Ibsen and Hauptman j 



lieve that Ibsen wrote his drama for the sake of setting forth 

 this idea. Certainly we cannot accept the converse or else we 

 should have to admit that the " Holy Rollers " and like organiza- 

 tions of hysterical and deluded people have a sound basis for their 

 peculiar creeds. Yet Julian did undeniably feel this lack in the 

 best that his own philosophy could offer, for he says to a group 

 of courtiers : 



" Ihr nennt Euch Nachfolger des Sokrates, des Platon, des 

 Diogenes. 1st einer unter Euch, der um Platons Willen freudig 

 in den Tod gehen wiirde ? Wiirde wohl unser Priskos seine linke 

 Hand opfern fur Sokrates? Wiirde Kyrton etwa fur Diogenes 

 sich ein Ohr abhauen lassen? Ihr tatet es wahrhaftig nicht!" 

 And again to Maximos : " Was hat der macedonische Alexander, 

 was hat Julius Caesar, gewonnen? Die Griechen und Romer 

 sprachen von ihrem Ruhm mit kalter Bewunderung, wahrend der 

 andere, der Galilaer, der Zimmermannssohn, in warmen glaubigen 

 Menschenherzen als der Konig der Liebe thront." 



Julian's fatal' weakness is that he has no resources within him- 

 self. The man who is to lift humanity on its way can be no more 

 dependent on the externals of one outworn creed than on those 

 of another. Julian rejected Christianity, but in its stead he could 

 offer only the doctrines already laid aside in the advance of prog- 

 ress. As Maximos said, he tried to turn the youth back into a 

 child ; he lifted his sword against the forces of evolution. He 

 derived his inspiration and resolution almost wholly from signs 

 and portents. When these were lacking he shrank from action 

 and cried out against being forced to stand alone. Thus he lacked 

 all the essential qualities of leadership ; for the man who is to 

 found the "Third Kingdom," if any one such appear, must in- 

 deed " come in his own name," must have in his own soul some 

 new and inspiring revelation of truth. 



Kaiser Karls Geisel 

 In Kaiser Karls Geisel Hauptmann deals with a theme some- 

 what like that of Kaiser und Galilaer. The treatment, however, 

 is so essentially different that the similarity of theme is not at once 



249 



