,,representative ,,men  ,,seven         
,,lectures  ,,by  ,,ralph ,,waldo       
,,emerson        ,i4 ,uses of ,great    
,men   ,,ii4 ,plato2 or1 the            
,philosopher      ,plato2 ,new ,readings
  ,,iii4 ,swedenborg2 or1 the ,mystic   
,,iv4 ,montaigne2 or1 the ,skeptic      
,v4 ,shakspeare2 or1 the ,poet   ,,vi4  
,napoleon2 or1 the ,man of the ,world   
,,vii4 ,goethe2 or1 the ,writer     ,i4 
,,uses ,,of ,,great ,,men4   ,it is     
natural to believe in great men4 ,if the
 companions of our childhood should turn
 out to be heroes1 and their condition  
regal1 it would not surprise us4 ,all   
mythology opens with demigods1 and the  
circumstance is high and poetic2 that   
is1 their genius is paramount4 ,in the  
legends of the ,gautama1 the first men  
ate the earth1 and found it deliciously 
sweet4  ,nature seems to exist for the  
excellent4 ,the world is upheld by the  
veracity of good men3 they make the     
earth wholesome4 ,they who lived with   
them found life glad and nutritious4    

,life is sweet and tolerable only in our
 belief in such society2 and actually1  
or ideally1 we manage to live with      
superiors4 ,we call our children and our
 lands by their names4 ,their names are 
wrought into the verbs of language1     
their works and effigies are in our     
houses1 and every circumstance of the   
day recalls an anecdote of them4  ,the  
search after the great is the dream of  
youth1 and the most serious occupation  
of manhood4 ,we travel into foreign     
parts to find his works1--if possible1  
to get a glimpse of him4 ,but we are put
 off with fortune instead4 ,you say1 the
 ,english are practical2 the ,germans   
are hospitable2 in ,valencia1 the       
climate is delicious2 and in the hills  
of ,sacramento there is gold for the    
gathering4 ,yes1 but ,i do not travel to
 find comfortable1 rich1 and hospitable 
people1 or clear sky1 or ingots that    
cost too much4 ,but if there were any   
magnet that would point to the countries
 and houses where are the persons who   

are intrinsically rich and powerful1 ,i 
would sell all1 and buy it1 and put     
myself on the road to-day4  ,the race   
goes with us on their credit4 ,the      
knowledge1 that in the city is a man who
 invented the railroad1 raises the      
credit of all the citizens4 ,but        
enormous populations1 if they be        
beggars1 are disgusting1 like moving    
cheese1 like hills of ants1 or of       
fleas--the more1 the worse4  ,our       
religion is the love and cherishing of  
these patrons4 ,the gods of fable are   
the shining moments of great men4 ,we   
run all our vessels into one mould4 ,our
 colossal theologies of ,judaism1       
,christism1 ,buddhism1 ,mahometism1 are 
the necessary and structural action of  
the human mind4 ,the student of history 
is like a man going into a warehouse to 
buy cloths or carpets4 ,he fancies he   
has a new article4 ,if he go to the     
factory1 he shall find that his new     
stuff still repeats the scrolls and     
rosettes which are found on the interior

 walls of the pyramids of ,thebes4 ,our 
theism is the purification of the human 
mind4 ,man can paint1 or make1 or think 
nothing but man4 ,he believes that the  
great material elements had their origin
 from his thought4 ,and our philosophy  
finds one essence collected or          
distributed4  ,if now we proceed to     
inquire into the kinds of service we    
derive from others1 let us be warned of 
the danger of modern studies1 and begin 
low enough4 ,we must not contend against
 love1 or deny the substantial existence
 of other people4 ,i know not what would
 happen to us4 ,we have social          
strengths4 ,our affection toward others 
creates a sort of vantage or purchase   
which nothing will supply4 ,i can do    
that by another which ,i cannot do      
alone4 ,i can say to you what ,i cannot 
first say to myself4 ,other men are     
lenses through which we read our own    
minds4 ,each man seeks those of         
different quality from his own1 and such
 as are good of their kind2 that is1 he 

seeks other men1 and the otherest4 ,the 
stronger the nature1 the more it is     
reactive4 ,let us have the quality pure4
 ,a little genius let us leave alone4 ,a
 main difference betwixt men is1 whether
 they attend their own affair or not4   
,man is that noble endogenous plant     
which grows1 like the palm1 from within1
 outward4 ,his own affair1 though       
impossible to others1 he can open with  
celerity and in sport4 ,it is easy to   
sugar to be sweet1 and to nitre to be   
salt4 ,we take a great deal of pains to 
waylay and entrap that which of itself  
will fall into our hands4 ,i count him a
 great man who inhabits a higher sphere 
of thought1 into which other men rise   
with labor and difficulty2 he has but to
 open his eyes to see things in a true  
light1 and in large relations2 whilst   
they must make painful corrections1 and 
keep a vigilant eye on many sources of  
error4 ,his service to us is of like    
sort4 ,it costs a beautiful person no   
exertion to paint her image on our eyes2

 yet how splendid is that benefit6 ,it  
costs no more for a wise soul to convey 
his quality to other men4 ,and every one
 can do his best thing easiest--,peu de 
moyens1 beaucoup d'effet4 ,he is great  
who is what he is from nature1 and who  
never reminds us of others4  ,but he    
must be related to us1 and our life     
receive from him some promise of        
explanation4 ,i cannot tell what ,i     
would know2 but ,i have observed there  
are persons1 who1 in their character and
 actions1 answer questions which ,i have
 not skill to put4 ,one man answers some
 questions which none of his            
contemporaries put1 and is isolated4    
,the past and passing religions and     
philosophies answer some other question4
 ,certain men affect us as rich         
possibilities1 but helpless to          
themselves and to their times1--the     
sport1 perhaps1 of some instinct that   
rules in the air2--they do not speak to 
our want4 ,but the great are near3 we   
know them at sight4 ,they satisfy       

expectation1 and fall into place4 ,what 
is good is effective1 generative2 makes 
for itself room1 food1 and allies4 ,a   
sound apple produces seed1--a hybrid    
does not4 ,is a man in his place1 he is 
constructive1 fertile1 magnetic1        
inundating armies with his purpose1     
which is thus executed4 ,the river makes
 its own shores1 and each legitimate    
idea makes its own channels and         
welcome1--harvest for food1 institutions
 for expression1 weapons to fight with1 
and disciples to explain it4 ,the true  
artist has the planet for his pedestal2 
the adventurer1 after years of strife1  
has nothing broader than his own shoes4 
,our common discourse respects two kinds
 of use of service from superior men4   
,direct giving is agreeable to the early
 belief of men2 direct giving of        
material or metaphysical aid1 as of     
health1 eternal youth1 fine senses1 arts
 of healing1 magical power1 and         
prophecy4 ,the boy believes there is a  
teacher who can sell him wisdom4        

,churches believe in imputed merit4     
,but1 in strictness1 we are not much    
cognizant of direct serving4 ,man is    
endogenous1 and education is his        
unfolding4 ,the aid we have from others 
is mechanical1 compared with the        
discoveries of nature in us4 ,what is   
thus learned is delightful in the doing1
 and the effect remains4 ,right ethics  
are central1 and go from the soul       
outward4 ,gift is contrary to the law of
 the universe4 ,serving others is       
serving us4 ,i must absolve me to       
myself4 ,mind thy affair1 says the      
spirit3--coxcomb1 would you meddle with 
the skies1 or with other people8        
,indirect service is left4 ,men have a  
pictorial or representative quality1 and
 serve us in the intellect4 ,behmen and 
,swedenborg saw that things were        
representative4 ,men are also           
representative2 first1 of things1 and   
secondly1 of ideas4  ,as plants convert 
the minerals into food for animals1 so  
each man converts some raw material in  

nature to human use4 ,the inventors of  
fire1 electricity1 magnetism1 iron2     
lead1 glass1 linen1 silk1 cotton2 the   
makers of tools2 the inventor of decimal
 notation2 the geometer2 the engineer2  
musician1--severally make an easy way   
for all1 through unknown and impossible 
confusions4 ,each man is1 by secret     
liking1 connected with some district of 
nature1 whose agent and interpreter he  
is1 as ,linnaeus1 of plants2 ,huber1 of 
bees2 ,fries1 of lichens2 ,van ,mons1 of
 pears2 ,dalton1 of atomic forms2       
,euclid1 of lines2 ,newton1 of fluxions4
  ,a man is a center for nature1 running
 out threads of relation through        
everything1 fluid and solid1 material   
and elemental4 ,the earth rolls2 every  
clod and stone comes to the meridian2 so
 every organ1 function1 acid1 crystal1  
grain of dust1 has its relation to the  
brain4 ,it waits long1 but its turn     
comes4 ,each plant has its parasite1 and
 each created thing its lover and poet4 
,justice has already been done to steam1

 to iron1 to wood1 to coal1 to          
loadstone1 to iodine1 to corn1 and      
cotton2 but how few materials are yet   
used by our arts6 ,the mass of creatures
 and of qualities are still hid and     
expectant4 ,it would seem as if each    
waited1 like the enchanted princess in  
fairy tales1 for a destined human       
deliverer4 ,each must be disenchanted1  
and walk forth to the day in human      
shape4 ,in the history of discovery1 the
 ripe and latent truth seems to have    
fashioned a brain for itself4 ,a magnet 
must be made man1 in some ,gilbert1 or  
,swedenborg1 or ,oersted1 before the    
general mind can come to entertain its  
powers4  ,if we limit ourselves to the  
first advantages2--a sober grace adheres
 to the mineral and botanic kingdoms1   
which1 in the highest moments1 comes up 
as the charm of nature1--the glitter of 
the spar1 the sureness of affinity1 the 
veracity of angles4 ,light and darkness1
 heat and cold1 hunger and food1 sweet  
and sour1 solid1 liquid1 and gas1 circle

 us round in a wreath of pleasures1 and1
 by their agreeable quarrel1 beguile the
 day of life4 ,the eye repeats every day
 the finest eulogy on things--,he saw   
that they were good4 ,we know where to  
find them2 and these performers are     
relished all the more1 after a little   
experience of the pretending races4 ,we 
are entitled1 also1 to higher           
advantages4 ,something is wanting to    
science1 until it has been humanized4   
,the table of logarithms is one thing1  
and its vital play1 in botany1 music1   
optics1 and architecture1 another4      
,there are advancements to numbers1     
anatomy1 architecture1 astronomy1 little
 suspected at first1 when1 by union with
 intellect and will1 they ascend into   
the life1 and re-appear in conversation1
 character and politics4  ,but this     
comes later4 ,we speak now only of our  
acquaintance with them in their own     
sphere1 and the way in which they seem  
to fascinate and draw to them some      
genius who occupies himself with one    

thing1 all his life long4 ,the          
possibility of interpretation lies in   
the identity of the observer with the   
observed4 ,each material thing has its  
celestial side2 has its translation1    
through humanity1 into the spiritual and
 necessary sphere1 where it plays a part
 as indestructible as any other4 ,and to
 these1 their ends1 all things          
continually ascend4 ,the gases gather to
 the solid firmament2 the chemic lump   
arrives at the plant1 and grows2 arrives
 at the quadruped1 and walks2 arrives at
 the man1 and thinks4 ,but also the     
constituency determines the vote of the 
representative4 ,he is not only         
representative1 but participant4 ,like  
can only be known by like4 ,the reason  
why he knows about them is1 that he is  
of them2 he has just come out of nature1
 or from being a part of that thing4    
,animated chlorine knows of chlorine1   
and incarnate zinc1 of zinc4 ,their     
quality makes this career2 and he can   
variously publish their virtues1 because

 they compose him4 ,man1 made of the    
dust of the world1 does not forget his  
origin2 and all that is yet inanimate   
will one day speak and reason4          
,unpublished nature will have its whole 
secret told4 ,shall we say that quartz  
mountains will pulverize into           
innumerable ,werners1 ,von ,buchs1 and  
,beaumonts2 and the laboratory of the   
atmosphere holds in solution ,i know not
 what ,berzeliuses and ,davys8  ,thus1  
we sit by the fire1 and take hold on the
 poles of the earth4 ,this quasi        
omnipresence supplies the imbecility of 
our condition4 ,in one of those         
celestial days1 when heaven and earth   
meet and adorn each other1 it seems a   
poverty that we can only spend it once2 
we wish for a thousand heads1 a thousand
 bodies1 that we might celebrate its    
immense beauty in many ways and places4 
,is this fancy8 ,well1 in good faith1 we
 are multiplied by our proxies4 ,how    
easily we adopt their labors6 ,every    
ship that comes to ,america got its     

chart from ,columbus4 ,every novel is   
debtor to ,homer4 ,every carpenter who  
shaves with a foreplane borrows the     
genius of a forgotten inventor4 ,life is
 girt all around with a zodiac of       
sciences1 the contributions of men who  
have perished to add their point of     
light to our sky4 ,engineer1 broker1    
jurist1 physician1 moralist1 theologian1
 and every man1 inasmuch as he has any  
science1 is a definer and map-maker of  
the latitudes and longitudes of our     
condition4 ,these road-makers on every  
hand enrich us4 ,we must extend the area
 of life1 and multiply our relations4   
,we are as much gainers by finding a new
 property in the old earth1 as by       
acquiring a new planet4  ,we are too    
passive in the reception of these       
material or semi-material aids4 ,we must
 not be sacks and stomachs4 ,to ascend  
one step1--we are better served through 
our sympathy4 ,activity is contagious4  
,looking where others look1 and         
conversing with the same things1 we     

catch the charm which lured them4       
,napoleon said1 you must not fight too  
often with one enemy1 or you will teach 
him all your art of war4 ,talk much with
 any man of vigorous mind1 and we       
acquire very fast the habit of looking  
at things in the same light1 and1 on    
each occurrence1 we anticipate his      
thought4  ,men are helpful through the  
intellect and the affections4 ,other    
help1 ,i find a false appearance4 ,if   
you affect to give me bread and fire1 ,i
 perceive that ,i pay for it the full   
price1 and at last it leaves me as it   
found me1 neither better nor worse3 but 
all mental and moral force is a positive
 good4 ,it goes out from you whether you
 will or not1 and profits me whom you   
never thought of4 ,i cannot even hear of
 personal vigor of any kind1 great power
 of performance1 without fresh          
resolution4 ,we are emulous of all that 
man can do4 ,cecil's saying of ,sir     
,walter ,raleigh1 ,i know that he can   
toil terribly1 is an electric touch4 ,so

 are ,clarendon's portraits1--of        
,hampden2 who was of an industry and    
vigilance not to be tired out or wearied
 by the most laborious1 and of parts not
 to be imposed on by the most subtle and
 sharp1 and of a personal courage equal 
to his best parts--of ,falkland2 who was
 so severe an adorer of truth1 that he  
could as easily have given himself leave
 to steal1 as to dissemble4 ,we cannot  
read ,plutarch1 without a tingling of   
the blood2 and ,i accept the saying of  
the ,chinese ,mencius3 ,as age is the   
instructor of a hundred ages4 ,when the 
manners of ,loo are heard of1 the stupid
 become intelligent1 and the wavering1  
determined4  ,this is the moral of      
biography2 yet it is hard for departed  
men to touch the quick like our own     
companions1 whose names may not last as 
long4 ,what is he whom ,i never think   
of8 whilst in every solitude are those  
who succor our genius1 and stimulate us 
in wonderful manners4 ,there is a power 
in love to divine another's destiny     

better than that other can1 and by      
heroic encouragements1 hold him to his  
task4 ,what has friendship so signaled  
as its sublime attraction to whatever   
virtue is in us8 ,we will never more    
think cheaply of ourselves1 or of life4 
,we are piqued to some purpose1 and the 
industry of the diggers on the railroad 
will not again shame us4  ,under this   
head1 too1 falls that homage1 very pure1
 as ,i think1 which all ranks pay to the
 hero of the day1 from ,coriolanus and  
,gracchus1 down to ,pitt1 ,lafayette1   
,wellington1 ,webster1 ,lamartine4 ,hear
 the shouts in the street6 ,the people  
cannot see him enough4 ,they delight in 
a man4 ,here is a head and a trunk6     
,what a front6 ,what eyes6 ,atlantean   
shoulders1 and the whole carriage       
heroic1 with equal inward force to guide
 the great machine6 ,this pleasure of   
full expression to that which1 in their 
private experience1 is usually cramped  
and obstructed1 runs1 also1 much higher1
 and is the secret of the reader's joy  

in literary genius4 ,nothing is kept    
back4 ,there is fire enough to fuse the 
mountain of ore4 ,shakspeare's principal
 merit may be conveyed1 in saying that  
he1 of all men1 best understands the    
,english language1 and can say what he  
will4 ,yet these unchoked channels and  
floodgates of expression are only health
 or fortunate constitution4             
,shakspeare's name suggests other and   
purely intellectual benefits4  ,senates 
and sovereigns have no compliment1 with 
their medals1 swords1 and armorial      
coats1 like the addressing to a human   
being thoughts out of a certain height1 
and presupposing his intelligence4 ,this
 honor1 which is possible in personal   
intercourse scarcely twice in a         
lifetime1 genius perpetually pays2      
contented1 if now and then1 in a        
century1 the proffer is accepted4 ,the  
indicators of the values of matter are  
degraded to a sort of cooks and         
confectioners1 on the appearance of the 
indicators of ideas4 ,genius is the     

naturalist or geographer of the         
supersensible regions1 and draws on     
their map2 and1 by acquainting us with  
new fields of activity1 cools our       
affection for the old4 ,these are at    
once accepted as the reality1 of which  
the world we have conversed with is the 
show4  ,we go to the gymnasium and the  
swimming-school to see the power and    
beauty of the body2 there is the like   
pleasure1 and a higher benefit1 from    
witnessing intellectual feats of all    
kinds2 as1 feats of memory1 of          
mathematical combination1 great power of
 abstraction1 the transmutings of the   
imagination1 even versatility1 and      
concentration1 as these acts expose the 
invisible organs and members of the     
mind1 which respond1 member for member1 
to the parts of the body4 ,for1 we thus 
enter a new gymnasium1 and learn to     
choose men by their truest marks1       
taught1 with ,plato1 to choose those who
 can1 without aid from the eyes1 or any 
other sense1 proceed to truth and to    

being4 ,foremost among these activities1
 are the summersaults1 spells1 and      
resurrections1 wrought by the           
imagination4 ,when this wakes1 a man    
seems to multiply ten times or a        
thousand times his force4 ,it opens the 
delicious sense of indeterminate size1  
and inspires an audacious mental habit4 
,we are as elastic as the gas of        
gunpowder1 and a sentence in a book1 or 
a word dropped in conversation1 sets    
free our fancy1 and instantly our heads 
are bathed with galaxies1 and our feet  
tread the floor of the ,pit4 ,and this  
benefit is real1 because we are entitled
 to these enlargements1 and1 once having
 passed the bounds1 shall never again be
 quite the miserable pedants we were4   
,the high functions of the intellect are
 so allied1 that some imaginative power 
usually appears in all eminent minds1   
even in arithmeticians of the first     
class1 but especially in meditative men 
of an intuitive habit of thought4 ,this 
class serve us1 so that they have the   

perception of identity and the          
perception of reaction4 ,the eyes of    
,plato1 ,shakespeare1 ,swedenborg1      
,goethe1 never shut on either of these  
laws4 ,the perception of these laws is a
 kind of metre of the mind4 ,little     
minds are little1 through failure to see
 them4  ,even these feasts have their   
surfeit4 ,our delight in reason         
degenerates into idolatry of the herald4
 ,especially when a mind of powerful    
method has instructed men1 we find the  
examples of oppression4 ,the dominion of
 ,aristotle1 the ,ptolemaic astronomy1  
the credit of ,luther1 of ,bacon1 of    
,locke1--in religion the history of     
hierarchies1 of saints1 and the sects   
which have taken the name of each       
founder1 are in point4 ,alas6 every man 
is such a victim4 ,the imbecility of men
 is always inviting the impudence of    
power4 ,it is the delight of vulgar     
talent to dazzle and to bind the        
beholder4 ,but true genius seeks to     
defend us from itself4 ,true genius will

 not impoverish1 but will liberate1 and 
add new senses4 ,if a wise man should   
appear in our village1 he would create1 
in those who conversed with him1 a new  
consciousness of wealth1 by opening     
their eyes to unobserved advantages2 he 
would establish a sense of immovable    
equality1 calm us with assurances that  
we could not be cheated2 as every one   
would discern the checks and guaranties 
of condition4 ,the rich would see their 
mistakes and poverty1 the poor their    
escapes and their resources4  ,but      
nature brings all this about in due     
time4 ,rotation is her remedy4 ,the soul
 is impatient of masters1 and eager for 
change4 ,housekeepers say of a domestic 
who has been valuable1 ,she has lived   
with me long enough4 ,we are tendencies1
 or rather1 symptoms1 and none of us    
complete4 ,we touch and go1 and sip the 
foam of many lives4 ,rotation is the law
 of nature4 ,when nature removes a great
 man1 people explore the horizon for a  
successor2 but none comes and none will4

 ,his class is extinguished with him4   
,in some other and quite different      
field1 the next man will appear2 not    
,jefferson1 nor ,franklin1 but now a    
great salesman2 then a road-contractor2 
then a student of fishes2 then a        
buffalo-hunting explorer1 or a          
semi-savage western general4 ,thus we   
make a stand against our rougher        
masters2 but against the best there is a
 finer remedy4 ,the power which they    
communicate is not theirs4 ,when we are 
exalted by ideas1 we do not owe this to 
,plato1 but to the idea1 to which1 also1
 ,plato was debtor4  ,i must not forget 
that we have a special debt to a single 
class4 ,life is a scale of degrees4     
,between rank and rank of our great men 
are wide intervals4 ,mankind have1 in   
all ages1 attached themselves to a few  
persons1 who1 either by the quality of  
that idea they embodied1 or by the      
largeness of their reception1 were      
entitled to the position of leaders and 
law-givers4 ,these teach us the         

qualities of primary nature1--admit us  
to the constitution of things4 ,we swim1
 day by day1 on a river of delusions1   
and are effectually amused with houses  
and towns in the air1 of which the men  
about us are dupes4 ,but life is a      
sincerity4 ,in lucid intervals we say1  
,let there be an entrance opened for me 
into realities2 ,i have worn the fool's 
cap too long4 ,we will know the meaning 
of our economies and politics4 ,give us 
the cipher1 and1 if persons and things  
are scores of a celestial music1 let us 
read off the strains4 ,we have been     
cheated of our reason2 yet there have   
been sane men1 who enjoyed a rich and   
related existence4 ,what they know1 they
 know for us4 ,with each new mind1 a new
 secret of nature transpires2 nor can   
the ,bible be closed1 until the last    
great man is born4 ,these men correct   
the delirium of the animal spirits1 make
 us considerate1 and engage us to new   
aims and powers4 ,the veneration of     
mankind selects these for the highest   

place4 ,witness the multitude of        
statues1 pictures1 and memorials which  
recall their genius in every city1      
village1 house1 and ship3--    ,ever    
their phantoms arise before us4   ,our  
loftier brothers1 but one in blood2     
,at bed and table they lord it o'er us1 
,with looks of beauty1 and words of     
good4  ,how to illustrate the           
distinctive benefit of ideas1 the       
service rendered by those who introduce 
moral truths into the general mind8--,i 
am plagued1 in all my living1 with a    
perpetual tariff of prices4 ,if ,i work 
in my garden1 and prune an apple-tree1  
,i am well enough entertained1 and could
 continue indefinitely in the like      
occupation4 ,but it comes to mind that a
 day is gone1 and ,i have got this      
precious nothing done4 ,i go to ,boston 
or ,new ,york1 and run up and down on my
 affairs3 they are sped1 but so is the  
day4 ,i am vexed by the recollection of 
this price ,i have paid for a trifling  
advantage4 ,i remember the peau d'ane1  

on which whoso sat should have his      
desire1 but a piece of the skin was gone
 for every wish4 ,i go to a convention  
of philanthropists4 ,do what ,i can1 ,i 
cannot keep my eyes off the clock4 ,but 
if there should appear in the company   
some gentle soul who knows little of    
persons or parties1 of ,carolina or     
,cuba1 but who announces a law that     
disposes these particulars1 and so      
certifies me of the equity which        
checkmates every false player1 bankrupts
 every self-seeker1 and apprises me of  
my independence on any conditions of    
country1 or time1 or human body1 that   
man liberates me2 ,i forget the clock4  
,i pass out of the sore relation to     
persons4 ,i am healed of my hurts4 ,i am
 made immortal by apprehending my       
possession of incorruptible goods4 ,here
 is great competition of rich and poor4 
,we live in a market1 where is only so  
much wheat1 or wool1 or land2 and if ,i 
have so much more1 every other must have
 so much less4 ,i seem to have no good1 

without breach of good manners4 ,nobody 
is glad in the gladness of another1 and 
our system is one of war1 of an         
injurious superiority4 ,every child of  
the ,saxon race is educated to wish to  
be first4 ,it is our system2 and a man  
comes to measure his greatness by the   
regrets1 envies1 and hatreds of his     
competitors4 ,but in these new fields   
there is room3 here are no self-esteems1
 no exclusions4  ,i admire great men of 
all classes1 those who stand for facts1 
and for thoughts2 ,i like rough and     
smooth ,scourges of ,god1 and ,darlings 
of the human race4 ,i like the first    
,caesar2 and ,charles ,v41 of ,spain2   
and ,charles ,,xii41 of ,sweden2        
,richard ,plantagenet2 and ,bonaparte1  
in ,france4 ,i applaud a sufficient man1
 an officer1 equal to his office2       
captains1 ministers1 senators4 ,i like a
 master standing firm on legs of iron1  
well-born1 rich1 handsome1 eloquent1    
loaded with advantages1 drawing all men 
by fascination into tributaries and     

supporters of his power4 ,sword and     
staff1 or talents sword-like or         
staff-like1 carry on the work of the    
world4 ,but ,i find him greater1 when he
 can abolish himself1 and all heroes1 by
 letting in this element of reason1     
irrespective of persons2 this           
subtilizer1 and irresistible upward     
force1 into our thought1 destroying     
individualism2 the power so great1 that 
the potentate is nothing4 ,then he is a 
monarch1 who gives a constitution to his
 people2 a pontiff1 who preaches the    
equality of souls1 and releases his     
servants from their barbarous homages2  
an emperor1 who can spare his empire4   
,but ,i intended to specify1 with a     
little minuteness1 two or three points  
of service4 ,nature never spares the    
opium or nepenthe2 but wherever she mars
 her creature with some deformity or    
defect1 lays her poppies plentifully on 
the bruise1 and the sufferer goes       
joyfully through life1 ignorant of the  
ruin1 and incapable of seeing it1 though

 all the world point their finger at it 
every day4 ,the worthless and offensive 
members of society1 whose existence is a
 social pest1 invariably think          
themselves the most ill-used people     
alive1 and never get over their         
astonishment at the ingratitude and     
selfishness of their contemporaries4    
,our globe discovers its hidden virtues1
 not only in heroes and archangels1 but 
in gossips and nurses4 ,is it not a rare
 contrivance that lodged the due inertia
 in every creature1 the conserving1     
resisting energy1 the anger at being    
waked or changed8 ,altogether           
independent of the intellectual force in
 each1 is the pride of opinion1 the     
security that we are right4 ,not the    
feeblest grandame1 not a mowing idiot1  
but uses what spark of perception and   
faculty is left1 to chuckle and triumph 
in his or her opinion over the          
absurdities of all the rest4 ,difference
 from me is the measure of absurdity4   
,not one has a misgiving of being wrong4

 ,was it not a bright thought that made 
things cohere with this bitumen1 fastest
 of cements8 ,but1 in the midst of this 
chuckle of self-gratulation1 some figure
 goes by1 which ,thersites too can love 
and admire4 ,this is he that should     
marshal us the way we were going4 ,there
 is no end to his aid4 ,without ,plato1 
we should almost lose our faith in the  
possibility of a reasonable book4 ,we   
seem to want but one1 but we want one4  
,we love to associate with heroic       
persons1 since our receptivity is       
unlimited2 and1 with the great1 our     
thoughts and manners easily become      
great4 ,we are all wise in capacity1    
though so few in energy4 ,there needs   
but one wise man in a company1 and all  
are wise1 so rapid is the contagion4    
,great men are thus a collyrium to clear
 our eyes from egotism1 and enable us to
 see other people and their works4 ,but 
there are vices and follies incident to 
whole populations and ages4 ,men        
resemble their contemporaries1 even more

 than their progenitors4 ,it is observed
 in old couples1 or in persons who have 
been housemates for a course of years1  
that they grow alike2 and1 if they      
should live long enough1 we should not  
be able to know them apart4 ,nature     
abhors these complaisances1 which       
threaten to melt the world into a lump1 
and hastens to break up such maudlin    
agglutinations4 ,the like assimilation  
goes on between men of one town1 of one 
sect1 of one political party2 and the   
ideas of the time are in the air1 and   
infect all who breathe it4 ,viewed from 
any high point1 the city of ,new ,york1 
yonder city of ,london1 the western     
civilization1 would seem a bundle of    
insanities4 ,we keep each other in      
countenance1 and exasperate by emulation
 the frenzy of the time4 ,the shield    
against the stingings of conscience1 is 
the universal practice1 or our          
contemporaries4 ,again2 it is very easy 
to be as wise and good as your          
companions4 ,we learn of our            

contemporaries1 what they know1 without 
effort1 and almost through the pores of 
the skin4 ,we catch it by sympathy1 or1 
as a wife arrives at the intellectual   
and moral elevations of her husband4    
,but we stop where they stop4 ,very     
hardly can we take another step4 ,the   
great1 or such as hold of nature1 and   
transcend fashions1 by their fidelity to
 universal ideas1 are saviors from these
 federal errors1 and defend us from our 
contemporaries4 ,they are the exceptions
 which we want1 where all grows alike4  
,a foreign greatness is the antidote for
 cabalism4  ,thus we feed on genius1 and
 refresh ourselves from too much        
conversation with our mates1 and exult  
in the depth of nature in that direction
 in which he leads us4 ,what            
indemnification is one great man for    
populations of pigmies6 ,every mother   
wishes one son a genius1 though all the 
rest should be mediocre4 ,but a new     
danger appears in the excess of         
influence of the great man4 ,his        

attractions warp us from our place4 ,we 
have become underlings and intellectual 
suicides4 ,ah6 yonder in the horizon is 
our help3--other great men1 new         
qualities1 counterweights and checks on 
each other4 ,we cloy of the honey of    
each peculiar greatness4 ,every hero    
becomes a bore at last4 ,perhaps        
,voltaire was not bad-hearted1 yet he   
said of the good ,jesus1 even1 ,i pray  
you1 let me never hear that man's name  
again4 ,they cry up the virtues of      
,george ,washington1--,damn ,george     
,washington6 is the poor ,jacobin's     
whole speech and confutation4 ,but it is
 human nature's indispensable defense4  
,the centripetence augments the         
centrifugence4 ,we balance one man with 
his opposite1 and the health of the     
state depends on the see-saw4  ,there   
is1 however1 a speedy limit to the use  
of heroes4 ,every genius is defended    
from approach by quantities of          
availableness4 ,they are very           
attractive1 and seem at a distance our  

own3 but we are hindered on all sides   
from approach4 ,the more we are drawn1  
the more we are repelled4 ,there is     
something not solid in the good that is 
done for us4 ,the best discovery the    
discoverer makes for himself4 ,it has   
something unreal for his companion1     
until he too has substantiated it4 ,it  
seems as if the ,deity dressed each soul
 which he sends into nature in certain  
virtues and powers not communicable to  
other men1 and1 sending it to perform   
one more turn through the circle of     
beings1 wrote ,not transferable1 and    
,good for this trip only1 on these      
garments of the soul4 ,there is somewhat
 deceptive about the intercourse of     
minds4 ,the boundaries are invisible1   
but they are never crossed4 ,there is   
such good will to impart1 and such good 
will to receive1 that each threatens to 
become the other2 but the law of        
individuality collects its secret       
strength3 you are you1 and ,i am ,i1 and
 so we remain4  ,for ,nature wishes     

every thing to remain itself2 and1      
whilst every individual strives to grow 
and exclude1 and to exclude and grow1 to
 the extremities of the universe1 and to
 impose the law of its being on every   
other creature1 ,nature steadily aims to
 protect each against every other4 ,each
 is self-defended4 ,nothing is more     
marked than the power by which          
individuals are guarded from            
individuals1 in a world where every     
benefactor becomes so easily a          
malefactor1 only by continuation of his 
activity into places where it is not    
due2 where children seem so much at the 
mercy of their foolish parents1 and     
where almost all men are too social and 
interfering4 ,we rightly speak of the   
guardian angels of children4 ,how       
superior in their security from         
infusions of evil persons1 from         
vulgarity and second thought6 ,they shed
 their own abundant beauty on the       
objects they behold4 ,therefore1 they   
are not at the mercy of such poor       

educators as we adults4 ,if we huff and 
chide them1 they soon come not to mind  
it1 and get a self-reliance2 and if we  
indulge them to folly1 they learn the   
limitation elsewhere4  ,we need not fear
 excessive influence4 ,a more generous  
trust is permitted4 ,serve the great4   
,stick at no humiliation4 ,grudge no    
office thou canst render4 ,be the limb  
of their body1 the breath of their      
mouth4 ,compromise thy egotism4 ,who    
cares for that1 so thou gain aught wider
 and nobler8 ,never mind the taunt of   
,boswellism3 the devotion may easily be 
greater than the wretched pride which is
 guarding its own skirts4 ,be another3  
not thyself1 but a ,platonist2 not a    
soul1 but a ,christian2 not a           
naturalist1 but a ,cartesian2 not a     
poet1 but a ,shakspearian4 ,in vain1 the
 wheels of tendency will not stop1 nor  
will all the forces of inertia1 fear1 or
 love itself1 hold thee there4 ,on1 and 
forever onward6 ,the microscope observes
 a monad or wheel-insect among the      

infusories circulating in water4        
,presently1 a dot appears on the animal1
 which enlarges to a slit1 and it       
becomes two perfect animals4 ,the       
ever-proceeding detachment appears not  
less in all thought1 and in society4    
,children think they cannot live without
 their parents4 ,but1 long before they  
are aware of it1 the black dot has      
appeared1 and the detachment taken      
place4 ,any accident will now reveal to 
them their independence4  ,but great    
men3--the word is injurious4 ,is there  
caste8 is there fate8 ,what becomes of  
the promise to virtue8 ,the thoughtful  
youth laments the superfoetation of     
nature4 ,generous and handsome1 he says1
 is your hero2 but look at yonder poor  
,paddy1 whose country is his            
wheelbarrow2 look at his whole nation of
 ,paddies4 ,why are the masses1 from the
 dawn of history down1 food for knives  
and powder8 ,the idea dignifies a few   
leaders1 who have sentiment1 opinion1   
love1 self-devotion2 and they make war  

and death sacred2--but what for the     
wretches whom they hire and kill8 ,the  
cheapness of man is every day's tragedy4
 ,it is as real a loss that others      
should be low1 as that we should be low2
 for we must have society4  ,is it a    
reply to these suggestions1 to say1     
society is a ,pestalozzian school2 all  
are teachers and pupils in turn4 ,we are
 equally served by receiving and by     
imparting4 ,men who know the same       
things1 are not long the best company   
for each other4 ,but bring to each an   
intelligent person of another           
experience1 and it is as if you let off 
water from a lake1 by cutting a lower   
basin4 ,it seems a mechanical advantage1
 and great benefit it is to each        
speaker1 as he can now paint out his    
thought to himself4 ,we pass very fast1 
in our personal moods1 from dignity to  
dependence4 ,and if any appear never to 
assume the chair1 but always to stand   
and serve1 it is because we do not see  
the company in a sufficiently long      

period for the whole rotation of parts  
to come about4 ,as to what we call the  
masses1 and common men2--there are no   
common men4 ,all men are at last of a   
size2 and true art is only possible1 on 
the conviction that every talent has its
 apotheosis somewhere4 ,fair play1 and  
an open field1 and freshest laurels to  
all who have won them6 ,but heaven      
reserves an equal scope for every       
creature4 ,each is uneasy until he has  
produced his private ray unto the       
concave sphere1 and beheld his talent   
also in its last nobility and           
exaltation4  ,the heroes of the hour are
 relatively great3 of a faster growth2  
or they are such1 in whom1 at the moment
 of success1 a quality is ripe which is 
then in request4 ,other days will demand
 other qualities4 ,some rays escape the 
common observer1 and want a finely      
adapted eye4 ,ask the great man if there
 be none greater4 ,his companions are2  
and not the less great1 but the more1   
that society cannot see them4 ,nature   

never sends a great man into the planet1
 without confiding the secret to another
 soul4  ,one gracious fact emerges from 
these studies1--that there is true      
ascension in our love4 ,the reputations 
of the nineteenth century will one day  
be quoted to prove its barbarism4 ,the  
genius of humanity is the real subject  
whose biography is written in our       
annals4 ,we must infer much1 and supply 
many chasms in the record4 ,the history 
of the universe is symptomatic1 and life
 is mnemonical4 ,no man1 in all the     
procession of famous men1 is reason or  
illumination1 or that essence we were   
looking for2 but is an exhibition1 in   
some quarter1 of new possibilities4     
,could we one day complete the immense  
figure which these flagrant points      
compose6 ,the study of many individuals 
leads us to an elemental region wherein 
the individual is lost1 or wherein all  
touch by their summits4 ,thought and    
feeling1 that break out there1 cannot be
 impounded by any fence of personality4 

,this is the key to the power of the    
greatest men1--their spirit diffuses    
itself4 ,a new quality of mind travels  
by night and by day1 in concentric      
circles from its origin1 and publishes  
itself by unknown methods3 the union of 
all minds appears intimate3 what gets   
admission to one1 cannot be kept out of 
any other3 the smallest acquisition of  
truth or of energy1 in any quarter1 is  
so much good to the commonwealth of     
souls4 ,if the disparities of talent and
 position vanish1 when the individuals  
are seen in the duration which is       
necessary to complete the career of     
each2 even more swiftly the seeming     
injustice disappears1 when we ascend to 
the central identity of all the         
individuals1 and know that they are made
 of the same substance which ordaineth  
and doeth4  ,the genius of humanity is  
the right point of view of history4 ,the
 qualities abide2 the men who exhibit   
them have now more1 now less1 and pass  
away2 the qualities remain on another   

brow4 ,no experience is more familiar4  
,once you saw phoenixes3 they are gone2 
the world is not therefore disenchanted4
 ,the vessels on which you read sacred  
emblems turn out to be common pottery2  
but the sense of the pictures is sacred1
 and you may still read them transferred
 to the walls of the world4 ,for a time1
 our teachers serve us personally1 as   
metres or milestones of progress4 ,once 
they were angels of knowledge1 and their
 figures touched the sky4 ,then we drew 
near1 saw their means1 culture1 and     
limits2 and they yielded their places to
 other geniuses4 ,happy1 if a few names 
remain so high1 that we have not been   
able to read them nearer1 and age and   
comparison have not robbed them of a    
ray4 ,but1 at last1 we shall cease to   
look in men for completeness1 and shall 
content ourselves with their social and 
delegated quality4 ,all that respects   
the individual is temporary and         
prospective1 like the individual        
himself1 who is ascending out of his    

limits1 into a catholic existence4 ,we  
have never come at the true and best    
benefit of any genius1 so long as we    
believe him an original force4 ,in the  
moment when he ceases to help us as a   
cause1 he begins to help us move as an  
effect4 ,then he appears as an exponent 
of a vaster mind and will4 ,the opaque  
self becomes transparent with the light 
of the ,first ,cause4  ,yet1 within the 
limits of human education and agency1 we
 may say1 great men exist that there may
 be greater men4 ,the destiny of        
organized nature is amelioration1 and   
who can tell its limits8 ,it is for man 
to tame the chaos2 on every side1 whilst
 he lives1 to scatter the seeds of      
science and of song1 that climate1 corn1
 animals1 men1 may be milder1 and the   
germs of love and benefit may be        
multiplied4     ,,ii4 ,,plato2 ,,or1    
,,the ,,philosopher4   ,among books1    
,plato only is entitled to ,omar's      
fanatical compliment to the ,koran1 when
 he said1 ,burn the libraries2 for1     

their value is in this book4 ,these     
sentences contain the culture of        
nations2 these are the corner-stone of  
schools2 these are the fountain-head of 
literatures4 ,a discipline it is in     
logic1 arithmetic1 taste1 symmetry1     
poetry1 language1 rhetoric1 ontology1   
morals1 or practical wisdom4 ,there was 
never such range of speculation4 ,out of
 ,plato come all things that are still  
written and debated among men of        
thought4 ,great havoc makes he among our
 originalities4 ,we have reached the    
mountain from which all these drift     
bowlders were detached4 ,the ,bible of  
the learned for twenty- two hundred     
years1 every brisk young man1 who says  
in succession fine things to each       
reluctant generation1--,boethius1       
,rabelais1 ,erasmus1 ,bruno1 ,locke1    
,rousseau1 ,alfieri1 ,coleridge1--is    
some reader of ,plato1 translating into 
the vernacular1 wittily1 his good       
things4 ,even the men of grander        
proportion suffer some deduction from   

the misfortune 7shall ,i say87 of coming
 after this exhausting generalizer4 ,st4
 ,augustine1 ,copernicus1 ,newton1      
,behmen1 ,swedenborg1 ,goethe1 are      
likewise his debtors1 and must say after
 him4 ,for it is fair to credit the     
broadest generalizer with all the       
particulars deducible from his thesis4  
,plato is philosophy1 and philosophy1   
,plato1--at once the glory and the shame
 of mankind1 since neither ,saxon nor   
,roman have availed to add any idea to  
his categories4 ,no wife1 no children   
had he1 and the thinkers of all         
civilized nations are his posterity1 and
 are tinged with his mind4 ,how many    
great men ,nature is incessantly sending
 up out of night1 to be his             
men1--,platonists6 the ,alexandrians1 a 
constellation of genius2 the            
,elizabethans1 not less2 ,sir ,thomas   
,more1 ,henry ,more1 ,john ,hales1 ,john
 ,smith1 ,lord ,bacon1 ,jeremy ,taylor1 
,ralph ,cudworth1 ,sydenham1 ,thomas    
,taylor2 ,marcilius ,ficinus1 and ,picus

 ,mirandola4 ,calvinism is in his       
,phaedo3 ,christianity is in it4        
,mahometanism draws all its philosophy1 
in its hand-book of morals1 the         
,akhlak-y-,jalaly1 from him4 ,mysticism 
finds in ,plato all its texts4 ,this    
citizen of a town in ,greece is no      
villager nor patriot4 ,an ,englishman   
reads and says1 how ,english6 a         
,german--how ,teutonic6 an ,italian--how
 ,roman and how ,greek6 ,as they say    
that ,helen of ,argos had that universal
 beauty that everybody felt related to  
her1 so ,plato seems1 to a reader in    
,new ,england1 an ,american genius4 ,his
 broad humanity transcends all sectional
 lines4  ,this range of ,plato instructs
 us what to think of the vexed question 
concerning his reputed works1--what are 
genuine1 what spurious4 ,it is singular 
that wherever we find a man higher1 by a
 whole head1 than any of his            
contemporaries1 it is sure to come into 
doubt1 what are his real works4 ,thus1  
,homer1 ,plato1 ,raffaelle1 ,shakspeare4

 ,for these men magnetize their         
contemporaries1 so that their companions
 can do for them what they can never do 
for themselves2 and the great man does  
thus live in several bodies2 and write1 
or paint1 or act1 by many hands2 and    
after some time1 it is not easy to say  
what is the authentic work of the       
master1 and what is only of his school4 
,plato1 too1 like every great man1      
consumed his own times4 ,what is a great
 man1 but one of great affinities1 who  
takes up into himself all arts1         
sciences1 all knowables1 as his food8   
,he can spare nothing2 he can dispose of
 everything4 ,what is not good for      
virtue is good for knowledge4 ,hence his
 contemporaries tax him with plagiarism4
 ,but the inventor only knows how to    
borrow2 and society is glad to forget   
the innumerable laborers who ministered 
to this architect1 and reserves all its 
gratitude for him4 ,when we are praising
 ,plato1 it seems we are praising       
quotations from ,solon1 and ,sophron1   

and ,philolaus4 ,be it so4 ,every book  
is a quotation2 and every house is a    
quotation out of all forests1 and mines1
 and stone quarries2 and every man is a 
quotation from all his ancestors4 ,and  
this grasping inventor puts all nations 
under contribution4  ,plato absorbed the
 learning of his times1--,philolaus1    
,timaeus1 ,heraclitus1 ,parmenides1 and 
what else2 then his master1 ,socrates2  
and finding himself still capable of a  
larger synthesis1--beyond all example   
then or since1--he traveled into ,italy1
 to gain what ,pythagoras had for him2  
then into ,egypt1 and perhaps still     
further east1 to import the other       
element1 which ,europe wanted1 into the 
,european mind4 ,this breadth entitles  
him to stand as the representative of   
philosophy4 ,he says1 in the ,republic1 
,such a genius as philosophers must of  
necessity have1 is wont but seldom1 in  
all its parts1 to meet in one man2 but  
its different parts generally spring up 
in different persons4 ,every man1 who   

would do anything well1 must come to it 
from a higher ground4 ,a philosopher    
must be more than a philosopher4 ,plato 
is clothed with the powers of a poet1   
stands upon the highest place of the    
poet1 and 7though ,i doubt he wanted the
 decisive gift of lyric expression7     
mainly is not a poet1 because he chose  
to use the poetic gift to an ulterior   
purpose4  ,great geniuses have the      
shortest biographies4 ,their cousins can
 tell you nothing about them4 ,they     
lived in their writings1 and so their   
house and street life was trivial and   
commonplace4 ,if you would know their   
tastes and complexions1 the most        
admiring of their readers most resembles
 them4 ,plato1 especially1 has no       
external biography4 ,if he had lover1   
wife1 or children1 we hear nothing of   
them4 ,he ground them all into paint4   
,as a good chimney burns its smoke1 so a
 philosopher converts the value of all  
his fortunes into his intellectual      
performances4  ,he was born #dcj ,a4    

,c41 about the time of the death of     
,pericles2 was of patrician connection  
in his times and city2 and is said to   
have had an early inclination for war2  
but in his twentieth year1 meeting with 
,socrates1 was easily dissuaded from    
this pursuit1 and remained for ten years
 his scholar1 until the death of        
,socrates4 ,he then went to ,megara2    
accepted the invitations of ,dion and of
 ,dionysius1 to the court of ,sicily2   
and went thither three times1 though    
very capriciously treated4 ,he traveled 
into ,italy2 then into ,egypt1 where he 
stayed a long time2 some say            
three1--some say thirteen years4 ,it is 
said1 he went farther1 into ,babylonia3 
this is uncertain4 ,returning to        
,athens1 he gave lessons1 in the        
,academy1 to those whom his fame drew   
thither2 and died1 as we have received  
it1 in the act of writing1 at eighty-one
 years4  ,but the biography of ,plato is
 interior4 ,we are to account for the   
supreme elevation of this man1 in the   

intellectual history of our race1--how  
it happens that1 in proportion to the   
culture of men1 they become his         
scholars2 that1 as our ,jewish ,bible   
has implanted itself in the table-talk  
and household life of every man and     
woman in the ,european and ,american    
nations1 so the writings of ,plato have 
pre-occupied every school of learning1  
every lover of thought1 every church1   
every poet1--making it impossible to    
think1 on certain levels1 except through
 him4 ,he stands between the truth and  
every man's mind1 and has almost        
impressed language1 and the primary     
forms of thought1 with his name and     
seal4 ,i am struck1 in reading him1 with
 the extreme modernness of his style and
 spirit4 ,here is the germ of that      
,europe we know so well1 in its long    
history of arts and arms2 here are all  
its traits1 already discernible in the  
mind of ,plato1--and in none before him4
 ,it has spread itself since into a     
hundred histories1 but has added no new 

element4 ,this perpetual modernness is  
the measure of merit1 in every work of  
art2 since the author of it was not     
misled by anything shortlived or local1 
but abode by real and abiding traits4   
,how ,plato came thus to be ,europe1 and
 philosophy1 and almost literature1 is  
the problem for us to solve4  ,this     
could not have happened1 without a      
sound1 sincere1 and catholic man1 able  
to honor1 at the same time1 the ideal1  
or laws of the mind1 and fate1 or the   
order of nature4 ,the first period of a 
nation1 as of an individual1 is the     
period of unconscious strength4         
,children cry1 scream and stamp with    
fury1 unable to express their desires4  
,as soon as they can speak and tell     
their want1 and the reason of it1 they  
become gentle4 ,in adult life1 whilst   
the perceptions are obtuse1 men and     
women talk vehemently and superlatively1
 blunder and quarrel2 their manners are 
full of desperation2 their speech is    
full of oaths4 ,as soon as1 with        

culture1 things have cleared up a       
little1 and they see them no longer in  
lumps and masses1 but accurately        
distributed1 they desist from that weak 
vehemence1 and explain their meaning in 
detail4 ,if the tongue had not been     
framed for articulation1 man would still
 be a beast in the forest4 ,the same    
weakness and want1 on a higher plane1   
occurs daily in the education of ardent 
young men and women4 ,ah6 you don't     
understand me2 ,i have never met with   
any one who comprehends me3 and they    
sigh and weep1 write verses1 and walk   
alone1--fault of power to express their 
precise meaning4 ,in a month or two1    
through the favor of their good genius1 
they meet some one so related as to     
assist their volcanic estate2 and1 good 
communication being once established1   
they are thenceforward good citizens4   
,it is ever thus4 ,the progress is to   
accuracy1 to skill1 to truth1 from blind
 force4  ,there is a moment1 in the     
history of every nation1 when1          

proceeding out of this brute youth1 the 
perceptive powers reach their ripeness1 
and have not yet become microscopic3 so 
that man1 at that instant1 extends      
across the entire scale2 and1 with his  
feet still planted on the immense forces
 of night1 converses1 by his eyes and   
brain1 with solar and stellar creation4 
,that is the moment of adult health1 the
 culmination of power4  ,such is the    
history of ,europe1 in all points2 and  
such in philosophy4 ,its early records1 
almost perished1 are of the immigrations
 from ,asia1 bringing with them the     
dreams of barbarians2 a confusion of    
crude notions of morals1 and of natural 
philosophy1 gradually subsiding1 through
 the partial insight of single teachers4
  ,before ,pericles1 came the ,seven    
,wise ,masters2 and we have the         
beginnings of geometry1 metaphysics1 and
 ethics3 then the partialists1--deducing
 the origin of things from flux or      
water1 or from air1 or from fire1 or    
from mind4 ,all mix with these causes   

mythologic pictures4 ,at last1 comes    
,plato1 the distributor1 who needs no   
barbaric paint1 or tattoo1 or whooping2 
for he can define4 ,he leaves with ,asia
 the vast and superlative2 he is the    
arrival of accuracy and intelligence4   
,he shall be as a god to me1 who can    
rightly divide and define4  ,this       
defining is philosophy4 ,philosophy is  
the account which the human mind gives  
to itself of the constitution of the    
world4 ,two cardinal facts lie forever  
at the base3 the one1 and the two4--#a4 
,unity1 or ,identity2 and1 #b1 ,variety4
 ,we unite all things1 by perceiving the
 law which pervades them2 by perceiving 
the superficial differences1 and the    
profound resemblances4 ,but every mental
 act1--this very perception of identity 
or oneness1 recognizes the difference of
 things4 ,oneness and otherness4 ,it is 
impossible to speak1 or to think1       
without embracing both4  ,the mind is   
urged to ask for one cause of many      
effects2 then for the cause of that2 and

 again the cause1 diving still into the 
profound2 self-assured that it shall    
arrive at an absolute and sufficient    
one1--a one that shall be all4 ,in the  
midst of the sun is the light1 in the   
midst of the light is truth1 and in the 
midst of truth is the imperishable      
being1 say the ,vedas4 ,all philosophy1 
of east and west1 has the same          
centripetence4 ,urged by an opposite    
necessity1 the mind returns from the    
one1 to that which is not one1 but other
 or many2 from cause to effect2 and     
affirms the necessary existence of      
variety1 the self-existence of both1 as 
each is involved in the other4 ,these   
strictly-blended elements it is the     
problem of thought to separate1 and to  
reconcile4 ,their existence is mutually 
contradictory and exclusive2 and each so
 fast slides into the other1 that we can
 never say what is one1 and what it is  
not4 ,the ,proteus is as nimble in the  
highest as in the lowest grounds1 when  
we contemplate the one1 the true1 the   

good1--as in the surfaces and           
extremities of matter4  ,in all nations1
 there are minds which incline to dwell 
in the conception of the fundamental    
,unity4 ,the raptures of prayer and     
ecstasy of devotion lose all being in   
one ,being4 ,this tendency finds its    
highest expression in the religious     
writings of the ,east1 and chiefly1 in  
the ,indian ,scriptures1 in the ,vedas1 
the ,bhagavat ,geeta1 and the ,vishnu   
,purana4 ,those writings contain little 
else than this idea1 and they rise to   
pure and sublime strains in celebrating 
it4  ,the ,same1 the ,same6 friend and  
foe are of one stuff2 the ploughman1 the
 plough1 and the furrow1 are of one     
stuff2 and the stuff is such1 and so    
much1 that the variations of forms are  
unimportant4 ,you are fit 7says the     
supreme ,krishna to a sage7 to apprehend
 that you are not distinct from me4     
,that which ,i am1 thou art1 and that   
also is this world1 with its gods1 and  
heroes1 and mankind4 ,men contemplate   

distinctions1 because they are stupefied
 with ignorance4 ,the words ,i and mine 
constitute ignorance4 ,what is the great
 end of all1 you shall now learn from   
me4 ,it is soul1--one in all bodies1    
pervading1 uniform1 perfect1 preeminent 
over nature1 exempt from birth1 growth1 
and decay1 omnipresent1 made up of true 
knowledge1 independent1 unconnected with
 unrealities1 with name1 species1 and   
the rest1 in time past1 present1 and to 
come4 ,the knowledge that this spirit1  
which is essentially one1 is in one's   
own1 and in all other bodies1 is the    
wisdom of one who knows the unity of    
things4 ,as one diffusive air1 passing  
through the perforations of a flute1 is 
distinguished as the notes of a scale1  
so the nature of the ,great ,spirit is  
single1 though its forms be manifold1   
arising from the consequences of acts4  
,when the difference of the investing   
form1 as that of god1 or the rest1 is   
destroyed1 there is no distinction4 ,the
 whole world is but a manifestation of  

,vishnu1 who is identical with all      
things1 and is to be regarded by the    
wise1 as not differing from1 but as the 
same as themselves4 ,i neither am going 
nor coming2 nor is my dwelling in any   
one place2 nor art thou1 thou2 nor are  
others1 others2 nor am ,i1 ,i4 ,as if he
 had said1 ,all is for the soul1 and the
 soul is ,vishnu2 and animals and stars 
are transient painting2 and light is    
whitewash2 and durations are deceptive2 
and form is imprisonment2 and heaven    
itself a decoy4 ,that which the soul    
seeks is resolution into being1 above   
form1 out of ,tartarus1 and out of      
heaven1--liberation from nature4  ,if   
speculation tends thus to a terrific    
unity1 in which all things are absorbed1
 action tends directly backwards to     
diversity4 ,the first is the course of  
gravitation of mind2 the second is the  
power of nature4 ,nature is the         
manifold4 ,the unity absorbs1 and melts 
or reduces4 ,nature opens and creates4  
,these two principles reappear and      

interpenetrate all things1 all thought2 
the one1 the many4 ,one is being2 the   
other1 intellect2 one is necessity2 the 
other1 freedom2 one1 rest2 the other1   
motion2 one1 power2 the other1          
distribution2 one1 strength2 the other1 
pleasure2 one1 consciousness2 the other1
 definition2 one1 genius2 the other1    
talent1 one1 earnestness2 the other1    
knowledge2 one1 possession2 the other1  
trade2 one1 caste2 the other1 culture2  
one king2 the other1 democracy2 and1 if 
we dare carry these generalizations a   
step higher1 and name the last tendency 
of both1 we might say1 that the end of  
the one is escape from                  
organization1--pure science2 and the end
 of the other is the highest            
instrumentality1 or use of means1 or    
executive deity4  ,each student adheres1
 by temperament and by habit1 to the    
first or to the second of these gods of 
the mind4 ,by religion1 he tends to     
unity2 by intellect1 or by the senses1  
to the many4 ,a too rapid unification1  

and an excessive appliance to parts and 
particulars1 are the twin dangers of    
speculation4  ,to this partiality the   
history of nations corresponded4 ,the   
country of unity1 of immovable          
institutions1 the seat of a philosophy  
delighting in abstractions1 of men      
faithful in doctrine and in practice to 
the idea of a deaf1 unimplorable1       
immense fate1 is ,asia2 and it realizes 
this fate in the social institution of  
caste4 ,on the other side1 the genius of
 ,europe is active and creative2 it     
resists caste by culture2 its philosophy
 was a discipline2 it is a land of arts1
 inventions1 trade1 freedom4 ,if the    
,east loved infinity1 the ,west         
delighted in boundaries4  ,european     
civility is the triumph of talent1 the  
extension of system1 the sharpened      
understanding1 adaptive skill1 delight  
in forms1 delight in manifestation1 in  
comprehensible results4 ,pericles1      
,athens1 ,greece1 had been working in   
this element with the joy of genius not 

yet chilled by any foresight of the     
detriment of an excess4 ,they saw before
 them no sinister political economy2 no 
ominous ,malthus2 no ,paris or ,london2 
no pitiless subdivision of classes1--the
 doom of the pinmakers1 the doom of the 
weavers1 of dressers1 of stockingers1 of
 carders1 of spinners1 of colliers2 no  
,ireland2 no ,indian caste1 superinduced
 by the efforts of ,europe to throw it  
off4 ,the understanding was in its      
health and prime4 ,art was in its       
splendid novelty4 ,they cut the         
,pentelican marble as if it were snow1  
and their perfect works in architecture 
and sculpture seemed things of course1  
not more difficult than the completion  
of a new ship at the ,medford yards1 or 
new mills at ,lowell4 ,these things are 
in course1 and may be taken for granted4
 ,the ,roman legion1 ,byzantine         
legislation1 ,english trade1 the saloons
 of ,versailles1 the cafes of ,paris1   
the steam-mill1 steamboat1 steam-coach1 
may all be seen in perspective2 the     

town-meeting1 the ballot-box1 the       
newspaper and cheap press4  ,meantime1  
,plato1 in ,egypt1 and in ,eastern      
pilgrimages1 imbibed the idea of one    
,deity1 in which all things are         
absorbed4 ,the unity of ,asia1 and the  
detail of ,europe2 the infinitude of the
 ,asiatic soul1 and the defining1       
result-loving1 machine-making1          
surface-seeking1 opera-going            
,europe1--,plato came to join1 and by   
contact to enhance the energy of each4  
,the excellence of ,europe and ,asia are
 in his brain4 ,metaphysics and natural 
philosophy expressed the genius of      
,europe2 he substructs the religion of  
,asia1 as the base4  ,in short1 a       
balanced soul was born1 perceptive of   
the two elements4 ,it is as easy to be  
great as to be small4 ,the reason why we
 do not at once believe in admirable    
souls1 is because they are not in our   
experience4 ,in actual life1 they are so
 rare1 as to be incredible2 but1        
primarily1 there is not only no         

presumption against them1 but the       
strongest presumption in favor of their 
appearance4 ,but whether voices were    
heard in the sky1 or not2 whether his   
mother or his father dreamed that the   
infant man-child was the son of ,apollo2
 whether a swarm of bees settled on his 
lips1 or not2 a man who could see two   
sides of a thing was born4 ,the         
wonderful synthesis so familiar in      
nature2 the upper and the under side of 
the medal of ,jove2 the union of        
impossibilities1 which reappears in     
every object2 its real and its ideal    
power1--was now1 also1 transferred      
entire to the consciousness of a man4   
,the balanced soul came4 ,if he loved   
abstract truth1 he saved himself by     
propounding the most popular of all     
principles1 the absolute good1 which    
rules rulers1 and judges the judge4 ,if 
he made transcendental distinctions1 he 
fortified himself by drawing all his    
illustrations from sources disdained by 
orators1 and polite conversers2 from    

mares and puppies2 from pitchers and    
soup-ladles2 from cooks and criers2 the 
shops of potters1 horse-doctors1        
butchers1 and fishmongers4 ,he cannot   
forgive in himself a partiality1 but is 
resolved that the two poles of thought  
shall appear in his statement4 ,his     
arguments and his sentences are         
self-poised and spherical4 ,the two     
poles appear2 yes1 and become two hands1
 to grasp and appropriate their own4    
,every great artist has been such by    
synthesis4 ,our strength is             
transitional1 alternating2 or1 shall ,i 
say1 a thread of two strands4 ,the      
seashore1 sea seen from shore1 shore    
seen from sea2 the taste of two metals  
in contact2 and our enlarged powers at  
the approach and at the departure of a  
friend2 the experience of poetic        
creativeness1 which is not found in     
staying at home1 nor yet in traveling1  
but in transitions from one to the      
other1 which must therefore be adroitly 
managed to present as much transitional 

surface as possible2 this command of two
 elements must explain the power and    
charm of ,plato4 ,art expresses the one1
 or the same by the different4 ,thought 
seeks to know unity in unity2 poetry to 
show it by variety2 that is1 always by  
an object or symbol4 ,plato keeps the   
two vases1 one of aether and one of     
pigment1 at his side1 and invariably    
uses both4 ,things added to things1 as  
statistics1 civil history1 are          
inventories4 ,things used as language   
are inexhaustibly attractive4 ,plato    
turns incessantly the obverse and the   
reverse of the medal of ,jove4  ,to take
 an example3--,the physical philosophers
 have sketched each his theory of the   
world2 the theory of atoms1 of fire1 of 
flux1 of spirit2 theories mechanical and
 chemical in their genius4 ,plato1 a    
master of mathematics1 studious of all  
natural laws and causes1 feels these1 as
 second causes1 to be no theories of the
 world1 but bare inventories and lists4 
,to the study of nature he therefore    

prefixes the dogma1--,let us declare the
 cause which led the ,supreme ,ordainer 
to produce and compose the universe4 ,he
 was good2 and he who is good has no    
kind of envy4 ,exempt from envy1 he     
wished that all things should be as much
 as possible like himself4 ,whosoever1  
taught by wise men1 shall admit this as 
the prime cause of the origin and       
foundation of the world1 will be in the 
truth4 ,all things are for the sake of  
the good1 and it is the cause of        
everything beautiful4 ,this dogma       
animates and impersonates his           
philosophy4 ,the synthesis which makes  
the character of his mind appears in all
 his talents4 ,where there is great     
compass of wit1 we usually find         
excellencies that combine easily in the 
living man1 but in description appear   
incompatible4 ,the mind of ,plato is not
 to be exhibited by a ,chinese          
catalogue1 but is to be apprehended by  
an original mind in the exercise of its 
original power4 ,in him the freest      

abandonment is united with the precision
 of a geometer4 ,his daring imagination 
gives him the more solid grasp of facts2
 as the birds of highest flight have the
 strongest alar bones4 ,his patrician   
polish1 his intrinsic elegance1 edged by
 an irony so subtle that it stings and  
paralyzes1 adorn the soundest health and
 strength of frame4 ,according to the   
old sentence1 ,if ,jove should descend  
to the earth1 he would speak in the     
style of ,plato4  ,with this palatial   
air1 there is1 for the direct aim of    
several of his works1 and running       
through the tenor of them all1 a certain
 earnestness1 which mounts1 in the      
,republic1 and in the ,phaedo1 to piety4
 ,he has been charged with feigning     
sickness at the time of the death of    
,socrates4 ,but the anecdotes that have 
come down from the times attest his     
manly interference before the people in 
his master's behalf1 since even the     
savage cry of the assembly to ,plato is 
preserved2 and the indignation towards  

popular government1 in many of his      
pieces1 expresses a personal            
exasperation4 ,he has a probity1 a      
native reverence for justice and honor1 
and a humanity which makes him tender   
for the superstitions of the people4    
,add to this1 he believes that poetry1  
prophecy1 and the high insight1 arc from
 a wisdom of which man is not master2   
that the gods never philosophize2 but1  
by a celestial mania1 these miracles are
 accomplished4 ,horsed on these winged  
steeds1 he sweeps the dim regions1      
visits worlds which flesh cannot enter2 
he saw the souls in pain2 he hears the  
doom of the judge2 he beholds the penal 
metempsychosis2 the ,fates1 with the    
rock and shears2 and hears the          
intoxicating hum of their spindle4  ,but
 his circumspection never forsook him4  
,one would say1 he had read the         
inscription on the gates of             
,busyrane1--,be bold2 and on the second 
gate1--,be bold1 be bold and evermore be
 bold2 and then again he paused well at 

the third gate1--,be not too bold4 ,his 
strength is like the momentum of a      
falling planet2 and his discretion1 the 
return of its due and perfect curve1--so
 excellent is his ,greek love of        
boundary1 and his skill in definition4  
,in reading logarithms1 one is not more 
secure1 than in following ,plato in his 
flights4 ,nothing can be colder than his
 head1 when the lightnings of his       
imagination are playing in the sky4 ,he 
has finished his thinking1 before he    
brings it to the reader2 and he abounds 
in the surprises of a literary master4  
,he has that opulence which furnishes1  
at every turn1 the precise weapon he    
needs4 ,as the rich man wears no more   
garments1 drives no more horses1 sits in
 no more chambers1 than the poor1--but  
has that one dress1 or equipage1 or     
instrument1 which is fit for the hour   
and the need2 so ,plato1 in his plenty1 
is never restricted1 but has the fit    
word4 ,there is1 indeed1 no weapon in   
all the armory of wit which he did not  

possess and use1--epic1 analysis1 mania1
 intuition1 music1 satire1 and irony1   
down to the customary and polite4 ,his  
illustrations are poetry and his jests  
illustrations4 ,socrates' profession of 
obstetric art is good philosophy2 and   
his finding that word cookery1 and      
adulatory art1 for rhetoric1 in the     
,gorgias1 does us a substantial service 
still4 ,no orator can measure in effect 
with him who can give good nicknames4   
,what moderation1 and understatement1   
and checking his thunder in mid volley6 
,he has good-naturedly furnished the    
courtier and citizen with all that can  
be said against the schools4 ,for       
philosophy is an elegant thing1 if any  
one modestly meddles with it2 but1 if he
 is conversant with it more than is     
becoming1 it corrupts the man4 ,he could
 well afford to be generous1--he1 who   
from the sunlike centrality and reach of
 his vision1 had a faith without cloud4 
,such as his perception1 was his speech3
 he plays with the doubt1 and makes the 

most of it3 he paints and quibbles2 and 
by and by comes a sentence that moves   
the sea and land4 ,the admirable earnest
 comes not only at intervals1 in the    
perfect yes and no of the dialogue1 but 
in bursts of light4 ,i1 therefore1      
,callicles1 am persuaded by these       
accounts1 and consider how ,i may       
exhibit my soul before the judge in a   
healthy condition4 ,wherefore1          
disregarding the honors that most men   
value1 and looking to the truth1 ,i     
shall endeavor in reality to live as    
virtuously as ,i can and1 when ,i die1  
to die so4 ,and ,i invite all other men1
 to the utmost of my power2 and you1    
too1 ,i in turn invite to this contest1 
which1 ,i affirm1 surpasses all contests
 here4  ,he is a great average man one  
who1 to the best thinking1 adds a       
proportion and equality in his          
faculties1 so that men see in him their 
own dreams and glimpses made available1 
and made to pass for what they are4 ,a  
great common sense is his warrant and   

qualification to be the world's         
interpreter4 ,he has reason1 as all the 
philosophic and poetic class have3 but  
he has1 also1 what they have not1--this 
strong solving sense to reconcile his   
poetry with the appearances of the      
world1 and build a bridge from the      
streets of cities to the ,atlantis4 ,he 
omits never this graduation1 but slopes 
his thought1 however picturesque the    
precipice on one side1 to an access from
 the plain4 ,he never writes in ecstasy1
 or catches us up into poetic rapture4  
,plato apprehended the cardinal facts4  
,he could prostrate himself on the      
earth1 and cover his eyes1 whilst he    
adorned that which cannot be numbered1  
or gauged1 or known1 or named3 that of  
which everything can be affirmed and    
denied3 that which is entity and        
nonentity4 ,he called it                
super-essential4 ,he even stood ready1  
as in the ,parmenides1 to demonstrate   
that it was so1--that this ,being       
exceeded the limits of intellect4 ,no   

man ever more fully acknowledged the    
,ineffable4 ,having paid his homage1 as 
for the human race1 to the ,illimitable1
 he then stood erect1 and for the human 
race affirmed1 ,and yet things are      
knowable6--that is1 the ,asia in his    
mind was first heartily honored1--the   
ocean of love and power1 before form1   
before will1 before knowledge1 the      
,same1 the ,good1 the ,one2 and now1    
refreshed and empowered by this worship1
 the instinct of ,europe1 namely1       
culture1 returns2 and he cries1 ,yet    
things are knowable6 ,they are knowable1
 because1 being from one1 things        
correspond4 ,there is a scale3 and the  
correspondence of heaven to earth1 of   
matter to mind1 of the part to the      
whole1 is our guide4 ,as there is a     
science of stars1 called astronomy2 a   
science of quantities called            
mathematics2 a science of qualities1    
called chemistry2 so there is a science 
of sciences1--,i call it                
,dialectic1--which is the intellect     

discriminating the false and the true4  
,it rests on the observation of identity
 and diversity2 for1 to judge1 is to    
unite to an object the notion which     
belongs to it4 ,the sciences1 even the  
best1--mathematics1 and astronomy1 are  
like sportsmen1 who seize whatever prey 
offers1 even without being able to make 
any use of them4 ,dialectic must teach  
the use of them4 ,this is of that rank  
that no intellectual man will enter on  
any study for its own sake1 but only    
with a view to advance himself in that  
one sole science which embraces all4    
,the essence or peculiarity of man is to
 comprehend the whole2 or that which in 
the diversity of sensations1 can be     
comprised under a rational unity4 ,the  
soul which has never perceived the      
truth1 cannot pass into the human form4 
,i announce to men the intellect4 ,i    
announce the good of being              
interpenetrated by the mind that made   
nature3 this benefit1 namely1 that it   
can understand nature1 which it made and

 maketh4 ,nature is good1 but intellect 
is better3 as the law-giver is before   
the law-receiver4 ,i give you joy1 ,o   
sons of men3 that truth is altogether   
wholesome2 that we have hope to search  
out what might be the very self of      
everything4 ,the misery of man is to be 
balked of the sight of essence1 and to  
be stuffed with conjecture3 but the     
supreme good is reality2 the supreme    
beauty is reality2 and all virtue and   
all felicity depend on this science of  
the real3 for courage is nothing else   
than knowledge3 the fairest fortune that
 can befall man1 is to be guided by his 
daemon to that which is truly his own4  
,this also is the essence of            
justice1--to attend every one his own2  
nay1 the notion of virtue is not to be  
arrived at1 except through direct       
contemplation of the divine essence4    
,courage1 then1 for the persuasion that 
we must search that which we do not     
know1 will render us1 beyond comparison1
 better1 braver1 and more industrious1  

than if we thought it impossible to     
discover what we do not know1 and       
useless to search for it4 ,he secures a 
position not to be commanded1 by his    
passion for reality2 valuing philosophy 
only as it is the pleasure of conversing
 with real being4  ,thus1 full of the   
genius of ,europe1 he said1 ,culture4   
,he saw the institutions of ,sparta1 and
 recognized more genially1 one would    
say1 than any since1 the hope of        
education4 ,he delighted in every       
accomplishment1 in every graceful and   
useful and truthful performance2 above  
all1 in the splendors of genius and     
intellectual achievement4 ,the whole of 
life1 ,o ,socrates1 said ,glauco1 is1   
with the wise the measure of hearing    
such discourses as these4 ,what a price 
he sets on the feats of talent1 on the  
powers of ,pericles1 of ,isocrates1 of  
,parmenides6 ,what price1 above price on
 the talents themselves6 ,he called the 
several faculties1 gods1 in his         
beautiful personation4 ,what value he   

gives to the art of gymnastics in       
education2 what to geometry2 what to    
music1 what to astronomy1 whose         
appeasing and medicinal power he        
celebrates6 ,in the ,timseus1 he        
indicates the highest employment of the 
eyes4 ,by us it is asserted1 that ,god  
invented and bestowed sight on us for   
this purpose1--that1 on surveying the   
circles of intelligence in the heavens1 
we might properly employ those of our   
own minds1 which1 though disturbed when 
compared with the others that are       
uniform1 are still allied to their      
circulations2 and that1 having thus     
learned1 and being naturally possessed  
of a correct reasoning faculty1 we      
might1 by imitating the uniform         
revolutions of divinity1 set right our  
own wanderings and blunders4 ,and in the
 ,republic1--,by each of these          
disciplines1 a certain organ of the soul
 is both purified and reanimated1 which 
is blinded and buried by studies of     
another kind2 an organ better worth     

saving than ten thousand eyes1 since    
truth is perceived by this alone4  ,he  
said1 ,culture2 but he first admitted   
its basis1 and gave immeasurably the    
first place to advantages of nature4    
,his patrician tastes laid stress on the
 distinctions of birth4 ,in the doctrine
 of the organic character and           
disposition is the origin of caste4     
,such as were fit to govern1 into their 
composition the informing ,deity mingled
 gold3 into the military1 silver2 iron  
and brass for husbandmen and artificers4
 ,the ,east confirms itself1 in all     
ages1 in this faith4 ,the ,koran is     
explicit on this point of caste4 ,men   
have their metal1 as of gold and silver4
 ,those of you who were the worthy ones 
in the state of ignorance1 will be the  
worthy ones in the state of faith1 as   
soon as you embrace it4 ,plato was not  
less firm4 ,of the five orders of       
things1 only four can be taught in the  
generality of men4 ,in the ,republic1 he
 insists on the temperaments of the     

youth1 as the first of the first4  ,a   
happier example of the stress laid on   
nature1 is in the dialogue with the     
young ,theages1 who wishes to receive   
lessons from ,socrates4 ,socrates       
declares that1 if some have grown wise  
by associating with him1 no thanks are  
due to him2 but1 simply1 whilst they    
were with him1 they grew wise1 not      
because of him2 he pretends not to know 
the way of it4 ,it is adverse to many1  
nor can those be benefited by           
associating with me1 whom the ,daemons  
oppose1 so that it is not possible for  
me to live with these4 ,with many1      
however1 he does not prevent me from    
conversing1 who yet are not at all      
benefited by associating with me4 ,such1
 ,o ,theages1 is the association with   
me2 for1 if it pleases the ,god1 you    
will make great and rapid proficiency3  
you will not1 if he does not please4    
,judge whether it is not safer to be    
instructed by some one of those who have
 power over the benefit which they      

impart to men1 than by me1 who benefit  
or not1 just as it may happen4 ,as if he
 had said1 ,i have no system4 ,i cannot 
be answerable for you4 ,you will be what
 you must4 ,if there is love between us1
 inconceivably delicious and profitable 
will our intercourse be2 if not1 your   
time is lost1 and you will only annoy   
me4 ,i shall seem to you stupid1 and the
 reputation ,i have1 false4 ,quite above
 us1 beyond the will of you or me1 is   
this secret affinity or repulsion laid4 
,all my good is magnetic1 and ,i        
educate1 not by lessons1 but by going   
about my business4  ,he said1 ,culture2 
he said1 ,nature2 and he failed not to  
add1 ,there is also the divine4 ,there  
is no thought in any mind1 but it       
quickly tends to convert itself into a  
power1 and organizes a huge             
instrumentality of means4 ,plato1 lover 
of limits1 loved the illimitable1 saw   
the enlargement and nobility which come 
from truth itself1 and good itself1 and 
attempted1 as if on the part of the     

human intellect1 once for all1 to do it 
adequate homage1--homage fit for the    
immense soul to receive1 and yet homage 
becoming the intellect to render4 ,he   
said1 then1 ,our faculties run out into 
infinity1 and return to us thence4 ,we  
can define but a little way2 but here is
 a fact which will not be skipped1 and  
which to shut our eyes upon is suicide4 
,all things are in a scale2 and1 begin  
where we will1 ascend and ascend4 ,all  
things are symbolical2 and what we call 
results are beginnings4  ,a key to the  
method and completeness of ,plato is his
 twice bisected line4 ,after he has     
illustrated the relation between the    
absolute good and true1 and the forms of
 the intelligible world1 he says3--,let 
there be a line cut in two1 unequal     
parts4 ,cut again each of these two     
parts1--one representing the visible1   
the other the intelligible world1--and  
these two new sections1 representing the
 bright part and the dark part of these 
worlds1 you will have1 for one of the   

sections of the visible world1--images1 
that is1 both shadows and reflections2  
for the other section1 the objects of   
these images1-that is1 plants1 animals1 
and the works of art and nature4 ,then  
divide the intelligible world in like   
manner2 the one section will be of      
opinions and hypotheses1 and the other  
section1 of truths4 ,to these four      
sections1 the four operations of the    
soul correspond1--conjecture1 faith1    
understanding1 reason4 ,as every pool   
reflects the image of the sun1 so every 
thought and thing restores us an image  
and creature of the supreme ,good4 ,the 
universe is perforated by a million     
channels for his activity4 ,all things  
mount and mount4  ,all his thought has  
this ascension2 in ,phaedrus1 teaching  
that beauty is the most lovely of all   
things1 exciting hilarity1 and shedding 
desire and confidence through the       
universe1 wherever it enters2 and it    
enters1 in some degree1 into all things2
 but that there is another1 which is as 

much more beautiful than beauty1 as     
beauty is than chaos2 namely1 wisdom1   
which our wonderful organ of sight      
cannot reach unto1 but which1 could it  
be seen1 would ravish us with its       
perfect reality4 ,he has the same regard
 to it as the source of excellence in   
works of art4 ,when an artificer1 in the
 fabrication of any work1 looks to that 
which always subsists according to the  
same2 and1 employing a model of this    
kind1 expresses its idea and power in   
his work2 it must follow1 that his      
production should be beautiful4 ,but    
when he beholds that which is born and  
dies1 it will be far from beautiful4    
,thus ever3 the ,banquet is a teaching  
in the same spirit1 familiar now to all 
the poetry1 and to all the sermons of   
the world1 that the love of the sexes is
 initial2 and symbolizes1 at a distance1
 the passion of the soul for that       
immense lake of beauty it exists to     
seek4 ,this faith in the ,divinity is   
never out of mind1 and constitutes the  

limitation of all his dogmas4 ,body     
cannot teach wisdom2--,god only4 ,in the
 same mind1 he constantly affirms that  
virtue cannot be taught2 that it is not 
a science1 but an inspiration2 that the 
greatest goods are produced to us       
through mania1 and are assigned to us by
 a divine gift4  ,this leads me to that 
central figure1 which he has established
 in his ,academy1 as the organ through  
which every considered opinion shall be 
announced1 and whose biography he has   
likewise so labored1 that the historic  
facts are lost in the light of ,plato's 
mind4 ,socrates and ,plato are the      
double star1 which the most powerful    
instruments will not entirely separate4 
,socrates1 again1 in his traits and     
genius1 is the best example of that     
synthesis which constitutes ,plato's    
extraordinary power4 ,socrates1 a man of
 humble stem1 but honest enough2 of the 
commonest history2 of a personal        
homeliness so remarkable1 as to be a    
cause of wit in others1--the rather that

 his broad good nature and exquisite    
taste for a joke invited the sally1     
which was sure to be paid4 ,the players 
personated him on the stage2 the potters
 copied his ugly face on their stone    
jugs4 ,he was a cool fellow1 adding to  
his humor a perfect temper1 and a       
knowledge of his man1 be he who he might
 whom he talked with1 which laid the    
companion open to certain defeat in any 
debate1--and in debate he immoderately  
delighted4 ,the young men are           
prodigiously fond of him1 and invite him
 to their feasts1 whither he goes for   
conversation4 ,he can drink1 too2 has   
the strongest head in ,athens2 and1     
after leaving the whole party under the 
table1 goes away1 as if nothing had     
happened1 to begin new dialogues with   
somebody that is sober4 ,in short1 he   
was what our country-people call an old 
one4  ,he affected a good many          
citizen-like tastes1 was monstrously    
fond of ,athens1 hated trees1 never     
willingly went beyond the walls1 knew   

the old characters1 valued the bores and
 philistines1 thought everything in     
,athens a little better than anything in
 any other place4 ,he was plain as a    
,quaker in habit and speech1 affected   
low phrases1 and illustrations from     
cocks and quails1 soup-pans and         
sycamore-spoons1 grooms and farriers1   
and unnameable offices1--especially if  
he talked with any superfine person4 ,he
 had a ,franklin-like wisdom4 ,thus1 he 
showed one who was afraid to go on foot 
to ,olympia1 that it was no more than   
his daily walk within doors1 if         
continuously extended1 would easily     
reach4  ,plain old uncle as he was1 with
 his great ears1--an immense            
talker1--the rumor ran1 that1 on one or 
two occasions1 in the war with ,boeotia1
 he had shown a determination which had 
covered the retreat of a troop2 and     
there was some story that1 under cover  
of folly1 he had1 in the city           
government1 when one day he chanced to  
hold a seat there1 evinced a courage in 

opposing singly the popular voice1 which
 had well-nigh ruined him4 ,he is very  
poor2 but then he is hardy as a soldier1
 and can live on a few olives2 usually1 
in the strictest sense1 on bread and    
water1 except when entertained by his   
friends4 ,his necessary expenses were   
exceedingly small1 and no one could live
 as he did4 ,he wore no undergarment2   
his upper garment was the same for      
summer and winter2 and he went          
barefooted2 and it is said that1 to     
procure the pleasure1 which he loves1 of
 talking at his ease all day with the   
most elegant and cultivated young men1  
he will now and then return to his shop1
 and carve statues1 good or bad1 for    
sale4 ,however that be1 it is certain   
that he had grown to delight in nothing 
else than this conversation2 and that1  
under his hypocritical pretense of      
knowing nothing1 he attacks and brings  
down all the fine speakers1 all the fine
 philosophers of ,athens1 whether       
natives1 or strangers from ,asia ,minor 

and the islands4 ,nobody can refuse to  
talk with him1 he is so honest1 and     
really curious to know2 a man who was   
willingly confuted1 if he did not speak 
the truth1 and who willingly confuted   
others1 asserting what was false2 and   
not less pleased when confuted than when
 confuting2 for he thought not any evil 
happened to men1 of such a magnitude as 
false opinion respecting the just and   
unjust4 ,a pitiless disputant1 who knows
 nothing1 but the bounds of whose       
conquering intelligence no man had ever 
reached2 whose temper was imperturbable2
 whose dreadful logic was always        
leisurely and sportive2 so careless and 
ignorant as to disarm the weariest1 and 
draw them1 in the pleasantest manner1   
into horrible doubts and confusion4 ,but
 he always knew the way out2 knew it1   
yet would not tell it4 ,no escape2 he   
drives them to terrible choices by his  
dilemmas1 and tosses the ,hippiases and 
,gorgiases1 with their grand            
reputations1 as a boy tosses his balls4 

,the tyrannous realist6-,meno has       
discoursed a thousand times1 at length1 
on virtue1 before many companies1 and   
very well1 as it appeared to him2 but1  
at this moment1 he cannot even tell what
 it is1--this cramp-fish of a ,socrates 
has so bewitched him4  ,this hard-headed
 humorist1 whose strange conceits1      
drollery1 and bon-hommie1 diverted the  
young patricians1 whilst the rumor of   
his sayings and quibbles gets abroad    
every day1 turns out1 in a sequel1 to   
have a probity as invincible as his     
logic and to be either insane1 or1 at   
least1 under cover of this play1        
enthusiastic in his religion4 ,when     
accused before the judges of subverting 
the popular creed1 he affirms the       
immortality of the soul1 the future     
reward and punishment2 and1 refusing to 
recant1 in a caprice of the popular     
government1 was condemned to die1 and   
sent to the prison4 ,socrates entered   
the prison1 and took away all ignominy  
from the place1 which could not be a    

prison1 whilst he was there4 ,crito     
bribed the jailor2 but ,socrates would  
not go out by treachery4 ,whatever      
inconvenience ensue1 nothing is to be   
preferred before justice4 ,these things 
,i hear like pipes and drums1 whose     
sound makes me deaf to everything you   
say4 ,the fame of this prison1 the fame 
of the discourses there1 and the        
drinking of the hemlock1 are one of the 
most precious passages in the history of
 the world4  ,the rare coincidence1 in  
one ugly body1 of the droll and the     
martyr1 the keen street and market      
debater with the sweetest saint known to
 any history at that time1 had forcibly 
struck the mind of ,plato1 so capacious 
of these contrasts2 and the figure of   
,socrates1 by a necessity1 placed itself
 in the foreground of the scene1 as the 
fittest dispenser of the intellectual   
treasurers he had to communicate4 ,it   
was a rare fortune1 that this ,aesod of 
the mob1 and this robed scholar1 should 
meet1 to make each other immortal in    

their mutual faculty4 ,the strange      
synthesis1 in the character of          
,socrates1 capped the synthesis in the  
mind of ,plato4 ,moreover1 by this      
means1 he was able1 in the direct way1  
and without envy1 to avail himself of   
the wit and weight of ,socrates1 to     
which unquestionably his own debt was   
great2 and these derived again their    
principal advantage from the perfect art
 of ,plato4  ,it remains to say1 that   
the defect of ,plato in power is only   
that which results inevitably from his  
quality4 ,he is intellectual in his aim2
 and1 therefore1 in expression1         
literary4 ,mounting into heaven1 driving
 into the pit1 expounding the laws of   
the state1 the passion of love1 the     
remorse of crime1 the hope of the       
parting soul1--he is literary1 and never
 otherwise4 ,it is almost the sole      
deduction from the merit of ,plato1 that
 his writings have not1--what is1 no    
doubt1 incident to this regnancy of     
intellect in his work1--the vital       

authority which the screams of prophets 
and the sermons of unlettered ,arabs and
 ,jews possess4 ,there is an interval2  
and to cohesion1 contact is necessary4  
,i know not what can be said in reply to
 this criticism1 but that we have come  
to a fact in the nature of things3 an   
oak is not an orange4 ,the qualities of 
sugar remain with sugar1 and those of   
salt1 with salt4  ,in the second place1 
he has not a system4 ,the dearest       
defenders and disciples are at fault4   
,he attempted a theory of the universe1 
and his theory is not complete or       
self-evident4 ,one man thinks he means  
this1 and another1 that3 he has said one
 thing in one place1 and the reverse of 
it in another place4 ,he is charged with
 having failed to make the transition   
from ideas to matter4 ,here is the      
world1 sound as a nut1 perfect1 not the 
smallest piece of chaos left1 never a   
stitch nor an end1 not a mark of haste1 
or botching1 or second thought2 but the 
theory of the world is a thing of shreds

 and patches4  ,the longest wave is     
quickly lost in the sea4 ,plato would   
willingly have a ,platonism1 a known and
 accurate expression for the world1 and 
it should be accurate4 ,it shall be the 
world passed through the mind of        
,plato1--nothing less4 ,every atom shall
 have the ,platonic tinge2 every atom1  
every relation or quality you knew      
before1 you shall know again and find   
here1 but now ordered2 not nature1 but  
art4 ,and you shall feel that ,alexander
 indeed overran1 with men and horses1   
some countries of the planet2 but       
countries1 and things of which countries
 are made1 elements1 planet itself1 laws
 of planet and of men1 have passed      
through this man as bread into his body1
 and become no longer bread1 but body3  
so all this mammoth morsel has become   
,plato4 ,he has clapped copyright on the
 world4 ,this is the ambition of        
individualism4 ,but the mouthful proves 
too large4 ,boa constrictor has good    
will to eat it1 but he is foiled4 ,he   

falls abroad in the attempt2 and biting1
 gets strangled3 the bitten world holds 
the biter fast by his own teeth4 ,there 
he perishes3 unconquered nature lives   
on1 and forgets him4 ,so it fares with  
all3 so must it fare with ,plato4 ,in   
view of eternal nature1 ,plato turns out
 to be philosophical exercitations4 ,he 
argues on this side1 and on that4 ,the  
acutest ,german1 the lovingest disciple1
 could never tell what ,platonism was2  
indeed1 admirable texts can be quoted on
 both sides of every great question from
 him4  ,these things we are forced to   
say1 if we must consider the effort of  
,plato1 or of any philosopher1 to       
dispose of ,nature1--which will not be  
disposed of4 ,no power of genius has    
ever yet had the smallest success in    
explaining existence4 ,the perfect      
enigma remains4 ,but there is an        
injustice in assuming this ambition for 
,plato4 ,let us not seem to treat with  
flippancy his venerable name4 ,men1 in  
proportion to their intellect1 have     

admitted his transcendent claims4 ,the  
way to know him1 is to compare him1 not 
with nature1 but with other men4 ,how   
many ages have gone by1 and he remains  
unapproached6 ,a chief structure of     
human wit1 like ,karnac1 or the         
mediaeval cathedrals1 or the ,etrurian  
remains1 it requires all the breadth of 
human faculty to know it4 ,i think it is
 truliest seen1 when seen with the most 
respect4 ,his sense deepens1 his merits 
multiply1 with study4 ,when we say1 here
 is a fine collection of fables2 or1    
when we praise the style2 or the common 
sense2 or arithmetic2 we speak as boys1 
and much of our impatient criticism of  
the dialectic1 ,i suspect1 is no better4
 ,the criticism is like our impatience  
of miles when we are in a hurry2 but it 
is still best that a mile should have   
seventeen hundred and sixty yards4 ,the 
great-eyed ,plato proportioned the      
lights and shades after the genius of   
our life4    ,,plato3 ,,new ,,readings  
,the publication1 in ,mr4 ,bohn's       

,serial ,library1 of the excellent      
translations of ,plato1 which we esteem 
one of the chief benefits the cheap     
press has yielded1 gives us an occasion 
to take hastily a few more notes of the 
elevation and bearings of this fixed    
star2 or1 to add a bulletin1 like the   
journals1 of ,plato at the latest dates4
  ,modern science1 by the extent of its 
generalization1 has learned to indemnify
 the student of man for the defects of  
individuals1 by tracing growth and      
ascent in races2 and1 by the simple     
expedient of lighting up the vast       
background1 generates a feeling of      
complacency and hope4 ,the human being  
has the saurian and the plant in his    
rear4 ,his arts and sciences1 the easy  
issue of his brain1 look glorious when  
prospectively beheld from the distant   
brain of ox1 crocodile1 and fish4 ,it   
seems as if nature1 in regarding the    
geologic night behind her1 when1 in five
 or six millenniums1 she had turned out 
five or six men1 as ,homer1 ,phidias1   

,menu1 and ,columbus1 was nowise        
discontented with the result4 ,these    
samples attested the virtue of the tree4
 ,these were a clear amelioration of    
trilobite and saurus1 and a good basis  
for further proceeding4 ,with this      
artist time and space are cheap1 and she
 is insensible of what you say of       
tedious preparation4 ,she waited        
tranquilly the flowing periods of       
paleontology1 for the hour to be struck 
when man should arrive4 ,then periods   
must pass before the motion of the earth
 can be suspected2 then before the map  
of the instincts and the cultivable     
powers can be drawn4 ,but as of races1  
so the succession of individual men is  
fatal and beautiful1 and ,plato has the 
fortune1 in the history of mankind1 to  
mark an epoch4  ,plato's fame does not  
stand on a syllogism1 or on any         
masterpieces of the ,socratic1 or on any
 thesis1 as1 for example1 the           
immortality of the soul4 ,he is more    
than an expert1 or a school-man1 or a   

geometer1 or the prophet of a peculiar  
message4 ,he represents the privilege of
 the intellect1 the power1 namely1 of   
carrying up every fact to successive    
platforms1 and so disclosing1 in every  
fact1 a germ of expansion4 ,these       
expansions are in the essence of        
thought4 ,the naturalist would never    
help us to them by any discoveries of   
the extent of the universe1 but is as   
poor1 when cataloguing the resolved     
nebula of ,orion1 as when measuring the 
angles of an acre4 ,but the ,republic of
 ,plato1 by these expansions1 may be    
said to require1 and so to anticipate1  
the astronomy of ,laplace4 ,the         
expansions are organic4 ,the mind does  
not create what it perceives1 any more  
than the eye creates the rose4 ,in      
ascribing to ,plato the merit of        
announcing them1 we only say1 here was a
 more complete man1 who could apply to  
nature the whole scale of the senses1   
the understanding1 and the reason4      
,these expansions1 or extensions1       

consist in continuing the spiritual     
sight where the horizon falls on our    
natural vision1 and1 by this second     
sight1 discovering the long lines of law
 which shoot in every direction4        
,everywhere he stands on a path which   
has no end1 but runs continuously round 
the universe4 ,therefore1 every word    
becomes an exponent of nature4 ,whatever
 he looks upon discloses a second sense1
 and ulterior senses4 ,his perception of
 the generation of contraries1 of death 
out of life1 and life out of            
death1--that law by which1 in nature1   
decomposition is recomposition1 and     
putrefaction and cholera are only       
signals of a new creation2 his          
discernment of the little in the large1 
and the large in the small2 studying the
 state in the citizen1 and the citizen  
in the state2 and leaving it doubtful   
whether he exhibited the ,republic as an
 allegory on the education of the       
private soul2 his beautiful definitions 
of ideas1 of time1 of form1 of figure1  

of the line1 sometimes hypothetically   
given1 as his defining of virtue1       
courage1 justice1 temperance2 his love  
of the apologue1 and his apologues      
themselves2 the cave of ,trophonius2 the
 ring of ,gyges2 the charioteer and two 
horses2 the golden1 silver1 brass1 and  
iron temperaments2 ,theuth and ,thamus2 
and the visions of ,hades and the       
,fates--fables which have imprinted     
themselves in the human memory like the 
signs of the zodiac2 his soliform eye   
and his boniform soul2 his doctrine of  
assimilation2 his doctrine of           
reminiscence2 his clear vision of the   
laws of return1 or reaction1 which      
secure instant justice throughout the   
universe1 instanced everywhere1 but     
specially in the doctrine1 what comes   
from ,god to us1 returns from us to     
,god1 and in ,socrates' belief that the 
laws below are sisters of the laws      
above4  ,more striking examples are his 
moral conclusions4 ,plato affirms the   
coincidence of science and virtue2 for  

vice can never know itself and virtue2  
but virtue knows both itself and vice4  
,the eye attested that justice was best1
 as long as it was profitable2 ,plato   
affirms that it is profitable           
throughout2 that the profit is          
intrinsic1 though the just conceal his  
justice from gods and men2 that it is   
better to suffer injustice1 than to do  
it2 that the sinner ought to covet      
punishment2 that the lie was more       
hurtful than homicide2 and that         
ignorance1 or the involuntary lie1 was  
more calamitous than involuntary        
homicide2 that the soul is unwillingly  
deprived of true opinions2 and that no  
man sins willingly2 that the order of   
proceeding of nature was from the mind  
to the body2 and1 though a sound body   
cannot restore an unsound mind1 yet a   
good soul can1 by its virtue1 render the
 body the best possible4 ,the           
intelligent have a right over the       
ignorant1 namely1 the right of          
instructing them4 ,the right punishment 

of one out of tune1 is to make him play 
in tune2 the fine which the good1       
refusing to govern1 ought to pay1 is1 to
 be governed by a worse man2 that his   
guards shall not handle gold and silver1
 but shall be instructed that there is  
gold and silver in their souls1 which   
will make men willing to give them      
everything which they need4 ,this second
 sight explains the stress laid on      
geometry4 ,he saw that the globe of     
earth was not more lawful and precise   
than was the supersensible2 that a      
celestial geometry was in place there1  
as a logic of lines and angles here     
below2 that the world was throughout    
mathematical2 the proportions are       
constant of oxygen1 azote1 and lime2    
there is just so much water1 and slate1 
and magnesia2 not less are the          
proportions constant of moral elements4 
,this eldest ,goethe1 hating varnish and
 falsehood1 delighted in revealing the  
real at the base of the accidental2 in  
discovering connection1 continuity1 and 

representation1 everywhere2 hating      
insulation2 and appears like the god of 
wealth among the cabins of vagabonds1   
opening power and capability in         
everything he touches4 ,ethical science 
was new and vacant1 when ,plato could   
write thus3--,of all whose arguments are
 left to the men of the present time1 no
 one has ever yet condemned injustice1  
or praised justice1 otherwise than as   
respects the repute1 honors1 and        
emoluments arising therefrom2 while1 as 
respects either of them in itself1 and  
subsisting by its own power in the soul 
of the possessor1 and concealed both    
from gods and men1 no one has yet       
sufficiently investigated1 either in    
poetry or prose writings1--how1 namely1 
that the one is the greatest of all the 
evils that the soul has within it1 and  
justice the greatest good4  ,his        
definition of ideas1 as what is simple1 
permanent1 uniform1 and self-existent1  
forever discriminating them from the    
notions of the understanding1 marks an  

era in the world4 ,he was born to behold
 the self-evolving power of spirit1     
endless generator of new ends2 a power  
which is the key at once to the         
centrality and the evanescence of       
things4 ,plato is so centered1 that he  
can well spare all his dogmas4 ,thus the
 fact of knowledge and ideas reveals to 
him the fact of eternity2 and the       
doctrine of reminiscence he offers as   
the most probable particular            
explication4 ,call that fanciful1--it   
matters not2 the connection between our 
knowledge and the abyss of being is     
still real1 and the explication must be 
not less magnificent4  ,he has indicated
 every eminent point in speculation4 ,he
 wrote on the scale of the mind itself1 
so that all things have symmetry in his 
tablet4 ,he put in all the past1 without
 weariness1 and descended into detail   
with a courage like that he witnessed in
 nature4 ,one would say1 that his       
forerunners had mapped out each a farm1 
or a district1 or an island1 in         

intellectual geography1 but that ,plato 
first drew the sphere4 ,he domesticates 
the soul in nature2 man is the          
microcosm4 ,all the circles of the      
visible heaven represent as many circles
 in the rational soul4 ,there is no     
lawless particle1 and there is nothing  
casual in the action of the human mind4 
,the names of things1 too1 are fatal1   
following the nature of things4 ,all the
 gods of the ,pantheon are1 by their    
names1 significant of a profound sense4 
,the gods are the ideas4 ,pan is speech1
 or manifestation2 ,saturn1 the         
contemplative2 ,jove1 the regal soul2   
and ,mars1 passion4 ,venus is           
proportion2 ,calliope1 the soul of the  
world2 ,aglaia1 intellectual            
illustration4  ,these thoughts1 in      
sparkles of light1 had appeared often to
 pious and to poetic souls2 but this    
well-bred1 all-knowing ,greek geometer  
comes with command1 gathers them all up 
into rank and gradation1 the ,euclid of 
holiness1 and marries the two parts of  

nature4 ,before all men1 he saw the     
intellectual values of the moral        
sentiment4 ,he describes his own ideal1 
when he paints in ,timaeus a god leading
 things from disorder into order4 ,he   
kindled a fire so truly in the center1  
that we see the sphere illuminated1 and 
can distinguish poles1 equator1 and     
lines of latitude1 every arc and node2 a
 theory so averaged1 so modulated1 that 
you would say1 the winds of ages had    
swept through this rhythmic structure1  
and not that it was the brief extempore 
blotting of one short-lived scribe4     
,hence it has happened that a very      
well-marked class of souls1 namely those
 who delight in giving a spiritual1 that
 is1 an ethico-intellectual expression  
to every truth by exhibiting an ulterior
 end which is yet legitimate to it1 are 
said to ,platonize4 ,thus1 ,michel      
,angelo is a ,platonist1 in his sonnets4
 ,shakspeare is a ,platonist1 when he   
writes1 ,nature is made better by no    
mean1 but nature makes that mean1 or1   

,he that can endure    ,to follow with  
allegiance a fallen lord1    ,does      
conquer him that did his master conquer1
    ,and earns a place in the story4    
,hamlet is a pure ,platonist1 and 'tis  
the magnitude only of ,shakspeare's     
proper genius that hinders him from     
being classed as the most eminent of    
this school4 ,swedenborg1 throughout his
 prose poem of ,conjugal ,love1 is a    
,platonist4  ,his subtlety commended him
 to men of thought4 ,the secret of his  
popular success is the moral aim1 which 
endeared him to mankind4 ,intellect1 he 
said1 is king of heaven and of earth2   
but1 in ,plato1 intellect is always     
moral4 ,his writings have also the      
sempiternal youth of poetry4 ,for their 
arguments1 most of them1 might have been
 couched in sonnets2 and poetry has     
never soared higher than in the ,timaeus
 and the ,phaedrus4 ,as the poet1 too1  
he is only contemplative4 ,he did not1  
like ,pythagoras1 break himself with an 
institution4 ,all his painting in the   

,republic must be esteemed mythical1    
with intent to bring out1 sometimes in  
violent colors1 his thought4 ,you cannot
 institute1 without peril of charlatan4 
,it was a high scheme1 his absolute     
privilege for the best 7which1 to make  
emphatic1 he expressed by community of  
women71 as the premium which he would   
set on grandeur4 ,there shall be exempts
 of two kinds3 first1 those who by      
demerit have put themselves below       
protection1--outlaws2 and secondly1     
those who by eminence of nature and     
desert are out of the reach of your     
rewards2 let such be free of the city1  
and above the law4 ,we confide them to  
themselves2 let them do with us as they 
will4 ,let none presume to measure the  
irregularities of ,michel ,angelo and   
,socrates by village scales4  ,in his   
eighth book of the ,republic1 he throws 
a little mathematical dust in our eyes4 
,i am sorry to see him1 after such noble
 superiorities1 permitting the lie to   
governors4 ,plato plays ,providence a   

little with the baser sort1 as people   
allow themselves with their dogs and    
cats4     ,,iii4 ,,swedenborg2 ,,or1    
,,the ,,mystic4  ,among eminent persons1
 those who are most dear to men are not 
the class which the economists call     
producers2 they have nothing in their   
hands2 they have not cultivated corn1   
nor made bread2 they have not led out a 
colony1 nor invented a loom4 ,a higher  
class1 in the estimation and love of    
this city-building1 market-going race of
 mankind1 are the poets1 who1 from the  
intellectual kingdom1 feed the thought  
and imagination with ideas and pictures 
which raise men out of the world of corn
 and money1 and console them for the    
shortcomings of the day1 and the        
meannesses of labor and traffic4 ,then1 
also1 the philosopher has his value1 who
 flatters the intellect of this laborer1
 by engaging him with subtleties which  
instruct him in new faculties4 ,others  
may build cities2 he is to understand   
them1 and keep them in awe4 ,but there  

is a class who lead us into another     
region1--the world of morals1 or of     
will4 ,what is singular about this      
region of thought1 is1 its claim4       
,wherever the sentiment of right comes  
in1 it takes precedence of everything   
else4 ,for other things1 ,i make poetry 
of them2 but the moral sentiment makes  
poetry of me4  ,i have sometimes thought
 that he would render the greatest      
service to modern criticism1 who shall  
draw the line of relation that subsists 
between ,shakespeare and ,swedenborg4   
,the human mind stands ever in          
perplexity1 demanding intellect1        
demanding sanctity1 impatient equally of
 each without the other4 ,the reconciler
 has not yet appeared4 ,if we tire of   
the saints1 ,shakespeare is our city of 
refuge4 ,yet the instincts presently    
teach1 that the problem of essence must 
take precedence of all others1--the     
questions of ,whence8 ,what8 and        
,whither8 and the solution of these must
 be in a life1 and not in a book4 ,a    

drama or poem is a proximate or oblique 
reply2 but ,moses1 ,menu1 ,jesus1 work  
directly on this problem4 ,the          
atmosphere of moral sentiment is a      
region of grandeur which reduces all    
material magnificence to toys1 yet opens
 to every wretch that has reason1 the   
doors of the universe4 ,almost with a   
fierce haste it lays its empire on the  
man4 ,in the language of the ,koran1    
,god said1 the heaven and the earth1 and
 all that is between them1 think ye that
 we created them in jest1 and that ye   
shall not return to us8 ,it is the      
kingdom of the will1 and by inspiring   
the will1 which is the seat of          
personality1 seems to convert the       
universe into a person3--    ,the realms
 of being to no other bow1   ,not only  
all are thine1 but all are ,thou4  ,all 
men are commanded by the saint4 ,the    
,koran makes a distinct class of those  
who are by nature good1 and whose       
goodness has an influence on others1 and
 pronounces this class to be the aim of 

creation3 the other classes are admitted
 to the feast of being1 only as         
following in the train of this4 ,and the
 ,persian poet exclaims to a soul of    
this kind3    ,go boldly forth1 and     
feast on being's banquet2   ,thou art   
the called1--the rest admitted with     
thee4  ,the privilege of this caste is  
an access to the secrets and structure  
of nature1 by some higher method than by
 experience4 ,in common parlance1 what  
one man is said to learn by experience1 
a man of extraordinary sagacity is said1
 without experience1 to divine4 ,the    
,arabians say1 that ,abul ,khain1 the   
mystic1 and ,abu ,ali ,seena1 the       
,philosopher1 conferred together2 and1  
on parting1 the philosopher said1 ,all  
that he sees1 ,i know2 and the mystic   
said1 ,all that he knows1 ,i see4 ,if   
one should ask the reason of this       
intuition1 the solution would lead us   
into that property which ,plato denoted 
as ,reminiscence1 and which is implied  
by the ,bramins in the tenet of         

,transmigration4 ,the soul having been  
often born1 or1 as the ,hindoos say1    
traveling the path of existence through 
thousands of births1 having beheld the  
things which are here1 those which are  
in heaven1 and those which are beneath1 
there is nothing of which she has not   
gained the knowledge3 no wonder that she
 is able to recollect1 in regard to any 
one thing1 what formerly she knew4 ,for1
 all things in nature being linked and  
related1 and the soul having heretofore 
known all1 nothing hinders but that any 
man who has recalled to mind1 or1       
according to the common phrase1 has     
learned one thing only1 should of       
himself recover all his ancient         
knowledge1 and find out again all the   
rest1 if he have but courage1 and faint 
not in the midst of his researches4 ,for
 inquiry and learning is reminiscence   
all4 ,how much more1 if he that inquires
 be a holy and godlike soul6 ,for1 by   
being assimilated to the original soul1 
by whom1 and after whom1 all things     

subsist1 the soul of man does then      
easily flow into all things1 and all    
things flow into it3 they mix3 and he is
 present and sympathetic with their     
structure and law4  ,this path is       
difficult1 secret1 and beset with       
terror4 ,the ancients called it ecstasy 
or absence1--a getting out of their     
bodies to think4 ,all religious history 
contains traces of the trance of        
saints1--a beatitude1 but without any   
sign of joy1 earnest1 solitary1 even    
sad2 the flight1 ,plotinus called it1 of
 the alone to the alone4 ,the trances of
 ,socrates1 ,plotinus1 ,porphyry1       
,behmen1 ,bunyan1 ,fox1 ,pascal1 ,guion1
 ,swedenborg1 will readily come to mind4
 ,but what as readily comes to mind1 is 
the accompaniment of disease4 ,this     
beatitude comes in terror1 and with     
shocks to the mind of the receiver4 ,it 
o'erinforms the tenement of clay1 and   
drives the man mad2 or1 gives a certain 
violent bias1 which taints his judgment4
 ,in the chief examples of religious    

illumination1 somewhat morbid1 has      
mingled1 in spite of the unquestionable 
increase of mental power4 ,must the     
highest good drag after it a quality    
which neutralizes and discredits it8--  
,indeed it takes   ,from our            
achievements1 when performed at height1 
,the pith and marrow of our attribute4  
,shall we say1 that the economical      
mother disburses so much earth and so   
much fire1 by weight and metre1 to make 
a man1 and will not add a pennyweight1  
though a nation is perishing for a      
leader8 ,therefore1 the men of ,god     
purchased their science by folly or     
pain4 ,if you will have pure carbon1    
carbuncle1 or diamond1 to make the brain
 transparent1 the trunk and organs shall
 be so much the grosser3 instead of     
porcelain1 they are potter's earth1     
clay1 or mud4  ,in modern times1 no such
 remarkable example of this introverted 
mind has occurred1 as in ,emanuel       
,swedenborg1 born in ,stockholm1 in     
#afhh4 ,this man1 who appeared to his   

contemporaries a visionary1 and elixir  
of moonbeams1 no doubt led the most real
 life of any man then in the world3 and 
now1 when the royal and ducal           
,frederics1 ,cristierns1 and            
,brunswicks1 of that day1 have slid into
 oblivion1 he begins to spread himself  
into the minds of thousands4 ,as happens
 in great men1 he seemed1 by the variety
 and amount of his powers1 to be a      
composition of several persons1--like   
the giant fruits which are matured in   
gardens by the union of four or five    
single blossoms4 ,his frame is on a     
larger scale1 and possesses the         
advantage of size4 ,as it is easier to  
see the reflection of the great sphere  
in large globes1 though defaced by some 
crack or blemish1 than in drops of      
water1 so men of large calibre1 though  
with some eccentricity or madness1 like 
,pascal or ,newton1 help us more than   
balanced mediocre minds4  ,his youth and
 training could not fail to be          
extraordinary4 ,such a boy could not    

whistle or dance1 but goes grubbing into
 mines and mountains1 prying into       
chemistry and optics1 physiology1       
mathematics1 and astronomy1 to find     
images fit for the measure of his       
versatile and capacious brain4 ,he was a
 scholar from a child1 and was educated 
at ,upsala4 ,at the age of twenty-eight1
 he was made ,assessor of the ,board of 
,mines1 by ,charles ,,xii4 ,in #agaf1 he
 left home for four years1 and visited  
the universities of ,england1 ,holland1 
,france1 and ,germany4 ,he performed a  
notable feat of engineering in #agah1 at
 the siege of ,fredericshall1 by hauling
 two galleys1 five boats1 and a sloop1  
some fourteen ,english miles overland1  
for the royal service4 ,in #agba he     
journeyed over ,europe1 to examine mines
 and smelting works4 ,he published1 in  
#agaf1 his ,daedalus ,hyperboreus1 and1 
from this time1 for the next thirty     
years1 was employed in the composition  
and publication of his scientific works4
 ,with the like force1 he threw himself 

into theology4 ,in #agdc1 when he was   
fifty-four years old1 what is called his
 illumination began4 ,all his           
metallurgy1 and transportation of ships 
overland1 was absorbed into this        
ecstasy4 ,he ceased to publish any more 
scientific books1 withdrew from his     
practical labors1 and devoted himself to
 the writing and publication of his     
voluminous theological works1 which were
 printed at his own expense1 or at that 
of the ,duke of ,brunswick1 or other    
prince1 at ,dresden1 ,liepsic1 ,london1 
or ,amsterdam4 ,later1 he resigned his  
office of ,assessor3 the salary attached
 to this office continued to be paid to 
him during his life4 ,his duties had    
brought him into intimate acquaintance  
with ,king ,charles ,,xii41 by whom he  
was much consulted and honored4 ,the    
like favor was continued to him by his  
successor4 ,at the ,diet of #agea1      
,count ,hopken says1 the most solid     
memorials on finance were from his pen4 
,in ,sweden1 he appears to have         

attracted a marked regard4 ,his rare    
science and practical skill1 and the    
added fame of second sight and          
extraordinary religious knowledge and   
gifts1 drew to him queens1 nobles1      
clergy1 shipmasters1 and people about   
the ports through which he was wont to  
pass in his many voyages4 ,the clergy   
interfered a little with the importation
 and publication of his religious works2
 but he seems to have kept the          
friendship of men in power4 ,he was     
never married4 ,he had great modesty and
 gentleness of bearing4 ,his habits were
 simple2 he lived on bread1 milk1 and   
vegetables2 and he lived in a house     
situated in a large garden2 he went     
several times to ,england1 where he does
 not seem to have attracted any         
attention whatever from the learned or  
the eminent2 and died at ,london1 ,march
 #bi1 #aggb1 of apoplexy1 in his        
eighty-fifth year4 ,he is described1    
when in ,london1 as a man of quiet1     
clerical habit1 not averse to tea and   

coffee1 and kind to children4 ,he wore a
 sword when in full velvet dress1 and1  
whenever he walked out1 carried a       
gold-headed cane4 ,there is a common    
portrait of him in antique coat and wig1
 but the face has a wandering or vacant 
air4  ,the genius which was to penetrate
 the science of the age with a far more 
subtle science2 to pass the bounds of   
space and time2 venture into the dim    
spirit-realm1 and attempt to establish a
 new religion in the world1--began its  
lessons in quarries and forges1 in the  
smelting-pot and crucible1 in ship-yards
 and dissecting-rooms4 ,no one man is   
perhaps able to judge of the merits of  
his works on so many subjects4 ,one is  
glad to learn that his books on mines   
and metals are held in the highest      
esteem by those who understand these    
matters4 ,it seems that he anticipated  
much science of the nineteenth century2 
anticipated1 in astronomy1 the discovery
 of the seventh planet1--but1 unhappily1
 not also of the eighth2 anticipated the

 views of modern astronomy in regard to 
the generation of earth by the sun2 in  
magnetism1 some important experiments   
and conclusions of later students2 in   
chemistry1 the atomic theory2 in        
anatomy1 the discoveries of             
,schlichting1 ,monro1 and ,wilson2 and  
first demonstrated the office of the    
lungs4 ,his excellent ,english editor   
magnanimously lays no stress on his     
discoveries1 since he was too great to  
care to be original2 and we are to      
judge1 by what he can spare1 of what    
remains4  ,a colossal soul1 he lies vast
 abroad on his times1 uncomprehended by 
them1 and requires a long local distance
 to be seen2 suggest1 as ,aristotle1    
,bacon1 ,selden1 ,humboldt1 that a      
certain vastness of learning1 or quasi  
omnipresence of the human soul in       
nature1 is possible4 ,his superb        
speculations1 as from a tower1 over     
nature and arts1 without ever losing    
sight of the texture and sequence of    
things1 almost realizes his own picture1

 in the ,principia1 of the original     
integrity of man4 ,over and above the   
merit of his particular discoveries1 is 
the capital merit of his self-equality4 
,a drop of water has the properties of  
the sea1 but cannot exhibit a storm4    
,there is beauty of a concert1 as well  
as of a flute2 strength of a host1 as   
well as of a hero2 and1 in ,swedenborg1 
those who are best acquainted with      
modern books1 will most admire the merit
 of mass4 ,one of the missouriums and   
mastodons of literature1 he is not to be
 measured by whole colleges of ordinary 
scholars4 ,his stalwart presence would  
flutter the gowns of an university4 ,our
 books are false by being fragmentary2  
their sentences are bon mots1 and not   
parts of natural discourse2 childish    
expressions of surprise or pleasure in  
nature2 or1 worse1 owing a brief        
notoriety to their petulance1 or        
aversion from the order of              
nature1--being some curiosity or oddity1
 designedly not in harmony with nature1 

and purposely framed to excite a        
surprise1 as jugglers do by concealing  
their means4 ,but ,swedenborg is        
systematic1 and respective of the world 
in every sentence2 all the means are    
orderly given2 his faculties work with  
astronomic punctuality1 and this        
admirable writing is pure from all      
pertness or egotism4  ,swedenborg was   
born into an atmosphere of great ideas4 
',tis hard to say what was his own3 yet 
his life was dignified by noblest       
pictures of the universe4 ,the robust   
,aristotelian method1 with its breadth  
and adequateness1 shaming our sterile   
and linear logic by its genial          
radiation1 conversant with series and   
degree1 with effects and ends1 skilful  
to discriminate power from form1 essence
 from accident1 and opening by its      
terminology and definition1 high roads  
into nature1 had trained a race of      
athletic philosophers4 ,harvey had shown
 the circulation of the blood2 ,gilbert 
had shown that the earth was a magnet2  

,descartes1 taught by ,gilbert's magnet1
 with its vortex1 spiral1 and polarity1 
had filled ,europe with the leading     
thought of vortical motion1 as the      
secret of nature4 ,newton1 in the year  
in which ,swedenborg was born1 published
 the ,principia1 and established the    
universal gravity4 ,malpighi1 following 
the high doctrines of ,hippocrates1     
,leucippus1 and ,lucretius1 had given   
emphasis to the dogma that nature works 
in leasts1--tota in minimis existit     
natura4 ,unrivalled dissectors1         
,swammerdam1 ,leeuwenhoek1 ,winslow1    
,eustachius1 ,heister1 ,vesalius1       
,boerhaave1 had left nothing for scalpel
 or microscope to reveal in human or    
comparative anatomy2 ,linnaeus1 his     
contemporary1 was affirming1 in his     
beautiful science1 that ,nature is      
always like herself2 and1 lastly1 the   
nobility of method1 the largest         
application of principles1 had been     
exhibited by ,leibnitz and ,christian   
,wolff1 in cosmology2 whilst ,locke and 

,grotius had drawn the moral argument4  
,what was left for a genius of the      
largest calibre1 but to go over their   
ground1 and verify and unite8 ,it is    
easy to see1 in these minds1 the        
original of ,swedenborg's studies1 and  
the suggestion of his problems4 ,he had 
a capacity to entertain and vivify these
 volumes of thought4 ,yet the proximity 
of these geniuses1 one or other of whom 
had introduced all his leading ideas1   
makes ,swedenborg another example of the
 difficulty1 even in a highly fertile   
genius1 of proving originality1 the     
first birth and annunciation of one of  
the laws of nature4  ,he named his      
favorite views1 the doctrine of ,forms1 
the doctrine of ,series and ,degrees1   
the doctrine of ,influx1 the doctrine of
 ,correspondence4 ,his statement of     
these doctrines deserves to be studied  
in his books4 ,not every man can read   
them1 but they will reward him who can4 
,his theologic works are valuable to    
illustrate these4 ,his writings would be

 a sufficient library to a lonely and   
athletic student2 and the ,economy of   
the ,animal ,kingdom is one of those    
books which1 by the sustained dignity of
 thinking1 is an honor to the human     
race4 ,he had studied spars and metals  
to some purpose4 ,his varied and solid  
knowledge makes his style lustrous with 
points and shooting spicula of thought1 
and resembling one of those winter      
mornings when the air sparkles with     
crystals4 ,the grandeur of the topics   
makes the grandeur of the style4 ,he was
 apt for cosmology1 because of that     
native perception of identity which made
 mere size of no account to him4 ,in the
 atom of magnetic iron1 he saw the      
quality which would generate the spiral 
motion of sun and planet4  ,the thoughts
 in which he lived were1 the            
universality of each law in nature2 the 
,platonic doctrine of the scale or      
degrees2 the version or conversion of   
each into other1 and so the             
correspondence of all the parts2 the    

fine secret that little explains large1 
and large1 little2 the centrality of man
 in nature1 and the connection that     
subsists throughout all things3 he saw  
that the human body was strictly        
universal1 or an instrument through     
which the soul feeds and is fed by the  
whole of matter3 so that he held1 in    
exact antagonism to the skeptics1 that1 
the wiser a man is1 the more will he be 
a worshipper of the ,deity4 ,in short1  
he was a believer in the                
,identity-philosophy1 which he held not 
idly1 as the dreamers of ,berlin or     
,boston1 but which he experimented with 
and established through years of labor1 
with the heart and strength of the      
rudest ,viking that his rough ,sweden   
ever sent to battle4  ,this theory dates
 from the oldest philosophers1 and      
derives perhaps its best illustration   
from the newest4 ,it is this3 that      
nature iterates her means perpetually on
 successive planes4 ,in the old         
aphorism1 nature is always self-similar4

 ,in the plant1 the eye or germinative  
point opens to a leaf1 then to another  
leaf1 with a power of transforming the  
leaf into radicle1 stamen1 pistil1      
petal1 bract1 sepal1 or seed4 ,the whole
 art of the plant is still to repeat    
leaf on leaf without end1 the more or   
less of heat1 light1 moisture1 and food1
 determining the form it shall assume4  
,in the animal1 nature makes a vertebra1
 or a spine of vertebrae1 and helps     
herself still by a new spine1 with a    
limited power of modifying its          
form1--spine on spine1 to the end of the
 world4 ,a poetic anatomist1 in our own 
day1 teaches that a snake1 being a      
horizontal line1 and man1 being an erect
 line1 constitute a right angle2 and1   
between the lines of this mystical      
quadrant1 all animate beings find their 
place2 and he assumes the hair-worm1 the
 span-worm1 or the snake1 as the type of
 prediction of the spine4 ,manifestly1  
at the end of the spine1 nature puts out
 smaller spines1 as arms2 at the end of 

the arms1 new spines1 as hands2 at the  
other end1 she repeats the process1 as  
legs and feet4 ,at the top of the       
column1 she puts out another spine1     
which doubles or loops itself over1 as a
 span-worm1 into a ball1 and forms the  
skull1 with extremities again2 the hands
 being now the upper jaw1 the feet the  
lower jaw1 the fingers and toes being   
represented this time by upper and lower
 teeth4 ,this new spine is destined to  
high uses4 ,it is a new man on the      
shoulders of the last4 ,it can almost   
shed its trunk1 and manage to live      
alone1 according to the ,platonic idea  
in the ,timaeus4 ,within it1 on a higher
 plane1 all that was done in the trunk  
repeats itself4 ,nature recites her     
lesson once more in a higher mood4 ,the 
mind is a finer body1 and resumes its   
functions of feeding1 digesting1        
absorbing1 excluding1 and generating1 in
 a new and ethereal element4 ,here1 in  
the brain1 is all the process of        
alimentation repeated1 in the acquiring1

 comparing1 digesting1 and assimilating 
of experience4 ,here again is the       
mystery of generation repeated4 ,in the 
brain are male and female faculties2    
here is marriage1 here is fruit4 ,and   
there is no limit to this ascending     
scale1 but series on series4            
,everything1 at the end of one use1 is  
taken up into the next1 each series     
punctually repeating every organ and    
process of the last4 ,we are adapted to 
infinity4 ,we are hard to please1 and   
love nothing which ends2 and in nature  
is no end2 but everything1 at the end of
 one use1 is lifted into a superior1 and
 the ascent of these things climbs into 
daemonic and celestial natures4         
,creative force1 like a musical         
composer1 goes on unweariedly repeating 
a simple air or theme now high1 now low1
 in solo1 in chorus1 ten thousand times 
reverberated1 till it fills earth and   
heaven with the chant4  ,gravitation1 as
 explained by ,newton1 is good1 but     
grandeur1 when we find chemistry only an

 extension of the law of masses into    
particles1 and that the atomic theory   
shows the action of chemistry to be     
mechanical also4 ,metaphysics shows us a
 sort of gravitation1 operative also in 
the mental phenomena2 and the terrible  
tabulation of the ,french statists      
brings every piece of whim and humor to 
be reducible also to exact numerical    
rations4 ,if one man in twenty thousand1
 or in thirty thousand1 eats shoes1 or  
marries his grandmother1 then1 in every 
twenty thousand1 or thirty thousand1 is 
found one man who eats shoes1 or marries
 his grandmother4 ,what we call         
gravitation1 and fancy ultimate1 is one 
fork of a mightier stream1 for which we 
have yet no name4 ,astronomy is         
excellent2 but it must come up into life
 to have its full value1 and not remain 
there in globes and spaces4 ,the globule
 of blood gyrates around its own axis in
 the human veins1 as the planet in the  
sky2 and the circles of intellect relate
 to those of the heavens4 ,each law of  

nature has the like universality2       
eating1 sleep or hybernation1 rotation1 
generation1 metamorphosis1 vortical     
motion1 which is seen in eggs as in     
planets4 ,these grand rhymes or returns 
in nature1--the dear1 best-known face   
startling us at every turn1 under a mask
 so unexpected that we think it the face
 of a stranger1 and1 carrying up the    
semblance into divine forms1--delighted 
the prophetic eye of ,swedenborg2 and he
 must be reckoned a leader in that      
revolution1 which1 by giving to science 
an idea1 has given to an aimless        
accumulation of experiments1 guidance   
and form1 and a beating heart4  ,i own1 
with some regret1 that his printed works
 amount to about fifty stout octaves1   
his scientific works being about half of
 the whole number2 and it appears that a
 mass of manuscript still unedited      
remains in the royal library at         
,stockholm4 ,the scientific works have  
just now been translated into ,english1 
in an excellent edition4  ,swedenborg   

printed these scientific books in the   
ten years from #agcd to #agdd1 and they 
remained from that time neglected2 and  
now1 after their century is complete1 he
 has at last found a pupil in ,mr4      
,wilkinson1 in ,london1 a philosophic   
critic1 with a co-equal vigor of        
understanding and imagination comparable
 only to ,lord ,bacon's1 who has        
produced his master's buried books to   
the day1 and transferred them1 with     
every advantage1 from their forgotten   
,latin into ,english1 to go round the   
world in our commercial and conquering  
tongue4 ,this startling reappearance of 
,swedenborg1 after a hundred years1 in  
his pupil1 is not the least remarkable  
fact in his history4 ,aided1 it is said1
 by the munificence of ,mr4 ,clissold1  
and also by his literary skill1 this    
piece of poetic justice is done4 ,the   
admirable preliminary discourses with   
which ,mr4 ,wilkinson has enriched these
 volumes1 throw all the contemporary    
philosophy of ,england into shade1 and  

leave me nothing to say on their proper 
grounds4  ,the ,animal ,kingdom is a    
book of wonderful merits4 ,it was       
written with the highest end1--to put   
science and the soul1 long estranged    
from each other1 at one again4 ,it was  
an anatomist's account of the human     
body1 in the highest style of poetry4   
,nothing can exceed the bold and        
brilliant treatment of a subject usually
 so dry and repulsive4 ,he saw nature   
wreathing through an everlasting spiral1
 with wheels that never dry1 on axles   
that never creak1 and sometimes sought  
to uncover those secret recess is where 
nature is sitting at the fires in the   
depths of her laboratory2 whilst the    
picture comes recommended by the hard   
fidelity with which it is based on      
practical anatomy4 ,it is remarkable    
that this sublime genius decides1       
peremptorily for the analytic1 against  
the synthetic method2 and1 in a book    
whose genius is a daring poetic         
synthesis1 claims to confine himself to 

a rigid experience4  ,he knows1 if he   
only1 the flowing of nature and how wise
 was that old answer of ,amasis to him  
who bade him drink up the sea1--,yes1   
willingly1 if you will stop the rivers  
that flow in4 ,few knew as much about   
nature and her subtle manners1 or       
expressed more subtly her goings4 ,he   
thought as large a demand is made on our
 faith by nature1 as by miracles4 ,he   
noted that in her proceeding from first 
principles through her several          
subordinations1 there was no state      
through which she did not pass1 as if   
her path lay through all things4 ,for as
 often as she betakes herself upward    
from visible phenomena1 or1 in other    
words1 withdraws herself inward1 she    
instantly1 as it were1 disappears1 while
 no one knows what has become of her1 or
 whither she is gone2 so that it is     
necessary to take science as a guide in 
pursuing her steps4  ,the pursuing the  
inquiry under the light of an end or    
final cause1 gives wonderful animation1 

a sort of personality to the whole      
writing4 ,this book announces his       
favorite dogmas4 ,the ancient doctrines 
of ,hippocrates1 that the brain is a    
gland2 and of ,leucippus1 that the atom 
may be known by the mass2 or1 in ,plato1
 the macrocosm by the microcosm2 and1 in
 the verses of ,lucretius1--    ,ossa   
videlicet e pauxillis atque minutis     
,ossibus sic et de pauxillis atque      
minutis   ,visceribus viscus gigni1     
sanguenque creari   ,sanguinis inter se 
multis coeuntibus guttis2   ,ex aurique 
putat micis consistere posse   ,aurum1  
et de terris terram concrescere parvis2 
,ignibus ex igneis1 humorem humoribus   
esse4                                   
,lib4 ,i4 #hce4    ,the principle of all
 things entrails made   ,of smallest    
entrails2 bone1 of smallest bone1       
,blood1 of small sanguine drops reduced 
to one2   ,gold1 of small grains2 earth1
 of small sands compacted   ,small drops
 to water1 sparks to fire contracted3   
and which ,malpighi had summed in his   

maxim1 that nature exists entirely in   
leasts1--is a favorite thought of       
,swedenborg4 ,it is a constant law of   
the organic body1 that large1 compound1 
or visible forms exist and subsist from 
smaller1 simpler1 and ultimately from   
invisible forms1 which act similarly to 
the larger ones1 but more perfectly and 
more universally1 and the least forms so
 perfectly and universally1 as to       
involve an idea representative of their 
entire universe4 ,the unities of each   
organ are so many little organs1        
homogeneous with their compound2 the    
unities of the tongue are little        
tongues2 those of the stomach1 little   
stomachs2 those of the heart are little 
hearts4 ,this fruitful idea furnishes a 
key to every secret4 ,what was too small
 for the eye to detect was read by the  
aggregates2 what was too large1 by the  
units4 ,there is no end to his          
application of the thought4 ,hunger is  
an aggregate of very many little        
hungers1 or losses of blood by the      

little veins all over the body4 ,it is  
the key to his theology1 also4 ,man is a
 kind of very minute heaven1            
corresponding to the world of spirits   
and to heaven4 ,every particular idea of
 man1 and every affection1 yea1 every   
smallest spark of his affection1 is an  
image and effigy of him4 ,a spirit may  
be known from only a single thought4    
,god is the grand man4  ,the hardihood  
and thoroughness of his study of nature 
required a theory of forms1 also4 ,forms
 ascend in order from the lowest to the 
highest4 ,the lowest form is angular1 or
 the terrestrial and corporeal4 ,the    
second and next higher form is the      
circular1 which is also called the      
perpetual-angular1 because the          
circumference of a circle is a perpetual
 angle4 ,the form above this is the     
spiral1 parent and measure of circular  
forms2 its diameters are not            
rectilinear1 but variously circular1 and
 have a spherical surface for center2   
therefore it is called the              

perpetual-circular4 ,the form above this
 is the vortical1 or perpetual-spiral2  
next1 the perpetual-vortical1 or        
celestial2 last1 the                    
perpetual-celestial1 or spiritual4  ,was
 it strange that a genius so bold should
 take the last step1 also1--conceive    
that he might attain the science of all 
sciences1 to unlock the meaning of the  
world8 ,in the first volume of the      
,animal ,kingdom1 he broaches the       
subject1 in a remarkable note4--  ,in   
our doctrine of ,representations and    
,correspondences1 we shall treat of both
 these symbolical and typical           
resemblances1 and of the astonishing    
things which occur1 ,i will not say1 in 
the living body only1 but throughout    
nature1 and which correspond so entirely
 to supreme and spiritual things1 that  
one would swear that the physical world 
was purely symbolical of the spiritual  
world2 insomuch1 that if we choose to   
express any natural truth in physical   
and definite vocalterms1 and to convert 

these terms only into the corresponding 
and spiritual terms1 we shall by this   
means elicit a spiritual truth1 or      
theological dogma1 in place of the      
physical truth or precept2 although no  
mortal would have predicted that        
anything of the kind could possibly     
arise by bare literal transposition2    
inasmuch as the one precept1 considered 
separately from the other1 appears to   
have absolutely no relation to it4 ,i   
intend1 hereafter1 to communicate a     
number of examples of such              
correspondences1 together with a        
vocabulary containing the terms of      
spiritual things1 as well as of the     
physical things for which they are to be
 substituted4 ,this symbolism pervades  
the living body4  ,the fact1 thus       
explicitly stated1 is implied in all    
poetry1 in allegory1 in fable1 in the   
use of emblems1 and in the structure of 
language4 ,plato knew of it1 as is      
evident from his twice bisected line1 in
 the sixth book of the ,republic4 ,lord 

,bacon had found that truth and nature  
differed only as seal and print2 and he 
instanced some physical proportions1    
with their translation into a moral and 
political sense4 ,behmen1 and all       
mystics1 imply this law in their dark   
riddle-writing4 ,the poets1 in as far as
 they are poets1 use it2 but it is known
 to them only1 as the magnet was known  
for ages1 as a toy4 ,swedenborg first   
put the fact into a detached and        
scientific statement1 because it was    
habitually present to him1 and never not
 seen4 ,it was involved1 as we explained
 already1 in the doctrine of identity   
and iteration1 because the mental series
 exactly tallies with the material      
series4 ,it required an insight that    
could rank things in order and series2  
or1 rather1 it required such rightness  
of position1 that the poles of the eye  
should coincide with the axis of the    
world4 ,the earth has fed its mankind   
through five or six millenniums1 and    
they had sciences1 religions1           

philosophies2 and yet had failed to see 
the correspondence of meaning between   
every part and every other part4 ,and1  
down to this hour1 literature has no    
book in which the symbolism of things is
 scientifically opened4 ,one would say1 
that1 as soon as men had the first hint 
that every sensible object1--animal1    
rock1 river1 air1--nay1 space and time1 
subsists not for itself1 nor finally to 
a material end1 but as a                
picture-language1 to tell another story 
of beings and duties1 other science     
would be put by1 and a science of such  
grand presage would absorb all          
faculties2 that each man would ask of   
all objects1 what they mean3 ,why does  
the horizon hold me fast1 with my joy   
and grief1 in this center8 ,why hear ,i 
the same sense from countless differing 
voices1 and read one never quite        
expressed fact in endless               
picture-language8 ,yet1 whether it be   
that these things will not be           
intellectually learned1 or1 that many   

centuries must elaborate and compose so 
rare and opulent a soul1--there is no   
comet1 rock-stratum1 fossil1 fish1      
quadruped1 spider1 or fungus1 that1 for 
itself1 does not interest more scholars 
and classifiers than the meaning and    
upshot of the frame of things4  ,but    
,swedenborg was not content with the    
culinary use of the world4 ,in his      
fifty-fourth year1 these thoughts held  
him fast1 and his profound mind admitted
 the perilous opinion1 too frequent in  
religious history1 that he was an       
abnormal person1 to whom was granted the
 privilege of conversing with angels and
 spirits2 and this ecstasy connected    
itself with just this office of         
explaining the moral import of the      
sensible world4 ,to a right perception1 
at once broad and minute1 of the order  
of nature1 he added the comprehension of
 the moral laws in their widest social  
aspects2 but whatever he saw1 through   
some excessive determination to form1 in
 his constitution1 he saw not           

abstractly1 but in pictures1 heard it in
 dialogues1 constructed it in events4   
,when he attempted to announce the law  
most sanely1 he was forced to couch it  
in parable4  ,modern psychology offers  
no similar example of a deranged        
balance4 ,the principal powers continued
 to maintain a healthy action2 and1 to a
 reader who can make due allowance in   
the report for the reporter's           
peculiarities1 the results are still    
instructive1 and a more striking        
testimony to the sublime laws he        
announced1 than any that balanced       
dulness could afford4 ,he attempts to   
give some account of the modus of the   
new state1 affirming that his presence  
in the spiritual world is attended with 
a certain separation1 but only as to the
 intellectual part of his mind1 not as  
to the will part2 and he affirms that he
 sees1 with the internal sight1 the     
things that are in another life1 more   
clearly than he sees the things which   
are here in the world4  ,having adopted 

the belief that certain books of the    
,old and ,new ,testaments were exact    
allegories1 or written in the angelic   
and ecstatic mode1 he employed his      
remaining years in extricating from the 
literal1 the universal sense4 ,he had   
borrowed from ,plato the fine fable of a
 most ancient people1 men better than   
we1 and dwelling nigher to the gods2 and
 ,swedenborg added1 that they used the  
earth symbolically2 that these1 when    
they saw terrestrial objects1 did not   
think at all about them1 but only about 
those which they signified4 ,the        
correspondence between thoughts and     
things henceforward occupied him4 ,the  
very organic form resembles the end     
inscribed on it4 ,a man is in general1  
and in particular1 an organizd justice  
or injustice1 selfishness or gratitude4 
,and the cause of this harmony he       
assigned in the ,arcana3 ,the reason why
 all and single things1 in the heavens  
and on earth1 are representative1 is    
because they exist from an influx of the

 ,lord1 through heaven4 ,this design of 
exhibiting such correspondences1 which1 
if adequately executed1 would be the    
poem of the world1 in which all history 
and science would play an essential     
part1 was narrowed and defeated by the  
exclusively theologic direction which   
his inquiries took4 ,his perception of  
nature is not human and universal1 but  
is mystical and ,hebraic4 ,he fastens   
each natural object to a theologic      
notion3--a horse signifies carnal       
understanding2 a tree1 perception2 the  
moon1 faith2 a cat means this2 an       
ostrich1 that2 an artichoke1 this other2
 and poorly tethers every symbol to a   
several ecclesiastic sense4 ,the        
slippery ,proteus is not so easily      
caught4 ,in nature1 each individual     
symbol plays innumerable parts1 as each 
particle of matter circulates in turn   
through every system4 ,the central      
identity enables any one symbol to      
express successively all the qualities  
and shades of the real being4 ,in the   

transmission of the heavenly waters1    
every hose fits every hydrant4 ,nature  
avenges herself speedily on the hard    
pedantry that would chain her waves4    
,she is no literalist4 ,everything must 
be taken genially1 and we must be at the
 top of our condition to understand     
anything rightly4  ,his theological bias
 thus fatally narrowed his              
interpretation of nature1 and the       
dictionary of symbols is yet to be      
written4 ,but the interpreter1 whom     
mankind must still expect1 will find no 
predecessor who has approached so near  
to the true problem4  ,swedenborg styles
 himself1 in the title-page of his      
books1 ,servant of the ,lord ,jesus     
,christ2 and by force of intellect1 and 
in effect1 he is the last ,father in the
 ,church1 and is not likely to have a   
successor4 ,no wonder that his depth of 
ethical wisdom should give him influence
 as a teacher4 ,to the withered         
traditional church yielding dry         
catechisms1 he let in nature again1 and 

the worshiper1 escaping from the vestry 
of verbs and texts1 is surprised to find
 himself a party to the whole of his    
religion4 ,his religion thinks for him1 
and is of universal application4 ,he    
turns it on every side2 it fits every   
part of life1 interprets and dignifies  
every circumstance4 ,instead of a       
religion which visited him              
diplomatically three or four times1--   
when he was born1 when he married1 when 
he fell sick1 and when he died1 and for 
the rest never interfered with          
him1--here was a teaching which         
accompanied him all day1 accompanied him
 even into sleep and dreams2 into his   
thinking1 and showed him through what a 
long ancestry his thoughts descend2 into
 society1 and showed by what affinities 
he was girt to his equals and his       
counterparts2 into natural objects1 and 
showed their origin and meaning1 what   
are friendly1 and what are hurtful2 and 
opened the future world1 by indicating  
the continuity of the same laws4 ,his   

disciples allege that their intellect is
 invigorated by the study of his books4 
,there is no such problem for criticism 
as his theological writings1 their      
merits are so commanding2 yet such grave
 deductions must be made4 ,their immense
 and sandy diffuseness is like the      
prairie1 or the desert1 and their       
incongruities are like the last         
deliration4 ,he is superfluously        
explanatory1 and his feelings of the    
ignorance of men1 strangely exaggerated4
 ,men take truths of this nature very   
fast4 ,yet he abounds in assertions2 he 
is a rich discoverer1 and of things     
which most import us to know4 ,his      
thought dwells in essential             
resemblances1 like the resemblance of a 
house to the man who built it4 ,he saw  
things in their law1 in likeness of     
function1 not of structure4 ,there is an
 invariable method and order in his     
delivery of his truth1 the habitual     
proceeding of the mind from inmost to   
outmost4 ,what earnestness and          

weightiness1--his eye never roving1     
without one swell of vanity1 or one look
 to self1 in any common form of literary
 pride6 a theoretic or speculative man1 
but whom no practical man in the        
universe could affect to scorn4 ,plato  
is a gownsman2 his garment1 though of   
purple1 and almost skywoven1 is an      
academic robe1 and hinders action with  
its voluminous folds4 ,but this mystic  
is awful to ,caesar4 ,lycurgus himself  
would bow4  ,the moral insight of       
,swedenborg1 the correction of popular  
errors1 the announcement of ethical     
laws1 take him out of comparison with   
any other modern writer1 and entitle him
 to a place1 vacant for some ages1 among
 the lawgivers of mankind4 ,that slow   
but commanding influence which he has   
acquired1 like that of other religious  
geniuses1 must be excessive also1 and   
have its tides1 before it subsides into 
a permanent amount4 ,of course1 what is 
real and universal cannot be confined to
 the circle of those who sympathize     

strictly with his genius1 but will pass 
forth into the common stock of wise and 
just thinking4 ,the world has a sure    
chemistry1 by which it attracts what is 
excellent in its children1 and lets fall
 the infirmities and limitations of the 
grandest mind4  ,that metempsychosis    
which is familiar in the old mythology  
of the ,greeks1 collected in ,ovid1 and 
in the ,indian ,transmigration1 and is  
there objective1 or really takes place  
in bodies by alien will1--in            
,swedenborg's mind1 has a more          
philosophic character4 ,it is           
subjective1 or depends entirely upon the
 thought of the person4 ,all things in  
the universe arrange themselves to each 
person anew1 according to his ruling    
love4 ,man is such as his affection and 
thought are4 ,man is man by virtue of   
willing1 not by virtue of knowing and   
understanding4 ,as he is1 so he sees4   
,the marriages of the world are broken  
up4 ,interiors associate all in the     
spiritual world4 ,whatever the angels   

looked upon was to them celestial4 ,each
 ,satan appears to himself a man2 to    
those as bad as he1 a comely man2 to the
 purified1 a heap of carrion4 ,nothing  
can resist states2 everything           
gravitates2 like will to like2 what we  
call poetic justice takes effect on the 
spot4 ,we have come into a world which  
is a living poem4 ,every thing is as ,i 
am4 ,bird and beast is not bird and     
beast1 but emanation and effluvia of the
 minds and wills of men there present4  
,every one makes his own house and      
state4 ,the ghosts are tormented with   
the fear of death1 and cannot remember  
that they have died4 ,they who are in   
evil and falsehood are afraid of all    
others4 ,such as have deprived          
themselves of charity1 wander and flee2 
the societies which they approach       
discover their quality1 and drive them  
away4 ,the covetous seem to themselves  
to be abiding in cells where their money
 is deposited1 and these to be infested 
with mice4 ,they who place merit in good

 works seem to themselves to cut wood4  
,i asked such1 if they were not wearied8
 ,they replied1 that they have not yet  
done work enough to merit heaven4  ,he  
delivers golden sayings1 which express  
with singular beauty the ethical laws2  
as when he uttered that famed sentence1 
that1 in heaven the angels are advancing
 continually to the springtime of their 
youth1 so that the oldest angel appears 
the youngest3 ,the more angels1 the more
 room3 ,the perfection of man is the    
love of use3 ,man1 in his perfect form1 
is heaven3 ,what is from ,him1 is ,him3 
,ends always ascend as nature descends3 
,and the truly poetic account of the    
writing in the inmost heaven1 which1 as 
it consists of inflexions according to  
the form of heaven1 can be read without 
instruction ,he almost justifies his    
claim to preternatural vision1 by       
strange insights of the structure of the
 human body and mind4 ,it is never      
permitted to any one1 in heaven1 to     
stand behind another and look at the    

back of his head2 for then the influx   
which is from the ,lord is disturbed4   
,the angels1 from the sound of the      
voice1 know a man's love2 from the      
articulation of the sound1 his wisdom2  
and from the sense of the words1 his    
science4  ,in the ,conjugal ,love1 he   
has unfolded the science of marriage4   
,of this book1 one would say1 that1 with
 the highest elements1 it has failed of 
success4 ,it came near to be the ,hymn  
of ,love1 which ,plato attempted in the 
,banquet2 the love1 which1 ,dante says1 
,casella sang among the angels in       
,paradise2 and which1 as rightly        
celebrated1 in its genesis1 fruition1   
and effect1 might well entrance the     
souls1 as it would lay open the genesis 
of all institutions1 customs1 and       
manners4 ,the book had been grand1 if   
the ,hebraism had been omitted1 and the 
law stated without ,gothicism1 as       
ethics1 and with that scope for         
ascension of state which the nature of  
things requires4 ,it is a fine ,platonic

 development of the science of marriage2
 teaching that sex is universal1 and not
 local2 virility in the male qualifying 
every organ1 act1 and thought2 and the  
feminine in woman4 ,therefore1 in the   
real or spiritual world1 the nuptial    
union is not momentary1 but incessant   
and total2 and chastity not a local1 but
 a universal virtue2 unchastity being   
discovered as much in the trading1 or   
planting1 or speaking1 or               
philosophizing1 as in generation2 and   
that1 though the virgins he saw in      
heaven were beautiful1 the wives were   
incomparably more beautiful1 and went on
 increasing in beauty evermore4  ,yet   
,swedenborg1 after his mode1 pinned his 
theory to a temporary form4 ,he         
exaggerates the circumstance of         
marriage2 and1 though he finds false    
marriages on the earth1 fancies a wiser 
choice in heaven4 ,but of progressive   
souls1 all loves and friendships are    
momentary4 ,do you love me8 means1 ,do  
you see the same truth8 ,if you do1 we  

are happy with the same happiness2 but  
presently one of us passes into the     
perception of new truth2--we are        
divorced1 and no tension in nature can  
hold us to each other4 ,i know how      
delicious is this cup of love1--,i      
existing for you1 you existing for me2  
but it is a child's clinging to his toy2
 an attempt to eternize the fireside and
 nuptial chamber2 to keep the           
picture-alphabet through which our first
 lessons are prettily conveyed4 ,the    
,eden of ,god is bare and grand3 like   
the outdoor landscape1 remembered from  
the evening fireside1 it seems cold and 
desolate1 whilst you cower over the     
coals2 but1 once abroad again1 we pity  
those who can forego the magnificence of
 nature1 for candle-light and cards4    
,perhaps the true subject of the        
,conjugal ,love is conversation1 whose  
laws are profoundly eliminated4 ,it is  
false1 if literally applied to marriage4
 ,for ,god is the bride or bridegroom of
 the soul4 ,heaven is not the pairing of

 two1 but the communion of all souls4   
,we meet1 and dwell an instant under the
 temple of one thought1 and part as     
though we parted not1 to join another   
thought in other fellowships of joy4 ,so
 far from there being anything divine in
 the low and proprietary sense of1 ,do  
you love me8 it is only when you leave  
and lose me1 by casting yourself on a   
sentiment which is higher than both of  
us1 that ,i draw near1 and find myself  
at your side2 and ,i am repelled1 if you
 fix your eye on me1 and demand love4   
,in fact1 in the spiritual world1 we    
change sexes every moment4 ,you love the
 worth in me2 then ,i am your husband3  
but it is not me1 but the worth1 that   
fixes the love2 and that worth is a drop
 of the ocean of worth that is beyond   
me4 ,meantime1 ,i adore the greater     
worth in another1 and so become his     
wife4 ,he aspires to a higher worth in  
another spirit1 and is wife of receiver 
of that influence4  ,whether a          
self-inquisitorial habit1 that he grew  

into1 from jealousy of the sins to which
 men of thought are liable1 he has      
acquired1 in disentangling and          
demonstrating that particular form of   
moral disease1 an acumen which no       
conscience can resist4 ,i refer to his  
feeling of the profanation of thinking  
to what is good from scientifics4 ,to   
reason about faith1 is to doubt and     
deny4 ,he was painfully alive to the    
difference between knowing and doing1   
and this sensibility is incessantly     
expressed4 ,philosophers are1 therefore1
 vipers1 cockatrices1 asps1 hemorrhoids1
 presters1 and flying serpents2 literary
 men are conjurers and charlatans4  ,but
 this topic suggests a sad afterthought1
 that here we find the seat of his own  
pain4 ,possibly ,swedenborg paid the    
penalty of introverted faculties4       
,success1 or a fortunate genius1 seems  
to depend on a happy adjustment of heart
 and brain2 on a due proportion1 hard to
 hit1 of moral and mental power1 which1 
perhaps1 obeys the law of those chemical

 ratios which make a proportion in      
volumes necessary to combination1 as    
when gases will combine in certain fixed
 rates1 but not at any rate4 ,it is hard
 to carry a full cup3 and this man1     
profusely endowed in heart and mind1    
early fell into dangerous discord with  
himself4 ,in his ,animal ,kingdom1 he   
surprises us1 by declaring that he loved
 analysis1 and not synthesis2 and now1  
after his fiftieth year1 he falls into  
jealousy of his intellect2 and1 though  
aware that truth is not solitary1 nor is
 goodness solitary1 but both must ever  
mix and marry1 he makes war on his mind1
 takes the part of the conscience       
against it1 and1 on all occasions1      
traduces and blasphemes it4 ,the        
violence is instantly avenged4 ,beauty  
is disgraced1 love is unlovely1 when    
truth1 the half part of heaven1 is      
denied1 as much as when a bitterness in 
men of talent leads to satire1 and      
destroys the judgment4 ,he is wise1 but 
wise in his own despite4 ,there is an   

air of infinite grief1 and the sound of 
wailing1 all over and through this lurid
 universe4 ,a vampyre sits in the seat  
of the prophet1 and turns with gloomy   
appetite to the images of pain4 ,indeed1
 a bird does not more readily weave its 
nest1 or a mole bore into the ground1   
than this seer of souls substructs a new
 hell and pit1 each more abominable than
 the last1 round every new crew of      
offenders4 ,he was let down through a   
column that seemed of brass1 but it was 
formed of angelic spirits1 that he might
 descend safely amongst the unhappy1 and
 witness the vastation of souls2 and    
heard there1 for a long continuance1    
their lamentations2 he saw their        
tormentors1 who increase and strain     
pangs to infinity2 he saw the hell of   
the jugglers1 the hell of the assassins1
 the hell of the lascivious2 the hell of
 robbers1 who kill and boil men2 the    
infernal tun of the deceitful2 the      
excrementitious hells2 the hell of the  
revengeful1 whose faces resembled a     

round1 broad-cake1 and their arms rotate
 like a wheel4 ,except ,rabelais and    
,dean ,swift1 nobody ever had such      
science of filth and corruption4  ,these
 books should be used with caution4 ,it 
is dangerous to sculpture these         
evanescing images of thought4 ,true in  
transition1 they become false if fixed4 
,it requires1 for his just apprehension1
 almost a genius equal to his own4 ,but 
when his visions become the stereotyped 
language of multitudes of persons1 of   
all degrees of age and capacity1 they   
are perverted4 ,the wise people of the  
,greek race were accustomed to lead the 
most intelligent and virtuous young men1
 as part of their education1 through the
 ,eleusinian mysteries1 wherein1 with   
much pomp and graduation1 the highest   
truths known to ancient wisdom were     
taught4 ,an ardent and contemplative    
young man1 at eighteen or twenty years1 
might read once these books of          
,swedenborg1 these mysteries of love and
 conscience1 and then throw them aside  

forever4 ,genius is ever haunted by     
similar dreams1 when the hells and the  
heavens are opened to it4 ,but these    
pictures are to be held as mystical1    
that is1 as a quite arbitrary and       
accidental picture of the truth--not as 
the truth4 ,any other symbol would be as
 good3 then this is safely seen4        
,swedenborg's system of the world wants 
central spontaneity2 it is dynamic1 not 
vital1 and lacks power to generate life4
 ,there is no individual in it4 ,the    
universe is a gigantic crystal1 all     
those atoms and laminae lie in          
uninterrupted order1 and with unbroken  
unity1 but cold and still4 ,what seems  
an individual and a will1 is none4      
,there is an immense chain of           
intermediation1 extending from center to
 extremes1 which bereaves every agency  
of all freedom and character4 ,the      
universe1 in his poem1 suffers under a  
magnetic sleep1 and only reflects the   
mind of the magnetizer4 ,every thought  
comes into each mind by influence from a

 society of spirits that surround it1   
and into these from a higher society1   
and so on4 ,all his types mean the same 
few things4 ,all his figures speak one  
speech4 ,all his interlocutors          
,swedenborgize4 ,be they who they may1  
to this complexion must they come at    
last4 ,this ,charon ferries them all    
over in his boat2 kings1 counselors1    
cavaliers1 doctors1 ,sir ,isaac ,newton1
 ,sir ,hans ,sloane1 ,king ,george      
,,ii41 ,mahomet1 or whosoever1 and all  
gather one grimness of hue and style4   
,only when ,cicero comes by1 our gentle 
seer sticks a little at saying he talked
 with ,cicero1 and1 with a touch of     
human relenting1 remarks1 one whom it   
was given me to believe was ,cicero2 and
 when the soi disant ,roman opens his   
mouth1 ,rome and eloquence have ebbed   
away1--it is plain theologic            
,swedenborg1 like the rest4 ,his heavens
 and hells are dull2 fault of want of   
individualism4 ,the thousand-fold       
relation of men is not there4 ,the      

interest that attaches in nature to each
 man1 because he is right by his wrong1 
and wrong by his right1 because he      
defies all dogmatizing and              
classification1 so many allowances1 and 
contingencies1 and futurities1 are to be
 taken into account1 strong by his      
vices1 often paralyzed by his           
virtues1--sinks into entire sympathy    
with his society4 ,this want reacts to  
the center of the system4 ,though the   
agency of the ,lord is in every line    
referred to by name1 it never becomes   
alive4 ,there is no lustre in that eye  
which gazes from the center1 and which  
should vivify the immense dependency of 
beings4  ,the vice of ,swedenborg's mind
 is its theologic determination4        
,nothing with him has the liberality of 
universal wisdom1 but we are always in a
 church4 ,that ,hebrew muse1 which      
taught the lore of right and wrong to   
man1 had the same excess of influence   
for him1 it has had for the nations4    
,the mode1 as well as the essence1 was  

sacred4 ,palestine is ever the more     
valuable as a chapter in universal      
history1 and ever the less an available 
element in education4 ,the genius of    
,swedenborg1 largest of all modern souls
 in this department of thought1 wasted  
itself in the endeavor to reanimate and 
conserve what had already arrived at its
 natural term1 and1 in the great secular
 ,providence1 was retiring from its     
prominence1 before western modes of     
thought and expression4 ,swedenborg and 
,behmen both failed by attaching        
themselves to the ,christian symbol1    
instead of to the moral sentiment1 which
 carries innumerable christianities1    
humanities1 divinities1 in its bosom4   
,the excess of influence shows itself in
 the incongruous importation of a       
foreign rhetoric4 ,what have ,i to do1  
asks the impatient reader1 with jasper  
and sardonyx1 beryl and chalcedony2 what
 with arks and passovers1 ephahs and    
ephods2 what with lepers and emerods2   
what with heave-offerings and unleavened

 bread2 chariots of fire1 dragons       
crowned and horned1 behemoth and        
unicorn8 ,good for orientals1 these are 
nothing to me4 ,the more learning you   
bring to explain them1 the more glaring 
the impertinence4 ,the more coherent and
 elaborate the system1 the less ,i like 
it4 ,i say1 with the ,spartan1 ',why do 
you speak so much to the purpose1 of    
that which is nothing to the purpose8'  
,my learning is such as ,god gave me in 
my birth and habit1 in the delight and  
study of my eyes1 and not of another    
man's4 ,of all absurdities1 this of some
 foreigner1 purposing to take away my   
rhetoric1 and substitute his own1 and   
amuse me with pelican and stork1 instead
 of thrush and robin2 palm-trees and    
shittim-wood1 instead of sassafras and  
hickory1--seems the most needless4      
,locke said1 ,god1 when he makes the    
prophet1 does not unmake the man4       
,swedenborg's history points the remark4
 ,the parish disputes1 in the ,swedish  
church1 between the friends and foes of 

,luther and ,melancthon1 concerning     
faith alone1 and works alone1 intrude   
themselves into his speculations upon   
the economy of the universe1 and of the 
celestial societies4 ,the ,lutheran     
bishop's son1 for whom the heavens are  
opened1 so that he sees with eyes1 and  
in the richest symbolic forms1 the awful
 truth of things1 and utters again1 in  
his books1 as under a heavenly mandate1 
the indisputable secrets of moral       
nature1--with all these grandeurs       
resting upon him1 remains the ,lutheran 
bishop's son2 his judgments are those of
 a ,swedish polemic1 and his vast       
enlargements purchased by adamantine    
limitations4 ,he carries his            
controversial memory with him1 in his   
visits to the souls4 ,he is like ,michel
 ,angelo1 who1 in his frescoes1 put the 
cardinal who had offended him to roast  
under a mountain of devils2 or1 like    
,dante1 who avenged1 in vindictive      
melodies1 all his private wrongs2 or1   
perhaps still more like ,montaigne's    

parish priest1 who1 if a hailstorm      
passes over the village1 thinks the day 
of doom has come1 and the cannibals     
already have got the pip4 ,swedenborg   
confounds us not less with the pains of 
,melancthon1 and ,luther1 and ,wolfius1 
and his own books1 which he advertises  
among the angels4  ,under the same      
theologic cramp1 many of his dogmas are 
bound4 ,his cardinal position in morals 
is1 that evils should be shunned as     
sins4 ,but he does not know what evil   
is1 or what good is1 who thinks any     
ground remains to be occupied1 after    
saying that evil is to be shunned as    
evil4 ,i doubt not he was led by the    
desire to insert the element of         
personality of ,deity4 ,but nothing is  
added4 ,one man1 you say1 dreads        
crysipelas1--show him that this dread is
 evil3 or1 one dreads hell1--show him   
that dread is evil4 ,he who loves       
goodness1 harbors angels1 reveres       
reverence1 and lives with ,god4 ,the    
less we have to do with our sins1 the   

better4 ,no man can afford to waste his 
moments in compunctions4 ,that is active
 duty1 say the ,hindoos1 which is not   
for our bondage2 that is knowledge1     
which is for our liberation2 all other  
duty is good only unto weariness4       
,another dogma1 growing out of this     
pernicious theologic limitation1 is this
 ,inferno4 ,swedenborg has devils4      
,evil1 according to old philosophers1 is
 good in the making4 ,that pure         
malignity can exist1 is the extreme     
proposition of unbelief4 ,it is not to  
be entertained by a rational agent2 it  
is atheism2 it is the last profanation4 
,euripides rightly said1--  ,goodness   
and being in the gods are one2 ,he who  
imputes ill to them makes them none4    
,to what a painful perversion had       
,gothic theology arrived1 that          
,swedenborg admitted no conversion for  
evil spirits6 ,but the divine effort is 
never relaxed2 the carrion in the sun   
will convert itself to grass and        
flowers2 and man1 though in brothels1 or

 jails1 or on gibbets1 is on his way to 
all that is good and true4 ,burns1 with 
the wild humor of his apostrophe to poor
 old ,nickie ,ben1  ,o wad ye tak a     
thought1 and mend6  has the advantage of
 the vindictive theologian4 ,everything 
is superficial1 and perishes1 but love  
and truth only4 ,the largest is always  
the truest sentiment1 and we feel the   
more generous spirit of the ,indian     
,vishnu1-,i am the same to all mankind4 
,there is not one who is worthy of my   
love or hatred4 ,they who serve me with 
adoration1--,i am in them1 and they in  
me4 ,if one whose ways are altogether   
evil1 serve me alone1 he is as          
respectable as the just man2 he is      
altogether well employed2 he soon       
becometh of a virtuous spirit1 and      
obtaineth eternal happiness4  ,for the  
anomalous pretension of ,revelations of 
the other world1--only his probity and  
genius can entitle it to any serious    
regard4 ,his revelations destroy their  
credit by running into detail4 ,if a man

 say1 that the ,holy ,ghost hath        
informed him that the ,last ,judgment   
7or the last of the judgments7 took     
place in #ageg2 or1 that the ,dutch1 in 
the other world1 live in a heaven by    
themselves1 and the ,english in a heaven
 by themselves2 ,i reply1 that the      
,spirit which is holy1 is reserved1     
taciturn1 and deals in laws4 ,the rumors
 of ghosts and hobgoblins gossip and    
tell fortunes4 ,the teachings of the    
high ,spirit are abstemious1 and1 in    
regard to particulars1 negative4        
,socrates' ,genius did not advise him to
 act or to find1 but if he proposed to  
do somewhat not advantageous1 it        
dissuaded him4 ,what ,god is1 he said1  
,i know not2 what he is not ,i know4    
,the ,hindoos have denominated the      
,supreme ,being1 the ,internal ,check4  
,the illuminated ,quakers explained     
their ,light1 not as somewhat which     
leads to any action1 but it appears as  
an obstruction to anything unfit4 ,but  
the right examples are private          

experiences1 which are absolutely at one
 on this point4 ,strictly speaking1     
,swedenborg's revelation is a           
confounding of planes1--a capital       
offence in so learned a categorist4     
,this is to carry the law of surface    
into the plane of substance1 to carry   
individualism and its fopperies into the
 realm of essences and generals1 which  
is dislocation and chaos4  ,the secret  
of heaven is kept from age to age4 ,no  
imprudent1 no sociable angel ever dropt 
an early syllable to answer the longings
 of saints1 the fears of mortals4 ,we   
should have listened on our knees to any
 favorite1 who1 by stricter obedience1  
had brought his thoughts into           
parallelism with the celestial currents1
 and could hint to human ears the       
scenery and circumstance of the newly   
parted soul4 ,but it is certain that it 
must tally with what is best in nature4 
,it must not be inferior in tone to the 
already known works of the artist who   
sculptures the globes of the firmament1 

and writes the moral law4 ,it must be   
fresher than rainbows1 stabler than     
mountains1 agreeing with flowers1 with  
tides1 and the rising and setting of    
autumnal stars4 ,melodious poets shall  
be hoarse as street ballads1 when once  
the penetrating key-note of nature and  
spirit is sounded1--the earth-beat1     
sea-beat1 heart-beat which makes the    
tune to which the sun rolls1 and the    
globule of blood1 and the sap of trees4 
,in this mood1 we hear the rumor that   
the seer has arrived1 and his tale is   
told4 ,but there is no beauty1 no       
heaven3 for angels1 goblins4 ,the sad   
muse loves night and death1 and the pit4
 ,his ,inferno is mesmeric4 ,his        
spiritual world bears the same relation 
to the generosities and joys of truth1  
of which human souls have already made  
us cognizant1 as a man's bad dreams bear
 to his ideal life4 ,it is indeed very  
like1 in its endless power of lurid     
pictures1 to the phenomena of dreaming1 
which nightly turns many an honest      

gentleman1 benevolent but dyspeptic1    
into a wretch1 skulking like a dog about
 the outer yards and kennels of         
creation4 ,when he mounts into the      
heavens1 ,i do not hear its language4 ,a
 man should not tell me that he has     
walked among the angels2 his proof is1  
that his eloquence makes me one4 ,shall 
the archangels be less majestic and     
sweet than the figures that have        
actually walked the earth8 ,these angels
 that ,swedenborg paints give us no very
 high idea of their discipline and      
culture2 they are all country parsons2  
their heaven is a fete champetre1 and   
evangelical picnic1 or ,french          
distribution of prizes to virtuous      
peasants4 ,strange1 scholastic1         
didactic1 passionless1 bloodless man1   
who denotes classes of souls as a       
botanist disposes of a carex1 and visits
 doleful hells as a stratum of chalk or 
hornblende6 ,he has no sympathy4 ,he    
goes up and down the world of men1 a    
modern ,rhadamanthus in gold-headed cane

 and peruke1 and with nonchalance1 and  
the air of a referee1 distributing      
souls4 ,the warm1 many-weathered1       
passionate-peopled world is to him a    
grammar of hieroglyphs1 or an emblematic
 freemason's procession4 ,how different 
is ,jacob ,behmen6 he is tremulous with 
emotion1 and listens awe-struck1 with   
the gentlest humanity1 to the ,teacher  
whose lessons he conveys2 and when he   
asserts that1 in some sort1 love is     
greater than ,god1 his heart beats so   
high that the thumping against his      
leathern coat is audible across the     
centuries4 ',tis a great difference4    
,behmen is healthily and beautifully    
wise1 notwithstanding the mystical      
narrowness and incommunicableness4      
,swedenborg is disagreeably wise1 and1  
with all his accumulated gifts1         
paralyzes and repels4  ,it is the best  
sign of a great nature1 that it opens a 
foreground1 and1 like the breath of     
morning landscapes1 invites us onward4  
,swedenborg is retrospective1 nor can we

 divest him of his mattock and shroud4  
,some minds are forever restrained from 
descending into nature2 others are      
forever prevented from ascending out of 
it4 ,with a force of many men1 he could 
never break the umbilical cord which    
held him to nature1 and he did not rise 
to the platform of pure genius4  ,it is 
remarkable that this man1 who1 by his   
perception of symbols1 saw the poetic   
construction of things1 and the primary 
relation of mind to matter1 remained    
entirely devoid of the whole apparatus  
of poetic expression1 which that        
perception creates4 ,he knew the grammar
 and rudiments of the                   
,mother-,tongue1--how could he not read 
off one strain into music8 ,was he like 
,saadi1 who1 in his vision1 designed to 
fill his lap with the celestial flowers1
 as presents for his friends2 but the   
fragrance of the roses so intoxicated   
him1 that the skirt dropped from his    
hands8 or1 is reporting a breach of the 
manners of that heavenly society8 or1   

was it that he saw the vision           
intellectually1 and hence that chiding  
of the intellectual that pervades his   
books8 ,be it as it may1 his books have 
no melody1 no emotion1 no humor1 no     
relief to the dead prosaic level4 ,in   
his profuse and accurate imagery is no  
pleasure1 for there is no beauty4 ,we   
wander forlorn in a lack- lustre        
landscape4 ,no bird ever sang in all    
these gardens of the dead4 ,the entire  
want of poetry in so transcendent a mind
 betokens the disease1 and1 like a      
hoarse voice in a beautiful person1 is a
 kind of warning4 ,i think1 sometimes1  
he will not be read longer4 ,his great  
name will turn a sentence4 ,his books   
have become a monument4 ,his laurels so 
largely mixed with cypress1 a           
charnel-breath so mingles with the      
temple incense1 that boys and maids will
 shun the spot4  ,yet1 in this          
immolation of genius and fame at the    
shrine of conscience1 is a merit sublime
 beyond praise4 ,he lived to purpose3 he

 gave a verdict4 ,he elected goodness as
 the clue to which the soul must cling  
in all this labyrinth of nature4 ,many  
opinions conflict as to the true center4
 ,in the shipwreck1 some cling to       
running rigging1 some to cask and       
barrel1 some to spars1 some to mast2 the
 pilot chooses with science1--,i plant  
myself here2 all will sink before this2 
he comes to land who sails with me4 ,do 
not rely on heavenly favor1 or on       
compassion to folly1 or on prudence1 on 
common sense1 the old usage and main    
chance of men2 nothing can keep         
you1--not fate1 nor health1 nor         
admirable intellect2 none can keep you1 
but rectitude only1 rectitude forever   
and ever6--and1 with a tenacity that    
never swerved in all his studies1       
inventions1 dreams1 he adheres to this  
brave choice4 ,i think of him as of some
 transmigratory votary of ,indian       
legend1 who says1 ,though ,i be dog1 or 
jackal1 or pismire1 in the last         
rudiments of nature1 under what         

integument or ferocity1 ,i cleave to    
right1 as the sure ladder that leads up 
to man and to ,god4  ,swedenborg has    
rendered a double service to mankind1   
which is now only beginning to be known4
 ,by the science of experiment and use1 
he made his first steps2 he observed and
 published the laws of nature2 and1     
ascending by just degrees1 from events  
to their summits and causes1 he was     
fired with piety at the harmonies he    
felt1 and abandoned himself to his joy  
and worship4 ,this was his first        
service4 ,if the glory was too bright   
for his eyes to bear1 if he staggered   
under the trance of delight1 the more   
excellent is the spectacle he saw1 the  
realities of being which beam and blaze 
through him1 and which no infirmities of
 the prophet are suffered to obscure2   
and he renders a second passive service 
to men1 not less than the               
first1--perhaps1 in the great circle of 
being1 and in the retributions of       
spiritual nature1 not less glorious or  

less beautiful to himself4     ,,iv4    
,,montaigne2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,skeptic4     
,every fact is related on one side to   
sensation and1 on the other1 to morals4 
,the game of thought is1 on the         
appearance of one of these two sides1 to
 find the other2 given the upper1 to    
find the under side4 ,nothing so thin1  
but has these two faces2 and1 when the  
observer has seen the obverse1 he turns 
it over to see the reverse4  ,life is a 
pitching of this penny1--heads or tails4
 ,we never tire of this game1 because   
there is still a slight shudder of      
astonishment at the exhibition of the   
other face1 at the contrast of the two  
faces4 ,a man is flushed with success1  
and bethinks himself what this good luck
 signifies4 ,he drives his bargain in   
the street2 but it occurs that he also  
is bought and sold4 ,he sees the beauty 
of a human face1 and searches the cause 
of that beauty1 which must be more      
beautiful4 ,he builds his fortunes1     
maintains the laws1 cherishes his       

children2 but he asks himself1 why8 and 
whereto8 ,this head and this tail are   
called1 in the language of philosophy1  
,infinite and ,finite2 ,relative and    
,absolute2 ,apparent and ,real2 and many
 fine names beside4  ,each man is born  
with a predisposition to one or the     
other of these sides of nature2 and it  
will easily happen that men will be     
found devoted to one or the other4 ,one 
class has the perception of difference1 
and is conversant with facts and        
surfaces2 cities and persons2 and the   
bringing certain things to pass2--the   
men of talent and action4 ,another class
 have the perception of identity1 and   
are men of faith and philosophy1 men of 
genius4  ,each of these riders drives   
too fast4 ,plotinus believes only in    
philosophers2 ,fenelon1 in saints2      
,pindar and ,byron1 in poets4 ,read the 
haughty language in which ,plato and the
 ,platonists speak of all men who are   
not devoted to their own shining        
abstractions3 other men are rats and    

mice4 ,the literary class is usually    
proud and exclusive4 ,the correspondence
 of ,pope and ,swift describes mankind  
around them as monsters2 and that of    
,goethe and ,schiller1 in our own time1 
is scarcely more kind4  ,it is easy to  
see how this arrogance comes4 ,the      
genius is a genius by the first look he 
casts on any object4 ,is his eye        
creative8 ,does he not rest in angles   
and colors1 but beholds the design--he  
will presently undervalue the actual    
object4 ,in powerful moments1 his       
thought has dissolved the works of art  
and nature into their causes1 so that   
the works appear heavy and faulty4 ,he  
has a conception of beauty which the    
sculptor cannot embody4 ,picture1       
statue1 temple1 railroad1 steam-engine1 
existed first in an artist's mind1      
without flaw1 mistake1 or friction1     
which impair the executed models4 ,so   
did the church1 the state1 college1     
court1 social circle1 and all the       
institutions4 ,it is not strange that   

these men1 remembering what they have   
seen and hoped of ideas1 should affirm  
disdainfully the superiority of ideas4  
,having at some time seen that the happy
 soul will carry all the arts in power1 
they say1 ,why cumber ourselves with    
superfluous realizations8 and1 like     
dreaming beggars1 they assume to speak  
and act as if these values were already 
substantiated4  ,on the other part1 the 
men of toil and trade and luxury1--the  
animal world1 including the animal in   
the philosopher and poet also1--and the 
practical world1 including the painful  
drudgeries which are never excused to   
philosopher or poet any more than to the
 rest1--weigh heavily on the other side4
 ,the trade in our streets believes in  
no metaphysical causes1 thinks nothing  
of the force which necessitated traders 
and a trading planet to exist2 no1 but  
sticks to cotton1 sugar1 wool1 and salt4
 ,the ward meetings1 on election days1  
are not softened by any misgivings of   
the value of these ballotings4 ,hot life

 is streaming in a single direction4 ,to
 the men of this world1 to the animal   
strength and spirits1 to the men of     
practical power1 whilst immersed in it1 
the man of ideas appears out of his     
reason4 ,they alone have reason4        
,things always bring their own          
philosophy with them1 that is1 prudence4
 ,no man acquires property without      
acquiring with it a little arithmetic1  
also4 ,in ,england1 the richest country 
that ever existed1 property stands for  
more1 compared with personal ability1   
than in any other4 ,after dinner1 a man 
believes less1 denies more2 verities    
have lost some charm4 ,after dinner1    
arithmetic is the only science2 ideas   
are disturbing1 incendiary1 follies of  
young men1 repudiated by the solid      
portion of society2 and a man comes to  
be valued by his athletic and animal    
qualities4 ,spence relates1 that ,mr4   
,pope was with ,sir ,godfrey ,kneller   
one day1 when his nephew1 a ,guinea     
trader1 came in4 ,nephew1 said ,sir     

,godfrey1 you have the honor of seeing  
the two greatest men in the world4 ,i   
don't know how great men you may be1    
said the ,guinea man1 but ,i don't like 
your looks4 ,i have often bought a man  
much better than both of you1 all       
muscles and bones1 for ten guineas4     
,thus1 the men of the senses revenge    
themselves on the professors1 and repay 
scorn for scorn4 ,the first had leaped  
to conclusions not yet ripe1 and say    
more than is true2 the others make      
themselves merry with the philosopher1  
and weigh man by the pound4--,they      
believe that mustard bites the tongue1  
that pepper is hot1 friction-matches are
 incendiary1 revolvers to be avoided1   
and suspenders hold up pantaloons2 that 
there is much sentiment in a chest of   
tea2 and a man will be eloquent1 if you 
give him good wine4 ,are you tender and 
scrupulous1--you must eat more          
mince-pie4 ,they hold that ,luther had  
milk in him when he said1  ,wer nicht   
liebt ,wein1 ,weib1 und ,gesang ,der    

bleibt ein ,narr sein ,leben lang1  and 
when he advised a young scholar         
perplexed with fore-ordination and      
free-will1 to get well drunk4 ,the      
nerves1 says ,cabanis1 they are the man4
 ,my neighbor1 a jolly farmer1 in the   
tavern bar-room1 thinks that the use of 
money is sure and speedy spending4 ,for 
his part1 he says1 he puts his down his 
neck1 and gets the good of it4  ,the    
inconvenience of this way of thinking   
is1 that it runs into indifferentism1   
and then into disgust4 ,life is eating  
us up4 ,we shall be fables presently4   
,keep cool3 it will be all one a hundred
 years hence4 ,life's well enough2 but  
we shall be glad to get out of it1 and  
they will all be glad to have us4 ,why  
should we fret and drudge8 ,our meat    
will taste to-morrow as it did          
yesterday1 and we may at last have had  
enough of it4 ,ah1 said my languid      
gentleman at ,oxford1 there's nothing   
new or true1--and no matter4  ,with a   
little more bitterness1 the cynic moans3

 our life is like an ass led to market  
by a bundle of hay being carried before 
him3 he sees nothing but the bundle of  
hay4 ,there is so much trouble in coming
 into the world1 said ,lord             
,bolingbroke1 and so much more1 as well 
as meanness1 in going out of it1 that   
'tis hardly worth while to be here at   
all4 ,i knew a philosopher of this      
kidney1 who was accustomed briefly to   
sum up his experience of human nature in
 saying1 ,mankind is a damned rascal3   
and the natural corollary is pretty sure
 to follow1--,the world lives by humbug1
 and so will ,i4  ,the abstractionist   
and the materialist thus mutually       
exasperating each other1 and the scoffer
 expressing the worst of materialism1   
there arises a third party to occupy the
 middle ground between these two1 the   
skeptic1 namely4 ,he finds both wrong by
 being in extremes4 ,he labors to plant 
his feet1 to be the beam of the balance4
 ,he will not go beyond his card4 ,he   
sees the one-sidedness of these men of  

the street2 he will not be a ,gibeonite2
 he stands for the intellectual         
faculties1 a cool head1 and whatever    
serves to keep it cool2 no unadvised    
industry1 no unrewarded self-devotion1  
no loss of the brains in toil4 ,am ,i an
 ox1 or a dray8--,you are both in       
extremes1 he says4 ,you that will have  
all solid1 and a world of pig-lead1     
deceive yourselves grossly4 ,you believe
 yourselves rooted and grounded on      
adamant2 and1 yet1 if we uncover the    
last facts of our knowledge1 you are    
spinning like bubbles in a river1 you   
know not whither or whence1 and you are 
bottomed and capped and wrapped in      
delusions4  ,neither will he be betrayed
 to a book1 and wrapped in a gown4 ,the 
studious class are their own victims2   
they are thin and pale1 their feet are  
cold1 their heads are hot1 the night is 
without sleep1 the day a fear of        
interruption1--pallor1 squalor1 hunger1 
and egotism4 ,if you come near them1 and
 see what conceits they entertain1--they

 are abstractionists1 and spend their   
days and nights in dreaming some dreams2
 in expecting the homage of society to  
some precious scheme built on a truth1  
but destitute of proportion in its      
presentment1 of justness in its         
application1 and of all energy of will  
in the schemer to embody and vitalize   
it4  ,but ,i see plainly1 he says1 that 
,i cannot see4 ,i know that human       
strength is not in extremes1 but in     
avoiding extremes4 ,i1 at least1 will   
shun the weakness of philosophizing     
beyond my depth4 ,what is the use of    
pretending to powers we have not8 ,what 
is the use of pretending to assurances  
we have not1 respecting the other life8 
,why exaggerate the power of virtue8    
,why be an angel before your time8      
,these strings1 wound up too high1 will 
snap4 ,if there is a wish for           
immortality1 and no evidence1 why not   
say just that8 ,if there are conflicting
 evidences1 why not state them8 ,if     
there is not ground for a candid thinker

 to make up his mind1 yea or nay1--why  
not suspend the judgment8 ,i weary of   
these dogmatizers4 ,i tire of these     
hacks of routine1 who deny the dogmas4  
,i neither affirm nor deny4 ,i stand    
here to try the case4 ,i am here to     
consider1--to consider how it is4 ,i    
will try to keep the balance true4 ,of  
what use to take the chair1 and glibly  
rattle off theories of societies1       
religion1 and nature1 when ,i know that 
practical objections lie in the way1    
insurmountable by me and by my mates8   
,why so talkative in public1 when each  
of my neighbors can pin me to my seat by
 arguments ,i cannot refute8 ,why       
pretend that life is so simple a game1  
when we know how subtle and elusive the 
,proteus is8 ,why think to shut up all  
things in your narrow coop1 when we know
 there are not one or two only1 but ten1
 twenty1 a thousand things1 and unlike8 
,why fancy that you have all the truth  
in your keeping8 ,there is much to say  
on all sides4  ,who shall forbid a wise 

skepticism1 seeing that there is no     
practical question on which anything    
more than an approximate solution can be
 had8 ,is not marriage an open question 
when it is alleged1 from the beginning  
of the world1 that such as are in the   
institution wish to get out1 and such as
 are out wish to get in8 ,and the reply 
of ,socrates1 to him who asked whether  
he should choose a wife1 still remains  
reasonable1 that1 whether he should     
choose one or not1 he would repent it4  
,is not the state a question8 ,all      
society is divided in opinion on the    
subject of the state4 ,nobody loves it2 
great numbers dislike it1 and suffer    
conscientious scruples to allegiance3   
and the only defense set up1 is1 the    
fear of doing worse in disorganizing4   
,is it otherwise with the church8 ,or1  
to put any of the questions which touch 
mankind nearest1--shall the young man   
aim at a leading part in law1 in        
politics1 in trade8 ,it will not be     
pretended that a success in either of   

these kinds is quite coincident with    
what is best and inmost in his mind4    
,shall he1 then1 cutting the stays that 
hold him fast to the social state1 put  
out to sea with no guidance but his     
genius8 ,there is much to say on both   
sides4 ,remember the open question      
between the present order of            
competition1 and the friends of         
attractive and associated labor4 ,the   
generous minds embrace the proposition  
of labor shared by all2 it is the only  
honesty2 nothing else is safe4 ,it is   
from the poor man's hut alone1 that     
strength and virtue come2 and yet1 on   
the other side1 it is alleged that labor
 impairs the form1 and breaks the spirit
 of man1 and the laborers cry           
unanimously1 ,we have no thoughts4      
,culture1 how indispensable6 ,i cannot  
forgive you the want of accomplishment2 
and yet1 culture will instantly destroy 
that chiefest beauty of spontaneousness4
 ,excellent is culture for a savage2 but
 once let him read in the book1 and he  

is no longer able not to think of       
,plutarch's heroes4 ,in short1 since    
true fortitude of understanding consists
 in not letting what we know be         
embarrassed by what we do not know1 we  
ought to secure those advantages which  
we can command1 and not risk them by    
clutching after the airy and            
unattainable4 ,come1 no chimeras6 ,let  
us go abroad2 let us mix in affairs2 let
 us learn1 and get1 and have1 and climb4
 ,men are a sort of moving plants1 and1 
like trees1 receive a great part of     
their nourishment from the air4 ,if they
 keep too much at home1 they pine4 ,let 
us have a robust1 manly life2 let us    
know what we know1 for certain2 what we 
have1 let it be solid1 and seasonable1  
and our own4 ,a world in the hand is    
worth two in the bush4 ,let us have to  
do with real men and women1 and not with
 skipping ghosts4  ,this1 then1 is the  
right ground of the skeptic1--this of   
consideration1 of self-containing2 not  
at all of unbelief2 not at all of       

universal denying1 nor of universal     
doubting1--doubting even that he doubts2
 least of all1 of scoffing and          
profligate jeering at all that is stable
 and good4 ,these are no more his moods 
than are those of religion and          
philosophy4 ,he is the considerer1 the  
prudent1 taking in sail1 counting stock1
 husbanding his means1 believing that a 
man has too many enemies1 than that he  
can afford to be his own2 that we cannot
 give ourselves too many advantages1 in 
this unequal conflict1 with powers so   
vast and unweariable ranged on one side1
 and this little1 conceited1 vulnerable 
popinjay that a man is1 bobbing up and  
down into every danger1 on the other4   
,it is a position taken up for better   
defense1 as of more safety1 and one that
 can be maintained2 and it is one of    
more opportunity and range2 as1 when we 
build a house1 the rule is1 to set it   
not too high nor too low1 under the     
wind1 but out of the dirt4  ,the        
philosophy we want is one of fluxions   

and mobility4 ,the ,spartan and ,stoic  
schemes are too stark and stiff for our 
occasion4 ,a theory of ,saint ,john1 and
 of non-resistance1 seems1 on the other 
hand1 too thin and aerial4 ,we want some
 coat woven of elastic steel1 stout as  
the first1 and limber as the second4 ,we
 want a ship in these billows we        
inhabit4 ,an angular1 dogmatic house    
would be rent to chips and splinters1 in
 this storm of many elements4 ,no1 it   
must be tight1 and fit to the form of   
man1 to live at all2 as a shell is the  
architecture of a house founded on the  
sea4 ,the soul of man must be the type  
of our scheme1 just as the body of man  
is the type after which a dwelling-house
 is built4 ,adaptiveness is the         
peculiarity of human nature4 ,we are    
golden averages1 volitant stabilities1  
compensated or periodic errors1 houses  
founded on the sea4 ,the wise skeptic   
wishes to have a near view of the best  
game1 and the chief players2 what is    
best in the planet2 art and nature1     

places and events1 but mainly men4      
,everything that is excellent in        
mankind1--a form of grace1 an arm of    
iron1 lips of persuasion1 a brain of    
resources1 every one skilful to play and
 win1--he will see and judge4  ,the     
terms of admission to this spectacle    
are1 that he have a certain solid and   
intelligible way of living of his own2  
some method of answering the inevitable 
needs of human life2 proof that he has  
played with skill and success2 that he  
has evinced the temper1 stoutness1 and  
the range of qualities which1 among his 
contemporaries and countrymen1 entitle  
him to fellowship and trust4 ,for1 the  
secrets of life are not shown except to 
sympathy and likeness4 ,men do not      
confide themselves to boys1 or coxcombs1
 or pedants1 but to their peers4 ,some  
wise limitation1 as the modern phrase   
is2 some condition between the extremes1
 and having itself a positive quality2  
some stark and sufficient man1 who is   
not salt or sugar1 but sufficiently     

related to the world to do justice to   
,paris or ,london1 and1 at the same     
time1 a vigorous and original thinker1  
whom cities cannot overawe1 but who uses
 them1--is the fit person to occupy this
 ground of speculation4  ,these         
qualities meet in the character of      
,montaigne4 ,and yet1 since the personal
 regard which ,i entertain for          
,montaigne may be unduly great1 ,i will1
 under the shield of this prince of     
egotists1 offer1 as an apology for      
electing him as the representative of   
skepticism1 a word or two to explain how
 my love began and grew for this        
admirable gossip4  ,a single odd volume 
of ,cotton's translation of the ,essays 
remained to me from my father's library1
 when a boy4 ,it lay long neglected1    
until1 after many years1 when ,i was    
newly escaped from college1 ,i read the 
book1 and procured the remaining        
volumes4 ,i remember the delight and    
wonder in which ,i lived with it4 ,it   
seemed to me as if ,i had myself written

 the book1 in some former life1 so      
sincerely it spoke to my thought and    
experience4 ,it happened1 when in       
,paris1 in #ahcc1 that1 in the cemetery 
of ,pere le ,chaise1 ,i came to a tomb  
of ,augustus ,collignon1 who died in    
#ahcj1 aged sixty-eight years1 and who1 
said the monument1 lived to do right1   
and had formed himself to virtue on the 
,essays of ,montaigne4 ,some years      
later1 ,i became acquainted with an     
accomplished ,english poet1 ,john       
,sterling2 and1 in prosecuting my       
correspondence1 ,i found that1 from a   
love of ,montaigne1 he had made a       
pilgrimage to his chateau1 still        
standing near ,castellan1 in ,perigord1 
and1 after two hundred and fifty years1 
had copied from the walls of his library
 the inscriptions which ,montaigne had  
written there4 ,that ,journal of ,mr4   
,sterling's1 published in the           
,westminster ,review1 ,mr4 ,hazlitt has 
reprinted in the ,prolegomenae to his   
edition of the ,essays4 ,i heard with   

pleasure that one of the                
newly-discovered autographs of ,william 
,shakspeare was in a copy of ,florio's  
translation of ,montaigne4 ,it is the   
only book which we certainly know to    
have been in the poet's library4 ,and1  
oddly enough1 the duplicate copy of     
,florio1 which the ,british ,museum     
purchased1 with a view of protecting the
 ,shakspeare autograph 7as ,i was       
informed in the ,museum71 turned out to 
have the autograph of ,ben ,jonson in   
the fly-leaf4 ,leigh ,hunt relates of   
,lord ,byron1 that ,montaigne was the   
only great writer of past times whom he 
read with avowed satisfaction4 ,other   
coincidences1 not needful to be         
mentioned here1 concurred to make this  
old ,gascon still new and immortal for  
me4  ,in #aega1 on the death of his     
father1 ,montaigne1 then thirty-eight   
years old1 retired from the practice of 
law1 at ,bordeaux1 and settled himself  
on his estate4 ,though he had been a man
 of pleasure1 and sometimes a courtier1 

his studious habits now grew on him1 and
 he loved the compass1 staidness1 and   
independence of the country gentleman's 
life4 ,he took up his economy in good   
earnest1 and made his farms yield the   
most4 ,downright and plain-dealing1 and 
abhorring to be deceived or to deceive1 
he was esteemed in the country for his  
sense and probity4 ,in the civil wars of
 the ,league1 which converted every     
house into a fort1 ,montaigne kept his  
gates open1 and his house without       
defense4 ,all parties freely came and   
went1 his courage and honor being       
universally esteemed4 ,the neighboring  
lords and gentry brought jewels and     
papers to him for safekeeping4 ,gibbon  
reckons1 in these bigoted times1 but two
 men of liberality in ,france1--,henry  
,,iv4 and ,montaigne4  ,montaigne is the
 frankest and honestest of all writers4 
,his ,french freedom runs into          
grossness2 but he has anticipated all   
censures by the bounty of his own       
confessions4 ,in his times1 books were  

written to one sex only1 and almost all 
were written in ,latin2 so that1 in a   
humorist1 a certain nakedness of        
statement was permitted1 which our      
manners1 of a literature addressed      
equally to both sexes1 do not allow4    
,but1 though a biblical plainness1      
coupled with a most uncanonical levity1 
may shut his pages to many sensitive    
readers1 yet the offence is superficial4
 ,he parades it3 he makes the most of   
it2 nobody can think or say worse of him
 than he does4 ,he pretends to most of  
the vices2 and1 if there be any virtue  
in him1 he says1 it got in by stealth4  
,there is no man1 in his opinion1 who   
has not deserved hanging five or six    
times2 and he pretends no exception in  
his own behalf4 ,five or six as         
ridiculous stories1 too1 he says1 can be
 told of me1 as of any man living4 ,but1
 with all this really superfluous       
frankness1 the opinion of an invincible 
probity grows into every reader's mind4 
,when ,i the most strictly and          

religiously confess myself1 ,i find that
 the best virtue ,i have has in it some 
tincture of vice2 and ,i am afraid that 
,plato1 in his purest virtue 7,i1 who am
 as sincere and perfect a lover of      
virtue of that stamp as any other       
whatever71 if he had listened1 and laid 
his ear close to himself1 would have    
heard some jarring sound of human       
mixture2 but faint and remote1 and only 
to be perceived by himself4  ,here is an
 impatience and fastidiousness at color 
or pretense of any kind4 ,he has been in
 courts so long as to have conceived a  
furious disgust at appearances2 he will 
indulge himself with a little cursing   
and swearing2 he will talk with sailors 
and gypsies1 use flash and street       
ballads2 he has stayed indoors till he  
is deadly sick2 he will to the open air1
 though it rain bullets4 ,he has seen   
too much of gentlemen of the long robe1 
until he wishes for cannibals2 and is so
 nervous1 by factitious life1 that he   
thinks1 the more barbarous man is1 the  

better he is4 ,he likes his saddle4 ,you
 may read theology1 and grammar1 and    
metaphysics elsewhere4 ,whatever you get
 here1 shall smack of the earth and of  
real life1 sweet1 or smart1 or stinging4
 ,he makes no hesitation to entertain   
you with the records of his disease2 and
 his journey to ,italy is quite full of 
that matter4 ,he took and kept this     
position of equilibrium4 ,over his name1
 he drew an emblematic pair of scales1  
and wrote1 ,que sais-je8 under it4 ,as  
,i look at his effigy opposite the      
title-page1 ,i seem to hear him say1    
,you may play old ,poz1 if you will2 you
 may rail and exaggerate1--,i stand here
 for truth1 and will not1 for all the   
states1 and churches1 and revenues1 and 
personal reputations of ,europe1        
overstate the dry fact1 as ,i see it2 ,i
 will rather mumble and prose about what
 ,i certainly know1--my house and barns2
 my father1 my wife1 and my tenants2 my 
old lean bald pate2 my knives and forks2
 what meats ,i eat1 and what drinks ,i  

prefer2 and a hundred straws just as    
ridiculous1--than ,i will write1 with a 
fine crow-quill1 a fine romance4 ,i like
 gray days1 and autumn and winter       
weather4 ,i am gray and autumnal myself1
 and think an undress1 and old shoes    
that do not pinch my feet1 and old      
friends who do not constrain me1 and    
plain topics where ,i do not need to    
strain myself and pump my brains1 the   
most suitable4 ,our condition as men is 
risky and ticklish enough4 ,one cannot  
be sure of himself and his fortune an   
hour1 but he may be whisked off into    
some pitiable or ridiculous plight4 ,why
 should ,i vapor and play the           
philosopher1 instead of ballasting1 the 
best ,i can1 this dancing balloon8 ,so1 
at least1 ,i live within compass1 keep  
myself ready for action1 and can shoot  
the gulf1 at last1 with decency4 ,if    
there be anything farcical in such a    
life1 the blame is not mine2 let it lie 
at fate's and nature's door4  ,the      
,essays1 therefore1 are an entertaining 

soliloquy on every random topic that    
comes into his head2 treating everything
 without ceremony1 yet with masculine   
sense4 ,there have been men with deeper 
insight2 but1 one would say1 never a man
 with such abundance of thoughts2 he is 
never dull1 never insincere1 and has the
 genius to make the reader care for all 
that he cares for4  ,the sincerity and  
marrow of the man reaches to his        
sentences4 ,i know not anywhere the book
 that seems less written4 ,it is the    
language of conversation transferred to 
a book4 ,cut these words1 and they would
 bleed2 they are vascular and alive4    
,one has the same pleasure in it that we
 have in listening to the necessary     
speech of men about their work1 when any
 unusual circumstance give momentary    
importance to the dialogue4 ,for        
blacksmiths and teamsters do not trip in
 their speech2 it is a shower of        
bullets4 ,it is ,cambridge men who      
correct themselves1 and begin again at  
every half-sentence1 and1 moreover1 will

 pun1 and refine too much1 and swerve   
from the matter to the expression4      
,montaigne talks with shrewdness1 knows 
the world1 and books1 and himself1 and  
uses the positive degree2 never shrieks1
 or protests1 or prays2 no weakness1 no 
convulsion1 no superlative2 does not    
wish to jump out of his skin1 or play   
any antics1 or annihilate space or time2
 but is stout and solid2 tastes every   
moment of the day2 likes pain1 because  
it makes him feel himself1 and realize  
things2 as we pinch ourselves to know   
that we are awake4 ,he keeps the plain2 
he rarely mounts or sinks2 likes to feel
 solid ground1 and the stones           
underneath4 ,his writing has no         
enthusiasms1 no aspiration2 contented1  
self-respecting1 and keeping the middle 
of the road4 ,there is but one          
exception1--in his love for ,socrates4  
,in speaking of him1 for once his cheek 
flushes1 and his style rises to passion4
  ,montaigne died of a quinsy1 at the   
age of sixty1 in #aeib4 ,when he came to

 die1 he caused the mass to be          
celebrated in his chamber4 ,at the age  
of thirty-three1 he had been married4   
,but1 he says1 might ,i have had my own 
will1 ,i would not have married ,wisdom 
herself1 if she would have had me2 but  
'tis to much purpose to evade it1 the   
common custom and use of life will have 
it so4 ,most of my actions are guided by
 example1 not choice4 ,in the hour of   
death he gave the same weight to custom4
 ,que sais-je8 ,what do ,i know4  ,this 
book of ,montaigne the world has        
endorsed1 by translating it into all    
tongues1 and printing seventy-five      
editions of it in ,europe2 and that1    
too1 a circulation somewhat chosen1     
namely1 among courtiers1 soldiers1      
princes1 men of the world1 and men of   
wit and generosity4  ,shall we say that 
,montaigne has spoken wisely1 and given 
the right and permanent expression of   
the human mind1 on the conduct of life8 
,we are natural believers4 ,truth1 or   
the connection between cause and effect1

 alone interests us4 ,we are persuaded  
that a thread runs through all things2  
all worlds are strung on it1 as beads2  
and men1 and events1 and life1 come to  
us1 only because of that thread2 they   
pass and repass1 only that we may know  
the direction and continuity of that    
line4 ,a book or statement which goes to
 show that there is no line1 but random 
and chaos1 a calamity out of nothing1 a 
prosperity and no account of it1 a hero 
born from a fool1 a fool from a         
hero1--dispirits us4 ,seen or unseen1 we
 believe the tie exists4 ,talent makes  
counterfeit ties2 genius finds the real 
ones4 ,we hearken to the man of science1
 because we anticipate the sequence in  
natural phenomena which he uncovers4 ,we
 love whatever affirms1 connects1       
preserves2 and dislike what scatters or 
pulls down4 ,one man appears whose      
nature is to all men's eyes conserving  
and constructive2 his presence supposes 
a well-ordered society1 agriculture1    
trade1 large institutions1 and empire4  

,if these did not exist1 they would     
begin to exist through his endeavors4   
,therefore1 he cheers and comforts men1 
who feel all this in him very readily4  
,the nonconformist and the rebel say all
 manner of unanswerable things against  
the existing republic1 but discover to  
our sense no plan of house or state of  
their own4 ,therefore1 though the town1 
and state1 and way of living1 which our 
counselor contemplated1 might be a very 
modest or musty prosperity1 yet men     
rightly go for him1 and reject the      
reformer1 so long as he comes only with 
axe and crowbar4  ,but though we are    
natural conservers and causationists1   
and reject a sour1 dumpish unbelief1 the
 skeptical class1 which ,montaigne      
represents1 have reason1 and every man1 
at some time1 belongs to it4 ,every     
superior mind will pass through this    
domain of equilibration1--,i should     
rather say1 will know how to avail      
himself of the checks and balances in   
nature1 as a natural weapon against the 

exaggeration and formalism of bigots and
 blockheads4  ,skepticism is the        
attitude assumed by the student in      
relation to the particulars which       
society adores1 but which he sees to be 
reverent only in their tendency and     
spirit4 ,the ground occupied by the     
skeptic is the vestibule of the temple4 
,society does not like to have any      
breath of question blown on the existing
 order4 ,but the interrogation of custom
 at all points is an inevitable stage in
 the growth of every superior mind1 and 
is the evidence of its perception of the
 flowing power which remains itself in  
all changes4  ,the superior mind will   
find itself equally at odds with the    
evils of society1 and with the projects 
that are offered to relieve them4 ,the  
wise skeptic is a bad citizen2 no       
conservative2 he sees the selfishness of
 property1 and the drowsiness of        
institutions4 ,but neither is he fit to 
work with any democratic party that ever
 was constituted2 for parties wish every

 one committed1 and he penetrates the   
popular patriotism4 ,his politics are   
those of the ,soul's ,errand of ,sir    
,walter ,raleigh2 or of ,krishna1 in the
 ,bhagavat1 ,there is none who is worthy
 of my love or hatred2 while he         
sentences law1 physic1 divinity1        
commerce1 and custom4 ,he is a reformer3
 yet he is no better member of the      
philanthropic association4 ,it turns out
 that he is not the champion of the     
operative1 the pauper1 the prisoner1 the
 slave4 ,it stands in his mind1 that our
 life in this world is not of quite so  
easy interpretation as churches and     
school-books say4 ,he does not wish to  
take ground against these benevolences1 
to play the part of devil's attorney1   
and blazon every doubt and sneer that   
darkens the sun for him4 ,but he says1  
,there are doubts4  ,i mean to use the  
occasion1 and celebrate the calendar-day
 of our ,saint ,michel de ,montaigne1 by
 counting and describing these doubts or
 negations4 ,i wish to ferret them out  

of their holes1 and sun them a little4  
,we must do with them as the police do  
with old rogues1 who are shown up to the
 public at the marshal's office4 ,they  
will never be so formidable1 when once  
they have been identified and           
registered4 ,but ,i mean honestly by    
them--that justice shall be done to     
their terrors4 ,i shall not take ,sunday
 objections1 made up on purpose to be   
put down4 ,i shall take the worst ,i can
 find1 whether ,i can dispose of them1  
or they of me4  ,i do not press the     
skepticism of the materialist4 ,i know  
the quadruped opinion will not prevail4 
',tis of no importance what bats and    
oxen think4 ,the first dangerous symptom
 ,i report is1 the levity of intellect2 
as if it were fatal to earnestness to   
know much4 ,knowledge is the knowing    
that we cannot know4 ,the dull pray2 the
 geniuses are light mockers4 ,how       
respectable is earnestness on every     
platform6 but intellect kills it4 ,nay1 
,san ,carlo1 my subtle and admirable    

friend1 one of the most penetrating of  
men1 finds that all direct ascension1   
even of lofty piety1 leads to this      
ghastly insight1 and sends back the     
votary orphaned4 ,my astonishing ,san   
,carlo thought the lawgivers and saints 
infected4 ,they found the ark empty2    
saw1 and would not tell2 and tried to   
choke off their approaching followers1  
by saying1 ,action1 action1 my dear     
fellows1 is for you6 ,bad as was to me  
this detection by ,san ,carlo1 this     
frost in ,july1 this blow from a brick1 
there was still a worse1 namely1 the    
cloy or satiety of the saints4 ,in the  
mount of vision1 ere they have yet risen
 from their knees1 they say1 ,we        
discover that this our homage and       
beatitude is partial and deformed2 we   
must fly for relief to the suspected and
 reviled ,intellect1 to the             
,understanding1 the ,mephistopheles1 to 
the gymnastics of latent4  ,this is     
hobgoblin the first2 and1 though it has 
been the subject of much elegy1 in our  

nineteenth century1 from ,byron1        
,goethe1 and other poets of less fame1  
not to mention many distinguished       
private observers1--,i confess it is not
 very affecting to my imagination2 for  
it seems to concern the shattering of   
baby-houses and crockery-shops4 ,what   
flutters the church of ,rome1 or of     
,england1 or of ,geneva1 or of ,boston1 
may yet be very far from touching any   
principle of faith4 ,i think that the   
intellect and moral sentiment are       
unanimous2 and that1 though philosophy  
extirpates bugbears1 yet it supplies the
 natural checks of vice1 and polarity to
 the soul4 ,i think that the wiser a man
 is1 the more stupendous he finds the   
natural and moral economy1 and lifts    
himself to a more absolute reliance4    
,there is the power of moods1 each      
setting at nought all but its own tissue
 of facts and beliefs4 ,there is the    
power of complexions1 obviously         
modifying the dispositions and          
sentiments4 ,the beliefs and unbeliefs  

appear to be structural2 and1 as soon as
 each man attains the poise and vivacity
 which allow the whole machinery to     
play1 he will not need extreme examples1
 but will rapidly alternate all opinions
 in his own life4 ,our life is ,march   
weather1 savage and serene in one hour4 
,we go forth austere1 dedicated1        
believing in the iron links of ,destiny1
 and will not turn on our heel to save  
our life2 but a book1 or a bust1 or only
 the sound of a name1 shoots a spark    
through the nerves1 and we suddenly     
believe in will3 my finger-ring shall be
 the seal of ,solomon3 fate is for      
imbeciles3 all is possible to the       
resolved mind4 ,presently1 a new        
experience gives a new turn to our      
thoughts3 common sense resumes its      
tyranny3 we say1 ,well1 the army1 after 
all1 is the gate to fame1 manners1 and  
poetry3 and1 look you1--on the whole1   
selfishness plants best1 prunes best1   
makes the best commerce1 and the best   
citizen4 ,are the opinions of a man on  

right and wrong1 on fate and causation1 
at the mercy of a broken sleep or an    
indigestion8 ,is his belief in ,god and 
,duty no deeper than a stomach evidence8
 ,and what guaranty for the permanence  
of his opinions8 ,i like not the ,french
 celerity1--a new church and state once 
a week4--,this is the second negation2  
and ,i shall let it pass for what it    
will4 ,as far as it asserts rotation of 
states of mind1 ,i suppose it suggests  
its own remedy1 namely1 in the record of
 larger periods4 ,what is the mean of   
many states2 of all the states8 ,does   
the general voice of ages affirm any    
principle1 or is no community of        
sentiment discoverable in distant times 
and places8 ,and when it shows the power
 of self-interest1 ,i accept that as a  
part of the divine law1 and must        
reconcile it with aspiration the best ,i
 can4  ,the word ,fate1 or ,destiny1    
expresses the sense of mankind1 in all  
ages1--that the laws of the world do not
 always befriend1 but often hurt and    

crush us4 ,fate1 in the shape of ,kinde 
or nature1 grows over us like grass4 ,we
 paint ,time with a scythe2 ,love and   
,fortune1 blind2 and ,destiny1 deaf4 ,we
 have too little power of resistance    
against this ferocity which champs us   
up4 ,what front can we make against     
these unavoidable1 victorious1          
maleficent forces8 ,what can ,i do      
against the influence of ,race1 in my   
history8 ,what can ,i do against        
hereditary and constitutional habits1   
against scrofula1 lymph1 impotence8     
against climate1 against barbarism1 in  
my country8 ,i can reason down or deny  
everything1 except this perpetual       
,belly2 feed he must and will1 and ,i   
cannot make him respectable4  ,but the  
main resistance which the affirmative   
impulse finds1 and one including all    
others1 is in the doctrine of the       
,illusionists4 ,there is a painful rumor
 in circulation1 that we have been      
practiced upon in all the principal     
performances of life1 and free agency is

 the emptiest name4 ,we have been sopped
 and drugged with the air1 with food1   
with woman1 with children1 with         
sciences1 with events which leave us    
exactly where they found us4 ,the       
mathematics1 'tis complained1 leave the 
mind where they find it3 so do all      
sciences2 and so do all events and      
actions4 ,i find a man who has passed   
through all the sciences1 the churl he  
was2 and1 through all the offices1      
learned1 civil1 and social1 can detect  
the child4 ,we are not the less         
necessitated to dedicate life to them4  
,in fact1 we may come to accept it as   
the fixed rule and theory of our state  
of education1 that ,god is a substance1 
and his method is illusion4 ,the eastern
 sages owned the goddess ,yoganidra1 the
 great illusory energy of ,vishnu1 by   
whom1 as utter ignorance1 the whole     
world is beguiled4  ,or1 shall ,i state 
it thus8--,the astonishment of life1 is1
 the absence of any appearance of       
reconciliation between the theory and   

practice of life4 ,reason1 the prized   
reality1 the ,law1 is apprehended1 now  
and then1 for a serene and profound     
moment1 amidst the hubbub of cares and  
works which have no direct bearing on   
it2--is then lost1 for months or years1 
and again found1 for an interval1 to be 
lost again4 ,if we compute it in time1  
we may1 in fifty years1 have half a     
dozen reasonable hours4 ,but what are   
these cares and works the better8 ,a    
method in the world we do not see1 but  
this parallelism of great and little1   
which never react on each other1 nor    
discover the smallest tendency to       
converge4 ,experiences1 fortunes1       
governings1 readings1 writings are      
nothing to the purpose2 as when a man   
comes into the room1 it does not appear 
whether he has been fed on yams or      
buffalo1--he has contrived to get so    
much bone and fibre as he wants1 out of 
rice or out of snow4 ,so vast is the    
disproportion between the sky of law and
 the pismire of performance under it1   

that1 whether he is a man of worth or a 
sot1 is not so great a matter as we say4
 ,shall ,i add1 as one juggle of this   
enchantment1 the stunning               
non-intercourse law which makes         
cooperation impossible8 ,the young      
spirit pants to enter society4 ,but all 
the ways of culture and greatness lead  
to solitary imprisonment4 ,he has been  
often baulked4 ,he did not expect a     
sympathy with his thought from the      
village1 but he went with it to the     
chosen and intelligent1 and found no    
entertainment for it1 but mere          
misapprehension1 distaste1 and scoffing4
 ,men are strangely mistimed and        
misapplied2 and the excellence of each  
is an inflamed individualism which      
separates him more4  ,there are these1  
and more than these diseases of thought1
 which our ordinary teachers do not     
attempt to remove4 ,now shall we1       
because a good nature inclines us to    
virtue's side1 say1 ,there are no       
doubts1--and lie for the right8 ,is life

 to be led in a brave or in a cowardly  
manner8 and is not the satisfaction of  
the doubts essential to all manliness8  
,is the name of virtue to be a barrier  
to that which is virtue8 ,can you not   
believe that a man of earnest and burly 
habit may find small good in tea1       
essays1 and catechism1 and want a       
rougher instruction1 want men1 labor1   
trade1 farming1 war1 hunger1 plenty1    
love1 hatred1 doubt1 and terror1 to make
 things plain to him2 and has he not a  
right to insist on being convinced in   
his own way8 ,when he is convinced1 he  
will be worth the pains4  ,belief       
consists in accepting the affirmations  
of the soul2 unbelief in denying them4  
,some minds are incapable of skepticism4
 ,the doubts they profess to entertain  
are rather a civility or accommodation  
to the common discourse of their        
company4 ,they may well give themselves 
leave to speculate1 for they are secure 
of a return4 ,once admitted to the      
heaven of thought1 they see no relapse  

into night1 but infinite invitation on  
the other side4 ,heaven is within       
heaven1 and sky over sky1 and they are  
encompassed with divinities4 ,others    
there are1 to whom the heaven is brass1 
and it shuts down to the surface of the 
earth4 ,it is a question of temperament1
 or of more or less immersion in nature4
 ,the last class must needs have a      
reflex or parasite faith2 not a sight of
 realities1 but an instinctive reliance 
on the seers and believers of realities4
 ,the manners and thoughts of believers 
astonish them1 and convince them that   
these have seen something which is hid  
from themselves4 ,but their sensual     
habit would fix the believer to his last
 position1 whilst he as inevitably      
advances2 and presently the unbeliever1 
for love of belief1 burns the believer4 
,great believers are always reckoned    
infidels1 impracticable1 fantastic1     
atheistic1 and really men of no account4
 ,the spiritualist finds himself driven 
to express his faith by a series of     

skepticisms4 ,charitable souls come with
 their projects1 and ask his            
cooperation4 ,how can he hesitate8 ,it  
is the rule of mere comity and courtesy 
to agree where you can1 and to turn your
 sentence with something auspicious1 and
 not freezing and sinister4 ,but he is  
forced to say1 ,o1 these things will be 
as they must be3 what can you do8 ,these
 particular griefs and crimes are the   
foliage and fruit of such trees as we   
see growing4 ,it is vain to complain of 
the leaf or the berry3 cut it off2 it   
will bear another just as bad4 ,you must
 begin your cure lower down4 ,the       
generosities of the day prove an        
intractable element for him4 ,the       
people's questions are not his2 their   
methods are not his2 and1 against all   
the dictates of good nature1 he is      
driven to say1 he has no pleasure in    
them4  ,even the doctrines dear to the  
hope of man1 of the divine ,providence1 
and of the immortality of the soul1 his 
neighbors cannot put the statement so   

that he shall affirm it4 ,but he denies 
out of more faith1 and not less4 ,he    
denies out of honesty4 ,he had rather   
stand charged with the imbecility of    
skepticism1 than with untruth4 ,i       
believe1 he says1 in the moral design of
 the universe2 it exists hospitably for 
the weal of the souls2 but your dogmas  
seem to me caricatures2 why should ,i   
make believe them8 ,will any say1 this  
is cold and infidel8 ,the wise and      
magnanimous will not say so4 ,they will 
exult in his far-sighted good-will1 that
 can abandon to the adversary all the   
ground of tradition and common belief1  
without losing a jot of strength4 ,it   
sees to the end of all transgression4   
,george ,fox saw that there was an ocean
 of darkness and death2 but withal1 an  
infinite ocean of light and love which  
flowed over that of darkness4  ,the     
final solution in which skepticism is   
lost is in the moral sentiment1 which   
never forfeits its supremacy4 ,all moods
 may be safely tried1 and their weight  

allowed to all objections3 the moral    
sentiment as easily outweighs them all1 
as any one4 ,this is the drop which     
balances the sea4 ,i play with the      
miscellany of facts1 and take those     
superficial views which we call         
skepticism2 but ,i know that they will  
presently appear to me in that order    
which makes skepticism impossible4 ,a   
man of thought must feel the thought    
that is parent of the universe1 that the
 masses of nature do undulate and flow4 
,this faith avails to the whole         
emergency of life and objects4 ,the     
world is saturated with deity and with  
law4 ,he is content with just and       
unjust1 with sots and fools1 with the   
triumph of folly and fraud4 ,he can     
behold with serenity the yawning gulf   
between the ambition of man and his     
power of performance1 between the demand
 and supply of power1 which makes the   
tragedy of all souls4  ,charles ,fourier
 announced that the attractions of man  
are proportioned to his destinies2 in   

other words1 that every desire predicts 
its own satisfaction4 ,yet1 all         
experience exhibits the reverse of this2
 the incompetency of power is the       
universal grief of young and ardent     
minds4 ,they accuse the divine          
,providence of a certain parsimony4 ,it 
has shown the heaven and earth to every 
child1 and filled him with a desire for 
the whole2 a desire raging1 infinite2 a 
hunger1 as of space to be filled with   
planets2 a cry of famine1 as of devils  
for souls4 ,then for the                
satisfaction1--to each man is           
administered a single drop1 a bead of   
dew of vital power per day1--a cup as   
large as space1 and one drop of the     
water of life in it4 ,each man woke in  
the morning1 with an appetite that could
 eat the solar system like a cake2 a    
spirit for action and passion without   
bounds2 he could lay his hand on the    
morning star2 he could try conclusions  
with gravitation or chemistry2 but1 on  
the first motion to prove his           

strength--hands1 feet1 senses1 gave way1
 and would not serve him4 ,he was an    
emperor deserted by his states1 and left
 to whistle by himself1 or thrust into a
 mob of emperors1 all whistling3 and    
still the sirens sang1 ,the attractions 
are proportioned to the destinies4 ,in  
every house1 in the heart of each       
maiden1 and of each boy1 in the soul of 
the soaring saint1 this chasm is        
found1-- between the largest promise of 
ideal power1 and the shabby experience4 
,the expansive nature of truth comes to 
our succor1 elastic1 not to be          
surrounded4 ,man helps himself by larger
 generalizations4 ,the lesson of life is
 practically to generalize2 to believe  
what the years and the centuries say    
against the hours2 to resist the        
usurpation of particulars2 to penetrate 
to their catholic sense4 ,things seem to
 say one thing1 and say the reverse4    
,the appearance is immoral2 the result  
is moral4 ,things seem to tend downward1
 to justify despondency1 to promote     

rogues1 to defeat the just2 and1 by     
knaves1 as by martyrs1 the just cause is
 carried forward4 ,although knaves win  
in every political struggle1 although   
society seems to be delivered over from 
the hands of one set of criminals into  
the hands of another set of criminals1  
as fast as the government is changed1   
and the march of civilization is a train
 of felonies1 yet1 general ends are     
somehow answered4 ,we see1 now1 events  
forced on1 which seem to retard or      
retrograde the civility of ages4 ,but   
the world-spirit is a good swimmer1 and 
storms and waves cannot drown him4 ,he  
snaps his finger at laws2 and so1       
throughout history1 heaven seems to     
affect low and poor means4 ,through the 
years and the centuries1 through evil   
agents1 through toys and atoms1 a great 
and beneficent tendency irresistibly    
streams4  ,let a man learn to look for  
the permanent in the mutable and        
fleeting2 let him learn to bear the     
disappearance of things he was wont to  

reverence1 without losing his reverence2
 let him learn that he is here1 not to  
work1 but to be worked upon2 and that1  
though abyss open under abyss1 and      
opinion displace opinion1 all are at    
last contained in the ,eternal cause4-- 
,if my bark sink1 'tis to another sea4  
,v4 ,,shakspeare2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,poet4   
,great men are more distinguished by    
range and extent than by originality4   
,if we require the originality which    
consists in weaving1 like a spider1     
their web from their own bowels2 in     
finding clay1 and making bricks and     
building the house1 no great men are    
original4 ,nor does valuable originality
 consist in unlikeness to other men4    
,the hero is in the press of knights1   
and the thick of events2 and1 seeing    
what men want1 and sharing their desire1
 he adds the needful length of sight and
 of arm1 to come at the desired point4  
,the greatest genius is the most        
indebted man4 ,a poet is no rattlebrain1
 saying what comes uppermost1 and1      

because he says everything1 saying1 at  
last1 something good2 but a heart in    
unison with his time and country4 ,there
 is nothing whimsical and fantastic in  
his production1 but sweet and sad       
earnest1 freighted with the weightiest  
convictions1 and pointed with the most  
determined aim which any man or class   
knows of in his times4  ,the ,genius of 
our life is jealous of individuals1 and 
will not have any individual great1     
except through the general4 ,there is no
 choice to genius4 ,a great man does not
 wake up on some fine morning1 and say1 
,i am full of life1 ,i will go to sea1  
and find an ,antarctic continent3 to-day
 ,i will square the circle3 ,i will     
ransack botany1 and find a new food for 
man3 ,i have a new architecture in my   
mind3 ,i foresee a new mechanic power2  
no1 but he finds himself in the river of
 the thoughts and events1 forced onward 
by the ideas and necessities of his     
contemporaries4 ,he stands where all the
 eyes of men look one way1 and their    

hands all point in the direction in     
which he should go4 ,the church has     
reared him amidst rites and pomps1 and  
he carries out the advice which her     
music gave him1 and builds a cathedral  
needed by her chants and processions4   
,he finds a war raging3 it educates him 
by trumpet1 in barracks1 and he betters 
the instruction4 ,he finds two counties 
groping to bring coal1 or flour1 or     
fish1 from the place of production to   
the place of consumption1 and he hits on
 a railroad4 ,every master has found his
 materials collected1 and his power lay 
in his sympathy with his people1 and in 
his love of the materials he wrought in4
 ,what an economy of power6 and what a  
compensation for the shortness of life6 
,all is done to his hand4 ,the world has
 brought him thus far on his way4 ,the  
human race has gone out before him1 sunk
 the hills1 filled the hollows1 and     
bridged the rivers4 ,men1 nations1      
poets1 artisans1 women1 all have worked 
for him1 and he enters into their       

labors4 ,choose any other thing1 out of 
the line of tendency1 out of the        
national feeling and history1 and he    
would have all to do for himself3 his   
powers would be expended in the first   
preparations4 ,great genial power1 one  
would almost say1 consists in not being 
original at all2 in being altogether    
receptive2 in letting the world do all1 
and suffering the spirit of the hour to 
pass unobstructed through the mind4     
,shakspeare's youth fell in a time when 
the ,english people were importunate for
 dramatic entertainments4 ,the court    
took offence easily at political        
allusions1 and attempted to suppress    
them4 ,the ,puritans1 a growing and     
energetic party1 and the religious among
 the ,anglican church1 would suppress   
them4 ,but the people wanted them4      
,inn-yards1 houses without roofs1 and   
extemporaneous enclosures at country    
fairs1 were the ready theatres of       
strolling players4 ,the people had      
tasted this new joy2 and1 as we could   

not hope to suppress newspapers         
now1--no1 not by the strongest          
party1--neither then could king1        
prelate1 or puritan1 alone or united1   
suppress an organ1 which was ballad1    
epic1 newspaper1 caucus1 lecture1 punch1
 and library1 at the same time4         
,probably king1 prelate and puritan1 all
 found their own account in it4 ,it had 
become1 by all causes1 a national       
interest1--by no means conspicuous1 so  
that some great scholar would have      
thought of treating it in an ,english   
history1--but not a whit less           
considerable1 because it was cheap1 and 
of no account1 like a baker's-shop4 ,the
 best proof of its vitality is the crowd
 of writers which suddenly broke into   
this field2 ,kyd1 ,marlow1 ,greene1     
,jonson1 ,chapman1 ,dekker1 ,webster1   
,heywood1 ,middleton1 ,peele1 ,ford1    
,massinger1 ,beaumont1 and ,fletcher4   
,the secure possession1 by the stage1 of
 the public mind1 is of the first       
importance to the poet who works for it4

 ,he loses no time in idle experiments4 
,here is audience and expectation       
prepared4 ,in the case of ,shakespeare  
there is much more4 ,at the time when he
 left ,stratford1 and went up to        
,london1 a great body of stage-plays1 of
 all dates and writers1 existed in      
manuscript1 and were in turn produced on
 the boards4 ,here is the ,tale of      
,troy1 which the audience will bear     
hearing some part of every week2 the    
,death of ,julius ,caesar1 and other    
stories out of ,plutarch1 which they    
never tire of2 a shelf full of ,english 
history1 from the chronicles of ,brut   
and ,arthur1 down to the royal ,henries1
 which men hear eagerly2 and a string of
 doleful tragedies1 merry ,italian      
tales1 and ,spanish voyages1 which all  
the ,london 'prentices know4 ,all the   
mass has been treated1 with more or less
 skill1 by every playwright1 and the    
prompter has the soiled and tattered    
manuscripts4 ,it is now no longer       
possible to say who wrote them first4   

,they have been the property of the     
,theatre so long1 and so many rising    
geniuses have enlarged or altered them1 
inserting a speech1 or a whole scene1 or
 adding a song1 that no man can any     
longer claim copyright on this work of  
numbers4 ,happily1 no man wishes to4    
,they are not yet desired in that way4  
,we have few readers1 many spectators   
and hearers4 ,they had best lie where   
they are4  ,shakspeare1 in common with  
his comrades1 esteemed the mass of old  
plays1 waste stock1 in which any        
experiment could be freely tried4 ,had  
the prestige which hedges about a modern
 tragedy existed1 nothing could have    
been done4 ,the rude warm blood of the  
living ,england circulated in the play1 
as in street-ballads1 and gave body     
which he wanted to his airy and majestic
 fancy4 ,the poet needs a ground in     
popular tradition on which he may work1 
and which1 again1 may restrain his art  
within the due temperance4 ,it holds him
 to the people1 supplies a foundation   

for his edifice2 and1 in furnishing so  
much work done to his hand1 leaves him  
at leisure1 and in full strength for the
 audacities of his imagination4 ,in     
short1 the poet owes to his legend what 
sculpture owed to the temple4 ,sculpture
 in ,egypt1 and in ,greece1 grew up in  
subordination to architecture4 ,it was  
the ornament of the temple wall3 at     
first1 a rude relief carved on          
pediments1 then the relief became       
bolder1 and a head or arm was projected 
from the wall1 the groups being still   
arrayed with reference to the building1 
which serves also as a frame to hold the
 figures2 and when1 at last1 the        
greatest freedom of style and treatment 
was reached1 the prevailing genius of   
architecture still enforced a certain   
calmness and continence in the statue4  
,as soon as the statue was begun for    
itself1 and with no reference to the    
temple or palace1 the art began to      
decline3 freak1 extravagance1 and       
exhibition1 took the place of the old   

temperance4 ,this balance-wheel1 which  
the sculptor found in architecture1 the 
perilous irritability of poetic talent  
found in the accumulated dramatic       
materials to which the people were      
already wonted1 and which had a certain 
excellence which no single genius1      
however extraordinary1 could hope to    
create4  ,in point of fact1 it appears  
that ,shakspeare did owe debts in all   
directions1 and was able to use whatever
 he found2 and the amount of            
indebtedness may be inferred from       
,malone's laborious computations in     
regard to the ,first1 ,second1 and      
,third parts of ,henry ,,vi41 in which1 
out of #fjdc lines1 #agga were written  
by some author preceding ,shakspeare2   
#bcgc by him1 on the foundation laid by 
his predecessors2 and #ahii were        
entirely his own4 ,and the preceding    
investigation hardly leaves a single    
drama of his absolute invention4        
,malone's sentence is an important piece
 of external history4 ,in ,henry        

,,viii41 ,i think ,i see plainly the    
cropping out of the original rock on    
which his own finer stratum was laid4   
,the first play was written by a        
superior1 thoughtful man1 with a vicious
 ear4 ,i can mark his lines1 and know   
well their cadence4 ,see ,wolsey's      
soliloquy1 and the following scene with 
,cromwell1 where1--instead of the metre 
of ,shakspeare1 whose secret is1 that   
the thought constructs the tune1 so that
 reading for the sense will best bring  
out the rhythm1--here the lines are     
constructed on a given tune1 and the    
verse has even a trace of pulpit        
eloquence4 ,but the play contains1      
through all its length1 unmistakable    
traits of ,shakspeare's hand1 and some  
passages1 as the account of the         
coronation1 are like autographs4 ,what  
is odd1 the compliment to ,queen        
,elizabeth is in the bad rhythm4        
,shakspeare knew that tradition supplies
 a better fable that any invention can4 
,if he lost any credit of design1 he    

augmented his resources2 and1 at that   
day our petulant demand for originality 
was not so much pressed4 ,there was no  
literature for the million4 ,the        
universal reading1 the cheap press1 were
 unknown4 ,a great poet1 who appears in 
illiterate times1 absorbs into his      
sphere all the light which is anywhere  
radiating4 ,every intellectual jewel1   
every flower of sentiment1 it is his    
fine office to bring to his people2 and 
he comes to value his memory equally    
with his invention4 ,he is therefore    
little solicitous whence his thoughts   
have been derived2 whether through      
translation1 whether through tradition1 
whether by travel in distant countries1 
whether by inspiration2 from whatever   
source1 they are equally welcome to his 
uncritical audience4 ,nay1 he borrows   
very near home4 ,other men say wise     
things as well as he2 only they say a   
good many foolish things1 and do not    
know when they have spoken wisely4 ,he  
knows the sparkle of the true stone1 and

 puts it in high place1 wherever he     
finds it4 ,such is the happy position of
 ,homer1 perhaps2 of ,chaucer1 of       
,saadi4 ,they felt that all wit was     
their wit4 ,and they are librarians and 
historiographers1 as well as poets4     
,each romancer was heir and dispenser of
 all the hundred tales of the world1--  
,presenting ,thebes' and ,pelops' line  
,and the tale of ,troy divine4  ,the    
influence of ,chaucer is conspicuous in 
all our early literature2 and1 more     
recently1 not only ,pope and ,dryden    
have been beholden to him1 but1 in the  
whole society of ,english writers1 a    
large unacknowledged debt is easily     
traced4 ,one is charmed with the        
opulence which feeds so many pensioners4
 ,but ,chaucer is a huge borrower4      
,chaucer1 it seems1 drew continually1   
through ,lydgate and ,caxton1 from      
,guido di ,colonna1 whose ,latin romance
 of the ,trojan war was in turn a       
compilation from ,dares ,phrygius1      
,ovid1 and ,statius4 ,then ,petrarch1   

,boccaccio1 and the ,provencal poets1   
are his benefactors3 the ,romaunt of the
 ,rose is only judicious translation    
from ,william of ,lorris and ,john of   
,meun3 ,troilus and ,creseide1 from     
,lollius of ,urbino3 ,the ,cock and the 
,fox1 from the ,lais of ,marie3 ,the    
,house of ,fame1 from the ,french or    
,italian3 and poor ,gower he uses as if 
he were only a brick-kiln or            
stone-quarry out of which to build his  
house4 ,he steals by this apology1--that
 what he takes has no worth where he    
finds it1 and the greatest where he     
leaves it4 ,it has come to be           
practically a sort of rule in           
literature1 that a man1 having once     
shown himself capable of original       
writing1 is entitled thenceforth to     
steal from the writings of others at    
discretion4 ,thought is the property of 
him who can entertain it2 and of him who
 can adequately place it4 ,a certain    
awkwardness marks the use of borrowed   
thoughts2 but1 as soon as we have       

learned what to do with them1 they      
become our own4  ,thus1 all originality 
is relative4 ,every thinker is          
retrospective4 ,the learned member of   
the legislature1 at ,westminster1 or at 
,washington1 speaks and votes for       
thousands4 ,show us the constituency1   
and the now invisible channels by which 
the senator is made aware of their      
wishes1 the crowd of practical and      
knowing men1 who1 by correspondence or  
conversation1 are feeding him with      
evidence1 anecdotes1 and estimates1 and 
it will bereave his fine attitude and   
resistance of something of their        
impressiveness4 ,as ,sir ,robert ,peel  
and ,mr4 ,webster vote1 so ,locke and   
,rousseau think for thousands2 and so   
there were fountains all around ,homer1 
,menu1 ,saadi1 or ,milton1 from which   
they drew2 friends1 lovers1 books1      
traditions1 proverbs1--all              
perished1--which1 if seen1 would go to  
reduce the wonder4 ,did the bard speak  
with authority8 ,did he feel himself1   

overmatched by any companion8 ,the      
appeal is to the consciousness of the   
writer4 ,is there at last in his breast 
a ,delhi whereof to ask concerning any  
thought or thing1 whether it be verily  
so1 yea or nay8 and to have answer1 and 
to rely on that8 ,all the debt which    
such a man could contract to other wit1 
would never disturb his consciousness of
 originality3 for the ministrations of  
books1 and of other minds1 are a whiff  
of smoke to that most private reality   
with which he has conversed4  ,it is    
easy to see that what is best written or
 done by genius1 in the world1 was no   
man's work1 but came by wide social     
labor1 when a thousand wrought like one1
 sharing the same impulse4 ,our ,english
 ,bible is a wonderful specimen of the  
strength and music of the ,english      
language4 ,but it was not made by one   
man1 or at one time2 but centuries and  
churches brought it to perfection4      
,there never was a time when there was  
not some translation existing4 ,the     

,liturgy1 admired for its energy and    
pathos1 is an anthology of the piety of 
ages and nations1 a translation of the  
prayers and forms of the ,catholic      
church1--these collected1 too1 in long  
periods1 from the prayers and           
meditations of every saint and sacred   
writer1 all over the world4 ,grotius    
makes the like remark in respect to the 
,lord's ,prayer1 that the single clauses
 of which it is composed were already in
 use1 in the time of ,christ1 in the    
rabbinical forms4 ,he picked out the    
grains of gold4 ,the nervous language of
 the ,common ,law1 the impressive forms 
of our courts1 and the precision and    
substantial truth of the legal          
distinctions1 are the contribution of   
all the sharp-sighted1 strong-minded men
 who have lived in the countries where  
these laws govern4 ,the translation of  
,plutarch gets its excellence by being  
translation on translation4 ,there never
 was a time when there was none4 ,all   
the truly diomatic and national phrases 

are kept1 and all others successively   
picked out and thrown away4 ,something  
like the same process had gone on1 long 
before1 with the originals of these     
books4 ,the world takes liberties with  
world-books4 ,vedas1 ,aesop's ,fables1  
,pilpay1 ,arabian ,nights1 ,cid1 ,iliad1
 ,robin ,hood1 ,scottish ,minstrelsy1   
are not the work of single men4 ,in the 
composition of such works1 the time     
thinks1 the market thinks1 the mason1   
the carpenter1 the merchant1 the farmer1
 the fop1 all think for us4 ,every book 
supplies its time with one good word2   
every municipal law1 every trade1 every 
folly of the day1 and the generic       
catholic genius who is not afraid or    
ashamed to owe his originality to the   
originality of all1 stands with the next
 age as the recorder and embodiment of  
his own4  ,we have to thank the         
researches of antiquaries1 and the      
,shakspeare ,society1 for ascertaining  
the steps of the ,english drama1 from   
the ,mysteries celebrated in churches   

and by churchmen1 and the final         
detachment from the church1 and the     
completion of secular plays1 from       
,ferrex and ,porrex1 and ,gammer        
,gurton's ,needle1 down to the          
possession of the stage by the very     
pieces which ,shakspeare altered1       
remodelled1 and finally made his own4   
,elated with success1 and piqued by the 
growing interest of the problem1 they   
have left no book-stall unsearched1 no  
chest in a garret unopened1 no file of  
old yellow accounts to decompose in damp
 and worms1 so keen was the hope to     
discover whether the boy ,shakspeare    
poached or not1 whether he held horses  
at the theater door1 whether he kept    
school1 and why he left in his will only
 his second-best bed to ,ann ,hathaway1 
his wife4  ,there is somewhat touching  
in the madness with which the passing   
age mischooses the object on which all  
candles shine1 and all eyes are turned2 
the care with which it registers every  
trifle touching ,queen ,elizabeth1 and  

,king ,james1 and the ,essexes1         
,leicesters1 ,burleighs1 and            
,buckinghams2 and let pass without a    
single valuable note the founder of     
another dynasty1 which alone will cause 
the ,tudor dynasty to be                
remembered1--the man who carries the    
,saxon race in him by the inspiration   
which feeds him1 and on whose thoughts  
the foremost people of the world are now
 for some ages to be nourished1 and     
minds to receive this and not another   
bias4 ,a popular player1--nobody        
suspected he was the poet of the human  
race2 and the secret was kept as        
faithfully from poets and intellectual  
men1 as from courtiers and frivolous    
people4 ,bacon1 who took the inventory  
of the human understanding for his      
times1 never mentioned his name4 ,ben   
,jonson1 though we have strained his few
 words of regard and panegyric1 had no  
suspicion of the elastic fame whose     
first vibrations he was attempting4 ,he 
no doubt thought the praise he has      

conceded to him generous1 and esteemed  
himself1 out of all question1 the better
 poet of the two4  ,if it need wit to   
know wit1 according to the proverb1     
,shakspeare's time should be capable of 
recognizing it4 ,sir ,henry ,wotton was 
born four years after ,shakspeare1 and  
died twenty-three years after him2 and  
,i find among his correspondents and    
acquaintances1 the following persons3   
,theodore ,beza1 ,isaac ,casaubon1 ,sir 
,philip ,sidney1 ,earl of ,essex1 ,lord 
,bacon1 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 ,john    
,milton1 ,sir ,henry ,vane1 ,isaac      
,walton1 ,dr4 ,donne1 ,abraham ,cowley1 
,bellarmine1 ,charles ,cotton1 ,john    
,pym1 ,john ,hales1 ,kepler1 ,vieta1    
,albericus ,gentilis1 ,paul ,sarpi1     
,ariminius2 with all of whom exist some 
token of his having communicated1       
without enumerating many others1 whom   
doubtless he saw1--,shakspeare1         
,spenser1 ,jonson1 ,beaumont1           
,massinger1 two ,herberts1 ,marlow1     
,chapman1 and the rest4 ,since the      

constellation of great men who appeared 
in ,greece in the time of ,pericles1    
there was never any such society2--yet  
their genius failed them to find out the
 best head in the universe4 ,our poet's 
mask was impenetrable4 ,you cannot see  
the mountain near4 ,it took a century to
 make it suspected2 and not until two   
centuries had passed1 after his death1  
did any criticism which we think        
adequate begin to appear4 ,it was not   
possible to write the history of        
,shakspeare till now2 for he is the     
father of ,german literature3 it was on 
the introduction of ,shakspeare into    
,german by ,lessing1 and the translation
 of his works by ,wieland and ,schlegel1
 that the rapid burst of ,german        
literature was most intimately          
connected4 ,it was not until the        
nineteenth century1 whose speculative   
genius is a sort of living ,hamlet1 that
 the tragedy of ,hamlet should find such
 wondering readers4 ,now1 literature1   
philosophy1 and thought are             

,shakspearized4 ,his mind is the horizon
 beyond which1 at present1 we do not    
see4 ,our ears are educated to music by 
his rhythm4 ,coleridge and ,goethe are  
the only critics who have expressed our 
convictions with any adequate fidelity3 
but there is in all cultivated minds a  
silent appreciation of his superlative  
power and beauty1 which1 like           
,christianity1 qualifies the period4    
,the ,shakspeare ,society have inquired 
in all directions1 advertised the       
missing facts1 offered money for any    
information that will lead to proof2 and
 with what results8 ,beside some        
important illustration of the history of
 the ,english stage1 to which ,i have   
adverted1 they have gleaned a few facts 
touching the property1 and dealings in  
regard to property1 of the poet4 ,it    
appears that1 from year to year1 he     
owned a larger share in the             
,blackfriars' ,theater3 its wardrobe and
 other appurtenances were his3 that he  
bought an estate in his native village1 

with his earnings1 as writer and        
shareholder2 that he lived in the best  
house in ,stratford2 was intrusted by   
his neighbors with their commissions in 
,london1 as of borrowing money1 and the 
like2 that he was a veritable farmer4   
,about the time when he was writing     
,macbeth1 he sues ,philip ,rogers1 in   
the borough-court of ,stratford1 for    
thirty-five shillings ten pence1 for    
corn delivered to him at different      
times2 and1 in all respects1 appears as 
a good husband1 with no reputation for  
eccentricity or excess4 ,he was a       
good-natured sort of man1 an actor and  
shareholder in the theater1 not in any  
striking manner distinguished from other
 actors and managers4 ,i admit the      
importance of this information4 ,it was 
well worth the pains that have been     
taken to procure it4  ,but whatever     
scraps of information concerning his    
condition these researches may have     
rescued1 they can shed no light upon    
that infinite invention which is the    

concealed magnet of his attraction for  
us4 ,we are very clumsy writers of      
history4 ,we tell the chronicle of      
parentage1 birth1 birthplace1 schooling1
 schoolmates1 earning of money1         
marriage1 publication of books1         
celebrity1 death2 and when we have come 
to an end of this gossip1 no ray of     
relation appears between it and the     
goddess-born2 and it seems as if1 had we
 dipped at random into the ,modern      
,plutarch1 and read any other life      
there1 it would have fitted the poems as
 well1 ,it is the essence of poetry to  
spring1 like the rainbow daughter of    
,wonder1 from the invisible1 to abolish 
the past1 and refuse all history4       
,malone1 ,warburton1 ,dyce1 and         
,collier1 have wasted their oil4 ,the   
famed theaters1 ,covent ,garden1 ,drury 
,lane1 the ,park1 and ,tremont1 have    
vainly assisted4 ,betterton1 ,garrick1  
,kemble1 ,kean1 and ,macready1 dedicate 
their lives to this genius2 him they    
crown1 elucidate1 obey1 and express4    

,the genius knows them not4 ,the        
recitation begins2 one golden word leaps
 out immortal from all this painted     
pedantry1 and sweetly torments us with  
invitations to its own inaccessible     
homes4 ,i remember1 ,i went once to see 
the ,hamlet of a famed performer1 the   
pride of the ,english stage2 and all ,i 
then heard1 and all ,i now remember1 of 
the tragedian1 was that in which the    
tragedian had no part2 simply1 ,hamlet's
 question to the ghost1--               
,what may this mean1   ,that thou1 dead 
corse1 again in complete steel          
,revisit'st thus the glimpses of the    
moon8  ,that imagination which dilates  
the closet he writes into the world's   
dimension1 crowds it with agents in rank
 and order1 as quickly reduces the big  
reality to be the glimpses of the moon4 
,these tricks of his magic spoil for us 
the illusions of the green-room4 ,can   
any biography shed light on the         
localities into which the ,midsummer    
,night's ,dream admits me8 ,did         

,shakspeare confide to any notary or    
parish recorder1 sacristan1 or          
surrogate1 in ,stratford1 the genesis of
 that delicate creation8 ,the forest of 
,arden1 the nimble air of ,scone        
,castle1 the moonlight of ,portia's     
villa1 the antres vast and desarts idle1
 of ,othello's captivity1--where is the 
third cousin1 or grand-nephew1 the      
chancellor's file of accounts1 or       
private letter1 that has kept one word  
of those transcendent secrets4 ,in fine1
 in this drama1 as in all great works of
 art1--in the ,cyclopaean architecture  
of ,egypt and ,india2 in the ,phidian   
sculpture2 the ,gothic minsters2 the    
,italian painting2 the ,ballads of      
,spain and ,scotland1--the ,genius draws
 up the ladder after him1 when the      
creative age goes up to heaven1 and     
gives way to a new1 who see the works1  
and ask in vain for a history4          
,shakspeare is the only biographer of   
,shakspeare2 and even he can tell       
nothing1 except to the ,shakspeare in   

us2 that is1 to our most apprehensive   
and sympathetic hour4 ,he cannot step   
from off his tripod1 and give us        
anecdotes of his inspirations4 ,read the
 antique documents extricated1 analyzed1
 and compared1 by the assiduous ,dyce   
and ,collier2 and now read one of those 
skyey sentences1--aerolites1--which seem
 to have fallen out of heaven1 and      
which1 not your experience1 but the man 
within the breast1 has accepted as words
 of fate2 and tell me if they match2 if 
the former account in any manner for the
 latter2 or1 which gives the most       
historical insight into the man4        
,hence1 though our external history is  
so meager1 yet1 with ,shakspeare for    
biographer1 instead of ,aubrey and      
,rowe1 we have really the information   
which is material1 that which describes 
character and fortune2 that which1 if we
 were about to meet the man and deal    
with him1 would most import us to know4 
,we have his recorded convictions on    
those questions which knock for answer  

at every heart1--on life and death1 on  
love1 on wealth and poverty1 on the     
prizes of life1 and the ways whereby we 
may come at them2 on the characters of  
men1 and the influences1 occult and     
open1 which affect their fortunes3 and  
on those mysterious and demoniacal      
powers which defy our science1 and which
 yet interweave their malice and their  
gift in our brightest hours4 ,who ever  
read the volume of ,sonnets1 without    
finding that the poet had there         
revealed1 under masks that are no masks 
to the intelligent1 the lore of         
friendship and of love2 the confusion of
 sentiments in the most susceptible1    
and1 at the same time1 the most         
intellectual of men8 ,what trait of his 
private mind has he hidden in his       
dramas8 ,one can discern1 in his ample  
pictures of the gentleman and the king1 
what forms and humanities pleased him2  
his delight in troops of friends1 in    
large hospitality1 in cheerful giving4  
,let ,timon1 let ,warwick1 let ,antonio 

the merchant1 answer for his great      
heart4 ,so far from ,shakspeare being   
the least known1 he is the one person1  
in all modern history1 known to us4     
,what point of morals1 of manners1 of   
economy1 of philosophy1 of religion1 of 
taste1 of the conduct of life1 has he   
not settled8 ,what mystery has he not   
signified his knowledge of8 ,what office
 or function1 or district of man's work1
 has he not remembered8 ,what king has  
he not taught state1 as ,talma taught   
,napoleon8 ,what maiden has not found   
him finer than her delicacy8 ,what lover
 has he not outloved8 ,what sage has he 
not outseen8 ,what gentleman has he not 
instructed in the rudeness of his       
behavior8  ,some able and appreciating  
critics think no criticism on           
,shakspeare valuable1 that does not rest
 purely on the dramatic merit2 that he  
is falsely judged as poet and           
philosopher4 ,i think as highly as these
 critics of his dramatic merit1 but     
still think it secondary4 ,he was a full

 man1 who liked to talk2 a brain        
exhaling thoughts and images1 which1    
seeking vent1 found the drama next at   
hand4 ,had he been less1 we should have 
had to consider how well he filled his  
place1 how good a dramatist he was1--and
 he is the best in the world4 ,but it   
turns out2 that what he has to say is of
 that weight1 as to withdraw some       
attention from the vehicle2 and he is   
like some saint whose history is to be  
rendered into all languages1 into verse 
and prose1 into songs and pictures1 and 
cut up into proverbs2 so that the       
occasions which gave the saint's meaning
 the form of a conversation1 or of a    
prayer1 or of a code of laws1 is        
immaterial compared with the            
universality of its application4 ,so it 
fares with the wise ,shakspeare and his 
book of life4 ,he wrote the airs for all
 our modern music3 he wrote the text of 
modern life2 the text of manners3 he    
drew the man of ,england and ,europe2   
the father of the man in ,america3 he   

drew the man and described the day1 and 
what is done in it3 he read the hearts  
of men and women1 their probity1 and    
their second thought1 and wiles2 the    
wiles of innocence1 and the transitions 
by which virtues and vices slide into   
their contraries3 he could divide the   
mother's part from the father's part in 
the face of the child1 or draw the fine 
demarcations of freedom and fate3 he    
knew the laws of repression which make  
the police of nature3 and all the sweets
 and all the terrors of human lot lay in
 his mind as truly but as softly as the 
landscape lies on the eye4 ,and the     
importance of this wisdom of life sinks 
the form1 as of ,drama or ,epic1 out of 
notice4 ',tis like making a question    
concerning the paper on which a king's  
message is written4  ,shakspeare is as  
much out of the category of eminent     
authors1 as he is out of the crowd4 ,he 
is inconceivably wise2 the others1      
conceivably4 ,a good reader can1 in a   
sort1 nestle into ,plato's brain1 and   

think from thence2 but not into         
,shakspeare's4 ,we are still out of     
doors4 ,for executive faculty1 for      
creation1 ,shakspeare is unique4 ,no man
 can imagine it better4 ,he was the     
farthest reach of subtlety compatible   
with an individual self1--the subtilest 
of authors1 and only just within the    
possibility of authorship4 ,with this   
wisdom of life1 is the equal endowment  
of imaginative and of lyric power4 ,he  
clothed the creatures of his legend with
 form and sentiments1 as if they were   
people who had lived under his roof2 and
 few real men have left such distinct   
characters as these fictions4 ,and they 
spoke in language as sweet as it was    
fit4 ,yet his talents never seduced him 
into an ostentation1 nor did he harp on 
one string4 ,an omnipresent humanity    
co-ordinates all his faculties4 ,give a 
man of talents a story to tell1 and his 
partiality will presently appear4 ,he   
has certain observations1 opinions1     
topics1 which have some accidental      

prominence1 and which he disposes all to
 exhibit4 ,he crams this part1 and      
starves that other part1 consulting not 
the fitness of the thing1 but his       
fitness and strength4 ,but ,shakspeare  
has no peculiarity1 no importunate      
topic2 but all is duly given2 no veins1 
no curiosities3 no cow-painter1 no      
bird-fancier1 no mannerist is he3 he has
 no discoverable egotism3 the great he  
tells greatly2 the small subordinately4 
,he is wise without emphasis or         
assertion2 he is strong1 as nature is   
strong1 who lifts the land into mountain
 slopes without effort1 and by the same 
rule as she floats a bubble in the air1 
and likes as well to do the one as the  
other4 ,this makes that equality of     
power in farce1 tragedy1 narrative1 and 
love-songs2 a merit so incessant1 that  
each reader is incredulous of the       
perception of other readers4  ,this     
power of expression1 or of transferring 
the inmost truth of things into music   
and verse1 makes him the type of the    

poet1 and has added a new problem to    
metaphysics4 ,this is that which throws 
him into natural history1 as a main     
production of the globe1 and as         
announcing new eras and ameliorations4  
,things were mirrored in his poetry     
without loss or blur3 he could paint the
 fine with precision1 the great with    
compass2 the tragic and comic           
indifferently1 and without any          
distortion or favor4 ,he carried his    
powerful execution into minute details1 
to a hair point2 finishes an eyelash or 
a dimple as firmly as he draws a        
mountain2 and yet these like nature's1  
will bear the scrutiny of the solar     
microscope4  ,in short1 he is the chief 
example to prove that more or less of   
production1 more or fewer pictures1 is a
 thing indifferent4 ,he had the power to
 make one picture4 ,daguerre learned how
 to let one flower etch its image on his
 plate of iodine2 and then proceeds at  
leisure to etch a million4 ,there are   
always objects2 but there was never     

representation4 ,here is perfect        
representation1 at last2 and now let the
 world of figures sit for their         
portraits4 ,no recipe can be given for  
the making of a ,shakspeare2 but the    
possibility of the translation of things
 into song is demonstrated4  ,his lyric 
power lies in the genius of the piece4  
,the sonnets1 though their excellence is
 lost in the splendor of the dramas1 are
 as inimitable as they3 and it is not a 
merit of lines1 but a total merit of the
 piece2 like the tone of voice of some  
incomparable person1 so is this a speech
 of poetic beings1 and any clause as    
unproducible now as a whole poem4       
,though the speeches in the plays1 and  
single lines1 have a beauty which tempts
 the ear to pause on them for their     
euphuism1 yet the sentence is so loaded 
with meaning1 and so linked with its    
foregoers and followers1 that the       
logician is satisfied4 ,his means are as
 admirable as his ends2 every           
subordinate invention1 by which he helps

 himself to connect some irreconcilable 
opposites1 is a poem too4 ,he is not    
reduced to dismount and walk1 because   
his horses are running off with him in  
some distant direction3 he always rides4
  ,the finest poetry was first          
experience3 but the thought has suffered
 a transformation since it was an       
experience4 ,cultivated men often attain
 a good degree of skill in writing      
verses2 but it is easy to read1 through 
their poems1 their personal history2 any
 one acquainted with parties can name   
every figure3 this is ,andrew1 and that 
is ,rachel4 ,the sense thus remains     
prosaic4 ,it is a caterpillar with      
wings1 and not yet a butterfly4 ,in the 
poet's mind1 the fact has gone quite    
over into the new element of thought1   
and has lost all that is exuvial4 ,this 
generosity abides with ,shakspeare4 ,we 
say1 from the truth and closeness of his
 pictures1 that he knows the lesson by  
heart4 ,yet there is not a trace of     
egotism4  ,one more royal trait properly

 belongs to the poet4 ,i mean his       
cheerfulness1 without which no man can  
be a poet1--for beauty is his aim4 ,he  
loves virtue1 not for its obligation1   
but for its grace3 he delights in the   
world1 in man1 in woman1 for the lovely 
light that sparkles from them4 ,beauty1 
the spirit of joy and hilarity1 he sheds
 over the universe4 ,epicurus relates1  
that poetry hath such charms that a     
lover might forsake his mistress to     
partake of them4 ,and the true bards    
have been noted for their firm and      
cheerful temper4 ,homer lies in         
sunshine2 ,chaucer is glad and erect2   
and ,saadi says1 ,it was rumored abroad 
that ,i was penitent2 but what had ,i to
 do with repentance8 ,not less sovereign
 and cheerful1--much more sovereign and 
cheerful is the tone of ,shakspeare4    
,his name suggests joy and emancipation 
to the heart of men4 ,if he should      
appear in any company of human souls1   
who would not march in his troop8 ,he   
touches nothing that does not borrow    

health and longevity from his festive   
style4  ,and now1 how stands the account
 of man with this bard and benefactor1  
when in solitude1 shutting our ears to  
the reverberations of his fame1 we seek 
to strike the balance8 ,solitude has    
austere lessons2 it can teach us to     
spare both heroes and poets2 and it     
weighs ,shakspeare also1 and finds him  
to share the halfness and imperfections 
of humanity4  ,shakspeare1 ,homer1      
,dante1 ,chaucer1 saw the splendor of   
meaning that plays over the visible     
world2 knew that a tree had another use 
than for apples1 and corn another than  
for meal1 and the ball of the earth1    
than for tillage and roads3 that these  
things bore a second and finer harvest  
to the mind1 being emblems of its       
thoughts1 and conveying in all their    
natural history a certain mute          
commentary on human life4 ,shakspeare   
employed them as colors to compose his  
picture4 ,he rested in their beauty2 and
 never took the step which seemed       

inevitable to such genius1 namely1 to   
explore the virtue which resides in     
these symbols1 and imparts this         
power1--what is that which they         
themselves say8 ,he converted the       
elements1 which waited on his command1  
into entertainments4 ,he was master of  
the revels to mankind4 ,is it not as if 
one should have1 through majestic powers
 of science1 the comets given into his  
hand1 or the planets and their moons1   
and should draw them from their orbits  
to glare with the municipal fireworks on
 a holiday night1 and advertise in all  
towns1 very superior pyrotechny this    
evening6 ,are the agents of nature1 and 
the power to understand them1 worth no  
more than a street serenade1 or the     
breath of a cigar8 ,one remembers again 
the trumpet-text in the ,koran--,the    
heavens and the earth1 and all that is  
between them1 think ye we have created  
them in jest8 ,as long as the question  
is of talent and mental power1 the world
 of men has not his equal to show4 ,but 

when the question is to life1 and its   
materials1 and its auxiliaries1 how does
 he profit me8 ,what does it signify8   
,it is but a ,twelfth ,night1 or        
,midsummer-,night's ,dream1 or a ,winter
 ,evening's ,tale3 what signifies       
another picture more or less8 ,the      
,egyptian verdict of the ,shakspeare    
,societies comes to mind1 that he was a 
jovial actor and manager4 ,i cannot     
marry this fact to his verse4 ,other    
admirable men have led lives in some    
sort of keeping with their thought2 but 
this man1 in wide contrast4 ,had he been
 less1 had he reached only the common   
measure of great authors1 of ,bacon1    
,milton1 ,tasso1 ,cervantes1 we might   
leave the fact in the twilight of human 
fate3 but1 that this man of men1 he who 
gave to the science of mind a new and   
larger subject than had ever existed1   
and planted the standard of humanity    
some furlongs forward into ,chaos1--that
 he should not be wise for himself1--it 
must even go into the world's history1  

that the best poet led an obscure and   
profane life1 using his genius for the  
public amusement4  ,well1 other men1    
priest and prophet1 ,israelite1 ,german1
 and ,swede1 beheld the same objects3   
they also saw through them that which   
was contained4 ,and to what purpose8    
,the beauty straightway vanishes2 they  
read commandments1 all-excluding        
mountainous duty2 an obligation1 a      
sadness1 as of piled mountains1 fell on 
them1 and life became ghastly1 joyless1 
a pilgrim's progress1 a probation1      
beleaguered round with doleful histories
 of ,adam's fall and curse1 behind us2  
with doomsdays and purgatorial and penal
 fires before us2 and the heart of the  
seer and the heart of the listener sank 
in them4  ,it must be conceded that     
these are half-views of half-men4 ,the  
world still wants its poet-priest1 a    
reconciler1 who shall not trifle with   
,shakspeare the player1 nor shall grope 
in graves with ,swedenborg the mourner2 
but who shall see1 speak1 and act1 with 

equal inspiration4 ,for knowledge will  
brighten the sunshine2 right is more    
beautiful than private affection2 and   
love is compatible with universal       
wisdom4     ,,vi4 ,,napoleon2 ,,or1     
,,the ,,man ,,of ,,the ,,world4   ,among
 the eminent persons of the nineteenth  
century1 ,bonaparte is far the best     
known1 and the most powerful2 and owes  
his predominance to the fidelity with   
which he expresses the tone of thought  
and belief1 the aims of the masses of   
active and cultivated men4 ,it is       
,swedenborg's theory1 that every organ  
is made up of homogeneous particles2 or1
 as it is sometimes expressed1 every    
whole is made of similars2 that is1 the 
lungs are composed of infinitely small  
lungs2 the liver1 of infinitely small   
livers2 the kidney1 of little kidneys1  
etc4 ,following this analogy1 if any man
 is found to carry with him the power   
and affections of vast numbers1 if      
,napoleon is ,france1 if ,napoleon is   
,europe1 it is because the people whom  

he sways are little ,napoleons4  ,in our
 society1 there is a standing antagonism
 between the conservative and the       
democratic classes2 between those who   
have made their fortunes1 and the young 
and the poor who have fortunes to make2 
between the interests of dead           
labor1--that is1 the labor of hands long
 ago still in the grave1 which labor is 
now entombed in money stocks1 or in land
 and buildings owned by idle            
capitalists1--and the interests of      
living labor1 which seeks to possess    
itself of land1 and buildings1 and money
 stocks4 ,the first class is timid1     
selfish1 illiberal1 hating innovation1  
and continually losing numbers by death4
 ,the second class is selfish also1     
encroaching1 bold1 self-relying1 always 
outnumbering the other1 and recruiting  
its numbers every hour by births4 ,it   
desires to keep open every avenue to the
 competition of all1 and to multiply    
avenues2--the class of business men in  
,america1 in ,england1 in ,france1 and  

throughout ,europe2 the class of        
industry and skill4 ,napoleon is its    
representative4 ,the instinct of active1
 brave1 able men1 throughout the middle 
class everywhere1 has pointed out       
,napoleon as the incarnate ,democrat4   
,he had their virtues1 and their vices2 
above all1 he had their spirit or aim4  
,that tendency is material1 pointing at 
a sensual success1 and employing the    
richest and most various means to that  
end2 conversant with mechanical powers1 
highly intellectual1 widely and         
accurately learned and skilful1 but     
subordinating all intellectual and      
spiritual forces into means to a        
material success4 ,to be the rich man is
 the end4 ,god has granted says the     
,koran1 to every people a prophet in its
 own tongue4 ,paris1 and ,london1 and   
,new ,york1 the spirit of commerce1 of  
money1 and material power1 were also to 
have their prophet2 and ,bonaparte was  
qualified and sent4  ,every one of the  
million readers of anecdotes1 or        

memoirs1 or lives of ,napoleon1 delights
 in the page1 because he studies in it  
his own history4 ,napoleon is thoroughly
 modern1 and1 at the highest point of   
his fortunes1 has the very spirit of the
 newspapers4 ,he is no saint1--to use   
his own word1 no capuchin1 and he is no 
hero1 in the high sense4 ,the man in the
 street finds in him the qualities and  
powers of other men in the street4 ,he  
finds him1 like himself1 by birth a     
citizen1 who1 by very intelligible      
merits1 arrived at such a commanding    
position1 that he could indulge all     
those tastes which the common man       
possesses1 but is obliged to conceal and
 deny2 good society1 good books1 fast   
traveling1 dress1 dinners1 servants     
without number1 personal weight1 the    
execution of his ideas1 the standing in 
the attitude of a benefactor to all     
persons about him1 the refined          
enjoyments of pictures1 statues1 music1 
palaces1 and conventional               
honors1--precisely what is agreeable to 

the heart of every man in the nineteenth
 century1--this powerful man possessed4 
,it is true that a man of ,napoleon's   
truth of adaptation to the mind of the  
masses around him becomes not merely    
representative1 but actually a          
monopolizer and usurper of other minds4 
,thus ,mirabeau plagiarized every good  
thought1 every good word1 that was      
spoken in ,france4 ,dumont relates that 
he sat in the gallery of the            
,convention1 and heard ,mirabeau make a 
speech4 ,it struck ,dumont that he could
 fit it with a peroration1 which he     
wrote in pencil immediately1 and showed 
to ,lord ,elgin1 who sat by him4 ,lord  
,elgin approved it1 and ,dumont1 in the 
evening1 showed it to ,mirabeau4        
,mirabeau read it1 pronounced it        
admirable1 and declared he would        
incorporate it into his harangue1       
to-morrow1 to the ,assembly4 ,it is     
impossible1 said ,dumont1 as1           
unfortunately1 ,i have shown it to ,lord
 ,elgin4 ,if you have shown it to ,lord 

,elgin1 and to fifty persons beside1 ,i 
shall still speak it to-morrow3 and he  
did speak it1 with much effect1 at the  
next day's session4 ,for ,mirabeau1 with
 his overpowering personality1 felt that
 these things1 which his presence       
inspired1 were as much his own1 as if he
 had said them1 and that his adoption of
 them gave them their weight4 ,much more
 absolute and centralizing was the      
successor to ,mirabeau's popularity1 and
 to much more than his predominance in  
,france4 ,indeed1 a man of ,napoleon's  
stamp almost ceases to have a private   
speech and opinion4 ,he is so largely   
receptive1 and is so placed1 that he    
comes to be a bureau for all the        
intelligence1 wit1 and power1 of the age
 and country4 ,he gains the battle2 he  
makes the code2 he makes the system of  
weights and measures2 he levels the     
,alps2 he builds the road4 ,all         
distinguished engineers1 savants1       
statists1 report to him2 so likewise do 
all good heads in every kind2 he adopts 

the best measures1 sets his stamp on    
them1 and not these alone1 but on every 
happy and memorable expression4 ,every  
sentence spoken by ,napoleon1 and every 
line of his writing1 deserves reading1  
as it is the sense of ,france4          
,bonaparte was the idol of common men1  
because he had in transcendent degree   
the qualities and powers of common men4 
,there is a certain satisfaction in     
coming down to the lowest ground of     
politics1 for we get rid of cant and    
hypocrisy4 ,bonaparte wrought1 in common
 with that great class he represented1  
for power and wealth1--but ,bonaparte1  
specially1 without any scruple as to the
 means4 ,all the sentiments which       
embarrass men's pursuit of these        
objects1 he set aside4 ,the sentiments  
were for women and children4 ,fontanes1 
in #ahjd1 expressed ,napoleon's own     
sense1 when1 in behalf of the ,senate1  
he addressed him1--,sire1 the desire of 
perfection is the worst disease that    
ever afflicted the human mind4 ,the     

advocates of liberty1 and of progress1  
are ideologists2--a word of contempt    
often in his mouth2--,necker is an      
ideologist3 ,lafayette is an ideologist4
  ,an ,italian proverb1 too well known1 
declares that1 if you would succeed1 you
 must not be too good4 ,it is an        
advantage1 within certain limits1 to    
have renounced the dominion of the      
sentiments of piety1 gratitude1 and     
generosity2 since1 what was an          
impassable bar to us1 and still is to   
others1 becomes a convenient weapon for 
our purposes2 just as the river which   
was a formidable barrier1 winter        
transforms into the smoothest of roads4 
,napoleon renounced1 once for all1      
sentiments and affections1 and would    
help himself with his hands and his     
head4 ,with him is no miracle1 and no   
magic4 ,he is a worker in brass1 in     
iron1 in wood1 in earth1 in roads1 in   
buildings1 in money1 and in troops1 and 
a very consistent and wise              
master-workman4 ,he is never weak and   

literary1 but acts with the solidity and
 the precision of natural agents4 ,he   
has not lost his native sense and       
sympathy with things4 ,men give way     
before such a man as before natural     
events4 ,to be sure1 there are men      
enough who are immersed in things1 as   
farmers1 smiths1 sailors1 and mechanics 
generally2 and we know how real and     
solid such men appear in the presence of
 scholars and grammarians2 but these men
 ordinarily lack the power of           
arrangement1 and are like hands without 
a head4 ,but ,bonaparte superadded to   
this mineral and animal force1 insight  
and generalization1 so that men saw in  
him combined the natural and the        
intellectual power1 as if the sea and   
land had taken flesh and begun to       
cipher4 ,therefore the land and sea seem
 to presuppose him4 ,he came unto his   
own1 and they received him4 ,this       
ciphering operative knows what he is    
working with1 and what is the product4  
,he knew the properties of gold and     

iron1 of wheels and ships1 of troops and
 diplomatists1 and required that each   
should do after its kind4  ,the art of  
war was the game in which he exerted his
 arithmetic4 ,it consisted1 according to
 him1 in having always more forces than 
the enemy1 on the point where the enemy 
is attacked1 or where he attacks3 and   
his whole talent is strained by endless 
manoeuvre and evolution1 to march always
 on the enemy at an angle1 and destroy  
his forces in detail4 ,it is obvious    
that a very small force1 skilfully and  
rapidly manoeuvring1 so as always to    
bring two men against one at the point  
of engagement1 will be an overmatch for 
a much larger body of men4  ,the times1 
his constitution1 and his early         
circumstances1 combined to develop this 
pattern democrat4 ,he had the virtues of
 his class1 and the conditions for their
 activity4 ,that common sense1 which no 
sooner respects any end1 than it finds  
the means to effect it2 the delight in  
the use of means2 in the choice1        

simplification1 and combining of means2 
the directness and thoroughness of his  
work2 the prudence with which all was   
seen1 and the energy with which all was 
done1 make him the natural organ and    
head of what ,i may almost call1 from   
its extent1 the modern party4  ,nature  
must have far the greatest share in     
every success1 and so in his4 ,such a   
man was wanted1 and such a man was born2
 a man of stone and iron1 capable of    
sitting on horseback sixteen or         
seventeen hours1 of going many days     
together without rest or food1 except by
 snatches1 and with the speed and spring
 of a tiger in action2 a man not        
embarrassed by any scruples2 compact1   
instant1 selfish1 prudent1 and of a     
perception which did not suffer itself  
to be balked or misled by any pretences 
of others1 or any superstition1 or any  
heat or haste of his own4 ,my hand of   
iron1 he said1 was not at the extremity 
of my arm2 it was immediately connected 
with my head4 ,he respected the power of

 nature and fortune1 and ascribed to it 
his superiority1 instead of valuing     
himself1 like inferior men1 on his      
opinionativeness and waging war with    
nature4 ,his favorite rhetoric lay in   
allusion to his star3 and he pleased    
himself1 as well as the people1 when he 
styled himself the ,child of ,destiny4  
,they charge me1 he said1 with the      
commission of great crimes3 men of my   
stamp do not commit crimes4 ,nothing has
 been more simple than my elevation3    
'tis in vain to ascribe it to intrigue  
or crime3 it was owing to the           
peculiarity of the times1 and to my     
reputation of having fought well against
 the enemies of my country4 ,i have     
always marched with the opinion of great
 masses1 and with events4 ,of what use1 
then1 would crimes be to me8 ,again he  
said1 speaking of his son1 ,my son      
cannot replace me2 ,i could not replace 
myself4 ,i am the creature of           
circumstances4 ,he had a directness of  
action never before combined with so    

much comprehension4 ,he is a realist1   
terrific to all talkers1 and confused   
truth-obscuring persons4 ,he sees where 
the matter hinges1 throws himself on the
 precise point of resistance1 and       
slights all other considerations4 ,he is
 strong in the right manner1 namely1 by 
insight4 ,he never blundered into       
victory1 but won his battles in his     
head1 before he won them on the field4  
,his principal means are in himself4 ,he
 asks counsel of no other4 ,in #agif1 he
 writes to the ,directory3 ,i have      
conducted the campaign without          
consulting any one4 ,i should have done 
no good1 if ,i had been under the       
necessity of conforming to the notions  
of another person4 ,i have gained some  
advantages over superior forces1 and    
when totally destitute of everything1   
because1 in the persuasion that your    
confidence was reposed in me1 my actions
 were as prompt as my thoughts4         
,history is full1 down to this day1 of  
the imbecility of kings and governors4  

,they are a class of persons much to be 
pitied1 for they know not what they     
should do4 ,the weavers strike for      
bread2 and the king and his ministers1  
not knowing what to do1 meet them with  
bayonets4 ,but ,napoleon understood his 
business4 ,here was a man who1 in each  
moment and emergency1 knew what to do   
next4 ,it is an immense comfort and     
refreshment to the spirits1 not only of 
kings1 but of citizens4 ,few men have   
any next2 they live from hand to mouth1 
without plan1 and are ever at the end of
 their line1 and1 after each action1    
wait for an impulse from abroad4        
,napoleon had been the first man of the 
world if his ends had been purely       
public4 ,as he is1 he inspires          
confidence and vigor by the             
extraordinary unity of his action4 ,he  
is firm1 sure1 self-denying1            
self-postponing1 sacrificing everything 
to his aim1--money1 troops1 generals1   
and his own safety also1 to his aim2 not
 misled1 like common adventurers1 by the

 splendor of his own means4 ,incidents  
ought not to govern policy1 he said1 but
 policy1 incidents4 ,to be hurried away 
by every event1 is to have no political 
system at all4 ,his victories were only 
so many doors1 and he never for a moment
 lost sight of his way onward1 in the   
dazzle and uproar of the present        
circumstance4 ,he knew what to do1 and  
he flew to his mark4 ,he would shorten a
 straight line to come at his object4   
,horrible anecdotes may1 no doubt1 be   
collected from his history1 of the price
 at which he bought his successes2 but  
he must not therefore be set down as    
cruel2 but only as one who knew no      
impediment to his will2 not             
bloodthirsty1 not cruel1--but woe to    
what thing or person stood in his way6  
,not bloodthirsty1 but not sparing of   
blood1--and pitiless4 ,he saw only the  
object3 the obstacle must give way4     
,sire1 ,general ,clarke cannot combine  
with ,general ,junot1 for the dreadful  
fire of the ,austrian battery4--,let him

 carry the battery4--,sire1 every       
regiment that approaches the heavy      
artillery is sacrified3 ,sire1 what     
orders8-- ,forward1 forward6 ,seruzier1 
a colonel of artillery1 gives1 in his   
,military ,memoirs1 the following sketch
 of a scene after the battle of         
,austerlitz4--,at the moment in which   
the ,russian army was making its        
retreat1 painfully1 but in good order1  
on the ice of the lake1 the ,emperor    
,napoleon came riding at full speed     
toward the artillery4 ',you are losing  
time1' he cried2 'fire upon those       
masses2 they must be engulfed2 fire upon
 the ice6' ,the order remained          
unexecuted for ten minutes4 ,in vain    
several officers and myself were placed 
on the slope of a hill to produce the   
effect2 their balls and mine rolled upon
 the ice1 without breaking it up4       
,seeing that1 ,i tried a simple method  
of elevating light howitzers4 ,the      
almost perpendicular fall of the heavy  
projectiles produced the desired effect4

 ,my method was immediately followed by 
the adjoining batteries1 and in less    
than no time we buried 'some' ,footnote3
 ,as ,i quote at second-hand1 and cannot
 procure ,seruzier1 ,i dare not adopt   
the high figure ,i find4 thousands of   
,russians and ,austrians under the      
waters of the lake4  ,in the plenitude  
of his resources1 every obstacle seemed 
to vanish4 ,there shall be no ,alps1 he 
said2 and he built his perfect roads1   
climbing by graded galleries their      
steepest precipices1 until ,italy was as
 open to ,paris as any town in ,france4 
,he laid his bones to1 and wrought for  
his crown4 ,having decided what was to  
be done1 he did that with might and     
main4 ,he put out all his strength4 ,he 
risked everything1 and spared nothing1  
neither ammunition1 nor money1 nor      
troops1 nor generals1 nor himself4  ,we 
like to see everything do its office    
after its kind1 whether it be a         
milch-cow or a rattlesnake2 and1 if     
fighting be the best mode of adjusting  

national differences 7as large          
majorities of men seem to agree71       
certainly ,bonaparte was right in making
 it thorough4 ,the grand principle of   
war1 he said1 was1 that an army ought   
always to be ready1 by day and by night1
 and at all hours1 to make all the      
resistance it is capable of making4 ,he 
never economized his ammunition1 but1 on
 a hostile position1 rained a torrent of
 iron1--shells1 balls1 grape-shot1--to  
annihilate all defense4 ,on any point of
 resistance1 he concentrated squadron on
 squadron in overwhelming numbers1 until
 it was swept out of existence4 ,to a   
regiment of horse-chasseurs at          
,lobenstein1 two days before the battle 
of ,jena1 ,napoleon said1 ,my lads1 you 
must not fear death2 when soldiers brave
 death1 they drive him into the enemy's 
ranks4 ,in the fury of assault1 he no   
more spared himself4 ,he went to the    
edge of his possibility4 ,it is plain   
that in ,italy he did what he could1 and
 all that he could4 ,he came1 several   

times1 within an inch of ruin2 and his  
own person was all but lost4 ,he was    
flung into the marsh at ,arcola4 ,the   
,austrians were between him and his     
troops1 in the melee1 and he was brought
 off with desperate efforts4 ,at        
,lonato1 and at other places1 he was on 
the point of being taken prisoner4 ,he  
fought sixty battles4 ,he had never     
enough4 ,each victory was a new weapon4 
,my power would fall1 were ,i not to    
support it by new achievements4         
,conquest has made me what ,i am1 and   
conquest must maintain me4 ,he felt1    
with every wise man1 that as much life  
is needed for conservation as for       
creation4 ,we are always in peril1      
always in a bad plight1 just on the edge
 of destruction1 and only to be saved by
 invention and courage4  ,this vigor was
 guarded and tempered by the coldest    
prudence and punctuality4 ,a thunderbolt
 in the attack1 he was found            
invulnerable in his intrenchments4 ,his 
very attack was never the inspiration of

 courage1 but the result of calculation4
 ,his idea of the best defense consists 
in being still the attacking party4 ,my 
ambition1 he says1 was great1 but was of
 a cold nature4 ,in one of his          
conversations with ,las ,casas1 he      
remarked1 ,as to moral courage1 ,i have 
rarely met with the                     
two-o'clock-in-the-morning kind2 ,i mean
 unprepared courage1 that which1 is     
necessary on an unexpected occasion2 and
 which1 in spite of the most unforeseen 
events1 leaves full freedom of judgment 
and decision2 and he did not hesitate to
 declare that he was himself eminently  
endowed with this                       
two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage1 and 
that he had met with few persons equal  
to himself in this respect4  ,everything
 depended on the nicety of his          
combinations1 and the stars were not    
more punctual than his arithmetic4 ,his 
personal attention descended to the     
smallest particulars4 ,at ,montebello1  
,i ordered ,kellermann to attack with   

eight hundred horse1 and with these he  
separated the six thousand ,hungarian   
grenadiers1 before the very eyes of the 
,austrian cavalry4 ,this cavalry was    
half a league off1 and required a       
quarter of an hour to arrive on the     
field of action2 and ,i have observed1  
that it is always these quarters of an  
hour that decide the fate of a battle4  
,before he fought a battle1 ,bonaparte  
thought little about what he should do  
in case of success1 but a great deal    
about what he should do in case of a    
reverse of fortune4 ,the same prudence  
and good sense mark all his behavior4   
,his instructions to his secretary at   
the ,tuilleries are worth remembering4  
,during the night1 enter my chamber as  
seldom as possible4 ,do not wake me when
 you have any good news to communicate2 
with that there is no hurry4 ,but when  
you bring bad news1 rouse me instantly1 
for then there is not a moment to be    
lost4 ,it was a whimsical economy of the
 same kind which dictated his practice1 

when general in ,italy1 in regard to his
 burdensome correspondence4 ,he directed
 ,bourienne to leave all letters        
unopened for three weeks1 and then      
observed with satisfaction how large a  
part of the correspondence had thus     
disposed of itself1 and no longer       
required an answer4 ,his achievement of 
business was immense1 and enlarges the  
known powers of man4 ,there have been   
many working kings1 from ,ulysses to    
,william of ,orange1 but none who       
accomplished a tithe of this man's      
performance4  ,to these gifts of nature1
 ,napoleon added the advantage of having
 been born to a private and humble      
fortune4 ,in his latter days1 he had the
 weakness of wishing to add to his      
crowns and badges the prescription of   
aristocracy2 but he knew his debt to his
 austere education1 and made no secret  
of his contempt for the born kings1 and 
for the hereditary asses1 as he coarsely
 styled the ,bourbons4 ,he said that1 in
 their exile1 they had learned nothing1 

and forgot nothing4 ,bonaparte had      
passed through all the degrees of       
military service1 but also was citizen  
before he was emperor1 and so had the   
key to citizenship4 ,his remarks and    
estimates discover the information and  
justness of measurement of the middle   
class4 ,those who had to deal with him  
found that he was not to be imposed     
upon1 but could cipher as well as       
another man4 ,this appears in all parts 
of his ,memoirs1 dictated at ,st4       
,helena4 ,when the expenses of the      
empress1 of his household1 of his       
palaces1 had accumulated great debts1   
,napoleon examined the bills of the     
creditors himself1 detected overcharges 
and errors1 and reduced the claims by   
considerable sums4  ,his grand weapon1  
namely1 the millions whom he directed1  
he owed to the representative character 
which clothed him4 ,he interests us as  
he stands for ,france and for ,europe2  
and he exists as captain and king1 only 
as far as the ,revolution1 or the       

interest of the industrious masses found
 an organ and a leader in him4 ,in the  
social interests1 he knew the meaning   
and value of labor1 and threw himself   
naturally on that side4 ,i like an      
incident mentioned by one of his        
biographers at ,st4 ,helena4 ,when      
walking with ,mrs4 ,balcombe1 some      
servants1 carrying heavy boxes1 passed  
by on the road1 and ,mrs4 ,balcombe     
desired them1 in rather an angry tone1  
to keep back4 ,napoleon interfered1     
saying1 ',respect the burden1 ,madam4'  
,in the time of the empire1 he directed 
attention to the improvement and        
embellishment of the market of the      
capital4 ,the market-place1 he said1 is 
the ,louvre of the common people4 ,the  
principal works that have survived him  
are his magnificent roads4 ,he filled   
the troops with his spirit1 and a sort  
of freedom and companionship grew up    
between him and them1 which the forms of
 his court never permitted between the  
officers and himself4 ,they performed1  

under his eye1 that which no others     
could do4 ,the best document of his     
relation to his troops is the order of  
the day on the morning of the battle of 
,austerlitz1 in which ,napoleon promises
 the troops that he will keep his person
 out of reach of fire4 ,this            
declaration1 which is the reverse of    
that ordinarily made by generals and    
sovereigns on the eve of a battle1      
sufficiently explains the devotion of   
the army to their leader4  ,but though  
there is in particulars this identity   
between ,napoleon and the mass of the   
people1 his real strength lay in their  
conviction that he was their            
representative in his genius and aims1  
not only when he courted1 but when he   
controlled1 and even when he decimated  
them by his conscriptions4 ,he knew1 as 
well as any ,jacobin in ,france1 how to 
philosophize on liberty and equality2   
and1 when allusion was made to the      
precious blood of centuries1 which was  
spilled by the killing of the ,duc      

d',enghien1 he suggested1 ,neither is my
 blood ditch-water ,the people felt that
 no longer the throne was occupied1 and 
the land sucked of its nourishment1 by a
 small class of legitimates1 secluded   
from all community with the children of 
the soil1 and holding the ideas and     
superstitions of a long-forgotten state 
of society4 ,instead of that vampire1 a 
man of themselves held1 in the          
,tuilleries1 knowledge and ideas like   
their own1 opening1 of course1 to them  
and their children1 all places of power 
and trust4 ,the day of sleepy1 selfish  
policy1 ever narrowing the means and    
opportunities of young men1 was ended1  
and a day of expansion and demand was   
come4 ,a market for all the powers and  
productions of man was opened3 brilliant
 prizes glittered in the eyes of youth  
and talent4 ,the old1 iron-bound1 feudal
 ,france was changed into a young ,ohio 
or ,new ,york2 and those who smarted    
under the immediate rigors of the new   
monarch1 pardoned them as the necessary 

severities of the military system which 
had driven out the oppressor4 ,and even 
when the majority of the people had     
begun to ask1 whether they had really   
gained anything under the exhausting    
levies of men and money of the new      
master1--the whole talent of the        
country1 in every rank and kindred1 took
 his part1 and defended him as its      
natural patron4 ,in #ahad1 when advised 
to rely on the higher classes1 ,napoleon
 said to those around him1 ,gentlemen1  
in the situation in which ,i stand1 my  
only nobility is the rabble of the      
,faubourgs4  ,napoleon met this natural 
expectation4 ,the necessity of his      
position required a hospitality to every
 sort of talent1 and its appointment to 
trusts2 and his feelings went along with
 this policy4 ,like every superior      
person1 he undoubtedly felt a desire for
 men and compeers1 and a wish to measure
 his power with other masters1 and an   
impatience of fools and underlings4 ,in 
,italy1 he sought for men1 and found    

none4 ,good ,god6 he said1 how rare men 
are6 ,there are eighteen millions in    
,italy1 and ,i have with difficulty     
found two1--,dandolo and ,melzi4 ,in    
later years1 with larger experience1 his
 respect for mankind was not increased4 
,in a moment of bitterness1 he said to  
one of his oldest friends1 ,men deserve 
the contempt with which they inspire me4
 ,i have only to put some gold lace on  
the coat of my virtuous republicans1 and
 they immediately become just what ,i   
wish them4 ,this impatience at levity   
was1 however1 an oblique tribute of     
respect to those able persons who       
commanded his regard1 not only when he  
found them friends and coadjutors1 but  
also when they resisted his will4 ,he   
could not confound ,fox and ,pitt1      
,carnot1 ,lafayette1 and ,bernadotte1   
with the danglers of his court2 and1 in 
spite of the detraction which his       
systematic egotism dictated toward the  
great captains who conquered with and   
for him1 ample acknowledgements are made

 by him to ,lannes ,duroc1 ,kleber1     
,dessaix1 ,massena1 ,murat1 ,ney1 and   
,augereau4 ,if he felt himself their    
patron1 and founder of their fortunes1  
as when he said1 ,i made my generals out
 of mud1 he could not hide his          
satisfaction in receiving from them a   
seconding and support commensurate with 
the grandeur of his enterprise4 ,in the 
,russian campaign1 he was so much       
impressed by the courage and resources  
of ,marshal ,ney1 that he said1 ,i have 
two hundred millions in my coffers1 and 
,i would give them all for ,ney4 ,the   
characters which he has drawn of several
 of his marshals are discriminating1    
and1 though they did not content the    
insatiable vanity of ,french officers1  
are1 no doubt1 substantially just4 ,and1
 in fact1 every species of merit was    
sought and advanced under his           
government4 ,i know1 he said1 the depth 
and draught of water of every one of my 
generals4 ,natural power was sure to be 
well received at his court4 ,seventeen  

men1 in his time1 were raised from      
common soldiers to the rank of king1    
marshal1 duke1 or general2 and the      
crosses of his ,legion of ,honor were   
given to personal valor1 and not to     
family connection4 ,when soldiers have  
been baptized in the fire of a          
battle-field1 they have all one rank in 
my eyes4  ,when a natural king becomes a
 titular king1 everybody is pleased and 
satisfied4 ,the ,revolution entitled the
 strong populace of the ,faubourg ,st4  
,antoine1 and every horse-boy and       
powder-monkey in the army1 to look on   
,napoleon as flesh of his flesh1 and the
 creature of his party3 but there is    
something in the success of grand talent
 which enlists an universal sympathy4   
,for1 in the prevalence of sense and    
spirit over stupidity and malversation1 
all reasonable men have an interest2    
and1 as intellectual beings1 we feel the
 air purified by the electric shock1    
when material force is overthrown by    
intellectual energies4 ,as soon as we   

are removed out of the reach of local   
and accidental partialities1 man feels  
that ,napoleon fights for him2 these are
 honest victories2 this strong          
steam-engine does our work4 ,whatever   
appeals to the imagination1 by          
transcending the ordinary limits of     
human ability1 wonderfully encourages   
and liberates us4 ,this capacious head1 
revolving and disposing sovereignly     
trains of affairs1 and animating such   
multitudes of agents2 this eye1 which   
looked through ,europe2 this prompt     
invention2 this inexhaustible           
resource2--what events6 what romantic   
pictures6 what strange situations6--when
 spying the ,alps1 by a sunset in the   
,sicilian sea2 drawing up his army for  
battle1 in sight of the ,pyramids1 and  
saying to his troops1 ,from the tops of 
those pyramids1 forty centuries look    
down on you2 fording the ,red ,sea2     
wading in the gulf of the ,isthmus of   
,suez4 ,on the shore of ,ptolemais1     
gigantic projects agitated him4 ,had    

,acre fallen1 ,i should have changed the
 face of the world4 ,his army1 on the   
night of the battle of ,austerlitz1     
which was the anniversary of his        
inauguration as ,emperor1 presented him 
with a bouquet of forty standards taken 
in the fight4 ,perhaps it is a little   
puerile1 the pleasure he took in making 
these contrasts glaring2 as when he     
pleased himself with making kings wait  
in his antechambers1 at ,tilsit1 at     
,paris1 and at ,erfurt4  ,we cannot1 in 
the universal imbecility1 indecision1   
and indolence of men1 sufficiently      
congratulate ourselves on this strong   
and ready actor1 who took occasion by   
the beard1 and showed us how much may be
 accomplished by the mere force of such 
virtues as all men possess in less      
degrees2 namely1 by punctuality1 by     
personal attention1 by courage1 and     
thoroughness4 ,the ,austrians1 he said1 
do not know the value of time4 ,i should
 cite him1 in his earlier years1 as a   
model of prudence4 ,his power does not  

consist in any wild or extravagant      
force2 in any enthusiasm1 like          
,mahomet's2 or singular power of        
persuasion2 but in the exercise of      
common sense on each emergency1 instead 
of abiding by rules and customs4 ,the   
lesson he teaches is that which vigor   
always teaches1--that there is always   
room for it4 ,to what heaps of cowardly 
doubts is not that man's life an answer4
 ,when he appeared1 it was the belief of
 all military men that there could be   
nothing new in war2 as it is the belief 
of men to-day1 that nothing new can be  
undertaken in politics1 or in church1 or
 in letters1 or in trade1 or in farming1
 or in our social manners and customs2  
and as it is1 at all times1 the belief  
of society that the world is used up4   
,but ,bonaparte knew better than        
society2 and1 moreover1 knew that he    
knew better4 ,i think all men know      
better than they do2 know that the      
institutions we so volubly commend are  
go-carts and baubles2 but they dare not 

trust their presentiments4 ,bonaparte   
relied on his own sense1 and did not    
care a bean for other people's4 ,the    
world treated his novelties just as it  
treats everybody's novelties1--made     
infinite objection3 mustered all the    
impediments2 but he snapped his finger  
at their objections4 ,what creates great
 difficulty1 he remarks1 in the         
profession of the land commander1 is the
 necessity of feeding so many men and   
animals4 ,if he allows himself to be    
guided by the commissaries1 he will     
never stir1 and all his expeditions will
 fail4 ,an example of his common sense  
is what he says of the passage of the   
,alps in winter1 which all writers1 one 
repeating after the other1 had described
 as impracticable4 ,the winter1 says    
,napoleon1 is not the most unfavorable  
season for the passage of lofty         
mountains4 ,the snow is then firm1 the  
weather settled1 and there is nothing to
 fear from avalanches1 the real and only
 danger to be apprehended in the ,alps4 

,on those high mountains1 there are     
often very fine days in ,december1 of a 
dry cold1 with extreme calmness in the  
air4 ,read his account1 too1 of the way 
in which battles are gained4 ,in all    
battles1 a moment occurs1 when the      
bravest troops1 after having made the   
greatest efforts1 feel inclined to run4 
,that terror proceeds from a want of    
confidence in their own courage2 and it 
only requires a slight opportunity1 a   
pretense1 to restore confidence to them4
 ,the art is to give rise to the        
opportunity1 and to invent the pretense4
 ,at ,arcola1 ,i won the battle with    
twenty-five horsemen4 ,i seized that    
moment of lassitude1 gave every man a   
trumpet1 and gained the day with this   
handful4 ,you see that two armies are   
two bodies which meet1 and endeavor to  
frighten each other3 a moment of panic  
occurs1 and that moment must be turned  
to advantage4 ,when a man has been      
present in many actions1 he             
distinguishes that moment without       

difficulty2 it is as easy as casting up 
an addition4  ,this deputy of the       
nineteenth century added to his gifts a 
capacity for speculation on general     
topics4 ,he delighted in running through
 the range of practical1 of literary1   
and of abstract questions4 ,his opinion 
is always original1 and to the purpose4 
,on the voyage to ,egypt1 he liked1     
after dinner1 to fix on three or four   
persons to support a proposition1 and as
 many to oppose it4 ,he gave a subject1 
and the discussions turned on questions 
of religion1 the different kinds of     
government1 and the art of war4 ,one    
day1 he asked1 whether the planets were 
inhabited8 ,on another1 what was the age
 of the world8 ,then he proposed to     
consider the probability of the         
destruction of the globe1 either by     
water or by fire2 at another time1 the  
truth or fallacy of presentiments1 and  
the interpretation of dreams4 ,he was   
very fond of talking of religion4 ,in   
#ahjf1 he conversed with ,fournier1     

bishop of ,montpelier1 on matters of    
theology4 ,there were two points on     
which they could not agree1 viz41 that  
of hell1 and that of salvation out of   
the pale of the church4 ,the ,emperor   
told ,josephine1 that he disputed like a
 devil on these two points1 on which the
 bishop was inexorable4 ,to the         
philosophers he readily yielded all that
 was proved against religion as the work
 of men and time2 but he would not hear 
of materialism4 ,one fine night1 on     
deck1 amid a clatter of materialism1    
,bonaparte pointed to the stars1 and    
said1 ,you may talk as long as you      
please1 gentlemen1 but who made all     
that8 ,he delighted in the conversation 
of men of science1 particularly of      
,monge and ,berthollet2 but the men of  
letters he slighted2 they were          
manufacturers of phrases4 ,of medicine1 
too1 he was fond of talking1 and with   
those of its practitioners whom he most 
esteemed1-with ,corvisart at ,paris1 and
 with ,antonomarchi at ,st4 ,helena4    

,believe me1 he said to the last1 we had
 better leave off all these remedies3   
life is a fortress which neither you nor
 ,i know anything about4 ,why throw     
obstacles in the way of its defense8    
,its own means are superior to all the  
apparatus of your laboratories4         
,corvisart candidly agreed with me1 that
 all your filthy mixtures are good for  
nothing4 ,medicine is a collection of   
uncertain prescriptions1 the results of 
which1 taken collectively1 are more     
fatal than useful to mankind4 ,water1   
air1 and cleanliness1 are the chief     
articles in my pharmacopeia4  ,his      
memoirs1 dictated to ,count ,montholon  
and ,general ,gourgaud1 at ,st4 ,helena1
 have great value1 after all the        
deduction that1 it seems1 is to be made 
from them1 on account of his known      
disingenuousness4 ,he has the goodnature
 of strength and conscious superiority4 
,i admire his simple1 clear narrative of
 his battles2--good as ,caesar's2 his   
good-natured and sufficiently respectful

 account of ,marshal ,wurmser and his   
other antagonists1 and his own equality 
as a writer to his varying subject4 ,the
 most agreeable portion is the ,campaign
 in ,egypt4  ,he had hours of thought   
and wisdom4 ,in intervals of leisure1   
either in the camp or the palace1       
,napoleon appears as a man of genius1   
directing on abstract questions the     
native appetite for truth1 and the      
impatience of words1 he was wont to show
 in war4 ,he could enjoy every play of  
invention1 a romance1 a bon mot1 as well
 as a stratagem in a campaign4 ,he      
delighted to fascinate ,josephine and   
her ladies1 in a dim-lighted apartment1 
by the terrors of a fiction1 to which   
his voice and dramatic power lent every 
addition4  ,i call ,napoleon the agent  
or attorney of the middle class of      
modern society2 of the throng who fill  
the markets1 shops1 counting-houses1    
manufactories1 ships1 of the modern     
world1 aiming to be rich4 ,he was the   
agitator1 the destroyer of prescription1

 the internal improver1 the liberal1 the
 radical1 the inventor of means1 the    
opener of doors and markets1 the        
subverter of monopoly and abuse4 ,of    
course1 the rich and aristocratic did   
not like him4 ,england1 the center of   
capital1 and ,rome and ,austria1 centers
 of tradition and genealogy1 opposed    
him4 ,the consternation of the dull and 
conservative classes1 the terror of the 
foolish old men and old women of the    
,roman conclave1--who in their despair  
took hold of anything1 and would cling  
to red-hot iron1--the vain attempts of  
statists to amuse and deceive him1 of   
the emperor of ,austria to bribe him2   
and the instinct of the young1 ardent1  
and active men1 everywhere1 which       
pointed him out as the giant of the     
middle class1 make his history bright   
and commanding4 ,he had the virtues of  
the masses of his constituents2 he had  
also their vices4 ,i am sorry that the  
brilliant picture has its reverse4 ,but 
that is the fatal quality which we      

discover in our pursuit of wealth1 that 
it is treacherous1 and is bought by the 
breaking or weakening of the sentiments2
 and it is inevitable that we should    
find the same fact in the history of    
this champion1 who proposed to himself  
simply a brilliant career1 without any  
stipulation or scruple concerning the   
means4  ,bonaparte was singularly       
destitute of generous sentiments4 ,the  
highest-placed individual in the most   
cultivated age and population of the    
world1--he has not the merit of common  
truth and honesty4 ,he is unjust to his 
generals2 egotistic1 and monopolizing2  
meanly stealing the credit of their     
great actions from ,kellermann1 from    
,bernadotte2 intriguing to involve his  
faithful ,junot in hopeless bankruptcy1 
in order to drive him to a distance from
 ,paris1 because the familiarity of his 
manners offends the new pride of his    
throne4 ,he is a boundless liar4 ,the   
official paper1 his ,moniteurs1 and all 
his bulletins1 are proverbs for saying  

what he wished to be believed2 and      
worse1--he sat1 in his premature old    
age1 in his lonely island1 coldly       
falsifying facts1 and dates1 and        
characters1 and giving to history1 a    
theatrical eclat4 ,like all ,frenchmen1 
he has a passion for stage effect4      
,every action that breathes of          
generosity is poisoned by this          
calculation4 ,his star1 his love of     
glory1 his doctrine of the immortality  
of the soul1 are all ,french4 ,i must   
dazzle and astonish4 ,if ,i were to give
 the liberty of the press1 my power     
could not last three days4 ,to make a   
great noise is his favorite design4 ,a  
great reputation is a great noise2 the  
more there is made1 the farther off it  
is heard4 ,laws1 institutions1          
monuments1 nations1 all fall2 but the   
noise continues1 and resounds in after  
ages4 ,his doctrine of immortality is   
simply fame4 ,his theory of influence is
 not flattering4 ,there are two levers  
for moving men1--interest and fear4     

,love is a silly infatuation1 depend    
upon it4 ,friendship is but a name4 ,i  
love nobody4 ,i do not even love my     
brothers2 perhaps ,joseph1 a little1    
from habit1 and because he is my elder2 
and ,duroc1 ,i love him too2 but        
why8--because his character pleases me2 
he is stern and resolute1 and1 ,i       
believe1 the fellow never shed a tear4  
,for my part1 ,i know very well that ,i 
have no true friends4 ,as long as ,i    
continue to be what ,i am1 ,i may have  
as many pretended friends as ,i please4 
,leave sensibility to women2 but men    
should be firm in heart and purpose1 or 
they should have nothing to do with war 
and government4 ,he was thoroughly      
unscrupulous4 ,he would steal1 slander1 
assassinate1 drown1 and poison1 as his  
interest dictated4 ,he had no           
generosity2 but mere vulgar hatred2 he  
was intensely selfish2 he was           
perfidious2 he cheated at cards2 he was 
a prodigious gossip2 and opened letters2
 and delighted in his infamous police2  

and rubbed his hands with joy when he   
had intercepted some morsel of          
intelligence concerning the men and     
women about him1 boasting that he knew  
everything2 and interfered with the     
cutting the dresses of the women2 and   
listened after the hurrahs and the      
compliments of the street1 incognito4   
,his manners were coarse4 ,he treated   
women with low familiarity4 ,he had the 
habit of pulling their ears and pinching
 their cheeks1 when he was in good      
humor1 and of pulling the ears and      
whiskers of men1 and of striking and    
horse-play with them1 to his last days4 
,it does not appear that he listened at 
keyholes1 or1 at least1 that he was     
caught at it4 ,in short1 when you have  
penetrated through all the circles of   
power and splendor1 you were not dealing
 with a gentleman1 at last2 but with an 
impostor and a rogue2 and he fully      
deserves the epithet of ,jupiter        
,scapin1 or a sort of ,scamp ,jupiter4  
,in describing the two parties into     

which modern society divides            
itself1--the democrat and the           
conservative1--,i said1 ,bonaparte      
represents the democrat1 or the party of
 men of business1 against the stationary
 or conservative party4 ,i omitted then 
to say1 what is material to the         
statement1 namely1 that these two       
parties differ only as young and old4   
,the democrat is a young conservative2  
the conservative is an old democrat4    
,the aristocrat is the democrat ripe1   
and gone to seed1--because both parties 
stand on the one ground of the supreme  
value of property1 which one endeavors  
to get1 and the other to keep4          
,bonaparte may be said to represent the 
whole history of this party1 its youth  
and its age2 yes1 and with poetic       
justice1 its fate1 in his own4 ,the     
counter-revolution1 the counter-party1  
still waits for its organ and           
representative1 in a lover and a man of 
truly public and universal aims4  ,here 
was an experiment1 under the most       

favorable conditions1 of the powers of  
intellect without conscience4 ,never was
 such a leader so endowed1 and so       
weaponed2 never leader found such aids  
and followers4 ,and what was the result 
of this vast talent and power1 of these 
immense armies1 burned cities1          
squandered treasures1 immolated millions
 of men1 of this demoralized ,europe8   
,it came to no result4 ,all passed away1
 like the smoke of his artillery and    
left no trace4 ,he left ,france smaller1
 poorer1 feebler1 than he found it2 and 
the whole contest for freedom was to be 
begun again4 ,the attempt was1 in       
principle1 suicidal4 ,france served him 
with life1 and limb1 and estate1 as long
 as it could identify its interest with 
him2 but when men saw that after victory
 was another war2 after the destruction 
of armies1 new conscriptions2 and they  
who had toiled so desperately were never
 nearer to the reward1--they could not  
spend what they had earned1 nor repose  
on their down-beds1 nor strut in their  

chateaux1--they deserted him4 ,men found
 that his absorbing egotism was deadly  
to all other men4 ,it resembled the     
torpedo1 which inflicts a succession of 
shocks on any one who takes hold of it1 
producing spasms which contract the     
muscles of the hand1 so that the man    
cannot open his fingers2 and the animal 
inflicts new and more violent shocks1   
until he paralyzes and kills his victim4
 ,so1 this exorbitant egotist narrowed1 
impoverished1 and absorbed the power and
 existence of those who served him2 and 
the universal cry of ,france1 and of    
,europe1 in #ahad1 was1 enough of him2  
assez de ,bonaparte4  ,it was not       
,bonaparte's fault4 ,he did all that in 
him lay1 to live and thrive without     
moral principle4 ,it was the nature of  
things1 the eternal law of man and of   
the world1 which baulked and ruined him2
 and the result1 in a million           
experiments1 will be the same4 ,every   
experiment1 by multitudes or by         
individuals1 that has a sensual and     

selfish aim1 will fail4 ,the pacific    
,fourier will be as inefficient as the  
pernicious ,napoleon4 ,as long as our   
civilization is essentially one of      
property1 of fences1 of exclusiveness1  
it will be mocked by delusions4 ,our    
riches will leave us sick2 there will be
 bitterness in our laughter2 and our    
wine will burn our mouth4 ,only that    
good profits1 which we can taste with   
all doors open1 and which serves all    
men4     ,,vii4 ,,goethe2 ,,or1 ,,the   
,,writer   ,i find a provision in the   
constitution of the world for the writer
 or secretary1 who is to report the     
doings of the miraculous spirit of life 
that everywhere throbs and works4 ,his  
office is a reception of the facts into 
the mind1 and then a selection of the   
eminent and characteristic experiences4 
,nature will be reported4 ,all things   
are engaged in writing their history4   
,the planet1 the pebble1 goes attended  
by its shadow4 ,the rolling rock leaves 
its scratches on the mountain2 the      

river1 its channel in the soil2 the     
animal1 its bones in the stratum2 the   
fern and leaf their modest epitaph in   
the coal4 ,the falling drop makes its   
sculpture in the sand or the stone4 ,not
 a foot steps into the snow1 or along   
the ground1 but prints in characters    
more or less lasting1 a map of its      
march4 ,every act of the man inscribes  
itself in the memories of his fellows1  
and in his own manners and face4 ,the   
air is full of sounds2 the sky1 of      
tokens2 the ground is all memoranda and 
signatures2 and every object covered    
over with hints1 which speak to the     
intelligent4  ,in nature1 this          
self-registration is incessant1 and the 
narrative is the print of the seal4 ,it 
neither exceeds nor comes short of the  
fact4 ,but nature strives upward2 and1  
in man1 the report is something more    
than print of the seal4 ,it is a new and
 finer form of the original4 ,the record
 is alive1 as that which it recorded is 
alive4 ,in man1 the memory is a kind of 

looking-glass1 which1 having received   
the images of surrounding objects1 is   
touched with life1 and disposes them in 
a new order4 ,the facts which transpired
 do not lie in it inert2 but some       
subside1 and others shine2 so that soon 
we have a new picture1 composed of the  
eminent experiences4 ,the man           
cooperates4 ,he loves to communicate2   
and that which is for him to say lies as
 a load on his heart until it is        
delivered4 ,but1 besides the universal  
joy of conversation1 some men are born  
with exalted powers for this second     
creation4 ,men are born to write4 ,the  
gardener saves every slip1 and seed1 and
 peach-stone2 his vocation is to be a   
planter of plants4 ,not less does the   
writer attend his affairs4 ,whatever he 
beholds or experiences1 comes to him as 
a model1 and sits for its picture4 ,he  
counts it all nonsense that they say1   
that some things are undescribable4 ,he 
believes that all that can be thought   
can be written1 first or last2 and he   

would report the ,holy ,ghost1 or       
attempt it4 ,nothing so broad1 so       
subtle1 or so dear1 but comes therefore 
commended to his pen1--and he will      
write4 ,in his eyes1 a man is the       
faculty of reporting1 and the universe  
is the possibility of being reported4   
,in conversation1 in calamity1 he finds 
new materials2 as our ,german poet said1
 some god gave me the power to paint    
what ,i suffer4 ,he draws his rents from
 rage and pain4 ,by acting rashly1 he   
buys the power of talking wisely4       
,vexations1 and a tempest of passion1   
only fill his sails2 as the good ,luther
 writes1 ,when ,i am angry ,i can pray  
well1 and preach well2 and if we knew   
the genesis of fine-strokes of          
eloquence1 they might recall the        
complaisance of ,sultan ,amurath1 who   
struck off some ,persian heads1 that his
 physician1 ,vesalius1 might see the    
spasms in the muscles of the neck4 ,his 
failures are the preparation of his     
victories4 ,a new thought1 or a crisis  

of passion1 apprises him that all that  
he has yet learned and written is       
exoteric--is not the fact1 but some     
rumor of the fact4 ,what then8 ,does he 
throw away the pen8 ,no2 he begins again
 to describe in the new light which has 
shined on him1--if1 by some means1 he   
may yet save some true word4 ,nature    
conspires4 ,whatever can be thought can 
be spoken1 and still rises for          
utterance1 though to rude and stammering
 organs4 ,if they cannot compass it1 it 
waits and works1 until1 at last1 it     
moulds them to its perfect will1 and is 
articulated4  ,this striving after      
imitative expression1 which one meets   
everywhere1 is significant of the aim of
 nature1 but is mere stenography4 ,there
 are higher degrees1 and nature has more
 splendid endowments for those whom she 
elects to a superior office2 for the    
class of scholars or writers1 who see   
connection where the multitude see      
fragments1 and who are impelled to      
exhibit the facts in order1 and so to   

supply the axis on which the frame of   
things turns4 ,nature has dearly at     
heart the formation of the speculative  
man1 or scholar4 ,it is an end never    
lost sight of1 and is prepared in the   
original casting of things4 ,he is no   
permissive or accidental appearance1 but
 an organic agent1 one of the estates of
 the realm1 provided and prepared from  
of old and from everlasting1 in the     
knitting and contexture of things4      
,presentiments1 impulses1 cheer him4    
,there is a certain heat in the breast1 
which attends the perception of a       
primary truth1 which is the shining of  
the spiritual sun down into the shaft of
 the mine4 ,every thought which dawns on
 the mind1 in the moment of its         
emergency announces its own             
rank1--whether it is some whimsy1 or    
whether it is a power4  ,if he have his 
incitements1 there is1 on the other     
side1 invitation and need enough of his 
gift4 ,society has1 at all times1 the   
same want1 namely1 of one sane man with 

adequate powers of expression to held up
 each object of monomania in its right  
relation4 ,the ambitious and mercenary  
bring their last new mumbo-jumbo1       
whether tariff1 ,texas1 railroad1       
,romanism1 mesmerism1 or ,california2   
and1 by detaching the object from its   
relations1 easily succeed in making it  
seen in a glare2 and a multitude go mad 
about it1 and they are not to be        
reproved or cured by the opposite       
multitude1 who are kept from this       
particular insanity by an equal frenzy  
on another crochet4 ,but let one man    
have the comprehensive eye that can     
replace this isolated prodigy in its    
right neighborhood and bearings1--the   
illusion vanishes1 and the returning    
reason of the community thanks the      
reason of the monitor4  ,the scholar is 
the man of the ages1 but he must also   
wish1 with other men1 to stand well with
 his contemporaries4 ,but there is a    
certain ridicule1 among superficial     
people1 thrown on the scholars or       

clerisy1 which is of no import1 unless  
the scholars heed it4 ,in this country1 
the emphasis of conversation1 and of    
public opinion1 commends the practical  
man2 and the solid portion of the       
community is named with significant     
respect in every circle4 ,our people are
 of ,bonaparte's opinion concerning     
ideologists4 ,ideas are subversive of   
social order and comfort1 and at last   
make a fool of the possessor4 ,it is    
believed1 the ordering a cargo of goods 
from ,new ,york to ,smyrna2 or1 the     
running up and down to procure a company
 of subscribers to set a-going five or  
ten thousand spindles2 or1 the          
negotiations of a caucus1 and the       
practising on the prejudices and        
facility of country-people1 to secure   
their votes in ,november1--is practical 
and commendable4  ,if ,i were to compare
 action of a much higher strain with a  
life of contemplation1 ,i should not    
venture to pronounce with much          
confidence in favor of the former4      

,mankind have such a deep stake in      
inward illumination1 that there is much 
to be said by the hermit or monk in     
defense of his life of thought and      
prayer4 ,a certain partiality1 a        
headiness1 and loss of balance1 is the  
tax which all action must pay4 ,act1 if 
you like1--but you do it at your peril4 
,men's actions are too strong for them4 
,show me a man who has acted1 and who   
has not been the victim and slave of his
 action4 ,what they have done commits   
and enforces them to do the same again4 
,the first act1 which was to be an      
experiment1 becomes a sacrament4 ,the   
fiery reformer embodies his aspiration  
in some rite or covenant1 and he and his
 friends cleave to the form and lose the
 aspiration4 ,the ,quaker has           
established ,quakerism1 the ,shaker has 
established his monastery and his dance2
 and1 although each prates of spirit1   
there is no spirit1 but repetition1     
which is anti-spiritual4 ,but where are 
his new things of today8 ,in actions of 

enthusiasm1 this drawback appears3 but  
in those lower activities1 which have no
 higher aim than to make us more        
comfortable and more cowardly1 in       
actions of cunning1 actions that steal  
and lie1 actions that divorce the       
speculative from the practical faculty1 
and put a ban on reason and sentiment1  
there is nothing else but drawback and  
negation4 ,the ,hindoos write in their  
sacred books1 ,children only1 and not   
the learned1 speak of the speculative   
and the practical faculties as two4     
,they are but one1 for both obtain the  
selfsame end1 and the place which is    
gained by the followers of the one is   
gained by the followers of the other4   
,that man seeth1 who seeth that the     
speculative and the practical doctrines 
are one4 ,for great action must draw on 
the spiritual nature4 ,the measure of   
action is the sentiment from which it   
proceeds4 ,the greatest action may      
easily be one of the most private       
circumstances4  ,this disparagement will

 not come from the leaders1 but from    
inferior persons4 ,the robust gentlemen 
who stand at the head of the practical  
class1 share the ideas of the time1 and 
have too much sympathy with the         
speculative class4 ,it is not from men  
excellent in any kind1 that             
disparagement of any other is to be     
looked for4 ,with such1 ,talleyrand's   
question is ever the main one2 not1 is  
he rich8 is he committed8 is he         
well-meaning8 has he this or that       
faculty8 is he of the movement8 is he of
 the establishment8--but1 ,is he        
anybody8 does he stand for something8   
,he must be good of his kind4 ,that is  
all that ,talleyrand1 all that          
,state-street1 all that the common sense
 of mankind asks4 ,be real and          
admirable1 not as we know1 but as you   
know4 ,able men do not care in what kind
 a man is able1 so only that he is able4
 ,a master likes a master1 and does not 
stipulate whether it be orator1 artist1 
craftsman1 or king4  ,society has really

 no graver interest than the well-being 
of the literary class4 ,and it is not to
 be denied that men are cordial in their
 recognition and welcome of intellectual
 accomplishments4 ,still the writer does
 not stand with us on any commanding    
ground4 ,i think this to be his own     
fault4 ,a pound passes for a pound4     
,there have been times when he was a    
sacred person2 he wrote ,bibles2 the    
first hymns2 the codes2 the epics2      
tragic songs2 ,sibylline verses2        
,chaldean oracles2 ,laconian sentences  
inscribed on temple walls4 ,every word  
was true1 and woke the nations to new   
life4 ,he wrote without levity1 and     
without choice4 ,every word was carved1 
before his eyes1 into the earth and sky2
 and the sun and stars were only letters
 of the same purport2 and of no more    
necessity4 ,but how can he be honored1  
when he does not honor himself2 when he 
loses himself in the crowd2 when he is  
no longer the lawgiver1 but the         
sycophant1 ducking to the giddy opinion 

of a reckless public2 when he must      
sustain with shameless advocacy some bad
 government1 or must bark1 all the year 
round1 in opposition2 or write          
conventional criticism1 or profligate   
novels2 or1 at any rate1 write without  
thought1 and without recurrence1 by day 
and night1 to the sources of            
inspiration8  ,some reply to these      
questions may be furnished by looking   
over the list of men of literary genius 
in our age4 ,among these1 no more       
instructive name occurs than that of    
,goethe1 to represent the power and     
duties of the scholar or writer4  ,i    
described ,bonaparte as a representative
 of the popular external life and aims  
of the nineteenth century4 ,its other   
half1 its poet1 is ,goethe1 a man quite 
domesticated in the century1 breathing  
its air1 enjoying its fruits1 impossible
 at any earlier time1 and taking away1  
by his colossal parts1 the reproach of  
weakness1 which1 but for him1 would lie 
on the intellectual works of the period4

 ,he appears at a time when a general   
culture has spread itself1 and has      
smoothed down all sharp individual      
traits2 when1 in the absence of heroic  
characters1 a social comfort and        
cooperation have come in4 ,there is no  
poet1 but scores of poetic writers2 no  
,columbus1 but hundreds of              
post-captains1 with transit-telescope1  
barometer1 and concentrated soup and    
pemmican2 no ,demosthenes1 no ,chatham1 
but any number of clever parliamentary  
and forensic debaters2 no prophet or    
saint1 but colleges of divinity2 no     
learned man1 but learned societies1 a   
cheap press1 reading-rooms1 and         
book-clubs1 without number4 ,there was  
never such a miscellany of facts4 ,the  
world extends itself like ,american     
trade4 ,we conceive ,greek or ,roman    
life1--life in the middle ages--to be a 
simple and comprehensive affair2 but    
modern life to respect a multitude of   
things1 which is distracting4  ,goethe  
was the philosopher of this             

multiplicity2 hundred-handed1           
,argus-eyed1 able and happy to cope with
 this rolling miscellany of facts and   
sciences1 and1 by his own versatility1  
to dispose of them with ease2 a manly   
mind1 unembarrassed by the variety of   
coats of convention with which life had 
got encrusted1 easily able by his       
subtlety to pierce these1 and to draw   
his strength from nature1 with which he 
lived in full communion4 ,what is       
strange1 too1 he lived in a small town1 
in a petty state1 in a defeated state1  
and in a time when ,germany played no   
such leading part in the world's affairs
 as to swell the bosom of her sons with 
any metropolitan pride1 such as might   
have cheered a ,french1 or ,english1 or1
 once1 a ,roman or ,attic genius4 ,yet  
there is no trace of provincial         
limitation in his muse4 ,he is not a    
debtor to his position1 but was born    
with a free and controlling genius4     
,the ,helena1 or the second part of     
,faust1 is a philosophy of literature   

set in poetry2 the work of one who found
 himself the master of histories1       
mythologies1 philosophies1 sciences1 and
 national literatures1 in the           
encyclopaedical manner in which modern  
erudition1 with its international       
intercourse of the whole earth's        
population1 researches into ,indian1    
,etruscan1 and all ,cyclopaean arts1    
geology1 chemistry1 astronomy2 and every
 one of these kingdoms assuming a       
certain aerial and poetic character1 by 
reason of the multitude4 ,one looks at a
 king with reverence2 but if one should 
chance to be at a congress of kings1 the
 eye would take liberties with the      
peculiarities of each4 ,these are not   
wild miraculous songs1 but elaborate    
forms1 to which the poet has confided   
the results of eighty years of          
observation4 ,this reflective and       
critical wisdom makes the poem more     
truly the flower of this time4 ,it dates
 itself4 ,still he is a poet1--poet of a
 prouder laurel than any contemporary1  

and under this plague of microscopes    
7for he seems to see out of every pore  
of his skin71 strikes the harp with a   
hero's strength and grace4  ,the wonder 
of the book is its superior             
intelligence4 ,in the menstruum of this 
man's wit1 the past and the present     
ages1 and their religions1 politics1 and
 modes of thinking1 are dissolved into  
archetypes and ideas4 ,what new         
mythologies sail through his head6 ,the 
,greeks said1 that ,alexander went as   
far as ,chaos2 ,goethe went1 only the   
other day1 as far2 and one step farther 
he hazarded1 and brought himself safe   
back4 ,there is a heart-cheering freedom
 in his speculation4 ,the immense       
horizon which journeys with us lends its
 majesties to trifles1 and to matters of
 convenience and necessity1 as to solemn
 and festal performances4 ,he was the   
soul of his century4 ,if that was       
learned1 and had become1 by population1 
compact organization1 and drill of      
parts1 one great ,exploring ,expedition1

 accumulating a glut of facts and fruits
 too fast for any hitherto-existing     
savants to classify1 this man's mind had
 ample chambers for the distribution of 
all4 ,he had a power to unite the       
detached atoms again by their own law4  
,he has clothed our modern existence    
with poetry4 ,amid littleness and       
detail1 he detected the ,genius of life1
 the old cunning ,proteus1 nestling     
close beside us1 and showed that the    
dullness and prose we ascribe to the age
 was only another of his masks3--,his   
very flight is presence in disguise3    
that he had put off a gay uniform for a 
fatigue dress1 and was not a whit less  
vivacious or rich in ,liverpool or the  
,hague1 than once in ,rome or ,antioch4 
,he sought him in public squares and    
main streets1 in boulevards and hotels2 
and1 in the solidest kingdom of routine 
and the senses1 he showed the lurking   
daemonic power2 that1 in actions of     
routine1 a thread of mythology and fable
 spins itself2 and this1 by tracing the 

pedigree of every usage and practice1   
every institution1 utensil1 and means1  
home to its origin in the structure of  
man4 ,he had an extreme impatience of   
conjecture1 and of rhetoric4 ,i have    
guesses enough of my own2 if a man write
 a book1 let him set down only what he  
knows4 ,he writes in the plainest and   
lowest tone1 omitting a great deal more 
than he writes1 and putting ever a thing
 for a word4 ,he has explained the      
distinction between the antique and the 
modern spirit and art4 ,he has defined  
art1 its scope and laws4 ,he has said   
the best things about nature that ever  
were said4 ,he treats nature as the old 
philosophers1 as the seven wise masters 
did1--and1 with whatever loss of ,french
 tabulation and dissection1 poetry and  
humanity remain to us2 and they have    
some doctorial skill4 ,eyes are better1 
on the whole1 than telescopes or        
microscopes4 ,he has contributed a key  
to many parts of nature1 through the    
rare turn for unity and simplicity in   

his mind4 ,thus ,goethe suggested the   
leading idea of modern botany1 that a   
leaf1 or the eye of a leaf1 is the unit 
of botany1 and that every part of the   
plant is only a transformed leaf to meet
 a new condition2 and1 by varying the   
conditions1 a leaf may be converted into
 any other organ1 and any other organ   
into a leaf4 ,in like manner1 in        
osteology1 he assumed that one vertebra 
of the spine might be considered the    
unit of the skeleton2 the head was only 
the uppermost vertebra transformed4 ,the
 plant goes from knot to knot1 closing1 
at last1 with the flower and the seed4  
,so the tape-worm1 the caterpillar1 goes
 from knot to knot1 and closes with the 
head4 ,men and the higher animals are   
built up through the vertebrae1 the     
powers being concentrated in the head4  
,in optics1 again1 he rejected the      
artificial theory of seven colors1 and  
considered that every color was the     
mixture of light and darkness in new    
proportions4 ,it is really of very      

little consequence what topic he writes 
upon4 ,he sees at every pore1 and has a 
certain gravitation toward truth4 ,he   
will realize what you say4 ,he hates to 
be trifled with1 and to be made to say  
over again some old wife's fable1 that  
has had possession of men's faith these 
thousand years4 ,he may as well see if  
it is true as another4 ,he sifts it4 ,i 
am here1 he would say1 to be the measure
 and judge of these things4 ,why should 
,i take them on trust8 ,and1 therefore1 
what he says of religion1 of passion1 of
 marriage1 of manners1 property1 of     
paper money1 of periods or beliefs1 of  
omens1 of luck1 or whatever else1       
refuses to be forgotten4  ,take the most
 remarkable example that could occur of 
this tendency to verify every term in   
popular use4 ,the ,devil had played an  
important part in mythology in all      
times4 ,goethe would have no word that  
does not cover a thing4 ,the same       
measure will still serve3 ,i have never 
heard of any crime which ,i might not   

have committed4 ,so he flies at the     
throat of this imp4 ,he shall be real2  
he shall be modern2 he shall be         
,european2 he shall dress like a        
gentleman1 and accept the manner1 and   
walk in the streets1 and be well        
initiated in the life of ,vienna1 and of
 ,heidelberg1 in #ahbj1--or he shall not
 exist4 ,accordingly1 he stripped him of
 mythologic gear1 of horns1 cloven foot1
 harpoon tail1 brimstone1 and blue-fire1
 and1 instead of looking in books and   
pictures1 looked for him in his own     
mind1 in every shade of coldness1       
selfishness1 and unbelief that1 in      
crowds1 or in solitude1 darkens over the
 human thought1--and found that the     
portrait gained reality and terror by   
everything he added1 and by everything  
he took away4 ,he found that the essence
 of this hobgoblin1 which had hovered in
 shadow about the habitations of men1   
ever since they were men1 was pure      
intellect1 applied1--as always there is 
a tendency1--to the service of the      

senses3 and he flung into literature1 in
 his ,mephistopheles1 the first organic 
figure that has been added for some     
ages1 and which will remain as long as  
the ,prometheus4 ,i have no design to   
enter into any analysis of his numerous 
works4 ,they consist of translations1   
criticisms1 dramas1 lyric and every     
other description of poems1 literary    
journals1 and portraits of distinguished
 men4 ,yet ,i cannot omit to specify the
 ,wilhelm ,meister4  ,wilhelm ,meister  
is a novel in every sense1 the first of 
its kind1 called by its admirers the    
only delineation of modern society1--as 
if other novels1 those of ,scott1 for   
example1 dealt with costume and         
condition1 this with the spirit of life4
 ,it is a book over which some veil is  
still drawn4 ,it is read by very        
intelligent persons with wonder and     
delight4 ,it is preferred by some such  
to ,hamlet1 as a work of genius4 ,i     
suppose no book of this century can     
compare with it in its delicious        

sweetness1 so new1 so provoking to the  
mind1 gratifying it with so many and so 
solid thoughts1 just insights into life1
 and manners1 and characters2 so many   
good hints for the conduct of life1 so  
many unexpected glimpses into a higher  
sphere1 and never a trace of rhetoric or
 dullness4 ,a very provoking book to the
 curiosity of young men of genius1 but a
 very unsatisfactory one4 ,lovers of    
light reading1 those who look in it for 
the entertainment they find in a        
romance1 are disappointed4 ,on the other
 hand1 those who begin it with the      
higher hope to read in it a worthy      
history of genius1 and the just award of
 the laurels to its toils and denials1  
have also reason to complain4 ,we had an
 ,english romance here1 not long ago1   
professing to embody the hope of a new  
age1 and to unfold the political hope of
 the party called ,young ,england1 in   
which the only reward of virtue is a    
seat in parliament1 and a peerage4      
,goethe's romance has a conclusion as   

lame and immoral4 ,george ,sand1 in     
,consuelo and its continuation1 has     
sketched a truer and more dignified     
picture4 ,in the progress of the story1 
the characters of the hero and heroine  
expand at a rate that shivers the       
porcelain chess-table of aristocratic   
convention3 they quit the society and   
habits of their rank2 they lose their   
wealth2 they become the servants of     
great ideas1 and of the most generous   
social ends2 until1 at last1 the hero1  
who is the center and fountain of an    
association for the rendering of the    
noblest benefits to the human race1 no  
longer answers to his own titled name3  
it sounds foreign and remote in his ear4
  ,i am only man1 he says2 ,i breathe   
and work for man1 and this in poverty   
and extreme sacrifices4 ,goethe's hero1 
on the contrary1 has so many weaknesses 
and impurities1 and keeps such bad      
company1 that the sober ,english public1
 when the book was translated1 were     
disgusted4 ,and yet it is so crammed    

with wisdom1 with knowledge of the      
world1 and with knowledge of laws2 the  
persons so truly and subtly drawn1 and  
with such few strokes1 and not a word   
too much1 the book remains ever so new  
and unexhausted1 that we must even let  
it go its way1 and be willing to get    
what good from it we can1 assured that  
it has only begun its office1 and has   
millions of readers yet to serve4  ,the 
argument is the passage of a democrat to
 the aristocracy1 using both words in   
their best sense4 ,and this passage is  
not made in any mean or creeping way1   
but through the hall door4 ,nature and  
character assist1 and the rank is made  
real by sense and probity in the nobles4
 ,no generous youth can escape this     
charm of reality in the book1 so that it
 is highly stimulating to intellect and 
courage4 ,the ardent and holy ,novalis  
characterized the book as thoroughly    
modern and prosaic2 the romantic is     
completely leveled in it2 so is the     
poetry of nature2 the wonderful4 ,the   

book treats only of the ordinary affairs
 of men3 it is a poeticized civic and   
domestic story4 ,the wonderful in it is 
expressly treated as fiction and        
enthusiastic dreaming3--and yet1 what is
 also characteristic1 ,novalis soon     
returned to this book1 and it remained  
his favorite reading to the end of his  
life4  ,what distinguishes ,goethe for  
,french and ,english readers1 is a      
property which he shares with his       
nation1--a habitual reference to        
interior truth4 ,in ,england and in     
,america there is a respect for talent2 
and1 if it is exerted in support of any 
ascertained or intelligible interest or 
party1 or in regular opposition to any1 
the public is satisfied4 ,in ,france1   
there is even a greater delight in      
intellectual brilliancy1 for its own    
sake4 ,and1 in all these countries1 men 
of talent write from talent4 ,it is     
enough if the understanding is occupied1
 the taste propitiated1--so many columns
 so many hours1 filled in a lively and  

creditable way4 ,the ,german intellect  
wants the ,french sprightliness1 the    
fine practical understanding of the     
,english1 and the ,american adventure2  
but it has a certain probity1 which     
never rests in a superficial            
performance1 but asks steadily1 ,to what
 end8 ,a ,german public asks for a      
controlling sincerity4 ,here is activity
 of thought2 but what is it for8 ,what  
does the man mean8 ,whence1 whence1 all 
these thoughts8  ,talent alone cannot   
make a writer4 ,there must be a man     
behind the book2 a personality which1 by
 birth and quality1 is pledged to the   
doctrines there set forth1 and which    
exists to see and state things so1 and  
not otherwise2 holding things because   
they are things4 ,if he cannot rightly  
express himself to-day1 the same things 
subsist1 and will open themselves       
to-morrow4 ,there lies the burden on his
 mind--the burden of truth to be        
declared1--more or less understood2 and 
it constitutes his business and calling 

in the world1 to see those facts        
through1 and to make them known4 ,what  
signifies that he trips and stammers2   
that his voice is harsh or hissing2 that
 this method or his tropes are          
inadequate8 ,that message will find     
method and imagery1 articulation and    
melody4 ,though he were dumb1 it would  
speak4 ,if not1--if there be no such    
,god's word in the man1--what care we   
how adroit1 how fluent1 how brilliant he
 is8  ,it makes a great difference to   
the force of any sentence1 whether there
 be a man behind it1 or no4 ,in the     
learned journal1 in the influential     
newspaper1 ,i discern no form2 only some
 irresponsible shadow2 oftener some     
monied corporation1 or some dangler1 who
 hopes1 in the mask and robes of his    
paragraph1 to pass for somebody4 ,but1  
through every clause and part of speech 
of a right book1 ,i meet the eyes of the
 most determined of men3 his force and  
terror inundate every word3 the commas  
and dashes are alive2 so that the       

writing is athletic and nimble1--can go 
far and live long4  ,in ,england and    
,america1 one may be an adept in the    
writing of a ,greek or ,latin poet1     
without any poetic taste or fire4 ,that 
a man has spent years on ,plato and     
,proclus1 does not afford a presumption 
that he holds heroic opinions1 or       
undervalues the fashions of his town4   
,but the ,german nation have the most   
ridiculous good faith on these subjects3
 the student1 out of the lecture-room1  
still broods on the lessons2 and the    
professor cannot divest himself of the  
fancy1 that the truths of philosophy    
have some application to ,berlin and    
,munich4 ,this earnestness enables them 
to out-see men of much more talent4     
,hence1 almost all the valuable         
distinctions which are current in higher
 conversation1 have been derived to us  
from ,germany4 ,but1 whilst men         
distinguished for wit and learning1 in  
,england and ,france1 adopt their study 
and their side with a certain levity1   

and are not understood to be very deeply
 engaged1 from grounds of character1 to 
the topic or the part they              
espouse1--,goethe1 the head and body of 
the ,german nation1 does not speak from 
talent1 but the truth shines through3 he
 is very wise1 though his talent often  
veils his wisdom4 ,however excellent his
 sentence is1 he has somewhat better in 
view4 ,it awakens my curiosity4 ,he has 
the formidable independence which       
converse with truth gives3 hear you1 or 
forbear1 his fact abides2 and your      
interest in the writer is not confined  
to his story1 and he dismissed from     
memory1 when he has performed his task  
creditably1 as a baker when he has left 
his loaf2 but his work is the least part
 of him4 ,the old ,eternal ,genius who  
built the world has confided himself    
more to this man than to any other4 ,i  
dare not say that ,goethe ascended to   
the highest grounds from which genius   
has spoken4 ,he has not worshipped the  
highest unity2 he is incapable of a     

self-surrender to the moral sentiment4  
,there are nobler strains in poetry than
 any he has sounded4 ,there are writers 
poorer in talent1 whose tone is purer1  
and more touches the heart4 ,goethe can 
never be dear to men4 ,his is not even  
the devotion to pure truth2 but to truth
 for the sake of culture4 ,he has no    
aims less large than the conquest of    
universal nature1 of universal truth1 to
 be his portion2 a man not to be bribed1
 nor deceived1 nor overawed2 of a       
stoical self- command and self-denial1  
and having one test for all men1--,what 
can you teach me8 ,all possessions are  
valued by him for that only2 rank1      
privileges1 health1 time1 being itself4 
,he is the type of culture1 the amateur 
of all arts1 and sciences1 and events2  
artistic1 but not artist2 spiritual1 but
 not spiritualist4 ,there is nothing he 
had not right to know2 there is no      
weapon in the army of universal genius  
he did not take into his hand1 but with 
peremptory heed that he should not be   

for a moment prejudiced by his          
instruments4 ,he lays a ray of light    
under every fact1 and between himself   
and his dearest property4 ,from him     
nothing was hid1 nothing withholden4    
,the lurking daemons sat to him1 and the
 saint who saw the daemons2 and the     
metaphysical elements took form4 ,piety 
itself is no aim1 but only a means      
whereby1 through purest inward peace1 we
 may attain to highest culture4 ,and his
 penetration of every secret of the fine
 arts will make ,goethe still more      
statuesque4 ,his affections help him1   
like women employed by ,cicero to worm  
out the secret of conspirators4         
,enmities he has none4 ,enemy of him you
 may be1--if so you shall teach him     
aught which your good-will cannot1--were
 it only what experience will accrue    
from your ruin4 ,enemy and welcome1 but 
enemy on high terms4 ,he cannot hate    
anybody2 his time is worth too much4    
,temperamental antagonisms may be       
suffered1 but like feuds of emperors1   

who fight dignifiedly across kingdoms4  
,his autobiography1 under the title of  
,poetry and ,truth ,out of ,my ,life1 is
 the expression of the idea1--now       
familiar to the world through the       
,german mind1 but a novelty to ,england1
 ,old and ,new1 when that book          
appeared1--that a man exists for        
culture2 not for what he can accomplish1
 but for what can be accomplished in    
him4 ,the reaction of things on the man 
is the only noteworthy result4 ,an      
intellectual man can see himself as a   
third person2 therefore his faults and  
delusions interest him equally with his 
successes4 ,though he wishes to prosper 
in affairs1 he wishes more to know the  
history and destiny of man2 whilst the  
clouds of egotists drifting about him   
are only interested in a low success4   
,this idea reigns in the ,dichtung und  
,wahrheit1 and directs the selection of 
the incidents2 and nowise the external  
importance of events1 the rank of the   
personages1 or the bulk of incomes4 ,of 

course1 the book affords slender        
materials for what would be reckoned    
with us a ,life of ,goethe2--few dates2 
no correspondence2 no details of offices
 or employments2 no light on his        
marriage2 and1 a period of ten years1   
that should be the most active in his   
life1 after his settlement at ,weimar1  
is sunk in silence4 ,meantime1 certain  
love-affairs1 that came to nothing1 as  
people say1 have the strangest          
importance3 he crowds us with           
detail3--certain whimsical opinions1    
cosmogonies1 and religions of his own   
invention1 and1 especially his relations
 to remarkable minds1 and to critical   
epochs of thought3--these he magnifies4 
,his ,daily and ,yearly ,journal1 his   
,italian ,travels1 his ,campaign in     
,france and the historical part of his  
,theory of ,colors1 have the same       
interest4 ,in the last1 he rapidly      
notices ,kepler1 ,roger ,bacon1         
,galileo1 ,newton1 ,voltaire1 etc42 and 
the charm of this portion of the book   

consists in the simplest statement of   
the relation betwixt these grandees of  
,european scientific history and        
himself2 the mere drawing of the lines  
from ,goethe to ,kepler1 from ,goethe to
 ,bacon1 from ,goethe to ,newton4 ,the  
drawing of the line is for the time and 
person1 a solution of the formidable    
problem1 and gives pleasure when        
,iphigenia and ,faust do not1 without   
any cost of invention comparable to that
 of ,iphigenia and ,faust4 ,this law    
giver of art is not an artist4 ,was it  
that he knew too much1 that his sight   
was microscopic1 and interfered with the
 just perspective1 the seeing of the    
whole8 ,he is fragmentary2 a writer of  
occasional poems1 and of an             
encyclopaedia of sentences4 ,when he    
sits down to write a drama or a tale1 he
 collects and sorts his observations    
from a hundred sides1 and combines them 
into the body as fitly as he can4 ,a    
great deal refuses to incorporate3 this 
he adds loosely1 as letters1 of the     

parties1 leaves from their journals1 or 
the like4 ,a great deal still is left   
that will not find any place4 ,this the 
bookbinder alone can give any cohesion  
to3 and1 hence1 notwithstanding the     
looseness of many of his works1 we have 
volumes of detached paragraphs1         
aphorisms1 xenien1 etc4  ,i suppose the 
worldly tone of his tales grew out of   
the calculations of self-culture4 ,it   
was the infirmity of an admirable       
scholar1 who loved the world out of     
gratitude2 who knew where libraries1    
galleries1 architecture1 laboratories1  
savants1 and leisure1 were to be had1   
and who did not quite trust the         
compensations of poverty and nakedness4 
,socrates loved ,athens2 ,montaigne1    
,paris2 and ,madame de ,stael said1 she 
was only vulnerable on that side        
7namely1 of ,paris74 ,it has its        
favorable aspect4 ,all the geniuses are 
usually so ill-assorted and sickly1 that
 one is ever wishing them somewhere     
else4 ,we seldom see anybody who is not 

uneasy or afraid to live4 ,there is a   
slight blush of shame on the cheek of   
good men and aspiring men1 and a spice  
of caricature4 ,but this man was        
entirely at home and happy in his       
century and the world4 ,none was so fit 
to live1 or more heartily enjoyed the   
game4 ,in this aim of culture1 which is 
the genius of his works1 is their power4
 ,the idea of absolute1 eternal truth1  
without reference to my own enlargement 
by it1 is higher4 ,the surrender to the 
torrent1 of poetic inspiration is       
higher2 but compared with any motives on
 which books are written in ,england and
 ,america1 this is very truth1 and has  
the power to inspire which belongs to   
truth4 ,thus has he brought back to a   
book some of its ancient might and      
dignity4  ,goethe1 coming into an       
over-civilized time and country1 when   
original talent was oppressed under the 
load of books1 and mechanical           
auxiliaries1 and the distracting variety
 of claims1 taught men how to dispose of

 this mountainous miscellany1 and make  
it subservient4 ,i join ,napoleon with  
him1 as being both representatives of   
the impatience and reaction of nature   
against the morgue of conventions1--two 
stern realists1 who1 with their         
scholars1 have severally set the axe at 
the root of the tree of cant and        
seeming1 for this time1 and for all     
time4 ,this cheerful laborer1 with no   
external popularity or provocation1     
drawing his motive and his plan from his
 own breast1 tasked himself with stints 
for a giant1 and1 without relaxation or 
rest1 except by alternating his         
pursuits1 worked on for eighty years    
with the steadiness of his first zeal4  
,it is the last lesson of modern        
science1 that the highest simplicity of 
structure is produced1 not by few       
elements1 but by the highest complexity4
 ,man is the most composite of all      
creatures3 the wheel-insect1 volvox     
globator1 is at the other extreme4 ,we  
shall learn to draw rents and revenues  

from the immense patrimony of the old   
and recent ages4 ,goethe teaches        
courage1 and the equivalence of all     
times3 that the disadvantages of any    
epoch exist only to the faint-hearted4  
,genius hovers with his sunshine and    
music close by the darkest and deafest  
eras4 ,no mortgage1 no attainder1 will  
hold on men or hours4 ,the world is     
young2 the former great men call to us  
affectionately4 ,we too must write      
,bibles1 to unite again the heavens and 
the earthly world4 ,the secret of genius
 is to suffer no fiction to exist for   
us2 to realize all that we know2 in the 
high refinement of modern life1 in arts1
 in sciences1 in books1 in men1 to exact
 good faith1 reality1 and a purpose2 and
 first1 last1 midst1 and without end1 to
 honor every truth by use4  ,,the ,,end4