"comes near to virtue," because "when man
comes inquisitively forth from the beaten
path of things known and from the accidents
that he is accustomed to combat, and finds him-
self in the infinite region of possible evils, he
feels his weakness, the cheerful ideas of de-
fence and of vigour abandon him. Then he
thinks that virtue only, a clear conscience, and
the help of God alone can be of some succour
to his mind in that condition." And thus he
concluded with characteristic certainty: "Let
everyone look into himself after reading a
tragedy of Shakespeare, and observe whether
he does not experience a similar emotion in his
own soul."

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