y of inferiors.

The author of Zanoni gives, then, no key to mysteries, be they trivial
or important, which may be found in the secret chambers by those who
lift the tapestry from the wall; but out of the many solutions of the
main enigma--if enigma, indeed, there be--which have been sent to him,
he ventures to select the one which he subjoins, from the ingenuity and
thought which it displays, and from respect for the distinguished writer
(one of the most eminent our time has produced) who deemed him worthy
of an honour he is proud to display. He leaves it to the reader to agree
with, or dissent from the explanation. "A hundred men," says the old
Platonist, "may read the book by the help of the same lamp, yet all may
differ on the text, for the lamp only lights the characters,--the mind
must divine the meaning." The object of a parable is not that of a
problem; it does not seek to convince, but to suggest. It takes
the thought below the surface of the understanding to the deeper
intelligence which the world rarely tasks. It is not sunlight on the
water; it is a hymn chanted to the nymph who hearkens and awakes below.

....

"ZANONI EXPLAINED.

BY--."

MEJNOUR:--Contemplation of the Actual,--SCIENCE. Always old, and must
last as long as the Actual. Less fallible than Idealism, but less
practically potent, from its ignorance of the human heart.

ZANONI:--Contemplation of the Ideal,--IDEALISM. Always necessarily
sympathetic: lives by enjoyment; and is therefore typified by eternal
youth. ("I do not understand the making Idealism less undying (on this
scene of existence) than Science."--Commentator. Because, granting
the above premises, Idealism is more subjected than Science to the
Affections, or to Instinct, because the Affections, sooner or later,
force Idealism into the Actual, and in the Actual its immortality
departs. The only absolutely Actual portion of the work is found in the
concluding scenes that depict the Reign of Terror. The introduction of
this part was objected to by some as out of keeping with the fanciful
portions that preceded it. But if the writer of the solution has rightly
shown or suggested the intention of the author, the most strongly
and rudely actual scene of the age in which the story is cast was the
necessary and harmonious completion of the whole. The excesses and
crimes of Humanity are the grave of the Ideal.--Author.) Idealism is the
potent Interpreter and Prophet of the Real; b