Chapter III: Part 3

But they shall find they were mistaken in me; they shall learn that in black and white, I promise them! I shall throw myself into the breach every day in the _Messenger_, bombard them with one explosive article after another——

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, but look here——

BILLING.

Hurrah! It’s war! War!

DR. STOCKMANN.

I shall smite them to the earth, I shall crush them, I shall level their entrenchments to the ground in the eyes of all right-thinking men! That’s what I shall do!

ASLAKSEN.

But above all things be temperate, Doctor; bombard with moderation——

BILLING.

Not at all, not at all! Don’t spare the dynamite!

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Going on imperturbably._] For now it’s no mere question of water-works and sewers, you see. No, the whole community must be purged, disinfected——

BILLING.

_There_ sounds the word of salvation!

DR. STOCKMANN.

All the old bunglers must be sent packing, you understand. And that in every possible department! Such endless vistas have opened out before me to-day. I am not quite clear about everything yet, but I shall see my way presently. It’s young and vigorous standard-bearers we must look for, my friends; we must have new captains at all the outposts.

BILLING.

Hear, hear!

DR. STOCKMANN.

And if only we hold together, it will go so smoothly, so smoothly! The whole revolution will glide off the stocks just like a ship. Don’t you think so?

HOVSTAD.

For my part, I believe we have now every prospect of placing our municipal affairs in the right hands.

ASLAKSEN.

And if only we proceed with moderation, I really don’t think there can be any danger.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Who the devil cares whether there’s danger or not! What I do, I do in the name of truth and for conscience' sake.

HOVSTAD.

You are a man to be backed up, Doctor.

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, there’s no doubt the Doctor is a true friend to the town; he’s what I call a friend of society.

BILLING.

Strike me dead if Dr. Stockmann isn’t a Friend of the People, Aslaksen!

ASLAKSEN.

I have no doubt the House-owners' Association will soon adopt that expression.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Shaking their hands, deeply moved._] Thanks, thanks, my dear, faithful friends; it does me good to hear you. My respected brother called me something very different. Never mind! Trust me to pay him back with interest! But I must be off now to see a poor devil of a patient. I shall look in again, though. Be sure you look after the article, Mr. Aslaksen; and, whatever you do, don’t leave out any of my notes of exclamation! Rather put in a few more! Well, good-bye for the present, good-bye, good-bye.

[_Mutual salutations while they accompany him to the door. He
goes out._

HOVSTAD.

He will be invaluable to us.

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, so long as he confines himself to this matter of the Baths. But if he goes further, it will scarcely be advisable to follow him.

HOVSTAD.

H'm—that entirely depends on——

BILLING.

You’re always so confoundedly timid, Aslaksen.

ASLAKSEN.

Timid? Yes, when it’s a question of attacking local authorities, I am timid, Mr. Billing; I have learnt caution in the school of experience, let me tell you. But start me on the higher politics, confront me with the Government itself, and then see if I'm timid.

BILLING.

No, you’re not; but that’s just where your inconsistency comes in.

ASLAKSEN.

The fact is, I am keenly alive to my responsibilities. If you attack the Government, you at least do society no harm; for the men attacked don’t care a straw, you see—they stay where they are all the same. But _local_ authorities can be turned out; and then we might get some incompetent set into power, to the irreparable injury both of house-owners and other people.

HOVSTAD.

But the education of citizens by self-government—do you never think of _that_?

ASLAKSEN.

When a man has solid interests to protect, he can’t think of everything, Mr. Hovstad.

HOVSTAD.

Then I hope I may never have solid interests to protect.

BILLING.

Hear, hear!

ASLAKSEN.

[_Smiling._] H'm! [_Points to the desk._] Governor Stensgård[10] sat in that editorial chair before you.

BILLING.

[_Spitting._] Pooh! A turncoat like that!

HOVSTAD.

I am no weathercock—and never will be.

ASLAKSEN.

A politician should never be too sure of anything on earth, Mr. Hovstad. And as for you, Mr. Billing, you ought to take in a reef or two, I should say, now that you are applying for the secretaryship to the Town Council.

BILLING.

I——!

HOVSTAD.

Is that so, Billing?

BILLING.

Well, yes—but, deuce take it, you understand, I'm only doing it to spite their high-mightinesses.

ASLAKSEN.

Well, that has nothing to do with me. But if I am to be accused of cowardice and inconsistency, I should just like to point out _this_: My political record is open to every one. I have not changed at all, except in becoming more moderate. My heart still belongs to the people; but I don’t deny that my reason inclines somewhat towards the authorities—the local ones, I mean.

[_Goes into the printing-room._]

BILLING.

Don’t you think we should try to get rid of him, Hovstad?

HOVSTAD.

Do you know of any one else that will pay for our paper and printing?

BILLING.

What a confounded nuisance it is to have no capital!

HOVSTAD.

[_Sitting down by the desk._] Yes, if we only had that——

BILLING.

Suppose you applied to Dr. Stockmann?

HOVSTAD.

[_Turning over his papers._] What would be the good? He hasn’t a rap.

BILLING.

No; but he has a good man behind him—old Morten Kiil—“The Badger,” as they call him.

HOVSTAD.

[_Writing._] Are you so sure he has money?

BILLING.

Yes, strike me dead if he hasn’t! And part of it must certainly go to Stockmann’s family. He’s bound to provide for—for the children at any rate.

HOVSTAD.

[_Half turning._] Are you counting on _that_?

BILLING.

Counting? How should I be counting on it?

HOVSTAD.

Best not! And that secretaryship you shouldn’t count on either; for I can assure you you won’t get it.

BILLING.

Do you think I don’t know that? A refusal is the very thing I want. Such a rebuff fires the spirit of opposition in you, gives you a fresh supply of gall, as it were; and that’s just what you need in a god-forsaken hole like this, where anything really stimulating so seldom happens.

HOVSTAD.

[_Writing._] Yes, yes.

BILLING.

Well—they shall soon hear from me!—Now I'll go and write the appeal to the House-owners' Association. _Goes into the room on the right._

HOVSTAD.

[_Sits at his desk, biting his penholder, and says slowly_:] H'm—so that’s the way of it.—[_A knock at the door._] Come in.

PETRA _enters from the back, left._

HOVSTAD.

[_Rising._] What! Is it you? Here?

PETRA.

Yes; please excuse me——

HOVSTAD.

[_Offering her an arm-chair._] Won’t you sit down?

PETRA.

No, thanks; I must go again directly.

HOVSTAD.

Perhaps you bring a message from your father——?

PETRA.

No, I have come on my own account. [_Takes a book from the pocket of her cloak._] Here is that English story.

HOVSTAD.

Why have you brought it back?

PETRA.

Because I won’t translate it.

HOVSTAD.

But you promised——

PETRA.

Yes; but then I hadn’t read it. I suppose you have not read it either?

HOVSTAD.

No; you know I can’t read English; but——

PETRA.

Exactly; and that’s why I wanted to tell you that you must find something else. [_Putting the_ _book on the table._] This will never do for the _Messenger_.

HOVSTAD.

Why not?

PETRA.

Because it flies in the face of all your convictions.

HOVSTAD.

Well, for that matter——

PETRA.

You don’t understand me. It makes out that a supernatural power looks after the so-called good people in this world, and turns everything to their advantage at last; while all the so-called bad people are punished.

HOVSTAD.

Yes, but that’s all right. That’s the very thing the public like.

PETRA.

And would you supply the public with such stuff? You don’t believe a word of it yourself. You know well enough that things do not really happen like that.

HOVSTAD.

Of course not; but an editor can’t always do as he likes. He has often to humour people’s fancies in minor matters. After all, politics is the chief thing in life—at any rate for a newspaper; and if I want the people to follow me along the path of emancipation and progress, I mustn’t scare them away. If they find a moral story like this down in the cellar,[11] they are all the more ready to take in what we tell them above—they feel themselves safer.

PETRA.

For shame! You’re not such a hypocrite as to set traps like that for your readers. You’re not a spider.

HOVSTAD.

[_Smiling._] Thanks for your good opinion. It’s true that the idea is Billing’s, not mine.

PETRA.

Mr. Billing’s!

HOVSTAD.

Yes, at least he was talking in that strain the other day. It was Billing that was so anxious to get the story into the paper; I don’t even know the book.

PETRA.

But how can Mr. Billing, with his advanced views——

HOVSTAD.

Well, Billing is many-sided. He’s applying for the secretaryship to the Town Council, I hear.

PETRA.

I don’t believe that, Mr. Hovstad. How could he descend to such a thing?

HOVSTAD.

That you must ask him.

PETRA.

I could never have thought it of Billing!

HOVSTAD.

[_Looking more closely at her._] No? Is it such a surprise to you?

PETRA.

Yes. And yet—perhaps not. Oh, I don’t know——

HOVSTAD.

We journalists are not worth much, Miss Petra.

PETRA.

Do you really say that?

HOVSTAD.

I think so, now and then.

PETRA.

Yes, in the little every-day squabbles—that I can understand. But now that you have taken up a great cause——

HOVSTAD.

You mean this affair of your father’s?

PETRA.

Of course. I should think you must feel yourself worth more than the general run of people now.

HOVSTAD.

Yes, to-day I do feel something of the sort.

PETRA.

Yes, surely you must. Oh, it’s a glorious career you have chosen! To be the pioneer of unrecognised truths and new and daring ways of thought!—even, if that were all, to stand forth fearlessly in support of an injured man——

HOVSTAD.

Especially when the injured man is—I hardly know how to put it——

PETRA.

You mean when he is so upright and true?

HOVSTAD.

[_In a low voice._] I mean—especially when he is your father.

PETRA.

[_Suddenly taken aback._] _That?_

HOVSTAD.

Yes, Petra—Miss Petra.

PETRA.

So that is your chief thought, is it? Not the cause itself? Not the truth? Not father’s great, warm heart?

HOVSTAD.

Oh, that too, of course.

PETRA.

No, thank you; you said too much that time, Mr. Hovstad. Now I shall never trust you again, in anything.

HOVSTAD.

Can you be so hard on me because it’s mainly for your sake——?

PETRA.

What I blame you for is that you have not acted straightforwardly towards father. You have talked to him as if you cared only for the truth and the good of the community. You have trifled with both father and me. You are not the man you pretended to be. And that I will never forgive you—never.

HOVSTAD.

You shouldn’t say that so bitterly, Miss Petra—least of all now.

PETRA.

Why not now?

HOVSTAD.

Because your father cannot do without my help.

PETRA.

[_Measuring him from head to foot._] So you are capable of _that_, too? Oh, shame!

HOVSTAD.

No, no. I spoke without thinking. You mustn’t believe that of me.

PETRA.

I know what to believe. Good-bye.

ASLAKSEN _enters from printing-room, hurriedly and mysteriously._

ASLAKSEN.

What do you think, Mr. Hovstad—[_Seeing PETRA._] Ow, that’s awkward——

PETRA.

Well, there is the book. You must give it to some one else. _Going towards the main door._

HOVSTAD.

[_Following her._] But, Miss Petra——

PETRA.

Good-bye. _She goes._

ASLAKSEN.

I say, Mr. Hovstad!

HOVSTAD.

Well well; what is it?

ASLAKSEN.

The Burgomaster’s out there, in the printing-office.

HOVSTAD.

The Burgomaster?

ASLAKSEN.

Yes. He wants to speak to you; he came in by the back way—he didn’t want to be seen, you understand.

HOVSTAD.

What can be the meaning of this? Stop, I'll go myself——

[_Goes towards the printing-room, opens the door, bows and
invites the BURGOMASTER to enter._

HOVSTAD.

Keep a look-out, Aslaksen, that no one——

ASLAKSEN.

I understand. _Goes into the printing-room._

BURGOMASTER.

You didn’t expect to see me here, Mr. Hovstad.

HOVSTAD.

No, I cannot say that I did.

BURGOMASTER.

[_Looking about him._] You are very comfortably installed here—capital quarters.

HOVSTAD.

Oh——

BURGOMASTER.

And here have I come, without with your leave or by your leave, to take up your time——

HOVSTAD.

You are very welcome, Burgomaster; I am at your service. Let me take your cap and stick. [_He does so, and puts them on a chair._] And won’t you be seated?

BURGOMASTER.

[_Sitting down by the table._] Thanks. [HOVSTAD _also sits by the table._] I have been much—very much worried to-day, Mr. Hovstad.

HOVSTAD.

Really? Well, I suppose with all your various duties, Burgomaster——

BURGOMASTER.

It is the Doctor that has been causing me annoyance to-day.

HOVSTAD.

Indeed! The Doctor?

BURGOMASTER.

He has written a sort of memorandum to the Directors about some alleged shortcomings in the Baths.

HOVSTAD.

Has he really?

BURGOMASTER.

Yes; hasn’t he told you? I thought he said——

HOVSTAD.

Oh yes, by-the-bye, he did mention something——

ASLAKSEN.

[_From the printing-office._] I've just come for the manuscript——

HOVSTAD.

[_In a tone of vexation._] Oh!—there it is on the desk.

ASLAKSEN.

[_Finding it._] All right.

BURGOMASTER.

Why, _that_ is the very thing——

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, this is the Doctor’s article, Burgomaster.

HOVSTAD.

Oh, is that what you were speaking of?

BURGOMASTER.

Precisely. What do you think of it?

HOVSTAD.

I have no technical knowledge of the matter, and I've only glanced through it.

BURGOMASTER.

And yet you are going to print it!

HOVSTAD.

I can’t very well refuse a signed communication——

ASLAKSEN.

I have nothing to do with the editing of the paper, Burgomaster——

BURGOMASTER.

Of course not.

ASLAKSEN.

I merely print what is placed in my hands.

BURGOMASTER.

Quite right, quite right.

ASLAKSEN.

So I must—— _Goes towards the printing-room._

BURGOMASTER.

No, stop a moment, Mr. Aslaksen. With your permission, Mr. Hovstad——

HOVSTAD.

By all means, Burgomaster.

BURGOMASTER.

You are a discreet and thoughtful man, Mr. Aslaksen.

ASLAKSEN.

I am glad you think so, Burgomaster.

BURGOMASTER.

And a man of very wide influence.

ASLAKSEN.

Well—chiefly among the lower middle-class.

BURGOMASTER.

The small taxpayers form the majority—here as everywhere.

ASLAKSEN.

That’s very true.

BURGOMASTER.

And I have no doubt that you know the general feeling among them. Am I right?

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, I think I may say that I do, Burgomaster.

BURGOMASTER.

Well—since our townsfolk of the poorer class appear to be so heroically eager to make sacrifices——

ASLAKSEN.

How so?

HOVSTAD.

Sacrifices?

BURGOMASTER.

It is a pleasing evidence of public spirit—a most pleasing evidence. I admit it is more than I should quite have expected. But, of course, you know public feeling better than I do.

ASLAKSEN.

Yes but, Burgomaster——

BURGOMASTER.

And assuredly it is no small sacrifice the town will have to make.

HOVSTAD.

The town?

ASLAKSEN.

But I don’t understand——. It’s the Baths——

BURGOMASTER.

At a rough provisional estimate, the alterations the Doctor thinks desirable will come to two or three hundred thousand crowns.

ASLAKSEN.

That’s a lot of money; but——

BURGOMASTER.

Of course we shall be obliged to raise a municipal loan.

HOVSTAD.

[_Rising._] You surely can’t mean that the town——?

ASLAKSEN.

Would you come upon the rates? Upon the scanty savings of the lower middle-class?

BURGOMASTER.

Why, my dear Mr. Aslaksen, where else are the funds to come from?

ASLAKSEN.

The proprietors of the Baths must see to that.

BURGOMASTER.

The proprietors are not in a position to go to any further expense.

ASLAKSEN.

Are you quite sure of that, Burgomaster?

BURGOMASTER.

I have positive information. So if these extensive alterations are called for, the town itself will have to bear the cost.

ASLAKSEN.

Oh, plague take it all—I beg your pardon!—but this is quite another matter, Mr. Hovstad.

HOVSTAD.

Yes, it certainly is.

BURGOMASTER.

The worst of it is, that we shall be obliged to close the establishment for a couple of years.

HOVSTAD.

To close it? Completely?

ASLAKSEN.

For two years!

BURGOMASTER.

Yes, the work will require that time—at least.

ASLAKSEN.

But, damn it all! we can’t stand that, Burgomaster. What are we house-owners to live on in the meantime?

BURGOMASTER.

It’s extremely difficult to say, Mr. Aslaksen. But what would you have us do? Do you think a single visitor will come here if we go about making them fancy that the water is poisoned, that the place is pestilential, that the whole town——

ASLAKSEN.

And it’s all nothing but fancy?

BURGOMASTER.

With the best will in the world, I have failed to convince myself that it is anything else.

ASLAKSEN.

In that case it’s simply inexcusable of Dr. Stockmann—I beg your pardon, Burgomaster, but——

BURGOMASTER.

I'm sorry to say you are only speaking the truth, Mr. Aslaksen. Unfortunately, my brother has always been noted for his rashness.

ASLAKSEN.

And yet you want to back him up in this, Mr. Hovstad!

HOVSTAD.

But who could possibly imagine that——?

BURGOMASTER.

I have drawn up a short statement of the facts, as they appear from a sober-minded standpoint; and I have intimated that any drawbacks that may possibly exist can no doubt be remedied by measures compatible with the finances of the Baths.

HOVSTAD.

Have you the article with you, Burgomaster?

BURGOMASTER.

[_Feeling in his pockets._] Yes; I brought it with me, in case you——

ASLAKSEN.

[_Quickly._] Plague take it, there he is!

BURGOMASTER.

Who? My brother?

HOVSTAD.

Where? where?

ASLAKSEN.

He’s coming through the composing-room.

BURGOMASTER.

Most unfortunate! I don’t want to meet him here, and yet there are several things I want to talk to you about.

HOVSTAD.

[_Pointing to the door on the right._] Go in there for a moment.

BURGOMASTER.

But——?

HOVSTAD.

You’ll find nobody but Billing there.

ASLAKSEN.

Quick, quick, Burgomaster; he’s just coming.

BURGOMASTER.

Very well, then. But try to get rid of him quickly.

[_He goes out by the door on the right, which ASLAKSEN opens,
and closes behind him._

HOVSTAD.

Pretend to be busy, Aslaksen.

[_He sits down and writes. ASLAKSEN turns over a heap of
newspapers on a chair, right._

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Entering from the composing-room._] Here I am, back again. [_Puts down his hat and stick._]

HOVSTAD.

[_Writing._] Already, Doctor? Make haste with what we were speaking of, Aslaksen. We’ve no time to lose to-day.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_To ASLAKSEN._] No proof yet, I hear.

ASLAKSEN.

[_Without turning round._] No; how could you expect it?

DR. STOCKMANN.

Of course not; but you understand my impatience. I can have no rest or peace until I see the thing in print.

HOVSTAD.

H'm; it will take a good while yet. Don’t you think so, Aslaksen?

ASLAKSEN.

I'm afraid it will.

DR. STOCKMANN.

All right, all right, my good friend; then I shall look in again. I'll look in twice if necessary. With so much at stake—the welfare of the whole town—one mustn’t grudge a little trouble. [_Is on the point of going but stops and comes back._] Oh, by the way—there’s one other thing I must speak to you about.

HOVSTAD.

Excuse me; wouldn’t some other time——?

DR. STOCKMANN.

I can tell you in two words. You see it’s this when people read my article in the paper tomorrow, and find I have spent the whole winter working quietly for the good of the town——

HOVSTAD.

Yes but, Doctor——

DR. STOCKMANN.

I know what you’re going to say. You don’t think it was a bit more than my duty—my simple duty as a citizen. Of course I know that, as well as you do. But you see, my fellow townsmen—good Lord! the poor souls think so much of me——

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, the townspeople have hitherto thought very highly of you, Doctor.

DR. STOCKMANN.

That’s exactly why I'm afraid that—. What I wanted to say was this: when all this comes to them—especially to the poorer classes—as a summons to take the affairs of the town into their own hands for the future——

HOVSTAD.

[_Rising._] H'm, Doctor, I won’t conceal from you——

DR. STOCKMANN.

Aha! I thought there was something brewing! But I won’t hear of it. If they are getting up anything of that sort——

HOVSTAD.

Of what sort?

DR. STOCKMANN.

Well, anything of any sort—a procession with banners, or a banquet, or a subscription for a testimonial, or whatever it may be—you must give me your solemn promise to put a stop to it. And you too, Mr. Aslaksen; do you hear?

HOVSTAD.

Excuse me, Doctor; we may as well tell you the whole truth first as last——

MRS. STOCKMANN _enters from the back, left._

MRS. STOCKMANN.

[_Seeing the DOCTOR._] Ah! just as I thought.

HOVSTAD.

[_Going towards her._] Mrs. Stockmann, too?

DR. STOCKMANN.

What the devil do _you_ want here, Katrina?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

You know very well what I want.

HOVSTAD.

Won’t you sit down? Or perhaps——

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Thanks, please don’t trouble. And you must forgive my following my husband here; remember, I am the mother of three children.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Stuff and nonsense! We all know that well enough.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Well, it doesn’t look as if you thought very much about your wife and children to-day, or you wouldn’t be so ready to plunge us all into ruin.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Are you quite mad, Katrina! Has a man with a wife and children no right to proclaim the truth? Has he no right to be an active and useful citizen? Has he no right to do his duty by the town he lives in?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Everything in moderation, Thomas!

ASLAKSEN.

That’s just what I say. Moderation in everything.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

You are doing us a great wrong, Mr. Hovstad, in enticing my husband away from house and home, and befooling him in this way.

HOVSTAD.

I am not befooling any one——

DR. STOCKMANN.

Befooling! Do you think I should let myself be befooled?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Yes, that’s just what you do. I know very well that you are the cleverest man in the town; but you’re very easily made a fool of, Thomas. [_To HOVSTAD._] Remember that he loses his post at the Baths if you print what he has written——

ASLAKSEN.

What!

HOVSTAD.

Well now, really, Doctor——

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Laughing._] Ha ha! just let them try—! No no, my dear, they’ll think twice about that. I have the compact majority behind me, you see!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

That’s just the misfortune, that you should have such a horrid thing behind you.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Nonsense, Katrina;—you go home and look after your house, and let me take care of society. How can you be in such a fright when you see me so confident and happy? [_Rubbing his hands and walking up and down._] Truth and the People must win the day; you may be perfectly sure of that. Oh! I can see all our free-souled citizens standing shoulder to shoulder like a conquering army——! [_Stopping by a chair._] Why, what the devil is _that_?

ASLAKSEN.

[_Looking at it._] Oh Lord!

HOVSTAD.

[_The same._] H'm—

DR. STOCKMANN.

Why, here’s the top-knot of authority!

[_He takes the_ BURGOMASTER’S _official cap carefully between
the tips of his fingers and holds it up._

MRS. STOCKMANN.

The Burgomaster’s cap!

DR. STOCKMANN.

And here’s the staff of office, too! But how in the devil’s name did they——?

HOVSTAD.

Well then——

DR. STOCKMANN.

Ah, I understand! He has been here to talk you over. Ha, ha! He reckoned without his host that time! And when he caught sight of me in the printing-room—[_Bursts out laughing._]—he took to his heels, eh, Mr. Aslaksen?

ASLAKSEN.

[_Hurriedly._] Exactly; he took to his heels, Doctor.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Made off without his stick and——. No, _that_ won’t do! Peter never left anything behind him. But where the devil have you stowed him? Ah—in here, of course. Now you shall see, Katrina!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Thomas—I implore you——!

ASLAKSEN.

Take care, Doctor!

[DR. STOCKMANN _has put on the_ BURGOMASTER’S _cap and grasped
his stick; he now goes up to the door, throws it open, and
makes a military salute._

_The_ BURGOMASTER _enters, red with anger. Behind him comes_ BILLING.

BURGOMASTER.

What is the meaning of these antics?

DR. STOCKMANN.

Respect, my good Peter! Now, it’s I that am in power in this town.

[_He struts up and down._

MRS. STOCKMANN.

[_Almost in tears._] Oh, Thomas!

BURGOMASTER.

[_Following him._] Give me my cap and stick!

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_As before._] You may be Chief of Police, but I am Burgomaster. I am master of the whole town I tell you!

BURGOMASTER.

Put down my cap, I say. Remember it is an official cap, as by law prescribed!

DR. STOCKMANN.

Pshaw! Do you think the awakening lion of the democracy will let itself be scared by a gold-laced cap? There’s to be a revolution in the town to-morrow, let me tell you. You threatened me with dismissal; but now _I_ dismiss _you_—dismiss you from all your offices of trust—. You think I can’t do it?—Oh, yes, I can! I have the irresistible forces of society on my side. Hovstad and Billing will thunder in the _People’s Messenger_, and Aslaksen will take the field at the head of the House-owners' Association——

ASLAKSEN.

No, Doctor, I shall not.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Why, of course you will——

BURGOMASTER.

Aha! Perhaps Mr. Hovstad would like to join the agitation after all?

HOVSTAD.

No, Burgomaster.

ASLAKSEN.

No, Mr. Hovstad isn’t such a fool as to ruin both himself and the paper for the sake of a delusion.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Looking about him._] What does all this mean?

HOVSTAD.

You have presented your case in a false light, Doctor; therefore I am unable to give you my support.

BILLING.

And after what the Burgomaster has been so kind as to explain to me, I——

DR. STOCKMANN.

In a false light! Well, I am responsible for that. Just you print my article, and I promise you I shall prove it up to the hilt.

HOVSTAD.

I shall not print it. I cannot, and will not, and dare not print it.

DR. STOCKMANN.

You dare not? What nonsense is this? You are editor; and I suppose it’s the editor that controls a paper.

ASLAKSEN.

No, it’s the subscribers, Doctor.

BURGOMASTER.

Fortunately.

ASLAKSEN.

It’s public opinion, the enlightened majority, the house-owners and all the rest. It’s _they_ who control a paper.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Calmly._] And all these powers I have against me?

ASLAKSEN.

Yes, you have. It would mean absolute ruin for the town if your article were inserted.

DR. STOCKMANN.

So _that_ is the way of it!

BURGOMASTER.

My hat and stick!

[DR. STOCKMANN _takes off the cap and lays it on the table along
with the stick._

BURGOMASTER.

[_Taking them both._] Your term of office has come to an untimely end.

DR. STOCKMANN.

The end is not yet. [_To_ HOVSTAD.] So you are quite determined not to print my article in the _Messenger_?

HOVSTAD.

Quite; for the sake of your family, if for no other reason.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Oh, be kind enough to leave his family out of the question, Mr. Hovstad.

BURGOMASTER.

[_Takes a manuscript from his pocket._] When this appears, the public will be in possession of all necessary information; it is an authentic statement. I place it in your hands.

HOVSTAD.

[_Taking the MS._] Good. It shall appear in due course.

DR. STOCKMANN.

And not mine! You imagine you can kill me and the truth by a conspiracy of silence! But it won’t be so easy as you think. Mr. Aslaksen, will you be good enough to print my article at once, as a pamphlet? I'll pay for it myself, and be my own publisher. I'll have four hundred copies—no, five—six hundred.

ASLAKSEN.

No. If you offered me its weight in gold, I dare not lend my press to such a purpose, Doctor. I daren’t fly in the face of public opinion. You won’t get it printed anywhere in the whole town.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Then give it me back.

HOVSTAD.

[_Handing him the MS._] By all means.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Taking up his hat and cane._] It shall be made public all the same. I shall read it at a great mass meeting; all my fellow citizens shall hear the voice of truth!

BURGOMASTER.

Not a single society in the town would let you their hall for such a purpose.

ASLAKSEN.

Not one, I'm quite certain.

BILLING.

No, strike me dead if they would!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

That would be too disgraceful! Why do they turn against you like this, every one of them?

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Irritated._] I'll tell you why. It’s because in this town all the men are old women—like you. They all think of nothing but their families, not of the general good.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

[_Taking his arm._] Then I'll show them that an—an old woman can be a man for once in a way. For _now_ I'll stand by you, Thomas.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Bravely said, Katrina! I swear by my soul and conscience the truth shall out! If they won’t let me a hall, I'll hire a drum and march through the town with it; and I'll read my paper at every street corner.

BURGOMASTER.

You can scarcely be such a raving lunatic as that?

DR. STOCKMANN.

I am.

ASLAKSEN.

You would not get a single man in the whole town to go with you.

BILLING.

No, strike me dead if you would!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Don’t give in, Thomas. I'll ask the boys to go with you.

DR. STOCKMANN.

That’s a splendid idea!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Morten will be delighted; and Eilif will go too, I daresay.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Yes, and so will Petra! And you yourself, Katrina!

MRS. STOCKMANN.

No no, not I. But I'll stand at the window and watch you—that I will.

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Throwing his arms about her and kissing her._] Thank you for that! Now, my good sirs, we’re ready for the fight! Now we shall see whether your despicable tactics can stop the mouth of the patriot who wants to purge society!

[_He and his wife go out together by the door in the back,
left._

BURGOMASTER.

[Shaking his head dubiously.] Now he has turned _her_ head too!

-----

Footnote 10:

It will be remembered that Aslaksen figures in _The League of Youth_,
of which Stensgård is the central character. Stensgård, we see, has
justified Lundestad’s prophecy by attaining the high administrative
dignity of “Stiftamtmand,” here roughly translated “Governor.”

Footnote 11:

The reference is to the continental feuilleton at the foot of the
page.

ACT FOURTH.

_A large old-fashioned room in CAPTAIN HORSTER’S house. An open
folding-door in the background leads to an anteroom. In the wall
on the left are three windows. About the middle of the opposite
wall is a platform, and on it a small table, two candles, a
water-bottle and glass, and a bell. For the rest, the room is
lighted by sconces placed between the windows. In front, on the
left, is a table with a candle on it, and by it a chair. In front,
to the right, a door, and near it a few chairs._

_Large assemblage of all classes of townsfolk. In the crowd are a few
women and schoolboys. More and more people gradually stream in
from the back until the room is quite full._

FIRST CITIZEN.

[_To another standing near him._] So you’re here too, Lamstad?

SECOND CITIZEN.

I never miss a public meeting.

A BYSTANDER.

_I_ suppose you’ve brought your whistle?

SECOND CITIZEN.

Of course I have; haven’t you?

THIRD CITIZEN.

I should think so. And Skipper Evensen said he’d bring a thumping big horn.

SECOND CITIZEN.

He’s a good ’un, is Evensen!

[_Laughter in the group._

A FOURTH CITIZEN.

[_Joining them._] I say, what’s it all about? What’s going on here to-night?

SECOND CITIZEN.

Why, it’s Dr. Stockmann that’s going to lecture against the Burgomaster.

FOURTH CITIZEN.

But the Burgomaster’s his brother.

FIRST CITIZEN.

That makes no difference. Dr. Stockmann’s not afraid of him.

THIRD CITIZEN.

But he’s all wrong; the _People’s Messenger_ says so.

SECOND CITIZEN.

Yes, he must be wrong this time; for neither the House-owners’ Association nor the Citizens' Club would let him have a hall.

FIRST CITIZEN.

They wouldn’t even lend him the hall at the Baths.

SECOND CITIZEN.

No, you may be sure they wouldn’t.

A MAN.

[_In another group._] Now, who’s the one to follow in this business, eh?

ANOTHER MAN.

[_In the same group._] Just keep your eye on Aslaksen, and do as he does.

BILLING.

[_With a portfolio under his arm, makes his way through the crowd._] Excuse me, gentlemen. Will you allow me to pass? I'm here to report for the _People’s Messenger_. Many thanks.

[_Sits by the table on the left._

A WORKING-MAN.

Who’s he?

ANOTHER WORKING-MAN.

Don’t you know him? It’s that fellow Billing, that writes for Aslaksen’s paper.

CAPTAIN HORSTER _enters by the door in front on the right,
escorting_ MRS. STOCKMANN _and_ PETRA. EILIF _and_ MORTEN
_follow them._

HORSTER.

This is where I thought you might sit: you can so easily slip out if anything should happen.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Do you think there will be any disturbance?

HORSTER.

One can never tell—with such a crowd. But there’s no occasion for anxiety.

MRS. STOCKMANN.

[_Sitting down._] How kind it was of you to offer Stockmann this room.

HORSTER.

Since no one else would, I——

PETRA.

[_Who has also seated herself._] And it was brave too, Captain Horster.

HORSTER.

Oh, I don’t see where the bravery comes in.

HOVSTAD _and_ ASLAKSEN _enter at the same moment, but make their way
through the crowd separately._

ASLAKSEN.

[_Going up to_ HORSTER.] Hasn’t the Doctor come yet?

HORSTER.

He’s waiting in there.

[_A movement at the door in the background._

HOVSTAD.

[_To BILLING._] There’s the Burgomaster! Look!

BILLING.

Yes, strike me dead if he hasn’t put in an appearance after all!

BURGOMASTER STOCKMANN _makes his way blandly through the
meeting, bowing politely to both sides, and takes his stand
by the wall on the left. Soon afterwards,_ DR. STOCKMANN
_enters by the door on the right. He wears a black
frock-coat and white necktie. Faint applause, met by a
subdued hissing. Then silence._

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_In a low tone._] How do you feel, Katrina?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Quite comfortable, thank you. [_In a low voice._] Now do keep your temper, Thomas.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Oh, I shall keep myself well in hand. [_Looks at his watch, ascends the platform, and bows._] It’s a quarter past the hour, so I shall begin——

[_Takes out his MS._

ASLAKSEN.

But surely a chairman must be elected first.

DR. STOCKMANN.

No, that’s not at all necessary.

SEVERAL GENTLEMEN.

[_Shouting._] Yes, yes.

BURGOMASTER.

I should certainly say that a chairman ought to be elected.

DR. STOCKMANN.

But I've called this meeting to give a lecture, Peter!

BURGOMASTER.

Dr. Stockmann’s lecture may possibly lead to differences of opinion.

SEVERAL VOICES IN THE CROWD.

A chairman! A chairman!

HOVSTAD.

The general voice of the meeting seems to be for a chairman!

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Controlling himself._] Very well then; let the meeting have its way.

ASLAKSEN.

Will not the Burgomaster take the chair?

THREE GENTLEMEN.

[_Clapping._] Bravo! Bravo!

BURGOMASTER.

For reasons you will easily understand, I must decline. But, fortunately, we have among us one whom I think we can all accept. I allude to the president of the House-owners' Association, Mr. Aslaksen.

MANY VOICES.

Yes, yes! Bravo Aslaksen! Hurrah for Aslaksen!

[DR. STOCKMANN _takes his MS. and descends from the platform._

ASLAKSEN.

Since my fellow citizens repose this trust in me, _I_ cannot refuse——

[_Applause and cheers._ ASLAKSEN _ascends the platform._

BILLING.

[_Writing._] So—“Mr. Aslaksen was elected by acclamation——”

ASLAKSEN.

And now, as I have been called to the chair, I take the liberty of saying a few brief words. I am a quiet, peace-loving man; I am in favour of discreet moderation, and of—and of moderate discretion. Every one who knows me, knows that.

MANY VOICES.

Yes, yes, Aslaksen!

ASLAKSEN.

I have learnt in the school of life and of experience that moderation is the virtue in which the individual citizen finds his best advantage——

BURGOMASTER.

Hear, hear!

ASLAKSEN.

——and it is discretion and moderation, too, that best serve the community. I could therefore suggest to our respected fellow citizen, who has called this meeting, that he should endeavour to keep within the bounds of moderation.

A MAN.

[_By the door._] Three cheers for the Temperance Society!

A VOICE.

Go to the devil!

VOICES.

Hush! hush!

ASLAKSEN.

No interruptions, gentlemen!—Does any one wish to offer any observations?

BURGOMASTER.

Mr. Chairman!

ASLAKSEN.

Burgomaster Stockmann will address the meeting.

BURGOMASTER.

On account of my close relationship—of which you are probably aware—to the present medical officer of the Baths, I should have preferred not to speak here this evening. But my position as chairman of the Baths, and my care for the vital interests of this town, force me to move a resolution. I may doubtless assume that not a single citizen here present thinks it desirable that untrustworthy and exaggerated statements should get abroad as to the sanitary condition of the Baths and of our town.

MANY VOICES.

No, no, no! Certainly not! We protest!

BURGOMASTER.

I therefore beg to move, “That this meeting declines to hear the proposed lecture or speech on the subject by the medical officer of the Baths.”

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Flaring up._] Declines to hear——! What do you mean?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

[_Coughing._] H'm! h’m!

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Controlling himself._] So I am not to be heard?

BURGOMASTER.

In my statement in the _People’s Messenger_ I have made the public acquainted with the essential facts, so that all well-disposed citizens can easily form their own judgment. From that statement it will be seen that the medical officer’s proposal—besides amounting to a vote of censure upon the leading men of the town—at bottom only means saddling the ratepayers with an unnecessary outlay of at least a hundred thousand crowns.

[_Sounds of protest and some hissing._

ASLAKSEN.

[_Ringing the bell._] Order, gentlemen! I must beg leave to support the Burgomaster’s resolution. I quite agree with him that there is something beneath the surface of the Doctor’s agitation. In all his talk about the Baths, it is really a revolution he is aiming at; he wants to effect a redistribution of power. No one doubts the excellence of Dr. Stockmann’s intentions—of course there cannot be two opinions as to that. I, too, am in favour of self-government by the people, if only it doesn’t cost the ratepayers too much. But in this case it would do so; and therefore I'll be hanged if—excuse me—in short, I cannot go with Dr. Stockmann upon this occasion. You can buy even gold too dear; that’s my opinion.

[_Loud applause on all sides._

HOVSTAD.

I, too feel bound to explain my attitude. Dr. Stockmann’s agitation seemed at first to find favour in several quarters, and I supported it as impartially as I could. But it presently appeared that we had been misled by a false representation of the facts——

DR. STOCKMANN.

False——!

HOVSTAD.

Well then, an untrustworthy representation. This the Burgomaster’s report has proved. I trust no one here present doubts my liberal principles; the attitude of the _Messenger_ on all great political questions is well known to you all. But I have learned from men of judgment and experience that in purely local matters a paper must observe a certain amount of caution.

ASLAKSEN.

I entirely agree with the speaker.

HOVSTAD.

And in the matter under discussion it is quite evident that Dr. Stockmann has public opinion against him. But, gentlemen, what is an editor’s clearest and most imperative duty? Is it not to work in harmony with his readers? Has he not in some sort received a tacit mandate to further assiduously and unweariedly the interests of his constituents? Or am I mistaken in this?

MANY VOICES.

No, no, no! Hovstad is right!

HOVSTAD.

It has cost me a bitter struggle to break with a man in whose house I have of late been a frequent guest—with a man who, up to this day, has enjoyed the unqualified goodwill of his fellow citizens—with a man whose only, or, at any rate, whose chief fault is that he consults his heart rather than his head.

A FEW SCATTERED VOICES.

That’s true! Hurrah for Dr. Stockmann!

HOVSTAD.

But my duty towards the community has constrained me to break with him. Then, too, there is another consideration that impels me to oppose him, and, if possible, to block the ill-omened path upon which he is entering: consideration for his family——

DR. STOCKMANN.

Keep to the water-works and sewers!

HOVSTAD.

——consideration for his wife and his unprotected[12] children.

MORTEN.

Is that us, mother?

MRS. STOCKMANN.

Hush!

ASLAKSEN.

I will now put the Burgomaster’s resolution to the vote.

DR. STOCKMANN.

You need not. I have no intention of saying anything this evening of all the filth at the Baths. No! You shall hear something quite different.

BURGOMASTER.

[_Half aloud._] What next, I wonder?

A DRUNKEN MAN.

[_At the main entrance._] I'm a ratepayer, so I've a right to my opinion! And it’s my full, firm, incomprehensible opinion that——

SEVERAL VOICES.

Silence up there!

OTHERS.

He’s drunk! Turn him out!

[_The drunken man is turned out._

DR. STOCKMANN.

Can I speak?

ASLAKSEN.

[_Ringing the bell._] Dr. Stockmann will address the meeting.

DR. STOCKMANN.

A few days ago, I should have liked to see any one venture upon such an attempt to gag me as has been made here to-night! I would have fought like a lion for my sacred rights! But now I care little enough; for now I have more important things to speak of.

[_The people crowd closer round him._ MORTEN KIIL _comes in
sight among the bystanders._

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_Continuing._] I have been pondering a great many things during these last days—thinking such a multitude of thoughts, that at last my head was positively in a whirl——

BURGOMASTER.

[_Coughing._] H'm——!

DR. STOCKMANN.

But presently things seemed to straighten themselves out, and I saw them clearly in all their bearings. That is why I stand here this evening. I am about to make great revelations, my fellow citizens! I am going to announce to you a far-reaching discovery, beside which the trifling fact that our water-works are poisoned, and that our health-resort is built on pestilential ground, sinks into insignificance.

MANY VOICES.

[_Shouting._] Don’t speak about the Baths! We won’t listen to that! No more of that!

DR. STOCKMANN.

I have said I would speak of the great discovery I have made within the last few days—the discovery that all our sources of spiritual life are poisoned, and that our whole society rests upon a pestilential basis of falsehood.

SEVERAL VOICES.

[_In astonishment and half aloud._] What’s he saying?

BURGOMASTER.

Such an insinuation——!

ASLAKSEN.

[_With his hand on the bell._] I must call upon the speaker to moderate his expressions.

DR. STOCKMANN.

I have loved my native town as dearly as any man can love the home of his childhood. I was young when I left our town, and distance, home-sickness and memory threw, as it were, a glamour over the place and its people.

[_Some applause and cries of approval._

DR. STOCKMANN.

Then for years I was imprisoned in a horrible hole, far away in the north. As I went about among the people scattered here and there over the stony wilderness, it seemed to me, many a time, that it would have been better for these poor famishing creatures to have had a cattle-doctor to attend them, instead of a man like me.

[_Murmurs in the room._

BILLING.

[_Laying down his pen._] Strike me dead if I've ever heard——!

HOVSTAD.

What an insult to an estimable peasantry!

DR. STOCKMANN.

Wait a moment!—I don’t think any one can reproach me with forgetting my native town up there. I sat brooding like an eider duck, and what I hatched was—the plan of the Baths.

[_Applause and expressions of dissent._

DR. STOCKMANN.

And when, at last, fate ordered things so happily that I could come home again—then, fellow citizens, it seemed to me that I hadn’t another desire in the world. Yes, one desire I had: an eager, constant, burning desire to be of service to my birthplace, and to its people.

BURGOMASTER.

[_Gazing into vacancy._] A strange method to select——!

DR. STOCKMANN.

So I went about revelling in my happy illusions. But yesterday morning—no, it was really two nights ago—my mind’s eyes were opened wide, and the first thing I saw was the colossal stupidity of the authorities——

[_Noise, cries, and laughter._ MRS. STOCKMANN _coughs
repeatedly._

BURGOMASTER.

Mr. Chairman!

ASLAKSEN.

[_Ringing his bell._] In virtue of my position——!

DR. STOCKMANN.

It’s petty to catch me up on a word, Mr. Aslaksen! I only mean that I became alive to the extraordinary muddle our leading men had been guilty of, down at the Baths. I cannot for the life of me abide leading men—I've seen enough of them in my time. They are like goats in a young plantation: they do harm at every point; they block the path of a free man wherever he turns—and I should be glad if we could exterminate them like other noxious animals——

[_Uproar in the room._

BURGOMASTER.

Mr. Chairman, are such expressions permissible?

ASLAKSEN.

[_With his hand on the bell._] Dr. Stockmann——

DR. STOCKMANN.

I can’t conceive how it is that I have only now seen through these gentry; for haven’t I had a magnificent example before my eyes here every day—my brother Peter—slow of understanding, tenacious in prejudice——

[_Laughter, noise, and whistling._ MRS. STOCKMANN _coughs._
ASLAKSEN _rings violently._

THE DRUNKEN MAN.

[_Who has come in again._] Is it me you’re alluding to? Sure enough, my name’s Petersen; but devil take me if——

ANGRY VOICES.

Out with that drunken man! Turn him out!

[_The man is again turned out._

BURGOMASTER.

Who is that person?

A BYSTANDER.

I don’t know him, Burgomaster.

ANOTHER.

He doesn’t belong to the town.

A THIRD.

I believe he’s a timber-dealer from——

[_The rest is inaudible._

ASLAKSEN.

The man was evidently intoxicated.—Continue, Dr. Stockmann; but pray endeavour to be moderate.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Well, fellow citizens, I shall say no more about our leading men. If any one imagines, from what I have just said, that it’s these gentlemen I want to make short work of to-night, he is mistaken—altogether mistaken. For I cherish the comfortable conviction that these laggards, these relics of a decaying order of thought, are diligently cutting their own throats. They need no doctor to hasten their end. And it is not people of _that_ sort that constitute the real danger to society; it is not they who are most active in poisoning the sources of our spiritual life and making a plague-spot of the ground beneath our feet; it is not _they_ who are the most dangerous enemies of truth and freedom in our society.

CRIES FROM ALL SIDES.

Who, then? Who is it? Name, name!

DR. STOCKMANN.

Yes, you may be sure I shall name them! For _this_ is the great discovery I made yesterday: [_In a louder tone._] The most dangerous foe to truth and freedom in our midst is the compact majority. Yes, it’s the confounded, compact, liberal majority—that, and nothing else! There, I've told you.

[_Immense disturbance in the room. Most of the audience are
shouting, stamping, and whistling. Several elderly gentlemen
exchange furtive glances and seem to be enjoying the scene._
MRS. STOCKMANN _rises in alarm._ EILIF _and_ MORTEN _advance
threateningly towards the school-boys, who are making
noises._ ASLAKSEN _rings the bell and calls for order._
HOVSTAD _and_ BILLING _both speak, but nothing can be heard.
At last quiet is restored._

ASLAKSEN.

I must request the speaker to withdraw his ill-considered expressions.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Never, Mr. Aslaksen! For it’s this very majority that robs me of my freedom, and wants to forbid me to speak the truth.

HOVSTAD.

The majority always has right on its side.

BILLING.

Yes, and truth too, strike me dead!

DR. STOCKMANN.

The majority never has right on its side. Never I say! That is one of the social lies that a free, thinking man is bound to rebel against. Who make up the majority in any given country? Is it the wise men or the fools? I think we must agree that the fools are in a terrible, overwhelming majority, all the wide world over. But how in the devil’s name can it ever be right for the fools to rule over the wise men? _Uproar and yells._

DR. STOCKMANN.

Yes, yes, you can shout me down, but you cannot gainsay me. The majority has _might_—unhappily—but _right_ it has not. It is I, and the few, the individuals, that are in the right. The minority is always right. _Renewed uproar._

HOVSTAD.

Ha ha! Dr. Stockmann has turned aristocrat since the day before yesterday!

DR. STOCKMANN.

I have said that I have no words to waste on the little, narrow-chested, short-winded crew that lie in our wake. Pulsating life has nothing more to do with them. I am speaking of the few, the individuals among us, who have made all the new, germinating truths their own. These men stand, as it were, at the outposts, so far in the van that the compact majority has not yet reached them—and _there_ they fight for truths that are too lately born into the world’s consciousness to have won over the majority.

HOVSTAD.

So the Doctor’s a revolutionist now!

DR. STOCKMANN.

Yes, by Heaven, I am, Mr. Hovstad! I am going to revolt against the lie that truth belongs exclusively to the majority. What sort of truths do the majority rally round? Truths so stricken in years that they are sinking into decrepitude. When a truth is so old as that, gentlemen, it’s in a fair way to become a lie.

[_Laughter and jeers._

DR. STOCKMANN.

Yes, yes, you may believe me or not, as you please; but truths are by no means the wiry Methusalehs some people think them. A normally-constituted truth lives—let us say—as a rule, seventeen or eighteen years; at the outside twenty; very seldom more. And truths so patriarchal as that are always shockingly emaciated; yet it’s not till then that the majority takes them up and recommends them to society as wholesome food. I can assure you there’s not much nutriment in that sort of fare; you may take my word as a doctor for that. All these majority-truths are like last year’s salt pork; they’re like rancid, mouldy ham, producing all the moral scurvy that devastates society.

ASLAKSEN.

It seems to me that the honourable speaker is wandering rather far from the subject.

BURGOMASTER.

I beg to endorse the Chairman’s remark.

DR. STOCKMANN.

Why you’re surely mad, Peter! I'm keeping as closely to my text as I possibly can; for my text is precisely this—that the masses, the majority, this devil’s own compact majority—it’s that, I say, that’s poisoning the sources of our spiritual life, and making a plague-spot of the ground beneath our feet.

HOVSTAD.

And you make this charge against the great, independent majority, just because they have the sense to accept only certain and acknowledged truths?

DR. STOCKMANN.

Ah, my dear Mr. Hovstad, don’t talk about certain truths! The truths acknowledged by the masses, the multitude, were certain truths to the vanguard in our grandfathers' days. We, the vanguard of to-day, don’t acknowledge them any longer; and I don’t believe there exists any other certain truth but this—that no society can live a healthy life upon truths so old and and marrowless.

HOVSTAD.

But instead of all this vague talk, suppose you were to give us some specimens of these old marrowless truths that we are living upon.

[_Approval from several quarters._

DR. STOCKMANN.

Oh, I could give you no end of samples from the rubbish-heap; but, for the present, I shall keep to one acknowledged truth, which is a hideous lie at bottom, but which Mr. Hovstad, and the _Messenger_, and all adherents of the _Messenger_, live on all the same.

HOVSTAD.

And that is——?

DR. STOCKMANN.

That is the doctrine you have inherited from your forefathers, and go on thoughtlessly proclaiming far and wide—the doctrine that the multitude, the vulgar herd, the masses, are the pith of the people—that they _are_ the people—that the common man, the ignorant, undeveloped member of society, has the same right to sanction and to condemn, to counsel and to govern, as the intellectually distinguished few.

BILLING.

Well, now, strike me dead——!

HOVSTAD.

[_Shouting at the same time._] Citizens, please note this!

ANGRY VOICES.

Ho-ho! Aren’t we the people? Is it only the grand folks that are to govern?

A WORKING MAN.

Out with the fellow that talks like that!

OTHERS.

Turn him out!

A CITIZEN.

[_Shouting._] Blow your horn, Evensen.

[_The deep notes of a horn are heard; whistling, and terrific
noise in the room._

DR. STOCKMANN.

[_When the noise has somewhat subsided._] Now do be reasonable! Can’t you bear even for once in a way to hear the voice of truth? I don’t ask you all to agree with me on the instant. But I certainly should have expected Mr. Hovstad to back me up, as soon as he had collected himself a bit. Mr. Hovstad sets up to be a freethinker——

SEVERAL VOICES.

[_Subdued and wondering._] Freethinker, did he say? What? Mr. Hovstad a freethinker?

HOVSTAD.

[_Shouting._] Prove it, Dr. Stockmann. When have I said so in print?

DR. STOCKMANN.