The
influence of the one man upon the masses grows ever greater. Mightily
he draws the whole nation to follow in his footsteps, and becomes its
hero, its pattern; the vital force of millions appears summed up in
one man.
[Illustration: _Permission Underwood & Underwood, New York_
LUTHER MONUMENT AT WORMS by ERNST RIETSCHEL]
But the spirit of the nation does not long endure the preeminence of a
single, well-centred personality; for the life and the power and the
needs of a nation are more manifold than even the greatest single
force and lofty aim. The eternal contrast between the individual and
the nation appears. Even the soul of a nation is, in the presence of
the eternal, a finite personality--but in comparison with the
individual it appears boundless. A man is forced by the logical result
of his thoughts and actions, by all the significance of his own deeds,
into a closely restricted path. The soul of the nation needs for its
life irreconcilable contrasts and incessant effort in most varied
directions. Much that the individual failed to assimilate rises to
fight against him. The reaction of the people begins--at first weak,
here and there, based on different reasons and with slight
justification; then it grows stronger and ever more victorious.
Finally the intellectual influence of the life of the individual is
limited to his own followers, and crystallizes into a single one of
the many elements of national growth. The last period of a great life
is always filled with secret resignation, with bitterness, and with
silent suffering.
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