Chapter IX

The Critical Last Judgment

Through Rudolph, Critical Criticism has twice saved the world from downfall. but only that it may now itself decree the end of the world.

And I saw and heard a mighty angel, Herr Hirzel, flying from Zurich across the heavens. And he had in his hand a little book open like the fifth number of the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung., and he set his right foot upon the Mass and his left foot upon Charlottenburg; and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth, and his words rose like a dove — chirp! chirp! — to the regions of pathos and thunder-like aspects of the Critical Last judgment.

“When, finally, all is united against Criticism and — verily, verily I say unto you — this time is no longer far off — when the whole world in dissolution — to it it was given to fight against the Holy — groups around Criticism for the last onslaught; then the courage of Criticism and its significance will have found the greatest recognition. We can have no fear of the outcome. It will all end by our settling accounts with the various groups — and we shall separate them from one another as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and we shall set the sheep on our right hand and the goats on our left — and we shall give a general certificate of poverty to the hostile knights — they are spirits of the devil, they go out into the breadth of the world and they gather to fight on the great day of God the Almighty — and all who dwell on earth will wonder.”

And when the angel had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices:

That day of wrath
Will reduce the world to ashes.
When the judge takes his seat
All that is hidden will come to light,
Nothing will remain unpunished.
What shall I, wretch, say then? etc.
[in Latin]

Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. All this must first of all come to pass. For there shall rise false Christs and false prophets, Messieurs Buchez and Roux from Paris, Herr Friedrich Rohmer and Theodor Rohmer from Zurich, and they will say: Here is Christ! But then the sign of the Bauer brothers will appear in Criticism and the words of the Scripture on Bauer’s work [Bauernwerk — “peasant’s work"]will be accomplished:

Quand les bceufs vont deux
A deux Le labourage en va mieux!
[With the oxen paired together.
Ploughing goes much better! —
from a French drinking song]

Historical Epilogue

As we learned later, it was not the world, but the Critical Literatur-Zeitung that came to an end.