,,everyman',s ,,library                 
,founded #aijf by ,j4 ,m4 ,dent 7d4     
#aibf7                    ,edited by    
,ernest ,rhys 7d4 #aidf7                
,,essays  ,,belles-,,lettres            
,,sartor ,,resartus and ,,on ,,heroes   
,,by ,,thomas ,,carlyle  ,,introduction 
,,by ,,professor ,w4 ,h4 ,,hudson       
,,thomas ,,carlyle1 born in #agie at    
,ecclefechan1 the son of a              
stonemason4 ,educated at ,edinburgh     
,university4 ,schoolmaster for     a    
short time1 but decided on a literary   
career1 visiting ,paris     and ,london4
 ,retired in #ahbh to ,dumfriesshire to 
write4 ,in #ahcd     moved to ,cheyne   
,row1 ,chelsea1 and died there in #ahha4
                                ,,sartor
 ,,resartus                             
,,on ,,heroes                           
,,hero ,,worship                        
,,thomas ,,carlyle                      
,,london3 ,j4 ,m4 ,,dent  ,,sons ,,ltd4 
,,new ,,york3 ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton  ,,co4   
,,inc4                              ,all

 rights reserved                        
,made in ,great ,britain                
at ,the ,temple ,press ,letchworth      
for                         ,j4 ,m4     
,dent  ,sons ,ltd4                      
,aldine ,house ,bedford ,st4 ,london    
,first published in this edition #aijh  
,last reprinted #aidh     ,,introduction
   ,one of the most vital and pregnant  
books in our modern literature1 ,sartor 
,resartus is also1 in structure and     
form1 one of the most daringly original4
 ,it defies exact classification4 ,it is
 not a philosophic treatise4 ,it is not 
an autobiography4 ,it is not a romance4 
,yet in a sense it is all these         
combined4 ,its underlying purpose is to 
expound in broad outline certain ideas  
which lay at the root of ,carlyle's     
whole reading of life4 ,but he does not 
elect to set these forth in regular     
methodic fashion1 after the manner of   
one writing a systematic essay4 ,he     
presents his philosophy in dramatic form
 and in a picturesque human setting4 ,he

 invents a certain ,herr ,diogenes      
,teufelsdrckh1 an erudite ,german       
professor of ,allerley-,wissenschaft1 or
 ,things in ,general1 in the ,university
 of ,weissnichtwo1 of whose colossal    
work1 ,die ,kleider1 ,ihr ,werden und   
,wirken 7,on ,clothes3 ,their ,origin   
and ,influence71 he represents himself  
as being only the student and           
interpreter4 ,with infinite humour he   
explains how this prodigious volume came
 into his hands2 how he was struck with 
amazement by its encyclopdic learning1  
and the depth and suggestiveness of its 
thought2 and how he determined that it  
was his special mission to introduce its
 ideas to the ,british public4 ,but how 
was this to be done8 ,as a mere bald    
abstract of the original would never do1
 the would-be apostle was for a time in 
despair4 ,but at length the happy       
thought occurred to him of combining a  
condensed statement of the main         
principles of the new philosophy with   
some account of the philosopher's life  

and character4 ,thus the work took the  
form of a ,life and ,opinions of ,herr  
,teufelsdrckh1 and as such it was       
offered to the world4 ,here1 of course1 
we reach the explanation of its         
fantastic title--,sartor ,resartus1 or  
the ,tailor ,patched3 the tailor being  
the great ,german ,clothes-philosopher1 
and the patching being done by ,carlyle 
as his ,english editor4  ,as a piece of 
literary mystification1 ,teufelsdrckh   
and his treatise enjoyed a measure of   
the success which nearly twenty years   
before had been scored by ,dietrich     
,knickerbocker and his ,history of ,new 
,york4 ,the question of the professor's 
existence was solemnly discussed in at  
least one important review2 ,carlyle was
 gravely taken to task for attempting to
 mislead the public2 a certain          
interested reader actually wrote to     
inquire where the original ,german work 
was to be obtained4 ,all this seems to  
us surprising2 the more so as we are now
 able to understand the purposes which  

,carlyle had in view in devising his    
dramatic scheme4 ,in the first place1 by
 associating the clothes-philosophy with
 the personality of its alleged author  
7himself one of ,carlyle's splendidly   
living pieces of characterisation71 and 
by presenting it as the product and     
expression of his spiritual experiences1
 he made the mystical creed intensely   
human4 ,stated in the abstract1 it would
 have been a mere blank -ism2 developed 
in its intimate relations with          
,teufelsdrckh's character and career1 it
 is filled with the hot life-blood of   
natural thought and feeling4 ,secondly1 
by fathering his own philosophy upon a  
,german professor ,carlyle indicates his
 own indebtedness to ,german idealism1  
the ultimate source of much of his own  
teaching4 ,yet1 deep as that            
indebtedness was1 and anxious as he     
might be to acknowledge it1 he was as a 
humourist keenly alive to certain       
glaring defects of the great ,german    
writers2 to their frequent tendency to  

lose themselves among the mere minuti of
 erudition1 and thus to confuse the     
unimportant and the important2 to their 
habit of rising at times into the clouds
 rather than above the clouds1 and of   
there disporting themselves in regions  
close-bordering on the impalpable inane2
 to their too conspicuous want of order1
 system1 perspective4 ,the dramatic     
machinery of ,sartor ,resartus is       
therefore turned to a third service4 ,it
 is made the vehicle of much            
good-humoured satire upon these and     
similar characteristics of ,teutonic    
scholarship and speculation2 as in the  
many amusing criticisms which are passed
 upon ,teufelsdrckh's volume as a sort  
of mad banquet wherein all courses have 
been confounded2 in the burlesque parade
 of the professor's omniverous reading  
7e4g41 ,book ,i1 ,chap4 ,v72 and in the 
whole amazing episode of the six        
considerable paper bags1 out of the     
chaotic contents of which the distracted
 editor in search of biographic         

documents has to make what he can4 ,nor 
is this quite all4 ,teufelsdrckh is     
further utilised as the mouthpiece of   
some of ,carlyle's more extravagant     
speculations and of such ideas as he    
wished to throw out as it were          
tentatively1 and without himself being  
necessarily held responsible for them4  
,there is thus much point as well as    
humour in those sudden turns of the     
argument1 when1 after some exceptionally
 wild outburst on his eidolon's part1   
,carlyle sedately reproves him for the  
fantastic character or dangerous        
tendency of his opinions4  ,it is in    
connection with the dramatic scheme of  
the book that the third element1 that of
 autobiography1 enters into its texture1
 for the story of ,teufelsdrckh is very 
largely a transfigured version of the   
story of ,carlyle himself4 ,in saying   
this1 ,i am not of course thinking      
mainly of ,carlyle's outer life4 ,this1 
indeed1 is in places freely drawn upon1 
as the outer lives of ,dickens1 ,george 

,eliot1 ,tolstoi are drawn upon in      
,david ,copperfield1 ,the ,mill on the  
,floss1 ,anna ,karnina4 ,entepfuhl is   
only another name for ,ecclefechan2 the 
picture of little ,diogenes eating his  
supper out-of-doors on fine summer      
evenings1 and meanwhile watching the sun
 sink behind the western hills1 is      
clearly a loving transcript from memory2
 even the idyllic episode of ,blumine   
may be safely traced back to a romance  
of ,carlyle's youth4 ,but to investigate
 the connection at these and other      
points between the mere externals of the
 two careers is a matter of little more 
than curious interest4 ,it is because it
 incorporates and reproduces so much of 
,carlyle's inner history that the story 
of ,teufelsdrckh is really important4   
,spiritually considered1 the whole      
narrative is1 in fact1 a symbolic myth1 
in which the writer's personal trials   
and conflicts are depicted with little  
change save in setting and accessories4 
,like ,teufelsdrckh1 ,carlyle while     

still a young man had broken away from  
the old religious creed in which he had 
been bred2 like ,teufelsdrckh1 he had   
thereupon passed into the howling desert
 of infidelity2 like ,teufelsdrckh1 he  
had known all the agonies and anguish of
 a long period of blank scepticism and  
insurgent despair1 during which1 turn   
whither he would1 life responded with   
nothing but negations to every question 
and appeal4 ,and as to ,teufelsdrckh in 
the ,rue ,saint-,thomas de l',enfer in  
,paris1 so to ,carlyle in ,leith ,walk1 
,edinburgh1 there had come a moment of  
sudden and marvellous illumination1 a   
mystical crisis from which he had       
emerged a different man4 ,the           
parallelism is so obvious and so close  
as to leave no room for doubt that the  
story of ,teufelsdrckh is substantially 
a piece of spiritual autobiography4     
,this admitted1 the question arises     
whether ,carlyle had any purpose1 beyond
 that of self-expression1 in thus       
utilising his own experiences for the   

human setting of his philosophy4 ,it    
seems evident that he had4 ,as he       
conceived them1 these experiences       
possessed far more than a merely        
personal interest and meaning4 ,he wrote
 of himself because he saw in himself a 
type of his restless and much-troubled  
epoch2 because he knew that in a broad  
sense his history was the history of    
thousands of other young men in the     
generation to which he belonged4 ,the   
age which followed upon the vast        
upheaval of the ,revolution was one of  
widespread turmoil and perplexity4 ,men 
felt themselves to be wandering         
aimlessly between two worlds1 one dead1 
the other powerless to be born4 ,the old
 order had collapsed in shapeless ruin2 
but the promised ,utopia had not been   
realised to take its place4 ,in many    
directions the forces of reaction were  
at work4 ,religion1 striving to maintain
 itself upon the dogmatic creeds of the 
past1 was rapidly petrifying into a mere
 dead ,letter of ,religion1 from which  

all the living spirit had fled2 and     
those who could not nourish themselves  
on hearsay and inherited formula knew   
not where to look for the renewal of    
faith and hope4 ,the generous ardour and
 the splendid humanitarian enthusiasms  
which had been stirred by the opening   
phases of the revolutionary movement1   
had now ebbed away2 revulsion had       
followed1 and with it the mood of       
disillusion and despair4 ,the spirit of 
doubt and denial was felt as a          
paralysing power in every department of 
life and thought1 and the shadow of     
unbelief lay heavy on many hearts4  ,it 
was for the men of this sad time that   
,carlyle wrote ,teufelsdrckh's story2   
and he wrote it not merely to depict the
 far-reaching consequences of their     
pessimism but also to make plain to them
 their true path out of it4 ,he desired 
to exhibit to his age the real nature of
 the strange malady from which it was   
suffering in order that he might        
thereupon proclaim the remedy4  ,what1  

then1 is the moral significance of      
,carlyle's symbolic myth8 ,what are the 
supreme lessons which he uses it to     
convey8  ,we must begin by understanding
 his diagnosis4 ,for him1 all the evils 
of the time could ultimately be traced  
back to their common source in what may 
be briefly described as its want of real
 religion4 ,of churches and creeds there
 were plenty2 of living faith little or 
nothing was left4 ,men had lost all     
vital sense of ,god in the world2 and   
because of this1 they had taken up a    
fatally wrong attitude to life4 ,they   
looked at it wholly from the mechanical 
point of view1 and judged it by merely  
utilitarian standards4 ,the body-politic
 was no longer inspired by any          
soul-politic4 ,men1 individually and in 
the mass1 cared only for material       
prosperity1 sought only outward success1
 made the pursuit of happiness the end  
and aim of their being4 ,the divine     
meaning of virtue1 the infinite nature  
of duty1 had been forgotten1 and        

morality had been turned into a sort of 
ledger-philosophy1 based upon           
calculations of profit and loss4  ,it   
was thus that ,carlyle read the signs of
 the times4 ,in such circumstances what 
was needed8 ,nothing less than a        
spiritual rebirth4 ,men must abandon    
their wrong attitude to life1 and take  
up the right attitude4 ,everything      
hinged on that4 ,and that they might    
take up this right attitude it was      
necessary first that they should be     
convinced of life's essential           
spirituality1 and cease in consequence  
to seek its meaning and test its value  
on the plane of merely material things4 
,carlyle thus throws passionate emphasis
 upon religion as the only saving power4
 ,but it must be noted that he does not 
suggest a return to any of the dogmatic 
creeds of the past4 ,though once the    
expression of a living faith1 these were
 now for him mere lifeless formulas4    
,nor has he any new dogmatic creed to   
offer in their place4 ,that mystical    

crisis which had broken the spell of the
 ,everlasting ,no was in a strict       
sense--he uses the word himself--a      
conversion4 ,but it was not a conversion
 in the theological sense1 for it did   
not involve the acceptance of any       
specific articles of faith4 ,it was     
simply a complete change of front2 the  
protest of his whole nature1 in a       
suddenly aroused mood of indignation and
 defiance1 against the spirit which     
denies2 the assertion of his manhood    
against the cowardice which had so long 
kept him trembling and whimpering before
 the facts of existence4 ,but from that 
change of front came presently the vivid
 apprehension of certain great truths   
which his former mood had thus far      
concealed from him2 and in these truths 
he found the secret of that right       
attitude to life in the discovery of    
which lay men's only hope of salvation  
from the unrest and melancholy of their 
time4  ,from this point of view the     
burden of ,carlyle's message to his     

generation will be readily understood4  
,men were going wrong because they      
started with the thought of self1 and   
made satisfaction of self the law of    
their lives2 because1 in consequence1   
they regarded happiness as the chief    
object of pursuit and the one thing     
worth striving for2 because1 under the  
influence of the current rationalism1   
they tried to escape from their         
spiritual perplexities through logic and
 speculation4 ,they had1 therefore1 to  
set themselves right upon all these     
matters4 ,they had to learn that not    
self-satisfaction but self-renunciation 
is the key to life and its true law2    
that we have no prescriptive claim to   
happiness and no business to quarrel    
with the universe if it withholds it    
from us2 that the way out of pessimism  
lies1 not through reason1 but through   
honest work1 steady adherence to the    
simple duty which each day brings1      
fidelity to the right as we know it4    
,such1 in broad statement1 is the       

substance of ,carlyle's religious       
convictions and moral teaching4 ,like   
,kant he takes his stand on the         
principles of ethical idealism4 ,god is 
to be sought1 not through speculation1  
or syllogism1 or the learning of the    
schools1 but through the moral nature4  
,it is the soul in action that alone    
finds ,god4 ,and the finding of ,god    
means1 not happiness as the world       
conceives it1 but blessedness1 or the   
inward peace which passes understanding4
  ,the connection between the           
transfigured autobiography which serves 
to introduce the directly didactic      
element of the book and that element    
itself1 will now be clear4 ,stripped of 
its whimsicalities of phraseology and   
its humorous extravagances1 ,carlyle's  
philosophy stands revealed as           
essentially idealistic in character4    
,spirit is the only reality4 ,visible   
things are but the manifestations1      
emblems1 or clothings of spirit4 ,the   
material universe itself is only the    

vesture or symbol of ,god2 man is a     
spirit1 though he wears the wrappings of
 the flesh2 and in everything that man  
creates for himself he merely attempts  
to give body or expression to thought4  
,the science of ,carlyle's time was busy
 proclaiming that1 since the universe is
 governed by natural laws1 miracles are 
impossible and the supernatural is a    
myth4 ,carlyle replies that the natural 
laws are themselves only the            
manifestation of ,spiritual ,force1 and 
that thus miracle is everywhere and all 
nature supernatural4 ,we1 who are the   
creatures of time and space1 can indeed 
apprehend the ,absolute only when ,he   
weaves about ,him the visible garments  
of time and space4 ,thus ,god reveals   
,himself to sense through symbols4 ,but 
it is as we regard these symbols in one 
or other of two possible ways that we   
class ourselves with the foolish man or 
with the wise4 ,the foolish man sees    
only the symbol1 thinks it exists for   
itself1 takes it for the ultimate fact1 

and therefore rests in it4 ,the wise man
 sees the symbol1 knows that it is only 
a symbol1 and penetrates into it for the
 ultimate fact or spiritual reality     
which it symbolises4  ,remote as such a 
doctrine may at first sight seem to be  
from the questions with which men are   
commonly concerned1 it has none the less
 many important practical bearings4     
,since all ,forms whereby ,spirit       
manifests itself to sense1 whether      
outwardly or in the imagination1 are    
,clothes1 civilisation and everything   
belonging to it--our languages1         
literatures and arts1 our governments1  
social machinery and institutions1 our  
philosophies1 creeds and rituals--are   
but so many vestments woven for itself  
by the shaping spirit of man4           
,indispensable these vestments are2 for 
without them society would collapse in  
anarchy1 and humanity sink to the level 
of the brute4 ,yet here again we must   
emphasise the difference1 already noted1
 between the foolish man and the wise4  

,the foolish man once more assumes that 
the vestments exist for themselves1 as  
ultimate facts1 and that they have a    
value of their own4 ,he1 therefore1     
confuses the life with its clothing2 is 
even willing to sacrifice the life for  
the sake of the clothing4 ,the wise man1
 while he1 too1 recognises the necessity
 of the vestments1 and indeed insists   
upon it1 knows that they have no        
independent importance1 that they derive
 all their potency and value from the   
inner reality which they were fashioned 
to represent and embody1 but which they 
often misrepresent and obscure4 ,he     
therefore never confuses the life with  
the clothing1 and well understands how  
often the clothing has to be sacrificed 
for the sake of the life4 ,thus1 while  
the utility of clothes has to be        
recognised to the full1 it is still of  
the essence of wisdom to press hard upon
 the vital distinction between the outer
 wrappings of man's life and that inner 
reality which they more or less         

adequately enfold4  ,the use which      
,carlyle makes of this doctrine in his  
interpretation of the religious history 
of the world and of the crisis in       
thought of his own day1 will be         
anticipated4 ,all dogmas1 forms and     
ceremonials1 he teaches1 are but        
religious vestments--symbols expressing 
man's deepest sense of the divine       
mystery of the universe and the hunger  
and thirst of his soul for ,god4 ,it is 
in response to the imperative           
necessities of his nature that he moulds
 for himself these outward emblems of   
his ideas and aspirations4 ,yet they are
 only emblems2 and since1 like all other
 human things1 they partake of the      
ignorance and weakness of the times in  
which they were framed1 it is inevitable
 that with the growth of knowledge and  
the expansion of thought they must      
presently be outgrown4 ,when this       
happens1 there follows what ,carlyle    
calls the superannuation of symbols4    
,men wake to the fact that the creeds   

and formulas which have come down to    
them from the past are no longer living 
for them1 no longer what they need for  
the embodiment of their spiritual life4 
,two mistakes are now possible1 and     
these are1 indeed1 commonly made        
together4 ,on the one hand1 men may try 
to ignore the growth of knowledge and   
the expansion of thought1 and to cling  
to the outgrown symbols as things having
 in themselves some mysterious sanctity 
and power4 ,on the other hand1 they may 
recklessly endeavour to cast aside the  
reality symbolised along with the       
discredited symbol itself4 ,given such a
 condition of things1 and we shall find 
religion degenerating into formalism and
 the worship of the dead letter1 and1   
side by side with this1 the impatient   
rejection of all religion1 and the      
spread of a crude and debasing          
materialism4 ,religious symbols1 then1  
must be renewed4 ,but their renewal can 
come only from within4 ,form1 to have   
any real value1 must grow out of life   

and be fed by it4  ,the revolutionary   
quality in the philosophy of ,sartor    
,resartus cannot1 of course1 be         
overlooked4 ,everything that man has    
woven for himself must in time become   
merely old clothes2 the work of his     
thought1 like that of his hands1 is     
perishable2 his very highest symbols    
have no permanence or finality4 ,carlyle
 cuts down to the essential reality     
beneath all shows and forms and emblems3
 witness his amazing vision of a naked  
,house of ,lords4 ,under his penetrating
 gaze the earthly hulls and garnitures  
of existence melt away4 ,men's habit is 
to rest in symbols4 ,but to rest in     
symbols is fatal1 since they are at best
 but the adventitious wrappages of life4
 ,clothes have made men of us--true2 but
 now1 so great has their influence      
become that they are threatening to make
 clothes-screens of us4 ,hence the      
beginning of all wisdom is to look      
fixedly on clothes 444 till they become 
transparent4 ,the logical tendency of   

such teaching may seem to be towards    
utter nihilism4 ,but that tendency is   
checked and qualified by the strong     
conservative element which is everywhere
 prominent in ,carlyle's thought4 ,upon 
the absolute need of clothes the stress 
is again and again thrown4 ,they have   
made men of us4 ,by symbols alone man   
lives and works4 ,by symbols alone can  
he make life and work effective4 ,thus  
even the world's old clothes--its       
discarded forms and creeds--should be   
treated with the reverence due to       
whatever has once played a part in human
 development4 ,thus1 moreover1 we must  
be on our guard against the impetuosity 
of the revolutionary spirit and all rash
 rupture with the past4 ,to cast old    
clothes aside before new clothes are    
ready--this does not mean progress1 but 
sansculottism1 or a lapse into nakedness
 and anarchy4         99       99       
99       99       99  ,the lectures ,on 
,heroes and ,hero-,worship1 here printed
 with ,sartor ,resartus1 contain little 

more than an amplification1 through a   
series of brilliant character-studies1  
of those fundamental ideas of history   
which had already figured among         
,teufelsdrckh's social speculations4    
,simple in statement and clear in       
doctrine1 this second work needs no     
formal introduction4 ,it may1 however1  
be of service just to indicate one or   
two points at which1 apart from its set 
theses1 it expresses or implies certain 
underlying principles of all ,carlyle's 
thought4  ,in the first place1 his      
philosophy of history rests entirely on 
the great man theory4 ,universal        
,history1 the history of what man has   
accomplished in the world1 is for him at
 bottom the ,history of the ,great ,men 
who have worked here4 ,this conception1 
of course1 brings him into sharp        
conflict with that scientific view of   
history which was already gaining ground
 when ,heroes and ,hero-,worship was    
written1 and which since then has become
 even more popular under the powerful   

influence of the modern doctrine of     
evolution4 ,a scientific historian1 like
 ,buckle or ,taine1 seeks to explain all
 changes in thought1 all movements in   
politics and society1 in terms of       
general laws2 his habit is1 therefore1  
to subordinate1 if not quite to         
eliminate1 the individual2 the greatest 
man is treated as in a large measure the
 product and expression of the spirit of
 the time4 ,for ,carlyle1 individuality 
is everything4 ,while1 as he is bound to
 admit1 no one works save under         
conditions1 external circumstances and  
influences count little4 ,the ,great    
,man is supreme4 ,he is not the creature
 of his age1 but its creator2 not its   
servant1 but its master4 ,the ,history  
of the ,world is but the ,biography of  
,great ,men4  ,anti-scientific in his   
reading of history1 ,carlyle is also    
anti-democratic in the practical lessons
 he deduces from it4 ,he teaches that   
our right relations with the ,hero are  
discipular relations2 that we should    

honestly acknowledge his superiority1   
look up to him1 reverence him4 ,thus on 
the personal side he challenges that    
tendency to level down which he believed
 to be one alarming result of the       
fast-spreading spirit of the new        
democracy4 ,but more than this4 ,he     
insists that the one hope for our       
distracted world of to-day lies in the  
strength and wisdom of the few1 not in  
the organised unwisdom of the many4 ,the
 masses of the people can never be      
safely trusted to solve for themselves  
the intricate problems of their own     
welfare4 ,they need to be guided1       
disciplined1 at times even driven1 by   
those great leaders of men1 who see more
 deeply than they see into the reality  
of things1 and know much better than    
they can ever know what is good for     
them1 and how that good is to be        
attained4 ,political machinery1 in which
 the modern world had come to put so    
much faith1 is only another delusion of 
a mechanical age4 ,the burden of history

 is for him always the need of the ,able
 ,man4 ,i say1 ,find me the true        
,knning1 ,king1 ,able ,man1 and he has a
 divine right over me4 ,carlyle thus    
throws down the gauntlet at once to the 
scientific and to the democratic        
movements of his time4 ,his pronounced  
antagonism to the modern spirit in these
 two most important manifestations must 
be kept steadily in mind in our study of
 him4  ,finally1 we have to remember    
that in the whole tone and temper of his
 teaching ,carlyle is fundamentally the 
,puritan4 ,the dogmas of ,puritanism he 
had indeed outgrown2 but he never       
outgrew its ethics4 ,his thought was    
dominated and pervaded to the end1 as   
,froude rightly says1 by the spirit of  
the creed he had dismissed4 ,by         
reference to this one fact we may       
account for much of his strength1 and   
also for most of his limitations in     
outlook and sympathy4 ,those limitations
 the reader will not fail to notice for 
himself4 ,but whatever allowance has to 

be made for them1 the strength remains4 
,it is1 perhaps1 the secret of          
,carlyle's imperishable greatness as a  
stimulating and uplifting power that1   
beyond any other modern writer1 he makes
 us feel with him the supreme claims of 
the moral life1 the meaning of our own  
responsibilities1 the essential         
spirituality of things1 the             
indestructible reality of religion4 ,if 
he had thus a special message for his   
own generation1 that message has surely 
not lost any of its value for ours4 ,put
 ,carlyle in your pocket1 says ,dr4 ,hal
 to ,paul ,kelver on his starting out in
 life4 ,he is not all the voices1 but he
 is the best maker of men ,i know4 ,and 
as a maker of men1 ,carlyle's appeal to 
us is as great as ever4  ,,william      
,,henry ,,hudson4       ,life of        
,schiller 7,lond4 ,mag41 #ahbc-d71      
#ahbe1 #ahde4     7,supplement published
 in the ,people's ,edition1 #ahgc74     
,wilhelm     ,meister ,apprenticeship1  
#ahbd4 ,elements of ,geometry and       

,trigonometry 7from the ,french of      
,legendre71 #ahbd4 ,german     ,romance1
 #ahbg4 ,sartor ,resartus 7,fraser's    
,mag41 #ahcc-d71     #ahce 7,boston71   
#ahch4 ,french ,revolution1 #ahcg1      
#ahci4     ,critical and ,miscellaneous 
,essays1 #ahci1 #ahdj1 #ahdg1 #aheg4    
7,in these were reprinted ,articles from
 ,edinburgh ,review1     ,foreign       
,review1 ,foreign ,quarterly ,review1   
,fraser's     ,magazine1 ,westminster   
,review1 ,new ,monthly ,magazine1       
,london and ,westminster ,review1       
,keepsake ,proceedings of the           
,society of ,antiquaries of ,scotland1  
,times74 ,chartism1     #ahdj4 ,heroes1 
,hero-worship1 and the ,heroic in       
,history1 #ahda4     ,past and ,present1
 #ahdc4 ,oliver ,cromwell's ,letters and
     ,speeches3 with ,elucidations1     
#ahde4 ,thirty-five ,unpublished        
,letters of ,oliver ,cromwell1 #ahdg    
7,fraser74 ,original     ,discourses on 
the ,negro ,question 7,fraser1 #ahdi71  
#ahec4     ,latter-day ,pamphlets1      

#ahej4 ,life of ,john ,sterling1 #ahea4 
,history of ,friedrich ,,ii4 of         
,prussia1 #aheh-fe4 ,inaugural          
,address at ,edinburgh1 #ahff4 ,shooting
 ,niagara3 and ,after8     #ahfg 7from  
,macmillan74 ,the ,early ,kings of      
,norway2 also an     ,essay on the      
,portraits of ,john ,knox1 #ahge4       
,there were also contributions to       
,brewster's ,edinburgh     ,encyclopdia1
 vols4 xiv41 xv41 and xvi42 to ,new     
,edinburgh     ,review1 #ahba1 #ahbb2   
,fraser's ,magazine1 #ahcj1 #ahca2 ,the 
,times1 #ai ,june1 #ahdd 7,mazzini72 #bh
 ,november1 #ahgf2 #e ,may1     #ahgg2  
,examiner1 #ahdh2 ,spectator1 #ahdh4    
,first ,collected ,edition of ,works1   
#aheg-eh 7#af vols474                   
,reminiscences1 ed4 by ,froude in #ahha1
 but superseded by ,c4     ,e4 ,norton's
 edition of #ahhg4 ,norton has also     
edited two     volumes of ,letters      
7#ahhh71 and ,carlyle's correspondence  
with     ,emerson 7#ahhc7 and with      
,goethe 7#ahhg74 ,other volumes of      

correspondence are ,new ,letters        
7#aijd71 ,carlyle ,intime     7#aijg71  
,love ,letters 7#aiji71 ,letters to     
,mill1 ,sterling1 and     ,browning     
7#aibc71 all ed4 by ,alexander ,carlyle4
 ,see also ,last     ,words of ,carlyle1
 #ahib4      ,the fullest ,life is that 
by ,d4 ,a4 ,wilson4 ,the first of six   
volumes appeared in #aibc1 and by #aicd 
only one remained to be     published4  
,,contents   ,,sartor ,,resartus        
,,book ,i    ,,chap4                    
,,page      ,i4 ,,preliminary           
#a     ,,ii4 ,,editorial ,,difficulties 
#e    ,,iii4 ,,reminiscences            
#i     ,,iv4 ,,characteristics          
#bj      ,v4 ,,the ,,world ,,in         
,,clothes                               
#be     ,,vi4 ,,aprons                  
#ca    ,,vii4                           
,,miscellaneous-,,historical            
#cd   ,,viii4 ,,the ,,world ,,out ,,of  
,,clothes                               
#cg     ,,ix4 ,,adamitism               
#dc      ,x4 ,,pure ,,reason            

#dg     ,,xi4 ,,prospective             
#eb  ,,book ,,ii       ,i4 ,,genesis    
#fa     ,,ii4 ,,idyllic                 
#fh    ,,iii4 ,,pedagogy                
#gf     ,,iv4 ,,getting ,,under ,,way   
#ij      ,v4 ,,romance                  
#aja     ,,vi4 ,,sorrows ,,of           
,,teufelsdr,,ckh                        
#aab    ,,vii4 ,,the ,,everlasting ,,no 
#aba   ,,viii4 ,,centre ,,of            
,,indifference                          
#abh     ,,ix4 ,,the ,,everlasting ,,yea
                                  #ach  
,x4 ,,pause                             
#adi  ,,book ,,iii       ,i4 ,,incident 
,,in ,,modern ,,history                 
#aef     ,,ii4 ,,church-,,clothes       
#afa    ,,iii4 ,,symbols                
#afc     ,,iv4 ,,helotage               
#agj      ,v4 ,,the ,,phoenix           
#agd     ,,vi4 ,,old ,,clothes          
#agi    ,,vii4 ,,organic ,,filaments    
#ahc   ,,viii4 ,,natural                
,,supernaturalism                       
#aia     ,,ix4 ,,circumspective         

#bja      ,x4 ,,the ,,dandiacal ,,body  
#bjd     ,,xi4 ,,tailors                
#baf    ,,xii4 ,,farewell               
#bai  ,,appendix--,,testimonies ,,of    
,,authors                               
#bbe  ,,summary                         
#bca   ,,on ,,heroes1 ,,hero-,,worship1 
,,and ,,the ,,heroic ,,in ,,history     
,,lecture ,i ,,the ,,hero ,,as          
,,divinity4 ,odin4 ,paganism3           
,scandinavian ,mythology                
#bci  ,,lecture ,,ii ,,the ,,hero ,,as  
,,prophet4 ,mahomet3 ,islam             
#bgg  ,,lecture ,,iii ,,the ,,hero ,,as 
,,poet4 ,dante2 ,shakspeare             
#caa  ,,lecture ,,iv ,,the ,,hero ,,as  
,,priest4 ,luther2 ,reformation3 ,knox2 
,puritanism    #cdf  ,,lecture ,v ,,the 
,,hero ,,as ,,man ,,of ,,letters4       
,johnson1 ,rousseau1 ,burns         #chc
  ,,lecture ,,vi ,,the ,,hero ,,as      
,,king4 ,cromwell1 ,napoleon3 ,modern   
,revolutionism   #dbb   ,,index         
#dfi     ,,sartor ,,resartus     ,,book 
,,first     ,,chapter ,i  ,,preliminary 

,considering our present advanced state 
of culture1 and how the ,torch of       
,science has now been brandished and    
borne about1 with more or less effect1  
for five-thousand years and upwards2    
how1 in these times especially1 not only
 the ,torch still burns1 and perhaps    
more fiercely than ever1 but innumerable
 ,rush-lights1 and ,sulphur-matches1    
kindled thereat1 are also glancing in   
every direction1 so that not the        
smallest cranny or doghole in ,nature or
 ,art can remain unilluminated1--it     
might strike the reflective mind with   
some surprise that hitherto little or   
nothing of a fundamental character1     
whether in the way of ,philosophy or    
,history1 has been written on the       
subject of ,clothes4  ,our ,theory of   
,gravitation is as good as perfect3     
,lagrange1 it is well known1 has proved 
that the ,planetary ,system1 on this    
scheme1 will endure forever2 ,laplace1  
still more cunningly1 even guesses that 
it could not have been made on any other

 scheme4 ,whereby1 at least1 our        
nautical ,logbooks can be better kept2  
and water-transport of all kinds has    
grown more commodious4 ,of ,geology and 
,geognosy we know enough3 what with the 
labours of our ,werners and ,huttons1   
what with the ardent genius of their    
disciples1 it has come about that now1  
to many a ,royal ,society1 the ,creation
 of a ,world is little more mysterious  
than the cooking of a dumpling2         
concerning which last1 indeed1 there    
have been minds to whom the question1   
,how the apples were got in1 presented  
difficulties4 ,why mention our          
disquisitions on the ,social ,contract1 
on the ,standard of ,taste1 on the      
,migrations of the ,herring8 ,then1 have
 we not a ,doctrine of ,rent1 a ,theory 
of ,value2 ,philosophies of ,language1  
of ,history1 of ,pottery1 of            
,apparitions1 of ,intoxicating ,liquors8
 ,man's whole life and environment have 
been laid open and elucidated2 scarcely 
a fragment or fibre of his ,soul1 ,body1

 and ,possessions1 but has been probed1 
dissected1 distilled1 desiccated1 and   
scientifically decomposed3 our spiritual
 ,faculties1 of which it appears there  
are not a few1 have their ,stewarts1    
,cousins1 ,royer ,collards3 every       
cellular1 vascular1 muscular ,tissue    
glories in its ,lawrences1 ,majendies1  
,bichts4  ,how1 then1 comes it1 may the 
reflective mind repeat1 that the grand  
,tissue of all ,tissues1 the only real  
,tissue1 should have been quite         
overlooked by ,science1--the vestural   
,tissue1 namely1 of woollen or other    
cloth2 which ,man's ,soul wears as its  
outmost wrappage and overall2 wherein   
his whole other ,tissues are included   
and screened1 his whole ,faculties work1
 his whole ,self lives1 moves1 and has  
its being8 ,for if1 now and then1 some  
straggling1 broken-winged thinker has   
cast an owl's-glance into this obscure  
region1 the most have soared over it    
altogether heedless2 regarding ,clothes 
as a property1 not an accident1 as quite

 natural and spontaneous1 like the      
leaves of trees1 like the plumage of    
birds4 ,in all speculations they have   
tacitly figured man as a ,clothed       
,animal2 whereas he is by nature a      
,naked ,animal2 and only in certain     
circumstances1 by purpose and device1   
masks himself in ,clothes4 ,shakespeare 
says1 we are creatures that look before 
and after3 the more surprising that we  
do not look round a little1 and see what
 is passing under our very eyes4  ,but  
here1 as in so many other cases1        
,germany1 learned1 indefatigable1       
deep-thinking ,germany comes to our aid4
 ,it is1 after all1 a blessing that1 in 
these revolutionary times1 there should 
be one country where abstract ,thought  
can still take shelter2 that while the  
din and frenzy of ,catholic             
,emancipations1 and ,rotten ,boroughs1  
and ,revolts of ,paris1 deafen every    
,french and every ,english ear1 the     
,german can stand peaceful on his       
scientific watch-tower2 and1 to the     

raging1 struggling multitude here and   
elsewhere1 solemnly1 from hour to hour1 
with preparatory blast of cowhorn1 emit 
his ,hret ihr ,herren und lasset's ,euch
 sagen2 in other words1 tell the        
,universe1 which so often forgets that  
fact1 what o'clock it really is4 ,not   
unfrequently the ,germans have been     
blamed for an unprofitable diligence2 as
 if they struck into devious courses1   
where nothing was to be had but the toil
 of a rough journey2 as if1 forsaking   
the gold-mines of finance and that      
political slaughter of fat oxen whereby 
a man himself grows fat1 they were apt  
to run goose-hunting into regions of    
bilberries and crowberries1 and be      
swallowed up at last in remote          
peat-bogs4 ,of that unwise science1     
which1 as our ,humorist expresses it1-- 
',by geometric scale   ,doth take the   
size of pots of ale2'  still more1 of   
that altogether misdirected industry1   
which is seen vigorously thrashing mere 
straw1 there can nothing defensive be   

said4 ,in so far as the ,germans are    
chargeable with such1 let them take the 
consequence4 ,nevertheless1 be it       
remarked1 that even a ,russian steppe   
has tumuli and gold ornaments2 also many
 a scene that looks desert and          
rock-bound from the distance1 will      
unfold itself1 when visited1 into rare  
valleys4 ,nay1 in any case1 would       
,criticism erect not only finger-posts  
and turnpikes1 but spiked gates and     
impassable barriers1 for the mind of    
man8 ,it is written1 ',many shall run to
 and fro1 and knowledge shall be        
increased4' ,surely the plain rule is1  
,let each considerate person have his   
way1 and see what it will lead to4 ,for 
not this man and that man1 but all men  
make up mankind1 and their united tasks 
the task of mankind4 ,how often have we 
seen some such adventurous1 and perhaps 
much-censured wanderer light on some    
out-lying1 neglected1 yet               
vitally-momentous province2 the hidden  
treasures of which he first discovered1 

and kept proclaiming till the general   
eye and effort were directed thither1   
and the conquest was                    
completed2--thereby1 in these his       
seemingly so aimless rambles1 planting  
new standards1 founding new habitable   
colonies1 in the immeasurable           
circumambient realm of ,nothingness and 
,night6 ,wise man was he who counselled 
that ,speculation should have free      
course1 and look fearlessly towards all 
the thirty-two points of the compass1   
whithersoever and howsoever it listed4  
,perhaps it is proof of the stunted     
condition in which pure ,science1       
especially pure moral ,science1         
languishes among us ,english2 and how   
our mercantile greatness1 and invaluable
 ,constitution1 impressing a political  
or other immediately practical tendency 
on all ,english culture and endeavour1  
cramps the free flight of               
,thought1--that this1 not ,philosophy of
 ,clothes1 but recognition even that we 
have no such ,philosophy1 stands here   

for the first time published in our     
language4 ,what ,english intellect could
 have chosen such a topic1 or by chance 
stumbled on it8 ,but for that same      
unshackled1 and even sequestered        
condition of the ,german ,learned1 which
 permits and induces them to fish in all
 manner of waters1 with all manner of   
nets1 it seems probable enough1 this    
abstruse ,inquiry might1 in spite of the
 results it leads to1 have continued    
dormant for indefinite periods4 ,the    
,editor of these sheets1 though         
otherwise boasting himself a man of     
confirmed speculative habits1 and       
perhaps discursive enough1 is free to   
confess1 that never1 till these last    
months1 did the above very plain        
considerations1 on our total want of a  
,philosophy of ,clothes1 occur to him2  
and then1 by quite foreign suggestion4  
,by the arrival1 namely1 of a new ,book 
from ,professor ,teufelsdrckh of        
,weissnichtwo2 treating expressly of    
this subject1 and in a style which1     

whether understood or not1 could not    
even by the blindest be overlooked4 ,in 
the present ,editor's way of thought1   
this remarkable ,treatise1 with its     
,doctrines1 whether as judicially       
acceded to1 or judicially denied1 has   
not remained without effect4  ',die     
,kleider1 ihr ,werden und ,wirken       
7,clothes1 their ,origin and            
,influence73 von ,diog4 ,teufelsdrckh1  
,j4,u4,d4 etc4 ,stillschweigen und      
,cognie4 ,weissnichtwo1 #ahca4  ',here1'
 says the ,weissnichtwo'sche ,anzeiger1 
'comes a ,volume of that extensive1     
close-printed1 close-meditated sort1    
which1 be it spoken with pride1 is seen 
only in ,germany1 perhaps only in       
,weissnichtwo4 ,issuing from the        
hitherto irreproachable ,firm of        
,stillschweigen and ,company1 with every
 external furtherance1 it is of such    
internal quality as to set ,neglect at  
defiance4' 99 99 99 99 ',a work1'       
concludes the wellnigh enthusiastic     
,reviewer1 'interesting alike to the    

antiquary1 the historian1 and the       
philosophic thinker2 a masterpiece of   
boldness1 lynx-eyed acuteness1 and      
rugged independent ,germanism and       
,philanthropy 7derber ,kerndeutschheit  
und ,menschenliebe72 which will not1    
assuredly1 pass current without         
opposition in high places2 but must and 
will exalt the almost new name of       
,teufelsdrckh to the first ranks of     
,philosophy1 in our ,german ,temple of  
,honour4'  ,mindful of old friendship1  
the distinguished ,professor1 in this   
the first blaze of his fame1 which      
however does not dazzle him1 sends      
hither a ,presentation-copy of his      
,book2 with compliments and encomiums   
which modesty forbids the present       
,editor to rehearse2 yet without        
indicated wish or hope of any kind1     
except what may be implied in the       
concluding phrase3 ,mchte es 7this      
remarkable ,treatise7 auch im           
,brittischen ,boden gedeihen6           
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,editorial             

,,difficulties   ,if for a speculative  
man1 'whose seedfield1' in the sublime  
words of the ,poet1 'is ,time1' no      
conquest is important but that of new   
ideas1 then might the arrival of        
,professor ,teufelsdrckh's ,book be     
marked with chalk in the ,editor's      
calendar4 ,it is indeed an 'extensive   
,volume1' of boundless1 almost formless 
contents1 a very ,sea of ,thought2      
neither calm nor clear1 if you will2 yet
 wherein the toughest pearl-diver may   
dive to his utmost depth1 and return not
 only with sea-wreck but with true      
orients4  ,directly on the first        
perusal1 almost on the first deliberate 
inspection1 it became apparent that here
 a quite new ,branch of ,philosophy1    
leading to as yet undescried ulterior   
results1 was disclosed2 farther1 what   
seemed scarcely less interesting1 a     
quite new human ,individuality1 an      
almost unexampled personal character1   
that1 namely1 of ,professor             
,teufelsdrckh the ,discloser4 ,of both  

which novelties1 as far as might be     
possible1 we resolved to master the     
significance4 ,but as man is            
emphatically a proselytising creature1  
no sooner was such mastery even fairly  
attempted1 than the new question arose3 
,how might this acquired good be        
imparted to others1 perhaps in equal    
need thereof3 how could the ,philosophy 
of ,clothes1 and the ,author of such    
,philosophy1 be brought home1 in any    
measure1 to the business and bosoms of  
our own ,english ,nation8 ,for if       
new-got gold is said to burn the pockets
 till it be cast forth into circulation1
 much more may new truth4  ,here1       
however1 difficulties occurred4 ,the    
first thought naturally was to publish  
,article after ,article on this         
remarkable ,volume1 in such             
widely-circulating ,critical ,journals  
as the ,editor might stand connected    
with1 or by money or love procure access
 to4 ,but1 on the other hand1 was it not
 clear that such matter as must here be 

revealed1 and treated of1 might endanger
 the circulation of any ,journal extant8
 ,if1 indeed1 all party-divisions in the
 ,state could have been abolished1      
,whig1 ,tory1 and ,radical1 embracing in
 discrepant union2 and all the ,journals
 of the ,nation could have been jumbled 
into one ,journal1 and the ,philosophy  
of ,clothes poured forth in incessant   
torrents therefrom1 the attempt had     
seemed possible4 ,but1 alas1 what       
vehicle of that sort have we1 except    
,fraser's ,magazine8 ,a vehicle all     
strewed 7figuratively speaking7 with the
 maddest ,waterloo-,crackers1 exploding 
distractively and destructively1        
wheresoever the mystified passenger     
stands or sits2 nay1 in any case1       
understood to be1 of late years1 a      
vehicle full to overflowing1 and        
inexorably shut6 ,besides1 to state the 
,philosophy of ,clothes without the     
,philosopher1 the ideas of ,teufelsdrckh
 without something of his personality1  
was it not to insure both of entire     

misapprehension8 ,now for ,biography1   
had it been otherwise admissible1 there 
were no adequate documents1 no hope of  
obtaining such1 but rather1 owing to    
circumstances1 a special despair4 ,thus 
did the ,editor see himself1 for the    
while1 shut out from all public         
utterance of these extraordinary        
,doctrines1 and constrained to revolve  
them1 not without disquietude1 in the   
dark depths of his own mind4  ,so had it
 lasted for some months2 and now the    
,volume on ,clothes1 read and again     
read1 was in several points becoming    
lucid and lucent2 the personality of its
 ,author more and more surprising1 but1 
in spite of all that memory and         
conjecture could do1 more and more      
enigmatic2 whereby the old disquietude  
seemed fast settling into fixed         
discontent1--when altogether            
unexpectedly arrives a ,letter from     
,herr ,hofrath ,heuschrecke1 our        
,professor's chief friend and associate 
in ,weissnichtwo1 with whom we had not  

previously corresponded4 ,the ,hofrath1 
after much quite extraneous matter1     
began dilating largely on the 'agitation
 and attention' which the ,philosophy of
 ,clothes was exciting in its own       
,german ,republic of ,letters2 on the   
deep significance and tendency of his   
,friend's ,volume2 and then1 at length1 
with great circumlocution1 hinted at the
 practicability of conveying 'some      
knowledge of it1 and of him1 to         
,england1 and through ,england to the   
distant ,west'3 a work on ,professor    
,teufelsdrckh 'were undoubtedly welcome 
to the ,family1 the ,national1 or any   
other of those patriotic ,libraries1 at 
present the glory of ,british           
,literature'2 might work revolutions in 
,thought2 and so forth2--in conclusion1 
intimating not obscurely1 that should   
the present ,editor feel disposed to    
undertake a ,biography of ,teufelsdrckh1
 he1 ,hofrath ,heuschrecke1 had it in   
his power to furnish the requisite      
,documents4  ,as in some chemical       

mixture1 that has stood long            
evaporating1 but would not crystallise1 
instantly when the wire or other fixed  
substance is introduced1 crystallisation
 commences1 and rapidly proceeds till   
the whole is finished1 so was it with   
the ,editor's mind and this offer of    
,heuschrecke's4 ,form rose out of void  
solution and discontinuity2 like united 
itself with like in definite            
arrangement3 and soon either in actual  
vision and possession1 or in fixed      
reasonable hope1 the image of the whole 
,enterprise had shaped itself1 so to    
speak1 into a solid mass4 ,cautiously   
yet courageously1 through the twopenny  
post1 application to the famed          
redoubtable ,,oliver ,,yorke was now    
made3 an interview1 interviews with that
 singular man have taken place2 with    
more of assurance on our side1 with less
 of satire 7at least of open satire7 on 
his1 than we anticipated2--for the rest1
 with such issue as is now visible4 ,as 
to those same 'patriotic ,libraries1'   

the ,hofrath's counsel could only be    
viewed with silent amazement2 but with  
his offer of ,documents we joyfully and 
almost instantaneously closed4 ,thus1   
too1 in the sure expectation of these1  
we already see our task begun2 and this 
our ,sartor ,resartus1 which is properly
 a ',life and ,opinions of ,herr        
,teufelsdrckh1' hourly advancing4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,of our fitness for the ,enterprise1 to 
which we have such title and vocation1  
it were perhaps uninteresting to say    
more4 ,let the ,british reader study and
 enjoy1 in simplicity of heart1 what is 
here presented him1 and with whatever   
metaphysical acumen and talent for      
meditation he is possessed of4 ,let him 
strive to keep a free1 open sense2      
cleared from the mists of prejudice1    
above all from the paralysis of cant2   
and directed rather to the ,book itself 
than to the ,editor of the ,book4 ,who  
or what such ,editor may be1 must remain
 conjectural1 and even insignificant3#a 

it is a voice publishing tidings of the 
,philosophy of ,clothes2 undoubtedly a  
,spirit addressing ,spirits3 whoso hath 
ears1 let him hear4      #a ,with us    
even he still communicates in some sort 
of mask1         or muffler3 and1 we    
have reason to think1 under a feigned   
name6--,o4 ,y4  ,on one other point the 
,editor thinks it needful to give       
warning3 namely1 that he is animated    
with a true though perhaps a feeble     
attachment to the ,institutions of our  
,ancestors2 and minded to defend these1 
according to ability1 at all hazards2   
nay1 it was partly with a view to such  
defence that he engaged in this         
undertaking4 ,to stem1 or if that be    
impossible1 profitably to divert the    
current of ,innovation1 such a ,volume  
as ,teufelsdrckh's1 if cunningly planted
 down1 were no despicable pile1 or      
floodgate1 in the logical wear4  ,for   
the rest1 be it nowise apprehended1 that
 any personal connexion of ours with    
,teufelsdrckh1 ,heuschrecke1 or this    

,philosophy of ,clothes can pervert our 
judgment1 or sway us to extenuate or    
exaggerate4 ,powerless1 we venture to   
promise1 are those private ,compliments 
themselves4 ,grateful they may well be2 
as generous illusions of friendship2 as 
fair mementos of bygone unions1 of those
 nights and suppers of the gods1 when1  
lapped in the symphonies and harmonies  
of ,philosophic ,eloquence1 though with 
baser accompaniments1 the present       
,editor revelled in that feast of       
reason1 never since vouchsafed him in so
 full measure6 ,but what then8 ,amicus  
,plato1 magis amica veritas2            
,teufelsdrckh is our friend1 ,truth is  
our divinity4 ,in our historical and    
critical capacity1 we hope we are       
strangers to all the world2 have feud or
 favour with no one1--save indeed the   
,devil1 with whom1 as with the ,prince  
of ,lies and ,darkness1 we do at all    
times wage internecine war4 ,this       
assurance1 at an epoch when puffery and 
quackery have reached a height          

unexampled in the annals of mankind1 and
 even ,english ,editors1 like ,chinese  
,shopkeepers1 must write on their       
door-lintels ,no cheating here1--we     
thought it good to premise4             
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,reminiscences   ,to  
the ,author's private circle the        
appearance of this singular ,work on    
,clothes must have occasioned little    
less surprise than it has to the rest of
 the world4 ,for ourselves1 at least1   
few things have been more unexpected4   
,professor ,teufelsdrckh1 at the period 
of our acquaintance with him1 seemed to 
lead a quite still and self-contained   
life3 a man devoted to the higher       
,philosophies1 indeed2 yet more likely1 
if he published at all1 to publish a    
refutation of ,hegel and ,bardili1 both 
of whom1 strangely enough1 he included  
under a common ban2 than to descend1 as 
he has here done1 into the angry noisy  
,forum1 with an ,argument that cannot   
but exasperate and divide4 ,not1 that we
 can remember1 the ,philosophy of       

,clothes once touched upon between us4  
,if through the high1 silent1 meditative
 ,transcendentalism of our ,friend we   
detected any practical tendency         
whatever1 it was at most ,political1 and
 towards a certain prospective1 and for 
the present quite speculative1          
,radicalism2 as indeed some             
correspondence1 on his part1 with ,herr 
,oken of ,jena was now and then         
suspected2 though his special           
contribution to the ,isis could never be
 more than surmised at4 ,but1 at all    
events1 nothing ,moral1 still less      
anything ,didactico-,religious1 was     
looked for from him4  ,well do we       
recollect the last words he spoke in our
 hearing2 which indeed1 with the ,night 
they were uttered in1 are to be forever 
remembered4 ,lifting his huge tumbler of
 ,gukguk1#b and for a moment lowering   
his tobacco-pipe1 he stood up in full   
,coffee-house 7it was ,zur ,grnen ,gans1
 the largest in ,weissnichtwo1 where all
 the ,virtuosity1 and nearly all the    

,intellect of the place assembled of an 
evening72 and there1 with low1          
soul-stirring tone1 and the look truly  
of an angel1 though whether of a white  
or of a black one might be dubious1     
proposed this toast3 ,die ,sache der    
,armen in ,gottes und ,teufels ,namen   
7,the ,cause of the ,poor1 in ,heaven's 
name and ----'s76 ,one full shout1      
breaking the leaden silence2 then a     
gurgle of innumerable emptying bumpers1 
again followed by universal cheering1   
returned him loud acclaim4 ,it was the  
finale of the night3 resuming their     
pipes2 in the highest enthusiasm1 amid  
volumes of tobacco-smoke2 triumphant1   
cloud-capt without and within1 the      
assembly broke up1 each to his          
thoughtful pillow4 ,bleibt doch ein     
echter ,spass- und ,galgen-vogel1 said  
several2 meaning thereby that1 one day1 
he would probably be hanged for his     
democratic sentiments4 ,wo steckt doch  
der ,schalk8 added they1 looking round3 
but ,teufelsdrckh had retired by private

 alleys1 and the ,compiler of these     
pages beheld him no more4      #b       
,gukguk is unhappily only an            
academical-beer4  ,in such scenes has it
 been our lot to live with this         
,philosopher1 such estimate to form of  
his purposes and powers4 ,and yet1 thou 
brave ,teufelsdrckh1 who could tell what
 lurked in thee8 ,under those thick     
locks of thine1 so long and lank1       
overlapping roof-wise the gravest face  
we ever in this world saw1 there dwelt a
 most busy brain4 ,in thy eyes too1 deep
 under their shaggy brows1 and looking  
out so still and dreamy1 have we not    
noticed gleams of an ethereal or else a 
diabolic fire1 and half-fancied that    
their stillness was but the rest of     
infinite motion1 the sleep of a         
spinning-top8 ,thy little figure1 there 
as1 in loose1 ill-brushed threadbare    
habiliments1 thou sattest1 amid litter  
and lumber1 whole days1 to 'think and   
smoke tobacco1' held in it a mighty     
heart4 ,the secrets of man's ,life were 

laid open to thee2 thou sawest into the 
mystery of the ,universe1 farther than  
another2 thou hadst in petto thy        
remarkable ,volume on ,clothes4 ,nay1   
was there not in that clear             
logically-founded ,transcendentalism of 
thine2 still more1 in thy meek1 silent1 
deep-seated ,sansculottism1 combined    
with a true princely ,courtesy of inward
 nature1 the visible rudiments of such  
speculation8 ,but great men are too     
often unknown1 or what is worse1        
misknown4 ,already1 when we dreamed not 
of it1 the warp of thy remarkable       
,volume lay on the loom2 and silently1  
mysterious shuttles were putting in the 
woof6         99       99       99      
99       99  ,how the ,hofrath          
,heuschrecke is to furnish biographical 
data1 in this case1 may be a curious    
question2 the answer of which1 however1 
is happily not our concern1 but his4 ,to
 us it appeared1 after repeated trial1  
that in ,weissnichtwo1 from the archives
 or memories of the best-informed       

classes1 no ,biography of ,teufelsdrckh 
was to be gathered2 not so much as a    
false one4 ,he was a stranger there1    
wafted thither by what is called the    
course of circumstances2 concerning     
whose parentage1 birthplace1 prospects1 
or pursuits1 curiosity had indeed made  
inquiries1 but satisfied herself with   
the most indistinct replies4 ,for       
himself1 he was a man so still and      
altogether unparticipating1 that to     
question him even afar off on such      
particulars was a thing of more than    
usual delicacy3 besides1 in his sly way1
 he had ever some quaint turn1 not      
without its satirical edge1 wherewith to
 divert such intrusions1 and deter you  
from the like4 ,wits spoke of him       
secretly as if he were a kind of        
,melchizedek1 without father or mother  
of any kind2 sometimes1 with reference  
to his great historic and statistic     
knowledge1 and the vivid way he had of  
expressing himself like an eye-witness  
of distant transactions and scenes1 they

 called him the ,ewige ,jude1           
,everlasting1 or as we say1 ,wandering  
,jew4  ,to the most1 indeed1 he had     
become not so much a ,man as a ,thing2  
which ,thing doubtless they were        
accustomed to see1 and with             
satisfaction2 but no more thought of    
accounting for than for the fabrication 
of their daily ,allgemeine ,zeitung1 or 
the domestic habits of the ,sun4 ,both  
were there and welcome2 the world       
enjoyed what good was in them1 and      
thought no more of the matter4 ,the man 
,teufelsdrckh passed and repassed1 in   
his little circle1 as one of those      
originals and nondescripts1 more        
frequent in ,german ,universities than  
elsewhere2 of whom1 though you see them 
alive1 and feel certain enough that they
 must have a ,history1 no ,history seems
 to be discoverable2 or only such as men
 give of mountain rocks and antediluvian
 ruins3 ,that they may have been created
 by unknown agencies1 are in a state of 
gradual decay1 and for the present      

reflect light and resist pressure2 that 
is1 are visible and tangible objects in 
this phantasm world1 where so much other
 mystery is4  ,it was to be remarked    
that though1 by title and diploma1      
,professor der ,allerley-,wissenschaft1 
or as we should say in ,english1        
',professor of ,things in ,general1' he 
had never delivered any ,course2 perhaps
 never been incited thereto by any      
public furtherance or requisition4 ,to  
all appearance1 the enlightened         
,government of ,weissnichtwo1 in        
founding their ,new ,university1        
imagined they had done enough1 if 'in   
times like ours1' as the half-official  
,program expressed it1 'when all things 
are1 rapidly or slowly1 resolving       
themselves into ,chaos1 a ,professorship
 of this kind had been established2     
whereby1 as occasion called1 the task of
 bodying somewhat forth again from such 
,chaos might be1 even slightly1         
facilitated4' ,that actual ,lectures    
should be held1 and ,public ,classes for

 the ',science of ,things in ,general1' 
they doubtless considered premature2 on 
which ground too they had only          
established the ,professorship1 nowise  
endowed it2 so that ,teufelsdrckh1      
'recommended by the highest ,names1' had
 been promoted thereby to a ,name       
merely4  ,great1 among the more         
enlightened classes1 was the admiration 
of this new ,professorship3 how an      
enlightened ,government had seen into   
the ,want of the ,age 7,zeitbedrfniss72 
how at length1 instead of ,denial and   
,destruction1 we were to have a science 
of ,affirmation and ,reconstruction2 and
 ,germany and ,weissnichtwo were where  
they should be1 in the vanguard of the  
world4 ,considerable also was the wonder
 at the new ,professor1 dropt           
opportunely enough into the nascent     
,university2 so able to lecture1 should 
occasion call2 so ready to hold his     
peace for indefinite periods1 should an 
enlightened ,government consider that   
occasion did not call4 ,but such        

admiration and such wonder1 being       
followed by no act to keep them living1 
could last only nine days2 and1 long    
before our visit to that scene1 had     
quite died away4 ,the more cunning heads
 thought it was all an expiring clutch  
at popularity1 on the part of a         
,minister1 whom domestic embarrassments1
 court intrigues1 old age1 and dropsy   
soon afterwards finally drove from the  
helm4  ,as for ,teufelsdrckh1 except by 
his nightly appearances at the ,grne    
,gans1 ,weissnichtwo saw little of him1 
felt little of him4 ,here1 over his     
tumbler of ,gukguk1 he sat reading      
,journals2 sometimes contemplatively    
looking into the clouds of his          
tobacco-pipe1 without other visible     
employment3 always1 from his mild ways1 
an agreeable phenomenon there2 more     
especially when he opened his lips for  
speech2 on which occasions the whole    
,coffee-house would hush itself into    
silence1 as if sure to hear something   
noteworthy4 ,nay1 perhaps to hear a     

whole series and river of the most      
memorable utterances2 such as1 when once
 thawed1 he would for hours indulge in1 
with fit audience3 and the more         
memorable1 as issuing from a head       
apparently not more interested in them1 
not more conscious of them1 than is the 
sculptured stone head of some public    
fountain1 which through its brass       
mouth-tube emits water to the worthy and
 the unworthy2 careless whether it be   
for cooking victuals or quenching       
conflagrations2 indeed1 maintains the   
same earnest assiduous look1 whether any
 water be flowing or not4  ,to the      
,editor of these sheets1 as to a young  
enthusiastic ,englishman1 however       
unworthy1 ,teufelsdrckh opened himself  
perhaps more than to the most4 ,pity    
only that we could not then half guess  
his importance1 and scrutinise him with 
due power of vision6 ,we enjoyed1 what  
not three men in ,weissnichtwo could    
boast of1 a certain degree of access to 
the ,professor's private domicile4 ,it  

was the attic floor of the highest house
 in the ,wahngasse2 and might truly be  
called the pinnacle of ,weissnichtwo1   
for it rose sheer up above the          
contiguous roofs1 themselves rising from
 elevated ground4 ,moreover1 with its   
windows it looked towards all the four  
,orte1 or as the ,scotch say1 and we    
ought to say1 ,airts3 the sitting-room  
itself commanded three2 another came to 
view in the ,schlafgemach 7bedroom7 at  
the opposite end2 to say nothing of the 
kitchen1 which offered two1 as it were1 
duplicates1 and showing nothing new4 ,so
 that it was in fact the speculum or    
watch-tower of ,teufelsdrckh2 wherefrom1
 sitting at ease1 he might see the whole
 life-circulation of that considerable  
,city2 the streets and lanes of which1  
with all their doing and driving 7,thun 
und ,treiben71 were for the most part   
visible there4  ,i look down into all   
that wasp-nest or bee-hive1 have we     
heard him say1 and witness their        
wax-laying and honey-making1 and        

poison-brewing1 and choking by sulphur4 
,from the ,palace esplanade1 where music
 plays while ,serene ,highness is       
pleased to eat his victuals1 down to the
 low lane1 where in her door-sill the   
aged widow1 knitting for a thin         
livelihood1 sits to feel the afternoon  
sun1 ,i see it all2 for1 except the     
,schlosskirche weathercock1 no biped    
stands so high4 ,couriers arrive        
bestrapped and bebooted1 bearing ,joy   
and ,sorrow bagged-up in pouches of     
leather3 there1 top-laden1 and with four
 swift horses1 rolls-in the country     
,baron and his household2 here1 on      
timber-leg1 the lamed ,soldier hops     
painfully along1 begging alms3 a        
thousand carriages1 and wains1 and cars1
 come tumbling-in with ,food1 with young
 ,rusticity1 and other ,raw ,produce1   
inanimate or animate1 and go tumbling   
out again with ,produce manufactured4   
,that living flood1 pouring through     
these streets1 of all qualities and     
ages1 knowest thou whence it is coming1 

whither it is going8 ,aus der ,ewigkeit1
 zu der ,ewigkeit hin3 ,from ,eternity1 
onwards to ,eternity6 ,these are        
,apparitions3 what else8 ,are they not  
,souls rendered visible3 in ,bodies1    
that took shape and will lose it1       
melting into air8 ,their solid ,pavement
 is a picture of the ,sense2 they walk  
on the bosom of ,nothing1 blank ,time is
 behind them and before them4 ,or       
fanciest thou1 the red and yellow       
,clothes-screen yonder1 with spurs on   
its heels and feather in its crown1 is  
but of ,today1 without a ,yesterday or a
 ,tomorrow2 and had not rather its      
,ancestor alive when ,hengst and ,horsa 
overran thy ,island8 ,friend1 thou seest
 here a living link in that ,tissue of  
,history1 which inweaves all ,being3    
watch well1 or it will be past thee1 and
 seen no more4  ,ach1 mein ,lieber6 said
 he once1 at midnight1 when we had      
returned from the ,coffee-house in      
rather earnest talk1 it is a true       
sublimity to dwell here4 ,these fringes 

of lamplight1 struggling up through     
smoke and thousandfold exhalation1 some 
fathoms into the ancient reign of       
,night1 what thinks ,botes of them1 as  
he leads his ,hunting-,dogs over the    
,zenith in their leash of sidereal fire8
 ,that stifled hum of ,midnight1 when   
,traffic has lain down to rest2 and the 
chariot-wheels of ,vanity1 still rolling
 here and there through distant streets1
 are bearing her to ,halls roofed-in1   
and lighted to the due pitch for her2   
and only ,vice and ,misery1 to prowl or 
to moan like nightbirds1 are abroad3    
that hum1 ,i say1 like the stertorous1  
unquiet slumber of sick ,life1 is heard 
in ,heaven6 ,oh1 under that hideous     
covelet of vapours1 and putrefactions1  
and unimaginable gases1 what a          
,fermenting-vat lies simmering and hid6 
,the joyful and the sorrowful are there2
 men are dying there1 men are being     
born2 men are praying1--on the other    
side of a brick partition1 men are      
cursing2 and around them all is the     

vast1 void ,night4 ,the proud ,grandee  
still lingers in his perfumed saloons1  
or reposes within damask curtains2      
,wretchedness cowers into truckle-beds1 
or shivers hunger-stricken into its lair
 of straw3 in obscure cellars1          
,rouge-et-,noir languidly emits its     
voice-of-destiny to haggard hungry      
,villains2 while ,councillors of ,state 
sit plotting1 and playing their high    
chess-game1 whereof the pawns are ,men4 
,the ,lover whispers his mistress that  
the coach is ready2 and she1 full of    
hope and fear1 glides down1 to fly with 
him over the borders3 the ,thief1 still 
more silently1 sets-to his picklocks and
 crowbars1 or lurks in wait till the    
watchmen first snore in their boxes4    
,gay mansions1 with supper-rooms and    
dancing-rooms1 are full of light and    
music and high-swelling hearts2 but1 in 
the ,condemned ,cells1 the pulse of life
 beats tremulous and faint1 and         
bloodshot eyes look-out through the     
darkness1 which is around and within1   

for the light of a stern last morning4  
,six men are to be hanged on the morrow3
 comes no hammering from the            
,rabenstein8--their gallows must even   
now be o' building4 ,upwards of         
five-hundred-thousand two-legged animals
 without feathers lie round us1 in      
horizontal positions2 their heads all in
 nightcaps1 and full of the foolishest  
dreams4 ,riot cries aloud1 and staggers 
and swaggers in his rank dens of shame2 
and the ,mother1 with streaming hair1   
kneels over her pallid dying infant1    
whose cracked lips only her tears now   
moisten4--,all these heaped and huddled 
together1 with nothing but a little     
carpentry and masonry between           
them2--crammed in1 like salted fish in  
their barrel2--or weltering1 shall ,i   
say1 like an ,egyptian pitcher of tamed 
vipers1 each struggling to get its head 
above the others3 such work goes on     
under that smoke-counterpane6--,but ,i1 
mein ,werther1 sit above it all2 ,i am  
alone with the ,stars4  ,we looked in   

his face to see whether1 in the         
utterance of such extraordinary         
,night-thoughts1 no feeling might be    
traced there2 but with the light we had1
 which indeed was only a single         
tallow-light1 and far enough from the   
window1 nothing save that old calmness  
and fixedness was visible4  ,these were 
the ,professor's talking seasons3 most  
commonly he spoke in mere monosyllables1
 or sat altogether silent1 and smoked2  
while the visitor had liberty either to 
say what he listed1 receiving for answer
 an occasional grunt2 or to look round  
for a space1 and then take himself away4
 ,it was a strange apartment2 full of   
books and tattered papers1 and          
miscellaneous shreds of all conceivable 
substances1 'united in a common element 
of dust4' ,books lay on tables1 and     
below tables2 here fluttered a sheet of 
manuscript1 there a torn handkerchief1  
or nightcap hastily thrown aside2       
ink-bottles alternated with             
bread-crusts1 coffee-pots1              

tobacco-boxes1 ,periodical ,literature1 
and ,blcher ,boots4 ,old ,lieschen      
7,lisekin1 ',liza71 who was his         
bed-maker and stove-lighter1 his washer 
and wringer1 cook1 errand-maid1 and     
general lion's-provider1 and for the    
rest a very orderly creature1 had no    
sovereign authority in this last citadel
 of ,teufelsdrckh2 only some once in the
 month she half-forcibly made her may   
thither1 with broom and duster1 and     
7,teufelsdrckh hastily saving his       
manuscripts7 effected a partial         
clearance1 a jail-delivery of such      
lumber as was not literary4 ,these were 
her ,erdbeben 7earthquakes71 which      
,teufelsdrckh dreaded worse than the    
pestilence2 nevertheless1 to such length
 he had been forced to comply4 ,glad    
would he have been to sit here          
philosophising forever1 or till the     
litter1 by accumulation1 drove him out  
of doors3 but ,lieschen was his         
right-arm1 and spoon1 and necessary of  
life1 and would not be flatly gainsayed4

 ,we can still remember the ancient     
woman2 so silent that some thought her  
dumb2 deaf also you would often have    
supposed her2 for ,teufelsdrckh1 and    
,teufelsdrckh only1 would she serve or  
give heed to2 and with him she seemed to
 communicate chiefly by signs2 if it    
were not rather by some secret          
divination that she guessed all his     
wants1 and supplied them4 ,assiduous old
 dame6 she scoured1 and sorted1 and     
swept1 in her kitchen1 with the least   
possible violence to the ear2 yet all   
was tight and right there3 hot and black
 came the coffee ever at the due moment2
 and the speechless ,lieschen herself   
looked out on you1 from under her clean 
white coif with its lappets1 through her
 clean withered face and wrinkles1 with 
a look of helpful intelligence1 almost  
of benevolence4  ,few strangers1 as     
above hinted1 had admittance hither3 the
 only one we ever saw there1 ourselves  
excepted1 was the ,hofrath ,heuschrecke1
 already known1 by name and expectation1

 to the readers of these pages4 ,to us1 
at that period1 ,herr ,heuschrecke      
seemed one of those purse-mouthed1      
crane-necked1 clean-brushed1 pacific    
individuals1 perhaps sufficiently       
distinguished in society by this fact1  
that1 in dry weather or in wet1 'they   
never appear without their umbrella4'   
,had we not known with what 'little     
wisdom' the world is governed2 and how1 
in ,germany as elsewhere1 the           
ninety-and-nine ,public ,men can for    
most part be but mute train-bearers to  
the hundredth1 perhaps but              
stalking-horses and willing or unwilling
 dupes1--it might have seemed wonderful 
how ,herr ,heuschrecke should be named a
 ,rath1 or ,councillor1 and ,counsellor1
 even in ,weissnichtwo4 ,what counsel to
 any man1 or to any woman1 could this   
particular ,hofrath give2 in whose      
loose1 zigzag figure2 in whose thin     
visage1 as it went jerking to and fro1  
in minute incessant fluctuation1--you   
traced rather confusion worse           

confounded2 at most1 ,timidity and      
physical ,cold8 ,some indeed said       
withal1 he was 'the very ,spirit of     
,love embodied'3 blue earnest eyes1 full
 of sadness and kindness2 purse ever    
open1 and so forth2 the whole of which1 
we shall now hope1 for many reasons1 was
 not quite groundless4 ,nevertheless    
friend ,teufelsdrckh's outline1 who     
indeed handled the burin like few in    
these cases1 was probably the best3 ,er 
hat ,gemth und ,geist1 hat wenigstens   
gehabt1 doch ohne ,organ1 ohne          
,schicksals-,gunst2 ist gegenwrtig aber 
halb-zerrttet1 halb-erstarrt1 ,he has   
heart and talent1 at least has had such1
 yet without fit mode of utterance1 or  
favour of ,fortune2 and so is now       
half-cracked1 half-congealed4--,what the
 ,hofrath shall think of this when he   
sees it1 readers may wonder3 we1 safe in
 the stronghold of ,historical          
,fidelity1 are careless4  ,the main     
point1 doubtless1 for us all1 is his    
love of ,teufelsdrckh1 which indeed was 

also by far the most decisive feature of
 ,heuschrecke himself4 ,we are enabled  
to assert that he hung on the ,professor
 with the fondness of a ,boswell for his
 ,johnson4 ,and perhaps with the like   
return2 for ,teufelsdrckh treated his   
gaunt admirer with little outward       
regard1 as some half-rational or        
altogether irrational friend1 and at    
best loved him out of gratitude and by  
habit4 ,on the other hand1 it was       
curious to observe with what reverent   
kindness1 and a sort of fatherly        
protection1 our ,hofrath1 being the     
elder1 richer1 and as he fondly imagined
 far more practically influential of the
 two1 looked and tended on his little   
,sage1 whom he seemed to consider as a  
living oracle4 ,let but ,teufelsdrckh   
open his mouth1 ,heuschrecke's also     
unpuckered itself into a free doorway1  
besides his being all eye and all ear1  
so that nothing might be lost3 and then1
 at every pause in the harangue1 he     
gurgled-out his pursy chuckle of a      

cough-laugh 7for the machinery of       
laughter took some time to get in       
motion1 and seemed crank and slack71 or 
else his twanging nasal1 ,bravo6 ,das   
glaub' ich2 in either case1 by way of   
heartiest approval4 ,in short1 if       
,teufelsdrckh was ,dalai-,lama1 of      
which1 except perhaps in his            
self-seclusion1 and god-like            
indifference1 there was no symptom1 then
 might ,heuschrecke pass for his chief  
,talapoin1 to whom no dough-pill he     
could knead and publish was other than  
medicinal and sacred4  ,in such         
environment1 social1 domestic1 physical1
 did ,teufelsdrckh1 at the time of our  
acquaintance1 and most likely does he   
still1 live and meditate4 ,here1        
perched-up in his high ,wahngasse       
watch-tower1 and often1 in solitude1    
outwatching the ,bear1 it was that the  
indomitable ,inquirer fought all his    
battles with ,dulness and ,darkness2    
here1 in all probability1 that he wrote 
this surprising ,volume on ,clothes4    

,additional particulars3 of his age1    
which was of that standing middle sort  
you could only guess at2 of his wide    
surtout2 the colour of his trousers1    
fashion of his broad-brimmed            
steeple-hat1 and so forth1 we might     
report1 but do not4 ,the ,wisest truly  
is1 in these times1 the ,greatest2 so   
that an enlightened curiosity1 leaving  
,kings and suchlike to rest very much on
 their own basis1 turns more and more to
 the ,philosophic ,class3 nevertheless1 
what reader expects that1 with all our  
writing and reporting1 ,teufelsdrckh    
could be brought home to him1 till once 
the ,documents arrive8 ,his ,life1      
,fortunes1 and ,bodily ,presence1 are as
 yet hidden from us1 or matter only of  
faint conjecture4 ,but1 on the other    
hand1 does not his ,soul lie enclosed in
 this remarkable ,volume1 much more     
truly than ,pedro ,garcia's did in the  
buried ,bag of ,doubloons8 ,to the soul 
of ,diogenes ,teufelsdrckh1 to his      
opinions1 namely1 on the ',origin and   

,influence of ,clothes1' we for the     
present gladly return4     ,,chapter    
,,iv  ,,characteristics   ,it were a    
piece of vain flattery to pretend that  
this ,work on ,clothes entirely contents
 us2 that it is not1 like all works of  
genius1 like the very ,sun1 which1      
though the highest published creation1  
or work of genius1 has nevertheless     
black spots and troubled nebulosities   
amid its effulgence1--a mixture of      
insight1 inspiration1 with dulness1     
double-vision1 and even utter blindness4
  ,without committing ourselves to those
 enthusiastic praises and prophesyings  
of the ,weissnichtwo'sche ,anzeiger1 we 
admitted that the ,book had in a high   
degree excited us to self-activity1     
which is the best effect of any book2   
that it had even operated changes in our
 way of thought2 nay1 that it promised  
to prove1 as it were1 the opening of a  
new mine-shaft1 wherein the whole world 
of ,speculation might henceforth dig to 
unknown depths4 ,more especially it may 

now be declared that ,professor         
,teufelsdrckh's acquirements1 patience  
of research1 philosophic and even poetic
 vigour1 are here made indisputably     
manifest2 and unhappily no less his     
prolixity and tortuosity and manifold   
ineptitude2 that1 on the whole1 as in   
opening new mine-shafts is not          
unreasonable1 there is much rubbish in  
his ,book1 though likewise specimens of 
almost invaluable ore4 ,a paramount     
popularity in ,england we cannot promise
 him4 ,apart from the choice of such a  
topic as ,clothes1 too often the manner 
of treating it betokens in the ,author a
 rusticity and academic seclusion1      
unblamable1 indeed inevitable in a      
,german1 but fatal to his success with  
our public4  ,of good society           
,teufelsdrckh appears to have seen      
little1 or has mostly forgotten what he 
saw4 ,he speaks-out with a strange      
plainness2 calls many things by their   
mere dictionary names4 ,to him the      
,upholsterer is no ,pontiff1 neither is 

any ,drawing-room a ,temple1 were it    
never so begilt and overhung3 'a whole  
immensity of ,brussels carpets1 and     
pier-glasses1 and or-molu1' as he       
himself expresses it1 'cannot hide from 
me that such ,drawing-room is simply a  
section of ,infinite ,space1 where so   
many ,god-created ,souls do for the time
 meet together4' ,to ,teufelsdrckh the  
highest ,duchess is respectable1 is     
venerable2 but nowise for her pearl     
bracelets and ,malines laces3 in his    
eyes1 the star of a ,lord is little less
 and little more than the broad button  
of ,birmingham spelter in a ,clown's    
smock2 'each is an implement1' he says1 
'in its kind2 a tag for                 
hooking-together2 and1 for the rest1 was
 dug from the earth1 and hammered on a  
smithy before smith's fingers4' ,thus   
does the ,professor look in men's faces 
with a strange impartiality1 a strange  
scientific freedom2 like a man unversed 
in the higher circles1 like a man       
dropped thither from the ,moon4 ,rightly

 considered1 it is in this peculiarity1 
running through his whole system of     
thought1 that all these short-comings1  
over-shootings1 and multiform           
perversities1 take rise3 if indeed they 
have not a second source1 also natural  
enough1 in his ,transcendental          
,philosophies1 and humour of looking at 
all ,matter and ,material things as     
,spirit2 whereby truly his case were but
 the more hopeless1 the more lamentable4
  ,to the ,thinkers of this nation1     
however1 of which class it is firmly    
believed there are individuals yet      
extant1 we can safely recommend the     
,work3 nay1 who knows but among the     
fashionable ranks too1 if it be true1 as
 ,teufelsdrckh maintains1 that 'within  
the most starched cravat there passes a 
windpipe and weasand1 and under the     
thickliest embroidered waistcoat beats a
 heart1'--the force of that rapt        
earnestness may be felt1 and here and   
there an arrow of the soul pierce       
through8 ,in our wild ,seer1 shaggy1    

unkempt1 like a ,baptist living on      
locusts and wild honey1 there is an     
untutored energy1 a silent1 as it were  
unconscious1 strength1 which1 except in 
the higher walks of ,literature1 must be
 rare4 ,many a deep glance1 and often   
with unspeakable precision1 has he cast 
into mysterious ,nature1 and the still  
more mysterious ,life of ,man4          
,wonderful it is with what cutting      
words1 now and then1 he severs asunder  
the confusion2 shears down1 were it     
furlongs deep1 into the true centre of  
the matter2 and there not only hits the 
nail on the head1 but with crushing     
force smites it home1 and buries        
it4--,on the other hand1 let us be free 
to admit1 he is the most unequal writer 
breathing4 ,often after some such feat1 
he will play truant for long pages1 and 
go dawdling and dreaming1 and mumbling  
and maundering the merest commonplaces1 
as if he were asleep with eyes open1    
which indeed he is4  ,of his boundless  
,learning1 and how all reading and      

literature in most known tongues1 from  
,sanchoniathon to ,dr ,lingard1 from    
your ,oriental ,shasters1 and ,talmuds1 
and ,korans1 with ,cassini's ,siamese   
,tables1 and ,laplace's ,mcanique       
,cleste1 down to ,robinson ,crusoe and  
the ,belfast ,town and ,country         
,almanack1 are familiar to him1--we     
shall say nothing3 for unexampled as it 
is with us1 to the ,germans such        
universality of study passes without    
wonder1 as a thing commendable1 indeed1 
but natural1 indispensable1 and there of
 course4 ,a man that devotes his life to
 learning1 shall he not be learned8  ,in
 respect of style our ,author manifests 
the same genial capability1 marred too  
often by the same rudeness1 inequality1 
and apparent want of intercourse with   
the higher classes4 ,occasionally1 as   
above hinted1 we find consummate vigour1
 a true inspiration2 his burning        
thoughts step forth in fit burning      
words1 like so many full-formed         
,minervas1 issuing amid flame and       

splendour from ,jove's head2 a rich1    
idiomatic diction1 picturesque          
allusions1 fiery poetic emphasis1 or    
quaint tricksy turns2 all the graces and
 terrors of a wild ,imagination1 wedded 
to the clearest ,intellect1 alternate in
 beautiful vicissitude4 ,were it not    
that sheer sleeping and soporific       
passages2 circumlocutions1 repetitions1 
touches even of pure doting jargon1 so  
often intervene6 ,on the whole1         
,professor ,teufelsdrckh is not a       
cultivated writer4 ,of his sentences    
perhaps not more than nine-tenths stand 
straight on their legs2 the remainder   
are in quite angular attitudes1         
buttressed-up by props 7of parentheses  
and dashes71 and ever with this or the  
other tagrag hanging from them2 a few   
even sprawl-out helplessly on all sides1
 quite broken-backed and dismembered4   
,nevertheless1 in almost his very worst 
moods1 there lies in him a singular     
attraction4 ,a wild tone pervades the   
whole utterance of the man1 like its    

keynote and regulator2 now screwing     
itself aloft as into the ,song of       
,spirits1 or else the shrill mockery of 
,fiends2 now sinking in cadences1 not   
without melodious heartiness1 though    
sometimes abrupt enough1 into the common
 pitch1 when we hear it only as a       
monotonous hum2 of which hum the true   
character is extremely difficult to fix4
 ,up to this hour we have never fully   
satisfied ourselves whether it is a tone
 and hum of real ,humour1 which we      
reckon among the very highest qualities 
of genius1 or some echo of mere         
,insanity and ,inanity1 which doubtless 
ranks below the very lowest4  ,under a  
like difficulty1 in spite even of our   
personal intercourse1 do we still lie   
with regard to the ,professor's moral   
feeling4 ,gleams of an ethereal ,love   
burst forth from him1 soft wailings of  
infinite pity2 he could clasp the whole 
,universe into his bosom1 and keep it   
warm2 it seems as if under that rude    
exterior there dwelt a very seraph4     

,then again he is so sly and still1 so  
imperturbably saturnine2 shows such     
indifference1 malign coolness towards   
all that men strive after2 and ever with
 some half-visible wrinkle of a bitter  
sardonic humour1 if indeed it be not    
mere stolid callousness1--that you look 
on him almost with a shudder1 as on some
 incarnate ,mephistopheles1 to whom this
 great terrestrial and celestial ,round1
 after all1 were but some huge foolish  
,whirligig1 where kings and beggars1 and
 angels and demons1 and stars and       
street-sweepings1 were chaotically      
whirled1 in which only children could   
take interest4 ,his look1 as we         
mentioned1 is probably the gravest ever 
seen3 yet it is not of that cast-iron   
gravity frequent enough among our own   
,chancery suitors2 but rather the       
gravity as of some silent1              
high-encircled mountain-pool1 perhaps   
the crater of an extinct volcano2 into  
whose black deeps you fear to gaze3     
those eyes1 those lights that sparkle in

 it1 may indeed be reflexes of the      
heavenly ,stars1 but perhaps also       
glances from the region of ,nether      
,fire6  ,certainly a most involved1     
self-secluded1 altogether enigmatic     
nature1 this of ,teufelsdrckh6 ,here1   
however1 we gladly recall to mind that  
once we saw him laugh2 once only1       
perhaps it was the first and last time  
in his life2 but then such a peal of    
laughter1 enough to have awakened the   
,seven ,sleepers6 ,it was of ,jean      
,paul's doing3 some single billow in    
that vast ,world-,mahlstrom of ,humour1 
with its heaven-kissing coruscations1   
which is now1 alas1 all congealed in the
 frost of death6 ,the large-bodied ,poet
 and the small1 both large enough in    
soul1 sat talking miscellaneously       
together1 the present ,editor being     
privileged to listen2 and now ,paul1 in 
his serious way1 was giving one of those
 inimitable ',extra-harangues'2 and1 as 
it chanced1 ,on the ,proposal for a     
,cast-metal ,king3 gradually a light    

kindled in our ,professor's eyes and    
face1 a beaming1 mantling1 loveliest    
light2 through those murky features1 a  
radiant1 ever-young ,apollo looked2 and 
he burst forth like the neighing of all 
,tattersall's1--tears streaming down his
 cheeks1 pipe held aloft1 foot clutched 
into the air1--loud1 long-continuing1   
uncontrollable2 a laugh not of the face 
and diaphragm only1 but of the whole man
 from head to heel4 ,the present        
,editor1 who laughed indeed1 yet with   
measure1 began to fear all was not      
right3 however1 ,teufelsdrckh composed  
himself1 and sank into his old          
stillness2 on his inscrutable           
countenance there was1 if anything1 a   
slight look of shame2 and ,richter      
himself could not rouse him again4      
,readers who have any tincture of       
,psychology know how much is to be      
inferred from this2 and that no man who 
has once heartily and wholly laughed can
 be altogether irreclaimably bad4 ,how  
much lies in ,laughter3 the cipher-key1 

wherewith we decipher the whole man6    
,some men wear an everlasting barren    
simper2 in the smile of others lies a   
cold glitter as of ice3 the fewest are  
able to laugh1 what can be called       
laughing1 but only sniff and titter and 
snigger from the throat outwards2 or at 
best1 produce some whiffling husky      
cachinnation1 as if they were laughing  
through wool3 of none such comes good4  
,the man who cannot laugh is not only   
fit for treasons1 stratagems1 and       
spoils2 but his whole life is already a 
treason and a stratagem4  ,considered as
 an ,author1 ,herr ,teufelsdrckh has one
 scarcely pardonable fault1 doubtless   
his worst3 an almost total want of      
arrangement4 ,in this remarkable        
,volume1 it is true1 his adherence to   
the mere course of ,time produces1      
through the ,narrative portions1 a      
certain show of outward method2 but of  
true logical method and sequence there  
is too little4 ,apart from its          
multifarious sections and subdivisions1 

the ,work naturally falls into two      
,parts2 a ,historical-,descriptive1 and 
a ,philosophical-,speculative3 but      
falls1 unhappily1 by no firm line of    
demarcation2 in that labyrinthic        
combination1 each ,part overlaps1 and   
indents1 and indeed runs quite through  
the other4 ,many sections are of a      
debatable rubric or even quite          
nondescript and unnameable2 whereby the 
,book not only loses in accessibility1  
but too often distresses us like some   
mad banquet1 wherein all courses had    
been confounded1 and fish and flesh1    
soup and solid1 oyster-sauce1 lettuces1 
,rhine-wine and ,french mustard1 were   
hurled into one huge tureen or trough1  
and the hungry ,public invited to help  
itself4 ,to bring what order we can out 
of this ,chaos shall be part of our     
endeavour4     ,,chapter ,v  ,,the      
,,world ,,in ,,clothes   ',as           
,montesquieu wrote a ,spirit of ,laws1' 
observes our ,professor1 'so could ,i   
write a ,spirit of ,clothes2 thus1 with 

an ,esprit des ,lois1 properly an       
,esprit de ,coutumes1 we should have an 
,esprit de ,costumes4 ,for neither in   
tailoring nor in legislating does man   
proceed by mere ,accident1 but the hand 
is ever guided on by mysterious         
operations of the mind4 ,in all his     
,modes1 and habilatory endeavours1 an   
,architectural ,idea will be found      
lurking2 his ,body and the ,cloth are   
the site and materials whereon and      
whereby his beautified edifice1 of a    
,person1 is to be built4 ,whether he    
flow gracefully out in folded mantles1  
based on light sandals2 tower-up in high
 headgear1 from amid peaks1 spangles and
 bell-girdles2 swell-out in starched    
ruffs1 buckram stuffings1 and monstrous 
tuberosities2 or girth himself into     
separate sections1 and front the world  
an ,agglomeration of four limbs1--will  
depend on the nature of such            
,architectural ,idea3 whether ,grecian1 
,gothic1 ,later-,gothic1 or altogether  
,modern1 and ,parisian or               

,anglo-,dandiacal4 ,again1 what meaning 
lies in ,colour6 ,from the soberest drab
 to the high-flaming scarlet1 spiritual 
idiosyncrasies unfold themselves in     
choice of ,colour3 if the ,cut betoken  
,intellect and ,talent1 so does the     
,colour betoken ,temper and ,heart4 ,in 
all which1 among nations as among       
individuals1 there is an incessant1     
indubitable1 though infinitely complex  
working of ,cause and ,effect3 every    
snip of the ,scissors has been regulated
 and prescribed by ever-active          
,influences1 which doubtless to         
,intelligences of a superior order are  
neither invisible nor illegible4  ',for 
such superior ,intelligences a          
,cause-and-,effect ,philosophy of       
,clothes1 as of ,laws1 were probably a  
comfortable winter-evening              
entertainment3 nevertheless1 for        
inferior ,intelligences1 like men1 such 
,philosophies have always seemed to me  
uninstructive enough4 ,nay1 what is your
 ,montesquieu himself but a clever      

infant spelling ,letters from a         
hieroglyphical prophetic ,book1 the     
lexicon of which lies in ,eternity1 in  
,heaven8--,let any ,cause-and-,effect   
,philosopher explain1 not why ,i wear   
such and such a ,garment1 obey such and 
such a ,law2 but even why ,i am here1 to
 wear and obey anything6--,much1        
therefore1 if not the whole1 of that    
same ,spirit of ,clothes ,i shall       
suppress1 as hypothetical1 ineffectual1 
and even impertinent3 naked ,facts1 and 
,deductions drawn therefrom in quite    
another than that omniscient style1 are 
my humbler and proper province4'        
,acting on which prudent restriction1   
,teufelsdrckh has nevertheless contrived
 to take-in a well-nigh boundless extent
 of field2 at least1 the boundaries too 
often lie quite beyond our horizon4     
,selection being indispensable1 we shall
 here glance-over his ,first ,part only 
in the most cursory manner4 ,this ,first
 ,part is1 no doubt1 distinguished by   
omnivorous learning1 and utmost patience

 and fairness3 at the same time1 in its 
results and delineations1 it is much    
more likely to interest the ,compilers  
of some ,library of ,general1           
,entertaining1 ,useful1 or even ,useless
 ,knowledge than the miscellaneous      
readers of these pages4 ,was it this    
,part of the ,book which ,heuschrecke   
had in view1 when he recommended us to  
that joint-stock vehicle of publication1
 'at present the glory of ,british      
,literature'8 ,if so1 the ,library      
,editors are welcome to dig in it for   
their own behoof4  ,to the ,first       
,chapter1 which turns on ,paradise and  
,fig-leaves1 and leads us into          
interminable disquisitions of a         
mythological1 metaphorical1             
cabalistico-sartorial and quite         
antediluvian cast1 we shall content     
ourselves with giving an unconcerned    
approval4 ,still less have we to do with
 ',lilis1 ,adam's first wife1 whom1     
according to the ,talmudists1 he had    
before ,eve1 and who bore him1 in that  

wedlock1 the whole progeny of aerial1   
aquatic1 and terrestrial ,devils1'--very
 needlessly1 we think4 ,on this portion 
of the ,work1 with its profound glances 
into the ,adam-,kadmon1 or ,primeval    
,element1 here strangely brought into   
relation with the ,nifl and ,muspel     
7,darkness and ,light7 of the antique   
,north1 it may be enough to say1 that   
its correctness of deduction1 and depth 
of ,talmudic and ,rabbinical lore have  
filled perhaps not the worst ,hebraist  
in ,britain with something like         
astonishment4  ,but1 quitting this      
twilight region1 ,teufelsdrckh hastens  
from the ,tower of ,babel1 to follow the
 dispersion of ,mankind over the whole  
habitable and habilable globe4 ,walking 
by the light of ,oriental1 ,pelasgic1   
,scandinavian1 ,egyptian1 ,otaheitean1  
,ancient and ,modern researches of every
 conceivable kind1 he strives to give us
 in compressed shape 7as the ,nrnbergers
 give an ,orbis ,pictus7 an ,orbis      
,vestitus2 or view of the costumes of   

all mankind1 in all countries1 in all   
times4 ,it is here that to the          
,antiquarian1 to the ,historian1 we can 
triumphantly say3 ,fall to6 ,here is    
learning3 an irregular ,treasury1 if you
 will2 but inexhaustible as the ,hoard  
of ,king ,nibelung1 which twelve wagons 
in twelve days1 at the rate of three    
journeys a day1 could not carry off4    
,sheepskin cloaks and wampum belts2     
phylacteries1 stoles1 albs2 chlamydes1  
togas1 ,chinese silks1 ,afghaun shawls1 
trunk-hose1 leather breeches1 ,celtic   
philibegs 7though breeches1 as the name 
,gallia ,braccata indicates1 are the    
more ancient71 ,hussar cloaks1 ,vandyke 
tippets1 ruffs1 fardingales1 are brought
 vividly before us1--even the           
,kilmarnock nightcap is not forgotten4  
,for most part1 too1 we must admit that 
the ,learning1 heterogeneous as it is1  
and tumbled-down quite pell-mell1 is    
true concentrated and purified          
,learning1 the drossy parts smelted out 
and thrown aside4  ,philosophical       

reflections intervene1 and sometimes    
touching pictures of human life4 ,of    
this sort the following has surprised   
us4 ,the first purpose of ,clothes1 as  
our ,professor imagines1 was not warmth 
or decency1 but ornament4 ',miserable   
indeed1' says he1 'was the condition of 
the ,aboriginal ,savage1 glaring        
fiercely from under his fleece of hair1 
which with the beard reached down to his
 loins1 and hung round him like a matted
 cloak2 the rest of his body sheeted in 
its thick natural fell4 ,he loitered in 
the sunny glades of the forest1 living  
on wild-fruits2 or1 as the ancient      
,caledonian1 squatted himself in        
morasses1 lurking for his bestial or    
human prey2 without implements1 without 
arms1 save the ball of heavy ,flint1 to 
which1 that his sole possession and     
defence might not be lost1 he had       
attached a long cord of plaited thongs2 
thereby recovering as well as hurling it
 with deadly unerring skill4            
,nevertheless1 the pains of ,hunger and 

,revenge once satisfied1 his next care  
was not ,comfort but ,decoration        
7,putz74 ,warmth he found in the toils  
of the chase2 or amid dried leaves1 in  
his hollow tree1 in his bark shed1 or   
natural grotto3 but for ,decoration he  
must have ,clothes4 ,nay1 among wild    
people we find tattooing and painting   
even prior to ,clothes4 ,the first      
spiritual want of a barbarous man is    
,decoration1 as indeed we still see     
among the barbarous classes in civilised
 countries4  ',reader1 the              
heaven-inspired melodious ,singer2      
loftiest ,serene ,highness2 nay thy own 
amber-locked1 snow-and-rose-bloom       
,maiden1 worthy to glide sylphlike      
almost on air1 whom thou lovest1        
worshippest as a divine ,presence1      
which1 indeed1 symbolically taken1 she  
is1--has descended1 like thyself1 from  
that same hair-mantled1 flint-hurling   
,aboriginal ,anthropophagus6 ,out of the
 eater cometh forth meat2 out of the    
strong cometh forth sweetness4 ,what    

changes are wrought1 not by time1 yet in
 ,time6 ,for not ,mankind only1 but all 
that ,mankind does or beholds1 is in    
continual growth1 regenesis and         
self-perfecting vitality4 ,cast forth   
thy ,act1 thy ,word1 into the           
ever-living1 ever-working ,universe3 it 
is a seed-grain that cannot die2        
unnoticed to-day 7says one71 it will be 
found flourishing as a ,banyan-grove    
7perhaps1 alas1 as a ,hemlock-forest67  
after a thousand years4  ',he who first 
shortened the labour of ,copyists by    
device of ,movable ,types was disbanding
 hired ,armies1 and cashiering most     
,kings and ,senates1 and creating a     
whole new ,democratic world3 he had     
invented the ,art of ,printing4 ,the    
first ground handful of ,nitre1         
,sulphur1 and ,charcoal drove ,monk     
,schwartz's pestle through the ceiling3 
what will the last do8 ,achieve the     
final undisputed prostration of ,force  
under ,thought1 of ,animal courage under
 ,spiritual4 ,a simple invention it was 

in the old-world ,grazier1--sick of     
lugging his slow ,ox about the country  
till he got it bartered for corn or     
oil1--to take a piece of ,leather1 and  
thereon scratch or stamp the mere       
,figure of an ,ox 7or ,pecus72 put it in
 his pocket1 and call it ,pecunia1      
,money4 ,yet hereby did ,barter grow    
,sale1 the ,leather ,money is now       
,golden and ,paper1 and all miracles    
have been out-miracled3 for there are   
,rothschilds and ,english ,national     
,debts2 and whoso has sixpence is       
sovereign 7to the length of sixpence7   
over all men2 commands cooks to feed    
him1 philosophers to teach him1 kings to
 mount guard over him1--to the length of
 sixpence4--,clothes too1 which began in
 foolishest love of ,ornament1 what have
 they not become6 ,increased ,security  
and pleasurable ,heat soon followed3 but
 what of these8 ,shame1 divine ,shame   
7,schaam1 ,modesty71 as yet a stranger  
to the ,anthropophagous bosom1 arose    
there mysteriously under ,clothes2 a    

mystic grove-encircled shrine for the   
,holy in man4 ,clothes gave us          
individuality1 distinctions1 social     
polity2 ,clothes have made ,men of us2  
they are threatening to make            
,clothes-screens of us4  ',but1 on the  
whole1' continues our eloquent          
,professor1 ',man is a ,tool-using      
,animal 7,handthierendes ,thier74 ,weak 
in himself1 and of small stature1 he    
stands on a basis1 at most for the      
flattest-soled1 of some half-square     
foot1 insecurely enough2 has to straddle
 out his legs1 lest the very wind       
supplant him4 ,feeblest of bipeds6      
,three quintals are a crushing load for 
him2 the steer of the meadow tosses him 
aloft1 like a waste rag4 ,nevertheless  
he can use ,tools1 can devise ,tools3   
with these the granite mountain melts   
into light dust before him2 he kneads   
glowing iron1 as if it were soft paste2 
seas are his smooth highway1 winds and  
fire his unwearying steeds4 ,nowhere do 
you find him without ,tools2 without    

,tools he is nothing1 with ,tools he is 
all4'  ,here may we not1 for a moment1  
interrupt the stream of ,oratory with a 
remark1 that this ,definition of the    
,tool-using ,animal1 appears to us1 of  
all that ,animal-sort1 considerably the 
precisest and best8 ,man is called a    
,laughing ,animal3 but do not the apes  
also laugh1 or attempt to do it2 and is 
the manliest man the greatest and       
oftenest laugher8 ,teufelsdrckh himself1
 as we said1 laughed only once4 ,still  
less do we make of that other ,french   
,definition of the ,cooking ,animal2    
which1 indeed1 for rigorous scientific  
purposes1 is as good as useless4 ,can a 
,tartar be said to cook1 when he only   
readies his steak by riding on it8      
,again1 what ,cookery does the          
,greenlander use1 beyond stowing-up his 
whale-blubber1 as a marmot1 in the like 
case1 might do8 ,or how would ,monsieur 
,ude prosper among those ,orinocco      
,indians1 who1 according to ,humboldt1  
lodge in crow-nests1 on the branches of 

trees2 and1 for half the year1 have no  
victuals but pipe-clay1 the whole       
country being under water8 ,but1 on the 
other hand1 show us the human being1 of 
any period or climate1 without his      
,tools3 those very ,caledonians1 as we  
saw1 had their ,flint-ball1 and ,thong  
to it1 such as no brute has or can have4
  ',man is a ,tool-using ,animal1'      
concludes ,teufelsdrckh in his abrupt   
way2 'of which truth ,clothes are but   
one example3 and surely if we consider  
the interval between the first wooden   
,dibble fashioned by man1 and those     
,liverpool ,steam-carriages1 or the     
,british ,house of ,commons1 we shall   
note what progress he has made4 ,he digs
 up certain black stones from the bosom 
of the earth1 and says to them1         
,transport me and this luggage at the   
rate of five-and-thirty miles an hour2  
and they do it3 he collects1 apparently 
by lot1 six-hundred and fifty-eight     
miscellaneous individuals1 and says to  
them1 ,make this nation toil for us1    

bleed for us1 hunger and sorrow and sin 
for us2 and they do it4'     ,,chapter  
,,vi  ,,aprons   ,one of the most       
unsatisfactory ,sections in the whole   
,volume is that on ,aprons4 ,what though
 stout old ,gao1 the ,persian           
,blacksmith1 'whose ,apron1 now indeed  
hidden under jewels1 because raised in  
revolt which proved successful1 is still
 the royal standard of that country'2   
what though ,john ,knox's ,daughter1    
'who threatened ,sovereign ,majesty that
 she would catch her husband's head in  
her ,apron1 rather than he should lie   
and be a bishop'2 what though the       
,landgravine ,elizabeth1 with many other
 ,apron worthies1--figure here8 ,an idle
 wire-drawing spirit1 sometimes even a  
tone of levity1 approaching to          
conventional satire1 is too clearly     
discernible4 ,what1 for example1 are we 
to make of such sentences as the        
following8  ',aprons are ,defences2     
against injury to cleanliness1 to       
safety1 to modesty1 sometimes to        

roguery4 ,from the thin slip of notched 
silk 7as it were1 the ,emblem and       
beatified ,ghost of an ,apron71 which   
some highest-bred housewife1 sitting at 
,nrnberg ,workboxes and ,toyboxes1 has  
gracefully fastened on2 to the          
thick-tanned hide1 girt round him with  
thongs1 wherein the ,builder builds1 and
 at evening sticks his trowel2 or to    
those jingling sheet-iron ,aprons1      
wherein your otherwise half-naked       
,vulcans hammer and smelt in their      
smelt-furnace1--is there not range      
enough in the fashion and uses of this  
,vestment8 ,how much has been concealed1
 how much has been defended in ,aprons6 
,nay1 rightly considered1 what is your  
whole ,military and ,police             
,establishment1 charged at uncalculated 
millions1 but a huge scarlet-coloured1  
iron-fastened ,apron1 wherein ,society  
works 7uneasily enough72 guarding itself
 from some soil and stithy-sparks1 in   
this ,devil's-smithy 7,teufelsschmiede7 
of a world8 ,but of all ,aprons the most

 puzzling to me hitherto has been the   
,episcopal or ,cassock4 ,wherein        
consists the usefulness of this ,apron8 
,the ,overseer 7,episcopus7 of ,souls1  
,i notice1 has tucked-in the corner of  
it1 as if his day's work were done3 what
 does he shadow forth thereby8' c4 c4   
,or again1 has it often been the lot of 
our readers to read such stuff as we    
shall now quote8  ',i consider those    
printed ,paper ,aprons1 worn by the     
,parisian ,cooks1 as a new vent1 though 
a slight one1 for ,typography2 therefore
 as an encouragement to modern          
,literature1 and deserving of approval3 
nor is it without satisfaction that ,i  
hear of a celebrated ,london ,firm      
having in view to introduce the same    
fashion1 with important extensions1 in  
,england4'--,we who are on the spot hear
 of no such thing2 and indeed have      
reason to be thankful that hitherto     
there are other vents for our           
,literature1 exuberant as it            
is4--,teufelsdrckh continues3 ',if such 

supply of printed ,paper should rise so 
far as to choke-up the highways and     
public thoroughfares1 new means must of 
necessity be had recourse to4 ,in a     
world existing by ,industry1 we grudge  
to employ fire as a destroying element1 
and not as a creating one4 ,however1    
,heaven is omnipotent1 and will find us 
an outlet4 ,in the mean while1 is it not
 beautiful to see five-million quintals 
of ,rags picked annually from the       
,laystall2 and annually1 after being    
macerated1 hot-pressed1 printed-on1 and 
sold1--returned thither2 filling so many
 hungry mouths by the way8 ,thus is the 
,laystall1 especially with its ,rags or 
,clothes-rubbish1 the grand ,electric   
,battery1 and ,fountain-of-motion1 from 
which and to which the ,social          
,activities 7like vitreous and resinous 
,electricities7 circulate1 in larger or 
smaller circles1 through the mighty1    
billowy1 storm-tost ,chaos of ,life1    
which they keep alive6'--,such passages 
fill us1 who love the man1 and partly   

esteem him1 with a very mixed feeling4  
,farther down we meet with this3 ',the  
,journalists are now the true ,kings and
 ,clergy3 henceforth ,historians1 unless
 they are fools1 must write not of      
,bourbon ,dynasties1 and ,tudors and    
,hapsburgs2 but of ,stamped ,broad-sheet
 ,dynasties1 and quite new successive   
,names1 according as this or the other  
,able ,editor1 or ,combination of ,able 
,editors1 gains the world's ear4 ,of the
 ,british ,newspaper ,press1 perhaps the
 most important of all1 and wonderful   
enough in its secret constitution and   
procedure1 a valuable descriptive       
,history already exists1 in that        
language1 under the title of ,satan's   
,invisible ,world ,displayed2 which1    
however1 by search in all the           
,weissnichtwo ,libraries1 ,i have not   
yet succeeded in procuring 7vermchte    
nicht aufzutreiben74'  ,thus does the   
good ,homer not only nod1 but snore4    
,thus does ,teufelsdrckh1 wandering in  
regions where he had little business1   

confound the old authentic ,presbyterian
 ,witchfinder with a new1 spurious1     
imaginary ,historian of the ,brittische 
,journalistik2 and so stumble on perhaps
 the most egregious blunder in ,modern  
,literature6     ,,chapter ,,vii        
,,miscellaneous-,,historical   ,happier 
is our ,professor1 and more purely      
scientific and historic1 when he reaches
 the ,middle ,ages in ,europe1 and down 
to the end of the ,seventeenth ,century2
 the true era of extravagance in        
,costume4 ,it is here that the          
,antiquary and ,student of ,modes comes 
upon his richest harvest4 ,fantastic    
garbs1 beggaring all fancy of a ,teniers
 or a ,callot1 succeed each other1 like 
monster devouring monster in a ,dream4  
,the whole too in brief authentic       
strokes1 and touched not seldom with    
that breath of genius which makes even  
old raiment live4 ,indeed1 so learned1  
precise1 graphical1 and everyway        
interesting have we found these         
,chapters1 that it may be thrown-out as 

a pertinent question for parties        
concerned1 ,whether or not a good       
,english ,translation thereof might     
henceforth be profitably incorporated   
with ,mr4 ,merrick's valuable ,work ,on 
,ancient ,armour8 ,take1 by way of      
example1 the following sketch2 as       
authority for which ,paulinus's         
,zeitkrzende ,lust 7ii4 #fgh7 is1 with  
seeming confidence1 referred to3  ',did 
we behold the ,german fashionable dress 
of the ,fifteenth ,century1 we might    
smile2 as perhaps those bygone ,germans1
 were they to rise again1 and see our   
haberdashery1 would cross themselves1   
and invoke the ,virgin4 ,but happily no 
bygone ,german1 or man1 rises again2    
thus the ,present is not needlessly     
trammelled with the ,past2 and only     
grows out of it1 like a ,tree1 whose    
roots are not intertangled with its     
branches1 but lie peaceably underground4
 ,nay it is very mournful1 yet not      
useless1 to see and know1 how the       
,greatest and ,dearest1 in a short      

while1 would find his place quite       
filled-up here1 and no room for him2 the
 very ,napoleon1 the very ,byron1 in    
some seven years1 has become obsolete1  
and were now a foreigner to his ,europe4
 ,thus is the ,law of ,progress secured2
 and in ,clothes1 as in all other       
external things whatsoever1 no fashion  
will continue4  ',of the military       
classes in those old times1 whose       
buff-belts1 complicated chains and      
gorgets1 huge churn-boots1 and other    
riding and fighting gear have been      
bepainted in modern ,romance1 till the  
whole has acquired somewhat of a        
sign-post character1--,i shall here say 
nothing3 the civil and pacific classes1 
less touched upon1 are wonderful enough 
for us4  ',rich men1 ,i find1 have      
,teusinke' 7a perhaps untranslateable   
article72 'also a silver girdle1 whereat
 hang little bells2 so that when a man  
walks1 it is with continual jingling4   
,some few1 of musical turn1 have a whole
 chime of bells 7,glockenspiel7 fastened

 there2 which1 especially in sudden     
whirls1 and the other accidents of      
walking1 has a grateful effect4 ,observe
 too how fond they are of peaks1 and    
,gothic-arch intersections4 ,the male   
world wears peaked caps1 an ell long1   
which hang bobbing over the side        
7schief73 their shoes are peaked in     
front1 also to the length of an ell1 and
 laced on the side with tags2 even the  
wooden shoes have their ell-long noses3 
some also clap bells on the peak4       
,further1 according to my authority1 the
 men have breeches without seat 7ohne   
,gesss73 these they fasten peakwise to  
their shirts2 and the long round doublet
 must overlap them4  ',rich maidens1    
again1 flit abroad in gowns scolloped   
out behind and before1 so that back and 
breast are almost bare4 ,wives of       
quality1 on the other hand1 have        
train-gowns four or five ells in length2
 which trains there are boys to carry4  
,brave ,cleopatras1 sailing in their    
silk-cloth ,galley1 with a ,cupid for   

steersman6 ,consider their welts1 a     
handbreadth thick1 which waver round    
them by way of hem2 the long flood of   
silver buttons1 or rather silver shells1
 from throat to shoe1 wherewith these   
same welt-gowns are buttoned4 ,the      
maidens have bound silver snoods about  
their hair1 with gold spangles1 and     
pendent flames 7,flammen71 that is1     
sparkling hair-drops3 but of their      
mother's headgear who shall speak8      
,neither in love of grace is comfort    
forgotten4 ,in winter weather you behold
 the whole fair creation 7that can      
afford it7 in long mantles1 with skirts 
wide below1 and1 for hem1 not one but   
two sufficient hand-broad welts2 all    
ending atop in a thick well-starched    
,ruff1 some twenty inches broad3 these  
are their ,ruff-mantles 7,kragenmntel74 
',as yet among the womankind            
hoop-petticoats are not2 but the men    
have doublets of fustian1 under which   
lie multiple ruffs of cloth1 pasted     
together with batter 7mit ,teig         

zusammengekleistert71 which create      
protuberance enough4 ,thus do the two   
sexes vie with each other in the art of 
,decoration2 and as usual the stronger  
carries it4'  ,our ,professor1 whether  
he hath humour himself or not1 manifests
 a certain feeling of the ,ludicrous1 a 
sly observance of it1 which1 could      
emotion of any kind be confidently      
predicated of so still a man1 we might  
call a real love4 ,none of those        
bell-girdles1 bushel-breeches1 cornuted 
shoes1 or other the like phenomena1 of  
which the ,history of ,dress offers so  
many1 escape him3 more especially the   
mischances1 or striking adventures1     
incident to the wearers of such1 are    
noticed with due fidelity4 ,sir ,walter 
,raleigh's fine mantle1 which he spread 
in the mud under ,queen ,elizabeth's    
feet1 appears to provoke little         
enthusiasm in him2 he merely asks1      
,whether at that period the ,maiden     
,queen 'was red-painted on the nose1 and
 white-painted on the cheeks1 as her    

tire-women1 when from spleen and        
wrinkles she would no longer look in any
 glass1 were wont to serve her8' ,we can
 answer that ,sir ,walter knew well what
 he was doing1 and had the ,maiden      
,queen been stuffed parchment dyed in   
verdigris1 would have done the same4    
,thus too1 treating of those enormous   
habiliments1 that were not only slashed 
and galooned1 but artificially          
swollen-out on the broader parts of the 
body1 by introduction of ,bran1--our    
,professor fails not to comment on that 
luckless ,courtier1 who having seated   
himself on a chair with some projecting 
nail on it1 and therefrom rising1 to pay
 his devoir on the entrance of ,majesty1
 instantaneously emitted several pecks  
of dry wheat-dust3 and stood there      
diminished to a spindle1 his galoons and
 slashes dangling sorrowful and flabby  
round him4 ,whereupon the ,professor    
publishes this reflection3  ',by what   
strange chances do we live in ,history8 
,erostratus by a torch2 ,milo by a      

bullock2 ,henry ,darnley1 an unfledged  
booby and bustard1 by his limbs2 most   
,kings and ,queens by being born under  
such and such a bed-tester2 ,boileau    
,despraux 7according to ,helvetius7 by  
the peck of a turkey2 and this          
ill-starred individual by a rent in his 
breeches1--for no ,memoirist of ,kaiser 
,otto's ,court omits him4 ,vain was the 
prayer of ,themistocles for a talent of 
,forgetting3 my ,friends1 yield         
cheerfully to ,destiny1 and read since  
it is written4'--,has ,teufelsdrckh to  
be put in mind that1 nearly related to  
the impossible talent of ,forgetting1   
stands that talent of ,silence1 which   
even travelling ,englishmen manifest8   
',the simplest costume1' observes our   
,professor1 'which ,i anywhere find     
alluded to in ,history1 is that used as 
regimental1 by ,bolivar's ,cavalry1 in  
the late ,columbian wars4 ,a square     
,blanket1 twelve feet in diagonal1 is   
provided 7some were wont to cut-off the 
corners1 and make it circular73 in the  

centre a slit is effected eighteen      
inches long2 through this the           
mother-naked ,trooper introduces his    
head and neck3 and so rides shielded    
from all weather1 and in battle from    
many strokes 7for he rolls it about his 
left arm72 and not only dressed1 but    
harnessed and draperied4'  ,with which  
picture of a ,state of ,nature1         
affecting by its singularity1 and       
,old-,roman contempt of the superfluous1
 we shall quit this part of our subject4
     ,,chapter ,,viii  ,,the ,,world    
,,out ,,of ,,clothes   ,if in the       
,descriptive-,historical portion of this
 ,volume1 ,teufelsdrckh1 discussing     
merely the ,werden 7,origin and         
successive ,improvement7 of ,clothes1   
has astonished many a reader1 much more 
will he in the                          
,speculative-,philosophical portion1    
which treats of their ,wirken1 or       
,influences4 ,it is here that the       
present ,editor first feels the pressure
 of his task2 for here properly the     

higher and new ,philosophy of ,clothes  
commences3 an untried1 almost           
inconceivable region1 or chaos2 in      
venturing upon which1 how difficult1 yet
 how unspeakably important is it to know
 what course1 of survey and conquest1 is
 the true one2 where the footing is firm
 substance and will bear us1 where it is
 hollow1 or mere cloud1 and may engulf  
us6 ,teufelsdrckh undertakes no less    
than to expound the moral1 political1   
even religious ,influences of ,clothes2 
he undertakes to make manifest1 in its  
thousandfold bearings1 this grand       
,proposition1 that ,man's earthly       
interests 'are all hooked and buttoned  
together1 and held up1 by ,clothes4' ,he
 says in so many words1 ',society is    
founded upon ,cloth'2 and again1        
',society sails through the ,infinitude 
on ,cloth1 as on a ,faust's ,mantle1 or 
rather like the ,sheet of clean and     
unclean beasts in the ,apostle's ,dream2
 and without such ,sheet or ,mantle1    
would sink to endless depths1 or mount  

to inane limboes1 and in either case be 
no more4'  ,by what chains1 or indeed   
infinitely complected tissues1 of       
,meditation this grand ,theorem is here 
unfolded1 and innumerable practical     
,corollaries are drawn therefrom1 it    
were perhaps a mad ambition to attempt  
exhibiting4 ,our ,professor's method is 
not1 in any case1 that of common school 
,logic1 where the truths all stand in a 
row1 each holding by the skirts of the  
other2 but at best that of practical    
,reason1 proceeding by large ,intuition 
over whole systematic groups and        
kingdoms2 whereby1 we might say1 a noble
 complexity1 almost like that of        
,nature1 reigns in his ,philosophy1 or  
spiritual ,picture of ,nature3 a mighty 
maze1 yet1 as faith whispers1 not       
without a plan4 ,nay we complained      
above1 that a certain ignoble           
complexity1 what we must call mere      
confusion1 was also discernible4 ,often1
 also1 we have to exclaim3 ,would to    
,heaven those same ,biographical        

,documents were come6 ,for it seems as  
if the demonstration lay much in the    
,author's individuality2 as if it were  
not ,argument that had taught him1 but  
,experience4 ,at present it is only in  
local glimpses1 and by significant      
fragments1 picked often at wide-enough  
intervals from the original ,volume1 and
 carefully collated1 that we can hope to
 impart some outline or foreshadow of   
this ,doctrine4 ,readers of any         
intelligence are once more invited to   
favour us with their most concentrated  
attention3 let these1 after intense     
consideration1 and not till then1       
pronounce1 ,whether on the utmost verge 
of our actual horizon there is not a    
looming as of ,land2 a promise of new   
,fortunate ,islands1 perhaps whole      
undiscovered ,americas1 for such as have
 canvas to sail thither8--,as exordium  
to the whole1 stand here the following  
long citation3  ',with men of a         
speculative turn1' writes ,teufelsdrckh1
 'there come seasons1 meditative1 sweet1

 yet awful hours1 when in wonder and    
fear you ask yourself that unanswerable 
question3 ,who am ,i2 the thing that can
 say ,i 7das ,wesen das sich ,,ich      
nennt78 ,the world1 with its loud       
trafficking1 retires into the distance2 
and1 through the paper-hangings1 and    
stone-walls1 and thick-plied tissues of 
,commerce and ,polity1 and all the      
living and lifeless integuments 7of     
,society and a ,body71 wherewith your   
,existence sits surrounded1--the sight  
reaches forth into the void ,deep1 and  
you are alone with the ,universe1 and   
silently commune with it1 as one        
mysterious ,presence with another4      
',who am ,i2 what is this ,,me8 ,a      
,voice1 a ,motion1 an ,appearance2--some
 embodied1 visualised ,idea in the      
,eternal ,mind8 ,cogito1 ergo sum4      
,alas1 poor ,cogitator1 this takes us   
but a little way4 ,sure enough1 ,i am2  
and lately was not3 but ,whence8 ,how8  
,whereto8 ,the answer lies around1      
written in all colours and motions1     

uttered in all tones of jubilee and     
wail1 in thousand-figured1              
thousand-voiced1 harmonious ,nature3 but
 where is the cunning eye and ear to    
whom that ,god-written ,apocalypse will 
yield articulate meaning8 ,we sit as in 
a boundless ,phantasmagoria and         
,dream-grotto2 boundless1 for the       
faintest star1 the remotest century1    
lies not even nearer the verge thereof3 
sounds and many-coloured visions flit   
round our sense2 but ,him1 the          
,unslumbering1 whose work both ,dream   
and ,dreamer are1 we see not2 except in 
rare half-waking moments1 suspect not4  
,creation1 says one1 lies before us1    
like a glorious ,rainbow2 but the ,sun  
that made it lies behind us1 hidden from
 us4 ,then1 in that strange ,dream1 how 
we clutch at shadows as if they were    
substances2 and sleep deepest while     
fancying ourselves most awake6 ,which of
 your ,philosophical ,systems is other  
than a dream-theorem2 a net quotient1   
confidently given out1 where divisor and

 dividend are both unknown8 ,what are   
all your national ,wars1 with their     
,moscow ,retreats1 and sanguinary       
hate-filled ,revolutions1 but the       
,somnambulism of uneasy ,sleepers8 ,this
 ,dreaming1 this ,somnambulism is what  
we on ,earth call ,life2 wherein the    
most indeed undoubtingly wander1 as if  
they knew right hand from left2 yet they
 only are wise who know that they know  
nothing4  ',pity that all ,metaphysics  
had hitherto proved so inexpressibly    
unproductive6 ,the secret of ,man's     
,being is still like the ,sphinx's      
secret3 a riddle that he cannot rede2   
and for ignorance of which he suffers   
death1 the worst death1 a spiritual4    
,what are your ,axioms1 and ,categories1
 and ,systems1 and ,aphorisms8 ,words1  
words4 ,high ,air-castles are cunningly 
built of ,words1 the ,words well bedded 
also in good ,logic-mortar1 wherein1    
however1 no ,knowledge will come to     
lodge4 ,the whole is greater than the   
part3 how exceedingly true6 ,nature     

abhors a vacuum3 how exceedingly false  
and calumnious6 ,again1 ,nothing can act
 but where it is3 with all my heart2    
only1 ,,where is it8 ,be not the slave  
of ,words3 is not the ,distant1 the     
,dead1 while ,i love it1 and long for   
it1 and mourn for it1 ,here1 in the     
genuine sense1 as truly as the floor ,i 
stand on8 ,but that same ,,where1 with  
its brother ,,when1 are from the first  
the master-colours of our ,dream-grotto2
 say rather1 the ,canvas 7the warp and  
woof thereof7 whereon all our ,dreams   
and ,life-visions are painted6          
,nevertheless1 has not a deeper         
meditation taught certain of every      
climate and age1 that the ,,where and   
,,when1 so mysteriously inseparable from
 all our thoughts1 are but superficial  
terrestrial adhesions to thought2 that  
the ,seer may discern them where they   
mount up out of the celestial           
,,everywhere and ,,forever3 have not all
 nations conceived their ,god as        
,omnipresent and ,eternal2 as existing  

in a universal ,,here1 an everlasting   
,,now8 ,think well1 thou too wilt find  
that ,space is but a mode of our human  
,sense1 so likewise ,time2 there is no  
,space and no ,time3 ,,we are--we know  
not what2--light-sparkles floating in   
the ther of ,deity6  ',so that this so  
solid-seeming ,world1 after all1 were   
but an air-image1 our ,,me the only     
reality3 and ,nature1 with its          
thousandfold production and destruction1
 but the reflex of our own inward       
,force1 the phantasy of our ,dream2 or  
what the ,earth-,spirit in ,faust names 
it1 the living visible ,garment of ,god3
    ,in ,being's floods1 in ,action's   
storm1   ,i walk and work1 above1       
beneath1   ,work and weave in endless   
motion6         ,birth and ,death1      
,an infinite ocean2         ,a seizing  
and giving         ,the fire of ,living3
   ',tis thus at the roaring ,loom of   
,time ,i ply1   ,and weave for ,god the 
,garment thou seest ,him by4  ,of twenty
 millions that have read and spouted    

this thunder-speech of the ,erdgeist1   
are there yet twenty units of us that   
have learned the meaning thereof8  ',it 
was in some such mood1 when wearied and 
fordone with these high speculations1   
that ,i first came upon the question of 
,clothes4 ,strange enough1 it strikes   
me1 is this same fact of there being    
,tailors and ,tailored4 ,the ,horse ,i  
ride has his own whole fell3 strip him  
of the girths and flaps and extraneous  
tags ,i have fastened round him1 and the
 noble creature is his own sempster and 
weaver and spinner2 nay his own         
bootmaker1 jeweller1 and man-milliner2  
he bounds free through the valleys1 with
 a perennial rain-proof court-suit on   
his body2 wherein warmth and easiness of
 fit have reached perfection2 nay1 the  
graces also have been considered1 and   
frills and fringes1 with gay variety of 
colour1 featly appended1 and ever in the
 right place1 are not wanting4 ,while   
,i--good ,heaven6--have thatched myself 
over with the dead fleeces of sheep1 the

 bark of vegetables1 the entrails of    
worms1 the hides of oxen or seals1 the  
felt of furred beasts2 and walk abroad a
 moving ,rag-screen1 overheaped with    
shreds and tatters raked from the       
,charnel-house of ,nature1 where they   
would have rotted1 to rot on me more    
slowly6 ,day after day1 ,i must thatch  
myself anew2 day after day1 this        
despicable thatch must lose some film of
 its thickness2 some film of it1 frayed 
away by tear and wear1 must be          
brushed-off into the ,ashpit1 into the  
,laystall2 till by degrees the whole has
 been brushed thither1 and ,i1 the      
dust-making1 patent ,rag-grinder1 get   
new material to grind down4 ,o          
subter-brutish6 vile6 most vile6 ,for   
have not ,i too a compact all-enclosing 
,skin1 whiter or dingier8 ,am ,i a      
botched mass of tailors' and cobblers'  
shreds1 then2 or a tightly-articulated1 
homogeneous little ,figure1 automatic1  
nay alive8  ',strange enough how        
creatures of the human-kind shut their  

eyes to plainest facts2 and by the mere 
inertia of ,oblivion and ,stupidity1    
live at ease in the midst of ,wonders   
and ,terrors4 ,but indeed man is1 and   
was always1 a blockhead and dullard2    
much readier to feel and digest1 than to
 think and consider4 ,prejudice1 which  
he pretends to hate1 is his absolute    
lawgiver2 mere use-and-wont everywhere  
leads him by the nose2 thus let but a   
,rising of the ,sun1 let but a ,creation
 of the ,world happen twice1 and it     
ceases to be marvellous1 to be          
noteworthy1 or noticeable4 ,perhaps not 
once in a lifetime does it occur to your
 ordinary biped1 of any country or      
generation1 be he gold-mantled ,prince  
or russet-jerkined ,peasant1 that his   
,vestments and his ,self are not one and
 indivisible2 that he is naked1 without 
vestments1 till he buy or steal such1   
and by forethought sew and button them4 
',for my own part1 these considerations1
 of our ,clothes-thatch1 and how1       
reaching inwards even to our heart of   

hearts1 it tailorises and demoralises   
us1 fill me with a certain horror at    
myself and mankind2 almost as one feels 
at those ,dutch ,cows1 which1 during the
 wet season1 you see grazing            
deliberately with jackets and petticoats
 7of striped sacking71 in the meadows of
 ,gouda4 ,nevertheless there is         
something great in the moment when a man
 first strips himself of adventitious   
wrappages2 and sees indeed that he is   
naked1 and1 as ,swift has it1 a forked  
straddling animal with bandy legs2 yet  
also a ,spirit1 and unutterable ,mystery
 of ,mysteries4'     ,,chapter ,,ix     
,,adamitism   ,let no courteous reader  
take offence at the opinions broached in
 the conclusion of the last ,chapter4   
,the ,editor himself1 on first glancing 
over that singular passage1 was inclined
 to exclaim3 ,what1 have we got not only
 a ,sansculottist1 but an enemy to      
,clothes in the abstract8 ,a new        
,adamite1 in this century1 which        
flatters itself that it is the          

,nineteenth1 and destructive both to    
,superstition and ,enthusiasm8          
,consider1 thou foolish ,teufelsdrckh1  
what benefits unspeakable all ages and  
sexes derive from ,clothes4 ,for        
example1 when thou thyself1 a watery1   
pulpy1 slobbery freshman and new-comer  
in this ,planet1 sattest muling and     
puking in thy nurse's arms2 sucking thy 
coral1 and looking forth into the world 
in the blankest manner1 what hadst thou 
been without thy blankets1 and bibs1 and
 other nameless hulls8 ,a terror to     
thyself and mankind6 ,or hast thou      
forgotten the day when thou first       
receivedst breeches1 and thy long       
clothes became short8 ,the village where
 thou livedst was all apprised of the   
fact2 and neighbour after neighbour     
kissed thy pudding-cheek1 and gave thee1
 as handsel1 silver or copper coins1 on 
that the first gala-day of thy          
existence4 ,again1 wert not thou1 at one
 period of life1 a ,buck1 or ,blood1 or 
,macaroni1 or ,incroyable1 or ,dandy1 or

 by whatever name1 according to year and
 place1 such phenomenon is              
distinguished8 ,in that one word lie    
included mysterious volumes4 ,nay1 now  
when the reign of folly is over1 or     
altered1 and thy clothes are not for    
triumph but for defence1 hast thou      
always worn them perforce1 and as a     
consequence of ,man's ,fall2 never      
rejoiced in them as in a warm movable   
,house1 a ,body round thy ,body1 wherein
 that strange ,,thee of thine sat snug1 
defying all variations of ,climate8     
,girt with thick double-milled kerseys2 
half-buried under shawls and            
broad-brims1 and overalls and mud-boots1
 thy very fingers cased in doeskin and  
mittens1 thou hast bestrode that ',horse
 ,i ride'2 and1 though it were in wild  
winter1 dashed through the world1       
glorying in it as if thou wert its lord4
 ,in vain did the sleet beat round thy  
temples2 it lighted only on thy         
impenetrable1 felted or woven1 case of  
wool4 ,in vain did the winds            

howl1--forests sounding and creaking1   
deep calling unto deep1--and the storms 
heap themselves together into one huge  
,arctic whirlpool3 thou flewest through 
the middle thereof1 striking fire from  
the highway2 wild music hummed in thy   
ears1 thou too wert as a 'sailor of the 
air'2 the wreck of matter and the crash 
of worlds was thy element and           
propitiously wafting tide4 ,without     
,clothes1 without bit or saddle1 what   
hadst thou been2 what had thy fleet     
quadruped been8--,nature is good1 but   
she is not the best3 here truly was the 
victory of ,art over ,nature4 ,a        
thunderbolt indeed might have pierced   
thee2 all short of this thou couldst    
defy4  ,or1 cries the courteous reader1 
has your ,teufelsdrckh forgotten what he
 said lately about ',aboriginal         
,savages1' and their 'condition         
miserable indeed'8 ,would he have all   
this unsaid2 and us betake ourselves    
again to the 'matted cloak1' and go     
sheeted in a 'thick natural fell'8      

,nowise1 courteous reader6 ,the         
,professor knows full well what he is   
saying2 and both thou and we1 in our    
haste1 do him wrong4 ,if ,clothes1 in   
these times1 'so tailorise and          
demoralise us1' have they no redeeming  
value2 can they not be altered to serve 
better2 must they of necessity be thrown
 to the dogs8 ,the truth is1            
,teufelsdrckh1 though a ,sansculottist1 
is no ,adamite2 and much perhaps as he  
might wish to go forth before this      
degenerate age 'as a ,sign1' would      
nowise wish to do it1 as those old      
,adamites did1 in a state of ,nakedness4
 ,the utility of ,clothes is altogether 
apparent to him3 nay perhaps he has an  
insight into their more recondite1 and  
almost mystic qualities1 what we might  
call the omnipotent virtue of ,clothes1 
such as was never before vouchsafed to  
any man4 ,for example3  ',you see two   
individuals1' he writes1 'one dressed in
 fine ,red1 the other in coarse         
threadbare ,blue3 ,red says to ,blue1   

,be hanged and anatomised2 ,blue hears  
with a shudder1 and 7,o wonder of       
wonders67 marches sorrowfully to the    
gallows2 is there noosed-up1 vibrates   
his hour1 and the surgeons dissect him1 
and fit his bones into a skeleton for   
medical purposes4 ,how is this2 or what 
make ye of your ,nothing can act but    
where it is8 ,red has no physical hold  
of ,blue1 no clutch of him1 is nowise in
 contact with him3 neither are those    
ministering ,sheriffs and               
,lord-,lieutenants and ,hangmen and     
,tipstaves so related to commanding     
,red1 that he can tug them hither and   
thither2 but each stands distinct within
 his own skin4 ,nevertheless1 as it is  
spoken1 so is it done3 the articulated  
,word sets all hands in ,action2 and    
,rope and ,improved-drop perform their  
work4  ',thinking reader1 the reason    
seems to me twofold3 ,first1 that ,man  
is a ,spirit1 and bound by invisible    
bonds to ,all ,men2 secondly1 that he   
wears ,clothes1 which are the visible   

emblems of that fact4 ,has not your ,red
 hanging-individual a horsehair wig1    
squirrel-skins1 and a plush-gown2       
whereby all mortals know that he is a   
,,judge8--,society1 which the more ,i   
think of it astonishes me the more1 is  
founded upon ,cloth4  ',often in my     
atrabiliar-moods1 when ,i read of       
pompous ceremonials1 ,frankfort         
,coronations1 ,royal ,drawing-rooms1    
,levees1 ,couchees2 and how the ushers  
and macers and pursuivants are all in   
waiting2 how ,duke this is presented by 
,archduke that1 and ,colonel ,a by      
,general ,b1 and innumerable ,bishops1  
,admirals1 and miscellaneous            
,functionaries1 are advancing gallantly 
to the ,anointed ,presence2 and ,i      
strive1 in my remote privacy1 to form a 
clear picture of that solemnity1--on a  
sudden1 as by some enchanter's wand1    
the--shall ,i speak it8--the ,clothes   
fly-off the whole dramatic corps2 and   
,dukes1 ,grandees1 ,bishops1 ,generals1 
,anointed ,presence itself1 every       

mother's son of them1 stand straddling  
there1 not a shirt on them2 and ,i know 
not whether to laugh or weep4 ,this     
physical or psychical infirmity1 in     
which perhaps ,i am not singular1 ,i    
have1 after hesitation1 thought right to
 publish1 for the solace of those       
afflicted with the like4'  ,would to    
,heaven1 say we1 thou hadst thought     
right to keep it secret6 ,who is there  
now that can read the five columns of   
,presentations in his ,morning          
,newspaper without a shudder8           
,hypochondriac men1 and all men are to a
 certain extent hypochondriac1 should be
 more gently treated4 ,with what        
readiness our fancy1 in this shattered  
state of the nerves1 follows out the    
consequences which ,teufelsdrckh1 with a
 devilish coolness1 goes on to draw3    
',what would ,majesty do1 could such an 
accident befall in reality2 should the  
buttons all simultaneously start1 and   
the solid wool evaporate1 in very ,deed1
 as here in ,dream8 ,ach ,gott6 ,how    

each skulks into the nearest            
hiding-place2 their high ,state ,tragedy
 7,haupt- und ,staats-,action7 becomes a
 ,pickleherring-,farce to weep at1 which
 is the worst kind of ,farce2 the tables
 7according to ,horace71 and with them1 
the whole fabric of ,government1        
,legislation1 ,property1 ,police1 and   
,civilised ,society1 are dissolved1 in  
wails and howls4'  ,lives the man that  
can figure a naked ,duke of ,windlestraw
 addressing a naked ,house of ,lords8   
,imagination1 choked as in mephitic air1
 recoils on itself1 and will not forward
 with the picture4 ,the ,woolsack1 the  
,ministerial1 the ,opposition           
,benches--infandum6 infandum6 ,and yet  
why is the thing impossible8 ,was not   
every soul1 or rather every body1 of    
these ,guardians of our ,liberties1     
naked1 or nearly so1 last night2 'a     
forked ,radish with a head fantastically
 carved'8 ,and why might he not1 did our
 stern fate so order it1 walk out to ,st
 ,stephen's1 as well as into bed1 in    

that no-fashion2 and there1 with other  
similar ,radishes1 hold a ,bed of       
,justice8 ',solace of those afflicted   
with the like6' ,unhappy ,teufelsdrckh1 
had man ever such a 'physical or        
psychical infirmity' before8 ,and now   
how many1 perhaps1 may thy unparalleled 
confession 7which we1 even to the       
sounder ,british world1 and goaded-on by
 ,critical and ,biographical duty1      
grudge to re-impart7 incurably infect   
therewith6 ,art thou the malignest of   
,sansculottists1 or only the maddest8   
',it will remain to be examined1' adds  
the inexorable ,teufelsdrckh1 'in how   
far the ,,scarecrow1 as a ,clothed      
,person1 is not also entitled to benefit
 of clergy1 and ,english trial by jury3 
nay perhaps1 considering his high       
function 7for is not he too a ,defender 
of ,property1 and ,sovereign armed with 
the terrors of the ,law871 to a certain 
royal ,immunity and ,inviolability2     
which1 however1 misers and the meaner   
class of persons are not always         

voluntarily disposed to grant him4' 99  
99 99  99 99 99 ',o my ,friends1 we are 
7in ,yorick ,sterne's words7 but as     
turkeys driven with a stick and red     
clout1 to the market3 or if some        
drivers1 as they do in ,norfolk1 take a 
dried bladder and put peas in it1 the   
rattle thereof terrifies the boldest6'  
,,chapter ,x  ,,pure ,,reason   ,it must
 now be apparent enough that our        
,professor1 as above hinted1 is a       
speculative ,radical1 and of the very   
darkest tinge2 acknowledging1 for most  
part1 in the solemnities and            
paraphernalia of civilised ,life1 which 
we make so much of1 nothing but so many 
,cloth-rags1 turkey-poles1 and 'bladders
 with dried peas4' ,to linger among such
 speculations1 longer than mere ,science
 requires1 a discerning public can have 
no wish4 ,for our purposes the simple   
fact that such a ,naked ,world is       
possible1 nay actually exists 7under the
 ,clothed one71 will be sufficient4     
,much1 therefore1 we omit about ',kings 

wrestling naked on the green with       
,carmen1' and the ,kings being thrown3  
'dissect them with scalpels1' says      
,teufelsdrckh2 'the same viscera1       
tissues1 livers1 lights1 and other      
life-tackle are there3 examine their    
spiritual mechanism2 the same great     
,need1 great ,greed1 and little         
,faculty2 nay ten to one but the        
,carman1 who understands draught-cattle1
 the rimming of wheels1 something of the
 laws of unstable and stable            
equilibrium1 with other branches of     
wagon-science1 and has actually put     
forth his hand and operated on ,nature1 
is the more cunningly gifted of the two4
 ,whence1 then1 their so unspeakable    
difference8 ,from ,clothes4' ,much also 
we shall omit about confusion of ,ranks1
 and ,joan and ,my ,lady1 and how it    
would be everywhere ',hail fellow well  
met1' and ,chaos were come again3 all   
which to any one that has once fairly   
pictured-out the grand mother-idea1     
,society in a state of nakedness1 will  

spontaneously suggest itself4 ,should   
some sceptical individual still         
entertain doubts whether in a world     
without ,clothes1 the smallest          
,politeness1 ,polity1 or even ,police1  
could exist1 let him turn to the        
original ,volume1 and view there the    
boundless ,serbonian ,bog of            
,sansculottism1 stretching sour and     
pestilential3 over which we have lightly
 flown2 where not only whole armies but 
whole nations might sink6 ,if indeed the
 following argument1 in its brief       
riveting emphasis1 be not of itself     
incontrovertible and final3  ',are we   
,opossums2 have we natural ,pouches1    
like the ,kangaroo8 ,or how1 without    
,clothes1 could we possess the          
master-organ1 soul's seat1 and true     
pineal gland of the ,body ,social3 ,i   
mean1 a ,,purse8'  ,nevertheless1 it is 
impossible to hate ,professor           
,teufelsdrckh2 at worst1 one knows not  
whether to hate or to love him4 ,for    
though1 in looking at the fair tapestry 

of human ,life1 with its royal and even 
sacred figures1 he dwells not on the    
obverse alone1 but here chiefly on the  
reverse2 and indeed turns out the rough 
seams1 tatters1 and manifold thrums of  
that unsightly wrong-side1 with an      
almost diabolic patience and            
indifference1 which must have sunk him  
in the estimation of most               
readers1--there is that within which    
unspeakably distinguishes him from all  
other past and present ,sansculottists4 
,the grand unparalleled peculiarity of  
,teufelsdrckh is1 that with all this    
,descendentalism1 he combines a         
,transcendentalism1 no less superlative2
 whereby if on the one hand he degrade  
man below most animals1 except those    
jacketed ,gouda ,cows1 he1 on the other1
 exalts him beyond the visible ,heavens1
 almost to an equality with the ,gods4  
',to the eye of vulgar ,logic1' says he1
 'what is man8 ,an omnivorous ,biped    
that wears ,breeches4 ,to the eye of    
,pure ,reason what is he8 ,a ,soul1 a   

,spirit1 and divine ,apparition4 ,round 
his mysterious ,,me1 there lies1 under  
all those wool-rags1 a ,garment of      
,flesh 7or of ,senses71 contextured in  
the ,loom of ,heaven2 whereby he is     
revealed to his like1 and dwells with   
them in ,,union and ,,division2 and sees
 and fashions for himself a ,universe1  
with azure ,starry ,spaces1 and long    
,thousands of ,years4 ,deep-hidden is he
 under that strange ,garment2 amid      
,sounds and ,colours and ,forms1 as it  
were1 swathed-in1 and inextricably      
over-shrouded3 yet it is sky-woven1 and 
worthy of a ,god4 ,stands he not thereby
 in the centre of ,immensities1 in the  
conflux of ,eternities8 ,he feels2 power
 has been given him to know1 to believe2
 nay does not the spirit of ,love1 free 
in its celestial primeval brightness1   
even here1 though but for moments1 look 
through8 ,well said ,saint ,chrysostom1 
with his lips of gold1 the true         
,,shekinah is ,man3 where else is the   
,,god',s-,,presence manifested not to   

our eyes only1 but to our hearts1 as in 
our fellow-man8'  ,in such passages1    
unhappily too rare1 the high ,platonic  
,mysticism of our ,author1 which is     
perhaps the fundamental element of his  
nature1 bursts forth1 as it were1 in    
full flood3 and1 through all the vapour 
and tarnish of what is often so         
perverse1 so mean in his exterior and   
environment1 we seem to look into a     
whole inward ,sea of ,light and         
,love2--though1 alas1 the grim coppery  
clouds soon roll together again1 and    
hide it from view4  ,such tendency to   
,mysticism is everywhere traceable in   
this man2 and indeed1 to attentive      
readers1 must have been long ago        
apparent4 ,nothing that he sees but has 
more than a common meaning1 but has two 
meanings3 thus1 if in the highest       
,imperial ,sceptre and                  
,charlemagne-,mantle1 as well as in the 
poorest ,ox-goad and ,gipsy-,blanket1 he
 finds ,prose1 ,decay1 ,contemptibility2
 there is in each sort ,poetry also1 and

 a reverend ,worth4 ,for ,matter1 were  
it never so despicable1 is ,spirit1 the 
manifestation of ,spirit3 were it never 
so honourable1 can it be more8 ,the     
thing ,visible1 nay the thing ,imagined1
 the thing in any way conceived as      
,visible1 what is it but a ,garment1 a  
,clothing of the higher1 celestial      
,invisible1 'unimaginable1 formless1    
dark with excess of bright'8 ,under     
which point of view the following       
passage1 so strange in purport1 so      
strange in phrase1 seems characteristic 
enough3  ',the beginning of all ,wisdom 
is to look fixedly on ,clothes1 or even 
with armed eyesight1 till they become   
transparent4 ,the ,philosopher1 says the
 wisest of this age1 must station       
himself in the middle3 how true6 ,the   
,philosopher is he to whom the ,highest 
has descended1 and the ,lowest has      
mounted up2 who is the equal and kindly 
brother of all4  ',shall we tremble     
before clothwebs and cobwebs1 whether   
woven in ,arkwright looms1 or by the    

silent ,arachnes that weave unrestingly 
in our imagination8 ,or1 on the other   
hand1 what is there that we cannot love2
 since all was created by ,god8  ',happy
 he who can look through the ,clothes of
 a ,man 7the woollen1 and fleshly1 and  
official ,bank-paper and ,state-paper   
,clothes7 into the ,man himself2 and    
discern1 it may be1 in this or the other
 ,dread ,potentate1 a more or less      
incompetent ,digestive-apparatus2 yet   
also an inscrutable venerable ,mystery1 
in the meanest ,tinker that sees with   
eyes6'  ,for the rest1 as is natural to 
a man of this kind1 he deals much in the
 feeling of ,wonder2 insists on the     
necessity and high worth of universal   
,wonder2 which he holds to be the only  
reasonable temper for the denizen of so 
singular a ,planet as ours4 ',wonder1'  
says he1 'is the basis of ,worship3 the 
reign of wonder is perennial1           
indestructible in ,man2 only at certain 
stages 7as the present71 it is1 for some
 short season1 a reign in partibus      

infidelium4' ,that progress of ,science1
 which is to destroy ,wonder1 and in its
 stead substitute ,mensuration and      
,numeration1 finds small favour with    
,teufelsdrckh1 much as he otherwise     
venerates these two latter processes4   
',shall your ,science1' exclaims he1    
'proceed in the small chink-lighted1 or 
even oil-lighted1 underground workshop  
of ,logic alone2 and man's mind become  
an ,arithmetical ,mill1 whereof ,memory 
is the ,hopper1 and mere ,tables of     
,sines and ,tangents1 ,codification1 and
 ,treatises of what you call ,political 
,economy1 are the ,meal8 ,and what is   
that ,science1 which the scientific head
 alone1 were it screwed off1 and 7like  
the ,doctor's in the ,arabian ,tale7 set
 in a basin to keep it alive1 could     
prosecute without shadow of a           
heart1--but one other of the mechanical 
and menial handicrafts1 for which the   
,scientific ,head 7having a ,soul in it7
 is too noble an organ8 ,i mean that    
,thought without ,reverence is barren1  

perhaps poisonous2 at best1 dies like   
cookery with the day that called it     
forth2 does not live1 like sowing1 in   
successive tilths and wider-spreading   
harvests1 bringing food and plenteous   
increase to all ,time4'  ,in such wise  
does ,teufelsdrckh deal hits1 harder or 
softer1 according to ability2 yet ever1 
as we would fain persuade ourselves1    
with charitable intent4 ,above all1 that
 class of ',logic-choppers1 and         
treble-pipe ,scoffers1 and professed    
,enemies to ,wonder2 who1 in these days1
 so numerously patrol as                
night-constables about the ,mechanics'  
,institute of ,science1 and cackle1 like
 true ,old-,roman geese and goslings    
round their ,capitol1 on any alarm1 or  
on none2 nay who often1 as illuminated  
,sceptics1 walk abroad into peaceable   
society1 in full day-light1 with rattle 
and lantern1 and insist on guiding you  
and guarding you therewith1 though the  
,sun is shining1 and the street populous
 with mere justice-loving men'3 that    

whole class is inexpressibly wearisome  
to him4 ,hear with what uncommon        
animation he perorates3  ',the man who  
cannot wonder1 who does not habitually  
wonder 7and worship7 were he ,president 
of innumerable ,royal ,societies1 and   
carried the whole ,mcanique ,cleste and 
,hegel's ,philosophy1 and the epitome of
 all ,laboratories and ,observatories   
with their results1 in his single       
head1--is but a ,pair of ,spectacles    
behind which there is no ,eye4 ,let     
those who have ,eyes look through him1  
then he may be useful4  ',thou wilt have
 no ,mystery and ,mysticism2 wilt walk  
through thy world by the sunshine of    
what thou callest ,truth1 or even by the
 hand-lamp of what ,i call              
,attorney-,logic2 and explain all1      
account for all1 or believe nothing of  
it8 ,nay1 thou wilt attempt laughter2   
whoso recognises the unfathomable1      
all-pervading domain of ,mystery1 which 
is everywhere under our feet and among  
our hands2 to whom the ,universe is an  

,oracle and ,temple1 as well as a       
,kitchen and ,cattlestall1--he shall be 
a delirious ,mystic2 to him thou1 with  
sniffing charity1 wilt protrusively     
proffer thy hand-lamp1 and shriek1 as   
one injured1 when he kicks his foot     
through it8--,armer ,teufel6 ,doth not  
thy cow calve1 doth not thy bull gender8
 ,thou thyself1 wert thou not born1 wilt
 thou not die8 ,explain me all this1 or 
do one of two things3 ,retire into      
private places with thy foolish cackle2 
or1 what were better1 give it up1 and   
weep1 not that the reign of wonder is   
done1 and ,god's world all              
disembellished and prosaic1 but that    
thou hitherto art a ,dilettante and     
sandblind ,pedant4'     ,,chapter ,,xi  
,,prospective   ,the ,philosophy of     
,clothes is now to all readers1 as we   
predicted it would do1 unfolding itself 
into new boundless expansions1 of a     
cloudclapt1 almost chimerical aspect1   
yet not without azure loomings in the   
far distance1 and streaks as of an      

,elysian brightness2 the highly         
questionable purport and promise of     
which it is becoming more and more      
important for us to ascertain4 ,is that 
a real ,elysian brightness1 cries many a
 timid wayfarer1 or the reflex of       
,pandemonian lava8 ,is it of a truth    
leading us into beatific ,asphodel      
meadows1 or the yellow-burning marl of a
 ,hell-on-,earth8  ,our ,professor1 like
 other ,mystics1 whether delirious or   
inspired1 gives an ,editor enough to do4
 ,ever higher and dizzier are the       
heights he leads us to2 more piercing1  
all-comprehending1 all-confounding are  
his views and glances4 ,for example1    
this of ,nature being not an ,aggregate 
but a ,whole3  ',well sang the ,hebrew  
,psalmist3 ,if ,i take the wings of the 
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
 of the universe1 ,god is there4 ,thou  
thyself1 ,o cultivated reader1 who too  
probably art no ,psalmist1 but a        
,prosaist1 knowing ,,god only by        
tradition1 knowest thou any corner of   

the world where at least ,,force is not8
 ,the drop which thou shakest from thy  
wet hand1 rests not where it falls1 but 
to-morrow thou findest it swept away2   
already on the wings of the ,northwind1 
it is nearing the ,tropic of ,cancer4   
,how came it to evaporate1 and not lie  
motionless8 ,thinkest thou there is     
aught motionless2 without ,force1 and   
utterly dead8  ',as ,i rode through the 
,schwarzwald1 ,i said to myself3 ,that  
little fire which grows star-like across
 the dark-growing 7nachtende7 moor1     
where the sooty smith bends over his    
anvil1 and thou hopest to replace thy   
lost horse-shoe1--is it a detached1     
separated speck1 cut-off from the whole 
,universe2 or indissolubly joined to the
 whole8 ,thou fool1 that smithy-fire was
 7primarily7 kindled at the ,sun2 is fed
 by air that circulates from before     
,noah's ,deluge1 from beyond the        
,dogstar2 therein1 with ,iron ,force1   
and ,coal ,force1 and the far stranger  
,force of ,man1 are cunning affinities  

and battles and victories of ,force     
brought about2 it is a little ganglion1 
or nervous centre1 in the great vital   
system of ,immensity4 ,call it1 if thou 
wilt1 an unconscious ,altar1 kindled on 
the bosom of the ,all2 whose iron       
sacrifice1 whose iron smoke and         
influence reach quite through the ,all2 
whose dingy ,priest1 not by word1 yet by
 brain and sinew1 preaches forth the    
mystery of ,force2 nay preaches forth   
7exoterically enough7 one little textlet
 from the ,gospel of ,freedom1 the      
,gospel of ,man's ,force1 commanding1   
and one day to be all-commanding4       
',detached1 separated6 ,i say there is  
no such separation3 nothing hitherto was
 ever stranded1 cast aside2 but all1    
were it only a withered leaf1 works     
together with all2 is borne forward on  
the bottomless1 shoreless flood of      
,action1 and lives through perpetual    
metamorphoses4 ,the withered leaf is not
 dead and lost1 there are ,forces in it 
and around it1 though working in inverse

 order2 else how could it rot8 ,despise 
not the rag from which man makes ,paper1
 or the litter from which the earth     
makes ,corn4 ,rightly viewed no meanest 
object is insignificant2 all objects are
 as windows1 through which the          
philosophic eye looks into ,infinitude  
itself4'  ,again1 leaving that wondrous 
,schwarzwald ,smithy-,altar1 what       
vacant1 high-sailing air-ships are      
these1 and whither will they sail with  
us8  ',all visible things are emblems2  
what thou seest is not there on its own 
account2 strictly taken1 is not there at
 all3 ,matter exists only spiritually1  
and to represent some ,idea1 and body it
 forth4 ,hence ,clothes1 as despicable  
as we think them1 are so unspeakably    
significant4 ,clothes1 from the ,king's 
mantle downwards1 are emblematic not of 
want only1 but of a manifold cunning    
,victory over ,want4 ,on the other hand1
 all ,emblematic things are properly    
,clothes1 thought-woven or hand-woven3  
must not the ,imagination weave         

,garments1 visible ,bodies1 wherein the 
else invisible creations and            
inspirations of our ,reason are1 like   
,spirits1 revealed1 and first become    
all-powerful2--the rather if1 as we     
often see1 the ,hand too aid her1 and   
7by wool ,clothes or otherwise7 reveal  
such even to the outward eye8  ',men are
 properly said to be clothed with       
,authority1 clothed with ,beauty1 with  
,curses1 and the like4 ,nay1 if you     
consider it1 what is ,man himself1 and  
his whole terrestrial ,life1 but an     
,emblem2 a ,clothing or visible ,garment
 for that divine ,,me of his1 cast      
hither1 like a light-particle1 down from
 ,heaven8 ,thus is he said also to be   
clothed with a ,body4  ',language is    
called the ,garment of ,thought3        
however1 it should rather be1 ,language 
is the ,flesh-,garment1 the ,body1 of   
thought4 ,i said that ,imagination wove 
this ,flesh-,garment2 and does not she8 
,metaphors are her stuff3 examine       
,language2 what1 if you except some few 

primitive elements 7of natural sound71  
what is it all but ,metaphors1          
recognised as such1 or no longer        
recognised2 still fluid and florid1 or  
now solid-grown and colourless8 ,if     
those same primitive elements are the   
osseous fixtures in the ,flesh-,garment1
 ,language1--then are ,metaphors its    
muscles and tissues and living          
integuments4 ,an unmetaphorical style   
you shall in vain seek for3 is not your 
very ,attention a ,stretching-to8 ,the  
difference lies here3 some styles are   
lean1 adust1 wiry1 the muscle itself    
seems osseous2 some are even quite      
pallid1 hunger-bitten and dead-looking2 
while others again glow in the flush of 
health and vigorous self-growth1        
sometimes 7as in my own case7 not       
without an apoplectic tendency4         
,moreover1 there are sham ,metaphors1   
which overhanging that same             
,thought's-,body 7best naked71 and      
deceptively bedizening1 or bolstering it
 out1 may be called its false stuffings1

 superfluous show-cloaks 7,putz-,mntel71
 and tawdry woollen rags3 whereof he    
that runs and reads may gather whole    
hampers1--and burn them4'  ,than which  
paragraph on ,metaphors did the reader  
ever chance to see a more surprisingly  
metaphorical8 ,however1 that is not our 
chief grievance2 the ,professor         
continues3  ',why multiply instances8   
,it is written1 the ,heavens and the    
,earth shall fade away like a ,vesture2 
which indeed they are3 the ,time-vesture
 of the ,eternal4 ,whatsoever sensibly  
exists1 whatsoever represents ,spirit to
 ,spirit1 is properly a ,clothing1 a    
suit of ,raiment1 put on for a season1  
and to be laid off4 ,thus in this one   
pregnant subject of ,,clothes1 rightly  
understood1 is included all that men    
have thought1 dreamed1 done1 and been3  
the whole ,external ,universe and what  
it holds is but ,clothing2 and the      
essence of all ,science lies in the     
,,philosophy ,,of ,,clothes4'  ,towards 
these dim infinitely-expanded regions1  

close-bordering on the impalpable       
,inane1 it is not without apprehension1 
and perpetual difficulties1 that the    
,editor sees himself journeying and     
struggling4 ,till lately a cheerful     
daystar of hope hung before him1 in the 
expected ,aid of ,hofrath ,heuschrecke2 
which daystar1 however1 melts now1 not  
into the red of morning1 but into a     
vague1 gray half-light1 uncertain       
whether dawn of day or dusk of utter    
darkness4 ,for the last week1 these     
so-called ,biographical ,documents are  
in his hand4 ,by the kindness of a      
,scottish ,hamburg ,merchant1 whose     
name1 known to the whole mercantile     
world1 he must not mention2 but whose   
honourable courtesy1 now and often      
before spontaneously manifested to him1 
a mere literary stranger1 he cannot soon
 forget1--the bulky ,weissnichtwo       
,packet1 with all its ,custom-house     
seals1 foreign hieroglyphs1 and         
miscellaneous tokens of ,travel1 arrived
 here in perfect safety1 and free of    

cost4 ,the reader shall now fancy with  
what hot haste it was broken up1 with   
what breathless expectation glanced     
over2 and1 alas1 with what unquiet      
disappointment it has1 since then1 been 
often thrown down1 and again taken up4  
,hofrath ,heuschrecke1 in a too         
long-winded ,letter1 full of            
compliments1 ,weissnichtwo politics1    
dinners1 dining repartees1 and other    
ephemeral trivialities1 proceeds to     
remind us of what we know well already3 
that however it may be with             
,metaphysics1 and other abstract        
,science originating in the ,head       
7,verstand7 alone1 no ,life-,philosophy 
7,lebensphilosophie71 such as this of   
,clothes pretends to be1 which          
originates equally in the ,character    
7,gemth71 and equally speaks thereto1   
can attain its significance till the    
,character itself is known and seen2    
'till the ,author's ,view of the ,world 
7,weltansicht71 and how he actively and 
passively came by such view1 are clear3 

in short till a ,biography of him has   
been philosophico-poetically written1   
and philosophico-poetically read4'      
',nay1' adds he1 'were the speculative  
scientific ,truth even known1 you still1
 in this inquiring age1 ask yourself1   
,whence came it1 and ,why1 and          
,how8--and rest not1 till1 if no better 
may be1 ,fancy have shaped-out an       
answer2 and either in the authentic     
lineaments of ,fact1 or the forged ones 
of ,fiction1 a complete picture and     
,genetical ,history of the ,man and his 
spiritual ,endeavour lies before you4   
,but why1' says the ,hofrath1 and indeed
 say we1 'do ,i dilate on the uses of   
our ,teufelsdrckh's ,biography8 ,the    
great ,herr ,minister von ,goethe has   
penetratingly remarked that ,man is     
properly the only object that interests 
man3 thus ,i too have noted1 that in    
,weissnichtwo our whole conversation is 
little or nothing else but ,biography or
 ,auto-,biography2 ever                 
humano-anecdotical                      

7menschlich-anekdotisch74 ,biography is 
by nature the most universally          
profitable1 universally pleasant of all 
things3 especially ,biography of        
distinguished individuals4  ',by this   
time1 mein ,verehrtester 7my ,most      
,esteemed71' continues he1 with an      
eloquence which1 unless the words be    
purloined from ,teufelsdrckh1 or some   
trick of his1 as we suspect1 is         
well-nigh unaccountable1 'by this time  
you are fairly plunged 7vertieft7 in    
that mighty forest of                   
,clothes-,philosophy2 and looking round1
 as all readers do1 with astonishment   
enough4 ,such portions and passages as  
you have already mastered1 and brought  
to paper1 could not but awaken a strange
 curiosity touching the mind they issued
 from2 the perhaps unparalleled         
psychical mechanism1 which manufactured 
such matter1 and emitted it to the light
 of day4 ,had ,teufelsdrckh also a      
father and mother2 did he1 at one time1 
wear drivel-bibs1 and live on           

spoon-meat8 ,did he ever1 in rapture and
 tears1 clasp a friend's bosom to his2  
looks he also wistfully into the long   
burial-aisle of the ,past1 where only   
winds1 and their low harsh moan1 give   
inarticulate answer8 ,has he fought     
duels2--good ,heaven6 how did he comport
 himself when in ,love8 ,by what        
singular stair-steps1 in short1 and     
subterranean passages1 and sloughs of   
,despair1 and steep ,pisgah hills1 has  
he reached this wonderful prophetic     
,hebron 7a true ,old-,clothes ,jewry7   
where he now dwells8  ',to all these    
natural questions the voice of public   
,history is as yet silent4 ,certain only
 that he has been1 and is1 a ,pilgrim1  
and ,traveller from a far ,country2 more
 or less footsore and travel-soiled2 has
 parted with road-companions2 fallen    
among thieves1 been poisoned by bad     
cookery1 blistered with bug-bites2      
nevertheless at every stage 7for they   
have let him pass71 has had the ,bill to
 discharge4 ,but the whole particulars  

of his ,route1 his                      
,weather-observations1 the picturesque  
,sketches he took1 though all regularly 
jotted down 7in indelible               
sympathetic-ink by an invisible interior
 ,penman71 are these nowhere            
forthcoming8 ,perhaps quite lost3 one   
other leaf of that mighty ,volume 7of   
human ,memory7 left to fly abroad1      
unprinted1 unpublished1 unbound up1 as  
waste paper2 and to rot1 the sport of   
rainy winds8  ',no1 verehrtester ,herr  
,herausgeber1 in no wise6 ,i here1 by   
the unexampled favour you stand in with 
our ,sage1 send not a ,biography only1  
but an ,autobiography3 at least the     
materials for such2 wherefrom1 if ,i    
misreckon not1 your perspicacity will   
draw fullest insight3 and so the whole  
,philosophy and ,philosopher of ,clothes
 will stand clear to the wondering eyes 
of ,england1 nay thence1 through        
,america1 through ,hindostan1 and the   
antipodal ,new ,holland1 finally conquer
 7einnehmen7 great part of this         

terrestrial ,planet6'  ,and now let the 
sympathising reader judge of our feeling
 when1 in place of this same            
,autobiography with 'fullest insight1'  
we find--,six considerable              
,,paper-,,bags1 carefully sealed1 and   
marked successively1 in gilt ,china-ink1
 with the symbols of the ,six southern  
,zodiacal ,signs1 beginning at ,libra2  
in the inside of which sealed ,bags lie 
miscellaneous masses of ,sheets1 and    
oftener ,shreds and ,snips1 written in  
,professor ,teufelsdrckh's scarce       
legible cursiv-schrift2 and treating of 
all imaginable things under the ,zodiac 
and above it1 but of his own personal   
history only at rare intervals1 and then
 in the most enigmatic manner4  ,whole  
fascicles there are1 wherein the        
,professor1 or1 as he here1 speaking in 
the third person1 calls himself1 'the   
,wanderer1' is not once named4 ,then    
again1 amidst what seems to be a        
,metaphysico-theological ,disquisition1 
',detached ,thoughts on the             

,steam-engine1' or1 ',the continued     
,possibility of ,prophecy1' we shall    
meet with some quite private1 not       
unimportant ,biographical fact4 ,on     
certain sheets stand ,dreams1 authentic 
or not1 while the circumjacent waking   
,actions are omitted4 ,anecdotes1       
oftenest without date of place or time1 
fly loosely on separate slips1 like     
,sibylline leaves4 ,interspersed also   
are long purely ,autobiographical       
delineations2 yet without connexion1    
without recognisable coherence2 so      
unimportant1 so superfluously minute1   
they almost remind us of ',p4,p4 ,clerk 
of this ,parish4' ,thus does famine of  
intelligence alternate with waste4      
,selection1 order1 appears to be unknown
 to the ,professor4 ,in all ,bags the   
same imbroglio2 only perhaps in the ,bag
 ,capricorn1 and those near it1 the     
confusion a little worse confounded4    
,close by a rather eloquent ,oration1   
',on receiving the ,doctor's-,hat1' lie 
washbills1 marked bezahlt 7settled74    

,his ,travels are indicated by the      
,street-,advertisements of the various  
cities he has visited2 of which         
,street-,advertisements1 in most living 
tongues1 here is perhaps the completest 
collection extant4  ,so that if the     
,clothes-,volume itself was too like a  
,chaos1 we have now instead of the solar
 ,luminary that should still it1 the    
airy ,limbo which by intermixture will  
farther volatilise and discompose it6   
,as we shall perhaps see it our duty    
ultimately to deposit these ,six        
,paper-,bags in the ,british ,museum1   
farther description1 and all            
vituperation of them1 may be spared4    
,biography or ,autobiography of         
,teufelsdrckh there is1 clearly enough1 
none to be gleaned here3 at most some   
sketchy1 shadowy fugitive likeness of   
him may1 by unheard-of efforts1 partly  
of intellect1 partly of imagination1 on 
the side of ,editor and of ,reader2 rise
 up between them4 ,only as a            
gaseous-chaotic ,appendix to that       

aqueous-chaotic ,volume can the contents
 of the ,six ,bags hover round us1 and  
portions thereof be incorporated with   
our delineation of it4  ,daily and      
nightly does the ,editor sit 7with green
 spectacles7 deciphering these          
unimaginable ,documents from their      
perplexed cursiv-schrift2 collating them
 with the almost equally unimaginable   
,volume1 which stands in legible print4 
,over such a universal medley of high   
and low1 of hot1 cold1 moist and dry1 is
 he here struggling 7by union of like   
with like1 which is ,method7 to build a 
firm ,bridge for ,british travellers4   
,never perhaps since our first          
,bridge-builders1 ,sin and ,death1 built
 that stupendous ,arch from ,hell-gate  
to the ,earth1 did any ,pontifex1 or    
,pontiff1 undertake such a task as the  
present ,editor4 ,for in this ,arch too1
 leading1 as we humbly presume1 far     
otherwards than that grand primeval one1
 the materials are to be fished-up from 
the weltering deep1 and down from the   

simmering air1 here one mass1 there     
another1 and cunningly cemented1 while  
the elements boil beneath3 nor is there 
any supernatural force to do it with2   
but simply the ,diligence and feeble    
thinking ,faculty of an ,english        
,editor1 endeavouring to evolve printed 
,creation out of a ,german printed and  
written ,chaos1 wherein1 as he shoots to
 and fro in it1 gathering1 clutching1   
piercing the ,why to the far-distant    
,wherefore1 his whole ,faculty and ,self
 are like to be swallowed up4           
,patiently1 under these incessant toils 
and agitations1 does the ,editor1       
dismissing all anger1 see his otherwise 
robust health declining2 some fraction  
of his allotted natural sleep nightly   
leaving him1 and little but an inflamed 
nervous-system to be looked for4 ,what  
is the use of health1 or of life1 if not
 to do some work therewith8 ,and what   
work nobler than transplanting foreign  
,thought into the barren domestic soil2 
except indeed planting ,thought of your 

own1 which the fewest are privileged to 
do8 ,wild as it looks1 this ,philosophy 
of ,clothes1 can we ever reach its real 
meaning1 promises to reveal new-coming  
,eras1 the first dim rudiments and      
already-budding germs of a nobler ,era1 
in ,universal ,history4 ,is not such a  
prize worth some striving8 ,forward with
 us1 courageous reader2 be it towards   
failure1 or towards success6 ,the latter
 thou sharest with us2 the former also  
is not all our own4     ,,book ,,second 
,,chapter ,i  ,,genesis   ,in a         
psychological point of view1 it is      
perhaps questionable whether from birth 
and genealogy1 how closely scrutinised  
soever1 much insight is to be gained4   
,nevertheless1 as in every phenomenon   
the ,beginning remains always the most  
notable moment2 so1 with regard to any  
great man1 we rest not till1 for our    
scientific profit or not1 the whole     
circumstances of his first appearance in
 this ,planet1 and what manner of       
,public ,entry he made1 are with utmost 

completeness rendered manifest4 ,to the 
,genesis of our ,clothes-,philosopher1  
then1 be this ,first ,chapter           
consecrated4 ,unhappily1 indeed1 he     
seems to be of quite obscure extraction2
 uncertain1 we might almost say1 whether
 of any3 so that this ,genesis of his   
can properly be nothing but an ,exodus  
7or transit out of ,invisibility into   
,visibility72 whereof the preliminary   
portion is nowhere forthcoming4  ',in   
the village of ,entepfuhl1' thus writes 
he1 in the ,bag ,libra1 on various      
,papers1 which we arrange with          
difficulty1 'dwelt ,andreas ,futteral   
and his wife2 childless1 in still       
seclusion1 and cheerful though now      
verging towards old age4 ,andreas had   
been grenadier ,sergeant1 and even      
regimental ,schoolmaster under          
,frederick the ,great2 but now1 quitting
 the halbert and ferule for the spade   
and pruning-hook1 cultivated a little   
,orchard1 on the produce of which he1   
,cincinnatus-like1 lived not without    

dignity4 ,fruits1 the peach1 the apple1 
the grape1 with other varieties came in 
their season2 all which ,andreas knew   
how to sell3 on evenings he smoked      
largely1 or read 7as beseemed a         
regimental ,schoolmaster71 and talked to
 neighbours that would listen about the 
,victory of ,rossbach2 and how ,fritz   
the ,only 7der ,einzige7 had once with  
his own royal lips spoken to him1 had   
been pleased to say1 when ,andreas as   
camp-sentinel demanded the pass-word1   
,schweig ,hund 7,peace1 hound76 before  
any of his staff-adjutants could answer4
 ,das nenn' ich mir einen ,knig1 ,there 
is what ,i call a ,king1 would ,andreas 
exclaim3 but the smoke of ,kunersdorf   
was still smarting his eyes4            
',gretchen1 the housewife1 won like     
,desdemona by the deeds rather than the 
looks of her now veteran ,othello1 lived
 not in altogether military             
subordination2 for1 as ,andreas said1   
the womankind will not drill 7wer kann  
die ,weiberchen dressiren73 nevertheless

 she at heart loved him both for valour 
and wisdom2 to her a ,prussian grenadier
 ,sergeant and ,regiment's ,schoolmaster
 was little other than a ,cicero and    
,cid3 what you see1 yet cannot see over1
 is as good as infinite4 ,nay1 was not  
,andreas in very deed a man of order1   
courage1 downrightness 7,geradheit72    
that understood ,bsching's ,geography1  
had been in the victory of ,rossbach1   
and left for dead in the camisade of    
,hochkirch8 ,the good ,gretchen1 for all
 her fretting1 watched over him and     
hovered round him as only a true        
housemother can3 assiduously she cooked 
and sewed and scoured for him2 so that  
not only his old regimental sword and   
grenadier-cap1 but the whole habitation 
and environment1 where on pegs of honour
 they hung1 looked ever trim and gay3 a 
roomy painted ,cottage1 embowered in    
fruit-trees and forest-trees1 evergreens
 and honeysuckles2 rising many-coloured 
from amid shaven grass-plots1 flowers   
struggling-in through the very windows2 

under its long projecting eaves nothing 
but garden-tools in methodic piles 7to  
screen them from rain71 and seats where1
 especially on summer nights1 a ,king   
might have wished to sit and smoke1 and 
call it his4 ,such a ,bauergut          
7,copyhold7 had ,gretchen given her     
veteran2 whose sinewy arms1 and         
long-disused gardening talent1 had made 
it what you saw4  ',into this umbrageous
 ,man's-nest1 one meek yellow evening or
 dusk1 when the ,sun1 hidden indeed from
 terrestrial ,entepfuhl1 did            
nevertheless journey visible and radiant
 along the celestial ,balance 7,libra71 
it was that a ,stranger of reverend     
aspect entered2 and1 with grave         
salutation1 stood before the two rather 
astonished housemates4 ,he was          
close-muffled in a wide mantle2 which   
without further parley unfolding1 he    
deposited therefrom what seemed some    
,basket1 overhung with green ,persian   
silk2 saying only3 ,ihr lieben ,leute1  
hier bringe ein unschtzbares ,verleihen2

 nehmt es in aller ,acht1 sorgfltigst   
bentzt es3 mit hohem ,lohn1 oder wohl   
mit schweren ,zinsen1 wird's einst      
zurckgefordert4 ,good ,christian people1
 here lies for you an invaluable ,loan2 
take all heed thereof1 in all           
carefulness employ it3 with high        
recompense1 or else with heavy penalty1 
will it one day be required back4       
,uttering which singular words1 in a    
clear1 bell-like1 forever memorable     
tone1 the ,stranger gracefully withdrew2
 and before ,andreas or his wife1 gazing
 in expectant wonder1 had time to       
fashion either question or answer1 was  
clean gone4 ,neither out of doors could 
aught of him be seen or heard2 he had   
vanished in the thickets1 in the dusk2  
the ,orchard-gate stood quietly closed3 
the ,stranger was gone once and always4 
,so sudden had the whole transaction    
been1 in the autumn stillness and       
twilight1 so gentle1 noiseless1 that the
 ,futterals could have fancied it all a 
trick of ,imagination1 or some visit    

from an authentic ,spirit4 ,only that   
the green-silk ,basket1 such as neither 
,imagination nor authentic ,spirits are 
wont to carry1 still stood visible and  
tangible on their little parlour-table4 
,towards this the astonished couple1 now
 with lit candle1 hastily turned their  
attention4 ,lifting the green veil1 to  
see what invaluable it hid1 they        
descried there1 amid down and rich white
 wrappages1 no ,pitt ,diamond or        
,hapsburg ,regalia1 but1 in the softest 
sleep1 a little red-coloured ,infant6   
,beside it1 lay a roll of gold          
,friedrichs1 the exact amount of which  
was never publicly known2 also a        
,taufschein 7baptismal certificate71    
wherein unfortunately nothing but the   
,name was decipherable2 other document  
or indication none whatever4  ',to      
wonder and conjecture was unavailing1   
then and always thenceforth4 ,nowhere in
 ,entepfuhl1 on the morrow or next day1 
did tidings transpire of any such figure
 as the ,stranger2 nor could the        

,traveller1 who had passed through the  
neighbouring ,town in coach-and-four1 be
 connected with this ,apparition1 except
 in the way of gratuitous surmise4      
,meanwhile1 for ,andreas and his wife1  
the grand practical problem was3 ,what  
to do with this little sleeping         
red-coloured ,infant8 ,amid amazements  
and curiosities1 which had to die away  
without external satisfying1 they       
resolved1 as in such circumstances      
charitable prudent people needs must1 on
 nursing it1 though with spoon-meat1    
into whiteness1 and if possible into    
manhood4 ,the ,heavens smiled on their  
endeavour3 thus has that same mysterious
 ,individual ever since had a status for
 himself in this visible ,universe1 some
 modicum of victual and lodging and     
parade-ground2 and now expanded in bulk1
 faculty and knowledge of good and evil1
 he1 as ,,herr ,,diogenes               
,,teufelsdr,,ckh1 professes or is ready 
to profess1 perhaps not altogether      
without effect1 in the new ,university  

of ,weissnichtwo1 the new ,science of   
,things in ,general4'  ,our ,philosopher
 declares here1 as indeed we should     
think he well might1 that these facts1  
first communicated1 by the good         
,gretchen ,futteral1 in his twelfth     
year1 'produced on the boyish heart and 
fancy a quite indelible impression4 ,who
 this ,reverend ,personage1' he says1   
'that glided into the ,orchard ,cottage 
when the ,sun was in ,libra1 and then1  
as on spirit's wings1 glided out again1 
might be8 ,an inexpressible desire1 full
 of love and of sadness1 has often since
 struggled within me to shape an answer4
 ,ever1 in my distresses and my         
loneliness1 has ,fantasy turned1 full of
 longing 7sehnsuchtsvoll71 to that      
unknown ,father1 who perhaps far from   
me1 perhaps near1 either way invisible1 
might have taken me to his paternal     
bosom1 there to lie screened from many a
 woe4 ,thou beloved ,father1 dost thou  
still1 shut out from me only by thin    
penetrable curtains of earthly ,space1  

wend to and fro among the crowd of the  
living8 ,or art thou hidden by those far
 thicker curtains of the ,everlasting   
,night1 or rather of the ,everlasting   
,day1 through which my mortal eye and   
outstretched arms need not strive to    
reach8 ,alas1 ,i know not1 and in vain  
vex myself to know4 ,more than once1    
heart-deluded1 have ,i taken for thee   
this and the other noble-looking        
,stranger2 and approached him wistfully1
 with infinite regard2 but he too had to
 repel me2 he too was not thou4  ',and  
yet1 ,o ,man born of ,woman1' cries the 
,autobiographer1 with one of his sudden 
whirls1 'wherein is my case peculiar8   
,hadst thou1 any more than ,i1 a ,father
 whom thou knowest8 ,the ,andreas and   
,gretchen1 or the ,adam and ,eve1 who   
led thee into ,life1 and for a time     
suckled and pap-fed thee there1 whom    
thou namest ,father and ,mother2 these  
were1 like mine1 but thy nursing-father 
and nursing-mother3 thy true ,beginning 
and ,father is in ,heaven1 whom with the

 bodily eye thou shalt never behold1 but
 only with the spiritual4'  ',the little
 green veil1' adds he1 among much       
similar moralising1 and embroiled       
discoursing1 ',i yet keep2 still more   
inseparably the ,name1 ,diogenes        
,teufelsdrckh4 ,from the veil can       
nothing be inferred3 a piece of now     
quite faded ,persian silk1 like         
thousands of others4 ,on the ,name ,i   
have many times meditated and           
conjectured2 but neither in this lay    
there any clue4 ,that it was my unknown 
,father's name ,i must hesitate to      
believe4 ,to no purpose have ,i searched
 through all the ,herald's ,books1 in   
and without the ,german ,empire1 and    
through all manner of ,subscriber-,lists
 7,prnumeranten71 ,militia-,rolls1 and  
other ,name-catalogues2 extraordinary   
names as we have in ,germany1 the name  
,teufelsdrckh1 except as appended to my 
own person1 nowhere occurs4 ,again1 what
 may the unchristian rather than        
,christian ,diogenes mean8 ,did that    

reverend ,basket-bearer intend1 by such 
designation1 to shadow-forth my future  
destiny1 or his own present malign      
humour8 ,perhaps the latter1 perhaps    
both4 ,thou ill-starred ,parent1 who    
like an ,ostrich hadst to leave thy     
ill-starred offspring to be hatched into
 self-support by the mere sky-influences
 of ,chance1 can thy pilgrimage have    
been a smooth one8 ,beset by ,misfortune
 thou doubtless hast been2 or indeed by 
the worst figure of ,misfortune1 by     
,misconduct4 ,often have ,i fancied how1
 in thy hard life-battle1 thou wert shot
 at1 and slung at1 wounded1             
hand-fettered1 hamstrung1 browbeaten and
 bedevilled by the ,time-,spirit        
7,zeitgeist7 in thyself and others1 till
 the good soul first given thee was     
seared into grim rage2 and thou hadst   
nothing for it but to leave in me an    
indignant appeal to the ,future1 and    
living speaking ,protest against the    
,devil1 as that same ,spirit not of the 
,time only1 but of ,time itself1 is well

 named6 ,which ,appeal and ,protest1 may
 ,i now modestly add1 was not perhaps   
quite lost in air4  ',for indeed1 as    
,walter ,shandy often insisted1 there is
 much1 nay almost all1 in ,names4 ,the  
,name is the earliest ,garment you wrap 
round the earth-visiting ,,me2 to which 
it thenceforth cleaves1 more tenaciously
 7for there are ,names that have lasted 
nigh thirty centuries7 than the very    
skin4 ,and now from without1 what mystic
 influences does it not send inwards1   
even to the centre2 especially in those 
plastic first-times1 when the whole soul
 is yet infantine1 soft1 and the        
invisible seedgrain will grow to be an  
all overshadowing tree6 ,names8 ,could  
,i unfold the influence of ,names1 which
 are the most important of all          
,clothings1 ,i were a second greater    
,trismegistus4 ,not only all common     
,speech1 but ,science1 ,poetry itself is
 no other1 if thou consider it1 than a  
right ,naming4 ,adam's first task was   
giving names to natural ,appearances3   

what is ours still but a continuation of
 the same2 be the ,appearances          
exotic-vegetable1 organic1 mechanic1    
stars or starry movements 7as in        
,science72 or 7as in ,poetry7 passions1 
virtues1 calamities1 ,god-attributes1   
,gods8--,in a very plain sense the      
,proverb says1 ,call one a thief1 and he
 will steal2 in an almost similar sense 
may we not perhaps say1 ,call one       
,diogenes ,teufelsdrckh1 and he will    
open the ,philosophy of ,clothes8'      
99       99       99       99       99  
',meanwhile the incipient ,diogenes1    
like others1 all ignorant of his ,why1  
his ,how or ,whereabout1 was opening his
 eyes to the kind ,light2 sprawling-out 
his ten fingers and toes2 listening1    
tasting1 feeling2 in a word1 by all his 
,five ,senses1 still more by his ,sixth 
,sense of ,hunger1 and a whole          
infinitude of inward1 spiritual1        
half-awakened ,senses1 endeavouring     
daily to acquire for himself some       
knowledge of this strange ,universe     

where he had arrived1 be his task       
therein what it might4 ,infinite was his
 progress2 thus in some fifteen months1 
he could perform the miracle            
of--,speech6 ,to breed a fresh ,soul1 is
 it not like brooding a fresh           
7celestial7 ,egg2 wherein as yet all is 
formless1 powerless2 yet by degrees     
organic elements and fibres shoot       
through the watery albumen2 and out of  
vague ,sensation grows ,thought1 grows  
,fantasy and ,force1 and we have        
,philosophies1 ,dynasties1 nay ,poetries
 and ,religions6  ',young ,diogenes1 or 
rather young ,gneschen1 for by such     
diminutive had they in their fondness   
named him1 travelled forward to those   
high consummations1 by quick yet easy   
stages4 ,the ,futterals1 to avoid vain  
talk1 and moreover keep the roll of gold
 ,friedrichs safe1 gave-out that he was 
a grand-nephew2 the orphan of some      
sister's daughter1 suddenly deceased1 in
 ,andreas's distant ,prussian birthland2
 of whom1 as of her indigent sorrowing  

widower1 little enough was known at     
,entepfuhl4 ,heedless of all which1 the 
,nurseling took to his spoon-meat1 and  
throve4 ,i have heard him noted as a    
still infant1 that kept his mind much to
 himself2 above all1 that seldom or     
never cried4 ,he already felt that time 
was precious2 that he had other work    
cut-out for him than whimpering4'       
99       99       99       99       99  
,such1 after utmost painful search and  
collation among these miscellaneous     
,paper-masses1 is all the notice we can 
gather of ,herr ,teufelsdrckh's         
genealogy4 ,more imperfect1 more        
enigmatic it can seem to few readers    
than to us4 ,the ,professor1 in whom    
truly we more and more discern a certain
 satirical turn1 and deep undercurrents 
of roguish whim1 for the present stands 
pledged in honour1 so we will not doubt 
him3 but seems it not conceivable that1 
by the 'good ,gretchen ,futteral1' or   
some other perhaps interested party1 he 
has himself been deceived8 ,should these

 sheets1 translated or not1 ever reach  
the ,entepfuhl ,circulating ,library1   
some cultivated native of that district 
might feel called to afford explanation4
 ,nay1 since ,books1 like invisible     
scouts1 permeate the whole habitable    
globe1 and ,timbuctoo itself is not safe
 from ,british ,literature1 may not some
 ,copy find out even the mysterious     
basket-bearing ,stranger1 who in a state
 of extreme senility perhaps still      
exists2 and gently force even him to    
disclose himself2 to claim openly a son1
 in whom any father may feel pride8     
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,idyllic   ',happy     
season of ,childhood6' exclaims         
,teufelsdrckh3 ',kind ,nature1 that art 
to all a bountiful mother2 that visitest
 the poor man's hut with auroral        
radiance2 and for thy ,nurseling hast   
provided1 a soft swathing of ,love1 and 
infinite ,hope1 wherein he waxes and    
slumbers1 danced-round 7umgaukelt7 by   
sweetest ,dreams6 ,if the paternal      
,cottage still shuts us in1 its roof    

still screens us2 with a ,father we have
 as yet a prophet1 priest and king1 and 
an ,obedience that makes us free4 ,the  
young spirit has awakened out of        
,eternity1 and knows not what we mean by
 ,time2 as yet ,time is no fast-hurrying
 stream1 but a sportful sunlit ocean2   
years to the child are as ages3 ah6 the 
secret of ,vicissitude1 of that slower  
or quicker decay and ceaseless          
down-rushing of the universal           
,world-fabric1 from the granite mountain
 to the man or day-moth1 is yet unknown2
 and in a motionless ,universe1 we      
taste1 what afterwards in this          
quick-whirling ,universe is forever     
denied us1 the balm of ,rest4 ,sleep on1
 thou fair ,child1 for thy long rough   
journey is at hand6 ,a little while1 and
 thou too shalt sleep no more1 but thy  
very dreams shall be mimic battles2 thou
 too1 with old ,arnauld1 wilt have to   
say in stern patience3 ,rest8 ,rest8    
,shall ,i not have all ,eternity to rest
 in8 ,celestial ,nepenthe6 though a     

,pyrrhus conquer empires1 and an        
,alexander sack the world1 he finds thee
 not2 and thou hast once fallen gently1 
of thy own accord1 on the eyelids1 on   
the heart of every mother's child4 ,for 
as yet1 sleep and waking are one3 the   
fair ,life-garden rustles infinite      
around1 and everywhere is dewy          
fragrance1 and the budding of ,hope2    
which budding1 if in youth1 too         
frostnipt1 it grow to flowers1 will in  
manhood yield no fruit1 but a prickly1  
bitter-rinded stone-fruit1 of which the 
fewest can find the kernel4'  ,in such  
rose-coloured light does our ,professor1
 as ,poets are wont1 look back on his   
childhood2 the historical details of    
which 7to say nothing of much other     
vague oratorical matter7 he accordingly 
dwells on with an almost wearisome      
minuteness4 ,we hear of ,entepfuhl      
standing 'in trustful derangement' among
 the woody slopes2 the paternal ,orchard
 flanking it as extreme out-post from   
below2 the little ,kuhbach gushing      

kindly by1 among beech-rows1 through    
river after river1 into the ,donau1 into
 the ,black ,sea1 into the ,atmosphere  
and ,universe2 and how 'the brave old   
,linden1' stretching like a parasol of  
twenty ells in radius1 overtopping all  
other rows and clumps1 towered-up from  
the central ,agora and ,campus ,martius 
of the ,village1 like its ,sacred ,tree2
 and how the old men sat talking under  
its shadow 7,gneschen often greedily    
listening71 and the wearied labourers   
reclined1 and the unwearied children    
sported1 and the young men and maidens  
often danced to flute-music4 ',glorious 
summer twilights1' cries ,teufelsdrckh1 
'when the ,sun1 like a proud ,conqueror 
and ,imperial ,taskmaster1 turned his   
back1 with his gold-purple emblazonry1  
and all his fireclad body-guard 7of     
,prismatic ,colours72 and the tired     
brickmakers of this clay ,earth might   
steal a little frolic1 and those few    
meek ,stars would not tell of them6'    
,then we have long details of the       

,weinlesen 7,vintage71 the              
,harvest-,home1 ,christmas1 and so      
forth2 with a whole cycle of the        
,entepfuhl ,children's-games1 differing 
apparently by mere superficial shades   
from those of other countries4          
,concerning all which1 we shall here1   
for obvious reasons1 say nothing4 ,what 
cares the world for our as yet miniature
 ,philosopher's achievements under that 
'brave old ,linden'8 ,or even where is  
the use of such practical reflections as
 the following8 ',in all the sports of  
,children1 were it only in their wanton 
breakages and defacements1 you shall    
discern a creative instinct 7schaffenden
 ,trieb73 the ,mankin feels that he is a
 born ,man1 that his vocation is to     
work4 ,the choicest present you can make
 him is a ,tool2 be it knife or pen-gun1
 for construction or for destruction2   
either way it is for ,work1 for ,change4
 ,in gregarious sports of skill or      
strength1 the ,boy trains himself to    
,coperation1 for war or peace1 as       

governor or governed3 the little ,maid  
again1 provident of her domestic        
destiny1 takes with preference to       
,dolls4'  ,perhaps1 however1 we may give
 this anecdote1 considering who it is   
that relates it3 ',my first             
short-clothes were of yellow serge2 or  
rather1 ,i should say1 my first         
short-cloth1 for the vesture was one and
 indivisible1 reaching from neck to     
ankle1 a mere body with four limbs3 of  
which fashion how little could ,i then  
divine the architectural1 how much less 
the moral significance6'  ,more graceful
 is the following little picture3 ',on  
fine evenings ,i was wont to carry-forth
 my supper 7bread-crumb boiled in milk71
 and eat it out-of-doors4 ,on the coping
 of the ,orchard-wall1 which ,i could   
reach by climbing1 or still more easily 
if ,father ,andreas would set-up the    
pruning-ladder1 my porringer was placed3
 there1 many a sunset1 have ,i1 looking 
at the distant western ,mountains1      
consumed1 not without relish1 my evening

 meal4 ,those hues of gold and azure1   
that hush of ,world's expectation as    
,day died1 were still a ,hebrew ,speech 
for me2 nevertheless ,i was looking at  
the fair illuminated ,letters1 and had  
an eye for their gilding4'  ,with 'the  
little one's friendship for cattle and  
poultry' we shall not much intermeddle4 
,it may be that hereby he acquired a    
'certain deeper sympathy with animated  
,nature'3 but when1 we would ask1 saw   
any man1 in a collection of             
,biographical ,documents1 such a piece  
as this3 ',impressive enough            
7bedeutungsvoll7 was it to hear1 in     
early morning1 the ,swineherd's horn2   
and know that so many hungry happy      
quadrupeds were1 on all sides1 starting 
in hot haste to join him1 for breakfast 
on the ,heath4 ,or to see them at       
eventide1 all marching-in again1 with   
short squeak1 almost in military order2 
and each1 topographically correct1      
trotting-off in succession to the right 
or left1 through its own lane1 to its   

own dwelling2 till old ,kunz1 at the    
,village-head1 now left alone1 blew his 
last blast1 and retired for the night4  
,we are wont to love the ,hog chiefly in
 the form of ,ham2 yet did not these    
bristly thick-skinned beings here       
manifest intelligence1 perhaps humour of
 character2 at any rate1 a touching1    
trustful submissiveness to ,man1--who1  
were he but a ,swineherd1 in darned     
gabardine1 and leather breeches more    
resembling slate or discoloured-tin     
breeches1 is still the ,hierarch of this
 lower world8'  ,it is maintained1 by   
,helvetius and his set1 that an infant  
of genius is quite the same as any other
 infant1 only that certain surprisingly 
favourable influences accompany him     
through life1 especially through        
childhood1 and expand him1 while others 
lie closefolded and continue dunces4    
,herein1 say they1 consists the whole   
difference between an inspired ,prophet 
and a double-barrelled ,game-preserver3 
the inner man of the one has been       

fostered into generous development2 that
 of the other1 crushed-down perhaps by  
vigour of animal digestion1 and the     
like1 has exuded and evaporated1 or at  
best sleeps now irresuscitably stagnant 
at the bottom of his stomach4 ',with    
which opinion1' cries ,teufelsdrckh1 ',i
 should as soon agree as with this      
other1 that an acorn might1 by          
favourable or unfavourable influences of
 soil and climate1 be nursed into a     
cabbage1 or the cabbage-seed into an    
oak4  ',nevertheless1' continues he1 ',i
 too acknowledge the all-but omnipotence
 of early culture and nurture3 hereby we
 have either a doddered dwarf bush1 or a
 high-towering1 wide-shadowing tree2    
either a sick yellow cabbage1 or an     
edible luxuriant green one4 ,of a truth1
 it is the duty of all men1 especially  
of all philosophers1 to note-down with  
accuracy the characteristic             
circumstances of their ,education1 what 
furthered1 what hindered1 what in any   
way modified it3 to which duty1 nowadays

 so pressing for many a ,german         
,autobiographer1 ,i also zealously      
address myself4'--,thou rogue6 ,is it by
 short-clothes of yellow serge1 and     
swineherd horns1 that an infant of      
genius is educated8 ,and yet1 as usual1 
it ever remains doubtful whether he is  
laughing in his sleeve at these         
,autobiographical times of ours1 or     
writing from the abundance of his own   
fond ineptitude4 ,for he continues3 ',if
 among the ever-streaming currents of   
,sights1 ,hearings1 ,feelings for ,pain 
or ,pleasure1 whereby1 as in a ,magic   
,hall1 young ,gneschen went about       
environed1 ,i might venture to select   
and specify1 perhaps these following    
were also of the number3  ',doubtless1  
as childish sports call forth           
,intellect1 ,activity1 so the young     
creature's ,imagination was stirred up1 
and a ,historical tendency given him by 
the narrative habits of ,father         
,andreas2 who1 with his                 
battle-reminiscences1 and gay austere   

yet hearty patriarchal aspect1 could not
 but appear another ,ulysses and        
much-enduring ,man4 ,eagerly ,i hung    
upon his tales1 when listening          
neighbours enlivened the hearth2 from   
these perils and these travels1 wild and
 far almost as ,hades itself1 a dim     
world of ,adventure expanded itself     
within me4 ,incalculable also was the   
knowledge ,i acquired in standing by the
 ,old ,men under the ,linden-tree3 the  
whole of ,immensity was yet new to me2  
and had not these reverend seniors1     
talkative enough1 been employed in      
partial surveys thereof for nigh        
fourscore years8 ,with amazement ,i     
began to discover that ,entepfuhl stood 
in the middle of a ,country1 of a       
,world2 that there was such a thing as  
,history1 as ,biography2 to which ,i    
also1 one day1 by hand and tongue1 might
 contribute4  ',in a like sense worked  
the ,postwagen 7,stage-coach71 which1   
slow-rolling under its mountains of men 
and luggage1 wended through our         

,village3 northwards1 truly1 in the dead
 of night2 yet southwards visibly at    
eventide4 ,not till my eighth year did  
,i reflect that this ,postwagen could be
 other than some terrestrial ,moon1     
rising and setting by mere ,law of      
,nature1 like the heavenly one2 that it 
came on made highways1 from far cities  
towards far cities2 weaving them like a 
monstrous shuttle into closer and closer
 union4 ,it was then that1 independently
 of ,schiller's ,wilhelm ,tell1 ,i made 
this not quite insignificant reflection 
7so true also in spiritual things73 ,any
 road1 this simple ,entepfuhl road1 will
 lead you to the end of the world6      
',why mention our ,swallows1 which1 out 
of far ,africa1 as ,i learned1 threading
 their way over seas and mountains1     
corporate cities and belligerent        
nations1 yearly found themselves1 with  
the month of ,may1 snug-lodged in our   
,cottage ,lobby8 ,the hospitable ,father
 7for cleanliness' sake7 had fixed a    
little bracket plumb under their nest3  

there they built1 and caught flies1 and 
twittered1 and bred2 and all1 ,i        
chiefly1 from the heart loved them4     
,bright1 nimble creatures1 who taught   
you the mason-craft2 nay1 stranger      
still1 gave you a masonic incorporation1
 almost social police8 ,for if1 by ill  
chance1 and when time pressed1 your     
,house fell1 have ,i not seen five      
neighbourly ,helpers appear next day2   
and swashing to and fro1 with animated1 
loud1 long-drawn chirpings1 and activity
 almost super-hirundine1 complete it    
again before nightfall8  ',but          
undoubtedly the grand summary of        
,entepfuhl child's-culture1 where as in 
a funnel its manifold influences were   
concentrated and simultaneously         
poured-down on us1 was the annual       
,cattle-fair4 ,here1 assembling from all
 the four winds1 came the elements of an
 unspeakable hurly-burly4 ,nutbrown     
maids and nutbrown men1 all             
clear-washed1 loud-laughing1 bedizened  
and beribanded2 who came for dancing1   

for treating1 and if possible1 for      
happiness4 ,topbooted ,graziers from the
 ,north2 ,swiss ,brokers1 ,italian      
,drovers1 also topbooted1 from the      
,south2 these with their subalterns in  
leather jerkins1 leather skull-caps1 and
 long oxgoads2 shouting in              
half-articulate speech1 amid the        
inarticulate barking and bellowing4     
,apart stood ,potters from far ,saxony1 
with their crockery in fair rows2       
,nrnberg ,pedlars1 in booths that to me 
seemed richer than ,ormuz bazaars2      
,showmen from the ,lago ,maggiore2      
detachments of the ,wiener ,schub       
7,offscourings of ,vienna7 vociferously 
superintending games of chance4         
,ballad-singers brayed1 ,auctioneers    
grew hoarse2 cheap ,new ,wine 7heuriger7
 flowed like water1 still worse         
confounding the confusion2 and high over
 all1 vaulted1 in ground-and-lofty      
tumbling1 a particoloured               
,merry-,andrew1 like the genius of the  
place and of ,life itself4  ',thus      

encircled by the mystery of ,existence2 
under the deep heavenly ,firmament2     
waited-on by the four golden ,seasons1  
with their vicissitudes of contribution1
 for even grim ,winter brought its      
skating-matches and shooting-matches1   
its snow-storms and                     
,christmas-carols1--did the ,child sit  
and learn4 ,these things were the       
,alphabet1 whereby in aftertime he was  
to syllable and partly read the grand   
,volume of the ,world2 what matters it  
whether such ,alphabet be in large gilt 
letters or in small ungilt ones1 so you 
have an eye to read it8 ,for ,gneschen1 
eager to learn1 the very act of looking 
thereon was a blessedness that gilded   
all3 his existence was a bright1 soft   
element of ,joy2 out of which1 as in    
,prospero's ,island1 wonder after wonder
 bodied itself forth1 to teach by       
charming4  ',nevertheless1 ,i were but a
 vain dreamer to say1 that even then my 
felicity was perfect4 ,i had1 once for  
all1 come down from ,heaven into the    

,earth4 ,among the rainbow colours that 
glowed on my horizon1 lay even in       
childhood a dark ring of ,care1 as yet  
no thicker than a thread1 and often     
quite overshone2 yet always it          
reappeared1 nay ever waxing broader and 
broader2 till in after-years it almost  
over-shadowed my whole canopy1 and      
threatened to engulf me in final night4 
,it was the ring of ,necessity whereby  
we are all begirt2 happy he for whom a  
kind heavenly ,sun brightens it into a  
ring of ,duty1 and plays round it with  
beautiful prismatic diffractions2 yet   
ever1 as basis and as bourne for our    
whole being1 it is there4         99    
99       99       99       99  ',for the
 first few years of our terrestrial     
,apprenticeship1 we have not much work  
to do2 but1 boarded and lodged gratis1  
are set down mostly to look about us    
over the workshop1 and see others work1 
till we have understood the tools a     
little1 and can handle this and that4   
,if good ,passivity alone1 and not good 

,passivity and good ,activity together1 
were the thing wanted1 then was my early
 position favourable beyond the most4   
,in all that respects openness of       
,sense1 affectionate ,temper1 ingenuous 
,curiosity1 and the fostering of these1 
what more could ,i have wished8 ,on the 
other side1 however1 things went not so 
well4 ,my ,active ,power 7,thatkraft7   
was unfavourably hemmed-in2 of which    
misfortune how many traces yet abide    
with me6 ,in an orderly house1 where the
 litter of children's sports is hateful 
enough1 your training is too stoical2   
rather to bear and forbear than to make 
and do4 ,i was forbid much3 wishes in   
any measure bold ,i had to renounce2    
everywhere a strait bond of ,obedience  
inflexibly held me down4 ,thus already  
,freewill often came in painful         
collision with ,necessity2 so that my   
tears flowed1 and at seasons the ,child 
itself might taste that root of         
bitterness1 wherewith the whole fruitage
 of our life is mingled and tempered4   

',in which habituation to ,obedience1   
truly1 it was beyond measure safer to   
err by excess than by defect4 ,obedience
 is our universal duty and destiny2     
wherein whoso will not bend must break3 
too early and too thoroughly we cannot  
be trained to know that ,would1 in this 
world of ours1 is as mere zero to       
,should1 and for most part as the       
smallest of fractions even to ,shall4   
,hereby was laid for me the basis of    
worldly ,discretion1 nay1 of ,morality  
itself4 ,let me not quarrel with my     
upbringing6 ,it was rigorous1 too       
frugal1 compressively secluded1 everyway
 unscientific3 yet in that very         
strictness and domestic solitude might  
there not lie the root of deeper        
earnestness1 of the stem from which all 
noble fruit must grow8 ,above all1 how  
unskilful soever1 it was loving1 it was 
well-meant1 honest2 whereby every       
deficiency was helped4 ,my kind ,mother1
 for as such ,i must ever love the good 
,gretchen1 did me one altogether        

invaluable service3 she taught me1 less 
indeed by word than by act and daily    
reverent look and habitude1 her own     
simple version of the ,christian ,faith4
 ,andreas too attended ,church2 yet more
 like a parade-duty1 for which he in the
 other world expected pay with          
arrears1--as1 ,i trust1 he has received2
 but my ,mother1 with a true woman's    
heart1 and fine though uncultivated     
sense1 was in the strictest acceptation 
,religious4 ,how indestructibly the     
,good grows1 and propagates itself1 even
 among the weedy entanglements of ,evil6
 ,the highest whom ,i knew on ,earth ,i 
here saw bowed down1 with awe           
unspeakable1 before a ,higher in        
,heaven3 such things1 especially in     
infancy1 reach inwards to the very core 
of your being2 mysteriously does a ,holy
 of ,holies build itself into visibility
 in the mysterious deeps2 and           
,reverence1 the divinest in man1 springs
 forth undying from its mean envelopment
 of ,fear4 ,wouldst thou rather be a    

peasant's son that knew1 were it never  
so rudely1 there was a ,god in ,heaven  
and in ,man2 or a duke's son that only  
knew there were two-and-thirty quarters 
on the family-coach8'  ,to which last   
question we must answer3 ,beware1 ,o    
,teufelsdrckh1 of spiritual pride6      
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,pedagogy   ,hitherto 
we see young ,gneschen1 in his          
indivisible case of yellow serge1 borne 
forward mostly on the arms of kind      
,nature alone2 seated1 indeed1 and much 
to his mind1 in the terrestrial         
workshop2 but 7except his soft hazel    
eyes1 which we doubt not already gleamed
 with a still intelligence7 called upon 
for little voluntary movement there4    
,hitherto1 accordingly1 his aspect is   
rather generic1 that of an incipient    
,philosopher and ,poet in the abstract2 
perhaps it would trouble ,herr          
,heuschrecke himself to say wherein the 
special ,doctrine of ,clothes is as yet 
foreshadowed or betokened4 ,for with    
,gneschen1 as with others1 the ,man may 

indeed stand pictured in the ,boy 7at   
least all the pigments are there72 yet  
only some half of the ,man stands in the
 ,child1 or young ,boy1 namely1 his     
,passive endowment1 not his ,active4    
,the more impatient are we to discover  
what figure he cuts in this latter      
capacity2 how when1 to use his own      
words1 'he understands the tools a      
little1 and can handle this or that1' he
 will proceed to handle it4  ,here1     
however1 may be the place to state that1
 in much of our ,philosopher's history1 
there is something of an almost ,hindoo 
character3 nay perhaps in that so       
well-fostered and everyway excellent    
',passivity' of his1 which1 with no free
 development of the antagonist          
,activity1 distinguished his childhood1 
we may detect the rudiments of much     
that1 in after days1 and still in these 
present days1 astonishes the world4 ,for
 the shallow-sighted1 ,teufelsdrckh is  
oftenest a man without ,activity of any 
kind1 a ,no-man2 for the deep-sighted1  

again1 a man with ,activity almost      
superabundant1 yet so spiritual1        
close-hidden1 enigmatic1 that no mortal 
can foresee its explosions1 or even when
 it has exploded1 so much as ascertain  
its significance4 ,a dangerous1         
difficult temper for the modern         
,european2 above all1 disadvantageous in
 the hero of a ,biography6 ,now as      
heretofore it will behove the ,editor of
 these pages1 were it never so          
unsuccessfully1 to do his endeavour4    
,among the earliest tools of any        
complicacy which a man1 especially a man
 of letters1 gets to handle1 are his    
,class-books4 ,on this portion of his   
,history1 ,teufelsdrckh looks down      
professedly as indifferent4 ,reading he 
'cannot remember ever to have learned'2 
so perhaps had it by nature4 ,he says   
generally3 ',of the insignificant       
portion of my ,education1 which depended
 on ,schools1 there need almost no      
notice be taken4 ,i learned what others 
learn2 and kept it stored-by in a corner

 of my head1 seeing as yet no manner of 
use in it4 ,my ,schoolmaster1 a         
downbent1 brokenhearted1 underfoot      
martyr1 as others of that guild are1 did
 little for me1 except discover that he 
could do little3 he1 good soul1         
pronounced me a genius1 fit for the     
learned professions2 and that ,i must be
 sent to the ,gymnasium1 and one day to 
the ,university4 ,meanwhile1 what       
printed thing soever ,i could meet with 
,i read4 ,my very copper pocket-money ,i
 laid-out on stall-literature2 which1 as
 it accumulated1 ,i with my own hands   
sewed into volumes4 ,by this means was  
the young head furnished with a         
considerable miscellany of things and   
shadows of things3 ,history in authentic
 fragments lay mingled with ,fabulous   
chimeras1 wherein also was reality2 and 
the whole not as dead stuff1 but as     
living pabulum1 tolerably nutritive for 
a mind as yet so peptic4'  ,that the    
,entepfuhl ,schoolmaster judged well1 we
 now know4 ,indeed1 already in the      

youthful ,gneschen1 with all his outward
 stillness1 there may have been manifest
 an inward vivacity that promised much2 
symptoms of a spirit singularly open1   
thoughtful1 almost poetical4 ,thus1 to  
say nothing of his ,suppers on the      
,orchard-wall1 and other phenomena of   
that earlier period1 have many readers  
of these pages stumbled1 in their       
twelfth year1 on such reflections as the
 following8 ',it struck me much1 as ,i  
sat by the ,kuhbach1 one silent         
noontide1 and watched it flowing1       
gurgling1 to think how this same        
streamlet had flowed and gurgled1       
through all changes of weather and of   
fortune1 from beyond the earliest date  
of ,history4 ,yes1 probably on the      
morning when ,joshua forded ,jordan2    
even as at the midday when ,csar1       
doubtless with difficulty1 swam the     
,nile1 yet kept his ,commentaries       
dry1--this little ,kuhbach1 assiduous as
 ,tiber1 ,eurotas or ,siloa1 was        
murmuring on across the wilderness1 as  

yet unnamed1 unseen3 here1 too1 as in   
the ,euphrates and the ,ganges1 is a    
vein or veinlet of the grand            
,world-circulation of ,waters1 which1   
with its atmospheric arteries1 has      
lasted and lasts simply with the ,world4
 ,thou fool6 ,nature alone is antique1  
and the oldest art a mushroom2 that idle
 crag thou sittest on is six-thousand   
years of age4' ,in which little thought1
 as in a little fountain1 may there not 
lie the beginning of those well-nigh    
unutterable meditations on the grandeur 
and mystery of ,,time1 and its relation 
to ,,eternity1 which play such a part in
 this ,philosophy of ,clothes8  ,over   
his ,gymnasic and ,academic years the   
,professor by no means lingers so       
lyrical and joyful as over his          
childhood4 ,green sunny tracts there are
 still2 but intersected by bitter       
rivulets of tears1 here and there       
stagnating into sour marshes of         
discontent4 ',with my first view of the 
,hinterschlag ,gymnasium1' writes he1   

'my evil days began4 ,well do ,i still  
remember the red sunny ,whitsuntide     
morning1 when1 trotting full of hope by 
the side of ,father ,andreas1 ,i entered
 the main street of the place1 and saw  
its steeple-clock 7then striking ,eight7
 and ,schuldthurm 7,jail71 and the      
aproned or disaproned ,burghers         
moving-in to breakfast3 a little dog1 in
 mad terror1 was rushing past2 for some 
human imps had tied a tin-kettle to its 
tail2 thus did the agonised creature1   
loud-jingling1 career through the whole 
length of the ,borough1 and become      
notable enough4 ,fit emblem of many a   
,conquering ,hero1 to whom ,fate        
7wedding ,fantasy to ,sense1 as it often
 elsewhere does7 has malignantly        
appended a tin-kettle of ,ambition1 to  
chase him on2 which the faster he runs1 
urges him the faster1 the more loudly   
and more foolishly6 ,fit emblem also of 
much that awaited myself1 in that       
mischievous ,den2 as in the ,world1     
whereof it was a portion and epitome6   

',alas1 the kind beech-rows of          
,entepfuhl were hidden in the distance3 
,i was among strangers1 harshly1 at best
 indifferently1 disposed towards me2 the
 young heart felt1 for the first time1  
quite orphaned and alone4' ,his         
schoolfellows1 as is usual1 persecuted  
him3 ',they were ,boys1' he says1       
'mostly rude ,boys1 and obeyed the      
impulse of rude ,nature1 which bids the 
deerherd fall upon any stricken hart1   
the duck-flock put to death any         
broken-winged brother or sister1 and on 
all hands the strong tyrannise over the 
weak4' ,he admits1 that though 'perhaps 
in an unusual degree morally            
courageous1' he succeeded ill in battle1
 and would fain have avoided it2 a      
result1 as would appear1 owing less to  
his small personal stature 7for in      
passionate seasons he was 'incredibly   
nimble'71 than to his 'virtuous         
principles'3 'if it was disgraceful to  
be beaten1' says he1 'it was only a     
shade less disgraceful to have so much  

as fought2 thus was ,i drawn two ways at
 once1 and in this important element of 
school-history1 the war-element1 had    
little but sorrow4' ,on the whole1 that 
same excellent ',passivity1' so notable 
in ,teufelsdrckh's childhood1 is here   
visibly enough again getting            
nourishment4 ',he wept often2 indeed to 
such a degree that he was nicknamed ,der
 ,weinende 7the ,tearful71 which        
epithet1 till towards his thirteenth    
year1 was indeed not quite unmerited4   
,only at rare intervals did the young   
soul burst-forth into fire-eyed rage1   
and1 with a stormfulness 7,ungestm7     
under which the boldest quailed1 assert 
that he too had ,rights of ,man1 or at  
least of ,mankin4' ,in all which1 who   
does not discern a fine flower-tree and 
cinnamon-tree 7of genius7 nigh choked   
among pumpkins1 reed-grass and ignoble  
shrubs2 and forced if it would live1 to 
struggle upwards only1 and not outwards2
 into a height quite sickly1 and        
disproportioned to its breadth8  ,we    

find1 moreover1 that his ,greek and     
,latin were 'mechanically' taught2      
,hebrew scarce even mechanically2 much  
else which they called ,history1        
,cosmography1 ,philosophy1 and so forth1
 no better than not at all4 ,so that1   
except inasmuch as ,nature was still    
busy2 and he himself 'went about1 as was
 of old his wont1 among the ,craftsmen's
 workshops1 there learning many things'2
 and farther lighted on some small store
 of curious reading1 in ,hans ,wachtel  
the ,cooper's house1 where he           
lodged1--his time1 it would appear1 was 
utterly wasted4 ,which facts the        
,professor has not yet learned to look  
upon with any contentment4 ,indeed1     
throughout the whole of this ,bag       
,scorpio1 where we now are1 and often in
 the following ,bag1 he shows himself   
unusually animated on the matter of     
,education1 and not without some touch  
of what we might presume to be anger4   
',my ,teachers1' says he1 'were         
hide-bound ,pedants1 without knowledge  

of man's nature1 or of boy's2 or of     
aught save their lexicons and quarterly 
account-books4 ,innumerable dead        
,vocables 7no dead ,language1 for they  
themselves knew no ,language7 they      
crammed into us1 and called it fostering
 the growth of mind4 ,how can an        
inanimate1 mechanical ,gerund-grinder1  
the like of whom will1 in a subsequent  
century1 be manufactured at ,nrnberg out
 of wood and leather1 foster the growth 
of anything2 much more of ,mind1 which  
grows1 not like a vegetable 7by having  
its roots littered with etymological    
compost71 but like a spirit1 by         
mysterious contact of ,spirit2 ,thought 
kindling itself at the fire of living   
,thought8 ,how shall he give kindling1  
in whose own inward man there is no live
 coal1 but all is burnt-out to a dead   
grammatical cinder8 ,the ,hinterschlag  
,professors knew syntax enough2 and of  
the human soul thus much3 that it had a 
faculty called ,memory1 and could be    
acted-on through the muscular integument

 by appliance of birch-rods4  ',alas1 so
 is it everywhere1 so will it ever be2  
till the ,hodman is discharged1 or      
reduced to hodbearing1 and an ,architect
 is hired1 and on all hands fitly       
encouraged3 till communities and        
individuals discover1 not without       
surprise1 that fashioning the souls of a
 generation by ,knowledge can rank on a 
level with blowing their bodies to      
pieces by ,gunpowder2 that with         
,generals and ,fieldmarshals for        
killing1 there should be world-honoured 
,dignitaries1 and were it possible1 true
 ,god-ordained ,priests1 for teaching4  
,but as yet1 though the ,soldier wears  
openly1 and even parades1 his           
butchering-tool1 nowhere1 far as ,i have
 travelled1 did the ,schoolmaster make  
show of his instructing-tool3 nay1 were 
he to walk abroad with birch girt on    
thigh1 as if he therefrom expected      
honour1 would there not1 among the idler
 class1 perhaps a certain levity be     
excited8'  ,in the third year of this   

,gymnasic period1 ,father ,andreas seems
 to have died3 the young ,scholar1      
otherwise so maltreated1 saw himself for
 the first time clad outwardly in       
sables1 and inwardly in quite           
inexpressible melancholy4 ',the dark    
bottomless ,abyss1 that lies under our  
feet1 had yawned open2 the pale kingdoms
 of ,death1 with all their innumerable  
silent nations and generations1 stood   
before him2 the inexorable word1        
,,never6 now first showed its meaning4  
,my ,mother wept1 and her sorrow got    
vent2 but in my heart there lay a whole 
lake of tears1 pent-up in silent        
desolation4 ,nevertheless the unworn    
,spirit is strong2 ,life is so healthful
 that it even finds nourishment in      
,death3 these stern experiences1 planted
 down by ,memory in my ,imagination1    
rose there to a whole cypress-forest1   
sad but beautiful2 waving1 with not     
unmelodious sighs1 in dark luxuriance1  
in the hottest sunshine1 through long   
years of youth3--as in manhood also it  

does1 and will do2 for ,i have now      
pitched my tent under a ,cypress-tree2  
the ,tomb is now my inexpugnable        
,fortress1 ever close by the gate of    
which ,i look upon the hostile          
armaments1 and pains and penalties of   
tyrannous ,life placidly enough1 and    
listen to its loudest threatenings with 
a still smile4 ,o ye loved ones1 that   
already sleep in the noiseless ,bed of  
,rest1 whom in life ,i could only weep  
for and never help2 and ye1 who         
wide-scattered still toil lonely in the 
monster-bearing ,desert1 dyeing the     
flinty ground with your blood1--yet a   
little while1 and we shall all meet     
,,there1 and our ,mother's bosom will   
screen us all2 and ,oppression's        
harness1 and ,sorrow's fire-whip1 and   
all the ,gehenna ,bailiffs that patrol  
and inhabit ever-vexed ,time1 cannot    
thenceforth harm us any more6'  ,close  
by which rather beautiful apostrophe1   
lies a laboured ,character of the       
deceased ,andreas ,futteral2 of his     

natural ability1 his deserts in life 7as
 ,prussian ,sergeant72 with long        
historical inquiries into the genealogy 
of the ,futteral ,family1 here traced   
back as far as ,henry the ,fowler3 the  
whole of which we pass over1 not without
 astonishment4 ,it only concerns us to  
add1 that now was the time when ,mother 
,gretchen revealed to her foster-son    
that he was not at all of this kindred1 
or indeed of any kindred1 having come   
into historical existence in the way    
already known to us4 ',thus was ,i      
doubly orphaned1' says he2 'bereft not  
only of ,possession1 but even of        
,remembrance4 ,sorrow and ,wonder1 here 
suddenly united1 could not but produce  
abundant fruit4 ,such a disclosure1 in  
such a season1 struck its roots through 
my whole nature3 ever till the years of 
mature manhood1 it mingled with my whole
 thoughts1 was as the stem whereon all  
my day-dreams and night-dreams grew4 ,a 
certain poetic elevation1 yet also a    
corresponding civic depression1 it      

naturally imparted3 ,i was like no      
other2 in which fixed-idea1 leading     
sometimes to highest1 and oftener to    
frightfullest results1 may there not lie
 the first spring of ,tendencies1 which 
in my ,life have become remarkable      
enough8 ,as in birth1 so in action1     
speculation1 and social position1 my    
fellows are perhaps not numerous4'      
99       99       99       99       99  
,in the ,bag ,sagittarius1 as we at     
length discover1 ,teufelsdrckh has      
become a ,university man2 though1 how1  
when1 or of what quality1 will nowhere  
disclose itself with the smallest       
certainty4 ,few things1 in the way of   
confusion and capricious indistinctness1
 can now surprise our readers2 not even 
the total want of dates1 almost without 
parallel in a ,biographical work4 ,so   
enigmatic1 so chaotic we have always    
found1 and must always look to find1    
these scattered ,leaves4 ,in            
,sagittarius1 however1 ,teufelsdrckh    
begins to show himself even more than   

usually ,sibylline3 fragments of all    
sorts2 scraps of regular ,memoir1       
,college-,exercises1 ,programs1         
,professional ,testimoniums1            
,milkscores1 torn ,billets1 sometimes to
 appearance of an amatory cast2 all     
blown together as if by merest chance1  
henceforth bewilder the sane ,historian4
 ,to combine any picture of these       
,university1 and the subsequent1 years2 
much more1 to decipher therein any      
illustrative primordial elements of the 
,clothes-,philosophy1 becomes such a    
problem as the reader may imagine4  ,so 
much we can see2 darkly1 as through the 
foliage of some wavering thicket3 a     
youth of no common endowment1 who has   
passed happily through ,childhood1 less 
happily yet still vigorously through    
,boyhood1 now at length perfect in 'dead
 vocables1' and set down1 as he hopes1  
by the living ,fountain1 there to       
superadd ,ideas and ,capabilities4 ,from
 such ,fountain he draws1 diligently1   
thirstily1 yet never or seldom with his 

whole heart1 for the water nowise suits 
his palate2 discouragements1            
entanglements1 aberrations are          
discoverable or supposable4 ,nor perhaps
 are even pecuniary distresses wanting2 
for 'the good ,gretchen1 who in spite of
 advices from not disinterested         
relatives has sent him hither1 must     
after a time withdraw her willing but   
too feeble hand4' ,nevertheless in an   
atmosphere of ,poverty and manifold     
,chagrin1 the ,humour of that young     
,soul1 what character is in him1 first  
decisively reveals itself2 and1 like    
strong sunshine in weeping skies1 gives 
out variety of colours1 some of which   
are prismatic4 ,thus1 with the aid of   
,time and of what ,time brings1 has the 
stripling ,diogenes ,teufelsdrckh waxed 
into manly stature2 and into so         
questionable an aspect1 that we ask with
 new eagerness1 ,how he specially came  
by it1 and regret anew that there is no 
more explicit answer4 ,certain of the   
intelligible and partially significant  

fragments1 which are few in number1     
shall be extracted from that ,limbo of a
 ,paper-bag1 and presented with the     
usual preparation4  ,as if1 in the ,bag 
,scorpio1 ,teufelsdrckh had not already 
expectorated his antipedagogic spleen2  
as if1 from the name ,sagittarius1 he   
had thought himself called upon to shoot
 arrows1 we here again fall-in with such
 matter as this3 ',the ,university where
 ,i was educated still stands vivid     
enough in my remembrance1 and ,i know   
its name well2 which name1 however1 ,i1 
from tenderness to existing interests   
and persons1 shall in nowise divulge4   
,it is my painful duty to say that1 out 
of ,england and ,spain1 ours was the    
worst of all hitherto discovered        
,universities4 ,this is indeed a time   
when right ,education is1 as nearly as  
may be1 impossible3 however1 in degrees 
of wrongness there is no limit3 nay1 ,i 
can conceive a worse system than that of
 the ,nameless itself2 as poisoned      
victual may be worse than absolute      

hunger4  ',it is written1 ,when the     
blind lead the blind1 both shall fall   
into the ditch3 wherefore1 in such      
circumstances1 may it not sometimes be  
safer1 if both leader and led           
simply--sit still8 ,had you1 anywhere in
 ,crim ,tartary2 walled-in a square     
enclosure2 furnished it with a small1   
ill-chosen ,library2 and then turned    
loose into it eleven-hundred ,christian 
striplings1 to tumble about as they     
listed1 from three to seven years3      
certain persons1 under the title of     
,professors1 being stationed at the     
gates1 to declare aloud that it was a   
,university1 and exact considerable     
admission-fees1--you had1 not indeed in 
mechanical structure1 yet in spirit and 
result1 some imperfect resemblance of   
our ,high ,seminary4 ,i say1 imperfect2 
for if our mechanical structure was     
quite other1 so neither was our result  
altogether the same3 unhappily1 we were 
not in ,crim ,tartary1 but in a corrupt 
,european city1 full of smoke and sin2  

moreover1 in the middle of a ,public1   
which1 without far costlier apparatus   
than that of the ,square ,enclosure1 and
 ,declaration aloud1 you could not be   
sure of gulling4  ',gullible1 however1  
by fit apparatus1 all ,publics are2 and 
gulled1 with the most surprising profit4
 ,towards anything like a ,statistics of
 ,imposture1 indeed1 little as yet has  
been done3 with a strange indifference1 
our ,economists1 nigh buried under      
,tables for minor ,branches of          
,industry1 have altogether overlooked   
the grand all-overtopping ,hypocrisy    
,branch2 as if our whole arts of        
,puffery1 of ,quackery1 ,priestcraft1   
,kingcraft1 and the innumerable other   
crafts and mysteries of that genus1 had 
not ranked in ,productive ,industry at  
all6 ,can any one1 for example1 so much 
as say1 ,what moneys1 in ,literature and
 ,shoeblacking1 are realised by actual  
,instruction and actual jet ,polish2    
what by fictitious-persuasive           
,proclamation of such2 specifying1 in   

distinct items1 the distributions1      
circulations1 disbursements1 incomings  
of said moneys1 with the smallest       
approach to accuracy8 ,but to ask1 ,how 
far1 in all the several                 
infinitely-complected departments of    
social business1 in government1         
education1 in manual1 commercial1       
intellectual fabrication of every sort1 
man's ,want is supplied by true ,ware2  
how far by the mere ,appearance of true 
,ware3--in other words1 ,to what extent1
 by what methods1 with what effects1 in 
various times and countries1 ,deception 
takes the place of wages of             
,performance3 here truly is an ,inquiry 
big with results for the future time1   
but to which hitherto only the vaguest  
answer can be given4 ,if for the        
present1 in our ,europe1 we estimate the
 ratio of ,ware to ,appearance of ,ware 
so high even as at ,one to a ,hundred   
7which1 considering the ,wages of a     
,pope1 ,russian ,autocrat1 or ,english  
,game-,preserver1 is probably not far   

from the mark71--what almost prodigious 
saving may there not be anticipated1 as 
the ,statistics of ,imposture advances1 
and so the manufacturing of ,shams 7that
 of ,realities rising into clearer and  
clearer distinction therefrom7 gradually
 declines1 and at length becomes all but
 wholly unnecessary6  ',this for the    
coming golden ages4 ,what ,i had to     
remark1 for the present brazen one1 is1 
that in several provinces1 as in        
,education1 ,polity1 ,religion1 where so
 much is wanted and indispensable1 and  
so little can as yet be furnished1      
probably ,imposture is of sanative1     
anodyne nature1 and man's ,gullibility  
not his worst blessing4 ,suppose your   
sinews of war quite broken2 ,i mean your
 military chest insolvent1 forage all   
but exhausted2 and that the whole army  
is about to mutiny1 disband1 and cut    
your and each other's throat1--then were
 it not well could you1 as if by        
miracle1 pay them in any sort of        
fairy-money1 feed them on coagulated    

water1 or mere imagination of meat2     
whereby1 till the real supply came up1  
they might be kept together and quiet8  
,such perhaps was the aim of ,nature1   
who does nothing without aim1 in        
furnishing her favourite1 ,man1 with    
this his so omnipotent or rather        
omnipatient ,talent of being ,gulled4   
',how beautifully it works1 with a      
little mechanism2 nay1 almost makes     
mechanism for itself6 ,these ,professors
 in the ,nameless lived with ease1 with 
safety1 by a mere ,reputation1          
constructed in past times1 and then too 
with no great effort1 by quite another  
class of persons4 ,which ,reputation1   
like a strong1 brisk-going undershot    
wheel1 sunk into the general current1   
bade fair1 with only a little annual    
repainting on their part1 to hold long  
together1 and of its own accord         
assiduously grind for them4 ,happy that 
it was so1 for the ,millers6 ,they      
themselves needed not to work2 their    
attempts at working1 at what they called

 ,educating1 now when ,i look back on   
it1 filled me with a certain mute       
admiration4  ',besides all this1 we     
boasted ourselves a ,rational           
,university2 in the highest degree      
hostile to ,mysticism2 thus was the     
young vacant mind furnished with much   
talk about ,progress of the ,species1   
,dark ,ages1 ,prejudice1 and the like2  
so that all were quickly enough blown   
out into a state of windy               
argumentativeness2 whereby the better   
sort had soon to end in sick1 impotent  
,scepticism2 the worser sort explode    
7crepiren7 in finished ,self-conceit1   
and to all spiritual intents become     
dead4--,but this too is portion of      
mankind's lot4 ,if our era is the ,era  
of ,unbelief1 why murmur under it2 is   
there not a better coming1 nay come8 ,as
 in long-drawn ,systole and long-drawn  
,diastole1 must the period of ,faith    
alternate with the period of ,denial2   
must the vernal growth1 the summer      
luxuriance of all ,opinions1 ,spiritual 

,representations and ,creations1 be     
followed by1 and again follow1 the      
autumnal decay1 the winter dissolution4 
,for man lives in ,time1 has his whole  
earthly being1 endeavour and destiny    
shaped for him by ,time3 only in the    
transitory ,time-,symbol is the         
ever-motionless ,eternity we stand on   
made manifest4 ,and yet1 in such        
winter-seasons of ,denial1 it is for the
 nobler-minded perhaps a comparative    
misery to have been born1 and to be     
awake and work2 and for the duller a    
felicity1 if1 like hibernating animals1 
safe-lodged in some ,salamanca          
,university1 or ,sybaris ,city1 or other
 superstitious or voluptuous ,castle of 
,indolence1 they can slumber-through1 in
 stupid dreams1 and only awaken when the
 loud-roaring hailstorms have all done  
their work1 and to our prayers and      
martyrdoms the new ,spring has been     
vouchsafed4'  ,that in the environment1 
here mysteriously enough shadowed forth1
 ,teufelsdrckh must have felt ill at    

ease1 cannot be doubtful4 ',the hungry  
young1' he says1 'looked up to their    
spiritual ,nurses2 and1 for food1 were  
bidden eat the east-wind4 ,what vain    
jargon of controversial ,metaphysic1    
,etymology1 and mechanical ,manipulation
 falsely named ,science1 was current    
there1 ,i indeed learned1 better perhaps
 than the most4 ,among eleven-hundred   
,christian youths1 there will not be    
wanting some eleven eager to learn4 ,by 
collision with such1 a certain warmth1 a
 certain polish was communicated2 by    
instinct and happy accident1 ,i took    
less to rioting 7renommiren71 than to   
thinking and reading1 which latter also 
,i was free to do4 ,nay from the chaos  
of that ,library1 ,i succeeded in       
fishing-up more books perhaps than had  
been known to the very keepers thereof4 
,the foundation of a ,literary ,life was
 hereby laid 3 ,i learned1 on my own    
strength1 to read fluently in almost all
 cultivated languages1 on almost all    
subjects and sciences2 farther1 as man  

is ever the prime object to man1 already
 it was my favourite employment to read 
character in speculation1 and from the  
,writing to construe the ,writer4 ,a    
certain groundplan of ,human ,nature and
 ,life began to fashion itself in me2   
wondrous enough1 now when ,i look back  
on it2 for my whole ,universe1 physical 
and spiritual1 was as yet a ,machine6   
,however1 such a conscious1 recognised  
groundplan1 the truest ,i had1 was      
beginning to be there1 and by additional
 experiments might be corrected and     
indefinitely extended4'  ,thus from     
poverty does the strong educe nobler    
wealth2 thus in the destitution of the  
wild desert does our young ,ishmael     
acquire for himself the highest of all  
possessions1 that of ,self-help4        
,nevertheless a desert this was1 waste1 
and howling with savage monsters4       
,teufelsdrckh gives us long details of  
his 'fever-paroxysms of ,doubt'2 his    
,inquiries concerning ,miracles1 and the
 ,evidences of religious ,faith2 and how

 'in the silent night-watches1 still    
darker in his heart than over sky and   
earth1 he has cast himself before the   
,all-seeing1 and with audible prayers   
cried vehemently for ,light1 for        
deliverance from ,death and the ,grave4 
,not till after long years1 and         
unspeakable agonies1 did the believing  
heart surrender2 sink into spell-bound  
sleep1 under the night-mare1 ,unbelief2 
and1 in this hag-ridden dream1 mistake  
,god's fair living world for a pallid1  
vacant ,hades and extinct ,pandemonium4 
,but through such ,purgatory pain1'     
continues he1 'it is appointed us to    
pass2 first must the dead ,letter of    
,religion own itself dead1 and drop     
piecemeal into dust1 if the living      
,spirit of ,religion1 freed from this   
its charnel-house1 is to arise on us1   
newborn of ,heaven1 and with new healing
 under its wings4'  ,to which ,purgatory
 pains1 seemingly severe enough1 if we  
add a liberal measure of ,earthly       
distresses1 want of practical guidance1 

want of sympathy1 want of money1 want of
 hope2 and all this in the fervid season
 of youth1 so exaggerated in imagining1 
so boundless in desires1 yet here so    
poor in means1--do we not see a strong  
incipient spirit oppressed and          
overloaded from without and from within2
 the fire of genius struggling-up among 
fuel-wood of the greenest1 and as yet   
with more of bitter vapour than of clear
 flame8  ,from various fragments of     
,letters and other documentary scraps1  
it is to be inferred that ,teufelsdrckh1
 isolated1 shy1 retiring as he was1 had 
not altogether escaped notice3 certain  
established men are aware of his        
existence2 and1 if stretching-out no    
helpful hand1 have at least their eyes  
on him4 ,he appears1 though in dreary   
enough humour1 to be addressing himself 
to the ,profession of ,law2--whereof1   
indeed1 the world has since seen him a  
public graduate4 ,but omitting these    
broken1 unsatisfactory thrums of        
,economical relation1 let us present    

rather the following small thread of    
,moral relation2 and therewith1 the     
reader for himself weaving it in at the 
right place1 conclude our dim           
arras-picture of these ,university      
years4  ',here also it was that ,i      
formed acquaintance with ,herr ,towgood1
 or1 as it is perhaps better written1   
,herr ,toughgut2 a young person of      
quality 7von ,adel71 from the interior  
parts of ,england4 ,he stood connected1 
by blood and hospitality1 with the      
,counts von ,zhdarm1 in this quarter of 
,germany2 to which noble ,family ,i     
likewise was1 by his means1 with all    
friendliness1 brought near4 ,towgood had
 a fair talent1 unspeakably             
ill-cultivated2 with considerable humour
 of character3 and1 bating his total    
ignorance1 for he knew nothing except   
,boxing and a little ,grammar1 showed   
less of that aristocratic impassivity1  
and silent fury1 than for most part     
belongs to ,travellers of his nation4   
,to him ,i owe my first practical       

knowledge of the ,english and their     
ways2 perhaps also something of the     
partiality with which ,i have ever since
 regarded that singular people4 ,towgood
 was not without an eye1 could he have  
come at any light4 ,invited doubtless by
 the presence of the ,zhdarm ,family1 he
 had travelled hither1 in the almost    
frantic hope of perfecting his studies2 
he1 whose studies had as yet been those 
of infancy1 hither to a ,university     
where so much as the notion of          
perfection1 not to say the effort after 
it1 no longer existed6 ,often we would  
condole over the hard destiny of the    
,young in this era3 how1 after all our  
toil1 we were to be turned-out into the 
world1 with beards on our chins indeed1 
but with few other attributes of        
manhood2 no existing thing that we were 
trained to ,act on1 nothing that we     
could so much as ,believe4 ,how has our 
head on the outside a polished ,hat1    
would ,towgood exclaim1 and in the      
inside ,vacancy1 or a froth of ,vocables

 and ,attorney-,logic6 ,at a small cost 
men are educated to make leather into   
shoes2 but at a great cost1 what am ,i  
educated to make8 ,by ,heaven1 ,brother6
 what ,i have already eaten and worn1 as
 ,i came thus far1 would endow a        
considerable ,hospital of               
,incurables4--,man1 indeed1 ,i would    
answer1 has a ,digestive ,faculty1 which
 must be kept working1 were it even     
partly by stealth4 ,but as for our      
,mis-education1 make not bad worse2     
waste not the time yet ours1 in         
trampling on thistles because they have 
yielded us no figs4 ,frisch zu1 ,bruder6
 ,here are ,books1 and we have brains to
 read them2 here is a whole ,earth and a
 whole ,heaven1 and we have eyes to look
 on them3 ,frisch zu6  ',often also our 
talk was gay2 not without brilliancy1   
and even fire4 ,we looked-out on ,life1 
with its strange scaffolding1 where all 
at once harlequins dance1 and men are   
beheaded and quartered3 motley1 not     
unterrific was the aspect2 but we looked

 on it like brave youths4 ,for myself1  
these were perhaps my most genial hours4
 ,towards this young warmhearted1       
strongheaded and wrongheaded ,herr      
,towgood ,i was even near experiencing  
the now obsolete sentiment of           
,friendship4 ,yes1 foolish ,heathen that
 ,i was1 ,i felt that1 under certain    
conditions1 ,i could have loved this    
man1 and taken him to my bosom1 and been
 his brother once and always4 ,by       
degrees1 however1 ,i understood the new 
time1 and its wants4 ,if man's ,soul is 
indeed1 as in the ,finnish ,language1   
and ,utilitarian ,philosophy1 a kind of 
,stomach1 what else is the true meaning 
of ,spiritual ,union but an ,eating     
together8 ,thus we1 instead of ,friends1
 are ,dinner-guests2 and here as        
elsewhere have cast away chimeras4'  ,so
 ends1 abruptly as is usual1 and        
enigmatically1 this little incipient    
romance4 ,what henceforth becomes of the
 brave ,herr ,towgood1 or ,toughgut8 ,he
 has dived-under1 in the                

,autobiographical ,chaos1 and swims we  
see not where4 ,does any reader 'in the 
interior parts of ,england' know of such
 a man8     ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,getting   
,,under ,,way   ',thus1 nevertheless1'  
writes our autobiographer1 apparently as
 quitting ,college1 'was there realised 
,somewhat2 namely1 ,i1 ,diogenes        
,teufelsdrckh3 a visible ,temporary     
,figure 7,zeitbild71 occupying some     
cubic feet of ,space1 and containing    
within it ,forces both physical and     
spiritual2 hopes1 passions1 thoughts2   
the whole wondrous furniture1 in more or
 less perfection1 belonging to that     
mystery1 a ,man4 ,capabilities there    
were in me to give battle1 in some small
 degree1 against the great ,empire of   
,darkness3 does not the very ,ditcher   
and ,delver1 with his spade1 extinguish 
many a thistle and puddle2 and so leave 
a little ,order1 where he found the     
opposite8 ,nay your very ,daymoth has   
capabilities in this kind2 and ever     
organises something 7into its own ,body1

 if no otherwise71 which was before     
,inorganic2 and of mute dead air makes  
living music1 though only of the        
faintest1 by humming4  ',how much more1 
one whose capabilities are spiritual2   
who has learned1 or begun learning1 the 
grand thaumaturgic art of ,thought6     
,thaumaturgic ,i name it2 for hitherto  
all ,miracles have been wrought thereby1
 and henceforth innumerable will be     
wrought2 whereof we1 even in these days1
 witness some4 ,of the ,poet's and      
,prophet's inspired ,message1 and how it
 makes and unmakes whole worlds1 ,i     
shall forbear mention3 but cannot the   
dullest hear ,steam-engines clanking    
around him8 ,has he not seen the        
,scottish ,brassmith's ,,idea 7and this 
but a mechanical one7 travelling on     
fire-wings round the ,cape1 and across  
two ,oceans2 and stronger than any other
 ,enchanter's ,familiar1 on all hands   
unweariedly fetching and carrying3 at   
home1 not only weaving ,cloth1 but      
rapidly enough overturning the whole old

 system of ,society2 and1 for ,feudalism
 and ,preservation of the ,game1        
preparing us1 by indirect but sure      
methods1 ,industrialism and the         
,government of the ,wisest8 ,truly a    
,thinking ,man is the worst enemy the   
,prince of ,darkness can have2 every    
time such a one announces himself1 ,i   
doubt not1 there runs a shudder through 
the ,nether ,empire2 and new ,emissaries
 are trained1 with new tactics1 to1 if  
possible1 entrap him1 and hoodwink and  
handcuff him4  ',with such high vocation
 had ,i too1 as denizen of the          
,universe1 been called4 ,unhappy it is1 
however1 that though born to the amplest
 ,sovereignty1 in this way1 with no less
 than sovereign right of ,peace and ,war
 against the ,time-,prince 7,zeitfrst71 
or ,devil1 and all his ,dominions1 your 
coronation-ceremony costs such trouble1 
your sceptre is so difficult to get at1 
or even to get eye on6'  ,by which last 
wiredrawn similitude does ,teufelsdrckh 
mean no more than that young men find   

obstacles in what we call 'getting under
 way'8 ',not what ,i ,have1' continues  
he1 'but what ,i ,do is my ,kingdom4 ,to
 each is given a certain inward ,talent1
 a certain outward ,environment of      
,fortune2 to each1 by wisest combination
 of these two1 a certain maximum of     
,capability4 ,but the hardest problem   
were ever this first3 ,to find by study 
of yourself1 and of the ground you stand
 on1 what your combined inward and      
outward ,capability specially is4 ,for1 
alas1 our young soul is all budding with
 ,capabilities1 and we see not yet which
 is the main and true one4 ,always too  
the new man is in a new time1 under new 
conditions2 his course can be the       
fac-simile of no prior one1 but is by   
its nature original4 ,and then how      
seldom will the outward ,capability fit 
the inward3 though talented wonderfully 
enough1 we are poor1 unfriended1        
dyspeptical1 bashful2 nay what is worse 
than all1 we are foolish4 ,thus1 in a   
whole imbroglio of ,capabilities1 we go 

stupidly groping about1 to grope which  
is ours1 and often clutch the wrong one3
 in this mad work must several years of 
our small term be spent1 till the       
purblind ,youth1 by practice1 acquire   
notions of distance1 and become a seeing
 ,man4 ,nay1 many so spend their whole  
term1 and in ever-new expectation1      
ever-new disappointment1 shift from     
enterprise to enterprise1 and from side 
to side3 till at length1 as exasperated 
striplings of threescore-and-ten1 they  
shift into their last enterprise1 that  
of getting buried4  ',such1 since the   
most of us are too ophthalmic1 would be 
the general fate2 were it not that one  
thing saves us3 our ,hunger4 ,for on    
this ground1 as the prompt nature of    
,hunger is well known1 must a prompt    
choice be made3 hence have we1 with wise
 foresight1 ,indentures and             
,apprenticeships for our irrational     
young2 whereby1 in due season1 the vague
 universality of a ,man shall find      
himself ready-moulded into a specific   

,craftsman2 and so thenceforth work1    
with much or with little waste of       
,capability as it may be2 yet not with  
the worst waste1 that of time4 ,nay even
 in matters spiritual1 since the        
spiritual artist too is born blind1 and 
does not1 like certain other creatures1 
receive sight in nine days1 but far     
later1 sometimes never1--is it not well 
that there should be what we call       
,professions1 or ,bread-studies         
7,brodzwecke71 pre-appointed us8 ,here1 
circling like the gin-horse1 for whom   
partial or total blindness is no evil1  
the ,bread-artist can travel contentedly
 round and round1 still fancying that it
 is forward and forward2 and realise    
much3 for himself victual2 for the world
 an additional horse's power in the     
grand corn-mill or hemp-mill of         
,economic ,society4 ,for me too had such
 a leading-string been provided2 only   
that it proved a neck-halter1 and had   
nigh throttled me1 till ,i broke it off4
 ,then1 in the words of ,ancient        

,pistol1 did the world generally become 
mine oyster1 which ,i1 by strength or   
cunning1 was to open1 as ,i would and   
could4 ,almost had ,i deceased 7fast wr 
ich umgekommen71 so obstinately did it  
continue shut4'  ,we see here1          
significantly foreshadowed1 the spirit  
of much that was to befall our          
,autobiographer2 the historical         
embodiment of which1 as it painfully    
takes shape in his ,life1 lies          
scattered1 in dim disastrous details1   
through this ,bag ,pisces1 and those    
that follow4 ,a young man of high       
talent1 and high though still temper1   
like a young mettled colt1 'breaks-off  
his neck-halter1' and bounds forth1 from
 his peculiar manger1 into the wide     
world2 which1 alas1 he finds all        
rigorously fenced-in4 ,richest          
clover-fields tempt his eye2 but to him 
they are forbidden pasture3 either      
pining in progressive starvation1 he    
must stand2 or1 in mad exasperation1    
must rush to and fro1 leaping against   

sheer stone-walls1 which he cannot leap 
over1 which only lacerate and lame him2 
till at last1 after thousand attempts   
and endurances1 he1 as if by miracle1   
clears his way2 not indeed into         
luxuriant and luxurious clover1 yet into
 a certain bosky wilderness where       
existence is still possible1 and        
,freedom1 though waited on by ,scarcity1
 is not without sweetness4 ,in a word1  
,teufelsdrckh having thrown-up his legal
 ,profession1 finds himself without     
landmark of outward guidance2 whereby   
his previous want of decided ,belief1 or
 inward guidance1 is frightfully        
aggravated4 ,necessity urges him on2    
,time will not stop1 neither can he1 a  
,son of ,time2 wild passions without    
solacement1 wild faculties without      
employment1 ever vex and agitate him4   
,he too must enact that stern           
,monodrama1 ,no ,object and no ,rest2   
must front its successive destinies1    
work through to its catastrophe1 and    
deduce therefrom what moral he can4     

,yet let us be just to him1 let us admit
 that his 'neck-halter' sat nowise easy 
on him2 that he was in some degree      
forced to break it off4 ,if we look at  
the young man's civic position1 in this 
,nameless capital1 as he emerges from   
its ,nameless ,university1 we can       
discern well that it was far from       
enviable4 ,his first ,law-,examination  
he has come through triumphantly2 and   
can even boast that the ,examen         
,rigorosum need not have frightened him3
 but though he is hereby 'an            
,auscultator of respectability1' what   
avails it8 ,there is next to no         
employment to be had4 ,neither1 for a   
youth without connexions1 is the process
 of ,expectation very hopeful in itself2
 nor for one of his disposition much    
cheered from without4 ',my fellow       
,auscultators1' he says1 'were          
,auscultators3 they dressed1 and        
digested1 and talked articulate words2  
other vitality showed they almost none4 
,small speculation in those eyes1 that  

they did glare withal6 ,sense neither   
for the high nor for the deep1 nor for  
aught human or divine1 save only for the
 faintest scent of coming ,preferment4' 
,in which words1 indicating a total     
estrangement on the part of             
,teufelsdrckh1 may there not also lurk  
traces of a bitterness as from wounded  
vanity8 ,doubtless these prosaic        
,auscultators may have sniffed at him1  
with his strange ways2 and tried to     
hate1 and what was much more impossible1
 to despise him4 ,friendly communion1 in
 any case1 there could not be3 already  
has the young ,teufelsdrckh left the    
other young geese2 and swims apart1     
though as yet uncertain whether he      
himself is cygnet or gosling4  ,perhaps1
 too1 what little employment he had was 
performed ill1 at best unpleasantly4    
',great practical method and expertness'
 he may brag of2 but is there not also  
great practical pride1 though           
deep-hidden1 only the deeper-seated8 ,so
 shy a man can never have been popular4 

,we figure to ourselves1 how in those   
days he may have played strange freaks  
with his independence1 and so forth3 do 
not his own words betoken as much8      
',like a very young person1 ,i imagined 
it was with ,work alone1 and not also   
with ,folly and ,sin1 in myself and     
others1 that ,i had been appointed to   
struggle4' ,be this as it may1 his      
progress from the passive               
,auscultatorship1 towards any active    
,assessorship1 is evidently of the      
slowest4 ,by degrees1 those same        
established men1 once partially inclined
 to patronise him1 seem to withdraw     
their countenance1 and give him up as 'a
 man of genius'3 against which procedure
 he1 in these ,papers1 loudly protests4 
',as if1' says he1 'the higher did not  
presuppose the lower2 as if he who can  
fly into heaven1 could not also walk    
post if he resolved on it6 ,but the     
world is an old woman1 and mistakes any 
gilt farthing for a gold coin2 whereby  
being often cheated1 she will           

thenceforth trust nothing but the common
 copper4'  ,how our winged              
sky-messenger1 unaccepted as a          
terrestrial runner1 contrived1 in the   
mean while1 to keep himself from flying 
skyward without return1 is not too clear
 from these ,documents4 ,good old       
,gretchen seems to have vanished from   
the scene1 perhaps from the ,earth2     
other ,horn of ,plenty1 or even of      
,parsimony1 nowhere flows for him2 so   
that 'the prompt nature of ,hunger being
 well known1' we are not without our    
anxiety4 ,from private ,tuition1 in     
never so many languages and sciences1   
the aid derivable is small2 neither1 to 
use his own words1 'does the young      
,adventurer hitherto suspect in himself 
any literary gift2 but at best earns    
bread-and-water wages1 by his wide      
faculty of ,translation4 ,nevertheless1'
 continues he1 'that ,i subsisted is    
clear1 for you find me even now alive4' 
,which fact1 however1 except upon the   
principle of our true-hearted1 kind old 

,proverb1 that 'there is always life for
 a living one1' we must profess         
ourselves unable to explain4  ,certain  
,landlords' ,bills1 and other economic  
,documents1 bearing the mark of         
,settlement1 indicate that he was not   
without money2 but1 like an independent 
,hearth-holder1 if not ,house-holder1   
paid his way4 ,here also occur1 among   
many others1 two little mutilated       
,notes1 which perhaps throw light on his
 condition4 ,the first has now no date1 
or writer's name1 but a huge ,blot2 and 
runs to this effect3 ',the 7,inkblot71  
tied-down by previous promise1 cannot1  
except by best wishes1 forward the ,herr
 ,teufelsdrckh's views on the           
,assessorship in question2 and sees     
himself under the cruel necessity of    
forbearing1 for the present1 what were  
otherwise his duty and joy1 to assist in
 opening the career for a man of genius1
 on whom far higher triumphs are yet    
waiting4' ,the other is on gilt paper2  
and interests us like a sort of         

epistolary mummy now dead1 yet which    
once lived and beneficently worked4 ,we 
give it in the original3 ',herr         
,teufelsdrckh wird von der ,frau        
,grfinn1 auf ,donnerstag1 zum           
,,sthetischen ,,thee schnstens          
eingeladen4'  ,thus1 in answer to a cry 
for solid pudding1 whereof there is the 
most urgent need1 comes1                
epigrammatically enough1 the invitation 
to a wash of quite fluid sthetic ,tea6  
,how ,teufelsdrckh1 now at actual       
handgrips with ,destiny herself1 may    
have comported himself among these      
,musical and ,literary ,dilettanti of   
both sexes1 like a hungry lion invited  
to a feast of chickenweed1 we can only  
conjecture4 ,perhaps in expressive      
silence1 and abstinence3 otherwise if   
the lion1 in such case1 is to feast at  
all1 it cannot be on the chickenweed1   
but only on the chickens4 ,for the rest1
 as this ,frau ,grfinn dates from the   
,zhdarm ,house1 she can be no other than
 the ,countess and mistress of the same2

 whose intellectual tendencies1 and     
good-will to ,teufelsdrckh1 whether on  
the footing of ,herr ,towgood1 or on his
 own footing1 are hereby manifest4 ,that
 some sort of relation1 indeed1         
continued1 for a time1 to connect our   
,autobiographer1 though perhaps feebly  
enough1 with this noble ,house1 we have 
elsewhere express evidence4 ,doubtless1 
if he expected patronage1 it was in     
vain2 enough for him if he here obtained
 occasional glimpses of the great world1
 from which we at one time fancied him  
to have been always excluded4 ',the     
,zhdarms1' says he1 'lived in the soft1 
sumptuous garniture of ,aristocracy2    
whereto ,literature and ,art1 attracted 
and attached from without1 were to serve
 as the handsomest fringing4 ,it was to 
the ,gndigen ,frau 7her ,ladyship7 that 
this latter improvement was due3        
assiduously she gathered1 dextrously she
 fitted-on1 what fringing was to be had2
 lace or cobweb1 as the place yielded4' 
,was ,teufelsdrckh also a fringe1 of    

lace or cobweb2 or promising to be such8
 ',with his ,excellenz 7the ,count71'   
continues he1 ',i have more than once   
had the honour to converse2 chiefly on  
general affairs1 and the aspect of the  
world1 which he1 though now past middle 
life1 viewed in no unfavourable light2  
finding indeed1 except the ,outrooting  
of ,journalism 7die auszurottende       
,journalistik71 little to desiderate    
therein4 ,on some points1 as his        
,excellenz was not uncholeric1 ,i found 
it more pleasant to keep silence4       
,besides1 his occupation being that of  
,owning ,land1 there might be faculties 
enough1 which1 as superfluous for such  
use1 were little developed in him4'     
,that to ,teufelsdrckh the aspect of the
 world was nowise so faultless1 and many
 things besides 'the ,outrooting of     
,journalism' might have seemed          
improvements1 we can readily conjecture4
 ,with nothing but a barren             
,auscultatorship from without1 and so   
many mutinous thoughts and wishes from  

within1 his position was no easy one4   
',the ,universe1' he says1 'was as a    
mighty ,sphinx-riddle1 which ,i knew so 
little of1 yet must rede1 or be         
devoured4 ,in red streaks of unspeakable
 grandeur1 yet also in the blackness of 
darkness1 was ,life1 to my              
too-unfurnished ,thought1 unfolding     
itself4 ,a strange contradiction lay in 
me2 and ,i as yet knew not the solution 
of it2 knew not that spiritual music can
 spring only from discords set in       
harmony2 that but for ,evil there were  
no ,good1 as victory is only possible by
 battle4'  ',i have heard affirmed      
7surely in jest71' observes he          
elsewhere1 'by not unphilanthropic      
persons1 that it were a real increase of
 human happiness1 could all young men   
from the age of nineteen be covered     
under barrels1 or rendered otherwise    
invisible2 and there left to follow     
their lawful studies and callings1 till 
they emerged1 sadder and wiser1 at the  
age of twenty-five4 ,with which         

suggestion1 at least as considered in   
the light of a practical scheme1 ,i need
 scarcely say that ,i nowise coincide4  
,nevertheless it is plausibly urged     
that1 as young ladies 7,mdchen7 are1 to 
mankind1 precisely the most delightful  
in those years2 so young gentlemen      
7,bbchen7 do then attain their maximum  
of detestability4 ,such gawks 7,gecken7 
are they2 and foolish peacocks1 and yet 
with such a vulturous hunger for        
self-indulgence2 so obstinate1          
obstreperous1 vainglorious2 in all      
senses1 so froward and so forward4 ,no  
mortal's endeavour or attainment will1  
in the smallest1 content the as yet     
unendeavouring1 unattaining young       
gentleman2 but he could make it all     
infinitely better1 were it worthy of    
him4 ,life everywhere is the most       
manageable matter1 simple as a question 
in the ,rule-of-,three3 multiply your   
second and third term together1 divide  
the product by the first1 and your      
quotient will be the answer1--which you 

are but an ass if you cannot come at4   
,the booby has not yet found-out1 by any
 trial1 that1 do what one will1 there is
 ever a cursed fraction1 oftenest a     
decimal repeater1 and no net integer    
quotient so much as to be thought of4'  
,in which passage does not there lie an 
implied confession that ,teufelsdrckh   
himself1 besides his outward            
obstructions1 had an inward1 still      
greater1 to contend with2 namely1 a     
certain temporary1 youthful1 yet still  
afflictive derangement of head8 ,alas1  
on the former side alone1 his case was  
hard enough4 ',it continues ever true1' 
says he1 'that ,saturn1 or ,chronos1 or 
what we call ,,time1 devours all his    
,children3 only by incessant ,running1  
by incessant ,working1 may you 7for some
 threescore-and-ten years7 escape him2  
and you too he devours at last4 ,can any
 ,sovereign1 or ,holy ,alliance of      
,sovereigns1 bid ,time stand still2 even
 in thought1 shake themselves free of   
,time8 ,our whole terrestrial being is  

based on ,time1 and built of ,time2 it  
is wholly a ,movement1 a ,time-impulse2 
,time is the author of it1 the material 
of it4 ,hence also our ,whole ,duty1    
which is to move1 to work1--in the right
 direction4 ,are not our ,bodies and our
 ,souls in continual movement1 whether  
we will or not2 in a continual ,waste1  
requiring a continual ,repair8 ,utmost  
satisfaction of our whole outward and   
inward ,wants were but satisfaction for 
a space of ,time2 thus1 whatso we have  
done1 is done1 and for us annihilated1  
and ever must we go and do anew4 ,o     
,time-,spirit1 how hast thou environed  
and imprisoned us1 and sunk us so deep  
in thy troublous dim ,time-,element1    
that only in lucid moments can so much  
as glimpses of our upper ,azure ,home be
 revealed to us6 ,me1 however1 as a ,son
 of ,time1 unhappier than some others1  
was ,time threatening to eat quite      
prematurely2 for1 strive as ,i might1   
there was no good ,running1 so          
obstructed was the path1 so gyved were  

the feet4' ,that is to say1 we presume1 
speaking in the dialect of this lower   
world1 that ,teufelsdrckh's whole duty  
and necessity was1 like other men's1 'to
 work1--in the right direction1' and    
that no work was to be had2 whereby he  
became wretched enough4 ,as was natural3
 with haggard ,scarcity threatening him 
in the distance2 and so vehement a soul 
languishing in restless inaction1 and   
forced thereby1 like ,sir ,hudibras's   
sword by rust1    ,to eat into itself   
for lack   ,of something else to hew and
 hack6  ,but on the whole1 that same    
'excellent ,passivity1' as it has all   
along done1 is here again vigorously    
flourishing2 in which circumstance may  
we not trace the beginnings of much that
 now characterises our ,professor2 and  
perhaps1 in faint rudiments1 the origin 
of the ,clothes-,philosophy itself8     
,already the attitude he has assumed    
towards the ,world is too defensive2    
not1 as would have been desirable1 a    
bold attitude of attack4 ',so far       

hitherto1' he says1 'as ,i had mingled  
with mankind1 ,i was notable1 if for    
anything1 for a certain stillness of    
manner1 which1 as my friends often      
rebukingly declared1 did but ill express
 the keen ardour of my feelings4 ,i1 in 
truth1 regarded men with an excess both 
of love and of fear4 ,the mystery of a  
,person1 indeed1 is ever divine to him  
that has a sense for the ,god-like4     
,often1 notwithstanding1 was ,i blamed1 
and by half-strangers hated1 for my     
so-called ,hardness 7,hrte71 my         
,indifferentism towards men2 and the    
seemingly ironic tone ,i had adopted1 as
 my favourite dialect in conversation4  
,alas1 the panoply of ,sarcasm was but  
as a buckram case1 wherein ,i had       
striven to envelop myself2 that so my   
own poor ,person might live safe there1 
and in all friendliness1 being no longer
 exasperated by wounds4 ,sarcasm ,i now 
see to be1 in general1 the language of  
the ,devil2 for which reason ,i have    
long since as good as renounced it4 ,but

 how many individuals did ,i1 in those  
days1 provoke into some degree of       
hostility thereby6 ,an ironic man1 with 
his sly stillness1 and ambuscading ways1
 more especially an ironic young man1   
from whom it is least expected1 may be  
viewed as a pest to society4 ,have we   
not seen persons of weight and name     
coming forward1 with gentlest           
indifference1 to tread such a one out of
 sight1 as an insignificancy and worm1  
start ceiling-high 7balkenhoch71 and    
thence fall shattered and supine1 to be 
borne home on shutters1 not without     
indignation1 when he proved electric and
 a torpedo6'  ,alas1 how can a man with 
this devilishness of temper make way for
 himself in ,life2 where the first      
problem1 as ,teufelsdrckh too admits1 is
 'to unite yourself with some one and   
with somewhat 7sich anzuschliessen7'8   
,division1 not union1 is written on most
 part of his procedure4 ,let us add too 
that1 in no great length of time1 the   
only important connexion he had ever    

succeeded in forming1 his connexion with
 the ,zhdarm ,family1 seems to have been
 paralysed1 for all practical uses1 by  
the death of the 'not uncholeric' old   
,count4 ,this fact stands recorded1     
quite incidentally1 in a certain        
,discourse on ,epitaphs1 huddled into   
the present ,bag1 among so much else2 of
 which ,essay the learning and curious  
penetration are more to be approved of  
than the spirit4 ,his grand principle   
is1 that lapidary inscriptions1 of what 
sort soever1 should be ,historical      
rather than ,lyrical4 ',by request of   
that worthy ,nobleman's survivors1' says
 he1 ',i undertook to compose his       
,epitaph2 and not unmindful of my own   
rules1 produced the following2 which    
however1 for an alleged defect of       
,latinity1 a defect never yet fully     
visible to myself1 still remains        
unengraven'2--wherein1 we may predict1  
there is more than the ,latinity that   
will surprise an ,english reader3       
,,hic ,,jacet                           

,,philippus ,,zaehdarm1 ,,cognomine     
,,magnus1                               
,,zaehdarmi ,,comes1                    
,,ex ,,imperii ,,concilio1              
,,velleris ,,aurei1 ,,periscelidis1     
,,necnon ,,vulturis ,,nigri             
,,eques4                        ,,qui   
,,dum ,,sub ,,luna ,,agebat1            
,,quinquies ,,mille ,,perdices          
,,plumbo ,,confecit3                    
,,varii ,,cibi                          
,,centumpondia ,,millies ,,centena      
,,millia1             ,,per ,,se1       
,,perque ,,servos ,,quadrupedes         
,,bipedesve                     ,,haud  
,,sine ,,tumultu ,,devolvens1           
,,in ,,stercus                          
,,palam ,,convertit4                    
,,nunc ,a ,,labore ,,requiescentem      
,,opera ,,sequuntur4                    
,,si ,,monumentum ,,qu,,ris1            
,,fimetum ,,adspice4      ,,primum ,,in 
,,orbe ,,dejecit sub dato2 ,,postremum  
sub dato4     ,,chapter ,v  ,,romance   
',for long years1' writes ,teufelsdrckh1

 'had the poor ,hebrew1 in this ,egypt  
of an ,auscultatorship1 painfully       
toiled1 baking bricks without stubble1  
before ever the question once struck him
 with entire force3 ,for what8--,beym   
,himmel6 ,for ,food and ,warmth6 ,and   
are ,food and ,warmth nowhere else1 in  
the whole wide ,universe1               
discoverable8--,come of it what might1  
,i resolved to try4'  ,thus then are we 
to see him in a new independent         
capacity1 though perhaps far from an    
improved one4 ,teufelsdrckh is now a man
 without ,profession4 ,quitting the     
common ,fleet of herring-busses and     
whalers1 where indeed his leeward1      
laggard condition was painful enough1 he
 desperately steers-off1 on a course of 
his own1 by sextant and compass of his  
own4 ,unhappy ,teufelsdrckh6 ,though    
neither ,fleet1 nor ,traffic1 nor       
,commodores pleased thee1 still was it  
not a ,fleet1 sailing in prescribed     
track1 for fixed objects2 above all1 in 
combination1 wherein1 by mutual         

guidance1 by all manner of loans and    
borrowings1 each could manifoldly aid   
the other8 ,how wilt thou sail in       
unknown seas2 and for thyself find that 
shorter ,north-west ,passage to thy fair
 ,spice-country of a ,nowhere8--,a      
solitary rover1 on such a voyage1 with  
such nautical tactics1 will meet with   
adventures4 ,nay1 as we forthwith       
discover1 a certain ,calypso-,island    
detains him at the very outset2 and as  
it were falsifies and oversets his whole
 reckoning4  ',if in youth1' writes he  
once1 'the ,universe is majestically    
unveiling1 and everywhere ,heaven       
revealing itself on ,earth1 nowhere to  
the ,young ,man does this ,heaven on    
,earth so immediately reveal itself as  
in the ,young ,maiden4 ,strangely       
enough1 in this strange life of ours1 it
 has been so appointed4 ,on the whole1  
as ,i have often said1 a ,person        
7,persnlichkeit7 is ever holy to us3 a  
certain orthodox ,anthropomorphism      
connects my ,me with all ,thees in bonds

 of ,love3 but it is in this            
approximation of the ,like and ,unlike1 
that such heavenly attraction1 as       
between ,negative and ,positive1 first  
burns-out into a flame4 ,is the         
pitifullest mortal ,person1 think you1  
indifferent to us8 ,is it not rather our
 heartfelt wish to be made one with him2
 to unite him to us1 by gratitude1 by   
admiration1 even by fear2 or failing all
 these1 unite ourselves to him8 ,but how
 much more1 in this case of the         
,like-,unlike6 ,here is conceded us the 
higher mystic possibility of such a     
union1 the highest in our ,earth2 thus1 
in the conducting medium of ,fantasy1   
flames-forth that fire-development of   
the universal ,spiritual ,electricity1  
which1 as unfolded between man and      
woman1 we first emphatically denominate 
,,love4  ',in every well-conditioned    
stripling1 as ,i conjecture1 there      
already blooms a certain prospective    
,paradise1 cheered by some fairest ,eve2
 nor1 in the stately vistas1 and        

flowerage and foliage of that ,garden1  
is a ,tree of ,knowledge1 beautiful and 
awful in the midst thereof1 wanting4    
,perhaps too the whole is but the       
lovelier1 if ,cherubim and a ,flaming   
,sword divide it from all footsteps of  
men2 and grant him1 the imaginative     
stripling1 only the view1 not the       
entrance4 ,happy season of virtuous     
youth1 when shame is still an impassable
 celestial barrier2 and the sacred      
air-cities of ,hope have not shrunk into
 the mean clay-hamlets of ,reality2 and 
man1 by his nature1 is yet infinite and 
free6  ',as for our young ,forlorn1'    
continues ,teufelsdrckh1 evidently      
meaning himself1 'in his secluded way of
 life1 and with his glowing ,fantasy1   
the more fiery that it burnt under      
cover1 as in a reverberating furnace1   
his feeling towards the ,queens of this 
,earth was1 and indeed is1 altogether   
unspeakable4 ,a visible ,divinity dwelt 
in them2 to our young ,friend all women 
were holy1 were heavenly4 ,as yet he but

 saw them flitting past1 in their       
many-coloured angel-plumage2 or hovering
 mute and inaccessible on the outskirts 
of sthetic ,tea3 all of air they were1  
all ,soul and ,form2 so lovely1 like    
mysterious priestesses1 in whose hand   
was the invisible ,jacob's-ladder1      
whereby man might mount into very       
,heaven4 ,that he1 our poor ,friend1    
should ever win for himself one of these
 ,gracefuls 7,holden7--,ach ,gott6 how  
could he hope it2 should he not have    
died under it8 ,there was a certain     
delirious vertigo in the thought4       
',thus was the young man1 if            
all-sceptical of ,demons and ,angels    
such as the vulgar had once believed in1
 nevertheless not unvisited by hosts of 
true ,sky-born1 who visibly and audibly 
hovered round him whereso he went2 and  
they had that religious worship in his  
thought1 though as yet it was by their  
mere earthly and trivial name that he   
named them4 ,but now1 if on a soul so   
circumstanced1 some actual ,air-maiden1 

incorporated into tangibility and       
reality1 should cast any electric glance
 of kind eyes1 saying thereby1 ,thou too
 mayest love and be loved2 and so kindle
 him1--good ,heaven1 what a volcanic1   
earthquake-bringing1 all-consuming fire 
were probably kindled6'  ,such a fire1  
it afterwards appears1 did actually     
burst-forth1 with explosions more or    
less ,vesuvian1 in the inner man of     
,herr ,diogenes2 as indeed how could it 
fail8 ,a nature1 which1 in his own      
figurative style1 we might say1 had now 
not a little carbonised tinder1 of      
,irritability2 with so much nitre of    
latent ,passion1 and sulphurous ,humour 
enough2 the whole lying in such hot     
neighbourhood1 close by 'a reverberating
 furnace of ,fantasy'3 have we not here 
the components of driest ,gunpowder1    
ready1 on occasion of the smallest      
spark1 to blaze-up8 ,neither1 in this   
our ,life-element1 are sparks anywhere  
wanting4 ,without doubt1 some ,angel1   
whereof so many hovered round1 would one

 day1 leaving 'the outskirts of sthetic 
,tea1' flit nigher2 and1 by electric    
,promethean glance1 kindle no despicable
 firework4 ,happy1 if it indeed proved a
 ,firework1 and flamed-off rocketwise1  
in successive beautiful bursts of       
splendour1 each growing naturally from  
the other1 through the several stages of
 a happy ,youthful ,love2 till the whole
 were safely burnt-out2 and the young   
soul relieved with little damage6       
,happy1 if it did not rather prove a    
,conflagration and mad ,explosion2      
painfully lacerating the heart itself2  
nay perhaps bursting the heart in pieces
 7which were ,death72 or at best1       
bursting the thin walls of your         
'reverberating furnace1' so that it rage
 thenceforth all unchecked among the    
contiguous combustibles 7which were     
,madness73 till of the so fair and      
manifold internal world of our          
,diogenes1 there remained ,nothing1 or  
only the 'crater of an extinct volcano6'
  ,from multifarious ,documents in this 

,bag ,capricornus1 and in the adjacent  
ones on both sides thereof1 it becomes  
manifest that our philosopher1 as       
stoical and cynical as he now looks1 was
 heartily and even frantically in ,love3
 here therefore may our old doubts      
whether his heart were of stone or of   
flesh give way4 ,he loved once2 not     
wisely but too well4 ,and once only3 for
 as your ,congreve needs a new case or  
wrappage for every new rocket1 so each  
human heart can properly exhibit but one
 ,love1 if even one2 the ',first ,love  
which is infinite' can be followed by no
 second like unto it4 ,in more recent   
years1 accordingly1 the ,editor of these
 ,sheets was led to regard ,teufelsdrckh
 as a man not only who would never wed1 
but who would never even flirt2 whom the
 grand-climacteric itself1 and ,st4     
,martin's ,summer of incipient ,dotage1 
would crown with no new myrtle-garland4 
,to the ,professor1 women are henceforth
 ,pieces of ,art2 of ,celestial ,art1   
indeed2 which celestial pieces he       

glories to survey in galleries1 but has 
lost thought of purchasing4             
,psychological readers are not without  
curiosity to see how ,teufelsdrckh1 in  
this for him unexampled predicament1    
demeans himself2 with what specialties  
of successive configuration1 splendour  
and colour1 his ,firework blazes-off4   
,small1 as usual1 is the satisfaction   
that such can meet with here4 ,from amid
 these confused masses of ,eulogy and   
,elegy1 with their mad ,petrarchan and  
,werterean ware lying madly scattered   
among all sorts of quite extraneous     
matter1 not so much as the fair one's   
name can be deciphered4 ,for1 without   
doubt1 the title ,blumine1 whereby she  
is here designated1 and which means     
simply ,goddess of ,flowers1 must be    
fictitious4 ,was her real name ,flora1  
then8 ,but what was her surname1 or had 
she none8 ,of what station in ,life was 
she2 of what parentage1 fortune1 aspect8
 ,specially1 by what ,pre-established   
,harmony of occurrences did the ,lover  

and the ,loved meet one another in so   
wide a world2 how did they behave in    
such meeting8 ,to all which questions1  
not unessential in a ,biographic work1  
mere ,conjecture must for most part     
return answer4 ',it was appointed1' says
 our ,philosopher1 'that the high       
celestial orbit of ,blumine should      
intersect the low sublunary one of our  
,forlorn2 that he1 looking in her       
empyrean eyes1 should fancy the upper   
,sphere of ,light was come down into    
this nether sphere of ,shadows2 and     
finding himself mistaken1 make noise    
enough4'  ,we seem to gather that she   
was young1 hazel-eyed1 beautiful1 and   
some one's ,cousin2 highborn1 and of    
high spirit2 but unhappily dependent and
 insolvent2 living1 perhaps1 on the     
not-too-gracious bounty of monied       
relatives4 ,but how came 'the ,wanderer'
 into her circle8 ,was it by the humid  
vehicle of sthetic ,tea1 or by the arid 
one of mere ,business8 ,was it on the   
hand of ,herr ,towgood2 or of the       

,gndige ,frau1 who1 as ornamental       
,artist1 might sometimes like to promote
 flirtation1 especially for young       
cynical ,nondescripts8 ,to all          
appearance1 it was chiefly by ,accident1
 and the grace of ,nature4  ',thou fair 
,waldschloss1' writes our               
,autobiographer1 'what stranger ever saw
 thee1 were it even an absolved         
,auscultator1 officially bearing in his 
pocket the last ,relatio ex ,actis he   
would ever write1 but must have paused  
to wonder6 ,noble ,mansion6 ,there      
stoodest thou1 in deep ,mountain        
,amphitheatre1 on umbrageous lawns1 in  
thy serene solitude2 stately1 massive1  
all of granite2 glittering in the       
western sunbeams1 like a palace of ,el  
,dorado1 overlaid with precious metal4  
,beautiful rose up1 in wavy curvature1  
the slope of thy guardian ,hills2 of the
 greenest was their sward1 embossed with
 its dark-brown frets of crag1 or       
spotted by some spreading solitary ,tree
 and its shadow4 ,to the unconscious    

,wayfarer thou wert also as an ,ammon's 
,temple1 in the ,libyan ,waste2 where1  
for joy and woe1 the tablet of his      
,destiny lay written4 ,well might he    
pause and gaze2 in that glance of his   
were prophecy and nameless forebodings4'
  ,but now let us conjecture that the so
 presentient ,auscultator has handed-in 
his ,relatio ex ,actis2 been invited to 
a glass of ,rhine-wine2 and so1 instead 
of returning dispirited and athirst to  
his dusty ,town-home1 is ushered into   
the ,gardenhouse1 where sit the choicest
 party of dames and cavaliers3 if not   
engaged in sthetic ,tea1 yet in trustful
 evening conversation1 and perhaps      
,musical ,coffee1 for we hear of 'harps 
and pure voices making the stillness    
live4' ,scarcely1 it would seem1 is the 
,gardenhouse inferior in respectability 
to the noble ,mansion itself4           
',embowered amid rich foliage1          
rose-clusters1 and the hues and odours  
of thousand flowers1 here sat that brave
 company2 in front1 from the wide-opened

 doors1 fair outlook over blossom and   
bush1 over grove and velvet green1      
stretching1 undulating onwards to the   
remote ,mountain peaks3 so bright1 so   
mild1 and everywhere the melody of birds
 and happy creatures3 it was all as if  
man had stolen a shelter from the ,sun  
in the bosom-vesture of ,summer herself4
 ,how came it that the ,wanderer        
advanced thither with such forecasting  
heart 7ahndungsvoll71 by the side of his
 gay host8 ,did he feel that to these   
soft influences his hard bosom ought to 
be shut2 that here1 once more1 ,fate had
 it in view to try him2 to mock him1 and
 see whether there were ,humour in him8 
',next moment he finds himself presented
 to the party2 and especially by name   
to--,blumine6 ,peculiar among all dames 
and damosels glanced ,blumine1 there in 
her modesty1 like a star among earthly  
lights4 ,noblest maiden6 whom he bent   
to1 in body and in soul2 yet scarcely   
dared look at1 for the presence filled  
him with painful yet sweetest           

embarrassment4  ',blumine's was a name  
well known to him2 far and wide was the 
fair one heard of1 for her gifts1 her   
graces1 her caprices3 from all which    
vague colourings of ,rumour1 from the   
censures no less than from the praises1 
had our friend painted for himself a    
certain imperious ,queen of ,hearts1 and
 blooming warm ,earth-angel1 much more  
enchanting than your mere white         
,heaven-angels of women1 in whose placid
 veins circulates too little            
naphtha-fire4 ,herself also he had seen 
in public places2 that light yet so     
stately form2 those dark tresses1       
shading a face where smiles and sunlight
 played over earnest deeps3 but all this
 he had seen only as a magic vision1 for
 him inaccessible1 almost without       
reality4 ,her sphere was too far from   
his2 how should she ever think of him2  
,o ,heaven6 how should they so much as  
once meet together8 ,and now that       
,rose-goddess sits in the same circle   
with him2 the light of her eyes has     

smiled on him2 if he speak1 she will    
hear it6 ,nay1 who knows1 since the     
heavenly ,sun looks into lowest valleys1
 but ,blumine herself might have        
aforetime noted the so unnotable2       
perhaps1 from his very gainsayers1 as he
 had from hers1 gathered wonder1        
gathered favour for him8 ,was the       
attraction1 the agitation mutual1 then2 
pole and pole trembling towards contact1
 when once brought into neighbourhood8  
,say rather1 heart swelling in presence 
of the ,queen of ,hearts2 like the ,sea 
swelling when once near its ,moon6 ,with
 the ,wanderer it was even so3 as in    
heavenward gravitation1 suddenly as at  
the touch of a ,seraph's wand1 his whole
 soul is roused from its deepest        
recesses2 and all that was painful and  
that was blissful there1 dim images1    
vague feelings of a whole ,past and a   
whole ,future1 are heaving in unquiet   
eddies within him4  ',often1 in far less
 agitating scenes1 had our still ,friend
 shrunk forcibly together2 and          

shrouded-up his tremors and flutterings1
 of what sort soever1 in a safe cover of
 ,silence1 and perhaps of seeming       
,stolidity4 ,how was it1 then1 that     
here1 when trembling to the core of his 
heart1 he did not sink into swoons1 but 
rose into strength1 into fearlessness   
and clearness8 ,it was his guiding      
,genius 7,dmon7 that inspired him2 he   
must go forth and meet his ,destiny4    
,show thyself now1 whispered it1 or be  
forever hid4 ,thus sometimes it is even 
when your anxiety becomes               
transcendental1 that the soul first     
feels herself able to transcend it2 that
 she rises above it1 in fiery victory2  
and borne on new-found wings of victory1
 moves so calmly1 even because so       
rapidly1 so irresistibly4 ,always must  
the ,wanderer remember1 with a certain  
satisfaction and surprise1 how in this  
case he sat not silent1 but struck      
adroitly into the stream of             
conversation2 which thenceforth1 to     
speak with an apparent not a real       

vanity1 he may say that he continued to 
lead4 ,surely1 in those hours1 a certain
 inspiration was imparted him1 such     
inspiration as is still possible in our 
late era4 ,the self-secluded unfolds    
himself in noble thoughts1 in free1     
glowing words2 his soul is as one sea of
 light1 the peculiar home of ,truth and 
,intellect2 wherein also ,fantasy       
bodies-forth form after form1 radiant   
with all prismatic hues4'  ,it appears1 
in this otherwise so happy meeting1     
there talked one ',philistine'2 who even
 now1 to the general weariness1 was     
dominantly pouring-forth ,philistinism  
7,philistriositten72 little witting what
 hero was here entering to demolish him6
 ,we omit the series of ,socratic1 or   
rather ,diogenic utterances1 not unhappy
 in their way1 whereby the monster1     
'persuaded into silence1' seems soon    
after to have withdrawn for the night4  
',of which dialectic marauder1' writes  
our hero1 'the discomfiture was visibly 
felt as a benefit by most3 but what were

 all applauses to the glad smile1       
threatening every moment to become a    
laugh1 wherewith ,blumine herself repaid
 the victor8 ,he ventured to address    
her1 she answered with attention3 nay   
what if there were a slight tremor in   
that silver voice2 what if the red glow 
of evening were hiding a transient      
blush6  ',the conversation took a higher
 tone1 one fine thought called forth    
another3 it was one of those rare       
seasons1 when the soul expands with full
 freedom1 and man feels himself brought 
near to man4 ,gaily in light1 graceful  
abandonment1 the friendly talk played   
round that circle2 for the burden was   
rolled from every heart2 the barriers of
 ,ceremony1 which are indeed the laws of
 polite living1 had melted as into      
vapour2 and the poor claims of ,me and  
,thee1 no longer parted by rigid fences1
 now flowed softly into one another2 and
 ,life lay all harmonious1 many-tinted1 
like some fair royal champaign1 the     
sovereign and owner of which were ,love 

only4 ,such music springs from kind     
hearts1 in a kind environment of place  
and time4 ,and yet as the light grew    
more arial on the mountain-tops1 and the
 shadows fell longer over the valley1   
some faint tone of sadness may have     
breathed through the heart2 and1 in     
whispers more or less audible1 reminded 
every one that as this bright day was   
drawing towards its close1 so likewise  
must the ,day of ,man's ,existence      
decline into dust and darkness2 and with
 all its sick toilings1 and joyful and  
mournful noises sink in the still       
,eternity4  ',to our ,friend the hours  
seemed moments2 holy was he and happy3  
the words from those sweetest lips came 
over him like dew on thirsty grass2 all 
better feelings in his soul seemed to   
whisper3 ,it is good for us to be here4 
,at parting1 the ,blumine's hand was in 
his3 in the balmy twilight1 with the    
kind stars above them1 he spoke         
something of meeting again1 which was   
not contradicted2 he pressed gently     

those small soft fingers1 and it seemed 
as if they were not hastily1 not angrily
 withdrawn4'  ,poor ,teufelsdrckh6 it is
 clear to demonstration thou art smit3  
the ,queen of ,hearts would see a 'man  
of genius' also sigh for her2 and there1
 by art-magic1 in that preternatural    
hour1 has she bound and spell-bound     
thee4 ',love is not altogether a        
,delirium1' says he elsewhere2 'yet has 
it many points in common therewith4 ,i  
call it rather a discerning of the      
,infinite in the ,finite1 of the ,idea  
made ,real2 which discerning again may  
be either true or false1 either seraphic
 or demoniac1 ,inspiration or ,insanity4
 ,but in the former case too1 as in     
common ,madness1 it is ,fantasy that    
superadds itself to sight2 on the so    
petty domain of the ,actual plants its  
,archimedes-lever1 whereby to move at   
will the infinite ,spiritual4 ,fantasy  
,i might call the true ,heaven-gate and 
,hell-gate of man3 his sensuous life is 
but the small temporary stage           

7,zeitbhne71 whereon thick-streaming    
influences from both these far yet near 
regions meet visibly1 and act tragedy   
and melodrama4 ,sense can support       
herself handsomely1 in most countries1  
for some eighteenpence a day2 but for   
,fantasy planets and solar-systems will 
not suffice4 ,witness your ,pyrrhus     
conquering the world1 yet drinking no   
better red wine than he had before4'    
,alas6 witness also your ,diogenes1     
flame-clad1 scaling the upper ,heaven1  
and verging towards ,insanity1 for prize
 of a 'high-souled ,brunette1' as if the
 earth held but one and not several of  
these6  ,he says that1 in ,town1 they   
met again3 'day after day1 like his     
heart's sun1 the blooming ,blumine shone
 on him4 ,ah6 a little while ago1 and he
 was yet in all darkness2 him what      
,graceful 7,holde7 would ever love8     
,disbelieving all things1 the poor youth
 had never learned to believe in        
himself4 ,withdrawn1 in proud timidity1 
within his own fastnesses2 solitary from

 men1 yet baited by night-spectres      
enough1 he saw himself1 with a sad      
indignation1 constrained to renounce the
 fairest hopes of existence4 ,and now1  
,o now6 ,she looks on thee1 cried he3   
she the fairest1 noblest2 do not her    
dark eyes tell thee1 thou art not       
despised8 ,the ,heaven's-,messenger6    
,all ,heaven's blessings be hers6 ,thus 
did soft melodies flow through his      
heart2 tones of an infinite gratitude2  
sweetest intimations that he also was a 
man1 that for him also unutterable joys 
had been provided4  ',in free speech1   
earnest or gay1 amid lambent glances1   
laughter1 tears1 and often with the     
inarticulate mystic speech of ,music3   
such was the element they now lived in2 
in such a many-tinted1 radiant ,aurora1 
and by this fairest of ,orient          
,light-bringers must our ,friend be     
blandished1 and the new ,apocalypse of  
,nature unrolled to him4 ,fairest       
,blumine6 ,and1 even as a ,star1 all    
,fire and humid ,softness1 a very       

,light-ray incarnate6 ,was there so much
 as a fault1 a caprice1 he could have   
dispensed with8 ,was she not to him in  
very deed a ,morning-,star2 did not her 
presence bring with it airs from        
,heaven8 ,as from olian ,harps in the   
breath of dawn1 as from the ,memnon's   
,statue struck by the rosy finger of    
,aurora1 unearthly music was around him1
 and lapped him into untried balmy      
,rest4 ,pale ,doubt fled away to the    
distance2 ,life bloomed-up with         
happiness and hope4 ,the past1 then1 was
 all a haggard dream2 he had been in the
 ,garden of ,eden1 then1 and could not  
discern it6 ,but lo now6 the black walls
 of his prison melt away2 the captive is
 alive1 is free4 ,if he loved his       
,disenchantress8 ,ach ,gott6 ,his whole 
heart and soul and life were hers1 but  
never had he named it ,love3 existence  
was all a ,feeling1 not yet shaped into 
a ,thought4'  ,nevertheless1 into a     
,thought1 nay into an ,action1 it must  
be shaped2 for neither ,disenchanter nor

 ,disenchantress1 mere ',children of    
,time1' can abide by ,feeling alone4    
,the ,professor knows not1 to this day1 
'how in her soft1 fervid bosom the      
,lovely found determination1 even on    
hest of ,necessity1 to cut-asunder these
 so blissful bonds4' ,he even appears   
surprised at the ',duenna ,cousin1'     
whoever she may have been1 'in whose    
meagre1 hunger-bitten philosophy1 the   
religion of young hearts was1 from the  
first1 faintly approved of4' ,we1 even  
at such distance1 can explain it without
 necromancy4 ,let the ,philosopher      
answer this one question3 ,what figure1 
at that period1 was a ,mrs4             
,teufelsdrckh likely to make in polished
 society8 ,could she have driven so much
 as a brass-bound ,gig1 or even a simple
 iron-spring one8 ,thou foolish         
'absolved ,auscultator1' before whom    
lies no prospect of capital1 will any   
yet known 'religion of young hearts'    
keep the human kitchen warm8 ,pshaw6 thy
 divine ,blumine when she 'resigned     

herself to wed some richer1' shows more 
philosophy1 though but 'a woman of      
genius1' than thou1 a pretended man4    
,our readers have witnessed the origin  
of this ,love-mania1 and with what royal
 splendour it waxes1 and rises4 ,let no 
one ask us to unfold the glories of its 
dominant state2 much less the horrors of
 its almost instantaneous dissolution4  
,how from such inorganic masses1        
henceforth madder than ever1 as lie in  
these ,bags1 can even fragments of a    
living delineation be organised8        
,besides1 of what profit were it8 ,we   
view1 with a lively pleasure1 the gay   
silk ,montgolfier start from the ground1
 and shoot upwards1 cleaving the liquid 
deeps1 till it dwindle to a luminous    
star3 but what is there to look longer  
on1 when once1 by natural elasticity1 or
 accident of fire1 it has exploded8 ,a  
hapless air-navigator1 plunging amid    
torn parachutes1 sand-bags1 and confused
 wreck1 fast enough into the jaws of the
 ,devil6 ,suffice it to know that       

,teufelsdrckh rose into the highest     
regions of the ,empyrean1 by a natural  
parabolic track1 and returned thence in 
a quick perpendicular one4 ,for the     
rest1 let any feeling reader1 who has   
been unhappy enough to do the like1     
paint it out for himself3 considering   
only that if he1 for his perhaps        
comparatively insignificant mistress1   
underwent such agonies and frenzies1    
what must ,teufelsdrckh's have been1    
with a fire-heart1 and for a nonpareil  
,blumine6 ,we glance merely at the final
 scene3  ',one morning1 he found his    
,morning-,star all dimmed and dusky-red2
 the fair creature was silent1 absent1  
she seemed to have been weeping4 ,alas1 
no longer a ,morning-star1 but a        
troublous skyey ,portent1 announcing    
that the ,doomsday had dawned6 ,she     
said1 in a tremulous voice1 ,they were  
to meet no more4' ,the thunder-struck   
,air-sailor is not wanting to himself in
 this dread hour3 but what avails it8   
,we omit the passionate expostulations1 

entreaties1 indignations1 since all was 
vain1 and not even an explanation was   
conceded him2 and hasten to the         
catastrophe4 ',farewell1 then1 ,madam6  
said he1 not without sternness1 for his 
stung pride helped him4 ,she put her    
hand in his1 she looked in his face1    
tears started to her eyes3 in wild      
audacity he clasped her to his bosom2   
their lips were joined1 their two souls1
 like two dew-drops1 rushed into        
one1--for the first time1 and for the   
last6' ,thus was ,teufelsdrckh made     
immortal by a kiss4 ,and then8 ,why1    
then--'thick curtains of ,night rushed  
over his soul1 as rose the immeasurable 
,crash of ,doom2 and through the ruins  
as of a shivered ,universe was he       
falling1 falling1 towards the ,abyss4'  
,,chapter ,,vi  ,,sorrows ,,of          
,,teufelsdr,,ckh   ,we have long felt   
that1 with a man like our ,professor1   
matters must often be expected to take a
 course of their own2 that in so        
multiplex1 intricate a nature1 there    

might be channels1 both for admitting   
and emitting1 such as the ,psychologist 
had seldom noted2 in short1 that on no  
grand occasion and convulsion1 neither  
in the joy-storm nor in the woe-storm1  
could you predict his demeanour4  ,to   
our less philosophical readers1 for     
example1 it is now clear that the so    
passionate ,teufelsdrckh1 precipitated  
through 'a shivered ,universe' in this  
extraordinary way1 has only one of three
 things which he can next do3 ,establish
 himself in ,bedlam2 begin writing      
,satanic ,poetry2 or blow-out his       
brains4 ,in the progress towards any of 
which consummations1 do not such readers
 anticipate extravagance enough2        
breast-beating1 brow-beating 7against   
walls71 lion-bellowings of blasphemy and
 the like1 stampings1 smitings1         
breakages of furniture1 if not arson    
itself8  ,nowise so does ,teufelsdrckh  
deport him4 ,he quietly lifts his       
,pilgerstab 7,pilgrim-staff71 'old      
business being soon wound-up'2 and      

begins a perambulation and              
circumambulation of the terraqueous     
,globe6 ,curious it is1 indeed1 how with
 such vivacity of conception1 such      
intensity of feeling1 above all1 with   
these unconscionable habits of          
,exaggeration in speech1 he combines    
that wonderful stillness of his1 that   
stoicism in external procedure4 ,thus1  
if his sudden bereavement1 in this      
matter of the ,flower-goddess1 is talked
 of as a real ,doomsday and ,dissolution
 of ,nature1 in which light doubtless it
 partly appeared to himself1 his own    
nature is nowise dissolved thereby2 but 
rather is compressed closer4 ,for once1 
as we might say1 a ,blumine by magic    
appliances has unlocked that shut heart 
of his1 and its hidden things rush-out  
tumultuous1 boundless1 like genii       
enfranchised from their glass phial3 but
 no sooner are your magic appliances    
withdrawn1 than the strange casket of a 
heart springs-to again2 and perhaps     
there is now no key extant that will    

open it2 for a ,teufelsdrckh1 as we     
remarked1 will not love a second time4  
,singular ,diogenes6 ,no sooner has that
 heart-rending occurrence fairly taken  
place1 than he affects to regard it as a
 thing natural1 of which there is       
nothing more to be said4 ',one highest  
hope1 seemingly legible in the eyes of  
an ,angel1 had recalled him as out of   
,death-shadows into celestial ,life3 but
 a gleam of ,tophet passed-over the face
 of his ,angel2 he was rapt away in     
whirlwinds1 and heard the laughter of   
,demons4 ,it was a ,calenture1' adds he1
 'whereby the ,youth saw green          
,paradise-groves in the waste           
,ocean-waters3 a lying vision1 yet not  
wholly a lie1 for he saw it4' ,but what 
things soever passed in him1 when he    
ceased to see it2 what ragings and      
despairings soever ,teufelsdrckh's soul 
was the scene of1 he has the goodness to
 conceal under a quite opaque cover of  
,silence4 ,we know it well2 the first   
mad paroxysm past1 our brave ,gneschen  

collected his dismembered philosophies1 
and buttoned himself together2 he was   
meek1 silent1 or spoke of the weather   
and the ,journals3 only by a transient  
knitting of those shaggy brows1 by some 
deep flash of those eyes1 glancing one  
knew not whether with tear-dew or with  
fierce fire1--might you have guessed    
what a ,gehenna was within2 that a whole
 ,satanic ,school were spouting1 though 
inaudibly1 there4 ,to consume your own  
choler1 as some chimneys consume their  
own smoke2 to keep a whole ,satanic     
,school spouting1 if it must spout1     
inaudibly1 is a negative yet no slight  
virtue1 nor one of the commonest in     
these times4  ,nevertheless1 we will not
 take upon us to say1 that in the       
strange measure he fell upon1 there was 
not a touch of latent ,insanity2 whereof
 indeed the actual condition of these   
,documents in ,capricornus and ,aquarius
 is no bad emblem4 ,his so unlimited    
,wanderings1 toilsome enough1 are       
without assigned or perhaps assignable  

aim2 internal ,unrest seems his sole    
guidance2 he wanders1 wanders1 as if    
that curse of the ,prophet had fallen on
 him1 and he were 'made like unto a     
wheel4' ,doubtless1 too1 the chaotic    
nature of these ,paper-bags aggravates  
our obscurity4 ,quite without note of   
preparation1 for example1 we come upon  
the following slip3 ',a peculiar feeling
 it is that will rise in the ,traveller1
 when turning some hill-range in his    
desert road1 he descries lying far      
below1 embosomed among its groves and   
green natural bulwarks1 and all         
diminished to a toybox1 the fair ,town1 
where so many souls1 as it were seen and
 yet unseen1 are driving their          
multifarious traffic4 ,its white steeple
 is then truly a starward-pointing      
finger2 the canopy of blue smoke seems  
like a sort of ,life-breath3 for always1
 of its own unity1 the soul gives unity 
to whatsoever it looks on with love2    
thus does the little ,dwelling place of 
men1 in itself a congeries of houses and

 huts1 become for us an individual1     
almost a person4 ,but what thousand     
other thoughts unite thereto1 if the    
place has to ourselves been the arena of
 joyous or mournful experiences2 if     
perhaps the cradle we were rocked in    
still stands there1 if our ,loving ones 
still dwell there1 if our ,buried ones  
there slumber6' ,does ,teufelsdrckh1 as 
the wounded eagle is said to make for   
its own eyrie1 and indeed military      
deserters1 and all hunted outcast       
creatures1 turn as if by instinct in the
 direction of their birthland1--fly     
first1 in this extremity1 towards his   
native ,entepfuhl2 but reflecting that  
there no help awaits him1 take but one  
wistful look from the distance1 and then
 wend elsewhither8  ,little happier     
seems to be his next flight3 into the   
wilds of ,nature2 as if in her          
mother-bosom he would seek healing4 ,so 
at least we incline to interpret the    
following ,notice1 separated from the   
former by some considerable space1      

wherein1 however1 is nothing noteworthy3
  ',mountains were not new to him2 but  
rarely are ,mountains seen in such      
combined majesty and grace as here4 ,the
 rocks are of that sort called          
,primitive by the mineralogists1 which  
always arrange themselves in masses of a
 rugged1 gigantic character2 which      
ruggedness1 however1 is here tempered by
 a singular airiness of form1 and       
softness of environment3 in a climate   
favourable to vegetation1 the gray      
cliff1 itself covered with lichens1     
shoots-up through a garment of foliage  
or verdure2 and white1 bright cottages1 
tree-shaded1 cluster round the          
everlasting granite4 ,in fine           
vicissitude1 ,beauty alternates with    
,grandeur3 you ride through stony       
hollows1 along straight passes1         
traversed by torrents1 overhung by high 
walls of rock2 now winding amid broken  
shaggy chasms1 and huge fragments2 now  
suddenly emerging into some emerald     
valley1 where the streamlet collects    

itself into a ,lake1 and man has again  
found a fair dwelling1 and it seems as  
if ,peace had established herself in the
 bosom of ,strength4  ',to ,peace1      
however1 in this vortex of existence1   
can the ,son of ,time not pretend3 still
 less if some ,spectre haunt him from   
the ,past2 and the future is wholly a   
,stygian ,darkness1 spectre-bearing4    
,reasonably might the ,wanderer exclaim 
to himself3 ,are not the gates of this  
world's happiness inexorably shut       
against thee2 hast thou a hope that is  
not mad8 ,nevertheless1 one may still   
murmur audibly1 or in the original      
,greek if that suit better3 ,whoso can  
look on ,death will start at no shadows4
  ',from such meditations is the        
,wanderer's attention called outwards2  
for now the ,valley closes-in abruptly1 
intersected by a huge mountain mass1 the
 stony water-worn ascent of which is not
 to be accomplished on horseback4       
,arrived aloft1 he finds himself again  
lifted into the evening sunset light2   

and cannot but pause1 and gaze round    
him1 some moments there4 ,an upland     
irregular expanse of wold1 where valleys
 in complex branchings are suddenly or  
slowly arranging their descent towards  
every quarter of the sky4 ,the          
mountain-ranges are beneath your feet1  
and folded together3 only the loftier   
summits look down here and there as on a
 second plain2 lakes also lie clear and 
earnest in their solitude4 ,no trace of 
man now visible2 unless indeed it were  
he who fashioned that little visible    
link of ,highway1 here1 as would seem1  
scaling the inaccessible1 to unite      
,province with ,province4 ,but sunwards1
 lo you6 how it towers sheer up1 a world
 of ,mountains1 the diadem and centre of
 the mountain region6 ,a hundred and a  
hundred savage peaks1 in the last light 
of ,day2 all glowing1 of gold and       
amethyst1 like giant spirits of the     
wilderness2 there in their silence1 in  
their solitude1 even as on the night    
when ,noah's ,deluge first dried6       

,beautiful1 nay solemn1 was the sudden  
aspect to our ,wanderer4 ,he gazed over 
those stupendous masses with wonder1    
almost with longing desire2 never till  
this hour had he known ,nature1 that she
 was ,one1 that she was his ,mother1 and
 divine4 ,and as the ruddy glow was     
fading into clearness in the sky1 and   
the ,sun had now departed1 a murmur of  
,eternity and ,immensity1 of ,death and 
of ,life1 stole through his soul2 and he
 felt as if ,death and ,life were one1  
as if the ,earth were not dead1 as if   
the ,spirit of the ,earth had its throne
 in that splendour1 and his own spirit  
were therewith holding communion4  ',the
 spell was broken by a sound of         
carriage-wheels4 ,emerging from the     
hidden ,northward1 to sink soon into the
 hidden ,southward1 came a gay          
,barouche-and-four3 it was open2        
servants and postillions wore           
wedding-favours3 that happy pair1 then1 
had found each other1 it was their      
marriage evening6 ,few moments brought  

them near3 ,du ,himmel6 ,it was ,herr   
,towgood and--,blumine6 ,with slight    
unrecognising salutation they passed me2
 plunged down amid the neighbouring     
thickets1 onwards1 to ,heaven1 and to   
,england2 and ,i1 in my friend          
,richter's words1 ,i remained alone1    
behind them1 with the ,night4'  ,were it
 not cruel in these circumstances1 here 
might be the place to insert an         
observation1 gleaned long ago from the  
great ,clothes-,volume1 where it stands 
with quite other intent3 ',some time    
before ,small-pox was extirpated1' says 
the ,professor1 'there came a new malady
 of the spiritual sort on ,europe3 ,i   
mean the epidemic1 now endemical1 of    
,view-hunting4 ,poets of old date1 being
 privileged with ,senses1 had also      
enjoyed external ,nature2 but chiefly as
 we enjoy the crystal cup which holds   
good or bad liquor for us2 that is to   
say1 in silence1 or with slight         
incidental commentary3 never1 as ,i     
compute1 till after the ,sorrows of     

,werter1 was there man found who would  
say3 ,come let us make a ,description6  
,having drunk the liquor1 come let us   
eat the glass6 ,of which endemic the    
,jenner is unhappily still to seek4'    
,too true6  ,we reckon it more important
 to remark that the ,professor's        
,wanderings1 so far as his stoical and  
cynical envelopment admits us to clear  
insight1 here first take their permanent
 character1 fatuous or not4 ,that       
,basilisk-glance of the                 
,barouche-and-four seems to have        
withered-up what little remnant of a    
purpose may have still lurked in him3   
,life has become wholly a dark          
labyrinth2 wherein1 through long years1 
our ,friend1 flying from spectres1 has  
to stumble about at random1 and         
naturally with more haste than progress4
  ,foolish were it in us to attempt     
following him1 even from afar1 in this  
extraordinary world-pilgrimage of his2  
the simplest record of which1 were clear
 record possible1 would fill volumes4   

,hopeless is the obscurity1 unspeakable 
the confusion4 ,he glides from country  
to country1 from condition to condition2
 vanishing and reappearing1 no man can  
calculate how or where4 ,through all    
quarters of the world he wanders1 and   
apparently through all circles of       
society4 ,if in any scene1 perhaps      
difficult to fix geographically1 he     
settles for a time1 and forms           
connexions1 be sure he will snap them   
abruptly asunder4 ,let him sink out of  
sight as ,private ,scholar              
7,privatisirender71 living by the grace 
of ,god in some ,european capital1 you  
may next find him as ,hadjee in the     
neighbourhood of ,mecca4 ,it is an      
inexplicable ,phantasmagoria1           
capricious1 quick-changing2 as if our   
,traveller1 instead of limbs and        
high-ways1 had transported himself by   
some wishing-carpet1 or ,fortunatus'    
,hat4 ,the whole1 too1 imparted         
emblematically1 in dim multifarious     
tokens 7as that collection of           

,street-,advertisements72 with only some
 touch of direct historical notice      
sparingly interspersed3 little          
light-islets in the world of haze6 ,so  
that1 from this point1 the ,professor is
 more of an enigma than ever4 ,in       
figurative language1 we might say he    
becomes1 not indeed a spirit1 yet       
spiritualised1 vaporised ,fact          
unparalleled in ,biography3 ,the river  
of his ,history1 which we have traced   
from its tiniest fountains1 and hoped to
 see flow onward1 with increasing       
current1 into the ocean1 here dashes    
itself over that terrific ,lover's      
,leap2 and1 as a mad-foaming cataract1  
flies wholly into tumultuous clouds of  
spray6 ,low down it indeed collects     
again into pools and plashes2 yet only  
at a great distance1 and with           
difficulty1 if at all1 into a general   
stream4 ,to cast a glance into certain  
of those pools and plashes1 and trace   
whither they run1 must1 for a chapter or
 two1 form the limit of our endeavour4  

,for which end doubtless those direct   
historical ,notices1 where they can be  
met with1 are the best4 ,nevertheless1  
of this sort too there occurs much1     
which1 with our present light1 it were  
questionable to emit4 ,teufelsdrckh1    
vibrating everywhere between the highest
 and the lowest levels1 comes into      
contact with public ,history itself4    
,for example1 those conversations and   
relations with illustrious ,persons1 as 
,sultan ,mahmoud1 the ,emperor          
,napoleon1 and others1 are they not as  
yet rather of a diplomatic character    
than of a biographic8 ,the ,editor1     
appreciating the sacredness of crowned  
heads1 nay perhaps suspecting the       
possible trickeries of a                
,clothes-,philosopher1 will eschew this 
province for the present2 a new time may
 bring new insight and a different duty4
  ,if we ask now1 not indeed with what  
ulterior ,purpose1 for there was none1  
yet with what immediate outlooks2 at all
 events1 in what mood of mind1 the      

,professor undertook and prosecuted this
 world-pilgrimage1--the answer is more  
distinct than favourable4 ',a nameless  
,unrest1' says he1 'urged me forward2 to
 which the outward motion was some      
momentary lying solace4 ,whither should 
,i go8 ,my ,loadstars were blotted out2 
in that canopy of grim fire shone no    
star4 ,yet forward must ,i2 the ground  
burnt under me2 there was no rest for   
the sole of my foot4 ,i was alone1      
alone6 ,ever too the strong inward      
longing shaped ,fantasms for itself3    
towards these1 one after the other1 must
 ,i fruitlessly wander4 ,a feeling ,i   
had1 that for my fever-thirst there was 
and must be somewhere a healing         
,fountain4 ,to many fondly imagined     
,fountains1 the ,saints' ,wells of these
 days1 did ,i pilgrim2 to great ,men1 to
 great ,cities1 to great ,events3 but   
found there no healing4 ,in strange     
countries1 as in the well-known2 in     
savage deserts1 as in the press of      
corrupt civilisation1 it was ever the   

same3 how could your ,wanderer escape   
from--his own ,shadow8 ,nevertheless    
still ,forward6 ,i felt as if in great  
haste2 to do ,i saw not what4 ,from the 
depths of my own heart1 it called to me1
 ,forwards6 ,the winds and the streams1 
and all ,nature sounded to me1          
,forwards6 ,ach ,gott1 ,i was even1 once
 for all1 a ,son of ,time4'  ,from which
 is it not clear that the internal      
,satanic ,school was still active       
enough8 ,he says elsewhere3 ',the       
,enchiridion of ,epictetus ,i had ever  
with me1 often as my sole rational      
companion2 and regret to mention that   
the nourishment it yielded was          
trifling4' ,thou foolish ,teufelsdrckh6 
,how could it else8 ,hadst thou not     
,greek enough to understand thus much3  
,the end of ,man is an ,action1 and not 
a ,thought1 though it were the noblest8 
',how ,i lived8' writes he once3        
',friend1 hast thou considered the      
rugged all-nourishing ,earth1 as        
,sophocles well names her2 how she feeds

 the sparrow on the house-top1 much more
 her darling1 man8 ,while thou stirrest 
and livest1 thou hast a probability of  
victual4 ,my breakfast of tea has been  
cooked by a ,tartar woman1 with water of
 the ,amur1 who wiped her earthen kettle
 with a horse-tail4 ,i have roasted     
wild-eggs in the sand of ,sahara2 ,i    
have awakened in ,paris ,estrapades and 
,vienna ,malzleins1 with no prospect of 
breakfast beyond elemental liquid4 ,that
 ,i had my ,living to seek saved me from
 ,dying1--by suicide4 ,in our busy      
,europe1 is there not an everlasting    
demand for ,intellect1 in the chemical1 
mechanical1 political1 religious1       
educational1 commercial departments8 ,in
 ,pagan countries1 cannot one write     
,fetishes8 ,living6 ,little knowest thou
 what alchemy is in an inventive ,soul2 
how1 as with its little finger1 it can  
create provision enough for the body 7of
 a ,philosopher72 and then1 as with both
 hands1 create quite other than         
provision2 namely1 spectres to torment  

itself withal4'  ,poor ,teufelsdrckh6   
,flying with ,hunger always parallel to 
him2 and a whole ,infernal ,chase in his
 rear2 so that the countenance of       
,hunger is comparatively a friend's6    
,thus must he1 in the temper of ancient 
,cain1 or of the modern ,wandering      
,jew1--save only that he feels himself  
not guilty and but suffering the pains  
of guilt1--wend to and fro with aimless 
speed4 ,thus must he1 over the whole    
surface of the ,earth 7by footprints71  
write his ,sorrows of ,teufelsdrckh2    
even as the great ,goethe1 in passionate
 words1 had to write his ,sorrows of    
,werter1 before the spirit freed        
herself1 and he could become a ,man4    
,vain truly is the hope of your swiftest
 ,runner to escape 'from his own        
,shadow'6 ,nevertheless1 in these sick  
days1 when the ,born of ,heaven first   
descries himself 7about the age of      
twenty7 in a world such as ours1 richer 
than usual in two things1 in ,truths    
grown obsolete1 and ,trades grown       

obsolete1--what can the fool think but  
that it is all a ,den of ,lies1 wherein 
whoso will not speak ,lies and act      
,lies1 must stand idle and despair8     
,whereby it happens that1 for your      
nobler minds1 the publishing of some    
such ,work of ,art1 in one or the other 
dialect1 becomes almost a necessity4    
,for what is it properly but an         
,altercation with the ,devil1 before you
 begin honestly ,fighting him8 ,your    
,byron publishes his ,sorrows of ,lord  
,george1 in verse and in prose1 and     
copiously otherwise3 your ,bonaparte    
represents his ,sorrows of ,napoleon    
,opera1 in an all-too stupendous style2 
with music of cannon-volleys1 and       
murder-shrieks of a world2 his          
stage-lights are the fires of           
,conflagration2 his rhyme and recitative
 are the tramp of embattled ,hosts and  
the sound of falling ,cities4--,happier 
is he who1 like our                     
,clothes-,philosopher1 can write such   
matter1 since it must be written1 on the

 insensible ,earth1 with his shoe-soles 
only2 and also survive the writing      
thereof6     ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,the     
,,everlasting ,,no   ,under the strange 
nebulous envelopment1 wherein our       
,professor has now shrouded himself1 no 
doubt but his spiritual nature is       
nevertheless progressive1 and growing3  
for how can the ',son of ,time1' in any 
case1 stand still8 ,we behold him1      
through those dim years1 in a state of  
crisis1 of transition3 his mad          
,pilgrimings1 and general solution into 
aimless ,discontinuity1 what is all this
 but a mad ,fermentation2 wherefrom1 the
 fiercer it is1 the clearer product will
 one day evolve itself8  ,such          
transitions are ever full of pain3 thus 
the ,eagle when he moults is sickly2    
and1 to attain his new beak1 must       
harshly dash-off the old one upon rocks4
 ,what ,stoicism soever our ,wanderer1  
in his individual acts and motions1 may 
affect1 it is clear that there is a hot 
fever of anarchy and misery raging      

within2 coruscations of which flash out3
 as1 indeed1 how could there be other8  
,have we not seen him disappointed1     
bemocked of ,destiny1 through long      
years8 ,all that the young heart might  
desire and pray for has been denied2    
nay1 as in the last worst instance1     
offered and then snatched away4 ,ever an
 'excellent ,passivity'2 but of useful1 
reasonable ,activity1 essential to the  
former as ,food to ,hunger1 nothing     
granted3 till at length1 in this wild   
,pilgrimage1 he must forcibly seize for 
himself an ,activity1 though useless1   
unreasonable4 ,alas1 his cup of         
bitterness1 which had been filling drop 
by drop1 ever since that first 'ruddy   
morning' in the ,hinterschlag           
,gymnasium1 was at the very lip2 and    
then with that poison-drop1 of the      
,towgood-and-,blumine business1 it runs 
over1 and even hisses over in a deluge  
of foam4  ,he himself says once1 with   
more justice than originality3 ',man is1
 properly speaking1 based upon ,hope1 he

 has no other possession but ,hope2 this
 world of his is emphatically the ,place
 of ,hope4' ,what1 then1 was our        
,professor's possession8 ,we see him1   
for the present1 quite shut-out from    
,hope2 looking not into the golden      
orient1 but vaguely all round into a dim
 copper firmament1 pregnant with        
earthquake and tornado4  ,alas1 shut-out
 from ,hope1 in a deeper sense than we  
yet dream of6 ,for1 as he wanders       
wearisomely through this world1 he has  
now lost all tidings of another and     
higher4 ,full of religion1 or at least  
of religiosity1 as our ,friend has since
 exhibited himself1 he hides not that1  
in those days1 he was wholly            
irreligious3 ',doubt had darkened into  
,unbelief1' says he2 'shade after shade 
goes grimly over your soul1 till you    
have the fixed1 starless1 ,tartarean    
black4' ,to such readers as have        
reflected1 what can be called           
reflecting1 on man's life1 and happily  
discovered1 in contradiction to much    

,profit-and-loss ,philosophy1           
speculative and practical1 that ,soul is
 not synonymous with ,stomach2 who      
understand1 therefore1 in our ,friend's 
words1 'that1 for man's well-being1     
,faith is properly the one thing        
needful2 how1 with it1 ,martyrs1        
otherwise weak1 can cheerfully endure   
the shame and the cross2 and without it1
 worldlings puke-up their sick          
existence1 by suicide1 in the midst of  
luxury'3 to such it will be clear that1 
for a pure moral nature1 the loss of his
 religious ,belief was the loss of      
everything4 ,unhappy young man6 ,all    
wounds1 the crush of long-continued     
,destitution1 the stab of false         
,friendship and of false ,love1 all     
wounds in thy so genial heart1 would    
have healed again1 had not its          
life-warmth been withdrawn4 ,well might 
he exclaim1 in his wild way3 ',is there 
no ,god1 then2 but at best an absentee  
,god1 sitting idle1 ever since the first
 ,sabbath1 at the outside of his        

,universe1 and seeing it go8 ,has the   
word ,duty no meaning2 is what we call  
,duty no divine ,messenger and ,guide1  
but a false earthly ,fantasm1 made-up of
 ,desire and ,fear1 of emanations from  
the ,gallows and from ,dr4 ,graham's    
,celestial-,bed8 ,happiness of an       
approving ,conscience6 ,did not ,paul of
 ,tarsus1 whom admiring men have since  
named ,saint1 feel that he was the chief
 of sinners2 and ,nero of ,rome1 jocund 
in spirit 7wohlgemuth71 spend much of   
his time in fiddling8 ,foolish          
,word-monger and ,motive-grinder1 who in
 thy ,logic-mill hast an earthly        
mechanism for the ,godlike itself1 and  
wouldst fain grind me out ,virtue from  
the husks of ,pleasure1--,i tell thee1  
,nay6 ,to the unregenerate ,prometheus  
,vinctus of a man1 it is ever the       
bitterest aggravation of his            
wretchedness that he is conscious of    
,virtue1 that he feels himself the      
victim not of suffering only1 but of    
injustice4 ,what then8 ,is the heroic   

inspiration we name ,virtue but some    
,passion2 some bubble of the blood1     
bubbling in the direction others profit 
by8 ,i know not3 only this ,i know1 ,if 
what thou namest ,happiness be our true 
aim1 then are we all astray4 ,with      
,stupidity and sound ,digestion man may 
front much4 ,but what1 in these dull    
unimaginative days1 are the terrors of  
,conscience to the diseases of the      
,liver6 ,not on ,morality1 but on       
,cookery1 let us build our stronghold3  
there brandishing our frying-pan1 as    
censer1 let us offer sweet incense to   
the ,devil1 and live at ease on the fat 
things he has provided for his ,elect6' 
,thus has the bewildered ,wanderer to   
stand1 as so many have done1 shouting   
question after question into the        
,sibyl-cave of ,destiny1 and receive no 
,answer but an ,echo4 ,it is all a grim 
,desert1 this once-fair world of his2   
wherein is heard only the howling of    
wild-beasts1 or the shrieks of          
despairing1 hate-filled men2 and no     

,pillar of ,cloud by day1 and no ,pillar
 of ,fire by night1 any longer guides   
the ,pilgrim4 ,to such length has the   
spirit of ,inquiry carried him4 ',but   
what boots it 7was thut's78' cries he3  
'it is but the common lot in this era4  
,not having come to spiritual majority  
prior to the ,sicle de ,louis ,quinze1  
and not being born purely a ,loghead    
7,dummkopf71 thou hadst no other        
outlook4 ,the whole world is1 like thee1
 sold to ,unbelief2 their old ,temples  
of the ,godhead1 which for long have not
 been rainproof1 crumble down2 and men  
ask now3 ,where is the ,godhead2 our    
eyes never saw him8'  ,pitiful enough   
were it1 for all these wild utterances1 
to call our ,diogenes wicked4           
,unprofitable servants as we all are1   
perhaps at no era of his life was he    
more decisively the ,servant of         
,goodness1 the ,servant of ,god1 than   
even now when doubting ,god's existence4
 ',one circumstance ,i note1' says he3  
'after all the nameless woe that        

,inquiry1 which for me1 what it is not  
always1 was genuine ,love of ,truth1 had
 wrought me1 ,i nevertheless still loved
 ,truth1 and would bate no jot of my    
allegiance to her4 ,truth6 ,i cried1    
though the ,heavens crush me for        
following her3 no ,falsehood6 though a  
whole celestial ,lubberland were the    
price of ,apostasy4 ,in conduct it was  
the same4 ,had a divine ,messenger from 
the clouds1 or miraculous ,handwriting  
on the wall1 convincingly proclaimed to 
me ,this thou shalt do1 with what       
passionate readiness1 as ,i often       
thought1 would ,i have done it1 had it  
been leaping into the infernal ,fire4   
,thus1 in spite of all ,motive-grinders1
 and ,mechanical ,profit-and-,loss      
,philosophies1 with the sick ophthalmia 
and hallucination they had brought on1  
was the ,infinite nature of ,duty still 
dimly present to me3 living without ,god
 in the world1 of ,god's light ,i was   
not utterly bereft2 if my as yet sealed 
eyes1 with their unspeakable longing1   

could nowhere see ,him1 nevertheless in 
my heart ,he was present1 and ,his      
heaven-written ,law still stood legible 
and sacred there4'  ,meanwhile1 under   
all these tribulations1 and temporal and
 spiritual destitutions1 what must the  
,wanderer1 in his silent soul1 have     
endured6 ',the painfullest feeling1'    
writes he1 'is that of your own         
,feebleness 7,unkraft72 ever1 as the    
,english ,milton says1 to be weak is the
 true misery4 ,and yet of your ,strength
 there is and can be no clear feeling1  
save by what you have prospered in1 by  
what you have done4 ,between vague      
wavering ,capability and fixed          
indubitable ,performance1 what a        
difference6 ,a certain inarticulate     
,self-consciousness dwells dimly in us2 
which only our ,works can render        
articulate and decisively discernible4  
,our ,works are the mirror wherein the  
spirit first sees its natural           
lineaments4 ,hence1 too1 the folly of   
that impossible ,precept1 ,know thyself2

 till it be translated into this        
partially possible one1 ,know what thou 
canst work-at4  ',but for me1 so        
strangely unprosperous had ,i been1 the 
net-result of my ,workings amounted as  
yet simply to--,nothing4 ,how then could
 ,i believe in my ,strength1 when there 
was as yet no mirror to see it in8 ,ever
 did this agitating1 yet1 as ,i now     
perceive1 quite frivolous question1     
remain to me insoluble3 ,hast thou a    
certain ,faculty1 a certain ,worth1 such
 even as the most have not2 or art thou 
the completest ,dullard of these modern 
times8 ,alas6 the fearful ,unbelief is  
unbelief in yourself2 and how could ,i  
believe8 ,had not my first1 last ,faith 
in myself1 when even to me the ,heavens 
seemed laid open1 and ,i dared to love1 
been all-too cruelly belied8 ,the       
speculative ,mystery of ,life grew ever 
more mysterious to me3 neither in the   
practical ,mystery had ,i made the      
slightest progress1 but been everywhere 
buffeted1 foiled1 and contemptuously    

cast-out4 ,a feeble unit in the middle  
of a threatening ,infinitude1 ,i seemed 
to have nothing given me but eyes1      
whereby to discern my own wretchedness4 
,invisible yet impenetrable walls1 as of
 ,enchantment1 divided me from all      
living3 was there1 in the wide world1   
any true bosom ,i could press trustfully
 to mine8 ,o ,heaven1 ,no1 there was    
none6 ,i kept a lock upon my lips3 why  
should ,i speak much with that shifting 
variety of so-called ,friends1 in whose 
withered1 vain and too-hungry souls     
,friendship was but an incredible       
tradition8 ,in such cases1 your resource
 is to talk little1 and that little     
mostly from the ,newspapers4 ,now when  
,i look back1 it was a strange isolation
 ,i then lived in4 ,the men and women   
around me1 even speaking with me1 were  
but ,figures2 ,i had1 practically1      
forgotten that they were alive1 that    
they were not merely automatic4 ,in     
midst of their crowded streets and      
assemblages1 ,i walked solitary2 and    

7except as it was my own heart1 not     
another's1 that ,i kept devouring7      
savage also1 as the tiger in his jungle4
 ,some comfort it would have been1 could
 ,i1 like a ,faust1 have fancied myself 
tempted and tormented of the ,devil2 for
 a ,hell1 as ,i imagine1 without ,life1 
though only diabolic ,life1 were more   
frightful3 but in our age of            
,down-pulling and ,disbelief1 the very  
,devil has been pulled down1 you cannot 
so much as believe in a ,devil4 ,to me  
the ,universe was all void of ,life1 of 
,purpose1 of ,volition1 even of         
,hostility3 it was one huge1 dead1      
immeasurable ,steam-engine1 rolling on1 
in its dead indifference1 to grind me   
limb from limb4 ,o1 the vast1 gloomy1   
solitary ,golgotha1 and ,mill of ,death6
 ,why was the ,living banished thither  
companionless1 conscious8 ,why1 if there
 is no ,devil2 nay1 unless the ,devil is
 your ,god'8  ,a prey incessantly to    
such corrosions1 might not1 moreover1 as
 the worst aggravation to them1 the iron

 constitution even of a ,teufelsdrckh   
threaten to fail8 ,we conjecture that he
 has known sickness2 and1 in spite of   
his locomotive habits1 perhaps sickness 
of the chronic sort4 ,hear this1 for    
example3 ',how beautiful to die of      
broken-heart1 on ,paper6 ,quite another 
thing in practice2 every window of your 
,feeling1 even of your ,intellect1 as it
 were1 begrimed and mud-bespattered1 so 
that no pure ray can enter2 a whole     
,drugshop in your inwards2 the fordone  
soul drowning slowly in quagmires of    
,disgust6'  ,putting all which external 
and internal miseries together1 may we  
not find in the following sentences1    
quite in our ,professor's still vein1   
significance enough8 ',from ,suicide a  
certain aftershine 7,nachschein7 of     
,christianity withheld me3 perhaps also 
a certain indolence of character2 for1  
was not that a remedy ,i had at any time
 within reach8 ,often1 however1 was     
there a question present to me3 ,should 
some one now1 at the turning of that    

corner1 blow thee suddenly out of       
,space1 into the other ,world1 or other 
,no-,world1 by pistol-shot1--how were   
it8 ,on which ground1 too1 ,i have      
often1 in sea-storms and sieged cities  
and other death-scenes1 exhibited an    
imperturbability1 which passed1 falsely 
enough1 for courage4'  ',so had it      
lasted1' concludes the ,wanderer1 'so   
had it lasted1 as in bitter protracted  
,death-agony1 through long years4 ,the  
heart within me1 unvisited by any       
heavenly dewdrop1 was smouldering in    
sulphurous1 slow-consuming fire4 ,almost
 since earliest memory ,i had shed no   
tear2 or once only when ,i1 murmuring   
half-audibly1 recited ,faust's          
,deathsong1 that wild ,selig der den er 
im ,siegesglanze findet 7,happy whom he 
finds in ,battle's splendour71 and      
thought that of this last ,friend even  
,i was not forsaken1 that ,destiny      
itself could not doom me not to die4    
,having no hope1 neither had ,i any     
definite fear1 were it of ,man or of    

,devil3 nay1 ,i often felt as if it     
might be solacing1 could the            
,arch-,devil himself1 though in         
,tartarean terrors1 but rise to me1 that
 ,i might tell him a little of my mind4 
,and yet1 strangely enough1 ,i lived in 
a continual1 indefinite1 pining fear2   
tremulous1 pusillanimous1 apprehensive  
of ,i knew not what3 it seemed as if all
 things in the ,heavens above and the   
,earth beneath would hurt me2 as if the 
,heavens and the ,earth were but        
boundless jaws of a devouring monster1  
wherein ,i1 palpitating1 waited to be   
devoured4  ',full of such humour1 and   
perhaps the miserablest man in the whole
 ,french ,capital or ,suburbs1 was ,i1  
one sultry ,dog-day1 after much         
perambulation1 toiling along the dirty  
little ,rue ,saint-,thomas de l',enfer1 
among civic rubbish enough1 in a close  
atmosphere1 and over pavements hot as   
,nebuchadnezzar's ,furnace2 whereby     
doubtless my spirits were little        
cheered2 when1 all at once1 there rose a

 ,thought in me1 and ,i asked myself3   
,what art thou afraid of8 ,wherefore1   
like a coward1 dost thou forever pip and
 whimper1 and go cowering and trembling8
 ,despicable biped6 what is the         
sum-total of the worst that lies before 
thee8 ,death8 ,well1 ,death2 and say the
 pangs of ,tophet too1 and all that the 
,devil and ,man may1 will or can do     
against thee6 ,hast thou not a heart2   
canst thou not suffer whatsoever it be2 
and1 as a ,child of ,freedom1 though    
outcast1 trample ,tophet itself under   
thy feet1 while it consumes thee8 ,let  
it come1 then2 ,i will meet it and defy 
it6 ,and as ,i so thought1 there rushed 
like a stream of fire over my whole     
soul2 and ,i shook base ,fear away from 
me forever4 ,i was strong1 of unknown   
strength2 a spirit1 almost a god4 ,ever 
from that time1 the temper of my misery 
was changed3 not ,fear or whining       
,sorrow was it1 but ,indignation and    
grim fire-eyed ,defiance4  ',thus had   
the ,,everlasting ,,no 7das ewige ,nein7

 pealed authoritatively through all the 
recesses of my ,being1 of my ,,me2 and  
then was it that my whole ,,me stood up1
 in native ,god-created majesty1 and    
with emphasis recorded its ,protest4    
,such a ,protest1 the most important    
transaction in ,life1 may that same     
,indignation and ,defiance1 in a        
psychological point of view1 be fitly   
called4 ,the ,everlasting ,no had said3 
,behold1 thou are fatherless1 outcast1  
and the ,universe is mine 7the          
,devil's72 to which my whole ,me now    
made answer3 ,i am not thine1 but ,free1
 and forever hate thee6  ',it is from   
this hour that ,i incline to date my    
,spiritual ,new-birth1 or ,baphometic   
,fire-baptism2 perhaps ,i directly      
thereupon began to be a ,man4'          
,,chapter ,,viii  ,,centre ,,of         
,,indifference   ,though1 after this    
',baphometic ,fire-baptism' of his1 our 
,wanderer signifies that his ,unrest was
 but increased2 as1 indeed1             
',indignation and ,defiance1' especially

 against things in general1 are not the 
most peaceable inmates2 yet can the     
,psychologist surmise that it was no    
longer a quite hopeless ,unrest2 that   
henceforth it had at least a fixed      
centre to revolve round4 ,for the       
fire-baptised soul1 long so scathed and 
thunder-riven1 here feels its own       
,freedom1 which feeling is its          
,baphometic ,baptism3 the citadel of its
 whole kingdom it has thus gained by    
assault1 and will keep inexpugnable2    
outwards from which the remaining       
dominions1 not indeed without hard      
battling1 will doubtless by degrees be  
conquered and pacificated4 ,under       
another figure1 we might say1 if in that
 great moment1 in the ,rue              
,saint-,thomas de l',enfer1 the old     
inward ,satanic ,school was not yet     
thrown out of doors1 it received        
peremptory judicial notice to           
quit2--whereby1 for the rest1 its       
howl-chantings1 ,ernulphus-cursings1 and
 rebellious gnashings of teeth1 might1  

in the meanwhile1 become only the more  
tumultuous1 and difficult to keep       
secret4  ,accordingly1 if we scrutinise 
these ,pilgrimings well1 there is       
perhaps discernible henceforth a certain
 incipient method in their madness4 ,not
 wholly as a ,spectre does ,teufelsdrckh
 now storm through the world2 at worst  
as a spectre-fighting ,man1 nay who will
 one day be a ,spectre-queller4 ,if     
pilgriming restlessly to so many        
',saints' ,wells1' and ever without     
quenching of his thirst1 he nevertheless
 finds little secular wells1 whereby    
from time to time some alleviation is   
ministered4 ,in a word1 he is now1 if   
not ceasing1 yet intermitting to 'eat   
his own heart'2 and clutches round him  
outwardly on the ,,not-,,me for         
wholesomer food4 ,does not the following
 glimpse exhibit him in a much more     
natural state8  ',towns also and        
,cities1 especially the ancient1 ,i     
failed not to look upon with interest4  
,how beautiful to see thereby1 as       

through a long vista1 into the remote   
,time2 to have1 as it were1 an actual   
section of almost the earliest ,past    
brought safe into the ,present1 and set 
before your eyes6 ,there1 in that old   
,city1 was a live ember of ,culinary    
,fire put down1 say only two thousand   
years ago2 and there1 burning more or   
less triumphantly1 with such fuel as the
 region yielded1 it has burnt1 and still
 burns1 and thou thyself seest the very 
smoke thereof4 ,ah6 and the far more    
mysterious live ember of ,vital ,fire   
was then also put down there2 and still 
miraculously burns and spreads2 and the 
smoke and ashes thereof 7in these       
,judgment-,halls and ,churchyards71 and 
its bellows-engines 7in these           
,churches71 thou still seest2 and its   
flame1 looking out from every kind      
countenance1 and every hateful one1     
still warms thee or scorches thee4  ',of
 ,man's ,activity and ,attainment the   
chief results are aeriform1 mystic1 and 
preserved in ,tradition only3 such are  

his ,forms of ,government1 with the     
,authority they rest on2 his ,customs1  
or ,fashions both of ,cloth-habits and  
of ,soul-habits2 much more his          
collective stock of ,handicrafts1 the   
whole ,faculty he has acquired of       
manipulating ,nature3 all these things1 
as indispensable and priceless as they  
are1 cannot in any way be fixed under   
lock and key1 but must flit1            
spirit-like1 on impalpable vehicles1    
from ,father to ,son2 if you demand     
sight of them1 they are nowhere to be   
met with4 ,visible ,ploughmen and       
,hammermen there have been1 ever from   
,cain and ,tubalcain downwards3 but     
where does your accumulated             
,agricultural1 ,metallurgic1 and other  
,manufacturing ,,skill lie warehoused8  
,it transmits itself on the atmospheric 
air1 on the sun's rays 7by ,hearing and 
by ,vision72 it is a thing aeriform1    
impalpable1 of quite spiritual sort4 ,in
 like manner1 ask me not1 ,where are the
 ,,laws2 where is the ,,government8 ,in 

vain wilt thou go to ,schnbrunn1 to     
,downing ,street1 to the ,palais        
,bourbon3 thou findest nothing there but
 brick or stone houses1 and some bundles
 of ,papers tied with tape4 ,where1     
then1 is that same cunningly-devised    
almighty ,,government of theirs to be   
laid hands on8 ,everywhere1 yet nowhere3
 seen only in its works1 this too is a  
thing aeriform1 invisible2 or if you    
will1 mystic and miraculous4 ,so        
spiritual 7geistig7 is our whole daily  
,life3 all that we do springs out of    
,mystery1 ,spirit1 invisible ,force2    
only like a little ,cloud-image1 or     
,armida's ,palace1 air-built1 does the  
,actual body itself forth from the great
 mystic ,deep4  ',visible and tangible  
products of the ,past1 again1 ,i        
reckon-up to the extent of three3       
,cities1 with their ,cabinets and       
,arsenals2 then tilled ,fields1 to      
either or to both of which divisions    
,roads with their ,bridges may belong2  
and thirdly----,books4 ,in which third  

truly1 the last invented1 lies a worth  
far surpassing that of the two others4  
,wondrous indeed is the virtue of a true
 ,book4 ,not like a dead city of stones1
 yearly crumbling1 yearly needing       
repair2 more like a tilled field1 but   
then a spiritual field3 like a spiritual
 tree1 let me rather say1 it stands from
 year to year1 and from age to age 7we  
have ,books that already number some    
hundred-and-fifty human ages72 and      
yearly comes its new produce of leaves  
7,commentaries1 ,deductions1            
,philosophical1 ,political ,systems2 or 
were it only ,sermons1 ,pamphlets1      
,journalistic ,essays71 every one of    
which is talismanic and thaumaturgic1   
for it can persuade men4 ,o thou who art
 able to write a ,book1 which once in   
the two centuries or oftener there is a 
man gifted to do1 envy not him whom they
 name ,city-builder1 and inexpressibly  
pity him whom they name ,conqueror or   
,city-burner6 ,thou too art a ,conqueror
 and ,victor3 but of the true sort1     

namely over the ,devil3 thou too hast   
built what will outlast all marble and  
metal1 and be a wonder-bringing ,city of
 the ,mind1 a ,temple and ,seminary and 
,prophetic ,mount1 whereto all kindreds 
of the ,earth will pilgrim4--,fool6 why 
journeyest thou wearisomely1 in thy     
antiquarian fervour1 to gaze on the     
stone pyramids of ,geeza1 or the clay   
ones of ,sacchara8 ,these stand there1  
as ,i can tell thee1 idle and inert1    
looking over the ,desert1 foolishly     
enough1 for the last three-thousand     
years3 but canst thou not open thy      
,hebrew ,,bible1 then1 or even ,luther's
 ,version thereof8'  ,no less           
satisfactory is his sudden appearance   
not in ,battle1 yet on some             
,battle-field2 which1 we soon gather1   
must be that of ,wagram2 so that here1  
for once1 is a certain approximation to 
distinctness of date4 ,omitting much1   
let us impart what follows3  ',horrible 
enough6 ,a whole ,marchfeld strewed with
 shell-splinters1 cannon-shot1 ruined   

tumbrils1 and dead men and horses2      
stragglers still remaining not so much  
as buried4 ,and those red mould heaps3  
ay1 there lie the ,shells of ,men1 out  
of which all the ,life and ,virtue has  
been blown2 and now are they swept      
together1 and crammed-down out of sight1
 like blown ,egg-shells6--,did ,nature1 
when she bade the ,donau bring down his 
mould-cargoes from the ,carinthian and  
,carpathian ,heights1 and spread them   
out here into the softest1 richest      
level1--intend thee1 ,o ,marchfeld1 for 
a corn-bearing ,nursery1 whereon her    
children might be nursed2 or for a      
,cockpit1 wherein they might the more   
commodiously be throttled and tattered8 
,were thy three broad ,highways1 meeting
 here from the ends of ,europe1 made for
 ,ammunition-wagons1 then8 ,were thy    
,wagrams and ,stillfrieds but so many   
ready-built ,casemates1 wherein the     
house of ,hapsburg might batter with    
artillery1 and with artillery be        
battered8 ,knig ,ottokar1 amid yonder   

hillocks1 dies under ,rodolf's          
truncheon2 here ,kaiser ,franz falls    
a-swoon under ,napoleon's3 within which 
five centuries1 to omit the others1 how 
has thy breast1 fair ,plain1 been       
defaced and defiled6 ,the greensward is 
torn-up and trampled-down2 man's fond   
care of it1 his fruit-trees1 hedgerows1 
and pleasant dwellings1 blown-away with 
gunpowder2 and the kind seedfield lies a
 desolate1 hideous ,place of            
,sculls4--,nevertheless1 ,nature is at  
work2 neither shall these               
,powder-,devilkins with their utmost    
devilry gainsay her3 but all that gore  
and carnage will be shrouded-in1        
absorbed into manure2 and next year the 
,marchfeld will be green1 nay greener4  
,thrifty unwearied ,nature1 ever out of 
our great waste educing some little     
profit of thy own1--how dost thou1 from 
the very carcass of the ,killer1 bring  
,life for the ,living6  ',what1 speaking
 in quite unofficial language1 is the   
net-purport and upshot of war8 ,to my   

own knowledge1 for example1 there dwell 
and toil1 in the ,british village of    
,dumdrudge1 usually some five-hundred   
souls4 ,from these1 by certain ,natural 
,enemies of the ,french1 there are      
successively selected1 during the       
,french war1 say thirty able-bodied men3
 ,dumdrudge1 at her own expense1 has    
suckled and nursed them3 she has1 not   
without difficulty and sorrow1 fed them 
up to manhood1 and even trained them to 
crafts1 so that one can weave1 another  
build1 another hammer1 and the weakest  
can stand under thirty stone            
avoirdupois4 ,nevertheless1 amid much   
weeping and swearing1 they are selected2
 all dressed in red2 and shipped away1  
at the public charges1 some two-thousand
 miles1 or say only to the south of     
,spain2 and fed there till wanted4 ,and 
now to that same spot1 in the south of  
,spain1 are thirty similar ,french      
artisans1 from a ,french ,dumdrudge1 in 
like manner wending3 till at length1    
after infinite effort1 the two parties  

come into actual juxtaposition2 and     
,thirty stands fronting ,thirty1 each   
with a gun in his hand4 ,straightway the
 word ,fire6 is given3 and they blow the
 souls out of one another2 and in place 
of sixty brisk useful craftsmen1 the    
world has sixty dead carcasses1 which it
 must bury1 and anew shed tears for4    
,had these men any quarrel8 ,busy as the
 ,devil is1 not the smallest6 ,they     
lived far enough apart2 were the        
entirest strangers2 nay1 in so wide a   
,universe1 there was even1              
unconsciously1 by ,commerce1 some mutual
 helpfulness between them4 ,how then8   
,simpleton6 their ,governors had        
fallen-out2 and1 instead of shooting one
 another1 had the cunning to make these 
poor blockheads shoot4--,alas1 so is it 
in ,deutschland1 and hitherto in all    
other lands2 still as of old1 what      
devilry soever ,kings do1 the ,greeks   
must pay the piper6--,in that fiction of
 the ,english ,smollet1 it is true1 the 
final ,cessation of ,war is perhaps     

prophetically shadowed forth2 where the 
two ,natural ,enemies1 in person1 take  
each a ,tobacco-pipe1 filled with       
,brimstone2 light the same1 and smoke in
 one another's faces1 till the weaker   
gives in3 but from such predicted       
,peace-,era1 what blood-filled trenches1
 and contentious centuries1 may still   
divide us6'  ,thus can the ,professor1  
at least in lucid intervals1 look away  
from his own sorrows1 over the          
many-coloured world1 and pertinently    
enough note what is passing there4 ,we  
may remark1 indeed1 that for the matter 
of spiritual culture1 if for nothing    
else1 perhaps few periods of his life   
were richer than this4 ,internally1     
there is the most momentous instructive 
,course of ,practical ,philosophy1 with 
,experiments1 going on2 towards the     
right comprehension of which his        
,peripatetic habits1 favourable to      
,meditation1 might help him rather than 
hinder4 ,externally1 again1 as he       
wanders to and fro1 there are1 if for   

the longing heart little substance1 yet 
for the seeing eye sights enough3 in    
these so boundless ,travels of his1     
granting that the ,satanic ,school was  
even partially kept down1 what an       
incredible knowledge of our ,planet1 and
 its ,inhabitants and their ,works1 that
 is to say1 of all knowable things1     
might not ,teufelsdrckh acquire6  ',i   
have read in most ,public ,libraries1'  
says he1 'including those of            
,constantinople and ,samarcand3 in most 
,colleges1 except the ,chinese ,mandarin
 ones1 ,i have studied1 or seen that    
there was no studying4 ,unknown         
,languages have ,i oftenest gathered    
from their natural repertory1 the ,air1 
by my organ of ,hearing2 ,statistics1   
,geographics1 ,topographics came1       
through the ,eye1 almost of their own   
accord4 ,the ways of ,man1 how he seeks 
food1 and warmth1 and protection for    
himself1 in most regions1 are ocularly  
known to me4 ,like the great ,hadrian1  
,i meted-out much of the terraqueous    

,globe with a pair of ,compasses that   
belonged to myself only4  ',of great    
,scenes why speak8 ,three summer days1  
,i lingered reflecting1 and even        
composing 7dichtete71 by the ,pinechasms
 of ,vaucluse2 and in that clear        
,lakelet moistened my bread4 ,i have sat
 under the ,palm-trees of ,tadmor2      
smoked a pipe among the ruins of        
,babylon4 ,the great ,wall of ,china ,i 
have seen2 and can testify that it is of
 gray brick1 coped and covered with     
granite1 and shows only second-rate     
masonry4--,great ,events1 also1 have not
 ,i witnessed8 ,kings sweated-down      
7ausgemergelt7 into ,berlin-and-,milan  
,customhouse-,officers2 the ,world well 
won1 and the ,world well lost2 oftener  
than once a hundred-thousand individuals
 shot 7by each other7 in one day4 ,all  
kindreds and peoples and nations dashed 
together1 and shifted and shovelled into
 heaps1 that they might ferment there1  
and in time unite4 ,the birth-pangs of  
,democracy1 wherewith convulsed ,europe 

was groaning in cries that reached      
,heaven1 could not escape me4  ',for    
great ,men ,i have ever had the warmest 
predilection2 and can perhaps boast that
 few such in this era have wholly       
escaped me4 ,great ,men are the inspired
 7speaking and acting7 ,texts of that   
divine ,,book ,,of ,,revelations1       
whereof a ,chapter is completed from    
epoch to epoch1 and by some named       
,,history2 to which inspired ,texts your
 numerous talented men1 and your        
innumerable untalented men1 are the     
better or worse exegetic ,commentaries1 
and wagonload of too-stupid1 heretical  
or orthodox1 weekly ,sermons4 ,for my   
study the inspired ,texts themselves6   
,thus did not ,i1 in very early days1   
having disguised me as tavern-waiter1   
stand behind the field-chairs1 under    
that shady ,tree at ,treisnitz by the   
,jena ,highway2 waiting upon the great  
,schiller and greater ,goethe2 and      
hearing what ,i have not forgotten4     
,for----'  ----,but at this point the   

,editor recalls his principle of        
caution1 some time ago laid down1 and   
must suppress much4 ,let not the        
sacredness of ,laurelled1 still more1 of
 ,crowned ,heads1 be tampered with4     
,should we1 at a future day1 find       
circumstances altered1 and the time come
 for ,publication1 then may these       
glimpses into the privacy of the        
,illustrious be conceded2 which for the 
present were little better than         
treacherous1 perhaps traitorous         
,eavesdroppings4 ,of ,lord ,byron1      
therefore1 of ,pope ,pius1 ,emperor     
,tarakwang1 and the ',white             
,water-roses' 7,chinese ,carbonari7 with
 their mysteries1 no notice here6 ,of   
,napoleon himself we shall only1        
glancing from afar1 remark that         
,teufelsdrckh's relation to him seems to
 have been of very varied character4 ,at
 first we find our poor ,professor on   
the point of being shot as a spy2 then  
taken into private conversation1 even   
pinched on the ear1 yet presented with  

no money2 at last indignantly dismissed1
 almost thrown out of doors1 as an      
',ideologist4' ',he himself1' says the  
,professor1 'was among the completest   
,ideologists1 at least ,ideopraxists3 in
 the ,idea 7in der ,idee7 he lived1     
moved and fought4 ,the man was a ,divine
 ,missionary1 though unconscious of it2 
and preached1 through the cannon's      
throat1 that great doctrine1 ,la carrire
 ouverte aux talens 7,the ,tools to him 
that can handle them71 which is our     
ultimate ,political ,evangel1 wherein   
alone can liberty lie4 ,madly enough he 
preached1 it is true1 as ,enthusiasts   
and first ,missionaries are wont1 with  
imperfect utterance1 amid much frothy   
rant2 yet as articulately perhaps as the
 case admitted4 ,or call him1 if you    
will1 an ,american ,backwoodsman1 who   
had to fell unpenetrated forests1 and   
battle with innumerable wolves1 and did 
not entirely forbear strong liquor1     
rioting1 and even theft2 whom1          
notwithstanding1 the peaceful ,sower    

will follow1 and1 as he cuts the        
boundless harvest1 bless4'  ,more       
legitimate and decisively authentic is  
,teufelsdrckh's appearance and emergence
 7we know not well whence7 in the       
solitude of the ,north ,cape1 on that   
,june ,midnight4 ,he has 'a light-blue  
,spanish cloak' hanging round him1 as   
his 'most commodious1 principal1 indeed 
sole upper garment'2 and stands there1  
on the ,world-promontory1 looking over  
the infinite ,brine1 like a little blue 
,belfry 7as we figure71 now motionless  
indeed1 yet ready1 if stirred1 to ring  
quaintest changes4  ',silence as of     
death1' writes he2 'for ,midnight1 even 
in the ,arctic latitudes1 has its       
character3 nothing but the granite      
cliffs ruddy-tinged1 the peaceable      
gurgle of that slow-heaving ,polar      
,ocean1 over which in the utmost ,north 
the great ,sun hangs low and lazy1 as if
 he too were slumbering4 ,yet is his    
cloud-couch wrought of crimson and      
cloth-of-gold2 yet does his light stream

 over the mirror of waters1 like a      
tremulous fire-pillar1 shooting         
downwards to the abyss1 and hide itself 
under my feet4 ,in such moments1        
,solitude also is invaluable2 for who   
would speak1 or be looked on1 when      
behind him lies all ,europe and ,africa1
 fast asleep1 except the watchmen2 and  
before him the silent ,immensity1 and   
,palace of the ,eternal1 whereof our    
,sun is but a porch-lamp8               
',nevertheless1 in this solemn moment   
comes a man1 or monster1 scrambling from
 among the rock-hollows2 and1 shaggy1   
huge as the ,hyperborean ,bear1 hails me
 in ,russian speech3 most probably1     
therefore1 a ,russian ,smuggler4 ,with  
courteous brevity1 ,i signify my        
indifference to contraband trade1 my    
humane intentions1 yet strong wish to be
 private4 ,in vain3 the monster1        
counting doubtless on his superior      
stature1 and minded to make sport for   
himself1 or perhaps profit1 were it with
 murder1 continues to advance2 ever     

assailing me with his importunate       
train-oil breath2 and now has advanced1 
till we stand both on the verge of the  
rock1 the deep ,sea rippling greedily   
down below4 ,what argument will avail8  
,on the thick ,hyperborean1 cherubic    
reasoning1 seraphic eloquence were lost4
 ,prepared for such extremity1 ,i1      
deftly enough1 whisk aside one step2    
draw out1 from my interior reservoirs1 a
 sufficient ,birmingham ,horse-pistol1  
and say1 ,be so obliging as retire1     
,friend 7,er ziehe sich zurck1 ,freund71
 and with promptitude6 ,this logic even 
the ,hyperborean understands2 fast      
enough1 with apologetic1 petitionary    
growl1 he sidles off2 and1 except for   
suicidal as well as homicidal purposes1 
need not return4  ',such ,i hold to be  
the genuine use of ,gunpowder3 that it  
makes all men alike tall4 ,nay1 if thou 
be cooler1 cleverer than ,i1 if thou    
have more ,mind1 though all but no ,body
 whatever1 then canst thou kill me      
first1 and art the taller4 ,hereby1 at  

last1 is the ,goliath powerless1 and the
 ,david resistless2 savage ,animalism is
 nothing1 inventive ,spiritualism is    
all4  ',with respect to ,duels1 indeed1 
,i have my own ideas4 ,few things1 in   
this so surprising world1 strike me with
 more surprise4 ,two little visual      
,spectra of men1 hovering with insecure 
enough cohesion in the midst of the     
,,unfathomable1 and to dissolve therein1
 at any rate1 very soon1--make pause at 
the distance of twelve paces asunder2   
whirl round2 and1 simultaneously by the 
cunningest mechanism1 explode one       
another into ,dissolution2 and off-hand 
become ,air1 and ,non-extant6 ,deuce on 
it 7verdammt71 the little               
spitfires6--,nay1 ,i think with old     
,hugo von ,trimberg3 ,god must needs    
laugh outright1 could such a thing be1  
to see his wondrous ,manikins here      
below4'         99       99       99    
99       99  ,but amid these            
specialties1 let us not forget the great
 generality1 which is our chief quest   

here3 ,how prospered the inner man of   
,teufelsdrckh under so much outward     
shifting8 ,does ,legion still lurk in   
him1 though repressed2 or has he        
exorcised that ,devil's ,brood8 ,we can 
answer that the symptoms continue       
promising4 ,experience is the grand     
spiritual ,doctor2 and with him         
,teufelsdrckh has now been long a       
patient1 swallowing many a bitter bolus4
 ,unless our poor ,friend belong to the 
numerous class of ,incurables1 which    
seems not likely1 some cure will        
doubtless be effected4 ,we should rather
 say that ,legion1 or the ,satanic      
,school1 was now pretty well extirpated 
and cast out1 but next to nothing       
introduced in its room2 whereby the     
heart remains1 for the while1 in a quiet
 but no comfortable state4  ',at length1
 after so much roasting1' thus writes   
our ,autobiographer1 ',i was what you   
might name calcined4 ,pray only that it 
be not rather1 as is the more frequent  
issue1 reduced to a caput-mortuum6 ,but 

in any case1 by mere dint of practice1  
,i had grown familiar with many things4 
,wretchedness was still wretched2 but ,i
 could now partly see through it1 and   
despise it4 ,which highest mortal1 in   
this inane ,existence1 had ,i not found 
a ,shadow-hunter1 or ,shadow-hunted2    
and1 when ,i looked through his brave   
garnitures1 miserable enough8 ,thy      
wishes have all been sniffed aside1     
thought ,i3 but what1 had they even been
 all granted6 ,did not the ,boy         
,alexander weep because he had not two  
,planets to conquer2 or a whole ,solar  
,system2 or after that1 a whole         
,universe8 ,ach ,gott1 when ,i gazed    
into these ,stars1 have they not looked 
down on me as if with pity1 from their  
serene spaces2 like ,eyes glistening    
with heavenly tears over the little lot 
of man6 ,thousands of human generations1
 all as noisy as our own1 have been     
swallowed-up of ,time1 and there remains
 no wreck of them any more2 and         
,arcturus and ,orion and ,sirius and the

 ,pleiades are still shining in their   
courses1 clear and young1 as when the   
,shepherd first noted them in the plain 
of ,shinar4 ,pshaw6 what is this paltry 
little ,dog-cage of an ,earth2 what art 
thou that sittest whining there8 ,thou  
art still ,nothing1 ,nobody3 true2 but  
who1 then1 is ,something1 ,somebody8    
,for thee the ,family of ,man has no    
use2 it rejects thee2 thou art wholly as
 a dissevered limb3 so be it2 perhaps it
 is better so6'  ,too-heavy-laden       
,teufelsdrckh6 ,yet surely his bands are
 loosening2 one day he will hurl the    
burden far from him1 and bound forth    
free and with a second youth4  ',this1' 
says our ,professor1 'was the ,,centre  
,,of ,,indifference ,i had now reached2 
through which whoso travels from the    
,negative ,pole to the ,positive must   
necessarily pass4'     ,,chapter ,,ix   
,,the ,,everlasting ,,yea               
',temptations in the ,wilderness6'      
exclaims ,teufelsdrckh3 ',have we not   
all to be tried with such8 ,not so      

easily can the old ,adam1 lodged in us  
by birth1 be dispossessed4 ,our ,life is
 compassed round with ,necessity2 yet is
 the meaning of ,life itself no other   
than ,freedom1 than ,voluntary ,force3  
thus have we a warfare2 in the          
beginning1 especially1 a hard-fought    
battle4 ,for the ,god-given mandate1    
,work thou in ,welldoing1 lies          
mysteriously written1 in ,promethean    
,prophetic ,characters1 in our hearts2  
and leaves us no rest1 night or day1    
till it be deciphered and obeyed2 till  
it burn forth1 in our conduct1 a        
visible1 acted ,gospel of ,freedom4 ,and
 as the clay-given mandate1 ,eat thou   
and be filled1 at the same time         
persuasively proclaims itself through   
every nerve1--must not there be a       
confusion1 a contest1 before the better 
,influence can become the upper8  ',to  
me nothing seems more natural than that 
the ,son of ,man1 when such ,god-given  
mandate first prophetically stirs within
 him1 and the ,clay must now be         

vanquished1 or vanquish1--should be     
carried of the spirit into grim         
,solitudes1 and there fronting the      
,tempter do grimmest battle with him2   
defiantly setting him at naught1 till he
 yield and fly4 ,name it as we choose3  
with or without visible ,devil1 whether 
in the natural ,desert of rocks and     
sands1 or in the populous moral ,desert 
of selfishness and baseness1--to such   
,temptation are we all called4 ,unhappy 
if we are not6 ,unhappy if we are but   
,half-men1 in whom that divine          
handwriting has never blazed forth1     
all-subduing1 in true sun-splendour2 but
 quivers dubiously amid meaner lights3  
or smoulders1 in dull pain1 in darkness1
 under earthly vapours6--,our           
,wilderness is the wide ,world in an    
,atheistic ,century2 our ,forty ,days   
are long years of suffering and fasting3
 nevertheless1 to these also comes an   
end4 ,yes1 to me also was given1 if not 
,victory1 yet the consciousness of      
,battle1 and the resolve to persevere   

therein while life or faculty is left4  
,to me also1 entangled in the enchanted 
forests1 demon-peopled1 doleful of sight
 and of sound1 it was given1 after      
weariest wanderings1 to work out my way 
into the higher sunlit slopes--of that  
,mountain which has no summit1 or whose 
summit is in ,heaven only6'  ,he says   
elsewhere1 under a less ambitious       
figure2 as figures are1 once for all1   
natural to him3 ',has not thy ,life been
 that of most sufficient men 7tchtigen  
,mnner7 thou hast known in this         
generation8 ,an out-flush of foolish    
young ,enthusiasm1 like the first       
fallow-crop1 wherein are as many weeds  
as valuable herbs3 this all parched     
away1 under the ,droughts of practical  
and spiritual ,unbelief1 as             
,disappointment1 in thought and act1    
often-repeated gave rise to ,doubt1 and 
,doubt gradually settled into ,denial6  
,if ,i have had a second-crop1 and now  
see the perennial greensward1 and sit   
under umbrageous cedars1 which defy all 

,drought 7and ,doubt72 herein too1 be   
the ,heavens praised1 ,i am not without 
examples1 and even exemplars4'  ,so     
that1 for ,teufelsdrckh also1 there has 
been a 'glorious revolution'3 these mad 
shadow-hunting and shadow-hunted        
,pilgrimings of his were but some       
purifying ',temptation in the           
,wilderness1' before his ,apostolic work
 7such as it was7 could begin2 which    
,temptation is now happily over1 and the
 ,devil once more worsted6 ,was 'that   
high moment in the ,rue de l',enfer1'   
then1 properly the turning-point of the 
battle2 when the ,fiend said1 ,worship  
me or be torn in shreds2 and was        
answered valiantly with an ,apage       
,satana8--,singular ,teufelsdrckh1 would
 thou hadst told thy singular story in  
plain words6 ,but it is fruitless to    
look there1 in those ,paper-bags1 for   
such4 ,nothing but innuendoes1          
figurative crotchets3 a typical ,shadow1
 fitfully wavering1 prophetico-satiric2 
no clear logical ,picture4 ',how paint  

to the sensual eye1' asks he once1 'what
 passes in the ,holy-of-,holies of      
,man's ,soul2 in what words1 known to   
these profane times1 speak even afar-off
 of the unspeakable8' ,we ask in turn3  
,why perplex these times1 profane as    
they are1 with needless obscurity1 by   
omission and by commission8 ,not        
mystical only is our ,professor1 but    
whimsical2 and involves himself1 now    
more than ever1 in eye-bewildering      
chiaroscuro4 ,successive glimpses1 here 
faithfully imparted1 our more gifted    
readers must endeavour to combine for   
their own behoof4  ,he says3 ',the hot  
,harmattan wind had raged itself out2   
its howl went silent within me2 and the 
long-deafened soul could now hear4 ,i   
paused in my wild wanderings2 and sat me
 down to wait1 and consider2 for it was 
as if the hour of change drew nigh4 ,i  
seemed to surrender1 to renounce        
utterly1 and say3 ,fly1 then1 false     
shadows of ,hope2 ,i will chase you no  
more1 ,i will believe you no more4 ,and 

ye too1 haggard spectres of ,fear1 ,i   
care not for you2 ye too are all shadows
 and a lie4 ,let me rest here3 for ,i am
 way-weary and life-weary2 ,i will rest 
here1 were it but to die3 to die or to  
live is alike to me2 alike              
insignificant4'--,and again3 ',here1    
then1 as ,i lay in that ,,centre ,,of   
,,indifference2 cast1 doubtless by      
benignant upper ,influence1 into a      
healing sleep1 the heavy dreams rolled  
gradually away1 and ,i awoke to a new   
,heaven and a new ,earth4 ,the first    
preliminary moral ,act1 ,annihilation of
 ,self 7,selbst-tdtung71 had been       
happily accomplished2 and my mind's eyes
 were now unsealed1 and its hands       
ungyved4'  ,might we not also conjecture
 that the following passage refers to   
his ,locality1 during this same 'healing
 sleep'2 that his ,pilgrim-staff lies   
cast aside here1 on 'the high           
table-land'2 and indeed that the repose 
is already taking wholesome effect on   
him8 ,if it were not that the tone1 in  

some parts1 has more of riancy1 even of 
levity1 than we could have expected6    
,however1 in ,teufelsdrckh1 there is    
always the strangest ,dualism3 light    
dancing1 with guitar-music1 will be     
going on in the fore-court1 while by    
fits from within comes the faint        
whimpering of woe and wail4 ,we         
transcribe the piece entire3            
',beautiful it was to sit there1 as in  
my skyey ,tent1 musing and meditating2  
on the high table-land1 in front of the 
,mountains2 over me1 as roof1 the azure 
,dome1 and around me1 for walls1 four   
azure-flowing curtains1--namely1 of the 
,four azure winds1 on whose             
bottom-fringes also ,i have seen        
gilding4 ,and then to fancy the fair    
,castles that stood sheltered in these  
,mountain hollows2 with their green     
flower-lawns1 and white dames and       
damosels1 lovely enough3 or better      
still1 the straw-roofed ,cottages1      
wherein stood many a ,mother baking     
bread1 with her children round her3--all

 hidden and protectingly folded-up in   
the valley-folds2 yet there and alive1  
as sure as if ,i beheld them4 ,or to    
see1 as well as fancy1 the nine ,towns  
and ,villages1 that lay round my        
mountain-seat1 which1 in still weather1 
were wont to speak to me 7by their      
steeple-bells7 with metal tongue2 and1  
in almost all weather1 proclaimed their 
vitality by repeated ,smoke-clouds2     
whereon1 as on a culinary horologe1 ,i  
might read the hour of the day4 ,for it 
was the smoke of cookery1 as kind       
housewives at morning1 midday1 eventide1
 were boiling their husbands' kettles2  
and ever a blue pillar rose up into the 
air1 successively or simultaneously1    
from each of the nine1 saying1 as       
plainly as smoke could say3 ,such and   
such a meal is getting ready here4 ,not 
uninteresting6 ,for you have the whole  
,borough1 with all its love-makings and 
scandal-mongeries1 contentions and      
contentments1 as in miniature1 and could
 cover it all with your hat4--,if1 in my

 wide ,wayfarings1 ,i had learned to    
look into the business of the ,world in 
its details1 here perhaps was the place 
for combining it into general           
propositions1 and deducing inferences   
therefrom4  ',often also could ,i see   
the black ,tempest marching in anger    
through the ,distance3 round some       
,schreckhorn1 as yet grim-blue1 would   
the eddying vapour gather1 and there    
tumultuously eddy1 and flow down like a 
mad witch's hair2 till1 after a space1  
it vanished1 and1 in the clear sunbeam1 
your ,schreckhorn stood smiling         
grim-white1 for the vapour had held     
snow4 ,how thou fermentest and          
elaboratest1 in thy great fermenting-vat
 and laboratory of an ,atmosphere1 of a 
,world1 ,o ,nature6--,or what is        
,nature8 ,ha6 why do ,i not name thee   
,,god8 ,art not thou the ,living        
,garment of ,god8 ,o ,heavens1 is it1 in
 very deed1 ,,he1 then1 that ever speaks
 through thee2 that lives and loves in  
thee1 that lives and loves in me8       

',fore-shadows1 call them rather        
fore-splendours1 of that ,truth1 and    
,beginning of ,truths1 fell mysteriously
 over my soul4 ,sweeter than ,dayspring 
to the ,shipwrecked in ,nova ,zembla2   
ah1 like the mother's voice to her      
little child that strays bewildered1    
weeping1 in unknown tumults2 like soft  
streamings of celestial music to my     
too-exasperated heart1 came that        
,evangel4 ,the ,universe is not dead and
 demoniacal1 a charnel-house with       
spectres2 but godlike1 and my ,father's6
  ',with other eyes1 too1 could ,i now  
look upon my fellow man2 with an        
infinite ,love1 an infinite ,pity4      
,poor1 wandering1 wayward man6 ,art thou
 not tired1 and beaten with stripes1    
even as ,i am8 ,ever1 whether thou bear 
the royal mantle or the beggar's        
gabardine1 art thou not so weary1 so    
heavy-laden2 and thy ,bed of ,rest is   
but a ,grave4 ,o my ,brother1 my        
,brother1 why cannot ,i shelter thee in 
my bosom1 and wipe away all tears from  

thy eyes6 ,truly1 the din of many-voiced
 ,life1 which1 in this solitude1 with   
the mind's organ1 ,i could hear1 was no 
longer a maddening discord1 but a       
melting one2 like inarticulate cries1   
and sobbings of a dumb creature1 which  
in the ear of ,heaven are prayers4 ,the 
poor ,earth1 with her poor joys1 was now
 my needy ,mother1 not my cruel         
,stepdame2 ,man1 with his so mad ,wants 
and so mean ,endeavours1 had become the 
dearer to me2 and even for his          
sufferings and his sins1 ,i now first   
named him ,brother4 ,thus was ,i        
standing in the porch of that ,sanctuary
 of ,sorrow2 by strange1 steep ways had 
,i too been guided thither2 and ere long
 its sacred gates would open1 and the   
,divine ,depth of ,sorrow lie disclosed 
to me4'  ,the ,professor says1 he here  
first got eye on the ,knot that had been
 strangling him1 and straightway could  
unfasten it1 and was free4 ',a vain     
interminable controversy1' writes he1   
'touching what is at present called     

,origin of ,evil1 or some such thing1   
arises in every soul1 since the         
beginning of the world2 and in every    
soul1 that would pass from idle         
,suffering into actual ,endeavouring1   
must first be put an end to4 ,the most1 
in our time1 have to go content with a  
simple1 incomplete enough ,suppression  
of this controversy2 to a few some      
,solution of it is indispensable4 ,in   
every new era1 too1 such ,solution      
comes-out in different terms2 and ever  
the ,solution of the last era has become
 obsolete1 and is found unserviceable4  
,for it is man's nature to change his   
,dialect from century to century2 he    
cannot help it though he would4 ,the    
authentic ,church-,catechism of our     
present century has not yet fallen into 
my hands3 meanwhile1 for my own private 
behoof1 ,i attempt to elucidate the     
matter so4 ,man's ,unhappiness1 as ,i   
construe1 comes of his ,greatness2 it is
 because there is an ,infinite in him1  
which with all his cunning he cannot    

quite bury under the ,finite4 ,will the 
whole ,finance ,ministers and           
,upholsterers and ,confectioners of     
modern ,europe undertake1 in jointstock 
company1 to make one ,shoeblack ,,happy8
 ,they cannot accomplish it1 above an   
hour or two2 for the ,shoeblack also has
 a ,soul quite other than his ,stomach2 
and would require1 if you consider it1  
for his permanent satisfaction and      
saturation1 simply this allotment1 no   
more1 and no less3 ,god's infinite      
,universe altogether to himself1 therein
 to enjoy infinitely1 and fill every    
wish as fast as it rose4 ,oceans of     
,hochheimer1 a ,throat like that of     
,ophiuchus3 speak not of them2 to the   
infinite ,shoeblack they are as nothing4
 ,no sooner is your ocean filled1 than  
he grumbles that it might have been of  
better vintage4 ,try him with half of a 
,universe1 of an ,omnipotence1 he sets  
to quarrelling with the proprietor of   
the other half1 and declares himself the
 most maltreated of men4--,always there 

is a black spot in our sunshine3 it is  
even as ,i said1 the ,shadow of         
,ourselves4  ',but the whim we have of  
,happiness is somewhat thus4 ,by certain
 valuations1 and averages1 of our own   
striking1 we come upon some sort of     
average terrestrial lot2 this we fancy  
belongs to us by nature1 and of         
indefeasible right4 ,it is simple       
payment of our wages1 of our deserts2   
requires neither thanks nor complaint2  
only such overplus as there may be do we
 account ,happiness2 any deficit again  
is ,misery4 ,now consider that we have  
the valuation of our own deserts        
ourselves1 and what a fund of           
,self-conceit there is in each of       
us1--do you wonder that the balance     
should so often dip the wrong way1 and  
many a ,blockhead cry3 ,see there1 what 
a payment2 was ever worthy gentleman so 
used6--,i tell thee1 ,blockhead1 it all 
comes of thy ,vanity2 of what thou      
fanciest those same deserts of thine to 
be4 ,fancy that thou deservest to be    

hanged 7as is most likely71 thou wilt   
feel it happiness to be only shot3 fancy
 that thou deservest to be hanged in a  
hair-halter1 it will be a luxury to die 
in hemp4  ',so true is it1 what ,i then 
say1 that the ,fraction of ,life can be 
increased in value not so much by       
increasing your ,numerator as by        
lessening your ,denominator4 ,nay1      
unless my ,algebra deceive me1 ,unity   
itself divided by ,zero will give       
,infinity4 ,make thy claim of wages a   
zero1 then2 thou hast the world under   
thy feet4 ,well did the ,wisest of our  
time write3 ,it is only with            
,renunciation 7,entsagen7 that ,life1   
properly speaking1 can be said to begin4
  ',i asked myself3 ,what is this that1 
ever since earliest years1 thou hast    
been fretting and fuming1 and lamenting 
and self-tormenting1 on account of8 ,say
 it in a word3 is it not because thou   
art not ,,happy8 ,because the ,,thou    
7sweet gentleman7 is not sufficiently   
honoured1 nourished1 soft-bedded1 and   

lovingly cared for8 ,foolish soul6 ,what
 ,act of ,legislature was there that    
thou shouldst be ,happy8 ,a little while
 ago thou hadst no right to be at all4  
,what if thou wert born and predestined 
not to be ,happy1 but to be ,unhappy6   
,art thou nothing other than a ,vulture1
 then1 that fliest through the ,universe
 seeking after somewhat to eat2 and     
shrieking dolefully because carrion     
enough is not given thee8 ,close thy    
,byron2 open thy ,goethe4'  ',es        
leuchtet mir ein1 ,i see a glimpse of   
it6' cries he elsewhere3 'there is in   
man a ,,higher than ,love of ,happiness3
 he can do without ,happiness1 and      
instead thereof find ,blessedness6 ,was 
it not to preach-forth this same        
,,higher that sages and martyrs1 the    
,poet and the ,priest1 in all times1    
have spoken and suffered2 bearing       
testimony1 through life and through     
death1 of the ,godlike that is in ,man1 
and how in the ,godlike only has he     
,strength and ,freedom8 ,which          

,god-inspired ,doctrine art thou also   
honoured to be taught2 ,o ,heavens6 and 
broken with manifold merciful           
,afflictions1 even till thou become     
contrite1 and learn it6 ,o1 thank thy   
,destiny for these2 thankfully bear what
 yet remain3 thou hadst need of them2   
the ,self in thee needed to be          
annihilated4 ,by benignant              
fever-paroxysms is ,life rooting out the
 deep-seated chronic ,disease1 and      
triumphs over ,death4 ,on the roaring   
billows of ,time1 thou art not engulfed1
 but borne aloft into the azure of      
,eternity4 ,love not ,pleasure2 love    
,god4 ,this is the ,,everlasting ,,yea1 
wherein all contradiction is solved3    
wherein whoso walks and works1 it is    
well with him4'  ,and again3 ',small is 
it that thou canst trample the ,earth   
with its injuries under thy feet1 as old
 ,greek ,zeno trained thee3 thou canst  
love the ,earth while it injures thee1  
and even because it injures thee2 for   
this a ,greater than ,zeno was needed1  

and he too was sent4 ,knowest thou that 
,worship of ,sorrow8 ,the ,temple       
thereof1 founded some eighteen centuries
 ago1 now lies in ruins1 overgrown with 
jungle1 the habitation of doleful       
creatures3 nevertheless1 venture        
forward2 in a low crypt1 arched out of  
falling fragments1 thou findest the     
,altar still there1 and its sacred ,lamp
 perennially burning4'  ,without        
pretending to comment on which strange  
utterances1 the ,editor will only       
remark1 that there lies beside them much
 of a still more questionable character2
 unsuited to the general apprehension2  
nay wherein he himself does not see his 
way4 ,nebulous disquisitions on         
,religion1 yet not without bursts of    
splendour2 on the 'perennial continuance
 of ,inspiration2' on ,prophecy2 that   
there are 'true ,priests1 as well as    
,baal-,priests1 in our own day3' with   
more of the like sort4 ,we select some  
fractions1 by way of finish to this     
farrago4  ',cease1 my much-respected    

,herr von ,voltaire1' thus apostrophises
 the ,professor3 'shut thy sweet voice2 
for the task appointed thee seems       
finished4 ,sufficiently hast thou       
demonstrated this proposition1          
considerable or otherwise3 ,that the    
,mythus of the ,christian ,religion     
looks not in the eighteenth century as  
it did in the eighth4 ,alas1 were thy   
six-and-thirty quartos1 and the         
six-and-thirty thousand other quartos   
and folios1 and flying sheets or reams1 
printed before and since on the same    
subject1 all needed to convince us of so
 little6 ,but what next8 ,wilt thou help
 us to embody the divine ,spirit of that
 ,religion in a new ,mythus1 in a new   
vehicle and vesture1 that our ,souls1   
otherwise too like perishing1 may live8 
,what6 thou hast no faculty in that     
kind8 ,only a torch for burning1 no     
hammer for building8 ,take our thanks1  
then1 and--thyself away4  ',meanwhile   
what are antiquated ,mythuses to me8 ,or
 is the ,god present1 felt in my own    

heart1 a thing which ,herr von ,voltaire
 will dispute out of me2 or dispute into
 me8 ,to the ,worship of ,sorrow ascribe
 what origin and genesis thou pleasest1 
has not that ,worship originated1 and   
been generated2 is it not here8 ,feel it
 in thy heart1 and then say whether it  
is of ,god6 ,this is ,belief2 all else  
is ,opinion1--for which latter whoso    
will let him worry and be worried4'     
',neither1' observes he elsewhere1      
'shall ye tear-out one another's eyes1  
struggling over ,plenary ,inspiration1  
and suchlike3 try rather to get a little
 even ,partial ,inspiration1 each of you
 for himself4 ,one ,,bible ,i know1 of  
whose ,plenary ,inspiration doubt is not
 so much as possible2 nay with my own   
eyes ,i saw the ,god's-,hand writing it3
 thereof all other ,bibles are but      
leaves1--say1 in ,picture-,writing to   
assist the weaker faculty4'  ,or1 to    
give the wearied reader relief1 and     
bring it to an end1 let him take the    
following perhaps more intelligible     

passage3  ',to me1 in this our life1'   
says the ,professor1 'which is an       
internecine warfare with the            
,time-spirit1 other warfare seems       
questionable4 ,hast thou in any way a   
,contention with thy brother1 ,i advise 
thee1 think well what the meaning       
thereof is4 ,if thou gauge it to the    
bottom1 it is simply this3 ,fellow1 see6
 thou art taking more than thy share of 
,happiness in the world1 something from 
my share3 which1 by the ,heavens1 thou  
shall not2 nay ,i will fight thee       
rather4--,alas1 and the whole lot to be 
divided is such a beggarly matter1 truly
 a feast of shells1 for the substance   
has been spilled out3 not enough to     
quench one ,appetite2 and the collective
 human species clutching at them6--,can 
we not1 in all such cases1 rather say3  
,take it1 thou too-ravenous individual2 
take that pitiful additional fraction of
 a share1 which ,i reckoned mine1 but   
which thou so wantest2 take it with a   
blessing3 would to ,heaven ,i had enough

 for thee6--,if ,fichte's               
,wissenschaftslehre be1 to a certain    
extent1 ,applied ,christianity1 surely  
to a still greater extent1 so is this4  
,we have here not a ,whole ,duty of     
,man1 yet a ,half ,duty1 namely the     
,passive half3 could we but do it1 as we
 can demonstrate it6  ',but indeed      
,conviction1 were it never so excellent1
 is worthless till it convert itself    
into ,conduct4 ,nay properly ,conviction
 is not possible till then2 inasmuch as 
all ,speculation is by nature endless1  
formless1 a vortex amid vortices3 only  
by a felt indubitable certainty of      
,experience does it find any centre to  
revolve round1 and so fashion itself    
into a system4 ,most true is it1 as a   
wise man teaches us1 that ,doubt of any 
sort cannot be removed except by        
,action4 ,on which ground1 too1 let him 
who gropes painfully in darkness or     
uncertain light1 and prays vehemently   
that the dawn may ripen into day1 lay   
this other precept well to heart1 which 

to me was of invaluable service3 ,do the
 ,duty which lies nearest thee1 which   
thou knowest to be a ,duty6 ,thy second 
,duty will already have become clearer4 
',may we not say1 however1 that the hour
 of ,spiritual ,enfranchisement is even 
this3 ,when your ,ideal ,world1 wherein 
the whole man has been dimly struggling 
and inexpressibly languishing to work1  
becomes revealed1 and thrown open2 and  
you discover1 with amazement enough1    
like the ,lothario in ,wilhelm ,meister1
 that your ,america is here or nowhere8 
,the ,situation that has not its ,duty1 
its ,ideal1 was never yet occupied by   
man4 ,yes here1 in this poor1 miserable1
 hampered1 despicable ,actual1 wherein  
thou even now standest1 here or nowhere 
is thy ,ideal3 work it out therefrom2   
and working1 believe1 live1 be free4    
,fool6 the ,ideal is in thyself1 the    
impediment too is in thyself3 thy       
,condition is but the stuff thou art to 
shape that same ,ideal out of3 what     
matters whether such stuff be of this   

sort or that1 so the ,form thou give it 
be heroic1 be poetic8 ,o thou that      
pinest in the imprisonment of the       
,actual1 and criest bitterly to the gods
 for a kingdom wherein to rule and      
create1 know this of a truth3 the thing 
thou seekest is already with thee1 here 
or nowhere1 couldst thou only see6      
',but it is with man's ,soul as it was  
with ,nature3 the beginning of ,creation
 is--,light4 ,till the eye have vision1 
the whole members are in bonds4 ,divine 
moment1 when over the tempest-tost      
,soul1 as once over the wild-weltering  
,chaos1 it is spoken3 ,let there be     
,light6 ,ever to the greatest that has  
felt such moment1 is it not miraculous  
and ,god-announcing2 even as1 under     
simpler figures1 to the simplest and    
least4 ,the mad primeval ,discord is    
hushed2 the rudely-jumbled conflicting  
elements bind themselves into separate  
,firmaments3 deep silent                
rock-foundations are built beneath2 and 
the skyey vault with its everlasting    

,luminaries above3 instead of a dark    
wasteful ,chaos1 we have a blooming1    
fertile1 heaven-encompassed ,world4  ',i
 too could now say to myself3 ,be no    
longer a ,chaos1 but a ,world1 or even  
,worldkin4 ,produce6 ,produce6 ,were it 
but the pitifullest infinitesimal       
fraction of a ,product1 produce it1 in  
,god's name6 ',tis the utmost thou hast 
in thee3 out with it1 then4 ,up1 up6    
,whatsoever thy hand findeth to do1 do  
it with thy whole might4 ,work while it 
is called ,today2 for the ,night cometh1
 wherein no man can work4'     ,,chapter
 ,x  ,,pause   ,thus have we1 as closely
 and perhaps satisfactorily as1 in such 
circumstances1 might be1 followed       
,teufelsdrckh through the various       
successive states and stages of ,growth1
 ,entanglement1 ,unbelief1 and almost   
,reprobation1 into a certain clearer    
state of what he himself seems to       
consider as ,conversion4 ',blame not the
 word1' says he2 'rejoice rather that   
such a word1 signifying such a thing1   

has come to light in our modern ,era1   
though hidden from the wisest ,ancients4
 ,the ,old ,world knew nothing of       
,conversion2 instead of an ,ecce ,homo1 
they had only some ,choice of ,hercules4
 ,it was a new-attained progress in the 
,moral ,development of man3 hereby has  
the ,highest come home to the bosoms of 
the most ,limited2 what to ,plato was   
but a hallucination1 and to ,socrates a 
chimera1 is now clear and certain to    
your ,zinzendorfs1 your ,wesleys1 and   
the poorest of their ,pietists and      
,methodists4'  ,it is here1 then1 that  
the spiritual majority of ,teufelsdrckh 
commences3 we are henceforth to see him 
'work in well-doing1' with the spirit   
and clear aims of a ,man4 ,he has       
discovered that the ,ideal ,workshop he 
so panted for is even this same ,actual 
ill-furnished ,workshop he has so long  
been stumbling in4 ,he can say to       
himself3 ',tools8 ,thou hast no ,tools8 
,why1 there is not a ,man1 or a ,thing1 
now alive but has tools4 ,the basest of 

created animalcules1 the ,spider itself1
 has a spinning-jenny1 and warping-mill1
 and power-loom within its head3 the    
stupidest of ,oysters has a             
,papin's-,digester1 with stone-and-lime 
house to hold it in3 every being that   
can live can do something3 this let him 
do4--,tools8 ,hast thou not a ,brain1   
furnished1 furnishable with some        
glimmerings of ,light2 and three fingers
 to hold a ,pen withal8 ,never since    
,aaron's ,rod went out of practice1 or  
even before it1 was there such a        
wonder-working ,tool3 greater than all  
recorded miracles have been performed by
 ,pens4 ,for strangely in this so       
solid-seeming ,world1 which nevertheless
 is in continual restless flux1 it is   
appointed that ,sound1 to appearance the
 most fleeting1 should be the most      
continuing of all things4 ,the ,,word is
 well said to be omnipotent in this     
world2 man1 thereby divine1 can create  
as by a ,fiat4 ,awake1 arise6 ,speak    
forth what is in thee2 what ,god has    

given thee1 what the ,devil shall not   
take away4 ,higher task than that of    
,priesthood was allotted to no man3 wert
 thou but the meanest in that sacred    
,hierarchy1 is it not honour enough     
therein to spend and be spent8  ',by    
this ,art1 which whoso will may         
sacrilegiously degrade into a           
handicraft1' adds ,teufelsdrckh1 'have  
,i thenceforth abidden4 ,writings of    
mine1 not indeed known as mine 7for what
 am ,i871 have fallen1 perhaps not      
altogether void1 into the mighty        
seed-field of ,opinion2 fruits of my    
unseen sowing gratifyingly meet me here 
and there4 ,i thank the ,heavens that ,i
 have now found my ,calling2 wherein1   
with or without perceptible result1 ,i  
am minded diligently to persevere4      
',nay how knowest thou1' cries he1 'but 
this and the other pregnant ,device1 now
 grown to be a world-renowned           
far-working ,institution2 like a grain  
of right mustard-seed once cast into the
 right soil1 and now stretching-out     

strong boughs to the four winds1 for the
 birds of the air to lodge in1--may have
 been properly my doing8 ,some one's    
doing1 it without doubt was2 from some  
,idea1 in some single ,head1 it did     
first of all take beginning3 why not    
from some ,idea in mine8' ,does         
,teufelsdrckh here glance at that       
',,society ,,for ,,the ,,conservation   
,,of ,,property                         
7,eigenthums-conservirende              
,gesellschaft71' of which so many       
ambiguous notices glide spectre-like    
through these inexpressible ,paper-bags8
 ',an ,institution1' hints he1 'not     
unsuitable to the wants of the time2 as 
indeed such sudden extension proves3 for
 already can the ,society number1 among 
its office-bearers or corresponding     
members1 the highest ,names1 if not the 
highest ,persons1 in ,germany1 ,england1
 ,france2 and contributions1 both of    
money and of meditation1 pour-in from   
all quarters2 to1 if possible1 enlist   
the remaining ,integrity of the world1  

and1 defensively and with forethought1  
marshal it round this ,palladium4' ,does
 ,teufelsdrckh mean1 then1 to give      
himself out as the originator of that so
 notable ,eigenthums-conservirende      
7',owndom-conserving'7 ,gesellschaft2   
and if so1 what1 in the ,devil's name1  
is it8 ,he again hints3 ',at a time when
 the divine ,commandment1 ,thou shalt   
not steal1 wherein truly1 if well       
understood1 is comprised the whole      
,hebrew ,decalogue1 with ,solon's and   
,lycurgus's ,constitutions1 ,justinian's
 ,pandects1 the ,code ,napolon1 and all 
,codes1 ,catechisms1 ,divinities1       
,moralities whatsoever1 that man has    
hitherto devised 7and enforced with     
,altar-fire and ,gallows-ropes7 for his 
social guidance3 at a time1 ,i say1 when
 this divine ,commandment has all-but   
faded away from the general remembrance2
 and1 with little disguise1 a new       
opposite ,commandment1 ,thou shalt      
steal1 is everywhere promulgated1--it   
perhaps behooved1 in this universal     

dotage and deliration1 the sound portion
 of mankind to bestir themselves and    
rally4 ,when the widest and wildest     
violations of that divine right of      
,property1 the only divine right now    
extant or conceivable1 are sanctioned   
and recommended by a vicious ,press1 and
 the world has lived to hear it asserted
 that we have no ,property in our very  
,bodies1 but only an accidental         
,possession and ,life-rent1 what is the 
issue to be looked for8 ,hangmen and    
,catchpoles may1 by their noose-gins and
 baited fall-traps1 keep-down the       
smaller sort of vermin2 but what1 except
 perhaps some such ,universal           
,association1 can protect us against    
whole meat-devouring and man-devouring  
hosts of ,boa-constrictors8 ,if1        
therefore1 the more sequestered ,thinker
 have wondered1 in his privacy1 from    
what hand that perhaps not ill-written  
,program in the ,public ,journals1 with 
its high ,prize-,questions and so       
liberal ,prizes1 could have             

proceeded1--let him now cease such      
wonder2 and1 with undivided faculty1    
betake himself to the ,concurrenz       
7,competition74'  ,we ask3 ,has this    
same 'perhaps not ill-written ,program1'
 or any other authentic ,transaction of 
that ,property-conserving ,society1     
fallen under the eye of the ,british    
,reader1 in any ,journal foreign or     
domestic8 ,if so1 what are those        
,prize-,questions2 what are the terms of
 ,competition1 and when and where8 ,no  
printed ,newspaper-leaf1 no farther     
light of any sort1 to be met with in    
these ,paper-bags6 ,or is the whole     
business one other of those             
whimsicalities and perverse             
inexplicabilities1 whereby ,herr        
,teufelsdrckh1 meaning much or nothing1 
is pleased so often to play             
fast-and-loose with us8         99      
99       99       99       99  ,here1   
indeed1 at length1 must the ,editor give
 utterance to a painful suspicion1      
which1 through late ,chapters1 has begun

 to haunt him2 paralysing any little    
enthusiasm that might still have        
rendered his thorny ,biographical task a
 labour of love4 ,it is a suspicion     
grounded perhaps on trifles1 yet        
confirmed almost into certainty by the  
more and more discernible               
humoristico-satirical tendency of       
,teufelsdrckh1 in whom underground      
humours and intricate sardonic          
rogueries1 wheel within wheel1 defy all 
reckoning3 a suspicion1 in one word1    
that these ,autobiographical ,documents 
are partly a mystification6 ,what if    
many a so-called ,fact were little      
better than a ,fiction2 if here we had  
no direct ,camera-obscura ,picture of   
the ,professor's ,history2 but only some
 more or less fantastic ,adumbration1   
symbolically1 perhaps significantly     
enough1 shadowing-forth the same6 ,our  
theory begins to be that1 in receiving  
as literally authentic what was but     
hieroglyphically so1 ,hofrath           
,heuschrecke1 whom in that case we      

scruple not to name ,hofrath            
,nose-of-,wax1 was made a fool of1 and  
set adrift to make fools of others4     
,could it be expected1 indeed1 that a   
man so known for impenetrable reticence 
as ,teufelsdrckh1 would all at once     
frankly unlock his private citadel to an
 ,english ,editor and a ,german         
,hofrath2 and not rather deceptively    
inlock both ,editor and ,hofrath in the 
labyrinthic tortuosities and            
covered-ways of said citadel 7having    
enticed them thither71 to see1 in his   
half-devilish way1 how the fools would  
look8  ,of one fool1 however1 the ,herr 
,professor will perhaps find himself    
short4 ,on a small slip1 formerly thrown
 aside as blank1 the ink being all-but  
invisible1 we lately notice1 and with   
effort decipher1 the following3 ',what  
are your historical ,facts2 still more  
your biographical8 ,wilt thou know a    
,man1 above all a ,mankind1 by          
stringing-together beadrolls of what    
thou namest ,facts8 ,the ,man is the    

spirit he worked in2 not what he did1   
but what he became4 ,facts are engraved 
,hierograms1 for which the fewest have  
the key4 ,and then how your ,blockhead  
7,dummkopf7 studies not their ,meaning2 
but simply whether they are well or ill 
cut1 what he calls ,moral or ,immoral6  
,still worse is it with your ,bungler   
7,pfuscher73 such ,i have seen reading  
some ,rousseau1 with pretences of       
interpretation2 and mistaking the       
ill-cut ,serpent-of-,eternity for a     
common poisonous reptile4' ,was the     
,professor apprehensive lest an ,editor1
 selected as the present boasts himself1
 might mistake the ,teufelsdrckh        
,serpent-of-,eternity in like manner8   
,for which reason it was to be altered1 
not without underhand satire1 into a    
plainer ,symbol8 ,or is this merely one 
of his half-sophisms1 half-truisms1     
which if he can but set on the back of a
 ,figure1 he cares not whither it       
gallop8 ,we say not with certainty2 and 
indeed1 so strange is the ,professor1   

can never say4 ,if our suspicion be     
wholly unfounded1 let his own           
questionable ways1 not our necessary    
circumspectness1 bear the blame4  ,but  
be this as it will1 the somewhat        
exasperated and indeed exhausted ,editor
 determines here to shut these          
,paper-bags for the present4 ,let it    
suffice that we know of ,teufelsdrckh1  
so far1 if 'not what he did1 yet what he
 became3' the rather1 as his character  
has now taken its ultimate bent1 and no 
new revolution1 of importance1 is to be 
looked for4 ,the imprisoned ,chrysalis  
is now a winged ,psyche3 and such1      
wheresoever be its flight1 it will      
continue4 ,to trace by what complex     
gyrations 7flights or involuntary       
waftings7 through the mere external     
,life element1 ,teufelsdrckh reaches his
 ,university ,professorship1 and the    
,psyche clothes herself in civic        
,titles1 without altering her now fixed 
nature1--would be comparatively an      
unproductive task1 were we even         

unsuspicious of its being1 for us at    
least1 a false and impossible one4 ,his 
outward ,biography1 therefore1 which1 at
 the ,blumine ,lover's-,leap1 we saw    
churned utterly into spray-vapour1 may  
hover in that condition1 for aught that 
concerns us here4 ,enough that by survey
 of certain 'pools and plashes1' we have
 ascertained its general direction2 do  
we not already know that1 by one way and
 other1 it has long since rained-down   
again into a stream2 and even now1 at   
,weissnichtwo1 flows deep and still1    
fraught with the ,philosophy of         
,clothes1 and visible to whoso will cast
 eye thereon8 ,over much invaluable     
matter1 that lies scattered1 like jewels
 among quarry-rubbish1 in those         
,paper-catacombs we may have occasion to
 glance back1 and somewhat will demand  
insertion at the right place3 meanwhile 
be our tiresome diggings therein        
suspended4  ,if now1 before reopening   
the great ,clothes-,volume1 we ask what 
our degree of progress1 during these    

,ten ,chapters1 has been1 towards right 
understanding of the                    
,clothes-,philosophy1 let not our       
discouragement become total4 ,to speak  
in that old figure of the ,hell-gate    
,bridge over ,chaos1 a few flying       
pontoons have perhaps been added1 though
 as yet they drift straggling on the    
,flood2 how far they will reach1 when   
once the chains are straightened and    
fastened1 can1 at present1 only be      
matter of conjecture4  ,so much we      
already calculate3 ,through many a      
little loop-hole1 we have had glimpses  
into the internal world of              
,teufelsdrckh2 his strange mystic1      
almost magic ,diagram of the ,universe1 
and how it was gradually drawn1 is not  
henceforth altogether dark to us4 ,those
 mysterious ideas on ,,time1 which merit
 consideration1 and are not wholly      
unintelligible with such1 may by and by 
prove significant4 ,still more may his  
somewhat peculiar view of ,nature1 the  
decisive ,oneness he ascribes to        

,nature4 ,how all ,nature and ,life are 
but one ,garment1 a ',living ,garment1' 
woven and ever a-weaving in the ',loom  
of ,time2' is not here1 indeed1 the     
outline of a whole ,clothes-,philosophy2
 at least the arena it is to work in8   
,remark1 too1 that the ,character of the
 ,man1 nowise without meaning in such a 
matter1 becomes less enigmatic3 amid so 
much tumultuous obscurity1 almost like  
diluted madness1 do not a certain       
indomitable ,defiance and yet a         
boundless ,reverence seem to loom-forth1
 as the two mountain-summits1 on whose  
rock-strata all the rest were based and 
built8  ,nay further1 may we not say    
that ,teufelsdrckh's ,biography1        
allowing it even1 as suspected1 only a  
hieroglyphical truth1 exhibits a man1 as
 it were preappointed for               
,clothes-,philosophy8 ,to look through  
the ,shows of things into ,things       
themselves he is led and compelled4 ,the
 ',passivity' given him by birth is     
fostered by all turns of his fortune4   

,everywhere cast out1 like oil out of   
water1 from mingling in any ,employment1
 in any public ,communion1 he has no    
portion but ,solitude1 and a life of    
,meditation4 ,the whole energy of his   
existence is directed1 through long     
years1 on one task3 that of enduring    
pain1 if he cannot cure it4 ,thus       
everywhere do the ,shows of things      
oppress him1 withstand him1 threaten him
 with fearfullest destruction3 only by  
victoriously penetrating into ,things   
themselves can he find peace and a      
stronghold4 ,but is not this same       
looking through the ,shows1 or          
,vestures1 into the ,things1 even the   
first preliminary to a ,philosophy of   
,clothes8 ,do we not1 in all this1      
discern some beckonings towards the true
 higher purport of such a ,philosophy2  
and what shape it must assume with such 
a man1 in such an era8  ,perhaps in     
entering on ,book ,third1 the courteous 
,reader is not utterly without guess    
whither he is bound3 nor1 let us hope1  

for all the fantastic ,dream-,grottoes  
through which1 as is our lot with       
,teufelsdrckh1 he must wander1 will     
there be wanting between whiles some    
twinkling of a steady ,polar ,star4     
,,book ,,third     ,,chapter ,i         
,,incident ,,in ,,modern ,,history   ,as
 a wonder-loving and wonder-seeking man1
 ,teufelsdrckh1 from an early part of   
this ,clothes-,volume1 has more and more
 exhibited himself4 ,striking it was1   
amid all his perverse cloudiness1 with  
what force of vision and of heart he    
pierced into the mystery of the ,world2 
recognising in the highest sensible     
phenomena1 so far as ,sense went1 only  
fresh or faded ,raiment2 yet ever1 under
 this1 a celestial ,essence thereby     
rendered visible3 and while1 on the one 
hand1 he trod the old rags of ,matter1  
with their tinsels1 into the mire1 he on
 the other everywhere exalted ,spirit   
above all earthly principalities and    
powers1 and worshipped it1 though under 
the meanest shapes1 with a true         

,platonic ,mysticism4 ,what the man     
ultimately purposed by thus casting his 
,greek-fire into the general ,wardrobe  
of the ,universe2 what such1 more or    
less complete1 rending and burning of   
,garments throughout the whole compass  
of ,civilized ,life and ,speculation1   
should lead to2 the rather as he was no 
,adamite1 in any sense1 and could not1  
like ,rousseau1 recommend either bodily 
or intellectual ,nudity1 and a return to
 the savage state3 all this our readers 
are now bent to discover2 this is1 in   
fact1 properly the gist and purport of  
,professor ,teufelsdrckh's ,philosophy  
of ,clothes4  ,be it remembered1        
however1 that such purport is here not  
so much evolved1 as detected to lie     
ready for evolving4 ,we are to guide our
 ,british ,friends into the new         
,gold-country1 and show them the mines2 
nowise to dig-out and exhaust its       
wealth1 which indeed remains for all    
time inexhaustible4 ,once there1 let    
each dig for his own behoof1 and enrich 

himself4  ,neither1 in so capricious    
inexpressible a ,work as this of the    
,professor's can our course now more    
than formerly be straightforward1 step  
by step1 but at best leap by leap4      
,significant ,indications stand-out here
 and there2 which for the critical eye1 
that looks both widely and narrowly1    
shape themselves into some ground-scheme
 of a ,whole3 to select these with      
judgment1 so that a leap from one to the
 other be possible1 and 7in our old     
figure7 by chaining them together1 a    
passable ,bridge be effected3 this1 as  
heretofore1 continues our only method4  
,among such light-spots1 the following1 
floating in much wild matter about      
,perfectibility1 has seemed worth       
clutching at3  ',perhaps the most       
remarkable incident in ,modern          
,history1' says ,teufelsdrckh1 'is not  
the ,diet of ,worms1 still less the     
,battle of ,austerlitz1 ,waterloo1      
,peterloo1 or any other ,battle2 but an 
incident passed carelessly over by most 

,historians1 and treated with some      
degree of ridicule by others3 namely1   
,george ,fox's making to himself a suit 
of ,leather4 ,this man1 the first of the
 ,quakers1 and by trade a ,shoemaker1   
was one of those1 to whom1 under ruder  
or purer form1 the ,divine ,idea of the 
,universe is pleased to manifest itself2
 and1 across all the hulls of ,ignorance
 and earthly ,degradation1 shine        
through1 in unspeakable ,awfulness1     
unspeakable ,beauty1 on their souls3 who
 therefore are rightly accounted        
,prophets1 ,god-possessed2 or even      
,gods1 as in some periods it has        
chanced4 ,sitting in his stall2 working 
on tanned hides1 amid pincers1          
paste-horns1 rosin1 swine-bristles1 and 
a nameless flood of rubbish1 this youth 
had1 nevertheless1 a ,living ,spirit    
belonging to him2 also an antique       
,inspired ,volume1 through which1 as    
through a window1 it could look upwards1
 and discern its celestial ,home4 ,the  
task of a daily pair of shoes1 coupled  

even with some prospect of victuals1 and
 an honourable ,mastership in           
,cordwainery1 and perhaps the post of   
,thirdborough in his hundred1 as the    
crown of long faithful sewing1--was     
nowise satisfaction enough to such a    
mind3 but ever amid the boring and      
hammering came tones from that far      
country1 came ,splendours and ,terrors2 
for this poor ,cordwainer1 as we said1  
was a ,man2 and the ,temple of          
,immensity1 wherein as ,man he had been 
sent to minister1 was full of holy      
mystery to him4  ',the ,clergy of the   
neighbourhood1 the ordained ,watchers   
and ,interpreters of that same holy     
mystery1 listened with unaffected tedium
 to his consultations1 and advised him1 
as the solution of such doubts1 to drink
 beer and dance with the girls4 ,blind  
leaders of the blind6 ,for what end were
 their tithes levied and eaten2 for what
 were their shovel-hats scooped-out1 and
 their surplices and cassock-aprons     
girt-on2 and such a church-repairing1   

and chaffering1 and organing1 and other 
racketing1 held over that spot of ,god's
 ,earth1--if ,man were but a ,patent    
,digester1 and the ,belly with its      
adjuncts the grand ,reality8 ,fox turned
 from them1 with tears and a sacred     
scorn1 back to his ,leather-parings and 
his ,bible4 ,mountains of encumbrance1  
higher than tna1 had been heaped over   
that ,spirit3 but it was a ,spirit1 and 
would not lie buried there4 ,through    
long days and nights of silent agony1 it
 struggled and wrestled1 with a man's   
force1 to be free3 how its              
prison-mountains heaved and swayed      
tumultuously1 as the giant spirit shook 
them to this hand and that1 and emerged 
into the light of ,heaven6 ,that        
,leicester shoe-shop1 had men known it1 
was a holier place than any ,vatican or 
,loretto-shrine4--,so bandaged1 and     
hampered1 and hemmed in1 groaned he1    
with thousand requisitions1 obligations1
 straps1 tatters1 and tagrags1 ,i can   
neither see nor move3 not my own am ,i1 

but the ,world's2 and ,time flies fast1 
and ,heaven is high1 and ,hell is deep3 
,man6 bethink thee1 if thou hast power  
of ,thought6 ,why not2 what binds me    
here8 ,want1 want6--,ha1 of what8 ,will 
all the shoe-wages under the ,moon ferry
 me across into that far ,land of       
,light8 ,only ,meditation can1 and      
devout ,prayer to ,god4 ,i will to the  
woods3 the hollow of a tree will lodge  
me1 wild-berries feed me2 and for       
,clothes1 cannot ,i stitch myself one   
perennial suit of ,leather6             
',historical ,oil-painting1' continues  
,teufelsdrckh1 'is one of the ,arts ,i  
never practised2 therefore shall ,i not 
decide whether this subject were easy of
 execution on the canvas4 ,yet often has
 it seemed to me as if such first       
outflashing of man's ,freewill1 to      
lighten1 more and more into ,day1 the   
,chaotic ,night that threatened to      
engulf him in its hindrances and its    
horrors1 were properly the only grandeur
 there is in ,history4 ,let some living 

,angelo or ,rosa1 with seeing eye and   
understanding heart1 picture ,george    
,fox on that morning1 when he           
spreads-out his cutting-board for the   
last time1 and cuts cowhides by unwonted
 patterns1 and stitches them together   
into one continuous all-including ,case1
 the farewell service of his awl6       
,stitch away1 thou noble ,fox3 every    
prick of that little instrument is      
pricking into the heart of ,slavery1 and
 ,world-worship1 and the ,mammon-god4   
,thy elbows jerk1 and in strong         
swimmer-strokes1 and every stroke is    
bearing thee across the ,prison-ditch1  
within which ,vanity holds her          
,workhouse and ,ragfair1 into lands of  
true ,liberty2 were the work done1 there
 is in broad ,europe one ,free ,man1 and
 thou art he6  ',thus from the lowest   
depth there is a path to the loftiest   
height2 and for the ,poor also a ,gospel
 has been published4 ,surely if1 as     
,d',alembert asserts1 my illustrious    
namesake1 ,diogenes1 was the greatest   

man of ,antiquity1 only that he wanted  
,decency1 then by stronger reason is    
,george ,fox the greatest of the        
,moderns2 and greater than ,diogenes    
himself3 for he too stands on the       
adamantine basis of his ,manhood1       
casting aside all props and shoars2 yet 
not1 in half-savage ,pride1 undervaluing
 the ,earth2 valuing it rather1 as a    
place to yield him warmth and food1 he  
looks ,heavenward from his ,earth1 and  
dwells in an element of ,mercy and      
,worship1 with a still ,strength1 such  
as the ,cynic's ,tub did nowise witness4
 ,great1 truly1 was that ,tub2 a temple 
from which man's dignity and divinity   
was scornfully preached abroad3 but     
greater is the ,leather ,hull1 for the  
same sermon was preached there1 and not 
in ,scorn but in ,love4'         99     
99       99       99       99  ,george  
,fox's 'perennial suit1' with all that  
it held1 has been worn quite into ashes 
for nigh two centuries3 why1 in a       
discussion on the ,perfectibility of    

,society1 reproduce it now8 ,not out of 
blind sectarian partisanship3           
,teufelsdrckh himself is no ,quaker2    
with all his pacific tendencies1 did not
 we see him1 in that scene at the ,north
 ,cape1 with the ,archangel ,smuggler1  
exhibit fire-arms8  ,for us1 aware of   
his deep ,sansculottism1 there is more  
meant in this passage than meets the    
ear4 ,at the same time1 who can avoid   
smiling at the earnestness and ,boeotian
 simplicity 7if indeed there be not an  
underhand satire in it71 with which that
 ',incident' is here brought forward2   
and1 in the ,professor's ambiguous way1 
as clearly perhaps as he durst in       
,weissnichtwo1 recommended to imitation6
 ,does ,teufelsdrckh anticipate that1 in
 this age of refinement1 any            
considerable class of the community1 by 
way of testifying against the           
',mammon-god1' and escaping from what he
 calls ',vanity's ,workhouse and        
,ragfair1' where doubtless some of them 
are toiled and whipped and hoodwinked   

sufficiently1--will sheathe themselves  
in close-fitting cases of ,leather8 ,the
 idea is ridiculous in the extreme4     
,will ,majesty lay aside its robes of   
state1 and ,beauty its frills and       
train-gowns1 for a second-skin of tanned
 hide8 ,by which change ,huddersfield   
and ,manchester1 and ,coventry and      
,paisley1 and the ,fancy-,bazaar1 were  
reduced to hungry solitudes2 and only   
,day and ,martin could profit4 ,for     
neither would ,teufelsdrckh's mad       
daydream1 here as we presume covertly   
intended1 of levelling ,society         
7levelling it indeed with a vengeance1  
into one huge drowned marsh671 and so   
attaining the political effects of      
,nudity without its frigorific or other 
consequences1--be thereby realised4     
,would not the rich man purchase a      
waterproof suit of ,russia ,leather2 and
 the high-born ,belle step-forth in red 
or azure morocco1 lined with shamoy3 the
 black cowhide being left to the        
,drudges and ,gibeonites of the world2  

and so all the old ,distinctions be     
re-established8  ,or has the ,professor 
his own deeper intention2 and laughs in 
his sleeve at our strictures and        
glosses1 which indeed are but a part    
thereof8     ,,chapter ,,ii             
,,church-,,clothes   ,not less          
questionable is his ,chapter on         
,church-,clothes1 which has the farther 
distinction of being the shortest in the
 ,volume4 ,we here translate it entire3 
',by ,church-,clothes1 it need not be   
premised that ,i mean infinitely more   
than ,cassocks and ,surplices2 and do   
not at all mean the mere haberdasher    
,sunday ,clothes that men go to ,church 
in4 ,far from it6 ,church-,clothes are1 
in our vocabulary1 the ,forms1 the      
,vestures1 under which men have at      
various periods embodied and represented
 for themselves the ,religious          
,principle2 that is to say1 invested    
,the ,divine ,idea of the ,world with a 
sensible and practically active ,body1  
so that it might dwell among them as a  

living and life-giving ,,word4  ',these 
are unspeakably the most important of   
all the vestures and garnitures of      
,human ,existence4 ,they are first spun 
and woven1 ,i may say1 by that wonder of
 wonders1 ,,society2 for it is still    
only when two or three are gathered     
together1 that ,religion1 spiritually   
existent1 and indeed indestructible1    
however latent1 in each1 first outwardly
 manifests itself 7as with cloven       
tongues of fire71 and seeks to be       
embodied in a visible ,communion and    
,church ,militant4 ,mystical1 more than 
magical1 is that ,communing of ,soul    
with ,soul1 both looking heavenward3    
here properly ,soul first speaks with   
,soul2 for only in looking heavenward1  
take it in what sense you may1 not in   
looking earthward1 does what we can call
 ,union1 mutual ,love1 ,society1 begin  
to be possible4 ,how true is that of    
,novalis3 ,it is certain my ,belief     
gains quite infinitely the moment ,i can
 convince another mind thereof6 ,gaze   

thou in the face of thy ,brother1 in    
those eyes where plays the lambent fire 
of ,kindness1 or in those where rages   
the lurid conflagration of ,anger2 feel 
how thy own so quiet ,soul is           
straightway involuntarily kindled with  
the like1 and ye blaze and reverberate  
on each other1 till it is all one       
limitless confluent flame 7of embracing 
,love1 or of deadly-grappling ,hate72   
and then say what miraculous virtue goes
 out of man into man4 ,but if so1       
through all the thick-plied hulls of our
 ,earthly ,life2 how much more when it  
is of the ,divine ,life we speak1 and   
inmost ,,me is1 as it were1 brought into
 contact with inmost ,,me6  ',thus was  
it that ,i said1 the ,church-,clothes   
are first spun and woven by ,society2   
outward ,religion originates by         
,society1 ,society becomes possible by  
,religion4 ,nay1 perhaps1 every         
conceivable ,society1 past and present1 
may well be figured as properly and     
wholly a ,church1 in one or other of    

these three predicaments3 an audibly    
preaching and prophesying ,church1 which
 is the best2 second1 a ,church that    
struggles to preach and prophesy1 but   
cannot as yet1 till its ,pentecost come2
 and third and worst1 a ,church gone    
dumb with old age1 or which only mumbles
 delirium prior to dissolution4 ,whoso  
fancies that by ,church is here meant   
,chapterhouses and ,cathedrals1 or by   
preaching and prophesying1 mere speech  
and chanting1 let him1' says the        
oracular ,professor1 'read on1 light of 
heart 7getrosten ,muthes74  ',but with  
regard to your ,church proper1 and the  
,church-,clothes specially recognised as
 ,church-,clothes1 ,i remark1 fearlessly
 enough1 that without such ,vestures and
 sacred ,tissues ,society has not       
existed1 and will not exist4 ,for if    
,government is1 so to speak1 the outward
 ,,skin of the ,body ,politic1 holding  
the whole together and protecting it2   
and all your ,craft-,guilds1 and        
,associations for ,industry1 of hand or 

of head1 are the ,fleshly ,clothes1 the 
muscular and osseous ,tissues 7lying    
under such ,,skin71 whereby ,society    
stands and works2--then is ,religion the
 inmost ,pericardial and ,nervous       
,tissue1 which ministers ,life and warm 
,circulation to the whole4 ,without     
which ,pericardial ,tissue the ,bones   
and ,muscles 7of ,industry7 were inert1 
or animated only by a ,galvanic         
vitality2 the ,,skin would become a     
shrivelled pelt1 or fast-rotting        
raw-hide2 and ,society itself a dead    
carcass1--deserving to be buried4 ,men  
were no longer ,social1 but ,gregarious2
 which latter state also could not      
continue1 but must gradually issue in   
universal selfish discord1 hatred1      
savage isolation1 and                   
dispersion2--whereby1 as we might       
continue to say1 the very dust and dead 
body of ,society would have evaporated  
and become abolished4 ,such1 and so     
all-important1 all-sustaining1 are the  
,church-,clothes to civilised or even to

 rational men4  ',meanwhile1 in our era 
of the ,world1 those same               
,church-,clothes have gone sorrowfully  
out-at-elbows2 nay1 far worse1 many of  
them have become mere hollow ,shapes1 or
 ,masks1 under which no living ,figure  
or ,spirit any longer dwells2 but only  
spiders and unclean beetles1 in horrid  
accumulation1 drive their trade2 and the
 mask still glares on you with its      
glass-eyes1 in ghastly affectation of   
,life1--some generation-and-half after  
,religion has quite withdrawn from it1  
and in unnoticed nooks is weaving for   
herself new ,vestures1 wherewith to     
reappear1 and bless us1 or our sons or  
grandsons4 ,as a ,priest1 or            
,interpreter of the ,holy1 is the       
noblest and highest of all men1 so is a 
,sham-priest 7,schein-priester7 the     
falsest and basest2 neither is it       
doubtful that his ,canonicals1 were they
 ,popes' ,tiaras1 will one day be torn  
from him1 to make bandages for the      
wounds of mankind2 or even to burn into 

tinder1 for general scientific or       
culinary purposes4  ',all which1 as out 
of place here1 falls to be handled in my
 ,second ,volume1 ,on the ,palingenesia1
 or ,newbirth of ,society2 which volume1
 as treating practically of the ,wear1  
,destruction1 and ,retexture of         
,spiritual ,tissues1 or ,garments1      
forms1 properly speaking1 the           
,transcendental or ultimate ,portion of 
this my work on ,clothes1 and is already
 in a state of forwardness4'  ,and      
herewith1 no farther exposition1 note1  
or commentary being added1 does         
,teufelsdrckh1 and must his ,editor now1
 terminate the singular chapter on      
,church-,clothes6     ,,chapter ,,iii   
,,symbols   ,probably it will elucidate 
the drift of these foregoing obscure    
utterances1 if we here insert somewhat  
of our ,professor's speculations on     
,symbols4 ,to state his whole doctrine1 
indeed1 were beyond our compass3 nowhere
 is he more mysterious1 impalpable1 than
 in this of ',fantasy being the organ of

 the ,god-like2' and how ',man thereby1 
though based1 to all seeming1 on the    
small ,visible1 does nevertheless extend
 down into the infinite deeps of the    
,invisible1 of which ,invisible1 indeed1
 his ,life is properly the bodying      
forth4' ,let us1 omitting these high    
transcendental aspects of the matter1   
study to glean 7whether from the        
,paper-bags or the ,printed ,volume7    
what little seems logical and practical1
 and cunningly arrange it into such     
degree of coherence as it will assume4  
,by way of proem1 take the following not
 injudicious remarks3  ',the benignant  
efficacies of ,concealment1' cries our  
,professor1 'who shall speak or sing8   
,,silence and ,,secrecy6 ,altars might  
still be raised to them 7were this an   
altar-building time7 for universal      
worship4 ,silence is the element in     
which great things fashion themselves   
together2 that at length they may       
emerge1 full-formed and majestic1 into  
the daylight of ,life1 which they are   

thenceforth to rule4 ,not ,william the  
,silent only1 but all the considerable  
men ,i have known1 and the most         
undiplomatic and unstrategic of these1  
forbore to babble of what they were     
creating and projecting4 ,nay1 in thy   
own mean perplexities1 do thou thyself  
but hold thy tongue for one day3 on the 
morrow1 how much clearer are thy        
purposes and duties2 what wreck and     
rubbish have those mute workmen within  
thee swept away1 when intrusive noises  
were shut out6 ,speech is too often not1
 as the ,frenchman defined it1 the art  
of concealing ,thought2 but of quite    
stifling and suspending ,thought1 so    
that there is none to conceal4 ,speech  
too is great1 but not the greatest4 ,as 
the ,swiss ,inscription says3 ,sprechen 
ist silbern1 ,schweigen ist golden      
7,speech is silvern1 ,silence is        
golden72 or as ,i might rather express  
it3 ,speech is of ,time1 ,silence is of 
,eternity4  ',bees will not work except 
in darkness2 ,thought will not work     

except in ,silence2 neither will ,virtue
 work except in ,secrecy4 ,let not thy  
left hand know what thy right hand      
doeth6 ,neither shalt thou prate even to
 thy own heart of those secrets known to
 all4 ,is not ,shame 7,schaam7 the soil 
of all ,virtue1 of all good manners and 
good morals8 ,like other plants1 ,virtue
 will not grow unless its root be       
hidden1 buried from the eye of the sun4 
,let the sun shine on it1 nay do but    
look at it privily thyself1 the root    
withers1 and no flower will glad thee4  
,o my ,friends1 when we view the fair   
clustering flowers that over-wreathe1   
for example1 the ,marriage-bower1 and   
encircle man's life with the fragrance  
and hues of ,heaven1 what hand will not 
smite the foul plunderer that grubs them
 up by the roots1 and with grinning1    
grunting satisfaction1 shows us the dung
 they flourish in6 ,men speak much of   
the ,printing-,press with its           
,newspapers3 du ,himmel6 what are these 
to ,clothes and the ,tailor's ,goose8'  

',of kin to the so incalculable         
influences of ,concealment1 and         
connected with still greater things1 is 
the wondrous agency of ,symbols4 ,in a  
,symbol there is concealment and yet    
revelation3 here therefore1 by ,silence 
and by ,speech acting together1 comes a 
double significance4 ,and if both the   
,speech be itself high1 and the ,silence
 fit and noble1 how expressive will     
their union be6 ,thus in many a painted 
,device1 or simple ,seal-emblem1 the    
commonest ,truth stands-out to us       
proclaimed with quite new emphasis4     
',for it is here that ,fantasy with her 
mystic wonderland plays into the small  
prose domain of ,sense1 and becomes     
incorporated therewith4 ,in the ,symbol 
proper1 what we can call a ,symbol1     
there is ever1 more or less distinctly  
and directly1 some embodiment and       
revelation of the ,infinite2 the        
,infinite is made to blend itself with  
the ,finite1 to stand visible1 and as it
 were1 attainable there4 ,by ,symbols1  

accordingly1 is man guided and          
commanded1 made happy1 made wretched4   
,he everywhere finds himself encompassed
 with ,symbols1 recognised as such or   
not recognised3 the ,universe is but one
 vast ,symbol of ,god2 nay if thou wilt 
have it1 what is man himself but a      
,symbol of ,god2 is not all that he does
 symbolical2 a revelation to ,sense of  
the mystic god-given force that is in   
him2 a ,gospel of ,freedom1 which he1   
the ,messias of ,nature1 preaches1 as he
 can1 by act and word8 ,not a ,hut he   
builds but is the visible embodiment of 
a ,thought2 but bears visible record of 
invisible things2 but is1 in the        
transcendental sense1 symbolical as well
 as real4'  ',man1' says the ,professor 
elsewhere1 in quite antipodal contrast  
with these high-soaring delineations1   
which we have here cut short on the     
verge of the inane1 ',man is by birth   
somewhat of an owl4 ,perhaps1 too1 of   
all the owleries that ever possessed    
him1 the most owlish1 if we consider it1

 is that of your actually existing      
,motive-,millwrights4 ,fantastic tricks 
enough man has played1 in his time2 has 
fancied himself to be most things1 down 
even to an animated heap of ,glass2 but 
to fancy himself a dead ,iron-,balance  
for weighing ,pains and ,pleasures on1  
was reserved for this his latter era4   
,there stands he1 his ,universe one huge
 ,manger1 filled with hay and thistles  
to be weighed against each other2 and   
looks long-eared enough4 ,alas1 poor    
devil6 spectres are appointed to haunt  
him3 one age he is hag-ridden1          
bewitched2 the next1 priestridden1      
befooled2 in all ages1 bedevilled4 ,and 
now the ,genius of ,mechanism smothers  
him worse than any ,nightmare did2 till 
the ,soul is nigh choked out of him1 and
 only a kind of ,digestive1 ,mechanic   
life remains4 ,in ,earth and in ,heaven 
he can see nothing but ,mechanism2 has  
fear for nothing else1 hope in nothing  
else3 the world would indeed grind him  
to pieces2 but cannot he fathom the     

,doctrine of ,motives1 and cunningly    
compute these1 and mechanise them to    
grind the other way8  ',were he not1 as 
has been said1 purblinded by            
enchantment1 you had but to bid him open
 his eyes and look4 ,in which country1  
in which time1 was it hitherto that     
man's history1 or the history of any    
man1 went on by calculated or calculable
 ,motives8 ,what make ye of your        
,christianities1 and ,chivalries1 and   
,reformations1 and ,marseillese ,hymns1 
and ,reigns of ,terror8 ,nay1 has not   
perhaps the ,motive-grinder himself been
 in ,love8 ,did he never stand so much  
as a contested ,election8 ,leave him to 
,time1 and the medicating virtue of     
,nature4'  ',yes1 ,friends1' elsewhere  
observes the ,professor1 'not our       
,logical1 ,mensurative faculty1 but our 
,imaginative one is ,king over us2 ,i   
might say1 ,priest and ,prophet to lead 
us heavenward2 our ,magician and ,wizard
 to lead us hellward4 ,nay1 even for the
 basest ,sensualist1 what is ,sense but 

the implement of ,fantasy2 the vessel it
 drinks out of8 ,ever in the dullest    
existence there is a sheen either of    
,inspiration or of ,madness 7thou partly
 hast it in thy choice1 which of the    
two71 that gleams-in from the           
circumambient ,eternity1 and colours    
with its own hues our little islet of   
,time4 ,the ,understanding is indeed thy
 window1 too clear thou canst not make  
it2 but ,fantasy is thy eye1 with its   
colour-giving retina1 healthy or        
diseased4 ,have not ,i myself known     
five-hundred living soldiers sabred into
 crows'-meat for a piece of glazed      
cotton1 which they called their ,flag2  
which1 had you sold it at any           
market-cross1 would not have brought    
above three groschen8 ,did not the whole
 ,hungarian ,nation rise1 like some     
tumultuous moon-stirred ,atlantic1 when 
,kaiser ,joseph pocketed their ,iron    
,crown2 an ,implement1 as was           
sagaciously observed1 in size and       
commercial value little differing from a

 horse-shoe8 ,it is in and through      
,symbols that man1 consciously or       
unconsciously1 lives1 works1 and has his
 being3 those ages1 moreover1 are       
accounted the noblest which can the best
 recognise symbolical worth1 and prize  
it the highest4 ,for is not a ,symbol   
ever1 to him who has eyes for it1 some  
dimmer or clearer revelation of the     
,godlike8  ',of ,symbols1 however1 ,i   
remark farther1 that they have both an  
extrinsic and intrinsic value2 oftenest 
the former only4 ,what1 for instance1   
was in that clouted ,shoe1 which the    
,peasants bore aloft with them as ensign
 in their ,bauernkrieg 7,peasants'      
,war78 ,or in the ,wallet-and-staff     
round which the ,netherland ,gueux1     
glorying in that nickname of ,beggars1  
heroically rallied and prevailed1 though
 against ,king ,philip himself8         
,intrinsic significance these had none3 
only extrinsic2 as the accidental       
,standards of multitudes more or less   
sacredly uniting together2 in which     

union itself1 as above noted1 there is  
ever something mystical and borrowing of
 the ,godlike4 ,under a like category1  
too1 stand1 or stood1 the stupidest     
heraldic ,coats-of-arms2 military       
,banners everywhere2 and generally all  
national or other ,sectarian ,costumes  
and ,customs3 they have no intrinsic1   
necessary divineness1 or even worth2 but
 have acquired an extrinsic one4        
,nevertheless through all these there   
glimmers something of a ,divine ,idea2  
as through military ,banners themselves1
 the ,divine ,idea of ,duty1 of heroic  
,daring2 in some instances of ,freedom1 
of ,right4 ,nay1 the highest ensign that
 men ever met and embraced under1 the   
,cross itself1 had no meaning save an   
accidental extrinsic one4  ',another    
matter it is1 however1 when your ,symbol
 has intrinsic meaning1 and is of itself
 fit that men should unite round it4    
,let but the ,godlike manifest itself to
 ,sense2 let but ,eternity look1 more or
 less visibly1 through the ,time-,figure

 7,zeitbild76 ,then is it fit that men  
unite there2 and worship together before
 such ,symbol2 and so from day to day1  
and from age to age1 superadd to it new 
divineness4  ',of this latter sort are  
all true works of ,art3 in them 7if thou
 know a ,work of ,art from a ,daub of   
,artifice7 wilt thou discern ,eternity  
looking through ,time2 the ,godlike     
rendered visible4 ,here too may an      
extrinsic value gradually superadd      
itself3 thus certain ,iliads1 and the   
like1 have1 in three-thousand years1    
attained quite new significance4 ,but   
nobler than all in this kind1 are the   
,lives of heroic god-inspired ,men2 for 
what other ,work of ,art is so divine8  
,in ,death too1 in the ,death of the    
,just1 as the last perfection of a ,work
 of ,art1 may we not discern symbolic   
meaning8 ,in that divinely transfigured 
,sleep1 as of ,victory1 resting over the
 beloved face which now knows thee no   
more1 read 7if thou canst for tears7 the
 confluence of ,time with ,eternity1 and

 some gleam of the latter peering       
through4  ',highest of all ,symbols are 
those wherein the ,artist or ,poet has  
risen into ,prophet1 and all men can    
recognise a present ,god1 and worship   
the same3 ,i mean religious ,symbols4   
,various enough have been such religious
 ,symbols1 what we call ,religions2 as  
men stood in this stage of culture or   
the other1 and could worse or better    
body-forth the ,godlike3 some ,symbols  
with a transient intrinsic worth2 many  
with only an extrinsic4 ,if thou ask to 
what height man has carried it in this  
manner1 look on our divinest ,symbol3 on
 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and his ,life1 and
 his ,biography1 and what followed      
therefrom4 ,higher has the human        
,thought not yet reached3 this is       
,christianity and ,christendom2 a       
,symbol of quite perennial1 infinite    
character3 whose significance will ever 
demand to be anew inquired into1 and    
anew made manifest4  ',but1 on the      
whole1 as time adds much to the         

sacredness of ,symbols1 so likewise in  
his progress he at length defaces or    
even desecrates them2 and ,symbols1 like
 all terrestrial ,garments1 wax old4    
,homer's ,epos has not ceased to be     
true2 yet it is no longer our ,epos1 but
 shines in the distance1 if clearer and 
clearer1 yet also smaller and smaller1  
like a receding ,star4 ,it needs a      
scientific telescope1 it needs to be    
reinterpreted and artificially brought  
near us1 before we can so much as know  
that it was a ,sun4 ,so likewise a day  
comes when the ,runic ,thor1 with his   
,eddas1 must withdraw into dimness2 and 
many an ,african ,mumbo-,jumbo and      
,indian ,pawaw be utterly abolished4    
,for all things1 even ,celestial        
,luminaries1 much more atmospheric      
meteors1 have their rise1 their         
culmination1 their decline4'  ',small is
 this which thou tellest me1 that the   
,royal ,sceptre is but a piece of       
gilt-wood2 that the ,pyx has become a   
most foolish box1 and truly1 as ,ancient

 ,pistol thought1 of little price4 ,a   
right ,conjuror might ,i name thee1     
couldst thou conjure back into these    
wooden tools the divine virtue they once
 held4'  ',of this thing1 however1 be   
certain3 wouldst thou plant for         
,eternity1 then plant into the deep     
infinite faculties of man1 his ,fantasy 
and ,heart2 wouldst thou plant for ,year
 and ,day1 then plant into his shallow  
superficial faculties1 his ,self-love   
and ,arithmetical ,understanding1 what  
will grow there4 ,a ,hierarch1          
therefore1 and ,pontiff of the ,world   
will we call him1 the ,poet and inspired
 ,maker2 who1 ,prometheus-like1 can     
shape new ,symbols1 and bring new ,fire 
from ,heaven to fix it there4 ,such too 
will not always be wanting2 neither     
perhaps now are4 ,meanwhile1 as the     
average of matters goes1 we account him 
,legislator and wise who can so much as 
tell when a ,symbol has grown old1 and  
gently remove it4  ',when1 as the last  
,english ,coronation#c was preparing1'  

concludes this wonderful ,professor1 ',i
 read in their ,newspapers that the     
,champion of ,england1 he who has to    
offer battle to the ,universe for his   
new ,king1 had brought it so far that he
 could now mount his horse with little  
assistance1 ,i said to myself3 ,here    
also we have a ,symbol well-nigh        
superannuated4 ,alas1 move whithersoever
 you may1 are not the tatters and rags  
of superannuated worn-out symbols 7in   
this ,ragfair of a ,world7 dropping off 
everywhere1 to hoodwink1 to halter1 to  
tether you2 nay1 if you shake them not  
aside1 threatening to accumulate1 and   
perhaps produce suffocation8'      #c   
,that of ,george ,,iv4--,,ed4           
,,chapter ,,iv  ,,helotage   ,at this   
point we determine on adverting shortly1
 or rather reverting1 to a certain      
,tract of ,hofrath ,heuschrecke's1      
entitled ,institute for the ,repression 
of ,population2 which lies1             
dishonourable enough 7with torn leaves1 
and a perceptible smell of aloetic      

drugs71 stuffed into the ,bag ,pisces4  
,not indeed for the sake of the ,tract  
itself1 which we admire little2 but of  
the marginal ,notes1 evidently in       
,teufelsdrckh's hand1 which rather      
copiously fringe it4 ,a few of these may
 be in their right place here4  ,into   
the ,hofrath's ,institute1 with its     
extraordinary schemes1 and machinery of 
,corresponding ,boards and the like1 we 
shall not so much as glance4 ,enough for
 us to understand that ,heuschrecke is a
 disciple of ,malthus2 and so zealous   
for the doctrine1 that his zeal almost  
literally eats him up4 ,a deadly fear of
 ,population possesses the ,hofrath2    
something like a fixed-idea2 undoubtedly
 akin to the more diluted forms of      
,madness4 ,nowhere1 in that quarter of  
his intellectual world1 is there light2 
nothing but a grim shadow of ,hunger2   
open mouths opening wider and wider2 a  
world to terminate by the frightfullest 
consummation3 by its too dense          
inhabitants1 famished into delirium1    

universally eating one another4 ,to make
 air for himself in which strangulation1
 choking enough to a benevolent heart1  
the ,hofrath founds1 or proposes to     
found1 this ,institute of his1 as the   
best he can do4 ,it is only with our    
,professor's comments thereon that we   
concern ourselves4  ,first1 then1 remark
 that ,teufelsdrckh1 as a speculative   
,radical1 has his own notions about     
human dignity2 that the ,zhdarm palaces 
and courtesies have not made him        
forgetful of the ,futteral cottages4 ,on
 the blank cover of ,heuschrecke's      
,tract we find the following            
indistinctly engrossed3  ',two men ,i   
honour1 and no third4 ,first1 the       
toil-worn ,craftsman that with          
earth-made ,implement laboriously       
conquers the ,earth1 and makes her      
man's4 ,venerable to me is the hard     
,hand2 crooked1 coarse2 wherein         
notwithstanding lies a cunning virtue1  
indefeasibly royal1 as of the ,sceptre  
of this ,planet4 ,venerable too is the  

rugged face1 all weather-tanned1        
besoiled1 with its rude intelligence2   
for it is the face of a ,man living     
manlike4 ,o1 but the more venerable for 
thy rudeness1 and even because we must  
pity as well as love thee6              
,hardly-entreated ,brother6 ,for us was 
thy back so bent1 for us were thy       
straight limbs and fingers so deformed3 
thou wert our ,conscript1 on whom the   
lot fell1 and fighting our battles wert 
so marred4 ,for in thee too lay a       
god-created ,form1 but it was not to be 
unfolded2 encrusted must it stand with  
the thick adhesions and defacements of  
,labour3 and thy body1 like thy soul1   
was not to know freedom4 ,yet toil on1  
toil on3 thou art in thy duty1 be out of
 it who may2 thou toilest for the       
altogether indispensable1 for daily     
bread4  ',a second man ,i honour1 and   
still more highly3 ,him who is seen     
toiling for the spiritually             
indispensable2 not daily bread1 but the 
bread of ,life4 ,is not he too in his   

duty2 endeavouring towards inward       
,harmony2 revealing this1 by act or by  
word1 through all his outward           
endeavours1 be they high or low8        
,highest of all1 when his outward and   
his inward endeavour are one3 when we   
can name him ,artist2 not earthly       
,craftsman only1 but inspired ,thinker1 
who with heaven-made ,implement conquers
 ,heaven for us6 ,if the poor and humble
 toil that we have ,food1 must not the  
high and glorious toil for him in       
return1 that he have ,light1 have       
,guidance1 ,freedom1                    
,immortality8--,these two1 in all their 
degrees1 ,i honour3 all else is chaff   
and dust1 which let the wind blow       
whither it listeth4  ',unspeakably      
touching is it1 however1 when ,i find   
both dignities united2 and he that must 
toil outwardly for the lowest of man's  
wants1 is also toiling inwardly for the 
highest4 ,sublimer in this world know ,i
 nothing than a ,peasant ,saint1 could  
such now anywhere be met with4 ,such a  

one will take thee back to ,nazareth    
itself2 thou wilt see the splendour of  
,heaven spring forth from the humblest  
depths of ,earth1 like a light shining  
in great darkness4'  ,and again3 ',it is
 not because of his toils that ,i lament
 for the poor3 we must all toil1 or     
steal 7howsoever we name our stealing71 
which is worse2 no faithful workman     
finds his task a pastime4 ,the poor is  
hungry and a-thirst2 but for him also   
there is food and drink3 he is          
heavy-laden and weary2 but for him also 
the ,heavens send ,sleep1 and of the    
deepest2 in his smoky cribs1 a clear    
dewy heaven of ,rest envelops him1 and  
fitful glitterings of cloud-skirted     
,dreams4 ,but what ,i do mourn over is1 
that the lamp of his soul should go out2
 that no ray of heavenly1 or even of    
earthly knowledge1 should visit him2 but
 only1 in the haggard darkness1 like two
 spectres1 ,fear and ,indignation bear  
him company4 ,alas1 while the ,body     
stands so broad and brawny1 must the    

soul lie blinded1 dwarfed1 stupefied1   
almost annihilated6 ,alas1 was this too 
a ,breath of ,god2 bestowed in ,heaven1 
but on earth never to be                
unfolded6--,that there should one ,man  
die ignorant who had capacity for       
,knowledge1 this ,i call a tragedy1 were
 it to happen more than twenty times in 
the minute1 as by some computations it  
does4 ,the miserable fraction of        
,science which our united ,mankind1 in a
 wide ,universe of ,nescience1 has      
acquired1 why is not this1 with all     
diligence1 imparted to all8'  ,quite in 
an opposite strain is the following3    
',the old ,spartans had a wiser method2 
and went out and hunted-down their      
,helots1 and speared and spitted them1  
when they grew too numerous4 ,with our  
improved fashions of hunting1 ,herr     
,hofrath1 now after the invention of    
fire-arms1 and standing-armies1 how much
 easier were such a hunt6 ,perhaps in   
the most thickly-peopled country1 some  
three days annually might suffice to    

shoot all the able-bodied ,paupers that 
had accumulated within the year4 ,let   
,governments think of this4 ,the expense
 were trifling3 nay the very carcasses  
would pay it4 ,have them salted and     
barrelled2 could not you victual        
therewith1 if not ,army and ,navy1 yet  
richly such infirm ,paupers1 in         
workhouses and elsewhere1 as enlightened
 ,charity1 dreading no evil of them1    
might see good to keep alive8'  ',and   
yet1' writes he farther on1 'there must 
be something wrong4 ,a full-formed      
,horse will1 in any market1 bring from  
twenty to as high as two-hundred        
,friedrichs d'or3 such is his worth to  
the world4 ,a full-formed ,man is not   
only worth nothing to the world1 but the
 world could afford him a round sum     
would he simply engage to go and hang   
himself4 ,nevertheless1 which of the two
 was the more cunningly-devised article1
 even as an ,engine8 ,good ,heavens6 ,a 
white ,european ,man1 standing on his   
two ,legs1 with his two five-fingered   

,hands at his shackle-bones1 and        
miraculous ,head on his shoulders1 is   
worth1 ,i should say1 from fifty to a   
hundred ,horses6'  ',true1 thou         
,gold-,hofrath1' cries the ,professor   
elsewhere3 'too crowded indeed6         
,meanwhile1 what portion of this        
inconsiderable terraqueous ,globe have  
ye actually tilled and delved1 till it  
will grow no more8 ,how thick stands    
your ,population in the ,pampas and     
,savannas of ,america2 round ancient    
,carthage1 and in the interior of       
,africa2 on both slopes of the ,altaic  
chain1 in the central ,platform of      
,asia2 in ,spain1 ,greece1 ,turkey1     
,crim ,tartary1 the ,curragh of         
,kildare8 ,one man1 in one year1 as ,i  
have understood it1 if you lend him     
,earth1 will feed himself and nine      
others4 ,alas1 where now are the        
,hengsts and ,alarics of our            
still-glowing1 still-expanding ,europe2 
who1 when their home is grown too       
narrow1 will enlist1 and1 like          

,fire-pillars1 guide onwards those      
superfluous masses of indomitable living
 ,valour2 equipped1 not now with the    
battle-axe and war-chariot1 but with the
 steam-engine and ploughshare8 ,where   
are they8--,preserving their ,game6'    
,,chapter ,v  ,,the ,,phoenix   ,putting
 which four singular ,chapters together1
 and alongside of them numerous hints1  
and even direct utterances1 scattered   
over these ,writings of his1 we come    
upon the startling yet not quite        
unlooked-for conclusion1 that           
,teufelsdrckh is one of those who       
consider ,society1 properly so called1  
to be as good as extinct2 and that only 
the gregarious feelings1 and old        
inherited habitudes1 at this juncture1  
hold us from ,dispersion1 and universal 
national1 civil1 domestic and personal  
war6 ,he says expressly3 ',for the last 
three centuries1 above all for the last 
three quarters of a century1 that same  
,pericardial ,nervous ,tissue 7as we    
named it7 of ,religion1 where lies the  

,life-essence of ,society1 has been     
smote-at and perforated1 needfully and  
needlessly2 till now it is quite rent   
into shreds2 and ,society1 long pining1 
diabetic1 consumptive1 can be regarded  
as defunct2 for those spasmodic1        
galvanic sprawlings are not life2       
neither indeed will they endure1        
galvanise as you may1 beyond two days4' 
',call ye that a ,society1' cries he    
again1 'where there is no longer any    
,social ,idea extant2 not so much as the
 ,idea of a common ,home1 but only of a 
common over-crowded ,lodging-house8     
,where each1 isolated1 regardless of his
 neighbour1 turned against his          
neighbour1 clutches what he can get1 and
 cries ,mine6 and calls it ,peace1      
because1 in the cut-purse and cut-throat
 ,scramble1 no steel knives1 but only a 
far cunninger sort1 can be employed8    
,where ,friendship1 ,communion1 has     
become an incredible tradition2 and your
 holiest ,sacramental ,supper is a      
smoking ,tavern ,dinner1 with ,cook for 

,evangelist8 ,where your ,priest has no 
tongue but for plate-licking3 and your  
high ,guides and ,governors cannot      
guide2 but on all hands hear it         
passionately proclaimed3 ,laissez faire2
 ,leave us alone of your guidance1 such 
light is darker than darkness2 eat you  
your wages1 and sleep6  ',thus1 too1'   
continues he1 'does an observant eye    
discern everywhere that saddest         
spectacle3 ,the ,poor perishing1 like   
neglected1 foundered ,draught-,cattle1  
of ,hunger and ,over-work2 the ,rich1   
still more wretchedly1 of ,idleness1    
,satiety1 and ,over-growth4 ,the        
,highest in rank1 at length1 without    
honour from the ,lowest2 scarcely1 with 
a little mouth-honour1 as from          
tavern-waiters who expect to put it in  
the bill4 ,once-sacred ,symbols         
fluttering as empty ,pageants1 whereof  
men grudge even the expense2 a ,world   
becoming dismantled3 in one word1 the   
,,church fallen speechless1 from obesity
 and apoplexy2 the ,,state shrunken into

 a ,police-,office1 straitened to get   
its pay6'  ,we might ask1 are there many
 'observant eyes1' belonging to         
practical men in ,england or elsewhere1 
which have descried these phenomena2 or 
is it only from the mystic elevation of 
a ,german ,wahngasse that such wonders  
are visible8 ,teufelsdrckh contends that
 the aspect of a 'deceased or expiring  
,society' fronts us everywhere1 so that 
whoso runs may read4 ',what1 for        
example1' says he1 'is the              
universally-arrogated ,virtue1 almost   
the sole remaining ,catholic ,virtue1 of
 these days8 ,for some half century1 it 
has been the thing you name             
,independence4 ,suspicion of ,servility1
 of reverence for ,superiors1 the very  
dogleech is anxious to disavow4 ,fools6 
,were your ,superiors worthy to govern1 
and you worthy to obey1 reverence for   
them were even your only possible       
freedom4 ,independence1 in all kinds1 is
 rebellion2 if unjust rebellion1 why    
parade it1 and everywhere prescribe it8'

  ,but what then8 ,are we returning1 as 
,rousseau prayed1 to the state of       
,nature8 ',the ,soul ,politic having    
departed1' says ,teufelsdrckh1 'what can
 follow but that the ,body ,politic be  
decently interred1 to avoid putrescence6
 ,liberals1 ,economists1 ,utilitarians  
enough ,i see marching with its bier1   
and chanting loud pans1 towards the     
funeral-pile1 where1 amid wailings from 
some1 and saturnalian revelries from the
 most1 the venerable ,corpse is to be   
burnt4 ,or1 in plain words1 that these  
men1 ,liberals1 ,utilitarians1 or       
whatsoever they are called1 will        
ultimately carry their point1 and       
dissever and destroy most existing      
,institutions of ,society1 seems a thing
 which has some time ago ceased to be   
doubtful4  ',do we not see a little     
subdivision of the grand ,utilitarian   
,armament come to light even in         
insulated ,england8 ,a living nucleus1  
that will attract and grow1 does at     
length appear there also2 and under     

curious phasis2 properly as the         
inconsiderable fag-end1 and so far in   
the rear of the others as to fancy      
itself the van4 ,our ,european          
,mechanisers are a sect of boundless    
diffusion1 activity1 and co-operative   
spirit3 has not ,utilitarianism         
flourished in high places of ,thought1  
here among ourselves1 and in every      
,european country1 at some time or      
other1 within the last fifty years8 ,if 
now in all countries1 except perhaps    
,england1 it has ceased to flourish1 or 
indeed to exist1 among ,thinkers1 and   
sunk to ,journalists and the popular    
mass1--who sees not that1 as hereby it  
no longer preaches1 so the reason is1 it
 now needs no ,preaching1 but is in full
 universal ,action1 the doctrine        
everywhere known1 and enthusiastically  
laid to heart8 ,the fit pabulum1 in     
these times1 for a certain rugged       
workshop intellect and heart1 nowise    
without their corresponding workshop    
strength and ferocity1 it requires but  

to be stated in such scenes to make     
proselytes enough4--,admirably          
calculated for destroying1 only not for 
rebuilding6 ,it spreads like a sort of  
,dog-madness2 till the whole            
,world-kennel will be rabid3 then woe to
 the ,huntsmen1 with or without their   
whips6 ,they should have given the      
quadrupeds water1' adds he2 'the water1 
namely1 of ,knowledge and of ,life1     
while it was yet time4'  ,thus1 if      
,professor ,teufelsdrckh can be relied  
on1 we are at this hour in a most       
critical condition2 beleaguered by that 
boundless ',armament of ,mechanisers'   
and ,unbelievers1 threatening to strip  
us bare6 ',the world1' says he1 'as it  
needs must1 is under a process of       
devastation and waste1 which1 whether by
 silent assiduous corrosion1 or open    
quicker combustion1 as the case chances1
 will effectually enough annihilate the 
past ,forms of ,society2 replace them   
with what it may4 ,for the present1 it  
is contemplated that when man's whole   

,spiritual ,interests are once divested1
 these innumerable stript-off ,garments 
shall mostly be burnt2 but the sounder  
,rags among them be quilted together    
into one huge ,irish watchcoat for the  
defence of the ,body only6'--,this1 we  
think1 is but ,job's-news to the humane 
reader4  ',nevertheless1' cries         
,teufelsdrckh1 'who can hinder it2 who  
is there that can clutch into the       
wheel-spokes of ,destiny1 and say to the
 ,spirit of the ,time3 ,turn back1 ,i   
command thee8--,wiser were it that we   
yielded to the ,inevitable and          
,inexorable1 and accounted even this the
 best4'  ,nay1 might not an attentive   
,editor1 drawing his own inferences from
 what stands written1 conjecture that   
,teufelsdrckh individually had yielded  
to this same ',inevitable and           
,inexorable' heartily enough2 and now   
sat waiting the issue1 with his natural 
diabolico-angelical ,indifference1 if   
not even ,placidity8 ,did we not hear   
him complain that the ,world was a 'huge

 ,ragfair1' and the 'rags and tatters of
 old ,symbols' were raining-down        
everywhere1 like to drift him in1 and   
suffocate him8 ,what with those         
'unhunted ,helots' of his2 and the      
uneven sic-vos-non-vobis pressure and   
hard-crashing collision he is pleased to
 discern in existing things2 what with  
the so hateful 'empty ,masks1' full of  
beetles and spiders1 yet glaring out on 
him1 from their glass eyes1 'with a     
ghastly affectation of life1'--we feel  
entitled to conclude him even willing   
that much should be thrown to the       
,devil1 so it were but done gently6     
,safe himself in that ',pinnacle of     
,weissnichtwo1' he would consent1 with a
 tragic solemnity1 that the monster     
,,utilitaria1 held back1 indeed1 and    
moderated by nose-rings1 halters1       
foot-shackles1 and every conceivable    
modification of rope1 should go forth to
 do her work2--to tread down old ruinous
 ,palaces and ,temples with her broad   
hoof1 till the whole were trodden down1 

that new and better might be built6     
,remarkable in this point of view are   
the following sentences4  ',society1'   
says he1 'is not dead3 that ,carcass1   
which you call dead ,society1 is but her
 mortal coil which she has shuffled off1
 to assume a nobler2 she herself1       
through perpetual metamorphoses1 in     
fairer and fairer development1 has to   
live till ,time also merge in ,eternity4
 ,wheresoever two or three ,living ,men 
are gathered together1 there is         
,society2 or there it will be1 with its 
cunning mechanisms and stupendous       
structures1 overspreading this little   
,globe1 and reaching upwards to ,heaven 
and downwards to ,gehenna3 for always1  
under one or the other figure1 it has   
two authentic ,revelations1 of a ,god   
and of a ,devil2 the ,pulpit1 namely1   
and the ,gallows4'  ,indeed1 we already 
heard him speak of ',religion1 in       
unnoticed nooks1 weaving for herself new
 ,vestures'2--,teufelsdrckh himself     
being one of the loom-treadles8         

,elsewhere he quotes without censure    
that strange aphorism of                
,saint-,simon's1 concerning which and   
whom so much were to be said3 ,l'ge     
d'or1 qu'une aveugle tradition a plac   
jusqu'ici dans le pass1 est devant nous2
 ,the golden age1 which a blind         
tradition has hitherto placed in the    
,past1 is ,before us4'--,but listen     
again3  ',when the ,phoenix is fanning  
her funeral pyre1 will there not be     
sparks flying6 ,alas1 some millions of  
men1 and among them such as a ,napoleon1
 have already been licked into that     
high-eddying ,flame1 and like moths     
consumed there4 ,still also have we to  
fear that incautious beards will get    
singed4  ',for the rest1 in what year of
 grace such ,phoenix-cremation will be  
completed1 you need not ask4 ,the law of
 ,perseverance is among the deepest in  
man3 by nature he hates change2 seldom  
will he quit his old house till it has  
actually fallen about his ears4 ,thus   
have ,i seen ,solemnities linger as     

,ceremonies1 sacred ,symbols as         
idle-,pageants1 to the extent of        
three-hundred years and more after all  
life and sacredness had evaporated out  
of them4 ,and then1 finally1 what time  
the ,phoenix ,death-,birth itself will  
require1 depends on unseen              
contingencies4--,meanwhile1 would       
,destiny offer ,mankind1 that after1 say
 two centuries of convulsion and        
conflagration1 more or less vivid1 the  
fire-creation should be accomplished1   
and we too find ourselves again in a    
,living ,society1 and no longer fighting
 but working1--were it not perhaps      
prudent in ,mankind to strike the       
bargain8'  ,thus is ,teufelsdrckh       
content that old sick ,society should be
 deliberately burnt 7alas6 with quite   
other fuel than spicewood72 in the faith
 that she is a ,phoenix2 and that a new 
heaven-born young one will rise out of  
her ashes6 ,we ourselves1 restricted to 
the duty of ,indicator1 shall forbear   
commentary4 ,meanwhile1 will not the    

judicious reader shake his head1 and    
reproachfully1 yet more in sorrow than  
in anger1 say or think3 ,from a ,doctor 
utriusque ,juris1 titular ,professor in 
a ,university1 and man to whom hitherto1
 for his services1 ,society1 bad as she 
is1 has given not only food and raiment 
7of a kind71 but books1 tobacco and     
gukguk1 we expected more gratitude to   
his benefactress2 and less of a blind   
trust in the future1 which resembles    
that rather of a philosophical ,fatalist
 and ,enthusiast1 than of a solid       
householder paying scot-and-lot in a    
,christian country4     ,,chapter ,,vi  
,,old ,,clothes   ,as mentioned above1  
,teufelsdrckh1 though a sansculottist1  
is in practice probably the politest man
 extant3 his whole heart and life are   
penetrated and informed with the spirit 
of politeness2 a noble natural ,courtesy
 shines through him1 beautifying his    
vagaries2 like sunlight1 making a       
rosy-fingered1 rainbow-dyed ,aurora out 
of mere aqueous clouds2 nay brightening 

,london-smoke itself into gold vapour1  
as from the crucible of an alchemist4   
,hear in what earnest though fantastic  
wise he expresses himself on this head3 
',shall ,courtesy be done only to the   
rich1 and only by the rich8 ,in         
,good-breeding1 which differs1 if at    
all1 from ,high-breeding1 only as it    
gracefully remembers the rights of      
others1 rather than gracefully insists  
on its own rights1 ,i discern no special
 connexion with wealth or birth3 but    
rather that it lies in human nature     
itself1 and is due from all men towards 
all men4 ,of a truth1 were your         
,schoolmaster at his post1 and worth    
anything when there1 this1 with so much 
else1 would be reformed4 ,nay1 each man 
were then also his neighbour's          
schoolmaster2 till at length a          
rude-visaged1 unmannered ,peasant could 
no more be met with1 than a ,peasant    
unacquainted with botanical ,physiology1
 or who felt not that the clod he broke 
was created in ,heaven4  ',for whether  

thou bear a sceptre or a sledgehammer1  
art thou not ,,alive2 is not this thy   
brother ,,alive8 ,there is but one      
temple in the world1 says ,novalis1 and 
that temple is the ,body of ,man4       
,nothing is holier than this high ,form4
 ,bending before men is a reverence done
 to this ,revelation in the ,flesh4 ,we 
touch ,heaven1 when we lay our hands on 
a human ,body4  ',on which ground1 ,i   
would fain carry it farther than most   
do2 and whereas the ,english ,johnson   
only bowed to every ,clergyman1 or man  
with a shovel-hat1 ,i would bow to every
 ,man with any sort of hat1 or with no  
hat whatever4 ,is not he a ,temple1     
then2 the visible ,manifestation and    
,impersonation of the ,divinity8 ,and   
yet1 alas1 such indiscriminate bowing   
serves not4 ,for there is a ,devil      
dwells in man1 as well as a ,divinity2  
and too often the bow is but pocketed by
 the former4 ,it would go to the pocket 
of ,vanity 7which is your clearest      
phasis of the ,devil1 in these times72  

therefore must we withhold it4  ',the   
gladder am ,i1 on the other hand1 to do 
reverence to those ,shells and outer    
,husks of the ,body1 wherein no devilish
 passion any longer lodges1 but only the
 pure emblem and effigies of ,man3 ,i   
mean1 to ,empty1 or even to ,cast       
,clothes4 ,nay1 is it not to ,clothes   
that most men do reverence3 to the fine 
frogged broadcloth1 nowise to the       
straddling animal with bandy legs which 
it holds1 and makes a ,dignitary of8    
,who ever saw any ,lord my-lorded in    
tattered blanket fastened with wooden   
skewer8 ,nevertheless1 ,i say1 there is 
in such worship a shade of hypocrisy1 a 
practical deception3 for how often does 
the ,body appropriate what was meant for
 the ,cloth only6 ,whoso would avoid    
falsehood1 which is the essence of all  
,sin1 will perhaps see good to take a   
different course4 ,that reverence which 
cannot act without obstruction and      
perversion when the ,clothes are full1  
may have free course when they are      

empty4 ,even as1 for ,hindoo            
,worshippers1 the ,pagoda is not less   
sacred than the ,god2 so do ,i too      
worship the hollow cloth ,garment with  
equal fervour1 as when it contained the 
,man3 nay1 with more1 for ,i now fear no
 deception1 of myself or of others4     
',did not ,king ,toomtabard1 or1 in     
other words1 ,john ,baliol1 reign long  
over ,scotland2 the man ,john ,baliol   
being quite gone1 and only the ,toom    
,tabard 7,empty ,gown7 remaining8 ,what 
still dignity dwells in a suit of ,cast 
,clothes6 ,how meekly it bears its      
honours6 ,no haughty looks1 no scornful 
gesture3 silent and serene1 it fronts   
the world2 neither demanding worship1   
nor afraid to miss it4 ,the ,hat still  
carries the physiognomy of its ,head3   
but the vanity and the stupidity1 and   
goose-speech which was the sign of these
 two1 are gone4 ,the ,coat-arm is       
stretched out1 but not to strike2 the   
,breeches1 in modest simplicity1 depend 
at ease1 and now at last have a graceful

 flow2 the ,waistcoat hides no evil     
passion1 no riotous desire2 hunger or   
thirst now dwells not in it4 ,thus all  
is purged from the grossness of sense1  
from the carking cares and foul vices of
 the ,world2 and rides there1 on its    
,clothes-horse2 as1 on a ,pegasus1 might
 some skyey ,messenger1 or purified     
,apparition1 visiting our low ,earth4   
',often1 while ,i sojourned in that     
monstrous tuberosity of ,civilised      
,life1 the ,capital of ,england2 and    
meditated1 and questioned ,destiny1     
under that ink-sea of vapour1 black1    
thick1 and multifarious as ,spartan     
broth2 and was one lone soul amid those 
grinding millions2--often have ,i turned
 into their ,old-,clothes ,market to    
worship4 ,with awe-struck heart ,i walk 
through that ,monmouth ,street1 with its
 empty ,suits1 as through a ,sanhedrim  
of stainless ,ghosts4 ,silent are they1 
but expressive in their silence3 the    
past witnesses and instruments of ,woe  
and ,joy1 of ,passions1 ,virtues1       

,crimes1 and all the fathomless tumult  
of ,good and ,evil in the ,prison men   
call ,life4 ,friends6 trust not the     
heart of that man for whom ,old ,clothes
 are not venerable4 ,watch1 too1 with   
reverence1 that bearded ,jewish         
,high-priest1 who with hoarse voice1    
like some ,angel of ,doom1 summons them 
from the four winds6 ,on his head1 like 
the ,pope1 he has three ,hats1--a real  
triple tiara2 on either hand are the    
similitude of wings1 whereon the        
summoned ,garments come to alight2 and  
ever1 as he slowly cleaves the air1     
sounds forth his deep fateful note1 as  
if through a trumpet he were            
proclaiming3 ,ghosts of ,life1 come to  
,judgment6 ,reck not1 ye fluttering     
,ghosts3 he will purify you in his      
,purgatory1 with fire and with water2   
and1 one day1 new-created ye shall      
reappear4 ,o1 let him in whom the flame 
of ,devotion is ready to go out1 who has
 never worshipped1 and knows not what to
 worship1 pace and repace1 with         

austerest thought1 the pavement of      
,monmouth ,street1 and say whether his  
heart and his eyes still continue dry4  
,if ,field ,lane1 with its long         
fluttering rows of yellow handkerchiefs1
 be a ,dionysius' ,ear1 where1 in       
stifled jarring hubbub1 we hear the     
,indictment which ,poverty and ,vice    
bring against lazy ,wealth1 that it has 
left them there cast-out and trodden    
under foot of ,want1 ,darkness and the  
,devil1--then is ,monmouth ,street a    
,mirza's ,hill1 where1 in motley vision1
 the whole ,pageant of ,existence passes
 awfully before us2 with its wail and   
jubilee1 mad loves and mad hatreds1     
church-bells and gallows-ropes1         
farce-tragedy1 beast-godhood1--the      
,bedlam of ,creation6'         99       
99       99       99       99  ,to most 
men1 as it does to ourselves1 all this  
will seem overcharged4 ,we too have     
walked through ,monmouth ,street2 but   
with little feeling of ',devotion'3     
probably in part because the            

contemplative process is so fatally     
broken in upon by the brood of          
money-changers who nestle in that       
,church1 and importune the worshipper   
with merely secular proposals4 ,whereas 
,teufelsdrckh might be in that happy    
middle state1 which leaves to the       
,clothes-broker no hope either of sale  
or of purchase1 and so be allowed to    
linger there without                    
molestation4--,something we would have  
given to see the little philosophical   
figure1 with its steeple-hat and loose  
flowing skirts1 and eyes in a fine      
frenzy1 'pacing and repacing in         
austerest thought' that foolish ,street2
 which to him was a true ,delphic       
avenue1 and supernatural                
,whispering-gallery1 where the ',ghosts 
of ,life' rounded strange secrets in his
 ear4 ,o thou philosophic ,teufelsdrckh1
 that listenest while others only       
gabble1 and with thy quick tympanum     
hearest the grass grow6  ,at the same   
time1 is it not strange that1 in        

,paper-bag ,documents destined for an   
,english work1 there exists nothing like
 an authentic diary of this his sojourn 
in ,london2 and of his ,meditations     
among the ,clothes-shops only the       
obscurest emblematic shadows8 ,neither1 
in conversation 7for1 indeed1 he was not
 a man to pester you with his ,travels71
 have we heard him more than allude to  
the subject4  ,for the rest1 however1 it
 cannot be uninteresting that we here   
find how early the significance of      
,clothes had dawned on the now so       
distinguished ,clothes-,professor4      
,might we but fancy it to have been even
 in ,monmouth ,street1 at the bottom of 
our own ,english 'ink-sea1' that this   
remarkable ,volume first took being1 and
 shot forth its salient point in his    
soul1--as in ,chaos did the ,egg of     
,eros1 one day to be hatched into a     
,universe6     ,,chapter ,,vii          
,,organic ,,filaments   ,for us1 who    
happen to live while the ,world-,phoenix
 is burning herself1 and burning so     

slowly that1 as ,teufelsdrckh           
calculates1 it were a handsome bargain  
would she engage to have done 'within   
two centuries1' there seems to lie but  
an ashy prospect4 ,not altogether so1   
however1 does the ,professor figure it4 
',in the living subject1' says he1      
'change is wont to be gradual3 thus1    
while the serpent sheds its old skin1   
the new is already formed beneath4      
,little knowest thou of the burning of a
 ,world-,phoenix1 who fanciest that she 
must first burn-out1 and lie as a dead  
cinereous heap2 and therefrom the young 
one start-up by miracle1 and fly        
heavenward4 ,far otherwise6 ,in that    
,fire-whirlwind1 ,creation and          
,destruction proceed together2 ever as  
the ashes of the ,old are blown about1  
do organic filaments of the ,new        
mysteriously spin themselves3 and amid  
the rushing and the waving of the       
,whirlwind-,element come tones of a     
melodious ,deathsong1 which end not but 
in tones of a more melodious ,birthsong4

 ,nay1 look into the ,fire-whirlwind    
with thy own eyes1 and thou wilt see4'  
,let us actually look1 then3 to poor    
individuals1 who cannot expect to live  
two centuries1 those same organic       
filaments1 mysteriously spinning        
themselves1 will be the best part of the
 spectacle4 ,first1 therefore1 this of  
,mankind in general3  ',in vain thou    
deniest it1' says the ,professor2 'thou 
art my ,brother4 ,thy very ,hatred1 thy 
very ,envy1 those foolish lies thou     
tellest of me in thy splenetic humour3  
what is all this but an inverted        
,sympathy8 ,were ,i a ,steam-engine1    
wouldst thou take the trouble to tell   
lies of me8 ,not thou6 ,i should grind  
all unheeded1 whether badly or well4    
',wondrous truly are the bonds that     
unite us one and all2 whether by the    
soft binding of ,love1 or the iron      
chaining of ,necessity1 as we like to   
choose it4 ,more than once have ,i said 
to myself1 of some perhaps whimsically  
strutting ,figure1 such as provokes     

whimsical thoughts3 ,wert thou1 my      
little ,brotherkin1 suddenly covered-up 
within the largest imaginable           
,glass-bell1--what a thing it were1 not 
for thyself only1 but for the world6    
,post ,letters1 more or fewer1 from all 
the four winds1 impinge against thy     
,glass walls1 but have to drop unread3  
neither from within comes there question
 or response into any ,postbag2 thy     
,thoughts fall into no friendly ear or  
heart1 thy ,manufacture into no         
purchasing hand3 thou art no longer a   
circulating venous-arterial ,heart1     
that1 taking and giving1 circulatest    
through all ,space and all ,time3 there 
has a ,hole fallen-out in the           
immeasurable1 universal ,world-tissue1  
which must be darned-up again6  ',such  
venous-arterial circulation1 of         
,letters1 verbal ,messages1 paper and   
other ,packages1 going out from him and 
coming in1 are a blood-circulation1     
visible to the eye3 but the finer       
nervous circulation1 by which all       

things1 the minutest that he does1      
minutely influence all men1 and the very
 look of his face blesses or curses     
whomso it lights on1 and so generates   
ever new blessing or new cursing3 all   
this you cannot see1 but only imagine4  
,i say1 there is not a red ,indian1     
hunting by ,lake ,winnipic1 can quarrel 
with his squaw1 but the whole world must
 smart for it3 will not the price of    
beaver rise8 ,it is a mathematical fact 
that the casting of this pebble from my 
hand alters the centre of gravity of the
 ,universe4  ',if now an existing       
generation of men stand so woven        
together1 not less indissolubly does    
generation with generation4 ,hast thou  
ever meditated on that word1 ,tradition3
 how we inherit not ,life only1 but all 
the garniture and form of ,life2 and    
work1 and speak1 and even think and     
feel1 as our ,fathers1 and primeval     
grandfathers1 from the beginning1 have  
given it us8--,who printed thee1 for    
example1 this unpretending ,volume on   

the ,philosophy of ,clothes8 ,not the   
,herren ,stillschweigen and ,company2   
but ,cadmus of ,thebes1 ,faust of       
,mentz1 and innumerable others whom thou
 knowest not4 ,had there been no        
,moesogothic ,ulfila1 there had been no 
,english ,shakspeare1 or a different    
one4 ,simpleton6 it was ,tubalcain that 
made thy very ,tailor's needle1 and     
sewed that court-suit of thine4  ',yes1 
truly2 if ,nature is one1 and a living  
indivisible whole1 much more is         
,mankind1 the ,image that reflects and  
creates ,nature1 without which ,nature  
were not4 ,as palpable life-streams in  
that wondrous ,individual ,mankind1     
among so many life-streams that are not 
palpable1 flow on those main-currents of
 what we call ,opinion2 as preserved in 
,institutions1 ,polities1 ,churches1    
above all in ,books4 ,beautiful it is to
 understand and know that a ,thought did
 never yet die2 that as thou1 the       
originator thereof1 hast gathered it and
 created it from the whole ,past1 so    

thou wilt transmit it to the whole      
,future4 ,it is thus that the heroic    
heart1 the seeing eye of the first      
times1 still feels and sees in us of the
 latest2 that the ,wise ,man stands ever
 encompassed1 and spiritually embraced1 
by a cloud of witnesses and brothers2   
and there is a living1 literal          
,communion of ,saints1 wide as the      
,world itself1 and as the ,history of   
the ,world4  ',noteworthy also1 and     
serviceable for the progress of this    
same ,individual1 wilt thou find his    
subdivision into ,generations4          
,generations are as the ,days of        
toilsome ,mankind3 ,death and ,birth are
 the vesper and the matin bells1 that   
summon ,mankind to sleep1 and to rise   
refreshed for new advancement4 ,what the
 ,father has made1 the ,son can make and
 enjoy2 but has also work of his own    
appointed him4 ,thus all things wax1 and
 roll onwards2 ,arts1 ,establishments1  
,opinions1 nothing is completed1 but    
ever completing4 ,newton has learned to 

see what ,kepler saw2 but there is also 
a fresh heaven-derived force in ,newton2
 he must mount to still higher points of
 vision4 ,so too the ,hebrew ,lawgiver  
is1 in due time1 followed by an ,apostle
 of the ,gentiles4 ,in the business of  
,destruction1 as this also is from time 
to time a necessary work1 thou findest a
 like sequence and perseverance3 for    
,luther it was as yet hot enough to     
stand by that burning of the ,pope's    
,bull2 ,voltaire could not warm himself 
at the glimmering ashes1 but required   
quite other fuel4 ,thus likewise1 ,i    
note1 the ,english ,whig has1 in the    
second generation1 become an ,english   
,radical2 who1 in the third again1 it is
 to be hoped1 will become an ,english   
,rebuilder4 ,find ,mankind where thou   
wilt1 thou findest it in living         
movement1 in progress faster or slower3 
the ,phoenix soars aloft1 hovers with   
outstretched wings1 filling ,earth with 
her music2 or1 as now1 she sinks1 and   
with spheral swan-song immolates herself

 in flame1 that she may soar the higher 
and sing the clearer4'  ,let the friends
 of social order1 in such a disastrous  
period1 lay this to heart1 and derive   
from it any little comfort they can4 ,we
 subjoin another passage1 concerning    
,titles3  ',remark1 not without         
surprise1' says ,teufelsdrckh1 'how all 
high ,titles of ,honour come hitherto   
from fighting4 ,your ,herzog 7,duke1    
,dux7 is ,leader of ,armies2 your ,earl 
7,jarl7 is ,strong ,man2 your ,marshal  
cavalry ,horse-shoer4 ,a ,millennium1 or
 reign of ,peace and ,wisdom1 having    
from of old been prophesied1 and        
becoming now daily more and more        
indubitable1 may it not be apprehended  
that such ,fighting-titles will cease to
 be palatable1 and new and higher need  
to be devised8  ',the only ,title       
wherein ,i1 with confidence1 trace      
eternity1 is that of ,king4 ,knig       
7,king71 anciently ,knning1 means       
,ken-ning 7,cunning71 or which is the   
same thing1 ,can-ning4 ,ever must the   

,sovereign of ,mankind be fitly entitled
 ,king4'  ',well1 also1' says he        
elsewhere1 'was it written by           
,theologians3 a ,king rules by divine   
right4 ,he carries in him an authority  
from ,god1 or man will never give it    
him4 ,can ,i choose my own ,king8 ,i can
 choose my own ,king ,popinjay1 and play
 what farce or tragedy ,i may with him3 
but he who is to be my ,ruler1 whose    
will is to be higher than my will1 was  
chosen for me in ,heaven4 ,neither      
except in such ,obedience to the        
,heaven-chosen is ,freedom so much as   
conceivable4'         99       99       
99       99       99  ,the ,editor will 
here admit that1 among all the wondrous 
provinces of ,teufelsdrckh's spiritual  
world1 there is none he walks in with   
such astonishment1 hesitation1 and even 
pain1 as in the ,political4 ,how1 with  
our ,english love of ,ministry and      
,opposition1 and that generous conflict 
of ,parties1 mind warming itself against
 mind in their mutual wrestle for the   

,public ,good1 by which wrestle1 indeed1
 is our invaluable ,constitution kept   
warm and alive2 how shall we domesticate
 ourselves in this spectral ,necropolis1
 or rather ,city both of the ,dead and  
of the ,unborn1 where the ,present seems
 little other than an inconsiderable    
,film dividing the ,past and the        
,future8 ,in those dim longdrawn        
expanses1 all is so immeasurable2 much  
so disastrous1 ghastly2 your very       
radiances and straggling light-beams    
have a supernatural character4 ,and then
 with such an indifference1 such a      
prophetic peacefulness 7accounting the  
inevitably coming as already here1 to   
him all one whether it be distant by    
centuries or only by days71 does he     
sit2--and live1 you would say1 rather in
 any other age than in his own6 ,it is  
our painful duty to announce1 or repeat1
 that1 looking into this man1 we discern
 a deep1 silent1 slow-burning1          
inextinguishable ,radicalism1 such as   
fills us with shuddering admiration4    

,thus1 for example1 he appears to make  
little even of the ,elective ,franchise2
 at least so we interpret the following3
 ',satisfy yourselves1' he says1 'by    
universal1 indubitable experiment1 even 
as ye are now doing or will do1 whether 
,,freedom1 heavenborn and leading       
heavenward1 and so vitally essential for
 us all1 cannot peradventure be         
mechanically hatched and brought to     
light in that same ,ballot-,box of      
yours2 or at worst1 in some other       
discoverable or devisable ,box1         
,edifice1 or ,steam-mechanism4 ,it were 
a mighty convenience2 and beyond all    
feats of manufacture witnessed          
hitherto4' ,is ,teufelsdrckh acquainted 
with the ,british ,constitution1 even   
slightly8--,he says1 under another      
figure3 ',but after all1 were the       
problem1 as indeed it now everywhere is1
 ,to rebuild your old ,house from the   
top downwards 7since you must live in it
 the while71 what better1 what other1   
than the ,representative ,machine will  

serve your turn8 ,meanwhile1 however1   
mock me not with the name of ,free1 when
 you have but knit-up my chains into    
ornamental festoons4'--,or what will any
 member of the ,peace ,society make of  
such an assertion as this3 ',the lower  
people everywhere desire ,war4 ,not so  
unwisely2 there is then a demand for    
lower people--to be shot6'  ,gladly1    
therefore1 do we emerge from those      
soul-confusing labyrinths of speculative
 ,radicalism1 into somewhat clearer     
regions4 ,here1 looking round1 as was   
our hest1 for 'organic filaments1' we   
ask1 may not this1 touching             
',hero-worship1' be of the number8 ,it  
seems of a cheerful character2 yet so   
quaint1 so mystical1 one knows not what1
 or how little1 may lie under it4 ,our  
readers shall look with their own eyes3 
',true is it that1 in these days1 man   
can do almost all things1 only not obey4
 ,true likewise that whoso cannot obey  
cannot be free1 still less bear rule2 he
 that is the inferior of nothing1 can be

 the superior of nothing1 the equal of  
nothing4 ,nevertheless1 believe not that
 man has lost his faculty of ,reverence2
 that if it slumber in him1 it has gone 
dead4 ,painful for man is that same     
rebellious ,independence1 when it has   
become inevitable2 only in loving       
companionship with his fellows does he  
feel safe2 only in reverently bowing    
down before the ,higher does he feel    
himself exalted4  ',or what if the      
character of our so troublous ,era lay  
even in this3 that man had forever cast 
away ,fear1 which is the lower2 but not 
yet risen into perennial ,reverence1    
which is the higher and highest8        
',meanwhile1 observe with joy1 so       
cunningly has ,nature ordered it1 that  
whatsoever man ought to obey1 he cannot 
but obey4 ,before no faintest revelation
 of the ,godlike did he ever stand      
irreverent2 least of all1 when the      
,godlike showed itself revealed in his  
fellow-man4 ,thus is there a true       
religious ,loyalty forever rooted in his

 heart2 nay in all ages1 even in ours1  
it manifests itself as a more or less   
orthodox ,hero-worship4 ,in which fact1 
that ,hero-worship exists1 has existed1 
and will forever exist1 universally     
among ,mankind1 mayest thou discern the 
corner-stone of living-rock1 whereon all
 ,polities for the remotest time may    
stand secure4'  ,do our readers discern 
any such corner-stone1 or even so much  
as what ,teufelsdrckh is looking at8 ,he
 exclaims1 ',or hast thou forgotten     
,paris and ,voltaire8 ,how the aged1    
withered man1 though but a ,sceptic1    
,mocker1 and millinery ,court-poet1 yet 
because even he seemed the ,wisest1     
,best1 could drag mankind at his        
chariot-wheels1 so that princes coveted 
a smile from him1 and the loveliest of  
,france would have laid their hair      
beneath his feet6 ,all ,paris was one   
vast ,temple of ,hero-worship2 though   
their ,divinity1 moreover1 was of       
feature too apish4  ',but if such       
things1' continues he1 'were done in the

 dry tree1 what will be done in the     
green8 ,if1 in the most parched season  
of ,man's ,history1 in the most parched 
spot of ,europe1 when ,parisian life was
 at best but a scientific ,hortus       
,siccus1 bedizened with some ,italian   
,gumflowers1 such virtue could come out 
of it2 what is to be looked for when    
,life again waves leafy and bloomy1 and 
your ,hero-,divinity shall have nothing 
apelike1 but be wholly human8 ,know that
 there is in man a quite indestructible 
,reverence for whatsoever holds of      
,heaven1 or even plausibly counterfeits 
such holding4 ,show the dullest         
clodpole1 show the haughtiest           
featherhead1 that a soul higher than    
himself is actually here2 were his knees
 stiffened into brass1 he must down and 
worship4'  ,organic filaments1 of a more
 authentic sort1 mysteriously spinning  
themselves1 some will perhaps discover  
in the following passage3  ',there is no
 ,church1 sayest thou8 ,the voice of    
,prophecy has gone dumb8 ,this is even  

what ,i dispute3 but in any case1 hast  
thou not still ,preaching enough8 ,a    
,preaching ,friar settles himself in    
every village2 and builds a pulpit1     
which he calls ,newspaper4 ,therefrom he
 preaches what most momentous doctrine  
is in him1 for man's salvation2 and dost
 not thou listen1 and believe8 ,look    
well1 thou seest everywhere a new       
,clergy of the ,mendicant ,orders1 some 
bare-footed1 some almost bare-backed1   
fashion itself into shape1 and teach and
 preach1 zealously enough1 for copper   
alms and the love of ,god4 ,these break 
in pieces the ancient idols2 and1 though
 themselves too often reprobate1 as     
idol-breakers are wont to be1 mark out  
the sites of new ,churches1 where the   
true ,god-ordained1 that are to follow1 
may find audience1 and minister4 ,said  
,i not1 ,before the old skin was shed1  
the new had formed itself beneath it8'  
,perhaps also in the following2         
wherewith we now hasten to knit-up this 
ravelled sleeve3  ',but there is no     

,religion8' reiterates the ,professor4  
',fool6 ,i tell thee1 there is4 ,hast   
thou well considered all that lies in   
this immeasurable froth-ocean we name   
,,literature8 ,fragments of a genuine   
,church-,homiletic lie scattered there1 
which ,time will assort3 nay fractions  
even of a ,liturgy could ,i point out4  
,and knowest thou no ,prophet1 even in  
the vesture1 environment1 and dialect of
 this age8 ,none to whom the ,god-like  
had revealed itself1 through all meanest
 and highest forms of the ,common2 and  
by him been again prophetically         
revealed3 in whose inspired melody1 even
 in these rag-gathering and rag-burning 
days1 ,man's ,life again begins1 were it
 but afar off1 to be divine8 ,knowest   
thou none such8 ,i know him1 and name   
him--,goethe4  ',but thou as yet        
standest in no ,temple2 joinest in no   
,psalm-worship2 feelest well that1 where
 there is no ministering ,priest1 the   
people perish8 ,be of comfort6 ,thou art
 not alone1 if thou have ,faith4 ,spake 

we not of a ,communion of ,saints1      
unseen1 yet not unreal1 accompanying and
 brother-like embracing thee1 so thou be
 worthy8 ,their heroic ,sufferings rise 
up melodiously together to ,heaven1 out 
of all lands1 and out of all times1 as a
 sacred ,miserere2 their heroic ,actions
 also1 as a boundless everlasting ,psalm
 of ,triumph4 ,neither say that thou    
hast now no ,symbol of the ,godlike4 ,is
 not ,god's ,universe a ,symbol of the  
,godlike2 is not ,immensity a ,temple2  
is not ,man's ,history1 and ,men's      
,history1 a perpetual ,evangel8 ,listen1
 and for organ-music thou wilt ever1 as 
of old1 hear the ,morning ,stars sing   
together4'     ,,chapter ,,viii         
,,natural ,,supernaturalism   ,it is in 
his stupendous ,section1 headed ,natural
 ,supernaturalism1 that the ,professor  
first becomes a ,seer2 and1 after long  
effort1 such as we have witnessed1      
finally subdues under his feet this     
refractory ,clothes-,philosophy1 and    
takes victorious possession thereof4    

,phantasms enough he has had to struggle
 with2 ',cloth-webs and ,cob-webs1' of  
,imperial ,mantles1 ,superannuated      
,symbols1 and what not3 yet still did he
 courageously pierce through4 ,nay1     
worst of all1 two quite mysterious1     
world-embracing ,phantasms1 ,,time and  
,,space1 have ever hovered round him1   
perplexing and bewildering3 but with    
these also he now resolutely grapples1  
these also he victoriously rends        
asunder4 ,in a word1 he has looked      
fixedly on ,existence1 till1 one after  
the other1 its earthly hulls and        
garnitures have all melted away2 and    
now1 to his rapt vision1 the interior   
celestial ,holy of ,holies lies         
disclosed4  ,here1 therefore1 properly  
it is that the ,philosophy of ,clothes  
attains to ,transcendentalism2 this last
 leap1 can we but clear it1 takes us    
safe into the promised land1 where      
,palingenesia1 in all senses1 may be    
considered as beginning4 ',courage1     
then6' may our ,diogenes exclaim1 with  

better right than ,diogenes the ,first  
once did4 ,this stupendous ,section we1 
after long painful meditation1 have     
found not to be unintelligible2 but1 on 
the contrary1 to grow clear1 nay        
radiant1 and all-illuminating4 ,let the 
reader1 turning on it what utmost force 
of speculative intellect is in him1 do  
his part2 as we1 by judicious selection 
and adjustment1 shall study to do ours3 
',deep has been1 and is1 the            
significance of ,miracles1' thus quietly
 begins the ,professor2 'far deeper     
perhaps than we imagine4 ,meanwhile1 the
 question of questions were3 ,what      
specially is a ,miracle8 ,to that ,dutch
 ,king of ,siam1 an icicle had been a   
miracle2 whoso had carried with him an  
air-pump1 and vial of vitriolic ether1  
might have worked a miracle4 ,to my     
,horse1 again1 who unhappily is still   
more unscientific1 do not ,i work a     
miracle1 and magical ,open sesame6 every
 time ,i please to pay twopence1 and    
open for him an impassable ,schlagbaum1 

or shut ,turnpike8  ',but is not a real 
,miracle simply a violation of the ,laws
 of ,nature8 ask several4 ,whom ,i      
answer by this new question3 ,what are  
the ,laws of ,nature8 ,to me perhaps the
 rising of one from the dead were no    
violation of these ,laws1 but a         
confirmation2 were some far deeper ,law1
 now first penetrated into1 and by      
,spiritual ,force1 even as the rest have
 all been1 brought to bear on us with   
its ,material ,force4  ',here too may   
some inquire1 not without astonishment3 
,on what ground shall one1 that can make
 ,iron swim1 come and declare that      
therefore he can teach ,religion8 ,to   
us1 truly1 of the ,nineteenth ,century1 
such declaration were inept enough2     
which nevertheless to our fathers1 of   
the ,first ,century1 was full of        
meaning4  ',but is it not the deepest   
,law of ,nature that she be constant8   
cries an illuminated class3 ,is not the 
,machine of the ,universe fixed to move 
by unalterable rules8 ,probable enough1 

good friends3 nay ,i1 too1 must believe 
that the ,god1 whom ancient inspired men
 assert to be without variableness or   
shadow of turning1 does indeed never    
change2 that ,nature1 that the          
,universe1 which no one whom it so      
pleases can be prevented from calling a 
,machine1 does move by the most         
unalterable rules4 ,and now of you1 too1
 ,i make the old inquiry3 ,what those   
same unalterable rules1 forming the     
complete ,statute-,book of ,nature1 may 
possibly be8  ',they stand written in   
our ,works of ,science1 say you2 in the 
accumulated records of ,man's           
,experience8--,was ,man with his        
,experience present at the ,creation1   
then1 to see how it all went on8 ,have  
any deepest scientific individuals yet  
dived-down to the foundations of the    
,universe1 and gauged everything there8 
,did the ,maker take them into ,his     
counsel2 that they read ,his groundplan 
of the incomprehensible ,all2 and can   
say1 ,this stands marked therein1 and no

 more than this8 ,alas1 not in anywise6 
,these scientific individuals have been 
nowhere but where we also are2 have seen
 some handbreadths deeper than we see   
into the ,deep that is infinite1 without
 bottom as without shore4  ',laplace's  
,book on the ,stars1 wherein he exhibits
 that certain ,planets1 with their      
,satellites1 gyrate round our worthy    
,sun1 at a rate and in a course1 which1 
by greatest good fortune1 he and the    
like of him have succeeded in           
detecting1--is to me as precious as to  
another4 ,but is this what thou namest  
,mechanism of the ,heavens1 and ,system 
of the ,world2 this1 wherein ,sirius and
 the ,pleiades1 and all ,herschel's     
,fifteen-thousand ,suns per minute1     
being left out1 some paltry handful of  
,moons1 and inert ,balls1 had           
been--looked at1 nicknamed1 and marked  
in the ,zodiacal ,way-bill2 so that we  
can now prate of their ,whereabout2     
their ,how1 their ,why1 their ,what1    
being hid from us1 as in the signless   

,inane8  ',system of ,nature6 ,to the   
wisest man1 wide as is his vision1      
,nature remains of quite infinite depth1
 of quite infinite expansion2 and all   
,experience thereof limits itself to    
some few computed centuries and measured
 square-miles4 ,the course of ,nature's 
phases1 on this our little fraction of a
 ,planet1 is partially known to us3 but 
who knows what deeper courses these     
depend on2 what infinitely larger ,cycle
 7of causes7 our little ,epicycle       
revolves on8 ,to the ,minnow every      
cranny and pebble1 and quality and      
accident1 of its little native ,creek   
may have become familiar3 but does the  
,minnow understand the ,ocean ,tides and
 periodic ,currents1 the ,trade-winds1  
and ,monsoons1 and ,moon's ,eclipses2 by
 all which the condition of its little  
,creek is regulated1 and may1 from time 
to time 7unmiraculously enough71 be     
quite overset and reversed8 ,such a     
,minnow is ,man2 his ,creek this ,planet
 ,earth2 his ,ocean the immeasurable    

,all2 his ,monsoons and periodic        
,currents the mysterious ,course of     
,providence through ons of ons4  ',we   
speak of the ,volume of ,nature3 and    
truly a ,volume it is1--whose ,author   
and ,writer is ,god4 ,to read it6 ,dost 
thou1 does man1 so much as well know the
 ,alphabet thereof8 ,with its ,words1   
,sentences1 and grand descriptive       
,pages1 poetical and philosophical1     
spread out through ,solar ,systems1 and 
,thousands of ,years1 we shall not try  
thee4 ,it is a ,volume written in       
celestial hieroglyphs1 in the true      
,sacred-writing2 of which even ,prophets
 are happy that they can read here a    
line and there a line4 ,as for your     
,institutes1 and ,academies of ,science1
 they strive bravely2 and1 from amid the
 thick-crowded1 inextricably            
intertwisted hieroglyphic writing1      
pick-out1 by dextrous combination1 some 
,letters in the vulgar ,character1 and  
therefrom put together this and the     
other economic ,recipe1 of high avail in

 ,practice4 ,that ,nature is more than  
some boundless ,volume of such ,recipes1
 or huge1 well-nigh inexhaustible       
,domestic-,cookery ,book1 of which the  
whole secret will in this manner one day
 evolve itself1 the fewest dream4       
99       99       99       99       99  
',custom1' continues the ,professor1    
'doth make dotards of us all4 ,consider 
well1 thou wilt find that ,custom is the
 greatest of ,weavers2 and weaves       
air-raiment for all the ,spirits of the 
,universe2 whereby indeed these dwell   
with us visibly1 as ministering         
servants1 in our houses and workshops2  
but their spiritual nature becomes1 to  
the most1 forever hidden4 ,philosophy   
complains that ,custom has hoodwinked   
us1 from the first2 that we do          
everything by ,custom1 even ,believe by 
it2 that our very ,axioms1 let us boast 
of ,free-thinking as we may1 are        
oftenest simply such ,beliefs as we have
 never heard questioned4 ,nay1 what is  
,philosophy throughout but a continual  

battle against ,custom2 an ever-renewed 
effort to transcend the sphere of blind 
,custom1 and so become ,transcendental8 
',innumerable are the illusions and     
legerdemain-tricks of ,custom3 but of   
all these1 perhaps the cleverest is her 
knack of persuading us that the         
,miraculous1 by simple repetition1      
ceases to be ,miraculous4 ,true1 it is  
by this means we live2 for man must work
 as well as wonder3 and herein is       
,custom so far a kind nurse1 guiding him
 to his true benefit4 ,but she is a fond
 foolish nurse1 or rather we are false  
foolish nurslings1 when1 in our resting 
and reflecting hours1 we prolong the    
same deception4 ,am ,i to view the      
,stupendous with stupid indifference1   
because ,i have seen it twice1 or       
two-hundred1 or two-million times8      
,there is no reason in ,nature or in    
,art why ,i should3 unless1 indeed1 ,i  
am a mere ,work-,machine1 for whom the  
divine gift of ,thought were no other   
than the terrestrial gift of ,steam is  

to the ,steam-engine2 a power whereby   
,cotton might be spun1 and money and    
money's worth realised4  ',notable      
enough too1 here as elsewhere1 wilt thou
 find the potency of ,names2 which      
indeed are but one kind of such         
custom-woven1 wonder-hiding ,garments4  
,witchcraft1 and all manner of          
,spectre-work1 and ,demonology1 we have 
now named ,madness and ,diseases of the 
,nerves4 ,seldom reflecting that still  
the new question comes upon us3 ,what is
 ,madness1 what are ,nerves8 ,ever1 as  
before1 does ,madness remain a          
mysterious-terrific1 altogether infernal
 boiling-up of the ,nether ,chaotic     
,deep1 through this fair-painted ,vision
 of ,creation1 which swims thereon1     
which we name the ,real4 ,was ,luther's 
,picture of the ,devil less a ,reality1 
whether it were formed within the bodily
 eye1 or without it8 ,in every the      
wisest ,soul lies a whole world of      
internal ,madness1 an authentic ,demon  
,empire2 out of which1 indeed1 his world

 of ,wisdom has been creatively built   
together1 and now rests there1 as on its
 dark foundations does a habitable      
flowery ,earth-rind4         99       99
       99       99       99  ',but      
deepest of all illusory ,appearances1   
for hiding ,wonder1 as for many other   
ends1 are your two grand fundamental    
world-enveloping ,appearances1 ,,space  
and ,,time4 ,these1 as spun and woven   
for us from before ,birth itself1 to    
clothe our celestial ,,me for dwelling  
here1 and yet to blind it1--lie all     
embracing1 as the universal canvas1 or  
warp and woof1 whereby all minor        
,illusions1 in this ,phantasm           
,existence1 weave and paint themselves4 
,in vain1 while here on ,earth1 shall   
you endeavour to strip them off2 you    
can1 at best1 but rend them asunder for 
moments1 and look through4  ',fortunatus
 had a wishing ,hat1 which when he put  
on1 and wished himself ,anywhere1 behold
 he was ,there4 ,by this means had      
,fortunatus triumphed over ,space1 he   

had annihilated ,space2 for him there   
was no ,where1 but all was ,here4 ,were 
a ,hatter to establish himself1 in the  
,wahngasse of ,weissnichtwo1 and make   
felts of this sort for all mankind1 what
 a world we should have of it6 ,still   
stranger1 should1 on the opposite side  
of the street1 another ,hatter establish
 himself2 and as his fellow-craftsman   
made ,space-annihilating ,hats1 make    
,time-annihilating6 ,of both would ,i   
purchase1 were it with my last groschen2
 but chiefly of this latter4 ,to clap-on
 your felt1 and1 simply by wishing that 
you were ,anywhere1 straightway to be   
,there6 ,next to clap-on your other     
felt1 and1 simply by wishing that you   
were ,anywhen1 straightway to be ,then6 
,this were indeed the grander3 shooting 
at will from the ,fire-,creation of the 
,world to its ,fire-,consummation2 here 
historically present in the ,first      
,century1 conversing face to face with  
,paul and ,seneca2 there prophetically  
in the ,thirty-first1 conversing also   

face to face with other ,pauls and      
,senecas1 who as yet stand hidden in the
 depth of that late ,time6  ',or        
thinkest thou it were impossible1       
unimaginable8 ,is the ,past annihilated1
 then1 or only past2 is the ,future     
non-extant1 or only future8 ,those      
mystic faculties of thine1 ,memory and  
,hope1 already answer3 already through  
those mystic avenues1 thou the          
,earth-blinded summonest both ,past and 
,future1 and communest with them1 though
 as yet darkly1 and with mute           
beckonings4 ,the curtains of ,yesterday 
drop down1 the curtains of ,tomorrow    
roll up2 but ,yesterday and ,tomorrow   
both are4 ,pierce through the           
,time-element1 glance into the ,eternal4
 ,believe what thou findest written in  
the sanctuaries of ,man's ,soul1 even as
 all ,thinkers1 in all ages1 have       
devoutly read it there3 that ,time and  
,space are not ,god1 but creations of   
,god3 that with ,god as it is a         
universal ,,here1 so is it an           

everlasting ,,now4  ',and seest thou    
therein any glimpse of                  
,,immortality8--,o ,heaven6 ,is the     
white ,tomb of our ,loved ,one1 who died
 from our arms1 and had to be left      
behind us there1 which rises in the     
distance1 like a pale1 mournfully       
receding ,milestone1 to tell how many   
toilsome uncheered miles we have        
journeyed on alone1--but a pale spectral
 ,illusion6 ,is the lost ,friend still  
mysteriously ,here1 even as we are ,here
 mysteriously1 with ,god6--,know of a   
truth that only the ,time-shadows have  
perished1 or are perishable2 that the   
real ,being of whatever was1 and        
whatever is1 and whatever will be1 is   
even now and forever4 ,this1 should it  
unhappily seem new1 thou mayest ponder  
at thy leisure2 for the next twenty     
years1 or the next twenty centuries3    
believe it thou must2 understand it thou
 canst not4  ',that the ,thought-forms1 
,space and ,time1 wherein1 once for all1
 we are sent into this ,earth to live1  

should condition and determine our whole
 ,practical reasonings1 conceptions1 and
 imagines or imaginings1--seems         
altogether fit1 just1 and unavoidable4  
,but that they should1 furthermore1     
usurp such sway over pure spiritual     
,meditation1 and blind us to the wonder 
everywhere lying close on us1 seems     
nowise so4 ,admit ,space and ,time to   
their due rank as ,forms of ,thought2   
nay even1 if thou wilt1 to their quite  
undue rank of ,realities3 and consider1 
then1 with thyself how their thin       
disguises hide from us the brightest    
,god-effulgences6 ,thus1 were it not    
miraculous1 could ,i stretch forth my   
hand and clutch the ,sun8 ,yet thou     
seest me daily stretch forth my hand and
 therewith clutch many a thing1 and     
swing it hither and thither4 ,art thou a
 grown baby1 then1 to fancy that the    
,miracle lies in miles of distance1 or  
in pounds avoirdupois of weight2 and not
 to see that the true inexplicable      
,god-revealing ,miracle lies in this1   

that ,i can stretch forth my hand at    
all2 that ,i have free ,force to clutch 
aught therewith8 ,innumerable other of  
this sort are the deceptions1 and       
wonder-hiding stupefactions1 which      
,space practises on us4  ',still worse  
is it with regard to ,time4 ,your grand 
anti-magician1 and universal            
wonder-hider1 is this same lying ,time4 
,had we but the ,time-annihilating ,hat1
 to put on for once only1 we should see 
ourselves in a ,world of ,miracles1     
wherein all fabled or authentic         
,thaumaturgy1 and feats of ,magic1 were 
outdone4 ,but unhappily we have not such
 a ,hat2 and man1 poor fool that he is1 
can seldom and scantily help himself    
without one4  ',were it not wonderful1  
for instance1 had ,orpheus1 or ,amphion1
 built the walls of ,thebes by the mere 
sound of his ,lyre8 ,yet tell me1 ,who  
built these walls of ,weissnichtwo2     
summoning-out all the sandstone rocks1  
to dance along from the ,steinbruch 7now
 a huge ,troglodyte ,chasm1 with        

frightful green-mantled pools72 and     
shape themselves into ,doric and ,ionic 
pillars1 squared ashlar houses and noble
 streets8 ,was it not the still higher  
,orpheus1 or ,orpheuses1 who1 in past   
centuries1 by the divine ,music of      
,wisdom1 succeeded in civilising ,man8  
,our highest ,orpheus walked in ,judea1 
eighteen hundred years ago3 his         
sphere-melody1 flowing in wild native   
tones1 took captive the ravished souls  
of men2 and1 being of a truth           
sphere-melody1 still flows and sounds1  
though now with thousandfold            
accompaniments1 and rich symphonies1    
through all our hearts2 and modulates1  
and divinely leads them4 ,is that a     
wonder1 which happens in two hours2 and 
does it cease to be wonderful if        
happening in two million8 ,not only was 
,thebes built by the music of an        
,orpheus2 but without the music of some 
inspired ,orpheus was no city ever      
built1 no work that man glories-in ever 
done4  ',sweep away the ,illusion of    

,time2 glance1 if thou hast eyes1 from  
the near moving-cause to its far-distant
 ,mover3 ,the stroke that came          
transmitted through a whole galaxy of   
elastic balls1 was it less a stroke than
 if the last ball only had been struck1 
and sent flying8 ,o1 could ,i 7with the 
,time-annihilating ,hat7 transport thee 
direct from the ,beginnings to the      
,endings1 how were thy eyesight         
unsealed1 and thy heart set flaming in  
the ,light-sea of celestial wonder6     
,then sawest thou that this fair        
,universe1 were it in the meanest       
province thereof1 is in very deed the   
star-domed ,city of ,god2 that through  
every star1 through every grass-blade1  
and most through every ,living ,soul1   
the glory of a present ,god still beams4
 ,but ,nature1 which is the             
,time-vesture of ,god1 and reveals ,him 
to the wise1 hides ,him from the        
foolish4  ',again1 could anything be    
more miraculous than an actual authentic
 ,ghost8 ,the ,english ,johnson longed1 

all his life1 to see one2 but could not1
 though he went to ,cock ,lane1 and     
thence to the church-vaults1 and tapped 
on coffins4 ,foolish ,doctor6 ,did he   
never1 with the mind's eye as well as   
with the body's1 look round him into    
that full tide of human ,life he so     
loved2 did he never so much as look into
 ,himself8 ,the good ,doctor was a      
,ghost1 as actual and authentic as heart
 could wish2 well-nigh a million of     
,ghosts were travelling the streets by  
his side4 ,once more ,i say1 sweep away 
the illusion of ,time2 compress the     
threescore years into three minutes3    
what else was he1 what else are we8 ,are
 we not ,spirits1 that are shaped into a
 body1 into an ,appearance2 and that    
fade-away again into air and            
,invisibility8 ,this is no metaphor1 it 
is a simple scientific fact3 we start   
out of ,nothingness1 take figure1 and   
are ,apparitions2 round us1 as round the
 veriest spectre1 is ,eternity2 and to  
,eternity minutes are as years and ons4 

,come there not tones of ,love and      
,faith1 as from celestial harp-strings1 
like the ,song of beautified ,souls8    
,and again1 do not we squeak and jibber 
7in our discordant1 screech-owlish      
debatings and recriminatings72 and glide
 bodeful1 and feeble1 and fearful2 or   
uproar 7poltern71 and revel in our mad  
,dance of the ,dead1--till the scent of 
the morning air summons us to our still 
,home2 and dreamy ,night becomes awake  
and ,day8 ,where now is ,alexander of   
,macedon3 does the steel ,host1 that    
yelled in fierce battle-shouts at ,issus
 and ,arbela1 remain behind him2 or have
 they all vanished utterly1 even as     
perturbed ,goblins must8 ,napoleon too1 
and his ,moscow ,retreats and           
,austerlitz ,campaigns6 ,was it all     
other than the veriest ,spectre-hunt2   
which has now1 with its howling tumult  
that made ,night hideous1 flitted       
away8--,ghosts6 ,there are nigh a       
thousand-million walking the ,earth     
openly at noontide2 some half-hundred   

have vanished from it1 some half-hundred
 have arisen in it1 ere thy watch ticks 
once4  ',o ,heaven1 it is mysterious1 it
 is awful to consider that we not only  
carry each a future ,ghost within him2  
but are1 in very deed1 ,ghosts6 ,these  
,limbs1 whence had we them2 this stormy 
,force2 this life-blood with its burning
 ,passion8 ,they are dust and shadow2 a 
,shadow-system gathered round our ,,me2 
wherein1 through some moments or years1 
the ,divine ,essence is to be revealed  
in the ,flesh4 ,that warrior on his     
strong war-horse1 fire flashes through  
his eyes2 force dwells in his arm and   
heart3 but warrior and war-horse are a  
vision2 a revealed ,force1 nothing more4
 ,stately they tread the ,earth1 as if  
it were a firm substance3 fool6 the     
earth is but a film2 it cracks in twain1
 and warrior and war-horse sink beyond  
plummet's sounding4 ,plummet's8 ,fantasy
 herself will not follow them4 ,a little
 while ago1 they were not2 a little     
while1 and they are not1 their very     

ashes are not4  ',so has it been from   
the beginning1 so will it be to the end4
 ,generation after generation takes to  
itself the ,form of a ,body2 and        
forth-issuing from ,cimmerian ,night1 on
 ,heaven's mission ,,appears4 ,what     
,force and ,fire is in each he expends3 
one grinding in the mill of ,industry2  
one hunter-like climbing the giddy      
,alpine heights of ,science2 one madly  
dashed in pieces on the rocks of        
,strife1 in war with his fellow3--and   
then the ,heaven-sent is recalled2 his  
earthly ,vesture falls away1 and soon   
even to ,sense becomes a vanished       
,shadow4 ,thus1 like some wild-flaming1 
wild-thundering train of ,heaven's      
,artillery1 does this mysterious        
,,mankind thunder and flame1 in         
long-drawn1 quick-succeeding grandeur1  
through the unknown ,deep4 ,thus1 like a
 ,god-created1 fire-breathing           
,spirit-host1 we emerge from the ,inane2
 haste stormfully across the astonished 
,earth2 then plunge again into the      

,inane4 ,earth's mountains are levelled1
 and her seas filled up1 in our passage3
 can the ,earth1 which is but dead and a
 vision1 resist ,spirits which have     
reality and are alive8 ,on the hardest  
adamant some footprint of us is         
stamped-in2 the last ,rear of the host  
will read traces of the earliest ,van4  
,but whence8--,o ,heaven1 whither8      
,sense knows not2 ,faith knows not2 only
 that it is through ,mystery to         
,mystery1 from ,god and to ,god4        
,we are such stuff   ,as ,dreams are    
made of1 and our little ,life   ,is     
rounded with a sleep6'     ,,chapter    
,,ix  ,,circumspective   ,here1 then1   
arises the so momentous question3 ,have 
many ,british ,readers actually arrived 
with us at the new promised country2 is 
the ,philosophy of ,clothes now at last 
opening around them8 ,long and          
adventurous has the journey been3 from  
those outmost vulgar1 palpable          
,woollen-,hulls of ,man2 through his    
wondrous ,flesh-,garments1 and his      

wondrous ,social ,garnitures2 inwards to
 the ,garments of his very ,soul's      
,soul1 to ,time and ,space themselves6  
,and now does the ,spiritual1 eternal   
,essence of ,man1 and of ,mankind1 bared
 of such wrappages1 begin in any measure
 to reveal itself8 ,can many readers    
discern1 as through a glass darkly1 in  
huge wavering outlines1 some primeval   
rudiments of ,man's ,being1 what is     
changeable divided from what is         
unchangeable8 ,does that                
,earth-,spirit's speech in ,faust1--    
'',tis thus at the roaring ,loom of     
,time ,i ply1   ,and weave for ,god the 
,garment thou see'st ,him by'2  or that 
other thousand-times repeated speech of 
the ,magician1 ,shakspeare1--    ',and  
like the baseless fabric of this vision1
   ,the cloudcapt ,towers1 the gorgeous 
,palaces1   ,the solemn ,temples1 the   
great ,globe itself1   ,and all which it
 inherit1 shall dissolve2   ,and like   
this unsubstantial pageant faded1       
,leave not a wrack behind'2  begin to   

have some meaning for us8 ,in a word1 do
 we at length stand safe in the far     
region of ,poetic ,creation and         
,palingenesia1 where that ,phoenix      
,death-,birth of ,human ,society1 and of
 all ,human ,things1 appears possible1  
is seen to be inevitable8  ,along this  
most insufficient1 unheard-of ,bridge1  
which the ,editor1 by ,heaven's         
blessing1 has now seen himself enabled  
to conclude if not complete1 it cannot  
be his sober calculation1 but only his  
fond hope1 that many have travelled     
without accident4 ,no firm arch1        
overspanning the ,impassable with paved 
highway1 could the ,editor construct2   
only1 as was said1 some zigzag series of
 rafts floating tumultuously thereon4   
,alas1 and the leaps from raft to raft  
were too often of a breakneck character2
 the darkness1 the nature of the        
element1 all was against us6            
,nevertheless1 may not here and there   
one of a thousand1 provided with a      
discursiveness of intellect rare in our 

day1 have cleared the passage1 in spite 
of all8 ,happy few6 little band of      
,friends6 be welcome1 be of courage4 ,by
 degrees1 the eye grows accustomed to   
its new ,whereabout2 the hand can       
stretch itself forth to work there3 it  
is in this grand and indeed highest work
 of ,palingenesia that ye shall labour1 
each according to ability4 ,new         
labourers will arrive2 new ,bridges will
 be built2 nay1 may not our own poor    
rope-and-raft ,bridge1 in your passings 
and repassings1 be mended in many a     
point1 till it grow quite firm1 passable
 even for the halt8  ,meanwhile1 of the 
innumerable multitude that started with 
us1 joyous and full of hope1 where now  
is the innumerable remainder1 whom we   
see no longer by our side8 ,the most    
have recoiled1 and stand gazing afar    
off1 in unsympathetic astonishment1 at  
our career3 not a few1 pressing forward 
with more courage1 have missed footing1 
or leaped short2 and now swim weltering 
in the ,chaos-flood1 some towards this  

shore1 some towards that4 ,to these also
 a helping hand should be held out2 at  
least some word of encouragement be     
said4  ,or1 to speak without metaphor1  
with which mode of utterance            
,teufelsdrckh unhappily has somewhat    
infected us1--can it be hidden from the 
,editor that many a ,british ,reader    
sits reading quite bewildered in head1  
and afflicted rather than instructed by 
the present ,work8 ,yes1 long ago has   
many a ,british ,reader been1 as now1   
demanding with something like a snarl3  
,whereto does all this lead2 or what use
 is in it8  ,in the way of replenishing 
thy purse1 or otherwise aiding thy      
digestive faculty1 ,o ,british ,reader1 
it leads to nothing1 and there is no use
 in it2 but rather the reverse1 for it  
costs thee somewhat4 ,nevertheless1 if  
through this unpromising ,horn-gate1    
,teufelsdrckh1 and we by means of him1  
have led thee into the true ,land of    
,dreams2 and through the                
,clothes-screen1 as through a magical   

,pierre-,pertuis1 thou lookest1 even for
 moments1 into the region of the        
,wonderful1 and seest and feelest that  
thy daily life is girt with ,wonder1 and
 based on ,wonder1 and thy very blankets
 and breeches are ,miracles1--then art  
thou profited beyond money's worth2 and 
hast a thankfulness towards our         
,professor2 nay1 perhaps in many a      
literary ,tea-circle wilt open thy kind 
lips1 and audibly express that same4    
,nay farther1 art not thou too perhaps  
by this time made aware that all        
,symbols are properly ,clothes2 that all
 ,forms whereby ,spirit manifests itself
 to sense1 whether outwardly or in the  
imagination1 are ,clothes2 and thus not 
only the parchment ,magna ,charta1 which
 a ,tailor was nigh cutting into        
measures1 but the ,pomp and ,authority  
of ,law1 the sacredness of ,majesty1 and
 all inferior ,worships 7,worthships7   
are properly a ,vesture and ,raiment2   
and the ,thirty-nine ,articles          
themselves are articles of              

wearing-apparel 7for the ,religious     
,idea78 ,in which case1 must it not also
 be admitted that this ,science of      
,clothes is a high one1 and may with    
infinitely deeper study on thy part     
yield richer fruit3 that it takes       
scientific rank beside ,codification1   
and ,political ,economy1 and the ,theory
 of the ,british ,constitution2 nay     
rather1 from its prophetic height looks 
down on all these1 as on so many        
weaving-shops and spinning-mills1 where 
the ,vestures which it has to fashion1  
and consecrate and distribute1 are1 too 
often by haggard hungry operatives who  
see no farther than their nose1         
mechanically woven and spun8  ,but      
omitting all this1 much more all that   
concerns ,natural ,supernaturalism1 and 
indeed whatever has reference to the    
,ulterior or ,transcendental portion of 
the ,science1 or bears never so remotely
 on that promised ,volume of the        
,palingenesie der menschlichen          
,gesellschaft 7,newbirth of             

,society71--we humbly suggest that no   
province of ,clothes-,philosophy1 even  
the lowest1 is without its direct value1
 but that innumerable inferences of a   
practical nature may be drawn therefrom4
 ,to say nothing of those pregnant      
considerations1 ethical1 political1     
symbolical1 which crowd on the          
,clothes-,philosopher from the very     
threshold of his ,science2 nothing even 
of those 'architectural ideas1' which1  
as we have seen1 lurk at the bottom of  
all ,modes1 and will one day1 better    
unfolding themselves1 lead to important 
revolutions1--let us glance for a       
moment1 and with the faintest light of  
,clothes-,philosophy1 on what may be    
called the ,habilatory ,class of our    
fellow-men4 ,here too overlooking1 where
 so much were to be looked on1 the      
million spinners1 weavers1 fullers1     
dyers1 washers1 and wringers1 that      
puddle and muddle in their dark         
recesses1 to make us ,clothes1 and die  
that we may live1--let us but turn the  

reader's attention upon two small       
divisions of mankind1 who1 like moths1  
may be regarded as ,cloth-animals1      
creatures that live1 move and have their
 being in ,cloth3 we mean1 ,dandies and 
,tailors4  ,in regard to both which     
small divisions it may be asserted      
without scruple1 that the public        
feeling1 unenlightened by ,philosophy1  
is at fault2 and even that the dictates 
of humanity are violated4 ,as will      
perhaps abundantly appear to readers of 
the two following chapters4             
,,chapter ,x  ,,the ,,dandiacal ,,body  
,first1 touching ,dandies1 let us       
consider1 with some scientific          
strictness1 what a ,dandy specially is4 
,a ,dandy is a ,clothes-wearing ,man1 a 
,man whose trade1 office and existence  
consists in the wearing of ,clothes4    
,every faculty of his soul1 spirit1     
purse and person is heroically          
consecrated to this one object1 the     
wearing of ,clothes wisely and well3 so 
that as others dress to live1 he lives  

to dress4 ,the all-importance of        
,clothes1 which a ,german ,professor of 
unequalled learning and acumen1 writes  
his enormous ,volume to demonstrate1 has
 sprung up in the intellect of the      
,dandy without effort1 like an instinct 
of genius2 he is inspired with ,cloth1 a
 ,poet of ,cloth4 ,what ,teufelsdrckh   
would call a ',divine ,idea of ,cloth'  
is born with him2 and this1 like other  
such ,ideas1 will express itself        
outwardly1 or wring his heart asunder   
with unutterable throes4  ,but1 like a  
generous1 creative enthusiast1 he       
fearlessly makes his ,idea an ,action2  
shows himself in peculiar guise to      
mankind2 walks forth1 a witness and     
living ,martyr to the eternal worth of  
,clothes4 ,we called him a ,poet3 is not
 his body the 7stuffed7 parchment-skin  
whereon he writes1 with cunning         
,huddersfield dyes1 a ,sonnet to his    
mistress' eyebrow8 ,say1 rather1 an     
,epos1 and ,clotha ,virumque cano1 to   
the whole world1 in ,macaronic verses1  

which he that runs may read4 ,nay1 if   
you grant1 what seems to be admissible1 
that the ,dandy has a                   
,thinking-principle in him1 and some    
notions of ,time and ,space1 is there   
not in this ,life-devotedness to ,cloth1
 in this so willing sacrifice of the    
,immortal to the ,perishable1 something 
7though in reverse order7 of that       
blending and identification of ,eternity
 with ,time1 which1 as we have seen1    
constitutes the ,prophetic character8   
,and now1 for all this perennial        
,martyrdom1 and ,poesy1 and even        
,prophecy1 what is it that the ,dandy   
asks in return8 ,solely1 we may say1    
that you would recognise his existence2 
would admit him to be a living object2  
or even failing this1 a visual object1  
or thing that will reflect rays of      
light4 ,your silver or your gold 7beyond
 what the niggardly ,law has already    
secured him7 he solicits not2 simply the
 glance of your eyes4 ,understand his   
mystic significance1 or altogether miss 

and misinterpret it2 do but look at him1
 and he is contented4 ,may we not well  
cry shame on an ungrateful world1 which 
refuses even this poor boon2 which will 
waste its optic faculty on dried        
,crocodiles1 and ,siamese ,twins2 and   
over the domestic wonderful wonder of   
wonders1 a live ,dandy1 glance with     
hasty indifference1 and a scarcely      
concealed contempt6 ,him no ,zoologist  
classes among the ,mammalia1 no         
,anatomist dissects with care3 when did 
we see any injected ,preparation of the 
,dandy in our ,museums2 any specimen of 
him preserved in spirits8 ,lord         
,herringbone may dress himself in a     
snuff-brown suit1 with snuff-brown shirt
 and shoes3 it skills not2 the          
undiscerning public1 occupied with      
grosser wants1 passes by regardless on  
the other side4  ,the age of ,curiosity1
 like that of ,chivalry1 is indeed1     
properly speaking1 gone4 ,yet perhaps   
only gone to sleep3 for here arises the 
,clothes-,philosophy to resuscitate1    

strangely enough1 both the one and the  
other6 ,should sound views of this      
,science come to prevail1 the essential 
nature of the ,british ,dandy1 and the  
mystic significance that lies in him1   
cannot always remain hidden under       
laughable and lamentable hallucination4 
,the following long ,extract from       
,professor ,teufelsdrckh may set the    
matter1 if not in its true light1 yet in
 the way towards such4 ,it is to be     
regretted1 however1 that here1 as so    
often elsewhere1 the ,professor's keen  
philosophic perspicacity is somewhat    
marred by a certain mixture of almost   
owlish purblindness1 or else of some    
perverse1 ineffectual1 ironic tendency2 
our readers shall judge which3          
99       99       99       99       99  
',in these distracted times1' writes he1
 'when the ,religious ,principle1       
driven-out of most ,churches1 either    
lies unseen in the hearts of good men1  
looking and longing and silently working
 there towards some new ,revelation2 or 

else wanders homeless over the world1   
like a disembodied soul seeking its     
terrestrial organisation1--into how many
 strange shapes1 of ,superstition and   
,fanaticism1 does it not tentatively and
 errantly cast itself6 ,the higher      
,enthusiasm of man's nature is for the  
while without ,exponent2 yet does it    
continue indestructible1 unweariedly    
active1 and work blindly in the great   
chaotic deep3 thus ,sect after ,sect1   
and ,church after ,church1 bodies itself
 forth1 and melts again into new        
metamorphosis4  ',chiefly is this       
observable in ,england1 which1 as the   
wealthiest and worst-instructed of      
,european nations1 offers precisely the 
elements 7of ,heat1 namely1 and of      
,darkness71 in which such moon-calves   
and monstrosities are best generated4   
,among the newer ,sects of that country1
 one of the most notable1 and closely   
connected with our present subject1 is  
that of the ,dandies2 concerning which1 
what little information ,i have been    

able to procure may fitly stand here4   
',it is true1 certain of the ,english   
,journalists1 men generally without     
sense for the ,religious ,principle1 or 
judgment for its manifestations1 speak1 
in their brief enigmatic notices1 as if 
this were perhaps rather a ,secular     
,sect1 and not a ,religious one2        
nevertheless1 to the psychologic eye its
 devotional and even sacrificial        
character plainly enough reveals itself4
 ,whether it belongs to the class of    
,fetish-worships1 or of ,hero-worships  
or ,polytheisms1 or to what other class1
 may in the present state of our        
intelligence remain undecided           
7schweben74 ,a certain touch of         
,manicheism1 not indeed in the ,gnostic 
shape1 is discernible enough3 also 7for 
human ,error walks in a cycle1 and      
reappears at intervals7 a               
not-inconsiderable resemblance to that  
,superstition of the ,athos ,monks1 who 
by fasting from all nourishment1 and    
looking intensely for a length of time  

into their own navels1 came to discern  
therein the true ,apocalypse of ,nature1
 and ,heaven ,unveiled4 ,to my own      
surmise1 it appears as if this          
,dandiacal ,sect were but a new         
modification1 adapted to the new time1  
of that primeval ,superstition1         
,self-worship2 which ,zerdusht1         
,quangfoutchee1 ,mohamed1 and others1   
strove rather to subordinate and        
restrain than to eradicate2 and which   
only in the purer forms of ,religion has
 been altogether rejected4 ,wherefore1  
if any one chooses to name it revived   
,ahrimanism1 or a new figure of         
,demon-,worship1 ,i have1 so far as is  
yet visible1 no objection4  ',for the   
rest1 these people1 animated with the   
zeal of a new ,sect1 display courage and
 perseverance1 and what force there is  
in man's nature1 though never so        
enslaved4 ,they affect great purity and 
separatism2 distinguish themselves by a 
particular costume 7whereof some notices
 were given in the earlier part of this 

,volume72 likewise1 so far as possible1 
by a particular speech 7apparently some 
broken ,lingua-franca1 or               
,english-,french72 and1 on the whole1   
strive to maintain a true ,nazarene     
deportment1 and keep themselves         
unspotted from the world4  ',they have  
their ,temples1 whereof the chief1 as   
the ,jewish ,temple did1 stands in their
 metropolis2 and is named ,almack's1 a  
word of uncertain etymology4 ,they      
worship principally by night2 and have  
their ,highpriests and ,highpriestesses1
 who1 however1 do not continue for life4
 ,the rites1 by some supposed to be of  
the ,menadic sort1 or perhaps with an   
,eleusinian or ,cabiric character1 are  
held strictly secret4 ,nor are ,sacred  
,books wanting to the ,sect2 these they 
call ,fashionable ,novels3 however1 the 
,canon is not completed1 and some are   
canonical and others not4  ',of such    
,sacred ,books ,i1 not without expense1 
procured myself some samples2 and in    
hope of true insight1 and with the zeal 

which beseems an ,inquirer into         
,clothes1 set to interpret and study    
them4 ,but wholly to no purpose3 that   
tough faculty of reading1 for which the 
world will not refuse me credit1 was    
here for the first time foiled and set  
at naught4 ,in vain that ,i summoned my 
whole energies 7mich weidlich           
anstrengte71 and did my very utmost2 at 
the end of some short space1 ,i was     
uniformly seized with not so much what  
,i can call a drumming in my ears1 as a 
kind of infinite1 unsufferable1         
,jews-harping and scrannel-piping there2
 to which the frightfullest species of  
,magnetic ,sleep soon supervened4 ,and  
if ,i strove to shake this away1 and    
absolutely would not yield1 there came a
 hitherto unfelt sensation1 as of       
,delirium ,tremens1 and a melting into  
total deliquium3 till at last1 by order 
of the ,doctor1 dreading ruin to my     
whole intellectual and bodily faculties1
 and a general breaking-up of the       
constitution1 ,i reluctantly but        

determinedly forbore4 ,was there some   
miracle at work here2 like those        
,fire-balls1 and supernal and infernal  
prodigies1 which1 in the case of the    
,jewish ,mysteries1 have also more than 
once scared-back the ,alien8 ,be this as
 it may1 such failure on my part1 after 
best efforts1 must excuse the           
imperfection of this sketch2 altogether 
incomplete1 yet the completest ,i could 
give of a ,sect too singular to be      
omitted4  ',loving my own life and      
senses as ,i do1 no power shall induce  
me1 as a private individual1 to open    
another ,fashionable ,novel4 ,but       
luckily1 in this dilemma1 comes a hand  
from the clouds2 whereby if not victory1
 deliverance is held out to me4 ,round  
one of those ,book-packages1 which the  
,stillschweigen'sche ,buchhandlung is in
 the habit of importing from ,england1  
come1 as is usual1 various waste        
printed-sheets 7,maculatur bltter71 by  
way of interior wrappage3 into these the
 ,clothes-,philosopher1 with a certain  

,mohamedan reverence even for           
waste-paper1 where curious knowledge    
will sometimes hover1 disdains not to   
cast his eye4 ,readers may judge of his 
astonishment when on such a defaced     
stray-sheet1 probably the outcast       
fraction of some ,english ,periodical1  
such as they name ,magazine1 appears    
something like a ,dissertation on this  
very subject of ,fashionable ,novels6   
,it sets out1 indeed1 chiefly from a    
,secular point of view2 directing       
itself1 not without asperity1 against   
some to me unknown individual named     
,pelham1 who seems to be a ,mystagogue1 
and leading ,teacher and ,preacher of   
the ,sect2 so that1 what indeed         
otherwise was not to be expected in such
 a fugitive fragmentary sheet1 the true 
secret1 the ,religious physiognomy and  
physiology of the ,dandiacal ,body1 is  
nowise laid fully open there4           
,nevertheless1 scattered lights do from 
time to time sparkle out1 whereby ,i    
have endeavoured to profit4 ,nay1 in one

 passage selected from the ,prophecies1 
or ,mythic ,theogonies1 or whatever they
 are 7for the style seems very mixed7 of
 this ,mystagogue1 ,i find what appears 
to be a ,confession of ,faith1 or ,whole
 ,duty of ,man1 according to the tenets 
of that ,sect4 ,which ,confession or    
,whole ,duty1 therefore1 as proceeding  
from a source so authentic1 ,i shall    
here arrange under ,seven distinct      
,articles1 and in very abridged shape   
lay before the ,german world2 therewith 
taking leave of this matter4 ,observe   
also1 that to avoid possibility of      
error1 ,i1 as far as may be1 quote      
literally from the ,original3           
',,articles ,,of ,,faith4  '#a4 ,coats  
should have nothing of the triangle     
about them2 at the same time1 wrinkles  
behind should be carefully avoided4     
'#b4 ,the collar is a very important    
point3 it should be low behind1 and     
slightly rolled4  '#c4 ,no license of   
fashion can allow a man of delicate     
taste to adopt the posterial luxuriance 

of a ,hottentot4  '#d4 ,there is safety 
in a swallow-tail4  '#e4 ,the good sense
 of a gentleman is nowhere more finely  
developed than in his rings4  '#f4 ,it  
is permitted to mankind1 under certain  
restrictions1 to wear white waistcoats4 
'#g4 ,the trousers must be exceedingly  
tight across the hips4  ',all which     
,propositions ,i1 for the present1      
content myself with modestly but        
peremptorily and irrevocably denying4   
',in strange contrast with this         
,dandiacal ,body stands another ,british
 ,sect1 originally1 as ,i understand1 of
 ,ireland1 where its chief seat still   
is2 but known also in the main ,island1 
and indeed everywhere rapidly spreading4
 ,as this ,sect has hitherto emitted no 
,canonical ,books1 it remains to me in  
the same state of obscurity as the      
,dandiacal1 which has published ,books  
that the unassisted human faculties are 
inadequate to read4 ,the members appear 
to be designated by a considerable      
diversity of names1 according to their  

various places of establishment3 in     
,england they are generally called the  
,drudge ,sect2 also1 unphilosophically  
enough1 the ,white ,negroes2 and1       
chiefly in scorn by those of other      
communions1 the ,ragged-,beggar ,sect4  
,in ,scotland1 again1 ,i find them      
entitled ,hallanshakers1 or the ,stook  
of ,duds ,sect2 any individual          
communicant is named ,stook of ,duds    
7that is1 ,shock of ,rags71 in allusion1
 doubtless1 to their professional       
,costume4 ,while in ,ireland1 which1 as 
mentioned1 is their grand parent hive1  
they go by a perplexing multiplicity of 
designations1 such as ,bogtrotters1     
,redshanks1 ,ribbonmen1 ,cottiers1      
,peep-of-,day ,boys1 ,babes of the      
,wood1 ,rockites1 ,poor-,slaves2 which  
last1 however1 seems to be the primary  
and generic name2 whereto1 probably     
enough1 the others are only subsidiary  
species1 or slight varieties2 or1 at    
most1 propagated offsets from the parent
 stem1 whose minute subdivisions1 and   

shades of difference1 it were here loss 
of time to dwell on4 ,enough for us to  
understand1 what seems indubitable1 that
 the original ,sect is that of the      
,poor-,slaves2 whose doctrines1         
practices1 and fundamental              
characteristics pervade and animate the 
whole ,body1 howsoever denominated or   
outwardly diversified4  ',the precise   
speculative tenets of this ,brotherhood3
 how the ,universe1 and ,man1 and ,man's
 ,life1 picture themselves to the mind  
of an ,irish ,poor-,slave2 with what    
feelings and opinions he looks forward  
on the ,future1 round on the ,present1  
back on the ,past1 it were extremely    
difficult to specify4 ,something        
,monastic there appears to be in their  
,constitution3 we find them bound by the
 two ,monastic ,vows1 of ,poverty and   
,obedience2 which ,vows1 especially the 
former1 it is said1 they observe with   
great strictness2 nay1 as ,i have       
understood it1 they are pledged1 and be 
it by any solemn ,nazarene ordination or

 not1 irrevocably consecrated thereto1  
even before birth4 ,that the third      
,monastic ,vow1 of ,chastity1 is rigidly
 enforced among them1 ,i find no ground 
to conjecture4  ',furthermore1 they     
appear to imitate the ,dandiacal ,sect  
in their grand principle of wearing a   
peculiar ,costume4 ,of which ,irish     
,poor-,slave ,costume no description    
will indeed be found in the present     
,volume2 for this reason1 that by the   
imperfect organ of ,language it did not 
seem describable4 ,their raiment        
consists of innumerable skirts1 lappets 
and irregular wings1 of all cloths and  
of all colours2 through the labyrinthic 
intricacies of which their bodies are   
introduced by some unknown process4 ,it 
is fastened together by a multiplex     
combination of buttons1 thrums and      
skewers2 to which frequently is added a 
girdle of leather1 of hempen or even of 
straw rope1 round the loins4 ,to straw  
rope1 indeed1 they seem partial1 and    
often wear it by way of sandals4 ,in    

head-dress they affect a certain        
freedom3 hats with partial brim1 without
 crown1 or with only a loose1 hinged1 or
 valve crown2 in the former case1 they  
sometimes invert the hat1 and wear it   
brim uppermost1 like a ,university-cap1 
with what view is unknown4  ',the name  
,poor-,slaves seems to indicate a       
,slavonic1 ,polish1 or ,russian origin3 
not so1 however1 the interior essence   
and spirit of their ,superstition1 which
 rather displays a ,teutonic or         
,druidical character4 ,one might fancy  
them worshippers of ,hertha1 or the     
,earth3 for they dig and affectionately 
work continually in her bosom2 or else1 
shut-up in private ,oratories1 meditate 
and manipulate the substances derived   
from her2 seldom looking-up towards the 
,heavenly ,luminaries1 and then with    
comparative indifference4 ,like the     
,druids1 on the other hand1 they live in
 dark dwellings2 often even breaking    
their glass-windows1 where they find    
such1 and stuffing them up with pieces  

of raiment1 or other opaque substances1 
till the fit obscurity is restored4     
,again1 like all followers of           
,nature-,worship1 they are liable to    
outbreakings of an enthusiasm rising to 
ferocity2 and burn men1 if not in wicker
 idols1 yet in sod cottages4  ',in      
respect of diet1 they have also their   
observances4 ,all ,poor-,slaves are     
,rhizophagous 7or ,root-eaters72 a few  
are ,ichthyophagous1 and use ,salted    
,herrings3 other animal food they       
abstain from2 except indeed1 with       
perhaps some strange inverted fragment  
of a ,brahminical feeling1 such animals 
as die a natural death4 ,their universal
 sustenance is the root named ,potato1  
cooked by fire alone2 and generally     
without condiment or relish of any kind1
 save an unknown condiment named ,point1
 into the meaning of which ,i have      
vainly inquired2 the victual            
,potatoes-and-,point not appearing1 at  
least not with specific accuracy of     
description1 in any ,european           

,cookery-,book whatever4 ,for drink1    
they use1 with an almost epigrammatic   
counterpoise of taste1 ,milk1 which is  
the mildest of liquors1 and ,potheen1   
which is the fiercest4 ,this latter ,i  
have tasted1 as well as the ,english    
,blue-,ruin1 and the ,scotch ,whisky1   
analogous fluids used by the ,sect in   
those countries3 it evidently contains  
some form of alcohol1 in the highest    
state of concentration1 though disguised
 with acrid oils2 and is1 on the whole1 
the most pungent substance known to     
me1--indeed1 a perfect liquid fire4 ,in 
all their ,religious ,solemnities1      
,potheen is said to be an indispensable 
requisite1 and largely consumed4  ',an  
,irish ,traveller1 of perhaps common    
veracity1 who presents himself under the
 to me unmeaning title of ,the late     
,john ,bernard1 offers the following    
sketch of a domestic establishment1 the 
inmates whereof1 though such is not     
stated expressly1 appear to have been of
 that ,faith4 ,thereby shall my ,german 

readers now behold an ,irish            
,poor-,slave1 as it were with their own 
eyes2 and even see him at meat4         
,moreover1 in the so-precious           
waste-paper sheet above mentioned1 ,i   
have found some corresponding picture of
 a ,dandiacal ,household1 painted by    
that same ,dandiacal ,mystagogue1 or    
,theogonist3 this also1 by way of       
counterpart and contrast1 the world     
shall look into4  ',first1 therefore1 of
 the ,poor-,slave1 who appears likewise 
to have been a species of ,innkeeper4 ,i
 quote from the original3   ,poor-,slave
 ,household  ',the furniture of this    
,caravansera consisted of a large iron  
,pot1 two oaken ,tables1 two ,benches1  
two ,chairs1 and a ,potheen ,noggin4    
,there was a ,loft above 7attainable by 
a ladder71 upon which the inmates slept2
 and the space below was divided by a   
hurdle into two ,apartments2 the one for
 their cow and pig1 the other for       
themselves and guests4 ,on entering the 
house we discovered the family1 eleven  

in number1 at dinner3 the father sitting
 at the top1 the mother at the bottom1  
the children on each side1 of a large   
oaken ,board1 which was scooped-out in  
the middle1 like a trough1 to receive   
the contents of their ,pot of ,potatoes4
 ,little holes were cut at equal        
distances to contain ,salt2 and a bowl  
of ,milk stood on the table3 all the    
luxuries of meat and beer1 bread1 knives
 and dishes were dispensed with4 ,the   
,poor-,slave himself our ,traveller     
found1 as he says1 broad-backed1        
black-browed1 of great personal         
strength1 and mouth from ear to ear4    
,his ,wife was a sun-browned but        
well-featured woman2 and his young ones1
 bare and chubby1 had the appetite of   
ravens4 ,of their ,philosophical or     
,religious tenets or observances1 no    
notice or hint4  ',but now1 secondly1 of
 the ,dandiacal ,household2 in which1   
truly1 that often-mentioned ,mystagogue 
and inspired ,penman himself has his    
abode3   ,dandiacal ,household  ',a     

,dressing-room splendidly furnished2    
violet-coloured curtains1 chairs and    
ottomans of the same hue4 ,two          
full-length ,mirrors are placed1 one on 
each side of a table1 which supports the
 luxuries of the ,toilet4 ,several      
,bottles of ,perfumes1 arranged in a    
peculiar fashion1 stand upon a smaller  
table of mother-of-pearl3 opposite to   
these are placed the appurtenances of   
,lavation richly wrought in frosted     
silver4 ,a wardrobe of ,buhl is on the  
left2 the doors of which1 being partly  
open1 discover a profusion of ,clothes2 
,shoes of a singularly small size       
monopolise the lower shelves4 ,fronting 
the wardrobe a door ajar gives some     
slight glimpse of a ,bathroom4          
,folding-doors in the                   
background4--,enter the ,author1 our    
,theogonist in person1 obsequiously     
preceded by a ,french ,valet1 in white  
silk ,jacket and cambric ,apron4        
99       99       99       99       99  
',such are the two ,sects which1 at this

 moment1 divide the more unsettled      
portion of the ,british ,people2 and    
agitate that ever-vexed country4 ,to the
 eye of the political ,seer1 their      
mutual relation1 pregnant with the      
elements of discord and hostility1 is   
far from consoling4 ,these two          
principals of ,dandiacal ,self-worship  
or ,demon-worship1 and ,poor-,slavish or
 ,drudgical ,earth-worship1 or whatever 
that same ,drudgism may be1 do as yet   
indeed manifest themselves under distant
 and nowise considerable shapes3        
nevertheless1 in their roots and        
subterranean ramifications1 they extend 
through the entire structure of         
,society1 and work unweariedly in the   
secret depths of ,english national      
,existence2 striving to separate and    
isolate it into two contradictory1      
uncommunicating masses4  ',in numbers1  
and even individual strength1 the       
,poor-,slaves or ,drudges1 it would     
seem1 are hourly increasing4 ,the       
,dandiacal1 again1 is by nature no      

proselytising ,sect2 but it boasts of   
great hereditary resources1 and is      
strong by union2 whereas the ,drudges1  
split into parties1 have as yet no      
rallying-point2 or at best only         
co-operate by means of partial secret   
affiliations4 ,if1 indeed1 there were to
 arise a ,communion of ,drudges1 as     
there is already a ,communion of        
,saints1 what strangest effects would   
follow therefrom6 ,dandyism as yet      
affects to look-down on ,drudgism3 but  
perhaps the hour of trial1 when it will 
be practically seen which ought to look 
down1 and which up1 is not so distant4  
',to me it seems probable that the two  
,sects will one day part ,england       
between them2 each recruiting itself    
from the intermediate ranks1 till there 
be none left to enlist on either side4  
,those ,dandiacal ,manicheans1 with the 
host of ,dandyising ,christians1 will   
form one body3 the ,drudges1 gathering  
round them whosoever is ,drudgical1 be  
he ,christian or ,infidel ,pagan2       

sweeping-up likewise all manner of      
,utilitarians1 ,radicals1 refractory    
,potwallopers1 and so forth1 into their 
general mass1 will form another4 ,i     
could liken ,dandyism and ,drudgism to  
two bottomless boiling ,whirlpools that 
had broken-out on opposite quarters of  
the firm land3 as yet they appear only  
disquieted1 foolishly bubbling wells1   
which man's art might cover-in2 yet mark
 them1 their diameter is daily widening3
 they are hollow ,cones that boil-up    
from the infinite ,deep1 over which your
 firm land is but a thin crust or rind6 
,thus daily is the intermediate land    
crumbling-in1 daily the empire of the   
two ,buchan-,bullers extending2 till now
 there is but a foot-plank1 a mere film 
of ,land between them2 this too is      
washed away3 and then--we have the true 
,hell of ,waters1 and ,noah's ,deluge is
 outdeluged6  ',or better1 ,i might call
 them two boundless1 and indeed         
unexampled ,electric ,machines 7turned  
by the ,machinery of ,society71 with    

batteries of opposite quality2 ,drudgism
 the ,negative1 ,dandyism the ,positive3
 one attracts hourly towards it and     
appropriates all the ,positive          
,electricity of the nation 7namely1 the 
,money thereof72 the other is equally   
busy with the ,negative 7that is to say 
the ,hunger71 which is equally potent4  
,hitherto you see only partial transient
 sparkles and sputters3 but wait a      
little1 till the entire nation is in an 
electric state2 till your whole vital   
,electricity1 no longer healthfully     
,neutral1 is cut into two isolated      
portions of ,positive and ,negative 7of 
,money and of ,hunger72 and stands there
 bottled-up in two ,world-,batteries6   
,the stirring of a child's finger brings
 the two together2 and then--,what then8
 ,the ,earth is but shivered into       
impalpable smoke by that                
,doom's-thunderpeal2 the ,sun misses one
 of his ,planets in ,space1 and         
thenceforth there are no eclipses of the
 ,moon4--,or better still1 ,i might     

liken'--  ,oh6 enough1 enough of        
likenings and similitudes2 in excess of 
which1 truly1 it is hard to say whether 
,teufelsdrckh or ourselves sin the more4
  ,we have often blamed him for a habit 
of wire-drawing and over-refining2 from 
of old we have been familiar with his   
tendency to ,mysticism and ,religiosity1
 whereby in everything he was still     
scenting-out ,religion3 but never       
perhaps did these amaurosis-suffusions  
so cloud and distort his otherwise most 
piercing vision1 as in this of the      
,dandiacal ,body6 ,or was there         
something of intended satire2 is the    
,professor and ,seer not quite the      
blinkard he affects to be8 ,of an       
ordinary mortal we should have          
decisively answered in the affirmative2 
but with a ,teufelsdrckh there ever     
hovers some shade of doubt4 ,in the mean
 while1 if satire were actually         
intended1 the case is little better4    
,there are not wanting men who will     
answer3 ,does your ,professor take us   

for simpletons8 ,his irony has overshot 
itself2 we see through it1 and perhaps  
through him4     ,,chapter ,,xi         
,,tailors   ,thus1 however1 has our     
first ,practical ,inference from the    
,clothes-,philosophy1 that which        
respects ,dandies1 been sufficiently    
drawn2 and we come now to the second1   
concerning ,tailors4 ,on this latter our
 opinion happily quite coincides with   
that of ,teufelsdrckh himself1 as       
expressed in the concluding page of his 
,volume1 to whom1 therefore1 we         
willingly give place4 ,let him speak his
 own last words1 in his own way3        
99       99       99       99       99  
',upwards of a century1' says he1 'must 
elapse1 and still the bleeding fight of 
,freedom be fought1 whoso is noblest    
perishing in the van1 and thrones be    
hurled on altars like ,pelion on ,ossa1 
and the ,moloch of ,iniquity have his   
victims1 and the ,michael of ,justice   
his martyrs1 before ,tailors can be     
admitted to their true prerogatives of  

manhood1 and this last wound of         
suffering ,humanity be closed4  ',if    
aught in the history of the world's     
blindness could surprise us1 here might 
we indeed pause and wonder4 ,an idea has
 gone abroad1 and fixed itself down into
 a wide-spreading rooted error1 that    
,tailors are a distinct species in      
,physiology1 not ,men1 but fractional   
,parts of a ,man4 ,call any one a       
,schneider 7,cutter1 ,tailor71 is it    
not1 in our dislocated1 hood-winked1 and
 indeed delirious condition of ,society1
 equivalent to defying his perpetual    
fellest enmity8 ,the epithet            
schneider-mssig 7tailor-like7 betokens  
an otherwise unapproachable degree of   
pusillanimity3 we introduce a           
,tailor's-,melancholy1 more opprobrious 
than any ,leprosy1 into our ,books of   
,medicine2 and fable ,i know not what of
 his generating it by living on         
,cabbage4 ,why should ,i speak of ,hans 
,sachs 7himself a ,shoemaker1 or kind of
 ,leather-,tailor71 with his ,schneider 

mit dem ,panier8 ,why of ,shakspeare1 in
 his ,taming of the ,shrew1 and         
elsewhere8 ,does it not stand on record 
that the ,english ,queen ,elizabeth1    
receiving a deputation of ,eighteen     
,tailors1 addressed them with a ,good   
morning1 gentlemen both6 ,did not the   
same virago boast that she had a        
,cavalry ,regiment1 whereof neither     
horse nor man could be injured2 her     
,regiment1 namely1 of ,tailors on       
,mares8 ,thus everywhere is the         
falsehood taken for granted1 and        
acted-on as an indisputable fact4       
',nevertheless1 need ,i put the question
 to any ,physiologist1 whether it is    
disputable or not8 ,seems it not at     
least presumable1 that1 under his       
,clothes1 the ,tailor has bones and     
viscera1 and other muscles than the     
sartorious8 ,which function of manhood  
is the ,tailor not conjectured to       
perform8 ,can he not arrest for debt8   
,is he not in most countries a          
tax-paying animal8  ',to no reader of   

this ,volume can it be doubtful which   
conviction is mine4 ,nay if the fruit of
 these long vigils1 and almost          
preternatural ,inquiries1 is not to     
perish utterly1 the world will have     
approximated towards a higher ,truth2   
and the doctrine1 which ,swift1 with the
 keen forecast of genius1 dimly         
anticipated1 will stand revealed in     
clear light3 that the ,tailor is not    
only a ,man1 but something of a ,creator
 or ,divinity4 ,of ,franklin it was     
said1 that he snatched the ,thunder from
 ,heaven and the ,sceptre from ,kings3  
but which is greater1 ,i would ask1 he  
that lends1 or he that snatches8 ,for1  
looking away from individual cases1 and 
how a ,man is by the ,tailor new-created
 into a ,nobleman1 and clothed not only 
with ,wool but with ,dignity and a      
,mystic ,dominion1--is not the fair     
fabric of ,society itself1 with all its 
royal mantles and pontifical stoles1    
whereby1 from nakedness and             
dismemberment1 we are organised into    

,polities1 into nations1 and a whole    
co-operating ,mankind1 the creation1 as 
has here been often irrefragably        
evinced1 of the ,tailor alone8--,what   
too are all ,poets and moral ,teachers1 
but a species of ,metaphorical ,tailors8
 ,touching which high ,guild the        
greatest living ,guild-brother has      
triumphantly asked us3 ,nay if thou wilt
 have it1 who but the ,poet first made  
,gods for men2 brought them down to us2 
and raised us up to them8  ',and this is
 he1 whom sitting downcast1 on the hard 
basis of his ,shopboard1 the world      
treats with contumely1 as the ninth part
 of a man6 ,look up1 thou much-injured  
one1 look up with the kindling eye of   
hope1 and prophetic bodings of a noble  
better time4 ,too long hast thou sat    
there1 on crossed legs1 wearing thy     
ankle-joints to horn2 like some sacred  
,anchorite1 or ,catholic ,fakir1 doing  
penance1 drawing down ,heaven's richest 
blessings1 for a world that scoffed at  
thee4 ,be of hope6 ,already streaks of  

blue peer through our clouds2 the thick 
gloom of ,ignorance is rolling asunder1 
and it will be ,day4 ,mankind will repay
 with interest their long-accumulated   
debt3 the ,anchorite that was scoffed at
 will be worshipped2 the ,fraction will 
become not an ,integer only1 but a      
,square and ,cube4 ,with astonishment   
the world will recognise that the       
,tailor is its ,hierophant and          
,hierarch1 or even its ,god4  ',as ,i   
stood in the ,mosque of ,st4 ,sophia1   
and looked upon these ,four-and-,twenty 
,tailors1 sewing and embroidering that  
rich ,cloth1 which the ,sultan sends    
yearly for the ,caaba of ,mecca1 ,i     
thought within myself3 ,how many other  
,unholies has your covering ,art made   
holy1 besides this ,arabian ,whinstone6 
',still more touching was it when1      
turning the corner of a lane1 in the    
,scottish ,town of ,edinburgh1 ,i came  
upon a ,signpost1 whereon stood written 
that such and such a one was            
,breeches-,maker to his ,majesty2 and   

stood painted the ,effigies of a ,pair  
of ,leather ,breeches1 and between the  
knees these memorable words1 ,,sic      
,,itur ,,ad ,,astra4 ,was not this the  
martyr prison-speech of a ,tailor       
sighing indeed in bonds1 yet sighing    
towards deliverance1 and prophetically  
appealing to a better day8 ,a day of    
justice1 when the worth of ,breeches    
would be revealed to man1 and the       
,scissors become forever venerable4     
',neither1 perhaps1 may ,i now say1 has 
his appeal been altogether in vain4 ,it 
was in this high moment1 when the soul1 
rent1 as it were1 and shed asunder1 is  
open to inspiring influence1 that ,i    
first conceived this ,work on ,clothes3 
the greatest ,i can ever hope to do2    
which has already1 after long           
retardations1 occupied1 and will yet    
occupy1 so large a section of my ,life2 
and of which the ,primary and simpler   
,portion may here find its conclusion4' 
,,chapter ,,xii  ,,farewell   ,so have  
we endeavoured1 from the enormous1      

amorphous ,plum-pudding1 more like a    
,scottish ,haggis1 which ,herr          
,teufelsdrckh had kneaded for his fellow
 mortals1 to pick-out the choicest      
,plums1 and present them separately on a
 cover of our own4 ,a laborious1 perhaps
 a thankless enterprise2 in which1      
however1 something of hope has          
occasionally cheered us1 and of which we
 can now wash our hands not altogether  
without satisfaction4 ,if hereby1 though
 in barbaric wise1 some morsel of       
spiritual nourishment have been added to
 the scanty ration of our beloved       
,british world1 what nobler recompense  
could the ,editor desire8 ,if it prove  
otherwise1 why should he murmur8 ,was   
not this a ,task which ,destiny1 in any 
case1 had appointed him2 which having   
now done with1 he sees his general      
,day's-work so much the lighter1 so much
 the shorter8  ,of ,professor           
,teufelsdrckh it seems impossible to    
take leave without a mingled feeling of 
astonishment1 gratitude and disapproval4

 ,who will not regret that talents1     
which might have profited in the higher 
walks of ,philosophy1 or in ,art itself1
 have been so much devoted to a         
rummaging among lumber-rooms2 nay too   
often to a scraping in kennels1 where   
lost rings and diamond-necklaces are    
nowise the sole conquests8 ,regret is   
unavoidable2 yet censure were loss of   
time4 ,to cure him of his mad humours   
,british ,criticism would essay in vain3
 enough for her if she can1 by          
vigilance1 prevent the spreading of such
 among ourselves4 ,what a result1 should
 this piebald1 entangled1               
hyper-metaphorical style of writing1 not
 to say of thinking1 become general     
among our ,literary men6 ,as it might so
 easily do4 ,thus has not the ,editor   
himself1 working over ,teufelsdrckh's   
,german1 lost much of his own ,english  
purity8 ,even as the smaller whirlpool  
is sucked into the larger1 and made to  
whirl along with it1 so has the lesser  
mind1 in this instance1 been forced to  

become portion of the greater1 and like 
it1 see all things figuratively3 which  
habit time and assiduous effort will be 
needed to eradicate4  ,nevertheless1    
wayward as our ,professor shows himself1
 is there any reader that can part with 
him in declared enmity8 ,let us confess1
 there is that in the wild1             
much-suffering1 much-inflicting man1    
which almost attaches us4 ,his attitude1
 we will hope and believe1 is that of a 
man who had said to ,cant1 ,begone2 and 
to ,dilettantism1 ,here thou canst not  
be2 and to ,truth1 ,be thou in place of 
all to me3 a man who had manfully defied
 the ',time-prince1' or ,devil1 to his  
face2 nay perhaps1 ,hannibal-like1 was  
mysteriously consecrated from birth to  
that warfare1 and now stood minded to   
wage the same1 by all weapons1 in all   
places1 at all times4 ,in such a cause1 
any soldier1 were he but a ,polack      
,scythe-man1 shall be welcome4  ,still  
the question returns on us3 ,how could a
 man occasionally of keen insight1 not  

without keen sense of propriety1 who had
 real ,thoughts to communicate1 resolve 
to emit them in a shape bordering so    
closely on the absurd8 ,which question  
he were wiser than the present ,editor  
who should satisfactorily answer4 ,our  
conjecture has sometimes been1 that     
perhaps ,necessity as well as ,choice   
was concerned in it4 ,seems it not      
conceivable that1 in a ,life like our   
,professor's1 where so much bountifully 
given by ,nature had in ,practice failed
 and misgone1 ,literature also would    
never rightly prosper3 that striving    
with his characteristic vehemence to    
paint this and the other ,picture1 and  
ever without success1 he at last        
desperately dashes his sponge1 full of  
all colours1 against the canvas1 to try 
whether it will paint ,foam8 ,with all  
his stillness1 there were perhaps in    
,teufelsdrckh desperation enough for    
this4  ,a second conjecture we hazard   
with even less warranty4 ,it is1 that   
,teufelsdrckh is not without some touch 

of the universal feeling1 a wish to     
proselytise4 ,how often already have we 
paused1 uncertain whether the basis of  
this so enigmatic nature were really    
,stoicism and ,despair1 or ,love and    
,hope only seared into the figure of    
these6 ,remarkable1 moreover1 is this   
saying of his3 ',how were ,friendship   
possible8 ,in mutual devotedness to the 
,good and ,true3 otherwise impossible2  
except as ,armed ,neutrality1 or hollow 
,commercial ,league4 ,a man1 be the     
,heavens ever praised1 is sufficient for
 himself2 yet were ten men1 united in   
,love1 capable of being and of doing    
what ten thousand singly would fail in4 
,infinite is the help man can yield to  
man4' ,and now in conjunction therewith 
consider this other3 ',it is the ,night 
of the ,world1 and still long till it be
 ,day3 we wander amid the glimmer of    
smoking ruins1 and the ,sun and the     
,stars of ,heaven are as if blotted out 
for a season2 and two immeasurable      
,phantoms1 ,,hypocrisy and ,,atheism1   

with the ,gowl1 ,,sensuality1 stalk     
abroad over the ,earth1 and call it     
theirs3 well at ease are the ,sleepers  
for whom ,existence is a shallow        
,dream4'  ,but what of the awestruck    
,wakeful who find it a ,reality8 ,should
 not these unite2 since even an         
authentic ,spectre is not visible to    
,two8--,in which case were this enormous
 ,clothes-,volume properly an enormous  
,pitchpan1 which our ,teufelsdrckh in   
his lone watch-tower had kindled1 that  
it might flame far and wide through the 
,night1 and many a disconsolately       
wandering spirit be guided thither to a 
,brother's bosom6--,we say as before1   
with all his malign ,indifference1 who  
knows what mad ,hopes this man may      
harbour8  ,meanwhile there is one fact  
to be stated here1 which harmonises ill 
with such conjecture2 and1 indeed1 were 
,teufelsdrckh made like other men1 might
 as good as altogether subvert it4      
,namely1 that while the ,beacon-fire    
blazed its brightest1 the ,watchman had 

quitted it2 that no pilgrim could now   
ask him3 ,watchman1 what of the ,night8 
,professor ,teufelsdrckh1 be it known is
 no longer visibly present at           
,weissnichtwo1 but again to all         
appearance lost in space6 ,some time    
ago1 the ,hofrath ,heuschrecke was      
pleased to favour us with another       
copious ,epistle2 wherein much is said  
about the ',population-,institute'2 much
 repeated in praise of the ,paper-bag   
,documents1 the hieroglyphic nature of  
which our ,hofrath still seems not to   
have surmised2 and1 lastly1 the         
strangest occurrence communicated1 to us
 for the first time1 in the following   
paragraph3  ',ew4 ,wohlgeboren will have
 seen from the public ,prints1 with what
 affectionate and hitherto fruitless    
solicitude ,weissnichtwo regards the    
disappearance of her ,sage4 ,might but  
the united voice of ,germany prevail on 
him to return2 nay1 could we but so much
 as elucidate for ourselves by what     
mystery he went away6 ,but1 alas1 old   

,lieschen experiences or affects the    
profoundest deafness1 the profoundest   
ignorance3 in the ,wahngasse all lies   
swept1 silent1 sealed up2 the ,privy    
,council itself can hitherto elicit no  
answer4  ',it had been remarked that    
while the agitating news of those       
,parisian ,three ,days flew from mouth  
to mouth1 and dinned every ear in       
,weissnichtwo1 ,herr ,teufelsdrckh was  
not known1 at the ,gans or elsewhere1 to
 have spoken1 for a whole week1 any     
syllable except once these three3 ,es   
geht an 7,it is beginning74 ,shortly    
after1 as ,ew4 ,wohlgeboren knows1 was  
the public tranquillity here1 as in     
,berlin1 threatened by a ,sedition of   
the ,tailors4 ,nor did there want       
,evil-wishers1 or perhaps mere desperate
 ,alarmists1 who asserted that the      
closing ,chapter of the ,clothes-,volume
 was to blame4 ,in this appalling       
crisis1 the serenity of our ,philosopher
 was indescribable2 nay1 perhaps through
 one humble individual1 something       

thereof might pass into the ,rath       
7,council7 itself1 and so contribute to 
the country's deliverance4 ,the ,tailors
 are now entirely pacificated4--  ',to  
neither of these two incidents can ,i   
attribute our loss3 yet still comes     
there the shadow of a suspicion out of  
,paris and its ,politics4 ,for example1 
when the ,saint-,simonian ,society      
transmitted its ,propositions hither1   
and the whole ,gans was one vast cackle 
of laughter1 lamentation and            
astonishment1 our ,sage sat mute2 and at
 the end of the third evening said      
merely3 ,here also are men who have     
discovered1 not without amazement1 that 
,man is still ,man2 of which high1      
long-forgotten ,truth you already see   
them make a false application4 ,since   
then1 as has been ascertained by        
examination of the ,post-,director1     
there passed at least one ,letter with  
its ,answer between the ,messieurs      
,bazard-,enfantin and our ,professor    
himself2 of what tenor can now only be  

conjectured4 ,on the fifth night        
following1 he was seen for the last     
time6  ',has this invaluable man1 so    
obnoxious to most of the hostile ,sects 
that convulse our ,era1 been spirited   
away by certain of their emissaries2 or 
did he go forth voluntarily to their    
head-quarters to confer with them and   
confront them8 ,reason we have1 at least
 of a negative sort1 to believe the     
,lost still living2 our widowed heart   
also whispers that ere long he will     
himself give a sign4 ,otherwise1 indeed1
 his archives must1 one day1 be opened  
by ,authority2 where much1 perhaps the  
,palingenesie itself1 is thought to be  
reposited4'         99       99       99
       99       99  ,thus far the       
,hofrath2 who vanishes1 as is his wont1 
too like an ,ignis ,fatuus1 leaving the 
dark still darker4  ,so that            
,teufelsdrckh's public ,history were not
 done1 then1 or reduced to an even1     
unromantic tenor2 nay1 perhaps the      
better part thereof were only beginning8

 ,we stand in a region of conjectures1  
where substance has melted into shadow1 
and one cannot be distinguished from the
 other4 ,may ,time1 which solves or     
suppresses all problems1 throw glad     
light on this also6 ,our own private    
conjecture1 now amounting almost to     
certainty1 is that1 safe-moored in some 
stillest obscurity1 not to lie always   
still1 ,teufelsdrckh is actually in     
,london6  ,here1 however1 can the       
present ,editor1 with an ambrosial joy  
as of over-weariness falling into sleep1
 lay down his pen4 ,well does he know1  
if human testimony be worth aught1 that 
to innumerable ,british readers         
likewise1 this is a satisfying          
consummation2 that innumerable ,british 
readers consider him1 during these      
current months1 but as an uneasy        
interruption to their ways of thought   
and digestion2 and indicate so much1 not
 without a certain irritancy and even   
spoken invective4 ,for which1 as for    
other mercies1 ought not he to thank the

 ,upper ,powers8 ,to one and all of you1
 ,o irritated readers1 he1 with         
outstretched arms and open heart1 will  
wave a kind farewell4 ,thou too1        
miraculous ,entity1 who namest thyself  
,,yorke and ,,oliver1 and with thy      
vivacities and genialities1 with thy    
all-too ,irish mirth and madness1 and   
odour of palled punch1 makest such      
strange work1 farewell2 long as thou    
canst1 fare-well6 ,have we not1 in the  
course of ,eternity1 travelled some     
months of our ,life-journey in partial  
sight of one another2 have we not       
existed together1 though in a state of  
quarrel8     ,,appendix   ,,testimonies 
,,of ,,authors      ,this questionable  
little ,book was undoubtedly written    
among     the mountain solitudes1 in    
#ahca2 but1 owing to impediments        
natural and accidental1 could not1 for  
seven years more1     appear as a       
,volume in ,england2--and had at last to
 clip itself     in pieces1 and be      
content to struggle out1 bit by bit1 in 

some     courageous ,magazine that      
offered4 ,whereby now1 to certain       
idly curious readers1 and even to myself
 till ,i make study1     the            
insignificant but at last irritating    
question1 ,what its     real history and
 chronology are1 is1 if not insoluble1  
considerably involved in haze4      ,to 
the first ,english ,edition1 #ahch1     
which an ,american1 or two     ,american
 had now opened the way for1 there was  
slightingly     prefixed1 under the     
title ',testimonies of ,authors1' some  
straggle of real documents1 which1 now  
that ,i find it again1     sets the     
matter into clear light and             
sequence2--and shall     here1 for      
removal of idle stumbling-blocks and    
nugatory     guessings from the path of 
every reader1 be reprinted as it        
stood4 7,author's ,note of #ahfh47      
,,testimonies ,,of ,,authors   ,i4      
,,highest ,,class1 ,,bookseller',s      
,,taster  ,taster to ,bookseller4--,the 
,author of ,teufelsdrckh is a person of 

talent2 his work displays here and there
 some felicity of thought and           
expression1 considerable fancy and      
knowledge3 but whether or not it would  
take with the public seems doubtful4    
,for a jeu d'esprit of that kind it is  
too long2 it would have suited better as
 an essay or article than as a volume4  
,the ,author has no great tact2 his wit 
is frequently heavy2 and reminds one of 
the ,german ,baron who took to leaping  
on tables1 and answered that he was     
learning to be lively4 ,is the work a   
translation8  ,bookseller to            
,editor4--,allow me to say that such a  
writer requires only a little more tact 
to produce a popular as well as an able 
work4 ,directly on receiving your       
permission1 ,i sent your ,,ms4 to a     
gentleman in the highest class of men of
 letters1 and an accomplished ,german   
scholar3 ,i now inclose you his opinion1
 which1 you may rely upon it1 is a just 
one2 and ,i have too high an opinion of 
your good sense to c4 c4--,,ms4 7penes  

nos71 ,london1 #agth ,september #ahca4  
,,ii4 ,,critic ,,of ,,the ,,sun         
,fraser's ,magazine exhibits the usual  
brilliancy1 and also the c4 ,sartor     
,resartus is what old ,dennis used to   
call 'a heap of clotted nonsense1' mixed
 however1 here and there1 with passages 
marked by thought and striking poetic   
vigour4 ,but what does the writer mean  
by ',baphometic fire-baptism'8 ,why     
cannot he lay aside his pedantry1 and   
write so as to make himself generally   
intelligible8 ,we quote by way of       
curiosity a sentence from the ,sartor   
,resartus2 which may be read either     
backwards or forwards1 for it is equally
 intelligible either way4 ,indeed1 by   
beginning at the tail1 and so working up
 to the head1 we think the reader will  
stand the fairest chance of getting at  
its meaning3 ',the fire-baptised soul1  
long so scathed and thunder-riven1 here 
feels its own freedom2 which feeling is 
its ,baphometic baptism3 the citadel of 
its whole kingdom it has thus gained by 

assault1 and will keep inexpugnable2    
outwards from which the remaining       
dominions1 not indeed without hard      
battering1 will doubtless by degrees be 
conquered and pacificated4' ,here is    
a--4444--,sun ,newspaper1 #ast ,april   
#ahcd4   ,,iii4 ,,north-,,american      
,,reviewer  444 ,after a careful survey 
of the whole ground1 our belief is that 
no such persons as ,professor           
,teufelsdrckh or ,counsellor            
,heuschrecke ever existed2 that the six 
,paper-bags1 with their ,china-ink      
inscriptions and multifarious contents1 
are a mere figment of the brain2 that   
the 'present ,editor' is the only person
 who has ever written upon the          
,philosophy of ,clothes2 and that the   
,sartor ,resartus is the only treatise  
that has yet appeared upon that         
subject2--in short1 that the whole      
account of the origin of the work before
 us1 which the supposed ,editor relates 
with so much gravity1 and of which we   
have given a brief abstract1 is1 in     

plain ,english1 a hum4  ,without        
troubling our readers at any great      
length with our reasons for entertaining
 these suspicions1 we may remark1 that  
the absence of all other information on 
the subject1 except what is contained in
 the work1 is itself a fact of a most   
significant character4 ,the whole       
,german press1 as well as the particular
 one where the work purports to have    
been printed1 seems to be under the     
control of ,stillschweigen and          
,co41--,silence and ,company4 ,if the   
,clothes-,philosophy and its author are 
making so great a sensation throughout  
,germany as is pretended1 how happens it
 that the only notice we have of the    
fact is contained in a few numbers of a 
monthly ,magazine published at ,london8 
,how happens it that no intelligence    
about the matter has come out directly  
to this country8 ,we pique ourselves    
here in ,new ,england upon knowing at   
least as much of what is going on in the
 literary way in the old ,dutch         

,mother-land as our brethren of the     
fast-anchored ,isle2 but thus far we    
have no tidings whatever of the         
'extensive close-printed close-meditated
 volume1' which forms the subject of    
this pretended commentary4 ,again1 we   
would respectfully inquire of the       
'present ,editor' upon what part of the 
map of ,germany we are to look for the  
city of                                 
,weissnichtwo1--',know-not-where1'--at  
which place the work is supposed to have
 been printed1 and the ,author to have  
resided4 ,it has been our fortune to    
visit several portions of the ,german   
territory1 and to examine pretty        
carefully1 at different times and for   
various purposes1 maps of the whole2 but
 we have no recollection of any such    
place4 ,we suspect that the city of     
,know-not-where might be called1 with at
 least as much propriety1               
,nobody-knows-where1 and is to be found 
in the kingdom of ,nowhere4 ,again1 the 
village of ,entepfuhl--',duck-pond1'    

where the supposed ,author of the work  
is said to have passed his youth1 and   
that of ,hinterschlag1 where he had his 
education1 are equally foreign to our   
geography4 ,duck-ponds enough there     
undoubtedly are in almost every village 
in ,germany1 as the traveller in that   
country knows too well to his cost1 but 
any particular village denominated      
,duck-pond is to us altogether terra    
incognita4 ,the names of the personages 
are not less singular than those of the 
places4 ,who can refrain from a smile at
 the yoking together of such a pair of  
appellatives as ,diogenes ,teufelsdrckh8
 ,the supposed bearer of this strange   
title is represented as admitting1 in   
his pretended autobiography1 that 'he   
had searched to no purpose through all  
the ,heralds' books in and without the  
,german empire1 and through all manner  
of ,subscribers'-lists1 ,militia-rolls1 
and other ,name-catalogues1' but had    
nowhere been able to find the 'name     
,teufelsdrckh1 except as appended to his

 own person4' ,we can readily believe   
this1 and we doubt very much whether any
 ,christian parent would think of       
condemning a son to carry through life  
the burden of so unpleasant a title4    
,that of ,counsellor                    
,heuschrecke--',grasshopper1' though not
 offensive1 looks much more like a piece
 of fancy work than a 'fair business    
transaction4' ,the same may be said of  
,blumine--',flower-,goddess'--the       
heroine of the fable2 and so of the     
rest4  ,in short1 our private opinion   
is1 as we have remarked1 that the whole 
story of a correspondence with ,germany1
 a university of ,nobody-knows-where1 a 
,professor of ,things in ,general1 a    
,counsellor ,grasshopper1 a             
,flower-,goddess ,blumine1 and so forth1
 has about as much foundation in truth  
as the late entertaining account of ,sir
 ,john ,herschel's discoveries in the   
moon4 ,fictions of this kind are1       
however1 not uncommon1 and ought not1   
perhaps1 to be condemned with too much  

severity2 but we are not sure that we   
can exercise the same indulgence in     
regard to the attempt1 which seems to be
 made to mislead the public as to the   
substance of the work before us1 and its
 pretended ,german original4 ,both      
purport1 as we have seen1 to be upon the
 subject of ,clothes1 or dress4         
,clothes1 their ,origin and ,influence1 
is the title of the supposed ,german    
treatise of ,professor ,teufelsdrckh1   
and the rather odd name of ,sartor      
,resartus--the ,tailor ,patched1--which 
the present ,editor has affixed to his  
pretended commentary1 seems to look the 
same way4 ,but though there is a good   
deal of remark throughout the work in a 
half-serious1 half-comic style upon     
dress1 it seems to be in reality a      
treatise upon the great science of      
,things in ,general1 which ,teufelsdrckh
 is supposed to have professed at the   
university of ,nobody-knows-where4 ,now1
 without intending to adopt a too rigid 
standard of morals1 we own that we doubt

 a little the propriety of offering to  
the public a treatise on ,things in     
,general1 under the name and in the form
 of an ,essay on ,dress4 ,for ourselves1
 advanced as we unfortunately are in the
 journey of life1 far beyond the period 
when dress is practically a matter of   
interest1 we have no hesitation in      
saying1 that the real subject of the    
work is to us more attractive than the  
ostensible one4 ,but this is probably   
not the case with the mass of readers4  
,to the younger portion of the          
community1 which constitutes everywhere 
the very great majority1 the subject of 
dress is one of intense and paramount   
importance4 ,an author who treats it    
appeals1 like the poet1 to the young men
 and maidens--virginibus puerisque1--and
 calls upon them1 by all the motives    
which habitually operate most strongly  
upon their feelings1 to buy his book4   
,when1 after opening their purses for   
this purpose1 they have carried home the
 work in triumph1 expecting to find in  

it some particular instruction in regard
 to the tying of their neckcloths1 or   
the cut of their corsets1 and meet with 
nothing better than a dissertation on   
,things in ,general1 they will1--to use 
the mildest term--not be in very good   
humour4 ,if the last improvements in    
legislation1 which we have made in this 
country1 should have found their way to 
,england1 the author1 we think1 would   
stand some chance of being ,lynched4    
,whether his object in this piece of    
supercherie be merely pecuniary profit1 
or whether he takes a malicious pleasure
 in quizzing the ,dandies1 we shall not 
undertake to say4 ,in the latter part of
 the work1 he devotes a separate chapter
 to this class of persons1 from the     
tenour of which we should be disposed to
 conclude1 that he would consider any   
mode of divesting them of their property
 very much in the nature of a spoiling  
of the ,egyptians4  ,the only thing     
about the work1 tending to prove that it
 is what it purports to be1 a commentary

 on a real ,german treatise1 is the     
style1 which is a sort of ,babylonish   
dialect1 not destitute1 it is true1 of  
richness1 vigour1 and at times a sort of
 singular felicity of expression1 but   
very strongly tinged throughout with the
 peculiar idiom of the ,german language4
 ,this quality in the style1 however1   
may be a mere result of a great         
familiarity with ,german literature1 and
 we cannot1 therefore1 look upon it as  
in itself decisive1 still less as       
outweighing so much evidence of an      
opposite character4--,north-,american   
,review1 ,no4 #hi1 ,october #ahce4      
,,iv4 ,,new ,,england ,,editors  ,the   
,editors have been induced1 by the      
express desire of many persons1 to      
collect the following sheets out of the 
ephemeral pamphlets#d in which they     
first appeared1 under the conviction    
that they contain in themselves the     
assurance of a longer date4      #d     
,fraser's 7,london7 ,magazine1 #ahcc-d4 
,the ,editors have no expectation that  

this little ,work will have a sudden and
 general popularity4 ,they will not     
undertake1 as there is no need1 to      
justify the gay costume in which the    
,author delights to dress his thoughts1 
or the ,german idioms with which he has 
sportively sprinkled his pages4 ,it is  
his humour to advance the gravest       
speculations upon the gravest topics in 
a quaint and burlesque style4 ,if his   
masquerade offend any of his audience1  
to that degree that they will not hear  
what he has to say1 it may chance to    
draw others to listen to his wisdom2 and
 what work of imagination can hope to   
please all8 ,but we will venture to     
remark that the distaste excited by     
these peculiarities in some readers is  
greatest at first1 and is soon          
forgotten2 and that the foreign dress   
and aspect of the ,work are quite       
superficial1 and cover a genuine ,saxon 
heart4 ,we believe1 no book has been    
published for many years1 written in a  
more sincere style of idiomatic         

,english1 or which discovers an equal   
mastery over all the riches of the      
language4 ,the ,author makes ample      
amends for the occasional eccentricity  
of his genius1 not only by frequent     
bursts of pure splendour1 but by the wit
 and sense which never fail him4  ,but  
what will chiefly commend the ,book to  
the discerning reader is the manifest   
design of the work1 which is1 a         
,criticism upon the ,spirit of the      
,age1--we had almost said1 of the       
hour1--in which we live2 exhibiting in  
the most just and novel light the       
present aspects of ,religion1 ,politics1
 ,literature1 ,arts1 and ,social ,life4 
,under all his gaiety the ,writer has an
 earnest meaning1 and discovers an      
insight into the manifold wants and     
tendencies of human nature1 which is    
very rare among our popular authors4    
,the philanthropy and the purity of     
moral sentiment1 which inspire the work1
 will find their way to the heart of    
every lover of virtue4--,preface to     

,sartor ,resartus3 ,boston1 #ahcf1      
#ahcg4                         ,,sunt1  
,,fuerunt ,,vel ,,fuere4  ,,london1     
#cjth ,june #ahch4     ,,summary        
,,book ,i  ,,chap4 ,i4 ,preliminary     
,no ,philosophy of ,clothes yet1        
notwithstanding all our ,science4       
,strangely forgotten that ,man is by    
nature a naked animal4     ,the ,english
 mind all-too practically absorbed for  
any such     inquiry4 ,not so1          
deep-thinking ,germany4 ,advantage of   
,speculation having free course4 ,editor
 receives from ,professor               
,teufelsdrckh his new ,work on ,clothes 
7p4 #a74  ,,chap4 ,,ii4 ,editorial      
,difficulties      ,how to make known   
,teufelsdrckh and his ,book to ,english 
readers2 especially such a book8 ,editor
 receives from the     ,hofrath         
,heuschrecke a letter promising         
,biographic ,documents4                 
,negotiations with ,oliver ,yorke4      
,sartor ,resartus conceived4            
,editor's assurances and advice to his  

,british reader 7p4 #e74  ,,chap4 ,,iii4
 ,reminiscences      ,teufelsdrckh at   
,weissnichtwo4 ,professor of ,things in 
,general     at the ,university there3  
,outward aspect and character2          
memorable coffee-house utterances2      
domicile and watch-tower3     ,sights   
thence of ,city-life by day and by      
night2 with     reflections thereon4    
,old ',liza and her ways4 ,character of 
,hofrath ,heuschrecke1 and his relation 
to ,teufelsdrckh 7p4 #i74  ,,chap4 ,,iv4
 ,characteristics      ,teufelsdrckh and
 his ,work on ,clothes3 ,strange freedom
 of     speech3 transcendentalism2 force
 of insight and expression2             
multifarious learning3 ,style poetic1   
uncouth3     ,comprehensiveness of his  
humour and moral feeling4 ,how the      
,editor once saw him laugh4 ,different  
kinds of ,laughter and     their        
significance 7p4 #bj74  ,,chap4 ,v4 ,the
 ,world in ,clothes      ,futile        
cause-and-effect ,philosophies4         
,teufelsdrckh's ,orbis     ,vestitus4   

,clothes first invented for the sake of 
,ornament4     ,picture of our          
progenitor1 the ,aboriginal ,savage4    
,wonders of     growth and progress in  
mankind's history4 ,man defined as a    
,tool-using ,animal 7p4 #be74  ,,chap4  
,,vi4 ,aprons      ,divers ,aprons in   
the world with divers uses4 ,the        
,military and     ,police ,establishment
 ,society's working ,apron4 ,the        
,episcopal     ,apron with its corner   
tucked in4 ,the ,laystall4 ,journalists 
now     our only ,kings and ,clergy 7p4 
#ca74  ,,chap4 ,,vii4                   
,miscellaneous-,historical      ,how    
,men and ,fashions come and go4 ,german 
,costume in the     fifteenth century4  
,by what strange chances do we live in  
,history6 ,the costume of ,bolivar's    
,cavalry 7p4 #cd74  ,,chap4 ,,viii4 ,the
 ,world out of ,clothes                 
,teufelsdrckh's ,theorem1 ,society      
founded upon ,cloth2 his     ,method1   
,intuition quickened by                 
,experience4--,the mysterious           

question1 ,who am ,i8 ,philosophic      
systems1 all at fault3 ,a     deeper    
meditation has always taught1 here and  
there an     individual1 that all       
visible things are appearances only2 but
     also emblems and revelations of    
,god4 ,teufelsdrckh first     comes upon
 the question of ,clothes3 ,baseness to 
which ,clothing     may bring us 7p4    
#cg74  ,,chap4 ,,ix4 ,adamatism         
,the universal utility of ,clothes1 and 
their higher mystic     virtue1         
illustrated4 ,conception of ,mankind    
stripped naked2 and     immediate       
consequent dissolution of civilised     
,society 7p4 #dc74  ,,chap4 ,x4 ,pure   
,reason      ,a ,naked ,world possible1 
nay actually exists1 under the clothed  
one4 ,man1 in the eye of ,pure ,reason1 
a visible ,god's ,presence4     ,the    
beginning of all wisdom1 to look fixedly
 on ,clothes till     they become       
transparent4 ,wonder1 the basis of      
,worship3     ,perennial in man4 ,modern
 ,sciolists who cannot wonder3          

,teufelsdrckh's contempt for1 and advice
 to them 7p4 #dg74  ,,chap4 ,,xi4       
,prospective      ,nature not an        
,aggregate1 but a ,whole4 ,all visible  
things are     emblems1 ,clothes2 and   
exist for a time only4 ,the grand scope 
of the ,philosophy of                   
,clothes4--,biographic ,documents       
arrive4     ,letter from ,heuschrecke on
 the importance of ,biography4          
,heterogeneous character of the         
documents3 ,editor sorely     perplexed2
 but desperately grapples with his work 
7p4 #eb74   ,,book ,,ii  ,,chap4 ,i4    
,genesis      ,old ,andreas ,futteral   
and ,gretchen his wife3 their quiet     
home4     ,advent of a mysterious       
stranger1 who deposits with them a      
young infant1 the future ,herr ,diogenes
 ,teufelsdrckh4     ,after-yearnings of 
the youth for his unknown ,father4      
,sovereign     power of ,names and      
,naming4 ,diogenes a flourishing ,infant
 7p4     #fa74  ,,chap4 ,,ii4 ,idyllic  
,happy ,childhood6 ,entepfuhl3 ,sights1 

hearings and experiences     of the boy 
,teufelsdrckh2 their manifold teaching4 
,education2     what it can do1 what    
cannot4 ,obedience our universal duty   
and     destiny4 ,gneschen sees the good
 ,gretchen pray 7p4 #fh74  ,,chap4      
,,iii4 ,pedagogy      ,teufelsdrckh's   
,school4 ,his ,education4 ,how the      
ever-flowing     ,kuhbach speaks of     
,time and ,eternity4 ,the ,hinterschlag 
,gymnasium2 rude ,boys2 and pedant      
,professors4 ,the need of true          
,teachers1 and their due recognition4   
,father ,andreas dies3 and              
,teufelsdrckh learns the secret of his  
birth3 ,his reflections     thereon4    
,the ,nameless ,university4 ,statistics 
of ,imposture much     wanted4 ,bitter  
fruits of ,rationalism3 ,teufelsdrckh's 
religious difficulties4 ,the young      
,englishman ,herr ,towgood4     ,modern 
,friendship 7p4 #gf74  ,,chap4 ,,iv4    
,getting under ,way      ,the grand     
thaumaturgic ,art of ,thought4          
,difficulty in fitting     ,capability  

to ,opportunity1 or of getting underway4
 ,the     advantage of ,hunger and      
,bread-,studies4 ,teufelsdrckh has to   
enact the stern mono-drama of ,no object
 and no rest4     ,sufferings as        
,auscultator4 ,given up as a man of     
genius1     ,zhdarm ,house4 ,intolerable
 presumption of young men4 ,irony       
and its consequences4 ,teufelsdrckh's   
,epitaph on ,count     ,zhdarm 7p4 #ij74
  ,,chap4 ,v4 ,romance                  
,teufelsdrckh gives up his ,profession4 
,the heavenly mystery     of ,love4     
,teufelsdrckh's feeling of worship      
towards women4     ,first and only love4
 ,blumine4 ,happy hearts and free       
tongues4     ,the infinite nature of    
,fantasy4 ,love's joyful progress2      
sudden     dissolution2 and final       
catastrophe 7p4 #aja74  ,,chap4 ,,vi4   
,sorrows of ,teufelsdrckh               
,teufelsdrckh's demeanour thereupon4    
,turns pilgrim4 ,a last     wistful look
 on native ,entepfuhl3 ,sunset amongst  
primitive     ,mountains4               

,basilisk-glance of the                 
,barouche-and-four4 ,thoughts     on    
,view-hunting4 ,wanderings and          
,sorrowings 7p4 #aab74  ,,chap4 ,,vii4  
,the ,everlasting ,no      ,loss of     
,hope1 and of ,belief4 ,profit-and-,loss
 ,philosophy1     ,teufelsdrckh in his  
darkness and despair still clings to    
,truth and follows ,duty4 ,inexpressible
 pains and fears of     ,unbelief4      
,fever-crisis3 ,protest against the     
,everlasting ,no3     ,baphometic       
,fire-baptism 7p4 #aba74  ,,chap4       
,,viii4 ,centre of ,indifference        
,teufelsdrckh turns now outwardly to the
 ,not-me2 and finds     wholesomer food4
 ,ancient ,cities3 ,mystery of their    
origin and     growth3 ,invisible       
inheritances and possessions4 ,power and
     virtue of a true ,book4 ,wagram    
,battlefield3 ,war4 ,great ,scenes      
beheld by the ,pilgrim3 ,great ,events1 
and ,great ,men4 ,napoleon1     a divine
 missionary1 preaching ,la carrire      
ouverte aux     talens4 ,teufelsdrckh at

 the ,north ,cape3 ,modern means of     
self-defence4 ,gunpowder and duelling4  
,the ,pilgrim1 despising     his        
miseries1 reaches the ,centre of        
,indifference 7p4 #abh74  ,,chap4 ,,ix4 
,the ,everlasting ,yea      ,temptations
 in the ,wilderness3 ,victory over the  
,tempter4     ,annihilation of ,self4   
,belief in ,god1 and love to ,man4 ,the 
origin of ,evil1 a problem ever         
requiring to be solved anew3            
,teufelsdrckh's solution4 ,love of      
,happiness a vain whim3 ,a     ,higher  
in man than ,love of ,happiness4 ,the   
,everlasting ,yea4     ,worship of      
,sorrow4 ,voltaire3 his task now        
finished4 ,conviction     worthless1    
impossible1 without ,conduct4 ,the true 
,ideal1 the     ,actual3 ,up and work6  
7p4 #ach74  ,,chap4 ,x4 ,pause          
,conversion2 a spiritual attainment     
peculiar to the modern ,era4            
,teufelsdrckh accepts ,authorship as his
 divine calling4 ,the     scope of the  
command ,thou shalt not steal4--,editor 

begins to     suspect the authenticity  
of the ,biographical documents2 and     
abandons them for the great ,clothes    
volume4 ,result of the     preceding ten
 ,chapters3 ,insight into the character 
of     ,teufelsdrckh3 ,his fundamental  
beliefs1 and how he was forced     to   
seek and find them 7p4 #adi74   ,,book  
,,iii  ,,chap4 ,i4 ,incident in ,modern 
,history      ,story of ,george ,fox the
 ,quaker2 and his perennial suit of     
,leather4 ,a man ,god-possessed1        
witnessing for spiritual freedom     and
 manhood 7p4 #aef74  ,,chap4 ,,ii4      
,church-,clothes      ,church-,clothes  
defined2 the ,forms under which the     
,religious     principle is temporarily 
embodied4 ,outward ,religion originates 
by ,society3 ,society becomes possible  
by ,religion4 ,the     condition of     
,church-,clothes in our time 7p4 #afa74 
,,chap4 ,,iii4 ,symbols      ,the       
benignant efficacies of ,silence and    
,secrecy4 ,symbols2     revelations of  
the ,infinite in the ,finite3 ,man      

everywhere     encompassed by them2     
lives and works by them4 ,theory of     
,motive-millwrights1 a false account of 
human nature4 ,symbols     of an        
extrinsic value2 as ,banners1           
,standards3 ,of intrinsic     value2 as 
,works of ,art1 ,lives and ,deaths of   
,heroic men4     ,religious ,symbols2   
,christianity4 ,symbols hallowed by     
,time2 but     finally defaced and      
desecrated4 ,many superannuated ,symbols
 in     our time1 needing removal 7p4   
#afc74  ,,chap4 ,,iv4 ,helotage         
,heuschrecke's ,malthusian ,tract1 and  
,teufelsdrckh's marginal     notes      
thereon4 ,the true workman1 for daily   
bread1 or spiritual     bread1 to be    
honoured2 and no other4 ,the real       
privation of the     ,poor not poverty  
or toil1 but ignorance4                 
,over-population3 ,with     a world like
 ours and wide as ours1 can there be too
 many men8     ,emigration 7p4 #agj74   
,,chap4 ,v4 ,the ,phoenix               
,teufelsdrckh considers ,society as     

dead2 its soul     7,religion7 gone1 its
 body 7existing ,institutions7 going4   
,utilitarianism1 needing little farther 
preaching1 is now in     full activity  
of ,destruction4--,teufelsdrckh would   
yield to     the ,inevitable1 accounting
 that the best3 ,assurance of a         
fairer ,living ,society1 arising1       
,phoenix-like1 out of the ruins     of  
the old dead one4 ,before that ,phoenix 
death-birth is     accomplished1 long   
time1 struggle1 and suffering must      
intervene 7p4 #agd74  ,,chap4 ,,vi4 ,old
 ,clothes      ,courtesy due from all   
men to all men3 ,the ,body of ,man a    
,revelation in the ,flesh4              
,teufelsdrckh's respect for ,old        
,clothes1 as the ',ghosts of ,life4'    
,walk in ,monmouth ,street1 and         
meditations there 7p4 #agi74  ,,chap4   
,,vii4 ,organic ,filaments              
,destruction and ,creation ever proceed 
together2 and organic     filaments of  
the ,future are even now spinning4      
,wonderful     connection of each man   

with all men2 and of each generation    
with all generations1 before and after3 
,mankind is ,one4     ,sequence and     
progress of all human work1 whether of  
creation     or destruction1 from age to
 age4--,titles1 hitherto derived        
from ,fighting1 must give way to others4
 ,kings will remain and     their title4
 ,political ,freedom1 not to be attained
 by any     mechanical contrivance4     
,hero-worship1 perennial amongst men2   
the cornerstone of polities in the      
,future4 ,organic filaments     of the  
,new ,religion3 ,newspapers and         
,literature4 ,let the     faithful soul 
take courage6 7p4 #ahc74  ,,chap4       
,,viii4 ,natural ,supernaturalism       
,deep significance of ,miracles4        
,littleness of human ,science3          
,divine incomprehensibility of ,nature4 
,custom blinds us to the                
miraculousness of daily-recurring       
miracles2 so do ,names4 ,space     and  
,time1 appearances only2 forms of human 
,thought3 ,a glimpse     of             

,immortality4 ,how ,space hides from us 
the wondrousness of     our commonest   
powers2 and ,time1 the divinely         
miraculous course     of human history  
7p4 #aia74  ,,chap4 ,,ix4               
,circumspective      ,recapitulation4   
,editor congratulates the few ,british  
readers     who have accompanied        
,teufelsdrckh through all his           
speculations4 ,the true use of the      
,sartor ,resartus1 to     exhibit the   
,wonder of daily life and common things2
 and to     show that all ,forms are but
 ,clothes1 and temporary4 ,practical    
inferences enough will follow 7p4 #bja74
  ,,chap4 ,x4 ,the ,dandiacal ,body     
,the ,dandy defined4 ,the ,dandiacal    
,sect a new modification of     the     
primeval superstition ,self-worship3    
,how to be     distinguished4 ,their    
,sacred ,books 7,fashionable ,novels7   
unreadable4 ,dandyism's ,articles of    
,faith4--,brotherhood of                
,poor-,slaves3 vowed to perpetual       
,poverty2 worshippers of ,earth2        

distinguished by peculiar costume and   
diet4 ,picture of a     ,poor-,slave    
,household2 and of a ,dandiacal4        
,teufelsdrckh fears     these two ,sects
 may spread1 till they part all ,england
 between     them1 and then frightfully 
collide 7p4 #bjd74  ,,chap4 ,,xi4       
,tailors      ,injustice done to        
,tailors1 actual and metaphorical4      
,their rights     and great services    
will one day be duly recognised 7p4     
#baf74  ,,chap4 ,,xii4 ,farewell        
,teufelsdrckh's strange manner of       
speech1 but resolute1     truthful      
character3 ,his purpose seemingly to    
proselytise1 to     unite the wakeful   
earnest in these dark times4 ,letter    
from     ,hofrath ,heuschrecke          
announcing that ,teufelsdrckh has       
disappeared from ,weissnichtwo4 ,editor 
guesses he will appear     again1       
,friendly ,farewell 7p4 #bai74     ,,on 
,,heroes1 ,,hero-,,worship1 ,,and ,,the 
,,heroic ,,in ,,history     ,,lecture ,i
  ,,the ,,hero ,,as ,,divinity4 ,,odin4 

,,paganism3 ,,scandinavian ,,mythology  
,tuesday1 #eth ,may #ahdj   ,we have    
undertaken to discourse here for a      
little on ,great ,men1 their manner of  
appearance in our world's business1 how 
they have shaped themselves in the      
world's history1 what ideas men formed  
of them1 what work they did2--on        
,heroes1 namely1 and on their reception 
and performance2 what ,i call           
,hero-worship and the ,heroic in human  
affairs4 ,too evidently this is a large 
topic2 deserving quite other treatment  
than we can expect to give it at        
present4 ,a large topic2 indeed1 an     
illimitable one2 wide as ,universal     
,history itself4 ,for1 as ,i take it1   
,universal ,history1 the history of what
 man has accomplished in this world1 is 
at bottom the ,history of the ,great    
,men who have worked here4 ,they were   
the leaders of men1 these great ones2   
the modellers1 patterns1 and in a wide  
sense creators1 of whatsoever the       
general mass of men contrived to do or  

to attain2 all things that we see       
standing accomplished in the world are  
properly the outer material result1 the 
practical realisation and embodiment1 of
 ,thoughts that dwelt in the ,great ,men
 sent into the world3 the soul of the   
whole world's history1 it may justly be 
considered1 were the history of these4  
,too clearly it is a topic we shall do  
no justice to in this place6  ,one      
comfort is1 that ,great ,men1 taken up  
in any way1 are profitable company4 ,we 
cannot look1 however imperfectly1 upon a
 great man1 without gaining something by
 him4 ,he is the living light-fountain1 
which it is good and pleasant to be     
near4 ,the light which enlightens1 which
 has enlightened the darkness of the    
world2 and this not as a kindled lamp   
only1 but rather as a natural luminary  
shining by the gift of ,heaven2 a       
flowing light-fountain1 as ,i say1 of   
native original insight1 of manhood and 
heroic nobleness2--in whose radiance all
 souls feel that it is well with them4  

,on any terms whatsoever1 you will not  
grudge to wander in such neighbourhood  
for a while4 ,these ,six classes of     
,heroes1 chosen out of widely-distant   
countries and epochs1 and in mere       
external figure differing altogether1   
ought1 if we look faithfully at them1 to
 illustrate several things for us4      
,could we see them well1 we should get  
some glimpses into the very marrow of   
the world's history4 ,how happy1 could  
,i but1 in any measure1 in such times as
 these1 make manifest to you the        
meanings of ,heroism2 the divine        
relation 7for ,i may well call it such7 
which in all times unites a ,great ,man 
to other men2 and thus1 as it were1 not 
exhaust my subject1 but so much as break
 ground on it6 ,at all events1 ,i must  
make the attempt4  ,it is well said1 in 
every sense1 that a man's religion is   
the chief fact with regard to him4 ,a   
man's1 or a nation of men's4 ,by        
religion ,i do not mean here the        
church-creed which he professes1 the    

articles of faith which he will sign    
and1 in words or otherwise1 assert2 not 
this wholly1 in many cases not this at  
all4 ,we see men of all kinds of        
professed creeds attain to almost all   
degrees of worth or worthlessness under 
each or any of them4 ,this is not what  
,i call religion1 this profession and   
assertion2 which is often only a        
profession and assertion from the       
outworks of the man1 from the mere      
argumentative region of him1 if even so 
deep as that4 ,but the thing a man does 
practically believe 7and this is often  
enough without asserting it even to     
himself1 much less to others72 the thing
 a man does practically lay to heart1   
and know for certain1 concerning his    
vital relations to this mysterious      
,universe1 and his duty and destiny     
there1 that is in all cases the primary 
thing for him1 and creatively determines
 all the rest4 ,that is his religion2 or
 it may be1 his mere scepticism and     
no-religion3 the manner it is in which  

he feels himself to be spiritually      
related to the ,unseen ,world or        
,no-,world2 and ,i say1 if you tell me  
what that is1 you tell me to a very     
great extent what the man is1 what the  
kind of things he will do is4 ,of a man 
or of a nation we inquire1 therefore1   
first of all1 ,what religion they had8  
,was it ,heathenism1--plurality of gods1
 mere sensuous representation of this   
,mystery of ,life1 and for chief        
recognised element therein ,physical    
,force8 ,was it ,christianism2 faith in 
an ,invisible1 not as real only1 but as 
the only reality2 ,time1 through every  
meanest moment of it1 resting on        
,eternity2 ,pagan empire of ,force      
displaced by a nobler supremacy1 that of
 ,holiness8 ,was it ,scepticism1        
uncertainty and inquiry whether there   
was an ,unseen ,world1 any ,mystery of  
,life except a mad one2--doubt as to all
 this1 or perhaps unbelief and flat     
denial8 ,answering of this question is  
giving us the soul of the history of the

 man or nation4 ,the thoughts they had  
were the parents of the actions they    
did2 their feelings were parents of     
their thoughts3 it was the unseen and   
spiritual in them that determined the   
outward and actual2--their religion1 as 
,i say1 was the great fact about them4  
,in these ,discourses1 limited as we    
are1 it will be good to direct our      
survey chiefly to that religious phasis 
of the matter4 ,that once known well1   
all is known4 ,we have chosen as the    
first ,hero in our series1 ,odin the    
central figure of ,scandinavian         
,paganism2 an emblem to us of a most    
extensive province of things4 ,let us   
look for a little at the ,hero as       
,divinity1 the oldest primary form of   
,heroism4  ,surely it seems a very      
strange-looking thing this ,paganism2   
almost inconceivable to us in these     
days4 ,a bewildering1 inextricable      
jungle of delusions1 confusions1        
falsehoods and absurdities1 covering the
 whole field of ,life6 ,a thing that    

fills us with astonishment1 almost1 if  
it were possible1 with incredulity1--for
 truly it is not easy to understand that
 sane men could ever calmly1 with their 
eyes open1 believe and live by such a   
set of doctrines4 ,that men should have 
worshipped their poor fellow-man as a   
,god1 and not him only1 but stocks and  
stones1 and all manner of animate and   
inanimate objects2 and fashioned for    
themselves such a distracted chaos of   
hallucinations by way of ,theory of the 
,universe3 all this looks like an       
incredible fable4 ,nevertheless it is a 
clear fact that they did it4 ,such      
hideous inextricable jungle of          
misworships1 misbeliefs1 men1 made as we
 are1 did actually hold by1 and live at 
home in4 ,this is strange4 ,yes1 we may 
pause in sorrow and silence over the    
depths of darkness that are in man2 if  
we rejoice in the heights of purer      
vision he has attained to4 ,such things 
were and are in man2 in all men2 in us  
too4  ,some speculators have a short way

 of accounting for the ,pagan religion3 
mere quackery1 priestcraft1 and dupery1 
say they2 no sane man ever did believe  
it1--merely contrived to persuade other 
men1 not worthy of the name of sane1 to 
believe it6 ,it will be often our duty  
to protest against this sort of         
hypothesis about men's doings and       
history2 and ,i here1 on the very       
threshold1 protest against it in        
reference to ,paganism1 and to all other
 isms by which man has ever for a length
 of time striven to walk in this world4 
,they have all had a truth in them1 or  
men would not have taken them up4       
,quackery and dupery do abound2 in      
religions1 above all in the more        
advanced decaying stages of religions1  
they have fearfully abounded3 but       
quackery was never the originating      
influence in such things2 it was not the
 health and life of such things1 but    
their disease1 the sure precursor of    
their being about to die6 ,let us never 
forget this4 ,it seems to me a most     

mournful hypothesis1 that of quackery   
giving birth to any faith even in savage
 men4 ,quackery gives birth to nothing2 
gives death to all things4 ,we shall not
 see into the true heart of anything1 or
 if we look merely at the quackeries of 
it2 if we do not reject the quackeries  
altogether2 as mere diseases1           
corruptions1 with which our and all     
men's sole duty is to have done with    
them1 to sweep them out of our thoughts 
as out of our practice4 ,man everywhere 
is the born enemy of lies4 ,i find      
,grand ,lamaism itself to have a kind of
 truth in it4 ,read the candid1         
clear-sighted1 rather sceptical ,mr     
,turner's ,account of his ,embassy to   
that country1 and see4 ,they have their 
belief1 these poor ,thibet people1 that 
,providence sends down always an        
,incarnation of ,himself into every     
generation4 ,at bottom some belief in a 
kind of ,pope6 ,at bottom still better1 
belief that there is a ,greatest ,man2  
that he is discoverable2 that1 once     

discovered1 we ought to treat him with  
an obedience which knows no bounds6     
,this is the truth of ,grand ,lamaism2  
the 'discoverability' is the only error 
here4 ,the ,thibet priests have methods 
of their own of discovering what ,man is
 ,greatest1 fit to be supreme over them4
 ,bad methods3 but are they so much     
worse than our methods1--of             
understanding him to be always the      
eldest born of a certain genealogy8     
,alas1 it is a difficult thing to find  
good methods for6--,we shall begin to   
have a chance of understanding          
,paganism1 when we first admit that to  
its followers it was1 at one time1      
earnestly true4 ,let us consider it very
 certain that men did believe in        
,paganism2 men with open eyes1 sound    
senses1 men made altogether like        
ourselves2 that we1 had we been there1  
should have believed in it4 ,ask now1   
,what ,paganism could have been8        
,another theory1 somewhat more          
respectable1 attributes such things to  

,allegory4 ,it was a play of poetic     
minds1 say these theorists2 a           
shadowing-forth1 in allegorical fable1  
in personification and visual form1 of  
what such poetic minds had known and    
felt of this ,universe4 ,which agrees1  
add they1 with a primary law of human   
nature1 still everywhere observably at  
work1 though in less important things1  
,that what a man feels intensely1 he    
struggles to speak-out of him1 to see   
represented before him in visual shape1 
and as if with a kind of life and       
historical reality in it4 ,now doubtless
 there is such a law1 and it is one of  
the deepest in human nature2 neither    
need we doubt that it did operate       
fundamentally in this business4 ,the    
hypothesis which ascribes ,paganism     
wholly or mostly to this agency1 ,i call
 a little more respectable2 but ,i      
cannot yet call it the true hypothesis4 
,think1 would we believe1 and take with 
us as our life-guidance1 an allegory1 a 
poetic sport8 ,not sport but earnest is 

what we should require4 ,it is a most   
earnest thing to be alive in this world2
 to die is not sport for a man4 ,man's  
life never was a sport to him2 it was a 
stern reality1 altogether a serious     
matter to be alive6  ,i find1 therefore1
 that though these ,allegory theorists  
are on the way towards truth in this    
matter1 they have not reached it either4
 ,pagan ,religion is indeed an          
,allegory1 a ,symbol of what men felt   
and knew about the ,universe2 and all   
,religions are ,symbols of that1        
altering always as that alters3 but it  
seems to me a radical perversion1 and   
even inversion1 of the business1 to put 
that forward as the origin and moving   
cause1 when it was rather the result and
 termination4 ,to get beautiful         
allegories1 a perfect poetic symbol1 was
 not the want of men2 but to know what  
they were to believe about this         
,universe1 what course they were to     
steer in it2 what1 in this mysterious   
,life of theirs1 they had to hope and to

 fear1 to do and to forbear doing4 ,the 
,pilgrim's ,progress is an ,allegory1   
and a beautiful1 just and serious one3  
but consider whether ,bunyan's ,allegory
 could have preceded the ,faith it      
symbolises6 ,the ,faith had to be       
already there1 standing believed by     
everybody2--of which the ,allegory could
 then become a shadow2 and1 with all its
 seriousness1 we may say a sportful     
shadow1 a mere play of the ,fancy1 in   
comparison with that awful ,fact and    
scientific certainty which it poetically
 strives to emblem4 ,the ,allegory is   
the product of the certainty1 not the   
producer of it2 not in ,bunyan's1 nor in
 any other case4 ,for ,paganism1        
therefore1 we have still to inquire1    
,whence came that scientific certainty1 
the parent of such a bewildered heap of 
allegories1 errors and confusions8 ,how 
was it1 what was it8  ,surely it were a 
foolish attempt to pretend 'explaining1'
 in this place1 or in any place1 such a 
phenomenon as that far-distant          

distracted cloudy imbroglio of          
,paganism1--more like a cloudfield than 
a distant continent of firm land and    
facts6 ,it is no longer a reality1 yet  
it was one4 ,we ought to understand that
 this seeming cloudfield was once a     
reality2 that not poetic allegory1 least
 of all that dupery and deception was   
the origin of it4 ,men1 ,i say1 never   
did believe idle songs1 never risked    
their soul's life on allegories2 men in 
all times1 especially in early earnest  
times1 have had an instinct for         
detecting quacks1 for detesting quacks4 
,let us try if1 leaving out both the    
quack theory and the allegory one1 and  
listening with affectionate attention to
 that far-off confused rumour of the    
,pagan ages1 we cannot ascertain so much
 as this at least1 ,that there was a    
kind of fact at the heart of them2 that 
they too were not mendacious and        
distracted1 but in their own poor way   
true and sane6  ,you remember that fancy
 of ,plato's1 of a man who had grown to 

maturity in some dark distance1 and was 
brought on a sudden into the upper air  
to see the sun rise4 ,what would his    
wonder be1 his rapt astonishment at the 
sight we daily witness with             
indifference6 ,with the free open sense 
of a child1 yet with the ripe faculty of
 a man1 his whole heart would be kindled
 by that sight1 he would discern it well
 to be ,godlike1 his soul would fall    
down in worship before it4 ,now1 just   
such a childlike greatness was in the   
primitive nations4 ,the first ,pagan    
,thinker among rude men1 the first man  
that began to think1 was precisely this 
child-man of ,plato's4 ,simple1 open as 
a child1 yet with the depth and strength
 of a man4 ,nature had as yet no name to
 him2 he had not yet united under a name
 the infinite variety of sights1 sounds1
 shapes and motions1 which we now       
collectively name ,universe1 ,nature1 or
 the like1--and so with a name dismiss  
it from us4 ,to the wild deep-hearted   
man all was yet new1 not veiled under   

names or formulas2 it stood naked1      
flashing-in on him there1 beautiful1    
awful1 unspeakable4 ,nature was to this 
man1 what to the ,thinker and ,prophet  
it forever is1 preternatural4 ,this     
green flowery rock-built earth1 the     
trees1 the mountains1 rivers1           
many-sounding seas2--that great deep sea
 of azure that swims overhead2 the winds
 sweeping through it2 the black cloud   
fashioning itself together1 now pouring 
out fire1 now hail and rain2 what is it8
 ,ay1 what8 ,at bottom we do not yet    
know2 we can never know at all4 ,it is  
not by our superior insight that we     
escape the difficulty2 it is by our     
superior levity1 our inattention1 our   
want of insight4 ,it is by not thinking 
that we cease to wonder at it4 ,hardened
 round us1 encasing wholly every notion 
we form1 is a wrappage of traditions1   
hearsays1 mere words4 ,we call that fire
 of the black thundercloud              
'electricity1' and lecture learnedly    
about it1 and grind the like of it out  

of glass and silk3 but what is it8 ,what
 made it8 ,whence comes it8 ,whither    
goes it8 ,science has done much for us2 
but it is a poor science that would hide
 from us the great deep sacred          
infinitude of ,nescience1 whither we can
 never penetrate1 on which all science  
swims as a mere superficial film4 ,this 
world1 after all our science and        
sciences1 is still a miracle2 wonderful1
 inscrutable1 magical and more1 to      
whosoever will think of it4  ,that great
 mystery of ,,time1 were there no other3
 the illimitable1 silent1 never-resting 
thing called ,time1 rolling1 rushing on1
 swift1 silent1 like an all-embracing   
ocean-tide1 on which we and all the     
,universe swim like exhalations1 like   
apparitions which are1 and then are not3
 this is forever very literally a       
miracle2 a thing to strike us dumb1--for
 we have no word to speak about it4     
,this ,universe1 ah me--what could the  
wild man know of it2 what can we yet    
know8 ,that it is a ,force1 and         

thousandfold ,complexity of ,forces2 a  
,force which is not we4 ,that is all2 it
 is not we1 it is altogether different  
from us4 ,force1 ,force1 everywhere     
,force2 we ourselves a mysterious ,force
 in the centre of that4 ',there is not a
 leaf rotting on the highway but has    
,force in it3 how else could it rot8'   
,nay surely1 to the ,atheistic ,thinker1
 if such a one were possible1 it must be
 a miracle too1 this huge illimitable   
whirlwind of ,force1 which envelops us  
here2 never-resting whirlwind1 high as  
,immensity1 old as ,eternity4 ,what is  
it8 ,god's creation1 the religious      
people answer2 it is the ,almighty      
,god's6 ,atheistic science babbles      
poorly of it1 with scientific           
nomenclatures1 experiments and what-not1
 as if it were a poor dead thing1 to be 
bottled up in ,leyden jars and sold over
 counters3 but the natural sense of man1
 in all times1 if he will honestly apply
 his sense1 proclaims it to be a living 
thing1--ah1 an unspeakable1 godlike     

thing2 towards which the best attitude  
for us1 after never so much science1 is 
awe1 devout prostration and humility of 
soul2 worship if not in words1 then in  
silence4  ,but now ,i remark farther3   
,what in such a time as ours it requires
 a ,prophet or ,poet to teach us1       
namely1 the stripping-off of those poor 
undevout wrappages1 nomenclatures and   
scientific hearsays1---this1 the ancient
 earnest soul1 as yet unencumbered with 
these things1 did for itself4 ,the      
world1 which is now divine only to the  
gifted1 was then divine to whosoever    
would turn his eye upon it4 ,he stood   
bare before it face to face4 ',all was  
,godlike or ,god3'--,jean ,paul still   
finds it so2 the giant ,jean ,paul1 who 
has power to escape out of hearsays3 but
 there then were no hearsays4 ,canopus  
shining-down over the desert1 with its  
blue diamond brightness 7that wild blue 
spirit-like brightness1 far brighter    
than we ever witness here71 would pierce
 into the heart of the wild             

,ishmaelitish man1 whom it was guiding  
through the solitary waste there4 ,to   
his wild heart1 with all feelings in it1
 with no speech for any feeling1 it may 
seem a little eye1 that ,canopus1       
glancing-out on him from the great deep 
,eternity2 revealing the inner          
,splendour to him4 ,cannot we understand
 how these men worshipped ,canopus2     
became what we call ,sabeans1           
worshipping the stars8 ,such is to me   
the secret of all forms of ,paganism4   
,worship is transcendent wonder2 wonder 
for which there is now no limit or      
measure2 that is worship4 ,to these     
primeval men1 all things and everything 
they saw exist beside them were an      
emblem of the ,godlike1 of some ,god4   
,and look what perennial fibre of truth 
was in that4 ,to us also1 through every 
star1 through every blade of grass1 is  
not a ,god made visible1 if we will open
 our minds and eyes8 ,we do not worship 
in that way now3 but is it not reckoned 
still a merit1 proof of what we call a  

'poetic nature1' that we recognise how  
every object has a divine beauty in it2 
how every object still verily is 'a     
window through which we may look into   
,infinitude itself'8 ,he that can       
discern the loveliness of things1 we    
call him ,poet1 ,painter1 ,man of       
,genius1 gifted1 lovable4 ,these poor   
,sabeans did even what he does1--in     
their own fashion4 ,that they did it1 in
 what fashion soever1 was a merit3      
better than what the entirely stupid man
 did1 what the horse and camel          
did1--namely1 nothing6  ,but now if all 
things whatsoever that we look upon are 
emblems to us of the ,highest ,god1 ,i  
add that more so than any of them is man
 such an emblem4 ,you have heard of ,st4
 ,chrysostom's celebrated saying in     
reference to the ,shekinah1 or ,ark of  
,testimony1 visible ,revelation of ,god1
 among the ,hebrews3 ,the true ,shekinah
 is ,man6 ,yes1 it is even so3 this is  
no vain phrase2 it is veritably so4 ,the
 essence of our being1 the mystery in us

 that calls itself ,i1--ah1 what words  
have we for such things8--is a breath of
 ,heaven2 the ,highest ,being reveals   
himself in man4 ,this body1 these       
faculties1 this life of ours1 is it not 
all as a vesture for that ,unnamed8     
',there is but one ,temple in the       
,universe1' says the devout ,novalis1   
'and that is the ,body of ,man4 ,nothing
 is holier than that high form4 ,bending
 before men is a reverence done to this 
,revelation in the ,flesh4 ,we touch    
,heaven when we lay our hand on a human 
body6' ,this sounds much like a mere    
flourish of rhetoric2 but it is not so4 
,if well meditated1 it will turn out to 
be a scientific fact2 the expression1 in
 such words as can be had1 of the actual
 truth of the thing4 ,we are the miracle
 of miracles1--the great inscrutable    
mystery of ,god4 ,we cannot understand  
it1 we know not how to speak of it2 but 
we may feel and know1 if we like1 that  
it is verily so4  ,well2 these truths   
were once more readily felt than now4   

,the young generations of the world1 who
 had in them the freshness of young     
children1 and yet the depth of earnest  
men1 who did not think that they had    
finished-off all things in ,heaven and  
,earth by merely giving them scientific 
names1 but had to gaze direct at them   
there1 with awe and wonder3 they felt   
better what of divinity is in man and   
,nature2--they1 without being mad1 could
 worship ,nature1 and man more than     
anything else in ,nature4 ,worship1 that
 is1 as ,i said above1 admire without   
limit3 this1 in the full use of their   
faculties1 with all sincerity of heart1 
they could do4 ,i consider ,hero-worship
 to be the grand modifying element in   
that ancient system of thought4 ,what ,i
 called the perplexed jungle of         
,paganism sprang1 we may say1 out of    
many roots3 every admiration1 adoration 
of a star or natural object1 was a root 
or fibre of a root2 but ,hero-worship is
 the deepest root of all2 the tap-root1 
from which in a great degree all the    

rest were nourished and grown4  ,and now
 if worship even of a star had some     
meaning in it1 how much more might that 
of a ,hero6 ,worship of a ,hero is      
transcendent admiration of a ,great     
,man4 ,i say great men are still        
admirable2 ,i say there is1 at bottom1  
nothing else admirable6 ,no nobler      
feeling than this of admiration for one 
higher than himself dwells in the breast
 of man4 ,it is to this hour1 and at all
 hours1 the vivifying influence in man's
 life4 ,religion ,i find stand upon it2 
not ,paganism only1 but far higher and  
truer religions1--all religion hitherto 
known4 ,hero-worship1 heartfelt         
prostrate admiration1 submission1       
burning1 boundless1 for a noblest       
godlike ,form of ,man1--is not that the 
germ of ,christianity itself8 ,the      
greatest of all ,heroes is ,one--whom we
 do not name here6 ,let sacred silence  
meditate that sacred matter2 you will   
find it the ultimate perfection of a    
principle extant throughout man's whole 

history on earth4  ,or coming into      
lower1 less unspeakable provinces1 is   
not all ,loyalty akin to religious      
,faith also8 ,faith is loyalty to some  
inspired ,teacher1 some spiritual ,hero4
 ,and what therefore is loyalty proper1 
the life-breath of all society1 but an  
effluence of ,hero-worship1 submissive  
admiration for the truly great8 ,society
 is founded on ,hero-worship4 ,all      
dignities of rank1 on which human       
association rests1 are what we may call 
a ,heroarchy 7,government of            
,heroes71--or a ,hierarchy1 for it is   
'sacred' enough withal6 ,the ,duke means
 ,dux1 ,leader2 ,king is ,kn-ning1      
,kan-ning1 ,man that knows or cans4     
,society everywhere is some             
representation1 not insupportably       
inaccurate1 of a graduated ,worship of  
,heroes2--reverence and obedience done  
to men really great and wise4 ,not      
insupportably inaccurate1 ,i say6 ,they 
are all as bank-notes1 these social     
dignitaries1 all representing gold2--and

 several of them1 alas1 always are      
forged notes4 ,we can do with some      
forged false notes2 with a good many    
even2 but not with all1 or the most of  
them forged6 ,no3 there have to come    
revolutions then2 cries of ,democracy1  
,liberty1 and ,equality1 and ,i know not
 what3--the notes being all false1 and  
no gold to be had for them1 people take 
to crying in their despair that there is
 no gold1 that there never was          
any6--',gold1' ,hero-worship1 is        
nevertheless1 as it was always and      
everywhere1 and cannot cease till man   
himself ceases4  ,i am well aware that  
in these days ,hero-worship1 the thing  
,i call ,hero-worship1 professes to have
 gone out1 and finally ceased4 ,this1   
for reasons which it will be worth while
 some time to inquire into1 is an age   
that as it were denies the existence of 
great men2 denies the desirableness of  
great men4 ,show our critics a great    
man1 a ,luther for example1 they begin  
to what they call 'account' for him2 not

 to worship him1 but take the dimensions
 of him1--and bring him out to be a     
little kind of man6 ,he was the         
'creature of the ,time1' they say2 the  
,time called him forth1 the ,time did   
everything1 he nothing--but what we the 
little critic could have done too6 ,this
 seems to me but melancholy work4 ,the  
,time call forth8 ,alas1 we have known  
,times call loudly enough for their     
great man2 but not find him when they   
called6 ,he was not there2 ,providence  
had not sent him2 the ,time1 calling its
 loudest1 had to go down to confusion   
and wreck because he would not come when
 called4  ,for if we will think of it1  
no ,time need have gone to ruin1 could  
it have found a man great enough1 a man 
wise and good enough3 wisdom to discern 
truly what the ,time wanted1 valour to  
lead it on the right road thither2 these
 are the salvation of any ,time4 ,but ,i
 liken common languid ,times1 with their
 unbelief1 distress1 perplexity1 with   
their languid doubting characters and   

embarrassed circumstances1 impotently   
crumbling-down into ever worse distress 
towards final ruin2--all this ,i liken  
to dry dead fuel1 waiting for the       
lightning out of ,heaven that shall     
kindle it4 ,the great man1 with his free
 force direct out of ,god's own hand1 is
 the lightning4 ,his word is the wise   
healing word which all can believe in4  
,all blazes round him now1 when he has  
once struck on it1 into fire like his   
own4 ,the dry mouldering sticks are     
thought to have called him forth4 ,they 
did want him greatly2 but as to calling 
him forth--6--,those are critics of     
small vision1 ,i think1 who cry3 ,see1  
is it not the sticks that made the fire8
 ,no sadder proof can be given by a man 
of his own littleness than disbelief in 
great men4 ,there is no sadder symptom  
of a generation than such general       
blindness to the spiritual lightning1   
with faith only in the heap of barren   
dead fuel4 ,it is the last consummation 
of unbelief4 ,in all epochs of the      

world's history1 we shall find the      
,great ,man to have been the            
indispensable saviour of his epoch2--the
 lightning1 without which the fuel never
 would have burnt4 ,the ,history of the 
,world1 ,i said already1 was the        
,biography of ,great ,men4  ,such small 
critics do what they can to promote     
unbelief and universal spiritual        
paralysis2 but happily they cannot      
always completely succeed4 ,in all times
 it is possible for a man to arise great
 enough to feel that they and their     
doctrines are chimeras and cobwebs4 ,and
 what is notable1 in no time whatever   
can they entirely eradicate out of      
living men's hearts a certain altogether
 peculiar reverence for ,great ,men2    
genuine admiration1 loyalty1 adoration1 
however dim and perverted it may be4    
,hero-worship endures for ever while man
 endures4 ,boswell venerates his        
,johnson1 right truly even in the       
,eighteenth century4 ,the unbelieving   
,french believe in their ,voltaire2 and 

burst-out round him into very curious   
,hero-worship1 in that last act of his  
life when they 'stifle him under roses4'
 ,it has always seemed to me extremely  
curious this of ,voltaire4 ,truly1 if   
,christianity be the highest instance of
 ,hero-worship1 then we may find here in
 ,voltaireism one of the lowest6 ,he    
whose life was that of a kind of        
,antichrist1 does again on this side    
exhibit a curious contrast4 ,no people  
ever were so little prone to admire at  
all as those ,french of ,voltaire4      
,persiflage was the character of their  
whole mind2 adoration had nowhere a     
place in it4 ,yet see6 ,the old man of  
,ferney comes up to ,paris2 an old1     
tottering1 infirm man of eighty-four    
years4 ,they feel that he too is a kind 
of ,hero2 that he has spent his life in 
opposing error and injustice1 delivering
 ,calases1 unmasking hypocrites in high 
places2--in short that he too1 though in
 a strange way1 has fought like a       
valiant man4 ,they feel withal that1 if 

persiflage be the great thing1 there    
never was such a persifleur4 ,he is the 
realised ideal of every one of them2 the
 thing they are all wanting to be2 of   
all ,frenchmen the most ,french4 ,he is 
properly their god1--such god as they   
are fit for4 ,accordingly all persons1  
from the ,queen ,antoinette to the      
,douanier at the ,porte ,st4 ,denis1 do 
they not worship him8 ,people of quality
 disguise themselves as tavern-waiters4 
,the ,matre de ,poste1 with a broad     
oath1 orders his ,postillion1 ,va bon   
train2 thou art driving ,m4 de          
,voltaire4 ,at ,paris his carriage is   
'the nucleus of a comet1 whose train    
fills whole streets4' ,the ladies pluck 
a hair or two from his fur1 to keep it  
as a sacred relic4 ,there was nothing   
highest1 beautifulest1 noblest in all   
,france1 that did not feel this man to  
be higher1 beautifuler1 nobler4  ,yes1  
from ,norse ,odin to ,english ,samuel   
,johnson1 from the divine ,founder of   
,christianity to the withered ,pontiff  

of ,encyclopedism1 in all times and     
places1 the ,hero has been worshipped4  
,it will ever be so4 ,we all love great 
men2 love1 venerate1 and bow down       
submissive before great men3 nay can we 
honestly bow down to anything else8 ,ah1
 does not every true man feel that he is
 himself made higher by doing reverence 
to what is really above him8 ,no nobler 
or more blessed feeling dwells in man's 
heart4 ,and to me it is very cheering to
 consider that no sceptical logic1 or   
general triviality1 insincerity and     
aridity of any ,time and its influences 
can destroy this noble inborn loyalty   
and worship that is in man4 ,in times of
 unbelief1 which soon have to become    
times of revolution1 much down-rushing1 
sorrowful decay and ruin is visible to  
everybody4 ,for myself in these days1 ,i
 seem to see in this indestructibility  
of ,hero-worship the everlasting adamant
 lower than which the confused wreck of 
revolutionary things cannot fall4 ,the  
confused wreck of things crumbling and  

even crashing and tumbling all round us 
in these revolutionary ages1 will get   
down so far2 no farther4 ,it is an      
eternal corner-stone1 from which they   
can begin to build themselves up again4 
,that man1 in some sense or other1      
worships ,heroes2 that we all of us     
reverence and must ever reverence ,great
 ,men3 this is1 to me1 the living rock  
amid all rushings-down whatsoever2--the 
one fixed point in modern revolutionary 
history1 otherwise as if bottomless and 
shoreless4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,so much of truth1 only    
under an ancient obsolete vesture1 but  
the spirit of it still true1 do ,i find 
in the ,paganism of old nations4 ,nature
 is still divine1 the revelation of the 
workings of ,god2 the ,hero is still    
worshipable3 this1 under poor cramped   
incipient forms1 is what all ,pagan     
religions have struggled1 as they could1
 to set forth4 ,i think ,scandinavian   
,paganism1 to us here1 is more          
interesting than any other4 ,it is1 for 

one thing1 the latest2 it continued in  
these regions of ,europe till the       
eleventh century3 eight-hundred years   
ago the ,norwegians were still          
worshippers of ,odin4 ,it is interesting
 also as the creed of our fathers2 the  
men whose blood still runs in our veins1
 whom doubtless we still resemble in so 
many ways4 ,strange3 they did believe   
that1 while we believe so differently4  
,let us look a little at this poor      
,norse creed1 for many reasons4 ,we have
 tolerable means to do it2 for there is 
another point of interest in these      
,scandinavian mythologies3 that they    
have been preserved so well4  ,in that  
strange island ,iceland1--burst-up1 the 
geologists say1 by fire from the bottom 
of the sea2 a wild land of barrenness   
and lava2 swallowed many months of every
 year in black tempests1 yet with a wild
 gleaming beauty in summer-time2        
towering up there1 stern and grim1 in   
the ,north ,ocean2 with its snow jokuls1
 roaring geysers1 sulphur-pools and     

horrid volcanic chasms1 like the waste  
chaotic battle-field of ,frost and      
,fire2--where of all places we least    
looked for ,literature or written       
memorials1 the record of these things   
was written down4 ,on the seaboard of   
this wild land is a rim of grassy       
country1 where cattle can subsist1 and  
men by means of them and of what the sea
 yields2 and it seems they were poetic  
men these1 men who had deep thoughts in 
them1 and uttered musically their       
thoughts4 ,much would be lost1 had      
,iceland not been burst-up from the sea1
 not been discovered by the ,northmen6  
,the old ,norse ,poets were many of them
 natives of ,iceland4  ,smund1 one of   
the early ,christian ,priests there1 who
 perhaps had a lingering fondness for   
,paganism1 collected certain of their   
old ,pagan songs1 just about becoming   
obsolete then1--,poems or ,chants of a  
mythic1 prophetic1 mostly all of a      
religious character3 that is what ,norse
 critics call the ,elder or ,poetic     

,edda4 ,edda1 a word of uncertain       
etymology1 is thought to signify        
,ancestress4 ,snorro ,sturleson1 an     
,iceland gentleman1 an extremely notable
 personage1 educated by this ,smund's   
grandson1 took in hand next1 near a     
century afterwards1 to put together1    
among several other books he wrote1 a   
kind of ,prose ,synopsis of the whole   
,mythology2 elucidated by new fragments 
of traditionary verse4 ,a work          
constructed really with great ingenuity1
 native talent1 what one might call     
unconscious art2 altogether a           
perspicuous clear work1 pleasant reading
 still3 this is the ,younger or ,prose  
,edda4 ,by these and the numerous other 
,sagas1 mostly ,icelandic1 with the     
commentaries1 ,icelandic or not1 which  
go on zealously in the ,north to this   
day1 it is possible to gain some direct 
insight even yet2 and see that old      
,norse system of ,belief1 as it were1   
face to face4 ,let us forget that it is 
erroneous ,religion2 let us look at it  

as old ,thought1 and try if we cannot   
sympathise with it somewhat4  ,the      
primary characteristic of this old      
,northland ,mythology ,i find to be     
,impersonation of the visible workings  
of ,nature4 ,earnest simple recognition 
of the workings of ,physical ,nature1 as
 a thing wholly miraculous1 stupendous  
and divine4 ,what we now lecture of as  
,science1 they wondered at1 and fell    
down in awe before1 as ,religion4 ,the  
dark hostile powers of ,nature they     
figure to themselves as ',jtuns1'       
,giants1 huge shaggy beings of a demonic
 character4 ,frost1 ,fire1 ,sea-tempest2
 these are ,jtuns4 ,the friendly powers 
again1 as ,summer-heat1 the ,sun1 are   
,gods4 ,the empire of this ,universe is 
divided between these two2 they dwell   
apart1 in perennial internecine feud4   
,the ,gods dwell above in ,asgard1 the  
,garden of the ,asen1 or ,divinities2   
,jtunheim1 a distant dark chaotic land1 
is the home of the ,jtuns4  ,curious all
 this2 and not idle or inane1 if we will

 look at the foundation of it6 ,the     
power of ,fire1 or ,flame1 for instance1
 which we designate by some trivial     
chemical name1 thereby hiding from      
ourselves the essential character of    
wonder that dwells in it as in all      
things1 is with these old ,northmen1    
,loke1 a most swift subtle ,demon1 of   
the brood of the ,jtuns4 ,the savages of
 the ,ladrones ,islands too 7say some   
,spanish voyagers7 thought ,fire1 which 
they never had seen before1 was a devil 
or god1 that bit you sharply when you   
touched it1 and that lived upon dry     
wood4 ,from us too no ,chemistry1 if it 
had not ,stupidity to help it1 would    
hide that ,flame is a wonder4 ,what is  
,flame8--,frost the old ,norse ,seer    
discerns to be a monstrous hoary ,jtun1 
the ,giant ,thrym1 ,hrym3 or ,rime1 the 
old word now nearly obsolete here1 but  
still used in ,scotland to signify      
hoar-frost4 ,rime was not then as now a 
dead chemical thing1 but a living ,jtun 
or ,devil2 the monstrous ,jtun ,rime    

drove home his ,horses at night1 sat    
'combing their manes1'--which ,horses   
were ,hail-,clouds1 or fleet            
,frost-,winds4 ,his ,cows--,no1 not his1
 but a kinsman's1 the ,giant ,hymir's   
,cows are ,icebergs3 this ,hymir 'looks 
at the rocks' with his devil-eye1 and   
they split in the glance of it4         
,thunder was not then mere ,electricity1
 vitreous or resinous2 it was the ,god  
,donner 7,thunder7 or ,thor1--,god also 
of beneficent ,summer-heat4 ,the thunder
 was his wrath2 the gathering of the    
black clouds is the drawing down of     
,thor's angry brows2 the fire-bolt      
bursting out of ,heaven is the          
all-rending ,hammer flung from the hand 
of ,thor3 he urges his loud chariot over
 the mountain-tops1--that is the peal3  
wrathful he 'blows in his red           
beard1'--that is the rustling           
storm-blast before the thunder begin4   
,balder again1 the ,white ,god1 the     
beautiful1 the just and benignant 7whom 
the early ,christian ,missionaries found

 to resemble ,christ71 is the           
,sun--beautifulest of visible things2   
wondrous too1 and divine still1 after   
all our ,astronomies and ,almanacs6 ,but
 perhaps the notablest god we hear      
tell-of is one of whom ,grimm the       
,german ,etymologist finds trace3 the   
,god ,wnsch1 or ,wish4 ,the ,god ,wish2 
who could give us all that we wished6   
,is not this the sincerest yet rudest   
voice of the spirit of man8 ,the rudest 
ideal that man ever formed2 which still 
shows itself in the latest forms of our 
spiritual culture4 ,higher              
considerations have to teach us that the
 ,god ,wish is not the true ,god4  ,of  
the other ,gods or ,jtuns ,i will       
mention only for etymology's sake1 that 
,sea-tempest is the ,jtun ,aegir1 a very
 dangerous ,jtun2--and now to this day1 
on our river ,trent1 as ,i learn1 the   
,nottingham bargemen1 when the ,river is
 in a certain flooded state 7a kind of  
back-water1 or eddying swirl it has1    
very dangerous to them71 call it ,eager2

 they cry out1 ,have a care1 there is   
the ,eager coming6 ,curious2 that word  
surviving1 like the peak of a submerged 
world6 ,the oldest ,nottingham bargemen 
had believed in the ,god ,aegir4        
,indeed1 our ,english blood too in good 
part is ,danish1 ,norse2 or rather1 at  
bottom1 ,danish and ,norse and ,saxon   
have no distinction1 except a           
superficial one1--as of ,heathen and    
,christian1 or the like4 ,but all over  
our ,island we are mingled largely with 
,danes proper1--from the incessant      
invasions there were3 and this1 of      
course1 in a greater proportion along   
the east coast2 and greatest of all1 as 
,i find1 in the ,north ,country4 ,from  
the ,humber upwards1 all over ,scotland1
 the ,speech of the common people is    
still in a singular degree ,icelandic2  
its ,germanism has still a peculiar     
,norse tinge4 ,they too are ',normans1' 
,northmen1--if that be any great        
beauty6--  ,of the chief god1 ,odin1 we 
shall speak by and by4 ,mark at present 

so much2 what the essence of            
,scandinavian and indeed of all         
,paganism is3 a recognition of the      
forces of ,nature as godlike1           
stupendous1 personal ,agencies1--as     
,gods and ,demons4 ,not inconceivable to
 us4 ,it is the infant ,thought of man  
opening itself1 with awe and wonder1 on 
this ever-stupendous ,universe4 ,to me  
there is in the ,norse ,system something
 very genuine1 very great and manlike4  
,a broad simplicity1 rusticity1 so very 
different from the light gracefulness of
 the old ,greek ,paganism1 distinguishes
 this ,scandinavian ,system4 ,it is     
,thought2 the genuine ,thought of deep1 
rude1 earnest minds1 fairly opened to   
the things about them2 a face-to-face   
and heart-to-heart inspection of the    
things1--the first characteristic of all
 good ,thought in all times4 ,not       
graceful lightness1 half-sport1 as in   
the ,greek ,paganism2 a certain homely  
truthfulness and rustic strength1 a     
great rude sincerity1 discloses itself  

here4 ,it is strange1 after our         
beautiful ,apollo statues and clear     
smiling mythuses1 to come down upon the 
,norse ,gods 'brewing ale' to hold their
 feast with ,aegir1 the ,sea-,jtun2     
sending out ,thor to get the caldron for
 them in the ,jtun country2 ,thor1 after
 many adventures1 clapping the ,pot on  
his head1 like a huge hat1 and walking  
off with it1--quite lost in it1 the ears
 of the ,pot reaching down to his heels6
 ,a kind of vacant hugeness1 large      
awkward gianthood1 characterises that   
,norse ,system2 enormous force1 as yet  
altogether untutored1 stalking helpless 
with large uncertain strides4 ,consider 
only their primary mythus of the        
,creation4 ,the ,gods1 having got the   
,giant ,ymer slain1 a ,giant made by    
'warm wind1' and much confused work1 out
 of the conflict of ,frost and          
,fire1--determined on constructing a    
world with him4 ,his blood made the sea2
 his flesh was the ,land1 the ,rocks his
 bones2 of his eyebrows they formed     

,asgard their ,gods'-dwelling2 his skull
 was the great blue vault of ,immensity1
 and the brains of it became the        
,clouds4 ,what a ,hyper-,brobdignagian  
business6 ,untamed ,thought1 great1     
giantlike1 enormous2--to be tamed in due
 time into the compact greatness1 not   
giant-like1 but godlike and stronger    
than gianthood1 of the ,shakspeares1 the
 ,goethes6--,spiritually as well as     
bodily these men are our progenitors4   
,i like1 too1 that representation they  
have of the ,tree ,igdrasil4 ,all ,life 
is figured by them as a ,tree4          
,igdrasil1 the ,ash-tree of ,existence1 
has its roots deep-down in the kingdoms 
of ,hela or ,death2 its trunk reaches up
 heaven-high1 spreads its boughs over   
the whole ,universe3 it is the ,tree of 
,existence4 ,at the foot of it1 in the  
,death-kingdom1 sit three ,nornas1      
,fates1--the ,past1 ,present1 ,future2  
watering its roots from the ,sacred     
,well4 ,its 'boughs1' with their        
buddings and disleafings1--events1      

things suffered1 things done1           
catastrophes1--stretch through all lands
 and times4 ,is not every leaf of it a  
biography1 every fibre there an act or  
word8 ,its boughs are ,histories of     
,nations4 ,the rustle of it is the noise
 of ,human ,existence1 onwards from of  
old4 ,it grows there1 the breath of     
,human ,passion rustling through it2--or
 stormtost1 the stormwind howling       
through it like the voice of all the    
gods4 ,it is ,igdrasil1 the ,tree of    
,existence4 ,it is the past1 the        
present1 and the future2 what was done1 
what is doing1 what will be done2 'the  
infinite conjugation of the verb ,to    
do4' ,considering how human things      
circulate1 each inextricably in         
communion with all1--how the word ,i    
speak to you to-day is borrowed1 not    
from ,ulfila the ,moesogoth only1 but   
from all men since the first man began  
to speak1--,i find no similitude so true
 as this of a ,tree4 ,beautiful2        
altogether beautiful and great4 ,the    

',machine of the ,universe1'--alas1 do  
but think of that in contrast6          
99       99       99       99       99  
,well1 it is strange enough this old    
,norse view of ,nature2 different enough
 from what we believe of ,nature4       
,whence it specially came1 one would not
 like to be compelled to say very       
minutely6 ,one thing we may say3 ,it    
came from the thoughts of ,norse        
men2--from the thought1 above all1 of   
the first ,norse man who had an original
 power of thinking4 ,the ,first ,norse  
'man of genius1' as we should call him6 
,innumerable men had passed by1 across  
this ,universe1 with a dumb vague       
wonder1 such as the very animals may    
feel2 or with a painful1 fruitlessly    
inquiring wonder1 such as men only      
feel2--till the great ,thinker came1 the
 original man1 the ,seer2 whose shaped  
spoken ,thought awakes the slumbering   
capability of all into ,thought4 ,it is 
ever the way with the ,thinker1 the     
spiritual ,hero4 ,what he says1 all men 

were not far from saying1 were longing  
to say4 ,the ,thoughts of all start up1 
as from painful enchanted sleep1 round  
his ,thought2 answering to it1 ,yes1    
even so6 ,joyful to men as the dawning  
of day from night2 is it not1 indeed1   
the awakening for them from no-being    
into being1 from death into life8 ,we   
still honour such a man2 call him ,poet1
 ,genius1 and so forth3 but to these    
wild men he was a very magician1 a      
worker of miraculous unexpected blessing
 for them2 a ,prophet1 a ,god6--,thought
 once awakened does not again slumber2  
unfolds itself into a ,system of        
,thought2 grows1 in man after man1      
generation after generation1--till its  
full stature is reached1 and such       
,system of ,thought can grow no farther1
 but must give place to another4  ,for  
the ,norse people1 the ,man now named   
,odin1 and ,chief ,norse ,god1 we fancy1
 was such a man4 ,a ,teacher1 and       
,captain of soul and of body2 a ,hero1  
of worth immeasurable2 admiration for   

whom1 transcending the known bounds1    
became adoration4 ,has he not the power 
of articulate ,thinking2 and many other 
powers1 as yet miraculous8 ,so1 with    
boundless gratitude1 would the rude     
,norse heart feel4 ,has he not solved   
for them the sphinx-enigma of this      
,universe2 given assurance to them of   
their own destiny there8 ,by him they   
know now what they have to do here1 what
 to look for hereafter4 ,existence has  
become articulate1 melodious by him2 he 
first has made ,life alive6--,we may    
call this ,odin1 the origin of ,norse   
,mythology3 ,odin1 or whatever name the 
,first ,norse ,thinker bore while he was
 a man among men4 ,his view of the      
,universe once promulgated1 a like view 
starts into being in all minds2 grows1  
keeps ever growing1 while it continues  
credible there4 ,in all minds it lay    
written1 but invisibly1 as in           
sympathetic ink2 at his word it starts  
into visibility in all4 ,nay1 in every  
epoch of the world1 the great event1    

parent of all others1 is it not the     
arrival of a ,thinker in the world6--   
,one other thing we must not forget2 it 
will explain1 a little1 the confusion of
 these ,norse ,eddas4 ,they are not one 
coherent ,system of ,thought2 but       
properly the summation of several       
successive systems4 ,all this of the old
 ,norse ,belief which is flung-out for  
us1 in one level of distance in the     
,edda1 like a picture painted on the    
same canvas1 does not at all stand so in
 the reality4 ,it stands rather at all  
manner of distances and depths1 of      
successive generations since the ,belief
 first began4 ,all ,scandinavian        
thinkers1 since the first of them1      
contributed to the ,scandinavian ,system
 of ,thought2 in ever-new elaboration   
and addition1 it is the combined work of
 them all4 ,what history it had1 how it 
changed from shape to shape1 by one     
thinker's contribution after another1   
till it got to the full final shape we  
see it under in the ,edda1 no man will  

now ever know3 its ,councils of         
,trebisond1 ,councils of ,trent1        
,athanasiuses1 ,dantes1 ,luthers1 are   
sunk without echo in the dark night6    
,only that it had such a history we can 
all know4 ,wheresoever a thinker        
appeared1 there in the thing he         
thought-of was a contribution1          
accession1 a change or revolution made4 
,alas1 the grandest 'revolution' of all1
 the one made by the man ,odin himself1 
is not this too sunk for us like the    
rest6 ,of ,odin what history8 ,strange  
rather to reflect that he had a history6
 ,that this ,odin1 in his wild ,norse   
vesture1 with his wild beard and eyes1  
his rude ,norse speech and ways1 was a  
man like us2 with our sorrows1 joys1    
with our limbs1 features2--intrinsically
 all one as we3 and did such a work6    
,but the work1 much of it1 has perished2
 the worker1 all to the name4           
,wednesday1 men will say to-morrow2     
,odin's day6 ,of ,odin there exists no  
history2 no document of it2 no guess    

about it worth repeating4  ,snorro      
indeed1 in the quietest manner1 almost  
in a brief business style1 writes down1 
in his ,heimskringla1 how ,odin was a   
heroic ,prince1 in the ,black-,sea      
region1 with ,twelve ,peers1 and a great
 people straitened for room4 ,how he led
 these ,asen 7,asiatics7 of his out of  
,asia2 settled them in the ,north parts 
of ,europe1 by warlike conquest2        
invented ,letters1 ,poetry and so       
forth1--and came by and by to be        
worshipped as ,chief ,god by these      
,scandinavians1 his ,twelve ,peers made 
into ,twelve ,sons of his own1 ,gods    
like himself3 ,snorro has no doubt of   
this4 ,saxo ,grammaticus1 a very curious
 ,northman of that same century1 is     
still more unhesitating2 scruples not to
 find out a historical fact in every    
individual mythus1 and writes it down as
 a terrestrial event in ,denmark or     
elsewhere4 ,torfus1 learned and         
cautious1 some centuries later1 assigns 
by calculation a date for it3 ,odin1 he 

says1 came into ,europe about the ,year 
#gj before ,christ4 ,of all which1 as   
grounded on mere uncertainties1 found to
 be untenable now1 ,i need say nothing4 
,far1 very far beyond the ,year #gj6    
,odin's date1 adventures1 whole         
terrestrial history1 figure and         
environment are sunk from us forever    
into unknown thousands of years4  ,nay  
,grimm1 the ,german ,antiquary1 goes so 
far as to deny that any man ,odin ever  
existed4 ,he proves it by etymology4    
,the word ,wuotan1 which is the original
 form of ,odin1 a word spread1 as name  
of their chief ,divinity1 over all the  
,teutonic ,nations everywhere2 this     
word1 which connects itself1 according  
to ,grimm1 with the ,latin vadere1 with 
the ,english wade and suchlike1--means  
primarily ,movement1 ,source of         
,movement1 ,power2 and is the fit name  
of the highest god1 not of any man4 ,the
 word signifies ,divinity1 he says1     
among the old ,saxon1 ,german and all   
,teutonic ,nations2 the adjectives      

formed from it all signify divine1      
supreme1 or something pertaining to the 
chief god4 ,like enough6 ,we must bow to
 ,grimm in matters etymological4 ,let us
 consider it fixed that ,wuotan means   
,wading1 force of ,movement4 ,and now   
still1 what hinders it from being the   
name of a ,heroic ,man and ,mover1 as   
well as of a god8 ,as for the           
adjectives1 and words formed from       
it1--did not the ,spaniards in their    
universal admiration for ,lope1 get into
 the habit of saying 'a ,lope flower1' a
 ',lope dama1' if the flower or woman   
were of surpassing beauty8 ,had this    
lasted1 ,lope would have grown1 in      
,spain1 to be an adjective signifying   
godlike also4 ,indeed1 ,adam ,smith1 in 
his ,essay on ,language1 surmises that  
all adjectives whatsoever were formed   
precisely in that way3 some very green  
thing chiefly notable for its greenness1
 got the appellative name ,green1 and   
then the next thing remarkable for that 
quality1 a tree for instance1 was named 

the green tree1--as we still say 'the   
steam coach1' 'four-horse coach1' or the
 like4 ,all primary adjectives1         
according to ,smith1 were formed in this
 way2 were at first substantives and    
things4 ,we cannot annihilate a man for 
etymologies like that6 ,surely there was
 a ,first ,teacher and ,captain2 surely 
there must have been an ,odin1 palpable 
to the sense at one time2 no adjective1 
but a real ,hero of flesh and blood6    
,the voice of all tradition1 history or 
echo of history1 agrees with all that   
thought will teach one about it1 to     
assure us of this4  ,how the man ,odin  
came to be considered a god1 the chief  
god8--that surely is a question which   
nobody would wish to dogmatise upon4 ,i 
have said1 his people knew no limits to 
their admiration of him2 they had as yet
 no scale to measure admiration by4     
,fancy your own generous heart's-love of
 some greatest man expanding till it    
transcended all bounds1 till it filled  
and overflowed the whole field of your  

thought6 ,or what if this man           
,odin1--since a great deep soul1 with   
the afflatus and mysterious tide of     
vision and impulse rushing on him he    
knows not whence1 is ever an enigma1 a  
kind of terror and wonder to            
himself1--should have felt that perhaps 
he was divine2 that he was some         
effluence of the ',wuotan1' ',movement1'
 ,supreme ,power and ,divinity1 of whom 
to his rapt vision all ,nature was the  
awful ,flame-image2 that some effluence 
of ,wuotan dwelt here in him6 ,he was   
not necessarily false2 he was but       
mistaken1 speaking the truest he knew4  
,a great soul1 any sincere soul1 knows  
not what he is1--alternates between the 
highest height and the lowest depth2    
can1 of all things1 the least           
measure--,himself6 ,what others take him
 for1 and what he guesses that he may   
be2 these two items strangely act on one
 another1 help to determine one another4
 ,with all men reverently admiring him2 
with his own wild soul full of noble    

ardours and affections1 of whirlwind    
chaotic darkness and glorious new light2
 a divine ,universe bursting all into   
godlike beauty round him1 and no man to 
whom the like ever had befallen1 what   
could he think himself to be8 ,wuotan8  
,all men answered1 ,wuotan6--  ,and then
 consider what mere ,time will do in    
such cases2 how if a man was great while
 living1 he becomes tenfold greater when
 dead4 ,what an enormous camera-obscura 
magnifier is ,tradition6 ,how a thing   
grows in the human ,memory1 in the human
 ,imagination1 when love1 worship and   
all that lies in the human ,heart1 is   
there to encourage it4 ,and in the      
darkness1 in the entire ignorance2      
without date or document1 no book1 no   
,arundel-marble2 only here and there    
some dumb monumental cairn4 ,why1 in    
thirty or forty years1 were there no    
books1 any great man would grow mythic1 
the contemporaries who had once seen    
him1 being all dead4 ,and in            
three-hundred years1 and three-thousand 

years--6--,to attempt theorising on such
 matters would profit little3 they are  
matters which refuse to be theoremed and
 diagramed2 which ,logic ought to know  
that she cannot speak of4 ,enough for us
 to discern1 far in the uttermost       
distance1 some gleam as of a small real 
light shining in the centre of that     
enormous camera-obscura image2 to       
discern that the centre of it all was   
not a madness and nothing1 but a sanity 
and something4  ,this light1 kindled in 
the great dark vortex of the ,norse     
mind1 dark but living1 waiting only for 
light2 this is to me the centre of the  
whole4 ,how such light will then shine  
out1 and with wondrous thousandfold     
expansion spread itself1 in forms and   
colours1 depends not on it1 so much as  
on the ,national ,mind recipient of it4 
,the colours and forms of your light    
will be those of the cut-glass it has to
 shine through4--,curious to think how1 
for every man1 any the truest fact is   
modelled by the nature of the man6 ,i   

said1 ,the earnest man1 speaking to his 
brother men1 must always have stated    
what seemed to him a fact1 a real       
,appearance of ,nature4 ,but the way in 
which such ,appearance or fact shaped   
itself1--what sort of fact it became for
 him1--was and is modified by his own   
laws of thinking2 deep1 subtle1 but     
universal1 ever-operating laws4 ,the    
world of ,nature1 for every man1 is the 
,phantasy of ,himself2 this world is the
 multiplex ',image of his own ,dream4'  
,who knows to what unnameable subtleties
 of spiritual law all these ,pagan      
,fables owe their shape6 ,the number    
,twelve1 divisiblest of all1 which could
 be halved1 quartered1 parted into      
three1 into six1 the most remarkable    
number1--this was enough to determine   
the ,signs of the ,zodiac1 the number of
 ,odin's ,sons1 and innumerable other   
,twelves4 ,any vague rumour of number   
had a tendency to settle itself into    
,twelve4 ,so with regard to every other 
matter4 ,and quite unconsciously        

too1--with no notion of building-up     
',allegories'6 ,but the fresh clear     
glance of those ,first ,ages would be   
prompt in discerning the secret         
relations of things1 and wholly open to 
obey these4 ,schiller finds in the      
,cestus of ,venus an everlasting sthetic
 truth as to the nature of all ,beauty2 
curious3--but he is careful not to      
insinuate that the old ,greek ,mythists 
had any notion of lecturing about the   
',philosophy of ,criticism'6----,on the 
whole we must leave those boundless     
regions4 ,cannot we conceive that ,odin 
was a reality8 ,error indeed1 error     
enough3 but sheer falsehood1 idle       
fables1 allegory aforethought1--we will 
not believe that our ,fathers believed  
in these4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,odin's ,runes are a       
significant feature of him4 ,runes1 and 
the miracles of 'magic' he worked by    
them1 make a great feature in tradition4
 ,runes are the ,scandinavian ,alphabet2
 suppose ,odin to have been the inventor

 of ,letters1 as well as 'magic1' among 
that people6 ,it is the greatest        
invention man has ever made1 this of    
marking down the unseen thought that is 
in him by written characters4 ,it is a  
kind of second speech1 almost as        
miraculous as the first4 ,you remember  
the astonishment and incredulity of     
,atahualpa the ,peruvian ,king2 how he  
made the ,spanish ,soldier who was      
guarding him scratch ,dios on his       
thumb-nail1 that he might try the next  
soldier with it1 to ascertain whether   
such a miracle was possible4 ,if ,odin  
brought ,letters among his people1 he   
might work magic enough6  ,writing by   
,runes has some air of being original   
among the ,norsemen3 not a ,phoenician  
,alphabet1 but a native ,scandinavian   
one4 ,snorro tells us farther that ,odin
 invented ,poetry2 the music of human   
speech1 as well as that miraculous runic
 marking of it4 ,transport yourselves   
into the early childhood of nations2 the
 first beautiful morning-light of our   

,europe1 when all yet lay in fresh young
 radiance as of a great sunrise1 and our
 ,europe was first beginning to think1  
to be6 ,wonder1 hope2 infinite radiance 
of hope and wonder1 as of a young       
child's thoughts1 in the hearts of these
 strong men6 ,strong sons of ,nature2   
and here was not only a wild ,captain   
and ,fighter2 discerning with his wild  
flashing eyes what to do1 with his wild 
lion-heart daring and doing it2 but a   
,poet too1 all that we mean by a ,poet1 
,prophet1 great devout ,thinker and     
,inventor1--as the truly ,great ,man    
ever is4 ,a ,hero is a ,hero at all     
points2 in the soul and thought of him  
first of all4 ,this ,odin1 in his rude  
semi-articulate way1 had a word to      
speak4 ,a great heart laid open to take 
in this great ,universe1 and man's ,life
 here1 and utter a great word about it4 
,a ,hero1 as ,i say1 in his own rude    
manner2 a wise1 gifted1 noble-hearted   
man4 ,and now1 if we still admire such a
 man beyond all others1 what must these 

wild ,norse souls1 first awakened into  
thinking1 have made of him6 ,to them1 as
 yet without names for it1 he was noble 
and noblest2 ,hero1 ,prophet1 ,god2     
,wuotan1 the greatest of all4 ,thought  
is ,thought1 however it speak or spell  
itself4 ,intrinsically1 ,i conjecture1  
this ,odin must have been of the same   
sort of stuff as the greatest kind of   
men4 ,a great thought in the wild deep  
heart of him6 ,the rough words he       
articulated1 are they not the rudimental
 roots of those ,english words we still 
use8 ,he worked so1 in that obscure     
element4 ,but he was as a light kindled 
in it2 a light of ,intellect1 rude      
,nobleness of heart1 the only kind of   
lights we have yet2 a ,hero1 as ,i say3 
and he had to shine there1 and make his 
obscure element a little lighter1--as is
 still the task of us all4  ,we will    
fancy him to be the ,type ,norseman2 the
 finest ,teuton whom that race had yet  
produced4 ,the rude ,norse heart        
burst-up into boundless admiration round

 him2 into adoration4 ,he is as a root  
of so many great things2 the fruit of   
him is found growing1 from deep         
thousands of years1 over the whole field
 of ,teutonic ,life4 ,our own           
,wednesday1 as ,i said1 is it not still 
,odin's ,day8 ,wednesbury1 ,wansborough1
 ,wanstead1 ,wandsworth3 ,odin grew into
 ,england too1 these are still leaves   
from that root6 ,he was the ,chief ,god 
to all the ,teutonic ,peoples2 their    
,pattern ,norseman2--in such way did    
they admire their ,pattern ,norseman2   
that was the fortune he had in the      
world4  ,thus if the man ,odin himself  
have vanished utterly1 there is this    
huge ,shadow of him which still projects
 itself over the whole ,history of his  
,people4 ,for this ,odin once admitted  
to be ,god1 we can understand well that 
the whole ,scandinavian ,scheme of      
,nature1 or dim ,no-scheme1 whatever it 
might before have been1 would now begin 
to develop itself altogether            
differently1 and grow thenceforth in a  

new manner4 ,what this ,odin saw into1  
and taught with his runes and his       
rhymes1 the whole ,teutonic ,people laid
 to heart and carried forward4 ,his way 
of thought became their way of          
thought3--such1 under new conditions1 is
 the history of every great thinker     
still4 ,in gigantic confused lineaments1
 like some enormous camera-obscura      
shadow thrown upwards from the dead     
deeps of the ,past1 and covering the    
whole ,northern ,heaven1 is not that    
,scandinavian ,mythology in some sort   
the ,portraiture of this man ,odin8 ,the
 gigantic image of his natural face1    
legible or not legible there1 expanded  
and confused in that manner6 ,ah1       
,thought1 ,i say1 is always ,thought4   
,no great man lives in vain4 ,the       
,history of the world is but the        
,biography of great men4  ,to me there  
is something very touching in this      
primeval figure of ,heroism2 in such    
artless1 helpless1 but hearty entire    
reception of a ,hero by his fellow-men4 

,never so helpless in shape1 it is the  
noblest of feelings1 and a feeling in   
some shape or other perennial as man    
himself4 ,if ,i could show in any       
measure1 what ,i feel deeply for a long 
time now1 ,that it is the vital element 
of manhood1 the soul of man's history   
here in our world1--it would be the     
chief use of this discoursing at        
present4 ,we do not now call our great  
men ,gods1 nor admire without limit2 ah1
 no1 with limit enough6 ,but if we have 
no great men1 or do not admire at       
all1--that were a still worse case4     
,this poor ,scandinavian ,hero-worship1 
that whole ,norse way of looking at the 
,universe1 and adjusting oneself there1 
has an indestructible merit for us4 ,a  
rude childlike way of recognising the   
divineness of ,nature1 the divineness of
 ,man2 most rude1 yet heartfelt1 robust1
 giantlike2 betokening what a giant of a
 man this child would grow to6--,it was 
a truth1 and is none4 ,is it not as the 
half-dumb stifled voice of the          

long-buried generations of our own      
,fathers1 calling out of the depths of  
ages to us1 in whose veins their blood  
still runs3 ,this then1 this is what we 
made of the world3 this is all the image
 and notion we could form to ourselves  
of this great mystery of a ,life and    
,universe4 ,despise it not4 ,you are    
raised high above it1 to large free     
scope of vision2 but you too are not yet
 at the top4 ,no1 your notion too1 so   
much enlarged1 is but a partial1        
imperfect one3 that matter is a thing no
 man will ever1 in time or out of time1 
comprehend2 after thousands of years of 
ever-new expansion1 man will find       
himself but struggling to comprehend    
again a part of it3 the thing is larger 
than man1 not to be comprehended by him2
 an ,infinite thing6         99       99
       99       99       99  ,the       
essence of the ,scandinavian1 as indeed 
of all ,pagan ,mythologies1 we found to 
be recognition of the divineness of     
,nature2 sincere communion of man with  

the mysterious invisible ,powers visibly
 seen at work in the world round him4   
,this1 ,i should say1 is more sincerely 
done in the ,scandinavian than in any   
,mythology ,i know4 ,sincerity is the   
great characteristic of it4 ,superior   
sincerity 7far superior7 consoles us for
 the total want of old ,grecian grace4  
,sincerity1 ,i think1 is better than    
grace4 ,i feel that these old ,northmen 
were looking into ,nature with open eye 
and soul3 most earnest1 honest2         
childlike1 and yet manlike2 with a      
great-hearted simplicity and depth and  
freshness1 in a true1 loving1 admiring1 
unfearing way4 ,a right valiant1 true   
old race of men4 ,such recognition of   
,nature one finds to be the chief       
element of ,paganism3 recognition of    
,man1 and his ,moral ,duty1 though this 
too is not wanting1 comes to be the     
chief element only in purer forms of    
religion4 ,here1 indeed1 is a great     
distinction and epoch in ,human         
,beliefs2 a great landmark in the       

religious development of ,mankind4 ,man 
first puts himself in relation with     
,nature and her ,powers1 wonders and    
worships over those2 not till a later   
epoch does he discern that all ,power is
 ,moral1 that the grand point is the    
distinction for him of ,good and ,evil1 
of ,thou shalt and ,thou shalt not4     
,with regard to all these fabulous      
delineations in the ,edda1 ,i will      
remark1 moreover1 as indeed was already 
hinted1 that most probably they must    
have been of much newer date2 most      
probably1 even from the first1 were     
comparatively idle for the old          
,norsemen1 and as it were a kind of     
,poetic sport4 ,allegory and ,poetic    
,delineation1 as ,i said above1 cannot  
be religious ,faith2 the ,faith itself  
must first be there1 then ,allegory     
enough will gather round it1 as the fit 
body round its soul4 ,the ,norse ,faith1
 ,i can well suppose1 like other        
,faiths1 was most active while it lay   
mainly in the silent state1 and had not 

yet much to say about itself1 still less
 to sing4  ,among those shadowy ,edda   
matters1 amid all that fantastic        
congeries of assertions1 and traditions1
 in their musical ,mythologies1 the main
 practical belief a man could have was  
probably not much more than this3 of the
 ,valkyrs and the ,hall of ,odin2 of an 
inflexible ,destiny2 and that the one   
thing needful for a man was to be brave4
 ,the ,valkyrs are ,choosers of the     
,slain3 a ,destiny inexorable1 which it 
is useless trying to bend or soften1 has
 appointed who is to be slain2 this was 
a fundamental point for the ,norse      
believer2--as indeed it is for all      
earnest men everywhere1 for a ,mahomet1 
a ,luther1 for a ,napoleon too4 ,it lies
 at the basis this for every such man2  
it is the woof out of which his whole   
system of thought is woven4 ,the        
,valkyrs2 and then that these ,choosers 
lead the brave to a heavenly ,hall of   
,odin2 only the base and slavish being  
thrust elsewhither1 into the realms of  

,hela the ,death-goddess3 ,i take this  
to have been the soul of the whole      
,norse ,belief4 ,they understood in     
their heart that it was indispensable to
 be brave2 that ,odin would have no     
favour for them1 but despise and thrust 
them out1 if they were not brave4       
,consider too whether there is not      
something in this6 ,it is an everlasting
 duty1 valid in our day as in that1 the 
duty of being brave4 ,valour is still   
value4 ,the first duty of a man is still
 that of subduing ,fear4 ,we must get   
rid of ,fear2 we cannot act at all till 
then4 ,a man's acts are slavish1 not    
true but specious3 his very thoughts are
 false1 he thinks too as a slave and    
coward1 till he have got ,fear under his
 feet4 ,odin's creed1 if we disentangle 
the real kernel of it1 is true to this  
hour4 ,a man shall and must be valiant2 
he must march forward1 and quit himself 
like a man--trusting imperturbably in   
the appointment and choice of the upper 
,powers2 and1 on the whole1 not fear at 

all4 ,now and always1 the completeness  
of his victory over ,fear will determine
 how much of a man he is4  ,it is       
doubtless very savage that kind of      
valour of the old ,northmen4 ,snorro    
tells us they thought it a shame and    
misery not to die in battle2 and if     
natural death seemed to be coming on1   
they would cut wounds in their flesh1   
that ,odin might receive them as        
warriors slain4 ,old kings1 about to    
die1 had their body laid into a ship2   
the ship sent forth1 with sails set and 
slow fire burning it2 that1 once out at 
sea1 it might blaze-up in flame1 and in 
such manner bury worthily the old hero1 
at once in the sky and in the ocean6    
,wild bloody valour2 yet valour of its  
kind2 better1 ,i say1 than none4 ,in the
 old ,sea-kings too1 what an indomitable
 rugged energy6 ,silent1 with closed    
lips1 as ,i fancy them1 unconscious that
 they were specially brave2 defying the 
wild ocean with its monsters1 and all   
men and things2--progenitors of our own 

,blakes and ,nelsons6 ,no ,homer sang   
these ,norse ,sea-kings2 but            
,agamemnon's was a small audacity1 and  
of small fruit in the world1 to some of 
them2--to ,hrolf's of ,normandy1 for    
instance6 ,hrolf1 or ,rollo ,duke of    
,normandy1 the wild ,sea-king1 has a    
share in governing ,england at this     
hour4  ,nor was it altogether nothing1  
even that wild sea-roving and battling1 
through so many generations4 ,it needed 
to be ascertained which was the         
strongest kind of men2 who were to be   
ruler over whom4 ,among the ,northland  
,sovereigns1 too1 ,i find some who got  
the title ,wood-cutter2 ,forest-felling 
,kings4 ,much lies in that4 ,i suppose  
at bottom many of them were             
forest-fellers as well as fighters1     
though the ,skalds talk mainly of the   
latter1--misleading certain critics not 
a little2 for no nation of men could    
ever live by fighting alone2 there could
 not produce enough come out of that6 ,i
 suppose the right good fighter was     

oftenest also the right good            
forest-feller1--the right good improver1
 discerner1 doer and worker in every    
kind2 for true valour1 different enough 
from ferocity1 is the basis of all4 ,a  
more legitimate kind of valour that2    
showing itself against the untamed      
,forests and dark brute ,powers of      
,nature1 to conquer ,nature for us4 ,in 
the same direction have not we their    
descendants since carried it far8 ,may  
such valour last forever with us6  ,that
 the man ,odin1 speaking with a ,hero's 
voice and heart1 as with an             
impressiveness out of ,heaven1 told his 
,people the infinite importance of      
,valour1 how man thereby became a god2  
and that his ,people1 feeling a response
 to it in their own hearts1 believed    
this message of his1 and thought it a   
message out of ,heaven1 and him a       
,divinity for telling it them3 this     
seems to me the primary seed-grain of   
the ,norse ,religion1 from which all    
manner of mythologies1 symbolic         

practices1 speculations1 allegories1    
songs and sagas would naturally grow4   
,grow1--how strangely6 ,i called it a   
small light shining and shaping in the  
huge vortex of ,norse darkness4 ,yet the
 darkness itself was alive2 consider    
that4 ,it was the eager inarticulate    
uninstructed ,mind of the whole ,norse  
,people1 longing only to become         
articulate1 to go on articulating ever  
farther6 ,the living doctrine grows1    
grows2--like a ,banyan-tree2 the first  
seed is the essential thing3 any branch 
strikes itself down into the earth1     
becomes a new root2 and so1 in endless  
complexity1 we have a whole wood1 a     
whole jungle1 one seed the parent of it 
all4 ,was not the whole ,norse          
,religion1 accordingly1 in some sense1  
what we called 'the enormous shadow of  
this man's likeness'8 ,critics trace    
some affinity in some ,norse mythuses1  
of the ,creation and suchlike1 with     
those of the ,hindoos4 ,the ,cow        
,adumbla1 'licking the rime from the    

rocks1' has a kind of ,hindoo look4 ,a  
,hindoo ,cow1 transported into frosty   
countries4 ,probably enough2 indeed we  
may say undoubtedly1 these things will  
have a kindred with the remotest lands1 
with the earliest times4 ,thought does  
not die1 but only is changed4 ,the first
 man that began to think in this ,planet
 of ours1 he was the beginner of all4   
,and then the second man1 and the third 
man3--nay1 every true ,thinker to this  
hour is a kind of ,odin1 teaches men his
 way of thought1 spreads a shadow of his
 own likeness over sections of the      
,history of the ,world4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,of the  
distinctive poetic character or merit of
 this ,norse ,mythology ,i have not room
 to speak2 nor does it concern us much4 
,some wild ,prophecies we have1 as the  
,vluspa in the ,elder ,edda2 of a rapt1 
earnest1 sibylline sort4 ,but they were 
comparatively an idle adjunct of the    
matter1 men who as it were but toyed    
with the matter1 these later ,skalds2   

and it is their songs chiefly that      
survive4 ,in later centuries1 ,i        
suppose1 they would go on singing1      
poetically symbolising1 as our modern   
,painters paint1 when it was no longer  
from the innermost heart1 or not from   
the heart at all4 ,this is everywhere to
 be well kept in mind4  ,gray's         
fragments of ,norse ,lore1 at any rate1 
will give one no notion of it2--any more
 than ,pope will of ,homer4 ,it is no   
square-built gloomy palace of black     
ashlar marble1 shrouded in awe and      
horror1 as ,gray gives it us3 no2 rough 
as the ,north ,rocks1 as the ,iceland   
deserts1 it is2 with a heartiness1      
homeliness1 even a tint of good humour  
and robust mirth in the middle of these 
fearful things4 ,the strong old ,norse  
heart did not go upon theatrical        
sublimities2 they had not time to       
tremble4 ,i like much their robust      
simplicity2 their veracity1 directness  
of conception4 ,thor 'draws down his    
brows' in a veritable ,norse rage2      

'grasps his hammer till the knuckles    
grow white4' ,beautiful traits of pity  
too1 an honest pity4 ,balder 'the white 
,god' dies2 the beautiful1 benignant2 he
 is the ,sungod4 ,they try all ,nature  
for a remedy2 but he is dead4 ,frigga1  
his mother1 sends ,hermoder to seek or  
see him3 nine days and nine nights he   
rides through gloomy deep valleys1 a    
labyrinth of gloom2 arrives at the      
,bridge with its gold roof3 the ,keeper 
says1 ,yes1 ,balder did pass here2 but  
the ,kingdom of the ,dead is down       
yonder1 far towards the ,north4         
,hermoder rides on2 leaps ,hell-gate1   
,hela's gate3 does see ,balder1 and     
speak with him3 ,balder cannot be       
delivered4 ,inexorable6 ,hela will not1 
for ,odin or any ,god1 give him up4 ,the
 beautiful and gentle has to remain     
there4 ,his ,wife had volunteered to go 
with him1 to die with him4 ,they shall  
forever remain there4 ,he sends his ring
 to ,odin2 ,nanna his wife sends her    
thimble to ,frigga1 as a                

remembrance--,ah me6--  ,for indeed     
,valour is the fountain of ,pity        
too2--of ,truth1 and all that is great  
and good in man4 ,the robust homely     
vigour of the ,norse heart attaches one 
much1 in these delineations4 ,is it not 
a trait of right honest strength1 says  
,uhland1 who has written a fine ,essay  
on ,thor1 that the ,old ,norse heart    
finds its friend in the ,thunder-god8   
,that it is not frightened away by his  
thunder2 but finds that ,summer-heat1   
the beautiful noble summer1 must and    
will have thunder withal6 ,the ,norse   
heart loves this ,thor and his          
hammer-bolt2 sports with him4 ,thor is  
,summer-heat2 the god of ,peaceable     
,industry as well as ,thunder4 ,he is   
the ,peasant's friend2 his true henchman
 and attendant is ,thialfi1 ,manual     
,labour4 ,thor himself engages in all   
manner of rough manual work1 scorns no  
business for its plebeianism2 is ever   
and anon travelling to the country of   
the ,jtuns1 harrying those chaotic      

,frost-monsters1 subduing them1 at least
 straitening and damaging them4 ,there  
is a great broad humour in some of these
 things4  ,thor1 as we saw above1 goes  
to ,jtun-land1 to seek ,hymir's         
,caldron1 that the ,gods may brew beer4 
,hymir the huge ,giant enters1 his grey 
beard all full of hoar-frost2 splits    
pillars with the very glance of his eye2
 ,thor1 after much rough tumult1        
snatches the ,pot1 claps it on his head2
 the 'handles of it reach down to his   
heels4' ,the ,norse ,skald has a kind of
 loving sport with ,thor4 ,this is the  
,hymir whose cattle1 the critics have   
discovered1 are ,icebergs4 ,huge        
untutored ,brobdignag genius1--needing  
only to be tamed-down2 into             
,shakspeares1 ,dantes1 ,goethes6 ,it is 
all gone now1 that old ,norse           
work1--,thor the ,thunder-god changed   
into ,jack the ,giant-killer3 but the   
mind that made it is here yet4 ,how     
strangely things grow1 and die1 and do  
not die6 ,there are twigs of that great 

world-tree of ,norse ,belief still      
curiously traceable4 ,this poor ,jack of
 the ,nursery1 with his miraculous shoes
 of swiftness1 coat of darkness1 sword  
of sharpness1 he is one4 ,hynde ,etin1  
and still more decisively ,red ,etin of 
,ireland1 in the ,scottish ,ballads1    
these are both derived from ,norseland2 
,etin is evidently a ,jtun4 ,nay1       
,shakspeare's ,hamlet is a twig too of  
this same world-tree2 there seems no    
doubt of that4 ,hamlet1 ,amleth1 ,i     
find1 is really a mythic personage2 and 
his ,tragedy1 of the poisoned ,father1  
poisoned asleep by drops in his ear1 and
 the rest1 is a ,norse mythus6 ,old     
,saxo1 as his wont was1 made it a       
,danish history2 ,shakspeare1 out of    
,saxo1 made it what we see4 ,that is a  
twig of the world-tree that has grown1  
,i think2--by nature or accident that   
one has grown6  ,in fact1 these old     
,norse songs have a truth in them1 an   
inward perennial truth and              
greatness1--as1 indeed1 all must have   

that can very long preserve itself by   
tradition alone4 ,it is a greatness not 
of mere body and gigantic bulk1 but a   
rude greatness of soul4 ,there is a     
sublime uncomplaining melancholy        
traceable in these old hearts4 ,a great 
free glance into the very deeps of      
thought4 ,they seem to have seen1 these 
brave old ,northmen1 what ,meditation   
has taught all men in all ages1 ,that   
this world is after all but a show1--a  
phenomenon or appearance1 no real thing4
 ,all deep souls see into that1--the    
,hindoo ,mythologist1 the ,german       
,philosopher1--the ,shakspeare1 the     
earnest ,thinker1 wherever he may be3   
',we are such stuff as ,dreams are made 
of6'  ,one of ,thor's expeditions1 to   
,utgard 7the ,outer ,garden1 central    
seat of ,jtun-land71 is remarkable in   
this respect4 ,thialfi was with him1 and
 ,loke4 ,after various adventures they  
entered upon ,giant-land2 wandered over 
plains1 wild uncultivated places1 among 
stones and trees4 ,at nightfall they    

noticed a house2 and as the door1 which 
indeed formed one whole side of the     
house1 was open1 they entered4 ,it was a
 simple habitation2 one large hall1     
altogether empty4 ,they stayed there4   
,suddenly in the dead of the night loud 
noises alarmed them4 ,thor grasped his  
hammer2 stood in the door1 prepared for 
fight4 ,his companions within ran hither
 and thither in their terror1 seeking   
some outlet in that rude hall2 they     
found a little closet at last1 and took 
refuge there4 ,neither had ,thor any    
battle3 for1 lo1 in the morning it      
turned-out that the noise had been only 
the snoring of a certain enormous but   
peaceable ,giant1 the ,giant ,skrymir1  
who lay peaceably sleeping near by2 and 
this that they took for a house was     
merely his ,glove1 thrown aside there2  
the door was the ,glove-wrist2 the      
little closet they had fled into was the
 ,thumb6 ,such a glove2--,i remark too  
that it had not fingers as ours have1   
but only a thumb1 and the rest          

undivided3 a most ancient1 rustic glove6
  ,skrymir now carried their portmanteau
 all day2 ,thor1 however1 had his own   
suspicions1 did not like the ways of    
,skrymir2 determined at night to put an 
end to him as he slept4 ,raising his    
hammer1 he struck down into the ,giant's
 face a right thunderbolt blow1 of force
 to rend rocks4 ,the ,giant merely      
awoke2 rubbed his cheek1 and said1 ,did 
a leaf fall8 ,again ,thor struck1 so    
soon as ,skrymir again slept2 a better  
blow than before3 but the ,giant only   
murmured1 ,was that a grain of sand8    
,thor's third stroke was with both his  
hands 7the 'knuckles white' ,i suppose71
 and seemed to dint deep into ,skrymir's
 visage2 but he merely checked his      
snore1 and remarked1 ,there must be     
sparrows roosting in this tree1 ,i      
think2 what is that they have           
dropt8--,at the gate of ,utgard1 a place
 so high that you had to 'strain your   
neck bending back to see the top of it1'
 ,skrymir went his ways4 ,thor and his  

companions were admitted2 invited to    
take share in the games going on4 ,to   
,thor1 for his part1 they handed a      
drinking-horn2 it was a common feat1    
they told him1 to drink this dry at one 
draught4 ,long and fiercely1 three times
 over1 ,thor drank2 but made hardly any 
impression4 ,he was a weak child1 they  
told him2 could he lift that ,cat he saw
 there8 ,small as the feat seemed1 ,thor
 with his whole godlike strength could  
not2 he bent-up the creature's back1    
could not raise its feet off the ground1
 could at the utmost raise one foot4    
,why1 you are no man1 said the ,utgard  
people2 there is an ,old ,woman that    
will wrestle you6 ,thor1 heartily       
ashamed1 seized this haggard ,old       
,woman2 but could not throw her4  ,and  
now1 on their quitting ,utgard1 the     
,chief ,jtun1 escorting them politely a 
little way1 said to ,thor3 ,you are     
beaten then3--yet be not so much        
ashamed2 there was deception of         
appearance in it4 ,that ,horn you tried 

to drink was the ,sea3 you did make it  
ebb2 but who could drink that1 the      
bottomless6 ,the ,cat you would have    
lifted1--why1 that is the               
,midgard-snake1 the ,great              
,world-serpent1 which1 tail in mouth1   
girds and keeps-up the whole created    
world2 had you torn that up1 the world  
must have rushed to ruin6 ,as for the   
,old ,woman1 she was ,time1 ,old ,age1  
,duration2 with her what can wrestle8   
,no man nor no god with her2 gods or    
men1 she prevails over all6 ,and then   
those three strokes you struck1--look at
 these three valleys2 your three strokes
 made these6 ,thor looked at his        
attendant ,jtun3 it was ,skrymir2--it   
was1 say ,norse critics1 the old chaotic
 rocky ,earth in person1 and that       
glove-house was some ,earth-cavern6 ,but
 ,skrymir had vanished2 ,utgard with its
 skyhigh gates1 when ,thor grasped his  
hammer to smite them1 had gone to air2  
only the ,giant's voice was heard       
mocking3 ,better come no more to        

,jtunheim6--  ,this is of the allegoric 
period1 as we see1 and half play1 not of
 the prophetic and entirely devout3 but 
as a mythus is there not real antique   
,norse gold in it8 ,more true metal1    
rough from the ,mimerstithy1 than in    
many a famed ,greek ,mythus shaped far  
better6 ,a great broad ,brobdignag grin 
of true humour is in this ,skrymir2     
mirth resting on earnestness and        
sadness1 as the rainbow on black        
tempest3 only a right valiant heart is  
capable of that4 ,it is the grim humour 
of our own ,ben ,jonson1 rare old ,ben2 
runs in the blood of us1 ,i fancy2 for  
one catches tones of it1 under a still  
other shape1 out of the ,american       
,backwoods4  ,that is also a very       
striking conception1 that of the        
,ragnark1 ,consummation1 or ,twilight of
 the ,gods4 ,it is in the ,vluspa ,song2
 seemingly a very old1 prophetic idea4  
,the ,gods and ,jtuns1 the divine       
,powers and the chaotic brute ones1     
after long contest and partial victory  

by the former1 meet at last in universal
 world-embracing wrestle and duel2      
,world-serpent against ,thor1 strength  
against strength2 mutually extinctive2  
and ruin1 'twilight' sinking into       
darkness1 swallows the created          
,universe4 ,the old ,universe with its  
,gods is sunk2 but it is not final      
death3 there is to be a new ,heaven and 
a new ,earth2 a higher supreme ,god1 and
 ,justice to reign among men4 ,curious3 
this law of mutation1 which also is a   
law written in man's inmost thought1 had
 been deciphered by these old earnest   
,thinkers in their rude style2 and how1 
though all dies1 and even gods die1 yet 
all death is but a phoenix fire-death1  
and new-birth into the ,greater and the 
,better6 ,it is the fundamental ,law of 
,being for a creature made of ,time1    
living in this ,place of ,hope4 ,all    
earnest men have seen into it2 may still
 see into it4  ,and now1 connected with 
this1 let us glance at the last mythus  
of the appearance of ,thor2 and end     

there4 ,i fancy it to be the latest in  
date of all these fables2 a sorrowing   
protest against the advance of          
,christianity1--set forth reproachfully 
by some ,conservative ,pagan4 ,king     
,olaf has been harshly blamed for his   
over-zeal in introducing ,christianity2 
surely ,i should have blamed him far    
more for an under-zeal in that6 ,he paid
 dear enough for it2 he died by the     
revolt of his ,pagan people1 in battle1 
in the year #ajcc1 at ,stickelstad1 near
 that ,drontheim1 where the chief       
,cathedral of the ,north has now stood  
for many centuries1 dedicated gratefully
 to his memory as ,saint ,olaf4 ,the    
mythus about ,thor is to this effect4   
,king ,olaf1 the ,christian ,reform     
,king1 is sailing with fit escort along 
the shore of ,norway1 from haven to     
haven2 dispensing justice1 or doing     
other royal work3 on leaving a certain  
haven1 it is found that a stranger1 of  
grave eyes and aspect1 red beard1 of    
stately robust figure1 has stept in4    

,the courtiers address him2 his answers 
surprise by their pertinency and depth3 
at length he is brought to the ,king4   
,the stranger's conversation here is not
 less remarkable1 as they sail along the
 beautiful shore2 but after some time1  
he addresses ,king ,olaf thus3 ,yes1    
,king ,olaf1 it is all beautiful1 with  
the sun shining on it there2 green1     
fruitful1 a right fair home for you1 and
 many a sore day had ,thor1 many a wild 
fight with the rock ,jtuns1 before he   
could make it so4 ,and now you seem     
minded to put away ,thor4 ,king ,olaf1  
have a care6 said the stranger1         
drawing-down his brows2--and when they  
looked again1 he was nowhere to be      
found4--,this is the last appearance of 
,thor on the stage of this world6  ,do  
we not see well enough how the ,fable   
might arise1 without unveracity on the  
part of any one8 ,it is the way most    
,gods have come to appear among men3    
thus1 if in ,pindar's time ',neptune was
 seen once at the ,nemean ,games1' what 

was this ,neptune too but a 'stranger of
 noble grave aspect1' fit to be 'seen'6 
,there is something pathetic1 tragic for
 me in this last voice of ,paganism4    
,thor is vanished1 the whole ,norse     
world has vanished2 and will not return 
ever again4 ,in like fashion to that    
pass away the highest things4 ,all      
things that have been in this world1 all
 things that are or will be in it1 have 
to vanish1 we have our sad farewell to  
give them4  ,that ,norse ,religion1 a   
rude but earnest1 sternly impressive    
,consecration of ,valour 7so we may     
define it71 sufficed for these old      
valiant ,northmen4 ,consecration of     
,valour is not a bad thing6 ,we will    
take it for good1 so far as it goes4    
,neither is there no use in knowing     
something about this old ,paganism of   
our ,fathers4 ,unconsciously1 and       
combined with higher things1 it is in us
 yet1 that old ,faith withal6 ,to know  
it consciously1 brings us into closer   
and clearer relation with the           

,past--with our own possessions in the  
,past4 ,for the whole ,past1 as ,i keep 
repeating1 is the possession of the     
,present2 the ,past had always something
 true1 and is a precious possession4 ,in
 a different time1 in a different place1
 it is always some other side of our    
common ,human ,nature that has been     
developing itself4 ,the actual ,true is 
the sum of all these2 not any one of    
them by itself1 constitutes what of     
,human ,nature is hitherto developed4   
,better to know them all than misknow   
them4 ,to which of these ,three         
,religions do you specially adhere8     
inquires ,meister of his ,teacher4 ,to  
all the ,three6 answers the other3 ,to  
all the ,three3 for they by their union 
first constitute the ,true ,religion4   
,,lecture ,,ii  ,,the ,,hero ,,as       
,,prophet4 ,,mahomet3 ,,islam  ,friday1 
#hth ,may #ahdj   ,from the first rude  
times of ,paganism among the            
,scandinavians in the ,north1 we advance
 to a very different epoch of religion1 

among a very different people3          
,mahometanism among the ,arabs4 ,a great
 change2 what a change and progress is  
indicated here1 in the universal        
condition and thoughts of men6  ,the    
,hero is not now regarded as a ,god     
among his fellowmen2 but as one         
,god-inspired1 as a prophet4 ,it is the 
second phasis of ,hero-worship2 the     
first or oldest1 we may say1 has passed 
away without return2 in the history of  
the world there will not again be any   
man1 never so great1 whom his fellowmen 
will take for a god4 ,nay we might      
rationally ask1 ,did any set of human   
beings ever really think the man they   
saw there standing beside them a god1   
the maker of this world8 ,perhaps not3  
it was usually some man they remembered1
 or had seen4 ,but neither can this any 
more be4 ,the ,great ,man is not        
recognised henceforth as a god any more4
  ,it was a rude gross error1 that of   
counting the ,great ,man a god4 ,yet let
 us say that it is at all times         

difficult to know what he is1 or how to 
account of him and receive him6 ,the    
most significant feature in the history 
of an epoch is the manner it has of     
welcoming a ,great ,man4 ,ever1 to the  
true instincts of men1 there is         
something godlike in him4 ,whether they 
shall take him to be a god1 to be a     
prophet1 or what they shall take him to 
be8 that is ever a grand question2 by   
their way of answering that1 we shall   
see1 as through a little window1 into   
the very heart of these men's spiritual 
condition4 ,for at bottom the ,great    
,man1 as he comes from the hand of      
nature1 is ever the same kind of thing3 
,odin1 ,luther1 ,johnson1 ,burns2 ,i    
hope to make it appear that these are   
all originally of one stuff2 that only  
by the world's reception of them1 and   
the shapes they assume1 are they so     
immeasurably diverse4 ,the worship of   
,odin astonishes us--to fall prostrate  
before the ,great ,man1 into deliquium  
of love and wonder over him1 and feel in

 their hearts that he was a denizen of  
the skies1 a god6 ,this was imperfect   
enough3 but to welcome1 for example1 a  
,burns as we did1 was that what we can  
call perfect8 ,the most precious gift   
that ,heaven can give to the ,earth2 a  
man of 'genius' as we call it3 the ,soul
 of a ,man actually sent down from the  
skies with a ,god's-message to us--this 
we waste away as an idle artificial     
firework1 sent to amuse us a little1 and
 sink it into ashes1 wreck and          
ineffectuality3 such reception of a     
,great ,man ,i do not call very perfect 
either6 ,looking into the heart of the  
thing1 one may perhaps call that of     
,burns a still uglier phenomenon1       
betokening still sadder imperfections in
 mankind's ways1 than the ,scandinavian 
method itself6 ,to fall into mere       
unreasoning deliquium of love and       
admiration1 was not good2 but such      
unreasoning1 nay irrational supercilious
 no-love at all is perhaps still        
worse6--,it is a thing forever changing1

 this of ,hero-worship3 different in    
each age1 difficult to do well in any   
age4 ,indeed1 the heart of the whole    
business of the age1 one may say1 is to 
do it well4  ,we have chosen ,mahomet   
not as the most eminent ,prophet1 but as
 the one we are freest to speak of4 ,he 
is by no means the truest of ,prophets2 
but ,i do esteem him a true one4        
,farther1 as there is no danger of our  
becoming1 any of us1 ,mahometans1 ,i    
mean to say all the good of him ,i      
justly can4 ,it is the way to get at his
 secret3 let us try to understand what  
he meant with the world2 what the world 
meant and means with him1 will then be a
 more answerable question4 ,our current 
hypotheses about ,mahomet1 that he was a
 scheming ,impostor1 a ,falsehood       
incarnate1 that his religion is a mere  
mass of quackery and fatuity1 begins    
really to be now untenable to any one4  
,the lies1 which well-meaning zeal has  
heaped round this man1 are disgraceful  
to ourselves only4 ,when ,pococke       

inquired of ,grotius1 ,where the proof  
was of that story of the pigeon1 trained
 to pick peas from ,mahomet's ear1 and  
pass for an angel dictating to him8     
,grotius answered that there was no     
proof6 ,it is really time to dismiss all
 that4 ,the word this man spoke has been
 the life-guidance now of a             
hundred-and-eighty millions of men these
 twelve-hundred years4 ,these           
hundred-and-eighty millions were made by
 ,god as well as we4 ,a greater number  
of ,god's creatures believe in          
,mahomet's word at this hour than in any
 other word whatever4 ,are we to suppose
 that it was a miserable piece of       
spiritual legerdemain1 this which so    
many creatures of the ,almighty have    
lived by and died by8 ,i1 for my part1  
cannot form any such supposition4 ,i    
will believe most things sooner than    
that4 ,one would be entirely at a loss  
what to think of this world at all1 if  
quackery so grew and were sanctioned    
here4  ,alas1 such theories are very    

lamentable4 ,if we would attain to      
knowledge of anything in ,god's true    
,creation1 let us disbelieve them       
wholly6 ,they are the product of an ,age
 of ,scepticism2 they indicate the      
saddest spiritual paralysis1 and mere   
death-life of the souls of men3 more    
godless theory1 ,i think1 was never     
promulgated in this ,earth4 ,a false man
 found a religion8 ,why1 a false man    
cannot build a brick house6 ,if he do   
not know and follow truly the properties
 of mortar1 burnt clay and what else he 
works in1 it is no house that he makes1 
but a rubbish-heap4 ,it will not stand  
for twelve centuries1 to lodge a        
hundred-and-eighty millions2 it will    
fall straightway4 ,a man must conform   
himself to ,nature's laws1 be verily in 
communion with ,nature and the truth of 
things1 or ,nature will answer him1 ,no1
 not at all6 ,speciosities are          
specious--ah1 me6--a ,cagliostro1 many  
,cagliostros1 prominent world-leaders1  
do prosper by their quackery1 for a day4

 ,it is like a forged bank-note2 they   
get it passed out of their worthless    
hands3 others1 not they1 have to smart  
for it4 ,nature bursts-up in fire-flame1
 ,french ,revolutions and suchlike1     
proclaiming with terrible veracity that 
forged notes are forged4  ,but of a     
,great ,man especially1 of him ,i will  
venture to assert that it is incredible 
he should have been other than true4 ,it
 seems to me the primary foundation of  
him1 and of all that can lie in him1    
this4 ,no ,mirabeau1 ,napoleon1 ,burns1 
,cromwell1 no man adequate to do        
anything1 but is first of all in right  
earnest about it2 what ,i call a sincere
 man4 ,i should say sincerity1 a deep1  
great1 genuine sincerity1 is the first  
characteristic of all men in any way    
heroic4 ,not the sincerity that calls   
itself sincere2 ah1 no1 that is a very  
poor matter indeed2--a shallow braggart 
conscious sincerity2 oftenest           
self-conceit mainly4 ,the ,great ,man's 
sincerity is of the kind he cannot speak

 of1 is not conscious of3 nay1 ,i       
suppose1 he is conscious rather of      
insincerity2 for what man can walk      
accurately by the law of truth for one  
day8 ,no1 the ,great ,man does not boast
 himself sincere1 far from that2 perhaps
 does not ask himself if he is so3 ,i   
would say rather1 his sincerity does not
 depend on himself2 he cannot help being
 sincere6 ,the great ,fact of ,existence
 is great to him4 ,fly as he will1 he   
cannot get out of the awful presence of 
this ,reality4 ,his mind is so made2 he 
is great by that1 first of all4 ,fearful
 and wonderful1 real as ,life1 real as  
death1 is this ,universe to him4 ,though
 all men should forget its truth1 and   
walk in a vain show1 he cannot4 ,at all 
moments the ,flame-image glares-in upon 
him2 undeniable1 there1 there6--,i wish 
you to take this as my primary          
definition of a ,great ,man4 ,a little  
man may have this1 it is competent to   
all men that ,god has made3 but a ,great
 ,man cannot be without it4  ,such a man

 is what we call an original man3 he    
comes to us at first-hand4 ,a messenger 
he1 sent from the ,infinite ,unknown    
with tidings to us4 ,we may call him    
,poet1 ,prophet1 ,god2--in one way or   
other1 we all feel that the words he    
utters are as no other man's words4     
,direct from the ,inner ,fact of        
things2--he lives1 and has to live1 in  
daily communion with that4 ,hearsays    
cannot hide it from him2 he is blind1   
homeless1 miserable1 following hearsays2
 it glares-in upon him4 ,really his     
utterances1 are they not a kind of      
'revelation2'--what we must call such   
for want of some other name8 ,it is from
 the heart of the world that he comes2  
he is portion of the primal reality of  
things4 ,god has made many revelations3 
but this man too1 has not ,god made him1
 the latest and newest of all8 ,the     
'inspiration of the ,almighty giveth him
 understanding3' we must listen before  
all to him4  ,this ,mahomet1 then1 we   
will in no wise consider as an ,inanity 

and ,theatricality1 a poor conscious    
ambitious schemer2 we cannot conceive   
him so4 ,the rude message he delivered  
was a real one withal2 an earnest       
confused voice from the unknown ,deep4  
,the man's words were not false1 nor his
 workings here below2 no ,inanity and   
,simulacrum2 a fiery mass of ,life      
cast-up from the great bosom of ,nature 
herself4 ,to kindle the world2 the      
world's ,maker had ordered it so4       
,neither can the faults1 imperfections1 
insincerities even1 of ,mahomet1 if such
 were never so well proved against him1 
shake this primary fact about him4  ,on 
the whole1 we make too much of faults2  
the details of the business hide the    
real centre of it4 ,faults8 ,the        
greatest of faults1 ,i should say1 is to
 be conscious of none4 ,readers of the  
,bible above all1 one would think1 might
 know better4 ,who is called there 'the 
man according to ,god's own heart'8     
,david1 the ,hebrew ,king1 had fallen   
into sins enough2 blackest crimes2 there

 was no want of sins4 ,and thereupon the
 unbelievers sneer and ask1 ,is this    
your man according to ,god's own heart8 
,the sneer1 ,i must say1 seems to me but
 a shallow one4 ,what are faults1 what  
are the outward details of a life2 if   
the inner secret of it1 the remorse1    
temptations1 true1 often-baffled1       
never-ended struggle of it1 be          
forgotten8 ',it is not in man that      
walketh to direct his steps4' ,of all   
acts1 is not1 for a man1 repentance the 
most divine8 ,the deadliest sin1 ,i say1
 were that same supercilious            
consciousness of no sin2--that is death2
 the heart so conscious is divorced from
 sincerity1 humility and fact2 is dead3 
it is 'pure' as dead dry sand is pure4  
,david's life and history1 as written   
for us in those ,psalms of his1 ,i      
consider to be the truest emblem ever   
given of a man's moral progress and     
warfare here below4 ,all earnest souls  
will ever discern in it the faithful    
struggle of an earnest human soul       

towards what is good and best4 ,struggle
 often baffled1 sore baffled1 down as   
into entire wreck2 yet a struggle never 
ended2 ever1 with tears1 repentance1    
true unconquerable purpose1 begun anew4 
,poor human nature6 ,is not a man's     
walking1 in truth1 always that3 'a      
succession of falls'8 ,man can do no    
other4 ,in this wild element of a ,life1
 he has to struggle onwards2 now fallen1
 deep-abased2 and ever1 with tears1     
repentance1 with bleeding heart1 he has 
to rise again1 struggle again still     
onwards4 ,that his struggle be a        
faithful unconquerable one3 that is the 
question of questions4 ,we will put-up  
with many sad details1 if the soul of it
 were true4 ,details by themselves will 
never teach us what it is4 ,i believe we
 misestimate ,mahomet's faults even as  
faults3 but the secret of him will never
 be got by dwelling there4 ,we will     
leave all this behind us2 and assuring  
ourselves that he did mean some true    
thing1 ask candidly what it was or might

 be4         99       99       99       
99       99  ,these ,arabs ,mahomet was 
born among are certainly a notable      
people4 ,their country itself is        
notable2 the fit habitation for such a  
race4 ,savage inaccessible              
rock-mountains1 great grim deserts1     
alternating with beautiful strips of    
verdure3 wherever water is1 there is    
greenness1 beauty2 odoriferous          
balm-shrubs1 date-trees1                
frankincense-trees4 ,consider that wide 
waste horizon of sand1 empty1 silent1   
like a sand-sea1 dividing habitable     
place from habitable4 ,you are all alone
 there1 left alone with the ,universe2  
by day a fierce sun blazing down on it  
with intolerable radiance2 by night the 
great deep ,heaven with its stars4 ,such
 a country is fit for a swift-handed1   
deep-hearted race of men4 ,there is     
something most agile1 active1 and yet   
most meditative1 enthusiastic in the    
,arab character4 ,the ,persians are     
called the ,french of the ,east1 we will

 call the ,arabs ,oriental ,italians4 ,a
 gifted noble people2 a people of wild  
strong feelings1 and of iron restraint  
over these3 the characteristic of       
noblemindedness1 of genius4 ,the wild   
,bedouin welcomes the stranger to his   
tent1 as one having right to all that is
 there2 were it his worst enemy1 he will
 slay his foal to treat him1 will serve 
him with sacred hospitality for three   
days1 will set him fairly on his        
way2--and then1 by another law as       
sacred1 kill him if he can4 ,in words   
too1 as in action4 ,they are not a      
loquacious people1 taciturn rather2 but 
eloquent1 gifted when they do speak4 ,an
 earnest truthful kind of men4 ,they    
are1 as we know1 of ,jewish kindred3 but
 with that deadly terrible earnestness  
of the ,jews they seem to combine       
something graceful1 brilliant1 which is 
not ,jewish4 ,they had ',poetic         
contests' among them before the time of 
,mahomet4 ,sale says1 at ,ocadh1 in the 
,south of ,arabia1 there were yearly    

fairs1 and there1 when the merchandising
 was done1 ,poets sang for prizes3--the 
wild people gathered to hear that4  ,one
 ,jewish quality these ,arabs manifest2 
the outcome of many or of all high      
qualities2 what we may call religiosity4
 ,from of old they had been zealous     
workers1 according to their light4 ,they
 worshipped the stars1 as ,sabeans2     
worshipped many natural                 
objects1--recognised them as symbols1   
immediate manifestations1 of the ,maker 
of ,nature4 ,it was wrong2 and yet not  
wholly wrong4 ,all ,god's works are     
still in a sense symbols of ,god4 ,do we
 not1 as ,i urged1 still account it a   
merit to recognise a certain            
inexhaustible significance1 'poetic     
beauty' as we name it1 in all natural   
objects whatsoever8 ,a man is a poet1   
and honoured1 for doing that1 and       
speaking or singing it1--a kind of      
diluted worship4 ,they had many         
,prophets1 these ,arabs2 ,teachers each 
to his tribe1 each according to the     

light he had4 ,but indeed1 have we not  
from of old the noblest of proofs1 still
 palpable to every one of us1 of what   
devoutness and noblemindedness had dwelt
 in these rustic thoughtful peoples8    
,biblical critics seem agreed that our  
own ,book of ,job was written in that   
region of the world4 ,i call that1 apart
 from all theories about it1 one of the 
grandest things ever written with pen4  
,one feels1 indeed1 as if it were not   
,hebrew2 such a noble universality1     
different from noble patriotism or      
sectarianism1 reigns in it4 ,a noble    
,book2 all men's ,book6 ,it is our      
first1 oldest statement of the          
never-ending ,problem1--man's destiny1  
and ,god's ways with him here in this   
earth4 ,and all in such free flowing    
outlines2 grand in its sincerity1 in its
 simplicity2 in its epic melody1 and    
repose of reconcilement4 ,there is the  
seeing eye1 the mildly understanding    
heart4 ,so true everywhere2 true        
eyesight and vision for all things2     

material things no less than spiritual2 
the ,horse1--'hast thou clothed his neck
 with thunder8'--he 'laughs at the      
shaking of the spear6' ,such living     
likenesses were never since drawn4      
,sublime sorrow1 sublime reconciliation3
 oldest choral melody as of the heart of
 mankind2--so soft1 and great2 as the   
summer midnight1 as the world with its  
seas and stars6 ,there is nothing       
written1 ,i think1 in the ,bible or out 
of it1 of equal literary merit4--  ,to  
the idolatrous ,arabs one of the most   
ancient universal objects of worship was
 that ,black ,stone1 still kept in the  
building called ,caabah at ,mecca4      
,diodorus ,siculus mentions this ,caabah
 in a way not to be mistaken1 as the    
oldest1 most honoured temple in his     
time2 that is1 some half-century before 
our ,era4 ,silvestre de ,sacy says there
 is some likelihood that the ,black     
,stone is an aerolite4 ,in that case1   
some one might see it fall out of       
,heaven6 ,it stands now beside the ,well

 ,zemzem2 the ,caabah is built over     
both4 ,a ,well is in all places a       
beautiful affecting object1 gushing out 
like life from the hard earth2--still   
more so in these hot dry countries1     
where it is the first condition of      
being4 ,the ,well ,zemzem has its name  
from the bubbling sound of the waters1  
zem-zem2 they think it is the ,well     
which ,hagar found with her little      
,ishmael in the wilderness3 the aerolite
 and it have been sacred now1 and had a 
,caabah over them1 for thousands of     
years4 ,a curious object1 that ,caabah6 
,there it stands at this hour1 in the   
black cloth-covering the ,sultan sends  
it yearly2 'twenty-seven cubits high2'  
with circuit1 with double circuit of    
pillars1 with festoon-rows of lamps and 
quaint ornaments3 the lamps will be     
lighted again this night1--to glitter   
again under the stars4 ,an authentic    
fragment of the oldest ,past4 ,it is the
 ,keblah of all ,moslem3 from ,delhi all
 onwards to ,morocco1 the eyes of       

innumerable praying men are turned      
towards it1 five times1 this day and all
 days3 one of the notablest centres in  
the ,habitation of ,men4  ,it had been  
from the sacredness attached to this    
,caabah ,stone and ,hagar's ,well1 from 
the pilgrimings of all tribes of ,arabs 
thither1 that ,mecca took its rise as a 
,town4 ,a great town once1 though much  
decayed now4 ,it has no natural         
advantage for a town2 stands in a sandy 
hollow amid bare barren hills1 at a     
distance from the sea2 its provisions1  
its very bread1 have to be imported4    
,but so many pilgrims needed lodgings3  
and then all places of pilgrimage do1   
from the first1 become places of trade4 
,the first day pilgrims meet1 merchants 
have also met3 where men see themselves 
assembled for one object1 they find that
 they can accomplish other objects which
 depend on meeting together4 ,mecca     
became the ,fair of all ,arabia4 ,and   
thereby indeed the chief staple and     
warehouse of whatever ,commerce there   

was between the ,indian and ,western    
countries1 ,syria1 ,egypt1 even ,italy4 
,it had at one time a population of     
#ajj1jjj2 buyers1 forwarders of those   
,eastern and ,western products2         
importers for their own behoof of       
provisions and corn4 ,the government was
 a kind of irregular aristocratic       
republic1 not without a touch of        
theocracy4 ,ten ,men of a chief tribe1  
chosen in some rough way1 were          
,governors of ,mecca1 and ,keepers of   
the ,caabah4 ,the ,koreish were the     
chief tribe in ,mahomet's time2 his own 
family was of that tribe4 ,the rest of  
the ,nation1 fractioned and cut-asunder 
by deserts1 lived under similar rude    
patriarchal governments by one or       
several3 herdsmen1 carriers1 traders1   
generally robbers too2 being oftenest at
 war one with another1 or with all3 held
 together by no open bond1 if it were   
not this meeting at the ,caabah1 where  
all forms of ,arab ,idolatry assembled  
in common adoration2--held mainly by the

 inward indissoluble bond of a common   
blood and language4 ,in this way had the
 ,arabs lived for long ages1 unnoticed  
by the world3 a people of great         
qualities1 unconsciously waiting for the
 day when they should become notable to 
all the world4 ,their ,idolatries appear
 to have been in a tottering state2 much
 was getting into confusion and         
fermentation among them4 ,obscure       
tidings of the most important ,event    
ever transacted in this world1 the ,life
 and ,death of the ,divine ,man in      
,judea1 at once the symptom and cause of
 immeasurable change to all people in   
the world1 had in the course of         
centuries reached into ,arabia too2 and 
could not but1 of itself1 have produced 
fermentation there4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,it was among this
 ,arab people1 so circumstanced1 in the 
year #egj of our ,era1 that the man     
,mahomet was born4 ,he was of the family
 of ,hashem1 of the ,koreish tribe as we
 said2 though poor1 connected with the  

chief persons of his country4  ,almost  
at his birth he lost his ,father2 at the
 age of six years his ,mother too1 a    
woman noted for her beauty1 her worth   
and sense3 he fell to the charge of his 
,grandfather1 an old man1 a hundred     
years old4 ,a good old man3 ,mahomet's  
,father1 ,abdallah1 had been his        
youngest favourite son4 ,he saw in      
,mahomet1 with his old life-worn eyes1 a
 century old1 the lost ,abdallah come   
back again1 all that was left of        
,abdallah4 ,he loved the little orphan  
,boy greatly2 used to say1 ,they must   
take care of that beautiful little ,boy1
 nothing in their kindred was more      
precious than he4 ,at his death1 while  
the boy was still but two years old1 he 
left him in charge to ,abu ,thaleb the  
eldest of the ,uncles1 as to him that   
now was head of the house4 ,by this     
,uncle1 a just and rational man as      
everything betokens1 ,mahomet was       
brought-up in the best ,arab way4       
,mahomet1 as he grew up1 accompanied his

 ,uncle on trading journeys and         
suchlike2 in his eighteenth year one    
finds him a fighter following his ,uncle
 in war4 ,but perhaps the most          
significant of all his journeys is one  
we find noted as of some years' earlier 
date3 a journey to the ,fairs of ,syria4
 ,the young man here first came in      
contact with a quite foreign            
world1--with one foreign element of     
endless moment to him3 the ,christian   
,religion4 ,i know not what to make of  
that ',sergius1 the ,nestorian ,monk1'  
whom ,abu ,thaleb and he are said to    
have lodged with2 or how much any monk  
could have taught one still so young4   
,probably enough it is greatly          
exaggerated1 this of the ,nestorian     
,monk4 ,mahomet was only fourteen2 had  
no language but his own3 much in ,syria 
must have been a strange unintelligible 
whirlpool to him4 ,but the eyes of the  
lad were open2 glimpses of many things  
would doubtless be taken-in1 and lie    
very enigmatic as yet1 which were to    

ripen in a strange way into views1 into 
beliefs and insights one day4 ,these    
journeys to ,syria were probably the    
beginning of much to ,mahomet4  ,one    
other circumstance we must not forget3  
that he had no school-learning2 of the  
thing we call school-learning none at   
all4 ,the art of writing was but just   
introduced into ,arabia2 it seems to be 
the true opinion that ,mahomet never    
could write6 ,life in the ,desert1 with 
its experiences1 was all his education4 
,what of this infinite ,universe he1    
from his dim place1 with his own eyes   
and thoughts1 could take in1 so much and
 no more of it was he to know4 ,curious1
 if we will reflect on it1 this of      
having no books4 ,except by what he     
could see for himself1 or hear of by    
uncertain rumour of speech in the       
obscure ,arabian ,desert1 he could know 
nothing4 ,the wisdom that had been      
before him or at a distance from him in 
the world1 was in a manner as good as   
not there for him4 ,of the great brother

 souls1 flame-beacons through so many   
lands and times1 no one directly        
communicates with this great soul4 ,he  
is alone there1 deep down in the bosom  
of the ,wilderness2 has to grow up      
so1--alone with ,nature and his own     
,thoughts4  ,but1 from an early age1 he 
had been remarked as a thoughtful man4  
,his companions named him ',al ,amin1   
,the ,faithful4' ,a man of truth and    
fidelity2 true in what he did1 in what  
he spake and thought4 ,they noted that  
he always meant something4 ,a man rather
 taciturn in speech2 silent when there  
was nothing to be said2 but pertinent1  
wise1 sincere1 when he did speak2 always
 throwing light on the matter4 ,this is 
the only sort of speech worth speaking6 
,through life we find him to have been  
regarded as an altogether solid1        
brotherly1 genuine man4 ,a serious1     
sincere character2 yet amiable1 cordial1
 companionable1 jocose even2--a good    
laugh in him withal3 there are men whose
 laugh is as untrue as anything about   

them2 who cannot laugh4 ,one hears of   
,mahomet's beauty3 his fine sagacious   
honest face1 brown florid complexion1   
beaming black eyes2--,i somehow like too
 that vein on the brow1 which swelled-up
 black when he was in anger3 like the   
'horse-shoe vein' in ,scott's           
,redgauntlet4 ,it was a kind of feature 
in the ,hashem family1 this black       
swelling vein in the brow2 ,mahomet had 
it prominent1 as would appear4 ,a       
spontaneous1 passionate1 yet just1      
true-meaning man6 ,full of wild faculty1
 fire and light3 of wild worth1 all     
uncultured2 working out his life-task in
 the depths of the ,desert there4  ,how 
he was placed with ,kadijah1 a rich     
,widow1 as her ,steward1 and travelled  
in her business1 again to the ,fairs of 
,syria2 how he managed all1 as one can  
well understand1 with fidelity1         
adroitness2 how her gratitude1 her      
regard for him grew3 the story of their 
marriage is altogether a graceful       
intelligible one1 as told us by the     

,arab authors4 ,he was twenty-five2 she 
forty1 though still beautiful4 ,he seems
 to have lived in a most affectionate1  
peaceable1 wholesome way with this      
wedded benefactress2 loving her truly1  
and her alone4 ,it goes greatly against 
the impostor theory1 the fact that he   
lived in this entirely unexceptionable1 
entirely quiet and commonplace way1 till
 the heat of his years was done4 ,he was
 forty before he talked of any mission  
from ,heaven4 ,all his irregularities1  
real and supposed1 date from after his  
fiftieth year1 when the good ,kadijah   
died4 ,all his 'ambition1' seemingly1   
had been1 hitherto1 to live an honest   
life2 his 'fame1' the mere good opinion 
of neighbours that knew him1 had been   
sufficient hitherto4 ,not till he was   
already getting old1 the prurient heat  
of his life all burnt out1 and peace    
growing to be the chief thing this world
 could give him1 did he start on the    
'career of ambition2' and1 belying all  
his past character and existence1 set-up

 as a wretched empty charlatan to       
acquire what he could now no longer     
enjoy6 ,for my share1 ,i have no faith  
whatever in that4  ,ah no3 this         
deep-hearted ,son of the ,wilderness1   
with his beaming black eyes and open    
social deep soul1 had other thoughts in 
him than ambition4 ,a silent great soul2
 he was one of those who cannot but be  
in earnest2 whom ,nature herself has    
appointed to be sincere4 ,while others  
walk in formulas and hearsays1 contented
 enough to dwell there1 this man could  
not screen himself in formulas2 he was  
alone with his own soul and the reality 
of things4 ,the great ,mystery of       
,existence1 as ,i said1 glared-in upon  
him1 with its terrors1 with its         
splendours2 no hearsays could hide that 
unspeakable fact1 ,here am ,i6 ,such    
sincerity1 as we named it1 has in very  
truth something of divine4 ,the word of 
such a man is a ,voice direct from      
,nature's own ,heart4 ,men do and must  
listen to that as to nothing else2--all 

else is wind in comparison4 ,from of    
old1 a thousand thoughts1 in his        
pilgrimings and wanderings1 had been in 
this man3 ,what am ,i8 ,what is this    
unfathomable ,thing ,i live in1 which   
men name ,universe8 ,what is ,life2 what
 is ,death8 ,what am ,i to believe8     
,what am ,i to do8 ,the grim rocks of   
,mount ,hara1 of ,mount ,sinai1 the     
stern sandy solitudes answered not4 ,the
 great ,heaven rolling silent overhead1 
with its blue-glancing stars1 answered  
not4 ,there was no answer4 ,the man's   
own soul1 and what of ,god's inspiration
 dwelt there1 had to answer6  ,it is the
 thing which all men have to ask        
themselves2 which we too have to ask1   
and answer4 ,this wild man felt it to be
 of infinite moment2 all other things of
 no moment whatever in comparison4 ,the 
jargon of argumentative ,greek ,sects1  
vague traditions of ,jews1 the stupid   
routine of ,arab ,idolatry1 there was no
 answer in these4 ,a ,hero1 as ,i       
repeat1 has this first distinction1     

which indeed we may call first and last1
 the ,alpha and ,omega of his whole     
,heroism1 ,that he looks through the    
shows of things into things4 ,use and   
wont1 respectable hearsay1 respectable  
formula3 all these are good1 or are not 
good4 ,there is something behind and    
beyond all these1 which all these must  
correspond with1 be the image of1 or    
they are--,idolatries3 'bits of black   
wood pretending to be ,god2' to the     
earnest soul a mockery and abomination4 
,idolatries never so gilded1 waited on  
by heads of the ,koreish1 will do       
nothing for this man4 ,though all men   
walk by them1 what good is it8 ,the     
great ,reality stands glaring there upon
 him4 ,he there has to answer it1 or    
perish miserably4 ,now1 even now1 or    
else through all ,eternity never6       
,answer it2 thou must find an           
answer4--,ambition8 ,what could all     
,arabia do for this man2 with the crown 
of ,greek ,heraclius1 of ,persian       
,chosroes1 and all crowns in the        

,earth2--what could they all do for him8
 ,it was not of the ,earth he wanted to 
hear tell2 it was of the ,heaven above  
and of the ,hell beneath4 ,all crowns   
and sovereignties whatsoever1 where     
would they in a few brief years be8 ,to 
be ,sheik of ,mecca or ,arabia1 and have
 a bit of gilt wood put into your       
hand1--will that be one's salvation8 ,i 
decidedly think1 not4 ,we will leave it 
altogether1 this impostor hypothesis1 as
 not credible2 not very tolerable even1 
worthy chiefly of dismissal by us4      
,mahomet had been wont to retire yearly1
 during the month ,ramadhan1 into       
solitude and silence2 as indeed was the 
,arab custom2 a praiseworthy custom1    
which such a man1 above all1 would find 
natural and useful4 ,communing with his 
own heart1 in the silence of the        
mountains2 himself silent2 open to the  
'small still voices3' it was a right    
natural custom6 ,mahomet was in his     
fortieth year1 when having withdrawn to 
a cavern in ,mount ,hara1 near ,mecca1  

during this ,ramadhan1 to pass the month
 in prayer1 and meditation on those     
great questions1 he one day told his    
wife ,kadijah1 who with his household   
was with him or near him this year1     
,that by the unspeakable special favour 
of ,heaven he had now found it all out2 
was in doubt and darkness no longer1 but
 saw it all4 ,that all these ,idols and 
,formulas were nothing1 miserable bits  
of wood2 that there was ,one ,god in and
 over all2 and we must leave all ,idols1
 and look to ,him4 ,that ,god is great2 
and that there is nothing else great6   
,he is the ,reality4 ,wooden ,idols are 
not real2 ,he is real4 ,he made us at   
first1 sustains us yet2 we and all      
things are but the shadow of ,him2 a    
transitory garment veiling the ,eternal 
,splendour4 ',allah akbar1 ,god is      
great2'--and then also ',islam1' ,that  
we must submit to ,god4 ,that our whole 
strength lies in resigned submission to 
,him1 whatsoever ,he do to us4 ,for this
 world1 and for the other6 ,the thing   

,he sends to us1 were it death and worse
 than death1 shall be good1 shall be    
best2 we resign ourselves to ,god4--',if
 this be ,islam1' says ,goethe1 'do we  
not all live in ,islam8' ,yes1 all of us
 that have any moral life2 we all live  
so4 ,it has ever been held the highest  
wisdom for a man not merely to submit to
 ,necessity1--,necessity will make him  
submit1--but to know and believe well   
that the stern thing which ,necessity   
had ordered was the wisest1 the best1   
the thing wanted there4 ,to cease his   
frantic pretension of scanning this     
great ,god's-,world in his small        
fraction of a brain2 to know that it had
 verily1 though deep beyond his         
soundings1 a ,just ,law1 that the soul  
of it was ,good2--that his part in it   
was to conform to the ,law of the       
,whole1 and in devout silence follow    
that2 not questioning it1 obeying it as 
unquestionable4  ,i say1 this is yet the
 only true morality known4 ,a man is    
right and invincible1 virtuous and on   

the road towards sure conquest1         
precisely while he joins himself to the 
great deep ,law of the ,world1 in spite 
of all superficial laws1 temporary      
appearances1 profit-and-loss            
calculations2 he is victorious while he 
coperates with that great central ,law1 
not victorious otherwise3--and surely   
his first chance of coperating with it1 
or getting into the course of it1 is to 
know with his whole soul that it is2    
that it is good1 and alone good6 ,this  
is the soul of ,islam2 it is properly   
the soul of ,christianity2--for ,islam  
is definable as a confused form of      
,christianity2 had ,christianity not    
been1 neither had it been4 ,christianity
 also commands us1 before all1 to be    
resigned to ,god4 ,we are to take no    
counsel with flesh-and-blood2 give ear  
to no vain cavils1 vain sorrows and     
wishes3 to know that we know nothing2   
that the worst and cruelest to our eyes 
is not what it seems2 that we have to   
receive whatsoever befalls us as sent   

from ,god above1 and say1 ,it is good   
and wise1 ,god is great6 ,though ,he    
slay me1 yet will ,i trust in ,him4     
,islam means in its way ,denial of      
,self1 ,annihilation of ,self4 ,this is 
yet the highest ,wisdom that ,heaven has
 revealed to our ,earth4  ,such light   
had come1 as it could1 to illuminate the
 darkness of this wild ,arab soul4 ,a   
confused dazzling1 splendour as of life 
and ,heaven1 in the great darkness which
 threatened to be death3 he called it   
revelation and the angel ,gabriel2--who 
of us yet can know what to call it8 ,it 
is the 'inspiration of the ,almighty    
that giveth us understanding4' ,to know2
 to get into the truth of anything1 is  
ever a mystic act1--of which the best   
,logics can but babble on the surface4  
',is not ,belief the true god-announcing
 ,miracle8' says ,novalis4--,that       
,mahomet's whole soul1 set in flame with
 this grand ,truth vouchsafed him1      
should feel as if it were important and 
the only important thing1 was very      

natural4 ,that ,providence had          
unspeakably honoured him by revealing   
it1 saving him from death and darkness2 
that he therefore was bound to make     
known the same to all creatures3 this is
 what was meant by ',mahomet is the     
,prophet of ,god2' this too is not      
without its true meaning4--  ,the good  
,kadijah1 we can fancy1 listened to him 
with wonder1 with doubt3 at length she  
answered3 ,yes1 it was true this that he
 said4 ,one can fancy too the boundless 
gratitude of ,mahomet2 and how of all   
the kindnesses she had done him1 this of
 believing the earnest struggling word  
he now spoke was the greatest4 ',it is  
certain1' says ,novalis1 'my ,conviction
 gains infinitely1 the moment another   
soul will believe in it4' ,it is a      
boundless favour4--,he never forgot this
 good ,kadijah4 ,long afterwards1       
,ayesha his young favourite wife1 a     
woman who indeed distinguished herself  
among the ,moslem1 by all manner of     
qualities1 through her whole long life2 

this young brilliant ,ayesha was1 one   
day1 questioning him3 ,now am not ,i    
better than ,kadijah8 ,she was a widow2 
old1 and had lost her looks3 you love me
 better than you did her8--,no1 by      
,allah6 answered ,mahomet3 ,no1 by      
,allah6 ,she believed in me when none   
else would believe4 ,in the whole world 
,i had but one friend1 and she was      
that6--,seid1 his ,slave1 also believed 
in him2 these with his young ,cousin    
,ali1 ,abu ,thaleb's son1 were his first
 converts4  ,he spoke of his ,doctrine  
to this man and that2 but the most      
treated it with ridicule1 with          
indifference2 in three years1 ,i think1 
he had gained but thirteen followers4   
,his progress was slow enough4 ,his     
encouragement to go on1 was altogether  
the usual encouragement that such a man 
in such a case meets4 ,after some three 
years of small success1 he invited forty
 of his chief kindred to an             
entertainment2 and there stood-up and   
told them what his pretension was3 that 

he had this thing to promulgate abroad  
to all men2 that it was the highest     
thing1 the one thing3 which of them     
would second him in that8 ,amid the     
doubt and silence of all1 young ,ali1 as
 yet a lad of sixteen1 impatient of the 
silence1 started-up1 and exclaimed in   
passionate fierce language1 ,that he    
would6 ,the assembly1 among whom was    
,abu ,thaleb1 ,ali's ,father1 could not 
be unfriendly to ,mahomet2 yet the sight
 there1 of one unlettered elderly man1  
with a lad of sixteen1 deciding on such 
an enterprise against all mankind1      
appeared ridiculous to them2 the        
assembly broke-up in laughter4          
,nevertheless it proved not a laughable 
thing2 it was a very serious thing6 ,as 
for this young ,ali1 one cannot but like
 him4 ,a noble-minded creature1 as he   
shows himself1 now and always           
afterwards2 full of affection1 of fiery 
daring4 ,something chivalrous in him2   
brave as a lion2 yet with a grace1 a    
truth and affection worthy of ,christian

 knighthood4 ,he died by assassination  
in the ,mosque at ,bagdad2 a death      
occasioned by his own generous fairness1
 confidence in the fairness of others3  
he said1 ,if the wound proved not unto  
death1 they must pardon the ,assassin2  
but if it did1 then they must slay him  
straightway1 that so they two in the    
same hour might appear before ,god1 and 
see which side of that quarrel was the  
just one6  ,mahomet naturally gave      
offence to the ,koreish1 ,keepers of the
 ,caabah1 superintendents of the ,idols4
 ,one or two men of influence had joined
 him3 the thing spread slowly1 but it   
was spreading4 ,naturally1 he gave      
offence to everybody3 ,who is this that 
pretends to be wiser than we all2 that  
rebukes us all1 as mere fools and       
worshippers of wood6 ,abu ,thaleb the   
good ,uncle spoke with him3 ,could he   
not be silent about all that2 believe it
 all for himself1 and not trouble       
others1 anger the chief men1 endanger   
himself and them all1 talking of it8    

,mahomet answered3 ,if the ,sun stood on
 his right hand and the ,moon on his    
left1 ordering him to hold his peace1 he
 could not obey6 ,no3 there was         
something in this ,truth he had got     
which was of ,nature herself2 equal in  
rank to ,sun1 or ,moon1 or whatsoever   
thing ,nature had made4 ,it would speak 
itself there1 so long as the ,almighty  
allowed it1 in spite of ,sun and ,moon1 
and all ,koreish and all men and things4
 ,it must do that1 and could do no      
other4 ,mahomet answered so2 and1 they  
say1 'burst into tears4' ,burst into    
tears3 he felt that ,abu ,thaleb was    
good to him2 that the task he had got   
was no soft1 but a stern and great one4 
,he went on speaking to who would listen
 to him2 publishing his ,doctrine among 
the pilgrims as they came to ,mecca2    
gaining adherents in this place and     
that4 ,continual contradiction1 hatred1 
open or secret danger attended him4 ,his
 powerful relations protected ,mahomet  
himself2 but by and by1 on his own      

advice1 all his adherents had to quit   
,mecca1 and seek refuge in ,abyssinia   
over the sea4 ,the ,koreish grew ever   
angrier2 laid plots1 and swore oaths    
among them1 to put ,mahomet to death    
with their own hands4 ,abu ,thaleb was  
dead1 the good ,kadijah was dead4       
,mahomet is not solicitous of sympathy  
from us2 but his outlook at this time   
was one of the dismalest4 ,he had to    
hide in caverns1 escape in disguise2 fly
 hither and thither2 homeless1 in       
continual peril of his life4 ,more than 
once it seemed all-over with him2 more  
than once it turned on a straw1 some    
rider's horse taking fright or the like1
 whether ,mahomet and his ,doctrine had 
not ended there1 and not been heard of  
at all4 ,but it was not to end so4  ,in 
the thirteenth year of his mission1     
finding his enemies all banded against  
him1 forty sworn men1 one out of every  
tribe1 waiting to take his life1 and no 
continuance possible at ,mecca for him  
any longer1 ,mahomet fled to the place  

then called ,yathreb1 where he had      
gained some adherents2 the place they   
now call ,medina1 or ',medinat al ,nabi1
 the ,city of the ,prophet1' from that  
circumstance4 ,it lay some #bjj miles   
off1 through rocks and deserts2 not     
without great difficulty1 in such mood  
as we may fancy1 he escaped thither1 and
 found welcome4 ,the whole ,east dates  
its era from this ,flight1 ,hegira as   
they name it3 the ,year #a of this      
,hegira is #fbb of our ,era1 the        
fifty-third of ,mahomet's life4 ,he was 
now becoming an old man2 his friends    
sinking round him one by one3 his path  
desolate1 encompassed with danger3      
unless he could find hope in his own    
heart1 the outward face of things was   
but hopeless for him4 ,it is so with all
 men in the like case4 ,hitherto        
,mahomet had professed to publish his   
,religion by the way of preaching and   
persuasion alone4 ,but now1 driven      
foully out of his native country1 since 
unjust men had not only given no ear to 

his earnest ,heaven's-message1 the deep 
cry of his heart1 but would not even let
 him live if he kept speaking it1--the  
wild ,son of the ,desert resolved to    
defend himself1 like a man and ,arab4   
,if the ,koreish will have it so1 they  
shall have it4 ,tidings1 felt to be of  
infinite moment to them and all men1    
they would not listen to these2 would   
trample them down by sheer violence1    
steel and murder3 well1 let steel try it
 then6 ,ten years more this ,mahomet    
had3 all of fighting1 of breathless     
impetuous toil and struggle2 with what  
result we know4  ,much has been said of 
,mahomet's propagating his ,religion by 
the sword4 ,it is no doubt far nobler   
what we have to boast of the ,christian 
,religion1 that it propagated itself    
peaceably in the way of preaching and   
conviction4 ,yet withal1 if we take this
 for an argument of the truth or        
falsehood of a religion1 there is a     
radical mistake in it4 ,the sword       
indeed3 but where will you get your     

sword6 ,every new opinion1 at its       
starting1 is precisely in a minority of 
one4 ,in one man's head alone1 there it 
dwells as yet4 ,one man alone of the    
whole world believes it2 there is one   
man against all men4 ,that he take a    
sword1 and try to propagate with that1  
will do little for him4 ,you must first 
get your sword6 ,on the whole1 a thing  
will propagate itself as it can4 ,we do 
not find1 of the ,christian ,religion   
either1 that it always disdained the    
sword1 when once it had got one4        
,charlemagne's conversion of the ,saxons
 was not by preaching4 ,i care little   
about the sword3 ,i will allow a thing  
to struggle for itself in this world1   
with any sword or tongue or implement it
 has1 or can lay hold of4 ,we will let  
it preach1 and pamphleteer1 and fight1  
and to the uttermost bestir itself1 and 
do1 beak and claws1 whatsoever is in it2
 very sure that it will1 in the         
long-run1 conquer nothing which does not
 deserve to be conquered4 ,what is      

better than itself1 it cannot put away1 
but only what is worse4 ,in this great  
,duel1 ,nature herself is umpire1 and   
can do no wrong3 the thing which is     
deepest-rooted in ,nature1 what we call 
truest1 that thing and not the other    
will be found growing at last4  ,here   
however1 in reference to much that there
 is in ,mahomet and his success1 we are 
to remember what an umpire ,nature is2  
what a greatness1 composure of depth and
 tolerance there is in her4 ,you take   
wheat to cast into the ,earth's bosom3  
your wheat may be mixed with chaff1     
chopped straw1 barn-sweepings1 dust and 
all imaginable rubbish2 no matter3 you  
cast it into the kind just ,earth2 she  
grows the wheat1--the whole rubbish she 
silently absorbs1 shrouds it in1 says   
nothing of the rubbish4 ,the yellow     
wheat is growing there2 the good ,earth 
is silent about all the rest1--has      
silently turned all the rest to some    
benefit too1 and makes no complaint     
about it6 ,so everywhere in ,nature6    

,she is true and not a lie2 and yet so  
great1 and just1 and motherly in her    
truth4 ,she requires of a thing only    
that it be genuine of heart2 she will   
protect it if so2 will not1 if not so4  
,there is a soul of truth in all the    
things she ever gave harbour to4 ,alas1 
is not this the history of all highest  
,truth that comes or ever came into the 
world8 ,the body of them all is         
imperfection1 an element of light in    
darkness3 to us they have to come       
embodied in mere ,logic1 in some merely 
scientific ,theorem of the ,universe2   
which cannot be complete2 which cannot  
but be found1 one day1 incomplete1      
erroneous1 and so die and disappear4    
,the body of all ,truth dies2 and yet in
 all1 ,i say1 there is a soul which     
never dies2 which in new and ever-nobler
 embodiment lives immortal as man       
himself6 ,it is the way with ,nature4   
,the genuine essence of ,truth never    
dies4 ,that it be genuine1 a voice from 
the great ,deep of ,nature1 there is the

 point at ,nature's judgment-seat4 ,what
 we call pure or impure1 is not with her
 the final question4 ,not how much chaff
 is in you2 but whether you have any    
wheat4 ,pure8 ,i might say to many a    
man3 ,yes1 you are pure2 pure enough2   
but you are chaff1--insincere           
hypothesis1 hearsay1 formality2 you     
never were in contact with the great    
heart of the ,universe at all2 you are  
properly neither pure nor impure2 you   
are nothing1 ,nature has no business    
with you4  ,mahomet's ,creed we called a
 kind of ,christianity2 and really1 if  
we look at the wild rapt earnestness    
with which it was believed and laid to  
heart1 ,i should say a better kind than 
that of those miserable ,syrian ,sects1 
with their vain janglings about         
,homoiousion and ,homoousion1 the head  
full of worthless noise1 the heart empty
 and dead6 ,the truth of it is embedded 
in portentous error and falsehood2 but  
the truth of it makes it be believed1   
not the falsehood3 it succeeded by its  

truth4 ,a bastard kind of ,christianity1
 but a living kind2 with a heart-life in
 it3 not dead1 chopping barren logic    
merely6 ,out of all that rubbish of     
,arab idolatries1 argumentative         
theologies1 traditions1 subtleties1     
rumours and hypotheses of ,greeks and   
,jews1 with their idle wire-drawings1   
this wild man of the ,desert1 with his  
wild sincere heart1 earnest as death and
 life1 with his great flashing natural  
eyesight1 had seen into the kernel of   
the matter4 ,idolatry is nothing3 these 
,wooden ,idols of yours1 'ye rub them   
with oil and wax1 and the flies stick on
 them1'--these are wood1 ,i tell you6   
,they can do nothing for you2 they are  
an impotent blasphemous pretence2 a     
horror and abomination1 if ye knew them4
 ,god alone is2 ,god alone has power2   
,he made us1 ,he can kill us and keep us
 alive3 ',allah akbar1 ,god is great4'  
,understand that ,his will is the best  
for you2 that howsoever sore to         
flesh-and-blood1 you will find it the   

wisest1 best3 you are bound to take it  
so2 in this world and in the next1 you  
have no other thing that you can do6    
,and now if the wild idolatrous men did 
believe this1 and with their fiery      
hearts laid hold of it to do it1 in what
 form soever it came to them1 ,i say it 
was well worthy of being believed4 ,in  
one form or the other1 ,i say it is     
still the one thing worthy of being     
believed by all men4 ,man does hereby   
become the high-priest of this ,temple  
of a ,world4 ,he is in harmony with the 
,decrees of the ,author of this ,world2 
coperating with them1 not vainly        
withstanding them3 ,i know1 to this day1
 no better definition of ,duty than that
 same4 ,all that is right includes      
itself in this of coperating with the   
real ,tendency of the ,world2 you       
succeed by this 7the ,world's ,tendency 
will succeed71 you are good1 and in the 
right course there4 ,homoiousion1       
,homoousion1 vain logical jangle1 then  
or before or at any time1 may jangle    

itself out1 and go whither and how it   
likes3 this is the thing it all         
struggles to mean1 if it would mean     
anything4 ,if it do not succeed in      
meaning this1 it means nothing4 ,not    
that ,abstractions1 logical             
,propositions1 be correctly worded or   
incorrectly2 but that living concrete   
,sons of ,adam do lay this to heart3    
that is the important point4 ,islam     
devoured all these vain jangling ,sects2
 and ,i think had right to do so4 ,it   
was a ,reality1 direct from the great   
,heart of ,nature once more4 ,arab      
idolatries1 ,syrian formulas1 whatsoever
 was not equally real1 had to go up in  
flame1--mere dead fuel1 in various      
senses1 for this which was fire4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,it was during these wild warfarings and
 strugglings1 especially after the      
,flight to ,mecca1 that ,mahomet        
dictated at intervals his ,sacred ,book1
 which they name ,koran1 or ,reading1   
',thing to be read4' ,this is the ,work 

he and his disciples made so much of1   
asking all the world1 ,is not that a    
miracle8 ,the ,mahometans regard their  
,koran with a reverence which few       
,christians pay even to their ,bible4   
,it is admitted everywhere as the       
standard of all law and all practice2   
the thing to be gone-upon in speculation
 and life3 the message sent direct out  
of ,heaven1 which this ,earth has to    
conform to1 and walk by2 the thing to be
 read4 ,their ,judges decide by it2 all 
,moslem are bound to study it1 seek in  
it for the light of their life4 ,they   
have mosques where it is all read daily2
 thirty relays of priests take it up in 
succession1 get through the whole each  
day4 ,there1 for twelve-hundred years1  
has the voice of this ,book1 at all     
moments1 kept sounding through the ears 
and the hearts of so many men4 ,we hear 
of ,mahometan ,doctors that had read it 
seventy-thousand times6  ,very curious3 
if one sought for 'discrepancies of     
national taste1' here surely were the   

most eminent instance of that6 ,we also 
can read the ,koran2 our ,translation of
 it1 by ,sale1 is known to be a very    
fair one4 ,i must say1 it is as toilsome
 reading as ,i ever undertook4 ,a       
wearisome confused jumble1 crude1       
incondite2 endless iterations1          
long-windedness1 entanglement2 most     
crude1 incondite2--insupportable        
stupidity1 in short6 ,nothing but a     
sense of duty could carry any ,european 
through the ,koran4 ,we read in it1 as  
we might in the ,state-,paper ,office1  
unreadable masses of lumber1 that       
perhaps we may get some glimpses of a   
remarkable man4 ,it is true we have it  
under disadvantages3 the ,arabs see more
 method in it than we4 ,mahomet's       
followers found the ,koran lying all in 
fractions1 as it had been written-down  
at first promulgation2 much of it1 they 
say1 on shoulder-blades of mutton1 flung
 pellmell into a chest3 and they        
published it1 without any discoverable  
order as to time or otherwise2--merely  

trying1 as would seem1 and this not very
 strictly1 to put the longest chapters  
first4 ,the real beginning of it1 in    
that way1 lies almost at the end3 for   
the earliest portions were the shortest4
 ,read in its historical sequence it    
perhaps would not be so bad4 ,much of   
it1 too1 they say1 is rhythmic2 a kind  
of wild chanting song1 in the original4 
,this may be a great point2 much perhaps
 has been lost in the ,translation here4
 ,yet with every allowance1 one feels it
 difficult to see how any mortal ever   
could consider this ,koran as a ,book   
written in ,heaven1 too good for the    
,earth2 as a well-written book1 or      
indeed as a book at all2 and not a      
bewildered rhapsody2 written1 so far as 
writing goes1 as badly as almost any    
book ever was4 ,so much for national    
discrepancies1 and the standard of      
taste4  ,yet ,i should say1 it was not  
unintelligible how the ,arabs might so  
love it4 ,when once you get this        
confused coil of a ,koran fairly off    

your hands1 and have it behind you at a 
distance1 the essential type of it      
begins to disclose itself2 and in this  
there is a merit quite other than the   
literary one4 ,if a book come from the  
heart1 it will contrive to reach other  
hearts2 all art and authorcraft are of  
small amount to that4 ,one would say the
 primary character of the ,koran is that
 of its genuineness1 of its being a     
bon-fide book4 ,prideaux1 ,i know1 and  
others have represented it as a mere    
bundle of juggleries2 chapter after     
chapter got-up to excuse and varnish the
 author's successive sins1 forward his  
ambitions and quackeries3 but really it 
is time to dismiss all that4 ,i do not  
assert ,mahomet's continual sincerity3  
who is continually sincere8 ,but ,i     
confess ,i can make nothing of the      
critic1 in these times1 who would accuse
 him of deceit prepense2 of conscious   
deceit generally1 or perhaps at         
all2--still more1 of living in a mere   
element of conscious deceit1 and writing

 this ,koran as a forger and juggler    
would have done6 ,every candid eye1 ,i  
think1 will read the ,koran far         
otherwise than so4 ,it is the confused  
ferment of a great rude human soul2     
rude1 untutored1 that cannot even read2 
but fervent1 earnest1 struggling        
vehemently to utter itself in words4    
,with a kind of breathless intensity he 
strives to utter himself2 the thoughts  
crowd on him pellmell3 for very         
multitude of things to say1 he can get  
nothing said4 ,the meaning that is in   
him shapes itself into no form of       
composition1 is stated in no sequence1  
method1 or coherence2--they are not     
shaped at all1 these thoughts of his2   
flung-out unshaped1 as they struggle and
 tumble there1 in their chaotic         
inarticulate state4 ,we said 'stupid3'  
yet natural stupidity is by no means the
 character of ,mahomet's ,book2 it is   
natural uncultivation rather4 ,the man  
has not studied speaking2 in the haste  
and pressure of continual fighting1 has 

not time to mature himself into fit     
speech4 ,the panting breathless haste   
and vehemence of a man struggling in the
 thick of battle for life and salvation2
 this is the mood he is in6 ,a headlong 
haste2 for very magnitude of meaning1 he
 cannot get himself articulated into    
words4 ,the successive utterances of a  
soul in that mood1 coloured by the      
various vicissitudes of three-and-twenty
 years2 now well uttered1 now worse3    
this is the ,koran4  ,for we are to     
consider ,mahomet1 through these        
three-and-twenty years1 as the centre of
 a world wholly in conflict4 ,battles   
with the ,koreish and ,heathen1 quarrels
 among his own people1 backslidings of  
his own wild heart2 all this kept him in
 a perpetual whirl1 his soul knowing    
rest no more4 ,in wakeful nights1 as one
 may fancy1 the wild soul of the man1   
tossing amid these vortices1 would hail 
any light of a decision for them as a   
veritable light from ,heaven2 any       
making-up of his mind1 so blessed1      

indispensable for him there1 would seem 
the inspiration of a ,gabriel4 ,forger  
and juggler8 ,no1 no6 ,this great fiery 
heart1 seething1 simmering like a great 
furnace of thoughts1 was not a          
juggler's4 ,his life was a ,fact to him2
 this ,god's ,universe an awful ,fact   
and ,reality4 ,he has faults enough4    
,the man was an uncultured              
semi-barbarous ,son of ,nature1 much of 
the ,bedouin still clinging to him3 we  
must take him for that4 ,but for a      
wretched ,simulacrum1 a hungry ,impostor
 without eyes or heart1 practising for a
 mess of pottage such blasphemous       
swindlery1 forgery of celestial         
documents1 continual high-treason       
against his ,maker and ,self1 we will   
not and cannot take him4  ,sincerity1 in
 all senses1 seems to me the merit of   
the ,koran2 what had rendered it        
precious to the wild ,arab men4 ,it is1 
after all1 the first and last merit in a
 book2 gives rise to merits of all      
kinds1--nay1 at bottom1 it alone can    

give rise to merit of any kind4         
,curiously1 through these incondite     
masses of tradition1 vituperation1      
complaint1 ejaculation in the ,koran1 a 
vein of true direct insight1 of what we 
might almost call poetry1 is found      
straggling4 ,the body of the ,book is   
made-up of mere tradition1 and as it    
were vehement enthusiastic extempore    
preaching4 ,he returns forever to the   
old stories of the ,prophets as they    
went current in the ,arab memory3 how   
,prophet after ,prophet1 the ,prophet   
,abraham1 the ,prophet ,hud1 the        
,prophet ,moses1 ,christian and other   
real and fabulous ,prophets1 had come to
 this ,tribe and to that1 warning men of
 their sin2 and been received by them   
even as he ,mahomet was1--which is a    
great solace to him4 ,these things he   
repeats ten1 perhaps twenty times2 again
 and ever again with wearisome          
iteration2 has never done repeating     
them4 ,a brave ,samuel ,johnson1 in his 
forlorn garret1 might con-over the      

,biographies of ,authors in that way6   
,this is the great staple of the ,koran4
 ,but curiously1 through all this1 comes
 ever and anon some glance as of the    
real thinker and seer4 ,he has actually 
an eye for the world1 this ,mahomet3    
with a certain directness and rugged    
vigour1 he brings home still1 to our    
heart1 the thing his own heart has been 
opened to4 ,i make but little of his    
praises of ,allah1 which many praise2   
they are borrowed ,i suppose mainly from
 the ,hebrew1 at least they are far     
surpassed there4 ,but the eye that      
flashes direct into the heart of things1
 and sees the truth of them2 this is to 
me a highly interesting object4 ,great  
,nature's own gift2 which she bestows on
 all2 but which only one in the thousand
 does not cast sorrowfully away3 it is  
what ,i call sincerity of vision2 the   
test of a sincere heart4  ,mahomet can  
work no miracles2 he often answers      
impatiently3 ,i can work no miracles4   
,i8 ',i am a ,public ,preacher2'        

appointed to preach this doctrine to all
 creatures4 ,yet the world1 as we can   
see1 had really from of old been all one
 great miracle to him4 ,look over the   
world1 says he2 is it not wonderful1 the
 work of ,allah2 wholly 'a sign to you1'
 if your eyes were open6 ,this ,earth1  
,god made it for you3 'appointed paths  
in it2' you can live in it1 go to and   
fro on it4--,the clouds in the dry      
country of ,arabia1 to ,mahomet they are
 very wonderful3 ,great clouds1 he says1
 born in the deep bosom of the ,upper   
,immensity1 where do they come from6    
,they hang there1 the great black       
monsters2 pour-down their rain deluges  
'to revive a dead earth1' and grass     
springs1 and tall leafy palm-trees with 
their date-clusters hanging round4 ,is  
not that a sign8' ,your cattle          
too1--,allah made them2 serviceable dumb
 creatures2 they change the grass into  
milk2 you have your clothing from them1 
very strange creatures2 they come       
ranking home at evening-time1 'and1'    

adds he1 'and are a credit to you6'     
,ships also1--he talks often about      
ships3 ,huge moving mountains1 they     
spread-out their cloth wings1 go        
bounding through the water there1       
,heaven's wind driving them2 anon they  
lie motionless1 ,god has withdrawn the  
wind1 they lie dead1 and cannot stir6   
,miracles8 cries he2 what miracle would 
you have8 ,are not you yourselves there8
 ,god made you1 'shaped you out of a    
little clay4' ,ye were small once2 a few
 years ago ye were not at all4 ,ye have 
beauty1 strength1 thoughts1 'ye have    
compassion on one another4' ,old age    
comes-on you1 and gray hairs2 your      
strength fades into feebleness2 ye sink 
down1 and again are not4 ',ye have      
compassion on one another3' this struck 
me much3 ,allah might have made you     
having no compassion on one             
another1--how had it been then6 ,this is
 a great direct thought1 a glance at    
first-hand into the very fact of things4
 ,rude vestiges of poetic genius1 of    

whatsoever is best and truest1 are      
visible in this man4 ,a strong untutored
 intellect3 eyesight1 heart2 a strong   
wild man1--might have shaped himself    
into ,poet1 ,king1 ,priest1 any kind of 
,hero4  ,to his eyes it is forever clear
 that this world wholly is miraculous4  
,he sees what1 as we said once before1  
all great thinkers1 the rude            
,scandinavians themselves1 in one way or
 other1 have contrived to see3 ,that    
this so solid-looking material world is1
 at bottom1 in very deed1 ,nothing2 is a
 visual and tactual ,manifestation of   
,god's power and presence1--a shadow    
hung-out by ,him on the bosom of the    
void ,infinite2 nothing more4 ,the      
,mountains1 he says1 these great        
rock-mountains1 they shall dissipate    
themselves 'like clouds2' melt into the 
,blue as clouds do1 and not be6 ,he     
figures the ,earth1 in the ,arab        
fashion1 ,sale tells us1 as an immense  
,plain or flat ,plate of ground1 the    
mountains are set on that to steady it4 

,at the ,last ,day they shall disappear 
'like clouds2' the whole ,earth shall go
 spinning1 whirl itself off into wreck1 
and as dust and vapour vanish in the    
,inane4 ,allah withdraws his hand from  
it1 and it ceases to be4 ,the universal 
empire of ,allah1 presence everywhere of
 an unspeakable ,power1 a ,splendour1   
and a ,terror not to be named1 as the   
true force1 essence and reality1 in all 
things whatsoever1 was continually clear
 to this man4 ,what a modern talks-of by
 the name1 ,forces of ,nature1 ,laws of 
,nature2 and does not figure as a divine
 thing2 not even as one thing at all1   
but as a set of things1 undivine        
enough1--saleable1 curious1 good for    
propelling steamships6 ,with our        
,sciences and ,cyclopdias1 we are apt to
 forget the divineness1 in these        
laboratories of ours4 ,we ought not to  
forget it6 ,that once well forgotten1 ,i
 know not what else were worth          
remembering4 ,most sciences1 ,i think1  
were then a very dead thing2 withered1  

contentious1 empty2--a thistle in late  
autumn4 ,the best science1 without this1
 is but as the dead timber2 it is not   
the growing tree and forest1--which     
gives ever-new timber1 among other      
things6 ,man cannot know either1 unless 
he can worship in some way4 ,his        
knowledge is a pedantry1 and dead       
thistle1 otherwise4  ,much has been said
 and written about the sensuality of    
,mahomet's ,religion2 more than was     
just4 ,the indulgences1 criminal to us1 
which he permitted1 were not of his     
appointment2 he found them practised1   
unquestioned from immemorial time in    
,arabia2 what he did was to curtail     
them1 restrict them1 not on one but on  
many sides4 ,his ,religion is not an    
easy one3 with rigorous fasts1          
lavations1 strict complex formulas1     
prayers five times a day1 and abstinence
 from wine1 it did not 'succeed by being
 an easy religion4' ,as if indeed any   
religion1 or cause holding of religion1 
could succeed by that6 ,it is a calumny 

on men to say that they are roused to   
heroic action by ease1 hope of pleasure1
 recompense1--sugar-plums of any kind1  
in this world or the next6 ,in the      
meanest mortal there lies something     
nobler4 ,the poor swearing soldier1     
hired to be shot1 has his 'honour of a  
soldier1' different from                
drill-regulations and the shilling a    
day4 ,it is not to taste sweet things1  
but to do noble and true things1 and    
vindicate himself under ,god's ,heaven  
as a god-made ,man1 that the poorest son
 of ,adam dimly longs4 ,show him the way
 of doing that1 the dullest daydrudge   
kindles into a hero4 ,they wrong man    
greatly who say he is to be seduced by  
ease4 ,difficulty1 abnegation1          
martyrdom1 death are the allurements    
that act on the heart of man4 ,kindle   
the inner genial life of him1 you have a
 flame that burns-up all lower          
considerations4 ,not happiness1 but     
something higher3 one sees this even in 
the frivolous classes1 with their 'point

 of honour' and the like4 ,not by       
flattering our appetites2 no1 by        
awakening the ,heroic that slumbers in  
every heart1 can any ,religion gain     
followers4  ,mahomet himself1 after all 
that can be said about him1 was not a   
sensual man4 ,we shall err widely if we 
consider this man as a common           
voluptuary1 intent mainly on base       
enjoyments1--nay on enjoyments of any   
kind4 ,his household was of the         
frugalest2 his common diet barley-bread 
and water3 sometimes for months there   
was not a fire once lighted on his      
hearth4 ,they record with just pride    
that he would mend his own shoes1 patch 
his own cloak4 ,a poor1 hard-toiling1   
ill-provided man2 careless of what      
vulgar men toil for4 ,not a bad man1 ,i 
should say2 something better in him than
 hunger of any sort1--or these wild     
,arab men1 fighting and jostling        
three-and-twenty years at his hand1 in  
close contact with him always1 would not
 have reverenced him so6 ,they were wild

 men1 bursting ever and anon into       
quarrel1 into all kinds of fierce       
sincerity2 without right worth and      
manhood1 no man could have commanded    
them4 ,they called him ,prophet1 you    
say8 ,why1 he stood there face to face  
with them2 bare1 not enshrined in any   
mystery2 visibly clouting his own cloak1
 cobbling his own shoes2 fighting1      
counselling1 ordering in the midst of   
them3 they must have seen what kind of a
 man he was1 let him be called what you 
like6 ,no emperor with his tiaras was   
obeyed as this man in a cloak of his own
 clouting4 ,during three-and-twenty     
years of rough actual trial4 ,i find    
something of a veritable ,hero necessary
 for that1 of itself4  ,his last words  
are a prayer2 broken ejaculations of a  
heart struggling-up1 in trembling hope1 
towards its ,maker4 ,we cannot say that 
his religion made him worse2 it made him
 better2 good1 not bad4 ,generous things
 are recorded of him3 when he lost his  
,daughter1 the thing he answers is1 in  

his own dialect1 everyway sincere1 and  
yet equivalent to that of ,christians1  
',the ,lord giveth1 and the ,lord taketh
 away2 blessed be the name of the       
,lord4' ,he answered in like manner of  
,seid1 his emancipated well-beloved     
,slave1 the second of the believers4    
,seid had fallen in the ,war of ,tabc1  
the first of ,mahomet's fightings with  
the ,greeks4 ,mahomet said1 ,it was     
well2 ,seid had done his ,master's work1
 ,seid had now gone to his ,master3 it  
was all well with ,seid4 ,yet ,seid's   
daughter found him weeping over the     
body2--the old gray-haired man melting  
in tears6 ,what do ,i see8 said         
she4--,you see a friend weeping over his
 friend4--,he went out for the last time
 into the mosque1 two days before his   
death2 asked1 ,if he had injured any    
man8 ,let his own back bear the stripes4
 ,if he owed any man8 ,a voice answered1
 ,yes1 me three drachms1 borrowed on    
such an occasion4 ,mahomet ordered them 
to be paid3 ,better be in shame now1    

said he1 than at the ,day of            
,judgment4--,you remember ,kadijah1 and 
the ,no1 by ,allah6 ,traits of that kind
 show us the genuine man1 the brother of
 us all1 brought visible through twelve 
centuries1--the veritable ,son of our   
common ,mother4  ,withal ,i like        
,mahomet for his total freedom from     
cant4 ,he is a rough self-helping son of
 the wilderness2 does not pretend to be 
what he is not4 ,there is no            
ostentatious pride in him2 but neither  
does he go much upon humility3 he is    
there as he can be1 in cloak and shoes  
of his own clouting2 speaks plainly to  
all manner of ,persian ,kings1 ,greek   
,emperors1 what it is they are bound to 
do2 knows well enough1 about himself1   
'the respect due unto thee4' ,in a      
life-and-death war with ,bedouins1 cruel
 things could not fail2 but neither are 
acts of mercy1 of noble natural pity and
 generosity wanting4 ,mahomet makes no  
apology for the one1 no boast of the    
other4 ,they were each the free dictate 

of his heart2 each called-for1 there and
 then4 ,not a mealy-mouthed man6 ,a     
candid ferocity1 if the case call for   
it1 is in him2 he does not mince        
matters6 ,the ,war of ,tabc is a thing  
he often speaks of3 his men refused1    
many of them1 to march on that occasion3
 pleaded the heat of the weather1 the   
harvest1 and so forth2 he can never     
forget that4 ,your harvest8 ,it lasts   
for a day4 ,what will become of your    
harvest through all ,eternity8 ,hot     
weather8 ,yes1 it was hot2 'but ,hell   
will be hotter6' ,sometimes a rough     
sarcasm turns-up3 ,he says to the       
unbelievers1 ,ye shall have the just    
measure of your deeds at that ,great    
,day4 ,they will be weighed-out to you2 
ye shall not have short                 
weight6--,everywhere he fixes the matter
 in his eye2 he sees it3 his heart1 now 
and then1 is as if struck dumb by the   
greatness of it4 ',assuredly1' he says3 
that word1 in the ,koran1 is            
written-down sometimes as a sentence by 

itself3 ',assuredly4'  ,no ,dilettantism
 in this ,mahomet2 it is a business of  
,reprobation and ,salvation with him1 of
 ,time and ,eternity3 he is in deadly   
earnest about it6 ,dilettantism1        
hypothesis1 speculation1 a kind of      
amateur-search for ,truth1 toying and   
coquetting with ,truth3 this is the     
sorest sin4 ,the root of all other      
imaginable sins4 ,it consists in the    
heart and soul of the man never having  
been open to ,truth2--'living in a vain 
show4' ,such a man not only utters and  
produces falsehoods1 but is himself a   
falsehood4 ,the rational moral          
principle1 spark of the ,divinity1 is   
sunk deep in him1 in quiet paralysis of 
life-death4 ,the very falsehoods of     
,mahomet are truer than the truths of   
such a man4 ,he is the insincere man3   
smooth-polished1 respectable in some    
times and places3 inoffensive1 says     
nothing harsh to anybody2 most          
cleanly1--just as carbonic acid is1     
which is death and poison4  ,we will not

 praise ,mahomet's moral precepts as    
always of the superfinest sort2 yet it  
can be said that there is always a      
tendency to good in them2 that they are 
the true dictates of a heart aiming     
towards what is just and true4 ,the     
sublime forgiveness of ,christianity1   
turning of the other cheek when the one 
has been smitten1 is not here3 you are  
to revenge yourself1 but it is to be in 
measure1 not overmuch1 or beyond        
justice4 ,on the other hand1 ,islam1    
like any great ,faith1 and insight into 
the essence of man1 is a perfect        
equaliser of men3 the soul of one       
believer outweighs all earthly          
kingships2 all men1 according to ,islam 
too1 are equal4 ,mahomet insists not on 
the propriety of giving alms1 but on the
 necessity of it2 he marks-down by law  
how much you are to give1 and it is at  
your peril if you neglect4 ,the tenth   
part of a man's annual income1 whatever 
that may be1 is the property of the     
poor1 of those that are afflicted and   

need help4 ,good all this3 the natural  
voice of humanity1 of pity and equity   
dwelling in the heart of this wild ,son 
of ,nature speaks so4  ,mahomet's       
,paradise is sensual1 his ,hell sensual3
 true2 in the one and the other there is
 enough that shocks all spiritual       
feeling in us4 ,but we are to recollect 
that the ,arabs already had it so2 that 
,mahomet1 in whatever he changed of it1 
softened and diminished all this4 ,the  
worst sensualities1 too1 are the work of
 doctors1 followers of his1 not his     
work4 ,in the ,koran there is really    
very little said about the joys of      
,paradise2 they are intimated rather    
than insisted on4 ,nor is it forgotten  
that the highest joys even there shall  
be spiritual2 the pure ,presence of the 
,highest1 this shall infinitely         
transcend all other joys4 ,he says1     
',your salutation shall be1 ,peace4'    
,salam1 ,have ,peace6--the thing that   
all rational souls long for1 and seek1  
vainly here below1 as the one blessing4 

',ye shall sit on seats1 facing one     
another3 all grudges shall be taken away
 out of your hearts4' ,all grudges6 ,ye 
shall love one another freely2 for each 
of you1 in the eyes of his brothers1    
there will be ,heaven enough6  ,in      
reference to this of the sensual        
,paradise and ,mahomet's sensuality1 the
 sorest chapter of all for us1 there    
were many things to be said2 which it is
 not convenient to enter upon here4 ,two
 remarks only ,i shall make1 and        
therewith leave it to your candour4 ,the
 first is furnished me by ,goethe2 it is
 a casual hint of his which seems well  
worth taking note of4 ,in one of his    
,delineations1 in ,meister's ,travels it
 is1 the hero comes-upon a ,society of  
men with very strange ways1 one of which
 was this3 ,we require1 says the        
,master1 that each of our people shall  
restrict himself in one direction1 shall
 go right against his desire in one     
matter1 and make himself do the thing he
 does not wish1 should we allow him the 

greater latitude on all other sides4    
,there seems to me a great justness in  
this4 ,enjoying things which are        
pleasant2 that is not the evil3 it is   
the reducing of our moral self to       
slavery by them that is4 ,let a man     
assert withal that he is king over his  
habitudes2 that he could and would shake
 them off1 on cause shown3 this is an   
excellent law4 ,the ,month ,ramadhan for
 the ,moslem1 much in ,mahomet's        
,religion1 much in his own ,life1 bears 
in that direction2 if not by            
forethought1 or clear purpose of moral  
improvement on his part1 then by a      
certain healthy manful instinct1 which  
is as good4  ,but there is another thing
 to be said about the ,mahometan ,heaven
 and ,hell4 ,this namely1 that1 however 
gross and material they may be1 they are
 an emblem of an everlasting truth1 not 
always so well remembered elsewhere4    
,that gross sensual ,paradise of his2   
that horrible flaming ,hell2 the great  
enormous ,day of ,judgment he           

perpetually insists on3 what is all this
 but a rude shadow1 in the rude ,bedouin
 imagination1 of that grand spiritual   
,fact1 and ,beginning of ,facts1 which  
it is ill for us too if we do not all   
know and feel3 the ,infinite ,nature of 
,duty8 ,that man's actions here are of  
infinite moment to him1 and never die or
 end at all2 that man1 with his little  
life1 reaches upwards high as ,heaven1  
downwards low as ,hell1 and in his      
threescore years of ,time holds an      
,eternity fearfully and wonderfully     
hidden3 all this had burnt itself1 as in
 flame-characters1 into the wild ,arab  
soul4 ,as in flame and lightning1 it    
stands written there2 awful1            
unspeakable1 ever present to him4 ,with 
bursting earnestness1 with a fierce     
savage sincerity1 halt1 articulating1   
not able to articulate1 he strives to   
speak it1 bodies it forth in that       
,heaven and that ,hell4 ,bodied forth in
 what way you will1 it is the first of  
all truths4 ,it is venerable under all  

embodiments4 ,what is the chief end of  
man here below8 ,mahomet has answered   
this question1 in a way that might put  
some of us to shame6 ,he does not1 like 
a ,bentham1 a ,paley1 take ,right and   
,wrong1 and calculate the profit and    
loss1 ultimate pleasure of the one and  
of the other2 and summing all up by     
addition and subtraction into a net     
result1 ask you1 ,whether on the whole  
the ,right does not preponderate        
considerably8 ,no1 it is not better to  
do the one than the other2 the one is to
 the other as life is to death1--as     
,heaven is to ,hell4 ,the one must in   
nowise be done1 the other in nowise left
 undone4 ,you shall not measure them2   
they are incommensurable3 the one is    
death eternal to a man1 the other is    
life eternal4 ,benthamee ,utility1      
virtue by ,profit and ,loss2 reducing   
this ,god's-world to a dead brute       
,steam-engine1 the infinite celestial   
,soul of ,man to a kind of ,hay-balance 
for weighing hay and thistles on1       

pleasures and pains on3--,if you ask me 
which gives1 ,mahomet or they1 the      
beggarlier and falser view of ,man and  
his ,destinies in this ,universe1 ,i    
will answer1 ,it is not ,mahomet6----   
,on the whole1 we will repeat that this 
,religion of ,mahomet's is a kind of    
,christianity2 has a genuine element of 
what is spiritually highest looking     
through it1 not to be hidden by all its 
imperfections4 ,the ,scandinavian ,god  
,wish1 the god of all rude men1--this   
has been enlarged into a ,heaven by     
,mahomet2 but a ,heaven symbolical of   
sacred ,duty1 and to be earned by faith 
and welldoing1 by valiant action1 and a 
divine patience which is still more     
valiant4 ,it is ,scandinavian ,paganism1
 and a truly celestial element          
superadded to that4 ,call it not false2 
look not at the falsehood of it1 look at
 the truth of it4 ,for these twelve     
centuries1 it has been the religion and 
life-guidance of the fifth part of the  
whole kindred of ,mankind4 ,above all   

things1 it has been a religion heartily 
believed4 ,these ,arabs believe their   
religion1 and try to live by it6 ,no    
,christians1 since the early ages1 or   
only perhaps the ,english ,puritans in  
modern times1 have ever stood by their  
,faith as the ,moslem do by             
theirs1--believing it wholly1 fronting  
,time with it1 and ,eternity with it4   
,this night the watchman on the streets 
of ,cairo when he cries ,who goes8 will 
hear from the passenger1 along with his 
answer1 ,there is no ,god but ,god4     
,allah akbar1 ,islam1 sounds through the
 souls1 and whole daily existence1 of   
these dusky millions4 ,zealous          
missionaries preach it abroad among     
,malays1 black ,papuans1 brutal         
,idolaters2--displacing what is worse1  
nothing that is better or good4  ,to the
 ,arab ,nation it was as a birth from   
darkness into light2 ,arabia first      
became alive by means of it4 ,a poor    
shepherd people1 roaming unnoticed in   
its deserts since the creation of the   

world3 a ,hero-,prophet was sent down to
 them with a word they could believe3   
see1 the unnoticed becomes              
world-notable1 the small has grown      
world-great2 within one century         
afterwards1 ,arabia is at ,grenada on   
this hand1 at ,delhi on that2--glancing 
in valour and splendour and the light of
 genius1 ,arabia shines through long    
ages over a great section of the world4 
,belief is great1 life-giving4 ,the     
history of a ,nation becomes fruitful1  
soul-elevating1 great1 so soon as it    
believes4 ,these ,arabs1 the man        
,mahomet1 and that one century1--is it  
not as if a spark had fallen1 one spark1
 on a world of what seemed black        
unnoticeable sand2 but lo1 the sand     
proves explosive powder1 blazes         
heaven-high from ,delhi to ,grenada6 ,i 
said1 the ,great ,man was always as     
lightning out of ,heaven2 the rest of   
men waited for him like fuel1 and then  
they too would flame4     ,,lecture     
,,iii  ,,the ,,hero ,,as ,,poet4        

,,dante2 ,,shakspeare4  ,tuesday1 #abth 
,may #ahdj   ,the ,hero as ,divinity1   
the ,hero as ,prophet1 are productions  
of old ages2 not to be repeated in the  
new4 ,they presuppose a certain rudeness
 of conception1 which the progress of   
mere scientific knowledge puts an end   
to4 ,there needs to be1 as it were1 a   
world vacant1 or almost vacant of       
scientific forms1 if men in their loving
 wonder are to fancy their fellow-man   
either a god or one speaking with the   
voice of a god4 ,divinity and ,prophet  
are past4 ,we are now to see our ,hero  
in the less ambitious1 but also less    
questionable1 character of ,poet2 a     
character which does not pass4 ,the     
,poet is a heroic figure belonging to   
all ages2 whom all ages possess1 when   
once he is produced1 whom the newest age
 as the oldest may produce2--and will   
produce1 always when ,nature pleases4   
,let ,nature send a ,hero-soul2 in no   
age is it other than possible that he   
may be shaped into a ,poet4  ,hero1     

,prophet1 ,poet1--many different names1 
in different times and places1 do we    
give to ,great ,men2 according to       
varieties we note in them1 according to 
the sphere in which they have displayed 
themselves6 ,we might give many more    
names1 on this same principle4 ,i will  
remark again1 however1 as a fact not    
unimportant to be understood1 that the  
different sphere constitutes the grand  
origin of such distinction2 that the    
,hero can be ,poet1 ,prophet1 ,king1    
,priest or what you will1 according to  
the kind of world he finds himself born 
into4 ,i confess1 ,i have no notion of a
 truly great man that could not be all  
sorts of men4 ,the ,poet who could      
merely sit on a chair1 and compose      
stanzas1 would never make a stanza worth
 much4 ,he could not sing the ,heroic   
warrior1 unless he himself were at least
 a ,heroic warrior too4 ,i fancy there  
is in him the ,politician1 the ,thinker1
 ,legislator1 ,philosopher2--in one or  
the other degree1 he could have been1 he

 is all these4 ,so too ,i cannot        
understand how a ,mirabeau1 with that   
great glowing heart1 with the fire that 
was in it1 with the bursting tears that 
were in it1 could not have written      
verses1 tragedies1 poems1 touched all   
hearts in that way1 had his course of   
life and education led him thitherward4 
,the grand fundamental character is that
 of ,great ,man2 that the man be great4 
,napoleon has words in him which are    
like ,austerlitz ,battles4 ,louis       
,fourteenth's ,marshals are a kind of   
poetical men withal2 the things ,turenne
 says are full of sagacity and          
geniality1 like sayings of ,samuel      
,johnson4 ,the great heart1 the clear   
deep-seeing eye3 there it lies2 no man  
whatever1 in what province soever1 can  
prosper at all without these4 ,petrarch 
and ,boccaccio did diplomatic messages1 
it seems1 quite well3 one can easily    
believe it2 they had done things a      
little harder than these6 ,burns1 a     
gifted song-writer1 might have made a   

still better ,mirabeau4                 
,shakspeare1--one knows not what he     
could not have made1 in the supreme     
degree4  ,true1 there are aptitudes of  
,nature too4 ,nature does not make all  
great men1 more than all other men1 in  
the self-same mould4 ,varieties of      
aptitude doubtless2 but infinitely more 
of circumstance2 and far oftenest it is 
the latter only that are looked to4 ,but
 it is as with common men in the        
learning of trades4 ,you take any man1  
as yet a vague capability of a man1 who 
could be any kind of craftsman2 and make
 him into a smith1 a carpenter1 a mason3
 he is then and thenceforth that and    
nothing else4 ,and if1 as ,addison      
complains1 you sometimes see a          
street-porter staggering under his load 
on spindle-shanks1 and near at hand a   
tailor with the frame of a ,samson      
handling a bit of cloth and small       
,whitechapel needle1--it cannot be      
considered that aptitude of ,nature     
alone has been consulted here           

either6--,the ,great ,man also1 to what 
shall he be bound apprentice8 ,given    
your ,hero1 is he to become ,conqueror1 
,king1 ,philosopher1 ,poet8 ,it is an   
inexplicably complex                    
controversial-calculation between the   
world and him6 ,he will read the world  
and its laws2 the world with its laws   
will be there to be read4 ,what the     
world1 on this matter1 shall permit and 
bid is1 as we said1 the most important  
fact about the world4--   99 99 99 99 99
  ,poet and ,prophet differ greatly in  
our loose modern notions of them4 ,in   
some old languages1 again1 the titles   
are synonymous2 ,vates means both       
,prophet and ,poet3 and indeed at all   
times1 ,prophet and ,poet1 well         
understood1 have much kindred of        
meaning4 ,fundamentally indeed they are 
still the same2 in this most important  
respect especially1 ,that they have     
penetrated both of them into the sacred 
mystery of the ,universe2 what ,goethe  
calls 'the open secret4' ,which is the  

great secret8 asks one4--,the open      
secret1--open to all1 seen by almost    
none6 ,that divine mystery1 which lies  
everywhere in all ,beings1 'the ,divine 
,idea of the ,world1 that which lies at 
the bottom of ,appearance1' as ,fichte  
styles it2 of which all ,appearance1    
from the starry sky to the grass of the 
field1 but especially the ,appearance of
 ,man and his work1 is but the vesture1 
the embodiment that renders it visible4 
,this divine mystery is in all times and
 in all places2 veritably is4 ,in most  
times and places it is greatly          
overlooked2 and the ,universe1 definable
 always in one or the other dialect1 as 
the realised ,thought of ,god1 is       
considered a trivial1 inert1 commonplace
 matter1--as if1 says the ,satirist1 it 
were a dead thing1 which some           
upholsterer had put together6 ,it could 
do no good at present1 to speak much    
about this2 but it is a pity for every  
one of us if we do not know it1 live    
ever in the knowledge of it4 ,really a  

most mournful pity2--a failure to live  
at all1 if we live otherwise6  ,but now1
 ,i say1 whoever may forget this divine 
mystery1 the ,vates1 whether ,prophet or
 ,poet1 has penetrated into it2 is a man
 sent hither to make it more            
impressively known to us4 ,that always  
is his message2 he is to reveal that to 
us1--that sacred mystery which he more  
than others lives ever present with4    
,while others forget it1 he knows       
it2--,i might say1 he has been driven to
 know it2 without consent asked of him1 
he finds himself living in it1 bound to 
live in it4 ,once more1 here is no      
,hearsay1 but a direct ,insight and     
,belief2 this man too could not help    
being a sincere man6 ,whosoever may live
 in the shows of things1 it is for him a
 necessity of nature to live in the very
 fact of things4 ,a man once more1 in   
earnest with the ,universe1 though all  
others were but toying with it4 ,he is a
 ,vates1 first of all1 in virtue of     
being sincere4 ,so far ,poet and        

,prophet1 participators in the 'open    
secret1' are one4  ,with respect to     
their distinction again3 ,the ,vates    
,prophet1 we might say1 has seized that 
sacred mystery rather on the moral side1
 as ,good and ,evil1 ,duty and          
,prohibition2 the ,vates ,poet on what  
the ,germans call the sthetic side1 as  
,beautiful1 and the like4 ,the one we   
may call a revealer of what we are to   
do1 the other of what we are to love4   
,but indeed these two provinces run into
 one another1 and cannot be disjoined4  
,the ,prophet too has his eye on what we
 are to love3 how else shall he know    
what it is we are to do8 ,the highest   
,voice ever heard on this earth said    
withal1 ,consider the lilies of the     
field2 they toil not1 neither do they   
spin3 yet ,solomon in all his glory was 
not arrayed like one of these4 ,a       
glance1 that1 into the deepest deep of  
,beauty4 ',the lilies of the            
field1'--dressed finer than earthly     
princes1 springing-up there in the      

humble furrow-field2 a beautiful eye    
looking-out on you1 from the great inner
 ,sea of ,beauty6 ,how could the rude   
,earth make these1 if her ,essence1     
rugged as she looks and is1 were not    
inwardly ,beauty8 ,in this point of     
view1 too1 a saying of ,goethe's1 which 
has staggered several1 may have meaning3
 ',the ,beautiful1' he intimates1 'is   
higher than the ,good3 the ,beautiful   
includes in it the ,good4' ,the true    
,beautiful2 which however1 ,i have said 
somewhere1 'differs from the false as   
,heaven does from ,vauxhall6' ,so much  
for the distinction and identity of     
,poet and ,prophet4--  ,in ancient and  
also in modern periods we find a few    
,poets who are accounted perfect2 whom  
it were a kind of treason to find fault 
with4 ,this is noteworthy2 this is      
right3 yet in strictness it is only an  
illusion4 ,at bottom1 clearly enough1   
there is no perfect ,poet6 ,a vein of   
,poetry exists in the hearts of all men2
 no man is made altogether of ,poetry4  

,we are all poets when we read a poem   
well4 ,the 'imagination that shudders at
 the ,hell of ,dante1' is not that the  
same faculty1 weaker in degree1 as      
,dante's own8 ,no one but ,shakspeare   
can embody1 out of ,saxo ,grammaticus1  
the story of ,hamlet as ,shakspeare did3
 but every one models some kind of story
 out of it2 every one embodies it better
 or worse4 ,we need not spend time in   
defining4 ,where there is no specific   
difference1 as between round and square1
 all definition must be more or less    
arbitrary4 ,a man that has so much more 
of the poetic element developed in him  
as to have become noticeable1 will be   
called ,poet by his neighbours4         
,world-,poets too1 those whom we are to 
take for perfect ,poets1 are settled by 
critics in the same way4 ,one who rises 
so far above the general level of ,poets
 will1 to such and such critics1 seem a 
,universal ,poet2 as he ought to do4    
,and yet it is1 and must be1 an         
arbitrary distinction4 ,all ,poets1 all 

men1 have some touches of the           
,universal2 no man is wholly made of    
that4 ,most ,poets are very soon        
forgotten3 but not the noblest          
,shakspeare or ,homer of them can be    
remembered forever2--a day comes when he
 too is not6  ,nevertheless1 you will   
say1 there must be a difference between 
true ,poetry and true ,speech not       
poetical3 what is the difference8 ,on   
this point many things have been        
written1 especially by late ,german     
,critics1 some of which are not very    
intelligible at first4 ,they say1 for   
example1 that the ,poet has an          
infinitude in him2 communicates an      
,unendlichkeit1 a certain character of  
'infinitude1' to whatsoever he          
delineates4 ,this1 though not very      
precise1 yet on so vague a matter is    
worth remembering3 if well meditated1   
some meaning will gradually be found in 
it4 ,for my own part1 ,i find           
considerable meaning in the old vulgar  
distinction of ,poetry being metrical1  

having music in it1 being a ,song4      
,truly1 if pressed to give a definition1
 one might say this as soon as anything 
else3 ,if your delineation be           
authentically musical1 musical1 not in  
word only1 but in heart and substance1  
in all the thoughts and utterances of   
it1 in the whole conception of it1 then 
it will be poetical2 if not1            
not4--,musical3 how much lies in that6  
,a musical thought is one spoken by a   
mind that has penetrated into the inmost
 heart of the thing2 detected the inmost
 mystery of it1 namely the melody that  
lies hidden in it2 the inward harmony of
 coherence which is its soul1 whereby it
 exists1 and has a right to be1 here in 
this world4 ,all inmost things1 we may  
say1 are melodious2 naturally utter     
themselves in ,song4 ,the meaning of    
,song goes deep4 ,who is there that1 in 
logical words1 can express the effect   
music has on us8 ,a kind of inarticulate
 unfathomable speech1 which leads us to 
the edge of the ,infinite1 and lets us  

for moments gaze into that6  ,nay all   
speech1 even the commonest speech1 has  
something of song in it3 not a parish in
 the world but has its                  
parish-accent2--the rhythm or tune to   
which the people there sing what they   
have to say6 ,accent is a kind of       
chanting2 all men have accent of their  
own1--though they only notice that of   
others4 ,observe too how all passionate 
language does of itself become          
musical1--with a finer music than the   
mere accent2 the speech of a man even in
 zealous anger becomes a chant1 a song4 
,all deep things are ,song4 ,it seems   
somehow the very central essence of us1 
,song2 as if all the rest were but      
wrappages and hulls6 ,the primal element
 of us2 of us1 and of all things4 ,the  
,greeks fabled of ,sphere-,harmonies2 it
 was the feeling they had of the inner  
structure of ,nature2 that the soul of  
all her voices and utterances was       
perfect music4 ,poetry1 therefore1 we   
will call musical ,thought4 ,the ,poet  

is he who thinks in that manner4 ,at    
bottom1 it turns still on power of      
intellect2 it is a man's sincerity and  
depth of vision that makes him a ,poet4 
,see deep enough1 and you see musically2
 the heart of ,nature being everywhere  
music1 if you can only reach it4  ,the  
,vates ,poet1 with his melodious        
,apocalypse of ,nature1 seems to hold a 
poor rank among us1 in comparison with  
the ,vates ,prophet2 his function1 and  
our esteem of him for his function1     
alike slight4 ,the ,hero taken as       
,divinity2 the ,hero taken as ,prophet2 
then next the ,hero taken only as ,poet3
 does it not look as if our estimate of 
the ,great ,man1 epoch after epoch1 were
 continually diminishing8 ,we take him  
first for a god1 then for one           
god-inspired2 and now in the next stage 
of it1 his most miraculous word gains   
from us only the recognition that he is 
a ,poet1 beautiful verse-maker1 man of  
genius1 or suchlike6--,it looks so2 but 
,i persuade myself that intrinsically it

 is not so4 ,if we consider well1 it    
will perhaps appear that in man still   
there is the same altogether peculiar   
admiration for the ,heroic ,gift1 by    
what name soever called1 that there at  
any time was4  ,i should say1 if we do  
not now reckon a ,great ,man literally  
divine1 it is that our notions of ,god1 
of the supreme unattainable ,fountain of
 ,splendour1 ,wisdom and ,heroism1 are  
ever rising higher2 not altogether that 
our reverence for these qualities1 as   
manifested in our like1 is getting      
lower4 ,this is worth taking thought of4
 ,sceptical ,dilettantism1 the curse of 
these ages1 a curse which will not last 
forever1 does indeed in this the highest
 province of human things1 as in all    
provinces1 make sad work2 and our       
reverence for great men1 all crippled1  
blinded1 paralytic as it is1 comes out  
in poor plight1 hardly recognisable4    
,men worship the shows of great men2 the
 most disbelieve that there is any      
reality of great men to worship4 ,the   

dreariest1 fatalest faith2 believing    
which1 one would literally despair of   
human things4 ,nevertheless look1 for   
example1 at ,napoleon6 ,a ,corsican     
lieutenant of artillery2 that is the    
show of him3 yet is he not obeyed1      
worshipped after his sort1 as all the   
,tiaraed and ,diademed of the world put 
together could not be8 ,high ,duchesses1
 and ostlers of inns1 gather round the  
,scottish rustic1 ,burns2--a strange    
feeling dwelling in each that they had  
never heard a man like this2 that1 on   
the whole1 this is the man6 ,in the     
secret heart of these people it still   
dimly reveals itself1 though there is no
 accredited way of uttering it at       
present1 that this rustic1 with his     
black brows and flashing sun-eyes1 and  
strange words moving laughter and tears1
 is of a dignity far beyond all others1 
incommensurable with all others4 ,do not
 we feel it so8 ,but now1 were          
,dilettantism1 ,scepticism1 ,triviality1
 and all that sorrowful brood1 cast-out 

of us1--as1 by ,god's blessing1 they    
shall one day be2 were faith in the     
shows of things entirely swept-out1     
replaced by clear faith in the things1  
so that a man acted on the impulse of   
that only1 and counted the other        
non-extant2 what a new livelier feeling 
towards this ,burns were it6  ,nay here 
in these pages1 such as they are1 have  
we not two mere ,poets1 if not deified1 
yet we may say beatified8 ,shakspeare   
and ,dante are ,saints of ,poetry2      
really1 if we will think of it1         
canonised1 so that it is impiety to     
meddle with them4 ,the unguided instinct
 of the world1 working across all these 
perverse impediments1 has arrived at    
such result4 ,dante and ,shakspeare are 
a peculiar ,two4 ,they dwell apart1 in a
 kind of royal solitude2 none equal1    
none second to them3 in the general     
feeling of the world1 a certain         
transcendentalism1 a glory as of        
complete perfection1 invests these two4 
,they are canonised1 though no ,pope or 

,cardinals took hand in doing it6 ,such1
 in spite of every perverting influence1
 in the most unheroic times1 is still   
our indestructible reverence for        
heroism4--,we will look a little at     
these ,two1 the ,poet ,dante and the    
,poet ,shakspeare3 what little it is    
permitted us to say here of the ,hero as
 ,poet will most fitly arrange itself in
 that fashion4   99 99 99 99 99  ,many  
volumes have been written by way of     
commentary on ,dante and his ,book2 yet1
 on the whole1 with no great result4    
,his ,biography is1 as it were1         
irrecoverably lost for us4 ,an          
unimportant1 wandering1 sorrowstricken  
man1 not much note was taken of him     
while he lived2 and the most of that has
 vanished1 in the long space that now   
intervenes4 ,it is five centuries since 
he ceased writing and living here4      
,after all commentaries1 the ,book      
itself is mainly what we know of him4   
,the ,book2--and one might add that     
,portrait commonly attributed to        

,giotto1 which1 looking on it1 you      
cannot help inclining to think genuine1 
whoever did it4 ,to me it is a most     
touching face2 perhaps of all faces that
 ,i know1 the most so4 ,lonely there1   
painted as on vacancy1 with the simple  
laurel wound round it2 the deathless    
sorrow and pain1 the known victory which
 is also deathless2--significant of the 
whole history of ,dante6 ,i think it is 
the mournfulest face that ever was      
painted from reality2 an altogether     
tragic1 heart-affecting face4 ,there is 
in it1 as foundation of it1 the         
softness1 tenderness1 gentle affection  
as of a child2 but all this is as if    
congealed into sharp contradiction1 into
 abnegation1 isolation1 proud hopeless  
pain4 ,a soft ethereal soul looking-out 
so stern1 implacable1 grim-trenchant1 as
 from imprisonment of thick-ribbed ice6 
,withal it is a silent pain too1 a      
silent scornful one3 the lip is curled  
in a kind of godlike disdain of the     
thing that is eating-out his heart1--as 

if it were withal a mean insignificant  
thing1 as if he whom it had power to    
torture and strangle were greater than  
it4 ,the face of one wholly in protest1 
and life-long unsurrendering battle1    
against the world4 ,affection all       
converted into indignation3 an          
implacable indignation2 slow1 equable1  
silent1 like that of a god6 ,the eye    
too1 it looks-out as in a kind of       
surprise1 a kind of inquiry1 ,why the   
world was of such a sort8 ,this is      
,dante3 so he looks1 this 'voice of ten 
silent centuries1' and sings us 'his    
mystic unfathomable song4'  ,the little 
that we know of ,dante's ,life          
corresponds well enough with this       
,portrait and this ,book4 ,he was born  
at ,florence1 in the upper class of     
society1 in the year #abfe4 ,his        
education was the best then going2 much 
school-divinity1 ,aristotelean logic1   
some ,latin classics1--no inconsiderable
 insight into certain provinces of      
things3 and ,dante1 with his earnest    

intelligent nature1 we need not doubt1  
learned better than most all that was   
learnable4 ,he has a clear cultivated   
understanding1 and of great subtlety2   
the best fruit of education he had      
contrived to realise from these         
scholastics4 ,he knows accurately and   
well what lies close to him2 but1 in    
such a time1 without printed books or   
free intercourse1 he could not know well
 what was distant3 the small clear      
light1 most luminous for what is near1  
breaks itself into singular chiaroscuro 
striking on what is far off4 ,this was  
,dante's learning from the schools4 ,in 
life1 he had gone through the usual     
destinies2 been twice out campaigning as
 a soldier for the ,florentine ,state1  
been on embassy2 had in his thirty-fifth
 year1 by natural gradation of talent   
and service1 become one of the ,chief   
,magistrates of ,florence4 ,he had met  
in boyhood a certain ,beatrice          
,portinari1 a beautiful little girl of  
his own age and rank1 and grown-up      

thenceforth in partial sight of her1 in 
some distant intercourse with her4 ,all 
readers know his graceful affecting     
account of this2 and then of their being
 parted2 of her being wedded to another1
 and of her death soon after4 ,she makes
 a great figure in ,dante's ,poem2 seems
 to have made a great figure in his     
life4 ,of all beings it might seem as if
 she1 held apart from him1 far apart at 
last in the dim ,eternity1 were the only
 one he had ever with his whole strength
 of affection loved4 ,she died3 ,dante  
himself was wedded2 but it seems not    
happily1 far from happily4 ,i fancy1 the
 rigorous earnest man1 with his keen    
excitabilities1 was not altogether easy 
to make happy4  ,we will not complain of
 ,dante's miseries3 had all gone right  
with him as he wished it1 he might have 
been ,prior1 ,podest1 or whatsoever they
 call it1 of ,florence1 well accepted   
among neighbours1--and the world had    
wanted one of the most notable words    
ever spoken or sung4 ,florence would    

have had another prosperous ,lord       
,mayor2 and the ten dumb centuries      
continued voiceless1 and the ten other  
listening centuries 7for there will be  
ten of them and more7 had no ,divina    
,commedia to hear6 ,we will complain of 
nothing4 ,a nobler destiny was appointed
 for this ,dante2 and he1 struggling    
like a man led towards death and        
crucifixion1 could not help fulfilling  
it4 ,give him the choice of his         
happiness6 ,he knew not1 more than we   
do1 what was really happy1 what was     
really miserable4  ,in ,dante's         
,priorship1 the ,guelf-,ghibelline1     
,bianchi-,neri1 or some other confused  
disturbance rose to such a height1 that 
,dante1 whose party had seemed the      
stronger1 was with his friends cast     
unexpectedly forth into banishment2     
doomed thenceforth to a life of woe and 
wandering4 ,his property was all        
confiscated and more2 he had the        
fiercest feeling that it was entirely   
unjust1 nefarious in the sight of ,god  

and man4 ,he tried what was in him to   
get reinstated2 tried even by warlike   
surprisal1 with arms in his hand3 but it
 would not do2 bad only had become      
worse4 ,there is a record1 ,i believe1  
still extant in the ,florence ,archives1
 dooming this ,dante1 wheresoever       
caught1 to be burnt alive4 ,burnt alive2
 so it stands1 they say3 a very curious 
civic document4 ,another curious        
document1 some considerable number of   
years later1 is a ,letter of ,dante's to
 the ,florentine ,magistrates1 written  
in answer to a milder proposal of       
theirs1 that he should return on        
condition of apologising and paying a   
fine4 ,he answers1 with fixed stern     
pride3 ,if ,i cannot return without     
calling myself guilty1 ,i will never    
return1 nunquam revertar4  ,for ,dante  
there was now no home in this world4 ,he
 wandered from patron to patron1 from   
place to place2 proving in his own      
bitter words1 ',how hard is the path1   
,come  duro calle4' ,the wretched are   

not cheerful company4 ,dante1 poor and  
banished1 with his proud earnest nature1
 with his moody humours1 was not a man  
to conciliate men4 ,petrarch reports of 
him that being at ,can della ,scala's   
court1 and blamed one day for his gloom 
and taciturnity1 he answered in no      
courtier-like way4 ,della ,scala stood  
among his courtiers1 with mimes and     
buffoons 7nebulones ac histriones7      
making him heartily merry2 when turning 
to ,dante1 he said3 ,is it not strange1 
now1 that this poor fool should make    
himself so entertaining2 while you1 a   
wise man1 sit there day after day1 and  
have nothing to amuse us with at all8   
,dante answered bitterly3 ,no1 not      
strange2 your ,highness is to recollect 
the ,proverb1 ,like to ,like2--given the
 amuser1 the amusee must also be given6 
,such a man1 with his proud silent ways1
 with his sarcasms and sorrows1 was not 
made to succeed at court4 ,by degrees1  
it came to be evident to him that he had
 no longer any resting-place1 or hope of

 benefit1 in this earth4 ,the earthly   
world had cast him forth1 to wander1    
wander2 no living heart to love him now2
 for his sore miseries there was no     
solace here4  ,the deeper naturally     
would the ,eternal ,world impress itself
 on him2 that awful reality over which1 
after all1 this ,time-world1 with its   
,florences and banishments1 only        
flutters as an unreal shadow4 ,florence 
thou shalt never see3 but ,hell and     
,purgatory and ,heaven thou shalt surely
 see6 ,what is ,florence1 ,can della    
,scala1 and the ,world and ,life        
altogether8 ,,eternity3 thither1 of a   
truth1 not elsewhither1 art thou and all
 things bound6 ,the great soul of       
,dante1 homeless on earth1 made its home
 more and more in that awful other      
world4 ,naturally his thoughts brooded  
on that1 as on the one fact important   
for him4 ,bodied or bodiless1 it is the 
one fact important for all men3--but to 
,dante1 in that age1 it was bodied in   
fixed certainty of scientific shape2 he 

no more doubted of that ,malebolge      
,pool1 that it all lay there with its   
gloomy circles1 with its alti guai1 and 
that he himself should see it1 than we  
doubt that we should see ,constantinople
 if we went thither4 ,dante's heart1    
long filled with this1 brooding over it 
in speechless thought and awe1 bursts   
forth at length into 'mystic            
unfathomable song2' and this his ,divine
 ,comedy1 the most remarkable of all    
modern ,books1 is the result4  ,it must 
have been a great solacement to ,dante1 
and was1 as we can see1 a proud thought 
for him at times1 ,that he1 here in     
exile1 could do this work2 that no      
,florence1 nor no man or men1 could     
hinder him from doing it1 or even much  
help him in doing it4 ,he knew too1     
partly1 that it was great2 the greatest 
a man could do4 ',if thou follow thy    
star1 ,se tu segui tua stella1'--so     
could the ,hero1 in his forsakenness1 in
 his extreme need1 still say to himself3
 ,follow thou thy star1 thou shalt not  

fail of a glorious haven6 ,the labour of
 writing1 we find1 and indeed could know
 otherwise1 was great and painful for   
him2 he says1 ,this ,book1 'which has   
made me lean for many years4' ,ah yes1  
it was won1 all of it1 with pain and    
sore toil1--not in sport1 but in grim   
earnest4 ,his ,book1 as indeed most good
 ,books are1 has been written1 in many  
senses1 with his heart's blood4 ,it is  
his whole history1 this ,book4 ,he died 
after finishing it2 not yet very old1 at
 the age of fifty-six2--broken-hearted  
rather1 as is said4 ,he lies buried in  
his death-city ,ravenna3 ,hic claudor   
,dantes patriis extorris ab oris4 ,the  
,florentines begged back his body1 in a 
century after2 the ,ravenna people would
 not give it4 ,here am ,i ,dante laid1  
shut-out from my native shores4  ,i     
said1 ,dante's ,poem was a ,song3 it is 
,tieck who calls it 'a mystic           
unfathomable ,song2' and such is        
literally the character of it4          
,coleridge remarks very pertinently     

somewhere1 that wherever you find a     
sentence musically worded1 of true      
rhythm and melody in the words1 there is
 something deep and good in the meaning 
too4 ,for body and soul1 word and idea1 
go strangely together here as           
everywhere4 ,song3 we said before1 it   
was the ,heroic of ,speech6 ,all old    
,poems1 ,homer's and the rest1 are      
authentically ,songs4 ,i would say1 in  
strictness1 that all right ,poems are2  
that whatsoever is not sung is properly 
no ,poem1 but a piece of ,prose cramped 
into jingling lines1--to the great      
injury of the grammar1 to the great     
grief of the reader1 for most part6     
,what we want to get at is the thought  
the man had1 if he had any3 why should  
he twist it into jingle1 if he could    
speak it out plainly8 ,it is only when  
the heart of him is rapt into true      
passion of melody1 and the very tones of
 him1 according to ,coleridge's remark1 
become musical by the greatness1 depth  
and music of his thoughts1 that we can  

give him right to rhyme and sing2 that  
we call him a ,poet1 and listen to him  
as the ,heroic of ,speakers1--whose     
speech is ,song4 ,pretenders to this are
 many2 and to an earnest reader1 ,i     
doubt1 it is for most part a very       
melancholy1 not to say an insupportable 
business1 that of reading rhyme6 ,rhyme 
that had no inward necessity to be      
rhymed2--it ought to have told us       
plainly1 without any jingle1 what it was
 aiming at4 ,i would advise all men who 
can speak their thought1 not to sing it2
 to understand that1 in a serious time1 
among serious men1 there is no vocation 
in them for singing it4 ,precisely as we
 love the true song1 and are charmed by 
it as by something divine1 so shall we  
hate the false song1 and account it a   
mere wooden noise1 a thing hollow1      
superfluous1 altogether an insincere and
 offensive thing4  ,i give ,dante my    
highest praise when ,i say of his       
,divine ,comedy that it is1 in all      
senses1 genuinely a ,song4 ,in the very 

sound of it there is a canto fermo2 it  
proceeds as by a chant4 ,the language1  
his simple terza rima1 doubtless helped 
him in this4 ,one reads along naturally 
with a sort of lilt4 ,but ,i add1 that  
it could not be otherwise2 for the      
essence and material of the work are    
themselves rhythmic4 ,its depth1 and    
rapt passion and sincerity1 makes its   
musical2--go deep enough1 there is music
 everywhere4 ,a true inward symmetry1   
what one calls an architectural harmony1
 reigns in it1 proportionates it all3   
architectural2 which also partakes of   
the character of music4 ,the three      
kingdoms1 ,inferno1 ,purgatorio1        
,paradiso1 look-out on one another like 
compartments of a great edifice2 a great
 supernatural world-cathedral1 piled-up 
there1 stern1 solemn1 awful2 ,dante's   
,world of ,souls6 ,it is1 at bottom1 the
 sincerest of all ,poems2 sincerity1    
here too1 we find to be the measure of  
worth4 ,it came deep out of the author's
 heart of hearts2 and it goes deep1 and 

through long generations1 into ours4    
,the people of ,verona1 when they saw   
him on the streets1 used to say1 ,eccovi
 l' uom ch'  stato all' ,inferno1 ,see1 
there is the man that was in ,hell6 ,ah1
 yes1 he had been in ,hell2--in ,hell   
enough1 in long severe sorrow and       
struggle2 as the like of him is pretty  
sure to have been4 ,commedias that      
come-out divine are not accomplished    
otherwise4 ,thought1 true labour of any 
kind1 highest virtue itself1 is it not  
the daughter of ,pain8 ,born as out of  
the black whirlwind2--true effort1 in   
fact1 as of a captive struggling to free
 himself3 that is ,thought4 ,in all ways
 we are 'to become perfect through      
suffering4'--,but1 as ,i say1 no work   
known to me is so elaborated as this of 
,dante's4 ,it has all been as if molten1
 in the hottest furnace of his soul4 ,it
 had made him 'lean' for many years4    
,not the general whole only2 every      
compartment of it is worked-out1 with   
intense earnestness1 into truth1 into   

clear visuality4 ,each answers to the   
other2 each fits in its place1 like a   
marble stone accurately hewn and        
polished4 ,it is the soul of ,dante1 and
 in this the soul of the middle ages1   
rendered forever rhythmically visible   
there4 ,no light task2 a right intense  
one3 but a task which is done4  ,perhaps
 one would say1 intensity1 with the much
 that depends on it1 is the prevailing  
character of ,dante's genius4 ,dante    
does not come before us as a large      
catholic mind2 rather as a narrow and   
even sectarian mind3 it is partly the   
fruit of his age and position1 but      
partly too of his own nature4 ,his      
greatness has1 in all senses1           
concentered itself into fiery emphasis  
and depth4 ,he is world-great not       
because he is world-wide1 but because he
 is world-deep4 ,through all objects he 
pierces as it were down into the heart  
of ,being4 ,i know nothing so intense as
 ,dante4 ,consider1 for example1 to     
begin with the outermost development of 

his intensity1 consider how he paints4  
,he has a great power of vision2 seizes 
the very type of a thing2 presents that 
and nothing more4 ,you remember that    
first view he gets of the ,hall of      
,dite3 red pinnacle1 redhot cone of iron
 glowing through the dim immensity of   
gloom2--so vivid1 so distinct1 visible  
at once and forever6 ,it is as an emblem
 of the whole genius of ,dante4 ,there  
is a brevity1 an abrupt precision in    
him3 ,tacitus is not briefer1 more      
condensed2 and then in ,dante it seems a
 natural condensation1 spontaneous to   
the man4 ,one smiting word2 and then    
there is silence1 nothing more said4    
,his silence is more eloquent than      
words4 ,it is strange with what a sharp 
decisive grace he snatches the true     
likeness of a matter3 cuts into the     
matter as with a pen of fire4 ,plutus1  
the blustering giant1 collapses at      
,virgil's rebuke2 it is 'as the sails   
sink1 the mast being suddenly broken4'  
,or that poor ,brunetto ,latini1 with   

the cotto aspetto1 'face baked1' parched
 brown and lean2 and the 'fiery snow1'  
that falls on them there1 a 'fiery snow 
without wind1' slow1 deliberate1        
never-ending6 ,or the lids of those     
,tombs2 square sarcophaguses1 in that   
silent dim-burning ,hall1 each with its 
,soul in torment2 the lids laid open    
there2 they are to be shut at the ,day  
of ,judgment1 through ,eternity4 ,and   
how ,farinata rises2 and how ,cavalcante
 falls--at hearing of his ,son1 and the 
past tense 'fue'6 ,the very movements in
 ,dante have something brief2 swift1    
decisive1 almost military4 ,it is of the
 inmost essence of his genius this sort 
of painting4 ,the fiery1 swift ,italian 
nature of the man1 so silent1           
passionate1 with its quick abrupt       
movements1 its silent 'pale rages1'     
speaks itself in these things4  ,for    
though this of painting is one of the   
outermost developments of a man1 it     
comes like all else from the essential  
faculty of him2 it is physiognomical of 

the whole man4 ,find a man whose words  
paint you a likeness1 you have found a  
man worth something2 mark his manner of 
doing it1 as very characteristic of him4
 ,in the first place1 he could not have 
discerned the object at all1 or seen the
 vital type of it1 unless he had1 what  
we may call1 sympathised with it1--had  
sympathy in him to bestow on objects4   
,he must have been sincere about it too2
 sincere and sympathetic3 a man without 
worth cannot give you the likeness of   
any object2 he dwells in vague          
outwardness1 fallacy and trivial        
hearsay1 about all objects4 ,and indeed 
may we not say that intellect altogether
 expresses itself in this power of      
discerning what an object is8           
,whatsoever of faculty a man's mind may 
have will come out here4 ,is it even of 
business1 a matter to be done8 ,the     
gifted man is he who sees the essential 
point1 and leaves all the rest aside as 
surplusage3 it is his faculty too1 the  
man of business's faculty1 that he      

discern the true likeness1 not the false
 superficial one1 of the thing he has   
got to work in4 ,and how much of        
morality is in the kind of insight we   
get of anything2 'the eye seeing in all 
things what it brought with it the      
faculty of seeing'6 ,to the mean eye all
 things are trivial1 as certainly as to 
the jaundiced they are yellow4 ,raphael1
 the ,painters tell us1 is the best of  
all ,portrait-painters withal4 ,no most 
gifted eye can exhaust the significance 
of any object4 ,in the commonest human  
face there lies more than ,raphael will 
take-away with him4  ,dante's painting  
is not graphic only1 brief1 true1 and of
 a vividness as of fire in dark night2  
taken on the wider scale1 it is everyway
 noble1 and the outcome of a great soul4
 ,francesca and her ,lover1 what        
qualities in that6 ,a thing woven as out
 of rainbows1 on a ground of eternal    
black4 ,a small flute-voice of infinite 
wail speaks there1 into our very heart  
of hearts4 ,a touch of womanhood in it  

too2 della bella persona1 che mi fu     
tolta2 and how1 even in the ,pit of woe1
 it is a solace that he will never part 
from her6 ,saddest tragedy in these alti
 guai4 ,and the racking winds1 in that  
aer bruno1 whirl them away again1 to    
wail forever6--,strange to think3 ,dante
 was the friend of this poor            
,francesca's father2 ,francesca herself 
may have sat upon the ,poet's knee1 as a
 bright innocent little child4 ,infinite
 pity1 yet also infinite rigour of law3 
it is so ,nature is made2 it is so      
,dante discerned that she was made4     
,what a paltry notion is that of his    
,divine ,comedy's being a poor splenetic
 impotent terrestrial libel2 putting    
those into ,hell whom he could not be   
avenged-upon on earth6 ,i suppose if    
ever pity1 tender as a mother's1 was in 
the heart of any man1 it was in         
,dante's4 ,but a man who does not know  
rigour cannot pity either4 ,his very    
pity will be cowardly1                  
egoistic1--sentimentality1 or little    

better4 ,i know not in the world an     
affection equal to that of ,dante4 ,it  
is a tenderness1 a trembling1 longing1  
pitying love3 like the wail of olean    
harps1 soft1 soft2 like a child's young 
heart2--and then that stern1            
sore-saddened heart6 ,these longings of 
his towards his ,beatrice2 their meeting
 together in the ,paradiso2 his gazing  
in her pure transfigured eyes1 her that 
had been purified by death so long1     
separated from him so far3--one likens  
it to the song of angels2 it is among   
the purest utterances of affection1     
perhaps the very purest1 that ever came 
out of a human soul4  ,for the intense  
,dante is intense in all things2 he has 
got into the essence of all4 ,his       
intellectual insight as painter1 on     
occasion too as reasoner1 is but the    
result of all other sorts of intensity4 
,morally great1 above all1 we must call 
him2 it is the beginning of all4 ,his   
scorn1 his grief are as transcendent as 
his love2--as indeed1 what are they but 

the inverse or converse of his love8 ',a
 ,dio spiacenti ed a' nemici sui1       
,hateful to ,god and to the enemies of  
,god3' lofty scorn1 unappeasable silent 
reprobation and aversion2 ',non ragionam
 di lor1 ,we will not speak of them1    
look only and pass4' ,or think of this2 
',they have not the hope to die1 ,non   
han speranza di morte4' ,one day1 it had
 risen sternly benign on the scathed    
heart of ,dante1 that he1 wretched1     
never-resting1 worn as he was1 would    
full surely die2 'that ,destiny itself  
could not doom him not to die4' ,such   
words are in this man4 ,for rigour1     
earnestness and depth1 he is not to be  
paralleled in the modern world2 to seek 
his parallel we must go into the ,hebrew
 ,bible1 and live with the antique      
,prophets there4  ,i do not agree with  
much modern criticism1 in greatly       
preferring the ,inferno to the two other
 parts of the ,divine ,commedia4 ,such  
preference belongs1 ,i imagine1 to our  
general ,byronism of taste1 and is like 

to be a transient feeling4 ,the         
,purgatorio and ,paradiso1 especially   
the former1 one would almost say1 is    
even more excellent than it4 ,it is a   
noble thing that ,purgatorio1 ',mountain
 of ,purification'2 an emblem of the    
noblest conception of that age4 ,if ,sin
 is so fatal1 and ,hell is and must be  
so rigorous1 awful1 yet in ,repentance  
too is man purified2 ,repentance is the 
grand ,christian act4 ,it is beautiful  
how ,dante works it out4 ,the tremolar  
dell' onde that 'trembling' of the      
ocean-waves1 under the first pure gleam 
of morning1 dawning afar on the         
wandering ,two1 is as the type of an    
altered mood4 ,hope has now dawned2     
never-dying ,hope1 if in company still  
with heavy sorrow4 ,the obscure sojourn 
of dmons and reprobate is underfoot2 a  
soft breathing of penitence mounts      
higher and higher1 to the ,throne of    
,mercy itself4 ,pray for me1 the        
denizens of that ,mount of ,pain all say
 to him4 ,tell my ,giovanna to pray for 

me1 my daughter ,giovanna2 ,i think her 
mother loves me no more6 ,they toil     
painfully up by that winding steep1     
'bent-down like corbels of a building1' 
some of them1--crushed-together so 'for 
the sin of pride'2 yet nevertheless in  
years1 in ages and ons1 they shall have 
reached the top1 which is ,heaven's     
gate1 and by ,mercy shall have been     
admitted in4 ,the joy too of all1 when  
one has prevailed2 the whole ,mountain  
shakes with joy1 and a psalm of praise  
rises1 when one soul has perfected      
repentance and got its sin and misery   
left behind6 ,i call all this a noble   
embodiment of a true noble thought4     
,but indeed the ,three compartments     
mutually support one another1 are       
indispensable to one another4 ,the      
,paradiso1 a kind of inarticulate music 
to me1 is the redeeming side of the     
,inferno2 the ,inferno without it were  
untrue4 ,all three make-up the true     
,unseen ,world1 as figured in the       
,christianity of the ,middle ,ages2 a   

thing forever memorable1 forever true in
 the essence of it1 to all men4 ,it was 
perhaps delineated in no human soul with
 such depth of veracity as in this of   
,dante's2 a man sent to sing it1 to keep
 it long memorable4 ,very notable with  
what brief simplicity he passes out of  
the every-day reality1 into the         
,invisible one2 and in the second or    
third stanza1 we find ourselves in the  
,world of ,spirits2 and dwell there1 as 
among things palpable1 indubitable6 ,to 
,dante they were so2 the real world1 as 
it is called1 and its facts1 was but the
 threshold to an infinitely higher ,fact
 of a ,world4 ,at bottom1 the one was as
 preter-natural as the other4 ,has not  
each man a soul8 ,he will not only be a 
spirit1 but is one4 ,to the earnest     
,dante it is all one visible ,fact2 he  
believes it1 sees it2 is the ,poet of it
 in virtue of that4 ,sincerity1 ,i say  
again1 is the saving merit1 now as      
always4  ,dante's ,hell1 ,purgatory1    
,paradise1 are a symbol withal1 an      

emblematic representation of his ,belief
 about this ,universe3--some ,critic in 
a future age1 like those ,scandinavian  
ones the other day1 who has ceased      
altogether to think as ,dante did1 may  
find this too all an ',allegory1'       
perhaps an idle ,allegory6 ,it is a     
sublime embodiment1 or sublimest1 of the
 soul of ,christianity4 ,it expresses1  
as in huge worldwide architectural      
emblems1 how the ,christian ,dante felt 
,good and ,evil to be the two polar     
elements of this ,creation1 on which it 
all turns2 that these two differ not by 
preferability of one to the other1 but  
by incompatibility absolute and         
infinite2 that the one is excellent and 
high as light and ,heaven1 the other    
hideous1 black as ,gehenna and the ,pit 
of ,hell6 ,everlasting ,justice1 yet    
with ,penitence1 with everlasting       
,pity1--all ,christianism1 as ,dante and
 the ,middle ,ages had it1 is emblemed  
here4 ,emblemed3 and yet1 as ,i urged   
the other day1 with what entire truth of

 purpose2 how unconscious of any        
embleming6 ,hell1 ,purgatory1 ,paradise3
 these things were not fashioned as     
emblems2 was there1 in our ,modern      
,european ,mind1 any thought at all of  
their being emblems8 ,were they not     
indubitable awful facts2 the whole heart
 of man taking them for practically     
true1 all ,nature everywhere confirming 
them8 ,so is it always in these things4 
,men do not believe an ,allegory4 ,the  
future ,critic1 whatever his new thought
 may be1 who considers this of ,dante to
 have been all got-up as an ,allegory1  
will commit one sore mistake6--,paganism
 we recognised as a veracious expression
 of the earnest awe-struck feeling of   
man towards the ,universe2 veracious1   
true once1 and still not without worth  
for us4 ,but mark here the difference of
 ,paganism and ,christianism2 one great 
difference4 ,paganism emblemed chiefly  
the ,operations of ,nature2 the         
destinies1 efforts1 combinations1       
vicissitudes of things and men in this  

world2 ,christianism emblemed the ,law  
of ,human ,duty1 the ,moral ,law of     
,man4 ,one was for the sensuous nature3 
a rude helpless utterance of the first  
,thought of men1--the chief recognised  
virtue1 ,courage1 ,superiority to ,fear4
 ,the other was not for the sensuous    
nature1 but for the moral4 ,what a      
progress is here1 if in that one respect
 only6--   99 99 99 99 99  ,and so in   
this ,dante1 as we said1 had ten silent 
centuries1 in a very strange way1 found 
a voice4 ,the ,divina ,commedia is of   
,dante's writing2 yet in truth it       
belongs to ten ,christian centuries1    
only the finishing of it is ,dante's4   
,so always4 ,the craftsman there1 the   
smith with that metal of his1 with these
 tools1 with these cunning methods1--how
 little of all he does is properly his  
work6 ,all past inventive men work there
 with him2--as indeed with all of us1 in
 all things4 ,dante is the spokesman of 
the ,middle ,ages2 the ,thought they    
lived by stands here in everlasting     

music4 ,these sublime ideas of his1     
terrible and beautiful1 are the fruit of
 the ,christian ,meditation of all the  
good men who had gone before him4       
,precious they2 but also is not he      
precious8 ,much1 had not he spoken1     
would have been dumb2 not dead1 yet     
living voiceless4  ,on the whole1 is it 
not an utterance1 this ,mystic ,song1 at
 once of one of the greatest human      
souls1 and of the highest thing that    
,europe had hitherto realised for       
itself8 ,christianism1 as ,dante sings  
it1 is another than ,paganism in the    
rude ,norse mind2 another than ',bastard
 ,christianism' half-articulately spoken
 in the ,arab ,desert seven-hundred     
years before6--,the noblest idea made   
real hitherto among men1 is sung1 and   
emblemed-forth abidingly1 by one of the 
noblest men4 ,in the one sense and in   
the other1 are we not right glad to     
possess it8 ,as ,i calculate1 it may    
last yet for long thousands of years4   
,for the thing that is uttered from the 

inmost parts of a man's soul1 differs   
altogether from what is uttered by the  
outer part4 ,the outer is of the day1   
under the empire of mode2 the outer     
passes away1 in swift endless changes2  
the inmost is the same yesterday1 today 
and forever4 ,true souls1 in all        
generations of the world1 who look on   
this ,dante1 will find a brotherhood in 
him2 the deep sincerity of his thoughts1
 his woes and hopes1 will speak likewise
 to their sincerity2 they will feel that
 this ,dante too was a brother4         
,napoleon in ,saint-,helena is charmed  
with the genial veracity of old ,homer4 
,the oldest ,hebrew ,prophet1 under a   
vesture the most diverse from ours1 does
 yet1 because he speaks from the heart  
of man1 speak to all men's hearts4 ,it  
is the one sole secret of continuing    
long memorable4 ,dante1 for depth of    
sincerity1 is like an antique ,prophet  
too2 his words1 like theirs1 come from  
his very heart4 ,one need not wonder if 
it were predicted that his ,poem might  

be the most enduring thing our ,europe  
has yet made2 for nothing so endures as 
a truly spoken word4 ,all cathedrals1   
pontificalities1 brass and stone1 and   
outer arrangement never so lasting1 are 
brief in comparison to an unfathomable  
heart-song like this3 one feels as if it
 might survive1 still of importance to  
men1 when these had all sunk into new   
irrecognisable combinations1 and had    
ceased individually to be4 ,europe has  
made much2 great cities1 great empires1 
encyclopdias1 creeds1 bodies of opinion 
and practice3 but it has made little of 
the class of ,dante's ,thought4 ,homer  
yet is1 veritably present face to face  
with every open soul of us2 and ,greece1
 where is it8 ,desolate for thousands of
 years2 away1 vanished2 a bewildered    
heap of stones and rubbish1 the life and
 existence of it all gone4 ,like a      
dream2 like the dust of ,king           
,agamemnon6 ,greece was2 ,greece1 except
 in the words it spoke1 is not4  ,the   
uses of this ,dante8 ,we will not say   

much about his 'uses4' ,a human soul who
 has once got into that primal element  
of ,song1 and sung-forth fitly somewhat 
therefrom1 has worked in the depths of  
our existence2 feeding through long     
times the life-roots of all excellent   
human things whatsoever1--in a way that 
'utilities' will not succeed well in    
calculating6 ,we will not estimate the  
,sun by the quantity of gas-light it    
saves us2 ,dante shall be invaluable1 or
 of no value4 ,one remark ,i may make3  
the contrast in this respect between the
 ,hero-,poet and the ,hero-,prophet4 ,in
 a hundred years1 ,mahomet1 as we saw1  
had his ,arabians at ,grenada and at    
,delhi2 ,dante's ,italians seem to be   
yet very much where they were4 ,shall we
 say1 then1 ,dante's effect on the world
 was small in comparison8 ,not so3 his  
arena is far more restricted3 but also  
it is far nobler1 clearer2--perhaps not 
less but more important4 ,mahomet speaks
 to great masses of men1 in the coarse  
dialect adapted to such2 a dialect      

filled with inconsistencies1 crudities1 
follies3 on the great masses alone can  
he act1 and there with good and with    
evil strangely blended4 ,dante speaks to
 the noble1 the pure and great1 in all  
times and places4 ,neither does he grow 
obsolete1 as the other does4 ,dante     
burns as a pure star1 fixed there in the
 firmament1 at which the great and the  
high of all ages kindle themselves3 he  
is the possession of all the chosen of  
the world for uncounted time4 ,dante1   
one calculates1 may long survive        
,mahomet4 ,in this way the balance may  
be made straight again4  ,but1 at any   
rate1 it is not by what is called their 
effect on the world by what we can judge
 of their effect there1 that a man and  
his work are measured4 ,effect8         
,influence8 ,utility8 ,let a man do his 
work2 the fruit of it is the care of    
,another than he4 ,it will grow its own 
fruit2 and whether embodied in ,caliph  
,thrones and ,arabian ,conquests1 so    
that it 'fills all ,morning and ,evening

 ,newspapers1' and all ,histories1 which
 are a kind of distilled ,newspapers2 or
 not embodied so at all2--what matters  
that8 ,that is not the real fruit of it6
 ,the ,arabian ,caliph1 in so far only  
as he did something1 was something4 ,if 
the great ,cause of ,man1 and ,man's    
work in ,god's ,earth1 got no           
furtherance from the ,arabian ,caliph1  
then no matter how many scimetars he    
drew1 how many gold piasters pocketed1  
and what uproar and blaring he made in  
this world--he was but a loud-sounding  
inanity and futility2 at bottom1 he was 
not at all4 ,let us honour the great    
empire of ,silence1 once more6 ,the     
boundless treasury which we do not      
jingle in our pockets1 or count up and  
present before men6 ,it is perhaps1 of  
all things1 the usefulest for each of us
 to do1 in these loud times4----   99 99
 99 99 99  ,as ,dante1 the ,italian man1
 was sent into our world to embody      
musically the ,religion of the ,middle  
,ages1 the ,religion of our ,modern     

,europe1 its ,inner ,life2 so           
,shakspeare1 we may say1 embodies for us
 the ,outer ,life of our ,europe as     
developed then1 its chivalries1         
courtesies1 humours1 ambitions1 what    
practical way of thinking1 acting1      
looking at the world1 men then had4 ,as 
in ,homer we may still construe ,old    
,greece2 so in ,shakspeare and ,dante1  
after thousands of years1 what our      
modern ,europe was1 in ,faith and in    
,practice1 will still be legible4 ,dante
 has given us the ,faith or soul2       
,shakspeare1 in a not less noble way1   
has given us the ,practice or body4     
,this latter also we were to have3 a man
 was sent for it1 the man ,shakspeare4  
,just when that chivalry way of life had
 reached its last finish1 and was on the
 point of breaking down into slow or    
swift dissolution1 as we now see it     
everywhere1 this other sovereign ,poet1 
with his seeing eye1 with his perennial 
singing voice1 was sent to take note of 
it1 to give long-enduring record of it4 

,two fit men3 ,dante1 deep1 fierce as   
the central fire of the world2          
,shakspeare1 wide1 placid1 far-seeing1  
as the ,sun1 the upper light of the     
world4 ,italy produced the one          
world-voice2 we ,english had the honour 
of producing the other4  ,curious enough
 how1 as it were by mere accident1 this 
man came to us4 ,i think always1 so     
great1 quiet1 complete and              
self-sufficing is this ,shakspeare1 had 
the ,warwickshire ,squire not prosecuted
 him for deer-stealing1 we had perhaps  
never heard of him as a ,poet6 ,the     
woods and skies1 the rustic ,life of    
,man in ,stratford there1 had been      
enough for this man6 ,but indeed that   
strange outbudding of our whole ,english
 ,existence1 which we call the          
,elizabethan ,era1 did not it too come  
as of its own accord8 ,the ',tree       
,igdrasil' buds and withers by its own  
laws1--too deep for our scanning4 ,yet  
it does bud and wither1 and every bough 
and leaf of it is there1 by fixed       

eternal laws2 not a ,sir ,thomas ,lucy  
but comes at the hour fit for him4      
,curious1 ,i say1 and not sufficiently  
considered3 how everything does coperate
 with all2 not a leaf rotting on the    
highway but is indissoluble portion of  
solar and stellar systems2 no thought1  
word or act of man but has sprung withal
 out of all men1 and works sooner or    
later1 recognisably or irrecognisably1  
on all men6 ,it is all a ,tree3         
circulation of sap and influences1      
mutual communication of every minutest  
leaf with the lowest talon of a root1   
with every other greatest and minutest  
portion of the whole4 ,the ,tree        
,igdrasil1 that has its roots down in   
the ,kingdoms of ,hela and ,death1 and  
whose boughs overspread the highest     
,heaven6--  ,in some sense it may be    
said that this glorious ,elizabethan    
,era with its ,shakspeare1 as the       
outcome and flowerage of all which had  
preceded it1 is itself attributable to  
the ,catholicism of the ,middle ,ages4  

,the ,christian ,faith1 which was the   
theme of ,dante's ,song1 had produced   
this ,practical ,life which ,shakspeare 
was to sing4 ,for ,religion then1 as it 
now and always is1 was the soul of      
,practice2 the primary vital fact in    
men's life4 ,and remark here1 as rather 
curious1 that ,middle-,age ,catholicism 
was abolished1 so far as ,acts of       
,parliament could abolish it1 before    
,shakspeare1 the noblest product of it1 
made his appearance4 ,he did make his   
appearance nevertheless4 ,nature at her 
own time1 with ,catholicism or what else
 might be necessary1 sent him forth2    
taking small thought of ,acts of        
,parliament4 ,king-,henrys1             
,queen-,elizabeths go their way2 and    
,nature too goes hers4 ,acts of         
,parliament1 on the whole1 are small1   
notwithstanding the noise they make4    
,what ,act of ,parliament1 debate at    
,st4 ,stephen's1 on the hustings or     
elsewhere1 was it that brought this     
,shakspeare into being8 ,no dining at   

,freemasons' ,tavern1 opening           
subscription-lists1 selling of shares1  
and infinite other jangling and true or 
false endeavouring6 ,this ,elizabethan  
,era1 and all its nobleness and         
blessedness1 came without proclamation1 
preparation of ours4 ,priceless         
,shakspeare was the free gift of        
,nature2 given altogether               
silently2--received altogether silently1
 as if it had been a thing of little    
account4 ,and yet1 very literally1 it is
 a priceless thing4 ,one should look at 
that side of matters too4  ,of this     
,shakspeare of ours1 perhaps the opinion
 one sometimes hears a little           
idolatrously expressed is1 in fact1 the 
right one2 ,i think the best judgment   
not of this country only1 but of ,europe
 at large1 is slowly pointing to the    
conclusion1 ,that ,shakspeare is the    
chief of all ,poets hitherto2 the       
greatest intellect who1 in our recorded 
world1 has left record of himself in the
 way of ,literature4 ,on the whole1 ,i  

know not such a power of vision1 such a 
faculty of thought1 if we take all the  
characters of it1 in any other man4     
,such a calmness of depth2 placid joyous
 strength2 all things imaged in that    
great soul of his so true and clear1 as 
in a tranquil unfathomable sea6 ,it has 
been said1 that in the constructing of  
,shakspeare's ,dramas there is1 apart   
from all other 'faculties' as they are  
called1 an understanding manifested1    
equal to that in ,bacon's ,novum        
,organum4 ,that is true2 and it is not a
 truth that strikes every one4 ,it would
 become more apparent if we tried1 any  
of us for himself1 how1 out of          
,shakspeare's dramatic materials1 we    
could fashion such a result6 ,the built 
house seems all so fit1--everyway as it 
should be1 as if it came there by its   
own law and the nature of things1--we   
forget the rude disorderly quarry it was
 shaped from4 ,the very perfection of   
the house1 as if ,nature herself had    
made it1 hides the builder's merit4     

,perfect1 more perfect than any other   
man1 we may call ,shakspeare in this3 he
 discerns1 knows as by instinct1 what   
condition he works under1 what his      
materials are1 what his own force and   
its relation to them is4 ,it is not a   
transitory glance of insight that will  
suffice2 it is deliberate illumination  
of the whole matter2 it is a calmly     
seeing eye2 a great intellect1 in short4
 ,how a man1 of some wide thing that he 
has witnessed1 will construct a         
narrative1 what kind of picture and     
delineation he will give of it1--is the 
best measure you could get of what      
intellect is in the man4 ,which         
circumstance is vital and shall stand   
prominent2 which unessential1 fit to be 
suppressed2 where is the true beginning1
 the true sequence and ending8 ,to find 
out this1 you task the whole force of   
insight that is in the man4 ,he must    
understand the thing2 according to the  
depth of his understanding1 will the    
fitness of his answer be4 ,you will try 

him so4 ,does like join itself to like2 
does the spirit of method stir in that  
confusion1 so that its embroilment      
becomes order8 ,can the man say1 ,fiat  
lux1 ,let there be light2 and out of    
chaos make a world8 ,precisely as there 
is light in himself1 will he accomplish 
this4  ,or indeed we may say again1 it  
is in what ,i called ,portrait-painting1
 delineating of men and things1         
especially of men1 that ,shakspeare is  
great4 ,all the greatness of the man    
comes out decisively here4 ,it is       
unexampled1 ,i think1 that calm creative
 perspicacity of ,shakspeare4 ,the thing
 he looks at reveals not this or that   
face of it1 but its inmost heart1 and   
generic secret3 it dissolves itself as  
in light before him1 so that he discerns
 the perfect structure of it4 ,creative1
 we said3 poetic creation1 what is this 
too but seeing the thing sufficiently8  
,the word that will describe the thing1 
follows of itself from such clear       
intense sight of the thing4 ,and is not 

,shakspeare's morality1 his valour1     
candour1 tolerance1 truthfulness2 his   
whole victorious strength and greatness1
 which can triumph over such            
obstructions1 visible there too8 ,great 
as the world6 ,no twisted1 poor         
convex-concave mirror1 reflecting all   
objects with its own convexities and    
concavities2 a perfectly level          
mirror2--that is to say withal1 if we   
will understand it1 a man justly related
 to all things and men1 a good man4 ,it 
is truly a lordly spectacle how this    
great soul takes-in all kinds of men and
 objects1 a ,falstaff1 an ,othello1 a   
,juliet1 a ,coriolanus2 sets them all   
forth to us in their round completeness2
 loving1 just1 the equal brother of all4
 ,novum ,organum1 and all the intellect 
you will find in ,bacon1 is of a quite  
secondary order2 earthly1 material1 poor
 in comparison with this4 ,among modern 
men1 one finds1 in strictness1 almost   
nothing of the same rank4 ,goethe alone1
 since the days of ,shakspeare1 reminds 

me of it4 ,of him too you say that he   
saw the object2 you may say what he     
himself says of ,shakspeare3 ',his      
characters are like watches with        
dial-plates of transparent crystal2 they
 show you the hour like others1 and the 
inward mechanism also is all visible4'  
,the seeing eye6 ,it is this that       
discloses the inner harmony of things2  
what ,nature meant1 what musical idea   
,nature has wrapped-up in these often   
rough embodiments4 ,something she did   
mean4 ,to the seeing eye that something 
were discernible4 ,are they base1       
miserable things8 ,you can laugh over   
them1 you can weep over them2 you can in
 some way or other genially relate      
yourself to them2--you can1 at lowest1  
hold your peace about them1 turn away   
your own and others' face from them1    
till the hour come for practically      
exterminating and extinguishing them6   
,at bottom1 it is the ,poet's first     
gift1 as it is all men's1 that he have  
intellect enough4 ,he will be a ,poet if

 he have3 a ,poet in word2 or failing   
that1 perhaps still better1 a ,poet in  
act4 ,whether he write at all2 and if   
so1 whether in prose or in verse1 will  
depend on accidents3 who knows on what  
extremely trivial accidents1--perhaps on
 his having had a singing-master1 on his
 being taught to sing in his boyhood6   
,but the faculty which enables him to   
discern the inner heart of things1 and  
the harmony that dwells there 7for      
whatsoever exists has a harmony in the  
heart of it1 or it would not hold       
together and exist71 is not the result  
of habits or accidents1 but the gift of 
,nature herself2 the primary outfit for 
a ,heroic ,man in what sort soever4 ,to 
the ,poet1 as to every other1 we say    
first of all1 ,see4 ,if you cannot do   
that1 it is of no use to keep stringing 
rhymes together1 jingling sensibilities 
against each other1 and name yourself a 
,poet2 there is no hope for you4 ,if you
 can1 there is1 in prose or verse1 in   
action or speculation1 all manner of    

hope4 ,the crabbed old ,schoolmaster    
used to ask1 when they brought him a new
 pupil1 ,but are ye sure he's not a     
dunce8 ,why1 really one might ask the   
same thing in regard to every man       
proposed for whatsoever function2 and   
consider it as the one inquiry needful3 
,are ye sure he's not a dunce8 ,there   
is1 in this world1 no other entirely    
fatal person4  ,for1 in fact1 ,i say the
 degree of vision that dwells in a man  
is a correct measure of the man4 ,if    
called to define ,shakspeare's faculty1 
,i should say superiority of ,intellect1
 and think ,i had included all under    
that4 ,what indeed are faculties8 ,we   
talk of faculties as if they were       
distinct1 things separable2 as if a man 
had intellect1 imagination1 fancy1 c1 as
 he has hands1 feet and arms4 ,that is a
 capital error4 ,then again1 we hear of 
a man's 'intellectual nature1' and of   
his 'moral nature1' as if these again   
were divisible1 and existed apart4      
,necessities of language do perhaps     

prescribe such forms of utterance2 we   
must speak1 ,i am aware1 in that way1 if
 we are to speak at all4 ,but words     
ought not to harden into things for us4 
,it seems to me1 our apprehension of    
this matter is1 for the most part1      
radically falsified thereby4 ,we ought  
to know withal1 and to keep for ever in 
mind1 that these divisions are at bottom
 but names2 that man's spiritual nature1
 the vital ,force which dwells in him1  
is essentially one and indivisible2 that
 what we call imagination1 fancy1       
understanding1 and so forth1 are but    
different figures of the same ,power of 
,insight1 all indissolubly connected    
with each other1 physiognomically       
related2 that if we knew one of them1 we
 might know all of them4 ,morality      
itself1 what we call the moral quality  
of a man1 what is this but another side 
of the one vital ,force whereby he is   
and works8 ,all that a man does is      
physiognomical of him4 ,you may see how 
a man would fight1 by the way in which  

he sings2 his courage1 or want of       
courage1 is visible in the word he      
utters1 in the opinion he has formed1 no
 less than in the stroke he strikes4 ,he
 is one2 and preaches the same ,self    
abroad in all these ways4  ,without     
hands a man might have feet1 and could  
still walk3 but1 consider it1--without  
morality1 intellect were impossible for 
him2 a thoroughly immoral man could not 
know anything at all6 ,to know a thing1 
what we can call knowing1 a man must    
first love the thing1 sympathise with   
it3 that is1 be virtuously related to   
it4 ,if he have not the justice to put  
down his own selfishness at every turn1 
the courage to stand by the             
dangerous-true at every turn1 how shall 
he know8 ,his virtues1 all of them1 will
 lie recorded in his knowledge4 ,nature1
 with her truth1 remains to the bad1 to 
the selfish and the pusillanimous       
forever a sealed book3 what such can    
know of ,nature is mean1 superficial1   
small2 for the uses of the day          

merely4--,but does not the very ,fox    
know something of ,nature8 ,exactly so3 
it knows where the geese lodge6 ,the    
human ,reynard1 very frequent everywhere
 in the world1 what more does he know   
but this and the like of this8 ,nay1 it 
should be considered1 too1 that if the  
,fox had not a certain vulpine morality1
 he could not even know where the geese 
were1 or get at the geese6 ,if he spent 
his time in splenetic atrabiliar        
reflections on his own misery1 his ill  
usage by ,nature1 ,fortune and other    
,foxes1 and so forth2 and had not       
courage1 promptitude1 practicality1 and 
other suitable vulpine gifts and graces1
 he would catch no geese4 ,we may say of
 the ,fox too1 that his morality and    
insight are of the same dimensions2     
different faces of the same internal    
unity of vulpine life6--,these things   
are worth stating2 for the contrary of  
them acts with manifold very baleful    
perversion1 in this time3 what          
limitations1 modifications they require1

 your own candour will supply4  ,if ,i  
say1 therefore1 that ,shakspeare is the 
greatest of ,intellects1 ,i have said   
all concerning him4 ,but there is more  
in ,shakspeare's intellect than we have 
yet seen4 ,it is what ,i call an        
unconscious intellect2 there is more    
virtue in it than he himself is aware   
of4 ,novalis beautifully remarks of him1
 that those ,dramas of his are ,products
 of ,nature too1 deep as ,nature        
herself4 ,i find a great truth in this  
saying4 ,shakspeare's ,art is not       
,artifice2 the noblest worth of it is   
not there by plan or precontrivance4 ,it
 grows-up from the deeps of ,nature1    
through this noble sincere soul1 who is 
a voice of ,nature4 ,the latest         
generations of men will find new        
meanings in ,shakspeare1 new            
elucidations of their own human being2  
'new harmonies with the infinite        
structure of the ,universe2 concurrences
 with later ideas1 affinities with the  
higher powers and senses of man4' ,this 

well deserves meditating4 ,it is        
,nature's highest reward to a true      
simple great soul1 that he get thus to  
be a part of herself4 ,such a man's     
works1 whatsoever he with utmost        
conscious exertion and forethought shall
 accomplish1 grow up withal             
unconsciously1 from the unknown deeps in
 him2--as the oak-tree grows from the   
,earth's bosom1 as the mountains and    
waters shape themselves2 with a symmetry
 grounded on ,nature's own laws1        
conformable to all ,truth whatsoever4   
,how much in ,shakspeare lies hid2 his  
sorrows1 his silent struggles known to  
himself2 much that was not known at all1
 not speakable at all2 like roots1 like 
sap and forces working underground6     
,speech is great2 but ,silence is       
greater4  ,withal the joyful            
tranquillity of this man is notable4 ,i 
will not blame ,dante for his misery3 it
 is as battle without victory2 but true 
battle1--the first1 indispensable thing4
 ,yet ,i call ,shakspeare greater than  

,dante1 in that he fought truly1 and did
 conquer4 ,doubt it not1 he had his own 
sorrows3 those ,sonnets of his will even
 testify expressly in what deep waters  
he had waded1 and swum struggling for   
his life2--as what man like him ever    
failed to have to do8 ,it seems to me a 
heedless notion1 our common one1 that he
 sat like a bird on the bough2 and sang 
forth1 free and offhand1 never knowing  
the troubles of other men4 ,not so2 with
 no man is it so4 ,how could a man      
travel forward from rustic deer-poaching
 to such tragedy-writing1 and not       
fall-in with sorrows by the way8 ,or1   
still better1 how could a man delineate 
a ,hamlet1 a ,coriolanus1 a ,macbeth1 so
 many suffering heroic hearts1 if his   
own heroic heart had never              
suffered8--,and now1 in contrast with   
all this1 observe his mirthfulness1 his 
genuine overflowing love of laughter6   
,you would say1 in no point does he     
exaggerate but only in laughter4 ,fiery 
objurgations1 words that pierce and     

burn1 are to be found in ,shakspeare2   
yet he is always in measure here2 never 
what ,johnson would remark as a         
specially 'good hater4' ,but his        
laughter seems to pour from him in      
floods2 he heaps all manner of          
ridiculous nicknames on the butt he is  
bantering1 tumbles and tosses him in all
 sorts of horse-play2 you would say1    
with his whole heart laughs4 ,and then1 
if not always the finest1 it is always a
 genial laughter4 ,not at mere weakness1
 at misery or poverty2 never4 ,no man   
who can laugh1 what we call laughing1   
will laugh at these things4 ,it is some 
poor character only desiring to laugh1  
and have the credit of wit1 that does   
so4 ,laughter means sympathy2 good      
laughter is not 'the crackling of thorns
 under the pot4' ,even at stupidity and 
pretension this ,shakspeare does not    
laugh otherwise than genially4 ,dogberry
 and ,verges tickle our very hearts2 and
 we dismiss them covered with explosions
 of laughter3 but we like the poor      

fellows only the better for our         
laughing2 and hope they will get on well
 there1 and continue ,presidents of the 
,city-watch4 ,such laughter1 like       
sunshine on the deep sea1 is very       
beautiful to me4   99 99 99 99 99  ,we  
have no room to speak of ,shakspeare's  
individual works2 though perhaps there  
is much still waiting to be said on that
 head4 ,had we1 for instance1 all his   
plays reviewed as ,hamlet1 in ,wilhelm  
,meister1 is6 ,a thing which might1 one 
day1 be done4 ,august ,wilhelm ,schlegel
 has a remark on his ,historical ,plays1
 ,henry ,fifth and the others1 which is 
worth remembering4 ,he calls them a kind
 of ,national ,epic4 ,marlborough1 you  
recollect1 said1 he knew no ,english    
,history but what he had learned from   
,shakspeare4 ,there are really1 if we   
look to it1 few as memorable ,histories4
 ,the great salient points are admirably
 seized2 all rounds itself off1 into a  
kind of rhythmic coherence2 it is1 as   
,schlegel says1 epic2--as indeed all    

delineation by a great thinker will be4 
,there are right beautiful things in    
those ,pieces1 which indeed together    
form one beautiful thing4 ,that battle  
of ,agincourt strikes me as one of the  
most perfect things1 in its sort1 we    
anywhere have of ,shakspeare's4 ,the    
description of the two hosts3 the       
worn-out1 jaded ,english2 the dread     
hour1 big with destiny1 when the battle 
shall begin2 and then that deathless    
valour3 ,ye good yeomen1 whose limbs    
were made in ,england6 ,there is a noble
 ,patriotism in it1--far other than the 
'indifference' you sometimes hear       
ascribed to ,shakspeare4 ,a true        
,english heart breathes1 calm and       
strong1 through the whole business2 not 
boisterous1 protrusive2 all the better  
for that4 ,there is a sound in it like  
the ring of steel4 ,this man too had a  
right stroke in him1 had it come to     
that6  ,but ,i will say1 of             
,shakspeare's works generally1 that we  
have no full impress of him there2 even 

as full as we have of many men4 ,his    
works are so many windows1 through which
 we see a glimpse of the world that was 
in him4 ,all his works seem1            
comparatively speaking1 cursory1        
imperfect1 written under cramping       
circumstances2 giving only here and     
there a note of the full utterance of   
the man4 ,passages there are that come  
upon you like splendour out of ,heaven2 
bursts of radiance1 illuminating the    
very heart of the thing3 you say1 ,that 
is true1 spoken once and forever2       
wheresoever and whensoever there is an  
open human soul1 that will be recognised
 as true6 ,such bursts1 however1 make us
 feel that the surrounding matter is not
 radiant2 that it is1 in part1          
temporary1 conventional4 ,alas1         
,shakspeare had to write for the ,globe 
,play-house3 his great soul had to crush
 itself1 as it could1 into that and no  
other mould4 ,it was with him1 then1 as 
it is with us all4 ,no man works save   
under conditions4 ,the sculptor cannot  

set his own free ,thought before us2 but
 his ,thought as he could translate it  
into the stone that was given1 with the 
tools that were given4 ,disjecta membra 
are all that we find of any ,poet1 or of
 any man4   99 99 99 99 99  ,whoever    
looks intelligently at this ,shakspeare 
may recognise that he too was a         
,prophet1 in his way2 of an insight     
analogous to the ,prophetic1 though he  
took it up in another strain4 ,nature   
seemed to this man also divine2         
unspeakable1 deep as ,tophet1 high as   
,heaven3 ',we are such stuff as ,dreams 
are made of6' ,that scroll in           
,westminster ,abbey1 which few read with
 understanding1 is of the depth of any  
seer4 ,but the man sang2 did not preach1
 except musically4 ,we called ,dante the
 melodious ,priest of ,middle-,age      
,catholicism4 ,may we not call          
,shakspeare the still more melodious    
,priest of a true ,catholicism1 the     
',universal ,church' of the ,future and 
of all times8 ,no narrow superstition1  

harsh asceticism1 intolerance1 fanatical
 fierceness or perversion3 a            
,revelation1 so far as it goes1 that    
such a thousandfold hidden beauty and   
divineness dwells in all ,nature2 which 
let all men worship as they can6 ,we may
 say without offence1 that there rises a
 kind of universal ,psalm out of this   
,shakspeare too2 not unfit to make      
itself heard among the still more sacred
 ,psalms4 ,not in disharmony with these1
 if we understood them1 but in          
harmony6--,i cannot call this           
,shakspeare a ',sceptic1' as some do2   
his indifference to the creeds and      
theological quarrels of his time        
misleading them4 ,no3 neither           
unpatriotic1 though he says little about
 his ,patriotism2 nor sceptic1 though he
 says little about his ,faith4 ,such    
'indifference' was the fruit of his     
greatness withal3 his whole heart was in
 his own grand sphere of worship 7we may
 call it such73 these other             
controversies1 vitally important to     

other men1 were not vital to him4  ,but 
call it worship1 call it what you will1 
is it not a right glorious thing1 and   
set of things1 this that ,shakspeare has
 brought us8 ,for myself1 ,i feel that  
there is actually a kind of sacredness  
in the fact of such a man being sent    
into this ,earth4 ,is he not an eye to  
us all2 a blessed heaven-sent ,bringer  
of ,light8--,and1 at bottom1 was it not 
perhaps far better that this            
,shakspeare1 everyway an unconscious    
man1 was conscious of no ,heavenly      
message8 ,he did not feel1 like         
,mahomet1 because he saw into those     
internal ,splendours1 that he specially 
was the ',prophet of ,god3' and was he  
not greater than ,mahomet in that8      
,greater2 and also1 if we compute       
strictly1 as we did in ,dante's case1   
more successful4 ,it was intrinsically  
an error that notion of ,mahomet's1 of  
his supreme ,prophethood3 and has come  
down to us inextricably involved in     
error to this day2 dragging along with  

it such a coil of fables1 impurities1   
intolerances1 as makes it a questionable
 step for me here and now to say1 as ,i 
have done1 that ,mahomet was a true     
,speaker at all1 and not rather an      
ambitious charlatan1 perversity and     
simulacrum2 no ,speaker1 but a ,babbler6
 ,even in ,arabia1 as ,i compute1       
,mahomet will have exhausted himself and
 become obsolete1 while this            
,shakspeare1 this ,dante may still be   
young2--while this ,shakspeare may still
 pretend to be a ,priest of ,mankind1 of
 ,arabia as of other places1 for        
unlimited periods to come6  ,compared   
with any speaker or singer one knows1   
even with schylus or ,homer1 why should 
he not1 for veracity and universality1  
last like them8 ,he is sincere as they2 
reaches deep down like them1 to the     
universal and perennial4 ,but as for    
,mahomet1 ,i think it had been better   
for him not to be so conscious6 ,alas1  
poor ,mahomet2 all that he was conscious
 of was a mere error2 a futility and    

triviality1--as indeed such ever is4    
,the truly great in him too was the     
unconscious3 that he was a wild ,arab   
lion of the desert1 and did speak-out   
with that great thunder-voice of his1   
not by words which he thought to be     
great1 but by actions1 by feelings1 by a
 history which were great6 ,his ,koran  
has become a stupid piece of prolix     
absurdity2 we do not believe1 like him1 
that ,god wrote that6 ,the ,great ,man  
here too1 as always1 is a ,force of     
,nature3 whatsoever is truly great in   
him springs-up from the inarticulate    
deeps4   99 99 99 99 99  ,well3 this is 
our poor ,warwickshire ,peasant1 who    
rose to be ,manager of a ,playhouse1 so 
that he could live without begging2 whom
 the ,earl of ,southampton cast some    
kind glances on2 whom ,sir ,thomas      
,lucy1 many thanks to him1 was for      
sending to the ,treadmill6 ,we did not  
account him a god1 like ,odin1 while he 
dwelt with us2--on which point there    
were much to be said4 ,but ,i will say  

rather1 or repeat3 ,in spite of the sad 
state ,hero-worship now lies in1        
consider what this ,shakspeare has      
actually become among us4 ,which        
,englishman we ever made1 in this land  
of ours1 which million of ,englishmen1  
would we not give-up rather than the    
,stratford ,peasant8 ,there is no       
regiment of highest ,dignitaries that we
 would sell him for4 ,he is the grandest
 thing we have yet done4 ,for our honour
 among foreign nations1 as an ornament  
to our ,english ,household1 what item is
 there that we would not surrender      
rather than him8 ,consider now1 if they 
asked us1 ,will you give-up your ,indian
 ,empire or your ,shakspeare1 you       
,english2 never have had any ,indian    
,empire1 or never have had any          
,shakspeare8 ,really it were a grave    
question4 ,official persons would answer
 doubtless in official language2 but we1
 for our part too1 should not we be     
forced to answer3 ,indian ,empire1 or no
 ,indian ,empire2 we cannot do without  

,shakspeare6 ,indian ,empire will go1 at
 any rate1 some day2 but this           
,shakspeare does not go1 he lasts       
forever with us2 we cannot give-up our  
,shakspeare6  ,nay1 apart from          
spiritualities2 and considering him     
merely as a real1 marketable1           
tangibly-useful possession4 ,england1   
before long1 this ,island of ours1 will 
hold but a small fraction of the        
,english3 in ,america1 in ,new ,holland1
 east and west to the very ,antipodes1  
there will be a ,saxondom covering great
 spaces of the ,globe4 ,and now1 what is
 it that can keep all these together    
into virtually one ,nation1 so that they
 do not fall-out and fight1 but live at 
peace1 in brotherlike intercourse1      
helping one another8 ,this is justly    
regarded as the greatest practical      
problem1 the thing all manner of        
sovereignties and governments are here  
to accomplish3 what is it that will     
accomplish this8 ,acts of ,parliament1  
administrative prime-ministers cannot4  

,america is parted from us1 so far as   
,parliament could part it4 ,call it not 
fantastic1 for there is much reality in 
it3 ,here1 ,i say1 is an ,english ,king1
 whom no time or chance1 ,parliament or 
combination of ,parliaments1 can        
dethrone6 ,this ,king ,shakspeare1 does 
not he shine1 in crowned sovereignty1   
over us all1 as the noblest1 gentlest1  
yet strongest of rallying-signs2        
indestructible2 really more valuable in 
that point of view than any other means 
or appliance whatsoever8 ,we can fancy  
him as radiant aloft over all the       
,nations of ,englishmen1 a thousand     
years hence4 ,from ,paramatta1 from ,new
 ,york1 wheresoever1 under what sort of 
,parish-,constable soever1 ,english men 
and women are1 they will say to one     
another3 ,yes1 this ,shakspeare is ours2
 we produced him1 we speak and think by 
him2 we are of one blood and kind with  
him4 ,the most common-sense politician  
too1 if he pleases1 may think of that4  
,yes1 truly1 it is a great thing for a  

,nation that it get an articulate voice2
 that it produce a man who will         
speak-forth melodiously what the heart  
of it means6 ,italy1 for example1 poor  
,italy lies dismembered1 scattered      
asunder1 not appearing in any protocol  
or treaty as a unity at all2 yet the    
noble ,italy is actually one3 ,italy    
produced its ,dante2 ,italy can speak6  
,the ,czar of all the ,russias1 he is   
strong1 with so many bayonets1 ,cossacks
 and cannons2 and does a great feat in  
keeping such a tract of ,earth          
politically together2 but he cannot yet 
speak4 ,something great in him1 but it  
is a dumb greatness4 ,he has had no     
voice of genius1 to be heard of all men 
and times4 ,he must learn to speak4 ,he 
is a great dumb monster hitherto4 ,his  
cannons and ,cossacks will all have     
rusted into nonentity1 while that       
,dante's voice is still audible4 ,the   
,nation that has a ,dante is bound      
together as no dumb ,russia can be4--,we
 must here end what we had to say of the

 ,hero-,poet4     ,,lecture ,,iv  ,,the 
,,hero ,,as ,,priest4 ,,luther2         
,,reformation3 ,,knox2 ,,puritanism4    
,friday1 #aeth ,may #ahdj   ,our present
 discourse is to be of the ,great ,man  
as ,priest4 ,we have repeatedly         
endeavoured to explain that all sorts of
 ,heroes are intrinsically of the same  
material2 that given a great soul1 open 
to the ,divine ,significance of ,life1  
then there is given a man fit to speak  
of this1 to sing of this1 to fight and  
work for this1 in a great1 victorious1  
enduring manner2 there is given a       
,hero1--the outward shape of whom will  
depend on the time and the environment  
he finds himself in4 ,the priest too1 as
 ,i understand it1 is a kind of         
,prophet2 in him too there is required  
to be a light of inspiration1 as we must
 name it4 ,he presides over the worship 
of the people2 is the ,uniter of them   
with the ,unseen ,holy4 ,he is the      
spiritual ,captain of the people2 as the
 ,prophet is their spiritual ,king with 

many captains3 he guides them           
heavenward1 by wise guidance through    
this ,earth and its work4 ,the ideal of 
him is1 that he too be what we can call 
a voice from the unseen ,heaven2        
interpreting1 even as the ,prophet did1 
and in a more familiar manner unfolding 
the same to men4 ,the unseen            
,heaven1--the 'open secret of the       
,universe1'--which so few have an eye   
for6 ,he is the ,prophet shorn of his   
more awful splendour2 burning with mild 
equable radiance1 as the enlightener of 
daily life4 ,this1 ,i say1 is the ideal 
of a ,priest4 ,so in old times2 so in   
these1 and in all times4 ,one knows very
 well that1 in reducing ideals to       
practice1 great latitude of tolerance is
 needful2 very great4 ,but a ,priest who
 is not this at all1 who does not any   
longer aim or try to be this1 is a      
character--of whom we had rather not    
speak in this place4  ,luther and ,knox 
were by express vocation ,priests1 and  
did faithfully perform that function in 

its common sense4 ,yet it will suit us  
better here to consider them chiefly in 
their historical character1 rather as   
,reformers than ,priests4 ,there have   
been other ,priests perhaps equally     
notable1 in calmer times1 for doing     
faithfully the office of a ,leader of   
,worship2 bringing down1 by faithful    
heroism in that kind1 a light from      
,heaven into the daily life of their    
people2 leading them forward1 as under  
,god's guidance1 in the way wherein they
 were to go4 ,but when this same way was
 a rough one1 of battle1 confusion and  
danger1 the spiritual ,captain1 who led 
through that1 becomes1 especially to us 
who live under the fruit of his leading1
 more notable than any other4 ,he is the
 warfaring and battling ,priest2 who led
 his people1 not to quiet faithful      
labour as in smooth times1 but to       
faithful valorous conflict1 in times all
 violent1 dismembered3 a more perilous  
service1 and a more memorable one1 be it
 higher or not4 ,these two men we will  

account our best ,priests1 inasmuch as  
they were our best ,reformers4 ,nay ,i  
may ask1 ,is not every true ,reformer1  
by the nature of him1 a ,priest first of
 all8 ,he appeals to ,heaven's invisible
 justice against ,earth's visible force2
 knows that it1 the invisible1 is strong
 and alone strong4 ,he is a believer in 
the divine truth of things2 a seer1     
seeing through the shows of things2 a   
worshipper1 in one way or the other1 of 
the divine truth of things2 a ,priest1  
that is4 ,if he be not first a ,priest1 
he will never be good for much as a     
,reformer4  ,thus1 then1 as we have seen
 ,great ,men1 in various situations1    
building up ,religions1 heroic ,forms of
 human ,existence in this world1        
,theories of ,life worthy to be sung by 
a ,dante1 ,practices of ,life by a      
,shakspeare1--we are now to see the     
reverse process2 which also is          
necessary1 which also may be carried on 
in the ,heroic manner4 ,curious how this
 should be necessary2 yet necessary it  

is4 ,the mild shining of the ,poet's    
light has to give place to the fierce   
lightning of the ,reformer3             
unfortunately the ,reformer too is a    
personage that cannot fail in ,history6 
,the ,poet indeed1 with his mildness1   
what is he but the product and ultimate 
adjustment of ,reform1 or ,prophecy with
 its fierceness8 ,no wild ,saint        
,dominics and ,thebad ,eremites1 there  
had been no melodious ,dante2 rough     
,practical ,endeavour1 ,scandinavian and
 other1 from ,odin to ,walter ,raleigh1 
from ,ulfila to ,cranmer1 enabled       
,shakspeare to speak4 ,nay the finished 
,poet1 ,i remark sometimes1 is a symptom
 that his epoch itself has reached      
perfection and is finished2 that before 
long there will be a new epoch1 new     
,reformers needed4  ,doubtless it were  
finer1 could we go along always in the  
way of music2 be tamed and taught by our
 ,poets1 as the rude creatures were by  
their ,orpheus of old4 ,or failing this 
rhythmic musical way1 how good were it  

could we get so much as into the equable
 way2 ,i mean1 if peaceable ,priests1   
reforming from day to day1 would always 
suffice us6 ,but it is not so2 even this
 latter has not yet been realised4      
,alas1 the battling ,reformer too is1   
from time to time1 a needful and        
inevitable phenomenon4 ,obstructions are
 never wanting3 the very things that    
were once indispensable furtherances    
become obstructions2 and need to be     
shaken off1 and left behind us1--a      
business often of enormous difficulty4  
,it is notable enough1 surely1 how a    
,theorem or spiritual ,representation1  
so we may call it1 which once took in   
the whole ,universe1 and was completely 
satisfactory in all parts of it to the  
highly-discursive acute intellect of    
,dante1 one of the greatest in the      
world1--had in the course of another    
century become dubitable to common      
intellects2 become deniable2 and is now1
 to every one of us1 flatly incredible1 
obsolete as ,odin's ,theorem6 ,to       

,dante1 human ,existence1 and ,god's    
ways with men1 were all well represented
 by those ,malebolges1 ,purgatorios2 to 
,luther not well4 ,how was this8 ,why   
could not ,dante's ,catholicism         
continue2 but ,luther's ,protestantism  
must needs follow8 ,alas1 nothing will  
continue4  ,i do not make much of       
',progress of the ,species1' as handled 
in these times of ours2 nor do ,i think 
you would care to hear much about it4   
,the talk on that subject is too often  
of the most extravagant1 confused sort4 
,yet ,i may say1 the fact itself seems  
certain enough2 nay we can trace out the
 inevitable necessity of it in the      
nature of things4 ,every man1 as ,i have
 stated somewhere1 is not only a learner
 but a doer3 he learns with the mind    
given him what has been2 but with the   
same mind he discovers farther1 he      
invents and devises somewhat of his own4
 ,absolutely without originality there  
is no man4 ,no man whatever believes1 or
 can believe1 exactly what his          

grandfather believed3 he enlarges       
somewhat1 by fresh discovery1 his view  
of the ,universe1 and consequently his  
,theorem of the ,universe1--which is an 
infinite ,universe1 and can never be    
embraced wholly or finally by any view  
or ,theorem1 in any conceivable         
enlargement3 he enlarges somewhat1 ,i   
say2 finds somewhat that was credible to
 his grandfather incredible to him1     
false to him1 inconsistent with some new
 thing he has discovered or observed4   
,it is the history of every man2 and in 
the history of ,mankind we see it       
summed-up into great historical         
amounts1--revolutions1 new epochs4      
,dante's ,mountain of ,purgatory does   
not stand 'in the ocean of the other    
,hemisphere1' when ,columbus has once   
sailed thither6 ,men find no such thing 
extant in the other ,hemisphere4 ,it is 
not there4 ,it must cease to be believed
 to be there4 ,so with all beliefs      
whatsoever in this world1--all ,systems 
of ,belief1 and ,systems of ,practice   

that spring from these4  ,if we add now 
the melancholy fact1 that when ,belief  
waxes uncertain1 ,practice too becomes  
unsound1 and errors1 injustices and     
miseries everywhere more and more       
prevail1 we shall see material enough   
for revolution4 ,at all turns1 a man who
 will do faithfully1 needs to believe   
firmly4 ,if he have to ask at every turn
 the world's suffrage2 if he cannot     
dispense with the world's suffrage1 and 
make his own suffrage serve1 he is a    
poor eye-servant2 the work committed to 
him will be misdone4 ,every such man is 
a daily contributor to the inevitable   
downfall4 ,whatsoever work he does1     
dishonestly1 with an eye to the outward 
look of it1 is a new offence1 parent of 
new misery to somebody or other4        
,offences accumulate till they become   
insupportable2 and are then violently   
burst through1 cleared off as by        
explosion4 ,dante's sublime             
,catholicism1 incredible now in theory1 
and defaced still worse by faithless1   

doubting and dishonest practice1 has to 
be torn asunder by a ,luther2           
,shakspeare's noble feudalism1 as       
beautiful as it once looked and was1 has
 to end in a ,french ,revolution4 ,the  
accumulation of offences is1 as we say1 
too literally exploded1 blasted asunder 
volcanically2 and there are long        
troublous periods before matters come to
 a settlement again4  ,surely it were   
mournful enough to look only at this    
face of the matter1 and find in all     
human opinions and arrangements merely  
the fact that they were uncertain1      
temporary1 subject to the law of death6 
,at bottom1 it is not so3 all death1    
here too we find1 is but of the body1   
not of the essence or soul2 all         
destruction1 by violent revolution or   
howsoever it be1 is but new creation on 
a wider scale4 ,odinism was ,valour2    
,christianism was ,humility1 a nobler   
kind of ,valour4 ,no thought that ever  
dwelt honestly as true in the heart of  
man but was an honest insight into      

,god's truth on man's part1 and has an  
essential truth in it which endures     
through all changes1 an everlasting     
possession for us all4 ,and1 on the     
other hand1 what a melancholy notion is 
that1 which has to represent all men1 in
 all countries and times except our own1
 as having spent their life in blind    
condemnable error1 mere lost ,pagans1   
,scandinavians1 ,mahometans1 only that  
we might have the true ultimate         
knowledge6 ,all generations of men were 
lost and wrong1 only that this present  
little section of a generation might be 
saved and right4 ,they all marched      
forward there1 all generations since the
 beginning of the world1 like the       
,russian soldiers into the ditch of     
,schweidnitz ,fort1 only to fill-up the 
ditch with their dead bodies1 that we   
might march-over and take the place6 ,it
 is an incredible hypothesis4  ,such    
incredible hypothesis we have seen      
maintained with fierce emphasis2 and    
this or the other poor individual man1  

with his sect of individual men1        
marching as over the dead bodies of all 
men1 towards sure victory3 but when he  
too1 with his hypothesis and ultimate   
infallible credo1 sank into the ditch1  
and became a dead body1 what was to be  
said8--,withal1 it is an important fact 
in the nature of man1 that he tends to  
reckon his own insight as final1 and    
goes upon it as such4 ,he will always do
 it1 ,i suppose1 in one or the other    
way2 but it must be in some wider1 wiser
 way than this4 ,are not all true men   
that live1 or that ever lived1 soldiers 
of the same army1 enlisted1 under       
,heaven's captaincy1 to do battle       
against the same enemy1 the ,empire of  
,darkness and ,wrong8 ,why should we    
misknow one another1 fight not against  
the enemy but against ourselves1 from   
mere difference of uniform8 ,all        
uniforms shall be good1 so they hold in 
them true valiant men4 ,all fashions of 
arms1 the ,arab turban and swift        
scimetar1 ,thor's strong hammer smiting 

down ,jtuns1 shall be welcome4 ,luther's
 battle-voice1 ,dante's march-melody1   
all genuine things are with us1 not     
against us4 ,we are all under one       
,captain1 soldiers of the same          
host4--,let us now look a little at this
 ,luther's fighting2 what kind of battle
 it was1 and how he comported himself in
 it4 ,luther too was of our spiritual   
,heroes2 a ,prophet to his country and  
time4  ,as introductory to the whole1 a 
remark about ,idolatry will perhaps be  
in place here4 ,one of ,mahomet's       
characteristics1 which indeed belongs to
 all ,prophets1 is unlimited implacable 
zeal against ,idolatry4 ,it is the grand
 theme of ,prophets3 ,idolatry1 the     
worshipping of dead ,idols as the       
,divinity1 is a thing they cannot       
away-with1 but have to denounce         
continually1 and brand with inexpiable  
reprobation2 it is the chief of all the 
sins they see done under the sun4 ,this 
is worth noting4 ,we will not enter here
 into the theological question about    

,idolatry4 ,idol is ,eidolon1 a thing   
seen1 a symbol4 ,it is not ,god1 but a  
,symbol of ,god2 and perhaps one may    
question whether any the most benighted 
mortal ever took it for more than a     
,symbol4 ,i fancy1 he did not think that
 the poor image his own hands had made  
was ,god2 but that ,god was emblemed by 
it1 that ,god was in it some way or     
another4 ,and now in this sense1 one may
 ask1 ,is not all worship whatsoever a  
worship by ,symbols1 by eidola1 or      
things seen8 ,whether seen1 rendered    
visible as an image or picture to the   
bodily eye2 or visible only to the      
inward eye1 to the imagination1 to the  
intellect3 this makes a superficial1 but
 no substantial difference4 ,it is still
 a ,thing ,seen1 significant of         
,godhead2 an ,idol4 ,the most rigorous  
,puritan has his ,confession of ,faith1 
and intellectual ,representation of     
,divine things1 and worships thereby2   
thereby is worship first made possible  
for him4 ,all creeds1 liturgies1        

religious forms1 conceptions that fitly 
invest religious feelings1 are in this  
sense eidola1 things seen4 ,all worship 
whatsoever must proceed by ,symbols1 by 
,idols3--we may say1 all ,idolatry is   
comparative1 and the worst ,idolatry is 
only more idolatrous4  ,where1 then1    
lies the evil of it8 some fatal evil    
must lie in it1 or earnest prophetic men
 would not on all hands so reprobate it4
 ,why is ,idolatry so hateful to        
,prophets8 ,it seems to me as if1 in the
 worship of those poor wooden symbols1  
the thing that had chiefly provoked the 
,prophet1 and filled his inmost soul    
with indignation and aversion1 was not  
exactly what suggested itself to his own
 thought1 and came out of him in words  
to others1 as the thing4 ,the rudest    
heathen that worshipped ,canopus1 or the
 ,caabah ,black-,stone1 he1 as we saw1  
was superior to the horse that          
worshipped nothing at all6 ,nay there   
was a kind of lasting merit in that poor
 act of his2 analogous to what is still 

meritorious in ,poets3 recognition of a 
certain endless divine beauty and       
significance in stars and all natural   
objects whatsoever4 ,why should the     
,prophet so mercilessly condemn him8    
,the poorest mortal worshipping his     
,fetish1 while his heart is full of it1 
may be an object of pity1 of contempt   
and avoidance1 if you will2 but cannot  
surely be an object of hatred4 ,let his 
heart be honestly full of it1 the whole 
space of his dark narrow mind           
illuminated thereby2 in one word1 let   
him entirely believe in his ,fetish1--it
 will then be1 ,i should say1 if not    
well with him1 yet as well as it can    
readily be made to be1 and you will     
leave him alone1 unmolested there4  ,but
 here enters the fatal circumstance of  
,idolatry1 that1 in the era of the      
,prophets1 no man's mind is any longer  
honestly filled with his ,idol or       
,symbol4 ,before the ,prophet can arise 
who1 seeing through it1 knows it to be  
mere wood1 many men must have begun     

dimly to doubt that it was little more4 
,condemnable ,idolatry is insincere     
,idolatry4 ,doubt has eaten-out the     
heart of it3 a human soul is seen       
clinging spasmodically to an ,ark of the
 ,covenant1 which it half-feels now to  
have become a ,phantasm4 ,this is one of
 the balefulest sights4 ,souls are no   
longer filled with their ,fetish2 but   
only pretend to be filled1 and would    
fain make themselves feel that they are 
filled4 ,you do not believe1 said       
,coleridge2 you only believe that you   
believe4 ,it is the final scene in all  
kinds of ,worship and ,symbolism2 the   
sure symptom that death is now nigh4 ,it
 is equivalent to what we call          
,formulism1 and ,worship of ,formulas1  
in these days of ours4 ,no more immoral 
act can be done by a human creature2 for
 it is the beginning of all immorality1 
or rather it is the impossibility       
henceforth of any morality whatsoever3  
the innermost moral soul is paralysed   
thereby1 cast into fatal magnetic sleep6

 ,men are no longer sincere men4 ,i do  
not wonder that the earnest man         
denounces this1 brands it1 prosecutes it
 with unextinguishable aversion4 ,he and
 it1 all good and it1 are at death-feud4
 ,blamable ,idolatry is ,cant1 and even 
what one may call ,sincere-,cant4       
,sincere-,cant3 that is worth thinking  
of6 ,every sort of ,worship ends with   
this phasis4  ,i find ,luther to have   
been a ,breaker of ,idols1 no less than 
any other ,prophet4 ,the wooden gods of 
the ,koreish1 made of timber and        
bees-wax1 were not more hateful to      
,mahomet than ,tetzel's ,pardons of     
,sin1 made of sheepskin and ink1 were to
 ,luther4 ,it is the property of every  
,hero1 in every time1 in every place and
 situation1 that he come back to        
reality2 that he stand upon things1 and 
not shows of things4 ,according as he   
loves1 and venerates1 articulately or   
with deep speechless thought1 the awful 
realities of things1 so will the hollow 
shows of things1 however regular1       

decorous1 accredited by ,koreishes or   
,conclaves1 be intolerable and          
detestable to him4 ,protestantism too is
 the work of a ,prophet3 the            
prophet-work of that sixteenth century4 
,the first stroke of honest demolition  
to an ancient thing grown false and     
idolatrous2 preparatory afar off to a   
new thing1 which shall be true1 and     
authentically divine6--  ,at first view 
it might seem as if ,protestantism were 
entirely destructive to this that we    
call ,hero-worship1 and represent as the
 basis of all possible good1 religious  
or social1 for mankind4 ,one often hears
 it said that ,protestantism introduced 
a new era1 radically different from any 
the world had ever seen before3 the era 
of 'private judgment1' as they call it4 
,by this revolt against the ,pope1 every
 man became his own ,pope2 and learnt1  
among other things1 that he must never  
trust any ,pope1 or spiritual           
,hero-captain1 any more6 ,whereby1 is   
not spiritual union1 all hierarchy and  

subordination among men1 henceforth an  
impossibility8 ,so we hear it           
said4--,now ,i need not deny that       
,protestantism was a revolt against     
spiritual sovereignties1 ,popes and much
 else4 ,nay ,i will grant that ,english 
,puritanism1 revolt against earthly     
sovereignties1 was the second act of it2
 that the enormous ,french ,revolution  
itself was the third act1 whereby all   
sovereignties earthly and spiritual     
were1 as might seem1 abolished or made  
sure of abolition4 ,protestantism is the
 grand root from which our whole        
subsequent ,european ,history branches  
out4 ,for the spiritual will always body
 itself forth in the temporal history of
 men2 the spiritual is the beginning of 
the temporal4 ,and now1 sure enough1 the
 cry is everywhere for ,liberty and     
,equality1 ,independence and so forth3  
instead of ,kings1 ,ballot-boxes and    
,electoral suffrages2 it seems made out 
that any ,hero-sovereign1 or loyal      
obedience of men to a man1 in things    

temporal or things spiritual1 has passed
 away forever from the world4 ,i should 
despair of the world altogether1 if so4 
,one of my deepest convictions is1 that 
it is not so4 ,without sovereigns1 true 
sovereigns1 temporal and spiritual1 ,i  
see nothing possible but an anarchy3 the
 hatefulest of things4 ,but ,i find     
,protestantism1 whatever anarchic       
democracy it have produced1 to be the   
beginning of new genuine sovereignty and
 order4 ,i find it to be a revolt       
against false sovereigns2 the painful   
but indispensable first preparative for 
true sovereigns getting place among us6 
,this is worth explaining a little4     
,let us remark1 therefore1 in the first 
place1 that this of 'private judgment'  
is1 at bottom1 not a new thing in the   
world1 but only new at that epoch of the
 world4 ,there is nothing generically   
new or peculiar in the ,reformation2 it 
was a return to ,truth and ,reality in  
opposition to ,falsehood and ,semblance1
 as all kinds of ,improvement and       

genuine ,teaching are and have been4    
,liberty of private judgment1 if we will
 consider it1 must at all times have    
existed in the world4 ,dante had not    
put-out his eyes1 or tied shackles on   
himself2 he was at home in that         
,catholicism of his1 a free-seeing soul 
in it1 if many a poor ,hogstraten1      
,tetzel and ,dr4 ,eck had now become    
slaves in it4 ,liberty of judgment8 ,no 
iron chain1 or outward force of any     
kind1 could ever compel the soul of a   
man to believe or to disbelieve3 it is  
his own indefeasible light1 that        
judgment of his2 he will reign1 and     
believe there1 by the grace of ,god     
alone6 ,the sorriest sophistical        
,bellarmine1 preaching sightless faith  
and passive obedience1 must first1 by   
some kind of conviction1 have abdicated 
his right to be convinced4 ,his 'private
 judgment' indicated that1 as the       
advisablest step he could take4 ,the    
right of private judgment will subsist1 
in full force1 wherever true men        

subsist4 ,a true man believes with his  
whole judgment1 with all the            
illumination and discernment that is in 
him1 and has always so believed4 ,a     
false man1 only struggling to 'believe  
that he believes1' will naturally manage
 it in some other way4 ,protestantism   
said to this latter1 ,woe6 and to the   
former1 ,well done6 ,at bottom1 it was  
no new saying2 it was a return to all   
old sayings that ever had been said4 ,be
 genuine1 be sincere3 that was1 once    
more1 the meaning of it4 ,mahomet       
believed with his whole mind2 ,odin with
 his whole mind1--he1 and all true      
,followers of ,odinism4 ,they1 by their 
private judgment1 had 'judged'--so4     
,and now1 ,i venture to assert1 that the
 exercise of private judgment1          
faithfully gone about1 does by no means 
necessarily end in selfish independence1
 isolation2 but rather ends necessarily 
in the opposite of that4 ,it is not     
honest inquiry that makes anarchy2 but  
it is error1 insincerity1 half-belief   

and untruth that make it4 ,a man        
protesting against error is on the way  
towards uniting himself with all men    
that believe in truth4 ,there is no     
communion possible among men who believe
 only in hearsays4 ,the heart of each is
 lying dead2 has no power of sympathy   
even with things1--or he would believe  
them and not hearsays4 ,no sympathy even
 with things2 how much less with his    
fellow-men6 ,he cannot unite with men2  
he is an anarchic man4 ,only in a world 
of sincere men is unity possible2--and  
there1 in the longrun1 it is as good as 
certain4  ,for observe one thing1 a     
thing too often left out of view1 or    
rather altogether lost sight of1 in this
 controversy3 ,that it is not necessary 
a man should himself have discovered the
 truth he is to believe in1 and never so
 sincerely to believe in4 ,a ,great     
,man1 we said1 was always sincere1 as   
the first condition of him4 ,but a man  
need not be great in order to be        
sincere2 that is not the necessity of   

,nature and all ,time1 but only of      
certain corrupt unfortunate epochs of   
,time4 ,a man can believe1 and make his 
own1 in the most genuine way1 what he   
has received from another2--and with    
boundless gratitude to that other6 ,the 
merit of originality is not novelty2 it 
is sincerity4 ,the believing man is the 
original man2 whatsoever he believes1 he
 believes it for himself1 not for       
another4 ,every son of ,adam can become 
a sincere man1 an original man1 in this 
sense2 no mortal is doomed to be an     
insincere man4 ,whole ages1 what we call
 ages of ,faith1 are original2 all men  
in them1 or the most of men in them1    
sincere4 ,these are the great and       
fruitful ages3 every worker1 in all     
spheres1 is a worker not on semblance   
but on substance2 every work issues in a
 result3 the general sum of such work is
 great2 for all of it1 as genuine1 tends
 towards one goal2 all of it is         
additive1 none of it subtractive4 ,there
 is true union1 true kingship1 loyalty1 

all true and blessed things1 so far as  
the poor ,earth can produce blessedness 
for men4  ,hero-worship8 ,ah me1 that a 
man be self-subsistent1 original1 true1 
or what we call it1 is surely the       
farthest in the world from indisposing  
him to reverence and believe other men's
 truth6 ,it only disposes1 necessitates 
and invincibly compels him to disbelieve
 other men's dead formulas1 hearsays and
 untruths4 ,a man embraces truth with   
his eyes open1 and because his eyes are 
open3 does he need to shut them before  
he can love his ,teacher of truth8 ,he  
alone can love1 with a right gratitude  
and genuine loyalty of soul1 the        
,hero-,teacher who has delivered him out
 of darkness into light4 ,is not such a 
one a true ,hero and ,serpent-queller2  
worthy of all reverence6 ,the black     
monster1 ,falsehood1 our one enemy in   
this world1 lies prostrate by his       
valour2 it was he that conquered the    
world for us6--,see1 accordingly1 was   
not ,luther himself reverenced as a true

 ,pope1 or ,spiritual ,father1 being    
verily such8 ,napoleon1 from amid       
boundless revolt of ,sansculottism1     
became a ,king4 ,hero-worship never     
dies1 nor can die4 ,loyalty and         
,sovereignty are everlasting in the     
world3--and there is this in them1 that 
they are grounded not on garnitures and 
semblances1 but on realities and        
sincerities4 ,not by shutting your eyes1
 your 'private judgment2' no1 but by    
opening them1 and by having something to
 see6 ,luther's message was deposition  
and abolition to all false ,popes and   
,potentates1 but life and strength1     
though afar off1 to new genuine ones4   
,all this of ,liberty and ,equality1    
,electoral suffrages1 ,independence and 
so forth1 we will take1 therefore1 to be
 a temporary phenomenon1 by no means a  
final one4 ,though likely to last a long
 time1 with sad enough embroilments for 
us all1 we must welcome it1 as the      
penalty of sins that are past1 the      
pledge of inestimable benefits that are 

coming4 ,in all ways1 it behoved men to 
quit simulacra and return to fact2 cost 
what it might1 that did behove to be    
done4 ,with spurious ,popes1 and        
,believers having no private            
judgment1--quacks pretending to command 
over dupes1--what can you do8 ,misery   
and mischief only4 ,you cannot make an  
association out of insincere men2 you   
cannot build an edifice except by       
plummet and level1--at right-angles to  
one another6 ,in all this wild          
revolutionary work1 from ,protestantism 
downwards1 ,i see the blessedest result 
preparing itself3 not abolition of      
,hero-worship1 but rather what ,i would 
call a whole ,world of ,heroes4 ,if     
,hero mean sincere man1 why may not     
every one of us be a ,hero8 ,a world all
 sincere1 a believing world3 the like   
has been2 the like will again           
be1--cannot help being4 ,that were the  
right sort of ,worshippers for ,heroes3 
never could the truly ,better be so     
reverenced as where all were ,true and  

,good6--,but we must hasten to ,luther  
and his ,life4         99       99      
99       99       99  ,luther's         
birthplace was ,eisleben in ,saxony2 he 
came into the world there on the #ajth  
of ,november #adhc4 ,it was an accident 
that gave this honour to ,eisleben4 ,his
 parents1 poor mine-labourers in a      
village of that region1 named ,mohra1   
had gone to the ,eisleben ,winter-,fair3
 in the tumult of this scene the ,frau  
,luther was taken with travail1 found   
refuge in some poor house there1 and the
 boy she bore was named ,,martin        
,,luther4 ,strange enough to reflect    
upon it4 ,this poor ,frau ,luther1 she  
had gone with her husband to make her   
small merchandisings2 perhaps to sell   
the lock of yarn she had been spinning1 
to buy the small winter-necessaries for 
her narrow hut or household2 in the     
whole world1 that day1 there was not a  
more entirely unimportant-looking pair  
of people than this ,miner and his      
,wife4 ,and yet what were all ,emperors1

 ,popes and ,potentates1 in comparison8 
,there was born here1 once more1 a      
,mighty ,man2 whose light was to flame  
as the beacon over long centuries and   
epochs of the world2 the whole world and
 its history was waiting for this man4  
,it is strange1 it is great4 ,it leads  
us back to another ,birth-hour1 in a    
still meaner environment1 ,eighteen     
,hundred years ago1--of which it is fit 
that we say nothing1 that we think only 
in silence2 for what words are there6   
,the ,age of ,miracles past8 ,the ,age  
of ,miracles is forever here6--  ,i find
 it altogether suitable to ,luther's    
function in this ,earth1 and doubtless  
wisely ordered to that end by the       
,providence presiding over him and us   
and all things1 that he was born poor1  
and brought-up poor1 one of the poorest 
of men4 ,he had to beg1 as the          
schoolchildren in those times did2      
singing for alms and bread1 from door to
 door4 ,hardship1 rigorous ,necessity   
was the poor boy's companion2 no man nor

 no thing would put-on a false face to  
flatter ,martin ,luther4 ,among things1 
not among the shows of things1 had he to
 grow4 ,a boy of rude figure1 yet with  
weak health1 with his large greedy soul1
 full of all faculty and sensibility1 he
 suffered greatly4 ,but it was his task 
to get acquainted with realities1 and   
keep acquainted with them1 at whatever  
cost3 his task was to bring the whole   
world back to reality1 for it had dwelt 
too long with semblance6 ,a youth       
nursed-up in wintry whirlwinds1 in      
desolate darkness and difficulty1 that  
he may step-forth at last from his      
stormy ,scandinavia1 strong as a true   
man1 as a god3 a ,christian ,odin1--a   
right ,thor once more1 with his         
thunder-hammer1 to smite asunder ugly   
enough ,jtuns and ,giant-monsters6      
,perhaps the turning incident of his    
life1 we may fancy1 was that death of   
his friend ,alexis1 by lightning1 at the
 gate of ,erfurt4 ,luther had           
struggled-up through boyhood1 better and

 worse2 displaying1 in spite of all     
hindrances1 the largest intellect1 eager
 to learn3 his father judging doubtless 
that he might promote himself in the    
world1 set him upon the study of ,law4  
,this was the path to rise2 ,luther1    
with little will in it either way1 had  
consented3 he was now nineteen years of 
age4 ,alexis and he had been to see the 
old ,luther people at ,mansfeldt2 were  
got back again near ,erfurt1 when a     
thunderstorm came on2 the bolt struck   
,alexis1 he fell dead at ,luther's feet4
 ,what is this ,life of ours8--gone in a
 moment1 burnt-up like a scroll1 into   
the blank ,eternity6 ,what are all      
earthly preferments1 ,chancellorships1  
,kingships8 ,they lie shrunk            
together--there6 ,the ,earth has opened 
on them2 in a moment they are not1 and  
,eternity is4 ,luther1 struck to the    
heart1 determined to devote himself to  
,god and ,god's service alone4 ,in spite
 of all dissuasions from his father and 
others1 he became a ,monk in the        

,augustine ,convent at ,erfurt4  ,this  
was probably the first light-point in   
the history of ,luther1 his purer will  
now first decisively uttering itself2   
but1 for the present1 it was still as   
one light-point in an element all of    
darkness4 ,he says he was a pious monk1 
ich bin ein frommer ,mnch gewesen2      
faithfully1 painfully struggling to     
work-out the truth of this high act of  
his2 but it was to little purpose4 ,his 
misery had not lessened2 had rather1 as 
it were1 increased into infinitude4 ,the
 drudgeries he had to do1 as novice in  
his ,convent1 all sorts of slave-work1  
were not his grievance3 the deep earnest
 soul of the man had fallen into all    
manner of black scruples1 dubitations2  
he believed himself likely to die soon1 
and far worse than die4 ,one hears with 
a new interest for poor ,luther that1 at
 this time1 he lived in terror of the   
unspeakable misery2 fancied that he was 
doomed to eternal reprobation4 ,was it  
not the humble sincere nature of the    

man8 ,what was he1 that he should be    
raised to ,heaven6 ,he that had known   
only misery1 and mean slavery3 the news 
was too blessed to be credible4 ,it     
could not become clear to him how1 by   
fasts1 vigils1 formalities and          
mass-work1 a man's soul could be saved4 
,he fell into the blackest wretchedness2
 had to wander staggering as on the     
verge of bottomless ,despair4  ,it must 
have been a most blessed discovery1 that
 of an old ,latin ,bible which he found 
in the ,erfurt ,library about this time4
 ,he had never seen the ,book before4   
,it taught him another lesson than that 
of fasts and vigils4 ,a brother monk    
too1 of pious experience1 was helpful4  
,luther learned now that a man was saved
 not by singing masses1 but by the      
infinite grace of ,god3 a more credible 
hypothesis4 ,he gradually got himself   
founded1 as on the rock4 ,no wonder he  
should venerate the ,bible1 which had   
brought this blessed help to him4 ,he   
prized it as the ,word of the ,highest  

must be prized by such a man4 ,he       
determined to hold by that2 as through  
life and to death he firmly did4  ,this1
 then1 is his deliverance from darkness1
 his final triumph over darkness1 what  
we call his conversion2 for himself the 
most important of all epochs4 ,that he  
should now grow daily in peace and      
clearness2 that1 unfolding now the great
 talents and virtues implanted in him1  
he should rise to importance in his     
,convent1 in his country1 and be found  
more and more useful in all honest      
business of life1 is a natural result4  
,he was sent on missions by his         
,augustine ,order1 as a man of talent   
and fidelity fit to do their business   
well3 the ,elector of ,saxony1          
,friedrich1 named the ,wise1 a truly    
wise and just prince1 had cast his eye  
on him as a valuable person2 made him   
,professor in his new ,university of    
,wittenberg1 ,preacher too at           
,wittenberg2 in both which capacities1  
as in all duties he did1 this ,luther1  

in the peaceable sphere of common life1 
was gaining more and more esteem with   
all good men4  ,it was in his           
twenty-seventh year that he first saw   
,rome2 being sent thither1 as ,i said1  
on mission from his ,convent4 ,pope     
,julius the ,second1 and what was       
going-on at ,rome1 must have filled the 
mind of ,luther with amazement4 ,he had 
come as to the ,sacred ,city1 throne of 
,god's ,highpriest on ,earth2 and he    
found it--what we know6 ,many thoughts  
it must have given the man2 many which  
we have no record of1 which perhaps he  
did not himself know how to utter4 ,this
 ,rome1 this scene of false priests1    
clothed not in the beauty of holiness1  
but in far other vesture1 is false3 but 
what is it to ,luther8 ,a mean man he1  
how shall he reform a world8 ,that was  
far from his thoughts4 ,a humble1       
solitary man1 why should he at all      
meddle with the world8 ,it was the task 
of quite higher men than he4 ,his       
business was to guide his own footsteps 

wisely through the world4 ,let him do   
his own obscure duty in it well2 the    
rest1 horrible and dismal as it looks1  
is in ,god's hand1 not in his4  ,it is  
curious to reflect what might have been 
the issue1 had ,roman ,popery happened  
to pass this ,luther by2 to go on in its
 great wasteful orbit1 and not come     
athwart his little path1 and force him  
to assault it6 ,conceivable enough that1
 in this case1 he might have held his   
peace about the abuses of ,rome2 left   
,providence1 and ,god on high1 to deal  
with them6 ,a modest quiet man2 not     
prompt he to attack irreverently persons
 in authority4 ,his clear task1 as ,i   
say1 was to do his own duty2 to walk    
wisely in this world of confused        
wickedness1 and save his own soul alive4
 ,but the ,roman ,highpriesthood did    
come athwart him3 afar off at           
,wittenberg he1 ,luther1 could not get  
lived in honesty for it2 he             
remonstrated1 resisted1 came to         
extremity2 was struck-at1 struck again1 

and so it came to wager of battle       
between them6 ,this is worth attending  
to in ,luther's history4 ,perhaps no man
 of so humble1 peaceable a disposition  
ever filled the world with contention4  
,we cannot but see that he would have   
loved privacy1 quiet diligence in the   
shade2 that it was against his will he  
ever became a notoriety4 ,notoriety3    
what would that do for him8 ,the goal of
 his march through this world was the   
,infinite ,heaven2 an indubitable goal  
for him3 in a few years1 he should      
either have attained that1 or lost it   
forever6 ,we will say nothing at all1 ,i
 think1 of that sorrowfulest of         
theories1 of its being some mean        
shopkeeper grudge1 of the ,augustine    
,monk against the ,dominican1 that first
 kindled the wrath of ,luther1 and      
produced the ,protestant ,reformation4  
,we will say to the people who maintain 
it1 if indeed any such exist now3 ,get  
first into the sphere of thought by     
which it is so much as possible to judge

 of ,luther1 or of any man like ,luther1
 otherwise than distractedly2 we may    
then begin arguing with you4  ,the ,monk
 ,tetzel1 sent out carelessly in the way
 of trade1 by ,leo ,tenth1--who merely  
wanted to raise a little money1 and for 
the rest seems to have been a ,pagan    
rather than a ,christian1 so far as he  
was anything1--arrived at ,wittenberg1  
and drove his scandalous trade there4   
,luther's flock bought ,indulgences3 in 
the confessional of his ,church1 people 
pleaded to him that they had already got
 their sins pardoned4 ,luther1 if he    
would not be found wanting at his own   
post1 a false sluggard and coward at the
 very centre of the little space of     
ground that was his own and no other    
man's1 had to step-forth against        
,indulgences1 and declare aloud that    
they were a futility and sorrowful      
mockery1 that no man's sins could be    
pardoned by them4 ,it was the beginning 
of the whole ,reformation4 ,we know how 
it went2 forward from this first public 

challenge of ,tetzel1 on the last day of
 ,october #aeag1 through remonstrance   
and argument2--spreading ever wider1    
rising ever higher2 till it became      
unquenchable1 and enveloped all the     
world4 ,luther's heart's-desire was to  
have this grief and other griefs        
amended2 his thought was still far other
 than that of introducing separation in 
the ,church1 or revolting against the   
,pope1 ,father of ,christendom4--,the   
elegant ,pagan ,pope cared little about 
this ,monk and his doctrines2 wished1   
however1 to have done with the noise of 
him3 in a space of some three years1    
having tried various softer methods1 he 
thought good to end it by fire4 ,he     
dooms the ,monk's writings to be burnt  
by the hangman1 and his body to be sent 
bound to ,rome1--probably for a similar 
purpose4 ,it was the way they had ended 
with ,huss1 with ,jerome1 the century   
before4 ,a short argument1 fire4 ,poor  
,huss3 he came to that ,constance       
,council1 with all imaginable promises  

and safe-conducts2 an earnest1 not      
rebellious kind of man3 they laid him   
instantly in a stone dungeon 'three-feet
 wide1 six-feet high1 seven-feet long2' 
burnt the true voice of him out of this 
world2 choked it in smoke and fire4     
,that was not well done6  ,i1 for one1  
pardon ,luther for now altogether       
revolting against the ,pope4 ,the       
elegant ,pagan1 by this fire-decree of  
his1 had kindled into noble just wrath  
the bravest heart then living in this   
world4 ,the bravest1 if also one of the 
humblest1 peaceablest2 it was now       
kindled4 ,these words of mine1 words of 
truth and soberness1 aiming faithfully1 
as human inability would allow1 to      
promote ,god's truth on ,earth1 and save
 men's souls1 you1 ,god's vicegerent on 
earth1 answer them by the hangman and   
fire8 ,you will burn me and them1 for   
answer to the ,god's-message they strove
 to bring you8 ,you are not ,god's      
vicegerent2 you are another's than his1 
,i think ,i take your ,bull1 as an      

emparchmented ,lie1 and burn it4 ,you   
will do what you see good next3 this is 
what ,i do4--,it was on the #ajth of    
,december #aebj1 three years after the  
beginning of the business1 that ,luther1
 'with a great concourse of people1'    
took this indignant step of burning the 
,pope's fire-decree 'at the             
,elster-,gate of ,wittenberg4'          
,wittenberg looked on 'with shoutings2' 
the whole world was looking on4 ,the    
,pope should not have provoked that     
'shout'6 ,it was the shout of the       
awakening of nations4 ,the quiet ,german
 heart1 modest1 patient of much1 had at 
length got more than it could bear4     
,formulism1 ,pagan ,popeism1 and other  
,falsehood and corrupt ,semblance had   
ruled long enough3 and here once more   
was a man found who durst tell all men  
that ,god's world stood not on          
semblances but on realities2 that ,life 
was a truth1 and not a lie6  ,at bottom1
 as was said above1 we are to consider  
,luther as a ,prophet ,idol-breaker2 a  

bringer-back of men to reality4 ,it is  
the function of great men and teachers4 
,mahomet said1 ,these idols of yours are
 wood2 you put wax and oil on them1 the 
flies stick on them3 they are not ,god1 
,i tell you1 they are black wood6       
,luther said to the ,pope1 ,this thing  
of yours that you call a ,pardon of     
,sins1 it is a bit of rag-paper with    
ink4 ,it is nothing else2 it1 and so    
much like it1 is nothing else4 ,god     
alone can pardon sins4 ,popeship1       
spiritual ,fatherhood of ,god's ,church1
 is that a vain semblance1 of cloth and 
parchment8 ,it is an awful fact4 ,god's 
,church is not a semblance1 ,heaven and 
,hell are not semblances4 ,i stand on   
this1 since you drive me to it4         
,standing on this1 ,i a poor ,german    
monk am stronger than you all4 ,i stand 
solitary1 friendless1 but on ,god's     
,truth2 you with your tiaras1           
triple-hats1 with your treasuries and   
armories1 thunders spiritual and        
temporal1 stand on the ,devil's ,lie1   

and are not so strong6--  ,the ,diet of 
,worms1 ,luther's appearance there on   
the #agth of ,april #aeba1 may be       
considered as the greatest scene in     
,modern ,european ,history2 the point1  
indeed1 from which the whole subsequent 
history of civilisation takes its rise4 
,after multiplied negotiations1         
disputations1 it had come to this4 ,the 
young ,emperor ,charles ,fifth1 with all
 the ,princes of ,germany1 ,papal       
nuncios1 dignitaries spiritual and      
temporal1 are assembled there3 ,luther  
is to appear and answer for himself1    
whether he will recant or not4 ,the     
world's pomp and power sits there on    
this hand3 on that1 stands-up for ,god's
 ,truth1 one man1 the poor miner ,hans  
,luther's ,son4 ,friends had reminded   
him of ,huss1 advised him not to go2 he 
would not be advised4 ,a large company  
of friends rode-out to meet him1 with   
still more earnest warnings2 he         
answered1 ,were there as many ,devils in
 ,worms as there are roof-tiles1 ,i     

would on4 ,the people1 on the morrow1 as
 he went to the ,hall of the ,diet1     
crowded the windows and housetops1 some 
of them calling out to him1 in solemn   
words1 not to recant3 ,whosoever denieth
 me before men6 they cried to him1--as  
in a kind of solemn petition and        
adjuration4 ,was it not in reality our  
petition too1 the petition of the whole 
world1 lying in dark bondage of soul1   
paralysed under a black spectral        
,nightmare and triple-hatted ,chimera1  
calling itself ,father in ,god1 and what
 not3 ,free us2 it rests with thee2     
desert us not6  ,luther did not desert  
us4 ,his speech1 of two hours1          
distinguished itself by its respectful1 
wise and honest tone2 submissive to     
whatsoever could lawfully claim         
submission1 not submissive to any more  
than that4 ,his writings1 he said1 were 
partly his own1 partly derived from the 
,word of ,god4 ,as to what was his own1 
human infirmity entered into it2        
unguarded anger1 blindness1 many things 

doubtless which it were a blessing for  
him could he abolish altogether4 ,but as
 to what stood on sound truth and the   
,word of ,god1 he could not recant it4  
,how could he8 ,confute me1 he          
concluded1 by proofs of ,scripture1 or  
else by plain just arguments3 ,i cannot 
recant otherwise4 ,for it is neither    
safe nor prudent to do ought against    
conscience4 ,here stand ,i2 ,i can do no
 other3 ,god assist me6--,it is1 as we  
say1 the greatest moment in the ,modern 
,history of ,men4 ,english ,puritanism1 
,england and its ,parliaments1          
,americas1 and vast work these two      
centuries2 ,french ,revolution1 ,europe 
and its work everywhere at present3 the 
germ of it all lay there3 had ,luther in
 that moment done other1 it had all been
 otherwise6 ,the ,european ,world was   
asking him3 ,am ,i to sink ever lower   
into falsehood1 stagnant putrescence1   
loathsome accursed death2 or1 with      
whatever paroxysm1 to cast the          
falsehoods out of me1 and be cured and  

live8--         99       99       99    
99       99  ,great wars1 contentions   
and disunion followed out of this       
,reformation2 which last down to our    
day1 and are yet far from ended4 ,great 
talk and crimination has been made about
 these4 ,they are lamentable1           
undeniable2 but after all what has      
,luther or his cause to do with them8   
,it seems strange reasoning to charge   
the ,reformation with all this4 ,when   
,hercules turned the purifying river    
into ,king ,augeas's stables1 ,i have no
 doubt the confusion that resulted was  
considerable all around3 but ,i think it
 was not ,hercules's blame2 it was some 
other's blame6 ,the ,reformation might  
bring what results it liked when it     
came1 but the ,reformation simply could 
not help coming4 ,to all ,popes and     
,popes' advocates1 expostulating1       
lamenting and accusing1 the answer of   
the world is3 ,once for all1 your       
,popehood has become untrue4 ,no matter 
how good it was1 how good you say it is1

 we cannot believe it2 the light of our 
whole mind1 given us to walk-by from    
,heaven above1 finds it henceforth a    
thing unbelievable4 ,we will not believe
 it1 we will not try to believe it1--we 
dare not6 ,the thing is untrue2 we were 
traitors against the ,giver of all      
,truth1 if we durst pretend to think it 
true4 ,away with it2 let whatsoever     
likes come in the place of it3 with it  
we can have no farther trade6--,luther  
and his ,protestantism is not           
responsible for wars2 the false         
,simulacra that forced him to protest1  
they are responsible4 ,luther did what  
every man that ,god has made has not    
only the right1 but lies under the      
sacred duty1 to do3 answered a          
,falsehood when it questioned him1 ,dost
 thou believe me8--,no6--,at what cost  
soever1 without counting of costs1 this 
thing behoved to be done4 ,union1       
organisation spiritual and material1 a  
far nobler than1 any ,popedom or        
,feudalism in their truest days1 ,i     

never doubt1 is coming for the world2   
sure to come4 ,but on ,fact alone1 not  
on ,semblance and ,simulacrum1 will it  
be able either to come1 or to stand when
 come4 ,with union grounded on          
falsehood1 and ordering us to speak and 
act lies1 we will not have anything to  
do4 ,peace8 ,a brutal lethargy is       
peaceable1 the noisome grave is         
peaceable4 ,we hope for a living peace1 
not a dead one6  ,and yet1 in prizing   
justly the indispensable blessings of   
the ,new1 let us not be unjust to the   
,old4 ,the ,old was true1 if it no      
longer is4 ,in ,dante's days it needed  
no sophistry1 self-blinding1 or other   
dishonesty1 to get itself reckoned true4
 ,it was good then2 nay there is in the 
soul of it a deathless good4 ,the cry of
 ',no ,popery' is foolish enough in     
these days4 ,the speculation that       
,popery is on the increase1 building new
 chapels and so forth1 may pass for one 
of the idlest ever started4 ,very       
curious3 to count-up a few ,popish      

chapels1 listen to a few ,protestant    
logic-choppings1--to much dull-droning1 
drowsy inanity that still calls itself  
,protestant1 and say3 ,see1             
,protestantism is dead2 ,popeism is more
 alive than it1 will be alive after     
it6--,drowsy inanities1 not a few1 that 
call themselves ,protestant are dead2   
but ,protestantism has not died yet1    
that ,i hear of6 ,protestantism1 if we  
will look1 has in these days produced   
its ,goethe1 its ,napoleon2 ,german     
,literature and the ,french ,revolution2
 rather considerable signs of life6     
,nay1 at bottom1 what else is alive but 
,protestantism8 ,the life of most else  
that one meets is a galvanic one        
merely1--not a pleasant1 not a lasting  
sort of life6  ,popery can build new    
chapels2 welcome to do so1 to all       
lengths4 ,popery cannot come back1 any  
more than ,paganism can1--which also    
still lingers in some countries4 ,but1  
indeed1 it is with these things1 as with
 the ebbing of the sea3 you look at the 

waves oscillating hither1 thither on the
 beach2 for minutes you cannot tell how 
it is going2 look in half an hour where 
it is1--look in half a century where    
your ,popehood is6 ,alas1 would there   
were no greater danger to our ,europe   
than the poor old ,pope's revival6 ,thor
 may as soon try to revive4--,and withal
 this oscillation has a meaning4 ,the   
poor old ,popehood will not die away    
entirely1 as ,thor has done1 for some   
time yet2 nor ought it4 ,we may say1 the
 ,old never dies till this happen1 ,till
 all the soul of good that was in it    
have got itself transfused into the     
practical ,new4 ,while a good work      
remains capable of being done by the    
,romish form2 or1 what is inclusive of  
all1 while a pious life remains capable 
of being led by it1 just so long1 if we 
consider1 will this or the other human  
soul adopt it1 go about as a living     
witness of it4 ,so long it will obtrude 
itself on the eye of us who reject it1  
till we in our practice too have        

appropriated whatsoever of truth was in 
it4 ,then1 but also not till then1 it   
will have no charm more for any man4 ,it
 lasts here for a purpose4 ,let it last 
as long as it can4--         99       99
       99       99       99  ,of ,luther
 ,i will add now1 in reference to all   
these wars and bloodshed1 the noticeable
 fact that none of them began so long as
 he continued living4 ,the controversy  
did not get to fighting so long as he   
was there4 ,to me it is proof of his    
greatness in all senses1 this fact4 ,how
 seldom do we find a man that has       
stirred-up some vast commotion1 who does
 not himself perish1 swept-away in it6  
,such is the usual course of            
revolutionists4 ,luther continued1 in a 
good degree1 sovereign of this greatest 
revolution2 all ,protestants1 of what   
rank or function soever1 looking much to
 him for guidance3 and he held it       
peaceable1 continued firm at the centre 
of it4 ,a man to do this must have a    
kingly faculty3 he must have the gift to

 discern at all turns where the true    
heart of the matter lies1 and to plant  
himself courageously on that1 as a      
strong true man1 that other true men may
 rally round him there4 ,he will not    
continue leader of men otherwise4       
,luther's clear deep force of judgment1 
his force of all sorts1 of silence1 of  
tolerance and moderation1 among others1 
are very notable in these circumstances4
  ,tolerance1 ,i say2 a very genuine    
kind of tolerance3 he distinguishes what
 is essential1 and what is not2 the     
unessential may go very much as it will4
 ,a complaint comes to him that such and
 such a ,reformed ,preacher1 'will not  
preach without a cassock4' ,well1       
answers ,luther1 what harm will a       
cassock do the man8 ',let him have a    
cassock to preach in2 let him have three
 cassocks if he find benefit in them6'  
,his conduct in the matter of           
,karlstadt's wild image-breaking2 of the
 ,anabaptists2 of the ,peasants' ,war1  
shows a noble strength1 very different  

from spasmodic violence4 ,with sure     
prompt insight he discriminates what is 
what3 a strong just man1 he speaks-forth
 what is the wise course1 and all men   
follow him in that4 ,luther's ,written  
,works give similar testimony of him4   
,the dialect of these speculations is   
now grown obsolete for us2 but one still
 reads them with a singular attraction4 
,and indeed the mere grammatical diction
 is still legible enough2 ,luther's     
merit in literary history is of the     
greatest2 his dialect became the        
language of all writing4 ,they are not  
well written1 these ,four-and-twenty    
,quartos of his2 written hastily1 with  
quite other than literary objects4 ,but 
in no ,books have ,i found a more       
robust1 genuine1 ,i will say noble      
faculty of a man than in these4 ,a      
rugged honesty1 homeliness1 simplicity2 
a rugged sterling sense and strength4   
,he flashes-out illumination from him2  
his smiting idiomatic phrases seem to   
cleave into the very secret of the      

matter4 ,good humour too1 nay tender    
affection1 nobleness1 and depth3 this   
man could have been a ,poet too6 ,he had
 to work an ,epic ,poem1 not write one4 
,i call him a great ,thinker2 as indeed 
his greatness of heart already betokens 
that4  ,richter says of ,luther's words1
 'his words are half-battles4' ,they may
 be called so4 ,the essential quality of
 him was1 that he could fight and       
conquer2 that he was a right piece of   
human ,valour4 ,no more valiant man1 no 
mortal heart to be called braver1 that  
one has record of1 ever lived in that   
,teutonic ,kindred1 whose character is  
valour4 ,his defiance of the ',devils'  
in ,worms was not a mere boast1 as the  
like might be if now spoken4 ,it was a  
faith of ,luther's that there were      
,devils1 spiritual denizens of the ,pit1
 continually besetting men4 ,many times1
 in his writings1 this turns-up2 and a  
most small sneer has been grounded on it
 by some4 ,in the room of the ,wartburg 
where he sat translating the ,bible1    

they still show you a black spot on the 
wall2 the strange memorial of one of    
these conflicts4 ,luther sat translating
 one of the ,psalms2 he was worn-down   
with long labour1 with sickness1        
abstinence from food3 there rose before 
him some hideous indefinable ,image1    
which he took for the ,evil ,one1 to    
forbid his work3 ,luther started-up1    
with fiend-defiance2 flung his inkstand 
at the spectre1 and it disappeared6 ,the
 spot still remains there2 a curious    
monument of several things4 ,any        
apothecary's apprentice can now tell us 
what we are to think of this apparition1
 in a scientific sense3 but the man's   
heart that dare rise defiant1 face to   
face1 against ,hell itself1 can give no 
higher proof of fearlessness4 ,the thing
 he will quail before exists not on this
 ,earth or under it4--,fearless enough6 
',the ,devil is aware1' writes he on one
 occasion1 'that this does not proceed  
out of fear in me4 ,i have seen and     
defied innumerable ,devils4 ,duke       

,george1' of ,leipzig1 a great enemy of 
his1 ',duke ,george is not equal to one 
,devil1'--far short of a ,devil6 ',if ,i
 had business at ,leipzig1 ,i would ride
 into ,leipzig1 though it rained        
,duke-,georges for nine days running4'  
,what a reservoir of ,dukes to ride     
into6--  ,at the same time1 they err    
greatly who imagine that this man's     
courage was ferocity1 mere coarse       
disobedient obstinacy and savagery1 as  
many do4 ,far from that4 ,there may be  
an absence of fear which arises from the
 absence of thought or affection1 from  
the presence of hatred and stupid fury4 
,we do not value the courage of the     
tiger highly6 ,with ,luther it was far  
otherwise2 no accusation could be more  
unjust than this of mere ferocious      
violence brought against him4 ,a most   
gentle heart withal1 full of pity and   
love1 as indeed the truly valiant heart 
ever is4 ,the tiger before a stronger   
foe--flies3 the tiger is not what we    
call valiant1 only fierce and cruel4 ,i 

know few things more touching than those
 soft breathings of affection1 soft as a
 child's or a mother's1 in this great   
wild heart of ,luther4 ,so honest1      
unadulterated with any cant2 homely1    
rude in their utterance2 pure as water  
welling from the rock4 ,what1 in fact1  
was all that downpressed mood of despair
 and reprobation1 which we saw in his   
youth1 but the outcome of pre-eminent   
thoughtful gentleness1 affections too   
keen and fine8 ,it is the course such   
men as the poor ,poet ,cowper fall into4
 ,luther to a slight observer might have
 seemed a timid1 weak man2 modesty1     
affectionate shrinking tenderness the   
chief distinction of him4 ,it is a noble
 valour which is roused in a heart like 
this1 once stirred-up into defiance1 all
 kindled into a heavenly blaze4  ,in    
,luther's ,table-,talk1 a posthumous    
,book of anecdotes and sayings collected
 by his friends1 the most interesting   
now of all the ,books proceeding from   
him1 we have many beautiful unconscious 

displays of the man1 and what sort of   
nature he had4 ,his behaviour at the    
deathbed of his little ,daughter1 so    
still1 so great and loving1 is among the
 most affecting things4 ,he is resigned 
that his little ,magdalene should die1  
yet longs inexpressibly that she might  
live2--follows1 in awe-struck thought1  
the flight of her little soul through   
those unknown realms4 ,awe-struck2 most 
heartfelt1 we can see2 and sincere1--for
 after all dogmatic creeds and articles1
 he feels what nothing it is that we    
know1 or can know3 ,his little          
,magdalene shall be with ,god1 as ,god  
wills2 for ,luther too that is all2     
,islam is all4  ,once1 he looks-out from
 his solitary ,patmos1 the ,castle of   
,coburg1 in the middle of the night3    
,the great vault of ,immensity1 long    
flights of clouds sailing through       
it1--dumb1 gaunt1 huge3--who supports   
all that8 ,none ever saw the pillars of 
it2 yet it is supported4 ,god supports  
it4 ,we must know that ,god is great1   

that ,god is good2 and trust1 where we  
cannot see4--,returning home from       
,leipzig once1 he is struck by the      
beauty of the harvest-fields3 ,how it   
stands1 that golden yellow corn1 on its 
fair taper stem1 its golden head bent1  
all rich and waving there1--the meek    
,earth1 at ,god's kind bidding1 has     
produced it once again2 the bread of    
man6--,in the garden at ,wittenburg one 
evening at sunset1 a little bird was    
perched for the night3 ,that little     
bird1 says ,luther1 above it are the    
stars and deep ,heaven of worlds2 yet it
 has folded its little wings2 gone      
trustfully to rest there as in its home3
 the ,maker of it has given it too a    
home6--,neither are mirthful turns      
wanting3 there is a great free human    
heart in this man4 ,the common speech of
 him has a rugged nobleness1 idiomatic1 
expressive1 genuine2 gleams here and    
there with beautiful poetic tints4 ,one 
feels him to be a great brother man4    
,his love of ,music1 indeed1 is not     

this1 as it were1 the summary of all    
these affections in him8 ,many a wild   
unutterability he spoke-forth from him  
in the tones of his flute4 ,the ,devils 
fled from his flute1 he says4           
,death-defiance on the one hand1 and    
such love of music on the other2 ,i     
could call these the two opposite poles 
of a great soul2 between these two all  
great things had room4  ,luther's face  
is to me expressive of him2 in          
,kranach's best portraits ,i find the   
true ,luther4 ,a rude plebeian face2    
with its huge crag-like brows and bones1
 the emblem of rugged energy2 at first1 
almost a repulsive face4 ,yet in the    
eyes especially there is a wild silent  
sorrow2 an unnamable melancholy1 the    
element of all gentle and fine          
affections2 giving to the rest the true 
stamp of nobleness4 ,laughter was in    
this ,luther1 as we said2 but tears also
 were there4 ,tears also were appointed 
him2 tears and hard toil4 ,the basis of 
his life was ,sadness1 ,earnestness4 ,in

 his latter days1 after all triumphs and
 victories1 he expresses himself        
heartily weary of living2 he considers  
that ,god alone can and will regulate   
the course things are taking1 and that  
perhaps the ,day of ,judgment is not    
far4 ,as for him1 he longs for one      
thing3 that ,god would release him from 
his labour1 and let him depart and be at
 rest4 ,they understand little of the   
man who cite this in discredit of       
him6--,i will call this ,luther a true  
,great ,man2 great in intellect1 in     
courage1 affection and integrity2 one of
 our most lovable and precious men4     
,great1 not as a hewn obelisk2 but as an
 ,alpine mountain1--so simple1 honest1  
spontaneous1 not setting-up to be great 
at all2 there for quite another purpose 
than being great6 ,ah yes1 unsubduable  
granite1 piercing far and wide into the 
,heavens2 yet in the clefts of it       
fountains1 green beautiful valleys with 
flowers6 ,a right ,spiritual ,hero and  
,prophet2 once more1 a true ,son of     

,nature and ,fact1 for whom these       
centuries1 and many that are to come    
yet1 will be thankful to ,heaven4  ,the 
most interesting phasis which the       
,reformation anywhere assumes1          
especially for us ,english1 is that of  
,puritanism4 ,in ,luther's own country  
,protestantism soon dwindled into a     
rather barren affair3 not a religion or 
faith1 but rather now a theological     
jangling of argument1 the proper seat of
 it not the heart2 the essence of it    
sceptical contention3 which indeed has  
jangled more and more1 down to          
,voltaireism itself1--through           
,gustavus-,adolphus contentions onward  
to ,french-,revolution ones6 ,but in our
 ,island there arose a ,puritanism1     
which even got itself established as a  
,presbyterianism and ,national ,church  
among the ,scotch2 which came forth as a
 real business of the heart2 and has    
produced in the world very notable      
fruit4 ,in some senses1 one may say it  
is the only phasis of ,protestantism    

that ever got to the rank of being a    
,faith1 a true heart-communication with 
,heaven1 and of exhibiting itself in    
,history as such4 ,we must spare a few  
words for ,knox2 himself a brave and    
remarkable man2 but still more important
 as ,chief ,priest and ,founder1 which  
one may consider him to be1 of the      
,faith that became ,scotland's1 ,new    
,england's1 ,oliver ,cromwell's4        
,history will have something to say     
about this1 for some time to come6  ,we 
may censure ,puritanism as we please2   
and no one of us1 ,i suppose1 but would 
find it a very rough defective thing4   
,but we1 and all men1 may understand    
that it was a genuine thing2 for ,nature
 has adopted it1 and it has grown1 and  
grows4 ,i say sometimes1 that all goes  
by wager-of-battle in this world2 that  
strength1 well understood1 is the       
measure of all worth4 ,give a thing     
time2 if it can succeed1 it is a right  
thing4 ,look now at ,american ,saxondom2
 and at that little ,fact of the sailing

 of the ,mayflower1 two hundred years   
ago1 from ,delft ,haven in ,holland6    
,were we of open sense as the ,greeks   
were1 we had found a ,poem here2 one of 
,nature's own ,poems2 such as she writes
 in broad facts over great continents4  
,for it was properly the beginning of   
,america3 there were straggling settlers
 in ,america before1 some material as of
 a body was there2 but the soul of it   
was first this4 ,these poor men1        
driven-out of their country1 not able   
well to live in ,holland1 determine on  
settling in the ,new ,world4 ,black     
untamed forests are there1 and wild     
savage creatures2 but not so cruel as   
,starchamber hangmen4 ,they thought the 
,earth would yield them food1 if they   
tilled honestly2 the everlasting heaven 
would stretch there too1 overhead2 they 
should be left in peace1 to prepare for 
,eternity by living well in this world  
of ,time2 worshipping in what they      
thought the true1 not the idolatrous    
way4 ,they clubbed their small means    

together2 hired a ship1 the little ship 
,mayflower1 and made ready to set sail4 
,in ,neal's ,history of the ,puritans#e 
is an account of the ceremony of their  
departure3 solemnity1 we might call it  
rather1 for it was a real act of        
worship4 ,their minister went down with 
them to the beach1 and their brethren   
whom they were to leave behind2 all     
joined in solemn prayer1 ,that ,god     
would have pity on ,his poor children1  
and go with them into that waste        
wilderness1 for ,he also had made that1 
,he was there also as well as           
here4--,hah6 ,these men1 ,i think1 had a
 work6 ,the weak thing1 weaker than a   
child1 becomes strong one day1 if it be 
a true thing4 ,puritanism was only      
despicable1 laughable then2 but nobody  
can manage to laugh at it now4          
,puritanism has got weapons and sinews2 
it has fire-arms1 war-navies2 it has    
cunning in its ten fingers1 strength in 
its right arm2 it can steer ships1 fell 
forests1 remove mountains2--it is one of

 the strongest things under the sun at  
present6      #e ,neal 7,london1 #agee71
 i4 #dij4  ,in the history of ,scotland1
 too1 ,i can find properly but one      
epoch3 we may say it contains nothing of
 world-interest at all but this         
,reformation by ,knox4 ,a poor barren   
country1 full of continual broils1      
dissensions1 massacrings2 a people in   
the last state of rudeness and          
destitution1 little better perhaps than 
,ireland at this day4 ,hungry fierce    
barons1 not so much as able to form any 
arrangement with each other how to      
divide what they fleeced from these poor
 drudges2 but obliged1 as the ,columbian
 ,republics are at this day1 to make of 
every alteration a revolution2 no way of
 changing a ministry but by hanging the 
old ministers on gibbets3 this is a     
historical spectacle of no very singular
 significance6 ',bravery' enough1 ,i    
doubt not2 fierce fighting in abundance3
 but not braver or fiercer than that of 
their old ,scandinavian ,sea-king       

ancestors2 whose exploits we have not   
found worth dwelling on6 ,it is a       
country as yet without a soul3 nothing  
developed in it but what is rude1       
external1 semi-animal4 ,and now at the  
,reformation1 the internal life is      
kindled1 as it were1 under the ribs of  
this outward material death4 ,a cause1  
the noblest of causes kindles itself1   
like a beacon set on high2 high as      
,heaven1 yet attainable from            
,earth2--whereby the meanest man becomes
 not a ,citizen only1 but a ,member of  
,christ's visible ,church2 a veritable  
,hero1 if he prove a true man6  ,well2  
this is what ,i mean by a whole 'nation 
of heroes2' a believing nation4 ,there  
needs not a great soul to make a hero2  
there needs a god-created soul which    
will be true to its origin2 that will be
 a great soul6 ,the like has been seen1 
we find4 ,the like will be again seen1  
under wider forms than the              
,presbyterian3 there can be no lasting  
good done till then4--,impossible6 say  

some4 ,possible8 ,has it not been1 in   
this world1 as a practised fact8 ,did   
,hero-worship fail in ,knox's case8 ,or 
are we made of other clay now8 ,did the 
,westminster ,confession of ,faith add  
some new property to the soul of man8   
,god made the soul of man4 ,he did not  
doom any soul of man to live as a       
,hypothesis and ,hearsay1 in a world    
filled with such1 and with the fatal    
work and fruit of such6----  ,but to    
return3 ,this that ,knox did for his    
,nation1 ,i say1 we may really call a   
resurrection as from death4 ,it was not 
a smooth business2 but it was welcome   
surely1 and cheap at that price1 had it 
been far rougher4 ,on the whole1 cheap  
at any price2--as life is4 ,the people  
began to live3 they needed first of all 
to do that1 at what cost and costs      
soever4 ,scotch ,literature and         
,thought1 ,scotch ,industry2 ,james     
,watt1 ,david ,hume1 ,walter ,scott1    
,robert ,burns3 ,i find ,knox and the   
,reformation acting in the heart's core 

of every one of these persons and       
phenomena2 ,i find that without the     
,reformation they would not have been4  
,or what of ,scotland8 ,the ,puritanism 
of ,scotland became that of ,england1 of
 ,new ,england4 ,a tumult in the ,high  
,church of ,edinburgh spread into a     
universal battle and struggle over all  
these realms2--there came out1 after    
fifty years' struggling1 what we call   
the ',glorious ,revolution1' a          
,habeas-,corpus ,act1 ,free             
,parliaments1 and much else6--,alas1 is 
it not too true what we said1 ,that many
 men in the van do always1 like ,russian
 soldiers1 march into the ditch of      
,schweidnitz1 and fill it up with their 
dead bodies1 that the rear may pass over
 them dry-shod and gain the honour8 ,how
 many earnest rugged ,cromwells1        
,knoxes1 poor ,peasant ,covenants1      
wrestling1 battling for very life1 in   
rough miry places1 have to struggle1 and
 suffer1 and fall1 greatly censured1    
bemired1--before a beautiful ,revolution

 of ,eighty-eight can step-over them in 
official pumps and silk-stockings1 with 
universal three-times-three6  ,it seems 
to me hard measure that this ,scottish  
man1 now after three-hundred years1     
should have to plead like a culprit     
before the world2 intrinsically for     
having been1 in such way as it was then 
possible to be1 the bravest of all      
,scotchmen6 ,had he been a poor         
,half-and-half1 he could have crouched  
into the corner1 like so many others2   
,scotland had not been delivered2 and   
,knox had been without blame4 ,he is the
 one ,scotchman to whom1 of all others1 
his country and the world owe a debt4   
,he has to plead that ,scotland would   
forgive him for having been worth to it 
any million 'unblamable' ,scotchmen that
 need no forgiveness6 ,he bared his     
breast to the battle2 had to row in     
,french galleys1 wander forlorn in      
exile1 in clouds and storms2 was        
censured1 shot-at through his windows2  
had a right sore fighting life3 if this 

world were his place of recompense1 he  
had made but a bad venture of it4 ,i    
cannot apologise for ,knox4 ,to him it  
is very indifferent1 these              
two-hundred-and-fifty years or more1    
what men say of him4 ,but we1 having got
 above all those details of his battle1 
and living now in clearness on the      
fruits of his victory1 we1 for our own  
sake1 ought to look through the rumours 
and controversies enveloping the man1   
into the man himself4  ,for one thing1  
,i will remark that this post of        
,prophet to his ,nation was not of his  
seeking2 ,knox had lived forty years    
quietly obscure1 before he became       
conspicuous4 ,he was the son of poor    
parents2 had got a college education2   
become a ,priest2 adopted the           
,reformation1 and seemed well content to
 guide his own steps by the light of it1
 nowise unduly intruding it on others4  
,he had lived as ,tutor in gentlemen's  
families2 preaching when any body of    
persons wished to hear his doctrine3    

resolute he to walk by the truth1 and   
speak the truth when called to do it2   
not ambitious of more2 not fancying     
himself capable of more4 ,in this       
entirely obscure way he had reached the 
age of forty2 was with the small body of
 ,reformers who were standing siege in  
,st ,andrew's ,castle1--when one day in 
their chapel1 the ,preacher after       
finishing his exhortation to these      
fighters in the forlorn hope1 said      
suddenly1 ,that there ought to be other 
speakers1 that all men who had a        
priest's heart and gift in them ought   
now to speak2--which gifts and heart one
 of their own number1 ,john ,knox the   
name of him1 had3 ,had he not8 said the 
,preacher1 appealing to all the         
audience3 what then is his duty8 ,the   
people answered affirmatively2 it was a 
criminal forsaking of his post1 if such 
a man held the word that was in him     
silent4 ,poor ,knox was obliged to      
stand-up2 he attempted to reply2 he     
could say no word2--burst into a flood  

of tears1 and ran out4 ,it is worth     
remembering1 that scene4 ,he was in     
grievous trouble for some days4 ,he felt
 what a small faculty was his for this  
great work4 ,he felt what a baptism he  
was called to be baptised withal4 ,he   
'burst into tears4'  ,our primary       
characteristic of a ,hero1 that he is   
sincere1 applies emphatically to ,knox4 
,it is not denied anywhere that this1   
whatever might be his other qualities or
 faults1 is among the truest of men4    
,with a singular instinct he holds to   
the truth and fact2 the truth alone is  
there for him1 the rest a mere shadow   
and deceptive nonentity4 ,however       
feeble1 forlorn the reality may seem1 on
 that and that only can he take his     
stand4 ,in the ,galleys of the ,river   
,loire1 whither ,knox and the others1   
after their ,castle of ,st ,andrew's was
 taken1 had been sent as                
,galley-slaves1--some officer or priest1
 one day1 presented them an ,image of   
the ,virgin ,mother1 requiring that     

they1 the blasphemous heretics1 should  
do it reverence4 ,mother8 ,mother of    
,god8 said ,knox1 when the turn came to 
him3 ,this is no ,mother of ,god3 this  
is 'a pented bredd1'--a piece of wood1  
,i tell you1 with paint on it6 ,she is  
fitter for swimming1 ,i think1 than for 
being worshipped1 added ,knox1 and flung
 the thing into the river4 ,it was not  
very cheap jesting there3 but come of it
 what might1 this thing to ,knox was and
 must continue nothing other than the   
real truth2 it was a pented bredd2      
worship it he would not4  ,he told his  
fellow-prisoners1 in this darkest time1 
to be of courage2 the ,cause they had   
was the true one1 and must and would    
prosper2 the whole world could not put  
it down4 ,reality is of ,god's making2  
it is alone strong4 ,how many pented    
bredds1 pretending to be real1 are      
fitter to swim than to be               
worshipped6--,this ,knox cannot live but
 by fact3 he clings to reality as the   
shipwrecked sailor to the cliff4 ,he is 

an instance to us how a man1 by         
sincerity itself1 becomes heroic3 it is 
the grand gift he has4 ,we find in ,knox
 a good honest intellectual talent1 no  
transcendent one2--a narrow1            
inconsiderable man1 as compared with    
,luther3 but in heartfelt instinctive   
adherence to truth1 in sincerity1 as we 
say1 he has no superior2 nay1 one might 
ask1 ,what equal he has8 ,the heart of  
him is of the true ,prophet cast4 ,he   
lies there1 said the ,earl of ,morton at
 his grave1 who never feared the face of
 man4 ,he resembles1 more than any of   
the moderns1 an ,old-,hebrew ,prophet4  
,the same inflexibility1 intolerance1   
rigid narrow-looking adherence to ,god's
 truth1 stern rebuke in the name of ,god
 to all that forsake truth3 an          
,old-,hebrew ,prophet in the guise of an
 ,edinburgh ,minister of the ,sixteenth 
,century4 ,we are to take him for that2 
not require him to be other4  ,knox's   
conduct to ,queen ,mary1 the harsh      
visits he used to make in her own       

palace1 to reprove her there1 have been 
much commented upon4 ,such cruelty1 such
 coarseness fills us with indignation4  
,on reading the actual narrative of the 
business1 what ,knox said1 and what     
,knox meant1 ,i must say one's tragic   
feeling is rather disappointed4 ,they   
are not so coarse1 these speeches2 they 
seem to me about as fine as the         
circumstances would permit6 ,knox was   
not there to do the courtier2 he came on
 another errand4 ,whoever1 reading these
 colloquies of his with the ,queen1     
thinks they are vulgar insolences of a  
plebeian priest to a delicate high lady1
 mistakes the purport and essence of    
them altogether4 ,it was unfortunately  
not possible to be polite with the      
,queen of ,scotland1 unless one proved  
untrue to the ,nation and ,cause of     
,scotland4 ,a man who did not wish to   
see the land of his birth made a        
hunting-field for intriguing ambitious  
,guises1 and the ,cause of ,god trampled
 underfoot of ,falsehoods1 ,formulas and

 the ,devil's ,cause1 had no method of  
making himself agreeable6 ,better that  
women weep1 said ,morton1 than that     
bearded men be forced to weep4 ,knox was
 the constitutional opposition-party in 
,scotland3 the ,nobles of the country1  
called by their station to take that    
post1 were not found in it2 ,knox had to
 go or no one4 ,the hapless ,queen2--but
 the still more hapless ,country1 if she
 were made happy6 ,mary herself was not 
without sharpness enough1 among her     
other qualities3 ,who are you1 said she 
once1 that presume to school the nobles 
and sovereign of this realm8--,madam1 a 
subject born within the same1 answered  
he4 ,reasonably answered6 ,if the       
'subject' have truth to speak1 it is not
 the 'subject's' footing that will fail 
him here4--  ,we blame ,knox for his    
intolerance4 ,well1 surely it is good   
that each of us be as tolerant as       
possible4 ,yet1 at bottom1 after all the
 talk there is and has been about it1   
what is tolerance8 ,tolerance has to    

tolerate the unessential2 and to see    
well what that is4 ,tolerance has to be 
noble1 measured1 just in its very wrath1
 when it can tolerate no longer4 ,but1  
on the whole1 we are not altogether here
 to tolerate6 ,we are here to resist1 to
 control and vanquish withal4 ,we do not
 'tolerate' ,falsehoods1 ,thieveries1   
,iniquities1 when they fasten on us2 we 
say to them1 ,thou art false1 thou art  
not tolerable6 ,we are here to          
extinguish ,falsehoods1 and put an end  
to them1 in some wise way6 ,i will not  
quarrel so much with the way2 the doing 
of the thing is our great concern4 ,in  
this sense ,knox was1 full surely1      
intolerant4  ,a man sent to row in      
,french ,galleys1 and suchlike1 for     
teaching the ,truth in his own land1    
cannot always be in the mildest humour6 
,i am not prepared to say that ,knox had
 a soft temper2 nor do ,i know that he  
had what we call an ill-temper4 ,an ill 
nature he decidedly had not4 ,kind      
honest affections dwell in the          

much-enduring1 hard-worn1 ever-battling 
man4 ,that he could rebuke ,queens1 and 
had such weight among those proud       
turbulent ,nobles1 proud enough whatever
 else they were2 and could maintain to  
the end a kind of virtual ,presidency   
and ,sovereignty in that wild realm1 he 
who was only 'a subject born within the 
same3' this of itself will prove to us  
that he was found1 close at hand1 to be 
no mean acrid man2 but at heart a       
healthful1 strong1 sagacious man4 ,such 
alone can bear rule in that kind4 ,they 
blame him for pulling-down cathedrals1  
and so forth1 as if he were a seditious 
rioting demagogue3 precisely the reverse
 is seen to be the fact1 in regard to   
cathedrals and the rest of it1 if we    
examine6 ,knox wanted no pulling-down of
 stone edifices2 he wanted leprosy and  
darkness to be thrown out of the lives  
of men4 ,tumult was not his element2 it 
was the tragic feature of his life that 
he was forced to dwell so much in that4 
,every such man is the born enemy of    

,disorder2 hates to be in it3 but what  
then8 ,smooth ,falsehood is not ,order2 
it is the general sum-total of          
,disorder4 ,order is ,truth1--each thing
 standing on the basis that belongs to  
it3 ,order and ,falsehood cannot subsist
 together4  ,withal1 unexpectedly       
enough1 this ,knox has a vein of        
drollery in him2 which ,i like much1 in 
combination with his other qualities4   
,he has a true eye for the ridiculous4  
,his ,history1 with its rough           
earnestness1 is curiously enlivened with
 this4 ,when the two ,prelates1 entering
 ,glasgow ,cathedral1 quarrel about     
precedence2 march rapidly up1 take to   
hustling one another1 twitching one     
another's rochets1 and at last          
flourishing their crosiers like         
quarter-staves1 it is a great sight for 
him everyway6 ,not mockery1 scorn1      
bitterness alone2 though there is enough
 of that too4 ,but a true1 loving1      
illuminating laugh mounts-up over the   
earnest visage2 not a loud laugh2 you   

would say1 a laugh in the eyes most of  
all4 ,an honest-hearted1 brotherly man2 
brother to the high1 brother also to the
 low2 sincere in his sympathy with both4
 ,he has his pipe of ,bourdeaux too1 we 
find1 in that old ,edinburgh house of   
his2 a cheery social man1 with faces    
that loved him6 ,they go far wrong who  
think this ,knox was a gloomy1          
spasmodic1 shrieking fanatic4 ,not at   
all3 he is one of the solidest of men4  
,practical1 cautious-hopeful1 patient2 a
 most shrewd1 observing1 quietly        
discerning man4 ,in fact1 he has very   
much the type of character we assign to 
the ,scotch at present3 a certain       
sardonic taciturnity is in him2 insight 
enough2 and a stouter heart than he     
himself knows of4 ,he has the power of  
holding his peace over many things which
 do not vitally concern him1--,they8    
what are they8 ,but the thing which does
 vitally concern him1 that thing he will
 speak of2 and in a tone the whole world
 shall be made to hear3 all the more    

emphatic for his long silence4  ,this   
,prophet of the ,scotch is to me no     
hateful man6--,he had a sore fight of an
 existence3 wrestling with ,popes and   
,principalities2 in defeat1 contention1 
life-long struggle2 rowing as a         
galley-slave1 wandering as an exile4 ,a 
sore fight3 but he won it4 ,have you    
hope8 they asked him in his last moment1
 when he could no longer speak4 ,he     
lifted his finger1 'pointed upwards with
 his finger1' and so died4 ,honour to   
him6 ,his works have not died4 ,the     
letter of his work dies1 as of all      
men's2 but the spirit of it never4  ,one
 word more as to the letter of ,knox's  
work4 ,the unforgivable offence in him  
is1 that he wished to set-up ,priests   
over the head of ,kings4 ,in other words
 he strove to make the ,government of   
,scotland a ,theocracy4 ,this indeed is 
properly the sum of his offences1 the   
essential sin2 for which what pardon can
 there be8 ,it is most true1 he did1 at 
bottom1 consciously or unconsciously1   

mean a ,theocracy1 or ,government of    
,god4 ,he did mean that ,kings and      
,prime ,ministers1 and all manner of    
persons1 in public or private1          
diplomatising or whatever else they     
might be doing1 should walk according to
 the ,gospel of ,christ1 and understand 
that this was their ,law1 supreme over  
all laws4 ,he hoped once to see such a  
thing realised2 and the ,petition1 ,thy 
,kingdom come1 no longer an empty word4 
,he was sore grieved when he saw greedy 
worldly ,barons clutch hold of the      
,church's property2 when he expostulated
 that it was not secular property1 that 
it was spiritual property1 and should be
 turned to true churchly uses1          
education1 schools1 worship2--and the   
,regent ,murray had to answer1 with a   
shrug of the shoulders1 ,it is a devout 
imagination6 ,this was ,knox's scheme of
 right and truth2 this he zealously     
endeavoured after1 to realise it4 ,if we
 think this scheme of truth was too     
narrow1 was not true1 we may rejoice    

that he could not realise it2 that it   
remained after two centuries of effort1 
unrealisable1 and is a 'devout          
imagination' still4 ,but how shall we   
blame him for struggling to realise it8 
,theocracy1 ,government of ,god1 is     
precisely the thing to be struggled for6
 ,all ,prophets1 zealous ,priests1 are  
there for that purpose4 ,hildebrand     
wished a ,theocracy2 ,cromwell wished   
it1 fought for it2 ,mahomet attained it4
 ,nay1 is it not what all zealous men1  
whether called ,priests1 ,prophets1 or  
whatsoever else called1 do essentially  
wish1 and must wish8 ,that right and    
truth1 or ,god's ,law1 reign supreme    
among men1 this is the ,heavenly ,ideal 
7well named in ,knox's time1 and namable
 in all times1 a revealed ',will of     
,god'7 towards which the ,reformer will 
insist that all be more and more        
approximated4 ,all true ,reformers1 as  
,i said1 are by the nature of them      
,priests1 and strive for a ,theocracy4  
,how far such ,ideals can ever be       

introduced into ,practice1 and at what  
point our impatience with their         
non-introduction ought to begin1 is     
always a question4 ,i think we may say  
safely1 ,let them introduce themselves  
as far as they can contrive to do it6   
,if they are the true faith of men1 all 
men ought to be more or less impatient  
always where they are not found         
introduced4 ,there will never be wanting
 ,regent ,murrays enough to shrug their 
shoulders1 and say1 ,a devout           
imagination6 ,we will praise the        
,hero-priest1 rather1 who does what is  
in him to bring them in2 and wears out1 
in toil1 calumny1 contradiction1 a noble
 life1 to make a ,god's ,kingdom of this
 ,earth4 ,the ,earth will not become too
 godlike6     ,,lecture ,v  ,,the ,,hero
 ,,as ,a ,,man ,,of ,,letters4          
,,johnson1 ,,rousseau1 ,,burns4         
,tuesday1 #aith ,may #ahdj   ,hero-gods1
 ,prophets1 ,poets1 ,priests are forms  
of ,heroism that belong to the old ages1
 make their appearance in the remotest  

times2 some of them have ceased to be   
possible long since1 and cannot any more
 show themselves in this world4 ,the    
,hero as ,man of ,letters1 again1 of    
which class we are to speak today1 is   
altogether a product of these new ages2 
and so long as the wondrous art of      
,writing1 or of ,ready-writing which we 
call ,printing1 subsists1 he may be     
expected to continue1 as one of the main
 forms of ,heroism for all future ages4 
,he is1 in various respects1 a very     
singular phenomenon4  ,he is new1 ,i    
say2 he has hardly lasted above a       
century in the world yet4 ,never1 till  
about a hundred years ago1 was there    
seen any figure of a ,great ,soul living
 apart in that anomalous manner2        
endeavouring to speak-forth the         
inspiration that was in him by ,printed 
,books1 and find place and subsistence  
by what the world would please to give  
him for doing that4 ,much had been sold 
and bought1 and left to make its own    
bargain in the marketplace2 but the     

inspired wisdom of a ,heroic ,soul never
 till then1 in that naked manner4 ,he1  
with his copy-rights and copy-wrongs1 in
 his squalid garret1 in his rusty coat2 
ruling 7for this is what he does71 from 
his grave1 after death1 whole nations   
and generations who would1 or would not1
 give him bread while living1--is a     
rather curious spectacle6 ,few shapes of
 ,heroism can be more unexpected4       
,alas1 the ,hero from of old has had to 
cramp himself into strange shapes3 the  
world knows not well at any time what to
 do with him1 so foreign is his aspect  
in the world6 ,it seemed absurd to us1  
that men1 in their rude admiration1     
should take some wise great ,odin for a 
god1 and worship him as such1 some wise 
great ,mahomet for one god-inspired1 and
 religiously follow his ,law for twelve 
centuries3 but that a wise great        
,johnson1 a ,burns1 a ,rousseau1 should 
be taken for some idle non-descript1    
extant in the world to amuse idleness1  
and have a few coins and applauses      

thrown in1 that he might live thereby2  
this perhaps1 as before hinted1 will one
 day seem a still absurder phasis of    
things6--,meanwhile1 since it is the    
spiritual always that determines the    
material1 this same ,man-of-,letters    
,hero must be regarded as our most      
important modern person4 ,he1 such as he
 may be1 is the soul of all4 ,what he   
teachers1 the whole world will do and   
make4 ,the world's manner of dealing    
with him is the most significant feature
 of the world's general position4       
,looking well at his life1 we may get a 
glance1 as deep as is readily possible  
for us1 into the life of those singular 
centuries which have produced him1 in   
which we ourselves live and work4       
,there are genuine ,men of ,letters1 and
 not genuine2 as in every kind there is 
a genuine and a spurious4 ,if ,hero be  
taken to mean genuine1 then ,i say the  
,hero as ,man of ,letters will be found 
discharging a function for us which is  
ever honourable1 ever the highest2 and  

was once well known to be the highest4  
,he is uttering-forth1 in such a way as 
he has1 the inspired soul of him2 all   
that a man1 in any case1 can do4 ,i say 
inspired2 for what we call              
'originality1' 'sincerity1' 'genius1'   
the heroic quality we have no good name 
for1 signifies that4 ,the ,hero is he   
who lives in the inward sphere of       
things1 in the ,true1 ,divine and       
,eternal1 which exists always1 unseen to
 most1 under the ,temporary1 ,trivial3  
his being is in that2 he declares that  
abroad1 by act or speech as it may be1  
in declaring himself abroad4 ,his life1 
as we said before1 is a piece of the    
everlasting heart of ,nature herself3   
all men's life is1--but the weak many   
know not the fact1 and are untrue to it1
 in most times2 the strong few are      
strong1 heroic1 perennial1 because it   
cannot be hidden from them4 ,the ,man of
 ,letters1 like every ,hero1 is there to
 proclaim this in such sort as he can4  
,intrinsically it is the same function  

which the old generations named a man   
,prophet1 ,priest1 ,divinity for doing2 
which all manner of ,heroes1 by speech  
or by act1 are sent into the world to   
do4  ,fichte the ,german ,philosopher   
delivered1 some forty years ago at      
,erlangen1 a highly remarkable ,course  
of ,lectures on this subject3 ',ueber   
das ,wesen des ,gelehrten1 ,on the      
,nature of the ,literary ,man4' ,fichte1
 in conformity with the ,transcendental 
,philosophy1 of which he was a          
distinguished teacher1 declares first3  
,that all things which we see or work   
with in this ,earth1 especially we      
ourselves and all persons1 are as a kind
 of vesture or sensuous ,appearance3    
that under all there lies1 as the       
essence of them1 what he calls the      
',divine ,idea of the ,world2' this is  
the ,reality which 'lies at the bottom  
of all ,appearance4' ,to the mass of men
 no such ,divine ,idea is recognisable  
in the world2 they live merely1 says    
,fichte1 among the superficialities1    

practicalities and shows of the world1  
not dreaming that there is anything     
divine under them4 ,but the ,man of     
,letters is sent hither specially that  
he may discern for himself1 and make    
manifest to us1 this same ,divine ,idea3
 in every new generation it will        
manifest itself in a new dialect2 and he
 is there for the purpose of doing that4
 ,such is ,fichte's phraseology2 with   
which we need not quarrel4 ,it is his   
way of naming what ,i here1 by other    
words1 am striving imperfectly to name2 
what there is at present no name for3   
,the unspeakable ,divine ,significance1 
full of splendour1 of wonder and terror1
 that lies in the being of every man1 of
 every thing1--the ,presence of the ,god
 who made every man and thing4 ,mahomet 
taught this in his dialect2 ,odin in    
his3 it is the thing which all thinking 
hearts1 in one dialect or another1 are  
here to teach4  ,fichte calls the ,man  
of ,letters1 therefore1 a ,prophet1 or  
as he prefers to phrase it1 a ,priest1  

continually unfolding the ,godlike to   
men3 ,men of ,letters are a perpetual   
,priesthood1 from age to age1 teaching  
all men that a ,god is still present in 
their life2 that all ',appearance1'     
whatsoever we see in the world1 is but  
as a vesture for the ',divine ,idea of  
the ,world1' for 'that which lies at the
 bottom of ,appearance4' ,in the true   
,literary ,man there is thus ever1      
acknowledged or not by the world1 a     
sacredness3 he is the light of the      
world2 the world's ,priest3--guiding it1
 like a sacred ,pillar of ,fire1 in its 
dark pilgrimage through the waste of    
,time4 ,fichte discriminates with sharp 
zeal the true ,literary ,man1 what we   
here call the ,hero as ,man of ,letters1
 from multitudes of false unheroic4     
,whoever lives not wholly in this       
,divine ,idea1 or living partially in   
it1 struggles not1 as for the one good1 
to live wholly in it1--he is1 let him   
live where else he like1 in what pomps  
and prosperities he like1 no ,literary  

,man2 he is1 says ,fichte1 a ',bungler1 
,stmper4' ,or at best1 if he belong to  
the prosaic provinces1 he may be a      
',hodman2' ,fichte even calls him       
elsewhere a ',nonentity1' and has in    
short no mercy for him1 no wish that he 
should continue happy among us6 ,this is
 ,fichte's notion of the ,man of        
,letters4 ,it means1 in its own form1   
precisely what we here mean4  ,in this  
point of view1 ,i consider that1 for the
 last hundred years1 by far the         
notablest of all ,literary ,men is      
,fichte's countryman1 ,goethe4 ,to that 
man too1 in a strange way1 there was    
given what we may call a life in the    
,divine ,idea of the ,world2 vision of  
the inward divine mystery3 and          
strangely1 out of his ,books1 the world 
rises imaged once more as godlike1 the  
workmanship and temple of a ,god4       
,illuminated all1 not in fierce impure  
fire-splendour as of ,mahomet1 but in   
mild celestial radiance2--really a      
,prophecy in these most unprophetic     

times2 to my mind1 by far the greatest1 
though one of the quietest1 among all   
the great things that have come to pass 
in them4 ,our chosen specimen of the    
,hero as ,literary ,man would be this   
,goethe4 ,and it were a very pleasant   
plan for me here to discourse of his    
heroism3 for ,i consider him to be a    
true ,hero2 heroic in what he said and  
did1 and perhaps still more in what he  
did not say and did not do2 to me a     
noble spectacle3 a great heroic ancient 
man1 speaking and keeping silence as an 
ancient ,hero1 in the guise of a most   
modern1 high-bred1 high-cultivated ,man 
of ,letters6 ,we have had no such       
spectacle2 no man capable of affording  
such1 for the last hundred-and-fifty    
years4  ,but at present1 such is the    
general state of knowledge about        
,goethe1 it were worse than useless to  
attempt speaking of him in this case4   
,speak as ,i might1 ,goethe1 to the     
great majority of you would remain      
problematic1 vague2 no impression but a 

false one could be realised4 ,him we    
must leave to future times4 ,johnson1   
,burns1 ,rousseau1 three great figures  
from a prior time1 from a far inferior  
state of circumstances1 will suit us    
better here4 ,three men of the          
,eighteenth ,century2 the conditions of 
their life far more resemble what those 
of ours still are in ,england1 than what
 ,goethe's in ,germany were4 ,alas1     
these men did not conquer like him2 they
 fought bravely1 and fell4 ,they were   
not heroic bringers of the light1 but   
heroic seekers of it4 ,they lived under 
galling conditions2 struggling as under 
mountains of impediment1 and could not  
unfold themselves into clearness1 or    
victorious interpretation of that       
',divine ,idea4' ,it is rather the      
,tombs of three ,literary ,heroes that  
,i have to show you4 ,there are the     
monumental heaps1 under which three     
spiritual giants lie buried4 ,very      
mournful1 but also great and full of    
interest for us4 ,we will linger by them

 for a while4  ,complaint is often made1
 in these times1 of what we call the    
disorganised condition of society3 how  
ill many arranged forces of society     
fulfil their work2 how many powerful    
forces are seen working in a wasteful1  
chaotic1 altogether unarranged manner4  
,it is too just a complaint1 as we all  
know4 ,but perhaps if we look at this of
 ,books and the ,writers of ,books1 we  
shall find here1 as it were1 the summary
 of all other disorganisation2--a sort  
of heart1 from which1 and to which1 all 
other confusion circulates in the world6
 ,considering what ,book-writers do in  
the world1 and what the world does with 
,book-writers1 ,i should say1 ,it is the
 most anomalous thing the world at      
present has to show4--,we should get    
into a sea far beyond sounding1 did we  
attempt to give account of this3 but we 
must glance at it for the sake of our   
subject4 ,the worst element in the life 
of these three ,literary ,heroes was1   
that they found their business and      

position such a chaos4 ,on the beaten   
road there is tolerable travelling2 but 
it is sore work1 and many have to       
perish1 fashioning a path through the   
impassable6  ,our pious ,fathers1       
feeling well what importance lay in the 
speaking of man to men1 founded         
churches1 made endowments1 regulations2 
everywhere in the civilised world there 
is a ,pulpit1 environed with all manner 
of complex dignified appurtenances and  
furtherances1 that therefrom a man with 
the tongue may1 to best advantage1      
address his fellow-men4 ,they felt that 
this was the most important thing2 that 
without this there was no good thing4   
,it is a right pious work1 that of      
theirs2 beautiful to behold6 ,but now   
with the art of ,writing1 with the art  
of ,printing1 a total change has come   
over that business4 ,the ,writer of a   
,book1 is not he a ,preacher preaching  
not to this parish or that1 on this day 
or that1 but to all men in all times and
 places8 ,surely it is of the last      

importance that he do his work right1   
whoever do it wrong2--that the eye      
report not falsely1 for then all the    
other members are astray6 ,well2 how he 
may do his work1 whether he do it right 
or wrong1 or do it at all1 is a point   
which no man in the world has taken the 
pains to think of4 ,to a certain        
shopkeeper1 trying to get some money for
 his books1 if lucky1 he is of some     
importance2 to no other man of any4     
,whence he came1 whither he is bound1 by
 what ways he arrived1 by what he might 
be furthered on his course1 no one asks4
 ,he is an accident in society4 ,he     
wanders like a wild ,ishmaelite1 in a   
world of which he is as the spiritual   
light1 either the guidance or the       
misguidance6  ,certainly the art of     
writing is the most miraculous of all   
things man has devised4 ,odin's ,runes  
were the first form of the work of a    
,hero2 ,books1 written words1 are still 
miraculous ,runes1 of the latest form6  
,in ,books lies the soul of the whole   

,past ,time2 the articulate audible     
voice of the ,past1 when the body and   
material substance of it has altogether 
vanished like a dream4 ,mighty fleets   
and armies1 harbours and arsenals1 vast 
cities1 high-domed1 many-engined1--they 
are precious1 great3 but what do they   
become8 ,agamemnon1 the many            
,agamemnons1 ,pericleses1 and their     
,greece2 all is gone now to some ruined 
fragments1 dumb mournful wrecks and     
blocks3 but the ,books of ,greece6      
,there ,greece1 to every thinker1 still 
very literally lives2 can be called-up  
again into life4 ,no magic ,rune is     
stranger than a ,book4 ,all that        
,mankind has done1 thought1 gained or   
been3 it is lying as in magic           
preservation in the pages of ,books4    
,they are the chosen possession of men4 
,do not ,books still accomplish miracles
 as ,runes were fabled to do8 ,they     
persuade men4 ,not the wretchedest      
circulating-library novel1 which foolish
 girls thumb and con in remote villages 

but will help to regulate the actual    
practical weddings and households of    
those foolish girls4 ,so ',celia' felt1 
so ',clifford' acted3 the foolish       
,theorem of ,life1 stamped into those   
young brains1 comes out as a solid      
,practice one day4 ,consider whether any
 ,rune in the wildest imagination of    
,mythologist ever did such wonders as1  
on the actual firm ,earth1 some ,books  
have done6 ,what built ,st ,paul's      
,cathedral8 ,look at the heart of the   
matter1 it was that divine ,hebrew      
,,book1--the word partly of the man     
,moses1 an outlaw tending his           
,midianitish herds1 four thousand years 
ago1 in the wildernesses of ,sinai6 ,it 
is the strangest of things1 yet nothing 
is truer4 ,with the art of ,writing1 of 
which ,printing is a simple1 an         
inevitable and comparatively            
insignificant corollary1 the true reign 
of miracles for mankind commenced4 ,it  
related1 with a wondrous new contiguity 
and perpetual closeness1 the ,past and  

,distant with the ,present in time and  
place2 all times and all places with    
this our actual ,here and ,now4 ,all    
things were altered for men2 all modes  
of important work of men3 teaching1     
preaching1 governing1 and all else4  ,to
 look at ,teaching1 for instance4       
,universities are a notable1 respectable
 product of the modern ages4 ,their     
existence too is modified1 to the very  
basis of it1 by the existence of ,books4
 ,universities arose while there were   
yet no ,books procurable2 while a man1  
for a single ,book1 had to give an      
estate of land4 ,that1 in those         
circumstances1 when a man had some      
knowledge to communicate1 he should do  
it by gathering the learners round him1 
face to face1 was a necessity for him4  
,if you wanted to know what ,abelard    
knew1 you must go and listen to         
,abelard4 ,thousands1 as many as        
thirty-thousand1 went to hear ,abelard  
and that metaphysical theology of his4  
,and now for any other teacher who had  

something of his own to teach1 there was
 a great convenience opened3 so many    
thousands eager to learn were already   
assembled yonder2 of all places the best
 place for him was that4 ,for any third 
teacher it was better still2 and grew   
ever the better1 the more teachers there
 came4 ,it only needed now that the     
,king took notice of this new           
phenomenon2 combined or agglomerated the
 various schools into one school2 gave  
it edifices1 privileges1 encouragements1
 and named it ,universitas1 or ,school  
of all ,sciences3 the ,university of    
,paris1 in its essential characters1 was
 there4 ,the model of all subsequent    
,universities2 which down even to these 
days1 for six centuries now1 have gone  
on to found themselves4 ,such1 ,i       
conceive1 was the origin of             
,universities4  ,it is clear1 however1  
that with this simple circumstance1     
facility of getting ,books1 the whole   
conditions of the business from top to  
bottom were changed4 ,once invent       

,printing1 you metamorphosed all        
,universities1 or superseded them6 ,the 
,teacher needed not now to gather men   
personally round him1 that he might     
speak to them what he knew3 print it in 
a ,book1 and all learners far and wide1 
for a trifle1 had it each at his own    
fireside1 much more effectually to learn
 it6--,doubtless there is still peculiar
 virtue in ,speech2 even writers of     
,books may still1 in some circumstances1
 find it convenient to speak            
also1--witness our present meeting here6
 ,there is1 one would say1 and must ever
 remain while man has a tongue1 a       
distinct province for ,speech as well as
 for ,writing and ,printing4 ,in regard 
to all things this must remain2 to      
,universities among others4 ,but the    
limits of the two have nowhere yet been 
pointed out1 ascertained2 much less put 
in practice3 the ,university which would
 completely take-in that great new fact1
 of the existence of ,printed ,books1   
and stand on a clear footing for the    

,nineteenth ,century as the ,paris one  
did for the ,thirteenth1 has not yet    
come into existence4 ,if we think of it1
 all that a ,university1 or final       
highest ,school can do for us1 is still 
but what the first ,school began        
doing1--teach us to read4 ,we learn to  
read1 in various languages1 in various  
sciences2 we learn the alphabet and     
letters of all manner of ,books4 ,but   
the place where we go to get knowledge1 
even theoretic knowledge1 is the ,books 
themselves6 ,it depends on what we read1
 after all manner of ,professors have   
done their best for us4 ,the true       
,university of these days is a          
,collection of ,books4  ,but to the     
,church itself1 as ,i hinted already1   
all is changed1 in its preaching1 in its
 working1 by the introduction of ,books4
 ,the ,church is the working recognised 
,union of our ,priests or ,prophets1 of 
those who by wise teaching guide the    
souls of men4 ,while there was no       
,writing1 even while there was no       

,easy-writing or ,printing1 the         
preaching of the voice was the natural  
sole method of performing this4 ,but now
 with ,books6--,he that can write a true
 ,book1 to persuade ,england1 is not he 
the ,bishop and ,archbishop1 the        
,primate of ,england and of ,all        
,england8 ,i many a time say1 the       
writers of ,newspapers1 ,pamphlets1     
,poems1 ,books1 these are the real      
working effective ,church of a modern   
country4 ,nay not only our preaching1   
but even our worship1 is not it too     
accomplished by means of ,printed       
,books8 ,the noble sentiment which a    
gifted soul has clothed for us in       
melodious words1 which brings melody    
into our hearts1--is not this           
essentially1 if we will understand it1  
of the nature of worship8 ,there are    
many1 in all countries1 who1 in this    
confused time1 have no other method of  
worship4 ,he who1 in any way1 shows us  
better than we knew before that a lily  
of the fields is beautiful1 does he not 

show it us as an effluence of the       
,fountain of all ,beauty2 as the        
handwriting1 made visible there1 of the 
great ,maker of the ,universe8 ,he has  
sung for us1 made us sing with him1 a   
little verse of a sacred ,psalm4        
,essentially so4 ,how much more he who  
sings1 who says1 or in any way brings   
home to our heart the noble doings1     
feelings1 darings and endurances of a   
brother man6 ,he has verily touched our 
hearts as with a live coal from the     
altar4 ,perhaps there is no worship more
 authentic4  ,literature1 so far as it  
is ,literature1 is an 'apocalypse of    
,nature1' a revealing of the 'open      
secret4' ,it may well enough be named1  
in ,fichte's style2 a 'continuous       
revelation' of the ,godlike in the      
,terrestrial and ,common4 ,the ,godlike 
does ever1 in very truth1 endure there2 
is brought out1 now in this dialect1 now
 in that1 with various degrees of       
clearness3 all true gifted ,singers and 
,speakers are1 consciously or           

unconsciously1 doing so4 ,the dark      
stormful indignation of a ,byron1 so    
wayward and perverse1 may have touches  
of it2 nay the withered mockery of a    
,french sceptic1--his mockery of the    
,false1 a love and worship of the ,true4
 ,how much more the sphere-harmony of a 
,shakspeare1 of a ,goethe2 the          
cathedral-music of a ,milton6 ,they are 
something too1 those humble genuine     
lark-notes of a ,burns1--skylark1       
starting from the humble furrow1 far    
overhead into the blue depths1 and      
singing to us so genuinely there6 ,for  
all true singing is of the nature of    
worship2 as indeed all true working may 
be said to be1--whereof such singing is 
but the record1 and fit melodious       
representation1 to us4 ,fragments of a  
real ',church ,liturgy' and ',body of   
,homilies1' strangely disguised from the
 common eye1 are to be found weltering  
in that huge froth-ocean of ,printed    
,speech we loosely call ,literature6    
,books are our ,church too4  ,or turning

 now to the ,government of men4         
,witenagemote1 old ,parliament1 was a   
great thing4 ,the affairs of the nation 
were there deliberated and decided2 what
 we were to do as a nation4 ,but does   
not1 though the name ,parliament        
subsists1 the parliamentary debate go on
 now1 everywhere and at all times1 in a 
far more comprehensive way1 out of      
,parliament altogether8 ,burke said     
there were ,three ,estates in           
,parliament2 but1 in the ,reporters'    
,gallery yonder1 there sat a ,fourth    
,estate more important far than they    
all4 ,it is not a figure of speech1 or a
 witty saying2 it is a literal          
fact1--very momentous to us in these    
times4 ,literature is our ,parliament   
too4 ,printing1 which comes necessarily 
out of ,writing1 ,i say often1 is       
equivalent to ,democracy3 invent        
,writing1 ,democracy is inevitable4     
,writing brings ,printing2 brings       
universal every-day extempore ,printing1
 as we see at present4 ,whoever can     

speak1 speaking now to the whole nation1
 becomes a power1 a branch of           
government1 with inalienable weight in  
law-making1 in all acts of authority4   
,it matters not what rank he has1 what  
revenues or garnitures3 the requisite   
thing is1 that he have a tongue which   
others will listen to2 this and nothing 
more is requisite4 ,the nation is       
governed by all that has tongue in the  
nation3 ,democracy is virtually there4  
,add only1 that whatsoever power exists 
will have itself1 by and by1 organised2 
working secretly under bandages1        
obscurations1 obstructions1 it will     
never rest till it get to work free1    
unencumbered1 visible to all4 ,democracy
 virtually extant will insist on        
becoming palpably extant4--  ,on all    
sides1 are we not driven to the         
conclusion that1 of the things which man
 can do or make here below1 by far the  
most momentous1 wonderful and worthy are
 the things we call ,books6 ,those poor 
bits of rag-paper with black ink on     

them2--from the ,daily ,newspaper to the
 sacred ,hebrew ,,book1 what have they  
not done1 what are they not doing6--,for
 indeed1 whatever be the outward form of
 the thing 7bits of paper1 as we say1   
and black ink71 is it not verily1 at    
bottom1 the highest act of man's faculty
 that produces a ,book8 ,it is the      
,thought of man2 the true thaumaturgic  
virtue2 by which man works all things   
whatsoever4 ,all that he does1 and      
brings to pass1 is the vesture of a     
,thought4 ,this ,london ,city1 with all 
its houses1 palaces1 steam-engines1     
cathedrals1 and huge immeasurable       
traffic and tumult1 what is it but a    
,thought1 but millions of ,thoughts made
 into ,one2--a huge immeasurable ,spirit
 of a ,,thought1 embodied in brick1 in  
iron1 smoke1 dust1 ,palaces1            
,parliaments1 ,hackney ,coaches1        
,katherine ,docks1 and the rest of it6  
,not a brick was made but some man had  
to think of the making of that          
brick4--,the thing we called 'bits of   

paper with traces of black ink1' is the 
purest embodiment a ,thought of man can 
have4 ,no wonder it is1 in all ways1 the
 activest and noblest4  ,all this1 of   
the importance and supreme importance of
 the ,man of ,letters in modern         
,society1 and how the ,press is to such 
a degree superseding the ,pulpit1 the   
,senate1 the ,senatus ,academicus and   
much else1 has been admitted for a good 
while2 and recognised often enough1 in  
late times1 with a sort of sentimental  
triumph and wonderment4 ,it seems to me1
 the ,sentimental by and by will have to
 give place to the ,practical4 ,if ,men 
of ,letters are so incalculably         
influential1 actually performing such   
work for us from age to age1 and even   
from day to day1 then ,i think we may   
conclude that ,men of ,letters will not 
always wander like unrecognised         
unregulated ,ishmaelites among us6      
,whatsoever thing1 as ,i said above1 has
 virtual unnoticed power will castoff   
its wrappages1 bandages1 and step-forth 

one day with palpably articulated1      
universally visible power4 ,that one man
 wear the clothes1 and take the wages1  
of a function which is done by quite    
another3 there can be no profit in this2
 this is not right1 it is wrong4 ,and   
yet1 alas1 the making of it right1--what
 a business1 for long times to come6    
,sure enough1 this that we call         
,organisation of the ,literary ,guild is
 still a great way off1 encumbered with 
all manner of complexities4 ,if you     
asked me what were the best possible    
organisation for the ,men of ,letters in
 modern society2 the arrangement of     
furtherance and regulation1 grounded the
 most accurately on the actual facts of 
their position and of the world's       
position1--,i should beg to say that the
 problem far exceeded my faculty6 ,it is
 not one man's faculty2 it is that of   
many successive men turned earnestly    
upon it1 that will bring-out even an    
approximate solution4 ,what the best    
arrangement were1 none of us could say4 

,but if you ask1 ,which is the worst8 ,i
 answer3 ,this which we now have1 that  
,chaos should sit umpire in it2 this is 
the worst4 ,to the best1 or any good    
one1 there is yet a long way4  ,one     
remark ,i must not omit1 ,that royal or 
parliamentary grants of money are by no 
means the chief thing wanted6 ,to give  
our ,men of ,letters stipends1          
endowments and all furtherance of cash1 
will do little towards the business4 ,on
 the whole1 one is weary of hearing     
about the omnipotence of money4 ,i will 
say rather that1 for a genuine man1 it  
is no evil to be poor2 that there ought 
to be ,literary ,men poor1--to show     
whether they are genuine or not6        
,mendicant ,orders1 bodies of good men  
doomed to beg1 were instituted in the   
,christian ,church2 a most natural and  
even necessary development of the spirit
 of ,christianity4 ,it was itself       
founded on ,poverty1 on ,sorrow1        
,contradiction1 ,crucifixion1 every     
species of worldly ,distress and        

,degradation4 ,we may say1 that he who  
has not known those things1 and learned 
from them the priceless lessons they    
have to teach1 has missed a good        
opportunity of schooling4 ,to beg1 and  
go barefoot1 in coarse woollen cloak    
with a rope round your loins1 and be    
despised of all the world1 was no       
beautiful business2--nor an honourable  
one in any eye1 till the nobleness of   
those who did so had made it honoured of
 some6  ,begging is not in our course at
 the present time3 but for the rest of  
it1 who will say that a ,johnson is not 
perhaps the better for being poor8 ,it  
is needful for him1 at all rates1 to    
know that outward profit1 that success  
of any kind is not the goal he has to   
aim at4 ,pride1 vanity1 ill-conditioned 
egoism of all sorts1 are bred in his    
heart1 as in every heart2 need1 above   
all1 to be cast-out of his heart1--to   
be1 with whatever pangs1 torn-out of it1
 cast-forth from it1 as a thing         
worthless4 ,byron1 born rich and noble1 

made-out even less than ,burns1 poor and
 plebeian4 ,who knows but1 in that same 
'best possible organisation' as yet far 
off1 ,poverty may still enter as an     
important element8 ,what if our ,men of 
,letters1 ,men setting-up to be         
,spiritual ,heroes1 were still then1 as 
they now are1 a kind of 'involuntary    
monastic order2' bound still to this    
same ugly ,poverty1--till they had tried
 what was in it too1 till they had      
learned to make it too do for them6     
,money1 in truth1 can do much1 but it   
cannot do all4 ,we must know the        
province of it1 and confine it2 and even
 spurn it back1 when it wishes to get   
farther4  ,besides1 were the            
money-furtherances1 the proper season   
for them1 the fit assigner of them1 all 
settled1--how is the ,burns to be       
recognised that merits these8 ,he must  
pass through the ordeal1 and prove      
himself4 ,this ordeal2 this wild welter 
of a chaos which is called ,literary    
,life2 this too is a kind of ordeal6    

,there is clear truth in the idea that a
 struggle from the lower classes of     
society1 towards the upper regions and  
rewards of society1 must ever continue4 
,strong men are born there1 who ought to
 stand elsewhere than there4 ,the       
manifold1 inextricably complex1         
universal struggle of these constitutes1
 and must constitute1 what is called the
 progress of society4 ,for ,men of      
,letters1 as for all other sorts of men4
 ,how to regulate that struggle8 ,there 
is the whole question4 ,to leave it as  
it is1 at the mercy of blind ,chance2 a 
whirl of distracted atoms1 one          
cancelling the other2 one of the        
thousand arriving saved1                
nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine lost by the
 way2 your royal ,johnson languishing   
inactive in garrets1 or harnessed to the
 yoke of ,printer ,cave2 your ,burns    
dying broken-hearted as a ,gauger2 your 
,rousseau driven into mad exasperation1 
kindling ,french ,revolutions by his    
paradoxes3 this1 as we said1 is clearly 

enough the worst regulation4 ,the best1 
alas1 is far from us6  ,and yet there   
can be no doubt but it is coming2       
advancing on us1 as yet hidden in the   
bosom of centuries3 this is a prophecy  
one can risk4 ,for so soon as men get to
 discern the importance of a thing1 they
 do infallibly set about arranging it1  
facilitating1 forwarding it2 and rest   
not till1 in some approximate degree1   
they have accomplished that4 ,i say1 of 
all ,priesthoods1 ,aristocracies1       
,governing ,classes at present extant in
 the world1 there is no class comparable
 for importance to that ,priesthood of  
the ,writers of ,books4 ,this is a fact 
which he who runs may read1--and draw   
inferences from4 ,literature will take  
care of itself1 answered ,mr ,pitt1 when
 applied-to for some help for ,burns4   
,yes1 adds ,mr ,southey1 it will take   
care of itself2 and of you too1 if you  
do not look to it6  ,the result to      
individual ,men of ,letters is not the  
momentous one2 they are but individuals1

 an infinitesimal fraction of the great 
body2 they can struggle on1 and live or 
else die1 as they have been wont4 ,but  
it deeply concerns the whole society1   
whether it will set its light on high   
places1 to walk thereby2 or trample it  
under foot1 and scatter it in all ways  
of wild waste 7not without              
conflagration71 as heretofore6 ,light is
 the one thing wanted for the world4    
,put wisdom in the head of the world1   
the world will fight its battle         
victoriously1 and be the best world man 
can make it4 ,i call this anomaly of a  
disorganic ,literary ,class the heart of
 all other anomalies1 at once product   
and parent2 some good arrangement for   
that would be as the punctum saliens of 
a new vitality and just arrangement for 
all4 ,already1 in some ,european        
countries1 in ,france1 in ,prussia1 one 
traces some beginnings of an arrangement
 for the ,literary ,class2 indicating   
the gradual possibility of such4 ,i     
believe that it is possible2 that it    

will have to be possible4  ,by far the  
most interesting fact ,i hear about the 
,chinese is one on which we cannot      
arrive at clearness1 but which excites  
endless curiosity even in the dim state3
 this namely1 that they do attempt to   
make their ,men of ,letters their       
,governors6 ,it would be rash to say1   
one understood how this was done1 or    
with what degree of success it was done4
 ,all such things must be very          
unsuccessful2 yet a small degree of     
success is precious2 the very attempt   
how precious6 ,there does seem to be1   
all over ,china1 a more or less active  
search everywhere to discover the men of
 talent that grow up in the young       
generation4 ,schools there are for every
 one3 a foolish sort of training1 yet   
still a sort4 ,the youths who           
distinguish themselves in the lower     
school are promoted into favourable     
stations in the higher1 that they may   
still more distinguish                  
themselves1--forward and forward3 it    

appears to be out of these that the     
,official ,persons1 and incipient       
,governors1 are taken4 ,these are they  
whom they try first1 whether they can   
govern or not4 ,and surely with the best
 hope3 for they are the men that have   
already shown intellect4 ,try them3 they
 have not governed or administered as   
yet2 perhaps they cannot2 but there is  
no doubt they have some ,understanding1 
without which no man can6 ,neither is   
,understanding a tool1 as we are too apt
 to figure2 'it is a hand which can     
handle any tool4' ,try these men3 they  
are of all others the best worth        
trying4--,surely there is no kind of    
government1 constitution1 revolution1   
social apparatus or arrangement1 that ,i
 know of in this world1 so promising to 
one's scientific curiosity as this4 ,the
 man of intellect at the top of affairs3
 this is the aim of all constitutions   
and revolutions1 if they have any aim4  
,for the man of true intellect1 as ,i   
assert and believe always1 is the       

noblehearted man withal1 the true1 just1
 humane and valiant man4 ,get him for   
governor1 all is got2 fail to get him1  
though you had ,constitutions plentiful 
as blackberries1 and a ,parliament in   
every village1 there is nothing yet     
got6--  ,these things look strange1     
truly2 and are not such as we commonly  
speculate upon4 ,but we are fallen into 
strange times2 these things will require
 to be speculated upon2 to be rendered  
practicable1 to be in some way put in   
practice4 ,these and many others4 ,on   
all hands of us1 there is the           
announcement1 audible enough1 that the  
old ,empire of ,routine has ended2 that 
to say a thing has long been1 is no     
reason for its continuing to be4 ,the   
things which have been are fallen into  
decay1 are fallen into incompetence2    
large masses of mankind1 in every       
society of our ,europe1 are no longer   
capable of living at all by the things  
which have been4 ,when millions of men  
can no longer by their utmost exertion  

gain food for themselves1 and 'the third
 man for thirty-six weeks each year is  
short of third-rate potatoes1' the      
things which have been must decidedly   
prepare to alter themselves6--,i will   
now quit this of the organisation of    
,men of ,letters4         99       99   
99       99       99  ,alas1 the evil   
that pressed heaviest on those ,literary
 ,heroes of ours was not the want of    
organisation for ,men of ,letters1 but a
 far deeper one2 out of which1 indeed1  
this and so many other evils for the    
,literary ,man1 and for all men1 had1 as
 from their fountain1 taken rise4 ,that 
our ,hero as ,man of ,letters had to    
travel without highway1 companionless1  
through an inorganic chaos1--and to     
leave his own life and faculty lying    
there1 as a partial contribution towards
 pushing some highway through it3 this1 
had not his faculty itself been so      
perverted and paralysed1 he might have  
put up with1 might have considered to be
 but the common lot of ,heroes4 ,his    

fatal misery was the spiritual          
paralysis1 so we may name it1 of the    
,age in which his life lay2 whereby his 
life too1 do what he might1 was         
half-paralysed6 ,the ,eighteenth was a  
,sceptical ,century2 in which little    
word there is a whole ,pandora's ,box of
 miseries4 ,scepticism means not        
intellectual ,doubt alone1 but moral    
,doubt2 all sorts of infidelity1        
insincerity1 spiritual paralysis4       
,perhaps1 in few centuries that one     
could specify since the world began1 was
 a life of ,heroism more difficult for a
 man4 ,that was not an age of           
,faith1--an age of ,heroes6 ,the very   
possibility of ,heroism had been1 as it 
were1 formally abnegated in the minds of
 all4 ,heroism was gone forever2        
,triviality1 ,formulism and ,commonplace
 were come forever4 ,the 'age of        
miracles' had been1 or perhaps had not  
been2 but it was not any longer4 ,an    
effete world2 wherein ,wonder1          
,greatness1 ,godhood could not now      

dwell2--in one word1 a godless world6   
,how mean1 dwarfish are their ways of   
thinking1 in this time1--compared not   
with the ,christian ,shakspeares and    
,miltons1 but with the old ,pagan       
,skalds1 with any species of believing  
men6 ,the living ,,tree ,igdrasil1 with 
the melodious prophetic waving of its   
world-wide boughs1 deep-rooted as ,hela1
 has died-out into the clanking of a    
,world-,,machine4 ',tree' and           
',machine'3 contrast these two things4  
,i1 for my share1 declare the world to  
be no machine6 ,i say that it does not  
go by wheel-and-pinion 'motives1'       
self-interests1 checks1 balances2 that  
there is something far other in it than 
the clank of spinning-jennies1 and      
parliamentary majorities2 and1 on the   
whole1 that it is not a machine at      
all6--,the old ,norse ,heathen had a    
truer notion of ,god's-world than these 
poor ,machine-,sceptics3 the old        
,heathen ,norse were sincere men4 ,but  
for these poor ,sceptics there was no   

sincerity1 no truth4 ,half-truth and    
hearsay was called truth4 ,truth1 for   
most men1 meant plausibility2 to be     
measured by the number of votes you     
could get4 ,they had lost any notion    
that sincerity was possible1 or of what 
sincerity was4 ,how many ,plausibilities
 asking1 with unaffected surprise and   
the air of offended virtue1 ,what6 am   
not ,i sincere8 ,spiritual ,paralysis1  
,i say1 nothing left but a ,mechanical  
life1 was the characteristic of that    
century4 ,for the common man1 unless    
happily he stood below his century and  
belonged to another prior one1 it was   
impossible to be a ,believer1 a ,hero2  
he lay buried1 unconscious1 under these 
baleful influences4 ,to the strongest   
man1 only with infinite struggle and    
confusion was it possible to work       
himself half-loose2 and lead as it were1
 in an enchanted1 most tragical way1 a  
spiritual death-in-life1 and be a       
,half-,hero6  ,scepticism is the name we
 give to all this2 as the chief symptom1

 as the chief origin of all this4       
,concerning which so much were to be    
said6 ,it would take many ,discourses1  
not a small fraction of one ,discourse1 
to state what one feels about that      
,eighteenth ,century and its ways4 ,as  
indeed this1 and the like of this1 which
 we now call ,scepticism1 is precisely  
the black malady and life-foe1 against  
which all teaching and discoursing since
 man's life began has directed itself3  
the battle of ,belief against ,unbelief 
is the never-ending battle6 ,neither is 
it in the way of crimination that one   
would wish to speak4 ,scepticism1 for   
that century1 we must consider as the   
decay of old ways of believing1 the     
preparation afar off for new better and 
wider ways1--an inevitable thing4 ,we   
will not blame men for it2 we will      
lament their hard fate4 ,we will        
understand that destruction of old forms
 is not destruction of everlasting      
substances2 that ,scepticism1 as        
sorrowful and hateful as we see it1 is  

not an end but a beginning4  ,the other 
day speaking1 without prior purpose that
 way1 of ,bentham's theory of man and   
man's life1 ,i chanced to call it a more
 beggarly one than ,mahomet's4 ,i am    
bound to say1 now when it is once       
uttered1 that such is my deliberate     
opinion4 ,not that one would mean       
offence against the man ,jeremy         
,bentham1 or those who respect and      
believe him4 ,bentham himself1 and even 
the creed of ,bentham1 seems to me      
comparatively worthy of praise4 ,it is a
 determinate being what all the world1  
in a cowardly1 half-and-half manner1 was
 tending to be4 ,let us have the crisis2
 we shall either have death or the cure4
 ,i call this gross1 steam-engine       
,utilitarianism an approach towards new 
,faith4 ,it was a laying down of cant2 a
 saying to oneself3 ,well then1 this    
world is a dead iron machine1 the god of
 it ,gravitation and selfish ,hunger2   
let us see what1 by checking and        
balancing1 and good adjustment of tooth 

and pinion1 can be made of it6          
,benthamism has something complete1     
manful1 in such fearless committal of   
itself to what it finds true2 you may   
call it ,heroic1 though a ,heroism with 
its eyes put out6 ,it is the culminating
 point1 and fearless ultimatum1 of what 
lay in the half-and-half state1         
pervading man's whole existence in that 
,eighteenth ,century4 ,it seems to me1  
all deniers of ,godhood1 and all        
lip-believers of it1 are bound to be    
,benthamites1 if they have courage and  
honesty4 ,benthamism is an eyeless      
,heroism3 the ,human ,species1 like a   
hapless blinded ,samson grinding in the 
,philistine ,mill1 clasps convulsively  
the pillars of its ,mill2 brings huge   
ruin down1 but ultimately deliverance   
withal4 ,of ,bentham ,i meant to say no 
harm4  ,but this ,i do say1 and would   
wish all men to know and lay to heart1  
that he who discerns nothing but        
,mechanism in the ,universe has in the  
fatalest way missed the secret of the   

,universe altogether4 ,that all ,godhood
 should vanish out of men's conception  
of this ,universe seems to me precisely 
the most brutal error1--,i will not     
disparage ,heathenism by calling it a   
,heathen error1--that men could fall    
into4 ,it is not true2 it is false at   
the very heart of it4 ,a man who thinks 
so will think wrong about all things in 
the world2 this original sin will       
vitiate all other conclusions he can    
form4 ,one might call it the most       
lamentable of delusions1--not forgetting
 ,witchcraft itself6 ,witchcraft        
worshipped at least a living ,devil3 but
 this worships a dead iron ,devil2 no   
,god1 not even a ,devil6--,whatsoever is
 noble1 divine1 inspired1 drops thereby 
out of life4 ,there remains everywhere  
in life a despicable caput-mortuum2 the 
mechanical hull1 all soul fled out of   
it4 ,how can a man act heroically8 ,the 
',doctrine of ,motives' will teach him  
that it is1 under more or less disguise1
 nothing but a wretched love of         

,pleasure1 fear of ,pain2 that ,hunger1 
of applause1 of cash1 of whatsoever     
victual it may be1 is the ultimate fact 
of man's life4 ,atheism1 in             
brief2--which does indeed frightfully   
punish itself4 ,the man1 ,i say1 is     
become spiritually a paralytic man2 this
 god-like ,universe a dead mechanical   
steam-engine1 all working by motives1   
checks1 balances1 and ,i know not what2 
wherein1 as in the detestable belly of  
some ,phalaris'-,bull of his own        
contriving1 he the poor ,phalaris sits  
miserably dying6  ,belief ,i define to  
be the healthy act of a man's mind4 ,it 
is a mysterious indescribable process1  
that of getting to                      
believe2--indescribable1 as all vital   
acts are4 ,we have our mind given us1   
not that it may cavil and argue1 but    
that it may see into something1 give us 
clear belief and understanding about    
something1 whereon we are then to       
proceed to act4 ,doubt1 truly1 is not   
itself a crime4 ,certainly we do not    

rush out1 clutch-up the first thing we  
find1 and straightway believe that6 ,all
 manner of doubt1 inquiry1 ,greek3      
skepsis as it is named1 about all manner
 of objects1 dwells in every reasonable 
mind4 ,it is the mystic working of the  
mind1 on the object it is getting to    
know and believe4 ,belief comes out of  
all this1 above ground1 like the tree   
from its hidden roots4 ,but now if1 even
 on common things1 we require that a man
 keep his doubts silent1 and not babble 
of them till they in some measure become
 affirmations or denials2 how much more 
in regard to the highest things1        
impossible to speak of in words at all6 
,that a man parade his doubt1 and get to
 imagine that debating and logic 7which 
means at best only the manner of telling
 us your thought1 your belief or        
disbelief1 about a thing7 is the triumph
 and true work of what intellect he has3
 alas1 this is as if you should overturn
 the tree1 and instead of green boughs1 
leaves1 and fruits1 show us ugly taloned

 roots turned-up into the air1--and no  
growth1 only death and misery going on6 
,for the ,scepticism1 as ,i said1 is not
 intellectual only2 ,it is moral also2 a
 chronic atrophy and disease of the     
whole soul4 ,a man lives by believing   
something2 not by debating and arguing  
about many things4 ,a sad case for him  
when all that he can manage to believe  
is something he can button in his       
pocket1 and with one or the other organ 
eat and digest6 ,lower than that he will
 not get4 ,we call those ages in which  
he gets so low the mournfulest1 sickest1
 and meanest of all ages4 ,the world's  
heart is palsied1 sick3 how can any limb
 of it be whole8 ,genuine ,acting ceases
 in all departments of the world's work2
 dextrous ,similitude of ,acting begins4
 ,the world's wages are pocketed1 the   
world's work is not done4 ,heroes have  
gone out2 quacks have come in4          
,accordingly1 what ,century1 since the  
end of the ,roman world1 which also was 
a time of scepticism1 simulacra and     

universal decadence1 so abounds with    
,quacks as that ,eighteenth6 ,consider  
them1 with their tumid sentimental      
vapouring about virtue1                 
benevolence1--the wretched              
,quack-squadron1 ,cagliostro at the head
 of them6 ,few men were without         
quackery2 they had got to consider it a 
necessary ingredient and amalgam for    
truth4 ,chatham1 our brave ,chatham     
himself1 comes down to the ,house1 all  
wrapt and bandaged2 he 'has crawled out 
in great bodily suffering1' and so      
on2--forgets1 says ,walpole1 that he is 
acting the sick man2 in the fire of     
debate1 snatches his arm from the sling1
 and oratorically swings and brandishes 
it6 ,chatham himself lives the strangest
 mimetic life1 half hero1 half quack1   
all along4 ,for indeed the world is full
 of dupes2 and you have to gain the     
world's suffrage6 ,how the duties of the
 world will be done in that case1 what  
quantities of error1 which means        
failure1 which means sorrow and misery1 

to some and to many1 will gradually     
accumulate in all provinces of the      
world's business1 we need not compute4  
,it seems to me1 you lay your finger    
here on the heart of the world's        
maladies1 when you call it a ,sceptical 
,world4 ,an insincere world2 a godless  
untruth of a world6 ,it is out of this1 
as ,i consider1 that the whole tribe of 
social pestilences1 ,french             
,revolutions1 ,chartisms1 and what not1 
have derived their being1 their chief   
necessity to be4 ,this must alter4 ,till
 this alter1 nothing can beneficially   
alter4 ,my one hope of the world1 my    
inexpugnable consolation in looking at  
the miseries of the world1 is that this 
is altering4 ,here and there one does   
now find a man who knows1 as of old1    
that this world is a ,truth1 and no     
,plausibility and ,falsity2 that he     
himself is alive1 not dead or paralytic2
 and that the world is alive1 instinct  
with ,godhood1 beautiful and awful1 even
 as in the beginning of days6 ,one man  

once knowing this1 many men1 all men1   
must by and by come to know it4 ,it lies
 there clear1 for whosoever will take   
the spectacles off his eyes and honestly
 look1 to know6 ,for such a man1 the    
,unbelieving ,century1 with its         
unblessed ,products1 is already past3 a 
new century is already come4 ,the old   
unblessed ,products and ,performances1  
as solid as they look1 are ,phantasms1  
preparing speedily to vanish4 ,to this  
and the other noisy1 very great-looking 
,simulacrum with the whole world        
huzzahing at its heels1 he can say1     
composedly stepping aside3 ,thou art not
 true2 thou art not extant1 only        
semblant2 go thy way6--,yes1 hollow     
,formulism1 gross ,benthamism1 and other
 unheroic atheistic ,insincerity is     
visibly and even rapidly declining4 ,an 
unbelieving ,eighteenth ,century is but 
an exception1--such as now and then     
occurs4 ,i prophesy that the world will 
once more become sincere2 a believing   
world3 with many ,heroes in it1 a heroic

 world6 ,it will then be a victorious   
world2 never till then6  ,or indeed what
 of the world and its victories8 ,men   
speak too much about the world4 ,each   
one of us here1 let the world go how it 
will1 and be victorious or not          
victorious1 has he not a ,life of his   
own to lead8 ,one ,life2 a little gleam 
of ,time between two ,eternities2 no    
second chance to us forevermore6 ,it    
were well for us to live not as fools   
and simulacra1 but as wise and          
realities4 ,the world's being saved will
 not save us2 nor the world's being lost
 destroy us4 ,we should look to         
ourselves3 there is great merit here in 
the 'duty of staying at home'6 ,and1 on 
the whole1 to say truth1 ,i never heard 
of 'worlds' being 'saved' in any other  
way4 ,that mania of saving worlds is    
itself a piece of the ,eighteenth       
,century with its windy sentimentalism4 
,let us not follow it too far4 ,for the 
saving of the world ,i will trust       
confidently to the ,maker of the world2 

and look a little to my own saving1     
which ,i am more competent to6--,in     
brief1 for the world's sake1 and for our
 own1 we will rejoice greatly that      
,scepticism1 ,insincerity1 ,mechanical  
,atheism1 with all their poison-dews1   
are going1 and as good as gone4--  ,now 
it was under such conditions1 in those  
times of ,johnson1 that our ,men of     
,letters had to live4 ,times in which   
there was properly no truth in life4    
,old truths had fallen nigh dumb2 the   
new lay yet hidden1 not trying to speak4
 ,that ,man's ,life here below was a    
,sincerity and ,fact1 and would forever 
continue such1 no new intimation1 in    
that dusk of the world1 had yet dawned4 
,no intimation2 not even any ,french    
,revolution1--which we define to be a   
,truth once more1 though a ,truth clad  
in hellfire6 ,how different was the     
,luther's ,pilgrimage1 with its assured 
goal1 from the ,johnson's1 girt with    
mere traditions1 suppositions1 grown now
 incredible1 unintelligible6 ,mahomet's 

,formulas were of 'wood waxed and       
oiled1' and could be burnt out of one's 
way3 poor ,johnson's were far more      
difficult to burn4--,the strong man will
 ever find work1 which means difficulty1
 pain1 to the full measure of his       
strength4 ,but to make-out a victory1 in
 those circumstances of our poor ,hero  
as ,man of ,letters1 was perhaps more   
difficult than in any4 ,not obstruction1
 disorganisation1 ,bookseller ,osborne  
and ,fourpence-halfpenny a day2 not this
 alone2 but the light of his own soul   
was taken from him4 ,no landmark on the 
,earth2 and1 alas1 what is that to      
having no loadstar in the ,heaven6 ,we  
need not wonder that none of those      
,three men rose to victory4 ,that they  
fought truly is the highest praise4     
,with a mournful sympathy we will       
contemplate1 if not three living        
victorious ,heroes1 as ,i said1 the     
,tombs of three fallen ,heroes6 ,they   
fell for us too2 making a way for us4   
,there are the mountains which they     

hurled abroad in their confused ,war of 
the ,giants2 under which1 their strength
 and life spent1 they now lie buried4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,i have already written of these three  
,literary ,heroes1 expressly or         
incidentally2 what ,i suppose is known  
to most of you2 what need not be spoken 
or written a second time4 ,they concern 
us here as the singular ,prophets of    
that singular age2 for such they        
virtually were2 and the aspect they and 
their world exhibit1 under this point of
 view1 might lead us into reflections   
enough6 ,i call them1 all three1        
,genuine ,men more or less2 faithfully1 
for most part unconsciously1 struggling 
to be genuine1 and plant themselves on  
the everlasting truth of things4 ,this  
to a degree that eminently distinguishes
 them from the poor artificial mass of  
their contemporaries2 and renders them  
worthy to be considered as ,speakers1 in
 some measure1 of the everlasting truth1
 as ,prophets in that age of theirs4 ,by

 ,nature herself1 a noble necessity was 
laid on them to be so4 ,they were men of
 such magnitude that they could not live
 on unrealities1--clouds1 froth and all 
inanity gave-way under them3 there was  
no footing for them but on firm earth2  
no rest or regular motion for them1 if  
they got not footing there4 ,to a       
certain extent1 they were ,sons of      
,nature once more in an age of          
,artifice2 once more1 ,original ,men4   
,as for ,johnson1 ,i have always        
considered him to be1 by nature1 one of 
our great ,english souls4 ,a strong and 
noble man2 so much left undeveloped in  
him to the last3 in a kindlier element  
what might he not have been1--,poet1    
,priest1 sovereign ,ruler6 ,on the      
whole1 a man must not complain of his   
'element1' of his 'time1' or the like2  
it is thriftless work doing so4 ,his    
time is bad3 well then1 he is there to  
make it better6--,johnson's youth was   
poor1 isolated1 hopeless1 very          
miserable4 ,indeed1 it does not seem    

possible that1 in any the favourablest  
outward circumstances1 ,johnson's life  
could have been other than a painful    
one4 ,the world might have had more of  
profitable work out of him1 or less2 but
 his effort against the world's work    
could never have been a light one4      
,nature1 in return for his nobleness1   
had said to him1 ,live in an element of 
diseased sorrow4 ,nay1 perhaps the      
sorrow and the nobleness were intimately
 and even inseparably connected with    
each other4 ,at all events1 poor        
,johnson had to go about girt with      
continual hypochondria1 physical and    
spiritual pain4 ,like a ,hercules with  
the burning ,nessus'-shirt on him1 which
 shoots-in on him dull incurable misery3
 the ,nessus'-shirt not to be           
stript-off1 which is his own natural    
skin6 ,in this manner he had to live4   
,figure him there1 with his scrofulous  
diseases1 with his great greedy heart1  
and unspeakable chaos of thoughts2      
stalking mournful as a stranger in this 

,earth2 eagerly devouring what spiritual
 thing he could come at3                
school-languages and other merely       
grammatical stuff1 if there were nothing
 better6 ,the largest soul that was in  
all ,england2 and provision made for it 
of 'fourpence-halfpenny a day4' ,yet a  
giant invincible soul2 a true man's4    
,one remembers always that story of the 
shoes at ,oxford3 the rough1            
seamy-faced1 rawboned ,college ,servitor
 stalking about1 in winter-season1 with 
his shoes worn-out2 how the charitable  
,gentleman ,commoner secretly places a  
new pair at his door2 and the rawboned  
,servitor1 lifting them1 looking at them
 near1 with his dim eyes1 with what     
thoughts1--pitches them out of window6  
,wet feet1 mud1 frost1 hunger or what   
you will2 but not beggary3 we cannot    
stand beggary6 ,rude stubborn self-help 
here2 a whole world of squalor1         
rudeness1 confused misery and want1 yet 
of nobleness and manfulness withal4 ,it 
is a type of the man's life1 this       

pitching-away of the shoes4 ,an original
 man2--not a secondhand1 borrowing or   
begging man4 ,let us stand on our own   
basis1 at any rate6 ,on such shoes as we
 ourselves can get4 ,on frost and mud1  
if you will1 but honestly on that2--on  
the reality and substance which ,nature 
gives us1 not on the semblance1 on the  
thing she has given another than us6--  
,and yet with all this rugged pride of  
manhood and self-help was there ever    
soul more tenderly affectionate1 loyally
 submissive to what was really higher   
than he8 ,great souls are always loyally
 submissive1 reverent to what is over   
them2 only small mean souls are         
otherwise4 ,i could not find a better   
proof of what ,i said the other day1    
,that the sincere man was by nature the 
obedient man2 that only in a ,world of  
,heroes was there loyal ,obedience to   
the ,heroic4 ,the essence of originality
 is not that it be new3 ,johnson        
believed altogether in the old2 he found
 the old opinions credible for him1 fit 

for him2 and in a right heroic manner   
lived under them4 ,he is well worth     
study in regard to that4 ,for we are to 
say that ,johnson was far other than a  
mere man of words and formulas2 he was a
 man of truths and facts4 ,he stood by  
the old formulas2 the happier was it for
 him that he could so stand3 but in all 
formulas that he could stand by1 there  
needed to be a most genuine substance4  
,very curious how1 in that poor         
,paper-age1 so barren1 artificial1      
thick-quilted with ,pedantries1         
,hearsays1 the great ,fact of this      
,universe glared in1 forever wonderful1 
indubitable1 unspeakable1               
divine-infernal1 upon this man too6 ,how
 he harmonised his ,formulas with it1   
how he managed at all under such        
circumstances3 that is a thing worth    
seeing4 ,a thing 'to be looked at with  
reverence1 with pity1 with awe4' ,that  
,church of ,st4 ,clement ,danes1 where  
,johnson still worshipped in the era of 
,voltaire1 is to me a venerable place4  

,it was in virtue of his sincerity1 of  
his speaking still in some sort from the
 heart of ,nature1 though in the current
 artificial dialect1 that ,johnson was a
 ,prophet4 ,are not all dialects        
'artificial'8 ,artificial things are not
 all false2--nay every true ,product of 
,nature will infallibly shape itself2 we
 may say all artificial things are1 at  
the starting of them1 true4 ,what we    
call ',formulas' are not in their origin
 bad2 they are indispensably good4      
,formula is method1 habitude2 found     
wherever man is found4 ,formulas fashion
 themselves as ,paths do1 as beaten     
,highways1 leading towards some sacred  
or high object1 whither many men are    
bent4 ,consider it4 ,one man1 full of   
heartfelt earnest impulse1 finds-out a  
way of doing somewhat1--were it of      
uttering his soul's reverence for the   
,highest1 were it but of fitly saluting 
his fellow-man4 ,an inventor was needed 
to do that1 a poet2 he has articulated  
the dim-struggling thought that dwelt in

 his own and many hearts4 ,this is his  
way of doing that2 these are his        
footsteps1 the beginning of a ',path4'  
,and now see3 the second man travels    
naturally in the footsteps of his       
foregoer1 it is the easiest method4 ,in 
the footsteps of his foregoer2 yet with 
improvements1 with changes where such   
seem good2 at all events with           
enlargements1 the ,path ever widening   
itself as more travel it2--till at last 
there is a broad ,highway whereon the   
whole world may travel and drive4 ,while
 there remains a ,city or ,shrine1 or   
any ,reality to drive to1 at the farther
 end1 the ,highway shall be right       
welcome6 ,when the ,city is gone1 we    
will forsake the ,highway4 ,in this     
manner all ,institutions1 ,practices1   
,regulated ,things in the world have    
come into existence1 and gone out of    
existence4 ,formulas all begin by being 
full of substance2 you may call them the
 skin1 the articulation into shape1 into
 limbs and skin1 of a substance that is 

already there3 they had not been there  
otherwise4 ,idols1 as we said1 are not  
idolatrous till they become doubtful1   
empty for the worshipper's heart4 ,much 
as we talk against ,formulas1 ,i hope no
 one of us is ignorant withal of the    
high significance of true ,formulas2    
that they were1 and will ever be1 the   
indispensablest furniture of our        
habitation in this world4----  ,mark1   
too1 how little ,johnson boasts of his  
'sincerity4' ,he has no suspicion of his
 being particularly sincere1--of his    
being particularly anything6 ,a         
hard-struggling1 weary-hearted man1 or  
'scholar' as he calls himself1 trying   
hard to get some honest livelihood in   
the world1 not to starve1 but to        
live--without stealing6 ,a noble        
unconsciousness is in him4 ,he does not 
'engrave ,truth on his watch-seal2' no1 
but he stands by truth1 speaks by it1   
works and lives by it4 ,thus it ever is4
 ,think of it once more4 ,the man whom  
,nature has appointed to do great things

 is1 first of all1 furnished with that  
openness to ,nature which renders him   
incapable of being insincere6 ,to his   
large1 open1 deep-feeling heart ,nature 
is a ,fact3 all hearsay is hearsay2 the 
unspeakable greatness of this ,mystery  
of ,life1 let him acknowledge it or not1
 nay even though he seem to forget it or
 deny it1 is ever present to            
him1--fearful and wonderful1 on this    
hand and on that4 ,he has a basis of    
sincerity2 unrecognised1 because never  
questioned or capable of question4      
,mirabeau1 ,mahomet1 ,cromwell1         
,napoleon3 all the ,great ,men ,i ever  
heard-of have this as the primary       
material of them4 ,innumerable          
commonplace men are debating1 are       
talking everywhere their commonplace    
doctrines1 which they have learned by   
logic1 by rote1 at secondhand3 to that  
kind of man all this is still nothing4  
,he must have truth2 truth which he     
feels to be true4 ,how shall he stand   
otherwise8 ,his whole soul1 at all      

moments1 in all ways1 tells him that    
there is no standing4 ,he is under the  
noble necessity of being true4          
,johnson's way of thinking about this   
world is not mine1 any more than        
,mahomet's was3 but ,i recognise the    
everlasting element of heart-sincerity  
in both2 and see with pleasure how      
neither of them remains ineffectual4    
,neither of them is as chaff sown2 in   
both of them is something which the     
seed-field will grow4  ,johnson was a   
,prophet to his people2 preached a      
,gospel to them1--as all like him always
 do4 ,the highest ,gospel he preached we
 may describe as a kind of ,moral       
,prudence3 'in a world where much is to 
be done1 and little is to be known1' see
 how you will do it6 ,a thing well worth
 preaching4 ',a world where much is to  
be done1 and little is to be known3' do 
not sink yourselves in boundless        
bottomless abysses of ,doubt1 of        
wretched god-forgetting ,unbelief2--you 
were miserable then1 powerless1 mad3 how

 could you do or work at all8 ,such     
,gospel ,johnson preached and           
taught2--coupled1 theoretically and     
practically1 with this other great      
,gospel1 ',clear your mind of ,cant6'   
,have no trade with ,cant3 stand on the 
cold mud in the frosty weather1 but let 
it be in your own real torn shoes3 'that
 will be better for you1' as ,mahomet   
says6 ,i call this1 ,i call these two   
things joined together1 a great ,gospel1
 the greatest perhaps that was possible 
at that time4  ,johnson's ,writings1    
which once had such currency and        
celebrity1 are now1 as it were1 disowned
 by the young generation4 ,it is not    
wonderful2 ,johnson's opinions are fast 
becoming obsolete3 but his style of     
thinking and of living1 we may hope1    
will never become obsolete4 ,i find in  
,johnson's ,books the indisputablest    
traces of a great intellect and great   
heart3--ever welcome1 under what        
obstructions and perversions soever4    
,they are sincere words1 those of his2  

he means things by them4 ,a wondrous    
buckram style1--the best he could get to
 then2 a measured grandiloquence1       
stepping or rather stalking along in a  
very solemn way1 grown obsolete now2    
sometimes a tumid size of phraseology   
not in proportion to the contents of it3
 all this you will put-up with4 ,for the
 phraseology1 tumid or not1 has always  
something within it4 ,so many beautiful 
styles and books1 with nothing in       
them2--a man is a malefactor to the     
world who writes such6 ,they are the    
avoidable kind6--,had ,johnson left     
nothing but his ,dictionary1 one might  
have traced there a great intellect1 a  
genuine man4 ,looking to its clearness  
of definition1 its general solidity1    
honesty1 insight1 and successful method1
 it may be called the best of all       
,dictionaries4 ,there is in it a kind of
 architectural nobleness2 it stands     
there like a great solid square-built   
edifice1 finished1 symmetrically        
complete3 you judge that a true ,builder

 did it4  ,one word1 in spite of our    
haste1 must be granted to poor ,bozzy4  
,he passes for a mean1 inflated1        
gluttonous creature2 and was so in many 
senses4 ,yet the fact of his reverence  
for ,johnson will ever remain           
noteworthy4 ,the foolish conceited      
,scotch ,laird1 the most conceited man  
of his time1 approaching in such        
awestruck attitude the great dusty      
irascible ,pedagogue in his mean garret 
there3 it is a genuine reverence for    
,excellence2 a worship for ,heroes1 at a
 time when neither ,heroes nor worship  
were surmised to exist4 ,heroes1 it     
would seem exist always1 and a certain  
worship of them6 ,we will also take the 
liberty to deny altogether that of the  
witty ,frenchman1 that no man is a ,hero
 to his valet-de-chambre4 ,or if so1 it 
is not the ,hero's blame1 but the       
,valet's3 that his soul1 namely1 is a   
mean valet-soul6 ,he expects his ,hero  
to advance in royal stage-trappings1    
with measured step1 trains borne behind 

him1 trumpets sounding before him4 ,it  
should stand rather1 ,no man can be a   
,grand-,monarque to his                 
valet-de-chambre4 ,strip your ,louis    
,quatorze of his king-gear1 and there is
 left nothing but a poor forked radish  
with a head fantastically               
carved2--admirable to no valet4 ,the    
,valet does not know a ,hero when he    
sees him6 ,alas1 no3 it requires a kind 
of ,hero to do that2--and one of the    
world's wants1 in this as in other      
senses1 is for the most part want of    
such4  ,on the whole1 shall we not say1 
that ,boswell's admiration was well     
bestowed2 that he could have found no   
soul in all ,england so worthy of       
bending down before8 ,shall we not say1 
of this great mournful ,johnson too1    
that he guided his difficult confused   
existence wisely2 led it well1 like a   
right-valiant man8 ,that waste chaos of 
,authorship by trade2 that waste chaos  
of ,scepticism in religion and politics1
 in life-theory and life-practice2 in   

his poverty1 in his dust and dimness1   
with the sick body and the rusty coat3  
he made it do for him1 like a brave man4
 ,not wholly without a loadstar in the  
,eternal2 he had still a loadstar1 as   
the brave all need to have3 with his eye
 set on that1 he would change his course
 for nothing in these confused vortices 
of the lower sea of ,time4 ',to the     
,spirit of ,lies1 bearing death and     
hunger1 he would in no wise strike his  
flag4' ,brave old ,samuel3 ultimus      
,romanorum6         99       99       99
       99       99  ,of ,rousseau and   
his ,heroism ,i cannot say so much4 ,he 
is not what ,i call a strong man4 ,a    
morbid1 excitable1 spasmodic man2 at    
best1 intense rather than strong4 ,he   
had not 'the talent of ,silence1' an    
invaluable talent2 which few ,frenchmen1
 or indeed men of any sort in these     
times1 excel in6 ,the suffering man     
ought really 'to consume his own smoke2'
 there is no good in emitting smoke till
 you have made it into fire1--which1 in 

the metaphorical sense too1 all smoke is
 capable of becoming6 ,rousseau has not 
depth or width1 not calm force for      
difficulty2 the first characteristic of 
true greatness4 ,a fundamental mistake  
to call vehemence and rigidity strength6
 ,a man is not strong who takes         
convulsion-fits2 though six men cannot  
hold him then4 ,he that can walk under  
the heaviest weight without staggering1 
he is the strong man4 ,we need forever1 
especially in these loud-shrieking days1
 to remind ourselves of that4 ,a man who
 cannot hold his peace1 till the time   
come for speaking and acting1 is no     
right man4  ,poor ,rousseau's face is to
 me expressive of him4 ,a high but      
narrow contracted intensity in it3 bony 
brows2 deep1 straight-set eyes1 in which
 there is something                     
bewildered-looking1--bewildered1 peering
 with lynx-eagerness4 ,a face full of   
misery1 even ignoble misery1 and also of
 the antagonism against that2 something 
mean1 plebeian there1 redeemed only by  

intensity3 the face of what is called a 
,fanatic1--a sadly contracted ,hero6 ,we
 name him here because1 with all his    
drawbacks1 and they are many1 he has the
 first and chief characteristic of a    
,hero3 he is heartily in earnest4 ,in   
earnest1 if ever man was2 as none of    
these ,french ,philosophes were4 ,nay1  
one would say1 of an earnestness too    
great for his otherwise sensitive1      
rather feeble nature2 and which indeed  
in the end drove him into the strangest 
incoherences1 almost delirations4 ,there
 had come1 at last1 to be a kind of     
madness in him3 his ,ideas possessed him
 like demons2 hurried him so about1     
drove him over steep places6--  ,the    
fault and misery of ,rousseau was what  
we easily name by a single word ,egoism2
 which is indeed the source and summary 
of all faults and miseries whatsoever4  
,he had not perfected himself into      
victory over mere ,desire2 a mean       
hunger1 in many sorts1 was still the    
motive principle of him4 ,i am afraid he

 was a very vain man2 hungry for the    
praises of men4 ,you remember ,genlis's 
experience of him4 ,she took ,jean      
,jacques to the ,theatre2 he bargaining 
for a strict incognito1--,he would not  
be seen there for the world6 ,the       
curtain did happen nevertheless to be   
drawn aside3 the ,pit recognised ,jean  
,jacques1 but took no great notice of   
him6 ,he expressed the bitterest        
indignation2 gloomed all evening1 spake 
no other than surly words4 ,the glib    
,countess remained entirely convinced   
that his anger was not at being seen1   
but at not being applauded when seen4   
,how the whole nature of the man is     
poisoned2 nothing but suspicion1        
self-isolation1 fierce moody ways6 ,he  
could not live with anybody4 ,a man of  
some rank from the country1 who visited 
him often1 and used to sit with him1    
expressing all reverence and affection  
for him1 comes one day1 finds ,jean     
,jacques full of the sourest            
unintelligible humour4 ,monsieur1 said  

,jean ,jacques1 with flaming eyes1 ,i   
know why you come here4 ,you come to see
 what a poor life ,i lead2 how little is
 in my poor pot that is boiling there4  
,well1 look into the pot6 ,there is half
 a pound of meat1 one carrot and three  
onions2 that is all3 go and tell the    
whole world that1 if you like1          
,monsieur6--,a man of this sort was far 
gone4 ,the whole world got itself       
supplied with anecdotes for light       
laughter1 for a certain theatrical      
interest1 from these perversions and    
contortions of poor ,jean ,jacques4     
,alas1 to him they were not laughing or 
theatrical2 too real to him6 ,the       
contortions of a dying gladiator3 the   
crowded amphitheatre looks-on with      
entertainment2 but the gladiator is in  
agonies and dying4  ,and yet this       
,rousseau1 as we say1 with his          
passionate appeals to ,mothers1 with his
 ,contrat-social1 with his celebrations 
of ,nature1 even of savage life in      
,nature1 did once more touch upon       

,reality1 struggle towards ,reality2 was
 doing the function of a ,prophet to his
 ,time4 ,as he could1 and as the ,time  
could6 ,strangely through all that      
defacement1 degradation and almost      
madness1 there is in the inmost heart of
 poor ,rousseau a spark of real heavenly
 fire4 ,once more1 out of the element of
 that withered mocking ,philosophism1   
,scepticism and ,persiflage1 there has  
arisen in that man the ineradicable     
feeling and knowledge that this ,life of
 ours is true2 not a ,scepticism1       
,theorem1 or ,persiflage1 but a ,fact1  
an awful ,reality4 ,nature had made that
 revelation to him2 had ordered him to  
speak it out4 ,he got it spoken out2 if 
not well and clearly1 then ill and      
dimly1--as clearly as he could4 ,nay    
what are all errors and perversities of 
his1 even those stealings of ribbons    
aimless confused miseries and           
vagabondisms1 if we will interpret them 
kindly1 but the blinkard dazzlements and
 staggerings to and fro of a man sent on

 an errand he is too weak for1 by a path
 he cannot yet find8 ,men are led by    
strange ways4 ,one should have tolerance
 for a man1 hope of him2 leave him to   
try yet what he will do4 ,while life    
lasts1 hope lasts for every man4  ,of   
,rousseau's literary talents1 greatly   
celebrated still among his countrymen1  
,i do not say much4 ,his ,books1 like   
himself1 are what ,i call unhealthy2 not
 the good sort of ,books4 ,there is a   
sensuality in ,rousseau4 ,combined with 
such an intellectual gift as his1 it    
makes pictures of a certain gorgeous    
attractiveness3 but they are not        
genuinely poetical4 ,not white sunlight3
 something operatic2 a kind of rosepink1
 artificial bedizenment4 ,it is         
frequent1 or rather it is universal1    
among the ,french since his time4       
,madame de ,stal has something of it2   
,st4 ,pierre2 and down onwards to the   
present astonishing convulsionary       
',literature of ,desperation1' it is    
everywhere abundant4 ,that same rosepink

 is not the right hue4 ,look at a       
,shakspeare1 at a ,goethe1 even at a    
,walter ,scott6 ,he who has once seen   
into this1 has seen the difference of   
the ,true from the ,sham-,true1 and will
 discriminate them ever afterwards4  ,we
 had to observe in ,johnson how much    
good a ,prophet1 under all disadvantages
 and disorganisations1 can accomplish   
for the world4 ,in ,rousseau we are     
called to look rather at the fearful    
amount of evil which1 under such        
disorganisation1 may accompany the good4
 ,historically it is a most pregnant    
spectacle1 that of ,rousseau4 ,banished 
into ,paris garrets1 in the gloomy      
company of his own ,thoughts and        
,necessities there2 driven from post to 
pillar2 fretted1 exasperated till the   
heart of him went mad1 he had grown to  
feel deeply that the world was not his  
friend nor the world's law4 ,it was     
expedient1 if anyway possible1 that such
 a man should not have been set in flat 
hostility with the world4 ,he could be  

cooped into garrets1 laughed at as a    
maniac1 left to starve like a wild beast
 in his cage2--but he could not be      
hindered from setting the world on fire4
 ,the ,french ,revolution found its     
,evangelist in ,rousseau4 ,his          
semi-delirious speculations on the      
miseries of civilised life1 the         
preferability of the savage to the      
civilised1 and suchlike1 helped well to 
produce a whole delirium in ,france     
generally4 ,true1 you may well ask1     
,what could the world1 the governors of 
the world1 do with such a man8          
,difficult to say what the governors of 
the world could do with him6 ,what he   
could do with them is unhappily clear   
enough1--guillotine a great many of     
them6 ,enough now of ,rousseau4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,it was a curious phenomenon1 in the    
withered1 unbelieving1 secondhand       
,eighteenth ,century1 that of a ,hero   
starting up1 among the artificial       
pasteboard figures and productions1 in  

the guise of a ,robert ,burns4 ,like a  
little well in the rocky desert         
places1--like a sudden splendour of     
,heaven in the artificial ,vauxhall6    
,people knew not what to make of it4    
,they took it for a piece of the        
,vauxhall fire-work2 alas1 it let itself
 be so taken1 though struggling         
half-blindly1 as in bitterness of death1
 against that6 ,perhaps no man had such 
a false reception from his fellow-men4  
,once more a very wasteful life-drama   
was enacted under the sun4  ,the tragedy
 of ,burns's life is known to all of    
you4 ,surely we may say1 if discrepancy 
between place held and place merited    
constitute perverseness of lot for a    
man1 no lot could be more perverse than 
,burns's4 ,among those secondhand       
acting-figures1 mimes for most part1 of 
the ,eighteenth ,century1 once more a   
giant ,original man2 one of those men   
who reach down to the perennial ,deeps1 
who take rank with the ,heroic among    
men3 and he was born in a poor ,ayrshire

 hut4 ,the largest soul of all the      
,british lands came among us in the     
shape of a hard-handed ,scottish        
,peasant4  ,his ,father1 a poor toiling 
man1 tried various things2 did not      
succeed in any2 was involved in         
continual difficulties4 ,the ,steward1  
,factor as the ,scotch call him1 used to
 send letters and threatenings1 ,burns  
says1 'which threw us all into tears4'  
,the brave1 hard-toiling1 hard-suffering
 ,father1 his brave heroine of a wife2  
and those children1 of whom ,robert was 
one6 ,in this ,earth1 so wide otherwise1
 no shelter for them4 ,the letters      
'threw us all into tears3' figure it4   
,the brave ,father1 ,i say always2--a   
silent ,hero and ,poet2 without whom the
 son had never been a speaking one6     
,burns's ,schoolmaster came afterwards  
to ,london1 learnt what good society    
was2 but declares that in no meeting of 
men did he ever enjoy better discourse  
than at the hearth of this peasant4 ,and
 his poor 'seven acres of               

nursery-ground1'--not that1 nor the     
miserable patch of clay-farm1 nor       
anything he tried to get a living by1   
would prosper with him2 he had a sore   
unequal battle all his days4 ,but he    
stood to it valiantly2 a wise1 faithful1
 unconquerable man2--swallowing-down how
 many sore sufferings daily into        
silence2 fighting like an unseen        
,hero1--nobody publishing newspaper     
paragraphs about his nobleness2 voting  
pieces of plate to him6 ,however1 he was
 not lost3 nothing is lost4 ,robert is  
there2 the outcome of him1--and indeed  
of many generations of such as him4     
,this ,burns appears under every        
disadvantage3 uninstructed1 poor1 born  
only to hard manual toil2 and writing1  
when it came to that1 in a rustic       
special dialect1 known only to a small  
province of the country he lived in4    
,had he written1 even what he did write1
 in the general language of ,england1 ,i
 doubt not he had already become        
universally recognised as being1 or     

capable to be1 one of our greatest men4 
,that he should have tempted so many to 
penetrate through the rough husk of that
 dialect of his1 is proof that there lay
 something far from common within it4   
,he has gained a certain recognition1   
and is continuing to do so over all     
quarters of our wide ,saxon world3      
wheresoever a ,saxon dialect is spoken1 
it begins to be understood1 by personal 
inspection of this and the other1 that  
one of the most considerable ,saxon men 
of the ,eighteenth century was an       
,ayrshire ,peasant named ,robert ,burns4
 ,yes1 ,i will say1 here too was a piece
 of the right ,saxon stuff3 strong as   
the ,harz-rock1 rooted in the depths of 
the world2--rock1 yet with wells of     
living softness in it6 ,a wild impetuous
 whirlwind of passion and faculty       
slumbered quiet there2 such heavenly    
melody dwelling in the heart of it4 ,a  
noble rough genuineness2 homely1 rustic1
 honest2 true simplicity of strength3   
with its lightning-fire1 with its soft  

dewy pity2--like the old ,norse ,thor1  
the ,peasant-god6--  ,burns's ,brother  
,gilbert1 a man of much sense and worth1
 has told me that ,robert1 in his young 
days1 in spite of their hardship1 was   
usually the gayest of speech2 a fellow  
of infinite frolic1 laughter1 sense and 
heart2 far pleasanter to hear there1    
stript cutting peats in the bog1 or     
suchlike1 than he ever afterwards knew  
him4 ,i can well believe it4 ,this basis
 of mirth 7'fond gaillard1' as old      
,marquis ,mirabeau calls it71 a         
primal-element of sunshine and          
joyfulness1 coupled with his other deep 
and earnest qualities1 is one of the    
most attractive characteristics of      
,burns4 ,a large fund of ,hope dwells in
 him2 spite of his tragical history1 he 
is not a mourning man4 ,he shakes his   
sorrows gallantly aside2 bounds forth   
victorious over them4 ,it is as the lion
 shaking 'dew-drops from his mane2' as  
the swift-bounding horse1 that laughs at
 the shaking of the spear4--,but indeed1

 ,hope1 ,mirth1 of the sort like        
,burns's1 are they not the outcome      
properly of warm generous               
affection1--such as is the beginning of 
all to every man8  ,you would think it  
strange if ,i called ,burns the most    
gifted ,british soul we had in all that 
century of his3 and yet ,i believe the  
day is coming when there will be little 
danger in saying so4 ,his writings1 all 
that he did under such obstructions1 are
 only a poor fragment of him4 ,professor
 ,stewart remarked very justly1 what    
indeed is true of all ,poets good for   
much1 that his poetry was not any       
particular faculty2 but the general     
result of a naturally vigorous original 
mind expressing itself in that way4     
,burns's gifts1 expressed in            
conversation1 are the theme of all that 
ever heard him4 ,all kinds of gifts3    
from the gracefulest utterances of      
courtesy1 to the highest fire of        
passionate speech2 loud floods of mirth1
 soft wailings of affection1 laconic    

emphasis1 clear piercing insight2 all   
was in him4 ,witty duchesses celebrate  
him as a man whose speech 'led them off 
their feet4' ,this is beautiful3 but    
still more beautiful that which ,mr4    
,lockhart has recorded1 which ,i have   
more than once alluded to1 ,how the     
waiters and ostlers at inns would get   
out of bed1 and come crowding to hear   
this man speak6 ,waiters and            
ostlers3--they too were men1 and here   
was a man6 ,i have heard much about his 
speech2 but one of the best things ,i   
ever heard of it was1 last year1 from a 
venerable gentleman long familiar with  
him4 ,that it was speech distinguished  
by always having something in it4 ,he   
spoke rather little than much1 this old 
man told me2 sat rather silent in those 
early days1 as in the company of persons
 above him2 and always when he did      
speak1 it was to throw new light on the 
matter4 ,i know not why any one should  
ever speak otherwise6--,but if we look  
at his general force of soul1 his       

healthy robustness everyway1 the rugged 
down-rightness1 penetration1 generous   
valour and manfulness that was in       
him1--where shall we readily find a     
better-gifted man8  ,among the great men
 of the ,eighteenth ,century1 ,i        
sometimes feel as if ,burns might be    
found to resemble ,mirabeau more than   
any other4 ,they differ widely in       
vesture2 yet look at them intrinsically4
 ,there is the same burly thick-necked  
strength of body as of soul2--built1 in 
both cases1 on what the old ,marquis    
calls a fond gaillard4 ,by nature1 by   
course of breeding1 indeed by nation1   
,mirabeau has much more of bluster2 a   
noisy1 forward1 unresting man4 ,but the 
characteristic of ,mirabeau too is      
veracity and sense1 power of true       
insight1 superiority of vision4 ,the    
thing that he says is worth remembering4
 ,it is a flash of insight into some    
object or other3 so do both these men   
speak4 ,the same raging passions2       
capable too in both of manifesting      

themselves as the tenderest noble       
affections4 ,wit1 wild laughter1 energy1
 directness1 sincerity3 these were in   
both4 ,the types of the two men are not 
dissimilar4 ,burns too could have       
governed1 debated in ,national          
,assemblies2 politicised1 as few could4 
,alas1 the courage which had to exhibit 
itself in capture of smuggling schooners
 in the ,solway ,frith2 in keeping      
silence over so much1 where no good     
speech1 but only inarticulate rage was  
possible3 this might have bellowed forth
 ,ushers de ,brz and the like2 and made 
itself visible to all men1 in managing  
of kingdoms1 in ruling of great         
ever-memorable epochs6 ,but they said to
 him reprovingly1 his ,official         
,superiors said1 and wrote3 ',you are to
 work1 not think4' ,of your             
thinking-faculty1 the greatest in this  
land1 we have no need2 you are to gauge 
beer there2 for that only are you       
wanted4 ,very notable2--and worth       
mentioning1 though we know what is to be

 said and answered6 ,as if ,thought1    
,power of ,thinking1 were not1 at all   
times1 in all places and situations of  
the world1 precisely the thing that was 
wanted4 ,the fatal man1 is he not always
 the unthinking man1 the man who cannot 
think and see2 but only grope1 and      
hallucinate1 and missee the nature of   
the thing he works with8 ,he missees it1
 mistakes it as we say2 takes it for one
 thing1 and it is another thing1--and   
leaves him standing like a ,futility    
there6 ,he is the fatal man2 unutterably
 fatal1 put in the high places of       
men4--,why complain of this8 say some3  
,strength is mournfully denied its      
arena2 that was true from of old4       
,doubtless2 and the worse for the arena1
 answer ,i6 ,complaining profits little2
 stating of the truth may profit4 ,that 
a ,europe1 with its ,french ,revolution 
just breaking out1 finds no need of a   
,burns except for gauging beer1--is a   
thing ,i1 for one1 cannot rejoice at6-- 
,once more we have to say here1 that the

 chief quality of ,burns is the         
sincerity of him4 ,so in his ,poetry1 so
 in his ,life4 ,the ,song he sings is   
not of fantasticalities2 it is of a     
thing felt1 really there2 the prime     
merit of this1 as of all in him1 and of 
his ,life generally1 is truth4 ,the     
,life of ,burns is what we may call a   
great tragic sincerity4 ,a sort of      
savage sincerity1--not cruel1 far from  
that2 but wild1 wrestling naked with the
 truth of things4 ,in that sense1 there 
is something of the savage in all great 
men4  ,hero-worship1--,odin1 ,burns8    
,well2 these ,men of ,letters too were  
not without a kind of ,hero-worship3 but
 what a strange condition has that got  
into now6 ,the waiters and ostlers of   
,scotch inns1 prying about the door1    
eager to catch any word that fell from  
,burns1 were doing unconscious reverence
 to the ,heroic4 ,johnson had his       
,boswell for worshipper4 ,rousseau had  
worshippers enough2 princes calling on  
him in his mean garret2 the great1 the  

beautiful doing reverence to the poor   
moonstruck man4 ,for himself a most     
portentous contradiction2 the two ends  
of his life not to be brought into      
harmony4 ,he sits at the tables of      
grandees2 and has to copy music for his 
own living4 ,he cannot even get his     
music copied4 ,by dint of dining out1   
says he1 ,i run the risk of dying by    
starvation at home4 ,for his worshippers
 too a most questionable thing6 ,if     
doing ,hero-worship well or badly be the
 test of vital wellbeing or illbeing to 
a generation1 can we say that these     
generations are very first-rate8--,and  
yet our heroic ,men of ,letters do      
teach1 govern1 are kings1 priests1 or   
what you like to call them2             
intrinsically there is no preventing it 
by any means whatever4 ,the world has to
 obey him who thinks and sees in the    
world4 ,the world can alter the manner  
of that2 can either have it as blessed  
continuous summer sunshine1 or as       
unblessed black thunder and             

tornado1--with unspeakable difference of
 profit for the world6 ,the manner of it
 is very alterable2 the matter and fact 
of it is not alterable by any power     
under the sky4 ,light2 or1 failing that1
 lightning3 the world can take its      
choice4 ,not whether we call an ,odin   
god1 prophet1 priest1 or what we call   
him2 but whether we believe the word he 
tells us3 there it all lies4 ,if it be a
 true word1 we shall have to believe it2
 believing it1 we shall have to do it4  
,what name or welcome we give him or it1
 is a point that concerns ourselves     
mainly4 ,it1 the new ,truth1 new deeper 
revealing of the ,secret of this        
,universe1 is verily of the nature of a 
message from on high2 and must and will 
have itself obeyed4--  ,my last remark  
is on that notablest phasis of ,burns's 
history1--his visit to ,edinburgh4      
,often it seems to me as if his         
demeanour there were the highest proof  
he gave of what a fund of worth and     
genuine manhood was in him4 ,if we think

 of it1 few heavier burdens could be    
laid on the strength of a man4 ,so      
sudden2 all common ,lionism1 which ruins
 innumerable men1 was as nothing to     
this4 ,it is as if ,napoleon had been   
made a ,king of1 not gradually1 but at  
once from the ,artillery ,lieutenancy in
 the ,regiment ,la ,fre4 ,burns1 still  
only in his twenty-seventh year1 is no  
longer even a ploughman2 he is flying to
 the ,west ,indies to escape disgrace   
and a jail4 ,this month he is a ruined  
peasant1 his wages seven pounds a year1 
and these gone from him3 next month he  
is in the blaze of rank and beauty1     
handing down jewelled ,duchesses to     
dinner2 the cynosure of all eyes6       
,adversity is sometimes hard upon a man2
 but for one man who can stand          
prosperity1 there are a hundred that    
will stand adversity4 ,i admire much the
 way in which ,burns met all this4      
,perhaps no man one could point out1 was
 ever so sorely tried1 and so little    
forgot himself4 ,tranquil1 unastonished2

 not abashed1 not inflated1 neither     
awkwardness nor affectation3 he feels   
that he there is the man ,robert ,burns2
 that the 'rank is but the              
guinea-stamp2' that the celebrity is but
 the candle-light1 which will show what 
man1 not in the least make him a better 
or other man6 ,alas1 it may readily1    
unless he look to it1 make him a worse  
man2 a wretched inflated                
wind-bag1--inflated till he burst and   
become a dead lion2 for whom1 as some   
one has said1 'there is no resurrection 
of the body2' worse than a living       
dog6--,burns is admirable here4  ,and   
yet1 alas1 as ,i have observed          
elsewhere1 these ,lion-hunters were the 
ruin and death of ,burns4 ,it was they  
that rendered it impossible for him to  
live6 ,they gathered round him in his   
,farm2 hindered his industry2 no place  
was remote enough from them4 ,he could  
not get his ,lionism forgotten1 honestly
 as he was disposed to do so4 ,he falls 
into discontents1 into miseries1 faults2

 the world getting ever more desolate   
for him2 health1 character1 peace of    
mind all gone2--solitary enough now4 ,it
 is tragical to think of6 ,these men    
came but to see him2 it was out of no   
sympathy with him1 nor no hatred to him4
 ,they came to get a little amusement3  
they got their amusement2--and the      
,hero's life went for it6  ,richter     
says1 in the ,island of ,sumatra1 there 
is a kind of ',light-chafers1' large    
,fire-flies1 which people stick upon    
spits1 and illuminate the ways with at  
night4 ,persons of condition can thus   
travel with a pleasant radiance1 which  
they much admire4 ,great honour to the  
,fire-flies6 ,but--6--     ,,lecture    
,,vi  ,,the ,,hero ,,as ,,king4         
,,cromwell1 ,,napoleon3 ,,modern        
,,revolutionism4  ,friday1 #bbnd ,may   
#ahdj   ,we come now to the last form of
 ,heroism2 that which we call ,kingship4
 ,the ,commander over men2 he to whose  
will our wills are to be subordinated1  
and loyally surrender themselves1 and   

find their welfare in doing so1 may be  
reckoned the most important of ,great   
,men4 ,he is practically the summary for
 us of all the various figures of       
,heroism2 ,priest1 ,teacher1 whatsoever 
of earthly or of spiritual dignity we   
can fancy to reside in a man1 embodies  
itself here1 to command over us1 to     
furnish us with constant practical      
teaching1 to tell us for the day and    
hour what we are to do4 ,he is called   
,rex1 ,regulator1 ,roi3 our own name is 
still better2 ,king1 ,knning1 which     
means ,can-ning1 ,ableman4  ,numerous   
considerations1 pointing towards deep1  
questionable1 and indeed unfathomable   
regions1 present themselves here3 on the
 most of which we must resolutely for   
the present forbear to speak at all4 ,as
 ,burke said that perhaps fair ,trial by
 ,jury was the ,soul of ,government1 and
 that all legislation1 administration1  
parliamentary debating1 and the rest of 
it1 went on1 in 'order to bring twelve  
impartial men into a jury-box2'--so1 by 

much stronger reason1 may ,i say here1  
that the finding of your ,ableman and   
getting him invested with the symbols of
 ability1 with dignity1 worship         
7worth-ship71 royalty1 kinghood1 or     
whatever we call it1 so that he may     
actually have room to guide according to
 his faculty of doing it1--is the       
business1 well or ill accomplished1 of  
all social procedure whatsoever in this 
world6 ,hustings-speeches1              
,parliamentary motions1 ,reform ,bills1 
,french ,revolutions1 all mean at heart 
this2 or else nothing4 ,find in any     
country the ,ablest ,man that exists    
there2 raise him to the supreme place1  
and loyally reverence him3 you have a   
perfect government for that country2 no 
ballot-box1 parliamentary eloquence1    
voting1 constitution-building1 or other 
machinery whatsoever can improve it a   
whit4 ,it is in the perfect state3 an   
ideal country4 ,the ,ablest ,man2 he    
means also the truest-hearted1 justest1 
the ,noblest ,man3 what he tells us to  

do must be precisely the wisest1        
fittest1 that we could anywhere or      
anyhow learn2--the thing which it will  
in all ways behove us1 with right loyal 
thankfulness1 and nothing doubting1 to  
do6 ,our doing and life were then1 so   
far as government could regulate it1    
well regulated2 that were the ideal of  
constitutions4  ,alas1 we know very well
 that ,ideals can never be completely   
embodied in practice4 ,ideals must ever 
lie a very great way off2 and we will   
right thankfully content ourselves with 
any not intolerable approximation       
thereto6 ,let no man1 as ,schiller says1
 too querulously 'measure by a scale of 
perfection the meagre product of        
reality' in this poor world of ours4 ,we
 will esteem him no wise man2 we will   
esteem him a sickly1 discontented1      
foolish man4 ,and yet1 on the other     
hand1 it is never to be forgotten that  
,ideals do exist2 that if they be not   
approximated to at all1 the whole matter
 goes to wreck6 ,infallibly4 ,no        

bricklayer builds a wall perfectly      
perpendicular1 mathematically this is   
not possible2 a certain degree of       
perpendicularity suffices him2 and he1  
like a good bricklayer1 who must have   
done with his job1 leaves it so4 ,and   
yet if he sway too much from the        
perpendicular2 above all1 if he throw   
plummet and level quite away from him1  
and pile brick on brick heedless1 just  
as it comes to hand--6 ,such bricklayer1
 ,i think1 is in a bad way4 ,he has     
forgotten himself3 but the ,law of      
,gravitation does not forget to act on  
him2 he and his wall rush-down into     
confused welter of ruin6--  ,this is the
 history of all rebellions1 ,french     
,revolutions1 social explosions in      
ancient or modern times4 ,you have put  
the too ,unable man at the head of      
affairs6 ,the too ignoble1 unvaliant1   
fatuous man4 ,you have forgotten that   
there is any rule1 or natural necessity 
whatever1 of putting the ,able ,man     
there4 ,brick must lie on brick as it   

may and can4 ,unable ,simulacrum of     
,ability1 quack1 in a word1 must adjust 
himself with quack1 in all manner of    
administration of human things2--which  
accordingly lie unadministered1         
fermenting into unmeasured masses of    
failure1 of indigent misery3 in the     
outward1 and in the inward or spiritual1
 miserable millions stretch-out the hand
 for their due supply1 and it is not    
there4 ,the 'law of gravitation' acts2  
,nature's laws do none of them forget to
 act4 ,the miserable millions           
burst-forth into ,sansculottism1 or some
 other sort of madness2 bricks and      
bricklayers lie as a fatal chaos6--     
,much sorry stuff1 written some hundred 
years ago or more1 about the ',divine   
right of ,kings1' moulders unread now in
 the ,public ,libraries of this country4
 ,far be it from us to disturb the calm 
process by which it is disappearing     
harmlessly from the earth1 in those     
repositories6 ,at the same time1 not to 
let the immense rubbish go without      

leaving us1 as it ought1 some soul of it
 behind--,i will say that it did mean   
something2 something true1 which it is  
important for us and all men to keep in 
mind4 ,to assert that in whatever man   
you chose to lay hold of 7by this or the
 other plan of clutching at him72 and   
clapt a round piece of metal on the head
 of1 and called ,king1--there           
straightway came to reside a divine     
virtue1 so that he became a kind of     
,god1 and a ,divinity inspired him with 
faculty and right to rule over you to   
all lengths3 this1--what can we do with 
this but leave it to rot silently in the
 ,public ,libraries8 ,but ,i will say   
withal1 and that is what these          
,divine-right men meant1 ,that in       
,kings1 and in all human ,authorities1  
and relations that men god-created can  
form among each other1 there is verily  
either a ,divine ,right or else a       
,diabolic ,wrong2 one or the other of   
these two6 ,for it is false altogether1 
what the last ,sceptical ,century taught

 us1 that this world is a steam-engine4 
,there is a ,god in this world2 and a   
,god's-sanction1 or else the violation  
of such1 does look-out from all ruling  
and obedience1 from all moral acts of   
men4 ,there is no act more moral between
 men than that of rule and obedience4   
,woe to him that claims obedience when  
it is not due2 woe to him that refuses  
it when it is6 ,god's law is in that1 ,i
 say1 however the ,parchment-laws may   
run3 there is a ,divine ,right or else a
 ,diabolic ,wrong at the heart of every 
claim that one man makes upon another4  
,it can do none of us harm to reflect on
 this3 in all the relations of life it  
will concern us2 in ,loyalty and        
,royalty1 the highest of these4 ,i      
esteem the modern error1 ,that all goes 
by self-interest and the checking and   
balancing of greedy knaveries1 and that1
 in short1 there is nothing divine      
whatever in the association of men1 a   
still more despicable error1 natural as 
it is to an unbelieving century1 than   

that of a 'divine right' in people      
called ,kings4 ,i say1 ,find me the true
 ,knning1 ,king1 or ,able-man1 and he   
has a divine right over me4 ,that we    
knew in some tolerable measure how to   
find him1 and that all men were ready to
 acknowledge his divine right when      
found3 this is precisely the healing    
which a sick world is everywhere1 in    
these ages1 seeking after6 ,the true    
,king1 as guide of the practical1 has   
ever something of the ,pontiff in       
him1--guide of the spiritual1 from which
 all practice has its rise4 ,this too is
 a true saying1 ,that the ,king is head 
of the ,church4--,but we will leave the 
,polemic stuff of a dead century to lie 
quiet on its bookshelves4         99    
99       99       99       99           
,certainly it is a fearful business1    
that of having your ,ableman to seek1   
and not knowing in what manner to       
proceed about it6 ,that is the world's  
sad predicament in these times of ours4 
,they are times of ,revolution1 and have

 long been4 ,the bricklayer with his    
bricks1 no longer heedful of plummet or 
the law of gravitation1 have toppled1   
tumbled1 and it all welters as we see6  
,but the beginning of it was not the    
,french ,revolution2 that is rather the 
end1 we can hope4 ,it were truer to say1
 the beginning was three centuries      
farther back3 in the ,reformation of    
,luther4 ,that the thing which still    
called itself ,christian ,church had    
become a ,falsehood1 and brazenly went  
about pretending to pardon men's sins   
for metallic coined money1 and to do    
much else which in the everlasting truth
 of ,nature it did not now do3 here lay 
the vital malady4 ,the inward being     
wrong1 all outward went ever more and   
more wrong4 ,belief died away2 all was  
,doubt1 ,disbelief4 ,the builder cast   
away his plummet2 said to himself1 ,what
 is gravitation8 ,brick lies on brick   
there6 ,alas1 does it not still sound   
strange to many of us1 the assertion    
that there is a ,god's truth in the     

business of god-created men2 that all is
 not a kind of grimace1 an 'expediency1'
 diplomacy1 one knows not what6--  ,from
 that first necessary assertion of      
,luther's1 ,you1 self-styled ,papa1 you 
are no ,father in ,god at all2 you      
are--a ,chimera1 whom ,i know not how to
 name in polite language6--from that    
onwards to the shout which rose round   
,camille ,desmoulins in the             
,palais-,royal1 ,aux armes6 when the    
people had burst-up against all manner  
of ,chimeras1--,i find a natural        
historical sequence4 ,that shout too1 so
 frightful1 half-infernal1 was a great  
matter4 ,once more the voice of awakened
 nations2 starting confusedly1 as out of
 nightmare1 as out of death-sleep1 into 
some dim feeling that ,life was real2   
that ,god's-world was not an expediency 
and diplomacy6 ,infernal2--yes1 since   
they would not have it otherwise4       
,infernal1 since not celestial or       
terrestrial6--,hollowness1 insincerity  
has to cease2--sincerity of some sort   

has to begin4 ,cost what it may1 reigns 
of terror1 horrors of ,french           
,revolution or what else1 we have to    
return to truth4 ,here is a ,truth1 as  
,i said3 a ,truth clad in hell-fire1    
since they would not but have it so6--  
,a common theory among considerable     
parties of men in ,england and elsewhere
 used to be1 that the ,french ,nation   
had1 in those days1 as it were gone mad2
 that the ,french ,revolution was a     
general act of insanity1 a temporary    
conversion of ,france and large sections
 of the world into a kind of ,bedlam4   
,the ,event had risen and raged2 but was
 a madness and nonentity1--gone now     
happily into the region of ,dreams and  
the ,picturesque6--,to such comfortable 
philosophers1 the ,three ,days of ,july 
#ahcj must have been a surprising       
phenomenon4 ,here is the ,french ,nation
 risen again1 in musketry and           
death-struggle1 out shooting and being  
shot1 to make that same mad ,french     
,revolution good6 ,the sons and         

grandsons of those men1 it would seem1  
persist in the enterprise3 they do not  
disown it2 they will have it made good2 
will have themselves shot1 if it be not 
made good6 ,to philosophers who had     
made-up their life-system on that       
'madness' quietus1 no phenomenon could  
be more alarming4 ,poor ,niebuhr1 they  
say1 the ,prussian ,professor and       
,historian1 fell broken-hearted in      
consequence2 sickened1 if we can believe
 it1 and died of the ,three ,days6 ,it  
was surely not a very heroic            
death2--little better than ,racine's1   
dying because ,louis ,fourteenth looked 
sternly on him once4 ,the world had     
stood some considerable shocks1 in its  
time2 might have been expected to       
survive the ,three ,days too1 and be    
found turning on its axis after even    
them6 ,the ,three ,days told all mortals
 that the old ,french ,revolution1 mad  
as it might look1 was not a transitory  
ebullition of ,bedlam1 but a genuine    
product of this ,earth where we all     

live2 that it was verily a ,fact1 and   
that the world in general would do well 
everywhere to regard it as such4        
,truly1 without the ,french ,revolution1
 one would not know what to make of an  
age like this at all4 ,we will hail the 
,french ,revolution1 as shipwrecked     
mariners might the sternest rock1 in a  
world otherwise all of baseless sea and 
waves4 ,a true ,apocalypse1 though a    
terrible one1 to this false withered    
artificial time2 testifying once more   
that ,nature is preternatural2 if not   
divine1 then diabolic2 that ,semblance  
is not reality2 that it has to become   
reality1 or the world will take-fire    
under it1--burn it into what it is1     
namely ,nothing6 ,plausibility has      
ended2 empty ,routine has ended2 much   
has ended4 ,this1 as with a ,trump of   
,doom1 has been proclaimed to all men4  
,they are the wisest who will learn it  
soonest4 ,long confused generations     
before it be learned2 peace impossible  
till it be6 ,the earnest man1           

surrounded1 as ever1 with a world of    
inconsistencies1 can await patiently1   
patiently strive to do his work1 in the 
midst of that4 ,sentence of ,death is   
written down in ,heaven against all     
that2 sentence of ,death is now         
proclaimed on the ,earth against it3    
this he with his eyes may see4 ,and     
surely1 ,i should say1 considering the  
other side of the matter1 what enormous 
difficulties lie there1 and how fast1   
fearfully fast1 in all countries1 the   
inexorable demand for solution of them  
is pressing on1--he may easily find     
other work to do than labouring in the  
,sansculottic province at this time of  
day6  ,to me1 in these circumstances1   
that of ',hero-worship' becomes a fact  
inexpressibly precious2 the most        
solacing fact one sees in the world at  
present4 ,there is an everlasting hope  
in it for the management of the world4  
,had all traditions1 arrangements1      
creeds1 societies that men ever         
instituted1 sunk away1 this would       

remain4 ,the certainty of ,heroes being 
sent us2 our faculty1 our necessity1 to 
reverence ,heroes when sent3 it shines  
like a polestar through smoke-clouds1   
dust-clouds1 and all manner of          
down-rushing and conflagration4         
,hero-worship would have sounded very   
strange to those workers and fighters in
 the ,french ,revolution4 ,not reverence
 for ,great ,men2 not any hope or       
belief1 or even wish1 that ,great ,men  
could again appear in the world6        
,nature1 turned into a ',machine1' was  
as if effete now2 could not any longer  
produce ,great ,men3--,i can tell her1  
she may give-up the trade altogether1   
then2 we cannot do without ,great       
,men6--,but neither have ,i any quarrel 
with that of ',liberty and ,equality2'  
with the faith that1 wise great men     
being impossible1 a level immensity of  
foolish small men would suffice4 ,it was
 a natural faith then and there4        
,liberty and ,equality2 no ,authority   
needed any longer4 ,hero-worship1       

reverence for such ,authorities1 has    
proved false1 is itself a falsehood2 no 
more of it6 ,we have had such forgeries1
 we will now trust nothing4 ,so many    
base plated coins passing in the market1
 the belief has now become common that  
no gold any longer exists1--and even    
that we can do very well without gold6  
,i find this1 among other things1 in    
that universal cry of ,liberty and      
,equality2 and find it very natural1 as 
matters then stood4  ,and yet surely it 
is but the transition from false to     
true4 ,considered as the whole truth1 it
 is false altogether2--the product of   
entire sceptical blindness1 as yet only 
struggling to see4 ,hero-worship exists 
forever1 and everywhere3 not ,loyalty   
alone2 it extends from divine adoration 
down to the lowest practical regions of 
life4 ',bending before men1' if it is   
not to be a mere empty grimace1 better  
dispensed with than practised1 is       
,hero-worship1--a recognition that there
 does dwell in that presence of our     

brother something divine2 that every    
created man1 as ,novalis said1 is a     
'revelation in the ,flesh4' ,they were  
,poets too1 that devised all those      
graceful courtesies which make life     
noble6 ,courtesy is not a falsehood or  
grimace2 it need not be such4 ,and      
,loyalty1 religious ,worship itself1 are
 still possible2 nay still inevitable4  
,may we not say1 moreover1 while so many
 of our late ,heroes have worked rather 
as revolutionary men1 that nevertheless 
every ,great ,man1 every genuine man1 is
 by the nature of him a son of ,order1  
not of ,disorder8 ,it is a tragical     
position for a true man to work in      
revolutions4 ,he seems an anarchist2 and
 indeed a painful element of anarchy    
does encumber him at every step1--him to
 whose whole soul anarchy is hostile1   
hateful4 ,his mission is ,order2 every  
man's is4 ,he is here to make what was  
disorderly1 chaotic1 into a thing ruled1
 regular4 ,he is the missionary of      
,order4 ,is not all work of man in this 

world a making of ,order8 ,the carpenter
 finds rough trees3 shapes them1        
constrains them into square fitness1    
into purpose and use4 ,we are all born  
enemies of ,disorder3 it is tragical for
 us all to be concerned in              
image-breaking and down-pulling2 for the
 ,great ,man1 more a man than we1 it is 
doubly tragical4  ,thus too all human   
things1 maddest ,french ,sansculottisms1
 do and must work towards ,order4 ,i    
say1 there is not a man in them1 raging 
in the thickest of the madness1 but is  
impelled withal1 at all moments1 towards
 ,order4 ,his very life means that2     
,disorder is dissolution1 death4 ,no    
chaos but it seeks a centre to revolve  
round4 ,while man is man1 some ,cromwell
 or ,napoleon is the necessary finish of
 a ,sansculottism4--,curious3 in those  
days when ,hero-worship was the most    
incredible thing to every one1 how it   
does come-out nevertheless1 and assert  
itself practically1 in a way which all  
have to credit4 ,divine right1 take it  

on the great scale1 is found to mean    
divine might withal6 ,while old false   
,formulas are getting trampled          
everywhere into destruction1 new genuine
 ,substances unexpectedly unfold        
themselves indestructible4 ,in          
rebellious ages1 when ,kingship itself  
seems dead and abolished1 ,cromwell1    
,napoleon step-forth again as ,kings4   
,the history of these men is what we    
have now to look at1 as our last phasis 
of ,heroism4 ,the old ages are brought  
back to us2 the manner in which ,kings  
were made1 and ,kingship itself first   
took rise1 is again exhibited in the    
history of these ,two4         99       
99       99       99       99  ,we have 
had many civil-wars in ,england2 wars of
 ,red and ,white ,roses1 wars of ,simon 
de ,montfort2 wars enough1 which are not
 very memorable4 ,but that war of the   
,puritans has a significance which      
belongs to no one of the others4        
,trusting to your candour1 which will   
suggest on the other side what ,i have  

not room to say1 ,i will call it a      
section once more of that great         
universal war which alone makes-up the  
true ,history of the ,world1--the war of
 ,belief against ,unbelief6 ,the        
struggle of men intent on the real      
essence of things1 against men intent on
 the semblances and forms of things4    
,the ,puritans1 to many1 seem mere      
savage ,iconoclasts1 fierce destroyers  
of ,forms2 but it were more just to call
 them haters of untrue ,forms4 ,i hope  
we know how to respect ,laud and his    
,king as well as them4 ,poor ,laud seems
 to me to have been weak and            
ill-starred1 not dishonest2 an          
unfortunate ,pedant rather than anything
 worse4 ,his ',dreams' and              
superstitions1 at which they laugh so1  
have an affectionate1 lovable kind of   
character4 ,he is like a                
,college-,tutor1 whose whole world is   
forms1 ,college-rules2 whose notion is  
that these are the life and safety of   
the world4 ,he is placed suddenly1 with 

that unalterable luckless notion of his1
 at the head not of a ,college but of a 
,nation1 to regulate the most complex   
deep-reaching interests of men4 ,he     
thinks they ought to go by the old      
decent regulations2 nay that their      
salvation will lie in extending and     
improving these4 ,like a weak man1 he   
drives with spasmodic vehemence towards 
his purpose2 cramps himself to it1      
heeding no voice of prudence1 no cry of 
pity3 ,he will have his ,college-rules  
obeyed by his ,collegians2 that first2  
and till that1 nothing4 ,he is an       
ill-starred ,pedant1 as ,i said4 ,he    
would have it the world was a ,college  
of that kind1 and the world was not     
that4 ,alas1 was not his doom stern     
enough8 ,whatever wrongs he did1 were   
they not all frightfully avenged on him8
  ,it is meritorious to insist on forms2
 ,religion and all else naturally       
clothes itself in forms4 ,everywhere the
 formed world is the only habitable one4
 ,the naked formlessness of ,puritanism 

is not the thing ,i praise in the       
,puritans2 it is the thing ,i           
pity1--praising only the spirit which   
had rendered that inevitable6 ,all      
substances clothe themselves in forms3  
but there are suitable true forms1 and  
then there are untrue unsuitable4 ,as   
the briefest definition1 one might say1 
,forms which grow round a substance1 if 
we rightly understand that1 will        
correspond to the real nature and       
purport of it1 will be true1 good2 forms
 which are consciously put round a      
substance1 bad4 ,i invite you to reflect
 on this4 ,it distinguishes true from   
false in ,ceremonial ,form1 earnest     
solemnity from empty pageant1 in all    
human things4  ,there must be a         
veracity1 a natural spontaneity in      
forms4 ,in the commonest meeting of men1
 a person making1 what we call1 'set    
speeches1' is not he an offence8 ,in the
 mere drawing-room1 whatsoever          
courtesies you see to be grimaces1      
prompted by no spontaneous reality      

within1 are a thing you wish to get away
 from4 ,but suppose now it were some    
matter of vital concernment1 some       
transcendent matter 7as ,divine ,worship
 is71 about which your whole soul1      
struck dumb with its excess of feeling1 
knew not how to form itself into        
utterance at all1 and preferred formless
 silence to any utterance there         
possible1--what should we say of a man  
coming forward to represent or utter it 
for you in the way of                   
upholsterer-mummery8 ,such a man1--let  
him depart swiftly1 if he love himself6 
,you have lost your only son2 are mute1 
struck down1 without even tears3 an     
importunate man importunately offers to 
celebrate ,funeral ,games for him in the
 manner of the ,greeks6 ,such mummery is
 not only not to be accepted1--it is    
hateful1 unendurable4 ,it is what the   
old ,prophets called ',idolatry1'       
worshipping of hollow shows2 what all   
earnest men do and will reject4 ,we can 
partly understand what those poor       

,puritans meant4 ,laud dedicating that  
,st4 ,catherine ,creed's ,church1 in the
 manner we have it described2 with his  
multiplied ceremonial bowings1          
gesticulations1 exclamations3 surely it 
is rather the rigorous formal ,pedant1  
intent on his ',college-rules1' than the
 earnest ,prophet1 intent on the essence
 of the matter6  ,puritanism found such 
forms insupportable2 trampled on such   
forms2--we have to excuse it for saying1
 ,no form at all rather than such6 ,it  
stood preaching in its bare pulpit1 with
 nothing but the ,bible in its hand4    
,nay1 a man preaching from his earnest  
soul into the earnest souls of men3 is  
not this virtually the essence of all   
,churches whatsoever8 ,the nakedest1    
savagest reality1 ,i say1 is preferable 
to any semblance1 however dignified4    
,besides1 it will clothe itself with due
 semblance by and by1 if it be real4 ,no
 fear of that2 actually no fear at all4 
,given the living man1 there will be    
found clothes for him2 he will find     

himself clothes4 ,but the               
suit-of-clothes pretending that it is   
both clothes and man--6--,we cannot     
'fight the ,french' by                  
three-hundred-thousand red uniforms2    
there must be men in the inside of them6
 ,semblance1 ,i assert1 must actually   
not divorce itself from ,reality4 ,if   
,semblance do1--why then there must be  
men found to rebel against ,semblance1  
for it has become a lie6 ,these two     
,antagonisms at war here1 in the case of
 ,laud and the ,puritans1 are as old    
nearly as the world4 ,they went to      
fierce battle over ,england in that age2
 and fought-out their confused          
controversy to a certain length1 with   
many results for all of us4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,in the  
age which directly followed that of the 
,puritans1 their cause or themselves    
were little likely to have justice done 
them4 ,charles ,second and his          
,rochesters were not the kind of men you
 would set to judge what the worth or   

meaning of such men might have been4    
,that there could be any faith or truth 
in the life of a man1 was what these    
poor ,rochesters1 and the age they      
ushered-in1 had forgotten4 ,puritanism  
was hung on gibbets1--like the bones of 
the leading ,puritans4 ,its work        
nevertheless went on accomplishing      
itself4 ,all true work of a man1 hang   
the author of it on what gibbet you     
like1 must and will accomplish itself4  
,we have our ,habeas-,corpus1 our free  
,representation of the ,people2         
acknowledgment1 wide as the world1 that 
all men are1 or else must1 shall1 and   
will become1 what we call free men2--men
 with their life grounded on reality and
 justice1 not on tradition1 which has   
become unjust and a chimera6 ,this in   
part and much besides this1 was the work
 of the ,puritans4  ,and indeed1 as     
these things became gradually manifest1 
the character of the ,puritans began to 
clear itself4 ,their memories were1 one 
after another1 taken down from the      

gibbet2 nay a certain portion of them   
are now1 in these days1 as good as      
canonised4 ,eliot1 ,hampden1 ,pym1 nay  
,ludlow1 ,hutchinson1 ,vane himself1 are
 admitted to be a kind of ,heroes2      
political ,conscript ,fathers1 to whom  
in no small degree we owe what makes us 
a free ,england3 it would not be safe   
for anybody to designate these men as   
wicked now4 ,few ,puritans of note but  
find their apologists somewhere1 and    
have a certain reverence paid them by   
earnest men4 ,one ,puritan1 ,i think1   
and almost he alone1 our poor ,cromwell1
 seems to hang yet on the gibbet1 and   
find no hearty apologist anywhere4 ,him 
neither saint nor sinner will acquit of 
great wickedness4 ,a man of ability1    
infinite talent1 courage1 and so forth3 
but he betrayed the ,cause4 ,selfish    
ambition1 dishonesty1 duplicity2 a      
fierce1 coarse1 hypocritical ,tartufe2  
turning all that noble ,struggle for    
constitutional ,liberty into a sorry    
farce played for his own benefit3 this  

and worse is the character they give of 
,cromwell4 ,and then there come         
contrasts with ,washington and others2  
above all1 with these noble ,pyms and   
,hampdens1 whose noble work he stole for
 himself1 and ruined into a futility and
 deformity4  ,this view of ,cromwell    
seems to me the not unnatural product of
 a century like the ,eighteenth4 ,as we 
said of the ,valet1 so of the ,sceptic3 
,he does not know a ,hero when he sees  
him6 ,the ,valet expected purple        
mantles1 gilt sceptres1 body-guards and 
flourishes of trumpets3 the ,sceptic of 
the ,eighteenth century looks for       
regulated respectable ,formulas1        
',principles1' or what else he may call 
them2 a style of speech and conduct     
which has got to seem 'respectable1'    
which can plead for itself in a handsome
 articulate manner1 and gain the        
suffrages of an enlightened sceptical   
,eighteenth century6 ,it is1 at bottom1 
the same thing that both the ,valet and 
he expect3 the garnitures of some       

acknowledged royalty1 which then they   
will acknowledge6 ,the ,king coming to  
them in the rugged unformulistic state  
shall be no ,king4  ,for my own share1  
far be it from me to say or insinuate a 
word of disparagement against such      
characters as ,hampden1 ,eliot1 ,pym2   
whom ,i believe to have been right      
worthy and useful men4 ,i have read     
diligently what books and documents     
about them ,i could come at2--with the  
honestest wish to admire1 to love and   
worship them like ,heroes2 but ,i am    
sorry to say1 if the real truth must be 
told1 with very indifferent success6 ,at
 bottom1 ,i found that it would not do4 
,they are very noble men1 these2 step   
along in their stately way1 with their  
measured euphemisms1 philosophies1      
parliamentary eloquences1 ,ship-moneys1 
,monarchies of ,man2 a most             
constitutional1 unblamable1 dignified   
set of men4 ,but the heart remains cold 
before them2 the fancy alone endeavours 
to get-up some worship of them4 ,what   

man's heart does1 in reality1           
break-forth into any fire of brotherly  
love for these men8 ,they are become    
dreadfully dull men6 ,one breaks-down   
often enough in the constitutional      
eloquence of the admirable ,pym1 with   
his 'seventhly and lastly4' ,you find   
that it may be the admirablest thing in 
the world1 but that it is heavy1--heavy 
as lead1 barren as brick-clay2 that1 in 
a word1 for you there is little or      
nothing now surviving there6 ,one leaves
 all these ,nobilities standing in their
 niches of honour3 the rugged out-cast  
,cromwell1 he is the man of them all in 
whom one still finds human stuff4 ,the  
great savage ,baresark3 he could write  
no euphemistic ,monarchy of ,man2 did   
not speak1 did not work with glib       
regularity2 had no straight story to    
tell for himself anywhere4 ,but he stood
 bare1 not cased in euphemistic         
coat-of-mail2 he grappled like a giant1 
face to face1 heart to heart1 with the  
naked truth of things6 ,that1 after all1

 is the sort of man for one4 ,i plead   
guilty to valuing such a man beyond all 
other sorts of men4 ,smooth-shaven      
,respectabilities not a few one finds1  
that are not good for much4 ,small      
thanks to a man for keeping his hands   
clean1 who would not touch the work but 
with gloves on6  ,neither1 on the whole1
 does this constitutional tolerance of  
the ,eighteenth century for the other   
happier ,puritans seem to be a very     
great matter4 ,one might say1 it is but 
a piece of ,formulism and ,scepticism1  
like the rest4 ,they tell us1 ,it was a 
sorrowful thing to consider that the    
foundation of our ,english ,liberties   
should have been laid by                
',superstition4' ,these ,puritans came  
forward with ,calvinistic incredible    
,creeds1 ,anti-,laudisms1 ,westminster  
,confessions2 demanding1 chiefly of all1
 that they should have liberty to       
worship in their own way4 ,liberty to   
tax themselves3 that was the thing they 
should have demanded6 ,it was           

,superstition1 ,fanaticism1 disgraceful 
,ignorance of ,constitutional           
,philosophy to insist on the other      
thing6--,liberty to tax oneself8 ,not to
 pay-out money from your pocket except  
on reason shown8 ,no century1 ,i think1 
but a rather barren one would have fixed
 on that as the first right of man6 ,i  
should say1 on the contrary1 ,a just man
 will generally have better cause than  
money in what shape soever1 before      
deciding to revolt against his          
,government4 ,ours is a most confused   
world2 in which a good man will be      
thankful to see any kind of ,government 
maintain itself in a not insupportable  
manner2 and here in ,england1 to this   
hour1 if he is not ready to pay a great 
many taxes which he can see very small  
reason in1 it will not go well with him1
 ,i think6 ,he must try some other      
climate than this4 ,taxgatherer8 ,money8
 ,he will say3 ,take my money1 since you
 can1 and it is so desirable to you2    
take it1--and take yourself away with   

it2 and leave me alone to my work here4 
,i am still here2 can still work1 after 
all the money you have taken from me6   
,but if they come to him1 and say1      
,acknowledge a ,lie2 pretend to say you 
are worshipping ,god1 when you are not  
doing it3 believe not the thing that you
 find true1 but the thing that ,i find1 
or pretend to find true6 ,he will       
answer3 ,no2 by ,god's help1 no6 ,you   
may take my purse2 but ,i cannot have my
 moral ,self annihilated4 ,the purse is 
any ,highwayman's who might meet me with
 a loaded pistol3 but the ,self is mine 
and ,god my ,maker's2 it is not yours2  
and ,i will resist you to the death1 and
 revolt against you1 and1 on the whole1 
front all manner of extremities1        
accusations and confusions1 in defence  
of that6--  ,really1 it seems to me the 
one reason which could justify          
revolting1 this of the ,puritans4 ,it   
has been the soul of all just revolts   
among men4 ,not ,hunger alone produced  
even the ,french ,revolution3 no1 but   

the feeling of the insupportable        
all-pervading ,falsehood which had now  
embodied itself in ,hunger1 in universal
 material ,scarcity and ,nonentity1 and 
thereby become indisputably false in the
 eyes of all6 ,we will leave the        
,eighteenth century with its 'liberty to
 tax itself4' ,we will not astonish     
ourselves that the meaning of such men  
as the ,puritans remained dim to it4 ,to
 men who believe in no reality at all1  
how shall a real human soul1 the        
intensest of all realities1 as it were  
the ,voice of this world's ,maker still 
speaking to us1--be intelligible8 ,what 
it cannot reduce into constitutional    
doctrines relative to 'taxing1' or other
 the like material interest1 gross1     
palpable to the sense1 such a century   
will needs reject as an amorphous heap  
of rubbish4 ,hampdens1 ,pyms1 and       
,ship-money will be the theme of much   
constitutional eloquence1 striving to be
 fervid2--which will glitter1 if not as 
fire does1 then as ice does3 and the    

irreducible ,cromwell will remain a     
chaotic mass of 'madness1' 'hypocrisy1' 
and much else4         99       99      
99       99       99  ,from of old1 ,i  
will confess1 this theory of ,cromwell's
 falsity has been incredible to me4 ,nay
 ,i cannot believe the like1 of any     
,great ,man whatever4 ,multitudes of    
,great ,men figure in ,history as false 
selfish men2 but if we will consider it1
 they are but figures for us1           
unintelligible shadows2 we do not see   
into them as men that could have existed
 at all4 ,a superficial unbelieving     
generation only1 with no eye but for the
 surfaces and semblances of things1     
could form such notions of ,great ,men4 
,can a great soul be possible without a 
conscience in it1 the essence of all    
real souls1 great or small8--,no1 we    
cannot figure ,cromwell as a ,falsity   
and ,fatuity2 the longer ,i study him   
and his career1 ,i believe this the     
less4 ,why should we8 ,there is no      
evidence of it4 ,is it not strange that1

 after all the mountains of calumny this
 man has been subject to1 after being   
represented as the very prince of liars1
 who never1 or hardly ever1 spoke truth1
 but always some cunning counterfeit of 
truth1 there should not yet have been   
one falsehood brought clearly home to   
him8 ,a prince of liars1 and no lie     
spoken by him4 ,not one that ,i could   
yet get sight of4 ,it is like ,pococke  
asking ,grotius1 ,where is your proof of
 ,mahomet's ,pigeon8 ,no proof6--,let us
 leave all these calumnious chimeras1 as
 chimeras ought to be left4 ,they are   
not portraits of the man2 they are      
distracted phantasms of him1 the joint  
product of hatred and darkness4         
,looking at the man's life with our own 
eyes1 it seems to me1 a very different  
hypothesis suggests itself4 ,what little
 we know of his earlier obscure years1  
distorted as it has come down to us1    
does it not all betoken an earnest1     
affectionate1 sincere kind of man8 ,his 
nervous melancholic temperament         

indicates rather a seriousness too deep 
for him4 ,of those stories of           
',spectres2' of the white ,spectre in   
broad daylight1 predicting that he      
should be ,king of ,england1 we are not 
bound to believe much2--probably no more
 than of the other black ,spectre1 or   
,devil in person1 to whom the ,officer  
saw him sell himself before ,worcester  
,fight6 ,but the mournful1              
over-sensitive1 hypochondriac humour of 
,oliver1 in his young years1 is         
otherwise indisputably known4 ,the      
,huntingdon ,physician told ,sir ,philip
 ,warwick himself1 ,he had often been   
sent for at midnight2 ,mr4 ,cromwell was
 full of hypochondria1 thought himself  
near dying1 and had fancies about the   
,town-cross4 ,these things are          
significant4 ,such an excitable         
deep-feeling nature1 in that rugged     
stubborn strength of his1 is not the    
symptom of falsehood2 it is the symptom 
and promise of quite other than         
falsehood6  ,the young ,oliver is sent  

to study ,law2 falls1 or is said to have
 fallen1 for a little period1 into some 
of the dissipations of youth2 but if so1
 speedily repents1 abandons all this3   
not much above twenty1 he is married1   
settled as an altogether grave and quiet
 man4 ',he pays-back what money he had  
won at gambling1' says the story2--he   
does not think any gain of that kind    
could be really his4 ,it is very        
interesting1 very natural1 this         
'conversion1' as they well name it2 this
 awakening of a great true soul from the
 worldly slough1 to see into the awful  
truth of things2--to see that time and  
its shows all rested on ,eternity1 and  
this poor ,earth of ours was the        
threshold either of ,heaven or of ,hell6
 ,oliver's life at ,st ,ives or ,ely1 as
 a sober industrious ,farmer1 is it not 
altogether as that of a true and devout 
man8 ,he has renounced the world and its
 ways2 its prizes are not the thing that
 can enrich him4 ,he tills the earth2 he
 reads his ,bible2 daily assembles his  

servants round him to worship ,god4 ,he 
comforts persecuted ministers1 is fond  
of preachers2 nay can himself           
preach1--exhorts his neighbours to be   
wise1 to redeem the time4 ,in all this  
what 'hypocrisy1' 'ambition1' 'cant1' or
 other falsity8 ,the man's hopes1 ,i do 
believe1 were fixed on the other ,higher
 ,world2 his aim to get well thither1 by
 walking well through his humble course 
in this world4 ,he courts no notice3    
what could notice here do for him8      
',ever in his great ,taskmaster's eye4' 
,it is striking1 too1 how he comes-out  
once into public view2 he1 since no     
other is willing to come3 in resistance 
to a public grievance4 ,i mean1 in that 
matter of the ,bedford ,fens4 ,no one   
else will go to law with ,authority2    
therefore he will4 ,that matter once    
settled1 he returns back into obscurity1
 to his ,bible and his ,plough4 ',gain  
influence'8 ,his influence is the most  
legitimate2 derived from personal       
knowledge of him1 as a just1 religious1 

reasonable and determined man4 ,in this 
way he has lived till past forty2 old   
age is now in view of him1 and the      
earnest portal of ,death and ,eternity2 
it was at this point that he suddenly   
became 'ambitious'6 ,i do not interpret 
his ,parliamentary mission in that way6 
,his successes in ,parliament1 his      
successes through the war1 are honest   
successes of a brave man2 who has more  
resolution in the heart of him1 more    
light in the head of him than other men4
 ,his prayers to ,god2 his spoken thanks
 to the ,god of ,victory1 who had       
preserved him safe1 and carried him     
forward so far1 through the furious     
clash of a world all set in conflict1   
through desperate-looking envelopments  
at ,dunbar2 through the death-hail of so
 many battles2 mercy after mercy2 to the
 'crowning mercy' of ,worcester ,fight3 
all this is good and genuine for a      
deep-hearted ,calvinistic ,cromwell4    
,only to vain unbelieving ,cavaliers1   
worshipping not ,god but their own      

'lovelocks1' frivolities and            
formalities1 living quite apart from    
contemplations of ,god1 living without  
,god in the world1 need it seem         
hypocritical4  ,nor will his            
participation in the ,king's death      
involve him in condemnation with us4 ,it
 is a stern business killing of a ,king6
 ,but if you once go to war with him1 it
 lies there2 this and all else lies     
there4 ,once at war1 you have made wager
 of battle with him3 it is he to die1 or
 else you4 ,reconciliation is           
problematic2 may be possible1 or1 far   
more likely1 is impossible4 ,it is now  
pretty generally admitted that the      
,parliament1 having vanquished ,charles 
,first1 had no way of making any tenable
 arrangement with him4 ,the large       
,presbyterian party1 apprehensive now of
 the ,independents1 were most anxious to
 do so2 anxious indeed as for their own 
existence2 but it could not be4 ,the    
unhappy ,charles1 in those final        
,hampton-,court negotiations1 shows     

himself as a man fatally incapable of   
being dealt with4 ,a man who1 once for  
all1 could not and would not            
understand3--whose thought did not in   
any measure represent to him the real   
fact of the matter2 nay worse1 whose    
word did not at all represent his       
thought4 ,we may say this of him without
 cruelty1 with deep pity rather3 but it 
is true and undeniable4 ,forsaken there 
of all but the name of ,kingship1 he    
still1 finding himself treated with     
outward respect as a ,king1 fancied that
 he might play-off party against party1 
and smuggle himself into his old power  
by deceiving both4 ,alas1 they both     
discovered that he was deceiving them4  
,a man whose word will not inform you at
 all what he means or will do1 is not a 
man you can bargain with4 ,you must get 
out of that man's way1 or put him out of
 yours6 ,the ,presbyterians1 in their   
despair1 were still for believing       
,charles1 though found false1           
unbelievable again and again4 ,not so   

,cromwell3 ,for all our fighting1 says  
he1 we are to have a little bit of      
paper8 ,no6--  ,in fact1 everywhere we  
have to note the decisive practical eye 
of this man2 how he drives towards the  
practical and practicable2 has a genuine
 insight into what is fact4 ,such an    
intellect1 ,i maintain1 does not belong 
to a false man3 the false man sees false
 shows1 plausibilities1 expediences3 the
 true man is needed to discern even     
practical truth4 ,cromwell's advice     
about the ,parliament's ,army1 early in 
the contest1 ,how they were to dismiss  
their city-tapsters1 flimsy riotous     
persons1 and choose substantial yeomen1 
whose heart was in the work1 to be      
soldiers for them3 this is advice by a  
man who saw4 ,fact answers1 if you see  
into ,fact4 ,cromwell's ,ironsides were 
the embodiment of this insight of his2  
men fearing ,god2 and without any other 
fear4 ,no more conclusively genuine set 
of fighters ever trod the soil of       
,england1 or of any other land4         

,neither will we blame greatly that word
 of ,cromwell's to them2 which was so   
blamed3 ,if the ,king should meet me in 
battle1 ,i would kill the ,king4 ,why   
not8 ,these words were spoken to men who
 stood as before a ,higher than ,kings4 
,they had set more than their own lives 
on the cast4 ,the ,parliament may call  
it1 in official language1 a fighting    
'for the ,king2' but we1 for our share1 
cannot understand that4 ,to us it is no 
dilettante work1 no sleek officiality2  
it is sheer rough death and earnest4    
,they have brought it to the            
calling-forth of ,war2 horrid           
internecine fight1 man grappling with   
man in fire-eyed rage1--the infernal    
element in man called forth1 to try it  
by that6 ,do that therefore2 since that 
is the thing to be done4--,the successes
 of ,cromwell seem to me a very natural 
thing6 ,since he was not shot in battle1
 they were an inevitable thing4 ,that   
such a man1 with the eye to see1 with   
the heart to dare1 should advance1 from 

post to post1 from victory to victory1  
till the ,huntingdon ,farmer became1 by 
whatever name you might call him1 the   
acknowledged ,strongest ,man in         
,england1 virtually the ,king of        
,england1 requires no magic to explain  
it6--  ,truly it is a sad thing for a   
people1 as for a man1 to fall into      
,scepticism1 into dilettantism1         
insincerity2 not to know a ,sincerity   
when they see it4 ,for this world1 and  
for all worlds1 what curse is so fatal8 
,the heart lying dead1 the eye cannot   
see4 ,what intellect remains is merely  
the vulpine intellect4 ,that a true     
,king be sent them is of small use2 they
 do not know him when sent4 ,they say   
scornfully1 ,is this your ,king8 ,the   
,hero wastes his heroic faculty in      
bootless contradiction from the         
unworthy2 and can accomplish little4    
,for himself he does accomplish a heroic
 life1 which is much1 which is all2 but 
for the world he accomplishes           
comparatively nothing4 ,the wild rude   

,sincerity1 direct from ,nature1 is not 
glib in answering from the witness-box2 
in your small-debt pie-powder court1 he 
is scouted as a counterfeit4 ,the       
vulpine intellect 'detects' him4 ,for   
being a man worth any thousand men1 the 
response1 your ,knox1 your ,cromwell    
gets1 is an argument for two centuries1 
whether he was a man at all4 ,god's     
greatest gift to this ,earth is         
sneeringly flung away4 ,the miraculous  
talisman is a paltry plated coin1 not   
fit to pass in the shops as a common    
guinea4  ,lamentable this6 ,i say1 this 
must be remedied4 ,till this be remedied
 in some measure1 there is nothing      
remedied4 ',detect quacks'8 ,yes do1 for
 ,heaven's sake2 but know withal the men
 that are to be trusted6 ,till we know  
that1 what is all our knowledge2 how    
shall we even so much as 'detect'8 ,for 
the vulpine sharpness1 which considers  
itself to be knowledge1 and 'detects' in
 that fashion1 is far mistaken4 ,dupes  
indeed are many3 but1 of all dupes1     

there is none so fatally situated as he 
who lives in undue terror of being      
duped4 ,the world does exist2 the world 
has truth in it or it would not exist6  
,first recognise what is true1 we shall 
then discern what is false2 and properly
 never till then4  ',know the men that  
are to be trusted3' alas1 this is yet1  
in these days1 very far from us4 ,the   
sincere alone can recognise sincerity4  
,not a ,hero only is needed1 but a world
 fit for him2 a world not of            
,valets2--the ,hero comes almost in vain
 to it otherwise6 ,yes1 it is far from  
us3 but it must come2 thank ,god1 it is 
visibly coming4 ,till it do come1 what  
have we8 ,ballot-boxes1 suffrages1      
,french ,revolutions3--if we are as     
,valets1 and do not know the ,hero when 
we see him1 what good are all these8 ,a 
heroic ,cromwell comes2 and for a       
hundred-and-fifty years he cannot have a
 vote from us4 ,why1 the insincere1     
unbelieving world is the natural        
property of the ,quack1 and of the      

,father of quacks and quackeries6       
,misery1 confusion1 unveracity are alone
 possible there4 ,by ballot-boxes we    
alter the figure of our ,quack2 but the 
substance of him continues4 ,the        
,valet-,world has to be governed by the 
,sham-,hero1 by the ,king merely dressed
 in ,king-gear4 ,it is his2 he is its6  
,in brief1 one of two things3 ,we shall 
either learn to know a ,hero1 a true    
,governor and ,captain1 somewhat better1
 when we see him2 or else go on to be   
forever governed by the ,unheroic2--had 
we ballot-boxes clattering at every     
street-corner1 there were no remedy in  
these4  ,poor ,cromwell1--great         
,cromwell6 ,the inarticulate ,prophet2  
,prophet who could not speak4 ,rude1    
confused1 struggling to utter himself1  
with his savage depth1 with his wild    
sincerity2 and he looked so strange1    
among the elegant ,euphemisms1 dainty   
little ,falklands1 didactic             
,chillingworths1 diplomatic ,clarendons6
 ,consider him4 ,an outer hull of       

chaotic confusion1 visions of the       
,devil1 nervous dreams1 almost          
semi-madness2 and yet such a clear      
determinate man's-energy working in the 
heart of that4 ,a kind of chaotic man4  
,the ray as of pure starlight and fire1 
working in such an element of boundless 
hypochondria1 unformed black of         
darkness6 ,and yet withal this          
hypochondria1 what was it but the very  
greatness of the man8 ,the depth and    
tenderness of his wild affections3 the  
quantity of sympathy he had with        
things1--the quantity of insight he     
would yet get into the heart of things1 
the mastery he would yet get over       
things3 this was his hypochondria4 ,the 
man's misery1 as man's misery always    
does1 came of his greatness4 ,samuel    
,johnson too is that kind of man4       
,sorrow-stricken1 half-distracted2 the  
wide element of mournful black          
enveloping him1--wide as the world4 ,it 
is the character of a prophetic man2 a  
man with his whole soul seeing1 and     

struggling to see4  ,on this ground1    
too1 ,i explain to myself ,cromwell's   
reputed confusion of speech4 ,to himself
 the internal meaning was sun-clear2 but
 the material with which he was to      
clothe it in utterance was not there4   
,he had lived silent2 a great unnamed   
sea of ,thought round him all his days2 
and in his way of life little call to   
attempt naming or uttering that4 ,with  
his sharp power of vision1 resolute     
power of action1 ,i doubt not he could  
have learned to write ,books withal1 and
 speak fluently enough3--he did harder  
things than writing of ,books4 ,this    
kind of man is precisely he who is fit  
for doing manfully all things you will  
set him on doing4 ,intellect is not     
speaking and logicising2 it is seeing   
and ascertaining4 ,virtue1 ,vir-tus1    
manhood1 hero-hood1 is not fair-spoken  
immaculate regularity2 it is first of   
all1 what the ,germans well name it1    
,tugend 7,taugend1 dow-ing or           
,dough-tiness71 ,courage and the        

,faculty to do4 ,this basis of the      
matter ,cromwell had in him4  ,one      
understands moreover how1 though he     
could not speak in ,parliament1 he might
 preach1 rhapsodic preaching2 above all1
 how he might be great in extempore     
prayer4 ,these are the free outpouring  
utterances of what is in the heart3     
method is not required in them2 warmth1 
depth1 sincerity are all that is        
required4 ,cromwell's habit of prayer is
 a notable feature of him4 ,all his     
great enterprises were commenced with   
prayer4 ,in dark inextricable-looking   
difficulties1 his ,officers and he used 
to assemble1 and pray alternately1 for  
hours1 for days1 till some definite     
resolution rose among them1 some 'door  
of hope1' as they would name it1        
disclosed itself4 ,consider that4 ,in   
tears1 in fervent prayers1 and cries to 
the great ,god1 to have pity on them1 to
 make ,his light shine before them4     
,they1 armed ,soldiers of ,christ1 as   
they felt themselves to be2 a little    

band of ,christian ,brothers1 who had   
drawn the sword against a great black   
devouring world not ,christian1 but     
,mammonish1 ,devilish1--they cried to   
,god in their straits1 in their extreme 
need1 not to forsake the ,cause that was
 ,his4 ,the light which now rose upon   
them1--how could a human soul1 by any   
means at all1 get better light8 ,was not
 the purpose so formed like to be       
precisely the best1 wisest1 the one to  
be followed without hesitation any more8
 ,to them it was as the shining of      
,heaven's own ,splendour in the         
waste-howling darkness2 the ,pillar of  
,fire by night1 that was to guide them  
on their desolate perilous way4 ,was it 
not such8 ,can a man's soul1 to this    
hour1 get guidance by any other method  
than intrinsically by that same1--devout
 prostration of the earnest struggling  
soul before the ,highest1 the ,giver of 
all ,light2 be such prayer a spoken1    
articulate1 or be it a voiceless1       
inarticulate one8 ,there is no other    

method4 ',hypocrisy'8 ,one begins to be 
weary of all that4 ,they who call it so1
 have no right to speak on such matters4
 ,they never formed a purpose1 what one 
can call a purpose4 ,they went about    
balancing expediences1 plausibilities2  
gathering votes1 advices2 they never    
were alone with the truth of a thing at 
all4--,cromwell's prayers were likely to
 be 'eloquent1' and much more than that4
 ,his was the heart of a man who could  
pray4  ,but indeed his actual ,speeches1
 ,i apprehend1 were not nearly so       
ineloquent1 incondite1 as they look4 ,we
 find he was1 what all speakers aim to  
be1 an impressive speaker1 even in      
,parliament2 one who1 from the first1   
had weight4 ,with that rude passionate  
voice of his1 he was always understood  
to mean something1 and men wished to    
know what4 ,he disregarded eloquence1   
nay despised and disliked it2 spoke     
always without premeditation of the     
words he was to use4 ,the ,reporters1   
too1 in those days seem to have been    

singularly candid2 and to have given the
 ,printer precisely what they found on  
their own notepaper4 ,and withal1 what a
 strange proof is it of ,cromwell's     
being the premeditative ever-calculating
 hypocrite1 acting a play before the    
world1 ,that to the last he took no more
 charge of his ,speeches6 ,how came he  
not to study his words a little1 before 
flinging them out to the public8 ,if the
 words were true words1 they could be   
left to shift for themselves4  ,but with
 regard to ,cromwell's 'lying1' we will 
make one remark4 ,this1 ,i suppose1 or  
something like this1 to have been the   
nature of it4 ,all parties found        
themselves deceived in him2 each party  
understood him to be meaning this1 heard
 him even say so1 and behold he         
turns-out to have been meaning that6 ,he
 was1 cry they1 the chief of liars4 ,but
 now1 intrinsically1 is not all this the
 inevitable fortune1 not of a false man 
in such times1 but simply of a superior 
man8 ,such a man must have reticences in

 him4 ,if he walk wearing his heart upon
 his sleeve for daws to peck at1 his    
journey will not extend far6 ,there is  
no use for any man's taking-up his abode
 in a house built of glass4 ,a man      
always is to be himself the judge how   
much of his mind he will show to other  
men2 even to those he would have work   
along with him4 ,there are impertinent  
inquiries made3 your rule is1 to leave  
the inquirer uninformed on that matter2 
not1 if you can help it1 misinformed2   
but precisely as dark as he was6 ,this1 
could one hit the right phrase of       
response1 is what the wise and faithful 
man would aim to answer in such a case4 
,cromwell1 no doubt of it1 spoke often  
in the dialect of small subaltern       
parties2 uttered to them a part of his  
mind4 ,each little party thought him all
 its own4 ,hence their rage1 one and    
all1 to find him not of their party1 but
 of his own party6 ,was it his blame8   
,at all seasons of his history he must  
have felt1 among such people1 how1 if he

 explained to them the deeper insight he
 had1 they must either have shuddered   
aghast at it1 or believing it1 their own
 little compact hypothesis must have    
gone wholly to wreck4 ,they could not   
have worked in his province any more2   
nay perhaps they could not now have     
worked in their own province4 ,it is the
 inevitable position of a great man     
among small men4 ,small men1 most       
active1 useful1 are to be seen          
everywhere1 whose whole activity depends
 on some conviction which to you is     
palpably a limited one2 imperfect1 what 
we call an error4 ,but would it be a    
kindness always1 is it a duty always or 
often1 to disturb them in that8 ,many a 
man1 doing loud work in the world1      
stands only on some thin traditionality1
 conventionality2 to him indubitable1 to
 you incredible3 break that beneath him1
 he sinks to endless depths6 ,i might   
have my hand full of truth1 said        
,fontenelle1 and open only my little    
finger4  ,and if this be the fact even  

in matters of doctrine1 how much more in
 all departments of practice6 ,he that  
cannot withal keep his mind to himself  
cannot practise any considerable thing  
whatever4 ,and we call it               
'dissimulation1' all this8 ,what would  
you think of calling the general of an  
army a dissembler because he did not    
tell every corporal and private soldier1
 who pleased to put the question1 what  
his thoughts were about                 
everything8--,cromwell1 ,i should rather
 say1 managed all this in a manner we   
must admire for its perfection4 ,an     
endless vortex of such questioning      
'corporals' rolled confusedly round him 
through his whole course2 whom he did   
answer4 ,it must have been as a great   
true-seeing man that he managed this    
too4 ,not one proved falsehood1 as ,i   
said2 not one6 ,of what man that ever   
wound himself through such a coil of    
things will you say so much8--          
99       99       99       99       99  
,but in fact there are two errors1      

widely prevalent1 which pervert to the  
very basis our judgments formed about   
such men as ,cromwell2 about their      
'ambition1' 'falsity1' and such-like4   
,the first is what ,i might call        
substituting the goal of their career   
for the course and starting point of it4
 ,the vulgar ,historian of a ,cromwell  
fancies that he had determined on being 
,protector of ,england1 at the time when
 he was ploughing the marsh lands of    
,cambridgeshire4 ,his career lay all    
mapped-out3 a program of the whole      
drama2 which he then step by step       
dramatically unfolded1 with all manner  
of cunning1 deceptive dramaturgy1 as he 
went on1--the hollow1 scheming ,greek3  
,hypokrits1 or ,play-actor that he was6 
,this is a radical perversion2 all but  
universal in such cases4 ,and think for 
an instant how different the fact is6   
,how much does one of us foresee of his 
own life8 ,short way ahead of us it is  
all dim2 an unwound skein of            
possibilities1 of apprehensions1        

attemptabilities1 vague-looming hopes4  
,this ,cromwell had not his life lying  
all in that fashion of ,program1 which  
he needed then1 with that unfathomable  
cunning of his1 only to enact           
dramatically1 scene after scene6 ,not   
so4 ,we see it so2 but to him it was in 
no measure so4 ,what absurdities would  
fall-away of themselves1 were this one  
undeniable fact kept honestly in view by
 ,history6 ,historians indeed will tell 
you that they do keep it in view2--but  
look whether such is practically the    
fact6 ,vulgar ,history1 as in this      
,cromwell's case1 omits it altogether2  
even the best kinds of ,history only    
remember it now and then4 ,to remember  
it duly with rigorous perfection1 as in 
the fact it stood1 requires indeed a    
rare faculty2 rare1 nay impossible4 ,a  
very ,shakspeare for faculty2 or more   
than ,shakspeare2 who could enact a     
brother-man's biography1 see with the   
brother-man's eyes at all points of his 
course what things he saw2 in short1    

know his course and him1 as few         
',historians' are like to do4 ,half or  
more of all the thick-plied perversions 
which distort our image of ,cromwell1   
will disappear1 if we honestly so much  
as try to represent them so2 in         
sequence1 as they were2 not in the lump1
 as they are thrown-down before us4     
,but a second error1 which ,i think the 
generality commit1 refers to this same  
'ambition' itself4 ,we exaggerate the   
ambition of ,great ,men2 we mistake what
 the nature of it is4 ,great ,men are   
not ambitious in that sense2 he is a    
small poor man that is ambitious so4    
,examine the man who lives in misery    
because he does not shine above other   
men2 who goes about producing himself1  
pruriently anxious about his gifts and  
claims2 struggling to force everybody1  
as it were begging everybody for ,god's 
sake1 to acknowledge him a great man1   
and set him over the heads of men6 ,such
 a creature is among the wretchedest    
sights seen under this sun4 ,a great    

man8 ,a poor morbid prurient empty man2 
fitter for the ward of a hospital1 than 
for a throne among men4 ,i advise you to
 keep-out of his way4 ,he cannot walk on
 quiet paths2 unless you will look at   
him1 wonder at him1 write paragraphs    
about him1 he cannot live4 ,it is the   
emptiness of the man1 not his greatness4
 ,because there is nothing in himself1  
he hungers and thirsts that you would   
find something in him4 ,in good truth1  
,i believe no great man1 not so much as 
a genuine man who had health and real   
substance in him of whatever magnitude1 
was ever much tormented in this way4    
,your ,cromwell1 what good could it do  
him to be 'noticed' by noisy crowds of  
people8 ,god his ,maker already noticed 
him4 ,he1 ,cromwell1 was already there2 
no notice would make him other than he  
already was4 ,till his hair was grown   
gray2 and ,life from the downhill slope 
was all seen to be limited1 not infinite
 but finite1 and all a measurable matter
 how it went1--he had been content to   

plough the ground1 and read his ,bible4 
,he in his old days could not support it
 any longer1 without selling himself to 
,falsehood1 that he might ride in gilt  
carriages to ,whitehall1 and have clerks
 with bundles of papers haunting him1   
,decide this1 decide that1 which in     
utmost sorrow of heart no man can       
perfectly decide6 ,what could gilt      
carriages do for this man8 ,from of old1
 was there not in his life a weight of  
meaning1 a terror and a splendour as of 
,heaven itself8 ,his existence there as 
man set him beyond the need of gilding4 
,death1 ,judgment and ,eternity3 these  
already lay as the background of        
whatsoever he thought or did4 ,all his  
life lay begirt as in a sea of nameless 
,thoughts1 which no speech of a mortal  
could name4 ,god's ,word1 as the        
,puritan prophets of that time had read 
it3 this was great1 and all else was    
little to him4 ,to call such a man      
'ambitious1' to figure him as the       
prurient windbag described above1 seems 

to me the poorest solecism4 ,such a man 
will say3 ,keep your gilt carriages and 
huzzaing mobs1 keep your red-tape       
clerks1 your influentialities1 your     
important businesses4 ,leave me alone1  
leave me alone2 there is too much of    
life in me already6 ,old ,samuel        
,johnson1 the greatest soul in ,england 
in his day1 was not ambitious4 ',corsica
 ,boswell' flaunted at public shows with
 printed ribbons round his hat2 but the 
great old ,samuel stayed at home4 ,the  
world-wide soul wrapt-up in its         
thoughts1 in its sorrows2--what could   
paradings1 and ribbons in the hat1 do   
for it8  ,ah yes1 ,i will say again3    
,the great silent men6 ,looking round on
 the noisy inanity of the world1 words  
with little meaning1 actions with little
 worth1 one loves to reflect on the     
great ,empire of ,silence4 ,the noble   
silent men1 scattered here and there1   
each in his department2 silently        
thinking1 silently working2 whom no     
,morning ,newspaper makes mention of6   

,they are the salt of the ,earth4 ,a    
country that has none or few of these is
 in a bad way4 ,like a forest which had 
no roots2 which had all turned into     
leaves and boughs2--which must soon     
wither and be no forest4 ,woe for us if 
we had nothing but what we can show1 or 
speak4 ,silence1 the great ,empire of   
,silence3 higher than the stars2 deeper 
than the ,kingdoms of ,death6 ,it alone 
is great2 all else is small4--,i hope we
 ,english will long maintain our grand  
talent pour le silence4 ,let others that
 cannot do without standing on          
barrel-heads1 to spout1 and be seen of  
all the market-place1 cultivate speech  
exclusively1--become a most green forest
 without roots6 ,solomon says1 ,there is
 a time to speak2 but also a time to    
keep silence4 ,of some great silent     
,samuel1 not urged to writing1 as old   
,samuel ,johnson says he was1 by want of
 money1 and nothing other1 one might    
ask1 ,why do not you too get up and     
speak2 promulgate your system1 found    

your sect8 ,truly1 he will answer1 ,i am
 continent of my thought hitherto2      
happily ,i have yet had the ability to  
keep it in me1 no compulsion strong     
enough to speak it4 ,my 'system' is not 
for promulgation first of all2 it is for
 serving myself to live by4 ,that is the
 great purpose of it to me4 ,and then   
the 'honour'8 ,alas1 yes2--but as ,cato 
said of the statue3 ,so many statues in 
that ,forum of yours1 may it not be     
better if they ask1 ,where is ,cato's   
statue8--  ,but1 now1 by way of         
counterpoise to this of ,silence1 let me
 say that there are two kinds of        
ambition2 one wholly blamable1 the other
 laudable and inevitable4 ,nature has   
provided that the great silent ,samuel  
shall not be silent too long4 ,the      
selfish wish to shine over others1 let  
it be accounted altogether poor and     
miserable4 ',seekest thou great things1 
seek them not3' this is most true4 ,and 
yet1 ,i say1 there is an irrepressible  
tendency in every man to develop himself

 according to the magnitude which       
,nature has made him of2 to speak-out1  
to act-out1 what ,nature has laid in    
him4 ,this is proper1 fit1 inevitable2  
nay it is a duty1 and even the summary  
of duties for a man4 ,the meaning of    
life here on earth might be defined as  
consisting in this3 ,to unfold your     
self1 to work what thing you have the   
faculty for4 ,it is a necessity for the 
human being1 the first law of our       
existence4 ,coleridge beautifully       
remarks that the infant learns to speak 
by this necessity it feels4--,we will   
say therefore3 ,to decide about         
ambition1 whether it is bad or not1 you 
have two things to take into view4 ,not 
the coveting of the place alone1 but the
 fitness of the man for the place       
withal3 that is the question4 ,perhaps  
the place was his2 perhaps he had a     
natural right1 and even obligation1 to  
seek the place6 ,mirabeau's ambition to 
be ,prime ,minister1 how shall we blame 
it1 if he were 'the only man in ,france 

that could have done any good there'8   
,hopefuler perhaps had he not so clearly
 felt how much good he could do6 ,but a 
poor ,necker1 who could do no good1 and 
had even felt that he could do none1 yet
 sitting broken-hearted because they had
 flung him out1 and he was now quit of  
it1 well might ,gibbon mourn over       
him4--,nature1 ,i say1 has provided     
amply that the silent great man shall   
strive to speak withal2 too amply1      
rather6  ,fancy1 for example1 you had   
revealed to the brave old ,samuel       
,johnson1 in his shrouded-up existence1 
that it was possible for him to do      
priceless divine work for his country   
and the whole world4 ,that the perfect  
,heavenly ,law might be made law on this
 earth2 that the prayer he prayed daily1
 ',thy kingdom come1' was at length to  
be fulfilled6 ,if you had convinced his 
judgment of this2 that it was possible1 
practicable2 that he the mournful silent
 ,samuel was called to take a part in   
it6 ,would not the whole soul of the man

 have flamed up into a divine clearness1
 into noble utterance and determination 
to act2 casting all sorrows and         
misgivings under his feet1 counting all 
affliction and contradiction small1--the
 whole dark element of his existence    
blazing into articulate radiance of     
light and lightning8 ,it were a true    
ambition this6 ,and think now how it    
actually was with ,cromwell4 ,from of   
old1 the sufferings of ,god's ,church1  
true zealous preachers of the truth     
flung into dungeons1 whipt1 set on      
pillories1 their ears cropt off1 ,god's 
,gospel-cause trodden under foot of the 
unworthy3 all this had lain heavy on his
 soul4 ,long years he had looked upon   
it1 in silence1 in prayer2 seeing no    
remedy on ,earth2 trusting well that a  
remedy in ,heaven's goodness would      
come1--that such a course was false1    
unjust1 and could not last forever4 ,and
 now behold the dawn of it2 after twelve
 years silent waiting1 all ,england     
stirs itself2 there is to be once more a

 ,parliament1 the ,right will get a     
voice for itself3 inexpressible         
well-grounded hope has come again into  
the ,earth4 ,was not such a ,parliament 
worth being a member of8 ,cromwell threw
 down his ploughs and hastened thither4 
,he spoke there1--rugged bursts of      
earnestness1 of a self-seen truth1 where
 we get a glimpse of them4 ,he worked   
there2 he fought and strove1 like a     
strong true giant of a man1 through     
cannon-tumult and all else1--on and on1 
till the ,cause triumphed1 its once so  
formidable enemies all swept from before
 it1 and the dawn of hope had become    
clear light of victory and certainty4   
,that he stood there as the strongest   
soul of ,england1 the undisputed ,hero  
of all ,england1--what of this8 ,it was 
possible that the law of ,christ's      
,gospel could now establish itself in   
the world6 ,the ,theocracy which ,john  
,knox in his pulpit might dream of as a 
'devout imagination1' this practical    
man1 experienced in the whole chaos of  

most rough practice1 dared to consider  
as capable of being realised4 ,those    
that were highest in ,christ's ,church1 
the devoutest wisest men1 were to rule  
the land3 in some considerable degree1  
it might be so and should be so4 ,was it
 not true1 ,god's truth8 ,and if true1  
was it not then the very thing to do8   
,the strongest practical intellect in   
,england dared to answer1 ,yes6 ,this ,i
 call a noble true purpose2 is it not1  
,in its own dialect1 the noblest that   
could enter into the heart of ,statesman
 or man8 ,for a ,knox to take it up was 
something2 but for a ,cromwell1 with his
 great sound sense and experience of    
what our world was1--,history1 ,i think1
 shows it only this once in such a      
degree4 ,i account it the culminating   
point of ,protestantism2 the most heroic
 phasis that ',faith in the ,bible' was 
appointed to exhibit here below4 ,fancy 
it3 that it were made manifest to one of
 us1 how we could make the ,right       
supremely victorious over ,wrong1 and   

all that we had longed and prayed for1  
as the highest good to ,england and all 
lands1 an attainable fact6  ,well1 ,i   
must say1 the vulpine intellect1 with   
its knowingness1 its alertness and      
expertness in 'detecting hypocrites1'   
seems to me a rather sorry business4 ,we
 have had one such ,statesman in        
,england2 one man1 that ,i can get sight
 of1 who ever had in the heart of him   
any such purpose at all4 ,one man1 in   
the course of fifteen hundred years2 and
 this was his welcome4 ,he had adherents
 by the hundred or the ten2 opponents by
 the million4 ,had ,england rallied all 
round him1--why1 then1 ,england might   
have been a ,christian land6 ,as it is1 
vulpine knowingness sits yet at its     
hopeless problem1 ',given a world of    
,knaves1 to educe an ,honesty from their
 united action2'--how cumbrous a        
problem1 you may see in ,chancery       
,law-,courts1 and some other places6    
,till at length1 by ,heaven's just      
anger1 but also by ,heaven's great      

grace1 the matter begins to stagnate2   
and this problem is becoming to all men 
a palpably hopeless one4--         99   
99       99       99       99  ,but with
 regard to ,cromwell and his purposes3  
,hume and a multitude following him1    
come upon me here with an admission that
 ,cromwell was sincere at first2 a      
sincere ',fanatic' at first1 but        
gradually became a ',hypocrite' as      
things opened round him4 ,this of the   
,fanatic-,hypocrite is ,hume's theory of
 it2 extensively applied since1--to     
,mahomet and many others4 ,think of it  
seriously1 you will find something in   
it2 not much1 not all1 very far from    
all4 ,sincere hero hearts do not sink in
 this miserable manner4 ,the ,sun flings
 forth impurities1 gets balefully       
incrusted with spots2 but it does not   
quench itself1 and become no ,sun at    
all1 but a mass of ,darkness6 ,i will   
venture to say that such never befell a 
great1 deep ,cromwell2 ,i think1 never4 
,nature's own lion-hearted ,son6        

,antus-like1 his strength is got by     
touching the ,earth1 his ,mother2 lift  
him up from the ,earth1 lift him up into
 ,hypocrisy1 ,inanity1 his strength is  
gone4 ,we will not assert that ,cromwell
 was an immaculate man2 that he fell    
into no faults1 no insincerities among  
the rest4 ,he was no dilettante         
professor of 'perfections1' 'immaculate 
conducts4' ,he was a rugged ,orson1     
rending his rough way through actual    
true work1--doubtless with many a fall  
therein4 ,insincerities1 faults1 very   
many faults daily and hourly3 it was too
 well known to him2 known to ,god and   
him6 ,the ,sun was dimmed many a time2  
but the ,sun had not himself grown a    
,dimness4 ,cromwell's last words1 as he 
lay waiting for death1 are those of a   
,christian heroic man4 ,broken prayers  
to ,god1 that ,he would judge him and   
this ,cause1 ,he since man could not1 in
 justice yet in pity4 ,they are most    
touching words4 ,he breathed out his    
wild great soul1 its toils and sins all 

ended now1 into the presence of his     
,maker1 in this manner4  ,i1 for one1   
will not call the man a ,hypocrite6     
,hypocrite1 mummer1 the life of him a   
mere theatricality2 empty barren quack1 
hungry for the shouts of mobs8 ,the man 
had made obscurity do very well for him 
till his head was gray2 and now he was1 
there as he stood recognised unblamed1  
the virtual ,king of ,england4 ,cannot a
 man do without ,king's ,coaches and    
,cloaks8 ,is it such a blessedness to   
have clerks forever pestering you with  
bundles of papers in red tape8 ,a simple
 ,diocletian prefers planting of        
cabbages2 a ,george ,washington1 no very
 immeasurable man1 does the like4 ,one  
would say1 it is what any genuine man   
could do2 and would do4 ,the instant his
 real work were out in the matter of    
,kingship1--away with it6  ,let us      
remark1 meanwhile1 how indispensable    
everywhere a ,king is1 in all movements 
of men4 ,it is strikingly shown1 in this
 very ,war1 what becomes of men when    

they cannot find a ,chief ,man1 and     
their enemies can4 ,the ,scotch ,nation 
was all but unanimous in ,puritanism2   
zealous and of one mind about it1 as in 
this ,english end of the ,island was far
 from being the case4 ,but there was no 
great ,cromwell among them2 poor        
tremulous1 hesitating1 diplomatic       
,argyles and suchlike2 none of them had 
a heart true enough for the truth1 or   
durst commit himself to the truth4 ,they
 had no leader2 and the scattered       
,cavalier party in that country had one3
 ,montrose1 the noblest of all the      
,cavaliers2 an accomplished1            
gallant-hearted1 splendid man2 what one 
may call the ,hero-,cavalier4 ,well1    
look at it2 on the one hand subjects    
without a ,king2 on the other a ,king   
without subjects6 ,the subjects without 
,king can do nothing2 the subjectless   
,king can do something4 ,this ,montrose1
 with a handful of ,irish or ,highland  
savages1 few of them so much as guns in 
their hands1 dashes at the drilled      

,puritan armies like a wild whirlwind2  
sweeps them1 time after time1 some five 
times over1 from the field before him4  
,he was at one period1 for a short      
while1 master of all ,scotland4 ,one    
man2 but he was a man3 a million zealous
 men1 but without the one2 they against 
him were powerless6 ,perhaps of all the 
persons in that ,puritan struggle1 from 
first to last1 the single indispensable 
one was verily ,cromwell4 ,to see and   
dare1 and decide2 to be a fixed pillar  
in the welter of uncertainty2--a ,king  
among them1 whether they called him so  
or not4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,precisely here1 however1  
lies the rub for ,cromwell4 ,his other  
proceedings have all found advocates1   
and stand generally justified2 but this 
dismissal of the ,rump ,parliament and  
assumption of the ,protectorship1 is    
what no one can pardon him4 ,he had     
fairly grown to be ,king in ,england2   
,chief ,man of the victorious party in  
,england3 but it seems he could not do  

without the ,king's ,cloak1 and sold    
himself to perdition in order to get it4
 ,let us see a little how this was4     
,england1 ,scotland1 ,ireland1 all lying
 now subdued at the feet of the ,puritan
 ,parliament1 the practical question    
arose1 ,what was to be done with it8    
,how will you govern these ,nations1    
which ,providence in a wondrous way has 
given-up to your disposal8 ,clearly     
those hundred surviving members of the  
,long ,parliament1 who sit there as     
supreme authority1 cannot continue for  
ever to sit4 ,what is to be done8--,it  
was a question which theoretical        
constitution-builders may find easy to  
answer2 but to ,cromwell1 looking there 
into the real practical facts of it1    
there could be none more complicated4   
,he asked of the ,parliament1 ,what it  
was they would decide upon8 ,it was for 
the ,parliament to say4 ,yet the        
,soldiers too1 however contrary to      
,formula1 they who had purchased this   
victory with their blood1 it seemed to  

them that they also should have         
something to say in it6 ,we will not    
,for all our fighting have nothing but a
 little piece of paper4 ,we understand  
that the ,law of ,god's ,gospel1 to     
which ,he through us has given the      
victory1 shall establish itself1 or try 
to establish itself1 in this land6  ,for
 three years1 ,cromwell says1 this      
question had been sounded in the ears of
 the ,parliament4 ,they could make no   
answer2 nothing but talk1 talk4 ,perhaps
 it lies in the nature of parliamentary 
bodies2 perhaps no ,parliament could in 
such case make any answer but even that 
of talk1 talk6 ,nevertheless the        
question must and shall be answered4    
,you sixty men there1 becoming fast     
odious1 even despicable1 to the whole   
nation1 whom the nation already calls   
,rump ,parliament1 you cannot continue  
to sit there3 who or what then is to    
follow8 ',free ,parliament1' right of   
,election1 ,constitutional ,formulas of 
one sort or the other1--the thing is a  

hungry ,fact coming on us1 which we must
 answer or be devoured by it6 ,and who  
are you that prate of ,constitutional   
,formulas1 rights of ,parliament8 ,you  
have had to kill your ,king1 to make    
,pride's ,purges1 to expel and banish by
 the law of the stronger whosoever would
 not let your ,cause prosper3 there are 
but fifty or three-score of you left    
there1 debating in these days4 ,tell us 
what we shall do2 not in the way of     
,formula1 but of practicable ,fact6     
,how they did finally answer1 remains   
obscure to this day4 ,the diligent      
,godwin himself admits that he cannot   
make it out4 ,the likeliest is1 that    
this poor ,parliament still would not1  
and indeed could not dissolve and       
disperse2 that when it came to the point
 of actually dispersing1 they again1 for
 the tenth or twentieth time1 adjourned 
it1--and ,cromwell's patience failed    
him4 ,but we will take the favourablest 
hypothesis ever started for the         
,parliament2 the favourablest1 though ,i

 believe it is not the true one1 but too
 favourable4  ,according to this        
version3 ,at the uttermost crisis1 when 
,cromwell and his ,officers were met on 
the one hand1 and the fifty or sixty    
,rump ,members on the other1 it was     
suddenly told ,cromwell that the ,rump  
in its despair was answering in a very  
singular way2 that in their splenetic   
envious despair1 to keep-out the army at
 least1 these men were hurrying through 
the ,house a kind of ,reform            
,bill1--,parliament to be chosen by the 
whole of ,england2 equable electoral    
division into districts2 free suffrage1 
and the rest of it6 ,a very             
questionable1 or indeed for them an     
unquestionable thing4 ,reform ,bill1    
free suffrage of ,englishmen8 ,why1 the 
,royalists themselves1 silenced indeed  
but not exterminated1 perhaps outnumber 
us2 the great numerical majority of     
,england was always indifferent to our  
,cause1 merely looked at it and         
submitted to it4 ,it is in weight and   

force1 not by counting of heads1 that we
 are the majority6 ,and now with your   
,formulas and ,reform ,bills1 the whole 
matter1 sorely won by our swords1 shall 
again launch itself to sea2 become a    
mere hope1 and likelihood1 small even as
 a likelihood8 ,and it is not a         
likelihood2 it is a certainty1 which we 
have won1 by ,god's strength and our own
 right hands1 and do now hold here4     
,cromwell walked down to these          
refractory ,members2 interrupted them in
 that rapid speed of their ,reform      
,bill2--ordered them to begone1 and talk
 there no more4--,can we not forgive    
him8 ,can we not understand him8 ,john  
,milton1 who looked on it all near at   
hand1 could applaud him4 ,the ,reality  
had swept the ,formulas away before it4 
,i fancy1 most men who were realities in
 ,england might see into the necessity  
of that4  ,the strong daring man1       
therefore1 has set all manner of        
,formulas and logical superficialities  
against him2 has dared appeal to the    

genuine fact of this ,england1 ,whether 
it will support him or not8 ,it is      
curious to see how he struggles to      
govern in some constitutional way2 find 
some ,parliament to support him2 but    
cannot4 ,his first ,parliament1 the one 
they call ,barebones's ,parliament1 is1 
so to speak1 a ,convocation of the      
,notables4 ,from all quarters of        
,england the leading ,ministers and     
chief ,puritan ,officials nominate the  
men most distinguished by religious     
reputation1 influence and attachment to 
the true ,cause3 these are assembled to 
shape-out a plan4 ,they sanctioned what 
was past2 shaped as they could what was 
to come4 ,they were scornfully called   
,barebones's ,parliament1 the man's     
name1 it seems1 was not ,barebones1 but 
,barbone1--a good enough man4 ,nor was  
it a jest1 their work2 it was a most    
serious reality1--a trial on the part of
 these ,puritan ,notables how far the   
,law of ,christ could become the ,law of
 this ,england4 ,there were men of sense

 among them1 men of some quality2 men of
 deep piety ,i suppose the most of them 
were4 ,they failed1 it seems1 and broke 
down1 endeavouring to reform the ,court 
of ,chancery6 ,they dissolved           
themselves1 as incompetent2 delivered-up
 their power again into the hands of the
 ,lord-,general ,cromwell1 to do with it
 what he liked and could4  ,what will he
 do with it8 ,the ,lord-,general        
,cromwell1 ',commander-in ,chief of all 
the ,forces raised and to be raised2' he
 hereby sees himself1 at this unexampled
 juncture1 as it were the one available 
,authority left in ,england1 nothing    
between ,england and utter ,anarchy but 
him alone4 ,such is the undeniable ,fact
 of his position and ,england's1 there  
and then4 ,what will he do with it8     
,after deliberation1 he decides that he 
will accept it2 will formally1 with     
public solemnity1 say and vow before    
,god and men1 ,yes1 the ,fact is so1 and
 ,i will do the best ,i can with it6    
,protectorship1 ,instrument of          

,government1--these are the external    
forms of the thing2 worked-out and      
sanctioned as they could in the         
circumstances be1 by the ,judges1 by the
 leading ,official people1 ',council of 
,officers and ,persons of interest in   
the ,nation3' and as for the thing      
itself1 undeniably enough1 at the pass  
matters had now come to1 there was no   
alternative but ,anarchy or that4       
,puritan ,england might accept it or    
not2 but ,puritan ,england was1 in real 
truth1 saved from suicide thereby6--,i  
believe the ,puritan ,people did1 in an 
inarticulate1 grumbling1 yet on the     
whole grateful and real way1 accept this
 anomalous act of ,oliver's2 at least1  
he and they together made it good1 and  
always better to the last4 ,but in their
 ,parliamentary articulate way1 they had
 their difficulties1 and never knew     
fully what to say to it6--  ,oliver's   
second ,parliament1 properly his first  
regular ,parliament1 chosen by the rule 
laid-down in the ,instrument of         

,government1 did assemble1 and          
worked2--but got1 before long1 into     
bottomless questions as to the          
,protector's right1 as to 'usurpation1' 
and so forth2 and had at the earliest   
legal day to be dismissed4 ,cromwell's  
concluding ,speech to these men is a    
remarkable one4 ,so likewise to his     
third ,parliament1 in similar rebuke for
 their pedantries and obstinacies4 ,most
 rude1 chaotic1 all these ,speeches are2
 but most earnest-looking4 ,you would   
say1 it was a sincere helpless man2 not 
used to speak the great inorganic       
thought of him1 but to act it rather6 ,a
 helplessness of utterance1 in such     
bursting fulness of meaning4 ,he talks  
much about 'births of ,providence3' ,all
 these changes1 so many victories and   
events1 were not forethoughts1 and      
theatrical contrivances of men1 of me or
 of men2 it is blind blasphemers that   
will persist in calling them so6 ,he    
insists with a heavy sulphurous wrathful
 emphasis on this4 ,as he well might4   

,as if a ,cromwell in that dark huge    
game he had been playing1 the world     
wholly thrown into chaos round him1 had 
foreseen it all1 and played it all off  
like a precontrived puppetshow by wood  
and wire6 ,these things were foreseen by
 no man1 he says2 no man could tell what
 a day would bring forth3 they were     
'births of ,providence1' ,god's finger  
guided us on1 and we came at last to    
clear height of victory1 ,god's ,cause  
triumphant in these ,nations2 and you as
 a ,parliament could assemble together1 
and say in what manner all this could be
 organised1 reduced into rational       
feasibility among the affairs of men4   
,you were to help with your wise counsel
 in doing that4 ,you have had such an   
opportunity as no ,parliament in        
,england ever had4 ,christ's ,law1 the  
,right and ,true1 was to be in some     
measure made the ,law of this land4 ,in 
place of that1 you have got into your   
idle pedantries1 constitutionalities1   
bottomless cavillings and questionings  

about written laws for my coming        
here2--and would send the whole matter  
into ,chaos again1 because ,i have no   
,notary's parchment1 but only ,god's    
voice from the battle-whirlwind1 for    
being ,president among you6 ,that       
opportunity is gone2 and we know not    
when it will return4 ,you have had your 
constitutional ,logic2 and ,mammon's    
,law1 not ,christ's ,law1 rules yet in  
this land4 ,god be judge between you and
 me6 ,these are his final words to them3
 ,take you your constitution-formulas in
 your hand2 and ,i my informal          
struggles1 purposes1 realities and acts2
 and ,god be judge between you and me6--
  ,we said above what shapeless1        
involved chaotic things the printed     
,speeches of ,cromwell are4 ,wilfully   
ambiguous1 unintelligible1 say the most3
 a hypocrite shrouding himself in       
confused ,jesuitic jargon6 ,to me they  
do not seem so4 ,i will say rather1 they
 afforded the first glimpses ,i could   
ever get into the reality of this       

,cromwell1 nay into the possibility of  
him4 ,try to believe that he means      
something1 search lovingly what that may
 be3 you will find a real speech lying  
imprisoned in these broken rude tortuous
 utterances2 a meaning in the great     
heart of this inarticulate man6 ,you    
will1 for the first time1 begin to see  
that he was a man2 not an enigmatic     
chimera1 unintelligible to you1         
incredible to you4 ,the ,histories and  
,biographies written of this ,cromwell1 
written in shallow sceptical generations
 that could not know or conceive of a   
deep believing man1 are far more obscure
 than ,cromwell's ,speeches4 ,you look  
through them only into the infinite     
vague of ,black and the ,inane4 ',heats 
and ,jealousies1' says ,lord ,clarendon 
himself3 'heats and jealousies1' mere   
crabbed whims1 theories and crochets2   
these induced slow sober quiet          
,englishmen to lay down their ploughs   
and work2 and fly into red fury of      
confused war against the                

best-conditioned of ,kings6 ,try if you 
can find that true4 ,scepticism writing 
about ,belief may have great gifts2 but 
it is really ultra vires there4 ,it is  
,blindness laying-down the ,laws of     
,optics4--  ,cromwell's third           
,parliament split on the same rock as   
his second4 ,ever the constitutional    
,formula3 ,how came you there8 ,show us 
some ,notary parchment6 ,blind          
pedants3--,why1 surely the same power   
which makes you a ,parliament1 that1 and
 something more1 made me a ,protector6  
,if my ,protectorship is nothing1 what  
in the name of wonder is your           
,parliamenteership1 a reflex and        
creation of that8--  ,parliaments having
 failed1 there remained nothing but the 
way of ,despotism4 ,military ,dictators1
 each with his district1 to coerce the  
,royalists and other gainsayers1 to     
govern them1 if not by act of           
,parliament1 then by the sword4 ,formula
 shall not carry it1 while the ,reality 
is here6 ,i will go on1 protecting      

oppressed ,protestants abroad1          
appointing just judges1 wise managers1  
at home1 cherishing true ,gospel        
ministers2 doing the best ,i can to make
 ,england a ,christian ,england1 greater
 than old ,rome1 the ,queen of          
,protestant ,christianity2 ,i1 since you
 will not help me2 ,i while ,god leaves 
me life6--,why did he not give it up2   
retire into obscurity again1 since the  
,law would not acknowledge him8 cry     
several4 ,that is where they mistake4   
,for him there was no giving of it up6  
,prime ,ministers have governed         
countries1 ,pitt1 ,pombal1 ,choiseul2   
and their word was a law while it held3 
but this ,prime ,minister was one that  
could not get resigned4 ,let him once   
resign1 ,charles ,stuart and the        
,cavaliers waited to kill him2 to kill  
the ,cause and him4 ,once embarked1     
there is no retreat1 no return4 ,this   
,prime ,minister could retire nowhither 
except into his tomb4  ,one is sorry for
 ,cromwell in his old days4 ,his        

complaint is incessant of the heavy     
burden ,providence has laid on him4     
,heavy2 which he must bear till death4  
,old ,colonel ,hutchinson1 as his wife  
relates it1 ,hutchinson1 his old        
battle-mate1 coming to see him on some  
indispensable business1 much against his
 will1--,cromwell 'follows him to the   
door1' in a most fraternal1 domestic1   
conciliatory style2 begs that he would  
be reconciled to him1 his old brother in
 arms2 says how much it grieves him to  
be misunderstood1 deserted by true      
fellow-soldiers1 dear to him from of    
old3 the rigorous ,hutchinson1 cased in 
his republican formula1 sullenly goes   
his way4--,and the man's head now white2
 his strong arm growing weary with its  
long work6 ,i think always too of his   
poor ,mother1 now very old1 living in   
that ,palace of his2 a right brave      
woman3 as indeed they lived all an      
honest ,god-fearing ,household there3 if
 she heard a shot go off1 she thought it
 was her son killed4 ,he had to come to 

her at least once a day1 that she might 
see with her own eyes that he was yet   
living4 ,the poor old ,mother6----,what 
had this man gained2 what had he gained8
 ,he had a life of sore strife and toil1
 to his last day4 ,fame1 ambition1 place
 in ,history8 ,his dead body was hung in
 chains2 his 'place in ,history1'--place
 in ,history forsooth6--has been a place
 of ignominy1 accusation1 blackness and 
disgrace2 and here1 this day1 who knows 
if it is not rash in me to be among the 
first that ever ventured to pronounce   
him not a knave and a liar1 but a       
genuinely honest man6 ,peace to him4    
,did he not1 in spite of all1 accomplish
 much for us8 ,we walk smoothly over his
 great rough heroic life2 step-over his 
body sunk in the ditch there4 ,we need  
not spurn it1 as we step on it6--,let   
the ,hero rest4 ,it was not to men's    
judgment that he appealed2 nor have men 
judged him very well4         99        
99       99       99       99           
,precisely a century and a year after   

this of ,puritanism had got itself      
hushed-up into decent composure1 and its
 results made smooth in #afhh1 there    
broke-out a far deeper explosion1 much  
more difficult to hush-up1 known to all 
mortals1 and like to be long known1 by  
the name of ,french ,revolution4 ,it is 
properly the third and final act of     
,protestantism2 the explosive confused  
return of ,mankind to ,reality and      
,fact1 now that they were perishing of  
,semblance and ,sham4 ,we call our      
,english ,puritanism the second act3    
,well then1 the ,bible is true2 let us  
go by the ,bible6 ,in ,church1 said     
,luther2 ,in ,church and ,state1 said   
,cromwell1 let us go by what actually is
 ,god's ,truth4 ,men have to return to  
reality2 they cannot live on semblance4 
,the ,french ,revolution1 or third act1 
we may well call the final one2 for     
lower than that savage ,sansculottism   
men cannot go4 ,they stand there on the 
nakedest haggard ,fact1 undeniable in   
all seasons and circumstances2 and may  

and must begin again confidently to     
build-up from that4 ,the ,french        
explosion1 like the ,english one1 got   
its ,king1--who had no ,notary parchment
 to show for himself4 ,we have still to 
glance for a moment at ,napoleon1 our   
second modern ,king4  ,napoleon does by 
no means seem to me so great a man as   
,cromwell4 ,his enormous victories which
 reached over all ,europe1 while        
,cromwell abode mainly in our little    
,england1 are but as the high stilts on 
which the man is seen standing2 the     
stature of the man is not altered       
thereby4 ,i find in him no such         
sincerity as ,in ,cromwell2 only a far  
inferior sort4 ,no silent walking1      
through long years1 with the ,awful     
,unnamable of this ,universe2 'walking  
with ,god1' as he called it2 and faith  
and strength in that alone3 latent      
thought and valour1 content to lie      
latent1 then burst out as in blaze of   
,heaven's lightning6 ,napoleon lived in 
an age when ,god was no longer believed2

 the meaning of all ,silence1 ,latency1 
was thought to be ,nonentity3 he had to 
begin not out of the ,puritan ,bible1   
but out of poor ,sceptical              
,encyclopdies4 ,this was the length the 
man carried it4 ,meritorious to get so  
far4 ,his compact1 prompt1 everyway     
articulate character is in itself       
perhaps small1 compared with our great  
chaotic inarticulate ,cromwell's4       
,instead of 'dumb ,prophet struggling to
 speak1' we have a portentous mixture of
 the ,quack withal6 ,hume's notion of   
the ,fanatic-,hypocrite1 with such truth
 as it has1 will apply much better to   
,napoleon than it did to ,cromwell1 to  
,mahomet or the like1--where indeed     
taken strictly it has hardly any truth  
at all4 ,an element of blamable ambition
 shows itself1 from the first1 in this  
man2 gets the victory over him at last1 
and involves him and his work in ruin4  
',false as a bulletin' became a proverb 
in ,napoleon's time4 ,he makes what     
excuse he could for it3 that it was     

necessary to mislead the enemy1 to keep 
up his own men's courage1 and so forth4 
,on the whole1 there are no excuses4 ,a 
man in no case has liberty to tell lies4
 ,it had been1 in the long-run1 better  
for ,napoleon too if he had not told    
any4 ,in fact1 if a man have any purpose
 reaching beyond the hour and day1 meant
 to be found extant next day1 what good 
can it ever be to promulgate lies8 ,the 
lies are found-out2 ruinous penalty is  
exacted for them4 ,no man will believe  
the liar next time even when he speaks  
truth1 when it is of the last importance
 that he be believed4 ,the old cry of   
wolf6--,a ,lie is no-thing2 you cannot  
of nothing make something2 you make     
nothing at last1 and lose your labour   
into the bargain4  ,yet ,napoleon had a 
sincerity2 we are to distinguish between
 what is superficial and what is        
fundamental in insincerity4 ,across     
these outer manoeuvrings and quackeries 
of his1 which were many and most        
blamable1 let us discern withal that the

 man had a certain instinctive          
ineradicable feeling for reality2 and   
did base himself upon fact1 so long as  
he had any basis4 ,he has an instinct of
 ,nature better than his culture was4   
,his savans1 ,bourrienne tells us1 in   
that voyage to ,egypt were one evening  
busily occupied arguing that there could
 be no ,god4 ,they had proved it1 to    
their satisfaction1 by all manner of    
logic4 ,napoleon looking up into the    
stars1 answers1 ,very ingenious1        
,messieurs3 but who made all that8 ,the 
,atheistic logic runs-off from him like 
water2 the great ,fact stares him in the
 face3 ,who made all that8 ,so too in   
,practice3 he1 as every man that can be 
great1 or have victory in this world1   
sees1 through all entanglements1 the    
practical heart of the matter2 drives   
straight towards that4 ,when the steward
 of his ,tuileries ,palace was          
exhibiting the new upholstery1 with     
praises1 and demonstration how glorious 
it was1 and how cheap withal1 ,napoleon1

 making little answer1 asked for a pair 
of scissors1 clipt one of the gold      
tassels from a window-curtain1 put it in
 his pocket1 and walked on4 ,some days  
afterwards1 he produced it at the right 
moment1 to the horror of his upholstery 
functionary2 it was not gold but tinsel6
 ,in ,saint ,helena1 it is notable how  
he still1 to his last days1 insists on  
the practical1 the real4 ,why talk and  
complain2 above all1 why quarrel with   
one another8 ,there is no result in it2 
it comes to nothing that one can do4    
,say nothing1 if one can do nothing6 ,he
 speaks often so1 to his poor           
discontented followers2 he is like a    
piece of silent strength in the middle  
of their morbid querulousness there4    
,and accordingly was there not what we  
can call a faith in him1 genuine so far 
as it went8 ,that this new enormous     
,democracy asserting itself here in the 
,french ,revolution is an insuppressible
 ,fact1 which the whole world1 with its 
old forces and institutions cannot put  

down2 this was a true insight of his1   
and took his conscience and enthusiasm  
along with it1--a faith4 ,and did he not
 interpret the dim purport of it well8  
',la carrire ouverte aux talens1 ,the   
implements to him who can handle them3' 
this actually is the truth1 and even the
 whole truth2 it includes whatever the  
,french ,revolution1 or any ,revolution1
 could mean4 ,napoleon1 in his first    
period1 was a true ,democrat4 ,and yet  
by the nature of him1 fostered too by   
his military trade1 he knew that        
,democracy1 if it were a true thing at  
all could not be an anarchy3 the man had
 a heart-hatred for anarchy4 ,on that   
,twentieth of ,june 7#agib71 ,bourrienne
 and he sat in a coffee-house1 as the   
mob rolled by3 ,napoleon expresses the  
deepest contempt for persons in         
authority that they do not restrain this
 rabble4 ,on the ,tenth of ,august he   
wonders why there is no man to command  
these poor ,swiss2 they would conquer if
 there were4 ,such a faith in           

,democracy1 yet hatred of ,anarchy1 it  
is that carries ,napoleon through all   
his great work4 ,through his brilliant  
,italian ,campaigns1 onwards to the     
,peace of ,leoben1 one would say1 his   
inspiration is3 ',triumph to the ,french
 ,revolution2 assertion of it against   
these ,austrian ,simulacra that pretend 
to call it a ,simulacrum6' ,withal1     
however1 he feels1 and has a right to   
feel1 how necessary a strong ,authority 
is2 how the ,revolution cannot prosper  
or last without such4 ,to bridle-in that
 great devouring1 self-devouring ,french
 ,revolution2 to tame it1 so that its   
intrinsic purpose can be made good1 that
 it may become organic1 and be able to  
live among other organisms and formed   
things1 not as a wasting destruction    
alone3 is not this still what he partly 
aimed at1 as the true purport of his    
life2 nay what he actually managed to   
do8 ,through ,wagrams1 ,austerlitzes2   
triumph after triumph1--he triumphed so 
far4 ,there was an eye to see in this   

man1 a soul to dare and do4 ,he rose    
naturally to be the ,king4 ,all men saw 
that he was such4 ,the common soldiers  
used to say on the march3 ,these        
babbling ,avocats1 up at ,paris2 all    
talk and no work6 ,what wonder it runs  
all wrong8 ,we shall have to go and put 
our ,petit ,caporal there6 ,they went1  
and put him there2 they and ,france at  
large4 ,chief-consulship1 ,emperorship1 
victory over ,europe2--till the poor    
,lieutenant of ,la ,fre1 not            
unnaturally1 might seem to himself the  
greatest of all men that had been in the
 world for some ages4  ,but at this     
point1 ,i think1 the fatal              
charlatan-element got the upper hand4   
,he apostatised from his old ,faith in  
,facts3 took to believing in            
,semblances2 strove to connect himself  
with ,austrian ,dynasties1 ,popedoms1   
with the old false ,feudalities which he
 once saw clearly to be                 
false2--considered that he would found  
his ,dynasty and so forth2 that the     

enormous ,french ,revolution meant only 
that6 ,the man was 'given-up to strong  
delusion1 that he should believe a lie2'
 a fearful but most sure thing4 ,he did 
not know true from false now when he    
looked at them1--the fearfulest penalty 
a man pays for yielding to untruth of   
heart4 ,self and false ambition had now 
become his god3 self-deception once     
yielded to1 all other deceptions follow 
naturally more and more4 ,what a paltry 
patch-work of theatrical paper-mantles1 
tinsel and mummery1 had this man wrapt  
his own great reality in1 thinking to   
make it more real thereby6 ,his hollow  
,pope's-,concordat1 pretending to be a  
re-establishment of ,catholicism1 felt  
by himself to be the method of          
extirpating it1 la vaccine de la        
religion3 his ceremonial ,coronations1  
consecrations by the old ,italian       
,chimera in ,notre-,dame1--wanting      
nothing to complete the pomp of it1 as  
,augereau said1 nothing but the         
half-million of men who had died to put 

an end to all that6 ,cromwell's         
,inauguration was by the ,sword and     
,bible2 what we must call a genuinely   
true one4 ,sword and ,bible were borne  
before him1 without any chimera3 were   
not these the real emblems of           
,puritanism2 its true decoration and    
insignia8 ,it had used them both in a   
very real manner1 and pretended to stand
 by them now6 ,but this poor ,napoleon  
mistook3 he believed too much in the    
,dupeability of men2 saw no fact deeper 
in men than ,hunger and this6 ,he was   
mistaken4 ,like a man that should build 
upon cloud2 his house and he fall down  
in confused wreck1 and depart out of the
 world4  ,alas1 in all of us this       
charlatan-element exists2 and might be  
developed1 were the temptation strong   
enough4 ',lead us not into temptation'6 
,but it is fatal1 ,i say1 that it be    
developed4 ,the thing into which it     
enters as a cognisable ingredient is    
doomed to be altogether transitory2 and1
 however huge it may look1 is in itself 

small4 ,napoleon's working1 accordingly1
 what was it with all the noise it made8
 ,a flash as of gunpowder wide-spread2 a
 blazing-up as of dry heath4 ,for an    
hour the whole ,universe seems wrapt in 
smoke and flame2 but only for an hour4  
,it goes out3 the ,universe with its old
 mountains and streams1 its stars above 
and kind soil beneath1 is still there4  
,the ,duke of ,weimar told his friends  
always1 ,to be of courage2 this         
,napoleonism was unjust1 a falsehood1   
and could not last4 ,it is true         
doctrine4 ,the heavier this ,napoleon   
trampled on the world1 holding it       
tyrannously down1 the fiercer would the 
world's recoil against him be1 one day4 
,injustice pays itself with frightful   
compound-interest4 ,i am not sure but he
 had better have lost his best park of  
artillery1 or had his best regiment     
drowned in the sea1 than shot that poor 
,german ,bookseller1 ,palm6 ,it was a   
palpable tyrannous murderous injustice1 
which no man1 let him paint an inch     

thick1 could make-out to be other4 ,it  
burnt deep into the hearts of men1 it   
and the like of it2 suppressed fire     
flashed in the eyes of men1 as they     
thought of it1--waiting their day6      
,which day came3 ,germany rose round    
him4--,what ,napoleon did will in the   
long-run amount to what he did justly2  
what ,nature with her laws will         
sanction4 ,to what of reality was in    
him2 to that and nothing more4 ,the rest
 was all smoke and waste4 ,la carrire   
ouverte aux talens3 that great true     
,message1 which has yet to articulate   
and fulfil itself everywhere1 he left in
 a most inarticulate state4 ,he was a   
great bauche1 a rude-draught never      
completed2 as indeed what great man is  
other8 ,left in too rude a state1 alas6 
,his notions of the world1 as he        
expresses them there at ,st4 ,helena1   
are almost tragical to consider4 ,he    
seems to feel the most unaffected       
surprise that it has all gone so2 that  
he is flung-out on the rock here1 and   

the ,world is still moving on its axis4 
,france is great1 and all-great2 and at 
bottom1 he is ,france4 ,england itself1 
he says1 is by ,nature only an appendage
 of ,france2 another ,isle of ,oleron to
 ,france4 ,so it was by ,nature1 by     
,napoleon-,nature2 and yet look how in  
fact1--,,here ,,am ,i6 ,he cannot       
understand it3 inconceivable that the   
reality has not corresponded to his     
program of it2 that ,france was not     
all-great1 that he was not ,france4     
',strong delusion1' that he should      
believe the thing to be which is not6   
,the compact1 clear-seeing1 decisive    
,italian nature of him1 strong1 genuine1
 which he once had1 has enveloped       
itself1 half-dissolved itself1 in a     
turbid atmosphere of ,french            
fanfaronade4 ,the world was not disposed
 to be trodden-down underfoot2 to be    
bound into masses1 and built together1  
as he liked1 for a pedestal to ,france  
and him3 the world had quite other      
purposes in view6 ,napoleon's           

astonishment is extreme4 ,but alas1 what
 help now8 ,he had gone that way of his2
 and ,nature also had gone her way4     
,having once parted with ,reality1 he   
tumbles helpless in ,vacuity2 no rescue 
for him4 ,he had to sink there1         
mournfully as man seldom did2 and break 
his great heart1 and die1--this poor    
,napoleon3 a great implement too soon   
wasted1 till it was useless3 our last   
,great ,man6         99       99        
99       99       99  ,our last1 in a   
double sense4 ,for here finally these   
wide roamings of ours through so many   
times and places1 in search and study of
 ,heroes1 are to terminate4 ,i am sorry 
for it3 there was pleasure for me in    
this business1 if also much pain4 ,it is
 a great subject1 and a most grave and  
wide one1 this which1 not to be too     
grave about it1 ,i have named           
,hero-worship4 ,it enters deeply1 as ,i 
think1 into the secret of ,mankind's    
ways and vitalest interests in this     
world1 and is well worth explaining at  

present4 ,with six months1 instead of   
six days1 we might have done better4 ,i 
promised to break-ground on it2 ,i know 
not whether ,i have even managed to do  
that4 ,i have had to tear it up in the  
rudest manner in order to get into it at
 all4 ,often enough1 with these abrupt  
utterances thrown-out isolated1         
unexplained1 has your tolerance been put
 to the trial4 ,tolerance1 patient      
candour1 all-hoping favour and kindness1
 which ,i will not speak of at present4 
,the accomplished and distinguished1 the
 beautiful1 the wise1 something of what 
is best in ,england1 have listened      
patiently to my rude words4 ,with many  
feelings1 ,i heartily thank you all2 and
 say1 ,good be with you all6     ,,index
   ,,abdallah1 father of ,mahomet1 #bhf 
,abelard1 theology of1 #chi  ,abu       
,thaleb1 uncle of ,mahomet1 #bhf1 #chg1 
#bid  ,action the true end of ,man1     
#aai1 #aba  ,actual1 the1 the true      
,ideal1 #adh1 #adi  ,adamitism1 #dc     
,afflictions1 merciful1 #ade            

,agincourt1 ,shakspeare's battle of1    
#cda  ,alexis1 ,luther's friend1 his    
sudden death1 #cei  ,ali1 young1        
,mahomet's kinsman and convert1 #bic    
,allegory1 the sportful shadow of       
earnest faith1 #bdc1 #bfg  ,ambition1   
,fate's appendage of1 #gh2   foolish    
charge of1 #ddg2   laudable ambition1   
#ddi  ,apprenticeships1 #ib  ,aprons1   
use and significance of1 #ca  ,arabia   
and the ,arabs1 #bhb1 #caj  ,art1 all   
true ,works of1 symbolic1 #afc          
,,balder1 the white ,sungod1 #bee1 #bga 
,baphometic ,fire-baptism1 #abh         
,barebone's ,parliament1 #def           
,battle-field1 a1 #aca  ,battle1 ,life-1
 our1 #fe2   with ,folly and ,sin1 #id1 
#ig  ,being1 the boundless              
,phantasmagoria of1 #ci  ,belief and    
,opinion1 #adf1 #adg  ,belief1 the true 
god-announcing miracle1 #bib1 #caa1     
#cge1 #dja2   war of1 #dcj4   ,see      
,religion1 ,scepticism4  ,benthamism1   
#cji1 #djj  ,bible of ,universal        
,history1 #acd1 #adf  ,biography1       

meaning and uses of1 #ef2   significance
 of biographic facts1 #aeb  ,blumine1   
#ajd2   her environment1 #aje2          
character and relation to ,teufelsdrckh1
 #ajf2   blissful bonds rent asunder1   
#aji2   on her way to ,england1 #aaf    
,bolivar's ,cavalry-uniform1 #cg        
,books1 miraculous influence of1 #acj1  
#adi1 #chh1 #cib2   our modern          
,university1 ,church and ,parliament1   
#cij  ,boswell1 his reverence for       
,johnson1 #daj  ,banyan's ,pilgrim's    
,progress1 #bdd  ,burns1 ,gilbert1 #dag 
,burns1 ,robert1 his birth1 and humble  
heroic parents1 #dae2   rustic dialect  
of1 #daf2   the most gifted ,british    
soul of his century1 #dag2   his        
resemblance to ,mirabeau1 #dah2   his   
sincerity1 #dai2   his visit to         
,edinburgh1 #dbj2   ,lion-hunters the   
ruin and death of1 #dba   ,,caabah1 the1
 with its ,black ,stone and ,sacred     
,well1 #bhd1 #bhe  ,canopus1 the worship
 of1 #bdg  ,charles ,i4 fatally         
incapable of being dealt with1 #dci     

,childhood1 happy season of1 #fh2       
early influences and sports1 #fi        
,china1 literary governors of1 #cig     
,christian ,faith1 a good ,mother's     
simple version of the1 #ge2   ,temple of
 the1 now in ruins1 #ade2               
,passive-half of1 #adg  ,christian      
,love1 #adc1 #ade  ,church4 ,see ,books4
  ,church-,clothes1 #afa2   living and  
dead ,churches1 #afb2   the modern      
,church1 and its ,newspaper-,pulpits1   
#ahi  ,circumstances1 influence of1 #ga 
,clergy1 the1 with their surplices and  
cassock-aprons girt-on1 #cb1 #aeh       
,clothes1 not a spontaneous growth of   
the human animal1 but an                
artificial device1 #b2   analogy between
 the ,costumes of the body and the      
,customs of the           spirit1 #be2  
,decoration the first purpose of        
,clothes1 #bh2   what ,clothes have done
 for us1 and what they threaten to do1  
#cj1 #dc2   fantastic garbs of the      
,middle ,ages1 #cd2   a simple costume1 
#ce2   tangible and mystic influences of

 ,clothes1 #cf1 #de2   animal and human 
,clothing contrasted1 #da2   a          
,court-,ceremonial minus ,clothes1 #de2 
necessity for ,clothes1 #dg2            
transparent ,clothes1 #di2   all        
,emblematic things are ,clothes1 #ed1   
#bjc2   ,genesis of the modern          
,clothes-,philosopher1 #fa2   ,character
 and conditions needed1 #aec1 #aef2     
,george ,fox's suit of ,leather1 #aei2  
,church-,clothes1 #afa2   ,old-,clothes1
 #agi2   practical inferences1 #bjc     
,codification1 #ej  ,combination1 value 
of1 #aja1 #bba  ,commons1 ,british      
,house of1 #ca  ,concealment4 ,see      
,secrecy4  ,constitution1 our invaluable
 ,british1 #ahg  ,conversion1 #adi      
,courtesy1 due to all men1 #agi         
,courtier1 a luckless1 #cf  ,cromwell1  
#dcj2   his hypochondria1 #dcg1 #ddb2   
early marriage and conversion1 #dcg2    
an industrious farmer1 #dch2   his      
victories and participation in the      
,king's death1 #dci2   practicalness of1
 #ddj2   his ,ironsides1 #ddj2   his    

speeches1 #ddd1 #dei2   his 'ambition'  
and such-like1 #ddf2   a ',fanatic1' but
 gradually became a ',hypocrite1' #deb2 
his dismissal of the ,rump ,parliament1 
#def2   ,protectorship and              
,parliamentary ,futilities1 #deg2   his 
last days1 and closing sorrows1 #dfj    
,custom the greatest of ,weavers1 #aid  
,,dandy1 mystic significance of the1    
#bjd2   dandy worship1 #bjf2   sacred   
books1 #bjh2   articles of faith1 #bji2 
a dandy household1 #bac2   tragically   
undermined by growing ,drudgery1 #bad   
,dante and his ,book1 #cah2   biography 
in his ,book1 and ,portrait1 #cai2   his
 birth1 education and early career1     
#cai1 #cbj2   his love for ,beatrice    
,portinari1 #cbj2   unhappy marriage1   
#cbj2   banishment1 #cba2               
uncourtier-like ways of1 #cba2   his    
,divina ,commedia genuinely a song1     
#cbb2   the ,unseen ,world1 as figured  
in the ,christianity of the ,middle     
,ages1 #cbi2   the 'uses' of ,dante1    
#ccb  ,david1 the ,hebrew ,king1 #bha   

,death1 nourishment even in1 #ha1 #abg  
,della ,scala1 the court of1 #cba       
,devil1 internecine war with the1 #i1   
#ij1 #abh1 #aci2   cannot now so much as
 believe in him1 #abg  ,dilettantes and 
,pedants1 #eb2   patrons of ,literature1
 #if  ,diodorus ,siculus1 #bhd          
,diogenes1 #aei  ,divine ,right of      
,kings1 #dbd  ,doubt can only be removed
 by ,action1 #adg4   ,see ,unbelief4    
,drudgery contrasted with ,dandyism1    
#baj2   ',communion of ,drudges1' and   
what may come of it1 #bad  ,duelling1 a 
picture of1 #acf  ,duty1 no longer a    
divine ,messenger and ,guide1 but a     
false earthly           ,fantasm1 #abb1 
#abc2   infinite nature of1 #adg1 #cji2 
definition of1 #bfg1 #bih2   sceptical  
spiritual paralysis1 #cih   ,,edda1 the 
,scandinavian1 #bec  ,editor's first    
acquaintance with ,teufelsdrckh and his 
,philosophy of           ,clothes1 #d2  
efforts to make known his discovery to  
,british readers1 #g2   admitted into   
the ,teufelsdrckh watch-tower1 #ad1 #be2

   first feels the pressure of his task1
 #cg2   his bulky ,weissnichtwo ,packet1
 #ee2   strenuous efforts to evolve some
 historic order out of such             
interminable documentary confusion1 #ei2
   partial success1 #fg1 #gf1 #aag2     
mysterious hints1 #aeb1 #agg2           
astonishment and hesitation1 #afc2      
congratulations1 #bja2   farewell1 #bai 
,education1 influence of early1 #ga2    
insignificant portion depending on      
,schools1 #gg2   educational            
,architects1 #gi2   the inspired        
,thinker1 #aga  ,eighteenth ,century1   
the sceptical1 #cih1 #djd1 #dcc         
,eisleben1 the birthplace of ,luther1   
#ceh  ,eliot1 #dcc1 #dcd  ,elizabethan  
,era1 the1 #ccd  ,emblems1 all visible  
things1 #ed  ,emigration1 #agc          
,eternity1 looking through ,time1 #ae1  
#ee1 #afh  ,evil1 ,origin of1 #adc      
,eyes and ,spectacles1 #ea   ,,facts1   
engraved ,hierograms1 for which the     
fewest have the key1 #aec  ,faith1 the  
one thing needful1 #abb  ,fantasy1 the  

true ,heaven-gate or ,hell-gate of man1 
#aji1 #afe  ,fashionable ,novels1 #bjh  
,fatherhood1 #fe  ,faults1 his1 not the 
criterion of any man #bha  ,feebleness1 
the true misery1 #abd  ,fichte's theory 
of literary men1 #che  ,fire1 and vital 
fire1 #ec1 #abi2   miraculous nature of1
 #bed  ,force1 universal presence of1   
#ec  ,forms1 necessity for1 #dca        
,fortunatus' ,wishing-hat1 #aie1 #aig   
,fox's1 ,george1 heavenward aspirations 
and earthly independence1 #aei          
,fraser's ,magazine1 #f1 #bbg           
,frederick the ,great1 symbolic glimpse 
of1 #fa  ,friendship1 now obsolete1 #hi2
   an incredible tradition1 #abe1 #agd2 
how it were possible1 #afa1 #bba        
,frost4 ,see ,fire4  ,futteral and his  
,wife1 #fa  ,future1 organic filaments  
of the1 #ahc   ,,genius1 the world's    
treatment of1 #id  ,german speculative  
thought1 #b1 #i1 #bj1 #bd1 #da2         
historical researches1 #bf1 #ef         
,gerund-grinding1 #hj  ,ghost1 an       
authentic1 #aih  ,giotto1 his portrait  

of ,dante1 #cai  ,god1 the unslumbering1
 omnipresent1 eternal1 #dj2   ,god's    
presence manifested to our eyes and     
hearts1 #di2   an absentee ,god1 #abb   
,goethe's  inspired  melody1  #aij2     
'characters1' #ccg2   notablest of      
literary men1 #chf  ,good1 growth and   
propagation of1 #ge  ,graphic1 secret of
 being1 #cbe  ,gray's misconception of  
,norse lore1 #bgj  ,great ,men1 #acd4   
,see ,man4  ,grimm the ,german          
,antiquary1 and ,odin1 #bfj             
,gullibility1 blessings of1 #hd         
,gunpowder1 use of1 #bi1 #acf   ,,habit1
 how1 makes dullards of us all1 #db     
,hagar1 the ,well of1 #bhd1 #bhe        
,half-men1 #aci  ,hampden1 #dcc1 #dcd   
,happiness1 the whim of1 #add  ,hegira1 
the1 #bie  ,heroes1 ,universal ,history 
of the united biographies of1 #aci1     
#bff2   how 'little critics' account for
 great men1 #bej2   all ,heroes         
fundamentally of the same stuff1 #bfe1  
#bgg1 #cab1 #cdf1           #chc1 #dah2 
,intellect the primary outfit1 #cch2    

,heroism possible to all1 #ceh1 #cge2   
no man a hero to a valet-soul1 #daa1    
#dcc1 #dda  ,hero-worship1 the          
corner-stone of all ,society1 #ahi2     
the tap-root of all ,religion1 #bdh-beb1
 #bgg2   perennial in man1 #beb1 #cag1  
#ceg1 #dbh  ,heuschrecke and his        
biographic documents1 #g2   his loose1  
zigzag1 thin-visaged character1 #ah2    
unaccustomed eloquence1 and interminable
 documentary           superfluities1   
#ef2   bewildered darkness1 #bbc        
,history1 all-inweaving tissue of1 #ae2 
by what strange chances do we live in1  
#cf2   a perpetual ,revelation1 #acd1   
#adh1 #aij  ,homer's ,iliad1 #afi       
,hope1 this world emphatically the place
 of1 #abb2   false shadows of1 #adj     
,horse1 his own tailor1 #da  ,hutchinson
 and ,cromwell1 #dcc1 #dfj   ,,iceland1 
the home of ,norse ,poets1 #bec  ,ideal1
 the1 exists only in the ,actual1 #adh1 
#adi  ,idolatry1 #cea2   criminal only  
when insincere1 #cec  ,igdrasil1 the    
,life-,tree1 #beg1 #ccd  ,imagination4  

,see ,fantasy4  ,immortality1 a glimpse 
of1 #aif  ,imposture1 statistics of1 #hd
  ,independence1 foolish parade of1     
#age1 #ahh  ,indifference1 centre of1   
#abh  ,infant intuitions and            
acquirements1 #fh2   genius and dulness1
 #ga  ,inspiration1 perennial1 #adg1    
#aeg1 #aij  ,intellect1 the summary of  
man's gifts1 #cch1 #cig  ,invention1    
#bi1 #abj  ,invisible1 the1 ,nature the 
visible ,garment of1 #da2   invisible   
bonds1 binding all ,men together1 #de2  
the ,visible and ,invisible1 #di1 #afd  
,irish1 the1 ,poor-,slave1 #bac  ,islam1
 #bia  ,isolation1 #ha   ,,jesus ,,of   
,,nazareth1 our divinest ,symbol1 #afh1 
#aga  ,job1 the ,book of1 #bhd          
,johnson's difficulties1 poverty1       
hypochondria1 #dje1 #djf2   rude        
self-help2 stands genuinely by the old  
formulas1 #djf2   his noble unconscious 
sincerity1 #djh2   twofold ,gospel1 of  
,prudence and hatred of ,cant1 #dji2    
his ,dictionary1 #daj2   the brave old  
,samuel1 #daa1 #dej  ,jtuns1 #bed1 #bgb 

,julius the ,second1 ,pope1 #cfa        
,,kadijah1 the good1 ,mahomet's first   
,wife1 #bhh1 #bib  ,king1 our true1     
chosen for us in ,heaven1 #ahg2   the1 a
 summary of all the various figures of  
,heroism1 #dbd2   indispensable in all  
movements of men1 #dec  ,kingdom1 a     
man's1 #ia  ,know thyself1 and what thou
 canst work at1 #abd  ,knox's influence 
on ,scotland1 #cgd2   the bravest of all
 ,scotchmen1 #cgf2   his unassuming     
career1 #cgg2   is sent to the ,french  
,galleys1 #cgg2   his colloquies with   
,queen ,mary1 #cgh2   vein of drollery1 
#chj2   a brother to high and to low1   
#chj2   his death1 #cha  ,koran1 the1   
#bih  ,koreish1 the1 ,keepers of the    
,caabah1 #bic1 #bid1 #ced  ,kranach's   
portrait of ,luther1 #cgb   ,,labour1   
sacredness of1 #aga  ,ladrones ,islands1
 what the natives of1 thought regarding 
,fire1 #bed  ,lamaism1 ,grand1 #bdb     
,land-owning1 trade of1 #if  ,language1 
the ,garment of ,thought1 #ed2   dead   
vocables1 #hj  ,laughter1 significance  

of1 #bd  ,leo ,x41 the elegant ,pagan   
,pope1 #cfc  ,liberty and ,equality1    
#ceg1 #dbh  ,lieschen1 #ag  ,life1      
,human1 picture of1 #ad1 #aae1 #abi1    
#ada2   life-purpose1 #aja2             
speculative mystery of1 #abe1 #aha1     
#aih2   the most important transaction  
in1 #abh2   nothingness of2 #ach1 #aci  
,light the beginning of all ,creation1  
#adh  ,literary ,men1 #chc2   in ,china1
 #cig  ,literature1 chaotic condition   
of1 #chg2   not our heaviest evil1 #cih 
,logic-mortar and wordy ,air-,castles1  
#dj2   underground workshop of ,logic1  
#ej1 #aff  ,louis ,,xv41 ungodly age of1
 #abc  ,love1 what we emphatically name1
 #ajb2   pyrotechnic phenomena of1 #ajc1
 #aff2   not altogether a delirium1     
#aji2   how possible1 in its highest    
form1 #ade1 #afa1 #bba  ,ludicrous1     
feeling and instances of the1 #cf1 #acf 
,luther's birth and parentage1 #ceh2    
hardship and rigorous necessity2   death
 of his friend ,alexis1 #cei2   becomes 
a monk2   his religious despair2   finds

 a ,bible1 #cfj2   his deliverance from 
darkness2   at ,rome1 #cfa2   ,tetzel1  
#cfb2   burns the ,pope's ,bull1 #cfc1  
#cfd2   at the ,diet of ,worms1 #cfd2   
,king of the ,reformation1 #cfh2        
',duke ,georges for nine days running1' 
#cgj2   his little daughter's deathbed2 
his solitary ,patmos1 #cga2   his       
,portrait1 #cgb   ,,magna ,,charta1 #bjc
  ,mahomet's birth1 boyhood1 and youth1 
#bhf2   marries ,kadijah1 #bhh2   quiet1
 unambitious life1 #bhh2   divine       
commission1 #bij2   the good ,kadijah   
believes him1 #bib2   ,seid1 his slave1 
#bic2   his ,cousin ,ali1 #bic2   his   
offences and sore struggles1 #bic2      
flight from ,mecca2 being driven to take
 the sword1 he uses it1 #bie2   the     
,koran1 #bih2   a veritable ,hero1 #cje2
   ,seid's death1 #cjf2   freedom from  
cant1 #cjf2   the infinite nature of    
duty1 #cji  ,malthus's over-population  
panic1 #agj  ,man1 by nature naked1 #b1 
#db1 #df2   essentially a tool-using    
animal1 #cj2   the true ,shekinah1 #di2 

a divine ,emblem1 #ed1 #afe1 #afg1 #ahj1
 #aii2   two men alone honourable1 #aga4
   ,see ,thinking ,man4  ,mary1 ,queen1 
and ,knox1 #cgh  ,mayflower1 sailing of 
the1 #cgc  ,mecca1 its rise1 #bhe2      
,mahomet's flight from1 #bid1 #bie      
,metaphors1 the stuff of ,language1 #ed 
,metaphysics inexpressibly unproductive1
 #dj1 #ea  ,middle ,ages1 represented by
 ,dante and ,shakspeare1 #cbi1 #ccc     
,milton1 #abd  ,mirabeau1 his ambition1 
#dej  ,miracles1 significance of1 #aia1 
#aig  ,monmouth ,street1 and its ',ou'  
clo'' ,angels of ,doom1 #aha  ,montrose1
 the ,hero-,cavalier1 #dec1 #ded        
,mother's1 a1 religious influence1 #ge  
,motive-,millwrights1 #aff  ,mountain   
scenery1 #aae  ,musical1 all deep       
things1 #cag  ,mystery1 all-pervading   
domain of1 #ea   ,,nakedness and        
hypocritical ,clothing1 #db1 #dg2   a   
naked ,court-,ceremonial1 #de2   a naked
 ,duke addressing a naked ,house of     
,lords1 #df  ,names1 significance and   
influence of1 #fe1 #aie  ,napoleon and  

his ,political ,evangel1 #ace2          
compared with ,cromwell1 #dfa2   a      
portentous mixture of ,quack and ,hero1 
#dfb2   his instinct for the practical1 
#dfc2   his democratic faith #dfc2   his
 hatred of ,anarchy1 #dfd2   apostatised
 from his old faith in ,facts1 and took 
to believing in           ,semblances1  
#dfd1 #dfe2   this ,napoleonism was     
unjust1 and could not last1 #dff        
,nature1 the ,god-written ,apocalypse   
of1#ci1 #di2   not an ,aggregate but a  
,whole1 #eb1 #aaf1 #ahe1 #aic2   ,nature
 alone antique1 #gi2   sympathy with1   
#aae1 #ace2   the ',living ,garment of  
,god1' #adb2   ,laws of ,nature1 #aib2  
all one great ,miracle1 #bde1 #cjb1     
#cga2   a righteous umpire1 #bif        
,necessity1 brightened into ,duty1 #gd  
,newspaper ,editors1 #cc2    our        
,mendicant ,friars1 #ahi1 #aij          
,nothingness of life1 #ach1 #aci        
,nottingham bargemen1 #bee1 #bef        
,novalis1 on ,man1 #bdh2   on ,belief1  
#bib2   on ,shakspeare1 #cci            

,,obedience1 the lesson of1 #gd1 #ge    
,odin1 the first ,norse 'man of genius1'
 #beh2   historic rumours and guesses1  
#bei2   how he came to be deified1 #bfa2
   invented 'runes1' #bfc2   ,hero1     
,prophet1 ,god1 #bfd  ,olaf1 ,king1 and 
,thor1 #bge  ,original man the sincere  
man1 #bhj1 #cef  ,orpheus1 #aig         
,over-population1 #agj  ,own1           
conservation of a man's1 #aea           
,,paganism1 ,scandinavian1 #bda2   not  
mere ,allegory1 #bdc2   ,nature-worship1
 #bde1 #bff2   ,hero-worship1 #bdh2     
creed of our fathers1 #bec1 #bgb1 #bgd2 
,impersonation of the visible workings  
of ,nature1 #bed2   contrasted with     
,greek ,paganism1 #bef2   the first     
,norse ,thinker1 #beh2   main practical 
,belief2 indispensable to be brave1     
#bfg2   hearty1 homely1 rugged          
,mythology1 #bgj2   ,balder and ,thor1  
#bga2   ,consecration of ,valour1 #bgf  
,paradise and ,fig-leaves1 #bg2         
prospective ,paradises1 #ajb1 #aaj      
,parliaments superseded by ,books1 #cib2

   ,cromwell's ,parliaments1 #ded       
,passivity and ,activity1 #gd1 #aba     
,past1 the1 inextricably linked with the
 ,present1 #abi2   forever extant1 #aif2
   the whole1 the possession of the     
,present1 #bgg  ,paupers1 what to do    
with1 #agc  ,peace-,era1 the            
much-predicted1 #acc  ,peasant ,saint1  
the1 #agb  ,pelham1 and the ,whole ,duty
 of ,dandies1 #bji  ,perseverance1 law  
of1 #agh  ,person1 mystery of a1 #dh1   
#aja1 #ajc1 #agi  ,philosophies1        
,cause-and-,effect1 #bf  ,phoenix       
,death-birth1 #agh1 #ahc1 #bja  ,pitt1  
,mr41 his reply when asked for help to  
,burns1 #cif  ,plato1 the child-man of1 
#bde  ,poet1 the1 and ,prophet1 #cac1   
#ccb1 #cdb  ,poetry and ,prose1         
distinction of1 #cae1 #cbc  ,popery1    
#cfg  ,poverty1 advantages of1 #ccd     
,priest1 the true1 a kind of ,prophet1  
#cdf  ,printing1 consequences of1 #cib  
,private judgment1 #ced  ,progress of   
the ,species1 #cdi  ,property1 #aej     
,prose4 ,see ,poetry4  ,proselytising1  

#f1 #bba  ,protestantism1 the root of   
,modern ,european ,history1 #cfd2   not 
dead yet1 #cfg2   its living fruit1     
#cgc1 #dbe  ,purgatory1 noble ,catholic 
conception of1 #cbh  ,puritanism1       
founded by ,knox1 #cgc2   true beginning
 of ,america1 #cgc2   the one epoch of  
,scotland1 #cgd2   ,theocracy1 #cha2    
,puritanism in ,england1 #dcj1 #dcb1    
#dec  ,pym1 #dcc1 #dcd   ,,quackery     
originates nothing1 #bdb1 #bgi2   age   
of1 #djc2   ,quacks and ,dupes1 #dda    
,,radicalism1 ,speculative1 #aj1 #bj1   
#dg1 #ahh  ,ragnark1 #bge  ,raleigh's1  
,sir ,walter1 fine mantle1 #cf          
,ramadhan1 the month of1 #bij  ,raphael1
 the best of ,portrait-,painters1 #cbf  
,reformer1 the true1 #cdg  ,religion1   
dead letter and living spirit of1 #hg2  
weaving new vestures1 #afb1 #bjg2   a   
man's1 the chief fact with regard to    
him1 #bdj2   based on ,hero-worship1    
#bdh2   propagating by the sword1 #bie2 
cannot succeed by being 'easy1' #cjd    
,reverence1 early growth of1 #ge2       

indispensability of1 #ahh  ,revolution1 
#dbc2   the ,french1 #dbc1 #dfa         
,richter1 #bd1 #cfi  ,right and ,wrong1 
#cji1 #cbi  ,rousseau1 not a strong man1
 #daa2   his ,portrait2   egoism1 #dab2 
his passionate appeals1 #dac2   his     
books1 like himself1 unhealthy2 the     
,evangelist of the ,french              
,revolution1 #dad  ,runes1 #bfc1 #bfd1  
#chh   ,,sabeans1 the worship of1 #bdg1 
#bhc  ,smund1 an early ,christian       
priest1 #bec1 #bed  ,st4 ,clement       
,danes1 ,church of1 #djg  ,saints1      
living ,communion of1 #ahe1 #aij        
,sarcasm1 the panoply of1 #ii  ,sartor  
,resartus1 genesis of1 #g2   its        
purpose1 #bja  ,saturn or ,chronos1 #ih 
,savage1 the aboriginal1 #bh            
,scarecrow1 significance of the1 #df    
,sceptical goose-cackle1 #ea            
,scepticism1 a spiritual paralysis1     
#cih-dje1 #dcc  ,schlegel1 ,august      
,wilhelm1 #cda  ,school education1      
insignificance of1 #gh1 #hj2            
tin-kettle terrors and incitements1 #gh2

   need of ,soul-,architects1 #hj       
,science1 the ,torch of1 #a2   the      
,scientific ,head1 #ea  ,scotland       
awakened into life by ,knox1 #cgd       
,secrecy1 benignant efficacies of1 #afd 
,secret1 the open1 #cac  ,seid1         
,mahomet's slave and friend1 #bic1 #cjf 
,self-activity1 #bj  ,self-annihilation1
 #ada  ,shakspeare and the ,elizabethan 
,era1 #ccd2   his all-sufficing         
intellect1 #cce1 #cch2   his            
,characters1 #ccg2   his ,dramas1 a part
 of ,nature herself1 #cdj2   his joyful 
tranquillity1 and overflowing love of   
laughter1 #cdj2   his hearty            
,patriotism1 #cdb2   glimpses of the    
world that was in him1 #cdb2   a        
heaven-sent ,light-,bringer1 #cdc2   a  
,king of ,saxondom1 #cde  ,shame1       
divine1 mysterious growth of1 #cj2   the
 soil of all ,virtue1 #afe  ,shekinah1  
,man the true1 #bdg  ,silence1 #ace2    
the element in which all great things   
fashion themselves1 #afd2   the great   
empires of1 #ccc1 #ddi  ,simon's1       

,saint-1 aphorism of the golden age1    
#agh2   a false application1 #bbc       
,sincerity1 better than gracefulness1   
#bfg2   the first characteristic of     
heroism and originality1 #bhj1 #bhi1    
#cef1           #ceh1 #chd  ,smoke1     
advantage of consuming one's1 #aad      
,snorro1 his description of ,odin1 #bfj1
 #bfd1 #bfh  ,society founded upon      
,cloth1 #ch1 #de1 #dg2   how ,society   
becomes possible1 #afb2   social ,death 
and ,new-,birth1 #afc1 #agh1 #ahc1 #bja2
   as good as extinct1 #agd  ,solitude4 
,see ,silence4  ,sorrow-pangs of        
,self-deliverance1 #aae1 #abj1 #aba2    
divine depths of ,sorrow1 #adc2         
,worship of ,sorrow1 #adf  ,southey1 and
 ,literature1 #cif  ,space and ,time1   
the ,dream-,canvas upon which ,life is  
imaged1 #dj1 #di1           #aib1 #aie  
,spartan wisdom1 #agb  ,speculative     
intuition1 #ch4   ,see ,german4         
,speech1 great1 but not greatest1 #afd  
,sphinx-riddle1 the ,universe a1 #ig    
,star worship1 #bdg1 #bhc  ,stealing1   

#aea1 #agb  ,stupidity1 blessings of1   
#abc  ,style1 varieties of1 #ed         
,suicide1 #abf  ,summary1 #bca  ,sunset1
 #gj1 #aaf  ,swallows1 migrations and   
co-operative instincts of1 #gb          
,swineherd1 the1 #gj  ,symbols1 #afc2   
wondrous agency of1 #afd2   extrinsic   
and intrinsic1 #afg2   superannuated1   
#afi1 #age   ,,tab,c1 the ,war of1 #cjf 
,tailors1 symbolic significance of1 #bag
  ,temptations in the wilderness1 #ach  
,testimonies of ,authors1 #bbg  ,tetzel1
 the ,monk1 #cfb1 #cfc  ,teufelsdrckh's 
,philosophy of ,clothes1 #d2   he       
proposes a toast1 #aj2   his personal   
aspect1 and silent deep-seated          
,sansculottism1 #aa2   thawed into      
speech1 #ac2   memorable watch-tower    
utterances1 #ad2   alone with the       
,stars1 #af2   extremely miscellaneous  
environment1 #ag2   plainness of speech1
 #ba2   universal learning1 and         
multiplex literary style1 #bb2          
ambiguous-looking morality1 #bc2   one  
instance of laughter1 #bd2   almost     

total want of arrangement1 #be2         
feeling of the ludicrous1 #cf2          
speculative ,radicalism1 #dg2   a       
singular ,character1 #eh2   ,genesis    
properly an ,exodus1 #fb2               
unprecedented ,name1 #fe2   infantine   
experience1 #ff2   ,pedagogy1 #gf2   an 
almost ,hindoo ,passivity1 #gf2         
schoolboy jostling1 #gi2   heterogeneous
 ,university  ,life1 #hc2               
fever-paroxysms of ,doubt1 #hg2   first 
practical knowledge of the ,english1    
#hh2   getting under way1 #ij2   ill    
success1 #id2   glimpse of high life1   
#if2   casts himself on the ,universe1  
#aja2   reverent feeling towards ,women1
 #ajb2   frantically in love1 #ajd2     
first interview with ,blumine1 #ajf2    
inspired moments1 #ajh2   short of      
practical kitchen-stuff1 #aaa2   ideal  
bliss and actual catastrophe1 #aab2     
sorrows and peripatetic stoicism1 #aac2 
a parting glimpse of his ,beloved on her
 way to ,england1 #aaf2   how he overran
 the whole earth1 #aah2   ,doubt        

darkened unto ,unbelief1 #abb2   love of
 ,truth1 #abd2   a feeble unit1 amidst a
 threatening ,infinitude1 #abe2         
,baphometic ,fire-baptism1 #abh2        
placid indifference1 #abi2   a          
,hyperborean intruder1 #acf2            
,nothingness of life1 #ach2             
,temptations in the wilderness1 #ach2   
dawning of a better day1 #ada2   the    
,ideal in the ,actual1 #adh2   finds his
 true ,calling1 #adi2   his ,biography a
 symbolic ,adumbration1 significant to  
those who can           decipher it1    
#aeb2   a wonder-lover1 seeker and      
worker1 #aef2   in ,monmouth ,street    
among the ,hebrews1 #aha2   concluding  
hints1 #bai2   his public ,history not  
yet done1 perhaps the better part only  
beginning1 #bbc  ,theocracy1 a1 striven 
for by all true ,reformers1 #chb1 #dea  
,thinking ,man1 a1 the worst enemy of   
the ,prince of ,darkness1 #ia1 #aej2    
true ,thought can never die1 #ahe       
,thor1 and his adventures1 #bee1        
#bga-bgd2   his last appearance1 #bge   

,thought1 miraculous influence of1 #beh1
 #bff1 #cic2   musical ,thought1 #caf   
,thunder4 ,see ,thor4  ,time1 the great 
mystery of1 #bdf  ,time-,spirit1        
life-battle with the1 #fe1 #ih2   ,time1
 the universal wonder-hider1 #aig       
,titles of ,honour1 #ahf  ,tolerance1   
true and false1 #cfh1 #cgi  ,tools1     
influence of1 #cj2   the ,pen1 most     
miraculous of tools1 #aej  ,trial by    
,jury1 ,burke's opinion of1 #dbb        
,turenne1 #cab   ,,unbelief1 era of1    
#hf1 #aab2   ,doubt darkening into1     
#aba2   escape from1 #aci               
,universities1 #hc1 #chi  ,utgard1      
,thor's expedition to1 #bgc1 #bgd       
,utilitarianism1 #aba1 #agf   ,,valkyrs1
 the1 #bfg1 #bfh  ,valour1 the basis of 
all virtue1 #bfh1 #bga2   ,norse        
consecration of1 #bgf2   ,christian     
,valour1 #cea  ,vates1 the1 #cac1 #cad1 
#cag  ,view-hunting and diseased        
,self-consciousness1 #aag  ,voltaire1   
#adf2   the ,parisian ,divinity1 #ahi2  
,voltaire-worship1 #bea1 #beb   ,,war1  

#aca  ,wisdom1 #ej  ,wish1 the ,norse   
god1 #bee2   enlarged into a heaven by  
,mahomet1 #caj  ,woman's influence1 #ajb
  ,wonder the basis of ,worship1 #ej2   
region of1 #ea  ,words1 slavery to1 #dj2
   ,word-mongering and ,motive-grinding1
 #abc  ,workshop of ,life1 #adi4   ,see 
,labour4  ,worms1 ,luther at1 #cfd      
,worship1 transcendent wonder1 #bdg4    
,see ,hero-worship4   ,,young ,men and  
,maidens1 #ig   ,,zemzem1 the sacred    
,well1 #bhd     ,,the ,,end