Page:Hoffmann's Strange Stories - Hoffman - 1855.djvu/413

 show himself unmoved by my scrutiny. He is always the same mild and affectionate man. This majestic calmness makes me ashamed of my foolish idea.

This, dear Adelgunde, is the history of my interior life.—My heart is lighter now that I have no secrets from thee. Farewell until we meet again.

Existence is the reward of a struggle; it is a struggle itself. The victory is to the strongest, for strength is the natural law of all things; the being subjected adds its own strength to that which his conqueror already possessed.

The strength of intelligence has its combats and its victories, as well as physical strength. A medium power of intelligence often subjects and governs an immense physical force; it is in us like a reflection from the Deity, by whom empire is given us over all creation.

We are ignorant of the mysteries of the union of soul and body; the discovery of this science would endow us with the power of God himself. All that we can do this side of that point, is to exercise for the advantage of our desires, in the circle that is traced out for us, the amount of strength that is communicated to us for the purpose of enjoying the creation.

I have met on my way a young girl, the sight of whom has made the sympathetic chords vibrate within me. I felt that all power belonged to me to attach her life to my own; but it was necessary to struggle against an adverse power that controlled her. This young girl is beloved, and she loves.—I concentrated upon a single point the whole force of my will. Woman has received from nature a passive organization; it is in the sacrifice that she voluntarily makes of her individuality to pour out her soul into the bosom of the being who subjects her by his superiority, that the happiness occasioned by love resides.

The sojourn of a week near the beautiful Maria was sufficient for my observing penetration to gain a complete knowl-