by the ,bibliothque nationale de ,france
 7,bn,f_/,gallica7 at                   
http3_/_/gallica4bnf4fr7          ,,the 
,,posthumous ,,works  ,,of  ,,thomas    
,,de ,,quincey4  ,,edited ,,from ,,the  
,,original ,,mss41 ,,with               
,,introductions ,,and ,,notes4   ,,by   
,,alexander ,h4 ,,japp1  ,,lld41        
,f4,r4,s4,e4   ,,volume ,i4    ,,london3
  ,,william ,,heinemann4  #ahia4  ,all  
rights reserved4     ,,suspiria ,,de    
,,profundis4  ,with ,other ,essays1     
,,critical1 ,,historical1               
,,biographical1 ,,philosophical1        
,,imaginative ,,and ,,humorous1  ,,by   
,,thomas ,,de ,,quincey4  ,illustration 
,,london3  ,,william ,,heinemann4       
#ahia4  ,all rights reserved4     ,to   
,mrs4 ,,baird ,,smith and ,miss ,,de    
,,quincey1 who put into my hands the    
remains in manuscript of their father1  
that ,i might select and publish from   
them what was deemed to be available for
 such a purpose1 this volume is         
dedicated1 with many and grateful thanks

 for their confidence and aid1 by their 
devoted friend1  ,,alexander ,h4 ,,japp4
     ,,preface4         99       99     
99       99       99   ,it only needs to
 be said1 by way of ,preface1 that the  
articles in the present volume have been
 selected more with a view to variety   
and contrast than will be the case with 
those to follow4 ,and it is right that  
,i should thank ,mr4 ,j4 ,r4 ,mc,ilraith
 for friendly help in the reading of the
 proofs4  ,a4 ,h4 ,j4   ,transcriber's  
,note3 ,this etext contains letters with
 macrons1 and have been noted as such3 u
 represents u with a macron1 and 7o     
represents o with a breve4              
,,contents4   ,,chapter                 
,,page  ,,general ,,introduction        
xi      ,i4 ,,suspiria ,,de ,,profundis3
            ,introduction1 with         
,complete ,list of the ',suspiria'      
#a         #a4 ,the ,dark ,interpreter  
#g         #b4 ,the ,solitude of        
,childhood                              
#ac         #c4 ,who is this ,woman that

 beckoneth and warneth             me   
from the ,place where she is1 and in    
whose eyes             is ,woeful       
,remembrance8 ,i guess who she is       
#af         #d4 ,the ,princess who      
overlooked one ,seed in a ,pomegranate  
#bb         #e4 ,notes for ',suspiria'  
#bd     ,,ii4 ,,the ,,loveliest ,,sight 
,,for ,,woman',s ,,eyes                 
#bi         99       99       99        
99       99    ,,iii4 ,,why ,,the       
,,pagans ,,could ,,not ,,invest ,,their 
,,gods ,,with      ,,any ,,iota ,,of    
,,grandeur                              
#cc     ,,iv4 ,,on ,,pagan ,,sacrifices 
#ci      ,v4 ,,on ,,the ,,mythus        
#dc         99       99       99        
99       99     ,,vi4 ,,david',s        
,,numbering ,,of ,,the ,,people--,,the  
,,politics ,,of     ,,the ,,situation   
#dg    ,,vii4 ,,the ,,jews ,,as ,a      
,,separate ,,people                     
#fb   ,,viii4 ',,what ,,is ,,truth8'    
,,the ,,jesting ,,pilate ,,said--,a     
,,false ,,gloss        #fh     ,,ix4    

,,what ,,scaliger ,,says ,,about ,,the  
,,epistle ,,to ,,jude                   
#ga         99       99       99        
99       99      ,x4 ,,murder ,,as ,a   
,,fine ,,art                            
#gg     ,,xi4 ,,anecdotes--,,juvenal    
#he    ,,xii4 ,,anna ,,louisa           
#hi         99       99       99        
99       99   ,,xiii4 ,,some ,,thoughts 
,,on ,,biography                        
#ajj    ,,xiv4 ,,great ,,forgers3       
,,chatterton ,,and ,,walpole1 ,,and     
',,junius'           #abe     ,,xv4     
,,daniel ,o',,connell                   
#acb         99       99       99       
99       99    ,,xvi4 ,,france ,,past   
,,and ,,france ,,present                
#adc   ,,xvii4 ,,rome',s ,,recruits     
,,and ,,england',s ,,recruits           
#adg  ,,xviii4 ,,national ,,manners     
,,and ,,false ,,judgment ,,of ,,them    
#afc  ,,xix4 ,,increased ,,possibilities
 ,,of ,,sympathy ,,in ,,the ,,present   
,,age          #afe         99       99 
99       99       99     ,,xx4 ,,the    

,,principle ,,of ,,evil                 
#afh    ,,xxi4 ,,on ,,miracles          
#agc   ,,xxii4 ',,let ,,him ,,come      
,,down ,,from ,,the ,,cross'            
#agg  ,,xxiii4 ,,is ,,the ,,human ,,race
 ,,on ,,the ,,down ,,grade8             
#ahj         99       99       99       
99       99   ,,xxiv4 ,,brevia3 ,,short 
,,essays 7,,in ,,connection ,,with      
,,each ,,other73         #a4 ,paganism  
and ,christianity--the ,ideas of ,duty  
and ,holiness                           
#ahe         #b4 ,moral and ,practical  
#aid         #c4 ,on ,words and ,style  
#bjg         #d4 ,theological and       
,religious                              
#bbf         #e4 ,political1 etc4       
#bfi         #f4 ,personal ,confessions1
 etc4                                   
#bga         #g4 ,pagan ,literature     
#bgi         #h4 ,historical1 etc4      
#bhc         #i4 ,literary              
#bib    ,,xxv4 ,,omitted ,,passages     
,,and ,,variations3         #a4 ,the    
,rhapsodoi                              

#cjf         #b4 ,mrs4 ,evans and the   
,gazette                                
#caj         #c4 ,a ,lawsuit ,legacy    
#cac         #d4 ,the ,true             
,justifications of ,war                 
#cae         #e4 ,philosophy ,defeated  
#cag         #f4 ,the ,highwayman's     
,skeleton                               
#cbj         #g4 ,the ,ransom for       
,waterloo                               
#cbc         #h4 ,desiderium            
#cbf     ,,general ,,introduction4      
,these articles recovered from the      
,,mss4 of ,de ,quincey will1 the ,editor
 believes1 be found of substantive      
value4 ,in some cases they throw fresh  
light on his opinions and ways of       
thinking2 in other cases they deal with 
topics which are not touched at all in  
his collected works3 and certainly1 when
 read alongside the writings with which 
the public is already familiar1 will    
give altogether a new idea of his range 
both of interests and activities4 ,the  
',brevia1' especially1 will probably be 

regarded as throwing more light on his  
character and individuality--exhibiting 
more of the inner life1 in fact--than   
any number of letters or reminiscences  
from the pens of others would be found  
to do4 ,it is as though the ordinary    
reader were asked to sit down at ease   
with the author1 when he is in his most 
social and communicative mood1 when he  
has donned his dressing-gown and        
slippers1 and is inclined to unbosom    
himself1 and that freely1 on matters    
which usually1 and in general society1  
he would have been inclined to shun1 or 
at all events to pass over lightly4     
,here we have him at one moment         
presenting the results of speculations  
the loftiest that can engage the mind of
 man2 at another making note of         
whimsical or surprising points in the   
man or woman he has met with1 or in the 
books he has read2 at another1 amusing  
himself with the most recent anecdote1  
or bon-mot1 or reflecting on the latest 
accident or murder1 or good-naturedly   

noting odd lapses in style in magazine  
or newspaper4  ,it must not be supposed 
that the author himself was inclined to 
lay such weight on these stray notes1 as
 might be presumed from the form in     
which they are here presented4 ,that    
might give the impression of a most     
methodic worker and thinker1 who had    
before him a carefully-indexed          
commonplace book1 into which he posted  
at the proper place his rough notes and 
suggestions4 ,that was not ,de          
,quincey's way4 ,if he was not one of   
the wealthy men who care not how they   
give1 he was one who made the most      
careless record even of what was likely 
to be valuable--at all events to        
himself4 ,his habit was to make notes   
just as they occurred to him1 and on the
 sheet that he chanced to have at the   
moment before him4 ,it might be the     
'copy' for an article indeed1 and in a  
little square patch at the              
corner--separated from the main text by 
an insulating line of ink drawn round   

the foreign matter--through this1 not   
seldom1 when finished he would lightly  
draw his pen2 meaning probably to return
 to it when his ,,ms4 came back to him  
from the printer1 which accounts1 it may
 be1 in some measure for his reluctance 
to get rid of1 or to destroy1 'copy'    
already printed from4 ,sometimes we have
 found on a sheet a dozen or so of lines
 of a well-known article2 and the rest  
filled up with notes1 some written one  
way of the paper1 some another1 and now 
and then entangled in the most          
surprising fashion4 ,in these cases1    
where the notes1 of course1 were meant  
for his own eye1 he wrote in a small    
spidery handwriting with many           
contractions--a kind of shorthand of his
 own1 and very different indeed from his
 ordinary clean1 clear1 neat penmanship4
 ,in many cases these notes demanded no 
little care and closeness in            
deciphering--the more that the ,,mss4   
had been tumbled about1 and were often  
deeply stained by glasses other than    

inkstands having been placed upon them4 
',within that circle none dared walk but
 he1' said ,tom ,hood in his genially   
humorous way2 and many of these thoughts
 were thus partially or wholly          
encircled4 ,pages of articles that had  
already been printed were intermixed    
with others that had not2 and the first 
piece of work that ,i entered on was    
roughly to separate the printed from the
 unprinted--first having carefully      
copied out from the former any of the   
spidery-looking notes interjected there1
 to which ,i have already referred4 ,the
 next process was to arrange the many   
separate pages and seeming fragments    
into heaps1 by subjects2 and finally to 
examine these carefully and1 with a view
 to 'connections1' to place them        
together4 ,in not a few cases where the 
theme was attractive and the prospect   
promising1 utter failure to complete the
 article or sketch was the result1 the  
opening or ending passages1 or a page in
 the middle1 having been unfortunately  

destroyed or lost4  ,so numerous were   
these notes1 so varied their subjects1  
that one got quite a new idea of the    
extreme electrical quality of his mind1 
as he himself called it2 and ,i shall   
have greatly failed in my endeavour in  
the case of these volumes1 if ,i have   
not succeeded in imparting something of 
the same impression to the reader4 ,here
 we have proof that vast schemes1 such  
as the great history of ,england1 of    
which ,mr4 ,james ,hogg1 senr41         
humorously told us in his               
',recollections' 7',memoir1' ch4 ed41   
pp4 #ccj1 #cca71 were not merely        
subjects of conversation and jest1 but  
that he had actually proceeded to build 
up masses of notes and figures with a   
view to these2 and various slips and    
pages remain to show that he had        
actually commenced to write the history 
of ,england4 ,the short article1        
included in the present volume1 on the  
',power of the ,house of ,commons as    
,custodian of the ,purse1' is marked for

 ',my ,history of ,england4' ,other     
portions are marked as intended for ',my
 book on the ,infinite1' and others     
still ',for my book on the ,relations of
 ,christianity to ,man4' ,one can infer1
 indeed1 that several of the articles   
well-known to us1 notably ',christianity
 as an ,organ of ,political ,movement1' 
for one1 were originally conceived as   
portions of a great work on             
',christianity in ,relation to ,human   
,development4'  ,it is thus necessary to
 be very explicit in stating that1      
though these notes are as faithfully    
reproduced as has been possible to me1  
the classification and arrangement of   
them1 under which they assume the aspect
 of something of one connected essay on 
the main subject1 ,i alone am           
responsible for2 though ,i do not       
believe1 so definite and clear were his 
ideas on certain subjects and in certain
 relations1 that he himself would have  
regarded them as losing anything by such
 arrangement1 but rather gaining very   

much1 if they were to be given at all to
 the public4  ,several of the articles  
in this volume suggest that he also     
contemplated a great work on ',paganism 
and ,christianity1' in which he would   
have demonstrated that ,paganism had    
exhausted all the germs of progress that
 lay within it2 and that all beyond the 
points reached by ,paganism is due to   
,christianity1 and alone to             
,christianity1 which1 in opening up a   
clear view of the infinite through      
purely experimental mediums in man's    
heart1 touched to new life1 science1    
philosophy1 art1 invention and every    
kind of culture4  ,respecting the       
recovered ',suspiria1' all that it is   
needful to say will be found in an      
introduction special to that head1 and  
it does not seem to me that ,i need to  
add here anything more4 ,in every other 
respect the articles must speak for     
themselves4     ,,de ,,quincey',s       
,,posthumous ,,works4     ,i4 ,,suspiria
 ,,de ,,profundis4  ,,introduction1     

,,with ,,complete ,,list ,,of ,,the     
',,suspiria4'   ,the finale to the first
 part of the ',suspiria1' as we find    
from a note of the author's own1 was to 
include ',the ,dark ,interpreter1' ',the
 ,spectre of the ,brocken1' and         
',savannah-la-,mar4' ,the references to 
',the ,dark ,interpreter' in the latter 
would thus become intelligible1 as the  
reader is not there in any full sense   
informed who the ',dark ,interpreter'   
was2 and the piece1 recovered from his  
,,mss4 and now printed1 may thus be     
regarded as having a special value for  
,de ,quincey students1 and1 indeed1 for 
readers generally4 ,in ,blackwood's     
,magazine he did indeed interpolate a   
sentence or two1 and these were         
reproduced in the ,american edition of  
the works 7,fields's72 but they are so  
slight and general compared with the    
complete ',suspiria' now presented1 that
 they do not in any way detract from its
 originality and value4  ,the           
master-idea of the ',suspiria' is the   

power which lies in suffering1 in agony 
unuttered and unutterable1 to develop   
the intellect and the spirit of man2 to 
open these to the ineffable conceptions 
of the infinite1 and to some            
discernment1 otherwise impossible1 of   
the beneficent might that lies in pain  
and sorrow4 ,de ,quincey seeks his      
symbols sometimes in natural phenomena1 
oftener in the creation of mighty       
abstractions2 and the moral of all must 
be set forth in the burden of ',the     
,daughter of ,lebanon1' that ',god may  
give by seeming to refuse4'             
,prose-poems1 as they have been called1 
they are deeply philosophical1          
presenting under the guise of phantasy  
the profoundest laws of the working of  
the human spirit in its most terrible   
disciplines1 and asserting for the      
darkest phenomena of human life some    
compensating elements as awakeners of   
hope and fear and awe4 ,the sense of a  
great pariah world is ever present with 
him--a world of outcasts and of         

innocents bearing the burden of         
vicarious woes2 and thus it is that his 
title is justified--,suspiria de        
,profundis3 ',sighs from the ,depths4'  
,we find ,de ,quincey writing in his    
prefatory notice to the enlarged edition
 of the ',confessions' in ,november1    
#ahef3  ',all along ,i had relied upon a
 crowning grace1 which ,i had reserved  
for the final page of this volume1 in a 
succession of some twenty or twenty-five
 dreams and noon-day visions1 which had 
arisen under the latter stage of opium  
influence4 ,these have disappeared2 some
 under circumstances which allow me a   
reasonable prospect of recovering them1 
some unaccountably1 and some            
dishonourably4 ,five or six ,i believe  
were burned in a sudden conflagration   
which arose from the spark of a candle  
falling unobserved amongst a very large 
pile of papers in a bedroom1 where ,i   
was alone and reading4 ,falling not on1 
but amongst and within the papers1 the  
fire would soon have been ahead of      

conflict1 and1 by communicating with the
 slight woodwork and draperies of a bed1
 it would have immediately enveloped the
 laths of the ceiling overhead1 and thus
 the house1 far from fire-engines1 would
 have been burned down in half-an-hour4 
,my attention was first drawn by a      
sudden light upon my book2 and the whole
 difference between a total destruction 
of the premises and a trivial loss 7from
 books charred7 of five guineas was due 
to a large ,spanish cloak4 ,this1 thrown
 over and then drawn down tightly1 by   
the aid of one sole person1 somewhat    
agitated1 but retaining her presence of 
mind1 effectually extinguished the fire4
 ,amongst the papers burned partially1  
but not so burned as to be absolutely   
irretrievable1 was ,the ,daughter of    
,lebanon1 and this ,i have printed and  
have intentionally placed it at the end1
 as appropriately closing a record in   
which the case of poor ,ann the ,outcast
 formed not only the most memorable and 
the most suggestively pathetic incident1

 but also that which1 more than any     
other1 coloured--or 7more truly1 ,i     
should say7 shaped1 moulded and         
remoulded1 composed and decomposed--the 
great body of opium dreams4'  ,after    
this loss of the greater portion of the 
',suspiria' copy1 ,de ,quincey seems to 
have become indifferent in some degree  
to their continuity and relation to each
 other4 ,he drew the ',affliction of    
,childhood' and ',dream ,echoes1' which 
stood early in the order of the         
',suspiria1' into the ',autobiographic  
,sketches1' and also the ',spectre of   
the ,brocken1' which was meant to come  
somewhat later in the series as         
originally planned2 and1 as we have     
seen1 he appended ',the ,daughter of    
,lebanon' to the ',opium ,confessions1' 
without any reference1 save in the      
preface1 to its really having formed    
part of a separate collection of dreams4
  ,from a list found among his ,,mss4 we
 are able to give the arrangement of the
 whole as it would have appeared had no 

accident occurred1 and all the papers   
been at hand4 ,those followed by a cross
 are those which are now recovered1 and 
those with a dagger what were reprinted 
either as ',suspiria' or otherwise in   
,messrs4 ,black's editions4             
,,suspiria ,,de ,,profundis4    #a4     
,dreaming1 cross  #b4 ,the ,affliction  
of ,childhood4 cross         ,dream     
,echoes4 cross  #c4 ,the ,english ,mail 
,coach4 cross         7#a7 ,the ,glory  
of ,motion4         7#b7 ,vision of     
,sudden ,death4         7#c7            
,dream-fugue4  #d4 ,the ,palimpsest of  
the ,human ,brain4 cross  #e4 ,vision of
 ,life4 cross  #f4 ,memorial ,suspiria4 
cross  #g4 ,levana and our ,ladies of   
,sorrow4  #h4 ,solitude of ,childhood4  
big cross  #i4 ,the ,dark ,interpreter4 
big cross #aj4 ,the ,apparition of the  
,brocken4 cross #aa4 ,savannah-la-,mar4 
#ab4 ,the ,dreadful ,infant4 7,there was
 the glory of innocence         made    
perfect2 there was the dreadful beauty  
of infancy that had seen ,god47 #ac4    

,foundering ,ships4 #ad4 ,the           
,archbishop and the ,controller of      
,fire4 #ae4 ,god that didst ,promise4   
#af4 ,count the ,leaves in ,vallombrosa4
 #ag4 ,but if ,i submitted with         
,resignation1 not the less         ,i   
searched for the                        
,unsearchable--sometimes in             
,arab ,deserts1 sometimes in the ,sea4  
#ah4 ,that ran before us in ,malice4    
#ai4 ,morning of ,execution4 #bj4       
,daughter of ,lebanon4 cross #ba4 ,kyrie
 ,eleison4 #bb4 ,the ,princess that lost
 a ,single ,seed of a ,pomegranate4 big 
cross #bc4 ,the ,nursery in ,arabian    
,deserts4 #bd4 ,the ,halcyon ,calm and  
the ,coffin4 #be4 ,faces6 ,angels'      
,faces6 #bf4 ,at that ,word4 #bg4 ,oh1  
,apothanate6 that hatest ,death1 and    
cleansest         from the ,pollution of
 ,sorrow4 #bh4 ,who is this ,woman that 
for some ,months has         followed me
 up and down8 ,her face ,i cannot       
see1 for she keeps for ever behind me4  
#bi4 ,who is this ,woman that beckoneth 

and warneth         me from the ,place  
where she is1 and in whose         ,eyes
 is ,woeful remembrance8 ,i guess who   
she is4 big cross #cj4 ,cagot and       
,cressida4 #ca4 ,lethe and ,anapaula4   
#cb4 ,oh1 sweep away1 ,angel1 with      
,angelic ,scorn1 the         ,dogs that 
come with ,curious ,eyes to gaze4  ,thus
 of the thirty-two ',suspiria' intended 
by the author1 we have only nine that   
received his final corrections1 and even
 with those now recovered1 we have only 
about one half of the whole1 presuming  
that those which are lost or remained   
unwritten would have averaged about the 
same length as those we have4 ,to those 
who have studied the ',suspiria' as     
published1 how suggestive many of these 
titles will be6 ',count the ,leaves in  
,vallombrosa'--what phantasies would    
that have conjured up6 ,the lost1 the   
apparently wasted of the leaves from the
 tree of human life1 and the            
possibilities of use and redemption6 ,de
 ,quincey would there doubtless have    

given us under a form more or less      
fanciful or symbolical his reading of   
the problem3      ',why ,nature out of  
fifty seeds     ,so often brings but one
 to bear4'  ,the case of the ,cagots1   
the pariahs of the ,pyrenees1 as we know
 from references elsewhere1 excited his 
curiosity1 as did all of the pariah     
class1 and much engaged his attention2  
and in the ',cagot and ,cressida'       
',suspiria' we should probably have had 
under symbols of mighty abstractions the
 vision of the pariah world1 and the    
world of health and outward fortune     
which scorns and excludes the other1 and
 partly1 at all events1 actively dooms  
it to a living death in ,england of     
to-day1 as in ,india of the past1 and in
 ,jewry of old1 where the leper was     
thrust outside the wall to wail         
',unclean6 unclean6'     #a4--,,the     
,,dark ,,interpreter4       ',oh1       
eternity with outstretched wings1 that  
broodest over the      secret truths in 
whose roots lie the mysteries of        

man--his whence1      his whither--have 
,i searched thee1 and struck a right key
 on thy      dreadful organ6'           
,suffering is a mightier agency in the  
hands of nature1 as a ,demiurgus        
creating the intellect1 than most people
 are aware of4  ,the truth ,i heard     
often in sleep from the lips of the     
,dark ,interpreter4 ,who is he8 ,he is a
 shadow1 reader1 but a shadow with whom 
you must suffer me to make you          
acquainted4 ,you need not be afraid of  
him1 for when ,i explain his nature and 
origin you will see that he is          
essentially inoffensive2 or if sometimes
 he menaces with his countenance1 that  
is but seldom3 and then1 as his features
 in those moods shift as rapidly as     
clouds in a gale of wind1 you may always
 look for the terrific aspects to vanish
 as fast as they have gathered4 ,as to  
his origin--what it is1 ,i know exactly1
 but cannot without a little circuit of 
preparation make you understand4        
,perhaps you are aware of that power in 

the eye of many children by which in    
darkness they project a vast theatre of 
phantasmagorical figures moving forwards
 or backwards between their bed-curtains
 and the chamber walls4 ,in some        
children this power is                  
semi-voluntary--they can control or     
perhaps suspend the shows2 but in others
 it is altogether automatic4 ,i myself1 
at the date of my last confessions1 had 
seen in this way more                   
processions--generally solemn1 mournful1
 belonging to eternity1 but also at     
times glad1 triumphal pomps1 that seemed
 to enter the gates of ,time--than all  
the religions of paganism1 fierce or    
gay1 ever witnessed4 ,now1 there is in  
the dark places of the human spirit--in 
grief1 in fear1 in vindictive wrath--a  
power of self-projection not unlike to  
this4 ,thirty years ago1 it may be1 a   
man called ,symons committed several    
murders in a sudden epilepsy of         
planet-struck fury4 ,according to my    
recollection1 this case happened at     

,hoddesdon1 which is in ,middlesex4     
',revenge is sweet6' was his hellish    
motto on that occasion1 and that motto  
itself records the abysses which a human
 will can open4 ,revenge is not sweet1  
unless by the mighty charm of a charity 
that seeketh not her own it has become  
benignant4#a ,and what he had to revenge
 was woman's scorn4 ,he had been a plain
 farm-servant2 and1 in fact1 he was     
executed1 as such men often are1 on a   
proper point of professional respect to 
their calling1 in a smock-frock1 or     
blouse1 to render so ugly a clash of    
syllables4 ,his young mistress was every
 way and by much his superior1 as well  
in prospects as in education4 ,but the  
man1 by nature arrogant1 and little     
acquainted with the world1              
presumptuously raised his eyes to one of
 his young mistresses4 ,great was the   
scorn with which she repulsed his       
audacity1 and her sisters participated  
in her disdain4 ,upon this affront he   
brooded night and day2 and1 after the   

term of his service was over1 and he1 in
 effect1 forgotten by the family1 one   
day he suddenly descended amongst the   
women of the family like an ,avatar of  
vengeance4 ,right and left he threw out 
his murderous knife without distinction 
of person1 leaving the room and the     
passage floating in blood4  ,the final  
result of this carnage was not so       
terrific as it threatened to be4 ,some1 
,i think1 recovered2 but1 also1 one1 who
 did not recover1 was unhappily a       
stranger to the whole cause of his fury4
 ,now1 this murderer always maintained1 
in conversation with the prison         
chaplain1 that1 as he rushed on in his  
hellish career1 he perceived distinctly 
a dark figure on his right hand1 keeping
 pace with himself4 ,upon that the      
superstitious1 of course1 supposed that 
some fiend had revealed himself1 and    
associated his superfluous presence with
 the dark atrocity4 ,symons was not a   
philosopher1 but my opinion is1 that he 
was too much so to tolerate that        

hypothesis1 since1 if there was one man 
in all ,europe that needed no tempter to
 evil on that evening1 it was precisely 
,mr4 ,symons1 as nobody knew better than
 ,mr4 ,symons himself4 ,i had not the   
benefit of his acquaintance1 or ,i would
 have explained it to him4 ,the fact is1
 in point of awe a fiend would be a     
poor1 trivial bagatelle compared to the 
shadowy projections1 umbras and         
penumbras1 which the unsearchable depths
 of man's nature is capable1 under      
adequate excitement1 of throwing off1   
and even into stationary forms4 ,i shall
 have occasion to notice this point     
again4 ,there are creative agencies in  
every part of human nature1 of which the
 thousandth part could never be revealed
 in one life4   ,you have heard1 reader1
 in vision which describes our ,ladies  
of ,sorrow1 particularly in the dark    
admonition of ,madonna1 to her wicked   
sister that hateth and tempteth1 what   
root of dark uses may lie in moral      
convulsions3 not the uses hypocritically

 vaunted by theatrical devotion which   
affronts the majesty of ,god1 that ever 
and in all things loves ,truth--prefers 
sincerity that is erring to piety that  
cants4 ,rebellion which is the sin of   
witchcraft is more pardonable in ,his   
sight than speechifying resignation1    
listening with complacency to its own   
self-conquests4 ,show always as much    
neighbourhood as thou canst to grief    
that abases itself1 which will cost thee
 but little effort if thine own grief   
hath been great4 ,but ,god1 who sees thy
 efforts in secret1 will slowly         
strengthen those efforts1 and make that 
to be a real deed1 bearing tranquillity 
for thyself1 which at first was but a   
feeble wish breathing homage to ,him4   
,in after-life1 from twenty to          
twenty-four1 on looking back to those   
struggles of my childhood1 ,i used to   
wonder exceedingly that a child could be
 exposed to struggles on such a scale4  
,but two views unfolded upon me as my   
experience widened1 which took away that

 wonder4 ,the first was the vast scale  
upon which the sufferings of children   
are found everywhere expanded in the    
realities of life4 ,the generation of   
infants which you see is but part of    
those who belong to it2 were born in it2
 and make1 the world over1 not one half 
of it4 ,the missing half1 more than an  
equal number to those of any age that   
are now living1 have perished by every  
kind of torments4 ,three thousand       
children per annum--that is1 three      
hundred thousand per century2 that is   
7omitting ,sundays71 about ten every    
day--pass to heaven through flames#b in 
this very island of ,great ,britain4    
,and of those who survive to reach      
maturity what multitudes have fought    
with fierce pangs of hunger1 cold1 and  
nakedness6 ,when ,i came to know all    
this1 then reverting my eye to my       
struggle1 ,i said oftentimes it was     
nothing6 ,secondly1 in watching the     
infancy of my own children1 ,i made     
another discovery--it is well known to  

mothers1 to nurses1 and also to         
philosophers--that the tears and        
lamentations of infants during the year 
or so when they have no other language  
of complaint run through a gamut that is
 as inexhaustible as the cremona of     
,paganini4 ,an ear but moderately       
learned in that language cannot be      
deceived as to the rate and modulus of  
the suffering which it indicates4 ,a    
fretful or peevish cry cannot by any    
efforts make itself impassioned4 ,the   
cry of impatience1 of hunger1 of        
irritation1 of reproach1 of alarm1 are  
all different--different as a chorus of 
,beethoven from a chorus of ,mozart4    
,but if ever you saw an infant suffering
 for an hour1 as sometimes the          
healthiest does1 under some attack of   
the stomach1 which has the tiger-grasp  
of the ,oriental cholera1 then you will 
hear moans that address to their mothers
 an anguish of supplication for aid such
 as might storm the heart of ,moloch4   
,once hearing it1 you will not forget   

it4 ,now1 it was a constant remark of   
mine1 after any storm of that nature    
7occurring1 suppose1 once in two        
months71 that always on the following   
day1 when a long1 long sleep had chased 
away the darkness and the memory of the 
darkness from the little creature's     
brain1 a sensible expansion had taken   
place in the intellectual faculties of  
attention1 observation1 and animation4  
,it renewed the case of our great modern
 poet1 who1 on listening to the raving  
of the midnight storm1 and the crashing 
which it was making in the mighty woods1
 reminded himself that all this hell of 
trouble      ',tells also of bright     
calms that shall succeed4'  ,pain driven
 to agony1 or grief driven to frenzy1 is
 essential to the ventilation of        
profound natures4 ,a sea which is deeper
 than any that ,count ,massigli#c       
measured cannot be searched and torn up 
from its sleeping depths without a      
levanter or a monsoon4 ,a nature which  
is profound in excess1 but also         

introverted and abstracted in excess1 so
 as to be in peril of wasting itself in 
interminable reverie1 cannot be awakened
 sometimes without afflictions that go  
to the very foundations1 heaving1       
stirring1 yet finally harmonizing2 and  
it is in such cases that the ,dark      
,interpreter does his work1 revealing   
the worlds of pain and agony and woe    
possible to man--possible even to the   
innocent spirit of a child4             
#b4--,,the ,,solitude ,,of ,,childhood4 
,as nothing which is impassioned escapes
 the eye of poetry1 neither has this    
escaped it--that there is1 or may be1   
through solitude1 'sublime attractions  
of the grave4' ,but even poetry has not 
perceived that these attractions may    
arise for a child4 ,not1 indeed1 a      
passion for the grave as the grave--from
 that a child revolts2 but a passion for
 the grave as the portal through which  
it may recover some heavenly            
countenance1 mother or sister1 that has 
vanished4 ,through solitude this passion

 may be exalted into a frenzy like a    
nympholepsy4 ,at first1 when in         
childhood we find ourselves torn away   
from the lips that we could hang on for 
ever1 we throw out our arms in vain     
struggles to snatch at them1 and pull   
them back again4 ,but when we have felt 
for a time how hopeless is that effort1 
and that they cannot come to us1 we     
desist from that struggle1 and next we  
whisper to our hearts1 ,might not we go 
to them8  ,such in principle and origin 
was the famous ,dulce ,domum#d of the   
,english schoolboy4 ,such is the        
,heimweh 7home-sickness7 of the ,german 
and ,swiss soldier in foreign service4  
,such is the passion of the ,calenture4 
,doubtless1 reader1 you have seen it    
described4 ,the poor sailor is in       
tropical latitudes2 deep1 breathless    
calms have prevailed for weeks4 ,fever  
and delirium are upon him4 ,suddenly    
from his restless hammock he starts up2 
he will fret no longer in darkness2 he  
ascends upon deck4 ,how motionless are  

the deeps6 ,how vast--how sweet are     
these shining zaarrahs of water6 ,he    
gazes1 and slowly under the blazing     
scenery of his brain the scenery of his 
eye unsettles4 ,the waters are swallowed
 up2 the seas have disappeared4 ,green  
fields appear1 a silent dell1 and a     
pastoral cottage4 ,two faces appear--are
 at the door--sweet female faces1 and   
behold they beckon him4 ',come to us6'  
they seem to say4 ,the picture rises to 
his wearied brain like a sanctus from   
the choir of a cathedral1 and in the    
twinkling of an eye1 stung to madness by
 the cravings of his heart1 the man is  
overboard4 ,he is gone--he is lost for  
this world2 but if he missed the arms of
 the lovely women--wife and sister--whom
 he sought1 assuredly he has settled    
into arms that are mightier and not less
 indulgent4  ,i1 young as ,i was1 had   
one feeling not learned from books1 and 
that could not have been learned from   
books1 the deepest of all that connect  
themselves with natural scenery4 ,it is 

the feeling which in ',the ,hart-leap   
,well' of ,wordsworth1 in his ',danish  
,boy1' and other exquisite poems is     
brought out1 viz41 the breathless1      
mysterious1 ,pan-like silence that      
haunts the noon-day4 ,if there were     
winds abroad1 then ,i was roused myself 
into sympathetic tumults4 ,but if this  
dead silence haunted the air1 then the  
peace which was in nature echoed another
 peace which lay in graves1 and ,i fell 
into a sick languishing for things which
 a voice from heaven seemed to say      
'cannot be granted4'  ,there is a       
,german superstition1 which eight or ten
 years after ,i read1 of the ,erl-king  
and his daughter4 ,the daughter had     
power to tempt infants away into the    
invisible world2 but it is1 as the      
reader understands1 by collusion with   
some infirmity of sick desire for such  
worlds in the infant itself4      ',who 
is that rides through the forest so     
fast8'  ,it is a knight who carries his 
infant upon his saddle-bow4 ,the        

,erl-king's daughter rides by his side2 
and1 in words audible only when she     
means them to be heard1 she says3       
',if thou wilt1 dear baby1 with me go   
away1      ,we will see a fine show1 we 
will play a fine play4'  ,that sounds   
lovely to my ears4 ,oh yes1 that        
collusion with dim sleeping infancy is  
lovely to me2 but ,i was too advanced in
 intellect to have been tempted by such 
temptations4 ,still there was a perilous
 attraction for me in worlds that slept 
and rested2 and if the ,erl-king's      
daughter had revealed herself to my     
perceptions1 there was one 'show' that  
she might have promised which would have
 wiled me away with her into the dimmest
 depths of the mightiest and remotest   
forests4     #c4--,,who ,,is ,,this     
,,woman ,,that ,,beckoneth ,,and        
,,warneth ,,me ,,from ,,the ,,place     
,,where ,,she ,,is1 ,,and ,,in ,,whose  
,,eyes ,,is ,,woeful ,,remembrance8 ,i  
,,guess ,,who ,,she ,,is4   ,in my      
dreams were often prefigurements of my  

future1 as ,i could not but read the    
signs4 ,what man has not some time in   
dewy morn1 or sequestered eve1 or in the
 still night-watches1 when deep sleep   
falleth on other men but visiteth not   
his weary eyelids--what man1 ,i say1 has
 not some time hushed his spirit and    
questioned with himself whether some    
things seen or obscurely felt1 were not 
anticipated as by mystic foretaste in   
some far halcyon time1 post-natal or    
ante-natal he knew not2 only assuredly  
he knew that for him past and present   
and future merged in one awful moment of
 lightning revelation4 ,oh1 spirit that 
dwelleth in man1 how subtle are thy     
revelations2 how deep1 how delirious the
 raptures thou canst inspire2 how       
poignant the stings with which thou     
canst pierce the heart2 how sweet the   
honey with which thou assuagest the     
wound2 how dark the despairs and        
accusings that lie behind thy curtains1 
and leap upon us like lightning from the
 cloud1 with the sense as of some       

heavenly blazoning1 and oftentimes carry
 us beyond ourselves6  ,it is a sweet   
morning in ,june1 and the fragrance of  
the roses is wafted towards me as ,i    
move--for ,i am walking in a lawny      
meadow1 still wet with dew--and a       
wavering mist lies over the distance4   
,suddenly it seems to lift1 and out of  
the dewy dimness emerges a cottage1     
embowered with roses and clustering     
clematis2 and the hills1 in which it is 
set like a gem1 are tree-clad1 and rise 
billowy behind it1 and to the right and 
to the left are glistening expanses of  
water4 ,over the cottage there hangs a  
halo1 as if clouds had but parted there4
 ,from the door of that cottage emerges 
a figure1 the countenance full of the   
trepidation of some dread woe feared or 
remembered4 ,with waving arm and tearful
 uplifted face the figure first beckons 
me onward1 and then1 when ,i have       
advanced some yards1 frowning1 warns me 
away4 ,as ,i still continue to advance1 
despite the warning1 darkness falls3    

figure1 cottage1 hills1 trees1 and halo 
fade and disappear2 and all that remains
 to me is the look on the face of her   
that beckoned and warned me away4 ,i    
read that glance as by the inspiration  
of a moment4 ,we had been together2     
together we had entered some troubled   
gulf2 struggled together1 suffered      
together4 ,was it as lovers torn asunder
 by calamity8 was it as combatants      
forced by bitter necessity into bitter  
feud1 when we only1 in all the world1   
yearned for peace together8 ,oh1 what a 
searching glance was that which she cast
 on me6 as if she1 being now in the     
spiritual world1 abstracted from flesh1 
remembered things that ,i could not     
remember4 ,oh1 how ,i shuddered as the  
sweet sunny eyes in the sweet sunny     
morning of ,june--the month that was my 
'angelical'2 half spring1 yet with      
summer dress1 that to me was very       
'angelical'--seemed reproachfully to    
challenge in me recollections of things 
passed thousands of years ago 7old      

indeed1 yet that were made new again for
 us1 because now first it was that we   
met again74 ,oh1 heavens6 it came over  
me as doth the raven over the infected  
house1 as from a bed of violets sweeps  
the saintly odour of corruption4 ,what a
 glimpse was thus revealed6 glory in    
despair1 as of that gorgeous vegetation 
that hid the sterilities of the grave in
 the tropics of that summer long ago2 of
 that heavenly beauty which slept side  
by side within my sister's coffin in the
 month of ,june2 of those saintly swells
 that rose from an infinite distance--,i
 know not whether to or from my sister4 
,could this be a memorial of that       
nature8 ,are the nearer and more distant
 stages of life thus dimly connected1   
and the connection hidden1 but suddenly 
revealed for a moment8  ,this lady for  
years appeared to me in dreams2 in that1
 considering the electric character of  
my dreams1 and that they were far less  
like a lake reflecting the heavens than 
like the pencil of some mighty          

artist--,da ,vinci or ,michael          
,angelo--that cannot copy in simplicity1
 but comments in freedom1 while         
reflecting in fidelity1 there was       
nothing to surprise4 ,but a change in   
this appearance was remarkable4         
,oftentimes1 after eight years had      
passed1 she appeared in summer dawn at a
 window4 ,it was a window that opened on
 a balcony4 ,this feature only gave a   
distinction1 a refinement1 to the aspect
 of the cottage--else all was           
simplicity4 ,spirit of ,peace1 dove-like
 dawn that slept upon the cottage1 ye   
were not broken by any participation in 
my grief and despair6 ,for ever the     
vision of that cottage was renewed4 ,did
 ,i roam in the depths of sweet pastoral
 solitudes in the ,west1 with the       
tinkling of sheep-bells in my ears1 a   
rounded hillock1 seen vaguely1 would    
shape itself into a cottage2 and at the 
door my monitory1 regretful ,hebe would 
appear4 ,did ,i wander by the seashore1 
one gently-swelling wave in the vast    

heaving plain of waters would suddenly  
transform itself into a cottage1 and ,i1
 by some involuntary inward impulse1    
would in fancy advance toward it4  ,ah1 
reader1 you will think this which ,i am 
going to say too near1 too holy1 for    
recital4 ,but not so4 ,the deeper a woe 
touches me in heart1 so much the more am
 ,i urged to recite it4 ,the world      
disappears3 ,i see only the grand       
reliques of a world--memorials of a love
 that has departed1 has been--the record
 of a sorrow that is1 and has its       
greyness converted into                 
verdure--monuments of a wrath that has  
been reconciled1 of a wrong that has    
been atoned for--convulsions of a storm 
that has gone by4 ,what ,i am going to  
say is the most like a superstitious    
thing that ,i ever shall say4 ,and ,i   
have reason to think that every man who 
is not a villain once in his life must  
be superstitious4 ,it is a tribute which
 he pays to human frailty1 which tribute
 if he will not pay1 which frailty if he

 will not share1 then also he shall not 
have any of its strength4  ,the face of 
this monitory ,hebe haunted me for some 
years in a way that ,i must faintly     
attempt to explain4 ,it is little to say
 that it was the sweetest face1 with the
 most peculiar expression of sweetness1 
that ,i had ever seen3 that was much1   
but that was earthly4 ,there was        
something more terrific1 believe me1    
than this2 yet that was not the word3   
terror looks to the future2 and this    
perhaps did1 but not primarily4 ,chiefly
 it looked at some unknown past1 and was
 for that reason awful2 yes1 awful--that
 was the word4  ,thus1 on any of those  
heavenly sunny mornings1 that now are   
buried in an endless grave1 did ,i1     
transported by no human means1 enter    
that cottage1 and descend to that       
breakfast-room1 my earliest salute was  
to her1 that ever1 as the look of       
pictures do1 with her eyes pursued me   
round the room1 and oftentimes with a   
subtle checking of grief1 as if great   

sorrow had been or would be hers4 ,and  
it was1 too1 in the sweet ,maytime4 ,oh 
yes2 she was but as if she had been--as 
if it were her original 444 chosen to   
have been the aurora of a heavenly      
clime2 and then suddenly she was as one 
of whom1 for some thousand years1       
,paradise had received no report2 then1 
again1 as if she entered the gates of   
,paradise not less innocent2 and1 again1
 as if she could not enter2 and some    
blame--but ,i knew not what blame--was  
mine2 and now she looked as though      
broken with a woe that no man could     
read1 as she sought to travel back to   
her early joy--yet no longer a joy that 
is sublime in innocency1 but a joy from 
which sprung abysses of memories        
polluted into anguish1 till her tears   
seemed to be suffused with drops of     
blood4 ,all around was peace and the    
deep silence of untroubled solitude2    
only in the lovely lady was a sign of   
horror1 that had slept1 under deep ages 
of frost1 in her heart1 and now rose1 as

 with the rushing of wings1 to her face4
 ,could it be supposed that one life--so
 pitiful a thing--was what moved her    
care8 ,oh no2 it was1 or it seemed1 as  
if this poor wreck of a life happened to
 be that one which determined the fate  
of some thousand others4 ,nothing less2 
nothing so abject as one poor fifty     
years--nothing less than a century of   
centuries could have stirred the horror 
that rose to her lovely lips1 as once   
more she waved me away from the cottage4
  ,oh1 reader1 five years after ,i saw  
that sweet face in reality--saw it in   
the flesh2 saw that pomp of womanhood2  
saw that cottage2 saw a thousand times  
that lovely domicile that heard the     
cooing of the solitary dove in the      
solitary morning2 saw the grace of      
childhood and the shadows of graves that
 lay1 like creatures asleep1 in the     
sunshine2 saw1 also1 the horror1 somehow
 realized as a shadowy reflection from  
myself1 which warned me off from that   
cottage1 and which still rings through  

the dreams of five-and-twenty years4    
,the general sentiment or sense of      
pre-existence1 of which this ,suspiria  
may be regarded as one significant and  
affecting illustration1 had this record 
in the outset of the ',reminiscences of 
,wordsworth'3  ',oh1 sense of mysterious
 pre-existence1 by which1 through years1
 in which as yet a stranger to those    
valleys of ,westmoreland1 ,i viewed     
myself as a phantom self--a second      
identity projected from my own          
consciousness1 and already living       
amongst them--how was it1 and by what   
prophetic instinct1 that already ,i said
 to myself oftentimes1 when chasing     
day-dreams along the pictures of these  
wild mountainous labyrinths1 which as   
yet ,i had not traversed1 ,here1 in some
 distant year1 ,i shall be shaken with  
love1 and there with stormiest grief and
 regret8 ,whence was it that sudden     
revelations came upon me1 like the      
drawings up of a curtain1 and closing   
again as rapidly1 of scenes that made   

the future heaven of my life8 ,and how  
was it that in thought ,i was1 and yet  
in reality was not1 a denizen1 already1 
in #ahjc1 #ahjd1 #ahje1 of lakes and    
forest lawns1 which ,i never saw till   
#ahjg8 and that1 by a prophetic instinct
 of heart1 ,i rehearsed and lived over1 
as it were1 in vision those chapters of 
my life which have carried with them the
 weightiest burden of joy and sorrow1   
and by the margin of those very lakes   
and hills with which ,i prefigured this 
connection8 and1 in short1 that for me1 
by a transcendent privilege1 during the 
novitiate of my life1 most truly ,i     
might say3      ',in to-day already     
walked to-morrow4'     #d4--,,the       
,,princess ,,who ,,overlooked ,,one     
,,seed ,,in ,a ,,pomegranate4   ,there  
is a story told in the ',arabian        
,nights' of a princess who1 by          
overlooking one seed of a pomegranate1  
precipitated the event which she had    
laboured to make impossible4 ,she lies  
in wait for the event which she         

foresees4 ,the pomegranate swells1      
opens1 splits2 the seeds1 which she     
knows to be roots of evil1 rapidly she  
swallows2 but one--only one--before it  
could be arrested1 rolls away into a    
river4 ,it is lost6 it is irrecoverable6
 ,she has triumphed1 but she must       
perish4 ,already she feels the flames   
mounting up which are to consume her1   
and she calls for water hastily--not to 
deliver herself 7for that is            
impossible71 but1 nobly forgetting her  
own misery1 that she may prevent that   
destruction of her brother mortal which 
had been the original object for        
hazarding her own4 ,yet why go to       
,arabian fictions8 ,even in our daily   
life is exhibited1 in proportions far   
more gigantic1 that tendency to swell   
and amplify itself into mountains of    
darkness1 which exists oftentimes in    
germs that are imperceptible4 ,an error 
in human choice1 an infirmity in the    
human will1 though it were at first less
 than a mote1 though it should swerve   

from the right line by an interval less 
than any thread      ',that ever spider 
twisted from her womb1'  sometimes      
begins to swell1 to grow1 to widen its  
distance rapidly1 travels off into      
boundless spaces remote from the true   
centre1 spaces incalculable and         
irretraceable1 until hope seems         
extinguished and return impossible4     
,such was the course of my own opium    
career4 ,such is the history of human   
errors every day4 ,such was the original
 sin of the ,greek theories on ,deity1  
which could not have been healed but by 
putting off their own nature1 and       
kindling into a new                     
principle--absolutely undiscoverable1 as
 ,i contend1 for the ,grecian intellect4
  ,oftentimes an echo goes as it were to
 sleep3 the series of reverberations has
 died away4 ,suddenly a second series   
awakens3 this subsides1 then a third    
wakens up4 ,so of actions done in youth4
 ,after great tumults all is quieted4   
,you dream that they are over4 ,in a    

moment1 in the twinkling of an eye1 on  
some fatal morning in middle-life the   
far-off consequences come back upon you4
 ,and you say to yourself1 ',oh1        
,heaven1 if ,i had fifty lives this     
crime would reappear1 as ,pelion upon   
,ossa6' ,so was it with my affection4   
,left to natural peace1 ,i might have   
conquered it3 ,verschmerzeon4 ,to charm 
it down by the mere suffering of grief1 
to hush it by endurance1 that was the   
natural policy--that was the natural    
process4 ,but behold6 ,a new form of    
sorrow arises1 and the two multiply     
together4 ,and the worm which was       
beginning to fall asleep is roused again
 to pestilential fierceness4            
#e4--,,notes ,,for ',,suspiria4'        
,mystery unfathomable of ,death6        
,mystery unapproachable of ,god6        
,destined it was1 from the foundations  
of the world1 that each mystery should  
make war upon the other3 once that the  
lesser mystery should swallow up for a  
moment a limbus of the greater2 and that

 woe is past3 once that the greater     
mystery should swallow up for ever the  
whole vortex of the lesser2 and that    
glory is yet to come4 ,after which man1 
that is the son of ,god1 shall lift up  
his eyes for ever1 saying1 ',behold6    
these were two mysteries2 and one is    
not2 and there is but one mystery that  
survives for ever6'   ,if an eternity   
7,death supposed7 is as vast as a star1 
yet the most miserable of earthly blocks
 not four feet square will eclipse1     
masque1 hide it from centre to          
circumference4 ,and so it really is4    
,incredible as it might seem apart from 
experience1 the dreadful reality of     
death is utterly withdrawn from us      
because itself dwindles to an apparent  
mote1 and the perishing non-reality     
thickens into a darkness as massy as a  
rock4   ,great changes summon to great  
meditations4 ,daily we see the most     
joyous of events take a colouring of    
solemnity from the mere relation in     
which they stand to an uncertain future3

 the birth of a child1 heir to the      
greatest expectations1 and welcomed     
clamorously by the sympathy of myriads1 
speaks to the more reflecting in an     
undertone of monitory sadness1 were it  
only as a tribute to the frailty of     
human expectations3 and a marriage-day1 
of all human events the most lawfully   
festal1 yet needs something of effort to
 chase away the boding sadness which    
settles unavoidably upon any new career2
 the promise is vague1 but new hopes    
have created new dangers1 and           
responsibilities contracted perhaps with
 rapture are charged with menace4   ,for
 every one of us1 male or female1 there 
is a year of crisis--a year of solemn   
and conscious transition1 a year in     
which the light-hearted sense of the    
irresponsible ceases to gild the        
heavenly dawn4 ,a year there is1 settled
 by no law or usage1 for me perhaps the 
eighteenth1 for you the seventeenth1 for
 another the nineteenth1 within the     
gates of which1 underneath the gloomy   

archway of which1 sits a phantom of     
yourself4   ,turn a screw1 tighten a    
linch-pin--which is not to disease1 but 
perhaps to exalt1 the mighty machinery  
of the brain--and the ,infinities       
appear1 before which the tranquillity of
 man unsettles1 the gracious forms of   
life depart1 and the ghostly enters4 ,so
 profoundly is this true1 that          
oftentimes ,i have said of my own       
tremendous experience in this           
region--destined too certainly1 ,i fear1
 finally to swallow up intellect and the
 life of life in the heart1 unless ,god 
of ,his mercy fetches me away by some   
sudden death--that death1 considered as 
an entrance to this ghostly world1 is   
but a postern-gate by comparison with   
the heaven-aspiring vestibule through   
which this world of the ,infinite       
introduces the ghostly world4   ,time1  
if it does not diminish grief1 alters   
its character4 ,at first we stretch out 
our hands in very blindness of heart1 as
 if trying to draw back again those whom

 we have lost4 ,but1 after a season1    
when the impotence of such efforts has  
become too sensibly felt1 finding that  
they will not come back to us1 a strange
 fascination arises which yearns after  
some mode of going to them4 ,there is a 
gulf fixed which childhood rarely can   
pass4 ,but we link our wishes with      
whatsoever would gently waft us over4   
,we stretch out our hands1 and say1     
',sister1 lend us thy help1 and plead   
for us with ,god1 that we may pass over 
without much agony4'   ,the joy of an   
infant1 or joy-generation1 without      
significance to an unprofound and common
 mind--how strange to see the excess of 
pathos in that2 yet men of any 7or at   
least of much7 sensibility see in this a
 transpicuous masque for another form1  
viz41 the eternal ground of sorrow in   
all human hearts4 ,this1 by the way1 in 
an essay on ,william ,wordsworth1 should
 be noticed as the charm of his poetry2 
and the note differential1 in fact4 ,at 
least1 ,i know not of any former poet   

who has so systematically sought his    
sadness in the very luxury of joy4      
,thus1 in the ',two ,april ,mornings1'  
'what a mortal freshness of dewy        
radiance6 what an attraction of early   
summer6 what a vision of roses in ,june6
 ,yet it is all transmuted to a purpose 
of sadness4'   ,ah1 reader1 scorn not   
that which--whether you refuse it or not
 as the reality of realities--is        
assuredly the reality of dreams1 linking
 us to a far vaster cycle1 in which the 
love and the languishing1 the ruin and  
the horror1 of this world are but       
moments--but elements in an eternal     
circle4 ,the cycle stretches from an    
,east that is forgotten to a ,west that 
is but conjectured4 ,the mere fact of   
your own individual calamity is a life2 
the tragedy is a nature2 the hope is but
 as a dim augury written on a flower4#e 
,if the things that have fretted us had 
not some art for retiring into secret   
oblivion1 what a hell would life become6
 ,now1 understand how in some nervous   

derangements this horror really takes   
place4 ,some things that had sunk into  
utter forgetfulness1 others that had    
faded into visionary power1 all rise as 
gray phantoms from the dust2 the field  
of our earthly combats that should by   
rights have settled into peace1 is all  
alive with hosts of                     
resurrections--cavalries that sweep in  
gusty charges--columns that thunder from
 afar--arms gleaming through clouds of  
sulphur4   ,god takes care for the      
religion of little children wheresoever 
,his ,christianity exists4 ,wheresoever 
there is a national ,church established1
 to which a child sees all his          
protectors resort2 wheresoever he       
beholds amongst earthly creatures whom  
most he honours prostrate in devotion   
before these illimitable heavens1 which 
fill to overflowing the total capacities
 of his young adoring heart2 wheresoever
 at intervals he beholds the sleep of   
death1 falling upon the men or women    
whom he has seen--a depth stretching as 

far below his power to fathom as those  
persons ascend beyond his powers to     
pursue--,god speaks to their hearts by  
dreams and their tumultuous grandeurs4  
,even by solitude does ,god speak to    
little children1 when made vocal by the 
services of ,christianity1 as also he   
does by darkness wheresoever it is      
peopled with visions of ,his almighty   
power4 ,for a pagan child1 for a ,greek 
child1 solitude was nothing2 for a      
,christian child it is made the power of
 ,god1 and the hieroglyphic of ,his most
 distant truth4 ,the solitude in life is
 deep for the millions who have none to 
love them1 and deep for those who suffer
 by secret and incommunicable woe and   
have none to pity them4 ,thus1 be you   
assured that though infancy talks least 
of that which slumbers deepest1 it yet  
rests in its own transcendent solitude4 
,but infancy1 you say1 talks surely most
 of that which is uppermost in its      
heart4 ,yes1 doubtless of that which is 
uppermost1 but not at all of that which 

slumbers below the foundations of its   
heart4  ,and then follows a suggestion  
to put in a note3   ,i except one case1 
the case of any child who is marked for 
death by organic disease1 and knows it4 
,in such cases the creature is          
changed--that which would have been     
unchildlike ceases to offend1 for a new 
character is forming4   ,,footnotes3  #a
 ,see the story of the young soldier who
 told his officer1 on having been struck
 by him1 that 'he would make him repent 
it4' 7,close of autobiographic sketch1  
',infant ,literature4'7  #b ,three      
thousand children are annually burnt to 
death in the nations of ,england and    
,scotland1 chiefly through the          
carelessness of parents4 ,i shudder to  
add another and darker cause1 which is a
 deep disgrace to the present age4  #c  
,count ,massigli 7an ,austrian officer  
in the imperial service7 about sixty    
years ago fathomed and attempted to     
fathom many parts of the ,mediterranean 
and the ,atlantic4 ,if ,i remember      

rightly1 he found the bottom within less
 than an ,english mile4  #d ,the story  
and the verses are1 or used to be1 well 
known4 ,a schoolboy1 forbidden to return
 home at the holidays1 is suspected to  
have written the lyrical ,latin verses  
upon the rapture of returning home1 and 
to have breathed out his life in the    
anguish of thus reviving the images     
which for him were never to be          
realized4444 ,the reader must not fancy 
any flaw in the ,latin title4 ,it is    
elliptic2 revisere being understood1 or 
some similar word4  #e ,i allude to the 
signatures of nature4     ,,ii4 ,,the   
,,loveliest ,,sight ,,for ,,woman',s    
,,eyes4   ,the loveliest sight that a   
woman's eye opens upon in this world is 
her first-born child2 and the holiest   
sight upon which the eyes of ,god settle
 in ,almighty sanction and perfect      
blessing is the love which soon kindles 
between the mother and her infant3 mute 
and speechless on the one side1 with no 
language but tears and kisses and looks4

 ,beautiful is the philosophy 444 which 
arises out of that reflection or passion
 connected with the transition that has 
produced it4 ,first comes the whole     
mighty drama of love1 purified#f ever   
more and more1 how often from grosser   
feelings1 yet of necessity through its  
very elements1 oscillating between the  
finite and the infinite3 the haughtiness
 of womanly pride1 so dignified1 yet not
 always free from the near contagion of 
error2 the romance so ennobling1 yet not
 always entirely reasonable2 the tender 
dawn of opening sentiments1 pointing to 
an idea in all this which it neither can
 reach nor could long sustain4 ,think of
 the great storm of agitation1 and fear 
and hope1 through which1 in her earliest
 days of womanhood1 every woman must    
naturally pass1 fulfilling a law of her 
,creator1 yet a law which rests upon her
 mixed constitution2 animal1 though     
indefinitely ascending to what is       
non-animal--as a daughter of man1 frail 
444 and imperfect1 yet also as a        

daughter of ,god1 standing erect1 with  
eyes to the heavens4 ,next1 when the    
great vernal passover of sexual         
tenderness and romance has fulfilled its
 purpose1 we see1 rising as a ,phoenix  
from this great mystery of ennobled     
instincts1 another mystery1 much more   
profound1 more affecting1 more          
divine--not so much a rapture as a      
blissful repose of a ,sabbath1 which    
swallows up the more perishing story of 
the first2 forcing the vast heart of    
female nature through stages of ascent1 
forcing it to pursue the transmigrations
 of the ,psyche from the aurelic        
condition1 so glowing in its colour1    
into the winged creature which mixes    
with the mystery of the dawn1 and       
ascends to the altar of the infinite    
heavens1 rising by a ladder of light    
from that sympathy which ,god surveys   
with approbation2 and even more so as   
,he beholds it self-purifying under ,his
 ,christianity to that sympathy which   
needs no purification1 but is the       

holiest of things on this earth1 and    
that in which ,god most reveals ,himself
 through the nature of humanity4  ,well 
is it for the glorification of human    
nature that through these the vast      
majority of women must for ever pass2   
well also that1 by placing its sublime  
germs near to female youth1 ,god thus   
turns away by anticipation the divinest 
of disciplines from the rapacious       
absorption of the grave4 ,time is       
found--how often--for those who are     
early summoned into rendering back their
 glorious privilege1 who yet have tasted
 in its first-fruits the paradise of    
maternal love4  ,and pertaining also to 
this part of the subject1 ,i will tell  
you a result of my own observations of  
no light importance to women4  ,it is   
this3 ,nineteen times out of twenty ,i  
have remarked that the true paradise of 
a female life in all ranks1 not too     
elevated for constant intercourse with  
the children1 is by no means the years  
of courtship1 nor the earliest period of

 marriage1 but that sequestered chamber 
of her experience1 in which a mother is 
left alone through the day1 with        
servants perhaps in a distant part of   
the house1 and 7,god be thanked67       
chiefly where there are no servants at  
all1 she is attended by one sole        
companion1 her little first-born angel1 
as yet clinging to her robe1 imperfectly
 able to walk1 still more imperfect in  
its prattling and innocent thoughts1    
clinging to her1 haunting her wherever  
she goes as her shadow1 catching from   
her eye the total inspiration of its    
little palpitating heart1 and sending to
 hers a thrill of secret pleasure so    
often as its little fingers fasten on   
her own4 ,left alone from morning to    
night with this one companion1 or even  
with three1 still wearing the graces of 
infancy2 buds of various stages upon the
 self-same tree1 a woman1 if she has the
 great blessing of approaching such a   
luxury of paradise1 is moving--too often
 not aware that she is moving--through  

the divinest section of her life4 ,as   
evening sets in1 the husband1 through   
all walks of life1 from the highest     
professional down to that of common     
labour1 returns home to vary her modes  
of conversation by such thoughts and    
interests as are more consonant with his
 more extensive capacities of intellect4
 ,but by that time her child 7or her    
children7 will be reposing on the little
 couch1 and in the morning1 duly as the 
sun ascends in power1 she sees before   
her a long1 long day of perfect pleasure
 in this society which evening will     
bring to her1 but which is interwoven   
with every fibre of her sensibilities4  
,this condition of noiseless1 quiet love
 is that1 above all1 which ,god blesses 
and smiles upon4   ,,footnotes3  #f ,how
 purified8 ,and if it should be         
answered1 through and under             
,christianity1 the fool in his heart    
would scoff and say3 ',what woman thinks
 of religion in her youthful courtship8'
 ,no2 but it is not what she thinks of1 

but what thinks of her2 not what she    
contemplates in consciousness1 but what 
contemplates her1 and reaches her by a  
necessity of social 78 ideal7 action4   
,romance is the product of              
,christianity1 but so is sentiment4     
,,iii4 ,,why ,,the ,,pagans ,,could     
,,not ,,invest ,,their ,,gods ,,with    
,,any ,,iota ,,of ,,grandeur4   ,it is  
not for so idle a purpose as that of    
showing the ,pagan backsliding--that is 
too evident--but for a far subtler      
purpose1 and one which no man has       
touched1 viz41 the incapacity of        
creating grandeur for the ,pagans1 even 
with carte blanche in their favour1 that
 ,i write this paper4 ,nothing is more  
incomprehensible than the following     
fact--nothing than this when mastered   
and understood is more thoroughly       
instructive--the fact that having a     
wide1 a limitless field open before     
them1 free to give and to take away at  
their own pleasure1 the ,pagans could   
not invest their ,gods with any iota of 

grandeur4 ,diana1 when you translate her
 into the ,moon1 then indeed partakes in
 all the natural grandeur of a planet   
associated with a dreamy light1 with    
forests1 forest lawns1 etc41 or the wild
 accidents of a huntress4 ,but the ,moon
 and the ,huntress are surely not the   
creations of ,pagans1 nor indebted to   
them for anything but the murderous     
depluming which ,pagan mythology has    
operated upon all that is in earth or in
 the waters that are under the earth4   
,now1 why could not the ancients raise  
one little scintillating glory in behalf
 of their monstrous deities8 ,so far are
 they from thus raising ,jupiter1 that  
he is sometimes made the ground of      
nature 7not1 observe1 for any positive  
reason that they had for any relation   
that ,jupiter had to ,creation1 but     
simply for the negative reason that they
 had nobody else7--never does ,jupiter  
seem more disgusting than when as just  
now in a translation of the ',batrachia'
 ,i read that ,jupiter had given to     

frogs an amphibious nature1 making the  
awful1 ancient1 first-born secrets of   
,chaos to be his1 and thus forcing into 
contrast and remembrance his odious     
personality4  ,why1 why1 why could not  
the ,romans1 etc41 make a grandeur for  
their ,gods8 ,not being able to make    
them grand1 they daubed them with       
finery4 ,all that people imagine in the 
,jupiter ,olympus of ,phidias--they     
themselves confer4 ,but an apostle is   
beyond their reach4  ,when1 be it well  
observed1 the cruel and dark religions  
are far more successful than those of   
,greece and ,rome1 for ,osiris1 etc41 by
 the might of the devil1 of darkness1   
are truly terrific4 ,cybele stands as a 
middle term half-way between these dark 
forms and the ,greek or ,roman4 ,pluto  
is the very model of a puny attempt at  
darkness utterly failing4 ,he looks big2
 he paints himself histrionically2 he   
soots his face2 he has a masterful dog1 
nothing half so fearful as a wolf-dog or
 bloodhound2 and he raises his own      

manes1 poor1 stridulous ,struldbrugs4   
,vainly did the ancient ,pagans fight   
against this fatal weakness4  ,they may 
confer upon their ,gods glittering      
titles of 'ambrosial1' 'immortal'2 but  
the human mind is careless of positive  
assertion1 and of clamorous iteration in
 however angry a tone1 when silently it 
observes stealing out of facts already  
conceded some fatal consequence at war  
with all these empty pretensions--mortal
 even in the virtual conceptions of the 
,pagans4 ,if the ,pagan ,gods were      
really immortal1 if essentially they    
repelled the touch of mortality1 and not
 through the adulatory homage of their  
worshipers causing their true aspects to
 unsettle or altogether to disappear in 
clouds of incense1 then how came whole  
dynasties of ,gods to pass away1 and no 
man could tell whither8 ,if really they 
defied the grave1 then how was it that  
age and the infirmities of age passed   
upon them like the shadow of eclipse    
upon the golden faces of the planets8   

,if ,apollo were a beardless young man1 
his father was not such--he was in the  
vigour of maturity2 maturity is a       
flattering term for expressing it1 but  
it means past youth--and his grandfather
 was superannuated4 ,but even this      
grandfather1 who had been once what     
,apollo was now1 could not pretend to   
more than a transitory station in the   
long succession of ,gods4 ,other        
dynasties1 known even to man1 there had 
been before his2 and elder dynasties    
before that1 of whom only rumours and   
suspicions survived4 ,even this taint1  
however1 this direct access of          
mortality1 was less shocking to my mind 
in after-years than the abominable fact 
of its reflex or indirect access in the 
shape of grief for others who had died4 
,i need not multiply instances2 they are
 without end4 ,the reader has but to    
throw his memory back upon the anguish  
of ,jupiter1 in the ',iliad1' for the   
approaching death of his son ,sarpedon1 
and his vain struggles to deliver       

himself from this ghastly net2 or upon  
,thetis1 fighting against the vision of 
her matchless ,pelides caught in the    
same vortex2 or upon the ,muse in       
,euripides1 hovering in the air and     
wailing over her young ,rhesus1 her     
brave1 her beautiful one1 of whom she   
trusted that he had been destined to    
confound the ,grecian host4 ,what6 a    
,god1 and liable to the pollution of    
grief6 ,a ,goddess1 and standing every  
hour within the peril of that dismal    
shadow6  ,here in one moment mark the   
recoil1 the intolerable recoil1 upon the
 ,pagan mind1 of that sting which vainly
 they pretended to have conquered on    
behalf of their ,pantheon4 ,did the     
reader fancy that ,i was fatiguing      
myself with any task so superfluous as  
that of proving the ,gods of the heathen
 to be no ,gods8 ,in that case he has   
not understood me4 ,my object is to show
 that the ancients1 that even the       
,greeks1 could not support the idea of  
immortality4 ,the idea crumbled to      

pieces under their touch4 ,in realizing 
that idea unconsciously1 they suffered  
elements to slip in which defeated its  
very essence in the result2 and not by  
accident3 other elements they could not 
have found4 ,doubtless an insolent      
,grecian philosopher would say1         
',surely1 ,i knew that immortality meant
 the being liberated from mortality4'   
,yes1 but this is no more than the      
negative idea1 and the demand is to give
 the affirmative idea4 ,or perhaps ,i   
shall better explain my meaning by      
substituting other terms with my own    
illustration of their value4 ,i say1    
then1 that the ,greek idea of           
immortality involves only the nominal   
idea1 not the real idea4 ,now1 the      
nominal idea 7or1 which is the same     
thing1 the nominal definition7 is that  
which simply sketches the outline of an 
object in the shape of a problem2       
whereas the real definition fills up    
that outline and solves that problem4   
,the nominal definition states the      

conditions under which an object would  
be realized for the mind2 the real      
definition executes those conditions4   
,the nominal definition1 that ,i may    
express it most briefly and pointedly1  
puts a question2 the real definition    
answers that question4 ,thus1 to give   
our illustration1 the insoluble problem 
of squaring the circle presents us with 
a good nominal idea4 ,there is no       
vagueness at all in the idea of such a  
square2 it is that square which1 when a 
given circle is laid before you1 would  
present the same superficial contents in
 such exquisite truth of repetition that
 the eye of ,god could detect no shadow 
of more or of less4 ,nothing can be     
plainer than the demand--than the       
question4 ,but as to the answer1 as to  
the real conditions under which this    
demand can be realized1 all the wit of  
man has not been able to do more than   
approach it4 ,or1 again1 the idea of a  
perfect commonwealth1 clear enough as a 
nominal idea1 is in its infancy as a    

real idea4 ,or1 perhaps1 a still more   
lively illustration to some readers may 
be the idea of perpetual motion4        
,nominally--that is1 as an idea sketched
 problem-wise--what is plainer8 ,you are
 required to assign some principle of   
motion such that it shall revolve       
through the parts of a mechanism        
self-sustained4 ,suppose those parts to 
be called by the names of our ,english  
alphabet1 and to stand in the order of  
our alphabet1 then ,a is through ,b ,c  
,d1 etc41 to pass down with its total   
power upon ,z1 which reciprocally is to 
come round undiminished upon ,a ,b ,c1  
etc41 for ever4 ,never was a nominal    
definition of what you want more simple 
and luminous4 ,but coming to the real   
definition1 and finding that every      
letter in succession must still give    
something less than is received--that   
,o1 for instance1 cannot give to ,p all 
which it received from ,n--then no      
matter for the triviality of the loss in
 each separate case1 always it is       

gathering and accumulating2 your hands  
drop down in despair2 you feel that a   
principle of death pervades the         
machinery2 retard it you may1 but come  
it will at last4 ,and a proof remains   
behind1 as your only result1 that whilst
 the nominal definition may sometimes   
run before the real definition for ages1
 and yet finally be overtaken by it1 in 
other cases the one flies hopelessly    
before the pursuit of the other1 defies 
it1 and never will be overtaken to the  
end of time4  ,that fate1 that          
necessity1 besieged the ,grecian idea of
 immortality4 ,rise from forgotten dust1
 my ,plato2 ,stagyrite1 stand up from   
the grave2 ,anaxagoras1 with thy bright1
 cloudless intellect that searched the  
skies1 ,heraclitus1 with thy gloomy1    
mysterious intellect that fathomed the  
deeps1 come forward and execute for me  
this demand4 ,how shall that            
immortality1 which you give1 which you  
must give as a trophy of honour to your 
,pantheon1 sustain itself against the   

blights from those humanities which     
also1 by an equal necessity1 starting   
from your basis1 give you must to that  
,pantheon8 ,how will you prevent the sad
 reflux of that tide which finally      
engulfs all things under any attempt to 
execute the nominal idea of a ,deity8   
,you cannot do it4 ,weave your          
divinities in that ,grecian loom of     
yours1 and no skill in the workmanship1 
nor care that wisdom can devise1 will   
ever cure the fatal flaws in the        
texture3 for the mortal taint lies not  
so much in your work as in the original 
errors of your loom4     ,,iv4 ,,on     
,,pagan ,,sacrifices4   ,ask any        
well-informed man at random what he     
supposes to have been done with the     
sacrifices1 he will answer that really  
he never thought about it1 but that     
naturally he supposes the flesh was     
burnt upon the altars4 ,not at all1     
reader2 a sacrifice to the ,gods meant  
universally a banquet to man4 ,he who   
gave a splendid public dinner announced 

in other words that he designed to      
celebrate a sacrificial rite4 ,this was 
of course4 ,he1 on the other hand1 who  
announced a sacrificial pomp did in     
other words proclaim by sound of trumpet
 that he gave a dinner4 ,this was of    
necessity4 ,hence1 when ,agamemnon      
offers a hecatomb to ,jupiter1 his      
brother ,menelaus walks in to dinner1   
,greek3 hachltost1 without invitation4  
,as a brother1 we are told by ,homer    
that no invitation was required4 ,he had
 the privilege of what in ,german is    
beautifully called 'ein ,kind des       
,hauses1' a child of the house4 ,this   
dispensation from the necessity of a    
formal invitation ,homer explains1 but  
as to explanation how he knew that there
 was a dinner1 that he passes over as   
superfluous4 ,a vast herd of oxen could 
not be sacrificed without open and      
public display of the preparation1 and  
that a human banquet must accompany a   
divine sacrifice--this was so much a    
self-evident truth that ,homer does not 

trouble himself to make so needless an  
explanation4  ,hence1 therefore1 a case 
of legislation in ,st4 ,paul's          
,christian administration1 which ,i will
 venture to say few readers understand4 
,take the ,feast of ,ephesus4 ,here1 as 
in all cities of ,asia ,minor and       
,greece1 the ,jews lived in great       
numbers4 ,the universal hospitality over
 all these regions was exhibited in     
dinners 7,greek3 dehipna74 ,now1 it     
happened not sometimes1 but always1 that
 he who gave a dinner had on the same   
day made a sacrifice at the ,great      
,temple2 nay1 the dinner was always part
 of the sacrifice1 and thus the         
following dilemma arose4 ,scruples of   
eating part of sacrifices were          
absolutely unintelligible1 except as    
insults to ,ephesus4 ,to deny the       
existence of ,diana had no meaning in   
the ears of an ,ephesian4 ,all that he  
did understand was1 that if you happened
 to be a hater of ,ephesus1 you must    
hate the guardian deity of ,ephesus4    

,and the sole inference he could collect
 from your refusing to eat what had been
 hallowed to ,diana was--that you hated 
,ephesus4 ,the dilemma1 therefore1 was  
this3 either grant a toleration of this 
practice1 or else farewell to all       
amicable intercourse for the ,jews with 
the citizens4 ,in fact1 it was to       
proclaim open war if this concession    
were refused4 ,a scruple of conscience  
might have been allowed for1 but a      
scruple of this nature could find no    
allowance in any ,pagan city whatever4  
,moreover1 it had really no foundation4 
,the truth is far otherwise than that   
,pagan deities were dreams4 ,far from   
it4 ,they were as real as any other     
beings4 ,the accommodation1 therefore1  
which ,st4 ,paul most wisely granted    
was--to eat socially1 without regard to 
any ceremony through which the food     
might have passed4 ,so long as the      
,judaizing ,christian was no party to   
the religious ceremonies1 he was free of
 all participation in idolatry4 ,since  

if the mere open operation of a ,pagan  
process could transform into the        
character of an accomplice one who with 
no assenting heart ate of the food1 in  
that case ,christ ,himself might by     
possibility have shared in an idolatrous
 banquet1 and we ,christians at this day
 in the ,east ,indies might for months  
together become unconscious accomplices 
in the foul idolatries of the ,buddhist 
and ,brahminical superstitions4  ,but so
 essentially were the convivial banquets
 of the ,pagans interwoven with their   
religious rites1 so essentially was a   
great dinner a great offering to the    
,gods1 and vice vers--a great offering  
to the ,gods a great dinner--that the   
very ministers and chief agents in      
religion were at first the same4 ,cocus1
 or ,greek3 mageirost1 was the very same
 person as the ,pope1 or presiding      
arbiter in succession to a ,pope4 ',sunt
 eadem1' says ,casaubon1 ',cocus et     
,pope4' ,and of this a most striking    
example is yet extant in ,athenus4 ,from

 the correspondence which for many      
centuries was extant between ,alexander 
the ,great1 when embarked upon his great
 expeditions1 and his royal mother      
,olympias1 who remained in ,macedon1 was
 one from which we have an extract even 
at this day1 where he1 as we learn from 
the letter quoted1 had been urging his  
mother to purchase for him a good cook4 
,and what was made the test supreme of  
his skill8 ,why1 this1 that he should be
 ,greek3 thysihn hempeirost1 an artist  
able to dress a sacrificial banquet4    
,what he meant is this3 ,i do not want  
an ordinary cook1 who might be equal to 
the preparation of a plain 7or1 what is 
the same thing1 secular7 dinner1 but a  
person qualified or competent to take   
charge of a hecatomb dinner4 ,his       
mother's reply addresses itself to that 
one point only3 ,greek3 ,peligua ton    
mageiron labe hapd thst mtrost1 which is
 in effect3 ',a cook is it that you     
want8 ,why1 then1 you cannot do better  
than take mine4 ,the man is a reliable  

table of sacrifices2 he knows the whole 
ritual of those great official and      
sacred dinners given by the late king1  
your father4 ,he is acquainted with the 
whole cuisine of the more mysterious    
religions1 the ,orgiacs' 7probably from 
the neighbouring ,thrace71 'and all the 
great ceremonies and observances        
practised at ,olympia1 and even what you
 may eat on the great ,st4 ,leger ,day4 
,so don't lose sight of the arrangement1
 but take the man as a present1 from me1
 your affectionate mother1 and be sure  
to send off an express for him at your  
earliest convenience4'         99       
99       99       99       99           
,professor ,robertson ,smith in his     
latest work has well pointed out        
that even with the ,hebrews the         
sacrifices were eaten in common till    
the seventh century ,b4 ,c41 when the   
sin-offerings1 in a time of      great  
national distress1 came to be slain     
before ,jehovah1 and 'none      but the 
priests ate of the flesh1' a phase of   

sacrificial      specialization which   
marks the beginning of the exclusive    
sacerdotalism of the ,jews4--,,ed4      
,v4 ,,on ,,the ,,mythus4   ,that which  
the tradition of the people is to the   
truth of facts--that is a mythus to the 
reasonable origin of things4            
,transcriber's ,note3 three dots in a   
vertical line above a tiny circle ,these
 objects to an eye at ,transcriber's    
,note3 low tiny circle might all melt   
into one another1 as stars are confluent
 which modern astronomy has             
prismatically split4 ,says ,rennell1 as 
a reason for a ,mahometan origin of a   
canal through ,cairo1 such is the       
tradition of the people4 ,but we see    
amongst ourselves how great works are   
ascribed to the devil or to the ,romans 
by antiquarians4 ,in ,rennell we see the
 effects of synthesis4 ,he throws back  
his observations1 like a woman threading
 a series of needles or a shuttle       
running through a series of rings1      
through a succession of ,egyptian canals

 7p4 #dgh71 showing the real action of  
the case1 that a tendency existed to    
this4 ,and1 by the way1 here comes      
another strong illustration of the      
popular adulterations4 ,they in our     
country confound the ',romans1' a vulgar
 expression for the ,roman ,catholics1  
with the ancient national people of     
,rome4 ,here one element of a mythus ,b 
has melted into the mythus ,x1 and in   
far-distant times might be very         
perplexing to antiquarians1 when the    
popular tradition was too old for them  
to see the point of juncture where the  
alien stream had fallen in4  ,then1     
again1 not only ignorance1 but love1    
combines to adulterate the tradition4   
,every man wishes to give his own       
country an interest in anything great4  
,what an effort has been made to suck   
,sir ,t4 ,r4 back into ,scotland6       
,thus1 it is too difficult without a    
motive to hold apart vast distances or  
intervals that lie in a field which has 
all gathered into a blue haze4 ,stars1  

divided by millions of miles1 collapse  
into each other4 ,so mythi3 and then    
comes the perplexity--the entanglement4 
,then come also1 from lacun arising in  
these interwelded stories1 temptations  
to falsehood4 ,by the way1 even the     
recent tale of ,astyages seems to have  
been pieced3 the difficulty was to find 
a motive for ,cyrus1 reputed a good man1
 to make war on his grandfather4 ,kill  
him he might by accident4 ,but the dream
 required that he should dethrone his   
grandfather4 ,accordingly the dreadful  
story is devised2 but why should ,cyrus 
adopt the injuries of a nobleman who1 if
 all were true1 had only saved himself  
by accident8  ,impossible as it would   
seem to transmute ,socrates into a      
mythus1 considering the broad daylight  
which then rested upon ,athenian        
history1 and the inextricable way in    
which ,socrates is entangled in that    
history 7although we have all seen many 
a ,scriptural personage so transmuted   
under far less colourable pretenses or  

advantages71 still it is evident that   
the medival schoolmen did practically   
treat ,socrates as something of that    
sort--as a mythical1 symbolic1 or       
representative man4 ,socrates is the    
eternal burthen of their quillets1      
quodlibets1 problems1 syllogisms2 for   
them he is the ,ulysses of the ,odyssey1
 that much-suffering man2 or1 to speak  
more adequately1 for them he is the     
,john ,doe and the ,richard ,roe of     
,english law1 whose feuds have tormented
 the earth and incensed the heavens     
through a cycle of uncounted centuries1 
and must have given a bad character of  
our planet on its ,english side4 ,to    
such an extent was this pushed1 that    
many of the scholastic writers became   
wearied of enunciating or writing his   
name1 and1 anticipating the occasional  
fashion of ,my lud and ,your ludship at 
our ,english ,bar1 or of ,hocus ,pocus  
as an abbreviation of pure weariness for
 ,hoc est ,corpus1 they called him not  
,socrates1 but ,sortes4 ,now1 whence1   

let me ask1 was this custom derived8 ,as
 to ,doe and ,roe1 who or what first set
 them by the ears together is now       
probably past all discovery4 ,but as to 
,sortes1 that he was a mere contraction 
for ,socrates is proved in the same way 
that ,mob is shown to have been a brief 
way of writing ,mobile vulgus1 viz41    
that by ,bishop ,stillingfleet in       
particular the two forms1 ,mob and      
,mobile vulgus are used interchangeably 
and indifferently through several pages 
consecutively--just as ,canter and      
,canterbury gallop1 of which the one was
 at first the mere shorthand expression 
of the other1 were at one period        
interchanged1 and for the same reason4  
,the abbreviated form wore the air of   
plebeian slang at its first             
introduction1 but its convenience       
favoured it3 soon it became reconciled  
to the ear1 then it ceased to be slang1 
and finally the original form1 ceasing  
to have any apparent advantage of       
propriety or elegance1 dropped into     

total disuse4 ,sortes1 it is a clear    
case1 inherited from ,socrates his      
distressing post of target-general for  
the arrows of disputatious ,christendom4
 ,but how came ,socrates by that        
distinction8 ,i cannot have a doubt that
 it was strength of tradition that      
imputed such a use of the ,socratic name
 and character to ,plato4 ,the reader   
must remember that1 although ,socrates  
was no mythus1 and least of all could be
 such1 to his own leading disciple1 that
 was no reason why he should not be     
treated as a mythus4 ,in ,wales1 some   
nine or ten years ago1 ,rebecca1 as the 
mysterious and masqued redresser of     
public wrongs1 was rapidly passing into 
a mythical expression for that universal
 character of ,rhadamanthian avenger or 
vindicator4 ,so of ,captain ,rock1 in   
,ireland4 ,so of ,elias amongst the     
,jews 7when ,elias shall come71 as the  
sublime1 mysterious1 and in some degree 
pathetic expression for a great teacher 
lurking amongst the dreadful mists4     

,,vi4 ,,david',s ,,numbering ,,of ,,the 
,,people--,,the ,,politics ,,of ,,the   
,,situation4   ,you read in the ,hebrew 
,scriptures of a man who had thirty     
sons1 all of whom 'rode on white asses'2
 the riding on white asses is a         
circumstance that expresses their high  
rank or distinction--that all were      
princes4 ,in ,syria1 as in ,greece and  
almost everywhere1 white was the regal  
symbolic colour4#g ,and any mode of     
equitation1 from the far inferior wealth
 of ancient times1 implied wealth4      
,mules or asses1 besides that they were 
so far superior a race in ,syria no less
 than in ,persia1 to furnish a favourite
 designation for a warlike hero1 could  
much more conveniently be used on the   
wretched roads1 as yet found everywhere1
 until the ,romans began to treat       
road-making as a regular business of    
military pioneering4 ,in this case1     
therefore1 there were thirty sons of one
 man1 and all provided with princely    
establishments4 ,consequently1 to have  

thirty sons at all was somewhat         
surprising1 and possible only in a land 
of polygamy2 but to keep none back in   
obscurity 7as was done in cases where   
the funds of the family would not allow 
of giving to each his separate          
establishment7 argued a condition of    
unusual opulence4 ,that it was          
surprising is very true4 ,but as        
therefore involving any argument against
 its truth1 the writer would justly deny
 by pleading--for that very reason1     
because it was surprising1 did ,i tell  
the story4 ,in a train of #a1ejj years  
naturally there must happen many        
wonderful things1 both as to events and 
persons4 ,were these crowded together in
 time or locally1 these indeed we should
 incredulously reject4 ,but when we     
understand the vast remoteness from each
 other in time or in place1 we freely   
admit the tendency lies the other way2  
the wonder would be if there were not   
many coincidences that each for itself  
separately might be looked upon as      

strange4 ,and as the surgeon had set    
himself to collect certain cases for the
 very reason that they were so          
unaccountably fatal1 with a purpose     
therefore of including all that did not 
terminate fatally1 so we should remember
 that generally historians 7although    
less so if a ,jewish historian1 because 
he had a far nobler chain of wonders to 
record7 do not feel themselves open to  
the objection of romancing if they      
report something out of the ordinary    
track1 since exactly that sort of matter
 is their object1 and it cannot but be  
found in a considerable proportion when 
their course travels over a vast range  
of successive generations4 ,it would be 
a marvellous thing indeed if every one  
of five hundred men whom an author had  
chosen to record biographically should  
have for his baptismal name--,francis4  
,but if you found that this was the very
 reason for his admitting the man into  
his series1 that1 however strange a     
reason1 it had in fact governed him in  

selecting his subjects1 you would no    
longer see anything to startle your     
belief4  ,but let me give an interesting
 case partly illustrating this          
principle4 ,once ,i was present on an   
occasion where1 of two young men1 one   
very young and very clever was          
suggesting infidel scruples1 and the    
other1 so much older as to be entering  
on a professional career with           
considerable distinction1 was on the    
very point of drinking-in all that his  
companion urged as so much weighty      
objection that could not be answered4   
,the younger man 7in fact1 a boy7 had   
just used a passage from the ,bible1 in 
which one of the circumstances was--that
 the ,jewish army consisted of #abj1jjj 
men4 ',now1' said he1 'knowing as we all
 do the enormity of such a force as a   
peace establishment1 even for mighty    
empires like ,england1 how perfectly    
like a fairy-tale or an ,arabian        
,nights' entertainment does it sound to 
hear of such monstrous armaments in a   

little country like ,juda1 equal1       
perhaps1 to the twelve counties of      
,wales6' ,this was addressed to myself1 
and ,i could see by the whole expression
 of the young physician that his        
condition was exactly this--his studies 
had been purely professional2 he made   
himself a king1 because 7having happened
 to hurt his leg7 he wore white fasci   
about his thigh4 ,he knew little or     
nothing of ,scriptural records2 he had  
not read at all upon this subject2 quite
 as little had he thought1 and1         
unfortunately1 his conversation had lain
 amongst clever chemists and            
naturalists1 who had a prejudgment in   
the case that all the ability and free  
power of mind ran into the channel of   
scepticism2 that only people situated as
 most women are should acquiesce in the 
faith or politics of their fathers or   
predecessors1 or could believe much of  
the ,scriptures1 except those who were  
slow to examine for themselves2 but that
 multitudes pretended to believe upon   

some interested motive4 ,this was       
precisely the situation of the young    
physician himself--he listened with     
manifest interest1 checked himself when 
going to speak2 he knew the danger of   
being reputed an infidel1 and he had no 
temper for martyrdom1 as his whole      
gesture and manner1 by its tendency1    
showed what was passing in his mind4    
',yes1 ,x is right1 manifestly right1   
and every rational view from our modern 
standard of good sense and reflective   
political economy tends to the same     
conclusion4 ,by the reflex light of     
political economy we know even at this  
hour much as to the condition of ancient
 lands like ,palestine1 ,athens1 etc41  
quite unrevealed to the wisest men      
amongst them4 ,but for me1 who am       
entering on a critical walk of social   
life1 ,i shall need every aid from      
advantageous impression in favour of my 
religious belief1 so ,i cannot in       
prudence speak1 for ,i shall speak too  
warmly1 and ,i forbear4'  ,what ,i      

replied1 and in that instance usefully  
replied--for it sufficed to check one   
who was gravitating downwards to        
infidelity1 and likely to settle there  
for ever if he once reached that        
point--was in substance this3  ,firstly1
 that the plea1 with regard to the      
numbers as most extraordinary1 was so   
far from affecting the credibility of   
the statement disadvantageously1 that on
 that ground1 agreeably to the logic ,i 
have so scantily expounded1 this very   
feature in the case was what partly     
engaged the notice of the ,scriptural   
writer4 ,it was a great army for so     
little a nation4 ,and therefore1 would  
the writer say1 therefore in print ,i   
record it4  ,secondly1 that we must not1
 however1 be misled by the narrow       
limits1 the ,welsh limits1 to suppose a 
,welsh population4 ,for that whilst the 
twelve counties of ,wales do not now    
yield above half-a-million of people1   
,palestine had pretty certainly a number
 fluctuating between four and six       

millions4  ,thirdly1 that the great     
consideration of this was the stage in  
the expansion of society at which the   
,hebrew nation then stood1 and the      
sublime interest--sublime enough to     
them1 though far from comprehending the 
solemn freight of hopes confided to     
themselves--which they consciously      
defended4 ,it was an age in which no pay
 was given to the soldier4 ,now1 when   
the soldier constitutes a separate      
profession1 with the regular pay he     
undertakes the regular danger and       
hardships4 ,there is no motive for      
giving the pay and the rations but      
precisely that he does so undertake4    
,but when no pay at all is allowed out  
of any common fund1 it will never be    
endured by the justice of the whole     
society or by an individual member that 
he1 the individual1 as one insulated    
stake-holder1 having no greater interest
 embarked than others1 should undertake 
the danger or the labour of warfare for 
the whole4 ,and two inferences arise    

upon having armies so immense3  ,first1 
that they were a militia1 or more       
properly not even that1 but a           
,landwehr--that is1 a posse comitatus1  
the whole martial strength of the people
 7one in four71 drawn out and slightly  
trained to meet a danger1 which in those
 times was always a passing cloud4      
,regular and successive campaigns were  
unknown2 the enemy1 whoever he might be1
 could as little support a regular army 
as the people of ,palestine4            
,consequently1 all these enemies would  
have to disperse hastily to their       
reaping and mowing1 just as we may      
observe the ,jews do under ,joshua4 ,it 
required1 therefore1 no long absence    
from home4 ,it was but a march1 but a   
waiting for opportunity1 watching for a 
favourable day--sunshine or cloud1 the  
rising or subsiding of a river1 the wind
 in the enemy's face1 or an ambush      
skilfully posted4 ,all was then ready2  
the signal was given1 a great battle    
ensued1 and by sunset of one anxious day

 all was over in one way or another4    
,upon this position of circumstances    
there was neither any fair dispensation 
from personal service 7except where     
citizens' scruples interfered71 nor any 
motive for wishing it4 ,on the contrary1
 by a very few days' service1 a stigma1 
not for the individual only1 but for his
 house and kin1 would be evaded for ages
 of having treacherously forsaken the   
commonwealth in agony4 ,and the         
preference for a fighting station would 
be too eager instead of too backward4   
,it would become often requisite to do  
what it is evident the ,jews in reality 
did--to make successive sifting and     
winnowing from the service troops1 at   
every stage throwing out upon severer   
principles of examination those who     
seemed least able to face a trying      
crisis1 whilst honourable posts of no   
great dependency would be assigned to   
those rejected1 as modes of soothing    
their offended pride4 ,this in the case 
of a great danger2 but in the case of an

 ordinary danger there is no doubt that 
many vicarious arrangements would exist 
by way of evading so injurious a        
movement as that of the whole fighting  
population4 ,either the ordinary watch  
and ward1 in that section which happened
 to be locally threatened--as1 for      
instance1 by invasion on one side from  
,edom or ,moab1 on another side from the
 ,canaanites or ,philistines--would     
undertake the case as one which had     
fallen to them by allotment of          
,providence2 or that section whose      
service happened to be due for the      
month1 without local regards1 would face
 the exigency4 ,but in any great        
national danger1 under that stage of    
society which the ,jews had reached     
between ,moses and ,david--that stage   
when fighting is no separate            
professional duty1 that stage when such 
things are announced by there being no  
military pay--not the army which is so  
large as #abj1jjj men1 but the army     
which is so small1 requires to be       

explained4#h  ,secondly1 the other      
inference from the phenomenon of no     
military pay1 and therefore no separate 
fighting profession1 is this--that      
foreign war1 war of aggression1 war for 
booty1 war for martial glory1 is quite  
unknown4 ,now1 all rules of political   
economy1 applied to the maintenance of  
armies1 must of course contemplate a    
regular trade of war pursued with those 
objects1 and not a domestic war for     
beating off an attack upon hearths and  
altars4 ,such a war only1 be it         
observed1 could be lawfully entertained 
by the ,jewish people4 ,mahomet1 when he
 stole all his great ideas from the     
,mosaic and ,christian revelations1     
found it inevitable to add one principle
 unknown to either3 this was a religious
 motive for perpetual war of aggression1
 and such a principle he discovered in  
the imaginary duty of summary           
proselytism4 ,no instruction was        
required4 ,it was sufficient for the    
convert that1 with or without sincerity1

 under terror of a sword at his throat1 
he spoke the words aloud which disowned 
all other faith than in ,allah and      
,mahomet his prophet4 ,it was sufficient
 for the soldier that he heard of a     
nation denying or ignoring ,mahomet1 to 
justify any atrocity of invasive        
warfare4 ,but the ,jews had no such     
commission--a proselyte needed more     
evidences of assent than simply to bawl 
out a short formula of words1 and he who
 refused to become a proselyte was no   
object of persecution4 ,some nations    
have forced their languages upon others 
as badges of servitude4 ,but the ,romans
 were so far from treating their        
language in this way1 that they         
compelled barbarous nations on their    
frontier to pay for a license to use the
 ,latin tongue4 ,and with much more     
reason did the ,jews1 instead of wishing
 to obtrude their sublime religion upon 
foreigners1 expect that all who valued  
it should manifest their value by coming
 to ,jerusalem1 by seeking instruction  

from the doctors of the law1 and by     
worshipping in the outer court of the   
,temple4  ,such was the prodigious state
 of separation from a ,mahometan        
principle of fanatical proselytism in   
which the ,jews were placed from the    
very first4 ,one small district only was
 to be cleared of its ancient           
idolatrous1 and probably desperately    
demoralized1 tribes4 ,even this         
purification it was not intended should 
be instant2 and upon the following      
reason1 partly unveiled by ,god and     
partly left to an integration1 viz41    
that in the case of so sudden a         
desolation the wild beasts and noxious  
serpents would have encroached too much 
on the human population4 ,so much is    
expressed1 and probably the sequel      
foreseen was1 that the ,jews would have 
lapsed into a wild hunting race1 and    
have outworn that ceremonial propensity 
which fitted them for a civil life1     
which formed them into a hive in which  
the great work of ,god in ,shiloh1 ,his 

probationary ,temple or ,his glorious   
,temple and service at ,jerusalem1      
operated as the mysterious instinct of a
 queen bee1 to compress and organize the
 whole society into a cohesion like this
 of life4 ,here1 perhaps1 lay the reason
 for not allowing of any sudden summary 
extirpation1 even for the idolatrous    
tribes2 whilst1 upon a second principle1
 it was never meant that this           
extirpation should be complete4 ,snares 
and temptations were not to be too      
thickly sown--in that case the restless 
,jew would be too severely tried2 but   
neither were they to be utterly         
withdrawn--in that case his faith would 
undergo no probation4 ,even upon this   
small domestic scale1 therefore1 it     
appears that aggressive warfare was     
limited both for interest and for time4 
,first1 it was not to be too complete2  
second1 even for this incompleteness it 
was not to be concentrated within a     
short time4 ,it was both to be narrow   
and to be gradual4 ,by very necessity1  

therefore1 of its original appointment  
this part of the national economy1 this 
small system of aggressive warfare1     
could not provide a reason for a        
military profession4 ,but all other wars
 of aggression1 wars operating upon     
foreign objects1 had no allowance1 no   
motive1 no colourable plea2 for the     
attacks upon ,edom1 ,midian1 ,moab1 were
 mere acts of retaliation1 and1 strictly
 speaking1 not aggressive at all1 but   
parts of defensive warfare4             
,consequently there remained no         
permanent case of war under ,divine     
allowance that could ever justify the   
establishment of a military caste2 for  
the civil wars of the ,jews either grew 
out of some one intolerable crime taken 
up1 adopted1 and wickedly defended by a 
whole tribe 7as in the case of that     
horrible atrocity committed by a few    
,benjamites1 and then adopted by the    
whole tribe71 in which case a bloody    
exterminating war under ,god's sanction 
succeeded and rapidly drew to a close1  

or else grew out of the ruinous schism  
between the ten tribes and the two      
seated in or about ,jerusalem4 ,and as  
this schism had no countenance from     
,god1 still less could the wars which   
followed it4 ,so that what belligerent  
state remains that could have been      
contemplated or provided for in the     
original ,mosaic theory of their        
constitution8 ,clearly none at all1     
except the one sole case of a foreign   
invasion4 ,but as this1 if in any       
national strength1 struck at the very   
existence of the people1 and at their   
holy citadel in ,shiloh or in           
,jerusalem1 it called out the whole     
military strength to the last man of the
 ,hebrew people4 ,consequently in any   
case1 when the armies could tend at all 
to great numerical amount1 they must    
tend to an excessive amount4 ,and1 so   
far from being a difficult problem to   
solve in the #abj1jjj men1 the true     
difficulty would lie the other way1 to  
account for its being so much reduced4  

,it seems to me highly probable that the
 offence of ,david in numbering the     
people1 which ultimately was the        
occasion of fixing the site for the     
,temple of ,jerusalem1 pointed to this  
remarkable military position of the     
,jewish people--a position forbidding   
all fixed military institutions1 and    
which yet ,david was probably           
contemplating in that very census4      
,simply to number the people could not  
have been a crime1 nor could it be any  
desideratum for ,david2 because we are  
too often told of the muster rolls for  
the whole nation1 and for each          
particular tribe1 to feel any room for  
doubt that the reports on this point    
were constantly corrected1 brought under
 review of the governing elders1        
councils1 judges1 princes1 or king1     
according to the historical             
circumstances1 so that the need and the 
criminality of such a census would      
vanish at the same moment4 ,but this was
 not the census ordered by ,david4 ,he  

wanted a more specific return1 probably 
of the particular wealth and nature of  
the employment pursued by each          
individual family1 so that upon this    
return he might ground a permanent      
military organization for the people2   
and such an organization would have     
thoroughly revolutionized the character 
of the population1 as well as drawn them
 into foreign wars and alliances4  ,it  
is painful to think that many amiable   
and really candid minds in search of    
truth are laid hold of by some plausible
 argument1 as in this case the young    
physician1 by a topic of political      
economy1 when a local examination of the
 argument would altogether change its   
bearing4 ,this argument1 popularly      
enforced1 seemed to imply the           
impossibility of supporting a large     
force when there were no public funds   
but such as ran towards the support of  
the ,levites and the majestic service of
 the altar4 ,but the confusion arises   
from the double sense of the word       

'army1' as a machine ordinarily         
disposable for all foreign objects      
indifferently1 and one which in ,juda   
exclusively could be applied only to    
such a service as must in its own nature
 be sudden1 brief1 and always tending to
 a decisive catastrophe4  ,and that this
 was the true form of the crime1 not    
only circumstances lead me to suspect1  
but especially the remarkable demur of  
,joab1 who in his respectful            
remonstrance said in effect that1 when  
the whole strength of the nation was    
known in sum--meaning from the ordinary 
state returns--what need was there to   
search more inquisitively into the      
special details8 ,where all were ready  
to fight cheerfully1 why seek for       
separate minuti as to each particular   
class8 ,those general returns had regard
 only to the ordinary causa belli--a    
hostile invasion4 ,and1 then1 all       
nations alike1 rude or refined1 have    
gone upon the same general outline of   
computation--that1 subtracting the      

females from the males1 this1 in a gross
 general way1 would always bisect the   
total return of the population4 ,and1   
then1 to make a second bisection of the 
male half would subtract one quarter    
from the entire people as too young or  
too old1 or otherwise as too infirm for 
warlike labours1 leaving precisely one  
quarter of the nation--every fourth     
head--as available for war4 ,this       
process for ,david's case would have    
yielded perhaps about #a1ajj1jjj        
fighting men throughout ,palestine4 ,but
 this unwieldy pospolite was far from   
meeting ,david's secret anxieties4 ,he  
had remarked the fickle and             
insurrectionary state of the people4    
,even against himself how easy had it   
been found to organize a sudden         
rebellion1 and to conceal it so         
prosperously that he and his whole court
 saved themselves from capture only by a
 few hours' start of the enemy1 and     
through the enemy's want of cavalry4    
,this danger meantime having vanished1  

it might be possible that for ,david    
personally no other great conspiracy    
should disturb his seat upon the throne4
 ,none of ,david's sons approached to   
,absalom in popularity2 and yet the     
subsequent attempt of ,adonijah showed  
that the revolutionary temper was still 
awake in that quarter4 ,but what ,david 
feared1 in a further-looking spirit1 was
 the tenure by which his immediate      
descendants would maintain their title4 
,the danger was this3 over and above the
 want of any principle for regulating   
the succession1 and this want operating 
in a state of things far less determined
 than amongst monogamous nations--one   
son pleading his priority of birth2     
another1 perhaps1 his mother's higher   
rank1 a third pleading his very         
juniority1 inasmuch as this brought him 
within the description of               
porphyrogeniture1 or royal birth1 which 
is often felt as transcendent as        
primogeniture--even the people1 apart   
from the several pretenders to the      

throne1 would create separate interests 
as grounds for insurrection or for      
intestine feuds4 ,there seems good      
reason to think that already the ten    
tribes1 ,israel as opposed to ,judah1   
looked upon the more favoured and royal 
tribe of ,judah1 with their             
supplementary section of ,benjamin1 as  
unduly favoured in the national economy4
 ,secretly there is little doubt that   
they murmured even against ,god for     
ranking this powerful tribe as the      
prerogative tribe4 ,the jealousy had    
evidently risen to a great height2 it   
was suppressed by the vigilant and      
strong government of ,solomon2 but at   
the outset of his son's reign it        
exploded at once1 and the ,scriptural   
account of the case shows that it       
proceeded upon old grievances4 ,the     
boyish rashness of ,rehoboam might      
exasperate the leaders1 and precipitate 
the issue2 but very clearly all had been
 prepared for a revolt4 ,and ,i would   
remark that by the 'young men' of       

,rehoboam are undoubtedly meant the     
soldiers--the body-guards whom the      
,jewish kings now retained as an element
 of royal pomp4 ,this is the invariable 
use of the term in the ,east4 ,even in  
,josephus the term for the military by  
profession is generally 'the young men'2
 whilst 'the elders' mean the councilors
 of state4 ,david saw enough of the     
popular spirit to be satisfied that     
there was no political reliance on the  
permanence of the dynasty2 and even at  
home there was an internal source of    
weakness4 ,the tribe of ,benjamin were  
mortified and incensed at the deposition
 of ,saul's family and the bloody       
proscription of that family adopted by  
,david4 ,one only1 a grandson of ,saul1 
he had spared out of love to his friend 
,jonathan4 ,this was ,mephibo-sheth2 but
 he was incapacitated for the throne by 
lameness4 ,and how deep the resentment  
was amongst the ,benjamites is evident  
from the insulting advantage taken of   
his despondency in the day of distress  

by ,shimei4 ,for ,shimei had no motive  
for the act of coming to the roadside   
and cursing the king beyond his         
attachment to the house of ,saul4       
,humanly speaking1 ,david's prospect of 
propagating his own dynasty was but     
small4 ,on the other hand1 ,god had     
promised him ,his support4 ,and hence it
 was that his crime arose1 viz41 upon   
his infidelity1 in seeking to secure the
 throne by a mere human arrangement in  
the first place2 secondly1 by such an   
arrangement as must disorganize the     
existing theocratic system of the       
,jewish people4 ,upon this crime        
followed his chastisement in a sudden   
pestilence4 ,and it is remarkable in how
 significant a manner ,god manifested   
the nature of the trespass1 and the     
particular course through which ,he had 
meant originally1 and did still mean1 to
 counteract the worst issue of ,david's 
apprehensions4 ,it happened that the    
angel of the pestilence halted at the   
threshing-floor of ,araunah2 and        

precisely that spot did ,god by dreams  
to ,david indicate as the site of the   
glorious ,temple4 ,thus it seemed as    
though in so many words ,god had        
declared3 ',now that all is over1 your  
crime and its punishment1 understand    
that your fears were vain4 ,i will      
continue the throne in your house longer
 than your anxieties can personally     
pursue its descent4 ,and with regard to 
the terrors from ,israel1 although this 
event of a great schism is inevitable   
and essential to ,my councils1 yet ,i   
will not allow it to operate for the    
extinction of your house4 ,and that very
 ,temple1 in that very place where ,my  
angel was commissioned to pause1 shall  
be one great means and one great pledge 
to you of ,my decree in favour of your  
posterity4 ,for this house1 as a common 
sanctuary to all ,jewish blood1 shall   
create a perpetual interest in behalf of
 ,judah amongst the other tribes1 even  
when making war upon ,jerusalem4'       
,witness if it were but that one case   

where #bjj1jjj captives of ,judah were  
restored without ransom1 were clothed   
completely1 were fed1 by the very men   
who had just massacred their fighting   
relatives4   ,,footnotes3  #g ,even in  
,rome1 where the purple 7whatever colour
 that might have been7 is usually       
imagined to be the symbol of regal      
state--and afterwards their improved    
arts of dyeing1 and improved materials1 
became so splendid that it was made     
so--white had always been the colour of 
a monarchy4 ',a white linen band was the
 simple badge of ,oriental royalty'     
7,merivale's ',history of ,rome1' ii41  
p4 #dfh74--;,,ed4  #h ,this was the case
 even with the ,homeric ,greeks4 ,mr4   
,gladstone makes a point of this 7see   
',juventus ,mundi1' p4 #dbi73 ',the     
privates of the army are called by the  
names of laos1 the people2 demos1 the   
community2 and plethus1 the multitude4  
,but no notice is taken throughout the  
poem of the exploits of any soldier     
below the rank of an officer4 ,still1   

all attend the ,assemblies4 ,on the     
whole1 the ,greek host is not so much an
 army1 as a community in arms4' ,even   
the common people1 not only in cities   
but in camps1 assembled to hear the     
deliberations of the chiefs4--,,ed4     
,,vii4 ,,the ,,jews ,,as ,a ,,separate  
,,people4   ,the argument for the       
separation and distinct current of the  
,jews1 flowing as they pretend of the   
river ,rhone through the ,lake of       
,geneva--never mixing its waters with   
those which surround it--has been by    
some infidel writers defeated and evaded
 by one word2 and here1 as everywhere   
else1 an unwise teacher will seek to    
hide the answer4 ,yet how infinitely    
better to state it fully1 and then show 
that the evasion has no form at all2    
but1 on the contrary1 powerfully argues 
the inconsistency and incapacity of     
those who urge it4 ,for instance1 ,i    
remember ,boulanger1 a ,french infidel1 
whose work was duly translated by a     
,scotchman1 answers it thus3 ,what is   

there miraculous in all this8 he        
demands4 ,listen to me1 and ,i will show
 you in two minutes that it rests upon  
mere show and pure delusion4 ,how is it1
 why is it1 that the ,jews have remained
 a separate people8 ,simply from their  
usages1 in the first place2 but1        
secondly1 still more from the fact that 
these usages1 which with other peoples  
exist also in some representative shape1
 with them modify themselves1 shift1    
alter1 adapt themselves to the climate  
or to the humour or accidents of life   
amongst those amidst whom chance has    
thrown them2 whereas amongst the ,jews  
every custom1 the most trivial1 is also 
part of their legislation2 and their    
legislation is also their religion4     
7,boulanger1 by the way1 is far from    
expressing that objection so clearly as 
,i have here done2 but this is his drift
 and purpose1 so far as he knew how to  
express it47 ,take any other            
people--,isaurians1 ,athenians1 ,romans1
 ,corinthians--doubtless all these and  

many others have transmitted their blood
 down to our ages1 and are now living   
amongst us by representation4 ,but why  
do we not perceive this8 ,why do the    
,athenians seem to have perished        
utterly8 ,simply for this reason3 they  
were a plastic1 yielding1 unobstinate   
race4 ,an ,athenian lived in a port of  
,italy1 married an ,italian woman2      
thence threw out lines of descent to    
,milan1 thence to ,paris2 and because   
his ,attic usages were all local1       
epichorial1 and tied to a particular    
mythology which has given way1 or to a  
superstition which is defunct1 or to a  
patriotic remembrance which has vanished
 with the land and the sympathy that    
supported it2 hence1 and upon other     
similar arguments1 the ,athenian has    
long since melted into the mass with    
which he was intermixed2 he was a unit  
attached to a vast overpowering number  
from another source1 and into that      
number he has long since been absorbed2 
he was a drop in a vast ocean1 and long 

ago he has been confounded with the     
waters that did not differ1 except      
numerically1 from his own4 ,but the     
,jews are an obstinate1 bigoted people2 
and they have maintained their          
separation1 not by any overruling or    
coercing miracle1 but in a way perfectly
 obvious and palpable to                
themselves--obvious by its operation1   
obvious in its remedy4 ,they would not  
resign their customs4 ,upon these       
ordinances1 positive and negative1      
commanding and forbidding many peculiar 
rites1 consecrating and desecrating many
 common esculent articles1 these ,jews  
have laid the stress and emphasis of    
religion4 ,they would not resign them2  
they did not expect others to adopt     
them--not in any case2  fortiori not    
from a degraded people4 ,and hence1 not 
by any mysterious operation of          
,providential control1 arose their      
separation1 their resolute refusal to   
blend with other races4  ,this is the   
infidel's attempt to rebut1 to defeat1  

utterly to confound1 the argumentative  
force of this most astonishing amongst  
all historical pictures that the planet 
presents4  ,the following is the answer3
  ,it is forgotten that along with the  
,jews there is another people concerned 
as illustrations of the same prophetic  
fatality--of that same inevitable eye1  
that same perspective of vision1 which  
belonged to those whose eyes ,god had   
opened4 ,the ,arabs1 as children of a   
common ancestor1 ought not to be        
forgotten in this sentence upon their   
brother nation4 ,they through ,ishmael1 
the ,jews through ,isaac1 and more      
immediately through ,israel the son of  
,isaac1 were two diverging branches of  
one original stem2 and to both was      
pronounced a corresponding doom--a      
sentence which argued in both a         
principle of duration and               
self-propagation1 that is memorable in  
any race4 ,the children of ,ishmael are 
the ,arabs of the desert4 ,their destiny
 as a roving robber nation1 and liable  

to all men's hands1 as they             
indifferently levied spoil on all1 was  
early pronounced4 ,and here1 again1 we  
see at once how it will be evaded3 it is
 the desert1 it is the climate1 it is   
the solemnity of that unchanging basis1 
which will secure the unchanging life of
 its children4 ,but it is remarkable    
enough that ,gibbon and other infidels1 
kicking violently against this standing 
miracle 7because1 if not so in itself1  
yet1 according to ,bishop ,butler's just
 explanation concerning miraculous per  
de-rivationem as recording a miraculous 
power of vision71 have by oscillation   
clung to the fixture of basis1 and      
rejected it2 for now ,gibbon denies that
 the ,arabs have held this constant     
tenor of life2 they have changed it1 he 
asserts1 in large and notorious cases4  
,well1 then1 if they have1 then at once 
falls to the ground this alleged        
overruling coercion a priori of the     
climate and the desert4 ,climate and    
desert do not necessarily coerce them1  

if in large and notorious cases they    
have failed to do so4 ,so feels ,gibbon2
 and1 by an instinct of timidity1 back  
he flies to the previous evasion--to the
 natural controlling power of climate   
and soil1 admitting the ,scriptural     
fact1 but seeking for it an unscriptural
 ground1 as before he had flown in      
over-precipitate anxiety to the denial  
of the ,scriptural fact1 but in that    
denial involving a withdrawal of the    
unscriptural ground4  ,the sceptics in  
that instance show their secret sense of
 a preference from the distracted       
eagerness with which they fly backwards 
and forwardwise between two reciprocally
 hostile evasions4  ,the answer ,i      
reserve1 and meantime ,i remark3        
,secondly1 that1 supposing this answer  
to have any force1 still it meets only  
one moiety of the ,scriptural fatality2 
viz41 the dispersion of the ,jews--the  
fact that1 let them be gathered in what 
numbers they might1 let them even be    
concentrated by millions1 therefore in  

the literal sense not dispersed1 yet in 
the political sense universally         
understood1 they would be dispersed1    
because never1 in no instance1 rising to
 be a people1 sui juris1 a nation1 a    
distinct community1 known to the public 
law of ,europe as having the rights of  
peace and war1 but always a mere        
accident and vagrant excess amongst     
nations1 not having the bare rights of  
citizenship2 so far from being a nation1
 not being an acknowledged member of any
 nation4 ,this exquisite dispersion--not
 ethnographic only1 but political--is   
that half of the ,scriptural malediction
 which the ,boulanger answer attempts to
 meet2 but the other half--that they    
should be 'a byword1 an astonishment1'  
etc4--is entirely blinked4 ,had the work
 even prospered1 it would still have to 
recommence4 ,the ,armenians are         
dispersed through all ,eastern lands1 so
 are the ,arabs2 even the descendants of
 ,ali are found severed from their natal
 soil2 but they are not therefore       

dispersed3 they have endured no general 
indignities4  ,thirdly1 it does not meet
 the fact of the ,jewish existence in   
any shape1 whether as a distinct or an  
amalgamated people4 ,there is no doubt  
that many races of men1 as of brute     
animals1 have been utterly extinguished4
 ,in cases such as those of the ,emim1  
or ,rethinim1 a race distinguished by   
peculiar size1 so as to be monstrous in 
comparison with other men1 this         
extinction could more readily be        
realized2 or in the case of a nation    
marked1 as ,herodotus records1 by a     
slighter texture of scale1 the          
extinction might be ascertained by the  
physiologist2 but no doubt it has often 
occurred1 precisely as a family is      
extinguished1 or as certain trees 7for  
example1 the true golden pippin7 are    
observed to die off1 not by local       
influences only1 but by a decay         
attacking the very principle of their   
existence4 ,of many ancient races it is 
probable enough that no blood directly  

traced from them could at this day be   
searched by the eye of ,god4 ,families  
arise amongst the royal lineage of      
,europe that suddenly1 like a lamp      
fitfully glowing up just the moment     
before it expires1 throw off1 as by some
 final effort1 a numerous generation of 
princes and princesses2 then suddenly   
all contract as rapidly into a single   
child1 which perishing1 the family is   
absolutely extinct4 ,and so must many   
nations have perished1 and so must the  
,jews have been pre-eminently exposed to
 perish1 from the peculiar1 fierce1 and 
almost immortal1 persecutions which they
 have undergone1 and the horrid frenzies
 of excited mobs in cruel cities of     
which they have stood the brunt4        
,,viii4 ',,what ,,is ,,truth8' ,,the    
,,jesting ,,pilate ,,said--,a ,,false   
,,gloss4   ,it is true that ,pilate     
could not be expected fully to          
comprehend an idea which was yet new to 
man2 ,christ's words were beyond his    
depth4 ,but1 still1 his natural light   

would guide him thus far--that1 although
 he had never heard of any truth which  
rose to that distinction1 still1 if any 
one class of truth should in future come
 to eclipse all other classes of truth  
immeasurably1 as regarded its practical 
results1 as regarded some dark          
dependency of human interests1 in that  
case it would certainly merit the       
distinctive name of ',the ,truth4' ,the 
case in which such a distinction would  
become reasonable and available was one 
utterly unrealized to his experience1   
not even within the light of his        
conjectures as to its special           
conditions2 but1 still1 as a general    
possibility it was conceivable to his   
understanding2 though not               
comprehensible1 yet apprehensible4 ,and 
in going on to the next great question1 
to the inevitable question1 ',what is   
the truth8' ,pilate had no thought of   
jesting4 ,jesting was the last thing of 
which his impassioned mood in that great
 hour was capable4 ,roman magistrates of

 supreme rank were little disposed to   
jesting on the judgment-seat amongst a  
refractory and dangerous people2 and of 
,pilate in particular1 every word1 every
 effort1 every act1 demonstrate that he 
was agitated with new instincts and     
misgivings of some shadowy revelation   
opening upon man1 that his heart was    
convulsed with desponding anxiety in the
 first place to save the man who        
appeared the depositary of this         
revelation1 but who1 if1 after all1 only
 a sublime lunatic1 was1 at the very    
least1 innocent of all offence4 ,it must
 have struck all close observers of     
early ,christianity how large a         
proportion of the new converts lay      
amongst ,roman officers1 or 7to speak   
more adequately7 amongst ,romans of high
 rank1 both men and women4 ,and for that
 there was high reason4 ,in the advance 
of civilization1 and in the             
corresponding decay of idolatrous       
religions1 there was fast arising a new 
growth of cravings amongst men4         

,mythological and desperately immoral   
religions1 that spoke only to the blind 
sense of power1 had been giving way     
through the three previous centuries to 
a fearful extent4 ,they had receded from
 the higher natures of both ,greece and 
,rome as the sea has locally receded    
from many shores of the earth4 ,such    
natures were left 'miserably bare'2 the 
sense of dependency by any tie upon the 
invisible world1 or at least upon the   
supernatural world1 had decayed1 and    
unless this painful void were filled up 
by some supplementary bond in the same  
direction1 a condition of practical     
atheism must take place1 such as could  
not but starve and impoverish in human  
nature those yearnings after the        
infinite which are the pledges of all   
internal grandeur4 ,but this dependency 
could not be replaced by one of the same
 vicious nature4 ,into any new          
dependency a new element must be        
introduced4 ,the sense of insufficiency 
would be renewed in triple strength if  

merely the old relations of weakness to 
power1 of art to greater art1 of        
intellect to higher intellect1 of less  
to more within the same exact limits as 
to kind of excellence1 should be        
rehearsed under new names or improved   
theogonies4 ,hitherto1 no relation of   
man to divine or demoniac powers had    
included the least particle or fraction 
or hint of any moral element2 nor was   
such an element possible in that        
dependency1 for profound reasons4       
,,ix4 ,,what ,,scaliger ,,says ,,about  
,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,jude4   ,before  
any canon was settled1 many works had   
become current in ,christian circles    
whose origin was dubious4 ,the          
traditions about them varied locally4   
,some1 it is alleged1 that would really 
have been entitled to a canonical place1
 had been lost by accident2 to some1    
which still survived1 this place had    
been refused upon grounds that might not
 have satisfied us of this day1 if we   
had the books and the grounds of        

rejection before us2 and1 finally1      
others1 it is urged1 have obtained this 
sacred distinction with no right to it4 
,in particular1 the ,second ,epistle of 
,st4 ,peter1 the ,second of ,st4 ,jude1 
the ,epistle of ,st4 ,james1 and the    
three of ,st4 ,john1 are denounced as   
supposititious in the ',scaligerana4'   
,but the writer before us is wrong in   
laying any stress on the opinions there 
expressed4 ,they bear the marks of      
conversational haste and of ,scaligeran 
audacity4 ,what is the objection made1  
for instance1 to 'in quibus sunt mira1  
qu non videntur esse ,apostolica'8 ,that
 is itself more strange as a criticism  
than anything in the epistles can be for
 its doctrine4 ,the only thing tending  
to a reason for the summary treatment is
 that the ,eastern ,church does not     
acknowledge them for canonical4 ,but    
opinions quoted from ana are seldom of  
any authority2 indeed1 ,i have myself   
too frequently seen the unfaithfulness  
of such reports4 ,the reporter1 as he   

cannot decently be taking notes at the  
time of speaking1 endeavours afterwards 
to recall the most interesting passages 
by memory4 ,he forgets the context2 what
 introduced--what followed to explain or
 modify the opinions4 ,he supplies a    
conjectural context of his own1 and the 
result is a romance4 ,but if the        
reporter were even accurate1 so much    
allowance must be made for the license  
of conversation--its ardour1 its hurry1 
and its frequent playfulness--that when 
all these deductions are made1 really   
not a fraction remains that one can     
honestly carry to account4 ,besides1 the
 elder ,scaliger was drunk pretty often1
 and ,joe seems rather 'fresh' at times4
  ,upon consideration1 it may be as well
 to repeat what it is that ,scaliger is 
reported to have said3  ',the ,epistle  
of ,jude is not his1 as neither is that 
of ,james1 nor the second of ,peter1 in 
all which are strange things that seem  
7seem--mark that67 far enough from being
 ,apostolical4 ,the three ,epistles of  

,john are not from ,john the ,apostle4  
,the second of ,peter and ,jude belong  
to a later age4 ,the ,eastern ,church   
does not own them1 neither are they of  
evangelical authority4 ,they are        
unlearned1 and offer no marks of ,gospel
 majesty4 ,as regards their internal    
value1 believe them ,i may say that ,i  
do1 but it is because they are in no    
ways hostile to us4'  ,now1 observe1 the
 grounds of objection are purely        
sthetical1 except in the single argument
 from the authority of the ,eastern     
,church4 ,what does he mean by          
'unlearned1' or wanting 'majesty1' or   
containing 'strange things'8 ,were ever 
such vague puerilities collected into   
one short paragraph8 ,this is pure      
impertinence1 and ,phil4 deserves to be 
privately reprimanded for quoting such  
windy chaff without noting and          
protesting it as colloquial4 ,but what  
,i wish the reader to mark--the ,greek3 
tho hepimhythion--is1 that suppose the  
two ,scaligers amongst the ,christian   

,fathers engaged in fixing the canon3   
greater learning you cannot have2       
neither was there1 to a dead certainty1 
one tenth part as much amongst the      
canon-settlers4 ,yet all this marvellous
 learning fumes away in boyish          
impertinence4 ,it confounds itself4 ,and
 every ,christian says1 ,oh1 take away  
this superfluous weight of erudition1   
that1 being so rare a thing1 cannot be  
wanted in the broad highways of         
religion4 ,what we do want is humility1 
docility1 reverence for ,god1 and love  
for man4 ,these are sown broadcast      
amongst human hearts4 ,now1 these apply 
themselves to the sense of ,scripture1  
not to its grammatical niceties4 ,but if
 so1 even that case shows indirectly how
 little could depend upon the mere      
verbal attire of the ,bible1 when the   
chief masters of verbal science were so 
ready to go astray--riding on the       
billows so imperfectly moored4 ,in the  
ideas of ,scripture lies its eternal    
anchorage1 not in its perishable words1 

which are shifting for ever like        
quicksands1 as the ,bible passes by     
translation successively into every     
spoken language of the earth4  ,what    
then8--',what then8' retorts the angry  
reader after all this1 'why then1       
perhaps1 there may be a screw loose in  
the ,bible4' ,true1 there may1 and what 
is more1 some very great scholars take  
upon them to assert that there is4 ,yet1
 still1 what then8 ,the two possible    
errors open to the ,fathers of our      
canon1 to the men upon whom rested the  
weighty task of saying to all mankind   
what should be ,bible1 and what should  
be not ,bible1 of making and limiting   
that mighty world1 are--that they may   
have done that which they ought not to  
have done1 and1 secondly1 left undone   
that which they ought to have done4     
,they may have admitted writers whom    
they ought to have excluded2 and they   
may have excluded writers whom they     
ought to have admitted4 ,this is the    
extent of their possible offences1 and  

they are supposed by some critics to    
have committed both4 ,but suppose that  
they have1 still ,i say--what then8     
,what is the nature of the wrong done to
 us by the worst mistake ascribed to    
them8 ,let us consider4 ,it is supposed 
by some scholars that we have in the    
,new ,testament as it now stands a work 
written by ,apollos1 viz41 the ,epistle 
to the ,romans4 ,yet1 if so1 the error  
amounts only to a misnomer4 ,on the     
other hand1 there are ,epistles on which
 has been charged the same error in     
relation to the name of the author1 and 
the more important error of thoughts    
unbecoming to a ,christian in authority3
 for instance1 the ,epistle of ,st4     
,james4 ,this charge was chiefly urged  
by a very intemperate man1 and in a very
 intemperate style4 ,i notice it as     
being a case which ,phil4 has noticed4  
,but ,phil4 merits a gentle rap on his  
knuckles for the inconsideration with   
which he has cited a charge made and    
reported with so much levity4 ,he quotes

 it from the ',scaligerana4' ,now1 what 
right upon such a subject has any man to
 quote such an authority8 ,the reasons  
against listening with much attention to
 the ',scaligerana' are these3  ,first1 
the ,scaligers1 both father and son1    
were the two most impudent men that ever
 walked the planet4 ,i should be loath  
to say so ill-natured a thing as that   
their impudence was equal to their      
learning1 because that forces every man 
to say1 ',ah1 then1 what impudent       
fellows they must have been6' ,it is    
kinder and juster to say that their     
learning was at least equal to their    
impudence1 for that will force every man
 to exclaim1 ',ah1 if so1 what prodigies
 of learning they must have been6' ,yes1
 they were--absolute monsters of        
learning1 learned monsters4 ,but as much
 learning often makes men mad1 still    
more frequently it makes them furious   
for assault and battery2 to use the     
,american phrase1 they grow 'wolfy about
 the shoulders1' from a periodical      

itchiness for fighting4 ,other men being
 shy of attacking the ,scaligers1 it was
 no fault of theirs1 you know1 but a    
necessity1 to attack other men--unless  
you expected them to have no fighting at
 all4 ,it was always a reason with them 
for trying a fall with a writer1 if they
 doubted much whether they had any      
excuse for hanging a quarrel on4        
,secondly1 all ana whatever are bad     
authorities4 ,supposing the thing really
 said1 we are to remember the huge      
privilege of conversation1 how          
immeasurable is that6 ,you yourself1    
reader1 ,i presume1 when talking1 will  
say more in an hour than you will stand 
to in a month4 ,i'm sure ,i do4 ,when   
the reins are put into my hands ,i stick
 at nothing--headlong ,i drive like a   
lunatic1 until the very room in which we
 are talking1 with all that it inherits1
 seems to spin round with absolute      
vertigo at the extravagances ,i utter4  
,thirdly1 but again1 was the thing      
really said8 ,for1 as another censure   

upon the whole library of ana1 ,i can   
assert--that1 if the license of         
conversation is enormous1 to that people
 who inhale that gas of colloquial      
fermentation seldom mean much above one 
part in sixty of what they say1 on the  
other hand the license of reporters is  
far greater4 ,to forget the             
circumstances under which a thing was   
said is to alter the thing1 to have lost
 the context1 the particular remark in  
which your own originated1 the          
mitigations of a harsh sentiment from   
playfulness of manner2 in short1 to drop
 the setting of the thoughts is         
oftentimes to falsify the tendency and  
value of those thoughts4       ,,note   
,,by ,,the ,,editor4--,the ,phil4 here  
referred to is the      ,philoleutheros 
,anglicanus of the essay on             
',protestantism1' as      shortened by  
,de ,quincey1 and with whom ,de         
,quincey1 in that essay1      deals very
 effectively and wittily on occasion4   
,x4 ,,murder ,,as ,a ,,fine ,,art4      

7,,some ,,notes ,,for ,a ,,new ,,paper47
   ,a new paper on ,murder as a ,fine   
,art might open thus3 that on the model 
of those ,gentlemen ,radicals who had   
voted a monument to ,palmer1 etc41 it   
was proposed to erect statues to such   
murderers as should by their            
next-of-kin1 or other person interested 
in their glory1 make out a claim either 
of superior atrocity1 or1 in equal      
atrocity1 of superior neatness1         
continuity of execution1 perfect        
preparation or felicitous originality1  
smoothness or curiosa felicitas         
7elaborate felicity74 ,the men who      
murdered the cat1 as we read in the     
,newgate ,calendar1 were good1 but      
,williams better who murdered the baby4 
,and perhaps 7but the hellish felicity  
of the last act makes us demur7         
,fielding was superior4 ,for you never  
hear of a fire swallowing up a fire1 or 
a rain stopping a deluge 7for this would
 be a reign of ,kilkenny cats72 but what
 fire1 deluge1 or ,kilkenny cats could  

not do1 ,fielding proposed1 viz41 to    
murder the murderers1 to become himself 
the ,nemesis4 ,fielding was the murderer
 of murderers in a double               
sense--rhetorical and literal4 ,but that
 was1 after all1 a small matter compared
 with the fine art of the man calling   
himself ,outis1 on which for a moment we
 must dwell4 ,outis--so at all events he
 was called1 but doubtless he indulged  
in many aliases--at ,nottingham joined  
vehemently and sincerely1 as it seemed1 
in pursuit of a wretch taxed with having
 murdered1 twelve years previously1 a   
wife and two children at ,halifax1 which
 wretch 7when all the depositions were  
before the magistrate7 turned out to be 
the aforesaid ,mr4 ,outis4 ,that        
suggests a wide field of speculation and
 reference4#i  ,note the power of       
murderers as fine-art professors to make
 a new start1 to turn the corner1 to    
retreat upon the road they have come1 as
 though it were new to them1 and to make
 diversions that disarm suspicion4 ,this

 they owe to fortunate obscurity1 which 
attests anew the wonderful compensations
 of life2 for celebrity and power       
combine to produce drawbacks4  ,a       
foreigner who lands in ,calcutta at an  
hour which nobody can name1 and         
endeavours to effect a sneaking entrance
 at the postern-gate#aj of the          
governor-general's palace1 may be a     
decent man2 but this we know1 that he   
has cut the towing-rope which bound his 
own boat to the great ark of his        
country4 ,it may be that1 in leaving    
,paris or ,naples1 he was simply cutting
 the connection with creditors who      
showed signs of attachment not good for 
his health4 ,but it may also be that he 
ran away by the blaze of a burning inn1 
which he had fired in order to hide     
three throats which he had cut1 and nine
 purses which he had stolen4 ,there is  
no guarantee for such a man's character4
 ,have we1 then1 no such vauriens at    
home8 ,no1 not in the classes standing  
favourably for promotion4 ,the privilege

 of safe criminality1 not liable to     
exposure1 is limited to classes crowded 
together like leaves in ,vallombrosa2   
for them to run away into some mighty   
city1 ,manchester or ,glasgow1 is to    
commence life anew4 ,they turn over a   
new leaf with a vengeance4 ,many are the
 carpenters1 bricklayers1 bakers'       
apprentices1 etc41 who are now living   
decently in ,bristol1 ,newcastle1 ,hull1
 ,liverpool1 after marrying sixteen     
wives1 and leaving families to the care 
of twelve separate parishes4 ,that scamp
 is at this moment circulating and      
gyrating in society1 like a respectable 
te-totum1 though we know not his exact  
name1 who1 if he were pleased to reveal 
himself in seventeen parts of this      
kingdom1 where 7to use the police       
language7 he has been 'wanted' for some 
years1 would be hanged seventeen times  
running1 besides putting seventeen      
,government rewards into the pockets of 
seventeen policemen4 ,oh1 reader1 you   
little know the unutterable romances    

perpetrated for ever in our most        
populous empire1 under cloud of night   
and distance and utter poverty1 ,mark   
that--of utter poverty4 ,wealth is      
power2 but it is a jest in comparison of
 poverty4 ,splendour is power2 but it is
 a joke to obscurity4 ,to be poor1 to be
 obscure1 to be a baker's apprentice or 
a tailor's journeyman1 throws a power   
about a man1 clothes him with attributes
 of ubiquity1 really with those         
privileges of concealment which in the  
ring of ,gyges were but fabulous4 ,is it
 a king1 is it a sultan1 that such a man
 rivals8 ,oh1 friend1 he rivals a       
spiritual power4  ,two men are on       
record1 perhaps many more might have    
been on that record1 who wrote so many  
books1 and perpetrated so many          
pamphlets1 that at fifty they had       
forgotten much of their own literary    
villainies1 and at sixty they commenced 
with murderous ferocity a series of     
answers to arguments which it was proved
 upon them afterwards that they         

themselves had emitted at thirty--thus  
coming round with volleys of small shot 
on their own heads1 as the ,whispering  
,gallery at ,st4 ,paul's begins to      
retaliate any secrets you have committed
 to its keeping in echoing thunders     
after a time1 or as ,sir ,john          
,mandeville under ,arctic skies heard in
 ,may all those curses thawing1 and     
exploding like minute-guns1 which had   
been frozen up in ,november4 ,even like 
those self-replying authors1 even like  
those self-reverberators in ,st4        
,paul's1 even like those ,arctic        
practitioners in cursing1 who drew bills
 and post obits in malediction1 which   
were to be honoured after the death of  
winter1 many men are living at this     
moment in merry ,england who have       
figured in so many characters1          
illustrated so many villages1 run away  
from so many towns1 and performed the   
central part in so many careers1 that   
were the character1 the village1 the    
town1 the career1 brought back with all 

its circumstances to their memories1    
positively they would fail to recognise 
their own presence or incarnation in    
their own acts and bodies4  ,we have all
 read the story told by ,addison of a   
sultan1 who was persuaded by a dervish  
to dip his head into a basin of         
enchanted water1 and thereupon found    
himself upon some other globe1 a son in 
a poor man's family1 married after      
certain years the woman of his heart1   
had a family of seven children whom he  
painfully brought up1 went afterwards   
through many persecutions1 walked       
pensively by the seashore meditating    
some escape from his miseries1 bathed in
 the sea as a relief from the noon-day  
heat1 and on lifting up his head from   
the waves found himself lifting up his  
head from the basin into which that     
cursed dervish had persuaded him to dip4
 ,and when he would have cudgelled the  
holy man for that long life of misery   
which had1 through his means1 been      
inflicted upon himself1 behold6 the holy

 man proved by affidavit that1 in this  
world1 at any rate 7where only he could 
be punishable71 the life had lasted but 
thirty-three seconds4 ,even so do the   
dark careers of many amongst our obscure
 and migratory villains from years      
shrink up to momentary specks1 or1 by   
their very multitude1 altogether        
evanesce4 ,burke and ,hare1 it is well  
known1 had lost all count of their      
several murders2 they no more           
remembered1 or could attempt to         
remember1 their separate victims1 than a
 respectable old banker of seventy-three
 can remember all the bills with their  
indorsements made payable for           
half-a-century at his bank2 or than     
,foote's turnpike-keeper1 who had kept  
all the toll-bar tickets to ,kensington 
for forty-eight years1 pretended to     
recollect the features of all the men   
who had delivered them at his gate4 ,for
 a time1 perhaps1 ,burke 7who was a man 
of fine sensibility7 had a              
representative vision of spasms1 and    

struggles1 and convulsions1 terminating 
in a ten-pound note indorsed by ,dr4    
----4 ,hare1 on the other hand1 was a   
man of principle1 a man that you could  
depend upon--order a corpse for ,friday1
 and on ,friday you had it--but he had  
no feeling whatever4 ,yet see the unity 
of result for him and ,burke4 ,for both 
alike all troublesome recollections     
gathered into one blue haze of heavenly 
abstractions3 orders executed with      
fidelity1 cheques on the bankers to be  
crossed and passed and cashed1 are no   
more remembered4 ,that is the acme of   
perfection in our art4         99       
99       99       99       99  ,one     
great class of criminals ,i am aware of 
in past times as having specially       
tormented myself--the class who have    
left secrets1 riddles1 behind them4     
,what business has any man to bequeath a
 conundrum to all posterity1 unless he  
leaves in some separate channel the     
solution8 ,this must have been done in  
malice1 and for the purpose of annoying 

us1 lest we should have too much proper 
enjoyment of life when he should have   
gone4 ,for nobody knows whether the     
scoundrel could have solved it          
himself--too like in that respect to    
some charades which1 in my boyish days  
7but then ,i had the excuse of youth1   
which they had not71 ,i not unfrequently
 propounded to young ladies4 ,take this 
as a specimen3 ,my first raises a little
 hope2 my second very little indeed2 and
 my whole is a vast roar of despair4 ,no
 young lady could ever solve it2 neither
 could ,i4 ,we all had to give it up4 ,a
 charade that only needs an answer1     
which1 perhaps1 some distant generation 
may supply1 is but a half and half1     
tentative approach to this4 ,very much  
of this nature was the genius or ,daimon
 7don't say ,demon7 of ,socrates4 ,how  
many thousands of learned writers and   
printers have gone to sleep over too    
profound attempts to solve that1 which  
,socrates ought to have been able to    
solve at sight4 ,i am myself of opinion 

that it was a dram-bottle1 which someone
 raised a ghost to explain4 ,then the   
,entelecheia of ,aristotle2 did you ever
 read about that1 excellent reader8     
,most people fancy it to have meant some
 unutterable crotchet in metaphysics1   
some horrible idea 7lest the police     
should be after it7 without a name2 that
 is1 until the ,stagyrite repaired the  
injustice of his conduct by giving it a 
pretty long one4 ,my opinion now1 as you
 are anxious to know it1 is1 that it was
 a lady1 a sweetheart of ,aristotle's2  
for what was to hinder ,aristotle having
 a sweetheart8 ,i dare say ,thomas      
,aquinas1 dry and arid as he was1 raised
 his unprincipled eyes to some          
,neapolitan beauty1 began a sonnet to   
some lady's eyebrow1 though he might    
forget to finish it4 ,and my belief is  
that this lady1 ambitious as ,semele1   
wished to be introduced as an eternal   
jewel into the great vault of her       
lover's immortal ,philosophy1 which was 
to travel much farther and agitate far  

longer than his royal pupil's conquests4
 ,upon that ,aristotle1 keeping her     
hand1 said3 ',my love1 ,i'll think of   
it4' ,and then it occurred to him1 that 
in the very heavens many lovely ladies1 
,andromeda1 ,cassiopeia1 ,ariadne1 etc41
 had been placed as constellations in   
that map which many chronologists       
suppose to have been prepared for the   
use of the ship ,argo1 a whole          
generation before the ,trojan war4      
,berenice1 though he could not be aware 
of that1 had interest even to procure a 
place in that map for her ringlets2 and 
of course for herself she might have4   
,considering which1 ,aristotle said3    
',hang me6 if ,i don't put her among the
 ten ,categories6' ,on after thoughts he
 put her higher1 for an ,entelecheia is 
as much above a ,category as our        
,padishah ,victoria is above a ,turkish 
sultan4 ',but now1 ,stag1' said the lady
 7privileged as a sweetheart she called 
him ,stag1 though everybody else was    
obliged to call him ,stagyrite71 'how   

will they know it's meant for me1       
,stag8' ,upon which ,i am sorry to say  
the philosopher fell to cursing and     
swearing1 bestowing blessings on his own
 optics and on posterity's1 meaning     
yours and mine1 saying3 ',let them find 
it out4' ,well1 now1 you see ,i have    
found it out4 ,but that is more than ,i 
hope for my crypto-criminals1 and       
therefore ,i take this my only way of   
giving them celebration and malediction 
in one breath4   ,,footnotes3  #i       
,notwithstanding what he had written in 
the essay on the ',essenes1' no doubt   
,de ,quincey1 if he had completed this  
paper1 could not have escaped           
characteristic1 and perhaps grimly      
humorous1 references of his own to the  
,sicarii1 of whom ,josephus has a good  
deal to tell in his ',jewish ,war'2 for 
it seems to us his thoughts were bearing
 directly that way4 ,josephus says of   
the ,sicarii3 ',in these days there     
arose another sort of robbers in        
,jerusalem1 who were named ,sicarii1 who

 slew men in the day-time and in the    
middle of the city1 more especially at  
the festivals4 ,there they mixed with   
the multitude1 and having concealed     
little daggers under their garments1    
with these they stabbed those that were 
their enemies2 and when any fell down   
dead1 the murderers joined the          
bystanders in expressing their          
indignation2 so that from their         
plausibilities they could by no means be
 discovered4 ,the first man that was    
slain by them was ,jonathan the         
high-priest1 after which many were slain
 every day4'--,,ed4  #aj                
',postern-gate4' ,see the legend of ,sir
 ,eustace the ,crusader1 and the good   
,sir ,hubert1 who 'sounded the horn     
which he alone could sound1' as told by 
,wordsworth4     ,,xi4                  
,,anecdotes--,,juvenal4   ,all          
anecdotes1 as ,i have often remarked in 
print1 are lies4 ,it is painful to use  
harsh words1 and1 knowing by my own     
feelings how much the reader is shocked 

by this rude word lies1 ,i should really
 be much gratified if it were possible  
to supplant it by some gentler or more  
courteous word1 such as falsehoods1 or  
even fibs1 which dilutes the atrocity of
 untruth into something of an amiable   
weakness1 wrong1 but still venial1 and  
natural 7and so far1 therefore1         
reasonable74 ,anything for peace3 but   
really in this instance ,i cannot       
indulge the reader4 ,the instincts of   
morality will not allow of it1 and still
 less the passion which made ,juvenal a 
poet1#aa viz41 the passion of enormous  
and bloody indignation4 ,from the       
beginning of this century1 with wrath   
continually growing1 ,i have laid it    
down as a rule1 and if the last year of 
it1 viz41 ,a4 ,d4 #aijj1 should overhear
 my voice amongst the babblings that    
will then be troubling the              
atmosphere--in that case it will hear me
 still reaffirming1 with an indignation 
still gathering strength1 and therefore 
approaching ever nearer and nearer to a 

,juvenalian power of versification1 so  
that perhaps ,i shall then speak in     
rhymed couplets--that all anecdotes     
pretending to be smart1 but to a dead   
certainty if they pretend to be         
epigrammatic1 are and must be lies4     
,there is1 in fact1 no security for the 
truth of an anecdote1 no guarantee      
whatever1 except its intense stupidity4 
,if a man is searched at a              
police-office1 on the ground that he was
 caught trying the window-shutters of   
silversmiths2 then1 if it should happen 
that in his pockets is found absolutely 
nothing at all except one solitary      
paving-stone1 in that case ,charity1    
which believeth all things 7in fact1 is 
credulous to an anile degree71 will be  
disposed to lock up the paving-stone1   
and restore it to the man on his        
liberation as if it were really his own1
 though philosophy mutters indignantly1 
being all but certain that the fellow   
stole it4 ,and really ,i have been too  
candid a great deal in admitting that a 

man may appropriate an anecdote1 and    
establish his claim to it by pleading   
its awful stupidity4 ,that might be the 
case1 and ,i believe it was1 when       
anecdotes were many and writers were    
few4 ,but things are changed now4 ,fifty
 years ago1 if a man were seen running  
away with the pace of a lunatic1 and you
 should sing out1 ',stop that fellow2 he
 is running off with the shin-bone of my
 great-grandmother6' all the people in  
the street would have cried out in      
reply1 ',oh1 nonsense6 ,what should he  
want with your great-grandmother's      
shin-bone8' and that would have seemed  
reasonable4 ,but now1 to see how things 
are altered1 any man of sense would     
reply1 ',what should he want with my    
great-grandmother's shin-bone8 ,why1    
he'll grind it1 and then he'll mix it   
with guano4' ,this is what he and the   
like of him have actually done by       
shiploads of people far more entitled to
 consideration than any one of my four  
great-grandmothers 7for ,i had four1    

with eight shin-bones amongst them74 ,it
 is well known that the field of        
,waterloo was made to render up all its 
bones1 ,british or ,french1 to certain  
bone-mills in agricultural districts4   
,borodino and ,leipzig1 the two         
bloodiest of modern battlefields1 are   
supposed between them--what by the      
harvest of battle1 what by the harvest  
of neighbouring hospitals--to be seized 
or possessed of four hundred thousand   
shin-bones1 and other interesting       
specimens to match4 ,negotiations have  
been proceeding at various times between
 the leading bone-mills in ,england and 
the ,jews in ,dresden or in ,moscow4    
,hitherto these negotiations have broken
 down1 because the ,jews stood out for  
#cg per shent41 calculated upon the     
costs of exhumation4 ,but of late they  
show a disposition to do business at #cc
 per shent43 the contract will therefore
 move forwards again2 it will go ahead2 
and the dust of the faithful armies1    
together with the dust of their enemies1

 will very soon be found1 not in the    
stopper of a bunghole 7as ,prince       
,hamlet conceived too prematurely71 but 
in an unprecedented crop of ,swedish    
turnips4  ,bones change their value1 it 
seems thus clearly2 and anecdotes change
 their value2 and in that proportion    
honesty1 as regards one or the other1   
changes the value of its chances4 ,but  
what has all this to do with ',old      
,nick'8 ,stop3 let me consider4 ,that   
title was placed at the head of this    
article1 and ,i admit that it was placed
 there by myself4 ,else1 whilst ,i was  
wandering from my text1 and vainly      
endeavouring to recollect what it was   
that ,i had meant by this text1 a random
 thought came over me 7immoral1 but     
natural71 that ,i would charge the      
heading of ,old ,nick upon the          
compositor1 asserting that he had placed
 it there in obstinate defiance of all  
the orders to the contrary1 and         
supplications to the contrary1 that ,i  
had addressed to him for a month2 by    

which means ,i should throw upon him the
 responsibility of accounting for so    
portentous an ensign4         99        
99       99       99       99           
,,editor',s ,,note4--,it is evident that
 ,de ,quincey meditated a much          
longer essay on anecdotes as false1 in  
which ,niccolo ,machiavelli      would  
have come in for notice--hence the      
playful references in the      close4   
,,footnotes3  #aa ',the passion which   
made ,juvenal a poet4' ,the scholar     
needs no explanation2 but the reader    
whose scholarship is yet amongst his    
futurities 7which ,i conceive to be the 
civilest way of describing an ignoramus7
 must understand that ,juvenal1 the     
,roman satirist1 who was in fact a      
predestined poet in virtue of his       
ebullient heart1 that boiled over once  
or twice a day in anger that could not  
be expressed upon witnessing the        
enormities of domestic life in ,rome1   
was willing to forego all pretensions to
 natural power and inspiration for the  

sake of obtaining such influence as     
would enable him to reprove ,roman vices
 with effect4     ,,xii4 ,,anna         
,,louisa4  ,,specimen ,,translation     
,,from ,,voss ,,in ,,hexameters1 ,,with 
,,letter ,,to ,,professor ,w4           
7',,christopher ,,north'74   ,,dr4      
,,north1  ,doctor1 ,i say1 for ,i hear  
that the six ,universities of ,england  
and ,scotland have sent you a doctor's  
degree1 or1 if they have not1 all the   
world knows they ought to have done2 and
 the more shame for them if they keep no
 ',remembrancer' to put them in mind of 
what they must allow to be amongst their
 most sacred duties4 ,but that's all    
one4 ,i once read in my childhood a     
pretty book1 called ',wilson's ,account 
of the ,pelew ,islands1' at which       
islands1 you know1 ,h4,m4,s4 ,antelope  
was wrecked--just about the time1 ,i    
fancy1 when you1 ,doctor1 and myself    
were in long petticoats and making some 
noise in the world2 the book was not    
written by ,captain ,wilson1 but by     

,keates1 the sentimentalist4 ,at the    
very end1 however1 is an epitaph1 and   
that was written by the captain and     
ship's company3      ',stop1 reader1    
stop1 let nature claim a tear2      ,a  
prince of mine1 ,lee ,boo1 lies buried  
here4'  ,this epitaph used often to make
 me cry1 and in commemoration of that   
effect1 which 7like that of all         
cathartics that ,i know of1 no matter   
how drastic at first7 has long been     
growing weaker and weaker1 ,i propose   
7upon your allowing me an opportunity7  
to superscribe you in any churchyard you
 will appoint3      ',stop1 reader1     
stop1 let genius claim a tear2      ,a  
doct'r of mine1 ,lee ,kit1 lies buried  
here4'  ',doct'r of' you are to read    
into a dissyllable1 and pretty much like
 ,boney's old friend on the road from   
,moscow1 ,general ,doct'roff1 who       
'doctor'd them off1' as the ,laureate   
observes1 and prescribed for the whole  
,french army gratis4 ,but now to        
business4  ,for your information1       

,doctor1 it cannot be necessary1 but on 
account of very many readers it will be 
so1 to say that ,voss's ',luise' has    
long taken its place in the literature  
of ,germany as a classical work--in     
fact1 as a gem or cabinet chef d'oeuvre2
 nay1 almost as their unique specimen in
 any national sense of the lighter and  
less pretending muse2 less pretending1  
,i mean1 as to the pomp or gravity of   
the subject1 but on that very account   
more pretending as respects the minuter 
graces of its execution4 ,in the        
comparative estimate of ,germans1 the   
',luise' holds a station corresponding  
to that of our ',rape of the ,lock1' or 
of ,gresset's                           
',vert-vert'--corresponding1 that is1 in
 its degree of relative value4 ,as to   
its kind of value1 some notion may be   
formed of it even in that respect also  
from the ',rape of the ,lock1' but with 
this difference1 that the scenes and    
situations and descriptions are there   
derived from the daily life and habits  

of a fashionable belle and the fine     
gentlemen who surround her1 whereas in  
the ',luise' they are derived           
exclusively from the homelier and more  
patriarchal economy of a rural          
clergyman's household2 and in this      
respect the ',luise' comes nearest by   
much1 in comparison of any other work   
that ,i know of1 to our own ',vicar of  
,wakefield4' ,like that delightful      
portrait of rural life in a particular  
aspect1 or idyll as it might be called1 
the ',luise' aims at throwing open for  
our amusement the interior of a village 
parsonage 7,scotice1 'manse'72 like that
 in its earlier half 7for the latter    
half of the ',vicar' is a sad collapse  
from the truth and nature of the        
original conception into the marvellous 
of a commonplace novel71 the ',luise'   
exhibits the several members of a rustic
 clergyman's family according to their  
differences of sex1 age1 and standing1  
in their natural1 undisguised features1 
all unconsciously marked by             

characteristic foibles1 all engaged in  
the exercise of their daily habits1     
neither finer nor coarser than          
circumstances naturally allow1 and all  
indulging in such natural hopes or      
fictions of romance as grow out of their
 situation in life4 ,the ',luise1' in   
short1 and the ',vicar of ,wakefield'   
are both alike a succession of          
circumstantial delineations selected    
from mere rustic life1 but rustic life  
in its most pure and intellectual form2 
for as to the noble countess in the     
',luise1' or the squire and his uncle1  
,sir ,william1 in the ',vicar of        
,wakefield1' they do not interfere      
sufficiently to disturb the essential   
level of the movement as regards the    
incidents1 or to colour the manners and 
the scenery4 ,agreeing1 however1 in this
 general purpose1 the two works differ  
in two considerable features2 one1 that 
the ',vicar of ,wakefield' describes the
 rural clergyman of ,england1 ',luise'  
the rural clergyman of ,north ,germany2 

the other1 that the ,english idyll is   
written in prose1 the ,german in        
verse--both of which differences1 and   
the separate peculiarities growing out  
of them1 will1 it may perhaps be        
thought1 require a few words of critical
 discussion4  ,there has always existed 
a question as to the true principles of 
translation when applied1 not to the    
mere literature of knowledge 7because   
there it is impossible that two opinions
 can arise1 by how much closer the      
version by so much the better71 but to  
the literature of power1 and to such    
works--above all1 to poems--as might    
fairly be considered works of art in the
 highest sense4 ,to what extent the     
principle of compensation might         
reasonably be carried1 the license1 that
 is1 of departing from the strict       
literal forms of the original writer1   
whether as to expressions1 images1 or   
even as to the secondary thoughts1 for  
the sake of reproducing them in some    
shape less repellent to a modern ear1   

and therefore virtually sustaining the  
harmony of the composition by preventing
 the attention from settling in a       
disproportionate degree upon what might 
have a startling effect to a taste      
trained under modern discipline--this   
question has always been pending as a   
question open to revision before the    
modern courts of criticism2 as surely to
 you1 ,dr4 ,north1 one of the chief     
'swells' on that bench1 ,i need not say4
 ,but1 for the sake of accurate         
thinking1 it is worth while observing   
that formerly this question was moved   
almost exclusively with a view to the   
,latin and ,greek classics2 and that    
circumstance gave a great and a very    
just bias to the whole dispute4 ,for the
 difference with regard to any capital  
author of ancient days1 as compared with
 modern authors1 is this1 that here we  
have a twofold interest--an interest    
with work1 and a separate interest in   
the writer4 ,take the ',prometheus      
,desmotes' of schylus1 and suppose that 

a translator should offer us an ,english
 ',prometheus1' which he acknowledged to
 be very free1 but at the same time     
contended that his variations from the  
,greek were so many downright           
improvements1 so that1 if he had not    
given us the genuine ',prometheus1' he  
had given us something better4 ,in such 
a case we should all reply1 but we do   
not want something better4 ,our object  
is not the best possible drama that     
could be produced on the fable of       
',prometheus'2 what we want is the very 
',prometheus' that was written by       
schylus1 the very drama that was        
represented at ,athens4 ,the ,athenian  
audience itself1 and what pleased its   
taste1 is already one subject of        
interest4 schylus on his own account is 
another4 ,these are collateral and alien
 subjects of interest quite independent 
of our interest in the drama1 and for   
the sake of these we wish to see the    
real original ',prometheus'--not        
according to any man's notion of        

improvement1 but such as came from a    
sublime ,grecian poet1 such as satisfied
 a ,grecian audience1 more than two     
thousand years ago4 ,we wish1 in fact1  
for the real schylus1 'unhousel'd1      
unaneal'd1' with all his imperfections  
on his head4  ,such was the way1 and the
 just way1 of arguing the point when the
 application was limited to a great     
authentic classic of the ,antique2 nor  
was the case at all different where     
,ariosto or any other illustrious       
,italian classic was concerned4 ,but a  
new sort of casuistry in this question  
has arisen in our own times1 and by     
accident chiefly in connection with     
,german literature2 but it may well be1 
,dr4 ,north1 that you will be more      
diverted by a careful scrutiny of my    
metres after ,voss in illustration1 than
 by any further dissertation on my part 
on a subject that you know so well4     
,believe me1 ,always yours admiringly1  
,x4 ,y4 ,z4   ,the ,parson's ,dinner4   
,in the month of leafy ,june1 beneath   

celestial azure   ,of skies all         
cloudless1 sate the aged ,rector of     
,esthwaite   ,dining amidst his         
household2 but not the meridian ardour  
,of sunbeams fierce he felt2 him the    
shady veranda   ,with vine-clad trellis 
defends3 beyond a pendulous awning   ,of
 boughs self-wreath'd from limes 7whose 
mighty limbs overarching   ,spanned the 
low roof of the house7 spreads far      
effectual umbrage   ,for young and old  
alike2 noontide awfully breathless      
,settled in deepest silence on the woods
 and valley of ,esthwaite4   ,yet not   
the less there would rise1 after        
stillest interval often1      #aj   ,low
 whispering gales that stole1 like      
sobbing murmur of infant   ,dreaming in 
arms maternal1 into the heart o' the    
youngest3   ,gales that at most could   
raise a single ringlet of auburn   ,as  
it pencill'd the noble brow of the      
youthful ,anna ,louisa--   ,sole child  
that survived to thee1 oh1 aged pastor  
of ,esthwaite4   ,clad in his morning   

gown1 the reverend priest at a table    
,of sculptur'd stone was seated2 and his
 seat was a massy but easy   ,settle of 
oak1 which in youth his ancient         
servitor1 ,isaac1   ,footman1 sexton1   
and steward1 butler and gardener also1  
,carved by the winter fire in nights of 
gloomy ,november1   ,and through many a 
long1 long night of many a dark         
,december4           #ba   ,the good    
man's heart was glad1 and his eyes were 
suffus'd with a       rapture   ,of     
perfect love as they settled on         
her--that pulse of his heart's          
blood1   ,the one sole prop of his      
house1 the beautiful ,anna ,louisa4     
,by the side of himself sate his wife1  
that ancient tamer of                   
housemaids1#ab   ,yet kind of heart as a
 dove1 and with matron graces adorning  
,her place as she sate dispensing       
hospitality boundless   ,to the         
strangers within her gates2 for1 lo6 two
 strangers on one side   ,sate of the   
long stone table2 yet strangers by      

manner or action   ,one would not       
suppose them2 nor were they1 but guests 
ever honour'd1   #cj   ,and dear to each
 heart in the house of th' ancient      
,rector of       ,esthwaite4   ,the     
elder of them was called ,augustus      
,harry ,delancey1   ,and he rode as a   
cornet of horse in the mighty imperial  
army4   ,him had the parents approved   
7and those were melodious accents1      
,the sweetest he ever had heard7 as     
suitor of ,anna ,louisa4   ,but from    
lips more ruby far--far more melodious  
accents   ,had reach'd his ears since   
then2 for she1 the daughter1 her own    
self1   ,had condescended at last to    
utter sweet ratification   ,of all his  
hopes2 low whisp'ring the               
'yes'--celestial answer   ,that raised  
him to paradise gates on pinion#ac of   
expectation4        #dj   ,over against 
his beloved he sate--the suitor         
enamour'd3   ,and ,god ,he knows that   
indeed should it prove an idolatrous    
error   ,to look in the eyes of a lady  

till you feel a dreamy devotion1   ,i   
fear for the health of your soul that   
day1 oh1 ,harry ,delancey6   ,next to   
,delancey there sate his pupil1 ,magnus 
,adolphus1   ,a fair-haired boy of ten1 
half an orphan1 a count of the empire-- 
,magnus ,adolphus of ,arnstein1 that    
great ,bavarian earldom4   ,him had his 
widowed mother1 the noble ,countess of  
,arnstein1   ,placed with ,delancey     
betimes1 as one in knightly requirements
   ,skilful and all-accomplished1 that  
he the 'youthful idea'#ad          #ej  
,might 'teach how to shoot' 7with a     
pistol1 videlicet71--horses   ,to mount 
and to manage with boldness1 hounds to  
follow in hunting   ,the fox1 the tusky 
boar1 the stag with his beautiful       
antlers3   ,arts1 whether graceful or   
useful1 in arms or equestrian usage1    
,did ,augustus impart to his pupil1 the 
youthful earl of the empire4   ,to ride 
with stirrups or none1 to mount from the
 near-side or off-side   7,which still  
is required in the trooper who rides in 

the ,austrian       army71   ,to ride   
with bridle or none1 on a saddle        
,turkish or ,english1   ,to force your  
horse to curvet1 pirouette1 dance on his
 haunches1   ,and whilst dancing to lash
 with his feet1 and suggest an effectual
       hinting                          
#fj   ,to the enemy's musqueteers to    
clear the road for the hinter3   ,or    
again1 if you want a guide by night1 in 
a dangerous highway   ,beset with the   
enemies' marksmen and swarming with     
murderous ambush1   ,to train your horse
 in the art of delicate insinuation1    
,gently raising a hoof to tap at the    
door o' the woodsman4   ,but1 if he     
persists in snoring1 or pretending to   
snore1 or is angry   ,at your summons to
 leave his lair in the arms of his wife 
or his       infants1   ,to practise    
your horse in the duty of stormy        
recalcitration1   ,wheeling round to    
present his heels1 and in mid caracoling
   ,to send the emperor's greeting smack
 through the panel of oakwood#ae  #gj   

,that makes the poor man so hard of     
hearing imperial orders4   ,arts such as
 these and others1 the use of the sabre 
on horseback1   ,all modes of skill     
gymnastic1 modes whether forceful or    
artful1   ,of death-grapple if by chance
 a cannon-shot should un-horse you1     
,all modes of using the limbs with      
address1 with speed1 or enormous        
,effort of brutal strength1 all this did
 ,harry ,delancey   ,teach to his docile
 pupil3 and arts more nobly delightful1 
,arts of the head or the heart1 arts    
intellectual2 empire   ,over dead men's 
books1 over regions of high meditation1 
,comparative tactics1 warfare as then   
conducted in ages   ,when powder was    
none1 nor cannon1 but brute catapult1   
#ha   ,blind rams1 brainless wild asses1
 the stony slinger of huge              
stones4#af   ,iron was lord of the      
world2 iron reigned1 man was his engine2
   ,but now the rule is reversed1 man   
binds and insults over iron4   ,together
 did they1 young tutor1 young pupil1    

,augustus1 ,adolphus1   ,range over     
history martial1 or read strategical    
authors1   ,xenophon1 ,arrian1 old      
,polybius1 old ,polynus   7,think not   
these ,polys1 my boy1 were blooming     
,pollies of our days671   ,and above all
 others1 they read the laurel'd hero of 
heroes1   ,thrice kingly ,roman ,julius1
 sun-bright leader of armies1   ,who    
planted his god-like foot on the necks  
of a whole generation4      #ia   ,such 
studies1 such arts were those by which  
young ,harry ,delancey   ,sought to     
discharge the trust which to him the    
,lady of ,arnstein   ,confided with     
hopes maternal2 thus trained1 he hoped  
that ,adolphus   ,would shine in his    
native land1 for high was his place in  
the empire4       ,,editor',s           
,,note4--,this was1 of course1 written  
for ,blackwood's      ,magazine2 but it 
never appeared there4   ,,footnotes3    
#ab ',that tamer of housemaids'3 ,greek3
 ,hektoros ippodamoio--of ,hector1 the  
tamer of horses 7',iliad'74  #ac ',on   

pinion of expectation4' ,here ,i would  
request the reader to notice that it    
would have been easy for me to preserve 
the regular dactylic close by writing   
'pinion of anticipation2' as also in the
 former instance of 'many a dark        
,december' to have written 'many a rainy
 ,december4' ,but in both cases ,i      
preferred to lock up by the massy       
spondaic variety2 yet never forgetting  
to premise a dancing dactyle--'many     
a'--and 'pinion of4' ,not merely for    
variety1 but for a separate effect of   
peculiar majesty4  #ad ,alluding to a   
ridiculous passage in ,thomson's        
',seasons'3      ',delightful task6 to  
teach the young idea how to shoot4'  #ae
 ,all these arts1 viz41 teaching the    
horse to fight with his forelegs or lash
 out with his hind-legs at various      
angles in a general mele of horse and   
foot1 but especially teaching him the   
secret of 'inviting' an obstinate       
,german boor to come out and take the   
air strapped in front of a trooper1 and 

do his duty as guide to the imperial    
cavalry1 were imported into the         
,austrian service by an ,english        
riding-master about the year #agge-hj4  
,and no doubt it must have been horses  
trained on this learned system of       
education from which the ,highlanders of
 ,scotland derived their terror of      
cavalry4  #af ',blind rams1 brainless   
wild asses1' etc4 ,the 'arietes1' or    
battering-rams with iron-bound          
foreheads1 the 'onagri1' or wild asses1 
etc41 were amongst the poliorcetic      
engines of the ancients1 which do not   
appear to have received any essential   
improvement after the time of the       
brilliant ,prince ,demetrius1 the son of
 ,alexander's great captain1 ,antigonus4
     ,,xiii4 ,,some ,,thoughts ,,on     
,,biography4   ,we have heard from a man
 who witnessed the failure of ,miss     
,baillie's ',de ,montford1'             
notwithstanding the scenic advantages of
 a vast ,london theatre1 fine dresses1  
fine music at intervals1 and1 above all1

 the superb acting of ,john ,kemble1    
supported on that occasion by his       
incomparable sister1 that this          
unexpected disappointment began with the
 gallery1 who could not comprehend or   
enter into a hatred so fiendish growing 
out of causes so slight as any by       
possibility supposable in the trivial   
,rezenvelt4 ,to feel teased by such a   
man1 to dislike him1 occasionally to    
present him with your compliments in the
 shape of a duodecimo kick--well and    
good1 nothing but right4 ,and the plot  
manifestly tended to a comic issue4 ,but
 murder6--a ,macbeth murder6--not the   
injury so much as the man himself was   
incommensurate1 was too slight by a     
thousand degrees for so appalling a     
catastrophe4 ,it reacts upon ,de        
,montford1 making him ignoble that could
 be moved so profoundly by an agency so 
contemptible4  ,something of the same   
disproportion there is1 though in a     
different way1 between any quarrel that 
may have divided us from a man in his   

life-time and the savage revenge of     
pursuing the quarrel after his death    
through a malicious biography4 ,yet1 if 
you hated him through no quarrel1 but   
simply 7as we all hate many men that    
died a thousand years ago7 for something
 vicious1 or which you think vicious1 in
 his modes of thinking1 why must you1 of
 all men1 be the one to undertake an    
edition of his works1 'with a life of   
the author'8 ,leave that to some neutral
 writer1 who neither loves nor hates4   
,and whilst crowds of men need better   
biographical records whom it is easy to 
love and not difficult to honour1 do not
 you degrade your own heart or disgust  
your readers by selecting for your      
exemplification not a model to be       
imitated1 but a wild beast to be baited 
or a criminal to be tortured8 ,we       
privately hate ,mr4 ,thomas ,hobbes1 of 
,malmsbury2 we know much evil of him1   
and we could expose many of his tricks  
effectually4 ,we also hate ,dean ,swift1
 and upon what we think substantial     

arguments4 ,some of our own             
contemporaries we hate particularly2    
,cobbett1 for instance1 and other bad   
fellows in fustian and corduroys4 ,but  
for that very reason we will not write  
their lives4 ,or1 if we should do so1   
only because they might happen to stand 
as individuals in a series1 and after   
warning the reader of our own bias4 ,for
 it is too odious a spectacle to        
imprison a fellow-creature in a book1   
like a stag in a cart1 and turn him out 
to be hunted through all his doubles for
 a day's amusement4 ,it too much        
resembles that case of undoubted        
occurrence both in ,france and ,germany1
 where 'respectable' individuals1 simply
 as amateurs1 and not at all with any   
view to the salary or fees of operating1
 have come forward as candidates for the
 post of public executioner4 ,what is   
every man's duty is no man's duty by    
preference4 ,and unless where a writer  
is thrust upon such a duty by an        
official necessity 7as1 if he contracts 

for a ',biographia ,britannica1' in that
 case he is bound by his contract to go 
through with the whole series--rogues   
and all71 it is too painful to see a    
human being courting and wooing the task
 of doing execution upon his brother in 
his grave4 ,nay1 even in the case where 
this executioner's task arises          
spontaneously out of some duty          
previously undertaken without a thought 
of its severer functions1 we are still  
shocked by any exterminating vengeance  
too rancorously pursued4 ,every reader  
must have been disgusted by the         
unrelenting persecution with which      
,gifford1 a deformed man1 with the      
spiteful nature sometimes too developed 
in the deformed1 had undertaken 'for our
 fathers in the ,row' an edition of     
,massinger4 ,probably he had not thought
 at the time of the criminals who would 
come before him for judgment4 ,but      
afterwards it did not embitter the job  
that these perquisites of office        
accrued1 lucro ponatur1 that such       

offenders as ,coxeter1 ,mr4 ,monck      
,mason1 and others were to be           
'justified' by course of law4 ,could he 
not have stated their errors1 and       
displaced their rubbish1 without further
 personalities8 ,however1 he does not1  
but makes the air resound with his      
knout1 until the reader wishes ,coxeter 
in his throat1 and ,monck ,mason1 like  
'the cursed old fellow' in ,sinbad1     
mounted with patent spurs upon his back4
  ,we shall be interrupted1 however1 and
 that we certainly foresee1 by the      
objection--that we are fighting with    
shadows1 that neither the loge in one   
extreme1 nor the libel in the other     
extreme1 finds a place in our           
literature4 ,does it not8 ,yes1 reader1 
each of these biographical forms exists 
in favour among us1 and of one it is    
very doubtful indeed whether it ought   
not to exist4 ,the loge is found        
abundantly diffused through our         
monumental epitaphs in the first place1 
and there every man will countersign    

,wordsworth's judgment 7see ',the       
,excursion' and also ,wordsworth's prose
 ,essay on ,epitaphs71 that it is a     
blessing for human nature to find one   
place in this world sacred to charitable
 thoughts1 one place at least offering a
 sanctuary from evil speaking4 ,so far  
there is no doubt4 ,but the main        
literary form1 in which the ,english    
loge presents itself1 is the ,funeral   
,sermon4 ,and in this also1 not less    
than in the churchyard epitaph1 kind    
feeling ought to preside2 and for the   
same reasons1 the sanctity of the place 
where it is delivered or originally     
published1 and the solemnity of the     
occasion which has prompted it2 since1  
if you cannot find matter in the        
departed person's character fertile in  
praise even whilst standing by the      
new-made grave1 what folly has tempted  
you into writing an epitaph or a funeral
 sermon8 ,the good ought certainly to   
predominate in both1 and in the epitaph 
nothing but the good1 because were it   

only for a reason suggested by          
,wordsworth1 viz41 the elaborate and    
everlasting character of a record       
chiselled out painfully in each separate
 letter1 it would be scandalous to      
confer so durable an existence in stone 
or marble upon trivial human            
infirmities1 such as do not enter into  
the last solemn reckoning with the world
 beyond the grave2 whilst1 on the other 
hand1 all graver offences are hushed    
into 'dread repose1' and1 where they    
happen to be too atrocious or too       
memorable1 are at once a sufficient     
argument for never having undertaken any
 such memorial4 ,these considerations   
privilege the epitaph as sacred to      
charity1 and tabooed against the        
revelations of candour4 ,the epitaph    
cannot open its scanty records to any   
breathing or insinuation of infirmity4  
,but the ,funeral ,sermon1 though       
sharing in the same general temper of   
indulgence towards the errors of the    
deceased person1 might advantageously be

 laid open to a far more liberal        
discussion of those personal or         
intellectual weaknesses which may have  
thwarted the influence of character     
otherwise eminently ,christian4 ,the    
,oraison ,funbre of the ,french proposes
 to itself by its original model1 which 
must be sought in the ,epideictic or    
panegyrical oratory of the ,greeks1 a   
purpose purely and exclusively          
eulogistic3 the problem supposed is to  
abstract from everything not            
meritorious1 to expand and develop the  
total splendour of the individual out of
 that one centre1 that main beneficial  
relation to his own age1 from which this
 splendour radiated4 ,the incidents of  
the life1 the successions of the        
biographical detail1 are but slightly   
traced1 no farther1 in fact1 than is    
requisite to the intelligibility of the 
praises4 ,whereas1 in the ,english      
,funeral ,sermon1 there is no principle 
of absolute exclusion operating against 
the minutest circumstantiations of fact 

which can tend to any useful purpose of 
illustrating the character4 ,and what is
 too much for the scale of a sermon     
literally preached before a             
congregation1 or modelled to counterfeit
 such a mode of address1 may easily find
 its place in the explanatory notes4    
,this is no romance1 or ideal sketch of 
what might be4 ,it is1 and it has been4 
,there are persons of memorable interest
 in past times1 of whom all that we know
 is embodied in a funeral sermon4 ,for  
instance1 ,jeremy ,taylor in that way1  
or by his ,epistles ,dedicatory1 has    
brought out the characteristic features 
in some of his own patrons1 whom else we
 should have known only as nominis      
umbras4 ,but a more impressive          
illustration is found in the case of    
,john ,henderson1 that man of whom      
expectations so great were formed1 and  
of whom ,dr4 ,johnson and ,burke1 after 
meeting and conversing with him1        
pronounced 7in the ,scriptural words of 
the ,ethiopian queen applied to the     

,jewish king1 ,solomon7 'that the half  
had not been told them4' ,for this man's
 memory almost the sole original record 
exists in ,aguttar's funeral sermon2 for
 though other records exist1 and one    
from the pen of a personal friend1 ,mr4 
,joseph ,cottle1 of ,bristol1 yet the   
main substance of the biography is      
derived from the fundus of this one     
sermon4#ag ,and it is of some importance
 to cases of fugitive or unobtrusive    
merit that this more quiet and          
sequestered current of biography should 
be kept open4 ,for the local motives to 
an honorary biographical notice1 in the 
shape of a ,funeral ,sermon1 will often 
exist1 when neither the materials are   
sufficient1 nor a writer happens to be  
disposable1 for a labour so serious as a
 regular biography4  ,here then1 on the 
one side1 are our ,english loges4 ,and  
we may add that amongst the ,methodists1
 the ,baptists1 and other religious     
sectaries1 but especially among the     
missionaries of all nations and         

churches1 this class of loges is        
continually increasing4 ,not            
unfrequently men of fervent natures and 
of sublime aspirations are thus rescued 
from oblivion1 whilst the great power of
 such bodies as the ,methodists1 their  
growing wealth1 and consequent          
responsibility to public opinion1 are   
pledges that they will soon command all 
the advantages of colleges and academic 
refinement2 so that if1 in the manner of
 these funeral loges1 there has         
sometimes been missed that elegance     
which should have corresponded to the   
weight of the matter1 henceforwards we  
may look to see this disadvantage giving
 way before institutions more thoroughly
 matured4 ,but if these are our loges1  
on the other hand1 where are our libels8
  ,this is likely to be a topic of      
offence1 for many readers will start at 
hearing the upright ,samuel ,johnson and
 the good-humoured1 garrulous ,plutarch 
denounced as traffickers in libel4 ,but 
a truth is a truth4 ,and the temper is  

so essentially different in which men   
lend themselves to the propagation of   
defamatory anecdotes1 the impulses are  
so various to an offence which is not   
always consciously perceived by those   
who are parties to it1 that we cannot be
 too cautious of suffering our hatred of
 libel to involve every casual libeller1
 or of suffering our general respect for
 the person of the libeller to exonerate
 him from the charge of libelling4 ,many
 libels are written in this little world
 of ours unconsciously1 and under many  
motives4 ,perhaps we said that before1  
but no matter4 ,sometimes a gloomy      
fellow1 with a murderous cast of        
countenance1 sits down doggedly to the  
task of blackening one whom he hates    
worse 'than toad or asp4' ,for instance1
 ,procopius performs that 'labour of    
hate' for the ,emperor ,justinian1      
pouring oil into his wounds1 but1 then  
7as ,coleridge expresses it in a 'neat' 
sarcasm71 oil of vitriol4 ,nature must  
have meant the man for a ,spanish       

,inquisitor1 sent into the world before 
,st4 ,dominic had provided a trade for  
him1 or any vent for his malice--so     
rancorous in his malignity1 so horrid   
and unrelenting the torture to which he 
subjects his sovereign and the beautiful
 ,theodora4 ,in this case1 from the     
withering scowl which accompanies the   
libels1 we may be assured that they are 
such in the most aggravated form--not   
malicious only1 but false4 ,it is       
commonly said1 indeed1 in our courts1   
that truth it is which aggravates the   
libel4 ,and so it is as regards the     
feelings or the interests of the man    
libelled4 ,for is it not insufferable   
that1 if a poor man under common human  
infirmity shall have committed some     
crime and have paid its penalty1 but    
afterwards reforming or out-growing his 
own follies1 seeks to gain an honest    
livelihood for his children in a place  
which the knowledge of his past         
transgression has not reached1 then all 
at once he is to be ruined by some      

creature purely malignant who discovers 
and publishes the secret tale8 ,in such 
a case most undoubtedly it is the truth 
of the libel which constitutes its      
sting1 since1 if it were not true or    
could be made questionable1 it would do 
the poor man no mischief4 ,but1 on the  
other hand1 it is the falsehood of the  
libel which forms its aggravation as    
regards the publisher4 ,and certain we  
are1 had we no other voucher than the   
instinct of our hatred to ,procopius1   
that his disloyal tales about his great 
lord and lady are odiously overcharged1 
if not uniformly false4 ,gibbon1        
however1 chooses to gratify his taste   
for the luxury of scandal by believing  
at once in the perfect malice of the    
slanderer1 and the perfect truth of his 
slanders4  ,here then1 in this          
,procopius1 is an instance of the gloomy
 libeller1 whose very gloom makes       
affidavit of his foul spirit from the   
first4 ,there is also another form1 less
 odious1 of the hostile libeller3 it    

occurs frequently in cases where the    
writer is not chargeable with secret    
malice1 but is in a monstrous passion4  
,a shower-bath might be of service in   
that case1 whereas in the ,procopius    
case nothing but a copious or a         
,procopius application of the knout can 
answer4 ,we1 for instance1 have 7or had1
 for perhaps it has been stolen7 a      
biography of that same ,parker1         
afterwards ,bishop of ,oxford1 with whom
 ,andrew ,marvell 'and others who called
 ,milton friend' had such               
rough-and-tumble feuds about #afff1 and 
at whose expense it was that ,marvell   
made the whole nation merry in his      
',rehearsal ,transprosed4' ,this ,parker
 had a 'knack' at making himself odious2
 he had a curiosa felicitas in          
attracting hatreds1 and wherever he     
lodged for a fortnight he trailed after 
him a vast parabolic or hyperbolic tail 
of enmity and curses1 all smoke and fire
 and tarnish1 which bore the same ratio 
to his small body of merit that a       

comet's tail1 measuring billions of     
miles1 does to the little cometary mass4
 ,the rage against him was embittered by
 politics1 and indeed sometimes by      
knavish tricks2 the first not being     
always 'confounded1' nor the last       
'frustrated4' ,so that ,parker1 on the  
whole1 was a man whom it might be held a
 duty to hate1 and therefore1 of course1
 to knout as often as you could persuade
 him to expose a fair extent of surface 
for the action of the lash4 ,many men   
purchased a knout for his sake1 and took
 their chance for getting a 'shy' at    
him1 as ,parker might happen to favour  
their intentions4 ,but one furious      
gentleman1 who is resolved to 'take his 
full change' out of ,parker1 and        
therefore to lose no time1 commences    
operations in the very first words of   
his biography3 ',parker1' says he1 'the 
author of ----1 was the spawn of ,samuel
 ,parker4' ,his rage will not wait for  
an opportunity2 he throws off a torrent 
of fiery sparks in advance1 and gives   

full notice to ,parker that he will run 
his train right into him1 if he can come
 up with his rear4 ,this man is not     
malicious1 but truculent2 like the elder
 ,scaliger1 of whom it was observed     
that1 having been an officer of cavalry 
up to his fortieth year 7when he took to
 learning ,greek71 he always fancied    
himself on horseback1 charging1 and     
cutting throats in the way of           
professional duty1 as often as he found 
himself summoned to pursue and 'cut up' 
some literary delinquent4 ,fire and     
fury1 'bubble and squeak1' is the       
prevailing character of his critical    
composition4 ',come1 and let me give    
thee to the fowls of the air1' is the   
cry with which the martial critic       
salutes the affrighted author4 ,yet1    
meantime1 it is impossible that he can  
entertain any personal malice1 for he   
does not know the features of the       
individual enemy whom he is pursuing4   
,but thus far he agrees with the        
,procopian order of biographers--that   

both are governed1 in whatever evil they
 may utter1 by a spirit of animosity3   
one by a belligerent spirit which would 
humble its enemy as an enemy in a fair  
pitched battle1 the other by a subtle   
spirit of malice1 which would           
exterminate its enemy not in that       
character merely1 but as an individual  
by poison or by strangling4  ,libels1   
however1 may be accredited and published
 where there is no particle of enmity or
 of sudden irritation4 ,such were the   
libels of ,plutarch and ,dr4 ,johnson4  
,they are libels prompted by no hostile 
feelings at all1 but adopted by mere    
blind spirit of credulity4 ,in this     
world of ours1 so far as we are         
acquainted with its doings1 there are   
precisely four series--four aggregate   
bodies--of ,lives1 and no more1 which   
you can call celebrated2 which have had1
 and are likely to have1 an extensive   
influence--each after its own kind4     
,which be they8 ,to arrange them in     
point of time1 first stand ,plutarch's  

lives of eminent ,greeks and ,romans2   
next1 the long succession of the ,french
 ,memoirs1 beginning with ,philippe de  
,commines1 in the time of ,louis ,,xi4  
or our ,edward ,,iv41 and ending1 let us
 say1 with the slight record of himself 
7but not without interest7 of ,louis    
,,xviii42 thirdly1 the ,acta ,sanctorum 
of the ,bollandists2 fourthly1 ,dr4     
,johnson's ',lives of the ,poets4' ,the 
third is a biographical record of the   
,romish saints1 following the order of  
the martyrology as it is digested       
through the ,roman calendar of the year2
 and1 as our own ',biographia           
,britannica' has only moved forwards in 
seventy years to the letter ',h1' or    
thereabouts 7which may be owing to the  
dissenting blight of ,dr4 ,kippis71 pari
 passu1 the ,acta ,sanctorum will be    
found not much farther advanced than the
 month of ,may--a pleasant month        
certainly1 but 7as the ,spectator often 
insinuates7 perilous to saintship4      
,laying this work out of consideration1 

as being chiefly employed in eulogy such
 as could not be extravagant when       
applied to the glorious army of martyrs 
7although here also1 we doubt not1 are  
many libels against men concerning whom 
it matters little whether they were     
libelled or not71 all the rest of the   
great biographical works are absolutely 
saturated with libels4 ,plutarch may be 
thought to balance his extravagant      
slanders by his impossible eulogies4 ,he
 sees nothing wonderful in actions that 
were far beyond the level of any motives
 existing under pagan moralities2 and1  
on the other hand1 he traduces great men
 like ,csar1 whose natures were beyond  
his scale of measurement1 by tracing    
their policy to petty purposes entirely 
,plutarchian4 ,but he was a ,greekling  
in a degenerate age of ,grecians4 ,as to
 the ,french ,memoirs1 which are often  
so exceedingly amusing1 they purchase   
their liveliness by one eternal         
sacrifice of plain truth4 ,their        
repartees1 felicitous propos1 and       

pointed anecdotes are but one rolling   
fire of falsehoods4 ,and1 generally1 it 
may be laid down as a rule1 that all    
collectors of happy retorts and striking
 anecdotes are careless of truth4 ,louis
 ,,xiv4 does seem to have had a natural 
gift of making brilliant compliments and
 happy impromptus2 and yet the very best
 of his reputed mots were spurious4     
,some may be traced to ,cicero1         
,hierocles1 ,diogenes2 and some to his  
modern predecessors4 ,that witty remark 
ascribed to him about the disposition of
 ,fortune1 as being a lady1 to withdraw 
her favours from old men like himself   
and the ,marchal ,boufflers1 was really 
uttered nearly two centuries before by  
the ,emperor ,charles ,v41 who probably 
stole it from some ,spanish collection  
of jests4 ,and so of fifty in every     
hundred beside4 ,and the ,french are not
 only apt beyond other nations to abuse 
the license of stealing from our        
predecessor quod licuit semperque       
licebit1 but also1 in a degree peculiar 

to themselves1 they have a false        
de-naturalized taste in the humorous1   
and as to the limits of the extravagant4
 ,we have formerly illustrated this     
point1 and especially we noticed it as a
 case impossible to any nation but the  
,french to have tolerated the pretended 
'absences' of ,la ,fontaine--as1 for    
instance1 his affecting to converse with
 his own son as an entire stranger1 and 
asking the lady who had presented him   
what might be the name of that amiable  
young man4 ,the incredulus odi faces one
 in every page of a ,french memoir2     
veracity is an unknown virtue1 and1     
wherever that is the taste1 look for    
libels by wholesale4 ,too often even the
 unnatural and the monstrous is courted1
 rather than miss the object of         
arresting and startling4 ,now1 ,dr4     
,johnson's calumnies or romances were   
not of that order4 ,he had a healthy    
spirit of reverence for truth2 but he   
was credulous to excess1 and he was     
plagued by an infirmity not uncommon    

amongst literary men who have no        
families of young people growing up     
around their hearth--the hankering after
 gossip4 ,he was curious about the      
domestic habits of his celebrated       
countrymen2 inquisitive in a morbid     
degree about their pecuniary affairs3   
',what have you got in that pocket which
 bulges out so prominently8' ',what did 
your father do with that hundred guineas
 which he received on ,monday from      
,jacob ,jonson8' ,and1 as his 'swallow' 
was enormous--as the ,doctor would      
believe more fables in an hour than an  
able-bodied liar would invent in a      
week--naturally there was no limit to   
the slanders with which his ',lives of  
the ,poets' are overrun4  ,of the four  
great biographical works which we have  
mentioned1 we hold ,dr4 ,johnson's to be
 by far the best in point of            
composition4 ,even ,plutarch1 though    
pardonably overrated in consequence of  
the great subjects which he treats      
7which again are 'great' by benefit of  

distance and the vast abstracting       
process executed by time upon the petty 
and the familiar71 is loose and rambling
 in the principles of his nexus2 and    
there lies the great effort for a       
biographer1 there is the strain1 and    
that is the task--viz41 to weld the     
disconnected facts into one substance1  
and by interfusing natural reflections  
to create for the motions of his        
narrative a higher impulse than one     
merely chronologic4 ,in this respect1   
the best of ,dr4 ,johnson's ',lives' are
 undoubtedly the very best which exist4 
,they are the most highly finished      
amongst all masterpieces of the         
biographic art1 and1 as respects the    
,doctor personally1 they are1 beyond    
comparison1 his best work4 ,it is a     
great thing in any one art or function1 
even though it were not a great one1 to 
have excelled all the literature of all 
languages4 ,and if the reader fancies   
that there lurks anywhere a collection  
of lives1 or even one life 7though it   

were the ',agricola' of ,tacitus71 which
 as a work of refined art and execution 
can be thought equal to the best of ,dr4
 ,johnson's1 we should be grateful to   
him if he would assign it in a letter to
 ,mr4 ,blackwood3                 ',and 
though the night be raw1     ,we'll see 
it too1 the first we ever saw4'  ,we say
 nothing of the ,calmuck ,tartars2 they 
hold 7see ,bergmann's ',streifereien'7  
that their ',dschangariade' is the      
finest of all epic poems1 past or       
coming2 and1 therefore1 the ,calmuck    
,lives of the ,poets will naturally be  
inimitable4 ,but confining our view to  
the unhappy literatures of ,europe1     
ancient or modern1 this is what we think
 of ,dr4 ,johnson's efforts as a        
biographer4 ,consequently1 we cannot be 
taxed with any insensibility to his     
merit4 ,and as to the critical part of  
his ,lives1 if no thoughtful reader can 
be expected to abide by his haughty     
decisions1 yet1 on the other hand1 every
 man reads his opinions with pleasure1  

from the intellectual activity and the  
separate justice of the thoughts which  
they display4 ,but as to his libellous  
propensity1 that rests upon independent 
principles2 for all his ability and all 
his logic could not elevate his mind    
above the region of gossip4  ,take his  
',life of ,savage4' ,this was the       
original nest-egg1 upon which1 as a     
basis1 and perhaps as the occasional    
suggestion of such an enterprise1 all   
the rest--allow us a pompous            
word--supervened4 ,it was admirably     
written1 because written con amore1 and 
also because written con odio2 and under
 either impulse is it possible to       
imagine grosser delusions8 ,johnson     
persuaded himself that ,savage was a    
fine gentleman 7a rle not difficult to  
support in that age1 when ceremony and a
 gorgeous costume were amongst the      
auxiliary distinctions of a gentleman71 
and also that he was a man of genius4   
,the first claim was necessarily taken  
upon trust by the ,doctor's readers2 the

 other might have been examined2 but    
after a few painful efforts to read     
',the ,wanderer' and other insipid      
trifles1 succeeding generations have    
resolved to take that upon trust also2  
for in very truth ,savage's writings are
 of that order which 'do not let        
themselves be read4' ,why1 then1 had    
publishers bought them8 ,publishers in  
those days were mere tradesmen1 without 
access to liberal society4 ,even        
,richardson1 though a man of great      
genius1 in his publisher's character was
 an obsequious1 nay1 servile1 admirer of
 the fine gentleman who wore a sword1   
embroidered clothes1 and ,mechlin       
ruffles about his wrists2 above all     
things1 he glorified and adored a       
,lovelace1 with a fine person1 who sang 
gaily to show his carelessness of low   
people1 never came abroad except in a   
sedan-chair1 and liberally distributed  
his curses to the right and the left in 
all respectable men's shops4 ,this      
temper1 with her usual sagacity1 ,lady  

,m4 ,wortley ,montagu could detect in   
,richardson1 and for this she despised  
him4 ,but this it was1 and some little  
vision of possible patronage from ,lord 
,tyrconnel1 which had obtained any      
prices at all for ,savage from such     
knowing publishers as were then arising2
 but generally ,savage had relied upon  
subscriptions1 which were still common1 
and1 in his case1 as a man supposed     
unfortunate1 were given purely as       
charity4 ,with what astonishment does a 
literary foreigner of any judgment find 
a ,savage placed amongst the classics of
 ,england6 and from the scale of his    
life reasonably he must infer that he is
 ranked amongst the leaders1 whilst the 
extent in which his works are multiplied
 would throw him back upon the          
truth--that he is utterly unknown to his
 countrymen4 ,these1 however1 were the  
delusions of good nature4 ,but what are 
we to think of ,dr4 ,johnson's abetting 
that monstrous libel against ,lady      
,macclesfield8 ,she1 unhappily1 as a    

woman banished without hope from all    
good society by her early misconduct as 
a wife 7but1 let it not be forgotten1 a 
neglected wife71 had nobody to speak a  
word on her behalf3 all evil was        
believed of one who had violated her    
marriage vows4 ,but had the affair      
occurred in our days1 the public        
journals would have righted her4 ,they  
would have shown the folly of believing 
a vain1 conceited man like ,savage and  
his nurse1 with no vouchers whatever1   
upon a point where they had the deepest 
interest at stake2 whilst on the        
opposite side1 supposing their story    
true1 spoke for them the strongest of   
all natural instincts--the pleading of  
the maternal heart1 combated by no      
self-interest whatever4 ,surely if ,lady
 ,macclesfield had not been supported by
 indignation against an imposture1      
merely for her own ease and comfort1 she
 would have pensioned ,savage1 or have  
procured him some place under           
,government--not difficult in those days

 for a person with her connections      
7however sunk as respected female       
society7 to have obtained for an only   
son4 ,in the sternness of her resistance
 to all attempts upon her purse we read 
her sense of the fraud4 ,and1 on the    
other hand1 was the conduct of ,savage  
that of a son8 ,he had no legal claims  
upon her1 consequently no pretence for  
molesting her in her dwelling-house4    
,and would a real son--a great lubberly 
fellow1 well able to work as a porter or
 a footman--however wounded at her      
obstinate rejection1 have been likely1  
in pursuit of no legal rights1 to have  
alarmed her by threatening letters and  
intrusions1 for no purpose but one      
confessedly of pecuniary extortion8     
,from the very mode of pursuing his     
claim it is plain that ,savage felt it  
to be a false one4 ,it seems1 also1 to  
be forgotten by most readers1 that at   
this day real sons--not denied to be    
such--are continually banished1 nay1    
ejected forcibly by policemen1 from the 

paternal roof in requital of just such  
profligate conduct as ,savage displayed2
 so that1 grant his improbable story1   
still he was a disorderly reprobate1 who
 in these days would have been consigned
 to the treadmill4 ,but the whole was a 
hoax4  ,savage1 however1 is but a single
 case1 in relation to which ,dr4        
,johnson stood in a special position1   
that diseased his judgment4 ,but look at
 ,pope's life1 at ,swift's1 at          
,young's--at all the lives of men       
contemporary with himself3 they are     
overrun with defamatory stories1 or     
traits of that order which would most   
have stung them1 had they returned to   
life4 ,but it was an accident most      
beneficial to ,dr4 ,johnson that nearly 
all these men left no near relatives    
behind to call him to account4 ,the     
public were amused1 as they always are  
by exhibitions of infirmity or folly in 
one whom otherwise they were compelled  
to admire2 that was a sort of revenge   
for them to set off against a painful   

perpetuity of homage4 ,thus far the     
libels served only as jests1 and1       
fortunately for ,dr4 ,johnson1 there    
arose no after-reckoning4 ,one period1  
in fact1 of thirty years had intervened 
between the last of these men and the   
publication of the ,lives2 it was       
amongst the latest works of ,dr4        
,johnson3 thus1 and because most of them
 left no descendants1 he escaped4 ,had  
the ordinary proportion of these men    
been married1 the result would have been
 different2 and whatever might have been
 thought of any individual case amongst 
the complaints1 most undoubtedly1 from  
the great number to which the ,doctor   
had exposed himself1 amongst which many 
were not of a nature to be evaded by any
 vouchers whatsoever1 a fatal effect    
would have settled on the ,doctor's     
moral reputation4 ,he would have been   
passed down to posterity as a dealer in 
wholesale scandal1 who cared nothing for
 the wounded feelings of relatives4 ,it 
is a trifle after that to add that he   

would frequently have been cudgelled4   
,this public judgment upon ,dr4 ,johnson
 and these cudgellings would have been  
too severe a chastisement for the       
offences1 which1 after all1 argued no   
heavier delinquency than a levity in    
examining his chance authorities1 and a 
constitutional credulity4 ,dr4          
,johnson's easiness of faith for the    
supernatural1 the grossness of his      
superstition in relation to such        
miserable impostures as the ,cock ,lane 
ghost1 and its scratchings on the wall1 
flowed from the same source2 and his    
conversation furnishes many proofs that 
he had no principle of resistance in his
 mind1 no reasonable scepticism1 when   
any disparaging anecdote was told about 
his nearest friends4 ,who but he would  
have believed the monstrous tale3 that  
,garrick1 so used to addressing large   
audiences extempore1 so quick and lively
 in his apprehensions1 had absolutely   
been dismissed from a court of justice  
as an idiot--as a man incapable of      

giving the court information even upon a
 question of his own profession8 ,as to 
his credulity with respect to the       
somewhat harmless forgeries of          
,psalmanazer1 and with respect to the   
villainous imposture of ,lander1 we     
imagine that other causes co-operated to
 those errors beyond mere facility of   
assenting4 ,in the latter case we fear  
that jealousy of ,milton as a scholar1 a
 feeling from which he never cleansed   
himself1 had been the chief cause of his
 so readily delivering himself a dupe to
 allegations not specious1 backed by    
forgeries that were anything but        
ingenious4 ,dr4 ,johnson had a narrow   
escape on that occasion4 ,had ,dr4      
,douglas fastened upon him as the       
collusive abettor of ,lander1 as the man
 whose sanction had ever won even a     
momentary credit for the obscure        
libeller1 and as the one beyond all     
others of the age whose critical        
occupation ought most to have secured   
him against such a delusion1 the        

character of ,johnson would have        
suffered seriously4 ,luckily1 ,dr4      
,douglas spared him2 and ,johnson1      
seeing the infamy of the hoax1 and the  
precipice near which he stood1 hastened 
to separate himself from ,lander1 and to
 offer such reparation as he could1 by  
dictating that unhappy letter of        
recantation4 ,lander must have consented
 to this step from hopes of patronage2  
and perhaps the obscure place of        
slave-driver in the ,west ,indies1 in   
which he died 7after recanting his      
recantation71 might be the              
unsatisfactory bait of his needy        
ambition4 ,but assuredly ,lander could  
have made out a better case for himself 
than that which1 under his name1 the    
,doctor addressed to the ,bishop2 it was
 a dark spot in ,dr4 ,johnson's life4 ,a
 ,scotsman1 said he1 must be a strange  
one who would not tell a falsehood in a 
case where ,scotland was concerned2 and 
we fear that any fable of defamation    
must have been gross indeed which ,dr4  

,johnson would not have countenanced    
against ,milton4 ,his ',life of         
,milton1' as it now stands1 contains    
some of the grossest calumnies against  
that mighty poet which have ever been   
hazarded2 and some of the deepest       
misrepresentations are coloured1 to the 
unsuspecting reader1 by an affectation  
of merriment4 ,but in his 'heart of     
hearts' ,dr4 ,johnson detested ,milton4 
,gray1 even though1 as being little of a
 meddler with politics1 he furnished no 
handle to the ,doctor for wrath so      
unrelenting1 was a subject of deep      
jealousy from his reputed scholarship4  
,never did the spite of the ,doctor more
 emblazon itself than in his review of  
,gray's lyrical compositions2 the very  
affectation of prefacing his review by  
calling the two chief odes 'the         
wonderful wonder of wonders' betrays a  
female spite2 and never did the         
arrogance of ,dr4 ,johnson's nature     
flame out so conspicuously as in some of
 the phrases used on this occasion4     

,perhaps it is an instance of           
self-inflation absolutely unique where  
he says1 ',my kindness for a man of     
letters'2 this1 it seems1 caused him to 
feel pain at seeing ,gray descending to 
what he1 the ,doctor 7as a one-sided    
opinion of his own71 held to be a       
fantastic foppery4 ,the question we     
point at is not this supposed           
foppery--was it such or not8 ,milton's  
having cherished that 'foppery' was a   
sufficient argument for detesting it4   
,what we fix the reader's eye upon is1  
the unparalleled arrogance of applying  
to ,gray this extreme language of       
condescending patronage4 ,he really had 
'a kindness' for the little man1 and was
 not ashamed1 as some people would be1  
to own it2 so that it shocked him more  
than else it would have done1 to see the
 man disgracing himself in this way4    
,however1 it is probable that all the   
misstatements of ,dr4 ,johnson1 the     
invidious impressions1 and the ludicrous
 or injurious anecdotes fastened ad     

libitum upon men previously open to     
particular attacks1 never will be       
exposed2 and for this1 amongst other    
reasons1 that sometimes the facts of the
 case are irrecoverable1 though         
falsehood may be apparent2 and still    
more because few men will be disposed to
 degrade themselves by assuming a       
secondary and ministerial office in     
hanging upon the errors of any man4     
,pope was a great favourite with ,dr4   
,johnson1 both as an unreflecting ,tory1
 who travelled the whole road to        
,jacobitism--thus far resembling the    
,doctor himself2 secondly1 as one who   
complimented himself whilst yet a young 
man1 and even whilst wearing a          
masque--complimented him under          
circumstances which make compliments    
doubly useful1 and make them trebly     
sincere4 ,if any man1 therefore1 he     
would have treated indulgently ,pope3   
yet his life it is which has mainly     
fixed upon ,pope that false impression  
which predominates at this day--that    

doubtless intellectually he was a very  
brilliant little man2 but morally a     
spiteful1 peevish1 waspish1             
narrow-hearted cynic4 ,whereas no       
imputation can be more unfounded4 ,pope1
 unless in cases when he had been       
maddened by lampoons1 was a most        
benignant creature2 and1 with the       
slightest acknowledgment of his own     
merit1 there never lived a literary man 
who was so generously eager to associate
 others in his own honours--those even  
who had no adequate pretensions4 ,if    
you1 reader1 should1 like ourselves1    
have had occasion to investigate ,pope's
 life1 under an intention of recording  
it more accurately or more              
comprehensively than has yet been done1 
you will feel the truth of what we are  
saying4 ,and especially we would        
recommend to every man1 who wishes to   
think justly of ,pope in this respect1  
that he should compare his conduct      
towards literary competitors with that  
of ,addison4 ,dr4 ,johnson1 having      

partially examined the lives of both1   
must have been so far qualified to do   
justice between them4 ,but justice he   
has not done2 and to him chiefly we     
repeat that at this day are owing the   
false impressions of ,pope's selfish1   
ungenial1 or misanthropic nature2 and   
the humiliating associations connected  
with ,pope's petty manoeuvring in       
trivial domestic affairs1 chiefly       
through ,dr4 ,johnson's means1 will     
never be obliterated4 ,let us turn1     
however1 from ,dr4 ,johnson1 whom1 with 
our general respect for his upright     
nature1 it is painful to follow through 
circumstances where either jealousy 7as 
sometimes7 or credulity and the love of 
gossip 7as very often7 has misled him   
into gratifying the taste of the envious
 at a great sacrifice of dignity to the 
main upholders of our literature4 ,these
 men ought not to have been 'shown up'  
for a comic or malicious effect4 ,a     
nation who value their literature as we 
have reason to value ours ought to show 

their sense of this value by forgetting 
the degrading infirmities 7not the      
venial and human infirmities7 of those  
to whose admirable endowments they owe  
its excellence4  ,turning away1         
therefore1 from those modes of biography
 which have hitherto pursued any vicious
 extreme1 let us now briefly explain our
 own ideal of a happier1 sounder1 and   
more ennobling biographical art1 having 
the same general objects as heretofore1 
but with a more express view to the     
benefit of the reader4 ,looking even at 
those memoirs which1 like ,hayley's of  
,cowper1 have been checked by pathetic  
circumstances from fixing any slur or   
irreverential scandal upon their        
subject1 we still see a great fault in  
the mass of biographic records2 and what
 is it8 ,it is--that1 even where no     
disposition is manifested to copy either
 the loge or the libellous pasquinade1  
too generally the author appears ex     
officio as the constant 'patronus' or   
legal advocate for the person recorded4 

,and so he ought1 if we understand that 
sort of advocacy which in ,english      
courts the judge was formerly presumed  
to exercise on behalf of the defendant  
in criminal trials4 ,before that        
remarkable change by which a prisoner   
was invested with the privilege of      
employing separate counsel1 the judge   
was his counsel4 ,the judge took care   
that no wrong was done to him2 that no  
false impression was left with the jury2
 that the witnesses against him should  
not be suffered to run on without a     
sufficient rigour of cross-examination4 
,but certainly the judge thought it no  
part of his duty to make 'the worse     
appear the better reason'2 to throw dust
 into the eyes of the jury2 or to labour
 any point of equivocation for the sake 
of giving the prisoner an extra chance  
of escaping4 ,and1 if it is really right
 that the prisoner1 when obviously      
guilty1 should be aided in evading his  
probable conviction1 then certainly in  
past times he had less than justice4    

,for most undoubtedly no judge would    
have attempted what we all saw an       
advocate attempting about a year ago1   
that1 when every person in court was    
satisfied of the prisoner's guilt1 from 
the proof suddenly brought to light of  
his having clandestinely left the plate 
of his murdered victim in a particular  
party's safe keeping1 at that moment the
 advocate 7though secretly prostrated by
 this overwhelming discovery7 struggled 
vainly to fix upon the honourable       
witness a foul stigma of                
self-contradiction and perjury for the  
single purpose of turning loose a savage
 murderer upon society4 ,if this were   
not more than justice1 then assuredly in
 all times past the prisoner had far    
less4 ,now1 precisely the difference    
between the advocacy of the judge1 and  
the advocacy of a special counsel       
retained by the prisoner1 expresses the 
difference which we contemplate between 
the biographer as he has hitherto       
protected his hero and that biographer  

whom we would substitute4 ,is he not to 
show a partiality for his subject8      
,doubtless2 but hitherto1 in those lives
 which have been farthest from loges1   
the author has thought it his duty to   
uphold the general system1 polity1 or   
principles upon which his subject has   
acted4 ,thus ,middleton and all other   
biographers of ,cicero1 whilst never    
meditating any panegyrical account of   
that statesman1 and oftentimes          
regretting his vanity1 for instance1    
have quite as little thought it         
allowable to condemn the main political 
views1 theories1 and consequently       
actions1 of ,cicero4 ,but why not8 ,why 
should a biographer be fettered in his  
choice of subjects by any imaginary duty
 of adopting the views held by him whose
 life he records8 ,to make war upon the 
man1 to quarrel with him in every page1 
that is quite as little in accordance   
with our notions2 and we have already   
explained above our sense of its        
hatefulness4 ,for then the question     

recurs for ever3 ,what necessity forced 
you upon a subject whose conduct you    
thoroughly disapprove8 ,but let him show
 the tenderness which is due to a great 
man even when he errs4 ,let him expose  
the total aberrations of the man1 and   
make this exposure salutary to the      
pathetic wisdom of his readers1 not     
alimentary to their self-conceit1 by    
keeping constantly before their eyes the
 excellence and splendour of the man's  
powers in contrast with his continued   
failures4 ,let him show such patronage  
to the hero of his memoir as the        
,english judge showed to the poor       
prisoner at his bar1 taking care that he
 should suffer no shadow of injustice   
from the witnesses2 that the prisoner's 
own self-defence should in no part be   
defeated of its effect by want of proper
 words or want of proper skill in       
pressing the forcible points on the     
attention of the jury2 but otherwise    
leaving him to his own real merits in   
the facts of his case1 and allowing him 

no relief from the pressure of the      
hostile evidence but such as he could   
find either in counter-evidence or in   
the intrinsic weight of his own general 
character4 ,on the scheme of biography  
there would be few persons in any       
department of life who would be         
accompanied to the close by a bowing and
 obsequious reporter2 there would be far
 less of uniform approbation presumable 
in memoirs2 but1 on the other hand1     
there would be exhibited pretty         
generally a tender spirit of dealing    
with human infirmities2 a large         
application of human errors to the      
benefit of succeeding generations2 and1 
lastly1 there would be an opening made  
for the free examination of many lives  
which are now in a manner closed against
 criticism2 whilst to each separate life
 there would be an access and an        
invitation laid bare for minds hitherto 
feeling themselves excluded from        
approaching the subject by imperfect    
sympathy with the principles and        

doctrines which those lives were        
supposed to illustrate4  ,but our       
reformed view of biography would be     
better explained by a sketch applied to 
,cicero's life or to ,milton's4 ,in     
either case we might easily show1       
consistently with the exposure of       
enormous errors1 that each was the      
wisest man of his own day4 ,and with    
regard to ,cicero in particular1 out of 
his own letters to ,atticus1 we might   
show that every capital opinion which he
 held on the politics of ,rome in his   
own day was false1 groundless1          
contradictory4 ,yet for all that1 we    
would engage to leave the reader in a   
state of far deeper admiration for the  
man than the hollow and hypocritical    
,middleton ever felt himself1 or could  
therefore have communicated to his      
readers4       ,,editor',s ,,note4--,the
 reference on p4 #abb is to the famous  
case of      ,courvoisier1 in #ahdj1 and
 this fixes #ahda as the date of the    
essay4      ,courvoisier was a valet who

 murdered and robbed his master1 putting
      the plate into the care of an old 
woman1 and making it appear a           
burglary4 ,he was defended by a         
barrister named ,philips1 who           
received from the prisoner a confession 
of his guilt1 and      afterwards1 in   
court1 took ,heaven to witness that he  
believed him      innocent1 though the  
woman1 by accident almost1 had been     
found1 and      given evidence4 ,philips
 was disbarred4   ,,footnotes3  #ag ,in 
,mrs4 ,hannah ,more's drawing-room at   
,barley ,wood1 amongst the few pictures 
which adorned it1 hung a kit-kat        
portrait of ,john ,henderson4 ,this1 and
 our private knowledge that ,mrs4 ,h4   
,m4 had personally known and admired    
,henderson1 led us to converse with that
 lady about him4 ,what we gleaned from  
her in addition to the notices of       
,aguttar and of some amongst ,johnson's 
biographers may yet see the light4      
,,xiv4 ,,great ,,forgers3 ,,chatterton  
,,and ,,walpole1 ,,and ',,junius4'   ,i 

have ever been disposed to regard as the
 most venial of deceptions such         
impositions as ,chatterton had practised
 on the public credulity4 ,whom did he  
deceive8 ,nobody but those who well     
deserved to be deceived1 viz41 shallow  
antiquaries1 who pretended to a sort of 
knowledge which they had not so much as 
tasted4 ,and it always struck me as a   
judicial infatuation in ,horace         
,walpole1 that he1 who had so brutally  
pronounced the death of this marvellous 
boy to be a matter of little            
consequence1 since otherwise he would   
have come to be hanged for forgery1     
should himself1 not as a boy under      
eighteen 7and ,i think under seventeen  
at the first issuing of the ,rowley     
fraud71 slaving for a few guineas that  
he might procure the simplest food for  
himself1 and then buy presents for the  
dear mother and sister whom he had left 
in ,bristol1 but as an elderly man1 with
 a clear six thousand per annum1#ah     
commit a far more deliberate and        

audacious forgery than that imputed 7if 
even accurately imputed7 to ,chatterton4
 ,i know of no published document1 or   
none published under ,chatterton's      
sanction1 in which he formally declared 
the ,rowley poems to have been the      
compositions of a priest living in the  
days of ,henry ,,iv41 viz41 in or about 
the year #adjj4 ,undoubtedly he suffered
 people to understand that he had found 
,,mss4 of that period in the tower of   
,st4 ,mary ,redcliff at ,bristol1 which 
he really had done2 and whether he      
simply tolerated them in running off    
with the idea that these particular     
poems1 written on discoloured parchments
 by way of colouring the hoax1 were     
amongst the ,st4 ,mary treasures1 or    
positively said so1 in either view1     
considering the circumstances of the    
case1 no man of kind feelings will much 
condemn him4  ,but ,horace ,walpole     
roundly and audaciously affirmed in the 
first sentence of his preface to the    
poor romance of ',otranto1' that it had 

been translated from the ,italian of    
,onuphrio ,muralto1 and that the ,,ms4  
was still preserved in the library of an
 ,english ,catholic family2             
circumstantiating his needless falsehood
 by other most superfluous details4     
,needless1 ,i say1 because a book with  
the ,walpole name on the title-page was 
as sure of selling as one with          
,chatterton's obscure name was at that  
time sure of not selling4 ,possibly     
,horace ,walpole did not care about     
selling1 but wished to measure his own  
intrinsic power as a novelist1 for which
 purpose it was a better course to      
preserve his incognito4 ,but this he    
might have preserved without telling a  
circumstantial falsehood4 ,whereas      
,chatterton knew that his only chance of
 emerging from the obscure station of a 
grave-digger's son1 and carrying into   
comfort the dear female relatives that  
had half-starved themselves for him 7,i 
speak of things which have since come to
 my knowledge thirty-five years after   

,chatterton and his woes had been buried
 in a pauper's coffin71 lay in bribing  
public attention by some extrinsic      
attraction4 ,macpherson had recently    
engaged the public gaze by his          
',ossian'--an abortion fathered upon the
 fourth century after ,christ4 ,what so 
natural as to attempt other             
abortions--ideas and refinements of the 
eighteenth century--referring themselves
 to the fifteenth8 ,had this harmless   
hoax succeeded1 he would have delivered 
those from poverty who delivered him    
from ignorance2 he would have raised    
those from the dust who raised him to an
 aerial height--yes1 to a height from   
which 7but it was after his death71 like
 ,ate or ,eris1 come to cause another   
,trojan war1 he threw down an apple of  
discord amongst the leading scholars of 
,england1 and seemed to say3 ',there1   
,dean of ,exeter6 there1 ,laureate6     
there1 ,tyrwhitt1 my man6 ,me you have  
murdered amongst you4 ,now fight to     
death for the boy that living you would 

not have hired as a shoeblack4 ,my blood
 be upon you6' ,rise up1 martyred blood6
 rise to heaven for a testimony against 
these men and this generation1 or else  
burrow in the earth1 and from that      
spring up like the stones thrown by     
,deucalion and ,pyrrha into harvests of 
feud1 into armies of self-exterminating 
foes4 ,poor child6 immortal child6      
,slight were thy trespasses on this     
earth1 heavy was thy punishment1 and it 
is to be hoped1 nay1 it is certain1 that
 this disproportion did not escape the  
eye which1 in the algebra of human      
actions1 estimates both sides of the    
equation4  ,lord ,byron was of opinion  
that people abused ,horace ,walpole for 
several sinister reasons1 of which the  
first is represented to be that he was a
 gentleman4 ,now1 ,i1 on the contrary1  
am of opinion that he was not always a  
gentleman1 as particularly seen in his  
correspondence with ,chatterton4 ,on the
 other hand1 it is but just to recollect
 that in retaining ,chatterton's ,,mss4 

7otherwise an unfeeling act1 yet chiefly
 imputable to indolence71 the worst     
aggravation of the case under the poor  
boy's construction1 viz41 that if       
,walpole had not known his low rank 'he 
would not have dared to treat him in    
that way1' though a very natural        
feeling1 was really an unfounded one4   
,horace ,walpole 7,i call him so1       
because he was not then ,lord ,orford7  
certainly had not been aware that       
,chatterton was other than a gentleman  
by birth and station4 ,the natural      
dignity of the boy1 which had not       
condescended to any degrading           
applications1 misled this practised man 
of the world4 ,but recurring to ,lord   
,byron's insinuations as to a systematic
 design of running ,lord ,orford down1  
,i beg to say that ,i am no party to any
 such design4 ,it is not likely that a  
furious ,conservative like myself1 who  
have the misfortune also to be the most 
bigoted of ,tories1 would be so4 ,i     
disclaim all participation in any       

clamour against ,lord ,orford which may 
have arisen on democratic feeling4      
,feeling the profoundest pity for the   
'marvellous boy' of ,bristol1 and even  
love1 if it be possible to feel love for
 one who was in his unhonoured grave    
before ,i was born1 ,i resent the       
conduct of ,lord ,orford1 in this one   
instance1 as universally the ,english   
public has resented it4 ,but generally1 
as a writer1 ,i admire ,lord ,orford in 
a very high degree4 ,as a letter-writer1
 and as a brilliant sketcher of social  
aspects and situations1 he is far       
superior to any ,french author who could
 possibly be named as a competitor4 ,and
 as a writer of personal or anecdotic   
history1 let the reader turn to         
,voltaire's ',sicle de ,louis           
,quatorze1' in order to appreciate his  
extraordinary merit4         99       99
       99       99       99  ,next will 
occur to the reader the forgery of      
',junius4' ,who did that8 ,oh1 villains 
that have ever doubted since ',junius   

,identified'6 ,oh1 scamps--oh1 pitiful  
scamps6 ,you1 reader1 perhaps belong to 
this wretched corps4 ,but1 if so1       
understand that you belong to it under  
false information4 ,i have heard myriads
 talk upon this subject4 ,one man said  
to me1 ',my dear friend1 ,i sympathize  
with your fury4 ,you are right4 ,righter
 a man cannot be4 ,rightest of all men  
you are4' ,i was                        
right--righter--rightest6 ,that had     
happened to few men4 ,but again this    
flattering man went on1 ',yes1 my       
excellent friend1 right you are1 and    
evidently ,sir ,philip ,francis was the 
man4 ,his backer proved it4 ,the day    
after his book appeared1 if any man had 
offered me exactly two thousand to one  
in guineas1 that ,sir ,philip was not   
the man1 by ,jupiter6 ,i would have     
declined the bet4 ,so divine1 so        
exquisite1 so ,grecian in its           
perfection1 was the demonstration1 the  
apodeixis 7or what do you call it in    
,greek871 that this brilliant ,sir      

,philip--who1 by the way1 wore his order
 of the ,bath as universally as ever he 
taxed ,sir ,william ,draper with        
doing--had been the author of ,junius4  
,but here lay the perplexity of the     
matter4 ,at the least five-and-twenty   
excellent men proved by posthumous      
friends that they1 every mother's son of
 them1 had also perpetrated ,junius4'   
',then they were liars1' ,i answered4   
',oh no1 my right friend1' he           
interrupted1 'not liars at all2 amiable 
men1 some of whom confessed on their    
death-beds 7three to my certain         
knowledge7 that1 alas6 they had erred   
against the law of charity4 ,but how8   
said the clergyman4 ,why1 by that       
infernal magazine of sneers and all     
uncharitableness1 the ',letters of      
,junius4' ,let me understand you1 said  
the clergyman3 you wrote ',junius'8     
,alas6 ,i did1 replied ,a4 ,two years   
after another clergyman said to another 
penitent1 ,and so you wrote ',junius'8  
,too true1 my dear sir4 ,alas6 ,i did1  

replied ,b4 ,one year later a third     
penitent was going off1 and upon the    
clergyman saying1 ,bless me1 is it      
possible8 ,did you write ',junius'8 he  
replied1 ,ah1 worshipful sir1 you touch 
a painful chord in my remembrances--,i  
now wish ,i had not4 ,alas6 reverend    
sir1 ,i did4 ,now1 you see1' went on my 
friend1 'so many men at the ,new ,drop1 
as you may say1 having with tears and   
groans taxed themselves with ,junius as 
the climax of their offences1 one begins
 to think that perhaps all men wrote    
,junius4' ,well1 so far there was       
reason4 ,but when my friend contended   
also that the proofs arrayed in         
pamphlets proved the whole alphabet to  
have written ',junius1' ,i could not    
stand his absurdities4 ,death-bed       
confessions1 ,i admitted1 were strong4  
,but as to these wretched pamphlets1    
some time or other ,i will muster them  
all for a field-day2 ,i will brigade    
them1 as if the general of the district 
were coming to review them2 and then1 if

 ,i do not mow them down to the last man
 by opening a treacherous battery of    
grape-shot1 may all my household die    
under a fiercer ,junius6 ,the true      
reasons why any man fancies that        
',junius' is an open question must be   
these three3  ,first1 that they have    
never read the proofs arrayed against   
,sir ,philip ,francis2 this is the      
general case4  ,secondly1 that1         
according to ,sancho's proverb1 they    
want better bread than is made of wheat4
 ,they are not content with proofs or   
absolute demonstrations4 ,they require  
you1 like the witch of ,endor1 to raise 
,sir ,philip from the grave1 that they  
may cross-examine him4  ,thirdly 7and   
this is the fault of the able writer who
 unmasked ,sir ,philip71 there happened 
to be the strongest argument that ever  
picked a ,bramah-lock against the       
unknown writer of ',junius'2 apply this1
 and if it fits the wards1 oh1 ,gemini6 
my dear friend1 but you are             
right--righter--rightest2 you have      

caught ',junius' in a rabbit-snare4     
,,footnotes3  #ah ',six thousand per    
annum1' viz41 on the authority of his   
own confession to ,pinkerton4           
,,editor',s ,,note4--,de ,quincey is    
guilty of a slight lapse of memory in   
reference to ',the ,castle of ,otranto' 
and ,onuphrio ,muralto4 ,it was      not
 in the first sentence of the preface1  
but on the title-page1      that        
,walpole so plainly attributed the work 
to another4 ,the      original          
title-page1 which1 of course1 was       
dropped out when it      became known to
 all the world that ,walpole was the    
author1 read      thus3 ',the ,castle of
 ,otranto3 a ,story4 ,translated by     
,william      ,marshall1 ,gent4 ,from   
the original ,italian of ,onuphrio      
,muralto1      ,canon of the ,church of 
,st4 ,nicholas1 at ,otranto4 ,london3   
printed      for ,thomas ,lownds1 in    
,fleet ,street4 #agfe4'     ,,xv4       
,,daniel ,o',,connell4   ,with a single 
view to the intellectual pretensions of 

,mr4 ,o',connell1 let us turn to his    
latest ,general ,epistle1 dated from    
',conciliation ,hall1' on the last day  
of ,october4 ,this is no random1 or 7to 
use a pedantic term7 perfunctory        
document2 not a document is this to     
which indulgence is due4 ,by its        
subject1 not less than by its address1  
it stands forth audaciously as a        
deliberate1 as a solemn1 as a national  
state paper2 for its subject is the     
future political condition of ,ireland  
under the assumption of ,repeal2 for its
 address is1 ',to the ,people of        
,ireland4' ,so placing himself1 a writer
 has it not within his choice to play   
the fool2 it is not within his          
competence to tumble or 'come aloft' or 
play antics as a mountebank2 his theme  
binds him to decency1 his audience to   
gravity4 ,speaking1 though it be but by 
the windiest of fictions1 to a nation1  
is not a man pledged to respectful      
language8 speaking1 though it is but by 
a chimera as wild as ,repeal to a       

question of national welfare1 a man is  
pledged to sincerity4 ,had he seven     
devils of mockery and banter within him1
 for that hour he must silence them all4
 ,the foul fiend must be rebuked1 though
 it were ,mahu and ,bohu who should     
prompt him to buffoonery1 when standing 
at the bar of nations4  ,this is the    
law1 this the condition1 under which    
,mr4 ,o',connell was speaking when he   
issued that recent address4 ,given such 
a case1 similar circumstances           
presupposed1 he could not evade the     
obligations which they impose4 ,from    
such obligations there is no            
dispensation to be bought--no1 not at   
,rome2 from the obligations observe1 and
 those obligations1 we repeat1          
are--sincerity in the first place1 and  
respectful or deferential language in   
the second4 ,such were the duties2 now  
let us look to the performance4 ,and    
that we may judge of that with more     
advantage for searching and appraising  
the qualities of this document1 permit  

us to suggest three separate questions1 
the first being this3 ,what was the     
occasion of the ,address8 ,secondly1    
what was its ostensible object8         
,thirdly1 what are the arguments by     
which1 as its means1 the paper travels  
towards that object8  ,first1 as to the 
occasion of the ,address4 ,we have said 
that the date1 viz41 the #cast of       
,october1 is falsified4 ,it was not     
dated on the #cast of ,october1 but on  
or about the seventh day of ,november4  
,even that falsehood1 though at first   
sight trivial1 is enough for suspicion4 
,if ,x1 a known liar1 utters a lie at   
starting1 it is not for him to plead in 
mitigation the apparent uselessness of  
the lie1 it is for us to presume out of 
the fact a use1 where the fact exists4  
,a leader in the ,french ,revolution    
protested often against bloodshed and   
other atrocities--not as being too bad1 
but1 on the contrary1 as being too good1
 too precious to be wasted upon ordinary
 occasions4 ,and1 on the same principle1

 we may be sure that any habitual liar1 
who has long found the benefit of       
falsehoods at his utmost need1 will have
 formed too profound a reverence for    
this powerful resource in a moment of   
perplexity ever to throw away a         
falsehood1 or to squander upon a caprice
 of the moment that lie which1 being    
seasonably employed1 might have saved   
him from confusion4 ,the artist in lying
 is not the man to lie gratuitously4    
,from the first1 therefore1 satisfied   
ourselves that there was a lurking      
motive--the key to this falsification of
 date--we paused to search it out4 ,in  
that we found little difficulty4 ,for   
what was the professed object of this   
,address8 ,it was to meet and to        
overthrow two notions here represented  
as great popular errors4 ,but why at    
this time8 ,wherefore all this heat at  
the present moment8 ,grant that the     
propositions denounced as erroneous were
 so in very deed1 why should criminals  
standing under the shadow of public     

vengeance ready to descend1 so          
childishly misuse the interval1         
mercifully allowed for their own        
defence1 in reading lectures upon       
abstract political speculations1        
confessedly bearing no relation to any  
militant interest now in question8      
,quite as impertinent it would be1 when 
called upon for the answer upon ',guilty
 or not ,guilty8' to read a section from
 the ,council of ,trent1 or a rescript  
from ,cardinal ,bellarmine4 ,yet the    
more extravagant was the logic of this  
proceeding1 the more urgent became the  
presumption of a covert motive1 and that
 motive we soon saw to be this4 ,let the
 reader weigh it1 and the good sense of 
the man who at such a moment could      
suffer such a motive to prevail4 ,thus  
it is3 when ,clontarf was intercepted1  
and implicitly1 though not formally1 all
 similar meetings were by that one act  
for ever prohibited1 the first days of  
terror were naturally occupied with the 
panic of the conspirators1 and in       

providing for their personal terrors4   
,but when the dust of this great uproar 
began to settle1 and objects again      
became distinguishable in natural       
daylight1 the first consequence which   
struck the affrighted men of the        
conspiracy was the chilling effect of   
the ,government policy upon the         
,o',connell rent2 not the weekly rent1  
applied nobody knows how1 but the annual
 rent applied to ,mr4 ,o',connell's     
private benefit4 ,this was in jeopardy1 
and on the following argument3          
,originally this rent had been levied as
 a compensation to ,mr4 ,o',connell in  
his character of ,irish barrister--not  
for services rendered or to be rendered1
 but for current services continually   
being rendered in ,parliament from      
session to session1 for expenses        
incident to that kind of duty1 and also 
as an indemnification for the consequent
 loss of fees at the ,irish ,bar4 ,yet  
now1 in #ahdc1 having ceased to attend  
his duty in ,parliament1 ,mr4           

,o',connell could no longer claim in    
that senatorial character4 ,such a      
pretension would be too gross for the   
understanding even of a ,connaught      
peasant4 ,and in that there was a great 
loss4 ,for the allegation of a          
,parliamentary warfare1 under the vague 
idea of pushing forward good bills for  
,ireland1 or retarding bad ones1 had    
been a pleasant and easy labour to the  
parish priests4 ,it was not necessary to
 horsewhip#ai their flocks too severely4
 ,if all was not clear to 'my           
children's' understanding1 at least my  
children had no mutinous demur in a     
positive shape ready for service4       
,recusants there were1 and sturdy ones1 
but they could put no face on their     
guilt1 and their sin was not contagious4
 ,unhappily1 from this indefinite       
condition of merit ,mr4 ,o',connell     
himself had translated his claim to a   
very distinct one founded upon a clear1 
known1 absolute attempt to coerce the   
,government into passive collusion with 

prospective treason4 ,this attempt1 said
 the peasantry1 will the ,government    
stand1 or will it not8 ',why1 then1'    
replied the ,government1 on the #agth of
 ,october1 'we will not4'  ,the         
aristocracy of ,ireland may not have    
done their duty as regards the ,repeal2 
it is too certain that they have not1   
because they have done nothing at all4  
,but it is also certain that their very 
uttermost would have been unavailing for
 one principal object concerned4 ,other 
great objects1 however1 might have been 
attained4 ,foreign nations might have   
been disabused of their silly delusions 
on the ,irish relations to ,england1    
although the ,irish peasantry could not4
 ,the monstrous impression also upon    
many ,english and ,scotch parties1 that 
a general unity of sentiment prevailed  
in ,ireland as to the desirableness of  
an independent ,parliament--this1 this1 
we say loudly1 would have been          
dissipated1 had every ,irish county met 
by its gentry disavowing and abominating

 all sentiments tending towards a       
purpose so guilty as political disunion4
 ,yet1 in palliation of this most       
grievous failure1 we1 in the spirit of  
perfect candour1 will remind our readers
 of the depressing effect too often     
attending one flagrant wound in any     
system of power or means4 ,let a man    
lose by a sudden blow--by fire1 by      
shipwreck1 or by commercial failure--a  
sum of twenty thousand pounds1 that     
being four-fifths of his entire         
property1 how often it is found that    
mere dejection of mind will incapacitate
 him from looking cheerfully after the  
remaining fifth6 ,and this though it is 
now become far more essential to his    
welfare2 and1 secondly1 upon a motion   
tending upwards and not downwards1 he   
would have regarded five thousand pounds
 as a precious treasure worthy of his   
efforts1 whether for protection or for  
improvement4 ,something analogous to    
this weighs down the hearty exertions of
 the ,irish gentry4 ,met at the very    

threshold1 affronted at starting1 by    
this insufferable tyranny of priestly   
interference--humiliated and stung to   
the heart by the consciousness that     
those natural influences which          
everywhere else settle indefeasibly upon
 property1 are in ,ireland intercepted1 
filched1 violently robbed and pocketed  
by a body of professional nuisances     
sprung almost universally from          
paupers--thus disinherited of their     
primary rights1 thus pillaged1 thus     
shorn like ,samson of those natural     
ornaments in which resided their natural
 strength1 feeling themselves 7like that
 same ,samson in the language of        
,milton7 turned out to the scorn of     
their countrymen as 'tame wethers'      
ridiculously fleeced and mutilated--they
 droop1 they languish as to all public  
spirit2 and whilst by temperament1 by   
natural endowment1 by continual         
intercourse with the noble aristocracy  
of ,britain 7from whom also they are    
chiefly descended71 they should be      

amongst the leading chivalries of       
,europe1 in very fact they are1 for     
political or social purposes1 the most  
powerless gentry in existence4 ,acting  
in a corporate capacity1 they can do    
nothing4 ,the malignant planet of this  
low-born priesthood comes between them  
and the peasantry1 eclipsing oftentimes 
the sunshine of their comprehensive     
beneficence1 and always destroying their
 power to discountenance#bj evil-doers4 
,here is the sad excuse4 ,but1 for all  
that1 we must affirm that1 if the ,irish
 landed gentry do not yet come forward  
to retrieve the ground which they have  
forfeited by inertia1 history will      
record them as passive colluders with   
the ,dublin repealers4 ,the evil is so  
operatively deep1 looking backward or   
forward1 that we have purposely brought 
it forward in a second aspect1 viz41 as 
contrasted with the ,london press4 ,for 
the one1 as we have been showing1 there 
is a strong plea in palliation2 for the 
other there is none4  ,let us be frank4 

,this is what we affirm1 that it was1 it
 is1 it will be hereafter1 within the   
powers of the ,london press to have     
extinguished the ,repeal or any similar 
agitation2 they could have done this1   
and this they have not done4 ,but let us
 also not be misunderstood4 ,do we say  
this in a spirit of disrespect8 ,are we 
amongst the parties who 7when           
characterizing the ,american press7     
infamously say1 ',let us1 however1 look 
homewards to our own press1 and be      
silent for very shame'8 ,are we the     
people to join the vicious correspondent
 of an evening paper whom but a week ago
 we saw denouncing the editor of the    
,examiner newspaper as a public         
nuisance1 and recommending him as a fit 
subject of some degrading punishment1   
for no better reason than that he had   
exercised his undoubted right of        
exposing delinquencies or follies in a  
garrulous lord8 ,far be such vilenesses 
from us4 ,we honour the press of this   
country4 ,we know its constitution1 and 

we know the mere impossibility 7were it 
only from the great capital required7   
that any but men of honour and          
sensibilities and conspicuous talent1   
and men brilliantly accomplished in     
point of education1 should become       
writers or editors of a leading journal1
 or indeed of any daily journal4 ,here  
and there may float in gurgite vasto    
some atrocious paper lending itself upon
 system to the villainies of private    
slander4 ,but such a paper is sure to be
 an inconsiderable one in the mere sense
 of property1 and therefore1 by a       
logical consequence in our frame of     
society1 every way                      
inconsiderable--rising without effort1  
sinking without notice4 ,in fact1 the   
whole staff and establishment of        
newspapers have risen in social         
consideration within our own generation2
 and at this moment not merely          
proprietors and editors1 but reporters  
and other ministerial agents to these   
vast engines of civility1 have all      

ascended in their superior orders to the
 highest levels of authentic            
responsibility4  ,we make these         
acknowledgments in the mere spirit of   
equity1 and because we disdain to be    
confounded with those rash persons who  
talk glibly of a 'licentious press'     
through their own licentious ignorance4 
,than ignorance nothing is so licentious
 for rash saying or for obstinate       
denying4 ,the ,british press is not     
licentious2 neither in ,london nor in   
,edinburgh is it ever licentious2 and   
there is much need that it should be    
otherwise1 having at this time so       
unlimited a power over the public mind4 
,but the very uprightness of the leading
 journalists1 and all the other elements
 of their power1 do but constitute the  
evil1 do but aggravate the mischief1    
where they happen to go astray2 yes1 in 
every case where these journalists miss 
the narrow path of thoughtful prudence4 
,they do miss it occasionally2 they must
 miss it2 and we contend that they have 

missed it at present4 ,what they have   
done that they ought not to have done4  
,currency1 buoyancy1 they ought not to  
have impressed upon sedition1 upon      
conspiracy1 upon treason4 ,currency1    
buoyancy1 they have impressed upon      
sedition1 upon conspiracy1 upon treason4
  ,as to ,mr4 ,o',connell himself1 it is
 useless1 and it argues some thick      
darkness of mind1 to remonstrate or     
generally to address any arguments from 
whatsoever quarter1 which either appeal 
to a sense of truth1 which1 secondly1   
manifest inconsistencies1 or1 thirdly1  
which argue therein a tendency ruinous  
to himself4 ,let us think4 ,burke       
asserted of himself1 and to our belief  
truly1 that having at different periods 
set his face in different               
directions--now to the east1 now to the 
west1 now pointing to purposes of       
relaxation or liberality1 now again to  
purposes of coercive and popular        
restraint--he had notwithstanding been  
uniform1 if measured upon a higher      

scale4 ,transcending objects1 coinciding
 neither instantly with the first1 nor  
except by accident with the last1 but   
indifferently aided by aristocratic     
forces or by democratic1 shifting       
weights which sometimes called for      
accessories of gravity1 sometimes for   
subtraction1 mighty fluctuating wheels  
which sometimes needed flywheels to     
moderate or harmonize1 sometimes needed 
concurrent wheels to urge or aggravate  
their impetus--these were the powers    
which he had found himself summoned to  
calculate1 to check1 to support1 the    
vast algebraic equation of government2  
for this he had strengthened            
substantially by apparent contrarieties 
of policy2 and in a system of watch-work
 so exquisite as to vary its fine       
balances eternally1 eternally he had    
consulted by redressing the errors      
emergent1 by varying the poise in order 
that he might not vary the equipoise1 by
 correcting inequalities1 or by         
forestalling extremes4 ,that was a man  

of heroic build1 and of him it might be 
said at his death1 ',truly this man was 
a son of ,anak4' ,now1 of ,mr4          
,o',connell a man might affirm something
 similar2 that as with regard to ,edmund
 ,burke it is altogether useless to     
detect contradictions in form1 seeing   
that he knows of this1 that he justifies
 this1 glories in this1 vehemently      
demands praise for this contradiction1  
as all discord is harmony not           
understood1 planned in the letter and   
overruled in the spirit2 so may         
,o',connell say1 ',gentlemen1 grubs1    
reptiles1 vermin1 trouble not yourselves
 to find out contradictions or discords 
in my conduct2 vex not your slender     
faculties by arraying hosts of promises 
that defeat promises1 or principles that
 destroy principles--you shall not need 
to labour2 ,i will make you a present of
 three huge canisters laden and running 
over with the flattest denials in one   
breath of that which ,i affirmed in     
another4 ,but1 like ,edmund ,burke1 ,i  

register my conduct by another table and
 by its final result4 ,on the dial which
 you see1 the hands point thus and thus2
 but upon a higher and transcendent dial
 these fingers do but precipitate or    
retard one gigantic hand1 pointing      
always and monotonously to the unity of 
a perfect selfishness4 ,the everlasting 
tacking in my course gives me often the 
air of retrograding and losing2 but1 in 
fact1 these retrogressions are          
momentary1 these losings of my object   
are no more than seeming1 are still but 
the same stealthy creeping up under     
cover of frequent compliances with the  
breeze that happens to thwart me1       
towards the one eternal pole of my own  
self-interest2 that is the pole-star    
which only never sets1 and ,i flatter   
myself that amidst vast apparent        
wanderings or multiplied divergences    
there will be detected by the eye of the
 philosopher a consistency in family    
objects which is absolute1 a divine     
unity of selfishness4'  ,this we do not 

question4 ,but to will is not to do2 and
 ,mr4 ,o',connell1 with a true loyalty  
to his one object of private aims1 has  
not maintained the consistency of his   
policy4 ,all men know that he has       
adventured within the limits of         
conspiracy2 that could not be for his   
benefit4 ,he has touched even the dark  
penumbra of treason2 that could not but 
risk the sum of his other strivings4    
,but he who has failed for himself in a 
strife so absolute1 for that only must  
be distrusted by his countrymen4        
,,footnotes3  #ai ',to horsewhip1' etc4 
,let it not be said that this is any    
slander of ours2 would that we could    
pronounce it a slander6 ,but those who  
7like ourselves7 have visited ,ireland  
extensively know that the parish priest 
uses a horsewhip1 in many circumstances1
 as his professional insigne4  #bj ,look
 at ,lord ,waterford's case1 in the very
 month of ,november1 #ahdc4 ,is there a 
county in all ,england that would have  
tamely witnessed his expulsion from     

amongst them by fire1 and by sword and  
by poison8        ,,note ,,by ,,the     
,,editor4--,this article on ,o',connell1
 written in the end      of #ahdc1 is   
printed1 not on account of any political
 reference it      might be presumed to 
have1 but only because of its historical
 and      literary interest4 ,apart from
 the light it may throw on ,de          
,quincey's leanings1 as1 in certain     
respects1 distinctly in the             
direction of patriotic ,toryism of the  
most rampant type1 it may be      of    
value as suggesting how essentially1 in 
not a few points1 the      ,irish       
question to-day remains precisely as it 
was in the time of      ,o',connell2 and
 how the ,tories of to-day are apt to   
view it from      precisely the same    
plane as those of #ahdc4 ,it might also 
be cited      as another proof not only 
of ,de ,quincey's very keen interest in 
all      the leading questions of the   
time1 but as an illustration of the     
,john ,bull warmth and heat which he1   

the dreamer1 the recluse1 the      lover
 of abstract problems1 could bring into 
such discussions4      ,here1 at all    
events1 his views were definite enough1 
and stated      with a bold precision of
 ,english plainness that would have     
pleased      the most pronouncedly ,tory
 or ,unionist newspaper editors of that 
day4     ,,xvi4 ,,france ,,past ,,and   
,,france ,,present4   ,to speak in the  
simplicity of truth1 caring not for     
party or partisan1 is not the ,france of
 this day1 the ,france which has issued 
from that great furnace of the          
,revolution1 a better1 happier1 more    
hopeful ,france than the ,france of     
#aghh8 ,allowing for any evil1 present  
or reversionary1 in the political       
aspects of ,france1 that may yet give   
cause for anxiety1 can a wise man deny  
that from the ,france of #ahdj1 under   
,louis ,philippe of ,orleans1 ascends to
 heaven a report of far happier days    
from the sons and daughters of poverty  
than from the ,france of ,louis ,,xvi48 

,personally that sixteenth ,louis was a 
good king1 sorrowing for the abuses in  
the land1 and willing 7at least1 after  
affliction had sharpened his reflecting 
conscience71 had that choice been       
allowed him1 to have redeemed them by   
any personal sacrifice4 ,but that was   
not possible4 ,centuries of misrule are 
not ransomed by an individual ruin2 and 
had it been possible that the dark      
genius of his family1 the same who once 
tolled funeral knells in the ears of the
 first ,bourbon1 and called him out as a
 martyr hurrying to meet his own        
sacrifice--could we suppose this gloomy 
representative of his family destinies  
to have met him in some solitary        
apartment of the ,tuileries or          
,versailles1 some twilight gallery of   
ancestral portraits1 he could have met  
him with the purpose of raising the     
curtain from before the long series of  
his household woes--from him the king   
would have learned that no personal     
ransom could be accepted for            

misgovernment so ancient4 ,leviathan is 
not so tamed4 ,arrears so vast imply a  
corresponding accountability1           
corresponding by its amount1            
corresponding by its personal subjects4 
,crown and people--all had erred2 all   
must suffer4 ,blood must flow1 tears    
must be shed through a generation2      
rivers of lustration must be thrown     
through that ,augean accumulation of    
guilt4  ,and exactly there1 it is       
supposed1 lay the error of ,burke2 the  
compass of the penalty1 the arch which  
it traversed1 must bear some proportion 
to that of the evil which had produced  
it4  ,when ,i referred to the dark      
genius of the family who once tolled    
funeral knells in the ears of the first 
,bourbon1 ,i meant1 of course1 the first
 who sat upon the throne of ,france1    
viz41 ,henri ,quatre4 ,the allusion is  
to the last hours of ,henry's life1 to  
the remarkable prophecies which foreran 
his death1 to their remarkable          
fulfilment1 and 7what is more remarkable

 than all beside7 to his self-surrender1
 in the spirit of an unresisting victim1
 to a bloody fate which he regarded as  
inexorably doomed4 ,this king was not   
the good prince whom the ,french hold   
out to us2 not even the accomplished1   
the chivalrous1 the elevated prince to  
whom history points for one of her      
models4 ,french and ultra-,french must  
have been the ideal of the good or the  
noble to which he could have            
approximated in the estimate of the most
 thoughtless4 ,he had that sort of      
military courage which was1 and is1 more
 common than weeds4 ,in all else he was 
a low-minded man1 vulgar in his         
thoughts1 most unprincely in his habits4
 ,he was even worse than that3 wicked1  
brutal1 sensually cruel4 ,and his wicked
 minister1 ,sully1 than whom a more     
servile mind never existed1 illustrates 
in one passage his own character and his
 master's by the apology which he offers
 for ,henry's having notoriously left   
many illegitimate children to perish of 

hunger1 together with their             
too-confiding mothers4 ,what8 ,that in  
the pressure of business he really      
forgot them4 ,famine mocked at last the 
deadliest offence4 ,his own innocent    
children1 up and down ,france1 because  
they were illegitimate1 their           
too-confiding mothers1 because they were
 weak and friendless by having for his  
sake forfeited the favour of ,god and   
man1 this amiable king had left to      
perish of hunger4 ,they did perish2     
mother and infant4 ,a cry ascended      
against the king4 ,even in sensual      
,france such atrocities could not       
utterly sink to the ground4 ,but what   
says the apologetic minister8           
,astonished that anybody could think of 
abridging a king's license in such      
particulars1 he brushes away the whole  
charge as so much ungentlemanly         
impertinence1 disdaining any further    
plea than the pressure of business1     
which so naturally accounted for the    
royal inattention or forgetfulness in   

these little affairs4 ,observe that this
 pressure of business never was such    
that the king could not find time for   
pursuing these intrigues and multiplying
 these reversions of woe4 ,what         
enormities6 ,a king 7at all times of    
,navarre1 and for half his life of      
,france7 suffers his children to die of 
hunger1 consigns their mothers to the   
same fate1 but aggravated by remorse and
 by the spectacle of their perishing    
infants6 ,these clamours could not      
penetrate to the ,louvre1 but they      
penetrated to a higher court1 and were  
written in books from which there is no 
erasure allowed4 ,so much for the       
vaunted 'generosity' of ,henry ,,iv4 ,as
 to another feature of the chivalrous   
character1 elegance of manners1 let the 
reader consult the report of an ,english
 ambassador1 a man of honour and a      
gentleman1 ,sir ,george ,carew4 ,it was 
published about the middle of the last  
century by the indefatigable ,birch1 to 
whom our historic literature is so much 

indebted1 and it proves sufficiently    
that this idol of ,frenchmen allowed    
himself in habits so coarse as to       
disgust the most creeping of his own    
courtiers2 such that even the           
blackguards of a manly nation would     
revolt from them as foul and            
self-dishonouring4 ,deep and permanent  
is the mischief wrought in a nation by  
false models2 and corresponding is the  
impression1 immortal the benefit1 from  
good ones4 ,the ,english people have    
been the better for their ,alfred1 that 
pathetic ideal of a good king1 through a
 space of now nearly a thousand years4  
,the ,french are the worse to this hour 
in consequence of ,francis ,i4 and      
,henry ,,iv4 ,and note this1 that even  
the spurious merit of the two ,french   
models can be sustained only by         
disguises1 by suppressions1 by elaborate
 varnishings2 whereas the ,english      
prince is offered to our admiration with
 a ,scriptural simplicity and a         
,scriptural fidelity1 not as some gay   

legend of romance1 some ,telemachus of  
,fnelon1 but as one who had erred1      
suffered1 and had been purified2 as a   
shepherd that had gone astray1 and saw  
that through his transgressions the     
flock also had been scattered4          
,,xvii4 ,,rome',s ,,recruits ,,and      
,,england',s ,,recruits4   ,two facts on
 which a sound estimate of the ,roman   
corn-trade depends are these3 first1 the
 very important one1 that it was not    
,rome in the sense of the ,italian      
peninsula which relied upon foreign     
corn1 but in the narrowest sense ,rome  
the city2 as respected what we now call 
,lombardy1 ,florence1 ,genoa1 etc41     
,rome did not disturb the ancient       
agriculture4 ,the other fact offers1    
perhaps1 a still more important         
consideration4 ,rome was latterly a most
 populous city--we are disposed to agree
 with ,lipsius1 that it was four times  
as populous as most moderns esteem--most
 certainly it bore a higher ratio to the
 total ,italy than any other capital    

7even ,london7 has since borne to the   
territory over which it presided4       
,consequently it will be argued that in 
such a ratio must the foreign           
importations of ,rome1 even in the      
limited sense of ,rome the city1 have   
operated more destructively upon the    
domestic agriculture4 ,grant that not   
,italy1 but ,rome1 was the main importer
 of foreign grain1 still1 if ,rome to   
all ,italy were as one to four in       
population1 which there is good reason  
to believe it was1 then even upon that  
distinction it will be insisted that the
 ,roman importation crushed one-fourth  
of the native agriculture4 ,now1 this we
 deny4 ,some part of the ,african and   
,egyptian grain was but a substitution  
for the ,sardinian1 and so far made no  
difference to ,italy in ploughs1 but    
only in denarii4 ,but the main          
consideration of all is1 that the       
,italian grain was not withdrawn from   
the vast population of ,rome--this is   
not the logic of the case--no2 on the   

contrary1 the vast population of ,rome  
arose and supervened as a consequence   
upon the opening of the foreign         
,alexandrian corn trade4 ,it was not    
,rome that quirted the home agriculture4
 ,rome1 in the full sense1 never would  
have existed without foreign supplies4  
,if1 therefore1 ,rome1 by means of      
foreign grain1 rose from four hundred   
thousand heads to four millions1 then it
 follows that 7except as to the original
 demand for the four hundred thousand7  
not one plough was disused in ,italy    
that ever had been used4 ,whilst1 even  
with regard to the original demand of   
the four hundred thousand1 by so much of
 the ,egyptian grain as had been a mere 
substitution for ,sardinian no effect   
whatever could have followed to ,italian
 agriculture4  ,here1 therefore1 we see 
the many limitations which arise to the 
modern doctrine upon the destructive    
agricultural consequences of the ,roman 
corn trade4 ,rome may have prevented the
 ,italian agriculture from expanding1   

but she could not have caused it to     
decline4#ba ,now1 let us see how far    
this ,roman corn trade affected the     
,roman recruiting service4 ,it is       
alleged that agriculture declined under 
the foreign corn trade1 and that for    
this reason ploughmen declined4 ,but if 
we have shown cause for doubting whether
 agriculture declined1 or only did not  
increase1 then we are at liberty to     
infer that ploughmen did not decline1   
but only did not increase4 ,even of the 
real and not imaginary ploughmen at any 
time possessed by ,italy1 too many in   
the south were slaves1 and therefore    
ineligible for the legionary service1   
except in desperate intestine struggles 
like the ,social war or the ,servile4   
,rome could not lose for her recruiting 
service any ploughmen but those whom she
 had really possessed2 nor out of those 
whom really she possessed any that were 
slaves2 nor out of those whom 7not being
 slaves7 she might have used for        
soldiers could it be said that she was  

liable to any absolute loss except as to
 those whom ordinarily she did use as   
soldiers1 and preferred to use in       
circumstances of free choice4  ,these   
points premised1 we go on to say that no
 craze current amongst learned men has  
more deeply disturbed the truth of      
history than the notion that ',marsi'   
and ',peligni1' or other big-boned      
,italian rustics1 ever by choice        
constituted the general or even the     
favourite recruiting fund of the ,roman 
republic4 ,in thousands of books we have
 seen it asserted or assumed that the   
,romans triumphed so extensively chiefly
 because their armies were composed of  
,roman or kindred blood4 ,this is false4
 ,not the material1 but the military    
system1 of the ,romans was the true key 
to their astonishing successes4 ,in the 
time of ,hannibal a ,roman consul relied
 chiefly1 it is true1 upon ,italian     
recruits1 because he could seldom look  
for men of other blood4 ,and it is      
possible enough that the same man1      

,fabius or ,marcellus1 if he had been   
sent abroad as a proconsul1 might find  
his choice even then in what formerly   
had been his necessity4 ,in some        
respects it is probable that the        
,italian rustic of true ,italian blood  
was at that period the best raw         
material#bb easily procured for the     
legionary soldier4 ,but circumstances   
altered2 as the range of war expanded to
 the ,east it became far too costly to  
recruit in ,italy2 nor1 if it had been  
less costly1 could ,italy have supplied 
the waste4 ,above all1 with the         
advantages of the ,roman military       
system1 no particular physical material 
was required for making good soldiers4  
,for these reasons it was that1 after   
the ,levant was permanently occupied by 
the ,romans1 where any legion had been  
originally stationed there it continued 
to be stationed1 and there it was       
recruited1 and1 unless in some rare     
emergency of a critical war arising at a
 distance1 there it was so continually  

recruited1 that in the lapse of a       
generation it contained hardly any      
,roman or ,italian blood in its         
composition1 like the ,attic ship which 
had been repaired with cedar until it   
retained no fragment of its original    
oak4 ,thus1 the legion stationed at     
,antioch became entirely ,syrian2 that  
stationed at ,alexandria1 ,grecian1     
,jewish1 and1 in a separate sense1      
,alexandrine4 ,csar1 it is notorious1   
raised one entire legion of ,gauls      
7distinguished by the cognizance upon   
the helmet of the lark1 whence commonly 
called the legion of the ,alauda74 ,but 
he recruited all his legions in ,gaul4  
,in ,spain the armies of ,assanius and  
,petreius1 who surrendered to ,csar     
under a convention1 consisted chiefly of
 ,spaniards 7not ,hispanienses1 or      
,romans born in ,spain1 but ,hispani1   
,spaniards by blood72 at ,pharsalia a   
large part of ,csar's army were ,gauls1 
and of ,pompey's it is well known that  
many even amongst the legions contained 

no ,europeans at all1 but 7as ,csar     
seasonably reminded his army7 consisted 
of vagabonds from every part of the     
,east4 ,from all this we argue that     
,s4,p4,q4,r4 did not depend latterly    
upon native recruiting4 ,and1 in fact1  
they did not need to do so2 their system
 and discipline would have made good    
soldiers out of mop-handles1 if 7like   
,lucian's magical mop-handles7 they     
could only have learned to march and to 
fill buckets with water at the word of  
command4  ,we see1 too1 the secret power
 and also the secret political wisdom of
 ,christianity in another instance4     
,those public largesses of grain1 which1
 in old ,rome1 commenced upon principles
 of ambition and of factious            
encouragement to partisans1 in the new  
,rome of ,constantinople were propagated
 for ages under the novel motive of     
,christian charity to paupers4 ,this    
practice has been condemned by the whole
 chorus of historians who fancy that    
from this cause the domestic agriculture

 languished1 and that a bounty was given
 upon pauperism4 ,but these are reveries
 of literary men4 ,that particular      
section of rural industry which         
languished in ,italy1 did so by a       
reaction from rent in the severe modern 
sense4 ,the grain imported from         
,sardinia1 from ,africa the province1   
and from ,egypt1 was grown upon soils   
less costly1 because with equal cost    
more productive4 ,the effect upon ,italy
 from bringing back any considerable    
portion of this provincial              
corn-growth#bc to her domestic districts
 would have been suddenly to develop    
rent upon a large series of evils1 and  
to load the provincial grain as well as 
the home-grown--the cheap provincial as 
well as the dear home-grown--with the   
whole difference of these new costs4    
,neither is the policy of the case at   
all analogous to our own at the moment4 
,in three circumstances it differs      
essentially3  ,first1 provinces are not 
foreigners2 colonies are not enemies4   

,an exotic corn-trade could not for     
,rome do the two great injuries which   
assuredly it would do for ,england2 it  
could not transfer the machinery of     
opulence to a hostile and rival state2  
it could not invest a jealous competitor
 with power suddenly to cut off supplies
 that had grown into a necessity1 and   
thus to create in one month a famine or 
an insurrection4 ,egypt had neither the 
power nor any prospect of the power to  
act as an independent state towards     
,rome2 the transfer to ,egypt of the    
,roman agriculture1 supposing it to have
 been greater than it really was1 could 
have operated but like a transfer from  
,norfolk to ,yorkshire4  ,secondly1 as  
respected ,italy1 the foreign grain did 
not enter the same markets as the       
native4 ,either one or the other would  
have lost its advantage1 and the natural
 bounty which it enjoyed from           
circumstances1 by doing so4             
,consequently the evils of an artificial
 scale1 where grain raised under one set

 of circumstances fixes or modifies the 
price for grain raised under a different
 set of circumstances1 were unknown in  
the ,italian markets4 ,but these evils  
by a special machinery1 viz41 the       
machinery of good and bad seasons1 are  
aggravated for a modern state intensely1
 whenever she depends too much upon     
alien stores2 and specifically they are 
aggravated by the fact that both grains 
enter the same market1 so that the one  
by too high a price is encouraged       
unreasonably1 the other by the same     
price 7too low for opposite             
circumstances7 is depressed ruinously as
 regards coming years2 whence in the end
 two sets of disturbances--one set      
frequently from the present seasons1 and
 a second set from the way in which     
these are made to act upon the future   
markets4  ,thirdly1 the ,roman          
corn-trade did not of necessity affect  
her military service injuriously1 and   
for this reason1 that rural economy did 
not of necessity languish because       

agriculture languished locally2 some    
other culture1 as of vineyards1 oliveta1
 orchards1 pastures1 replaced the       
declining culture of grain2 if ploughmen
 were fewer1 other labourers were more4 
,it is forgotten1 besides1 that the     
decline of ,italian agriculture1 never  
more than local1 was exceedingly        
gradual2 for two hundred and fifty years
 before the ,christian era ,italy never 
had depended exclusively upon herself4  
,sardinia and ,sicily1 at her own doors1
 were her granaries2 consequently the   
change never had been that abrupt change
 which modern writers imagine4  ,but let
 us indulge in the luxury of confirming 
what we have said by the light of       
contrast4 ,suppose the circumstances    
changed1 suppose them reversed1 and then
 all those evil consequence sought to   
take effect which in the case of ,rome  
we have denied4 ,now1 it happened that  
they were reversed2 not1 indeed1 for    
,rome1 who had been herself ruined as   
metropolis of the ,west before the      

effects of a foreign corn-dependence    
could unfold themselves1 but for her    
daughter and rival in the ,east4 ,early 
in the seventh century1 near to the very
 crisis of the ,hegira 7which dates from
 the ,christian year #fbb71             
,constantinople1 ,eastern ,rome1        
suddenly became acquainted with the     
panic of famine4 ,in one hour perhaps   
this change fell upon the imperial city1
 and1 but for the imperial granaries1   
not the panic of famine1 but famine     
itself1 would have surprised the        
imperial city2 for the suddenness of the
 calamity would have allowed no means of
 searching out or raising up a relief to
 it4 ,at that time the greatest man who 
ever occupied the chair of the ,eastern 
,csars1 viz41 ,heraclius1#bd was at the 
head of affairs4 ,but the perplexity was
 such that no man could face it4 ,on the
 one hand ,constantine1 the founder of  
this junior ,rome1 had settled upon the 
houses of the city a claim for a weekly 
dimensum of grain4 ,upon this they      

relied2 so that doubly the ,government  
stood pledged--first1 for the           
importation of corn that should be      
sufficient2 secondly1 for its           
distribution upon terms as near to those
 of ,constantine as possible4 ,but1 on  
the other hand1 ,persia 7the one great  
stationary enemy of the empire7 had in  
the year #fah suddenly overrun ,egypt2  
grain became deficient on the banks of  
the ,nile--had it even been plentiful1  
to so detested an enemy it would have   
been denied--and thus1 without a month's
 warning1 the supply1 which had not     
failed since the inauguration of the    
city in #ccj1 ceased in one week4 ,the  
people of this mighty city were pressed 
by the heaviest of afflictions4 ,the    
emperor1 under false expectations1 was  
tempted into making engagements which he
 could not keep2 the ,government1 at a  
period which otherwise and for many     
years to come was one of awful crisis1  
became partially insolvent2 the shepherd
 was dishonoured1 the flocks were       

ruined2 and had that ,persian armament  
which about ten years later laid siege  
to ,constantinople then stood at her    
gates1 the ,cross would have been       
trampled on by the fire-worshipping     
idolater1 and the barbarous ,avar would 
have desolated the walls of the         
glorified ,csar who first saw ,christ   
marching in the van of ,roman armies4   
,such an iliad of woes would have       
expanded itself seriatim1 and by a long 
procession1 from the one original       
mischief of depending for daily bread   
upon those who might suddenly become    
enemies or tools of enemies4 ,england6  
read in the distress of that great      
,csar1#be who may with propriety be     
called the earliest 7as he was the most 
prosperous7 of ,crusaders1 read in the  
internal struggle of his heart--too     
conscious that dishonour had settled    
upon his purple--read in the            
degradations which he traversed as some 
fiery furnace 7yet not unsinged71 the   
inevitable curses which await nations   

who sacrifice1 for a momentary          
convenience of bread1 sacrifice for a   
loaf1 the charter of their supremacy6   
,this is literally to fulfil the        
,scriptural case of selling a birthright
 for a mess of pottage4  ,for ,england  
we may say of this case--,transeat in   
exemplum6  ,great ,britain1 on the      
contrary1 is limited in her             
recruiting-grounds by modern political  
relations as respects ,europe3 she has  
formed an excellent foreign corps long  
ago in the ,mediterranean2 a ,hessian   
corps in ,america2 an admirable         
,hanoverian legion during the late war4 
,but circumstances too often prevent her
 relying 7as the ,romans did7 on the    
perfection of her military system so far
 as to dispense with native materials2  
except1 indeed1 in the ,east1 where the 
,roman principle is carried out to the  
widest extent1 needing only one-tenth of
 ,british by way of model and           
inspiration under circumstances of      
peculiar trial6 ,in ,african stations   

also1 in the ,west ,indies and on the   
,american continent 7as in ,honduras71  
,england proceeds 7though               
insufficiently7 upon this fine ,roman   
principle1 making her theory1 her       
discipline1 and the network of her rules
 do the work of her own too costly      
hands4 ,she1 like ,rome1 finds the      
benefit of her fine system chiefly in   
the dispensation which it facilitates   
from working with any exhaustible fund  
of means4 ,excellent must be that       
workmanship which can afford to be      
careless about its materials2 yet       
still--where naturally and essentially  
it must be said that materiem superabat 
opus1 because one section of our martial
 service moves by nautical soldiers1 and
 with respect to the other half because 
it is necessary to meet ,european troops
 by men of ,british blood--we cannot1   
for ,european purposes1 look to any     
other districts than our own native     
officin of population4 ,the ,life       
,guards 7#ast regiment7 and the ,blues  

7#bnd7 recruit chiefly1 or did so thirty
 years ago1 in ,yorkshire4 ,this is a   
manufacturing county1 though in a mode  
of manufacturing which escapes many     
evils of the factory system4 ,and       
generally we are little disposed        
pedantically to disparage towns as funds
 of a good soldiery4 ,men of mighty bone
 and thews1 sons of ,anak1 to our own   
certain knowledge1 arise in ,kendal1    
,wakefield1 ,bradford and ,leeds2 huge  
men1 by thousands1 amongst the spinners 
and weavers of ,glasgow1 ,paisley1 etc41
 well able to fight their way through   
battalions of clod-hoppers whose talk is
 of oxen4 ,but1 unless in times subject 
to special distress1 it is not so easy  
to tempt away the weaver from his loom  
as the delver from his spade4 ,we       
believe the reason to be1 that the      
monotony of a rustic life is more       
oppressive to those who have limited    
resources than the corresponding        
monotony of a town life4 ,for this      
reason1 and for many others1 it is      

certain--and perhaps 7unless we get to  
fighting with steam-men7 it will        
continue to be certain through          
centuries--that1 for the main staple of 
her armies and her navies1 ,england must
 depend upon the quality of her bold    
peasantry and noble yeomanry2 for we    
must remember that1 of those huge-limbed
 men who are found in the six northern  
counties of ,england and in the         
,scottish ,lowlands1 of those           
elegantly-formed men who are found in   
,devonshire1 ,cornwall1 etc41 of those  
hardy men 7a feature in human physics   
still more important7 who are found in  
every district--if many are now resident
 in towns1 most of them originated in   
rustic life2 and from rustic life it is 
that the reservoir of towns is          
permanently fed4 ,rome was1 ,england    
never will be1 independent of her rural 
population4 ,rome never had a yeomanry1 
,rome never had a race of country       
gentlemen2 ,england has both upon a     
scale so truly noble that it will be the

 simplest expression of that nobility to
 say1 pointing to our villages1 ',behold
 the cradle of our army6' as inversely  
to say1 pointing to that army3 ',behold 
the manhood of our villages6' ,as       
regards ,rome1 from the bisection of the
 ,roman territory into two several corn 
districts depending upon a separate     
agriculture1 it results that her wealth 
could not be defeated and transferred2  
secondly1 it results from the total     
subjection of ,egypt1 that no embargo   
could be laid on the harvests of the    
,nile1 and no famine could be organized 
against ,rome2 thirdly1 it results that 
the ,roman military system was thus not 
liable to be affected by any dependency 
upon foreign grain4 ,on the argument    
that this dependency had always been    
proceeding gradually in ,italy1 so as   
virtually to reimburse itself by        
vicarious culture1 whereas in ,england  
the transition from independency to     
dependency1 being accomplished 7if at   
all7 in one day by ,act of ,parliament1 

would be ruinously abrupt2 and also on  
the argument ,b1 that ,rome1 if slowly  
losing any recruiting districts at home1
 found compensatory districts all round 
the ,mediterranean1 whilst ,england     
could find no such compensatory         
districts--we deny that the             
circumstances of the ,roman corn trade  
have ever been stated truly2 and we     
expect the thanks of our readers for    
drawing their attention to this outline 
of the points which essentially         
differenced it from the modern corn     
trade of ,england4 ,england must1 but   
,rome could not1 reap from a foreign    
corn dependency3 firstly1 ruinous       
disturbance to the natural expansions of
 her wealth2 secondly1 famine by        
intervals for her vast population2      
thirdly1 impoverishment to her          
recruiting service4 ,these are the      
dreadful evils 7some uniform1 some      
contingent7 which ,england would inherit
 of her native agriculture1 but which   
,rome escaped under that partial        

transfer1 never really accomplished4    
,meantime1 let the reader remember that 
it is ,rome1 and not ,england--,rome    
historically1 not ,england              
politically--which forms the object of  
our exposure4 ,england is but the means 
of the illustration4  ,in our own days  
wars in their ebbs and flows are but    
another name for the resources of the   
national exchequer1 or expressions of   
its artificial facilities for turning   
those resources to account4 ,the great  
artifice of anticipation applied to     
national income--an artifice sure to    
follow where civilization has expanded1 
and which would have arisen to ,rome had
 her civilization been either 7,a7      
completely developed1 or 7,b7 expanded  
originally from a true radix--has       
introduced a new era into national      
history4 ,the man who1 having had       
property1 invests in the ,funds1 and    
divides between his grandchildren and   
the five subsequent generations what    
will yield them subsistence1 is the     

author of an expansive improvement which
 has been enjoyed by all in turn1 and   
with more fixed assurance in the last   
case than in the first4 ,he is a public 
benefactor in more ways than appears on 
the surface3 he takes the most efficient
 guarantees against needless wars4      
,captain ,jenkins's ears#bf might have  
been redeemed at a less price2 but still
 the war taught a lesson1 which1 if     
avoidable at that instant1 was certainly
 blamable2 but it had its use in        
enforcing on other nations the          
conviction that ,england washed out     
insult with retribution1 and for every  
drop of blood wantonly spilt demanded an
 ocean in return4 ,perhaps you will say 
this was no great improvement on the    
old4 ,no2 not in appearance1 it may be2 
but that was because war had to open a  
field which mere diplomacy1 unsupported 
by the sword1 could not open1 and       
secured what we may well call a moral   
result in the eye of the whole world1   
which diplomacy could not secure in our 

guilty ,europe4 ,but was that1 you ask1 
a condition to be contemplated with     
complete satisfaction8 ,no2 nor is it   
right that it should4 ,but the dawn of a
 new era is approaching1 for which that 
may have done its installment of        
preparation4 ,not that war will cease   
for many generations1 but that it will  
continually move more in greater        
subjection to national laws and         
,christian opinion4 ,nevermore will it  
be excited by mere court intrigue1 or   
even by ministerial necessities4 ,no    
more will a quarrel between two ladies  
about a pair of gloves1 or a fit of     
ill-temper in a prince toward his       
minister1 call forth the dread scourge  
by way of letting off personal          
irritation or redressing the balance of 
parties4  ,funding1 therefore1 was a    
great step in advance2 and even already 
we have only to look into the ,exchequer
 in order to read the possibilities1 the
 ebbs and flows of war beforehand4 ,this
 consideration of money1 it is          

true--even as the sinews of war--was not
 so great in ancient history4 ,and the  
reason is evident4 ,kings did not then  
go to war by money1 but for money4 ,they
 did not look into the ,exchequer for   
the means of a campaign1 but they looked
 into a campaign for the means of an    
,exchequer4 ,yet even in these nations1 
more of their history1 of their doings  
and sufferings1 lay in their economy    
than anywhere else4 ,the great ,oriental
 phantoms1 such as the ,pharaohs and the
 ,sargons1 did1 it is true1 bring       
nations to war without much more care   
for the commissariat department than is 
given in the battles of the ,kites and  
,daws4 ,yet even there the political    
economy made itself felt1 obscurely and 
indirectly it may be1 but really and    
effectively1 acting by laws that varied 
their force rather to the eye than to   
the understanding1 and presented indeed 
a final restraining force to these kings
 also4 ,for examine these wars1 fabulous
 as they are2 look into the when1 the   

whence1 the how2 into the duration of   
the campaigns1 into their objects1 and  
into the quality of the troops1 into the
 circumstances under which they were    
trained and fought1 and this will       
abundantly appear4  ,certainly1 the     
commissariat which we do by foresight1  
they did by brute efforts of power2 but 
the leading economical laws which are   
now clear to us1 and which1 with full   
perception of their inevitable          
operation1 we take into account1 made   
themselves felt in the last result if   
only then blindly realized2 and in the  
fact that these laws are now clearly    
apprehended lies the prevailing reason  
that modern wars must1 on the side alike
 of the commissariat and of social      
effects in various directions1 be widely
 different from war in ancient times4   
,,footnotes3  #ba ,one pretended proof  
of a decline is found in the supposed   
substitution of slave labour for free   
,italian labour4 ,this began1 it is     
urged1 on the opening of the ,nile corn 

trade4 ,unfortunately1 that is a mere   
romance4 ,ovid1 describing rural        
appearances in ,italy when as yet the   
trade was hardly in its infancy1 speaks 
of the rustic labourer as working in    
fetters4 ,juvenal1 in an age when the   
trade had been vastly expanded1 notices 
the same phenomenon almost in the same  
terms4  #bb ',the best raw material4'   
,some people hold that the ,romans and  
,italians were a cowardly nation4 ,we   
doubt this on the whole4 ,physically1   
however1 they were inferior to their    
neighbours4 ,it is certain that the     
,transalpine ,gauls were a conspicuously
 taller race4 ,csar says3 ',gallis1 pr  
magnitudine corporum quorum1 brevitas   
nostra contemptui est' 7',bell4 ,gall4' 
#b1 #cj fin472 and the ,germans1 in a   
still higher degree1 were both larger   
men and every way more powerful4 ,the   
kites1 says ,juvenal1 had never feasted 
on carcases so huge as those of the     
,cimbri and ,teutones4 ,but this        
physical superiority1 though great for  

special purposes1 was not such          
absolutely4 ,for the more general uses  
of the legionary soldier1 for marching1 
for castrametation1 and the daily       
labours of the spade or mattock1 a      
lighter build was better4 ,as to single 
combats1 it was one effect from the     
,roman 7as from every good7             
discipline--that it diminished the      
openings for such showy but perilous    
modes of contest4  #bc ',any            
considerable portion of this provincial 
corn growth1' i4e41 of the provincial   
culture which was pursued on account of 
,rome1 meaning not the government of    
,rome1 but1 in a rigorous sense1 on     
account of ,rome the city4 ,for here    
lies a great oversight of historians and
 economists4 ,because ,rome1 with a view
 to her own privileged population1 i4e41
 the urban population of ,rome1 the     
metropolis1 in order that she might     
support her public distributions of     
grain1 almost of necessity depended on  
foreign supplies1 we are not to suppose 

that the great mass of ,italian towns   
and municipia did so4 ,maritime towns1  
having the benefit of ports or of       
convenient access1 undoubtedly were     
participators in the ,roman advantage4  
,but inland towns would in those days   
have forfeited the whole difference     
between foreign and domestic grain by   
the enormous cost of inland carriage4   
,of canals there was but one2 the rivers
 were not generally navigable1 and ports
 as well as river shipping were wanting4
  #bd ',heraclius4' ,the same prosodial 
fault affects this name as that of      
,alexandria4 ,in each name the ,latin i 
represents a ,greek ei1 and in that     
situation 7viz41 as a penultimate       
syllable7 should receive the emphasis in
 pronunciation as well as the sound of a
 long i 7that sound which is heard in   
,longinus74 ,so again ,academia1 not    
,academia4 ,the ,greek accentuation may 
be doubted1 but not the ,roman4  #be ,we
 have already said that ,heraclius1 who 
and whose family filled the throne of   

,eastern ,csar for exactly one hundred  
years 7#faa-gaa71 consequently          
interesting in this way 7if in no       
other71 that he1 as the reader will see 
by considering the limits in point of   
time1 must have met and exhausted the   
first rage of the ,mahometan avalanche1 
merits according to our estimate the    
title of first and noblest amongst the  
,oriental ,csars4 ,there are records or 
traditions of his earliest acts that we 
could wish otherwise4 ,which of us would
 not offend even at this day1 if called 
upon to act under one scale of          
sympathies1 and to be judged under      
another8 ,in his own day1 too painfully 
we say it1 ,heraclius could not have    
followed what we venture to believe the 
suggestions of his heart1 in relation to
 his predecessor1 because a policy had  
been established which made it dangerous
 to be merciful1 and a state of public  
feeling which made it effeminate to     
pardon4 ,first make it safe to permit a 
man's life1 before you pronounce it     

ignoble to authorize his death4 ,strip  
mercy of ruin to its author1 before you 
affirm upon a judicial punishment of    
death 7as then it was7 cruelty in the   
adviser or ignobility in the approver4  
,escaping from these painful scenes at  
the threshold of his public life1 we    
find ,heraclius preparing for a war1 the
 most difficult that in any age any hero
 has confronted4 ,we call him the       
earliest of ,crusaders1 because he first
 and literally fought for the recovery  
of the ,cross4 ,we call him the most    
prosperous of ,crusaders1 because he    
first--he last--succeeded in all that he
 sought1 bringing back to ,syria        
7ultimately to ,constantinople7 that    
sublime symbol of victorious            
,christianity which had been            
disgracefully lost at ,jerusalem4 ,yet  
why1 when comparing him not with        
,crusaders1 but with ,csars1 do we      
pronounce him the noblest8 ,reader1     
which is it that is felt by a thoughtful
 man--supposing him called upon to      

select one act by preference before all 
others--to be the grandest act of our   
own ,wellesley8 ,is it not the sagacious
 preparation of the lines at ,torres    
,vedras1 the self-mastery which lured   
the ,french on to their ruin1 the       
long-suffering policy which reined up   
his troops till that ruin was           
accomplished8 ',i bide my time1' was the
 dreadful watchword of ,wellington      
through that great drama2 in which1 let 
us tell the ,french critics on ,tragedy1
 they will find the most absolute unity 
of plot2 for the forming of the lines as
 the fatal noose1 the wiling back the   
enemy1 the pursuit when the work of     
disorganization was perfect1 all were   
parts of one and the same drama4 ,if he 
7as another ,scipio7 saw another ,zama1 
in this instance he was not our ,scipio 
or ,marcellus1 but our ,fabius ,maximus3
  ',unus homo nobis cunctando restituit 
rem4'--',ann4' #h1 #bg4  ,now1 such was 
the ,emperor ,heraclius4 ,he also had   
his avenging ,zama4 ,but1 during a      

memorable interval of eleven years1 he  
held back2 fiercely reined up his wrath2
 brooded2 smiled often balefully2       
watched in his lair2 and then1 when the 
hour had struck1 let slip his armies and
 his thunderbolts as no ,csar had ever  
done1 except that one who founded the   
name of ,csar4  #bf ,a brutal outrage on
 a ,captain ,jenkins--i4e41 cutting off 
his ears--was the cause of a war with   
,spain in the reign of ,george          
,,ii4--,,ed4     ,,xviii4 ,,national    
,,manners ,,and ,,false ,,judgment ,,of 
,,them4   ,anecdotes illustrative of    
manners1 above all of national manners1 
will be found on examination1 in a far  
larger proportion than might be         
supposed1 rank falsehoods4 ,malice is   
the secret foundation of all anecdotes  
in that class4 ,the ordinary course of  
such falsehoods is1 that first of all   
some stranger and alien to those        
feelings which have prompted a          
particular usage--incapable1 therefore1 
of entering fully into its spirit or    

meaning--tries to exhibit its absurdity 
more forcibly by pushing it into an     
extreme or trying case4 ,coming himself 
from some gross form of                 
,kleinstdtigkeit1 where no restraints of
 decorum exist1 and where everybody     
speaks to everybody1 he has been utterly
 confounded by the ,english ceremony of 
'introduction1' when enforced as the    
sine qu non condition of personal       
intercourse4 ,if ,england is right1 then
 how clownishly wrong must have been his
 own previous circles6 ,if ,england is  
not ridiculously fastidious1 then how   
bestially grovelling must be the spirit 
of social intercourse in his own land6  
,but no man reconciles himself to this  
view of things in a moment4 ,he kicks   
even against his own secret convictions4
 ,he blushes with shame and anger at the
 thought of his own family perhaps      
brought suddenly into collision with    
polished ,englishmen2 he thrills with   
wrath at the recollection of having     
himself trespassed upon this code of    

restriction at a time when he was yet   
unwarned of its existence4 ,in this     
temper he is little qualified to review 
such a regulation with reason and good  
sense4 ,he seeks to make it appear      
ridiculous4 ,he presses it into violent 
cases for which it was never intended4  
,he supposes a case where some          
fellow-creature is drowning4 ,how would 
an ,englishman act1 how could he act1   
even under such circumstances as these8 
,we know1 we who are blinded by no      
spite1 that as a bar to personal        
communication or to any interchange of  
good offices under appeals so forcible  
as these1 this law of formal            
presentation between the parties never  
did and never will operate4 ,the whole  
motive to such a law gives way at once4 
,,xix4 ,,increased ,,possibilities ,,of 
,,sympathy ,,in ,,the ,,present ,,age4  
,some years ago ,i had occasion to      
remark that a new era was coming on by  
hasty strides for national politics1 a  
new organ was maturing itself for public

 effects4 ,sympathy--how great a power  
is that6 ,conscious sympathy--how       
immeasurable6 ,now1 for the total       
development of this power1 time is the  
most critical of elements4 ,thirty years
 ago1 when the ,edinburgh mail took     
ninety-six hours in its transit from    
,london1 how slow was the reaction of   
the ,scottish capital upon the ,english6
 ,eight days for the diaulos#bg of the  
journey1 and two1 suppose1 for getting  
up a public meeting1 composed a cycle of
 ten before an act received its         
commentary1 before a speech received its
 refutation1 or an appeal its damnatory 
answer4 ,what was the consequence8 ,the 
sound was disconnected from its echo1   
the kick was severed from the           
recalcitration1 the ',take you this6'   
was unlinked from the ',and take you    
that6' ,vengeance was defeated1 and     
sympathy dissolved into the air4 ,but   
now mark the difference4 ,a meeting on  
,monday in ,liverpool is by possibility 
reported in the ,london ,standard of    

,monday evening4 ,on ,tuesday1 the      
splendid merchant1 suppose his name were
 ,thomas ,sands1 who had just sent a    
vibration through all the pulses of     
,liverpool1 of ,manchester1 of          
,warrington1 sees this great rolling    
fire 7which hardly yet has reached his  
own outlying neighbourhoods7 taken up   
afar off1 redoubled1 multiplied1 peal   
after peal1 through the vast artilleries
 of ,london4 ,back comes rolling upon   
him the smoke and the thunder--the      
defiance to the slanderer and the       
warning to the offender--groans that    
have been extorted from wounded honour1 
aspirations rising from the fervent     
heart--truth that had been hidden1      
wisdom that challenged co-operation4    
,and thus it is that all the nation1    
thus 'all that mighty heart1' through   
nine hundred miles of space1 from       
,sutherlandshire by ,london to the      
myrtle climate of ,cornwall1 has become 
and is ever more becoming one infinite  
harp1 swept by the same breeze of       

sentiment1 reverberating the same       
sympathies      ',here1 there1 and in   
all places at one time4'#bh  ,time1     
therefore1 that ancient enemy of man and
 his frail purposes1 how potent an ally 
has it become in combination with great 
mechanic changes6 ,many an imperfect    
hemisphere of thought1 action1 desire1  
that could not heretofore unite with its
 corresponding hemisphere1 because      
separated by ten or fourteen days of    
suspense1 now moves electrically to its 
integration1 hurries to its complement1 
realizes its orbicular perfection1      
spherical completion1 through that      
simple series of improvements which to  
man have given the wings and talaria of 
,gods1 for the heralds have dimly       
suggested a future rivalship with the   
velocities of light1 and even now have  
inaugurated a race between the child of 
mortality and the ,north ,wind4         
,,footnotes3  #bg ',the diaulos of the  
journey4' ,we recommend to the amateur  
in words this ,greek phrase1 which      

expresses by one word an egress linked  
with its corresponding regress1 which   
indicates at once the voyage outwards   
and the voyage inwards1 as the briefest 
of expressions for what is technically  
called 'course of post1' i4e41 the      
reciprocation of post1 its systole and  
diastole4  #bh ,wordsworth4     ,,xx4   
,,the ,,principle ,,of ,,evil4   ,we are
 not to suppose the rebel1 or1 more     
properly1 corrupted angels--the         
rebellion being in the result1 not in   
the intention 7which is as little       
conceivable in an exalted spirit as that
 man should prepare to make war on      
gravitation7--were essentially evil4    
,whether a principle of evil--essential 
evil--anywhere exists can only be       
guessed4 ,so gloomy an idea is shut up  
from man4 ,yet1 if so1 possibly the     
angels and man were nearing it          
continually4  ,possibly after a certain 
approach to that ,maelstrom recall might
 be hopeless4 ,possibly many anchors had
 been thrown out to pick up1 had all    

dragged1 and last of all came to the    
,jewish trial4 7,of course1 under the   
,pagan absence of sin1 a fall was       
impossible4 ,a return was impossible1 in
 the sense that you cannot return to a  
place which you have never left4 ,have  
,i ever noticed this87 ,we are not to   
suppose that the angels were really in a
 state of rebellion4 ,so far from that1 
it was evidently amongst the purposes of
 ,god that what are called false ,gods1 
and are so in the ultimate sense of     
resting on tainted principles and       
tending to ruin--perhaps irretrievable  
7though it would be the same thing      
practically if no restoration were      
possible but through vast ons of unhappy
 incarnations7--but otherwise were as   
real as anything can be into whose      
nature a germ of evil has entered1      
should effect a secondary ministration  
of the last importance to man's welfare4
 ,doubt there can be little that without
 any religion1 any sense of dependency1 
or gratitude1 or reverence as to        

superior natures1 man would rapidly have
 deteriorated2 and that would have      
tended to such destruction of all nobler
 principles--patriotism 7strong in the  
old world as with us71 humanity1 ties of
 parentage or neighbourhood--as would   
soon have thinned the world2 so that the
 ,jewish process thus going on must have
 failed for want of correspondencies to 
the scheme--possibly endless            
oscillations which1 however coincident  
with plagues1 would extirpate the human 
race4 ,we may see in manufacturing      
neighbourhoods1 so long as no dependency
 exists on masters1 where wages show    
that not work1 but workmen1 are scarce1 
how unamiable1 insolent1 fierce1 are the
 people2 the poor cottagers on a great  
estate may sometimes offend you by too  
obsequious a spirit towards all gentry4 
,that was a transition state in ,england
 during the first half of the eighteenth
 century1 when few manufacturers and    
merchants had risen to such a generous  
model4 ,but this leaves room for many   

domestic virtues that would suffer      
greatly in the other state4 ,yet this is
 but a faint image of the total         
independency4 ,oaths were sacred only   
through the temporal judgments supposed 
to overtake those who insulted the ,gods
 by summoning them to witness a false   
contract4 ,but this would have been only
 part of the evil4 ,so long as men      
acknowledged higher natures1 they were  
doubtful about futurity4 ,this doubt had
 little strength on the side of hope1   
but much on the side of fear4 ,the      
blessings of any future state were      
cheerless and insipid mockeries2 so     
,achilles--how he bemoans his state6    
,but the torments were real4 ,by far    
more1 however1 they1 through this coarse
 agency of syllogistic dread1 would act 
to show man the degradation of his      
nature when all light of a higher       
existence had disappeared4 ,that which  
did not exist for natures supposed      
capable originally of immortality1 how  
should it exist for him8 ,and that man  

must have observed with little attention
 what takes place in this world if he   
needs to be told that nothing tends to  
make his own species cheap and hateful  
in his eyes so certainly as moral       
degradation driven to a point of no     
hope4 ,so in squalid dungeons1 in       
captivities of slaves1 nay1 in absolute 
pauperism1 all hate each other fiercely4
 ,even with us1 how sad is the          
thought--that1 just as a man needs pity1
 as he is stript of all things1 when    
most the sympathy of men should settle  
on him1 then most is he contemplated    
with a hard-hearted contempt6 ,the ,jews
 when injured by our own oppressive     
princes were despised and hated4 ,had   
they raised an empire1 licked their     
oppressors well1 they would have been   
compassionately loved4 ,so lunatics     
heretofore2 so galley-slaves--,toulon1  
,marseilles1 etc4 ,this brutal principle
 of degradation soon developed in man4  
,the ,gods1 therefore1 performed a great
 agency for man4 ,and it is clear that  

,god did not discourage common rites or 
rights for ,his altar or theirs4 ,nay1  
he sent ,israel to ,egypt--as one       
reason--to learn ceremonies amongst a   
people who sequestered them4 ,in evil   
the ,jews always clove to their         
religion4 ,next the difficulty of       
people1 miracles1 though less for false 
,gods1 and least of all for the meanest1
 was alike for both4 ,astarte does not  
kill ,sayth on the spot1 but by a       
judgment4 ,gods1 no more their ,god1    
spake an instant law4 ,even the prophets
 are properly no prophets1 but only the 
mode of speech by ,god1--as clear as ,he
 can speak4 ,men mistake ,god's hate by 
their own4 ,so neither could ,he reveal 
,himself4 ,a vast age would be required 
for seeing ,god4  ,but for the thought  
of man as evil 7or of any other form of 
evil71 as reconcilable with their idea  
of a perfect ,god1 a happy idea may1    
like the categories1 proceed upon a     
necessity for a perfect inversion of the
 methodus conspiciendi4 ,let us retrace1

 but in such a form as to be            
apprehensible by all readers4 ,analytic 
and synthetic propositions at once throw
 light upon the notion of a category4   
,once it had been a mere abstraction2 of
 no possible use except as a convenient 
cell for referring 7as in a nest of     
boxes71 which may perhaps as much       
degrade the idea as a relative of my own
 degraded the image of the crescent moon
 by saying1 in his abhorrence of        
sentimentality1 that it reminded him of 
the segment from his own thumb-nail when
 clean cut by an instrument called a    
nail-cutter4 ,this was the ,aristotelian
 notion4 ,but ,kant could not content   
himself with this idea4 ,his own theory 
7#a7 as to time and space1 7#b7 the     
refutation of ,hume's notion of cause1  
and 7#c7 his own great discovery of     
synthetic and analytic propositions1 all
 prepared the way for a totally new     
view4 ,but1 now1 what is the origin of  
this necessity applied to the category  
as founded in the synthesis8 ,how does a

 synthesis make itself or anything else 
necessary8 ,explain me that4  ,this was 
written perhaps a fortnight ago4 ,now1  
,monday1 ,may #bc 7day fixed for ,dan   
,good's execution71 ,i do explain it by 
what this moment ,i seem to have        
discovered--the necessity of cause1 of  
substance1 etc41 lies in the intervening
 synthesis4 ,this you must pass through 
in the course tending to and finally    
reaching the idea2 for the analytical   
presupposes this synthesis4  ,not only  
must the energies of destruction be     
equal to those of creation1 but1 in     
fact1 perhaps by the trespassing a      
little of the first upon the last1 is   
the true advance sustained2 for it must 
be an advance as well as a balance4 ,but
 you say this will but in other words   
mean that forces devoted 7and properly  
so7 to production or creation are       
absorbed by destruction4 ,true2 but the 
opposing phenomena will be going on in a
 large ratio1 and each must react on the
 other4 ,the productive must meet and   

correspond to the destructive4 ,the     
destructive must revise and stimulate   
the continued production4     ,,xxi4    
,,on ,,miracles4   ,what else is the    
laying of such a stress on miracles but 
the case of 'a wicked and adulterous    
generation asking a sign'8  ,but what   
are these miracles for8 ,to prove a     
legislation from ,god4 ,but1 first1 this
 could not be proved1 even if           
miracle-working were the test of ,divine
 mission1 by doing miracles until we    
knew whether the power were genuine2    
i4e41 not1 like the magicians of        
,pharaoh or the witch of ,endor1 from   
below4 ,secondly1 you are a poor1       
pitiful creature1 that think the power  
to do miracles1 or power of any kind    
that can exhibit itself in an act1 the  
note of a god-like commission4 ,better  
is one ray of truth 7not seen previously
 by man71 of moral truth1 e4g41         
forgiveness of enemies1 than all the    
powers which could create the world4    
',oh yes6' says the objector2 'but      

,christ was holy as a man4' ,this we    
know first2 then we judge by ,his power 
that ,he must have been from ,god4 ,but 
if it were doubtful whether ,his power  
were from ,god1 then1 until this doubt  
is otherwise1 is independently removed1 
you cannot decide if ,he was holy by a  
test of holiness absolutely irrelevant4 
,with other holiness--apparent          
holiness--a simulation might be         
combined4 ,you can never tell that a man
 is holy2 and for the plain reason that 
,god only can read the heart4  ',let    
,him come down from the cross1 and we1' 
etc4 ,yes2 they fancied so4 ,but see    
what would really have followed4 ,they  
would have been stunned and confounded  
for the moment1 but not at all converted
 in heart4 ,their hatred to ,christ was 
not built on their unbelief1 but their  
unbelief in ,christ was built on their  
hatred2 and this hatred would not have  
been mitigated by another 7however      
astounding7 miracle4 ,this ,i wrote     
7,monday morning1 ,june #g1 #ahdg7 in   

reference to my saying on the general   
question of miracles3 ,why these dubious
 miracles8--such as curing blindness    
that may have been cured by a           
process8--since the unity given to the  
act of healing is probably 7more        
probably than otherwise7 but the        
figurative unity of the tendency to     
mythus2 or else it is that unity        
misapprehended and mistranslated by the 
reporters4 ,such1 again1 as the miracles
 of the loaves--so liable to be utterly 
gossip1 so incapable of being watched or
 examined amongst a crowd of #g1jjj     
people4 ,besides1 were these people mad8
 ,the very fact which is said to have   
drawn ,christ's pity1 viz41 their       
situation in the desert1 surely could   
not have escaped their own attention on 
going thither4 ,think of #g1jjj people  
rushing to a sort of destruction2 for if
 less than that the mere inconvenience  
was not worthy of ,divine attention4    
,now1 said ,i1 why not give us 7if      
miracles are required7 one that nobody  

could doubt--removing a mountain1 e4g48 
,yes2 but here the other party begin to 
see the evil of miracles4 ,oh1 this     
would have coerced people into          
believing6 ,rest you safe as to that4   
,it would have been no believing in any 
proper sense3 it would1 at the          
utmost--and supposing no vital demur to 
popular miracle--have led people into   
that belief which ,christ ,himself      
describes 7and regrets7 as calling ,him 
,lord6 ,lord6 ,the pretended belief     
would have left them just where they    
were as to any real belief in ,christ4  
,previously1 however1 or over and above 
all this1 there would be the demur 7let 
the miracle have been what it might7 of1
 ,by what power1 by whose agency or     
help8 ,for if ,christ does a miracle1   
probably ,he may do it by alliance with 
some ,z standing behind1 out of sight4  
,or if by ,his own skill1 how or whence 
derived1 or of what nature8 ,this       
obstinately recurrent question remains4 
,there is not the meanest court in      

,christendom or ,islam that would not   
say1 if called on to adjudicate the     
rights of an estate on such evidence as 
the mere facts of the ,gospel3 ',o good 
,god1 how can we do this8 ,which of us  
knows who this ,matthew was--whether he 
ever lived1 or1 if so1 whether he ever  
wrote a line of all this8 or1 if he did1
 how situated as to motives1 as to means
 of information1 as to judgment and     
discrimination8 ,who knows anything of  
the contrivances or the various personal
 interests in which the whole narrative 
originated1 or when8 ,all is dark and   
dusty4' ,nothing in such a case can be  
proved but what shines by its own light4
 ,nay1 ,god ,himself could not attest a 
miracle1 but 7listen to this67--but by  
the internal revelation or visiting of  
the ,spirit--to evade which1 to dispense
 with which1 a miracle is ever resorted 
to4  ,besides the objection to miracles 
that they are not capable of            
attestation1 ,hume's objection is not   
that they are false1 but that they are  

incommunicable4 ,two different duties   
arise for the man who witnesses a       
miracle and for him who receives        
traditionally4 ,the duty of the first is
 to confide in his own experience1 which
 may1 besides1 have been repeated2 of   
the second1 to confide in his           
understanding1 which says3 ',less marvel
 that the reporter should have erred    
than that nature should have been       
violated4'  ,how dearly do these people 
betray their own hypocrisy about the    
divinity of ,christianity1 and at the   
same time the meanness of their own     
natures1 who think the ,messiah1 or     
,god's ,messenger1 must first prove ,his
 own commission by an act of power2     
whereas 7#a7 a new revelation of moral  
forces could not be invented by all     
generations1 and 7#b7 an act of power   
much more probably argues an alliance   
with the devil4 ,i should gloomily      
suspect a man who came forward as a     
magician4  ,suppose the ,gospels written
 thirty years after the events1 and by  

ignorant1 superstitious men who have    
adopted the fables that old women had   
surrounded ,christ with--how does this  
supposition vitiate the report of       
,christ's parables8 ,but1 on the other  
hand1 they could no more have invented  
the parables than a man alleging a      
diamond-mine could invent a diamond as  
attestation4 ,the parables prove        
themselves4     ,,xxii4 ',,let ,,him    
,,come ,,down ,,from ,,the ,,cross4'    
,now1 this is exceedingly well worth    
consideration4 ,i know not at all       
whether what ,i am going to say has been
 said already--life would not suffice in
 every field or section of a field to   
search every nook and section of a nook 
for the possibilities of chance         
utterance given to any stray opinion4   
,but this ,i know without any doubt at  
all1 that it cannot have been said      
effectually1 cannot have been so said as
 to publish and disperse itself2 else it
 is impossible that the crazy logic     
current upon these topics should have   

lived1 or that many separate arguments  
should ever for very shame have been    
uttered4 ,said or not said1 let us      
presume it unsaid1 and let me state the 
true answer as if de novo1 even if by   
accident somewhere the darkness shelters
 this same answer as uttered long ago4  
,now1 therefore1 ,i will suppose that   
,he had come down from the ,cross4 ,no  
case can so powerfully illustrate the   
filthy falsehood and pollution of that  
idea which men generally entertain1     
which the sole creditable books         
universally build upon4 ,what would have
 followed8 ,this would have followed3   
that1 inverting the order of every true 
emanation from ,god1 instead of growing 
and expanding for ever like a symbol3 1 
it would have attained its maximum at   
the first4 ,the effect for the half-hour
 would have been prodigious1 and from   
that moment when it began to flag it    
would degrade rapidly1 until1 in three  
days1 a far fiercer hatred against      
,christ would have been moulded4 ,for   

observe3 into what state of mind would  
this marvel have been received8 ,into   
any good-will towards ,christ1 which    
previously had been defeated by the     
belief that ,he was an impostor in the  
sense that ,he pretended to a power of  
miracles which in fact ,he had not8 ,by 
no means4 ,the sense in which ,christ   
had been an impostor for them was in    
assuming a commission1 a spiritual      
embassy with appropriate functions1     
promises1 prospects1 to which ,he had no
 title4 ,how had that notion--not1 viz41
 of miraculous impostorship1 but of     
spiritual impostorship--been able to    
maintain itself8 ,why1 what should have 
reasonably destroyed the notion8 ,this1 
viz41 the sublimity of ,his moral       
system4 ,but does the reader imagine    
that this sublimity is of a nature to be
 seen intellectually--that is1 insulated
 and in vacuo for the intellect8 ,no    
more than by geometry or by a sorites   
any man constitutionally imperfect could
 come to understand the nature of the   

sexual appetite2 or a man born deaf     
could make representable to himself the 
living truth of music1 a man born blind 
could make representable the living     
truth of colours4 ,all men are not      
equally deaf in heart--far from it--the 
differences are infinite1 and some men  
never could comprehend the beauty of    
spiritual truth4 ,but no man could      
comprehend it without preparation4 ,that
 preparation was found in his training  
of ,judaism2 which to those whose hearts
 were hearts of flesh1 not stony and    
charmed against hearing1 had already    
anticipated the first outlines of       
,christian ideas4 ,sin1 purity1 holiness
 unimaginable1 these had already been   
inoculated into the ,jewish mind4 ,and  
amongst the race inoculated ,christ     
found enough for a central nucleus to   
,his future ,church4 ,but the natural   
tendency under the fever-mist of strife 
and passion1 evoked by the present      
position in the world operating upon    
robust1 full-blooded life1 unshaken by  

grief or tenderness of nature1 or       
constitutional sadness1 is to fail      
altogether of seeing the features which 
so powerfully mark ,christianity4 ,those
 features1 instead of coming out into   
strong relief1 resemble what we see in  
mountainous regions where the mist      
covers the loftiest peaks4  ,we have    
heard of a man saying3 ',give me such   
titles of honour1 so many myriads of    
pounds1 and then ,i will consider your  
proposal that ,i should turn            
,christian4' ,now1 survey--pause for one
 moment to survey--the immeasurable     
effrontery of this speech4 ,first1 it   
replies to a proposal having what       
object--our happiness or his8 ,why1 of  
course1 his3 how are we interested1     
except on a sublime principle of        
benevolence1 in his faith being right8  
,secondly1 it is a reply presuming      
money1 the most fleshly of objects1 to  
modify or any way control religion1     
i4e41 a spiritual concern4 ,this in     
itself is already monstrous1 and pretty 

much the same as it would be to order a 
charge of bayonets against gravitation1 
or against an avalanche1 or against an  
earthquake1 or against a deluge4 ,but1  
suppose it were not so1 what            
incomprehensible reasoning justifies the
 notion that not we are to be paid1 but 
that he is to be paid for a change not  
concerning or affecting our happiness1  
but his8     ,,xxiii4 ,,is ,,the ,,human
 ,,race ,,on ,,the ,,down ,,grade8   ,as
 to individual nations1 it is matter of 
notoriety that they are often           
improgressive4 ,as a whole1 it may be   
true that the human race is under a     
necessity of slowly advancing2 and it   
may be a necessity1 also1 that the      
current of the moving waters should     
finally absorb into its motion that part
 of the waters which1 left to itself1   
would stagnate4 ,all this may be        
true--and yet it will not follow that   
the human race must be moving constantly
 upon an ascending line1 as thus3       
,b                           _/         

_/                         _/           
_/                       _/             
_/                     ,a  nor even upon
 such a line1 with continual pauses or  
rests interposed1 as thus3              
,illustration  where there is no going  
back1 though a constant interruption to 
the going forward2 but a third          
hypothesis is possible3 there may be    
continual loss of ground1 yet so that   
continually the loss is more than       
compensated1 and the total result1 for  
any considerable period of observation1 
may be that progress is maintained3     
,illustration  ,at ,o1 by comparison    
with the previous elevation at ,a1 there
 is a repeated falling back2 but still  
upon the whole1 and pursuing the inquiry
 through a sufficiently large segment of
 time1 the constant report is--ascent4  
,upon this explanation it is perfectly  
consistent with a general belief in the 
going forward of man--that this         
particular age in which we live might be
 stationary1 or might even have gone    

back4 ,it cannot1 therefore1 be upon any
  priori principle that ,i maintain the 
superiority of this age4 ,it is1 and    
must be upon special examination1       
applied to the phenomena of this special
 age4 ,the last century1 in its first   
thirty years1 offered the spectacle of a
 death-like collapse in the national    
energies4 ,all great interests suffered 
together4 ,the intellectual power of the
 country1 spite of the brilliant display
 in a lower element1 made by one or two 
men of genius1 languished as a whole4   
,the religious feeling was torpid1 and  
in a degree which insured the strong    
reaction of some irritating galvanism1  
or quickening impulse such as that which
 was in fact supplied by ,methodism4 ,it
 is not with that age that ,i wish to   
compare the present4 ,i compare it with 
the age which terminated thirty years   
ago--roused1 invigorated1 searched as   
that age was through all its            
sensibilities by the electric shock of  
the ,french ,revolution4 ,it is by      

comparison with an age so keenly alive1 
penetrated by ideas stirring and        
uprooting1 that ,i would compare it2 and
 even then the balance of gain in       
well-calculated resource1 fixed yet     
stimulating ideals1 ,i hold to be in our
 favour--and this in opposition to much 
argument in an adverse spirit from many 
and influential quarters4 ,indeed1 it is
 a remark which more than once ,i have  
been led to make in print3 that if a    
foreigner were to inquire for the moral 
philosophy1 the ethics1 and even for the
 metaphysics1 of our ,english           
literature1 the answer would be1 ',look 
for them in the great body of our       
,divinity4' ,not merely the more        
scholastic works on theology1 but the   
occasional sermons of our ,english      
divines contain a body of richer        
philosophical speculation than is       
elsewhere to be found2 and1 to say the  
truth1 far more instructive than        
anything in our ,lockes1 ,berkeleys1 or 
other express and professional          

philosophers4 ,having said this by way  
of showing that ,i do not overlook their
 just pretensions1 let me have leave to 
notice a foible in these writers which  
is not merely somewhat ludicrous1 but   
even seriously injurious to truth4 ,one 
and all1 through a long series of two   
hundred and fifty years1 think          
themselves called upon to tax their     
countrymen--each severally in his own   
age--with a separate1 peculiar1 and     
unexampled guilt of infidelity and      
irreligion4 ,each worthy man1 in his    
turn1 sees in his own age overt signs of
 these offences not to be matched in any
 other4 ,five-and-twenty periods of ten 
years each may be taken1 concerning each
 of which some excellent writer may be  
cited to prove that it had reached a    
maximum of atrocity1 such as should not 
easily have been susceptible of         
aggravation1 but which invariably the   
relays through all the subsequent       
periods affirm their own contemporaries 
to have attained4 ,every decennium is   

regularly worse than that which precedes
 it1 until the mind is perfectly        
confounded by the ,pelion upon ,ossa    
which must overwhelm the last term of   
the twenty-five4 ,it is the mere        
necessity of a logical sorites1 that    
such a horrible race of villains as the 
men of the twenty-fifth decennium ought 
not to be suffered to breathe4 ,now1 the
 whole error arises out of an imbecile  
self-surrender to the first impressions 
from the process of abstraction as      
applied to remote objects4 ,survey a    
town under the benefit of a ten miles'  
distance1 combined with a dreamy        
sunshine1 and it will appear a city of  
celestial palaces4 ,enter it1 and you   
will find the same filth1 the same      
ruins1 the same disproportions as       
anywhere else4 ,so of past ages1 seen   
through the haze of an abstraction which
 removes all circumstantial features of 
deformity4 ,call up any one of those    
ages1 if it were possible1 into the     
realities of life1 and these worthy     

praisers of the past would be surprised 
to find every feature repeated which    
they had fancied peculiar to their own  
times4 ,meanwhile this erroneous        
doctrine of sermons has a double ill    
consequence3 first1 the whole chain of  
twenty-five writers1 when brought       
together1 consecutively reflect a       
colouring of absurdity upon each other2 
separately they might be endurable1 but 
all at once1 predicating 7each of his   
own period exclusively7 what runs with a
 rolling fire through twenty-five such  
periods in succession1 cannot but recall
 to the reader that senseless doctrine  
of a physical decay in man1 as if man   
were once stronger1 broader1 taller1    
etc4--upon which hypothesis of a gradual
 descent why should it have stopped at  
any special point8 ,how could the human 
race have failed long ago to reach the  
point of zero8 ,but1 secondly1 such a   
doctrine is most injurious and insulting
 to ,christianity4 ,if1 after eighteen  
hundred years of development1 it could  

be seriously true of ,christianity that 
it had left any age or generation of men
 worse in conduct1 or in feeling1 or in 
belief1 than all their predecessors1    
what reasonable expectation could we    
have that in eighteen hundred years more
 the case would be better8 ,such        
thoughtless opinions make ,christianity 
to be a failure4     ,,xxiv4 ,,brevia3  
,,short ,,essays 7,,in ,,connection     
,,with ,,each ,,other47                 
#a4--,,paganism ,,and                   
,,christianity--,,the ,,ideas ,,of      
,,duty ,,and ,,holiness4  ,the ,pagan   
,god could have perfect peace with his  
votary1 and yet could have no tendency  
to draw that votary to himself4 ,not so 
with the ,god of ,christianity1 who     
cannot give ,his peace without drawing  
like a vortex to ,himself1 who cannot   
draw into ,his own vortex without       
finding ,his peace fulfilled4  ',an age 
when lustre too intense4'--,i am much   
mistaken if ,mr4 ,wordsworth is not     
deeply wrong here4 ,wrong he is beyond a

 doubt as to the fact2 for there could  
have been no virtual intensity of lustre
 7unless merely as a tinsel toy7 when it
 was contradicted by everything in the  
manners1 habits1 and situations of the  
,pagan ,gods--they who were content to  
play in the coarsest manner the part of 
gay young bloods1 sowing their wild     
oats1 and with a recklessness of        
consequences to their female partners   
never by possibility rivalled by men4 ,i
 believe and affirm that lustre the most
 dazzling and blinding would not have   
any ennobling effect except as received 
into a matrix of previous unearthly and 
holy type4   ,as to ,bacchus being      
eternally young1 the ancients had no    
idea or power to frame the idea of      
eternity4 ,their eternity was a limitary
 thing4 ,and this ,i say not            
empirically1 but  priori1 on the ground 
that without the idea of holiness and   
unfleshliness1 eternity cannot rise     
buoyant from the ground1 cannot sustain 
itself4 ,but waive this1 and what       

becomes of the other things8 ,if he were
 characteristically distinguished as    
young1 then1 by a mere rebound of the   
logic1 the others were not so honoured1 
else where is the special privilege of  
,bacchus8   ',and she shall sing there  
as in the days of her youth' 7,hosea ii4
 #ae74--,the case of pathos1 a person   
coming back to places1 recalling the    
days of youth after a long woe1 is quite
 unknown to the ancients--nay1 the      
maternal affection itself1 though used  
inevitably1 is never consciously        
reviewed as an object of beauty4        
,duties arise everywhere1 but--do not   
mistake--not under their sublime form as
 duties4 ,i claim the honour to have    
first exposed a fallacy too common3     
duties never did1 never will1 arise save
 under ,christianity1 since without it  
the sense of a morality lightened by    
religious motive1 aspiring to holiness1 
not only of act1 but of motive1 had not 
before it even arisen4 ,it is the       
pressure of society1 its mere needs and 

palpable claims1 which first calls forth
 duties1 but not as duties2 rather as   
the casting of parts in a scenical      
arrangement4 ,a duty1 under the low     
conception to which at first it         
conforms1 is a rle1 no more2 it is      
strictly what we mean when we talk of a 
part4 ,the sense of conscience strictly 
is not touched under any preceding      
system of religion4 ,it is the daughter 
of ,christianity4 ,how little did       
,wordsworth seize the fact in his ,ode3 
',stern ,daughter of the ,voice of ,god'
 is not enough2 the voice of ,god is the
 conscience2 and neither has been       
developed except by ,christianity4      
,the conscience of a pagan was a        
conscience pointing to detection3 it    
pointed only to the needs of society1   
and caused fear1 shame1 anxiety1 only on
 the principles of sympathy2 that is1   
from the impossibility of releasing     
himself from a dependence on the        
reciprocal feelings--the rebound1 the   
dependence on the resentments of others4

   ,morals4--,even ordinary morals could
 have little practical weight with the  
ancients3 witness the ,roman juries and 
,roman trials4 ,had there been any sense
 of justice predominant1 could ,cicero  
have hoped to prevail by such defences  
as that of ,milo and fifty-six others1  
where the argument is merely            
fanciful--such a ,hein-gespinst as might
 be applauded with 'very good6' 'bravo6'
 in any mock trial like that silly one  
devised by ,dean ,swift4   ,the slowness
 and obtuseness of the ,romans to pathos
 appears  priori in their amphitheatre1 
and its tendency to put out the theatre2
 secondly1  posteriori1 in the fact that
 their theatre was put out2 and also1   
posteriori1 in the coarseness of their  
sensibilities to real distresses unless 
costumed and made sensible as well as   
intelligible4 ,the grossness of this    
demand1 which proceeded even so far as  
pinching to elicit a cry1 is beyond easy
 credit to men of their time4   ,the    
narrow range of the ,greek intellect1   

always revolving through seven or eight 
centuries about a few memorable         
examples--from the ,life of             
,themistocles to ,zeno or ,demosthenes4 
,the ,grecian glories of every kind seem
 sociable and affable1 courting         
sympathy4 ,the ,jewish seem malignantly 
,greek3 autarkeis4   ,but just as       
,paganism respected only rights of      
action1 possession1 etc41 ,christianity 
respects a far higher scale of claims1  
viz41 as to the wounds to feelings1 to  
deep injury1 though not grounded in     
anything measurable or expoundable by   
external results4 ,man6 you have said   
that which you were too proud and       
obstinate to unsay1 which has lacerated 
some heart for thirty years that had    
perhaps secretly and faithfully served  
you and yours4 ,christianity lays hold  
on that as a point of conscience1 if not
 of honour1 to make amends1 if in no    
other way1 by remorse4   ,as to the     
tears of ,oedipus in the crises4 ,i am  
compelled to believe that ,sophocles    

erred as regarded nature2 for in cases  
so transcendent as this ,greek nature   
and ,english nature could not differ4   
,in the great agony on ,mount ,oeta1    
,hercules points the pity of his son    
,hyllus to the extremity of torment     
besieging him on the humiliating        
evidence of the tears which they        
extorted from him4 ',pity me1' says he1 
'that weep with sobs like a girl3 a     
thing that no one could have charged    
upon the man' 7pointing to himself72    
'but ever without a groan ,i followed   
out to the end my calamities4' ,now1 on 
the contrary1 on the words of the       
oracle1 that beckoned away with         
impatient sounds ,oedipus from his dear 
sublime ,antigone1 ,oedipus is made to  
weep4  ,but this is impossible4 ,always 
the tears arose1 and will arise1 on the 
relaxation of the torment and in the    
rear of silent anguish on its sudden    
suspense1 amidst a continued headlong   
movement2 and also1 in looking back1    
tears1 unless checked1 might easily     

arise4 ,but never during the torment3 on
 the rack there are no tears shed1 and  
those who suffered on the scaffold never
 yet shed tears1 unless it may have been
 at some oblique glance at things       
collateral to their suffering1 as       
suppose a sudden glimpse of a child's   
face which they had loved in life4   ,is
 not every ,greek3 ain of civilization  
an inheritance from a previous state not
 so high8 ,thus1 e4g41 the ,romans1 with
 so little of ,christian restraint1     
would have perished by reaction of their
 own vices1 but for certain prejudices  
and follies about trade1 manufacture1   
etc41 and but for oil on their persons  
to prevent contagion4 ,now1 this oil had
 been1 ,i think1 a secret bequeathed    
from some older and higher civilization 
long since passed away4 ,we have it not1
 but neither have we so much needed it4 
,soon1 however1 we shall restore the    
secret by science more perfect4   ,was  
,christianity meant to narrow or to     
widen the road to future happiness8 ,if 

,i were translated to some other planet1
 ,i should say3  #a4 ,no2 for it raised 
a far higher standard--ergo1 made the   
realization of this far more difficult4 
#b4 ,yes2 for it introduced a new       
machinery for realizing this standard3  
7first7 ,christ's atonement1 7second7   
grace4   ,but1 according to some bigots 
7as ,jeremy ,taylor and ,sir ,thomas    
,browne71 as cited by ,coleridge1       
,christianity first opened any road at  
all4 ,yet1 surely they forget that1 if  
simply to come too early was the fatal  
bar to their claims in the case1        
,abraham1 the father of the faithful1   
could not benefit4   ,yesterday1        
,thursday1 ,october #ba 7#ahdc71 ,i     
think1 or the day before1 ,i first      
perceived that the first great proof of 
,christianity is the proof of ,judaism1 
and the proof of that lies in the       
,jehovah4 ,what merely natural man      
capable of devising a ,god for himself  
such as the ,jewish8   ,of all          
eradications of this doctrine 7of human 

progress71 the most difficult is that   
connected with the outward shows--in    
air1 in colouring1 in form1 in grouping 
of the great elements composing the     
furniture of the heavens and the earth4 
,it is most difficult1 even when        
confining one's attention to the modern 
case1 and neglecting the comparison with
 the ancient1 at all to assign the      
analysis of those steps by which to us  
,christians 7but never before7 the sea  
and the sky and the clouds and the many 
inter-modifications of these1 ,a1 ,b1   
,c1 ,d1 and again the many interactions 
of the whole1 the sun 7,s471 the moon   
7,m471 the noon 7,n4 ,s47--the          
breathless1 silent noon--the gay        
afternoon--the solemn glory of          
sunset--the dove-like glimpse of        
,paradise in the tender light of early  
dawn--by which these obtain a power     
utterly unknown1 undreamed of1          
unintelligible to a ,pagan4 ,if we had  
spoken to ,plato--to ,cicero--of the    
deep pathos in a sunset1 would he--would

 either--have gone along with us8 ,the  
foolish reader thinks1 ,why1 perhaps    
not1 not altogether as to the           
quantity--the degree of emotion4        
,doubtless1 it is undeniable that we    
moderns have far more sensibility to the
 phenomena and visual glories of this   
world which we inhabit4 ,and it is      
possible that1 reflecting on the        
singularity of this characteristic badge
 worn by modern civilization1 he may go 
so far as to suspect that ,christianity 
has had something to do with it4 ,but1  
on seeking to complete the chain which  
connects them1 he finds himself quite   
unable to recover the principal link4   
,now1 it will prove1 after all1 even for
 myself who have exposed and revealed   
these new ligatures by which            
,christianity connects man with awful   
interests in the world1 a most          
insurmountable task to assign the total 
nidus in which this new power resides1  
or the total phenomenology through which
 that passes to and fro4 ,generally it  

seems to stand thus3 ,god reveals       
,himself to us more or less dimly in    
vast numbers of processes2 for example1 
in those of vegetation1 animal growth1  
crystallization1 etc4 ,these impress us 
not primarily1 but secondarily on       
reflection1 after considering the       
enormity of changes worked annually1 and
 working even at the moment we speak4   
,then1 again1 other arrangements throw  
us more powerfully upon the moral       
qualities of ,god2 e4g41 we see the     
fence1 the shell1 the covering1 varied  
in ten million ways1 by which in buds   
and blossoms ,he insures the ultimate   
protection of the fruit4 ,what          
protection1 analogous to this1 has ,he  
established for animals2 or1 taking up  
the question in the ideal case1 for man1
 the supreme of ,his creatures8 ,we     
perceive that ,he has relied upon love1 
upon love strengthened to the adamantine
 force of insanity or delirium1 by the  
mere aspect of utter1 utter helplessness
 in the human infant4 ,it is not by     

power1 by means visibly developed1 that 
this result is secured1 but by means    
spiritual and 'transcendental' in the   
highest degree4   ,the baseness and     
incorrigible ignobility of the ,oriental
 mind is seen in the radical inability  
to appreciate justice when brought into 
collision with the royal privileges of  
rulers that represent the nation4 ,not  
only1 for example1 do ,turks1 etc41     
think it an essential function of       
royalty to cut off heads1 but they think
 it essential to the consummation of    
this function that the sacrifice should 
rest upon caprice known and avowed4 ,to 
suppose it wicked as a mere process of  
executing the laws would rob it of all  
its grandeur4 ,it would stand for       
nothing4 ,nay1 even if the power were   
conceded1 and the sovereign should      
abstain from using it of his own free   
will and choice1 this would not satisfy 
the wretched ,turk4 ,blood1 lawless     
blood--a horrid ,moloch1 surmounting a  
grim company of torturers and           

executioners1 and on the other side     
revelling in a thousand unconsenting    
women--this hideous image of brutal     
power and unvarnished lust is clearly   
indispensable to the ,turk as           
incarnating the representative grandeur 
of his nation4 ,with this ideal ever    
present to the ,asiatic and ,mohammedan 
mind1 no wonder that even their religion
 needs the aid of the sword and         
bloodshed to secure conversion4   ,in   
the ,spectator is mentioned1 as an      
,eastern apologue1 that a vizier who    
7like ,chaucer's ,canace7 had learned   
the language of birds used it with      
political effect to his sovereign4 ,the 
sultan had demanded to know what a      
certain reverend owl was speechifying   
about to another owl distantly related  
to him4 ,the vizier listened1 and       
reported that the liberal old owl was   
making a settlement upon his daughter1  
in case his friend's son should marry   
her1 of a dozen ruined villages4        
,loyally long life to our noble sultan6 

,i shall1 my dear friend1 always have a 
ruined village at your service against a
 rainy day1 so long as our present ruler
 reigns and desolates4   ,obliviscor jam
 injurias tuas1 ,clodia4--,this is about
 the most barefaced use of the          
rhetorical trick--viz41 to affect not to
 do1 to pass over whilst actually doing 
all the while--that anywhere ,i have met
 with4--',pro ,clio1' p4 #bcd p4 #ce1   
,volgraff's edition4   ,evaserint and   
comprehenderint4--,suppose they had     
rushed out1 and suppose they had seized 
,licinus4 ,so ,i read--not              
issent4--,ibid41 p4 #bcf ,ibid41 p4 #dd4
   ,velim vel potius quid nolim         
dicere4--,aristotle's case of throwing  
overboard your own property4 ,he vult   
dicere1 else he could not mean1 yet     
nonvult1 for he is shocked at saying    
such things of ,clodia4--,ibid41 p4 #bdb
 ,ibid41 p4 #di4   #b4--,,moral ,,and   
,,practical4  ,morality4--,that ,paley's
 principle does not apply to the higher 
morality of ,christianity is evident    

from this3 when ,i seek to bring before 
myself some ordinary form of wickedness 
that all men offend by1 ,i think1       
perhaps1 of their ingratitude4 ,the man 
born to #djj a year thinks nothing of   
it1 compares himself only with those    
above his own standard1 and sees rather 
a ground of discontent in his #djj as   
not being #d1jjj than any ground of deep
 thankfulness4 ,now1 this being so      
odious a form of immorality1 should--by 
,paley--terminate in excessive evil4 ,on
 the contrary1 it is the principle1 the 
very dissatisfaction which ,god uses for
 keeping the world moving 7how          
villainous the form--these 'ings'674    
,all faith in the great majority is1 and
 ought to be1 implicit4 ,that is1 your  
faith is not unrolled--not separately   
applied to each individual doctrine--but
 is applied to some individual man1 and 
on him you rely4 ,what he says1 you say2
 what he believes1 you believe4 ,now1 he
 believes all these doctrines1 and you  
implicitly through him4 ,but what ,i    

chiefly say as the object of this note  
is1 that the bulk of men must believe by
 an implicit faith4 ,ergo1 decry it not4
   ,you delude yourself1 ,christian     
theorist1 with the idea of offences that
 else would unfit you for heaven being  
washed out by repentance4 ,but hearken a
 moment4 ,figure the case of those      
innumerable people that1 having no      
temptation1 small or great1 to commit   
murder1 would have committed it         
cheerfully for half-a-crown2 that1      
having no opening or possibility for    
committing adultery1 would have         
committed it in case they had4 ,now1 of 
these people1 having no possibility of  
repentance 7for how repent of what they 
have not done871 and yet ripe to excess 
for the guilt1 what will you say8 ,shall
 they perish because they might have    
been guilty8 ,shall they not perish     
because the potential guilt was not1 by 
pure accident1 accomplished in esse8    
,here is a mistake to be guarded        
against4 ,if you ask why such a man1    

though by nature gross or even          
,swift-like in his love of dirty ideas1 
yet1 because a gentleman and moving in  
corresponding society1 does not indulge 
in such brutalities1 the answer is that 
he abstains through the modifications of
 the sympathies4 ,a low man in low      
society would not be doubtful of its    
reception2 but he1 by the anticipations 
of sympathy 7a form that should be      
introduced as technically as ,kant's    
anticipations of perception71 feels it  
would be ill or gloomily received4 ,well
 now1 ,i1 when saying that a man is     
altered by sympathy so as to think that1
 through means of this power1 which     
otherwise he would not think1 shall be  
interpreted of such a case as that      
above4 ,but wait2 there is a            
distinction3 the man does not think     
differently1 he only acts as if he      
thought differently4 ,the case ,i       
contemplate is far otherwise2 it is     
where a man feels a lively contempt or  
admiration in consequence of seeing or  

hearing such feelings powerfully        
expressed by a multitude1 or1 at least1 
by others which else he would not have  
felt4 ,vulgar people would sit for hours
 in the presence of people the most     
refined1 totally unaware of their       
superiority1 for the same reason that   
most people 7if assenting to the praise 
of the ,lord's ,prayer7 would do so     
hyper-critically1 because its real and  
chief beauties are negative4   ,not only
 is it false that my understanding is no
 measure or rule for another man1 but of
 necessity it is so1 and every step ,i  
take towards truth for myself is a step 
made on behalf of every other man4   ,we
 doubt if the world in the sense of a   
synthesis of action--the procession and 
carrying out of ends and purposes--could
 consist with the ,greek3 anti-world 7in
 a religious sense74 ,men who divide all
 into pious people and next to devils   
see in such a state of evil the natural 
tendency 7as in all other monstrous     
evils--which this must be if an evil at 

all7 to correction and redress4 ,but now
 assume a man1 sober1 honourable1       
cheerful1 healthy1 active1 occupied all 
day long in toilsome duties 7or what he 
believes duties7 for ends not selfish2  
this man has never had a thought of     
death1 hell1 etc41 and looking abroad on
 those who dwell in such contemplations1
 he regards them sincerely1 not unkindly
 or with contempt2 partially he respects
 them1 but he looks on them as under a  
monstrous delusion1 in a fever1 in a    
panic1 as in a case of broken           
equilibrium4 ,now he is right4 ,and1    
moreover1 secondly1 two other feelings  
or suspicions come on1 7#a7 of          
hypocrisy1 7#b7 of the violation of     
inner shame in publishing the most awful
 private feelings4   ,the ,tendency of a
 ,good ,fortune inherited4--,i know not 
that any man has reason to wish a       
sufficient patrimonial estate for his   
son4 ,much to have something so as to   
start with an advantage4 ,but the       
natural consequence of having a full    

fortune is to become idle and vapid4    
,for1 on asking what a young man has    
that he can employ himself upon1 the    
answer would be1 ',oh6 why1 those       
pursuits which presuppose solitude4' ,at
 once you feel this to be hollow        
nonsense4 ,not one man in ten thousand  
has powers to turn solitude into a      
blessing4 ,they care not1 e4g41 for     
geometry2 and the cause is chiefly that 
they have been ill taught in geometry2  
and the effect is that geometry must and
 will languish1 if treated as a mere    
amateur pursuit4 ,so of any other4      
,secondly1 yet of ,englishmen ,i must   
say that beyond all nations a man so    
situated does not1 in fact1 become idle4
 ,he it is1 and his class1 that         
discharge the public business of each   
county or district4 ,thirdly3 ,and in   
the view1 were there no other1 one sees 
at once the use of fox-hunting1 let it  
be as boisterous as you please4 ,is it  
not better to be boisterous than        
gossip-ridden1 eaves-dropping1 seeking  

aliment for the spirits in the petty    
scandal of the neighbourhood8   ',he'   
7,the ,times7 'declares that the poorest
 artisan has a greater stake than they' 
7'the ,landed ,interest'7 'in the       
prosperity of the country1 and is1      
consequently1 more likely to give sound 
advice4 ,his exposition of the intimate 
connection existing between the welfare 
of the poor workman and the welfare of  
the country is both just and admirable4 
,but he manifestly underrates the       
corresponding relations of the          
landowners1 and wholly omits to show1   
even if the artisan's state were the    
greatest1 how his opinions are likely to
 be most valuable4 ,to suppose that a   
man is necessarily the best judge in    
whatever concerns him most is a sad     
non-sequitur2 for if self-interest      
ensured wisdom1 no one would ever go    
wrong in anything4 ,every man would be  
his own minister1 and every invalid     
would be his own best physician4 ,the   
wounded limbs of the community are the  

best judges of the pain they suffer2 but
 it is the wise heads of the community  
that best can apply a remedy that best  
can cure the wound without causing it to
 break out in another quarter4 ,poverty 
is blind2 but the upper classes         
education has enlightened1 and habit    
made foreseeing4'   ,we live in times   
great from the events and little from   
the character of the actors4 ,every     
month summons us to the spectacle of    
some new perfidy in the leaders of      
parties and the most conspicuous public 
servants2 and the profligacy which we   
charge upon the statesmen of the        
seventeenth century has revolved in full
 measure upon our own days4             
,justifications of ,novels4--,the two   
following justifications of novels occur
 to me4 ,firstly1 that if some dreadful 
crisis awaited a ship of passengers at  
the line--where equally the danger was  
mysterious and multiform1 the safety    
mysterious and multiform--how monstrous 
if a man should say to a lady1 ',what   

are you reading8' ',oh1 ,i'm reading    
about our dreadful crisis1 now so near'2
 and he should answer1 ',oh1 nonsense6  
read something to improve your mind2    
read about ,alexander the ,great1 about 
,spurius ,ahala1 about ,caius ,gracchus1
 or1 if you please1 ,tiberius4' ,but    
just such nonsense it is1 when people   
ridicule reading romances in which the  
great event of the fiction is the real  
great event of a female life4  ,there   
are others1 you say--she loses a child4 
,yes1 that's a great event4 ,but that   
arises out of this vast equinoctial     
event4  ,secondly1 as all things are    
predisposed to the natures which must be
 surrounded by them1 so we may see that 
the element of social evolution of      
character1 manners1 caprices1 etc41 has 
been adapted to the vast mass of human  
minds4 ,it is a mean element1 you say4  
,the revelations of ,albert ,smith1     
,dickens1 etc41 are essentially mean1   
vulgar1 plebeian1 not only in an        
aristocratic sense1 but also in a       

philosophical sense4 ,true1 but the     
minds that are to live and move in it   
are also mean1 essentially mean4        
,nothing grand in them8 ,yes1 doubtless 
in the veriest grub as to capacity1 but 
the capacity is undeveloped4  ,ergo1 as 
to the intrigue or fable1 and as to the 
conduct or evolution of this            
fable--novels must be the chief natural 
resource of woman4   ,moral             
,certainty4--,as that a child of two    
years 7or under7 is not party to a plot4
 ,now1 this would allow a shade of      
doubt--a child so old might cry out or  
give notice4   ,this monstrous          
representation that the great war with  
,france 7#ahjc-ae7 had for its object to
 prevent ,napoleon from sitting on the  
throne of ,france--which recently1 in   
contempt of all truth and common-sense1 
,i have so repeatedly seen              
advanced--throws a man profoundly on the
 question of what was the object of that
 war4 ,surely1 in so far as we are      
concerned1 the matter was settled at    

,amiens in the very first year of the   
century4 ,december1 #agii1 ,napoleon had
 been suffered by the unsteady public   
opinion of ,france--abhorring a master1 
and yet sensible that for the chief     
conscious necessity of ,france1 viz41 a 
developer of her latent martial powers1 
she must look for a master or else have 
her powers squandered--to mount the     
consular throne4 ,he lived1 he could    
live1 only by victorious war4 ,most     
perilous was the prospect for ,england4 
,in the path which not ,napoleon1 but   
,france1 was now preparing to tread1 and
 which was the path of ,napoleon no     
otherwise than that he was the tool of  
,france1 was that servitor who must     
gratify her grand infirmity or else be  
rapidly extinguished himself1 unhappily 
for herself1 ,england was the main      
counter-champion4 ,the course of honour 
left to ,england was too fatally the    
course of resistance4 ,resistance to    
what8 ,to ,napoleon personally8 ,not at 
all2 but to ,napoleon as pledged by his 

destiny to the prosecution of a ,french 
conquering policy4 ,that personally     
,england had no hostility to ,napoleon  
is settled by the fact that she had at  
,amiens cheerfully conceded the superior
 power4 ,under what title8 would have   
been the most childish of demurs4 ,that 
by act she never conceded the title of  
emperor was the mere natural diplomatic 
result of never having once been at     
peace with ,napoleon under that title4  
,else it was a point of entire          
indifference4 ,granting the consulship1 
she had granted all that could be asked4
 ,and what she opposed was the          
determined war course of ,napoleon and  
the schemes of ultra-,polish partition  
to which ,napoleon had privately tempted
 her under circumstances of no such     
sense as existed and still exist for    
,russia4 ,this policy1 as soon as       
exposed1 and not before bitter insults  
to herself1 ,england resisted4 ,and     
therefore it is that at this day we     
live4 ,but as to ,napoleon1 as apart    

from the policy of ,napoleon1 no        
childishness can be wilder4   ,at some  
unlucky moment when the ,crown commanded
 unusual resources1 the ,de ,quinceys   
met with the fate ascribed1 perhaps     
fabulously1 to some small heavenly      
bodies 7asteroids or what1 ,i do not    
precisely know73 on some dark day1 by   
mistake perhaps1 they exploded1 and     
scattered their ruins all over the      
central provinces of ,england1 where    
chiefly had lain their territorial      
influence4 ,especially in the counties  
of ,leicester1 ,lincoln and ,rutland    
were found fragments of the vast landed 
estates held by these potentates when   
,earls of ,winchester4   ,the hatred of 
truth at first dawning--that instinct   
which makes you revolt from the pure    
beams which search the foul depths and  
abysses of error--is well illustrated by
 the action of the atmospheric currents1
 when blowing through an open window    
upon smoke4 ,what do you see8 ,sometimes
 the impression is strong upon your     

ocular belief that the window is driving
 the smoke in4 ,you can hardly be       
convinced of the contrary--scarcely when
 five or seven minutes has absolutely   
rarefied the smoke so much that a       
book-lettering previously invisible has 
become even legible4 ,and at last1 when 
the fact1 the result1 the experience1   
has corrected the contradictory theory  
of the eye1 you begin to suspect1       
without any aid from science1 that there
 were two currents1 one of which comes  
round in a curve ,illustration3 7 and   
effects the exit for the other which the
 window had driven in2 just as in the   
,straits of ,gibraltar there is         
manifestly an upper current setting one 
way1 which you therefore conjecture to  
argue a lower current setting the other1
 and thus redressing the equilibrium4   
,here the smoke corresponds to bits of  
chip or any loose suspended body in the 
,gibraltar current4 ,what answers to the
 current of water is the air1 and if the
 equilibrium is kept up1 the re-entrant 

current balances your retiring current1 
and the latter carries out the smoke    
entangled in itself4 ,by the objection1 
say1 of a child1 there ought to be a    
re-entrant column of smoke1 which there 
is not4 ,for the air drives the smoke of
 the fire up the chimney1 and of its own
 contribution the air has no smoke to   
give4  ,or the ,augean stable may image 
it4 ,doubtless when the first           
disturbance took place in the abominable
 mess1 those acting would be apt to     
question for a moment whether it had not
 been more advisable to leave it alone4 
,moralists say1 ',nobody will attack    
you1 or hate you1 or blame you for your 
virtues4' ,what falsehood6 ,not as      
virtues1 it may be in their eyes1 but   
virtues1 nevertheless4 ,connect with    
,kant the error of supposing tas        
parentum1 etc41 to be the doctrine of   
sin4   ,not for what you have done1 but 
for what you are--not because in life   
you did forsake a wife and children--did
 endure to eat and drink and lie softly 

yourself whilst those who should have   
been as your heart-drops were starving3 
not because you did that so much is     
forgiven you1 but because you were      
capable of that1 therefore you are      
incapable of heaven4   ,immodesty4--,the
 greatest mistake occurs to me now      
7,wednesday1 ,april #agth1 '#dd74 ,a    
girl who should have been unhappily     
conscious of voluptuous hours1 her you  
would call modest in case of her passing
 with downcast looks4 ,but why1 then1 is
 she not so8 ,that girl is immodest who 
reconciles to herself such things1 and  
yet assumes the look of innocence4      
,about ,women4--,a man brings his own   
idle preconceptions1 and fancies that he
 has learned them from his experience4  
,far more to be feared than any depth of
 serious love1 however absorbing and    
apparently foolish1 is that vicious     
condition in which trifling takes the   
place of all serious love1 when women   
are viewed only as dolls1 and addressed 
with an odious leer of affected         

knowingness as 'my dear1' wink1 etc4    
,now to this tends the false condition  
of women when called 'the ladies4' ,on  
the other hand1 what an awful elevation 
arises when each views in the other a   
creature capable of the same noble      
duties--she no less than he a creature  
of lofty aspirations2 she by the same   
right a daughter of ,god as he a son of 
,god2 she bearing her eyes erect to the 
heavens no less than he6   ,low         
,degree4--,we see often that this takes 
place very strongly and decidedly with  
regard to men1 notoriously pleasant men 
and remarkably good-natured1 which shows
 at once in what road the thing travels4
 ,and if such a nature should be        
combined with what ,butler thinks       
virtue1 it might be doubtful to which of
 the two the tribute of kind attentions 
were paid2 but now seeing the true case1
 we know how to interpret this          
hypothetical case of ,butler's          
accordingly4   ',visit the sins of the  
fathers1' etc4 ,this people pretend to  

think monstrous4 ,yet what else in      
effect happens and must happen to ,jews 
inheriting by filial obedience and      
natural sympathy all that               
anti-,christian hostility which         
prevailed in the age succeeding to that 
of ,christ8 ,what evil--of suffering1 of
 penalties now or in reserve may be     
attached to this spirit of              
hostility--follows the children through 
all generations6   ,case of ,timoleon1  
whose killing of his brother might      
afterwards be read into ,x ,y ,z or into
 ,x a b according to his conduct 7either
 into murder or patriotism71 is a good  
illustration of synthesis4   ,to        
illustrate ,cicero's argument in ',pro  
,clio' as to the frequency of men wild  
and dissipated in youth becoming eminent
 citizens1 one might adduce this case   
from the word ,themistocles in the      
,index to the ,grci ,rhetorici4 ,but ,i 
see or ,i fancy cause to notice this    
passage for the following cause3 it     
contains only nine words1 four in the   

first comma1 five in the last1 and of   
these nine four are taken up in noting  
the time ,greek3 to prton to telen2     
ergo1 five words record the remarkable  
revolution from one state to another1   
and the character of each state4  ,two  
cases of young men's dissipation--#a4   
,horace's record of his father's advice3
 ',concessa1' etc42 #b4 ,cicero's ',pro 
,clio4'   ,what ,crotchets in every     
,direction6--#a4 ,the ,germans1 or1 let 
me speak more correctly1 some of the    
,germans 7and doubtless full of ,hoch   
beer or strong drink71 found out some   
thirty years ago that there were only   
three men of genius in the records of   
our planet4 ,and who were they8 7#a7    
,homer2 7#b7 ,shakespeare2 7#c7 ,goethe4
 ,so that absolutely ,milton was shut   
out from the constellation4 ,even he    
wanted a ticket1 though ,master         
,sorrows-of-,werther had one4 ,the      
porter1 it seems1 fancied he had no     
marriage garment1 a mistake which a mob 
might correct1 saying1 ',no marriage    

garment6 then1 damme1 he shall have this
 fellow's' 7viz41 ,goethe's74 ,the      
trinity1 according to these vagabonds1  
was complete without ,milton1 as the    
,roman pomp was full to the eye of the  
sycophant without the bust of ,brutus4  
#b4 ,macaulay fancied there were only   
two men of genius in the reign of       
,charles ,,ii41 viz41 ,milton and the   
tinker ,bunyan4  #c4 ,coleridge 7p4     
#bcg1 ',table-,talk'7 fancied there were
 only two men of genius in his own      
generation3 ,w4 ,w4 and ,sir ,humphrey  
,davy4   ,jeremy ,taylor having         
mentioned two religious men1 ,st4 ,paul 
the ,hermit and ,sulpitius1 as having   
atoned for some supposed foolish        
garrulities1 the one by a three years'  
silence1 the other by a lifelong        
silence1 goes on to express his         
dissatisfaction with a mode of rabiosa  
silentia so memorable as this4  ,yet it 
is certain in silence there is wisdom1  
and there may be deep religion4 ,and    
indeed it is certain1 great knowledge1  

if it be without vanity1 is the most    
severe bridle of the tongue4 ,for so ,i 
have heard that all the noises and      
prating of the pool1 the croaking of    
frogs and toads1 is hushed and appeased 
upon the instant of bringing upon them  
the light of a candle or torch4 ,every  
beam of reason and ray of knowledge     
checks the dissoluteness of the tongue4 
',ut quisque contemplissimus est1 ita   
solutissim lingu est1' said ,seneca4    
,the silence must be ,greek3 kairios1   
not sullen and ill-natured2 'nam sic    
etiam tacuisse nocet'8--of all things in
 the world a prating religion and much  
talk in holy things does most profane   
the mysteriousness of it1 and dismantles
 its regard1 and makes cheap its        
reverence and takes off fear and        
awfulness1 and makes it loose and       
garish1 and like the laughters of       
drunkenness4   ,public ,morality4--,it  
ought not to be left to a man's interest
 merely to protect the animals in his   
power4 ,dogs are no longer worked in the

 way they were1 although the change must
 have arbitrarily robbed many poor men  
of half bread4 ,but in a case as        
valuable as that of the horse1 it has   
been known that a man has incurred the  
total ruin of a series of horses against
 even his own gain or self-interest4    
,there ought to be a custos veteranorum1
 a keeper and protector of the poor     
brutes who are brought within the pale  
of social use and service4 ,the         
difficulty1 you say6 ,legislation has   
met and dealt effectively with far more 
complicated and minute matters than     
that4 ,for1 after all1 consider how few 
of the brute creation on any wide and   
permanent scale are brought into the    
scheme of human life4 ,some birds as    
food1 some fishes as ditto2 beeves as   
food and sometimes as appliers of       
strength2 horses in both characters4    
,these with elephants and camels1 mules1
 asses1 goats1 dogs1 and sheep1 cats and
 rabbits1 gold-fishes and singing-birds1
 really compose the whole of our animal 

equipage harnessed to the car of human  
life4   #c4--,on ,words ,and ,style4    
,there are a number of words which1     
unlocked from their absurd imprisonment1
 would become extensively useful4 ,we   
should say1 for instance1 'condign      
honours1' 'condign treatment' 7treatment
 appropriate to the merits71 thus at    
once realizing two rational purposes1   
viz41 giving a useful function to a     
word1 which at present has none1 and    
also providing an intelligible          
expression for an idea which otherwise  
is left without means of uttering itself
 except through a ponderous             
circumlocution4 ,precisely in the same  
circumstances of idle and absurd        
sequestration stands the term polemic4  
,at present1 according to the popular   
usage1 this word has some fantastic     
inalienable connection with             
controversial theology4 ,there cannot be
 a more childish chimera4 ,no doubt     
there is a polemic side or aspect of    
theology2 but so there is of all        

knowledge2 so there is of every science4
 ,the radical and characteristic idea   
concerned in this term polemic is found 
in our own ,parliamentary distinction of
 the good speaker1 as contrasted with   
the good debater4 ,the good speaker is  
he who unfolds the whole of a question  
in its affirmative aspects1 who presents
 these aspects in their just            
proportions1 and according to their     
orderly and symmetrical deductions from 
each other4 ,but the good debater is he 
who faces the negative aspects of the   
question1 who meets sudden objections1  
has an answer for any momentary summons 
of doubt or difficulty1 dissipates      
seeming inconsistencies1 and reconciles 
the geometrical smoothness of  priori   
abstractions with the coarse            
angularities of practical experience4   
,the great work of ,ricardo is of       
necessity1 and almost in every page1    
polemic2 whilst very often the          
particular objections or difficulties1  
to which it replies1 are not indicated  

at all1 being spread through entire     
systems1 and assumed as precognita that 
are familiar to the learned student4    
,writing to scholastic persons1 ,i      
should be ashamed to explain1 but hoping
 that ,i write to many also of the      
non-scholastic1 and even of the         
unlearned1 ,i rejoice to explain the    
proper sense of the word implicit4 ,as  
the word condign1 so capable of an      
extended sense1 is yet constantly       
restricted to one miserable association1
 viz41 that with the word punishment    
7for we never say1 as we might say1     
'condign rewards'71 so also the word    
implicit is in ,english always          
associated with the word faith4 ,people 
say that ,papists have an implicit faith
 in their priests4 ,what they mean is   
this3 ,if a piece of arras1 or a carpet1
 is folded up1 then it is implicit      
according to the original ,latin word2  
if it is unfolded and displayed1 then it
 is explicit4 ,therefore1 when a poor   
illiterate man 7suppose a bog-trotter of

 ,mayo or ,galway7 says to his priest   
7as in effect always he does say71      
',sir1 ,i cannot comprehend all this    
doctrine2 bless you1 ,i have not the    
thousandth part of the learning for it1 
so it is impossible that ,i should      
directly believe it4 ,but your reverence
 believes it1 the thing is wrapt up     
7implicit7 in you1 and ,i believe it on 
that account4' ,here the priest believes
 explicitly3 he believes implicitly4    
,modern4--,is it not shameful that to   
this hour even literary men of credit   
and repute cannot for the life of them  
interpret this line from ',as ,you ,like
 ,it'--      ',full of wise saws and    
modern instances'8  ,a man as well read 
as ,mr4 ,theodore ,hook1 and many a     
hundred beside1 have seriously          
understood it to mean ',full of old     
proverbs1 the traditionary wisdom of    
nations1 and of illustrative examples   
drawn from modern experience4'          
,nonsense6 ,the meaning is1 ',full of   
old maxims and proverbs1 and of trivial 

attempts at argument4' ,that is1        
tediously redundant in rules derived    
from the treasury of popular proverbs1' 
and in feeble attempts at connecting    
these general rules with the special    
case before him4 ,the superannuated old 
magistrate sets out with a proverb1 as  
for instance this1 that the mother of   
mischief is no bigger than a midge's    
wing4 ,that proverb forms his major     
proposition4 ,in his minor proposition  
he goes on to argue that the trespass   
charged upon the particular prisoner    
before him was very little bigger than a
 midge's wing4 ,and then in his         
conclusion triumphantly he infers1      
,ergo1 the prisoner at the bar is the   
mother of mischief4 ,but says the       
constable1 ',please1 your worship1 the  
prisoner is a man1 a hulking clodhopper1
 some six or seven feet high1 with a    
strong black beard4' ',well1 that makes 
no odds1' rejoins his worship2 'then    
he's the father of mischief4 ,clerk1    
make out his mittimus4'  ,the word      

'instance' 7from the scholastic         
instantia7 never meant example in       
,shakespeare's age4 ,the word 'modern'  
never once in ,shakespeare means what it
 means to us in these days4 ,even the   
monkish ,latin word 'modernus'          
fluctuated in meaning1 and did not      
always imply recens1 neotericus2 but in 
,shakespeare never4 ,what does it mean  
in ,shakespeare8 ,once and for ever it  
means trivial1 inconsiderable4 ,dr4     
,johnson had too much feeling not to    
perceive that the word 'modern' had this
 value in ,shakespeare's acceptation2   
practically1 he felt that it availed for
 that sense1 but theoretically he could 
not make out the why4 ,it means that1   
said the ,doctor2 but feebly and        
querulously1 like one sick of the pip1  
he added1 ',yet ,i don't know why4'     
,don't you8 ,now1 we do4 ,the fact is1  
,dr4 ,johnson was in a fit of the       
dismals at that time2 he had recently   
committed a debauch of tea1 having      
exceeded his usual allowance by         

seventy-five cups1 so that naturally he 
had a 'curmurring' in the stomach4 ,else
 he could not have failed to see what we
 are now going to explain with a wet    
finger4 ,everybody is aware that to be  
material is the very opposite of being  
trivial4 ,what is 'material' in a chain 
of evidence1 or in an argument1 can     
never be trifling4 ,now1 therefore1 if  
you can find a word that will flatly    
contradict this word material1 then you 
have a capital term for expressing what 
is trivial4 ,well1 you find in the word 
immaterial all that you are seeking4    
',it is quite immaterial' will suit ,mr4
 ,touts's purpose just as well as ',it  
is really of no consequence1 of no      
consequence in the world4' ,to say in a 
law court that the objection is         
immaterial is otherwise to say that it  
is trivial4 ,here1 then1 is the first   
step3 to contradict the idea of material
 is effectually to express the idea of  
trivial4 ,let us now see if we can find 
any other contradiction to the idea of  

material1 for one antithesis to that    
idea will express as well as any other  
antithesis the counterpole of the       
trivial4 ,now1 clearly the substance of 
a thing1 the material out of which it is
 made1 is oftentimes of great importance
 by comparison with its shape1 fashion1 
or mode4 ,it is of value in your eyes to
 know whether your family plate is in   
substance of gold or of silver2 but     
whether such a vessel is round or       
square1 ornamented with a wreath of     
acanthus or ivy1 supported by tigers or 
by fawns1 may be a trivial              
consideration1 or even worse2 for the   
fashion of your plate1 after it has once
 become obsolete1 may count against you 
for so much loss as something that will 
cost a good deal of money to alter4     
,here1 then1 is another contradiction to
 the material1 and therefore another    
expression for the trivial3 matter1 as  
against vacancy or the privation of     
matter1 yields the antithesis of        
material or immaterial1 substantial and 

unsubstantial2 matter1 as against form1 
yields the antithesis of substance and  
shape1 or otherwise of material and     
modal--what is matter and what is the   
mere modification of matter1 its        
variation by means of ornament or shape4
  ,the word 'modern' is therefore in    
,shakespeare uniformly to be pronounced 
with the long o1 as in the words modal1 
modish1 and never with the short o of   
m7oderate1 m7odest1 or our present word 
m7odern4 ,and the law under which       
,shakespeare uses the word is this3     
whatsoever is so trivial as to fall into
 the relation of a mere shape or        
fleeting mode to a permanent substance1 
that with ,shakespeare is modish1 or    
7according to his form7 modern4#bi      
,thus1 a weak1 trivial argument 7or     
instantia1 the scholastic term for an   
argument not latent merely1 or merely   
having the office of sustaining a truth1
 but urged as an objection1 having the  
polemic office of contradicting an      
opponent7 is in ,shakespeare's idiom1   

when viewed as against a substantial    
argument1 a modern argument4  ,again1   
when ,cleopatra1 defending herself      
against the perfidy of her steward1     
wishes to impress upon ,octavius that   
any articles which she may have kept    
back from the inventory of her personal 
chattels are but trifles1 she expresses 
this by saying that they are but        
',such as we greet modern friends       
withal2'  i4e41 such as we bestow1 at   
welcoming or at parting1 upon the       
slightest acquaintances4 ,the whole     
stress of the logic lies upon the       
epithet modern--for simply as friends1  
had they been substantial friends1 they 
might have levied any amount from the   
royal lady's bounty2 kingdoms would have
 been slight gifts in her eyes1 and that
 would soon have been objected to by her
 conqueror4 ,but her argument is1 that  
the people to whom such gifts would be  
commensurate are mere modish friends1   
persons known to us on terms of bare    
civility1 people with whom we exchange  

salutations in the street1 or occasional
 calls1 what now we call acquaintances1 
for whom in ,shakespeare's time there   
was no distinguishing expression4       
,another case we remember at this moment
 in ',all's ,well that ,ends ,well4' ,it
 occurs in ,act ,,ii41 at the very      
opening of scene iii42 the particular   
edition1 the only one we can command at 
the moment1 is an obscure one published 
by ,scott1 ,webster and ,geary1         
,charterhouse ,square1 #ahdj1 and we    
mention it thus circumstantially because
 the passage is falsely punctuated2 and 
we have little doubt that in all other  
editions1 whether with or without the   
false punctuation1 the syntax is        
generally misapprehended4 ,in reality1  
the false punctuation has itself grown  
out of the false apprehension of the    
syntax1 and not vice vers4 ,thus the    
words stand literatim et punctuatim3    
',they say1 miracles are past3 and we   
have our philosophical persons to make  
modern and familiar things1 supernatural

 and causeless4' ,the comma ought to    
have been placed after 'familiar1' the  
sense being this--and we have amongst us
 sceptical and irreligious people to    
represent as trivial and of daily       
occurrence things which in reality are  
supernatural and causeless 7that is1 not
 lying amongst the succession of        
physical causes and effects1 but sent as
 miracles by the immediate agency of    
,god74 ,according to the true sense1    
things supernatural and causeless must  
be understood as the subject1 of which  
modern and familiar is the predicate4   
,mr4 ,grindon fancies that frog is      
derived from the syllable ,greek3 trach 
7k7 of ,greek3 batrachos4 ,this will    
cause some people to smile1 and recall  
,menage's pleasantry about ,alfana1 the 
man of ,orlando2 ,it is true that frog  
at first sight seems to have no letter  
in common except the snarling letter    
7litera canina74 ,but this is not so2   
the a and the o1 the s and the k1 are   
perhaps essentially the same4 ,and even 

in the case where1 positively and       
literally1 not a single letter is       
identical1 it is odd1 but undeniable1   
that the two words may be nearly allied 
as mother and child4 ,one instance is   
notorious1 but it is worth citing for a 
purpose of instructive inference4       
',journal1' as a ,french word1 or1 if   
you please1 as an ,english word--whence 
came that8 ,unquestionably and          
demonstrably from the ,latin word dies1 
in which1 however1 visibly there is not 
one letter the same as any one of the   
seven that are in journal4 ,yet mark the
 rapidity of the transition4 ,dies 7a   
day7 has for its derivative adjective   
daily the word diurnus4 ,now1 the old   
,roman pronunciation of diu was exactly 
the same as gio1 both being pronounced  
as our ,english jorn4 ,here1 in a       
moment1 we see the whole--giorno1 a day1
 was not derived directly from dies1 but
 secondarily through diurnus4 ,then     
followed giornal1 for a diary1 or       
register of a day1 and from that to     

,french1 as also1 of course1 the        
,english journal4 ,but the moral is1    
that when to the eye no letter is the   
same1 may it not be so to the ear8      
,already the di of dies anticipates and 
enfolds the giorno4  ,mr4 ,grindon      
justly remarks upon the tendency1 in    
many instances1 of the ,german ss to    
reappear in ,english forms as t4 ,thus  
heiss 7hot71 fuss 7foot71 etc4 ,these   
are ,mr4 ,grindon's own examples1 and a 
striking confirmation occurs in the old 
,english hight1 used for he was called1 
and again for the participle called1 and
 again1 in the ',met4 ,romanus1' for ,i 
was called3 ',lorde1 he saide1 ,i highth
 ,segramour4' ,now1 the ,german is      
heissen 7to be called74 ,and this is a  
tendency hidden in many long ages3 as1  
for instance1 in ,greek1 every person   
must remember the transition of ,greek3 
tt and ,greek3 ss as in ,greek3 thatt1  
,greek3 thass4   ,on ,pronunciation and 
,spelling4--,if we are to surrender the 
old vernacular sound of the e in certain

 situations to a ridiculous criticism of
 the eye1 and in defiance of the        
protests rising up clamorously from     
every quarter of old ,english           
scholarship1 let us at least know to    
what we surrender4 ,what letter is to   
usurp the vacant seat8 ,what letter8    
retorts the purist--why1 an e1 to be    
sure4 ,an e8 ,and do you call that an e8
 ,do you pronounce 'ten' as if it were  
written 'tun'1 or 'men' as if written   
'mun'8 ,the ',der' in ,derby1 supposing 
it tolerable at all to alter its present
 legitimate sound1 ought1 then1 to be   
pronounced as the ',der' in the ,irish  
name ,derry1 not as ',dur'2 and the     
',ber' in ,berkeley not as ',bur1' but  
as the ',ber' in ,beryl4 ,but the whole 
conceit has its origin in pure ignorance
 of ,english archology1 and in the      
windiest of all vanities1 viz41 the     
attempt to harmonize the spelling and   
the pronunciation of languages4         
,naturally1 it fills one with contempt  
for these ',derby' purists to find that 

their own object1 the very purpose they 
are blindly and unconsciously aiming at1
 has been so little studied or steadily 
contemplated by them in anything        
approaching to its whole extent4 ,why1  
upon the principle which they silently  
and virtually set up1 though carrying it
 out so contradictorily 7driving out an 
a on the plea that it is not an e1 only 
to end by substituting1 and without     
being aware1 the still remoter letter   
u71 the consequence must be that the    
whole language would go to wreck4 ,nine 
names out of every ten would need       
tinkering4 ',london1' for instance1 no  
more receives the normal sound of the o 
in either of its syllables than does the
 e in ',derby4' ,the normal sound of the
 o is that heard in 'song1' 'romp1'     
'homage1' 'drop4' ,nevertheless1 the    
sound given to the o in ',london1'      
',cromwell1' etc41 which strictly is the
 short sound of u in 'lubber1' 'butter1'
 etc41 is a secondary sound of o in     
particular combinations1 though not     

emphatically its proper sound4 ,the very
 same defence applies to the e in       
',berkeley1' etc4 ,it is the legitimate 
sound of the ,english e in that         
particular combination1 viz41 when      
preceding an r1 though not its normal   
sound4 ,but think of the wild havoc that
 would be made of other more complex    
anomalies1 if these purists looked an   
inch in advance4 ,glocester or          
,gloucester1 ,worcester1 ,cirencester1  
,pontefract1 etc4 ,what elaborate and   
monstrous pronunciations would they     
affix to these names8 ,the whole land   
would cease to recognise itself4 ,and   
that the purists should never have      
contemplated these veritable results1   
this it is which seals and rivets one's 
contempt for them4  ,now1 if such       
harmony were at all desirable 7whereas1 
on the contrary1 we should thus be      
carrying ruin into the traditions and   
obliteration into the ethnological links
 of languages1 industriously1 in fact1  
throwing up insuperable obstacles in the

 path of historical researches71 it     
would be far better1 instead of         
adjusting the pronunciation to the      
imaginary value of the spelling1        
inversely to adjust the spelling to the 
known and established pronunciation1 as 
a certain class of lunatics amongst     
ourselves1 viz41 the phonetic gang1 have
 for some time been doing               
systematically4  ,here1 therefore1 ,i   
hope is one fixed point4 ,here there is 
anchorage4 ,the usage is the rule1 at   
any rate2 and the law of analogy takes  
effect only where that cannot be        
decisively ascertained4   ,the ,latin   
,word ',felix4'--,the ,romans appear to 
me to have had no term for happy1 which 
argues that they had not the idea4      
,felix is tainted with the idea of      
success1 and is thus palpably referred  
to life as a competition1 which for     
,romans every distinguished life was4   
,in fact1 apart from his city the ,roman
 was nothing4 ,too poor to have a villa 
or any mode of retirement1 it is clear  

that the very idea of ,roman life       
supposes for the vast majority a        
necessity of thick crowded intercourse1 
without the possibility of solitude4 ,i1
 for my peculiar constitution of mind1  
to whom solitude has in all periods of  
life been more of a necessity almost    
than air1 view with special horror the  
life of a ,roman or ,athenian4 ,all the 
morning he had to attend a factious     
hustings or a court--assemblies         
deliberative or judicial4 ,here only he 
was somebody1 and yet1 however1 somebody
 through others4 ,combining with one    
leader and many underlings like himself1
 he also became a power2 but in himself 
and for himself1 after all1 he was      
consciously nothing4 ,when ,cicero      
speaks of his nunquam minus ,solus quam 
cum solus1 he is announcing what he     
feels to be1 and knows will be1 accepted
 as a very extraordinary fact4 ,for even
 in rure it is evident that friends made
 it a duty of friendship to seek out and
 relieve their rusticating friends4     

,on the ,distinction between ',rhetorica
 utens' and ',rhetorica docens'4--,it   
was a perplexity1 familiar to the       
experience of the ,schoolmen1 that      
oftentimes one does not know whether to 
understand by the term logic the act and
 process of reasoning involved and      
latent in any series of connected       
propositions1 or this same act and      
process formally abstracting itself as  
an art and system of reasoning4 ,for    
instance1 if you should happen to say1  
',dr4 ,isaac ,watts1 the ,english       
,nonconformist1 was a good man1 and a   
clever man2 but alas6 for his logic1    
what can his best friend say for it8    
,the most charitable opinion must       
pronounce it at the best so1 so'--in    
such a case1 what is it that you would  
be understood to speak of8 ,would it be 
the general quality of the ,doctor's    
reasoning1 the style and character of   
his philosophical method1 or would it be
 the particular little book known as    
',the ,doctor3 his ,logic1' price #es41 

bound in calf1 and which you might be   
very shy of touching with a pair of     
tongs1 for fear of dimming their steel  
polish1 so long as your wife's eye was  
upon your motions8 ,the same ambiguity  
affects many other cases4 ,for instance1
 if you heard a man say1 ',the rhetoric 
of ,cicero is not fitted to challenge   
much interest1' you might naturally     
understand it of the particular style   
and rhetorical colouring--which was     
taxed with being florid2 nay1 ,rhodian2 
nay1 even ,asiatic--that characterizes  
that great orator's compositions2 or1   
again1 the context might so restrain the
 word as to force it into meaning the   
particular system or theory of rhetoric 
addressed to ,herennius1 a system which 
7being traditionally ascribed to        
,cicero7 is usually printed amongst his 
works4 ,here1 and in scores of similar  
cases1 lies often a trap for the        
understanding2 but the ,schoolmen evaded
 this trap by distinguishing between    
',rhetorica utens1' and ',rhetorica     

docens1' between the rhetoric that laid 
down or delivered didactically the      
elements of oratorical persuasion as an 
art to be learned1 and rhetoric1 on the 
other hand1 as a creative energy that   
wielded these elements by the mouth of  
,pericles in the year #ddj ,b4 ,c41 or  
by the mouth of ,demosthenes1 #cdj ,b4  
,c42 between rhetoric the scholastic art
 and rhetoric the heaven-born power2    
between the rhetoric of ,aristotle that 
illuminated the solitary student1 and   
the rhetoric of ,demosthenes that ran   
along in rolling thunders to the        
footstool of ,artaxerxes' throne4 ,oh1  
these dear spindle-shanked ,schoolmen6  
they were people1 respected reader1 not 
to be sneezed at4 ,what signifies having
 spindle-shanks8   ,synonyms4--,a       
representative and a delegate1 according
 to ,burke1 are identical2 but there is 
the same difference as between a person 
who on his own results of judgment      
manages the interests of ,x1 and a      
person merely reporting the voice of ,x4

 ,probably there never was a case which 
so sharply illustrated the liability of 
goodish practical understanding to miss1
 to fail in seeing1 an object lying     
right before the eyes2 and that is more 
wonderful in cases where the object is  
not one of multitude1 but exists almost 
in a state of insulation4 ,at the       
coroner's inquest on a young woman who  
died from tight-lacing1 acting1 it was  
said1 in combination with a very full   
meal of animal food1 to throw the heart 
out of position1 ,mr4 ,wakely pronounced
 ,english or ,british people all        
distorted in the spine1 whereas         
,continental people were all right4     
,continental6 ,how unlimited an idea6   
,why1 it meant nothing2 it defines      
nothing1 limits nothing1 excludes       
nothing4 ,who or what is ,continental8  
,apparently it means anyone out of #bdj 
millions not being one of the #bg       
millions in the ,britannides4 ,every man
 escapes an insane folly who happens to 
breathe an air ,e4 7,n4 ,e41 ,s4 ,e41   

,n4 ,n4 ,e41 ,s4 ,s4 ,e41 etc47 of the  
,britannides4 ,vanity1 the inevitable   
wish to improve1 or rather to avail1    
one's self of a natural means offered   
for deepening and marking out the       
natural outline of the shape1 i4e41 of  
the sexual characteristics1 has no      
effect1 dies out1 the instant that a    
family is one of those who have the     
privilege of basking anywhere #b1jjj    
miles ,e4 or #b1jjj miles ,n4 and ,s46  
,a whistling to a horse3 ,poppysme 7vide
 ,whistling1 ,lat4 ,dict472 but poppysme
 is a patting1 a clapping1 on the back1 
neck1 or1 doubtless1 wherever the animal
 is sensible of praise4   ',takest      
away4' ,this beautiful expression1      
though exquisitely treated by position--
            ',that all evil thoughts and
 aims     ,takest away1'  is yet        
originally borrowed by ,mr4 ,w4 from the
 ,litany3 ',o ,lamb of ,god1 that takest
 away the sins of the world4'   ,in     
style to explain the true character of  
note-writing--how compressed and        

unrambling and direct it ought to be1   
and illustrate by the villainous twaddle
 of many ,shakespearian notes4          
,syllogism4--,in the ,edin4 ,advertiser 
for ,friday1 ,january #be1 #ahef1 a     
passage occurs taken from ,le ,nord 7or 
,journal du ,nord71 or some paper whose 
accurate title ,i do not know1          
understood to be ,russian in its        
leanings1 which makes a most absurd and 
ignorant use of this word4 ,the ,allies 
are represented as addressing an        
argument to ,russia1 amounting1 ,i      
think1 to this1 viz43 that1 in order to 
test her sincerity1 would it not be well
 for ,russia at once to cede such       
insulated points of territory as were   
valuable to ,russia or suspicious to the
 ,allies simply as furnishing means for 
invasion of ,turkey8 ,and this argument 
is called a syllogism4   ',laid in wait 
for him4'--,this false phrase occurs in 
some article 7a ,crimea article1 ,i     
suppose7 in the same ,advertiser of     
,january #be4 ,and ,i much doubt whether

 any ordinary ear would reconcile itself
 to lay in wait 7as a past tense7 even  
when instructed in its propriety4       
,those ,scotticisms are worst which are 
nonsensical1 as e4g43      ',whenever he
 died      ,fully more4'   ,timeous and 
dubiety are bad1 simply as not          
authorized by any but local usage4 ,a   
word used only in ,provence or amongst  
the ,pyrenees could not be employed by a
 classical ,french writer1 except under 
a caveat and for a special purpose4     
,plenty1 used under the absurd          
misleading of its terminal 'y' as an    
adjective4 ,alongst1 remember of2 able  
for1 the worse of liquor1 to call for1  
to go the length of1 as applied to a    
distance2 ',i don't think it1' instead  
of ',i don't think so4'   ,in the       
,lady's ,newspaper for ,saturday1 ,may  
#h1 #aheb 7,no4 #bhj71 occurs the very  
worst case of exaggerated and incredible
 mixed silliness and vulgarity connected
 with the use of assist for help at the 
dinner-table that ,i have met with4 ,it 

occurs in the review of a book entitled 
',the ,illustrated ,london ,cookery     
,book1' by ,frederick ,bishop4 ,mr4     
,bishop1 it seems1 had 'enjoyed the     
office of cuisinier at the ,palace1 and 
among some of our first nobility4' ,he  
has1 by the way1 an introductory        
',philosophy of ,cookery4' ,two cases   
occur of this matchless absurdity3  #a4 
,an ideal carver is described3 he1 after
 carving1 'is as cool and collected as  
ever1 and assists the portions he has   
carved with as much grace as he         
displayed in carving the fowl4'  #b4    
,further on1 when contrasting1 not the  
carvers1 but the things to be carved1   
coming to ',neck of ,veal1' he says of  
the carver3 ',should the vertebr have   
not been jointed by the butcher1 you    
would find yourself in the position of  
the ungraceful carver1 being compelled  
to exercise a degree of strength which  
should never be suffered to appear1 very
 possibly1 too1 assisting gravy in a    
manner not contemplated by the person   

unfortunate enough to receive it4'      
,genteel is the vulgarest and most      
plebeian of all known words4            
,accordingly 7and strange it is that the
 educated users of this word should not 
perceive that fact71 aristocratic       
people--people in the most undoubted    
lite of society as to rank or           
connections--utterly ignore the word4   
,they are aware of its existence in     
,english dictionaries2 they know that it
 slumbers in those vast repositories2   
they even apprehend your meaning in a   
vague way when you employ it as an      
epithet for assigning the pretensions of
 an individual or a family4 ,generally  
it is understood to imply that the party
 so described is in a position to make  
morning calls1 to leave cards1 to be    
presentable for anything to the contrary
 apparent in manners1 style of          
conversation1 etc4 ,but these and other 
suggestions still leave a vast area     
unmapped of blank charts in which the   
soundings are still doubtful4  ,the word

 'genteel' is so eminently vulgar       
apparently for this reason1 that it     
presents a non-vulgar distinction under 
a gross and vulgar conception of that   
distinction4 ,the true and central      
notion1 on which the word revolves1 is  
elevating2 but1 by a false abstraction  
of its elements1 it is degraded4 ,and   
yet in parts of this island where the   
progress of refinement is torpid1 and   
the field of vision is both narrow and  
unchanging in all that regards the      
nuances of manners1 ,i have remarked    
that the word 'genteel' maintains its   
old advantageous acceptation2 and as a  
proof of this1 eminent and even         
revolutionary thinkers born and bred in 
such provincial twilight1 use the word  
as if untainted and hardly aware that it
 is flyblown4  ,among ourselves it is   
certain that a peculiar style of gossip1
 of babble1 and of miniature intriguing1
 invests the atmosphere of little       
'townishness1' such as often entangles  
the more thoughtful and dignified of the

 residents in troublesome efforts at    
passive resistance or active            
counter-action4 ,in dealing with this   
matter1 ,mr4 ,wordsworth instanced      
,northampton and ,nottingham2 but a     
broader difference could hardly be than 
between these towns4 ,and just as       
'genteel' remains the vulgarest of all  
words1 so the words 'simple' and        
'simplicity1' amongst all known words1  
offer the most complex and least simple 
of ideas4  ,having made this deprecation
 on behalf of my own criminality in     
using such a word as 'genteel1' ,i go on
 to say that whilst ,northampton was    
7and is1 ,i believe7 of all towns the   
most genteel1 ,nottingham for more than 
two centuries has been the most         
insurrectionary and in a scarlet excess 
democratic4 ,nottingham1 in fact1 has   
always resembled the ,alexandria of     
ancient days2 whilst ,northampton could 
not be other than aristocratic as the   
centre of a county more thickly gemmed  
by the ancestral seats of our nobility  

than any beside in the island4 ,norwich1
 again1 though a seat of manufacturing  
industry1 has always been modified      
considerably by a literary body of      
residents4   ',mein alter ,herr' 7von   
,stein7 'pflegte dann wohl scherzend zu 
sagen3 ,ich msse von irgend eine ,hexe  
meinen ,altem als ein ,wechselbalg in's 
,nest gelegt seyn2 ich gehre offenbar   
einem ,stamm amerikanischer wilden an1  
und habe noch die ,hhnerhundnase zum    
,auswittern des verschiedenen ,blutes4' 
,arndt1 speaking of his power to detect 
at sight 7when seen at a distance7      
,russians1 ,english1 etc41 says that    
,von ,stein replied thus in his         
surprise4 ,but ,i have cited the passage
 as one which amply illustrates the     
suspensive form of sentence in the      
,german always indicated by a colon 7371
 thus3 'zu sagen3 ,ich msse'--to say    
that ,i must have been 7p4 #afd74   ,the
 active sense of fearful1 viz41 that    
which causes and communicates           
terror--not that which receives         

terror--was undoubtedly in              
,shakespeare's age1 but especially      
amongst poets1 the preponderant sense4  
,accordingly ,i am of opinion that even 
in neutral cases1 such as are open      
indifferently to either sense1 viz41    
that which affrights1 or that which is  
itself affrighted1 the bias in          
,shakespeare's interpretation of the    
feeling lay towards the former movement4
 ,for instance1 in one of his sonnets3  
',oh1 fearful meditation6 where1 alas6' 
the true construction ,i believe to     
be--not this3 ,oh1 though deriving      
terror from the circumstances           
surrounding thee1 suffering terror from 
the entourage of considerations pursuing
 thee2 but this3 ,oh1 thought impressing
 and creating terror1 etc4 ,a 'fearful' 
agent in ,shakespeare's use is not one  
that shrinks in alarm from the act1 but 
an agent that causes others to shrink2  
not panic-struck1 but panic-striking4   
,miss ,edgeworth1 let me remark1 commits
 trespasses on language that are really 

past excusing4 ,in one place she says   
that a man 'had a contemptible opinion' 
of some other man's understanding4 ,such
 a blunder is not of that class which   
usage sanctions1 and an accuracy not    
much short of pedantry would be argued  
in noticing3 it is at once illiterate   
and vulgar in the very last degree4 ,i  
mean that it is common amongst vulgar   
people1 and them only4 ,it ranks1 for   
instance1 with the common formula of ',i
 am agreeable1 if you prefer it4'       
,style is the disentangling of thoughts 
or ideas reciprocally involved in each  
other4   #d4--,,theological ,,and       
,,religious4  ,religion under any of its
 aspects1 revealing or                  
consoling--religion in connection with  
any of its affinities1 ethics or        
metaphysics1 when self-evoked by a      
person of earnest nature1 not imposed   
from without by the necessities of      
monastic life1 not caught as a contagion
 from the example of friends that       
surround you1 argues some 'vast volcanic

 agency' moving at subterraneous depths 
below the ordinary working mind of daily
 life1 and entitled by its own intrinsic
 grandeur to ennoble the curiosity 7else
 a petty passion7 which may put         
questions as to its origin4 ,in any case
 of religion arising1 as a spontaneous  
birth1 in the midst of alien forces1 it 
is inevitable to ask for its why and its
 whence4 ,religion considered as a      
sentiment of devotion1 as a yearning    
after some dedication to an immeasurable
 principle of that noblest temple among 
all temples--'the upright heart and     
pure1' or religion1 again1 as the       
apprehension of some mighty synthesis   
amongst truths dimly perceived          
heretofore amidst separating clouds1 but
 now brought into strict indissoluble   
connection1 proclaims a revolution so   
great that it is otherwise not to be    
accounted for than as the breaking out  
of a germ of the supernatural in man as 
a seed from a hitherto barren soil4     
,sin is that secret word1 that dark     

aporrton of the human race1             
undiscoverable except by express        
revelation1 which having once been laid 
in the great things of ,god as a        
germinal principle1 has since blossomed 
into a vast growth of sublime ideas     
known only to those nations who have    
lived under the moulding of ,scriptural 
truth--and comprehending all functions  
of the ,infinite operatively familiar to
 man4 ,yes1 ,i affirm that there is no  
form through which the ,infinite reveals
 itself in a sense comprehensible by man
 and adequate to man2 that there is no  
sublime agency which compresses the     
human mind from infancy so as to mingle 
with the moments of its growth1         
positively none but has been in its     
whole origin--in every part--and        
exclusively developed out of that       
tremendous mystery which lurks under the
 name of sin4  ,yes1 ,i affirm that even
 in its dreams every ,christian child is
 invested by an atmosphere of sublimity 
unknown to the greatest of ,pagan       

philosophers3 that golden rays reach it 
by two functions of the ,infinite2 and  
that these1 in common with those        
emanations of the ,infinite that do not 
settle upon the mind until mature years1
 are all projections--derivations or    
counterpositions--from the obscure idea 
of sin2 could not have existed under any
 previous condition2 and for a ,pagan   
mind would not have been intelligible4  
,sin4--,it is not only that the         
,infinite arises as part of the entire  
system resting on sin1 but specifically 
from sin apart from its counterforces or
 reactions1 viz41 from sin as a thing1  
and the only thing originally shadowy   
and in a terrific sense mysterious4     
,stench4--,i believe that under ,burke's
 commentary1 this idea would become a   
high test of the doctrine of the        
,infinite4 ,he pronounces it sublime1 or
 sublime in cases of intensity4 ,now1   
first of all1 the intense state of      
everything or anything is but a mode of 
power1 that idea or element or moment of

 greatness under a varied form4 ,here1  
then1 is nothing proper or separately   
peculiar to stench3 it is not stench as 
stench1 but stench as a mode or form of 
sensation1 capable therefore of         
intensification4 ,it is but a case under
 what we may suppose a general ,kantian 
rule--that every sensation runs through 
all gradations1 from the lowest or most 
obscure and nascent to the highest4     
,secondly1 however1 pass over to the    
contemplation of stench as stench3 then 
,i affirm--that as simply expounding the
 decay1 and altering or spoiling        
tendency or state of all things--simply 
as a register of imperfection1 and of   
one which does not 7as ruins to the eye7
 ever put on a pleasing transitional    
aspect1 it is merely disagreeable1 but  
also at the same time mean4 ,for the    
imperfection is merely transitional and 
fleeting1 not absolute4 ,first1 midst   
and last1 it is or can be grand when it 
reverts or comes round upon its         
mediating point1 or point of reaction4  

,the arrangement of my ,infinite must be
 thus3 ,after having expounded the idea 
of holiness which ,i must show to be now
 potent1 proceed to show that the ,pagan
 ,gods did not realize and did not meet 
this idea2 that then came the exposure  
of the ,pagan ,gods and the conscious   
presence of a new force among mankind1  
which opened up the idea of the         
,infinite1 through the awakening        
perception of holiness4   ,i believe    
that in every mode of existence1 which  
probably is always by an incarnation1   
the system of flesh is made to yield the
 organs that express the alliance of man
 with the ,infinite4 ,thus the idea of  
mystery1 ,greek3 aporrta1 finds its     
organ of expression in the sensualities 
of the human race4 ,again1 the crime1   
whatever it were1 and the eternal       
pollution is expressed in these same    
organs4 ,also1 the prolongation of the  
race so as to find another system is    
secured by the same organs4             
,generally1 that is1 for a million      

against a unit1 the awful mystery by    
which the fearful powers of death1 and  
sorrow1 and pain1 and sin are locked    
into parts of a whole2 so as1 in fact1  
to be repetitions1 reaffirmations of    
each other under a different phase--this
 is nothing1 does not exist4 ,death     
sinks to a mere collective term--a      
category--a word of convenience for     
purposes of arrangement4 ,you depress   
your hands1 and1 behold6 the system     
disappears2 you raise them1 it          
reappears4 ,this is nothing--a cipher1 a
 shadow4 ,clap your hands like an       
,arabian girl1 and all comes back4      
,unstop your ears1 and a roar as of ,st4
 ,lawrence enters3 stop your ears1 and  
it is muffled4 ,to and fro2 it is and it
 is not--is not and is4 ,ah1 mighty     
heaven1 that such a mockery should cover
 the whole vision of life6 ,it is and it
 is not2 and on to the day of your death
 you will still have to learn what is   
the truth4  ,the eternal now through the
 dreadful loom is the overflowing future

 poured back into the capacious         
reservoir of the past4 ,all the active  
element lies in that infinitesimal now4 
,the future is not except by relation2  
the past is not at all1 and the present 
but a sign of a nexus between the two4  
,god's words require periods1 so ,his   
counsels4 ,he cannot precipitate them   
any more than a man in a state of       
happiness can commit suicide4 ,doubtless
 it is undeniable that a man may arm his
 hand with a sword3 and that his flesh  
will be found penetrable to the sword1  
happy or not4 ,but this apparent        
physical power has no existence1 no     
value for a creature having a double    
nature3 the moral nature not only       
indisposes him to use his power1 but    
really creates a far greater antagonist 
power4   ,this ,god--too great to be    
contemplated steadily by the loftiest of
 human eyes2 too approachable and       
condescending to be shunned by the      
meanest in affliction3 realizing thus in
 another form that reconcilement of     

extremes1 which ,st4 ,paul observed3 far
 from all created beings1 yet also very 
near4   ',a conviction that they needed 
a ,saviour was growing amongst men4'    
,how8 ,in what sense8 ,saviour from     
what8 ,you can't be saved from nothing4 
,there must be a danger1 an evil        
threatening1 before even in fancy you   
can think of a deliverer4 ,now1 what    
evil was there existing to a ,pagan8    
,sin8 ,monstrous6 ,no such idea ever    
dawned upon the ,pagan intellect4       
,death8 ,yes2 but that was inalienable  
from his nature4 ,pain and disease8     
,yes2 but these were perhaps inalienable
 also4 ,mitigated they might be1 but it 
must be by human science1 and the       
progress of knowledge4 ,grief8 ,yes2 but
 this was inalienable from life4        
,mitigated it might be1 but by superior 
philosophy4 ,from what1 then1 was a     
,saviour to save8 ,if nothing to save   
from1 how any ,saviour8 ,but here arises
 as the awful of awfuls to me1 the deep1
 deep exposure of the insufficient      

knowledge and sense of what is peculiar 
to ,christianity4 ,to imagine some sense
 of impurity1 etc41 leading to a wish   
for a ,saviour in a ,pagan1 is to       
defraud ,christianity of all its        
grandeur4 ,if ,paganism could develop   
the want1 it is not at all clear that   
,paganism did not develop the remedy4   
,heavens6 how deplorable a blindness6   
,but did not a ,pagan lady feel the     
insufficiency of earthly things for     
happiness8 ,no2 because any feeling     
tending in that direction would be to   
her1 as to all around her1 simply a     
diseased feeling1 whether from dyspepsia
 or hypochondria1 and one1 whether      
diseased or not1 worthless for practical
 purposes4 ,it would have to be a       
,christian lady1 if something far       
beyond1 something infinite1 were not    
connected with it1 depending on it4 ,but
 if this were by you ascribed to the    
,pagan lady1 then that is in other words
 to make her a ,christian lady already4 
,exhibition of a ,roman ,dialogue on    

,sin4--,what6 says the ignorant and     
unreflecting modern ,christian4 ,do you 
mean to tell me that a ,roman1 however  
buried in worldly objects1 would not be 
startled at hearing of a ,saviour8 ,now1
 hearken4  ,,roman4 ,saviour6 ,what do  
you mean8 ,saviour for what8 ,in good   
faith1 my friend1 you labour under some 
misconception4 ,i am used to rely on    
myself for all the saving that ,i need4 
,and1 generally speaking1 if you except 
the sea1 and those cursed north-east    
winds1 ,i know of no particular danger4 
,,christian4 ,oh1 my friend1 you totally
 mistake the matter4 ,i mean saving from
 sin4  ,,roman4 ,saving from a fault1   
that is--well1 what sort of a fault8    
,or1 how should a man1 that you say is  
no longer on earth1 save me from any    
fault8 ,is it a book to warn me of      
faults that ,he has left8  ,,christian4 
,why1 yes4 ,not that ,he wrote ,himself2
 but ,he talked1 and ,his followers have
 recorded ,his views4 ,but still you are
 quite in the dark4 ,not faults1 but the

 fountain of all faults1 that is what   
,he will save you from4  ,,roman4 ,but  
how8 ,i can understand that by          
illuminating my judgment in general ,he 
might succeed in making me more prudent4
  ,,christian4 ',judgment1'             
'prudent'--these words show how wide by 
a whole hemisphere you are of the truth4
 ,it is your will that ,he applies ,his 
correction to4  ,,roman4 ',will6' why   
,i've none but peaceable and lawful     
designs1 ,i assure you4 ,oh6 ,i begin to
 see4 ,you think me a partner with those
 pirates that we just spoke to4         
,,christian4 ,not at all1 my friend4 ,i 
speak not of designs or intentions4     
,what ,i mean is1 the source of all     
desires--what ,i would call your wills1 
your whole moral nature4  ,,roman       
7bridling74 ,ahem6 ,i hope ,roman nature
 is quite as little in need of          
improvement as any other4 ,there are the
 ,cretans2 they held up their heads4    
,accordingly they had their fire        
institutions1 and that true institution 

against bribery and luxury1 and all such
 stuff4 ,they fancied themselves        
impregnable4 ,why1 bless you6 even      
,marcus ,tullius1 that was a prosing    
kind of man and rather peevish about    
such things1 could not keep in the      
truth4 ',why1 ,cato1 my boy1' says he1  
'you talk4' ,and to hear you1 bribery   
and luxury would not leave one a stick  
to fight for4 ,why1 now1 these same     
,cretans--lord6 we took the conceit out 
of them in twenty-five minutes4 ,no more
 time1 ,i assure you1 did it cost three 
of our cohorts to settle the whole lot  
of them4  ,,christian4 ,my friend1 you  
are more and more in the dark4 ,what ,i 
mean is not present in your senses1 but 
a disease4  ,,roman4 ,oh1 a disease6    
that's another thing4 ,but where8       
,,christian4 ,why1 it affects the brain 
and the heart4  ,,roman4 ,well1 now1 one
 at a time4 ,take the brain--we have a  
disease1 and we treat it with white     
hellebore4 ,there may be a better way4  
,but answer me this4 ,if you are        

generally affected1 what right have you 
to bring1 as you are supposing1 a       
diseased brain to a sound one8 ,we      
,romans are all sound--sound as a bell4 
,then ,christian goes on to the history 
of the fall4 ,but the whole would be    
self-baffled and construed away from    
want of sin as the antithesis of        
holiness4   ,why ,st4 ,paul and the     
,athenians did not come to an           
,understanding4--,so1 again1 if you     
think that ,st4 ,paul had a chance with 
the ,athenians4 ,if he had1 it would tax
 his divine benevolence to see that he  
forbore to pursue it4 ,this attempt     
shows that he was under a misconception4
 ,he fancied a possibility of preaching 
a pure religion4 ,what followed8 ,he    
was1 he must have been defeated4 ,that  
is1 practically1 else why did he not    
persist8 ,but his confutation was the   
factual confutation of experience4 ,it  
was no go4 ,that he found too surely4   
,but why8 ,i am sure that he never found
 out4 ,enough that he felt--that under a

 strong instinct he misgave--a deep1    
deep gulf between him and them1 so that 
neither could he make a way to their    
sense1 nor they1 except conjecturally1  
to his4 ,for1 just review the case4     
,what was the ,greek3 euangelion1 the   
good tidings1 which he announced to man8
 ,what burthen of hope8 ,what revelation
 of a mystery of hope arising out of a  
deeper mystery of despair8 ,he announced
 a deliverer4 ,deliverer6 from what8    
,answer that--from what8 ,why1 from     
evil1 you say4 ,evil6 of what kind8     
,why1 you retort1 did not the ,pagans   
admit that man was lying under evil8    
,not at all2 nothing of the kind4 ,but  
you are sure you have heard of such     
things8 ,very likely4 ,and now you are  
forced back upon your arguments you     
remember specially that evil as to its  
origin was a favourite speculation of   
theirs4 ,evil1 in its most comprehensive
 designation1 whence is it8 ,how came   
it8 ,now1 mark1 even to that extent1    
viz41 the extent indicated by this      

problem1 the ancients had no conception 
of evil corresponding to1 no1 nor dimly 
approaching to1 a correspondence with   
ours4 ,they had no ineffable standard of
 purity2 how1 then1 any function of     
impurity8 ,they had no ineffable        
doctrine of pain or suffering answering 
to a far more realized state of         
perception1 and1 therefore1 unimaginably
 more exquisite2 how1 then1 could they  
raise a question on the nature or       
fountains of such pains8 ,they executed 
no synthesis1 and could execute none    
upon the calamities of life2 they never 
said in ordinary talk that this was a   
world of sorrow1 either apostrophizing a
 newborn child1 or a world of           
disappointment1 bemoaning a mature      
victim2 neither as in the anguish of    
meditative reflection1 nor in the       
prudence of extenuating apology4 ,the   
grand sanctus which arises from human   
sensibility1 ,perish empires and the    
crowns of kings1 etc41 first arose in   
connection with ,christianity4#cj ,life 

was a good life2 man was a prosperous   
being4 ,hope for men was his natural    
air2 despondency the element of his own 
self-created folly4 ,neither could it be
 otherwise4 ,for1 besides that1 it would
 be too immeasurable a draught of woe to
 say in one breath that this only was   
the crux or affirmation of man's fate1  
and yet that this also was wretched per 
se2 not accidentally made wretched by   
imprudence1 but essentially and         
irrevocably so by necessity of its      
nature4 ,besides all this1 which has a  
lurking dependency upon man's           
calculations of what is safe1 he sees   
that this mode of thinking would leave  
him nothing2 yet even that extreme      
consequence would not check some honest 
or sincere or desperate minds from      
uttering their convictions that life    
really was this desperate game--much to 
lose and nothing in the best case to    
win4 ,so far there would have been a    
dangerous gravitation at all times to   
the sad conclusion of ,paganism4 ,but1  

meanwhile1 this dangerous gravitation   
was too dangerous1 and ,providence has  
deeply counteracted it by principles    
laid down in human nature4 ,i affirm    
that where the ideas of man1 where the  
possible infinities are not developed1  
then also the exorbitant on the other   
field is strongly pulled up4 ,no ideals 
of evil can take place except under     
ideals of happiness that passeth all    
understanding4 ,no synthesis can ever be
 executed1 that is1 no annumeration of  
,a1 ,b1 ,c into a common total1 viewed  
as elements tending to a common unity1  
unless previously this unity has been   
preconceived1 because the elements are  
not elements1 viz41 original            
constituents of a representative whole  
7a series tending to a summation71      
unless that which is constituted--that  
whole--is previously given in idea4     
,since ,a and ,b and ,c could not be    
viewed as tending to a unity1 having no 
existence except through them1 unless   
previously that unity had existed for   

the regulation and eduction of its      
component elements4 ,and this unity in  
the case of misery never could have been
 given unless far higher functions than 
any which could endure ,paganism1 or    
which ,paganism could endure4 ,until the
 sad element of a diseased will is      
introduced1 until the affecting notion  
is developed of a fountain in man       
himself welling up the misery for ever1 
no idea of misery could arise4          
,suffering is limited and transitory4   
,what pain is permanent in man8 ,even   
the deepest laceration of the human     
heart1 that which is inflicted by the   
loss of those who were the pulses of our
 hearts1 is soothed 7if never wholly    
healed7 by time4 ,one agency of time    
would avail for this effect were there  
no other4 ,the features of the          
individual whom we mourn grow dimmer and
 dimmer as time advances2 and1 pari     
passu1 the features of places and       
collateral objects and associated       
persons from whom reverberated these    

afflicting reminiscences of the lost    
object4  ,i return3 ,deliverer from     
what8 ,from suffering or misery4 ,but   
that was not acknowledged1 nor could    
have been1 we could see no misery as a  
hypothesis except in these two modes3   
,first1 as a radication in man by means 
of something else1 some third thing4    
,secondly1 as a synthesis--as a         
gathering under a principle which must  
act prior to the gathering in order to  
provoke it4 7,the synthesis must be     
rendered possible and challenged by the 
priori unity which otherwise constitutes
 that unity47 ,as a metaphysical        
possibility evil was recognised through 
its unfathomable nature4 ,but this was  
because such a nature already           
presupposed a ,god's nature1 realizing  
his own ends1 stepped in with effect4   
,for the highest form--the normal or    
transcendent form--of virtue to a       
,pagan1 was in the character of citizen4
 ,indeed1 the one sole or affirmative   
form of virtue lay in this sole         

function1 viz41 of public1 of patriotic 
virtue4 ,since here only it was possible
 to introduce an additional good to the 
world4 ,all other virtue1 as of justice 
between individual and individual1 did  
but redress a previous error1 sometimes 
of the man himself1 sometimes of social 
arrangement1 sometimes of accident4 ,it 
was a plus which balanced and           
compensated a pre-existing minus--an    
action in regressu1 which came back with
 prevailing power upon an action in     
progressu4 ,but to be a patriot was to  
fulfil a call of the supererogatory     
heart--a great nisus of sympathy with   
the one sole infinite1 the sole         
practical infinite that man             
pre-,christian ever could generate for  
his contemplation4 ,now1 therefore1 it  
followed that the idea of virtue here   
only found its realization4 ,virtue1 in 
fact1 was not derivatively or           
consequentially connected with          
patriotism1 it was immanent2 not        
transitively associated by any links    

whatever1 but immanently intertwisted1  
indwelling in the idea4 ,therefore it   
happened that a man1 however heartsick  
of this tumid1 bladdery delusion1       
although to him it was a balloon1 by    
science punctured1 lacerated1           
collapsing1 trailed through ditch and   
mud under the rough handling and the    
fearful realities of life1 yet he durst 
not avow his private feelings4 ,that    
would have been even worse than with us3
 it would have been to proclaim virtue  
and vice mere bubbles and chimeras4 ,he 
who really thinks so even we reasonably 
suspect of practical indifference unless
 when we believe him to speak as a      
misanthrope4  ,the question suppose to  
commence as to the divine mission of    
,christ4 ,and the feeble understanding  
is sure to think this will be proved    
best by proving the subject of this     
doubt to have been a miracle-working    
power4 ,and of all miracles1 to have    
mastered 7not merely escaped or evaded7 
death will be in his opinion the        

greatest4 ,so that if ,christ could be  
proved to have absolutely conquered     
death1 i4e41 to have submitted to death1
 but only to recoil from his power and  
overthrow it1 to have died and          
subsequently to have risen again1 will1 
fortiori1 prove ,him to have been sent  
of ,god4  ,not so4 ,all and every basis 
of credibility must be laid in the moral
 nature1 where the thing to be believed 
is important1 i4e41 moral4 ,and ,i      
therefore open with this remark         
absolutely zermalmende to the common    
intellect3 ,that from a holy faith you  
may infer a power of resurrection1 but  
not from a power of resurrection fifty  
times repeated can we infer a holy      
faith4 ,what in the last result is the  
thing to be proved8 ,why1 a holy        
revelation1 not of knowledge1 but of    
things practical2 of agenda1 not        
scienda4 ,it is essential that this holy
 should also be new1 original1          
revelatum4 ,because1 else1 the divinest 
things which are connata and have been  

common to all men1 point to no certain  
author4 ,they belong to the dark        
foundations of our being1 and cannot    
challenge a trust1 faith1 or expectation
 as suspended upon any particular       
individual man whatever4  ,here1 then1  
arises the ,greek3 prtontokinon4 ,thick 
darkness sits on every man's mind as to 
,christ's revelation4 ,he fancies that  
it amounts to this3 ',do what is good4  
,do your duty4 ,be good4' ,and with this
 vague notion of the doctrine1 natural  
is it that he should think it as old as 
the hills4 ,the first step to a saner   
view is1 to understand--if a man has    
sense enough to reach so high--that the 
subtlest discoveries ever made by man1  
all put together1 do not make one wave  
of that ,atlantic as to novelty and     
originality which lies in the moral     
scheme of ,christianity4 ,i do not mean 
in the total scheme of ,christianity1   
redemption1 etc4 ,no1 but in the ethics4
  ,all ethics that ever ,greece refined 
or ,rome illustrated1 was1 and could be1

 only the same universal system of      
social ethics--ethics proper and        
exclusive to man and man inter se1 with 
no glimpse of any upward relationship4  
,now ,christianity looks upward for the 
first time4 ,this in the first place4   
,secondly1 out of that upward look      
,christianity looks secondarily down    
again1 and reacts even upon the social  
ethics in the most tremendous way4      
,for my ,book on the ,relations of      
,christianity to ,man4--,s4 ,t4 ,c4     
cites ,jeremy ,taylor1 etc41 for        
horrible passages on the gloomy state of
 the chances for virtuous ,pagans4 ,s4  
,t4 ,c4 in a more liberal generation is 
shocked2 and of course in his readers as
 in himself secretly1 he professes more 
liberal ideas4 ,aye1 but how is he      
entitled to these ideas8 ,for1 on       
further consideration1 it is not ,cicero
 only1 or ,epictetus only1 that would   
suffer under this law of ,christianity  
viewed in its reagency1 but also        
,abraham1 ,david1 ,isaiah1 ,ezekiel1    

,hezekiah4 ,because1 how could they     
benefit by a ,redeemer not yet          
revealed--nay1 by a ,redeemer not even  
existing8 ,for it is not the second     
person in the ,trinity--not ,he         
separately and abstractedly--that is the
 ,redeemer1 but that second person      
incarnated4 ,st4 ,paul apparently wished
 to smuggle this tremendous question    
into a fraudulent solution1 by mixing up
 ,abraham 7with others pre-,christian   
and ,christian7 into the long array of  
those whose ,faith had saved them4 ,but 
faith in whom8 ,general faith in ,god is
 not the thing1 it is faith in ,jesus   
,christ2 and we are solemnly told in    
many shapes that no other name was given
 on earth through which men could be    
delivered4 ,indeed1 if not1 how is the  
,messiah of such exclusive and paramount
 importance to man8 ,the ,messiah was as
 yet 7viz41 in ,abraham's time7 a       
prophecy--a dim1 prophetic outline of   
one who should be revealed4 ,but if     
,abraham and many others could do       

without ,him1 if this was a dispensable 
idea1 how was it in any case1 first or  
last1 indispensable8 ,besides1 recur to 
the theory of ,christianity4 ,most      
undeniably it was this1 that neither of 
the two elements interested in man could
 save him2 not ,god2 ,he might have     
power1 but ,his purity revolted4 ,power 
7or doubtfully so71 but no will4 ,not   
man--for he1 having the will1 had no    
power4 ,god was too holy2 manhood too   
unholy4 ,man's gifts1 applicable1 but   
insufficient4 ,god's sufficient1 but    
inapplicable4 ,then came the compromise4
 ,how if man could be engrafted upon    
,god8 ,thus only1 and by such a         
synthesis1 could the ineffable qualities
 of ,god be so co-ordinated with those  
of man4   ,suppose even that a verbal   
inspiration could have been             
secured--secured1 observe1 against      
gradual changes in language and against 
the reactionary corruption of concurrent
 versions1 which it would be impossible 
to guarantee as also enjoying such an   

inspiration 7since1 in that case1 what  
barrier would divide mine or anybody's  
wilfully false translations from that   
pretending to authority8 ,i repeat what8
 ,none is conceivable1 since what could 
you have beyond the assurance of the    
translator1 even which could only       
guarantee his intentions7--here is a    
cause of misinterpretation amounting to 
ruin1 viz41 after being read for        
centuries as if practically meant for   
our guidance1 such and such a chapter   
7e4g41 ,jael and ,sisera71 long         
proscribed by the noble as a record of  
abominable perfidy1 has at length been  
justified on the ground that it was     
never meant for anything else4 ,thus we 
might get rid of ,david1 etc41 were it  
not that for his flexible obedience to  
the clerus he has been pronounced the   
man after ,god's own heart4  ,is it not 
dreadful that at the very vestibule of  
any attempt to execute the pretended law
 of ,god and its sentences to hell we   
are interrupted by one case in every    

three as exceptional8 ,of the deaths1   
one in three are of children under five4
 ,add to these surely very many up to   
twelve or thirteen1 and many up to      
eighteen or twenty1 then you have a law 
which suspends itself for one case in   
every two4  ,note in the argument drawn 
from perishableness of language4 ,not   
only 7which ,i have noted7 is any       
language1 ergo the original1 ,chaldan1  
,greek1 etc41 perishable even for those 
who use it1 but also the vast openings  
to error which all languages open to    
translators form a separate source of   
error in translators1 viz43  #a4 ,the   
old one on my list that for them the    
guidance of inspiration has ceased1     
else1 if not1 you must set up an        
inspiration separately to translators1  
since1 if you say--,no1 not at all1 why1
 which then8  #b4 ,the uncertainty of a 
foreign language even in a day          
contemporary with the original writer1  
and therefore over and above what arises
 from lapse of time and gradual         

alterations4   ,on ,human               
,progress4--,oftentimes it strikes us   
all that this is so insensible as to    
elude observation the very nicest4 ,five
 years add nothing1 we fancy4 ,now      
invert your glass4 ,in #afdb ,englishmen
 are fighting for great abstract        
principles4 ,in #adfj-hc 7i4e41 #ajj    
#ag  #db years before1 or #aei years7   
they are fighting for persons1 for rival
 candidates4 ,in #adfj they could not   
have conceived more than an ,esquimaux  
can entertain a question about the      
constitution of lyric poetry1 or the    
differential principles of ,english and 
,greek tragedy1 the barest approximation
 to questions that in #afdb are grounds 
of furious quarrel1 of bloody quarrel1  
of extermination4 ,now then1 looking    
forward1 you would see from year to year
 little if any growth2 but inverting    
your glass1 looking back from the       
station of #afdb to #adfj1 you see a    
progress that if subdivided amongst all 
the #aei years would give to each x_/#j 

as its quota1 i4e4 infinity4 ,in fact1  
it is like the progression from nothing 
to something4 ,it is--creation4  ,all   
the body of the ,christian world would  
fly out in a rage if you should say that
 ,christianity required of you many     
things that were easy1 but one thing    
that was not4 ,yet this is undoubtedly  
true2 it requires you to believe1 and   
even in the case where you know what it 
is to believe1 and so far are free from 
perplexity1 you have it not in your own 
power to ensure 7though you can         
influence greatly7 your own power to    
believe4 ,but also great doubt for many 
7and for all that are not somewhat      
metaphysical7 attends the knowledge of  
what is believing4   ,as to my mother's 
fancy that ,sir ,w4 ,jones had found in 
the ,east proofs of ,christianity1      
having gone out an infidel4  ,to do her 
justice1 never once after she had       
adopted a theory of ,christianity did   
she inquire or feel anxious about its   
proof4 ,but to review the folly of this 

idea4  #a4 ,that ,christianity there    
where it reigned and was meant to reign 
should be insufficient in its proofs2   
but that in a far distant land1 lurking 
in some hole or corner1 there should be 
proofs of its truth1 just precisely     
where these proofs were not wanted4 ,and
 again1 that these should be reserved   
for one scholar rambling into a solitary
 path1 where in a moral sense nobody    
could follow him 7for it is nobody--this
 or that oriental scholar74 ,and we are 
sure that his proof was not of that     
order to shine by its own light1 else it
 would have resounded through ,england4 
#b4 ,that for many hundreds of years    
,christianity should have been received1
 generation after generation should have
 lived under its vital action1 upon no  
sufficient argument1 and suddenly such  
an argument should turn up as a reward  
to a man in a country not ,christian for
 being more incredulous than his        
neighbours2 how impossible6  ,that      
fraudulent argument which affects to    

view the hardships of an adventurous    
life and its perils as capable of one   
sole impression--that of repulsion--and 
secondly as the sole circumstances about
 such adventures1 injures from the      
moment when it is perceived3 not  #a4   
,the writer only2 no matter for him1    
worthless liar1 how much he sinks in the
 opinion of his readers3 but  #b4 ,the  
,apostles4 ,now see the injury of       
falsehood4 ,suddenly it snaps1 and with 
a great reaction causes a jar to the    
whole system1 which in ordinary minds it
 is never likely to recover4 ,the reason
 it is not oftener perceived is that    
people read such books in a somnolent1  
inactive state of mind1 one-tenth coming
 to a subject on which they have already
 made up their minds1 and open to no    
fresh impressions1 the other nine-tenths
 caring not one straw about the matter1 
as reading it in an age of              
irreflectiveness and purely through an  
act of obedience to their superiors1    
else not only does this hypocritical    

attempt to varnish give way all at once1
 and suddenly 7with an occasion ever    
after of doubt1 and causing a reflection
 to any self-sufficient man1 suddenly   
coming to perceive that he has been     
cheated1 and with some justification for
 jealousy thenceforwards to the maker up
 of a case71 but also it robs the       
,apostles of the human grace they really
 possessed4 ,for if we suppose them     
armed against all temptations1 snares1  
seductions1 by a supernatural system of 
endowments1 this is but the case of an  
angel--nay1 not of an angel1 for it is  
probable that when an angel incarnated  
himself1 or one of the ,pagan deities1  
who was obliged first to incarnate      
himself before he could act amongst men1
 or so much as be seen by men1 he was   
bound by all the defects of man1 i4e41  
he could choose only an ideal1 so far   
ideal as to elude the worst effects from
 vice1 intemperance1 etc4 ,the angel who
 wrestled with ,jacob probably did his  
best2 he was a stout fellow1 but so was 

the patriarch4 ,the very condition of   
incarnation1 and this because the mere  
external form already includes          
limitations 7as of a fish1 not to fly2  
of a man1 not to fly1 etc47 probably    
includes as a necessity1 not as a       
choice1 the adoption of all evils       
connected with the nature assumed4 ,even
 the ,son of ,god1 once incarnated1 was 
not exempted from any evil of flesh2 ,he
 grew1 passed through the peculiar      
infirmities of every stage up to mature 
life2 would have grown old1 infirm1     
weak1 had ,he lived longer2 was liable  
to death1 the worst of all human evils1 
and was not1 we may be sure1 exempted   
from any one fleshly desire with regard 
to sex1 or enemies1 or companions1 but  
because that divine principle1 which    
also is in man1 yes1 in every man the   
foulest and basest--this light which the
 darkness comprehended not1 and which in
 some is early extinguished1 but in all 
fights fitfully with the winds and      
storms of this human atmosphere1 in ,him

 was raised to a lustre unspeakable by  
,his pure and holy will4  ,if the       
,apostles were more celestially armed in
 any other sense than as we are all     
armed from above by calling forth our   
better natures1 if in any other sense   
than as sorrow arms us by purifying our 
natures1 as sorrowful reflection1 as    
meditation and earnest endeavours to    
resist our angry instincts 7which1 on   
the contrary1 how often do men obey     
under the vile pretence of being put by 
conscience on a painful duty71 then1 ,i 
say1 what were the ,apostles to us8 ,why
 should we admire them8 ,how can we make
 them models of imitation8 ,it is like  
that case of ,anarcharsis the ,scythian4
   ,it does certainly incense a         
,christian to think that stupid         
,mahommedans should impute to us such   
childish idolatries as that of ,god     
having a son and heir--just as though we
 were barbarous enough to believe that  
,god was liable to old age--that the    
time was coming1 however distant1 when  

somebody would say to him1 ',come1      
,sir1' or ',come1 my ,lord1 really you  
are not what you were4 ,it's time you   
gave yourself some ease 7,greek3 euphmi1
 time1 indeed1 that you resigned the    
powers to which you are unequal71 and   
let a younger man take the reins4' ,none
 but a filthy barbarian could carry     
forward his thoughts so little as not to
 see that this son in due time would    
find himself in the same predicament4   
,now mark how ,christian lands would    
enforce this doctrine of unity by horrid
 coercions4 ,they hang1 drown1 burn1    
crucify those who deny it4 ,so that1 be 
assured you are planting your           
corner-stone on the most windy of       
delusions4 ,you yourselves do not       
ascribe any merit to ,mahommed separate 
from that of revealing the unity of     
,god4 ,consequently1 if that is a shaken
 craze arising from mere inability on   
his part1 a little1 a very little       
information would have cut up by the    
very roots the whole peculiarity of     

,islam4 ,for if a wise man could have   
assembled these conceited ,arabians and 
told them3 ,great thieves1 you fancy    
yourselves to have shot far ahead of the
 ,christians as to the point of unity1  
and if you had ,i would grant that you  
had made a prodigious advance4 ,but you 
are deceiving quarrellers4 ,it is all a 
word--mere smoke1 that blinds you4 ,the 
,christian seems to affirm three ,gods1 
and even to aggravate this wickedness by
 calling one of them 'a ,son1' thus     
seeming to accept that monstrous notion 
that ,god is liable to old age and      
decrepitude1 so as to provide wisely    
against ,his own dotage4 ,but all this  
is an error3 these three apparent ,gods 
are but one1 and in the most absolute   
sense one4   ,the most shockingly       
searching1 influential1 and permanent   
blunder that ever has affected the mind 
of man has been the fancy that a        
religion includes a creed as to its     
,greek3 aporrhta1 and a morality2 in    
short1 that it was doctrinal by         

necessity1 enactory1 and 7which has been
 the practical part of the blunder7     
therefore exclusive1 because3  #a4 ,with
 our notion of a religion as essentially
 doctrinal1 the very first axiom about  
it is1 that being true itself it makes  
all others false4 ,whereas1 the capital 
distinction of the ,pagan was--that     
given1 supposing to be assumed1 #aj1jjj 
religions--all must be true             
simultaneously1 all equally4 ,when a    
religion includes any distinct          
propositions offered to the             
understanding 7that is1 ,i think1       
resting upon a principle or tendency to 
a consequence by way of differencing    
from facts which also are for the       
understanding1 but then barely to       
contemplate not with a power of reacting
 on the understanding1 for every        
principle introduces into the mind that 
which may become a modification1 a      
restraint2 whereas1 a fact restrains    
nothing in the way of thought unless it 
includes a principle71 it would rise    

continually in its exclusive power      
according to the number of those        
propositions4 ,at first it might exclude
 all but ten1 eight1 seven1 and so on2  
finally1 as integrated it would exclude 
all4  #b4 ,if you ask on what principle 
a ,pagan believed his religion1 the     
question to him was almost amusing and  
laughable4 ,i will illustrate the case4 
,a man meets you who inquires in a      
hurried1 suppose even in an agitated    
way1 whether you met a tall man1 blind  
of one eye1 dressed in such a coloured  
dress1 etc4 ,now1 does it ever occur to 
you that the inquirer is lying8 ,lying6 
,wherefore should he lie8 ,or again1 if 
you say that your house stands under a  
hill1 that three out of four chimneys   
smoke1 and that you must indeed try some
 of the inventions for remedying this   
annoyance1 would any man in his senses  
think of speculating on the possibility 
that all this should be a romance8 ,or1 
to come nearer in the kind of fact1 if a
 man represented his family fortune as  

having been bequeathed by a maiden aunt 
in the last generation1 would any man   
say otherwise than that doubtless the   
man knew his own benefactors and        
relatives best8 ,on this same principle1
 when ,christ was mentioned as the      
divinity adored by a certain part of the
 ,jews who were by way of distinction   
called ,christians1 why should a ,roman 
object8 ,what motive could he have for  
denying the existence or the divine     
existence of ,christ8 ,even the idea of 
dissent or schism1 some ,jews           
worshipping1 some protesting1 would not 
much puzzle him4 ,something like it had 
occurred in ,pagan lands4 ,neptune and  
,athene had contended for ,attica4 ,and 
under the slight inquiry which he would 
ever make1 or listen to when made by    
others1 he might wonder at the rancour  
displayed by the protesting party1 but  
he would take it for granted that a     
divinity of some local section had been 
unduly pushed into pre-eminence over a  
more strictly epichorial divinity4 ,he  

would go off with this notion1 that     
whereas1 the elder ,jews insisted on    
paying vows1 etc41 to a ,god called     
,jehovah1 a section sought to transfer  
that allegiance to a divinity called    
,christ4 ,if he were further pressed on 
the subject1 he would fancy that very   
possibly1 as had been thought1 found or 
imagined in the case of ,syrian deities 
or ,egyptian1 etc41 that perhaps ,christ
 might correspond to ,apollo1 as        
,astarte to ,diana1 ,neptune of ,latium 
to the ,poseidn of ,greece4 ,but if not1
 that would cause no scruple at all4    
,thus far it was by possibility a mere  
affair of verbal difference4 ,but       
suppose it ascertained that in no point 
of the symbols surrounding the worship  
of ,christ1 or the conception of ,his   
person1 ,he could be identified with any
 previously-known ,pagan ,god--that     
would only introduce ,him into the      
matricula of ,gods as a positive        
novelty4 ,nor would it have startled a  
,roman to hear that in ,india or any    

country large enough there should be a  
separate ,pantheon of many thousand     
deities1 plus some other ,pantheon of   
divinities corresponding to their own4  
,for ,syria--but still more in one      
section of ,syrian ,palestine--this     
would surprise him quoad the degree1 not
 quoad the principle4 ,the ,jew had a   
separate or peculiar ,god1 why not8 ,no 
nation could exist without ,gods3 the   
very separate existence of a people1    
trivial as it might be in power and     
wealth1 argued a tutelary ,god1 but1 of 
course1 proportioned to the destinies at
 least 7and in part to the present size7
 of the country4 ,thus far no           
difficulties at all4 ,but the morality6 
,aye1 but that would never be accounted 
a part of religion4 ,as well confound a 
science with religion4 ,aye1 but the    
,greek3 aporrhta4 ,these would be viewed
 as the rites of ,adonis1 or of ,ceres2 
you could not warn him from his         
preconception that these concerned only 
,jews4 ,where1 therefore1 lodged the    

offence8 ,why here1 as                  
personalities--for such merely were all 
religions--the ,god must be measured by 
his nation4 ,so some ,romans proposed to
 introduce ,christ into the ,roman      
,pantheon4 ,but what first exploded as a
 civil offence was the demand of        
supremacy and the inconceivable         
principle set up of incompatibility4    
,this was mere folly4   ,a much more    
solemn1 significant and prophetic       
meaning than the common one may be      
secured to the famous passage in ,st4   
,matthew--',and thou shalt call ,his    
name ,jesus4' ,this injunction wears the
 most impressive character belonging to 
heavenly adjuration1 when it is thus    
confided to the care and custody of a   
special angel1 and in the very hour of  
inauguration1 and amongst the very      
birth-throes of ,christianity4 ,for in  
two separate modes the attention is     
secretly pointed and solicited to the   
grand serpentine artifice1 which met and
 confronted the almost insurmountable   

difficulty besetting ,christianity on   
its very threshold3 ,first1 by the      
record of the early therapeutic         
miracles1 since in that way only1 viz41 
by a science of healing1 which the      
philosopher equally with the populace   
recognised as resting upon inspiration  
from ,god1 could the magistrate and     
civil authority have been steadily      
propitiated2 secondly1 by the very      
verbal suggestion couched in the name   
,jesus1 or ,healer4 ,at the most        
critical of moments an angel reveals    
himself1 for the purpose of saying      
',thou shalt call ,his name ,jesus'--and
 why ,jesus8 ,because1 says the angel1  
',he shall heal or cleanse ,his people  
from sin as from a bodily disease4'     
,thus1 in one and the same moment is    
suggested prospectively to the early    
,christian1 who is looking forward in   
search of some adequate protection      
against the civil magistrate1 and       
theoretically and retrospectively is    
suggested to the ,christian of our own  

philosophizing days1 that admirable     
resource of what by a shorthand         
expression ,i will call ,hakimism4 ,the 
,hakim1 the ,jesus1 the ,healer1 comes  
from ,god4 ,mobs must not be tolerated4 
,but neither must the deep therapeutic  
inspirations of ,god be made of none    
effect1 or narrowed in their            
applications4 ,and thus in one moment   
was the panic from disease armed against
 the panic from insurgent mobs2 the     
privileged ,hakim was marshalled against
 the privileged magistrate2 and the deep
 superstition1 which saw1 and not       
unreasonably1 a demon raging in a       
lawless mob1 saw also a demon not less  
blind or cruel in the pestilence that   
walked in darkness4 ,and1 as one magnet 
creates other magnets1 so also the      
,hakim1 once privileged1 could secretly 
privilege others4 ,and the physical     
,hakim could by no test or shibboleth be
 prevented from silently introducing the
 spiritual ,hakim4 ,and thus1 whilst    
thrones and councils were tumultuating  

in panic1 behold6 suddenly the          
,christian soldier was revealed amongst 
them as an armed man4   'crasez         
l'infme1' ,i also say3 and who is he8   
,it would be mere insanity to suppose   
that it could be any teacher of moral   
truths4 ,even ,i1 who so much despise   
,socrates1 could not reasonably call him
 l'infme4  ,but who1 then1 is l'infme8  
,it is he who1 finding in those great   
ideas which ,i have noticed as          
revelations from ,god1 and which throw  
open to the startled heart the heaven of
 heavens1 in the purity1 the holiness1  
the peace which passeth all             
understanding1 finding no argument of   
divinity1 then afterwards does find it  
in the little tricks of legerdemain1 in 
conjuring1 in prstigia4 ,but here1      
though perhaps roused a little to see   
the baseness of relying on these        
miracles1 and also in the rear a far    
worse argument against them1 he still   
feels uncomfortable at such words       
applied to things which ,christ did4    

,christ could not make1 nor wished to   
make1 that great which was inherently   
mean2 that relevant1 which was          
originally irrelevant4 ,if ,he did      
things in themselves mean1 it was       
because ,he suited ,himself to mean     
minds1 incapable of higher views2       
wretches such as exist amongst us of    
modern days by millions1 on whom all    
,his ,divine words were thrown away1    
wretches deaf and blind and besotted1 to
 whom it was said in vain3 ',he that    
looketh upon a woman1' and what follows1
 creating by a rod of divinity in man's 
heart a far superior ideal of the moral2
 who heard with indifference ,his       
',bless those who persecute you2' yes1  
listened unmoved to ,his ',suffer little
 children to come unto ,me2' who heard  
with anger ,his ',in heaven there is    
neither marrying nor giving in          
marriage2' who abhorred ,his great      
doctrine that the counsels of ,god were 
not read in the events of things#ca2 who
 slighted as trivial that prayer which a

 wise man might study with profit for a 
thousand years2 beasts1 wretches1 that  
turned away deaf and blind1 even as     
their sons turn away1 from these        
arguments of a truth far transcending   
all that yet had come amongst men2 but  
whilst trampling with their brutal hoofs
 upon such flowers of ,paradise1 turned 
in stupid wonderment to some mere       
legerdemain or jugglery4   ,the         
,truth4--,but what tongue can express1  
what scale can measure1 the awful change
 in man's relations to the unseen world8
 ,where there had been a blank not      
filled by anything1 not by any smoke or 
dusky tarnish of suspicion1 not filled  
by so much as any shadowy outline or    
vague phantom of possibility1 there was 
now seen rising1 'like ,teneriffe or    
,atlas'--say rather1 by symbolizing the 
greatest of human interests by the      
greatest of human visual objects1 like  
the snowy peaks of the ,himalaya1 peaks 
that by men's feelings are referred to  
the heavens rather than to the earth2 to

 the beings 'whose dwelling is no thick 
flesh1' rather than to men who have in  
no age succeeded in scaling them2 and   
who in their steps to those mighty      
thrones have heard nothing but dread    
crashes of sound--again to fade or      
vanish1 the colossal form1 never the    
mighty idea of ',the ,truth4'#cb ,where 
there had been nothing1 a blank1 a      
chasm1 there stood in solemn proportions
 a new object for man1 called ,the      
,truth4 ,why was it called ,the ,truth8 
,how could such an idea arise8 ,many    
persons will be weak enough to fancy    
that1 as ,greek3 hopots was sometimes an
 artifice of rhetoric for expressing the
 exclusive supremacy of ,homer1 and as  
by a pure affectation and movement of   
dissimulation a man was called by the   
title of ,the ,orator1 his own favourite
 ,greek or ,roman thus affecting for the
 moment to know of no other 7for all    
such emphatic and exclusive uses of the 
imply a momentary annihilation of the   
competitors1 as though in comparison of 

the ideal exemplification these minor   
and approximating forms had no          
existence--or at least1 not quoad hunc  
locum--as 'the mountain in ,sicily'     
would rightly indicate ,etna71 on the   
same artificial principle they may      
imagine rhetoricians to have denominated
 7or if not1 to have had it in their    
power to denominate7 some one department
 of truth which they wished to favour as
 the truth4 ,but this conventional      
denomination would not avail1 and for   
two reasons3 ,first1 that rival modes of
 truth 7physics against mathematics1    
rhetoric against music7 would contest   
the title1 and no such denomination     
would have a basis of any but a sort of 
courtesy or vicarious harmonious reality
 from the very first4 ,secondly1 that1  
standing in no relation whatever to     
,god1 every mode1 form1 division or     
subdivision of truth merely intellectual
 would gain nothing at all by such      
ostentatious arts4 ,algebra has been    
distinguished by glorious names2 so has 

the fancied knowledge of transmutation  
applied to the metals2 so1 doubtless1   
has many a visionary speculation of     
magic2 so1 again1 has the ridiculous    
schwermerey of the ,rabbis in particular
 ages4 ,but those are as transient and  
even for the moment as partial titles as
 the titles of ,invincible or ,seraphic 
applied to scholastic divines4 ,out of  
this idea the truth grew1 next 7suppose 
x7 another ,martyrdom4  ,the difference 
between all human doctrines and this is 
as between a marble statue and a quick  
thing4 ,the statue may be better1 and it
 may be of better material2 it may be of
 ivory1 of marble1 and amongst marbles  
known to the ancient sculptors of       
several different kinds the most prized2
 of silver gilt1 of hollow gold1 of     
massy gold1 and in all degrees of skill2
 but still one condition applies to     
all--whatever the material1 whoever the 
artist1 the statue is inanimate1 the    
breath of life is not within its        
nostrils4 ,motion1 spontaneity1 action  

and antagonist action1 the subtle       
watch-work of the brain1 the mighty     
laboratory of the heart1 vision1        
sensibility1 self-propagated warmth1    
pleasure1 hope1 memory1 thought1        
liberty--not one of these divine gifts  
does it possess4 ,it is cold1 icy1      
senseless1 dull1 inert matter4 ,let     
,phidias have formed the statue1 it is  
no better4 ,let the purest gold be its  
material1 it is no worthier than the    
meanest model in clay to the valuation  
of the philosopher4 ,and here1 as in so 
many cases1 the great philosopher meets 
with the labouring man2 both meet with  
the little innocent child4 ,all have the
 same undervaluation of the statue4 ,and
 if any man values it preposterously1 it
 will be neither a great philosopher1   
nor a labouring man with horny fists1   
nor a little innocent and natural child4
 ,it will be some crazy simpleton1 who  
dignifies himself as a man of taste1 as 
elegans formarum spectator1 as one      
having a judicious eye for the          

distinctions of form4 ,but now1         
suddenly1 let one of the meanest of     
these statues begin to stir and shiver  
with the mystery of life1 let it be     
announced that something 'quick' is in  
the form1 let the creeping of life1 the 
suffusion of sensibility1 the awful     
sense of responsibility and             
accountability ripen themselves1 what a 
shock--what a panic6 ,what an           
interest--how profound--would diffuse   
itself in every channel4 ,such is the   
ethics of ,god as contrasted with the   
ethics of ,greek philosophers4 ,the only
 great thing ever done by ,greece or by 
,greek philosophers was the ethics4     
,yet1 after all1 these were but         
integrations of the natural ethics      
implanted in each man's heart4          
,integrations they were1 but            
rearrangements--redevelopments from some
 common source4   ,it is remarkable that
 the ,scriptures1 valuing clearness and 
fencing against misunderstandings above 
all things1 never suspend--there is no  

,greek3 epoch in the scriptural style of
 the early books4 ,and1 therefore1 when 
,i first came to a text1 ',if when1' ,i 
was thunderstruck1 and ,i found that    
this belongs to the more cultivated age 
of ,hebrew literature4   ',and the swine
 because it divideth the hoof1 yet      
cheweth not the cud1 it is unclean unto 
you' 7,deut4 xiv4 #h74 ,now the obvious 
meaning is1 prim facie1 that the ground 
of its uncleanness was its dividing the 
hoof4 ,whereas1 so far from this1 to    
divide the hoof is a ground of          
cleanness4 ,it is a fact1 a sine qu     
non--that is1 a negative condition of   
cleanness2 but not1 therefore1 taken    
singly the affirmative or efficient     
cause of cleanness4 ,it must in addition
 to this chew the cud--it must ruminate4
 ,which1 again1 was but a sine qu       
non--that is1 a negative condition1     
indispensable1 indeed2 whose absence    
could not be tolerated in any case1 but 
whose presence did not therefore1 and as
 a matter of course1 avail anything4    

,for the reverse case occurred in the   
camel1 hare1 and rabbit4 ,they do chew  
the cud1 the absence of which habit     
caused the swine to be rejected1 but    
then they 'divide not the hoof4'        
,accordingly they were equally rejected 
as food with the swine4   ,we see the   
great ,jewish lawgiver looking forward  
to cases which actually occurred nearly 
five hundred years after1 as demanding a
 king1 and again looking still farther  
to cases eight hundred and a thousand   
years after--their disobedience and     
rebellion to ,god4 ,now1 many will think
 that it must have been an easy thing   
for any people1 when swerving from their
 law1 and especially in that one great  
fundamental article of idolatry as the  
,jews so continually did1 and so        
naturally when the case is examined1 to 
always have an easy retreat3 the plagues
 and curses denounced would begin to    
unfold themselves1 and then what more   
easy than to relinquish the idolatrous  
rites or customs1 resuming with their   

old rituals to ,god their old           
privileges8 ,but this was doubly        
impossible4 ,first1 because men utterly 
misconceive the matter when they suppose
 that with direct consecutive succession
 the judgment would succeed the         
trespass4 ,large tracts of time would   
intervene4 ,else such direct clockwork  
as sin and punishment1 repentance and   
relief1 would dishonour ,god not less   
than they would trivialize the people4  
,god they would offend by defeating all 
,his purposes2 the people they would    
render vile by ripening into mechanic   
dissimulation4 ,the wrath of ,god slept 
often for a long season2 ,he saw as one 
who saw not4 ,and by the time that ,his 
large councils had overtaken them1 and  
,his judgments were fast coming up with 
the offenders1 they had so hardened     
themselves in error that a whole growth 
of false desires had sprung up1 and of  
false beliefs1 blind maxims1 bad habits1
 bad connections1 and proverbs1 which   
found out a reconciliation of that      

irreconcilable truth with the foulest   
pollutions4 ,the victims of temptation  
had become slow even to suspect their   
own condition4 ,and1 if some more       
enlightened did so1 the road of         
existence was no longer easy4 ,error had
 woven chains about them4 ,they were    
enmeshed4 ,and it is but a faint emblem 
of their situation to say1 that as well 
may a man commence a habit of           
intoxication for the purpose of having  
five years' pleasure1 and then halting  
in his career1 as the ,jews may         
contaminate themselves tentatively with 
idolatrous connections under the        
delusion that it would always be time   
enough for untreading their steps when  
these connections had begun to produce  
evil4 ,for they could not recover the   
station from which they swerved4 ,they  
that had now realized the casus         
foederis1 the case in which they had    
covenanted themselves to desist from    
idolatry1 were no longer the men who had
 made that covenant4 ,they had changed  

profoundly and imperceptibly4 ,so that  
the very vision of truth was overcast   
with carnal doubts2 the truth itself had
 retired to a vast distance and shone   
but feebly for them1 and the very will  
was palsied in its motions of recovery4 
,in such a state1 suppose it confirmed  
and now threatening towards a total     
alienation from the truth once          
delivered1 what could avail to save     
them8 ,nothing but affliction in the    
heaviest form4 ,vain it was now to hope 
for a cheaper restoration1 since the    
very first lightening of their judicial 
punishment would seem to them a reason  
for relapsing1 by seeming to argue that 
there had been two principles4 ,it was  
but a false alarm1 they would say1 after
 all4 ,affliction1 therefore1 was past  
all substitution or remedy4 ,yet even   
this case1 this prostration to the      
ground1 had been met for a thousand     
years by ,god's servants4   ,if ,i have 
shown that quickening spirit which1     
diffusing itself through all thoughts1  

schemata1 possible principles1 motives  
of sensibility1 and forms of taste1 has 
differenced the pre-,christian man from 
the post-,christian2 if ,i have detected
 that secret word which ,god subtly     
introduced into this world1 kept in a   
state of incubation for two millennia1  
then with the flames and visible agency 
of a volcanic explosion forced into     
infinite disruption1 caused to kindle   
into a general fire--that word by which 
sadness is spread over the face of      
things1 but also infinite grandeur--then
 may ,i rightly lay this as one chapter 
of my ,emendation of ,human ,knowledge4 
,the same thing precisely takes place in
 literature as in spiritual things4     
,when a man is entangled and suffocated 
in business1 all relating to that which 
shrinks up to a point--and observe1 ,i  
do not mean that being conceived as a   
tent above his head it contracts1 but   
that1 viewed as a body at a distance1 it
 shrinks up to a point1 and really      
vanishes as a real thing--when this     

happens1 having no subjective existence 
at all1 but purely and intensely        
objective1 he misconceives it just in   
the same way as a poor ignorant man     
misconceives learning or knowledge2     
fancying1 e4g41 like ,heylius senior1   
that he ought to know the road out of   
the wood in which they were then        
entangled4   ,it is probable that ,adam 
meant only the unity of man as to his   
nature1 which also is meant by making   
all men of one blood4 ,similarly        
,boeckh--,greek3 en genei--which does   
not mean that ,gods and men are the     
same1 but that of each the separate race
 has unity in itself4 ,so the first man1
 ,adam1 will mean the earliest race of  
men1 perhaps spread through thousands of
 years4   ,it is a violent case of      
prejudice1 this ordinary appeal of      
,bossuet1 ',qu'ont gagn les philosophes 
avec leurs discours pompeux8' 7p4 #bij74
 ,now how should that case have been    
tried thoroughly before the printing of 
books8 ,yet it may be said the ,gospel  

was so tried4 ,true1 but without having 
the power of fully gratifying itself    
through the whole range of its          
capability4 ,that was for a later time1 
hence a new proof of its reality4   ,an 
,analogy4--#a4 ,i have somewhere read   
that a wicked set of ,jews1 probably1   
when rebuked for wickedness1 replied1   
',what6 are we not the peculiar people  
of ,god8 ,strange1 then1 if we may not  
have a privilege more than others to do 
wrong6' ,the wretches fancied that to be
 the people of ,god--the chosen         
people--implied a license to do wrong1  
and had a man told them1 ,no1 it was    
just the other way2 they were to be     
better than others1 absolutely1 they    
would have trembled with wrath4  #b4    
,precisely the same idea1 ,i am sure1   
lurks in many minds as to repentance4   
,it is odious to think of1 this making  
,god the abettor and encourager of evil2
 but ,i am sure it is so1 viz41 that1   
because ,god has said ,he will have     
mercy on the penitent1 they fancy that1 

as the chief consequence from that      
doctrine1 they may commit sins without  
anxiety2 though others1 not under the   
,christian privilege1 would be called to
 account for the same sin1 penitent or  
not penitent4 ,but they--such is their  
thought--are encouraged to sin by the   
assurance that repentance will always be
 open to them1 and this they may pursue 
at leisure4  ,now1 if a man should say3 
',but1 my friends1 this means real      
penitence2' they would reply1 ',oh1 but 
we mean real penitence4' ',well1 if you 
do1 you must know that that is not      
always possible4' ',not possible6' ,then
 make them understand that2 they will   
roar with wrath1 and protest against it 
as no privilege at all4   ,the literal  
interpretation of the ,mosaic ,cosmogony
 is the very expression of a barbarian  
mind and people1 relying so far on magic
 as to make all natural process of      
generation or production impossible1    
relying so far on natural processes as  
to make the fiat of supreme power       

evidently inapplicable4 ,it is exactly  
the ,minerva of the ,pagans draggled in 
her skirts4   ,idolatry4--,it is not    
only a mere blind crotchet of ,isaiah's 
7,jeremiah's87 to ridicule              
idols--utterly wide of any real         
imperfection1 but also it misses all    
that really might be bad4 ,the true evil
 is not to kindle the idea of ,apollo by
 an image or likeness1 but to worship   
,apollo1 i4e41 a god to be in some sense
 false--belonging to a system connected 
with evil4 ,that may be bad2 but there  
can be no separate evil in reanimating  
the idea of this ,apollo by a picture4  
,i have observed many times1 but never  
could understand in any rational sense1 
the habit of finding a confirmation of  
the ,bible in mere archologic facts     
occasionally brought to light and       
tallying with the ,biblical records4 ,as
 in the ,pharaonic and ,egyptian usages1
 and lately in the case of ,nimrod1 a   
great collateral confirmation of        
,ezekiel has been fancied4 ,but how8    

,supposing ,ezekiel to have recited     
accurately the dimensions of ,nineveh1  
how should that make him a true prophet8
 ,or supposing him a false one1 what    
motive should that furnish for          
mismeasuring ,nineveh8 ,the ,gospels    
appear to have been written long after  
the events1 and when controversies or   
variations had arisen about them1 they  
have apparently been modified and shaped
 to meet those disputes4   ,the sun     
stands still4 ,i am persuaded that this 
means no such incredible miracle as is  
ordinarily imagined4 ,the interpretation
 arises from misconceiving an ,oriental 
expression1 and a forcible as well as   
natural one4 ,of all people the ,jews   
could least mistake the nature of the   
sun and moon1 as though by possibility  
they could stand in a relation to a     
particular valley3 that the sun could   
have stood still in ,gibeon1 and the    
moon in ,ajalon4 ,since they viewed sun 
and moon as two great lights1 adequated 
and corresponding to day and night1 that

 alone shows that they did not mean any 
objective solstice of the hour1 for else
 why in ,ajalon8 ,naturally it would be 
a phenomenon chiefly made known to the  
central sanctity of that ,god whose     
miraculous interposition had caused so  
unknown an arrest of ordinary nature2   
,jerusalem was not then known1 it was   
,jebus1 a city of ,jebusites2 and the   
fact which subsequently created its     
sanctity did not occur till more than   
four centuries afterwards 7viz41 on the 
threshing-floor of ,araunah74 ,but      
,shiloh existed1 and ,horeb1 and ,sinai1
 and the graves of the ,patriarchs4 ,and
 all those places would have expounded  
the reference of the miracle1 would have
 traced it to the very source of its    
origin2 so as to show not then only1 not
 to the contemporaries only1 but 7which 
would be much more important7 to after  
generations1 who might suspect some     
mistake in their ancestors as explaining
 their meaning1 or in themselves as     
understanding it4 ,what it really means1

 ,i am persuaded1 is merely to express  
that the day was1 of all historical     
days1 the most important4 ,what6 do     
people never reflect on the ,greek3 to  
positive of their reading8 ,if they did1
 they would remember that the very idea 
of a great cardinal event1 as of the    
foundation of the ,olympiads1 was as an 
arrest1 a pausing1 of time2 causing you 
to hang and linger on that time4 ,and   
the grandeur of this ,jewish ,waterloo  
in which ,god established possessions   
for ,his people and executed an earthly 
day of judgment on the ancient polluters
 7through perhaps a thousand years7 of  
the sacred land 7already sacred as the  
abode and burying-place of ,his first   
servants under a covenant7 was expressed
 by saying that the day lingered1       
arrested itself by a burthen of glorious
 revolution so mighty as this great day 
of overthrow4 ,for remember this3 ,would
 not ,god have changed ,pharaoh's heart1
 so intractable1 by such a miracle1 had 
it been at all open to ,his eternal     

laws8 ,whereas1 if you say1 ,aye1 but on
 that account why grant even so much    
distinction to the day as your ancestor 
does8 answer1 it was the final-cause    
day4   ,the ,english ,church pretends to
 give away the ,bible without note or   
comment1 or--which1 in fact1 is the     
meaning--any impulse or bias to the     
reader's mind4 ,the monstrous conceit of
 the ,protestant ,churches1 viz41 the   
right of private judgment 7which is1 in 
effect1 like the right to talk nonsense1
 or the right to criticise ,sir ,john   
,herschel's books without mathematics71 
is thus slavishly honoured4 ,yet all is 
deception4 ,already in the translation  
at many hundred points she has laid a   
restraining bias on the reader1 already 
by the division of verses1 already by   
the running abstracts over the          
,prophets1 she has done this4   ,can the
 power adequated to a generation of     
minds1 or to a succession of many       
generations1 find its comprehension in  
an individual8 ,can the might which     

overflows the heaven of heavens be      
confined within a local residence like  
that which twice reared itself by its   
foundations1 and three times by its     
battlements1 above the threshing-floor  
of ,araunah8#cc ,of that mystery1 of    
that local circumscription--in what     
sense it was effected1 in what sense not
 effected1 we know nothing4 ,but this by
 mere human meditation1 this profound   
difficulty we may humanly understand and
 measure1 viz41 the all but             
impossibility of reaching the man who   
stands removed to an extent of fifteen  
centuries4 ,but here comes in the       
unspiritual mind which thinks only of   
facts--yet mark me so far1 ,rome by an  
augury of wicked gods stretched to a    
period of #a1bjj years4 ,yet how open to
 doubt in one sense6 ,not1 ,i am sure1  
in any sense understood by man1 but ,i  
doubt not in the ominous sense intended4
 ,changed in all things essential1 she  
was yet a mighty sceptered potentate for
 the world until her dependency on      

,attila's good-will and forbearance4    
#ddd after ,christ added to #geb ,b4 ,c4
 complete the period4 ,but period for   
what8 ,for whom8 ,for a great idea that 
could not be lost4 ,the conception could
 not perish if the execution perished4  
,but1 next think of the temptation to   
mythus4 ,and1 finally1 of ,god's plan   
unrealized1 ,his conceptions unanswered4
 ,we should remember that by the        
confusion introduced into the economy of
 internal ,divine operations there is a 
twofold difficulty placed between the   
prayer and the attainment of the prayer4
 #ast1 the deflection1 slight though it 
may seem to the man1 from the state of  
perfect simplicity and of natural       
desire2 #bndly1 the deflection of the   
object desired from the parallelism with
 the purposes now became necessary to   
,god in order to remedy abnormous       
shifting of the centre by man4 ,and     
again1 in the question of the language  
of ,scripture1 ,i see the same          
illustration4 ,sir ,william ,jones1 in a

 fit of luxurious pleasure-giving1 like 
,gibbons' foolish fit#cd as to the      
,archbishop of ,carthagena1 praises the 
language of ,scripture as unattainable4 
,i say1 ,no4 ,this is hypocrisy4 ,it is 
no dishonour if we say of ,god that1 in 
the sense meant by ,sir ,william ,jones1
 it is not possible for ,him to speak   
better than powerful writers can speak4 
,they have the same language as their   
instrument1 and as impossible would it  
be for ,apollonius or ,sir ,william     
,jones to perform a simple process of   
addition better than an ordinary keeper 
of a shop4 ,in the schemata1 because in 
the original ideas1 ,god says indeed    
what man cannot1 for these are peculiar 
to ,god2 but who before myself has shown
 what they were8 ,as to mere language1  
however1 and its management1 we have the
 same identically4 ,and when a language 
labours under an infirmity1 as all do1  
not ,god ,himself could surmount it6 ,he
 is compromised1 coerced1 by the        
elements of language2 but what of that8 

,it is an element of man's creating4    
,and just as in descending on man by    
,his answers ,god is defeated or        
distorted many times by the foul        
atmosphere in which man has thrown      
himself1 so in descending upon the mind 
7unless by dreams1 or some language that
 he may have kept pure71 ,god is        
thwarted and controlled by the          
imperfections of human language4 ,and1  
apart from the ideas1 ,i myself could   
imitate the ,scriptural language--,i    
know its secret1 its principle of       
movement which lies chiefly in high     
abstractions--far better than is done in
 most parts of the ,apocrypha4  ,the    
power lies in the spirit--the animating 
principle2 and verily such a power seems
 to exist4 ,and the fact derived from   
the holiness1 the restraints even upon  
the ,almighty's power through ,his own  
holiness1 goodness1 and wisdom1 are so  
vast that1 instead of the unlimited     
power which hypocritical glorifiers     
ascribe to ,him by way of lip-honour1 in

 reaching man ex-abundantibus in so     
transcendent a way that mere excess of  
means would have perplexed a human      
choice1 on the contrary1 ,i am persuaded
 that besides the gulf of #a1ejj years  
so as to hold on1 so as to hold hard1   
and to effect the translation of ,his   
will unaltered1 uncorrupted1 through the
 violent assaults of idolatries all     
round1 and the perverse1 headstrong     
weakness of a naturally unbelieving     
people1#ce down to the time of ,christ  
from the time of ,moses--there was the  
labour hardly to be effected2 and why8  
,i have always been astonished at men   
treating such a case as a simple        
original problem as to ,god4 ,but far   
otherwise4 ,it was a problem secondary  
to a change effected by man4 ,his rays1 
,his sun1 still descended as ever2 but  
when they came near to the foul         
atmosphere of man1 no ray could pierce  
unstained1 unrefracted1 or even         
untwisted4 ,it was distorted so as to   
make it hardly within the limits of     

human capacity 7observe1 the difficulty 
was in the human power to receive1 to   
sustain1 to comprehend--not in the      
,divine power to radiate1 to receive    
what was directed to it74 ,often ,i have
 reflected on the tremendous gulf of    
separation placed between man1 by his   
own act1 and all the ,divine blessings  
which could visit him4 7,this is        
illustrated by prayer2 for1 while we    
think it odd that so many prayers of    
good men for legitimate objects of      
prayer should seem to be unanswered1 we 
nevertheless act as to our prayers in a 
kind of unconscious hypocrisy1 as though
 to our sense they had been answered in 
some ineffable way1 and all the while   
our conduct1 to speak strictly1 lies    
outside all this1 and remains wholly    
uninfluenced by it74  ,these ideas of   
,god have life only by their own        
inherent power3 yet what risk that ,jews
 should lapse into supposing themselves 
separately a favoured people8 ,by this  
very error they committed the rebellion 

against which they had been warned--in  
believing that they only were concerned 
in receiving a supernatural aid of      
redemption3 thus silently substituting  
their own merits for the ,divine        
purposes4 ,all which did in fact happen4
 ,but their errors were overruled1 else 
how could the human race be concerned in
 their offences1 errors1 or ministries8 
,the ,jews forgot what we moderns       
forget1 that they were no separate      
objects of favour with ,god1 but only a 
means of favour4  ,what occasion to     
'argal-bargal' about why ,god did not   
sooner accomplish the scheme of         
,christianity8 ,for besides that1 #ast1 
possibly the scheme in its expansion    
upon earth required a corresponding     
expansion elsewhere2 #bndly1 it is      
evident even to our human sense that    
none but the most childish eudamonist1  
whose notion of happiness is that of    
lazy luxury1 would think of cramming    
men1 bidding them open their mouths1 and
 at once drugging them with a sensual   

opium 7as all blessing must be without  
previous and commensurate elevation to  
the level of that blessing72 #crdly1 the
 physical nature of the evil to be      
undone was such as would not have been  
7objectively would not have been1 but   
still less could it subjectively have   
been7 for the conception of man that    
dreadful mystery which it really is1 had
 the awful introversion been measured   
back by fewer steps2 #dthly1 and        
finally1 it seems at first sight        
shocking to say of ,god that ,he cannot 
do this and this1 but it is not so4     
,without adverting to the dark          
necessities that compass our chaotic    
sense when we ascend by continual       
abstraction to the absolute1 without    
entangling ourselves vainly in those    
wildernesses that no created intellect  
can range or measure--even one sole     
attribute of ,god1 ,his holiness1 makes 
it as impossible for ,him to proceed    
except by certain steps as it would be  
impossible for a man1 though a free     

agent1 and apparently master1 as he     
feels and thinks1 of his own life1 to   
cut his throat while in a state of      
pleasurable health both of mind and     
body4   #e4--,political1 etc4  ,sir     
,robert ,walpole1 as to patriots1 was   
like a man who has originally1 from his 
nursery up1 been thoroughly imbued with 
the terror of ghosts1 which by education
 and example afterwards he has been     
encouraged to deny4 ,half he does       
disbelieve1 and1 under encouraging      
circumstances1 he does disbelieve it    
stoutly4 ,but at every fresh plausible  
alarm his early faith intrudes with     
bitter hatred against a class of        
appearances that1 after all1 he is upon 
system pledged to hold false4 ,nothing  
can be more ludicrous than his outcry1  
and his lashing of his own tail to      
excite his courage and his wrath and his
 denial--than his challenge of the      
lurking patriots in what he conceives   
the matter of frauds on the revenue4 ,he
 assaults them as if he saw them        

standing in a row behind the door1 and  
yet he pummels them for being mere men  
of the shades--horrible mockeries4 ,had 
there been any truth in their existence1
 surely1 so strongly as they muster by  
their own report1 some one or other of  
this fact should have given me          
warning--should have exposed the frauds4
 ,but no1 all are silent as the grave4  
,but here ,sir ,robert ,walpole is as   
much wrong as if1 doubting the value or 
power of ,methodist preachers1 he should
 make it the test of their useful       
existence that1 as often as a           
highwayman1 a footpad1 started out of   
the wayside1 from the other side should 
start a ,methodist preacher to reason   
with him and to convert him4   ,are the 
,whigs less aristocratic than the       
,tories8 ,not at all4 ,in tendency by   
principle they are the same4 ,the real  
difference is not in the creed1 in the  
groundwork1 but in certain points of    
practice and method4   ',he took his    
stand upon the truth'--said by me of    

,sir ,robert ,peel--might seem to argue 
a lower use of 'the truth1' but in fact 
it is as happens to the article the     
itself3 you say the guard1 speaking of a
 coach2 the key1 speaking of a trunk or 
watch1 i4e41 the as by usage            
appropriated to every coach1 watch1     
trunk4 ,so here the truth1 namely1 of   
the particular perplexity4   ,the ,sepoy
 mutiny will be best understood if you  
suppose the ,roman emperors1 from       
,romulus to ,augustus1 from the ,alban  
,fathers down to the ,ostrogoths--the   
whole line of a thousand years crowded  
into two4   ,trunkmakers may be great   
men3 they clearly have the upper hand of
 authors whom all the world admits to be
 great men4 ,for the trunkmaker is the  
principal in the concern--he makes the  
trunk1 whereas the author1 quite a      
secondary artist1 furnishes only the    
linings4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,case of                   
,casuistry4--,wraxall justly notices    
that errors like ,prince ,rupert's from 

excess of courage1 however ruinous1 are 
never resented by a country4 ,ergo the  
inference that prudence would be1 always
 if in ,byng's or ,lord ,st4 ,german's  
cases1 in a matter of doubt held to be  
bold fighting2 and yet in morals is that
 an allowable position8   #f4--,personal
 ,confessions1 etc4  ,avaunt1 ye        
hypocrites6 who make a whining pretence1
 according to a fixed rule1 of verbally 
uttering thanks to ,god for every       
chastisement1 and who say this is good  
for you4 ,so do not ,i1 being upright1  
and ,god seeing my heart1 who also sees 
that ,i murmur not2 but if it were not  
good in the end1 yet ,i submit4 ,he is  
not offended that with upright sincerity
 ,i give no thanks for it4 ,and ,i say  
that1 unless a man perceives the        
particular way in which it has been good
 for him1 he cannot sincerely1 truly1 or
 so as not to mock ,god with his lips1  
give thanks simply on an  priori        
principle1 though1 of course1 he may    
submit in humbleness4   ,i do not       

believe that the faith of any man in the
 apparent fact that he will never again 
see such a person 7i4e41 by being       
removed by death7 is real4 ,i believe   
that the degree of faith in this respect
 is regulated by an original setting or 
fixing of our nature quite unconscious  
to ourselves4 ,so1 again1 ,i believe    
that hope is never utterly withdrawn1   
despair is never absolute4 ,and again1  
,i believe that1 at the lowest nadir1   
the resource of dying as a means of     
escape and translation to new chances   
and openings is lodged in every man far 
down below the sunlights of             
consciousness4 ,he feels that his death 
is not final2 were it otherwise he could
 not rush at the escape so lightly4     
,indeed1 were his fate fixed immutably1 
,i feel that it would not have been left
 possible for him to commit suicide4    
,justice4--,you say in the usual spirit 
of vanity1 ,y or ,x has the same degree 
of the spirit of justice as ,v4 ,this is
 easily said1 but the test is1 what will

 he do for it8 ,suppose a man to propose
 rewards exclusively to those who       
assisted at a fire1 then ,x and ,y1     
suppose1 have equally seen that many did
 not assist1 even refused to do so4 ,but
 ,x perhaps will shrink from exposing   
them2 ,v will encounter any hatred for  
truth and justice by exposing the       
undeserving4   ,it is a foolish thing to
 say ',hard words break no bones4' ,how 
impossible to call up from the depths of
 forgotten times all the unjust or      
shocking insinuations1 all the scornful 
refusals to understand one aright1 etc4 
,but surely an injury is nothing to     
them2 for that may be measured1 made    
sensible1 and cannot be forgotten1      
whereas the other case is like the      
dispute1 ',is he wrong as a poet8'      
compared with this1 ',is he wrong as a  
geometrician8' ,there need be no anger  
with the latter dispute2 it is capable  
of decision4   ,then1 again1 a heart so 
lacerated is required by ,christianity  
to forgive the lacerator4 ,hard it is to

 do1 and imperfectly it is ever done1   
except through the unbuckling of human  
nature under higher inspirations working
 together with time4   ,instead of being
 any compliment it is the most profound 
insult1 the idea one can write something
 rapidly4 ,it is no homage to the       
writer2 it is villainous insensibility  
to the written4   ,two subjects of      
stories occur to me4 #a4 ,for my        
,arabian tales1 founded on the story of 
the ,minyas ,treasure-,house at         
,orchomenus4 #b4 ,another of an abbess1 
who was such by dispensation1 but had   
been married2 her accomplished son      
succeeds in carrying off a nun4 ,she    
labours for the discovery and punishment
 of the unknown criminal1 till she      
learns who he is2 then parting from him 
for ever in the early dawn1 she1        
sacrificing to a love that for her was  
to produce only hatred and the total    
destruction of the total hopes of her   
ageing life4 ,splendide ,mendax6 and the
 more angel she4   ,i find the double   

effect as the reason of my now reading  
again with profit every book1 however   
often read in earlier times1 that by and
 through my greater knowledge and the   
more numerous questions growing out of  
that knowledge1 ,i have deeper interest1
 and by and through this deeper interest
 ,i have a value put upon those         
questions1 and ,i have other questions  
supervening through the interest alone4 
,the interest is incarnated in the wider
 knowledge2 the knowledge is incarnated 
in the interest1 or at least the        
curiosity and questions4   ,upon trying 
to imprint upon my memory that at such a
 period the ,argives ceased to be called
 ,pelasgi1 and were henceforward called 
,danai1 ,i felt how impracticable 7and  
doubtless in their degree injurious1 for
 though an infinitesimal injury only as 
regards any single act doubtless1 yet1  
per se1 by tendency doubtless all blank 
efforts of the memory unsupported by the
 understanding are bad71 must be any    
violent efforts of the memory not       

falling in with a previous preparedness4
   ,music4--,i am satisfied that music  
involves a far greater mystery than we  
are aware of4 ,it is that universal     
language which binds together all       
creatures1 and binds them by a          
profounder part of their nature than    
anything merely intellectual ever could4
   ,it is remarkable 7as proving to me  
the delibility of caste7 that the       
,sudras of ,central ,india1 during its  
vast confusions under the ,mahrattas    
have endeavoured to pass themselves for 
descendants of the ,kshatriyas 7or      
warrior caste7 by assuming the sacred   
thread1 also assumed by the ,rajpoots1  
and also by some of the ,sikhs4   ,i    
never see a vast crowd of faces--at     
theatres1 races1 reviews--but one thing 
makes them sublime to me3 the fact that 
all these people have to die4 ,strange  
it is that this multitude of people1 so 
many of them intellectually1 but also   
7which is worse7 morally1 blind1 are    
without forethought or sense of the     

realities of life4   ,though ,i love    
fun1 eternal jesting1 buffoonery1       
punning absolutely kills me4 ,such      
things derive all their value from being
 made to intervene well with other      
things4   ,this is curious3      ,shame1
 pain1 and poverty shall ,i endure1     
,when ropes or opium can my ease        
procure8  ,this offends nobody1 not till
 you say1 ',i'll buy a rope4' ,but now3 
,when money's gone1 and ,i no debts can 
pay1     ,self-murder is an honourable  
way--  though the same essentially1 this
 shocks all men4   ,i have in the course
 of my misfortunes fasted for thirty    
years3 a dreadful fate1 if it had been  
to come4 ,but1 being past1 it is lawful 
to regard it with satisfaction1 as      
having1 like all fasting and            
mortification1 sharpened to an          
excruciating degree my intellectual     
faculties4 ,hence my love and even furor
 now for mathematics1 from which in my  
youth ,i fled4   ,the ,arrow ,ketch1 six
 guns1 is recorded in the ,edinburgh    

,advertiser for ,june #adth1 #ahdd1 as  
having returned home 7to ,portsmouth7 on
 ,thursday1 ,june #gth1 'after six years
 and upwards in commission1' most of it 
surveying the ,falkland ,islands2 'has  
lost only two men during this long      
service1 and those from natural causes2'
 'never lost a spar1 and has ploughed   
the ocean for upwards of #ajj1jjj       
miles4'   ,anecdotes from ,edinburgh    
,advertiser1 for ,june and ,may4 ,the   
dog of a boy that died paralytic from   
grief4 ,little child run over by railway
 waggon and horse1 clapping its hands   
when the shadow passed away1 leaving it 
unhurt4 ,little girl of six committing  
suicide from fear of a stepmother's     
wrath4   ,to note the dire reactions 787
 of evils3 young thieves growing to old 
ones1 no sewers1 damp1                  
famine-engendering1 desolating and      
wasting plagues or typhus fever1 want of
 granaries or mendacious violence       
destroying food1 civil feuds coming     
round in internecine wars1 and general  

desolations1 and1 as in ,persia1 eight  
millions occupying the homesteads of    
three hundred millions4 ,here1 if       
anywhere1 is seen the almighty reactions
 through which the cycle of human life1 
oscillating1 moves4   ,in the speech of 
the ,lord ,provost of ,edinburgh        
7reported on ,june #adth1 #ahdd71 it is 
recited that boys 'left to stroll about 
the streets and closes1' acquire habits 
so fixed1 if not of vice1 at least of   
idleness1 that in consequence of their  
not being trained to some kind of       
discipline in their early years1 the    
habit of vagabondizing acquires such    
power that it is uncontrollable4 ,and   
how apt and forcible was that quotation 
in the place assigned it3 ',if thou     
forbear to deliver them that are drawn  
unto death1 and those that are ready to 
be slain2 if thou sayest1 ,behold1 we   
knew it not1 doth not ,he that pondereth
 the heart1 consider it8'--consider it1 
regard it1 make account of it4          
,manners4--,the making game of a servant

 before company--a thing impossible to  
well-bred people4 ,now observe how this 
is illustrative of ,h---- ,street4   ,i 
confess myself wholly at a loss to      
comprehend the objections of the        
,westminster reviewer and even of my    
friend ,dr4 ,nichol1 to my commentary on
 the strange appearance in ,orion4 ,the 
reviewer says that this appearance 7on  
which he seems to find my language      
incomprehensible7 had been dispersed by 
,lord ,rosse's telescope4 ,true1 or at  
least so ,i hear4 ,but for all this1 it 
was originally created by that          
telescope4 ,it was in the interval      
between the first report and the        
subsequent reports from ,lord ,rosse's  
telescope that ,i made my commentary4   
,but in the case of contradiction       
between two reports1 more accurate      
report ,i have not4 ,as regards the     
reviewer1 there had been no time for    
this1 because the book1 which he        
reviews1 is a simple reprint in         
,america1 which he knows ,i had had no  

opportunity of revising4 ,but ,dr4      
,nichol perplexes me4 ,that a new stage 
of progress had altered the appearances1
 as doubtless further stages will alter 
them1 concerns me nothing1 though       
referring to a coming republication2 for
 both alike apparently misunderstood the
 case as though it required a real      
phenomenon for its basis4 ,to understand
 the matter as it really is1 ,i beg to  
state this case4 ,wordsworth in at least
 four different places 7one being in the
 fourth book of ',the ,excursion1' three
 others in ,sonnets7 describes most     
impressive appearances amongst the      
clouds3 a monster1 for instance1 with a 
bell-hanging air1 a dragon agape to     
swallow a golden spear1 and various     
others of affecting beauty4 ,would it   
have been any just rebuke to ,wordsworth
 if some friend had written to him3 ',i 
regret most sincerely to say that the   
dragon and the golden spear had all     
vanished before nine o'clock'8 ,so1     
again1 of ,hawthorne's face on a rock4  

,the very beauty of such appearances is 
in part their evanescence4   ,to be or  
not to be4 ',not to be1 by ,g----' said 
,garrick4 ,this is to be cited in       
relation to ,pope's--      ',man never  
is1 but always to be blessed4'          
,political ,economy4--,which of these   
two courses shall ,i take8 #a4 ,shall ,i
 revise1 extend1 condense my logic of   
,political ,economy1 embodying every    
doctrine 7and numbering them7 which ,i  
have amended or re-positioned1 and      
introduce them thus in a letter to the  
,politico-,economical ,society3         
',gentlemen1 certain ideas fundamental  
to ,political ,economy ,i presented in a
 book in the endeavour to effect a      
certain purpose4 ,these were too much   
intermingled with less elementary ideas 
in consequence of my defective          
self-command from a dreadful nervous    
idea1 and thus by interweaving they were
 overlapped and lost4 ,but ,i am not    
disposed to submit to that wrong4 ,i    
affirm steadily that the foundations of 

,political ,economy are rotten and      
crazy4 ,i defy1 and taking up my stand  
as a scholar of ,aristotle1 ,i defy all 
men to gainsay the following exposures  
of folly1 one or any of them4 ,and when 
,i show the darkness all round the very 
base of the hill1 all readers may judge 
how great is that darkness4' ,or1 #b4   
,shall ,i introduce them as a chapter in
 my ,logic8   #g4--,,pagan ,,literature4
  ,we must never forget1 that it is not 
impar merely1 but also dispar4 ,and such
 is its value in this light1 that ,i    
protest five hundred kings' ransoms1    
nay1 any sum conceivable as a common    
contribution from all nations would not 
be too much for the infinite treasure of
 the ,greek tragic drama alone4 ,is it  
superior to our own8 ,no1 nor 7so far as
 capable of collation7 not by many      
degrees approaching to it4 ,and were the
 case1 therefore1 one merely of degrees1
 there would be no room for the pleasure
 ,i express4 ,but it shows us the       
ultimatum of the human mind mutilated   

and castrated of its infinities1 and    
7what is worse7 of its moral infinities4
  ,you must imagine not only everything 
which there is dreadful in fact1 but    
everything which there is mysterious to 
the imagination in the pariah condition1
 before you can approach the ,heracleid4
 ,yet1 even with this pariah1 how poorly
 do most men conceive it as nothing more
 than a civil1 a police1 an economic    
affair6   ,valckenaer1 an admirable     
,greek scholar1 was not a man of fine   
understanding2 nor1 to say the truth1   
was ,porson4 ,indeed1 it is remarkable  
how mean1 vulgar1 and uncapacious has   
been the range of intellect in many     
first-rate ,grecians2 though1 on the    
other hand1 the reader would deeply     
deceive himself if he should imagine    
that ,greek is an attainment other than 
difficult1 laborious1 and requiring     
exemplary talents4 ,greek taken singly  
is1 to use an indispensable ,latin word1
 instar1 the knowledge of all other     
languages4 ,but men of the highest      

talents have often beggarly             
understandings4 ,hence1 in the case of  
,valckenaer1 we must derive the         
contradictions in his diatribe4 ,he     
practises this intolerable artifice2 he 
calls himself ,greek3 philenripideios2  
bespeaks an unfair confidence from the  
reader2 he takes credit for being once  
disposed to favour and indulge          
,euripides4 ,in this way he accredits to
 the careless reader all the false      
charges or baseless concessions which he
 makes on any question between          
,euripides and his rivals4 ,such men as 
,valckenaer it is who are biased and    
inflected beforehand1 without perceiving
 it1 by all the commonplaces of         
criticism4 ,these1 it is true1 do not   
arise out of mere shadows4 ,usually they
 have a foundation in some fact or      
modification4 ,what they fail in is1 in 
the just interpretation of these truths1
 and in the reading of their higher     
relations4 ',the ,correggiosity of      
,correggio' was precisely meant for     

,valckenaer4 ,the ,sophocleity of       
,sophocles he is keen to recognise1 and 
the superiority of ,sophocles as an     
artist is undeniable2 nor is it an      
advantage difficult to detect4 ,on the  
other hand1 to be more ,homeric than    
,homer is no praise for a tragic poet4  
,it is far more just1 pertinent praise1 
it is a ground of far more interesting  
praise1 that ,euripides is granted by   
his undervalues to be the most tragic   
7,greek3 tragichotatos7 of tragic poets4
 ,after that he can afford to let       
,sophocles be ',greek3 ,homerichtos1    
who1 after all1 is not ',greek3         
,homerichtutos1 so long as schylus      
survives4 ,but even so far we are       
valuing ,euripides as a poet4 ,in       
another character1 as a philosopher1 as 
a large capacious thinker1 as a master  
of pensive and sorrow-tainted wisdom1 as
 a large reviewer of human life1 he is  
as much beyond all rivalship from his   
scenic brethren as he is below one of   
them as a scenic artist4  ,is the ,nile 

ancient8 ,so is ,homer4 ,is the ,nile   
remote and hiding its head in fable8 ,so
 is ,homer4 ,is the ,nile the diffusive 
benefactor of the world8 ,so is         
,homer4#cf  ,the neid4--,it is not any  
supposed excellence that has embalmed   
this poem2 but the enshrining of the    
differential ,roman principle 7the grand
 aspiring character of resolution71 all 
referred to the central principle of the
 aggrandizement of ,rome4  ,the sublime 
of wrath is nowhere exhibited so well as
 in ,juvenal4 ,yet in ,juvenal pretty   
glimpses of rural rest--      '444      
infans cum collusore catello4'#cg  ,that
 is pretty6 ,there is another which     
comes to my mind and suggests his rising
 up and laying aside1 etc41 and shows it
 to be an occasional act1 and1 ergo1 his
 garden is but a relaxation1 amusement4 
,glances which the haughty eyes of ,rome
 threw sometimes gently and relentingly 
aside on man or woman1 children or the  
flowers4  ,herodotus is as sceptical as 
,plutarch is credulous4 ,how often is   

now and at this time applied to the     
fictitious present of the author1 whilst
 a man arguing generally beforehand     
would say that surely a man could always
 distinguish between now and then4      
#h4--;,,historical1 ,,etc4   ,growth of 
the ,house of ,commons4--,the ,house of 
,commons was the power of the purse1 and
 what gave its emphasis to that power8  
,simply the growing necessity of        
standing forces1 and the growing        
increase of war1 so that now out of     
twenty millions1 fifteen are applied to 
army and navy4  ,one great evil1 as in  
practice it had begun to show itself1   
pressed with equal injustice on the     
party who suffered from it 7viz41 the   
nation71 and the party who seemed to    
reap its benefit4 ,this was the fact    
that as yet no separation had taken     
place between the royal peculiar        
revenue1 and that of the nation4 ,the   
advance of the nation was now 7#afjc1   
#ast of ,james ,i47 approaching to the  
point which made the evil oppression1   

and yet had not absolutely reached the  
point at which it could be undeniably   
perceived4 ,much contest and debate     
divided the stage of incipient evil from
 the stage of confessed grievance4 ,in  
spending #ajj1jjj upon a single fte1    
,james ,i4 might reasonably allege that 
he misapplied1 at any rate1 his own     
funds4 ,wise or not1 the act concerned  
his own private household4 ,yet1 on the 
other hand1 in the case of money really 
public1 the confusion of the two        
expenditures invited and veiled the     
transfer of much from national objects  
that could wait1 and were1 at any rate1 
hidden from effectual scrutiny to the   
private objects which tempted the king's
 profusion4 ,when ,mr4 ,macaulay speaks 
so often of ,england sinking under this 
or that ,stuart to a third-rate power1  
he is anachronizing4 ,there was no scale
 of powers4 ,want of roads and          
intercommunication forbade it4 ,and     
hence until the ,thirty ,years' ,war    
there was no general war4 ,austria1 as  

by fiction the ,roman ,empire1 and      
always standing awfully near to ,north  
,italy1 had a natural relation and      
gravitation towards ,rome4 ,france1 by  
vainglory and the old literary          
pretensions of ,anjou1 had also a       
balancing claim upon ,italy4 ,milanese  
formed indeed 7as ,flanders afterwards7 
the rendezvous for the two powers4      
,otherwise1 only ,austria and ,spain    
7and ,spain not till joined to ,austria7
 and ,france--as great powers that      
touched each other in many points--had  
ever formed a warlike trio4 ,no         
quadrille had existed until the great   
civil war for life and death between    
,popery and ,protestantism4 ,it was     
another great evil that the functions   
towards which1 by inevitable instincts  
and tendency of progress1 the ,house of 
,commons was continually                
travelling1--not1 ,i repeat1 through any
 encroaching spirit as the ,court and   
that ,house of ,commons itself partially
 fancied1--were not yet developed3 false

 laws of men1 i4e41 laws framed under   
theories misunderstood of rights and    
constitutional powers1 having as much   
distorted the true natural play of the  
organic manifestation and tendency      
towards a whole1 as ever a dress too    
tight1 or a flower-pot too narrow1      
impeded the development of child or     
plant4 ,queen ,elizabeth1 therefore1    
always viewed the ,house of ,commons as 
a disturber of the public peace1 as a   
mutineer and insurrectionist1 when any  
special accident threw it upon its      
natural function2 she spoke of ,state   
affairs1 and especially of foreign      
affairs1 as beyond their 'capacity1'    
which expression1 however1 must in      
charity be interpreted philosophically  
as meaning the range of comprehension   
consistent with their total means of    
instruction and preparation1 including1 
therefore1 secret information1 knowledge
 of disposable home resources as known  
to the official depositaries of ,state  
secrets1 etc41 and not1 as the modern   

reader will understand it1 simply and   
exclusively the intellectual power of   
appreciation4 ,since1 with all her      
disposition to exalt the qualities of   
princely persons1 she could not be so   
absurdly haughty as to claim for princes
 and the counsellors whom interest or   
birth had suggested to them a precedency
 in pure natural endowments4  ,charles  
was a sincere believer but not an       
earnest believer of the ,roman ,catholic
 faith4 ,james was both sincere and     
preternaturally earnest4   ,the         
,reformation4--,this seems to show two  
things3 #ast1 that a deep searching and 
'sagacious-from-afar' spirit of morality
 can mould itself under the prompting of
 ,christianity1 such as could not have  
grown up under ,paganism4 ,for it was   
the abominations in point of morality   
7en fait de moralit87--indulgences1 the 
confessional1 absolution1 the prevalence
 of a mere ritual--the usurpation of    
forms--these it was which ,rome treated 
violently2 and if she draw in her horns 

for the present1 still upon any occasion
 offering1 upon the cloud of peril      
passing away1 clearly she would renew   
her conduct4 ,it was a tendency         
violently and inevitably belonging to   
the ,roman polity combined with the     
,roman interest1 unless1 perhaps1 as    
permanently controlled by a             
counter-force4 #bndly1 the synthesis of 
this curative force is by apposition of 
parts separately hardly conscious of the
 danger or even of their own act4 ,for  
we cannot suppose the vast body of      
opposition put forward was so under     
direct conscious appreciation of the    
evil and by an adequate                 
counter-action--doubtless it was by     
sympathy with others having better      
information4 ,these last burned more    
vividly as the evil was fiercer4 ,that  
more vivid sympathy drew increase of    
supporters4   ,memorandum4--,in my      
historical sketches not to forget the   
period of woe1 anterior to the ,siege of
 ,jerusalem1 which ,josephus describes  

as occurring in all the ,grecian cities1
 but which is so unaccountably          
overlooked by historians4  ,the rule is 
to speak like the foolish1 and think    
like the wise1 and therefore ,i agree to
 call our worthy old mother             
'little'--our 'little island'--as that  
seems to be the prevailing notion2      
otherwise ,i myself consider ,great     
,britain rather a tall island4 ,a man is
 not called short because some few of   
his countrymen happen to be a trifle    
taller2 and really ,i know but of two   
islands1 among tens of thousands counted
 up by gazetteers on our planet1 that   
are taller2 and ,i fancy1 with such     
figures as theirs1 they are neither of  
them likely to think of any rivalship   
with our dear old mother4 ,what island1 
for instance1 would choose to be such a 
great fat beast as ,borneo1 as broad as 
she is long1 with no apology for a      
waist8 ,talk of lacing too tight1       
indeed6 ,i'm sure ,borneo does not      
injure herself in that way4 ,now our    

mother1 though she's old1 and has gone  
through a world of trouble in her time1 
is as jimp about the waist as a young   
lass of seventeen4 ,look at her on any  
map of ,europe1 and she's quite a       
picture4 ,it's an old remark that the   
general outline of the dear creature    
exactly resembles a lady sitting4 ,she  
turns her back upon the ,continent1 no  
doubt1 and that's what makes those      
foreigneering rascals talk so much of   
her pride4 ,but she must turn her back  
upon somebody1 and who is it that should
 have the benefit of her countenance1 if
 not those people in the far ,west that 
are come of her own blood8 ,they say    
she's 'tetyy' also4 ,well1 then1 if she 
is1 you let her alone1 good people of   
the ,continent4 ,she'll not meddle with 
you if you don't meddle with her4 ,she's
 kind enough1 and1 as to her person1 ,i 
do maintain that she's quite tall       
enough1 rather thin1 it's true1 but1 on 
the whole1 a bonny1 elegant1 dear old   
fighting mamma4   ,mora                 

,alexandrina4--,note on ,middleton's    
affected sneer4 ,a villa of ,cicero's1  
where probably the usual sound heard    
would be the groans of tormented slaves1
 had been changed for the cells of      
,christian monks4 ,now mark3 what the   
hound ,middleton means is1 how shocking 
to literary sensibilities that where an 
elegant master of ,latinity had lived1  
there should succeed dull1 lazy monks1  
writing 7if they wrote at all7 in a     
barbarous style1 and dreaming away their
 lives in torpor4 ,now permit me to     
pause a little4 ,this is one of those   
sneers which ,paley#ch and ,bishop      
,butler#ci think so unanswerable1 that  
we must necessarily lie down and let the
 sneer ride rough-shod over us all4 ,let
 us see1 and for this reason1 reader1 do
 not grudge a little delay1 especially  
as you may 'skip' it4  ,dr4 ,conyers    
ought to have remembered1 in the first  
place1 that the villa could not long    
remain in the hands of ,cicero4 ,another
 owner would succeed1 and then the      

chances would be that the sounds        
oftenest ascending in the hour of sunset
 or in the cool of the dawn would be the
 shrieks of slaves under torture4 ,by   
their own poor miserable fare contrasted
 with the splendour reeking around them1
 these slaves had a motive1 such as our 
tenderly-treated 7often pampered7       
servants can never know the strength of1
 for breaking the seal of any wine cask4
 ,from the anecdote told of his own     
mother by the wretched ,quintus ,cicero1
 the foul brother of ,marcus1 it appears
 that generally there was some          
encouragement to do this1 on the chance 
of 'working down' on the master that the
 violated seal had been amongst the     
casks legitimately opened4 ,for it seems
 that old ,mrs4 ,cicero's housewifely   
plan was to seal up all alike1 empty and
 not empty4 ,consequently with her no   
such excuse could avail4 ,which proves  
that often it did avail1 since her      
stratagem is mentioned as a very notable
 artifice4 ,what follows8 ,why1 that the

 slave was doubly tempted3 #ast1 by the 
luxury he witnessed2 #bndly1 by the     
impunity on which he might calculate4   
,often he escaped by sheer weight of    
metal in lying4 ,like ,chaucer's miller1
 he swore1 when charged with stealing   
flour1 that it was not so4 ,but this    
very prospect and likelihood of escape  
was often the very snare for tempting to
 excesses too flagrant or where secret  
marks had been fixed4 ,besides1 many    
other openings there were1 according to 
the individual circumstances1 but this  
was a standing one1 for tempting the    
poor unprincipled slave into trespass   
that irritated either the master or the 
mistress4 ,and then came those          
periodical lacerations and ascending    
groans which ,seneca mentions as the    
best means of telling what o'clock it   
was in various households1 since the    
punishments were going on just at that  
hour4  ,after1 when the gracious        
revolution of ,christianity had taught  
us1 and by a memento so solemn and      

imperishable1 no longer to pursue our   
human wrath1 that hour of vesper        
sanctity had come1 which1 by the        
tendency of the ,christian law and      
according to the degree in which it is  
observed1 is for us a type and a symbol 
and a hieroglyphic of wrath             
extinguished1 of self-conquest1 of      
charity in heaven and on earth4  ,now1  
the monks1 it is supposable1 might be   
commonplace drones4 ,often1 however1    
they would be far other1 transmitters by
 their copying toils of those very      
,ciceronian works which1 but for them1  
would have perished4 ,and pausing duly  
here1 what sense1 what propriety would  
there be in calling on the reader to    
notice with a shock the profanation of  
classical ground in such an example as  
this3 ',mark the strange revolutions of 
ages2 there1 where once the divine      
,plato's ,academus stood1 now rises a   
huge printing-house chiefly occupied for
 the last two years in reprinting       
,plato's works4' ,why1 really ,plato    

himself would look graciously on that   
revolution1 ,master ,conyers4 ,but next1
 the dullest of these monks would hear  
the ,gloria in ,excelsis4   ,oh1 how    
pitiful it is to hear ,b---- alleging   
against ,mahomet that he had done no    
public miracles4 ,what8 ,would it1 then1
 alter your opinion of ,mahomet if he   
had done miracles8 ,what a proof1 how   
full1 how perfect6 ,that ,christianity1 
in spirit1 in power1 in simplicity1 and 
in truth1 had no more hold over ,b----  
than it had over any ,pagan ,pontiff in 
,rome1 is clear to me from that4 ,so1   
then1 the argument against ,mahomet is  
not that he wants utterly the           
meekness--wants8 wants8 ,no1 that he    
utterly hates the humility1 the love    
that is stronger than the grave1 the    
purity that cannot be imagined1 the     
holiness as an ideal for man that cannot
 be approached1 the peace that passeth  
all understanding1 that power which out 
of a little cloud no bigger than a man's
 hand grows for ever and ever until it  

will absorb the world and all that it   
inherit1 that first of all created the  
terror of death and the wormy grave2 but
 that first and last she might triumph  
over time--not these1 it seems by       
,b----1 are the arguments against       
,mahomet1 but that he did not play      
legerdemain tricks1 that he did not turn
 a cow into a horse6  ,in which position
 ,b---- is precisely on a level with    
those ,arab ,sheikhs1 or perhaps        
,mamelukes1 whom ,napoleon so foolishly 
endeavoured to surprise by ,chinese     
tricks3 ',aye1 all this is very well1   
but can you make one to be in ,cairo and
 in ,damascus at the same moment8'      
demanded the poor brutalized wretches4  
,and so also for ,b---- it is nothing4  
,oh1 blind of heart not to perceive that
 the defect was entirely owing to the   
age4 ,mahomet came to a most sceptical  
region4 ,there was no semblance or      
shadow among the ,arabs of that childish
 credulity which forms the atmosphere   
for miracle4 ,on the contrary1 they were

 a hard1 fierce people1 and in that     
sense barbarous2 but otherwise they were
 sceptical1 as is most evident from all 
that they accomplished1 which followed  
the foundation of ,islamism4 ,here lies 
the delusion upon that point4 ,the      
,arabs were evidently like all the      
surrounding nations4 ,they were also    
much distinguished among all ,oriental  
peoples for courage4 ,this fact has been
 put on record in 7#a7 the ,east        
,indies1 where all the ,arab troops have
 proved themselves by far more          
formidable than twelve times the number 
of effeminate ,bengalese and ,mahrattas1
 etc4 7#b7 ,at ,aden1 where as rude     
fighters without the science of war they
 have been most ugly customers4 7#c7 ,in
 ,algeria1 where the ,french1 with all  
advantage of discipline1 science1       
artillery1 have found it a most trying  
and exhausting war4 ,well1 as they are  
now1 so they were before ,mahomet1 and  
just then they were ripe for conquest4  
,but they wanted a combining motive and 

a justifying motive4 ,mahomet supplied  
both these4 ,says he1 ',all nations are 
idolaters2 go and thrust them into the  
mill that they may be transformed to our
 likeness4'  ,consequently1 the great   
idea of the truth1 of a truth           
transcending all available rights on the
 other side1 was foreign to             
,mahometanism1 and any glimmering of    
this that may seem to be found in it was
 borrowed1 was filched from             
,christianity4   #i4--,,literary4  ,the 
three greatest powers which we know of  
in moulding human feelings are1 first1  
,christianity2 secondly1 the actions of 
men emblazoned by history2 and1 in the  
third place1 poetry4 ,if the first were 
represented to the imagination by the   
atmospheric air investing our planet1   
which we take to be the most awful      
laboratory of powers--mysterious1       
unseen1 and absolutely infinite--the    
second might be represented by the      
winds1 and the third by lightning4      
,napoleon and ,lord ,byron have done    

more mischief to the moral feelings1 to 
the truth of all moral estimates1 to the
 grandeur and magnanimity of man1 in    
this present generation1 than all other 
causes acting together4 ,but how8       
,simply by throwing human feelings into 
false combinations4 ,both of them linked
 the mean to the grand1 the base to the 
noble1 in a way which often proves      
fatally inextricable to the poor infirm 
mind of the ordinary spectator4 ,here is
 ,napoleon1 simply because he wields a  
vast national machinery1 throwing a     
magic of celerity and power into a      
particular action which absolutely      
overpowers the genus attonitorum1 so    
that they are reconciled by the dazzle  
of a splendour not at all in ,napoleon1 
to a baseness which really is in        
,napoleon4 ,the man that never praised  
an enemy is shown to this vile mob by   
the light thrown off from the radiant   
power of ,france as the greatest of men2
 he is confounded with his supporting   
element1 even as the ,jupiter ,olympus  

of ,phidias1 that never spared a woman  
in his lust1 seemed the holiest of      
deities when his rottenness was         
concealed by ivory and gold1 and his    
libidinous head was lighted up by       
sunbeams from above4 ,here is ,lord     
,byron connecting1 in the portrait of   
some poor melodramatic hero possibly1   
some noble quality of courage or        
perseverance with scorn the most puerile
 and senseless4 ,prone enough is poor   
degraded human nature to find something 
grand in scorn2 but1 after this         
arbitrary combination of ,lord ,byron's1
 never again does the poor man think of 
scorn but it suggests to him moral      
greatness1 nor think of greatness but it
 suggests scorn as its indispensable    
condition4   ,wordsworth is always      
recording phenomena as they are enjoyed2
 ,coleridge as they reconcile themselves
 with opposing or conflicting phenomena4
   ,w4 ,w4's social philosophy is surely
 shallow4 ,it is true the man who has a 
shallow philosophy under the guidance of

 ,christianity has a profound           
philosophy4 ,but this apart1 such truths
 as ',he who made the creature will     
allow for his frailties1' etc41 are     
commonplace4         99       99        
99       99       99  ,invention as a   
,characteristic of ,poets4--,i happened 
this evening 7,saturday1 ,august #crd1  
'#dd7 to be saying of ,w4 ,w4 to myself3
 ',no poet is so free from all cases    
like this1 viz41 where all the feelings 
and spontaneous thoughts which they have
 accumulated coming to an end1 and yet  
the case seeming to require more to     
finish it1 or bring it round1 like a    
peal of church bells1 they are forced to
 invent1 and form descants on raptures  
never really felt4 ,suddenly this       
suggested that invention1 therefore1 so 
far from being a differential quality of
 poetry1 was1 in fact1 the polar        
opposite1 spontaneousness being the true
 quality4   ,tragedy4--,i believe it is 
a very useful thing to let young persons
 cultivate their kind feelings by       

repeated indulgences4 ,thus my children 
often asked when anything was to be paid
 or given to any person1 that they might
 have the satisfaction of giving it4 ,so
 ,i see clearly that young boys or girls
 allowed to carry abroad their infant   
brothers and sisters1 when the little   
creature feels and manifests a real     
dependence upon them in every act and   
movement1 which matre prsente they would
 not have done1 which again seen and    
felt calls out every latent goodness of 
the elder child's heart4 ,so again 7here
 ,i have clipped out the case74         
,however1 feeding rabbits1 but above all
 the action upon women's hearts in the  
enormous expansion given by the relation
 to their own children1 develops a      
feeling of tenderness that afterwards   
sets the model for the world1 and would 
die away1 or freeze1 or degenerate1 if  
it were generally balked4 ,now just such
 an action has tragedy1 and if the      
sympathy with calamities caused to noble
 natures by ignobler1 or by dark fates1 

were never opened or moved or called    
out1 it would slumber inertly1 it would 
rust1 and become far less ready to      
respond upon any call being made4 ,such 
sensibilities are not consciously known 
to the possessor until developed4       
,punctuation4--,suppose an ordinary case
 where the involution of clauses went   
three deep1 and that each was equally   
marked off by commas1 now ,i say that so
 far from aiding the logic it would     
require an immense effort to distribute 
the relations of logic4 ,but the very   
purpose and use of points is to aid the 
logic4 ,if indeed you could see the     
points at all in this relation          
strophe                     antistrophe 
#a     #b     #c                    #c  
#b    #a     ----1 ----1 ----1          
apodosis ----1 ----1 ----1  then indeed 
all would be clear1 but the six commas  
will and must be viewed by every reader 
unversed in the logical mechanism of    
sentences as merely a succession of     
ictuses1 so many minute-guns having no  

internal system of correspondence1 but  
merely repeating and reiterating each   
other1 exactly as in men1 guns1 horses1 
timbrels1 baggage-waggons1 standards4   
,sheridan's ,disputatiousness4--,i never
 heard of any case in the whole course  
of my life where disputatiousness was   
the author of any benefit to man or     
beast1 excepting always one1 in which it
 became a storm anchor for poor         
,sheridan1 saving him from sudden       
shipwreck4 ,this may be found in ,mr4   
,moore's life1 somewhere about the date 
of #agij1 and in chapter xiii4 ,the book
 is thirty-seven miles off1 which is too
 far to send for water1 or for scandal1 
or even for 'extract1' though ,i'm 'fond
 of extract4' ,therefore1 in default of 
,mr4 ,moore's version1 ,i give my own4  
,the situation was this3 ,sheridan had  
been cruising from breakfast to dinner  
amongst ,jews1 ,christians1 and players 
7men1 women1 and ,herveys71#dj and      
constantly in the same hackney coach1 so
 that the freight at last settled like  

the sand-heap of an hour-glass into a   
frightful record of costly moments4     
,pereunt et imputantur1 say some        
impertinent time-pieces1 in speaking of 
the hours4 ,they perish and are debited 
to our account4 ,yes1 and what made it  
worse1 the creditor was an inexorable   
old ,jarvie1 who1 though himself a      
creditor1 had never heard the idea of   
credit4 ,a guinea might be owing1 and   
,sheridan1 seldom remembering his purse1
 had but a shilling1 which even in a    
court of ,irish law seemed too small a  
compromise to offer4 ,black looked the  
horizon1 stormy the offing1 and night   
was coming on1 whilst the port of       
consignment was now within thirty       
minutes' sail4 ,suddenly a sight of joy 
was described4 ,driving before the wind1
 on bare poles1 was a well-known friend 
of ,sheridan's1 ,richardson1 famed for  
various talent1 but also for an         
invincible headlong necessity of        
disputing4 ,to pull the check-string1 to
 take his friend on board1 and to rush  

into fierce polemic conversation was the
 work of a moment for ,sheridan4 ,he    
well understood with this familiar      
friend how to bring on a hot dispute4   
,in three minutes it raged1 yard-arm to 
yard-arm4 ,both grew warm4 ,sheridan    
grew purple with rage4 ,violently       
interrupting ,richardson1 he said3 ',and
 these are your real sentiments8'       
,richardson with solemnity and          
artificial restraint replied3 ',most    
solemnly they are4' ',and you stand to  
them1 and will maintain them8' ',i      
will1' said ,richardson1 with menacing  
solemnity and even mournfulness4 ',i    
will to my dying day4' ',then1' said    
,sheridan furiously1 ',i'm hanged if    
,i'll stay another minute with a man    
capable of such abominable opinions6'   
,bang went the door1 out he bounced1 and
 ,richardson1 keeping his seat1 pursued 
him with triumphant explosions4 ',ah1   
wretch6 what8 you can't bear the truth4 
,you're obliged to hate the truth4 ,that
 is why you cut and run before it4      

,huzza6 ,mr4 ,sheridan1 ,m4 ,p4 for     
,stafford1 runs like a hare for fear    
that he should hear the truth4'         
,precisely so1 the truth it was that he 
ran from4 ,the truth at this particular 
moment was too painful to his heart4    
,sheridan had fled2 the awful truth     
amounted to eighteen shillings4  ,yes1  
virtuous ,richardson1 you were right2   
truth it was that he fled from2 truth   
had just then become too painful to his 
infirm mind1 although it was useless to 
tell him so1 as by this time he was out 
of hearing4 ',yes1' said ,richardson    
meditatively to himself1 'the truth has 
at last become insupportable to this    
unhappy man4' ,right1 it had so4 ,and in
 one minute more it became insupportable
 even to the virtuous ,richardson1 when 
the coachman revealed the odious extent 
of the truth1 viz41 that the fare now   
amounted to two-and-twenty shillings4   
,as ,i hate everything that the people  
love1 and above all the odious levity   
with which they adopt every groundless  

anecdote1 especially where it happens to
 be calumnious1 ,i beg not to be        
supposed a believer in the common       
stories current about ,sheridan's       
carelessness of pecuniary obligations4  
,so far from 'never paying1' which is   
what public slander has not ceased to   
report of him1 he was 7in ,mr4 ,moore's 
language7 'always paying2' and for once 
that he paid too little1 a thousand     
times he paid a great deal too much4    
,had1 indeed1 all his excesses of       
payment been gathered into one fund1    
that fund would have covered his        
deficits ten times over4 ,it is1        
however1 true that1 whilst he was       
continually paying the hundred-pound    
demands against him1 with all their     
,jewish accumulations of interest1 he   
was continually unfurnished with money  
for his 'menus plaisirs' and trifling   
personal expenses4  ,by strong natural  
tendency of disposition1 ,sheridan was a
 man of peculiarly sensitive honour1 and
 the irregularities into which he fell1 

more conspicuously after the destruction
 of ,drury ,lane by fire1 pained nobody 
so much as himself4 ,it is the sense of 
this fact1 and the belief that ,sheridan
 was never a defaulter through habits of
 self-indulgence1 which call out in my  
mind a reaction of indignation at the   
stories current against him4            
,bookbinding and                        
,book-,lettering4--,literature is a mean
 thing enough in the ordinary way of    
pursuing it as what the ,germans call a 
,brodstudium2 but in its higher         
relations it is so noble that it is able
 to ennoble other things1 supposing them
 in any degree ministerial to itself4   
,the paper-maker1 ergo the rag-maker1   
ergo the linen cloth-maker1 is the true 
and original creator of the modern      
press1 as the ,archbishop of ,dublin    
long ago demonstrated4 ,for the art of  
printing had never halted for want of   
the typographic secret2 that was always 
known1 known and practised hundreds of  
years before the ,christian era4 ,it    

halted for want of a material cheap     
enough and plentiful enough to make     
types other than a most costly          
substitute for hand-copying4 ,do you    
hear that1 gentlemen blockheads1 that   
seldom hear anything but yourselves8    
,next after the paper-maker1 who        
furnished the sine qu non1 takes rank1  
not the engraver or illustrator 7our    
modern novelist cannot swim without this
 caricaturing villain as one of his     
bladders2 all higher forms of literature
 laugh at him71 but the binder2 for he1 
by raising books into ornamental        
furniture1 has given even to            
non-intellectual people by myriads a    
motive for encouraging literature and an
 interest in its extension4  ,any       
specimen of ,mr4 ,ferrar's binding ,i   
never saw1 but by those who have1 it is 
said to have been magnificent4 ,he and  
his family were once1 if not twice1     
visited by ,charles ,i41 and they       
presented to that prince a most         
sumptuous ,bible of their own binding2  

which ,bible1 a lady once told me1 was  
in that collection gradually formed by  
,george ,,iii4 at ,buckingham ,house1   
and finally presented to the nation by  
his son4 ,i should fear it must be in   
ruins as a specimen of the ,little      
,gidding workmanship4 ,the man who goes 
to bed in his coffin dressed in a       
jewelled robe and a diamond-hilted      
sword1 is very liable to a visit from   
the resurrection-man1 who usually       
disarms and undresses him4 ,the ,bible  
that has its binding inlaid with gold1  
sowed with ,oriental pearl1 and made    
horrent with rubies1 suggests to many a 
most unscriptural mode of searching into
 its treasures1 and too like the        
,miltonic ,mammon's mode of perusing the
 gorgeous floors of heaven4 ,besides    
that1 if the ,bible escaped the         
,parliamentary ,war1 the true art of the
 ,ferrar family would be better         
displayed in a case of less cost and    
luxury4 ,certainly1 in no one art was   
the stupidity of ,europe more           

atrociously recorded than in this       
particular art practised by the         
,ferrars4 ,boundless was the field for  
improvement4 ,and in particular1 ,i had 
myself drawn from this art1 as practised
 of old1 one striking memorial of that  
remarkable genius for stupidity1 which  
in all ages alike seems to haunt man as 
by an inspiration1 unless he is roused  
out of it by panic4 ,it is this4 ,look  
at the lettering--that is1 the labels   
lettered with the titles of books--in   
all libraries that are not of recent    
date4 ,no man would believe that the    
very earliest attempt to impress a mark 
of ownership upon some bucket of the    
,argonauts1 or the rudest scrawl of     
,polyphemus in forging a tarry brand    
upon some sheep which he had stolen1    
could be so bad1 so staggering and      
illegible1 as are these literary        
inscriptions4 ,how much better to have  
had a thin tablet or veneering of marble
 or iron adjusted to the back of the    
book4 ,a stone-cutter in a rural        

churchyard once told me that he charged 
a penny per letter4 ,that may be cheap  
for a gravestone1 but it seems rather   
high for a book4 ,plato would cost you  
fivepence1 ,aristotle would be shocking2
 and in decency you must put him into   
,latin1 which would add twopence more to
 every volume4 ,on a library like that  
of ,dresden or the ,vatican1 it would   
raise a national debt to letter the     
books4   ,cause of the ,novel's         
,decline4--,no man1 it may be safely    
laid down as a general rule1 can obtain 
a strong hold over the popular mind     
without more or less of real power4 ,a  
reality there must be4 ,the artifice1   
the trickery1 cannot arise in this first
 stage1 as by any substitution of a     
shadow for a reality4 ,if the mass of   
readers feel a power1 and acknowledge a 
power1 in that case power there must be4
 ,it was the just remark of ,dr4        
,johnson that men do not deceive        
themselves in their amusements4 ,and    
amusement it is that the great public   

seek in literature4 ,the meaner and the 
more sensual the demands of a man are1  
so much the less possible it becomes to 
cheat him4 ,seeking for warmth1 he      
cannot be wrong when he says that he has
 found it4 ,asking for alcohol1 he will 
never be cheated with water4 ,his       
feelings in such a case1 his            
impressions1 instantaneously justify    
themselves2 that is1 they bear witness  
past all doubting to the certainty of   
what they report4 ,so far there is no   
opening to mistake4 ,the error1 the     
opening to the spurious on the largest  
scale1 arises first upon the quality of 
the power4 ,strength varies upon an     
endless scale1 not merely by its own    
gradations1 but by the modes and the    
degrees in which it combines with other 
qualities4 ,and there are many          
combinations1 cases of constant         
recurrence1 in which some natural       
vigour1 but of no remarkable order1     
enters into alliance with animal        
propensities2 where a portentous success

 will indicate no corresponding power in
 the artist1 but only an unusual        
insensibility to decency and the opinion
 of thoughtful persons4  ,novels are the
 one sole class of books that ever      
interest the public1 that reach its     
heart1 or even catch its eye4 ,and the  
reason why novels are becoming much more
 licentious1 and much grosser in the    
arts by which they court public favour1 
lies undoubtedly in the quality of that 
new reading public which the extension  
of education has added to the old one4  
,an education miserably shallow1 whilst 
unavailing for any purpose of real      
elevation1 lets in upon the theatre of  
what is called by courtesy literature a 
vast additional audience that once would
 have been excluded altogether4 ,this   
audience1 changed in no respect from its
 former condition of intellect and      
manners and taste1 bringing only the    
single qualification of ability to read1
 is now strong enough in numbers to     
impress a new character upon literature 

in so far as literature has a motive for
 applying itself to their wants4 ,the   
consequences are showing themselves1 and
 will show themselves more broadly4 ,it 
is difficult with proper delicacy to    
seek illustrations amongst our own      
living writers4 ,illustrations were all 
too easily found did we care to enter on
 the task4  ,it is true that1 during the
 currency of any year1 whilst the       
quantity is liable to indeterminate     
augmentation1 ballads will be rather    
looking down in the market4 ,but that is
 a shadow which settles upon every      
earthly good thing4 ,no ,greek book1 for
 instance1 amongst the many that have   
perished1 would so much rejoice many of 
us by its resurrection as the comedies  
of ,menander4 ,yet1 if a correspondent  
should write word from ,pompeii that    
twenty-five thousand separate dramas of 
,menander had been found in good        
preservation1 adding in a postscript    
that forty thousand more had been       
impounded within the last two hours1 and

 that there was every prospect of       
bagging two hundred thousand more before
 morning1 we should probably petition   
,government to receive the importing    
vessels with chain-shot4 ,not even      
,milton or ,shakespeare could make head 
against such a ,lopez de ,vega principle
 of ruinous superfluity4 ,allowing for  
this one case of preternatural excess1  
assuming only that degree of limitation 
which any absolute past must almost     
always create up to that point1 we say  
that there is no conceivable            
composition1 or class of compositions1  
which will not be welcomed into         
literature provided1 as to matter1 that 
it shall embody some natural strain of  
feeling1 and provided1 as to manner1    
that it illustrate the characteristic   
style of a known generation4  ,it might 
suffice for our present purpose to have 
once firmly distinguished between the   
two modes of literature4 ,but it may be 
as well to point out a few corollaries  
from this distinction1 which will serve 

at the same time to explain and to      
confirm it4 ,for instance1 first of all1
 it has been abundantly insisted on in  
our modern times1 that the value of     
every literature lies in its            
characteristic part2 a truth certainly1 
but a truth upon which the ,german      
chanticleer would not have crowed and   
flapped his wings so exultingly1 had he 
perceived the original and indispensable
 schism between the literature of       
knowledge and the literature of power1  
because in this latter only can anything
 characteristic of a man or of a nation 
be embodied4 ,the science of no man can 
be characteristic1 no man can geometrize
 or chemically analyze after a manner   
peculiar to himself4 ,he may be the     
first to open a new road1 and in that   
meaning it may be called his road2 but  
his it cannot be by any such            
peculiarities as will found an          
incommunicable excellence4 ,in          
literature proper1 viz41 the literature 
of power1 this is otherwise4 ,there may 

doubtless have been many imitative      
poets1 wearing little or nothing of a   
natural individuality2 but of no poet1  
that ever led his own class1 can it have
 been possible that he should have been 
otherwise than strongly differenced by  
inimitable features and by traits not   
transferable4 ,consequently the ,greek3 
to characteristic1 of which in ,german  
cloudland so noisy a proclamation is    
made as of some transcendental          
discovery1 is a mere inference from the 
very idea of a literature4 ,for we      
repeat that in blank knowledge a        
separate peculiarity marking the        
individual is not conceivable1 whereas  
in a true literature reflecting human   
nature1 not as it represents1 but as it 
wills1 not as a passive minor1 but as a 
self-moving power1 it is not possible to
 avoid the characteristic except only in
 the degree by which the inspiring      
nature happens to be feeble4 ,the       
exorbitations that differentiate them   
may be of narrow compass1 but only where

 the motive power was originally weak4  
,and agreeably to this remark it may be 
asserted that in all literature properly
 so-called genius1 is always manifested1
 and talent generally2 but in the       
literature of knowledge it may be       
doubted very seriously whether there is 
any opening for more than talent4       
,genius may be defined in the severest  
manner as that which is generally       
characteristic2 but a thousand times we 
repeat that one man's mode of knowing an
 object cannot differ from another      
man's4 ,it cannot be characteristic1 and
 its geniality cannot be externally     
manifested4 ,to have said1 therefore1 of
 the poetry surviving from ancient      
,latium1 from ,castile1 from ,england1  
that this is nationally characteristic1 
and knowable apart by inalienable       
differences1 is saying no more than     
follows out of the very definition by   
which any and every literature proper is
 limited and guarded as a mode of power4
  ,secondly1 even in the exceptions and 

hesitations upon applying the rigour of 
this distinction1 we may read the       
natural recognition 7however latent or  
unconscious7 of the rule itself4 ,no man
 would think1 for example1 of placing a 
treatise on surveying1 on mensuration1  
on geological stratifications1 in any   
collection of his national literature4  
,he would be lunatic to do so4 ,a       
,birmingham or ,glasgow ,directory has  
an equal title to take its station in   
the national literature4 ,but he will   
hesitate on the same question arising   
with regard to a history4 ,where upon   
examination the history turns out to be 
a mere chronicle1 or register of events 
chronologically arranged1 with no       
principle of combination pervading it1  
nor colouring from peculiar views of    
policy1 nor sympathy with the noble and 
impassioned in human action1 the        
decision will be universal and          
peremptory to cashier it from the       
literature4 ,yet this case1 being one of
 degree1 ranges through a large and     

doubtful gamut4 ,a history like that of 
,froissart1 or of ,herodotus1 where the 
subjective from the writer blends so    
powerfully with the gross objective1    
where the moral picturesque is so       
predominant1 together with freshness of 
sensation which belongs to 'blissful    
infancy' in human life1 or to a stage of
 society in correspondence to it1 cannot
 suffer a demur of jealousy as to its   
privilege of entering the select fold of
 literature4 ,but such advantages are of
 limited distribution4 ,and1 to say the 
truth1 in its own nature neither history
 nor biography1 unless treated with     
peculiar grace1 and architecturally     
moulded1 has any high pretension to rank
 as an organic limb of literature4 ,the 
very noblest history1 in much of its    
substance1 is but by a special          
indulgence within the privilege of that 
classification4 ,biography stands on the
 same footing4 ,of the many memorials   
dedicated to the life of ,milton1 how   
few are entitled to take their station  

in the literature6 ,and why8 ,not merely
 that they are disqualified by their    
defective execution1 but often that they
 necessarily record what has become     
common property4   ,,footnotes3  #bi    
,between the forms modal1 modish1 and   
modern1 the difference is of that slight
 order which is constantly occurring    
between the ,elizabethan age and our    
own4 ,ish1 ous1 ful1 some1 are          
continually interchanging2 thus1 pitiful
 for piteous1 quarrelous for            
quarrelsome4  #cj ,i deny that there is 
or could have been one truant fluttering
 murmur of the heart against the reality
 of glory4 ,and partly for these        
reasons3 #ast1 ,that1 hoc abstracto1    
defrauding man of this1 you leave him   
miserably bare--bare of everything4 ,so 
that really and sincerely the very      
wisest men may be seen clinging         
convulsively1 and clutching with their  
dying hands the belief that glory1 that 
posthumous fame 7which for profound ends
 of providence has been endowed with a  

subtle power of fraud such as no man can
 thoroughly look through2 for those who1
 like myself1 despise it most           
completely1 cannot by any art bring     
forward a rationale1 a theory of its    
hollowness that will give plenary       
satisfaction except to those who are    
already satisfied74 ,thus ,cicero1      
feeling that if this were nothing1 then 
had all his life been a skirmish1 one   
continued skirmish for shadows and      
nonentities2 a feeling of blank         
desolation1 too startling--too          
humiliating to be faced4 ,but 7#bndly71 
the unsearchable hypocrisy of man1 that 
hypocrisy which even to himself is but  
dimly descried1 that latent hypocrisy   
which always does1 and most profitably1 
possess every avenue of every man's     
thoughts1 hence a man who should openly 
have avowed a doctrine that glory was a 
bubble1 besides that1 instead of being  
prompted to this on a principle which so
 far raised him above other men1 must   
have been prompted by a principle that  

sank him to the level of the brutes1    
viz41 acquiescing in total ventrine     
improvidence1 imprescience1 and selfish 
ease 7if ease1 a ,pagan must have it cum
 dignitate71 but above all he must have 
made proclamation that in his opinion   
all disinterested virtue was a chimera1 
since all the quadrifarious virtue of   
the scholastic ethics was founded either
 on personal self-sufficiency1 on       
justice1 moderation1 etc41 etc41 or on  
direct personal and exclusive           
self-interest as regarded health and the
 elements of pleasure4  #ca ,the tower  
of ,siloam4  #cb ,every definition is a 
syllogism4 ,now1 because the minor      
proposition is constantly false1 this   
does not affect the case2 each man is   
right to fill up the minor with his own 
view1 and essentially they do not       
disagree with each other4  ,a 7the      
subject of def47is x4 ,the ,truth is the
 sum of ,christianity4  ,but ,c is x4   
,but my ,baptist view is the sum of     
,christianity4  ,ergo ,c is ,a4 ,ergo my

 ,baptist view is the ,truth4   #cc ,it 
seems that ,herod made changes so       
vast--certainly in the surmounting      
works1 and also probably in one place as
 to the foundations1 that it could not  
be called the same ,temple with that of 
the ,captivity1 except under an abuse of
 ideas as to matter and form1 of which  
all nations have furnished              
illustrations1 from the ship ,argo to   
that of old ,drake1 from ,sir ,john     
,cutler's stockings to the ,highlander's
 7or ,irishman's7 musket4  #cd ,just as 
if a man spending his life to show the  
folly of ,methodism should burst into   
maudlin tears at sight of ,john ,wesley1
 and say1 ',oh1 if all men1 my dear     
brothers1 were but ,methodists6'  #ce   
,how so8 ,if the ,jews were naturally   
infidels1 why did ,god select them8     
,but1 first1 they might have1 and they  
certainly had1 other balancing          
qualities2 secondly1 in the sense here  
meant1 all men are infidels2 and we     
ourselves1 by the very nature of one    

object which ,i will indicate1 are      
pretty generally infidels in the same   
sense as they4 ,look at our evidences2  
look at the sort of means by which we   
often attempt to gain proselytes among  
the heathen and at home4 ,fouler        
infidelities there are not4 ,special    
pleading1 working for a verdict1 etc41  
etc4  #cf ,this idea is expanded and    
followed out in detail in the opening of
 ',homer and the ,homerid2' but this is 
evidently the note from which that grew1
 and is here given alike on account of  
its compactness and felicity4--,,ed4    
#cg ,satire ix41 lines #fj1 #fa4  #ch   
,who can answer a sneer8  #ci           
,butler--'unanswerable ridicule4'  #dj  
,said of members of the ,bristol family4
     ,,xxv4 ,,omitted ,,passages ,,and  
,,variations4   #a4--,,the ,,rhapsodoi4 
,the following on the ',rhapsodoi' is a 
variation on that which appeared in     
',homer and the ,homerid1' with some    
quite additional and new thoughts on the
 subject4   ,about these people1 who    

they were1 what relation they bore to   
,homer1 and why they were called        
',rhapsodoi1' we have seen debated in   
,germany through the last half century  
with as much rabid ferocity as was ever 
applied to the books of a fraudulent    
bankrupt4 ,such is the natural          
impertinence of man4 ,if he suspects any
 secret1 or any base attempt to hide and
 conceal things from himself1 he is     
miserable until he finds out the        
mystery1 and especially where all the   
parties to it have been defunct for     
#b1ejj years4 ,great indignation seems  
reasonably to have been felt by all     
,german scholars that any man should    
presume to have called himself a        
rhapsodos at any period of ,grecian     
history without sending down a sealed   
letter to posterity stating all the     
reasons which induced him to take so    
unaccountable a step4 ,no possible      
solution1 given to any conceivable      
question bearing upon the ',rhapsodoi1' 
seems by any tendency to affect any     

question outstanding about ,homer4 ,and 
we do not therefore understand the      
propriety of intermingling this dispute 
with the general ,homeric litigation4   
,however1 to comply with the practice of
 ,germany1 we shall throw away a few    
sentences upon this1 as a pure ad       
libitum digression4  ,the courteous     
reader1 whom we beg also to suppose the 
most ignorant of readers1 by way of thus
 founding a necessity and a case of     
philosophic reasonableness for the      
circumstantiality of our own            
explanations1 will be pleased to        
understand that by ancient traditionary 
usage the word rhapsodia is the         
designation technically applied to the  
several books or cantos of the ',iliad' 
and ',odyssey4' ,so the word fytte has  
gained a technical appropriation to our 
narrative poetry when it takes the      
ballad form4 ,now1 the ,greek word      
rhapsody is derived from a tense of the 
verb rhapto1 to sew as with a needle1 to
 connect1 and ode1 a song1 chant1 or    

course of singing4 ,if1 therefore1 you  
conceive of a rhapsodia1 not as the     
opera1 but as the opus of a singer1 not 
as the form1 but as the result of his   
official ministration1 viz41 as that    
section of a narrative poem which forms 
an intelligible whole in itself1 whilst 
in a subordinate relation it is one part
 of a larger whole--this idea represents
 accurately enough the use of the word  
rhapsodia in the latter periods of      
,greek literature4 ,suppose the word    
canto to be taken in its literal        
etymological sense1 it would indicate a 
metrical composition meant to be sung or
 chanted4 ,but what constitutes the     
complexity of the idea in the word      
rhapsodia is that both its separate     
elements1 the poetry and the musical    
delivery1 are equally essential2 neither
 is a casual1 neither a subordinate1    
element4  ,now1 the ',rhapsodoi1' as may
 be supposed1 are the personal          
correlates of the rhapsodia4 ,this being
 the poem adapted to chanting1 those    

were the chanters4 ,and the only        
important question which we can imagine 
to arise is1 ,how far in any given age  
we may presume the functions of the     
poetical composer and the musical       
deliverer to have been united4 ,we      
cannot perceive that any possible       
relation between a rhapsody considered  
as a section of a poem and the whole of 
that poem1 or any possible relation     
which this same rhapsody considered as a
 thing to be sung or accompanied        
instrumentally could bear to the        
naked-speaking rehearsal of the same    
poem or to the original text of that    
poem1 ever can affect the main question 
of ,homer's integrity4 ,the ',rhapsodoi'
 come to be mentioned at all simply as  
being one link in the transmission of   
the ,homeric poems4 ,they are found     
existing before ,pisistratus1 they are  
found existing after ,pisistratus4 ,and 
they declined exactly as the art of     
reading became general4 ,we can         
approximate pretty closely to the time  

when the ',rhapsodoi' ceased2 but at    
what time they began we defy any man to 
say4 ,plato 7,rep4 x47 represents them  
as going back into the days of ,homer2  
nay1 according to ,plato1 ,homer himself
 was a rhapsodos1 and itinerated in that
 character4 ,so was ,hesiod4 ,and two   
remarkable lines1 ascribed to ,hesiod by
 one of the ,scholiasts upon ,pindar1 if
 we could be sure that they were        
genuine1 settle that question3          
,greek3 ,en ,delo tote prton ego xai    
,homeros aoidoi     ,melpomen1 en       
nearois mnois rapsantes aoid4  ',then1  
first of all1' says ,hesiod1 'did ,i and
 ,homer chant as bards in ,delos1 laying
 the nexus of our poetic composition in 
promial hymns4' ,we understand him to   
mean this3 ,there were many singers and 
harpers who sang or accompanied the     
words of others2 perhaps ancient        
words--at all events1 not their own4    
,naturally he was anxious to have it    
understood that he and ,homer had higher
 pretensions4 ,they killed their own    

mutton4 ,they composed the words as well
 as sang them4 ,where both functions    
were so often united in one man's       
person1 it became difficult to          
distinguish them4 ,our own word bard or 
minstrel stood in the same ambiguity4   
,you could not tell in many cases       
whether the word pointed to the man's   
poetic or musical faculty4 ,anticipating
 that doubt1 ,hesiod says that they sang
 as original poets4 ,for it is a remark 
of ,suidas1 which he deduces            
laboriously1 that poetry1 being         
uniformly sung in the elder ,greece1    
acquired the name of ,greek3 aoid4 ,this
 term became technically appropriated to
 the poetry1 or substance of whatever   
was sung1 in contradistinction to the   
musical accompaniment4 ,and the poet was
 called ,greek3 aoidos ,so far ,hesiod  
twice over secures the dignity of their 
office from misinterpretation4 ,and     
there1 by the word ,greek3 raphantes he 
indicates the sort of poetry which they 
cultivated1 viz41 that which was        

expanded into long heroic narratives1   
and naturally connected itself both     
internally amongst its own parts1 and   
externally with other poems of the same 
class4 ,thus1 having separated ,homer   
and himself from the mere musicians1    
next he separates them even as poets    
from those who simply composed hymns to 
the ,gods4 ,these heroic legends were   
known to require much more elaborate    
study and art4 ,yet1 because a critical 
reviewer might take occasion to tax his 
piety in thus composing human legends in
 neglect of the ,gods1 ,hesiod1         
forestalling him1 replies3 ',you're out 
there1 my friend2 we were both pious1   
and we put our piety into hymns         
addressed to the ,gods1 which1 with     
cabinetmakers' skill1 we used also as   
interludes of transition from one legend
 to another4' ,for it is noticed        
frequently and especially by a          
,scholiast on ,aristophanes 7,pac4      
#hbf71 that generally speaking the      
promia to the different parts of        

narrative-poems were entirely detached1 
,greek3 kai ouden pros to pragma dlon1  
and explain nothing at all that concerns
 the business4   #b4--,mrs4 ,evans and  
the ',gazette4'  ,in his autobiographic 
sketch1 ',introduction to the ,world of 
,strife1' he tells of his brother's     
enterprise in establishing the ,gazette1
 which was to record their doings1 and  
also of ,mrs4 ,evans's place on the     
,gazette4 ,the following is evidently a 
passage which was prepared for that part
 of the article1 but was from some cause
 or other omitted3   ,i suppose no      
creature ever led such a life as ,i led 
on the ,gazette2 sometimes running up1  
like ,wallenstein1 to the giddiest      
pinnacles of honour1 then down again    
without notice or warning to the dust2  
cashiered--rendered incapable of ever   
serving ,h4 ,m4 again2 nay1 actually    
drummed out of the army1 my uniform     
stripped off1 and the 'rogue's march'   
played after me4 ,and all for what8 ,i  
protest1 to this hour1 ,i have no guess4

 ,if any person knows1 that person is   
not myself2 and the reader is quite as  
well able to furnish guesses to me as ,i
 to him--to enlighten me upon the       
subject as ,i him4  ,mrs4 ,evans was a  
very important person in the play2 ,i   
don't suppose that things could have    
gone on without her4 ,for1 as there was 
no writer in the ,gazette but my        
brother1 so there was no reader of it   
except ,mrs4 ,evans4 ,and here came in a
 shocking annoyance to me that1 as often
 as any necessity occurred 7which was   
every third day7 for restoring me to my 
rank1 since my brother would not have it
 supposed that he could be weak enough  
to initiate such an indulgence1 the     
,gazette threw the onus of this amiable 
weakness1 and consequently of my        
gratitude1 upon ,mrs4 ,evans1 affirming 
that the major-general had received a   
pardon and an amnesty for all his past  
atrocities at the request of 'a         
distinguished lady1' who was obscurely  
indicated in a parenthesis as 'the truly

 honourable ,mrs4 ,evans4' ,to listen to
 the ,gazette one would have supposed   
that this woman1 who so cordially       
detested me1 spent her whole time in    
going down on her knees and making      
earnest supplications to the throne on  
my behalf4 ,but what signified the      
representations of the ,gazette if ,i   
knew them to be false8 ,aye1 but ,i did 
not know that they were false4 ,it is   
true that my obligations to her were    
quite aerial1 and might1 as the reader  
will think1 have been supported without 
any preternatural effort4 ,but exactly  
these aerial burdens1 whether of        
gratitude or of honour1 most oppressed  
me as being least tangible and incapable
 of pecuniary or other satisfaction4 ,no
 sinking fund could meet them4 ,and even
 the dull unimaginative woman herself1  
eternally held up to admiration as my   
resolute benefactress1 got the habit 7,i
 am sure7 of looking upon me as under   
nameless obligations to her4 ,this      
raised my wrath4 ,it was not that to my 

feelings the obligations were really a  
mere figment of pretence4 ,on the       
contrary1 according to my pains endured1
 they towered up to the clouds4 ,but ,i 
felt that nobody had any right to load  
me with favours that ,i had never asked 
for1 and without leave even asked from  
me2 and the more real were the favours1 
the deeper the wrong done to me4 ,i     
sought1 therefore1 for some means of    
retaliation4 ,and it is odd that it was 
not till thirty years after that ,i     
perceived one4 ,it then struck me that  
the eternal intercession might have been
 equally odious to her4 ,to find herself
 prostrate for ever1 weeping like       
,niobe1 and1 if the ,gazette was to be  
believed1 refusing to raise herself from
 the mud or the flinty pavement till ,i 
had been forgiven1 and reinstated in my 
rank--ah1 how loathsome that must have  
been to her6 ,ah1 how loathsome the     
whole cycle of favours were to me1      
considering from whom they came6 ,then  
we had effectually plagued each other4  

,and it was not without loud laughter1  
as of malice unexpectedly triumphant1   
that ,i found one night thirty years    
after1 on regretting my powerlessness of
 vengeance1 that1 in fact1 ,i had amply 
triumphed thirty years before4 ,so1     
undaunted ,mrs4 ,evans1 if you live     
anywhere within call1 listen to the     
assurance that all accounts are squared 
between us1 and that we balanced our    
mutual debts by mutual disgust2 and     
that1 if you plagued me perversely1 ,i  
plagued you unconsciously4  ,and though 
shot and bullets were forbidden fruit1  
yet something might be done with hard   
wadding4 ,a good deal of classical      
literature disappeared in this way1     
which by one who valued no classics very
 highly might be called the way of all  
flesh4 ,the best of authors1 he         
contended1 had better perish by this    
warlike consummation than by the        
inglorious enmity of bookworms and      
moths--honeycombed1 as most of the books
 had been which had gone out to ,india  

with our two uncles4 ,even wadding1     
however1 was declared to be inadmissible
 as too dangerous1 after wounds had been
 inflicted more than once4   #c4--;,a   
,,lawsuit ,,legacy4  ,de ,quincey1 in   
his autobiographic sketch headed        
',laxton1' tells of the fortune of ,miss
 ,watson1 who afterwards became ,lady   
,carbery1 and also of the legacy left to
 her in the form of a lawsuit by her    
father against the ,east ,india         
,company2 and among his papers we find  
the following passage either overlooked 
or omitted1 for some undiscoverable     
reason1 from that paper1 though it has a
 value in its own way as expressing some
 of ,de ,quincey's views on law and     
equity2 and it is sufficiently          
characteristic to be included here3     
,in consequence of her long minority1   
,miss ,watson must have succeeded at    
once to six thousand a year on          
completing her twenty-first year2 and   
she also inherited a ,chancery-suit1    
which sort of property is now 7#ahec7   

rather at a discount in public          
estimation2 but let the reader assure   
himself that even the ,court of         
,chancery is not quite so black as it is
 painted2 that the true ground for the  
delays and ruinous expenses in          
ninety-nine out of one hundred instances
 is not legal chicanery1 still less the 
wilful circuitousness and wordiness of  
law processes1 but the great eternal    
fact that1 what through lapse of time1  
decays of memory1 and loss of documents1
 and what through interested            
suppressions of truth1 and the          
dispersions of witnesses1 and causes by 
the score beside1 the ultimate truth and
 equity of human disputes is a matter of
 prodigious perplexity2 neither is there
 any possibility that the mass of       
litigations as to property ever can be  
made cheap except in proportion as it is
 made dismally imperfect4  ,no power    
that ever yet was lodged in senates or  
in councils could avail1 ever has       
availed1 ever will avail1 to intercept  

the immeasurable expansion of that law  
which grows out of social expansion4    
,fast as the relations of man multiply1 
and the modifications of property       
extend1 must the corresponding          
adaptations of the law run alongside4   
,the pretended arrests applied to this  
heaving volcanic system of forces by    
codifications1 like those of ,justinian 
or ,napoleon1 had not lasted for a year 
before all had broke loose from its     
moorings1 and was again going ahead with
 redoubling impetus4 ,equally delusive  
are the prospects held out that the new 
system of cheap provincial justice will 
be a change unconditionally for the     
better4 ,already the complaints against 
it are such in bitterness and extent as 
to show that in very many cases it must 
be regarded as a failure2 and1 where it 
is not1 that it must be regarded as a   
compromise3 once you had #h degrees of  
the advantage ,x1 #d of ,y2 now you have
 #g of ,x1 #e of ,y4   #d4--,,the ,,true
 ,,justifications ,,of ,,war4  ,the     

following was evidently intended to     
appear in the article on ,war3   ',most 
of what has been written on this subject
 7the cruelty of war71 in connection    
with the apparently fierce ethics of the
 ,old ,testament1 is 7with submission to
 sentimentalists7 false and profoundly  
unphilosophic4 ,it is of the same feeble
 character as the flashy modern         
moralizations upon ,war4 ,the true      
justifications of war lie far below the 
depths of any soundings taken upon the  
charts of effeminate earth-born ethics4 
,and ethics of ,god1 the ,scriptural    
ethics1 search into depths that are     
older and less measurable1 contemplate  
interests that are more mysterious and  
entangled with perils more awful than   
merely human philosophy has resources   
for appreciating4 ,it is not at all     
impossible that a crisis has sometimes  
arisen for the human race1 in which its 
capital interest may be said to have    
ridden at single anchor4 ,upon the issue
 of a single struggle between the powers

 of light and darkness--upon a motion1 a
 bias1 an impulse given this way or     
that--all may have been staked4 ,out of 
,judaism came ,christianity1 and the    
mere possibility of ,christianity4 ,from
 elder stages of the ,hebrew race1      
hidden in thick darkness to us1         
descended the only pure glimpse allowed 
to man of ,god's nature4 ,traditionally1
 but through many generations1 and      
fighting at every stage with storms or  
with perils more than ever were revealed
 to us1 this idea of ,god1 this holy    
seed of truth1 like some secret jewel   
passing onwards through armies of       
robbers1 made its way downward to an age
 in which it became the matrix of       
,christianity4 ,the solitary acorn had  
reached in safety the particular soil in
 which it was first capable of expanding
 into a forest4 ,the narrow1 but at the 
same time austere1 truth of ,judaism1   
furnished the basis which by magic1 as  
it were1 burst suddenly and expanded    
into a vast superstructure1 no longer   

fitted for the apprehension of one      
single unamiable race1 but offering     
shelter and repose to the whole family  
of man4 ,these things are most          
remarkable about this memorable         
trans-migration of one faith into       
another1 of an imperfect into a perfect 
religion1 viz41 that the early stage had
 but a slight resemblance to the latter1
 nor could have prefigured it to a human
 sagacity more than a larva could       
prefigure a chrysalis2 and1 secondly1   
that whereas the product1 viz41         
,christianity1 never has been nor will  
be in any danger of ruin1 the germ1     
viz41 the ,judaic idea of ,god1 the     
great radiation through which the ,deity
 kept open ,his communication with man1 
apparently must more than once have     
approached an awful struggle for life4  
,this solitary taper of truth1          
struggling across a howling wilderness  
of darkness1 had it been ever totally   
extinguished1 could probably never have 
been reillumined4 ,it may seem an easy  

thing for a mere human philosophy to    
recover1 and steadily to maintain a pure
 ,hebrew conception of ,god2 but so far 
is this from being true1 that we believe
 it possible to expose in the closest   
,pagan approximation to this ,hebrew    
type some adulterous elements such as   
would have ensured its relapse into     
idolatrous impurity4'                   
#e4--,,philosophy ,,defeated4  ,we have 
come upon a passage which is omitted    
from the ',confessions1' and as it is1  
in every way1 characteristic1 we shall  
give it3   ,my studies have now been    
long interrupted4 ,i cannot read to     
myself with any pleasure1 hardly with a 
moment's endurance4 ,yet ,i read aloud  
sometimes for the pleasure of           
others--because reading is an           
accomplishment of mine1 and1 in the     
slang use of the word 'accomplishment'  
as a superficial and ornamental         
attainment1 almost the only one ,i      
possess--and1 formerly1 if ,i had any   
vanity at all connected with any        

endowment or attainment of mine1 it was 
with this2 for ,i had observed that no  
accomplishment was so rare4 ,players are
 the worst readers of all2 ---- reads   
vilely1 and ,mrs4 ----1 who is so       
celebrated1 can read nothing well but   
dramatic compositions--,milton she      
cannot read sufferably4 ,people in      
general read poetry without any passion 
at all1 or else overstep the modesty of 
nature and read not like scholars4 ,of  
late1 if ,i have felt moved by anything 
in books1 it has been by the grand      
lamentations of ',samson ,agonistes1' or
 the great harmonies of the ,satanic    
speaker in ',paradise ,regained1' when  
read aloud by myself4 ,a young lady     
sometimes comes and drinks tea with us4 
,at her request and ,m----'s ,i now and 
then read ,w----'s poems to them4       
7,w----1 by-the-bye1 is the only poet ,i
 ever met who could read his own verses4
 ,blank verse he reads admirably47      
,this1 then1 has been the extent of my  
reading for upwards of sixteen months4  

,it frets me to enter those rooms of my 
cottage in which the books stand4 ,in   
one of them1 to which my little boy has 
access1 he has found out a use for some 
of them4 ,somebody has given him a bow  
and arrows--,god knows who1 certainly   
not ,i1 for ,i have not energy or       
ingenuity to invent a                   
walking-stick--thus equipped for action1
 he rears up the largest of the folios  
that he can lift1 places them on a      
tottering base1 and then shoots until he
 brings down the enemy4 ,he often       
presses me to join him2 and sometimes ,i
 consent1 and we are both engaged       
together in these intellectual labours4 
,we build up a pile1 having for its base
 some slender modern metaphysician1 ill 
able 7poor man67 to sustain such a      
weight of philosophy4 ,upon this we     
place the ,dutch quartos of ,descartes  
and ,spinoza2 then a third story of     
,schoolmen in folio--the ,master of     
,sentences1 ,suarez1 ,picus ,mirandula1 
and the ,telemonian bulk of ,thomas     

,aquinas2 and when the whole            
architecture seems firm and compact1 we 
finish our system of metaphysics by     
roofing the whole with ,duval's enormous
 ,aristotle4 ,so far there is some      
pleasure--building up is something1 but 
what is that to destroying8 ,thus       
thinks1 at least1 my little companion1  
who now1 with the wrath of the ,pythian 
,apollo1 assumes his bow and arrows2    
plants himself in the remotest corner of
 the room1 and prepares his fatal       
shafts4 ,the bow-string twangs1 flights 
of arrows are in the air1 but the ,dutch
 impregnability of the ,bergen-op-,zooms
 at the base receives the few which     
reach the mark1 and they recoil without 
mischief done4 ,again the baffled archer
 collects his arrows1 and again he takes
 his station4 ,an arrow issues forth1   
and takes effect on a weak side of      
,thomas4 ,symptoms of dissolution       
appear--the cohesion of the system is   
loosened--the ,schoolmen begin to       
totter2 the ,stagyrite trembles2        

,philosophy rocks to its centre2 and1   
before it can be seen whether time will 
do anything to heal their wounds1       
another arrow is planted in the schism  
of their ontology2 the mighty structure 
heaves--reels--seems in suspense for one
 moment1 and then1 with one choral      
crash--to the frantic joy of the young  
,sagittary--lies subverted on the floor6
 ,kant and ,aristotle1 ,nominalists and 
,realists1 ,doctors ,seraphic or        
,irrefragable1 what cares he8 ,all are  
at his feet--the ,irrefragable has been 
confuted by his arrows1 the ,seraphic   
has been found mortal1 and the greatest 
philosopher and the least differ but    
according to the brief noise they have  
made4  ,for nearly two years ,i believe 
that ,i read no book but one1 and ,i owe
 it to the author1 ,mr4 ,ricardo1 to    
make grateful record of it4  ,and then  
he proceeds3  ,suddenly1 in #ahah1 a    
friend in ,edinburgh sent me down ,mr4  
,ricardo's book1 etc4   #f4--,,the      
,,highwayman',s ,,skeleton4  ,in the    

account which ,de ,quincey gives of the 
highwayman's skeleton1 which figured in 
the museum of the distinguished surgeon1
 ,mr4 ,white1 in his chapter in the     
',autobiographic ,sketches' headed ',the
 ,manchester ,grammar ,school1' he was  
evidently restrained from inserting one 
passage1 which we have found among his  
papers1 from considerations of delicacy 
towards persons who might then still be 
living4 ,but as he has there plainly    
given the names of the leading persons  
concerned--the famous ,surgeon          
,cruikshank1#da there can at this time  
of day be little risk of offending or   
hurting anyone by presenting the        
passage1 which the curious student of   
the ,autobiography can insert at the    
proper point1 and may feel that its     
presence adds to the completeness of the
 impression1 half-humorous1 half-eerie1 
which ,de ,quincey was fain to produce  
by that somewhat grim episode4 ,here is 
the passage3   ,it was a regular and    
respectable branch of public industry   

which was carried on by the highwaymen  
of ,england1 and all the parties to it  
moved upon decent motives and by        
considerate methods4 ,in particular1 the
 robbers themselves1 as the leading     
parties1 could not be other than        
first-rate men1 as regarded courage1    
animal vigour1 and perfect horsemanship4
 ,starting from any lower standard than 
this1 not only had they no chance of    
continued success--their failure was    
certain as regarded the contest with the
 traveller1 but also their failure was  
equally certain as regarded the         
competition within their own body4 ,the 
candidates for a lucrative section of   
the road were sure to become troublesome
 in proportion as all administration of 
the business upon that part of the line 
was feebly or indiscreetly worked4      
,hence it arose that individually the   
chief highwaymen were sure to command a 
deep professional interest amongst the  
surgeons of the land4 ,sometimes it     
happened that a first-rate robber was   

arrested and brought to trial1 but from 
defective evidence escaped4 ,meanwhile  
his fine person had been locally        
advertised and brought under the notice 
of the medical body4 ,this had occurred 
in a more eminent degree than was usual 
to the robber who had owned when living 
the matchless skeleton possessed by ,mr4
 ,white4 ,he had been most extensively  
surveyed with anatomical eyes by the    
whole body of the medical profession in 
,london3 their deliberate judgment upon 
him was that a more absolutely          
magnificent figure of a man did not     
exist in ,england than this highwayman1 
and naturally therefore very high sums  
were offered to him as soon as his      
condemnation was certain4 ,the robber1  
whose name ,i entirely forget1 finally  
closed with the offer of ,cruikshank1   
who was at that time the most eminent   
surgeon in ,london4 ,those days1 as is  
well known1 were days of great          
irregularity in all that concerned the  
management of prisons and the           

administration of criminal justice4     
,consequently there is no reason for    
surprise or for doubt in the statement  
made by ,mr4 ,white1 that ,cruikshank1  
whose pupil ,mr4 ,white then was1       
received some special indulgences from  
one of the under-sheriffs beyond what   
the law would strictly have warranted4  
,the robber was cut down considerably   
within the appointed time1 was instantly
 placed in a chaise-and-four1 and was   
thus brought so prematurely into the    
private rooms of ,cruikshank1 that life 
was not as yet entirely extinct4 ,this  
,i heard ,mr4 ,white repeatedly assert4 
,he was himself at that time amongst the
 pupils of ,cruikshank1 and three or    
four of the most favoured amongst these 
were present1 and to one of them        
,cruikshank observed quietly3 ',i think 
the subject is not quite dead2 pray put 
your knife in 7,mr4 ,x4 ,y47 at this    
point4' ,that was done2 a solemn finis  
was placed to the labours of the robber1
 and perhaps a solemn inauguration to   

the labours of the student4 ,a cast was 
taken from the superb figure of the     
highwayman2 he was then dissected1 his  
skeleton became the property of         
,cruikshank1 and subsequently of ,mr4   
,white4 ,we were all called upon to     
admire the fine proportions of the man1 
and of course in that hollow and        
unmeaning way which such unlearned      
expressors of judgment usually assume1  
we all obsequiously met the demand      
levied upon our admiration4 ,but1 for my
 part1 though readily confiding in the  
professional judgment of anatomists1 ,i 
could not but feel that through my own  
unassisted judgment ,i never could have 
arrived at such a conclusion4 ,the      
unlearned eye has gathered no rudimental
 points to begin with4 ,not having what 
are the normal outlines to which the    
finest proportions tend1 an eye so      
untutored cannot of course judge in what
 degree the given subject approaches to 
these4   #g4--,,the ,,ransom ,,for      
,,waterloo4  ,the following gives a     

variation on a famous passage in the    
',dream ,fugue1' and it may be          
interesting to the reader to compare it 
with that which the author printed4     
,from these variations it will be seen  
that ,de ,quincey often wrote and       
re-wrote his finest passages1 and       
sometimes1 no doubt1 found it hard to   
choose between the readings3   ,thus as 
we ran like torrents2 thus as with      
bridal rapture our flying equipage swept
 over the campo santo of the graves2    
thus as our burning wheels carried      
warrior instincts1 kindled earthly      
passions amongst the trembling dust     
below us1 suddenly we became aware of a 
vast necropolis to which from afar we   
were hurrying4 ,in a moment our         
maddening wheels were nearing it4  ',of 
purple granite in massive piles was this
 city of the dead1 and yet for one      
moment it lay like a visionary purple   
stain on the horizon1 so mighty was the 
distance4 ,in the second moment this    
purple city trembled through many       

changes1 and grew as by fiery           
pulsations1 so mighty was the pace4 ,in 
the third moment already with our       
dreadful gallop we were entering its    
suburbs4 ,systems of sarcophagi rose    
with crests aerial of terraces and      
turrets into the upper glooms1 strode   
forward with haughty encroachment upon  
the central aisle1 ran back with mighty 
shadows into answering recesses4 ,when  
the sarcophagi wheeled1 then did our    
horses wheel4 ,like rivers in horned    
floods wheeling in pomp of unfathomable 
waters round headlands2 like hurricanes 
that ride into the secrets of forests1  
faster than ever light travels through  
the wilderness of darkness1 we shot the 
angles1 we fled round the curves of the 
labyrinthine city4 ,with the storm of   
our horses' feet1 and of our burning    
wheels1 did we carry earthly passions1  
kindle warrior instincts amongst the    
silent dust around us1 dust of our noble
 fathers that had slept in ,god since   
,creci4 ,every sarcophagus showed many  

bas-reliefs1 bas-reliefs of battles1    
bas-reliefs of battlefields1 battles    
from forgotten ages1 battles from       
yesterday2 battlefields that long since 
,nature had healed and reconciled to    
herself with the sweet oblivion of      
flowers2 battlefields that were yet     
angry and crimson with carnage4  ,and   
now had we reached the last sarcophagus1
 already we were abreast of the last    
bas-relief2 already we were recovering  
the arrow-like flight of the central    
aisle1 when coming up it in counterview 
to ourselves we beheld the frailest of  
cars1 built as might seem from floral   
wreaths1 and from the shells of ,indian 
seas4 ,half concealed were the fawns    
that drew it by the floating mists that 
went before it in pomp4 ,but the mists  
hid not the lovely countenance of the   
infant girl that sate wistful upon the  
ear1 and hid not the birds of tropic    
plumage with which she played4 ,face to 
face she rode forward to meet us1 and   
baby laughter in her eyes saluted the   

ruin that approached4 ',oh1 baby1' ,i   
said in anguish1 'must we that carry    
tidings of great joy to every people be 
,god's messengers of ruin to thee8' ,in 
horror ,i rose at the thought4 ,but then
 also1 in horror at the thought1 rose   
one that was sculptured in the          
bas-relief--a dying trumpeter4 ,solemnly
 from the field of ,waterloo he rose to 
his feet1 and1 unslinging his stony     
trumpet1 carried it in his dying anguish
 to his stony lips1 sounding once1 and  
yet once again1 proclamation that to thy
 ears1 oh baby1 must have spoken from   
the battlements of death4 ,immediately  
deep shadows fell between us1 and       
shuddering silence4 ,the choir had      
ceased to sing2 the uproar of our       
laurelled equipage alarmed the graves no
 more4 ,by horror the bas-relief had    
been unlocked into life4 ,by horror we  
that were so full of life--we men1 and  
our horses with their fiery forelegs    
rising in mid-air to their everlasting  
gallop--were petrified to a bas-relief4 

,oh1 glacial pageantry of death1 that   
from end to end of the gorgeous         
cathedral for a moment froze every eye  
by contagion of panic4 ,then for the    
third time the trumpet sounded4 ,back   
with the shattering burst came the      
infinite rushing of life4 ,the seals of 
frost were raised from our stifling     
hearts4   #h4--;,,desiderium4  ,here is 
another variation on a famous passage in
 the ',autobiographic ,sketches1' which 
will give the reader some further       
opportunity for comparison3   ,at six   
years of age1 or thereabouts 7,i write  
without any memorial notes71 the glory  
of this earth for me was extinguished4  
,it is finished--not those words but    
that sentiment--was the misgiving of my 
prophetic heart2 thought it was that    
gnawed like a worm1 that did not and    
that could not die4 ',how1 child1' a    
cynic would have said1 if he had        
deciphered the secret reading of my     
sighs--'at six years of age1 will you   
pretend that life has already exhausted 

its promises8 ,have you communicated    
with the grandeurs of earth8 ,have you  
read ,milton8 ,have you seen ,rome8     
,have you heard ,mozart8' ,no1 ,i had   
not1 nor could in those years have      
appreciated any one of them if ,i had2  
and1 therefore1 undoubtedly the crown   
jewels of our little planet were still  
waiting for me in the rear4 ,milton and 
,rome and ',don ,giovanni' were yet to  
come4 ,but it mattered not what remained
 when set over against what had been    
taken away4 ,that it was which ,i sought
 for ever in my blindness4 ,the love    
which had existed between myself and my 
departed sister1 that1 as even a child  
could feel1 was not a light that could  
be rekindled4 ,no voice on earth could  
say1 ',come again6' to a flower of      
,paradise like that4 ,love1 such as that
 is given but once to any4 ,exquisite   
are the perceptions of childhood1 not   
less so than those of maturest wisdom1  
in what touches the capital interests of
 the heart4 ,and no arguments1 nor any  

consolations1 could have soothed me into
 a moment's belief1 that a wound so     
ghastly as mine admitted of healing or  
palliation4 ,consequently1 as ,i stood  
more alone in the very midst of a       
domestic circle than ever ,christian    
traveller in an ,african ,bilidulgerid  
amidst the tents of infidels1 or the    
howls of lions1 day and night--in the   
darkness and at noon-day--,i sate1 ,i   
stood1 ,i lay1 moping like an idiot1    
craving for what was impossible1 and    
seeking1 groping1 snatching1 at that    
which was irretrievable for ever4       
,,footnotes3  #da ,born #agdf1 died     
#ahjj4--;,,ed4  ,,the ,,end4