in motion, and seemed crank and slack), or else his
twanging nasal, _Bravo! Das glaub' ich_; in either case, by way of
heartiest approval. In short, if Teufelsdrockh was Dalai-Lama, of which,
except perhaps in his self-seclusion, and godlike indifference, there
was no symptom, then might Heuschrecke pass for his chief Talapoin, to
whom no dough-pill he could knead and publish was other than medicinal
and sacred.

In such environment, social, domestic, physical, did Teufelsdrockh, at
the time of our acquaintance, and most likely does he still, live and
meditate. Here, perched up in his high Wahngasse watch-tower, and often,
in solitude, outwatching the Bear, it was that the indomitable
Inquirer fought all his battles with Dulness and Darkness; here, in
all probability, that he wrote this surprising Volume on _Clothes_.
Additional particulars: of his age, which was of that standing middle
sort you could only guess at; of his wide surtout; the color of his
trousers, fashion of his broad-brimmed steeple-hat, and so forth, we
might report, but do not. The Wisest truly is, in these times, the
Greatest; so that an enlightened curiosity leaving Kings and such
like to rest very much on their own basis, turns more and more to the
Philosophic Class: nevertheless, what reader expects that, with all our
writing and reporting, Teufelsdrockh could be brought home to him, till
once the Documents arrive? His Life, Fortunes, and Bodily Presence, are
as yet hidden from us, or matter only of faint conjecture. But, on the
other hand, does not his Soul lie enclosed in this remarkable Volume,
much more truly than Pedro Garcia's did in the buried Bag of Doubloons?
To the soul of Diogenes Teufelsdrockh, to his opinions, namely, on the
"Origin and Influence of Clothes," we for the present gladly return.

CHAPTER IV. CHARACTERISTICS.

It were a piece of vain flattery to pretend that this Work on Clothes
entirely contents us; that it is not, like all works of genius, like
the very Sun, which, though the highest published creation, or work of
genius, has nevertheless black spots and troubled nebulosities amid
its effulgence,--a mixture of insight, inspiration, with dulness,
double-vision, and even utter blindness.

Without committing ourselves to those enthusiastic praises and
prophesyings of the _Weissnichtwo'sche Anzeiger_, we admitted that the
Book had in a high degree excited us to self-activity, which is the
best effect of any book; th