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84 him to come to the rehearsals soon to be given. Nietzsche came, at least to the opening performances—and with what effect I must now proceed to relate.

To understand what happened, it is necessary to bear in mind all Nietzsche's idealism about Bayreuth. As the special scene of the master's activity, and as the center of redeeming influences that were to go out to the German people, it was almost holy in his eyes. In the book just referred to, he pictured gathered there the more serious, nobler spirits of his generation—men and women who had their home elsewhere than in the present and were to be explained and justified otherwise than by the present, or, to use another metaphor, were like a warm current in a lake which a swimmer encounters showing that a hot spring is near by. You shall find—he said in substance—prepared and consecrated spectators at the summit of their happiness and collecting energy for still higher achievement; you shall find the most devoted sacrifice of artists, and the victorious creator of a work which is itself the result of victories all along the æsthetic line—will it not be almost like magic to witness such a phenomenon in the present time! Must not those who participate be transformed and renewed, and be ready themselves to transform and renew in other fields of life? Whatever misgivings lurked in his mind, he was still loyal.

Yet what did he find when the Bayreuth performances began? I give the bare, brutal facts, as they are reported by his sister and other credible witnesses. The main distinction of a large number of those present seemed to be that they were able to pay the necessary nine hundred marks for the twelve performances. Some of the auditors bore great names—the German Emperor was present, and he drew a whole court in his train. Splendid toilets were observable—Marienbad in particular seemed to have sent over a goodly number of its stoutish habitués (bankers and men of leisure, with their wives): on round paunches dangled heavy gold chains, on high-swelling bosoms shone luxurious jewels, costly diamonds. In fact the