very question, and passes judgment
according to its verdict. It is sometimes rather vaguely called the 'Pure
Reason;' but that is only a _term_, hardly a 'mouthful of articulate
wind.'

'You and I shall agree very well together, I see,' replied my friend. 'If
we dispute at all, it will be foolishly about the meaning of a word. All
the world have been doing that ever since the confusion of tongues at
Babel. That great event prophetically shadowed forth the future; for now,
as then, the confusion and disputation is greatest when we are striving
most earnestly to reach heaven by our earth-built contrivances. We may
draw a lesson therefrom; not to be too aspiring for our means; for our
inevitable failure only makes us the more ridiculous, the higher the
position we seem to have attained.'

Very true; but we should never arrive at the height of wisdom, which
consists in knowing our own ignorance and weakness, unless we made full
trial of our powers. The fall of which you speak should give us a modesty
not to be otherwise obtained, and make us very careful how we ridicule
others, seeing how open to it we ourselves are. Every man may build his
tower of Babel, and if he make a right use of his failure, may in the end
be nearer heaven than if he had never made the attempt. Ridicule is no
argument, and should only be used by way of a _jeu d'esprit_, and never on
solemn subjects. It is very hard, I know, for one who has mirthfulness
strongly developed, to restrain himself on all occasions; and what is
solemn to one may not be so to another; hence we should be very charitable
to all; alike to the bigots, the dreamers, and the laughers; to the
builders of theoretic Babel-towers, and the grovellers on the low earth.

'There is one kind of transcendentalism,' replied my friend, 'which you
have not noticed particularly, which consists in believing in nothing
except the spiritual existence of the unbeliever himself, and hardly that.
It believes not in the external world at all.'

If you are on _that_ ground, I have done. To talk of that, would be
wasting our time on nothing; or 'our eternity,' for with that sect time is
altogether a delusion. It _may_ be true, but the believer, even in the act
of declaring his faith, must practically prove himself persuaded of the
falsity of his doctrine.

'You wanted a short name for transcendentalism; if a long one will make
_this_ modification of it more odious, let us call it
_Incomprehensibili