"_Der Fall Wagner_" caused a horde of stupid critics to maintain that Nietzsche, and not Wagner, was the apostate, and that the mad philosopher had begun to argue against himself. As an answer to this ridiculous charge, Nietzsche published a little book called "_Nietzsche contra Wagner_." It was made up entirely of passages from his earlier books and these proved conclusively that, ever since his initial divergence from Schopenhauer's conclusions, he had hoed a straight row. He was a dionysian in "_Die Geburt der Tragödie_" and he was a dionysian still in "_Also Sprach Zarathustra._" [1] That Wagner gave Nietzsche good reason to credit him with these qualities is amply proved. "I have never read anything better than your book," wrote the composer in 1872. "It is masterly." And Frau Cosima and Liszt, who were certainly familiar with Wagner's ideas, supported Nietzsche's assumption, too. "Oh, how fine is your book," wrote the former, "how fine and how deep--how deep and how keen!" Liszt sent from Prague (Feb. 29, 1872) a pompous, patronizing letter. "I have read your book twice," he said. In all of this correspondence there is no hint that Nietzsche had misunderstood Wagner's position or had laid down any propositions from which the composer dissented. [2] There is an interesting discussion of this in James Huneker's book, "Mezzotints in Modern Music," page 285 _et. seq._, New York, 1899. [3] See "George Bernard Shaw: His Plays;" page 102 _et seq._, Boston, 1905. [4] "Wagner's creative instinct gave the lie to his theoretical system:" R. A. Streatfield, "Modern Music and Musicians," p. 272; New York, 1906. NIETZSCHE THE PROPHET I NIETZSCHE'S ORIGINS