_Leviathan_. Wherefore, O Satan, dost thou impose this work upon me? Thou knowest that I have long ago had enough of men, and of their playground,--the world. What is to be made out of wretches who, as thou hast observed, have strength neither for good nor evil? Gold, ambition, or pleasure, can quickly make rascals of them, who have for a short period pursued the phantom virtue; and if any one should move boldly at first along the path of vice, he will be driven back when half-way by the spectres of his crazy imagination. If, indeed, it were a proud hot-headed Spaniard, a revengeful assassinating Italian, or even a wild lascivious Frenchman, whom you wanted me to catch--but a German, one of those thick-pated swine, who slavishly bend before rank, riches, and all the artificial distinctions of men, who believe that their lords and princes are made of superior materials to themselves, and have a right to dispose of them just as they please, either in fighting their own battles, or those of other sovereigns! Hast thou heard from them for centuries a single word of rebellion against tyranny, or of shedding blood for the rights of man? Not one of them has, as yet, come down to hell in glory; a proof that these people have no distinguished heads among them. Those are to my mind who wish to clear up every thing, who fight with the adamantine shield of individuality, against which all prejudices, earthly or heavenly, are shivered. Show me such a man who is willing to become great on earth at the expense of his soul, and I will immediately ascend. _Satan_. Shall devils, O Leviathan, be blinded by prejudice, like the sons of dust? I tell thee, the man after our own heart is born under that district of heaven. He is one of those who, endued by nature with hot and furious passions, rebel against all the old-established customs of society. When such a spirit tears its way through these cobwebs, it resembles a flame, which, by its own fury, speedily consumes the materials which feed its lustre. He is one of those visionary philosophers who strive to seize, through imagination, what is denied to cold understanding; and who, if they are unsuccessful, laugh at all knowledge, and make pleasure and enjoyment their gods. Away, away, Leviathan! soon shall a fire break out in Germany which will spread through all Europe. Already is the germ of that delusion springing up which shall endure for centuries. What the German has once caught, he will not easily let go. The commanding voice of Faustus now resounded for the second time. Satan continued: "Thou mayst know by this call that he is no trembler. Hasten to him, for, if thou delayest, perhaps he may doubt the strength of his charms, and hell will lose the fruits of his temerity. Truly, the fellow is such a genius, that I can almost overlook his origin."