ity between the two is more than a superficial one) who
barbarously pretended to have sent his children to the foundling hospital,
in order not to be thought incapable of having had any children at all? In
short, where is the bluff in Wagner's biography? Let us therefore be
careful about it, and all the more so because Wagner himself guarantees
the truth of it in the prefatory note. If we were to be credulous here, we
should moreover be acting in direct opposition to Nietzsche's own counsel
as given in the following aphorisms (Nos. 19 and 20, p. 89):--

"It is very difficult to trace the course of Wagner's development,--no
trust must be placed in his own description of his soul's experiences. He
writes party-pamphlets for his followers.

"It is extremely doubtful whether Wagner is able to bear witness about
himself."

While on p. 37 (the note), we read:--"He [Wagner] was not proud enough to
be able to suffer the truth about himself. Nobody had less pride than he.
Like Victor Hugo he remained true to himself even in his biography,--he
remained an actor."

However, as a famous English judge has said--"Truth will come out, even in
the witness box," and, as we may add in this case, even in an
autobiography. There is one statement in Wagner's _My Life_ which sounds
true to my ears at least--a statement which, in my opinion, has some
importance, and to which Wagner himself seems to grant a mysterious
significance. I refer to the passage on p. 93 of vol i., in which Wagner
says:--"Owing to the exceptional vivacity and innate susceptibility of my
nature {~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} I gradually became conscious of a certain power of transporting
or bewildering my more indolent companions."

This seems innocent enough. When, however, it is read in conjunction with
Nietzsche's trenchant criticism, particularly on pp. 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18
of this work, and also with a knowledge of Wagner's music, it becomes one
of the most striking passages in Wagner's autobiography, for it records
how soon he became conscious of his dominant instinct and faculty.

I know perfectly well that the Wagnerites will not be influenced by these
remarks. Their gratitude to Wagner is too great for this. He has supplied
the precious varnish wherewith to hide the dull ugliness of our
civilisation. He has given to souls despairing over the materialism of
this world, to souls despairing of themselves, and longing to be rid of
themselves, the indispensable hash