify her  children40    ,his  
voice vibrated through the being of his 
companion1 who made no  reply4          
8,come6 let us go on10 he said4    ,the 
pair darted forward along the narrow    
paths traced back and forth  upon the   
mountain1 skimming from terrace to      
terrace1 from line to line1  with the   
rapidity of a barb1 that bird of the    
desert4 ,presently they  reached an open

 space1 carpeted with turf and moss and 
flowers1 where no  foot had ever trod4  
8,oh1 the pretty saeter60 cried ,minna1 
giving to the upland meadow its         
,norwegian name4 8,but how comes it     
here1 at such a height80    8,vegetation
 ceases here1 it is true10 said         
,seraphitus4 8,these few plants  and    
flowers are due to that sheltering rock 
which protects the meadow  from the     
polar winds4 ,put that tuft in your     
bosom1 ,minna10 he added1  gathering a  
flower1--8that balmy creation which no  
eye has ever seen2  keep the solitary   
matchless flower in memory of this one  
matchless  morning of your life4 ,you   
will find no other guide to lead you    
again to  this saeter40    ,so saying1  
he gave her the hybrid plant his falcon 
eye had seen amid the  tufts of gentian 
acaulis and saxifrages1--a marvel1      
brought to bloom  by the breath of      
angels4 ,with girlish eagerness ,minna  
seized the tufted  plant of transparent 
green1 vivid as emerald1 which was      

formed of little  leaves rolled         
trumpet-wise1 brown at the smaller end  
but changing tint  by tint to their     
delicately notched edges1 which were    
green4 ,these  leaves were so tightly   
pressed together that they seemed to    
blend and  form a mat or cluster of     
rosettes4 ,here and there from this     
green ground  rose pure white stars     
edged with a line of gold1 and from     
their throats  came crimson anthers but 
no pistils4 ,a fragrance1 blended of    
roses and  of orange blossoms1 yet      
ethereal and fugitive1 gave something as
 it  were celestial to that mysterious  
flower1 which ,seraphitus sadly         
contemplated1 as though it uttered      
plaintive thoughts which he alone  could
 understand4 ,but to ,minna this        
mysterious phenomenon seemed a mere     
caprice of nature giving to stone the   
freshness1 softness1 and perfume  of    
plants4    8,why do you call it         
matchless8 can it not reproduce itself80
 she asked1  looking at ,seraphitus1 who

 colored and turned away4    8,let us   
sit down10 he said presently2 8look     
below you1 ,minna4 ,see6 ,at  this      
height you will have no fear4 ,the abyss
 is so far beneath us that  we no longer
 have a sense of its depths2 it acquires
 the perspective  uniformity of ocean1  
the vagueness of clouds1 the soft       
coloring of the  sky4 ,see1 the ice of  
the fiord is a turquoise1 the dark pine 
forests are  mere threads of brown2 for 
us all abysses should be thus adorned40 
,seraphitus said the words with that    
fervor of tone and gesture seen  and    
known only by those who have ascended   
the highest mountains of the  globe1--a 
fervor so involuntarily acquired that   
the haughtiest of men  is forced to     
regard his guide as a brother1          
forgetting his own superior  station    
till he descends to the valleys and the 
abodes of his kind4  ,seraphitus        
unfastened the skees from ,minna's feet1
 kneeling before her4  ,the girl did not
 notice him1 so absorbed was she in the 

marvellous view  now offered of her     
native land1 whose rocky outlines could 
here be seen  at a glance4 ,she felt1   
with deep emotion1 the solemn permanence
 of those  frozen summits1 to which     
words could give no adequate utterance4 
8,we have not come here by human power  
alone10 she said1 clasping her  hands4  
8,but perhaps ,i dream40    8,you think 
that facts the causes of which you      
cannot perceive are  supernatural10     
replied her companion4    8,your        
replies10 she said1 8always bear the    
stamp of some deep thought4  ,when ,i am
 near you ,i understand all things      
without an effort4 ,ah1 ,i am  free60   
8,if so1 you will not need your skees10 
he answered4    8,oh60 she said2 8,i who
 would fain unfasten yours and kiss your
 feet60    8,keep such words for        
,wilfrid10 said ,seraphitus1 gently4    
8,wilfrid60 cried ,minna angrily2 then1 
softening as she glanced at her         
companion's face and trying1 but in     
vain1 to take his hand1 she added1      

8,you are never angry1 never2 you are so
 hopelessly perfect in all  things40    
8,from which you conclude that ,i am    
unfeeling40    ,minna was startled at   
this lucid interpretation of her        
thought4    8,you prove to me1 at any   
rate1 that we understand each other10   
she said1  with the grace of a loving   
woman4    ,seraphitus softly shook his  
head and looked sadly and gently at her4
    8,you1 who know all things10 said   
,minna1 8tell me why it is that the     
timidity ,i felt below is over now that 
,i have mounted higher4 ,why do ,i  dare
 to look at you for the first time face 
to face1 while lower down ,i  scarcely  
dared to give a furtive glance80        
8,perhaps because we are withdrawn from 
the pettiness of earth10 he  answered1  
unfastening his pelisse4    8,never1    
never have ,i seen you so beautiful60   
cried ,minna1 sitting down  on a mossy  
rock and losing herself in contemplation
 of the being who  had now guided her to
 a part of the peak hitherto supposed to

 be  inaccessible4    ,never1 in truth1 
had ,seraphitus shone with so bright a  
radiance1--the  only word which can     
render the illumination of his face and 
the aspect  of his whole person4 ,was   
this splendor due to the lustre which   
the pure  air of mountains and the      
reflections of the snow give to the     
complexion8  ,was it produced by the    
inward impulse which excites the body at
 the  instant when exertion is arrested8
 ,did it come from the sudden contrast  
between the glory of the sun and the    
darkness of the clouds1 from whose      
shadow the charming couple had just     
emerged8 ,perhaps to all these causes   
we may add the effect of a phenomenon1  
one of the noblest which human  nature  
has to offer4 ,if some able physiologist
 had studied this being  7who1 judging  
by the pride on his brow and the        
lightning in his eyes  seemed a youth of
 about seventeen years of age71 and if  
the student had  sought for the springs 
of that beaming life beneath the whitest

 skin  that ever the ,north bestowed    
upon her offspring1 he would undoubtedly
  have believed either in some          
phosphoric fluid of the nerves shining  
beneath the cuticle1 or in the constant 
presence of an inward luminary1  whose  
rays issued through the being of        
,seraphitus like a light through  an    
alabaster vase4 ,soft and slender as    
were his hands1 ungloved to  remove his 
companion's snow-boots1 they seemed     
possessed of a strength  equal to that  
which the ,creator gave to the          
diaphanous tentacles of the  crab4 ,the 
fire darting from his vivid glance      
seemed to struggle with the  beams of   
the sun1 not to take but to give them   
light4 ,his body1 slim and  delicate as 
that of a woman1 gave evidence of one of
 those natures which  are feeble        
apparently1 but whose strength equals   
their will1 rendering  them at times    
powerful4 ,of medium height1 ,seraphitus
 appeared to grow in  stature as he     
turned fully round and seemed about to  

spring upward4 ,his  hair1 curled by a  
fairy's hand and waving to the breeze1  
increased  the illusion produced by this
 aerial attitude2 yet his bearing1      
wholly  without conscious effort1 was   
the result far more of a moral          
phenomenon  than of a corporal habit4   
,minna's imagination seconded this      
illusion1 under the dominion of which   
all persons would assuredly have        
fallen1--an illusion which gave to      
,seraphitus the appearance of a vision  
dreamed of in happy sleep4 ,no  known   
type conveys an image of that form so   
majestically made to ,minna1  but which 
to the eyes of a man would have eclipsed
 in womanly grace the  fairest of       
,raphael's creations4 ,that painter of  
heaven has ever put  a tranquil joy1 a  
loving sweetness1 into the lines of his 
angelic  conceptions2 but what soul1    
unless it contemplated ,seraphitus      
himself1  could have conceived the      
ineffable emotions imprinted on his     
face8 ,who  would have divined1 even in 

the dreams of artists1 where all things 
become possible1 the shadow cast by some
 mysterious awe upon that brow1  shining
 with intellect1 which seemed to        
question ,heaven and to pity  ,earth8   
,the head hovered awhile disdainfully1  
as some majestic bird whose  cries      
reverberate on the atmosphere1 then     
bowed itself resignedly1 like  the      
turtledove uttering soft notes of       
tenderness in the depths of the  silent 
woods4 ,his complexion was of marvellous
 whiteness1 which brought  out vividly  
the coral lips1 the brown eyebrows1 and 
the silken lashes1  the only colors that
 trenched upon the paleness of that     
face1 whose  perfect regularity did not 
detract from the grandeur of the        
sentiments  expressed in it2 nay1       
thought and emotion were reflected      
there1 without  hindrance or violence1  
with the majestic and natural gravity   
which we  delight in attributing to     
superior beings4 ,that face of purest   
marble  expressed in all things strength

 and peace4    ,minna rose to take the  
hand of ,seraphitus1 hoping thus to draw
 him to  her1 and to lay on that        
seductive brow a kiss given more from   
admiration  than from love2 but a glance
 at the young man's eyes1 which pierced 
her  as a ray of sunlight penetrates a  
prism1 paralyzed the young girl4 ,she   
felt1 but without comprehending1 a gulf 
between them2 then she turned  away her 
head and wept4 ,suddenly a strong hand  
seized her by the waist1  and a soft    
voice said to her3 8,come60 ,she obeyed1
 resting her head1  suddenly revived1   
upon the heart of her companion1 who1   
regulating his  step to hers with gentle
 and attentive conformity1 led her to a 
spot  whence they could see the radiant 
glories of the polar ,nature4           
8,before ,i look1 before ,i listen to   
you1 tell me1 ,seraphitus1 why you      
repulse me4 ,have ,i displeased you8 and
 how8 tell me6 ,i want nothing for      
myself2 ,i would that all my earthly    
goods were yours1 for the riches  of my 

heart are yours already4 ,i would that  
light came to my eyes only  though your 
eyes just as my thought is born of your 
thought4 ,i should  not then fear to    
offend you1 for ,i should give you back 
the echoes of  your soul1 the words of  
your heart1 day by day1--as we render to
 ,god the  meditations with which his   
spirit nourishes our minds4 ,i would be 
thine  alone40    8,minna1 a constant   
desire is that which shapes our future4 
,hope on6 ,but  if you would be pure in 
heart mingle the idea of the            
,all-,powerful with  your affections    
here below2 then you will love all      
creatures1 and your  heart will rise to 
heights indeed40    8,i will do all you 
tell me10 she answered1 lifting her eyes
 to his with  a timid movement4    8,i  
cannot be your companion10 said         
,seraphitus sadly4    ,he seemed to     
repress some thoughts1 then stretched   
his arms towards  ,christiana1 just     
visible like a speck on the horizon and 
said3--    8,look60    8,we are very    

small10 she said4    8,yes1 but we      
become great through feeling and through
 intellect10   answered ,seraphitus4    
8,with us1 and us alone1 ,minna1 begins 
the knowledge  of things2 the little    
that we learn of the laws of the visible
 world  enables us to apprehend the     
immensity of the worlds invisible4 ,i   
know  not if the time has come to speak 
thus to you1 but ,i would1 ah1 ,i would 
communicate to you the flame of my      
hopes6 ,perhaps we may one day be       
together in the world where ,love never 
dies40    8,why not here and now80 she  
said1 murmuring4    8,nothing is stable 
here10 he said1 disdainfully4 8,the     
passing joys of  earthly love are gleams
 which reveal to certain souls the      
coming of  joys more durable2 just as   
the discovery of a single law of nature 
leads  certain privileged beings to a   
conception of the system of the         
universe4  ,our fleeting happiness here 
below is the forerunning proof of       
another  and a perfect happiness1 just  

as the earth1 a fragment of the world1  
attests the universe4 ,we cannot measure
 the vast orbit of the ,divine  thought 
of which we are but an atom as small as 
,god is great2 but we  can feel its     
vastness1 we can kneel1 adore1 and wait4
 ,men ever mislead  themselves in       
science by not perceiving that all      
things on their globe  are related and  
co-ordinated to the general evolution1  
to a constant  movement and production  
which bring with them1 necessarily1 both
  advancement and an ,end4 ,man himself 
is not a finished creation2 if he  were1
 ,god would not ,be40    8,how is it    
that in thy short life thou hast found  
the time to learn so  many things80 said
 the young girl4    8,i remember10 he   
replied4    8,thou art nobler than all  
else ,i see40    8,we are the noblest of
 ,god's greatest works4 ,has ,he not    
given us the  faculty of reflecting on  
,nature2 of gathering it within us by   
thought2  of making it a footstool and  
stepping-stone from and by which to rise

  to ,him8 ,we love according to the    
greater or the lesser portion of heaven 
our souls contain4 ,but do not be       
unjust1 ,minna2 behold the magnificence 
spread before you4 ,ocean expands at    
your feet like a carpet2 the  mountains 
resemble ampitheatres2 heaven's ether is
 above them like the  arching folds of a
 stage curtain4 ,here we may breathe the
 thoughts of  ,god1 as it were like a   
perfume4 ,see6 the angry billows which  
engulf the  ships laden with men seem to
 us1 where we are1 mere bubbles2 and if 
we  raise our eyes and look above1 all  
there is blue4 ,behold that diadem of   
stars6 ,here the tints of earthly       
impressions disappear2 standing on this 
nature rarefied by space do you not feel
 within you something deeper far  than  
mind1 grander than enthusiasm1 of       
greater energy than will8 ,are you  not 
conscious of emotions whose             
interpretation is no longer in us8 ,do  
you not feel your pinions8 ,let us      
pray40    ,seraphitus knelt down and    

crossed his hands upon his breast1 while
 ,minna  fell1 weeping1 on her knees4   
,thus they remained for a time1 while   
the azure dome above their heads grew   
larger and strong rays of light         
enveloped them without their knowledge4 
8,why dost thou not weep when ,i weep80 
said ,minna1 in a broken voice4         
8,they who are all spirit do not weep10 
replied ,seraphitus rising2 8,why       
should ,i weep8 ,i see no longer human  
wretchedness4 ,here1 ,good appears  in  
all its majesty4 ,there1 beneath us1 ,i 
hear the supplications and the  wailings
 of that harp of sorrows which vibrates 
in the hands of captive  souls4 ,here1  
,i listen to the choir of harps         
harmonious4 ,there1 below1  is hope1 the
 glorious inception of faith2 but here  
is faith--it reigns1  hope realized60   
8,you will never love me2 ,i am too     
imperfect2 you disdain me10 said the    
young girl4    8,minna1 the violet      
hidden at the feet of the oak whispers  
to itself3  #8,the sun does not love me2

 he comes not4' ,the sun says3 #8,if my 
rays  shine upon her she will perish1   
poor flower4' ,friend of the flower1 he 
sends his beams through the oak leaves1 
he veils1 he tempers them1 and  thus    
they color the petals of his beloved4 ,i
 have not veils enough1  ,i fear lest   
you see me too closely2 you would       
tremble if you knew me  better4 ,listen3
 ,i have no taste for earthly fruits4   
,your joys1 ,i know  them all too well1 
and1 like the sated emperors of pagan   
,rome1 ,i have  reached disgust of all  
things2 ,i have received the gift of    
vision4 ,leave  me6 abandon me60 he     
murmured1 sorrowfully4    ,seraphitus   
turned and seated himself on a          
projecting rock1 dropping his  head upon
 his breast4    8,why do you drive me to
 despair80 said ,minna4    8,go1 go60   
cried ,seraphitus1 8,i have nothing that
 you want of me4 ,your  love is too     
earthly for my love4 ,why do you not    
love ,wilfrid8 ,wilfrid is  a man1      
tested by passions2 he would clasp you  

in his vigorous arms and  make you feel 
a hand both broad and strong4 ,his hair 
is black1 his  eyes are full of human   
thoughts1 his heart pours lava in every 
word he  utters2 he could kill you with 
caresses4 ,let him be your beloved1 your
  husband6 ,yes1 thine be ,wilfrid60    
,minna wept aloud4    8,dare you say    
that you do not love him80 he went on1  
in a voice which  pierced her like a    
dagger4    8,have mercy1 have mercy1 my 
,seraphitus60    8,love him1 poor child 
of ,earth to which thy destiny has      
indissolubly  bound thee10 said the     
strange being1 beckoning ,minna by a    
gesture1 and  forcing her to the edge of
 the saeter1 whence he pointed downward 
to a  scene that might well inspire a   
young girl full of enthusiasm with the  
fancy that she stood above this earth4  
8,i longed for a companion to the       
kingdom of ,light2 ,i wished to show you
  that morsel of mud1 ,i find you bound 
to it4 ,farewell4 ,remain on earth2     
enjoy through the senses2 obey your     

nature2 turn pale with pallid men2      
blush with women2 sport with children2  
pray with the guilty2 raise your  eyes  
to heaven when sorrows overtake you2    
tremble1 hope1 throb in all  your       
pulses2 you will have a companion2 you  
can laugh and weep1 and give  and       
receive4 ,i1--,i am an exile1 far from  
heaven2 a monster1 far from  earth4 ,i  
live of myself and by myself4 ,i feel by
 the spirit2 ,i breathe  through my     
brow2 ,i see by thought2 ,i die of      
impatience and of longing4  ,no one here
 below can fulfil my desires or calm my 
griefs4 ,i have  forgotten how to weep4 
,i am alone4 ,i resign myself1 and ,i   
wait40    ,seraphitus looked at the     
flowery mound on which he had seated    
,minna2  then he turned and faced the   
frowning heights1 whose pinnacles were  
wrapped in clouds2 to them he cast1     
unspoken1 the remainder of his          
thoughts4    8,minna1 do you hear those 
delightful strains80 he said after a    
pause1  with the voice of a dove1 for   

the eagle's cry was hushed2 8it is like 
the music of those ,eolian harps your   
poets hang in forests and on the        
mountains4 ,do you see the shadowy      
figures passing among the clouds1  the  
winged feet of those who are making     
ready the gifts of heaven8 ,they  bring 
refreshment to the soul2 the skies are  
about to open and shed the  flowers of  
spring upon the earth4 ,see1 a gleam is 
darting from the pole4  ,let us fly1 let
 us fly6 ,it is time we go60    ,in a   
moment their skees were refastened1 and 
the pair descended the  ,falberg by the 
steep slopes which join the mountain to 
the valleys of  the ,sieg4 ,miraculous  
perception guided their course1 or1 to  
speak more  properly1 their flight4     
,when fissures covered with snow        
intercepted  them1 ,seraphitus caught   
,minna in his arms and darted with rapid
 motion1  lightly as a bird1 over the   
crumbling causeways of the abyss4       
,sometimes1  while propelling his       
companion1 he deviated to the right or  

left to  avoid a precipice1 a tree1 a   
projecting rock1 which he seemed to see 
beneath the snow1 as an old sailor1     
familiar with the ocean1 discerns  the  
hidden reefs by the color1 the trend1 or
 the eddying of the  water4 ,when they  
reached the paths of the ,siegdahlen1   
where they could  fearlessly follow a   
straight line to regain the ice of the  
fiord1  ,seraphitus stopped ,minna4     
8,you have nothing to say to me80 he    
asked4    8,i thought you would rather  
think alone10 she answered respectfully4
    8,let us hasten1 ,minette2 it is    
almost night10 he said4    ,minna       
quivered as she heard the voice1 now so 
changed1 of her guide1--a  pure voice1  
like that of a young girl1 which        
dissolved the fantastic  dream through  
which she had been passing4 ,seraphitus 
seemed to be laying  aside his male     
force and the too keen intellect that   
flames from his  eyes4 ,presently the   
charming pair glided across the fiord   
and reached  the snow-field which       

divides the shore from the first range  
of houses2  then1 hurrying forward as   
daylight faded1 they sprang up the hill 
toward the parsonage1 as though they    
were mounting the steps of a great      
staircase4    8,my father must be       
anxious10 said ,minna4    8,no10        
answered ,seraphitus4    ,as he spoke   
the couple reached the porch of the     
humble dwelling where  ,monsieur        
,becker1 the pastor of ,jarvis1 sat     
reading while awaiting his  daughter for
 the evening meal4    8,dear ,monsieur  
,becker10 said ,seraphitus1 8,i have    
brought ,minna back to  you safe and    
sound40    8,thank you1 mademoiselle10  
said the old man1 laying his spectacles 
on  his book2 8you must be very tired40 
8,oh1 no10 said ,minna1 and as she spoke
 she felt the soft breath of her        
companion on her brow4    8,dear heart1 
will you come day after to-morrow       
evening and take tea with  me80         
8,gladly1 dear40    8,monsieur ,becker1 
you will bring her1 will you not80      

8,yes1 mademoiselle40    ,seraphitus    
inclined his head with a pretty gesture1
 and bowed to the old  pastor as he left
 the house4 ,a few moments later he     
reached the great  courtyard of the     
,swedish villa4 ,an old servant1 over   
eighty years of  age1 appeared in the   
portico bearing a lantern4 ,seraphitus  
slipped off  his snow-shoes with the    
graceful dexterity of a woman1 then     
darting into  the salon he fell         
exhausted and motionless on a wide divan
 covered with  furs4    8,what will you 
take80 asked the old man1 lighting the  
immensely tall  wax-candles that are    
used in ,norway4    8,nothing1 ,david1  
,i am too weary40    ,seraphitus        
unfastened his pelisse lined with sable1
 threw it over him1  and fell asleep4   
,the old servant stood for several      
minutes gazing with  loving eyes at the 
singular being before him1 whose sex it 
would have  been difficult for any one  
at that moment to determine4 ,wrapped as
 he  was in a formless garment1 which   

resembled equally a woman's robe and a  
man's mantle1 it was impossible not to  
fancy that the slender feet  which hung 
at the side of the couch were those of a
 woman1 and equally  impossible not to  
note how the forehead and the outlines  
of the head  gave evidence of power     
brought to its highest pitch4    8,she  
suffers1 and she will not tell me10     
thought the old man4 8,she is  dying1   
like a flower wilted by the burning     
sun40    ,and the old man wept4         
,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,seraphita      ,later 
in the evening ,david re-entered the    
salon4    8,i know who it is you have   
come to announce10 said ,seraphita in a 
sleepy  voice4 8,wilfrid may enter40    
,hearing these words a man suddenly     
presented himself1 crossed the room  and
 sat down beside her4    8,my dear      
,seraphita1 are you ill80 he said4 8,you
 look paler than usual40    ,she turned 
slowly towards him1 tossing back her    
hair like a pretty woman  whose aching  
head leaves her no strength even for    

complaint4    8,i was foolish enough to 
cross the fiord with ,minna10 she said4 
8,we  ascended the ,falberg40    8,do   
you mean to kill yourself80 he said with
 a lover's terror4    8,no1 my good     
,wilfrid2 ,i took the greatest care of  
your ,minna40    ,wilfrid struck his    
hand violently on a table1 rose hastily1
 and made  several steps towards the    
door with an exclamation full of pain2  
then he  returned and seemed about to   
remonstrate4    8,why this disturbance  
if you think me ill80 she said4         
8,forgive me1 have mercy60 he cried1    
kneeling beside her4 8,speak to me      
harshly if you will2 exact all that the 
cruel fancies of a woman lead  you to   
imagine ,i least can bear2 but oh1 my   
beloved1 do not doubt my  love4 ,you    
take ,minna like an axe to hew me down4 
,have mercy60    8,why do you say these 
things1 my friend1 when you know that   
they are  useless80 she replied1 with a 
look which grew in the end so soft that 
,wilfrid ceased to behold her eyes1 but 

saw in their place a fluid light1  the  
shimmer of which was like the last      
vibrations of an ,italian song4    8,ah6
 no man dies of anguish60 he murmured4  
8,you are suffering80 she said in a     
voice whose intonations produced upon   
his heart the same effect as that of her
 look4 8,would ,i could help you60      
8,love me as ,i love you40    8,poor    
,minna60 she replied4    8,why am ,i    
unarmed60 exclaimed ,wilfrid1 violently4
    8,you are out of temper10 said      
,seraphita1 smiling4 8,come1 have ,i not
  spoken to you like those ,parisian    
women whose loves you tell of80         
,wilfrid sat down1 crossed his arms1 and
 looked gloomily at ,seraphita4 8,i     
forgive you10 he said2 8for you know not
 what you do40    8,you mistake10 she   
replied2 8every woman from the days of  
,eve does good  and evil knowingly40    
8,i believe it10 he said4    8,i am sure
 of it1 ,wilfrid4 ,our instinct is      
precisely that which makes us  perfect4 
,what you men learn1 we feel40    8,why1

 then1 do you not feel how much ,i love 
you80    8,because you do not love me40 
8,good ,god60    8,if you did1 would you
 complain of your own sufferings80      
8,you are terrible to-night1 ,seraphita4
 ,you are a demon40    8,no1 but ,i am  
gifted with the faculty of              
comprehending1 and it is awful4         
,wilfrid1 sorrow is a lamp which        
illumines life40    8,why did you ascend
 the ,falberg80    8,minna will tell    
you4 ,i am too weary to talk4 ,you must 
talk to me1--you  who know so much1 who 
have learned all things and forgotten   
nothing2 you  who have passed through   
every social test4 ,talk to me1 amuse   
me1 ,i am  listening40    8,what can ,i 
tell you that you do not know8 ,besides1
 the request is  ironical4 ,you allow   
yourself no intercourse with social     
life2 you  trample on its conventions1  
its laws1 its customs1 sentiments1 and  
sciences2 you reduce them all to the    
proportions such things take when       
viewed by you beyond this universe40    

8,therefore you see1 my friend1 that ,i 
am not a woman4 ,you do wrong  to love  
me4 ,what6 am ,i to leave the ethereal  
regions of my pretended  strength1 make 
myself humbly small1 cringe like the    
hapless female of  all species1 that you
 may lift me up8 and then1 when ,i1     
helpless and  broken1 ask you for help1 
when ,i need your arm1 you will repulse 
me6 ,no1  we can never come to terms40  
8,you are more maliciously unkind       
to-night than ,i have ever known you40  
8,unkind60 she said1 with a look which  
seemed to blend all feelings into  one  
celestial emotion1 8no1 ,i am ill1 ,i   
suffer1 that is all4 ,leave me1  my     
friend2 it is your manly right4 ,we     
women should ever please you1  entertain
 you1 be gay in your presence and have  
no whims save those that  amuse you4    
,come1 what shall ,i do for you1 friend8
 ,shall ,i sing1 shall ,i  dance1 though
 weariness deprives me of the use of    
voice and limbs8--,ah6  gentlemen1 be we
 on our deathbeds1 we yet must smile to 

please you2 you  call that1 methinks1   
your right4 ,poor women6 ,i pity them4  
,tell me1 you  who abandon them when    
they grow old1 is it because they have  
neither  hearts nor souls8 ,wilfrid1 ,i 
am a hundred years old2 leave me6 leave 
me6  go to ,minna60    8,oh1 my eternal 
love60    8,do you know the meaning of  
eternity8 ,be silent1 ,wilfrid4 ,you    
desire  me1 but you do not love me4     
,tell me1 do ,i not seem to you like    
those  coquettish ,parisian women80     
8,certainly ,i no longer find you the   
pure celestial maiden ,i first saw in   
the church of ,jarvis40    ,at these    
words ,seraphita passed her hands across
 her brow1 and when  she removed them   
,wilfrid was amazed at the saintly      
expression that  overspread her face4   
8,you are right1 my friend10 she said2  
8,i do wrong whenever ,i set my feet    
upon your earth40    8,oh1 ,seraphita1  
be my star6 stay where you can ever     
bless me with that  clear light60    ,as
 he spoke1 he stretched forth his hand  

to take that of the young girl1  but she
 withdrew it1 neither disdainfully nor  
in anger4 ,wilfrid rose  abruptly and   
walked to the window that she might not 
see the tears that  rose to his eyes4   
8,why do you weep80 she said4 8,you are 
not a child1 ,wilfrid4 ,come back to    
me4 ,i wish it4 ,you are annoyed if ,i  
show just displeasure4 ,you see that  ,i
 am fatigued and ill1 yet you force me  
to think and speak1 and listen  to      
persuasions and ideas that weary me4 ,if
 you had any real perception  of my     
nature1 you would have made some music1 
you would have lulled my  feelings--but 
no1 you love me for yourself and not for
 myself40    ,the storm which convulsed 
the young man's heart calmed down at    
these  words4 ,he slowly approached her1
 letting his eyes take in the seductive 
creature who lay exhausted before him1  
her head resting in her hand and  her   
elbow on the couch4    8,you think that 
,i do not love you10 she resumed4 8,you 
are mistaken4  ,listen to me1 ,wilfrid4 

,you are beginning to know much2 you    
have suffered  much4 ,let me explain    
your thoughts to you4 ,you wished to    
take my hand  just now02 she rose to a  
sitting posture1 and her graceful       
motions  seemed to emit light4 8,when a 
young girl allows her hand to be taken  
it  is as though she made a promise1 is 
it not8 and ought she not to fulfil  it8
 ,you well know that ,i cannot be yours4
 ,two sentiments divide and  inspire the
 love of all the women of the earth4    
,either they devote  themselves to      
suffering1 degraded1 and criminal beings
 whom they desire  to console1 uplift1  
redeem2 or they give themselves to      
superior men1  sublime and strong1 whom 
they adore and seek to comprehend1 and  
by whom  they are often annihilated4    
,you have been degraded1 though now you 
are  purified by the fires of           
repentance1 and to-day you are once more
 noble2  but ,i know myself too feeble  
to be your equal1 and too religious to  
bow  before any power but that ,on      

,high4 ,i may refer thus to your life1  
my  friend1 for we are in the ,north1   
among the clouds1 where all things are  
abstractions40    8,you stab me1        
,seraphita1 when you speak like this4   
,it wounds me to hear  you apply the    
dreadful knowledge with which you strip 
from all things  human the properties   
that time and space and form have given 
them1  and consider them mathematically 
in the abstract1 as geometry treats     
substances from which it extracts       
solidity40    8,well1 ,i will respect   
your wishes1 ,wilfrid4 ,let the subject 
drop4 ,tell  me what you think of this  
bearskin rug which my poor ,david has   
spread  out40    8,it is very handsome40
    8,did you ever see me wear this     
#8doucha greka'80    ,she pointed to a  
pelisse made of cashmere and lined with 
the skin of the  black fox1--the name   
she gave it signifying 8warm to the     
soul40    8,do you believe that any     
sovereign has a fur that can equal it80 
she  asked4    8,it is worthy of her who

 wears it40    8,and whom you think     
beautiful80    8,human words do not     
apply to her4 ,heart to heart is the    
only language ,i  can use40             
8,wilfrid1 you are kind to soothe my    
griefs with such sweet words--which  you
 have said to others40    8,farewell60  
8,stay4 ,i love both you and ,minna1    
believe me4 ,to me you two are as one   
being4 ,united thus you can be my       
brother or1 if you will1 my sister4     
,marry her2 let me see you both happy   
before ,i leave this world of trial  and
 of pain4 ,my ,god6 the simplest of     
women obtain what they ask of a  lover2 
they whisper #8,hush6' and he is silent2
 #8,die' and he dies2 #8,love  me afar' 
and he stays at a distance1 like        
courtiers before a king6 ,all  ,i desire
 is to see you happy1 and you refuse me6
 ,am ,i then  powerless8--,wilfrid1     
listen1 come nearer to me4 ,yes1 ,i     
should grieve to  see you marry ,minna  
but--when ,i am here no longer1         
then--promise me to  marry her2 heaven  

destined you for each other40    8,i    
listen to you with fascination1         
,seraphita4 ,your words are             
incomprehensible1 but they charm me4    
,what is it you mean to say80    8,you  
are right2 ,i forget to be foolish1--to 
be the poor creature whose  weaknesses  
gratify you4 ,i torment you1 ,wilfrid4  
,you came to these  ,northern lands for 
rest1 you1 worn-out by the impetuous    
struggle of  genius unrecognized1 you1  
weary with the patient toils of science1
 you1  who well-nigh dyed your hands in 
crime and wore the fetters of human     
justice--0    ,wilfrid dropped          
speechless on the carpet4 ,seraphita    
breathed softly on  his forehead1 and in
 a moment he fell asleep at her feet4   
8,sleep6 rest60 she said1 rising4       
,she passed her hands over ,wilfrid's   
brow2 then the following sentences      
escaped her lips1 one by one1--all      
different in tone and accent1 but all   
melodious1 full of a ,goodness that     
seemed to emanate from her head in      

vaporous waves1 like the gleams the     
goddess chastely lays upon ,endymion    
sleeping4    8,i cannot show myself such
 as ,i am to thee1 dear ,wilfrid1--to   
thee who  art strong4    8,the hour is  
come2 the hour when the effulgent lights
 of the future cast  their reflections  
backward on the soul2 the hour when the 
soul awakes  into freedom4    8,now am  
,i permitted to tell thee how ,i love   
thee4 ,dost thou not see the  nature of 
my love1 a love without self-interest2 a
 sentiment full of  thee1 thee only2 a  
love which follows thee into the future 
to light that  future for thee--for it  
is the one ,true ,light4 ,canst thou now
 conceive  with what ardor ,i would have
 thee leave this life which weighs thee 
down1 and behold thee nearer than thou  
art to that world where ,love is        
never-failing8 ,can it be aught but     
suffering to love for one life only8    
,hast thou not felt a thirst for the    
eternal love8 ,dost thou not feel the   
bliss to which a creature rises when1   

with twin-soul1 it loves the ,being  who
 betrays not love1 ,him before whom we  
kneel in adoration8    8,would ,i had   
wings to cover thee1 ,wilfrid2 power to 
give thee strength  to enter now into   
that world where all the purest joys of 
purest earthly  attachments are but     
shadows in the ,light that shines1      
unceasing1 to  illumine and rejoice all 
hearts4    8,forgive a friendly soul for
 showing thee the picture of thy sins1  
in  the charitable hope of soothing the 
sharp pangs of thy remorse4 ,listen  to 
the pardoning choir2 refresh thy soul in
 the dawn now rising for thee  beyond   
the night of death4 ,yes1 thy life1 thy 
true life is there6    8,may my words   
now reach thee clothed in the glorious  
forms of dreams2  may they deck         
themselves with images glowing and      
radiant as they hover  round you4 ,rise1
 rise1 to the height where men can see  
themselves  distinctly1 pressed together
 though they be like grains of sand upon
  a sea-shore4 ,humanity rolls out like 

a many-colored ribbon4 ,see the  diverse
 shades of that flower of the celestial 
gardens4 ,behold the  beings who lack   
intelligence1 those who begin to receive
 it1 those who  have passed through     
trials1 those who love1 those who follow
 wisdom and  aspire to the regions of   
,light6    8,canst thou comprehend1     
through this thought made visible1 the  
destiny  of humanity8--whence it came1  
whither to goeth8 ,continue steadfast in
  the ,path4 ,reaching the end of thy   
journey thou shalt hear the clarions  of
 omnipotence sounding the cries of      
victory in chords of which a single  one
 would shake the earth1 but which are   
lost in the spaces of a world  that hath
 neither east nor west4    8,canst thou 
comprehend1 my poor beloved ,tried-one1 
that unless the  torpor and the veils of
 sleep had wrapped thee1 such sights    
would rend  and bear away thy mind as   
the whirlwinds rend and carry into space
 the  feeble sails1 depriving thee      
forever of thy reason8 ,dost thou       

understand  that the ,soul itself1      
raised to its utmost power can scarcely 
endure in  dreams the burning           
communications of the ,spirit8          
8,speed thy way through the luminous    
spheres2 behold1 admire1 hasten6        
,flying thus thou canst pause or advance
 without weariness4 ,like other  men1   
thou wouldst fain be plunged forever in 
these spheres of light and  perfume     
where now thou art1 free of thy swooning
 body1 and where thy  thought alone has 
utterance4 ,fly6 enjoy for a fleeting   
moment the wings  thou shalt surely win 
when ,love has grown so perfect in thee 
that thou  hast no senses left2 when thy
 whole being is all mind1 all love4 ,the
  higher thy flight the less canst thou 
see the abysses4 ,there are none in     
heaven4 ,look at the friend who speaks  
to thee2 she who holds thee above  this 
earth in which are all abysses4 ,look1  
behold1 contemplate me yet a  moment    
longer1 for never again wilt thou see   
me1 save imperfectly as the  pale       

twilight of this world may show me to   
thee40    ,seraphita stood erect1 her   
head with floating hair inclining gently
  forward1 in that aerial attitude which
 great painters give to messengers  from
 heaven2 the folds of her raiment fell  
with the same unspeakable  grace which  
holds an artist--the man who translates 
all things into  sentiment--before the  
exquisite well-known lines of           
,polyhymnia's veil4  ,then she stretched
 forth her hand4 ,wilfrid rose4 ,when he
 looked at  ,seraphita she was lying on 
the bear's-skin1 her head resting on her
  hand1 her face calm1 her eyes         
brilliant4 ,wilfrid gazed at her        
silently2  but his face betrayed a      
deferential fear in its almost timid    
expression4    8,yes1 dear10 he said at 
last1 as though he were answering some  
question2  8we are separated by worlds4 
,i resign myself2 ,i can only adore you4
 ,but  what will become of me1 poor and 
alone60    8,wilfrid1 you have ,minna40 
,he shook his head4    8,do not be so   

disdainful2 woman understands all things
 through love2  what she does not       
understand she feels2 what she does not 
feel she sees2  when she neither sees1  
nor feels1 nor understands1 this angel  
of earth  divines to protect you1 and   
hides her protection beneath the grace  
of  love40    8,seraphita1 am ,i worthy 
to belong to a woman80    8,ah1 now10   
she said1 smiling1 8you are suddenly    
very modest2 is it a  snare8 ,a woman is
 always so touched to see her weakness  
glorified4 ,well1  come and take tea    
with me the day after to-morrow evening2
 good ,monsieur  ,becker will be here1  
and ,minna1 the purest and most artless 
creature  ,i have known on earth4 ,leave
 me now1 my friend2 ,i need to make long
  prayers and expiate my sins40         
8,you1 can you commit sin80    8,poor   
friend6 if we abuse our power1 is not   
that the sin of pride8 ,i  have been    
very proud to-day4 ,now leave me1 till  
to-morrow40    8,till to-morrow10 said  
,wilfrid faintly1 casting a long glance 

at the  being of whom he desired to     
carry with him an ineffaceable memory4  
,though he wished to go far away1 he was
 held1 as it were1 outside the  house   
for some moments1 watching the light    
which shone from all the  windows of the
 ,swedish dwelling4    8,what is the    
matter with me80 he asked himself4 8,no1
 she is not a mere  creature1 but a     
whole creation4 ,of her world1 even     
through veils and  clouds1 ,i have      
caught echoes like the memory of        
sufferings healed1  like the dazzling   
vertigo of dreams in which we hear the  
plaints of  generations mingling with   
the harmonies of some higher sphere     
where all  is ,light and all is ,love4  
,am ,i awake8 ,do ,i still sleep8 ,are  
these the  eyes before which the        
luminous space retreated further and    
further  indefinitely while the eyes    
followed it8 ,the night is cold1 yet my 
head  is on fire4 ,i will go to the     
parsonage4 ,with the pastor and his     
daughter  ,i shall recover the balance  

of my mind40    ,but still he did not   
leave the spot whence his eyes could    
plunge into  ,seraphita's salon4 ,the   
mysterious creature seemed to him the   
radiating  centre of a luminous circle  
which formed an atmosphere about her    
wider  than that of other beings2       
whoever entered it felt the compelling  
influence of1 as it were1 a vortex of   
dazzling light and all consuming        
thoughts4 ,forced to struggle against   
this inexplicable power1 ,wilfrid  only 
prevailed after strong efforts2 but when
 he reached and passed the  inclosing   
wall of the courtyard1 he regained his  
freedom of will1 walked  rapidly towards
 the parsonage1 and was soon beneath the
 high wooden  arch which formed a sort  
of peristyle to ,monsieur ,becker's     
dwelling4 ,he  opened the first door1   
against which the wind had driven the   
snow1 and  knocked on the inner one1    
saying3--    8,will you let me spend the
 evening with you1 ,monsieur ,becker80  
8,yes10 cried two voices1 mingling their

 intonations4    ,entering the parlor1  
,wilfrid returned by degrees to real    
life4 ,he bowed  affectionately to      
,minna1 shook hands with ,monsieur      
,becker1 and looked  about at the       
picture of a home which calmed the      
convulsions of his  physical nature1 in 
which a phenomenon was taking place     
analogous to  that which sometimes      
seizes upon men who have given          
themselves up  to protracted            
contemplations4 ,if some strong thought 
bears upward on  phantasmal wing a man  
of learning or a poet1 isolates him from
 the  external circumstances which      
environ him here below1 and leads him   
forward through illimitable regions     
where vast arrays of facts become       
abstractions1 where the greatest works  
of ,nature are but images1 then  woe    
betide him if a sudden noise strikes    
sharply on his senses and calls  his    
errant soul back to its prison-house of 
flesh and bones4 ,the  shock of the     
reunion of these two powers1 body and   

mind1--one of which  partakes of the    
unseen qualities of a thunderbolt1 while
 the other  shares with sentient nature 
that soft resistant force which deifies 
destruction1--this shock1 this struggle1
 or1 rather let us say1 this  painful   
meeting and co-mingling1 gives rise to  
frightful sufferings4 ,the  body        
receives back the flame that consumes   
it2 the flame has once more  grasped its
 prey4 ,this fusion1 however1 does not  
take place without  convulsions1        
explosions1 tortures2 analogous and     
visible signs of which  may be seen in  
chemistry1 when two antagonistic        
substances which science  has united    
separate4    ,for the last few days     
whenever ,wilfrid entered ,seraphita's  
presence his  body seemed to fall away  
from him into nothingness4 ,with a      
single  glance this strange being led   
him in spirit through the spheres where 
meditation leads the learned man1 prayer
 the pious heart1 where vision          
transports the artist1 and sleep the    

souls of men1--each and all have  their 
own path to the ,height1 their own guide
 to reach it1 their own  individual     
sufferings in the dire return4 ,in that 
sphere alone all veils  are rent away1  
and the revelation1 the awful flaming   
certainty of an  unknown world1 of which
 the soul brings back mere fragments to 
this  lower sphere1 stands revealed4 ,to
 ,wilfrid one hour passed with          
,seraphita  was like the sought-for     
dreams of ,theriakis1 in which each knot
 of  nerves becomes the centre of a     
radiating delight4 ,but he left her     
bruised and wearied as some young girl  
endeavoring to keep step with a  giant4 
,the cold air1 with its stinging        
flagellations1 had begun to still  the  
nervous tremors which followed the      
reunion of his two natures1 so          
powerfully disunited for a time2 he was 
drawn towards the parsonage1  then      
towards ,minna1 by the sight of the     
every-day home life for which  he       
thirsted as the wandering ,european     

thirsts for his native land when        
nostalgia seizes him amid the fairy     
scenes of ,orient that have seduced  his
 senses4 ,more weary than he had ever   
yet been1 ,wilfrid dropped into  a chair
 and looked about him for a time1 like a
 man who awakens from  sleep4 ,monsieur 
,becker and his daughter accustomed1    
perhaps1 to the  apparent eccentricity  
of their guest1 continued the           
employments in which  they were engaged4
    ,the parlor was ornamented with a   
collection of the shells and insects  of
 ,norway4 ,these curiosities1 admirably 
arranged on a background of the  yellow 
pine which panelled the room1 formed1 as
 it were1 a rich tapestry  to which the 
fumes of tobacco had imparted a mellow  
tone4 ,at the further  end of the room1 
opposite to the door1 was an immense    
wrought-iron  stove1 carefully polished 
by the serving-woman till it shone like 
burnished steel4 ,seated in a large     
tapestried armchair near the stove1     
before a table1 with his feet in a      

species of muff1 ,monsieur ,becker was  
reading a folio volume which was propped
 against a pile of other books  as on a 
desk4 ,at his left stood a jug of beer  
and a glass1 at his right  burned a     
smoky lamp fed by some species of       
fish-oil4 ,the pastor seemed  about     
sixty years of age4 ,his face belonged  
to a type often painted by  ,rembrandt2 
the same small bright eyes1 set in      
wrinkles and surmounted by  thick gray  
eyebrows2 the same white hair escaping  
in snowy flakes from a  black velvet    
cap2 the same broad1 bald brow1 and a   
contour of face  which the ample chin   
made almost square2 and lastly1 the same
 calm  tranquillity1 which1 to an       
observer1 denoted the possession of some
  inward power1 be it the supremacy     
bestowed by money1 or the magisterial   
influence of the burgomaster1 or the    
consciousness of art1 or the  cubic     
force of blissful ignorance4 ,this fine 
old man1 whose stout body  proclaimed   
his vigorous health1 was wrapped in a   

dressing-gown of rough  gray cloth      
plainly bound4 ,between his lips was a  
meerschaum pipe1  from which1 at regular
 intervals1 he blew the smoke1 following
 with  abstracted vision its fantastic  
wreathings1--his mind employed1 no      
doubt1 in assimilating through some     
meditative process the thoughts of  the 
author whose works he was studying4     
,on the other side of the stove and near
 a door which communicated with  the    
kitchen ,minna was indistinctly visible 
in the haze of the good man's  smoke1 to
 which she was apparently accustomed4   
,beside her on a little  table were the 
implements of household work1 a pile of 
napkins1 and  another of socks waiting  
to be mended1 also a lamp like that     
which shone  on the white page of the   
book in which the pastor was absorbed4  
,her  fresh young face1 with its        
delicate outline1 expressed an infinite 
purity which harmonized with the candor 
of the white brow and the clear  blue   
eyes4 ,she sat erect1 turning slightly  

toward the lamp for better  light1      
unconsciously showing as she did so the 
beauty of her waist and  bust4 ,she was 
already dressed for the night in a long 
robe of white  cotton2 a cambric cap1   
without other ornament than a frill of  
the same1  confined her hair4 ,though   
evidently plunged in some inward        
meditation1  she counted without a      
mistake the threads of her napkins or   
the meshes  of her socks4 ,sitting thus1
 she presented the most complete image1 
the  truest type1 of the woman destined 
for terrestrial labor1 whose glance  may
 piece the clouds of the sanctuary while
 her thought1 humble and  charitable1   
keeps her ever on the level of man4     
,wilfrid had flung himself into a chair 
between the two tables and  was         
contemplating with a species of         
intoxication this picture full of       
harmony1 to which the clouds of smoke   
did no despite4 ,the single window      
which lighted the parlor during the fine
 weather was now carefully  closed4 ,an 

old tapestry1 used for a curtain and    
fastened to a stick1  hung before it in 
heavy folds4 ,nothing in the room was   
picturesque1  nothing brilliant2        
everything denoted rigorous simplicity1 
true  heartiness1 the ease of           
unconventional nature1 and the habits of
 a  domestic life which knew neither    
cares nor troubles4 ,many a dwelling is 
like a dream1 the sparkle of passing    
pleasure seems to hide some ruin        
beneath the cold smile of luxury2 but   
this parlor1 sublime in reality1        
harmonious in tone1 diffused the        
patriarchal ideas of a full and         
self-contained existence4 ,the silence  
was unbroken save by the movements  of  
the servant in the kitchen engaged in   
preparing the supper1 and  by the       
sizzling of the dried fish which she was
 frying in salt butter  according to the
 custom of the country4    8,will you   
smoke a pipe80 said the pastor1 seizing 
a moment when he  thought that ,wilfrid 
might listen to him4    8,thank you1 no1

 dear ,monsieur ,becker10 replied the   
visitor4    8,you seem to suffer more   
to-day than usual10 said ,minna1 struck 
by the  feeble tones of the stranger's  
voice4    8,i am always so when ,i leave
 the chateau40    ,minna quivered4      
8,a strange being lives there1 ,monsieur
 ,becker10 he continued after a  pause4 
8,for the six months that ,i have been  
in this village ,i have never  yet dared
 to question you about her1 and even now
 ,i do violence to  my feelings in      
speaking of her4 ,i began by keenly     
regretting that my  journey in this     
country was arrested by the winter      
weather and that ,i  was forced to      
remain here4 ,but during the last two   
months chains have  been forged and     
riveted which bind me irrevocably to    
,jarvis1 till now  ,i fear to end my    
days here4 ,you know how ,i first met   
,seraphita1 what  impression her look   
and voice made upon me1 and how at last 
,i was  admitted to her home where she  
receives no one4 ,from the very first   

day  ,i have longed to ask you the      
history of this mysterious being4 ,on   
that  day began1 for me1 a series of    
enchantments40    8,enchantments60 cried
 the pastor shaking the ashes of his    
pipe into an  earthen-ware dish full of 
sand1 8are there enchantments in these  
days80    8,you1 who are carefully      
studying at this moment that volume of  
the  #8,incantations' of ,jean ,wier1   
will surely understand the explanation  
of  my sensations if ,i try to give it  
to you10 replied ,wilfrid4 8,if we study
  ,nature attentively in its great      
evolutions as in its minutest works1 we 
cannot fail to recognize the possibility
 of enchantment--giving to that  word   
its exact significance4 ,man does not   
create forces2 he employs the  only     
force that exists and which includes all
 others namely ,motion1 the  breath     
incomprehensible of the sovereign ,maker
 of the universe4 ,species  are too     
distinctly separated for the human hand 
to mingle them4 ,the only  miracle of   

which man is capable is done through the
 conjunction of  two antagonistic       
substances4 ,gunpowder for instance is  
germane to a  thunderbolt4 ,as to       
calling forth a creation1 and a sudden  
one1 all  creation demands time1 and    
time neither recedes nor advances at the
 word  of command4 ,so1 in the world    
without us1 plastic nature obeys laws   
the  order and exercise of which cannot 
be interfered with by the hand of  man4 
,but after fulfilling1 as it were1 the  
function of ,matter1 it would  be       
unreasonable not to recognize within us 
the existence of a gigantic  power1 the 
effects of which are so incommensurable 
that the known  generations of men have 
never yet been able to classify them4 ,i
 do not  speak of man's faculty of      
abstraction1 of constraining ,nature to 
confine itself within the ,word1--a     
gigantic act on which the common  mind  
reflects as little as it does on the    
nature of ,motion1 but which1           
nevertheless1 has led the ,indian       

theosophists to explain creation by  a  
word to which they give an inverse      
power4 ,the smallest atom of their      
subsistence1 namely1 the grain of rice1 
from which a creation issues and  in    
which alternately creation again is     
held1 presented to their minds so       
perfect an image of the creative word1  
and of the abstractive word1 that  to   
them it was easy to apply the same      
system to the creation of worlds4  ,the 
majority of men content themselves with 
the grain of rice sown in  the first    
chapter of all the ,geneses4 ,saint     
,john1 when he said the  ,word was ,god 
only complicated the difficulty4 ,but   
the fructification1  germination1 and   
efflorescence of our ideas is of little 
consequence if  we compare that         
property1 shared by many men1 with the  
wholly  individual faculty of           
communicating to that property1 by some 
mysterious  concentration1 forces that  
are more or less active1 of carrying it 
up  to a third1 a ninth1 or a           

twenty-seventh power1 of making it thus 
fasten  upon the masses and obtain      
magical results by condensing the       
processes  of nature4    8,what ,i mean 
by enchantments10 continued ,wilfrid    
after a moment's pause1  8are those     
stupendous actions taking place between 
two membranes in the  tissue of the     
brain4 ,we find in the unexplorable     
nature of the ,spiritual  ,world certain
 beings armed with these wondrous       
faculties1 comparable  only to the      
terrible power of certain gases in the  
physical world1  beings who combine with
 other beings1 penetrate them as active 
agents1  and produce upon them          
witchcrafts1 charms1 against which these
 helpless  slaves are wholly            
defenceless2 they are1 in fact1         
enchanted1 brought  under subjection1   
reduced to a condition of dreadful      
vassalage4 ,such  mysterious beings     
overpower others with the sceptre and   
the glory of  a superior nature1--acting
 upon them at times like the torpedo    

which  electrifies or paralyzes the     
fisherman1 at other times like a dose of
  phosphorous which stimulates life and 
accelerates its propulsion2 or  again1  
like opium1 which puts to sleep         
corporeal nature1 disengages the  spirit
 from every bond1 enables it to float   
above the world and shows  this earth to
 the spiritual eye as through a prism1  
extracting from it  the food most       
needed2 or1 yet again1 like catalepsy1  
which deadens  all faculties for the    
sake of one only vision4 ,miracles1     
enchantments1  incantations1            
witchcrafts1 spells1 and charms1 in     
short1 all those  acts improperly termed
 supernatural1 are only possible and can
 only be  explained by the despotism    
with which some spirit compels us to    
feel the  effects of a mysterious optic 
which increases1 or diminishes1 or      
exalts  creation1 moves within us as it 
pleases1 deforms or embellishes all     
things to our eyes1 tears us from       
heaven1 or drags us to hell1--two  terms

 by which men agree to express the two  
extremes of joy and misery4    8,these  
phenomena are within us1 not without    
us10 ,wilfrid went on4 8,the  being whom
 we call ,seraphita seems to me one of  
those rare and terrible  spirits to whom
 power is given to bind men1 to crush   
nature1 to enter  into participation of 
the occult power of ,god4 ,the course of
 her  enchantments over me began on that
 first day1 when silence as to her  was 
imposed upon me against my will4 ,each  
time that ,i have wished to  question   
you it seemed as though ,i were about to
 reveal a secret of  which ,i ought to  
be the incorruptible guardian4 ,whenever
 ,i have tried  to speak1 a burning seal
 has been laid upon my lips1 and ,i     
myself have  become the involuntary     
minister of these mysteries4 ,you see me
 here  to-night1 for the hundredth time1
 bruised1 defeated1 broken1 after       
leaving the hallucinating sphere which  
surrounds that young girl1 so  gentle1  
so fragile to both of you1 but to me the

 cruellest of magicians6  ,yes1 to me   
she is like a sorcerer holding in her   
right hand the  invisible wand that     
moves the globe1 and in her left the    
thunderbolt  that rends asunder all     
things at her will4 ,no longer can ,i   
look upon her  brow2 the light of it is 
insupportable4 ,i skirt the borders of  
the abyss  of madness too closely to be 
longer silent4 ,i must speak4 ,i seize  
this  moment1 when courage comes to me1 
to resist the power which drags me      
onward without inquiring whether or not 
,i have the force to follow4 ,who  is   
she8 ,did you know her young8 ,what of  
her birth8 ,had she father and  mother1 
or was she born of the conjunction of   
ice and sun8 ,she burns and  yet she    
freeze2 she shows herself and then      
withdraws2 she attracts me  and repulses
 me2 she brings me life1 she gives me   
death2 ,i love her and  yet ,i hate her6
 ,i cannot live thus2 let me be wholly  
in heaven or in  hell60    ,holding his 
refilled pipe in one hand1 and in the   

other the cover  which he forgot to     
replace1 ,monsieur ,becker listened to  
,wilfrid with a  mysterious expression  
on his face1 looking occasionally at his
 daughter1  who seemed to understand the
 man's language as in harmony with the  
strange being who inspired it4 ,wilfrid 
was splendid to behold at this          
moment1--like ,hamlet listening to the  
ghost of his father as it rises  for him
 alone in the midst of the living4      
8,this is certainly the language of a   
man in love10 said the good pastor1     
innocently4    8,in love60 cried        
,wilfrid1 8yes1 to common minds4 ,but1  
dear ,monsieur  ,becker1 no words can   
express the frenzy which draws me to the
 feet of  that unearthly being40        
8,then you do love her80 said ,minna1 in
 a tone of reproach4    8,mademoiselle1 
,i feel such extraordinary agitation    
when ,i see her1 and  such deep sadness 
when ,i see her no more1 that in any    
other man what ,i  feel would be called 
love4 ,but that sentiment draws those   

who feel it  ardently together1 whereas 
between her and me a great gulf lies1   
whose  icy coldness penetrates my very  
being in her presence2 though the       
feeling dies away when ,i see her no    
longer4 ,i leave her in despair2 ,i     
return to her with ardor1--like men of  
science who seek a secret from  ,nature 
only to be baffled1 or like the painter 
who would fain put life  upon his canvas
 and strives with all the resources of  
his art in the  vain attempt40          
8,monsieur1 all that you say is true10  
replied the young girl1 artlessly4      
8,how can you know1 ,minna80 asked the  
old pastor4    8,ah6 my father1 had you 
been with us this morning on the summit 
of the  ,falberg1 had you seen him      
praying1 you would not ask me that      
question4  ,you would say1 like         
,monsieur ,wilfrid1 that he saw his     
,seraphita for the  first time in our   
temple1 #8,it is the ,spirit of         
,prayer4'0    ,these words were followed
 by a moment's silence4    8,ah1 truly60

 said ,wilfrid1 8she has nothing in     
common with the creatures  who grovel   
upon this earth40    8,on the ,falberg60
 said the old pastor1 8how could you get
 there80    8,i do not know10 replied   
,minna2 8the way is like a dream to me1 
of which  no more than a memory remains4
 ,perhaps ,i should hardly believe that 
,i  had been there were it not for this 
tangible proof40    ,she drew the flower
 from her bosom and showed it to them4  
,all three  gazed at the pretty         
saxifrage1 which was still fresh1 and   
now shone in  the light of the two lamps
 like a third luminary4    8,this is    
indeed supernatural10 said the old man1 
astounded at the sight  of a flower     
blooming in winter4    8,a mystery60    
cried ,wilfrid1 intoxicated with its    
perfume4    8,the flower makes me       
giddy10 said ,minna2 8,i fancy ,i still 
hear that  voice1--the music of thought2
 that ,i still see the light of that    
look1  which is ,love40    8,i implore  
you1 my dear ,monsieur ,becker1 tell me 

the history of  ,seraphita1--enigmatical
 human flower1--whose image is before us
 in this  mysterious bloom40    8,my    
dear friend10 said the old man1 emitting
 a puff of smoke1 8to  explain the birth
 of that being it is absolutely         
necessary that  ,i disperse the clouds  
which envelop the most obscure of       
,christian  doctrines4 ,it is not easy  
to make myself clear when speaking of   
that  incomprehensible revelation1--the 
last effulgence of faith that has  shone
 upon our lump of mud4 ,do you know     
,swedenborg80    8,by name only1--of    
him1 of his books1 and his religion ,i  
know nothing40    8,then ,i must relate 
to you the whole chronicle of           
,swedenborg40          ,,chapter ,,iii4 
,,seraphita-,,seraphitus      ,after a  
pause1 during which the pastor seemed to
 be gathering his  recollections1 he    
continued in the following words3--     
8,emanuel ,swedenborg was born at       
,upsala in ,sweden1 in the month of     
,january1 #afhh1 according to various   

authors1--in #afhi1 according to his    
epitaph4 ,his father was ,bishop of     
,skara4 ,swedenborg lived eighty-five   
years2 his death occurred in ,london1   
,march #bi1 #aggb4 ,i use that term to  
convey the idea of a simple change of   
state4 ,according to his disciples1     
,swedenborg was seen at ,jarvis and in  
,paris after that date4 ,allow me1  my  
dear ,monsieur ,wilfrid10 said ,monsieur
 ,becker1 making a gesture to  prevent  
all interruption1 8,i relate these facts
 without either affirming  or denying   
them4 ,listen2 afterwards you can think 
and say what you like4  ,i will inform  
you when ,i judge1 criticise1 and       
discuss these doctrines1  so as to keep 
clearly in view my own intellectual     
neutrality between ,,him  and ,reason4  
8,the life of ,swedenborg was divided   
into two parts10 continued the  pastor4 
8,from #afhh to #agde ,baron ,emanuel   
,swedenborg appeared in the  world as a 
man of vast learning1 esteemed and      
cherished for his virtues1  always      

irreproachable and constantly useful4   
,while fulfilling high  public functions
 in ,sweden1 he published1 between #agji
 and #agdj1 several  important works on 
mineralogy1 physics1 mathematics1 and   
astronomy1  which enlightened the world 
of learning4 ,he originated a method of 
building docks suitable for the         
reception of large vessels1 and he      
wrote many treatises on various         
important questions1 such as the rise   
of tides1 the theory of the magnet and  
its qualities1 the motion and  position 
of the earth and planets1 and while     
,assessor in the ,royal  ,college of    
,mines1 on the proper system of working 
salt mines4 ,he  discovered means to    
construct canal-locks or sluices2 and he
 also  discovered and applied the       
simplest methods of extracting ore and  
of  working metals4 ,in fact he studied 
no science without advancing it4 ,in    
youth he learned ,hebrew1 ,greek1 and   
,latin1 also the oriental languages1    
with which he became so familiar that   

many distinguished scholars  consulted  
him1 and he was able to decipher the    
vestiges of the oldest  known books of  
,scripture1 namely3 #8,the ,wars of     
,jehovah' and #8,the  ,enunciations1'   
spoken of by ,moses 7,numbers xxi4 #ad1 
#ae1 #bg-cj71 also  by ,joshua1         
,jeremiah1 and ,samuel1--#8,the ,wars of
 ,jehovah' being the  historical part   
and #8,the ,enunciations' the           
prophetical part of the  ,mosaical      
,books anterior to ,genesis4 ,swedenborg
 even affirms that #8the  ,book of      
,jasher1' the ,book of the ,righteous1  
mentioned by ,joshua1 was  in existence 
in ,eastern ,tartary1 together with the 
doctrine of  ,correspondences4 ,a       
,frenchman has lately1 so they tell me1 
justified  these statements of          
,swedenborg1 by the discovery at ,bagdad
 of several  portions of the ,bible     
hitherto unknown to ,europe4 ,during the
 widespread  discussion on animal       
magnetism which took its rise in ,paris1
 and in  which most men of ,western     

science took an active part about the   
year  #aghe1 ,monsieur le ,marquis de   
,thome vindicated the memory of         
,swedenborg  by calling attention to    
certain assertions made by the          
,commission  appointed by the ,king of  
,france to investigate the subject4     
,these  gentlemen declared that no      
theory of magnetism existed1 whereas    
,swedenborg had studied and promulgated 
it ever since the year #agbj4  ,monsieur
 de ,thome seizes this opportunity to   
show the reason why so many  men of     
science relegated ,swedenborg to        
oblivion while they delved into  his    
treasure-house and took his facts to aid
 their work4 #8,some of the  most       
illustrious of these men1' said         
,monsieur de ,thome1 alluding to  the   
#8,theory of the ,earth' by ,buffon1    
#8have had the meanness to wear the     
plumage of the noble bird and refuse him
 all acknowledgment'2 and he  proved1 by
 masterly quotations drawn from the     
encyclopaedic works of  ,swedenborg1    

that the great prophet had anticipated  
by over a century the  slow march of    
human science4 ,it suffices to read his 
philosophical and  mineralogical works  
to be convinced of this4 ,in one passage
 he is  seen as the precursor of modern 
chemistry by the announcement that the  
productions of organized nature are     
decomposable and resolve into two       
simple principles2 also that water1 air1
 and fire are not elements4 ,in         
another1 he goes in a few words to the  
heart of magnetic mysteries and         
deprives ,mesmer of the honors of a     
first knowledge of them4    8,there10   
said ,monsieur ,becker1 pointing to a   
long shelf against the  wall between the
 stove and the window on which were     
ranged books of all  sizes1 8behold him6
 here are seventeen works from his pen1 
of which one1  his #8,philosophical and 
,mineralogical ,works1' published in    
#agcd1 is in  three folio volumes4      
,these productions1 which prove the     
incontestable  knowledge of ,swedenborg1

 were given to me by ,monsieur          
,seraphitus1 his  cousin and the father 
of ,seraphita4    8,in #agdj10 continued
 ,monsieur ,becker1 after a slight      
pause1 8,swedenborg  fell into a state  
of absolute silence1 from which he      
emerged to bid  farewell to all his     
earthly occupations2 after which his    
thoughts turned  exclusively to the     
,spiritual ,life4 ,he received the first
 commands of  heaven in #agde1 and he   
thus relates the nature of the vocation 
to  which he was called3 ,one evening1  
in ,london1 after dining with a great   
appetite1 a thick white mist seemed to  
fill his room4 ,when the  vapor         
dispersed a creature in human form rose 
from one corner of the  apartment1 and  
said in a stern tone1 #8,do not eat so  
much4' ,he refrained4  ,the next night  
the same man returned1 radiant in light1
 and said to him1  #8,i am sent of ,god1
 who has chosen you to explain to men   
the meaning of  his ,word and his       
,creation4 ,i will tell you what to     

write4' ,the vision  lasted but a few   
moments4 ,the angel was clothed in      
purple4 ,during that  night the eyes of 
his inner man were opened1 and he was   
forced to  look into the heavens1 into  
the world of spirits1 and into          
hell1--three  separate spheres2 where he
 encountered persons of his acquaintance
 who  had departed from their human     
form1 some long since1 others lately4   
,thenceforth ,swedenborg lived wholly in
 the spiritual life1 remaining in  this 
world only as the messenger of ,god4    
,his mission was ridiculed by  the      
incredulous1 but his conduct was plainly
 that of a being superior  to humanity4 
,in the first place1 though limited in  
means to the bare  necessaries of life1 
he gave away enormous sums1 and         
publicly1 in  several cities1 restored  
the fortunes of great commercial houses 
when they were on the brink of failure4 
,no one ever appealed to his  generosity
 who was not immediately satisfied4 ,a  
sceptical ,englishman1  determined to   

know the truth1 followed him to ,paris1 
and relates that  there his doors stood 
always open4 ,one day a servant         
complained of this  apparent negligence1
 which laid him open to suspicion of    
thefts  that might be committed by      
others4 #8,he need feel no anxiety1'    
said  ,swedenborg1 smiling4 #8,but ,i do
 not wonder at his fear2 he cannot see  
the  guardian who protects my door4' ,in
 fact1 no matter in what country he     
made his abode he never closed his      
doors1 and nothing was ever  stolen from
 him4 ,at ,gottenburg--a town situated  
some sixty miles from  ,stockholm--he   
announced1 eight days before the news   
arrived by courier1  the conflagration  
which ravaged ,stockholm1 and the exact 
time at which  it took place4 ,the      
,queen of ,sweden wrote to her brother1 
the ,king1 at  ,berlin1 that one of her 
ladies-in-waiting1 who was ordered by   
the courts  to pay a sum of money which 
she was certain her husband had paid    
before  his death1 went to ,swedenborg  

and begged him to ask her husband where 
she could find proof of the payment4    
,the following day ,swedenborg1  having 
done as the lady requested1 pointed out 
the place where the  receipt would be   
found4 ,he also begged the deceased to  
appear to  his wife1 and the latter saw 
her husband in a dream1 wrapped in a    
dressing-gown which he wore just before 
his death2 and he showed her the  paper 
in the place indicated by ,swedenborg1  
where it had been securely  put away4   
,at another time1 embarking from ,london
 in a vessel commanded  by ,captain     
,dixon1 he overheard a lady asking if   
there were plenty of  provisions on     
board4 #8,we do not want a great        
quantity1' he said2 #8in  eight days and
 two hours we shall reach               
,stockholm1'--which actually  happened4 
,this peculiar state of vision as to the
 things of the  earth--into which       
,swedenborg could put himself at will1  
and  which astonished those about       
him--was1 nevertheless1 but a feeble    

representative of his faculty of looking
 into heaven4    8,not the least        
remarkable of his published visions is  
that in which he  relates his journeys  
through the ,astral ,regions2 his       
descriptions  cannot fail to astonish   
the reader1 partly through the crudity  
of their  details4 ,a man whose         
scientific eminence is incontestable1   
and who  united in his own person powers
 of conception1 will1 and imagination1  
would surely have invented better if he 
had invented at all4 ,the  fantastic    
literature of the ,east offers nothing  
that can give an idea  of this          
astounding work1 full of the essence of 
poetry1 if it is  permissible to compare
 a work of faith with one of oriental   
fancy4 ,the  transportation of          
,swedenborg by the ,angel who served as 
guide to this  first journey is told    
with a sublimity which exceeds1 by the  
distance  which ,god has placed betwixt 
the earth and the sun1 the great epics  
of  ,klopstock1 ,milton1 ,tasso1 and    

,dante4 ,this description1 which serves 
in  fact as an introduction to his work 
on the ,astral ,regions1 has never  been
 published2 it is among the oral        
traditions left by ,swedenborg to  the  
three disciples who were nearest to his 
heart4 ,monsieur ,silverichm  has       
written them down4 ,monsieur ,seraphitus
 endeavored more than once to  talk to  
me about them2 but the recollection of  
his cousin's words was so  burning a    
memory that he always stopped short at  
the first sentence and  became lost in a
 revery from which ,i could not rouse   
him40    ,the old pastor sighed as he   
continued3 8,the baron told me that the 
argument by which the ,angel proved to  
,swedenborg that these bodies are  not  
made to wander through space puts all   
human science out of sight  beneath the 
grandeur of a divine logic4 ,according  
to the ,seer1 the  inhabitants of       
,jupiter will not cultivate the         
sciences1 which they call  darkness2    
those of ,mercury abhor the expression  

of ideas by speech1  which seems to them
 too material1--their language is       
ocular2 those of  ,saturn are           
continually tempted by evil spirits2    
those of the ,moon are as  small as     
six-year-old children1 their voices     
issue from the abdomen1 on  which they  
crawl2 those of ,venus are gigantic in  
height1 but stupid1 and  live by        
robbery1--although a part of this latter
 planet is inhabited by  beings of great
 sweetness1 who live in the love of     
,good4 ,in short1 he  describes the     
customs and morals of all the peoples   
attached to the  different globes1 and  
explains the general meaning of their   
existence as  related to the universe in
 terms so precise1 giving explanations  
which  agree so well with their visible 
evolutions in the system of the world1  
that some day1 perhaps1 scientific men  
will come to drink of these  living     
waters4    8,here10 said ,monsieur      
,becker1 taking down a book and opening 
it at a  mark1 8here are the words with 

which he ended this work3--    8#8,if   
any man doubts that ,i was transported  
through a vast number of  ,astral       
,regions1 let him recall my observation 
of the distances in that  other life1   
namely1 that they exist only in relation
 to the external  state of man2 now1    
being transformed within like unto the  
,angelic  ,spirits of those ,astral     
,spheres1 ,i was able to understand     
them4'    8,the circumstances to which  
we of this canton owe the presence among
  us of ,baron ,seraphitus1 the beloved 
cousin of ,swedenborg1 enabled me to    
know all the events of the extraordinary
 life of that prophet4 ,he has  lately  
been accused of imposture in certain    
quarters of ,europe1 and the  public    
prints reported the following fact based
 on a letter written  by the ,chevalier 
,baylon4 ,swedenborg1 they said1        
informed by certain  senators of a      
secret correspondence of the late ,queen
 of ,sweden with her  brother1 the      
,prince of ,prussia1 revealed his       

knowledge of the secrets  contained in  
that correspondence to the ,queen1      
making her believe he  had obtained this
 knowledge by supernatural means4 ,a man
 worthy of all  confidence1 ,monsieur   
,charles-,leonhard de ,stahlhammer1     
captain in  the ,royal guard and knight 
of the ,sword1 answered the calumny with
 a  convincing letter40    ,the pastor  
opened a drawer of his table and looked 
through a number of  papers until he    
found a gazette which he held out to    
,wilfrid1 asking him  to read aloud the 
following letter3--    ,stockholm1 ,may 
#ah1 #aghh4      ,i have read with      
amazement a letter which purports to    
relate the    interview of the famous   
,swedenborg with ,queen ,louisa-,ulrika4
 ,the    circumstances therein stated   
are wholly false2 and ,i hope the       
writer will excuse me for showing him by
 the following faithful    narration1   
which can be proved by the testimony of 
many    distinguished persons then      
present and still living1 how           

completely he has been deceived4        
,in #ageh1 shortly after the death of   
the ,prince of ,prussia    ,swedenborg  
came to court1 where he was in the habit
 of attending    regularly4 ,he had     
scarcely entered the queen's presence   
before she    said to him3 8,well1 ,mr4 
,assessor1 have you seen my brother80   
,swedenborg answered no1 and the queen  
rejoined3 8,if you do see    him1 greet 
him for me40 ,in saying this she meant  
no more than a    pleasant jest1 and had
 no thought whatever of asking him for  
information about her brother4 ,eight   
days later 7not twenty-four    as       
stated1 nor was the audience a private  
one71 ,swedenborg again    came to      
court1 but so early that the queen had  
not left her    apartment called the    
,white ,room1 where she was conversing  
with her    maids-of-honor and other    
ladies attached to the court4           
,swedenborg    did not wait until she   
came forth1 but entered the said room   
and    whispered something in her ear4  

,the queen1 overcome with    amazement1 
was taken ill1 and it was some time     
before she    recovered herself4 ,when  
she did so she said to those about her3 
8,only ,god and my brother knew the     
thing that he has just spoken    of40   
,she admitted that it related to her    
last correspondence with    the prince  
on a subject which was known to them    
alone4 ,i cannot    explain how         
,swedenborg came to know the contents of
 that letter1    but ,i can affirm on my
 honor1 that neither ,count ,h---- 7as  
the    writer of the article states7 nor
 any other person intercepted1 or       
read1 the queen's letters4 ,the senate  
allowed her to write to her    brother  
in perfect security1 considering the    
correspondence as of    no interest to  
the ,state4 ,it is evident that the     
author of the    said article is        
ignorant of the character of ,count     
,h----4 ,this    honored gentleman1 who 
has done many important services to his 
country1 unites the qualities of a noble

 heart to gifts of mind1    and his     
great age has not yet weakened these    
precious possessions4    ,during his    
whole administration he added the weight
 of scrupulous    integrity to his      
enlightened policy and openly declared  
himself    the enemy of all secret      
intrigues and underhand dealings1 which 
he    regarded as unworthy means to     
attain an end4 ,neither did the         
writer of that article understand the   
,assessor ,swedenborg4 ,the    only     
weakness of that essentially honest man 
was a belief in the    apparition of    
spirits2 but ,i knew him for many years1
 and ,i can    affirm that he was as    
fully convinced that he met and talked  
with    spirits as ,i am that ,i am     
writing at this moment4 ,as a citizen   
and    as a friend his integrity was    
absolute2 he abhorred deception and     
led the most exemplary of lives4 ,the   
version which the ,chevalier    ,baylon 
gave of these facts is1 therefore1      
entirely without    justification2 the  

visit stated to have been made to       
,swedenborg in    the night-time by     
,count ,h---- and ,count ,t---- is      
hereby    contradicted4 ,in conclusion1 
the writer of the letter may rest       
assured that ,i am not a follower of    
,swedenborg4 ,the love of truth    alone
 impels me to give this faithful account
 of a fact which has    been so often   
stated with details that are entirely   
false4 ,i    certify to the truth of    
what ,i have written by adding my       
signature4                              
,charles-,leonhard de ,stahlhammer4     
8,the proofs which ,swedenborg gave of  
his mission to the royal families  of   
,sweden and ,prussia were no doubt the  
foundation of the belief in his         
doctrines which is prevalent at the two 
courts10 said ,monsieur ,becker1        
putting the gazette into the drawer4    
8,however10 he continued1 8,i shall  not
 tell you all the facts of his visible  
and material life2 indeed his  habits   
prevented them from being fully known4  

,he lived a hidden life2  not seeking   
either riches or fame4 ,he was even     
noted for a sort of  repugnance to      
making proselytes2 he opened his mind to
 few persons1 and  never showed his     
external powers of second-sight to any  
who were not  eminent in faith1 wisdom1 
and love4 ,he could recognize at a      
glance the  state of the soul of every  
person who approached him1 and those    
whom he  desired to reach with his      
inward language he converted into       
,seers4 ,after  the year #agde1 his     
disciples never saw him do a single     
thing from any  human motive4 ,one man  
alone1 a ,swedish priest1 named         
,mathesius1 set  afloat a story that he 
went mad in ,london in #agdd4 ,but a    
eulogium on  ,swedenborg prepared with  
minute care as to all the known events  
of his  life1 was pronounced after his  
death in #aggb on behalf of the ,royal  
,academy of ,sciences in the ,hall of   
the ,nobles at ,stockholm1 by ,monsieur 
,sandels1 counsellor of the ,board of   

,mines4 ,a declaration made before the  
,lord ,mayor of ,london gives the       
details of his last illness and death1  
in which he received the ministrations  
of ,monsieur ,ferelius a ,swedish       
priest of the highest standing1 and     
pastor of the ,swedish ,church in       
,london1 ,mathesius being his assistant4
 ,all persons present attested that  so 
far from denying the value of his       
writings ,swedenborg firmly asserted    
their truth4 #8,in one hundred years1'  
,monsieur ,ferelius quotes him as       
saying1 #8my doctrine will guide the    
,church4' ,he predicted the day  and    
hour of his death4 ,on that day1        
,sunday1 ,march #bi1 #aggb1 hearing the 
clock strike1 he asked what time it was4
 #8,five o'clock' was the answer4  #8,it
 is well1' he answered2 #8thank you1    
,god bless you4' ,ten minutes later  he 
tranquilly departed1 breathing a gentle 
sigh4 ,simplicity1 moderation1  and     
solitude were the features of his life4 
,when he had finished writing  any of   

his books he sailed either for ,london  
or for ,holland1 where he  published    
them1 and never spoke of them again4 ,he
 published in this  way twenty-seven    
different treatises1 all written1 he    
said1 from the  dictation of ,angels4   
,be it true or false1 few men have been 
strong  enough to endure the flames of  
oral illumination4    8,there they all  
are10 said ,monsieur ,becker1 pointing  
to a second shelf  on which were some   
sixty volumes4 8,the treatises on which 
the ,divine  ,spirit casts its most     
vivid gleams are seven in number1       
namely3 #8,heaven  and ,hell'2          
#8,angelic ,wisdom concerning the       
,divine ,love and the ,divine  ,wisdom'2
 #8,angelic ,wisdom concerning the      
,divine ,providence'2 #8,the            
,apocalypse ,revealed'2 #8,conjugial    
,love and its ,chaste ,delights'2 #8,the
  ,true ,christian ,religion'2 and #8,an
 ,exposition of the ,internal ,sense4'  
,swedenborg's explanation of the        
,apocalypse begins with these words10   

said ,monsieur ,becker1 taking down and 
opening the volume nearest to him3      
8#8,herein ,i have written nothing of   
mine own2 ,i speak as ,i am bidden by   
the ,lord1 who said1 through the same   
angel1 to ,john3 8,thou shalt not  seal 
the sayings of this ,prophecy40'        
7,revelation xxii4 #aj47    8,my dear   
,monsieur ,wilfrid10 said the old man1  
looking at his guest1 8,i  often tremble
 in every limb as ,i read1 during the   
long winter evenings  the awe-inspiring 
works in which this man declares with   
perfect  artlessness the wonders that   
are revealed to him4 #8,i have seen1' he
  says1 #8,heaven and the ,angels4 ,the 
spiritual man sees his spiritual        
fellows far better than the terrestrial 
man sees the men of earth4 ,in          
describing the wonders of heaven and    
beneath the heavens ,i obey the  ,lord's
 command4 ,others have the right to     
believe me or not as they  choose4 ,i   
cannot put them into the state in which 
,god has put me2 it  is not in my power 

to enable them to converse with ,angels1
 nor to work  miracles within their     
understanding2 they alone can be the    
instrument of  their rise to angelic    
intercourse4 ,it is now twenty-eight    
years since  ,i have lived in the       
,spiritual world with angels1 and on    
earth with men2  for it pleased ,god to 
open the eyes of my spirit as he did    
that of ,paul1  and of ,daniel and      
,elisha4'    8,and yet10 continued the  
pastor1 thoughtfully1 8certain persons  
have  had visions of the spiritual world
 through the complete detachment which  
somnambulism produces between their     
external form and their inner being4    
#8,in this state1' says ,swedenborg in  
his treatise on ,angelic ,wisdom  7,no4 
#beg7 #8,man may rise into the region of
 celestial light because1 his  corporeal
 senses being abolished1 the influence  
of heaven acts without  hindrance on his
 inner man4' ,many persons who do not   
doubt that  ,swedenborg received        
celestial revelations think that his    

writings are  not all the result of     
divine inspiration4 ,others insist on   
absolute  adherence to him2 while       
admitting his many obscurities1 they    
believe  that the imperfection of       
earthly language prevented the prophet  
from  clearly revealing those spiritual 
visions whose clouds disperse to  the   
eyes of those whom faith regenerates2   
for1 to use the words of his  greatest  
disciple1 #8,flesh is but an external   
propagation4' ,to poets and  to writers 
his presentation of the marvellous is   
amazing2 to ,seers it  is simply        
reality4 ,to some ,christians his       
descriptions have seemed  scandalous4   
,certain critics have ridiculed the     
celestial substance  of his temples1 his
 golden palaces1 his splendid cities    
where angels  disport themselves2 they  
laugh at his groves of miraculous trees1
 his  gardens where the flowers speak   
and the air is white1 and the mystical  
stones1 the sard1 carbuncle1 chrysolite1
 chrysoprase1 jacinth1  chalcedony1     

beryl1 the ,urim and ,thummim1 are      
endowed with motion1  express celestial 
truths1 and reply by variations of light
 to questions  put to them #8,true      
,christian ,religion1' #bai74 ,many     
noble souls will not  admit his         
spiritual worlds where colors are heard 
in delightful concert1  where language  
flames and flashes1 where the ,word is  
writ in pointed  spiral letters #8,true 
,christian ,religion1' #bgh74 ,even in  
the ,north some  writers have laughed at
 the gates of pearl1 and the diamonds   
which  stud the floors and walls of his 
,new ,jerusalem1 where the most ordinary
  utensils are made of the rarest       
substances of the globe4 #8,but1' say   
his  disciples1 #8because such things   
are sparsely scattered on this earth    
does it follow that they are not        
abundant in other worlds8 ,on earth     
they are terrestrial substances1 whereas
 in heaven they assume celestial  forms 
and are in keeping with angels4' ,in    
this connection ,swedenborg  has used   

the very words of ,jesus ,christ1 who   
said1 #8,if ,i have told you  earthly   
things and ye believe not1 how shall ye 
believe if ,i tell you of  heavenly     
things8'    8,monsieur10 continued the  
pastor1 with an emphatic gesture1 8,i   
have read  the whole of ,swedenborg's   
works2 and ,i say it with pride1 because
 ,i have  done it and yet retained my   
reason4 ,in reading him men either miss 
his  meaning or become ,seers like him4 
,though ,i have evaded both extremes1 ,i
  have often experienced unheard-of     
delights1 deep emotions1 inward joys1   
which alone can reveal to us the        
plenitude of truth1--the evidence of    
celestial ,light4 ,all things here below
 seem small indeed when the soul  is    
lost in the perusal of these ,treatises4
 ,it is impossible not to be  amazed    
when we think that in the short space of
 thirty years this man  wrote and       
published1 on the truths of the         
,spiritual ,world1 twenty-five  quarto  
volumes1 composed in ,latin1 of which   

the shortest has five  hundred pages1   
all of them printed in small type4 ,he  
left1 they say1  twenty others in       
,london1 bequeathed to his nephew1      
,monsieur ,silverichm1  formerly almoner
 to the ,king of ,sweden4 ,certainly a  
man who1 between the  ages of twenty and
 sixty1 had already exhausted himself in
 publishing  a series of encyclopaedical
 works1 must have received supernatural 
assistance in composing these later     
stupendous treatises1 at an age1  too1  
when human vigor is on the wane4 ,you   
will find in these writings  thousands  
of propositions1 all numbered1 none of  
which have been  refuted4 ,throughout we
 see method and precision2 the presence 
of the  spirit issuing and flowing down 
from a single fact1--the existence of   
angels4 ,his #8,true ,christian         
,religion1' which sums up his whole     
doctrine  and is vigorous with light1   
was conceived and written at the age of 
eighty-three4 ,in fact1 his amazing     
vigor and omniscience are not denied  by

 any of his critics1 not even by his    
enemies4    8,nevertheless10 said       
,monsieur ,becker1 slowly1 8though ,i   
have drunk deep  in this torrent of     
divine light1 ,god has not opened the   
eyes of my inner  being1 and ,i judge   
these writings by the reason of an      
unregenerated man4  ,i have often felt  
that the inspired ,swedenborg must have 
misunderstood  the ,angels4 ,i have     
laughed over certain visions which1     
according to his  disciples1 ,i ought to
 have believed with veneration4 ,i have 
failed to  imagine the spiral writing of
 the ,angels or their golden belts1 on  
which the gold is of great or lesser    
thickness4 ,if1 for example1 this       
statement1 #8,some angels are solitary1'
 affected me powerfully for a  time1 ,i 
was1 on reflection1 unable to reconcile 
this solitude with their  marriages4 ,i 
have not understood why the ,virgin     
,mary should continue to  wear blue     
satin garments in heaven4 ,i have even  
dared to ask myself why  those gigantic 

demons1 ,enakim and ,hephilim1 came so  
frequently to fight  the cherubim on the
 apocalyptic plains of ,armageddon2 and 
,i cannot  explain to my own mind how   
,satans can argue with ,angels4         
,monsieur le  ,baron ,seraphitus assured
 me that those details concerned only   
the angels  who live on earth in human  
form4 ,the visions of the prophet are   
often blurred with grotesque figures4   
,one of his spiritual tales1  or        
#8,memorable relations1' as he called   
them1 begins thus3 #8,i see the  spirits
 assembling1 they have hats upon their  
heads4' ,in another of  these           
,memorabilia he receives from heaven a  
bit of paper1 on which he  saw1 he says1
 the hieroglyphics of the primitive     
peoples1 which were  composed of curved 
lines traced from the finger-rings that 
are worn in  heaven4 ,however1 perhaps  
,i am wrong2 possibly the material      
absurdities  with which his works are   
strewn have spiritual significations4   
,otherwise1 how shall we account for the

 growing influence of his  religion8    
,his church numbers to-day more than    
seven hundred thousand  believers1--as  
many in the ,united ,states of ,america 
as in ,england1 where  there are seven  
thousand ,swedenborgians in the city of 
,manchester alone4  ,many men of high   
rank in knowledge and in social position
 in ,germany1 in  ,prussia1 and in the  
,northern kingdoms have publicly adopted
 the beliefs  of ,swedenborg2 which1 ,i 
may remark1 are more comforting than    
those of  all other ,christian          
communions4 ,i wish ,i had the power to 
explain to you  clearly in succinct     
language the leading points of the      
doctrine on which  ,swedenborg founded  
his church2 but ,i fear such a summary1 
made from  recollection1 would be       
necessarily defective4 ,i shall1        
therefore1  allow myself to speak only  
of those #8,arcana' which concern the   
birth of  ,seraphita40    ,here         
,monsieur ,becker paused1 as though     
composing his mind to gather up  his    

ideas4 ,presently he continued1 as      
follows3--    8,after establishing      
mathematically that man lives eternally 
in spheres  of either a lower or a      
higher grade1 ,swedenborg applies the   
term  #8,spiritual ,angels' to beings   
who in this world are prepared for      
heaven1  where they become angels4      
,according to him1 ,god has not created 
angels2  none exist who have not been   
men upon the earth4 ,the earth is the   
nursery-ground of heaven4 ,the ,angels  
are therefore not ,angels as  such      
#8,angelic ,wisdom1' #eg71 they are     
transformed through their close         
conjunction with ,god2 which conjunction
 ,god never refuses1 because the        
essence of ,god is not negative1 but    
essentially active4 ,the spiritual      
angels pass through three natures of    
love1 because man is only  regenerated  
through successive stages #8,true       
,religion'74 ,first1 the  love of self3 
the supreme expression of this love is  
human genius1  whose works are          

worshipped4 ,next1 love of life3 this   
love produces  prophets1--great men whom
 the world accepts as guides and        
proclaims  to be divine4 ,lastly1 love  
of heaven1 and this creates the         
,spiritual  ,angel4 ,these angels are1  
so to speak1 the flowers of humanity1   
which  culminates in them and works for 
that culmination4 ,they must possess    
either the love of heaven or the wisdom 
of heaven1 but always ,love  before     
,wisdom4    8,thus the transformation of
 the natural man is into ,love4 ,to     
reach this  first degree1 his previous  
existences must have passed through     
,hope and  ,charity1 which prepare him  
for ,faith and ,prayer4 ,the ideas      
acquired  by the exercise of these      
virtues are transmitted to each of the  
human  envelopes within which are hidden
 the metamorphoses of the inner  being2 
for nothing is separate1 each existence 
is necessary to the  other existences4  
,hope cannot advance without ,charity1  
nor ,faith  without ,prayer2 they are   

the four fronts of a solid square4      
#8,one virtue  missing1' he said1 #8and 
the ,spiritual ,angel is like a broken  
pearl4'  ,each of these existences is   
therefore a circle in which revolves the
  celestial riches of the inner being4  
,the perfection of the ,spiritual       
,angels comes from this mysterious      
progression in which nothing is lost  of
 the high qualities that are            
successfully acquired to attain each    
glorious incarnation2 for at each       
transformation they cast away           
unconsciously the flesh and its errors4 
,when the man lives in ,love he  has    
shed all evil passions3 ,hope1 ,charity1
 ,faith1 and ,prayer have1 in  the words
 of ,isaiah1 purged the dross of his    
inner being1 which can  never more be   
polluted by earthly affections4 ,hence  
the grand saying  of ,christ quoted by  
,saint ,matthew1 #8,lay up for          
yourselves treasures  in ,heaven where  
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt1' and
 those still  grander words3 #8,if ye   

were of this world the world would love 
you1 but ,i  have chosen you out of the 
world2 be ye therefore perfect as your  
,father  in heaven is perfect4'    8,the
 second transformation of man is to     
,wisdom4 ,wisdom is the  understanding  
of celestial things to which the ,spirit
 is brought by  ,love4 ,the ,spirit of  
,love has acquired strength1 the result 
of all  vanquished terrestrial passions2
 it loves ,god blindly4 ,but the ,spirit
 of  ,wisdom has risen to understanding 
and knows why it loves4 ,the wings of   
the one are spread and bear the spirit  
to ,god2 the wings of the other  are    
held down by the awe that comes of      
understanding3 the spirit knows  ,god4  
,the one longs incessantly to see ,god  
and to fly to ,him2 the other  attains  
to ,him and trembles4 ,the union        
effected between the ,spirit of  ,love  
and the ,spirit of ,wisdom carries the  
human being into a ,divine  state during
 which time his soul is woman and his   
body man1 the last  human manifestation 

in which the ,spirit conquers ,form1 or 
,form still  struggles against the      
,spirit1--for ,form1 that is1 the flesh1
 is  ignorant1 rebels1 and desires to   
continue gross4 ,this supreme trial     
creates untold sufferings seen by       
,heaven alone1--the agony of ,christ in 
the ,garden of ,olives4    8,after death
 the first heaven opens to this dual and
 purified human  nature4 ,therefore it  
is that man dies in despair while the   
,spirit  dies in ecstasy4 ,thus1 the    
natural1 the state of beings not yet    
regenerated2 the spiritual1 the state of
 those who have become ,angelic         
,spirits1 and the divine1 the state in  
which the ,angel exists before  he      
breaks from his covering of flesh1 are  
the three degrees of existence  through 
which man enters heaven4 ,one of        
,swedenborg's thoughts expressed  in his
 own words will explain to you with     
wonderful clearness the  difference     
between the natural and the spiritual4  
#8,to the minds of  men1' he says1 #8the

 ,natural passes into the ,spiritual2   
they regard the  world under its visible
 aspects1 they perceive it only as it   
can be  realized by their senses4 ,but  
to the apprehension of ,angelic         
,spirits1  the ,spiritual passes into   
the ,natural2 they regard the world in  
its  inward essence and not in its      
form4' ,thus human sciences are but     
analyses of form4 ,the man of science as
 the world goes is purely  external like
 his knowledge2 his inner being is only 
used to preserve  his aptitude for the  
perception of external truths4 ,the     
,angelic ,spirit  goes far beyond that2 
his knowledge is the thought of which   
human  science is but the utterance2 he 
derives that knowledge from the ,logos1 
and learns the law of correspondences by
 which the world is placed  in unison   
with heaven4 ,the word of ,god was      
wholly written by pure                  
,correspondences1 and covers an esoteric
 or spiritual meaning1 which  according 
to the science of ,correspondences1     

cannot be understood4  #8,there exist1' 
says ,swedenborg #8,celestial ,doctrine'
 #bf71 #8innumerable  ,arcana within the
 hidden meaning of the ,correspondences4
 ,thus the men  who scoff at the books  
of the ,prophets where the ,word is     
enshrined are  as densely ignorant as   
those other men who know nothing of a   
science and  yet ridicule its truths4   
,to know the ,correspondences which     
exist between  the things visible and   
ponderable in the terrestrial world and 
the  things invisible and imponderable  
in the spiritual world1 is to hold      
heaven within our comprehension4 ,all   
the objects of the manifold  creations  
having emanated from ,god necessarily   
enfold a hidden meaning2  according1    
indeed1 to the grand thought of ,isaiah1
 #8,the earth is a  garment4'    8,this 
mysterious link between ,heaven and the 
smallest atoms of created  matter       
constitutes what ,swedenborg calls a    
,celestial ,arcanum1 and  his treatise  
on the #8,celestial ,arcana' in which he

 explains the  correspondences or       
significances of the ,natural with1 and 
to1 the  ,spiritual1 giving1 to use the 
words of ,jacob ,boehm1 the sign and    
seal  of all things1 occupies not less  
than sixteen volumes containing thirty  
thousand propositions4 #8,this          
marvellous knowledge of ,correspondences
  which the goodness of ,god granted to 
,swedenborg1' says one of his           
disciples1 #8is the secret of the       
interest which draws men to his works4  
,according to him1 all things are       
derived from heaven1 all things lead    
back to heaven4 ,his writings are       
sublime and clear2 he speaks in heaven1 
and earth hears him4 ,take one of his   
sentences by itself and a volume  could 
be made of it'2 and the disciple quotes 
the following passages  taken from a    
thousand others that would answer the   
same purpose4    8#8,the kingdom of     
heaven1' says ,swedenborg #8,celestial  
,arcana'71 #8is the  kingdom of motives4
 ,action is born in heaven1 thence into 

the world1  and1 by degrees1 to the     
infinitely remote parts of earth4       
,terrestrial  effects being thus linked 
to celestial causes1 all things are     
correspondent and significant4 ,man is  
the means of union between the  ,natural
 and the ,spiritual4'    8,the ,angelic 
,spirits therefore know the very nature 
of the  ,correspondences which link to  
heaven all earthly things2 they know1   
too1 the inner meaning of the prophetic 
words which foretell their  evolutions4 
,thus to these ,spirits everything here 
below has its  significance2 the tiniest
 flower is a thought1--a life which     
corresponds  to certain lineaments of   
the ,great ,whole1 of which they have a 
constant  intuition4 ,to them ,adultery 
and the excesses spoken of in ,scripture
 and  by the ,prophets1 often garbled by
 self-styled scholars1 mean the state   
of those souls which in this world      
persist in tainting themselves with     
earthly affections1 thus compelling     
their divorce from ,heaven4 ,clouds     

signify the veil of the ,most ,high4    
,torches1 shew-bread1 horses and        
horsemen1 harlots1 precious stones1 in  
short1 everything named in  ,scripture1 
has to them a clear-cut meaning1 and    
reveals the future of  terrestrial facts
 in their relation to ,heaven4 ,they    
penetrate the  truths contained in the  
,revelation of ,saint ,john the divine1 
which human  science has subsequently   
demonstrated and proved materially2     
such1 for  instance1 as the following   
#8big1' said ,swedenborg1 #8with many   
human  sciences'73 #8,i saw a new heaven
 and a new earth1 for the first heaven  
and the first earth were passed away'   
7,revelation xxi4 #a74 ,these ,spirits  
know the supper at which the flesh of   
kings and the flesh of all men1  free   
and bond1 is eaten1 to which an ,angel  
standing in the sun has  bidden them4   
,they see the winged woman1 clothed with
 the sun1 and the  mailed man4 #8,the   
horse of the ,apocalypse1' says         
,swedenborg1 #8is the  visible image of 

human intellect ridden by ,death1 for it
 bears within  itself the elements of   
its own destruction4' ,moreover1 they   
can  distinguish beings concealed under 
forms which to ignorant eyes  would seem
 fantastic4 ,when a man is disposed to  
receive the prophetic  afflation of     
,correspondences1 it rouses within him a
 perception of the  ,word2 he           
comprehends that the creations are      
transformations only2 his  intellect is 
sharpened1 a burning thirst takes       
possession of him which  only ,heaven   
can quench4 ,he conceives1 according to 
the greater or lesser  perfection of his
 inner being1 the power of the ,angelic 
,spirits2 and he  advances1 led by      
,desire 7the least imperfect state of   
unregenerated man7  towards ,hope1 the  
gateway to the world of ,spirits1 whence
 he reaches  ,prayer1 which gives him   
the ,key of ,heaven4    8,what being    
here below would not desire to render   
himself worthy of  entrance into the    
sphere of those who live in secret by   

,love and ,wisdom8  ,here on earth1     
during their lifetime1 such spirits     
remain pure2 they  neither see1 nor     
think1 nor speak like other men4 ,there 
are two ways by  which perception       
comes1--one internal1 the other         
external4 ,man is wholly  external1 the 
,angelic ,spirit wholly internal4 ,the  
,spirit goes to  the depth of ,numbers1 
possesses a full sense of them1 knows   
their  significances4 ,it controls      
,motion1 and by reason of its ubiquity  
it  shares in all things4 #8,an ,angel1'
 says ,swedenborg1 #8is ever present to 
a man when desired' #8,angelic          
,wisdom'72 for the ,angel has the gift  
of  detaching himself from his body1 and
 he sees into heaven as the  prophets   
and as ,swedenborg himself saw into it4 
#8,in this state1' writes  ,swedenborg  
#8,true ,religion1' #acf71 #8the spirit 
of a man may move from  one place to    
another1 his body remaining where it    
is1--a condition in  which ,i lived for 
over twenty-six years4' ,it is thus that

 we should  interpret all ,biblical     
statements which begin1 #8,the ,spirit  
led me4'  ,angelic ,wisdom is to human  
wisdom what the innumerable forces of   
nature  are to its action1 which is one4
 ,all things live again1 and move and   
have their being in the ,spirit1 which  
is in ,god4 ,saint ,paul expresses  this
 truth when he says1 #8,in ,deo sumus1  
movemur1 et vivimus1'--we live1  we act1
 we are in ,god4    8,earth offers no   
hindrance to the ,angelic ,spirit1 just 
as the ,word  offers him no obscurity4  
,his approaching divinity enables him to
 see the  thought of ,god veiled in the 
,logos1 just as1 living by his inner    
being1  the ,spirit is in communion with
 the hidden meaning of all things on    
this  earth4 ,science is the language of
 the ,temporal world1 ,love is that of  
the ,spiritual world4 ,thus man takes   
note of more than he is able  to        
explain1 while the ,angelic ,spirit sees
 and comprehends4 ,science  depresses   
man2 ,love exalts the ,angel4 ,science  

is still seeking1 ,love  has found4 ,man
 judges ,nature according to his own    
relations to her2 the  ,angelic ,spirit 
judges it in its relation to ,heaven4   
,in short1 all things  have a voice for 
the ,spirit4 ,spirits are in the secret 
of the harmony of  all creations with   
each other2 they comprehend the spirit  
of sound1 the  spirit of color1 the     
spirit of vegetable life2 they can      
question the  mineral1 and the mineral  
makes answer to their thoughts4 ,what to
 them  are sciences and the treasures of
 the earth when they grasp all things   
by the eye at all moments1 when the     
worlds which absorb the minds of so     
many men are to them but the last step  
from which they spring to ,god8  ,love  
of heaven1 or the ,wisdom of heaven1 is 
made manifest to them by a  circle of   
light which surrounds them1 and is      
visible to the ,elect4  ,their          
innocence1 of which that of children is 
a symbol1 possesses1  nevertheless1 a   
knowledge which children have not2 they 

are both  innocent and learned4 #8,and1'
 says ,swedenborg1 #8the innocence of   
,heaven  makes such an impression upon  
the soul that those whom it affects keep
  a rapturous memory of it which lasts  
them all their lives1 as ,i myself  have
 experienced4 ,it is perhaps            
sufficient1' he goes on1 #8to have only 
a  minimum perception of it to be       
forever changed1 to long to enter       
,heaven  and the sphere of ,hope4'      
8,his doctrine of ,marriage can be      
reduced to the following words3 #8,the  
,lord has taken the beauty and the grace
 of the life of man and bestowed  them  
upon woman4 ,when man is not reunited to
 this beauty and this grace  of his     
life1 he is harsh1 sad1 and sullen2 when
 he is reunited to them  he is joyful   
and complete4' ,the ,angels are ever at 
the perfect point  of beauty4 ,marriages
 are celebrated by wondrous ceremonies4 
,in these  unions1 which produce no     
children1 man contributes the           
understanding1  woman the will2 they    

become one being1 one ,flesh here below1
 and pass  to heaven clothed in the     
celestial form4 ,on this earth1 the     
natural  attraction of the sexes towards
 enjoyment is an ,effect which allures1 
fatigues and disgusts2 but in the form  
celestial the pair1 now one in  ,spirit 
find within theirself a ceaseless source
 of joy4 ,swedenborg was  led to see    
these nuptials of the ,spirits1 which in
 the words of ,saint  ,luke 7xx4 #ce7   
are neither marrying nor giving in      
marriage1 and which  inspire none but   
spiritual pleasures4 ,an ,angel offered 
to make him  witness of such a marriage 
and bore him thither on his wings 7the  
wings  are a symbol and not a reality74 
,the ,angel clothed him in a wedding    
garment and when ,swedenborg1 finding   
himself thus robed in light1 asked  why1
 the answer was3 #8,for these events1   
our garments are illuminated2  they     
shine2 they are made nuptial4'          
#8,conjugial ,love1' #ai1 #bj1 #ba47    
,then  he saw the two ,angels1 one      

coming from the ,south1 the other from  
the  ,east2 the ,angel of the ,south was
 in a chariot drawn by two white horses1
  with reins of the color and brilliance
 of the dawn2 but lo1 when they  were   
near him in the sky1 chariot and horses 
vanished4 ,the ,angel of the  ,east1    
clothed in crimson1 and the ,angel of   
the ,south1 in purple1 drew  together1  
like breaths1 and mingled3 one was the  
,angel of ,love1 the  other the ,angel  
of ,wisdom4 ,swedenborg's guide told him
 that the two  ,angels had been linked  
together on earth by an inward          
friendship and  ever united though      
separated in life by great distances4   
,consent1 the  essence of all good      
marriage upon earth1 is the habitual    
state of ,angels  in ,heaven4 ,love is  
the light of their world4 ,the eternal  
rapture of  ,angels comes from the      
faculty that ,god communicates to them  
to  render back to ,him the joy they    
feel through ,him4 ,this reciprocity of 
infinitude forms their life4 ,they      

become infinite by participating of  the
 essence of ,god1 who generates ,himself
 by ,himself4    8,the immensity of the 
,heavens where the ,angels dwell is such
 that if man  were endowed with sight as
 rapid as the darting of light from the 
sun to  the earth1 and if he gazed      
throughout eternity1 his eyes could not 
reach  the horizon1 nor find an end4    
,light alone can give an idea of the    
joys  of heaven4 #8,it is1' says        
,swedenborg #8,angelic ,wisdom1' #g1    
#be1 #bf1 #bg71  #8a vapor of the virtue
 of ,god1 a pure emanation of ,his      
splendor1 beside  which our greatest    
brilliance is obscurity4 ,it can compass
 all2 it can  renew all1 and is never   
absorbed3 it environs the ,angel and    
unites him  to ,god by infinite joys    
which multiply infinitely of themselves4
 ,this  ,light destroys whosoever is not
 prepared to receive it4 ,no one here   
below1 nor yet in ,heaven can see ,god  
and live4 ,this is the meaning of  the  
saying 7,exodus xix4 #ab1 #ac1 #ba-bc7  

8,take heed to yourselves that ye  go   
not up into the mount--lest ye break    
through unto the ,lord to gaze1  and    
many perish40 ,and again 7,exodus xxxiv4
 #bi-ce71 8,when ,moses came down  from 
,mount ,sinai with the two ,tables of   
testimony in his hand1 his face  shone1 
so that he put a veil upon it when he   
spake with the people1 lest  any of them
 die40 ,the ,transfiguration of ,jesus  
,christ likewise revealed  the light    
surrounding the ,messengers from on high
 and the ineffable joys  of the ,angels 
who are forever imbued with it4 8,his   
face10 says ,saint  ,matthew 7xvii4     
#a-e71 8did shine as the sun and his    
raiment was white as  the light--and a  
bright cloud overshadowed them40'       
8,when a planet contains only those     
beings who reject the ,lord1 when his   
word is ignored1 then the ,angelic      
,spirits are gathered together by the   
four winds1 and ,god sends forth an     
,exterminating ,angel to change the     
face of the refractory earth1 which in  

the immensity of this universe is  to   
,him what an unfruitful seed is to      
,nature4 ,approaching the globe1 this   
,exterminating ,angel1 borne by a comet1
 causes the planet to turn upon  its    
axis1 and the lands lately covered by   
the seas reappear1 adorned in  freshness
 and obedient to the laws proclaimed in 
,genesis2 the ,word of  ,god is once    
more powerful on this new earth1 which  
everywhere exhibits  the effects of     
terrestrial waters and celestial flames4
 ,the light  brought by the ,angel from 
,on ,high1 causes the sun to pale4      
#8,then1' says  ,isaiah1 7xix4 #bj7     
#8men will hide in the clefts of the    
rock and roll  themselves in the dust of
 the earth4' #8,they will cry to the    
mountains'  7,revelation71 #8,fall on   
us6 and to the seas1 ,swallow us up6    
,hide us from  the face of ,him that    
sitteth on the throne1 and from the     
wrath of the  ,lamb6' ,the ,lamb is the 
great figure and hope of the ,angels    
misjudged and  persecuted here below4   

,christ himself has said1 #8,blessed are
 those who  mourn6 ,blessed are the     
simple-hearted6 ,blessed are they that  
love6'--,all  ,swedenborg is there6     
,suffer1 ,believe1 ,love4 ,to love truly
 must we not  suffer8 must we not       
believe8 ,love begets ,strength1        
,strength bestows  ,wisdom1 thence      
,intelligence2 for ,strength and ,wisdom
 demand ,will4 ,to  be intelligent1 is  
not that to ,know1 to ,wish1 and to     
,will1--the three  attributes of the    
,angelic ,spirit8 #8,if the universe has
 a meaning1'  ,monsieur ,saint-,martin  
said to me when ,i met him during a     
journey which  he made in ,sweden1      
#8surely this is the one most worthy of 
,god4'    8,but1 ,monsieur10 continued  
the pastor after a thoughtful pause1 8of
 what  avail to you are these shreds of 
thoughts taken here and there from  the 
vast extent of a work of which no true  
idea can be given except  by comparing  
it to a river of light1 to billows of   
flame8 ,when a man  plunges into it he  

is carried away as by an awful current4 
,dante's poem  seems but a speck to the 
reader submerged in the almost ,biblical
  verses with which ,swedenborg renders 
palpable the ,celestial ,worlds1  as    
,beethoven built his palaces of harmony 
with thousands of notes1 as  architects 
have reared cathedrals with millions of 
stones4 ,we roll in  soundless depths1  
where our minds will not always sustain 
us4 ,ah1 surely  a great and powerful   
intellect is needed to bring us back1   
safe and  sound1 to our own social      
beliefs4    8,swedenborg10 resumed the  
pastor1 8was particularly attached to   
the  ,baron de ,seraphitz1 whose name1  
according to an old ,swedish custom1 had
  taken from time immemorial the ,latin 
termination of #8us4' ,the baron was  an
 ardent disciple of the ,swedish        
prophet1 who had opened the eyes of  his
 ,inner-,man and brought him to a life  
in conformity with the decrees  from    
,on-,high4 ,he sought for an ,angelic   
,spirit among women2 ,swedenborg  found 

her for him in a vision4 ,his bride was 
the daughter of a ,london  shoemaker1 in
 whom1 said ,swedenborg1 the life of    
,heaven shone1 she  having passed       
through all anterior trials4 ,after the 
death1 that is1 the  transformation of  
the prophet1 the baron came to ,jarvis  
to accomplish  his celestial nuptials   
with the observances of ,prayer4 ,as for
 me1 who  am not a ,seer1 ,i have only  
known the terrestrial works of this     
couple4  ,their lives were those of     
saints whose virtues are the glory of   
the  ,roman ,church4 ,they ameliorated  
the condition of our people2 they       
supplied them all with means in return  
for work1--little1 perhaps1  but enough 
for all their wants4 ,those who lived   
with them in constant  intercourse never
 saw them show a sign of anger or       
impatience2 they were  constantly       
beneficent and gentle1 full of courtesy 
and loving-kindness2  their marriage was
 the harmony of two souls indissolubly  
united4 ,two  eiders winging the same   

flight1 the sound in the echo1 the      
thought in  the word1--these1 perhaps1  
are true images of their union4 ,every  
one  here in ,jarvis loved them with an 
affection which ,i can compare only  to 
the love of a plant for the sun4 ,the   
wife was simple in her manners1         
beautiful in form1 lovely in face1 with 
a dignity of bearing like that  of      
august personages4 ,in #aghc1 being then
 twenty-six years old1 she  conceived a 
child2 her pregnancy was to the pair a  
solemn joy4 ,they  prepared to bid the  
earth farewell2 for they told me they   
should be  transformed when their child 
had passed the state of infancy which   
needed their fostering care until the   
strength to exist alone should be  given
 to her4    8,their child was born1--the
 ,seraphita we are now concerned with4  
,from  the moment of her conception     
father and mother lived a still more    
solitary life than in the past1 lifting 
themselves up to heaven by  ,prayer4    
,they hoped to see ,swedenborg1 and     

faith realized their hope4  ,the day on 
which ,seraphita came into the world    
,swedenborg appeared in  ,jarvis1 and   
filled the room of the new-born child   
with light4 ,i was told  that he said1  
#8,the work is accomplished2 the        
,heavens rejoice6' ,sounds of  unknown  
melodies were heard throughout the      
house1 seeming to come  from the four   
points of heaven on the wings of the    
wind4 ,the spirit of  ,swedenborg led   
the father forth to the shores of the   
fiord and there  quitted him4 ,certain  
inhabitants of ,jarvis1 having          
approached ,monsieur  ,seraphitus as he 
stood on the shore1 heard him repeat    
those blissful  words of ,scripture3    
#8,how beautiful on the mountains are   
the feet of ,him  who is sent of ,god6' 
8,i had left the parsonage on my way to 
baptize the infant and name  it1 and    
perform the other duties required by    
law1 when ,i met the baron  returning to
 the house4 #8,your ministrations are   
superfluous1' he said2  #8our child is  

to be without name on this earth4 ,you  
must not baptize in  the waters of an   
earthly ,church one who has just been   
immersed in the  fires of ,heaven4 ,this
 child will remain a blossom1 it will   
not grow old2  you will see it pass     
away4 ,you exist1 but our child has     
life2 you have  outward senses1 the     
child has none1 its being is always     
inward4' ,these  words were uttered in  
so strange and supernatural a voice that
 ,i was  more affected by them than by  
the shining of his face1 from which     
light  appeared to exude4 ,his          
appearance realized the phantasmal ideas
 which we  form of inspired beings as we
 read the prophesies of the ,bible4 ,but
 such  effects are not rare among our   
mountains1 where the nitre of perpetual 
snows produces extraordinary phenomena  
in the human organization4    8,i asked 
him the cause of his emotion4           
#8,swedenborg came to us2 he has  just  
left me2 ,i have breathed the air of    
heaven1' he replied4 #8,under  what form

 did he appear8' ,i said4 #8,under his  
earthly form2 dressed as  he was the    
last time ,i saw him in ,london1 at the 
house of ,richard  ,shearsmith1         
,coldbath-fields1 in ,july1 #agga4 ,he  
wore his brown frieze  coat with steel  
buttons1 his waistcoat buttoned to the  
throat1 a white  cravat1 and the same   
magisterial wig rolled and powdered at  
the sides  and raised high in front1    
showing his vast and luminous brow1 in  
keeping  with the noble square face1    
where all is power and tranquillity4 ,i 
recognized the large nose with its fiery
 nostril1 the mouth that  ever          
smiled1--angelic mouth from which these 
words1 the pledge of my  happiness1 have
 just issued1 8,we shall meet soon40'   
8,the conviction that shone on the      
baron's face forbade all discussion2 ,i 
listened in silence4 ,his voice had a   
contagious heat which made my bosom     
burn within me2 his fanaticism stirred  
my heart as the anger of another  makes 
our nerves vibrate4 ,i followed him in  

silence to his house1 where  ,i saw the 
nameless child lying mysteriously folded
 to its mother's  breast4 ,the babe     
heard my step and turned its head toward
 me2 its  eyes were not those of an     
ordinary child4 ,to give you an idea of 
the  impression ,i received1 ,i must say
 that already they saw and thought4 ,the
  childhood of this predestined being   
was attended by circumstances quite     
extraordinary in our climate4 ,for nine 
years our winters were milder  and our  
summers longer than usual4 ,this        
phenomenon gave rise to several         
discussions among scientific men2 but   
none of their explanations seemed       
sufficient to academicians1 and the     
baron smiled when ,i told him of  them4 
,the child was never seen in its nudity 
as other children are2 it  was never    
touched by man or woman1 but lived a    
sacred thing upon the  mother's breast1 
and it never cried4 ,if you question old
 ,david he will  confirm these facts    
about his mistress1 for whom he feels an

 adoration  like that of ,louis ,,ix4   
for the saint whose name he bore4       
8,at nine years of age the child began  
to pray2 prayer is her life4 ,you  saw  
her in the church at ,christmas1 the    
only day on which she comes  there2 she 
is separated from the other worshippers 
by a visible space4  ,if that space does
 not exist between herself and men she  
suffers4 ,that  is why she passes nearly
 all her time alone in the chateau4 ,the
 events  of her life are unknown2 she is
 seldom seen2 her days are spent in the 
state of mystical contemplation which   
was1 so ,catholic writers tell us1      
habitual with the early ,christian      
solitaries1 in whom the oral tradition  
of ,christ's own words still remained4  
,her mind1 her soul1 her body1 all      
within her is virgin as the snow on     
those mountains4 ,at ten years of  age  
she was just what you see her now4 ,when
 she was nine her father and  mother    
expired together1 without pain or       
visible malady1 after naming  the day   

and hour at which they would cease to   
be4 ,standing at their  feet she looked 
at them with a calm eye1 not showing    
either sadness1 or  grief1 or joy1 or   
curiosity4 ,when we approached to remove
 the two bodies  she said1 #8,carry them
 away6' #8,seraphita1' ,i said1 for so  
we called her1  #8are you not affected  
by the death of your father and your    
mother  who loved you so much8'         
#8,dead8' she answered1 #8no1 they live 
in me  forever--,that is nothing1' she  
pointed without emotion to the bodies   
they were bearing away4 ,i then saw her 
for the third time only since her       
birth4 ,in church it is difficult to    
distinguish her2 she stands near  a     
column which1 seen from the pulpit1 is  
in shadow1 so that ,i cannot  observe   
her features4    8,of all the servants  
of the household there remained after   
the death of  the master and mistress   
only old ,david1 who1 in spite of his   
eighty-two  years1 suffices to wait on  
his mistress4 ,some of our ,jarvis      

people tell  wonderful tales about her4 
,these have a certain weight in a land  
so  essentially conducive to mystery as 
ours2 and ,i am now studying the        
treatise on ,incantations by ,jean ,wier
 and other works relating to            
demonology1 where pretended supernatural
 events are recorded1 hoping to  find   
facts analogous to those which are      
attributed to her40    8,then you do not
 believe in her80 said ,wilfrid4    8,oh
 yes1 ,i do10 said the pastor1 genially1
 8,i think her a very  capricious girl2 
a little spoilt by her parents1 who     
turned her head  with the religious     
ideas ,i have just revealed to you40    
,minna shook her head in a way that     
gently expressed contradiction4         
8,poor girl60 continued the old man1    
8her parents bequeathed to her that     
fatal exaltation of soul which misleads 
mystics and renders them all  more or   
less mad4 ,she subjects herself to fasts
 which horrify poor  ,david4 ,the good  
old man is like a sensitive plant which 

quivers at the  slightest breeze1 and   
glows under the first sun-ray4 ,his     
mistress1 whose  incomprehensible       
language has become his1 is the breeze  
and the sun-ray  to him2 in his eyes her
 feet are diamonds and her brow is      
strewn with  stars2 she walks environed 
with a white and luminous atmosphere2   
her  voice is accompanied by music2 she 
has the gift of rendering herself       
invisible4 ,if you ask to see her1 he   
will tell you she has gone to the       
astral regions4 ,it is difficult to     
believe such a story1 is it not8  ,you  
know all miracles bear more or less     
resemblance to the story of the  ,golden
 ,tooth4 ,we have our golden tooth in   
,jarvis1 that is all4 ,duncker  the     
fisherman asserts that he has seen her  
plunge into the fiord and  come up in   
the shape of an eider-duck1 at other    
times walking on the  billows of a      
storm4 ,fergus1 who leads the flocks to 
the saeters1 says  that in rainy weather
 a circle of clear sky can be seen over 

the ,swedish  castle2 and that the      
heavens are always blue above           
,seraphita's head when  she is on the   
mountain4 ,many women hear the tones of 
a mighty organ when  ,seraphita enters  
the church1 and ask their neighbors     
earnestly if they  too do not hear them4
 ,but my daughter1 for whom during the  
last two  years ,seraphita has shown    
much affection1 has never heard this    
music1  and has never perceived the     
heavenly perfumes which1 they say1 make 
the  air fragrant about her when she    
moves4 ,minna1 to be sure1 has often on 
returning from their walks together     
expressed to me the delight of a  young 
girl in the beauties of our spring-time1
 in the spicy odors of  budding larches 
and pines and the earliest flowers2 but 
after our long  winters what can be more
 natural than such pleasure8 ,the       
companionship  of this so-called spirit 
has nothing so very extraordinary in it1
 has  it1 my child80    8,the secrets of
 that spirit are not mine10 said ,minna4

 8,near it ,i know  all1 away from it ,i
 know nothing2 near that exquisite life 
,i am no  longer myself1 far from it ,i 
forget all4 ,the time we pass together  
is  a dream which my memory scarcely    
retains4 ,i may have heard yet not      
remember the music which the women tell 
of2 in that presence1 ,i may have       
breathed celestial perfumes1 seen the   
glory of the heavens1 and yet be  unable
 to recollect them here40    8,what     
astonishes me most10 resumed the pastor1
 addressing ,wilfrid1 8is  to notice    
that you suffer from being near her40   
8,near her60 exclaimed the stranger1    
8she has never so much as let  me touch 
her hand4 ,when she saw me for the first
 time her glance  intimidated me2 she   
said3 #8,you are welcome here1 for you  
were to come4'  ,i fancied that she knew
 me4 ,i trembled4 ,it is fear that      
forces me to  believe in her40    8,with
 me it is love10 said ,minna1 without a 
blush4    8,are you making fun of me80  
said ,monsieur ,becker1 laughing        

good-humoredly2 8you my daughter1 in    
calling yourself a ,spirit of ,love1    
and you1 ,monsieur ,wilfrid1 in         
pretending to be a ,spirit of ,wisdom80 
,he drank a glass of beer and so did not
 see the singular look which  ,wilfrid  
cast upon ,minna4    8,jesting apart10  
resumed the old gentleman1 8,i have been
 much astonished  to hear that these two
 mad-caps ascended to the summit of the 
,falberg2  it must be a girlish         
exaggeration2 they probably went to the 
crest of a  ledge4 ,it is impossible to 
reach the peaks of the ,falberg40       
8,if so1 father10 said ,minna1 in an    
agitated voice1 8,i must have been      
under the power of a spirit2 for indeed 
we reached the summit of the            
,ice-,cap40    8,this is really         
serious10 said ,monsieur ,becker4       
8,minna is always  truthful40           
8,monsieur ,becker10 said ,wilfrid1 8,i 
swear to you that ,seraphita  exercises 
such extraordinary power over me that ,i
 know no language in  which ,i can give 

you the least idea of it4 ,she has      
revealed to me things  known to myself  
alone40    8,somnambulism60 said the old
 man4 8,a great many such effects are   
related  by ,jean ,wier as phenomena    
easily explained and formerly observed  
in  ,egypt40    8,lend me ,swedenborg's 
theosophical works10 said ,wilfrid1 8and
 let me  plunge into those gulfs of     
light1--you have given me a thirst for  
them40    ,monsieur ,becker took down a 
volume and gave it to his guest1 who    
instantly began to read it4 ,it was     
about nine o'clock in the evening4  ,the
 serving-woman brought in the supper4   
,minna made tea4 ,the repast  over1 each
 turned silently to his or her          
occupation2 the pastor read the         
,incantations2 ,wilfrid pursued the     
spirit of ,swedenborg2 and the young    
girl continued to sew1 her mind absorbed
 in recollections4 ,it was a true       
,norwegian evening--peaceful1 studious1 
and domestic2 full of thoughts1  flowers
 blooming beneath the snow4 ,wilfrid1 as

 he devoured the pages of  the prophet1 
lived by his inner senses only2 the     
pastor1 looking up at  times from his   
book1 called ,minna's attention to the  
absorption of  their guest with an air  
that was half-serious1 half-jesting4 ,to
 ,minna's  thoughts the face of         
,seraphitus smiled upon her as it       
hovered above the  clouds of smoke which
 enveloped them4 ,the clock struck      
twelve4 ,suddenly  the outer door was   
opened violently4 ,heavy but hurried    
steps1 the steps  of a terrified old    
man1 were heard in the narrow vestibule 
between the  two doors2 then ,david     
burst into the parlor4    8,danger1     
danger60 he cried4 8,come6 come1 all6   
,the evil spirits are  unchained6 ,fiery
 mitres are on their heads6 ,demons1    
,vertumni1 ,sirens6  they tempt her as  
,jesus was tempted on the mountain6     
,come1 come6 and  drive them away40     
8,do you not recognize the language of  
,swedenborg80 said the pastor1          
laughing1 to ,wilfrid4 8,here it is2    

pure from the source40    ,but ,wilfrid 
and ,minna were gazing in terror at old 
,david1 who1 with hair  erect1 and eyes 
distraught1 his legs trembling and      
covered with snow1  for he had come     
without snow-shoes1 stood swaying from  
side to side1 as  if some boisterous    
wind were shaking him4    8,is he       
harmed80 cried ,minna4    8,the devils  
hope and try to conquer her10 replied   
the old man4    ,the words made         
,wilfrid's pulses throb4    8,for the   
last five hours she has stood erect1 her
 eyes raised to heaven  and her arms    
extended2 she suffers1 she cries to     
,god4 ,i cannot cross the  barrier2     
,hell has posted the ,vertumni as       
sentinels4 ,they have set up an  iron   
wall between her and her old ,david4    
,she wants me1 but what can ,i  do8 ,oh1
 help me6 help me6 ,come and pray60     
,the old man's despair was terrible to  
see4    8,the ,light of ,god is         
defending her10 he went on1 with        
infectious faith1  8but oh6 she might   

yield to violence40    8,silence1       
,david6 you are raving4 ,this is a      
matter to be verified4 ,we  will go with
 you10 said the pastor1 8and you shall  
see that there are no  ,vertumni1 nor   
,satans1 nor ,sirens1 in that house40   
8,your father is blind10 whispered      
,david to ,minna4    ,wilfrid1 on whom  
the reading of ,swedenborg's first      
treatise1 which he  had rapidly gone    
through1 had produced a powerful effect1
 was already in  the corridor putting on
 his skees2 ,minna was ready in a few   
moments1 and  both left the old men far 
behind as they darted forward to the    
,swedish  castle4    8,do you hear that 
cracking sound80 said ,wilfrid4    8,the
 ice of the fiord stirs10 answered      
,minna2 8the spring is coming40         
,wilfrid was silent4 ,when the two      
reached the courtyard they were         
conscious that they had neither the     
faculty nor the strength to enter  the  
house4    8,what think you of her80     
asked ,wilfrid4    8,see that radiance60

 cried ,minna1 going towards the window 
of the salon4  8,he is there6 ,how      
beautiful6 ,o my ,seraphitus1 take me60 
,the exclamation was uttered inwardly4  
,she saw ,seraphitus standing erect1    
lightly swathed in an opal-tinted mist  
that disappeared at a little  distance  
from the body1 which seemed almost      
phosphorescent4    8,how beautiful she  
is60 cried ,wilfrid1 mentally4    ,just 
then ,monsieur ,becker arrived1 followed
 by ,david2 he saw his  daughter and    
guest standing before the window2 going 
up to them1 he  looked into the salon   
and said quietly1 8,well1 my good       
,david1 she is  only saying her         
prayers40    8,ah1 but try to enter1    
,monsieur40    8,why disturb those who  
pray80 answered the pastor4    ,at this 
instant the moon1 rising above the      
,falberg1 cast its rays upon  the       
window4 ,all three turned round1        
attracted by this natural effect  which 
made them quiver2 when they turned back 
to again look at ,seraphita  she had    

disappeared4    8,how strange60         
exclaimed ,wilfrid4    8,i hear         
delightful sounds10 said ,minna4        
8,well10 said the pastor1 8it is all    
plain enough2 she is going to bed40     
,david had entered the house4 ,the      
others took their way back in silence2  
none of them interpreted the vision in  
the same manner1--,monsieur ,becker     
doubted1 ,minna adored1 ,wilfrid longed4
    ,wilfrid was a man about thirty-six 
years of age4 ,his figure1 though       
broadly developed1 was not wanting in   
symmetry4 ,like most men who            
distinguish themselves above their      
fellows1 he was of medium height2 his   
chest and shoulders were broad1 and his 
neck short1--a characteristic of  those 
whose hearts are near their heads2 his  
hair was black1 thick1 and  fine2 his   
eyes1 of a yellow brown1 had1 as it     
were1 a solar brilliancy1  which        
proclaimed with what avidity his nature 
aspired to ,light4 ,though  these strong
 and virile features were defective     

through the absence  of an inward       
peace1--granted only to a life without  
storms or  conflicts1--they plainly     
showed the inexhaustible resources of   
impetuous  senses and the appetites of  
instinct2 just as every motion revealed 
the perfection of the man's physical    
apparatus1 the flexibility of  his      
senses1 and their fidelity when brought 
into play4 ,this man might  contend with
 savages1 and hear1 as they do1 the     
tread of enemies in  distant forests2 he
 could follow a scent in the air1 a     
trail on the  ground1 or see on the     
horizon the signal of a friend4 ,his    
sleep was  light1 like that of all      
creatures who will not allow themselves 
to be  surprised4 ,his body came quickly
 into harmony with the climate of any   
country where his tempestuous life      
conducted him4 ,art and science would   
have admired his organization in the    
light of a human model4 ,everything     
about him was symmetrical and           
well-balanced1--action and heart1       

intelligence and will4 ,at first sight  
he might be classed among purely        
instinctive beings1 who give themselves 
blindly up to the material wants  of    
life2 but in the very morning of his    
days he had flung himself into  a higher
 social world1 with which his feelings  
harmonized2 study had  widened his mind1
 reflection had sharpened his power of  
thought1 and the  sciences had enlarged 
his understanding4 ,he had studied human
 laws1--the  working of self-interests  
brought into conflict by the passions1  
and he  seemed to have early            
familiarized himself with the           
abstractions on which  societies rest4  
,he had pored over books1--those deeds  
of dead humanity2  he had spent whole   
nights of pleasure in every ,european   
capital2 he had  slept on fields of     
battle the night before the combat and  
the night that  followed victory4 ,his  
stormy youth may have flung him on the  
deck of  some corsair and sent him among
 the contrasting regions of the globe2  

thus it was that he knew the actions of 
a living humanity4 ,he knew the  present
 and the past1--a double history2 that  
of to-day1 that of other  days4 ,many   
men have been1 like ,wilfrid1 equally   
powerful by the ,hand1 by  the ,heart1  
by the ,head2 like him1 the majority    
have abused their triple  power4 ,but   
though this man still held by certain   
outward liens to the  slimy side of     
humanity1 he belonged also and          
positively to the sphere  where force is
 intelligent4 ,in spite of the many     
veils which enveloped  his soul1 there  
were certain ineffable symptoms of this 
fact which were  visible to pure        
spirits1 to the eyes of the child whose 
innocence has  known no breath of evil  
passions1 to the eyes of the old man who
 has  lived to regain his purity4       
,these signs revealed a ,cain for whom  
there was still hope1--one who  seemed  
as though he were seeking absolution    
from the ends of the  earth4 ,minna     
suspected the galley-slave of glory in  

the man2 ,seraphita  recognized him4    
,both admired and both pitied him4      
,whence came their  prescience8 ,nothing
 could be more simple nor yet more      
extraordinary4  ,as soon as we seek to  
penetrate the secrets of ,nature1 where 
nothing  is secret1 and where it is only
 necessary to have the eyes to see1 we  
perceive that the simple produces the   
marvellous4    8,seraphitus10 said      
,minna one evening a few days after     
,wilfrid's arrival  in ,jarvis1 8you    
read the soul of this stranger while ,i 
have only vague  impressions of it4 ,he 
chills me or else he excites me2 but you
 seem to  know the cause of this cold   
and of this heat2 tell me what it means1
 for  you know all about him40    8,yes1
 ,i have seen the causes10 said         
,seraphitus1 lowing his large  eyelids4 
8,by what power80 asked the curious     
,minna4    8,i have the gift of         
,specialism10 he answered4 8,specialism 
is an inward  sight which can penetrate 
all things2 you will only understand its

 full  meaning through a comparison4 ,in
 the great cities of ,europe where works
  are produced by which the human ,hand 
seeks to represent the effects of  the  
moral nature was well as those of the   
physical nature1 there are  glorious men
 who express ideas in marble4 ,the      
sculptor acts on the  stone2 he fashions
 it2 he puts a realm of ideas into it4  
,there  are statues which the hand of   
man has endowed with the faculty of     
representing the noble side of humanity1
 or the whole evil side2 most  men see  
in such marbles a human figure and      
nothing more2 a few other  men1 a little
 higher in the scale of being1 perceive 
a fraction of the  thoughts expressed in
 the statue2 but the ,initiates in the  
secrets of  art are of the same         
intellect as the sculptor2 they see in  
his work  the whole universe of his     
thought4 ,such persons are in themselves
 the  principles of art2 they bear      
within them a mirror which reflects     
nature  in her slightest manifestations4

 ,well6 so it is with me2 ,i have within
  me a mirror before which the moral    
nature1 with its causes and effects1    
appears and is reflected4 ,entering thus
 into the consciousness of others  ,i am
 able to divine both the future and the 
past4 ,how8 do you still ask  how8      
,imagine that the marble statue is the  
body of a man1 a piece of  statuary in  
which we see the emotion1 sentiment1    
passion1 vice or crime1  virtue or      
repentance which the creating hand has  
put into it1 and  you will then         
comprehend how it is that ,i read the   
soul of this  foreigner--though what ,i 
have said does not explain the gift of  
,specialism2 for to conceive the nature 
of that gift we must possess it40       
,though ,wilfrid belonged to the two    
first divisions of humanity1 the men  of
 force and the men of thought1 yet his  
excesses1 his tumultuous life1  and his 
misdeeds had often turned him towards   
,faith2 for doubt has two  sides2 a side
 to the light and a side to the         

darkness4 ,wilfrid had too  closely     
clasped the world under its forms of    
,matter and of ,mind not to  have       
acquired that thirst for the unknown1   
that longing to go beyond  which lay    
their grasp upon the men who know1 and  
wish1 and will4  ,but neither his       
knowledge1 nor his actions1 nor his     
will1 had found  direction4 ,he had fled
 from social life from necessity2 as a  
great  criminal seeks the cloister4     
,remorse1 that virtue of weak beings1   
did not touch him4 ,remorse is          
impotence1 impotence which sins again4  
,repentance alone is powerful2 it ends  
all4 ,but in traversing the world1      
which he made his cloister1 ,wilfrid had
 found no balm for his wounds2 he  saw  
nothing in nature to which he could     
attach himself4 ,in him1 despair  had   
dried the sources of desire4 ,he was one
 of those beings who1 having  gone      
through all passions and come out       
victorious1 have nothing more to  raise 
in their hot-beds1 and who1 lacking     

opportunity to put themselves  at the   
head of their fellow-men to trample     
under iron heel entire  populations1    
buy1 at the price of a horrible         
martyrdom1 the faculty of  ruining      
themselves in some belief1--rocks       
sublime1 which await the touch  of a    
wand that comes not to bring the waters 
gushing from their far-off  spring4     
,led by a scheme of his restless1       
inquiring life to the shores of ,norway1
  the sudden arrival of winter had      
detained the wanderer at ,jarvis4 ,the  
day on which1 for the first time1 he saw
 ,seraphita1 the whole past of  his life
 faded from his mind4 ,the young girl   
excited emotions which he  had thought  
could never be revived4 ,the ashes gave 
forth a lingering  flame at the first   
murmurings of that voice4 ,who has ever 
felt himself  return to youth and purity
 after growing cold and numb with age   
and  soiled with impurity8 ,suddenly1   
,wilfrid loved as he had never loved2 he
  loved secretly1 with faith1 with fear1

 with inward madness4 ,his life was     
stirred to the very source of his being 
at the mere thought of seeing           
,seraphita4 ,as he listened to her he   
was transported into unknown worlds2  he
 was mute before her1 she magnetized    
him4 ,there1 beneath the snows1  among  
the glaciers1 bloomed the celestial     
flower to which his hopes1 so  long     
betrayed1 aspired2 the sight of which   
awakened ideas of freshness1  purity1   
and faith which grouped about his soul  
and lifted it to higher  regions1--as   
,angels bear to heaven the ,elect in    
those symbolic pictures  inspired by the
 guardian spirit of a great master4     
,celestial perfumes  softened the       
granite hardness of the rocky scene2    
light endowed with  speech shed its     
divine melodies on the path of him who  
looked to heaven4  ,after emptying the  
cup of terrestrial love which his teeth 
had bitten as  he drank it1 he saw      
before him the chalice of salvation     
where the limpid  waters sparkled1      

making thirsty for ineffable delights   
whoever dare  apply his lips burning    
with a faith so strong that the crystal 
shall not  be shattered4    ,but        
,wilfrid now encountered the wall of    
brass for which he had been  seeking up 
and down the earth4 ,he went impetuously
 to ,seraphita1 meaning  to express the 
whole force and bearing of a passion    
under which he  bounded like the fabled 
horse beneath the iron horseman1 firm in
 his  saddle1 whom nothing moves while  
the efforts of the fiery animal only    
made the rider heavier and more solid4  
,he sought her to relate his  life1--to 
prove the grandeur of his soul by the   
grandeur of his faults1  to show the    
ruins of his desert4 ,but no sooner had 
he crossed  her threshold1 and found    
himself within the zone of those eyes of
  scintillating azure1 that met no      
limits forward and left none behind1    
than he grew calm and submissive1 as a  
lion1 springing on his prey in  the     
plains of ,africa1 receives from the    

wings of the wind a message  of love1   
and stops his bound4 ,a gulf opened     
before him1 into which his  frenzied    
words fell and disappeared1 and from    
which uprose a voice which  changed his 
being2 he became as a child1 a child of 
sixteen1 timid and  frightened before   
this maiden with serene brow1 this white
 figure whose  inalterable calm was like
 the cruel impassibility of human       
justice4 ,the  combat between them had  
never ceased until this evening1 when   
with a  glance she brought him down1 as 
a falcon making his dizzy spirals in    
the air around his prey causes it to    
fall stupefied to earth1 before         
carrying it to his eyrie4    ,we may    
note within ourselves many a long       
struggle the end of which is  one of our
 own actions1--struggles which are1 as  
it were1 the reverse  side of humanity4 
,this reverse side belongs to ,god2 the 
obverse side to  men4 ,more than once   
,seraphita had proved to ,wilfrid that  
she knew this  hidden and ever varied   

side1 which is to the majority of men a 
second  being4 ,often she said to him in
 her dove-like voice3 8,why all this    
vehemence80 when on his way to her he   
had sworn she should be his4  ,wilfrid  
was1 however1 strong enough to raise the
 cry of revolt to which  he had given   
utterance in ,monsieur ,becker's study4 
,the narrative of  the old pastor had   
calmed him4 ,sceptical and derisive as  
he was1 he saw  belief like a sidereal  
brilliance dawning on his life4 ,he     
asked himself  if ,seraphita were not an
 exile from the higher spheres seeking  
the  homeward way4 ,the fanciful        
deifications of all ordinary lovers he  
could  not give to this lily of ,norway 
in whose divinity he believed4 ,why     
lived  she here beside this fiord8 ,what
 did she8 ,questions that received no   
answer filled his mind4 ,above all1 what
 was about to happen between  them8     
,what fate had brought him there8 ,to   
him1 ,seraphita was the  motionless     
marble1 light nevertheless as a vapor1  

which ,minna had seen  that day poised  
above the precipices of the ,falberg4   
,could she thus  stand on the edge of   
all gulfs without danger1 without a     
tremor of the  arching eyebrows1 or a   
quiver of the light of the eye8 ,if his 
love was  to be without hope1 it was not
 without curiosity4    ,from the moment 
when ,wilfrid suspected the ethereal    
nature of the  enchantress who had told 
him the secrets of his life in melodious
  utterance1 he had longed to try to    
subject her1 to keep her to himself1  to
 tear her from the heaven where1        
perhaps1 she was awaited4 ,earth and    
,humanity seized their prey2 he would   
imitate them4 ,his pride1 the only      
sentiment through which man can long be 
exalted1 would make him happy in  this  
triumph for the rest of his life4 ,the  
idea sent the blood boiling  through his
 veins1 and his heart swelled4 ,if he   
did not succeed1 he  would destroy      
her1--it is so natural to destroy that  
which we cannot  possess1 to deny what  

we cannot comprehend1 to insult that    
which we  envy4    ,on the morrow1      
,wilfrid1 laden with ideas which the    
extraordinary events  of the previous   
night naturally awakened in his mind1   
resolved to  question ,david1 and went  
to find him on the pretext of asking    
after  ,seraphita's health4 ,though     
,monsieur ,becker spoke of the old      
servant as  falling into dotage1        
,wilfrid relied on his own perspicacity 
to discover  scraps of truth in the     
torrent of the old man's rambling talk4 
,david had the immovable1 undecided1    
physiognomy of an octogenarian4  ,under 
his white hair lay a forehead lined with
 wrinkles like the stone  courses of a  
ruined wall2 and his face was furrowed  
like the bed of a  dried-up torrent4    
,his life seemed to have retreated      
wholly to the eyes1  where light still  
shone1 though its gleams were obscured  
by a mistiness  which seemed to indicate
 either an active mental alienation or  
the  stupid stare of drunkenness4 ,his  

slow and heavy movements betrayed the   
glacial weight of age1 and communicated 
an icy influence to whoever  allowed    
themselves to look long at him1--for he 
possessed the magnetic  force of torpor4
 ,his limited intelligence was only     
roused by the sight1  the hearing1 or   
the recollection of his mistress4 ,she  
was the soul of  this wholly material   
fragment of an existence4 ,any one      
seeing ,david  alone by himself would   
have thought him a corpse2 let          
,seraphita enter1  let her voice be     
heard1 or a mention of her be made1 and 
the dead came  forth from his grave and 
recovered speech and motion4 ,the dry   
bones  were not more truly awakened by  
the divine breath in the valley of      
,jehoshaphat1 and never was that        
apocalyptic vision better realized than 
in this ,lazarus issuing from the       
sepulchre into life at the voice of  a  
young girl4 ,his language1 which was    
always figurative and often             
incomprehensible1 prevented the         

inhabitants of the village from talking 
with him2 but they respected a mind that
 deviated so utterly from common        
ways1--a thing which the masses         
instinctively admire4    ,wilfrid found 
him in the antechamber1 apparently      
asleep beside the  stove4 ,like a dog   
who recognizes a friend of the family1  
the old man  raised his eyes1 saw the   
foreigner1 and did not stir4    8,where 
is she80 inquired ,wilfrid1 sitting down
 beside him4    ,david fluttered his    
fingers in the air as if to express the 
flight of a  bird4    8,does she still  
suffer80 asked ,wilfrid4    8,beings    
vowed to ,heaven are able so to suffer  
that suffering does not  lessen their   
love2 this is the mark of the true      
faith10 answered the old  man1 solemnly1
 like an instrument which1 on being     
touched1 gives forth  an accidental     
note4    8,who taught you those words80 
8,the ,spirit40    8,what happened to   
her last night8 ,did you force your way 
past the  ,vertumni standing sentinel8  

did you evade the ,mammons80    8,yes02 
answered ,david1 as though awaking from 
a dream4    ,the misty gleam of his eyes
 melted into a ray that came direct from
  the soul and made it by degrees       
brilliant as that of an eagle1 as       
intelligent as that of a poet4    8,what
 did you see80 asked ,wilfrid1          
astonished at this sudden change4    8,i
 saw ,species and ,shapes2 ,i heard the 
,spirit of all things2 ,i beheld  the   
revolt of the ,evil ,ones2 ,i listened  
to the words of the ,good4 ,seven       
devils came1 and seven archangels       
descended from on high4 ,the archangels 
stood apart and looked on through veils4
 ,the devils were close by2 they  shone1
 they acted4 ,mammon came on his pearly 
shell in the shape of a  beautiful naked
 woman2 her snowy body dazzled the eye1 
no human form  ever equalled it2 and he 
said1 #8,i am ,pleasure2 thou shalt     
possess me6'  ,lucifer1 prince of       
serpents1 was there in sovereign robes2 
his ,manhood  was glorious as the beauty

 of an angel1 and he said1 #8,humanity  
shall be  at thy feet6' ,the ,queen of  
misers1--she who gives back naught that 
she  has ever received1--the ,sea1 came 
wrapped in her virent mantle2 she       
opened her bosom1 she showed her gems1  
she brought forth her treasures  and    
offered them2 waves of sapphire and of  
emerald came at her bidding2  her hidden
 wonders stirred1 they rose to the      
surface of her breast1 they  spoke2 the 
rarest pearl of ,ocean spread its       
iridescent wings and gave  voice to its 
marine melodies1 saying1 #8,twin        
daughter of suffering1 we  are sisters6 
await me2 let us go together2 all ,i    
need is to become a  ,woman4' ,the ,bird
 with the wings of an eagle and the paws
 of a lion1 the  head of a woman and the
 body of a horse1 the ,animal1 fell down
 before  her and licked her feet1 and   
promised seven hundred years of plenty  
to  her best-beloved daughter4 ,then    
came the most formidable of all1 the    
,child1 weeping at her knees1 and       

saying1 #8,wilt thou leave me1 feeble   
and suffering as ,i am8 oh1 my mother1  
stay6' and he played with her1  and shed
 languor on the air1 and the ,heavens   
themselves had pity for  his wail4 ,the 
,virgin of pure song brought forth her  
choirs to relax the  soul4 ,the ,kings  
of the ,east came with their slaves1    
their armies1 and  their women2 the     
,wounded asked her for succor1 the      
,sorrowful stretched  forth their hands3
 #8,do not leave us6 do not leave us6'  
they cried4 ,i1  too1 ,i cried1 #8,do   
not leave us6 we adore thee6 stay6'     
,flowers1 bursting  from the seed1      
bathed her in their fragrance which     
uttered1 #8,stay6' ,the  giant ,enakim  
came forth from ,jupiter1 leading ,gold 
and its friends and  all the ,spirits of
 the ,astral ,regions which are joined  
with him1 and  they said1 #8,we are     
thine for seven hundred years4' ,at last
 came ,death on  his pale horse1 crying1
 #8,i will obey thee6' ,one and all fell
 prostrate  before her4 ,could you but  

have seen them6 ,they covered as it were
 a vast  plain1 and they cried aloud to 
her1 #8,we have nurtured thee1 thou art 
our  child2 do not abandon us6' ,at     
length ,life issued from her ,ruby      
,waters1  and said1 #8,i will not leave 
thee6' then1 finding ,seraphita silent1 
she  flamed upon her as the sun1 crying 
out1 #8,i am light6' #8,the light  is   
there6' cried ,seraphita1 pointing to   
the clouds where stood the  archangels2 
but she was wearied out2 ,desire had    
wrung her nerves1 she  could only cry1  
#8,my ,god6 my ,god6' ,ah6 many an      
,angelic ,spirit1 scaling  the mountain 
and nigh to the summit1 has set his foot
 upon a rolling  stone which plunged him
 back into the abyss6 ,all these lost   
,spirits  adored her constancy2 they    
stood around her1--a choir without a    
song1--weeping and whispering1          
#8,courage6' ,at last she conquered2    
,desire--let loose upon her in every    
,shape and every ,species--was          
vanquished4 ,she stood in prayer1 and   

when at last her eyes were lifted  she  
saw the feet of ,angels circling in the 
,heavens40    8,she saw the feet of     
,angels80 repeated ,wilfrid4    8,yes10 
said the old man4    8,was it a dream   
that she told you80 asked ,wilfrid4     
8,a dream as real as your life10        
answered ,david2 8,i was there40    ,the
 calm assurance of the old servant      
affected ,wilfrid powerfully4  ,he went 
away asking himself whether these       
visions were any less  extraordinary    
than those he had read of in ,swedenborg
 the night before4    8,if ,spirits     
exist1 they must act10 he was saying to 
himself as he  entered the parsonage1   
where he found ,monsieur ,becker alone4 
8,dear pastor10 he said1 8,seraphita is 
connected with us in form only1  and    
even that form is inexplicable4 ,do not 
think me a madman or a lover2  a        
profound conviction cannot be argued    
with4 ,convert my belief into           
scientific theories1 and let us try to  
enlighten each other4 ,to-morrow        

evening we shall both be with her40     
8,what then80 said ,monsieur ,becker4   
8,if her eye ignores space10 replied    
,wilfrid1 8if her thought is an         
intelligent sight which enables her to  
perceive all things in their  essence1  
and to connect them with the general    
evolution of the universe1  if1 in a    
word1 she sees and knows all1 let us    
seat the ,pythoness on her  tripod1 let 
us force this pitiless eagle by threats 
to spread its wings6  ,help me6 ,i      
breathe a fire which burns my vitals2 ,i
 must quench it or it  will consume me4 
,i have found a prey at last1 and it    
shall be mine60    8,the conquest will  
be difficult10 said the pastor1 8because
 this girl  is--0    8,is what80 cried  
,wilfrid4    8,mad10 said the old man4  
8,i will not dispute her madness1 but   
neither must you dispute her  wonderful 
powers4 ,dear ,monsieur ,becker1 she has
 often confounded me with  her learning4
 ,has she travelled80    8,from her     
house to the fiord1 no further40        

8,never left this place60 exclaimed     
,wilfrid4 8,then she must have read     
immensely40    8,not a page1 not one    
iota6 ,i am the only person who         
possesses any books  in ,jarvis4 ,the   
works of ,swedenborg--the only books    
that were in the  chateau--you see      
before you4 ,she has never looked into a
 single one of  them40    8,have you    
tried to talk with her80    8,what good 
would that do80    8,does no one live   
with her in that house80    8,she has no
 friends but you and ,minna1 nor any    
servant except old  ,david40    8,it    
cannot be that she knows nothing of     
science nor of art40    8,who should    
teach her80 said the pastor4    8,but if
 she can discuss such matters           
pertinently1 as she has often done  with
 me1 what do you make of it80    8,the  
girl may have acquired through years of 
silence the faculties  enjoyed by       
,apollonius of ,tyana and other         
pretended sorcerers burned  by the      
,inquisition1 which did not choose to   

admit the fact of  second-sight40       
8,if she can speak ,arabic1 what would  
you say to that80    8,the history of   
medical science gives many authentic    
instances of girls  who have spoken     
languages entirely unknown to them40    
8,what can ,i do80 exclaimed ,wilfrid4  
8,she knows of secrets in my past  life 
known only to me40    8,i shall be      
curious if she can tell me thoughts that
 ,i have confided to  no living person10
 said ,monsieur ,becker4    ,minna      
entered the room4    8,well1 my         
daughter1 and how is your familiar      
spirit80    8,he suffers1 father10 she  
answered1 bowing to ,wilfrid4 8,human   
passions1  clothed in their false       
riches1 surrounded him all night1 and   
showed him  all the glories of the      
world4 ,but you think these things mere 
tales40    8,tales as beautiful to those
 who read them in their brains as the   
#8,arabian ,nights' to common minds10   
said the pastor1 smiling4    8,did not  
,satan carry our ,savior to the pinnacle

 of the ,temple1 and show  him all the  
kingdoms of the world80 she said4       
8,the ,evangelists10 replied her father1
 8did not correct their copies  very    
carefully1 and several versions are in  
existence40    8,you believe in the     
reality of these visions80 said ,wilfrid
 to ,minna4    8,who can doubt when he  
relates them40    8,he80 demanded       
,wilfrid4 8,who80    8,he who is there10
 replied ,minna1 motioning towards the  
chateau4    8,are you speaking of       
,seraphita80 he said4    ,the young girl
 bent her head1 and looked at him with  
an expression of  gentle mischief4      
8,you too60 exclaimed ,wilfrid1 8you    
take pleasure in confounding me4 ,who   
and what is she8 ,what do you think of  
her80    8,what ,i feel is              
inexplicable10 said ,minna1 blushing4   
8,you are all crazy60 cried the pastor4 
8,farewell1 until to-morrow evening10   
said ,wilfrid4          ,,chapter ,,iv4 
,,the ,,clouds ,,of ,,the ,,sanctuary   
,there are pageants in which all the    

material splendors that man arrays      
co-operate4 ,nations of slaves and      
divers have searched the sands of  ocean
 and the bowels of earth for the pearls 
and diamonds which adorn  the           
spectators4 ,transmitted as heirlooms   
from generation to generation1  these   
treasures have shone on consecrated     
brows and could be the most  faithful of
 historians had they speech4 ,they know 
the joys and sorrows  of the great and  
those of the small4 ,everywhere do they 
go2 they are  worn with pride at        
festivals1 carried in despair to        
usurers1 borne off  in triumph amid     
blood and pillage1 enshrined in         
masterpieces conceived  by art for their
 protection4 ,none1 except the pearl of 
,cleopatra1  has been lost4 ,the ,great 
and the ,fortunate assemble to witness  
the  coronation of some king1 whose     
trappings are the work of men's hands1  
but the purple of whose raiment is less 
glorious than that of the  flowers of   
the field4 ,these festivals1 splendid in

 light1 bathed in  music which the hand 
of man creates1 aye1 all the triumphs of
 that hand  are subdued by a thought1   
crushed by a sentiment4 ,the ,mind can  
illumine  in a man and round a man a    
light more vivid1 can open his ear to   
more  melodious harmonies1 can seat him 
on clouds of shining constellations  and
 teach him to question them4 ,the ,heart
 can do still greater things4  ,man may 
come into the presence of one sole being
 and find in a single  word1 a single   
look1 an influence so weighty to bear1  
of so luminous a  light1 so penetrating 
a sound1 that he succumbs and kneels    
before it4  ,the most real of all       
splendors are not in outward things1    
they are  within us4 ,a single secret of
 science is a realm of wonders to the   
man  of learning4 ,do the trumpets of   
,power1 the jewels of ,wealth1 the music
  of ,joy1 or a vast concourse of people
 attend his mental festival8 ,no1 he    
finds his glory in some dim retreat     
where1 perchance1 a pallid suffering    

man whispers a single word into his ear2
 that word1 like a torch lighted  in a  
mine1 reveals to him a ,science4 ,all   
human ideas1 arrayed in every           
attractive form which ,mystery can      
invent surrounded a blind man seated  in
 a wayside ditch4 ,three worlds1 the    
,natural1 the ,spiritual1 the  ,divine1 
with all their spheres1 opened their    
portals to a ,florentine  exile2 he     
walked attended by the ,happy and the   
,unhappy2 by those who  prayed and those
 who moaned2 by angels and by souls in  
hell4 ,when the  ,sent of ,god1 who knew
 and could accomplish all things1       
appeared to three  of his disciples it  
was at eventide1 at the common table of 
the humblest  of inns2 and then and     
there the ,light broke forth1 shattering
 ,material  ,forms1 illuminating the    
,spiritual ,faculties1 so that they saw 
him in his  glory1 and the earth lay at 
their feet like a cast-off sandal4      
,monsieur ,becker1 ,wilfrid1 and ,minna 
were all under the influence of fear  as

 they took their way to meet the        
extraordinary being whom each desired   
to question4 ,to them1 in their several 
ways1 the ,swedish castle had  grown to 
mean some gigantic representation1 some 
spectacle like those  whose colors and  
masses are skilfully and harmoniously   
marshalled by the  poets1 and whose     
personages1 imaginary actors to men1 are
 real to  those who begin to penetrate  
the ,spiritual ,world4 ,on the tiers of 
this  ,coliseum ,monsieur ,becker seated
 the gray legions of ,doubt1 the stern  
ideas1 the specious formulas of         
,dispute4 ,he convoked the various      
antagonistic worlds of philosophy and   
religion1 and they all appeared1  in the
 guise of a fleshless shape1 like that  
in which art embodies  ,time1--an old   
man bearing in one hand a scythe1 in the
 other a broken  globe1 the human       
universe4    ,wilfrid had bidden to the 
scene his earliest illusions and his    
latest  hopes1 human destiny and its    
conflicts1 religion and its conquering  

powers4    ,minna saw heaven confusedly 
by glimpses2 love raised a curtain      
wrought  with mysterious images1 and the
 melodious sounds which met her ear     
redoubled her curiosity4    ,to all     
three1 therefore1 this evening was to be
 what that other evening  had been for  
the pilgrims to ,emmaus1 what a vision  
was to ,dante1 an  inspiration to       
,homer1--to them1 three aspects of the  
world revealed1  veils rent away1 doubts
 dissipated1 darkness illumined4        
,humanity in all  its moods expecting   
light could not be better represented   
than here by  this young girl1 this man 
in the vigor of his age1 and these old  
men1  of whom one was learned enough to 
doubt1 the other ignorant enough  to    
believe4 ,never was any scene more      
simple in appearance1 nor more          
portentous in reality4    ,when they    
entered the room1 ushered in by old     
,david1 they found  ,seraphita standing 
by a table on which were served the     
various dishes  which compose a 8tea02 a

 form of collation which in the ,north  
takes the  place of wine and its        
pleasures1--reserved more exclusively   
for ,southern  climes4 ,certainly       
nothing proclaimed in her1 or in him1 a 
being with the  strange power of        
appearing under two distinct forms2     
nothing about her  betrayed the manifold
 powers which she wielded4 ,like a      
careful housewife  attending to the     
comfort of her guests1 she ordered      
,david to put more  wood into the stove4
    8,good evening1 my neighbors10 she  
said4 8,dear ,monsieur ,becker1 you do  
right to come2 you see me living for the
 last time1 perhaps4 ,this winter  has  
killed me4 ,will you sit there80 she    
said to ,wilfrid4 8,and you1  ,minna1   
here80 pointing to a chair beside her4  
8,i see you have brought  your          
embroidery4 ,did you invent that stitch8
 the design is very pretty4  ,for whom  
is it1--your father1 or monsieur80 she  
added1 turning to  ,wilfrid4 8,surely we
 ought to give him1 before we part1 a   

remembrance of  the daughters of        
,norway40    8,did you suffer much      
yesterday80 asked ,wilfrid4    8,it was 
nothing10 she answered2 8the suffering  
gladdened me2 it was  necessary1 to     
enable me to leave this life40    8,then
 death does not alarm you80 said        
,monsieur ,becker1 smiling1 for he  did 
not think her ill4    8,no1 dear pastor2
 there are two ways of dying3 to some1  
death is  victory1 to others1 defeat40  
8,do you think that you have conquered80
 asked ,minna4    8,i do not know10 she 
said1 8perhaps ,i have only taken a step
 in the  path40    ,the lustrous        
splendor of her brow grew dim1 her eyes 
were veiled beneath  slow-dropping lids2
 a simple movement which affected the   
prying guests  and kept them silent4    
,monsieur ,becker was the first to      
recover courage4    8,dear child10 he   
said1 8you are truth itself1 and you are
 ever kind4  ,i would ask of you        
to-night something other than the       
dainties of your  tea-table4 ,if we may 

believe certain persons1 you know       
amazing things2  if this be true1 would 
it not be charitable in you to solve a  
few of our  doubts80    8,ah60 she said 
smiling1 8,i walk on the clouds4 ,i     
visit the depths of  the fiord2 the sea 
is my steed and ,i bridle it2 ,i know   
where the singing  flower grows1 and the
 talking light descends1 and fragrant   
colors shine6  ,i wear the seal of      
,solomon2 ,i am a fairy2 ,i cast my     
orders to the wind  which1 like an      
abject slave1 fulfils them2 my eyes can 
pierce the earth  and behold its        
treasures2 for lo6 am ,i not the virgin 
to whom the pearls  dart from their     
ocean depths and--0    8--who led me    
safely to the summit of the ,falberg80  
said ,minna1  interrupting her4         
8,thou6 thou too60 exclaimed the strange
 being1 with a luminous glance  at the  
young girl which filled her soul with   
trouble4 8,had ,i not the  faculty of   
reading through your foreheads the      
desires which have brought  you here1   

should ,i be what you think ,i am80 she 
said1 encircling all  three with her    
controlling glance1 to ,david's great   
satisfaction4 ,the  old man rubbed his  
hands with pleasure as he left the room4
    8,ah60 she resumed after a pause1   
8you have come1 all of you1 with the    
curiosity of children4 ,you1 my poor    
,monsieur ,becker1 have asked yourself  
how it was possible that a girl of      
seventeen should know even a single  one
 of those secrets which men of science  
seek with their noses to the            
earth1--instead of raising their eyes to
 heaven4 ,were ,i to tell you how  and  
at what point the plant merges into the 
animal you would begin  to doubt your   
doubts4 ,you have plotted to question   
me2 you will admit  that80    8,yes1    
dear ,seraphita10 answered ,wilfrid2    
8but the desire is a natural  one to    
men1 is it not80    8,you will bore this
 dear child with such topics10 she said1
 passing her  hand lightly over ,minna's
 hair with a caressing gesture4    ,the 

young girl raised her eyes and seemed as
 though she longed to lose  herself in  
him4    8,speech is the endowment of us 
all10 resumed the mysterious creature1  
gravely4 8,woe to him who keeps silence1
 even in a desert1 believing  that no   
one hears him2 all voices speak and all 
ears listen here below4  ,speech moves  
the universe4 ,monsieur ,becker1 ,i     
desire to say nothing  unnecessarily4 ,i
 know the difficulties that beset your  
mind2 would you  not think it a miracle 
if ,i were now to lay bare the past     
history of  your consciousness8 ,well1  
the miracle shall be accomplished4 ,you 
have  never admitted to yourself the    
full extent of your doubts4 ,i alone1   
immovable in my faith1 ,i can show it to
 you2 ,i can terrify you with  yourself4
    8,you stand on the darkest side of  
,doubt4 ,you do not believe in          
,god1--although you know it not1--and   
all things here below are secondary  to 
him who rejects the first principle of  
things4 ,let us leave aside the         

fruitless discussions of false          
philosophy4 ,the spiritualist           
generations  made as many and as vain   
efforts to deny ,matter as the          
materialist  generations have made to   
deny ,spirit4 ,why such discussions8    
,does not man  himself offer            
irrefragable proof of both systems8 ,do 
we not find in him  material things and 
spiritual things8 ,none but a madman can
 refuse to  see in the human body a     
fragment of ,matter2 your natural       
sciences1 when  they decompose it1 find 
little difference between its elements  
and those  of other animals4 ,on the    
other hand1 the idea produced in man by 
the  comparison of many objects has     
never seemed to any one to belong to the
  domain of ,matter4 ,as to this1 ,i    
offer no opinion4 ,i am now concerned   
with your doubts1 not with my           
certainties4 ,to you1 as to the majority
 of  thinkers1 the relations between    
things1 the reality of which is proved  
to you by your sensations and which you 

possess the faculty to discover1  do not
 seem ,material4 ,the ,natural universe 
of things and beings ends1 in  man1 with
 the ,spiritual universe of similarities
 or differences which  he perceives     
among the innumerable forms of          
,nature1--relations so  multiplied as to
 seem infinite2 for if1 up to the       
present time1 no one  has been able to  
enumerate the separate terrestrial      
creations1 who  can reckon their        
correlations8 ,is not the fraction which
 you know1 in  relation to their        
totality1 what a single number is to    
infinity8 ,here1  then1 you fall into a 
perception of the infinite which        
undoubtedly  obliges you to conceive of 
a purely ,spiritual world4    8,thus man
 himself offers sufficient proof of the 
two orders1--,matter  and ,spirit4 ,in  
him culminates a visible finite         
universe2 in him begins a  universe     
invisible and infinite1--two worlds     
unknown to each other4 ,have  the       
pebbles of the fiord a perception of    

their combined being8 have they  a      
consciousness of the colors they present
 to the eye of man8 do they  hear the   
music of the waves that lap them8 ,let  
us therefore spring over  and not       
attempt to sound the abysmal depths     
presented to our minds in  the union of 
a ,material universe and a ,spiritual   
universe1--a creation  visible1         
ponderable1 tangible1 terminating in a  
creation invisible1  imponderable1      
intangible2 completely dissimilar1      
separated by the void1  yet united by   
indisputable bonds and meeting in a     
being who derives  equally from the one 
and from the other6 ,let us mingle in   
one world  these two worlds1 absolutely 
irreconcilable to your philosophies1 but
  conjoined by fact4 ,however abstract  
man may suppose the relation which      
binds two things together1 the line of  
junction is perceptible4 ,how8  ,where8 
,we are not now in search of the        
vanishing point where ,matter           
subtilizes4 ,if such were the question1 

,i cannot see why ,he who has1 by       
physical relations1 studded with stars  
at immeasurable distances the  heavens  
which veil ,him1 may not have created   
solid substances1 nor why  you deny ,him
 the faculty of giving a body to        
thought4    8,thus your invisible moral 
universe and your visible physical      
universe  are one and the same matter4  
,we will not separate properties from   
substances1 nor objects from effects4   
,all that exists1 all that presses  upon
 us and overwhelms us from above or from
 below1 before us or in  us1 all that   
which our eyes and our minds perceive1  
all these named and  unnamed things     
compose--in order to fit the problem of 
,creation to the  measure of your       
logic--a block of finite ,matter2 but   
were it infinite1  ,god would still not 
be its master4 ,now1 reasoning with your
 views1 dear  pastor1 no matter in what 
way ,god the infinite is concerned with 
this  block of finite ,matter1 ,he      
cannot exist and retain the attributes  

with  which man invests ,him4 ,seek ,him
 in facts1 and ,he is not2 spiritually  
and  materially1 you have made ,god     
impossible4 ,listen to the ,word of     
human  ,reason forced to its ultimate   
conclusions4    8,in bringing ,god face 
to face with the ,great ,whole1 we see  
that only  two states are possible      
between them1--either ,god and ,matter  
are  contemporaneous1 or ,god existed   
alone before ,matter4 ,were             
,reason--the light that has guided the  
human race from the dawn of its         
existence--accumulated in one brain1    
even that mighty brain could not  invent
 a third mode of being without          
suppressing both ,matter and ,god4  ,let
 human philosophies pile mountain upon  
mountain of words and of  ideas1 let    
religions accumulate images and beliefs1
 revelations and  mysteries1 you must   
face at last this terrible dilemma and  
choose  between the two propositions    
which compose it2 you have no option1   
and  one as much as the other leads     

human reason to ,doubt4    8,the problem
 thus established1 what signifies       
,spirit or ,matter8 ,why  trouble about 
the march of the worlds in one direction
 or in another1  since the ,being who   
guides them is shown to be an absurdity8
 ,why  continue to ask whether man is   
approaching heaven or receding from it1 
whether creation is rising towards      
,spirit or descending towards ,matter1  
if the questioned universe gives no     
reply8 ,what signifies theogonies and   
their armies1 theologies and their      
dogmas1 since whichever side of the     
problem is man's choice1 his ,god exists
 not8 ,let us for a moment take up  the 
first proposition1 and suppose ,god     
contemporaneous with ,matter4  ,is      
subjection to the action or the         
co-existence of an alien substance      
consistent with being ,god at all8 ,in  
such a system1 would not ,god become  a 
secondary agent compelled to organize   
,matter8 ,if so1 who compelled  ,him8   
,between ,his material gross companion  

and ,himself1 who was the  arbiter8 ,who
 paid the wages of the six days' labor  
imputed to the great  ,designer8 ,has   
any determining force been found which  
was neither ,god nor  ,matter8 ,god     
being regarded as the manufacturer of   
the machinery of the  worlds1 is it not 
as ridiculous to call ,him ,god as to   
call the slave who  turns the grindstone
 a ,roman citizen8 ,besides1 another    
difficulty1 as  insoluble to this       
supreme human reason as it is to ,god1  
presents itself4    8,if we carry the   
problem higher1 shall we not be like the
 ,hindus1 who  put the world upon a     
tortoise1 the tortoise on an elephant1  
and do not  know on what the feet of    
their elephant may rest8 ,this supreme  
will1  issuing from the contest between 
,god and ,matter1 this ,god1 this more  
than ,god1 can ,he have existed         
throughout eternity without willing what
  ,he afterwards willed1--admitting that
 ,eternity can be divided into two      
eras4 ,no matter where ,god is1 what    

becomes of ,his intuitive intelligence  
if ,he did not know ,his ultimate       
thought8 ,which1 then1 is the true      
,eternity1--the created ,eternity or the
 uncreated8 ,but if ,god throughout  all
 time did will the world such as it is1 
this new necessity1 which  harmonizes   
with the idea of sovereign intelligence1
 implies the  co-eternity of ,matter4   
,whether ,matter be co-eternal by a     
divine will  necessarily accordant with 
itself from the beginning1 or whether   
,matter be co-eternal of its own being1 
the power of ,god1 which must be        
absolute1 perishes if ,his will is      
circumscribed2 for in that case ,god    
would find within ,him a determining    
force which would control ,him4 ,can    
,he be ,god if ,he can no more separate 
,himself from ,his creation in a past   
eternity than in the coming eternity8   
8,this face of the problem is insoluble 
in its cause4 ,let us now inquire  into 
its effects4 ,if a ,god compelled to    
have created the world from all         

eternity seems inexplicable1 ,he is     
quite as unintelligible in perpetual    
cohesion with ,his work4 ,god1          
constrained to live eternally united to 
,his  creation is held down to ,his     
first position as workman4 ,can you     
conceive  of a ,god who shall be neither
 independent of nor dependent on ,his   
work8  ,could ,he destroy that work     
without challenging ,himself8 ,ask      
yourself1  and decide6 ,whether ,he     
destroys it some day1 or whether ,he    
never  destroys it1 either way is fatal 
to the attributes without which ,god    
cannot exist4 ,is the world an          
experiment8 is it a perishable form to  
which destruction must come8 ,if it is1 
is not ,god inconsistent and  impotent8 
inconsistent1 because ,he ought to have 
seen the result before  the             
attempt1--moreover why should ,he delay 
to destroy that which ,he is  to        
destroy8--impotent1 for how else could  
,he have created an imperfect  man8     
8,if an imperfect creation contradicts  

the faculties which man attributes  to  
,god we are forced back upon the        
question1 ,is creation perfect8 ,the    
idea is in harmony with that of a ,god  
supremely intelligent who could  make no
 mistakes2 but then1 what means the     
degradation of ,his work1  and its      
regeneration8 ,moreover1 a perfect world
 is1 necessarily1  indestructible2 its  
forms would not perish1 it could neither
 advance nor  recede1 it would revolve  
in the everlasting circumference from   
which it  would never issue4 ,in that   
case ,god would be dependent on ,his    
work2  it would be co-eternal with ,him2
 and so we fall back into one of the    
propositions most antagonistic to ,god4 
,if the world is imperfect1 it  can     
progress2 if perfect1 it is stationary4 
,on the other hand1 if it  be impossible
 to admit of a progressive ,god ignorant
 through a past  eternity of the results
 of ,his creative work1 can there be a  
stationary  ,god8 would not that imply  
the triumph of ,matter8 would it not be 

the  greatest of all negations8 ,under  
the first hypothesis ,god perishes      
through weakness2 under the second      
through the ,force of his inertia4      
8,therefore1 to all sincere minds the   
supposition that ,matter1 in the        
conception and execution of the worlds1 
is contemporaneous with ,god1 is  to    
deny ,god4 ,forced to choose1 in order  
to govern the nations1 between  the two 
alternatives of the problem1 whole      
generations have preferred  this        
solution of it4 ,hence the doctrine of  
the two principles of  ,magianism1      
brought from ,asia and adopted in       
,europe under the form of  ,satan       
warring with the ,eternal ,father4 ,but 
this religious formula and  the         
innumerable aspects of divinity that    
have sprung from it are surely  crimes  
against the ,majesty ,divine4 ,what     
other term can we apply to  the belief  
which sets up as a rival to ,god a      
personification of ,evil1  striving     
eternally against the ,omnipotent ,mind 

without the possibility  of ultimate    
triumph8 ,your statics declare that two 
,forces thus pitted  against each other 
are reciprocally rendered null4    8,do 
you turn back1 therefore1 to the other  
side of the problem1 and say  that ,god 
pre-existed1 original1 alone8    8,i    
will not go over the preceding arguments
 7which here return in full  force7 as  
to the severance of ,eternity into two  
parts2 nor the questions  raised by the 
progression or the immobility of the    
worlds2 let us  look only at the        
difficulties inherent to this second    
theory4 ,if ,god  pre-existed alone1 the
 world must have emanated from ,him2    
,matter was  therefore drawn from ,his  
essence2 consequently ,matter in itself 
is  non-existent2 all forms are veils to
 cover the ,divine ,spirit4 ,if this  be
 so1 the ,world is ,eternal1 and also it
 must be ,god4 ,is not this  proposition
 even more fatal than the former to the 
attributes conferred  on ,god by human  
reason8 ,how can the actual condition of

 ,matter be  explained if we suppose it 
to issue from the bosom of ,god and to  
be  ever united with ,him8 ,is it       
possible to believe that the            
,all-,powerful1  supremely good in ,his 
essence and in ,his faculties1 has      
engendered  things dissimilar to        
,himself4 ,must ,he not in all things   
and through all  things be like unto    
,himself8 ,can there be in ,god certain 
evil parts  of which at some future day 
he may rid ,himself8--a conjecture less 
offensive and absurd than terrible1 for 
the reason that it drags back  into ,him
 the two principles which the preceding 
theory proved to be  inadmissible4 ,god 
must be ,,one2 ,he cannot be divided    
without renouncing  the most important  
condition of ,his existence4 ,it is     
therefore  impossible to admit of a     
fraction of ,god which yet is not ,god4 
,this  hypothesis seemed so criminal to 
the ,roman ,church that she has made the
  omnipresence of ,god in the least     
particles of the ,eucharist an article  

of faith4    8,but how then can we      
imagine an omnipotent mind which does   
not triumph8  ,how associate it unless  
in triumph with ,nature8 ,but ,nature is
 not  triumphant2 she seeks1 combines1  
remodels1 dies1 and is born again2 she  
is even more convulsed when creating    
than when all was fusion2 ,nature       
suffers1 groans1 is ignorant1           
degenerates1 does evil2 deceives        
herself1  annihilates herself1          
disappears1 and begins again4 ,if ,god  
is associated  with ,nature1 how can we 
explain the inoperative indifference of 
the  divine principle8 ,wherefore death8
 ,how came it that ,evil1 king of  the  
earth1 was born of a ,god supremely good
 in ,his essence and in ,his  faculties1
 who can produce nothing that is not    
made in ,his own image8    8,but if1    
from this relentless conclusion which   
leads at once to  absurdity1 we pass to 
details1 what end are we to assign to   
the world8  ,if all is ,god1 all is     
reciprocally cause and effect2 all is   

,one as ,god  is ,one1 and we can       
perceive neither points of likeness nor 
points of  difference4 ,can the real end
 be a rotation of ,matter which         
subtilizes  and disappears8 ,in whatever
 sense it were done1 would not this     
mechanical trick of ,matter issuing from
 ,god and returning to ,god seem  a sort
 of child's play8 ,why should ,god make 
himself gross with ,matter8  ,under     
which form is he most ,god8 ,which has  
the ascendant1 ,matter or  ,spirit1 when
 neither can in any way do wrong8 ,who  
can comprehend the  ,deity engaged in   
this perpetual business1 by which he    
divides ,himself  into two ,natures1 one
 of which knows nothing1 while the other
 knows all8  ,can you conceive of ,god  
amusing ,himself in the form of man1    
laughing at  ,his own efforts1 dying    
,friday1 to be born again ,sunday1 and  
continuing  this play from age to age1  
knowing the end from all eternity1 and  
telling nothing to ,himself1 the        
,creature1 of what ,he the ,creator1    

does8  ,the ,god of the preceding       
hypothesis1 a ,god so nugatory by the   
very power  of ,his inertia1 seems the  
more possible of the two if we are      
compelled  to choose between the        
impossibilities with which this ,god1 so
 dull a  jester1 fusillades ,himself    
when two sections of humanity argue face
 to  face1 weapons in hand4    8,however
 absurd this outcome of the second      
problem may seem1 it  was adopted by    
half the human race in the sunny lands  
where smiling  mythologies were created4
 ,those amorous nations were consistent2
  with them all was ,god1 even ,fear and
 its dastardy1 even crime and its       
bacchanals4 ,if we accept               
pantheism1--the religion of many a great
 human  genius1--who shall say where the
 greater reason lies8 ,is it with the   
savage1 free in the desert1 clothed in  
his nudity1 listening to the sun1       
talking to the sea1 sublime and always  
true in his deeds whatever they  may be2
 or shall we find it in civilized man1  

who derives his chief  enjoyments       
through lies2 who wrings ,nature and all
 her resources to put  a musket on his  
shoulder2 who employs his intellect to  
hasten the hour  of his death and to    
create diseases out of pleasures8 ,when 
the rake of  pestilence and the         
ploughshare of war and the demon of     
desolation have  passed over a corner of
 the globe and obliterated all things1  
who will  be found to have the greater  
reason1--the ,nubian savage or the      
patrician  of ,thebes8 ,your doubts     
descend the scale1 they go from heights 
to  depths1 they embrace all1 the end as
 well as the means4    8,but if the     
physical world seems inexplicable1 the  
moral world presents  still stronger    
arguments against ,god4 ,where1 then1 is
 progress8 ,if all  things are indeed   
moving toward perfection why do we die  
young8 why do  not nations perpetuate   
themselves8 ,the world having issued    
from ,god and  being contained in ,god  
can it be stationary8 ,do we live once1 

or do  we live always8 ,if we live once1
 hurried onward by the march of the     
,great-,whole1 a knowledge of which has 
not been given to us1 let us act  as we 
please4 ,if we are eternal1 let things  
take their course4 ,is the  created     
being guilty if he exists at the instant
 of the transitions8 ,if  he sins at the
 moment of a great transformation will  
he be punished for  it after being its  
victim8 ,what becomes of the ,divine    
goodness if we are  not transferred to  
the regions of the blest--should any    
such exist8  ,what becomes of ,god's    
prescience if ,he is ignorant of the    
results of the  trials to which ,he     
subjects us8 ,what is this alternative  
offered to man  by all                  
religions1--either to boil in some      
eternal cauldron or to walk  in white   
robes1 a palm in his hand and a halo    
round his head8 ,can it  be that this   
pagan invention is the final word of    
,god8 ,where is the  generous soul who  
does not feel that the calculating      

virtue which seeks  the eternity of     
pleasure offered by all religions to    
whoever fulfils  at stray moments       
certain fanciful and often unnatural    
conditions1 is  unworthy of man and of  
,god8 ,is it not a mockery to give to   
man impetuous  senses and forbid him to 
satisfy them8 ,besides1 what mean these 
ascetic  objections if ,good and ,evil  
are equally abolished8 ,does ,evil      
exist8  ,if substance in all its forms  
is ,god1 then ,evil is ,god4 ,the       
faculty of  reasoning as well as the    
faculty of feeling having been given to 
man  to use1 nothing can be more        
excusable in him than to seek to know   
the  meaning of human suffering and the 
prospects of the future4    8,if these  
rigid and rigorous arguments lead to    
such conclusions  confusion must reign4 
,the world would have no fixedness2     
nothing  would advance1 nothing would   
pause1 all would change1 nothing would  
be  destroyed1 all would reappear after 
self-renovation2 for if your mind  does 

not clearly demonstrate to you an end1  
it is equally impossible to  demonstrate
 the destruction of the smallest        
particle of ,matter2 ,matter  can       
transform but not annihilate itself4    
8,though blind force may provide        
arguments for the atheist1 intelligent  
force is inexplicable2 for if it        
emanates from ,god1 why should it meet  
with obstacles8 ought not its triumph to
 be immediate8 ,where is ,god8  ,if the 
living cannot perceive ,him1 can the    
dead find ,him8 ,crumble1  ye idolatries
 and ye religions6 ,fall1 feeble        
keystones of all social  arches1        
powerless to retard the decay1 the      
death1 the oblivion that  have overtaken
 all nations however firmly founded6    
,fall1 morality and  justice6 our crimes
 are purely relative2 they are divine   
effects whose  causes we are not allowed
 to know4 ,all is ,god4 ,either we are  
,god or ,god  is not6--,child of a      
century whose every year has laid upon  
your brow1  old man1 the ice of its     

unbelief1 here1 here is the summing up  
of your  lifetime of thought1 of your   
science and your reflections6 ,dear     
,monsieur  ,becker1 you have laid your  
head upon the pillow of ,doubt1 because 
it is  the easiest of solutions2 acting 
in this respect with the majority  of   
mankind1 who say in their hearts3 #8,let
 us think no more of these  problems1   
since ,god has not vouchsafed to grant  
us the algebraic  demonstrations that   
could solve them1 while ,he has given us
 so many  other ways to get from earth  
to heaven4'    8,tell me1 dear pastor1  
are not these your secret thoughts8     
,have ,i evaded  the point of any8 nay1 
rather1 have ,i not clearly stated all8 
,first1 in  the dogma of two            
principles1--an antagonism in which ,god
 perishes for  the reason that being    
,all-,powerful ,he chose to combat4     
,secondly1 in the  absurd pantheism     
where1 all being ,god1 ,god exists no   
longer4 ,these two  sources1 from which 
have flowed all the religions for whose 

triumph  ,earth has toiled and prayed1  
are equally pernicious4 ,behold in them 
the  double-bladed axe with which you   
decapitate the white old man whom you   
enthrone among your painted clouds6 ,and
 now1 to me the axe1 ,i wield it60      
,monsieur ,becker and ,wilfrid gazed at 
the young girl with something like      
terror4    8,to believe10 continued     
,seraphita1 in her ,woman's voice1 for  
the ,man  had finished speaking1 8to    
believe is a gift4 ,to believe is to    
feel4  ,to believe in ,god we must feel 
,god4 ,this feeling is a possession     
slowly  acquired by the human being1    
just as other astonishing powers which  
you  admire in great men1 warriors1     
artists1 scholars1 those who know and   
those who act1 are acquired4 ,thought1  
that budget of the relations which  you 
perceive among created things1 is an    
intellectual language which can  be     
learned1 is it not8 ,belief1 the budget 
of celestial truths1 is also a  language
 as superior to thought as thought is to

 instinct4 ,this language  also can be  
learned4 ,the ,believer answers with a  
single cry1 a single  gesture2 ,faith   
puts within his hand a flaming sword    
with which he  pierces and illumines    
all4 ,the ,seer attains to heaven and   
descends not4  ,but there are beings who
 believe and see1 who know and will1 who
 love  and pray and wait4 ,submissive1  
yet aspiring to the kingdom of light1   
they have neither the aloofness of the  
,believer nor the silence of the  ,seer2
 they listen and reply4 ,to them the    
doubt of the twilight ages  is not a    
murderous weapon1 but a divining rod2   
they accept the contest  under every    
form2 they train their tongues to every 
language2 they are  never angered1      
though they groan2 the acrimony of the  
aggressor is not  in them1 but rather   
the softness and tenuity of light1 which
 penetrates  and warms and illumines4   
,to their eyes ,doubt is neither an     
impiety1 nor  a blasphemy1 nor a crime1 
but a transition through which men      

return upon  their steps in the         
,darkness1 or advance into the ,light4  
,this being so1  dear pastor1 let us    
reason together4    8,you do not believe
 in ,god8 ,why8 ,god1 to your thinking1 
is  incomprehensible1 inexplicable4     
,agreed4 ,i will not reply that to      
comprehend ,god in ,his entirety would  
be to be ,god2 nor will ,i tell you     
that you deny what seems to you         
inexplicable so as to give me the right 
to affirm that which to me is           
believable4 ,there is1 for you1 one     
evident fact1 which lies within         
yourself4 ,in you1 ,matter has ended in 
intelligence2 can you therefore think   
that human intelligence will  end in    
darkness1 doubt1 and nothingness8 ,god  
may seem to you  incomprehensible and   
inexplicable1 but you must admit ,him to
 be1 in all  things purely physical1 a  
splendid and consistent workman4 ,why   
should  ,his craft stop short at man1   
,his most finished creation8    8,if    
that question is not convincing1 at     

least it compels meditation4  ,happily1 
although you deny ,god1 you are obliged1
 in order to establish  your doubts1 to 
admit those double-bladed facts1 which  
kill your  arguments as much as your    
arguments kill ,god4 ,we have also      
admitted that  ,matter and ,spirit are  
two creations which do not comprehend   
each other2  that the spiritual world is
 formed of infinite relations to which  
the  finite material world has given    
rise2 that if no one on earth is able   
to identify himself by the power of his 
spirit with the great-whole of          
terrestrial creations1 still less is he 
able to rise to the knowledge of  the   
relations which the spirit perceives    
between these creations4    8,we might  
end the argument here in one word1 by   
denying you the faculty  of             
comprehending ,god1 just as you deny to 
the pebbles of the fiord the  faculties 
of counting and of seeing each other4   
,how do you know that the  stones       
themselves do not deny the existence of 

man1 though man makes  use of them to   
build his houses8 ,there is one fact    
that appals  you1--the ,infinite2 if you
 feel it within1 why will you not admit 
its  consequences8 ,can the finite have 
a perfect knowledge of the infinite8    
,if you cannot perceive those relations 
which1 according to your own  admission1
 are infinite1 how can you grasp a sense
 of the far-off end to  which they are  
converging8 ,order1 the revelation of   
which is one of your  needs1 being      
infinite1 can your limited reason       
apprehend it8 ,do not ask  why man does 
not comprehend that which he is able to 
perceive1 for he is  equally able to    
perceive that which he does not         
comprehend4 ,if ,i prove  to you that   
your mind ignores that which lies within
 its compass1 will  you grant that it is
 impossible for it to conceive whatever 
is beyond  it8 ,this being so1 am ,i not
 justified in saying to you3 #8,one of  
the two  propositions under which ,god  
is annihilated before the tribunal of   

our  reason must be true1 the other is  
false4 ,inasmuch as creation exists1    
you feel the necessity of an end1 and   
that end should be good1 should it  not8
 ,now1 if ,matter terminates in man by  
intelligence1 why are you not  satisfied
 to believe that the end of human       
intelligence is the ,light of  the      
higher spheres1 where alone an intuition
 of that ,god who seems so  insoluble a 
problem is obtained8 ,the species which 
are beneath you have  no conception of  
the universe1 and you have2 why should  
there not be  other species above you   
more intelligent than your own8 ,man    
ought to be  better informed than he is 
about himself before he spends his      
strength  in measuring ,god4 ,before    
attacking the stars that light us1 and  
the  higher certainties1 ought he not to
 understand the certainties which are   
actually about him8'    8,but no6 to the
 negations of doubt ,i ought rather to  
reply by negations4  ,therefore ,i ask  
you whether there is anything here below

 so evident  that ,i can put faith in   
it8 ,i will show you in a moment that   
you believe  firmly in things which act1
 and yet are not beings2 in things which
  engender thought1 and yet are not     
spirits2 in living abstractions which   
the understanding cannot grasp in any   
shape1 which are in fact nowhere1  but  
which you perceive everywhere2 which    
have1 and can have1 on name1  but which1
 nevertheless1 you have named2 and      
which1 like the ,god  of flesh upon whom
 you figure to yourself1 remain         
inexplicable1  incomprehensible1 and    
absurd4 ,i shall also ask you why1 after
 admitting  the existence of these      
incomprehensible things1 you reserve    
your doubts  for ,god8    8,you believe1
 for instance1 in ,number1--a base on   
which you have built  the edifice of    
sciences which you call #8exact4'       
,without ,number1 what  would become of 
mathematics8 ,well1 what mysterious     
being endowed with  the faculty of      
living forever could utter1 and what    

language would be  compact to word the  
,number which contains the infinite     
numbers whose  existence is revealed to 
you by thought8 ,ask it of the loftiest 
human  genius2 he might ponder it for a 
thousand years and what would be his    
answer8 ,you know neither where ,number 
begins1 nor where it pauses1 nor  where 
it ends4 ,here you call it ,time1 there 
you call it ,space4 ,nothing  exists    
except by ,number4 ,without it1 all     
would be one and the same  substance2   
for ,number alone differentiates and    
qualifies substance4  ,number is to your
 ,spirit what it is to ,matter1 an      
incomprehensible  agent4 ,will you make 
a ,deity of it8 ,is it a being8 ,is it a
 breath  emanating from ,god to organize
 the material universe where nothing    
obtains form except by the ,divinity    
which is an effect of ,number8 ,the     
least as well as the greatest of        
creations are distinguishable from  each
 other by quantities1 qualities1        
dimensions1 forces1--all attributes     

created by ,number4 ,the infinitude of  
,numbers is a fact proved to your  soul1
 but of which no material proof can be  
given4 ,the mathematician  himself tells
 you that the infinite of numbers       
exists1 but cannot be  proved4    8,god1
 dear pastor1 is a ,number endowed with 
motion1--felt1 but not seen1  the       
,believer will tell you4 ,like the      
,unit1 ,he begins ,number1 with which   
,he has nothing in common4 ,the         
existence of ,number depends on the     
,unit1  which without being a number    
engenders ,number4 ,god1 dear pastor is 
a  glorious ,unit who has nothing in    
common with ,his creations but who1     
nevertheless1 engenders them4 ,will you 
not therefore agree with me that  you   
are just as ignorant of where ,number   
begins and ends as you are of  where    
created ,eternity begins and ends8      
8,why1 then1 if you believe in ,number1 
do you deny ,god8 ,is not ,creation     
interposed between the ,infinite of     
unorganized substances and the          

,infinite of the divine spheres1 just as
 the ,unit stands between the  ,cipher  
of the fractions you have lately named  
,decimals1 and the ,infinite  of        
,numbers which you call ,wholes8 ,man   
alone on earth comprehends ,number1     
that first step of the peristyle which  
leads to ,god1 and yet his reason       
stumbles on it6 ,what6 you can neither  
measure nor grasp the first  abstraction
 which ,god delivers to you1 and yet you
 try to subject ,his  ends to your own  
tape-line6 ,suppose that ,i plunge you  
into the abyss of  ,motion1 the force   
that organizes ,number4 ,if ,i tell you 
that the ,universe  is naught else than 
,number and ,motion1 you would see at   
once that we  speak two different       
languages4 ,i understand them both2 you 
understand  neither4    8,suppose ,i add
 that ,motion and ,number are engendered
 by the ,word1 namely  the supreme      
,reason of ,seers and ,prophets who in  
the olden time heard the  ,breath of    
,god beneath which ,saul fell to the    

earth4 ,that ,word1 you  scoff at it1   
you men1 although you well know that all
 visible works1  societies1 monuments1  
deeds1 passions1 proceed from the breath
 of your  own feeble word1 and that     
without that word you would resemble the
  ,african gorilla1 the nearest approach
 to man1 the ,negro4 ,you believe       
firmly in ,number and in ,motion1 a     
force and a result both inexplicable1   
incomprehensible1 to the existence of   
which ,i may apply the logical  dilemma 
which1 as we have seen1 prevents you    
from believing in ,god4  ,powerful      
reasoner that you are1 you do not need  
that ,i should prove to  you that the   
,infinite must everywhere be like unto  
,itself1 and that1  necessarily1 it is  
,one4 ,god alone is ,infinite1 for      
surely there cannot  be two ,infinities1
 two ,ones4 ,if1 to make use of human   
terms1 anything  demonstrated to you    
here below seems to you infinite1 be    
sure that  within it you will find some 
one aspect of ,god4 ,but to continue4   

8,you have appropriated to yourself a   
place in the ,infinite of ,number2  you 
have fitted it to your own proportions  
by creating 7if indeed you  did create7 
arithmetic1 the basis on which all      
things rest1 even your  societies4 ,just
 as ,number--the only thing in which    
your self-styled  atheists              
believe--organized physical creations1  
so arithmetic1 in the  employ of        
,number1 organized the moral world4     
,this numeration must  be absolute1 like
 all else that is true in itself2 but it
 is purely  relative1 it does not exist 
absolutely1 and no proof can be given of
 its  reality4 ,in the first place1     
though ,numeration is able to take      
account  of organized substances1 it is 
powerless in relation to unorganized    
forces1 the ones being finite and the   
others infinite4 ,the man who can       
conceive the ,infinite by his           
intelligence cannot deal with it in its 
entirety2 if he could1 he would be ,god4
 ,your ,numeration1 applying to  things 

finite and not to the ,infinite1 is     
therefore true in relation to  the      
details which you are able to perceive1 
and false in relation to  the ,whole1   
which you are unable to perceive4       
,though ,nature is like unto  herself in
 the organizing force or in her         
principles which are infinite1  she is  
not so in her finite effects4 ,thus you 
will never find in ,nature  two objects 
identically alike4 ,in the ,natural     
,order two and two never  make four2 to 
do so1 four exactly similar units must  
be had1 and you  know how impossible it 
is to find two leaves alike on the same 
tree1  or two trees alike of the same   
species4 ,this axiom of your numeration1
  false in visible nature1 is equally   
false in the invisible universe of  your
 abstractions1 where the same variance  
takes place in your ideas1  which are   
the things of the visible world extended
 by means of their  relations2 so that  
the variations here are even more marked
 than  elsewhere4 ,in fact1 all being   

relative to the temperament1 strength1  
habits1 and customs of individuals1 who 
never resemble each other1 the  smallest
 objects take the color of personal     
feelings4 ,for instance1 man  has been  
able to create units and to give an     
equal weight and value to  bits of gold4
 ,well1 take the ducat of the rich man  
and the ducat of the  poor man to a     
money-changer and they are rated exactly
 equal1 but to  the mind of the thinker 
one is of greater importance than the   
other2 one  represents a month of       
comfort1 the other an ephemeral caprice4
 ,two and  two1 therefore1 only make    
four through a false conception4        
8,again3 fraction does not exist in     
,nature1 where what you call a  fragment
 is a finished whole4 ,does it not often
 happen 7have you not  many proofs of   
it87 that the hundredth part of a       
substance is stronger  than what you    
term the whole of it8 ,if fraction does 
not exist in the  ,natural ,order1 still
 less shall we find it in the ,moral    

,order1 where  ideas and sentiments may 
be as varied as the species of the      
,vegetable  kingdom and yet be always   
whole4 ,the theory of fractions is      
therefore  another signal instance of   
the servility of your mind4    8,thus   
,number1 with its infinite minuteness   
and its infinite expansion1  is a power 
whose weakest side is known to you1 but 
whose real import  escapes your         
perception4 ,you have built yourself a  
hut in the ,infinite  of numbers1 you   
have adorned it with hieroglyphics      
scientifically  arranged and painted1   
and you cry out1 #8,all is here6'       
8,let us pass from pure1 unmingled      
,number to corporate ,number4 ,your     
geometry establishes that a straight    
line is the shortest way from one  point
 to another1 but your astronomy proves  
that ,god has proceeded  by curves4     
,here1 then1 we find two truths equally 
proved by the  same science1--one by the
 testimony of your senses reinforced by 
the  telescope1 the other by the        

testimony of your mind2 and yet the one 
contradicts the other4 ,man1 liable to  
err1 affirms one1 and the ,maker  of the
 worlds1 whom1 so far1 you have not     
detected in error1 contradicts  it4 ,who
 shall decide between rectalinear and   
curvilinear geometry8  between the      
theory of the straight line and that of 
the curve8 ,if1 in  ,his vast work1 the 
mysterious ,artificer1 who knows how to 
reach ,his ends  miraculously fast1     
never employs a straight line except to 
cut off an  angle and so obtain a curve1
 neither does man himself always rely   
upon  it4 ,the bullet which he aims     
direct proceeds by a curve1 and when you
  wish to strike a certain point in     
space1 you impel your bombshell along   
its cruel parabola4 ,none of your men of
 science have drawn from this  fact the 
simple deduction that the ,curve is the 
law of the material  worlds and the     
,straight line that of the ,spiritual   
worlds2 one is the  theory of finite    
creations1 the other the theory of the  

infinite4 ,man1  who alone in the world 
has a knowledge of the ,infinite1 can   
alone know  the straight line2 he alone 
has the sense of verticality placed in a
  special organ4 ,a fondness for the    
creations of the curve would seem to  be
 in certain men an indication of the    
impurity of their nature still          
conjoined to the material substances    
which engender us2 and the love of      
great souls for the straight line seems 
to show in them an intuition of  heaven4
 ,between these two lines there is a    
gulf fixed like that between  the finite
 and the infinite1 between matter and   
spirit1 between man and  the idea1      
between motion and the object moved1    
between the creature and  ,god4 ,ask    
,love the ,divine to grant you his wings
 and you can cross that  gulf4 ,beyond  
it begins the revelation of the ,word4  
8,no part of those things which you call
 material is without its own  meaning2  
lines are the boundaries of solid parts 
and imply a force  of action which you  

suppress in your formulas1--thus        
rendering those  formulas false in      
relation to substances taken as a whole4
 ,hence the  constant destruction of the
 monuments of human labor1 which you    
supply1  unknown to yourselves1 with    
acting properties4 ,nature has          
substances2  your science combines only 
their appearances4 ,at every step       
,nature  gives the lie to all your laws4
 ,can you find a single one that is not 
disproved by a fact8 ,your ,static laws 
are at the mercy of a thousand          
accidents2 a fluid can overthrow a solid
 mountain and prove that the  heaviest  
substances may be lifted by one that is 
imponderable4    8,your laws on         
,acoustics and ,optics are defied by the
 sounds which you  hear within          
yourselves in sleep1 and by the light of
 an electric sun  whose rays often      
overcome you4 ,you know no more how     
light makes itself  seen within you1    
than you know the simple and natural    
process which  changes it on the throats

 of tropic birds to rubies1 sapphires1  
emeralds1 and opals1 or keeps it gray   
and brown on the breasts of the  same   
birds under the cloudy skies of ,europe1
 or whitens it here in the  bosom of our
 polar ,nature4 ,you know not how to    
decide whether color is a  faculty with 
which all substances are endowed1 or an 
effect produced by  an effluence of     
light4 ,you admit the saltness of the   
sea without  being able to prove that   
the water is salt at its greatest depth4
 ,you  recognize the existence of       
various substances which span what you  
think  to be the void1--substances which
 are not tangible under any of the      
forms assumed by ,matter1 although they 
put themselves in harmony with  ,matter 
in spite of every obstacle4    8,all    
this being so1 you believe in the       
results of ,chemistry1 although  that   
science still knows no way of gauging   
the changes produced by the  flux and   
reflux of substances which come and go  
across your crystals and  your          

instruments on the impalpable filaments 
of heat or light conducted  and         
projected by the affinities of metal or 
vitrified flint4 ,you obtain  none but  
dead substances1 from which you have    
driven the unknown force  that holds in 
check the decomposition of all things   
here below1 and of  which cohesion1     
attraction1 vibration1 and polarity are 
but phenomena4  ,life is the thought of 
substances2 bodies are only the means of
  fixing life and holding it to its way4
 ,if bodies were beings living of       
themselves they would be ,cause itself1 
and could not die4    8,when a man      
discovers the results of the general    
movement1 which is  shared by all       
creations according to their faculty of 
absorption1 you  proclaim him mighty in 
science1 as though genius consisted in  
explaining  a thing that is6 ,genius    
ought to cast its eyes beyond effects4  
,your men  of science would laugh if you
 said to them3 #8,there exist such      
positive  relations between two human   

beings1 one of whom may be here1 and    
the other in ,java1 that they can at the
 same instant feel the same  sensation1 
and be conscious of so doing2 they can  
question each other  and reply without  
mistake'2 and yet there are mineral     
substances which  exhibit sympathies as 
far off from each other as those of     
which ,i speak4  ,you believe in the    
power of the electricity which you find 
in the magnet  and you deny that which  
emanates from the soul6 ,according to   
you1 the  moon1 whose influence upon the
 tides you think fixed1 has none        
whatever  upon the winds1 nor upon      
navigation1 nor upon men2 she moves the 
sea1  but she must not affect the sick  
folk2 she has undeniable relations  with
 one half of humanity1 and nothing at   
all to do with the other half4  ,these  
are your vaunted certainties6    8,let  
us go a step further4 ,you believe in   
physics4 ,but your physics  begin1 like 
the ,catholic religion1 with an act of  
faith4 ,do they not  pre-suppose some   

external force distinct from substance  
to which it  communicates motion8 ,you  
see its effects1 but what is it8 where  
is it8  what is the essence of its      
nature1 its life8 has it any            
limits8--and  yet1 you deny ,god6       
8,thus1 the majority of your scientific 
axioms1 true to their relation to  man1 
are false in relation to the ,great     
,whole4 ,science is ,one1 but you  have 
divided it4 ,to know the real meaning of
 the laws of phenomena must  we not know
 the correlations which exist between   
phenomena and the law  of the ,whole8   
,there is1 in all things1 an appearance 
which strikes  your senses2 under that  
appearance stirs a soul2 a body is there
 and a  faculty is there4 ,where do you 
teach the study of the relations which  
bind things to each other8 ,nowhere4    
,consequently you have nothing          
positive4 ,your strongest certainties   
rest upon the analysis of material      
forms whose essence you persistently    
ignore4    8,there is a ,higher         

,knowledge of which1 too late1 some men 
obtain a  glimpse1 though they dare not 
avow it4 ,such men comprehend the       
necessity  of considering substances not
 merely in their mathematical properties
  but also in their entirety1 in their  
occult relations and affinities4  ,the  
greatest man among you divined1 in his  
latter days1 that all was  reciprocally 
cause and effect2 that the visible      
worlds were co-ordinated  among         
themselves and subject to worlds        
invisible4 ,he groaned at the           
recollection of having tried to         
establish fixed precepts4 ,counting up  
his worlds1 like grape-seeds scattered  
through ether1 he had explained  their  
coherence by the laws of planetary and  
molecular attraction4  ,you bowed before
 that man of science--well6 ,i tell you 
that he died in  despair4 ,by supposing 
that the centrifugal and centripetal    
forces1  which he had invented to       
explain to himself the universe1 were   
equal1 he  stopped the universe2 yet he 

admitted motion in an indeterminate     
sense2 but supposing those forces       
unequal1 then utter confusion of the    
planetary system ensued4 ,his laws      
therefore were not absolute2 some       
higher problem existed than the         
principle on which his false glory      
rested4 ,the connection of the stars    
with one another and the centripetal    
action of their internal motion did not 
deter him from seeking the  parent stalk
 on which his clusters hung4 ,alas1 poor
 man6 the more he  widened space the    
heavier his burden grew4 ,he told you   
how there came  to be equilibrium among 
the parts1 but whither went the whole8  
,his mind  contemplated the vast extent1
 illimitable to human eyes1 filled with 
those groups of worlds a mere fraction  
of which is all our telescopes  can     
reach1 but whose immensity is revealed  
by the rapidity of light4  ,this sublime
 contemplation enabled him to perceive  
myriads of worlds1  planted in space    
like flowers in a field1 which are born 

like infants1  grow like men1 die as the
 aged die1 and live by assimilating from
 their  atmosphere the substances       
suitable for their nourishment1--having 
a centre and a principal of life1       
guaranteeing to each other their        
circuits1 absorbed and absorbing like   
plants1 and forming a vast ,whole       
endowed with life and possessing a      
destiny4    8,at that sight your man of 
science trembled6 ,he knew that life is 
produced by the union of the thing and  
its principle1 that death or  inertia or
 gravity is produced by a rupture       
between a thing and the  movement which 
appertains to it4 ,then it was that he  
foresaw the  crumbling of the worlds and
 their destruction if ,god should       
withdraw the  ,breath of ,his ,word4 ,he
 searched the ,apocalypse for the traces
 of that  ,word4 ,you thought him mad4  
,understand him better6 ,he was seeking 
pardon  for the work of his genius4     
8,wilfrid1 you have come here hoping to 
make me solve equations1 or rise  upon a

 rain-cloud1 or plunge into the fiord   
and reappear a swan4 ,if  science or    
miracles were the end and object of     
humanity1 ,moses would  have bequeathed 
to you the law of fluxions2 ,jesus      
,christ would have  lightened the       
darkness of your sciences2 his apostles 
would have told  you whence come those  
vast trains of gas and melted metals1   
attached  to cores which revolve and    
solidify as they dart through ether1 or 
violently enter some system and combine 
with a star1 jostling and  displacing it
 by the shock1 or destroying it by the  
infiltration of  their deadly gases2    
,saint ,paul1 instead of telling you to 
live in ,god1  would have explained why 
food is the secret bond among all       
creations and  the evident tie between  
all living ,species4 ,in these days the 
greatest  miracle of all would be the   
discovery of the squaring of the        
circle1--a  problem which you hold to be
 insoluble1 but which is doubtless      
solved in  the march of worlds by the   

intersection of some mathematical lines 
whose  course is visible to the eye of  
spirits who have reached the higher     
spheres4 ,believe me1 miracles are in   
us1 not without us4 ,here natural  facts
 occur which men call supernatural4 ,god
 would have been strangely  unjust had  
he confined the testimony of his power  
to certain generations  and peoples and 
denied them to others4 ,the brazen rod  
belongs to all4  ,neither ,moses1 nor   
,jacob1 nor ,zoroaster1 nor ,paul1 nor  
,pythagoras1 nor  ,swedenborg1 not the  
humblest ,messenger nor the loftiest    
,prophet of the  ,most ,high are greater
 than you are capable of being4 ,only1  
there come to  nations as to men certain
 periods when ,faith is theirs4    8,if 
material sciences be the end and object 
of human effort1 tell  me1 both of you1 
would societies1--those great centres   
where men  congregate1--would they      
perpetually be dispersed8 ,if           
civilization were  the object of our    
,species1 would intelligence perish8    

would it continue  purely individual8   
,the grandeur of all nations that were  
truly great was  based on exceptions2   
when the exception ceased their power   
died4 ,if such  were the ,end-all1      
,prophets1 ,seers1 and ,messengers of   
,god would have lent  their hand to     
,science rather than have given it to   
,belief4 ,surely they  would have       
quickened your brains sooner than have  
touched your hearts6  ,but no2 one and  
all they came to lead the nations back  
to ,god2 they  proclaimed the sacred    
,path in simple words that showed the   
way to  heaven2 all were wrapped in love
 and faith1 all were inspired by that   
word which hovers above the inhabitants 
of earth1 enfolding them1  inspiriting  
them1 uplifting them2 none were prompted
 by any human  interest4 ,your great    
geniuses1 your poets1 your kings1 your  
learned men  are engulfed with their    
cities2 while the names of these good   
pastors of  humanity1 ever blessed1 have
 survived all cataclysms4    8,alas6 we 

cannot understand each other on any     
point4 ,we are separated by  an abyss4  
,you are on the side of darkness1 while 
,i--,i live in the light1  the true     
,light6 ,is this the word that you ask  
of me8 ,i say it with joy2  it may      
change you4 ,know this3 there are       
sciences of matter and sciences  of     
spirit4 ,there1 where you see           
substances1 ,i see forces that stretch  
one toward another with generating      
power4 ,to me1 the character of bodies  
is the indication of their principles   
and the sign of their properties4       
,those principles beget affinities which
 escape your knowledge1 and  which are  
linked to centres4 ,the different       
species among which life is  distributed
 are unfailing streams which correspond 
unfailingly among  themselves4 ,each has
 his own vocation4 ,man is effect and   
cause4 ,he is  fed1 but he feeds in     
turn4 ,when you call ,god a ,creator1   
you dwarf ,him4  ,he did not create1 as 
you think ,he did1 plants or animals or 

stars4  ,could ,he proceed by a variety 
of means8 ,must ,he not act by unity  of
 composition8 ,moreover1 ,he gave forth 
principles to be developed1  according  
to ,his universal law1 at the will of   
the surroundings in which  they were    
placed4 ,hence a single substance and   
motion1 a single plant1 a  single       
animal1 but correlations everywhere4 ,in
 fact1 all affinities are  linked       
together by contiguous similitudes2 the 
life of the worlds is  drawn toward the 
centres by famished aspiration1 as you  
are drawn by  hunger to seek food4      
8,to give you an example of affinities  
linked to similitudes 7a secondary  law 
on which the creations of your thought  
are based71 music1 that  celestial art1 
is the working out of this principle2   
for is it not a  complement of sounds   
harmonized by number8 ,is not sound a   
modification  of air1 compressed1       
dilated1 echoed8 ,you know the          
composition of  air1--oxygen1 nitrogen1 
and carbon4 ,as you cannot obtain sound 

from  the void1 it is plain that music  
and the human voice are the result of   
organized chemical substances1 which put
 themselves in unison with the  same    
substances prepared within you by your  
thought1 co-ordinated  by means of      
light1 the great nourisher of your      
globe4 ,have you ever  meditated on the 
masses of nitre deposited by the snow1  
have you ever  observed a thunderstorm  
and seen the plants breathing in from   
the air  about them the metal it        
contains1 without concluding that the   
sun has  fused and distributed the      
subtle essence which nourishes all      
things here  below8 ,swedenborg has     
said1 #8,the earth is a man4'    8,your 
,science1 which makes you great in your 
own eyes1 is paltry indeed  beside the  
light which bathes a ,seer4 ,cease1     
cease to question me2 our  languages are
 different4 ,for a moment ,i have used  
yours to cast1 if it  be possible1 a ray
 of faith into your soul2 to give you1  
as it were1 the  hem of my garment and  

draw you up into the regions of ,prayer4
 ,can ,god  abase ,himself to you8 ,is  
it not for you to rise to ,him8 ,if     
human reason  finds the ladder of its   
own strength too weak to bring ,god down
 to it1  is it not evident that you must
 find some other path to reach ,him8    
,that  ,path is in ourselves4 ,the ,seer
 and the ,believer find eyes within     
their  souls more piercing far than eyes
 that probe the things of earth1--they  
see the ,dawn4 ,hear this truth3 ,your  
science1 let it be never so exact1  your
 meditations1 however bold1 your noblest
 lights are ,clouds4 ,above1  above is  
the ,sanctuary whence the true ,light   
flows40    ,she sat down and remained   
silent2 her calm face bore no sign of   
the  agitation which orators betray     
after their least fervid improvisations4
    ,wilfrid bent toward ,monsieur      
,becker and said in a low voice1 8,who  
taught  her that80    8,i do not know10 
he answered4    8,he was gentler on the 
,falberg10 ,minna whispered to herself4 

,seraphita passed her hand across her   
eyes and then she said1 smiling3--      
8,you are very thoughtful to-night1     
gentlemen4 ,you treat ,minna and me as  
though we were men to whom you must talk
 politics or commerce2 whereas  we are  
young girls1 and you ought to tell us   
tales while you drink  your tea4 ,that  
is what we do1 ,monsieur ,wilfrid1 in   
our long ,norwegian  evenings4 ,come1   
dear pastor1 tell me some ,saga that ,i 
have not  heard1--that of ,frithiof1 the
 chronicle that you believe and have so 
often promised me4 ,tell us the story of
 the peasant lad who owned the  ship    
that talked and had a soul4 ,come6 ,i   
dream of the frigate ,ellida1  the fairy
 with the sails young girls should      
navigate60    8,since we have returned  
to the regions of ,jarvis10 said        
,wilfrid1 whose  eyes were fastened on  
,seraphita as those of a robber1 lurking
 in the  darkness1 fasten on the spot   
where he knows the jewels lie1 8tell me 
why  you do not marry80    8,you are all

 born widows and widowers10 she replied2
 8but my marriage  was arranged at my   
birth4 ,i am betrothed40    8,to whom80 
they cried4    8,ask not my secret10 she
 said2 8,i will promise1 if our father  
permits  it1 to invite you to these     
mysterious nuptials40    8,will they be 
soon80    8,i think so40    ,a long     
silence followed these words4    8,the  
spring has come60 said ,seraphita1      
suddenly4 8,the noise of the  waters and
 the breaking of the ice begins4 ,come1 
let us welcome the  first spring of the 
new century40    ,she rose1 followed by 
,wilfrid1 and together they went to a   
window which  ,david had opened4 ,after 
the long silence of winter1 the waters  
stirred  beneath the ice and resounded  
through the fiord like music1--for there
  are sounds which space refines1 so    
that they reach the ear in waves of     
light and freshness4    8,wilfrid1 cease
 to nourish evil thoughts whose triumph 
would be hard to  bear4 ,your desires   
are easily read in the fire of your     

eyes4 ,be kind2  take one step forward  
in well-doing4 ,advance beyond the love 
of man and  sacrifice yourself          
completely to the happiness of her you  
love4 ,obey me2  ,i will lead you in a  
path where you shall obtain the         
distinctions which  you crave1 and where
 ,love is infinite indeed40    ,she left
 him thoughtful4    8,that soft         
creature60 he said within himself2 8is  
she indeed the  prophetess whose eyes   
have just flashed lightnings1 whose     
voice has  rung through worlds1 whose   
hand has wielded the axe of doubt       
against our  sciences8 ,have we been    
dreaming8 ,am ,i awake80    8,minna10   
said ,seraphita1 returning to the young 
girl1 8the eagle swoops  where the      
carrion lies1 but the dove seeks the    
mountain spring beneath  the peaceful   
greenery of the glades4 ,the eagle soars
 to heaven1 the dove  descends from it4 
,cease to venture into regions where    
thou canst find  no spring of waters1 no
 umbrageous shade4 ,if on the ,falberg  

thou couldst  not gaze into the abyss   
and live1 keep all thy strength for him 
who will  love thee4 ,go1 poor girl2    
thou knowest1 ,i am betrothed40         
,minna rose and followed ,seraphita to  
the window where ,wilfrid stood4 ,all   
three listened to the ,sieg bounding out
 the rush of the upper waters1  which   
brought down trees uprooted by the ice2 
the fiord had regained  its voice2 all  
illusions were dispelled6 ,they rejoiced
 in ,nature as she  burst her bonds and 
seemed to answer with sublime accord to 
the ,spirit  whose breath had wakened   
her4    ,when the three guests of this  
mysterious being left the house1 they   
were  filled with the vague sensation   
which is neither sleep1 nor torpor1  nor
 astonishment1 but partakes of the      
nature of each1--a state that is        
neither dusk nor dawn1 but which creates
 a thirst for light4 ,all three  were   
thinking4    8,i begin to believe that  
she is indeed a ,spirit hidden in human 
form10   said ,monsieur ,becker4        

,wilfrid1 re-entering his own           
apartments1 calm and convinced1 was     
unable  to struggle against that        
influence so divinely majestic4         
,minna said in her heart1 8,why will he 
not let me love him60          ,,chapter
 ,v4 ,,farewell      ,there is in man an
 almost hopeless phenomenon for         
thoughtful minds who  seek a meaning in 
the march of civilization1 and who      
endeavor to give  laws of progression to
 the movement of intelligence4 ,however 
portentous  a fact may be1 or even      
supernatural1--if such facts            
exist1--however  solemnly a miracle may 
be done in sight of all1 the lightning  
of that  fact1 the thunderbolt of that  
miracle is quickly swallowed up in the  
ocean of life1 whose surface1 scarcely  
stirred by the brief convulsion1        
returns to the level of its habitual    
flow4    ,a ,voice is heard from the    
jaws of an ,animal2 a ,hand writes on   
the wall  before a feasting ,court2 an  
,eye gleams in the slumber of a king1   

and a  ,prophet explains the dream2     
,death1 evoked1 rises on the confines of
 the  luminous sphere were faculties    
revive2 ,spirit annihilates ,matter at  
the  foot of that mystic ladder of the  
,seven ,spiritual ,worlds1 one resting  
upon another in space and revealing     
themselves in shining waves that  break 
in light upon the steps of the celestial
 ,tabernacle4 ,but however  solemn the  
inward ,revelation1 however clear the   
visible outward ,sign1  be sure that on 
the morrow ,balaam doubts both himself  
and his ass1  ,belshazzar and ,pharoah  
call ,moses and ,daniel to qualify the  
,word4 ,the  ,spirit1 descending1 bears 
man above this earth1 opens the seas and
 lets  him see their depths1 shows him  
lost species1 wakens dry bones whose    
dust is the soil of valleys2 the        
,apostle writes the ,apocalypse1 and    
twenty centuries later human science    
ratifies his words and turns his        
visions into maxims4 ,and what comes of 
it all8 ,why this1--that the  peoples   

live as they have ever lived1 as they   
lived in the first  ,olympiad1 as they  
lived on the morrow of ,creation1 and on
 the eve of the  great cataclysm4 ,the  
waves of ,doubt have covered all things4
 ,the same  floods surge with the same  
measured motion on the human granite    
which  serves as a boundary to the ocean
 of intelligence4 ,when man has inquired
  of himself whether he has seen that   
which he has seen1 whether he has  heard
 the words that entered his ears1       
whether the facts were facts and  the   
idea is indeed an idea1 then he resumes 
his wonted bearing1 thinks  of his      
worldly interests1 obeys some envoy of  
death and of oblivion  whose dusky      
mantle covers like a pall an ancient    
,humanity of which  the moderns retain  
no memory4 ,man never pauses2 he goes   
his round1  he vegetates until the      
appointed day when his ,axe falls4 ,if  
this wave  force1 this pressure of      
bitter waters prevents all progress1 no 
doubt it  also warns of death4 ,spirits 

prepared by faith among the higher souls
 of  earth can alone perceive the mystic
 ladder of ,jacob4    ,after listening  
to ,seraphita's answer in which 7being  
earnestly  questioned7 she unrolled     
before their eyes a ,divine             
,perspective1--as an  organ fills a     
church with sonorous sound and reveals a
 musical universe1  its solemn tones    
rising to the loftiest arches and       
playing1 like light1  upon their        
foliated capitals1--,wilfrid returned to
 his own room1 awed  by the sight of a  
world in ruins1 and on those ruins the  
brilliance of  mysterious lights poured 
forth in torrents by the hand of a young
 girl4  ,on the morrow he still thought 
of these things1 but his awe was gone2  
he  felt he was neither destroyed nor   
changed2 his passions1 his ideas awoke  
in full force1 fresh and vigorous4 ,he  
went to breakfast with ,monsieur        
,becker and found the old man absorbed  
in the 8,treatise on ,incantations10    
which he had searched since early       

morning to convince his guest that      
there was nothing unprecedented in all  
that they had seen and heard at  the    
,swedish castle4 ,with the childlike    
trustfulness of a true scholar  he had  
folded down the pages in which ,jean    
,wier related authentic facts  which    
proved the possibility of the events    
that had happened the night             
before1--for to learned men an idea is a
 event1 just as the greatest  events    
often present no idea at all to them4   
,by the time they had  swallowed their  
fifth cup of tea1 these philosophers had
 come to think  the mysterious scene of 
the preceding evening wholly natural4   
,the  celestial truths to which they had
 listened were arguments susceptible  of
 examination2 ,seraphita was a girl1    
more or less eloquent2 allowance  must  
be made for the charms of her voice1 her
 seductive beauty1 her  fascinating     
motions1 in short1 for all those        
oratorical arts by which an  actor puts 
a world of sentiment and thought into   

phrases which are often  commonplace4   
8,bah60 said the worthy pastor1 making a
 philosophical grimace as he  spread a  
layer of salt butter on his slice of    
bread1 8the final word of  all these    
fine enigmas is six feet under ground40 
8,but10 said ,wilfrid1 sugaring his tea1
 8,i cannot image how a young girl  of  
seventeen can know so much2 what she    
said was certainly a compact  argument40
    8,read the account of that ,italian 
woman10 said ,monsieur ,becker1 8who at 
the age of twelve spoke forty-two       
languages1 ancient and modern2 also  the
 history of that monk who could guess   
thought by smell4 ,i can give  you a    
thousand such cases from ,jean ,wier and
 other writers40    8,i admit all that1 
dear pastor2 but to my thinking1        
,seraphita would make  a perfect wife40 
8,she is all mind10 said ,monsieur      
,becker1 dubiously4    ,several days    
went by1 during which the snow in the   
valleys melted  gradually away2 the     
green of the forests and of the grass   

began to show2  ,norwegian ,nature made 
ready her wedding garments for her brief
 bridal  of a day4 ,during this period1 
when the softened air invited every one 
to leave the house1 ,seraphita remained 
at home in solitude4 ,when at last  she 
admitted ,minna the latter saw at once  
the ravages of inward fever2            
,seraphita's voice was hollow1 her skin 
pallid2 hitherto a poet might  have     
compared her lustre to that of          
diamonds1--now it was that of a  topaz4 
8,have you seen her80 asked ,wilfrid1   
who had wandered around the ,swedish    
dwelling waiting for ,minna's return4   
8,yes10 answered the young girl1        
weeping2 8,we must lose him60           
8,mademoiselle10 cried ,wilfrid1        
endeavoring to repress the loud tones of
  his angry voice1 8do not jest with me4
 ,you can love ,seraphita only  as one  
young girl can love another1 and not    
with the love which she  inspires in me4
 ,you do not know your danger if my     
jealousy were really  aroused4 ,why can 

,i not go to her8 ,is it you who stand  
in my way80    8,i do not know by what  
right you probe my heart10 said ,minna1 
calm  in appearance1 but inwardly       
terrified4 8,yes1 ,i love him10 she     
said1  recovering the courage of her    
convictions1 that she might1 for once1  
confess the religion of her heart4 8,but
 my jealousy1 natural as it is  in love1
 fears no one here below4 ,alas6 ,i am  
jealous of a secret feeling  that       
absorbs him4 ,between him and me there  
is a great gulf fixed which  ,i cannot  
cross4 ,would that ,i knew who loves him
 best1 the stars or ,i6  which of us    
would sacrifice our being most eagerly  
for his happiness6  ,why should ,i not  
be free to avow my love8 ,in the        
presence of death we  may declare our   
feelings1--and ,seraphitus is about to  
die40    8,minna1 you are mistaken2 the 
siren ,i so love and long for1 she1 whom
  ,i have seen1 feeble and languid1 on  
her couch of furs1 is not a young  man40
    8,monsieur10 answered ,minna1       

distressfully1 8the being whose powerful
  hand guided me on the ,falberg1 who   
led me to the saeter sheltered  beneath 
the ,ice-,cap1 there--0 she said1       
pointing to the peak1 8is not  a feeble 
girl4 ,ah1 had you but heard him        
prophesying6 ,his poem was the  music of
 thought4 ,a young girl never uttered   
those solemn tones of a  voice which    
stirred my soul40    8,what certainty   
have you80 said ,wilfrid4    8,none but 
that of the heart10 answered ,minna4    
8,and ,i10 cried ,wilfrid1 casting on   
his companion the terrible glance of    
the earthly desire that kills1 8,i1 too1
 know how powerful is her empire  over  
me1 and ,i will undeceive you40    ,at  
this moment1 while the words were       
rushing from ,wilfrid's lips as  rapidly
 as the thoughts surged in his brain1   
they saw ,seraphita coming  towards them
 from the house1 followed by ,david4    
,the apparition calmed  the man's       
excitement4    8,look10 he said1 8could 
any but a woman move with that grace and

  langor80    8,he suffers2 he comes    
forth for the last time10 said ,minna4  
,david went back at a sign from his     
mistress1 who advanced towards  ,wilfrid
 and ,minna4    8,let us go to the falls
 of the ,sieg10 she said1 expressing one
 of those  desires which suddenly       
possess the sick and which the well     
hasten to  obey4    ,a thin white mist  
covered the valleys around the fiord and
 the sides  of the mountains1 whose icy 
summits1 sparkling like stars1 pierced  
the  vapor and gave it the appearance of
 a moving milky way4 ,the sun was       
visible through the haze like a globe of
 red fire4 ,though winter still         
lingered1 puffs of warm air laden with  
the scent of the birch-trees1  already  
adorned with their rosy efflorescence1  
and of the larches1  whose silken       
tassels were beginning to               
appear1--breezes tempered by the        
incense and the sighs of earth1--gave   
token of the glorious ,northern  spring1
 the rapid1 fleeting joy of that most   

melancholy of ,natures4  ,the wind was  
beginning to lift the veil of mist which
 half-obscured the  gulf4 ,the birds    
sang4 ,the bark of the trees where the  
sun had not yet  dried the clinging     
hoar-frost shone gayly to the eye in its
 fantastic  wreathings which trickled   
away in murmuring rivulets as the warmth
  reached them4 ,the three friends      
walked in silence along the shore4      
,wilfrid and ,minna alone noticed the   
magic transformation that was taking    
place in the monotonous picture of the  
winter landscape4 ,their companion      
walked in thought1 as though a voice    
were sounding to her ears in this       
concert of ,nature4    ,presently they  
reached the ledge of rocks through which
 the ,sieg had  forced its way1 after   
escaping from the long avenue cut by its
 waters  in an undulating line through  
the forest1--a fluvial pathway flanked  
by aged firs and roofed with            
strong-ribbed arches like those of a    
cathedral4 ,looking back from that      

vantage-ground1 the whole extent of  the
 fiord could be seen at a glance1 with  
the open sea sparkling on the  horizon  
beyond it like a burnished blade4    ,at
 this moment the mist1 rolling away1    
left the sky blue and clear4  ,among the
 valleys and around the trees flitted   
the shining fragments1--a  diamond dust 
swept by the freshening breeze4 ,the    
torrent rolled on  toward them2 along   
its length a vapor rose1 tinted by the  
sun with every  color of his light2 the 
decomposing rays flashing prismatic     
fires along  the many-tinted scarf of   
waters4 ,the rugged ledge on which they 
stood  was carpeted by several kinds of 
lichen1 forming a noble mat variegated  
by moisture and lustrous like the sheen 
of a silken fabric4 ,shrubs1  already in
 bloom1 crowned the rocks with garlands4
 ,their waving foliage1  eager for the  
freshness of the water1 drooped its     
tresses above the  stream2 the larches  
shook their light fringes and played    
with the pines1  stiff and motionless as

 aged men4 ,this luxuriant beauty was   
foiled by  the solemn colonnades of the 
forest-trees1 rising in terraces upon   
the  mountains1 and by the calm sheet of
 the fiord1 lying below1 where the      
torrent buried its fury and was still4  
,beyond1 the sea hemmed in this  page of
 ,nature1 written by the greatest of    
poets1 ,chance2 to whom the  wild       
luxuriance of creation when apparently  
abandoned to itself is  owing4    ,the  
village of ,jarvis was a lost point in  
the landscape1 in this  immensity of    
,nature1 sublime at this moment like all
 things else of  ephemeral life which   
present a fleeting image of perfection2 
for1 by a  law fatal to no eyes but our 
own1 creations which appear             
complete--the  love of our heart and the
 desire of our eyes--have but one       
spring-tide  here below4 ,standing on   
this breast-work of rock these three    
persons  might well suppose themselves  
alone in the universe4    8,what        
beauty60 cried ,wilfrid4    8,nature    

sings hymns10 said ,seraphita4 8,is not 
her music exquisite8 ,tell  me1         
,wilfrid1 could any of the women you    
once knew create such a glorious        
retreat for herself as this8 ,i am      
conscious here of a feeling seldom      
inspired by the sight of cities1 a      
longing to lie down amid this           
quickening verdure4 ,here1 with eyes to 
heaven and an open heart1 lost in  the  
bosom of immensity1 ,i could hear the   
sighings of the flower1 scarce  budded1 
which longs for wings1 or the cry of the
 eider grieving that it  can only fly1  
and remember the desires of man who1    
issuing from all1  is none the less ever
 longing4 ,but that1 ,wilfrid1 is only a
 woman's  thought4 ,you find seductive  
fancies in the wreathing mists1 the     
light embroidered veils which ,nature   
dons like a coy maiden1 in this         
atmosphere where she perfumes for her   
spousals the greenery of her  tresses4  
,you seek the naiad's form amid the     
gauzy vapors1 and to your  thinking my  

ears should listen only to the virile   
voice of the ,torrent40    8,but ,love  
is there1 like the bee in the calyx of  
the flower10 replied  ,wilfrid1         
perceiving for the first time a trace of
 earthly sentiment in  her words1 and   
fancying the moment favorable for an    
expression of his  passionate           
tenderness4    8,always there80 said    
,seraphita1 smiling4 ,minna had left    
them for a  moment to gather the blue   
saxifrages growing on a rock above4     
8,always10 repeated ,wilfrid4 8,hear    
me10 he said1 with a masterful glance   
which was foiled as by a diamond        
breast-plate4 8,you know not what ,i am1
  nor what ,i can be1 nor what ,i will4 
,do not reject my last entreaty4  ,be   
mine for the good of that world whose   
happiness you bear upon your  heart4 ,be
 mine that my conscience may be pure2   
that a voice divine  may sound in my    
ears and infuse ,good into the great    
enterprise ,i have  undertaken prompted 
by my hatred to the nations1 but which  

,i swear to  accomplish for their       
benefit if you will walk beside me4     
,what higher  mission can you ask for   
love8 what nobler part can woman aspire 
to8 ,i  came to ,norway to meditate a   
grand design40    8,and you will        
sacrifice its grandeur10 she said1 8to  
an innocent girl  who loves you1 and who
 will lead you in the paths of peace40  
8,what matters sacrifice10 he cried1 8if
 ,i have you8 ,hear my secret4 ,i  have 
gone from end to end of the             
,north1--that great smithy from whose   
anvils new races have spread over the   
earth1 like human tides appointed  to   
refresh the wornout civilizations4 ,i   
wished to begin my work at some         
,northern point1 to win the empire which
 force and intellect must ever  give    
over a primitive people2 to form that   
people for battle1 to drive  them to    
wars which should ravage ,europe like a 
conflagration1 crying  liberty to some1 
pillage to others1 glory here1 pleasure 
there6--,i1  myself1 remaining an image 

of ,destiny1 cruel1 implacable1         
advancing like  the whirlwind1 which    
sucks from the atmosphere the particles 
that make  the thunderbolt1 and falls   
like a devouring scourge upon the       
nations4  ,europe is at an epoch when   
she awaits the new ,messiah who shall   
destroy  society and remake it4 ,she can
 no longer believe except in him who    
crushes her under foot4 ,the day is at  
hand when poets and historians  will    
justify me1 exalt me1 and borrow my     
ideas1 mine6 ,and all the while  my     
triumph will be a jest1 written in      
blood1 the jest of my vengeance6  ,but  
not here1 ,seraphita2 what ,i see in the
 ,north disgusts me4 ,hers is  a mere   
blind force2 ,i thirst for the ,indies6 
,i would rather fight a  selfish1       
cowardly1 mercantile government4        
,besides1 it is easier to stir  the     
imagination of the peoples at the feet  
of the ,caucasus than to argue  with the
 intellect of the icy lands which here  
surround me4 ,therefore am  ,i tempted  

to cross the ,russian steps and pour my 
triumphant human tide  through ,asia to 
the ,ganges1 and overthrow the ,british 
rule4 ,seven men  have done this thing  
before me in other epochs of the world4 
,i will  emulate them4 ,i will spread   
,art like the ,saracens1 hurled by      
,mohammed  upon ,europe4 ,mine shall be 
no paltry sovereignty like those that   
govern  to-day the ancient provinces of 
the ,roman empire1 disputing with their 
subjects about a customs right6 ,no1    
nothing can bar my way6 ,like ,genghis  
,khan1 my feet shall tread a third of   
the globe1 my hand shall grasp  the     
throat of ,asia like ,aurung-,zeb4 ,be  
my companion6 ,let me seat thee1        
beautiful and noble being1 on a throne6 
,i do not doubt success1 but live       
within my heart and ,i am sure of it40  
8,i have already reigned10 said         
,seraphita1 coldly4    ,the words fell  
as the axe of a skilful woodman falls at
 the root of a  young tree and brings it
 down at a single blow4 ,men alone can  

comprehend  the rage that a woman       
excites in the soul of a man when1 after
 showing  her his strength1 his power1  
his wisdom1 his superiority1 the        
capricious  creature bends her head and 
says1 8,all that is nothing02 when1     
unmoved1  she smiles and says1 8,such   
things are known to me10 as though his  
power  were nought4    8,what60 cried   
,wilfrid1 in despair1 8can the riches of
 art1 the riches of  worlds1 the        
splendors of a court--0    ,she stopped 
him by a single inflexion of her lips1  
and said1 8,beings  more powerful than  
you have offered me far more40    8,thou
 hast no soul10 he cried1--8no soul1 if 
thou art not persuaded by  the thought  
of comforting a great man1 who is       
willing now to sacrifice  all things to 
live beside thee in a little house on   
the shores of a  lake40    8,but10 she  
said1 8,i am loved with a boundless     
love40    8,by whom80 cried ,wilfrid1   
approaching ,seraphita with a frenzied  
movement1 as if to fling her into the   

foaming basin of the ,sieg4    ,she     
looked at him and slowly extended her   
arm1 pointing to ,minna1 who  now sprang
 towards her1 fair and glowing and      
lovely as the flowers she  held in her  
hand4    8,child60 said ,seraphitus1    
advancing to meet her4    ,wilfrid      
remained where she left him1 motionless 
as the rock on which he  stood1 lost in 
thought1 longing to let himself go into 
the torrent  of the ,sieg1 like the     
fallen trees which hurried past his eyes
 and  disappeared in the bosom of the   
gulf4    8,i gathered them for you10    
said ,minna1 offering the bunch of      
saxifrages  to the being she adored4    
8,one of them1 see1 this one10 she      
added1  selecting a flower1 8is like    
that you found on the ,falberg40        
,seraphitus looked alternately at the   
flower and at ,minna4    8,why question 
me8 ,dost thou doubt me80    8,no10 said
 the young girl1 8my trust in you is    
infinite4 ,you are  more beautiful to   
look upon than this glorious nature1 but

 your mind  surpasses in intellect that 
of all humanity4 ,when ,i have been with
 you ,i  seem to have prayed to ,god4 ,i
 long--0    8,for what80 said           
,seraphitus1 with a glance that revealed
 to the young  girl the vast distance   
which separated them4    8,to suffer in 
your stead40    8,ah1 dangerous being60 
cried ,seraphitus in his heart4 8,is it 
wrong1 oh  my ,god6 to desire to offer  
her to ,thee8 ,dost thou remember1      
,minna1  what ,i said to thee up there80
 he added1 pointing to the summit of the
  ,ice-,cap4    8,he is terrible again10
 thought ,minna1 trembling with fear4   
,the voice of the ,sieg accompanied the 
thoughts of the three beings  united on 
this platform of projecting rock1 but   
separated in soul by the  abysses of the
 ,spiritual ,world4    8,seraphitus6    
teach me10 said ,minna in a silvery     
voice1 soft as the  motion of a         
sensitive plant1 8teach me how to cease 
to love you4 ,who  could fail to admire 
you2 love is an admiration that never   

wearies40    8,poor child60 said        
,seraphitus1 turning pale2 8there is but
 one whom thou  canst love in that way40
    8,who80 asked ,minna4    8,thou     
shalt know hereafter10 he said1 in the  
feeble voice of a man who  lies down to 
die4    8,help1 help6 he is dying60     
cried ,minna4    ,wilfrid ran towards   
them4 ,seeing ,seraphita as she lay on a
 fragment of  gneiss1 where time had    
cast its velvet mantle of lustrous      
lichen and  tawny mosses now burnished  
in the sunlight1 he whispered softly1   
8,how  beautiful she is60    8,one other
 look6 the last that ,i shall ever cast 
upon this nature in  travail10 said     
,seraphitus1 rallying her strength and  
rising to her feet4    ,she advanced to 
the edge of the rocky platform1 whence  
her eyes took in  the scenery of that   
grand and glorious landscape1 so        
verdant1 flowery1  and animated1 yet so 
lately buried in its winding-sheet of   
snow4    8,farewell10 she said1         
8farewell1 home of ,earth1 warmed by the

 fires of  ,love2 where all things press
 with ardent force from the centre to   
the  extremities2 where the extremities 
are gathered up1 like a woman's hair1   
to weave the mysterious braid which     
binds us in that invisible ether to  the
 ,thought ,divine6    8,behold the man  
bending above that furrow moistened with
 his tears1  who lifts his head for an  
instant to question ,heaven2 behold the 
woman  gathering her children that she  
may feed them with her milk2 see him    
who lashes the ropes in the height of   
the gale2 see her who sits in the       
hollow of the rocks1 awaiting the       
father6 ,behold all they who stretch    
their hands in want after a lifetime    
spent in thankless toil4 ,to all  peace 
and courage1 and to all farewell6       
8,hear you the cry of the soldier1 dying
 nameless and unknown8 the wail  of the 
man deceived who weeps in the desert8   
,to them peace and courage2  to all     
farewell6    8,farewell1 you who die for
 the kings of the earth6 ,farewell1 ye  

people  without a country and ye        
countries without a people1 each1 with a
 mutual  want4 ,above all1 farewell to  
,thee who knew not where to lay ,thy    
head1  ,exile divine6 ,farewell1 mothers
 beside your dying sons6 ,farewell1 ye  
,little ,ones1 ye ,feeble1 ye           
,suffering1 you whose sorrows ,i have so
 often  borne6 ,farewell1 all ye who    
have descended into the sphere of       
,instinct  that you may suffer there for
 others6    8,farewell1 ye mariners who 
seek the ,orient through the thick      
darkness of  your abstractions1 vast as 
principles6 ,farewell1 martyrs of       
thought1  led by thought into the       
presence of the ,true ,light4 ,farewell1
 regions  of study where mine ears can  
hear the plaint of genius neglected and 
insulted1 the sigh of the patient       
scholar to whom enlightenment comes  too
 late6    8,i see the angelic choir1 the
 wafting of perfumes1 the incense of the
  heart of those who go their way       
consoling1 praying1 imparting celestial 

balm and living light to suffering      
souls6 ,courage1 ye choir of ,love6  you
 to whom the peoples cry1 #8,comfort us1
 comfort us1 defend us6' ,to you        
courage6 and farewell6    8,farewell1 ye
 granite rocks that shall bloom a       
flower2 farewell1 flower  that becomes a
 dove2 farewell1 dove that shalt be     
woman2 farewell1  woman1 who art        
,suffering1 man1 who art ,belief6       
,farewell1 you who shall  be all love1  
all prayer60    ,broken with fatigue1   
this inexplicable being leaned for the  
first time  on ,wilfrid and on ,minna to
 be taken home4 ,wilfrid and ,minna felt
  the shock of a mysterious contact in  
and through the being who thus          
connected them4 ,they had scarcely      
advanced a few steps when ,david  met   
them1 weeping4 8,she will die10 he said1
 8why have you brought her  hither80    
,the old man raised her in his arms with
 the vigor of youth and bore her  to the
 gate of the ,swedish castle like an    
eagle bearing a white lamb to  his      

mountain eyrie4          ,,chapter ,,vi4
 ,,the ,,path ,,to ,,heaven      ,the   
day succeeding that on which ,seraphita 
foresaw her death and bade  farewell to 
,earth1 as a prisoner looks round his   
dungeon before leaving  it forever1 she 
suffered pains which obliged her to     
remain in the  helpless immobility of   
those whose pangs are great4 ,wilfrid   
and ,minna  went to see her1 and found  
her lying on her couch of furs4 ,still  
veiled  in flesh1 her soul shone through
 that veil1 which grew more and more    
transparent day by day4 ,the progress of
 the ,spirit1 piercing the last         
obstacle between itself and the         
,infinite1 was called an illness1 the   
hour of ,life went by the name of death4
 ,david wept as he watched  her         
sufferings2 unreasonable as a child1 he 
would not listen to his  mistress's     
consolations4 ,monsieur ,becker wished  
,seraphita to try  remedies2 but all    
were useless4    ,one morning she sent  
for the two beings whom she loved1      

telling them  that this would be the    
last of her bad days4 ,wilfrid and      
,minna came in  terror1 knowing well    
that they were about to lose her4       
,seraphita smiled  to them as one       
departing to a better world2 her head   
drooped like a  flower heavy with dew1  
which opens its calyx for the last time 
to waft  its fragrance on the breeze4   
,she looked at these friends with a     
sadness  that was for them1 not for     
herself2 she thought no longer of       
herself1  and they felt this with a     
grief mingled with gratitude which they 
were  unable to express4 ,wilfrid stood 
silent and motionless1 lost in thoughts 
excited by events whose vast bearings   
enabled him to conceive of some         
illimitable immensity4    ,emboldened by
 the weakness of the being lately so    
powerful1 or perhaps  by the fear of    
losing him forever1 ,minna bent down    
over the couch and  said1 8,seraphitus1 
let me follow thee60    8,can ,i forbid 
thee80    8,why will thou not love me   

enough to stay with me80    8,i can love
 nothing here40    8,what canst thou    
love80    8,heaven40    8,is it worthy  
of heaven to despise the creatures of   
,god80    8,minna1 can we love two      
beings at once8 ,would our beloved be   
indeed our  beloved if he did not fill  
our hearts8 ,must he not be the first1  
the  last1 the only one8 ,she who is all
 love1 must she not leave the world  for
 her beloved8 ,human ties are but a     
memory1 she has no ties except to  him6 
,her soul is hers no longer2 it is his4 
,if she keeps within her  soul anything 
that is not his1 does she love8 ,no1 she
 loves not4 ,to  love feebly1 is that to
 love at all8 ,the voice of her beloved 
makes her  joyful2 it flows through her 
veins in a crimson tide more glowing far
  than blood2 his glance is the light   
that penetrates her2 her being melts    
into his being4 ,he is warm to her soul4
 ,he is the light that lightens2  near  
to him there is neither cold nor        
darkness4 ,he is never absent1 he  is   

always with us2 we think in him1 to him1
 by him6 ,minna1 that is how ,i  love   
him40    8,love whom80 said ,minna1     
tortured with sudden jealousy4          
8,god10 replied ,seraphitus1 his voice  
glowing in their souls like fires  of   
liberty from peak to peak upon the      
mountains1--8,god1 who does not  betray 
us6 ,god1 who will never abandon us6 who
 crowns our wishes2 who  satisfies ,his 
creatures with joy--joy unalloyed and   
infinite6 ,god1  who never wearies but  
ever smiles6 ,god1 who pours into the   
soul fresh  treasures day by day2 who   
purifies and leaves no bitterness2 who  
is all  harmony1 all flame6 ,god1 who   
has placed ,himself within our hearts to
  blossom there2 who hearkens to our    
prayers2 who does not stand aloof  when 
we are ,his1 but gives ,his presence    
absolutely6 ,he who revives us1         
magnifies us1 and multiplies us in      
,himself2 ,god6 ,minna1 ,i love thee    
because thou mayst be ,his6 ,i love thee
 because if thou come to ,him thou  wilt

 be mine40    8,lead me to ,him10 cried 
,minna1 kneeling down2 8take me by the  
hand2 ,i  will not leave thee60         
8,lead us1 ,seraphita60 cried ,wilfrid1 
coming to ,minna's side with an         
impetuous movement4 8,yes1 thou hast    
given me a thirst for ,light1 a  thirst 
for the ,word4 ,i am parched with the   
,love thou hast put into my  heart2 ,i  
desire to keep thy soul in mine2 thy    
will is mine2 ,i will do  whatsoever    
thou biddest me4 ,since ,i cannot obtain
 thee1 ,i will keep thy  will and all   
the thoughts that thou hast given me4   
,if ,i may not unite  myself with thee  
except by the power of my spirit1 ,i    
will cling to thee  in soul as the flame
 to what it laps4 ,speak60    8,angel60 
exclaimed the mysterious being1         
enfolding them both in  one glance1 as  
it were with an azure mantle1 8,heaven  
shall by thine  heritage60    ,silence  
fell among them after these words1 which
 sounded in the souls of  the man and of
 the woman like the first notes of some 

celestial harmony4    8,if you would    
teach your feet to tread the ,path to   
heaven1 know that  the way is hard at   
first10 said the weary sufferer2 8,god  
wills that you  shall seek ,him for     
,himself4 ,in that sense1 ,he is        
jealous2 ,he demands  your whole self4  
,but when you have given ,him yourself1 
never1 never will  ,he abandon you4 ,i  
leave with you the keys of the kingdom  
of ,his ,light1  where evermore you     
shall dwell in the bosom of the ,father1
 in the heart  of the ,bridegroom4 ,no  
sentinels guard the approaches1 you may 
enter  where you will2 ,his palaces1    
,his treasures1 ,his sceptre1 all are   
free4 #8,take them6' ,he says4 ,but--you
 must will to go there4 ,like  one      
preparing for a journey1 a man must     
leave his home1 renounce his  projects1 
bid farewell to friends1 to father1     
mother1 sister1 even  to the helpless   
brother who cries after him1--yes1      
farewell to them  eternally2 you will no
 more return than did the martyrs on    

their way to  the stake4 ,you must strip
 yourself of every sentiment1 of        
everything to  which man clings4 ,unless
 you do this you are but half-hearted in
 your  enterprise4    8,do for ,god what
 you do for your ambitious projects1    
what you do in  consecrating yourself to
 ,art1 what you have done when you loved
 a human  creature or sought some secret
 of human science4 ,is not ,god the     
whole  of science1 the all of love1 the 
source of poetry8 ,surely ,his riches   
are worthy of being coveted6 ,his       
treasure is inexhaustible1 ,his poem    
infinite1 ,his love immutable1 ,his     
science sure and darkened by no         
mysteries4 ,be anxious for nothing1 ,he 
will give you all4 ,yes1 in ,his  heart 
are treasures with which the petty joys 
you lose on earth are not  to be        
compared4 ,what ,i tell you is true2 you
 shall possess ,his power2  you may use 
it as you would use the gifts of lover  
or mistress4 ,alas6  men doubt1 they    
lack faith1 and will1 and persistence4  

,if some set their  feet in the path1   
they look behind them and presently turn
 back4 ,few  decide between the two     
extremes1--to go or stay1 heaven or the 
mire4 ,all  hesitate4 ,weakness leads   
astray1 passion allures into dangerous  
paths1  vice becomes habitual1 man      
flounders in the mud and makes no       
progress  towards a better state4       
8,all human beings go through a previous
 life in the sphere of ,instinct1  where
 they are brought to see the            
worthlessness of earthly treasures1  to 
amass which they gave themselves such   
untold pains6 ,who can tell how  many   
times the human being lives in the      
sphere of ,instinct before he  is       
prepared to enter the sphere of         
,abstractions1 where thought expends    
itself on erring science1 where mind    
wearies at last of human language8  for1
 when ,matter is exhausted1 ,spirit     
enters4 ,who knows how many fleshly     
forms the heir of heaven occupies before
 he can be brought to understand  the   

value of that silence and solitude whose
 starry plains are but the  vestibule of
 ,spiritual ,worlds8 ,he feels his way  
amid the void1 makes  trial of          
nothingness1 and then at last his eyes  
revert upon the ,path4  ,then follow    
other existences1--all to be lived to   
reach the place  where ,light effulgent 
shines4 ,death is the post-house of the 
journey4 ,a  lifetime may be needed     
merely to gain the virtues which annul  
the  errors of man's preceding life4    
,first comes the life of suffering1     
whose  tortures create a thirst for     
love4 ,next the life of love and        
devotion  to the creature1 teaching     
devotion to the ,creator1--a life where 
the  virtues of love1 its martyrdoms1   
its joys followed by sorrows1 its       
angelic hopes1 its patience1 its        
resignation1 excite an appetite for     
things divine4 ,then follows the life   
which seeks in silence the traces  of   
the ,word2 in which the soul grows      
humble and charitable4 ,next the  life  

of longing2 and lastly1 the life of     
prayer4 ,in that is the noonday  sun2   
there are the flowers1 there the        
harvest6    8,the virtues we acquire1   
which develop slowly within us1 are  the
 invisible links that bind each one of  
our existences to the                   
others1--existences which the spirit    
alone remembers1 for ,matter has no     
memory for spiritual things4 ,thought   
alone holds the tradition of the  bygone
 life4 ,the endless legacy of the past  
to the present is the secret  source of 
human genius4 ,some receive the gift of 
form1 some the gift  of numbers1 others 
the gift of harmony4 ,all these gifts   
are steps of  progress in the ,path of  
,light4 ,yes1 he who possesses a single 
one of  them touches at that point the  
,infinite4 ,earth has divided the       
,word--of  which ,i here reveal some    
syllables--into particles1 she has      
reduced it  to dust and has scattered it
 through her works1 her dogmas1 her     
poems4  ,if some impalpable grain shines

 like a diamond in a human work1 men    
cry3  #8,how grand6 how true6 how       
glorious6' ,that fragment vibrates in   
their  souls and wakes a presentiment of
 heaven3 to some1 a melody that  weans  
from earth2 to others1 the solitude that
 draws to ,god4 ,to all1  whatsoever    
sends us back upon ourselves1 whatsoever
 strikes us down and  crushes us1 lifts 
or abases us1--that is but a syllable of
 the ,divine  ,word4    8,when a human  
soul draws its first furrow straight1   
the rest will follow  surely4 ,one      
thought borne inward1 one prayer        
uplifted1 one suffering  endured1 one   
echo of the ,word within us1 and our    
souls are forever  changed4 ,all ends in
 ,god2 and many are the ways to find    
,him by walking  straight before us4    
,when the happy day arrives in which you
 set your  feet upon the ,path and begin
 your pilgrimage1 the world will know   
nothing of it2 earth no longer          
understands you2 you no longer          
understand  each other4 ,men who attain 

a knowledge of these things1 who lisp a 
few  syllables of the ,word1 often have 
not where to lay their head2 hunted     
like beasts they perish on the scaffold1
 to the joy of assembled  peoples1 while
 ,angels open to them the gates of      
heaven4 ,therefore1 your  destiny is a  
secret between yourself and ,god1 just  
as love is a secret  between two hearts4
 ,you may be the buried treasure1       
trodden under the  feet of men thirsting
 for gold yet all-unknowing that you are
 there  beneath them4    8,henceforth   
your existence becomes a thing of       
ceaseless activity2 each  act has a     
meaning which connects you with ,god1   
just as in love your  actions and your  
thoughts are filled with the loved one4 
,but love and  its joys1 love and its   
pleasures limited by the senses1 are but
 the  imperfect image of the love which 
unites you to your celestial ,spouse4   
,all earthly joy is mixed with anguish1 
with discontent4 ,if love ought  not to 
pall then death should end it while its 

flame is high1 so that  we see no ashes4
 ,but in ,god our wretchedness becomes  
delight1 joy lives  upon itself and     
multiplies1 and grows1 and has no limit4
 ,in the ,earthly  life our fleeting    
love is ended by tribulation2 in the    
,spiritual life  the tribulations of a  
day end in joys unending4 ,the soul is  
ceaselessly  joyful4 ,we feel ,god with 
us1 in us2 ,he gives a sacred savor to  
all  things2 ,he shines in the soul2 ,he
 imparts to us ,his sweetness2 ,he      
stills  our interest in the world viewed
 for ourselves2 ,he quickens our        
interest  in it viewed for ,his sake1   
and grants us the exercise of ,his power
 upon  it4 ,in ,his name we do the works
 which ,he inspires1 we act for ,him1 we
  have no self except in ,him1 we love  
,his creatures with undying love1 we    
dry their tears and long to bring them  
unto ,him1 as a loving woman longs  to  
see the inhabitants of earth obey her   
well-beloved4    8,the final life1 the  
fruition of all other lives1 to which   

the powers  of the soul have tended1 and
 whose merits open the ,sacred ,portals 
to  perfected man1 is the life of       
,prayer4 ,who can make you comprehend   
the  grandeur1 the majesty1 the might of
 ,prayer8 ,may my voice1 these words of 
mine1 ring in your hearts and change    
them4 ,be now1 here1 what you may  be   
after cruel trial6 ,there are privileged
 beings1 ,prophets1 ,seers1             
,messengers1 and ,martyrs1 all those who
 suffer for the ,word and who  proclaim 
it2 such souls spring at a bound across 
the human sphere and  rise at once to   
,prayer4 ,so1 too1 with those whose     
souls receive the fire  of ,faith4 ,be  
one of those brave souls6 ,god welcomes 
boldness4 ,he loves  to be taken by     
violence2 ,he will never reject those   
who force their way  to ,him4 ,know     
this6 desire1 the torrent of your will1 
is so all-powerful  that a single       
emission of it1 made with force1 can    
obtain all2 a single  cry1 uttered under
 the pressure of ,faith1 suffices4 ,be  

one of such  beings1 full of force1 of  
will1 of love6 ,be conquerors on the    
earth6 ,let  the hunger and thirst of   
,god possess you4 ,fly to ,him as the   
hart panting  for the water-brooks4     
,desire shall lend you its wings2 tears1
 those  blossoms of repentance1 shall be
 the celestial baptism from which your  
nature will issue purified4 ,cast       
yourself on the breast of the stream in 
,prayer6 ,silence and meditation are the
 means of following the ,way4 ,god      
reveals ,himself1 unfailingly1 to the   
solitary1 thoughtful seeker4    8,it is 
thus that the separation takes place    
between ,matter1 which so  long has     
wrapped its darkness round you1 and     
,spirit1 which was in you  from the     
beginning1 the light which lighted you  
and now brings noon-day  to your soul4  
,yes1 your broken heart shall receive   
the light2 the light  shall bathe it4   
,then you will no longer feel           
convictions1 they will  have changed to 
certainties4 ,the ,poet utters2 the     

,thinker meditates2 the  ,righteous     
acts2 but he who stands upon the borders
 of the ,divine ,world  prays2 and his  
prayer is word1 thought1 action1 in one6
 ,yes1 prayer  includes all1 contains   
all2 it completes nature1 for it reveals
 to you  the mind within it and its     
progression4 ,white and shining virgin  
of all  human virtues1 ark of the       
covenant between earth and heaven1      
tender and  strong companion partaking  
of the lion and of the lamb1 ,prayer6   
,prayer  will give you the key of       
heaven6 ,bold and pure as innocence1    
strong1  like all that is single and    
simple1 this glorious1 invincible ,queen
  rests1 nevertheless1 on the material  
world2 she takes possession of it2  like
 the sun1 she clasps it in a circle of  
light4 ,the universe belongs  to him who
 wills1 who knows1 who prays2 but he    
must will1 he must know1  he must pray2 
in a word1 he must possess force1       
wisdom1 and faith4    8,therefore       
,prayer1 issuing from so many trials1 is

 the consummation  of all truths1 all   
powers1 all feelings4 ,fruit of the     
laborious1  progressive1 continued      
development of natural properties and   
faculties  vitalized anew by the divine 
breath of the ,word1 ,prayer has occult 
activity2 it is the final worship--not  
the material worship of images1  nor the
 spiritual worship of formulas1 but the 
worship of the ,divine  ,world4 ,we say 
no prayers1--prayer forms within us2 it 
is a faculty which  acts of itself2 it  
has attained a way of action which lifts
 it outside  of forms2 it links the soul
 to ,god1 with whom we unite as the root
 of  the tree unites with the soil2 our 
veins draw life from the principle of   
life1 and we live by the life of the    
universe4 ,prayer bestows external      
conviction by making us penetrate the   
,material ,world through the  cohesion  
of all our faculties with the elementary
 substances2 it bestows  internal       
conviction by developing our essence and
 mingling it with that  of the          

,spiritual ,worlds4 ,to be able to pray 
thus1 you must attain to an  utter      
abandonment of flesh2 you must acquire  
through the fires of the  furnace the   
purity of the diamond2 for this complete
 communion with the  ,divine is obtained
 only in absolute repose1 where storms  
and conflicts  are at rest4    8,yes1   
,prayer--the aspiration of the soul     
freed absolutely from the  body--bears  
all forces within it1 and applies them  
to the constant and  perseverant union  
of the ,visible and the ,invisible4     
,when you possess  the faculty of       
praying without weariness1 with love1   
with force1 with  certainty1 with       
intelligence1 your spiritualized nature 
will presently  be invested with power4 
,like a rushing wind1 like a            
thunderbolt1 it cuts  its way through   
all things and shares the power of ,god4
 ,the quickness  of the ,spirit becomes 
yours2 in an instant you may pass from  
region to  region2 like the ,word       
itself1 you are transported from the    

ends of the  world to other worlds4     
,harmony exists1 and you are part of it6
 ,light is  there and your eyes possess 
it6 ,melody is heard and you echo it6   
,under  such conditions1 you feel your  
perceptions developing1 widening2 the   
eyes of your mind reach to vast         
distances4 ,there is1 in truth1 neither 
time nor place to the ,spirit2 space and
 duration are proportions created  for  
,matter2 spirit and matter have naught  
in common4    8,though these things take
 place in stillness1 in silence1 without
  agitation1 without external movement1 
yet ,prayer is all action2 but it  is   
spiritual action1 stripped of           
substantiality1 and reduced1 like  the  
motion of the worlds1 to an invisible   
pure force4 ,it penetrates  everywhere  
like light2 it gives vitality to souls  
that come beneath its  rays1 as ,nature 
beneath the sun4 ,it resuscitates       
virtue1 purifies and  sanctifies all    
actions1 peoples solitude1 and gives a  
foretaste of  eternal joys4 ,when you   

have once felt the delights of the      
divine  intoxication which comes of this
 internal travail1 then all is yours6   
once take the lute on which we sing to  
,god within your hands1 and you  will   
never part with it4 ,hence the solitude 
in which ,angelic ,spirits  live2 hence 
their disdain of human joys4 ,they are  
withdrawn from those  who must die to   
live2 they hear the language of such    
beings1 but they no  longer understand  
their ideas2 they wonder at their       
movements1 at  what the world terms     
policies1 material laws1 societies4 ,for
 them all  mysteries are over2 truth1   
and truth alone1 is theirs4 ,they who   
have  reached the point where their eyes
 discern the ,sacred ,portals1 who1 not 
looking back1 not uttering one regret1  
contemplate worlds and comprehend  their
 destinies1 such as they keep silence1  
wait1 and bear their final  struggles4  
,the worst of all those struggles is the
 last2 at the zenith  of all virtue is  
,resignation1--to be an exile and not   

lament1 no longer  to delight in earthly
 things and yet to smile1 to belong to  
,god and yet  to stay with men6 ,you    
hear the voice that cries to you1       
#8,advance6' ,often  celestial visions  
of descending ,angels compass you about 
with songs  of praise2 then1 tearless1  
uncomplaining1 must you watch them as   
they  reascent the skies6 ,to murmur is 
to forfeit all4 ,resignation is a fruit 
that ripens at the gates of heaven4 ,how
 powerful1 how glorious the calm  smile1
 the pure brow of the resigned human    
creature4 ,radiant is the  light of that
 brow4 ,they who live in its atmosphere 
grow purer4 ,that  calm glance          
penetrates and softens4 ,more eloquent  
by silence than the  prophet by speech1 
such beings triumph by their simple     
presence4 ,their  ears are quick to hear
 as a faithful dog listening for his    
master4  ,brighter than hope1 stronger  
than love1 higher than faith1 that      
creature  of resignation is the virgin  
standing on the earth1 who holds for a  

moment the conquered palm1 then1 rising 
heavenward1 leaves behind her  the      
imprint of her white1 pure feet4 ,when  
she has passed away men flock  around   
and cry1 #8,see6 ,see6' ,sometimes ,god 
holds her still in sight1--a  figure to 
whose feet creep ,forms and ,species of 
,animality to be shown  their way4 ,she 
wafts the light exhaling from her hair1 
and they see2 she  speaks1 and they     
hear4 #8,a miracle6' they cry4 ,often   
she triumphs in the  name of ,god2      
frightened men deny her and put her to  
death2 smiling1 she  lays down her sword
 and goes to the stake1 having saved the
 ,peoples4  ,how many a pardoned ,angel 
has passed from martyrdom to heaven6    
,sinai1  ,golgotha are not in this place
 nor in that2 ,angels are crucified  in 
every place1 in every sphere4 ,sighs    
pierce to ,god from the whole  universe4
 ,this earth on which we live is but a  
single sheaf of the great  harvest2     
humanity is but a species in the vast   
garden where the flowers  of heaven are 

cultivated4 ,everywhere ,god is like    
unto ,himself1 and  everywhere1 by      
prayer1 it is easy to reach ,him40      
,with these words1 which fell from the  
lips of another ,hagar in the           
wilderness1 burning the souls of the    
hearers as the live coal of the  word   
inflamed ,isaiah1 this mysterious being 
paused as though to gather  some        
remaining strength4 ,wilfrid and ,minna 
dared not speak4 ,suddenly ,,he  lifted 
himself up to die3--    8,soul of all   
things1 oh my ,god1 thou whom ,i love   
for ,thyself6 ,thou1  ,judge and        
,father1 receive a love which has no    
limit4 ,give me of thine  essence and   
thy faculties that ,i be wholly thine6  
,take me1 that ,i no  longer be myself6 
,am ,i not purified8 then cast me back  
into the furnace6  ,if ,i be not yet    
proved in the fire1 make me some        
nurturing ploughshare1  or the ,sword of
 victory6 ,grant me a glorious martyrdom
 in which to  proclaim thy ,word6       
,rejected1 ,i will bless thy justice4   

,but if excess  of love may win in a    
moment that which hard and patient labor
 cannot  attain1 then bear me upward in 
thy chariot of fire6 ,grant me triumph1 
or  further trial1 still will ,i bless  
thee6 ,to suffer for thee1 is not that  
to triumph8 ,take me1 seize me1 bear me 
away6 nay1 if thou wilt1 reject  me6    
,thou art ,he who can do no evil4 ,ah60 
he cried1 after a pause1 8the  bonds are
 breaking4    8,spirits of the pure1 ye 
sacred flock1 come forth from the hidden
  places1 come on the surface of the    
luminous waves6 ,the hour now is2  come1
 assemble6 ,let us sing at the gates of 
the ,sanctuary2 our songs  shall drive  
away the final clouds4 ,with one accord 
let us hail the ,dawn  of the ,eternal  
,day4 ,behold the rising of the one     
,true ,light6 ,ah1 why may  ,i not take 
with me these my friends6 ,farewell1    
poor earth1 ,farewell60                 
,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,assumption     
,the last psalm was uttered neither by  
word1 look1 nor gesture1 nor by  any of 

those signs which men employ to         
communicate their thoughts1 but  as the 
soul speaks to itself2 for at the moment
 when ,seraphita revealed  herself in   
her true nature1 her thoughts were no   
longer enslaved by  human words4 ,the   
violence of that last prayer had burst  
her bonds4 ,her  soul1 like a white     
dove1 remained for an instant poised    
above the body  whose exhausted         
substances were about to be annihilated4
    ,the aspiration of the ,soul toward 
heaven was so contagious that ,wilfrid  
and ,minna1 beholding those radiant     
scintillations of ,life1 perceived not  
,death4    ,they had fallen on their    
knees when he had turned toward his     
,orient1  and they shared his ecstasy4  
,the fear of the ,lord1 which creates   
man a second time1 purging away his     
dross1 mastered their hearts4    ,their 
eyes1 veiled to the things of ,earth1   
were opened to the ,brightness  of      
,heaven4    ,though1 like the ,seers of 
old called ,prophets by men1 they were  

filled  with the terror of the ,most    
,high1 yet like them they continued firm
  when they found themselves within the 
radiance where the ,glory of the        
,spirit shone4    ,the veil of flesh1   
which1 until now1 had hidden that glory 
from their  eyes1 dissolved             
imperceptibly away1 and left them free  
to behold the  ,divine substance4       
,they stood in the twilight of the      
,coming ,dawn1 whose feeble rays        
prepared them to look upon the ,true    
,light1 to hear the ,living ,word1 and  
yet not die4    ,in this state they     
began to perceive the immeasurable      
differences which  separate the things  
of earth from the things of ,heaven4    
,life1 on the borders of which they     
stood1 leaning upon each other1         
trembling and illuminated1 like two     
children standing under shelter  in     
presence of a conflagration1 ,that ,life
 offered no lodgment to the  senses4    
,the ideas they used to interpret their 
vision to themselves were to  the things

 seen what the visible senses of a man  
are to his soul1 the  material covering 
of a divine essence4    ,the departing  
spirit was above them1 shedding incense 
without odor1  melody without sound4    
,about them1 where they stood1 were     
neither  surfaces1 nor angles1 nor      
atmosphere4    ,they dared neither      
question him nor contemplate him2 they  
stood in the  shadow of that ,presence  
as beneath the burning rays of a        
tropical sun1  fearing to raise their   
eyes lest the light should blast them4  
,they knew they were beside him1 without
 being able to perceive how it  was that
 they stood1 as in a dream1 on the      
confines of the ,visible and  the       
,invisible1 nor how they had lost sight 
of the ,visible and how they  beheld the
 ,invisible4    ,to each other they     
said3 8,if he touches us1 we can die60  
,but the  spirit was now within the     
,infinite1 and they knew not that       
neither  time1 nor space1 nor death1    
existed there1 and that a great gulf lay

  between them1 although they thought   
themselves beside him4    ,their souls  
were not prepared to receive in its     
fulness a knowledge  of the faculties of
 that ,life2 they could have only faint 
and confused  perceptions of it1 suited 
to their weakness4    ,were it not so1  
the thunder of the ,living ,word1 whose 
far-off tones  now reached their ears1  
and whose meaning entered their souls as
 life  unites with body1--one echo of   
that ,word would have consumed their    
being  as a whirlwind of fire laps up a 
fragile straw4    ,therefore they saw   
only that which their nature1 sustained 
by the  strength of the spirit1         
permitted them to see2 they heard that  
only  which they were able to hear4     
,and yet1 though thus protected1 they   
shuddered when the ,voice of the        
anguished soul broke forth above        
them--the prayer of the ,spirit         
awaiting ,life and imploring it with a  
cry4    ,that cry froze them to the very
 marrow of their bones4    ,the ,spirit 

knocked at the sacred portal4 8,what    
wilt thou80 answered  a choir1 whose    
question echoed among the worlds4 8,to  
go to ,god40 8,hast  thou conquered80   
8,i have conquered the flesh through    
abstinence1 ,i  have conquered false    
knowledge by humility1 ,i have conquered
 pride by  charity1 ,i have conquered   
the earth by love2 ,i have paid my dues 
by  suffering1 ,i am purified in the    
fires of faith1 ,i have longed for ,life
  by prayer3 ,i wait in adoration1 and  
,i am resigned40    ,no answer came4    
8,god's will be done60 answered the     
,spirit1 believing that he was about  to
 be rejected4    ,his tears flowed and  
fell like dew upon the heads of the two 
kneeling  witnesses1 who trembled before
 the justice of ,god4    ,suddenly the  
trumpets sounded1--the last trumpets of 
,victory won by the  ,angel in this last
 trial4 ,the reverberation passed       
through space  as sound through its     
echo1 filling it1 and shaking the       
universe which  ,wilfrid and ,minna felt

 like an atom beneath their feet4 ,they 
trembled  under an anguish caused by the
 dread of the mystery about to be       
accomplished4    ,a great movement took 
place1 as though the ,eternal ,legions1 
putting  themselves in motion1 were     
passing upward in spiral columns4 ,the  
worlds  revolved like clouds driven by a
 furious wind4 ,it was all rapid4       
,suddenly the veils were rent away4     
,they saw on high as it were a star1    
incomparably more lustrous than the most
 luminous of material stars1  which     
detached itself1 and fell like a        
thunderbolt1 dazzling as  lightning4    
,its passage paled the faces of the     
pair1 who thought it to be  the ,light  
,itself4    ,it was the ,messenger of   
good tidings1 the plume of whose helmet 
was a  flame of ,life4    ,behind him   
lay the swath of his way gleaming with a
 flood of the lights  through which he  
passed4    ,he bore a palm and a sword4 
,he touched the ,spirit with the palm1  
and  the ,spirit was transfigured4 ,its 

white wings noiselessly unfolded4       
,this communication of the ,light1      
changing the ,spirit into a ,seraph  and
 clothing it with a glorious form1 a    
celestial armor1 poured down  such      
effulgent rays that the two ,seers were 
paralyzed4    ,like the three apostles  
to whom ,jesus showed himself1 they felt
 the  dead weight of their bodies which 
denied them a complete and cloudless    
intuition of the ,word and the ,true    
,life4    ,they comprehended the        
nakedness of their souls2 they were able
  to measure the poverty of their light 
by comparing it--a humbling  task--with 
the halo of the ,seraph4    ,a          
passionate desire to plunge back into   
the mire of earth and suffer  trial took
 possession of them1--trial through     
which they might  victoriously utter at 
the sacred gates the words of that      
radiant  ,seraph4    ,the ,seraph knelt 
before the ,sanctuary1 beholding it1 at 
last1 face  to face2 and he said1       
raising his hands thitherward1 8,grant  

that these  two may have further sight2 
they will love the ,lord and proclaim   
,his  word40    ,at this prayer a veil  
fell4 ,whether it were that the hidden  
force which  held the ,seers had        
momentarily annihilated their physical  
bodies1 or  that it raised their spirits
 above those bodies1 certain it is that 
they  felt within them a rending of the 
pure from the impure4    ,the tears of  
the ,seraph rose about them like a      
vapor1 which hid the  lower worlds from 
their knowledge1 held them in its folds1
 bore them  upwards1 gave them          
forgetfulness of earthly meanings and   
the power of  comprehending the meanings
 of things divine4    ,the ,true ,light 
shone2 it illumined the ,creations1     
which seemed to them  barren when they  
saw the source from which all           
worlds--,terrestrial1  ,spiritual1 and  
,divine-derived their ,motion4    ,each 
world possessed a centre to which       
converged all points of its             
circumference4 ,these worlds were       

themselves the points which moved       
toward the centre of their system4 ,each
 system had its centre in great         
celestial regions which communicated    
with the flaming and quenchless  motor  
of all that is4    ,thus1 from the      
greatest to the smallest of the worlds1 
and from the  smallest of the worlds to 
the smallest portion of the beings who  
compose  it1 all was individual1 and all
 was1 nevertheless1 ,one and            
indivisible4    ,what was the design of 
the ,being1 fixed in ,his essence and in
 ,his  faculties1 who transmitted that  
essence and those faculties without     
losing them8 who manifested them outside
 of ,himself without separating  them   
from ,himself8 who rendered his         
creations outside of ,himself fixed  in 
their essence and mutable in their form8
 ,the pair thus called to the  celestial
 festival could only see the order and  
arrangement of created  beings and      
admire the immediate result4 ,the       
,angels alone see more4 ,they  know the 

means2 they comprehend the final end4   
,but what the two ,elect were granted   
power to contemplate1 what they were    
able to bring back as a testimony which 
enlightened their minds forever  after1 
was the proof of the action of the      
,worlds and of ,beings2 the             
consciousness of the effort with which  
they all converge to the ,result4       
,they heard the divers parts of the     
,infinite forming one living  melody2   
and each time that the accord made      
itself felt like a mighty  respiration1 
the ,worlds drawn by the concordant     
movement inclined  themselves toward the
 ,supreme ,being who1 from ,his         
impenetrable centre1  issued all things 
and recalled all things to ,himself4    
,this ceaseless alternation of voices   
and silence seemed the rhythm of  the   
sacred hymn which resounds and prolongs 
its sound from age to age4    ,wilfrid  
and ,minna were enabled to understand   
some of the mysterious  sayings of ,him 
who had appeared on earth in the form   

which to each of  them had rendered him 
comprehensible1--to one ,seraphitus1 to 
the other  ,seraphita1--for they saw    
that all was homogeneous in the sphere  
where he  now was4    ,light gave birth 
to melody1 melody gave birth to light2  
colors were  light and melody2 motion   
was a ,number endowed with ,utterance2  
all  things were at once sonorous1      
diaphanous1 and mobile2 so that each    
interpenetrated the other1 the whole    
vast area was unobstructed and the      
,angels could survey it from the depths 
of the ,infinite4    ,they perceived the
 puerility of human sciences1 of which  
he had spoken  to them4    ,the scene   
was to them a prospect without horizon1 
a boundless space into  which an        
all-consuming desire prompted them to   
plunge4 ,but1 fastened to  their        
miserable bodies1 they had the desire   
without the power to fulfil  it4    ,the
 ,seraph1 preparing for his flight1 no  
longer looked towards them2  he had     
nothing now in common with ,earth4      

,upward he rose2 the shadow of his      
luminous presence covered the two       
,seers like a merciful veil1 enabling   
them to raise their eyes and see  him1  
rising in his glory to ,heaven in       
company with the glad ,archangel4    ,he
 rose as the sun from the bosom of the  
,eastern waves2 but1 more  majestic than
 the orb and vowed to higher destinies1 
he could not be  enchained like inferior
 creations in the spiral movement of the
 worlds2  he followed the line of the   
,infinite1 pointing without deviation to
 the  ,one ,centre1 there to enter his  
eternal life1--to receive there1 in his 
faculties and in his essence1 the power 
to enjoy through ,love1 and the  gift of
 comprehending through ,wisdom4    ,the 
scene which suddenly unveiled itself to 
the eyes of the two ,seers  crushed them
 with a sense of its vastness2 they felt
 like atoms1 whose  minuteness was not  
to be compared even to the smallest     
particle which  the infinite of         
divisibility enabled the mind of man to 

imagine1 brought  into the presence of  
the infinite of ,numbers1 which ,god    
alone can  comprehend as ,he alone can  
comprehend ,himself4    ,strength and   
,love6 what heights1 what depths in     
those two entities1 whom  the ,seraph's 
first prayer placed like two links1 as  
it were1 to unite  the immensities of   
the lower worlds with the immensity of  
the higher  universe6    ,they          
comprehended the invisible ties by which
 the material worlds are  bound to the  
spiritual worlds4 ,remembering the      
sublime efforts of human  genius1 they  
were able to perceive the principle of  
all melody in the  songs of heaven which
 gave sensations of color1 of perfume1  
of thought1  which recalled the         
innumerable details of all creations1 as
 the songs of  earth revive the infinite
 memories of love4    ,brought by the   
exaltation of their faculties to a point
 that cannot  be described in any       
language1 they were able to cast their  
eyes for an  instant into the ,divine   

,world4 ,there all was ,rejoicing4      
,myriads of angels were flocking        
together1 without confusion2 all alike  
yet all dissimilar1 simple as the flower
 of the fields1 majestic as the         
universe4    ,wilfrid and ,minna saw    
neither their coming nor their going2   
they  appeared suddenly in the ,infinite
 and filled it with their presence1 as  
the stars shine in the invisible ether4 
,the scintillations of their united     
diadems illumined space like the  fires 
of the sky at dawn upon the mountains4  
,waves of light flowed from  their hair1
 and their movements created tremulous  
undulations in space  like the billows  
of a phosphorescent sea4    ,the two    
,seers beheld the ,seraph dimly in the  
midst of the immortal  legions4         
,suddenly1 as though all the arrows of a
 quiver had darted  together1 the       
,spirits swept away with a breath the   
last vestiges of the  human form2 as the
 ,seraph rose he became yet purer2 soon 
he seemed  to them but a faint outline  

of what he had been at the moment of his
  transfiguration1--lines of fire       
without shadow4    ,higher he rose1     
receiving from circle to circle some new
 gift1 while the  sign of his election  
was transmitted to each sphere into     
which1 more and  more purified1 he      
entered4    ,no voice was silent2 the   
hymn diffused and multiplied itself in  
all its  modulations3--    8,hail to him
 who enters living6 ,come1 flower of the
 ,worlds6 diamond from  the fires of    
suffering6 pearl without spot1 desire   
without flesh1 new  link of earth and   
heaven1 be ,light6 ,conquering spirit1  
,queen of the  world1 come for thy      
crown6 ,victor of earth1 receive thy    
diadem6 ,thou art  of us60    ,the      
virtues of the ,seraph shone forth in   
all their beauty4    ,his earliest      
desire for heaven re-appeared1 tender as
 childhood4  ,the deeds of his life1    
like constellations1 adorned him with   
their  brightness4 ,his acts of faith   
shone like the ,jacinth of heaven1 the  

color of sidereal fires4 ,the pearls of 
,charity were upon him1--a chaplet  of  
garnered tears6 ,love divine surrounded 
him with roses2 and the  whiteness of   
his ,resignation obliterated all earthly
 trace4    ,soon1 to the eyes of the    
,seers1 he was but a point of flame1    
growing  brighter and brighter as its   
motion was lost in the melodious        
acclamations which welcomed his entrance
 into heaven4    ,the celestial accents 
made the two exiles weep4    ,suddenly a
 silence as of death spread like a      
mourning veil from the  first to the    
highest sphere1 throwing ,wilfrid and   
,minna into a state of  intolerable     
expectation4    ,at this moment the     
,seraph was lost to sight within the    
sanctuary1  receiving there the gift of 
,life ,eternal4    ,a movement of       
adoration made by the ,host of heaven   
filled the two ,seers  with ecstasy     
mingled with terror4 ,they felt that all
 were prostrate  before the ,throne1 in 
all the spheres1 in the ,spheres        

,divine1 in the  ,spiritual ,spheres1   
and in the ,worlds of ,darkness4    ,the
 ,angels bent the knee to celebrate the 
,seraph's glory2 the ,spirits  bent the 
knee in token of their impatience2      
others bent the knee in the  dark       
abysses1 shuddering with awe4    ,a     
mighty cry of joy gushed forth1 as the  
spring gushes forth to its  millions of 
flowering herbs sparkling with diamond  
dew-drops in the  sunlight2 at that     
instant the ,seraph reappeared1         
effulgent1 crying1  8,eternal6 ,eternal6
 ,eternal60    ,the universe heard the  
cry and understood it2 it penetrated the
 spheres  as ,god penetrates them2 it   
took possession of the infinite2 the    
,seven  ,divine ,worlds heard the ,voice
 and answered4    ,a mighty movement was
 perceptible1 as though whole planets1  
purified1  were rising in dazzling light
 to become ,eternal4    ,had the ,seraph
 obtained1 as a first mission1 the work 
of calling to  ,god the creations       
permeated by ,his ,word8    ,but already

 the sublime hallelujah was sounding in 
the ear of the  desolate ones as the    
distant undulations of an ended melody4 
,already  the celestial lights were     
fading like the gold and crimson tints  
of a  setting sun4 ,death and ,impurity 
recovered their prey4    ,as the two    
mortals re-entered the prison of flesh1 
from which their  spirit had momentarily
 been delivered by some priceless sleep1
 they felt  like those who wake after a 
night of brilliant dreams1 the memory   
of which still lingers in their soul1   
though their body retains no            
consciousness of them1 and human        
language is unable to give utterance to 
them4    ,the deep darkness of the      
sphere that was now about them was that 
of the  sun of the visible worlds4      
8,let us descend to those lower         
regions10 said ,wilfrid4    8,let us do 
what he told us to do10 answered ,minna4
 8,we have seen the  worlds on their    
march to ,god2 we know the ,path4 ,our  
diadem of stars is  ,there40            

,floating downward through the abysses1 
they re-entered the dust of the  lesser 
worlds1 and saw the ,earth1 like a      
subterranean cavern1 suddenly           
illuminated to their eyes by the light  
which their souls brought with  them1   
and which still environed them in a     
cloud of the paling harmonies  of       
heaven4 ,the sight was that which of old
 struck the inner eyes  of ,seers and   
,prophets4 ,ministers of all religions1 
,preachers of all  pretended truths1    
,kings consecrated by ,force and        
,terror1 ,warriors and  ,mighty men     
apportioning the ,peoples among them1   
the ,learned and the ,rich  standing    
above the suffering1 noisy crowd1 and   
noisily grinding them  beneath their    
feet1--all were there1 accompanied by   
their wives and  servants2 all were     
robed in stuffs of gold and silver and  
azure studded  with pearls and gems torn
 from the bowels of ,earth1 stolen from 
the  depths of ,ocean1 for which        
,humanity had toiled throughout the     

centuries1  sweating and blaspheming4   
,but these treasures1 these splendors1  
constructed of blood1 seemed worn-out   
rags to the eyes of the two  ,exiles4   
8,what do you there1 in motionless      
ranks80 cried ,wilfrid4 ,they  answered 
not4 8,what do you there1 motionless80  
,they answered not4  ,wilfrid waved his 
hands over them1 crying in a loud voice1
 8,what do you  there1 in motionless    
ranks80 ,all1 with unanimous action1    
opened their  garments and gave to sight
 their withered bodies1 eaten with      
worms1  putrefied1 crumbling to dust1   
rotten with horrible diseases4    8,you 
lead the nations to ,death10 ,wilfrid   
said to them4 8,you have  depraved the  
earth1 perverted the ,word1 prostituted 
justice4 ,after  devouring the grass of 
the fields you have killed the lambs of 
the fold4  ,do you think yourself       
justified because of your sores8 ,i will
 warn my  brethren who have ears to hear
 the ,voice1 and they will come and     
drink  of the spring of ,living ,waters 

which you have hidden40    8,let us save
 our strength for ,prayer10 said ,minna4
 8,wilfrid1 thy mission  is not that of 
the ,prophets or the ,avenger or the    
,messenger2 we are  still on the        
confines of the lowest sphere2 let us   
endeavor to rise  through space on the  
wings of ,prayer40    8,thou shalt be   
all my love60    8,thou shalt be all my 
strength60    8,we have seen the        
,mysteries2 we are1 each to the other1  
the only being  here below to whom ,joy 
and ,sadness are comprehensible2 let us 
pray1  therefore3 we know the ,path1 let
 us walk in it40    8,give me thy hand10
 said the ,young ,girl1 8if we walk     
together1 the way  will be to me less   
hard and long40    8,with thee1 with    
thee alone10 replied the ,man1 8can ,i  
cross the awful  solitude without       
complaint40    8,together we will go to 
,heaven10 she said4    ,the clouds      
gathered and formed a darksome dais4    
,suddenly the pair found  themselves    
kneeling beside a body which old ,david 

was guarding from  curious eyes1        
resolved to bury it himself4    ,beyond 
those walls the first summer of the     
nineteenth century shone  forth in all  
its glory4 ,the two lovers believed they
 heard a ,voice  in the sun-rays4 ,they 
breathed a celestial essence from the   
new-born  flowers4 ,holding each other  
by the hand1 they said1 8,that          
illimitable  ocean which shines below us
 is but an image of what we saw above40 
8,where are you going80 asked ,monsieur 
,becker4    8,to ,god10 they answered4  
8,come with us1 father40