Excerpt from Saint George, Vol. 11: A National Review Dealing With Literature, Art, Education, and Social Questions in a Broad and Progressive Spirit And if we are to judge William Blake's sanity by the limited intellect Of mind specialists, we shall infallibly find him lacking though we may wish the world were less sane if the loss Of its wits would bring it nearer to the Kingdom in which Blake lived. But more than this. He was mad if we are to judge him by those many wise whose only idea Of living in perfect sanity is to take in one another's washing, and yet not wash it in public. He was mad if no man may see further than his neighbours without the sanction Of the Lunacy Commission if no man has right to prophecy; if none may use terrific metaphor without being accused Of coarse realism; if none may call the devil black without being stigmatized as small-minded if none may light a candle without the sane world disputing his right to find road through the darkness. Moreover, Blake was undoubtedly mad if we are to believe all that his apologists wrote to prove the contrary. Yet his critics have dealt most lovingly with him, and praised his cryptic flights Of poetic fire, his marvellous, ineffable pictures. They have told us of his simple, true, and pious life, never wavering or over - sad, always staunch and hopeful; Of his terrific condemnation Of enemies, his over-kindly criticism Of friends. They have let us see his child-like yet huge - minded nature; they have made us worship the singer for his pro phecy, the painter for his music. Nevertheless, and please note this most extraordinary Of facts, they have dared defend this man against himself and his own work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.