single work. When we examine these poems in order, we find that we can trace in them the development of a consistent philosophy of life: for, like most of the convinced opponents of intellectualism, Péguy was a profound thinker, relying to a far greater extent than he would ever have confessed on the ungodly processes of a singularly acute mind. The deliberate simplicity of diction, the assumed ingenuousness of attitude are deceptive, and conceal a deeply reasoned view of the universe. “Je n’aime pas, dit Dieu, celui qui pense Et qui se tourmente, et qui se soucie Et qui roule une migraine perpétuelle.” This is not the doctrine of the charcoal-burner; it is the doctrine of the experienced philosopher, bitterly conscious of the limitations of the brain. The foundation of his creed is the essentially mystical belief, so beautifully expressed in _Eve_, in the solidarity of the Universe. As humanity is one and indivisible, so too the human and the divine cannot be separated. “Nous sommes solidaires des damnés éternels,” he said when he was twenty: and in his posthumous work _Clio_, he reiterates the same truth. “Jésus est du même monde que le dernier des pécheurs; et le dernier des pécheurs est du même monde que Jésus. C’est une communion. C’est même proprement cela qui est une communion. Et à parler vrai ou plutôt à parler réel il n’y a point d’autre communion que d’être du même monde.” The spiritual and eternal world, then, is not something set over against the natural order; but is closely entwined with it, the neglected element of reality, which alone can make human existence dignified and sweet. “Car le surnaturel est lui-même charnel Et l’arbre de la grâce est raciné profond Et plonge dans le sol et cherche jusqu’au fond, Et l’arbre de la race est lui-même éternel. Et l’éternité même est dans le temporel Et l’arbre de la grâce est raciné profond Et plonge dans le sol et touche jusqu’au fond Et le temps est lui-même un temps intemporel.“ What he realizes and points out, therefore, is not some distant transcendental life and reality, divorced from our normal, flowing, changing life and reality. Rather he insists on the beauty and nobility, the deep spiritual quality of this immediate life; the supernatural character of nature itself, when seen from the angle of Christian idealism. The Blessed Virgin is herself: “Infiniment céleste Parce qu’aussi elle est infiniment terrestre.”