194 AN ANGLER'S HOURS xi 



grim utterance has become as an instance of 

 the consecutive use of dum. Why is it that 

 in books people preparing for an interview 

 with a ghost always fortify themselves with 

 a revolver ? Surely the only spirits to which 

 that useful implement could do any hurt 

 would be the household gods, and that would 

 please a malevolent ghost of this kind rather 

 than alarm him. 



I suppose the idea is that the weapon 

 makes a cheerful noise when fired, and so 

 impresses the spirit of the departed with 

 the great increase in man's moral magnifi- 

 cence that has come about since his day. 

 But in spite of progress and moral magnifi- 

 cence, man, with his poor three dimensions, 

 is at a great disadvantage in dealing with a 

 being that comprehends four at will. Passive 

 resistance seems his only chance of coming 

 well out of the encounter ; to say grandly 

 with Teufelsdrockh, " Hast thou not a 

 heart ; canst thou not suffer whatsoever it 

 be ; and, as a child of freedom, though out- 

 cast, trample Tophet itself under thy feet 

 while it consumes thee ? Let it come 

 then ; I will meet it and defy it " ; or 

 more humanly with that fine churchman 



