_I._--Yet man is not only a being of thought, but also of feeling. He is a whole; a union of various, closely connected powers; and to this whole of man the work of art is to address itself. It must speak to this rich unity, this simple variety in him. _Guest._--Don’t carry me with you into these labyrinths, for who could ever help us out again? _I._--It will then be best for us to give up the dispute and each retain his position. _Guest._--I shall at least hold fast to mine. _I._--Perhaps a means may still be found whereby, if one does not take the other’s position, he can at least observe him in it. _Guest._--Propose it then. _I._--We will for a moment contemplate art in its origin. _Guest._--Good. _I._--Let us accompany the work of art on its road to perfection. _Guest._--But only by the way of experience, if you expect me to follow. I will have nothing to do with the steep paths of speculation. _I._--You allow me to begin at the beginning? _Guest._--With all my heart. _I._--A man feels an inclination for some object; let us suppose a single living being. _Guest._--As, for instance, this pretty lap-dog. _Julia._--Come, Bello! It is no small honor to serve as example in such a discussion. _I._--Truly, the dog is pretty enough, and if the man we are speaking of had the gift of imitation, he would try in some way to make a likeness of it. But let him prosper never so well in his imitation, we are still not advanced, for we have at best only two Bellos instead of one. _Guest._--I will not interrupt, but wait and see what is to become of this. _I._--Suppose that this man, to whom for the sake of his talent we will give the name of Artist, has by no means satisfied himself as yet; that his desire seems to him too narrow, too limited; that he busies himself about more individuals, varieties, kinds, species, in such wise that at last not the creature itself, but the Idea of the creature stands before him, and he is able to express this by means of his art. _Guest._--Bravo! That is just my man, and his work must be characteristic. _I._--No doubt. _Guest._--And there I would stop and go no farther. _I._--But we go beyond this. _Guest._--I stop here. _Uncle._--I will go along for the sake of experiment. _I._--By this operation we may arrive at a canon useful indeed, and scientifically valuable, but not satisfactory to the soul of man. _Guest._---How then are you going to satisfy the fantastic demands of this dear soul? _I._--Not fantastic; it is only not satisfied in its just claims. An old tradition informs us that the Elohim once took counsel together, saying, let us make man after our own image; and man says therefore, with good cause, let us make gods and they shall be in our image. _Guest._--We are getting into a dark region. _I._--There is only one light that can aid us here. _Guest._--And that is? _I._--Reason. _Guest._--How far it be a guide or a will-o’-wisp is hard to say.