DIARY ACCOUNT OF BLAKE
destroy them. His philosophy he repeated—Denying Causation, asserting everything to be the work of God or the Devil. That there is a constant falling off from God, Angels becoming Devils. Every man has a Devil in him And the conflict is eternal between a Man's self & God[1] &c &c &c &c. He told me my copy of his Songs wd. be five Guineas & was pleased by my manner of receiving this information. He spoke of his horror of Money—Of his turning pale when money had been offered him &c[2] &c &c.
June 13. Called early on Blake. He was as wild as ever with no great novelty except that he confessed a practical notion which wd. do him more injury than any other I have heard from him. He says that from the Bible he has learned that Eine Gemeinschaft der Frauen statt finden sollte. When I objected that Ehestand seems to be a divine institution he referred to the Bible—'that from the beginning it was not so.' He talked as usual of the spirits, asserted that he had committed many murders, that reason is the only evil or sin; & that careless gay people are better than those who think &c &c &c.
1827. Friday, Feb. 2. Götzenberg[er] the young painter from Germany called on me & I accompanied him to Blake. We looked over Blake's Dante. Gotzenberger seemed highly gratified by the designs & Mrs Aders says G. considers B. as the first & Flaxman as the second man he has seen in England. The conversation was slight I was interpreter between them & nothing remarkable was said by Blake. He was interested apparently by Gotzenberger.
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