ConfessionsofanEnglishOpiumEater 10000976

CO N F E SS I ON S
OF A N
ENG L I SH O PI U M -
E AT ER .
( Wi t h Tl te Ro s z eru ez a m
' '
a nd F ree m a so ns ,
” “
Nt
o es
fro m t /ze Po cke t -

B o ok f a L a t e Opiu m
o -
E a t e r,
”
etc .
)
BY T H O M A S p E Q U I N C E Y .
\VI T H I N T R O DU C T O R Y N OT E
BY WI L L I A M S HA RP .
L ON DON
WAL TE R S C O T T, 24 W A RW I CK L A N E,
PAT E R N OS T E R R OW .
1 8 86 .
CON T ENT S .
CO N F E SS IO NS OF AN EN GL I SH OPI M E U -
A TE R
TH E PL E A URES
S U
O F OP I M
I N T RO DU C T I O NTo T H E PA I NS OF O I U M P
L E VA N A A N D O U R L A D I E S O F S O RRO W
U N W I N D I N T H E ACC U R E D CHA I N
G S
N O T E S F RO M T H E PO C E T BOO K O F A ATE O I U M E
-
K L P -
A I ER
' ‘
O T H E K N O C I N A T H E G A T E I N MA C E T H
N K G T B
O SU I C I D E
N
RO S I C R U C I A NS A D FR EE MA O N
N S S
K A N T O N NA T I O N A CHA RA C T E R
L
AN A E C T S F RO M RI C H T E R
L
Zl 5 58 . . .
DE Q U I N CEY
N the narrow range of that fascinating

section of literature which deal s with the
in t imate self disclosure of the soul the
-
,
f
Co n i
es s o ns
of a n E ng lis h Opiu m E a t er
-
holds conspicuous place M arcus A urelius .

,
R ousseau A miel
,
the most diverse per
,
-
so na l it ie s have an abiding c l aim u pon o ur imaginati v e

sympa t h y W e come face to face with the moral the
.
,
intellectual the spiritual emotions O f men W h o pass before

,
us with the inmost secrets o f their hearts laid bare to

curious eyes — and we are electrified by what we see Th e .
natural sounds of earth— wind in the branches a wa v e ,
falli ng on the se a shore — appeal to all but not in the same ,
way as does som e subtle chor d struck by a great musician ,
some string with its pathetic C o x h u m a ne thrilling from ,
t h e t ouch Of t h e m ast e r v iolinist Th e inner lives of our

.
kin d are to u s as these natural sounds — to be interpreted

but by very few —while like these revealing passages of
lyric p assion are the rare individuals whose souls and“
bodies are o ne for their S pirit is not hidden but as

, , ,
vi DE Q UI N CE Y
.
their body is v isib l e , T o this rare band D e Quincey by

.
,
v irtu e of his Co nfes sio ns b e longs

, .
L andor utters a fine and true saying wh en i n o ne of his

Imaginary Conversations he makes Vittoria Colonna remark
that the human heart is a world of p oetry the imagina
tion is onl y its atmosphere ”
I t is because so much o f
.
De Quincey s fine s t work is so essentially human that he

’ ‘
has taken and is like l y to retain the high place in the realm
o f l iterature which is undeniably his U niversal human .
interest— herein l ies the sole secret o f litera ry immortality

the revelation o f t h e individual h eart its str u ggl es and ,
sorrows its keen human sym p athies in contact with a di ffi cult

,
world findi ng an unrestful ease in that p ower o f dreaming

,
“
whic h is so fami l iar and yet S O mysterious and whose ,
visionary emanations have never ceased t o interest Since

waking and S l eep ing first were Given these things and .
,
for their in t erpretation the magic o f a sty l e l ike De Quincey s ’
at its best and the resu l t is o ne o f t h e rarest in l itera

,
—
ture a work w h ose a p pea l o u t of s p ace o ut o f time is
“ ”
, ,
p erennial unaffec t ed by the changing fashions and p eriods

,
o f the l iterary w orld .
T hose p ort ions O f D e Quincey s w ork which bear most

’
clearl y the im p ression o f his o wn individuality and which ,
T ime seems to be graduall y separating fro m his other

writings deserve to be credited with a higher Originality
,
than has commonly been awarded to them In estimating .
the p osition of the author o f the Co nfessi o ns of a n Op iu m

E a t er and the S u sp iri a d o Profu n dis in o ur l iterature most
.
,
writers have somewhat ignored for instance his ind e pe nd

, ,
ency o f contem p orary influence in res p ect o f these exquisite

masterpieces o f E nglish p rose H e has been commonly
.
regarded as in some sort an eccentric attachment to the

“
L ake S chool and es p ecially as an interesting but very
,
DE Q UIN CE Y . vii
derivative disciple of Coleridge whereas for the indubitably
characteristic part o f his writing it would be a nice
analysis which discovered his indebtedness to any O f his
contemporaries A s a thinker D e Quincey was we may
.
, ,
admit influenced by Coleridge he was a consistent disciple

,
in that vein o f eccl esiastical metaphysics and deceptive

scholasticism which is associated with the latter in his
l east il lustrious aspect ; he was the adjective wittily
“
,
”
Observed by Mr L eslie S tephen.

“
o f which Coleridge ,
was t h e substantive .
”
B ut then it is not after all for his , ,
powers o f reasoning or his services t o philoso p hy that

De Quincey s re p utation is to—
’
day so world wide W ith -
.
every in t ention o f being a great thinker it must be ,
confess ed that De Quincey failed in substantiating his

claim ; he was di ffuse Often where he o ught to have
been direct seemed to be utterly inca p ab l e as it has been
, ,
said o f concentration and was not e v en infallible in the

, ,
l ogic w hich he SO p araded Th e pervading intel lectuality

.
that gives dignity and grace to his writing in general was ,
however l argely due t o h is habit of exercising himsel f in

,
al l scholarly discipli ne In the early p ages o f the Co nfess io

.
he says o f himse lf “
F o r my o wn part without breach o f
, ,
truth o r modesty I may a ffirm that my life has been o n

, ,
the whole the l ife o f a p hil osopher From my bi rt h I was

,
.
made an intellectual Creature ; and intellectual in the

highest sense my p ursuits and p leasures have been even ,
”
'
from my schoolboy days T h e resultant atmosphere o f

.
culture everywhere p resent in his works gives a peculiar

dignity to his writing and this may be gratefully accepted
,
without any disposition t o regard him in the light of a

l ogician o r philosop her ; but in this larger sense o f a
great writer s intellectua l p ower he was more indebted to
’
,
the great spirits of Greece and E lizabethan E ngland than

viii DE Q UIN CE V .
to his own immediate contemporaries A nd after all has .
bee n done to trace the sources of what is highest in his

multifarious work t h e reader will be apt to retire in
,
d espair even as he would be fain to do from attempting to

,
trace the literary derivation of the impalpable inspi ration

o f H e ine S Tra u m bild er or M ilton s noble p rose harmonies
’ ’
.
Th e only thing that throws much light o n D e Q uincey s

’
literary qualities is D e Quincey himself ; more is to be

learnt by a careful examination into the re v elations o f his
mental constitution given in the Co nfessi o ns and other
autobiographical portions o f his w ritings than from any
other source and the reader who can give the true inter
,
re t a t io n o f what is to be found there will have got at

p
as much Of the secret o f De Quincey s remarkable p rose
,
’
production as can be attained by natural means A l l that .
is most delicately significant in his life as a ffecting his

literary standpoint is to be found clearly if somewhat ,
ideally stated in the Co nfess io ns ; supplementing these

,
with a brief account o f what preceded and follo wed and ,
filling u p in some cases the blanks in the names of places

and persons the writer becomes fully revealed to us T h e
, .
actual narrative in the Co nfessi o ns opens in the year 1 7 9 2 ,
with the death o f D e Quincey s father ’ “

M y father .
died when I was about seven years Old and l eft me ,
T h e seven p revious years

”
to the care o f four guardians .
might not seem at first o f much importance but in the ,
case o f an imaginative nature like D e Quincey s the im ’
pressions of early childhood p lay a leading part in the

m oulding of genius and temperament and over and ,
over again the writer has reverted to the unspeak

able infi u e nce of his childish associations upon the d re a m
“ ”
enchantments of that j ust subtle and mighty opiu m
, ,
that b e invoked with such dread and magnificent effect .

DE Q UIN CE Y . ix
De Quincey was born on the 1 5th o f A ugust 1 7 8 5 ,
and o n the au t hority of Professor M asson not a t

, ,
“
Creenh a y as has usually been stated but at a
, pre t t v ,
”
rustic d welling called T h e F a rm which like Green b ay , , ,
ho wever was situated j ust ou t side M anchester

,
“
Th e .
general impression he conveys o f himself writes Pro ,
fe s s o r Masson “
from his second o r third year onward s 1 8
, ,
that o f a v ery diminuti v e shy sensitive and dreamy child , , , ,
moving about when o u t o f doors always on green turf o r

, ,
in garden w alks and within doors always among young

-
,
brothers and S isters in a house o f wealthy and even

”
luxurious elegance T h e imaginative associations of the
.
child life in the little group o f brothers and S isters

-
under the rule Of the s t ately and refined if some ,
what unsymp ath etic mother ; the childish fantasies and the ,
dread coming of death t o touch ever afterwards with sombre

inspiration the feeling for all the transient realities o f life
— these bear very intimately o n the genius o f o u r
author in many ways De Quincey s m other especially is
.
’
a figure that must in no wise be ignored ; o f strict ly

orthodox respec t ability Sh e was deficient in the fine ,
sym p athy which would have enabled her to treat to

the best result a sensiti v e dreamy boy like the
‘
young De Quincey Professor M asson quotes the

.
account gi v en h im by a lady herself “

a strict ,
”
religionist of the antique evangelical type wh o had known ,
M rs D e Quincey which is very interesting in this con

.
,
“ ” “
ne c t io n . S h e retained to the last he says an opinion , ,
of D e Quincey which she h a d probably caught from

colloquies with his mother concerning him in his most
dubious days A stately woman e v ery inch a lady moving
.
, ,
in the best county circles and with her feet o n the R ock ,
o f A ges —such was and always had been D e Quincey s ’
, ,
x DE Q UIN CE Y .
mother as fo r th e son celebrity o r no cel ebrity what was

, ,
”
he but a waif 7
H o w far the influence of t h is stately mother tended by the
rule o f Op p osites to devel op in the sensiti v e boy the seeds
o f the Bohemian instinc t whic h was SO counter t o t h e p er
feet resp ectabil ity o f her o wn tem p erament we can only ,
surmise L ooking forward t o the time when D e Q uincey

.
ran away from sc h ool and considering his moth er s attitude

,
’
towards him then it is cl ear at a nyra t e that she h ad no

,
l ittle Share in making his life what it ultimately t urned o ut

to be Th e most p rominent episode in these childish days
.
in their later p eriod when the home life p ro p er was giving

,
-
way t o school l ife was the ad v ent o f an e l der brother

-
, ,
W illiam who had hitherto been away from home but was
, ,
brought back to be placed under a tutor with the younger ,
To m.
“
N ever wa s suc h a boy as this W ill iam De Quincey ,
such a boisterous frank p ugilistic c l ever inventive son of

, , , ,
eternal racket comments Professor M asson and the story

”
, ,
o f the way in which h e l ed and commanded and influenced
and victimised the sensitive l ittle fel low fi ve years his ,
j unior as told by D e Quincey is ful l o f humour and tender

, ,
interest “
H is genius for m ischief amounted to inspir
.
ation this unfortunate victim says o f him H ere again

,
”
.
the influenc e of t h is “
imperious young su l tan o f the
family was al l important in its effect upon D e
Quincey who h o wever thinks it was not al together a
, , , .
misfortune t hat this vision of full blooded life and action -
crossed his path t o stir h im o ut of his state o f rather

morbid reverie A fe w years later and this high spirited
.
,
-
boy was to end his career suddenly in an attack of typhus

fever while the weakly younger brother lived o n surviving
, ,
him by more than half a century The feeling engendered

- -
.
in D e Quincey in his relations with , first h is statel y mother ,

DE Q UI N CE Y . xi
and then this high spirited brother o f being in some sort

-
an I shmaelite “
physically contem p tible
,
”
resting o n a ,
”
“
foundation o f utter despicableness ought to be noted ,
carefully as giving the key to muc h in his after develop

,
-
ment Professor M asson s reference to the frequent use in

.
’
D e Quincey s vocabulary of the word Pa ria h meaning

’
,
“
social outcast is significant in this respect l eading us t o
”
, ,
consider in how far his personal sense of a kind o f Pa ri a h

ship led to his sym p athy as s o memorably ex p ressed in the,
Co nfessio ns with all those in sorro w or distress with all

, ,
outcast s whatsoeve r from the p ale o f res p ectability and

earthly h app iness .
It is unnecessa ry t o enlarge very much u p on the later

school days first a t the Bath Grammar S c h ool (Mrs D e
'
-
.
,
Quincey having el ected to move from Greenb ay to l ive at

Bath) then at a private school at W ink fie l d in W iltshire
, , ,
and then at the Manchester Grammar School from w h ich he ,
finally escaped o n his first adventure into B ohemia Th e .
spiritual and litera ry significance o f this period o f his l ife is

s ufi cie nt l
y preserved in the Confe s s i o ns in a way indeed ,
which leaves little o r nothing to be said by the biogra p her .
One holiday interlude in these school days is wor t hy Of -
specia l note ho we v er as it is omitted as not coming within

, ,
the immediate scope of the Co nfess ions while it constitute s ,
the only approach t o a romance episode to be found in -
these youthful days I t occurred in the year 1 8 0 0 when

.
,
a boy friend L ord W estport asked D e Quincey to a e com

-
, ,
pany him from E ton to his father s estates in the W est of ’
I reland and o n that part o f the j ourney which had to be

performed o n the Grand Canal the boys met t wo ladies , ,
“
the widowed Countess o f E rrol in deep mourning and , ,
her Sister Miss Blake t o whom D e Quincey was introduced

,
”
,
by his friend W ith th e younger lady De Quincey at

.
xii DE Q UIN CE Y .
once struck u p an uncon v entional acquaintance and talked ,

“
about the E nglish poets for the whole of one afternoon ,
a nd as one resul t of these discussions it is e v ident that

, ,
B lake became a name of no ordinary S ignificance for some

time hencefor ward In his A utobiography D e Quincey
.
notes From this day I was an altered creature ne v er ,
again relapsing into the careless irre fl e ct iv e mind o f child

,
'
”
hood . B eyon d this and other episodes o f less importance
to be gleaned from the A utobiography all that is need ,
ful can be deri v ed from the Co nfes s io ns themsel ves .
In any case it is only necessary to fill up a few o f

the blanks le ft by D e Quincey fo r reasons valid at the
ti m e but which hardly hol d good at so long a period after
,
wards T hese blanks s o far as they relate to his school

.
,
d ays the reader will be able to complete from what has

,
already been stated ; as for instance that it was the

, ,
M a nchester Grammar S chool from which he made the

escape so graphically described in the Co nfe ss io ns D e .
Q uincey p urposely omits here one incident in connection

with the m emorable escape that is however wor t hy of , ,
record H is mother ha v ing got tired of B ath had m oved

.
to a house in Chester called the Priory and it was thither

, ,
that he went first of all in the hopes o f making some

propitiatory arrangement which fortunately for him the
, , ,
p resence of his uncle a Colonel Penson his mother s only

, ,
’
sur v i v i ng brother ren d ered success ful where his mother s

, ,
’
se v ere notions o f decorum would assuredly only ha v e

led to se v erity and absolute refusal It was arranged .
accordingly that the runaway should have an allowance of

a guinea a week with liberty to wander at will To the
-
, .
sequent wanderings in W ales succee d s again the fam ous

L ondon e p isode which ex t ended in point o f time only from
N ovember 1 8 0 2 to the summer o f 1 8 0 3 but which occupies ,
DE Q UIN CE Y . xiii
intrinsically so large a prop ortion of his youthfu l history .
T h e house immortalised in the C o nfes s i o n s — the house

”
“
without household or establishment and contain ,
ing “
only a table and a few chairs which ga v e ,
the homeless lad shelter was in Greek S treet Soho ;

, ,
the name o f the master o f the house with his mixed ,
qualities o f honour and dishonour it seems more delicate ,
to lea v e for ever in the anonymity in which D e Quincey

left it R e m embering the many changes that have taken
.
place in L ondon thoroughfares since the date o f De

Quincey s boyish soj ourn amidst them —R egent S treet for
’
instance being yet unbuilt at that time — there are stil l many
,
of his haunts that can be traced by the z ealous student ;

Greek S treet S o h o and Oxford S treet in es p ecial remain
, , , ,
practically much t h e same .
Keeping an eye chiefly to the main e p isodes the next ,
period to be noted in D e Quincey s life is that o f his ’
sojourn at W orcester College Oxford whither he went in , ,
the autumn o f 1 8 0 3 being then j ust eighteen years o l d

, .
A t Oxford he does not seem to have made himself

conspicuous in any way passing most o f his time in
,
a studious seclusion which bore fruit in a thorough ac

,
.
quaintance with German literature so important in his ,
literary development and in a more complete grasp o f his

,
own literature as a whole beside a marked general advance in

,
academic p rofi ciency L ittle more is kno wn however o f his

.
, ,
Oxford days than that on his own con fession it was then that
, ,
he first resorted to Opium and as e v idence of his aca d emic

,
acquirements that he went u p for his B A examination

, .
,
and acquitted himself with such distinction in the written

par t o f it that o ne o f the examiners is said to ha v e told the
W orcester College authorities that they had sen t up the
cleverest man he had ever encountered ; but De Quincey ,
xiv D E Q HIN C EY
‘
for some reason o r other never com pleted his e x a m ina t i

,
and never took his degree sudd e nly taking himself ,
somew h ere p resumably t o L ondon in o ne o f his restless

, ,
fits o f o p i um vagrancy -
H is actual residency at the
.
U niversity with certain similar intervals to that narrated

, ,
seems to have l asted till 1 8 0 8 B efore this ho wever in .

, ,
addition to literary adventures in L ondon w h ere he had ,
al ready encountered Charl es L amb h e had made a p il grim ,
age in search o f Coleridge W h ose p rose works h ad begun to

,
influence him considerably h aving succeeded in fi nding the

p hilosopher and ex p oet at Bridge water he speedily estab
-
l is h e d himse l f in the position o f devout disci p le T his .
acquaintance had im p ortant furt h er results for an im p end ,
ing course o f l ectures at the R oyal Institution in L ondon

prevented Col eridge from accom p anying his wife and three
children w h o were bound for the l akes to stay with Southey
,
at Keswick and t h is gave De Quincey the chance

,
to pro ffer his services as escort to t h e p arty which were ,
accepted this was the means o f introducing him to

W ordsworth and his little circle at Grasmere where with , ,
his travelling p arty he stayed for t wo nights in the p oet s

.
,
’
cottage whic h he was after to occupy himself and dream

, ,
many uns p eakable dreams in It was only t wo years l ater .

,
in N ovember 1 8 0 9 that he established himself there in the

, ,
home which was to be his for more than twenty years ,
having o n his coming o f age three years before managed

, ,
to p ut his pecuniary arrangements on a better footing ,
which is generously attested indeed by his gift under a vei l ,
o f anonymity of three hundre d p ounds t o Coleridge w h om

, ,
he had discovered to be in a state o f melancholy owing to

embarrassed circumstances Th e year 1 8 08 S pent chiefly in
.
,
L ondon in intercourse with L amb H a zlitt Coleridge and , , ,
other l eadi ng men o f lett ers with occasional returns to ,

DE Q UIN CE Y . xv
Oxford , may be looked upon as the climateri o year o f D e

Quincey s formative period —the period w hic h ends wit h
’
the early years o f his establishment at Grasmere .
T h e remainder o f D e Quincey s history is soon told fo r

’
, ,
although full o f in t erest the remai ni ng years had l ittle to do

,
with the formation o f his character and literary facu l ty and ,
may therefore be glanced over more ra p idly Onl y the first .
y ears o f his L ake land life must not be overlooked as belonging

-
very emphatically to t h e formative period and it is insist

ently important that the reader shoul d realise the communion
with Coleridge W ordsworth in a l ess degree S outhey and
, , , , ,
in the very fi rst degree with Ch ristopher N orth —that

“
,
J ohn W il son o f tremendous physi q ue who played T itan to

, ,
D e Quincey s p igmy in numberless rambles in that “

’
north
A s Professor M asson remarks it must ha v e
”
countrie .
,
been a sight to see the t wo together in their j oint peregrin

e tions over the hill s t h e little De Quincey trudging side
,
by side with his maj estic comrade ! D e Quincey was how ,
e v er at all times a great p edestrian and able t o h old his

, ,
Own eas ily even in his Ol d age with the best o f wal kers
, , .
Thus p assed several years s p ent fo r the most par t in severe ,
s tudy especially o f t h e German metaphysicians

,
and in ,
that constant vain struggle against the ever increasing -
Opium craving which reached the stage o f confirmed

-
,
supremacy t o the terrible extent o f 8 0 0 0 drops o f

,
laudanum o r about seven wine glassful s daily in the

,
-
,
year 1 8 1 3 —in some res p ects a fatally significant year

in his history T h e years p assed until 1 8 1 6 w hen he
.
,
m arried the M of the Co nfessio ns—Margaret Simp

son the daughter o f a neighbouring farmer wh o serves
, ,
so charmingly to com plete that p icture o f a cottage

“ ”
interior with its snug fireside and other comfortable
,
items sketched by De Quincey wit h such success o f

,
xvi DE Q UIN CE Y .
picturesque realisation T his struggl e with the baneful

.
influences o f Opium after a p eriod in which all hope of

,
literary accomplishment seemed los t for ever in the imbecile

weakness o f wil l p roduced by the drug reached a more ,
favourable stage in 1 8 1 9 w h en p ecuniary diffi cultie s com

,
e l l e d D e Quincey t o a fi nal s evere e ffort t o o v erthrow its

p
su p remacy in order t o mars h al his facu l ties and turn them
to account in bread winning H is fi rst p roj ected works
-
.
,
l ike most first p roj ects Of the embryo author were on a con ,
s id e ra b l e sca l e as t h e mere titles o f two undertakings one

, ,
of a p hil osop hical work D e E m e nd a t io ne H umani

,
”
I nt e l l e c t u s ,
another the result o f his enthusiastic interest
in R icardo and Political E conomy — “
Prolegomena to all,
Future Systems o f Political E conomy testify were o n a

”
, ,
fairly ambitious scale but in the face o f urgent d ifli cul t ie s

h e was obliged to leave th e latest of the two p roj ects w h ere
a p revious fi t o f the O p ium torpor had stayed it and was ,
glad t o accep t offer Of the editorship o f a loca l Conservative

p ap er The Westm o rla nd Ga z ett e w h ich after certain
, , ,
negotiations ended in his p erforming the duties o f editor

,
in chief fro m the Grasmere domicile for a guinea a week !

- -
Th e editorship for whatever cause terminated did not last

, ,
a year but it marks a p oint o f departure in D e Quincey s

,
’
l i fe and the beginning o f the p eriod o f literary p roduction

, ,
and is important accordingly H enceforth we see D e .
Quincey e m barked u p on the f ully committed voyage

.
of the maga z ine contributor and intellectual hack ,
a career which in these days is too common to need d e s c rip

tion but which wa s then a much rarer thing I t was in
,
.
the newly established L o nd o n Ma g a z ine to which Keats

-
, ,
then recently deceased h ad contributed and which

, ,
numbered among other contributors Charles L amb H azlitt , , ,
A llan Cunningham “
Barry Corn wall
,
”
and T o m H oo d , ,
DE Q UIN E C I "
. vi i
x
th at De Q uincey m ade his first pronounced literary appear

ance and at once with part o f the most celebrated o f all his
,
“
writings for in the number for S eptember 1 8 2 1 appeared
,
a paper of twenty pages entitled Co nfess io ns of a n Op iu m

, ,
”
E a t er being a n E xtr a c t fro m the L ife of a S ch o la r
, .
There is no need to pursue De Quincey through all the

intricacies o f the l abyrinth o f magazine literature in the
ensuing years S u ffice it to say that with a reputation at
.
,
once assured by this first contribution he contributed in ,
turn to nearly every important maga z ine o f his time and ,
produced altogether the imposing total o f o ne hundred and

fifty articles These were produced p artly at Grasmere
.
,
partly in L ondon where he resided at interval s leaving his

, ,
wife with an increasing family o f children in her nati v e

place but most o f all in E dinburgh where most nu S cottish
, , ,
-
of all the s p irits who ever found refuge within its walls he ,
finally settled with his wife and children in 1 8 3 0 havi ng in ,
his connection with B la ckwo o d s M a g a z ine through J ohn

’
,
W ilson made it a place o f frequent resort previously I n

,
.
E dinburgh he reared his family under what di fficulties may

,
be imagined living in various parts o f the town in turn and

, ,
develo p ing more and more t hat biblio p hilic eccentricity o f

appearance and dress which marked him even in such a ,
h uman warren o f queer types as the Scottish capital was in

thos e days T here he faced bereavement and fought
.
,
bravely the battl e o f dear life under conditions which are

,
assuredly uni q ue even in l iterary history In 1 8 3 3 3 5 .

,
’
,
and 3 7 terrib l e loss came to the beloved circle in the latter

’
,
year with the death of his wife M argaret w h o had attended ,
him so devotedly t h rough all these years It was fortunate .
indeed that he h ad s o brave a circle o f c h ildren to d e a l

with ; the way in w h ic h his young daughters the eldest ,
no t o ut o f h er teens attended their hel pless father deser v es

, ,
b
xviii DE Q UIN CE Y .
indeed detailed record if there were only space for it In .
1 8 4 0 the eldest M argaret consulting with her brother

, ,
H orace concei v ed the idea o f taking the cottage at

,
L asswade called M avis B ush which is no w so memorable

, ,
amo ng celebrated cottages a n d at L asswade was h ence

,
forward the central abode of the eccentric little book worm ,
whose habits became more and more u naccountable and

w h imsical as the years increased u p on h im .
T o realise D e Quincey as he a pp eared in E dinburgh

during his l ater years we have only to turn to the numerous
,
accounts a fl o rd e d by those memb ers o f his own craft who

had the good fortune to encounter him in that city One .
o f these accounts from the pen of the late H il l B urton

, ,
m a y be given as an especial ly vivid p resentment o f the

Opium E ater it refers to h is a pp earance at a dinner p arty
-
given p rincipally in his honour “

Th e festivities
”
writes
.
,
H il l B urton are far o n when a commotion is heard in the

,
hall as if some dog o r other stray animal had forced his

,
way in Th e instinct o f a friendly guest tells him o f the

.
arrival : he o p ens the d o o r and fetches in the l ittle stranger .
W hat can it be ? A street boy o f some so rt ! H is cos

’
tume in fact is a boy s d u ffle greatcoat very threadbare
, , , ,
with a hole in it and buttoned tight to the chin where it

, ,
meets the fragments o f a par t i coloured belcher h a ndk e r -
chief o n his feet are list shoes covered with snow for it is
and the trousers l—som e o ne
, ,
a stormy winter night -
suggests that they are mere linen garments blackened with

writing ink -
W hat can be the theory of suc h a
.
costume ? Th e S implest thing in the world —it consisted ,
o f the fragments of apparel nearest at hand L est it .
S h ould b e wondered why the tender watchfulness o f the
home circle at L asswade had not rendered such a state o f

things im p ossib l e it ought t o be explained that the o l d
,
DE Q UI N CE Y .
vagrant impulses were still strong in D e Quincey and those ,
other exigencies o f his work frequently impelled h im to

absences from the L asswade cottage when he resorted to ,
the old plan o f lodgings sinki ng gradually into a state of

,
utter d ésha billé and sacrificing everything except the night

,
rambles which seem to have ser v ed as a sort o f seed time of

,
-
ideas to the grand absorp tion o f the literary a ffl a t us B u t

,
.
a fter all vagaries there was the a ffectionate greeting and

,
the home comfort that the girls had a lways t o o ffer at

Mavis Bush which formed a fixed centre amid the many
,
vicissitudes o f this p eriod By degrees the fam ily circle

.
was dispersed the two eldest daughters marrying and the

, ,
two survi v ing sons going o ut into li fe : o ne to military

service in India the other as a doctor to Brazi l and except
,
for occasional return visits the household had for som e time
,
been reduced to o ne daughter the youngest before the , ,
indomitable little soldier o f letters laid down h is weapons

at last De Quincey died o n the 8 th o f December 1 8 59
.
,
from sheer weakness o f Old a ge —dying however not at , , ,
L asswade but at lodgings in L othian Street E dinburgh in

, , ,
the presence o f two o f his daughters o ne o f whom h a d been ,
hastily summoned from Ireland .
I n thinking o n the p hysica l and ment al struggle con

tinned SO astonishingly with t hat frail l ittle body into old age
, ,
it is necessary to lay em p hasis o n the p ainful peculiarities

o f such a constitution with the superadded pains and
,
p enal ties of Opium ; for the reader is apt to overlook the

really un p aralleled frailty o f D e Quincey s p hysical con ’
ditions H appily towards the latter p art o f his l ife he h ad

.
been able to e ffect a compromise so t o speak with h i s , ,

“
familiar spirit the mighty and subtle
,
and his l ast
years except for the natural increase o f weakness were
, ,
p erhaps less painfu l than those o f any other period of h is

xx DE Q UIN CE Y .
l ife . H e was fortunate towards the last, too, in having

fallen into the h a nds o f more considerate p eo p le in the
E dinburgh l odgings whic h formed his intermittent B ohe
,
mian r etre at H is eccentric habits incom p etence in money

.
,
m atters physical hel p lessness and general susceptibilities

, , ,
had rendered h im at all times an easy p rey t o the imposi

tions o f landladies he is known to have had four di fferent
sets o f l odgings at o ne time occu p ied with the extraordinary
litter o f books and pap ers that he al ways accumu l ated in
his working quarters and it may be imagined in what state o f
,
confusion and tre p idation he constantl y l ived T his accu .
m ul a t io n usua l ly went o n unti l there was hardly moving o r

breat h ing s p ace in the room thus occupied until indeed he ,
“ ”
was as it has been expressed
,
snowed up At NO 4 2 ,
. .
L othian S treet however his favourite and last quarters in

, ,
E dinburgh he was in friendly and considerate keeping and

, ,
it is pleasant to know that his decl ining years were partly ,
for this r eason and p artly for other reasons already hinted
,
at more happ ily conditioned than t h ose which h ad gone

,
before .
Th e l iterary result o f this l ater period was quite as

remarkable allowing for the greater originality o f the first
,
ap p earance in the Co nfessi o ns as that o f any other period ,
in his l ife and it is es p ecially notable in that D e Quincey s

,
’
connection with o ne p ublisher Mr J ames H ogg had led in ,

.
,
1 8 53 to the fi rst volume o f a collected edition o f his works ,
r evised and edited by himself This edition since re .

,
arra nged and com p leted o n becoming the p roperty of ,
M essrs A it C Black o f E dinburgh remains no w as the

. . .
, ,
fi nished m onument o f De Quincey s l ife to which al l ’

,
students w h o wish to become thorough ly acquainte d with

his literary p roductions must re p air C onsidering De .
Quincey s work as a whole it must be borne in mind that

’
,
DE Q UI N CE Y . xxl
it is eminently that o f a maga z ine contributor with the ,
special defects and qualities that characterise writings

p roduced under the conditions of periodical p ublication .
A S a great master in that other harmony o f prose to ,
quote D ryden s fine phrase De Quincey cannot fai l to be

’
,
considered by all who read the Co nfessi o ns or the marvellous

fragment Ou r L a d ies of S o rro w It is undeniable that .
m u ch o f his work has not unnaturally lost all attractive

, ,
ness for latter day readers — that there are indeed large
-
portions o f it which have not even the most ordinary charm

of style to recommend them —mere hack work indifle re nt ly
'
-
written A t its poorest however there is al ways an

.
, ,
intel lectual basis D e Quincey might at times write without

style even in bad style but he never s p un verbal webs out
, ,
o f nothing W orking with his heart in his labour with his

.
,
poetic imagination fired he became a master architect o f ,

-
words— a power pl aying in unrivalled fashion with the

subtleties and S plendours o f our language In sombre .
imagination in what may be called passionate p athos he is

, ,
supreme amo ng masters o f E nglish prose A t times .

,
indeed his art is t o o cons p icuous —with a corresponding

,
lessening of effect upon the reader ; b u t even in the most

artificial o f those mar v ellous visio nary p assages dream ,
fugues as he called them what magnificence of S peech there ,
is what overwhelming music ! Is there in the p rose

,
literature o f imagination a more thrilling passage than that

”
last D ream cited in Th e Pa ins of Opi u m that dream
“
, ,
opening with its music o f p reparation and o f awakening

“
” “
suspense and ending with darkness and lights ; tempest
,
and human faces clasped hands and heart breaking partings

, ,
-
,
a nd then —e verlasting farewells l

”
D e Quincey s highest
’
reach however is not in the Co nfessio ns but in Cu spiria

, , ,
d e Profu nd is in the most im p ortant o f the sections

, ,
xxii DE Q UIN CE Y .
L And Ou r L f d i es
magnificent S o rro w T his
—
ev a na : a o .
fragment if that can be called a fragment which thoug h

brief is so com plete which in concep tion is so epically
,
grand —would alone su ffice to prove the j ustness o f the

claim for De Quincey s b eing one of the greatest masters o f
’
E nglish p rose Th e best word that has been said upon Ou r

.
L a d i es of S o rro w has been uttered by Professor M asson ,
with whose eloquent summary o f L ev a na this introduction

may fit t ingl y close [!
It is prose.poetry but it is more -
.
It is a p ermanent addition t o the mythology o f the h uman

race A s the Graces are three as the Fates are three as
.
, ,
the Furies are three as t h e M uses were originally three

, ,
so many the varieties and degrees o f misery that there are

in the world and the proportions of their distribution among
,
mankind be represented to the human imagination for ever

,
by De Quincey s Thre e L a d ies o f Sorrow and his sketch o f

’
,
their fi gures and kingdoms ”

.
The Edito r of th is v o lum e begs t o a ckno wl ed ge h ere h is inde bted ness to

M A B a ck of E d inbu r h —
’
the friend l y co u rtes y f o es srs (t. C l . .
g th e,
Cop yrigh t - h o ld e rs a nd p u blis hers of th e works of D e Q u i nce —

y in
pe rm it t ing h im to us e in th is ed it io n of t he Co nfessio ns the s e ct io n of

” “
the
“
Susp iria de Profu nd is ent it l ed , L e va na : A nd Our L a d ie s of
”
S orro w .
T O T HE READE R .
H E RE p resent y
courteous reader with the
o u, ,
record of a remarkable p eriod in my life

accord ing t o my application o f it I trust that
,
it will prove not merely an interesting record

, ,
but in a considerable degree useful and instructive In

, , .
t ha t ho p e it is that I have drawn it up : and tha t must be
my apology for breaking through that delicate and honour

able reserve which for the most part restrains us from the
, , ,
public exposure o f o u r o wn errors and infirm it ie s N othi ng

’
.
,
indeed is more re v olti ng t o E nglish feelings than the

, ,
spectacle o f a human being obtruding o n our notice his

“
moral ulcers o r scars and teari ng away that
, decen t
”
drapery which time or indulgence t o human frailty may
, , ,
ha v e d ra w n o v er them : accordingly the greater part of

,
a nd
o u r con fessions
(that is spontaneous ,
extra j udicial -
con fessions) proceed from demireps ad v enturers or , ,
Swindlers and for a ny such acts of gratuitous sel f

xxiv T O TH E R E A D E R?
humiliation from t h ose who can be supposed in sympathy
with the decent and self resp ecting part o f society we
-
must look to French literature or to that part o f the ,
German which is tainted with the spurious and de fecti v e

sensibility o f the French Al l this I feel so forcibly and
.
,
so nervously am I alive t o rep roach of this tendency that ,
I h ave for many months hesitated about the propriety of

allowing this o r any part o f my narrative to come before
, ,
t h e public eye until after my death (when for many

, ,
reasons the w h ole wil l be pub l ished ) and it is not without

,
an anxious revie w of the reasons for and against this step , ,
that I have at last concluded o n taking it

, , .
Gui l t and misery Shrink by a natural instinct from , ,
public notice : they court p rivacy and solitude : and even ,
in their choice o f a grave wi l l sometimes sequester them

,
selves from th e general p o p ulation of the churchyar d as if ,
declining to claim fel lowship with t h e great family of man ,
and wishing (in the a fl e ct ing l anguage o f Mr W ordsworth) .
Hu m b ly t o xpre ss
e
A pe nit e ntia l l o nel i ness .
It is wel l up on th e whol e and for t h e interest o f us all

, , ,
that it S hould be so : nor would I wil l ingly in my o wn ,
p erson manifest a disregard of such s al ut a rv feelings nor

,
in act o r word do a nything to weaken them b u t o n the o ne ,
hand as my self accusation does not amount to a confession

,
-
o f guilt so o n the other it is p ossible that

, , , if it did the , ,
benefit resulti ng to others from the record o f an experience

,
p urchased at so h eavy a p rice might com p ensate by a vast, ,

T O TH E R E A D E R .
xxv
o v erbalance for any violence done to the feelings I ha v e

,
noticed and j ustify a breach of the general r ule I nfirm it y

,
.
and misery do not o f necessity imply guilt ,

T hey ,
.
approach o r recede from the shades o f that dark alliance

, , ,
in propor tion t o the probable motives and prospects o f the

o ffender and the palliations known or secret of the
, , ,
'
o fl e nce in proportion as the temptations to it were potent

from the first and the resistance to it in act o r in e ffort
, , ,
was earnest to the last For my own part without breach.

,
of truth o r modesty I may a ffirm that my life has been on

, , ,
the whole the life of a ph iI OS Oph e r : from my birth I was

,
m ade an intellectual creature : and intellectual in the
highest sense my pursuits and pleasures have been e v en ,
from my school boy days I f O p ium eating be a sensual

-
.
-
pleasure and if I am bound t o confess that I have indulged

,
in it t o an excess not yet reco rd ed of any other man it is ,
no less true that I have struggled against this fascinating

,
enthralment with a religious z eal and have at leng t h , , ,
accomplished what I never yet heard attributed to any

other man —have u ntwisted almost t o its final links the , ,
accursed chain which fett ered me Such a self conquest .

-
may reasonably be set o ff in counterbalance to any kind or

degree of self indulgence N o t to insist that in m y ca s e
-
.
, ,
the self conquest was unquestionable the self indulgence

-
,
-
Open to doubts o f casuistry according as that name shall ,
be extended to acts aiming at the bare relie f of pain or ,
N o t ye t reco rd ed , I sa y fo r th e re is l
o ne ce eb ra e dt m a n o f th e
prese nt d a y , wh o , if a l l b e t rue wh ich is re po r e d o f t h im , h as gre a tl y

x
e ce e d e d m e in q ua n tity .
-
xxv i T O TH E R E A DE R1
shall be restricted to such as aim at the excitement o f

po s iti v e pleasure .
G uilt there fore I do not ackno wledge ; and if I d id

, , , ,
it is possible that I m ight still resol v e on the present act of

co nfession in consideration of the ser v ice which I may
,
thereby render to the whole class of opium eaters B ut -

.
who are they ? R eader I am sorry to say a very numer , ,
o u s class indeed Of this I became convinced some years

.
ago by computing at that time the number of those in

, , ,
o ne sma l l class o f E nglish society (the class o f men distin
g u is h e d for talents o r o f eminent

,
station ) who were known ,
to me ,
directly o r indirectly as Opium eaters ; such for ,
-
instance as the eloquent and benevolent the l ate dean

of L ord Mr the p hilosopher ; a late
under secretary o f state (who described to me the sensation
-
which first drove him to the use o f Opium in the very s ame ,
“
words as the dean of viz that he felt as though .
,
r ats were gnawing and abrading the coats of his

Mr . and many others hardly less known whom it ,
would be tedious to mention N o w if o ne c l ass com .

, ,
a ra t iv e l S O limited could furnish so many scores f cases

p y , o
( and t h a t within the knowledge o f one S ingle inquirer

) it ,
was a natural inference that the entire po p ulation of E ng,
land would furnish a p roportionable number Th e sound .
ness o f this inference however I doubted until some facts

, , ,
became kno wn to me which satisfied m e that it was not ,
incorrect I wil l mention two : 1 Three respectable L o n

. .
don druggists in widely remote quarters o f L ondon from

,
-
who m I ha pp ened lately to be p urchasing small quantities

T O TH E RE A D E R .
xxvii
of opium assured me that the number of a m a teu r opium
,
eaters (as I may term them ) was at this time i m mense and , ,
that the di fficulty o f distinguishing these persons to whom ,
habit had rendered opium necessary from such as were ,
purchasing it with a view to suicide occasioned them daily ,
trouble and disputes T his evidence respected L ondon

.
only B ut 2 (which will possibly surprise the reader

.
, .
m ore ) some years ago o n passing through M anchester I

, ,
wa s informed by several cotton manufacturers tha t their -

,
work peo ple were rapidly getting into the p ractice o f

-
Opium eating ; S O much SO that o n a S aturday afternoon

-
the counters o f the druggists were strewed with pill s o f

o ne ,
t wo o r three grains in p re p aration for the known
, ,
demand o f the evening T h e immediate occasion o f this .
practice was the lowness o f wages which at that time ,
would not allow them to indulge in ale o r Spirits : and ,
wages rising it may be thought that this p rac t ice would

,
cease : but as I do not readily believe that any man ha v ing ,
once tasted the di v ine luxuries o f Opium w ill afterwards ,
descend to the gross and mortal enj oyments o f a l cohol I ,
take it for granted ,
Th a t t h o s e eat no w, wh o ne v b e fo re ;
er at e
And t h o s e wh o a lways a t e ,
no w e a t t h e m o re .
Indee d the fascinating p owers o f opium are admitted ,
e ven by medical writers wh o are its greatest enemies ,
th us for instance A wsit e r apothecary t o Greenwich H o s

, , ,
p ital in his E ssay on the E ffects of Opium (published in

,
“
the year 1 7 6 3 when attempting to explain why Mead

, ,
xx viii T O TH E R E A DE R .
had not been su fficiently explicit on the p ro p erties counter ,
agents etc of this drug exp resses himself in the following

,
.
, ,
mysterious terms (gt wv a v r a (rm cro w n) “/Perhaps he thought

the subj ect of too delicate a nature to be made common ;
and as many p eo pl e might then indiscriminately use it it ,
would take from that necessary fear and caution whic h ,
S hould prevent their ex p eriencing the extensive power o f
this drug : fo r there a re m a ny properti es in i t if u niv ersa l ly ,
kno wn, th a t wo u ld h a bi tu a te th e u s e, a nd m a ke i t m o re i n
req u es t wi th us tha n t h e Tu rks them s e h

the result of es :
which knowledge he adds must p rove a general m is fo r

,
“
,
tune . In the necessity o f this conclusion I do not

concur : but u p on that p oint I Shal l have occasion to S peak
at the close o f my confessions where I shall p resent the
,
reader with the m ora l Of my narrative .

CO N E S S I ONS
OF AN
E G L I S H O PI U M EAT E R
-
PR E L I M I N A R Y CON F E SSI ON S .
H E SE preliminary confessions o r introductory

,
narrative o f the youth ful ad v entures which

’
lai d the foundation o f the writer s habit o f
Opium eating in after life it has been j udged
-
proper to prem ise for three se v eral reasons :

,
A s forestall ing that question a nd giving it a satis

, .
fac t ory ans wer which else would pain fully obtrude itself in
,
the course o f the Op ium Confessions — “

H o w came any
resolved ,
could hardly fail by the in d ignation which it would be apt

,
to raise as against an act o f wanton folly to interfere with

,
that degree of sympathy which is necessary in any case to

’
an author s purposes .
CON F ES S ION S OF A N
2 . furnishing a key to some parts Of that trem eu

As
dous scenery which after wards peo p led the dreams o f the
Opium eater -
.
3 A s creating some previous interest o f a persona l sort

.
in the confessing subj ect apart from the matter Of the

,
confessions which cannot fail to rend er the confessions

,
themsel v es m ore inter e sting I f a m a n whose talk is o f

“
.
”
oxen S hould become an Opium eater the probability is
,
-
, ,
that (if he is not too dull to dream at all ) —h e will dream

about oxen : whereas in the case before him the reader
, ,
will find that the Opium eater boasteth himself to be a

-
philosopher ; and accordingly that the phantasmagoria of ,
his dreams (waking o r sleeping day dreams or night dreams) ,

- -
is suitable t o o ne wh o in that character ,
Hum a ni nih il a s e a l ie num puta t .
For amongst the conditio ns which he deems indispensab l e

to t h e sustaining o f any claim to the title o f philosopher is
not merely the possession o f a superb intellect in its
o f the pretensions how
a na l t ic functions
y (in which part ,
e v er E ngland can for some generations S how but few

,
claimants ; at least he is not aware of any known candidate

,
for this honour who can be styled emphatically a s u bt l e

t hinker with the exception o f S a m ue l T a y l o r Co leri dg e
, ,
and in a narrower department o f thought with the recent ,
illustrious exception of D a v id R ica rd o ) but also on such a

"
constitution o f the m o ra l faculties as shall give him an ,
v
A th ird exce pt io n m igh t pe rh a ps h a e b e e n a d d e d : a nd m y re a so n
fo r no t a d d ing th a t exce pt io n is chie fly b e ca use it wa s o nly in h is
j v
u e nil e e f
fo rts th a t t h e write r wh o m I a ll ud e t o e xpres sl y a dd re s s e d
h im s e l f t o ph il o s o ph ica l t h e m es ; his ripe r po we rs h a ing b e e n a l l v
v v
d e d ica te d (o n e ry excus a b l e a nd e ry inte l ligib l e gro u nd s, u nd e r t h e
pre s e n t d ire ct io n o f t h e po p ul a r m i nd in E ngl and ) to riticism
c a nd the
EN G L IS H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
3
inner eye and power o f intuition fo r the v ision and the

mysteries o f o u r human nature : tha t constitution o f
faculties in short which (amo ngst all the generations o f
, ,
men that from the beginning o f time have deployed into

life as it were upon this planet) o u r E nglish p oets have
, ,
—
possessed in the highest degree and S cottis h Professors
“
in the lowest .
opium eater ; and have suffere d very unj ustly

-
, ,
o f my acquaintance from being reputed to have brough t ,
upon myself all the su fferings which I shal l have t o record ,
by a long course o f indulgence in this p ractice purely fo r the

sake o f creating an artificia l state o f pleasurable excitement .
T his however is a
, , e
is that fo r nearly ten years I did occasionally take Opium

W
T rue it .
for the sake o f the exquisite pleasure it gave me : but so ,
long as I took it with thi s view I w as e ffectually p rotected ,
from all material bad consequences by the necessity o f ,
interposing l ong interval s between the several acts o f ind ul

gence in order t o rene w the pleasurable sensations I t was
, .
not fo r the p urpose o f creating pleasure but o f mitigating

"
degree that I fi rs t h aga n t o nse o pium , . . m
as an article o f daily di et In the twenty eighth year o f -

. .
my age a most painful affection o f th e st om ach M ll iChL

, .
h a dfi rs t experienced about ten years before at t acked me in ,
Fine Art s . T h is reas o n a pa rt

, vr
h o we e ,I d o ub t wh e th er h e is no t
ra th e r to b e co ns id e re d a n a cu e t think er t h a n a s ub tl e o ne . I t is ,
b e sid e s , a g re a t d ra wb a c k on h is m a stery o v er ph il o s o ph ical s ub ects , j
t h at h e h a s ob vi o usl y no t h a d t h e ad v a n a ge t o f a re g ul a r s ch o l a s t ic
e d uca t io n h e h a s no t Pl a to in h is y o ut h ( wh ich m o s t l i e ly wa s
re a d k
o nl y h is m is fo rtune ) ; b ut ne it h e r h a s h e re a d K a nt in h is m a nh o o d
(wh ich is h is fa ult) .
I d is d a in a ny a llusio n to e x isting pro fess o rs , of wh o m ind e ed I

kn w o on ly o ne .
CONFESSIONS OF A N
rea L s t ren t h T his

affection had originally been caused
g g .
by o f hunger su ffered in my boyis h days

, .
D uring the season 0 e and redundant happiness w hi ch

succeeded (that is from eighteen to twenty four) it had
,
-
slumbered for the three following years it had re v ived at
depression
youthf ul su ffer
ings which first produced this derange m ent o f the stomach
, ,
were interesting in themsel v es and in the circumstances

,
that attended them I shall here briefly retrace them

,
.
M y father died when I was abo ut seven years o l d and ,
l eft me to the care o f four guardians I was sent to various .
schools great and small and was very (M

, ed
x
fo r my classical attainments especiall for m k no wl e d ge o f

,
G reek A t thirteen I wrote Greek with ease and at

w
.
my com mand o f that language was so great tha t I ,
not only com posed Greek v erses in lyric metres but could ,
converse in Greek fluently and without embarrassment

,
a n accomplishment which I ha v e not since met with in any
scholar o f my times and which in my case was owing t o

, , ,
the practice o f daily reading o f the news p apers into the

best Greek I could furnish e x tem po re for the necessity o f
ransacking my memory and invention for al l sor t s and ,
combinations o f periphrastic expressions as equivalents fo r ,
m odern ideas images relations o f things etc

, ,
gave me a ,
.
,
compass o f d iction which would never have been called out

“ ”
by a dull translation o f moral essays etc T hat boy ,
.
,
said o ne of my m asters pointi ng t h e attention o fm

,
er
to m e ,
that b o y could harangue an A theni an mob better ,
than you and I could address an E nglish on

-
”
H e who
"
e .
i o no u re d me with this eu l ogy w as a s ch o l a r

“
'
m '
and a ripe ,
and good o ne and of all my tutors was the only o ne ,

ENGLISH OPJ UM E A TE R -
.
5
whom I lo v ed or reverenced for me (and as . U nfortunate ,
M s worthy man s great indigna ’
tion) I was transferred to the care fi rst o f a blockhead , ,
who was in a perp etual panic lest I should expose his ,
ignorance and finally to that o f a respectable scholar at , ,
the head o f a great school on an ancient foundation T his .
man h a d been appointed to his situation by C ollege ,
Oxford ; and was a sound well built scholar but (like

.
,
-
most men whom I have known from that college ) coarse

, ,
clumsy and inelegant A miserabl e contrast he presented

, .
,
in my eyes to the E tonian brilliancy o f my favourite

,
master and beside he could no t disguise from my hourly

,
notice the poverty and meagreness o f his understanding

,
.
It a mself ,
beyond his tutors whether in knowledge o r in power o f

m
,
5
-
mind T his was the

. T
W W I t h myself only for the t wo boys wh o j ointly
,
with myself composed the first form were better Grecians

than the head master t h ough no t more elegant scholars
-
, ,
nor at all more accustomed t o sacri fi ce to the graces W hen .
I first entered I remember that we read S ophocles and it

,
was a constant matter o f triumph to us the learned ,
triumvirate o f the first form t o see o u r A rch id id a sca l us ,
(as h e lo v ed to be called ) co nning o u r lessons be fore we

went up and laying a regular train with lexicon a nd
, ,
grammar for blowi ng up and blasting (as it were ) any

,
di fficulties he found in the choruses wh ilst we never conde

scended to open o u r books until the moment o f going up and ,
were generally employed in writing epigrams upon his wig ,
o r some such importan t matter My t wo class fellows were .

-
poor and depen d ant for their future pros p ects at the uni v er
,
s it o n the recommendation o f the head m a ster but I , who

y -
had a small patrimonial property the i ncome o f which was ,

un m
CONFE SSIONS OF A N
su ffi cient t o su p port me at college wish e d t o be sent thither ,
immediately I made earnest re p resentations o n the subj ect

.
to my guardians but all t o no p u rp ose One wh o was more

, .
,
reasonable and had more knowledge o f the world than the

,
rest lived at a distance t wo o f the o t her three resigned all

,
their authority into the hands o f the fourth ; and this fourt h
with whom I had to negotiate was a WM
M Sb
m m w
a certain number o f letters and p ersonal
to
,
interviews I found that I had nothing t o h Ope fo r no t even

, ,
a com p romise o f the matter from my gu ardian ; unco ndi ,
t io na l submission was what he demanded ; and I pre p ared
—
mysel f therefore for other measures S ummer was now
, .
w
,
coming o n with hasty steps and my armth MM ,
was fast a pp roaching after which day I had sworn within

myself that I would no l onger be numbered amongst school
boys M oney being what I chiefly wanted I wrote to a
.
,
woman o f high rank wh o thoug h young herself had known

, , ,
me from a child and had latterly treated me with great dis

,
tinction requesting that s h e would lend me five guineas

,
“
.
F o r upwards o f a week no ans wer came and I was begin

ning t o despond when at length a servant put into my
, , ,
hands a double l etter with a coronet o n the seal Th e letter

,
.
was kind and ob l iging the fair writer was o n the sea coast -
and in that way the delay had arisen ;

o f what I had asked and good na t u re d y i n e
i de
that if I -
W
m
,
S her it would no t absolutely ruin her

,
.
N o w then I was prepared for my scheme ; ten guineas

, ,
added to about two which I had remaining from my p ocket

money seemed t o me sufficient for an indefinite length o f
,
time and at that ha p py age if no d efi nite boundary can be ,
assigned t o one s p ower the s p irit o f h Ope and p leasure

’
,
m akes it virtu al ly infini te .

ENGLISH OPI UM E A T E R -
.
7
It is a j ust remark o f D r J ohnson s (and w h at can not

.
’
often be said o f his remarks it is a very feeling o ne ) that

, ,
we never d o anything consciously for the last time (of

things that is which we have long been in the habit o f
, ,
d oing) without sadness o f heart T his truth I felt dee p ly .
when I came to lea v e a place which I did not love ,
and w h ere I had not been happy On the evening be fore .
I l eft for ever I grie v ed when the ancient and lo fty

,
school room resounded with the evening service perform ed

-
for the last time in my hearing ; and at night when the ,
muster roll o f names was called over and m ine (as usual )
-
,
was c al led first I s tepped for ward a nd passing the head

, , ,
master who was standing by I bowed to him and looked

, , ,
e a rnestl y in his face thinking to myself H e is o l d and

“
, ,
infirm and in this world I shall not see him agai n

, I was .
right ; I never d id see him again nor ever shall H e looked , .
at me complacently smiled good naturedly returned my

,
-
salutation (o r rather my v alediction ) and we parted (though

, ,
he knew it no t ) for ever I could not reverence h im .
intellectually ; but he had been uni formly kind to me and ,
h a d allowed me many indulgencies ; and I grie v ed at the

thought o f the m o rt ifica t io n I should inflict upon him .
T h e morning came which was t o launch me into t h e

worl d and from which my whole succeeding life has in
, ,
m any important points taken its colouring I lodged in

,
.
’
the head master s house and had been allowed from my
-
, ,
first entrance the indulgence o f a p ri v ate room which I

, ,
used both as a sleeping room and as a study A t half a fter

-
.
-
three I rose and gazed with deep emotion at the ancient

,
”
towers o f drest in earliest light and beginning to ,
crimson with the radiant lustre o f a cloudless J uly morning .
I was firm and immovable in my purp ose ; but yet agitated

by anticipation of uncertain danger and troubles ; and if I ,
CONFESSIONS OF A N
could have foreseen the hurricane and ,
afflic t ion w hi c h soon f e we m ,
g i ta t e d
. T o this agitation the dee eace
pp M o f t h e morning
p resented an affecting contrast and i n some degree a ,
m T .
h e silence was more p rofound than that o f mid
night and to m e t h e silence o f a summer morning is more

touching than all other silence because the light being broad , ,
and strong as t hat o f noon day at other seasons of the year it

,
-
,
s e ems to di ffer from perfect day chiefly because man is not ,
yet abroad and thus the p eace of nature and of the innocent
, ,
creatures o f G o d seems to be secure and dee p only s o long

, ,
as the p resence o f m a n and his restless and unquiet s p irit

, ,
are no t there to trouble its sanc t ity I dressed myself .

,
took my hat a nd gloves and lingered a l ittle in the room

,
.
Fo r the last year and a half this room had been my -
p ensive citadel here I had read and studied through all

the hours o f night ; and though true it was that for , ,
the latter part o f this time I who was framed for love and ,
gentle a ffections had lost my gaiety and happiness during

, ,
the strife and fever of contention with my guardian ; yet ,
o n the other hand as a boy so passionately fond o f books

, , ,
and dedicated t o intellectual pursuits I could not fail t o ,
have en j oyed many ha p py hours in the midst o f general

dej ection I we p t as I looked round o n the chair hearth
.
, ,
writing table and other familiar obj ects knowing t o o

-
, ,
certainly that I looked upon them for the last time

, .
W hilst I write this it is eighteen years ago ; and yet at

, ,
this moment I see distinctly as if it were yesterday the

, , ,
l ineaments and expression o f the obj ect o n which I fixed

my parting ga z e it was a picture o f the lo v ely which
hung over the mantlepiece the eyes and m outh o f which
were so beautiful a nd the whole countenance so radiant
,
with benignity and divine tranquillity that I had a ,

ENGLISH OPI UM E A TE R -
.
9
th ousand times laid down my pen o r my book t o gather , ,
consolation from it as a de v otee from his p atron saint

, .
W hilst I was yet gazi ng upon it the deep tones of ,
cl ock p roclaimed that it was four o clock I went up to ’

.
the picture kissed it and gently wa lked o u t and closed

, , ,
the door for e v er
So blended and inte rtwisted in this life are occasions o f

l aughter and o f tears that I cannot yet recall without
,
smili ng an incident which occurred at that time and which

, ,
had nearly put a s t op t o the imme d iate execution o f my

plan I had a trunk o f immense weight ; for besides my
.
,
clothes it contained nearly a ll m y lib rary T h e d ifli c ul t y

, .
’
was t o get this removed t o a carrier s my room was at an
a erial elevation in the house and (what was worse ) the ,
stair case which communicated with this angle o f the

-
building wa s accessible only by a gallery which passed the

, ,
head master s chamber door I was a favourite with all the

-
’
.
servants and knowing that any o f them would screen me

, ,
and act confi d entially I communicated my embarrassment

,
to a groom o f the head master s Th e groom swore he would

-
’
.
d o anything I wished ; and when the time arrived went ,
upstairs to bring the trunk down T his I feared was beyond .
the stre ngth of any o ne m a n however the groom was a man ,
Of At la nt e a n sh o ul d e rs fi t t o h e a r ,
Th e we igh t o f m igh t ie s t m o na rch ie s
and had a back as spacious as S alisbury Plain A ccordingly .
he p ersisted in bringing down the trunk alone whilst I ,
stood waiting at the foot o f the last flight in anxiety fo r

the event F o r some time I heard him descen d ing with
.
slo w and firm steps ; but unfortunately from his trepida ,
tion as he drew near the dangerous quarter within a fe w

, ,
step s of the gallery his foot slipped and the mighty

,
I O CONFE SSIONS OF A N
burden falling from his shoulders gained such increase o f

, ,
impetus at each ste p o f the descent that o n reaching the , ,
bottom it trundled o r rather leaped right across with the

, , , ,
noise o f twenty devils against the very bed room door o f ,

-
the a rch id id a s ca l u s My first thought w as that all was .
lost and that my only chance for executi ng a retreat w as to

,
sacrifice my baggage H owever o n reflection I determined .

, ,
to abide the issue Th e groom was in the utmost alarm .

,
both o n his o wn account and o n mine but in spite o f this , ,
so irresistibly had the sense o f the ludicrous in this unhappy ,
co nt re t e m s taken pos ses sion of his fancy that he sang out a

p , ,
long loud and canorous p ea l o f laughter that might have

, , ,
wakened t h e S even Sleepers A t the sound of this resonant .
merriment within the very ears of insulted authority I

, ,
could not myself forbear j oining in it subdued to this not ,
so much by the unhappy ét o u rd em e o f the trunk as by the

'
e ffect it had u p on the groom W e both ex p ected as a .

,
matter o f course that D r would s al ly o u t o f his

, .
room ; for in general if but a mouse stirred he sprang o u t , ,
like a m a s t ifl from the kennel S trange to say however .

, ,
o n this occasion w h en t h e noise o f laughter h ad ceased no

, ,
sound o r rustl ing even was to be heard in the bed room

, ,
-
.
Dr “
ing h im awa e made his sl eep _ pe
W
W ,
W
,
m
-
ihg courage from the silence ,
the groom hoisted his burden again and accomplished the ,
rem ainder of his descent without accident I waited until .
I saw the trunk placed o n a wheel barrow and on its road -
“ ’ ”
to the carrier s ; then with Providence m y guide I set , ,
of f on foot—carrying a small parcel with some artic l es o f ,
dress under my arm ; a favourite E nglish poet in o ne pocket

, ,
and a small 1 2 mo volume containing about nine p lays o f ,
E uri p id es in the oth er,

.
ENGL IS H OPI UM E A TE R -
. II
It had been my intention originally to proce e d t o W est

moreland both from the love I bore t o t h at country and o n
, ,
other p ersonal accounts A ccident h owever gave a di fferent

.
, ,
direction to my wanderings and I bent my ste p s towards ,
A fter wandering about fo r some time in D enbighshire ,
M erionethshire and Caernarvonshire I took l odgings in a

, ,
small neat house in B H ere I migh t have stayed with

great comfort for many weeks ; for provisions were cheap at
B from the scarcity o f other markets for the surplus
produce o f a wide agricultural district A n accident how .
,
ever in which perhaps no o ffence was designed drove me

, , , ,
o u t t o wander again I know no t whether my reader may

.
have remarked but I have often remarked that the proudest

, ,
class o f p eople in E ngland (or at any rate the class whose ,
p ride is most app arent ) are the families o f bishops N oble .
men and their children carry about w ith them in their

, , ,
very titles a su fficient notification o f their rank N a y

,
.
,
their very names (and this a p plies also t o the children o f

many untitled houses ) are often t o the E nglish ear , ,
adequate exponents o f high birth o r descent S ackville .

,
M anners Fitzroy Paulet Cavendish and scores o f others

, , , , ,
tell their o wn tale S uch persons therefore find e v ery

.
, ,
where a due sense o f their cl aims already establishe d ,
except among those who are ignorant o f the world by v irtue ,
“
N o t t o know t hem argues one s
’
o f their o wn obscurity : ,
”
sel f unknown T heir manners take a suitable tone and
.
colouring ; and for once they find it necessary to impress a

sense o f their consequence upon others they meet with a ,
thousand occasions for moderating and tempering t his sense

by acts o f courteous condescension W ith the families of .
bishop s it is otherwise with them it is all u p hill work to -
make known their p retens ions ; fo r the p roportion o f the

12 CONFE SSIONS OF A N
episco p al bench taken from noble families is not at any

, ,
time very large ; and the succession o f these dignities is so

rapid that the p ublic ear seldom has time t o become
,
famil iar with them unless where they are connected with
,
some literary re p utation H ence it is that the children of .

,
bisho p s carry about with them an austere and re p ulsive air ,
indicative o f c l aims not generally acknowle d ged a sort of ,
no li m e t a ng ere m anner nervously apprehensive o f too ,
familiar approach and shrinking with the sensitiveness of

,
a gouty m a n from a ll contact with the 0 2m ik h o c D oubtless

,
.
,
a p owerful u nderstanding o r unusual goodness o f nature , ,
will preserve a man from such weakness ; but in general , ,
the truth o f my re p resentation will be acknow l edged ; pride ,
if not o f deeper root in such families appears at least more , , ,
u p on the surface o f their manners T his Sp irit o f manners .
naturally communicates itself t o their domestics and other

dependants N o w my l andlady h ad been a lady s m aid o r
.
,
’
,
a nurse in the family o f the B ishop o f

,
and had but
l ately married a way and settled (as such people express
“ ”
it) for life In a l ittle town like B

. m erely to have
l ived in the bishop s family conferred some distinction ;
’
and my good lan ad

dl y had rather more than her share of
the pride I have noticed o n that score W ha t my lord ”
.
said and what my lord did how usefu l he was in parlia

,
“ ”
,
ment and how indis p ensable at Oxford formed the dai l y

, ,
burden o f her talk A l l this I bore very well ; for I was

.
’
too good natured to laugh in anybody s face and I could
-
m ake an ample allowance for the garrulity o f an o l d

servant Of necessity however I m ust have appeared
.
, ,
’
in her eyes very inadequately impressed with the bishop s
im p ortance and perhaps to punish m e for my indi fference
, , ,
o r p ossibly by accident sh e o ne day rep eated to m e a ,
conversation in whic h I was indirectly a p arty concerned .

ENGL ISH OPI UZtl E A TE R
-
. 13
Sh e had been t o the palace to pay her res p ects t o the

family ; and dinner being over was summoned into the
, ,
dining room -
I n gi v ing an account o f her household
.
economy she happene d t o mention that she had let her

,
apartments T hereupon the good bishop (it seemed ) had

.
taken occasion to caution her as to her selection o f inmates ;

“ ” “
for said he
,
you must recollect B etty that this place
, , ,
is in the high road to the H ead so t h at multitudes o f I ris h

swin d lers running away from their debts into E ngland— and
,
o f E nglish swindlers running away from their debts to the
I sle o f M a n are l ike ly t o take this place in their route

,
”
T his .
a d v ice certainly was no t without reasonable grounds ; but

rather fitted t o be stored up for M rs B etty s private .
’
meditations than s p ecially reported t o me W hat followed .

,
ho we v er was somewhat worse

, Oh my lord
”
answered , ,
my lan d lady (according t o her o wn representation o f the

“ ’
matter) I really don t think this young gentlem a n is
,
’
a swindler ; because Y o u don t t hin k me a
swindler ? said I interru p ting her in a tumult o f in d igna
”
, ,
“
tion ; for the future I shall spare y o u the trouble of
A nd without del ay I prepared for my
”
thinking about it .
departure S ome concessions the good woman seemed dis

.
posed t o m ake but a harsh a nd contemptuous ex p ression ,
which I fear that I applied t o the l earned dignitary himsel f ,
roused h er indignation in turn ; and reconciliation then

became impossible I was indeed greatly irritated at the .
, ,
bisho p s having suggested any grounds o f suspicion how

’
,
e v er remotely against a person whom he had ne v er

,
seen ; and I thought o f l etting him kno w my min d in

G reek w hich at the same time that it would furnish some
,
presumption that I was no swindler would also (I hoped ) ,
compel the bishop t o reply in the same language in which

case I doubte d no t t o make it a pp ear that if I was not so
, ,
CONFE SSIONS OF A N
rich as his l ordship I was a far better Grecian Ca l mer , .
t h oughts h owever drove this boyish design o ut o f my

, ,
mind ; fo r I considered that the bisho p was in the right

t o counsel an old servant ; th at he could not ha v e
designed that his advice should be reported to me ; and
that the sam e coarseness o f mind which had led M rs .
B etty t o re p eat the advice at all might have co l oured it in ,
a way more agreeable t o her o wn style o f thinking than to ,
the actual expressions o f th e worthy bishop .
I left the l odgings the very sam e hour ; and this turned
o u t a very unfortunate occurrence fo r m e because living , ,
henceforward at inns I was drained o f my money very ,
ra id l ht I was reduced W e ;
that is I co ul d al low myself o nl o ne papal a — day Eg m .
th
i w t i
pe g pg —
t d u c e d by c o ns ta nt _e x e rcis e and — moun -
tain air acting o n a youthful stom ach I soon —

n
M
b e ga nm
\
, ,
su ffer gre atl o h th i s sl end e r regim e n for th e s ipgl e m ea l

‘
” w ' ‘
“
wh ch £9 6111 Li c
i i z p ipp
e v
'
t d w fi
'
re t r t E en
“
o
'
, a o e r a s c o ea /
.
this however was at length withdrawn ; and afterwards

, , ,
so l ong as I remain ed in W a l es I subsisted either on black ,
berrie s hips haws

, e tc o r o n t ha cas ual h o s p it alities wh ic h
, , .
,
~
I no w _arid th e n recei v e in return fo r suc h little services
as I had an pppp rtg nj t m f re nde ri ng S o meti me s I wro t e __ .
‘
l etters orb us ine ss for cottagers who h ap pened to have

-I ’
rel atives in L iverpoo l o r in L ondon ; more often I wrot e

l ove l etters to their sweethearts for young wo m en wh o had
-
lived as servants in S hrewsbury o r other to wns o n the ,
E nglish bord er On all such occasions I gave great satis

.
faction to my humb l e frien d s and was generally treated ,
with hospitality and once in particular near the village o f ,
L lan y s t y nd w (or some such name ) in a sequestered part o f

- -
,
M erionethshire I was entertained for upwards o f three days

,
by a family o f young p eople with an a ffectionate and ,

ENG LIS H OPIUM E A TE R
-
. 1 5
fraternal kindness that left an impression upon my heart

no t y et impaired T h e family consisted at that time o f four
.
, ,
sisters and three brothers all grown up and all remarkable

, ,
for elegance and delicacy of manners S o much beauty .

,
and so much native good breeding and refinement I do not

-
remember to have seen before or since in any cottage ,
except once o r twice in W es t moreland and D evonshire .
T hey spoke E nglish an accomplishment not often met with

,
in so many members o f o ne family especially i n v illages ,
remote from the high road H ere I wrote o n my first

-
.
,
intro d uction a letter about priz e money fo r o ne of the

,
-
,
brothers wh o had ser v ed o n board an E nglish man o f war ;

,
- -
and more pri v ately t w o lo v e letters fo r two o f the sisters

,
-
.
T hey were both interesting looking girls and o ne o f ,
uncommon loveliness I n the midst o f their con fusion and

.
blushes whilst dictating o r rather giving me genera l instru o

, ,
tions it did not require a ny great p enetration t o discover

,
that what they wished was that their letters should be as kind
as was consistent with p roper maidenly pride I contrived .
so to temper my expressions as to reconcile the gratification,
o f both feelings ; and they were as much pleased with

the way in which I had expressed their thoughts as (in ,
their simplicity ) t h ey were astonished at my having so

readily discovered them T h e rece p tion o ne meets with
.
from the women o f a family generally determines the tenor

o f one s whol e entertainment
’
I n this case I had discharged
.
my confidential duties as secretary so much to the genera l

satisfaction perhaps also amusing them with my conversa
,
tion that I was pressed t o stay with a cordiality which I

,
had little incli nation to resist I slept with the brothers .

,
the only unoccupied bed stan d ing in t h e apartment o f the

young women ; but in all other points they treated me
with a res p ect no t u sual ly paid t o purs e s as ligh t a s m ine
w:
A
t/ L
[ V V 1 V
‘ ‘
-
‘
7 r / r
16 ‘
CON F E i fi QE Q J F 4
. i
as if my scholarship were su fficient evidence that I w a s o f
“ ”
gentle blood T hus I lived with them for three days
.
,
and great part o f a fourth ; and fro m the undiminished ,
kindness which they continued to show me I believe I ,
m ight ha v e stayed with them up to this time if their ,
power had corresponded w ith their wishes On the last .
m orning h owever I percei v ed upon their countenances as

, , ,
they sat at breakfast the expression o f some unpleasant ,
communication which was at hand ; and soon after o ne of

the brothers explained to m e that their parents had gone ,
the day before my arrival to an annual meeting o f M etho ,
d ists held at Caernar v on and were that day expected t o

, ,
return and if they should no t b e so civil as they ought

to be he begged o n the par t o f all the young p eople that
,
”
, ,
I would not take it amiss T h e parents returned with .

,
“ ”
churlish fa ces and D ym S a ss ena ch , (no E ng lis h
) in ,
answer to all my addresses I s a w how matters stood ; .
a nd so taking an a ffectionate lea v e o f my kind and inter

,
esting young hosts I went my way F o r though they , .

,
spoke warmly to their parents in my behal f and often ,
excused the m anner o f the old p eople by saying it was ,
“ ”
only their way yet I easily understood that my talent ,
for writing love letters would do as little t o recommend m e

-
with t wo grave sexagenarian W elsh M ethodists as my ,
Greek S apphics or A lcaics and what had been hospitality ,
when o fl e re d to me with the gracious courtesy of my young

friends wou l d become charity when connecte d with th e
,
harsh demeanour of these o ld people Certainly M r .

, .
S helley is right in his notions about o l d age
I f ully counteracted by all sor t s of o ppo s it e age ncie s it _i§ a ,
miserable corrupter an
‘
d b li ght er to the genial chari ties o f

-
th e hum an heart .
S oo nafter this I contrived by means which I must omit

“f
a ; d iv -
0 “
,
for want of room to trans fer mysel f to L ondon A nd no w
, .
began the lat A ong s u -
w 1 t h o ut usin a d is pro po rt io na t e e re s s io n mj g
m h t
g xp j
s a
y w m
o f my agony For I now su ffered fo r upwards o f sixteen

.
,
W y fi c a l anguish of hunger l n various d egrees of
intensity but as bitter perhaps as ever any human being

, , ,
can ha v e su ffered who has sur v ived it I would not nee d .
’
lessly harass my reader s feelings by a detail o f all that I
endure d for extremities such as these under any circum ,
stances o f hea v iest misconduct or guilt cannot be contem ,
plated e v en in description without a rue ful pity that is

, ,
pain ful to the natural goo d ness of the human heart L e t

’
.
it su ffice at least o n t h is occasion to say that a few frag

, , ,
ments of bread from the breakfast table of one in d ividual -
( who supposed me to be ill but did not know ,

o f my being
in utter want ) and these at uncertain intervals constituted

, ,
my W hole support D uring the former part of my su ffer

.
i ngs (that is generally in W ales and always for the first

, ,
two m onths in L ondon) I was ho u seless a nd v ery seldom ,
slept under a roof T o this co nsm . am

g o s u re to t h e — op en v -a
air I ascribe it mainly that I did not sink under my tor

“
m L atterly howe v er when colder and more inclement

, ,
weather came on and when from the length o f my su ffer

, ,
m
ings I had be un t o sink into a more l a ngu 1 s h_g co ndi t ion
,
— ,
it was n ,
fi a tm m a t the same person to
whose breakfast table I had access allowed me to sleep i n a ,
large unoccupied house o f which he was tenant U no ccu

, .
pied I call it fo r there was no h ousehold o r establishment

, ,
in it ; nor any furniture indeed except a table a nd a fe w

, ,
chairs B ut I found o n taking possession o f my new quar

.
,
ters that the house already contained one single inmate

, ,
a poor friendless child apparently ten years o l d ; but

she seemed hunger—
,
bitten and su fferings o f that sort often

,
2
C ONFE SSIONS OF A N
make children look older than they are From this for .
lorn child I learned that she had slept and lived there
alone for some time before I came ; and great j oy the poor
creature expressed when she found that I was in future , ,
to be her companion through the hours of darkness Th e .
house was large ; and from the want o f furniture the , ,
noise of the rats made a p rodigious echoing on the s p acious

stair case and hall ; and amidst the real fl e s h ly ills o f
-
,
col d and I fear hunger the forsaken child had found

, , , ,
leisure to su ffer still more (it appeared )

i sed her prot ection against a ll ghosts
o ne o
fg p
h s prom
’
whatsoever ; b ut alas ! I could o ffer her no other assistance

,
.
W e lay upon the floor with a bundle o f cursed law papers ,
for a pillow but with no other cove ring than a sor t o f

,
’
large horseman s cloak after wards however we discovered , , ,
in a garret an o l d sofa cover a small p iece o f rug and

,
-
, ,
some fragments o f other articles which added a little to ,
o u r warmth T h e poor child crept close t o me for warmth

.
,
and for security against her ghostly enemies W hen I was .
not more than usual ! ill I took her into my £555 ;

in general s h e was_ tolerably warm and often slept when I
, ,
M
“m
could not ; for during the last two months o f my su ffe rings
. M “ “
, ,
I sI e pt much i n day time and was apt to fall into transient

”
-
,
d o z1 ngs at all hours B u t my __sle p

e distresse . e
’
"
dr eams (which were only not so awful as those which I

shall have to describe hereafter as produced by opium ) my ,
sleep was never m ore than what 1 s called d o g s leep so that -

,
I co u l d
m and was often w as it seemed , ,
to me awakened suddenly by my o wn voice ; and about

, ,
this time a hideous sensation began to haunt me as soon as

,
I fell into a slumber which has _s__ince returned

_ u pon,
me at
di fferen t periods of my life — viz a sort of t wit ch i n (I
“ I
O'
,
.
ENGLISH OPIUM E A TE R-
.
know not where but a ar ,

about the reg ion of the
stomach ) w 1 c compelled me violently to throw out my
w
,
feet for the sake o f relieving it Th w .

L
as soon as I began t o sleep and the e p r 0 re 1 e v e i t no n
, :
w
s t amil y a wak ifi me at len th I sl e
m L l f m h n t i n
'
g g , L Q e x a s o
and from increasing weakness (as I said before ) I was

M ean
t master o f the house sometimes came in upon us
suddenly and very early sometimes no t till ten o clock
, ,
’
,
sometimes not at a l l H e was in constant fear o f baili ffs

.
improving o n the plan o f Cromwell every night he slept in ,
a di fferent quar t e r o f L ondon ; and I obser v ed that he

never failed to examine through a private window the, ,
appearance o f those who knocked at the door before he

would allow it to be Opened H e breakfasted alone ; .
indeed his tea equipage would hardly have admitted of

,
his haz arding an invitation t o a second person —any more

than the quantity o f esculent m a terie l which fo r the most , ,
part was little more th a n a roll o r a few biscuits which he

, , ,
had bought o n his road from the place where he had slept .
Or if he ha d asked a par ty as I once learnedly and

, ,
facetiously observed to him — the several members o f it

must have s to o d in the relation t o each other (not s a t e in
any relation whatever) o f succession as the m etaphysicians ,
have it and not o f a cc existence in the relation o f the

,
-
parts o f time and no t o f the parts o f space D uring his

, .
break fast I generally contrived a reason fo r lounging in ,
and with an air o f as much indi fference as I could assume

took u p such fragm ents as he had l e ft —sometimes indeed
, ,
, ,
there were none at all I n doing this I committed no

.
robbery exce p t u p on the man him se lf wh o was thus obliged ,
(I believe ) no w and then t o send o u t at noon fo r an extra
biscuit ; for as t o the poor child s he was never admitted

, ,
20 C ONFE SSIONS OF AN
into hi s study (if I may give that name to h is chief

depository of parchments l a w writings etc ) that room , ,
.
was to her the B lue beard room o f the house b e ing re gul a rl y
-
,
’
locked o n his departure to dinner about six o clock which , ,
usually was his final departure for the night W hether .
this child were an il legitimate daughter o f Mr or .
only a ser v ant I could not ascertain ; she did not herself
,
know but certainly she was treated altogether as a menial

ser v ant N o sooner did M r
. m ake his a p pearance .
,
than she went below stairs brushed his shoes coat etc ; , , ,
.
and except when she was summoned to run an errand she

, ,
never emerged from the dismal T artarus o f the kitchen ,
etc to the u pper air until my welcome knock at night

.
, ,
called u p her little trembling footsteps to the front door .
Of her life during the day time howe v er I knew little but -
, ,
what I gathered from her o wn account at night ; for as ,
soon as the hours of business commenced I saw that my ,
absence would be acceptable ; and in general therefore I , , ,
went o ff and sate in t h e parks o r elsewhere until nightfall , ,

.
B u t who and what meantime was the master o f the

, , ,
house himself ? R eader he was o ne o f those anomalous

,
practitioners in lower departments o f the law who —what ,
shall I say f—who o n pr udential reasons o r from necessity

, , ,
deny themse l ves all indulgence in the luxury of too delicate

a conscience (a periphrasis which might be abridged con
’
s id e ra b l y but t ha t I leave to the reader s taste in many
, )
walks o f life a conscience is a more expensive encumbrance
than a wife o r a carriage ; and j ust as peop l e talk o f
“
laying down their carriages so I suppose my friend ,
Mr . h ad laid down his conscience fo r a time ;

“
mea ning doubtless t o resume it as soon as h e could afford

, ,
it Th e inner economy o f such a man s daily life would

.
’
p resent a m ost strange p ictur e, if I could allo w myself t o

ENGL ISH OPI UM E A TE R -
. 2!
amuse the reader at his expense E v en with my limited .
opportunities for obse rving what went o n I saw many ,
scenes of L ondon intrigues and complex chicanery cycle ,

”
and epicycle ; orb in orb at which I sometimes smile to ,
this d a y —and at which I smiled then in spite of my ,
misery M y situation however at that time ga v e me

.
, , ,
little experience in my own person of any qualities in

Mr .
’
s character but such as did him honour ; and of
his whole strange composition I must forget everything ,
but that towards me he was obliging and to the extent of , ,
his power generous , .
T hat po wer was not indeed very extensive however in , , ,
common with the rats I sat rent— free and as D r J ohnson , , .
has recorded that he never but o ee in his life had as much

,
p
wall fruit as he could eat so let me be grateful that o n that
-
single occasion I had as large a choice o f apartments in a

L ondon mansion as I could possibly desire E xcept the .
Blue beard room which the poor child believed to be haunte d

-
, ,
all others from the attics to the cellars were at our ser
, ,
“ ”
vice ; the world was all before us and we pitched ou r ,
tent for the night in any spot we chose T his house I .
have already described as a large o ne ; it stands in a con

s pic u o u s situation and in a well kno wn part o f L ondon
,
-
.
M any of my readers will ha v e passed it I d oubt not within , ,
a few hours o f reading this For myself I never fail to .

,
v isit it when business draws me to L ondon

; ab out t en__
w
irthday— turned aside fro m my e v ening walk down
he n m
g;
b I
W re e t purposely t o take a glance at i t
, ; it is now
occupied by a respectable family a nd by the lights in the , ,
front drawing room I obser v ed a domestic party assembled

-
, ,
perhaps at tea and apparently cheerful a nd gay M a r

, .
v e l l o u s contrast in my eyes to the d arkness cold s ilence

, , , , ,
22 CONFE SSI ONS OF A N
and desolation o f that same house eighteen years ago when ,
its nightly occ upants were o ne fa m ishing scholar and a

neglected chil d —her b y the b y in after years I vainly
,
- -
em re 0 race A part from her situation she was

.
,
not what would b e called an interesting child : she was

neither pretty no r quick in understanding nor remarkably
, ,
pleasing in manners B u t thank God ! even in those years

.
,
I needed not the embellishments o f novel accessories to

conciliate my affections plain h uman nature in its ,
humblest and most homely apparel was enough for me , ,
and I l oved t QQ Q M h l L L SLCQ ES G she was

L
p artner in
m t h
c e d ne ss . I f she is n o w living she is probably a
mother with children o f her o wn ; but as I have said I
, , ,
could never trace her .
T his I regret but another p erson there was at that time

whom I have since sought to trace with far deeper earnest
ness and with far deeper sorrow at my failure
,
T his .
p erson was a young woman and o ne o f that unhappy class,
wh o subsist upon the wages o f prostitution I feel no .
shame nor have any reason to feel it in avowing that I

, ,
was then o n familiar and friend l y terms with many

women in that unfortunate condition T h e reader ne e ds .
neither smile at this a v owal no r frown ; for not t o , ,
remind my classic al readers o f the o l d L atin p roverb ,

”
“
S ine Cere re ,
etc it may well be supposed that in the
.
,
existing state o f my p urse my connection with such women

,
could not have been an im p ure o ne B ut the truth is that .

,
at no time o f m life have I been a perst o fi m y s el f ’
p olluted by the touch o r apppqa ch o f a py prgea tnre t ha t m e

a n s ha p e ;
a
w
h u m o n the contrary from my very earliest ,
youth it has been my pride to converse familiarly m o re ,
S o cra ti o with all human beings man W

that chance might fling in my way —a practice which is
, , ,
W ,
ENGL ISH OPI UM E A TE R
-
. 23
frie ndl y t o the knowledge qf__11115213 1 nature t o good feelings

5 , ,
and to that frankness o f a d dress which becomes a man wh o

woul d be thought a p hilosopher ; for a philosopher should
no t see with the eyes o f the poor limitary creature calling
himself a man of the world and filled with narrow and
,
self regarding prej udice s of birth and education but should

-
look upon hi ms elf as a catholic creature and as standing

in equal relation to high and l o w —to educated and u ne du
,
c a t e d to the guilty and the innocent

, B eing myself at that
.
time o f necessity a p eripatetic o r a walker o f the streets

, ,
I naturally fell in more frequently with those fema l e

peripatetics wh o are technically called street walkers -
.
M any o f these women had occasionally taken my part

against watc h men w h o wished t o dri v e me o ff the steps of
houses where I was sitting B ut one amongst them the
.
,
o ne o n whose account I have at al l introduced this subj ect
—yet no ! let me no t class thee Oh noble minded A nn

,
-
with that order o f women ; l et me find if it be possible

, ,
some gentler name t o designate the condition o f her t o

whose bounty and compassion ministering t o my necessities
,
when al l the world had forsaken me I o w e it that I am at

,
this time a live For many weeks I had walked at nights

.
with this poor friendless girl up and down Oxford Street ,
o r had rested with her o n steps and under the shelter of
porticos Sh e could not be so o ld as myself she told me

.
,
indeed that she had not completed her sixteenth year By

,
.
such questions as my interest about her prompte d I had ,
gradually drawn forth her simple history H ers was a .
case o f ordinary occurrence (as I have since had reason to

think ) and o ne in which if L ondon b e ne fice nce had better
, ,
adapted its arrangements t o meet it the power o f the law

,
might oftener be interp osed to protect and to a v enge B ut .
the stream o f L ondon charity flows in a channel which ,

24 CONFE SSIO N S OF AN
though d ee p and mighty is yet noiseless and underground ,
no t obvious o r readily accessible to p oor houseless wan

d e re rs and it cannot be denied that the outside air and
frame work o f L ondon society is harsh cruel and repulsi v e
-
, ,
.
In any case howe v er I s a w that part of her inj uries might

, ,
easily ha v e been redressed ; and I urge d her often and

earnestly to lay her complaint before a magistrate friend
less as she was I assured her that she w ould meet with
,
immediate atten t ion and that E nglish j ustice which was ,
no respecter o f persons would speedily and amply avenge ,
her o n the brutal ruffia n who had plundered her little

p roperty Sh e promised me often that she woul d but she
.
,
delayed taking the ste ps I p ointed o u t from time to time

fo r she was timid and dej ected to a degree which showed
h o w d eeply sorrow had taken hold o f her young heart ; and
perhap s she thought j ustly that the most upright j u d ge and ,
the most righteous tribunals could do nothing to repair her ,
hea v iest wrongs Something however would p erhaps h ave

.
, ,
been done for it had been se t tled between us at l ength but

, ,
unhappily on the very l ast time but o ne that I was ever to

see her that in a day o r two we should go together before
,
a magistrate and that I should s p eak o n her behalf T his

,
.
l ittle service it was destined however that I should never , ,
realise M eantime that which she rendered to me and

.
, ,
whic h was greater than I could ever ha v e repaid her was ,
this —One night when we were pacing slow l y along

,
Oxford S treet and after a day when I had fel t more than
,
u sually ill and faint I requeste d her to turn o ff with me

,
into Soho S quare ; thither we went and we sate down on ,
the steps of a house which to this hour I never pass , , ,
without a pang o f grief a nd an inner act o f homage to the

,
spirit of that unhappy girl in memory o f the noble action ,
which she there performed S uddenly as we sate I gre w .

, ,
ENGLIS H OPI UM E A TE R
-
.
muc h worse
bosom and
,
backwards o n _t h e the sensations I then had

I fem conviction of the ll v e l1 e s t ki n d t h at with out
it was at th is crisis o f my fate that m y poor or phan

, ,
“
companio n wh o had herself met with little but inj uries

,
acted upon my— em pty stomach (which a t t h a t time would v w ‘ n. “ a
M
v -v
t g all solid food ) with an i ns t a nt a ne o u

sp o we r of
1
: a nd for—
restoration
W —“
this glass
n
the
fi
— generous
- a q
girl
n. w
without
m
a
murmur paid o u t o f her o w n humble p urse at a time
.
Q fl v na p - w «y .
Q
—b e it remem ered l—when she had scarcel y where withal

m u c h
r
W
t o pure ase the bare ne ce ssa rl e s o f l l fe and when she
0
,
W
could h a v e nQ J e as on _t o expe ct _ t hat
L -
able to reimburse her Oh ! youthf ul benefactress ! h o w

.
w
often 1 n succeeding y ears standing in solitary places and , ,
thinking o f thee with grief o f heart and perfect love h o w ,
often have I wished that as in ancient times the curse o f a ,
father was belie v ed t o have a supernatural power and to ,
pursue its obj ect with a fatal necessity o f self ful fil m e nt -
even so the benediction o f a heart oppressed with gratitude

might have a l ike prerogative ; might ha v e power gi v en to
it from abo v e to chase —t o haunt—to way lay—to over -
take —t o purs ue thee into the central d arkness of a

L on d on brothel o r (if it were possible ) into the dark
,
ness o f the gra v e there t o awaken thee with an authentic

u -
26 CO NFE SSIONS OF A N
m essage of p eace a nd forgiveness ,

and of fina l recon
ciliatio n !
I do not often wee p ; for not o nl y d o my thoughts o n
subj ects connected with the chief interests o f man daily ,
nay hourl y descend a t h ousand fathoms t o o dee p for

,
“
tears not only does the sternness o f my habits o f thought

present an antagonis m to the feel ings w hich prom p t tears
wanting of necessity t o th ose wh o being p rotected usually
,
by their l e v ity from any tendency to meditative sorrow ,
woul d by that same levity be mad e inca p able o f resisting

it o n any casual access o f such feel ings —but also I believe ,
that all minds which have contemplated such obj ects as

deeply as I have done must fo r their o wn protection from
, ,
utter despondency have early encouraged and cherished

,
some tranquillising bel ief as to the future balances and

the hieroglyphic meanings o f human sufferings On these .
accounts I am cheerfu l to this hour ; and as I have said I , ,
d o no t often weep Y e t some feelings though not dee p er

.
,
o r m ore p assionate are more tender than others

,
and often ,
when I walk at this time in Oxford S t reet by dreamy l am p

light and hear those airs played o n a barrel organ which
,
-
years ago solaced m e and my dear com panion (as I must

always cal l her) I shed tears and muse wit h myself at the
, ,
mysterious dispensation which so suddenly and so critical ly

separated us for ever H o w it ha p pened the reader will
.
,
understand from what remains o f this introductory

narration .
S oon after the period o f the l ast incident I have recorded ,
I met in A lbemarle Street a gentleman of his late M ajesty s

, ,
’
household This gentleman had received hos p italities on

.
,
di fferent occasions from my family and he challeng e d me

, ,
upon the strength of my family likeness I did not atte mpt .
any disguise ; I answered his questions ingenuously —and ,

ENGL IS H OPI UM E H TE E -
. 27
on h is pl edging
word o f h onour th at h e woul d no t
his
betray me t o my guardians I gave h im an address t o my
,
’
friend the a tto rney s Th e next day I received from him
.
a ten pound bank note Th e l etter enclosing it was delivered

- -
.
with other letters of business to the attorney ; but though ,
his look and manner informed me that he suspected its

contents he gave it up t o me honourab ly and without
,
demu r .
T his present from the particular service t o which it was

,
applied leads m e natu ral ly t o speak o f the p urpose w h ic h

,
had allured me up t o L o ndon a nd whic h I had been (t o use

,
a forensic word ) so liciting from t h e first day o f my arrival

in L ondon t o that o f my final de p arture .
I n s o mighty a world as L o ndon it will s urp rise my readers ,
that I should no t ha v e found some means o f staving o ff the

last extremities o f p enury and it will strike them that t wo
resources at least must ha v e been o p en t o m e—vi z either t o .
,
seek assistance from the friends o f my family o r t o turn my ,
you t hful talents and attainments into some channel of

pecuniary emolument A s t o the first course I may observe
.
,
generally that what I dreaded beyond all other evils was

,
the chance o f being reclaimed by my guardians not doubt

ing that whatever power the law gave them would have
been enforced against me t o the utmost that is t o the , ,
extremity o f forcibly restoring me to the school which I had

quitted —a restoration which as it wou l d in my eyes have,
been a dishonour even if submitted t o voluntarily could

, ,
not fail when extorted from me in contempt and defiance

,
o f my o wn wishes and e f forts to have been a humiliation ,
w orse t o me than death and which would indeed have

,
terminated in death I was therefore shy enough of

.
, ,
applying for assistance even in those quarters where I was

sure o f receiving it —a t the risk o f furnishing my gu ardians
2 8 CONFE SSIONS OF AN
with any cl ue o f recovering m e B ut as t o L ondon in .

,
p articular though doubtl ess m y father had in his life time

, , ,
-
h a d m any friends there yet (as ten years had passed since
,
his death ) I remembered few o f them e v en by name and

never having seen L ondon before except once for a few ,
hours I knew not the address o f even those fe w T o this

,
.
mode o f gaining help therefore in part the di fficulty but

, , ,
much more the paramount fear which I ha v e mentioned ,
h abitually indisposed me In regard to the other mode I

.
,
now feel half inclined to j oin my reader in wondering that

I should have overl ooked it A s a corrector o f Greek.
p roofs (if in no other way ) I m ight doubtless have gained ,
enough for my slender wants S uch an o fli ce as this I .
could have discharged with an exemplary and punctual

accuracy that would soon ha v e gained me the confidence o f
m y employers .Bu t it must not be forgotten that e v en ,
for such an o ffice as this it was necessary that I should ,
first o f a l l ha v e an introduction t o some respectable pub

l is h e r and this I had no m eans o f obtaining
, T o say the .
truth howe v er it had never once occurred to me t o think

, ,
o f literary labours as a source o f profit N 0 mode .
s u fli cie nt l y speedy o f obtaining m o n ey had ever occurred
to me but that o f borrowing it on the strength o f my .
f uture claims and expectations T his mode I sought by .
e v ery a v enue to compass ; and amongst other persons I

applied to a J e w named D
T o this J e w and to other advertising money l enders
,
-
( some o f whom were I belie v e

,
a l so J ews ) I had introduced
, ,
myself with an account o f my ex p ectations ; which account ,
To th i s sa m e Je w, b y t h e wa y, s o m e e igh t e e n m o nt h s a fte rwa rd s,

- -
I a ppl ie d a ga in o n t h e s a m e b us ine s s a nd , d a t ing a t th a t tim e fro m

a re s pe ct a b l e co l l e g e , I wa s fo rtuna te e no ugh t o ga in h is s erio us
a t te nt io n t o m y pro po sal s My ne ce s sities h a d no t a rise n fro m a ny
.
ENGL ISH OPIUM E A TE R -
. 29
on examining my father s will at D octors Commons t h ey ’ ’

,
had ascertained t o be correct Th e person there mentioned .
as t h e second son of was found to ha v e all the claims

(or more than all ) that I had stated but one question still
remained which the faces o f the J ews pretty significantly
,
suggested— was I that person ? T his doubt had never

occurred to me as a possible one ; I had rather feared ,
whene v er my J ewish friends scrutinised me keenly that I ,
might be t o o well known to be that person and that some ,
scheme might be passing in their minds for entrapping m e

and selling me to my guardians It was strange to me to .
find my o wn sel f m a t eria lit er considered (so I expressed it ,
e xt ra va ga nce o r yo uth ful l e vities (th e se ts a nd t h e na t ure o f

m y h ab i
m y pl e a s ures ra is e d m e fa r a b o v e ) b ut sim ply fro m t h e v ind ict iv e
,
m l ice o f m y g ua rd ia n wh o wh e n h e fo und h im s el f no l o nger a b l e t o

a , ,
pre ve nt m e fro m go ing t o t h e uni ve rs it y h a d a s a pa rt ing t o k e n o f , ,
his go o d na ture re fuse d t o s ig n a n o rd e r fo r g ra nt ing m e a sh il l ing

b eyo nd t h e a l l o wa nce m a d e t o m e a t s ch o o l—v iz £ 1 0 0 pe r a nnum
,
.
, .
U po n th i s s um it wa s in m y t i m e b a re l y po ssib l e t o h a v e l ive d in
, ,
co l l e ge a nd no t po ss ib l e t o a m a n wh o th o ugh a b o ve t h e pa l t ry a fl e ct a
'
, ,
t io n o f o s t e nta ti o us d is re ga rd fo r m o ney a nd with o ut a ny expe nsive ,
ta ste s co nfi d e d neve rt h el e ss ra t h er t o o m uch in s erva nt s a nd did no t

, ,
d e l igh t in t h e pe t ty d e t a il s o f m inute e co no m y I so o n t h e re fo re .
, ,
b e ca m e e m b arra ss e d a nd a t l e ngth a ft er a m o st v o l u m ino us nego t ia

,
t io n wit h t h e Je w (so m e pa rts o f wh ich if I h a d l e is ure t o re h e a rs e ,
t h e m wo ul d gre a tly a m us e m y re a d e rs ) I wa s pu t in po s se ss io n o f t h e
, ,
s um I a s k e d fo r o n t h e , re gul a r t e rm s o f pa ying t h e Je w s e ve nte e n

a nd a h a l f pe r ce nt b y wa y o f a nnu it y o n a l l t h e m o ney furnis h e d ;
-
.
I sra el o n h is pa rt g ra cio us l y res um ing no m o re t h a n a b o ut nine t y

, ,
g uine as o f t h e sa id m o ne y o n a cco unt o f a n a t t o rney s b il l (fo r wh a t

’
,
s e rvice s t o wh o m re nd e re d a nd wh en wh e t h e r a t t h e s ie ge o f J e ru
sa l e m — a t t h e b uil d ing o f t h e S e co nd Te m pl e —
, , ,
o r o n s o m e e a rl ie r
o cca s io n I h a ve no t y e t b e e n a b l e t o d isco ve r)
, Ho w m a ny perch e s .
t h is b il l m ea sure d I re a l l y fo rg t ; b u t I s t ill k e e p it in a ca b inet o f

e
na t ura l curio sitie s a nd s o m e t im e o r ot h e r I b e lie ve I s h a l l prese nt it

,
t o t h e Brit ish Mus eum .

30 CONFES SIONS OF AN
for I doated o n logical accuracy of distinctions ) accused or , ,
at l east sus p ected of counterfeiting my own self form a li t er

, ,
considered H owever to satisfy their scruples I took the

.
, ,
only course in my power W hilst I was in W ales I had .

,
received various letters from young friends ; these I pro

d u ce d fo r I carried the m constantly in my pocket —being
, ,
indeed by this time almost the only relics o f my personal

,
encumbrances (excepting the clo t hes I wore ) which I had

not in one way o r other disposed o f M ost o f t hese letters .
were from the E arl o f who was at that time my chief

(or rather only ) co nfi dential friend T hese letters were .
dated from E ton I had also some from the M arquis o f

.
h is father who though absorbed in agricultural p ursuits

, , ,
yet having been an E tonian himself and as good a scholar

, ,
as a nobleman needs t o be still retained an a ffection for ,
classical studies and for youthful scholars

,
H e had .
,
accordingly from the time that I was fifteen corresponded

, ,
with me sometimes u p on the great improvements which he

had made or was meditating in the counties o f M
,
and ,
SI since I had been there sometimes upon the m erit s

.
o f a L atin poet and at other times suggesting s ubj ects t o

me on which he wished me to write verses .
On reading the le t ters o ne of my J ewish friends agree d

,
to furnish me with t wo or three hundred pounds o n my

personal security— provided I could persuade the young
earl who was b y the way not older than mysel f to
, ,
- -
, ,
’
guarantee the payment on o ur coming of age ; the J ew s
final object being as I now suppose not the trifling profit
, ,
he could expect to make by me but the prospect of ,
establishing a connection wi t h my noble friend whose ,
immense expecta tions were well known to him In pur .
s ua nce of this prOpo s a l o n th e part o f the J e w about eight ,
o r nine days after I had received the £ 1 0 I p re p ared to go ,

ENGLISH OPI UM E H TE E -
.
31
down to E ton N early £ 3 o f the money I had given t o my

.
money lending friend on his alleging that the stamps must

-
be bought in order that the writings might be p reparing

,
whilst I was away from L ondon I thought in my heart .
that he was lying ; but I did not wis h to give him any
excuse fo r charging his own delays upon me A smaller .
sum I h a d given to my friend the attorney (who was

connected with the money lenders as their lawyer) to -
,
whi ch indeed he was entitled fo r his unfurnished lodgings

, ,
.
A bout fifteen shillings I had employed in re establishing -
(though in a very humble way ) my dress Of the remainder .
I ga v e o ne quarter to A nn meaning o n my return to ha v e

,
di v ided with her whatever might remain These arra nge .
’
ments made soon after six o clock o n a dark winter even
, ,
ing I set o ff accompanied by A nn towards Piccadilly for

, , ,
it was my intention to go d own a s far as Salt hill o n the -
B ath o r B ristol M ail Our course lay through a part o f

.
the to wn which has no w al l disappeared s o that I can no ,
longer retrace its ancient boundaries —S wallow S treet I ,
think it w a s called H aving time enough before us h o w

.
,
ever we bore away to the left until we came into Golden

,
S quare ; there near the corner of S herrard S treet we sat

, ,
down ; not wishing t o part in the tumult and blaze o f

Piccadilly I had told her o f my plans some time before
.
and I no w ass ured her again that she should share in my

good fortune if I met with any ; and that I would ne v er
,
forsake her as soon as I had power to protect her T his I

, .
fully intended as much from inclination as from a sense o f

,
duty ; fo r setting aside gratitude which in any case m ust

, ,
h a v e made me her debtor for li fe I lov e d h er a s a ffection ,
ately as if she had been my sister ; and at this moment ,
with seven fold tenderness from pity at witnessing her

-
extreme dej ection I had apparently most reason for

.
, ,
32 CONFE S SIONS OF A N
because I was leaving the sa v iour o f m l ife yet

d ej ection ,
I considering the shock my hea lth had received was
, ,
cheerful and full of h ope S hhi oii the hhnt ra ry who was
M
.
’
fi
m m
n
e .“ ’
.
,
parting with o ne who had had— little means “ u u w n m n fl' M W

dj
q
bro t h e r
ll zpie
v
,
ex
c ne s s
a n at
by sorrow so that when I kissed her at our final farewell

, ,
arms about my neck and wept without speak ,
ing a word I hoped t o return in a week at farthest and

.
,
I agreed with her that o n the fif t h night from that and ,

’
every night a fterwards she would wait for me at six o clock
, ,
near the bottom o f Great T it chfie l d Street w hich had been ,
o u r customary haven as it were o f rende z vous to prevent

, , ,
o ur missing each other in the great M editerranean of Oxford
S treet . T his and other measures o f p recaution I took ;

o ne only I forgot Sh e had either never told m e or (as a
.
,
matter o f no great interest) I had forgotten her surname ,

.
It is a general p ractice indeed with girls o f humble rank

, ,
in her unha pp y condition not (as novel reading women o f ,

-
higher pretensions) to sty l e themsel v es —Mis s D o ug la s s ,
Miss M o nta g u e etc but simply by their Christian names

, .
, ,
Ma ry J a ne F ra nces etc H e r surname as t h e sures t

, , , .
,
means o f tracing her hereafter I ought no w to ha v e ,
inquired but the truth is having no reason to think that ,
o ur meeting could in consequence of a short interruption

, ,
be more di fficult o r uncertain than it had been for so many

weeks I had scarcely for a m oment adverted to it as
,
necessary o r placed it amongst my memoranda against this

,
parting interview ; and my final anxieties being S pent in ,
comforting h er with h opes and in pressing upon her the ,
violent cou gh and m m
I wholly forgot it
It was p ast eight o clock when I reached the Glouceste r

’
.
Co ffee -
and the Bristol M ail being o n the point o f
house ;
*
,
going o ff I mounted o n the outside

,
Th e fine fluent .
motion o f this M ail soon laid me asleep ; it is somewhat

remarkable that the first easy o r refreshing sleep w hi ch I
,
had enj oyed for some months was o n the outside of a M ail ,
coach —a bed which at this day I find rather an uneasy , ,
o ne . Connected with this sleep was a little incident whic h

served as hundreds of others did at that time to convince
, ,
me h o w easily a man who has never been in any great

distress may p ass through life without knowing in his o wn
, ,
person at least anyth ing of the p ossible goodness o f the

,
human heart o r as I must add with a sigh o f its possible

-
, ,
vileness S o thick a cu rtain o f m a nners is drawn over the

.
features and ex p ression o f men s na twres that to the ’

,
ordinary observer t h e t wo extremities and the infinite field

, ,
o f varieties which l ie between them a re all confounded ,
the vas t and multitudinous compass o f their several

ha rmonies reduced t o the meagre outline o f di fferences
exp ressed in the gamut o r al phabet o f elementary sounds .
Th e case was this : fo r the first four o r five miles from

L o ndon I annoyed my fellow p assenger o n the roof by
,
-
occasionally falling against him when th e coach gave a

lurch t o his side : and indeed if th e road h ad been less ,
smooth and level than it is W W W ,
weakness Of this annoyanc e he complained heavily as

.
,
W t h e same circumstances most p eo p le would ; ,
he ex p ressed his complaint however more morosely than , ,
the occasion seemed t o warrant ; and if I had parted with ,
him at that moment I should have though t o f him (if ,
I had cons idered it worth while t o think o f him at all )
Th e Bristo l Ma il is t h e b e st a ppo i nte d i n t h e ingd o m —o wi ng t o k

t h e d o ub l e a dva nt a g e s o f a n u nusua ll y g o o d ro a d , a nd o f a n extra su m
fo r expenses sub scrib e d b y t h e Bristo l m erch a nts .
34 CONFES SIONS OF A N
as a surly and almost brutal fe llow H o wever I w a s .

,
conscious that I had gi v en him som e cause for complaint ;

and therefore I apologised to him and assured him I
, , ,
would do what I could to avoid falling aslee p for the

future and at the same time in as fe w words as p ossible
, , ,
I ex l n d to him that I was i ll and in a weak state

M
'
ast m at
t 1 m e to take an inside p lace T his man s manner c h anged

.
’
u p on h earing this explanation in a n instant ; and when ,
I next woke for a min ute from t h e noise and lights o f

H ouns l ow (for in s p ite o f my wishes and efforts I had
fallen aslee p again within two minutes from the time I
h ad s p oken t o hi m ) I found th at he had p ut his a rm
r ound me t o p rotect me from falling o ff ; and for the
rest o f my j ourney he behaved to me with the gentl eness
o f a woman so that at l ength I
,
almost l ay in his arms ;
, ,
and th is was the more kind as he could not have known ,
that I was not going the whol e way to B at h o r B ristol .
U nfortunately indeed I did go rather farther t h an I

, ,
intended for so geni al and refreshing was my sl ee p that ,
the next time after l eaving H ounslow that I fully awoke

, , ,
was upon the sudden p u l ling up o f the M ail (possibly at a

Post o ffice ) and o n inquiry I found that we had reached
-
, , ,
M aidenhead —six o r seven m iles I think a head o f S alt hill , ,

-
.
H ere I al ighted and fo r the half minute that the M ai l

,
-
stopped I was entreated by my friendly com p anion (who

,
from the transient glim p se I had had o f him in Piccadilly ,
seemed t o me t o be a gentleman s butler—o r person o f that ’
rank ) to go to bed without delay T his I promised though .

,
with no intention o f doing so and in fact I immediately ,
set for ward o r rather backward o n foot It must then

, , .
h ave been nearly midnight but so slowly did I creep along ,
t h at I h eard a clock in a cottage strike four before I

ENGL ISH OPI UM E H TE E -
.
35
turned down the lane fro m S lough to E to n Th e air and .
the sleep had both refreshed me but I was weary never

t hele ss I remember a thought (obvious enough and which
.
,
has been prettily expressed by a R oman p oet) whic h gave

me some consolation at that m oment under my poverty .
T here had been some time before a murder committed on

o r near H ounslow H eath I think I cannot be mistaken
.
when I say that the name o f t h e murdered p erson was

S t eele and that he was the o wner o f a lavender p lantation
,
in that neighbourhood E very s t ep o f my progress was.
bringing me nearer to the H eath and it naturally occurred

to me that I and the accused murderer if h e were that ,
night abroad might at every instant be unconsciously

,
app roaching each other through the darkness ; in which

case said I — supposing I instead o f being (a s indeed I am )
, ,
littl e better than an outcas t

L o rd o f m y l e a rni ng a nd no l a nd b eside ,
were like my friend L ord

,
heir by general rep ute to
,
p er annum wha t a panic should I be under at

,
this moment about my throat l—indeed it wa s no t likely ,
tha t L ord should ever be in my situation B ut

nevertheless the s p irit o f the remark remains true—that
.
,
vast p ower and p ossessions make a man shameful ly afraid

o f dying ; and I am convinced that many o f the most
intrepid adventurers who by fortunate ly being poor enj oy
*
, , ,
the full u s e o f their natural courage wo ul d if at the very , ,
instant o f going into action new s were brough t t o them

that they had unex p ectedly succeeded t o an estate in
It will be j t
o b ec e d tha t m an y m e n, of t h e h igh e s t ra n k a nd
l
We a t h , h a v
e in o ur o wn da y, as well as t h ro ugh o ut o ur h is t o ry , b e e n
a m o ngs t the fo re m o st in
urting d anger in b a tt l e True b ut t h is is
co .
no t t h e ca s e s uppo s e d ; l o ng fa m il ia rity with po we r h a s t o t h em

d ea d e ne d it s e ffect a nd it s a t tra ctio ns .
36 CONFE SSIONS OF AN
E ngland ofyear feel their dislike to bullets

a -
considerably sharpene d and their e fforts at perfec t equa

,
nim it y and self possession proportionably di fficult

-
S o true .
i t is in the language of a wise man whose o wn experience

,
had made him acquainted wit h both fortunes that ric h es ,
are better fit t e d
To l
s ac k n vi t
e r ue , a nd a b a e t h e r e dg e ,
Th a n t em pt h e r t o d o o ugh t m a y m e rit pra is e

—P
.
a rad is e Rega ined .
I dally with my subject because to mysel f the remem , ,
brance o f these times is profoundly interesting B ut my .
reader shal l not have any further cause t o complain for I ,
now haste n to its close I n the road between S lough and

.
E ton I fell asleep and j ust as the morning began to dawn

,
I was awakened by t h e voice o f a man standing over me

and surveying me I know not what he was ; he was an
.
il l looking fellow —but no t therefore o f necessity an ill

-
meaning fellow o r if h e were I su p pose he t h ought that

, , ,
no person sleeping o ut o f doors in winter could be wort h

- -
robbing ; in which conclusion however as it regarded , ,
m yself I beg t o as sure him if he should be among my

, ,
readers that he was m istaken A fter a slight remark he

, .
p assed on ; and I was not sorry at his disturbance as it ,
enabled me t o pass through E ton before people were gene

rally u p T h e night had been hea vy and lo wering but
.
,
towards the m orning it had changed t o a slight frost and ,
the ground and the trees were now covered with rime I .
slipped through E ton unobserved washed myself and as , , ,
far as p ossible adj usted my dress at a little public house

,
-
W indsor and about eight o cl o ck we nt down towards Pote s

,
’
l
’
.
On my road I met some j unior boys o f whom I made ,
inquiries A n E tonian is a l ways a gentl eman and in

.
, ,
ENGL IS H OPIUM -
E A TE E .
37
s p ite o f my shabby habiliments t h ey answered me civilly , .
My friend L ord was gone to the U niversity o f

I had howe v er ot h er friends
'
”
I b i o m nis e fl u s u s labor ! , ,
at E ton ; but it is not t o al l wh o wear that name in pros

p e rit
y that a man is w il l ing t o present himself in distress .
On recollecting myself however I asked for the E arl o f , ,
D to whom (though my a cq u a int a nce wit h him was '
not so intimate as with some others) I should not have

shrunk from presen t ing m yself under any circumstances .
H e was still at E ton though I believe o n the wing for

,
Cambridge I called was received kindly and asked to

.
, ,
breakfast .
He re let ine sto p fo r a m oment t o check my re a der from

any erroneou s conclusions ; because I have had occasion
incidenta l ly to s p eak o f various p atrician friends it must ,
no t be supposed th at I have myself any p retension t o rank

and high blood I t h ank God that I have not I am the
. .
son o f a plain E nglish merchant esteemed du ring his life ,
for his great integrity and strongly attached to literar y ,
pursuits (indeed he wa s himself anonymously an author )

, , , .
If he had lived it was ex p ected that he wou l d h ave been

,
very rich but dying p rematurel y h e left no more th a n

, , ,
about amongst seven different cl aimants My .
mother I m a y mention with honour was sti ll m ore highly

, ,
gifted Fo r though unpretending to the name and honours

.
,
o f a li t era ry woman I shal l presum e t o call her (what

,
many literary wo men are no t ) an inte ll ectua l woman ; and

I belie v e that if ever her letters should be collected and
published they would be though t generally to exhibit as
,
much strong and masculine sense delivered in as pure ,
“
mother E ngl ish racy and fresh wit h idiomatic graces as
, ,
any in o ur l angu age hardly exce p ting those of L ady M W

,
. .
M onta gue T hese are my honours o f descent ; I have no

.
CONFE SSIONS OF A N
ot h e rs and I h ave thanked G o d sincerely that I ha v e

,
no t because in my j udg m ent a station whic h raises a

, , ,
man t o o eminently above the l eve l o f his fellow creature s -
is not the most favourable to mora l o r to intellectual

qualities .
L ord D pl aced before m e a most magni fi cent brea k

fast It was rea lly so ; but in my eyes it seemed trebly
m a gnifice nt —from being the first regular meal the first
.
“ good man s table t h at I had sate down t o for months

’
, .
S trange t o say however I cou l d scarce eat anyt h ing

, On , .
the day w h en I first recei v ed my ten p ound bank note I - -
,
’
had gone t o a baker s shop and bou ght a couple o f rolls ;
this ve ry sho p I had two months o r six weeks before sur
v e y e d wit h an eagerness o f desire whi ch it was almost
h umil iating t o me t o recollect I remembered the story .
about Otway and feared that th ere might be danger in

,
eating t o o ra p idly Bu t I had no need for . m

M unk and I became si ck b efo re
& d ,
-. -
eaten h a l f o f what I h ad bought T h is _e fl e ct from eating

W m
.
nt inue d to fe me ks
o r w h en I d i d not ex p er i ence
,
o f w hat I
ate was rejected sometime s with acidity sometimes imm e

, ,
d ia t e l y and without any acidity

,
On the present occasion .
,
at L ord D s tab l e I found myself not at a ll better than

’
,
usual and in t h e midst o f luxu ries I had no a p petite I

, , .
had howe v er unfortunatel y at all times a craving for

, , ,
wine I explained my situation therefore to L ord D , ,
and ga v e him a short account o f my late su fferings at which ,
M m fll for W
'
Thi s
ENGLIS H OPIUM E A TE R -
.
indulgence in wine contributed to s t re nort h e n m malad
and y a e ter regimen it might sooner and p erhaps ,
e ffectually have been revived

,
I hope that it was not.
from this love o f wine that I l ingered in the neighbourhood

o f my E ton friends ; I persuaded myself then that it was
from re l uctance t o ask o f L ord D o n whom I was
conscious I had no t sufficient claims the particular service ,
in quest o f whic h I had come down t o E ton I was how

ever unwilling t o lose my j ourney and —I asked it L ord
.
,
, , .
D whose good nature was unbounded and which in , ,
regard t o myself h ad b e en m e asured rather by his com

,
passion p erha p s fo r my condition and his knowledge of my ,
intimacy with s ome o f his rel atives than by an over ,
rigorous inquiry into the extent o f m y o wn d irect claims ,
fal tered nevertheless at t h is re q uest H e acknowledged

, , .
that h e did not l ike t o have any deal ings with money
lenders and feared lest such a transaction might come t o
,
the ears o f his connexions M oreover he doubted whether

.
,
his si gnature whose ex p ectations were so much more

,
bounded than those o f would avai l with my nu

Christian friends H owever he did no t wish as it seeme d
.
, , ,
t o mortify me by an absol ute refusal ; for after a little

consideration he promised under certain conditions which
, ,
he pointed o ut t o give his security L ord D

, was at .
this time not eighteen years o f age ; but I have oft en

doubted o n recollecting since the good sense and p rudence
,
which o n this occasion he mingled with s o much urbanity

o f manner (an u rbanity which in h im wore the grace o f
youthful sincerity ) whether any statesman —the oldest

,
and the most accomplished in diplomacy —could have

acquitted himsel f better under t h e same circumstances .
Most p eop le indeed cannot be addressed on such a

, ,
business with out surveying yo u with looks as austere and

’
unpropitious as those o f a Saracen s head .
R ecomforted by this promise which was no t q uite equal ,
to the best but far above the worst that I h ad p ictured to

,
myself as possible I returned in a W indsor coach to L ondon

,
three d ays after I had quitted it A nd now I come t o .
the end of my story Th e J ews did not a p prove o f

.
L ord D ’
s term s whether they would in the end have
acceded to them and were only seeking time for m aking
,
due inquiries I know not ; but many delays were made

,
time passed o n—the small fragment o f my bank note had -
j ust melted away ; a nd before any concl usion could have

been p ut to the business I must have relapsed into my ,
former state o f wretchedness Suddenl y however at this .

, ,
crisis an o p ening was m ade almost by accident fo r recon

, , ,
ci liation with my friends I q uitted L o ndon in haste for .

,
a remot e p art o f E ngland ; after some time I p roceeded
to the university and it was not until ina ny months h a d

,
p assed away t h at
,
I had it in my p ower again to revisit the
g round which h ad become so inte resting to me and to this ,
day remains s o as the chief scene o f my youthfu l su fferings

, .
M eantime w h at h ad becom e o f p oor Ann ? Fo r h er I

,
h ave reserved my concluding words A ccording t o o ur .
agreement I sought her daily and waited for her every

, ,
night so long as I staid in L ondon at the corner o f T itch

, ,
fi eld Street I inquired fo r her o f every o ne who was likely

.
to kno w her ; and during the last hours o f my stay in

,
L ondon I put into activity every means of tracing her that

,
my knowledge o f L ondon s uggested and the l imited extent ,
o f my power made possible T h e street where she had .
l odged I knew but not the house ; and I remembered at

,
last some account which she had given me o f ill treatment -
from h er l and l ord which made it p robab l e t h at sh e had

,
ENGL IS H OPIUM E A TE R -
.
quitte d those lodgings before we p arted S h e had few .
acquaintance ; most people besides thought that the , ,
earnestness of my inquiries arose from motives which

mo v ed their laughte r o r their slight regard ; and others
,
thinking I was in chase of a girl wh o h a d robbed m e o f

some t rifle s were naturally and excusably indisposed to
,
give me any clue to her if indeed they had any to give , , , .
Finally as my d e spa 1 r1 ng resource o n the day I left

, ,
L ondon I put into the hands o f the only person wh o (I

was sure ) must know A nn by sight from having been in ,
com p any with us once o r twice an address to in ,
shire at that time the residence o f my family B ut

,
.
,
t o this ho ur I have never heard a W

,
T his amongst suc h troubles as most men meet with in

W ,
this l ife h a s been my heaviest affliction If she l ived

,
.
,
doubtl ess we must h ave been s o m e t 1 m e s in s ea rc h o f each

other at the very sa me moment th rough the mighty
, ,
labyrinths o f L ondon ; p erh aps even within a few feet o f

each other—
,
a barrier no wider in a L ondon street often ,
amounting in the end t o a separation fo r eternity !

D uring some years I hoped that she did l ive ; and I
su pp ose that in the l ite ral and unrhetorical use o f the
,
word m yria d I may say that o n my di fferent v isits t o

,
L ondon I ha v e l o oked into many many myriads o f

, ,
female faces in th e h ope o f meeting her I should know

, .
her again amongst a th ousand if I sa w her fo r a moment ; ,
for though no t handsome she had a sweet expression o f

, ,
countenance and a peculiar and grace ful carriage of the

,
head I sought her I have said in hope S o it was for

.
, , .
years ; but no w I should fear t o see her ; and her c ough

'
which gri eved me w hen I p arted with her is no w my con ,
solation I now wish t o see her no longer ; but think o f

.
h e r m ore gladly as o ne l ong si nce laid in t h e gr ave in the

, ,
grave I woul d h o p e o f a Magdal en ; taken away before

, , ,
inj uries and cruelty had b l otted o u t and t ra nsfigure d her

ingenuo us nature o r the brutalities o f rufli a ns had com pleted
,
the ruin t h ey had begun .
So then , stony h e a rted ste p mother ! thou

Oxford S treet , - -
at l is t e ne st t o t h e sighs o f orphans and d rink e s t the tears

,
c h ildren at length I was dismissed from thee : the time

,
at l ast that I no more shou l d pace in anguish thy

never ending terraces no more should dream and wake in
-
captivity to th e p angs o f h unge r S uccessors too many to

.
, ,
myself and A nn have doubtl ess since then trodden in our

, , ,
footste p s —inherito rs o f o ur calamities : other orp hans than

An n h ave sigh ed tears have been shed by oth er children :
and t h ou Oxford Stree t hast since doubtless echoed to the
, , , ,
groans o f innumerab l e hearts Fo r mysel f h owever the

.
, ,
storm which I h ad outl ived seemed to have been the pledge

o f a long fair weat h er -
the p re mature sufferings which I
h ad paid down to h ave been accep ted as a ransom for many
,
years to come as a p rice o f long immunity from sorrow :

,
and if again I walked in L o ndon a solitary and contem ,
p l a t iv e man
(as oftentimes I did ) I walked for,the most
p art in serenity and peace o f mind A nd al though it is .
,
true that the calamities o f my noviciate in L ondon had

struck root so deeply in my bodily constitution that after
w ards they shot u p and flo urished afresh and gre w into a ,
noxious umbrage that has o v ershadowed and darkened my

yet these second assaul ts of su ffering were met
more confirmed with the resources o f a
,
intellect and with alleviations from sympathising

,
—h o w dee p and tender

h owever with whatsoever alleviations years that
, ,
were far asunder were bound togethe r by subtl e l inks o f

.
su ffering de rived from a common root A nd h erein I notice .
an instance o f the sho rt sightedness o f human d esires that

-
,
oftentimes o n moonligh t nights during my fi rst mourn ful ,
abode in L ondon my consolation was (if such it could be

,
thought ) to ga z e from Oxford S treet up every avenue in

succession which p ierces through the heart o f Mary l ebone
to the fields and the woods for t h a t said I travel l ing with , ,
my eyes u p t h e long vistas which lay part in light and part

“
in shade t h a t is the road to the N orth and therefore
, ,
to and if I had the wings o f a dove tha t way I would ,
fly for comfo rt T h us I sai d and thus I wished in my

.
, ,
blindness ; yet even in that very northern region it was

, ,
even in that very val ley nay in that very house to which
, ,
my erroneo us wishes pointed that this second birt h o f m ,

-
u gly and ,
as
m gh a gtl
y p hant o m s
in this o f an Orestes : a nd
unhappier than that sl eep which comes t o al l as a
*
,
respite and a restoration and to him especially as a , ,
blessed balm fo r his wounded h eart and his haunted

b rain visited me as my bitterest scourge T hus blind was
, .
I in my desires yet if a vei l interposes between the dim

,
sightedness o f man and his future calamities the same veil ,
hides from him their alleviations and a grief which had

no t been feared is met by consolations which had not been
hop ed I therefore wh o partici p ated as it were in the
.
, , , ,
troub l es o f Orestes (exce p ting only in his agitated con

science) participated no l ess in all h is su p ports : my
,
E umenides like his wer e at my bed feet and stared in

, ,
-
upon me throu gh the curtains : but watching by my pillo w , ,
o r de frauding herself o f sleep to bear me company through
( Et h er 6m mBeh ynrpov ém Kovpox/ v oa o v

' '
.
the h eavy watc h es o f the night sate my E l ectra for thou , ,
beloved M dear com p anion o f my l ater years thou wast ,
my E lectra ! and neither in nobility o f mind nor in long

su ffering a ffection wouldst permit that a Grecian sister
,
should excel an E nglish wife F o r thou thoughtest not .
much to stoo p t o humble offices o f kindness and to servile ,
ministrations o f tenderest a ffection — to wipe away for ,
years t h e unwholesome dews upon the forehead o r to ,
refresh the l i p s when p arched and baked with fever ; nor ,
even w h en thy o wn p eaceful slumbers had by long sympathy

become infected with the s p ectacle o f my dread contest
with phantoms and shadowy enemies that oft entimes bade
me s l eep no more — not even then didst thou utter
“
,
a com pl aint o r any murmur no r wit h draw thy angel ic ,
smiles nor shrink fro m thy service o f l ove more than

,
E lectra did o f o l d Fo r she t o o though she was a Grecian

.
,
woman and the daughter o f t h e king i o f men yet wept

,
‘
s ometimes and hid h er face 1 in her robe

, .
B u t these troubles are p ast : and thou wi l t read these

records o f a p eriod so dolorous to us both as the legend o f
some hideous dream th at can return no more M eantime I .
,
am again in L ondon : and again I p ace t h e terraces of Oxford

S treet by nigh t : and oftentimes w h en I am op p ressed by ,
anxieties t hat demand all my ph il oso p hy and the comfort
fidv do vh e vpa . E urip 0 7 63 8 . I dv a fdv dpwv

"‘
I (Sa na OGLO
'
ém u ra da r
. Th e sch o a l r will kn w th
o a t t h ro ugh o ut
th is pa ss a ge I re fe r t o the ea r ly scene s o f tes ; o ne o f t h e
t h e Ores
m o st b ea utiful e xh ib itio ns o f t h e d o m e stic a f fe ctio ns wh ich e ve n t h e
d ra m a s o f E uripid e s ca n furni sh To t h e E ngl ish rea d e r it m a y b e
.
,
ne ce ssa ry t o s a y t h a t t h e sit ua tio n a t t h e o pe ning o f t h e d ra m a is th a t

,
o f a b ro t h er a tt e nd e d o nly b y his siste r d uring t h e d e m o nia c a l po ss e s
s io n o f a s uf fe ri ng co ns cie nce (o r in t h e m yth o l o gy o f t h e pl a y

, ,
h a unt e d b y t h e furie s ) a nd in circum sta nce s o f im m e di ate d a nger

,
fro m e ne m ie s a nd o f d e s ertio n o r co l d regard fro m no m ina l fri ends

, .
ENGLISH OPI UM E A TE R
-
.
of thy presence t o support and yet remember that I a m

,
separated from thee by three hundre d miles and the length

,
o f three dreary months — I ,

look up the streets that run
northwards from Oxford Street upon moonlight nights
, ,
and recol lect my youthful ej aculation o f anguish —and

remembering that thou art sitting a l one in that same
valley and mistress o f that very house to which my heart
,
turned in its blindness ninete en years ago I think that , ,
though blind indeed and scattered to the winds o f l ate the

, ,
p rom p tings o f my h eart may yet have had reference to

a remoter time and may be j ustified if read in another
,
m ea ni ng and if I could allow myself to descend again to

-
,
the important wis h es o f child h ood I should again say to

,
myself as I look t o the north

, ,
b that I h ad the win gs
,
o f a dov e and with how j ust a confidence in thy go o d

M —
ature might I add the other half o f m y e a rly
_
ej aculation “
And tha t way I wou l d fly fo r
T H E PL E A S U R E S O F O PI U M .
is so l ong since I fi rst took opium that if it had

T ,
been a trifling incident in my life I might have ,
forgotten its date : but cardina l events are no t

to be forgotten ; and from circumstances con
ne ct e d with it I remember that it must be referred to the
,
autumn o f 1 8 0 4 D uring that season I was in L ondon

.
,
having come thither for the first time since my entrance

at college W
following way From an earl y age I had been accustomed
.
in the
t o was li my head in cold water at l east once a day : being

s udd e ii seize d with tooth ac h e I attributed it to some ,
rel axation caused by an accidental intermission o f that

practice ; j um p ed o u t o f bed ; p lunged my head into a
basin o f cold water ; and with hair thus wetted went to
sleep T h e next morning as I ne e d fi im l l
.
,
e m
with excruciating rheumatic p ains o f the head and face ,
fro m which I h a d b almy any resp i te for about twenty days

”
a - -" -fl w-c-
‘
fl N D v l
m
‘
On the twenty fi rs t day I think it was and o n a S unday

-
, , ,
t hat I went o u t into the streets ; rather to run away if ,
p ossible from my torments than with any distinct p urpose

, ,
.
B accident I met a co ll ege acquain t ance w h o r ecommended

_ I # - l I I I I l
CONFE SSIONS OF A N OPI UM E A TE R
-
.
opi um Opium ! dread a gent o f unimaginable p leasure and

—
.
pain ! I had heard of it as I had o f manna o r o f A m b ro sm ,
Tri s ho further : how unmeaning a sound was it at that

time : what solemn c h ords does it no w strike upon m y
hea rt ! what heart quaking vibrations o f sad and happy
-
remembrances ! R everting for a moment to these!
connected wipu hi plag e nnd i h e u man (if

man he was ) that first l aid open to me _
M ig da y a
r
Opium eaters
-
. ft e rno o n wet and cheer ,
less : and a duller s p ectacle this earth o f ours has not t o

show than a rainy S unday in L ondon My road home .
war d s l ay through Oxford Street ; and near the s t a t e ly

“
(as Mr W ords worth has obligingly called it) I

”
Pantheon .
,
’
sa w a druggist s shop
r
.
o f celestial p l gg sure s l—as if in sym p athy with the

S unday looked du l l and stupid j ust as a ny mortal druggist
, ,
might be expected t o look o n a S unday : and when I asked ,
for the tincture o f opium he gave it to me as any other

,
man m ight d o : and furthermore o ut o f my shilling re , ,
t urned me what seemed to be rea l co ppe r halfpence taken ,
o ut o f a real w ooden drawer N everthel ess in s p ite o f

.
,
such indications o f humanity he h a s ever since existed in

,
nsid e ring
him that when I , ,
next came u p t o L ondon I sought him near the stately

,
Pantheon and found him not : and thus to me wh o kne w

, ,
not his name (if indeed he had o ne ) b e_ _seemed rather to

have vanished from Oxford S treet t hz n t o have removed
in any b o dl ly f as h ion Th e reader may choose t o think o f
"
.
,
him as possibly no more than a s ublunary dru ggist : it

, ,
m a y be so : b ut my faith is better : I believe h im t o h ave

CONFE SSIONS OF A N
e v anesced * eva p orated ,

nwillingly wou l d I connec t
or . So u
any mortal remembrances with that hour and place and , ,
creature that first brought me ac q uainted with the

,
A rrived at my lodgings it may be supposed that I l ost not,
a moment in taking the qu anti t y prescribed I was ne ce s .
s a ril ignorant o f the whole art and mystery o f o p iu m

y
taking and what I took I to ok under e v ery disadvantage
, ,
.
But I H ea v ens ! w h at a
re v u l si
eyes — this was swallowed u p in t he _i m

ne o a t 1 g
y E ffect
m e ns 1 t y o f those positive e ffects which h ad 0 en before
me— l n t he a By s s o f di v ine en j oyment M ul
y
revea l ed Here was a panacea—a (t a ppa xo v wj nev de s fo r a l l
.
human woes here was the secret of ha pp iness about which

.
,
p hiloso p hers had disp uted for so many ages at once di s ,
covered h appiness might no w b e bought for a p enny a nd ,
carried in the waistcoat pocket : portable ecstasies might

be had corked up ina pint bottl e a nd p e a ce of mind could
be sent down in gallons by the mail coach B ut if I talk .
,
in this w ay the reader wil l think I am laughing : and I

,
E v a nes ced —th is wa y o f go ing o ff t h e sta ge o f l ife a pp a rs t o e ha v e
k v
b e e n wel l no wn in t h e se e nte e nth ce nt ury , b ut a t th a t t im e t o h a v e
-
v
b e e n co nsi d ere d a pe cul i a r pri il ege o f b l o o d ro ya l, a nd b y no m e a ns t o
-
b e a ll o we d t o d ruggists F o r a b o ut t h e ye a r 1 68 6, a po e t o f ra th e r
.
o m ino us na m e (a nd wh o , b y t h e b y , d id a m pl e-
us t ice to h is na m e )
-
j
. . k
v iz , Mr Fl a t m a n, in s pea ing o f t h e d ea t h o f Ch a rl e s I I , e xpres se s
-
.
h is surprise tha t a ny prince sh o u ld co m m it so a b s urd a n a ct a s d ying

b e ca use , sa ys h e ,
K ings sh o ul d d isd a in t o d ie , a nd o n ly d isapp ea r .
Th ey sh o ul d a bsco nd , th a t is i nto
, th e o th er worl d .
E N G L I S H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
g wh o deals
Ne v ertheless I have a very reprehensible way of j esting at

,
times in the midst of my o wn misery ; and unless when I ,
am checked by som e more powerful feelings I am afraid I ,
shall be guilty o f this indecent p ractice even in these

annals of su ffering o r enj oyment Th e reader must allow a .
little to my infirm nature in this res p ect : and with a fe w

indulgences of that sort I shall endeavour t o be as gra v e , ,
if not drowsy as fits a theme like opium so anti mercuri al

, ,
-
as it really is and so drowsy as it is falsely reputed

, , .
A nd first o ne word with respect to it s b c

, , l flu flegt u
i
/
.
for upon all that has been hitherto written o n the

s
gw m m whether by tra v ellers in E u rk e y who
,
may plead their privilege o f lying as an o l d immemori al

(
right) o r by professors of medicine writing ea: ca the d ra
—
ro no unce —L ies
, , ,
I have but ofi e em Tfat l c crit i

” “
lies ! lies ! I remember once in passing a book stall to -
m
, ,
m these word s from a page o f some satiric

author BM W “ til e
65 1 6 5
7 1
565 7 an d
~
S
s
at urday d
—
L ondon newspapers poke truth at least twice wwe e g
might safely be depended
j z .
5 a n ,
upon for the list o f bankrupts _I g j ikm annenl d o .
by no means deny that some truths deli v ere d

to the wor l n ifi gar o o p ium thus it has been re -
rm e d by the learne d th at opium 1 8 a d u

v p
e a t e dl a sky
p y
that it is r ather dear which also I grant for in m y t im e ,
m
I m fl v
l w p u n- b a r ‘
b pium h a s be e n thre e g uineas a_po und and

'
_ ,
T hrke y e 1 g ht : and th irdl y

' “
you eat a go o d deal of

,
o. n w ' I “ .
4
CON F E S S I ON S OF AN
it most
,
are all and singul ar tr ue : I cannot

s it io ns , ,
gainsay them and truth ever was and wil l be commend , ,
able B ut in these three t h eorem s I beli eve we have

.
,
exhausted the stock o f knowledge as yet accumu l ated by

man o n th e subj ect o f o p ium A nd th erefore worth y .
,
doctors as there seems to be room for further discoveries

, ,
stand aside and al low m e t o com e forward and lecture o n

,
this matter .
First then it is not so muc h affir med as taken for

, ,
granted by al l wh o e v e
d e nt a l l
,
t h at i t does o r can pro dug j nto x fi aM

W Now
ci
, ,
reader assure yourself m eo pericu lo that no Quantity o f

, , ,
opium ever did o r could int g g i g atm A s t o th e tincture

— * ,
Of Op i um (ob ihm on
-
l y ca ll e d laudanum ) tha t might certai nl y

u
W intoxicate if a m a n could bear to take enough o f it ; b ut

'
why ? because it contains so much p roof s p irit and no t

w
,
t o b e ca u s e it contains so m uch o p ium B ut crude o p ium I .

,
a ffi rm p
IS
t h e q uantity o f its e ffects ty ,
that it differs altogether T h e pleasure gi v en by wine is .
always mounting and tending t o a crisis after w h ich it

, ,
declines ; that from opium when once generated is s t a , ,
t io na ry for eight o r ten hours ; the first to borrow a ,
Of t his h o weve r t h e l ea rne d a ppea r l a tte rl y t o h a ve d o ub te d

, ,
fo r in a pira te d e d itio n o f Buch a n s D om es t ic Med icine which I o nce

’
sa w in t h e h a nd s o f a fa rm e r s wi fe wh o was s tud in it fo r t h e b e ne fi t
’
y g
o f h e r h e alth t h e Do cto r wa s m a d e t o s a Be pa rticul a rly ca re ful
, y
ne v e r t o ta k e a b o ve fi v e a nd twe nt y o u nces o f la u d a num a t o nce
- -
t h e true rea ding b e ing pro b a b ly fiv e a nd twe nty d rops wh i ch are h el d

- -
,
e q ua l t o a b o ut o ne grai n o f crud e o i um
p .
ENGL ISH . OPI UM E A TE R -
.
51
technical distinction from me di cine is a case o f acute ,
the second the chronic p leasure : the o ne is a flame the

, ,
other a steady a nd equable gl ow But th e main distinction .
lies in this th at whereas wine disorders the mental facu l ties

, ,
opium o n th e contrary (if taken in a prop er manner ) intro

, ,
duces amongst t h em the most exquisite order legislation , ,
a nd h armony W ine robs a man o f his sel f possession ;

‘
-
.
Op ium greatly
l oves and the hatreds o f the drinker ; o pium o n the opp ; ,
co m m gn ig gni gn n _ q pp
a d i i l l
’
t raryL a tes t
se
r e u s e o a
w
fi ‘
w
fe e s aggiv e o rp ag j y e a nd _
k with resp ect t o t h e_t e m pe r .
it gives simp ly that sort o f
an expansion t o the hear t and t h e bene

volent a ffections but then with t his remarkable difference
, ,
that in t h e sudden devel o p ment o f kind hearted ness which -
accompanies inebriation there is always more o r l ess o f a

,
maudlin character whic h ex p oses it to the contempt o f t he

,
bys t ander Me n shak e hands swear ete rnal friends h i p

.
, ,
and shed tears no mortal knows why ; and the sensual

,
creature is clearly up p ermost B ut the ex p ansion o f the .
benigner feelings incident t o opium is no febri l e access

, , ,
but a healthy restoration t o that state which the mind

would naturally recover upon the removal o f any deep
seated irritation o f pain that had disturbed and quarrelled
with the im p ulses o f a heart original l y just and good T rue .
it is that even wine up t o a certain p oint and with certain

, , ,
men rather tends to exal t and to steady the intel l ect ; I

,
myself wh o h ave never been a great wine drinker used t o

,
-
,
find that hal f a do z en glasses o f wine advantageously a ffected

- -
the faculties —brightened and intensified the consciousnes s ,
and gave to th e mind a feeling o f being po nd e rib u s librata

suis and ce rtainly it is most absurdly said in popular ,
l anguage o f any man th at he is disg u ised in l iquor ; for

, , ,
o n the contrary most men are disguised by sobriety ; and it

,
is when they are drinking (as some o l d gentleman says in

A t h e nmus) that men e a v ro ij s ép¢ a v i§o v crw o ir we s s ic iv
’ '
-
'
,
display themselves in t h eir true complexion o f character ;

which surely is not disguising themselves B ut still wine
m
.
,
constantly l eads a man t o the brink o

M
extravagance ; and beyond a certam p o 1 nt 1 t 1 s sure to
0 O 0 O
, ,
v o a t 1 se a nd t o dis p erse the inte l lectual energies

'
whereas
o ium al wa s seems t o com ose w
W
'
en a i t a t e d g
p c ,
and to concentrate— what h ad been distracted In short to .

,
W
sum u p a in o ne word a man who 1 s inebriated o r tending

d ‘
, ,
to inebriation 1 s and feel s

, , W
o nd it io n which
calls u p into s u p remacy the merel y human t o o often the ,
brutal p art o f his nature ; but the opium eater (I speak o f -
him who is no t su ffering from any disease or other remote ,
e ffects o f o p ium ) feels that the di viner p art o f his nature is

p aramount ; that is the moral affections are in a state of
,
cloudless serenity ; and over al l is the great l ight of the

maj estic intel lect .
T his is the doctrine o f the true church o n the subj ect o f

o p ium o f which church I a
,
self to be the
to
a large and
_
the u ns cie n
e d o f o p ium and even of ,
those who have written expressly o n the materia medica ,
make it evident from the horror they express o f it that

, ,
t heir experimen t a l know l edge o f its action is none at all I .

ENGLISH OPI UAI E A T E R -
.
53
wil l however candidly acknow l edge that I have met wit h

, ,
o ne person who bore evidence to its intoxicating p ower
*
,
such as staggered my o wn incredulity for he was a sur

geon and had himself ta ken opium largely
, I happened to .
say to him that his e ne m l e s (as I had heard) charged him

,
with talking nonsense o n poli tics and that his friends ,
apologised for him by suggesting that he was constantly in ,
a state o f intoxication from opium N o w t h e accusation .

,
said I is not p rim a fa cie and o f necessity an absurd o ne

, , ,
but the defence is T o my surprise however he insisted .

, ,
that both his enemies and his friends were in the right .
” “
I will m aintain said he that I d o talk nonsense and , , ,
secondly I will m aintain that I d o not talk nonsens e u p on

,
Am o ngst t h e gre a t h e rd o f tra e ll e rs , e t c , wh o sh o w sufli cie nt l y v .
b y t h e ir stupid ity th a t t h ey ne e r h e l d a ny inte rco urs e with o pium , I v

m us t ca utio n m y re a d e rs s pecia lly a ga inst t h e b rill ia nt a uth o r o f
A na s ta s iusTh is ge ntl e m a n, wh o se wi t wo ul d l e a d o ne t o pre s um e
.
h im a n o pium e a t e r, h a s m a d e it im po s sib l e t o co nsid e r h im in t h a t

-
ch a ra ct e r fro m t h e g rie v o us m is re pre se nt a io n t wh i ch

h e g i e s o f it s v
ef t
fe c s, a t pp 2 1 5 —1 7 o f
. v ol . I . U po n co ns id e ra t io n, it m us t a ppea r
s uch t o the a ut h o r h i m sel f ; fo r, v
wa i ing t h e e rro rs I h a e ins ist e d o n v
in t h e t e xt wh ich (a nd o th e rs ) a re a d o pt e d in t h e full est m a nne r h e
, ,
will h im sel f a d m it t h a t a n o l d ge ntl e m a n

,
“
with a s no w wh it e ,
-
a m pl e d o s e s o f o pium a nd is y e t a b l e t o d el i v e r
” “ ”
b e a rd wh o e a t s
, ,
wh a t is m e a nt a nd re ce ive d a s very we igh ty co unse l o n t h e b ad e ffe ct s

o f t h a t pra ct i ce is b ut a n ind i f, fe re nt evid e nce t h a t Opium e ith er k il ls
p p p
e o l e re m a tu rely o r s e nd s t h e m into a m a d h o use
,
B ut fo r m y pa rt -
. ,
I s e e int o th is o l d g e nt l e m a n a nd h is m o tive s ; t h e fa ct is h e wa s ,
t h e l it t l e go l d e n rece pt a cl e o f t h e pe rnicio us d rug

“
e na m o u re d o f
wh ich Ana sta sius ca rrie d a b o ut h im ; a nd no wa y o f o b t a ini ng it s o
s a fe a nd s o fe a s ib l e o ccurre d a s th a t o f frig h t e ning it s o wne r o ut o f h is
wits (wh ich b y t h e b y a re no ne o f t h e stro ng e st) Th is co m m e nt a ry

,
- -
, .
t h rows a ne w l igh t upo n t h e ca s e a nd gre a tly im pro ve s it a s a sto ry ,
fo r t h e o l d ge ntl e m a n s s pe ech co ns id e re d a s a l e c t ure o n ph a rm acy

’
, ,
is h igh l y a b surd b u t co nsid ere d a s a h o ax o n Anas t as ius i t rea d s

, , ,
e xcel l e nt l y .
CONFE SSIONS OF A N
princi pl e o r with any view to p ro fit but s ol el y and simply
, , ,
said h e —solel y and sim p ly—solely and sim ply (rep eating it
three times over) because I am drunk with o p ium and t ha t
, ,
d aily
”
. I re pl ied that as t o the allegation o f his enemies
, ,
as it seemed to be establis h ed upon such res p ectable testi

mony seeing that the three p arties concerned a ll agree in
,
it it did not become m e t o q uestion it but th e defence set

,
up I must demur t o H e p roceeded t o discuss th e matter

.
,
and to lay down his reasons but it seemed t o m e s o

im p olite to pursue an argu ment which must have p resumed
a man m istaken in a p oint be l onging t o his o wn p rofession ,
that I did not press him even when his course o f argu ment
seemed o p en t o obj ection ; no t to mention that a man who
talks nonsense even th oug h with no view t o p ro fi t is not
,
”
,
altoget h er t h e most agreeable p artner in a dispute whether ,
as o pp onent o r res p ondent IW m .

M the ,
aut q
h gi y t o f a s ug g eqn and o
_
ne
—who,
w
_ ai pepg t n o o
w
d
but stil l I
'
F
o ne ,
Ww
M
mU Q ED CG w h ich was gre ater than his
,
M
/
grea S fl i m pi fi fl f and though 1 t was v

not ,
p os § ibl e to su p pose a m edical m an unacquainted with the

characteristic sym p tom s o f vinous intoxication it yet ,
struck me that he migh t p roc e ed o n a l ogica l error o f

u sing the word intoxication with too grea t l atitude and ,
extending it generical ly to all modes o f ner vo u s excitement ,
instead o f restricting it as the ex p ression for a speci fi c sort

of exc it em e nt connected with certain diagnostics
,
Som e .
people have m aintained in my hearing that they had been

, ,
dru nk u p on green tea ; and a me d ical student in L ondon ,
for w h ose knowledge in his profession I ha v e reason to feel

great res p ect assured m e the other day that a patient2 in
,
r
n i
epfa v mi dwelt so m uc h o n this fi rst and leading error in
a n illness had
p
er
v /
g g fl w ‘
,
g ,
“
N / f
! W a e at
e
i/
i
f
‘
v
s
M
.
respect to opium I shall notice very b riefly a second and a

,
W
third which are that the elevation o f s p irits ro d u ce d b
,
opium is necessarily fo l l o we d pression ,
m
-“
a i d e ven immediate consequence o f

opium is tor p or and stagnation animal and mental Th e , .
first o f these errors I shall content myse lf with simply

;
denying a ss urin my reader that for t e n years during ,
which I took opium at interva ls th e day succee ding t o that ,
o n w h ich I a ll owed m self this l uxur was always a day o f

“
W it s
ith res p ect to the torp or su pp osed t o fol low o r rather
o credit the numerous p ictures o f T urkish
,
( if we were t
Opium ea t ers ) t o accom p any the p ractice o f Opium eati ng I
- -
m
deny that al so Certa inl y o ium is classed under the head
.
,
M u d some s u
end ; but the p rim a ry e ffects o f O pium are always and in ,
t h e highest degr ee m g s im m u fi m nl at w m am mnx .
this first s ta ge o f its action a l ways lasted with me during ,
my noviciate fo r upwards o f ei ght hou rs ; so that it must

,
be th e fault o f th e O p ium e ater himself if he does no t s o -
time his exhibition o f the dose (to speak medically ) as that

the whol e weight o f its narcotic influence may descend upon
his sleep Turkis h o p ium eaters it seems a re absurd
.
-
, ,
enough t o sit l ike so many equestrian statues o n l ogs o f

, ,
wood as stupid as t hemsel ves But t h at the reader may .
ju d ge o f the degr ee in which opium is l ikely to stu p efy the

faculties o f an E ngli shman I shal l (by way o f treati ng ,
the question illustra tively rather than argumentatively) ,
describe the way in which I myself often passed an opium

evening in L ondon during the pe riod between 1 8 0 4 — , 18 12 .
It wi l l be seen that at l east opiu m did no t move me to

,
seek sol itude a nd much l ess t o seek inactivity o r the torpid

, ,
state o f sel f invo l ution ascribed t o t h e T urks

-
I gave this .
6
,5
C ONFE SSIO N S OF A N
account at the risk of being pronounced a crazy enthusiast

o r v isionary ; but I regard tha t little ; I must desire my
reader to bear in mind that I was a har d student and at ,
severe studies for all the rest of my time and certainly I

had a right occasionally to relaxations as well as other
p eople these however I allowed myself but seldom
, ,
.
T h e l ate D uke o f “
used to say N ext Friday by , ,
the blessing o f H eaven I p ropose to be drunk ,

and in like
manner I used to fix beforehand how often within a given ,
time and when I would commit a debauch o f Opium

, ,
.
T his was seldom more than Op w h re e weeks ; for at

that time I could nom m ure d to OZt a
y (as I
“
did afterwards) for a g la s s of Za u d a nu m u eg u s wa rm a n d , ,
wi tho u t s ug a r N o ; as I have said I seldom drank

.
,
l audanum a t that time more than once in three weeks ;

, ,
this was usually o n a T uesday o r a S a t urdaym i gm; my

reason for w h ich was t his I n those days Grassini sang at
the Op era and her voice was delightful to me beyond all
,
that I had ever heard I kno w not what may be the state o f
.
the Opera house now ha v ing ne v er been within its walls

-
,
for seven o r eigh t years but at that time it was by much ,
the most pleasant place o f p ublic resort in L ondon for

p assing an evening Five shillings admitted o ne to the
.
gallery which was subj ect to far less annoyance than the
,
pit of the thea t res the orchestra was distinguished by its

sweet and melodious grandeur from all E nglish orches t ras ,
the composition o f which I confess is not acce p table to my , ,
ear from the p redominance o f the clamorous instruments

, ,
and the absolute tyranny o f the v iolin T h e choruses were .
divine to hear and when Grassini appeared in some

interlude as she often d id and poured forth her p assionate
, ,
soul as A ndromache at the tomb of H ector etc I question

, , .
,
whether any T urk o f a l l that ever entered the Paradise o f

,
ENGLISH OP! UM E A TE R -
.
Opium eaters can have had half the p leasure I had B ut

-
, .
,
indeed I honour the B arbarians too m uch by supposing

,
the m cap able of any pleasures approaching to the intel

lectual ones of an E nglishman For music is an intellectual .
or a sensual pleasure according to the temperament o f him

,
w h o hears it . A nd b y the b y with the exception o f

,
- -
the fine extravaganz a on that subj ect in T welfth N ight I ,
do not recollect more than o ne thing said adequately o n the

subj ect of music in a ll l iterature ; it is a passage in the '
R e lig i o M edici
"
o f S ir T
. B rown ; and though chiefly
.
,
remarkable for its sublimity has also a philosophic value , ,
inasmuch as it points to the true theory o f musical e ffec t s ,
Th e mistake o f most p eople is to suppose that it is by the

ear they communicate with m usic and therefore that they , , ,
are purely p assive t o its e ffects Bu t this is no t so ; it is .
W
b the reaction o f the mind u p on the notices o f the ear
W W ?
that the pleasure is constructed ; and therefore it is that
peop l e o f equa lly good ear d ifle r so much in this point fro m
m
o ne another . Now 0 m b re a t l y increasing the activity
o f the mind ge
m ode o f a ct iv it by whic h we are a hle to construct out
re B ut says a friend a succession o f musical

lectual leas u_ .
, ,
sounds is to m e l ike a collection o f A rabic characters ; I can

attach no ideas t o them I deas my good sir ?there is no
.
occasion for them all that class of ideas which can be ,
available in such a case has a language of representati v e

,
feelings B ut this is a subj ect foreign to my present pur

.
poses it is su flicie nt to say that a chorus etc o f elaborate

, ,
.
,
v k
I h a e no t t h e b o o a t t h is m o m e nt t o co ns ult ; b ut I t h in t h e k
pa s sa ge b e gins A v
nd e v e n t h a t t a e rn m u s ic , wh ich m a e s o ne m a n k
k .
”
m e rry, a no th er m a d , in m e s t r i es a d e e p t o f d e o tio n, e t c fi v .
5
harmony dis p layed before me as in a p iece o f arras work , ,
the whole o f my p ast l ife not as if recall ed by an act of

-
,
m emory but as if p resent and incarnated in t h e music

,
no
longer painf ul to dwell u p on ; but the detai l o f its incidents

removed or blended in some haz y abstraction ; and its pas
,
sions exalted spiritualised and sub l imed A ll this was to

, , .
b e had for five s h il lings A nd over and abo v e the music o f

.
the stage and th e orchestra I had al l around me in the , ,
intervals o f t h e p e rformance the music o f th e I talian ,
l anguage talked by I talian women ; for t h e gallery was

u sual ly crowded with Italians ; and I l istened with a
p leas ure such as that with which W eld the tra v eller lay
and liste ned in Canada t o the sweet l aughter o f I ndian
, ,
w omen ; for t h e l ess you understand o f a l anguage the ,
more sensible yo u are t o the melody o r h a rs hness o f it s

sounds for such a p urpose t h erefore it was an advantage , ,
to me that I wa s a p oo r Ita l ian sc h o l ar reading it but ,
l ittle and not s p eaking it at a ll no r understanding a tent h

, ,
p art o f w h at I h eard s p oken .
T h ese were my o p era pl easu res ; b ut another p l easure I

had which as it could be h ad only o n a S aturday night
, ,
occasional l y struggl ed with my l ove o f the Op era ; for at ,
that tim e T uesday and Saturday were the regular Opera

,
nights On this subj ect I am afraid I shal l be rather

.
obscure but I can assure the reader not at al l more s o

, , ,
than Marinus in his l ife o f Proclus o r many other ,
biogra p hers and autobiographers o f fair reputation T his .
p leasure I have said was to be had only o n a S aturday

, ,
night W hat then was S aturday nigh t to me more than

.
any other night ? I had no l abours that I rested from ; no

wages t o receive ; what needed I t o care for Saturday
night more than as it was a summons t o hear G ra ss ini l
'
,
T ru e most l ogica l r eader w h at yo u say is una nswerab l e

, , .
ENGLISH OP! UM E A -
TE R .
5
9
A nd yet so it was and is that whereas di fferent men , ,
throw their feelings into di fferent channels and most are ,
apt to show their interest in the conce rns o f the p oor ,
chiefly by sym p athy ex p ressed in some sha p e o r other

, ,
with their distresses and sorro ws I at t h at time was dis , , ,
p osed t o express my interest by sympathising with their

pleasures Th e p ains o f poverty I h a d lately seen too
.
much o f ; m ore than I wished to remember ; but the

pleasures o f the p oor their consolations o f S pirit and their
, ,
reposes from bodily toil can never become o p pressive to ,
contem p late N o w S aturday night is the season fo r the

.
chief regular and p eriodic return o f rest o f the p oor ;

, ,
in this p oint the most hosti l e sects unite and acknowledge a ,
common l ink o f brother h ood a l most all Ch ristendom rests

fro m its labours It is a rest introducto ry t o anoth er rest
.
and divided by a w h ole da y and t wo nights from the

renewal o f toil On this account I fee l a l ways on a
.
,
Satu rday nigh t as though I a l so were released from some

,
yoke o f l abour h ad some wage s t o receive and some

, ,
luxury o f rep ose to enj oy F o r the sake therefore .

, ,
o f witnessing u pon as l arge a scale as possible

, a spec ,
tacle with which m y sympathy was s o entire I used ,
often o n S aturday nights after I h ad taken opium

, , ,
t o wander forth without much regarding the direction

,
o r the distance t o all the markets ,

and other p arts o f ,
L ondon to whic h t h e p oor resort o n a S aturday night for

, ,
laying o ut their wages M any a famil y p a rty consisting .

,
o f a man his wife and sometimes o ne o r t wo o f his

, ,
children have I listened t o as they stood consulting o n

, ,
their wa ys and means o r the strength o f th eir exchequer, ,
o r the price o f household articles Grad ually I becam e .
familiar with t h eir wish e s their d ifli cul t ie s and their , ,
Opinions Sometimes th e re might b e h eard murmurs o f

.
60 CONFES SIONS OF A N
discontent but far oftener ex p ressions on the countenance
, ,
o r uttered in words o f patience hope and tranquillity

, , ,
.
A nd taken generally I mus t say that in this p oint at

, , ,
least the p oor are far more philosophic than the rich
,
that they sho w a more ready and cheerful submission to

what they consider as irremediable e v ils or irreparable ,
losses W henever I saw occasion o r could do it without

.
,
appearing t o be intrusive I j oined their parties and ga v e , ,
my opinion upon the matter in discussion which if not , ,
j u d icious w a s always received indulgently

,
If wages were
.
.
a little higher or expected to be so o r the quartern loaf a

, ,
little lower o r it was reported that onions and butter were

,
expected to fall I was glad yet if the contrary w ere true

, , ,
c o ns o l in m sel f For er .
overrule all feelings _into E mphlarlpe with the master key ,
ome 0 ese rambles led m e to great distances ; for an

w
h o
w ”.
Opium eater is too ha p py to observe t h e _m o t ion

-
“ m
A nd sometimes in my attempts to steer homewards upon ,
nautical principles by fixing my eye o n the pole star and

,
-
seeking ambitiousl y for a north west passage instead o f -

,
circumnavigating al l the capes and headlands I had

doubled in my outward voyage I came suddenly upon such ,
knotty problems o f alleys such enigmatical entries and , ,

’
such s ph ynx s riddles o f streets without thoroughfares as ,
must I conceive baffle the audacity o f porters and con

, , ,
found the intellects of hackney coachmen I could almost -

.
have belie v ed at times that I must be the first discoverer

, ,
o f som e o f these t e rrce i nco g nit oe and doubted whether ,
they had been laid down in the modern charts o f L ondon .
For all this however I paid a hea v y price in d istant years

, , ,
w h en the human face tyrannised over my dreams and the ,

ENG LIS H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
p erplexities my steps in L ondon came back and haunted

of
my sleep with the feeling o f perplexities moral or intel

,
lectual that brought confusion to the reason o r anguish

, ,
and remorse t o the conscience .
T hus I have show ne ce s m t y ,
-m
M
M “
__M
w
appropriate haunts eaterof when I n t h e d l v m e st

the
o
o 1 um
p
-
I ii th at stat e e r as es
p
“
an o pp ression t o him music e v en t o o sensual and ,
gross H e natura lly seeks sol itude a nd silence as indis

.
,
pensable co n ditions o f t h ose trances o r profoundest re v eries

"
, ,
which are the crown and consummation of what opium can

d o fo r human nature
,
I whose disease it was to meditate
t o o much and to observe t o o little and w
.
m
,
h o upon my firs t
m I n
,
t um
,
— w 4
. m m '
which I
ssed in L o nm wa s su ffi ciently aware o f the w
tendencies o f my o wn thoughts to do al l I could t o

counterac t them I was indeed like a person who
.
, , ,
a ccording t o the o l d legend had entered the ca v e o f Tro ,
.nonius ; and the reme d ies I sought were t o force myself

into society and t o keep my understanding in continual
,
activity upon matters o f science B u t fo r these remedies I .
should certainly have become hy p ochondriacally melancholy .
I n after years however when my cheerfulness was more

, ,
fully re established I yielded t o my natural inclination for

-
a solitary life A nd at that time I often fell into these

.
, ,
re v eries U pon taking opiu m ; and more than once it has

happened to me o n a summer night when I have been
, ,
at a n o p en win d ow in a room from which I could overlook

,
the sea a t a mile below me and could command a vi e w o f ,

CONFE SSIONS OF A N
the great town o f L at about th e same distance that I ,
h ave sate from sunse t t o sunrise motionl ess and without

, , ,
0 move .
be charged with mysticism B ehmenism q uietism , , ,
t ha t shall no t alarm me S ir H V ane the . .

,
younger was o ne o f o ur wisest men ; and l et my readers

,
see if h e in his p hil osop h ica l works b e h al f a s unmystica l

, ,
as I am I say then t h at it h as often struck me that t h e

.
, ,
scene itsel f was somew h at ty p ical o f w h at took p lace in

such a rev e rie Th e to wn o f L . re p resented the earth ,
wit h its sorrow s and its gra ves l eft behind yet no t o ut o f ,
sight nor w h olly forgotte n Th e oc e an in everl asting but

,
.
,
gent l e agitation and brooded over by a dove like ca lm

,
-
,
migh t no t unfit ly typify t h e mind and the mood w h ic h th en

swayed it F o r it seemed t o me as if th en first I stood at a
.
distance and aloof from the u p roar o f life ; as if the tum u lt

, ,
the fever and t h e strife were suspended a res p ite granted

, ,
from the secret burthens o f the heart a Sabbath o f re p ose ;

a resting from human labours H ere were t h e h op es whic h
.
blossom in the p aths o f life reconciled with the pea ce whic h

,
is in the grave ; motions o f t h e inte ll ect as unwearied as the

heavens yet for all anxieties a h al cyon calm ; a tranquillity
,
that see m ed no product o f inertia but as if resulting from ,
mighty and e qual antagonisms ; infinite activities in fi nite ,
repose .
subtle and ,
1 that to the hearts
for the wounds that will n ever heal ,
”
and for the pangs that tempt the spirit t o rebel bringest
“
,
an assuaging balm e l o quent m pium t t h a t with thy p otent

,
a '
rhetoric s t e a l e st away the purp oses o f wrath to the guilty ,
m a n for o ne night gives back the ho pe u L h W

,
nd
hands washed p ure from blood ; and to th e proud man a brief ,

’
oblivion for “
wrongs undressed and insults u na v e ng d
-
. 63
that sum m o ne st t o the chancery o f dreams for the triumphs

,
o f su f
fering innocence false witnesses ; and co nfo u nd e s t
,
p erjury ; and dost reverse the sentences of unrighteous

j udges —thou bu ildest upon the bosom of darkness out o f ,
the fantastic imagery o f the brain cities and temples

, ,
beyond the art o f Phidias and Praxiteles —beyond the

splendour o f Babylon and H e k a t é m pyl o s ; and fr om the
“
anarchy o f dreaming sleep callest into sunny l igh t the

,
faces o f long buried beauties and the blessed household

-
,
countenances cleansed from the dishonours o f the grave

,
.
Thou only givest these it t and thou hast the keys

o f Paradise o h j ust subtle a nd mighty o p ium
, ,
, ,
I N T RO D U CT I O N T O T H E PA I N S O F
O PI U M .
OU R T E OU S, and I h Ope indulgent reader (for

, ,
all m y readers must be indulgent ones o r else , ,
I fear I shall shock them t o o much to count on

,
their court esy ) having accompani ed me thus far

, ,
now let me request you to mo v e onwards for about eight

years ; that is to say from 1 8 0 4 (when I have sai d that my
,
acquaintance with o p ium first began ) to 1 8 1 2 Th e years .
f academic li fe are now o v er and gone — l m fis t forgotten

o
a
the student s cap no longer p resses my templ es if my cap
’
exist at all it presses those o f some youthful scholar I

, ,
trust as happy as myself and as passionate a lo v er o f

, ,
k nowledge . My gown is by this time I dare say in the

, , ,
same condition with many thousand of excellent books in

the B odleian— vi z diligently perused b y ce rt a in studious
.
,
f
m oths and worms o r departed ho wever which is all that

( ,
I kno w of its fate ) to that great reservoir of s o m ewh ere to

, ,
w hich all the tea cups tea caddies tea pots tea kettles etc
-
,
-
,
-
,
-
,
.
,
h a v e departed (not to speak o f still frailer v essels such as ,
gl asses decanters bed m akers e t c ) which occasional resem

, ,
-
, ,
b l ances in the present generation o f tea cups etc remind -
,
.
,
COJVF E S S I ON S OF A N OPI UM EA TER -
.
me of ha v ing once possessed but o f whose d e parture and ,
final fate I in common with most gownsmen o f either

,
university could gi v e I suspect but an obscure and

, , ,
conj ectural history T h e persecutions o f the chapel bell .

-
,
’
sounding its unwelcome summons t o six o clock matins ,
interrupts my slumbers no longer ; the porter who rang it ,
upon whose beautiful nose (bronze inlaid with copper) ,
I wrote in retaliation so many Greek epigrams w h ilst I

, , ,
was d ressi ng is d ead and has ceased to disturb anybody ;

, ,
a nd I and many others who su ffered much from his tintin

, ,
na b ul o u s propensities have no w agreed t o o v erlook his ,
errors and have forgiven him E v en with the bell I am

,
.
now in charity ; it rings I suppose as formerly thrice , , ,
a day
-
and cruelly annoys I d oubt no t m any worthy
, , ,
gentlemen and disturb s their peace o f mind but as to me

, ,
in this year 1 8 1 2 I regard its treacherous voice no longer

,
(treacherous I call it for by some refinement of malice it , , ,
s poke in as sweet and silve ry tones as if it had been in v iting

o ne t o a party its tones have no longer indee d power to , ,
reach me l et the wind sit as favourable as the malice of

,
the bell itself could wish fo r I am 2 50 miles away from it , ,
and buried in the depth o f mountains A m w m
M
.
m Y e s but .
,
what else ? W h y reader in 1 8 1 2 the year we are no w

- “fl
, , ,
N
a rr1 v e d at as well as for some years pre v 1 0 u s I h ave been
a na‘ s
, ,
chiefly stu d ing German metaphysics in theJ flfl nfl i o f ‘

, fl m
ant , F ich tfi Sp h e llingi etc nd hh w a nd in what man

w
.
,
ner d o I l ive ? In short: w at class o r description o f men

do I belong to ? I am at this period —viz in 1 8 1 2 —living
,
.
,
name of m y housekeeper “
. A nd, as a scholar and a man ,
Offlea r
- M N un s -
m
115 sense a gentleman I may
1 (
ned e d u ca t 1 o n a nd 13 7
c c
”
,
11; ,
5
66 CONFESSIONS OF A N
presume t o cl ass myself as an unworthy member o f that
indefi nite body called g ent le m en Partly o n the ground I .
have assigned p erha p s —p artl y because from my ha ving

, , ,
no visible calling o r business it is rightly j udged that I

must be living o n my p rivate fortune—I am so cl assed by
,
my neighbours ; and by the courtesy o f modern E ngland ,
I am usually addressed o n letters etc es gu i/re though , .

,
having I fear 1 n the rigorous construction o f h eral ds but

, , ,
sl ender pretensions t o that distinguished honour Y e s in .

,
popular estimation I am ! Y Z esquire but not J ustice

,
. .
, ,
of the Peace nor Custos R otulorum A m I married ? N o t

,
.
yet A nd I still take o p ium ? On S aturday nights ; and

.
,
perha p s have taken it unblushingly ever since the rainy

,
“
S unday
”
and the statel y Pantheon and the b e a t ific
,
”
,
druggist o f 1 8 0 4 ? E ven s
eader ;J p t hg ph ra se o f ladies m p
“
”
s can be expected I n fact if I dared
W
.
,
ha t e a l and sim p le trut h— th ough to satisfy the ,
theories o f m edical men I o ug ht to be ill —I never was
w
,
better l n my l ife than in t h and I hope

s incerely t ha t t he q u a nt 1 t y o claret p ort o r particular
“
,
M adeira which in all probability you good reader have

”
, , , , ,
tak en and design to take for every term o f eight years

, , ,
during your natural life may as little disorder your health

,
as mine was disordered by the o p ium I had taken for eight

years between 1 8 0 4 and 1 8 1 2 H ence you may see again
,
.
the danger o f takin g any medical advice from Ana s ta s iu s :

in divinity for aught I know o r law he ma y be a safe coun
, , ,
s e ll o r but not in medicine

, No it is far better to consult
.
D r B uchan as I did for I never forgot that worthy man s

’
,
.
excel lent suggestion ; and I was particul arly careful not

“
”
to take above fi v e and twenty ounces o f laudanum
- -
To .
ENGL IS H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
this moderation a nd tem p erate use o f the article I may

ascribe it I sup p ose that as yet at least in 1 8 1 2 ) I
w
, , ,
am i orant and uns us p1 c1 o u s o f tlie ayppging ieg prs which

fl u ’ fl t ‘ u
A t the
same t1 me 1 t must no t be forgotten that h i therto I have
,
been only W m eight years p ractice ’
even with the single

W
,
W
a s not been s u
make op i um necessary to me as an article o f d aily diet

nt e n
c1 ent t o
.
B u t no w o né a different era pl
’
cg M
‘
ove on if you
. ease , ,
reader ,
the summer o f the year we ha v e j ust
quitted Thi s Suffered muc h in bodily health fro m distress
,
o f mind connected with a ver melancholy event T his

y . .
event being no way s related t o the subj ect now be ore me ,
further than through t h e bodi l y i ll ness which it produced I ,
need no t more particularly notice W h ethe r this il l ness o f .
1 8 1 2 had a ny share in that o f 1 8 1 3 , I kno w no t b ut so it
self j u st ifi ca t io n the whole o f w

-
,
hat foll ows may be said to
hinge A nd here I find myself in a perplexing dilemma
. .
’
E ither o n the o ne hand I must exhaust the reader s
, ,
patience by su ch a detai l o f my malady and o f my

, ,
struggles wit h it as might su ffice to establis h the fact of

,
my inability t o wrestle any longer with irritation and

constant su ffering ; o r o n the oth er hand by passing
, ,
lightly over this critical p art o f my story I must forego ,
the benefit o f a stronger im p ression lef t o n the mind o f the

reader and m ust l a y myself open to the m isconstruction
,
o f ha v ing slipped by the easy and gradual steps of

68 C ONFE S SIONS OF A N
self indul ging p ersons from the firs t t o th e final stage o f
-
Opium eating (a misconstruction to whic h there wil l be a

l urking p redisposition in m ost readers from my p revious ,
acknowledgments ) T his 1 s the dilemma ; the first horn of

.
whic h would be su ffi cient t o toss and gore any column o f

p atient readers tho u gh drawn u p sixteen dee p and con
,
s t a nt l relieved by fresh men consequently t h t is not to

y ; a
be thou ght of It remains th en that I po s t u la t e so much

.
,
as is necessary for my p u rpose A nd l et m e take as full .
credit for what I p ostulate as if I had demonstrated it ,
good reader at the ex p ense o f your patience and my own

, .
B e not so ungenerous as to l et me su ffer in your good

opinion thro u gh my o wn forbearance and regard fo r your
comfort N o ; believe all that I ask o f you —viz that I
. .
,
could resist no longer bel ieve it liberally and as an act of

, ,
grace o r else in m ere p rudence ; for if not then in the

, , ,
next edition o f my Opium Confessions revised and enlarged ,
I wil l make you believe and tremble ; and d fo rce d e nnu yer ’
,
by m ere dint o f p andicu l ation I will terrify al l reade rs o f

mine from ever again q uestioning any p ostulate that I shall
.
t h ink fit t o make
—
.
T his then let m e repeat

,
I p ostulate that at the time I
, ,
0 take o ium dai l y

p ,
W hether indeed aft er w ards I might not have succeeded l n

“ a ”
, ,
breaking o ff the habit even when it seemed to m e that all ,
e fforts would be u navailing and whether many o f the ,
innumerable e fforts which I d id make might not have been ,
carried much further and my g radual reconquests of ground

,
G
l ost might not ha v e been followed u p much more energetic

ally—these are questions which I must decline Perhaps .
I might m ak e o ut a case of p alliation ; but shal l I S peak ,
ingenuously ? I confess it as a besetting infirmity o f mine , ,
t h at I am t o o much of an E ud aemonist ; I hanker t o o much

. 69
after a state of happiness both for myself and others ; I ,
ca nnot face misery whether my own o r not with an eye of

, ,
s u fli cie nt firmness ; and am littl e capable o f encountering
present pain fo r the sake o f any re v ersionary benefit On .
some other matters I can agree with the gentlemen in the

cotton trade at M anchester in a ffecting the S toic phil
-
”
Osophy but not in this H ere I take the liberty of an .
E clectic philosopher a nd I look out for some courteous and

,
considerate sec t that will condescend more to the infirm

”
condi t ion of an Opium eater ; that are s weet men as
“ -
,
Chaucer says “
to gi v e absolution and will show some
, ,
conscience in the penances they inflict a nd the e fforts o f ,
abstinence they exact from poor sinners like mysel f A n

, .
inhuman moralist I can no more endure in my nervous

state than opium that has no t been boiled A t any rate .
,
he who summo ns me to send o u t a large freight of sel f

,
denial and m o rt ifi ca t io n upon any cr uising voyage o f moral

improvement must make it clear to my understanding that
,
the concern is a hopef ul o ne A t my time of life (six a nd .

-
t hirty years o f age ) it cannot be supposed that I h a v e muc h
energy to spare ; in fact I find it all little enough for the

,
intellectual labours I have o n my han d s ; and therefore , ,
let no man expect to frighten me by a few hard words into

embarking any p art of it upon desperate adventures of
morality .
W hether desperate o r not howe v er the issue o f the , ,
struggle in 1 8 1 3 was what I have mentione d ; and from this
A h a nd s o m e news ro o m , o f wh ich I wa s e ry po l ite ly m a d e fre e

-
v
v
in pa ssing t h ro ugh Ma nch e s t e r b y s e e ra l g e ntl e m e n o f t h a t pl a ce , is
k
ca l l e d , I th in , Th e P orch wh e nce I , wh o a m a st ra nge r in Ma n
ch e st e r, infe rre d t h a t t h e s ub scrib e rs m ea nt t o pro fe ss t h e m s e l v e s
fo l l o we rs of Ze no . But I ha v e b een s ince a ss u re d t hat t h is is a
m is t a k e .
7o CONFE SSIONS OF A N
d ate, the reader is t o consider me as a regular and con

fi rmed opium eater o f w hom to ask wheth er o n any
-
p articu l ar day h e had or had not taken o p ium wou l d be to ,
ask whether his lungs had performed res p iration o r the ,
heart fulfilled its functions Y o u understand no w reader

.
, ,
w h at I am ; and you are by this ti m e aware that no old ,
“ ”
gentleman ,
with a snow white beard will have any -
,
chance o f p ersuading m e to surrender the little golden

“
rece p tac l e o f the p ernicious drug ”

N o I give notice to .
all w h ether moralists o r surgeons t h at whatever be their

, , ,
pretensions and skill in their resp ecti v e lines of practice ,
they must not hope for any countenance from me if they ,
think t o begin by any savage pro p osition for a L ent o r

R amadan o f abstinence from Opium T his then being al l .
fully understood between us we shall in f uture sail before ,
the wind N o w then reader from 1 8 1 3 where al l this

.
, , ,
time we have been sitting do wn and loitering—rise up if ,
you please and walk forward about three years more N o w

,
.
draw u p the curtain and yo u shall see m e in a new

,
character .
I f any man poor or rich were to say that he wou l d tel l

, ,
u s what had been the happiest day in his l ife and the why ,
and the w h erefore I suppose that we should all cry o ut

,
H ear him hear him A s to the ha pp iest d a y that must ,
be very di fficult for any wise man t o name ; because any

’
event that could occupy so distinguished a place in a man s
retrospect o f his life o r be entitled to ha v e shed a special
,
felicity o n a ny o ne day ought to be o f such an enduring

,
character as that (accidents apart ) it should ha v e continued

to shed the same felicity or o ne not distinguishably less on
, ,
m any years together T o the happiest lu s tru m however

.
, ,
o r e v en t o the ha p piest y ea r it may be allowed t o any man

,
to p oint wi t hout discountenance from wisdom T his year .

,
ENG L ISH OPIUM E A TE R -
.
in my case reader was the one which we have now reached ;

, ,
though it stood I con fess as a parenthesis between years

, ,
o f a gloomier character It was a year o f brilliant water .
( to speak a fter the manner o f j ewellers ) set as it were and , ,
insulated in the gloom and c loudy melancholy o f opium

, _ .
S trange as it may sound I had a little before this time
*
,
descended suddenly and without any considerable e ffort

, ,
from 3 2 0 grains o f Opium eight thousand drops o f

laudanum ) per day to forty grains o r o ne eigh t h part ,
-
.
I nstantaneously and as if by magic the cloud of p rofoundest

, ,
melancholy which rested u p on my brain like some black ,
vapours that I ha v e seen roll away from the su mmits o f

mountains dre w o ff in o ne day (v v xgq pt epo v ) p assed o ff
,
with its murky banners as simultaneo usly as a ship that

has been stranded and is floated o ff by a s p ring tide
,
-
Th a t m o v eth a l t o geth e r , if it m o v e a t a ll .
then I was again happy I now took o nl 1 0 0 0

N o w, , ,
dro s o f l danum a latter

spring had come t o cl o s e u p the season o f youth ; l brain
i
M
perform e d its functions as h e a l t h il as ver hefgge l re s?
”
a n a ma that I
d id A gain my feelings o f pleasure expanded themselves
.
t o all around me ; and if any man from Oxford o r Ca m

bridge o r from neither had been a nnounced t o me in my
, ,
unpretending cottage I should have welcomed him with as

,
k
I h e re re c o n t we nt y fiv e d ro ps o f l a ud a num a s e ui a l e nt t o o ne
-
q v
g ra in o f o pium ,
w hi v
ch , I b el ie e , is t h e co m m o n e stim a te Howe e r, . v
a s b o th m a y b e co ns id e re d a ria b l e v q
ua nt itie s ( t h e cru d e Opium a ry v
ing m uch in s t re ngth , a nd t h e t inct ure s t ill m o re ) , I s uppo s e th a t no
fi
in nit e sim a l a ccura c y ca n b e h a d in s uch a ca l cul a tio n . Te a spo o ns
-
v y a s m uch
ar in s iz e th Sm a ll o nes
a s o pium in t
s re ng . h o l d a b o ut 1 00
d ro ps s o t h a t 8 0 0 0 d ro ps a re a b o ut e igh ty tim es a t e a -
s po o nful Th e
.
re a d r s ee s h o w m u ch I k e pt wi th in Dr Buch a n s i nd ul g e nt a ll o wa nce
’
e . .
sum p tuous a reception as so poor a man could o ffer W hat .
ever else was wanting to a wise man s happiness —o f lauda ’

,
num I woul d have given him as much as h e wished and in ,
a golden cu p A nd by the way now that I s p eak o f g1 v 1 ng

.
, ,
l audanum away I remember about this time a little i nci

, , ,
dent which I mention because tri fling as it was the

, , , ,
reader will soon meet it again in my dream s which it ,
influenced more fearfully than could be im a gine d

day a M al ay knocked at my door W hat business a M alay
One
.
r
could have to transact amongst E nglish mount ains I canno t ,
conj ecture ; but possib l y he was o n his road to a seaport

about forty mi l es distant .
T h e servant w h o Opened the door to him was a young

girl born and bred amongst the mountains who had never ,
seen a n A siatic dress o f any sort ; his turban therefore , ,
confounded her not a little ; and as it turned o ut that his , ,
attainments in E nglish were exactly o f the same extent as

hers in the M alay there seemed to be an impassable gulf
,
fi xed between all communication o f ideas if either party ,
had happened to possess any I n this dilemma the girl .

, ,
recollecting the reputed l earning o f her master (and ,
doubtless giving me credit for a knowledge o f al l the lan

,
guages o f the earth besides perhap s a few o f the l unar

, , ,
ones ) came and gave me to understa nd that there was a

,
sort o f demon below whom she c l early imagined that my

,
art could exorcise from the house I did not immediately .
go down but when I did the group which presented i t sel f

, , ,
arranged as it was by accide nt though not very elaborate , ,
took hol d o f m y fancy and my eye in a way that none o f the

s tatuesque attitudes exhibited in the ballets at the Opera
H ouse though so ostentatiously complex had ever done

, ,
.
In a cottage kitchen but p anelled o n the wall with d ark

,
wo o d that from age and rubbing resembled oak and looking ,

ENGLIS H OPI UM E A TE R
-
.
73
more like a rustic hall of entrance than a kitchen stood the ,
M alay— his turban and loose trousers o f d ingy white

‘
relie v ed upon the dark panelling ; he had placed himself

nearer to the girl than she seemed to relish ; though her
native spirit o f mountain intrepidity conten d ed with the
feeling o f simple awe which her countenance expressed as
she gazed u p on the tiger cat be fore her -
A nd a more .
striking picture there could not be imagined than the ,
beautiful E nglish face of the girl and its exquisite fairness

, ,
together with her erect and independent attitude con ,
t ra s t e d with the sallow and bilious skin o f the M al ay ,
enamelled or veneered with mahogany by marine air his , ,
small fierce restless eyes thin lips sla v ish gestures and
, , , ,
adorations .H alf hidden by the fe ro cio u s l o o king M alay

- s
was a little child from a neighbouring cottage who had cre p t

in after him and was no w in the act of reverting its hea d
, ,
and gazi ng upwards at the turban and the fiery eyes beneath
i t whilst with o ne hand he caught at the d ress o f the young
,
wom an fo r protection M y knowl edge of the Oriental tong ues

.
is not remarkably extensive being indeed confined to two ,
word s —the A rabic word for barley and the T urkish fo r ,
opium (m a dj o o n) which I ha v e learned from A nastasius

, .
A nd as I had neither a M alay dictionary no r e v en

, ,
A d e l ung s Mi thri d a t es which might ha v e helped me to a

’
,
few words I addressed him in some lines from the I liad ;

,
considering that o f such l anguages as I possesse d Greek

, , ,
in point o f longitude came geographically nearest to an

,
Orient a l one H e worshippe d me in a most devout manner

.
,
a nd replied in what I suppose was M alay I n this way I .
saved m y reputation with my neighbours ; for the M alay

had no means o f betraying the secret H e lay down upon .
the floor fo r about an hour a nd then pursued his j ourney

, .
On his departure I presented him with a piece o f opiu m .

To him as an Orientalist I concluded that Opium must be
, ,
familiar ; and the ex p ression o f his face convinced me that

it was N evertheless I was struck with some little conster
.
,
nation when I saw him suddenly raise his hand to his

mouth and (in the school boy phrase) bol t the whole
,
-
,
divided into t hree pieces at one mouthful T h e quantity , .
was enough to kill three dragoons and their h orses and I

felt some alarm for the p oor creature ; but what could be
done ? I had given him the o p ium in compassion for his
solitary life o n recollecting that if he had travelled on foot
,
fro m L ondon it must be nearly three weeks since he could

,
h a v e exchanged a thought with any human being I could .
no t think o f violating the laws o f hospitality by having ,
h im seized and drenched with an emetic and thus frighten ,
ing him into a notion that we were going to sacrifi ce him

to some E nglish idol N o : there wa s clearly no h elp .
fo r it ; he took h is leave and for some days I felt
*
,
anxious ; but as I never heard o f any M alay being

found dead I became convinced that he was used to
,
o ne m g ht g f
w the
Th i s , h o we v e r, y co ncl usio n t h e va rie tie s o f e ffe ct

is no t a ne ces sar
p r o d u ce d b y po ium o n diffe re nt co ns tituti o ns a re in fi ni t e A L o nd o n .
Ma gistra te ( Harrie tt s S truggl es thro u gh L ife v o l iii p 3 9 1 Third

’
, . . .
,
Ed it io n) h a s reco rd e d t h a t o n t h e firs t o cca s i o n o fh is trying l a uda num

, ,
fo r t h e go ut h e to o k forty d ro ps t h e next nigh t six ty a nd o n t h e fi fth

, , ,
nigh t e ighty wit h o ut a ny e ffe ct wh a t e ve r ; a nd th is a t a n a d va nced

,
a ge . I h a ve a n a ne cd o te fro m a co untry s urgeo n h o we ve r wh ich , ,
s i nk s Mr Ha rrie tt s e a se into a trifl e a nd in m y proj e cte d m e d ica l

’
t re a tis e o n o pium wh ich I wil l pub l ish pro vid e d t h e Co ll e ge o f

, ,
S urge o ns wil l pa y m e fo r e nl igh te ning th e ir b e nigh te d und e rsta nd ings

upo n t h is subj e ct I wil l rel a te it b ut it is fa r t o o go o d a sto ry t o b e
,
p u b lish e d g ra t is .
ENGLIS H OPIUM E A TER -
.
T hisincident I have digressed t o mention because this ,
Malay (partly from the p icturesque exhibition he assisted

to frame p artly frOm the anxiety I connected wit h
,
his image for some days ) fastened afterwards u on my

dreams and brought other
,
t han himself that ran “

a muck
a a ys with h_i_
m worse
at me and led me
,
-
” * ,
and t o return to my intercalary year o f happiness .
I ha v e said already that o n a subject so important to us al l

,
’
as happiness we should listen with pleasure to any man s
,
v experience o r experiments : e v en though he were but a

plough boy who cannot be supposed t o have p loughe d v ery
-
d eep into such an intractable soil as that o f human pains

and pleasures o r to have conducte d his researches upon any
,
very enlightened principles B ut I who have taken happi .

,
ness both in a solid and a liquid shape both boiled and

, ,
unboiled both E ast I ndia and T urkey—wh o have conducted

,
my ex p eriments upon this interesting subj ect with a sor t of

galvanic battery — and have fo r the general benefit o f the ,
world i o cu la t e d m yself as it were with the poison o f 8 0 0 0

p
, , ,
drops o f laudanum per day (j ust fo r the same reason as a , ,
French surgeon inoculate d himself lately with cancer—a h

E nglish o ne twenty years ago with plagu e — and a third
, , ,
e I know no t o f what nation with h yd ro ph o b ia ) lI (it will , ,
be admitted ) must surely know what happiness is if any ,
body does A nd therefore I will here l ay down an

.
, ,
analysis of ha p piness and as the most interesting mode o f

communicating it I will give it not didactically but
, , ,
wrapped up and involved in a picture o f o ne evening as I ,
spe nt every evening during the intercalary year when

See t h e t in any Eas te rn tra vel l e r o r voyager o f
co m m o n a cc o un s
t h e fra nti c exce ss es co m m itte d b y Mal ays wh o h a ve ta k e n o pium o r ,
a re red uce d t o d es pe ra tio n b y ill l uck a t ga m bling .

laudanum th ough taken daily was to me no more than the
, ,
elixir of p leasure T his done I shall quit the s ubj ect of

.
,
happiness altogether and p ass to a very di fferent o ne —the

,
i ns of Opi u m
p a .
W L e t there be a cottage standing in a valley eighteen , ,
m iles from any town —no spacious valley but about two ,
miles long by three quarters of a mile in average width ;

,
-
the benefit o f which provision is that all the family resi ,
dent within its circuit will compose as it were o ne larger , ,
household p ersonally familiar to your eye and more or less ,

’
interesting to your a fl e ct io ns L e t the mountains be real .
m ountains between three and fM

(
,
u s a nd feet high ; and
the cottage a real cottage not (as a witty author has it) a “
,
cottage with a double co a ch h o us e let it be in fact (for I s
must abide by the actual scene ) a white cottage embowered , ,
with flowering shrubs so chosen as to unfold a succession of ,
flowers upon the walls and clustering round the windo ws ,
through al l the months o f spring summer a nd autumn , ,
beginning in fact with M a y roses and ending w ith j as

, , ,
mine L e t it ho wever no t be spring nor summer nor

.
, , , ,
autumn —but winter in his sternest sha p e T his is a most .
important p oint in the science o f hap piness A nd I am .
surprised to see peo p le overlook it and think it matter of ,
congratulation that winter is going o r if coming is not , , ,
likely to be a severe o ne On the contrary I put up .

,
a petition annually for as m uch sno w hail frost o r , , , ,
storm of o ne kind o r other as the skies can possibly

, ,
a fford us S urely e v erybody is aware o f the divine

.
pleasures which attend a winter fireside candles at

four o cl ock warm hearth rugs tea a fair tea maker
’
,
-
, ,
-
s h utters c l osed curtains flowing in ample draperies o n

,
the floor whilst th e wind and rain are raging audibly

,
witho u t ,
EN GL ISH OPIUM E A TE R
-
.
77
And a t t h e d o o rs a nd wind ows s ee m t o ca l l ,

A s h e a v n a nd ea rt h t h ey wo ul d to geth e r m e l l
’
l e a st e ntrance find th ey no ne a t al l
Y et t h e
W h ence sweeter gro ws o ur rest s e cure in m a ssy h a ll
—0 a s tl e of I nd o lence
.
Al l these are items in the description o f a winter even

ing which must surely be familiar to everybody born in a
,
high latitude A nd it is evident that most of these deli

.
cacies l ike ice cream require a very low temperature of

,
-
the atmosphere to produce them ; they are fruits which

cannot be ripened without weather stormy o r inclement in ,
“ ”
some way o r other I am no t p a rticu la r as people say
.
, ,
whether it be sno w or black frost o r wind so s t rong that

, , ,
(as M r . says )
“
you may lean your back against it
like a post I can put up even with rain pro v ided it
.
,
rains cats and dogs ; but something o f the sort I must

ha v e ; and if I h a v e no t I think myself in a m anner ill
, ,
used ; fo r why am I cal l ed o n t o p ay so heavil y for winter ,
in coals and candl es and various p rivations that will occur

,
even t o gentl emen if I am no t to have the article good o f

,
its kind ? N o ; a Canadian winter for my m oney ; o r a

Russian o ne where every man is but a cc proprietor with
,
-
the north wind in the fee simple o f his o w n ears Indee d -

.
,
so great an epicure am I in this matter that I cannot relish ,
a winter night fully if it be much past S t Thomas s day .

’
,
and ha v e degenerated into disgusting tendencies to vernal

appearances no it must be di v ided by a thick wall o f dark
,
nights from all return o f light and sunshine From the .
latter weeks o f October to Christmas E v e therefore is the , ,
period d uring which happiness is in season which in my , ,
j udgment enters the room with the tea tray for tea
,
-
though ridiculed by those who are naturally o f coarse

ner v es or are become so from wi ne drinking and are not
,
-
,
78 CONFE SSI ONS OF AN
susce p tible o f influence from so refin ed a stim ul ant wi ll ,
a l ways be th e favourite beverage o f the intel l ectual ; and ,
for my p art I would have j oined Dr J o hnson in a he liu m

, .
internecinu m against J onas H anway o r any other im p ious ,
person who should p resume to dis p arage it Bu t here to

, .
,
save myself the trouble o f t o o much verbal description I ,
wi l l introduce a painter and gi v e him directions for the ,
rest of the picture Painters do not like w h ite cottages

.
,
unless a good deal weather stained but as the reader no w -
understands th at it is a winter night his services wil l not ,
be required except for the inside of the house

, .
Paint m e the n a room seventeen feet by twel ve and

, , ,
not more than seven a nd a half feet high T his reader is -

.
, ,
somewhat ambitiously sty l ed in my family the drawing , ,
“ ”
room ; but being contrived a double debt t o pay it is
, ,
also and more j ustly termed t h e l ibrary ; for it ha p pens

, ,
that books are the onl y article o f pro p erty in which I am

richer than my neighbours Of th ese I have about five .
thousand collected gradual ly since my eighteenth year

, .
T herefore p ainter p ut as many as you can into this room

, , .
M ake it p op ulous with books ; and furthermore p aint me , ,
a good fire ; and furniture pl ain and modest befitting the ,
u npretending cottage of a schola r A nd near the fire p ain t .

,
me a tea table and (as it is clear that no creature can

-
come to see o ne suc h a stormy night ) place only t wo cu p s ,
and saucers o n the tea tray and if y o u know how to paint

-
,
suc h a thing symbol ica l ly o r ot h erwise paint m e an eternal , ,
te a p ot—eternal a pa rt e a nte and d pa rt e po s t ; for I u sually ,
d rink tea from eigh t o clock at nig h t to four o clock in the

’ ’
m orning A nd as it is very u
. npl easant to make tea or to
, ,
pour it o ut fo r onesel f p aint m e a l ovely young woman ,
sitting at the tab l e Paint her arms l ike A urora s and her
.
’
,
smiles l ike H eb e s B ut no cl ear M

’
. no t even in j est let ,
ENGL IS H OPIUM E A TER -
.
79
me insinuate that thy p ower t o illuminate my cottage rest s

upon a tenure so perishable as mere personal beauty ; or
that the witchcraft o f angelic smiles l ies within the em pire
o f any earthly pencil Pass then my good painter to .
, , ,
something more within its power ; and the next article

brought forward should naturally be myself—a picture o f
the Opium eater, with his little golden re ce pt a c e o t e
-
“
p ernicious dru g lying b e sid g_h1 m o n the

”
to the _
opium I have no obj ection to see a picture o f tha t though

, ,
I woul d rather see the original ; y o u may paint it if y o u

“ ”
choose ; but I apprise yo u that no little receptacle ,
would even in 1 8 1 6 answer m y purpose who was at a dis

, , ,
tance from the “

stately Pantheon and all druggists
”
,
(mortal o r otherwise ) N o ;
y o u may as well paint
. the
real receptacle which was not o f gold but o f glass a nd as
, , ,
m uch like a wine decanter as possible

-
Into this y o u may .
put a quar t o f ruby coloured l audanum ; that and a book of

-
,
German M etaphysics placed by its side will su ffi ciently ,
attest my being in the neighbourhood but as t o myself ,
there I demur I a d mit that naturally I ought t o occupy

.
, ,
the foreground o f the p icture ; that being the hero o f the

piece o r (if yo u choose ) the criminal at the bar my body
, ,
should be had into court T his seems reasonable but why .
should I confess o n this poin t to a painter ?o r why confess

, ,
at al l ? I f the public (into whose private ear I am con

fidentially whispering my confessions and not into any ,
’
painter s ) should chance to have framed some agreeable
picture for itse lf o f the Opium eater s exterior— should
,
-
’
ha v e ascribed to him romantically an elegant person o r a

, , ,
handsome face why should I barbarously tear from it so

,
pleasing a delusion — pleasing both to the public and to me ?

N o paint me if at all according to your own fancy
, ,and ,
’
as a painter s fancy should te em with beautiful crea tions I ,
8o CONFESSION S OF A N
cannot fail in that way to b e a gainer A nd now reader

, , .
, ,
we have run through all the ten categories o f my condition

as it stood about 1 8 1 6—1 7 ; u p t o the middle of whic h
l atter year I j udge myself to have been a happy man and
the elements o f that hap p iness I have endeavoured t o place
before yo u in the ab ove sketch o f the interior o f a S cholar s
,
’
l ibrary in a cottage among the mountains o n a stormy

, ,
winter e v ening .
Bu t no w farewel l —a long farewell to h a p piness —winter

or summer ! farewell t o smi l es and laughter ! farewell to
peace o f mind ! farewell to ho p e and to tranquil dream s ,
and to the blessed consolati ons of slee p ; for more than

three years and a half I am summoned away from these I
-
am no w arrived at an Iliad of woes ; for I have no wt o

record
TH E P A I N S OF OP I UM .
wh en so m e grea t pa inter d ips

as
His pencil in t h e gl o o m o f e a rth qua k e a nd e cl ips e .
SH E L L E Y ’
S Rev o l t f
o I s la m .
E A DE R ,
who have thu s far accompanied me I ,
must request your attention t o a brief explanatory

note o n three points
1 For several reasons I have no t been able
.
,
to compose the notes for this part of my narrative into any

regular and connected shape I give the notes disj ointed
.
as I find them o r have now drawn them up from memory

, .
S om e o f them p oint to t h eir o wn date some I have dated

and some are undated W henever it coul d answer my
.
p u rpose to trans plant them from the natura l or chronological

order I h ave no t scru pled t o do so Sometimes I speak in
,
.
. 81
the present sometimes in the past tense Few o f the notes

,
.
,
perhaps were written exactly at the period o f time t o

,
which they relate but this can littl e a ffect their accuracy
as the impressions were such that they can never fade from
my mind Much has been omitted I could not without
. .
,
e ffort constrain myself to the task of either recalling o r

, ,
constructing into a regular narrati v e the whole burthen o f ,
horrors which lies upon my brain T his feeling partly I .
plead in excuse a nd p artly that I am no w in L ondon and

, ,
am a helpless sor t o f person who cannot even arrange his ,
o w n papers without assistance ; and I am separate d from

the hands w hi ch are wont t o perform fo r me the o fli ce s o f
an amanuensis .
2 Y o u will think perhaps that I am t o o confidentia l

.
, ,
and communicati v e o f my o wn p rivate history I t may be .
so B u t my way o f writing is rather to think aloud and

.
,
follow my o wn humours than much t o consider wh o is ,
listening to me ; and if I stop t o consider what is p roper

,
to be said t o this o r that person I shall soon come to doubt ,
whether any part at all is proper Th e fact is I place .

,
myself at a distance of fifteen o r twenty years ahead o f th is

time and suppose myself writing t o those who will be
,
interested about me hereafter ; and wishing t o have some

record o f time the entire history o f w hi ch no o ne can know
,
b u t myself I do it as ful l y as I am able with the effor t s I

,
am no w capable o f making because I know no t whether ,
I can ever find time to d o it again .
3 It will occur to yo u often t o ask w hy did I no t release

.
,
mysel f from the horrors o f o piu m by leaving it o ff o r

“
—
fli m 1n1 h in i t ? TO t h l s I must answer briefly : it might
s 6
' ' I
, ,
be supposed that I yielded t o the fascinations o f opium too

easily it cannot be supposed that any man can be charmed
by its terrors Th e rea d er may be sure therefore that I
.
, ,
6
m ade at t em p ts innumerable to reduce the q uantity I add .
,
that those who witnessed the agonies o f those attempts ,
and not myself were the fi rst to beg me t o desist B u t

,
.
could not I have reduced it a drop a day o r by adding -
water have bisected o r trisected a drop ? A t h ousand

,
drops bisected woul d thus h a v e taken nearl y six years to

reduce ; and that way would certainly not have answere d .
Bu t this is a common mistake o f those who know nothing

o f O p iu m experimentally ; I appeal to those wh o do whether ,
it is not always found that down to a certain point it can

be reduced with ease and even pleasure but that after that , ,
p oint f rt h e r reduction causes intense spflferingw Y e s say

,
”
.
'
many t h o ng ee s pe ate fsrwho kno w not what they are

‘ ‘
talking o f you will su ffer a l i t tl e l o w spirits and dej ection

,
for a fe w days I answer no ; there is nothing l ike l o w

.
,
S p irits o n the contrary the mere animal spirits are u nco m

,
mou l y raised : the pulse is im p ro v ed : the health is better .
It is not there that the su ffering lies It has no resemblance

.
t o the su fferings caused by renouncing wine It is a state

.
o f unutterable irritation o f stomach

(which surely is not
much l ike dej ection ) accom p anied by intense p erspirations
, ,
and feel ings suc h as I shall not attem p t to describe without

more s p ace at my command .
I s h all no w enter in m ed ia s res and shall antici p ate

“
, ,
from a t ime when my opium pains might be said to be

at their a cm e an account o f their p alsying e ffects o n the
,
intellectual faculties .
My studies have now been l ong interr upted I cannot .
r ead t o myself with any pl easure hardly with a moment s

,
’
endurance Y e t I read aloud sometimes for the p leasure

.
o f others becaus e re ading is an accom p lishment o f min e ;

,
ENGLISH OPIUM E A TE R
-
. 83
a nd , in the slang use o f the word a cco m p lis hm e nt as a .
superficial and orna m ental attainment almost the only o ne ,
I possess : and formerly if I had any va nity at al l con

,
ne c t e d with any endowment o r attainment o f mine it ,
was with this for I ha d observed that no accomplishmen t

w a s so rare Players are the worst readers o f all
.
rea d s v ilely and M rs who is so celebrated can read

,
,
nothing well but d ramatic compositions M ilton she canno t

read s u fl e ra b l y People in general either read poetry
'
without any passion at all o r else overstep the modes ty o f

,
nature and read no t l ike scholars Of late if I have felt

,
.
,
mo v e d by anything in books it has been by the grand ,
lamentations o f S ampson A gonistes o r the great harmonies ,
o f the S atanic speeches in Para d ise R egained when read ,
aloud by mysel f A young lady sometimes comes and

.
drinks tea with us at her re q uest and M s I now and

’
then read W s poems to them

’
(W b y t h e b
y is .
- -
the only poet I ever met who could read his o wn v erses
often indeed he reads admirably ) .
For nearly t wo years I believe that I read no book b ut

o ne ; and I o w e it to the author in discharge o f a great ,
debt o f gratitude to mention what that was Th e sublimer

,
.
and more passionate p oets I still read as I have said by , ,
snatches and occasionally B ut my proper vocation as I

,
.
,
well kno w was the exercise of the analytic understanding

,
.
N o w for the most part analy t ic studies are continuous

, , ,
and no t to be pursued by fits and starts o r fragmentary ,
e fforts M athematics for instance intell e ctual p hilosophy

.
, , ,
etc were all become insupportable to me : I shrunk from

.
,
them with a sense o f p o werless and infantine feebleness

that gave me an anguish the greater from remembering the
time when I grappled with them t o my o wn hourly delight
a nd for this furthe r re ason becau s e I had devoted the
,
84 CONFE S SIONS OF A N
la b our o f my whole l ife and had dedicated my intellect , ,
blossoms and fruits to the slow and elaborate toil o f

,
constructing o ne single work to which I had presumed to

give the title of an unfinished work o f Spino s a s —vi z
,
’
.
,
De em end a t io ne h u m a ni int e l lectus T his was no w lying .
blocked up as by frost like any S panish bridge o r aqueduct

, , ,
begun upon too great a scale for the resources o f the

architect ; and instead o f surviving me as a monument o f
,
w ishes at least and aspirations and a l ife of labour dedicated

, ,
to the exaltation o f human nature in that way in which God

had best fitted me to p romote so great an obj ect i t was ,
likel y to stand a memorial to my children o f h opes defeated ,
o f ba ffled e fforts o f materials uselessly accumulated

,
of ,
foundations l aid that were never to su p por t a su p er

structure — , o f the grief and the ruin o f the architect I n .
this state o f imbecility I had for amusement turned my , , ,
attention t o political economy ; my understanding which ,
formerly had been as active and restless as a hyena could ,
not I suppose (so long as I l ived at all ) sink into utter

,
lethargy ; and political economy o ffers this advantage to a

person in my state that though it is eminently an organic
,
science (no p art that is to say but what acts o n the whole
, , ,
as the w h ole again re acts o n each part) yet the severa l

-
p arts may be detached and contemplated singly Great as .
was the p rostration o f my p owers at this time yet I could ,
not forget my knowledge ; and my understanding had

been fo r t o o many years intimate with severe thinkers with ,
l ogic and the great masters o f knowledge no t to be

, ,
aware o f the utter feebleness o f the main herd of modern

economists I had been led in 1 8 1 1 to look into l oads o f
.
books and p amphlets o n many branches o f economy and at

m y desire M ,
sometimes read to m e chapters from more
recen t works o r p arts o f parliamentary debates I saw that
,
.
-
. 85
these were generally the very dregs and rinsings o f the human
intellect and that any man of sound head and p ractised in ,
wielding logic with a scholastic adroitness might take u p ,
the whol e academy of modern economists and throttle the m ,
between hea v en and earth with his finger and thumb or ,

’
bray their fungus heads to powder with a lady s fan A t .
length in 1 8 1 9 a friend in E dinburgh sent me down M r

, , .
R icardo s book : and recurring to my o wn prophetic anti

’
c i a t io n of the ad v ent o f some l egislator for this science I

p ,
said before I had finished the first chapter T hou art the
, ,
man ! W onder and curiosity were emotions that had

”
long been dead in me Y e t I wondered once more : I .
wondered at myself that I could once again be stimula t ed

to the e ffort o f reading and muc h more I wondered at the
-
book H a d this profound work been really written in

.
E ngland during the nineteenth century ? W a s it po s sible ?

“
I supposed thinking had been extinct in E ngland Coul d .
it be that an E nglishman and he not in academic bo wers , ,
but oppressed by mercantile and senatorial cares had ,
accomplished what all the u ni v ersities o f E urope and a ,
century of thought had failed e v en to advance by o ne

,
hair s breadth ? A ll other writers had been crushed and

’
o v erlaid by the enormous weight o f facts and d ocuments ;

M r R icardo had deduced a pri o ri fro m the understanding
.
,
itself laws which first gave a ray o f light into the unwieldly
,
chaos o f materials and had constructed what had been but

,
Th e re a d e r m ust re m e m b e r wh a t I h e re m e a n b y th inking ; b e ca use ,

e l s e th is wo ul d b e a v
e ry pre s um pt u o u s e xpre s sio n E ngl a nd , o f l a t e ,
.
k
h a s b e e n rich t o exce s s in fine t h in e rs , in t h e d e pa rtm e nts o f cre a t iv e
a nd co m b ining t t l
t h o ugh t ; b ut h e re is a s a d d ea r h o f m a scu ine h in e rs t k
in a ny a na ly t t ic pa h t
. A Sco ch m a n o f e m ine nt na m e h a s l a t e y l
t o l d u s, t h a t h e is o b l ige d t o quit v n
e e t
m a h e m a t ics fo r wa n t of
e nc o u ra e m e nt
g .
86 CONFESSIO N S OF A N
a col l ection o f tentati v e discussions into a science o f regu l ar

p rop ortions no w firs t standing o n an eternal basis
, .
T hus did o ne singl e work o f a profound understanding

avail to give me a pleasure and an activity whic h I had not
known for years — it roused me e v en t o write o r at least , , ,
t o dictate what M wrote for me I t seemed to me tha t .

,
some im p ortant truths h ad escaped even the ine v itable

“
eye o f Mr R icardo : and as these were for th e mos t

”
.
, ,
part o f such a nature that I could express or illustrate

,
them more briefly and elegantly by algebraic symbols than

in the usua l c l umsy and loitering diction of economists the ,
whole would no t ha v e fil l ed a pocket book and being so -
brief with M
,
for m y aman u ensis even at this time , ,
incapable as I was of all general exertion I d rew up fny ,
Pro leg o m ena t o a l l fu tu re S ys t em s of Po li t ica l E co no m y .
I h Ope it will not be foun d redolent o f opium ; though ,
indeed to m ost people the subj ect itself is a s u fli cie nt

, ,
Opiate .
T his exertion howe v er was bu t a temporary flash ; as

, ,
the sequel showed —for I designed to publish my work

arrangements were m ade at a p ro v incial press about ,
eigh t een miles d is t ant for printing it

,
A n additional .
compositor was retained for some days o n this account

, , .
T h e work w a s even twice advertised : and I was in a ,
manner pledged to the fulfi l ment of my intention B u t I

,
.
had a pre face t o write ; and a dedication which I wis h ed ,
to make a S plendid o ne to M r R icardo I found myself

, . .
quite unable to accomplish all this T h e arrangements .
were counterm anded : the compositor dismissed : a nd my

Pro leg o m ena rested peacefully by the side of its elder
and more dignifie d brother .
I ha v e thus described and illustrated my inte l lect u al

torpor in terms that a p ply more or less to every part o f
, , ,
ENGL I S H OPI UM E A TE E
-
. 87
the four y e ars during which I was under the Circean spells
o f Opium . B ut for mi se ry a nd su ffering I migh t 1 nde e d , , ,
be said to have existed in a nLmN a nt sta te I seldom could .
prevai l on myself to write a letter ; an answer o f a fe w

words to any that I received was the utmost that I could
, ,
accomplish ; and often tha t not until the letter had lain
weeks o r even months on my writing table W ithout the
, ,
-
.
aid o f M all records o f bills paid o r t o be paid must, ,
have p erished : and my whol e domestic economy what ,
ever became of Political E conomy must have gone into ,
irretrievable confusion I shall not afterwards al l ude to

.
thi s p art o f the case : it is o ne however which the opium

, ,
eater wil l find in the end as oppressive and tormenting as

, ,
any other from the sense o f incapacity and feebleness from

, ,
the direct embarrassments t h e neglect or p ro _ -
c ra s t ina t io n W daya ppro pria t e duties and from the

-
’
,
remorse which must often ex asperate the stings o f these

e v ils t o a reflective and conscientious mind T h e Opium .
eater l oses none o f his moral sensibilities or aspirations he

wishes and longs as earnestly as ever to realise what he
, ,
believes possible and feels to be exacted by duty but his

,
intellectual ap p rehension of w hat is possible infinitely o u t

runs his power not o f execution only but e v en o f power to
, ,
attempt H e lies u nder the weight o f incubus and night

.
mare : h e l i e s in sight of all that he would fain pe rform ,
j i t as a man forcibly confined to his bed by the mortal

'
I S
languor o f a relaxing d isease who is com p elled t o witness
,
inj u ry o r outrage o ffered to some obj ect o f his tenderest

l ove —h e curses the spells which chain him dow n from
motion —h e would lay down his life if he might but get up
and walk ; but he is po tv e rl e s s as an infant and cannot ,
even atte m pt t o rise .
I now pass t o wh a t is t he main subj ec t o f the s e latte r

confessions t o the history and j ourn a l o f what took place

,
in my dreams ; for these w ere the immediate and p roximate

cause o f my acutest su ffering .
Th e fi rs t notice I had o f any importa nt c hange going o n

in this part o f my p hysical economy was from the re ,
awakening o f a state o f eye generally incident t o childhood ,
o r ex al ted st ates o f irritabi l ity I know not whether my

.
reader is aware that many children perhaps most h ave a , ,
p ower o f p ainting as it were upon the darkness all sorts

, , ,
o f p hantoms ; in some that power is sim p ly a mechanic

,
a ffection o f the eye ; others have a voluntary o r semi ,
vol untary p ower t o dismiss o r t o summon them ; o r as a ,
child once said t o me when I questioned him o n this

“
matter ,
I can tell them t o go and they go ; but some
,
times they come w h en I don t tell them to come

,
’
W h ere .
upon I told h im t hat he had almost as unlimited a command

over a p paritions as a R oman centurion over his soldiers .
I n the middle o f 1 8 1 7 I think it was that this faculty

, ,
became p ositively distressing t o m e : at night when I lay ,
awake in bed vast processions p assed along in mournful

,
p om p ; friez es o f ne v er ending stories that to my feelings

-
were as sad and solemn as if they were stories drawn

from times before ( E d ipu s o r Priam —before Tyre —before
Memphis A nd at the same time a corresponding change
.
, ,
took place in my dreams a theatre seemed suddenl y Opened

and lighted u p within my brain which p resented nightly ,
spectacles o f more than earthly splendour A nd the four .
fol lowing facts may be mentioned as noticeable at this ,
time
1 T hat as the creative state o f the eye increas e d a
.
,
’
sympathy seemed to arise between the waking and the

dreaming states o f the brain in one p oint— that whatsoever
I happened t o cal l u p a nd t o trace by a vol untary act upon
ENGLISH OPI UM E A TE E
-
. 89
the darkness wa s very apt t o transfer itself t o my dreams

so that I feared t o exercise this faculty ; fo r as M i d as ,
turned al l things to gold that yet ba ffled his hop es and

,
defrauded his human desires so whatsoever thi ngs capable

W
,
! ed I did but think o f in the

darkness immediately shaped themselves into phantoms of
,
the eye ; and by a process apparently no les s ine v itable

, ,
when thus once traced in faint and visionary colours like ,
writings in sympathetic ink they were drawn o u t by t h e

,
fi erce chemistry o f my dreams into insufferable splendour ,
that fretted my heart .
2 For this and all oth er changes in my dream s were

.
, ,
accompanied by deep seated anxiety and gloomy m elancholy

-
,
such as are wholly incommunicabl e by words I seemed .
every night to descend no t metaphorically but literally t o

, ,
descen d into chasms and sunless abysses depths below

, ,
depths from which it seemed ho peless that I could ever

,
re ascend
-
N o r did I by waking feel that I ha d re
.
, ,
ascended T his I d o no t dwell u p on ; because the state of

.
gloom which attended these gorgeous spectacles am ounting ,
at last t o utter darkness as o f some suicida l des p ondency

, ,
cannot be approached by word s .
3 T h e sense o f s p ace a nd in the end the sense o f time

.
, , , ,
were both powerfully a ffected B uildings landscapes e t c.

, , .
,
were exhibited in proportions so vast as the bodily eye is

no t fi tted t o recei v e S pace swelled and was am p lified
.
,
to an extent o f unutterable i nfinity T hi s however d id .

, ,
not disturb me so much as the vast expansion o f time ; I

sometimes seemed to ha v e lived for se v enty o r a hundred
years in o ne night nay sometimes had feelings representa
,
tive of a millenium passed in that time o r however o f a , , ,
d uration fa r beyond the limits o f any human experie nce .
4 T h e minu t est inci d ents o f chil d hoo d o r forgotten

.
,
90 CONFESSIO N S OF A N
scenes of l ater years were often re v ived I could not be said

,
to recollect the m ; for if I h a d b een told o f them when

waking I should not have been able to acknowledge them
,
as p arts o f my past ex p erience B ut placed as they were .
before me in dreams like intuitions and clothed in all their

, ,
e v anescent circumstances and accompanying feelings I ,
re co g n is e d them instantaneously I was once tol d by a .
near relative o f mine that having in her childhood fallen

,
into a ri v er and being on the very verge of death but for

,
the critical assista nce which reached her she saw in a moment ,
her whole l ife in its minutest incidents arrayed before her

, ,
simultaneously as in a mirror ; and she had a facul ty

develo p ed as suddenly for com p rehending the whole and
every p art T his from some o p ium ex p eriences of mine I
.
, ,
can bel ieve ; I ha v e indeed seen the same thing asserted

, ,
t wice in modern books and accom p anied by a remark

,
whic h I am convinced is true —v iz that the book o f .

,
w hich the Sg ipt u re s

each ip d il idp p l Of this at l east I fee l assured
-
.
, , ,
ré is nd such th i ng as fo rg e t t ing p ossible to the

"
I
t
"
mind ; a thousand accidents may and wil l in t erpose a veil

between o u r present consciousness and the secret ins crip
tions on the mind ; accidents o f the same sort will also rend
away this v eil ; but alike whether veiled o r un v eiled the, ,
inscription remains for e v er j ust as the stars seem to with

dra w be fore the common light o f day whereas in fact w e , , ,
a ll kno w that it is t h e light whic h is drawn over t hem as a
veil and that they are waiting to be revealed when the

,
obscuring daylight shall ha v e withdrawn .
H aving noticed these four facts as mem orably distin

uis hing my dreams from those o f health I shall no w cite
g ,
a c ase illustrati v e o f the first fac t ; and shall then cite a ny

othe rs tha t I r e m ember eith e r in th e ir c h ronological ord er
, ,
ENGL ISH OPIUM E A TE R -
.
91
or any oth er that may gi v e them more e ffect as pictures t o

the reader .
I had been in youth and even since fo r occasional amuse

, ,
ment a great reader of L ivy whom I confess that I prefer

, , , , ,
both for style a nd matter to any other of the R oman his

,
t o ria ns and I had oft e n felt as most solemn and appalling

sounds a nd most emphatically representative of the maj esty
,
o f the R oman p eople the two words so often occurring in

,
L ivy — Co ns u l R o m a n us especially when the consul is

introduced in his mi l itary character I mean to say that .
the words king— sultan— regent etc or any other titles of , .
those who embody in their o wn persons the collecti v e

m aj esty o f a great people had less power o v er my re v e re n
,
tial feelings I h a d also though no great reader of history

.
, ,
made myself minutely and critical l y familiar with one

period of E nglish history —viz the period o f t h e Parlia .
,
mentary W a r—ha v ing been attracted by the moral grandeur

o f some who figured in that day and by the many interest ,
ing memoirs w hich survive t hose unquiet times Bo t h .
those parts o f my lighter reading ha v ing furnished me of t en

with matter o f reflection now furnished m e with matter for
,
m y dreams Often I used to see after painti ng upon t h e

.
,
blank d arkness a sor t of rehearsal whilst waking a crowd ,
of ladies and perhaps a festival and d ances A nd I heard

, _ , .
it said o r I said to myself th ese are E nglish ladies from

‘
, , ,
the un happy times of Charles I T hese are the wives and .
the da u ghters of those who met in peace and sate at the ,
sa m e tables and were allied by marriage or by blood and

,
yet after a certain d a y in A ugust 1 64 2 ne v er smi l ed u pon

, ,
each other again nor met but in the field of battle and at
,
M arston M oor at N e wb u ry o r at N aseby cut asunder all

, , ,
ties of lo v e by the cruel sabre and washed away in blood ,
”
the memory o f ancient frien d ship T h e ladies d anced and .
,
92 CONFESSIONS OF AN
l ooked s l ovel y as the court f George I V Y t I knew

a o . e ,
e v en in my dream that they had been in the grave for

,
nearly t w centuries o T his p ageant would suddenly dis

.
sol v e ; and at a clap p ing o f hands wou l d be heard the

, ,
heart quaking sound o f C n u l R m nu

-
and immediatelyo s o a s
came swee p ing by in gorgeous p al udaments Paulus or

“
,
”
,
M arius girt round by a company

,
centurions with the of ,
crimson tunic hoisted on a s p ear and fol lowed by the ,
a l a l a g m o s o f t h e R oman legions .
M any years ago when I was l ooking over Pira ne s i s

,
’
A ntiquities o f R ome M r C ol eridge who was standing , .

,
by described t o me a set o f plates by that artist

, ,
called his Drea m s and which record the scenery o f his

,
o wn visions during the de l irium of a fever S ome o f them .
o f Mr C oleridge s account)
(
’
I describe only from memory .
represented vast Gothic halls on the floor o f which stood

all sorts o f engines and machinery wheels cables pulleys , , , ,
l evers catap ults etc etc expressi v e of enormous p ower

, , .
, .
,
p ut forth and resistance overcome Creeping along

, .
the sides o f the walls you perceived a staircase ; and upon

,
it gro p ing his way up wards was Piranesi himself : follow

, ,
the stairs a l ittle further and you percei v e it come to a ,
sudden and abrupt termination without any balustrade and , ,
allowi ng no step onwards t o h im who h a d reached the

extremity except into the depths below W hatever is to
,
.
become o f p oor Piranesi yo u sup p ose at l east that his , , ,
l abours must in some way terminate here But raise your .
eyes and behold a second flight o f stairs still higher : o n

,
which again Piranesi is p erceived but this time standing ,
o n the very brink of the abyss A gain elevate your e ye .

,
and a still more a erial flight o f stairs is b eheld : and again

is p oor Piranesi busy o n his aspiring labours : and so o n ,
until t h e u nfinis h ed s tair s a nd Pir a nesi both are lo st in the

ENGL ISH OPI UM E A TE E -
.
93
upper gl oom o f the hall W ith the same po wer o f endless

.
gro wth and self reproduction did my architecture proceed

-
in dreams I n the early stage o f my malady the splendours

.
,
of my dreams were indeed chiefly architectural : and I

beheld such pomp of cities and palaces as wa s never yet
beheld by the waking eye unless in the clouds From a ,
.
great modern poet I cite part of a passage which describes ,
as an appearance actually beheld in the clouds w h at in ,
many o f its circumstances I saw frequently in sl eep

Th e a ppe a ra nce , ins ta nt a ne o u sl y d is cl o se d,
Wa s ofa m ig h ty city—b o l d ly s a y
A wil d e rne s s o f b uil d ing s ink ing fa r ,
And s e l fwit h d rawn into a wo nd ro us d e pth

-
,
Fa r s ink ing int o s pl e nd o ur—with o ut e nd

F b ric it se e m d o f d ia m o nd a nd o f g o ld
'
a , ,
Wit h a l a b a ster d o m es a nd s il ve r s pire s

, ,
And b l zing t e rra ce upo n t e rra ce h igh

a ,
U pl ift e d ; h e re s e re ne pa vil io ns b rig h t

,
I n a ve nue s d is po se d ; th e re t o we rs b e gi rt
With b a tt l e m e nt s t h a t o n t h eir re s t l e ss fro nts
Bo re st a rs —ill um ina t io n o f a ll g e m s
By e a rt h ly na ture h a d t h e e ffe c t b e e n wro ugh t
U po n t h e d a rk m a te ria l s o f t h e s t o rm
N o w pa cifi e d 0 11 th e m a nd o n t h e co ves , ,
And m o unt a in ste e ps a nd s um m its wh e re unto

-
T h e va po urs h a d rece d e d —
,
ta k en th e re ,
Th e ir s t a tio n und e r a Ce rul e a n sk y .
T h e sublime circumstance— battlements that o n their “
t less fronts bore st rs —might ha v e been copied from

”
res a ,
my architectural dreams for it often occurred W e hear it

,
.
reported o f D ryden and o f Fusel i in modern times that

, ,
they thought p rop er t o eat raw meat fo r the sake o f :
obta ining splendid dreams : h o w much better fo r such a

p urpo se t o have eaten opium which yet I d o no t remember
,
that a ny p oet is recorded t o have done exce p t the dramatist ,

S hadwe ll and in ancient days H o m er is I think rightly

: , ,
reputed t o h ave known the v irtues o f opium .
T o my architecture succeeded dreams o f lakes and - m
silvery ex p anses o f water — these haunted me so much ,
that I feared (though possib l y it will appear ludicrous to a

medical man ) that some d ropsical state o r tendency of
the brain might thus be making itsel f (to use a meta
physical wor d ) o bj ect iv e ; and the sentient organ proj ect
itself as its o wn obj ect For two months I su ffered greatly
.
in my head—a part o f my bodily structure w h ich had

hitherto been so cl ear from all touch o r ta int of weakness
(physica l ly I mean
, ) that I used to say
,
o f it as the l a st ,
L ord Orford said o f his stomach that it seemed likely to ,
survive the rest o f my person Till now I had never felt a .
hea d ache even or any the s l ightest pain except rheumatic

, ,
p ains caused by my own folly H owever I got o v er this .

,
attack though it must have been verging on something very

,
dangerous .
Th e waters now changed their character —fro m _t ra ns ,
M k e s shining like mirrors t gc

,
h
and oceans A nd now came a tremendous change which
.
a m e sea s ,
, ,
u nfo l d ing i t s e lf slowly l ike a scroll through many months

'
, ,
p romised an abiding torment and in fact it ne ver left me , ,
u ntil the winding up o f my case H itherto the human face .
had mixed o ft en in my dreams but not despotically nor , ,
with any special power o f tormenting B u t no w that .
which I have called the tyranny o f the human face began

to unfold itsel f Perhaps some part of my L ondon life
.
might be answerable for t h is B e that as it may no w it .

,
was that upon the rocking waters o f the ocean the human
face began to a p pear : the sea appeared paved with
innumerable faces upturned to the heavens ; faces i m pl o r
,
ing wrathful despairing surged u p wards by thousa nds by

, , , ,
ENGLIS H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
95
myriads by generations by centuries —m y agitation was

, ,
infinite —m y mind tossed —and surged with the ocea n

, .
Ma y ,
1 8 18 .
The M alay has been a fearful enemy fo r months I ha v e .
been every nigh t through his mea ns trans p orted into

, ,
A siatic scenes I know not whether others share in my

.
feelings o n this point but I have often thought that if I

were compelled to forego E ngland and to live in China and , ,
among Chinese manners and modes o f life and scenery I ,
should go mad T h e causes o f my horror l ie deep ; a nd

.
s ome o f them must be common to others Southern A sia

w
.
,
l n general i s the seat o f awful

,
\
A s the cra d fi e H h e h umm r a cM
a s so m a t l o ns
Oul d alone have a dim

’
.
a nd reverential feeling con nected with it B ut there are .
other reasons N 0 man can pretend that the wild barbar

.
,
o us,
and capricious superstitions o f A frica o r o f savage ,
tribes elsewhere affect him in the way that he is a ffected

,
by the ancient monumental cruel and elaborate religions

, , ,
o f Indostan etc T h e mere antiquity o f A siatic things

,
.
,
of their institutions histories mo d es o f faith etc is so

, , , .
,
impressive that t o me the vast age o f the race and name

,
o v erpowers the sense o f youth in the individual A young .
Chinese seems to me an antediluvian man renewed E v en .
E nglishmen though not bred in any kno wl e dge o f such

,
institutions cannot but shudder at the mystic sublimity of

,
ca s t es that have flo wed apart and re fused t o mix through , ,
such immemorial tracts o f time nor can any m a n fail to be

awed by the names o f the Ganges o r the E uphrates I t ,
.
contributes much t o these feelings that S outhern As ia is , ,
and has been for thousands o f years the p art o f the eart h ,
m ost sw arming wit h hu m a n l ife ; the great o

fifi ci n a g ent i u m
e
‘
.
Ma n is a weed in those regions T h e v ast empires also in .

,
96 CON F E S S I ON S OF A N
which t h e enormous p opulation o f A sia has al ways been

cast give a further sublimity to the feelings associated with
,
all oriental names o r images I n China over and abo v e .

,
what it has in common with the rest o f S outhern A sia I ,
am terrified by the modes of l ife by the manners and the , ,
barrier o f utter abhorrence and want of sympathy placed ,
bet ween us by feelings deeper than I can analyse I could .
sooner live with lunatics o r b rute animals A ll this and

, .
,
much more than I can say o r have time to say the reader , ,
must enter into before he can compre h end the unimaginable

horror which these dreams o f orienta l 1 m g y, and m yt h o m ”
m
l ogical tortures im p ressed u p on me U nder the connecting
, .
feeling of tro p ical heat and vertical sun lights I brought -
together a l l creatures birds beasts reptiles all trees and

, , , ,
plants usages and appearances that are found in all tro p ical
, ,
regions and assembled them together i n Chipa p r I ndo stan

,
.
From kindred feel ings I soon brought E gypt and all her
gods u nder the same l aw I was stared at hooted at .
, ,
grinned at chattered at by m onkeys by p arroquets by

, , , ,
cockatoos I ran into p agodas : and was fixed for cen

.
,
t u rie s at the summit o r in secret rooms

, ,
I was the idol
I was the p riest ; I was worshi p ped ; I was sacri fi ced I .
fled from the wrath o f B rama through all the forests o f

A sia : V is h nu hated me : Sc e v a l aid wait for me I came .
suddenly u p on Isis and Osiris : I had done a deed they ,
said which the ibis and the crocodile trembled at I was

, .
buried for a thousand years in stone coffins with mummies

, , ,
d sphynxes in narrow chambers at the heart o f eternal

,
pyramids I was kissed with cancerous kisses by croco

.
, ,
diles and laid confounded with all unutterab l e slimy

,
things amongst reeds and N ilotic mud

,
.
I thus give the reader some slight abstraction o f my

o riental dreams which alway s filled me with such amazemen t
,
E N G L I S H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
97
at the monstrous scenery that horror seemed absorbed , ,
for a while in sheer astonish m ent Sooner o r later came

, .
,
a reflux o f feeling that swallo wed up the astonishment ,
and left me not so much in terror as in hatred and

, ,
abomination of what I saw Ov er e v ery form and threat .

, ,
and punishment and dim sightless incarcera t ion broode d a

, ,
sense o f eternity and infinity that drove m e into an

oppression as of madness Into these dreams only it was
.
, ,
with o ne o r t wo slight e xceptions that any circumstances ,
o f physical horror entered A l l before had been moral and

.
spiritual terrors B ut here the main agents were u gl y birds

.
,
o r snakes o r crocodiles ; especially the l a st

, T h e cursed .
,
crocodile became t o m e the obj ect o f more horror than

almost the rest I was compelled to li v e with him ; and
.
( as was always the case almost in my dreams ) for centuries .
I escaped sometime found myself in Chinese houses ,
with cane ta bles I the feet o f the tables sofas etc

, , ,
.
,
soon became instinct with life : the abominable hea d o f the

crocodile and his leering eyes l ooked o u t at me multiplied
, , ,
in t o a thousand re petitions : and I stood loathing and

fascinated A nd so often did this hid eous reptile haunt
.
my dreams that many times the v ery same dream was

,
broken up in the very same way : I heard gentle voices

speaking to me (I hear e v ery thing when I am sl eeping) ;
and instantly I woke : it was broad noon ; and the
children were standi ng hand in hand at my bed side
, ,
-
come to show m e their coloured shoes o r new frocks or to , ,
let me see them dressed fo r going o u t I protest that so .
awful was the transition from the damned crocodile a nd the ,
o t her unutterable m onsters and abortion s of my dreams ,
t o the sight of innocent h u m a n natures and of infancy ,
that in the mighty and sudden re v ulsion of min d I wept

, , ,
a nd cou l d no t forbear it as I kiss e d their faces

,
.
98 CON F E S S I ON S OF A N
J u n e, 1 8 1 9 .
I h ave h ad
occasion to remark at various perio d s of my ,
l ife that the deaths of those whom we lo v e a nd in d eed the

, ,
co nt e m l a t iono f death gene r l ris p a fi O

'
y (
'
a l is ) more
'
fié
‘ ‘
p c ae t e ,
a ffecting in s ummer than in any other season o f the year .
A rid the reasons are these three I think : firs t that the , ,
v isible heavens in summer appear far higher more d istant , ,
and (if such a solecism may be excused ) more infinite the

clouds by which chiefly the eye expounds the distance of
,
the blue pa v ilion stretched over our heads are in summer ,
more voluminous m assed and accumulated in far grander

, ,
and more towering piles : secondly the light and the ,
appearances o f the decl ining and the setting sun are much
more fitted to be types and characters o f the I nfini t e and
thirdly (which is the main reason ) the exuberant and ,
riotous prodigality o f life naturally forces the mind more

powerfully upon the antagonist thought o f death and the ,
wintry sterility o f the gra v e For it may be observed .

,
genera lly that where v er two thoughts stand related t o

,
each other by a l aw o f antagonism and exist as it were , , ,
by mutual repulsion they are a p t to suggest t o each other

, .
On these accounts it is that I find it impossible t o banish

the thought o f death when I am walk ing alone in the
endless days o f summer ; and any particular death if not ,
more a ffecting at least haunts my mind more obstinately

,
and besiegingly in that season Perhaps this cause and a .

,
sligh t incident which I omit might h ave been the immediate

,
occasions o f the following dream ; t o which howe v er a

‘
, ,
predis p osition must always have existed in my mind ; b u t

having been once roused it ne v er left me and split into
, ,
a thousand fantastic v a rieties which o ften suddenly ,
reunited and composed again th e original drea m

,
.
I thought that it w s a Sunday morning in Ma y that ,

ENGLIS H OPI UM E A TE R -
.
99
it was E aster Sunday and as yet was very earl y in the

,
morning I was standing as it see m ed to me at the

.
, ,
door o f my o wn cottage Right before m e lay the very

.
scene which could really be commanded from that situation ,
but exalte d as was usual and solemnised by the power o f

, ,
dream s T here were the same mountains and the same

.
,
lovely valley at their feet but the mountains were raised

t o more than A lpine height and there was interspace far ,
larger between them o f meadows and forest lawns ; the

hedges were rich with white roses and no living creature
was t o be seen excepting that in the green churchyard
,
there were cattle tranquilly reposing upon the verdant

grave s and particularly round a b out the gra v e o f a child
,
whom I had ten d erly loved j ust as I had really beheld them
, ,
a littl e before sunrise in the same summer when that child ,
died I gazed u pon the well known scene and I said aloud
.
-
“
e t wants much o f sunrise
( as I thought ) to mysel f It y , and
it is E aste r S unday and that is the day o n which they cele
brate the first fruits o f resurrection I will walk abroad ; o l d .
griefs shall be forgotten t o day for the air is cool and still
-
and the hills are high and stretch away t o H ea v en and the
,
forest glades are as quiet as the churchyard ; and with ,
the dew I can was h the fever from my forehead and then
, ,
”
I sh a ll be unhappy no longer A nd I turne d as if t o .
,
m
open m ga cig rga t e ; and immediately I saw upon the le ft
r
i aiffe re nt but which yet the power o f dreams
;
had reconciled in t o harmony with the other Th e scene .
wa s an o rie nt ia l one and there a lso it was E aster Sunday ,
and very early in the morning A nd at a vast distance .
were visible as a stain upon the horizon the domes and ,
cupolas o f a great city —a n image o r faint abstraction

,
caught perh aps in chil d hood from some picture of

J erusal em A nd not a b o w shot from me u p on a sto ne
.
-
, ,
I oo CONFE SSIO NS OF A N
a nd s h aded by Ju d e a n palms there sat a woman ; and I ,
l ooked ; and it was—A nn ! Sh e fixed her eyes upon me

earnestly ; and I said to her at length : So then I ha v e
”
found you at last I waited : but she ans wered me not a
.
word H e r face was the sam e as when I s a w it last and

.
,
yet again h o w di fferent ! S eventeen years ago when the ,
lamp light fel l upon her fa w as for the last time I kissed
-
her lips (lips A nn that to me were not p olluted ) her eyes

, , ,
were streami ng with tears : the tears were now wiped

away ; she seemed more beautiful than she was at that
time but in all other points the same and not older H e r
, ,
.
l ooks were tranquil but with unusual solemnity o f expres

,
sion ; and I now ga z ed upon her with some awe but ,
suddenly her countenance gre w dim and turning to t h e , ,
mountains I p erceived vapours rolling between u s in

, ,
a moment all had vanished ; thick darkness came o n ; and

,
in the twinkling o f an eye I was far away from mountains , ,
and by lam p ligh t in Oxford S treet walking again with

-
A nn—j ust as we wal ked seventeen years before when we ,
were both children .
A s a fina l s p ecimen I cite One o f a different ch aracter

, ,
from 1 8 2 0 .
T h e dream commenced with a music w hi ch now I often

h eard in dreams—a music o f preparation a nd o f awakening
sus p ense ; a music like the o p ening o f the Coronation
An them and which like tha t gave the feeling o f a vast
, , ,
march—o f infinite caval cades filing o ff—and the tread o f

innumerable armies Th e morning was come o f a mighty
.
day—a day o f crisis and o f final hope for human nature ,
then su ffering some mysterious eclipse and labouring in ,
some dread extremity S omewhere I knew not where

som ehow I knew not how —b y some beings I kne w no t
.
,
, ,
whom —a battle a strife an agony , , ,

. 10 1
evol ving l ike a great drama o r piece o f music with whic h

.
,
my sympathy was the more insupportable from my co n

fusion as to its place its cause its nature and its possible
, , ,
issue I as is usual in dreams (where o f necessity we make

.
, , ,
ourselves central t o every movement ) had the power and , ,
yet had not the p ower to decide it I had the power if I

,
.
,
could raise myself t o will it ; and yet again had not the
,
p ower for the weight o f twenty A tlantics was upon me o r

, ,
the oppression o f inexpiable guilt “

D eeper than e v er .
p lummet sounded I lay inacti v e Then like a chorus

, .
, ,
the passion deepened S ome greater interest was at stake ;

.
some mightier cause than e v er yet the sword had pleaded ,
o r trum p et had proclaimed T hen came sudden alarms

.
hurryings t o and fro : trepidations o f innumerable fugiti v es ,
I knew no t whether from the good cause or the b a d d ark

ness and lights : tempest and human faces ; and at last ,
with the sense that all was lost female forms and the , ,
features tha t were worth all the world to me and but a ,
moment all owed and clasped hands and heart breaking

,
-
,
-
partings and then—everlasting farewells and with a sigh

, ,
such as the caves o f hell sighed when the incestuous mother

uttered the abhorred name o f death the sound was re v erb ,
c rated —everlasti ng farewells ! and again and yet again ,
reverberated—everlasting farewells
A nd I awoke in struggles and cried aloud — “
,
I wi ll
sleep no more
B ut I am no w called u p on t o wind up a narrative whic h
has alrea d y extended t o an unreasonable lengt h W ithin .
more spacious limits the materials which I ha v e used

,
might ha v e been better unfol d ed ; a nd much which I

have no t used might have been added with e ffect Pe r .
haps howe v er enough has be e n given I t no w remains

, , .
tha t I should say s omething o f the way in which

10 2 CONFE SSI ONS OF !I N
this conflict o f o u ht to a crisis .
Th e r eader is already aware (from a passage 11W

beginning o f the introduction t o the first part) that the
“
opium eater has in some way o r other
-
,
unwound almost ,
”
to its final links the accursed chain which bound him
,
.
By what means ? T o have narrated this according to the ,
original intention would have far exceeded the space which

,
can now be allowed It is fortunate as such a cogent

.
,
reason exists for abridging it that I should o n a maturer , ,
vie w o f the case have been exceedingly unwilling to inj ure

, ,
‘
by any such u na fi e c t ing details the impression of the history ,
itself as an appeal to the prudence and the conscience o f

,
the yet unconfirmed o piu m e a t e r—o r e v en (though a very l
inferior consideration ) to inj ure its e ffect as a composition .
Th e interest o f the j udicious reader wil l no t attach itself

chiefly to the subj ect o f the fascinating s p ells but to the ,
fascinating power No t the opium eater but the_ opium is

.
-
, f . b ‘
,
the true hero o f the ta l e and the legitimate centre o n w hi ch

v.
the W am m s obj ect was to display the mar

v e ll o u s agency o f opium whether for pleasure o r fo r p ain
,
if that is done the action o f the p iece has closed

, .
H owever as some p eople in spite o f all laws to the

, ,
contrary will p ersist in asking what became o f the Opium

,
eater a nd in what state he no w is I answer for h im thus

, ,
T h e reader is aware that opium had long ceased to found

its empire o n s p ells o f plea sure it tori “
tures conn ected with t h e attempt to a bj ure j t that it Kept

. “
its hold Y e t as other tor t u r

.
,
es no less it may be thought , ,
attended the no n abj uration o f such a tyrant a choice only

-
,
o f evils was l eft and tha t might as well have been adopted ,
which however terrific in itself held o ut a pro spect o f fina l

, ,
re st ara t ign t o hgppine s s

fi
T his appears true
m
bu
.t
l ogic gave t h e author no s
. 1 o3
a crisis arri v ed fo r the author s li fe and a crisis fo r ’

,
other obj ects still dearer to him a nd which will al ways be ,
far d earer to him than his life even no w that it is again a ,
happy one I saw that I must die if I continued the

.
opium I determined t herefore if that should be require d

, , ,
to die in throwing it o ff H o w much I was at that time .
t aking I cannot say for the opiu m which I used had been
purchased for m e by a friend who a fterwards refused t o let
me pay him ; so that I could not ascertain even what
quantity I had used within the year I apprehend how .
,
ever that I took it very irregularly ; and that I varie d

,
from about fifty o r sixty grains to 1 50 a day M y first tas k -

.
was t o reduce it to forty to thirty and as fast as I coul d

, ,
‘
t o twel v e gra m s .
W ri umph e d : but think not rea d er that there fore my

'
, ,
su fferings were ended ; nor think o f me as o f one sitting in

a d ej ect e d state T hink o f me as o f one even when four
.
,
months had passed still agit ated writhing throbbing pal

, , , ,
p it a t ing shattered
,
and much perhaps in the situation o f , ,
him who has been racked as I collect the torments o f tha t
*
,
st ate from the a fl e ct ing account of them left by a most

'
innocent su fferer (o f the times o f J ames I ) M eantime I .

,
deri v e d no benefit from any me d icine except o ne prescribed ,
to m e by an E dinburgh surgeon o f great eminence— v iz .

,
ammoniate d t inct u account there ,
fore of my e m a nc
,
h to gi v e : and
even that little as m anaged by a man so ignorant o f me d i
,
cine as mysel f would probably tend only to mislead A t

, .
all e v ents it would be misplaced in thi s situation T h e

,
.
moral o f the narrati v e is addressed t o the opium eater and -
Will ia m
L ith go w : h is b o o k (T v l
ra e s, et c .
) is il l a nd p e d a nt ic a l l y
writ te n b ut t h e a cco unt o f h is o wn s ufl e rings

'
on t he ra c k at Ma la ga
v
is o e rpo we ringly a ffe ct ing .
10 4 CO NFESSIONS OF A N OPIUM E A TE R -
.
t herefore of necessity limited in its applicatio n I f he is

, , .
t aught to fear and tremble enough has been e ffecte d,

B ut .
.
h e may say that the issue of my case is at least a proof tha t

,
may sti l l be renounced : and t hat h e

m ay ch a nce t o b i i fi g to the task greater energy than I d id
‘
'
or that with a stronger constitution than mine he may

obtain the same results with less T his may be true : I .
would not presume to measure the e fforts of other men by

my own : I hearti ly wish him more energy : I wish him
the same success N evertheless I had moti v es external to
.
,
myself which he may unfortunately want : and these sup

plied me with conscientious supports which mere personal
interests mi ght fail t o supply t o a mind debilitated by
Opium .
J eremy T ay l or conj ectures that it may be as painfu l to

be born as to die : I think it p robabl e : and during the ,
wh ole p eriod of diminishing the opium I had the torments ,
of a man passing o u t o f o ne mode o f existenc e into another

T h e issue w ag not d é a t hj m
W
.
of p
’ ‘
‘
and I may add t h at ever since at intervals I have a a

, , ,
restoration of more than youthful spirits though under the ,
pressure of di fficu l ties which in a l ess ha ppy state o f m ind

, , ,
I should ha v e called misfortunes .
One memorial o f my former condition still remains my

dreams are not yet perfectly cal m : the dread swel l and
agitation of the storm have not wholly subsided the l egions
that encamped in the m are drawing o ff but not all departed ,
my sleep is still tumultuous and like the gates o f Paradise

, ,
t o o ur first parents when looking back from afar it is sti ll ,
u s line of M ilton
( in the tremendo )
d ful fa ce s t h ro ng d
’
a nd fi er y
L E VA N A A N D O U R L A D I E S O F
S O R RO W .
FT E N TI M E S at Oxford I saw L evana in my

0
dreams . I knew her by her R oman symbols .
W h o is L e v a na l R eader that do not pretend

'
to have much leisure for very much scholarship ,
you will no t be angry with me for telling yo u L e v ana was.
the R oman goddes s that performed for the new born infan t -
the earliest offi ce o f ennobling ki ndness —typic al by its

, ,
mode o f that grande ur which belongs t o man e v erywhere

, ,
and of that benignity in powers invisible which e v en in

pagan worlds sometimes descends to sustain it A t the .
v ery moment o f birth j ust as the infant tasted for the first
,
time the atmosphere o f o u r troubled planet it was laid o n

,
the ground B ut immediately l est so grand a creature

.
,
should grovel there for more than o ne instant either the ,
pa t ernal hand as proxy for the goddess L e v ana o r some

, ,
near kinsman as proxy for the father raised it upright

, , ,
bade it look erect as the king o f all this world a nd pre ,
sented its forehead to the stars say ing perhaps in his

, , ,
heart,
“
B ehold what is gr eater than yourselves l T his
symbo l ic act repres e nted the function o f L e v ana A nd .
10 6 LE VA NA A ND O UR LADIES OF S ORR O V
V .
that mysterious l ady who never revealed her face (except ,
t o me in dreams ) but always acted by delegation h a d her

, ,
name from the L atin verb (as sti l l it is the I talian verb )
lev a re to raise a l oft
, .
T his is the explanation o f L evana and hence it has arisen ,
that some peo pl e have u nderstood by L e v ana the tutelary

power that controls the education o f the nursery S h e .
,
that wou l d not su ffer at his birth even a pre figura t iv e or

mimic degradation for her awful ward far less coul d be ,
supposed t o su ffer the real degradation attaching to the

non develo p ment o f his p owe rs Sh e therefore watches over
-
.
human education N o w the word ed uco with the pe nul t i.

,
mate short was derived (by a process often exemplified in

,
the crystal lisation o f lan guages ) fro m the word ed uco with ,
the p enultimate l ong W hatever e du c es o r devel opes .

, ,
ed u ca t es By the education o f L evana

. therefore is , ,
meant —not the poor machinery that m oves by spelling

,
books and grammars but by that mighty system o f centra l ,
forces hidden in the dee p bosom o f human life which by ,
passion by strife b y tem p tation by the energies o f

, , ,
resistance works fo r ever upon children — resting not

, ,
night o r day any more than the mighty wheel o f day ,
and night themselves whose moments like restl ess spokes , , ,
are glimmering fo r e v er as they revolve .
I f then t h es e are the ministries by which L evana works

, , ,
h o w p rofoundly must she reverence the agencies o f grie f .
B ut you reader ! think — that children are not liable to

, ,
such grief as mine T here are two senses in the word .
e n e ra l ly — the sense o f E uclid where it means u niv ersa lly

g , ,
(or i n the whole extent o f the g e nu s

) and in a foolish sense ,
o f this word where it means u s u a lly ,

N o w I a m far from .
,
saying that ch ildren uni versal ly are ca p able o f grief like

mine But there are more than you ever heard o f wh o die
.
LE VA NA A N D O UR LADIE S OF SORR O W . 10 7
of grief in this island o f ours I will tell you a common .
cas e Th e rules o f E ton require that a boy o n the fo u nd

.
a tio n should be there twelve years he is superannuated at

eigh te en consequently he must come at six Children to rn
, .
away from mothers and sisters at that age no t unfrequentl y

die I s p eak o f what I kno w T h e com p laint is not entered
. .
by the registrar as grief ; but tha t it is Grief o f that sort .

,
and at that age has killed more than have ever been counted
,
amongst its martyrs .
T herefore it is that L evana often communes wit h the

p owers that shake a man s heart : therefore it is that she ’
“ ”
dotes o n grief T hese ladies said I softly t o myself o n see
.
, ,
ing the ministers with whom L e v ana was conversing these “

,
are the Sorrows ; and they are three in number as the G ra ces ,
are three wh o dress man s life with beauty : the Pa rcae are
,
’
’
three who weave the dark arras o f man s life in their
,
mysterious loom always with colours sad in part sometimes

, ,
angry with tragic crimson and black the F u ries are three ,
who visit with retribution called from the other si d e o f the

grave offences that walk upon thi s ; and once even the
M us es were but three who fit the harp the trumpet o r the
, , ,
’
lute to the great burdens of man s impassioned creations
,
”
T hese are the S orrows all three o f whom I know ,
Th e .
“
last wo rd s I say no w ; but in Oxford I said One o f whom ,
”
I know and the others t o o surely I s ha ll know
,
For .
already in my fer v ent youth I saw (dimly relieved upon

, ,
t h e dark background o f my dreams ) the imperfect linea
ments o f the awful sisters T hese sisters — b y what name

.
shall we call them ? I f I sa y simply Th e Sorrows there

“
, ,
will be a chance o f mistaking the term it might be under

s tood o f in d i v idual sorrow separate cases o f sorro w ,
-
,
whereas I want a term expressing t h e m ighty abstractions

that incarnate themselves in all individual s u fl erings o f
'
10 8 L E I/A N A A ND O UR LA DIES OF S ORR O l/V .
man s heart ; and I wish to ha v e these abstractions pre

’
sented as impersonations that is as clothed with human , ,
attributes o f life and with functions pointing to flesh L e t

, .
us call them therefore Ou r L a d ies of S o rro w I kno w

, , .
them thoroughly and have walked in a ll their kingdoms

, .
T hree sisters they are o f o ne mysterious household ; and

,
their p aths are wide apart but o f their dominion there is

no end T hem I sa w oft en conversing wit h L evana and
.
,
sometimes about myself D o they talk then ? 0 no !

.
, ,
mighty p hantoms like t h ese disdai n the infi rm it ie s o f

language They may utter voices through the organs o f
.
man when they dwel l in human hearts but amongst them ,
selves there is no voice nor sound eterna l silence reigns in

t h eir kingdoms Th ey s p oke no t as they talked with L evana ;
.
,
t h ey w h is p ered not ; t he y sang not ; though oftentimes me

though t they m ig ht have sung for I upon earth had heard ,
t heir mysteries oftentimes deciphered by harp and timbrel ,
by dulcimer and organ L ike God whose servants they .

,
are they utter their pleasure not by sounds that perish o r

, , ,
by words that go astray but by signs in heaven by changes, ,
on earth by p ulses in secret ri v ers heraldries painted o n

, ,
darkness and h ieroglyphics written o n the tablets o f the

,
brain Th ey wheeled in m az es ; I s p elled the steps They

. .
telegraphed from afar ; I read the signals They conspired .
together ; and o n the mirrors o f darkness m y eye traced t h e

p lots Theirs were the symbols m ine are t h e words
. .
W hat is it the sisters are ? W hat is it that they do ?

L e t m e describe their form and their p resence : if form it ,
were that still fluctuated in its outline o r presence it were ,
that for ever advanced to the front o r for ever receded ,
amongst shades .
Th e e l dest o f the three is named Ma t er L a chrym a ru m ,
Ou r L ady of T ears S h e it is that night and day raves and

.
LE VA NA A ND O UR LADIE S OF S ORR O l/V . 10 9
moans calling for vanished faces Sh e stood in R ama w h ere

,
.
,
a voice was heard of lamentation — R achel weeping for her ,
chil d ren a nd refusing to be comforted

,
Sh e it was that .
stood in B ethlehem o n the night when H erod s sword ’
swept its nurseries o f I nnocents and the little feet were ,
sti ffened for ever which heard at times as they tottered

, ,
along floors overhead woke pulses o f love in h ouse h o l d

,
hearts that were not unmarked in heaven .
H e r eyes are sweet and subtle wild and sleepy by turns ; , ,
oftentimes rising to the clouds oftentimes challenging the ,
hea v ens S h e wears a dia d em round her head A nd I

. .
knew by childish memories that she could go abroad u pon

the winds when she heard the sobbing o f litanies o r the
,
thundering o f organs and when she beheld the mustering

,
o f summer clouds T his sister the eldest it is that carries

.
, ,
keys more than papal at her girdle which open eve ry ,
cottage and every palace Sh e to my knowle d ge sat all

.
, ,
l ast summer by the bedside o f the b l ind beggar him that so ,
o ft en and so gladly I talked with whose pious daughter , ,
eight years o l d with the sunny countenance resisted the

, ,
tem p tations o f play and village mirth t o travel all day long
on dusty roads with her a flflic t e d father Fo r this did God .
send her a great reward In t h e spring ti m e o f t h e year

.
-
,
and whilst yet her o wn S p ring was budding he recalled her ,
t o himself . B u t her blind father mourns for eve r o v er h e r ,
still he dreams at midnight that the l ittle guiding hand is

locked within his own ; and still he wakens t o a darkness
that is no w within a second and a deeper darkness This .
Ma t er L a ch rym a ru m has also been sitti ng all this winter

o f 1 8 4 4—5 within the bed chamber o f the Czar bringing
-
before his eyes a daughter (not less pious ) that vanishe d to

G o d no t less suddenly and left behind her a darkness not
,
l ess p rofound By the p ower o f t h e keys it is that O ur

.
1 10 LE VA NA AND O UR LADIE S OF S ORR O W:
L ady of Tears gl ides a ghostly intruder into the chambers o f
sleepless men sleepless women sleepless children from
, , ,
Ganges to N ile from N il e to M ississip p i

,
A nd her .
,
because she is the fi rs t born o f her house and h a s -

,
the widest empire l et us honour with the title o f

,
“
M adonna
Th e second sister is cal l ed Ma t er S u spirio ru m —Our L ady
o f S ighs S h e never scales the clou d s nor walks abroad
.
,
u pon the win d s S h e wears no diadem

. A nd her eyes if .
,
they were ever seen would be neither sweet nor subtle no

,
man cou l d read their story ; they would be found filled with
p erishing dreams and with wrecks o f forgotten delirium
,
.
B ut she raises not her eyes ; her head o n which sits a ,
d ilapidated turban droops for ever for ever fastens o n the

, ,
dust . Sh e wee p s not S h e groans not .B ut she sighs .
inaudibly at inter v als H e r sister M adonna is oftentimes

.
, ,
stormy and frantic raging in the highest against hea v en

, ,
and demanding back her darli ngs B u t Ou r L ady o f Sighs .
never clamours never defies dreams no t of rebellious

, ,
aspirations S h e is humble to abj ectness

. H ers is the .
meekness that belongs to the hopeless M urmur she may .

,
b ut it is in her sleep W hisper she m ay but it is to herself

.
,
in t h e twilight M utter she does at times but it is in

.
,
solitary places that are desol ate as she is desolate in ruined ,
cities and when the sun has gone down to his rest T his
, .
sister is the visitor o f the Pariah o f the Je w of the bonds , ,
man t o the oar in the M editerranean galleys ; and o f the

E nglish criminal in N orfolk I sland blotted o u t from the ,
books o f remembrance in sweet far o fl E ngland ; o f the

'
-
ba ffled penitent reverting his eyes for ever upon a solitary

grave which t o him seems the altar overthrown o f some
,
p ast and bloody sacrifice o n which altar no oblations can ,
no w be avai l ing whet h er toward s p ardon that he might

,
LE VA NA AND O UR LADIE S OF S ORR O l/V
. III
implore o r towards reparation that he might attempt

, .
E v ery sla v e that at noonday looks u p to the tropical sun

with timid reproach as he points with one hand to the
,
earth our general mother but for him a stepmother — as

, , ,
he points with the other hand to the Bible o u r general ,
teacher but against him sealed and sequestered — every

,
woman sitti ng in d arkness without love to shelter her hea d

, ,
o r hope t o illumine her solitude because the heaven born

,
-
instincts kindling in her natu re germs o f holy a ffections

which God implanted in her womanly bosom having been ,
stifled by social necessities no w burn sullenly to waste, ,
l ike sepulchral lam p s amongst the ancients ; every nun

defrauded o f her unreturning Ma y time by wicked kinsman -
whom G o d will j udge every capti v e in e v ery dungeon ; al l

that are betrayed and al l that are rejected outcasts by
traditionary law and children o f hered i ta ry disgrace all
, ,
-
these walk with Our L ady o f Sighs S h e also carries a key .
but she needs it l ittle Fo r her kingdom is chiefly amongst

.
the tents o f Shem and the houseless v agrant o f every clime

, .
Y e t in the very highest walks o f man she finds chapels o f

her o wn and even in glorious E ngland there are some that ,
to the world ca rry their heads as proudly as the reindeer

, ,
who yet secretly have received h er mark upon their

foreheads .
B u t the third sister w h o is also the youngest

,
H ush whisper whils t we talk o f her / H e r kingdom is not

,
large o r else no flesh should live ; b ut within that kingd om

,
all power is hers H e r head turreted like that o f Cybele

.
, ,
rises almost beyond the reach o f sight Sh e droops not ; .
and her eyes rl s m g so high m ight be hid d en by distance ;

but being what they are they cannot be hidden ; through
, ,
the treble v eil o f crape which she wears the fierce light of ,
a bla z i ng m isery that res t s no t fo r m atins o r fo r v espers

, ,
1 12 LE VA NA AND O UR LADIE S OF S ORR O I/V .
fo r noon o f day o r noon o f night fo r ebbing o r for flowing ,
tide may be read from the very ground Sh e is the d e fie r

, .
of God S h e is al so the mother o f lunacies and the

.
,
suggestress o f suicides D ee p lie the roots o f her power ;

.
but narro w is the nation that she rules For she can .
a p proach only those in whom a profound nature has been

u phea v ed by central con v ulsions ; in whom the hear t
trembles a nd the brain rocks under consp iracies o f tempest
,
from without and tempest from within M adonna mo v es .
with uncertain steps fast or slo w but still with tragic

, ,
grace O ur L ady o f S ighs creeps timidly and stealthily

. .
B u t this youngest sister mo v es with incalculable motions ,

’
boundi ng and with tiger s leaps S h e carries no key ; for
, .
,
though coming rarely amongst m en she storms all d oors at ,
which she is permitted to enter at all A nd h er name is

Ma t er T e nebra ru m —Our L ady of D arkness
.
T hese were the S e m na i Th ea i o r S ublime Goddesses , ,
these were the E u m enid es or Gracious L adies (so called by ,
antiquity in shuddering p ropitiation ) of my Oxford d reams ,

.
M ado nna S poke S h e spoke by her mysterious hand

. .
T ouching my head she said to O ur L ady o f Sighs ; and

,
wha t she S poke translated out of the signs w h ich (exce p t

,
in dreams ) no man reads was this ,
L o ! here is he whom in childhood I dedicated to my

,
altars T his is he that once I made my darl ing H im I

. .
l ed astray him I beguiled and from heaven I s t o l e away

, ,
'
his young heart to mine T hrough m e did he b e come .
idol atrous and t h rough me it was by languishing desires , ,
that h e worshipped the worm and prayed to the wormy ,
grave H oly was the grave t o him ; lo v ely was its dark
.
ness ; saintly its corruption H im this young idolator I .

, ,
have seasoned for thee dear gentle S ister of S ighs ! Do

,
th ou take him now t o thy heart and s e ason him for ,

LE VA NA AN D O UR LADIES OF S ORR O l V
/
. 1 13
o ur d read ful
siste r A nd thou —turning t o the NI a t er
.
,
T ene bra ru m she said

,
wicked sister tha t t e m pt e s t and
, ,
hatest do thou take him from her Se e that thy sceptre lie
, .
hea vy o n his head Su fle r not woman and her ten d erness

’
to sit near him in his darkness Banish the frailties of .
hope wither the relenting o f love scorch the fountain o f

, ,
tears curse him as o nl y thou canst curse S o shall he be

, .
accomplished in the furnace so shall he see the things,
that ou ght not to be seen sights that are abominable and

, ,
secrets that are unutterable S o shall he read el d er truths

.
,
sad truths grand truths fearful truths S o shall he rise

, ,
.
again b efore he dies and so shall o ur commission be

,
accomplished which from God we had —to plague his heart ,

”
until we had unfolded the ca pacities of his S piri t .
U NW I N D I N G T HE A CC U RS E D
C HA I N .
H OSE have read the Confessions wi ll have

wh o
closed them with the impression that I had
wholly renounced the use o f Opium T his im .
pression I meant to convey and that for two ,
reasons : first because the very act o f deliberately recording

,
such a state of su ffering necessarily pres umes in the recorder

a power of surveying his own case as a cool spectator a nd ,
a degree of spirits for a d equately d escribing it which it ,
would be inconsis t ent t o suppose in any person speaking

from the station o f an ac t ual su fferer ; secon d ly because I
, ,
who had descended from so large a quantity as 8 0 00 drops

to so small a o ne (comparati v ely speaking) as a quantity
ra nging between 3 00 and 1 60 drops might well suppose
,
that the victory was in e ffect achieved I n su ffering my .
readers therefore to think o f me as a re formed Opium

, ,
eater I left no impression but what I shared myself ; a nd

, ,
as may be seen even this impression was l eft to be collected

,
from the general tone o f the conclusion and not from any
,
s pecific words which a re in no instance at v ariance with

- ”
UN WIND ING TH E A CCURSED CHA IN . 1 1 5
the literal truth . I n no long time after that paper w a s

written I became sensible that the e ffort which remained
,
would cost me fa r more energy than I h a d anticipated and

the necessity for making it was more apparent every month .
I n particular I became aware o f an increasi ng callousness

o r defect o f sensibility in the stomach and this I imagined
might imply a s ch irro u s state o f that organ either formed
o r forming . A n em inent physician to whose kindness I
,
was at that time deeply indebted informed me that such a

,
termination o f my case was not impossible though likely to ,
be forestalled by a di fferent termination in the event o f my

,
continu ing the use o f opium Opium therefore I resol v ed

.
, ,
wholly t o abj ure as soon as I should find m yself at liberty

,
to ben d my undi v ided attention and energy to this purpose .
I t was no t howe v er until the 2 4 t h of J une last that any

, ,
tolerable concurrence o f facilities for such a n attempt

arrived On that day I began my experiment ha v ing
.
,
pre v iously settled in my o wn mind that I would not flinch ,
but would stand up to the scratch — under any possible

”
“
punishment . I must premise that about 1 7 0 o r 1 8 0
d rops h a d been my ordinary allowance for many months ;
occasionally I had run up as high as 50 0 and once nearly ,
to 7 0 0 in repeated preludes to my final experiment I had

also gone as low as 1 00 drops but had found it impossible
to stand it beyond the fourth day —which by the way I , ,
ha v e always found more di fficult to get over than any of

the p receding three I went o ff under easy sail — 1 3 0 drops
.
a— d a y fo r three d ays ; o n the fourth I plunged at once to

“ ”
80
. Th e misery which I no w su ffered took the conceit
o ut o f me at once and for about a month I continued o ff
and on about this mark ; then I sunk to 60 and the next ,
day t o none at all This was the first day for nearly
.
ten years that I had existed without opium I perse v ered .

1 16 UN WINDING TH E A cc UR S E D CH A I N .
in my abstinence for ninety hours u p wards o f hal f

a week
-
. T hen I took ask me not how much ; say ye ,
se v erest what would ye have d one ? T hen I abstained

,
again ; then took about 2 5 drops : then abstained : and

so on .
M eantime the sym p toms w h ich attended my case fo r the

first six weeks of the experiment were these : enormous irri
t a b il it y and excitement o f the whole system the stomach .
in particul a r restored to a full feeling o f vitality and sen

s ib ilit
y but often in great p ain unceasing restlessness
night and day ; sleep I scarcely knew what it was ;
three hours o u t o f the twenty four was the ut m ost I had
-
,
and that s o agitated and shallow that I heard every sound

that was near me L ower j aw constantly swelling mouth
.
ulcerated a nd many other distressing symptoms that would

,
be tedious t o repeat ; amongst which h owever I must , ,
mention o ne because it had never failed to accompany any

,
attempt t o renounce opium —viz violent sternutation .

,
.
T his now became exceedingly troublesome sometimes last ,
ing for t wo hours at once and recurring at least t wice o r

,
three times a day I was not much surprised at this o n

-
.
,
recollecting what I had somewhere heard o r rea d that the ,
membrane which lines the nostrils is a prolongation o f that

which lines the stomach ; whence I believe are explained , ,
the inflammatory appearances about the nostrils o f dram

drinkers Th e sudden restoration o f its original sensibility
.
to the stomach expressed itself I suppose in this way I t

, , .
is remarkable also that during the whole period of years

,
through which I had taken o p ium I had never once caught ,
cold (as the phrase is ) nor even t h e slightest cough B ut .
now a violent cold attacked me and a cough soon a fter , .
In an unfi nished frag m ent o f a letter begun about thi s time

“
to I find these words Y o u ask me t o write the
UN WINDING TH E A CCUR SED CH A I I V . 1 17
Do yo u
know B eaumont and Fletcher s play ’
o f T hierry and T heodore ? T here y o u will see my case as to
sleep nor is it much of an exaggeration in other features .
I protest to you that I have a greater influx o f thoughts in

o ne hour at present than in a whole year under the reign
of opium I t seems as though all the thoughts which had

.
been frozen up for a decade o f years by opium had now , ,
according t o the o l d fable been thawed at once—such a

,
multitu d e stream in upon m e from all quarters Y e t such .
is my impatience and hideous irritability that fo r o ne ,
which I detain and write down fi fty escape me ; 1n s p1 t e ,
o f my weariness from su ffering and want o f sleep I cannot ,
stand still o r sit for t wo minutes together I nunc e t .

,
v ersus tecum meditare canoros .

’
A t this stage o f my experiment I sent t o a neighbouring

surgeon requesting that he would come o v er t o see m e
, .
I n the e v ening he came ; and after briefly stating the case

to him I asked this question —W hether he did not
,
think that the opium might have acte d as a stimulus to

the digestive organs ; and that the present state o f suf
fe ring in the stomach which manifestly was the cause
,
o f the inab ility t o sleep might arise from indigestion ?

,
H is answer was —N o o n the contrary he thought that
the su ffering was caused by digestion itself which ,
should naturally go o n belo w the consciousness but which ,
fro m the unnatural state o f the stomach vitiated by so ,
long a use o f Opium was become distinctl y pre ce pt ib l e

, .
T his opinion was p l ausible and the unintermitting nature

.
o f the su ffering disposes me t o think that it was true

;
for if it had been any mere irreg u la r a ffection o f the
,
stomach it should naturally have inte rmitted occasionally

, ,
and constantly fluctuated as to degree Th e intention o f .
nature as manifested in the healthy state obvious l y is

, , ,
1 18 UN WINDING TH E A CCUR SED CHA IN .
to withdraw from o u r notice all the vital motions s u c h as ,
the circulation o f the blood the expansion and contraction ,
of the lungs the peristaltic action o f the stomach etc ;

, , .
and Opium it seems is able in this as in other instances

, , , ,
to counteract her purp oses B y the ad v ice of the surgeon

.
I tried bit t ers For a short time these greatly mitigated

.
the feelings under which I laboured b u t about the forty

second day o f the experiment the symptoms al rea d y
noticed began t o retire and ne w ones to arise o f a different
,
and far more tormenting class ; un d er these but with a ,
few interv als o f remission I have since continued t o su ffer

,
.
Bu t I dismiss them undescribed for t wo reasons : first ,
because the mind re v olts from retracing circumstantially

any su fferings from which it is removed by t o o short o r by
no interval To do this with minuteness enough to make
.
the review o f any use would be indeed infa nd u m re no v a re

, , ,
d o lo rem and po ssibly wi t hout a s ufficient moti v e : for

,
secondly I doubt whether this l atter state be any way

,
referable t o opium —p ositi v ely considered o r e v en neg ,
a t iv e l that is whether it is to be numbered amongst the

y ,
last evils from the direct action o f Opium o r even amongst ,
the earliest e v ils consequent u pon wa nt o f Opium in a sys

tem long deranged by its use Certainly o ne part o f the .
symptoms might be accounted fo r from the time o f year

(A ug u st ) ; for though
,
the summer was not a hot o ne yet ,
in any case the sum of all the heat fu nd ed (if o ne may say
so ) during the p re v ious months added t o the existing heat ,
o f that month natura l ly renders A ugust in its better half

,
the hottest part o f the year ; and it so h a p pened that the

excessive p e rs p iration which even at Ch ristmas atte nds
—
,
any great reduction in the daily quantum o f Opium and

which in J uly was s o violent as t o oblige me t o use a bath
fi v e o r six times a — day h a d about the setting in o f the
,
UN WINDING TH E A CCURSED CH A I I V . 1 19
h ottest season wholly retire d on which account any bad ,
e ffect o f the heat m ight be the more unmitigated A nothe r .
symptom —v iz what in my ignorance I call internal

.
,
rheumatism (sometimes a ffecting the shoulders etc but ,

.
,
m ore o ften appearing to be seate d in the stomach ) seemed ,
again less probably attributable to the opium o r the want

o f opium than to the dampness of t h e house which I *
inhabit which had about that time attained its maximum
, ,
J uly having been as usual a month o f incessant rain in o ur

, ,
most rainy part o f E nglan d .
U nder these reasons for doubting whether opium h a d

any connection with the latter stage o f my bodily wretched
ness—(except indeed as an occasional cause as ha v ing left
, , ,
the body weaker and more crazy and thus predisposed ,
to any mal influ e nce whate v er) I willingly spare my

- -
rea d er all description o f it ; let it p erish to him ; and

would that I could as easily say let it perish to my own ,
remembrances that any future hours o f tranquillity may

,
not be disturbed by t o o vivid an ideal of possible human

misery !
S o much for the sequel o f my experiment ; as to the
former stage in which properly lies the experiment and its
,
application t o other cases I must request my reader not to

,
forget the reasons for which I ha v e recorded it T hese .
were t wo first a belief that I might add some t rifle to the

,
history of opium as a medical agent I n this I am aware .
I n sa y ing th is I m e a n no d is res pe ct t o t h e ind ivid ua l h o u s e a s

, ,
t h e re a d e r wil l u nd e rs t a nd wh e n I t e l l h im t h a t wit h t h e exce pt io n

, ,
o f o ne o r t wo prince ly m a ns io ns a nd s o m e fe w infe rio r o ne s t h a t h a ve

,
b e e n co a te d wit h Ro m a n ce m e nt I a m no t a cq ua int e d with a ny h o use

,
in t h is m o u nt a ino us d istrict wh ich is wh o l ly wa te rpro o f Th e .
a rch it cture o f b o o k s I fl a tt e r m ys e l f is co nd u ct e d o n j ust principl e s

e , ,
in t h is co unt ry ; b ut fo r a ny o t h e r a rch it e cture it is in a b a rb a ro us ,
st a te a nd wh a t is wo rs e in a re tro gra d e s ta te
, ,
.
1 20 UN WINDING TH E A CC UR SED CH A I N .
that I have no t at all fulfilled my own intentions in con ,
sequence of the torpor o f mind pain o f bo d y and extreme , ,
disgust t o the subj ect which besieged me whilst writing that

part o f my paper ; which part being immediately sent o ff
to the press (dis t ant about fi v e degrees o f l atitude) cannot ,
be corrected o r impro v ed Bu t from this account rambli ng

.
,
as it may b e it is e v ident that this much o f benefit may

,
arise t o the persons most interested in such a history o f

opium —viz to Opium eaters in general that it establishes
.
,
-
, ,
for their consolation and encouragement the fact that ,
opium may be renounced ; and without greater sufferings

than an ordinary resol ution may su p port and by a pretty ,
rapid course o f descent ”

.
T o com m uni cate this result o f my ex p e riment was my

foremost p urp ose Secondly as a purpose collateral to this
.
, ,
I wished to explain h o w it had become impossible for me

to compose a T hird Part in time to accom p any this
republication fo r during t h e very tim e o f thi s experiment ,
the p roof sheets o f this reprint were sent to me from

L ondon ; and such was my inability t o expand o r to
improve them that I could not e v en bear to read them
,
over with attention enough t o notice the press errors o r to ,
correct any verbal inaccuracies T hese were my reasons .
for troubling my reader with any record long o r short o f , ,
experiments relating to so truly base a subj ec t as my o wn

body ; and I am earnest with the reader that he will not
forget them o r so fa r misapprehend me as t o believe it
,
possible that I would condescend to so rascally a subj ect

for it s own sake o r indeed for any less obj ect than that of
,
On wh ich l a st no tice Iwo ul d re m a rk th a t m ine was to o ra pid

, ,
a nd t h e s uf fe ring th e refo re nee d l e ssl y a ggra va t e d o r ra th e r pe rh a ps , ,
it wa s no t s ufli cie nt l y co nt inuo us a nd e q ua b ly gra d ua te d But t h a t .

,
t h e rea d e r m a y j ud g e fo r h im s el f a nd a b o v e a l l t h a t t h e Opium e a t e r
, ,
-
,
UN W INDIN G TH E A CC URSED CH A I I V . 12 1
general benefit to others S uch an animal as the self .
obser v ing valetudinarian — I know there is I have met him

wh o is pre pa ring t o re tirefro m b usine s s , m a y h a v v
e e e ry so r t of
info rm a t io n b e fo re h im , j
I s ub o in m y dia ry
I
F R ST W E EK I
T H RD W EE K
p p
.
Dro s o f L a ud . Dro s o f L a nd .
Mo nd . 1 30 Mo nd Jul y . 8 300
1 40
1 30 10
80 11
Hiat us in MS
80 12
.
80 13
80 14
W EE K . F OU RTH W EE K .
Mo nd . Mo nd Jul y 1 5
.
16
17
18
19
20
21
WE EK .
Mo nd J ul y 2 2
.
23
24
25
26
27
Wh a t m ean t h e s e a b rup t rel a pse s th e re a d e r wil l a sk ,

pe rh a ps, t o s uch
—3 50
,
num b e rs as 300 , et c. ? Th e i mpu lse t o t h e s e re l a pse s wa s m e re
infi m ity
r of purpo se ; t h e m o tiv e, wh e re a ny m o t ive bl e nd e d with t h is
im pul s e, wa s t l o f recu ler pou r m ieucc s a u ter
e i h e r t h e pri nc ip e
“
(fo r, unde r t h e to rpo r o f a l a rge d o se wh ich l as te d fo r a d a y o r t wo a

, ,
l e s s qua nt ity sa t is fi e d t h e s to m a ch wh ich o n awa ke ning fo und

-
, ,
it s e lf pa rt l y a ccus t o m e d t o t h is ne w ra tio n) ; o r e l s e it wa s t h is
rinci l e —t h a t o f s uf fe ring s o t h e rwi s e e q ua l t h o se wil l b e b o rne b est
p p
wh ich m e e t with a m o o d o f a nge r N o w wh e ne ve r I a sce nd e d t o m y
.
,
l a rge cl o se I wa s furio usly ince nse d o n t h e fo ll owing d a y a nd co ul d

, ,
t h e n h a v e b o rne a nyth ing .

122 UN WINDING TH E A CC URSED CH A I N .
m yself occasional l y and I know that he is the w orst

,
imaginab l e h ea u to ntim o ro u m eno s aggravating and susta in

ing by calling into distinct consciousness every sympto m
,
that wou ld else p erhap s under a di fferent direction

, ,
given to the thoughts become evanescent Bu t as t o

, .
m yself so profound is my contempt for this und ignifie d

,
and selfish habit that I could as little condescend to it

,
as I could to spend my time in watching a poor servant

girl to whom at this moment I hear some lad o r other
,
making lo v e at the back o f my house Is it for a Tran .
s ce nd e nt a l Philoso p her to feel any curiosity o n such an
occasion ? Or can I whose life is worth only eight and

,
a h a lf years purchase be supposed t o have l eisure for

’
,
such trivial employm ents ? H owever t o p ut this o u t o f ,
q uestion I shall
,
say o ne thing which will p erhaps shock ,
some readers ; but I am sure it ought not to do so ,
considering the m otives o n which I say it N o man I .

,
suppose employs much o f h is time on the phenomena o f

,
his o wn body without some regar d for it ; whereas the

reader sees that so far from looking upon mine with any
,
complacency o r regard I hate it and make it the obj ect of

, ,
my bitter ridicule and contempt ; and I shou ld not be

displ eased t o know that the last indignities which the
law infli cts upon the bodies o f the worst malefactors might
hereafter fa ll upon it A nd in t e s t ifica t io n o f my sincerity
.
,
in saying this I shall make the following o ffer L ike other

, .
men I ha v e p articular fancies about the place of my burial

,
having lived chiefly in a mountainous region I rather cleave ,
to the conceit that a grave in a green churchya rd amongst

, ,
the ancient and solitary hills will be a sublimer and more ,
tranquil place o f repose fo r a philosopher than any in the

hideous Golgothas o f L ondon Y e t if the gentlemen o f .
Surgeons H all think that any benefit can redound t o their

’
UNWINDING TH E A CC URSED CHA IN 123
science from inspecting the appearances in the body o f an

Opium eater l et them speak but a word and I will take care
-
, ,
that mine shall be legally secured to them i e as soon as I,

. .
,
ha v e d one with it myself L e t them not hesitate t o express

.
their wishes upon any scruples o f false delicac y and con ,
si d eration for my feelings I assure them they will do m e

to o much honour by “
demonstrating o n such a cra zy body
as mine ; and it w ill give me pleasure t o anticipate this
p osthumous re v enge and insult infl icted upon that which
has caused me so much su ffering in this life S uch bequests .
are not common re v ersionary benefits contingent upon the

death o f the testator are indeed dangerous to announce in
many case s o f this we have a remarkable instance in the
h a bits o f a R oman prince w h o used upon any notification
, ,
mad e t o him by rich persons that they had left him a

,
ha ndsome estate in their wills to express his entire sa t isfa c

,
tion at such arrangements and his gracious a cceptance of

,
those loyal legacies but then if the testators neglected to

,
give hi m immediate possession o f the property if they ,
“ ”
traitorously persisted in living (s i v iv ere pers ev era rent ,
as S uetonius ex p resses it) he was highly provoked and took

, ,
his measures accordingl y In those times and from o ne o f

.
,
the worst o f the Caesars we mi ght expect such conduct ;

,
but I am sure that fro m E nglish surgeons at this day I need

look for no expressions o f impatience or o f any other feel
,
ings but such as are answerable t o that pure love o f science

,
and all its interests which induces me t o make such an

,
o ffer
.
NOT E S F RO M T H E PO C K E T BO O K
-
O F A L A T E O PI U M E AT E R -
.
W A L K IN G STE W A R T.
R ST E W A R T the traveller common l y call e d

,
W alking Stewart was a man o f very e xt ra o r

,
dina ry genius .H e h as generally been treated by

those wh o h ave s p oken o f him in p rint as a mad
m an But this is a mistake and must have been founded
.
chiefly o n the titles o f his books H e was a man o ffervid mind

.
and of sublime aspirations ; but he was no madman ; o r if he ,
was then I say that it is s o far desirable t o be a madman In

,
.
1 7 9 8 or 1 7 9 9 when I must have been about thirteen years

,
o l d W alking S tewart was in B at h —where my family at

,
that time resided H e frequented the p ump room and I

.
-
,
believe all p ublic places —walking up and down and dis ,
p ersing his p hilosophic opinions to the right and the left ,
like a Grecian p hilosopher Th e first time I saw him was

.
at a concert in the U p per R ooms he was pointed out to

me by o ne o f my party as a very eccent ric man wh o had
N O TE S OF A L A T E OPI UM E A TE R -
. 12 5
walked over the habitable globe I remember that M adame .
M ara was at that moment singing and W alking Stewart ,
who was a true lo v er o f music (as I afterwards came to

know ) was hanging upon her notes like a bee up on a
,
j essa mine flower H is countenance was striking and

.
,
expressed the union o f benignity with p hilosophic habits o f

thought In such health had his pedestrian exercises
.
preserved him connected with his,

mode o f
living that though he must at that
,
been co n
s id e ra b l above forty he did no t look older than twenty
y ,
eight ; at least the face which remained upon my recollec t ion

fo r some years was that o f a young man N early ten .
years afterward s I became acquainted with him D uring .
the interval I had picked up o ne o f his works in Bristol

viz his Tra v e ls to D is co v er the S o u rce of M o ra l Mo tio n
.
,
the second volume o f which is entitled Th e Apo ca lyps e of

N a t u re I had been greatl y im p ressed by the sound and
.
original views which in the first volume he had taken of

the national characters throughout E urope In particular .
he was the first and s o far as I know the only write r wh o

, ,
had noticed the profound error of ascribing a phlegmatic

character t o the E nglish nation E nglish phlegm is t h e
.
constant expression o f authors when contrasting the E nglish

with the French N o w the truth is that beyond that o f
.
, ,
all other nations it has a substratum o f profound passion

,
and if we are t o recur to the o ld doctrine o f temperaments

, ,
the E nglish character must be classed not under the p hleg

m a t ic but under the m e la ncho li c temperament ; and the
F rench under the s a ng u ine Th e character o f a nation may
.
be j udged o f in thi s particular by examining its idiomatic

language Th e French in whom the lower forms o f p assion
.
,
are constantly bubbling u p from the shallow and superficial

character o f their feeli ngs ha v e appropriated all the phrases
,
N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A TE R -
’
of p assion to the service o f trivial and ordinary life ; and

hence they have no language o f passion for the ser v ice of
p oetry o r o f occasions really demanding it ; fo r it has been
already enfeebled by continual association with cases o f an
unim p assioned order Bu t a ch aracter o f deeper p assion
.
h as a perpetual standard in itself by which as by an ,
instinct it tries all cases and rej ects the language o f pas
,
sion as d is pr0 po rt io na t e and ludicrous where it is not

Ah H eavens ! o r
“ ” “ ”
fully j u stified . Oh my God ! are
exclamations with us so exclusi v ely reserved for cases o f
p rofound interest —that o n hearing a women even
,
a
p erson o f the sex most easily excited ) utter such wor d s we ,
look around ex p ecting to see her child in some situation o f

” ”
danger B ut in France
.
,
“
Ciel ! and “
C h mon D ie u !
,
are uttered by every woman if a mouse does but run across

the floor Th e ignorant and the thoughtless however will
.
, ,
continue t o class the E nglish character under the phl e g

m atic tem p erament w hilst the p hilosopher will perceive
,
that it is the exact polar antithesis to a phlegmatic

character I n this conclusion though otherwise expressed
.
,
and illustrated W alking S tewart s v iew o f the E nglish

,
’
character will be found to terminate ; a nd his opinion is

especially valuable —firs t and chiefly because he was a ,
p hilosopher ; secondly because his acquaintance with man

,
civilised and uncivilised under all national distinctions

, ,
was absolutel y unrivalled M eantime this and others of

.
,
his opinions were ex p ressed in language that if literally

construed would often appear insane o r absurd T h e truth .
is his long intercourse with foreign nations had given some

,
thing o f a hybrid tincture t o his diction ; in som e o f his

works for instance he uses the French word hé la s / uni
, ,
formly for the E nglish a la s ! and apparently with no

consciousness o f his mistake H e had also this singularity
.
.
about him —that he was everlastingly metaphysicising

against metaphysics T o me who was buried in metaphys
.
,
ical reveries from my earliest days this was not likely t o be ,
a n attraction ; any more than the vicious structure of his
diction was likely to p lease my scholar like taste A l l -

.
grounds o f disgust however ga v e way before my sense of

, ,
his powerful merits ; and as I h ave said I sought his

, ,
acquaintance Coming u p to L ondon from Oxford about

.
1 8 0 7 or 1 8 0 8 I made inquiries about him ; and found that

he usually read the papers at a co ffee room in Picca d illy ; -
understanding that he was poor it struck me that he might ,
not wish t o receive v isits at his lo d gi ngs and therefore I ,
sought him at the co ffee room H ere I took the liberty of

-
.
introduci ng myself to him H e received me courteously

.
,
and in v ited me to his rooms —which at that time were in

S herrard S treet Golden S quare—a street alrea d y m e m o r
,
able t o me I was mu ch struck with the eloquence o f his

.
con v ersation ; and afterwards I found that M r W ords .
worth himself the m ost eloquent o f men in con v ersation

, ,
had been equally struck when he had met him at Paris

between the years 1 7 9 0 and 1 7 9 2 during the early storm s ,
o f the F rench R e v olution I n S herrar d S treet I visited him

.
repeatedly and took notes of the conversations I had with

,
him o n v arious subj ects T hese I must have somew h ere

.
o r other ; and I wish I could introduce them here ,
as they would interest the rea d er Occasionally in .
these con v ersations as in his books he introduced

, ,
a few notices of his pri v ate history ; in particular I

remember his telling me that in the E ast I ndies he h a d been
a prisoner o f H yd e r s that he h a d escaped with some
’
d i fficulty ; and that in the ser v ice o f o ne o f the native

princes as sec retary or interpreter he had accumulated a ,
small fortune . T his must ha v e been t o o small I fear at , ,

12 8 N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A TE R .
’
that time to allow him even a philosopher s comforts ; fo r
some part o f it invested in the F rench fun d s had been
, ,
confiscated I was grieved t o see a man o f so much a b ility

.
,
o f gentlemanly manners and refined habits and with the , ,
infirmity o f deafness su ffering under such ob v ious priva

,
tions ; and I once took the l iberty o n a fit occasion ,
presenting itself o f requesting that he would al l o w me to

,
send him some books which he had been casually regretting

that he did not possess for I was at that time in the hey
day o f my worldly prosperity T his o ffer however he .
, ,
declin e d with firmness and dignity though not unkindly , .
A nd I now men t ion it because I have seen him charged in

,
print with a selfish regard t o h is o wn pecuniary interest .
On the contrary he appeared t o me a very liberal and

,
generous man and I well remember that whilst he ref used ,
t o accept o f anything from me he compelled me t o receive ,
as p resents all the books which he published during my

acquaintance with him ; t wo o f these corrected with his
o wn hand —viz the L yre of Ap o l lo and the S ophio m eter I
.
, ,
have lately found amongst other books left in L ondon and

o t hers he forwarded to me in W estmoreland I n 1 8 0 9 I .
saw him often in the spring of that year I happened t o be

in L ondon and M r W ordsworth s tract o n the Con v ention
.
’
’
o f Cintra b eing at that time in the printer s hands I super ,
intended the publication of it ; and at M r W ordsworth s .

’
request I added a long note o n S panish a ffairs which is

, ,
printed in the A ppendix T h e opinions I expressed in this .
note o n the Spanish character at that time much calum ,
nia t e d o n the retreat to Corunna then fresh in the public

, ,
mind above all the contempt I expressed fo r the super

, ,
s t it io n in res pect to the French military prowess which was

then universal and at its height and which gave way in ,
fact only to the cam p aigns o f 1 8 1 4 and 1 8 1 5 fel l in as it , ,

. 129
happened with M r S tewart s p olitical creed in those points

, .
’
where at that time i t met with most o pp osition I n 1 8 1 2 it .
was I think that I saw him for the last time and by the
, ,
way on the d a y o f my parting with him had an amusing

, ,
proof in my o wn experience o f that sort of ubiquity ascribed

to him by a witty wri t er in the L ondon M agazine : I m e t
him and shook hands with h im under S omerset H ouse .
,
telling him that I should leave town that evening fo r

W estmoreland T hence I went by the very shortest road
.
through M oor S treet S oho— for I am learned in many

,
quarters o f L ondon) towards a point which necessarily led

me through T ottenham Court R oad I stopped nowhere and ,
walked fa st yet so it was that in T ottenham Court R oad I

was not overtaken by (tha t was comprehensible ) but over ,
to ok W alking S tewart Certainl y as the abo v e writer

.
,
alleges there must have been three W alking S tewarts in

,
L o ndon .H e seemed no ways surprised at this himsel f but ,
explained t o me that somewhere o r other in the neighbour

hood o f T ottenham Court R oad there was a little theatre ,
at which t here was dancing and occasional ly good singing ,
between which and a neighbouring co ffee house he sometimes -
divided his evenings Singing it seems he could hear in

.
, ,
spi te o f his dea fness I n this street I took my final leave

.
o f him ; it turned o ut such ; and antici p ating at the t ime
that it would be so I l ooked after his white hat at the

,
moment it was di sa ppearing and exclaimed — “

Farewell
, ,
thou half craz y and most eloquent man ! I shall ne v er see

-
”
thy face again I did not intend at that moment to visit
.
, ,
L ondon again for some years as it happened I was there ,
for a short time in 1 8 1 4 and then I heard to my

great satisfaction that W alking Stewart had recovered a
considerable sum (about I believe ) from the E as t
I n d ia Com p any and from the abstract given in the L ondon
9
.
Magaz ine the M emoir by his relation I have since l earned

of
that he a p plied this money most w isely to the purchase of

an annuity and that he p ersisted in living too long for
,
“
the peace of an annuity offi ce S o fare all companies E ast .
and W est and all annuity c flice s that stand opposed in

, ,
interest to ph il o s 0 ph e rs ! I n 1 8 1 4 however t o my great , ,
regret I did not see him ; for I was then taking a great
,
deal o f Opium and never could contri v e t o issue to the light

,
o f day soon enough for a morni ng call upon a p hilosopher of
such early hours and in the evening I concluded he would

b e generally abroad from what he h a d formerly communi
,
c a t e d to me o f his own habits I t seems however that he

.
, ,
afterwards held co nv ers a tio nes at his o wn rooms ; and did

no t stir o u t to theatres quite so much From a brother of .
mine who at o ne time occupied rooms in the same house

,
with him I learned that in other respects he did not de v iate

,
in his p rosperity from the philoso p hic tenor o f his former

l ife H e abate d nothing o f his peripatetic exercises ; and
.
repaired duly in the morning as he had done in former ,
years to S t J ames s Park —

, .w h ere he sate in contemplative
’
,
ease amongst the cows inhaling their b al my breath and,
p ursuing h is p hilosophic reveries H e h a d also purchased .
an organ o r m ore than o ne with which he solaced h is

, ,
solitude and beguiled himself o f uneasy thoughts if he e ver ,
h ad any .
Th e works o f W alking S tewart must be read with some

indulgence the titles are generally t o o lofty and pretending
a nd somewhat extravagant ; the composition is lax and
unprecise as I have be fore said and the doctrines are
,
occasionally very bold incautiously stated and t o o hardy

, ,
'
and high toned for the nervous e fl e m ina cy of many modern

-
moralists Bu t W alking S tewart w a s a man who thought

.
nobly of human nature he wrote therefore at times in the

.
s p irit and with the indignation of an ancient p rophet

against the oppressors and destroyers o f the time I n par .
t icu l a r I remember that in o ne o r more o f the pamphl ets

which I received from him at Gras m er e he exp ressed him
self in such terms on the subj ect of Tyrannicide (distinguish
ing t h e cases in which it was and was not lawful ) as seemed
to M r W ordsworth and myself every way worthy o f a
.
philosopher ; but from the way in which that subj ect was
,
treated in the H ouse o f Commons where it was at tha t

,
time occa sionally introduced it was plain that his doctrine

,
was not fitted for the luxuries and relaxed morals o f the
age. L ike all men who think nobly o f human nature ,
W alking S tewart thought o f it hopeful l y .In some

respects his hopes were wisely grounded ; in others they
rested t o o much upon certain m etap hysical s p eculations
which are untenable and which satisfied himself only
,
because h is researches in that track had been purely self

originated and self disciplined H e relied upon his o wn
-
.
native strength o f mind ; but in questions which the wis

,
dom and p hilosophy o f every age building success ively upon

each other have no t been able t o settle no mind ho we v er
,
strong is entitled t o build wholly u p on itself In many .
things he shocked the religious sense —e specially as it exists

in unphilosophic minds : he held a sort o f rude and u ns cie n
t ifi c S pino s is m and he expressed it coarsely and in the
way most likely to give o ffence A nd indeed there can be
.
no stronger proof o f the utter obscurity in which his works

have slumbered than that they should all have escaped
prosecution H e also allowed himself t o look t o o lightly
.
and indulgently o n the affl icting s p ectacl e o f female prosti

t u t io n as it exists in L ondon and in al l great cities T his .
was the only point o n which I was disposed to quarrel with

him for I could not but v iew it as a greater reproach to
1 32 N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A TE R -
.
human nature than the slave trade or any sight o f wretched

-
,
ness that the sun l ooks down upon I often told him so .
and t h at I was at a loss to guess how a philosopher could

allow himself to view it simply as part of the equipage o f
civil life and as reasonably making part o f the establish
,
ment and fu rniture o f a great city as pol ice o ffice s lamp -

,
lighting o r newspapers
, .W aiving h owever this one , ,
instance o f something like compliance with the brutal spirit

o f the world o n all other subj ects he was eminently
,
u nworldly childlike simple minded and upright

, ,
-
,
He .
would flatter no man ; even when addressing nations it is ,
almost laughable to see h o w invariably he p refaces his

counsels with such plain truths uttered in a manner so
o ffensive as must have defeated his p urp ose if it had other
wise any chance o f being accomplished For instance in .
,
“
addressing A merica he begins thus : People o f A merica !
,
since your separation from the mother country your mora l -

,
character h as degenerated in the energy o f t hought and sense ;

produced by the absence of your association and intercourse
with B ritish offi cers and merchants yo u have no moral dis
c e rnm e nt t o distinguish between the protective p ower of
”
E ngland and the destru ctive power o f France A nd his .
l etter t o the Iris h nation opens in this agreeable and co n

c ilia t o r manner P eople o f Ireland ! I address you as a
y
true p hiloso p her o f nature foreseeing the p erp etual misery
,
your irre fle ct iv e characte r and total absence o f moral discern

m ent are preparing for ,
etc Th e second sentence begins
.
th us — “
Y o u are sacri l egiously arresting the arm o f your
parent kingdom fighting the cause o f man and nature when ,
the triumph o f the fiend o f French p olice terror would be

”
your o wn instant extirpation A nd the letter closes
.
thus “
I see but o ne awful alternative —that I reland will
be a p erpetual moral volcano threatening the destruction
,
N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI U M E A TE R -
. 1 33
of the world if the education and instruction of thought

,
and sense shall not be able t o generate the faculty o f moral

discernment among a very numerou s class o f t h e population
who detest the civic calm as sailors the natural calm —and
,
make ci vic rights o n which they cannot reason a p retext fo r

feuds which they delight in A s he spoke freely and boldly
.
to others so he spoke loftily o f himself at p 3 1 3 o f Th e

,
.
Ha rp of Apo l lo o n making a comparison o f himself with

,
S ocrates (in which he naturally gives the p reference t o

himself) he styles Th e Ha rp etc
,
“
this unparall eled work , .
,
o f human energy
”
A t p 3 1 5 he calls it “
this stu pendous
. .
, ,
work ; and lower down o n the same p age he says

” — “
I
was turned o ut o f schoo l at the age o f fift een for a dunce
o r b l ockhead because I would no t stuff into my memory al l
,
the nonsense o f erudition and learning ; and if future ages

should discover the un p arall eled energies o f genius in this
work it will prove my most im p ortant doctrine—that
,
the powers o f the human m ind must be develo p ed in the

education o f thought and sense in the study o f moral
A gain at p 2 2 5 o f his
”
opinion not art s and science
,
.
, .
S ophio m e t er he says “
,
Th e p aramount thought that
dwells in my mind incessantly is a question I p ut to myself
—whether in the event o f m y personal dissolution by
,
death I have com m unicated a l l the discoveries my unique

,
mind possesses in the great maste r science o f man and -
I n the next p age he determines that he ha s wit h

”
nature .
,
the exception o f o ne truth vi z — “

the latent energy .
, ,
physical and moral o f human nature as existing in the ,
Bu t here he was surely accusing hi m

”
Bri t ish people . self
without ground for to my knowledge he has not failed in
any o ne o f his numerous works t o insist upon this theme
at least a billion o f times A nother instance o f his magni
fic e nt sel f estimation is —that in the title pages o f several
.
- -
.
h is
*
works he announces himsel f as J ohn S tewart t h e “
of ,
only m a n o f nature that e ver appeared i n the world ”

.
B y this ti m e I a m afraid the reader begins to suspect

that he was crazy ; and certainly when I consider every ,
thing h e must ha v e been crazy when the wind was at

,
N N E
. .for who but W alking Stewart e v er dated his
.
books by a com p utation drawn —not from the creation not ,
from the flood not from N abonassar o r a b wrbe co ndita

, , ,
no t from the H egira— but from themse l ves from their o wn ,
d a y o f p ub l ication as constituting the o ne great aera in the

,
history o f man by the si d e o f which al l other aera s were

frivo l ous and im p ertinent ? T hus in a work o f his gi ven ,
t o me in 1 8 1 2 and probably published in that year I fi nd

, ,
him incidentally reco rding o f himself that he was at t h at

time arrived at the age o f sixty three with a firm state of
“ -
,
h eal th acquired by temperance and a p eace o f mind almost ,
independent o f the vices of mankind —because my know

ledge o f l ife has enabl ed me to p lace my hap p iness beyond
the reach o r contact o f other men s follies and passions ’
,
by avoiding al l fam ily connexions and all ambitious p ursuits

”
o f profit fame o r power ,
On reading this passage I was
, .
anxious to ascertain its date ; but this o n turning to the ,
title page I found thus mysteriously ex p ressed : I n the

-
,
“
7 0 0 0 t h year of A stronomical H istory and the first day of ,
I ntellectual L ife o r M oral W orl d from the sera o f this ,
A nother s l ight indication of craziness appeared

”
work .
in a notion which obstinately haunted his mind that all the

kings and rulers o f the earth would confederate in e very age
I n Ba th h e wa s s urna m e d l
“
t h e Ch i d of N a t ure -
wh ich a ro s e
fro m h is co nt ra sting o n e v e ry xis ting m a n o f o ur pre s e nt

o cca s io n the e
e xpe rie nce with t h e id e a l o r S t e wa rt ia n m a n t h a t m igh t b e expe ct e d
t o e m e rge in so m e m yria d s o f a ge s t o wh ich l a tter m a n h e ga ve t h e

,
na m e of the Chil d o f N a t ure .

N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI U M E A TE R-
. 13 5
against his works and would hunt them out fo r extermina

,
tion as keenly as H erod did the innocents in B ethlehem .
On this consideration fearing that they might be intercepted

,
by the long arms o f these wicke d princes before they could

reach that remote S t e w a rt ia n m a n or his precursor to whom
they were mainly addressed he recommended t o all those
,
who might be impressed with a sense o f their importance to

bury a copy or copies of each work properly secured from ,
damp etc at a depth o f seven or eight feet below the surface

,
.
,
o f the eart h and o n their death beds t o communicate the

-
knowle d ge of this fac t t o some confidential friends w h o in ,
their turn were t o send d own the tradition to some discreet

persons o f the next generation ; and thus if the truth was ,
not t o be dispersed fo r many ages yet the knowledge that

,
here and there the trut h lay buried o n this and th at conti
ment in secret spots o n M ount C aucasus —in the sands o f
,
B il e d u lge rid —and in hiding places amongst the forests o f

-
A merica and was to rise again in some d istant age and to

,
ve getate and fructify for the uni v ers al benefit o f man —this
knowledge at least was to be whispered down from genera
tion to generation ; and in defiance o f a myriad o f kings
,
crusading against him W alking Stewart was to stretch out

,
the influence of his writings through a long series o f

wa y wa a so eo to that child o f nature whom he saw d imly
.
through a v ista of many centuries I f this were ma d ness

.
,
it seemed to me a somewhat sublime madness a nd I

assured him o f my co — operation against the kings pro ,
m is ing that I would bury “

T h e H arp o f A pollo in
my o wn orchard in Grasmere at the foot o f M ount
F a irfie l d that I would bury “
T h e A pocalypse o f N ature
in o ne of the coves o f H el v ellyn and several other places
,
best known to m yself H e accepted my o ffer with

.
ratit u d e ; b ut he t h en made known to me that he r e l ie d

g
1 36 N O TE S OF A L A TE OP I UME A TE R
-
.
on my assistance fo r a still more important service—which

was this : in the lapse o f that v ast number o f ages which
would probably intervene between the present period and
the period at which his works would have reach e d their
destination he feared that the E nglish l anguage might
,
itself have mou l dered away “

No I said .
“
t ha t was ,
not probabl e ; considering its extensive di ffusion and that ,
it was now transplanted into all the continents of o ur

planet I would back the E ngl is h language against any
,
other o n earth ”
H is o wn persuasion howe v er was that
.
, ,
the L atin was destined t o su rvive all other l anguages ; it

was t o be the eternal as wel l as the universal language and
his desire was that I would translate his works o r some
p art of th em into that language T his I promised and I
, .
* ,
seriously designed at some leisure hour t o translate into

L atin a selection o f p assages which should embody an
abstract o f his phi l osophy T his would have been doing a
.
service t o all those who might wish t o see a digest o f his

pec u liar opinions cleared fro m the p erplexities o f his
peculiar d iction and brought into a narro w com p ass from
,
I wa s no t wa re unt il t h e m o m e nt o f writ ing t h i s pa s sa ge t h a t

a
W a l k ing St ewa rt h a d pub l icly m a d e t h is re que st th re e y ea rs a ft e r

m a k ing it t o m ys e l f : o pe ning t h e H a rp o f A po l l o I h a ve j ust no w ,
a ccid e nt a l l y s t um b l e d o n t h e fo ll o wing pa ssa ge Th is stu pe nd o us

“
,
wo rk is d e s tine d I fe a r t o m e et a wers e fa te t h a n t h e A lo e wh ich a s

, , ,
s o o n a s it b l o sso m s l o se s it s s t al k .T h is fi rs t b l o s so m o f re a so n is
t h re a te ne d with t h e l o s s o f b o th it s s ta l k a nd it s s o il ; fo r if t h e ,
re v o l ut io na ry tyra nt s h o ul d tri um ph h e wo ul d d e s t ro y a ll t h e E ngl i h

, s
b o o k s a nd e ne rg ie s o f t h o ugh t I c o nj ure m y re a d e rs t o t ra nsl a t e t h is

.
w rk int o L a t in a nd t o b ury it in t h e g ro und co m m unica t ing o n

o , ,
t h e ir d ea t h b e d s o nly it s pl a ce o f co nce a l m e nt t o m e n o f na t ure

"
-
.
F ro m t h e t it l e pa g e o f t h is wo rk b y t h e wa y I l ea rn t h a t t h e
-
, ,
7 0 0 0 t h y e a r o f As tro no m ica l His t o ry is t k e n fro m t h e Chine s e

”
a
t a b l es a nd co incid e s (a s I h a d s uppo s e d ) wit h t h e ye a r 1 8 1 2 o f o ur

,
co m puta t io n .
N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A TE E -
. 1 37
the great number o f volumes through which they are at

present dispersed H owever l ike many another p lan o f
.
,
mine it went unexecuted

,
.
On the whole if W alking S tewart were at a l l craz y he

, ,
was so in a way which did not e ffect his natural genius

and eloquenc e —but rather exalted them Th e o l d m axim .
,
“ ”
indeed that G reat wits to madness sure are near allied
, ,
the maxim o f Dryden and the popular maxim I have heard ,
disputed by Mr Coleridge and Mr W ordswor th who

. .
,
maintained that mad people are the dullest and most

wearisome o f all p eople A s a body I believe they are so
,
, .
B ut I must dissent from t h e authority o f M essrs Coleridge .
and W ordsworth so far as to distingu ish W here madness .
is connected as it often is with some m iserable dera nge

, ,
ment o f the stomach liver etc and att a cks the p rinciple
, ,
.
,
o f p leasurable life which is m anifestly seated in the

,
central organs o f the body in the stomach and the

a p paratus connected with it) there it cannot but l ead
,
t o perpetual su ffering and distraction o f thought ; and

there the patient wil l h e o ften tedious and incoherent .
People who have not su ffered from any great disturbance

in those organs are little aware how indispensable to the
process o f thinking are the momentary infl u xe s o f
p leasurable feeling from the regular goings o n o f li fe in
its primary functions ; in fact until the pleasure is with
,
drawn o r obscured most people are no t aware that they

,
h a v e any pleasure from the due action o f the great central

machinery o f the system ; proceeding in uninterrupted
continuance the pleasure as muc h escapes the consciousness
,
as the act o f respiration ; a child in the ha p piest state o f ,
its existence does not kno w that it is happy

,
A nd gen .
e ra l l
y whatsoever is the level state o f the hourl y feeling is
never pu t down b y the u nthinkin g b 9 9 o ut o f 1 0 0 )
y
.
to the acco u nt o f happiness ; it is never put down w ith the

positi v e sign as equal t o ! x but simply as 0
, ,
'
A nd ! .
men first become aware that it wa s a p ositive quantity when

—
,
they have lost it fallen into x) M eantime the .
genial pleasure from the v ital processes though not re pre ,
sented to the consciousness is i m m a nent in every a ct

,
impulse— motion —word—and thought ; and a philosopher

sees that the idiots are in a state o f p leasure though they ,
cannot see it themselves N o w I say that where this

.
,
principle of pl easure is no t attached madness is ofte n little ,
more than an enthusiasm highly exalted the animal s p irits

are exuberant and in excess and the madman becomes if ,
he be otherwise a man o f ability a nd information al l the ,
better as a com p anion I have m et with several such mad

.
m en and I ap p ea l t o my bril liant friend Professor ,
who is not a m an to tol erate dulness in any q uarter and is ,
himself the ideal o f a del ightful com p anion whether he ,
ever met a more amusing p erson than that madman wh o ,
took a post chaise with us from

-
t o Carlisle long years ,
ago when he and I were hastening with the s p eed of fu

,
g it i v e felons t o catch the E dinburgh mail H is fancy and .
his extra va gance and his furious attack s o n S ir Isaa c

,
N ew ton like Pl ato s suppers refreshed us not only for that

’
, ,
day but whenever they recurred t o us and we were both

grieved when we heard some time afterwards from a Ca m
bridge man that he had met o ur cle v er friend in a stage
coach under the care of a brutal keeper Suc h a madness .
,
if any was the madness o f W alking S tewart ; h is health

,
was perfect ; his spirits as light and ebullient as the S pirits

o f a bird in spring time and his mind unagitated by painful
-
thoughts and at peace with itself H ence if he was not

, .
,
an amusing companion it was because the philosoph ic

,
direction o f his t h oug h ts made h im som ething more O f .

N O T E S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A T E R
-
. 1 39
anecdotes a nd matters of fact he was no t communicative

o f all that he had seen in the vast compass o f his tra v els he
never availed himself in conversation I do no t remember .
at this moment that he e v er once alluded to his o wn tra v els

in his intercourse with m e except for the purpose o f weigh
ing down by a statement grounded o n his o w n great
pe rsonal experience an opposite statement o f many hasty
and misjudging travellers which he thought injurious to
human nature ; the statement was this that in all his ,
countless rencontres with uncivilised tribes he had ne v er

met with any so ferocious and brutal as to attack an
unarm ed and defenceless man who was able to make them
understand that he threw himself upon their hospitality and
forbearance .
On the who l e W alking S tewart was a sublim e visionary

,
he had seen and su ffered much amongst men yet no t too

much o r so as t o dull the genial tone of his sympathy with
,
the su fferi ngs o f others H is m ind was a mirror of the sen

.
tient uni v erse Th e whole mighty vision that had fle e t e d

.
before his eyes in this world —the armies o f H y d er A l i and

,
his son with oriental and barbaric pageantry — the ci vic ,
grandeur of E ngland—the great deserts o f A sia and A merica

—the v ast capital s of E urope — L ondon with its eternal
,
,
”
agitations the ceaseless ebb and fl o w o f its mighty heart
, ,
—Paris shaken by the fierce torments o f revolutionary

con v ulsions the silence o f L apland and the solitary forests
, ,
o f Canada ,
with the s warming li fe o f the torrid zone ,
together with innumerable recollections o f individual j oy

and sorrow that he had participated by sympathy—lay
,
like a map beneath him as if eternally c o present to his

,
-
vie w ; so that in the contemplation o f the prodigious

,
whole he h a d no leisure t o separate the parts or occupy

, ,
h is min d with details H ence cam e the mono t o ny which

.
N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM T
E A TE E .
the frivolous and the desu l tory would have found in his
conversation . I howe v er who am p erhaps the person
, ,
best qualified to s p eak o f him must pronounce h im to

,
have been a m a n o f great genius : and with reference ,
to his con v ersation of great eloquence T hat these were

, .
not better known and acknowledged was owing to two

disadvantages ; o ne grounded in his imperfect education ,
the other in the p eculiar structure o f his mind Th e first .
was this : like the late Mr Shelley he had a fine vague

.
enth usiasm and lofty aspirations in connection with human

nature generally and its hopes and like him he strove to
give s teadiness a uniform direction and an intelligible p ur
, ,
p ose t o these feelings by fi tting to them a scheme o f

,
phil osophical o p inions B ut unfortunately the phil osophic

.
system o f both was so far from supporting thei r o wn views

and the cravings o f their o wn enthusiasm that as in some , ,
points it was baseless incoherent o r unintelligi b le s o in

, , ,
others it tended t o mora l results from which if they had, ,
foreseen them they would have been themselves the fi rst to

,
shrink as contradictory t o the very p urposes in which their

,
system had originated H ence in maintaining their o wn

.
,
system they both fou nd themselves painfully entangled at

times with tenets pernicious and degrading to human
nature T hese were the inevitable consequences o f the
.
r f a ro v Wev do s in their s p eculations ; but were natural ly

charged u pon them by those who l ooked carelessly into
their books as Opinions which not only for the sake o f con
sistency they thought themsel ves bound to endure but to ,
which they gave the full weight of their sanction a nd

patronage as to so many moving principles in their system .
Th e other disad v antage under which W alking Stewart

laboured was this he was a man of genius but not a man ,
o f talents ; at leas t his genius was o u t o f all proport ion t o

. 141
his talents and wanted an organ as it were for mani festing

,
itself so that his most original thoughts were delivere d in

a crude state—im p erfect obscure half developed a nd not
, , ,
producible to a popular audience H e was aware o f this

.
himself ; and though he claims everywhere the faculty of

,
profound intuition into human nature yet with equal ,
candour he accuses himself o f asini ne stupidity d ulness and , ,
want o f talent H e was a disproportioned intellect and so

.
,
far a monster ; and he must be added to the long list o f

original minded men who have been looked down upon wi t h
-
pity and contempt by commonplace men o f t alent whose ,
powers o f mind—though a thousand times inferior—w ere

yet more manageable and ran in channels more suited to
,
common uses and common understandings .
N B —A bout the year 1 8 1 2 I remember seeing in many

. .
o f the print shops a whole length sketch in water colours

- - -
of W alking Stewart in his customary dress and attitude .
T h is as the o nl y memorial (I presume ) in that shape o f a

,
man whose m emory I love I should be very glad to pos

,
sess ; and therefore I take the liberty o f publicly requesting

as a p articular favour from any reader o f this article who ,
may chance to remember such a sketch in any collection of

prints o ffered for sale that he woul d cause it to be sent to
,
the editor o f the L on d on M agazine who will pay for it

, .
O N T H E K NO CK I NG AT T H E G AT E
IN MA C B E T H .
R OM my boyish days I had always fel t a great

perpl exity o n o ne point 1 n Macbeth : it was
this the knocking at the gate which succeeds t o
,
the murder of Duncan produced to my feelings

,
an e ffect for which I ne v er could account ; t h e e ffect was

—th at it reflected back upon the murd er a peculiar awful
ness and a depth o f solemnity : yet however obstinately I
,
endeavoured with my understanding to comprehend this for ,
m any years I never could see why it should produce such

an e ffect
.
H ere I pause for o ne moment to exhort the reader never

to pay any a t tention t o his understanding when it stands in
opposition to any other faculty of his mind Th e mere
.
understanding howe v er useful and indispensable is the

, ,
meanest faculty in the hu m an mind and the most t o be

distrusted : and yet the great maj ority of people trust to
nothing else ; which may do for ordinary life but not for
,
ph il o s0 h ic
p p urposes
. O f this
, o ut of ten thousand
instances that I might p roduce I will cite o ne A s k of
, .
N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A T E R -
.
any person whatsoever who is not previously prepared fo r

,
the demand by a knowledge of perspective to draw in the ,
rudest way the commonest appearance which depends upo n

the laws of that science as fo r instance to represent the ,
e ffect o f two walls standing at right angles to each o t her or ,
the appearance o f the houses on each side o f a street as ,
seen by a person looking down the street from o ne

extremity . N o w in all cases _ u nl ess the person has
,
happened to obser v e in pictures how it is that artists

produce these e ffects he will be utterly unable to make the
,
smal lest ap p roximation to it Y e t why — F o r he has

.
actually seen the e ffect every day of his life Th e reason .
is —that he a l lo ws his understanding to o v errule his eyes .
H is understanding which includes no intuitive knowledge

,
o f the laws of vision can furnish him with no reas on why

,
a l ine which is known and can be proved to be a horizontal

line sh ould not a ppea r a horizontal l ine : a line that ma d e
, ,
any angle wit h the perpendicular less than a right angle ,
would seem t o him to indicate that his houses were all

tumbling down together A ccordingly he mak e s the line
.
o f h is houses a horiz ontal line a nd fails o f course to

,
produce the e ffect demanded H ere then is o ne instance

.
o ut o f many ,
in which not only the unders t anding is
allowed t o overrule the eyes but where the understanding
,
is positi v ely allowed t o obliterate the eyes as it were

fo r not only does the man belie v e the evidence o f his
understanding in opposition to that of his eyes but (which ,
is monstrous !) the idiot is no t aware that his eyes e v er

gave such e v idence H e does not kno w tha t he has seen
.
(and therefore q u o a d his consciousness has n o t seen

) that
which he ha s seen every day of his li fe B u t to return .
from this digression —m y understanding could furnish no

,
reason why the knocking at the gate in Macbeth should

144 N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A TE R -
.
produce any e fl e ct
direct o r reflected in fact my nu .
,
d e rs t a nd ing said positively th at it cou l d no t p rod uce any

e ffect . Bu t I kne w better I felt that it did : and I
.
waited and clung to the problem until furth e r know l e dge

should enable me to solve it A t length in 1 8 1 2 Mr.
, , .
W illiam s made his d ebu t o n the stage of R atcl iffe H ighway ,
and executed those unparalleled murders w hich have p ro~

cured fo r him such a brilliant and undying rep utation On .
which murders by the way I mus t observe that in o ne

, , ,
respect they have had an ill e ffect by maki ng the co nno is,
s e u r in murder very fastidious in his taste and dissatisfied

,
with anything that has been since done in that l ine All .
other murders look pale by the deep crimson o f hi s : and ,

“
as an amateur once said to me in a querulous tone T here ,
has been absol utely nothing do ing since his time o r nothing ,
”
’
that s worth speaking of B ut this is wrong
. fo r it
is unreasonable to expect al l men to be great artists and ,
born with the geni us o f Mr W illiams N o w it wil l be

. .
remembered that in the first o f these murders (that o f the

M arrs) the same incident (of a knocking at the door soon
after the work o f ex t ermination was com pl ete ) did actually
occur which the genius of S hakespeare had invented : and
all good j udges a nd the mos t eminent dilettanti acknow
ledged the felicity o f Shakespeare s suggestion as soon as it
’
was actually realised H ere then was a fresh p roof t hat I

.
had been right in relying o n m y o wn feel ing in Op p osition

to my understanding and again I set myself t o study the
proble m at lengt h I solved it to my o wn sat isfaction and
.
my solution is this Murder in ordinary c a ses where the

.
,
sympath y is wholly directed to the case o f the murde red

person is an incident o f coarse and vulgar horror and for
,
this reason—that it fl ings the interest exclusively upon the

natural but ignoble instinct by which we cleave t o life ; an
N O T E S OF A L A TE OP I UM E A TE E -
. 14 5
ins t inct which as being indispensable t o the primal law o f

,
self preser vation is the same in kind (though di fferent in

-
d egree ) amongst all living creatures ; this instinct there

fore because it annihil ates all distinctions and d egrades
, ,
the greatest of men to a level o f the poor beetle that we

”
trea d o n exhibits human nature in its most abject a nd
,
humiliating attitude S uch an attitude would little suit

.
the purposes o f the poet W hat then must he do ? H e .
must thro w the interest o n t h e murderer : o ur sympathy ‘
must be with him (o f course I mean a sympathy of com

prehension a sympathy by which we enter into his feelings
, ,
—
and are m a d e to un d erstand them not a sympathy o f "
pity o r approbation in the murdered person all stri fe

o f thought all flux and reflux o f p assion and of purpose
, ,
are crushed by o ne overwhelming panic the fear o f instant

“ ”
death smites hi m with its pe t rific mace B ut in the .
murderer such a murderer as a poet will condescend to

, ,
there must be raging some great storm of passion—j e a l

o nsy ambition vengeance hatred— which will create a
, , ,
hell within him ; and into this hell we are t o look I n .
Macbeth fo r the sake o f gratifying his o wn enormous

,
and teeming faculty o f creation Shakespeare has introduced ,
two murderers ; and as usual in his hands they are re, ,
m a rk a b l y discriminated : but though in M acbeth the stri fe

o f mind is greater th a n in his wife the tiger spirit not so ,
It se e m s a l m o s t l udicro us t o g ua rd a nd e x pl a in m y use o f a wo rd
in t
a si ua t io n wh e re it s h o ul d na tura lly l
e xp a in it s e lf . Bu t it h a s
b e co m e ne cessa ry t o d o so in co ns e que nce ,
of the u ns ch o a r- l l ik e use o f
t h e wo rd s y m pa t h y a t pre s e nt so ge ne ral
, , by wh ich ,
ins t e a d o fta k ing
it in it s pro pe r s e nse , a s t h e a ct o f re pro d ucing in o ur m ind s t h e
feel ings o f a no t h e r, wh et h e r fo r h a t re d , ind igna t io n, l o e , pit y, o r v
a ppro b a t io n, it is m a d e a m ere s y no nym s of the wo rd p ity ; a nd
h e nce , ins t e a d o f sa ying,

“
ym pa th y with a no t h e r m a ny writ ers
s ,
”
sym pa th y fo r a no th e r
”
a d o pt t h e m o nst ro us b a rb a ris m o f .
.
a wake and his feelings caught chiefly by contagion from

,
her—yet as both were finally involved in the guilt of

,
m urder the murderous m ind o f necessity is finally to be

,
presu m ed in both T his was t o be ex p ressed ; and o n its

.
o wn account as well as to make it a more proportionable

,
antagonist to the uno ffending nature o f their victim “

the ,
”
gracious D uncan and adequately to expound the deep
,
“
”
damnation o f his taking o ff this was to be expressed with
,
p eculiar energy W e were t o be made to feel that the

.
human nature the divine nature o f love and mercy ,
s p read throug h the hearts o f all creatures and seldom ,
utterly withdrawn from man—was gone vanished extinct , ,
and that th e fiendish na t ure had taken its place A nd as .

,
this e ffect is marvellously accomplished in the dialogues

and soliloquies themsel ves so it is final ly consummated
,
by the ex p edient under consideration ; and it is t o this

’
that I now solicit the reader s attention If the reader .
has ever witnessed a wife d aughter or sister in a fainting

, , ,
fit h e may chance to have obser v ed that the most a ffecting

,
moment in such a S pectacl e is tha t in which a sigh and a

stirring announce the recommencement o f suspended life .
Or if the reader h as ever been p resent in a vas t metropol is

,
o n the day when some great national idol was carried in
funeral pomp t o his grave and chancing t o wa l k nea r to

,
the course through whic h it p assed has felt powerful ly , ,
in the Si l ence and desert ion o f the streets and in the

stagnation o f ordinary business the dee p interest which
,
at that moment was p ossessi ng the heart o f man —ii

all at once he sh ould hear the death like stillness broken -
u p by the sound o f wheels rattling away from the scene ,
and making known that the transitory vision was dis

sol v ed he will be aware that at no moment was his
,
sense o f t h e com p lete sus p ension and pause in ordinary

N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UM E A T E R -
. 1 47
human concerns so full and affecting as at that moment

when the suspension ceases and the goings o u o f human
,
-
life are suddenly resumed A ll action in any direction is

.
best expounded measured and made apprehensible by

, , ,
reaction N o w ap p ly this to the case in M acbeth H ere

. .
,
as I have said the retiring of the human heart and the

,
entrance o f the fiendish heart was t o be expressed and

made sensible A nother world has stepped in ; and t h e
.
murderers are taken o ut o f the region o f human things ,
human purp oses human desires ,

T hey are t ra nsfigu re d
.
L ady M acbeth is unsexed M acbeth has fo rgot that he

was born o f woman ; both are conformed t o the image o f
d evils and the world o f devils is suddenly revealed B ut .
how shall this be conveyed and made p alpable ? I n order

that a new world may ste p in this world must fo r a time
,
disap pear T h e murderers and the murder must be

.
, ,
insulated—cut o ff by an immeasurable gul ph from the

ord inary tide and succession o f human a ffairs —l ocked u p
and sequestered in some deep recess : we must be ma d e
sensible that the world o f ordinary l ife is suddenly a rrested
-
laid aslee p—tranced — racked into a dread armistice
t ime must be annihilated ; relation t o things without
abolished ; and all must pass self withdrawn into a deep -
syncope and suspension o f earthly passion H ence it is .
that when the d eed is done—when the work o f darkness is

p erfect then the world o f darkness p asses away like a
,
pageantry in the clouds the knocking at the gate is heard

and it makes known audibly that the reaction has co m
m e nce d the human has made its reflux upon the fiendish
the pulses o f life are beginning to beat again : and the
t e establishment o f the o in s~o n o f the world in which we
g g
-
live fi rst makes us profoundly sensible o f the awful

,
parenth esis that had suspended them .

1 48 N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI UI lI E A TE R
-
.
Oh mighty p oet —Thy works are no t as those of other

men sim p ly and merely great works o f art ; but are also
,
l ike the phenomena o f nature like the sun and the sea the
, ,
stars and the fl o we rs —like frost and sno w rain and dew
, , ,
hailstorm and thunder which are to be stu d ied with entire

,
submission of o ur o wn faculties and in the perfect faith

,
that in them there can be no too much o r too l ittle nothing

,
useless or inert—but t h at t h e further we press in o u r dis

,
c o v e rie s the more we shall see proo fs of design and sel f

,
supporting arrangemen t w h ere the careless eye had seen

nothing but accident
ON S U I C I DE .
a re m a rkab le p ro o f o f the inaccuracy wit h

is
which most men read—that Donne s B a itha na tos
,
v
(
’
h as been su p posed t o countenance S uicide ; and

.
those wh o reverence h is name have t h ough t

themsel ves obliged t o a p ologise fo r it by urging that ,
it was wri tten before he entered the church But D onne s .

’
purpose in th is treatise was a p ious o ne ; many authors

ha v e charged th e martyrs o f th e Christian church with
suicide—o n th e p rinciple that if I put mysel f in the
way o f a mad bul l knowing that he will kill me I am as
muc h chargeable with an act o f self—
, ,
destruction as if I fli ng
myself into a river S everal casuists had extended this
.
principl e eve n t o the case o f J esus Christ : o ne instance

o f which in a modern author the reader may see noticed
, ,
and condemned by Kant in his Re ligi on Mnerha lb d ie

,
g ro nz e n d e r bl o s s en Ve rnu nft and another o f much

earlier date (as far back as the thirteent h century I think )
, , ,
in a commoner book — V oltaire s notes o n the little ’
treatise o f B eccaria D ei d elit ti e d e lle pane These state

, .
ments tended to o ne o f t wo results either they u ns a nct ifi e d

the characters o f those who founded and nursed the
Christian church ; o r they sanctified suicide By w a y o f .
meeting them D onne wro te his book ; and as t h e w ho l e

,
.
argument his opp onents turne d u p on a false definition o f

of
F
explicitly s t a t ed b ut a ssu m
k fi
d m
to r econstitute the notion o f w h at is essential t o create an
kill a man is no t murder
simply fo r a man t o ki ll h imsel f—may no t always be s o ; th ere

is suc h a thing as si m pl e homicide d is t in g j
t rom murder ;
there m a y t h erefore p o ssib l y be s uch a thing as self

"
, ,
h omicide distinct from sel f m urder There m a y be a

-
.
ground fo r such a distinction ea: a na logia B ut secondly

, .
, ,
o n examinatio n is t h e r e any gr ound fo r such a distinction ?

,
D onne a fiirm s that there is and revie wing several eminen t

cases o f s pontaneous marty rdom he end e avours t o show ,
that acts s o M é d i nd s o circumstantia t ed will no t come

‘
within the notion o f suicide p roperly defined M eantime .

,
may no t this tend t o the encouragement o f suici de in

general and without discrimination o f its spe cies ? N o
,
D onne s arguments have no p rospective reference o r a ppli

’
cation th ey are p urel y re st ro spe ct iv e Th e circumstances .
necessary to create an act o f mere sel f h omicide can rarely -
concur excep t in a state o f disordered society a nd during

, ,
the ca rd ina l revolutions o f hum an history ; where however , ,
they d o concur t h ere it wi l l no t be suicide I n fact t his is

, .
,
the natural and p articu l ar j udgm ent o f us all W e d o .
no t al l agree o n the p articular cases whi ch will j ustify self

destruction but we a ll feel and involuntarily acknow l edge
( p
i m li c i t l y acknow l edge in o u r admiration thoug h not ,
expl icitly in o u r words o r in o u r principles) that there am ,
suc h cases T here is no m a n who in his heart would not

.
,
reverence a woman t h at chose t o die rather t han to be dis

honoured and if we do not say that it is h e r duty to do
,
so t h a t is because t h e mora list must condescend to the

,
weakness and infirm it ie s o f h uman nature : mean and

N O TE S OF A L A TE IUM E A TE R
OP -
. 1 51
ignoble nature s m ust not be taxed up to the level o f noble

ones A gain w ith regard to the other sex corporal punish
.
, ,
ment is a peculiar and s ex ua l degradation and if ever the

distinction o f D onne can be applied safely to any case it ,
wil l be t o the case o f him wh o chooses to die rather than t o

submit t o that ignominy At pres ent h o wever there is but.
, ,
a dim and very confined sense even amongst enlightened ,
men (a s we may see by the debates o f Parliament) o f the ,
i nj ury which is don e t o human nature by giving l ega l

sanction t o suc h brutal is ing acts and therefore most men ,
in seeking t o escap e it would be merely shrin king from a

,
p ers n
o a l dishonour C orporal
. p unishment is usually argued
with a single reference t o the case o f him who su ffers it ;
and s o argued G o d know s that it is worthy o f a ll abhor
,
rence but the weightiest argument against it —is the foul

indignity whic h is offered t o ou r common nature l odg ed in
r
o f h im o n who m it is inflicted
’
t h e pe re
_
g n H is nature is .
o u r nature and su pp osing it possible that h e were so far

,
s ea m ed as t o be unsusceptible of any influences but those

which address h im through the bruta l part o f his nature
yet fo r t h e sake o f oursel ves—no ! no t merely for oursel ves
,
o r fo r t h e h uman race now existing but for the sake o f ,
lul man nature whic h transcends all existing pa rticipa tors

,
ffi t i fi a
'
t u g e— w e should remember that the evil o f

S
co rp ora l p unishment is no t t o be m easured by the poor
transito ry criminal whose memory a nd o ffence are soon to
,
perish ; these in the sum o f things are as nothing ; the

, ,
inj ury which can be d one h im and the injury which he can ,
d o ha v e so momentary an existence that they may be safely

,
neglected ; but august

interest which for the mind of man can ha v e any exis t
g g g g —v m t o b is o wn n
_
at u re to raise and dignify which

'
'
, ,
I am p e d
rs u a e fd s
i
—
t h e fir st é l
’
a s t —
/
a nd holies t command
1 5
2 N O TE S A L A TE OP I U M E A TE R
-
.
l i z
which the conscience imposes o n the philosophic m o ra s t }
I n countries where the travel l er has the pain of seein g
,
human creatures performing th e labours o f b rut e s r—surel y ,

’
the sorrow which the spectacle moves if a wise sorrow will , ,
no t be chiefly directed to the poor degraded individual

t o o deeply degraded p robably to be sensible o f his o wn
, ,
’
degradation but to the reflection that man s nature is thu s
,
exhibited in a state o f miserable abasement ; and — w h at is ,
w o rs t_9 f al l abasement proceeding from man h l

_ ,
—
l m ,
whenever this v ie wofb b rp6 ral pu rfi shm e nt b e comes general

-
_ "
a s ine v itably it will o f advancing

( under the i nfl uence ,
ci v i l isation) I say that D onne s p rinciple will then become

, ,
’
applicab l e to this case and it will be t h e duty of a man to

,
die rather than to su ffer h is own nature—to be — dishonoured , w “ m fl m m n
in t h a t w ay ,
w
B ut sol g
on as a man is n Q q l l y sensible o f
On wh ich a cco unt, I a m t h e m o re s truc b y t h e i gno b l e a rg um e nt k

v
o f t h o s e s ta t e s m e n wh o h a e co nt e nd e d in t h e Ho us e o f Co m m o ns th a t
s uch a nd s u ch c as se s l of m e n in t h is na t io n a re no t a ccess ib e l to a ny
'
l o ft ie r infl ue nce s Suppo sing t h a t th e re we re a ny truth in th is as s e r
.
t io n wh ich is a l ib e l no t o n t his na tio n o nly b ut o n m a n i n g e ne ra l

, , ,
s ure ly it is t h e d uty o f l a wg ive rs no t t o pe rpe tua te b y th e ir ins t it ut io ns
t h e e vil wh ich t h ey fi nd b ut t o pre s um e a nd g ra d ua l ly t o cre a te a

,
b e tte r s pirit .
I Of wh ich d egra d a t io n l e t it neve r b e fo rgo tten th a t Fra nce b ut

’ '
th irt y yea rs a go pre se nt e d a s sh o ck ing ca ses a s a ny co unt ry e ve n wh e re ,
s l a ve ry is t o l e ra te d An e ye witne ss t o t h e fa ct wh o h a s s ince pub

.
-
,
l i s h d it in print to l d m e th a t in Fra nce b e fo re t h e Re v o l ut io n h e

e , , , ,
h a d re pe a te dly s e e n a wo m a n y o k e d with a n a ss t o t h e pl o ugh ; a nd

t h e b rut al pl o ugh m a n a ppl y ing h is whip ind iffe re ntly t o e i t h er .
E ngl ish pe o pl e t o wh o m I h a ve o cca si o na lly m e nt io ne d th is a s a n

,
e x o ne nt o f t h e h o l l o w re fi ne m e nt o f m a nne rs in F ra nce h a ve uni

p ,
fo rm ly e xcl a im e d T ha t is m o re th a n I ca n b el ie ve a nd h a v e t a k e n
it fo r g ra nte d th a t I h a d m y info rm a t io n fro m so m e prej ud ice d E ngl is h

m an . But wh o wa s m y info rm er ? A Fre nch m a n re a d e r M , ,
-
.
Sim o nd ; a nd t h o ugh no w b y a d o ptio n a n Am e rica n citiz e n ye t still ,
Fre nch in his h e a rt a nd in a l l h is prej udi ce s .

N O TE S OF A L A TE OPI U M E A TE R -
. 1 53
the dishonour to
as k
v
, a p ersonal
ex ce pt f n
h
as
o ne does not wholly exist

, . I n genera l whenever a para ,
!
na t ure is at stake a su ici de w h i ch

*
m o ufi t i fit é féfi b fh umafi
‘
'
interest it becomes sel f murder fi nd t o T his principl e

“ u
' h w
' w
-
, .
doubt has been raised — whether brute animals ever

A
commit suicide ; t o me it is obvious that they do not and ,
cannot Some years ago h owever there was a case re

.
, ,
p orted in al l the news p apers o f an o l d ram wh o committed

suicide (as it was alleged ) in the p resence o f many
witnesses N o t having any p istols o r razors he ran for a
.
,
sho rt d istance in order to aid the impetus o f his descent

, ,
and leaped over a p recipice at the foot o f which he was ,
dashed to p ieces H is motive to the “

rash act as the
.
,
”
papers called it was su p posed t o be mere t ce d iu m v it ae

, .
B ut for my p a rt I doubted t h e accuracy of the re p or t

, , .
N o t long after a case occurred in W estmoreland which

strengthened my doubts A fine young blood horse who .
,
could have no p ossible reason for making away with him

self u nless it were the high price o f c a t s at the time
, ,
was found o ne morning dead in a field Th e case was .
certainly a suspicious o ne for he was lying by t h e side of

a stone wall the upper part of which wall his skull had
-
fractured and which h a d returned the comp l iment by

,
fracturing his skull I t was argued therefore tha t in.

, ,
de fault of ponds etc he had deliberately hammered with

,
.
,
his head against the wall ; this at first seemed the only , ,
solution : and he was generally pronounced fe lo d e s e .
H owe v er a d a y o r t wo brought the truth to light

, Th e .
fiel d lay upon the side of a hil l ; and from a mountain ,
which rose above it a s hepherd had witnessed the whole ,

1 5
4 N O TES OF A L A TE OPI U ME A TE R
-
.
catastrophe and gave evidence which vindicated the

,
character o f the horse Th e day had been very windy ;.
and the young creature being in h ig h spirits and caring , ,
evidently as littl e for the corn question as for the bullion

question had raced about in all directions ; and at l ength
, ,
descending t o o steep a part o f the fi el d had been unable to ,
check himse lf and was p roj ected by the im p etus o f his o wn

,
descen t l ike a batte ring ram against t h e wall .
Of h um an
uicides the most affecting I have ever seen
s ,
recorded is o ne which I m e t wit h in a German book this

I shall re p eat a little fu rt h er o n ; t h e most calm and
de liberate is the follo wing w h ich is sa id to have occurred
,
at Keswick in C umberland ; but I must acknowledge

, ,
that I never had an o pp ortunity whilst staying at Keswick , ,
o f verifying t h e statement A young m a n o f studious .

,
turn wh o is said to have resided near Penrith was anxious

, ,
to quali fy himself for entering the church o r for any ot h er ,
mode o f life which might secure t o him a reasonable por

tion o f l iterary l eisure H is family however thoug h t that
.
, ,
under the circumstances o f his situation he wou l d have a

better chance for success in life as a tradesman and they
took th e necessary steps for placing him as an a p prentice
at some s h opkeeper s in Penrith T his he l ooked upon as a n
’
.
indignity to which h e was determined in no case to submit

, .
A nd accordingly w h en he had ascertained that all opposi

,
tion to the choice o f his frien d s was useless he walked ,
o v er to the mountainous district o f Keswick (about

sixteen miles distant) looked about him in order t o -
s elect his ground— coolly walked up L a t t rig (a dependency
o f S kiddaw ) — made a pillow o f sods — laid himself down with

his face l ooking u p to the sky —a nd in that p osture he wa s
found dead wit h t h e ap p earance o f having died tranquilly
,
.
H I S T O R I CO C R I T I C A L I N Q U I RY
-
IN T O T HE O RIGI N O F T HE
R O S I C R U C I A N S A N D T H E F R E E MA S O N S .
H E RE is a large body outstanding p ro b le ms in of
history great and l ittl e some rel ating t o p ersons

, , ,
some t o things some t o usages some to words , , ,
etc whic h furnish occasion beyond any other

.
, ,
form o f h istorical researches fo r the display o f extensive ,
reading and critical acumen 1 I n reference t o pers o ns . .

,
as those which regard whole nations —e g W hat became .
o f the ten tribes o f I srael ? D id B re nnu s and his Gauls
penetrate into Greece ? W h o and what are the Gipsies

o r those far more in number
,
which regard indi v idual s ; ,
as the case o f the Knights T emplars — o f M ary S tuart —o f

the R uthvens (the Gowrie Conspiracy ) W h o was the .
m an in the I ron M ask ? W a s the unhappy L ady o f the

H aystack who in o u r o wn days sle p t o ut o f doors or in
,
barns up and down S omersetshire a d a ughter o f the ,
E m p eror o f Germany ? W a s Perkin W arbeck three

centuries ago the true Plantagenet ? 2 In reference * .
Th e re b e no d o ub t t h a t h e wa s
ca n . But I m e nti o n it as a
q ue sti o n wh ich m o st pe o pl e s uppo s e t o b e y e t s ub j u d ice .

1 56 R OS I CR UCI A N S A N D F R E E M A S ON S .
to as—W h o first discovered the sources o f the

t hings
N ile ? W h o built Stonehenge ? W h o discovered the
com p ass ? W hat was the Golden Fleece ? W a s the S iege
o f T roy a romance o r a grave historic fact ? W a s the
,
I liad the work o f o ne mind o r (on the W o l fian hypoth es is

)
,
o f many ? W hat is t o be thought o f the T hundering

L egion ? o f the miracu l ous dispersion of the E m p eror
J ulian s labourers before J erusalem ?o f the burning o f the
’
A lexandrian L ibrary etc W h o wrote the E ixdxv Ba a Mam }?

, .
-
W h o wrote the L etters o f J unius ? W a s the Fluxional

Calcu l us discovered simultaneousl y by L eibnit z and N ewton ?
o r did L eibnit z derive t h e fi rst hint o f it from the letter of
N ewton ? 3 In reference t o u s a g es ; as the Ma y p ole

.
-
and M a y day dances —the Morris d ancers —the practice

-
( not yet extinct amongst uneducated people ) of saying God

bless yo u o n h earing a p erson sneeze and thousands o f ,
others 4 In reference to wo rds ; as whence came the

. .
m ysterious L a ba ru m o f Constantine ? etc A mong the .
problems o f t h e first class there are no t many more ,
irritating to the curiosity than that which concerns the

wel l known order o f Freemasons In o ur own l anguage
-
.
I am no t aware o f any work whic h has treated th is ques

t ion with much learning I have therefore abstracted .
,
rearranged and in some respects I shal l not scrupl e t o say

,
—have im p roved the German work o n this subj ect o f ,
Professor J G B uhle T his work is an ex p ansion of a

. . .
L atin D issertation read by the Professor in the year 1 8 0 3

to the Philosophical S ociety o f G ottingen ; and in res p ect ,
to the particular sort o f merit looked for in a w ork o f

this kind has (I believe ) satisfied the most competent
,
j u d ges Coming after a crowd o f other learned works on

.
the R osicrucians and those o f L essing and N icolai on the

,
Freemasons it cou l d not well fail to embody what was

,
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 1 5
7
most important in their elaborate researches and to benefit ,
by the whole Implicitly therefore it may be looked upon

.
, ,
as conta ining the whole learning o f the case as accumulated ,
by all former writers in addition t o that contributed by

,
the Pro fessor himself ; which to d o him j ustice seems to , ,
be extensive a nd accurate B ut the Professor s p ecu lia r .

’
claims t o distinction in this inquiry are grounded u pon the

solution which he first has given in a satisfactory way
t o the main problem o f the case — W hat is the o rig in of
Freemas onry ? F o r as to the secret o f Freemasonry and
, ,
its occult doctrines there is a readier and more certain way

,
o f getting at those than through any Professor s book

’
To a .
hoax played o ff by a young man o f extraordinary tal ents in

the beginni ng o f the seventeenth century (i e about 1 6 1 0 . .
but fo r a more elevated purpos e than most hoaxes invo lv e ,
the reader will find that the whole mysteries o f Free

mason ry as no w existing all over the civilised world after
, ,
a lapse o f more than t wo centuries are here distinctly ,
traced : such is the p ower o f a grand and ca p acious

aspiration o f ph i l oso p hic benevolence t o embalm e v en the
idlest l ev ities as amber enshrines straws and insects
,
A ny reader wh o should fi nd h imself satisfied with the

’
Professor s solution and it s proof would probably be ,
willing t o overlook h is other defects his learning and his

felicity o f conj ect u re may pass as sufficient and redeeming
merits in a G ott ingen Professor E lse and if these merits
*
.
,
were set aside I must say that I have rarely met with
,
a more fatiguing person than Professor B uhle That h is .
es s ay is readab l e at a ll if it be readable the reader must

, ,
I b e l ie v e tha t h e is a l so
t r o f t h e Bipo nt Aristo t l e : b ut
th e edi o
no t po ss es sing t h a t e d it io n
o f Aris t o tl e m ys e l f I ca nno t pre t e nd t o ,
s pe a k o f it s va l ue H is His tory of Phi lo s oph y I h a ve : it is pro b ab l y

a nd al a s —
.
a s go o d a s s uch wo rks usua lly a re no b e tt er

, .
1 58 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F R E E M A S ON S .
understand that he owes to m e M r B uhle is cel ebrated . .
as t h e historian o f philosop hy and as a l ogic professor at a

,
-
great German U ni v ersity B ut a more illogical work than

.
his as to the conduct o f the question or o ne more confused ,
in its arrangement I have not often seen I t is doubtless

, .
a rare thing to meet with min d s s u fli cie nt l y stern in thei r

logic to keep a question steadily and immovably before
them without e v er bei ng thrown o u t o f their track by
,
verbal delusions : and for my o wn part I must say that I

never was present in my l i fe at one of those after dinner -
dis p utations by which social p leasure is poisoned (except in

the higher and more refi ned classes ) where the course o f ,
argument did not within ten minutes quit the question upon
which it had first s t arted—and al l upon the seduction o f
some equivocal word o r o f some theme which bore a ffinity
,
to the main theme but was not that main theme itself o r
, ,
still oftener of some purely verbal transition A l l this is .
common : but the eternal see sawing weaving and counter

-
wea v ing flux and reflux o f Professor B uh l e s course o f

, ,
’
argument is no t common by any means but very u nco m ,
m o n and worthy of a p lace in any cabinet o f natural

,
curiosities T here is an everlasting confusion in the

.
worthy man s mind between the two questions—W hat is

’
the o rig in o f Freemasonry ? and what is the na t ur e and

e s s ence o f Freemasonry ? T h e consequence is that o ne idea
always exciting the other they constantly come o u t shoulder

,
ing and elbowing each other for precedency —every sentence

is charged with a d ouble commission — the Professor gets
angry wit h himself begins to splutter u ni ntelligibly and
, ,
finds o n l ooking round him that he has wheeled about t o a

p oint o f the argument considerably in the rear o f that
which he had reached perhaps 1 50 pages before I have .
done what I cou l d to remedy these infirm it ie s o f the book

9
and upon the whole it is a good deal less paralytic than it

was B ut ha v ing begun my task o n the assumption that
.
,
the first chapter should naturally come before the secon d ,
the second before the third and so o n—I find now (when ,
the mischief is irreparable) that I made a great mistake in

that assumption which perhaps is not applicable to G e ttin
,
gen books and that if I had read the book on the H ebrew
p rinciple—o r Bo v o rpo tq dév—o r had tacked and tra v ersed
,
-
r
—o r done anything but sail in a straight line I could not ,
have failed to impro v e the arrangement of my materials .
Bu t after all I have so whitewashed the Professor that

, , ,
nothing but a life o f gratitude o n his p art and free ,
admission to his logic lectures for e v er can possibly repay ,
me for my ser v ices .
T h e three most triumphant dissertations existing upon

the class o f h is t o rico critical p roblems which I have described
-
above are— l B entley s upon the spurious E p istles ascribed

.
’
t o Phalaris ; 2 M alcolm L aing s upon Perkin W arbeck

’
.
D r H enry in his H is t of Gre a t B ri t a in

( published by .
) 3 . .
M r T aylor s u pon the L etters o f J unius

.
’
A l l three are .
loaded with a superfetation of e v idence and conclusive ,
beyond what the mind altogether wishes Fo r it is pleasant .
t o ha v e the gra v er part o f one s understanding satisfied and

’
yet to have its capricious part l eft in possession o f some

miserable fragment o f a scruple upon which it may indu l ge
its elf with an occasional s p eculation in su p port o f the o ld
error I n fact coercion is no t p leasant in any cases ; and
.
,
though reasons h e as plenty as blackberries o ne wo uld no t ,
either gi v e o r belie v e them o n compulsion ”

In the p resent .
work the rea d er will p erhaps no t find himself under this nu

pleasant sense o f coercion but left more to the free exercise ,
o f his own j udgment Y e t upon the whole I think he will

.
give his final award in behalf o f B uhl e s hypothesis ’

.
1 60 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
CH A PTE R I .
OF TH E I
E SS E NT AL CH AR ACT E R I S T I CS OF T H E OR D E RS OF
THE R OS I C RU C I A N S A ND T H E F R E E MA S ON S .
I D EE M it an indis p ensable condition of any investigation

into the ori gi n o f the R osicrucians and Freemasons —that
both orders should be s urveyed comprehensively and in the
whole compass o f their rel ations and characteristic marks ;
not with reference to this o r that mythos symbol usage , , ,
o r form and t o t h e negl ect o f t h is condition I believe we

, ,
must im p ute t h e u nsuccessfu l issue which has hitherto

attended t h e essays o n th e subj ect First o f all therefore
.
, ,
I wil l assign those distinguishing features o f these orders

which a pp ear to me universal and essential ; and these I
shal l divid e into i nt erna l and ex terna l —accordingly as they
respect the personal relations a nd the p urposes o f their
members o r simply th e outward for m o f the institutions
,
.
Th e uni v ers al and essential characteristics o f the two

orders which come under the head o f i nt erna l are these
, ,
which fo l low
I A s their fundamental maxim t h ey assume —E nt ire
.
e q u a li t y of pe rs o na l righ ts a m o ng s t t he ir m em bers i n re la t io n
to th eir fi na l o bj ect A l l distinctions o f social rank are

.
annihilated I n the character o f masons th e p rince and the

.
lowest citizen behave reci p rocal l y as free men—standing

to each other in no relation o f civic inequality T his is a .
feature o f masonry in whic h it resembles t h e c h urch

p roj ecting itself l ike t ha t from t he body o f the state ; and
, ,
in id ea o pp osing itself to the state though not in fact for

, ,
o n the contrary the ties o f socia l ob ligation a re strengthened

,
and sanctioned by the maso nic doctrines I t is true that .

R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E /WA S ON S 1 6!
‘
these orders have d eg rees _ many o r fe w according to the

-
,
constitution o f the se v eral mother lodges T hese however -

.
, ,
express no subordination in rank or power : they imply

simply a more or less intimate connection with the concerns
and p urposes of the institution A gradation of this sort .
,
corresponding to the di fferent stages o f knowledge and

initiation in the mysteries of the order was indispensable to ,
the obj ects which they had in view It could not be .
advisabl e to admit a young man inexperienced and ,
untried to the full participation of their secrets : he must

,
first be educate d and moulded for the ends of the society .
E v en elder men it was found necessary to subj ect to the

probation of the lower degrees before they were admitted
to the higher W ithout such a regulation dangerous
.
persons might sometimes have crept into the councils o f the

society ; which in fact happened occasionally in spite o f
, , ,
all provisions to the contrary I t may be alleged that this .
feature o f personal equality amo ngst the members in

relation to their pri v ate obj ect is not exc l usively the
characteristic o f R osicrucians and Freemasons True ; it .
belongs no less to all the secret societies which have arisen

in modern times B u t notwithstanding th a t it is ind is put
.
, ,
able that t o them was due the origina l scheme o f an

institution ha v ing neither an ecclesiastic no r a p olitical
,
tendency and built on the p ersonal equality o f all the

,
individuals who composed it .
II Wo m en ch ildren t ho s e who were no t in the fu ll pos

.
, ,
s es s io n cy
“
civ ic f
re e d o m , J ews , Anti Ch ris ti a ns g enera lly,
-
a nd
(according to undoubted historic documents ) in the
early days o f these orders —Ro m a n Ca tho lics were exclu d ed
fro m t he s o cie ty For what reason women were excluded
.
,
I suppose it can hardly be necessary to say Th e absurd .
spirit o f curiosity talkativeness and levity which so

, , ,
11
distinguish that unha pp y sex were obviously incom p atib l e

,
with the grave purposes o f the R osicrucians and M asons .
N o t to mention that the familiar interco urse w h ich c c ,
membership in these societies brings al ong with it would ,
p robabl y ha v e led to some disorders in a p romiscuous

assemblage of bot h sexes such as might have tainted the
,
good fame or even threatened the existe nce o f t h e order .
M ore remarkable is the excl usion o f pers o ns not who l ly

f re e o
,
f J e ws and o
,
f A n t i Ch ris t ia ns and
-
indeed it , ,
throws an im p ortant l ight u p on the origin and character

o f the institutions By p ers o ns no t free we are t o under
.
stand not merely s l aves a nd vassal s but al so those w h o ,
were in the ser v ice o f others—and generally all wh o had

no t an inde p endent livelihood E ven freeborn persons are
.
comprehended in this designation s o long as th ey continued ,
in the state o f minority M asonry p resumes in a ll its

.
members the devotion o f their knowledge and powers t o

the obj ects of the institution N o w what services could .
,
be rendered by vassals menial servants day labourers

, ,
-
,
j ourneymen with the l imited means at their disposa l as t o

,
wealth o r knowledge and in their state of dependency

,
u pon others ? B esides wit h the prejudices o f birth and

,
rank prevalent in th at a ge any admission of plebeian mem

,
bers would have immediately ruined the scheme I ndeed .

,
we have great reason t o wonder t hat an idea so bold for

those times as the union o f nobles and burgh ers under a
l aw o f p erfect equ al ity could ever have been realised .
A nd in fact among any other people than the E nglish

, , ,
w ith their national habits of thi nk ing a nd other favourab l e ,
circumstances it could no t have been realised

, Mino rs .
were rejected unless w h en the consent o f their guardians

was obtained ; for otherwise the order wou l d h ave exposed
itself to t h e sus p icion o f tam p ering wit h young p eo p le in
R OSI CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 1 63
an il legal way : t o say not h th e want

ing o f of
free agency -
in minors That l ay broth ers were admitted fo r the p er

.
-
fo rm a nce o f servil e o fli ce s is not t o be taken as any

departure from the general rul e ; fo r it wa s matter o f
necessity that persons of lower rank shou l d fill the menial
offices attached t o the so ciety ; and t h ese p er sons be it ,
observed were al ways c h osen fro m amongst those wh o

,
h ad an inde p endent p rop e rty however small A s t o the

, .
exclusion o f A nti Christians especially of J ews this may

-
, ,
seem at fi rst sight inconsistent with the cosmo political -
tendency o f M asonry B u t had it that tendency at its

.
fi rst estab l ishment ? Be this as it may we need no t be

,
surprised at such a regulation in an age so littl e impressed

with the virt ue o f toleration a nd indeed so l ittl e able
,
from p olitical circumstances—t o p ractise it B esides it was

.
,
necessary fo r their o wn s ecurity ; the Freemasons them

se l ves were exposed t o a sus p icion o f ath eism and sorcery
and this sus p icion wou l d h ave been confirmed by the indis
crimina te a dm ission o f p ersons hostile t o Ch ristianity .
Fo r the Jews in particular there was a further reason for

,
rejecting them founded o n t h e deep degradation o f the

,
national ch aracter W ith res p ect t o th e R oman Cathol ics

.
,
I need not at thi s point antici p ate the historic data whic h
favour their exclusion Th e fact is certain ; but I add
.
, ,
only for the earlier periods o f Freemasonry Further o n

.
,
the cosmo ~politica l constitution o f the order had cleared

it o f all suc h religious tes t s ; and at this day I believe , ,
t hat in t h e lodges o f L ondon and Paris t h e r e would be no

hesitation in receiving as a broth er any uprigh t M oham
medan o r J e w . E ven in small er cities where l ingering
,
p rej udices wou l d still cl eave with more bigotry t o the old
excl usions greater stress is l aid upon the natural religion
,
o f the candidate —his belief in G o d and his sense o f moral

1 64 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
obl igation —than u p on his p ositive confession o f fait h I n .
saying this however I would not be understood to speak

, ,
o f certain ind ividual sects amo ng the R osicrucians whose ,
mysticism lea d s them to demand S pecial religious qualities

in their p roselytes w h ich are dis p ensed with by common
Freemasonry .
I II T h e o rd ers m a ke pretens io ns to m ys t eries ; these

.
relate partly t o ends and p artl y to means ; and are derived

,
from the E ast whence they p rofess to derive an occult

,
wisdom no t revea l ed t o the p rofane T his striving after .
hidden know l edge it was that specia lly distinguished these

, ,
societies from others that pursued u nknown obj ects A nd .
because their m ain obj ect was a mystery and that it might ,
remain such an oath o f secrecy was demanded o f every

,
member o n his admission Nothing o f this mystery could .
ever be discovered by a visit from the police : for when

such an event hap p ens and na t urally it has happened many
,
times the business is at end —and the lodge ipso fa cto

,
dissolved : besides that all the acts o f the members are

,
symbolic and uninte l ligible to al l but the initiated M ean

, .
time no government can com p l ain o f this exclusion from

the mysteries : as every governor has it at his o wn option
to make himself fully acquainted wit h them by procuring
his own adoption into the society T his it is which in most .
countries has gradually reconciled the supreme authorities

to M asonic S ocieties hard as t h e persecu tion was which
,
they ex p erienced at first Princes and prelates made them

.
selves brothers o f t h e order as the condition o f admission

to the mysteries A nd think what they would o f these
.
,
m ysteries in other r espects they found nothing in them ,
w h ich cou l d j ustify any hostility o n the part o f the state .
In an examination o f M asonic and R osicr ucian Societies

th e weigh tiest q uestion is t h at which regards the nature of
these mysteries To this question we must seek for a k e y

.
in the spirit o f that age when the societies themsel v es

originated W e shall thus learn first of all whether these
.
, ,
societies do in reality cherish any mystery as the fi nal

obj ect o f their researches ; and secondly perhaps we shall , ,
thus come to understand the extraordinary fact that the

R osicrucian and M asonic secret shou l d not long ago ha v e
been betrayed in spite o f the treache ry which we must
,
suppose in a certain p roportion o f those who were parties

to that secret in every age .
I V Th ese o rd ers h a v e a g enera l s ys t em of s ig ns

. that
o f recognition ) u s a es
g s y m b o ls m y t h i a nd f
,
e s t i v a ls I,
n , .
this place it m ay be su fficient t o say generally that even

that part o f the ritual and mythology which is already
known to the public will be found to confi rm the con ,
*
e lusions drawn from other historical data as t o the origin
and purpose o f t h e institution : thus fo r instance we may , ,
be assured beforehand that t h e original Freemasons m ust

have had some reason for appropriating t o themselves the
attributes a nd emblems o f real handicraft M asons : which
part o f their ritual they are so far from conceali ng that in
L on d on t hey often parade o n solemn occasions attired
in full costume A s little can it be imagined that the
.
sel ection of the feast o f St J ohn (Midsummer day ) as their .

-
o wn chief festi v al was at first arbitrary and without a

,
significant import .
Of the e x t e rna l characteristics — o r those which the

society itsel f announces t o the world —the m ain is the
We m us t no t fo rg e t h owe
, ,
R o svr
ic r
euc ia n a nd M
th a t t h e
a so nic
o rd e rs we re no t o rigina l ly a t a ll o ints wh a t
t h e y no w a re
p t h ey h a e v
p a fi
s se d th ro ug h m a ny c h a ng e s a nd m o d i ca tio ns ; a nd no i nc o ns id e r
a b l e pa rt o f th e ir sym b o l ic syste m , e t c , h as b e e n t h e pro d uct o f

.
s ugge s t i v e g e ne ra tio ns .
1 66 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E MA s o zvs .
pu b lic p rofessio n of benefic ence no t t o the brothers on ly ,
though o f course to them more especia ly, but also to l

strangers A nd it cannot be denied by those who are
.
least favourably disposed t o the order o f Freemasons that

many state s in E urope where lodges h ave for m erl y existed
,
o r do still exist are indebted to them for the original

,
establishment o f many salutary institutions having for ,
their obj ect the mitigation o f human suffering T he other .
external characteristics are p ro p erly negative and are ,
these
I Ma s o nry is co m pa tib le with e v ery fo rm of civ i l co n
.
s t i t u t io n which cosmo p olitical relation o f the order t o

-
every mode and form o f social arrangements h as secured the

p ossibility o f its rece p tion amongst a ll nations h owever ,
widely se p arated in p ol icy and laws .
II I t d o es no t impo se ce liba cy and this is t h e criterion

.
that distinguishes it from the rel igious orders and from ,
many o f the o l d knightly orders in which celibacy wa s an

indis p ens ab l e l aw o r still is so , .
I I I I t enj o ins no p ecu li a r d ress (except indeed in the

.
, ,
o fficial assemblages o f the lodges fo r the p urpose o f mark ,

"
ing the d ifl e re nt degrees ) no m a r/cs of d is tinct io n in t he

,
o rd ina ry co m m erce of l ife a nd no a bs t in ence fro m civ il ofi ces
a nd b u s ines s H ere again is a rem arkable distinction from

.
the religious and knightly orders .
I V I t g ra nts t o ev e ry m em ber a u l l lib erty t o d isso lv e his

. f
co nnect i o n wi th t he o rd er a t a ny t im e, a nd with o u t e v en a c
qu a int ing t he s uperio rs

though o f f
o t h
courseehe can lo dg e ;
no t re l ease himself from the obligation of his vow of secrecy .
N a y even after many years o f voluntary separation from

,
the order a return to it is always allowed I n the reli

,
.
i u s and knight l y orders the members have n ot the

g o ,
p owers excep ting under certain circumstances o f l eaving

, ,
ROS I CR UCI A N S A N D FRE E AI AS ON S .
them ; a nd under no circums t ances of returning T his

, , .
last was a politic regulation : for whilst o n o ne hand

,
the society was su fficiently secure d by the oath of secrecy ,
on the other hand by the easiness of the yoke which it

imposed it could the more readily attract members A
, .
young man might enter the order satisfy himself as to the

advantages that were to be expected from it ; and leave it
upon further ex p erience o r any revolution in his o wn way
o f thinking .
In thus assigning the internal and external characteristics

o f the R osicrucians and F reemasons I have p urposely said
,
nothing o f the distinctions bet ween the two orders them

sel ves : for this would have p resupposed that historical
inquiry which is now to follow T hat the above character
.
is t ics howe v er were common t o both is not t o be doubted

, , ,
.
R osicr ucianism it is true is not Freemason ry : but the

, ,
latter borro wed its form from the first H e that gi v es .
himself o ut fo r a R osicrucian without knowing the general

,
ritual o f masonry is unquestionably a n im p ostor S ome

, .
p eculiar sects there are which ado pt certain follies and

chimeras o f the R osicrucians (as gold making) ; and t o
-
these h e may belong ; but a legitimate R osicrucian in the ,
original sense and S pirit o f the order he cannot be

,
.
'
1 68 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E IuA s o zvs .
C H APTE R I I .
U PON T H E EA RL I EST I I
H S T OR CA L T RAC E S OF T H E ROS CRU C AN I I
A ND I D
MASON C OR E RS .
TH E accredited records of these orders do not ascend beyond

the last t wo centuries On the other hand it is alleged by
.
,
many that they have existed for eighteen hundred years .
H e who adopts this latter hy p othesis which even as an

hypothesis seems to m e scarcely endurable for a moment is ,
bound to sho w in the first p lace in what respect the d e d u c

, ,
tion o f these orders from modern history is at al l uns a t is

factory ; and secondly upon his o wn assum p tion o f a far
,
elder origin to explain h o w it ha pp ened that for sixteen

,
entire centuries no writers contemporary with the di fferent

p eriods of th ese orders have made any allusion to them .
I f he replies by alleging the secrecy of their proceedings I ,
rej oin that this might have secured their doctrines and
mysteries from being divulged but not the mere fact o f their
,
existence My v iew o f their origin will perhaps be granted

.
with rel a tion to W estern E urop e but I shall be referred to

the E ast for the incu na bu la o f the order A t o ne time .
Greece at another E gypt o r di fferent countries of A sia

, , ,
are alleged as the cra d le o f the R osicrucians and the

Freemasons L e t us take a cursory sur v ey of the several
.
hypotheses .
1 In the earlier records of G RE E CE we meet with no t hi n

.
g
which bears any resemblance to these institutions but the

Orphic and E leusinian mysteries H ere howe v er th e .
, ,
word m ys t eries implied not any occult problem or science

R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D FRE E M A S ON S 1 69
*
.
sought for but simply sensuous and dramatic representa

,
tions o f religious ideas —which could not otherwise be

communicated to the people in the existing state o f intel
lectual cultu re and which (as often happens) having been
, ,
once established were afterwards retained in a more

,
advanced state o f the national mind I n the Grecian mys .
t e rie s there were degrees of initiation amongst the members ,
but with purposes wholly distinct from those o f the masonic

degrees Th e Grecian mysteries were not to be profaned ;
.
but tha t was o n religious accounts L astly the Grecian .

,
mysteries were a part o f the popular reli gion acknowledged

and authorised by the state Th e whole resemblance in .
,
short rests u p on nothing and serves only to prove an

, ,
utter ignorance o f Grecian antiquities in those who have

alleged it i .
'
2 N either in the history o f E G Y PT is any trace to be

.
found o f the R osicrucian and Masonic characteristics It .
is true that the meaning o f the E gyptian religious symbols

and usages was kept secret from the people and fro m
strangers ; and in that sense E gypt may be said to have
had mysteries but these mysteries involved nothing more
than the essential p oints o f the popular religion 1 A s to .
the writings attributed t o H ermes T rismegistus they are ,
no w known to be spurio us ; and their p retensions could
Th e wo rd sens u o us is a Milto nic wo rd ; a nd is, m o re o vr e , a wo rd

th a t ca nno t b e d is pe nse d with .
1‘
Se e t h e G e rm a n e s sa y o f Me ine rs u po n t he Myste rie s of the
Ancie nt s, lly t h e El e usinia n m ys te rie s
e s pe cia ,
in t h e t h ird pa rt o f h is
Mi cel l a ne o us Ph il o so ph ica l W o rk s Co ll a te
s . with th is t h e wo r o f k
S t e Cro ix e nt it l e d Mé m o ires p o u r s erv ir a l H is to ire d e la Rel igion
’
.
,
s e cret e d es a ncie ns P eup l es . Pa ris : 1 784 .
I On t h e principl e d m e a ni ng o f t h e po pul a r re l ig io n in Egy pt a nd

an
t h e h ie ro glyph ics co nne cte d with it , co ns ul t G a t t e rer s e s sa y De T h eo

’
g o id
n A e gyp tio ru m in t h e 7 t h v o l a n d h is .
—
e s s ay D em ete mpsycho s i,
ne v er have imposed u p on any p erson who had examined

them by the light o f such knowledge as we still possess of
the ancient E gy p tian history and religion : indeed the ,
gross syncretism in these writings o f E gy p tian doctrines

with those o f the l ater Platonists too manifestl y betrays
th e m as a forgery from the schools o f Al exand ria Forgery .
a p art however t h e substance o f the H ermetic writings dis

, ,
connects them wholl y from masonic obj ects : it consists of a

romantic Theology and T heurgy ; and the w h ole is very
intelligible and far from mysterious W hat is true o f
, .
these H ermetic books is true a fo rt io ri o f al l later writings

,
that p rofess t o del iver the traditional wisdom o f ancient

E gy p t .
3 I f w e l ook to ancient CHAL DE A and PE RS I A for the

.
origin o f these orders we s h al l be as much disapp ointed ,

.
Th e vaunted know l edge o f t h e Chald aeans extended only t o

A stro l ogy the inte rp retation o f dreams and the common
, ,
arts o f j ugglers A s t o th e Persian Magi as we ll before as

.
,
after the introd uction o f the doctrine o f Z oroaster they ,
were sim ply the depositaries o f religious ideas and tradi

tions and the organs o f the public worshi p M oreover
, .
,
they composed no s e cret order : but rather constituted the

high est ca s t e o r ra nk in the nation and were recognised by ,
the government as an essential p art o f th e body p olitic In .
succeeding ages the religion o f the M agi passed over t o

many great nations and has supp orted itself up to o ur days
,
.
A nq ue t il d u Perron has collected and p ublished t h e holy
im m o rta li ta tis a nim o rum s ym b o l e A egyp tio in t h e 9 t h v ol . o f t he

G otti nge n Tra nsactio ns
’
T h e pa th o pe ne d b y G a t t e re r h a s b e e n s ince
.
pu r s ue d w it h s u cc e s s b y Do rne d d e n in h is A m enop h is a nd in h is ne w
G
th e o ry fo r t h e expl a natio n o f t h e re cian Myth o l o gy ; 1 8 0 2 Co nsult .
l
a so Vo g el
’
s E ssay on t h e Re ig l io n of i t y
t h e Anc e n Eg pt ia ns a nd the
G reek s . 4t o . N ure m b e rg ; 1 7 9 3 .
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F R E E M A S ON S .
books in which it is contained B u t no doctrine o f t h e

.
Z e nd a v e s t a is p resented as a mystery ; nor could any o f

those doctrines from their very nature have been presented
, ,
as such . U ndoubte dly among the R osicrucian titles o f

honour we find that o f Magu s : but with them it simply
designates a man o f rare knowledge in p hysics espe
cia ll
y in A lchemy T hat the
. ancient M agi in the age
immediately before and after the birth o f Christ attempted ,
the transmutation o f metals is highly improbable : that

,
idea there is reason t o bel ieve fi r

, st began t o influence the
,
course o f chemical pursuits amongst the A rabian students

o f natural p hilosophy and medicine .
4 Th e p retensions o f the D E RVI SH E S and B RA H MI NS o f

.
A sia es p ecial ly o f H indostan t o be the fathers o f the

, ,
t wo orders need no examination as they a re still more

, ,
ground l ess than those which have been j ust noticed .
5 A littl e before and after the bi rt h o f Christ there arose

.
in E gy p t and Pal estine a J ewish religious sect w h ich S plit ,
into t wo divisions—the E s s e ne s and the T H E RA PEU TE .
T heir h i sto ry and an account o f their p rinci ples may be

found in J ose phus and more fully in Ph ilo who p robably
, ,
himself bel onged t o th e T hera p eutae Th e difference

between the two sects consisted in this—that the E ssenes
.
looked u p on practica l morality and religion as the main

business o f life whe reas the Thera p eutae attached them
,
selves more to p hilosop hic s p eculations and p laced the ,
essence o f religion in the contemplation and reverence o f

the deity T hey dwelt in hermitages gardens villages and
.
, , ,
cottages shunning the u p roar o f crowds and cities W ith

,
.
them arose the idea o f monkish life which has subsisted to ,
this day though it has received a mortal shock in o ur

,
revo l utiona ry times T o these t wo syste ms have been

.
traced the R osicrucians and Freemasons N o w with out .

,
1 72 R OS ZCR U CJA N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
ente ring minutely into their history it is su fficient for the ,
o v erthrow of such an hypothesis to cite the following prin

c ipl e s common to both the E ssenes and the T hera p eut ae .
First they rej ected as morally unlawful all distinction o f

,
ranks in civil society Secondly they made no mystery of

.
,
their doctrines T hirdly they admitted t o their com

.
,
munion persons o f either sex Fourthly though not .

,
perem p torily enjoini ng celibacy they held it t o be a more

,
holy state than that of marriage Fifthly t hey disallowed .

,
o f oaths Sixthly they had nothing symbolic in t heir

.
,
worshi p o r ritual If it should be obj ected t hat the Free

.
masons talk much o f the rebuilding o f S olomon s T emple ’

,
and refer some o f their legends to this speculation I ,

-
answer that the E ssenes and T herap eutae either were

Christians o r continued J ews until by little and little their
,
sects exp ired N o w to the Christians the r ebuil d ing o f the

.
T emple must have been an obj ect of perfect indi fference ;

and to the J ews it must have been an important obj ect in
the literal sense B ut with the Freemasons it is a mere
.
figure under which is represented the secret p urpose o f the

society ; why this image was selected will be satisfactorily
accounted for further on .
6 Th e A RAB S who step forth upon the stage of history

.
,
in the se v enth century after Christ have as little concern ,
with the origin o f these orders T hey were originally a .
nomadic people that rapidly became a conquering nation

not less from the weakness o f their neighbours than their
o wn courage and religious fanaticism T hey advanced no t .
less rapidly in their intellectual conquests ; and these they

owe d chiefly to their Grecian m asters who had themsel v es ,
at that time grea t ly degenerated from the refinement o f

their ancestors Th e sciences in which the A rabs made
.
original d isco v eries and in which next after the Greeks

, , ,
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 173
they have been the i nstructors of the m oderns were ,
M athematics A stronomy A strology M edicine M ateria

, , , ,
M edica and Chemistry,

N o w it is very possible that from
.
t h e A rabs may ha v e originally p rocee d ed the conceit of

physical mysteries without aid o f magic su ch as the art o f ,
’
gold making the invention o f a panacea the philosopher s
-
, ,
S tone and other chim aeras o f alc h emy which afterwards

,
h aunted the heads o f the R osicrucians and the elder Free

masons But o f Cabbalism and T heosophy which occupied
. .
,
both sects in their earl y period the A rabs as M ahometans ,
could know nothing A nd if those sects had been derived

.
,
from an A r abian stock how comes it that at this day i n ,
most parts o f E urope (and until lately e v erywhere ) a

M ahometan candidate would be rej ected by both o f t hem ?
An d how comes it that in no M ahometan country at this
time are there any remains o f either ?
I n general t h en I a fli rm as a fact established u p on
, ,
h istorical research that before the beginning o f the seven ,
t e e nt h century no traces are t o be met with o f the

,
R osicrucian o r M asonic orders A nd I challenge any .
antiqu arian t o contradict me Of course I do not speak o f .
individual and insulated A depts Cabbalists T heosophists , , ,
etc who doubtless existed much earlier N a y I do no t

.
, .
,
deny that in elder writings mention is made o f the ro s e and

the cro ss as symbols o f A lchemy and Cabbalism Indeed it is .
,
notorious that in the sixteenth century M artin L uther used

both symbols o n his seal and many Protestant di v ines have
imitated him in thi s S emler it is true has brought
.
, ,
together a great body o f data from which he deduces the
antiquity *
conclusion that the R osicr ucians were of very high
B ut all o f them p rove nothi ng m ore than
.
Se e So l o m o n Se m l e r s I m pa rt ia l Co lle ct io ns fo r t h e h is t o ry o f t h e
’
Ro s icrucia ns I n Fo ur Pa rts 8 v o
. L e ipz ig : 1 7 8 6 8
, .
-
.
w hat I wil l ingly concede : A lchemis ts Cabbal ists and , ,
deal ers in th e Black A rt t h ere wer e unquestionably before

,
the seventeenth century ; bu t no t Ro s icrucia ns a nd Free

m a s o ns co nnect ed i nto a s ecre t s o ciety a nd dis t ing u ish e d
by tho s e cha ra ct eris t i cs which I ha v e a ss igned i n t he fi rs t
ch a p t er .
One fact has been al l eged from E ccl esiastica l H istory

as p ointing to t h e orde r o f R osicrucians In 1 58 6 the .
M i li tia cru cifera ev a ng eli ca assemb l ed at L unenburg : the

p ersons com p osing this body h ave been rep resented as R osi
crucians ; but in fact they were not h ing more than a
Protestant sect h eated by a p ocaly p tic dreams ; and the
obj ect o f the assemb l age a pp ears t o have been excl usivel y
connected with rel igion Our chief knowledge o f it is .
derived from the work o f Simon S t ud io n a mystic and ,
Theoso p hist entitl ed N a o m etri a and written about the

, ,
year 1 60 4 Th e aut h or was born at U rach a l ittl e town

.
,
o f W irt e m b e rg ; in 1 56 5h e received the degree o f M aster

o f A rts at T ubingen ; and soon after settled at M arbach ,
not far from L o uisb e rg in the capacity o f teac h er H is

, .
l abours in A lchemy brought him into great embarrassment ;

N a o m e t ria *
and his heretical nove l ties into all kinds o f trouble H is
which is a tissue o f dreams and all egories
,
.
relating to the cardinal event s of the world and to the mys

t e rie s o f S cripture as well as of extern a l nature from its
,
Th e ful l t itl e of th is unprinte d a nd curio us b o o k is th i s

“
NA OME TR I A , s e u nud a e t prim a l ib ri intus e t fo ris s cript i pe r
, ,
cl a v e m Da v idis e t ca l a m u m ( irg es s im il e m ) v a
pe rt io in q uo no n t a n
t um a d co g no s ce nd a t am S . S criptures t o t ius, q ua m t
na ura q q
uo ue
u niv e rs es , m y st e ria , v fit
b re is int ro d uc t io — v erum e tia m Pro gno s t icus
( i
s t e l l ael l ins m a t ut inas , Anno Do m in i 1 57 2 , co ns pe ct ae d u e t u) d e m o n
s t ra t ur Ad v e nt us ill e Ch risti a nte d ie m no v is sim um s e cund us

p e r q
ue m h o m ine pecca ti (Pa péi) cum fil io s uo pe rd it io nis ( Ma h o
v
m e t o ) d iv init us d e a sta to , ipse e ccl e sia m sua m e t principa t us m und i
creation t o its im p ending destruction contains a great deal ,
o f mysticism and prophecy abou t the rose and the cross .
B ut the whole has a religious meaning and the fu nd us o f

his ideas and his imagery is manifestl y the A po ca lyse o f S t .
J ohn N o r is there any p assage o r ph rase in his work upon

.
which an argumen t can be built fo r connecting him with

the R osicrucians w hich wou l d no t equally ap ply to Philo
the Al exandrian t o J ohn Picus o f Mira nd ul a to R euchlin
, , ,
t o George o f V enice to Francis Patrick and to all other

, ,
Cabbalists T heosophists M agicians and A lchemists

, , , .
Of the alleged connection between the T emplars and the

Rosicrucians o r more p roperly with the Freemasons
, ,
which connection if established would undoubtedly assign

a much earlier date t o the origin o f both orders —
, ,
I shall ,
have oc ca sion t o s p eak in another p ar t o f my inquiry .
res t a ura b it , u t po st h a c sit cum o il i pa s t o r unus

in us v
I n cruciferce .
m il itee E va ngelism gra t ia m Auth o rs Sim o ne Studio u s i nte r Sco r

.
p io ne s. A nn o An a no nym o us writ e r on t h e Ro s icrucia ns in

t h e Wirt e m b e rg Ma ga zi ne (N o . 3, p
. 52 3 ) a nd t he l ea rne d Vo n Murr
in h is tre a tise upo n t h e t ru e o rigin o f t h e Ro s icrucia ns a nd Free m as o ns ,
prin te d a t S a lz b a ch in t h e y ea r 1 8 03 , h v
a e co nfo und e d t h e wo rd
Na o m e t ria (Na o nerpca ) temp l e m ea s uring, wit h N e o m e t ria (N e ouerpra )

-
N ew a rt of m ea su ring, a s th o ugh St ud io n h a d wri t te n a ne w ge o m e try .
By t h e Te m pl e , inne r a nd o ute r, S t ud io n m e a ns t h e H o ly Scripture s

a nd N a ture —t h e li b e r intus e t fo ris s criptus o f wh ich S t o h n s a ys
, . J
v
in t h e Re e l a tio ns I s a w o n t h e righ t o f h im wh o s a t o n t h e t hro ne
a b oo k writ te n within a nd wit h o ut, a nd gua rd e d wit h se e n seal s, e t c v .
1 7s R OS I CA U CI A N S A N D F RE E
’
MA s o zvs .
C H A PT E R I I I .
OF THE I
C RCU MSTA N
CE S W H I CH GAVE THE F I RST OCCAS O I N
TO TH E I
R SE OF TH E I
R OS CRU C A N I OR D E R AN D O T H E
,
F
E A RL I E ST A U T H E NT C RE COR I DS OF H I ST ORY W H I CH R E L A TE
TO I T .
T OWAR the end o f the sixteenth century —Cabbalism

DS , ,
T heosophy and A l chemy had overspread the w hole of

,
W estern E uro p e and especially o f Germany

, T o this .
m ania which infected all classes —high and low l earned

, ,
and unlearned —no writer had contributed so much as

T heophrastus Paracelsus H o w general was the di ffusion
.
,
and h o w great the influence o f the writings of this extra

ord inary man (fo r such amidst all his follies he must ever
, ,
be accounted in the annals o f the human mind ) may be ,
seen in the l ife of J acob B ehmen Of the many Cabbalistic .
conceits d rawn from the Prophetic books of the Old T esta

ment and still more from the R evelations o ne o f the
, ,
principal and most interesting was this —that in the se v en

t e e nt h century a great and general reformation was believed
to be impending over the human race as a necessary fore ,
runner to the d a y o f j udgment W hat connects this very .
general belief with the present inquiry is the circumstance

of Paracelsus having represented the comet which appeared
in 1 57 2 as the sign a nd harbi nger of the approaching revo
l u t io n and thus fixed u pon it the expectation and des i re o f
,
a world o f fanatics A nother p rophecy o f Paracelsus which

.
,
created an equ a l interest was that soon after the decease, ,
o f the E mperor R udolph there wou l d be found three ,

treasures that had never been re v ealed before that time .
N o w in the year 1 61 0 or thereabouts there were published

, ,
simultaneously three books the substance o f which it is

,
important in this place to examine because these books in , ,
a v ery strange way led to the foundation o f the R osicrucian

,
ord er as a d istinct society .
T h e first is so far worthy o f notice as it was connected

with the two others and furnished something like an intro
,
duction to them I t is entitled Univ ers a l Refo rm a tio n of

.
t h e wh o le wi d e wo rld and is a tale not without some wit

,
and humour Th e Seven W ise M e n o f Greece together

.
,
with M Cato and Seneca and a secretary named M a z z o niu s

.
, ,
are summoned to D elphi by A pollo at the desire of the

E m p eror J ustini an a nd there deliberate o n th e best mode
,
o f redressing human misery A ll sorts o f strange schemes

.
are p ro p osed Thales advised to cut a h ole in every man s

.
’
breast and place a little window in it by which means it ,
would become possible to look into the heart to d etect ,
hypocrisy and vi ce and thus t o extinguish it S ol on pro

, .
poses an equal p artition o f a ll p ossessions and wealth .
Chilo s Opinion is —that the readiest way to the end in v ie w

’
would be to banish o ut o f the world the two infamous a nd

ra scal ly metals gold and silver K l e o b ul u s steps forward
,
.
as the apologist o f gold and si l ver but thinks that iron ,
ought t o be prohibited because in that case no more wars

,
could be carried o n amongst men Pittacus insists upon .
more rigorous laws which should make virtue and merit

,
the sole passports to ho nour to which howe v er Perian d er , ,
obj ects that there had never been any scarcity of such laws ,
nor o f princes to execute them but scarcity enough o f sub

,
c t s conformable to good laws T h e conceit o f B ias is

j e .
,
that nations should be kep t a p ar t from each other and each ,
confined to its o wn home ; and for this purp ose that all , ,
12
1 78 130 51 0 1?U CI A N S A N D F R E EMA S ON S .
bridges sho ul d be demolished mountains rendered ins u r,
m ountable and na v igation totally forbid d en

, Cato who .
,
seems to be the wisest o f the party wishes that G o d in his ,
mercy would be pleased to wash away all women from the

earth by a ne w deluge and at the same time to intro d uce
*
,
some ne w arrangement for the continuation o f the excellent

male sex without female hel p U pon this pleasing and
.
s ensible pro p osal the whole company manifest the greatest
displeasure and deem it so abominable that they unani

,
m o usl y prostrate themselves o n the ground and devoutly

pray to God that H e would graciously v ouchsafe to pre
” “
serve the lovely race of wome n (what absurdity and to
save the world from a second del uge A t l ength after a.
,
long debate the counsel o f Seneca p revails which counsel

is this —That o u t o f all ranks a society should be com p osed
,
having for its obj ect the general welfare o f mankind and ,
pursuing it in secret T his counsel is ado p ted : though

.
without much ho p e o n the part o f the dep utation o n ,
“ ”
account o f the desperate condition o f the A ge who ,
appears before them in person and describes his o wn ,
wretched state o f health .
T h e second work gi v es an account o f such a society as

already estab l ished : this is the celebrated work entitled
F a ni a F ra ternit a tis of t h e m eri t o ri o us o rd er of t h e R o s y
Cro ss, a d d resse d t o t he l ea rned i n g enera l, a nd t he G o v erno rs
I n which wish he se e m s to ha v e a nt icipa e dt th e Mil t o nic Ad a m

0 wh y d id G o d ,
Crea t o r wise , th a t peo pl e d h igh e st He a e n v
W ith s pirits m a scul ine, cre a t e a t l a s t
v
T h is no el ty o n e a rth , t h is fa ir d e fe ct
Of na ture , a nd no t fill t h e wo rl d a t o nce
Wit h Me n, a s Angel s , wit h o ut fe m inine
Or find s o m e o th er wa y t o ge ne ra t e
k
Ma n ind ”
.
—
P L , Bo o. . k! .
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E /WA S ON S . 1 79
o
f E u rope ; and here we are presented with the following
narrati v e z—Christian R o sycro s s o f noble descent ha v ing , ,
upon his t ravels into the E ast and into A frica l earned great
mysteries from A rabians Chaldea ns etc upon his return
, ,
.
,
to G ermany established in some place not mentioned a

, ,
secret society com p osed at first o f four— afterwards o f eight

—members who dwelt together in a building called the
,
H ouse o f the H oly G host erected by him : to these per

,
sons under a v o w of fidelity and secrecy b e communicated

, ,
his mysteries A fter they had been instructed the society

.
,
dispersed agreeably to their destination with the exception ,
o f t wo members who remained alternately wi t h the founder

, .
Th e rules o f the order were these — “

Th e members were
t o cure the sick without fee o r reward N o member to .
wear a peculiar habit but t o dress after the fashion o f the

,
country On a certain day in every year all the members to

.
assemble in the H ouse o f the H oly Ghost o r t o account fo r ,
their absence E very member to appoint some p erson with

.
the proper qualifications t o succeed him at his o w n decease .
Th e word Ro s y Cro ss t o be their seal watchword and char

-
, ,
a c t e ris t ic mark T h e association to be kept unrevealed for

.
a hundred years Christian R o sy cro s s died at t h e age o f

.
1 0 6 years H is death was kno wn t o the society but no t his

.
,
g rave ; f o r it was a maxim o f the first R osicrucians t o conceal
their burial places even from each other N e w masters were

-
.
continually elected into the H ouse o f the H oly Ghost and the ,
society had now lasted 1 2 0 years A t the end o f this period a

.
door was discovered in the house and upon the Opening o f ,
this door a se p ulchral vault U pon the door was this inscrip
.
tion : One hundred and twenty years hence I shall o p en

e vault was a h eptagon
( P o s t C ! ! .a nno s pa te bo
) T h . .
E v ery side was five feet broad and eight feet high It was .
i lluminated by an artificial sun In the centre was placed .

,
1 80 [60 51 67 8 U CI A N S A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
instead o f a grave stone a circular altar with a little plate of

-
brass whereon these words were inscribed : This gra v e an

, ,
abstract o f the whole world I m ade for myself while yet ,
l iving (A C R C H o c U ni v ersi compendium v i v us mihi

. . . .
s e pul ch ru m feci
) A bout. the margin was — T o me J esus is
all in all J es us mihi omnia ) I n the centre were four .
figu res enclosed in a circle by this revolving legend

N e q u a qu a m vacuum legis jugum L ibertas E v a nge lii D e i . .
gloria intacta (T h e empty v oke of the law is made void T h e

. .
l iberty of the gosp el T h e unsullied glory o f God ) E ach of

. .
the se v en sides of the vault had a door opening into a chest

which chest besides the secret books of the order and the
,
V o ca bu l a ri u m o f Paracelsus contained also mirrors — little

,
bells—burning lam p s —marvel l ous m echanisms o f music ,
etc all so contrived that after the lapse o f many centuries

.
, , ,
if the whole order should have p erished it might be ,
re established by means o f this vault

-
U nder the altar .
,
upon raising the brazen tablet the brothers found the body ,
o f R o s cro s s without taint o r corruption T h e right h and

y ,
.
held a book written upon vellu m with golden letters : this

book w hich is called T has since become the most p recious
,
.
,
j ewel of the society next after the B ible and at the end
stand subscribed the name s o f the eight brethren arranged ,
in two separate circles who were presen t at the death and

,
burial of Father R o sy cro s s I mmediately after the above .
narrati v e follows a declaration of their mysteries addressed ,
by t h e society to the whole world T hey profess themsel v es .
to be of the Protestant faith that they honour the

E mperor and the laws of the E mpire ; and that t h e art of
gold making is but a slight b
obj ect with them and a mere ,
wa pepy o v . T h e whole w o rk ends with these words : “

Our
H ouse of the H oly Ghost though a hundred thousand men ,
s hould h a v e l ooked u p on it is yet destined to re ,

untouched imperturbable o ut of sight and unrevealed to

, , ,
the whole godless world for ever .
Th e third book whic h originally a pp eared in L atin wit h

,
the title —Co nfessi o Fra terni ta tis R o s ece Cru cis a d E ru d i t o s
E w op w—contains nothing more than general explanations
upon the obj ect and Sp irit of the order I t is added that .
the order has di fferent degrees ; that not only p rinces men ,
o f rank rich men and learned men but also mean and
, , ,
inconsiderab l e persons are admitted to their communion ,
provided they have pure and disinterested purposes and ,
are able and willing to exert themsel ves for the ends o f the
institution t hat the order has a peculiar language that it
is p ossessed o f more gol d and silver than the whole world
beside could yield ; that it is not this howe v er but true , ,
p hil oso phy which is the obj ect o f their labours

, .
Th e fi rst question which arises on these

three works the
l Ref m ti n—t h e F m ra erni t a t is—and the
*
,
Univ e sa r or a o a a F t
Co nfessio Fra t erni ta tis is this from what quarter d o they ,
proceed ? Th e re p uted auth or was J ohn V alentine A ndre a ,
a celebrated th eologian o f W irt e m b e rg known also as a ,
Th e l t
e a r ies tio n o f t h ese wo rk s wh ich I h ave se e n is t h a t o f
edi
1 6 1 4 print e d a t Ca ssel in 8 v c wh ich is in t h e W o l fe nb ii t t e l l ib ra ry

, , ,
b ut in th is t h e Confess io is wa nti ng Fro m a pa ssa ge in t h i s e d it io n

.
,
it a ppea rs th a t t h e Fer /m a F ra ternit at is h a d b e e n re ce ive d in t h e Tyro l
a s e a rly as 1 6 1 0 in m a nuscrip t a s t h e pa ss a ge a ll ege s

, , b ut t h e wo rd s
s e e m t o im ply t h a t printe d co pie s we re in e xis t e nce e ve n b e fo re 1 6 1 0 .
I n t h e y e a r 1 6 1 5 a ppe a re d Se cre t io ris Ph il o so ph ies Co ns id e ra t io a

“
Ph ilippo a G a b el l a Ph il o so ph ies stud io so co ns cripta

, e t nunc
p ri m um
,
una cu m Co nfe s sio ns Fra t e rnit a t is Ro s Crucis in l a ce m e d it a . .
Ca ssel l is : excud G We s se lius A

. . I n t h e v e ry s a m e y e a r a t
, .
,
F nk furt o n t h e Ma yne was print e d b y J o h n Be rne r a n e d it io n o f

ra - -
a ll t h e t h re e wo rks —t h e Co nfe ssio in a G e rm a n t ra nsl a t io n

, ,
I n t h is .
y a r a l so a ppe a re d a D ut c h t ra nsl a t io n o f a l l th re e
e a co py o f wh ich
is in t h e t t inge n l ib ra ry Th e s e co nd Fra nk furt e diti o n wa s

.
R OS I CE U CI A N S A N D F R E E /11A S ON S
’
1 82 .
satirist and a poet and in our days revived into notice by

,
th e late illustrious H erder Others have disputed his

.
claim t o these works and B urke has excluded them from

h is catalogue o f A ndrea s writings I shall attempt ’
.
,
however t o prove that he was the true author A ndre a

, .
was born in 1 58 6 at H errenberg a little town o f W irt e m

, ,
berg and was the grandson o f the Chancellor J acob A ndre a

, ,
so deservedly ce l ebrated for his services to the churc h o f
W irt e m b e rg From his father the A bbot of K Onigs b ro nn

.
, ,
he received an excellent education which his o wn extra ,
ordinary thirst for kno wl edge l ed him to turn to the best

account . B esides H ebrew Greek and L atin (in which
, ,
languages he was distinguished for the elegance o f his s t yle ) ,
h e made himsel f master o f the French I talian and Sp anis h , ,
was wel l ve rsed in M athematics N atural and Civil H istory , ,
Geogra phy and H istorica l Genealogy without at al l

, ,
neglecting h is p rofessional study of divinity Very early

.
in life he seems to have had a dee p sens e of the evils and

abuses o f the times—not s o much the p olitical abuses as ,
those in philoso ph y mora l s and rel igion T hese it seems

, ,
.
that he sought to redress by the agency o f secret societies

o n what motives and arg uments he has no t to l d us in the
record o f his own life which he left behind him in M S

,
,
.
*
B ut the fact is certain : for as early as his sixteenth year
h e had written his Chem ica l N up tia ls of Chris tia n Ro sy cro ss -
his J u liu s s iv e de Po li tia his Co ndem na tio n of A s tro lo gy

, ,
fo ll owe d b y a th ird in 1 6 1 6 e nl a rge d b y t h e a d d itio n o f s o m e l e t te rs

,
a d d re s se d t o t h e b ro th e rh o o d o f t h e R Cro ss . Oth er e d iti o ns fo ll o we d

.
in t h e ye a rs im m e d ia tely s uccee d ing ; b u t th e se it is unne ce ssa ry t o

no t ice . I t
n h e t it l e a
p g
-
e o f t h e t h ird F r a n k fur t e d iti o n s ta nd s —F irs t
p r in ted a t C a s s e l i n t h e y ea r 1 6 1 6 Bu t. t h e fo u r fi r s t w o rd s a pply t e
t h e o rigina l e d it io n . T h e fo ur l a st t o t h is .
T h is is writte n in L a tin A G e rm a n t ra nsl a tio n wil l b e fo und i n

.
t h e se co nd b o o k o f Se yb ol d s Auto b io g ra ph ies o f Cel e b ra te d Me n

’
.
with other works of the same tendency B etween the
*
.
years 1 60 7 and 1 6 1 2 A ndre a travelled extensively in south

and west Germany S witzerland France and Italy ,
In , , .
the succeeding years he made short excursions almost

annually : after the opening o f the T hirty Y ears W a r he ’
still continued this practice and in the very midst o f that

great storm of wretchedness and confusion which then
swept over Germany he exerted himself in a way which is ,
“ ”
truly astonishing to heal the sorrow o f the times by ,
estab l ishing schools and religious worship —and by p ro

a a t in
p g g the L utheran faith through B ohemia M oravia , ,
Carinthia etc E ven to this day his country owes t o his

, .
restless activity and enlightened p atriotism many great

blessings A t S tuttgart where he was at length a pp ointe d
.
,
chaplain t o the court he met with so much thwarting and ,
p ersecution that with his infirm constitution o f body and

, ,
dej ection o f mind fro m witnessing the desolation o f Germany ,
it is no t t o be wondered that he became weary o f life and ,
sank into dee p despondency and misanthro p y In this condi .
tion he requested leave in 1 6 4 6 t o resign his office ; this was

, ,
at first refused with many testimonies o f res p ect by E ber

, ,
hard the then D uke o f W irt e m b e rg ; but o n the urgent

,
repetition o f his request he was removed t o the A bbey o f

B ebenhausen — and shortly afterwards was made A bbot
o f A delberg I n the year 1 6 5
. 4 after a long and painful ,
sickness he departed this life On the day o f his death he

,
.
dictated a letter to his friend and benefactor A ugustus , ,
D uke o f B runswick W o l fe nb ii t t e l H e made an e fl o rt to

’
-
.
Tra v lling w
e as tim e so expe nsive fo r l ea rne d m e n a s it
no t at th at
no w is . Ma ny s ch o l a rs tra v e ll e d o n t h e sa m e pl a n a s is no w purs ue d
b y t h e j o urne y m e n a rt is a ns o f G e rm a ny—exe rcising t h e ir pro fe s
s io u a l k no wl e d ge a t e ve ry s t a ge o f t h e i r j o u rne a nd t h u s a inin a
y g ,g
re s pe ct a b l e l ive l ih o o d .
1 84 130 51 0 13U CI A N S A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
sign it ; wrote th e t wo first l etters o f his name : and in t h e ,
act o f writing t h e t h ird he ex p ired From a cl ose review

, .
o f his l ife and o p inions I am not only satisfied t h at A ndre a

,
wrote the three works which laid the foundation o f R osi

c ru cia nis m but I see clearl y wh y he wrote th em Th e
, .
evils o f Germany were then enormous ; and the necessity

o f some great reform was universally admitted As a .
young man without ex p erience A ndre a imagined that this

‘ ‘
.
,
reform woul d be easily accomplish ed H e had the example .
o f L uther before him the heroic reformer o f the p receding

,
century whose memory was yet fresh in Germany and

, ,
whose labours seemed o n the point o f p erishing unless

supported by corres p onding efforts in the existing genera
t ion T o organise these e fforts and direct them t o p ro p er
.
obj ects he p roj ected a society compos e d o f the noble t h e

intellectu al the enl igh tene d and the learned —whic h h e
, ,
, ,
hoped to see moving as under the influence o f o ne soul

, ,
towards the redressing o f p ublic evils U nder this hop e it .
was that h e tra v elled so much : seeking everywhere no ,
doubt for the coadj utors and instruments o f his designs

, .
T hese designs he p resented originally in the shape o f a

proj ect for a R osicrucian society ; and in th is p articu l ar
p roj ect he intermi ngled some features that were at variance
with its gravity and really eleva t ed p urposes Y oung a s .
he was at that time A ndre a kne w that men o f various

,
tem p ers and characters could not be brought t o co o p erate -
steadily for any obj ect so purely disinteres t ed as the eleva

tion o f human nature he therefore address e d them through
the common foible o f their age by ho l ding o u t promises o f,
occult knowledge which should invest it s possessor with

authority over the powers o f n a ture should lengthen his ,
life o r raise h im from the dust of poverty t o wealth and

,
high station I n a n age o f Theosophy Ca bbalism and

.
, ,
A lchemy , he knew that the popular ear would be caught by

an account issuing nobody knew whence of a secret society
, ,
that professed t o be the d epository o f Oriental mysteries ,
and t o have lasted for two centuries M any would seek

.
to connect the m sel ves with such a society : from thes e

candidates he might graduall y sel ect the members o f the
real society w hich he proj ected Th e pretensions o f the
.
ostensible society were indee d illusions ; but before they ,
could be detec t ed as such by the new proselytes t hose ,
p roselytes would become connected with himself and (as ,
he hoped moulded to nobler aspirations On this v ie w of .
A ndre a s real inten t ions we understand at once the ground

’
,
o f the contradictory language which he held about astrology
and the transmutation o f metals h is satirical works show

that he looked through t h e follies o f his age with a pene
t ra t ing eye . H e speaks with toleration then o f these follies
-
as an exoteric concession t o the age he condem ns them
in h is o wn esoteric c h aracter as a religious phil osopher .
W ishing t o conci l iate prej udices he does not forbear t o ba it

,
his schemes with these delusions : but he is careful t o let

us kno w that they are with h is society mere d epya or .
collatera l p ursuits the direct and main o ne being true

,
p hilosophy and religion M eantime in opposition t o the

.
,
claims of A ndre a it has been asked why he did not a v ow

,
the three books as his o wn composition I answer that to .

,
ha v e d one so at first would have defeated the scheme .
A fter wards he had still better reasons fo r disa v owing them .
I n whate v er way he meant t o ha v e published the works it ,
is clear that they were in fact printed without his consent .
A n uproar o f hostility and suspicion followed the publica

tion which made it necessary for the author to lie hid If
,
.
he would no t risk his o wn safety and make it impossible

,
fo r h is p rojects to s ucceed under any other shap e the ,

186 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E AI A S ON S .
author was calle d on to diso wn t h em A ndrea did s o : and .

,
as a susp ected person he even j oined in p ublic the party

o f those who ridicu l ed the whole as a chimera
,
M ore .
*
privately howe v er and in his posthumous memoirs of
, ,
himself we find that he nowhere disavows the works

, .
Indeed the bare fact o f h is b eing confessedly the author

,
“ ”
of T h e Chemical N uptials o f Christian R o sycro s s
—a hero never before heard o i—is alone su ffi cient
to vindicate his claim B ut further if A nd re s: were
’
.
,
not the author who was ? H eidegger in his H is to ria

, ,
Vi ta: J o L u do v F a bricii maintains that J ung the cele

. .
, ,
b ra t e d mathematician o f H amburg founded the sect o f ,
R osicrucians and wrote th e Ra m a but o n what ground ?

S imply o n the authority o f A lbert Fabricius who re ,
p orted the story in casual conversation as derived from

a secretary o f the court o f H eidelberg (Se e the A cta .
E ru dit o rum L ips ie nsia 1 6 9 8 p age Others ha ve ,
brought forward a claim fo r Giles Gutmann supported ,
by no oth er argument than that he was a disting uished

mystic in that age o f mysticism .
M o rh o f (Po l yh is t I p 1 3 1 ed L ub e cas 1 7 3 2 ) has a

. . .
,
.
,
remark which if true m ight leave A ndre a in possession

' '
.
, ,
o f the authorship without therefore ascribing to him any

,
influence in the formation o f the R osicrucian order :

” “
“
Fuere says he,
non pris cis tantum s e culis collegia
,
talia occulta sed e t superiori seculo

,
sexto decimo) -
”
de Fra t e rnit a t e R osees Crucis fama pe rcre b uit A ccord .
ing to this remark the order existed in the sixteenth

,
v
I n t h e m id st o f his rid icul e , h o we e r, it is e a sy t o d is co e r t h e v
to ne o f a writ e r wh o is l a ugh ing no t with t h e l a ugh e rs b ut a t t h e m .
A nd re a l a ugh e d a t th o s e fo l l ies o f t h e s ch e m e wh ich h e we ll ne w k

t h a t t h e ge ne ra l fo l ly o f t h e a g e h a d co m pe ll e d h im t o int e rwe a e wit h v
it a ga ins t h is o wn b e tte r j udgm e n t
.
century that is before the year

, ,
now if so the , ,
three books in question are not to be considered as an

anticipation o f the order but as its history H ere ,
.
,
then the question arises

,
W a s the brotherhood of
R osicrucians as described in these books an historical
, ,
matter o f fact o r a romance ? T hat it was a pure romantic

,
fiction might be shown by arguments far more than I can

admit T h e Univ ers a l R efo rm a tio n (the first o f the three
.
’
works ) was borrowed from the Generale R iforma dell
U ni v erso dai sette Sa v ii della Grecia e da altri L e tterati ,
a t a di ordine di A p ollo
”
p ub l ic which occurs in the R a u
g ya ,
lio d i Pa rna s s o o f B occ al ini I t is true that the earliest .
edition o f the R a gu a glio which I have seen bears the date , ,
o f 1 61 5 in M i la no
( ) but there was an edition o f the first
Centu ri a in 1 6 1 2 I ndeed B occalini himself was cu d gelled

.
,
to death in 1 61 3 (Se e Ma z z uche lli —S crittori d I t a l ia v o l ’

, .
ii p iii p
. . . . A s t o the F a m a which properly con ,
tains the pretended history o f the order it teems with ,
internal arguments against itself Th e H ouse o f the H oly .
G host exists for two centuries and is seen by nobody ,

.
Father R o sycro s s dies and none o f the order even knew ,
where he was buried ; and yet afterwards it appears that

eight brothers witnessed his death and his burial He .
builds himself a magnificent sepulchre with elaborate ,
symbolic decorations ; and yet fo r 1 2 0 years it remains

undiscovered T h e society o ffers its treasures and its
.
m ysteries to the world ; and yet no reference to place
o r person is assigned to direct the inquiries of applicants .
Wh ich pte d b y m a ny l e a rne d : ’

h as b e e n ado of t he Arno l d s
se e
Hist . o f the Ch urch a nd of He re tics , b o o k ii p 2 4 5

. . . Bruck e ri His t .
Crit Ph il o so ph ies , t o m
. . iv . 7 3 5 sq, . N ico l a i o n t h e c h a rg es a g a i ns t
t h e Te m p l a rs
t i p 1 64
, pa r . . . He rd e r s L e t t e rs
'
on N ico l a i s
’
wo rk in
the G e rm a n Me rcury fo r 1 7 8 2 .
1 88 R OS / CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E JZA S ON S .
Finall y t o say nothing o f the Vo ca bu la riu m o f Paracelsus

, ,
w h ich m ust have been put in the grave before it existed ,
the R osicr ucians are said t o be Protestants —though founded

upwards o f a century before the R eformation In short .
,
the fiction is monstrous and betrays itself in every circum

,
stance W hosoever was its author must be l ooked upon as

.
the founder in e ffect o f t h e R osicrucian order inasmuch as ,

’
this fiction was the accidental occasion o f such an order s
being really founded That A ndre s: was that author I
'
shall no w p rove by o ne argument : It is a presum p tive

argument but in my o p inion conclus ive : The a rm o ria l
,
bea ring s of A nd rea s fa m i ly were a S t A nd re w s cro ss a nd

’ ’
.
fo u r ro ses By th e ord er o f the R osy cross h e means

.
-
, ,
therefore an order founded by himse l f

,
”
Ni co l a i s uppo se s th a t t h e rose was a s sum e d a s t h e s y m b o l o f

se crecy, a nd t h e cross t o expre ss t h e s o l e m nity o f t h e o a t h b y wh ich
t h e v o w o f s e cre cy wa s ra t i e d fi
S uch a : a l l ego ri c m e a ning is no t
.
v
inco ns iste nt with t h a t wh ich I h a e a s signed , a nd m a y h a e b e e n a v
s e co nd a r y purpo s e of And re a So m e a ut h o rs ha v insiste d on the
—
. e
wo rd s S u b Um bra A l a ru m t ua ra m Jehov a which sta nd a t t h e e nd o f

t h e F a m a Fra ternita tis , a s furnish ing t h e inita l l e t t e rs o f J oha nnes Va l
A nd re a , S t ip e nd ia ta T u bingens is But o n t h is I h a e no t t h o ug h t it
. v
ne cessa r y to l a y m uch t
s re ss .
130 51 0 13 11 0 1 A N 5 A N D F RE E M A 50 N 5 . 1 89
CH A PTE R I V .
OF TH E I MME D I AT E R E SU L T S OF THE FAMA AN D T H E
CON F ESS I O IN G E RMAN Y .
TH E sensation which was p roduced throughout Germany by

the works in question is su fficiently evidenced by the
repeated editions o f them which app eared between 1 6 1 4
and 1 6 1 7 b ut still more by the prodigious commotion
,
which followed in the lite rary world In the library at G Ot .
tingen there is a body o f letters addressed to the imaginary

ord er o f Father R o sycro ss from 1 6 1 4 to 1 6 1 7 by p ersons
"
o fl e rin
g themse l ves as members T hese letters are
. filled
with complimentary expressions and testimonies o f the
highest res p ect and are all p rinted —the writers alleging
,
that being unacquainted with the address o f the society

,
(as we l l they might ) they,

cou l d not send them through any
other than a p ublic channel A s certificates o f their quali
.
fi ca t io ns most o f the candidates have enclosed s p ecimens of

,
their skill in alc h emy and cabbalism S ome o f the letters .
are signed with initials only o r with fictitious names but

, ,
assign real places o f address Many other literary p ersons

.
there were at that day wh o forbore t o write letters to the

society but threw o ut small pam p hlets containing their
,
Opinions o f the order and o f its place o f residence E ach

,
.
successive writer pretended to be better informed o n that

p oint than all his p redecessors Quarrels arose ; partisans.
started up on all sides ; the uproar and confusion became inde

scribab l e ; cries o f heresy and atheism resounded from every
corner ; some were fo r ca ll ing in the secular p o wer ; and
the more coy ly the invisible society re treated from the
1 90 130 51 0 13 U CI A N 5 A N D F RE E MA 50 N 5 .
public ad v ances so much t h e more eager and amorous were

,
its admirers — and so much the more bloodthi rsty its a nt a g

o nis t s M eantim e t here were s o me who from the beginning
.
h ad escaped the general delusio n ; and there were many who

had gradually recovered from it It was remarked that o f .
the many printed letters to the society though courteously ,
and often learnedly written none had been answered ; and

,
all attempts to penetrate the darkness in which t h e order

wa s shrouded by its unknown memorialist were success
fully b a ffle d H ence arose a susp icion that some bad
.
d esigns lurked under the ostensible p urp oses o f these

mysterious publications : a sus picion which was natur
ally strengthened by what now began to follow M any .
vile im p ostors arose who gave themsel ves o ut for members

,
o f the R osicrucian order ; and u p on the cre dit which

they thus obtained for a season cheated numbers o f their
money by alchemy—o r o f t h eir h eal th by p anaceas T hree
,
in p articu l ar made a great noise at W et zlar at N uremberg , ,
and at A ugsburg : all were p unished by the magistracy ,
o ne lost his ears in running the gaunt l et and o ne was ,
hanged A t this crisis ste p ped forward a powerful writer

.
,
who attacked the su pp osed order with much scorn and

homely good sense T his was A ndre w L ibau H e exposed
. .
the impracticability o f the meditated re formation—the

incredibility o f the legend o f Father R o sycro ss —and the
hollowness o f the p retended sciences which they professed .
H e p ointed the attention o f govern ments to the confusions

which these im p ostures were producing and p redicted from ,
them a renewal o f the scenes which had attended the

fanaticism of the A nabaptists T hese writings (of which t wo
.
were L atin Frankfurt 1 6 1 5 folio—one in German E rfurt

, , , , ,
1 6 1 6 8 v o ) added to others o f the same tendency would

, , ,
p ossibly have l aid the storm by causing the su ppression

ROS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 19 1
of all the R osicrucian books and p retensions : but this

termination o f the m a nia was defeated by two circum
stances : the first was the conduct o f the Paracelsists W ith .
frantic eagerness they had so ught to press into the imaginary

order : but finding themselves l amentably repulsed in all
,
their e fforts at length they p aused and turning suddenly

, ,
round they said to o ne another

,
— “
W hat need to court this
p erverse order any longer ? W e are oursel ves R osicrucians
as t o all the essential marks laid down in the three books .
W e also are holy p ersons o f great knowledge ; we also

m ake gold o r s h all make it
,
we also no doubt give us but , ,
time shall reform the world : external ceremonies are

,
nothi ng substantially it is clear that we are the R osicrucian

U p on this they went o n in numerous books and
”
order .
pamphlets to assert that they were the identical order

instituted by Father R o sycro s s and described in the F a m a
F ra t erni ta tis Th e public mind was now p erfectly dis
.
tracted ; no man knew what t o think ; and the uproar

became greater th an ever Th e other circumstance which .
defeated the tendency o f L ib a u s exertions was the conduct ’

,
o f A ndre a and his friends Clear it is that A ndre a enj oyed

.
the scene of confusion until he began to be sensible that he

,
had called up an apparition which it was beyond his art

to lay W ell knowing that in al l that great crowd o f
.
aspirants who were knocking clam orously fo r admittance

,
into the airy college o f Father R o sy cro ss though o ne and ,
all pretended to be enamoured o f that mystic wisdom he

had promised yet by far the maj ority were in fact
,
enamoured o f that g o ld which he h a d hinted a t —it is

evident that his satirical pro p ensities were violently ”
I ha v et th a t Andre a all ude s t o h is o wn h igh diversio n o n

no d o ub
t h is o cca sio n i n t h e fo ll o wing pas sa ge o f a l a t e r wo rk (M ytho l o gia
Christia na ) wh ich h e print e d a t Stra sb urg in 1 61 9 I t is Tru th (d ie
.
192 130 51 0 13 U CI A N S A N D FRE E MA S ON S .
tickled : and he was willi ng to keep up the hubbub o f

delusion by flinging o u t a couple o f pamphlets amongst
the hungry crowd which tended to amuse them T hey , .
were 1 E pistola ad R e v e re nda m Fra t e rnit a t e m R

,
. .
Crucis F ra nc o f 1 61 3 ; 2 A s se rt io F ra t e rnit a t is R C a
. . . . .
u o d a m F ra t e rn ej u s S ocio carmine expressa Franc 1 6 1 4

q .
, .
which l ast was translated into German in 1 61 6 a nd again ,
in 1 6 1 8 into German rhyme under the title o f A ra

, ,
F oed eris t h e ra pici or A ltar o f the H ea ling Fraternity

,
(the most general abstraction o f the pretensions made for
the R osicrucians being—that they healed bot h the body

and the mind ) Al l this in a you ng man and a professed
.
,
satirist was natural and excusab l e B ut in a fe w years

,
.
A ndre a was shocked to find that the delusion had taken

fi rm root in the p ublic mind Of the many authors who .
wrote with a sincere design to countenance the notion o f a

p retended R osicrucian society I shall here m ention a fe w ,
o f the most memorable —1 A writer calling himself .
J u lia nu s a Ca m pis wrote ex p ressl y to account for the

R osicrucians not revealing t h emselves and not answering ,
the letters addressed to t hem H e was himsel f h e said a .

, ,
member of the order but in all his travels he had met but
three other members there bei ng (as he p resumed ) no more ,
p ersons o n the earth worthy o f being entrusted with its

A le th ia ) wh o is s pe a k ing Pl a nis s im e nih il c um h a c Fra t e rnit a t e
( se . Ro s . Crucis ) co m m une h ab s o . Na m , c um pa ul l o a nt e l us um
q u e nd am inge nio s io re m pe rso na t us a l i uis

q (no d o ub t h im se l f) in
l it e ra rio fo ro a ge re v lle et —nih il m o ta s um l ib el is int e r se co nfl ict a n
t ib us ; s e d v e l ut in s ce nic pro d e unt e s h is t rio ne s no n s ne v o l upta t e i

Spe ct a v i
”
—L i e Miss in h er Tee ns (in t h e e xce l e n fa rce o f a rric )
. k l t G k
wh o so m uch en o j ys
t h e pro s pe ct ofa b a t t l e b e t we e n h e r t wo l o ve rs ,
And r a— e ins t e a d o f ca m ing t h e l tum ult wh ich h e h a d ca use d -

wa s
d ispo se d at fi t
rs to cry o ut to t h e a ng ry po l e m ics h im ,
Capt a in Fl ash ; d o , — t i k h im
s c , Ca pt a in Fl as h .
"
130 51 0 13U GI A N 5 A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 1 93
mysteries Th e R osicrucian wisdom was to be more exten

.
siv e l di ffused in future but still not to be hawked abou t

y
*
,
in market place s — 2 J ulius Sperber o f A nhalt D essau .

-
(according to common repute ) wrote the E cho of the

Divinely illuminated fraternity o f the admirable order of
”
the R C . I n this there is a passage which I recommend
.
to the especial notice o f Freemasons z—H aving m aintained

the probability o f the R osicrucian pretensions on the ground
that such m a gna lia Dei had from the creation downwards
been confined to the keep ing o f a fe w individuals ,
agreeably to which he a ffirms that A dam was the first

R osicrucian o f the Ol d T estament and S imeon the last he ,
goes o n t o ask whether the Gos p el put an end t o the secret

tradition ? By no means he answers Christ establishe d a ,
“ ”
new college o f magic amongst his disciples and the ,
greater mysteries were revealed t o S t J ohn and St Paul . . .
In this passage which I shall notice farther on we find the

, ,
Grand M aster and the St J ohn o f masonry —3 R a d t ich

-
, ,
. . .
Bro t o fle r was not so much a Ca b bal ist l ike J ulius Sperber

‘
, ,
as an A lchemist H e understood the three R osicrucian .
books not in a literal sense but a llegorically as a description , ,
o f t h e art o f making gold a nd fi nding the Philosopher s

’
stone H e even favoured the p ublic with an interpretation

.
“ ”
o f it ; so that both /ra t io lap id is a wrei
m a teri a e t prosp er
were laid bare to the profane W ith this practical test o f his .
o wn pretensions it might h ave been supposed that Bro t o fl e r

’
would have exposed himself as an impostor b u t o n the con

t ra ry his works sold well and were several times reprinted ,
.
Th is wa s print e d a t Da nt zig in 1 6 1 6 N ico l a i, h o we e r, cit e s a n . v

e dit io n print e d i n 1 6 1 5 Wh e t h e r S pe rb e r wa s t h e a ut h o r, is a po int
.
no t q uit e s e ttl e d . K a t z a ue r, in h is Dis sert d c Rosa cru cia nis, p 3 8 ,

. .
ta k e s h im fo r t h e sa m e pe rs o n a s J ul ia nus a Ca m pis b ut fro m int e rna l

gro und s t h is is v er y im pro b abl e .
1 94 1 30 51 0 13 UCI A N 5 A N D F RE E NA S 0 N 5 .
—4 . A
far more impor t ant person in the history of R o sicru
c ia nis m was M ichael M aier : he it was that first transplanted
it into E ngland where (as we shall see) it l e d ultimately

,
to more l asting e ffects than inGermany H e was born in .
H olstein and was physician to the E mperor R udolph I I

,
.
,
who being possessed by the mystical frenz y o f the age sent

, ,
for him to Prague I n 1 6 2 2 he died at M agdeburg

.
,
having pre v iously trave l led extensively and p articularly t o ,
E ngland H is works are among the rarities o f bibliography

“
,
and fetch very high pri ces T h e first o f them which .

,
concerns our present inquiry is that entitled Jo cue S ev eru s , ,
F ra ncof 1 61 7 It is addressed (in a dedication written on

.
his road from E ngland to B ohemia o mnibus verse ch ym ias ,

”
a m a nt ib u s per G e rm a nia m and amongst them more ,
especially illi ordini a d h uc d elit es centi at Fa m a Frater ,
nit a t is e t Confessione s u a a d m ira nd a e t p robabili m a ni
fes t a to ”
T his work it a ppears had been written in
.
, ,
E ngland On his return to Germ any he became acquainted

.
with the fierce controversy o n the R osicrucian sect ; and as

he firmly bel ie v ed in the existence o f such a sect he sought ,
to introduce himsel f to its notice : but fin d ing this im po s

sible he set himself to establish such an order by his o wn
,
e fforts and in his future writings he spoke of it as already

existing—going so far even as to publish its la ws which
indeed had previously been done by the author o f the E cho ) .
From the p rincipal work which he wrote on this subj ect

entitled S i lenti u m p o s t cla m ore s I shall make an extract ,
* ,
because in this work it is that we meet with the first traces
Sil e ntium po s t cl a m o re s h e Tra ct a tu s Apo l o ge t ic us, q uo ca us es

, . .
no n so l u m Cl a m o ru m (s e u re v e l a t io ne m ) F ra t e rnit a t is G e rm a nicee d e
R C , s e d e t S il ent i i (s e u no n re dd it as, a d s ing ul o rum o t a res po ns io nis)
. . v
t ra d unt ur e t d e m o ns t ra nt ur . Aut o re Mich a e l a Ma ie ro , I m p Co ns is t
. .
Co m i t e , et Me d Do ct Fra nco f
. . . 1 61 7 .
13 0 51 0 13 11 0 1 A N 5 A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 19 5
of M asonry .is yet but half unveiled W h at we

“
N ature .
want is chi efly experiment and tentative in q uiry Great .

,
therefore are o u r obliga tions to the Rosicrucians for

,
labouring t o supply this want T heir weightiest mystery .
is a U niversal M edicine S uch a Catholicon lies hid in .
nature It is however no simple but a very com p ound

.
, , ,
medicine For o ut o f the meanest pebbles and weeds

.
,
”
me d icine a nd ev en g o ld is to be extracted
,
“
H e that , .
doubts the existence o f the R 0 should recol l ect that the . .
Greeks E gyptians A rabians etc had such secret societies ;

, , ,
.
,
where then is the absur d ity in their existing at this day ?

, ,
T heir maxims of self discipline are these —T o honour and-
fear G o d above all things to do all the good in their power

to their fellow men and so o n
-
“
W hat is contained in .
the Fama a nd Con fessio is true It is a v ery childish .
obj ection that the brotherhood have p romised so muc h and

performed so little W ith them as elsewhere many are .
, ,
called bu t few are chosen Th e masters o f the order h old .
out the rose as a remote p riz e but they impose the cross ,
on those wh o are L ike the Pythagoreans and

E gyptians the R osicrucians exac t v ows o f silence and
,
secrecy I gnorant men have treated the whole as a fiction

.
’
but this has arisen from the five years probation to which
they s ubj e ct even well q u a l ifie d novices before they are -
admitte d to the higher myste ries : within this period they

are to learn h o w to govern their tongues In the same .
year with this book he published a work of R obert F l u dd s ’
(with w hom he had live d o n friendly terms in E ngland ) ,
D e v i t a m o rt e e t res u/recti o ne
, ,
Of other works which he .
,
published afterwards I shall here say nothing : neither

*
,
E cce innum e ri a d s unt e x v o ca t is , s es e q ue of

fe runt : at no n
a ud uint ur a m a gis t ra s R Crucis, q ui . ro s a s o s t e nt a nt , at cruce m
e xh ib e n t . P 77 . .
shall I detain my reader with any account o f his fe ll ow

labourers in this p ath—Theophilus Sch w e igh a rt o f Co n
stance J ose p hus Stellatus o r Giles Gutmann
, T h e books
, .
I have mentioned were enough to con v ince A ndrea that

his romance had succeeded in a way which he had never
designed Th e p ublic had accredited the cha rla t a nerie o f
.
his books but gave no welcome to t h at for the sake o f

,
which this char la ta nerie was adopted as a vehicle Th e .
A lchemy had been ap p roved the moral and religious ,
scheme slighted A nd societies were forming even amongst

.
the l earned upon the basis o f all that was false in the
system to the exclusion o f all that was true Thi s was a
, .
spectacle which could no longer be viewed in the l ight o f a

j oke the folly was becoming too serious and A nd re s: set
'
himself t o counteract it wi t h all his powers F o r this .
p urpose he now published his Chem ica l Nup tia ls of

Chris ti e/n Ro sy cro ss which he h a d written in 1 60 1 —2 (when
,
only in his sixteenth year) but no t printed This is a , .
comic romance o f extraordinary tal ent the covert purpose ,
o f it being a refin ed and delicate banter o f the Pedants ,
T heosophists G o ld m a k e rs and E nthusiasts o f every class

, ,
with whom Germany at that time swarmed I n his former .
works h e had trea t ed the Paracelsists with forbearance ,
hoping by such treatment t o h ave won them over to his

own elevated designs but in this th ey were invested with
the cap and bells U nfo rtunately for the purp ose of
.
A ndre a however even t his romance was swallo wed by the

, ,
public as true and serious history U pon this in the .

,
following year he published a collection o f satirical dia

,
l og nes under the title o f Menippu s si v e d ia l sa tyri coru m

centv/ri a i na ni ta tu m no s tra tiu m Sp ecu lu m
,
I n this he .
more op enly unveils his true design—revolution o f method

in th e arts and sciences and a general religious reformation
,
.
R OS I CR UCJA N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 1 97
Th e e fforts o f A ndrea were seconded by those o f his friends ,
especiall y o f Iren aeu s A gnostus and o f J oh V a l Al berti

, , . .
under the name o f M e na piu s B oth wrote with great .
energy against the R osicrucians the former indeed from , ,
having ir onically styled himself an unworthy cl erk o f the

“
Fraternity o f the R C has been classed by some learned

. .
,
writers o n the R osicrucians as o ne o f that sect ; but it is

impossible to read his writings without detecting the lurk
ing satire Soon after these writers a learned foreigner
.
,
placed the R osicrucian p retens ions in a still more ludicrous

light ; t h is was the celebrated T homas Campanella I n .
his work u p on the S panish M onarchy which was
*
,
translated into German published and uni v ersally read , ,
in Germany some time before the original work a p peared

the Italian philosopher—speaking of the follies o f the age
,
thus expresses himse l f o f the R C “

T hat the whole o f . .
Christendo m teems wit h such heads (v iz R eformation ,
j obbers) we have o ne proof more than was wanted in the

Fraternity o f the R C F o r scarcely was that absurdity
. .
hatched when —notwithstanding it was many times decl ared

,
to be nothing more than a lus us ing enii ni m i um la s ci v i entis ,
a mere hoax o f some man o f wit troubled with a s upe rfl u it y

o f youthful spirits— yet because it dealt in reformations
,
and in pre t e ns e s to mystical arts straightway from every ,
country in Christendom pious and l earned men passively ,
s urrendering themse l ves du p es to this de l usion made o f fers ,
o f their good wishes and services ; some by name ; ot h e rs
anonymously but constantly maintaining that t h e brothers

,
o f the R C could easily discover their na mes by S olomon s

’
. .
mirror o r other cabbal istic means N a y t o suc h a pa s s o f

'
.
,
I t wa s pub l is h e d in 1 62 0 , a t wh ich ti m e Ca m pe ne lla wa s co n ne d fi

in priso n a t N a pl e s Th e pub l ish e rs h a d o b ta ine d t h e o rigina l co py,
.
v
e it h e r fro m s o m e tra e ll e r, o r d uring th ei r o wn re s id e nce in I ta ly .
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
absurdity did they advance that they represented the first ,
o f t h e t h ree R osicrucian books (the Uni v ers a l R efo rm a t io n

)
as a high mystery and expounded it in a chemical sense
, ,
as if it had contained a cryptical account of the art of gold

making whereas it is nothing more than a literal trans
,
”
lation word fo r wor d o f the Parnasso o f B occalini
, ,
Th e .
e ffect o f all this ridicule and satire was that in Germany , ,
as th ere is th e best reason t o believe no regular lodge o f ,
R osicru cians was ever establis h ed D es Ca ri es who had .

,
heard a great deal o f talk about them in 1 61 9 during his ,
residence at Frankfort o n the — Maine sought to connect

- -
,
himself with some l odge (for which he was afterwards

exposed t o the ridicu l e o f h is enemies ) ; but the im po ssi
b il it y o f fi nding any body o f them formally connected
together and a p erusa l o f the R osicrucian writings satis
, ,
fi e d h im in t h e end that no such order was in existence .
M any years afte r L eibnitz came to the same conclusion

,
.
H e was actuall y connected in early l ife with a soi disant -
society o f the R C in N u remberg ; for even at this day

. .
there is obviously nothing to prevent any society in any

place from assuming that o r any other titl e but that they
were not connected traditionally with the alleged society o f
Father R o sycro ss L eibnit z was con v inced
,
“
1 1 me pa ro it .
,
”
says he in a l ette r to a friend published by Feller in the

, ,
Ot iu m H a nno v em nu m (p il me pa ro it que tout ce

.
,
que l o n a dit des Freres de la Croix de la R ose est une

’
,
pure invention de q uelque p ersonne inge nie use ”

A nd .
again s o l ate as the year 1 6 9 6 he says in another letter

, ,
“
Fratres R o s e ae Crucis fi ct it io s fuisse s u spico r quod e t
'
H e l m o nt ius mihi c o nfirm a v it ”

A depts there were here .
and t h ere it is true and even whol e clubs o f swindlers who

, ,
called themse l ves R osicrucians thus L u d o v Co nr Orv iu s .. .

,
in his Occu l ta Phi lo sop kia s ive Coelu m s a pientu m e t Vexa t io

'
,
te lls a lamentable tale o f such a society pretend

s t u lt m u m ,
'
ing to deduce themselves from Father R o sy cro s s who were ,
settled at the H ague in 1 6 2 2 a nd after swindling him o u t ,

’
o f his own and his wife s fortune amounting to eleven ,
thousand dollars kicked him o u t o f the order with the

, ,
assurance that they would murder him if he re v eal ed their

“ “
secrets : which secrets says he I have faithfully kept , , ,
and fo r the same reason that women keep secrets viz -

.
,
because I have none to reveal ; for their knavery is no

”
secret T here is a well known story also in V oltaire s
’
-
.
D iction Philosoph A rt A lchim is te o f a rogue who cheated

.
,
.
,
the D uke of B ouillon o f dollars under the masque o f

R osicrucianism B u t these were cases for the police c ih o e
.
-
and the gross impostures o f j ail birds As the aberration -

.
o f l earned men and as a case for the satirist R osicruc i an i sm

, ,
received a shock from the writings o f its acci d ental Father

A ndre a and others such as in Germany it ne v er reco v ered
“
.
,
I n Fra nce it ne v rhe ad e vn e a I t wa s m e t b y

m o m e nt a r y succe ss .
t h e rid icul e o f P G a rasse a nd o f G a b rie l Na ud é in h is I ns tru ct ion a la

.
Fra nce su r write d o l h is to ire d es Freres d e la Rose Croix : Pa ris , 1 6 2 3

’
-
k
a nd in L e Ma scura t , a ra re wo r , printe d i n 1 6 2 4 , a nd o f wh i ch t h e
s e co nd e d it io n 1 6 5 0 is s t il l ra re r I nd e pe nd e nt ly o f t h e s e wo r s ,
. k
v
Fra nce wa s a t th a t t i m e t h e ri a l o f I t a ly in s cie nce , a nd h a d g re a t ly
t h e st a rt o f G e rm a ny a nd E ngl a nd in ge ne ra l il l um ina t io n S h e wa s .
fi
t h us s uf cie ntl y pro t e ct e d fro m s uch a d e l us io n T h us fa r Pro fe ss o r
—
.
Bu e h l B u t p a c e t ua w o r t h y P r o fe ss o r I t h e t ra nsl a t o r o f yo ur
k— ffi m
.
, ,
boo a r t ha t Fra nce h a d no t t h e st a r t of E ngl a nd, no r wa nte d

then o r s ince l er el e m e nts o f cre d ulity a s t h e
t h e igno b ,
His t o ry o f
Anim a l Ma gne tis m a nd m a ny o th e r fa nta st ic fo ll ie s b e fo re t ha t h a ve
s uf fi cie ntly sh own But sh e h a s a lwa ys wa nte d t h e no b le r
. t he
im a gi na t ive ) e l e m e nts o f cre d ul ity On t h is a cco unt t h e F re nch h a ve
.
a l wa ys b e e n a n irre l igio us pe o pl e And t h e s ch e m e o f Fa th e r Ro sy

.
cro s s wa s t o o m uch co nne cte d with re l ig io us fe e l ings a nd m o v e d t o o ,
m uch und e r a rel ig io us im pul s e t o re co m m e nd its e l f t o t h e Fre nch

, .
Th is rea so n a pa rt h o we ve r a ccid nt h a d m uch t o d o with t h e il l

, ,
e
fo rtune of Ro s icrucia nis m in France .

z oo £ 0 51 0 1?UCI A N S A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
A nd hence it h as happened that whatever number there ,
may have been o f indi v idual mystics calling themselves

R osicrucians no collective body o f R osicrucians acting
,
conjunction was ever matured and actually establis h ed in

G ermany In E ngland the case was other wise ; for there
.
,
as I sha ll show the order still subsists under a di fferent

,
name B ut this will furnish matter for a separate chap ter

. .
M eantime o ne word remains t o be said of A ndre a s labours

,
’
with respect t o the R osicrucian s H e was not content with .
Opposing gravely and satirical l y the erroneous societies

which learned men were attempting to found u p on h is o wn
romance o f th e F a m a F ra t erni ta tis but laboured more ,
earnestly than ever to mature and to establish that genuine

society for t he p ro p agation o f truth which has been the rea l ,
though misinterp reted obj ect o f his romance and indeed of ,
his whol e life Such a society he lived t o see accomplished

.
and in order to mark u p on what foundation he p laced all

hopes o f a ny great im p rovement in the condition of human
nature he called it by the name o f the Chri st i a n F ra t erni ty
, .
T his fact I have recorded in order to complete the account ,
o f A ndre a s history in rel ation to R osicrucianis m : but I

’
ni ty ,
*
shall not further pursue t h e history of th e Chris tia n F ra ter
as it is no ways connected with the subject o f th e
present inquiry .
Se e t h e Jnv ita tio Fra ternita tis Ch ris ti a d Sa eri a m ori s ca nd id a to s

’
Arge nt ur, 1 6 1 7 t h e Ch ris tia na: societa tis id ea : T ub ingae , 1 62 4 ; t h e

Verae unio nts in Ch ris ta Jesu specim en : N o rim b , 1 62 8 ; a nd o t h e r .
k j
wo r s o n t h e s a m e s ub e ct A list o f t h e m em b ers co m po sing th is
.
Ch ris tia n Bro t h e rh o o d , wh ich co ntinue d it s l a b o urs a ft e r And re a s

’
d e a th , is s t ill pres e r v ed .
CH A PT E R V .
OF TH E OR IGIN OF F REE MASONRY IN EN G L AN D .
TH U S I have traced the history o f R osicrucianism from

its birth in Germ any and have ended with showing that ,
from the energetic opposition and ridicule which it latterly

incurred no college o r lodge o f R osicrucian brethre n
, ,
p rofessing occu l t knowledge and communicating it under ,
solemn forms and vow s o f secrecy can be shown from ,
hi storical records to have been ever established in Germany .
I shall now undertake to prove that R osicrucianism was

transplanted t o E ngland where it flourished under a ne w
,
name under whic h nam e it has been since re —

,
exported t o
us in common with the other countries o f Christendom .
For I a ffirm as the main thesis o f my concluding labours

, ,
T HAT F RE E MAS ONRY I s N E I TH E R MORE N OR L E ss T H AN

R OSI CRU CI AN I SM a s MOD I FI ED BY T H OS E WH O T RA N SPL AN T E D
I T TO EN G L AN D .
At the beginning Of the seve nteenth century many

learned heads in E ngla nd were occupied with T heosophy ,
Cabbalism and A lchemy : amongst t h e p roofs o f this (fo r

,
many o f which see the A thenoe Oma niens es ) may be cited

the works o f J ohn Po rd a ge o f N orbert of T homas and , ,
Samuel N orton but abo v e all (in reference to o ur p resent

,
inquiry ) o f R obert Fludd Fludd it was o r whosoever

,
.
,
was the author o f the Su m m wm B o nu m 1 62 9 that must , ,
be considered as t h e immediate father o f Freemasonry as ,
A nd re s: was its remote fath er W h at was the p articular

'
occasion o f his o wn first acquaintance with R osicrucianis m

is not recorded a l l the books o f A lc h emy or oth er occu l t
20 2 ROS I CR UCI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
kno wle d ge published in Germany were at that time

, ,
immediately carried over to E ngland—provided they were

written in L atin ; and if written in German were soon , ,
translated for the benefit o f E nglish students H e may .
therefore ha v e gained his knowledge immediatel y fr om the

three R osicrucian books B ut i t is more p robable tha t he .
acquired his knowledge o n this head from his friend M aier

(mentioned in the p receding chapter ) who was intimate ,
with Fludd during his stay in E ngland and corres p onded ,
with him after he left it A t all events he must have .

,
been initiated into R osicrucianism at an early p eriod ,
having p ublished his ap o logy for it in the year 1 61 7 T his

"
.
indeed is denied to be his work though ascribed t o h im in ,
the title page but be that as it m ay it was at any rate the

-
, ,
L
work o f the sam e author who wrote the S u m m u m B o nu m n
being ex p ressly claimed by him at p 3 9 I f not F l u dd s . .
’
,
’
it was the work o f a friend o f Fl u dd s and as the name is ,
o f no importance I shall continue t o refer to it as Fl u d d s ’
—having once apprised my reader that I mean by Fl udd

,
the author be he who he may o f t h ese two works N o w

, , .
the first question which arises is this fo r what reason did

Fludd drop the name o f R osicrucians ? Th e reason was
briefly this his a p ology for the R osicrucians was attacked
by the celebrated Father M ersenne To this Fl udd repl ied .
,
un d er the name o f J oachim Frit z in t wo witty but ,
T ra ct a t us a po l o ge t icus —int e grit a t e m So cie t a tis d e Ro se a Cruce

d e fe nd e ns . Aut h o re Ro b e rto De Fl uct ib us, Angl o , M D L L ugd . . . .
Ba t 1 61 7
. .
1 Th is wo r
‘
k wa s d i sa v o we d b y Fl ud d
~
. But t h e principl es, t h e
as
st yl e , th e ty towa rd s Me rsenne t h e
a nim o si , pu b l is h e r, a nd t h e ye a r,
we re s eve ra lly t h e sa m e in th is a s in t h e S oph iae cu m Mo ria certa m e n ,
wh ich Fl ud d a ck nowl e d g e d t h e re ca nno t b e m uch re a so n t o d o ub t

,
th a t it wa s h is Co ns ult t h e Ca tal o gue o f so m e ra re b o o k s b y G

.
.
S e rpil ius, No . II .
p.2 3 8 .
R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 2 0 J7
coarse books entitled Su m m u m B o nu m and S op hies cu m

, ,
Mo ri a certa m en in the first o f which to the q uestion ,
“
W here the R osicrucians resided ? he replied thus
” “
In
the houses o f God where Christ is the corner stone
,
and -
he explained the symbols o f the R ose and Cross in a ne w

sense as meaning the Cross s p rinkled with the rosy blood
,
“
o f Christ . M ersenne being obviously no match for Fludd

”
either in learning o r polemic wit Gassendi stepped forward

,
into his place and published (in 1 6 3 0 ) an excellent rej oinder

,
to Fludd in his E xcercita tio Ep is to lica which analysed and ,
ridiculed the princip l es o f Fludd in general and in particular ,
reproached him with his belief in the romantic legend o f

the R osicrucians U pon this Fludd findi ng himsel f hard
.
, ,
pressed under his conscious inability t o assign their place of

abode evades the question in his answer t o Gassendi
,
(p ub l ished in 1 6 3 3 ) by formally withdrawing the name

Ro si cru cia ns : fo r h aving occasion t o speak o f them he
, ,
“
calls them Fratres R C o lim si c di oti quos nos hodie
. .
,
S apientes (S ophos) v o ca m u s ; o m is so illo no m i ne (tanqu am

o d ioso m is e ris m o rt a l ib u s velo igno ra nt ise o b d u c t is ) at in
o bliv io ne h o m i nu m j a m fere s ep u l t o H ere then we have
”
.
, ,
—
the negative question answered why and when they ceased
to be called R osicrucians B u t no w comes the second o r
.
,
affirm ative question—why and when they began t o be

called Freemasons I n 1 6 3 3 we have seen that the o l d
.
name was abolished ; but as yet no new name was sub

stituted in default Of suc h a name they were styled a d
i n terim by the general term wis e m en , T his however .
, ,
being too vague an appellation for m en w h o wished to form

themselves into a separate and exclusi v e society a ne w o ne ,
was t o be devised bearing a more special allusion to their

characteristic objects N o w the immediate hint for the
.
name M asons was d erived from the legend contained in ,

R OS I CR UGI A N S A N D F RE EM A S ON S
‘
”
the F a m a F ra t ernita tis o f the H ouse of the H oly Ghost
, .
W here and what was that house ! T his had been a subj ect
o f much speculation in Germany ; and many had been
simple enough to understand the expression o f a l ite ral
house and had inquired after it up and down the empir e
, .
B u t A ndre a had himself made it impossible to understand

it in any other than an allegoric sense by describing it as ,
“
a building that would remain invisible t o the godless
”
world for ever T heophilus S ch w e igh a rt also had spoken
.
“
o f it thus I t is a building says he a great build ing , , ,
ca rens fenes tri s s i fo ribu s a p rincely nay an im p e rial , ,
palace eve rywhere visible and yet no t seen by the eyes

,
o f man
”
T his building in fact represented the p u rp ose
.
, ,
o r obj ect o f the R osicrucians A nd what was t h at ? It

was the secret wisdom o r in their language m a g ic—v iz
.
.
, , , ,
1 Philosophy o f nature o r occult knowledge o f the

.
,
works o f God ; 2 T heology o r the occu l t knowledge o f

.
,
G o d h imself ; 3 R eligion o r God s occult intercourse wit h

’
,
.
the spirit o f man which they imagined to have been t rans

,
m i t t e d from A dam through t h e Cabbalists to themselves .
Bu t they distinguished between a carnal and a spiritual

knowledge o f this magic Th e spiritual knowle d ge is the
.
business o f Christianity and is symbolised by Christ himself

,
as a rock and as a building o f which he is the head and the

,
foundation W hat rock and what building ?says Fludd

.
, .
A S piritual rock and a building Of human nature in which

,
m e n are the stones and Christ the corner stone B ut h o w -

.
* ,
shall stones move and arrange themselves into a buil d ing ?
Sum m um Bo num , p 2 7
“
Co ncl ud im us igit ur uo d e sus sit
. . q J
q
t e m pl i h um a ni l a pis a ngul a ris ; a t ue it a , e x m o rt uis , l a pid es i i vv
fa cti sunt h o m ines pii ; id q ue tra ns m uta t io ns rea l i a b Ad a m i l apsi
s ta t u in s ta tum suse inno ce nt iae e t pe rfe ct io nis a il i e t l e pro sa v
p l a m b i co nd it io ns in a uri puris sim i pe rfe ct io ne m
”
M a s o nic re a d e rs .
R OS ZCR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 20 5
T hey must become li ving stones : T ra nsm u t e m ini trans “
,
”
m u t e m ini , says Fludd “
de l a pid ib us m o rt uis in lapi d es
,
B u t what is a li v ing stone ? A

”
vivos ph il o so phico s .
living stone is a m a s o n who builds himself up into the wall

as a p art o f the temple o f human nature : V iam h uj us “
m odi t ra ns m u t a t io nis no s d o ce t A o s t o l u s dum ait —E a d em

p ,
”
mens sit in vobis qu ae est in J esu I n these passages we .
see the rise o f the allegoric name m a s o ns upon the ex

tinction o f the former name Bu t Flu d d expresses this .
“ ”
allegory still more plainly elsewhere : B enique says he , ,
“
q u a l i t e r d e b e nt o pe ra ri F ratres ad gemm ae is t iu s m o d i
(meaning m a g ic) in u is it io ne m
q nos d o c e t pagina sacra
,
how then ? N o s d o ce t A po s t o l us ad m ys t e rii pe rfe ct io ne m

vel sub A grico l ee vel Archi t ect i typo pe rt inge re —either
,
, ,
under t h e image Of a husbandman who cultivates a fiel d or ,
o f an architect who builds a house : a nd had the former ,
type been adopte d we should ha v e h a d F ree hus ba nd m en

,
-
instead o f Freemasons A gain in another place he says

.
, , ,
A t qu se sub is t iu s m o d i Archi t ecti typo nos monet pro ph e t a

”
ut ae d ifi ce m u s d o m u m S apienti se T h e society was there
.
fore to be a m a s o ni c society in order to represent typically

,
that t emple o f the H oly Spirit which it was their business

t o erect in the spirit o f man T his tem p le was the abstract
.
o f the doctrine o f Christ who was the Grand master

,
-
hence the light from the E a s t o f which s o much is said in

,
R osicru cian and M asonic books S t J ohn wa s the belo v ed

. .
d isciple o f Christ : hence t h e solemn celebration o f his

festival H a v ing moreover once adopted the attributes
.
, ,
o f masonry as the figurative expression o f their Obj ects ,
will re m e m b e r a ce re m o n y use d o n t h e int ro d uctio n o f a ne w m e m b r e
wh ich t urns upo n t h is d istinc t io n b e twe en l ea d a nd g o l d a s t h e sym b o l

o f t ra ns it io n fro m t h e l o st s t a t e o f Ad a m t o t h e o rigina l co nditio n o f
inno ce nce a nd pe rfe ctio n .

206 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE EM A S ON S .
they were led to attend more minutely to the legends and

history of that art ; and in these again they found an
occult analogy with their own relations to the Christian
wisdom Th e first great event in the art o f M asonry
.
was the building o f the T ower o f B a b el : this expressed

figuratively the atte m pt of some unknown Mason to build
up the temple o f the H oly Ghost in anticipation o f Chris
t ia nit y which attempt ho w ever had been confounded by
, , ,
’
the vanity o f the b uil d ers T h e building o f S olomon s .
T emple the second great incident in the art had an

, ,
ob v ious meaning as a pre figu ra t io n of Christianity

H iram
*
simply the architect Of this temple to the real
,
.
pro fessors of the art o f building was t o the E nglish R osi ,
crucians a type o f Christ : and the legend o f M asons which ,
represented this H ira m as ha v ing been murdere d by his

fellow workmen made the type still more striking T h e
-
,
.
t wo pillars also J achin and B o a z 1 (strength and power)

, ,
L
,
’
which are amongst the memorable singularities in S olomon s
T emple ha v e an occult meaning to the Freemasons which
, , ,
howe v er I shall not undertake publicly to explain T his

,
.
symbolic interest t o the E nglish R osicrucians in the a t t ri

butes incidents a nd legends o f the art exercised by the
, ,
literal M asons of real life naturally brought the two orders ,
into some connection with each other T hey were thus .
enabled t o realise to their eyes the symbols o f their own
Th e na m e of Hira m wa s t
u nd e rs o o d b y th e e l d er Fre e m a so ns as
a n a na gra m : H I R A M m e a nt Ho m o e s us Re d e m pto r Anim a ruM

. . . . . J .
O th e rs e xpl a ine d t h e na m e Ho m o e s us Re x Altis s im us Mund i J .
Oth e rs a d d e d a C t o t h e Hi ra m , in o rd e r t o m a e i t CH rist us e s us, k J

etc.
1 Se e t h e a cco unt of th e se pil l a rs in t h e l s t Bo o o f K ings , v u k

id —
'
.
1 42 2 , wh e re it is sa
“
And th ere s t o o d u po n t h e pil l a rs a s it we re
Roses .
”
Co m pa re 2 nd Bo o k o f Ch ro n . iii 1 7
. .
allegories and the same building which accommodated the

guild o f builders in their professional meetings o ffere d a
d esirable means o f secret asse m blies to the early Free
masons A n apparatus of implements and utensils such
.
as were presented in the fabulous sepulchre o f Father

R o s y cro s s were here actually brought together
,
A nd .
accordingly it is upon record that the first formal and

,
solemn lo d ge o f Freemasons o n occasion o f which the very ,
name o f Freemasons was first publicly made known was ,
held in Mason s H all M ason s A lley B a s ingh a ll S treet

’
,
’
, ,
L ondon in the year 1 6 4 6

,
Into this lo d ge it was that .
A shmole the A ntiquary wa s admitte d Private meetings .
there may d oubtless have been be fore ; and once at W a r

rington (half way between L iverpool and M anchester) is
-
expressly mentioned in the life o f A shmole ; but the name

’
o f a Freemason s L odge with all the insignia attributes , , ,
and circumstances o f a lodge first came forward in the ,
page o f h istory on the occasion I ha v e mentioned I t is .
perhaps in requital o f the serv ices at that time rendered

in the loan o f their hall etc that the guild o f M a sons as a ,
.
,
body and where they are not individually obj ectionable

, ,
enjoy a precedency o f al l orders o f men in the right to

a d mission and pay only h a lf fees A shmole by the way
,
.
, ,
whom I ha v e j ust mentioned as o ne o f the earliest F ree
R osicrucian *
masons appears from his writings to have been a z ealous
,
Other members o f the lodge were T homas

.
W harton a physician George W harton O ugh t re d the

, , ,
mathematician D r H ewitt Dr Pearson the divine and

,
.
, .
,
W h e n Ash m o l e s
pe a k s of the an ti quity of Fre e m a s o nry, h e is t o
be u nd e rs t o o d e it h e r a s co nfo undi ng the o rd e r o f
p h il o so ph ic m a so ns
wit h t h a t of t h e h a nd icra f m as o ns t (a s man y h av e d o ne ) , o r s im l y a s

p
s k
pea ing t h e l a ng ua ge o f Ro s icrucia ns , wh o (as we h a e s h o wn) ca rry v
u p t h e ir t ra d it io na l pre te nsio ns t o Ad a m , a s t h e rs t
pro fe ssso r o f t h e fi
20 8 130 51 0 13 UCI A N S A N D F RE EM A S ON S .
W illiam L ily the p rincipal astrologer o f the day A ll .
members it must be observed had annual l y assembled to

, ,
hold a festival o f astrologe rs before they were connected

into a lodge bearing t h e title of Freemasons T his pre v ious .
connection had no doubt paved the way for the latte r .
I shall now sum up the results o f my inquiry into the

origin and nature o f Freem a sonry, and shall then concl ude
with a brief notice o f o ne o r two collateral questions growi ng
o u t of popular errors on the main o ne .
I T h e original Fre emasons were a society that arose o ut

.
o f t h e R osicrucian mania certainly within the thirteen ,
years from 1 63 3 to 1 6 4 6 and probab ly between 1 6 3 3 and ,
1 64 0 T heir obj ec t was m a g ic in t h e cabbal istic sense

.
i e t h e o ccu lt wis d o m transmitted from the beginning o f

. .
,
the worl d and matured by Christ ; to communicate this

,
w h en they had it to search for it w h en they h ad it no t,
and both under an oath o f secrecy .
II This obj ect o f Freemasonry was rep resented under

.
the for m o f S olomon s T emple —as a ty p e o f the t rue ’
Church whose corner stone is Christ

,
T his T emple is to be
-
.
built o f m e n o r l iving stones and the true m ethod and art

,
o f buil ding with men i t is the province of m a g ic to teach .
H ence it is that all the masonic symb ol s either refer to

S o l omon s T em p le o r are figurative modes o f expressing
’
,
the ideas and doctrines o f m a g ic in the sense o f the

R osicrucians and their mystical p redecessors in general
,
.
III Th e Freemasons having once ado p ted symbols etc ,

. , .
from t h e art o f m asonry to which they were led by the ,
s e cre t wi sdo m . I n Fl o re nce , abo u t t h e ye ar 1 51 2, th e re we re t wo

s o cie ti e s (t h e Comp a gnia d el l a Ca z z u o la a nd t h e Co mpa gnia de l
Paj uo lo ) wh o a ss um e d t h e m a so n s h a m m e
’
r as th eir sig n : b ut t h e s e
were m erely co nvivia l cl ub s . Se e t h e life of J . F Rust ici in Va sa ri
.
Vite de i Pit tori, e t c. Ro m a : 1 7 60 , p 7 6 . .

l anguage of went o n to connect themsel ves in a

S cripture,
certa in degree with t h e order itself of handicraft masons ,
and ado p ted t h eir distribution of members into ap p rentices ,
j ourneymen and masters Christ is the Grand M aster and

,
.
-
,
was put to death whilst l aying the foundation o f the tem p le

o f human nature .
IV Th e J ews were particularly excluded from the

.
original l odges of Freemasons as being the gr eat enemies o f

the Grand M aster For the same reason in a less degree
-
.
, ,
were excl uded Ma h ometans and Pagans Th e reasons for

excluding R oman Catholics were these —
.
First the original ,
Freemasons were Protestant s in an age when Protestants

were in the l ivel iest hostili t y to Papis t s and in a country ,
which had su ffered deeply from Popis h cruel ty They .
could not therefore be expected to view Po p ery with the

languid eyes o f modern indi fference S econdly the Papists .
,
were excluded p rudentially o n account o f their intolerance

,
they fi rs t *
for it was a d istinguishing feature of the R osicrucians that
conceived the idea o f a society which should act
on the principle o f rel igious tol eration wishing that nothing ,
I t iswe l l k nown t h a t until t h e la t te r e nd o f t h e seve ntee nth ce n

tury a ll ch urch e s a nd t h e b e st m e n d is co unt e na nce d t h e d o ct rine o f
,
rel ig i o u s to l e ra tio n in fa ct th ey rej e cte d it with h o rro r a s a d el ib e ra te

,
a ct o f co m pro m is e wit h e rro r : th ey we re into l e ra nt o n principl e a nd ,
e rs ec ut e d o n c o nscie ntio us gro unds I t is a m o ng t h e gl o rie s o f J e re m y

p .
Tayl o r a nd Milto n t h a t in s o into l era nt a n a ge th e y fea rl e ssly a d v o

, , ,
ca t e d t h e nece ss ity o f m ut ua l to l e r tio n a s a Ch ris t ia n d uty

a Je re m y
.
Tayl o r in pa rt icul a r is g e ne ra l ly s uppo s e d t o h a ve b ee n t h e ve ry

, ,
ea rl ie st ch a m pio n o f t o l e ra tio n in h is L iberty of PrOph ecy ing fi rs t pub ,
l ish e d in 1 647 a nd t h e pres ent Bish o p o f Ca l cutta h a s l a t e l y a s se rt e d

in h is life o f th a t gre a t m a n (pre fixe d t o t h e co l l e cte d e d it io n o f h is
wo rk s 1 8 2 2 ) th a t Th e L ib erty of Prophecgi/ng is t h e first a t te m pt o n
reco rd t o co ncili a t e t h e m ind s o f Ch ristia ns t o t h e re ce ptio n o f a d o c
trine wh ich wa s th e n b y eve ry se ct al ike rega rd e d a s a peril o us a nd

r e nto us no ve lty x l
”
t ( p a nd a g a in (a t cc i ) h is o rd s h i
p o .
p . .
p
14
MA S ON S
’
2 x0 3 0 51 0 13 UCI A N S A N D F RE E .
shoul d interfere with the most extensive cc— operation in

their p lans exce p t such di fferences about the essentials o f
religion as must make all sincere co op eration impossible -
.
T his fact is so little known and is so eminently honourable ,
to the spirit o f Freemasonry that I shall trouble the reader ,
with a longer q uotation in proof of it than I should other

wise h ave allowed myself Fludd in his S u m m u m Bo nu m .
,
(E p ilo g p says
,
.
Q uo d , si q uee ra t ur c uj us s int rel igio nis—q ui m yst ics ist fi Script ur

—
.
a rum inte rpre ta t io ns ll nt v iz a n R m n L u t h ra nse Ca l vin

p o e o a as e
—
,, , ,
ia nzs , e t c.h a b e a nt ne ipsi re l igio ne m a l iq ua m s ib i ipsis ps cul ia re m

v el
v
e t a b a l iis d i isa m ? Fa cill im um e rit ips is re s po nd e rs : N a m , c u m
o m nes Ch ri sti a ni, cuj us cunq ue re l igio nis, t e nd a nt a d u na m s a nd e m
me ta m (v iz ipsum Ch rist um , q ui e s t s o l a e rit as ) , in h o c uid e m v q

— v
.
,
una nim i co nse nsu il l se o m nes rel igio ne s co nv e niunt At e rb, q ua .
te nus re l igio nes istec in cere m o niis E ccl esise e xt e rnis, h um a nis nem pe
inv e nt io nib us (cuj us m o d i sun t h a b itus v a rii Mo na ch o rum et Po nt ifi
c um , crucis a d o ra t io , im a ginum a ppro b a t io v el a b ne ga t io , l um inum
d e no ct e a cce ns io , st infinit a a l ia ) d is cre pa re v id e nt ur, —h q se uid e m
d isce pt a t io nes s unt pres ter e sse nt ia l e s vr e se s a pie n es t m ys t icse l sgs s .
VFreemasonry as it honoured al l forms of Christianity

.
, ,
deeming ;the m ap p roximations more o r less remote to the

ide al truth so it abstracted from a ll forms o f civil polity as
,
alien from its o wn obj ects which according t o their briefest , ,
ca ll s it t h e fi rs t wo rk , pe rt d ay s o f Ch ristia nity
h a ps,
s ince t he l
ea r ie s ,
t o te a ch t h e a rt o f diffe ring h a rm l e ssly N o w in t h e pl a ce wh e re ”
in t h e l ife o f J e re m y Tayl o r—pe rh a ps it

.
,
t his a ss e rtio n is m a d e .
is virtua lly a j us t a sse rtio n : fo r it ca nno t a ffe ct t h e cl a im s o f J e re m y

Tayl o r th a t h e wa s a nt icipa te d b y a uth o rs wh o m in a l l pro b a b ility h e
ne ve r rea d no d o ub t h e o we d t h e d o ctrine t o h is o wn co m pre h e nsiv e
intell e ct a nd t h e Ch ristia n m a gna ni m ity o f h is na t ure Y e t in a .
,
h ist o ry o f t h e d o ctrine itsel f i t s h o ul d no t b e o ve rl o o k e d th a t t h e

,
S u m m u m B o nu m pre ce d e d t h e L iberty of Prophecg ing b y e igh te e n

years .
expression s ar e —1 Th e glory o f G o d 2 Th e service o f

, . .
men .
V I T here is not hi ng in the imagery mythi ritual or

.
, , ,
purposes o f the elder Freemasonry which m a y not b e traced

to the romances of F ather R o sy cro ss as given in the F a m a ,
Fra terni ta tis .
CON CL U SI ON .
1 . t h e obj ect of the elder Freemasons was not t o

T HAT
’
b uild L ord Bacon s imaginary T emple o f S olomon
T his was o ne o f the h y p otheses a d vanced by N icolai the
H ouse o f Solomon which L ord B acon had sketched in his
,
romantic fiction o f the island o f Bensalem (N e w A tlantis ) ,
N icolai supposed that the elder Freemasons had sought to

realise and that forty years afterwards they had changed
the B aconian house o f S ol omon into the spiritual type
o f S olomon s temple W hoever has read t h e N ew A t la ntis
’
.
o f B acon and is otherwise acquainted with the relations

,
in which this great man stood to the literature o f his

o wn times wil l discover in this romance a gigantic sketch
,
from the h and o f a m ighty scientific intellect that had ,
soared far above his age and sometimes o n the heights , ,
t o which he had attained indulged in a dream o f what ,
might be accom p lished by a rich s t a t e under a wise governor

for the advancement o f the art s and sciences T his sketch .
,
a greeably t o the taste o f his century he de l ivered in t h e ,
form o f an allegory and feigned an island o f B ensale m

, ,
upon which a society com p osed o n his m odel had existed

, ,
fo r a thousand years under the name o f S olomon s house ;

’
fo r the lawgiver o f this island wh o was also the founder of ,
the society had been indebted to S olomon fo r his wis d o m

,
.
Th e Obj ect o f t h is s ocie t y was the extension o f p hysical

science : o n w h ich account it was cal l ed the Col l ege o f the
W ork o f Six D ays R omance as al l this was it l ed to
.
,
very beneficia l resu l ts ; fo r it occasioned in the end the

establishment o f the R oya l Society o f L ondon whic h for ,
nearly t wo centuries has continued t o merit immortal

honour in the de p artment o f p hysics Al legory however
.
, ,
it contains none exce p t in it s idea and name Th e h o use

, .
o f S o l omon is neither more no r l e ss th a n a gre at academy
o f l earned men ,
aut h orised and su p ported by the state ,
and endo wed with a l iberal ity a pp roac h ing to p rofusion for
all p urp oses o f experiment and researc h Be ne fice nce .
,
education o f the young su pp ort o f t h e sick cosmop ol itism

, , ,
are not the Obj ects o f this institution Th e society is .
divided into classes according to the different objects o f

their studies : but it h a s no hi gher no r lower degr ees .
N one but l earned men can be members ; not as in the ,
masonic societies every decent workman wh o is su i j wris

, .
Only the exoteric know l edge o f natu r e no t the esoteric , ,
is pursued by the house o f S ol omon Th e book o f the .
Six D ays is studied as a book t h at l ies o p en before every

man s eye s by the Freemasons it was studied as a mystery
’
which was t o be ill uminated by t h e l ight o ut Of the E ast .
H a d the Freemasons designed to re p resent o r to imitate

the h ouse Of S ol omon in t h eir society they wou l d certainl y
,
have adopted the forms constitution costum e and

, , ,
attrib utes o f that house as described by B acon They .
wou l d h ave exe rt ed t h emse l ves t o p roduce o r t o p rocure

a p hiloso ph ical a p paratus such as that house is represented
as p ossessing ; o r would at l east have delineated this
a pp aratus u p on their carp ets by way o f symbols B ut .
nothing Of a l l this was ever done N o mile deep cel lars

.
-
no mi l e h ig h towers no lakes mars h es o r foun t ains no

-
, , , ,
R OS I CR UCI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 2 13
bo tanic or kitchen gardens no modelling houses perspective

-
,
-
houses coll ections o f minerals and j ewels etc were ever

, , .
,
formed by t h em eith er l itera l o r fi gurative U ni v ersally

, .
the eldest Freemason ry was indifferent with res p ect to

all profane sciences and a ll exoteric know l edge o f nature .
Its business was with a secret wisdom in which learned

and unl ea rned were alike ca p able o f initiation A nd in .
fact the exo teri ci at whose head B acon stood and who
, ,
afterwards com p osed t h e R oyal S ociety o f L ondon were ,
the antagonist party o f the T heosoph ists Cabb al ists and
*
, ,
Al c h emists at the h ead o f w h om stood Fludd and from

, ,
whom Freemasonry took its rise .
I I Th at t h e obj ect o f t h e elder Freemasons and the

.
’
origin o f the master s degree had no connection with the
restoration o f Charles II .
T his is another o f the hy p othese s advanced by Nicolai ,
and not more h a p py than that which we have j ust examined .
H e p ostulates that the e l der Freemasons pretended to no

mystery ; and t h e m ore so because very soon after their ,
first origin they were really engaged in a secr et transaction ,
which mad e it in the highest degree necessary that their

assemblies shou l d wear no app earance o f conceal ment but ,
should seem t o be a plain and undisguised club o f inquirers

into natura l phi l osophy W hat was t h is secret trans.
action a ccording t o Mr N icol ai ? N oth ing l e ss than the

.
Th e re is b e s id es in t h is h ypo th esis o f Ni co l a i s a co m pl e te
’
co nfus io n o f t h e end o f t h e so cie t y with t h e p ersons co m po s ing i t .
Th e Fre e m aso ns wish e d t o b ui ld t h e Te m pl e o f So l o m o n But L o rd .
Ba co n s Ho use o f S o l o m o n d id no t t ypify t h e o bj ect o f h is so cie ty : it

’
was s im pl y t h e na m e o f it , a nd m e a ns no m o re t h a n wh a t is und e r
st o o d a t pre s e nt by a n a ca d e m y , i . e
.
, l
a circ e o f l ea rne d m en u nit e d fo r
a co m m o n u
p pr o s e It wo uld b e j ust as a b surd t o sa y o f t h e Aca de
—no t
.
m icia ns of Be rl in th a t th ey co m po s ed o r fo rm e d an Aca dem y

b ut th a t th e y pro po se d , as th e ir se cre t o bj e ct t o b uil d o ne
,
2 14 R OS I CR U CYA N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
restoration o f the Prince o f W a l es afterwards Kin g ,
Charles II t o t h e t h rone o f E ngland

.
, T h e members o f t h e
.
M asonic u nion says he were h ostile t o the p arl iament and

, ,
t o Cromwell and friendly to the R oyal family

, A fter the .
deat h o f Charl es I (1 64 9 ) several p eop le o f rank united

.
themselv es with the Freemasons because under this mask ,
they could a ssemb l e and determine o n their future

measures Th ey found means t o establish within this
.
society a “
secret conc l ave ”
w hi c h h eld meetings a p art
from the general meetings This conclave ado p ted secret
.
signs ex p ressive o f its grief for its murdered master o f its ,
h ope t o rev e nge him o n his murderers and o f its search ,
fo r the l ost word o r logos (the son ) and its design t o ,
re establish
-
him o n h is father s throne ’
A s faithful .
adherents of the Royal family whose head the Queen had ,
now become they cal l ed themselves so ns of the wido w In

,
.
this way a secret connection was estab l ished amongst all

p ersons attached to the R oyal family as well in Great ,
B ritain and Ireland as in France and the N etherlands ,
w h ich subsiste d until after the deat h o f Cromwell and had , .
the well known issue for the roya l cause Th e analogies

-
.
alleged by N icolai between the historical events in the

first p eriod o f Freemasonry and the symbols a nd
o f the m asonic degree o f master are certainly very
ordinary ; and o ne might easily be led t o supp

the h igher obj ect o f masonry had passed into a
’
Object and that the present m aster s degree was
,
m ore than a figurati v e memorial o f this event M .
the weigh tiest historical reasons are so entirely opposed t

this hypothesis that it must evidently be p ronounced
,
mere conceit o f Mr N icolai s .

’
1 His tory m entio ns no thing a t a ll of an y p

.
"
t he F r m a so ns i n the tra ns a ct io ns of t ho se
q) e e
130 51 0 13 U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 21 5
ha v e the most accurate and minute accounts of all the other

political parties—the Presbyterians the I ndependents t he , ,
L e v ellers etc etc ; but no historian Of this period has so

, .
, .
m uch as mentioned the Freemasons I s it credible that a .
society which is represented as the centre of the counter

,
revolutionary faction should ha v e escaped the j ealous eye

,
o f Cromwell who had brought the system o f esp i o na g e to

,
p erfection and wh o carried his v igilance so far as to seize

,
the Ocea na of H arrington at the press ? H e must ha v e

been well assured that Freemasonry was harmless ; or he
would not have wanted means to destroy it with all its
pretensions and m ysteries M oreover it is a p ure fancy of
.
,
N ico l a i s that the elder Freemasons were all favourably

’
disposed to the R oyal cause E nglish clubs I admit are .

, ,
accustomed to harmonise in their pol itical principles : but

the society o f Freemasons whose true obj ect abstracted
,
from all politics must have made an exception to this rul e

,
then as certainly as they d o no w

,
.
2 T h e m a s o nic d egree of m a s t er a nd i nd e ed F reem a s o nry

.
,
i n g enera l is i n d irect co nt ra d icti o n t o this hyp o th esi s of

,
N ico la i .I t must be granted to me by those who maint a in

this hy p othesis that the or d er o f the Freemasons had
attained some consistence in 1 6 4 6 (in which year A shmole
was admitted a member) consequently about three years
,
before the execution Of Charles I I t follows therefore .

, ,
upon this hy p othesis that it m ust have existed for some

,
years without any ground o r obj ect of its existence I t .
pretended as yet to no mystery according to N icolai ,
(tho u gh I ha v e shown that at its very earliest formation

it ma d e such a pretension) it pursued neither science art , ,
nor trade : social pleasure was not its object : it masoned

mysteriously with close d doors in its hall at L ondon ; and
no man can guess at wh a t it “
masoned I t constituted a .
mystery (a guild ) — with this contradiction in a dyecto

'
that it consisted not of masters j ourneymen and a ppre n , ,
tices for the master s degree according t o N icol ai was

’
, ,
fi rst devised by the conclave after the execution o f Charl es

I . T hus far th e inconsistencies o f this h y p othesis are
p alpable : but in what follows it will ap p ear that there
’
are still more striking ones For if the master s degree .
,
arose first after the execution o f Charl es I and sym bolically .

,
im p orted vengeance o n the murderers o f their master and

restoration o f his son to the royal dignity in that case ,
d uring the t wo Protec t orates and for a long time after the ,
abdication o f R ichard t h e myth u s connected with that ,
degree might indeed have s p oken o f a murdered master ,
b u t not also (as it does ) o f a master risen again living and , ,
triumphant : for as yet matters had not been brought thus

far If t o this it be re pl ied that p erh a p s in fact the case
.
was really so and that the myth us o f the restored master

,
m ight have been added to that o f the slain master after the
R estoration there will be still this d ifii cul t y that in the
, ,
m asonic mythus the t wo masters are o ne and the same person

w h o is first slain and then restored to life ; yet C harles I .
,
who was slain did not arise again from the dead ; and
,
Charles I I though he was restored to his throne was yet

,
*
.
,
never slain—and therefore could not even meta p horically

be said t o rise again S uiting therefore to neit h er o f these
.
Be gging Pro fe s so r Buh l e pa rd o n, h e is wro ng in th is part icul a r

’
s
a rgu m e nt —th o ugh no d o ub t righ t in t h e m a i n

po int h e is urgi ng
a ga ins t N ico l a i t h e m e re pa ss io n o f t h e ca s e
: o ul d er na t ura l w v y ly
expre ss t h e y tr t
id e nt it o f in e es in a ny fa t h e a nd s o n b y a rib u ing r tt t
id e ntit y t o t h e ir pe rso ns, a s h o ugh t h e fa h e t i e d a ga in a nd t r l v
tri um ph e d in trium ph o f h is s o n But in t h e ca s e o f a n E ngl ish
t he .
k ing wh o never di es qu o a d h is o ffice th ere is no t o nly a pa th o s b ut a

, ,
ph il o s o
ph ic a ccuracy a nd fi d e l ity t o t h e co nstitutio na l d o ct rine in t h is
wa y o f sym b o li si ng t h e st o ry .
’
kings the mythus of the masonic master s degree d oes not
,
a d apt itself to this part o f history B esides as H erder has .

,
j ustly remarked what a childish p art would the Freemasons

,
be pl aying aft er the R estoration ! W ith this event their

object was accomplished : t o what p urpose then any further
mysteries ? T h e very ground o f the mysteries had thus
fallen away and according to all analogy of experience the
, ,
mysteries themselves s h ould have ceased at the sa m e time .
But the Freemasons call ed themselves at that time S o ns

o f t h e Wid o w as it is a l leged o f H enrietta M aria the , ,
w ife Of the murdered king) ; and they were in search o f

the l ost word (the Prince o f W ales) T his it is argued .
, ,
has t o o near an agreement wit h the history o f that period

t o be a l together a fi ction I answer that we must not
.
allow ourselves t o be duped by specious resemblances .
Th e elder Freemasons called themsel ves S ons of th e Wi d o w ,
becau se the working masons called and still ca ll them

selves by that name agr eeably to their legend In the l s t .
B ook o f Kings vii 1 3 are these words :

, .
,
A nd King
S olomon sen t and fetched H iram o f Tyre a widow s son of
’
the tribe of N a p htali H iram therefore the eldest mason

.
”
, ,
of whom anything is known was a widow s son H ence ,

’
.
,
therefore the masons o f the seventeenth century who were

, ,
famili ar with the Bible styled themselves in memory o f

, ,
their founder S o ns of the Wid o w ; and the Freemasons

,
borrowed this designation from them as they did the rest

o f their external constitution M oreover the masonic .
,
ex p ression S o ns of th e Wi d o w has the closest connection

, ,
’
with the building o f S olomon s T emple .
J ust as little did the Freemasons m ean by t h e lo s t wo rd ,
which they sought t h e Prince of W ales T hat great per

, .
s o na ge was no t lost so that there could be no occas ion fo r

,
seeking him T h e R oyal party knew as well where he wa s

.
2 1s R OS / CR U CI A N S A N D PA D E NA S ON S .
to be found as in o u r days the French R oyalists ha v e

‘
always known the residence o f the emigrant B ourbons

T h e question was not —where to find him but how to
.
replace him on his throne B esides though a most

.
,
majestic person in his political relations a Prince o f W ales ,
makes no es p ecial p retensions to sanctity o f character : and

familiar as scri p tural allusions were in that age I doub t ,
whether he could have been denominated the log o s o r wo rd

wi t hout O ffence to the scrupulo us austerity o f that a ge in
matters o f religion W hat was it then that the Freemasons
.
really did mean by t h e l ost word ? M anifes tly t h e masonic

mystery itsel f the secret wisdom del ivered to us under a
,
figurative veil through M oses S olomon the Prophets the , , ,
Grand M aster Christ and his confidential disciples B riefly

-
,
.
,
they me a nt the lost wor d o f God in the Cabbalistic sense

and therefore it was that long aft er the R estoration th ey
continued t o seek it and are sti ll seeking it to this day
,
'
I I I T hat Cro m wel l was not t h e founder o f Freemasonry

.
A s N icolai has chosen to re p resent th e elder Freemasons

as z e alous R oyalists so o n th e contrary others have thought
,
fi t to describe them as furious D emocrats A ccording to .
this fiction Cromwell with some confidential friends

, ,
Ireton A l gernon Sidney N eville M artin W ildman H a r

, , , ,
rington etc ) founded the order in 1 6 4 5—Ostensibly on the

,
.
,
p art o f Cromwell for the purp ose o f reco nci l ing the co n
,
tending p arties in rel igion and politics but really with a ,
vie w to his o wn ambitious proj ects T o this statement I .
oppose th e followi ng arguments

F irst it contradicts the internal character and spirit o f
,
Freemasonry — which is free from al l p olitical tendency ,
and is wholly unintelligible o n this h y p othesis .
S econdl y though it is unquestionable that Cromwell

,
established and su p ported many secret connections yet the ,

best E nglish historians record nothing Of any connection

which he had with the Freemasons Div i d e e t im p era was .
the M achiavellian maxim which Cromwell d eri v ed not from ,
M achiavel but fr om his own native political sagacity and

,
with such an obj ect before him it is v ery lit tle likely that
he w oul d ha v e sought t o connect himself with a society that
aims at a general harmony amongst men .
Thirdly how came it— if the order of Freemasons were

,
the instrument of the Cromwellian revolution— that the

R oyalists did not exert themselves after the restoration Of
Charles I I to suppress it ? .
B ut the fact is that this origin Of Freemasonry has been

,
forged for the p urpose o f making it hateful and an obj ect o f

suspicion to monarchica l states S e e for example “
Th e .
, ,
Freemasons A nnihilated o r Prosecution o f the detecte d

,
”
Order o f Freemasons Frankfort and L e ipz ic 1 7 4 6 Th e
, , .
first p art o f this work which is a translatio n from the

,
“ ”
F rench appeared under the title o f Freemasonry exposed
, ,
etc L e ipz 1 7 4 5
.
, . .
I V T hat the S cotch degree as it is called did not arise

.
, ,
from the intrigues fo r the restoration o f Charles I I

I have no intention to enter upon the tangled web o f the
modern higher masonry ; tho ugh from an impartial stu d y ,
o f the historica l documents I could perhaps bring more,
light order and connection into this subj ect than at present
, ,
it exhibits M any personal considerations move me to let

.
the curtain drop o n the history o f the modern higher

masonry or at most to allow myself only a few general
,
hints which may be pursued by those amongst my readers

,
who may be interested in such a research One only o f the

higher masonic degrees—vi z the S cotch degree which is
.
,
.
,
the most familiarly known and is a d opted by most lodges

, ,
I must notice m ore circumstantia lly —because u pon some ,

220 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
statements which have been made it might seem to have ,

’
been connected with the elder F reemasonry N icolai s .
account o f this matter is as follows

“
A fter the death o f Cromwe ll and the de p osition o f his
son the government o f E ngl and fell into the hands of a
,
vio l ent but weak and disunited faction In suc h hands as .

,
every p atriot saw the government could not be durable ;

,
and t h e sole means for delivering the country was to restore

t h e kingly authority B ut in this there was the greatest
.
di fficulty ; for the princi p al O fficers o f the army in E ngl and ,
though otherwise in disagreement with each other were yet ,
u nanimous in their hostility to the king U nder these .
circumstances the eyes o f all p arties were turned u p on the

E nglish army in S cotland at that time under the command
,
o f M onk wh o was p rivately well a ffected to the R oyal cause ;

,
and t h e secret society o f the king s friends in L ondon who

’
,
placed all their hopes on him saw the necessity in such a

,
critical p eriod o f going warily and mysteriously t o work .
It strengthened their sense o f this ne ce ss it y t h a t o ne Of m
their o wn members Sir R ichard W illis became suspected

, ,
o f treachery ; and therefore o u t o f the bosom Of their

‘
secret conclave (the masonic master s degree ) they resol v ed
’ ’
to form a still narrower conclave to whom the S cotc h

the most secret—a ffairs should be confided T hey chose new .
symbols ada p ted t o their o wn extremely critical situation .
T hese symbols imported t h at in the b u siness o f t h is interior

,
concla v e wisdom —obedience courage—self s a crifice —and

,
- -
moderation were necessary T heir motto was Wis d o m

.
a bo v e t h ee.For greater security they altered their signs ,
and reminded each other in their totte ring condition no t to

stumble and —brea k th e a rm .
I do not deny that there is muc h p lausibility in this

hy p othesis o f N icolai s : b ut u p on examination it will
’
R OSI CR UCI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 22 1
appear that it is all p ure delusion without any basis o f ,
historical truth .
1 I t s validity rests u p on the previous assumption that

.
’
the interpretation o f the master s degree as connected with ,
the political interests o f the S tuarts between the death Of,
Charles I a nd the restoration o f his son is correct : it is

.
,
therefore a p eti tio p rincipii ; and what is the value of the

p ri ncip i u m we have
,
already seen .
2 Of any p articipation o n t h e p art o f a secret society of

.
Freemasons in the counsels and ex p edition o f General M onk

—history tells us absolutely nothing E ven S kinner p re .
serves a p rofound silence o n this head N o w if the facts .

,
were so to suppose that this accurate biographer should not

have known it —is absurd : and knowing it that he should
,
, ,
designedly suppress a fact so curious and s o honourable to

the Freemasons amongst the R oyal party —is inexplicable .
3 N icolai himself maintains and even proves that M onk

.
, ,
was not himself a Freemason I n what way then could the

.
society gain any influence over his measures ? My sagacious

friend j ustly a pp lauds the p olitic mistrust o f M onk (who
would not confide his intentions even to his o wn brother) ,
his secrecy and the mysterious wisdom o f h is conduct ; and

,
in the very same breath he describes him as surrendering

himself to the guidance o f a society with which he was not
even connected as a member H o w is all this t o be
.
reconciled
U ndoubtedly there existed at that t ime in L ondon a
secret p arty o f R oyalists —known in history under the
name o f the S ecret Conc l ave but we are acquainted with
its members and there were but some fe w Freemasons
,
amongst them N icolai alleges the testimony o f R amsay

.
that the restoration o f Charles I I to the E nglish throne

.
was first concerted in a society o f Freemasons because ,

222 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S .
General M onk was a member o f it B ut in this assertion .
o f R amsay s there is at any rate o ne manifest untruth on

’
N icolai s o wn showing ; for M onk according to N icol ai

’
,
*
,
was not a Freemason Th e man who begins by such an

.
error in his premises must naturally err in his conclusions .
4 . T h e S cotch degree ma y the very name o f S cotch

-
,
m asonry —d oes not once come for ward in the el der Free
m asonry throughout the whole of the se v enteenth century ,
as it must inevitably h ave done if it had borne any relation

to the restoration of Charles I I I ndeed it is doubtful .
,
whether the S cotc h degree was known even in S cotland or

in E ngland before the third decenniu m o f the eighteenth
century .
B u t h o w then did this degree arise ? W hat is its mean

ing and Obj ect ? T h e answer to these q uestions does not
belong to this place It is enough o n the present occasion
.
to have shown how it did no t arise and what were no t its ,
meaning and obj ect I am here treating of the origin and

.
history o f the elder and legitimate masonry not o f an inde ,
cent pretender who crept at a later period into the or d er ,
And re w Mich a e l Ra m s ay wa s a S co tch m a n b y b irt h , b ut l i vd

e
ch ie fl y in Fra nce wh e re h e b eca m e a

, k
Ca th o l ic, a nd is we l l no wn
as
t h e a uth o r o f Th e Tra vel s o f Cyrus a nd o t h e r wo rk s

, His d isse r .
t a t io n o n t h e F re e m a s o ns co nt a i ns t h e o l d l eg e nd th a t Fre e m a s o nry
d a t e d it s o rigin fro m a g uil d o f wo rk ing m a s o ns wh o re s id e d d uring ,
t h e crus a d e s in t h e H o l y L a nd fo r t h e purpo s e o f re b uil d ing t h e

Ch ris t ia n ch urch e s d e s t ro ye d b y t h e Sa ra ce ns a nd we re a ft e rwa rd s
,
s u m m o ne d b y a k ing o f E ngl a nd t o h is d o m i nio ns As tuto r t o t h e .
t wo s o ns o f t h e Pre te nd e r fo r wh o se u s e h e wro te
,
“
Th e Tra v el s o f
Cyrus Ra m say is a d is t inguis h e d pe rs o n in t h e h i sto ry o f t h e l a t e r
”
,
Fre e m a so nry . Of a ll t h a t pa rt o f it s histo ry which l a y h a l f a ce nt ury - -
b e fo re h is o wn tim e h e wa s h o we ve r ve ry il l info rm e d
, , ,
-
On t h is h e .
g iv e s u s n o t h ing b u t t h e ca nt o f t h e l a te r E n l ish l o dg e s wh o h a d
g
l o st t h e k erne l in t h e s h el l —t h e o rigina l e s s e nce a nd o bj e ct o f m a s o nry
,
in it s fo rm —a s e a rly a s t h e b eginning o f t h e e ig hte e nth ce ntury .

and by the side Of the L ion —the Pelican—and the D ove

, ,
introduced the A pe and the Fox .
V T h e Freemasons are not derived from the order of

.
the Knights T emplars

N O hypothesis upon the origin and primitive tendency o f
the Freemasons has Obtained more cre d it in modern times
than this—T hat they were derived from the order o f
Knights T em p lars so cruelly p ersecuted and ruined under
,
Pope Clement V and Philip the Fair o f F rance and had no

.
,
other secret purpose o n their first a ppearance than the

re establishment o f t h at inj ured or d er
-
S o much influence
.
has this opinion had in France that in the first half of the
eighteenth century it led t o the amalgamation o f the ex
ternal forms and ritual o f the T emplars with those o f the
Freemasons ; a nd some o f the higher degrees o f French
mas onry have undoubtedly proceeded from this amalgama
tion In Germany it was L essing wh o if not first yet
.
, , ,
chiefly ga v e to the learned world an interest in this hy p o

,
4
thesis by some allusions to it scat t ered through his masterly

dialogue s fo r Freemasons W ith many it became a fa
.
v o u rit e hypothesis fo r it assigned an honourable origin t o

the M asoni c order and flattered the vanity of its members
, .
T h e T emplars were o ne Of the most cel ebrated knightly

o rders during the crusades : their whole I nstitution A cts
, ,
and T ragical Fate are attractive to the feelings and the

fancy : how natura l therefore it was that the modern
, ,
masons should seize with enthusiasm upon the conj ectures

thrown o ut by L e ssing S ome modern E nglish writers
.
have also ado p ted this mode o f exp l aining the origin Of
Freemasonry ; no t so much o n the authority o f any historical
documents as because they found in the French lodges
,
degrees which had a manifest reference to the Te m plar

institutions and which t h ey naturally attribu te d t o the
,
224 13 0 51 0 13 U 0 1 A N 5 A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
elde r Freemasonry being ignorant that th ey had been p ur

,
o s e l y introduced at a later p eriod t o serve an hy p othesis

p
in fact the French degrees had been originally derived from
,
the hy p othesis ; and now the hypothesis was in turn deri v ed

from the French degrees I f in all this there were any
.
word o f truth it would follow that I had written this whole

,
book o f 4 1 8 p ages to no p urpose : and what a shocking

thing would that be ! Knowing therefo re the importance
t o myself o f t h is q uestion it may be p resumed that I have
,
examined it not negl igently b efore I ventured t o b ring

,
forward my o wn deduction o f the Freemasons from t h e

R osicrucians T his is no t t h e place for a ful l critique u p on
.
all th e idle p rattle about the T em p lars and the Freemasons :

but an im p artial review o f the arg uments for and against
the T em pl ar hy p othesis m ay reasonably be demanded o f me
as a negative attestation o f my o wn hypothesis In doing .
this I must presume in my reader a general ac quaintance

with the constitu tion and history o f the T em pl ars which it ,
will be very easy fo r any o ne not al ready in p ossession o f it

to gain .
1 It is alleged that t h e masonic mystical allegory re pre

.
sented nothing else in its ca p ital features than t h e p ersecution

and overthrow o f the T em pl ars es p ecial ly the dreadful deat h
,
of the innocent Grand M aster J ames B urg de M ol lay S ome

-
, .
knights together wit h A umont it is said made their escap e

, , ,
in the dress o f masons t o S cotland ; and fo r t h e sake o f ,
disguise exercised the trade Of masons

, T h is was t h e.
reason t h at they ado p ted symbols from t h at trade ; and t o ,
avoid detection gave them the semblance o f moral pur

,
p oses Th ey cal led themselves F ra nc Ma go ns as we ll in

.
,
memory o f the T emplars who in Pal estine were a l ways

called Francs by the S aracens as with a view to distinguish
,
themselves from the common working masons Th e T emple .

13 0 51 0 13 U CI A N 5 A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 22 5
of So l omon
which they professed t o bu ild together wit h al l
, ,
the masonic attributes p ointed collectively t o the grand ,
purpose o f the society —the restoration of the T emplar order .
A t first the society was confined to the descendants o f it s

founders but within th e last 1 50 years the S cotch masters
have communica ted their h ereditary right t o others in order
t o extend their o wn p ower ; and from t hi s period it is ,
said begins the pu blic h is tory o f Freemasonry Se e Th e

,
“
.
U s e and A buse o f Freemasonry by Captain George S mith , ,
Ins p ector o f the R oya l M ilitary S chool at W ool wich e t c ,

.
,
etc L o ndon 1 7 8 3
.
, Se e a l so “
S cotc h Masonry compared
.
,
with the three V ows Of t h e Order and with the Mystery ,
o f the Knights T em p lars : from the French o f N icholas

”
de B onneville .
S uch is the l egend w h ic h is afterwards su p po rted by the

,
genera l analogy between the ritu a l and external characte r

is t ic s o f both orders T h e thre e degrees o f mason ry (the
.
holy masonic number) are compared wit h the tri pl e offi ce

o f general amongst the T em p la rs T h e masonic dress is .
alleged t o be co p ied from that o f t h e T em plars Th e signs .
of Freemasonry are the same with those u sed in Palestine

by the Tem pl ars Th e ri t es o f initiation as p ractised o n
.
,
the admission Of a novice es p ecial ly o n admission t o t h e ,
master s degree and t h e symbolic Obj ect o f this very

’
,
d egree are all connected with the p ersecution o f the

,
T em p lars with the t ria l o f t h e knights and the execution

, ,
o f the Grand M aster T o this Grand M aste r (J ames B urg)

-
.
-
the lette rs I and B whic h no l onger mean J achin and

,
Boa z are said to point

,
E ven th e ho l iest masonic name o f
.
H iram has no other allusion t h an t o the murder e d Grand

M aster Of the T emplars W it h regard to the s e anal ogie s .
in general it may be s ufli cie nt t o say that some o f them are

,
accidental —som e very forced and far sough t —and some -
15
226 13 0 51 0 13 UCI A N 5 A N D F RE E MA 50 N 5 .
a l together fi ctitious . T hus ,

for insta nce it is said that the ,
name F ra nc Ma go n was chosen in allusion t o the co nnection

o f the T em p lars with Pal estine A nd thus we are required .
t o believe that the e l dest Freemasons o f Great B ritain styled

themselves at first Frank M asons : as if this had any
warrant from history o r sup p osing even that it had as if
, ,
a nam e a d opte d o n suc h a ground could ever have bee n

dro p ped Th e sim pl e fact is—that the French were the
.
p eopl e wh o fi rst introduced the seeming al lusion t o Franks

by transl ating the E nglish name Freem a s on into Fra nc
Ma yan w h ic h t h ey did because the world li bre would not
so easi l y b l end into composition wit h the word Ma o n S o
c .
also the late Mr V o n B orn h aving occasion t o ex p ress t h e

.
,
word F reemasons in L atin rendered it Franco m u ra rii ,

-
.
N o t t o detain the reader h ow e ver with a separate e xa m in

, ,
ation o f each p articular al l egation I will content mysel f ,
with observing that the ca p ita l mythus o f the m as onic

m aste r s degree tal lies but in o ne half with the execution Of
’
-
the Grand M aster o f t h e T em plars o r e v en o f the S ub Prior

-
,
-
o f M on tfaucon (Charles de M onte Carm el ) Th e Grand .
M aster was indeed murdered as the Grand M aster o f t h e ,

-
Freemasons is described t o have been ; but not as the ,
l atter by treacherous j ourneymen : m oreover the l att e r

, ,
r ose from th e grave sti l l lives and trium phs ; which will
, ,
h ardly be said Of J a m es B urg de M ollay T wo arguments .

,
h owever remain t o be noticed both o u t o f resp ect t o the

, ,
l iterary eminence Of those who have alleged them and ,
al so because they seem intrinsically o f some weight .
2 Th e E nglish word m a s onry

. T his wor d o r (as it .
,
o ught in that case to be written ) the word m a s o ny is ,
d erived according t o L e ssing from the A ngl o S axon word -
m a ss o ney—a secret commensal society ; which last word

, ,
a gain com e s from m a s e a tab l e Such tab l e societies and

, .
R OS JCR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 227
co m po t use swere very common amongst o ur forefathers

especially amongst the p rinces and knights o f the middle
ages ; the weightiest a ffairs where t h ere transacted and ,
p eculiar buildings were a pp ropriated t o their use In .
par t icular the m a so ni es o f the Knights T em plars were

,
highly celebrated in the thirteenth century One o f them .
was still subsisting in L ondon at the end o f the seventeenth

century—a t which p eriod according t o L essing the public
, ,
his t ory o f the Freemasons first commences T his society .
h ad its house o f meeting near St Pau l s Cathedral which

.
’
,
was then rebuilding S ir Christopher W ren th e architect

.
, ,
was o ne o f it s members For thirty years during the

.
,
building o f the cathedral h e continued t o frequent it

‘
, .
From this circ umstance the p eop l e who had forgotten the,
true meaning o f the word m a s so ney took it for a so ciety o f

,
architects with whom Sir Christopher cons ulted o n any

di fficulties which arose in the progress o f the work This .
mistake W ren turned t o account H e had formerly .
assisted in planning a society whic h s h ould m ake s p ecul ative

truths more u seful for p urposes o f common life Th e very .
converse o f this idea no w oc curred t o him —vi z the idea o f .

,
a society w h ich shou l d raise itself from the p raxis o f ci v il

life t o speculation .
“
I n the former thought he “
wou l d,
”
,
be examined all that wa s useful amongst the true in this ,
all that is true amongst the useful H o w if I should make

.
some princi p les o f the m a so nry exoteric ? H o w if I should

disguise that which cannot be made exoteric under the
hieroglyphics and symbols o f m a s o nry as the p e ople ,
p ronounce the wo rd and exte nd this masonry into a Free

masonry in which all may take a share ? I n this way
,
”
,
according t o L essing did W ren scheme ; and in this way

,
did Fre m a so nry a rise A fterwards however from a con

.
, ,
versation which he had with N icolai it a p pears that ,

228 130 51 0 1 3U CI A N 5 A N D F RE E MA S ON S .
L essing h ad t h us far changed h is fi rst O p inion (a s giv en in

the E rns t u nd F a lh) that he no l onger su p posed S ir
Christopher sim p ly to h ave m odified a m a ssoney o r s ociety ,
o f Knights T emplars w h ich had subsisted secretly fo r many

,
centuries and to have translated their doctrines into an

,
exoteric sha p e but rath er to hav e h imself fi rst esta b l ished

,
such m a s so ney —u p on some basis o f analogy however with , ,
the elder m a s so neys .
’
T o an attentive examiner o f this conjecture o f L essing s ,
it w ill a pp ear th at it rests entirely u p on the presumed

identity of meaning b e tween the word m a ss oney and the
word m a s o ny (or masonry as it afterwards became accord ,
ing t o the allegation through a p opul ar mistake o f the

,
meani ng) B u t the very meaning and etymology ascribed

.
to m a sso ney a secret c l ub o r co mp o ta s from m a s e a , ,
table ) —are o p en t o muc h doubt N icolai a friend of .

,
L essing s professes as l ittle t o know any authority for

’
,
s uch an explanation as myself and is disposed to derive ,
the w ord m a sso ney from m a s so nya which in the L atin o f ,
the middle ages meant fi rst a club (clea n in French m a ssu e) ,
secondly a key (cla v i s) and a secret society (a c l ub ) For

, , .
my p art I think both the etymologies fal se M a ss oney is .
doubtles s originally the same word wit h m a is o n and m a g io ne;

and the primitive etymon Of al l three words is cl early the
L atin word m a ns io in the sense o f the middle ages I t means
, .
simply a residence o r place o f abode and was naturally ,
applied to the d w elling house o f the T em p lars -

T heir .
meetings were held in m a nsio ne Tem p la ri o rw n in

t h e m a ss o ne y o f t h e T em p lars On the su ppr ession o f the
.
order their bui l dings sti l l remained and preserved the

, ,
names o f tem pl es tem pl ar mansions etc j ust as at t h is day

, ,
.
,
we find many co nv ents in H anover t h ough they are no ,
l onger occu p ied by monks o r nuns and in Ita ly there a re

R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E AI A S ON S . 2 29
even yet churches t o be found which are denominated d e l a

Ma s o n which Pa cia ud i pro p erl y explains by d e l la Ma g io ne
,
—these churches having been attached t o the dwellings of

the Knights T emplars It is therefore very possible t hat a
.
Templar m a sso ney may have subsisted in L ondon in t h e ,
neighbourhood o f St Paul s Church u p to the end o f the

.
’
seventeenth century Some notice Of such a fact L essing

.
perhaps stumbled o n in the course o f his reading He .
mistook the building for a s ecret society o f T em pl a rs that

still retained a traditional know l edge Of t h e principles
peculiar to the ancient order o f Knights T emplars next he
found that Sir Christopher W ren had been a frequenter Of
this m a sso ney H e t h erefore was a Knight T emplar but
.
,
he was al so an architect and by him the T emplar doctrines

had been mo ul ded into a symbolic conformity with his o wn
art and had been fitt ed fo r di ffusion among the people
,
.
S uch is the way in which a learned hypothesis arises and

On this p articular hy p othesis may be p ronounced what
L essing said o f many an Ol der o ne —D ust and nothing but

d ust In co nclusion I may add what N icolai has already
,
Observed t hat L e ssing was wholly misinformed as t o the

,
history a nd chronology Of Freemasonry So far from .
arising o ut o f the ashes o f th e T emplar traditions at the end

Of the seventeenth century we have seen that it was fully ,
matured in the forty sixth year o f that century and there

-
fore long before the rebuilding o f S t Paul s In fact Sir .

’
.
,
Chris t opher W ren was himself electe d D eputy Grand M aster -
Of the Fre em asons in 1 666 and in less than twenty years

a fter viz in 1 6 8 5 he b e came G rand M aster
( ) .
-
.
3 B ap ho m e t — B u t says M r N icolai the T emplars had a

. .
, .
,
secret and the Freemasons have a secret ; and the secrets

,
agree in this that no uninitiated person has succeeded in

,
d iscovering eith er D oe s no t thi s im p ly some connection

.
2 30 ROS I CR UCI AN S AND FRE E MA S ONS .
origina ll y between the two orders more es p ecially if it can

be sho wn that the t wo secrets are identical ? S orry I am ,
m y venerab l e friend to answer— N O, S orry I am in your.

,
O l d days t o be under t h e necessity Of knocking o n the h ead

,
a darling hy p othesis o f yours w h ic h h as cost yo u I doubt

, ,
not mu ch labour o f study and researc h much thought

,
-
and I fe a r also many many pounds Of candles But it is

, ,
.
my duty to do so and indeed considering Mr N icolai s o l d

,
.
’
age and his great merits in regard t o German l iterature it ,
wou l d be my duty to show him no m ercy but to l ash h im ,
wit h the utmost severity fo r his rotten hy p othesis —if my

time would al l ow it B u t t o come t o business
. The .
T em p lars says O l d N icol ai had a secret

, ,
T h ey had so but .
what was it ? A ccording t o N icolai it consisted in the

denial Of th e T rinity and in a sche me Of natural religion
,
opposed t o the dominant Popish C atho l icism H ence it was .
that the T em p lars sought t o make themselves indepen d ent

of the other Catholic clergy ; the novices were re q uired t o
abj ure the divinity Of Christ and even t o s p it upon a cruci
,
fix and tram p le it under foot T heir A nti T rinitarianism

, .
-
Mr N icol ai ascribes to their connection with the S aracens

.
,
wh o al ways made the d octrine o f the T rinity a matte r o f

re p roach t o t h e Fr ank s H e su pp oses that during p eriods ,
o f truce in ca p tivity many T emp l ars h ad by comm u nie s

, ,
tion with learned M o h ammedans become enlightened t o the ,
errors and the tyranny Of Po p ery ; but at the same time

strengthening their convictions of the falsehood Of M ahomet
a nis m they had retained nothing o f their religious doctrines
,
but M onoth eism T hese heterodoxies however under the

.
, ,
existing p ower of the hierarchy and the u niversal s u pe rs t i

tion th e n p reval ent they had the strongest reasons for
,
c o mm uni ca ting t o none but t h ose w h o were admitted into

th e h igh est degree Of th eir orde r—and t o them onl y
R OS ZCR U CI A N S A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 2 3 1
symbolically F rom these data which may be received as

.
,
tolerably p rob a ble and conformable t o the dep ositions Of the

witnesses o n the trial Of the T emplars o l d M r N icolai , .
fl a t t e rs himself that he can unriddle the mystery o f mysteries

—vi z B ap homet (Ba fl o m e t B a ph e m e t o r Ba fl o m e t us)
.
, , ,
’
which was the main symbol o f the Knights T emplars in the

highest degr ees T his Baphomet was a figure rep resenting
.
a human bust but sometimes o f monstrous and caricature

,
appearance which symbolised the highest Object o f the

,
T em p lars and therefore u p on the meaning o f B a p homet

hinges the explanation o f the great Templar mystery .
First then Mr N icolai tells us what B aphomet was no t

, ,
. .
I t was no t M ohammed A ccording t o the genius Of the .
A rabic language o u t Of M ohammed migh t be made M ahomet

o r Ba h o m e t but no t B a p homet
,
In some L a tin his t orians .
about the period o f the Crusades B a h o m e t is ce rtainly used ,
for M ahomet and in o ne writer p erhaps B aphomet (viz in

,
.
the Episto la Ans elm i de Ri bo di m o n te a d Ma na s s em Archi e

cop wm R em e ns em D a ch e r s S i ci
’
p is . of the year 1 0 9 9 in y p ,
—
,
“
legiu m tom ii p 4 3 l
, . Se q u e nt i die auror a apparente
. .
,
altis v o cib us Baph om e t inv o ca v e runt e t no s D eum nostrum

in co rd ib u s no st ris deprecantes im pe t u m fe cim us in eos e t ,
de muris civitatis omnes N icolai sup p osing ,
t hat the cry o f the S aracens was in this case addressed t o

their o wn p rophet concludes that B a ph o m et is an error o f
,
the p ress for Ba ho m et and that this is p ut fo r Ma ho m e t ,

.
Bu t it is possible that B a p ho m e t may be the true reading

for it m ay no t ha ve been used in devotion for M ahomet but ,
sc o ifingl y as the kno wn watchword o f the T emplars But

it contra dic t s the w h ol e h istory o f the T em p lars —t o su pp ose
.
that they h ad introduced into their order the worship Of an

image Of M ahomet In fact from al l the records o f their.
,
t rial and p ersecution it results that no such charge was ,

2 32 R OS I CR U CI A N S A N D F RE E JI A S ON S .
brought against them by their enemies A nd moreover .

, ,
M a h o m e t a ni sm itself rej ects a ll worsh i p Of images .
Secondly not being Mahomet w h at was it ? I t was says

, , ,
Mr N icolai Ba qbq 71 777 8 9 i e as h e interp rets it the wo rd

.
, ,
. .
, ,
B ap ho m et meant t h e ba ptism of wis dom and the image so

ca l led re p resented G o d t h e uni versa l Fat h er ex p ressed
the u nity Of th e D i v ine B eing By using this sign there .
fore u nder this name whic h po rt o o k muc h Of a Gnostic and

, ,
Cabba l istic s p irit the T em pl ar s indicated t h eir dedication t o

,
th e truths Of natural religion .
N o w in answer t o t his l earned conceit Of Mr N icol ai s

’
, .
,
I wo ul d wish t o ask him

First in an age so barbarous as that o f t h e twel fth and
,
thi rteenth centuries when no t t o be able to read o r write

,
w as no disgrace how came a body Of ru de warriors like the

T em pl ars to descend into the de p ths Of Gnosticis m
S econdly if by the image cal led Ba p homet they meant t o
,
r ep resent the unity o f God h ow came they to designate it

,
by a name whic h ex p resses no attribute o f the deity but ,
sim ply a mystical ceremony amongst th emsel ves (vi z t h e .

,
ba p tism Of wisdom ) ?
T hirdly I wil l p ut a h o m e q uestion t o Mr N icolai and
,
.
l et h im p arry it if he can H o w many h eads h ad B aphomet ?

H is o wn conscien ce wil l re p ly—T wo Indeed a whol e .
,
l ength Of B aphomet is recorded which h ad al so four feet ;

but sup p osing th ese to be dis p uted Mr N icol ai ca n never
, ,
.
dis p ute a way the t wo hea ds N o w what sort o f a symbol

.
,
wo ul d a t wo h eaded image have been for the ex p ression Of

-
u nity o f being ? A nswer m e that M r N icolai S ure l y the, . .
rudest skulls o f the twelfth century co ul d h ave ex p ressed

their meaning better .
H aving thus u p set my l earned brot h e r s hy p othesis I ’

,
no w come forward wit h my o wn T hrough the illumination .

which some o f the Templars gained in the E ast as to the

relations in which they stood t o the POpe and R omish
church but sti ll more perhaps from the suggestions of their
,
own great power and wealth opposed to so rap acious and

potent a supremacy there gradually arose a separate
,
T em p lar interest no less hostile to the Pope and clergy o f

R ome than to M ahomet T o this separate interest they
.
adapted an a p propriate scheme o f theology but neither the

o ne nor the other could be communicated wit h safety
exce p t t o their o wn su p erior members : and thus it became
a mystery o f the order N o w this mystery was symbolically
.
expressed by a t wo head e d figu re Of Bapho m et i e o f the

-
. .
,
Pope and M ah omet together S o long as the T emp l ars .
continued orthodox the watchword o f their undivided

,
hostility was M a ho m et : but as soon as the Po p e became

an Obj ect o f j ea lousy and hatred t o them they devised a ,
new watchword which should covertly ex p ress their double
that o f Mahomet *
headed enmity by intertwisting the name o f the Po p e with
T his they e ffected by cutting o ff the
.
two first letters o f M a ho m et and substi t uting Bap o r Pap

,
the first syllable Of Pap a T hus arose the compound word

.
B ap homet a nd hence it was t hat the image o f B aphomet
was figured wit h t wo heads and wa s otherwise monstrous ,
in appearance W hen a T em plar was initiated into the

.
highest degree Of the order he was sho wn this image o f ,
Ba p home t and received a girdle with certain ceremonies

,
which referred t o that figure A t sight o f this figure in the .
general chap ters o f the order the knights exp ressed their ,
inde p endence o f the church and the church creed by ,
Th o se wh o a re q
a c ua in e dwith t h e G erm a n Pro t esta nt writers
t
a b o ut t h e e po ch o f t h e Re fo rm a tio n wil l re m e m b e r t h e m a ny fa nciful
,
co m b ina t io ns e xtra ct e d fro m t h e na m e s Pa b st ( Po pe ) a nd Ma h o m e t b y
a l l m a nne r o fd isl o ca ti o ns a nd i nv e rs io ns o f t h e ir co m o ne nt l e tte rs

p .
testifying t h eir abhorrence o f the cruc ifix and by worship ,
ping the sol e God o f h eaven and earth H ence they called .
a new l y initiated member a

-
friend o f God who could now ,
speak with God if he c h ose without the intermedia

tion o f the Po p e and the church U pon this ex p lanation o f
.
B ap h omet it becomes su fficientl y plai n wh the secret was

, y
looked upon as s o invio l ab l e that even u p on the rack it
cou l d no t be extorted from them By such a con fession the .
order would have exposed itsel f to a still more cruel perse

c ut io n and a more inevitab l e destructio n
, On the other .
hand u p on M r N ico l a i s ex p lanation it is difficul t t o

, .
’
,
conceive why under suc h extremities the accused should

, ,
not h ave confessed the truth In a ll probability the court

.
o f R ome h ad good information o f the secret tendency o f the
T empl ar doctrines ; and hence no doubt it was Pope , ,
Clement V p roceeded s o furious l y agains t them

. .
N ow then I come to my conclusion which is this : I f the ,
Knights T em pl ars had no other secret than o ne relating t o

a p o litica l interest whic h placed them in Opposition to the
POpe and the claims Of the R oman Catholic clergy o n the
o ne hand and to M ahomet o n the other—then it is i m o s
, p
sible that there can have been any a fli nit y o r resemblance
whatsoever between them and t h e Freemasons ; for the
Freemasons h ave ne v er in any age troubled themselves
abou t either M ahome t o r the Pope Popery and Ma .
h o m e t anis m are alike indi fferent t o the Freemasons ,
and al ways have been A nd in general the Obj ect o f the

.
Freemasons is not political Finally it is in the highest

.
,
degree p robab l e that the sec ret o f the Knights T em plars
j
I n re ecting Ro m a n Ca th olic ca nd id a tes fo r a d m is s io n into th eir
o rd e r— t h e re a d e r m ust re m e m b e r th a t t h e Fre e m as o ns o b e cte d t o j
th e m no t a s Ro m a n Ca t h o lics , b ut as perso ns o f into l e ra nt principles
—T
.
ra ns l a to r.
ROS I CR UCI ANS A N D F RE E M A S ON S . 2 35
peris hed with their order : for it is making t o o heavy a

demand o n o ur credulity —t o su p pose that a secret society
never once coming within the l ight o f history can have
propagated itself throug h a p eriod o f four centuries
from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century in which
,
century it has been shown that Freema s onry first arose .

K AN T ON N A T I O N A L C H A R A C T E R,
IN R E L AT I ON TO
T HE S E N S E OF T H E S U BL I M E A N D
BE A U T I F U L .
purp ose says Kant

, is not t o p ortray the
,
“
c ha racters o f di fferent nations in detail I

sketch only a fe w features whic h may express ,
the feel ing in those c h aracters for the S ublime

, ,
a nd the B eautiful . In suc h a p o rt raiture it is evident that

only a tolerable accuracy can be demanded that the proto
ty p es o f the features se l ec t ed are p rominent only in the
great crowd o f those that make pretensions t o refined
feelings ; and that no nation is enti re ly wanting in minds
which unite the best qualities o f both feelings A ny blame .
,
therefo re which may touc h the character o f a nation in the

,
course o f these strictures ought not t o o ffend any o ne —the

blame being o f such a nature that every man may toss o ff
the ball to his neighbour W h ether these national distino
.
tions are contingently dep endent o n the colour o f the times

and the quality o f the government o r are bound to the,
climate by a certain necessity I do not here inquire

,
.
K A N T 0 N N A TI ON A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 37
A mong the nations o f o ur quarter of the globe t h e ,
Ital ians and the French are in my opinion those wh o are

most distinguished fo r the sense Of the B eautifu l —the
Germans the E nglish and the S p aniards for the sense o f
, ,
the S ub l ime H ol l a nd may be set down as a country in

.
w h ic h neither feeling is very obse r vab l e Th e B ea utifu l is

.
eith er fascinating and affecting o r ga y and enl ivening

, .
T h e fi rs t contains somet h ing o f the S ublime and the mind ,
whil st under the influence o f this c l ass o f beauty is ,
meditative and enra p tured but under th e influence o f t h e

other l aughing and j oyous The fi rst kind o f beauty
,
.
seems t o be mos t congenial t o t h e Italian ta ste ; th e

second t o the Frenc h T h e Sublime w h ere it is ex p ressed
.
,
by th e national character takes either a more te rrific

,
character whic h verges a l ittl e t o the A dventurous and

,
R omantic ; o r secondly it is a feeling fo r t h e N oble ; o r

,
thirdl y for th e M agnific e nt

,
U p on ce rt ain grounds I
.
feel warranted in a scribing t h e first sty l e o f feeling to t h e

Spaniard the second t o the E ng l ishman and the third t o
, ,
the German T h e feeling fo r the M agni fi cent is not

.
natively s o original as t h e rest : and althoug h a spirit ,
o f imitation may easi ly be connected with any other

feel i ng yet it is more p eculiarly connected with the
,
gl ittering S ublime : fo r th is is a mixed feel ing com p osed ,
o f the sense fo r t h e B eautifu l and the S ubli m e in whic h ,
eac h considered se p arately is colder—and the mind more

at l eisure t o attend to ex a mpl es and stands more in ne e d
,
o f exam pl es t o excite and su p port it Th e German .

,
therefore has less feeling fo r the B eautiful than the

,
Frenchman and l ess for th e Sub l ime than t h e E ngl ishman

,
but in those cases where it is necessary that both s h ould

appear united the resul t will be more congenial t o his
,
mind : and he will also more readily a void th os e errors

K A N T ON N A TI ON A L CH A RA C TE R .
int o w h ic h an extravagant degree o f either fe e l ing excl u

s iv e l
y is a p t t o fall T h e taste w h ic h I h ave
. attributed
t o di ffe re nt nation s is con fi rm ed by the c h oice w h ic h they
se verall y make amongst the a rts and sciences Th e Ital ian .
genius h as distingui sh ed itsel f especiall y in M usic Painting
*
, ,
S cu lp ture and A rc h itecture

, A ll these fi ne arts meet .
with an equally re fined culture in France al though t h eir ,
beauty is here l ess t o uching T aste in reference t o th e

- .
,
p oetic and rhetoric ideal tends in France more t o the ,
B eautifu l in E ngl and more t o the S ub l ime

,
E l egant .
pl ayfulness co m edy l aughing satire amorous trifling and

, , , ,
t h e l ight curso ry and fugitive sty l e o f writing are in

, , ,
France native and o riginal In E ngland o n the contrary .

, ,
t h e nat ural p roduct o f the national mind are th oughts o f

p rofound m eaning tragedy e p ic poetry and generally the
, , ,
ma ssy gold o f wit whic h under t h e Frenc h h ammer is beat

,
o ut t o thin leaves o f greater surface In Germany the .
fi ne thinking o f the nati on even yet gl eams through a

covering Of false tinsel Formerly th is re p roach existed .
t o a shocking degree ; but l atterly by better model s and , ,
the good sense o f the peo pl e the nationa l styl e has been ,
raised t o a character o f higher grace and nobi l ity ; but

the grace h as l ess na iv e t é than it has amongst the French ,
and the nobility not so firm and confident a movement

as it has amongst the E nglis h Th e tendency o f t h e Dutc h .
taste t o a p ainful el aborateness o f arrangement and to

a p rettiness w hic h is a p t t o settl e into h eaviness and
,
To t h e in j
i us rea d er it ne e d no t b e s a id h o w strik ingly
ud cio
in o ppo sitio n t o fa cts is K a nt s j ud gm e nt o n t h e Fre nch ta st e in t h e

’
Fine A rts . W h a t t h e Fre nch po e t ry is m o s t m e n k no w : t h e Fre nch

m usic is t h e j e st o f Euro pe : a nd if we except t h e s ingl e na m e o f
Po us sin th ere is no o th er in a ny o f t h e Fine Arts wh ich ca n im pre s s
,
a ny e a r with m u ch re v e re nce .
K A I VT ON N A TI ON A L CH A RA C TE R .
distraction does no t a ll ow us t o p resume much sensibility

,
fo r the ar tless and freer movements o f the genius the ,
p roducts o f which are onl y disfigured by too anxious a fear o f

faults To a ll the arts and sciences nothing can be more
.
h ostile than the romantic o r barbaresque taste ; for this

distorts nature itself which is the universa l prototy p e o f
,
the noble and the beautiful : and hence it is that th e

Sp anish nation has shown little feeling for the fine arts o r
the sciences .
T h e national mind is in any case best expounded by the

direction o f its moral feelings : I shall therefore next
consider the feelings o f di fferent nations in relation to the
Subl ime and Beautiful from this point o f vie w Th e .
Spa nia rd is serious reserved and punctiliously faithful to

, ,
his word T here are few more upright merchants in the

.
worl d than the Spanis h The S paniard has a p roud soul

.
,
and more sym p athy wit h grandeur in actions than wit h

those q u alities o f action w hi ch come more under the title o f
the B eautiful N o t much o f benignity o r gentleness is t o
.
be found in h is composition : a nd hence he is Often harsh

and even cruel Th e a u to da fe keep s its ground in Spain
.
not s o much throug h superstition as through the n a tional

p assion for a barbaresque grandeur which is a ffected by ,
the solemnities o f a dreadful p rocession in the course o f ,
which the S a n B enito painted over with devilish forms is

, ,
delivered up t o the flames which a hideous bigotry has lit .
It cannot be so p roperly said that the S paniard is prouder

o r more amorous than those Of other nations as that he ,
displays both passions in a more barbaresque manner T o .
l eave the plough standing still and t o strut about in a long

,
sword and cloak until the trave ll e r is p ast : o r in a bull

fight w h ere the beauties o f the land are for once seen
,
unveiled t o p roclaim the lady o f his affections by a s p ecial

,
K A N T 0 N N A TI ON A L C11 ARA C TE R .
s al ute—a nd t he n t o see k t o d o honour t o this lady by

p reci p itating himself into a dangerous contest with a savage
animal are strange acts and far remote from nature Th e
, , .
I t a lia n seems t o have a mixed tem p erament com p osed ,
p artly o f t he French and p artly Of t h e Sp anis h : h e h as more

sensibi l ity t o t h e B eautifu l t h an th e Spaniard and to the ,
S ublime than the Frenc h man : and by this c l ue I am o f

Opinion that t h e oth er features Of h is m ora l c h aracter may
be ex plained .T h e F renchm a n in regard t o all mora l
,
feel ings has a domineering sense o f th e B ea utifu l H e h as

, .
a fine addre ss is courteous and obliging H e readily

, .
a ssume s a con fi dential ton e : is pl ayfu l and unconstrained
in conve rsa tion and he onl y wh o h as the p olite feelings o f

a Frenc h man can enter into t h e ful l m eaning o f the ex
p ression—a m a n or a la d y of go o d t o ne E v en the s ubl imer

.
feelings o f a Frenc h man —and h e has m any suc h— are sub

ordinated t o h is sense o f th e Beautifu l and derive t h eir ,
strengt h fro m their fusion with th e se H e is p assionate ly

.
fond o f wit and wil l make no scrupl e o f sacrifi cing a littl e

,
truth to a hap p y conce it On th e oth er h and w h ere there

.
,
is no o p portunity fo r wit a Frenchman dis pl ays a s p irit o f

,
as radical and profound investigation as men o f any nation

‘
w h ate ve r : for in s tance in mathematics and in the other

, ,
p rofound and austere sciences In th e meta p hysics how

.
,
e ver
,
the ethics and th e th eol ogy o f this nation it is
, ,
impossib l e to be t oo muc h up on one s guard A del usive

’
.
glitter commonl y p revail s in such works w h ic h cannot ,
s tand the test of sober examinatio n A Frenchman l oves

.
t h e audacio us in all his O p inions : but h e w h o wou l d arrive

at the tru th h ad need t o b e—no t audacious but cautious , .
Frenc h h istory tends natura ll y to memoirs a nd anecdotes ,
in which there is no im p rovement to desire but that they

were—true . A ban m o t h as no t th at fugitive value in
-
K A N T 0 N N A TI ON A L CH A R A C TE R . 2 41
France which it has elsewhere ; it is eagerly p ropagated ,
and treasured up in books as if it were the weightiest of

,
e v ents Th e Frenchman is a p eaceable citizen and revenges

.
,
himsel f fo r any Oppressive acts of the Farmers General by" -
satires o r by parliamentary remonstrances w h ic h having , ,
fulfilled their purposes by shedding a patriotic ecld t over

the fathers o f the people are dismissed t o be celebrat ed by
,
the po s t s T h e great Obj ect to which the meritorious

.
qualities and national capacities o f this people are mainly

referred is the female sex N o t that woman is in France
, .
more loved o r esteemed than elsewhere but because it is ,
woman that furnishes the occasion for exhibiting in the

best attitude the darling talents o f wit good breeding and , ,
polished manners in fact a vain person loves in either sex

,
nobody but himself all other persons are sim p ly the engines
by which he makes the most favourable dis p lay o f his o wn
advantages A s the French are not wanting in noble quali
.
ties which however can be ani mated and excited only by

, , ,
the feel ing o f the B eautiful it is e v ident that the fair sex
,
would have it in its p ower t o animate the men t o noble

actions beyond what is seen in any other p a rt o f the world ,
if there were any dis p osition t o favour this direction o f

the national temper . Pity t h at the l ilies d o not spin !
Th e fault t o w hi ch the character o f this nation most verges
is the tendency t o trifling o r (t o express it by a more,
courteous expression) t o levity M atters o f weight are .
treate d as j ests ; and t rifles serve for the most serious

occupation o f the faculties I n Old age the Frenchman is
.
still singing songs Of p leasure and to the best o f his power

,
is still gallant to the w omen I n speaking thus I have .

,
high authorities to warrant me from amongst the French

T h e re a d e r m us t re m e m b e r th a t th is e ss ay wa s writte n a s e a rl y
as 1 7 64 .
2 42 K A N T ON N A TI O/VA L CH A RA C T E R .
themselves ; and I shal l shelter myself from any displ e asure

which I might else incur by pl eading the sanction o f a
M ontesquieu and a D A l e m b e rt Th e E ng lis hm a n at the
’
.
,
commencement o f every acquaintance is cold and reserved , ,
and towards all strangers is indifferent H e has littl e .
inclination to show any com p laisance o r obligingness in

t rifl e s o n the other hand where he feels sincere friendship
, ,
h e is disp osed to ex p ress it by im p ortant services H e .
gives h imself very l ittle trouble to display wit in conversa

tion o r to recommend himsel f by any p oliteness o f manner
,
o n the other h and his demeanour expresses high good

,
sense and sobriety o f mind Th e E nglishman is bad at

.
imitation ; he asks little about other people s opinions and ’

'
follows nothing but his o wn taste and humour I n relation .
t o women he does not manifest the French s p irit o f courtl y

homage but nevertheless testifies far m ore o f sincere
,
respect for them ; indeed he pushes this too far and in

, ,
the married state usually allows his wife an unlimited

influence H e is fi rm at times even to obstinacy bold
.
,
and resolute even to rashness and he acts in general u p on

p rinciple in a degree amounting almost to obduracy H e .
is prone to fall into eccentricity o f habits o r o p inions not ,
from vanity but because he has a slight regard for what

,
others say or think and because he is not forward t o p ut

,
any force o n his o wn inclinations o ut o f complaisance o r

o u t o f imitation ; o n this account he is rarely so much
beloved as the Frenchman but when he is once known , , ,
much more respected Th e Germ a n has a mixed temper

.
,
composed o f the E nglish and French but partaking much ,
more Of the first : and whenever a German discovers a

,
closer resemblance to the Frenchman it is undoubtedly an ,
artificial o r mimical resemblance H e has a hap py equi .
librium of sensibility to the S ub l ime and the B eauti ful

K A N T ON N A T I ON A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 43
and if he does not rival the E nglishman in the first nor the
Frenchman in the second yet he surpasses either sep arately
,
in so far as he combines them both H e discovers more .
urbanity in social intercourse than the E nglishman and if

he does not bring into company so much wit and agreeable
vivacity a s the F renchman he manifests more modes ty and ,
good sense In l ove as in every other direction o f taste

.
, ,
he is tolerably methodic and because he combines the ,
sense o f the B eautiful with the sense o f the S ublime he is ,
cold enough in contemplating either sep arately to keep his

, ,
head free for considerations o f decorum of pomp and show , , .
H ence it is that in his ci v il relations no less than in love

, ,
family —rank —and titles are matters o f supreme import

ance H e inquires far more earnestly than either the
.
Frenchman o r the E nglishman —what people w ill think Of

him : and if there is any one feature of his character which
,
calls aloud for a capital impro v ement it is this very weak ,
ness w hich is the cause that he shrinks with timidity from the
,
hardiness o f originali ty even when he has all the talents for i t :

and through this over anxiety about the Opinions of others
,
-
his moral qualities lose all ground o f stability and become ,
fickle as the weather hollow and artificial T h e Du tch/m a n

, ,
.
is of a regular a nd painstaking temper and looking only ,
to the useful he h as li t tle sensibility to that which in a

,
finer sense is either Beautiful o r S ublime A great man is .
equi v a lent in his v ocabulary to a rich man ; by a friend he

m e ans a correspondent ; a n d a v is it is exceedingly tedious
to him unless it returns some net t profit H e is the ideal
,
.
contrast t o the Frenchman as well as to the E nglishman ,
and may be briefly described as a phlegmatic German .
I f we make an attempt to apply these thoughts t o any

particular case as for instance t o the feeling fo r honour
,
-
, ,
a n d d is t inct io m—the fol l owing national di fferences discover

2 44 K A N T 0 N N A TI ON A L CH A RA C T E R .
themse l ves Th e sensibility t o honour is in the Frenchman

.
,
v anity in th e S paniard arrogance ; in the E nglishman

p ride in th e German haughtiness and in the D utchman
(s i t v enia v erbo pom p osity T hese ex p ressions
. may seem
at fi rst sight to be e q ui p ollent but t h ey denote very
remarkab l e difle re nce s Vanity cou rts ap p robation is
'
.
,
inconstant and changeab l e b ut its outward demeanour is

,
courteous Th e arrogant man is b l oated with a false and

.
p leasurab l e conceit o f himself which he takes l ittle troub l e

,
to su pp ort by the a pp robation of others ; h is deportment is

stiff and unbending Pride is strictl y s p eaking nothing
.
, ,
’
m ore than a greater consciousness o f one s o wn merits ; and
this consciousness may Of t en b e very j ustly founded ; whence
it is that we talk o f a nob l e p ride
“
but we can never
attribute t o a m an a noble arrogance be cause this a l ways ,
indicates an il l founded and exaggerated self estimation

- -
the deportment o f the proud man towards oth ers is cold

and ex p ressive o f indi fference Th e haughty man is a p roud
man tha t is at the same time a vain o ne
, ,
.
T h e appro .
*
bation h owever which he solicits from others must be
, , ,
shown in te stimonies o f res p ect T herefore it is that he .
w ou l d willingly gl itter with titles geneal ogies and external -
p ageantry Th e G erman beyond al l other p eop le is infected

.
with this in fi rmity T h e words Gracious

“
.
” “
H igh born ,
-
,
W ell born and the rest Of that bombastic diction make

-
, ,
the German l anguage sti ff and unwieldy —a nd stand in the

way o f that beautifu l simplicity w h ich other nations have
I t is b y no m ea ns ne ces s a ry t h a t a h a ugh ty m a n sh o ul d b e a t t h e
sa m e tim e a n a rro ga nt m a n k
sh o ul d m a e a n e xa g ge ra te d a nd
v
fa nciful es t im a t e o f h is a d a nta ges : it is po ssib l e th a t h e m a y al ue v
him sel f a t no h igh e r rate th a n h is ust wo rth j
His e rro r l ie s in a fa l se
.
v
ta ste wh ich pre sid e s o er h is m a nner Of gi ing e xpressio n a nd v
im po rta nce t o h is cl a im s exte rna lly .
K A N T 0 N N A TI ON A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 4;
been able to communicate t o their s ty l e Th e c h aracteristic

—
.
o f the haughty man s demeanour in co

’
m p any is ce rem o ni
o us ne ss T h e p om p ous man is he w h o ex p resses his
.
self conceit by clear marks o f contempt fo r others Th e

- .
characte ristic o f his be h aviour is coarseness T his wretched .
tem p er is o f all the furthest removed from polished taste ,
because Obviously and unequi v ocally stupid : for assuredly

it is no rational means o f grati fying the p assion fo r honour
to chal lenge everybody about o ne by undisguised contempt
to hatred and caustic ri d icule .
R eligion in our quarter of the globe is no t the Offs p ring

, ,
o f taste —but has a more ve nerable derivation H ence it is .
only the aberrations o f men in rel igion and that whic h may ,
be regarded as strictly o f human ori gin w h ich can furnish ,
any means o f determining the di fferences o f national

characters T hese aberrations I arrange under t h e following
.
cla sses—credulity su p erstition fa naticism and ind iffe r

, , ,
ence . Cred u li ty is fo r the most par t the characteristic

, ,
o f the uninformed p art o f every nation although they have ,
no remarkable fi neness o f feelings T heir convictions .
depend merely u pon hearsay and u p on p lausible a pp ear

a nce s and with th e impulses t o these convictions no
refinement Of feel ing is blended Illustrations of this must .
be sought for amongst t h e nations o f the north Th e .
credulous m an when his taste is at all barbaresque

, ,
becomes superstitious N a y this taste is o f itself a ground

.
,
o f credulity and if we suppose the case Of two men o ne of ,
them infected with th is taste and the other of a colder and

”
,
less p assionate frame o f mind the first even though he ,

-
* ,
By t h e wa y, it h a s b e e n no tice d a s a singul a r fa ct t h a t s o wis e a

na t io n a s t h e E ngl ish are no twit h sta nding e a sily m o e d t o put fa ith in v
v
a ny m a r e ll o us a nd a b s urd sta t e m e nt wh ich is b o l d ly a d a nce d a nd v
m an y e xam pl es o f t h is a re o n re co rd . But a b o l d s t yl e o f int e ll ect l ik e
2 46 K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH ARA C TE R .
shou l d possess a much more p owerful understanding wil l ,
neverthe l ess be sooner seduced by his p redominant feeling

to bel ieve anything unnatura l than the ot h er— who m not
his discernment but his com monplace and phlegmatic feel
ings have preserved from this aberration of the j u d gment .
T h e su p erstitious man pl aces bet ween himself and the

s u preme Obj ect o f his adoration certain mighty and mar
vello ns men —giants if I m ay so express mysel f o f religion
, ,
-
whom nature obeys whose adj uring voice o p ens and shuts
,
t h e iron gates of T artarus and who wh ilst with their heads

, ,
they reach the heavens p lant their feet upon the earth
, .
Intellectual cu l ture will on this account ha v e great

obstacles to overcome in S pain ; not so much from the
ignorance with w hi ch it has to contend as b ecause it is ,
thwarted by a perverted taste which never feels itself in a

state o f elevated emotion unless w h ere its Object is bar
b a re s q u e F a na ti cism is a sor t of devout temerity and is
.
,
occasioned by a peculiar pride and an excess o f self co nfi -
d ence — with the view of stepping nearer to the divine

nature a nd raising itself above the ordinary and proscribed
,
cours e of things Th e fanatic talks Of nothing but imme

.
dia t e re v elations and o f direct intuitions ; whereas t h e

,
superstitious m a n S preads before the s e great images a v ei l

O f wonder working saints
-
and rests his whole confi dence
,
upon the imaginary and inimitable perfections of other

p ersons participating a common nature with himself I .
have before remarked that the intellectua l aberrations carry
v
t h e E ngl ish , pre io us ly t ra ine d b y a n t
e x e nsi ev e xpe rie nce in which
fi
m a ny i nexpl ica b l e d if cu l t ies o ccur t o a t ve m ind b ursts m o re
m e d it a i ,
v ig o ro us ly t h ro ugh a l l t h e l itt l e j e a l o us co ns id e ra tio ns a nd s crupl e s b y
wh ich a we a k a nd m is t rust ful int el le ct is ch e ck e d a nd fe t te re d in it s

a ss e nt s a nd th us t h e infe ri o r m ind with o ut a ny m e rit o f its o wn i s
s o m e tim e s pres e rve d fro m e rro r —No t e of K a nt s

, ,
’
. .
K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 47
Si gns along with them o f the national character of feeling

and hence it is that fanaticism has been chiefly found
( for m erly at least ) in Germany and in E ngland and is to
,
be regarded as an unnatural product o f the noble feeling

which belongs to the characters o f these two nations A nd .
l et it be observed that fanaticism is not by many degrees s o

inj urious as superstition although at first it is more o u t
,
rageous for the fervours o f a fanatical mind cool and

e ffervesce by degrees and agreeab l y t o the general analogies
,
o f nature must at length subside t o the ordinary level of
temperature : w h ereas su p erstition roots itself continually

deep er and dee p er in a quiet and passive frame of min d ,
and robs the fettered being of a ll the confidence requisite

for ever liberating itself from a p estilent de l usion Finally .
,
the vain and frivolous man is always without any powerfu l

feeling fo r the Sublime his religion therefore is unim pa s
, ,
sio ne d and generally an affair of fashion which h e goes ,
through wit h the utmost good breeding and entire cold

-
heartedness T his is practica l i ndifierence t o which the

.
,
French national mind seems t o be the most inclined from

t his to the pro fa ne s t mockery o f religion there is but one
step and to say the truth estimated by its inner v al ue
, ,
ind ifl e re nce seems b ut trivia l ly p referab l e t o the entire

'
rej ection o f rel igion.
I f we throw a hasty glance over the oth er quart ers o f the

worl d we find the A rabs —the nob l est p eople o f the E ast
, ,
but of a tem p erament in respect t o taste which tends much

to the barbaresque and the unnaturall y romantic Th e .
A rab is h ospitable magnanimous and obser v ant o f his

, ,
word ; but his fictions and his history and his whole feel
, ,
ings are veined and coloured with the marvellous H is .
inflamed imagination p resents Obj ects in u nnatural and

d istorted im a es
g ; a nd even the ro
p pg a ation o f h is re l i io n
g
2 4s K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH A RA C TE R .
was a great romance I f the A ra bs are as it were the

.
, ,
A siatic Sp aniard s the Pers ia ns are the A siatic Frenchmen

, .
T hey are good p oets courte ous and o f tolerab l y refined

, ,
taste T hey are no t rigorous followers o f Islam and they

.
allo w t o their o wn vol uptuous t e ndencies a pretty latitud

ina ria n inter p retation o f the Koran Th e J a pa nes e may be
.
regarded p artially as t h e E ngl ishman o f the Oriental world 3

but hardl y for any other qual ities than their fi rmness ,
w h ich degenerates into obstinacy their courage and their , ,
contempt o f deat h In al l other res p ects they show few

.
marks o f the gr and E nglish sty l e o f mind Th e nations o f .
I nd i a discover a domineering taste for fooleries o f that

class w h ich run into the barbaresque Their religion is .
made u p o f fool eries I dol s o f h ideous forms—the inv a l u

.
able tooth o f t h e mighty a p e H a num a nn the unnatural ,
penances o f th e Fakir (the mendicant friar o f Paganism ) ,
are al l in t h is ta ste Th e sel f immol ations o f women o n

.
-
the same funera l p ile whic h consumes the corpses Of their

h usbands are abominab l e instances Of the barbaresque
, .
W ha t sensel es s fooleries are involved in the prolix and

elaborate com pl iments o f the Chinese E ven their p aint
ings are sensel ess and exh ibit marvell ous form s that are
,
nowhere to be seen in nature T hey have also more than

.
, ,
any peo ple on earth besides traditional fooleries that are

,
consecrated by ancient usage ; such for instance as the , ,
ceremony still retained at Pekin du ring an ecli p se o f the

,
sun o r the moon o f d riving away the dragon that is

,
attem p ting t o swallow u p those hea v enly b odies —a cere

m ony derived fr om the elder a ges o f grossest ignoran ce and ,
s till retained in defiance o f b etter information .
T h e negroe s o f A frica have from nature no fe eling w h ic h

transcends the childish l evel Mr H ume challenges a ny
. .
m a n t o alle ge a single case in w h ich a negro h as shown th e

K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH A RA CTE R . 2 4;
l east talent and maintains that o u t o f all the hundreds of

,
thousands o f Blacks wh o have been transported from the ir

native homes t o other countries not o ne (though many ,
*
have been manumitted) has been foun d that has ever per
form ed anythi ng great either in art science o r any other , ,
creditable p ath of exertion ; whereas among the W hites

many are continually rising to distinction fro m the lowest
classes o f the peo ple : so radical is t h e di fference between
these t wo races Of men— a di fference which seems t o be not
less in regard t o the intel l ectual faculties than in regard to
colour Th e religion whic h is s o widely di ffused amongst
.
them— vi z the Fetish is probably that form o f idolatry

.
, ,
which descends as profoundl y into imbeci l e folly as human

’
nature can tolerate A bird s feather a cow s horn a
.
,
’
,
cockle shell o r any other trifle is no sooner consecrated by

-
, ,
a few words than it becomes an Object o f adoration and ,
o f abjuration in the taking o f oaths T h e B lacks are very .
v ain but after a negro fashion and s o tal kative that it is

,
necessary t o cu dgel them a sunder .
A mongst a ll savages there are no tribes whic h disco v er

so elevated a character as those o f N orth A merica They .
have a strong passion fo r ho nour ; and whilst in chase o f it ,
they p ursue wild ad v entures for hundreds of miles ; they

are exceedingly cautious to a v oid the slightest violations of
it when an enemy a s ste rn as themselves having succeeded ,
in making them prisoners endeavours t o extort from their

,
agonies sighs of weakness and o f fear T h e Canadian .
sa v age is veracious and u p right T h e friendship which he.
H o w m any, Mr Pro fe sso r K a nt ? And

. at wh a t
ge ? Be t h is a s
a
it m a y, co m m o n se nse d e m a nd s th a t v v
we s h o ul d re ce i e e id e nce t o t h e
k
int el l e ctua l pre t e nsio ns o f t h e Bl a c s fro m t h e unpre ud ice d ud ge s j j
v v
wh o h a e l i e d a m o ngs t th e m , no t fro m t h o s e wh o a re a b surd e no ugh
to loo kf or p ro o fs o f ne gro t
t a l e n in t h e s h a pe o f b o o k s.
2 5
0 K A N T ON N A TI ON A L CH ARA C TE R .
contracts is as romantic and as enthusiastic as anyth ing

which has descended to us from the fabulous times Of
antiquity H e is proud in excess is sensible o f the whole
.
,
value o f freedom and even through the period o f education

,
h e brooks no treatment which coul d subj ect him to a

degrading submission L ycurgus in all probability ga ve
.
l aws to just such savages and if a great lawgi v er were to

arise amon gst the S ix N ations the world woul d behold a
,
Spartan republic arise amongst the savages Of the new

world as in fact the voyage of the A rgo nauts is not very
dissimilar to the military ex p editions of the Indians ; and
J ason h as l ittle ad v antage o f A t t a k a k ul l a k ull a exce p t in
the honour o f a Grecian nam e Al l these savages ha v e
.
l ittle sensib il ity t o the Beautifu l in a moral sense ; and the

magnanimous forgiveness o f an inj ury w h ich is at the same ,
time noble and beautifu l is wholly unknown to savages as

,
a v irtue and des p is ed as a miserable weakness Courage

,
.
is the supreme merit o f the savage ; and R e v enge his

sweetest pleasure Th e other natives Of this quarter of the
.
globe show few traces o f a temperament open to the finer

im p ressions o f sentiment ; and indeed the general character
is t ic o f this division Of mankind is an extraordinary defect
o f sensibility .
If we examine the state of the sexual relation s in th ese

v arious regions of the earth w e find that the E uropean
,
only has discovered the secret of adorning the sensual

attractions o f a mighty passion with so ma ny flowers a nd ,
Of interweaving it wi t h so much o f moral feeli ng that he ,
has not only exal ted its fascinations but has also brought it,
entirely within the limits of social d ecorum Th e Orientalist .
is in this p oint o f very false taste H a v ing no idea of the

, ,
.
morally B eautifu l that may be connected with this instinct ,
he forfeits e ven t he better part of the m ere sensu al

K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 51
pleasure and his H arem becomes to him a perpetual

source Of inquie t ude W oman on her par t degra d ed to the
.
, ,
le v el of the mere instrument and means of sens ual pleasures ,
loses all her dignity — and consequently her personal rights .
W hether as an unmarried v irgi n or as the wife of a jealous

,
a nd intractable brute she is in the E ast eternally a prisoner

, .
A mongst the B lacks what can a man look for better than
,
what in fact is e v erywhere found —that is to say the whole ,
female sex in a state of the profoundest slavery ? A faint

hearted man is al ways a se v ere master to his weaker
dependants just as with us that man is sure to play the
,
tyrant in his o wn kitchen who has hardly courage enough

to look anybody in the face when he steps out of doors .
Pere L abat indeed tells u s —that a negro gentleman whom ,
he had been reproaching with his tyrannical treatment of

his women returned this answer :
,
“
Y o u W hites are
downright fools : for yo u first o f all allow your wives too
much liberty and then yo u complain when they abuse it
—and make your heads ache A t first sight it might see m
”
.
as if there was some thi ng in this remark which merited a

little atten t ion : but to cut the matter short the fellow
, ,
was a Black —black as soot from head to foot an unan

s w e ra b l e proof that what he said was bestial ly s t u p id Of .
all savages there are none amongst whom women e nj oy

more real consideration and influence than the noble sa v ages
of N orth A merica I n this p oint indeed perha p s the
.
, ,
Canadian women ha v e the ad v antage of those even in our

refined quarter Of the globe I do not mean that any
.
submissi v e attentions and homage are there paid to women

these are mere forms of hollo w compliment NO the .
,
Cana d ian women enj oy actual power : they meet and

deliberate upon the weightiest ordinances Of the nation
whether regarding peace o r war U pon t he res ul t o f the i r
.
2 5
2 K A N T 0 N N A T1 0 N A L CH ARA C TE R .
debate s they desp atch delegate s t o the m al e council ; and

commonl y it is their voice whi ch prev a ils T his privilege .
,
h owever they p urchase d early : all the h ouseh old concerns

,
are thrown o n their shoulde rs and they tak e th eir share in

all the hardshi p s and toils o f t h e men .
Fina ll y if we cast a glance over the p age o f histo ry we

, ,
p erceive th e t a ste o f men—like a Proteus—everlastingly

assuming new and varia b l e form s T h e ancient times of
.
the Greeks and R omans exhibited unequivoca l marks o f a

l egitimate feeling fo r the B eautiful as wel l as the S ub lime
in Poetry S cul p ture A rchitecture L egislation and even in
, , , ,
M orals T h e government Of the R oman E m p erors c h anged

.
the noble as wel l as the beautifu l simplicity into the magni

fi ce nt and gorgeo u s —and at l ength into th at s p urious gl itter
Of finery which still survi v es fo r o ur instruction in their
rhetoric th eir poetry and even in the history o f their
, ,
m anners Gradu al l y and in sym p athy with the general

.
,
decline o f th e state even this bastard reli que o f the p urer

,
'
taste was extinguis h ed T h e B arbarians after that they

.
,
had established their power o n the ruins o f the empire ,
introduced a peculiar form o f corru p t taste w h ich is styled

the Gothic — and is buil t u p on the p assion for th e chil dish .
T his passion dis p layed its e l f not mere l y in architecture but ,
in the sciences and in the general s p irit o f the manners and

usages . Th e h ighest p oint t o which human genius was
able to soar in its attempt to maste r the sub l ime was the
B arbaresque R omances both tem p oral and spiritual were
.
, ,
then exhibited o n the stage o f nations ; and oftentimes a

disgu sting and monstrous abortion o f both in combination
monks with the mass book in o ne h and and t h e warlike
-
,
-
,
banner in the other followed by whol e armies o f deluded

,
v ictims destined t o l ay the ir bones in other climates and in
a holier soil ; consecrated warriors solemnly d edicated by ,

K A N T ON N A TI ON A L CH A RA C TE R . 2 53
vow to outrage and the perpetration o f crimes ; and in

their train a strange kind o f heroic visionaries who ,
styled themselves knights —and were in search o f a d v e n

tu res tournaments duels and romantic achieve m ents
, , , .
D uring this period R eligio n together wit h the S ciences

,
was disfigured by miserable follies ; and we have occasion

to observe that taste does not easily degenerate o n o ne side
without giving clear indications of corruption in eve rything
else that is connected with the finer feelings Th e con
.
v e nt u a l vows transformed a large body o f useful citizens
into busy idl ers whose dreaming style o f l ife fitted them
to hatch a thousand scholastic absurdities —which thence
,
issued to the world and propagated their species Finally.

,
after that the genius o f man has by a species o f Palin

genesis toiled up from an almost entire desolation to its
former heights we behold in o ur o wn days the j ust taste for
,
the B eautifu l and the N oble blooming anew as well in the

arts and s ciences as in moral sentiment and we have now
nothing lef t to wish for—but that the false glitter with its
,
easy and s p ecious delusions may no t debauch us im p er

,
ce pt ib l y from the grandeur of simplicity ; more es p ecially

that the still undiscovered secret o f education may be
extricated fr om ancient abuses—s o as to raise betimes the
moral sensibilities in the bosom o f every youthful citiz en
t o e ffi cient and operative feelings and for this happy result
—that all culture and refinement o f t aste may no longer
te rminate in the fugitive and barren p leasure o f pronoun
cing j udgment with more o r less good taste upon what is
,
exte rnal t o ourselves and alien from o u r highest interests .
e s ca la
A N A L E C T S F RO M R I C HT E R .
T H E H APPY I
L F E OF A PA R S H I I
PR E ST IN SWE D EN .
VVE D E N
apart the condition o f a parish priest is
,
in itself sufficiently ha p py ; in S weden then , ,
much more so T here he enj oys summer and

.
winter pure and unal l oyed by any tedious inter

ru p tions A S wedish spring which is a l ways a late o ne is
.
, ,
no re p etitio n in a lower key o f the h arshness o f winter

, , ,
but anticipates and is a prelibation o f perfect summer

,
laden with blossoms —radiant with the lily and the rose ;
.
insomuch that a S wedish summer night represent s

,
i m plicitly o ne half o f Italy and a winter night o ne half o f

-
,
-
the worl d beside .
I w il l begin wit h winter and I will sup p ose it to be ,
C hristmas T h e priest whom we shall imagine to be a

.
,
German a nd summoned fro m the southern climat e of

,
Germany upon presentatio n to the church of a S wedish

h amlet lying in a high polar latitude rises in cheerfulness ,
’
a bout seven o clock in the morning and till half past nine ,
-
h e burns his lamp A t nine o clock the stars are still

’
.
s hinin g and t h e unc l ouded moon even yet longer

, This .
prolongation o f starl ight into t h e forenoon is to him del ight

ful fo r h e is a G e rman and has a sense o f some t h ing
, ,
A N A L E C T S F R OM RI CH TE R . 2 55
mar v ellous in a starry forenoon M ethinks I behold the .
p riest and his flock moving towards the church with

lanterns ; the lights dispersed amongst the crowd connect
the congregation into the ap p earance o f some domestic
group or larger household and carry the priest back t o his
,
childish years during the winter season and Christmas

matins when every hand bore its candle A rrived at the
, .
p ul p it he declares t o his audience the plain truth word for

, ,
word as it stands in the gos p el ; in the p resence o f God all

,
intellectual p retensions are called u p on to be silent the ,
very reason ceases t o be reasonable no r is anything reason ,
able in the sight o f G o d but a sincere and upright

heart .
J ust as he and his flock are issuing from t h e c h urch th e

bright Christmas sun ascends above the horizon and shoots ,
his beams upon their faces Th e o l d men who are

.
,
nu m erous in S wede n are all tinged with the colours o f

,
youth by the rosy morning l ustre ; and the priest as he ,
looks away from them to mother earth lying in the sleep of

winter and to the churchyard where the flowers and the
, ,
men are all in their gra v es together might secretly exclaim ,
with the poet U pon the dead mother in peace and utter ,
gloom are reposing the de a d children

,
A fter a time .
,
uprises the everlasting sun ; a nd the mother starts up at

the summons o f the heavenly dawn with a resurrection of
her ancient bloom A nd her children ? Y e s : but they
.
”
must wait awhile .
“
A t home he is awaite d by a warm study and a long ,
le v elled rule of sunlight upon the book clad wall -

.
Th e afternoon he spends del ightfully for having before ,
him such p erfect fl o we r stands o f pleasures he scarcely

-
knows where he should settl e S u p posing it to be Christ

.
m a s day he p reaches a gain

-
,
he p reaches o n a subj ect wh ich
2 6
5 A N A L E C TS F R OM RI CZ
H TE R .
calls up images of the beauteous eastern land o r o f eternity -
, .
By this time twilight and gloom prevailed through the

,
churc h : onl y a couple of wax lights u p on the altar thre w -
wondrous and mighty shadows through the aisles : the

angel that hangs down from the roof above th e ba p tismal
font is awoke into a sol emn life by the shadows and the
rays and se ems almost in the act o f ascension th rough the
,
windows the stars o r the moon are beginning t o peer

aloft in the p ulpit which is now hid in gloom the priest is
, , ,
inflamed and possessed by the sacred burden o f gl ad tidings

whi ch h e is announcing : he is l ost and insensible t o all
besides ; and from amid st th e darkness which surrounds
him he p ours down his thunders with tears and agitation
, , ,
reasoning o f future worl ds and o f the heaven o f heavens , ,
and whatsoever else can most p o we rfully shake the hear t

and the a ffections .
D escending from the pul p it in these holy fervours he ,
now p erhaps takes a walk ; it is about four o clock : a n d

, ,
’
h e walks beneath a sky l it up by the shifting northern

l ights that to his eye app ear but an A urora striking
,
upwards from the eternal morning o f the south o r as a ,
forest com p osed o f saintl y t h ickets like the fiery bushes o f ,
M oses that are round the t h rone o f God

,
.
T hus if it be t h e afternoon of Christmas day but if it be

,
-
any other af t ernoon visitors perhaps come and bring their , , ,
well b r ed grown u p daughters L ike t h e fashionable world

-
,
-
.
in L o ndon h e dines at sunset tha t is to say like the 1m

, ,
fashionable worl d o f L ondon h e dines at two o clock and

’
,
drinks co fie e by moonlight ; an d the p arsonage house

'
-
becomes an enchanted palace o f pleasure gleaming with

twilight starlight and moonl igh t Or p erhaps he goes
, ,
.
, ,
o ver t o t h e schoolmaster w h o is teaching his afternoon ,
s chool ; t h ere by the candle light he gathers round his

,
-
,
A N A L E C TS FR OM RI CH TE R . 2 5
7
knees all his scholars as if—being the childre n o f h is ,
S piritual children —they must therefore be his o wn gr and
children and with delightful words he wins their attention ,
and pours knowledge into their docile hearts .
A l l these pleasures failing he may pace up and down in ,

’
his library already by three o clock gloomy with twilight
, , , ,
but fi t ful ly enlivened by a glowing fire and steadily by the ,
bright moonl ight ; and he needs do no more than taste at

e v ery turn o f his walk a little orange marm alade — to call
up images o f beautiful I taly and its gardens and orange , ,
groves before all his five senses and as it were to the

, , , ,
v ery tip o f his tongue L oo king at the moon he will not

.
,
fail to recollect that the very same silver disc hangs at the
very same moment between the branches o f the laurels in
I taly It will delight him t o consider that the E olian
.
harp and the lark and indee d music o f all kinds and the
, , ,
stars and chi ldren are j ust the same in h o t climates and in
, ,
:
cold A nd when the post boy that rides in with news

.
-
,
from I t aly winds his horn through the hamlet and with
, ,
a few simple notes raises up on the frozen windo w of his

study a v ision of flowery rea l ms and when he plays with
treasured leaves o f roses and o f lilies from some departed
summer o r with plumes o f a bird o f paradise the mem orial
, ,
‘
of some d istant friend ; when further his heart is , ,
moved by t h e m agnificent sounds o f L a dy D a y Salad -

,
sea son Cherry time T rinity S undays the rose o f J une etc
’
,
-
,
-
, , .
,
how can he fail t o forget that he is in S weden by the time

that his lamp is brought in ; and then indeed he wil l , ,
be somewhat disconcerted to recognise his study in what

had no w shaped itself to his fancy as a room in some
foreign lan d H owever if he would p ursue this airy
.
,
creation he need b u t light at his lam p a wax candle e nd t o

, ,
gain a glim p se through the w h ole evening into that world

17
'
2 5
8 A N A L E C TS F R OM RJOH T F R .
of fashion and splendour from which he purchased the ,
s aid wax candle end F o r I su p pose that at the cou rt

.
,
o f S t ockholm as elsewhere there must be candle ends to b e

, ,
bought o f the state footmen -

.
B ut now after the lapse o f half a year al l at once there

,
- -
,
strikes u p on his heart something more beautiful than I taly ,
where the sun sets so much earlier in summer time than it -
does at o ur S wedi sh hamlet : and what is tha t ? I t is the

l onges t day with the rich freight it carries in its bosom
, ,
and leading by the hand the early dawn b l ushing with rosy
light and melodiou s with the carolling o f larks at o ne
,
’
o clock in the m orning B efore two that is at sunrise
.
, , ,
the elegant p arty that we mentioned last winter arri v e

in gay clothing at t h e parsonage ; for they are bound o n
a little excursion o f pleasure in com p any with the p riest .
At t wo o clock they are in motion ; at which time all

’
t h e flowers are glitte ring and the forests are gleaming

,
with the mighty light T h e warm sun t hreatens them

.
with no storm nor thunder showers ; for both are rare

in S weden Th e p riest in common with the rest o f the
.
,
company is attired in the costume o f S weden ; he wears a

,
short j acket with a broad scar f his short cloak above ,
that his round hat with floating plumes and shoes tied
, ,
with bri ght ribbons like the res t o f the men he resembles ,
a Spanish knight o r a Proven cal or other men of the ,
sou t h ; more especially when he and his gay company are

se en flying through the lofty foliage luxuriant with blossom ,
that within so short a period o f weeks has shot forth from

the garden plots and the naked boughs .
T hat a longest day like this bearing such a cornucopia o f ,
sunshine o f cloudless ether o f buds and bells of blossoms

, , ,
and of leisure should pass away more rapidly than the

,
shortes t —is not diffic ult to suppose A s early as eight .

A N A L E C TS FR OM R I CH TE R . 2 5
9
o clock in the evening t h e party breaks up the sun is now

’
burn ing more gently o v er the half closed sleepy flowers ; -
about nine he has mitigated his rays and is beheld bathing ,
as it were naked in the blue depths of heaven about ten ,
at which hour the company reassemble d at the parsonage ,
the priest is deeply move d for throughout the hamlet

, ,
though the tepid sun now sunk to the horizon is still shed
, ,
ding a sullen glow upon the cottages and the window panes -
e v erything reposes in profoundest silence and sleep : the

birds even are all slumbering in the golden summits of the
W oods and at last the solitary sun himself sets like a
‘
moon ami d st the universal quiet of nature T o o ur priest

,
.
,
walking in his romantic dress it seems as though rosy , .
coloured realms were laid open in which fairies and ,
spirits range ; and he would scarcely feel an emotion o f

wonder if in this hour o f golden vision his brother
, , , ,
wh o ran away in childhood should suddenly present ,
himself as o ne alighting from some blooming heaven o f

enchantment .
T h e priest will no t allow his com p any to depart : he

detains them in the parsonage garden where says b e every , , ,
one that chooses may slumber away in beautiful bowers th e

brief warm hours until the reappearance o f the sun T his
,
.
proposal is generally a do pte d a nd the garden is occ u pied

,
many a lovely pair are making believe to sleep but in fact , , ,
are holding each other by the hand Th e happy priest .
walks up and down through the parterres Coolness comes .

,
and a few stars H is night violets and gilly fl o we rs open

.
- -
and breathe o ut their powerful odours T o the north .

,
from the eternal morning o f the pole exhales as it were a ,
golden daw n Th e priest thinks o f the village o f his chil d

.
hood far away in Germany ; he t h inks of the li fe of man ,
his hopes and his aspirations : and he is calm and at p eac e

,
2 60 A N A L E C TS FR OM RI CI I TE R .
w ith himsel f Then al l at once starts u p the morning sun

.
in his freshness S ome t h ere are in the garden w h o would

.
fain confound it with the evening sun and c l ose their eyes ,
again ; but the larks bet ray all and awaken every sleeper ,
from bower t o bower .
T hen again begin p leasure and m orning in their pom p o f

radiance and almost I could persuade myself to delineate
the course o f this day also though i t differs from its
,
p redecessor hardly by so much as th e l eaf o f a rose b ud -

.
D RE A M U PO N TH E I
U N VE R S E .
I had been reading an excellent dissertation of Kruger s ’
upon the o l d vulgar error which regards th e s p ace fro m o ne

earth and sun to anoth er as empty Our sun together wit h .
,
all its planets fill s only the

,
part
o f the whol e s p ace betw e en itself and the next solar body .
Gracious H ea v ens ! thought I in what an unfat h omable

,
abyss of emptiness were this universe swallowed up and

lost if all were void and utter vacuity exce p t the fe w
,
s hining p oints o f dust which we call a p lanetary system !
T o concei v e of o ur earthly ocean as the abode o f death

and essentially incapable of life and o f its p opulous isl ands
,
as being no greater than snail shells would b e a far less -
error in proportion to the compass o f our planet than

that which attributes emptiness t o the great mundane
spaces ; and the error wo ul d be far l ess if the marine
animals were to ascribe life and fulness exclusively t o the
sea and to regard the atmos p heric ocean above them as
,
empty and untenanted A ccording to H erschel the mos t

.
,
remote o f the galaxies which the telesco p e disco v ers lie at ,
such a distance from us that their light which reaches us

, ,
at this day must h a ve set o u t o n i ts j ourney t wo millions

,
A N A L E C TS F R OM RI CH TE R 2 61
of years ago ; and t h us by Optical laws it is possible that

whole s q ua d rons o f the starry hosts may be now reaching
us with their beams which have themsel v es perished ages
,
ago U pon t his scale of computation for the dimensions of

.
the world what heights and d epths and breadths must

,
there be in this universe—in comparison of which the

p ositive universe would be itself a nihility were it crossed , ,
pierced and bel t ed about by so illimitable a wil d erness of

,
nothing ! B ut is it possib l e that any man can for a

moment overlook those vast forces which must per v ade
these imaginary deserts with eternal surges o f flux and
reflux t o make the very paths t o those distant starry coasts
,
voyageab l e to o ur eyes ? Ca n you lock up in a sun or

in its planets their reciprocal forces o f attraction ?does not
the light stream through the immeasurable spaces between
our earth and the nebu l a which is furthest remove d from
us ? A nd in this stream o f light there is as ample an
existence o f the positive and as much a home for the abode
,
o f a S piritual world as there is a dwelling place for thy o w n

,
-
spirit in the substance of the brain T o these and similar .
reflections succeeded the following dream

M ethought my body sank down in ruins and my inner ,
form ste pped o ut apparelled in light ; and by my side there

stood another Form which resembled my o wn except that ,
it did not shine like mine but lightened unceasingly , .
“”
T wo thoughts said the Form ,
are the wings with which
,
I move : the thought o f Here; a nd the thought o f T h ere .
A nd behold
,
I am yonder ”
— pointing to a distant world
, .
“
Come then and wait on me with thy thoughts and with
, ,
thy flight that I may Show t o thee the universe under a

,
v eil. A nd I fl e w along with the Form In a moment .
o ur earth fell back behind o ur consuming flight into an

, ,
aby s s o f distance ; a faint gleam only was reflected from

2 62 A N A L E C TS F R OM RI CH TE R.
the summits o f the Cordilleras and a few moments more

,
reduced the sun to a little star ; and soon there remained

nothing visible of o u r system except a comet which was
travelling fro m o u r sun with angelic speed in the direction
o f S irius
. Our flight now carried us so rapidly through the
flocks o f the sol ar bodies —fl o ck s past counting unless to
,
their heavenly S hepherd —that scarcely could they expand

themselves before us into t h e magnitude o f moons be fore ,
they sank behind u s into p ale nebular gleams ; and their

p lanetary earths could not reveal themselves for a moment
t o the transcendent rapidity o f o u r course . A t length
S irius and all the brotherhood o f our constellations and the
galaxy o f o ur heavens stood far below o ur feet as a little
nebula amongst other yet more distant nebul ae T hus we .
flew o n t hrough the starry wildernesses : one hea v en after

another unfurled its immeasurable banners before us and ,
then rolled up behind us : galaxy behind galaxy towered

up into solemn attitudes before which the S pirit shu d dered ;
and they stood in long array through which the I n finite

B eing might pass into progress . S o m etimes the Form that
lightened would o u t fly my weary thoughts ; and then it
would be seen far o ff before me like a coruscation amongs t
the stars — ti ll suddenly I thought again to myself the
thought of Th ere and then I was at its Si de B u t as we
, .
were thus swallowed up by one abyss o f stars after another ,
and the heavens abo v e o ur heads were not emptier neither ,
were the heavens below the m fuller ; and as suns without

intermission fell into the solar ocean like water spouts o f-
a storm w h ich fall into the ocea n o f waters ; then at

l ength the human heart within me was overburdene d
and weary and yearned after some narrow cell or quiet
,
oratory in this metro p olitan cathedral o f the universe .
“
A nd I said t o the Form at my side , Oh Spirit ! has
,
A NA L E C Ts FR OM RI CH TE R . 2 63
A nd the Form an s wered

’
then this uni v erse no end l .
“
and sai d ,
L o it has no beginning .
S uddenly however the heavens above us a p peared to be

, ,
emptied and not a star was seen to twinkle in the mighty

,
abyss ; no gleam o f light to break the unity o f the infinite

darkness T h e starry hosts behind us had all contracte d
.
into an obscure nebula and at length th a t also h a d

,
vanished A nd I thought t o myself A t las t the u ni v erse

.
,
has ended a nd I trembled at the thought o f the il l im it
able dungeon o f pure pure darkness which here began to

,
impri son the creation : I S huddered at the d ea d sea o f

nothing in whose unfathom able z one of blackness the j ewel
,
'
o f the glittering universe seemed to be set a nd b u rie d fo r
e v er and through th e night in which we moved I saw the

Form which still lightened as before but left all around it ,
unilluminated T hen the Form said to me in my anguish

.
,
Oh creature o f little faith ! L ook u p the most ancient

”
light is coming ! I looked : and in a moment came a
twilight—in the twinkling o f an eye a galaxy — and then
with a choral burst rushed in all the company of stars .
For centuries grey with age fo r millennia hoary with anti

,
q u i t
, y had the starry light been o n its road to us ; a nd at
length out of heights inaccessible t o thought it h a d reached

us N o w then as through some renovated century we fl e w
.
, , ,
throu gh new cycles of hea v ens A t length again came a .
starless interval ; and far longer it endured before the ,
beams of a starry host again had reached us .
A S we thus advanced for e v er through an interchange of

nights and solar heavens a nd as the interval grew still
,
longer and longer before the last heaven we h a d quitted

contracted to a point and as once we issued su dd enly from
,
the middle o f thickest night into an A urora B orealis t he ,
herald of an expiring world and we foun d throughout this

,
2 64 A N A L E C TS F R OM R I CH TE R .
cycle of sol ar systems that a day of j udgment h a d indeed

arrived the suns had sickened and the p lanets were ,
heaving—rocking yawning in convulsions the s ub t e r

, ,
ra ne o us waters o f the great deeps were breaking up and ,
lightnings that were ten diameters of a world in length ran

along—from east to west —fro m Z enith t o N adir and here
and there where a sun S hould have b een we saw instead
, ,
throu gh the misty vapour a gloomy ashy leaden corpse of a , ,
s olar body that sucked in fl ames from the perishing world

, ,
but gave o ut neither light nor heat ; and as I sa w t hrough ,
a vista which had no end mountain towering above moun

,
tain and piled up with w h at seemed glittering snow fro m

,
the conflict o f solar and planetary bodies ; then my s p irit

bent under the l oad o f the universe and I said to the Form , ,
“
R est rest and lead me no further : I am too solitary in
, ,
the creation itself and in its deserts yet more so the full
world is great but the em p ty worl d is gr eate r ; and with
,
”
the universe increase its Z aa ra h s .
T hen the Form touched me like the flowing o f a breath ,
and spoke more gently than b e fore “

In the p resence of
God there is no emptiness : above belo w between and , , ,
round about the stars in the darkness and in the light

, ,
dwelleth the true and very U niverse the sum and fount ain ,
o f all that is B u t thy Spirit can bear only earthly images

.
o f the unearthly no w then I cleanse thy Sigh t with

,
”
euphrasy look forth and behold the images ,
Imme .
d ia t e l y my eyes were opened and I looke d and I saw as it ,
were an in t erminable sea o f l igh t —sea immeasurable sea ,
unfathomable sea without a S hore A ll S paces between all

,
.
heavens were filled with happiest light : and there was a

thun dering o f floods : and there were seas above the seas ,
and seas belo w the seas : and I saw all the trackl ess regions
that we had voyaged ove r : and my eye comprehended the
A N A L E CTS F R OM RI CH TE R . 2 65
farthest and the nearest : and darkness had become light ,
and the light darkness : for the d eserts and wastes of the
creation were now filled with the sea of light and in this ,
sea the suns floated like ash grey blossoms and the planets -
like black grains o f seed T hen my heart comprehen d ed

.
that immort ality dwelled in the Spaces between the worl ds ,
and death onl y amongst the worlds U pon all the suns .
there walked upright shadows in the form of men : but

they were glorified when they quitted these perishable
worlds and when they sank into the sea o f light : and the
,
murky planets I perceived were but cradles for the infant

, ,
spirits of the universe of light I n the Z a a ra h s o f the .
creation I saw—I heard —I felt—th e glittering—the e ch o c
ing— the breathing o f life and creative p ower T h e suns .
were bu t as spinning wheels the planets no more than

‘
-
*
,
wea v ers shuttles in relation to the infinite web which

’
composes the veil o f I sis which veil is hung over the ,
whole creation and lengthens as any finite being attempts

,
to raise it A nd in sight o f this immeasurability o f life no

.
sa d ness could endure but only j oy tha t knew no limit and

, ,
happy prayers .
B ut in the midst o f this great vision o f the uni v erse the

Form that lightened eternally had become invisible o r had ,
vanished t o its home in the unseen worl d o f spirits : I was
q
On th is a nti ue m o d e o f s ym b o l ising t h e m ys t e rio us Na tu re wh ich
is a t t h e h ea rt o f a l l t h ings a nd co nnects a l l things int o o ne wh o l e ,
p o ss ib l y t h e re a d er m a y fee l no t unwil l ing t o c o ncur with K a nt s
’
k
re m a r a t pa ge 1 9 7 o f h is Critik d e r Urthe il skraft
“
Pe rh a ps in a l l -
h um a n co m po s itio n t h e re is no pa ssa ge o f gre a t e r s ub l im ity, no r

a m o n st a l l s ub l im e t h o ugh ts a ny wh ich h a s b e e n m o re s ubl im e ly
g
e x re ss e d , t h a n t h a t wh ich o ccurs in t h e inscript io n upo n t h e t e m pl e
of
p
I s is (t h e G rea t Mo th er—N a t ure ) I m wh a ts oe v er r
te —wh a tso ev er
—wh
a
ha s been a ts oe ver sha ll be a nd the v eil wh ich is over my

cowntena r
we no m orta l ha nd ha s ev er ra ised .
2 66 A N AL E c Ts F R OM RI CI I TE R .
left alone in the centre o f a universe o f life and I yearned ,
a fter some sympathising being S uddenly from the starry

.
deeps there came floating thro ugh the ocean of light a

planetary body ; and upon it there stood a woman whose
face was as the face o f a M adonna ; and by her side there
stood a child whose countenance varied not neither was it
, ,
magnified as he dre w nearer T his chil d was a king for I

.
,
saw that he had a crown upon his head : but the crown was
a crown of thorns T hen also I p ercei v ed that the planetary
.
body was ou r unhappy earth and as the earth dre w near , ,
this child who had come forth from the starry dee p s to
comfort me threw upon me a look o f gentlest pity and of
unutterable love so that in my heart I had a sudden
,
rapture of j oy such as passes all understanding and I awoke ,
in the tum ult o f my happiness .
I awoke : but my h ap piness survived my d ream ; and I

exclaimed — Oh how beautiful is death seeing that we die ,
in a world of life and o f creation without end and I blessed

G o d fo r my li fe upon earth but much more for the li fe in
,
those unseen depths of the universe which are emptied of

all but the S upreme R eality and where no earthly life nor
,
perishable hope can enter .
C OM PL A I NT OF T H E B R I D I N A D AR K E NED CA GE .
” “
Ah ! sai d the imprisoned bird h o w unhappy were I ,
in my eternal night but for t hose melodious tones which

,
sometimes m ak e their way to me like beams of light from

afar and cheer my gloomy day B ut I will mysel f repea t
,
.
these hea v enly melo d ies like an echo until I ha v e stamped ,
the m in my heart and then I shall be able to bring com fort

”
t o mysel f in m y darkness ! T hus spoke the little war b ler ,
and soon had learned the sweet airs that were su ng t o it with
A N A L E C TS F R OM RI CH TE R 67
‘
. 2
voice and instrument T hat done the curtain was raised ;

.
,
fo r the darkness had been purposely contrived to assist in

its instruction 0 man ! h o w often dost thou complain of
.
overshadowing grief and o f darkness resting upon thy days

A nd yet what cause for complain t unless indeed thou hast ,
failed to learn wisdom from su ffering ? For is not the

whole sum o f human life a veiling and an obscuring o f the
immortal spirit of man ? T hen first when the fl e sh ly ,
curtain falls away may it soar upwards into a region o f

,
happier melodies
ON T H E D E A T H OF Y OU N G CH I D R L E N .
E phemera die all at sunset and no insect of this ,
class has ever sporte d in the beams o f the morning sun " .
H appy are ye lit t le human ephemera ! Y e played only in

,
the ascending beams and in the early d awn and in the

, ,
eastern light ; ye drank only o f the prelibations o f life ;

hovered for a little space over a world o f freshness and o f
blossoms ; and fell asleep in innocence before yet the
morning dew was e xhale d
T H E PR O PH E T C D E W I -
D R OPS .
A del icate chi ld pale and p rematurely wise was com

, ,
plaining on a hot morning that the poor dew drops had been -
t o o hastily snatched away and not allowed t o glitter o n the

,
flowers like other happier dew d ro ps j t h a t live the whole -

'
night through and s p arkle in the moonlight and through the

,
So m e l
c a ss o f e ph e m e ra l inse cts
b o rn a b o ut fiv e o cl o c in t h e
a re
’
k
a ft e rno o n, a nd d ie b e fo re m id nig h t , s uppo s ing t h e m t o l i e t o o l d a ge v .
"
v
1 I f t h e d e w is e a po ra t e d im m e d ia te l y upo n t h e s un rising, ra in -
a nd s t o rm fo ll o w in t h e a ft e rno o n ; b ut if it s t a ys a nd g l itt e rs fo r a
l o ng t im e a ft e r sunris e , t h e d a y co nt inue s fa ir .
2 68 A N A L E C TS FR OM RI CHTE R .
morning onwards to noon day T h e s un said the c h ild-

.
“
, ,
“
has chased them away with his heat o r swallowed them in ,
” '
his wrath S oon a ft er came rain and a rainbo w ; where

.
“ ” “
u pon his father pointed upwards S e e said he there
; , ,
stand thy d e w drops gloriously re set —a glittering j ewellery

- -
—in th e heavens and the clo wnis h foot tram ples o n them
no more By t his my child thou art taught that what
.
, ,
withers upon eart h blooms again in heaven ”

T hus the .
father S poke and knew not that he S poke pre figuring

,
words : fo r so on af t er the delicate child with the morning ,
brightness o f his early wisdom was exhaled like a ,
dew dro p into heaven

-
, .
ON D E AT H .
W e should al l think o f death as a less h ideous obj ect if ,
I t S imply untenanted o ur bodies of a spirit without cor ,
ru t in them secondly if the grief which we experience

p g ; ,
at the spectacl e o f our friends graves were no t by some ’
confusion o f the mind blended with the image o f our own

thirdly if we had not in this l ife seate d ourselves i n a warm
,
domestic nest w h ich we are un willing to quit for the cold

,
blue regions o f the unfathomable heavens finally if death ,
were denied to us Once in dreams I saw a human being

.
o f h eavenly intel l ectual faculties and his aspirations were ,
heave nl y but he was chained (methought ) eternally in the

earth T h e immortal old man had five great wounds in his
.
ha p piness—fiv e worms that gnawed for e v er at his heart :

he was unha p py in S p ring time because tha t is a season of -
h ope and rich with p hantoms o f far happier days than any
,
which this aceldama o f earth can realise H e was unhap py .
at the sound o f music which dilates the heart o f man into

,
its whole capacity for the i nfi nite and he crie d aloud ,
A way away 1 T hou sp eakes t o f t hings which t hroughout

,
my endless life I have found not and shall not find He ,
was unha pp y at the remembrance o f earthly a ffections and

dissevered hearts for love is a plant which may bud in
this life but it m ust flouris h in another H e was unhappy
, .
under the glorious Spectacle o f the starry host and ejaculated ,
for ever in his heart So then I am p arted from y o u to, ,
a l l eternity by an impassable abyss : the great universe o f
suns is above belo w and round about me but I am chained

, ,
to a little ball o f dust and ashes ”

H e was unhappy before .
the great ideas of V irtue o f T ruth and o f God because he

, ,
knew how feeble are the a p proximations to them which a

son o f ea rth can make B ut this was a dream God be .
thanked that in reality there is no such craving and asking

,
eye directed upwards to h eaven t o which death w il l no t ,
o ne day b ring an answer !
I MAG I NAT I ON U N T A ME D B Y T H E COA RS E R R E A L T E S I I O F L I FE .
H appy is every acto r in the guilty drama o f life, to whom

the higher illusion within su pp lies o r conceal s the external
illusion ; t o whom in the tumult o f his p art and its
,
intellectual interest the bungling landscapes o f the stage

,
have the bloom and reality o f na t ure and whom the ,
loud p arting and shockin g o f the scenes disturb not in his

dream .
I I
S A T R CA L N OT I CE S OF R E V E W E RS I .
in S axony in Pomerania are towns in which

I n S ubia, , ,
are stationed a strange sort o f o fficers —valuers o f authors

*
’
flesh something like o u r o l d market lookers in this town

,
-
.
Ma rket L ookers is a pro incia l te rm (I no w no t

- v k wh e t he r use d
in fi
L o nd o n) fo r t h e pub l ic o f ce rs wh o exa m ine t h e qual ity o f t h e
vi i n xpo sed fo r sa l e By this to wn I s uppo se J o h n Pa ul t o m ea n
pro s o s e .
Bayreuth , t h e pl a ce o f h is resid e nce .

2 70 A N A L E C T S F R OM RI CH TE R .
T hey are commonly called tasters (or Proeg u sta t ores) because
they eat a mouthful of e v ery book beforehand and tel l the ,
p eople whether its flavour be good W e authors in S pite .

, ,
c all them rev i ewers : but I believe an action o f defamation

woul d lie against us for suc h bad words Th e tasters write .
no books themselves consequently they have the more time

t o look over and tax those o f other people Or if they do .
,
someti m es w rite books they are bad ones : which again is

,
very advantageous to them ; for who can understand the

theory of badness in other p eople s books so well as those
’
who have l earned it by practice in their o wn ? T hey are

reputed the guardians o f literature and the li te rati for the
same reason that S t N e p omuk is the patron saint o f bridges
.
and o f all w h o p ass over them —vi z because he himself .

,
once l ost his life from a b ridge .
F E MAL E T ON G U E S .
H i pp el , the auth or Of the book “

ay s U pon M arriage ,
s
”
A woman that does not talk must be a stupid woman .
B ut H ippel is an author whose opinions it is more safe t o

admire than to ado p t Th e most intelligent women are
.
often S ilent amongst women and a gain the most stupid and ,
the most Silent are often neither o ne no r the other except

a m o ngst men I n general the current remark upon men is
.
valid also with respect to women — that those for the most
part are t h e greatest thinkers who are the least talkers as
frogs cease to croak when ligh t is brought to the water edge .
H owever in fact the disproportionate talking of women

, ,
arises o ut o f the sedentariness o f their labours : sedentary

a rt iz a ns as tailo r
,
s shoemakers weavers have this habit as
, , ,
well as hypochondriacal tendencies in common with women .
A pes d o not talk as savages say that they may no t be set t o

, ,
A N A L E C T S F R OM RI CH TRE . 2 7 1
work ; but women often talk double their share— ev en because

they work .
F ORG I VE NE SS .
N othing is more m oving to man than th e spectacle o f

reconciliation o u r weaknesses are thus indemnified and are
not t o o —
costly being the price we pay for the hour o f
forgiveness : and the archa ngel who has ne v er felt anger
, ,
has reason to envy the man who subdues it W hen thou .
fo rgiv e s t —the m an who has pierced thy heart stands to thee

in the relation o f the sea w orm that perforates the shell o f
-
the mussel which straightway closes the wound with a

,
pearl.
Th e graves o f the best o f m e n o f the nob l est martyrs are

, , ,
like the gra v es o f the H errnhuters (the M oravian B rethren ) ,
level and undistinguishable from the universal earth and ,
if the heart could give u p her secrets o ur whole globe would ,
ap p ear a W estminster A bbey laid flat Ah ! what a .
multitude o f tears what myriads o f bloody drops ha v e been

,
shed in secrecy about the three corner trees o f earth —the

tree o f life the tree o f knowledge and the tree o f freedom
, ,
_ shed
,
but never reckoned ! I t is only great periods of
calamity that reveal to us o ur great men as comets are ,
re v ealed by total eclipses of the su n N o t merely upon the

.
field o f battle but also upon the consecrated soil o f virtue

, ,
and upon the classic ground o f truth thousands o f n a m e less ,
heroes must fall and struggle to build up the footstool from

w hi ch history surveys the o ne hero whose name is embalmed
, ,
bleeding—conqu ering— a nd resplendent Th e grandest o f .
heroic d eeds are those which are performed within four

walls and in domestic p rivacy A nd because history records
.
,
2 72 A N A L E C TS F ROM RI CHTE R .
only the self sa crifi ce s o f the male sex and because she dips
-
her pen on l y in b l ood therefore is it _that in the eyes o f the

,
unseen S pirit o f the worl d o ur annals appear doubtl ess far

more beautiful and nob l e than in o ur o wn
.
.
T H E G RAN D EU R OF MAN I N H I S I
L TT L E NE SS .
M a n u p on this earth would be vani ty and h ol l owness ,
dust and ashes vap our and a bubb l e were it not that he
, , ,
felt himself to be so T hat it is p ossib l e for him to harbour

.
su ch a feel ing—this by im plying a com p arison o f himself

,
with someth ing higher in h imsel f this is it w h ich makes him ,

s
t h e immo rt al c reature t h at h e is .
N I GH T .
ea rt h is e very day oversp read with t h e vei l o f night

Th e ,
for the same reason as the cages o f birds are darkened —vi z .
,
that we m a y the more readily a pp rehend the higher

harmonies o f th ought in the hush and quiet o f darkness .
T houghts which day turns in t o smoke and mist stand

, ,
about us in the night as l ights and flames ; even as the

column whic h fluctuates above the crater o f V esuvius in the ,
daytime a pp e ars a p ill ar o f cl oud by night a p il lar of fi re , .
T H E STARS .
ook u p and behol d the eternal fields o f l ight that lie

L ,
round about the throne o f G o d H a d no star ever appeared .
in the heavens to man th ere wou l d have bee n no heavens

,
and he would have l aid himsel f down t o his last Slee p in a ,
S p irit o f anguish as u p on a gloomy eart h va ul t e d over by

,
a materia l arc h —sol id and im p erviou s .

MA RTY R D OM .
To die for truth —is not to die for one s country but to ’
,
die for the world T ruth l ike the Venus d e M edici wil l
.
, ,
pass down in thirty fragments t o posterity : but p osterity

will collect and recompose t h em into a goddess Then .
also thy temple 0 eternal Truth ! that no w stands half

,
below the earth made hollow by the sepulchres of it s

,
witnesses will raise itself in the total maj esty o f its

,
proportions ; and will stand in monumental granite ; and

every pillar on which it rests wil l be fixed in th e grave of
a martyr .
THE Q U A R RE L S or F R I E ND S .
W hy is it that the most fervent lov e becomes more

fervent by brief interruption and reconciliation ? and why
must a storm agitate o ur a ffections before they can raise
the highest rainbow of peace ? A h for this reason it is
because all passions feel their obj ect t o be as eternal as
themse l ves and no l o v e can admit the feeling that the
,
beloved object shou l d die A nd under this feeling of

.
imperishableness it is that we hard fields of ice shock

together so harshly whilst all the while under the sunbeams
,
o f a little space o f seventy years we are rapidly dissolving .
D R E A MI N G .
B ut for dreams th at lay mosaic worlds tesselated with

,
flo wers and j ewels before the blind s l eeper and surround ,
the recumbent living wit h th e figures o f the dead in t h e

uprigh t atti tude o f life the time would be too long before we
,
are allowed to rej oin o ur brothers parents friends : every, ,
year we should become more and more painfully sensible o f

18
2 74 A N A L E C T S F R OM RI CH TE R .
the desol ation made around us by death if slee p—the ante ,
chamber o f the grave —were not hung by dreams with the

busts of those wh o live in the other world .
TW O D I VI SI ONS OF I
PH L OS OPH C I MI N S
D .
T here are t wo very different classes o f p hilosop hical

h eads which since Kant has introduced into phi l osop hy
, ,
the idea of positive and negati v e quantities I shall ,
willingly classify by means of tha t distinction T h e po si tiv e .
intellect is like the p oet in co nj unction with t h e outer

, ,
world the father o f an inner worl d and like the p oet also
, , ,
holds u p a transformi ng mirror in which the entangled and

distorted members as they are seen in o ur actual ex p erience
enter into new combinations w h ich compose a fair and
l uminous world : the hypothesis of Idealism the
Fichtean system ) the M onads and the Pre —
,
established
H armony o f L eibnitz —and S pinozism are all births o f a ,
genial moment and not the wooden carving o f logical toil

, .
Such men therefore as L eibnit z Plato H erder etc I cal l

, , , , , .
,
positive intellects because they seek and yield the p ositive

a nd because their inner world having raised itself higher
,
o u t o f the water than in others thereby overl ooks a larger

,
p rospect o f island and continents A negative head o n the

.
,
other hand discovers by its acuteness — not any po sitive

,
truths but the negative

,
the errors ) of ot h er p eo ple .
S uch an intellect as for example Ba yl e fo ne of the greatest

, ,
o f that class — appraises the funds o f others rather than ,
brings any f resh funds of his o wn I n lieu o f the obscure .
ideas which he finds he gives us clear ones but in this there

is no positive accession to our knowledge for all that the
clear idea contains in development exists already by im pl i
‘
cation in the obscu re idea N egative intel lects o f every a ge

.
A N A L E C T S F R OM R I CH TE R . 27 5
are unanimous in their abhorrence o f everything p ositive .
Impulse feeling instinct—everything in Short which is

, , , ,
incom p rehensible they can endure j ust once —that is at

, ,
the summit o f their chain o f arguments as a sort of hook ,
on which they may hang them but never afterwards .
D I G N I T Y O F MAN I N SE L F SACR I F I CE
-
.
T hat, for which man offers up his blood o r his property ,
m ust be more val uable than they A good man does not .
fight with ha lf the courage for his o wn li fe that he shows in

the protection o f another s T h e mother wh o will hazard
’
.
,
noth ing for hersel f will haz ard all in defence o f her child
,
in short only for the nobility within us only for virtue will
, , ,
man o p en his v eins and o ffer up his spirit but this

nobility this virtue presents di fferent phases with the
, ,
Christian m artyr it is faith wit h the savage it is honour

with the republican it is liberty .
P rinted by W A L T ER S COTT , F e lling , N ewca s tle on Tyrw.

- -
nl e rhury o el s .
I n S H I L L I N G M o nt h ly Vo l u m es, S qu a re 8 710 Wel l printed on fi ne

'
to ne cl pape r, w i t h R e d l ine B orde r, a nd s t rong ly bou nd in Cl o t h

-
E a eh .
Vo l um e co nta ins from 3 0 0 t o 3 50 pag es l/Vz th I nt rod u cto ry N o t i ce s by

'
I I I D I D I
.
W L L A M S H A R P, M AT H L E BL N , W A L T E R L E W N , JO H N
Y I G
H OG BE N , A J S M N T ON , JO SEPH S K I PS EY, E VA H O PE , JO H N
I D Y Y I
R CH M ON , E RN ES T R H S, PE R C E P N K E RT ON , M RS G A R E N , D
. .
I G D D I
. .
D EA N CA RR N T ON , D R J B RA S H A W , F RE E R CK COO PE R,
D DD I G Y D I I
N T ON S M ON S, G W L L S COO K E ,
. .
H ON R O E N N O E L , J A
.
I Y I I I
. .
E R C M A C K A , E R C S RO BE RT S ON , W L L A M T I R E BU C K , ST U A RT
ID I IG GI
.
J RE , M RS F R E L RA T H K RO E K E R, J L O E R O BE RT SON , M A ,
. . . .
DD I G
.
S AM U E L W A N T ON , etc , et c . .
Cl oth, Red E dge s l s.
Clo t h , Uncu t E dg es 18 .
T H E Se rie s wil l includ e a l l t h e b e s t Po e ts in th e E ngl ish l a nguag e

fo rm ing , wh e n co m ple t e , t h e m o s t c o m preh e nsi e e e r issue d v v .
T H E F OL L OWI N G VOL UME S A RE N OW RE AD Y .
C OW P E R
B y Re v . J h n K bl
o e e. E d ite d b y E v a H o e p .
COL E R I DG E S H AK E S P E A R E S
’
E d i te d b y J 0 80 1311 SKI PSG Y S o ng s , P o e m s , a nd S o nne t s .

L ON G FE L L O W p
.
Ed it e d b y W il lia m S h a r
0
E d l te d by E va. H o p e .
E M E R S ON
.
E d‘ t ed b y H °gb e “ ’
E dite d by W a l t e r L o wi n.
S E E M ,“ S O NN E T S or t h i s CENT U R Y
b J ph Skip y
E d it e d ose se .
p
E d i t ed b y W i l l ia m Sh ar .
W OR D S W O R
E dit d b y A J S ym i gt
e . . n o n. E dit d b y E n t R h y e r es s .
S COTT (2 l )
Ed t d b y Jl e ph Skip y ose se
v o s.
E d t d b y Wil l i m Sh p
i e a ar
m
.
H p
PR A E D
E d it d b y F d i k C p
Ed t d b y E ‘ e va o e.
e re er c oo e r.
P OE
E di t d b y J ph Skip y
e o se se .
H OG G
B y hi s Da ugh te r, Mrs G a rd e n
C HA TT E R T O N
E dit d b y J h n Ri h m
. .
e d o c on . G OL D S M I T H
B U R N S (2 v o l s.) E di t e d b y Willia m Ti re b uck .
Ed it e cl b y J ose ph S kips e y . L OVE L E T T E R S OF A

M AR L O E
E di t e d
W y by
Pe rc E Pink e rt o n . .
VI OL I N I S T
B y E ric Ma ck a y .
S PEN S E R
E dit d by J h n H gb ne o o e .
E di t e d b y t h e Ho n Ro d e n N o e l . .
HE R B E R T CHI L D R E N O F T H E P O E T S
E dit d by E t Rhy e rnes s .
E dit e d b y E ric S Ro ert so n, M A . b . .
VI CT O R H U G O B E N J ON S O N
T n l t d by D
ra s a e C i gt n ea n a rr n o . Ed it e d b y J . A d d ingt o n S m o nds . y
L o nd o n : WAL T E R S CO T T , 2 4 W a rwick L a ne , Pa te rno s t e r Ro w .
THE CAMEL OT CL ASSI CS .
VOL UM E S A L RE A D Y I S S UE D .
RO M AN C E O F KI N G A RTH UR .
BY SI R T H O MA S MAL O R Y . E dit e d by E R N E ST
R H YS .
WAL DE N . B Y H E N RY D AV I D T H OR E AU .
W i t h I nt ro d uc t ory N ot e by W I L L H D I R CK S
. .
C O N F E SS I O N S O F AN E N GL I SH O PI UM EATE R -
.
B Y T H O MA S D E Q U I N CE Y . W it h I n t ro d uc t ion by
W I L L IAM S H AR P .
I M A GI NA RY C O N VE RSAT I O N S .
BY W AL T E R SAVA G E L A N D O R . W it h I n t ro d uc t ion
by H A VE L O C K E L L I S .
PL UTA RC H S L I VE S
’
BY J. AND W . L A N G H OR N E . W i th I n t ro duc t ion

by B E R N AR D J. S NE L L , M . A .
,
B Sc . .
SI R TH O M AS BRO WNE S RE L I GI O M E DI C I &c

’
.
,
E di t e d wi t h I ntro d uc t ion by JOH N A DD I N G T ON S Y M ON D S

, ,
.
E SSAYS AND LETTE RS .
BY PE R CY BY S S H E S HE L L E Y . E di te d, wi t h
I n tro d uc tion , by E R N E ST R H Y S .
PRO SE WRI T I N GS O F S WI F T .
W it h I n t ro d uc t ion by W A L T E R L EW N I .
T h e S eries is i s sue d in t wo s tyles o f B in d in g —R e d Clo t h,

k
Cu t E d g e s ; a nd D a r Blue C l o t h , U ncu t E d g es E i the r .
S tyle , PR I CE O N E S H I L L I N G
.
L o nd o n : WAL T E R S CO T T , 24 W a rwick L a ne , Pa t e rno s t e r Ro w .

The Ca nt e rb ury Po e t s
N O W R E A D Y, PRI CE ON E S H I L L I N G ,
'
SO ETS OF THI S CENTURY .
With a n E xha us t iv e a nd Crit ica l E s s ay

on t he S o nnet .
-
BY W I L L I A M SHARP .
S ON N E T S BY
L ord T enny son . E d ward D owd en .
R obert B rowning . E d mun d G oss e .
A C S winburn e
. . . An d re w L an g .
M a t t h e w Arnol d . G e org e M e re d i th .
T h e o d ore W at t s . Ca rd inal N ewman .
A rchbishop T re nC
h .
BY T H E L AT E
J. Add ing t on Symon d s . D an t e G ab ri e l R oss e tt i .
W . Be ll S co tt . Mrs B arre tt
. Browning .
Chris t ina R o s s e tt i . C T e nnyson T urn e r,

.
-
e t c.
A nd all t h e Be t s W rite rs o f th e Ce n t ury .
Mr Sh arp h as pro d uce d

. a so nne t -b o o k whi h c re pres en s t th e b e s t
—
c ra ft s m a ns h ip o f th e nine t e e nth ce nt ury, a nd s upplies th e pub l ic witl
an int e res ting guid e to th e t e ch nica lit ies of th e j
s ub e ct.
”
Ths
L ON D ON
W A L TE R S COTT, 2 4 W arwick L a ne ,
Paternoster R o w .
NE W VOL UM E S OF TH E S E RI E S .
By t h e Auth o rs of O ur Q uee n,
”
G ra ce Da rl ing , e t c.
UEENS OF L I TERATURE
O F T H E V I CT O R I A N E R A .
C ON T A I N I N G I
L VES OF
M AR Y S O M E RVI L L E ,
T he Queen of S cience .
H ARR I E T M A RT I N E A U ,
T h e Poli t ical E conomis t .
E L I ZA B E T H BARRE T T B R OW N I N G ,
T h e E ng l ish S appho .
C HA R L O T T E B R O N T E ,
T he M oorlan d R omancis t .
G E O RG E E L I O T ,
T h e G rea t N ovelist .
F E L I C I A H E M A N S,
T h e Po e t of W omanhoo d .
4 o t h T housan d. C rown 8 v o , I llus t rat e d , Clo th , B e velle d
B oard s , 2 5 6d
. . G il t E d ges , 3 S .
O U R Q U E E N
A S h el Ch of t he L ife a nd Ti m e s of Victo ria . By t he A u tho rs
”
o f G ra ce D a rl ing .
L ON D ON : W A L T E R S CO T T , 24 W a rwick L a ne , Pa t e rno s t e r Ro w .
NE W B OO K S F OR C H I L DR E N .
F o o l s cap 8v o , Paper B oard s, price O ne Shilling e ach .
AN D
VE R S E S F O R C H I L D R E N .
BY MRS . W . K . C L I F F O R D,
A u t fior f
o A ny /20 20 S tories, e tc.
WI TH AN I L L U ST RAT I ON BY E DI T H CAM PBE L L .
NEW NATURAL HI STORY

OF BI RDS BEASTS AND F I SHE S
, ,
.
BY JO H N K . L E Y S, MA . .
L I FE ST OR I E S OF
FA M O U S C H I L D R E N .
A DA PT E D F RO M T H E F R E N CH .
f Spe ns er fo r C/zita re n
’
By t he A ut li o r o .
LO N D ON : W AL T E R S COT T , 24 W a rwick L a ne , Pa terno s t e r Ro w .

J US T P UB L I S H E D .
Cov er, Pri ce One S lu l l ing ; C10 111, Is

’
. 6d .
T HE HEA T HER
ON FI R E
A TA L E OF TH E
H I GH L A N D CL E A RA N CE S .
PO E M BY MA T H I L D E BL IND .
L ON D ON : W A L T E R S C OT T ,
2 4 WARW I CK L A N E, PA T E R N O S T E R Ro w
.
T Y N E S I D E
S U N DA Y L E CT U R E S .
N o w R ea dy , P rice T/ire cpe nce E a cI t .
THE NAT URAL H I ST O RY O F I N ST I N C T .
BY G .
J . R O M A N E S, F R S . . .
AN I M AL L I F E O N THE OC EAN S URF A C E .
B Y PR O E SSOR HF . N . M OS E L E Y, M A , . . F RS. . .
THE EYE AND I TS WO RK

B Y L I T T O N F OR BE S , MD . .
,
THE M O VE M ENTS O F PLANTS .
BY E R N E S T A . PAR K Y N , MA . .
T h e F our L e ct ure s m a y b e h a d in One V o l .

, C l o th , Price r/
L O N D ON : W AL T E R S CO T T , 2 4 W A RW I C K L AN E ,
PAT E RN OST E R R OW .
( t h e C a nt e rb u ry lpo c t s .
T H E
CHI L DREN OF THE POETS

AN A NT H O L O G Y ,
F ro m E ng l is h a nd A m e rica n Writ e rs of
T h ree Ce nt u ries .
E DI T E D , WI T H I N T RO D U CT I ON,
BY E RI C RO BE R T S O N , M A . .
T his Vo l um e ri b ut io ns b y L o rd
c o nt a ins c o nt
T e nny s o n W i ll ia m Be ll S co t t
, Ro b e rt Bro wning
, ,
a m e s R us s e ll L o we ll G e o rg e M a c d o na l d A l r
J , g e no n ,
C h a rl e s S wi nb ur ne T h e o d o r e W a tt s A us t i n D o b s o n
, , ,
H o n R o d e n N o e l E d m und G o s s e Ro b er t L o ui s
.
, ,
S t e v e ns o n, e tc .
,
e tc .
0
9 4 L ONDON
WAL T E R S C OT T , 24 W arwick L ane, Pa t e rnos te r

B I NDI NG S E C T . MAY2 7 E175
PLEASE DO NO T R EMO VE
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CO N F E SS I ON S

fro m t /ze Po cke t -

N the narrow range of that fascinating

holds conspicuous place M arcus A urelius .

so na l it ie s have an abiding c l aim u pon o ur imaginati v e

intellectual the spiritual emotions O f men W h o pass before

us with the inmost secrets o f their hearts laid bare to

natural sounds of earth— wind in the branches a wa v e ,

falli ng on the se a shore — appeal to all but not in the same ,

way as does som e subtle chor d struck by a great musician ,

some string with its pathetic C o x h u m a ne thrilling from ,

t h e t ouch Of t h e m ast e r v iolinist Th e inner lives of our

kin d are to u s as these natural sounds — to be interpreted

bodies are o ne for their S pirit is not hidden but as

their body is v isib l e , T o this rare band D e Quincey by

v irtu e of his Co nfes sio ns b e longs

L andor utters a ﬁne and true saying wh en i n o ne of his

De Quincey s ﬁne s t work is so essentially human that he

interest— herein l ies the sole secret o f litera ry immortality

sorrows its keen human sym p athies in contact with a di fﬁ cult

world ﬁndi ng an unrestful ease in that p ower o f dreaming

whic h is so fami l iar and yet S O mysterious and whose ,

visionary emanations have never ceased t o interest Since

for their in t erpretation the magic o f a sty l e l ike De Quincey s ’

at its best and the resu l t is o ne o f t h e rarest in l itera

p erennial unaffec t ed by the changing fashions and p eriods

o f the l iterary w orld .

T hose p ort ions O f D e Quincey s w ork which bear most

clearl y the im p ression o f his o wn individuality and which ,

T ime seems to be graduall y separating fro m his other

than has commonly been awarded to them In estimating .

the p osition of the author o f the Co nfessi o ns of a n Op iu m

writers have somewhat ignored for instance his ind e pe nd

ency o f contem p orary inﬂuence in res p ect o f these exquisite

regarded as in some sort an eccentric attachment to the

admit inﬂuenced by Coleridge he was a consistent disciple

in that vein o f eccl esiastical metaphysics and deceptive

Observed by Mr L eslie S tephen.

powers o f reasoning or his services t o philoso p hy that

every in t ention o f being a great thinker it must be ,

confess ed that De Quincey failed in substantiating his

said o f concentration and was not e v en infallible in the

l ogic w hich he SO p araded Th e pervading intel lectuality

that gives dignity and grace to his writing in general was ,

however l argely due t o h is habit of exercising himsel f in

al l scholarly discipli ne In the early p ages o f the Co nfess io

truth o r modesty I may a fﬁrm that my life has been o n

the whole the l ife o f a p hil osopher From my bi rt h I was

made an intellectual Creature ; and intellectual in the

from my schoolboy days T h e resultant atmosphere o f

culture everywhere p resent in his works gives a peculiar

without any disposition t o regard him in the light of a

the great spirits of Greece and E lizabethan E ngland than

to his own immediate contemporaries A nd after all has .

bee n done to trace the sources of what is highest in his

d espair even as he would be fain to do from attempting to

trace the literary derivation of the impalpable inspi ration

Th e only thing that throws much light o n D e Q uincey s