political conditions by means of ridicule, he
accepted logic as his guide. The Romanticist, whose aim it was to
express his individual sentiments and ideas, rebelled against the
restraints of logic and common sense; his purpose was not to persuade
his reader or hearer by logical reasoning, but rather to carry him off
his feet by the onrush of his passions and sentiments. The Classicist
mistrusted the imagination for fear that it might lead him away from
common sense and moderation; the Romanticist turned to it eagerly as the
most effective means of conveying to reader or hearer his ardent
sentiments and vague aspirations. For the reason then that the
Classicist made his appeal to the intellect, mistrusted the imagination,
and usually avoided all strong passions except that of indignation,
Classicism tended to become more and more prosaic. Romanticism, because
of its appeal to the emotions and to the imagination, put new life and
power into literature, and immeasurably widened its range. On the other
hand the tendency on the part of writers of little ability and less
judgment to go to absurd extremes in their efforts to express strange
and original ideas and sentiments, to get as far away as possible from
the logical and commonplace, led to the production of much absurd
writing. This and the attempt of many of them to apply the extreme
principles of Romanticism to daily life as well as to literature
resulted in the derogatory sense that the word _romantic_ came to have
in its ordinary acceptation. The results of Romanticism in its
exaggerated form may be seen in the satirical article written in 1837 by
Mesonero Romanos, _El Romanticismo y los Romanticos_. This article,
highly recommended in this connection, may easily be found in his
collected writings _Obras_, Madrid, 1881, or, better still, it may be
studied in the excellent edition of Professor G.T. Northup, _Selections
from Mesonero Romanos_.

3. _Spiritual awakening_. The latter half of the eighteenth century was
a materialistic age. The realities of life were limited to such as could
be understood by the five senses and the reasoning faculty. Life and
literature for the Classicist meant reasoned submission to things as
they were; achievement was the accepted basis of judgment for his life
or literature. The Romanticist rebelled against this materialistic view
of life; for him the real truths lay beyond the apparent realities; he
grasped at the impalpable and infin