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German romantic school of philosophy. A few such men, endowedbeyond their fellows with sense as well as inspiration, have made themost benign contributions to the world's progress. But unfortunatelythere are too many of them, and there is no rule that will guaranteethat all of them will know what they are about. In fact, there is aprinciple that almost guarantees most of them will be wrong. For,like Nietzsche, most of them are enemies of rationalism. They areromanticist first and always. As Josiah Royce puts it, when definingSchiller's philosophy, their motto is "Trust your genius; follow yournoble heart; change your doctrine whenever your heart changes,and change your heart often. . . . The world is essentially what menof genius make it. Let us then be men of genius and make it whatwe choose." 2One finds numerous men of this stamp among the rank of theendowed—the academicians, the sons of the rich, the eternal secretariesof foundations and institutes. Removed from the sordiddetails of money-getting, with leisure to ponder the woes and dreamsof the world, holding themselves above and apart from the hard,pragmatic necessities of balancing either a commercial or a communitybudget, they come to think of themselves as the excellentmen of the world, as having a peculiarly enlightened insight into itsways. They develop the itch for world-remolding and work endlesslyat the job. In periods of distress they come forward to replace thepractical men, who, knowing little of the anatomy of society andthe mind, move as complete pragmatists. In moments of crises theygo tumbling to the centers of power with their doctrines, theirformulae, their programs, blueprints, and all. They swarmed toBerlin when the last war began, and they remained to take over thevast bankruptcy that was left when it ended. Never in history havethey been basking in such a paradise as now.But it is not only the excellent men who come running to thecenter of things when mischief is afoot. There are what Spenglercalls the cosmic men—wholly different from the idealogues. Theyare a breed upon whom the harness of civilized life sits with discomfort.They are men who, as Spengler says, are "tired to death ofmoney economy." Such men "hope for salvation from somewhere or*The Spirit of Modern Philosophy, by Josiah Royce, Houghton, Mifflin, New York, 1892.121