least concern itself with forms and ceremonies. I imagine another
John the Baptist inciting the people, with irresistible fervour, to
turn from their sins--that is, from the world and all its concerns
--and to purify themselves by Renunciation. What they call
'Progress,' I take to be the veritable Kingdom of Antichrist. The
world is evil, life is evil; only by renunciation of the very desire
for life can we fulfil the Christian idea. What then of the
civilisation which endeavours to make the world more and more
pleasant as a dwelling-place, life more and more desirable for its
own sake?

"And so I come to the contents of your own letter. You say you
marvel that these wretched people you visited do not, in a wild
burst of insurrection, overthrow all social order, and seize for
themselves a fair share of the world's goods. I marvel also;--all
the more that their very teachers in religion seem to lay such
stress on the joys of life. And yet what profit would a real
Christian preacher draw for them from this very misery of their
existence! He would teach them that herein lay their supreme
blessing, not their curse; that in their poverty and nakedness lay
means of grace and salvation such as the rich can scarcely by any
means attain to; that they should proudly, devoutly, accept their
heritage of woe, and daily thank God for depriving them of all that
can make life dear. Only awaken the spirit in these poor creatures,
and how near might they be to the true Kingdom of Heaven! And surely
such a preacher will yet arise, and there will be a Reformation very
different from the movement we now call by that name. But I weary
you, perhaps. It may be you have no interest in all this. Yet I
think you would wish me to write from what I am.