the Highest continually, then will I come and talk with thee. So I
went my way into the field which is called Ardath, like as he
commanded me, and there I sat among the flowers."

In this field the Prophet sees the vision of a woman.

"And it came to pass while I was talking with her, behold her face
upon a sudden shined exceedingly and her countenance glistened, so
that I was afraid of her and mused what it might be. And I looked,
and behold the woman appeared unto me no more, but there was a city
builded, and a large place showed itself from the foundations."

On this I raised the fabric of my own "Dream City," and sought to
elucidate some of the meaning of that great text in Ecclesiastes
which contains in itself all the philosophy of the ages: "That which
Hath Been is Now; and that which is To Be hath already Been; and God
requireth that which is Past."

The book, however, so my publisher Mr. Bentley told me in a series
of letters which I still possess, and which show how keen was his
own interest in my work, was 'entirely over the heads of the general
public.' His opinion was, no doubt, correct, as "Ardath" still
remains the least 'popular' of any book I have ever written.
Nevertheless it brought me the unsought and very generous praise of
the late Poet Laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as the equally
unsought good opinion and personal friendship of the famous
statesman, William Ewart Gladstone, while many of the better-class
literary journals vied with one another in according me an almost
enthusiastic eulogy. Such authorities as the "Athenaeum" and
"Spectator" praised the whole conception and style of the work, the