"THEY."
[To THE EDITOB OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—There is in "Wilhelm Meister" a passage so like the one quoted in the Spectator of August '29th in the article entitled "They," that it may be the original of it. It occurs in the conversation Wilhelm had with the clergyman who had charge of the mad harper. Speaking of his treat- ment of the insane, he says : " Denn es bringt uns nichts nailer dem Wahnsinn, als wenn wir uns vor anderen auszeiclmen, rind nichts erhalt so sehr den gemeinen Verstand, als im allgemeinen Sinne mit vielen Menschen zu leben" (Book V., chap. 16). Carlyle translates : "For nothing more expOses us to madness, than distinguishing our- selves from others, and nothing more contributes to maintain our common-sense, than living in the universal way with multitudes of men" (Carlyle's Trans., Vol. II., p. 59, Popular Edition). The saying is quite Goethe-like in its wise common- sense.—I am, Sir, JOHN S. BLAIN. 5 Pentland Terrace, Edinburgh.
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