ed, not inflated, neither awkwardness nor
affectation: he feels that _he_ there is the man Robert Burns; that
the 'rank is but the guinea-stamp;' that the celebrity is but the
candle-light, which will show _what_ man, not in the least make him a
better or other man! Alas, it may readily, unless he look to it, make
him a _worse_ man; a wretched inflated wind-bag,--inflated till he
_burst_ and become a _dead_ lion; for whom, as some one has said,
'there is no resurrection of the body;' worse than a living
dog!--Burns is admirable here.

And yet, alas, as I have observed elsewhere, these Lion-hunters were
the ruin and death of Burns. It was they that rendered it impossible
for him to live! They gathered round him in his Farm; hindered his
industry; no place was remote enough from them. He could not get his
Lionism forgotten, honestly as he was disposed to do so. He falls into
discontents, into miseries, faults; the world getting ever more
desolate for him; health, character, peace of mind all gone;--solitary
enough now. It is tragical to think of! These men came but to _see_
him; it was out of no sympathy with him, nor no hatred to him. They
came to get a little amusement: they got their amusement;--and the
Hero's life went for it!

Richter says, in the Island of Sumatra, there is a kind of
'Light-chafers,' large Fire-flies, which people stick upon spits, and
illuminate the ways with at night. Persons of condition can thus
travel with a pleasant radiance, which they much admire. Great honour
to the Fire-flies! But--!--

LECTURE VI

THE HERO AS KING. CROMWELL, NAPOLEON: MODERN REVOLUTIONISM.

[_Friday, 22nd May 1840_]

We come now to the last form of Heroism; that which we call Kingship.
The Commander over men; he to whose will our wills are to be
subordinated, and loyally surrender themselves, and find their welfare
in doing so, may be reckoned the most important of Great Men. He is
practically the summary for us of _all_ the various figures of
Heroism; Priest, Teacher, whatsoever of earthly or of spiritual
dignity we can fancy to reside in a man, embodies itself here, to
_command_ over us, to furnish us with constant practical teaching, to
tell us for the day and hour what we are to _do_. He is called _Rex_,
Regulator, _Roi_: our own name is still better; King, _Koenning_, which
means _Can_-ning, Ableman.

Numerous considerations, pointing towards deep, questionable, and
indeed unfathomable regions, pres