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2 which the papers print just once: in the column of death notices.

What if they ask: "How can we write the life of the Unknown Man, since the very fact that he is unknown prevents us from knowing anything about him"? A foolish excuse! The most highly educational biographies are those of men of whom little or nothing is known. Those are the books that set forth the human ideal, that tell us what a man ought to be.

The critics may go their way, and I'll go mine. And you will see that I do not need to resort to fiction.

If it be true that men are known by their works, how much we know of the Unknown Man! I might maintain that he has been the most important personage in history, the greatest hero of humanity. If you don't believe it, I don't mind. But I do ask that you lend me your ears, you slaves of the known, you devotees of the catalogue!

The Unknown Man is very ancient. He appeared, indeed, in the first human tribe. In the earliest times he busied himself chiefly with chemistry and metallurgy. He invented the wheel, and discovered the use of iron. Later he concerned himself with clothes, devised money, and started agriculture. But he soon tired of these material interests, and became a poet.