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clearly remember； but this is what I had in mind。
The idea of the superman is an idea that has been developed by
various people ignorant of biology and unaccustomed to biological
ways of thinking。 It is an obvious idea that follows in the
course of half an hour or so upon one's realisation of the
significance of Darwinism。 If man has evolved from something
different； he must now be evolving onward into something sur…
human。 The species in the future will be different from the
species of the past。 So far at least our Nietzsches and Shaws
and so on went right。
But being ignorant of the elementary biological proposition that
modification of a species means really a secular change in its
average； they jumped to a conclusionto which the late Lord
Salisbury also jumped years ago at a very memorable British
Association meetingthat a species is modified by the sudden
appearance of eccentric individuals here and there in the general
mass who interbreedpreferentially。 Helped by a streak of antic
egotism in themselves； they conceived of the superman as a
posturing personage； misunderstood by the vulgar； fantastic；
wonderful。 But the antic Personage； the thing I have called the
Effigy； is not new but old； the oldest thing in history； the
departing thing。 It depends not upon the advance of the species
but upon the uncritical hero…worship of the crowd。 You may see
the monster drawn twenty times the size of common men upon the
oldest monuments of Egypt and Assyria。 The true superman comes
not as the tremendous personal entry of a star； but in the less
dramatic form of a general increase of goodwill and skill and
common sense。 A species rises not by thrusting up peaks but by
the brimming up as a flood does。 The coming of the superman
means not an epidemic of personages but the disappearance of the
Personage in the universal ascent。 That is the point overlooked
by the megalomaniac school of Nietzsche and Shaw。
And it is the peculiarity of this war； it is the most reassuring
evidence that a great increase in general ability and critical
ability has been going on throughout the last century； that no
isolated great personages have emerged。 Never has there been so
much ability； invention； inspiration； leadership； but the very
abundance of good qualities has prevented our focusing upon those
of any one individual。 We all play our part in the realisation
of God's sanity in the world； but； as the strange； dramatic end
of Lord Kitchener has served to remind us； there is no single
individual of all the allied nations whose death can materially
affect the great destinies of this war。
In the last few years I have developed a religious belief that
has become now to me as real as any commonplace fact。 I think
that mankind is still as it were collectively dreaming and hardly
more awakened to reality than a very young child。 It has these
dreams that we express by the flags of nationalities and by
strange loyalties and by irrational creeds and ceremonies； and
its dreams at times become such nightmares as this war。 But the
time draws near when mankind will awake and the dreams will fade
away； and then there will be no nationality in all the world but
humanity； and no kind； no emperor； nor leader but the one God of
mankind。 This is my faith。 I am as certain of this as I was in
1900 that men would presently fly。 To me it is as if it must be
so。
So that to me this extraordinary refusal of the allied nations
under conditions that have always hitherto produced a Great Man
to produce anything of the sort； anything that can be used as an
effigy and carried about for the crowd to follow； is a fact of
extreme significance and encouragement。 It seems to me that the
twilight of the half gods must have come； that we have reached
the end of the age when men needed a Personal Figure about which
they could rally。 The Kaiser is perhaps the last of that long
series of crowned and cloaked and semi…divine personages which
has included Caesar and Alexander and Napoleon the First
and Third。 In the light of the new time we see the emperor…god
for the guy he is。 In the August of 1914 he set himself up to be
the paramount Lord of the World； and it will seem to the
historian to come； who will know our dates so well and our
feelings； our fatigues and efforts so little； it will seem a
short period from that day to this； when the great figure already
sways and staggers towards the bonfire。
5
I had the experience of meeting a contemporary king upon this
journey。 He was the first king I had ever met。 The Potsdam
figurewith perhaps some local exceptions behind the Gold Coast
is； with its collection of uniforms and its pomps and splendours；
the purest survival of the old tradition of divine monarchy now
that the Emperor at Pekin has followed the Shogun into the
shadows。 The modern type of king shows a disposition to intimate
at the outset that he cannot help it； and to justify or at any
rate utilise his exceptional position by sound hard work。 It is
an age of working kings； with the manners of private gentlemen。
The King of Italy for example is far more accessible than was the
late Pierpont Morgan or the late Cecil Rhodes； and he seems to
keep a smaller court。
I went to see him from Udine。 He occupied a moderate…sized
country villa about half an hour by automobile from headquarters。
I went over with General Radcliffe； we drove through the gates of
the villa past a single sentinel in an ordinary infantry uniform；
up to the door of the house； and the number of guards； servants；
attendants； officials； secretaries； ministers and the like that I
saw in that house wereI counted very carefullyfour。
Downstairs were three people； a tall soldier of the bodyguard in
grey； an A。D。C。； Captain Moreno； and Col。 Matteoli； the minister
of the household。 I went upstairs to a drawing…room of much the
same easy and generalised character as the one in which I had met
General Joffre a few days before。 I gave my hat to a second
bodyguard； and as I did so a pleasantly smiling man appeared at
the door of the study whom I thought at first must be some
minister in attendance。 I did not recognise him instantly
because on the stamps and coins he is always in profile。 He
began to talk in excellent English about my journey； and I
replied； and so talking we went into the study from which he had
emerged。 Then I realised I was talking to the king。
Addicted as I am to the cinematograph； in which the standard of
study furniture is particularly rich and high； I found something
very cooling and simple and refreshing in the sight of the king's
study furniture。 He sat down with me at a little useful writing
table； and after asking me what I had seen in Italy and hearing
what I had seen and what I was to see； he went on talking； very
good talk indeed。
I suppose I did a little exceed the established tradition of
courts by asking several questions and trying to get him to talk
upon certain points as to which I was curious； but I perceived
that he had had to carry on at least so much of the regal
tradition as to control the conversation。 He was； however；
entirely un