er him. He resembles a traveler, who, at but a
short distance from the inn he is to rest at, falls into the water: were
any one to catch him then and pull him to the bank, with one good
wetting it were over; whereas, though he struggles out himself, it is
often at the side where he tumbled in, and he has to make a wide and
weary circuit before reaching his appointed object.

Wilhelm now began to have an inkling that things went forward in the
world differently from what he had supposed. He now viewed close at hand
the solemn and imposing life of the great and distinguished, and
wondered at the easy dignity which they contrived to give it. An army on
its march, a princely hero at the head of it, such a multitude of
co-operating warriors, such a multitude of crowding worshipers, exalted
his imagination. In this mood he received the promised books; and ere
long, as may be easily supposed, the stream of that mighty genius laid
hold of him and led him down to a shoreless ocean, where he soon
completely forgot and lost himself....

Wilhelm had scarcely read one or two of Shakespeare's plays, till their
effect on him became so strong that he could go no further. His whole
soul was in commotion. He sought an opportunity to speak with Jarno; to
whom, on meeting with him, he expressed his boundless gratitude for such
delicious entertainment.

"I clearly enough foresaw," said Jarno, "that you would not remain
insensible to the charms of the most extraordinary and most admirable of
all writers."

"Yes!" exclaimed our friend: "I cannot recollect that any book, any man,
any incident of my life, has produced such important effects on me, as
the precious works to which by your kindness I have been directed. They
seem as if they were performances of some celestial genius descending
among men, to make them by the mildest instructions acquainted with
themselves. They are no fictions! You would think, while reading them,
you stood before the inclosed awful Books of Fate, while the whirlwind
of most impassioned life was howling through the leaves, and tossing
them fiercely to and fro. The strength and tenderness, the power and
peacefulness of this man, have so astonished and transported me, that I
long vehemently for the time when I shall have it in my power to read
further."

"Bravo!" said Jarno, holding out his hand, and squeezing our friend's.
"This is as it should be! And the consequences which I hope for will
likewise surely foll