w, Norway is yet wrapped in the
wintry winding-sheet of a tyrannical orthodoxy; and all that he dares
assert is that the chains of frost and snow seem to be loosening. There
is a spring feeling in the air.

This spring feeling is, however, scarcely perceptible in his last book,
_Jacob_, which is written in anything but a hopeful mood. It is, rather,
a protest against that optimism which in fiction we call poetic justice.
The harsh and unsentimental logic of reality is emphasized with a
ruthless disregard of rose-colored traditions. The peasant lad Wold,
who, like all Norse peasants, has been brought up on the Bible, has
become deeply impressed with the story of Jacob, and God's persistent
partisanship for him, in spite of his dishonesty and tricky behavior.
The story becomes, half unconsciously, the basis of his philosophy of
life, and he undertakes to model his career on that of the Biblical
hero. He accordingly cheats and steals with a clever moderation, and in
a cautious and circumspect manner which defies detection. Step by step
he rises in the regard of his fellow-citizens; crushes, with long-headed
calculation or with brutal promptness (as it may suit his purpose)
all those who stand in his way, and arrives at last at the goal of his
desires. He becomes a local magnate, a member of parliament, where he
poses as a defender of the simple, old-fashioned orthodoxy, is decorated
by the King, and is an object of the envious admiration of his fellow
townsmen.

From the pedagogic point of view, I have no doubt that _Jacob_ would be
classed as an immoral book. But the question of its morality is of
less consequence than the question as to its truth. The most modern
literature, which is interpenetrated with the spirit of the age, has a
way of asking dangerous questions--questions before which the reader,
when he perceives their full scope, stands aghast. Our old idyllic faith
in the goodness and wisdom of all mundane arrangements has undoubtedly
received a shock from which it will never recover. Our attitude towards
the universe is changing with the change of its attitude towards us.
What the thinking part of humanity is now largely engaged in doing is to
readjust itself towards the world and the world towards it. Success is
but a complete adaptation to environment; and success is the supreme
aim of the modern man. The authors who, by their fearless thinking
and speaking, help us towards this readjustment should, in my opi