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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1486-h.zip b/1486-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1b8982 --- /dev/null +++ b/1486-h.zip diff --git a/1486-h/1486-h.htm b/1486-h/1486-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..83eb6b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/1486-h/1486-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10740 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Unseen World and Other Essays, by John Fiske + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's The Unseen World and Other Essays, by John Fiske + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Unseen World and Other Essays + +Author: John Fiske + +Release Date: August 26, 2008 [EBook #1486] +Last Updated: January 26, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By John Fiske + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h5> + Transcriber's Note: This reviews Draper's Science and Religion<br /> and + contrasts two Dante translations. + </h5> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + TO + JAMES SIME. + + MY DEAR SIME: + + Life has now and then some supreme moments of pure happiness, + which in reminiscence give to single days the value of months + or years. Two or three such moments it has been my good fortune + to enjoy with you, in talking over the mysteries which forever + fascinate while they forever baffle us. It was our midnight talks + in Great Russell Street and the Addison Road, and our bright May + holiday on the Thames, that led me to write this scanty essay on + the "Unseen World," and to whom could I so heartily dedicate it + as to you? I only wish it were more worthy of its origin. As for + the dozen papers which I have appended to it, by way of clearing + out my workshop, I hope you will read them indulgently, and + believe + me + + Ever faithfully yours, + JOHN + FISKE. + + HARVARD UNIVERSITY, February 3, 1876. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>ESSAYS.</b> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I. THE UNSEEN WORLD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> PART FIRST. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> PART SECOND. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH." </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VII. NATHAN THE WISE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> VIII. HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER." </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIII. A PHILOSOPHY OF ART. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XIV. ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + ESSAYS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. THE UNSEEN WORLD. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART FIRST. + </h2> + <p> + "What are you, where did you come from, and whither are you bound?"—the + question which from Homer's days has been put to the wayfarer in strange + lands—is likewise the all-absorbing question which man is ever + asking of the universe of which he is himself so tiny yet so wondrous a + part. From the earliest times the ultimate purpose of all scientific + research has been to elicit fragmentary or partial responses to this + question, and philosophy has ever busied itself in piecing together these + several bits of information according to the best methods at its disposal, + in order to make up something like a satisfactory answer. In old times the + best methods which philosophy had at its disposal for this purpose were + such as now seem very crude, and accordingly ancient philosophers bungled + considerably in their task, though now and then they came surprisingly + near what would to-day be called the truth. It was natural that their + methods should be crude, for scientific inquiry had as yet supplied but + scanty materials for them to work with, and it was only after a very long + course of speculation and criticism that men could find out what ways of + going to work are likely to prove successful and what are not. The + earliest thinkers, indeed, were further hindered from accomplishing much + by the imperfections of the language by the aid of which their thinking + was done; for science and philosophy have had to make a serviceable + terminology by dint of long and arduous trial and practice, and linguistic + processes fit for expressing general or abstract notions accurately grew + up only through numberless failures and at the expense of much inaccurate + thinking and loose talking. As in most of nature's processes, there was a + great waste of energy before a good result could be secured. Accordingly + primitive men were very wide of the mark in their views of nature. To them + the world was a sort of enchanted ground, peopled with sprites and + goblins; the quaint notions with which we now amuse our children in fairy + tales represent a style of thinking which once was current among grown men + and women, and which is still current wherever men remain in a savage + condition. The theories of the world wrought out by early + priest-philosophers were in great part made up of such grotesque notions; + and having become variously implicated with ethical opinions as to the + nature and consequences of right and wrong behaviour, they acquired a kind + of sanctity, so that any thinker who in the light of a wider experience + ventured to alter or amend the primitive theory was likely to be + vituperated as an irreligious man or atheist. This sort of inference has + not yet been wholly abandoned, even in civilized communities. Even to-day + books are written about "the conflict between religion and science," and + other books are written with intent to reconcile the two presumed + antagonists. But when we look beneath the surface of things, we see that + in reality there has never been any conflict between religion and science, + nor is any reconciliation called for where harmony has always existed. The + real historical conflict, which has been thus curiously misnamed, has been + the conflict between the more-crude opinions belonging to the science of + an earlier age and the less-crude opinions belonging to the science of a + later age. In the course of this contest the more-crude opinions have + usually been defended in the name of religion, and the less-crude opinions + have invariably won the victory; but religion itself, which is not + concerned with opinion, but with the aspiration which leads us to strive + after a purer and holier life, has seldom or never been attacked. On the + contrary, the scientific men who have conducted the battle on behalf of + the less-crude opinions have generally been influenced by this religious + aspiration quite as strongly as the apologists of the more-crude opinions, + and so far from religious feeling having been weakened by their perennial + series of victories, it has apparently been growing deeper and stronger + all the time. The religious sense is as yet too feebly developed in most + of us; but certainly in no preceding age have men taken up the work of + life with more earnestness or with more real faith in the unseen than at + the present day, when so much of what was once deemed all-important + knowledge has been consigned to the limbo of mythology. + </p> + <p> + The more-crude theories of early times are to be chiefly distinguished + from the less-crude theories of to-day as being largely the products of + random guesswork. Hypothesis, or guesswork, indeed, lies at the foundation + of all scientific knowledge. The riddle of the universe, like less + important riddles, is unravelled only by approximative trials, and the + most brilliant discoverers have usually been the bravest guessers. + Kepler's laws were the result of indefatigable guessing, and so, in a + somewhat different sense, was the wave-theory of light. But the guesswork + of scientific inquirers is very different now from what it was in older + times. In the first place, we have slowly learned that a guess must be + verified before it can be accepted as a sound theory; and, secondly, so + many truths have been established beyond contravention, that the latitude + for hypothesis is much less than it once was. Nine tenths of the guesses + which might have occurred to a mediaeval philosopher would now be ruled + out as inadmissible, because they would not harmonize with the knowledge + which has been acquired since the Middle Ages. There is one direction + especially in which this continuous limitation of guesswork by + ever-accumulating experience has manifested itself. From first to last, + all our speculative successes and failures have agreed in teaching us that + the most general principles of action which prevail to-day, and in our own + corner of the universe, have always prevailed throughout as much of the + universe as is accessible to our research. They have taught us that for + the deciphering of the past and the predicting of the future, no + hypotheses are admissible which are not based upon the actual behaviour of + things in the present. Once there was unlimited facility for guessing as + to how the solar system might have come into existence; now the origin of + the sun and planets is adequately explained when we have unfolded all that + is implied in the processes which are still going on in the solar system. + Formerly appeals were made to all manner of violent agencies to account + for the changes which the earth's surface has undergone since our planet + began its independent career; now it is seen that the same slow working of + rain and tide, of wind and wave and frost, of secular contraction and of + earthquake pulse, which is visible to-day, will account for the whole. It + is not long since it was supposed that a species of animals or plants + could be swept away only by some unusual catastrophe, while for the + origination of new species something called an act of "special creation" + was necessary; and as to the nature of such extraordinary events there was + endless room for guesswork; but the discovery of natural selection was the + discovery of a process, going on perpetually under our very eyes, which + must inevitably of itself extinguish some species and bring new ones into + being. In these and countless other ways we have learned that all the rich + variety of nature is pervaded by unity of action, such as we might expect + to find if nature is the manifestation of an infinite God who is without + variableness or shadow of turning, but quite incompatible with the fitful + behaviour of the anthropomorphic deities of the old mythologies. By thus + abstaining from all appeal to agencies that are extra-cosmic, or not + involved in the orderly system of events that we see occurring around us, + we have at last succeeded in eliminating from philosophic speculation the + character of random guesswork which at first of necessity belonged to it. + Modern scientific hypothesis is so far from being a haphazard mental + proceeding that it is perhaps hardly fair to classify it with guesses. It + is lifted out of the plane of guesswork, in so far as it has acquired the + character of inevitable inference from that which now is to that which has + been or will be. Instead of the innumerable particular assumptions which + were once admitted into cosmic philosophy, we are now reduced to the one + universal assumption which has been variously described as the "principle + of continuity," the "uniformity of nature," the "persistence of force," or + the "law of causation," and which has been variously explained as a + necessary datum for scientific thinking or as a net result of all + induction. I am not unwilling, however, to adopt the language of a book + which has furnished the occasion for the present discussion, and to say + that this grand assumption is a supreme act of faith, the definite + expression of a trust that the infinite Sustainer of the universe "will + not put us to permanent intellectual confusion." For in this mode of + statement the harmony between the scientific and the religious points of + view is well brought out. It is as affording the only outlet from + permanent intellectual confusion that inquirers have been driven to appeal + to the principle of continuity; and it is by unswerving reliance upon this + principle that we have obtained such insight into the past, present, and + future of the world as we now possess. + </p> + <p> + The work just mentioned <a href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" + id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> is especially interesting as an + attempt to bring the probable destiny of the human soul into connection + with the modern theories which explain the past and future career of the + physical universe in accordance with the principle of continuity. Its + authorship is as yet unknown, but it is believed to be the joint + production of two of the most eminent physicists in Great Britain, and + certainly the accurate knowledge and the ingenuity and subtlety of thought + displayed in it are such as to lend great probability to this conjecture. + Some account of the argument it contains may well precede the suggestions + presently to be set forth concerning the Unseen World; and we shall find + it most convenient to begin, like our authors, with a brief statement of + what the principle of continuity teaches as to the proximate beginning and + end of the visible universe. I shall in the main set down only results, + having elsewhere <a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" + id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> given a simple exposition of the + arguments upon which these results are founded. + </p> + <p> + The first great cosmological speculation which has been raised quite above + the plane of guesswork by making no other assumption than that of the + uniformity of nature, is the well-known Nebular Hypothesis. Every + astronomer knows that the earth, like all other cosmical bodies which are + flattened at the poles, was formerly a mass of fluid, and consequently + filled a much larger space than at present. It is further agreed, on all + hands, that the sun is a contracting body, since there is no other + possible way of accounting for the enormous quantity of heat which he + generates. The so-called primeval nebula follows as a necessary inference + from these facts. There was once a time when the earth was distended on + all sides away out to the moon and beyond it, so that the matter now + contained in the moon was then a part of our equatorial zone. And at a + still remoter date in the past, the mass of the sun was diffused in every + direction beyond the orbit of Neptune, and no planet had an individual + existence, for all were indistinguishable parts of the solar mass. When + the great mass of the sun, increased by the relatively small mass of all + the planets put together, was spread out in this way, it was a rare vapour + or gas. At the period where the question is taken up in Laplace's + treatment of the nebular theory, the shape of this mass is regarded as + spheroidal; but at an earlier period its shape may well have been as + irregular as that of any of the nebulae which we now see in distant parts + of the heavens, for, whatever its primitive shape, the equalization of its + rotation would in time make it spheroidal. That the QUANTITY of rotation + was the same then as now is unquestionable; for no system of particles, + great or small, can acquire or lose rotation by any action going on within + itself, any more than a man could pick himself up by his waistband and + lift himself over a stone wale So that the primitive rotating spheroidal + solar nebula is not a matter of assumption, but is just what must once + have existed, provided there has been no breach of continuity in nature's + operations. Now proceeding to reason back from the past to the present, it + has been shown that the abandonment of successive equatorial belts by the + contracting solar mass must have ensued in accordance with known + mechanical laws; and in similar wise, under ordinary circumstances each + belt must have parted into fragments, and the fragments chasing each other + around the same orbit, must have at last coalesced into a spheroidal + planet. Not only this, but it has also been shown that as the result of + such a process the relative sizes of the planets would be likely to take + the order which they now follow; that the ring immediately succeeding that + of Jupiter would be likely to abort and produce a great number of tiny + planets instead of one good-sized one; that the outer planets would be + likely to have many moons, and that Saturn, besides having the greatest + number of moons, would be likely to retain some of his inner rings + unbroken; that the earth would be likely to have a long day and Jupiter a + short one; that the extreme outer planets would be not unlikely to rotate + in a retrograde direction; and so on, through a long list of interesting + and striking details. Not only, therefore, are we driven to the inference + that our solar system was once a vaporous nebula, but we find that the + mere contraction of such a nebula, under the influence of the enormous + mutual gravitation of its particles, carries with it the explanation of + both the more general and the more particular features of the present + system. So that we may fairly regard this stupendous process as veritable + matter of history, while we proceed to study it under some further aspects + and to consider what consequences are likely to follow. + </p> + <p> + Our attention should first be directed to the enormous waste of energy + which has accompanied this contraction of the solar nebula. The first + result of such a contraction is the generation of a great quantity of + heat, and when the heat thus generated has been lost by radiation into + surrounding space it becomes possible for the contraction to continue. + Thus, as concentration goes on, heat is incessantly generated and + incessantly dissipated. How long this process is to endure depends chiefly + on the size of the contracting mass, as small bodies radiate heat much + faster than large ones. The moon seems to be already thoroughly + refrigerated, while Jupiter and Saturn are very much hotter than the + earth, as is shown by the tremendous atmospheric phenomena which occur on + their surfaces. The sun, again, generates heat so rapidly, owing to his + great energy of contraction, and loses it so slowly, owing to his great + size, that his surface is always kept in a state of incandescence. His + surface-temperature is estimated at some three million degrees of + Fahrenheit, and a diminution of his diameter far too small to be detected + by the finest existing instruments would suffice to maintain the present + supply of heat for more than fifty centuries. These facts point to a very + long future during which the sun will continue to warm the earth and its + companion planets, but at the same time they carry on their face the story + of inevitable ultimate doom. If things continue to go on as they have all + along gone on, the sun must by and by grow black and cold, and all life + whatever throughout the solar system must come to an end. Long before this + consummation, however, life will probably have become extinct through the + refrigeration of each of the planets into a state like the present state + of the moon, in which the atmosphere and oceans have disappeared from the + surface. No doubt the sun will continue to give out heat a long time after + heat has ceased to be needed for the support of living organisms. For the + final refrigeration of the sun will long be postponed by the fate of the + planets themselves. The separation of the planets from their parent solar + mass seems to be after all but a temporary separation. So nicely balanced + are they now in their orbits that they may well seem capable of rolling on + in their present courses forever. But this is not the case. Two sets of + circumstances are all the while striving, the one to drive the planets + farther away from the sun, the other to draw them all into it. On the one + hand, every body in our system which contains fluid matter has tides + raised upon its surface by the attraction of neighbouring bodies. All the + planets raise tides upon the surface of the sun and the periodicity of + sun-spots (or solar cyclones) depends upon this fact. These tidal waves + act as a drag or brake upon the rotation of the sun, somewhat diminishing + its rapidity. But, in conformity with a principle of mechanics well known + to astronomers, though not familiar to the general reader, all the motion + of rotation thus lost by the sun is added to the planets in the shape of + annual motion of revolution, and thus their orbits all tend to enlarge,—they + all tend to recede somewhat from the sun. But this state of things, though + long-enduring enough, is after all only temporary, and will at any rate + come to an end when the sun and planets have become solid. Meanwhile + another set of circumstances is all the time tending to bring the planets + nearer to the sun, and in the long run must gain the mastery. The space + through which the planets move is filled with a kind of matter which + serves as a medium for the transmission of heat and light, and this kind + of matter, though different in some respects from ordinary ponderable + matter, is yet like it in exerting friction. This friction is almost + infinitely little, yet it has a wellnigh infinite length of time to work + in, and during all this wellnigh infinite length of time it is slowly + eating up the momentum of the planets and diminishing their ability to + maintain their distances from the sun. Hence in course of time the planets + will all fall into the sun, one after another, so that the solar system + will end, as it began, by consisting of a single mass of matter. + </p> + <p> + But this is by no means the end of the story. When two bodies rush + together, each parts with some of its energy of motion, and this lost + energy of motion reappears as heat. In the concussion of two cosmical + bodies, like the sun and the earth, an enormous quantity of motion is thus + converted into heat. Now heat, when not allowed to radiate, or when + generated faster than it can be radiated, is transformed into motion of + expansion. Hence the shock of sun and planet would at once result in the + vaporization of both bodies; and there can be no doubt that by the time + the sun has absorbed the outermost of his attendant planets, he will have + resumed something like his original nebulous condition. He will have been + dilated into a huge mass of vapour, and will have become fit for a new + process of contraction and for a new production of life-bearing planets. + </p> + <p> + We are now, however, confronted by an interesting but difficult question. + Throughout all this grand past and future career of the solar system which + we have just briefly traced, we have been witnessing a most prodigal + dissipation of energy in the shape of radiant heat. At the outset we had + an enormous quantity of what is called "energy of position," that is, the + outer parts of our primitive nebula had a very long distance through which + to travel towards one another in the slow process of concentration; and + this distance was the measure of the quantity of work possible to our + system. As the particles of our nebula drew nearer and nearer together, + the energy of position continually lost reappeared continually as heat, of + which the greater part was radiated off, but of which a certain amount was + retained. All the gigantic amount of work achieved in the geologic + development of our earth and its companion planets, and in the development + of life wherever life may exist in our system, has been the product of + this retained heat. At the present day the same wasteful process is going + on. Each moment the sun's particles are losing energy of position as they + draw closer and closer together, and the heat into which this lost energy + is metamorphosed is poured out most prodigally in every direction. Let us + consider for a moment how little of it gets used in our system. The + earth's orbit is a nearly circular figure more than five hundred million + miles in circumference, while only eight thousand miles of this path are + at any one time occupied by the earth's mass. Through these eight thousand + miles the sun's radiated energy is doing work, but through the remainder + of the five hundred million it is idle and wasted. But the case is far + more striking when we reflect that it is not in the plane of the earth's + orbit only that the sun's radiance is being poured out. It is not an + affair of a circle, but of a sphere. In order to utilize all the solar + rays, we should need to have an immense number of earths arranged so as to + touch each other, forming a hollow sphere around the sun, with the present + radius of the earth's orbit. We may well believe Professor Tyndall, + therefore, when he tells us that all the solar radiance we receive is less + than a two-billionth part of what is sent flying through the desert + regions of space. Some of the immense residue of course hits other planets + stationed in the way of it, and is utilized upon their surfaces; but the + planets, all put together, stop so little of the total quantity that our + startling illustration is not materially altered by taking them into the + account. Now this two-billionth part of the solar radiance poured out from + moment to moment suffices to blow every wind, to raise every cloud, to + drive every engine, to build up the tissue of every plant, to sustain the + activity of every animal, including man, upon the surface of our vast and + stately globe. Considering the wondrous richness and variety of the + terrestrial life wrought out by the few sunbeams which we catch in our + career through space, we may well pause overwhelmed and stupefied at the + thought of the incalculable possibilities of existence which are thrown + away with the potent actinism that darts unceasingly into the unfathomed + abysms of immensity. Where it goes to or what becomes of it, no one of us + can surmise. + </p> + <p> + Now when, in the remote future, our sun is reduced to vapour by the impact + of the several planets upon his surface, the resulting nebulous mass must + be a very insignificant affair compared with the nebulous mass with which + we started. In order to make a second nebula equal in size and potential + energy to the first one, all the energy of position at first existing + should have been retained in some form or other. But nearly all of it has + been lost, and only an insignificant fraction remains with which to endow + a new system. In order to reproduce, in future ages, anything like that + cosmical development which is now going on in the solar system, aid must + be sought from without. We must endeavour to frame some valid hypothesis + as to the relation of our solar system to other systems. + </p> + <p> + Thus far our view has been confined to the career of a single star,—our + sun,—with the tiny, easily-cooling balls which it has cast off in + the course of its development. Thus far, too, our inferences have been + very secure, for we have been dealing with a circumscribed group of + phenomena, the beginning and end of which have been brought pretty well + within the compass of our imagination. It is quite another thing to deal + with the actual or probable career of the stars in general, inasmuch as we + do not even know how many stars there are, which form parts of a common + system, or what are their precise dynamic relations to one another. + Nevertheless we have knowledge of a few facts which may support some + cautious inferences. All the stars which we can see are undoubtedly bound + together by relations of gravitation. No doubt our sun attracts all the + other stars within our ken, and is reciprocally attracted by them. The + stars, too, lie mostly in or around one great plane, as is the case with + the members of the solar system. Moreover, the stars are shown by the + spectroscope to consist of chemical elements identical with those which + are found in the solar system. Such facts as these make it probable that + the career of other stars, when adequately inquired into, would be found + to be like that of our own sun. Observation daily enhances this + probability, for our study of the sidereal universe is continually showing + us stars in all stages of development. We find irregular nebulae, for + example; we find spiral and spheroidal nebulae; we find stars which have + got beyond the nebulous stage, but are still at a whiter heat than our + sun; and we also find many stars which yield the same sort of spectrum as + our sun. The inference seems forced upon us that the same process of + concentration which has gone on in the case of our solar nebula has been + going on in the case of other nebulae. The history of the sun is but a + type of the history of stars in general. And when we consider that all + other visible stars and nebulae are cooling and contracting bodies, like + our sun, to what other conclusion could we very well come? When we look at + Sirius, for instance, we do not see him surrounded by planets, for at such + a distance no planet could be visible, even Sirius himself, though + fourteen times larger than our sun, appearing only as a "twinkling little + star." But a comparative survey of the heavens assures us that Sirius can + hardly have arrived at his present stage of concentration without + detaching, planet-forming rings, for there is no reason for supposing that + mechanical laws out there are at all different from what they are in our + own system. And the same kind of inference must apply to all the matured + stars which we see in the heavens. + </p> + <p> + When we duly take all these things into the account, the case of our solar + system will appear as only one of a thousand cases of evolution and + dissolution with which the heavens furnish us. Other stars, like our sun, + have undoubtedly started as vaporous masses, and have thrown off planets + in contracting. The inference may seem a bold one, but it after all + involves no other assumption than that of the continuity of natural + phenomena. It is not likely, therefore, that the solar system will forever + be left to itself. Stars which strongly gravitate toward each other, while + moving through a perennially resisting medium, must in time be drawn + together. The collision of our extinct sun with one of the Pleiades, after + this manner, would very likely suffice to generate even a grander nebula + than the one with which we started. Possibly the entire galactic system + may, in an inconceivably remote future, remodel itself in this way; and + possibly the nebula from which our own group of planets has been formed + may have owed its origin to the disintegration of systems which had + accomplished their career in the depths of the bygone eternity. + </p> + <p> + When the problem is extended to these huge dimensions, the prospect of an + ultimate cessation of cosmical work is indefinitely postponed, but at the + same time it becomes impossible for us to deal very securely with the + questions we have raised. The magnitudes and periods we have introduced + are so nearly infinite as to baffle speculation itself: One point, + however, we seem dimly to discern. Supposing the stellar universe not to + be absolutely infinite in extent, we may hold that the day of doom, so + often postponed, must come at last. The concentration of matter and + dissipation of energy, so often checked, must in the end prevail, so that, + as the final outcome of things, the entire universe will be reduced to a + single enormous ball, dead and frozen, solid and black, its potential + energy of motion having been all transformed into heat and radiated away. + Such a conclusion has been suggested by Sir William Thomson, and it is + quite forcibly stated by the authors of "The Unseen Universe." They remind + us that "if there be any one form of energy less readily or less + completely transformable than the others, and if transformations + constantly go on, more and more of the whole energy of the universe will + inevitably sink into this lower grade as time advances." Now radiant heat, + as we have seen, is such a lower grade of energy. "At each transformation + of heat-energy into work, a large portion is degraded, while only a small + portion is transformed into work. So that while it is very easy to change + all of our mechanical or useful energy into heat, it is only possible to + transform a portion of this heat-energy back again into work. After each + change, too, the heat becomes more and more dissipated or degraded, and + less and less available for any future transformation. In other words," + our authors continue, "the tendency of heat is towards equalization; heat + is par excellence the communist of our universe, and it will no doubt + ultimately bring the system to an end..... It is absolutely certain that + life, so far as it is physical, depends essentially upon transformations + of energy; it is also absolutely certain that age after age the + possibility of such transformations is becoming less and less; and, so far + as we yet know, the final state of the present universe must be an + aggregation (into one mass) of all the matter it contains, i. e. the + potential energy gone, and a practically useless state of kinetic energy, + i. e. uniform temperature throughout that mass." Thus our authors conclude + that the visible universe began in time and will in time come to an end; + and they add that under the physical conditions of such a universe + "immortality is impossible." + </p> + <p> + Concerning the latter inference we shall by and by have something to say. + Meanwhile this whole speculation as to the final cessation of cosmical + work seems to me—as it does to my friend, Professor Clifford <a + href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a>—by + no means trustworthy. The conditions of the problem so far transcend our + grasp that any such speculation must remain an unverifiable guess. I do + not go with Professor Clifford in doubting whether the laws of mechanics + are absolutely the same throughout eternity; I cannot quite reconcile such + a doubt with faith in the principle of continuity. But it does seem to me + needful, before we conclude that radiated energy is absolutely and forever + wasted, that we should find out what becomes of it. What we call radiant + heat is simply transverse wave-motion, propagated with enormous velocity + through an ocean of subtle ethereal matter which bathes the atoms of all + visible or palpable bodies and fills the whole of space, extending beyond + the remotest star which the telescope can reach. Whether there are any + bounds at all to this ethereal ocean, or whether it is as infinite as + space itself, we cannot surmise. If it be limited, the possible dispersion + of radiant energy is limited by its extent. Heat and light cannot travel + through emptiness. If the ether is bounded by surrounding emptiness, then + a ray of heat, on arriving at this limiting emptiness, would be reflected + back as surely as a ball is sent back when thrown against a solid wall. If + this be the case, it will not affect our conclusions concerning such a + tiny region of space as is occupied by the solar system, but it will + seriously modify Sir William Thomson's suggestion as to the fate of the + universe as a whole. The radiance thrown away by the sun is indeed lost so + far as the future of our system is concerned, but not a single unit of it + is lost from the universe. Sooner or later, reflected back in all + directions, it must do work in one quarter or another, so that ultimate + stagnation be comes impossible. It is true that no such return of radiant + energy has been detected in our corner of the world; but we have not yet + so far disentangled all the force-relations of the universe that we are + entitled to regard such a return as impossible. This is one way of escape + from the consummation of things depicted by our authors. Another way of + escape is equally available, if we suppose that while the ether is without + bounds the stellar universe also extends to infinity. For in this case the + reproduction of nebulous masses fit for generating new systems of worlds + must go on through space that is endless, and consequently the process can + never come to an end and can never have had a beginning. We have, + therefore, three alternatives: either the visible universe is finite, + while the ether is infinite; or both are finite; or both are infinite. + Only on the first supposition, I think, do we get a universe which began + in time and must end in time. Between such stupendous alternatives we have + no grounds for choosing. But it would seem that the third, whether + strictly true or not, best represents the state of the case relatively to + our feeble capacity of comprehension. Whether absolutely infinite or not, + the dimensions of the universe must be taken as practically infinite, so + far as human thought is concerned. They immeasurably transcend the + capabilities of any gauge we can bring to bear on them. Accordingly all + that we are really entitled to hold, as the outcome of sound speculation, + is the conception of innumerable systems of worlds concentrating out of + nebulous masses, and then rushing together and dissolving into similar + masses, as bubbles unite and break up—now here, now there—in + their play on the surface of a pool, and to this tremendous series of + events we can assign neither a beginning nor an end. + </p> + <p> + We must now make some more explicit mention of the ether which carries + through space the rays of heat and light. In closest connection with the + visible stellar universe, the vicissitudes of which we have briefly + traced, the all-pervading ether constitutes a sort of unseen world + remarkable enough from any point of view, but to which the theory of our + authors ascribes capacities hitherto unsuspected by science. The very + existence of an ocean of ether enveloping the molecules of material bodies + has been doubted or denied by many eminent physicists, though of course + none have called in question the necessity for some interstellar medium + for the transmission of thermal and luminous vibrations. This scepticism + has been, I think, partially justified by the many difficulties + encompassing the conception, into which, however, we need not here enter. + That light and heat cannot be conveyed by any of the ordinary sensible + forms of matter is unquestionable. None of the forms of sensible matter + can be imagined sufficiently elastic to propagate wave-motion at the rate + of one hundred and eighty-eight thousand miles per second. Yet a ray of + light is a series of waves, and implies some substance in which the waves + occur. The substance required is one which seems to possess strangely + contradictory properties. It is commonly regarded as an "ether" or + infinitely rare substance; but, as Professor Jevons observes, we might as + well regard it as an infinitely solid "adamant." "Sir John Herschel has + calculated the amount of force which may be supposed, according to the + undulatory theory of light, to be exerted at each point in space, and + finds it to be 1,148,000,000,000 times the elastic force of ordinary air + at the earth's surface, so that the pressure of the ether upon a square + inch of surface must be about 17,000,000,000,000, or seventeen billions of + pounds." <a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> + Yet at the same time the resistance offered by the ether to the planetary + motions is too minute to be appreciable. "All our ordinary notions," says + Professor Jevons, "must be laid aside in contemplating such an hypothesis; + yet [it is] no more than the observed phenomena of light and heat force us + to accept. We cannot deny even the strange suggestion of Dr. Young, that + there may be independent worlds, some possibly existing in different parts + of space, but others perhaps pervading each other, unseen and unknown, in + the same space. For if we are bound to admit the conception of this + adamantine firmament, it is equally easy to admit a plurality of such." + </p> + <p> + The ether, therefore, is unlike any of the forms of matter which we can + weigh and measure. In some respects it resembles a fluid, in some respects + a solid. It is both hard and elastic to an almost inconceivable degree. It + fills all material bodies like a sea in which the atoms of the material + bodies are as islands, and it occupies the whole of what we call empty + space. It is so sensitive that a disturbance in any part of it causes a + "tremour which is felt on the surface of countless worlds." Our old + experiences of matter give us no account of any substance like this; yet + the undulatory theory of light obliges us to admit such a substance, and + that theory is as well established as the theory of gravitation. Obviously + we have here an enlargement of our experience of matter. The analysis of + the phenomena of light and radiant heat has brought us into mental + relations with matter in a different state from any in which we previously + knew it. For the supposition that the ether may be something essentially + different from matter is contradicted by all the terms we have used in + describing it. Strange and contradictory as its properties may seem, are + they any more strange than the properties of a gas would seem if we were + for the first time to discover a gas after heretofore knowing nothing but + solids and liquids? I think not; and the conclusion implied by our authors + seems to me eminently probable, that in the so-called ether we have simply + a state of matter more primitive than what we know as the gaseous state. + Indeed, the conceptions of matter now current, and inherited from + barbarous ages, are likely enough to be crude in the extreme. It is not + strange that the study of such subtle agencies as heat and light should + oblige us to modify them; and it will not be strange if the study of + electricity should entail still further revision of our ideas. + </p> + <p> + We are now brought to one of the profoundest speculations of modern times, + the vortex-atom theory of Helmholtz and Thomson, in which the evolution of + ordinary matter from ether is plainly indicated. The reader first needs to + know what vortex-motion is; and this has been so beautifully explained by + Professor Clifford, that I quote his description entire: "Imagine a ring + of india-rubber, made by joining together the ends of a cylindrical piece + (like a lead-pencil before it is cut), to be put upon a round stick which + it will just fit with a little stretching. Let the stick be now pulled + through the ring while the latter is kept in its place by being pulled the + other way on the outside. The india-rubber has then what is called + vortex-motion. Before the ends were joined together, while it was + straight, it might have been made to turn around without changing + position, by rolling it between the hands. Just the same motion of + rotation it has on the stick, only that the ends are now joined together. + All the inside surface of the ring is going one way, namely, the way the + stick is pulled; and all the outside is going the other way. Such a + vortex-ring is made by the smoker who purses his lips into a round hole + and sends out a puff of smoke. The outside of the ring is kept back by the + friction of his lips while the inside is going forwards; thus a rotation + is set up all round the smoke-ring as it travels out into the air." In + these cases, and in others as we commonly find it, vortex-motion owes its + origin to friction and is after a while brought to an end by friction. But + in 1858 the equations of motion of an incompressible frictionless fluid + were first successfully solved by Helmholtz, and among other things he + proved that, though vortex-motion could not be originated in such a fluid, + yet supposing it once to exist, it would exist to all eternity and could + not be diminished by any mechanical action whatever. A vortex-ring, for + example, in such a fluid, would forever preserve its own rotation, and + would thus forever retain its peculiar individuality, being, as it were, + marked off from its neighbour vortex-rings. Upon this mechanical truth Sir + William Thomson based his wonderfully suggestive theory of the + constitution of matter. That which is permanent or indestructible in + matter is the ultimate homogeneous atom; and this is probably all that is + permanent, since chemists now almost unanimously hold that so-called + elementary molecules are not really simple, but owe their sensible + differences to the various groupings of an ultimate atom which is alike + for all. Relatively to our powers of comprehension the atom endures + eternally; that is, it retains forever unalterable its definite mass and + its definite rate of vibration. Now this is just what a vortex-ring would + do in an incompressible frictionless fluid. Thus the startling question is + suggested, Why may not the ultimate atoms of matter be vortex-rings + forever existing in such a frictionless fluid filling the whole of space? + Such a hypothesis is not less brilliant than Huyghens's conjectural + identification of light with undulatory motion; and it is moreover a + legitimate hypothesis, since it can be brought to the test of + verification. Sir William Thomson has shown that it explains a great many + of the physical properties of matter: it remains to be seen whether it can + explain them all. + </p> + <p> + Of course the ether which conveys thermal and luminous undulations is not + the frictionless fluid postulated by Sir William Thomson. The most + conspicuous property of the ether is its enormous elasticity, a property + which we should not find in a frictionless fluid. "To account for such + elasticity," says Professor Clifford (whose exposition of the subject is + still more lucid than that of our authors), "it has to be supposed that + even where there are no material molecules the universal fluid is full of + vortex-motion, but that the vortices are smaller and more closely packed + than those of [ordinary] matter, forming altogether a more finely grained + structure. So that the difference between matter and ether is reduced to a + mere difference in the size and arrangement of the component vortex-rings. + Now, whatever may turn out to be the ultimate nature of the ether and of + molecules, we know that to some extent at least they obey the same dynamic + laws, and that they act upon one another in accordance with these laws. + Until, therefore, it is absolutely disproved, it must remain the simplest + and most probable assumption that they are finally made of the same stuff, + that the material molecule is some kind of knot or coagulation of ether." + <a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Another interesting consequence of Sir William Thomson's pregnant + hypothesis is that the absolute hardness which has been attributed to + material atoms from the time of Lucretius downward may be dispensed with. + Somewhat in the same way that a loosely suspended chain becomes rigid with + rapid rotation, the hardness and elasticity of the vortex-atom are + explained as due to the swift rotary motion of a soft and yielding fluid. + So that the vortex-atom is really indivisible, not by reason of its + hardness or solidity, but by reason of the indestructibleness of its + motion. + </p> + <p> + Supposing, now, that we adopt provisionally the vortex theory,—the + great power of which is well shown by the consideration just mentioned,—we + must not forget that it is absolutely essential to the indestructibleness + of the material atom that the universal fluid in which it has an existence + as a vortex-ring should be entirely destitute of friction. Once admit even + the most infinitesimal amount of friction, while retaining the conception + of vortex-motion in a universal fluid, and the whole case is so far + altered that the material atom can no longer be regarded as absolutely + indestructible, but only as indefinitely enduring. It may have been + generated, in bygone eternity, by a natural process of evolution, and in + future eternity may come to an end. Relatively to our powers of + comprehension the practical difference is perhaps not great. + Scientifically speaking, Helmholtz and Thomson are as well entitled to + reason upon the assumption of a perfectly frictionless fluid as geometers + in general are entitled to assume perfect lines without breadth and + perfect surfaces without thickness. Perfect lines and surfaces do not + exist within the region of our experience; yet the conclusions of geometry + are none the less true ideally, though in any particular concrete instance + they are only approximately realized. Just so with the conception of a + frictionless fluid. So far as experience goes, such a thing has no more + real existence than a line without breadth; and hence an atomic theory + based upon such an assumption may be as true ideally as any of the + theorems of Euclid, but it can give only an approximatively true account + of the actual universe. These considerations do not at all affect the + scientific value of the theory; but they will modify the tenour of such + transcendental inferences as may be drawn from it regarding, the probable + origin and destiny of the universe. + </p> + <p> + The conclusions reached in the first part of this paper, while we were + dealing only with gross visible matter, may have seemed bold enough; but + they are far surpassed by the inference which our authors draw from the + vortex theory as they interpret it. Our authors exhibit various reasons, + more or less sound, for attributing to the primordial fluid some slight + amount of friction; and in support of this view they adduce Le Sage's + explanation of gravitation as a differential result of pressure, and + Struve's theory of the partial absorption of light-rays by the ether,—questions + with which our present purpose does not require us to meddle. Apart from + such questions it is every way probable that the primary assumption of + Helmholtz and Thomson is only an approximation to the truth. But if we + accredit the primordial fluid with even an infinitesimal amount of + friction, then we are required to conceive of the visible universe as + developed from the invisible and as destined to return into the invisible. + The vortex-atom, produced by infinitesimal friction operating through + wellnigh infinite time, is to be ultimately abolished by the agency which + produced it. In the words of our authors, "If the visible universe be + developed from an invisible which is not a perfect fluid, then the + argument deduced by Sir William Thomson in favour of the eternity of + ordinary matter disappears, since this eternity depends upon the perfect + fluidity of the invisible. In fine, if we suppose the material universe to + be composed of a series of vortex-rings developed from an invisible + universe which is not a perfect fluid, it will be ephemeral, just as the + smoke-ring which we develop from air, or that which we develop from water, + is ephemeral, the only difference being in duration, these lasting only + for a few seconds, and the others it may be for billions of years." Thus, + as our authors suppose that "the available energy of the visible universe + will ultimately be appropriated by the invisible," they go on to imagine, + "at least as a possibility, that the separate existence of the visible + universe will share the same fate, so that we shall have no huge, useless, + inert mass existing in after ages to remind the passer-by of a form of + energy and a species of matter that is long since out of date and + functionally effete. Why should not the universe bury its dead out of + sight?" + </p> + <p> + In one respect perhaps no more stupendous subject of contemplation than + this has ever been offered to the mind of man. In comparison with the + length of time thus required to efface the tiny individual atom, the + entire cosmical career of our solar system, or even that of the whole + starry galaxy, shrinks into utter nothingness. Whether we shall adopt the + conclusion suggested must depend on the extent of our speculative + audacity. We have seen wherein its probability consists, but in reasoning + upon such a scale we may fitly be cautious and modest in accepting + inferences, and our authors, we may be sure, would be the first to + recommend such modesty and caution. Even at the dimensions to which our + theorizing has here grown, we may for instance discern the possible + alternative of a simultaneous or rhythmically successive generation and + destruction of vortex-atoms which would go far to modify the conclusion + just suggested. But here we must pause for a moment, reserving for a + second paper the weightier thoughts as to futurity which our authors have + sought to enwrap in these sublime physical speculations. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART SECOND. + </h2> + <p> + UP to this point, however remote from ordinary every-day thoughts may be + the region of speculation which we have been called upon to traverse, we + have still kept within the limits of legitimate scientific hypothesis. + Though we have ventured for a goodly distance into the unknown, we have + not yet been required to abandon our base of operations in the known. Of + the views presented in the preceding paper, some are wellnigh certainly + established, some are probable, some have a sort of plausibility, others—to + which we have refrained from giving assent—may possibly be true; but + none are irretrievably beyond the jurisdiction of scientific tests. No + suggestion has so far been broached which a very little further increase + of our scientific knowledge may not show to be either eminently probable + or eminently improbable. We have kept pretty clear of mere subjective + guesses, such as men may wrangle about forever without coming to any + conclusion. The theory of the nebular origin of our planetary system has + come to command the assent of all persons qualified to appreciate the + evidence on which it is based; and the more immediate conclusions which we + have drawn from that theory are only such as are commonly drawn by + astronomers and physicists. The doctrine of an intermolecular and + interstellar ether is wrapped up in the well-established undulatory theory + of light. Such is by no means the case with Sir William Thomson's + vortex-atom theory, which to-day is in somewhat the same condition as the + undulatory theory of Huyghens two centuries ago. This, however, is none + the less a hypothesis truly scientific in conception, and in the + speculations to which it leads us we are still sure of dealing with views + that admit at least of definite expression and treatment. In other words, + though our study of the visible universe has led us to the recognition of + a kind of unseen world underlying the world of things that are seen, yet + concerning the economy of this unseen world we have not been led to + entertain any hypothesis that has not its possible justification in our + experiences of visible phenomena. + </p> + <p> + We are now called upon, following in the wake of our esteemed authors, to + venture on a different sort of exploration, in which we must cut loose + altogether from our moorings in the world of which we have definite + experience. We are invited to entertain suggestions concerning the + peculiar economy of the invisible portion of the universe which we have no + means of subjecting to any sort of test of probability, either + experimental or deductive. These suggestions are, therefore, not to be + regarded as properly scientific; but, with this word of caution, we may + proceed to show what they are. + </p> + <p> + Compared with the life and death of cosmical systems which we have + heretofore contemplated, the life and death of individuals of the human + race may perhaps seem a small matter; yet because we are ourselves the men + who live and die, the small event is of vastly greater interest to us than + the grand series of events of which it is part and parcel. It is natural + that we should be more interested in the ultimate fate of humanity than in + the fate of a world which is of no account to us save as our present + dwelling-place. Whether the human soul is to come to an end or not is to + us a more important question than whether the visible universe, with its + matter and energy, is to be absorbed in an invisible ether. It is indeed + only because we are interested in the former question that we are so + curious about the latter. If we could dissociate ourselves from the + material universe, our habitat, we should probably speculate much less + about its past and future. We care very little what becomes of the black + ball of the earth, after all life has vanished from its surface; or, if we + care at all about it, it is only because our thoughts about the career of + the earth are necessarily mixed up with our thoughts about life. Hence in + considering the probable ultimate destiny of the physical universe, our + innermost purpose must be to know what is to become of all this rich and + wonderful life of which the physical universe is the theatre. Has it all + been developed, apparently at almost infinite waste of effort, only to be + abolished again before it has attained to completeness, or does it contain + or shelter some indestructible element which having drawn sustenance for a + while from the senseless turmoil of physical phenomena shall still survive + their final decay? This question is closely connected with the + time-honoured question of the meaning, purpose, or tendency of the world. + In the career of the world is life an end, or a means toward an end, or + only an incidental phenomenon in which we can discover no meaning? + Contemporary theologians seem generally to believe that one necessary + result of modern scientific inquiry must be the destruction of the belief + in immortal life, since against every thoroughgoing expounder of + scientific knowledge they seek to hurl the charge of "materialism." Their + doubts, however, are not shared by our authors, thorough men of science as + they are, though their mode of dealing with the question may not be such + as we can well adopt. While upholding the doctrine of evolution, and all + the so-called "materialistic" views of modern science, they not only + regard the hypothesis of a future life as admissible, but they even go so + far as to propound a physical theory as to the nature of existence after + death. Let us see what this physical theory is. + </p> + <p> + As far as the visible universe is concerned, we do not find in it any + evidence of immortality or of permanence of any sort, unless it be in the + sum of potential and kinetic energies on the persistency of which depends + our principle of continuity. In ordinary language "the stars in their + courses" serve as symbols of permanence, yet we have found reason to + regard them as but temporary phenomena. So, in the language of our + authors, "if we take the individual man, we find that he lives his short + tale of years, and that then the visible machinery which connects him with + the past, as well as that which enables him to act in the present, falls + into ruin and is brought to an end. If any germ or potentiality remains, + it is certainly not connected with the visible order of things." In like + manner our race is pretty sure to come to an end long before the + destruction of the planet from which it now gets its sustenance. And in + our authors opinion even the universe will by and by become "old and + effete, no less truly than the individual: it is a glorious garment this + visible universe, but not an immortal one; we must look elsewhere if we + are to be clothed with immortality as with a garment." + </p> + <p> + It is at this point that our authors call attention to "the apparently + wasteful character of the arrangements of the visible universe." The fact + is one which we have already sufficiently described, but we shall do well + to quote the words in which our authors recur to it: "All but a very small + portion of the sun's heat goes day by day into what we call empty space, + and it is only this very small remainder that is made use of by the + various planets for purposes of their own. Can anything be more perplexing + than this seemingly frightful expenditure of the very life and essence of + the system? That this vast store of high-class energy should be doing + nothing but travelling outwards in space at the rate of 188,000 miles per + second is hardly conceivable, especially when the result of it is the + inevitable destruction of the visible universe." + </p> + <p> + Pursuing this teleological argument, it is suggested that perhaps this + apparent waste of energy is "only an arrangement in virtue of which our + universe keeps up a memory of the past at the expense of the present, + inasmuch as all memory consists in an investiture of present resources in + order to keep a hold upon the past." Recourse is had to the ingenious + argument in which Mr. Babbage showed that "if we had power to follow and + detect the minutest effects of any disturbance, each particle of existing + matter must be a register of all that has happened. The track of every + canoe, of every vessel that has yet disturbed the surface of the ocean, + whether impelled by manual force or elemental power, remains forever + registered in the future movement of all succeeding particles which may + occupy its place. The furrow which is left is, indeed, instantly filled up + by the closing waters; but they draw after them other and larger portions + of the surrounding element, and these again, once moved, communicate + motion to others in endless succession." In like manner, "the air itself + is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written all that man has + ever said or even whispered. There in their mutable but unerring + characters, mixed with the earliest as well as the latest sighs of + mortality, stand forever recorded vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, + perpetuating in the united movements of each particle the testimony of + man's changeful will." <a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" + id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> In some such way as this, records + of every movement that takes place in the world are each moment + transmitted, with the speed of light, through the invisible ocean of ether + with which the world is surrounded. Even the molecular displacements which + occur in our brains when we feel and think are thus propagated in their + effects into the unseen world. The world of ether is thus regarded by our + authors as in some sort the obverse or complement of the world of sensible + matter, so that whatever energy is dissipated in the one is by the same + act accumulated in the other. It is like the negative plate in + photography, where light answers to shadow and shadow to light. Or, still + better, it is like the case of an equation in which whatever quantity you + take from one side is added to the other with a contrary sign, while the + relation of equality remains undisturbed. Thus, it will be noticed, from + the ingenious and subtle, but quite defensible suggestion of Mr. Babbage, + a leap is made to an assumption which cannot be defended scientifically, + but only teleologically. It is one thing to say that every movement in the + visible world transmits a record of itself to the surrounding ether, in + such a way that from the undulation of the ether a sufficiently powerful + intelligence might infer the character of the generating movement in the + visible world. It is quite another thing to say that the ether is + organized in such a complex and delicate way as to be like a negative + image or counterpart of the world of sensible matter. The latter view is + no doubt ingenious, but it is gratuitous. It is sustained not by + scientific analogy, but by the desire to find some assignable use for the + energy which is constantly escaping from visible matter into invisible + ether. The moment we ask how do we know that this energy is not really + wasted, or that it is not put to some use wholly undiscoverable by human + intelligence, this assumption of an organized ether is at once seen to be + groundless. It belongs not to the region of science, but to that of pure + mythology. + </p> + <p> + In justice to our authors, however, it should be remembered that this + assumption is put forth not as something scientifically probable, but as + something which for aught we know to the contrary may possibly be true. + This, to be sure, we need not deny; nor if we once allow this prodigious + leap of inference, shall we find much difficulty in reaching the famous + conclusion that "thought conceived to affect the matter of another + universe simultaneously with this may explain a future state." This + proposition, quaintly couched in an anagram, like the discoveries of old + astronomers, was published last year in "Nature," as containing the gist + of the forthcoming book. On the negative-image hypothesis it is not hard + to see how thought is conceived to affect the seen and the unseen worlds + simultaneously. Every act of consciousness is accompanied by molecular + displacements in the brain, and these are of course responded to by + movements in the ethereal world. Thus as a series of conscious states + build up a continuous memory in strict accordance with physical laws of + motion, <a href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7"><small>7</small></a> + so a correlative memory is simultaneously built up in the ethereal world + out of the ethereal correlatives of the molecular displacements which go + on in our brains. And as there is a continual transfer of energy from the + visible world to the ether, the extinction of vital energy which we call + death must coincide in some way with the awakening of vital energy in the + correlative world; so that the darkening of consciousness here is + coincident with its dawning there. In this way death is for the individual + but a transfer from one physical state of existence to another; and so, on + the largest scale, the death or final loss of energy by the whole visible + universe has its counterpart in the acquirement of a maximum of life by + the correlative unseen world. + </p> + <p> + There seems to be a certain sort of rigorous logical consistency in this + daring speculation; but really the propositions of which it consists are + so far from answering to anything within the domain of human experience + that we are unable to tell whether any one of them logically follows from + its predecessor or not. It is evident that we are quite out of the region + of scientific tests, and to whatever view our authors may urge we can only + languidly assent that it is out of our power to disprove it. + </p> + <p> + The essential weakness of such a theory as this lies in the fact that it + is thoroughly materialistic in character. It is currently assumed that the + doctrine of a life after death cannot be defended on materialistic + grounds, but this is altogether too hasty an assumption. Our authors, + indeed, are not philosophical materialists, like Dr. Priestley,—who + nevertheless believed in a future life,—but one of the primary + doctrines of materialism lies at the bottom of their argument. Materialism + holds for one thing that consciousness is a product of a peculiar + organization of matter, and for another thing that consciousness cannot + survive the disorganization of the material body with which it is + associated. As held by philosophical materialists, like Buchner and + Moleschott, these two opinions are strictly consistent with each other; + nay, the latter seems to be the inevitable inference from the former, + though Priestley did not so regard it. Now our authors very properly + refuse to commit themselves to the opinion that mind is the product of + matter, but their argument nevertheless implies that some sort of material + vehicle is necessary for the continuance of mind in a future state of + existence. This material vehicle they seek to supply in the theory which + connects by invisible bonds of transmitted energy the perishable material + body with its counterpart in the world of ether. The materialism of the + argument is indeed partly veiled by the terminology in which this + counterpart is called a "spiritual body," but in this novel use or abuse + of scriptural language there seems to me to be a strange confusion of + ideas. Bear in mind that the "invisible universe" into which energy is + constantly passing is simply the luminiferous ether, which our authors, to + suit the requirements of their hypothesis, have gratuitously endowed with + a complexity and variety of structure analogous to that of the visible + world of matter. Their language is not always quite so precise as one + could desire, for while they sometimes speak of the ether itself as the + "unseen universe," they sometimes allude to a primordial medium yet + subtler in constitution and presumably more immaterial. Herein lies the + confusion. Why should the luminiferous ether, or any primordial medium in + which it may have been generated, be regarded as in any way "spiritual"? + Great physicists, like less trained thinkers, are sometimes liable to be + unconsciously influenced by old associations of ideas which, ostensibly + repudiated, still lurk under cover of the words we use. I fear that the + old associations which led the ancients to describe the soul as a breath + or a shadow, and which account for the etymologies of such words as + "ghost" and "spirit," have had something to do with this spiritualization + of the interstellar ether. Some share may also have been contributed by + the Platonic notion of the "grossness" or "bruteness" of tangible matter,—a + notion which has survived in Christian theology, and which educated men of + the present day have by no means universally outgrown. Save for some such + old associations as these, why should it be supposed that matter becomes + "spriritualized" as it diminishes in apparent substantiality? Why should + matter be pronounced respectable in the inverse ratio of its density or + ponderability? Why is a diamond any more chargeable with "grossness" than + a cubic centimetre of hydrogen? Obviously such fancies are purely of + mythologic parentage. Now the luminiferous ether, upon which our authors + make such extensive demands, may be physically "ethereal" enough, in spite + of the enormous elasticity which leads Professor Jevons to characterize it + as "adamantine"; but most assuredly we have not the slightest reason for + speaking of it as "immaterial" or "spiritual." Though we are unable to + weigh it in the balance, we at least know it as a transmitter of + undulatory movements, the size and shape of which we can accurately + measure. Its force-relations with ponderable matter are not only + universally and incessantly maintained, but they have that precisely + quantitative character which implies an essential identity between the + innermost natures of the two substances. We have seen reason for thinking + it probable that ether and ordinary matter are alike composed of + vortex-rings in a quasi-frictionless fluid; but whatever be the fate of + this subtle hypothesis, we may be sure that no theory will ever be + entertained in which the analysis of ether shall require different symbols + from that of ordinary matter. In our authors' theory, therefore, the + putting on of immortality is in no wise the passage from a material to a + spiritual state. It is the passage from one kind of materially conditioned + state to another. The theory thus appeals directly to our experiences of + the behaviour of matter; and in deriving so little support as it does from + these experiences, it remains an essentially weak speculation, whatever we + may think of its ingenuity. For so long as we are asked to accept + conclusions drawn from our experiences of the material world, we are + justified in demanding something more than mere unconditioned possibility. + We require some positive evidence, be it ever so little in amount; and no + theory which cannot furnish such positive evidence is likely to carry to + our minds much practical conviction. + </p> + <p> + This is what I meant by saying that the great weakness of the hypothesis + here criticized lies in its materialistic character. In contrast with this + we shall presently see that the assertion of a future life which is not + materially conditioned, though unsupported by any item of experience + whatever, may nevertheless be an impregnable assertion. But first I would + conclude the foregoing criticism by ruling out altogether the sense in + which our authors use the expression "Unseen Universe." Scientific + inference, however remote, is connected by such insensible gradations with + ordinary perception, that one may well question the propriety of applying + the term "unseen" to that which is presented to "the mind's eye" as + inevitable matter of inference. It is true that we cannot see the ocean of + ether in which visible matter floats; but there are many other invisible + things which yet we do not regard as part of the "unseen world." I do not + see the air which I am now breathing within the four walls of my study, + yet its existence is sufficiently a matter of sense-perception as it fills + my lungs and fans my cheek. The atoms which compose a drop of water are + not only invisible, but cannot in any way be made the objects of + sense-perception; yet by proper inferences from their behaviour we can + single them out for measurement, so that Sir William Thomson can tell us + that if the drop of water were magnified to the size of the earth, the + constituent atoms would be larger than peas, but not so large as + billiard-balls. If we do not see such atoms with our eyes, we have one + adequate reason in their tiny dimensions, though there are further reasons + than this. It would be hard to say why the luminiferous ether should be + relegated to the "unseen world" any more than the material atom. Whatever + we know as possessing resistance and extension, whatever we can subject to + mathematical processes of measurement, we also conceive as existing in + such shape that, with appropriate eyes and under proper visual conditions, + we MIGHT see it, and we are not entitled to draw any line of demarcation + between such an object of inference and others which may be made objects + of sense-perception. To set apart the ether as constituting an "unseen + universe" is therefore illegitimate and confusing. It introduces a + distinction where there is none, and obscures the fact that both invisible + ether and visible matter form but one grand universe in which the sum of + energy remains constant, though the order of its distribution endlessly + varies. + </p> + <p> + Very different would be the logical position of a theory which should + assume the existence of an "Unseen World" entirely spiritual in + constitution, and in which material conditions like those of the visible + world should have neither place nor meaning. Such a world would not + consist of ethers or gases or ghosts, but of purely psychical relations + akin to such as constitute thoughts and feelings when our minds are least + solicited by sense-perceptions. In thus marking off the "Unseen World" + from the objective universe of which we have knowledge, our line of + demarcation would at least be drawn in the right place. The distinction + between psychical and material phenomena is a distinction of a different + order from all other distinctions known to philosophy, and it immeasurably + transcends all others. The progress of modern discovery has in no respect + weakened the force of Descartes's remark, that between that of which the + differential attribute is Thought and that of which the differential + attribute is Extension, there can be no similarity, no community of nature + whatever. By no scientific cunning of experiment or deduction can Thought + be weighed or measured or in any way assimilated to such things as may be + made the actual or possible objects of sense-perception. Modern discovery, + so far from bridging over the chasm between Mind and Matter, tends rather + to exhibit the distinction between them as absolute. It has, indeed, been + rendered highly probable that every act of consciousness is accompanied by + a molecular motion in the cells and fibres of the brain; and materialists + have found great comfort in this fact, while theologians and persons of + little faith have been very much frightened by it. But since no one ever + pretended that thought can go on, under the conditions of the present + life, without a brain, one finds it rather hard to sympathize either with + the self-congratulations of Dr. Buchner's disciples <a href="#linknote-8" + name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8"><small>8</small></a> or with the + terrors of their opponents. But what has been less commonly remarked is + the fact that when the thought and the molecular movement thus occur + simultaneously, in no scientific sense is the thought the product of the + molecular movement. The sun-derived energy of motion latent in the food we + eat is variously transformed within the organism, until some of it appears + as the motion of the molecules of a little globule of nerve-matter in the + brain. In a rough way we might thus say that the chemical energy of the + food indirectly produces the motion of these little nerve-molecules. But + does this motion of nerve-molecules now produce a thought or state of + consciousness? By no means. It simply produces some other motion of + nerve-molecules, and this in turn produces motion of contraction or + expansion in some muscle, or becomes transformed into the chemical energy + of some secreting gland. At no point in the whole circuit does a unit of + motion disappear as motion to reappear as a unit of consciousness. The + physical process is complete in itself, and the thought does not enter + into it. All that we can say is, that the occurrence of the thought is + simultaneous with that part of the physical process which consists of a + molecular movement in the brain. <a href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" + id="linknoteref-9"><small>9</small></a> To be sure, the thought is always + there when summoned, but it stands outside the dynamic circuit, as + something utterly alien from and incomparable with the events which summon + it. No doubt, as Professor Tyndall observes, if we knew exhaustively the + physical state of the brain, "the corresponding thought or feeling might + be inferred; or, given the thought or feeling, the corresponding state of + the brain might be inferred. But how inferred? It would be at bottom not a + case of logical inference at all, but of empirical association. You may + reply that many of the inferences of science are of this character; the + inference, for example, that an electric current of a given direction will + deflect a magnetic needle in a definite way; but the cases differ in this, + that the passage from the current to the needle, if not demonstrable, is + thinkable, and that we entertain no doubt as to the final mechanical + solution of the problem. But the passage from the physics of the brain to + the corresponding facts of consciousness is unthinkable. Granted that a + definite thought and a definite molecular action in the brain occur + simultaneously; we do not possess the intellectual organ, nor apparently + any rudiment of the organ, which would enable us to pass by a process of + reasoning from the one to the other. They appear together, but we do not + know why." <a href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10"><small>10</small></a> + </p> + <p> + An unseen world consisting of purely psychical or spiritual phenomena + would accordingly be demarcated by an absolute gulf from what we call the + material universe, but would not necessarily be discontinuous with the + psychical phenomena which we find manifested in connection with the world + of matter. The transfer of matter, or physical energy, or anything else + that is quantitatively measurable, into such an unseen world, may be set + down as impossible, by reason of the very definition of such a world. Any + hypothesis which should assume such a transfer would involve a + contradiction in terms. But the hypothesis of a survival of present + psychical phenomena in such a world, after being denuded of material + conditions, is not in itself absurd or self-contradictory, though it may + be impossible to support it by any arguments drawn from the domain of + human experience. Such is the shape which it seems to me that, in the + present state of philosophy, the hypothesis of a future life must assume. + We have nothing to say to gross materialistic notions of ghosts and + bogies, and spirits that upset tables and whisper to ignorant vulgar women + the wonderful information that you once had an aunt Susan. The unseen + world imagined in our hypothesis is not connected with the present + material universe by any such "invisible bonds" as would allow Bacon and + Addison to come to Boston and write the silliest twaddle in the most + ungrammatical English before a roomful of people who have never learned + how to test what they are pleased to call the "evidence of their senses." + Our hypothesis is expressly framed so as to exclude all intercourse + whatever between the unseen world of spirit unconditioned by matter and + the present world of spirit conditioned by matter in which all our + experiences have been gathered. The hypothesis being framed in such a way, + the question is, What has philosophy to say to it? Can we, by searching + our experiences, find any reason for adopting such an hypothesis? Or, on + the other hand, supposing we can find no such reason, would the total + failure of experimental evidence justify us in rejecting it? + </p> + <p> + The question is so important that I will restate it. I have imagined a + world made up of psychical phenomena, freed from the material conditions + under which alone we know such phenomena. Can we adduce any proof of the + possibility of such a world? Or if we cannot, does our failure raise the + slightest presumption that such a world is impossible? + </p> + <p> + The reply to the first clause of the question is sufficiently obvious. We + have no experience whatever of psychical phenomena save as manifested in + connection with material phenomena. We know of Mind only as a group of + activities which are never exhibited to us except through the medium of + motions of matter. In all our experience we have never encountered such + activities save in connection with certain very complicated groupings of + highly mobile material particles into aggregates which we call living + organisms. And we have never found them manifested to a very conspicuous + extent save in connection with some of those specially organized + aggregates which have vertebrate skeletons and mammary glands. Nay, more, + when we survey the net results of our experience up to the present time, + we find indisputable evidence that in the past history of the visible + universe psychical phenomena have only begun to be manifested in + connection with certain complex aggregates of material phenomena. As these + material aggregates have age by age become more complex in structure, more + complex psychical phenomena have been exhibited. The development of Mind + has from the outset been associated with the development of Matter. And + to-day, though none of us has any knowledge of the end of psychical + phenomena in his own case, yet from all the marks by which we recognize + such phenomena in our fellow-creatures, whether brute or human, we are + taught that when certain material processes have been gradually or + suddenly brought to an end, psychical phenomena are no longer manifested. + From first to last, therefore, our appeal to experience gets but one + response. We have not the faintest shadow of evidence wherewith to make it + seem probable that Mind can exist except in connection with a material + body. Viewed from this standpoint of terrestrial experience, there is no + more reason for supposing that consciousness survives the dissolution of + the brain than for supposing that the pungent flavour of table-salt + survives its decomposition into metallic sodium and gaseous chlorine. + </p> + <p> + Our answer from this side is thus unequivocal enough. Indeed, so uniform + has been the teaching of experience in this respect that even in their + attempts to depict a life after death, men have always found themselves + obliged to have recourse to materialistic symbols. To the mind of a savage + the future world is a mere reproduction of the present, with its + everlasting huntings and fightings. The early Christians looked forward to + a renovation of the earth and the bodily resurrection from Sheol of the + righteous. The pictures of hell and purgatory, and even of paradise, in + Dante's great poem, are so intensely materialistic as to seem grotesque in + this more spiritual age. But even to-day the popular conceptions of heaven + are by no means freed from the notion of matter; and persons of high + culture, who realize the inadequacy of these popular conceptions, are wont + to avoid the difficulty by refraining from putting their hopes and beliefs + into any definite or describable form. Not unfrequently one sees a smile + raised at the assumption of knowledge or insight by preachers who describe + in eloquent terms the joys of a future state; yet the smile does not + necessarily imply any scepticism as to the abstract probability of the + soul's survival. The scepticism is aimed at the character of the + description rather than at the reality of the thing described. It implies + a tacit agreement, among cultivated people, that the unseen world must be + purely spiritual in constitution. The agreement is not habitually + expressed in definite formulas, for the reason that no mental image of a + purely spiritual world can be formed. Much stress is commonly laid upon + the recognition of friends in a future life; and however deep a meaning + may be given to the phrase "the love of God," one does not easily realize + that a heavenly existence could be worth the longing that is felt for it, + if it were to afford no further scope for the pure and tender household + affections which give to the present life its powerful though indefinable + charm. Yet the recognition of friends in a purely spiritual world is + something of which we can frame no conception whatever. We may look with + unspeakable reverence on the features of wife or child, less because of + their physical beauty than because of the beauty of soul to which they + give expression, but to imagine the perception of soul by soul apart from + the material structure and activities in which soul is manifested, is + something utterly beyond our power. Nay, even when we try to represent to + ourselves the psychical activity of any single soul by itself as + continuing without the aid of the physical machinery of sensation, we get + into unmanageable difficulties. A great part of the contents of our minds + consists of sensuous (chiefly visual) images, and though we may imagine + reflection to go on without further images supplied by vision or hearing, + touch or taste or smell, yet we cannot well see how fresh experiences + could be gained in such a state. The reader, if he require further + illustrations, can easily follow out this line of thought. Enough has no + doubt been said to convince him that our hypothesis of the survival of + conscious activity apart from material conditions is not only utterly + unsupported by any evidence that can be gathered from the world of which + we have experience, but is utterly and hopelessly inconceivable. + </p> + <p> + It is inconceivable BECAUSE it is entirely without foundation in + experience. Our powers of conception are closely determined by the limits + of our experience. When a proposition, or combination of ideas, is + suggested, for which there has never been any precedent in human + experience, we find it to be UNTHINKABLE,—the ideas will not + combine. The proposition remains one which we may utter and defend, and + perhaps vituperate our neighbours for not accepting, but it remains none + the less an unthinkable proposition. It takes terms which severally have + meanings and puts them together into a phrase which has no meaning. <a + href="#linknote-11" name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a> + Now when we try to combine the idea of the continuance of conscious + activity with the idea of the entire cessation of material conditions, and + thereby to assert the existence of a purely spiritual world, we find that + we have made an unthinkable proposition. We may defend our hypothesis as + passionately as we like, but when we strive coolly to realize it in + thought we find ourselves baulked at every step. + </p> + <p> + But now we have to ask, How much does this inconceivability signify? In + most cases, when we say that a statement is inconceivable, we practically + declare it to be untrue; when we say that a statement is without warrant + in experience, we plainly indicate that we consider it unworthy of our + acceptance. This is legitimate in the majority of cases with which we have + to deal in the course of life, because experience, and the capacities of + thought called out and limited by experience, are our only guides in the + conduct of life. But every one will admit that our experience is not + infinite, and that our capacity of conception is not coextensive with the + possibilities of existence. It is not only possible, but in the very + highest degree probable, that there are many things in heaven, if not on + earth, which are undreamed of in our philosophy. Since our ability to + conceive anything is limited by the extent of our experience, and since + human experience is very far from being infinite, it follows that there + may be, and in all probability is, an immense region of existence in every + way as real as the region which we know, yet concerning which we cannot + form the faintest rudiment of a conception. Any hypothesis relating to + such a region of existence is not only not disproved by the total failure + of evidence in its favour, but the total failure of evidence does not + raise even the slightest prima facie presumption against its validity. + </p> + <p> + These considerations apply with great force to the hypothesis of an unseen + world in which psychical phenomena persist in the absence of material + conditions. It is true, on the one hand, that we can bring up no + scientific evidence in support of such an hypothesis. But on the other + hand it is equally true that in the very nature of things no such evidence + could be expected to be forthcoming: even were there such evidence in + abundance, it could not be accessible to us. The existence of a single + soul, or congeries of psychical phenomena, unaccompanied by a material + body, would be evidence sufficient to demonstrate the hypothesis. But in + the nature of things, even were there a million such souls round about us, + we could not become aware of the existence of one of them, for we have no + organ or faculty for the perception of soul apart from the material + structure and activities in which it has been manifested throughout the + whole course of our experience. Even our own self-consciousness involves + the consciousness of ourselves as partly material bodies. These + considerations show that our hypothesis is very different from the + ordinary hypotheses with which science deals. The entire absence of + testimony does not raise a negative presumption except in cases where + testimony is accessible. In the hypotheses with which scientific men are + occupied, testimony is always accessible; and if we do not find any, the + presumption is raised that there is none. When Dr. Bastian tells us that + he has found living organisms to be generated in sealed flasks from which + all living germs had been excluded, we demand the evidence for his + assertion. The testimony of facts is in this case hard to elicit, and only + skilful reasoners can properly estimate its worth. But still it is all + accessible. With more or less labour it can be got at; and if we find that + Dr. Bastian has produced no evidence save such as may equally well receive + a different interpretation from that which he has given it, we rightly + feel that a strong presumption has been raised against his hypothesis. It + is a case in which we are entitled to expect to find the favouring facts + if there are any, and so long as we do not find such, we are justified in + doubting their existence. So when our authors propound the hypothesis of + an unseen universe consisting of phenomena which occur in the interstellar + ether, or even in some primordial fluid with which the ether has physical + relations, we are entitled to demand their proofs. It is not enough to + tell us that we cannot disprove such a theory. The burden of proof lies + with them. The interstellar ether is something concerning the physical + properties of which we have some knowledge; and surely, if all the things + are going on which they suppose in a medium so closely related to ordinary + matter, there ought to be some traceable indications of the fact. At + least, until the contrary can be shown, we must refuse to believe that all + the testimony in a case like this is utterly inaccessible; and + accordingly, so long as none is found, especially so long as none is even + alleged, we feel that a presumption is raised against their theory. + </p> + <p> + These illustrations will show, by sheer contrast, how different it is with + the hypothesis of an unseen world that is purely spiritual. The testimony + in such a case must, under the conditions of the present life, be forever + inaccessible. It lies wholly outside the range of experience. However + abundant it may be, we cannot expect to meet with it. And accordingly our + failure to produce it does not raise even the slightest presumption + against our theory. When conceived in this way, the belief in a future + life is without scientific support; but at the same time it is placed + beyond the need of scientific support and beyond the range of scientific + criticism. It is a belief which no imaginable future advance in physical + discovery can in any way impugn. It is a belief which is in no sense + irrational, and which may be logically entertained without in the least + affecting our scientific habit of mind or influencing our scientific + conclusions. + </p> + <p> + To take a brief illustration: we have alluded to the fact that in the + history of our present world the development of mental phenomena has gone + on hand in hand with the development of organic life, while at the same + time we have found it impossible to explain mental phenomena as in any + sense the product of material phenomena. Now there is another side to all + this. The great lesson which Berkeley taught mankind was that what we call + material phenomena are really the products of consciousness co-operating + with some Unknown Power (not material) existing beyond consciousness. We + do very well to speak of "matter" in common parlance, but all that the + word really means is a group of qualities which have no existence apart + from our minds. Modern philosophers have quite generally accepted this + conclusion, and every attempt to overturn Berkeley's reasoning has + hitherto resulted in complete and disastrous failure. In admitting this, + we do not admit the conclusion of Absolute Idealism, that nothing exists + outside of consciousness. What we admit as existing independently of our + own consciousness is the Power that causes in us those conscious states + which we call the perception of material qualities. We have no reason for + regarding this Power as in itself material: indeed, we cannot do so, since + by the theory material qualities have no existence apart from our minds. I + have elsewhere sought to show that less difficulty is involved in + regarding this Power outside of us as quasi-psychical, or in some measure + similar to the mental part of ourselves; and I have gone on to conclude + that this Power may be identical with what men have, in all times and by + the aid of various imperfect symbols, endeavoured to apprehend as Deity. + <a href="#linknote-12" name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a> + We are thus led to a view of things not very unlike the views entertained + by Spinoza and Berkeley. We are led to the inference that what we call the + material universe is but the manifestation of infinite Deity to our finite + minds. Obviously, on this view, Matter—the only thing to which + materialists concede real existence—is simply an orderly + phantasmagoria; and God and the Soul—which materialists regard as + mere fictions of the imagination—are the only conceptions that + answer to real existences. + </p> + <p> + In the foregoing paragraph I have been setting down opinions with which I + am prepared to agree, and which are not in conflict with anything that our + study of the development of the objective world has taught us. In so far + as that study may be supposed to bear on the question of a future life, + two conclusions are open to us. First we may say that since the phenomena + of mind appear and run their course along with certain specialized groups + of material phenomena, so, too, they must disappear when these specialized + groups are broken up. Or, in other words, we may say that every living + person is an organized whole; consciousness is something which pertains to + this organized whole, as music belongs to the harp that is entire; but + when the harp is broken it is silent, and when the organized whole of + personality falls to pieces consciousness ceases forever. To many + well-disciplined minds this conclusion seems irresistible; and doubtless + it would be a sound one—a good Baconian conclusion—if we were + to admit, with the materialists, that the possibilities of existence are + limited by our tiny and ephemeral experience. + </p> + <p> + But now, supposing some Platonic speculator were to come along and insist + upon our leaving room for an alternative conclusion; suppose he were to + urge upon us that all this process of material development, with the + discovery of which our patient study has been rewarded, may be but the + temporary manifestation of relations otherwise unknown between ourselves + and the infinite Deity; suppose he were to argue that psychical qualities + may be inherent in a spiritual substance which under certain conditions + becomes incarnated in matter, to wear it as a perishable garment for a + brief season, but presently to cast it off and enter upon the freedom of a + larger existence;—what reply should we be bound to make, bearing in + mind that the possibilities of existence are in no wise limited by our + experience? Obviously we should be bound to admit that in sound philosophy + this conclusion is just as likely to be true as the other. We should, + indeed, warn him not to call on us to help him to establish it by + scientific arguments; and we should remind him that he must not make + illicit use of his extra-experiential hypotheses by bringing them into the + treatment of scientific questions that lie within the range of experience. + In science, for example, we make no use of the conception of a "spiritual + substance" (or of a "material substance" either), because we can get along + sufficiently well by dealing solely with qualities. But with this general + understanding we should feel bound to concede the impregnableness of his + main position. + </p> + <p> + I have supposed this theory only as an illustration, not as a theory which + I am prepared to adopt. My present purpose is not to treat as an advocate + the question of a future life, but to endeavour to point out what + conditions should be observed in treating the question philosophically. It + seems to me that a great deal is gained when we have distinctly set before + us what are the peculiar conditions of proof in the case of such + transcendental questions. We have gained a great deal when we have learned + how thoroughly impotent, how truly irrelevant, is physical investigation + in the presence of such a question. If we get not much positive + satisfaction for our unquiet yearnings, we occupy at any rate a sounder + philosophic position when we recognize the limits within which our + conclusions, whether positive or negative, are valid. + </p> + <p> + It seems not improbable that Mr. Mill may have had in mind something like + the foregoing considerations when he suggested that there is no reason why + one should not entertain the belief in a future life if the belief be + necessary to one's spiritual comfort. Perhaps no suggestion in Mr. Mill's + richly suggestive posthumous work has been more generally condemned as + unphilosophical, on the ground that in matters of belief we must be + guided, not by our likes and dislikes, but by the evidence that is + accessible. The objection is certainly a sound one so far as it relates to + scientific questions where evidence is accessible. To hesitate to adopt a + well-supported theory because of some vague preference for a different + view is in scientific matters the one unpardonable sin,—a sin which + has been only too often committed. Even in matters which lie beyond the + range of experience, where evidence is inaccessible, desire is not to be + regarded as by itself an adequate basis for belief. But it seems to me + that Mr. Mill showed a deeper knowledge of the limitations of scientific + method than his critics, when he thus hinted at the possibility of + entertaining a belief not amenable to scientific tests. The hypothesis of + a purely spiritual unseen world, as above described, is entirely removed + from the jurisdiction of physical inquiry, and can only be judged on + general considerations of what has been called "moral probability"; and + considerations of this sort are likely, in the future as in the past, to + possess different values for different minds. He who, on such + considerations, entertains a belief in a future life may not demand that + his sceptical neighbour shall be convinced by the same considerations; but + his neighbour is at the same time estopped from stigmatizing his belief as + unphilosophical. + </p> + <p> + The consideration which must influence most minds in their attitude toward + this question, is the craving, almost universally felt, for some + teleological solution to the problem of existence. Why we are here now is + a question of even profounder interest than whether we are to live + hereafter. Unfortunately its solution carries us no less completely beyond + the range of experience! The belief that all things are working together + for some good end is the most essential expression of religious faith: of + all intellectual propositions it is the one most closely related to that + emotional yearning for a higher and better life which is the sum and + substance of religion. Yet all the treatises on natural theology that have + ever been written have barely succeeded in establishing a low degree of + scientific probability for this belief. In spite of the eight Bridgewater + Treatises, and the "Ninth" beside, dysteleology still holds full half the + field as against teleology. Most of this difficulty, however, results from + the crude anthropomorphic views which theologians have held concerning + God. Once admitting that the Divine attributes may be (as they must be) + incommensurably greater than human attributes, our faith that all things + are working together for good may remain unimpugned. + </p> + <p> + To many minds such a faith will seem incompatible with belief in the + ultimate destruction of sentiency amid the general doom of the material + universe. A good end can have no meaning to us save in relation to + consciousness that distinguishes and knows the good from the evil. There + could be no better illustration of how we are hemmed in than the very + inadequacy of the words with which we try to discuss this subject. Such + words have all gained their meanings from human experience, and hence of + necessity carry anthropomorphic implications. But we cannot help this. We + must think with the symbols with which experience has furnished us; and + when we so think, there does seem to be little that is even intellectually + satisfying in the awful picture which science shows us, of giant worlds + concentrating out of nebulous vapour, developing with prodigious waste of + energy into theatres of all that is grand and sacred in spiritual + endeavour, clashing and exploding again into dead vapour-balls, only to + renew the same toilful process without end,—a senseless bubble-play + of Titan forces, with life, love, and aspiration brought forth only to be + extinguished. The human mind, however "scientific" its training, must + often recoil from the conclusion that this is all; and there are moments + when one passionately feels that this cannot be all. On warm June mornings + in green country lanes, with sweet pine-odours wafted in the breeze which + sighs through the branches, and cloud-shadows flitting over far-off blue + mountains, while little birds sing their love-songs, and golden-haired + children weave garlands of wild roses; or when in the solemn twilight we + listen to wondrous harmonies of Beethoven and Chopin that stir the heart + like voices from an unseen world; at such times one feels that the + profoundest answer which science can give to our questionings is but a + superficial answer after all. At these moments, when the world seems + fullest of beauty, one feels most strongly that it is but the harbinger of + something else,—that the ceaseless play of phenomena is no mere + sport of Titans, but an orderly scene, with its reason for existing, its + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "One divine far-off event + To which the whole creation moves." +</pre> + <p> + Difficult as it is to disentangle the elements of reasoning that enter + into these complex groups of feeling, one may still see, I think, that it + is speculative interest in the world, rather than anxious interest in + self, that predominates. The desire for immortality in its lowest phase is + merely the outcome of the repugnance we feel toward thinking of the final + cessation of vigorous vital activity. Such a feeling is naturally strong + with healthy people. But in the mood which I have above tried to depict, + this feeling, or any other which is merely self-regarding, is lost sight + of in the feeling which associates a future life with some solution of the + burdensome problem of existence. Had we but faith enough to lighten the + burden of this problem, the inferior question would perhaps be less + absorbing. Could we but know that our present lives are working together + toward some good end, even an end in no wise anthropomorphic, it would be + of less consequence whether we were individually to endure. To the dog + under the knife of the experimenter, the world is a world of pure evil; + yet could the poor beast but understand the alleviation of human suffering + to which he is contributing, he would be forced to own that this is not + quite true; and if he were also a heroic or Christian dog, the thought + would perhaps take away from death its sting. The analogy may be a crude + one; but the reasonableness of the universe is at least as far above our + comprehension as the purposes of man surpass the understanding of the dog. + Believing, however, though as a simple act of trust, that the end will + crown the work, we may rise superior to the question which has here + concerned us, and exclaim, in the supreme language of faith, "Though He + slay me, yet will I trust in Him!" + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + July, 1875. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH." + </h2> + <p> + Few of those who find pleasure in frequenting bookstores can have failed + to come across one or more of the profusely illustrated volumes in which + M. Louis Figuier has sought to render dry science entertaining to the + multitude. And of those who may have casually turned over their pages, + there are probably none, competent to form an opinion, who have not + speedily perceived that these pretentious books belong to the class of + pests and unmitigated nuisances in literature. Antiquated views, utter + lack of comprehension of the subjects treated, and shameless + unscrupulousness as to accuracy of statement, are faults but ill atoned + for by sensational pictures of the "dragons of the prime that tare each + other in their slime," or of the Newton-like brow and silken curls of that + primitive man in contrast with whom the said dragons have been likened to + "mellow music." + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the sort of scientific reputation which these discreditable + performances have gained for M. Figuier among an uncritical public is such + as to justify us in devoting a few paragraphs to a book <a + href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> + which, on its own merits, is unworthy of any notice whatever. "The + To-morrow of Death"—if one were to put his trust in the translator's + prefatory note—discusses a grave question upon "purely scientific + methods." We are glad to see this remark, because it shows what notions + may be entertained by persons of average intelligence with reference to + "scientific methods." Those—and they are many—who vaguely + think that science is something different from common-sense, and that any + book is scientific which talks about perihelia and asymptotes and cetacea, + will find their vague notions here well corroborated. Quite different will + be the impression made upon those—and they are yet too few—who + have learned that the method of science is the common-sense method of + cautiously weighing evidence and withholding judgment where evidence is + not forthcoming. If talking about remote and difficult subjects suffice to + make one scientific, then is M. Figuier scientific to a quite terrible + degree. He writes about the starry heavens as if he had been present at + the hour of creation, or had at least accompanied the Arabian prophet on + his famous night-journey. Nor is his knowledge of physiology and other + abstruse sciences at all less remarkable. But these things will cease to + surprise us when we learn the sources, hitherto suspected only in + mythology, from which favoured mortals can obtain a knowledge of what is + going on outside of our planet. + </p> + <p> + The four inner planets being nearly alike in size (?) and in length of + day, M. Figuier infers, by strictly scientific methods, that whatever is + true of one of them, as our earth, will be true of the others (p. 34). + Hence, they are all inhabited by human beings. It is true that human + beings must find Venus rather warm, and are not unlikely to be seriously + incommoded by the tropical climate of Mercury. But we must remember that + "the men of Venus and Mercury are made by nature to resist heat, as those + of Jupiter and Saturn are made to endure cold, and those of the Earth and + Mars to live in a mean temperature: OTHERWISE THEY COULD NOT EXIST" (p. + 72). In view of this charming specimen of a truly scientific inference, it + is almost too bad to call attention to the fact that M. Figuier is quite + behind the age in his statement of facts. So far from Jupiter and Saturn + being cold, observation plainly indicates that they are prodigiously hot, + if not even incandescent and partly self-luminous; the explanation being + that, by reason of their huge bulk, they still retain much of the + primitive heat which smaller planets have more quickly radiated away. As + for M. Figuier's statement, that polar snows have been witnessed on these + planets, it is simply untrue; no such thing has ever been seen there. + Mars, on the other hand, has been observed to resemble in many important + respects its near neighbour, the Earth; whence our author declares that if + an aeronaut were to shoot clear of terrestrial gravitation and land upon + Mars, he would unquestionably suppose himself to be still upon the earth. + For aerolites, it seems, are somehow fired down upon our planet both from + Mars and from Venus; and aerolites sometimes contain vegetable matter (?). + Therefore, Mars has a vegetation, and very likely its red colour is caused + by its luxuriant autumnal foliage! (p. 47.) To return to Jupiter: this + planet, indeed, has inconveniently short days. "In his 'Picture of the + Heavens,' the German astronomer, Littrow (these Germans think of nothing + but gormandizing), asks how the people of Jupiter order their meals in the + short interval of five hours." Nevertheless, says our author, the great + planet is compensated for this inconvenience by its equable and delicious + climate. + </p> + <p> + In view, however, of our author's more striking and original disclosures, + one would suppose that all this discussion of the physical conditions of + existence on the various planets might have been passed over without + detriment to the argument. After these efforts at proving (for M. Figuier + presumably regards this rigmarole as proof) that all the members of our + solar system are habitable, the interplanetary ether is forthwith peopled + thickly with "souls," without any resort to argument. This, we suppose, is + one of those scientific truths which as M. Figuier tells us, precede and + underlie demonstration. Upon this impregnable basis is reared the + scientific theory of a future life. When we die our soul passes into some + other terrestrial body, unless we have been very good, in which case we at + once soar aloft and join the noble fraternity of the ether-folk. Bad men + and young children, on dying, must undergo renewed probation here below, + but ultimately all pass away into the interplanetary ether. The dweller in + ether is chiefly distinguished from the mundane mortal by his acute senses + and his ability to subsist without food. He can see as if through a + telescope and microscope combined. His intelligence is so great that in + comparison an Aristotle would seem idiotic. It should not be forgotten, + too, that he possesses eighty-five per cent of soul to fifteen per cent of + body, whereas in terrestrial man the two elements are mixed in equal + proportions. There is no sex among the ether-folk, their numbers being + kept up by the influx of souls from the various planets. "Alimentation, + that necessity which tyrannizes over men and animals, is not imposed upon + the inhabitants of ether. Their bodies must be repaired and sustained by + the simple respiration of the fluid in which they are immersed, that is, + of ether." Most likely, continues our scientific author, the physiological + functions of the ether-folk are confined to respiration, and that it is + possible to breathe "without numerous organs is proved by the fact that in + all of a whole class of animals—the batrachians—the mere bare + skin constitutes the whole machinery of respiration" (p. 95). Allowing for + the unfortunate slip of the pen by which "batrachians" are substituted for + "fresh-water polyps," how can we fail to admire the severity of the + scientific method employed in reaching these interesting conclusions? + </p> + <p> + But the King of Serendib must die, nor will the relentless scythe of Time + spare our Etherians, with all their exalted attributes. They will die + repeatedly; and after having through sundry periods of probation attained + spiritual perfection, they will all pour into the sun. Since it is the sun + which originates life and feeling and thought upon the surface of our + earth, "why may we not declare that the rays transmitted by the sun to the + earth and the other planets are nothing more nor less than the emanations + of these souls?" And now we may begin to form an adequate conception, of + the rigorously scientific character of our author's method. There have + been many hypotheses by which to account for the supply of solar radiance. + One of the most ingenious and probable of these hypotheses is that of + Helmholtz, according to which the solar radiance is due to the arrested + motion of the sun's constituent particles toward their common centre of + gravity. But this is too fanciful to satisfy M. Figuier. The speculations + of Helmholtz "have the disadvantage of resting on the idea of the sun's + nebulosity,—an hypothesis which would need to be more closely + examined before serving as a basis for so important a deduction." + Accordingly, M. Figuier propounds an explanation which possesses the + signal advantage that there is nothing hypothetical in it. "In our + opinion, the solar radiation is sustained by the continual influx of souls + into the sun." This, as the reader will perceive, is the well-known theory + of Mayer, that the solar heat is due to a perennial bombardment of the sun + by meteors, save that, in place of gross materialistic meteors, M. Figuier + puts ethereal souls. The ether-folk are daily raining into the solar orb + in untold millions, and to the unceasing concussion is due the radiation + which maintains life in the planets, and thus the circle is complete. + </p> + <p> + In spite of their exalted position, the ether-folk do not disdain to + mingle with the affairs of terrestrial mortals. They give us counsel in + dreams, and it is from this source, we presume, that our author has + derived his rigid notions as to scientific method. In evidence of this + dream-theory we have the usual array of cases, "a celebrated journalist, + M. R——," "M. L——, a lawyer," etc., etc., as in + most books of this kind. + </p> + <p> + M. Figuier is not a Darwinian: the derivation of our bodies from the + bodies of apes is a conception too grossly materialistic for him. Our + souls, however, he is quite willing to derive from the souls of lower + animals. Obviously we have pre-existed; how are we to account for Mozart's + precocity save by supposing his pre-existence? He brought with him the + musical skill acquired in a previous life. In general, the souls of + musical children come from nightingales, while the souls of great + architects have passed into them from beavers (p. 247). We do not remember + these past existences, it is true; but when we become ether-folk, we shall + be able to look back in recollection over the whole series. + </p> + <p> + Amid these sublime inquiries, M. Figuier is sometimes notably oblivious of + humbler truths, as might indeed be expected. Thus he repeatedly alludes to + Locke as the author of the doctrine of innate ideas (!!), <a + href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + and he informs us that Kepler never quitted Protestant England (p. 336), + though we believe that the nearest Kepler ever came to living in England + was the refusing of Sir Henry Wotton's request that he should move + thither. + </p> + <p> + And lastly, we are treated to a real dialogue, with quite a dramatic mise + en scene. The author's imaginary friend, Theophilus, enters, "seats + himself in a comfortable chair, places an ottoman under his feet, a book + under his elbow to support it, and a cigarette of Turkish tobacco between + his lips, and sets himself to the task of listening with a grave air of + collectedness, relieved by a certain touch of suspicious severity, as + becomes the arbiter in a literary and philosophic matter." "And so," + begins our author, "you wish to know, my dear Theophilus, WHERE I LOCATE + GOD? I locate him in the centre of the universe, or, in better phrase, at + the central focus, which must exist somewhere, of all the stars that make + the universe, and which, borne onward in a common movement, gravitate + together around this focus." + </p> + <p> + Much more, of an equally scientific character, follows; but in fairness to + the reader, who is already blaming us for wasting the precious moments + over such sorry trash, we may as well conclude our sketch of this new line + of speculation. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + May, 1872. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY. <a href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" + id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + Vie de Jesus, par Ernest Renan. Paris, 1867. (Thirteenth edition, revised + and partly rewritten.) + </p> + <p> + In republishing this and the following article on "The Christ of Dogma," I + am aware that they do but scanty justice to their very interesting + subjects. So much ground is covered that it would be impossible to treat + it satisfactorily in a pair of review-articles; and in particular the + views adopted with regard to the New Testament literature are rather + indicated than justified. These defects I hope to remedy in a future work + on "Jesus of Nazareth, and the Founding of Christianity," for which the + present articles must be regarded as furnishing only a few introductory + hints. This work has been for several years on my mind, but as it may + still be long before I can find the leisure needful for writing it out, it + seemed best to republish these preliminary sketches which have been some + time out of print. The projected work, however, while covering all the + points here treated, will have a much wider scope, dealing on the one hand + with the natural genesis of the complex aggregate of beliefs and + aspirations known as Christianity, and on the other hand with the + metamorphoses which are being wrought in this aggregate by modern + knowledge and modern theories of the world. + </p> + <p> + The views adopted in the present essay as to the date of the Synoptic + Gospels may seem over-conservative to those who accept the ably-argued + conclusions of "Supernatural Religion." Quite possibly in a more detailed + discussion these briefly-indicated data may require revision; but for the + present it seems best to let the article stand as it was written. The + author of "Supernatural Religion" would no doubt admit that, even if the + synoptic gospels had not assumed their present form before the end of the + second century, nevertheless the body of tradition contained in them had + been committed to writing very early in that century. So much appears to + be proved by the very variations of text upon which his argument relies. + And if this be granted, the value of the synoptics as HISTORICAL evidence + is not materially altered. With their value as testimony to so-called + SUPERNATURAL events, the present essay is in no way concerned. + </p> + <p> + Of all the great founders of religions, Jesus is at once the best known + and the least known to the modern scholar. From the dogmatic point of view + he is the best known, from the historic point of view he is the least + known. The Christ of dogma is in every lineament familiar to us from early + childhood; but concerning the Jesus of history we possess but few facts + resting upon trustworthy evidence, and in order to form a picture of him + at once consistent, probable, and distinct in its outlines, it is + necessary to enter upon a long and difficult investigation, in the course + of which some of the most delicate apparatus of modern criticism is + required. This circumstance is sufficiently singular to require especial + explanation. The case of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, which may + perhaps be cited as parallel, is in reality wholly different. Not only did + Sakyamuni live five centuries earlier than Jesus, among a people that have + at no time possessed the art of insuring authenticity in their records of + events, and at an era which is at best but dimly discerned through the + mists of fable and legend, but the work which he achieved lies wholly out + of the course of European history, and it is only in recent times that his + career has presented itself to us as a problem needing to be solved. + Jesus, on the other hand, appeared in an age which is familiarly and in + many respects minutely known to us, and among a people whose fortunes we + can trace with historic certainty for at least seven centuries previous to + his birth; while his life and achievements have probably had a larger + share in directing the entire subsequent intellectual and moral + development of Europe than those of any other man who has ever lived. + Nevertheless, the details of his personal career are shrouded in an + obscurity almost as dense as that which envelops the life of the remote + founder of Buddhism. + </p> + <p> + This phenomenon, however, appears less strange and paradoxical when we + come to examine it more closely. A little reflection will disclose to us + several good reasons why the historical records of the life of Jesus + should be so scanty as they are. In the first place, the activity of Jesus + was private rather than public. Confined within exceedingly narrow limits, + both of space and of duration, it made no impression whatever upon the + politics or the literature of the time. His name does not occur in the + pages of any contemporary writer, Roman, Greek, or Jewish. Doubtless the + case would have been wholly different, had he, like Mohammed, lived to a + ripe age, and had the exigencies of his peculiar position as the Messiah + of the Jewish people brought him into relations with the Empire; though + whether, in such case, the success of his grand undertaking would have + been as complete as it has actually been, may well be doubted. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, Jesus did not, like Mohammed and Paul, leave behind him + authentic writings which might serve to throw light upon his mental + development as well as upon the external facts of his career. Without the + Koran and the four genuine Epistles of Paul, we should be nearly as much + in the dark concerning these great men as we now are concerning the + historical Jesus. We should be compelled to rely, in the one case, upon + the untrustworthy gossip of Mussulman chroniclers, and in the other case + upon the garbled statements of the "Acts of the Apostles," a book written + with a distinct dogmatic purpose, sixty or seventy years after the + occurrence of the events which it professes to record. + </p> + <p> + It is true, many of the words of Jesus, preserved by hearsay tradition + through the generation immediately succeeding his death, have come down to + us, probably with little alteration, in the pages of the three earlier + evangelists. These are priceless data, since, as we shall see, they are + almost the only materials at our command for forming even a partial + conception of the character of Jesus' work. Nevertheless, even here the + cautious inquirer has only too often to pause in face of the difficulty of + distinguishing the authentic utterances of the great teacher from the + later interpolations suggested by the dogmatic necessities of the + narrators. Bitterly must the historian regret that Jesus had no + philosophic disciple, like Xenophon, to record his Memorabilia. Of the + various writings included in the New Testament, the Apocalypse alone (and + possibly the Epistle of Jude) is from the pen of a personal acquaintance + of Jesus; and besides this, the four epistles of Paul, to the Galatians, + Corinthians, and Romans, make up the sum of the writings from which we may + expect contemporary testimony. Yet from these we obtain absolutely nothing + of that for which we are seeking. The brief writings of Paul are occupied + exclusively with the internal significance of Jesus' work. The epistle of + Jude—if it be really written by Jesus' brother of that name, which + is doubtful—is solely a polemic directed against the innovations of + Paul. And the Apocalypse, the work of the fiery and imaginative disciple + John, is confined to a prophetic description of the Messiah's anticipated + return, and tells us nothing concerning the deeds of that Messiah while on + the earth. + </p> + <p> + Here we touch upon our third consideration,—the consideration which + best enables us to see why the historic notices of Jesus are so meagre. + Rightly considered, the statement with which we opened this article is its + own explanation. The Jesus of history is so little known just because the + Christ of dogma is so well known. <a href="#linknote-16" + name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16"><small>16</small></a> Other + teachers—Paul, Mohammed, Sakyamuni—have come merely as + preachers of righteousness, speaking in the name of general principles + with which their own personalities were not directly implicated. But + Jesus, as we shall see, before the close of his life, proclaimed himself + to be something more than a preacher of righteousness. He announced + himself—and justly, from his own point of view—as the + long-expected Messiah sent by Jehovah to liberate the Jewish race. Thus + the success of his religious teachings became at once implicated with the + question of his personal nature and character. After the sudden and + violent termination of his career, it immediately became all-important + with his followers to prove that he was really the Messiah, and to insist + upon the certainty of his speedy return to the earth. Thus the first + generation of disciples dogmatized about him, instead of narrating his + life,—a task which to them would have seemed of little profit. For + them the all-absorbing object of contemplation was the immediate future + rather than the immediate past. As all the earlier Christian literature + informs us, for nearly a century after the death of Jesus, his followers + lived in daily anticipation of his triumphant return to the earth. The end + of all things being so near at hand, no attempt was made to insure + accurate and complete memoirs for the use of a posterity which was + destined, in Christian imagination, never to arrive. The first Christians + wrote but little; even Papias, at the end of a century, preferring + second-hand or third-hand oral tradition to the written gospels which were + then beginning to come into circulation. <a href="#linknote-17" + name="linknoteref-17" id="linknoteref-17"><small>17</small></a> Memoirs of + the life and teachings of Jesus were called forth by the necessity of + having a written standard of doctrine to which to appeal amid the growing + differences of opinion which disturbed the Church. Thus the earlier + gospels exhibit, though in different degrees, the indications of a + modifying, sometimes of an overruling dogmatic purpose. There is, indeed, + no conscious violation of historic truth, but from the varied mass of + material supplied by tradition, such incidents are selected as are fit to + support the views of the writers concerning the personality of Jesus. + Accordingly, while the early gospels throw a strong light upon the state + of Christian opinion at the dates when they were successively composed, + the information which they give concerning Jesus himself is, for that very + reason, often vague, uncritical, and contradictory. Still more is this + true of the fourth gospel, written late in the second century, in which + historic tradition is moulded in the interests of dogma until it becomes + no longer recognizable, and in the place of the human Messiah of the + earlier accounts, we have a semi-divine Logos or Aeon, detached from God, + and incarnate for a brief season in the likeness of man. + </p> + <p> + Not only was history subordinated to dogma by the writers of the + gospel-narratives, but in the minds of the Fathers of the Church who + assisted in determining what writings should be considered canonical, + dogmatic prepossession went very much further than critical acumen. Nor is + this strange when we reflect that critical discrimination in questions of + literary authenticity is one of the latest acquisitions of the cultivated + human mind. In the early ages of the Church the evidence of the + genuineness of any literary production was never weighed critically; + writings containing doctrines acceptable to the majority of Christians + were quoted as authoritative while writings which supplied no dogmatic + want were overlooked, or perhaps condemned as apocryphal. A striking + instance of this is furnished by the fortunes of the Apocalypse. Although + perhaps the best authenticated work in the New Testament collection, its + millenarian doctrines caused it to become unpopular as the Church + gradually ceased to look for the speedy return of the Messiah, and, + accordingly, as the canon assumed a definite shape, it was placed among + the "Antilegomena," or doubtful books, and continued to hold a precarious + position until after the time of the Protestant Reformation. On the other + hand, the fourth gospel, which was quite unknown and probably did not + exist at the time of the Quartodeciman controversy (A. D. 168), was + accepted with little hesitation, and at the beginning of the third century + is mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian, as the work of the + Apostle John. To this uncritical spirit, leading to the neglect of such + books as failed to answer the dogmatic requirements of the Church, may + probably be attributed the loss of so many of the earlier gospels. It is + doubtless for this reason that we do not possess the Aramaean original of + the "Logia" of Matthew, or the "Memorabilia" of Mark, the companion of + Peter,—two works to which Papias (A. D. 120) alludes as containing + authentic reports of the utterances of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + These considerations will, we believe, sufficiently explain the curious + circumstance that, while we know the Christ of dogma so intimately, we + know the Jesus of history so slightly. The literature of early + Christianity enables us to trace with tolerable completeness the progress + of opinion concerning the nature of Jesus, from the time of Paul's early + missions to the time of the Nicene Council; but upon the actual words and + deeds of Jesus it throws a very unsteady light. The dogmatic purpose + everywhere obscures the historic basis. + </p> + <p> + This same dogmatic prepossession which has rendered the data for a + biography of Jesus so scanty and untrustworthy, has also until + comparatively recent times prevented any unbiassed critical examination of + such data as we actually possess. Previous to the eighteenth century any + attempt to deal with the life of Jesus upon purely historical methods + would have been not only contemned as irrational, but stigmatized as + impious. And even in the eighteenth century, those writers who had become + wholly emancipated from ecclesiastic tradition were so destitute of all + historic sympathy and so unskilled in scientific methods of criticism, + that they utterly failed to comprehend the requirements of the problem. + Their aims were in the main polemic, not historical. They thought more of + overthrowing current dogmas than of impartially examining the earliest + Christian literature with a view of eliciting its historic contents; and, + accordingly, they accomplished but little. Two brilliant exceptions must, + however, be noticed. Spinoza, in the seventeenth century, and Lessing, in + the eighteenth, were men far in advance of their age. They are the fathers + of modern historical criticism; and to Lessing in particular, with his + enormous erudition and incomparable sagacity, belongs the honour of + initiating that method of inquiry which, in the hands of the so-called + Tubingen School, has led to such striking and valuable conclusions + concerning, the age and character of all the New Testament literature. But + it was long before any one could be found fit to bend the bow which + Lessing and Spinoza had wielded. A succession of able scholars—Semler, + Eichhorn, Paulus, Schleiermacher Bretschneider, and De Wette—were + required to examine, with German patience and accuracy, the details of the + subject, and to propound various untenable hypotheses, before such a work + could be performed as that of Strauss. The "Life of Jesus," published by + Strauss when only twenty-six years of age, is one of the monumental works + of the nineteenth century, worthy to rank, as a historical effort, along + with such books as Niebuhr's "History of Rome," Wolf's "Prolegomena," or + Bentley's "Dissertations on Phalaris." It instantly superseded and + rendered antiquated everything which had preceded it; nor has any work on + early Christianity been written in Germany for the past thirty years which + has not been dominated by the recollection of that marvellous book. + Nevertheless, the labours of another generation of scholars have carried + our knowledge of the New Testament literature far beyond the point which + it had reached when Strauss first wrote. At that time the dates of but few + of the New Testament writings had been fixed with any approach to + certainty; the age and character of the fourth gospel, the genuineness of + the Pauline epistles, even the mutual relations of the three synoptics, + were still undetermined; and, as a natural result of this uncertainty, the + progress of dogma during the first century was ill understood. At the + present day it is impossible to read the early work of Strauss without + being impressed with the necessity of obtaining positive data as to the + origin and dogmatic character of the New Testament writings, before + attempting to reach any conclusions as to the probable career of Jesus. + These positive data we owe to the genius and diligence of the Tubingen + School, and, above all, to its founder, Ferdinand Christian Baur. + Beginning with the epistles of Paul, of which he distinguished four as + genuine, Baur gradually worked his way through the entire New Testament + collection, detecting—with that inspired insight which only + unflinching diligence can impart to original genius—the age at which + each book was written, and the circumstances which called it forth. To + give any account of Baur's detailed conclusions, or of the method by which + he reached them, would require a volume. They are very scantily presented + in Mr. Mackay's work on the "Tubingen School and its Antecedents," to + which we may refer the reader desirous of further information. We can here + merely say that twenty years of energetic controversy have only served to + establish most of Baur's leading conclusions more firmly than ever. The + priority of the so-called gospel of Matthew, the Pauline purpose of + "Luke," the second in date of our gospels, the derivative and second-hand + character of "Mark," and the unapostolic origin of the fourth gospel, are + points which may for the future be regarded as wellnigh established by + circumstantial evidence. So with respect to the pseudo-Pauline epistles, + Baur's work was done so thoroughly that the only question still left open + for much discussion is that concerning the date and authorship of the + first and second "Thessalonians,"—a point of quite inferior + importance, so far as our present subject is concerned. Seldom have such + vast results been achieved by the labour of a single scholar. Seldom has + any historical critic possessed such a combination of analytic and of + co-ordinating powers as Baur. His keen criticism and his wonderful flashes + of insight exercise upon the reader a truly poetic effect like that which + is felt in contemplating the marvels of physical discovery. + </p> + <p> + The comprehensive labours of Baur were followed up by Zeller's able work + on the "Acts of the Apostles," in which that book was shown to have been + partly founded upon documents written by Luke, or some other companion of + Paul, and expanded and modified by a much later writer with the purpose of + covering up the traces of the early schism between the Pauline and the + Petrine sections of the Church. Along with this, Schwegler's work on the + "Post-Apostolic Times" deserves mention as clearing up many obscure points + relating to the early development of dogma. Finally, the "New Life of + Jesus," by Strauss, adopting and utilizing the principal discoveries of + Baur and his followers, and combining all into one grand historical + picture, worthily completes the task which the earlier work of the same + author had inaugurated. + </p> + <p> + The reader will have noticed that, with the exception of Spinoza, every + one of the names above cited in connection with the literary analysis and + criticism of the New Testament is the name of a German. Until within the + last decade, Germany has indeed possessed almost an absolute monopoly of + the science of Biblical criticism; other countries having remained not + only unfamiliar with its methods, but even grossly ignorant of its + conspicuous results, save when some German treatise of more than ordinary + popularity has now and then been translated. But during the past ten years + France has entered the lists; and the writings of Reville, Reuss, Nicolas, + D'Eichthal, Scherer, and Colani testify to the rapidity with which the + German seed has fructified upon her soil. <a href="#linknote-18" + name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18"><small>18</small></a> + </p> + <p> + None of these books, however, has achieved such wide-spread celebrity, or + done so much toward interesting the general public in this class of + historical inquiries, as the "Life of Jesus," by Renan. This pre-eminence + of fame is partly, but not wholly, deserved. From a purely literary point + of view, Renan's work doubtless merits all the celebrity it has gained. + Its author writes a style such as is perhaps surpassed by that of no other + living Frenchman. It is by far the most readable book which has ever been + written concerning the life of Jesus. And no doubt some of its popularity + is due to its very faults, which, from a critical point of view, are + neither few nor small. For Renan is certainly very faulty, as a historical + critic, when he practically ignores the extreme meagreness of our positive + knowledge of the career of Jesus, and describes scene after scene in his + life as minutely and with as much confidence as if he had himself been + present to witness it all. Again and again the critical reader feels + prompted to ask, How do you know all this? or why, out of two or three + conflicting accounts, do you quietly adopt some particular one, as if its + superior authority were self-evident? But in the eye of the uncritical + reader, these defects are excellences; for it is unpleasant to be kept in + ignorance when we are seeking after definite knowledge, and it is + disheartening to read page after page of an elaborate discussion which + ends in convincing us that definite knowledge cannot be gained. + </p> + <p> + In the thirteenth edition of the "Vie de Jesus," Renan has corrected some + of the most striking errors of the original work, and in particular has, + with praiseworthy candour, abandoned his untenable position with regard to + the age and character of the fourth gospel. As is well known, Renan, in + his earlier editions, ascribed to this gospel a historical value superior + to that of the synoptics, believing it to have been written by an + eyewitness of the events which it relates; and from this source, + accordingly, he drew the larger share of his materials. Now, if there is + any one conclusion concerning the New Testament literature which must be + regarded as incontrovertibly established by the labours of a whole + generation of scholars, it is this, that the fourth gospel was utterly + unknown until about A. D. 170, that it was written by some one who + possessed very little direct knowledge of Palestine, that its purpose was + rather to expound a dogma than to give an accurate record of events, and + that as a guide to the comprehension of the career of Jesus it is of far + less value than the three synoptic gospels. It is impossible, in a brief + review like the present, to epitomize the evidence upon which this + conclusion rests, which may more profitably be sought in the Rev. J. J. + Tayler's work on "The Fourth Gospel," or in Davidson's "Introduction to + the New Testament." It must suffice to mention that this gospel is not + cited by Papias; that Justin, Marcion, and Valentinus make no allusion to + it, though, since it furnishes so much that is germane to their views, + they would gladly have appealed to it, had it been in existence, when + those views were as yet under discussion; and that, finally, in the great + Quartodeciman controversy, A. D. 168, the gospel is not only not + mentioned, but the authority of John is cited by Polycarp in flat + contradiction of the view afterwards taken by this evangelist. Still more, + the assumption of Renan led at once into complicated difficulties with + reference to the Apocalypse. The fourth gospel, if it does not + unmistakably announce itself as the work of John, at least professes to be + Johannine; and it cannot for a moment be supposed that such a book, making + such claims, could have gained currency during John's lifetime without + calling forth his indignant protest. For, in reality, no book in the New + Testament collection would so completely have shocked the prejudices of + the Johannine party. John's own views are well known to us from the + Apocalypse. John was the most enthusiastic of millenarians and the most + narrow and rigid of Judaizers. In his antagonism to the Pauline + innovations he went farther than Peter himself. Intense hatred of Paul and + his followers appears in several passages of the Apocalypse, where they + are stigmatized as "Nicolaitans," "deceivers of the people," "those who + say they are apostles and are not," "eaters of meat offered to idols," + "fornicators," "pretended Jews," "liars," "synagogue of Satan," etc. + (Chap. II.). On the other hand, the fourth gospel contains nothing + millenarian or Judaical; it carries Pauline universalism to a far greater + extent than Paul himself ventured to carry it, even condemning the Jews as + children of darkness, and by implication contrasting them unfavourably + with the Gentiles; and it contains a theory of the nature of Jesus which + the Ebionitish Christians, to whom John belonged, rejected to the last. + </p> + <p> + In his present edition Renan admits the insuperable force of these + objections, and abandons his theory of the apostolic origin of the fourth + gospel. And as this has necessitated the omission or alteration of all + such passages as rested upon the authority of that gospel, the book is to + a considerable extent rewritten, and the changes are such as greatly to + increase its value as a history of Jesus. Nevertheless, the author has so + long been in the habit of shaping his conceptions of the career of Jesus + by the aid of the fourth gospel, that it has become very difficult for him + to pass freely to another point of view. He still clings to the hypothesis + that there is an element of historic tradition contained in the book, + drawn from memorial writings which had perhaps been handed down from John, + and which were inaccessible to the synoptists. In a very interesting + appendix, he collects the evidence in favour of this hypothesis, which + indeed is not without plausibility, since there is every reason for + supposing that the gospel was written at Ephesus, which a century before + had been John's place of residence. But even granting most of Renan's + assumptions, it must still follow that the authority of this gospel is far + inferior to that of the synoptics, and can in no case be very confidently + appealed to. The question is one of the first importance to the historian + of early Christianity. In inquiring into the life of Jesus, the very first + thing to do is to establish firmly in the mind the true relations of the + fourth gospel to the first three. Until this has been done, no one is + competent to write on the subject; and it is because he has done this so + imperfectly, that Renan's work is, from a critical point of view, so + imperfectly successful. + </p> + <p> + The anonymous work entitled "The Jesus of History," which we have placed + at the head of this article, is in every respect noteworthy as the first + systematic attempt made in England to follow in the footsteps of German + criticism in writing a life of Jesus. We know of no good reason why the + book should be published anonymously; for as a historical essay it + possesses extraordinary merit, and does great credit not only to its + author, but to English scholarship and acumen. <a href="#linknote-19" + name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19"><small>19</small></a> It is not, + indeed, a book calculated to captivate the imagination of the reading + public. Though written in a clear, forcible, and often elegant style, it + possesses no such wonderful rhetorical charm as the work of Renan; and it + will probably never find half a dozen readers where the "Vie de Jesus" has + found a hundred. But the success of a book of this sort is not to be + measured by its rhetorical excellence, or by its adaptation to the + literary tastes of an uncritical and uninstructed public, but rather by + the amount of critical sagacity which it brings to bear upon the + elucidation of the many difficult and disputed points in the subject of + which it treats. Measured by this standard, "The Jesus of History" must + rank very high indeed. To say that it throws more light upon the career of + Jesus than any work which has ever before been written in English would be + very inadequate praise, since the English language has been singularly + deficient in this branch of historical literature. We shall convey a more + just idea of its merits if we say that it will bear comparison with + anything which even Germany has produced, save only the works of Strauss, + Baur, and Zeller. + </p> + <p> + The fitness of our author for the task which he has undertaken is shown at + the outset by his choice of materials. In basing his conclusions almost + exclusively upon the statements contained in the first gospel, he is + upheld by every sound principle of criticism. The times and places at + which our three synoptic gospels were written have been, through the + labours of the Tubingen critics, determined almost to a certainty. Of the + three, "Mark" is unquestionably the latest; with the exception of about + twenty verses, it is entirely made up from "Matthew" and "Luke," the + diverse Petrine and Pauline tendencies of which it strives to neutralize + in conformity to the conciliatory disposition of the Church at Rome, at + the epoch at which this gospel was written, about A. D. 130. The third + gospel was also written at Rome, some fifteen years earlier. In the + preface, its author describes it as a compilation from previously existing + written materials. Among these materials was certainly the first gospel, + several passages of which are adopted word for word by the author of + "Luke." Yet the narrative varies materially from that of the first gospel + in many essential points. The arrangement of events is less natural, and, + as in the "Acts of the Apostles," by the same author, there is apparent + throughout the design of suppressing the old discord between Paul and the + Judaizing disciples, and of representing Christianity as essentially + Pauline from the outset. How far Paul was correct in his interpretation of + the teachings of Jesus, it is difficult to decide. It is, no doubt, + possible that the first gospel may have lent to the words of Jesus an + Ebionite colouring in some instances, and that now and then the third + gospel may present us with a truer account. To this supremely important + point we shall by and by return. For the present it must suffice to + observe that the evidences of an overruling dogmatic purpose are generally + much more conspicuous in the third synoptist than in the first; and that + the very loose manner in which this writer has handled his materials in + the "Acts" is not calculated to inspire us with confidence in the + historical accuracy of his gospel. The writer who, in spite of the direct + testimony of Paul himself could represent the apostle to the Gentiles as + acting under the direction of the disciples at Jerusalem, and who puts + Pauline sentiments into the mouth of Peter, would certainly have been + capable of unwarrantably giving a Pauline turn to the teachings of Jesus + himself. We are therefore, as a last resort, brought back to the first + gospel, which we find to possess, as a historical narrative, far stronger + claims upon our attention than the second and third. In all probability it + had assumed nearly its present shape before A. D. 100, its origin is + unmistakably Palestinian; it betrays comparatively few indications of + dogmatic purpose; and there are strong reasons for believing that the + speeches of Jesus recorded in it are in substance taken from the genuine + "Logia" of Matthew mentioned by Papias, which must have been written as + early as A. D. 60-70, before the destruction of Jerusalem. Indeed, we are + inclined to agree with our author that the gospel, even in its present + shape (save only a few interpolated passages), may have existed as early + as A. D. 80, since it places the time of Jesus' second coming immediately + after the destruction of Jerusalem; whereas the third evangelist, who + wrote forty-five years after that event, is careful to tell us, "The end + is NOT immediately." Moreover, it must have been written while the + Paulo-Petrine controversy was still raging, as is shown by the parable of + the "enemy who sowed the tares," which manifestly refers to Paul, and also + by the allusions to "false prophets" (vii. 15), to those who say "Lord, + Lord," and who "cast out demons in the name of the Lord" (vii. 21-23), + teaching men to break the commandments (v. 17-20). There is, therefore, + good reason for believing that we have here a narrative written not much + more than fifty years after the death of Jesus, based partly upon the + written memorials of an apostle, and in the main trustworthy, save where + it relates occurrences of a marvellous and legendary character. Such is + our author's conclusion, and in describing the career of the Jesus of + history, he relies almost exclusively upon the statements contained in the + first gospel. Let us now after this long but inadequate introduction, give + a brief sketch of the life of Jesus, as it is to be found in our author. + </p> + <p> + Concerning the time and place of the birth of Jesus, we know next to + nothing. According to uniform tradition, based upon a statement of the + third gospel, he was about thirty years of age at the time when he began + teaching. The same gospel states, with elaborate precision, that the + public career of John the Baptist began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, + or A. D. 28. In the winter of A. D. 35-36, Pontius Pilate was recalled + from Judaea, so that the crucifixion could not have taken place later than + in the spring of 35. Thus we have a period of about six years during which + the ministry of Jesus must have begun and ended; and if the tradition with + respect to his age be trustworthy, we shall not be far out of the way in + supposing him to have been born somewhere between B. C. 5 and A. D. 5. He + is everywhere alluded to in the gospels as Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, + where lived also his father, mother brothers and sisters, and where very + likely he was born. His parents' names are said to have been Joseph and + Mary. His own name is a Hellenized form of Joshua, a name very common + among the Jews. According to the first gospel (xiii. 55), he had four + brothers,—Joseph and Simon; James, who was afterwards one of the + heads of the church at Jerusalem, and the most formidable enemy of Paul; + and Judas or Jude, who is perhaps the author of the anti-Pauline epistle + commonly ascribed to him. + </p> + <p> + Of the early youth of Jesus, and of the circumstances which guided his + intellectual development, we know absolutely nothing, nor have we the data + requisite for forming any plausible hypothesis. He first appears in + history about A. D. 29 or 30, in connection with a very remarkable person + whom the third evangelist describes as his cousin, and who seems, from his + mode of life, to have been in some way connected with or influenced by the + Hellenizing sect of Essenes. Here we obtain our first clew to guide us in + forming a consecutive theory of the development of Jesus' opinions. The + sect of Essenes took its rise in the time of the Maccabees, about B. C. + 170. Upon the fundamental doctrines of Judaism it had engrafted many + Pythagorean notions, and was doubtless in the time of Jesus instrumental + in spreading Greek ideas among the people of Galilee, where Judaism was + far from being so narrow and rigid as at Jerusalem. The Essenes attached + but little importance to the Messianic expectations of the Pharisees, and + mingled scarcely at all in national politics. They lived for the most part + a strictly ascetic life, being indeed the legitimate predecessors of the + early Christian hermits and monks. But while pre-eminent for sanctity of + life, they heaped ridicule upon the entire sacrificial service of the + Temple, despised the Pharisees as hypocrites, and insisted upon charity + toward all men instead of the old Jewish exclusiveness. + </p> + <p> + It was once a favourite theory that both John the Baptist and Jesus were + members of the Essenian brotherhood; but that theory is now generally + abandoned. Whatever may have been the case with John, who is said to have + lived like an anchorite in the desert, there seems to have been but little + practical Essenism in Jesus, who is almost uniformly represented as + cheerful and social in demeanour, and against whom it was expressly urged + that he came eating and drinking, making no presence of puritanical + holiness. He was neither a puritan, like the Essenes, nor a ritualist, + like the Pharisees. Besides which, both John and Jesus seem to have begun + their careers by preaching the un-Essene doctrine of the speedy advent of + the "kingdom of heaven," by which is meant the reign of the Messiah upon + the earth. Nevertheless, though we cannot regard Jesus as actually a + member of the Essenian community or sect, we can hardly avoid the + conclusion that he, as well as John the Baptist, had been at some time + strongly influenced by Essenian doctrines. The spiritualized conception of + the "kingdom of heaven" proclaimed by him was just what would naturally + and logically arise from a remodelling of the Messianic theories of the + Pharisees in conformity to advanced Essenian notions. It seems highly + probable that some such refined conception of the functions of the Messiah + was reached by John, who, stigmatizing the Pharisees and Sadducees as a + "generation of vipers," called aloud to the people to repent of their + sins, in view of the speedy advent of the Messiah, and to testify to their + repentance by submitting to the Essenian rite of baptism. There is no + positive evidence that Jesus was ever a disciple of John; yet the account + of the baptism, in spite of the legendary character of its details, seems + to rest upon a historical basis; and perhaps the most plausible hypothesis + which can be framed is, that Jesus received baptism at John's hands, + became for a while his disciple, and acquired from him a knowledge of + Essenian doctrines. + </p> + <p> + The career of John seems to have been very brief. His stern puritanism + brought him soon into disgrace with the government of Galilee. He was + seized by Herod, thrown into prison, and beheaded. After the brief hints + given as to the intercourse between Jesus and John, we next hear of Jesus + alone in the desert, where, like Sakyamuni and Mohammed, he may have + brooded in solitude over his great project. Yet we do not find that he had + as yet formed any distinct conception of his own Messiahship. The total + neglect of chronology by our authorities <a href="#linknote-20" + name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20"><small>20</small></a> renders it + impossible to trace the development of his thoughts step by step; but for + some time after John's catastrophe we find him calling upon the people to + repent, in view of the speedy approach of the Messiah, speaking with great + and commanding personal authority, but using no language which would + indicate that he was striving to do more than worthily fill the place and + add to the good work of his late master. The Sermon on the Mount, which + the first gospel inserts in this place, was perhaps never spoken as a + continuous discourse; but it no doubt for the most part contains the very + words of Jesus, and represents the general spirit of his teaching during + this earlier portion of his career. In this is contained nearly all that + has made Christianity so powerful in the domain of ethics. If all the rest + of the gospel were taken away, or destroyed in the night of some future + barbarian invasion, we should still here possess the secret of the + wonderful impression which Jesus made upon those who heard him speak. + Added to the Essenian scorn of Pharisaic formalism, and the spiritualized + conception of the Messianic kingdom, which Jesus may probably have shared + with John the Baptist, we have here for the first time the distinctively + Christian conception of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, + which ultimately insured the success of the new religion. The special + point of originality in Jesus was his conception of Deity. As Strauss well + says, "He conceived of God, in a moral point of view, as being identical + in character with himself in the most exalted moments of his religious + life, and strengthened in turn his own religious life by this ideal. But + the most exalted religious tendency in his own consciousness was exactly + that comprehensive love, overpowering the evil only by the good, which he + therefore transferred to God as the fundamental tendency of His nature." + From this conception of God, observes Zeller, flowed naturally all the + moral teaching of Jesus, the insistence upon spiritual righteousness + instead of the mere mechanical observance of Mosaic precepts, the call to + be perfect even as the Father is perfect, the principle of the spiritual + equality of men before God, and the equal duties of all men toward each + other. + </p> + <p> + How far, in addition to these vitally important lessons, Jesus may have + taught doctrines of an ephemeral or visionary character, it is very + difficult to decide. We are inclined to regard the third gospel as of some + importance in settling this point. The author of that gospel represents + Jesus as decidedly hostile to the rich. Where Matthew has "Blessed are the + poor in spirit," Luke has "Blessed are ye poor." In the first gospel we + read, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for + they will be filled"; but in the third gospel we find, "Blessed are ye + that hunger now, for ye will be filled"; and this assurance is immediately + followed by the denunciation, "Woe to you that are rich, for ye have + received your consolation! Woe to you that are full now, for ye will + hunger." The parable of Dives and Lazarus illustrates concretely this view + of the case, which is still further corroborated by the account, given in + both the first and the third gospels, of the young man who came to seek + everlasting life. Jesus here maintains that righteousness is insufficient + unless voluntary poverty be superadded. Though the young man has strictly + fulfilled the greatest of the commandments,—to love his neighbour as + himself,—he is required, as a needful proof of his sincerity, to + distribute all his vast possessions among the poor. And when he naturally + manifests a reluctance to perform so superfluous a sacrifice, Jesus + observes that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a + needle than for a rich man to share in the glories of the anticipated + Messianic kingdom. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that we have + here a very primitive and probably authentic tradition; and when we + remember the importance which, according to the "Acts," the earliest + disciples attached to the principle of communism, as illustrated in the + legend of Ananias and Sapphira, we must admit strong reasons for believing + that Jesus himself held views which tended toward the abolition of private + property. On this point, the testimony of the third evangelist singly is + of considerable weight; since at the time when he wrote, the communistic + theories of the first generation of Christians had been generally + abandoned, and in the absence of any dogmatic motives, he could only have + inserted these particular traditions because he believed them to possess + historical value. But we are not dependent on the third gospel alone. The + story just cited is attested by both our authorities, and is in perfect + keeping with the general views of Jesus as reported by the first + evangelist. Thus his disciples are enjoined to leave all, and follow him; + to take no thought for the morrow; to think no more of laying up treasures + on the earth, for in the Messianic kingdom they shall have treasures in + abundance, which can neither be wasted nor stolen. On making their + journeys, they are to provide neither money, nor clothes, nor food, but + are to live at the expense of those whom they visit; and if any town + refuse to harbour them, the Messiah, on his arrival, will deal with that + town more severely than Jehovah dealt with the cities of the plain. + Indeed, since the end of the world was to come before the end of the + generation then living (Matt. xxiv. 34; 1 Cor. xv. 51-56, vii. 29), there + could be no need for acquiring property or making arrangements for the + future; even marriage became unnecessary. These teachings of Jesus have a + marked Essenian character, as well as his declaration that in the + Messianic kingdom there was to be no more marriage, perhaps no distinction + of sex (Matt. xxii. 30). The sect of Ebionites, who represented the + earliest doctrine and practice of Christianity before it had been modified + by Paul, differed from the Essenes in no essential respect save in the + acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah, and the expectation of his speedy + return to the earth. + </p> + <p> + How long, or with what success, Jesus continued to preach the coming of + the Messiah in Galilee, it is impossible to conjecture. His + fellow-townsmen of Nazareth appear to have ridiculed him in his + prophetical capacity; or, if we may trust the third evangelist, to have + arisen against him with indignation, and made an attempt upon his life. To + them he was but a carpenter, the son of a carpenter (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark + vi. 3), who told them disagreeable truths. Our author represents his + teaching in Galilee to have produced but little result, but the gospel + narratives afford no definite data for deciding this point. We believe the + most probable conclusion to be that Jesus did attract many followers, and + became famous throughout Galilee; for Herod is said to have regarded him + as John the Baptist risen from the grave. To escape the malice of Herod, + Jesus then retired to Syro-Phoenicia, and during this eventful journey the + consciousness of his own Messiahship seems for the first time to have + distinctly dawned upon him (Matt. xiv. 1, 13; xv. 21; xvi. 13-20). + Already, it appears, speculations were rife as to the character of this + wonderful preacher. Some thought he was John the Baptist, or perhaps one + of the prophets of the Assyrian period returned to the earth. Some, in + accordance with a generally-received tradition, supposed him to be Elijah, + who had never seen death, and had now at last returned from the regions + above the firmament to announce the coming of the Messiah in the clouds. + It was generally admitted, among enthusiastic hearers, that he who spake + as never man spake before must have some divine commission to execute. + These speculations, coming to the ears of Jesus during his preaching in + Galilee, could not fail to excite in him a train of self-conscious + reflections. To him also must have been presented the query as to his own + proper character and functions; and, as our author acutely demonstrates, + his only choice lay between a profitless life of exile in Syro-Phoenicia, + and a bold return to Jewish territory in some pronounced character. The + problem being thus propounded, there could hardly be a doubt as to what + that character should be. Jesus knew well that he was not John the + Baptist; nor, however completely he may have been dominated by his sublime + enthusiasm, was it likely that he could mistake himself for an ancient + prophet arisen from the lower world of shades, or for Elijah descended + from the sky. But the Messiah himself he might well be. Such indeed was + the almost inevitable corollary from his own conception of Messiahship. We + have seen that he had, probably from the very outset, discarded the + traditional notion of a political Messiah, and recognized the truth that + the happiness of a people lies not so much in political autonomy as in the + love of God and the sincere practice of righteousness. The people were to + be freed from the bondage of sin, of meaningless formalism, of consecrated + hypocrisy,—a bondage more degrading than the payment of tribute to + the emperor. The true business of the Messiah, then, was to deliver his + people from the former bondage; it might be left to Jehovah, in his own + good time, to deliver them from the latter. Holding these views, it was + hardly possible that it should not sooner or later occur to Jesus that he + himself was the person destined to discharge this glorious function, to + liberate his countrymen from the thraldom of Pharisaic ritualism, and to + inaugurate the real Messianic kingdom of spiritual righteousness. Had he + not already preached the advent of this spiritual kingdom, and been + instrumental in raising many to loftier conceptions of duty, and to a + higher and purer life? And might he not now, by a grand attack upon + Pharisaism in its central stronghold, destroy its prestige in the eyes of + the people, and cause Israel to adopt a nobler religious and ethical + doctrine? The temerity of such a purpose detracts nothing from its + sublimity. And if that purpose should be accomplished, Jesus would really + have performed the legitimate work of the Messiah. Thus, from his own + point of view, Jesus was thoroughly consistent and rational in announcing + himself as the expected Deliverer; and in the eyes of the impartial + historian his course is fully justified. + </p> + <p> + "From that time," says the first evangelist, "Jesus began to show to his + disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the + elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and rise again + on the third day." Here we have, obviously, the knowledge of the writer, + after the event, reflected back and attributed to Jesus. It is of course + impossible that Jesus should have predicted with such definiteness his + approaching death; nor is it very likely that he entertained any hope of + being raised from the grave "on the third day." To a man in that age and + country, the conception of a return from the lower world of shades was not + a difficult one to frame; and it may well be that Jesus' sense of his own + exalted position was sufficiently great to inspire him with the confidence + that, even in case of temporary failure, Jehovah would rescue him from the + grave and send him back with larger powers to carry out the purpose of his + mission. But the difficulty of distinguishing between his own words and + the interpretation put upon them by his disciples becomes here + insuperable; and there will always be room for the hypothesis that Jesus + had in view no posthumous career of his own, but only expressed his + unshaken confidence in the success of his enterprise, even after and in + spite of his death. + </p> + <p> + At all events, the possibility of his death must now have been often in + his mind. He was undertaking a wellnigh desperate task,—to overthrow + the Pharisees in Jerusalem itself. No other alternative was left him. And + here we believe Mr. F. W. Newman to be singularly at fault in pronouncing + this attempt of Jesus upon Jerusalem a foolhardy attempt. According to Mr. + Newman, no man has any business to rush upon certain death, and it is only + a crazy fanatic who will do so. <a href="#linknote-21" + name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21"><small>21</small></a> But such + "glittering generalizations" will here help us but little. The historic + data show that to go to Jerusalem, even at the risk of death, was + absolutely necessary to the realization of Jesus' Messianic project. Mr. + Newman certainly would not have had him drag out an inglorious and baffled + existence in Syro-Phoenicia. If the Messianic kingdom was to be fairly + inaugurated, there was work to be done in Jerusalem, and Jesus must go + there as one in authority, cost what it might. We believe him to have gone + there in a spirit of grand and careless bravery, yet seriously and + soberly, and under the influence of no fanatical delusion. He knew the + risks, but deliberately chose to incur them, that the will of Jehovah + might be accomplished. + </p> + <p> + We next hear of Jesus travelling down to Jerusalem by way of Jericho, and + entering the sacred city in his character of Messiah, attended by a great + multitude. It was near the time of the Passover, when people from all + parts of Galilee and Judaea were sure to be at Jerusalem, and the nature + of his reception seems to indicate that he had already secured a + considerable number of followers upon whose assistance he might hope to + rely, though it nowhere appears that he intended to use other than purely + moral weapons to insure a favourable reception. We must remember that for + half a century many of the Jewish people had been constantly looking for + the arrival of the Messiah, and there can be little doubt that the entry + of Jesus riding upon an ass in literal fulfilment of prophecy must have + wrought powerfully upon the imagination of the multitude. That the + believers in him were very numerous must be inferred from the cautious, + not to say timid, behaviour of the rulers at Jerusalem, who are + represented as desiring to arrest him, but as deterred from taking active + steps through fear of the people. We are led to the same conclusion by his + driving the money-changers out of the Temple; an act upon which he could + hardly have ventured, had not the popular enthusiasm in his favour been + for the moment overwhelming. But the enthusiasm of a mob is short-lived, + and needs to be fed upon the excitement of brilliant and dramatically + arranged events. The calm preacher of righteousness, or even the fiery + denouncer of the scribes and Pharisees, could not hope to retain + undiminished authority save by the display of extraordinary powers to + which, so far as we know, Jesus (like Mohammed) made no presence (Matt. + xvi. 1-4). The ignorant and materialistic populace could not understand + the exalted conception of Messiahship which had been formed by Jesus, and + as day after day elapsed without the appearance of any marvellous sign + from Jehovah, their enthusiasm must naturally have cooled down. Then the + Pharisees appear cautiously endeavouring to entrap him into admissions + which might render him obnoxious to the Roman governor. He saw through + their design, however, and foiled them by the magnificent repartee, + "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things + that are God's." Nothing could more forcibly illustrate the completely + non-political character of his Messianic doctrines. Nevertheless, we are + told that, failing in this attempt, the chief priests suborned false + witnesses to testify against him: this Sabbath-breaker, this derider of + Mosaic formalism, who with his Messianic pretensions excited the people + against their hereditary teachers, must at all events be put out of the + way. Jesus must suffer the fate which society has too often had in store + for the reformer; the fate which Sokrates and Savonarola, Vanini and + Bruno, have suffered for being wiser than their own generation. Messianic + adventurers had already given much trouble to the Roman authorities, who + were not likely to scrutinize critically the peculiar claims of Jesus. And + when the chief priests accused him before Pilate of professing to be "King + of the Jews," this claim could in Roman apprehension bear but one + interpretation. The offence was treason, punishable, save in the case of + Roman citizens, by crucifixion. + </p> + <p> + Such in its main outlines is the historic career of Jesus, as constructed + by our author from data furnished chiefly by the first gospel. Connected + with the narrative there are many interesting topics of discussion, of + which our rapidly diminishing space will allow us to select only one for + comment. That one is perhaps the most important of all, namely, the + question as to how far Jesus anticipated the views of Paul in admitting + Gentiles to share in the privileges of the Messianic kingdom. Our author + argues, with much force, that the designs of Jesus were entirely confined + to the Jewish people, and that it was Paul who first, by admitting + Gentiles to the Christian fold without requiring them to live like Jews, + gave to Christianity the character of a universal religion. Our author + reminds us that the third gospel is not to be depended upon in determining + this point, since it manifestly puts Pauline sentiments into the mouth of + Jesus, and in particular attributes to Jesus an acquaintance with + heretical Samaria which the first gospel disclaims. He argues that the + apostles were in every respect Jews, save in their belief that Jesus was + the Messiah; and he pertinently asks, if James, who was the brother of + Jesus, and Peter and John, who were his nearest friends, unanimously + opposed Paul and stigmatized him as a liar and heretic, is it at all + likely that Jesus had ever distinctly sanctioned such views as Paul + maintained? + </p> + <p> + In the course of many years' reflection upon this point, we have several + times been inclined to accept the narrow interpretation of Jesus' teaching + here indicated; yet, on the whole, we do not believe it can ever be + conclusively established. In the first place it must be remembered that if + the third gospel throws a Pauline colouring over the events which it + describes, the first gospel also shows a decidedly anti-Pauline bias, and + the one party was as likely as the other to attribute its own views to + Jesus himself. One striking instance of this tendency has been pointed out + by Strauss, who has shown that the verses Matt. v. 17-20 are an + interpolation. The person who teaches men to break the commandments is + undoubtedly Paul, and in order to furnish a text against Paul's followers, + the "Nicolaitans," Jesus is made to declare that he came not to destroy + one tittle of the law, but to fulfil the whole in every particular. Such + an utterance is in manifest contradiction to the spirit of Jesus' + teaching, as shown in the very same chapter, and throughout a great part + of the same gospel. He who taught in his own name and not as the scribes, + who proclaimed himself Lord over the Sabbath, and who manifested from + first to last a more than Essenian contempt for rites and ceremonies, did + not come to fulfil the law of Mosaism, but to supersede it. Nor can any + inference adverse to this conclusion be drawn from the injunction to the + disciples (Matt. x. 5-7) not to preach to Gentiles and Samaritans, but + only "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"; for this remark is placed + before the beginning of Jesus' Messianic career, and the reason assigned + for the restriction is merely that the disciples will not have time even + to preach to all the Jews before the coming of the Messiah, whose approach + Jesus was announcing (Matt. x. 23) + </p> + <p> + These examples show that we must use caution in weighing the testimony + even of the first gospel, and must not too hastily cite it as proof that + Jesus supposed his mission to be restricted to the Jews. When we come to + consider what happened a few years after the death of Jesus, we shall be + still less ready to insist upon the view defended by our anonymous author. + Paul, according to his own confession, persecuted the Christians unto + death. Now what, in the theories or in the practice of the Jewish + disciples of Jesus, could have moved Paul to such fanatic behaviour? + Certainly not their spiritual interpretation of Mosaism, for Paul himself + belonged to the liberal school of Gamaliel, to the views of which the + teachings and practices of Peter, James, and John might easily be + accommodated. Probably not their belief in Jesus as the Messiah, for at + the riot in which Stephen was murdered and all the Hellenist disciples + driven from Jerusalem, the Jewish disciples were allowed to remain in the + city unmolested. (See Acts viii. 1, 14.) This marked difference of + treatment indicates that Paul regarded Stephen and his friends as + decidedly more heretical and obnoxious than Peter, James, and John, whom, + indeed, Paul's own master Gamaliel had recently (Acts v. 34) defended + before the council. And this inference is fully confirmed by the account + of Stephen's death, where his murderers charge him with maintaining that + Jesus had founded a new religion which was destined entirely to supersede + and replace Judaism (Acts vi. 14). The Petrine disciples never held this + view of the mission of Jesus; and to this difference it is undoubtedly + owing that Paul and his companions forbore to disturb them. It would thus + appear that even previous to Paul's conversion, within five or six years + after the death of Jesus, there was a prominent party among the disciples + which held that the new religion was not a modification but an abrogation + of Judaism; and their name "Hellenists" sufficiently shows either that + there were Gentiles among them or that they held fellowship with Gentiles. + It was this which aroused Paul to persecution, and upon his sudden + conversion it was with these Hellenistic doctrines that he fraternized, + taking little heed of the Petrine disciples (Galatians i. 17), who were + hardly more than a Jewish sect. + </p> + <p> + Now the existence of these Hellenists at Jerusalem so soon after the death + of Jesus is clear proof that he had never distinctly and irrevocably + pronounced against the admission of Gentiles to the Messianic kingdom, and + it makes it very probable that the downfall of Mosaism as a result of his + preaching was by no means unpremeditated. While, on the other hand, the + obstinacy of the Petrine party in adhering to Jewish customs shows equally + that Jesus could not have unequivocally committed himself in favour of a + new gospel for the Gentiles. Probably Jesus was seldom brought into direct + contact with others than Jews, so that the questions concerning the + admission of Gentile converts did not come up during his lifetime; and + thus the way was left open for the controversy which soon broke out + between the Petrine party and Paul. Nevertheless, though Jesus may never + have definitely pronounced upon this point, it will hardly be denied that + his teaching, even as reported in the first gospel, is in its utter + condemnation of formalism far more closely allied to the Pauline than to + the Petrine doctrines. In his hands Mosaism became spiritualized until it + really lost its identity, and was transformed into a code fit for the + whole Roman world. And we do not doubt that if any one had asked Jesus + whether circumcision were an essential prerequisite for admission to the + Messianic kingdom, he would have given the same answer which Paul + afterwards gave. We agree with Zeller and Strauss that, "as Luther was a + more liberal spirit than the Lutheran divines of the succeeding + generation, and Sokrates a more profound thinker than Xenophon or + Antisthenes, so also Jesus must be credited with having raised himself far + higher above the narrow prejudices of his nation than those of his + disciples who could scarcely understand the spread of Christianity among + the heathen when it had become an accomplished fact." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + January, 1870. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA. <a href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" + id="linknoteref-22"><small>22</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + Histoire du Dogme de la Divinite de Jesus-Christ, par Albert Reville. + Paris, 1869. + </p> + <p> + The End of the World and the Day of Judgment. Two Discourses by the Rev. + W. R. Alger. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870. + </p> + <p> + The meagreness of our information concerning the historic career of Jesus + stands in striking contrast with the mass of information which lies within + our reach concerning the primitive character of Christologic speculation. + First we have the four epistles of Paul, written from twenty to thirty + years after the crucifixion, which, although they tell us next to nothing + about what Jesus did, nevertheless give us very plain information as to + the impression which he made. Then we have the Apocalypse, written by + John, A. D. 68, which exhibits the Messianic theory entertained by the + earliest disciples. Next we have the epistles to the Hebrews, Philippians, + Colossians, and Ephesians, besides the four gospels, constituting + altogether a connected chain of testimony to the progress of Christian + doctrine from the destruction of Jerusalem to the time of the + Quartodeciman controversy (A. D. 70-170). Finally, there is the vast + collection of apocryphal, heretical, and patristic literature, from the + writings of Justin Martyr, the pseudo-Clement, and the pseudo-Ignatius, + down to the time of the Council of Nikaia, when the official theories of + Christ's person assumed very nearly the shape which they have retained, + within the orthodox churches of Christendom, down to the present day. As + we pointed out in the foregoing essay, while all this voluminous + literature throws but an uncertain light upon the life and teachings of + the founder of Christianity, it nevertheless furnishes nearly all the data + which we could desire for knowing what the early Christians thought of the + master of their faith. Having given a brief account of the historic career + of Jesus, so far as it can now be determined, we propose here to sketch + the rise and progress of Christologic doctrine, in its most striking + features, during the first three centuries. Beginning with the apostolic + view of the human Messiah sent to deliver Judaism from its spiritual + torpor, and prepare it for the millennial kingdom, we shall briefly trace + the progressive metamorphosis of this conception until it completely loses + its identity in the Athanasian theory, according to which Jesus was God + himself, the Creator of the universe, incarnate in human flesh. + </p> + <p> + The earliest dogma held by the apostles concerning Jesus was that of his + resurrection from the grave after death. It was not only the earliest, but + the most essential to the success of the new religion. Christianity might + have overspread the Roman Empire, and maintained its hold upon men's faith + until to-day, without the dogmas of the incarnation and the Trinity; but + without the dogma of the resurrection it would probably have failed at the + very outset. Its lofty morality would not alone have sufficed to insure + its success. For what men needed then, as indeed they still need, and will + always need, was not merely a rule of life and a mirror to the heart, but + also a comprehensive and satisfactory theory of things, a philosophy or + theosophy. The times demanded intellectual as well as moral consolation; + and the disintegration of ancient theologies needed to be repaired, that + the new ethical impulse imparted by Christianity might rest upon a + plausible speculative basis. The doctrine of the resurrection was but the + beginning of a series of speculative innovations which prepared the way + for the new religion to emancipate itself from Judaism, and achieve the + conquest of the Empire. Even the faith of the apostles in the speedy + return of their master the Messiah must have somewhat lost ground, had it + not been supported by their belief in his resurrection from the grave and + his consequent transfer from Sheol, the gloomy land of shadows, to the + regions above the sky. + </p> + <p> + The origin of the dogma of the resurrection cannot be determined with + certainty. The question has, during the past century, been the subject of + much discussion, upon which it is not necessary for us here to comment. + Such apparent evidence as there is in favour of the old theory of Jesus' + natural recovery from the effects of the crucifixion may be found in + Salvador's "Jesus-Christ et sa Doctrine"; but, as Zeller has shown, the + theory is utterly unsatisfactory. The natural return of Jesus to his + disciples never could have given rise to the notion of his resurrection, + since the natural explanation would have been the more obvious one; + besides which, if we were to adopt this hypothesis, we should be obliged + to account for the fact that the historic career of Jesus ends with the + crucifixion. The most probable explanation, on the whole, is the one + suggested by the accounts in the gospels, that the dogma of the + resurrection is due originally to the excited imagination of Mary of + Magdala. <a href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23"><small>23</small></a> + The testimony of Paul may also be cited in favour of this view, since he + always alludes to earlier Christophanies in just the same language which + he uses in describing his own vision on the road to Damascus. + </p> + <p> + But the question as to how the belief in the resurrection of Jesus + originated is of less importance than the question as to how it should + have produced the effect that it did. The dogma of the resurrection has, + until recent times, been so rarely treated from the historical point of + view, that the student of history at first finds some difficulty in + thoroughly realizing its import to the minds of those who first proclaimed + it. We cannot hope to understand it without bearing in mind the theories + of the Jews and early Christians concerning the structure of the world and + the cosmic location of departed souls. Since the time of Copernicus modern + Christians no longer attempt to locate heaven and hell; they are conceived + merely as mysterious places remote from the earth. The theological + universe no longer corresponds to that which physical science presents for + our contemplation. It was quite different with the Jew. His conception of + the abode of Jehovah and the angels, and of departed souls, was + exceedingly simple and definite. In the Jewish theory the universe is like + a sort of three-story house. The flat earth rests upon the waters, and + under the earth's surface is the land of graves, called Sheol, where after + death the souls of all men go, the righteous as well as the wicked, for + the Jew had not arrived at the doctrine of heaven and hell. The Hebrew + Sheol corresponds strictly to the Greek Hades, before the notions of + Elysium and Tartarus were added to it,—a land peopled with flitting + shadows, suffering no torment, but experiencing no pleasure, like those + whom Dante met in one of the upper circles of his Inferno. Sheol is the + first story of the cosmic house; the earth is the second. Above the earth + is the firmament or sky, which, according to the book of Genesis (chap. i. + v. 6, Hebrew text), is a vast plate hammered out by the gods, and supports + a great ocean like that upon which the earth rests. Rain is caused by the + opening of little windows or trap-doors in the firmament, through which + pours the water of this upper ocean. Upon this water rests the land of + heaven, where Jehovah reigns, surrounded by hosts of angels. To this + blessed land two only of the human race had ever been admitted,—Enoch + and Elijah, the latter of whom had ascended in a chariot of fire, and was + destined to return to earth as the herald and forerunner of the Messiah. + Heaven forms the third story of the cosmic house. Between the firmament + and the earth is the air, which is the habitation of evil demons ruled by + Satan, the "prince of the powers of the air." + </p> + <p> + Such was the cosmology of the ancient Jew; and his theology was equally + simple. Sheol was the destined abode of all men after death, and no theory + of moral retribution was attached to the conception. The rewards and + punishments known to the authors of the Pentateuch and the early Psalms + are all earthly rewards and punishments. But in course of time the + prosperity of the wicked and the misfortunes of the good man furnished a + troublesome problem for the Jewish thinker; and after the Babylonish + Captivity, we find the doctrine of a resurrection from Sheol devised in + order to meet this case. According to this doctrine—which was + borrowed from the Zarathustrian theology of Persia—the Messiah on + his arrival was to free from Sheol all the souls of the righteous, causing + them to ascend reinvested in their bodies to a renewed and beautiful + earth, while on the other hand the wicked were to be punished with + tortures like those of the valley of Hinnom, or were to be immersed in + liquid brimstone, like that which had rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Here + we get the first announcement of a future state of retribution. The + doctrine was peculiarly Pharisaic, and the Sadducees, who were strict + adherents to the letter of Mosaism, rejected it to the last. By degrees + this doctrine became coupled with the Messianic theories of the Pharisees. + The loss of Jewish independence under the dominion of Persians, + Macedonians, and Romans, caused the people to look ever more earnestly + toward the expected time when the Messiah should appear in Jerusalem to + deliver them from their oppressors. The moral doctrines of the Psalms and + earlier prophets assumed an increasingly political aspect. The Jews were + the righteous "under a cloud," whose sufferings were symbolically depicted + by the younger Isaiah as the afflictions of the "servant of Jehovah"; + while on the other hand, the "wicked" were the Gentile oppressors of the + holy people. Accordingly the Messiah, on his arrival, was to sit in + judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat, rectifying the wrongs of his chosen + ones, condemning the Gentile tyrants to the torments of Gehenna, and + raising from Sheol all those Jews who had lived and died during the evil + times before his coming. These were to find in the Messianic kingdom the + compensation for the ills which they had suffered in their first earthly + existence. Such are the main outlines of the theory found in the Book of + Enoch, written about B. C. 100, and it is adopted in the Johannine + Apocalypse, with little variation, save in the recognition of Jesus as the + Messiah, and in the transferrence to his second coming of all these + wonderful proceedings. The manner of the Messiah's coming had been + variously imagined. According to an earlier view, he was to enter + Jerusalem as a King of the house of David, and therefore of human lineage. + According to a later view, presented in the Book of Daniel, he was to + descend from the sky, and appear among the clouds. Both these views were + adopted by the disciples of Jesus, who harmonized them by referring the + one to his first and the other to his second appearance. + </p> + <p> + Now to the imaginations of these earliest disciples the belief in the + resurrection of Jesus presented itself as a needful guarantee of his + Messiahship. Their faith, which must have been shaken by his execution and + descent into Sheol, received welcome confirmation by the springing up of + the belief that he had been again seen upon the face of the earth. + Applying the imagery of Daniel, it became a logical conclusion that he + must have ascended into the sky, whence he might shortly be expected to + make his appearance, to enact the scenes foretold in prophecy. That such + was the actual process of inference is shown by the legend of the + Ascension in the first chapter of the "Acts," and especially by the words, + "This Jesus who hath been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the + same manner in which ye beheld him going into heaven." In the Apocalypse, + written A. D. 68, just after the death of Nero, this second coming is + described as something immediately to happen, and the colours in which it + is depicted show how closely allied were the Johannine notions to those of + the Pharisees. The glories of the New Jerusalem are to be reserved for + Jews, while for the Roman tyrants of Judaea is reserved a fearful + retribution. They are to be trodden underfoot by the Messiah, like grapes + in a wine-press, until the gushing blood shall rise to the height of the + horse's bridle. + </p> + <p> + In the writings of Paul the dogma of the resurrection assumes a very + different aspect. Though Paul, like the older apostles, held that Jesus, + as the Messiah, was to return to the earth within a few years, yet to his + catholic mind this anticipated event had become divested of its narrow + Jewish significance. In the eyes of Paul, the religion preached by Jesus + was an abrogation of Mosaism, and the truths contained in it were a free + gift to the Gentile as well as to the Jewish world. According to Paul, + death came into the world as a punishment for the sin of Adam. By this he + meant that, had it not been for the original transgression, all men + escaping death would either have remained upon earth or have been conveyed + to heaven, like Enoch and Elijah, in incorruptible bodies. But in reality + as a penance for disobedience, all men, with these two exceptions, had + suffered death, and been exiled to the gloomy caverns of Sheol. The Mosaic + ritual was powerless to free men from this repulsive doom, but it had + nevertheless served a good purpose in keeping men's minds directed toward + holiness, preparing them, as a schoolmaster would prepare his pupils, to + receive the vitalizing truths of Christ. Now, at last, the Messiah or + Christ had come as a second Adam, and being without sin had been raised by + Jehovah out of Sheol and taken up into heaven, as testimony to men that + the power of sin and death was at last defeated. The way henceforth to + avoid death and escape the exile to Sheol was to live spiritually like + Jesus, and with him to be dead to sensual requirements. Faith, in Paul's + apprehension, was not an intellectual assent to definitely prescribed + dogmas, but, as Matthew Arnold has well pointed out, it was an emotional + striving after righteousness, a developing consciousness of God in the + soul, such as Jesus had possessed, or, in Paul's phraseology, a + subjugation of the flesh by the spirit. All those who should thus seek + spiritual perfection should escape the original curse. The Messiah was + destined to return to the earth to establish the reign of spiritual + holiness, probably during Paul's own lifetime (1 Cor. xv. 51). Then the + true followers of Jesus should be clothed in ethereal bodies, free from + the imperfections of "the flesh," and should ascend to heaven without + suffering death, while the righteous dead should at the same time be + released from Sheol, even as Jesus himself had been released. + </p> + <p> + To the doctrine of the resurrection, in which ethical and speculative + elements are thus happily blended by Paul, the new religion doubtless owed + in great part its rapid success. Into an account of the causes which + favoured the spreading of Christianity, it is not our purpose to enter at + present. But we may note that the local religions of the ancient pagan + world had partly destroyed each other by mutual intermingling, and had + lost their hold upon people from the circumstance that their ethical + teaching no longer corresponded to the advanced ethical feeling of the + age. Polytheism, in short, was outgrown. It was outgrown both + intellectually and morally. People were ceasing to believe in its + doctrines, and were ceasing to respect its precepts. The learned were + taking refuge in philosophy, the ignorant in mystical superstitions + imported from Asia. The commanding ethical motive of ancient republican + times had been patriotism,—devotion to the interests of the + community. But Roman dominion had destroyed patriotism as a guiding + principle of life, and thus in every way the minds of men were left in a + sceptical, unsatisfied state,—craving after a new theory of life, + and craving after a new stimulus to right action. Obviously the only + theology which could now be satisfactory to philosophy or to common-sense + was some form of monotheism;—some system of doctrines which should + represent all men as spiritually subjected to the will of a single God, + just as they were subjected to the temporal authority of the Emperor. And + similarly the only system of ethics which could have a chance of + prevailing must be some system which should clearly prescribe the mutual + duties of all men without distinction of race or locality. Thus the + spiritual morality of Jesus, and his conception of God as a father and of + all men as brothers, appeared at once to meet the ethical and speculative + demands of the time. + </p> + <p> + Yet whatever effect these teachings might have produced, if unaided by + further doctrinal elaboration, was enhanced myriadfold by the elaboration + which they received at the hands of Paul. Philosophic Stoics and + Epicureans had arrived at the conception of the brotherhood of men, and + the Greek hymn of Kleanthes had exhibited a deep spiritual sense of the + fatherhood of God. The originality of Christianity lay not so much in its + enunciation of new ethical precepts as in the fact that it furnished a new + ethical sanction,—a commanding incentive to holiness of living. That + it might accomplish this result, it was absolutely necessary that it + should begin by discarding both the ritualism and the narrow theories of + Judaism. The mere desire for a monotheistic creed had led many pagans, in + Paul's time, to embrace Judaism, in spite of its requirements, which to + Romans and Greeks were meaningless, and often disgusting; but such + conversions could never have been numerous. Judaism could never have + conquered the Roman world; nor is it likely that the Judaical Christianity + of Peter, James, and John would have been any more successful. The + doctrine of the resurrection, in particular, was not likely to prove + attractive when accompanied by the picture of the Messiah treading the + Gentiles in the wine-press of his righteous indignation. But here Paul + showed his profound originality The condemnation of Jewish formalism which + Jesus had pronounced, Paul turned against the older apostles, who insisted + upon circumcision. With marvellous flexibility of mind, Paul placed + circumcision and the Mosaic injunctions about meats upon a level with the + ritual observances of pagan nations, allowing each feeble brother to + perform such works as might tickle his fancy, but bidding all take heed + that salvation was not to be obtained after any such mechanical method, + but only by devoting the whole soul to righteousness, after the example of + Jesus. + </p> + <p> + This was the negative part of Paul's work. This was the knocking down of + the barriers which had kept men, and would always have kept them, from + entering into the kingdom of heaven. But the positive part of Paul's work + is contained in his theory of the salvation of men from death through the + second Adam, whom Jehovah rescued from Sheol for his sinlessness. The + resurrection of Jesus was the visible token of the escape from death which + might be achieved by all men who, with God's aid, should succeed in + freeing themselves from the burden of sin which had encumbered all the + children of Adam. The end of the world was at hand, and they who would + live with Christ must figuratively die with Christ, must become dead to + sin. Thus to the pure and spiritual ethics contained in the teachings of + Jesus, Paul added an incalculably powerful incentive to right action, and + a theory of life calculated to satisfy the speculative necessities of the + pagan or Gentile world. To the educated and sceptical Athenian, as to the + critical scholar of modern times, the physical resurrection of Jesus from + the grave, and his ascent through the vaulted floor of heaven, might seem + foolishness or naivete. But to the average Greek or Roman the conception + presented no serious difficulty. The cosmical theories upon which the + conception was founded were essentially the same among Jews and Gentiles, + and indeed were but little modified until the establishment of the + Copernican astronomy. The doctrine of the Messiah's second coming was also + received without opposition, and for about a century men lived in + continual anticipation of that event, until hope long deferred produced + its usual results; the writings in which that event was predicted were + gradually explained away, ignored, or stigmatized as uncanonical; and the + Church ended by condemning as a heresy the very doctrine which Paul and + the Judaizing apostles, who agreed in little else, had alike made the + basis of their speculative teachings. Nevertheless, by the dint of + allegorical interpretation, the belief has maintained an obscure existence + even down to the present time; the Antiochus of the Book of Daniel and the + Nero of the Apocalypse having given place to the Roman Pontiff or to the + Emperor of the French. + </p> + <p> + But as the millenarism of the primitive Church gradually died out during + the second century, the essential principles involved in it lost none of + their hold on men's minds. As the generation contemporary with Paul died + away and was gathered into Sheol, it became apparent that the original + theory must be somewhat modified, and to this question the author of the + second epistle to the Thessalonians addresses himself. Instead of literal + preservation from death, the doctrine of a resurrection from the grave was + gradually extended to the case of the new believers, who were to share in + the same glorious revival with the righteous of ancient times. And thus by + slow degrees the victory over death, of which the resurrection of Jesus + was a symbol and a witness, became metamorphosed into the comparatively + modern doctrine of the rest of the saints in heaven, while the banishment + of the unrighteous to Sheol was made still more dreadful by coupling with + the vague conception of a gloomy subterranean cavern the horrible imagery + of the lake of fire and brimstone borrowed from the apocalyptic + descriptions of Gehenna. But in this modification of the original theory, + the fundamental idea of a future state of retribution was only the more + distinctly emphasized; although, in course of time, the original incentive + to righteousness supplied by Paul was more and more subordinated to the + comparatively degrading incentive involved in the fear of damnation. There + can hardly be a doubt that the definiteness and vividness of the Pauline + theory of a future life contributed very largely to the rapid spread of + the Christian religion; nor can it be doubted that to the desire to be + holy like Jesus, in order to escape death and live with Jesus, is due the + elevating ethical influence which, even in the worst times of ecclesiastic + degeneracy, Christianity has never failed to exert. Doubtless, as Lessing + long, ago observed, the notion of future reward and punishment needs to be + eliminated in order that the incentive to holiness may be a perfectly pure + one. The highest virtue is that which takes no thought of reward or + punishment; but for a conception of this sort the mind of antiquity was + not ready, nor is the average mind of to-day yet ready; and the sudden or + premature dissolution of the Christian theory—which is fortunately + impossible—might perhaps entail a moral retrogradation. + </p> + <p> + The above is by no means intended as a complete outline of the religious + philosophy of Paul. We have aimed only at a clear definition of the + character and scope of the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, at the + time when it was first elaborated. We have now to notice the influence of + that doctrine upon the development of Christologic speculation. + </p> + <p> + In neither or the four genuine epistles of Paul is Jesus described as + superhuman, or as differing in nature from other men, save in his freedom + from sin. As Baur has shown, "the proper nature of the Pauline Christ is + human. He is a man, but a spiritual man, one in whom spirit or pneuma was + the essential principle, so that he was spirit as well as man. The + principle of an ideal humanity existed before Christ in the bright form of + a typical man, but was manifested to mankind in the person of Christ." + Such, according to Baur, is Paul's interpretation of the Messianic idea. + Paul knows nothing of the miracles, of the supernatural conception, of the + incarnation, or of the Logos. The Christ whom he preaches is the man + Jesus, the founder of a new and spiritual order of humanity, as Adam was + the father of humanity after the flesh. The resurrection is uniformly + described by him as a manifestation of the power of Jehovah, not of Jesus + himself. The later conception of Christ bursting the barred gates of + Sheol, and arising by his own might to heaven, finds no warrant in the + expressions of Paul. Indeed, it was essential to Paul's theory of the + Messiah as a new Adam, that he should be human and not divine; for the + escape of a divine being from Sheol could afford no precedent and furnish + no assurance of the future escape of human beings. It was expressly + because the man Jesus had been rescued from the grave because of his + spirituality, that other men might hope, by becoming spiritual like him, + to be rescued also. Accordingly Paul is careful to state that "since + through man came death, through man came also the resurrection of the + dead" (1 Cor. xv. 21); a passage which would look like an express denial + of Christ's superhuman character, were it probable that any of Paul's + contemporaries had ever conceived of Jesus as other than essentially + human. + </p> + <p> + But though Paul's Christology remained in this primitive stage, it + contained the germs of a more advanced theory. For even Paul conceived of + Jesus as a man wholly exceptional in spiritual character; or, in the + phraseology of the time, as consisting to a larger extent of pneuma than + any man who had lived before him. The question was sure to arise, Whence + came this pneuma or spiritual quality? Whether the question ever + distinctly presented itself to Paul's mind cannot be determined. Probably + it did not. In those writings of his which have come down to us, he shows + himself careless of metaphysical considerations. He is mainly concerned + with exhibiting the unsatisfactory character of Jewish Christianity, and + with inculcating a spiritual morality, to which the doctrine of Christ's + resurrection is made to supply a surpassingly powerful sanction. But + attempts to solve the problem were not long in coming. According to a very + early tradition, of which the obscured traces remain in the synoptic + gospels, Jesus received the pneuma at the time of his baptism, when the + Holy Spirit, or visible manifestation of the essence of Jehovah, descended + upon him and became incarnate in him. This theory, however, was exposed to + the objection that it implied a sudden and entire transformation of an + ordinary man into a person inspired or possessed by the Deity. Though long + maintained by the Ebionites or primitive Christians, it was very soon + rejected by the great body of the Church, which asserted instead that + Jesus had been inspired by the Holy Spirit from the moment of his + conception. From this it was but a step to the theory that Jesus was + actually begotten by or of the Holy Spirit; a notion which the Hellenic + mind, accustomed to the myths of Leda, Anchises, and others, found no + difficulty in entertaining. According to the Gospel of the Hebrews, as + cited by Origen, the Holy Spirit was the mother of Jesus, and Joseph was + his father. But according to the prevailing opinion, as represented in the + first and third synoptists, the relationship was just the other way. With + greater apparent plausibility, the divine aeon was substituted for the + human father, and a myth sprang up, of which the materialistic details + furnished to the opponents of the new religion an opportunity for making + the most gross and exasperating insinuations. The dominance of this theory + marks the era at which our first and third synoptic gospels were composed,—from + sixty to ninety years after the death of Jesus. In the luxuriant + mythologic growth there exhibited, we may yet trace the various successive + phases of Christologic speculation but imperfectly blended. In "Matthew" + and "Luke" we find the original Messianic theory exemplified in the + genealogies of Jesus, in which, contrary to historic probability (cf. + Matt. xxii. 41-46), but in accordance with a time-honoured tradition, his + pedigree is traced back to David; "Matthew" referring him to the royal + line of Judah, while "Luke" more cautiously has recourse to an assumed + younger branch. Superposed upon this primitive mythologic stratum, we + find, in the same narratives, the account of the descent of the pneuma at + the time of the baptism; and crowning the whole, there are the two + accounts of the nativity which, though conflicting in nearly all their + details, agree in representing the divine pneuma as the father of Jesus. + Of these three stages of Christology, the last becomes entirely + irreconcilable with the first; and nothing can better illustrate the + uncritical character of the synoptists than the fact that the assumed + descent of Jesus from David through his father Joseph is allowed to stand + side by side with the account of the miraculous conception which + completely negatives it. Of this difficulty "Matthew" is quite + unconscious, and "Luke," while vaguely noticing it (iii. 23), proposes no + solution, and appears undisturbed by the contradiction. + </p> + <p> + Thus far the Christology with which we have been dealing is predominantly + Jewish, though to some extent influenced by Hellenic conceptions. None of + the successive doctrines presented in Paul, "Matthew," and "Luke" assert + or imply the pre-existence of Jesus. At this early period he was regarded + as a human being raised to participation in certain attributes of + divinity; and this was as far as the dogma could be carried by the Jewish + metaphysics. But soon after the date of our third gospel, a Hellenic + system of Christology arose into prominence, in which the problem was + reversed, and Jesus was regarded as a semi-divine being temporarily + lowered to participation in certain attributes of humanity. For such a + doctrine Jewish mythology supplied no precedents; but the Indo-European + mind was familiar with the conception of deity incarnate in human form, as + in the avatars of Vishnu, or even suffering III the interests of humanity, + as in the noble myth of Prometheus. The elements of Christology + pre-existing in the religious conceptions of Greece, India, and Persia, + are too rich and numerous to be discussed here. A very full account of + them is given in Mr. R. W. Mackay's acute and learned treatise on the + "Religious Development of the Greeks and Hebrews{.}" + </p> + <p> + It was in Alexandria, where Jewish theology first came into contact with + Hellenic and Oriental ideas, that the way was prepared for the dogma of + Christ's pre-existence. The attempt to rationalize the conception of deity + as embodied in the Jehovah of the Old Testament gave rise to the class of + opinions described as Gnosis, or Gnosticism. The signification of Gnosis + is simply "rationalism,"—the endeavour to harmonize the + materialistic statements of an old mythology with the more advanced + spiritualistic philosophy of the time. The Gnostics rejected the + conception of an anthropomorphic deity who had appeared visibly and + audibly to the patriarchs; and they were the authors of the doctrine, very + widely spread during the second and third centuries, that God could not in + person have been the creator of the world. According to them, God, as pure + spirit, could not act directly upon vile and gross matter. The difficulty + which troubled them was curiously analogous to that which disturbed the + Cartesians and the followers of Leibnitz in the seventeenth century; how + was spirit to act upon matter, without ceasing, pro tanto, to be spirit? + To evade this difficulty, the Gnostics postulated a series of emanations + from God, becoming successively less and less spiritual and more and more + material, until at the lowest end of the scale was reached the Demiurgus + or Jehovah of the Old Testament, who created the world and appeared, + clothed in material form, to the patriarchs. According to some of the + Gnostics this lowest aeon or emanation was identical with the Jewish + Satan, or the Ahriman of the Persians, who is called "the prince of this + world," and the creation of the world was an essentially evil act. But all + did not share in these extreme opinions. In the prevailing, theory, this + last of the divine emanations was identified with the "Sophia," or + personified "Wisdom," of the Book of Proverbs (viii. 22-30), who is + described as present with God before the foundation of the world. The + totality of these aeons constituted the pleroma, or "fulness of God" + (Coloss. i. 20; Eph. i. 23), and in a corollary which bears unmistakable + marks of Buddhist influence, it was argued that, in the final consummation + of things, matter should be eliminated and all spirit reunited with God, + from whom it had primarily flowed. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible that such views as these should not soon be taken up and + applied to the fluctuating Christology of the time. According to the + "Shepherd of Hermas," an apocalyptic writing nearly contemporary with the + gospel of "Mark," the aeon or son of God who existed previous to the + creation was not the Christ, or the Sophia, but the Pneuma or Holy Spirit, + represented in the Old Testament as the "angel of Jehovah." Jesus, in + reward for his perfect goodness, was admitted to a share in the privileges + of this Pneuma (Reville, p. 39). Here, as M. Reville observes, though a + Gnostic idea is adopted, Jesus is nevertheless viewed as ascending + humanity, and not as descending divinity. The author of the "Clementine + Homilies" advances a step farther, and clearly assumes the pre-existence + of Jesus, who, in his opinion, was the pure, primitive man, successively + incarnate in Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and finally + in the Messiah or Christ. The author protests, in vehement language, + against those Hellenists who, misled by their polytheistic associations, + would elevate Jesus into a god. Nevertheless, his own hypothesis of + pre-existence supplied at once the requisite fulcrum for those Gnostics + who wished to reconcile a strict monotheism with the ascription of divine + attributes to Jesus. Combining with this notion of pre-existence the + pneumatic or spiritual quality attributed to Jesus in the writings of + Paul, the Gnosticizing Christians maintained that Christ was an aeon or + emanation from God, redeeming men from the consequences entailed by their + imprisonment in matter. At this stage of Christologic speculation appeared + the anonymous epistle to the "Hebrews," and the pseudo-Pauline epistles to + the "Colossians," "Ephesians," and "Philippians" (A. D. 130). In these + epistles, which originated among the Pauline Christians, the Gnostic + theosophy is skilfully applied to the Pauline conception of the scope and + purposes of Christianity. Jesus is described as the creator of the world + (Coloss. i. 16), the visible image of the invisible God, the chief and + ruler of the "throues, dominions, principalities, and powers," into which, + in Gnostic phraseology, the emanations of God were classified. Or, + according to "Colossians" and "Philippians," all the aeons are summed up + in him, in whom dwells the pleroma, or "fulness of God." Thus Jesus is + elevated quite above ordinary humanity, and a close approach is made to + ditheism, although he is still emphatically subordinated to God by being + made the creator of the world,—an office then regarded as + incompatible with absolute divine perfection. In the celebrated passage, + "Philippians" ii. 6-11, the aeon Jesus is described as being the form or + visible manifestation of God, yet as humbling himself by taking on the + form or semblance of humanity, and suffering death, in return for which he + is to be exalted even above the archangels. A similar view is taken in + "Hebrews"; and it is probable that to the growing favour with which these + doctrines were received, we owe the omission of the miraculous conception + from the gospel of "Mark,"—a circumstance which has misled some + critics into assigning to that gospel an earlier date than to "Matthew" + and "Luke." Yet the fact that in this gospel Jesus is implicitly ranked + above the angels (Mark xiii. 32), reveals a later stage of Christologic + doctrine than that reached by the first and third synoptists; and it is + altogether probable that, in accordance with the noticeable conciliatory + disposition of this evangelist, the supernatural conception is omitted out + of deference to the Gnosticizing theories of "Colossians" and + "Philippians," in which this materialistic doctrine seems to have had no + assignable place. In "Philippians" especially, many expressions seem to + verge upon Docetism, the extreme form of Gnosticism, according to which + the human body of Jesus was only a phantom. Valentinus, who was + contemporary with the Pauline writers of the second century, maintained + that Jesus was not born of Mary by any process of conception, but merely + passed through her, as light traverses a translucent substance. And + finally Marcion (A. D. 140) carried the theory to its extreme limits by + declaring that Jesus was the pure Pneuma or Spirit, who contained nothing + in common with carnal humanity. + </p> + <p> + The pseudo-Pauline writers steered clear of this extravagant doctrine, + which erred by breaking entirely with historic tradition, and was + consequently soon condemned as heretical. Their language, though + unmistakably Gnostic, was sufficiently neutral and indefinite to allow of + their combination with earlier and later expositions of dogma, and they + were therefore eventually received into the canon, where they exhibit a + stage of opinion midway between that of Paul and that of the fourth + gospel. + </p> + <p> + For the construction of a durable system of Christology, still further + elaboration was necessary. The pre-existence of Jesus, as an emanation + from God, in whom were summed up the attributes of the pleroma or full + scale of Gnostic aeons, was now generally conceded. But the relation of + this pleroqma to the Godhead of which it was the visible manifestation, + needed to be more accurately defined. And here recourse was had to the + conception of the "Logos,"—a notion which Philo had borrowed from + Plato, lending to it a theosophic significance. In the Platonic + metaphysics objective existence was attributed to general terms, the signs + of general notions. Besides each particular man, horse, or tree, and + besides all men, horses, and trees, in the aggregate, there was supposed + to exist an ideal Man, Horse, and Tree. Each particular man, horse, or + tree consisted of abstract existence plus a portion of the ideal man, + horse, or tree. Sokrates, for instance, consisted of Existence, plus + Animality, plus Humanity, plus Sokraticity. The visible world of + particulars thus existed only by virtue of its participation in the + attributes of the ideal world of universals. God created the world by + encumbering each idea with an envelopment or clothing of visible matter; + and since matter is vile or imperfect, all things are more or less perfect + as they partake more or less fully of the idea. The pure unencumbered + idea, the "Idea of ideas," is the Logos, or divine Reason, which + represents the sum-total of the activities which sustain the world, and + serves as a mediator between the absolutely ideal God and the absolutely + non-ideal matter. Here we arrive at a Gnostic conception, which the + Philonists of Alexandria were not slow to appropriate. The Logos, or + divine Reason, was identified with the Sophia, or divine Wisdom of the + Jewish Gnostics, which had dwelt with God before the creation of the + world. By a subtle play upon the double meaning of the Greek term (logos = + "reason" or "word"), a distinction was drawn between the divine Reason and + the divine Word. The former was the archctypal idea or thought of God, + existing from all eternity; the latter was the external manifestation or + realization of that idea which occurred at the moment of creation, when, + according to Genesis, God SPOKE, and the world was. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the second century, this Philonian theory was the one + thing needful to add metaphysical precision to the Gnostic and Pauline + speculations concerning the nature of Jesus. In the writings of Justin + Martyr (A. D. 150-166), Jesus is for the first time identified with the + Philonian Logos or "Word of God." According to Justin, an impassable abyss + exists between the Infinite Deity and the Finite World; the one cannot act + upon the other; pure spirit cannot contaminate itself by contact with + impure matter. To meet this difficulty, God evolves from himself a + secondary God, the Logos,—yet without diminishing himself any more + than a flame is diminished when it gives birth to a second flame. Thus + generated, like light begotten of light (lumen de lumine), the Logos + creates the world, inspires the ancient prophets with their divine + revelations, and finally reveals himself to mankind in the person of + Christ. Yet Justin sedulously guards himself against ditheism, insisting + frequently and emphatically upon the immeasurable inferiority of the Logos + as compared with the actual God (gr o ontws qeos). + </p> + <p> + We have here reached very nearly the ultimate phase of New Testament + speculation concerning Jesus. The doctrines enunciated by Justin became + eventually, with slight modification, the official doctrines of the + Church; yet before they could thus be received, some further elaboration + was needed. The pre-existing Logos-Christ of Justin was no longer the + human Messiah of the first and third gospels, born of a woman, inspired by + the divine Pneuma, and tempted by the Devil. There was danger that + Christologic speculation might break quite loose from historic tradition, + and pass into the metaphysical extreme of Docetism. Had this come to pass, + there might perhaps have been a fatal schism in the Church. Tradition + still remained Ebionitish; dogma had become decidedly Gnostic; how were + the two to be moulded into harmony with each other? Such was the problem + which presented itself to the author of the fourth gospel (A. D. 170-180). + As M. Reville observes, "if the doctrine of the Logos were really to be + applied to the person of Jesus, it was necessary to remodel the + evangelical history." Tradition must be moulded so as to fit the dogma, + but the dogma must be restrained by tradition from running into Docetic + extravagance. It must be shown historically how "the Word became flesh" + and dwelt on earth (John i. 14), how the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth were + the deeds of the incarnate Logos, in whom was exhibited the pleroma or + fulness of the divine attributes. The author of the fourth gospel is, like + Justin, a Philonian Gnostic; but he differs from Justin in his bold and + skilful treatment of the traditional materials supplied by the earlier + gospels. The process of development in the theories and purposes of Jesus, + which can be traced throughout the Messianic descriptions of the first + gospel, is entirely obliterated in the fourth. Here Jesus appears at the + outset as the creator of the world, descended from his glory, but destined + soon to be reinstated. The title "Son of Man" has lost its original + significance, and become synonymous with "Son of God." The temptation, the + transfiguration, the scene in Gethsemane, are omitted, and for the latter + is substituted a Philonian prayer. Nevertheless, the author carefully + avoids the extremes of Docetism or ditheism. Not only does he represent + the human life of Jesus as real, and his death as a truly physical death, + but he distinctly asserts the inferiority of the Son to the Father (John + xiv. 28). Indeed, as M. Reville well observes, it is part of the very + notion of the Logos that it should be imperfect relatively to the absolute + God; since it is only its relative imperfection which allows it to sustain + relations to the world and to men which are incompatible with absolute + perfection, from the Philonian point of view. The Athanasian doctrine of + the Trinity finds no support in the fourth gospel, any more than in the + earlier books collected in the New Testament. + </p> + <p> + The fourth gospel completes the speculative revolution by which the + conception of a divine being lowered to humanity was substituted for that + of a human being raised to divinity. We have here travelled a long + distance from the risen Messiah of the genuine Pauline epistles, or the + preacher of righteousness in the first gospel. Yet it does not seem + probable that the Church of the third century was thoroughly aware of the + discrepancy. The authors of the later Christology did not regard + themselves as adding new truths to Christianity, but merely as giving a + fuller and more consistent interpretation to what must have been known + from the outset. They were so completely destitute of the historic sense, + and so strictly confined to the dogmatic point of view, that they + projected their own theories back into the past, and vituperated as + heretics those who adhered to tradition in its earlier and simpler form. + Examples from more recent times are not wanting, which show that we are + dealing here with an inveterate tendency of the human mind. New facts and + new theories are at first condemned as heretical or ridiculous; but when + once firmly established, it is immediately maintained that every one knew + them before. After the Copernican astronomy had won the day, it was + tacitly assumed that the ancient Hebrew astronomy was Copernican, and the + Biblical conception of the universe as a kind of three-story house was + ignored, and has been, except by scholars, quite forgotten. When the + geologic evidence of the earth's immense antiquity could no longer be + gainsaid, it was suddenly ascertained that the Bible had from the outset + asserted that antiquity; and in our own day we have seen an elegant + popular writer perverting the testimony of the rocks and distorting the + Elohistic cosmogony of the Pentateuch, until the twain have been made to + furnish what Bacon long ago described as "a heretical religion and a false + philosophy." Now just as in the popular thought of the present day the + ancient Elohist is accredited with a knowledge of modern geology and + astronomy, so in the opinion of the fourth evangelist and his + contemporaries the doctrine of the Logos-Christ was implicitly contained + in the Old Testament and in the early traditions concerning Jesus, and + needed only to be brought into prominence by a fresh interpretation. Hence + arose the fourth gospel, which was no more a conscious violation of + historic data than Hugh Miller's imaginative description of the "Mosaic + Vision of Creation." Its metaphysical discourses were readily accepted as + equally authentic with the Sermon on the Mount. Its Philonian doctrines + were imputed to Paul and the apostles, the pseudo-Pauline epistles + furnishing the needful texts. The Ebionites—who were simply + Judaizing Christians, holding in nearly its original form the doctrine of + Peter, James, and John—were ejected from the Church as the most + pernicious of heretics; and so completely was their historic position + misunderstood and forgotten, that, in order to account for their + existence, it became necessary to invent an eponymous heresiarch, Ebion, + who was supposed to have led them astray from the true faith! + </p> + <p> + The Christology of the fourth gospel is substantially the same as that + which was held in the next two centuries by Tertullian, Clement of + Alexandria, Origen, and Arius. When the doctrine of the Trinity was first + announced by Sabellius (A. D. 250-260), it was formally condemned as + heretical, the Church being not yet quite prepared to receive it. In 269 + the Council of Antioch solemnly declared that the Son was NOT + consubstantial with the Father,—a declaration which, within sixty + years, the Council of Nikaia was destined as solemnly to contradict. The + Trinitarian Christology struggled long for acceptance, and did not finally + win the victory until the end of the fourth century. Yet from the outset + its ultimate victory was hardly doubtful. The peculiar doctrines of the + fourth gospel could retain their integrity only so long as Gnostic ideas + were prevalent. When Gnosticism declined in importance, and its theories + faded out of recollection, its peculiar phraseology received of necessity + a new interpretation. The doctrine that God could not act directly upon + the world sank gradually into oblivion as the Church grew more and more + hostile to the Neo-Platonic philosophy. And when this theory was once + forgotten, it was inevitable that the Logos, as the creator of the world, + should be raised to an equality or identity with God himself. In the view + of the fourth evangelist, the Creator was necessarily inferior to God; in + the view of later ages, the Creator could be none other than God. And so + the very phrases which had most emphatically asserted the subordination of + the Son were afterward interpreted as asserting his absolute divinity. To + the Gnostic formula, lumen de lumine, was added the Athanasian scholium, + Deum verum de Deo vero; and the Trinitarian dogma of the union of persons + in a single Godhead became thus the only available logical device for + preserving the purity of monotheism. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + February, 1870. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES. <a href="#linknote-24" name="linknoteref-24" + id="linknoteref-24"><small>24</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + It is the lot of every book which attempts to treat the origin and + progress of Christianity in a sober and scientific spirit, to meet with + unsparing attacks. Critics in plenty are always to be found, who, + possessed with the idea that the entire significance and value of the + Christian religion are demolished unless we regard it as a sort of + historical monstrosity, are only too eager to subject the offending work + to a scathing scrutiny, displaying withal a modicum of righteous + indignation at the unblushing heresy of the author, not unmixed with a + little scornful pity at his inability to believe very preposterous stories + upon very meagre evidence. "Conservative" polemics of this sort have + doubtless their function. They serve to purge scientific literature of the + awkward and careless statements too often made by writers not sufficiently + instructed or cautious, which in the absence of hostile criticism might + get accepted by the unthinking reader along with the truths which they + accompany. Most scientific and philosophical works have their defects; and + it is fortunate that there is such a thing as dogmatic ardour in the + world, ever sharpening its wits to the utmost, that it may spy each + lurking inaccuracy and ruthlessly drag it to light. But this useful spirit + is wont to lead those who are inspired by it to shoot beyond the mark, and + after pointing out the errors of others, to commit fresh mistakes of their + own. In the skilful criticism of M. Renan's work on the Apostles, in No. + 29 of the "Fortnightly Review" there is now and then a vulnerable spot + through which a controversial shaft may perhaps be made to pierce. + </p> + <p> + It may be true that Lord Lyttelton's tract on the Conversion of St. Paul, + as Dr. Johnson and Dr. Rogers have said, has never yet been refuted; but + if I may judge from my own recollection of the work, I should say that + this must be because no competent writer ever thought it worth his pains + to criticize it. Its argument contains about as much solid consistency as + a distended balloon, and collapses as readily at the first puncture. It + attempts to prove, first, that the conversion of St. Paul cannot be made + intelligible except on the assumption that there was a miracle in the + case; and secondly, that if Paul was converted by a miracle, the truth of + Christianity is impregnable. Now, if the first of these points be + established, the demonstration is not yet complete, for the second point + must be proved independently. But if the first point be overthrown, the + second loses its prop, and falls likewise. + </p> + <p> + Great efforts are therefore made to show that no natural influences could + have intervened to bring about a change in the feelings of Paul. He was + violent, "thorough," unaffected by pity or remorse; and accordingly he + could not have been so completely altered as he was, had he not actually + beheld the risen Christ: such is the argument which Mr. Rogers deems so + conclusive. I do not know that from any of Paul's own assertions we are + entitled to affirm that no shade of remorse had ever crossed his mind + previous to the vision near Damascus. But waiving this point, I do + maintain that, granting Paul's feelings to have been as Mr. Rogers thinks + they were, his conversion is inexplicable, even on the hypothesis of a + miracle. He that is determined not to believe, will not believe, though + one should rise from the dead. To make Paul a believer, it was not enough + that he should meet his Lord face to face he must have been already + prepared to believe. Otherwise he would have easily found means of + explaining the miracle from his own point of view. He would certainly have + attributed it to the wiles of the demon, even as the Pharisees are said to + have done with regard to the miraculous cures performed by Jesus. A + "miraculous" occurrence in those days did not astonish as it would at + present. "Miracles" were rather the order of the day, and in fact were + lavished with such extreme bounty on all hands, that their convincing + power was very slight. Neither side ever thought of disputing the reality + of the miracles supposed to be performed on the other; but each side + considered the miracles of its antagonist to be the work of diabolic + agencies. Such being the case, it is useless to suppose that Paul could + have distinguished between a true and a false miracle, or that a real + miracle could of itself have had any effect in inducing him to depart from + his habitual course of belief and action. As far as Paul's mental + operations were concerned, it could have made no difference whether he met + with his future Master in person, or merely encountered him in a vision. + The sole point to be considered is whether or not he BELIEVED in the + Divine character and authority of the event which had happened. What the + event might have really been was of no practical consequence to him or to + any one else. What he believed it to be was of the first importance. And + since he did believe that he had been divinely summoned to cease + persecuting, and commence preaching the new faith, it follows that his + state of mind must have been more or less affected by circumstances other + than the mere vision. Had he not been ripe for change, neither shadow nor + substance could have changed him. + </p> + <p> + This view of the case is by no means so extravagant as Mr. Rogers would + have us suppose. There is no reason for believing that Paul's character + was essentially different afterwards from what it had been before. The + very fervour which caused him, as a Pharisee, to exclude all but orthodox + Jews from the hope of salvation, would lead him, as a Christian, to carry + the Christian idea to its extreme development, and admit all persons + whatever to the privileges of the Church. The same zeal for the truth + which had urged him to persecute the Christians unto the death afterwards + led him to spare no toil and shun no danger which might bring about the + triumph of their cause. It must not be forgotten that the persecutor and + the martyr are but one and the same man under different circumstances. He + who is ready to die for his own faith will sometimes think it fair to make + other men die for theirs. Men of a vehement and fiery temperament, + moreover,—such as Paul always was,—never change their opinions + slowly, never rest in philosophic doubt, never take a middle course. If + they leave one extreme for an instant, they are drawn irresistibly to the + other; and usually very little is needed to work the change. The + conversion of Omar is a striking instance in point, and has been cited by + M. Renan himself. The character of Omar bears a strong likeness to that of + Paul. Previous to his conversion, he was a conscientious and virulent + persecutor of Mohammedanism. <a href="#linknote-25" name="linknoteref-25" + id="linknoteref-25"><small>25</small></a> After his conversion, he was + Mohammed's most efficient disciple, and it may be safely asserted that for + disinterestedness and self-abnegation he was not inferior to the Apostle + of the Gentiles. The change in his case was, moreover, quite as sudden and + unexpected as it was with Paul; it was neither more nor less + incomprehensible; and if Paul's conversion needs a miracle to explain it, + Omar's must need one likewise. But in truth, there is no difficulty in the + case, save that which stupid dogmatism has created. The conversions of + Paul and Omar are paralleled by innumerable events which occur in every + period of religious or political excitement. Far from being extraordinary, + or inexplicable on natural grounds, such phenomena are just what might + occasionally be looked for. + </p> + <p> + But, says Mr. Rogers, "is it possible for a moment to imagine the doting + and dreaming victim of hallucinations (which M. Renan's theory represents + Paul) to be the man whose masculine sense, strong logic, practical + prudence, and high administrative talent appear in the achievements of his + life, and in the Epistles he has left behind him?" M. Renan's theory does + not, however, represent Paul as the "victim of hallucinations" to a + greater degree than Mohammed. The latter, as every one knows, laboured + during much of his life under almost constant "hallucination"; yet + "masculine sense, strong logic," etc., were qualities quite as conspicuous + in him as in St. Paul. + </p> + <p> + Here, as throughout his essay, Mr. Rogers shows himself totally unable to + comprehend the mental condition of men in past ages. If an Apostle has a + dream or sees a vision, and interprets it according to the ideas of his + time and country, instead of according to the ideas of scientific England + in the nineteenth century Mr. Rogers thinks he must needs be mad: and when + according to the well-known law that mental excitement is contagious, <a + href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26"><small>26</small></a> + several persons are said to have concurred in interpreting some phenomenon + supernaturally, Mr. Rogers cannot see why so many people should all go mad + at once! "To go mad," in fact is his favourite designation for a mental + act, which nearly all the human race have habitually performed in all + ages; the act of mistaking subjective impressions for outward realities. + The disposition to regard all strange phenomena as manifestations of + supernatural power was universally prevalent in the first century of + Christianity, and long after. Neither greatness of intellect nor + thoroughness of scepticism gave exemption. Even Julius Caesar, the + greatest practical genius that ever lived, was somewhat superstitious, + despite his atheism and his Vigorous common-sense. It is too often argued + that the prevalence of scepticism in the Roman Empire must have made men + scrupulous about accepting miracles. By no means. Nothing but physical + science ever drives out miracles: mere doctrinal scepticism is powerless + to do it. In the age of the Apostles, little if any radical distinction + was drawn between a miracle and an ordinary occurrence. No one supposed a + miracle to be an infraction of the laws of nature, for no one had a clear + idea that there were such things as laws of nature. A miracle was simply + an extraordinary act, exhibiting the power of the person who performed it. + Blank, indeed, would the evangelists have looked, had any one told them + what an enormous theory of systematic meddling with nature was destined to + grow out of their beautiful and artless narratives. + </p> + <p> + The incapacity to appreciate this frame of mind renders the current + arguments in behalf of miracles utterly worthless. From the fact that + Celsus and others never denied the reality of the Christian miracles, it + is commonly inferred that those miracles must have actually happened. The + same argument would, however, equally apply to the miracles of Apollonius + and Simon Magus, for the Christians never denied the reality of these. + What these facts really prove is that the state of human intelligence was + as I have just described it: and the inference to be drawn from them is + that no miraculous account emanating from an author of such a period is + worthy of serious attention. When Mr. Rogers supposes that if the miracles + had not really happened they would have been challenged, he is assuming + that a state of mind existed in which it was possible for miracles to be + challenged; and thus commits an anachronism as monstrous as if he had + attributed the knowledge of some modern invention, such as steamboats, to + those early ages. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Rogers seems to complain of M. Renan for "quietly assuming" that + miracles are invariably to be rejected. Certainly a historian of the + present day who should not make such an assumption would betray his lack + of the proper qualifications for his profession. It is not considered + necessary for every writer to begin his work by setting out to prove the + first principles of historical criticism. They are taken for granted. And, + as M. Renan justly says, a miracle is one of those things which must be + disbelieved until it is proved. The onus probandi lies on the assertor of + a fact which conflicts with universal experience. Nevertheless, the great + number of intelligent persons who, even now, from dogmatic reasons, accept + the New Testament miracles, forbids that they should be passed over in + silence like similar phenomena elsewhere narrated. But, in the present + state of historical science, the arguing against miracles is, as Colet + remarked of his friend Erasmus's warfare against the Thomists and Scotists + of Cambridge, "a contest more necessary than glorious or difficult." To be + satisfactorily established, a miracle needs at least to be recorded by an + eyewitness; and the mental attainments of the witness need to be + thoroughly known besides. Unless he has a clear conception of the + difference between the natural and the unnatural order of events, his + testimony, however unimpeachable on the score of honesty, is still + worthless. To say that this condition was fulfilled by those who described + the New Testament miracles, would be absurd. And in the face of what + German criticism has done for the early Christian documents, it would be + an excess of temerity to assert that any one of the supernatural accounts + contained in them rests on contemporary authority. Of all history, the + miraculous part should be attested by the strongest testimony, whereas it + is invariably attested by the weakest. And the paucity of miracles + wherever we have contemporary records, as in the case of primitive + Islamism, is a most significant fact. + </p> + <p> + In attempting to defend his principle of never accepting a miracle, M. + Renan has indeed got into a sorry plight, and Mr. Rogers, in controverting + him, has not greatly helped the matter. By stirring M. Renan's bemuddled + pool, Mr. Rogers has only bemuddled it the more. Neither of these + excellent writers seems to suspect that transmutation of species, the + geologic development of the earth, and other like phenomena do not present + features conflicting with ordinary experience. Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. + Darwin would be greatly astonished to be told that their theories of + inorganic and organic evolution involved any agencies not known to exist + in the present course of nature. The great achievement of these writers + has been to show that all past changes of the earth and its inhabitants + are to be explained as resulting from the continuous action of causes like + those now in operation, and that throughout there has been nothing even + faintly resembling a miracle. M. Renan may feel perfectly safe in + extending his principle back to the beginning of things; and Mr. Rogers's + argument, even if valid against M. Renan, does not help his own case in + the least. + </p> + <p> + On some points, indeed, M. Renan has laid himself open to severe + criticism, and on other points he has furnished good handles for his + orthodox opponents. His views in regard to the authorship of the Fourth + Gospel and the Acts are not likely to be endorsed by many scholars; and + his revival of the rationalistic absurdities of Paulus merits in most + instances all that Mr. Rogers has said about it. As was said at the + outset, orthodox criticisms upon heterodox books are always welcome. They + do excellent service. And with the feeling which impels their authors to + defend their favourite dogmas with every available weapon of controversy I + for one can heartily sympathize. Their zeal in upholding what they + consider the truth is greatly to be respected and admired. But so much + cannot always be said for the mode of argumentation they adopt, which too + often justifies M. Renan's description, when he says, "Raisonnements + triomphants sur des choses que l'adversaire n'a pas dites, cris de + victoire sur des erreurs qu'il n'a pas commises, rien ne parait deloyal a + celui qui croft tenir en main les interets de la verite absolue." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + August, 1866. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION. <a href="#linknote-27" + name="linknoteref-27" id="linknoteref-27"><small>27</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + Some twelve years ago, Dr. Draper published a bulky volume entitled "A + History of the Intellectual Development of Europe," in which his professed + purpose was to show that nations or races pass through certain definable + epochs of development, analogous to the periods of infancy, childhood, + youth, manhood, and old age in individuals. But while announced with due + formality, the carrying out of the argument was left for the most part to + the headings and running-titles of the several chapters, while in the text + the author peacefully meandered along down the stream of time, giving us a + succession of pleasant though somewhat threadbare anecdotes, as well as a + superabundance of detached and fragmentary opinions on divers historical + events, having apparently quite forgotten that he had started with a + thesis to prove. In the arrangement of his "running heads," some points + were sufficiently curious to require a word of explanation, as, for + example, when the early ages of Christianity were at one time labelled as + an epoch of progress and at another time as an epoch of decrepitude. But + the argument and the contents never got so far en rapport with each other + as to clear up such points as this. On the contrary, each kept on the even + tenour of its way without much regard to the other. From the titles of the + chapters one was led to expect some comprehensive theory of European + civilization continuously expounded. But the text merely showed a great + quantity of superficial and second-hand information, serving to illustrate + the mental idiosyncrasies of the author. Among these idiosyncrasies might + be noted a very inadequate understanding of the part played by Rome in the + work of civilization, a singular lack of appreciation of the political and + philosophical achievements of Greece under Athenian leadership, a strong + hostility to the Catholic Church, a curious disposition to overrate + semi-barbarous, or abortive civilizations, such as those of the old + Asiatic and native American communities, at the expense of Europe, and, + above all, an undiscriminating admiration for everything, great or small, + that has ever worn the garb of Islam or been associated with the career of + the Saracens. The discovery that in some respects the Mussulmans of the + Middle Ages were more highly cultivated than their Christian + contemporaries, has made such an impression on Dr. Draper's mind that it + seems to be as hard for him to get rid of it as it was for Mr. Dick to + keep the execution of Charles I. out of his "Memorial." Even in an essay + on the "Civil Policy of America," the turbaned sage figures quite + prominently; and it is needless to add that he reappears, as large as + life, when the subject of discussion is the attitude of science toward + religion. + </p> + <p> + Speaking briefly with regard to this matter, we may freely admit that the + work done by the Arabs, in scientific inquiry as well as in the making of + events, was very considerable. It was a work, too, the value of which is + not commonly appreciated in the accounts of European history written for + the general reader, and we have no disposition to find fault with Dr. + Draper for describing it with enthusiasm. The philosophers of Bagdad and + Cordova did excellent service in keeping alive the traditions of Greek + physical inquiry at a time when Christian thinkers were too exclusively + occupied with transcendental speculations in theology and logic. In some + departments, as in chemistry and astronomy, they made original discoveries + of considerable value; and if we turn from abstract knowledge to the arts + of life, it cannot be denied that the mediaeval Mussulmans had reached a + higher plane of material comfort than their Christian contemporaries. In + short, the work of all kinds done by these people would furnish the + judicious advocate of the claims of the Semitic race with materials for a + pleasing and instructive picture. Dr. Draper, however, errs, though no + doubt unintentionally, by so presenting the case as to leave upon the + reader's mind the impression that all this scientific and practical + achievement was the work of Islamism, and that the Mohammedan civilization + was of a higher type than the Christian. It is with an apparent feeling of + regret that he looks upon the ousting of the Moors from dominion in Spain; + but this is a mistaken view. As regards the first point, it is a patent + fact that scientific inquiry was conducted at the cost of as much + theological obloquy in the Mohammedan as in the Christian world. It is + true there was more actual tolerance of heresy on the part of Moslem + governments than was customary in Europe in those days; but this is a + superficial fact, which does not indicate any superiority in Moslem + popular sentiment. The caliphate or emirate was a truly absolute + despotism, such as the Papacy has never been, and the conduct of a + sceptical emir in encouraging scientific inquiry goes but little way + toward proving anything like a general prevalence of tolerance or of + free-thinking. And this brings us to the second point,—that + Mohammedan civilization was, on the whole, rather a skin-deep affair. It + was superficial because of that extreme severance between government and + people which has never existed in European nations within historic times, + but which has always existed among the principal races that have professed + Moslemism. Nowhere in the Mohammedan world has there ever been what we + call a national life, and nowhere do we find in its records any trace of + such an intellectual impulse, thrilling through every fibre of the people + and begetting prodigious achievements in art, poetry, and philosophy, as + was awakened in Europe in the thirteenth century and again in the + fifteenth. Under the peculiar form of unlimited material and spiritual + despotism exemplified in the caliphate, a few men may discover gases or + comment on Aristotle, but no general movement toward political progress or + philosophical inquiry is possible. Such a society is rigid and inorganic + at bottom, whatever scanty signs of flexibility and life it may show at + the surface. There is no better illustration of this, when well + considered, than the fact that Moorish civilization remained, politically + and intellectually, a mere excrescence in Spain, after having been + fastened down over half the country for nearly eight centuries. + </p> + <p> + But we are in danger of forgetting our main theme, as Dr. Draper seems to + do, while we linger with him over these interesting wayside topics. We may + perhaps be excused, however, if we have not yet made any very explicit + allusion to the "Conflict between Religion and Science," because this work + seems to be in the main a repetition en petit of the "Intellectual + Development of Europe," and what we have said will apply as well to one as + to the other. In the little book, as in the big one, we hear a great deal + about the Arabs, and something about Columbus and Galileo, who made men + accept sundry truths in the teeth of clerical opposition; and, as before, + we float gently down the current of history without being over + well-informed as to the precise didactic purpose of our voyage. Here, + indeed, even our headings and running-titles do not materially help us, + for though we are supposed to be witnessing, or mayhap assisting in, a + perennial conflict between "science" and "religion," we are nowhere + enlightened as to what the cause or character of this conflict is, nor are + we enabled to get a good look at either of the parties to the strife. With + regard to it "religion" especially are we left in the dark. What this + dreadful thing is towards which "science" is always playing the part of + Herakles towards the Lernaean Hydra, we are left to gather from the course + of the narrative. Yet, in a book with any valid claim to clearsightedness, + one would think such a point as this ought to receive very explicit + preliminary treatment. + </p> + <p> + The course of the narrative, however, leaves us in little doubt as to what + Dr. Draper means by a conflict between science and religion. When he + enlarges on the trite story of Galileo, and alludes to the more modern + quarrel between the Church and the geologists, and does this in the belief + that he is thereby illustrating an antagonism between religion and + science, it is obvious that he identifies the cause of the anti-geologists + and the persecutors of Galileo with the cause of religion. The word + "religion" is to him a symbol which stands for unenlightened bigotry or + narrow-minded unwillingness to look facts in the face. Such a conception + of religion is common enough, and unhappily a great deal has been done to + strengthen it by the very persons to whom the interests of religion are + presumed to be a professional care. It is nevertheless a very superficial + conception, and no book which is vitiated by it can have much philosophic + value. It is simply the crude impression which, in minds unaccustomed to + analysis, is left by the fact that theologians and other persons + interested in religion are usually alarmed at new scientific truths, and + resist them with emotions so highly wrought that they are not only + incapable of estimating evidence, but often also have their moral sense + impaired, and fight with foul means when fair ones fail. If we reflect + carefully on this class of phenomena, we shall see that something besides + mere pride of opinion is involved in the struggle. At the bottom of + changing theological beliefs there lies something which men perennially + value, and for the sake of which they cling to the beliefs as long as + possible. That which they value is not itself a matter of belief, but it + is a matter of conduct; it is the searching after goodness,—after a + higher life than the mere satisfaction of individual desires. All animals + seek for fulness of life; but in civilized man this craving has acquired a + moral significance, and has become a spiritual aspiration; and this + emotional tendency, more or less strong in the human race, we call + religious feeling or religion. Viewed in this light, religion is not only + something that mankind is never likely to get rid of, but it is + incomparably the most noble as well as the most useful attribute of + humanity. + </p> + <p> + Now, this emotional prompting toward completeness of life requires, of + course, that conduct should be guided, as far as possible, in accordance + with a true theory of the relations of man to the world in which he lives. + Hence, at any given era the religious feeling will always be found + enlisted in behalf of some theory of the universe. At any time, whatever + may be their shortcomings in practice, religious men will aim at doing + right according to their conceptions of the order of the world. If men's + conceptions of the order of nature remained constant, no apparent conflict + between their religious feelings and their knowledge need ever arise. But + with the first advance in our knowledge of nature the case is altered. New + and strange theories are naturally regarded with fear and dislike by + persons who have always been accustomed to find the sanction and + justification of their emotional prompting toward righteousness in old + familiar theories which the new ones are seeking to supplant. Such persons + oppose the new doctrine because their engrained mental habits compel them + to believe that its establishment will in some way lower men's standard of + life, and make them less careful of their spiritual welfare. This is the + case, at all events, when theologians oppose scientific conclusions on + religious grounds, and not simply from mental dulness or rigidity. And, in + so far as it is religious feeling which thus prompts resistance to + scientific innovation, it may be said, with some appearance of truth, that + there is a conflict between religion and science. + </p> + <p> + But there must always be two parties to a quarrel, and our statement has + to be modified as soon as we consider what the scientific innovator + impugns. It is not the emotional prompting toward righteousness, it is not + the yearning to live im Guten, Ganzen, Wahren, that he seeks to weaken; + quite likely he has all this as much at heart as the theologian who + vituperates him. Nor is it true that his discoveries, in spite of him, + tend to destroy this all-important mental attitude. It would be ridiculous + to say that the fate of religious feeling is really involved in the fate + of grotesque cosmogonies and theosophies framed in the infancy of men's + knowledge of nature; for history shows us quite the contrary. Religious + feeling has survived the heliocentric theory and the discoveries of + geologists; and it will be none the worse for the establishment of + Darwinism. It is the merest truism to say that religion strikes its roots + deeper down into human nature than speculative opinion, and is accordingly + independent of any particular set of beliefs. Since, then, the scientific + innovator does not, either voluntarily or involuntarily, attack religion, + it follows that there can be no such "conflict" as that of which Dr. + Draper has undertaken to write the history. The real contest is between + one phase of science and another; between the more-crude knowledge of + yesterday and the less-crude knowledge of to-day. The contest, indeed, as + presented in history, is simply the measure of the difficulty which men + find in exchanging old views for new ones. All along, the practical + question has been, whether we should passively acquiesce in the crude + generalizations of our ancestors or venture actively to revise them. But + as for the religious sentiment, the perennial struggle in which it has + been engaged has not been with scientific inquiry, but with the selfish + propensities whose tendency is to make men lead the lives of brutes. + </p> + <p> + The time is at hand when the interests of religion can no longer be + supposed to be subserved by obstinate adherence to crude speculations + bequeathed to us from pre-scientific antiquity. One good result of the + doctrine of evolution, which is now gaining sway in all departments of + thought, is the lesson that all our opinions must be held subject to + continual revision, and that with none of them can our religious interests + be regarded as irretrievably implicated. To any one who has once learned + this lesson, a book like Dr. Draper's can be neither interesting nor + useful. He who has not learned it can derive little benefit from a work + which in its very title keeps open an old and baneful source of error and + confusion. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + November. 1875. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. NATHAN THE WISE. <a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28" + id="linknoteref-28"><small>28</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + Le Christianisme Moderne, etude sur Lessing. Par Ernest Fontanes. Paris: + Bailliere. 1867. + </p> + <p> + The fame of Lessing is steadily growing. Year by year he is valued more + highly, and valued by a greater number of people. And he is destined, like + his master and forerunner Spinoza, to receive a yet larger share of men's + reverence and gratitude when the philosophic spirit which he lived to + illustrate shall have become in some measure the general possession of the + civilized part of mankind. In his own day, Lessing, though widely known + and greatly admired, was little understood or appreciated. He was known to + be a learned antiquarian, a terrible controversialist, and an incomparable + writer. He was regarded as a brilliant ornament to Germany; and a paltry + Duke of Brunswick thought a few hundred thalers well spent in securing the + glory of having such a man to reside at his provincial court. But the + majority of Lessing's contemporaries understood him as little perhaps as + did the Duke of Brunswick. If anything were needed to prove this, it would + be the uproar which was made over the publication of the "Wolfenbuttel + Fragments," and the curious exegesis which was applied to the poem of + "Nathan" on its first appearance. In order to understand the true + character of this great poem, and of Lessing's religious opinions as + embodied in it, it will be necessary first to consider the memorable + theological controversy which preceded it. + </p> + <p> + During Lessing's residence at Hamburg, he had come into possession of a + most important manuscript, written by Hermann Samuel Reimarus, a professor + of Oriental languages, and bearing the title of an "Apology for the + Rational Worshippers of God." Struck with the rigorous logic displayed in + its arguments, and with the quiet dignity of its style, while yet unable + to accept its most general conclusions, Lessing resolved to publish the + manuscript, accompanying it with his own comments and strictures. + Accordingly in 1774, availing himself of the freedom from censorship + enjoyed by publications drawn from manuscripts deposited in the Ducal + Library at Wolfenbuttel, of which he was librarian, Lessing published the + first portion of this work, under the title of "Fragments drawn from the + Papers of an Anonymous Writer." This first Fragment, on the "Toleration of + Deists," awakened but little opposition; for the eighteenth century, + though intolerant enough, did not parade its bigotry, but rather saw fit + to disclaim it. A hundred years before, Rutherford, in his "Free + Disputation," had declared "toleration of alle religions to bee not farre + removed from blasphemie." Intolerance was then a thing to be proud of, but + in Lessing's time some progress had been achieved, and men began to think + it a good thing to seem tolerant. The succeeding Fragments were to test + this liberality and reveal the flimsiness of the stuff of which it was + made. When the unknown disputant began to declare "the impossibility of a + revelation upon which all men can rest a solid faith," and when he began + to criticize the evidences of Christ's resurrection, such a storm burst + out in the theological world of Germany as had not been witnessed since + the time of Luther. The recent Colenso controversy in England was but a + gentle breeze compared to it. Press and pulpit swarmed with "refutations," + in which weakness of argument and scantiness of erudition were compensated + by strength of acrimony and unscrupulousness of slander. Pamphlets and + sermons, says M. Fontanes, "were multiplied, to denounce the impious + blasphemer, who, destitute alike of shame and of courage, had sheltered + himself behind a paltry fiction, in order to let loose upon society an + evil spirit of unbelief." But Lessing's artifice had been intended to + screen the memory of Reimarus, rather than his own reputation. He was not + the man to quail before any amount of human opposition; and it was when + the tempest of invective was just at its height that he published the last + and boldest Fragment of all,—on "the Designs of Jesus and his + Disciples." + </p> + <p> + The publication of these Fragments led to a mighty controversy. The most + eminent, both for uncompromising zeal and for worldly position, of those + who had attacked Lessing, was Melchior Goetze, "pastor primarius" at the + Hamburg Cathedral. Though his name is now remembered only because of his + connection with Lessing, Goetze was not destitute of learning and ability. + He was a collector of rare books, an amateur in numismatics, and an + antiquarian of the narrow-minded sort. Lessing had known him while at + Hamburg, and had visited him so constantly as to draw forth from his + friends malicious insinuations as to the excellence of the pastor's white + wine. Doubtless Lessing, as a wise man, was not insensible to the + attractions of good Moselle; but that which he chiefly liked in this + theologian was his logical and rigorously consistent turn of mind. "He + always," says M. Fontanes, "cherished a holy horror of loose, inconsequent + thinkers; and the man of the past, the inexorable guardian of tradition, + appeared to him far more worthy of respect than the heterodox innovator + who stops in mid-course, and is faithful neither to reason nor to faith." + </p> + <p> + But when Lessing published these unhallowed Fragments, the hour of + conflict had sounded, and Goetze cast himself into the arena with a + boldness and impetuosity which Lessing, in his artistic capacity, could + not fail to admire. He spared no possible means of reducing his enemy to + submission. He aroused against him all the constituted authorities, the + consistories, and even the Aulic Council of the Empire, and he even + succeeded in drawing along with him the chief of contemporary + rationalists, Semler, who so far forgot himself as to declare that + Lessing, for what he had done, deserved to be sent to the madhouse. But + with all Goetze's orthodox valour, he was no match for the antagonist whom + he had excited to activity. The great critic replied with pamphlet after + pamphlet, invincible in logic and erudition, sparkling with wit, and + irritating in their utter coolness. Such pamphlets had not been seen since + Pascal published the "Provincial Letters." Goetze found that he had taken + up arms against a master in the arts of controversy, and before long he + became well aware that he was worsted. Having brought the case before the + Aulic Council, which consisted in great part of Catholics, the stout + pastor, forgetting that judgment had not yet been rendered, allowed + himself to proclaim that all who do not recognize the Bible as the only + source of Christianity are not fit to be called Christians at all. Lessing + was not slow to profit by this unlucky declaration. Questioned, with all + manner of ferocious vituperation, by Goetze, as to what sort of + Christianity might have existed prior to and independently of the New + Testament canon, Lessing imperturbably answered: "By the Christian + religion I mean all the confessions of faith contained in the collection + of creeds of the first four centuries of the Christian Church, including, + if you wish it, the so-called creed of the apostles, as well as the creed + of Athanasius. The content of these confessions is called by the earlier + Fathers the regula fidei, or rule of faith. This rule of faith is not + drawn from the writings of the New Testament. It existed before any of the + books in the New Testament were written. It sufficed not only for the + first Christians of the age of the apostles, but for their descendants + during four centuries. And it is, therefore, the veritable foundation upon + which the Church of Christ is built; a foundation not based upon + Scripture." Thus, by a master-stroke, Lessing secured the adherence of the + Catholics constituting a majority of the Aulic Council of the Empire. Like + Paul before him, he divided the Sanhedrim. So that Goetze, foiled in his + attempts at using violence, and disconcerted by the patristic learning of + one whom he had taken to be a mere connoisseur in art and writer of plays + for the theatre, concluded that discretion was the surest kind of valour, + and desisted from further attacks. + </p> + <p> + Lessing's triumph came opportunely; for already the ministry of Brunswick + had not only confiscated the Fragments, but had prohibited him from + publishing anything more on the subject without first obtaining express + authority to do so. His last replies to Goetze were published at Hamburg; + and as he held himself in readiness to depart from Wolfenbuttel, he wrote + to several friends that he had conceived the design of a drama, with which + he would tear the theologians in pieces more than with a dozen Fragments. + "I will try and see," said he, "if they will let me preach in peace from + my old pulpit, the theatre." In this way originated "Nathan the Wise." But + it in no way answered to the expectations either of Lessing's friends or + of his enemies. Both the one and the other expected to see the controversy + with Goetze carried on, developed, and generalized in the poem. They + looked for a satirical comedy, in which orthodoxy should be held up for + scathing ridicule, or at least for a direful tragedy, the moral of which, + like that of the great poem of Lucretius, should be + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum." +</pre> + <p> + Had Lessing produced such a poem, he would doubtless have gratified his + free-thinking friends and wreaked due literary vengeance upon his + theological persecutors. He would, perhaps, have given articulate + expression to the radicalism of his own time, and, like Voltaire, might + have constituted himself the leader of the age, the incarnation of its + most conspicuous tendencies. But Lessing did nothing of the kind; and the + expectations formed of him by friends and enemies alike show how little he + was understood by either. "Nathan the Wise" was, as we shall see, in the + eighteenth century an entirely new phenomenon; and its author was the + pioneer of a quite new religious philosophy. + </p> + <p> + Reimarus, the able author of the Fragments, in his attack upon the + evidences of revealed religion, had taken the same ground as Voltaire and + the old English deists. And when we have said this, we have sufficiently + defined his position, for the tenets of the deists are at the present day + pretty well known, and are, moreover, of very little vital importance, + having long since been supplanted by a more just and comprehensive + philosophy. Reimarus accepted neither miracles nor revelation; but in + accordance with the rudimentary state of criticism in his time, he + admitted the historical character of the earliest Christian records, and + was thus driven to the conclusion that those writings must have been + fraudulently composed. How such a set of impostors as the apostles must on + this hypothesis have been, should have succeeded in inspiring large + numbers of their contemporaries with higher and grander religious notions + than had ever before been conceived; how they should have laid the + foundations of a theological system destined to hold together the most + enlightened and progressive portion of human society for seventeen or + eighteen centuries,—does not seem to have entered his mind. Against + such attacks as this, orthodoxy was comparatively safe; for whatever doubt + might be thrown upon some of its leading dogmas, the system as a whole was + more consistent and rational than any of the theories which were + endeavouring to supplant it. And the fact that nearly all the great + thinkers of the eighteenth century adopted this deistic hypothesis, shows, + more than anything else, the crudeness of their psychological knowledge, + and their utter lack of what is called "the historical sense." + </p> + <p> + Lessing at once saw the weak point in Reimarus's argument, but his method + of disposing of it differed signally from that adopted by his orthodox + contemporaries. The more advanced German theologians of that day, while + accepting the New Testament records as literally historical, were disposed + to rationalize the accounts of miracles contained in them, in such a way + as to get rid of any presumed infractions of the laws of nature. This + method of exegesis, which reached its perfection in Paulus, is too well + known to need describing. Its unsatisfactory character was clearly shown, + thirty years ago, by Strauss, and it is now generally abandoned, though + some traces of it may still be seen in the recent works of Renan. Lessing + steadily avoided this method of interpretation. He had studied Spinoza to + some purpose, and the outlines of Biblical criticism laid down by that + remarkable thinker Lessing developed into a system wonderfully like that + now adopted by the Tubingen school. The cardinal results which Baur has + reached within the past generation were nearly all hinted at by Lessing, + in his commentaries on the Fragments. The distinction between the first + three, or synoptic gospels, and the fourth, the later age of the fourth, + and the method of composition of the first three, from earlier documents + and from oral tradition, are all clearly laid down by him. The distinct + points of view from which the four accounts were composed, are also + indicated,—the Judaizing disposition of "Matthew," the Pauline + sympathies of "Luke," the compromising or Petrine tendencies of "Mark," + and the advanced Hellenic character of "John." Those best acquainted with + the results of modern criticism in Germany will perhaps be most surprised + at finding such speculations in a book written many years before either + Strauss or Baur were born. + </p> + <p> + But such results, as might have been expected, did not satisfy the pastor + Goetze or the public which sympathized with him. The valiant pastor + unhesitatingly declared that he read the objections which Lessing opposed + to the Fragmentist with more horror and disgust than the Fragments + themselves; and in the teeth of the printed comments he declared that the + editor was craftily upholding his author in his deistical assault upon + Christian theology. The accusation was unjust, because untrue. There could + be no genuine cooperation between a mere iconoclast like Reimarus, and a + constructive critic like Lessing. But the confusion was not an unnatural + one on Goetze's part, and I cannot agree with M. Fontanes in taking it as + convincing proof of the pastor's wrong-headed perversity. It appears to me + that Goetze interpreted Lessing's position quite as accurately as M. + Fontanes. The latter writer thinks that Lessing was a Christian of the + liberal school since represented by Theodore Parker in this country and by + M. Reville in France; that his real object was to defend and strengthen + the Christian religion by relieving it of those peculiar doctrines which + to the freethinkers of his time were a stumbling-block and an offence. + And, in spite of Lessing's own declarations, he endeavours to show that he + was an ordinary theist,—a follower of Leibnitz rather than of + Spinoza. But I do not think he has made out his case. Lessing's own + confession to Jacobi is unequivocal enough, and cannot well be argued + away. In that remarkable conversation, held toward the close of his life, + he indicates clearly enough that his faith was neither that of the + ordinary theist, the atheist, nor the pantheist, but that his religious + theory of the universe was identical with that suggested by Spinoza, + adopted by Goethe, and recently elaborated in the first part of the "First + Principles" of Mr. Herbert Spencer. Moreover, while Lessing cannot be + considered an antagonist of Christianity, neither did he assume the + attitude of a defender. He remained outside the theological arena; looking + at theological questions from the point of view of a layman, or rather, as + M. Cherbuliez has happily expressed it, of a Pagan. His mind was of + decidedly antique structure. He had the virtues of paganism: its sanity, + its calmness, and its probity; but of the tenderness of Christianity, and + its quenchless aspirations after an indefinable ideal, of that feeling + which has incarnated itself in Gothic cathedrals, masses and oratorios, he + exhibited but scanty traces. His intellect was above all things + self-consistent and incorruptible. He had that imperial good-sense which + might have formed the ideal alike of Horace and of Epictetus. No + clandestine preference for certain conclusions could make his reason + swerve from the straight paths of logic. And he examined and rejected the + conclusions of Reimarus in the same imperturbable spirit with which he + examined and rejected the current theories of the French classic drama. + </p> + <p> + Such a man can have had but little in common with a preacher like Theodore + Parker, or with a writer like M. Fontanes, whose whole book is a noble + specimen of lofty Christian eloquence. His attribute was light, not + warmth. He scrutinized, but did not attack or defend. He recognized the + transcendent merits of the Christian faith, but made no attempt to + reinstate it where it had seemed to suffer shock. It was therefore with + the surest of instincts, with that same instinct of self-preservation + which had once led the Church to anathematize Galileo, that Goetze. + proclaimed Lessing a more dangerous foe to orthodoxy than the deists who + had preceded him. Controversy, he doubtless thought, may be kept up + indefinitely, and blows given and returned forever; but before the steady + gaze of that scrutinizing eye which one of us shall find himself able to + stand erect? It has become fashionable to heap blame and ridicule upon + those who violently defend an antiquated order of things; and Goetze has + received at the hands of posterity his full share of abuse. His wrath + contrasted unfavourably with Lessing's calmness; and it was his misfortune + to have taken up arms against an opponent who always knew how to keep the + laugh upon his own side. For my own part I am constrained to admire the + militant pastor, as Lessing himself admired him. From an artistic point of + view he is not an uninteresting figure to contemplate. And although his + attempts to awaken persecution were reprehensible, yet his ardour in + defending what he believed to be vital truth is none the less to be + respected. He had the acuteness to see that Lessing's refutation of deism + did not make him a Christian, while the new views proposed as a substitute + for those of Reimarus were such as Goetze and his age could in no wise + comprehend. + </p> + <p> + Lessing's own views of dogmatic religion are to be found in his work + entitled, "The Education of the Human Race." These views have since so far + become the veriest commonplaces of criticism, that one can hardly realize + that, only ninety years ago, they should have been regarded as dangerous + paradoxes. They may be summed up in the statement that all great religions + are good in their time and place; that, "as there is a soul of goodness in + things evil, so also there is a soul of truth in things erroneous." + According to Lessing, the successive phases of religious belief constitute + epochs in the mental evolution of the human race. So that the crudest + forms of theology, even fetishism, now to all appearance so utterly + revolting, and polytheism, so completely inadequate, have once been the + best, the natural and inevitable results of man's reasoning powers and + appliances for attaining truth. The mere fact that a system of religious + thought has received the willing allegiance of large masses of men shows + that it must have supplied some consciously felt want, some moral or + intellectual craving. And the mere fact that knowledge and morality are + progressive implies that each successive system may in due course of time + be essentially modified or finally supplanted. The absence of any + reference to a future state of retribution, in the Pentateuch and + generally in the sacred writings of the Jews, and the continual appeal to + hopes and fears of a worldly character, have been pronounced by deists an + irremediable defect in the Jewish religion. It is precisely this, however, + says Lessing, which constitutes one of its signal excellences. "That thy + days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee," was an + appeal which the uncivilized Jew could understand, and which could arouse + him to action; while the need of a future world, to rectify the injustices + of this, not yet being felt, the doctrine would have been of but little + service. But in later Hebrew literature, many magnificent passages + revealed the despair felt by prophet and thinker over the insoluble + problem presented by the evil fate of the good and the triumphant success + of the wicked; and a solution was sought in the doctrine of a Messianic + kingdom, until Christianity with its proclamation of a future life set the + question entirely aside. By its appeal to what has been aptly termed + "other-worldliness," Christianity immeasurably intensified human + responsibility, besides rendering clearer its nature and limits. But + according to Lessing, yet another step remains to be taken; and here we + come upon the gulf which separates him from men of the stamp of Theodore + Parker. For, says Lessing, the appeal to unearthly rewards and punishments + is after all an appeal to our lower feelings; other-worldliness is but a + refined selfishness; and we are to cherish virtue for its own sake not + because it will lead us to heaven. Here is the grand principle of + Stoicism. Lessing believed, with Mr. Mill, that the less we think about + getting rewarded either on earth or in heaven the better. He was cast in + the same heroic mould as Muhamad Efendi, who when led to the stake + exclaimed: "Though I have no hope of recompense hereafter, yet the love of + truth constraineth me to die in its defence!" + </p> + <p> + With the truth or completeness of these views of Lessing we are not here + concerned; our business being not to expound our own opinions, but to + indicate as clearly as possible Lessing's position. Those who are familiar + with the general philosophical spirit of the present age, as represented + by writers otherwise so different as Littre and Sainte-Beuve, will best + appreciate the power and originality of these speculations. Coming in the + last century, amid the crudities of deism, they made a well-defined epoch. + They inaugurated the historical method of criticism, and they robbed the + spirit of intolerance of its only philosophical excuse for existing. + Hitherto the orthodox had been intolerant toward the philosophers because + they considered them heretics; and the philosophers had been intolerant + toward the orthodox because they considered them fools. To Voltaire it + naturally seemed that a man who could believe in the reality of miracles + must be what in French is expressively termed a sot. But henceforth, to + the disciple of Lessing, men of all shade of opinion were but the + representatives and exponents of different phases in the general evolution + of human intelligence, not necessarily to be disliked or despised if they + did not happen to represent the maturest phase. + </p> + <p> + Religion, therefore, from this point of view, becomes clearly demarcated + from theology. It consists no longer in the mental assent to certain + prescribed formulas, but in the moral obedience to the great rule of life; + the great commandment laid down and illustrated by the Founder of the + Christian religion, and concerning which the profoundest modern philosophy + informs us that the extent to which a society has learned to conform to it + is the test and gauge of the progress in civilization which that society + has achieved. The command "to love one another," to check the barbarous + impulses inherited from the pre-social state, while giving free play to + the beneficent impulses needful for the ultimate attainment of social + equilibrium,—or as Tennyson phrases it, to "move upward, working out + the beast, and letting the ape and tiger die,"—was, in Lessing's + view, the task set before us by religion. The true religious feeling was + thus, in his opinion, what the author of "Ecce Homo" has finely termed + "the enthusiasm of humanity." And we shall find no better language than + that of the writer just mentioned, in which to describe Lessing's + conception of faith:— + </p> + <p> + "He who, when goodness is impressively put before him, exhibits an + instinctive loyalty to it, starts forward to take its side, trusts himself + to it, such a man has faith, and the root of the matter is in such a man. + He may have habits of vice, but the loyal and faithful instinct in him + will place him above many that practice virtue. He may be rude in thought + and character, but he will unconsciously gravitate toward what is right. + Other virtues can scarcely thrive without a fine natural organization and + a happy training. But the most neglected and ungifted of men may make a + beginning with faith. Other virtues want civilization, a certain amount of + knowledge, a few books; but in half-brutal countenances faith will light + up a glimmer of nobleness. The savage, who can do little else, can wonder + and worship and enthusiastically obey. He who cannot know what is right + can know that some one else knows; he who has no law may still have a + master; he who is incapable of justice may be capable of fidelity; he who + understands little may have his sins forgiven because he loves much." + </p> + <p> + Such was Lessing's religion, so far as it can be ascertained from the + fragmentary writings which he has left on the subject. Undoubtedly it + lacked completeness. The opinions which we have here set down, though + constituting something more than a mere theory of morality, certainly do + not constitute a complete theory of religion. Our valiant knight has + examined but one side of the shield,—the bright side, turned toward + us, whose marvellous inscriptions the human reason can by dint of + unwearied effort decipher. But the dark side, looking out upon infinity, + and covered with hieroglyphics the meaning of which we can never know, he + has quite forgotten to consider. Yet it is this side which genuine + religious feeling ever seeks to contemplate. It is the consciousness that + there is about us an omnipresent Power, in which we live and move and have + our being, eternally manifesting itself throughout the whole range of + natural phenomena, which has ever disposed men to be religious, and lured + them on in the vain effort to construct adequate theological systems. We + may, getting rid of the last traces of fetishism, eliminate arbitrary + volition as much as we will or can. But there still remains the + consciousness of a divine Life in the universe, of a Power which is beyond + and above our comprehension, whose goings out and comings in no man can + follow. The more we know, the more we reach out for that which we cannot + know. And who can realize this so vividly as the scientific philosopher? + For our knowledge being, according to the familiar comparison, like a + brilliant sphere, the more we increase it the greater becomes the number + of peripheral points at which we are confronted by the impenetrable + darkness beyond. I believe that this restless yearning,—vague enough + in the description, yet recognizable by all who, communing with themselves + or with nature, have felt it,—this constant seeking for what cannot + be found, this persistent knocking at gates which, when opened, but reveal + others yet to be passed, constitutes an element which no adequate theory + of religion can overlook. But of this we find nothing in Lessing. With him + all is sunny, serene, and pagan. Not the dim aisle of a vast cathedral, + but the symmetrical portico of an antique temple, is the worshipping-place + into which he would lead us. + </p> + <p> + But if Lessing's theology must be considered imperfect, it is none the + less admirable as far as it goes. With its peculiar doctrines of love and + faith, it teaches a morality far higher than any that Puritanism ever + dreamed of. And with its theory of development it cuts away every possible + logical basis for intolerance. It is this theology to which Lessing has + given concrete expression in his immortal poem of "Nathan." + </p> + <p> + The central idea of "Nathan" was suggested to Lessing by Boccaccio's story + of "The Three Rings," which is supposed to have had a Jewish origin. + Saladin, pretending to be inspired by a sudden, imperious whim, such as is + "not unbecoming in a Sultan," demands that Nathan shall answer him on the + spur of the moment which of the three great religions then known—Judaism, + Mohammedanism, Christianity—is adjudged by reason to be the true + one. For a moment the philosopher is in a quandary. If he does not + pronounce in favour of his own religion, Judaism, he stultifies himself; + but if he does not award the precedence to Mohammedanism, he will + apparently insult his sovereign. With true Oriental tact he escapes from + the dilemma by means of a parable. There was once a man, says Nathan, who + possessed a ring of inestimable value. Not only was the stone which it + contained incomparably fine, but it possessed the marvellous property of + rendering its owner agreeable both to God and to men. The old man + bequeathed this ring to that one of his sons whom he loved the most; and + the son, in turn, made a similar disposition of it. So that, passing from + hand to hand, the ring finally came into the possession of a father who + loved his three sons equally well. Unto which one should he leave it? To + get rid of the perplexity, he had two other rings made by a jeweller, + exactly like the original, and to each of his three sons he bequeathed + one. Each then thinking that he had obtained the true talisman, they began + violently to quarrel, and after long contention agreed to carry their + dispute before the judge. But the judge said: "Quarrelsome fellows! You + are all three of you cheated cheats. Your three rings are alike + counterfeit. For the genuine ring is lost, and to conceal the loss, your + father had made these three substitutes." At this unexpected denouement + the Sultan breaks out in exclamations of delight; and it is interesting to + learn that when the play was brought upon the stage at Constantinople a + few years ago, the Turkish audience was similarly affected. There is in + the story that quiet, stealthy humour which is characteristic of many + mediaeval apologues, and in which Lessing himself loved to deal. It is + humour of the kind which hits the mark, and reveals the truth. In a note + upon this passage, Lessing himself said: "The opinion of Nathan upon all + positive religions has for a long time been my own." Let him who has the + genuine ring show it by making himself loved of God and man. This is the + central idea of the poem. It is wholly unlike the iconoclasm of the + deists, and, coming in the eighteenth century, it was like a veritable + evangel. + </p> + <p> + "Nathan" was not brought out until three years after Lessing's death, and + it kept possession of the stage for but a short time. In a dramatic point + of view, it has hardly any merits. Whatever plot there is in it is weak + and improbable. The decisive incidents seem to be brought in like the deus + ex machina of the later Greek drama. There is no movement, no action, no + development. The characters are poetically but not dramatically conceived. + Considered as a tragedy, "Nathan" would be weak; considered as a comedy, + it would be heavy. With full knowledge of these circumstances, Lessing + called it not a drama, but a dramatic poem; and he might have called it + still more accurately a didactic poem, for the only feature which it has + in common with the drama is that the personages use the oratio directa. + </p> + <p> + "Nathan" is a didactic poem: it is not a mere philosophic treatise written + in verse, like the fragments of Xenophanes. Its lessons are conveyed + concretely and not abstractly; and its characters are not mere lay + figures, but living poetical conceptions. Considered as a poem among + classic German poems, it must rank next to, though immeasurably below, + Goethe's "Faust." + </p> + <p> + There are two contrasted kinds of genius, the poetical and the + philosophical; or, to speak yet more generally, the artistic and the + critical. The former is distinguished by a concrete, the latter by an + abstract, imagination. The former sees things synthetically, in all their + natural complexity; the latter pulls things to pieces analytically, and + scrutinizes their relations. The former sees a tree in all its glory, + where the latter sees an exogen with a pair of cotyledons. The former sees + wholes, where the latter sees aggregates. + </p> + <p> + Corresponding with these two kinds of genius there are two classes of + artistic productions. When the critical genius writes a poem or a novel, + he constructs his plot and his characters in conformity to some + prearranged theory, or with a view to illustrate some favourite doctrine. + When he paints a picture, he first thinks how certain persons would look + under certain given circumstances, and paints them accordingly. When he + writes a piece of music, he first decides that this phrase expresses joy, + and that phrase disappointment, and the other phrase disgust, and he + composes accordingly. We therefore say ordinarily that he does not create, + but only constructs and combines. It is far different with the artistic + genius, who, without stopping to think, sees the picture and hears the + symphony with the eyes and ears of imagination, and paints and plays + merely what he has seen and heard. When Dante, in imagination, arrived at + the lowest circle of hell, where traitors like Judas and Brutus are + punished, he came upon a terrible frozen lake, which, he says,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ever makes me shudder at the sight of frozen pools." +</pre> + <p> + I have always considered this line a marvellous instance of the intensity + of Dante's imagination. It shows, too, how Dante composed his poem. He did + not take counsel of himself and say: "Go to, let us describe the traitors + frozen up to their necks in a dismal lake, for that will be most + terrible." But the picture of the lake, in all its iciness, with the + haggard faces staring out from its glassy crust, came unbidden before his + mind with such intense reality that, for the rest of his life, he could + not look at a frozen pool without a shudder of horror. He described it + exactly as he saw it; and his description makes us shudder who read it + after all the centuries that have intervened. So Michael Angelo, a kindred + genius, did not keep cutting and chipping away, thinking how Moses ought + to look, and what sort of a nose he ought to have, and in what position + his head might best rest upon his shoulders. But, he looked at the + rectangular block of Carrara marble, and beholding Moses grand and + lifelike within it, knocked away the environing stone, that others also + might see the mighty figure. And so Beethoven, an artist of the same + colossal order, wrote out for us those mysterious harmonies which his ear + had for the first time heard; and which, in his mournful old age, it heard + none the less plainly because of its complete physical deafness. And in + this way Shakespeare wrote his "Othello"; spinning out no abstract + thoughts about jealousy and its fearful effects upon a proud and ardent + nature, but revealing to us the living concrete man, as his imperial + imagination had spontaneously fashioned him. + </p> + <p> + Modern psychology has demonstrated that this is the way in which the + creative artistic imagination proceeds. It has proved that a vast portion + of all our thinking goes on unconsciously; and that the results may arise + into consciousness piecemeal and gradually, checking each other as they + come; or that they may come all at once, with all the completeness and + definiteness of perceptions presented from without. The former is the case + with the critical, and the latter with the artistic intellect. And this we + recognize imperfectly when we talk of a genius being "inspired." All of us + probably have these two kinds of imagination to a certain extent. It is + only given to a few supremely endowed persons like Goethe to possess them + both to an eminent degree. Perhaps of no other man can it be said that he + was a poet of the first order, and as great a critic as poet. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore apt to be a barren criticism which studies the works of + creative geniuses in order to ascertain what theory lies beneath them. How + many systems of philosophy, how many subtle speculations, have we not seen + fathered upon Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Goethe! Yet their works + are, in a certain sense, greater than any systems. They partake of the + infinite complexity and variety of nature, and no more than nature itself + can they be narrowed down to the limits of a precise formula. + </p> + <p> + Lessing was wont to disclaim the title of poet; but, as Goethe said, his + immortal works refute him. He had not only poetical, but dramatic genius; + and his "Emilia Galotti" has kept the stage until to-day. Nevertheless, he + knew well what he meant when he said that he was more of a critic than a + poet. His genius was mainly of the critical order; and his great work, + "Nathan the Wise," was certainly constructed rather than created. It was + intended to convey a doctrine, and was carefully shaped for the purpose. + And when we have pronounced it the greatest of all poems that have been + written for a set purpose, and admit of being expressed in a definite + formula, we have classified it with sufficient accuracy. + </p> + <p> + For an analysis of the characters in the poem, nothing can be better than + the essay by Kuno Fischer, appended to the present volume. The work of + translation has been admirably done; and thanks are due to Miss + Frothingham for her reproduction of this beautiful poem. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + June, 1868. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES. <a href="#linknote-29" name="linknoteref-29" + id="linknoteref-29"><small>29</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + History, says Sainte-Beuve, is in great part a set of fables which people + agree to believe in. And, on reading books like the present, one certainly + needs a good deal of that discipline acquired by long familiarity with + vexed historical questions, in order to check the disposition to accept + the great critic's ironical remark in sober earnest. Much of what is + currently accredited as authentic history is in fact a mixture of flattery + and calumny, myth and fable. Yet in this set of fables, whatever may have + been the case in past times, people will no longer agree to believe. + During the present century the criticism of recorded events has gone far + toward assuming the developed and systematized aspect of a science, and + canons of belief have been established, which it is not safe to disregard. + Great occurrences, such as the Trojan War and the Siege of Thebes, not + long ago faithfully described by all historians of Greece, have been found + to be part of the common mythical heritage of the Aryan nations. Achilleus + and Helena, Oidipous and Iokasta, Oinone and Paris, have been discovered + in India and again in Scandinavia, and so on, until their nonentity has + become the legitimate inference from their very ubiquity. Legislators like + Romulus and Numa, inventors like Kadmos, have evaporated into etymologies. + Whole legions of heroes, dynasties of kings, and adulteresses as many as + Dante saw borne on the whirlwind, have vanished from the face of history, + and terrible has been the havoc in the opening pages of our chronological + tables. Nor is it primitive history alone which has been thus + metamorphosed. Characters unduly exalted or defamed by party spirit are + daily being set before us in their true, or at least in a truer, light. + What Mr. Froude has done for Henry VIII. we know; and he might have done + more if he had not tried to do so much. Humpbacked Richard turns out to + have been one of the handsomest kings that ever sat on the throne of + England. Edward I., in his dealings with Scotland, is seen to have been + scrupulously just; while the dignity of the patriot hero Wallace has been + somewhat impaired. Elizabeth is proved to have befriended the false Mary + Stuart much longer than was consistent with her personal safety. Eloquent + Cicero has been held up as an object of contempt; and even weighty Tacitus + has been said to owe much of his reputation to his ability to give false + testimony with a grave face. It has lately been suspected that gloomy + Tiberius, apart from his gloominess, may have been rather a good fellow; + not so licentious as puritanical, not cruel so much as exceptionally + merciful,—a rare general, a sagacious statesman, and popular to boot + with all his subjects save the malignant oligarchy which he consistently + snubbed, and which took revenge on him by writing his life. And, to crown + all, even Catiline, abuser of our patience, seducer of vestal nuns, and + drinker of children's blood,—whose very name suggests murder, + incest, and robbery,—even Catiline has found an able defender in + Professor Beesly. It is claimed that Catiline was a man of great abilities + and average good character, a well-calumniated leader of the Marian party + which Caesar afterwards led to victory, and that his famous plot for + burning Rome never existed save in the unscrupulous Ciceronian fancy. And + those who think it easy to refute these conclusions of Professor Beesly + had better set to work and try it. Such are a few of the surprising + questions opened by recent historical research; and in the face of them + the public is quite excusable if it declares itself at a loss what to + believe. + </p> + <p> + These, however, are cases in which criticism has at least made some show + of ascertaining the truth and detecting the causes of the prevalent + misconception. That men like Catiline and Tiberius should have had their + characters blackened is quite easily explicable. President Johnson would + have little better chance of obtaining justice at the hands of posterity, + if the most widely read history of his administration should happen to be + written by a radical member of the Rump Congress. But the cases which Mr. + Delepierre invites us to contemplate are of a different character. They + come neither under the head of myths nor under that of misrepresentations. + Some of them are truly vexed questions which it may perhaps always be + impossible satisfactorily to solve. Others may be dealt with more easily, + but afford no clew to the origin of the popularly received error. Let us + briefly examine a few of Mr. Delepierre's "difficulties." And first, + because simplest, we will take the case of the Alexandrian Library. + </p> + <p> + Every one has heard how Amrou, after his conquest of Egypt, sent to Caliph + Omar to know what should be done with the Alexandrian Library. "If the + books agree with the Koran," said the Caliph, "they are superfluous; if + they contradict it, they are damnable; in either case, destroy them." So + the books were taken and used to light the fires which heated water for + the baths; and so vast was the number that, used in this way, they lasted + six months! All this happened because John the Grammarian was over-anxious + enough to request that the books might be preserved, and thus drew Amrou's + attention to them. Great has been the obloquy poured upon Omar for this + piece of vandalism, and loud has been the mourning over the treasures of + ancient science and literature supposed to have been irrecoverably lost in + this ignominious conflagration Theologians, Catholic and Protestant, have + been fond of quoting it as an instance of the hostility of Mahometanism to + knowledge, and we have even heard an edifying sermon preached about it. On + seeing the story put to such uses, one feels sometimes like using the ad + hominem argument, and quoting the wholesale destruction of pagan libraries + under Valens, the burning of books by the Latin stormers of + Constantinople, the alleged annihilation of 100,000 volumes by Genoese + crusaders at Tripoli, the book-burning exploits of Torquemada, the bonfire + of 80,000 valuable Arabic manuscripts, lighted up in the square of Granada + by order of Cardinal Ximenes, and the irreparable cremation of Aztec + writings by the first Christian bishops of Mexico. These examples, with + perhaps others which do not now occur to us, might be applied in just + though ungentle retort by Mahometan doctors. Yet the most direct rejoinder + would probably not occur to them: the Alexandrian Library was NOT + destroyed by the orders of Omar, and the whole story is a figment! + </p> + <p> + The very pithiness of it, so characteristic of the excellent but bigoted + Omar, is enough to cast suspicion upon it. De Quincey tells us that "if a + saying has a proverbial fame, the probability is that it was never said." + How many amusing stories stand a chance of going down to posterity as the + inventions of President Lincoln, of which, nevertheless, he is doubtless + wholly innocent! How characteristic was Caesar's reply to the frightened + pilot! Yet in all probability Caesar never made it. + </p> + <p> + Now for the evidence. Alexandria was captured by Armrou in 640. The story + of the burning of the library occurs for the first time in the works of + Abulpharagius, who flourished in 1264. Six hundred years had elapsed. It + is as if a story about the crusades of Louis IX. were to be found for the + first time in the writings of Mr. Bancroft. The Byzantine historians were + furiously angry with the Saracens; why did they, one and all, neglect to + mention such an outrageous piece of vandalism? Their silence must be + considered quite conclusive. Moreover we know "that the caliphs had + forbidden under severe penalties the destruction" of Jewish and Christian + books, a circumstance wholly inconsistent with this famous story. And + finally, what a mediaeval recklessness of dates is shown in lugging into + the story John the Grammarian, who was dead and in his grave when + Alexandria was taken by Amrou! + </p> + <p> + But the chief item of proof remains to be mentioned. The Saracens did not + burn the library, because there was no library there for them to burn! It + had been destroyed just two hundred and fifty years before by a rabble of + monks, incited by the patriarch Theophilus, who saw in such a vast + collection of pagan literature a perpetual insult and menace to religion. + In the year 390 this turbulent bigot sacked the temple of Serapis, where + the books were kept, and drove out the philosophers who lodged there. Of + this violent deed we have contemporary evidence, for Orosius tells us that + less than fifteen years afterwards, while passing through Alexandria, he + saw the empty shelves. This fact disposes of the story. + </p> + <p> + Passing from Egypt to France, and from the seventh century to the + fifteenth, we meet with a much more difficult problem. That Jeanne d'Arc + was burnt at the stake, at Rouen, on the 30th of May, 1431, and her bones + and ashes thrown into the Seine, is generally supposed to be as + indisputable as any event in modern history. Such is, however, hardly the + case. Plausible evidence has been brought to prove that Jeanne d'Arc was + never burnt at the stake, but lived to a ripe age, and was even happily + married to a nobleman of high rank and reputation. We shall abridge Mr. + Delepierre's statement of this curious case. + </p> + <p> + In the archives of Metz, Father Vignier discovered the following + remarkable entry: "In the year 1436, Messire Phlin Marcou was Sheriff of + Metz, and on the 20th day of May of the aforesaid year came the maid + Jeanne, who had been in France, to La Grange of Ormes, near St. Prive, and + was taken there to confer with any one of the sieurs of Metz, and she + called herself Claude; and on the same day there came to see her there her + two brothers, one of whom was a knight, and was called Messire Pierre, and + the other 'petit Jehan,' a squire, and they thought that she had been + burnt, but as soon as they saw her they recognized her and she them. And + on Monday, the 21st day of the said month, they took their sister with + them to Boquelon, and the sieur Nicole, being a knight, gave her a stout + stallion of the value of thirty francs, and a pair of saddle-cloths; the + sieur Aubert Boulle, a riding-hood, the sieur Nicole Groguet, a sword; and + the said maiden mounted the said horse nimbly, and said several things to + the sieur Nicole by which he well understood that it was she who had been + in France; and she was recognized by many tokens to be the maid Jeanne of + France who escorted King Charles to Rheims, and several declared that she + had been burnt in Normandy, and she spoke mostly in parables. She + afterwards returned to the town of Marnelle for the feast of Pentecost, + and remained there about three weeks, and then set off to go to Notre Dame + d'Alliance. And when she wished to leave, several of Metz went to see her + at the said Marnelle and gave her several jewels, and they knew well that + she was the maid Jeanne of France; and she then went to Erlon, in the + Duchy of Luxembourg, where she was thronged,.... and there was solemnized + the marriage of Monsieur de Hermoise, knight, and the said maid Jeanne, + and afterwards the said sieur Hermoise, with his wife, the Maid, came to + live at Metz, in the house the said sieur had, opposite St. Seglenne, and + remained there until it pleased them to depart." + </p> + <p> + This is surprising enough; but more remains behind. Dining shortly + afterwards with M. des Armoises, member of one of the oldest families in + Lorraine, Father Vignier was invited to look over the family archives, + that he might satisfy his curiosity regarding certain ancestors of his + host. And on looking over the family register, what was his astonishment + at finding a contract of marriage between Robert des Armoises, Knight, and + Jeanne d'Arcy, the so-called Maid of Orleans! + </p> + <p> + In 1740, some time after these occurrences, there was found, in the town + hall of Orleans, a bill of one Jacques l'Argentier, of the year 1436, in + which mention is made of a small sum paid for refreshments furnished to a + messenger who had brought letters from the Maid of Orleans, and of twelve + livres given to Jean du Lis, brother of Jeanne d'Arc, to help him pay the + expenses of his journey back to his sister. Then come two charges which we + shall translate literally. "To the sieur de Lis, 18th October, 1436, for a + journey which he made through the said city while on his way to the Maid, + who was then at Erlon in Luxembourg, and for carrying letters from Jeanne + the Maid to the King at Loicher, where he was then staying, six livres." + And again: "To Renard Brune, 25th July, 1435, at evening, for paying the + hire of a messenger who was carrying letters from Jeanne the Maid, and was + on his way to William Beliers, bailiff of Troyes, two livres." + </p> + <p> + As no doubt has been thrown upon the genuineness of these documents, it + must be considered established that in 1436, five years after the public + execution at Rouen, a young woman, believed to be the real Jeanne d'Arc, + was alive in Lorraine and was married to a M. Hermoises or Armoises. She + may, of course, have been an impostor; but in this case it is difficult to + believe that her brothers, Jean and Pierre, and the people of Lorraine, + where she was well known, would not have detected the imposture at once. + And that Jean du Lis, during a familiar intercourse of at least several + months, as indicated in the above extracts, should have continued to + mistake a stranger for his own sister, with whom he had lived from + childhood, seems a very absurd supposition. Nor is it likely that an + impostor would have exposed herself to such a formidable test. If it had + been a bold charlatan who, taking advantage of the quite general belief, + to which we have ample testimony, that there was something more in the + execution at Rouen than was allowed to come to the surface, had resolved + to usurp for herself the honours due to the woman who had saved France, + she would hardly have gone at the outset to a part of the country where + the real Maid had spent nearly all her life. Her instant detection and + exposure, perhaps a disgraceful punishment, would have been inevitable. + But if this person were the real Jeanne, escaped from prison or returning + from an exile dictated by prudence, what should she have done but go + straightway to the haunts of her childhood, where she might meet once more + her own friends and family? + </p> + <p> + But the account does not end here. M. Wallon, in his elaborate history of + Jeanne d'Arc, states that in 1436 the supposed Maid visited France, and + appears to have met some of the men-at-arms with whom she had fought. In + 1439 she came to Orleans, for in the accounts of the town we read, "July + 28, for ten pints of wine presented to Jeanne des Armoises, 14 sous." And + on the day of her departure, the citizens of Orleans, by a special decree + of the town-council, presented her with 210 livres, "for the services + which she had rendered to the said city during the siege." At the same + time the annual ceremonies for the repose of her soul were, quite + naturally, suppressed. Now we may ask if it is at all probable that the + people of Orleans, who, ten years before, during the siege, must have seen + the Maid day after day, and to whom her whole appearance must have been + perfectly familiar, would have been likely to show such attentions as + these to an impostor? "In 1440," says Mr. Delepierre, "the people so + firmly believed that Jeanne d'Arc was still alive, and that another had + been sacrificed in her place, that an adventuress who endeavoured to pass + herself off as the Maid of Orleans was ordered by the government to be + exposed before the public on the marble stone of the palace hall, in order + to prove that she was an impostor. Why were not such measures taken + against the real Maid of Orleans, who is mentioned in so many public + documents, and who took no pains to hide herself?" + </p> + <p> + There is yet another document bearing on this case, drawn from the + accounts of the auditor of the Orleans estate, in the year 1444, which we + will here translate. "An island on the River Loire is restored to Pierre + du Lis, knight, 'on account of the supplication of the said Pierre, + alleging that for the acquittal of his debt of loyalty toward our Lord the + King and M. the Duke of Orleans, he left his country to come to the + service of the King and M. the Duke, accompanied by his sister, Jeanne the + Maid, with whom, down to the time of her departure, and since, unto the + present time, he has exposed his body and goods in the said service, and + in the King's wars, both in resisting the former enemies of the kingdom + who were besieging the town of Orleans, and since then in divers + enterprises,' &c., &c." Upon this Mr. Delepierre justly remarks + that the brother might have presented his claims in a much stronger light, + "if in 1444, instead of saying 'up to the time of her departure,' he had + brought forward the martyrdom of his sister, as having been the means of + saving France from the yoke of England." The expression here cited and + italicized in the above translation, may indeed be held to refer + delicately to her death, but the particular French phrase employed, + "jusques a son absentement," apparently excludes such an interpretation. + The expression, on the other hand, might well refer to Jeanne's departure + for Lorraine, and her marriage, after which there is no evidence that she + returned to France, except for brief visits. Thus a notable amount of + evidence goes to show that Jeanne was not put to death in 1431, as usually + supposed, but was alive, married, and flourishing in 1444. Upon this + supposition, certain alleged difficulties in the traditional account are + easily disposed of. Mr. Delepierre urges upon the testimony of Perceval de + Cagny, that at the execution in Rouen "the victim's face was covered when + walking to the stake, while at the same time a spot had been chosen for + the execution that permitted the populace to have a good view. Why this + contradiction? A place is chosen to enable the people to see everything, + but the victim is carefully hidden from their sight." Whether otherwise + explicable or not, this fact is certainly consistent with the hypothesis + that some other victim was secretly substituted for Jeanne by the English + authorities. + </p> + <p> + We have thus far contented ourselves with presenting and re-enforcing Mr. + Delepierre's statement of the case. It is now time to interpose a little + criticism. We must examine our data somewhat more closely, for vagueness + of conception allows a latitude to belief which accuracy of conception + considerably restricts. + </p> + <p> + On the hypothesis of her survival, where was Jeanne, and what was she + doing all the time from her capture before Compiegne, May 24, 1430, until + her appearance at Metz, May 20, 1436? Mr. Delepierre reminds us that the + Duke of Bedford, regent of France for the English king, died in 1435, and + "that most probably Jeanne d'Arc was released from prison after this + event." Now this supposition lands us in a fatally absurd conclusion. We + are, in fact, asked to believe that the English, while holding Jeanne fast + in their clutches, gratuitously went through the horrid farce of burning + some one else in her stead; and that, after having thus inexplicably + behaved, they further stultified themselves by letting her go scot-free, + that their foolishness might be duly exposed and confuted. Such a theory + is childish. If Jeanne d'Arc ever survived the 30th May, 1431, it was + because she escaped from prison and succeeded in hiding herself until + safer times. When could she have done this? In a sortie from Compiegne, + May 24, 1430, she was thrown from her horse by a Picard archer and taken + prisoner by the Bastard of Vendome, who sold her to John of Luxembourg. + John kept her in close custody at Beaulieu until August. While there, she + made two attempts to escape; first, apparently, by running out through a + door, when she was at once caught by the guards; secondly, by jumping from + a high window, when the shock of the fall was so great that she lay + insensible on the ground until discovered. She was then removed to + Beaurevoir, where she remained until the beginning of November. By this + time, Philip "the Good," Duke of Burgundy, had made up his mind to sell + her to the English for 10,000 francs; and Jeanne was accordingly taken to + Arras, and thence to Cotoy, where she was delivered to the English by + Philip's officers. So far, all is clear; but here it may be asked, WAS she + really delivered to the English, or did Philip, pocketing his 10,000 + francs, cheat and defraud his allies with a counterfeit Jeanne? Such + crooked dealing would have been in perfect keeping with his character. + Though a far more agreeable and gentlemanly person, he was almost as + consummate and artistic a rascal as his great-great-great-grandson and + namesake, Philip II. of Spain. His duplicity was so unfathomable and his + policy so obscure, that it would be hardly safe to affirm a priori that he + might not, for reasons best known to himself, have played a double game + with his friend the Duke of Bedford. On this hypothesis, he would of + course keep Jeanne in close custody so long as there was any reason for + keeping his treachery secret. But in 1436, after the death of Bedford and + the final expulsion of the English from France, no harm could come from + setting her at liberty. + </p> + <p> + But as soon as we cease to reason a priori, this is seen to be, after all, + a lame hypothesis. No one can read the trial of Jeanne at Rouen, the + questions that were put to her and the answers which she made, without + being convinced that we are here dealing with the genuine Maid and not + with a substitute. The first step of a counterfeit Jeanne would have + naturally been to save herself from the flames by revealing her true + character. Moreover, among the multitudes who saw her during her cruel + trial, it is not likely that none were acquainted with the true Jeanne's + voice and features. We must therefore conclude that Jeanne d'Arc was + really consigned to the tender mercies of the English. About the 21st of + November she was taken on horseback, strongly guarded, from Cotoy to + Rouen, where the trial began January 9, 1431. On the 21st of February she + appeared before the court; on the 13th of March she was examined in the + prison by an inquisitor; and on May 24, the Thursday after Pentecost, upon + a scaffold conspicuously placed in the Cemetery of St. Ouen, she publicly + recanted, abjuring her "heresies" and asking the Church's pardon for her + "witchcraft." We may be sure that the Church dignitaries would not + knowingly have made such public display of a counterfeit Jeanne; nor could + they well have been deceived themselves under such circumstances. It may + indeed be said, to exhaust all possible suppositions, that a young girl + wonderfully similar in feature and voice to Jeanne d'Arc was palmed off + upon the English by Duke Philip, and afterwards, on her trial, comported + herself like the Maid, trusting in this recantation to effect her release. + But we consider such an hypothesis extremely far-fetched, nor does it + accord with the events which immediately followed. It seems hardly + questionable that it was the real Jeanne who publicly recanted on the 24th + of May. This was only six days before the execution. Four days after, on + Monday the 28th, it was reported that Jeanne had relapsed, that she had, + in defiance of the Church's prohibition, clothed herself in male attire, + which had been left in a convenient place by the authorities, expressly to + test her sincerity. On the next day but one, the woman purporting to be + the Maid of Orleans was led out, with her face carefully covered, and + burnt at the stake. + </p> + <p> + Here is the first combination of circumstances which bears a suspicious + look. It disposes of our Burgundy hypothesis, for a false Jeanne, after + recanting to secure her safety, would never have stultified herself by + such a barefaced relapse. But the true Jeanne, after recanting, might + certainly have escaped. Some compassionate guard, who before would have + scrupled to assist her while under the ban of the Church, might have + deemed himself excusable for lending her his aid after she had been + absolved. Postulating, then, that Jeanne escaped from Rouen between the + 24th and the 28th, how shall we explain what happened immediately + afterward? + </p> + <p> + The English feared Jeanne d'Arc as much as they hated her. She had, by her + mere presence at the head of the French army, turned their apparent + triumph into ignominious defeat. In those days the true psychological + explanation of such an event was by no means obvious. While the French + attributed the result to celestial interposition in their behalf, the + English, equally ready to admit its supernatural character, considered the + powers of hell rather than those of heaven to have been the prime + instigators. In their eyes Jeanne was a witch, and it was at least their + cue to exhibit her as such. They might have put her to death when she + first reached Rouen. Some persons, indeed, went so far as to advise that + she should be sewed up in a sack and thrown at once into the Seine; but + this was not what the authorities wanted. The whole elaborate trial, and + the extorted recantation, were devised for the purpose of demonstrating + her to be a witch, and thus destroying her credit with the common people. + That they intended afterwards to burn her cannot for an instant be + doubted; that was the only fit consummation for their evil work. + </p> + <p> + Now when, at the end of the week after Pentecost, the bishops and + inquisitors at Rouen learned, to their dismay, that their victim had + escaped, what were they to do? Confess that they had been foiled, and + create a panic in the army by the news that their dreaded enemy was at + liberty? Or boldly carry out their purposes by a fictitious execution, + trusting in the authority which official statements always carry, and + shrewdly foreseeing that, after her recantation, the disgraced Maid would + no more venture to claim for herself the leadership of the French forces? + Clearly, the latter would have been the wiser course. We may assume, then, + that, by the afternoon of the 28th, the story of the relapse was + promulgated, as a suitable preparation for what was to come; and that on + the 30th the poor creature who had been hastily chosen to figure as the + condemned Maid was led out, with face closely veiled, to perish by a slow + fire in the old market-place. Meanwhile the true Jeanne would have made + her way, doubtless, in what to her was the effectual disguise of a woman's + apparel, to some obscure place of safety, outside of doubtful France and + treacherous Burgundy, perhaps in Alsace or the Vosges. Here she would + remain, until the final expulsion of the English and the conclusion of a + treaty of peace in 1436 made it safe for her to show herself; when she + would naturally return to Lorraine to seek her family. + </p> + <p> + The comparative obscurity in which she must have remained for the rest of + her life, otherwise quite inexplicable on any hypothesis of her survival, + is in harmony with the above-given explanation. The ingratitude of King + Charles towards the heroine who had won him his crown is the subject of + common historical remark. M. Wallon insists upon the circumstance that, + after her capture at Compiegne, no attempts were made by the French Court + to ransom her or to liberate her by a bold coup de main. And when, at + Rouen, she appealed in the name of the Church to the Pope to grant her a + fair trial, not a single letter was written by the Archbishop of Rheims, + High Chancellor of France, to his suffragan, the Bishop of Beauvais, + demanding cognizance of the proceedings. Nor did the King make any appeal + to the Pope, to prevent the consummation of the judicial murder. The Maid + was deliberately left to her fate. It is upon her enemies at court, La + Tremouille and Regnault de Chartres, that we must lay part of the blame + for this wicked negligence. But it is also probable that the King, and + especially his clerical advisers, were at times almost disposed to + acquiesce in the theory of Jeanne's witchcraft. Admire her as they might, + they could not help feeling that in her whole behaviour there was + something uncanny; and, after having reaped the benefits of her + assistance, they were content to let her shift for herself. This affords + the clew to the King's inconsistencies. It may be thought sufficient to + explain the fact that Jeanne is said to have received public testimonials + at Orleans, while we have no reason to suppose that she visited Paris. It + may help to dispose of the objection that she virtually disappears from + history after the date of the tragedy at Rouen. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, this last objection is a weighty one, and cannot easily be + got rid of. It appears to me utterly incredible that, if Jeanne d'Arc had + really survived, we should find no further mention of her than such as + haply occurs in one or two town-records and dilapidated account-books. If + she was alive in 1436, and corresponding with the King, some of her + friends at court must have got an inkling of the true state of things. Why + did they not parade their knowledge, to the manifest discomfiture of La + Tremouille and his company? Or why did not Pierre du Lis cause it to be + proclaimed that the English were liars, his sister being safely housed in + Metz? + </p> + <p> + In the mere interests of historical criticism, we have said all that we + could in behalf of Mr. Delepierre's hypothesis. But as to the facts upon + which it rests, we may remark, in the first place, that the surname Arc or + "Bow" was not uncommon in those days, while the Christian name Jeanne was + and now is the very commonest of French names. There might have been a + hundred Jeanne d'Arcs, all definable as pucelle or maid, just as we say + "spinster": we even read of one in the time of the Revolution. We have, + therefore, no doubt that Robert des Hermoises married a Jeanne d'Arc, who + may also have been a maid of Orleans; but this does not prove her to have + been the historic Jeanne. Secondly, as to the covering of the face, we may + mention the fact, hitherto withheld, that it was by no means an uncommon + circumstance: the victims of the Spanish Inquisition were usually led to + the stake with veiled faces. Thirdly, the phrase "jusques a son + absentement" is hopelessly ambiguous, and may as well refer to Pierre du + Lis himself as to his sister. + </p> + <p> + These brief considerations seem to knock away all the main props of Mr. + Delepierre's hypothesis, save that furnished by the apparent testimony of + Jeanne's brothers, given at second hand in the Metz archives. And those + who are familiar with the phenomena of mediaeval delusions will be + unwilling to draw too hasty an inference from this alone. From the Emperor + Nero to Don Sebastian of Portugal, there have been many instances of the + supposed reappearance of persons generally believed to be dead. For my own + part, therefore, I am by no means inclined to adopt the hypothesis of + Jeanne's survival, although I have endeavoured to give it tangible shape + and plausible consistency. But the fact that so much can be said in behalf + of a theory running counter not only to universal tradition, but also to + such a vast body of contemporaneous testimony, should teach us to be + circumspect in holding our opinions, and charitable in our treatment of + those who dissent from them. For those who can discover in the historian + Renan and the critic Strauss nothing but the malevolence of incredulity, + the case of Jeanne d'Arc, duly contemplated, may serve as a wholesome + lesson. + </p> + <p> + We have devoted so much space to this problem, by far the most + considerable of those treated in Mr. Delepierre's book, that we have + hardly room for any of the others. But a false legend concerning Solomon + de Caus, the supposed original inventor of the steam-engine, is so + instructive that we must give a brief account of it. + </p> + <p> + In 1834 "there appeared in the Musee des Familles a letter from the + celebrated Marion Delorme, supposed to have been written on the 3d + February, 1641, to her lover Cinq-Mars." In this letter it is stated that + De Caus came four years ago (1637) from Normandy, to inform the King + concerning a marvellous invention which he had made, being nothing less + than the application of steam to the propulsion of carriages. "The + Cardinal [Richelieu] dismissed this fool without giving him a hearing." + But De Caus, nowise discouraged, followed close upon the autocrat's heels + wherever he went, and so teased him, that the Cardinal, out of patience, + sent him off to a madhouse, where he passed the remainder of his days + behind a grated window, proclaiming his invention to the passengers in the + street, and calling upon them to release him. Marion gives a graphic + account of her visit, accompanied by the famous Lord Worcester, to the + asylum at Bicetre, where they saw De Caus at his window; and Worcester, in + whose mind the conception of the steam-engine was already taking shape, + informed her that the raving prisoner was not a madman, but a genius. A + great stir was made by this letter. The anecdote was copied into standard + works, and represented in engravings. Yet it was a complete hoax. De Caus + was not only never confined in a madhouse, but he was architect to Louis + XIII. up to the time of his death, in 1630, just eleven years BEFORE + Marion Delorme was said to have seen him at his grated window! + </p> + <p> + "On tracing this hoax to its source," says Mr. Delepierre, "we find that + M. Henri Berthoud, a literary man of some repute, and a constant + contributor to the Musee des Familles, confesses that the letter + attributed to Marion was in fact written by himself. The editor of this + journal had requested Gavarni to furnish him with a drawing for a tale in + which a madman was introduced looking through the bars of his cell. The + drawing was executed and engraved, but arrived too late; and the tale, + which could not wait, appeared without the illustration. However, as the + wood-engraving was effective, and, moreover, was paid for, the editor was + unwilling that it should be useless. Berthoud was, therefore, commissioned + to look for a subject and to invent a story to which the engraving might + be applied. Strangely enough, the world refused to believe in M. + Berthoud's confession, so great a hold had the anecdote taken on the + public mind; and a Paris newspaper went so far even as to declare that the + original autograph of this letter was to be seen in a library in Normandy! + M. Berthoud wrote again, denying its existence, and offered a million + francs to any one who would produce the said letter." + </p> + <p> + From this we may learn two lessons, the first being that utterly baseless + but plausible stories may arise in queer ways. In the above case, the most + far-fetched hypothesis to account for the origin of the legend could + hardly have been as apparently improbable as the reality. Secondly, we may + learn that if a myth once gets into the popular mind, it is next to + impossible to get it out again. In the Castle of Heidelberg there is a + portrait of De Caus, and a folio volume of his works, accompanied by a + note, in which this letter of Marion Delorme is unsuspectingly cited as + genuine. And only three years ago, at a public banquet at Limoges, a + well-known French Senator and man of letters made a speech, in which he + retailed the story of the madhouse for the edification of his hearers. + Truly a popular error has as many lives as a cat; it comes walking in long + after you have imagined it effectually strangled. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, we may remark that Mr. Delepierre does very scant justice + to many of the interesting questions which he discusses. It is to be + regretted that he has not thought it worth while to argue his points more + thoroughly, and that he has not been more careful in making statements of + fact. He sometimes makes strange blunders, the worst of which, perhaps, is + contained in his article on Petrarch and Laura. He thinks Laura was merely + a poetical allegory, and such was the case, he goes on to say, "with Dante + himself, whose Beatrice was a child who died at nine years of age." + Dante's Beatrice died on the 9th of June, 1290, at the age of twenty-four, + having been the wife of Simone dei Bardi rather more than three years. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + October, 1868. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL. <a href="#linknote-30" + name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30"><small>30</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + No intelligent reader can advance fifty pages in this volume without + becoming aware that he has got hold of a very remarkable book. Mr. + Hunter's style, to begin with, is such as is written only by men of large + calibre and high culture. No words are wasted. The narrative flows calmly + and powerfully along, like a geometrical demonstration, omitting nothing + which is significant, admitting nothing which is irrelevant, glowing with + all the warmth of rich imagination and sympathetic genius, yet never + allowing any overt manifestation of feeling, ever concealing the author's + personality beneath the unswerving exposition of the subject-matter. That + highest art, which conceals art, Mr. Hunter appears to have learned well. + With him, the curtain is the picture. + </p> + <p> + Such a style as this would suffice to make any book interesting, in spite + of the remoteness of the subject. But the "Annals of Rural Bengal" do not + concern us so remotely as one might at first imagine. The phenomena of the + moral and industrial growth or stagnation of a highly-endowed people must + ever possess the interest of fascination for those who take heed of the + maxim that "history is philosophy teaching by example." National + prosperity depends upon circumstances sufficiently general to make the + experience of one country of great value to another, though ignorant + Bourbon dynasties and Rump Congresses refuse to learn the lesson. It is of + the intimate every-day life of rural Bengal that Mr. Hunter treats. He + does not, like old historians, try our patience with a bead-roll of names + that have earned no just title to remembrance, or dazzle us with a + bountiful display of "barbaric pearls and gold," or lead us in the + gondolas of Buddhist kings down sacred rivers, amid "a summer fanned with + spice"; but he describes the labours and the sufferings, the mishaps and + the good fortune, of thirty millions of people, who, however dusky may be + their hue, tanned by the tropical suns of fifty centuries, are + nevertheless members of the imperial Aryan race, descended from the cool + highlands eastward of the Caspian, where, long before the beginning of + recorded history, their ancestors and those of the Anglo-American were + indistinguishably united in the same primitive community. + </p> + <p> + The narrative portion of the present volume is concerned mainly with the + social and economical disorganization wrought by the great famine of 1770, + and with the attempts of the English government to remedy the same. The + remainder of the book is occupied with inquiries into the ethnic character + of the population of Bengal, and particularly with an exposition of the + peculiarities of the language, religion, customs, and institutions of the + Santals, or hill-tribes of Beerbhoom. A few remarks on the first of these + topics may not be uninteresting. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from the remote + times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim tradition down to the + present moment, there has occurred no calamity at once so sudden and of + such appalling magnitude as the famine which in the spring and summer of + 1770 nearly exterminated the ancient civilization of Bengal. It presents + that aspect of preternatural vastness which characterizes the continent of + Asia and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the fourteenth century + was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has ever afflicted the + Western world. But in the concentrated misery which it occasioned the + Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the Himalayas dwarf by comparison the + highest peaks of Switzerland. It is, moreover, the key to the history of + Bengal during the next forty years; and as such, merits, from an + economical point of view, closer attention than it has hitherto received. + </p> + <p> + Lower Bengal gathers in three harvests each year; in the spring, in the + early autumn, and in December, the last being the great rice-crop, the + harvest on which the sustenance of the people depends. Through the year + 1769 there was great scarcity, owing to the partial failure of the crops + of 1768, but the spring rains appeared to promise relief, and in spite of + the warning appeals of provincial officers, the government was slow to + take alarm, and continued rigorously to enforce the land-tax. But in + September the rains suddenly ceased. Throughout the autumn there ruled a + parching drought; and the rice-fields, according to the description of a + native superintendent of Bishenpore, "became like fields of dried straw." + Nevertheless, the government at Calcutta made—with one lamentable + exception, hereafter to be noticed—no legislative attempt to meet + the consequences of this dangerous condition of things. The administration + of local affairs was still, at that date, intrusted to native officials. + The whole internal regulation was in the hands of the famous Muhamad Reza + Ehan. Hindu or Mussulman assessors pried into every barn and shrewdly + estimated the probable dimensions of the crops on every field; and the + courts, as well as the police, were still in native hands. "These men," + says our author, "knew the country, its capabilities, its average yield, + and its average requirements, with an accuracy that the most painstaking + English official can seldom hope to attain to. They had a strong interest + in representing things to be worse than they were; for the more intense + the scarcity, the greater the merit in collecting the land-tax. Every + consultation is filled with their apprehensions and highly-coloured + accounts of the public distress; but it does not appear that the + conviction entered the minds of the Council during the previous winter + months, that the question was not so much one of revenue as of + depopulation." In fact, the local officers had cried "Wolf!" too often. + Government was slow to believe them, and announced that nothing better + could be expected than the adoption of a generous policy toward those + landholders whom the loss of harvest had rendered unable to pay their + land-tax. But very few indulgences were granted, and the tax was not + diminished, but on the contrary was, in the month of April, 1770, + increased by ten per cent for the following year. The character of the + Bengali people must also be taken into the account in explaining this + strange action on the part of the government. + </p> + <p> + "From the first appearance of Lower Bengal in history, its inhabitants + have been reticent, self-contained, distrustful of foreign observation, in + a degree without parallel among other equally civilized nations. The cause + of this taciturnity will afterwards be clearly explained; but no one who + is acquainted either with the past experiences or the present condition of + the people can be ignorant of its results. Local officials may write + alarming reports, but their apprehensions seem to be contradicted by the + apparent quiet that prevails. Outward, palpable proofs of suffering are + often wholly wanting; and even when, as in 1770, such proofs abound, there + is generally no lack of evidence on the other side. The Bengali bears + existence with a composure that neither accident nor chance can ruffle. He + becomes silently rich or uncomplainingly poor. The emotional part of his + nature is in strict subjection, his resentment enduring but unspoken, his + gratitude of the sort that silently descends from generation to + generation. The passion for privacy reaches its climax in the domestic + relations. An outer apartment, in even the humblest households, is set + apart for strangers and the transaction of business, but everything behind + it is a mystery. The most intimate friend does not venture to make those + commonplace kindly inquiries about a neighbour's wife or daughter which + European courtesy demands from mere acquaintances. This family privacy is + maintained at any price. During the famine of 1866 it was found impossible + to render public charity available to the female members of the + respectable classes, and many a rural household starved slowly to death + without uttering a complaint or making a sign. + </p> + <p> + "All through the stifling summer of 1770 the people went on dying. The + husbandmen sold their cattle; they sold their implements of agriculture; + they devoured their seed-grain; they sold their sons and daughters, till + at length no buyer of children could be found; they ate the leaves of + trees and the grass of the field; and in June, 1770, the Resident at the + Durbar affirmed that the living were feeding on the dead. Day and night a + torrent of famished and disease-stricken wretches poured into the great + cities. At an early period of the year pestilence had broken out. In March + we find small-pox at Moorshedabad, where it glided through the vice-regal + mutes, and cut off the Prince Syfut in his palace. The streets were + blocked up with promiscuous heaps of the dying and dead. Interment could + not do its work quick enough; even the dogs and jackals, the public + scavengers of the East, became unable to accomplish their revolting work, + and the multitude of mangled and festering corpses at length threatened + the existence of the citizens..... In 1770, the rainy season brought + relief, and before the end of September the province reaped an abundant + harvest. But the relief came too late to avert depopulation. Starving and + shelterless crowds crawled despairingly from one deserted village to + another in a vain search for food, or a resting-place in which to hide + themselves from the rain. The epidemics incident to the season were thus + spread over the whole country; and, until the close of the year, disease + continued so prevalent as to form a subject of communication from the + government in Bengal to the Court of Directors. Millions of famished + wretches died in the struggle to live through the few intervening weeks + that separated them from the harvest, their last gaze being probably fixed + on the densely-covered fields that would ripen only a little too late for + them..... Three months later, another bountiful harvest, the great + rice-crop of the year, was gathered in. Abundance returned to Bengal as + suddenly as famine had swooped down upon it, and in reading some of the + manuscript records of December it is difficult to realize that the scenes + of the preceding ten months have not been hideous phantasmagoria or a + long, troubled dream. On Christmas eve, the Council in Calcutta wrote home + to the Court of Directors that the scarcity had entirely ceased, and, + incredible as it may seem, that unusual plenty had returned..... So + generous had been the harvest that the government proposed at once to lay + in its military stores for the ensuing year, and expected to obtain them + at a very cheap rate." + </p> + <p> + Such sudden transitions from the depths of misery to the most exuberant + plenty are by no means rare in the history of Asia, where the various + centres of civilization are, in an economical sense, so isolated from each + other that the welfare of the population is nearly always absolutely + dependent on the irregular: and apparently capricious bounty of nature. + For the three years following the dreadful misery above described, + harvests of unprecedented abundance were gathered in. Yet how inadequate + they were to repair the fearful damage wrought by six months of + starvation, the history of the next quarter of a century too plainly + reveals. "Plenty had indeed returned," says our annalist, "but it had + returned to a silent and deserted province." The extent of the + depopulation is to our Western imaginations almost incredible. During + those six months of horror, more than TEN MILLIONS of people had perished! + It was as if the entire population of our three or four largest States—man, + woman, and child—were to be utterly swept away between now and next + August, leaving the region between the Hudson and Lake Michigan as quiet + and deathlike as the buried streets of Pompeii. Yet the estimate is based + upon most accurate and trustworthy official returns; and Mr. Hunter may + well say that "it represents an aggregate of individual suffering which no + European nation has been called upon to contemplate within historic + times." + </p> + <p> + This unparalleled calamity struck down impartially the rich and the poor. + The old, aristocratic families of Lower Bengal were irretrievably ruined. + The Rajah of Burdwan, whose possessions were so vast that, travel as far + as he would, he always slept under a roof of his own and within his own + jurisdiction, died in such indigence that his son had to melt down the + family plate and beg a loan from the government in order to discharge his + father's funeral expenses. And our author gives other similar instances. + The wealthy natives who were appointed to assess and collect the internal + revenue, being unable to raise the sums required by the government, were + in many cases imprisoned, or their estates were confiscated and re-let in + order to discharge the debt. + </p> + <p> + For fifteen years the depopulation went on increasing. The children in a + community, requiring most nourishment to sustain their activity, are those + who soonest succumb to famine. "Until 1785," says our author, "the old + died off without there being any rising generation to step into their + places." From lack of cultivators, one third of the surface of Bengal fell + out of tillage and became waste land. The landed proprietors began each + "to entice away the tenants of his neighbour, by offering protection + against judicial proceedings, and farms at very low rents." The disputes + and deadly feuds which arose from this practice were, perhaps, the least + fatal of the evil results which flowed from it. For the competition went + on until, the tenants obtaining their holdings at half-rates, the resident + cultivators—who had once been the wealthiest farmers in the country—were + no longer able to complete on such terms. They began to sell, lease, or + desert their property, migrating to less afflicted regions, or flying to + the hills on the frontier to adopt a savage life. But, in a climate like + that of Northeastern India, it takes but little time to transform a tract + of untilled land into formidable wilderness. When the functions of society + are impeded, nature is swift to assert its claims. And accordingly, in + 1789, "Lord Cornwallis after three years' vigilant inquiry, pronounced one + third of the company's territories in Bengal to be a jungle, inhabited + only by wild beasts." + </p> + <p> + On the Western frontier of Beerbhoom the state of affairs was, perhaps, + most calamitous. In 1776, four acres out of every seven remained untilled. + Though in earlier times this district had been a favourite highway for + armies, by the year 1780 it had become an almost impassable jungle. A + small company of Sepoys, which in that year by heroic exertions forced its + way through, was obliged to traverse 120 miles of trackless forest, + swarming with tigers and black shaggy bears. In 1789 this jungle + "continued so dense as to shut off all communication between the two most + important towns, and to cause the mails to be carried by a circuit of + fifty miles through another district." + </p> + <p> + Such a state of things it is difficult for us to realize; but the + monotonous tale of disaster and suffering is not yet complete. Beerbhoom + was, to all intents and purposes, given over to tigers. "A belt of jungle, + filled with wild beasts, formed round each village." At nightfall the + hungry animals made their dreaded incursions carrying away cattle, and + even women and children, and devouring them. "The official records + frequently speak of the mail-bag being carried off by wild beasts." So + great was the damage done by these depredations, that "the company offered + a reward for each tiger's head, sufficient to maintain a peasant's family + in comfort for three months; an item of expenditure it deemed so + necessary, that, when under extraordinary pressure it had to suspend all + payments, the tiger-money and diet allowance for prisoners were the sole + exceptions to the rule." Still more formidable foes were found in the + herds of wild elephants, which came trooping along in the rear of the + devastation caused by the famine. In the course of a few years fifty-six + villages were reported as destroyed by elephants, and as having lapsed + into jungle in consequence; "and an official return states that forty + market-towns throughout the district had been deserted from the same + cause. In many parts of the country the peasantry did not dare to sleep in + their houses, lest they should be buried beneath them during the night." + These terrible beasts continued to infest the province as late as 1810. + </p> + <p> + But society during these dark days had even worse enemies than tigers and + elephants. The barbarous highlanders, of a lower type of mankind, + nourishing for forty centuries a hatred of their Hindu supplanters, like + that which the Apache bears against the white frontiersman, seized the + occasion to renew their inroads upon the lowland country. Year by year + they descended from their mountain fastnesses, plundering and burning. + Many noble Hindu families, ousted by the tax-collectors from their + estates, began to seek subsistence from robbery. Others, consulting their + selfish interests amid the general distress, "found it more profitable to + shelter banditti on their estates, levying blackmail from the surrounding + villages as the price of immunity from depredation, and sharing in the + plunder of such as would not come to terms. Their country houses were + robber strongholds, and the early English administrators of Bengal have + left it on record that a gang-robbery never occurred without a landed + proprietor being at the bottom of it." The peasants were not slow to + follow suit, and those who were robbed of their winter's store had no + alternative left but to become robbers themselves. The thieveries of the + Fakeers, or religious mendicants, and the bold, though stealthy attacks of + Thugs and Dacoits—members of Masonic brotherhoods, which at all + times have lived by robbery and assassination—added to the general + turmoil. In the cold weather of 1772 the province was ravaged far and wide + by bands of armed freebooters, fifty thousand strong; and to such a pass + did things arrive that the regular forces sent by Warren Hastings to + preserve order were twice disastrously routed; while, in Mr. Hunter's + graphic language, "villages high up the Ganges lived by housebreaking in + Calcutta." In English mansions "it was the invariable practice for the + porter to shut the outer door at the commencement of each meal, and not to + open it till the butler brought him word that the plate was safely locked + up." And for a long time nearly all traffic ceased upon the imperial + roads. + </p> + <p> + This state of things, which amounted to chronic civil war, induced Lord + Cornwallis in 1788 to place the province under the direct military control + of an English officer. The administration of Mr. Keating—the first + hardy gentleman to whom this arduous office was assigned—is minutely + described by our author. For our present purpose it is enough to note that + two years of severe campaigning, attended and followed by relentless + punishment of all transgressors, was required to put an end to the + disorders. + </p> + <p> + Such was the appalling misery, throughout a community of thirty million + persons, occasioned by the failure of the winter rice-crop in 1769. In + abridging Mr. Hunter's account we have adhered as closely to our original + as possible, but he who would obtain adequate knowledge of this tale of + woe must seek it in the ever memorable description of the historian + himself. The first question which naturally occurs to the reader—though, + as Mr. Hunter observes, it would have been one of the last to occur to the + Oriental mind—is, Who was to blame? To what culpable negligence was + it due that such a dire calamity was not foreseen, and at least partially + warded off? We shall find reason to believe that it could not have been + adequately foreseen, and that no legislative measures could in that state + of society have entirely prevented it. Yet it will appear that the + government, with the best of intentions, did all in its power to make + matters worse; and that to its blundering ignorance the distress which + followed is largely due. + </p> + <p> + The first duty incumbent upon the government in a case like that of the + failure of the winter rice-crop of 1769, was to do away with all hindrance + to the importation of food into the province. One chief cause of the + far-reaching distress wrought by great Asiatic famines has been the almost + complete commercial isolation of Asiatic communities. In the Middle Ages + the European communities were also, though to a far less extent, isolated + from each other, and in those days periods of famine were comparatively + frequent and severe. And one of the chief causes which now render the + occurrence of a famine on a great scale almost impossible in any part of + the civilized world is the increased commercial solidarity of civilized + nations. Increased facility of distribution has operated no less + effectively than improved methods of production. + </p> + <p> + Now, in 1770 the province of Lower Bengal was in a state of almost + complete commercial isolation from other communities. Importation of food + on an adequate scale was hardly possible. "A single fact speaks volumes as + to the isolation of each district. An abundant harvest, we are repeatedly + told, was as disastrous to the revenues as a bad one; for, when a large + quantity of grain had to be carried to market, the cost of carriage + swallowed up the price obtained. Indeed, even if the means of + intercommunication and transport had rendered importation practicable, the + province had at that time no money to give in exchange for food. Not only + had its various divisions a separate currency which would pass nowhere + else except at a ruinous exchange, but in that unfortunate year Bengal + seems to have been utterly drained of its specie..... The absence of the + means of importation was the more to be deplored, as the neighbouring + districts could easily have supplied grain. In the southeast a fair + harvest had been reaped, except, in circumscribed spots; and we are + assured that, during the famine, this part of Bengal was enabled to export + without having to complain of any deficiency in consequence..... INDEED, + NO MATTER HOW LOCAL A FAMINE MIGHT BE IN THE LAST CENTURY, THE EFFECTS + WERE EQUALLY DISASTROUS. Sylhet, a district in the northeast of Bengal, + had reaped unusually plentiful harvests in 1780 and 1781, but the next + crop was destroyed by a local inundation, and, notwithstanding the + facilities for importation afforded by water-carriage, one third of the + people died." + </p> + <p> + Here we have a vivid representation of the economic condition of a society + which, however highly civilized in many important respects, still + retained, at the epoch treated of, its aboriginal type of organization. + Here we see each community brought face to face with the impossible task + of supplying, unaided, the deficiencies of nature. We see one petty + district a prey to the most frightful destitution, even while profuse + plenty reigns in the districts round about it. We find an almost complete + absence of the commercial machinery which, by enabling the starving region + to be fed out of the surplus of more favoured localities, has in the most + advanced countries rendered a great famine practically impossible. + </p> + <p> + Now this state of things the government of 1770 was indeed powerless to + remedy. Legislative power and wisdom could not anticipate the invention of + railroads; nor could it introduce throughout the length and breadth of + Bengal a system of coaches, canals, and caravans; nor could it all at once + do away with the time-honoured brigandage, which increased the cost of + transport by decreasing the security of it; nor could it in a trice remove + the curse of a heterogeneous coinage. None, save those uninstructed + agitators who believe that governments can make water run up-hill, would + be disposed to find fault with the authorities in Bengal for failing to + cope with these difficulties. But what we are to blame them for—though + it was an error of the judgment and not of the intentions—is their + mischievous interference with the natural course of trade, by which, + instead of helping matters, they but added another to the many powerful + causes which were conspiring to bring about the economic ruin of Bengal. + We refer to the act which in 1770 prohibited under penalties all + speculation in rice. + </p> + <p> + This disastrous piece of legislation was due to the universal prevalence + of a prejudice from which so-called enlightened communities are not yet + wholly free. It is even now customary to heap abuse upon those persons who + in a season of scarcity, when prices are rapidly rising, buy up the + "necessaries of life," thereby still increasing for a time the cost of + living. Such persons are commonly assailed with specious generalities to + the effect that they are enemies of society. People whose only ideas are + "moral ideas" regard them as heartless sharpers who fatten upon the misery + of their fellow-creatures. And it is sometimes hinted that such + "practices" ought to be stopped by legislation. + </p> + <p> + Now, so far is this prejudice, which is a very old one, from being + justified by facts, that, instead of being an evil, speculation in + breadstuffs and other necessaries is one of the chief agencies by which in + modern times and civilized countries a real famine is rendered almost + impossible. This natural monopoly operates in two ways. In the first + place, by raising prices, it checks consumption, putting every one on + shorter allowance until the season of scarcity is over, and thus prevents + the scarcity from growing into famine. In the second place, by raising + prices, it stimulates importation from those localities where abundance + reigns and prices are low. It thus in the long run does much to equalize + the pressure of a time of dearth and diminish those extreme oscillations + of prices which interfere with the even, healthy course of trade. A + government which, in a season of high prices, does anything to check such + speculation, acts about as sagely as the skipper of a wrecked vessel who + should refuse to put his crew upon half rations. + </p> + <p> + The turning-point of the great Dutch Revolution, so far as it concerned + the provinces which now constitute Belgium, was the famous siege and + capture of Antwerp by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The siege was a + long one, and the resistance obstinate, and the city would probably not + have been captured if famine had not come to the assistance of the + besiegers. It is interesting, therefore, to inquire what steps the civic + authorities had taken to prevent such a calamity. They knew that the + struggle before them was likely to be the life-and-death struggle of the + Southern Netherlands; they knew that there was risk of their being + surrounded so that relief from without would be impossible; they knew that + their assailant was one of the most astute and unconquerable of men, by + far the greatest general of the sixteenth century. Therefore they + proceeded to do just what our Republican Congress, under such + circumstances, would probably have done, and just what the New York + Tribune, if it had existed in those days, would have advised them to do. + Finding that sundry speculators were accumulating and hoarding up + provisions in anticipation of a season of high prices, they hastily + decided, first of all to put a stop to such "selfish iniquity." In their + eyes the great thing to be done was to make things cheap. They therefore + affixed a very low maximum price to everything which could be eaten, and + prescribed severe penalties for all who should attempt to take more than + the sum by law decreed. If a baker refused to sell his bread for a price + which would have been adequate only in a time of great plenty, his shop + was to be broken open, and his loaves distributed among the populace. The + consequences of this idiotic policy were twofold. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any + breadstuffs or other provisions from being brought into the city. It was a + long time before Farnese succeeded in so blockading the Scheldt as to + prevent ships laden with eatables from coming in below. Corn and preserved + meats might have been hurried by thousands of tons into the beleaguered + city. Friendly Dutch vessels, freighted with abundance, were waiting at + the mouth of the river. But all to no purpose. No merchant would expose + his valuable ship, with its cargo, to the risk of being sunk by Farnese's + batteries, merely for the sake of finding a market no better than a + hundred others which could be entered without incurring danger. No doubt + if the merchants of Holland had followed out the maxim Vivre pour autrui, + they would have braved ruin and destruction rather than behold their + neighbours of Antwerp enslaved. No doubt if they could have risen to a + broad philosophic view of the future interests of the Netherlands, they + would have seen that Antwerp must be saved, no matter if some of them were + to lose money by it. But men do not yet sacrifice themselves for their + fellows, nor do they as a rule look far beyond the present moment and its + emergencies. And the business of government is to legislate for men as + they are, not as it is supposed they ought to be. If provisions had + brought a high price in Antwerp, they would have been carried thither. As + it was, the city, by its own stupidity, blockaded itself far more + effectually than Farnese could have done it. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any general + retrenchment on the part of the citizens. Nobody felt it necessary to + economize. Every one bought as much bread, and ate it as freely, as if the + government by insuring its cheapness had insured its abundance. So the + city lived in high spirits and in gleeful defiance of its besiegers, until + all at once provisions gave out, and the government had to step in again + to palliate the distress which it had wrought. It constituted itself + quartermaster-general to the community, and doled out stinted rations + alike to rich and poor, with that stern democratic impartiality peculiar + to times of mortal peril. But this served only, like most artificial + palliatives, to lengthen out the misery. At the time of the surrender, not + a loaf of bread could be obtained for love or money. + </p> + <p> + In this way a bungling act of legislation helped to decide for the worse a + campaign which involved the territorial integrity and future welfare of + what might have become a great nation performing a valuable function in + the system of European communities. + </p> + <p> + The striking character of this instructive example must be our excuse for + presenting it at such length. At the beginning of the famine in Bengal the + authorities legislated in very much the same spirit as the burghers who + had to defend Antwerp against Parma. + </p> + <p> + "By interdicting what it was pleased to term the monopoly of grain, it + prevented prices from rising at once to their natural rates. The Province + had a certain amount of food in it, and this food had to last about nine + months. Private enterprise if left to itself would have stored up the + general supply at the harvest, with a view to realizing a larger profit at + a later period in the scarcity. Prices would in consequence have + immediately risen, compelling the population to reduce their consumption + from the very beginning of the dearth. The general stock would thus have + been husbanded, and the pressure equally spread over the whole nine + months, instead of being concentrated upon the last six. The price of + grain, in place of promptly rising to three half-pence a pound as in + 1865-66, continued at three farthings during the earlier months of the + famine. During the latter ones it advanced to twopence, and in certain + localities reached fourpence." + </p> + <p> + The course taken by the great famine of 1866 well illustrates the above + views. This famine, also, was caused by the total failure of the December + rice-crop, and it was brought to a close by an abundant harvest in the + succeeding year. + </p> + <p> + "Even as regards the maximum price reached, the analogy holds good, in + each case rice having risen in general to nearly twopence, and in + particular places to fourpence, a pound; and in each the quoted rates + being for a brief period in several isolated localities merely nominal, no + food existing in the market, and money altogether losing its + interchangeable value. In both the people endured silently to the end, + with a fortitude that casual observers of a different temperament and + widely dissimilar race may easily mistake for apathy, but which those who + lived among the sufferers are unable to distinguish from qualities that + generally pass under a more honourable name. During 1866, when the famine + was severest, I superintended public instruction throughout the + southwestern division of Lower Bengal, including Orissa. The subordinate + native officers, about eight hundred in number, behaved with a steadiness, + and when called upon, with a self-abnegation, beyond praise. Many of them + ruined their health. The touching scenes of self-sacrifice and humble + heroism which I witnessed among the poor villagers on my tours of + inspection will remain in my memory till my latest day." + </p> + <p> + But to meet the famine of 1866 Bengal was equipped with railroads and + canals, and better than all, with an intelligent government. Far from + trying to check speculation, as in 1770, the government did all in its + power to stimulate it. In the earlier famine one could hardly engage in + the grain trade without becoming amenable to the law. "In 1866 respectable + men in vast numbers went into the trade; for government, by publishing + weekly returns of the rates in every district, rendered the traffic both + easy and safe. Every one knew where to buy grain cheapest, and where to + sell it dearest, and food was accordingly brought from the districts that + could best spare it, and carried to those which most urgently needed it. + Not only were prices equalized so far as possible throughout the stricken + parts, but the publicity given to the high rates in Lower Bengal induced + large shipments from the upper provinces, and the chief seat of the trade + became unable to afford accommodation for landing the vast stores of grain + brought down the river. Rice poured into the affected districts from all + parts,—railways, canals, and roads vigorously doing their duty." + </p> + <p> + The result of this wise policy was that scarcity was heightened into + famine only in one remote corner of Bengal. Orissa was commercially + isolated in 1866, as the whole country had been in 1770. "As far back as + the records extend, Orissa has produced more grain than it can use. It is + an exporting, not an importing province, sending away its surplus grain by + sea, and neither requiring nor seeking any communication with Lower Bengal + by land." Long after the rest of the province had begun to prepare for a + year of famine, Orissa kept on exporting. In March, when the alarm was + first raised, the southwest monsoon had set in, rendering the harbours + inaccessible. Thus the district was isolated. It was no longer possible to + apply the wholesome policy which was operating throughout the rest of the + country. The doomed population of Orissa, like passengers in a ship + without provisions, were called upon to suffer the extremities of famine; + and in the course of the spring and summer of 1866, some seven hundred + thousand people perished. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + January, 1869. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. <a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31" + id="linknoteref-31"><small>31</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + Tandem fit surculus arbor: the twig which Mr. Motley in his earlier + volumes has described as slowly putting forth its leaves and rootless, + while painfully struggling for existence in a hostile soil, has at last + grown into a mighty tree of liberty, drawing sustenance from all lands, + and protecting all civilized peoples with its pleasant shade. We + congratulate Mr. Motley upon the successful completion of the second + portion of his great work; and we think that the Netherlanders of our time + have reason to be grateful to the writer who has so faithfully and + eloquently told the story of their country's fearful struggle against + civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, and its manifold contributions to the + advancement of European civilization. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Motley has been fortunate in his selection of a subject upon which to + write. Probably no century of modern times lends itself to the purposes of + the descriptive historian so well as the sixteenth. While on the one hand + the problems which it presents are sufficiently near for us to understand + them without too great an effort of the imagination, on the other hand + they are sufficiently remote for us to study them without passionate and + warping prejudice. The contest between Catholicism and the reformed + religion—between ecclesiastical autocracy and the right of private + investigation—has become a thing of the past, and constitutes a + closed chapter in human history. The epoch which begins where Mr. Motley's + history is designed to close—at the peace of Westphalia—is far + more complicated. Since the middle of the seventeenth century a double + movement has been going on in religion and philosophy, society and + politics,—a movement of destruction typified by Voltaire and + Rousseau, and a constructive movement represented by Diderot and Lessing. + We are still living in the midst of this great epoch: the questions which + it presents are liable to disturb our prejudices as well as to stimulate + our reason; the results to which it must sooner or later attain can now be + only partially foreseen; and even its present tendencies are generally + misunderstood, and in many quarters wholly ignored. With the sixteenth + century, as we have said, the case is far different. The historical + problem is far less complex. The issues at stake are comparatively simple, + and the historian has before him a straightforward story. + </p> + <p> + From the dramatic, or rather from the epic, point of view, the sixteenth + century is pre-eminent. The essentially transitional character of modern + history since the breaking up of the papal and feudal systems is at no + period more distinctly marked. In traversing the sixteenth century we + realize that we have fairly got out of one state of things and into + another. At the outset, events like the challenge of Barletta may make us + doubt whether we have yet quite left behind the Middle Ages. The belief in + the central position of the earth is still universal, and the belief in + its rotundity not yet, until the voyage of Magellan, generally accepted. + We find England—owing partly to the introduction of gunpowder and + the consequent disuse of archery, partly to the results of the recent + integration of France under Louis XI.—fallen back from the high + relative position which it had occupied under the rule of the + Plantagenets; and its policy still directed in accordance with + reminiscences of Agincourt, and garnet, and Burgundian alliances. We find + France just beginning her ill-fated career of intervention in the affairs + of Italy; and Spain, with her Moors finally vanquished and a new world + beyond the ocean just added to her domain, rapidly developing into the + greatest empire which had been seen since the days of the first Caesars. + But at the close of the century we find feudal life in castles changed + into modern life in towns; chivalric defiances exchanged for over-subtle + diplomacy; Maurices instead of Bayards; a Henry IV. instead of a Gaston de + Foix. We find the old theory of man's central position in the universe—the + foundation of the doctrine of final causes and of the whole theological + method of interpreting nature—finally overthrown by Copernicus. + Instead of the circumnavigability of the earth, the discovery of a + Northwest passage—as instanced by the heroic voyage of Barendz, so + nobly described by Mr. Motley—is now the chief geographical problem. + East India Companies, in place of petty guilds of weavers and bakers, bear + witness to the vast commercial progress. We find England, fresh from her + stupendous victory over the whole power of Spain, again in the front rank + of nations; France, under the most astute of modern sovereigns, taking her + place for a time as the political leader of the civilized world; Spain, + with her evil schemes baffled in every quarter, sinking into that terrible + death-like lethargy, from which she has hardly yet awakened, and which + must needs call forth our pity, though it is but the deserved retribution + for her past behaviour. While the little realm of the Netherlands, filched + and cozened from the unfortunate Jacqueline by the "good" Duke of + Burgundy, carried over to Austria as the marriage-portion of Lady Mary, + sent down to Spain as the personal inheritance of the "prudent" Philip, + and by him intolerably tormented with an Inquisition, a Blood-Council, and + a Duke of Alva, has after a forty years' war of independence taken its + position for a time as the greatest of commercial nations, with the most + formidable navy and one of the best disciplined armies yet seen upon the + earth. + </p> + <p> + But the central phenomenon of the sixteenth century is the culmination of + the Protestant movement in its decisive proclamation by Luther. For nearly + three hundred years already the power of the Church had been declining, + and its function as a civilizing agency had been growing more and more + obsolete. The first great blow at its supremacy had been directed with + partial success in the thirteenth century by the Emperor Frederick II. + Coincident with this attack from without, we find a reformation begun + within, as exemplified in the Dominican and Franciscan movements. The + second great blow was aimed by Philip IV. of France, and this time it + struck with terrible force. The removal of the Papacy to Avignon, in 1305, + was the virtual though unrecognized abdication of its beneficent + supremacy. Bereft of its dignity and independence, from that time forth it + ceased to be the defender of national unity against baronial anarchy, of + popular rights against monarchical usurpation, and became a formidable + instrument of despotism and oppression. Through the vicissitudes of the + great schism in the fourteenth century, and the refractory councils in the + fifteenth, its position became rapidly more and more retrograde and + demoralized. And when, in 1530, it joined its forces with those of Charles + V., in crushing the liberties of the worthiest of mediaeval republics, it + became evident that the cause of freedom and progress must henceforth be + intrusted to some more faithful champion. The revolt of Northern Europe, + led by Luther and Henry VIII. was but the articulate announcement of this + altered state of affairs. So long as the Roman Church had been felt to be + the enemy of tyrannical monarchs and the steadfast friend of the people, + its encroachments, as represented by men like Dunstan and Becket, were + regarded with popular favour. The strength of the Church lay ever in its + democratic instincts; and when these were found to have abandoned it, the + indignant protest of Luther sufficed to tear away half of Europe from its + allegiance. + </p> + <p> + By the end of the sixteenth century, we find the territorial struggle + between the Church and the reformed religion substantially decided. + Protestantism and Catholicism occupied then the same respective areas + which they now occupy. Since 1600 there has been no instance of a nation + passing from one form of worship to the other; and in all probability + there never will be. Since the wholesale dissolution of religious beliefs + wrought in the last century, the whole issue between Romanism and + Protestantism, regarded as dogmatic systems, is practically dead. M. Renan + is giving expression to an almost self-evident truth, when he says that + religious development is no longer to proceed by way of sectarian + proselytism, but by way of harmonious internal development. The contest is + no longer between one theology and another, but it is between the + theological and the scientific methods of interpreting natural phenomena. + The sixteenth century has to us therefore the interest belonging to a + rounded and completed tale. It contains within itself substantially the + entire history of the final stage of the theological reformation. + </p> + <p> + This great period falls naturally into two divisions, the first + corresponding very nearly with the reigns of Charles V. and Henry VIII., + and the second with the age of Philip II. and Elizabeth. The first of + these periods was filled with the skirmishes which were to open the great + battle of the Reformation. At first the strength and extent of the new + revolution were not altogether apparent. While the Inquisition was + vigorously crushing out the first symptoms of disaffection in Spain, it at + one time seemed as if the Reformers were about to gain the whole of the + Empire, besides acquiring an excellent foothold in France. Again, while + England was wavering between the old and the new faith, the last hopes of + the Reform in Germany seemed likely to be destroyed by the military genius + of Charles. But in Maurice, the red-bearded hero of Saxony, Charles found + more than his match. The picture of the rapid and desperate march of + Maurice upon Innspruck, and of the great Emperor flying for his life at + the very hour of his imagined triumph, has still for us an intenser + interest than almost any other scene of that age; for it was the event + which proved that Protestantism was not a mere local insurrection which a + monarch like Charles could easily put down, but a gigantic revolution + against which all the powers in the world might well strive in vain. + </p> + <p> + With the abdication of Charles in 1556 the new period may be said to + begin, and it is here that Mr. Motley's history commences. Events crowded + thick and fast. In 1556 Philip II., a prince bred and educated for the + distinct purpose of suppressing heresy, succeeded to the rule of the most + powerful empire which had been seen since the days of the Antonines. In + the previous year a new era had begun at the court of Rome. The old race + of pagan pontiffs, the Borgias, the Farneses, and the Medicis, had come to + an end, and the papal throne was occupied by the puritanical Caraffa, as + violent a fanatic as Robespierre, and a foe of freedom as uncompromising + as Philip II. himself. Under his auspices took place the great reform in + the Church signalized by the rise of the Jesuits, as the reform in the + thirteenth century had been attended by the rise of the Cordeliers and + Dominicans. His name should not be forgotten, for it is mainly owing to + the policy inaugurated by him that Catholicism was enabled to hold its + ground as well as it did. In 1557 the next year, the strength of France + was broken at St. Quentin, and Spain was left with her hands free to deal + with the Protestant powers. In 1558, by the accession of Elizabeth, + England became committed to the cause of Reform. In 1559 the stormy + administration of Margaret began in the Netherlands. In 1560 the Scotch + nobles achieved the destruction of Catholicism in North Britain. By this + time every nation except France, had taken sides in the conflict which was + to last, with hardly any cessation, during two generations. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Motley, therefore, in describing the rise and progress of the united + republic of the Netherlands, is writing not Dutch but European history. On + his pages France, Spain, and England make almost as large a figure as + Holland itself. He is writing the history of the Reformation during its + concluding epoch, and he chooses the Netherlands as his main subject, + because during that period the Netherlands were the centre of the + movement. They constituted the great bulwark of freedom, and upon the + success or failure of their cause the future prospect of Europe and of + mankind depended. Spain and the Netherlands, Philip II. and William the + Silent, were the two leading antagonists and were felt to be such by the + other nations and rulers that came to mingle in the strife. It is + therefore a stupid criticism which we have seen made upon Mr. Motley, + that, having brought his narrative down to the truce of 1609, he ought, + instead of describing the Thirty Years' War, to keep on with Dutch + history, and pourtray the wars against Cromwell and Charles II., and the + struggle of the second William of Orange against Louis XIV. By so doing he + would only violate the unity of his narrative. The wars of the Dutch + against England and France belong to an entirely different epoch in + European history,—a modern epoch, in which political and commercial + interests were of prime importance, and theological interests distinctly + subsidiary. The natural terminus of Mr. Motley's work is the Peace of + Westphalia. After bringing down his history to the time when the + independence of the Netherlands was virtually acknowledged, after + describing the principal stages of the struggle against Catholicism and + universal monarchy, as carried on in the first generation by Elizabeth and + William, and in the second by Maurice and Henry, he will naturally go on + to treat of the epilogue as conducted by Richelieu and Gustavus, ending in + the final cessation of religious wars throughout Europe. + </p> + <p> + The conflict in the Netherlands was indeed far more than a mere religious + struggle. In its course was distinctly brought into prominence the fact + which we have above signalized, that since the Roman Church had abandoned + the liberties of the people they had found a new defender in the reformed + religion. The Dutch rebellion is peculiarly interesting, because it was a + revolt not merely against the Inquisition, but also against the temporal + sovereignty of Philip. Besides changing their religion, the sturdy + Netherlanders saw fit to throw off the sway of their legitimate ruler, and + to proclaim the thrice heretical doctrine of the sovereignty of the + people. In this one respect their views were decidedly more modern than + those of Elizabeth and Henry IV. These great monarchs apparently neither + understood nor relished the republican theories of the Hollanders; though + it is hardly necessary for Mr. Motley to sneer at them quite so often + because they were not to an impossible degree in advance of their age. The + proclamation of a republic in the Netherlands marked of itself the + beginning of a new era,—an era when flourishing communities of men + were no longer to be bought and sold, transferred and bequeathed like real + estate and chattels, but were to have and maintain the right of choosing + with whom and under whom they should transact their affairs. The + interminable negotiations for a truce, which fill nearly one third of Mr. + Motley's concluding volume, exhibit with striking distinctness the + difference between the old and new points of view. Here again we think Mr. + Motley errs slightly, in calling too much attention to the prevaricating + diplomacy of the Spanish court, and too little to its manifest inability + to comprehend the demands of the Netherlanders. How should statesmen + brought up under Philip II. and kept under the eye of the Inquisition be + expected to understand a claim for liberty originating in the rights of + the common people and not in the gracious benevolence or intelligent + policy of the King? The very idea must have been practically inconceivable + by them. Accordingly, they strove by every available device of chicanery + to wheedle the Netherlanders into accepting their independence as a gift + from the King of Spain. But to such a piece of self-stultification the + clear-sighted Dutchmen could by no persuasion be brought to consent. Their + independence, they argued, was not the King's to give. They had won it + from him and his father, in a war of forty years, during which they had + suffered atrocious miseries, and all that the King of Spain could do was + to acknowledge it as their right, and cease to molest them in future. Over + this point, so simple to us but knotty enough in those days, the + commissioners wrangled for nearly two years. And when the Spanish + government, unable to carry on the war any longer without risk of utter + bankruptcy, and daily crippled in its resources by the attacks of the + Dutch navy, grudgingly a reed to a truce upon the Netherlanders' terms, it + virtually acknowledged its own defeat and the downfall of the principles + for which it had so obstinately fought. By the truce of 1609 the + republican principle was admitted by the most despotic of governments. + </p> + <p> + Here was the first great triumph of republicanism over monarchy; and it + was not long in bearing fruits. For the Dutch revolution, the settlement + of America by English Puritans, the great rebellion of the Commons, the + Revolution of 1688, the revolt of the American Colonies, and the general + overthrow of feudalism in 1789, are but successive acts in the same drama + William the Silent was the worthy forerunner of Cromwell and Washington; + and but for the victory which he won, during his life and after his + untimely death, the subsequent triumphs of civil liberty might have been + long, postponed. + </p> + <p> + Over the sublime figure of William—saevis tranquillus in undis—we + should be glad to dwell, but we are not reviewing the "Rise of the Dutch + Republic," and in Mr. Motley's present volumes the hero of toleration + appears no longer. His antagonist, however,—the Philip whom God for + some inscrutable purpose permitted to afflict Europe during a reign of + forty-two years,—accompanies us nearly to the end of the present + work, dying just in time for the historian to sum up the case against him, + and pronounce final judgment. For the memory of Philip II. Mr. Motley + cherishes no weak pity. He rarely alludes to him without commenting upon + his total depravity, and he dismisses him with the remark that "if there + are vices—as possibly there are—from which he was exempt, it + is because it is not permitted to human nature to attain perfection in + evil." The verdict is none the less just because of its conciseness. If + there ever was a strife between Hercules and Cacus, between Ormuzd and + Ahriman, between the Power of Light and the Power of Darkness, it was + certainly the strife between the Prince of Orange and the Spanish Monarch. + They are contrasted like the light and shade in one of Dore's pictures. + And yet it is perhaps unnecessary for Mr. Motley to say that if Philip had + been alive when Spinola won for him the great victory of Ostend, "he would + have felt it his duty to make immediate arrangements for poisoning him." + Doubtless the imputation is sufficiently justified by what we know of + Philip; but it is uncalled for. We do not care to hear about what the + despot might have done. We know what he did do, and the record is + sufficiently damning. There is no harm in our giving the Devil his due, or + as Llorente wittily says, "Il ne faut pas calomnier meme l'Inquisition." + </p> + <p> + Philip inherited all his father's bad qualities, without any of his good + ones; and so it is much easier to judge him than his father. Charles, + indeed, is one of those characters whom one hardly knows whether to love + or hate, to admire or despise. He had much bad blood in him. Charles the + Bold and Ferdinand of Aragon were not grandparents to be proud of. Yet + with all this he inherited from his grandmother Isabella much that one can + like, and his face, as preserved by Titian, in spite of its frowning brow + and thick Burgundian lip, is rather prepossessing, while the face of + Philip is simply odious. In intellect he must probably be called great, + though his policy often betrayed the pettiness of selfishness. If, in + comparison with the mediaeval emperor whose fame he envied, he may justly + be called Charles the Little, he may still, when compared to a more modern + emulator of Charlemagne,—the first of the Bonapartes,—be + considered great and enlightened. If he could lie and cheat more + consummately than any contemporary monarch, not excepting his rival, + Francis, he could still be grandly magnanimous, while the generosity of + Francis flowed only from the shallow surface of a maudlin good-nature. He + spoke many languages and had the tastes of a scholar, while his son had + only the inclinations of an unfeeling pedagogue. He had an inkling of + urbanity, and could in a measure become all things to all men, while + Philip could never show himself except as a gloomy, impracticable bigot. + It is for some such reasons as these, I suppose, that Mr. Buckle—no + friend to despots—speaks well of Charles, and that Mr. Froude is + moved to tell the following anecdote: While standing by the grave of + Luther, and musing over the strange career of the giant monk whose + teachings had gone so far to wreck his most cherished schemes and render + his life a failure, some fanatical bystander advised the Emperor to have + the body taken up and burned in the market-place. "There was nothing," + says Mr. Froude, "unusual in the proposal; it was the common practice of + the Catholic Church with the remains of heretics, who were held unworthy + to be left in repose in hallowed ground. There was scarcely, perhaps + another Catholic prince who would have hesitated to comply. But Charles + was one of nature's gentlemen. He answered, 'I war not with the dead.'" + Mr. Motley takes a less charitable view of the great Emperor. His generous + indignation against all persecutors makes him severe; and in one of his + earlier volumes, while speaking of the famous edicts for the suppression + of heresy in the Netherlands, he somewhere uses the word "murder." Without + attempting to palliate the crime of persecution, I doubt if it is quite + fair to Charles to call him a murderer. We must not forget that + persecution, now rightly deemed an atrocious crime, was once really + considered by some people a sacred duty; that it was none other than the + compassionate Isabella who established the Spanish Inquisition; and that + the "bloody" Mary Tudor was a woman who would not wilfully have done + wrong. With the progress of civilization the time will doubtless come when + warfare, having ceased to be necessary, will be thought highly criminal; + yet it will not then be fair to hold Marlborough or Wellington accountable + for the lives lost in their great battles. We still live in an age when + war is, to the imagination of some persons, surrounded with false glories; + and the greatest of modern generals <a href="#linknote-32" + name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32"><small>32</small></a> has still + many undiscriminating admirers. Yet the day is no less certainly at hand + when the edicts of Charles V. will be deemed a more pardonable offence + against humanity than the wanton march to Moscow. + </p> + <p> + Philip II. was different from his father in capacity as a drudging clerk, + like Boutwell, is different from a brilliant financier like Gladstone. In + organization he differed from him as a boor differs from a gentleman. He + seemed made of a coarser clay. The difference between them is well + indicated by their tastes at the table. Both were terrible gluttons, a + fact which puritanic criticism might set down as equally to the discredit + of each of them. But even in intemperance there are degrees of refinement, + and the impartial critic of life and manners will no doubt say that if one + must get drunk, let it be on Chateau Margaux rather than on commissary + whiskey. Pickled partridges, plump capons, syrups of fruits, delicate + pastry, and rare fish went to make up the diet of Charles in his last days + at Yuste. But the beastly Philip would make himself sick with a surfeit of + underdone pork. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be said of the father, we can hardly go far wrong in + ascribing the instincts of a murderer to the son. He not only burned + heretics, but he burned them with an air of enjoyment and + self-complacency. His nuptials with Elizabeth of France were celebrated by + a vast auto-da-fe. He studied murder as a fine art, and was as skilful in + private assassinations as Cellini was in engraving on gems. The secret + execution of Montigny, never brought to light until the present century, + was a veritable chef d'oeuvre of this sort. The cases of Escobedo and + Antonio Perez may also be cited in point. Dark suspicions hung around the + premature death of Don John of Austria, his too brilliant and popular + half-brother. He planned the murder of William the Silent, and rewarded + the assassin with an annuity furnished by the revenues of the victim's + confiscated estates. He kept a staff of ruffians constantly in service for + the purpose of taking off Elizabeth, Henry IV., Prince Maurice, + Olden-Barneveldt, and St. Aldegonde. He instructed Alva to execute + sentence of death upon the whole population of the Netherlands. He is + partly responsible for the martyrdoms of Ridley and Latimer, and the + judicial murder of Cranmer. He first conceived the idea of the wholesale + massacre of St. Bartholomew, many years before Catharine de' Medici + carried it into operation. His ingratitude was as dangerous as his + revengeful fanaticism. Those who had best served his interests were the + least likely to escape the consequences of his jealousy. He destroyed + Egmont, who had won for him the splendid victories of St. Quentin and + Gravelines; and "with minute and artistic treachery" he plotted "the + disgrace and ruin" of Farnese, "the man who was his near blood-relation, + and who had served him most faithfully from earliest youth." Contemporary + opinion even held him accountable for the obscure deaths of his wife + Elizabeth and his son Carlos; but M. Gachard has shown that this suspicion + is unfounded. Philip appears perhaps to better advantage in his domestic + than in his political relations. Yet he was addicted to vulgar and + miscellaneous incontinence; toward the close of his life he seriously + contemplated marrying his own daughter Isabella; and he ended by taking + for his fourth wife his niece, Anne of Austria, who became the mother of + his half-idiotic son and successor. We know of no royal family, unless it + may be the Claudians of Rome, in which the transmission of moral and + intellectual qualities is more thoroughly illustrated than in this + Burgundian race which for two centuries held the sceptre of Spain. The son + Philip and the grandmother Isabella are both needful in order to + comprehend the strange mixture of good and evil in Charles. But the + descendants of Philip—two generations of idiocy, and a third of + utter impotence—are a sufficient commentary upon the organization + and character of their progenitor. + </p> + <p> + Such was the man who for two generations had been considered the bulwark + of the Catholic Church; who, having been at the bottom of nearly all the + villany that had been wrought in Europe for half a century, was yet able + to declare upon his death-bed that "in all his life he had never + consciously done wrong to any one." At a ripe old age he died of a fearful + disease. Under the influence of a typhus fever, supervening upon gout, he + had begun to decompose while yet alive. "His sufferings," says Mr. Motley, + "were horrible, but no saint could have manifested in them more gentle + resignation or angelic patience. He moralized on the condition to which + the greatest princes might thus be brought at last by the hand of God, and + bade the Prince observe well his father's present condition, in order that + when he too should be laid thus low, he might likewise be sustained by a + conscience void of offence." What more is needed to complete the + disgusting picture? Philip was fanatical up to the point where fanaticism + borders upon hypocrisy. He was possessed with a "great moral idea," the + idea of making Catholicism the ruler of the world, that he might be the + ruler of Catholicism. Why, it may be said, shall the charge of fanaticism + be allowed to absolve Isabella and extenuate the guilt of Charles, while + it only strengthens the case against Philip? Because Isabella persecuted + heretics in order to save their souls from a worse fate, while Philip + burnt them in order to get them out of his way. Isabella would perhaps + have gone to the stake herself, if thereby she might have put an end to + heresy. Philip would have seen every soul in Europe consigned to eternal + perdition before he would have yielded up an iota of his claims to + universal dominion. He could send Alva to browbeat the Pope, as well as to + oppress the Netherlanders. He could compass the destruction of the + orthodox Egmont and Farnese, as well as of the heretical William. His + unctuous piety only adds to the abhorrence with which we regard him; and + his humility in face of death is neither better nor worse than the assumed + humility which had become second nature to Uriah Heep. In short, take him + for all in all, he was probably the most loathsome character in all + European history. He has frequently been called, by Protestant historians, + an incarnate devil; but we do not think that Mephistopheles would + acknowledge him. He should rather be classed among those creatures + described by Dante as "a Dio spiacenti ed ai nemici sui." + </p> + <p> + The abdication of Charles V. left Philip ruler over wider dominions than + had ever before been brought together under the sway of one man. In his + own right Philip was master not only of Spain, but of the Netherlands, + Franche Comte, Lombardy, Naples, and Sicily, with the whole of North and + South America; besides which he was married to the Queen of England. In + the course of his reign he became possessed of Portugal, with all its vast + domains in the East Indies. His revenues were greater than those of any + other contemporary monarch; his navy was considered invincible, and his + army was the best disciplined in Europe. All these great advantages he was + destined to throw to the winds. In the strife for universal monarchy, in + the mad endeavour to subject England, Scotland, and France to his own + dominion and the tyranny of the Inquisition, besides re-conquering the + Netherlands, all his vast resources were wasted. The Dutch war alone, like + a bottomless pit, absorbed all that he could pour into it. Long before the + war was over, or showed signs of drawing to an end, his revenues were + wasted, and his troops in Flanders were mutinous for want of pay. He had + to rely upon energetic viceroys like Farnese and the Spinolas to furnish + funds out of their own pockets. Finally, he was obliged to repudiate all + his debts; and when he died the Spanish empire was in such a beggarly + condition that it quaked at every approach of a hostile Dutch fleet. Such + a result is not evidence of a statesmanlike ability; but Philip's + fanatical selfishness was incompatible with statesmanship. He never could + be made to believe that his projects had suffered defeat. No sooner had + the Invincible Armada been sent to the bottom by the guns of the English + fleet and the gales of the German Ocean, than he sent orders to Farnese to + invade England at once with the land force under his command! He thought + to obtain Scotland, when, after the death of Mary, it had passed under the + undisputed control of the Protestant noblemen. He dreamed of securing for + his family the crown of France, even after Henry, with free consent of the + Pope, had made his triumphal entry into Paris. He asserted complete and + entire sovereignty over the Netherlands, even after Prince Maurice had won + back from him the last square foot of Dutch territory. Such obstinacy as + this can only be called fatuity. If Philip had lived in Pagan times, he + would doubtless, like Caligula, have demanded recognition of his own + divinity. + </p> + <p> + The miserable condition of the Spanish people under this terrible reign, + and the causes of their subsequent degeneracy, have been well treated by + Mr. Motley. The causes of the failure of Spanish civilization are partly + social and partly economical; and they had been operating for eight + hundred years when Philip succeeded to the throne. The Moorish conquest in + 711 had practically isolated Spain from the rest of Europe. In the + Crusades she took no part, and reaped none of the signal advantages + resulting from that great movement. Her whole energies were directed + toward throwing off the yoke of her civilized but "unbelieving" + oppressors. For a longer time than has now elapsed since the Norman + Conquest of England, the entire Gothic population of Spain was engaged in + unceasing religious and patriotic warfare. The unlimited power thus + acquired by an unscrupulous clergy, and the spirit of uncompromising + bigotry thus imparted to the whole nation, are in this way readily + accounted for. But in spite of this, the affairs of Spain at the accession + of Charles V. were not in an unpromising condition. The Spanish Visigoths + had been the least barbarous of the Teutonic settlers within the limits of + the Empire; their civil institutions were excellent; their cities had + obtained municipal liberties at an earlier date than those of England; and + their Parliaments indulged in a liberty of speech which would have seemed + extravagant even to De Montfort. So late as the time of Ferdinand, the + Spaniards were still justly proud of their freedom; and the chivalrous + ambition which inspired the marvellous expedition of Cortes to Mexico, and + covered the soil of Italy with Spanish armies, was probably in the main a + healthy one. But the forces of Spanish freedom were united at too late an + epoch; in 1492, the power of despotism was already in the ascendant. In + England the case was different. The barons were enabled to combine and + wrest permanent privileges from the crown, at a time when feudalism was + strong. But the Spanish communes waited for combined action until + feudalism had become weak, and modern despotism, with its standing armies + and its control of the spiritual power, was arrayed in the ranks against + them. The War of the Communes, early in the reign of Charles V., + irrevocably decided the case in favour of despotism, and from that date + the internal decline of Spain may be said to have begun. + </p> + <p> + But the triumphant consolidation of the spiritual and temporal powers of + despotism, and the abnormal development of loyalty and bigotry, were not + the only evil results of the chronic struggle in which Spain had been + engaged. For many centuries, while Christian Spain had been but a fringe + of debatable border-land on the skirts of the Moorish kingdom, perpetual + guerilla warfare had rendered consecutive labour difficult or + impracticable; and the physical configuration of the country contributed + in bringing about this result. To plunder the Moors across the border was + easier than to till the ground at home. Then as the Spaniards, + exemplifying the military superiority of the feudal over the sultanic form + of social organization, proceeded steadily to recover dominion over the + land, the industrious Moors, instead of migrating backward before the + advance of their conquerors, remained at home and submitted to them. Thus + Spanish society became compounded of two distinct castes,—the + Moorish Spaniards, who were skilled labourers, and the Gothic Spaniards, + by whom all labour, crude or skilful, was deemed the stigma of a conquered + race, and unworthy the attention of respectable people. As Mr. Motley + concisely says:— + </p> + <p> + "The highest industrial and scientific civilization that had been + exhibited upon Spanish territory was that of Moors and Jews. When in the + course of time those races had been subjugated, massacred, or driven into + exile, not only was Spain deprived of its highest intellectual culture and + its most productive labour, but intelligence, science, and industry were + accounted degrading, because the mark of inferior and detested peoples." + </p> + <p> + This is the key to the whole subsequent history of Spain. Bigotry, + loyalty, and consecrated idleness are the three factors which have made + that great country what it is to-day,—the most backward region in + Europe. In view of the circumstances just narrated, it is not surprising + to learn that in Philip II.'s time a vast portion of the real estate of + the country was held by the Church in mortmain; that forty-nine noble + families owned all the rest; that all great estates were held in tail; and + that the property of the aristocracy and the clergy was completely exempt + from taxation. Thus the accumulation and the diffusion of capital were + alike prevented; and the few possessors of property wasted it in + unproductive expenditure. Hence the fundamental error of Spanish political + economy, that wealth is represented solely by the precious metals; an + error which well enough explains the total failure, in spite of her + magnificent opportunities, of Spain's attempts to colonize the New World. + Such was the frightful condition of Spanish society under Philip II.; and + as if this state of things were not bad enough, the next king, Philip + III., at the instigation of the clergy, decided to drive into banishment + the only class of productive labourers yet remaining in the country. In + 1610, this stupendous crime and blunder—unparalleled even in Spanish + history—was perpetrated. The entire Moorish population were expelled + from their homes and driven into the deserts of Africa. For the awful + consequences of this mad action no remedy was possible. No system of + native industry could be created on demand, to take the place of that + which had been thus wantonly crushed forever. From this epoch dates the + social ruin of Spain. In less than a century her people were riotous with + famine; and every sequestered glen and mountain pathway throughout the + country had become a lurking-place for robbers. Whoever would duly realize + to what a lamentable condition this beautiful peninsula had in the + seventeenth century been reduced, let him study the immortal pages of + Lesage. He will learn afresh the lesson, not yet sufficiently regarded in + the discussion of social problems, that the laws of nature cannot be + violated without entailing a penalty fearful in proportion to the extent + of the violation. But let him carefully remember also that the Spaniards + are not and never have been a despicable people. If Spain has produced one + of the lowest characters in history, she has also produced one of the + highest. That man was every inch a Spaniard who, maimed, diseased, and + poor, broken down by long captivity, and harassed by malignant + persecution, lived nevertheless a life of grandeur and beauty fit to be a + pattern for coming generations,—the author of a book which has had a + wider fame than any other in the whole range of secular literature, and + which for delicate humour, exquisite pathos, and deep ethical sentiment, + remains to-day without a peer or a rival. If Philip II. was a Spaniard, + so, too, was Cervantes. + </p> + <p> + Spain could not be free, for she violated every condition by which freedom + is secured to a people. "Acuteness of intellect, wealth of imagination, + heroic qualities of heart and hand and brain, rarely surpassed in any race + and manifested on a thousand battle-fields, and in the triumphs of a + magnificent and most original literature, had not been able to save a + whole nation from the disasters and the degradation which the mere words + Philip II. and the Holy Inquisition suggest to every educated mind." Nor + could Spain possibly become rich, for, as Mr. Motley continues, "nearly + every law, according to which the prosperity of a country becomes + progressive, was habitually violated." On turning to the Netherlands we + find the most complete contrast, both in historical conditions and in + social results; and the success of the Netherlands in their long struggle + becomes easily intelligible. The Dutch and Flemish provinces had formed a + part of the renovated Roman Empire of Charles the Great and the Othos. + Taking advantage of the perennial contest for supremacy between the popes + and the Roman emperors, the constituent baronies and municipalities of the + Empire succeeded in acquiring and maintaining a practical though + unrecognized independence; and this is the original reason why Italy and + Germany, unlike the three western European communities, have remained + fragmentary until our own time. By reason of the practical freedom of + action thus secured, the Italian civic republics, the Hanse towns, and the + cities of Holland and Flanders, were enabled gradually to develop a vast + commerce. The outlying position of the Netherlands, remote from the + imperial authorities, and on the direct line of commerce between Italy and + England, was another and a peculiar advantage. Throughout the Middle Ages + the Flemish and Dutch cities were of considerable political importance, + and in the fifteenth century the Netherland provinces were the most highly + civilized portion of Europe north of the Alps. For several generations + they had enjoyed, and had known how to maintain, civic liberties, and when + Charles and Philip attempted to fasten upon them their "peculiar + institution," the Spanish Inquisition, they were ripe for political as + well as theological revolt. Natural laws were found to operate on the + Rhine as well as on the Tagus, and at the end of the great war of + independence, Holland was not only better equipped than Spain for a + European conflict, but was rapidly ousting her from the East Indian + countries which she had in vain attempted to colonize. + </p> + <p> + But if we were to take up all the interesting and instructive themes + suggested by Mr. Motley's work, we should never come to an end. We must + pass over the exciting events narrated in these last volumes; the victory + of Nieuport, the siege of Ostend, the marvellous career of Maurice, the + surprising exploits of Spinola. We have attempted not so much to describe + Mr. Motley's book as to indulge in sundry reflections suggested by the + perusal of it. But we cannot close without some remarks upon a great man, + whose character Mr. Motley seems to have somewhat misconceived. + </p> + <p> + If Mr. Motley exhibits any serious fault, it is perhaps the natural + tendency to TAKE SIDES in the events which he is describing, which + sometimes operates as a drawback to complete and thoroughgoing criticism. + With every intention to do justice to the Catholics, Mr. Motley still + writes as a Protestant, viewing all questions from the Protestant side. He + praises and condemns like a very fair-minded Huguenot, but still like a + Huguenot. It is for this reason that he fails to interpret correctly the + very complex character of Henry IV., regarding him as a sort of selfish + renegade whom he cannot quite forgive for accepting the crown of France at + the hands of the Pope. Now this very action of Henry, in the eye of an + impartial criticism, must seem to be one of his chief claims to the + admiration and gratitude of posterity. Henry was more than a mere + Huguenot: he was a far-seeing statesman. He saw clearly what no ruler + before him, save William the Silent, had even dimly discerned, that not + Catholicism and not Protestantism, but absolute spiritual freedom was the + true end to be aimed at by a righteous leader of opinion. It was as a + Catholic sovereign that he could be most useful even to his Huguenot + subjects; and he shaped his course accordingly. It was as an orthodox + sovereign, holding his position by the general consent of Europe, that he + could best subserve the interests of universal toleration. This principle + he embodied in his admirable edict of Nantes. What a Huguenot prince might + have done, may be seen from the shameful way in which the French + Calvinists abused the favour which Henry—and Richelieu afterwards—accorded + to them. Remembering how Calvin himself "dragooned" Geneva, let us be + thankful for the fortune which, in one of the most critical periods of + history, raised to the highest position in Christendom a man who was + something more than a sectarian. + </p> + <p> + With this brief criticism, we must regretfully take leave of Mr. Motley's + work. Much more remains to be said about a historical treatise which is, + on the whole, the most valuable and important one yet produced by an + American; but we have already exceeded our limits. We trust that our + author will be as successful in the future as he has been in the past; and + that we shall soon have an opportunity of welcoming the first instalment + of his "History of the Thirty Years' War." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + March, 1868. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE. <a href="#linknote-33" name="linknoteref-33" + id="linknoteref-33"><small>33</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + THE task of a translator is a thankless one at best. Be he never so + skilful and accurate, be he never so amply endowed with the divine + qualifications of the poet, it is still questionable if he can ever + succeed in saying satisfactorily with new words that which has once been + inimitably said—said for all time—with the old words. + "Psychologically, there is perhaps nothing more complex than an elaborate + poem. The sources of its effect upon our minds may be likened to a system + of forces which is in the highest degree unstable; and the slightest + displacement of phrases, by disturbing the delicate rhythmical equilibrium + of the whole, must inevitably awaken a jarring sensation." Matthew Arnold + has given us an excellent series of lectures upon translating Homer, in + which he doubtless succeeds in showing that some methods of translation + are preferable to others, but in which he proves nothing so forcibly as + that the simplicity and grace, the rapidity, dignity, and fire, of Homer + are quite incommunicable, save by the very words in which they first found + expression. And what is thus said of Homer will apply to Dante with + perhaps even greater force. With nearly all of Homer's grandeur and + rapidity, though not with nearly all his simplicity, the poem of Dante + manifests a peculiar intensity of subjective feeling which was foreign to + the age of Homer, as indeed to all pre-Christian antiquity. But concerning + this we need not dilate, as it has often been duly remarked upon, and + notably by Carlyle, in his "Lectures on Hero-Worship." Who that has once + heard the wail of unutterable despair sounding in the line + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ahi, dura terra, perche non t' apristi?" +</pre> + <p> + can rest satisfied with the interpretation + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ah, obdurate earth, wherefore didst thou not open?" +</pre> + <p> + yet this rendering is literally exact. + </p> + <p> + A second obstacle, hardly less formidable, hardly less fatal to a + satisfactory translation, is presented by the highly complicated system of + triple rhyme upon which Dante's poem is constructed. This, which must ever + be a stumbling-block to the translator, seems rarely to interfere with the + free and graceful movement of the original work. The mighty thought of the + master felt no impediment from the elaborate artistic panoply which must + needs obstruct and harass the interpretation of the disciple. Dante's + terza rima is a bow of Odysseus which weaker mortals cannot bend with any + amount of tugging, and which Mr. Longfellow has judiciously refrained from + trying to bend. Yet no one can fail to remark the prodigious loss entailed + by this necessary sacrifice of one of the most striking characteristics of + the original poem. Let any one who has duly reflected upon the strange and + subtle effect produced on him by the peculiar rhyme of Tennyson's "In + Memoriam," endeavour to realize the very different effect which would be + produced if the verses were to be alternated or coupled in successive + pairs, or if rhyme were to be abandoned for blank verse. The exquisite + melody of the poem would be silenced. The rhyme-system of the "Divine + Comedy" refuses equally to be tampered with or ignored. Its effect upon + the ear and the mind is quite as remarkable as that of the rhyme-system of + "In Memoriam"; and the impossibility of reproducing it is one good reason + why Dante must always suffer even more from translation than most poets. + <a href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34" id="linknoteref-34"><small>34</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Something, too, must be said of the difficulties inevitably arising from + the diverse structure and genius of the Italian and English languages. + None will deny that many of them are insurmountable. Take the third line + of the first canto,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Che la diritta via era smarrita," +</pre> + <p> + which Mr. Longfellow translates + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For the straightforward pathway had been lost." +</pre> + <p> + Perhaps there is no better word than "lost" by which to translate smarrita + in this place; yet the two words are far from equivalent in force. About + the word smarrita there is thrown a wide penumbra of meaning which does + not belong to the word lost. <a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" + id="linknoteref-35"><small>35</small></a> By its diffuse connotations the + word smarrita calls up in our minds an adequate picture of the + bewilderment and perplexity of one who is lost in a trackless forest. The + high-road with out, beaten hard by incessant overpassing of men and beasts + and wheeled vehicles, gradually becomes metamorphosed into the shady lane, + where grass sprouts up rankly between the ruts, where bushes encroach upon + the roadside, where fallen trunks now and then intercept the traveller; + and this in turn is lost in crooked by-ways, amid brambles and underbrush + and tangled vines, growing fantastically athwart the path, shooting up on + all sides of the bewildered wanderer, and rendering advance and retreat + alike hopeless. No one who in childhood has wandered alone in the woods + can help feeling all this suggested by the word smarrita in this passage. + How bald in comparison is the word lost, which might equally be applied to + a pathway, a reputation, and a pocket-book! <a href="#linknote-36" + name="linknoteref-36" id="linknoteref-36"><small>36</small></a> The + English is no doubt the most copious and variously expressive of all + living languages, yet I doubt if it can furnish any word capable by itself + of calling up the complex images here suggested by smarrita. <a + href="#linknote-37" name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37"><small>37</small></a> + And this is but one example, out of many that might be cited, in which the + lack of exact parallelism between the two languages employed causes every + translation to suffer. + </p> + <p> + All these, however, are difficulties which lie in the nature of things,—difficulties + for which the translator is not responsible; of which he must try to make + the best that can be made, but which he can never expect wholly to + surmount. We have now to inquire whether there are not other difficulties, + avoidable by one method of translation, though not by another; and in + criticizing Mr. Longfellow, we have chiefly to ask whether he has chosen + the best method of translation,—that which most surely and readily + awakens in the reader's mind the ideas and feelings awakened by the + original. + </p> + <p> + The translator of a poem may proceed upon either of two distinct + principles. In the first case, he may render the text of his original into + English, line for line and word for word, preserving as far as possible + its exact verbal sequences, and translating each individual word into an + English word as nearly as possible equivalent in its etymological force. + In the second case, disregarding mere syntactic and etymologic + equivalence, his aim will be to reproduce the inner meaning and power of + the original, so far as the constitutional difference of the two languages + will permit him. + </p> + <p> + It is the first of these methods that Mr. Longfellow has followed in his + translation of Dante. Fidelity to the text of the original has been his + guiding principle; and every one must admit that, in carrying out that + principle, he has achieved a degree of success alike delightful and + surprising. The method of literal translation is not likely to receive any + more splendid illustration. It is indeed put to the test in such a way + that the shortcomings now to be noticed bear not upon Mr. Longfellow's own + style of work so much as upon the method itself with which they are + necessarily implicated. These defects are, first, the too frequent use of + syntactic inversion, and secondly, the too manifest preference extended to + words of Romanic over words of Saxon origin. + </p> + <p> + To illustrate the first point, let me give a few examples. In Canto I. we + have:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "So bitter is it, death is little more; + But of the good to treat which there I found, + Speak will I of the other things I saw there"; +</pre> + <p> + which is thus rendered by Mr. Cary,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Which to remember only, my dismay + Renews, in bitterness not far from death. + Yet to discourse of what there good befell, + All else will I relate discovered there"; +</pre> + <p> + and by Dr. Parsons,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Its very thought is almost death to me; + Yet, having found some good there, I will tell + Of other things which there I chanced to see." <a href="#linknote-38" + name="linknoteref-38" id="linknoteref-38">38</a> +</pre> + <p> + Inferno, I. 7-10. + </p> + <p> + Again in Canto X. we find:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Their cemetery have upon this side + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body mortal make the soul";— +</pre> + <p> + an inversion which is perhaps not more unidiomatic than Mr. Cary's,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The cemetery on this part obtain + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body make the spirit die"; +</pre> + <p> + but which is advantageously avoided by Mr. Wright,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Here Epicurus hath his fiery tomb, + And with him all his followers, who maintain + That soul and body share one common doom"; +</pre> + <p> + and is still better rendered by Dr. Parsons,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Here in their cemetery on this side, + With his whole sect, is Epicurus pent, + Who thought the spirit with its body died." <a href="#linknote-39" + name="linknoteref-39" id="linknoteref-39">39</a> +</pre> + <p> + And here my eyes, reverting to the end of Canto IX., + </p> + <p> + fall upon a similar contrast between Mr. Longfellow's lines,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For flames between the sepulchres were scattered, + By which they so intensely heated were, + That iron more so asks not any art,"— +</pre> + <p> + and those of Dr. Parsons,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For here mid sepulchres were sprinkled fires, + Wherewith the enkindled tombs all-burning gleamed; + Metal more fiercely hot no art requires." <a href="#linknote-40" + name="linknoteref-40" id="linknoteref-40">40</a> +</pre> + <p> + Does it not seem that in all these cases Mr. Longfellow, and to a slightly + less extent Mr. Cary, by their strict adherence to the letter, transgress + the ordinary rules of English construction; and that Dr. Parsons, by his + comparative freedom of movement, produces better poetry as well as better + English? In the last example especially, Mr. Longfellow's inversions are + so violent that to a reader ignorant of the original Italian, his sentence + might be hardly intelligible. In Italian such inversions are permissible; + in English they are not; and Mr. Longfellow, by transplanting them into + English, sacrifices the spirit to the letter, and creates an obscurity in + the translation where all is lucidity in the original. Does not this show + that the theory of absolute literality, in the case of two languages so + widely different as English and Italian, is not the true one? + </p> + <p> + Secondly, Mr. Longfellow's theory of translation leads him in most cases + to choose words of Romanic origin in preference to those of Saxon descent, + and in many cases to choose an unfamiliar instead of a familiar Romanic + word, because the former happens to be etymologically identical with the + word in the original. Let me cite as an example the opening of Canto III.:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Per me si va nella eitti dolente, + Per me si va nell' eterno dolore, + Per me si va tra la perduta gente." +</pre> + <p> + Here are three lines which, in their matchless simplicity and grandeur, + might well excite despair in the breast of any translator. Let us contrast + Mr. Longfellow's version.— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Through me the way is to the city dolent; + Through me the way is to eternal dole; + Through me the way among the people lost,"— +</pre> + <p> + with that of Dr. Parsons,—, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Through me you reach the city of despair; + Through me eternal wretchedness ye find; + Through me among perdition's race ye fare." +</pre> + <p> + I do not think any one will deny that Dr. Parsons's version, while far + more remote than Mr. Longfellow's from the diction of the original, is + somewhat nearer its spirit. It remains to seek the explanation of this + phenomenon. It remains to be seen why words the exact counterpart of + Dante's are unfit to call up in our minds the feelings which Dante's own + words call up in the mind of an Italian. And this inquiry leads to some + general considerations respecting the relation of English to other + European languages. + </p> + <p> + Every one is aware that French poetry, as compared with German poetry, + seems to the English reader very tame and insipid; but the cause of this + fact is by no means so apparent as the fact itself. That the poetry of + Germany is actually and intrinsically superior to that of France, may + readily be admitted; but this is not enough to account for all the + circumstances of the case. It does not explain why some of the very + passages in Corneille and Racine, which to us appear dull and prosaic, are + to the Frenchman's apprehension instinct with poetic fervour. It does not + explain the undoubted fact that we, who speak English, are prone to + underrate French poetry, while we are equally disposed to render to German + poetry even more than its due share of merit. The reason is to be sought + in the verbal associations established in our minds by the peculiar + composition of the English language. Our vocabulary is chiefly made up on + the one hand of indigenous Saxon words, and on the other hand of words + derived from Latin or French. It is mostly words of the first class that + we learn in childhood, and that are associated with our homeliest and + deepest emotions; while words of the second class—usually acquired + somewhat later in life and employed in sedate abstract discourse—have + an intellectual rather than an emotional function to fulfil. Their + original significations, the physical metaphors involved in them, which + are perhaps still somewhat apparent to the Frenchman, are to us wholly + non-existent. Nothing but the derivative or metaphysical signification + remains. No physical image of a man stepping over a boundary is presented + to our minds by the word transgress, nor in using the word comprehension + do we picture to ourselves any manual act of grasping. It is to this + double structure of the English language that it owes its superiority over + every other tongue, ancient or modern, for philosophical and scientific + purposes. Albeit there are numerous exceptions, it may still be safely + said, in a general way, that we possess and habitually use two kinds of + language,—one that is physical, for our ordinary purposes, and one + that is metaphysical, for purposes of abstract reasoning and discussion. + We do not say like the Germans, that we "begripe" (begreifen) an idea, but + we say that we "conceive" it. We use a word which once had the very same + material meaning as begreifen, but which has in our language utterly lost + it. We are accordingly able to carry on philosophical inquiries by means + of words which are nearly or quite free from those shadows of original + concrete meaning which, in German, too often obscure the acquired abstract + signification. Whoever has dealt in English and German metaphysics will + not fail to recognize the prodigious superiority of English in force and + perspicuity, arising mainly from the causes here stated. But while this + homogeneity of structure in German injures it for philosophical purposes, + it is the very thing which makes it so excellent as an organ for poetical + expression, in the opinion of those who speak English. German being nearly + allied to Anglo-Saxon, not only do its simple words strike us with all the + force of our own homely Saxon terms, but its compounds also, preserving + their physical significations almost unimpaired, call up in our minds + concrete images of the greatest definiteness and liveliness. It is thus + that German seems to us pre-eminently a poetical language, and it is thus + that we are naturally inclined to overrate rather than to depreciate the + poetry that is written in it. + </p> + <p> + With regard to French, the case is just the reverse. The Frenchman has no + Saxon words, but he has, on the other hand, an indigenous stock of Latin + words, which he learns in early childhood, which give outlet to his most + intimate feelings, and which retain to some extent their primitive + concrete picturesqueness. They are to him just as good as our Saxon words + are to us. Though cold and merely intellectual to us, they are to him warm + with emotion; and this is one reason why we cannot do justice to his + poetry, or appreciate it as he appreciates it. To make this perfectly + clear, let us take two or three lines from Shakespeare:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Blow, blow, thou winter wind! + Thou art not so unkind + As man's ingratitude, + Thy tooth is not so keen," etc., etc.; +</pre> + <p> + which I have somewhere seen thus rendered into French: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Souffle, souffle, vent d'hiver! + Tu n'es pas si cruel + Que l'ingratitude de l'homme. + Ta dent n'est pas si penetrante," etc., etc. +</pre> + <p> + Why are we inclined to laugh as we read this? Because it excites in us an + undercurrent of consciousness which, if put into words, might run + something like this:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Insufflate, insufflate, wind hibernal! + Thou art not so cruel + As human ingratitude. + Thy dentition is not so penetrating," etc., etc. +</pre> + <p> + No such effect would be produced upon a Frenchman. The translation would + strike him as excellent, which it really is. The last line in particular + would seem poetical to us, did we not happen to have in our language words + closely akin to dent and penetrante, and familiarly employed in senses + that are not poetical. + </p> + <p> + Applying these considerations to Mr. Longfellow's choice of words in his + translation of Dante, we see at once the unsoundness of the principle that + Italian words should be rendered by their Romanic equivalents in English. + Words that are etymologically identical with those in the original are + often, for that very reason, the worst words that could be used. They are + harsh and foreign to the English ear, however homelike and musical they + may be to the ear of an Italian. Their connotations are unlike in the two + languages; and the translation which is made literally exact by using them + is at the same time made actually inaccurate, or at least inadequate. Dole + and dolent are doubtless the exact counterparts of dolore and dolente, so + far as mere etymology can go. But when we consider the effect that is to + be produced upon the mind of the reader, wretchedness and despairing are + fat better equivalents. The former may compel our intellectual assent, but + the latter awaken our emotional sympathy. + </p> + <p> + Doubtless by long familiarity with the Romanic languages, the scholar + becomes to a great degree emancipated from the conditions imposed upon him + by the peculiar composition of his native English. The concrete + significance of the Romanic words becomes apparent to him, and they + acquire energy and vitality. The expression dolent may thus satisfy the + student familiar with Italian, because it calls up in his mind, through + the medium of its equivalent dolente, the same associations which the + latter calls up in the mind of the Italian himself. <a href="#linknote-41" + name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41"><small>41</small></a> But this + power of appreciating thoroughly the beauties of a foreign tongue is in + the last degree an acquired taste,—as much so as the taste for + olives and kirschenwasser to the carnal palate. It is only by long and + profound study that we can thus temporarily vest ourselves, so to speak, + with a French or Italian consciousness in exchange for our English one. + The literary epicure may keenly relish such epithets as dolent; but the + common English reader, who loves plain fare, can hardly fail to be + startled by it. To him it savours of the grotesque; and if there is any + one thing especially to be avoided in the interpretation of Dante, it is + grotesqueness. + </p> + <p> + Those who have read over Dante without reading into him, and those who + have derived their impressions of his poem from M. Dore's memorable + illustrations, will here probably demur. What! Dante not grotesque! That + tunnel-shaped structure of the infernal pit; Minos passing sentence on the + damned by coiling his tail; Charon beating the lagging shades with his + oar; Antaios picking up the poets with his fingers and lowering them in + the hollow of his hand into the Ninth Circle; Satan crunching in his + monstrous jaws the arch-traitors, Judas, Brutus and Cassius; Ugolino + appeasing his famine upon the tough nape of Ruggieri; Bertrand de Born + looking (if I may be allowed the expression) at his own dissevered head; + the robbers exchanging form with serpents; the whole demoniac troop of + Malebolge,—are not all these things grotesque beyond everything else + in poetry? To us, nurtured in this scientific nineteenth century, they + doubtless seem so; and by Leigh Hunt, who had the eighteenth-century way + of appreciating other ages than his own, they were uniformly treated as + such. To us they are at first sight grotesque, because they are no longer + real to us. We have ceased to believe in such things, and they no longer + awaken any feeling akin to terror. But in the thirteenth century, in the + minds of Dante and his readers, they were living, terrible realities. That + Dante believed literally in all this unearthly world, and described it + with such wonderful minuteness because he believed in it, admits of little + doubt. As he walked the streets of Verona the people whispered, "See, + there is the man who has been in hell!" Truly, he had been in hell, and + described it as he had seen it, with the keen eyes of imagination and + faith. With all its weird unearthliness, there is hardly another book in + the whole range of human literature which is marked with such unswerving + veracity as the "Divine Comedy." Nothing is there set down arbitrarily, + out of wanton caprice or for the sake of poetic effect, but because to + Dante's imagination it had so imposingly shown itself that he could not + but describe it as he saw it. In reading his cantos we forget the poet, + and have before us only the veracious traveller in strange realms, from + whom the shrewdest cross-examination can elicit but one consistent + account. To his mind, and to the mediaeval mind generally, this outer + kingdom, with its wards of Despair, Expiation, and Beatitude, was as real + as the Holy Roman Empire itself. Its extraordinary phenomena were not to + be looked on with critical eyes and called grotesque, but were to be seen + with eyes of faith, and to be worshipped, loved, or shuddered at. Rightly + viewed, therefore, the poem of Dante is not grotesque, but unspeakably + awful and solemn; and the statement is justified that all grotesqueness + and bizarrerie in its interpretation is to be sedulously avoided. + </p> + <p> + Therefore, while acknowledging the accuracy with which Mr. Longfellow has + kept pace with his original through line after line, following the + "footing of its feet," according to the motto quoted on his title-page, I + cannot but think that his accuracy would have been of a somewhat higher + kind if he had now and then allowed himself a little more liberty of + choice between English and Romanic words and idioms. + </p> + <p> + A few examples will perhaps serve to strengthen as well as to elucidate + still further this position. + </p> + <p> + "Inferno," Canto III., line 22, according to Longfellow:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "There sighs, complaints, and ululations loud + Resounded through the air without a star, + Whence I at the beginning wept thereat." +</pre> + <p> + According to Cary:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Here sighs, with lamentations and loud moans + Resounded through the air pierced by no star, + That e'en I wept at entering." +</pre> + <p> + According to Parsons:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Mid sighs, laments, and hollow howls of woe, + Which, loud resounding through the starless air, + Forced tears of pity from mine eyes at first." <a href="#linknote-42" + name="linknoteref-42" id="linknoteref-42">42</a> +</pre> + <p> + Canto V., line 84:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.—"Fly through the air by their volition borne." + CARY.—"Cleave the air, wafted by their will along." + PARSONS.—"Sped ever onward by their wish alone." <a + href="#linknote-43" name="linknoteref-43" id="linknoteref-43">43</a> +</pre> + <p> + Canto XVII., line 42:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.—"That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders." + CARY—"That to us he may vouchsafe + The aid of his strong shoulders." + PARSONS.—"And ask for us his shoulders' strong support." <a + href="#linknote-44" name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44">44</a> +</pre> + <p> + Canto XVII., line 25:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.— + "His tail was wholly quivering in the void, + Contorting upwards the envenomed fork + That in the guise of scorpion armed its point." + CARY.— + "In the void + Glancing, his tail upturned its venomous fork, + With sting like scorpions armed." + + PARSONS.—"In the void chasm his trembling tail he showed, + As up the envenomed, forked point he swung, Which, as in + scorpions, armed its tapering end." <a href="#linknote-45" + name="linknoteref-45" id="linknoteref-45">45</a> +</pre> + <p> + Canto V., line 51:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.—"People whom the black air so castigates. + CARY.—"By the black air so scourged." <a href="#linknote-46" + name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46">46</a> +</pre> + <p> + Line 136:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.—"Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating." + CARY.—"My lips all trembling kissed." <a href="#linknote-47" + name="linknoteref-47" id="linknoteref-47">47</a> +</pre> + <p> + "Purgatorio," Canto XV., line 139:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.— + "We passed along, athwart the twilight peering + Forward as far as ever eye could stretch + Against the sunbeams serotine and lucent." <a href="#linknote-48" + name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48">48</a> +</pre> + <p> + Mr. Cary's "bright vespertine ray" is only a trifle better; but Mr. + Wright's "splendour of the evening ray" is, in its simplicity, far + preferable. + </p> + <p> + Canto XXXI., line 131:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LONGFELLOW.—"Did the other three advance Singing to their + angelic saraband." + + CARY.—"To their own carol on they came Dancing, in festive ring + angelical " + + WRIGHT.—"And songs accompanied their angel dance." +</pre> + <p> + Here Mr. Longfellow has apparently followed the authority of the Crusca, + reading + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Cantando al loro angelico carribo," +</pre> + <p> + and translating carribo by saraband, a kind of Moorish dance. The best + manuscripts, however, sanction M. Witte's reading:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Danzando al loro angelico carribo." +</pre> + <p> + If this be correct, carribo cannot signify "a dance," but rather "the song + which accompanies the dance"; and the true sense of the passage will have + been best rendered by Mr. Cary. <a href="#linknote-49" + name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49"><small>49</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Whenever Mr. Longfellow's translation is kept free from oddities of + diction and construction, it is very animated and vigorous. Nothing can be + finer than his rendering of "Purgatorio," Canto VI., lines 97-117:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O German Albert! who abandonest + Her that has grown recalcitrant and savage, + And oughtest to bestride her saddle-bow, + + May a just judgment from the stars down fall + Upon thy blood, and be it new and open, + That thy successor may have fear thereof: + + Because thy father and thyself have suffered, + By greed of those transalpine lands distrained, + The garden of the empire to be waste. + + Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti, + Monaldi and Filippeschi, careless man! + Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed! + + Come, cruel one! come and behold the oppression + Of thy nobility, and cure their wounds, + And thou shalt see how safe [?] is Santafiore. + + Come and behold thy Rome that is lamenting, + Widowed, alone, and day and night exclaims + 'My Caesar, why hast thou forsaken me?' + + Come and behold how loving are the people; + And if for us no pity moveth thee, + Come and be made ashamed of thy renown." <a href="#linknote-50" + name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50">50</a> +</pre> + <p> + So, too, Canto III., lines 79-84:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "As sheep come issuing forth from out the fold + By ones, and twos, and threes, and the others stand +Timidly holding down their eyes and nostrils, + + And what the foremost does the others do + Huddling themselves against her if she stop, + Simple and quiet, and the wherefore know not." <a href="#linknote-51" + name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51">51</a> +</pre> + <p> + Francesca's exclamation to Dante is thus rendered by Mr. Longfellow:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And she to me: There is no greater sorrow + Than to be mindful of the happy time + In misery." <a href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" + id="linknoteref-52">52</a> +</pre> + <p> + This is admirable,—full of the true poetic glow, which would have + been utterly quenched if some Romanic equivalent of dolore had been used + instead of our good Saxon sorrow. <a href="#linknote-53" + name="linknoteref-53" id="linknoteref-53"><small>53</small></a> So, too, + the "Paradiso," Canto I., line 100:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh, + Her eyes directed toward me with that look + A mother casts on a delirious child." <a href="#linknote-54" + name="linknoteref-54" id="linknoteref-54">54</a> + + "And she to me: The mightiest of all woes + Is in the midst of misery to be cursed + With bliss remembered." +</pre> + <p> + And, finally, the beginning of the eighth canto of the "Purgatorio":— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'T was now the hour that turneth back desire + In those who sail the sea, and melts the heart, + The day they've said to their sweet friends farewell; + And the new pilgrim penetrates with love, + If he doth hear from far away a bell + That seemeth to deplore the dying day." <a href="#linknote-55" + name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55">55</a> +</pre> + <p> + This passage affords an excellent example of what the method of literal + translation can do at its best. Except in the second line, where "those + who sail the sea" is wisely preferred to any Romanic equivalent of + naviganti the version is utterly literal; as literal as the one the + school-boy makes, when he opens his Virgil at the Fourth Eclogue, and + lumberingly reads, "Sicilian Muses, let us sing things a little greater." + But there is nothing clumsy, nothing which smacks of the recitation-room, + in these lines of Mr. Longfellow. For easy grace and exquisite beauty it + would be difficult to surpass them. They may well bear comparison with the + beautiful lines into which Lord Byron has rendered the same thought:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Soft hour which wakes the wish, and melts the heart, + Of those who sail the seas, on the first day + When they from their sweet friends are torn apart; + Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way, + As the far bell of vesper makes him start, + Seeming to weep the dying day's decay. + Is this a fancy which our reason scorns? + Ah, surely nothing dies but something mourns!" <a href="#linknote-56" + name="linknoteref-56" id="linknoteref-56">56</a> +</pre> + <p> + Setting aside the concluding sentimental generalization,—which is + much more Byronic than Dantesque,—one hardly knows which version to + call more truly poetical; but for a faithful rendering of the original + conception one can hardly hesitate to give the palm to Mr. Longfellow. + </p> + <p> + Thus we see what may be achieved by the most highly gifted of translators + who contents himself with passively reproducing the diction of his + original, who constitutes himself, as it were, a conduit through which the + meaning of the original may flow. Where the differences inherent in the + languages employed do not intervene to alloy the result, the stream of the + original may, as in the verses just cited, come out pure and unweakened. + Too often, however, such is the subtle chemistry of thought, it will come + out diminished in its integrity, or will appear, bereft of its primitive + properties as a mere element in some new combination. Our channel is a + trifle too alkaline perhaps; and that the transferred material may + preserve its pleasant sharpness, we may need to throw in a little extra + acid. Too often the mere differences between English and Italian prevent + Dante's expressions from coming out in Mr. Longfellow's version so pure + and unimpaired as in the instance just cited. But these differences cannot + be ignored. They lie deep in the very structure of human speech, and are + narrowly implicated with equally profound nuances in the composition of + human thought. The causes which make dolente a solemn word to the Italian + ear, and dolent a queer word to the English ear, are causes which have + been slowly operating ever since the Italian and the Teuton parted company + on their way from Central Asia. They have brought about a state of things + which no cunning of the translator can essentially alter, but to the + emergencies of which he must graciously conform his proceedings. Here, + then, is the sole point on which we disagree with Mr. Longfellow, the sole + reason we have for thinking that he has not attained the fullest possible + measure of success. Not that he has made a "realistic" translation,—so + far we conceive him to be entirely right; but that, by dint of pushing + sheer literalism beyond its proper limits, he has too often failed to be + truly realistic. Let us here explain what is meant by realistic + translation. + </p> + <p> + Every thoroughly conceived and adequately executed translation of an + ancient author must be founded upon some conscious theory or some + unconscious instinct of literary criticism. As is the critical spirit of + an age, so among other things will be its translations. Now the critical + spirit of every age previous to our own has been characterized by its + inability to appreciate sympathetically the spirit of past and bygone + times. In the seventeenth century criticism made idols of its ancient + models; it acknowledged no serious imperfections in them; it set them up + as exemplars for the present and all future times to copy. Let the genial + Epicurean henceforth write like Horace, let the epic narrator imitate the + supreme elegance of Virgil,—that was the conspicuous idea, the + conspicuous error, of seventeenth-century criticism. It overlooked the + differences between one age and another. Conversely, when it brought Roman + patricians and Greek oligarchs on to the stage, it made them behave like + French courtiers or Castilian grandees or English peers. When it had to + deal with ancient heroes, it clothed them in the garb and imputed to them + the sentiments of knights-errant. Then came the revolutionary criticism of + the eighteenth century, which assumed that everything old was wrong, while + everything new was right. It recognized crudely the differences between + one age and another, but it had a way of looking down upon all ages except + the present. This intolerance shown toward the past was indeed a measure + of the crudeness with which it was comprehended. Because Mohammed, if he + had done what he did, in France and in the eighteenth century, would have + been called an impostor, Voltaire, the great mouthpiece and representative + of this style of criticism, portrays him as an impostor. Recognition of + the fact that different ages are different, together with inability to + perceive that they ought to be different, that their differences lie in + the nature of progress,—this was the prominent characteristic of + eighteenth-century criticism. Of all the great men of that century, + Lessing was perhaps the only one who outgrew this narrow critical habit. + </p> + <p> + Now nineteenth-century criticism not only knows that in no preceding age + have men thought and behaved as they now think and behave, but it also + understands that old-fashioned thinking and behaviour was in its way just + as natural and sensible as that which is now new-fashioned. It does not + flippantly sneer at an ancient custom because we no longer cherish it; but + with an enlightened regard for everything human, it inquires into its + origin, traces its effects, and endeavours to explain its decay. It is + slow to characterize Mohammed as an impostor, because it has come to feel + that Arabia in the seventh century is one thing and Europe in the + nineteenth another. It is scrupulous about branding Caesar as an usurper, + because it has discovered that what Mr. Mill calls republican liberty and + what Cicero called republican liberty are widely different notions. It + does not tell us to bow down before Lucretius and Virgil as unapproachable + models, while lamenting our own hopeless inferiority; nor does it tell us + to set them down as half-skilled apprentices, while congratulating + ourselves on our own comfortable superiority; but it tells us to study + them as the exponents of an age forever gone, from which we have still + many lessons to learn, though we no longer think as it thought or feel as + it felt. The eighteenth century, as represented by the characteristic + passage from Voltaire, cited by Mr. Longfellow, failed utterly to + understand Dante. To the minds of Voltaire and his contemporaries the + great mediaeval poet was little else than a Titanic monstrosity,—a + maniac, whose ravings found rhythmical expression; his poem a grotesque + medley, wherein a few beautiful verses were buried under the weight of + whole cantos of nonsensical scholastic quibbling. This view, somewhat + softened, we find also in Leigh Hunt, whose whole account of Dante is an + excellent specimen of this sort of criticism. Mr. Hunt's fine moral nature + was shocked and horrified by the terrible punishments described in the + "Inferno." He did not duly consider that in Dante's time these fearful + things were an indispensable part of every man's theory of the world; and, + blinded by his kindly prejudices, he does not seem to have perceived that + Dante, in accepting eternal torments as part and parcel of the system of + nature, was nevertheless, in describing them, inspired with that ineffable + tenderness of pity which, in the episodes of Francesca and of Brunetto + Latini, has melted the hearts of men in past times, and will continue to + do so in times to come. "Infinite pity, yet infinite rigour of law! It is + so Nature is made: it is so Dante discerned that she was made." <a + href="#linknote-57" name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57"><small>57</small></a> + This remark of the great seer of our time is what the eighteenth century + could in no wise comprehend. The men of that day failed to appreciate + Dante, just as they were oppressed or disgusted at the sight of Gothic + architecture; just as they pronounced the scholastic philosophy an + unmeaning jargon; just as they considered mediaeval Christianity a + gigantic system of charlatanry, and were wont unreservedly to characterize + the Papacy as a blighting despotism. In our time cultivated men think + differently. We have learned that the interminable hair-splitting of + Aquinas and Abelard has added precision to modern thinking. <a + href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58"><small>58</small></a> + We do not curse Gregory VII. and Innocent III. as enemies of the human + race, but revere them as benefactors. We can spare a morsel of hearty + admiration for Becket, however strongly we may sympathize with the + stalwart king who did penance for his foul murder; and we can appreciate + Dante's poor opinion of Philip the Fair no less than his denunciation of + Boniface VIII. The contemplation of Gothic architecture, as we stand + entranced in the sublime cathedrals of York or Rouen, awakens in our + breasts a genuine response to the mighty aspirations which thus became + incarnate in enduring stone. And the poem of Dante—which has been + well likened to a great cathedral—we reverently accept, with all its + quaint carvings and hieroglyphic symbols, as the authentic utterance of + feelings which still exist, though they no longer choose the same form of + expression. + </p> + <p> + A century ago, therefore, a translation of Dante such as Mr. Longfellow's + would have been impossible. The criticism of that time was in no mood for + realistic reproductions of the antique. It either superciliously neglected + the antique, or else dressed it up to suit its own notions of propriety. + It was not like a seven-league boot which could fit everybody, but it was + like a Procrustes-bed which everybody must be made to fit. Its great + exponent was not a Sainte-Beuve, but a Boileau. Its typical sample of a + reproduction of the antique was Pope's translation of the Iliad. That + book, we presume, everybody has read; and many of those who have read it + know that, though an excellent and spirited poem, it is no more Homer than + the age of Queen Anne was the age of Peisistratos. Of the translations of + Dante made during this period, the chief was unquestionably Mr. Cary's. <a + href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59" id="linknoteref-59"><small>59</small></a> + For a man born and brought up in the most unpoetical of centuries, Mr. + Cary certainly made a very good poem, though not so good as Pope's. But it + fell far short of being a reproduction of Dante. The eighteenth-century + note rings out loudly on every page of it. Like much other poetry of the + time, it is laboured and artificial. Its sentences are often involved and + occasionally obscure. Take, for instance, Canto IV. 25-36 of the + "Paradiso": + </p> + <p> + Here Mr. Cary not only fails to catch Dante's grand style; he does not + even write a style at all. It is too constrained and awkward to be + dignified, and dignity is an indispensable element of style. Without + dignity we may write clearly, or nervously, or racily, but we have not + attained to a style. This is the second shortcoming of Mr. Cary's + translation. Like Pope's, it fails to catch the grand style of its + original. Unlike Pope's, it frequently fails to exhibit any style. + </p> + <p> + It is hardly necessary to spend much time in proving that Mr. Longfellow's + version is far superior to Mr. Cary's. It is usually easy and flowing, and + save in the occasional use of violent inversions, always dignified. + Sometimes, as in the episode of Ugolino, it even rises to something like + the grandeur of the original: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When he had said this, with his eyes distorted, + The wretched skull resumed he with his teeth, + Which, as a dog's, upon the bone were strong." <a href="#linknote-60" + name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60">60</a> +</pre> + <p> + That is in the grand style, and so is the following, which describes those + sinners locked in the frozen lake below Malebolge:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Weeping itself there does not let them weep, + And grief that finds a barrier in the eyes + Turns itself inward to increase the anguish. <a href="#linknote-61" + name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61">61</a> +</pre> + <p> + And the exclamation of one of these poor "wretches of the frozen crust" is + an exclamation that Shakespeare might have written:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Lift from mine eyes the rigid veils, that I + May vent the sorrow which impregns my heart." <a href="#linknote-62" + name="linknoteref-62" id="linknoteref-62">62</a> +</pre> + <p> + There is nothing in Mr. Cary's translation which can stand a comparison + with that. The eighteenth century could not translate like that. For here + at last we have a real reproduction of the antique. In the Shakespearian + ring of these lines we recognize the authentic rendering of the tones of + the only man since the Christian era who could speak like Shakespeare. + </p> + <p> + In this way Mr. Longfellow's translation is, to an eminent degree, + realistic. It is a work conceived and executed in entire accordance with + the spirit of our time. Mr. Longfellow has set about making a + reconstructive translation, and he has succeeded in the attempt. In view + of what he has done, no one can ever wish to see the old methods of Pope + and Cary again resorted to. It is only where he fails to be truly + realistic that he comes short of success. And, as already hinted, it is + oftenest through sheer excess of LITERALISM that he ceases to be + realistic, and departs from the spirit of his author instead of coming + nearer to it. In the "Paradiso," Canto X. 1-6, his method leads him into + awkwardness:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Looking into His Son with all the love + Which each of them eternally breathes forth, + The primal and unutterable Power + Whate'er before the mind or eye revolves + With so much order made, there can be none + Who this beholds without enjoying Him." +</pre> + <p> + This seems clumsy and halting, yet it is an extremely literal paraphrase + of a graceful and flowing original:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Guardando nel suo figlio con l' amore + Che l' uno e l' altro eternalmente spire, + Lo primo ed ineffabile Valore, + Quanto per mente o per loco si gira + Con tanto ordine fe', ch' esser non puote + Senza gustar di lui ehi cio rimira " +</pre> + <p> + Now to turn a graceful and flowing sentence into one that is clumsy and + halting is certainly not to reproduce it, no matter how exactly the + separate words are rendered, or how closely the syntactic constructions + match each other. And this consideration seems conclusive as against the + adequacy of the literalist method. That method is inadequate, not because + it is too REALISTIC, but because it runs continual risk of being too + VERBALISTIC. It has recently been applied to the translation of Dante by + Mr. Rossetti, and it has sometimes led him to write curious verses. For + instance, he makes Francesca say to Dante,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O gracious and benignant ANIMAL!" +</pre> + <p> + for + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O animal grazioso e benigno!" +</pre> + <p> + Mr. Longfellow's good taste has prevented his doing anything like this, + yet Mr. Rossetti's extravagance is due to an unswerving adherence to the + very rules by which Mr. Longfellow has been guided. + </p> + <p> + Good taste and poetic genius are, however, better than the best of rules, + and so, after all said and done, we can only conclude that Mr. Longfellow + has given us a great and noble work not likely soon to be equalled. + Leopardi somewhere, in speaking of the early Italian translators of the + classics and their well-earned popularity, says, who knows but Caro will + live in men's remembrance as long as Virgil? "La belie destinee," adds + Sainte-Beuve, "de ne pouvoir plus mourir, sinon avec un immortel!" Apart + from Mr. Longfellow's other titles to undying fame, such a destiny is + surely marked out for him, and throughout the English portions of the + world his name will always be associated with that of the great + Florentine. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + June, 1867. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER." + </h2> + <p> + For music-lovers in America the great event of the season has been the + performance of Mr. Paine's oratorio, "St. Peter," at Portland, June 3. + This event is important, not only as the first appearance of an American + oratorio, but also as the first direct proof we have had of the existence + of creative musical genius in this country. For Mr. Paine's Mass in D—a + work which was brought out with great success several years ago in Berlin—has, + for some reason or other, never been performed here. And, with the + exception of Mr. Paine, we know of no American hitherto who has shown + either the genius or the culture requisite for writing music in the grand + style, although there is some of the Kapellmeister music, written by our + leading organists and choristers, which deserves honourable mention. + Concerning the rank likely to be assigned by posterity to "St. Peter," it + would be foolish now to speculate; and it would be equally unwise to bring + it into direct comparison with masterpieces like the "Messiah," "Elijah," + and "St. Paul," the greatness of which has been so long acknowledged. + Longer familiarity with the work is needed before such comparisons, always + of somewhat doubtful value, can be profitably undertaken. But it must at + least be said, as the net result of our impressions derived both from + previous study of the score and from hearing, the performance at Portland, + that Mr. Paine's oratorio has fairly earned for itself the right to be + judged by the same high standard which we apply to these noble works of + Mendelssohn and Handel. + </p> + <p> + In our limited space we can give only the briefest description of the + general structure of the work. The founding of Christianity, as + illustrated in four principal scenes of the life of St. Peter, supplies + the material for the dramatic development of the subject. The overture, + beginning with an adagio movement in B-flat minor, gives expression to the + vague yearnings of that time of doubt and hesitancy when the "oracles were + dumb," and the dawning of a new era of stronger and diviner faith was + matter of presentiment rather than of definite hope or expectation. Though + the tonality is at first firmly established, yet as the movement becomes + more agitated, the final tendency of the modulations also becomes + uncertain, and for a few bars it would seem as if the key of F-sharp minor + might be the point of destination. But after a short melody by the wind + instruments, accompanied by a rapid upward movement of strings, the + dominant chord of C major asserts itself, being repeated, with sundry + inversions, through a dozen bars, and leading directly into the triumphant + and majestic chorus, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is + at hand." The second subject, introduced by the word "repent" descending + through the interval of a diminished seventh and contrasted with the + florid counterpoint of the phrase, "and believe the glad tidings of God," + is a masterpiece of contrapuntal writing, and, if performed by a choir of + three or four hundred voices, would produce an overpowering effect. The + divine call of Simon Peter and his brethren is next described in a tenor + recitative; and the acceptance of the glad tidings is expressed in an + aria, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me," which, by an original but + appropriate conception, is given to the soprano voice. In the next number, + the disciples are dramatically represented by twelve basses and tenors, + singing in four-part harmony, and alternating or combining with the full + chorus in description of the aims of the new religion. The poem ends with + the choral, "How lovely shines the Morning Star!" Then follows the sublime + scene from Matthew xvi. 14-18, where Peter declares his master to be "the + Christ, the Son of the living God,"—one of the most impressive + scenes, we have always thought, in the gospel history, and here not + inadequately treated. The feeling of mysterious and awful grandeur + awakened by Peter's bold exclamation, "Thou art the Christ," is powerfully + rendered by the entrance of the trombones upon the inverted subdominant + triad of C-sharp minor, and their pause upon the dominant of the same key. + Throughout this scene the characteristic contrast between the ardent + vigour of Peter and the sweet serenity of Jesus is well delineated in the + music. After Peter's stirring aria, "My heart is glad," the dramatic + climax is reached in the C-major chorus, "The Church is built upon the + foundation of the apostles and prophets." + </p> + <p> + The second scene is carried out to somewhat greater length, corresponding + nearly to the last half of the first part of "Elijah," from the point + where the challenge is given to the prophets of Baal. In the opening + passages of mingled recitative and arioso, Peter is forewarned that he + shall deny his Master, and his half-indignant remonstrance is sustained, + with added emphasis, by the voices of the twelve disciples, pitched a + fourth higher. Then Judas comes, with a great multitude, and Jesus is + carried before the high-priest. The beautiful F-minor chorus, "We hid our + faces from him," furnishes the musical comment upon the statement that + "the disciples all forsook him and fled." We hardly dare to give full + expression to our feelings about this chorus (which during the past month + has been continually singing itself over and over again in our + recollection), lest it should be supposed that our enthusiasm has got the + better of our sober judgment. The second theme, "He was brought as a lamb + to the slaughter, yet he opened not his mouth," is quite Handel-like in + the simplicity and massiveness of its magnificent harmonic progressions. + With the scene of the denial, for which we are thus prepared, the dramatic + movement becomes exceedingly rapid, and the rendering of the events in the + high-priest's hall—Peter's bass recitative alternating its craven + protestations with the clamorous agitato chorus of the servants—is + stirring in the extreme. The contralto aria describing the Lord's turning + and looking upon Peter is followed by the orchestra with a lament in + B-flat minor, introducing the bass aria of the repentant and + remorse-stricken disciple, "O God, my God, forsake me not." As the last + strains of the lamentation die away, a choir of angels is heard, of + sopranos and contraltos divided, singing, "Remember from whence thou art + fallen," to an accompaniment of harps. The second theme, "He that + overcometh shall receive a crown of life," is introduced in full chorus, + in a cheering allegro movement, preparing the way for a climax higher than + any yet reached in the course of the work. This climax—delayed for a + few moments by an andante aria for a contralto voice, "The Lord is + faithful and righteous"—at last bursts upon us with a superb + crescendo of strings, and the words, "Awake, thou that sleepest, arise + from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." This chorus, which for + reasons presently to be given was heard at considerable disadvantage at + Portland, contains some of the best fugue-writing in the work, and is + especially rich and powerful in its instrumentation. + </p> + <p> + The second part of the oratorio begins with the crucifixion and ascension + of Jesus. Here we must note especially the deeply pathetic opening chorus, + "The Son of Man was delivered into the hands of sinful men," the joyous + allegro, "And on the third day he rose again," the choral, "Jesus, my + Redeemer, lives," and the quartet, "Feed the flock of God," commenting + upon the command of Jesus, "Feed my lambs." This quartet has all the + heavenly sweetness of Handel's "He shall feed his flock," which it + suggests by similarity of subject, though not by similarity of treatment; + but in a certain quality of inwardness, or religious meditativeness, it + reminds one more of Mr. Paine's favourite master, Bach. The choral, like + the one in the first part and the one which follows the scene of + Pentecost, is taken from the Lutheran Choral Book, and arranged with + original harmony and instrumentation, in accordance with the custom of + Bach, Mendelssohn, and other composers, "of introducing into their sacred + compositions the old popular choral melodies which are the peculiar + offspring of a religious age." Thus the noblest choral ever written, the + "Sleepers, wake," in "St. Paul," was composed in 1604 by Praetorius, the + harmonization and accompaniment only being the work of Mendelssohn. + </p> + <p> + In "St. Peter," as in "Elijah," the second part, while forming the true + musical climax of the oratorio, admits of a briefer description than the + first part. The wave of emotion answering to the sensuously dramatic + element having partly spent itself, the wave of lyric emotion gathers + fresh strength, and one feels that one has reached the height of spiritual + exaltation, while, nevertheless, there is not so much which one can + describe to others who may not happen to have gone through with the same + experience. Something of the same feeling one gets in studying Dante's + "Paradiso," after finishing the preceding divisions of his poem: there is + less which can be pictured to the eye of sense, or left to be supplied by + the concrete imagination. Nevertheless, in the scene of Pentecost, which + follows that of the Ascension, there is no lack of dramatic vividness. + Indeed, there is nothing in the work more striking than the orchestration + of the introductory tenor recitative, the mysterious chorus, "The voice of + the Lord divideth the flames of fire," or the amazed query which follows, + "Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans? and how is it that we + every one hear them in our own tongue wherein we were born?" We have heard + the opinion expressed that Mr. Paine's oratorio must be lacking in + originality, since it suggests such strong reminiscences of "St. Paul." + Now, this suggestion, it seems to us, is due partly to the similarity of + the subjects, independently of any likeness in the modes of treatment, and + partly, perhaps, to the fact that Mr. Paine, as well as Mendelssohn, has + been a devoted student of Bach, whose characteristics are so strong that + they may well have left their mark upon the works of both composers. But + especially it would seem that there is some real, though very general + resemblance between this colloquial chorus, "Behold," etc., and some + choruses in "St. Paul," as, for example Nos. 29 and 36-38. In the same way + the scene in the high-priest's hall might distantly suggest either of + these passages, or others in "Elijah;" These resemblances, however, are + very superficial, pertaining not to the musical but to the dramatic + treatment of situations which are generically similar in so far, and only + in so far, as they represent conversational passages between an apostle or + prophet and an ignorant multitude, whether amazed or hostile, under the + sway of violent excitement. As regards the musical elaboration of these + terse and striking alternations of chorus and recitative, its originality + can be questioned only after we have decided to refer all originality on + such matters to Bach, or, indeed, even behind him, into the Middle Ages. + </p> + <p> + After the preaching of Peter, and the sweet contralto aria, "As for man, + his days are as grass," the culmination of this scene comes in the D-major + chorus, "This is the witness of God." What follows, beginning with the + choral, "Praise to the Father," is to be regarded as an epilogue or + peroration to the whole work. It is in accordance with a sound tradition + that the grand sacred drama of an oratorio should conclude with a lyric + outburst of thanksgiving, a psalm of praise to the Giver of every good and + perfect gift. Thus, after Peter's labours are ended in the aria, "Now as + ye were redeemed," in which the twelve disciples and the full chorus join, + a duet for tenor and soprano, "Sing unto God," brings us to the grand + final chorus in C major, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God + Almighty." + </p> + <p> + The cadence of this concluding chorus reminds us that one of the + noteworthy points in the oratorio is the character of its cadences. The + cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, now become so hackneyed from its + perpetual and wearisome repetition in popular church music, seems to be + especially disliked by Mr. Paine, as it occurs but once or twice in the + course of the work. In the great choruses the cadence is usually reached + either by a pedal on the tonic, as in the chorus, "Awake, thou that + sleepest," or by a pedal on the dominant culminating in a chord of the + major ninth, as in the final chorus; or there is a plagal cadence, as in + the first chorus of the second part; or, if the 6/4 chord is introduced, + as it is in the chorus, "He that overcometh," its ordinary effect is + covered and obscured by the movement of the divided sopranos. We do not + remember noticing anywhere such a decided use of the 6/4 chord as is made, + for example, by Mendelssohn, in "Thanks be to God," or in the final chorus + of "St. Paul." Perhaps if we were to confess our lingering fondness for + the cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, when not too frequently introduced, + it might only show that we retain a liking for New England "psalm-tunes"; + but it does seem to us that a sense of final repose, of entire cessation + of movement, is more effectually secured by this cadence than by any + other. Yet while the 6/4 cadence most completely expresses finality and + rest, it would seem that the plagal and other cadences above enumerated as + preferred by Mr. Paine have a certain sort of superiority by reason of the + very incompleteness with which they express finality. There is no sense of + finality whatever about the Phrygian cadence; it leaves the mind occupied + with the feeling of a boundless region beyond, into which one would fain + penetrate; and for this reason it has, in sacred music, a great value. + Something of the same feeling, too, attaches to those cadences in which an + unexpected major third usurps the place of the minor which the ear was + expecting, as in the "Incarnatus" of Mozart's "Twelfth Mass," or in Bach's + sublime "Prelude," Part I., No. 22 of the "Well-tempered Clavichord." In a + less degree, an analogous effect was produced upon us by the cadence with + a pedal on the tonic in the choruses, "The Church is built," and "Awake, + thou that sleepest." On these considerations it may become intelligible + that to some hearers Mr. Paine's cadences have seemed unsatisfactory, + their ears having missed the positive categorical assertion of finality + which the 6/4 cadence alone can give. To go further into this subject + would take us far beyond our limits. + </p> + <p> + The pleasant little town of Portland has reason to congratulate itself, + first, on being the birthplace of such a composer as Mr. Paine; secondly, + on having been the place where the first great work of America in the + domain of music was brought out; and thirdly, on possessing what is + probably the most thoroughly disciplined choral society in this country. + Our New York friends, after their recent experiences, will perhaps be slow + to believe us when we say that the Portland choir sang this new work even + better, in many respects, than the Handel and Haydn Society sing the old + and familiar "Elijah"; but it is true. In their command of the pianissimo + and the gradual crescendo, and in the precision of their attack, the + Portland singers can easily teach the Handel and Haydn a quarter's + lessons. And, besides all this, they know how to preserve their equanimity + under the gravest persecutions of the orchestra; keeping the even tenour + of their way where a less disciplined choir, incited by the excessive + blare of the trombones and the undue scraping of the second violins, would + be likely to lose its presence of mind and break out into an untimely + fortissimo. + </p> + <p> + No doubt it is easier to achieve perfect chorus-singing with a choir of + one hundred and twenty-five voices than with a choir of six hundred. But + this diminutive size, which was an advantage so far as concerned the + technical excellence of the Portland choir, was decidedly a disadvantage + so far as concerned the proper rendering of the more massive choruses in + "St. Peter." All the greatest choruses—such as Nos. 1, 8, 19, 20, + 28, 35, and 39—were seriously impaired in the rendering by the lack + of massiveness in the voices. For example, the grand chorus, "Awake, thou + that sleepest," begins with a rapid crescendo of strings, introducing the + full chorus on the word "Awake," upon the dominant triad of D major; and + after a couple of beats the voices are reinforced by the trombones, + producing the most tremendous effect possible in such a crescendo. + Unfortunately, however, the brass asserted itself at this point so much + more emphatically than the voices that the effect was almost to disjoin + the latter portion of the chord from its beginning, and thus to dwarf the + utterance of the word "Awake." To us this effect was very disagreeable; + and it was obviously contrary to the effect intended by the composer. But + with a weight of four or five hundred voices, the effect would be entirely + different. Instead of entering upon the scene as intruders, the mighty + trombones would only serve to swell and enrich the ponderous chord which + opens this noble chorus. Given greater weight only, and the performance of + the admirable Portland choir would have left nothing to be desired. + </p> + <p> + We cannot speak with so much satisfaction of the performance of the + orchestra. The instrumentation of "St. Peter" is remarkably fine. But this + instrumentation was rather clumsily rendered by the orchestra, whose + doings constituted the least enjoyable part of the performance. There was + too much blare of brass, whine of hautboy, and scraping of strings. But in + condonation of this serious defect, one must admit that the requisite + amount of rehearsal is out of the question when one's choir is in Portland + and one's orchestra in Boston; besides which the parts had been + inaccurately copied. For a moment, at the beginning of the orchestral + lament, there was risk of disaster, the wind instruments failing to come + in at the right time, when Mr. Paine, with fortunate presence of mind, + stopped the players, and the movement was begun over again,—the + whole occurring so quickly and quietly as hardly to attract attention. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion we would say a few words suggested by a recent critical + notice of Mr. Paine's work in the "Nation." While acknowledging the + importance of the publication of this oratorio, as an event in the + art-history of America, the writer betrays manifest disappointment that + this work should not rather have been a symphony, <a href="#linknote-63" + name="linknoteref-63" id="linknoteref-63"><small>63</small></a> and thus + have belonged to what he calls the "domain of absolute music." Now with + regard to the assumption that the oratorio is not so high a form of music + as the symphony, or, in other words, that vocal music in general is + artistically inferior to instrumental music, we may observe, first, that + Ambros and Dommer—two of the most profound musical critics now + living—do not sustain it. It is Beanquier, we think, who suggests + that instrumental music should rank above vocal, because it is "pure + music," bereft of the fictitious aids of language and of the emotional + associations which are grouped about the peculiar timbre of the human + voice. <a href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64" id="linknoteref-64"><small>64</small></a> + At first the suggestion seems plausible; but on analogous grounds we might + set the piano above the orchestra, because the piano gives us pure harmony + and counterpoint, without the adventitious aid of variety in timbre. And + it is indeed true that, for some such reason as this, musicians delight in + piano-sonatas, which are above all things tedious and unintelligible to + the mind untrained in music. Nevertheless, in spite of its great and + peculiar prerogatives, it would be absurd to prefer the piano to the + orchestra; and there is a kindred absurdity involved in setting the + orchestra above that mighty union of orchestra, organ, and voices which we + get in the oratorio. When the reason alleged for ranking the symphony + above the oratorio leads us likewise to rank the sonata above the + symphony, we seem to have reached a reductio ad absurdum. + </p> + <p> + Rightly considered, the question between vocal and instrumental music + amounts to this, What does music express? This is a great psychological + question, and we have not now the space or the leisure requisite for + discussing it, even in the most summary way. We will say, however, that we + do not see how music can in any way express ideas, or anything but moods + or emotional states to which the ideas given in language may add + determination and precision. The pure symphony gives utterance to moods, + and will be a satisfactory work of art or not, according as the composer + has been actuated by a legitimate sequence of emotional states, like + Beethoven, or by a desire to produce novel and startling effects, like + Liszt. But the danger in purely instrumental music is that it may run riot + in the extravagant utterance of emotional states which are not properly + concatenated by any normal sequence of ideas associated with them. This is + sometimes exemplified in the most modern instrumental music. + </p> + <p> + Now, as in real life our sequent clusters of emotional states are in + general determined by their association with our sequent groups of + intellectual ideas, it would seem that music, regarded as an exponent of + psychical life, reaches its fullest expressiveness when the sequence of + the moods which it incarnates in sound is determined by some sequence of + ideas, such as is furnished by the words of a libretto. Not that the words + should have predominance over the music, or even coequal sway with it, but + that they should serve to give direction to the succession of feelings + expressed by the music. "Lift up your heads" and "Hallelujah" do not owe + their glory to the text, but to that tremendous energy of rhythmic and + contrapuntal progression which the text serves to concentrate and justify. + When precision and definiteness of direction are thus added to the + powerful physical means of expression which we get in the combination of + chorus, orchestra, and organ, we have attained the greatest sureness as + well as the greatest wealth of musical expressiveness. And thus we may see + the reasonableness of Dommer's opinion that in order to restrain + instrumental music from ruining itself by meaningless extravagance, it is + desirable that there should be a renaissance of vocal music, such as it + was in the golden age of Palestrina and Orlando Lasso. + </p> + <p> + We are not inclined to deny that in structural beauty—in the + symmetrical disposition and elaboration of musical themes—the + symphony has the advantage. The words, which in the oratorio serve to give + definite direction to the currents of emotion, may also sometimes hamper + the free development of the pure musical conception, just as in psychical + life the obtrusive entrance of ideas linked by association may hinder the + full fruition of some emotional state. Nevertheless, in spite of this + possible drawback, it may be doubted if the higher forms of polyphonic + composition fall so very far short of the symphony in capability of giving + full elaboration to the musical idea. The practical testimony of + Beethoven, in his Ninth Symphony, is decidedly adverse to any such + supposition. + </p> + <p> + But to pursue this interesting question would carry us far beyond our + limits. Whatever may be the decision as to the respective claims of vocal + and instrumental music, we have every reason for welcoming the appearance, + in our own country, of an original work in the highest form of vocal + music. It is to be hoped that we shall often have the opportunity to "hear + with our ears" this interesting work; for as a rule great musical + compositions are peculiarly unfortunate among works of art, in being known + at first hand by comparatively few persons. In this way is rendered + possible that pretentious kind of dilettante criticism which is so common + in musical matters, and which is often positively injurious, as + substituting a factitious public opinion for one that is genuine. We hope + that the favour with which the new oratorio has already been received will + encourage the author to pursue the enviable career upon which he has + entered. Even restricting ourselves to vocal music, there is still a broad + field left open for original work. The secular cantata—attempted in + recent times by Schumann, as well as by English composers of smaller + calibre—is a very high form of vocal music; and if founded on an + adequate libretto, dealing with some supremely grand or tragical + situation, is capable of being carried to an unprecedented height of + musical elaboration. Here is an opportunity for original achievement, of + which it is to be hoped that some gifted and well-trained composer, like + the author of "St. Peter," may find it worth while to avail himself. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + June, 1873. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII. A PHILOSOPHY OF ART. <a href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65" + id="linknoteref-65"><small>65</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + We are glad of a chance to introduce to our readers one of the works of a + great writer. Though not yet <a href="#linknote-66" name="linknoteref-66" + id="linknoteref-66"><small>66</small></a> widely known in this country, M. + Taine has obtained a very high reputation in Europe. He is still quite a + young man, but is nevertheless the author of nineteen goodly volumes, + witty, acute, and learned; and already he is often ranked with Renan, + Littre, and Sainte-Beuve, the greatest living French writers. + </p> + <p> + Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was born at Vouziers, among the grand forests of + Ardennes, in 1828, and is therefore about forty years old. His family was + simple in habits and tastes, and entertained a steadfast belief in + culture, along with the possession of a fair amount of it. His grandfather + was sub-prefect at Rocroi, in 1814 and 1815, under the first restoration + of the Bourbons. His father, a lawyer by profession, was the first + instructor of his son, and taught him Latin, and from an uncle, who had + been in America, he learned English, while still a mere child. Having gone + to Paris with his mother in 1842, he began his studies at the College + Bourbon and in 1848 was promoted to the ecole Normale. Weiss, About, and + Prevost-Paradol were his contemporaries at this institution. At that time + great liberty was enjoyed in regard to the order and the details of the + exercises; so that Taine, with his surprising rapidity, would do in one + week the work laid out for a month, and would spend the remainder of the + time in private reading. In 1851 he left college, and after two or three + unsatisfactory attempts at teaching, in Paris and in the provinces, he + settled down at Paris as a private student. He gave himself the very best + elementary preparation which a literary man can have,—a thorough + course in mathematics and the physical sciences. His studies in anatomy + and physiology were especially elaborate and minute. He attended the + School of Medicine as regularly as if he expected to make his daily bread + in the profession. In this way, when at the age of twenty-five he began to + write books, M. Taine was a really educated man; and his books show it. + The day is past when a man could write securely, with a knowledge of the + classics alone. We doubt if a philosophical critic is perfectly educated + for his task, unless he can read, for instance, Donaldson's "New Cratylus" + on the one hand, and Rokitansky's "Pathological Anatomy" on the other, for + the sheer pleasure of the thing. At any rate, it was an education of this + sort which M. Taine, at the outset of his literary career, had secured. By + this solid discipline of mathematics, chemistry, and medicine, M. Taine + became that which above all things he now is,—a man possessed of a + central philosophy, of an exact, categorical, well-defined system, which + accompanies and supports him in his most distant literary excursions. He + does not keep throwing out ideas at random, like too many literary + critics, but attaches all his criticisms to a common fundamental + principle; in short, he is not a dilettante, but a savant. + </p> + <p> + His treatise on La Fontaine, in 1853, attracted much attention, both the + style and the matter being singularly fresh and original. He has since + republished it, with alterations which serve to show that he can be docile + toward intelligent criticisms. About the same time he prepared for the + French Academy his work upon the historian Livy, which was crowned in + 1855. Suffering then from overwork, he was obliged to make a short journey + to the Pyrenees, which he has since described in a charming little volume, + illustrated by Dore. + </p> + <p> + His subsequent works are a treatise on the French philosophers of the + present century, in which the vapid charlatanism of M. Cousin is + satisfactorily dealt with; a history of English literature in five + volumes; a humorous book on Paris; three volumes upon the general theory + of art; and two volumes of travels in Italy; besides a considerable + collection of historical and critical essays. We think that several of + these works would be interesting to the American public, and might + profitably be translated. + </p> + <p> + Some three or four years ago, M. Taine was appointed Professor in the + ecole des Beaux Arts, and we suppose his journey to Italy must have been + undertaken partly with a view to qualify himself for his new position. He + visited the four cities which may be considered the artistic centres of + Italy,—Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice,—and a large part of + his account of his journey is taken up with descriptions and criticisms of + pictures, statues, and buildings. + </p> + <p> + This is a department of criticism which, we may as well frankly + acknowledge, is far better appreciated on the continent of Europe than in + England or America. Over the English race there passed, about two + centuries ago, a deluge of Puritanism, which for a time almost drowned out + its artistic tastes and propensities. The Puritan movement, in proportion + to its success, was nearly as destructive to art in the West, as + Mohammedanism had long before been in the East. In its intense and + one-sided regard for morality, Puritanism not only relegated the love for + beauty to an inferior place, but contemned and spat upon it, as something + sinful and degrading. Hence, the utter architectural impotence which + characterizes the Americans and the modern English; and hence the + bewildered ignorant way in which we ordinarily contemplate pictures and + statues. For two centuries we have been removed from an artistic + environment, and consequently can with difficulty enter into the feelings + of those who have all this time been nurtured in love for art, and belief + in art for its own sake. These peculiarities, as Mr. Mill has ably pointed + out, have entered deep into our ethnic character. Even in pure morals + there is a radical difference between the Englishman and the inhabitant of + the continent of Europe. The Englishman follows virtue from a sense of + duty, the Frenchman from an emotional aspiration toward the beautiful The + one admires a noble action because it is right, the other because it is + attractive. And this difference underlies the moral judgments upon men and + events which are to be found respectively in English and in continental + literature. By keeping it constantly in view, we shall be enabled to + understand many things which might otherwise surprise us in the writings + of French authors. + </p> + <p> + We are now slowly outgrowing the extravagances of Puritanism. It has given + us an earnestness and sobriety of character, to which much of our real + greatness is owing, both here and in the mother country. It has made us + stronger and steadier, but it has at the same time narrowed us in many + respects, and rendered our lives incomplete. This incompleteness, entailed + by Puritanism, we are gradually getting rid of; and we are learning to + admire and respect many things upon which Puritanism set its mark of + contempt. We are beginning, for instance, to recognize the transcendent + merits of that great civilizing agency, the drama; we no longer think it + necessary that our temples for worshipping God should be constructed like + hideous barracks; we are gradually permitting our choirs to discard the + droning and sentimental modern "psalm-tune" for the inspiring harmonies of + Beethoven and Mozart; and we admit the classical picture and the undraped + statue to a high place in our esteem. Yet with all this it will probably + be some time before genuine art ceases to be an exotic among us, and + becomes a plant of unhindered native growth. It will be some time before + we cease to regard pictures and statues as a higher species of upholstery, + and place them in the same category with poems and dramas, duly + reverencing them as authentic revelations of the beauty which is to be + found in nature. It will be some time before we realize that art is a + thing to be studied, as well as literature, and before we can be quite + reconciled to the familiar way in which a Frenchman quotes a picture as we + would quote a poem or novel. + </p> + <p> + Artistic genius, as M. Taine has shown, is something which will develop + itself only under peculiar social circumstances; and, therefore, if we + have not art, we can perhaps only wait for it, trusting that when the time + comes it will arise among us. But without originating, we may at least + intelligently appreciate. The nature of a work of art, and the mode in + which it is produced, are subjects well worthy of careful study. + Architecture and music, poetry, painting and sculpture, have in times past + constituted a vast portion of human activity; and without knowing + something of the philosophy of art, we need not hope to understand + thoroughly the philosophy of history. + </p> + <p> + In entering upon the study of art in general, one may find many suggestive + hints in the little books of M. Taine, reprinted from the lectures which + he has been delivering at the ecole des Beaux Arts. The first, on the + Philosophy of Art, designated at the head of this paper, is already + accessible to the American reader; and translations of the others are + probably soon to follow. We shall for the present give a mere synopsis of + M. Taine's general views. + </p> + <p> + And first it must be determined what a work of art is. Leaving for a while + music and architecture out of consideration, it will be admitted that + poetry, painting, and sculpture have one obvious character in common: they + are arts of IMITATION. This, says Taine, appears at first sight to be + their essential character. It would appear that their great object is to + IMITATE as closely as possible. It is obvious that a statue is intended to + imitate a living man, that a picture is designed to represent real persons + in real attitudes, or the interior of a house, or a landscape, such as it + exists in nature. And it is no less clear that a novel or drama endeavours + to represent with accuracy real characters, actions, and words, giving as + precise and faithful an image of them as possible. And when the imitation + is incomplete, we say to the painter, "Your people are too largely + proportioned, and the colour of your trees is false"; we tell the sculptor + that his leg or arm is incorrectly modelled; and we say to the dramatist, + "Never has a man felt or thought as your hero is supposed to have felt and + thought." + </p> + <p> + This truth, moreover, is seen both in the careers of individual artists, + and in the general history of art. According to Taine, the life of an + artist may generally be divided into two parts. In the first period, that + of natural growth, he studies nature anxiously and minutely, he keeps the + objects themselves before his eyes, and strives to represent them with + scrupulous fidelity. But when the time for mental growth ends, as it does + with every man, and the crystallization of ideas and impressions + commences, then the mind of the artist is no longer so susceptible to new + impressions from without. He begins to nourish himself from his own + substance. He abandons the living model, and with recipes which he has + gathered in the course of his experience, he proceeds to construct a drama + or novel, a picture or statue. Now, the first period, says Taine, is that + of genuine art; the second is that of mannerism. Our author cites the case + of Michael Angelo, a man who was one of the most colossal embodiments of + physical and mental energy that the world has ever seen. In Michael + Angelo's case, the period of growth, of genuine art, may be said to have + lasted until after his sixtieth year. But look, says Taine, at the works + which he executed in his old age; consider the Conversion of St. Paul, and + the Last Judgment, painted when he was nearly seventy. Even those who are + not connoisseurs can see that these frescos are painted by rule, that the + artist, having stocked his memory with a certain set of forms, is making + use of them to fill out his tableau; that he wantonly multiplies queer + attitudes and ingenious foreshortenings; that the lively invention, the + grand outburst of feeling, the perfect truth, by which his earlier works + are distinguished, have disappeared; and that, if he is still superior to + all others, he is nevertheless inferior to himself. The careers of Scott, + of Goethe, and of Voltaire will furnish parallel examples. In every school + of art, too, the flourishing period is followed by one of decline; and in + every case the decline is due to a failure to imitate the living models. + In painting, we have the exaggerated foreshorteners and muscle-makers who + copied Michael Angelo; the lovers of theatrical decorations who succeeded + Titian and Giorgione and the degenerate boudoir-painters who followed + Claucle and Poussin. In literature, we have the versifiers, + epigrammatists, and rhetors of the Latin decadence; the sensual and + declamatory dramatists who represent the last stages of old English + comedy; and the makers of sonnets and madrigals, or conceited euphemists + of the Gongora school, in the decline of Italian and Spanish poetry. + Briefly it may be said, that the masters copy nature and the pupils copy + the masters. In this way are explained the constantly recurring phenomena + of decline in art, and thus, also, it is seen that art is perfect in + proportion as it successfully imitates nature. + </p> + <p> + But we are not to conclude that absolute imitation is the sole and entire + object of art. Were this the case, the finest works would be those which + most minutely correspond to their external prototypes. In sculpture, a + mould taken from the living features is that which gives the most faithful + representation of the model; but a well-moulded bust is far from being + equal to a good statue. Photography is in many respects more accurate than + painting; but no one would rank a photograph, however exquisitely + executed, with an original picture. And finally, if exact imitation were + the supreme object of art, the best tragedy, the best comedy, and the best + drama would be a stenographic report of the proceedings in a court of + justice, in a family gathering, in a popular meeting, in the Rump + Congress. Even the works of artists are not rated in proportion to their + minute exactness. Neither in painting nor in any other art do we give the + precedence to that which deceives the eye simply. Every one remembers how + Zeuxis was said to have painted grapes so faithfully that the birds came + and pecked at them; and how, Parrhasios, his rival, surpassed even this + feat by painting a curtain so natural in its appearance that Zeuxis asked + him to pull it aside and show the picture behind it. All this is not art, + but mere knack and trickery. Perhaps no painter was ever so minute as + Denner. It used to take him four years to make one portrait. He would omit + nothing,—neither the bluish lines made by the veins under the skin, + nor the little black points scattered over the nose, nor the bright spots + in the eye where neighbouring objects are reflected; the head seems to + start out from the canvas, it is so like flesh and blood. Yet who cares + for Denner's portraits? And who would not give ten times as much for one + which Van Dyck or Tintoretto might have painted in a few hours? So in the + churches of Naples and Spain we find statues coloured and draped, saints + clothed in real coats, with their skin yellow and bloodless, their hands + bleeding, and their feet bruised; and beside them Madonnas in royal + habiliments, in gala dresses of lustrous silk, adorned with diadems, + precious necklaces, bright ribbons, and elegant laces, with their cheeks + rosy, their eyes brilliant, their eyelashes sweeping. And by this excess + of literal imitation, there is awakened a feeling, not of pleasure, but + always of repugnance, often of disgust, and sometimes of horror So in + literature, the ancient Greek theatre, and the best Spanish and English + dramatists, alter on purpose the natural current of human speech, and make + their characters talk under all the restraints of rhyme and rhythm. But we + pronounce this departure from literal truth a merit and not a defect. We + consider Goethe's second "Iphigenie," written in verse, far preferable to + the first one written in prose; nay, it is the rhythm or metre itself + which communicates to the work its incomparable beauty. In a review of + Longfellow's "Dante," published last year, we argued this very point in + one of its special applications; the artist must copy his original, but he + must not copy it too literally. + </p> + <p> + What then must he copy? He must copy, says Taine, the mutual relations and + interdependences of the parts of his model. And more than this, he must + render the essential characteristic of the object—that + characteristic upon which all the minor qualities depend—as salient + and conspicuous as possible. He must put into the background the traits + which conceal it, and bring into the foreground the traits which manifest + it. If he is sculpturing a group like the Laocoon, he must strike upon the + supreme moment, that in which the whole tragedy reveals itself, and he + must pass over those insignificant details of position and movement which + serve only to distract our attention and weaken our emotions by dividing + them. If he is writing a drama, he must not attempt to give us the + complete biography of his character; he must depict only those situations + which stand in direct subordination to the grand climax or denoument. As a + final result, therefore. Taine concludes that a work of art is a concrete + representation of the relations existing between the parts of an object, + with the intent to bring the essential or dominating character thereof + into prominence. + </p> + <p> + We should overrun our limits if we were to follow out the admirable + discussion in which M. Taine extends this definition to architecture and + music. These closely allied arts are distinguished from poetry, painting, + and sculpture, by appealing far less directly to the intelligence, and far + more exclusively to the emotions. Yet these arts likewise aim, by bringing + into prominence certain relations of symmetry in form as perceived by the + eye, or in aerial vibrations as perceived by the ear, to excite in us the + states of feeling with which these species of symmetry are by subtle laws + of association connected. They, too, imitate, not literally, but under the + guidance of a predominating sentiment or emotion, relations which really + exist among the phenomena of nature. And here, too, we estimate + excellence, not in proportion to the direct, but to the indirect + imitation. A Gothic cathedral is not, as has been supposed, directly + imitated from the towering vegetation of Northern forests; but it may well + be the expression of the dim sentiment of an unseen, all-pervading Power, + generated by centuries of primeval life amid such forests. So the sounds + which in a symphony of Beethoven are woven into a web of such amazing + complexity may exist in different combinations in nature; but when a + musician steps out of his way to imitate the crowing of cocks or the roar + of the tempest, we regard his achievement merely as a graceful conceit. + Art is, therefore, an imitation of nature; but it is an intellectual and + not a mechanical imitation; and the performances of the camera and the + music-box are not to be classed with those of the violinist's bow or the + sculptor's chisel. + </p> + <p> + And lastly, in distinguishing art from science, Taine remarks, that in + disengaging from their complexity the causes which are at work in nature, + and the fundamental laws according to which they work, science describes + them in abstract formulas conveyed in technical language. But art reveals + these operative causes and these dominant laws, not in arid definitions, + inaccessible to most people, intelligible only to specially instructed + men, but in a concrete symbol, addressing itself not only to the + understanding, but still more to the sentiments of the ordinary man. Art + has, therefore, this peculiarity, that it is at once elevated and popular, + that it manifests that which is often most recondite, and that it + manifests it to all. + </p> + <p> + Having determined what a work of art is, our author goes on to study the + social conditions under which works of art are produced; and he concludes + that the general character of a work of art is determined by the state of + intellect and morals in the society in which it is executed. There is, in + fact, a sort of moral temperature which acts upon mental development much + as physical temperature acts upon organic development. The condition of + society does not produce the artist's talent; but it assists or checks its + efforts to display itself; it decides whether or not it shall be + successful And it exerts a "natural selection" between different kinds of + talents, stimulating some and starving others. To make this perfectly + clear, we will cite at some length Taine's brilliant illustration. + </p> + <p> + The case chosen for illustration is a very simple one,—that of a + state of society in which one of the predominant feelings is melancholy. + This is not an arbitrary supposition, for such a time has occurred more + than once in human history; in Asia, in the sixth century before Christ, + and especially in Europe, from the fourth to the tenth centuries of our + era. To produce such a state of feeling, five or six generations of + decadence, accompanied with diminution of population, foreign invasions, + famines, pestilences, and increasing difficulty in procuring the + necessaries of life, are amply sufficient. It then happens that men lose + courage and hope, and consider life an evil. Now, admitting that among the + artists who live in such a time, there are likely to be the same relative + numbers of melancholy, joyous, or indifferent temperaments as at other + times, let us see how they will be affected by reigning circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Let us first remember, says Taine, that the evils which depress the public + will also depress the artist. His risks are no less than those of less + gifted people. He is liable to suffer from plague or famine, to be ruined + by unfair taxation or conscription, or to see his children massacred and + his wife led into captivity by barbarians. And if these ills do not reach + him personally, he must at least behold those around him affected by them. + In this way, if he is joyous by temperament, he must inevitably become + less joyous; if he is melancholy, he must become more melancholy. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, having been reared among melancholy contemporaries, his + education will have exerted upon him a corresponding influence. The + prevailing religious doctrine, accommodated to the state of affairs, will + tell him that the earth is a place of exile, life an evil, gayety a snare, + and his most profitable occupation will be to get ready to die. + Philosophy, constructing its system of morals in conformity to the + existing phenomena of decadence, will tell him that he had better never + have been born. Daily conversation will inform him of horrible events, of + the devastation of a province, the sack of a town by the Goths, the + oppression of the neighbouring peasants by the imperial tax-collectors, or + the civil war that has just burst out between half a dozen pretenders to + the throne. As he travels about, he beholds signs of mourning and despair, + crowds of beggars, people dying of hunger, a broken bridge which no one is + mending, an abandoned suburb which is going to ruin, fields choked with + weeds, the blackened walls of burned houses. Such sights and impressions, + repeated from childhood to old age (and we must remember that this has + actually been the state of things in what are now the fairest parts of the + globe), cannot fail to deepen whatever elements of melancholy there may be + already in the artist's disposition. + </p> + <p> + The operation of all these causes will be enhanced by that very + peculiarity of the artist which constitutes his talent. For, according to + the definitions above given, that which makes him an artist is his + capacity for seizing upon the essential characteristics and the salient + traits of surrounding objects and events. Other men see things in part + fragmentarily; he catches the spirit of the ensemble. And in this way he + will very likely exaggerate in his works the general average of + contemporary feeling. + </p> + <p> + Lastly, our author reminds us that a man who writes or paints does not + remain alone before his easel or his writing-desk. He goes out, looks + about him, receives suggestions from friends, from rivals, from books, and + works of art whenever accessible, and hears the criticisms of the public + upon his own productions and those of his contemporaries. In order to + succeed, he must not only satisfy to some extent the popular taste, but he + must feel that the public is in sympathy with him. If in this period of + social decadence and gloom he endeavours to represent gay, brilliant, or + triumphant ideas, he will find himself left to his own resources; and, as + Taine rightly says, the power of an isolated man is always insignificant. + His work will be likely to be mediocre. If he attempts to write like + Rabelais or paint like Rubens, he will get neither assistance nor sympathy + from a public which prefers the pictures of Rembrandt, the melodies of + Chopin, and the poetry of Heine. + </p> + <p> + Having thus explained his position by this extreme instance, signified for + the sake of clearness, Taine goes on to apply such general considerations + to four historic epochs, taken in all their complexity. He discusses the + aspect presented by art in ancient Greece, in the feudal and Catholic + Middle Ages, in the centralized monarchies of the seventeenth century, and + in the scientific, industrial democracy in which we now live. Out of these + we shall select, as perhaps the simplest, the case of ancient Greece, + still following our author closely, though necessarily omitting many + interesting details. + </p> + <p> + The ancient Greeks, observes Taine, understood life in a new and original + manner. Their energies were neither absorbed by a great religious + conception, as in the case of the Hindus and Egyptians, nor by a vast + social organization, as in the case of the Assyrians and Persians, nor by + a purely industrial and commercial regime, as in the case of the + Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Instead of a theocracy or a rigid system of + castes, instead of a monarchy with a hierarchy of civil officials, the men + of this race invented a peculiar institution, the City, each city giving + rise to others like itself, and from colony to colony reproducing itself + indefinitely. A single Greek city, for instance, Miletos, produced three + hundred other cities, colonizing with them the entire coast of the Black + Sea. Each city was substantially self-ruling; and the idea of a + coalescence of several cities into a nation was one which the Greek mind + rarely conceived, and never was able to put into operation. + </p> + <p> + In these cities, labour was for the most part carried on by slaves. In + Athens there were four or five for each citizen, and in places like + Korinth and Aigina the slave population is said to have numbered four or + five hundred thousand. Besides, the Greek citizen had little need of + personal service. He lived out of doors, and, like most Southern people, + was comparatively abstemious in his habits. His dinners were slight, his + clothing was simple, his house was scantily furnished, being intended + chiefly for a den to sleep in. + </p> + <p> + Serving neither king nor priest, the citizen was free and sovereign in his + own city. He elected his own magistrates, and might himself serve as + city-ruler, as juror, or as judge. Representation was unknown. Legislation + was carried on by all the citizens assembled in mass. Therefore politics + and war were the sole or chief employments of the citizen. War, indeed, + came in for no slight share of his attention. For society was not so well + protected as in these modern days. Most of these Greek cities, scattered + over the coasts of the Aigeian, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean, were + surrounded by tribes of barbarians, Scythians, Gauls Spaniards, and + Africans. The citizen must therefore keep on his guard, like the + Englishman of to-day in New Zealand, or like the inhabitant of a + Massachusetts town in the seventeenth century. Otherwise Gauls Samnites, + or Bithynians, as savage as North American Indians, would be sure to + encamp upon the blackened ruins of his town. Moreover, the Greek cities + had their quarrels with each other, and their laws of war were very + barbarous. A conquered city was liable to be razed to the ground, its male + inhabitants put to the sword, its women sold as slaves. Under such + circumstances, according to Taine's happy expression, a citizen must be a + politician and warrior, on pain of death. And not only fear, but ambition + also tended to make him so. For each city strove to subject or to + humiliate its neighbours, to acquire tribute, or to exact homage from its + rivals. Thus the citizen passed his life in the public square, discussing + alliances, treaties, and constitutions, hearing speeches, or speaking + himself, and finally going aboard of his ship to fight his neighbour + Greeks, or to sail against Egypt or Persia. + </p> + <p> + War (and politics as subsidiary to it) was then the chief pursuit of life. + But as there was no organized industry, so there were no machines of + warfare. All fighting was done hand to hand. Therefore, the great thing in + preparing for war was not to transform the soldiers into precisely-acting + automata, as in a modern army, but to make each separate soldier as + vigorous and active as possible. The leading object of Greek education was + to make men physically perfect. In this respect, Sparta may be taken as + the typical Greek community, for nowhere else was physical development so + entirely made the great end of social life. In these matters Sparta was + always regarded by the other cities as taking the lead,—as having + attained the ideal after which all alike were striving. Now Sparta, + situated in the midst of a numerous conquered population of Messenians and + Helots, was partly a great gymnasium and partly a perpetual camp. Her + citizens were always in training. The entire social constitution of Sparta + was shaped with a view to the breeding and bringing up of a strong and + beautiful race. Feeble or ill-formed infants were put to death. The age at + which citizens might marry was prescribed by law; and the State paired off + men and women as the modern breeder pairs off horses, with a sole view to + the excellence of the off-spring. A wife was not a helpmate, but a bearer + of athletes. Women boxed, wrestled, and raced; a circumstance referred to + in the following passage of Aristophanes, as rendered by Mr. Felton:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + LYSISTRATA. + + Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women. + How shines thy beauty, O my sweetest friend! + How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame! + Why, thou couldst choke a bull. + + LAMPITO. + Yes, by the Twain; + For I do practice the gymnastic art, + And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels. + + LYSISTRATA. + In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold. +</pre> + <p> + The young men lived together, like soldiers in a camp. They ate + out-of-doors, at a public table. Their fare was as simple as that of a + modern university boat-crew before a race. They slept in the open air, and + spent their waking hours in wrestling, boxing, running races, throwing + quoits, and engaging in mock battles. This was the way in which the + Spartans lived; and though no other city carried this discipline to such + an extent, yet in all a very large portion of the citizen's life was spent + in making himself hardy and robust. + </p> + <p> + The ideal man, in the eyes of a Greek, was, therefore not the + contemplative or delicately susceptible thinker but the naked athlete, + with firm flesh and swelling muscles. Most of their barbarian neighbours + were ashamed to be seen undressed, but the Greeks seem to have felt little + embarrassment in appearing naked in public. Their gymnastic habits + entirely transformed their sense of shame. Their Olympic and other public + games were a triumphant display of naked physical perfection. Young men of + the noblest families and from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, + and wrestled and ran, undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring + spectators. Note, too, as significant, that the Greek era began with the + Olympic games, and that time was reckoned by the intervals between them; + as well as the fact that the grandest lyric poetry of antiquity was + written in celebration of these gymnastic contests. The victor in the + foot-race gave his name to the current Olympiad; and on reaching home, was + received by his fellow-citizens as if he had been a general returning from + a successful campaign. To be the most beautiful man in Greece was in the + eyes of a Greek the height of human felicity; and with the Greeks, beauty + necessarily included strength. So ardently did this gifted people admire + corporeal perfection that they actually worshipped it. According to + Herodotos, a young Sicilian was deified on account of his beauty, and + after his death altars were raised to him. The vast intellectual power of + Plato and Sokrates did not prevent them from sharing this universal + enthusiasm. Poets like Sophokles, and statesmen like Alexander, thought it + not beneath their dignity to engage publicly in gymnastic sports. + </p> + <p> + Their conceptions of divinity were framed in accordance with these general + habits. Though sometimes, as in the case of Hephaistos, the exigencies of + the particular myth required the deity to be physically imperfect, yet + ordinarily the Greek god was simply an immortal man, complete in strength + and beauty. The deity was not invested with the human form as a mere + symbol. They could conceive no loftier way of representing him. The + grandest statue, expressing most adequately the calmness of absolutely + unfettered strength, might well, in their eyes, be a veritable portrait of + divinity. To a Greek, beauty of form was a consecrated thing. More than + once a culprit got off with his life because it would have been thought + sacrilegious to put an end to such a symmetrical creature. And for a + similar reason, the Greeks, though perhaps not more humane than the + Europeans of the Middle Ages, rarely allowed the human body to be + mutilated or tortured. The condemned criminal must be marred as little as + possible; and he was, therefore, quietly poisoned, instead of being hung, + beheaded, or broken on the wheel. + </p> + <p> + Is not the unapproachable excellence of Greek statuary—that art + never since equalled, and most likely, from the absence of the needful + social stimulus, destined never to be equalled—already sufficiently + explained? Consider, says our author, the nature of the Greek sculptor's + preparation. These men have observed the human body naked and in movement, + in the bath and the gymnasium, in sacred dances and public games. They + have noted those forms and attitudes in which are revealed vigour, health, + and activity. And during three or four hundred years they have thus + modified, corrected and developed their notions of corporeal beauty. There + is, therefore, nothing surprising in the fact that Greek sculpture finally + arrived at the ideal model, the perfect type, as it was, of the human + body. Our highest notions of physical beauty, down to the present day, + have been bequeathed to us by the Greeks. The earliest modern sculptors + who abandoned the bony, hideous, starveling figures of the monkish Middle + Ages, learned their first lessons in better things from Greek bas-reliefs. + And if, to-day, forgetting our half-developed bodies, inefficiently + nourished, because of our excessive brain-work, and with their muscles + weak and flabby from want of strenuous exercise, we wish to contemplate + the human form in its grandest perfection, we must go to Hellenic art for + our models. + </p> + <p> + The Greeks were, in the highest sense of the word, an intellectual race; + but they never allowed the mind to tyrannize over the body. Spiritual + perfection, accompanied by corporeal feebleness, was the invention of + asceticism; and the Greeks were never ascetics. Diogenes might scorn + superfluous luxuries, but if he ever rolled and tumbled his tub about as + Rabelais says he did, it is clear that the victory of spirit over body + formed no part of his theory of things. Such an idea would have been + incomprehensible to a Greek in Plato's time. Their consciences were not + over active. They were not burdened with a sense of sinfulness. Their + aspirations were decidedly finite; and they believed in securing the + maximum completeness of this terrestrial life. Consequently they never set + the physical below the intellectual. To return to our author, they never, + in their statues, subordinated symmetry to expression, the body to the + head. They were interested not only in the prominence of the brows, the + width of the forehead, and the curvature of the lips, but quite as much in + the massiveness of the chest, the compactness of the thighs, and the + solidity of the arms and legs. Not only the face, but the whole body, had + for them its physiognomy. They left picturesqueness to the painter, and + dramatic fervour to the poet; and keeping strictly before their eyes the + narrow but exalted problem of representing the beauty of symmetry, they + filled their sanctuaries and public places with those grand motionless + people of brass, gold, ivory, copper, and marble, in whom humanity + recognizes its highest artistic types. Statuary was the central art of + Greece. No other art was so popular, or so completely expressed the + national life. The number of statues was enormous. In later days, when + Rome had spoiled the Greek world of its treasures, the Imperial City + possessed a population of statues almost equal in number to its population + of human beings. And at the present day, after all the destructive + accidents of so many intervening centuries, it is estimated that more than + sixty thousand statues have been obtained from Rome and its suburbs alone. + </p> + <p> + In citing this admirable exposition as a specimen of M. Taine's method of + dealing with his subject, we have refrained from disturbing the pellucid + current of thought by criticisms of our own. We think the foregoing + explanation correct enough, so far as it goes, though it deals with the + merest rudiments of the subject, and really does nothing toward + elucidating the deeper mysteries of artistic production. For this there is + needed a profounder psychology than M. Taine's. But whether his theory of + art be adequate or not, there can be but one opinion as to the brilliant + eloquence with which it is set forth. June, 1868. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV. ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE. + </h2> + <p> + IN a very interesting essay on British and Foreign Characteristics, + published a few years ago, Mr. W. R. Greg quotes the famous letter of the + Turkish cadi to Mr. Layard, with the comment that "it contains the germ + and element of a wisdom to which our busy and bustling existence is a + stranger"; and he uses it as a text for an instructive sermon on the + "gospel of leisure." He urges, with justice, that the too eager and + restless modern man, absorbed in problems of industrial development, may + learn a wholesome lesson from the contemplation of his Oriental brother, + who cares not to say, "Behold, this star spinneth round that star, and + this other star with a tail cometh and goeth in so many years"; who + aspires not after a "double stomach," nor hopes to attain to Paradise by + "seeking with his eyes." If any one may be thought to stand in need of + some such lesson, it is the American of to-day. Just as far as the Turk + carries his apathy to excess, does the American carry to excess his + restlessness. But just because the incurious idleness of the Turk is + excessive, so as to be detrimental to completeness of living, it is unfit + to supply us with the hints we need concerning the causes, character, and + effects of our over-activity. A sermon of leisure, if it is to be of + practical use to us, must not be a sermon of laziness. The Oriental state + of mind is incompatible with progressive improvement of any sort, + physical, intellectual, or moral. It is one of the phenomena attendant + upon the arrival of a community at a stationary condition before it has + acquired a complex civilization. And it appears serviceable rather as a + background upon which to exhibit in relief our modern turmoil, than by + reason of any lesson which it is itself likely to convey. Let us in + preference study one of the most eminently progressive of all the + communities that have existed. Let us take an example quite different from + any that can be drawn from Oriental life, but almost equally contrasted + with any that can be found among ourselves; and let us, with the aid of + it, examine the respective effects of leisure and of hurry upon the + culture of the community. + </p> + <p> + What do modern critics mean by the "healthy completeness" of ancient life, + which they are so fond of contrasting with the "heated," "discontented," + or imperfect and one-sided existence of modern communities? Is this a mere + set of phrases, suited to some imaginary want of the literary critic, but + answering to nothing real? Are they to be summarily disposed of as resting + upon some tacit assumption of that old-grannyism which delights in + asseverating that times are not what they used to be? Is the contrast an + imaginary one, due to the softened, cheerful light with which we are wont + to contemplate classic antiquity through the charmed medium of its + incomparable literature? Or is it a real contrast, worthy of the attention + and analysis of the historical inquirer? The answer to these queries will + lead us far into the discussion of the subject which we have propounded, + and we shall best reach it by considering some aspects of the social + condition of ancient Greece. The lessons to be learned from that wonderful + country are not yet exhausted Each time that we return to that richest of + historic mines, and delve faithfully and carefully, we shall be sure to + dig up some jewel worth carrying away. + </p> + <p> + And in considering ancient Greece, we shall do well to confine our + attention, for the sake of definiteness of conception, to a single city. + Comparatively homogeneous as Greek civilization was, there was + nevertheless a great deal of difference between the social circumstances + of sundry of its civic communities. What was true of Athens was frequently + not true of Sparta or Thebes, and general assertions about ancient Greece + are often likely to be collect only in a loose and general way. In + speaking, therefore, of Greece, I must be understood in the main as + referring to Athens, the eye and light of Greece, the nucleus and centre + of Hellenic culture. + </p> + <p> + Let us note first that Athens was a large city surrounded by pleasant + village-suburbs,—the demes of Attika,—very much as Boston is + closely girdled by rural places like Brookline, Jamaica Plain, and the + rest, village after village rather thickly covering a circuit of from ten + to twenty miles' radius. The population of Athens with its suburbs may + perhaps have exceeded half a million; but the number of adult freemen + bearing arms did not exceed twenty-five thousand. <a href="#linknote-67" + name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67"><small>67</small></a> For every + one of these freemen there were four or five slaves; not ignorant, + degraded labourers, belonging to an inferior type of humanity, and bearing + the marks of a lower caste in their very personal formation and in the + colour of their skin, like our lately-enslaved negroes; but intelligent, + skilled labourers, belonging usually to the Hellenic, and at any rate to + the Aryan race, as fair and perhaps as handsome as their masters, and not + subjected to especial ignominy or hardship. These slaves, of whom there + were at least one hundred thousand adult males, relieved the twenty-five + thousand freemen of nearly all the severe drudgery of life; and the result + was an amount of leisure perhaps never since known on an equal scale in + history. + </p> + <p> + The relations of master and slave in ancient Athens constituted, of + course, a very different phenomenon from anything which the history of our + own Southern States has to offer us. Our Southern slaveholders lived in an + age of industrial development; they were money-makers: they had their full + share of business in managing the operations for which their labourers + supplied the crude physical force. It was not so in Athens. The era of + civilization founded upon organized industry had not begun; money-making + had not come to be, with the Greeks, the one all-important end of life; + and mere subsistence, which is now difficult, was then easy. The Athenian + lived in a mild, genial, healthy climate, in a country which has always + been notable for the activity and longevity of its inhabitants. He was + frugal in his habits,—a wine-drinker and an eater of meat, but + rarely addicted to gluttony or intemperance. His dress was inexpensive, + for the Greek climate made but little protection necessary, and the + gymnastic habits of the Greeks led them to esteem more highly the beauty + of the body than that of its covering. His house was simple, not being + intended for social purposes, while of what we should call home-life the + Greeks had none. The house was a shelter at night, a place where the + frugal meal might be taken, a place where the wife might stay, and look + after the household slaves or attend to the children. And this brings us + to another notable feature of Athenian life. The wife having no position + in society, being nothing, indeed, but a sort of household utensil, how + greatly was life simplified! What a door for expenditure was there, as yet + securely closed, and which no one had thought of opening! No milliner's or + dressmaker's bills, no evening parties, no Protean fashions, no elegant + furniture, no imperious necessity for Kleanthes to outshine Kleon, no + coaches, no Chateau Margaux, no journeys to Arkadia in the summer! In such + a state of society, as one may easily see, the labour of one man would + support half a dozen. It cost the Athenian but a few cents daily to live, + and even these few cents might be earned by his slaves. We need not, + therefore, be surprised to learn that in ancient Athens there were no + paupers or beggars. There might be poverty, but indigence was unknown; and + because of the absence of fashion, style, and display, even poverty + entailed no uncomfortable loss of social position. The Athenians valued + wealth highly, no doubt, as a source of contributions to public festivals + and to the necessities of the state. But as far as the circumstances of + daily life go, the difference between the rich man and the poor man was + immeasurably less than in any modern community, and the incentives to the + acquirement of wealth were, as a consequence, comparatively slight. + </p> + <p> + I do not mean to say that the Athenians did not engage in business. Their + city was a commercial city, and their ships covered the Mediterranean. + They had agencies and factories at Marseilles, on the remote coasts of + Spain, and along the shores of the Black Sea. They were in many respects + the greatest commercial people of antiquity, and doubtless knew, as well + as other people, the keen delights of acquisition. But my point is, that + with them the acquiring of property had not become the chief or only end + of life. Production was carried on almost entirely by slave-labour; + interchange of commodities was the business of the masters, and commerce + was in those days simple. Banks, insurance companies, brokers' boards,—all + these complex instruments of Mammon were as yet unthought of. There was no + Wall Street in ancient Athens; there were no great failures, no commercial + panics, no over-issues of stock. Commerce, in short, was a quite + subordinate matter, and the art of money-making was in its infancy. + </p> + <p> + The twenty-five thousand Athenian freemen thus enjoyed, on the whole, more + undisturbed leisure, more freedom from petty harassing cares, than any + other community known to history. Nowhere else can we find, on careful + study, so little of the hurry and anxiety which destroys the even tenour + of modern life,—nowhere else so few of the circumstances which tend + to make men insane, inebriate, or phthisical, or prematurely old. + </p> + <p> + This being granted, it remains only to state and illustrate the obverse + fact. It is not only true that Athens has produced and educated a + relatively larger number of men of the highest calibre and most complete + culture than any other community of like dimensions which has ever + existed; but it is also true that there has been no other community, of + which the members have, as a general rule, been so highly cultivated, or + have attained individually such completeness of life. In proof of the + first assertion it will be enough to mention such names as those of Solon, + Themistokles, Perikles, and Demosthenes; Isokrates and Lysias; + Aristophanes and Menander; Aischylos, Sophokles, and Euripides; Pheidias + and Praxiteles; Sokrates and Plato; Thukydides and Xenophon: remembering + that these men, distinguished for such different kinds of achievement, but + like each other in consummateness of culture, were all produced within one + town in the course of three centuries. At no other time and place in human + history has there been even an approach to such a fact as this. + </p> + <p> + My other assertion, about the general culture of the community in which + such men were reared, will need a more detailed explanation. When I say + that the Athenian public was, on the whole, the most highly cultivated + public that has ever existed, I refer of course to something more than + what is now known as literary culture. Of this there was relatively little + in the days of Athenian greatness; and this was because there was not yet + need for it or room for it. Greece did not until a later time begin to + produce scholars and savants; for the function of scholarship does not + begin until there has been an accumulation of bygone literature to be + interpreted for the benefit of those who live in a later time. Grecian + greatness was already becoming a thing of the past, when scholarship and + literary culture of the modern type began at Rome and Alexandria. The + culture of the ancient Athenians was largely derived from direct + intercourse with facts of nature and of life, and with the thoughts of + rich and powerful minds orally expressed. The value of this must not be + underrated. We moderns are accustomed to get so large a portion of our + knowledge and of our theories of life out of books, our taste and judgment + are so largely educated by intercourse with the printed page, that we are + apt to confound culture with book-knowledge; we are apt to forget the + innumerable ways in which the highest intellectual faculties may be + disciplined without the aid of literature. We must study antiquity to + realize how thoroughly this could be done. But even in our day, how much + more fruitful is the direct influence of an original mind over us, in the + rare cases when it can be enjoyed, than any indirect influence which the + same mind may exert through the medium of printed books! What fellow of a + college, placed amid the most abundant and efficient implements of study, + ever gets such a stimulus to the highest and richest intellectual life as + was afforded to Eckermann by his daily intercourse with Goethe? The + breadth of culture and the perfection of training exhibited by John Stuart + Mill need not surprise us when we recollect that his earlier days were + spent in the society of James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. And the remarkable + extent of view, the command of facts, and the astonishing productiveness + of such modern Frenchmen as Sainte-Beuve and Littre become explicable when + we reflect upon the circumstance that so many able and brilliant men are + collected in one city, where their minds may continually and directly + react upon each other. It is from the lack of such personal stimulus that + it is difficult or indeed wellnigh impossible, even for those whose + resources are such as to give them an extensive command of books, to keep + up to the highest level of contemporary culture while living in a village + or provincial town. And it is mainly because of the personal stimulus + which it affords to its students, that a great university, as a seat of + culture, is immeasurably superior to a small one. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, the small community in any age possesses one signal + advantage over the large one, in its greater simplicity of life and its + consequent relative leisure. It was the prerogative of ancient Athens that + it united the advantages of the large to those of the small community. In + relative simplicity of life it was not unlike the modern village, while at + the same time it was the metropolis where the foremost minds of the time + were enabled to react directly upon one another. In yet another respect + these opposite advantages were combined. The twenty-five thousand free + inhabitants might perhaps all know something of each other. In this + respect Athens was doubtless much like a New England country town, with + the all-important difference that the sordid tone due to continual + struggle for money was absent. It was like the small town in the chance + which it afforded for publicity and community of pursuits among its + inhabitants. Continuous and unrestrained social intercourse was + accordingly a distinctive feature of Athenian life. And, as already + hinted, this intercourse did not consist in evening flirtations, with the + eating of indigestible food at unseasonable hours, and the dancing of "the + German." It was carried on out-of-doors in the brightest sunlight; it + brooked no effeminacy; its amusements were athletic games, or dramatic + entertainments, such as have hardly since been equalled. Its arena was a + town whose streets were filled with statues and adorned with buildings, + merely to behold which was in itself an education. The participators in it + were not men with minds so dwarfed by exclusive devotion to special + pursuits that after "talking shop" they could find nothing else save wine + and cookery to converse about. They were men with minds fresh and open for + the discussion of topics which are not for a day only. + </p> + <p> + A man like Sokrates, living in such a community, did not need to write + down his wisdom. He had no such vast public as the modern philosopher has + to reach. He could hail any one he happened to pass in the street, begin + an argument with him forthwith, and set a whole crowd thinking and + inquiring about subjects the mere contemplation of which would raise them + for the moment above matters of transient concern. For more than half a + century any citizen might have gratis the benefit of oral instruction from + such a man as he. And I sometimes think, by the way, that—curtailed + as it is to literary proportions in the dialogues of Plato, bereft of all + that personal potency which it had when it flowed, instinct with + earnestness, from the lips of the teacher—even to this day the wit + of man has perhaps devised no better general gymnastics for the + understanding than the Sokratic dialectic. I am far from saying that all + Athens listened to Sokrates or understood him: had it been so, the + caricature of Aristophanes would have been pointless, and the sublime yet + mournful trilogy of dialogues which pourtray the closing scenes of the + greatest life of antiquity would never have been written. But the mere + fact that such a man lived and taught in the way that he did goes far in + proof of the deep culture of the Athenian public. Further confirmation is + to be found in the fact that such tragedies as the Antigone, the Oidipous, + and the Prometheus were written to suit the popular taste of the time; not + to be read by literary people, or to be performed before select audiences + such as in our day listen to Ristori or Janauschek, but to hold + spell-bound that vast concourse of all kinds of people which assembled at + the Dionysiac festivals. + </p> + <p> + Still further proof is furnished by the exquisite literary perfection of + Greek writings. One of the common arguments in favour of the study of + Greek at the present day is based upon the opinion that in the best works + extant in that language the art of literary expression has reached + wellnigh absolute perfection. I fully concur in this opinion, so far as to + doubt if even the greatest modern writers, even a Pascal or a Voltaire, + can fairly sustain a comparison with such Athenians as Plato or Lysias. + This excellence of the ancient books is in part immediately due to the + fact that they were not written in a hurry, or amid the anxieties of an + over-busy existence; but it is in greater part due to the indirect + consequences of a leisurely life. These books were written for a public + which knew well how to appreciate the finer beauties of expression; and, + what is still more to the point, their authors lived in a community where + an elegant style was habitual. Before a matchless style can be written, + there must be a good style "in the air," as the French say. Probably the + most finished talking and writing of modern times has been done in and + about the French court in the seventeenth century; and it is accordingly + there that we find men like Pascal and Bossuet writing a prose which for + precision, purity, and dignity has never since been surpassed. It is thus + that the unapproachable literary excellence of ancient Greek books speaks + for the genuine culture of the people who were expected to read them, or + to hear them read. For one of the surest indices of true culture, whether + professedly literary or not, is the power to express one's self in + precise, rhythmical, and dignified language. We hardly need a better + evidence than this of the superiority of the ancient community in the + general elevation of its tastes and perceptions. Recollecting how + Herodotos read his history at the Olympic games, let us try to imagine + even so picturesque a writer as Mr. Parkman reading a few chapters of his + "Jesuits in North America" before the spectators assembled at the Jerome + Park races, and we shall the better realize how deep-seated was Hellenic + culture. + </p> + <p> + As yet, however, I have referred to but one side of Athenian life. Though + "seekers after wisdom," the cultivated people of Athens did not spend all + their valuable leisure in dialectics or in connoisseurship. They were not + a set of dilettanti or dreamy philosophers, and they were far from + subordinating the material side of life to the intellectual. Also, though + they dealt not in money-making after the eager fashion of modern men, they + had still concerns of immediate practical interest with which to busy + themselves. Each one of these twenty-five thousand free Athenians was not + only a free voter, but an office-holder, a legislator, a judge. They did + not control the government through a representative body, but they were + themselves the government. They were, one and all, in turn liable to be + called upon to make laws, and to execute them after they were made, as + well as to administer justice in civil and criminal suits. The affairs and + interests, not only of their own city, but of a score or two of scattered + dependencies, were more or less closely to be looked after by them. It lay + with them to declare war, to carry it on after declaring it, and to pay + the expenses of it. Actually and not by deputy they administered the + government of their own city, both in its local and in its imperial + relations. All this implies a more thorough, more constant, and more vital + political training than that which is implied by the modern duties of + casting a ballot and serving on a jury. The life of the Athenian was + emphatically a political life. From early manhood onward, it was part of + his duty to hear legal questions argued by powerful advocates, and to + utter a decision upon law and fact; or to mix in debate upon questions of + public policy, arguing, listening, and pondering. It is customary to + compare the political talent of the Greeks unfavourably with that + displayed by the Romans, and I have no wish to dispute this estimate. But + on a careful study it will appear that the Athenians, at least, in a + higher degree than any other community of ancient times, exhibited + parliamentary tact, or the ability to sit still while both sides of a + question are getting discussed,—that sort of political talent for + which the English races are distinguished, and to the lack of which so + many of the political failures of the French are egregiously due. One + would suppose that a judicature of the whole town would be likely to + execute a sorry parody of justice; yet justice was by no means + ill-administered at Athens. Even the most unfortunate and disgraceful + scenes,—as where the proposed massacre of the Mytilenaians was + discussed, and where summary retribution was dealt out to the generals who + had neglected their duty at Arginusai,—even these scenes furnish, + when thoroughly examined, as by Mr. Grote, only the more convincing proof + that the Athenian was usually swayed by sound reason and good sense to an + extraordinary degree. All great points in fact, were settled rather by + sober appeals to reason than by intrigue or lobbying; and one cannot help + thinking that an Athenian of the time of Perikles would have regarded with + pitying contempt the trick of the "previous question." And this explains + the undoubted pre-eminence of Athenian oratory. This accounts for the fact + that we find in the forensic annals of a single city, and within the + compass of a single century, such names as Lysias, Isokrates, Andokides, + Hypereides, Aischines, and Demosthenes. The art of oratory, like the art + of sculpture, shone forth more brilliantly then than ever since, because + then the conditions favouring its development were more perfectly combined + than they have since been. Now, a condition of society in which the + multitude can always be made to stand quietly and listen to a logical + discourse is a condition of high culture. Readers of Xenophon's Anabasis + will remember the frequency of the speeches in that charming book. + Whenever some terrible emergency arose, or some alarming quarrel or + disheartening panic occurred, in the course of the retreat of the Ten + Thousand, an oration from one of the commanders—not a demagogue's + appeal to the lower passions, but a calm exposition of circumstances + addressed to the sober judgment—usually sufficed to set all things + in order. To my mind this is one of the most impressive historical lessons + conveyed in Xenophon's book. And this peculiar kind of self-control, + indicative of intellectual sobriety and high moral training, which was + more or less characteristic of all Greeks, was especially characteristic + of the Athenians. + </p> + <p> + These illustrations will, I hope, suffice to show that there is nothing + extravagant in the high estimate which I have made of Athenian culture. I + have barely indicated the causes of this singular perfection of individual + training in the social circumstances amid which the Athenians lived. I + have alleged it as an instance of what may be accomplished by a + well-directed leisure and in the absence or very scanty development of + such a complex industrial life as that which surrounds us to-day. But I + have not yet quite done with the Athenians. Before leaving this part of + the subject, I must mention one further circumstance which tends to make + ancient life appear in our eyes more sunny and healthy and less + distressed, than the life of modern times. And in this instance, too, + though we are not dealing with any immediate or remote effects of + leisureliness, we still have to note the peculiar advantage gained by the + absence of a great complexity of interests in the ancient community. + </p> + <p> + With respect to religion, the Athenians were peculiarly situated. They had + for the most part outgrown the primitive terrorism of fetishistic belief. + Save in cases of public distress, as in the mutilation of the Hermai, or + in the refusal of Nikias to retreat from Syracuse because of an eclipse of + the moon, they were no longer, like savages, afraid of the dark. Their + keen aesthetic sense had prevailed to turn the horrors of a primeval + nature-worship into beauties. Their springs and groves were peopled by + their fancy with naiads and dryads, not with trolls and grotesque goblins. + Their feelings toward the unseen powers at work about them were in the + main pleasant; as witness the little story about Pheidippides meeting the + god Pan as he was making with hot haste toward Sparta to announce the + arrival of the Persians. Now, while this original source of mental + discomfort, which afflicts the uncivilized man, had ceased materially to + affect the Athenians, they on the other hand lived at a time when the + vague sense of sin and self-reproof which was characteristic of the early + ages of Christianity, had not yet invaded society. The vast complication + of life brought about by the extension of the Roman Empire led to a great + development of human sympathies, unknown in earlier times, and called + forth unquiet yearnings, desire for amelioration, a sense of short-coming, + and a morbid self-consciousness. It is accordingly under Roman sway that + we first come across characters approximating to the modern type, like + Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. It is then that we find + the idea of social progress first clearly expressed, that we discover some + glimmerings of a conscious philanthropy, and that we detect the earliest + symptoms of that unhealthy tendency to subordinate too entirely the + physical to the moral life, which reached its culmination in the Middle + Ages. In the palmy days of the Athenians it was different. When we hint + that they were not consciously philanthropists, we do not mean that they + were not humane; when we accredit them with no idea of progress, we do not + forget how much they did to render both the idea and the reality possible; + when we say that they had not a distressing sense of spiritual + unworthiness, we do not mean that they had no conscience. We mean that + their moral and religious life sat easily on them, like their own graceful + drapery,—did not gall and worry them, like the hair-cloth garment of + the monk. They were free from that dark conception of a devil which lent + terror to life in the Middle Ages; and the morbid self-consciousness which + led mediaeval women to immure themselves in convents would have been to an + Athenian quite inexplicable. They had, in short, an open and childlike + conception of religion; and, as such, it was a sunny conception. Any one + who will take the trouble to compare an idyl of Theokritos with a modern + pastoral, or the poem of Kleanthes with a modern hymn, or the Aphrodite of + Melos with a modern Madonna, will realize most effectually what I mean. + </p> + <p> + And, finally, the religion of the Athenians was in the main symbolized in + a fluctuating mythology, and had never been hardened into dogmas. The + Athenian was subject to no priest, nor was he obliged to pin his faith to + any formulated creed. His hospitable polytheism left little room for + theological persecution, and none for any heresy short of virtual atheism. + The feverish doubts which rack the modern mind left him undisturbed. + Though he might sink to any depth of scepticism in philosophy, yet the + eternal welfare of his soul was not supposed to hang upon the issue of his + doubts. Accordingly Athenian society was not only characterized in the + main by freedom of opinion, in spite of the exceptional cases of + Anaxagoras and Sokrates; but there was also none of that Gothic gloom with + which the deep-seated Christian sense of infinite responsibility for + opinion has saddened modern religious life. + </p> + <p> + In these reflections I have wandered a little way from my principal theme, + in order more fully to show why the old Greek life impresses us as so + cheerful. Returning now to the keynote with which we started, let us state + succinctly the net result of what has been said about the Athenians. As a + people we have seen that they enjoyed an unparalleled amount of leisure, + living through life with but little turmoil and clatter. Their life was + more spontaneous and unrestrained, less rigorously marked out by + uncontrollable circumstances, than the life of moderns. They did not run + so much in grooves. And along with this we have seen reason to believe + that they were the most profoundly cultivated of all peoples; that a + larger proportion of men lived complete, well-rounded, harmonious lives in + ancient Athens than in any other known community. Keen, nimble-minded, and + self-possessed; audacious speculators, but temperate and averse to + extravagance; emotionally healthy, and endowed with an unequalled sense of + beauty and propriety; how admirable and wonderful they seem when looked at + across the gulf of ages intervening,—and what a priceless possession + to humanity, of what noble augury for the distant future, is the fact that + such a society has once existed! + </p> + <p> + The lesson to be drawn from the study of this antique life will impress + itself more deeply upon us after we have briefly contemplated the striking + contrast to it which is afforded by the phase of civilization amid which + we live to-day. Ever since Greek civilization was merged in Roman + imperialism, there has been a slowly growing tendency toward complexity of + social life,—toward the widening of sympathies, the multiplying of + interests, the increase of the number of things to be done. Through the + later Middle Ages, after Roman civilization had absorbed and disciplined + the incoming barbarism which had threatened to destroy it, there was a + steadily increasing complication of society, a multiplication of the wants + of life, and a consequent enhancement of the difficulty of + self-maintenance. The ultimate causes of this phenomenon lie so far + beneath the surface that they could be satisfactorily discussed only in a + technical essay on the evolution of society. It will be enough for us here + to observe that the great geographical discoveries of the sixteenth + century and the somewhat later achievements of physical science have, + during the past two hundred years, aided powerfully in determining the + entrance of the Western world upon an industrial epoch,—an epoch + which has for its final object the complete subjection of the powers of + nature to purposes of individual comfort and happiness. We have now to + trace some of the effects of this lately-begun industrial development upon + social life and individual culture. And as we studied the leisureliness of + antiquity where its effects were most conspicuous, in the city of Athens, + we shall now do well to study the opposite characteristics of modern + society where they are most conspicuously exemplified, in our own country. + The attributes of American life which it will be necessary to signalize + will be seen to be only the attributes of modern life in their most + exaggerated phase. + </p> + <p> + To begin with, in studying the United States, we are no longer dealing + with a single city, or with small groups of cities. The city as a + political unit, in the antique sense, has never existed among us, and + indeed can hardly be said now to exist anywhere. The modern city is hardly + more than a great emporium of trade, or a place where large numbers of + people find it convenient to live huddled together; not a sacred + fatherland to which its inhabitants owe their highest allegiance, and by + the requirements of which their political activity is limited. What + strikes us here is that our modern life is diffused or spread out, not + concentrated like the ancient civic life. If the Athenian had been the + member of an integral community, comprising all peninsular Greece and the + mainland of Asia Minor, he could not have taken life so easily as he did. + </p> + <p> + Now our country is not only a very large one, but compared to its vast + territorial extent it contains a very small population. If we go on + increasing at the present rate, so that a century hence we number four or + five hundred millions, our country will be hardly more crowded than China + is to-day. Or if our whole population were now to be brought east of + Niagara Falls, and confined on the south by the Potomac, we should still + have as much elbow-room as they have in France. Political economists can + show the effects of this high ratio of land to inhabitants, in increasing + wages, raising the interest of money, and stimulating production. We are + thus living amid circumstances which are goading the industrial activity + characteristic of the last two centuries, and notably of the English race, + into an almost feverish energy. The vast extent of our unwrought territory + is constantly draining fresh life from our older districts, to aid in the + establishment of new frontier communities of a somewhat lower or less + highly organized type. And these younger communities, daily springing up, + are constantly striving to take on the higher structure,—to become + as highly civilized and to enjoy as many of the prerogatives of + civilization as the rest. All this calls forth an enormous quantity of + activity, and causes American life to assume the aspect of a + life-and-death struggle for mastery over the material forces of that part + of the earth's surface upon which it thrives. + </p> + <p> + It is thus that we are traversing what may properly be called the + BARBAROUS epoch of our history,—the epoch at which the predominant + intellectual activity is employed in achievements which are mainly of a + material character. Military barbarism, or the inability of communities to + live together without frequent warfare, has been nearly outgrown by the + whole Western world. Private wars, long since made everywhere illegal, + have nearly ceased; and public wars, once continual, have become + infrequent. But industrial barbarism, by which I mean the inability of a + community to direct a portion of its time to purposes of spiritual life, + after providing for its physical maintenance,—this kind of barbarism + the modern world has by no means outgrown. To-day, the great work of life + is to live; while the amount of labour consumed in living has throughout + the present century been rapidly increasing. Nearly the whole of this + American community toils from youth to old age in merely procuring the + means for satisfying the transient wants of life. Our time and energies, + our spirit and buoyancy, are quite used up in what is called "getting on." + </p> + <p> + Another point of difference between the structure of American and of + Athenian society must not be left out of the account. The time has gone by + in which the energies of a hundred thousand men and women could be + employed in ministering to the individual perfection of twenty-five + thousand. Slavery, in the antique sense,—an absolute command of + brain as well as of muscle, a slave-system of skilled labour,—we + have never had. In our day it is for each man to earn his own bread; so + that the struggle for existence has become universal. The work of one + class does not furnish leisure for another class. The exceptional + circumstances which freed the Athenian from industrial barbarism, and + enabled him to become the great teacher and model of culture for the human + race, have disappeared forever. + </p> + <p> + Then the general standard of comfortable living, as already hinted, has + been greatly raised, and is still rising. What would have satisfied the + ancient would seem to us like penury. We have a domestic life of which the + Greek knew nothing. We live during a large part of the year in the house. + Our social life goes on under the roof. Our houses are not mere places for + eating and sleeping, like the houses of the ancients. It therefore costs + us a large amount of toil to get what is called shelter for our heads. The + sum which a young married man, in "good society," has to pay for his house + and the furniture contained in it, would have enabled an Athenian to live + in princely leisure from youth to old age. The sum which he has to pay out + each year, to meet the complicated expense of living in such a house, + would have more than sufficed to bring up an Athenian family. If worthy + Strepsiades could have got an Asmodean glimpse of Fifth Avenue, or even of + some unpretending street in Cambridge, he might have gone back to his + aristocratic wife a sadder but a more contented man. + </p> + <p> + Wealth—or at least what would until lately have been called wealth—has + become essential to comfort; while the opportunities for acquiring it have + in recent times been immensely multiplied. To get money is, therefore, the + chief end of life in our time and country. "Success in life" has become + synonymous with "becoming wealthy." A man who is successful in what he + undertakes is a man who makes his employment pay him in money. Our normal + type of character is that of the shrewd, circumspect business man; as in + the Middle Ages it was that of the hardy warrior. And as in those days + when fighting was a constant necessity, and when the only honourable way + for a gentleman of high rank to make money was by freebooting, fighting + came to be regarded as an end desirable in itself; so in these days the + mere effort to accumulate has become a source of enjoyment rather than a + means to it. The same truth is to be witnessed in aberrant types of + character. The infatuated speculator and the close-fisted millionaire are + our substitutes for the mediaeval berserkir,—the man who loved the + pell-mell of a contest so well that he would make war on his neighbour, + just to keep his hand in. In like manner, while such crimes as murder and + violent robbery have diminished in frequency during the past century, on + the other hand such crimes as embezzlement, gambling in stocks, + adulteration of goods, and using of false weights and measures, have + probably increased. If Dick Turpin were now to be brought back to life, he + would find the New York Custom-House a more congenial and profitable + working-place than the king's highway. + </p> + <p> + The result of this universal quest for money is that we are always in a + hurry. Our lives pass by in a whirl. It is all labour and no fruition. We + work till we are weary; we carry our work home with us; it haunts our + evenings, and disturbs our sleep as well as our digestion. Our minds are + so burdened with it that our conversation, when serious, can dwell upon + little else. If we step into a railway-car, or the smoking-room of a + hotel, or any other place where a dozen or two of men are gathered + together, we shall hear them talking of stocks, of investments, of + commercial paper, as if there were really nothing in this universe worth + thinking of, save only the interchange of dollars and commodities. So + constant and unremitted is our forced application, that our minds are + dwarfed for everything except the prosecution of the one universal + pursuit. + </p> + <p> + Are we now prepared for the completing of the contrast? Must we say that, + as Athens was the most leisurely and the United States is the most hurried + community known in history, so the Americans are, as a consequence of + their hurry, lacking in thoroughness of culture? Or, since it is difficult + to bring our modern culture directly into contrast with that of an ancient + community, let me state the case after a different but equivalent fashion. + Since the United States present only an exaggerated type of the modern + industrial community, since the turmoil of incessant money-getting, which + affects all modern communities in large measure, affects us most seriously + of all, shall it be said that we are, on the whole, less highly cultivated + than our contemporaries in Western Europe? To a certain extent we must + confess that this is the case. In the higher culture—in the culture + of the whole man, according to the antique idea—we are undoubtedly + behind all other nations with which it would be fair to compare ourselves. + It will not do to decide a question like this merely by counting literary + celebrities, although even thus we should by no means get a verdict in our + favour. Since the beginning of this century, England has produced as many + great writers and thinkers as France or Germany; yet the general status of + culture in England is said—perhaps with truth—to be lower than + it is in these countries. It is said that the average Englishman is less + ready than the average German or Frenchman to sympathize with ideas which + have no obvious market-value. Yet in England there is an amount of high + culture among those not professionally scholars, which it would be vain to + seek among ourselves. The purposes of my argument, however, require that + the comparison should be made between our own country and Western Europe + in general. Compare, then, our best magazines—not solely with regard + to their intrinsic excellence, but also with regard to the way in which + they are sustained—with the Revue des Deux Mondes or the Journal des + Debats. Or compare our leading politicians with men like Gladstone, + Disraeli, or Sir G. C. Lewis; or even with such men as Brougham or Thiers. + Or compare the slovenly style of our newspaper articles, I will not say + with the exquisite prose of the lamented Prevost-Paradol, but with the + ordinary prose of the French or English newspaper. But a far better + illustration—for it goes down to the root of things—is + suggested by the recent work of Matthew Arnold on the schools of the + continent of Europe. The country of our time where the general culture is + unquestionably the highest is Prussia. Now, in Prussia, they are able to + have a Minister of Education, who is a member of the Cabinet. They are + sure that this minister will not appoint or remove even an assistant + professor for political reasons. Only once, as Arnold tells us, has such a + thing been done; and then public opinion expressed itself in such an + emphatic tone of disapproval that the displaced teacher was instantly + appointed to another position. Nothing of this sort, says Arnold, could + have occurred in England; but still less could it occur in America. Had we + such an educational system, there would presently be an "Education Ring" + to control it. Nor can this difference be ascribed to the less eager + political activity of Germany. The Prussian state of things would have + been possible in ancient Athens, where political life was as absorbing and + nearly as turbulent as in the United States. The difference is due to our + lack of faith in culture, a lack of faith in that of which we have not had + adequate experience. + </p> + <p> + We lack culture because we live in a hurry, and because our attention is + given up to pursuits which call into activity and develop but one side of + us. On the one hand contemplate Sokrates quietly entertaining a crowd in + the Athenian market-place, and on the other hand consider Broadway with + its eternal clatter, and its throngs of hurrying people elbowing and + treading on each other's heels, and you will get a lively notion of the + difference between the extreme phases of ancient and modern life. By the + time we have thus rushed through our day, we have no strength left to + devote to things spiritual. To-day finds us no nearer fruition than + yesterday. And if perhaps the time at last arrives when fruition is + practicable, our minds have run so long in the ruts that they cannot be + twisted out. + </p> + <p> + As it is impossible for any person living in a given state of society to + keep himself exempt from its influences, detrimental as well as + beneficial, we find that even those who strive to make a literary + occupation subservient to purposes of culture are not, save in rare cases, + spared by the general turmoil. Those who have at once the ability, the + taste, and the wealth needful for training themselves to the + accomplishment of some many-sided and permanent work are of course very + few. Nor have our universities yet provided themselves with the means for + securing to literary talent the leisure which is essential to complete + mental development, or to a high order of productiveness. Although in most + industrial enterprises we know how to work together so successfully, in + literature we have as yet no co-operation. We have not only no Paris, but + we have not even a Tubingen, a Leipsic, or a Jena, or anything + corresponding to the fellowships in the English universities. Our literary + workers have no choice but to fall into the ranks, and make merchandise of + their half-formed ideas. They must work without co-operation, they must + write in a hurry, and they must write for those who have no leisure for + aught but hasty and superficial reading. + </p> + <p> + Bursting boilers and custom-house frauds may have at first sight nothing + to do with each other or with my subject. It is indisputable, however, + that the horrible massacres perpetrated every few weeks or mouths by our + common carriers, and the disgraceful peculation in which we allow our + public servants to indulge with hardly ever an effective word of protest, + are alike to be ascribed to the same causes which interfere with our + higher culture. It is by no means a mere accidental coincidence that for + every dollar stolen by government officials in Prussia, at least fifty or + a hundred are stolen in the United States. This does not show that the + Germans are our superiors in average honesty, but it shows that they are + our superiors in thoroughness. It is with them an imperative demand that + any official whatever shall be qualified for his post; a principle of + public economy which in our country is not simply ignored in practice, but + often openly laughed at. But in a country where high intelligence and + thorough training are imperatively demanded, it follows of necessity that + these qualifications must insure for their possessors a permanent career + in which the temptations to malfeasance or dishonesty are reduced to the + minimum. On the other hand, in a country where intelligence and training + have no surety that they are to carry the day against stupidity and + inefficiency, the incentives to dishonourable conduct are overpowering. + The result in our own political life is that the best men are driven in + disgust from politics, and thus one of the noblest fields for the culture + of the whole man is given over to be worked by swindlers and charlatans. + To an Athenian such a severance of the highest culture from political life + would have been utterly inconceivable. Obviously the deepest explanation + of all this lies in our lack of belief in the necessity for high and + thorough training. We do not value culture enough to keep it in our employ + or to pay it for its services; and what is this short-sighted negligence + but the outcome of the universal shiftlessness begotten of the habit of + doing everything in a hurry? On every hand we may see the fruits of this + shiftlessness, from buildings that tumble in, switches that are misplaced, + furnaces that are ill-protected, fire-brigades that are without + discipline, up to unauthorized meddlings with the currency, and revenue + laws which defeat their own purpose. + </p> + <p> + I said above that the attributes of American life which we should find it + necessary for our purpose to signalize are simply the attributes of modern + life in their most exaggerated phase. Is there not a certain sense in + which all modern handiwork is hastily and imperfectly done? To begin with + common household arts, does not every one know that old things are more + durable than new things? Our grandfathers wore better shoes than we wear, + because there was leisure enough to cure the leather properly. In old + times a chair was made of seasoned wood, and its joints carefully fitted; + its maker had leisure to see that it was well put together. Now a thousand + are turned off at once by machinery, out of green wood, and, with their + backs glued on, are hurried off to their evil fate,—destined to drop + in pieces if they happen to stand near the fireplace, and liable to + collapse under the weight of a heavy man. Some of us still preserve, as + heirlooms, old tables and bedsteads of Cromwellian times: in the + twenty-first century what will have become of our machine-made bedsteads + and tables? + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it may seem odd to talk about tanning and joinery in connection + with culture, but indeed there is a subtle bond of union holding together + all these things. Any phase of life can be understood only by associating + with it some different phase. Sokrates himself has taught us how the + homely things illustrate the grand things. If we turn to the art of + musical composition and inquire into some of the differences between our + recent music and that of Handel's time, we shall alight upon the very + criticism which Mr. Mill somewhere makes in comparing ancient with modern + literature: the substance has improved, but the form has in some respects + deteriorated. The modern music expresses the results of a richer and more + varied emotional experience, and in wealth of harmonic resources, to say + nothing of increased skill in orchestration, it is notably superior to the + old music. Along with this advance, however, there is a perceptible + falling off in symmetry and completeness of design, and in what I would + call spontaneousness of composition. I believe that this is because modern + composers, as a rule, do not drudge patiently enough upon counterpoint. + They do not get that absolute mastery over technical difficulties of + figuration which was the great secret of the incredible facility and + spontaneity of composition displayed by Handel and Bach. Among recent + musicians Mendelssohn is the most thoroughly disciplined in the elements + of counterpoint; and it is this perfect mastery of the technique of his + art which has enabled him to outrank Schubert and Schumann, neither of + whom would one venture to pronounce inferior to him in native wealth of + musical ideas. May we not partly attribute to rudimentary deficiency in + counterpoint the irregularity of structure which so often disfigures the + works of the great Wagner and the lesser Liszt, and which the more ardent + admirers of these composers are inclined to regard as a symptom of + progress? + </p> + <p> + I am told that a similar illustration might be drawn from the modern + history of painting; that, however noble the conceptions of the great + painters of the present century, there are none who have gained such a + complete mastery over the technicalities of drawing and the handling of + the brush as was required in the times of Raphael, Titian, and Rubens. But + on this point I can only speak from hearsay, and am quite willing to end + here my series of illustrations, fearing that I may already have been + wrongly set down as a lavulator temporis acti. Not the idle praising of + times gone by, but the getting a lesson from them which may be of use to + us, has been my object. And I believe enough has been said to show that + the great complexity of modern life, with its multiplicity of demands upon + our energy, has got us into a state of chronic hurry, the results of which + are everywhere to be seen in the shape of less thorough workmanship and + less rounded culture. + </p> + <p> + For one moment let me stop to note a further source of the relative + imperfection of modern culture, which is best illustrated in the case of + literature. I allude to the immense, unorganized mass of literature in all + departments, representing the accumulated acquisitions of past ages, which + must form the basis of our own achievement, but with which our present + methods of education seem inadequate to deal properly. Speaking roughly, + modern literature may be said to be getting into the state which Roman + jurisprudence was in before it was reformed by Justinian. Philosophic + criticism has not yet reached the point at which it may serve as a natural + codifier. We must read laboriously and expend a disproportionate amount of + time and pains in winnowing the chaff from the wheat. This tends to make + us "digs" or literary drudges; but I doubt if the "dig" is a thoroughly + developed man. Goethe, with all his boundless knowledge, his universal + curiosity, and his admirable capacity for work, was not a "dig." But this + matter can only be hinted at: it is too large to be well discussed at the + fag end of an essay while other points are pressing for consideration. + </p> + <p> + A state of chronic hurry not only directly hinders the performance of + thorough work, but it has an indirect tendency to blunt the enjoyment of + life. Let us consider for a moment one of the psychological consequences + entailed by the strain of a too complex and rapid activity. Every one must + have observed that in going off for a vacation of two or three weeks, or + in getting freed in any way from the ruts of every-day life, time slackens + its gait somewhat, and the events which occur are apt a few years later to + cover a disproportionately large area in our recollections. This is + because the human organism is a natural timepiece in which the ticks are + conscious sensations. The greater the number of sensations which occupy + the foreground of consciousness during the day, the longer the day seems + in the retrospect. But the various groups of sensations which accompany + our daily work tend to become automatic from continual repetition, and to + sink into the background of consciousness; and in a very complex and + busied life the number of sensations or states of consciousness which can + struggle up to the front and get attended to, is comparatively small It is + thus that the days seem so short when we are busy about every-day matters, + and that they get blurred together, and as it were individually + annihilated in recollection. When we travel, a comparatively large number + of fresh sensations occupy attention, there is a maximum of consciousness, + and a distinct image is left to loom up in memory. For the same reason the + weeks and years are much longer to the child than to the grown man. The + life is simpler and less hurried, so that there is time to attend to a + great many sensations. Now this fact lies at the bottom of that keen + enjoyment of existence which is the prerogative of childhood and early + youth. The day is not rushed through by the automatic discharge of certain + psychical functions, but each sensation stays long enough to make itself + recognized. Now when once we understand the psychology of this matter, it + becomes evident that the same contrast that holds between the child and + the man must hold also between the ancient and the modern. The number of + elements entering into ancient life were so few relatively, that there + must have been far more than there is now of that intense realization of + life which we can observe in children and remember of our own childhood. + Space permitting, it would be easy to show from Greek literature how + intense was this realization of life. But my point will already have been + sufficiently apprehended. Already we cannot fail to see how difficult it + is to get more than a minimum of conscious fruition out of a too complex + and rapid activity. + </p> + <p> + One other point is worth noticing before we close. How is this turmoil of + modern existence impressing itself upon the physical constitutions of + modern men and women? When an individual man engages in furious productive + activity, his friends warn him that he will break down. Does the + collective man of our time need some such friendly warning? Let us first + get a hint from what foreigners think of us ultra-modernized Americans. + Wandering journalists, of an ethnological turn of mind, who visit these + shores, profess to be struck with the slenderness, the apparent lack of + toughness, the dyspeptic look, of the American physique. And from such + observations it has been seriously argued that the stalwart English race + is suffering inevitable degeneracy in this foreign climate. I have even + seen it doubted whether a race of men can ever become thoroughly + naturalized in a locality to which it is not indigenous. To such vagaries + it is a sufficient answer that the English are no more indigenous to + England than to America. They are indigenous to Central Asia, and as they + have survived the first transplantation, they may be safely counted on to + survive the second. A more careful survey will teach us that the slow + alteration of physique which is going on in this country is only an + exaggeration of that which modern civilization is tending to bring about + everywhere. It is caused by the premature and excessive strain upon the + mental powers requisite to meet the emergencies of our complex life. The + progress of events has thrown the work of sustaining life so largely upon + the brain that we are beginning to sacrifice the physical to the + intellectual. We are growing spirituelle in appearance at the expense of + robustness. Compare any typical Greek face, with its firm muscles, its + symmetry of feature, and its serenity of expression, to a typical modern + portrait, with its more delicate contour, its exaggerated forehead, its + thoughtful, perhaps jaded look. Or consider in what respects the grand + faces of the Plantagenet monarchs differ from the refined countenances of + the leading English statesmen of to-day. Or again, consider the familiar + pictures of the Oxford and Harvard crews which rowed a race on the Thames + in 1869, and observe how much less youthful are the faces of the + Americans. By contrast they almost look careworn. The summing up of + countless such facts is that modern civilization is making us nervous. Our + most formidable diseases are of nervous origin. We seem to have got rid of + the mediaeval plague and many of its typhoid congeners; but instead we + have an increased amount of insanity, methomania, consumption, dyspepsia, + and paralysis. In this fact it is plainly written that we are suffering + physically from the over-work and over-excitement entailed by excessive + hurry. + </p> + <p> + In view of these various but nearly related points of difference between + ancient and modern life as studied in their extreme manifestations, it + cannot be denied that while we have gained much, we have also lost a good + deal that is valuable, in our progress. We cannot but suspect that we are + not in all points more highly favoured than the ancients. And it becomes + probable that Athens, at all events, which I have chosen as my example, + may have exhibited an adumbration of a state of things which, for the + world at large, is still in the future,—still to be remotely hoped + for. The rich complexity of modern social achievement is attained at the + cost of individual many-sidedness. As Tennyson puts it, "The individual + withers and the world is more and more." Yet the individual does not exist + for the sake of society, as the positivists would have us believe, but + society exists for the sake of the individual. And the test of complete + social life is the opportunity which it affords for complete individual + life. Tried by this test, our contemporary civilization will appear + seriously defective,—excellent only as a preparation for something + better. + </p> + <p> + This is the true light in which to regard it. This incessant turmoil, this + rage for accumulation of wealth, this crowding, jostling, and trampling + upon one another, cannot be regarded as permanent, or as anything more + than the accompaniment of a transitional stage of civilization. There must + be a limit to the extent to which the standard of comfortable living can + be raised. The industrial organization of society, which is now but + beginning, must culminate in a state of things in which the means of + expense will exceed the demand for expense, in which the human race will + have some surplus capital. The incessant manual labour which the ancients + relegated to slaves will in course of time be more and more largely + performed by inanimate machinery. Unskilled labour will for the most part + disappear. Skilled labour will consist in the guiding of implements + contrived with versatile cunning for the relief of human nerve and muscle. + Ultimately there will be no unsettled land to fill, no frontier life, no + savage races to be assimilated or extirpated, no extensive migration. Thus + life will again become comparatively stationary. The chances for making + great fortunes quickly will be diminished, while the facilities for + acquiring a competence by steady labour will be increased. When every one + is able to reach the normal standard of comfortable living, we must + suppose that the exaggerated appetite for wealth and display will + gradually disappear. We shall be more easily satisfied, and thus enjoy + more leisure. It may be that there will ultimately exist, over the + civilized world, conditions as favourable to the complete fruition of life + as those which formerly existed within the narrow circuit of Attika; save + that the part once played by enslaved human brain and muscle will finally + be played by the enslaved forces of insentient nature. Society will at + last bear the test of providing for the complete development of its + individual members. + </p> + <p> + So, at least, we may hope; such is the probability which the progress of + events, when carefully questioned, sketches out for us. "Need we fear," + asks Mr. Greg, "that the world would stagnate under such a change? Need we + guard ourselves against the misconstruction of being held to recommend a + life of complacent and inglorious inaction? We think not. We would only + substitute a nobler for a meaner strife,—a rational for an excessive + toil,—an enjoyment that springs from serenity, for one that springs + from excitement only..... To each time its own preacher, to each excess + its own counteraction. In an age of dissipation, languor, and stagnation, + we should join with Mr. Carlyle in preaching the 'Evangel of Work,' and + say with him, 'Blessed is the man who has found his work,—let him + ask no other blessedness.' In an age of strenuous, frenzied,.... and often + utterly irrational and objectless exertion, we join Mr. Mill in preaching + the milder and more needed 'Evangel of Leisure.'" + </p> + <p> + Bearing all these things in mind, we may understand the remark of the + supremely cultivated Goethe, when asked who were his masters: Die + Griechen, die Griechen, und immer die Griechen. We may appreciate the + significance of Mr. Mill's argument in favour of the study of antiquity, + that it preserves the tradition of an era of individual completeness. + There is a disposition growing among us to remodel our methods of + education in conformity with the temporary requirements of the age in + which we live. In this endeavour there is much that is wise and practical; + but in so far as it tends to the neglect of antiquity, I cannot think it + well-timed. Our education should not only enhance the value of what we + possess; is should also supply the consciousness of what we lack. And + while, for generations to come, we pass toilfully through an era of + exorbitant industrialism, some fragment of our time will not be misspent + in keeping alive the tradition of a state of things which was once briefly + enjoyed by a little community, but which, in the distant future, will, as + it is hoped, become the permanent possession of all mankind. + </p> + <p> + January, 1873. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ The Unseen Universe; or, + Physical Speculations on a Future State.[Attributed to Professors TAIT and + BALFOUR STEWART.] New York: Macmillan & Co. 1875. 8vo. pp. 212.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Outlines of Cosmic + Philosophy, based on the Doctrine of Evolution. Boston: J. R. Osgood & + Co. 1875. 2 vols. 8vo.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Fortnightly Review, April, + 1875.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ Jevons's Principles of + Science, Vol. II. p. 145. The figures, which in the English system of + numeration read as seventeen billions, would in the American system read + as seventeen trillions.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Fortnightly Review, June, + 1875, p. 784.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Babbage, Ninth Bridgewater + Treatise, p. 115; Jevons, Principles of Science, Vol. II. p. 455.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ See my Outlines of Cosmic + Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 142-148.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ The Nation once wittily + described these people as "people who believe that they are going to die + like the beasts, and who congratulate themselves that they are going to + die like the beasts."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ For a fuller exposition of + this point, see my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 436-445.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Fragments of Science, p. + 119.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ See my Outlines of Cosmic + Philosophy, Vol. I. pp. 64-67.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ See my Outlines of Cosmic + Philosophy, Part I. Chap. IV.; Part III. Chaps. III., IV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Pages 251, 252, 287. So + in the twenty-first century some avatar of M. Figuier will perhaps + describe the late professor Agassiz as the author of the Darwinian + theory.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ The To-morrow of Death; + or, The Future Life according to Science. By Louis Figuier. Translated + from the French by S. R. Crocker. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1872.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ The Jesus of History. + Anonymous. 8vo. pp. 426. London: Williams & Norgate, 1869.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ "Wer einmal vergottert + worden ist, der hat seine Mensetheit unwiederbringlich eingebusst."—Strauss, + Der alte und der neue Glaube, p. 76.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ "Roger was the attendant + of Thomas [Becket] during his sojourn at Pontigny. We might have expected + him to be very full on that part of his history; but, writing doubtless + mainly for the monks of Pontigny, he says that HE WILL NOT ENLARGE UPON + WHAT EVERY ONE KNOWS, and cuts that part very short."—Freeman, + Historical Essays, 1st series, p. 90.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ But now, in annexing + Alsace, Germany has "annexed" pretty much the whole of this department of + French scholarship,—a curious incidental consequence of the late + war.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Jesus of History" is + now known to have been written by Sir Richard Hanson, Chief Justice of + South Australia.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ "The biographers [of + Becket] are commonly rather careless as to the order of time. Each.... + recorded what struck him most or what he best knew, one set down one event + and another; and none of them paid much regard to the order of details."—Freeman, + Historical Essays, 1st series, p. 94.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Phases of Faith, pp. + 158-164.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Saint-Paul, par Ernest + Renan. Paris, 1869.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ See Taine, De + l'Intelligence, II. 192.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ These comments on Mr. + Henry Rogers's review of M. Renan's Les Apotres, contained in a letter to + Mr. Lewes, were shortly afterwards published by him in the Fortnightly + Review, September 15, 1866.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Saint-Hilaire: Mahomet et + le Coran, p. 109.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Hecker's Epidemics of the + Middle Ages, pp. 87-152.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ History of the Conflict + between Religion and Science, by John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. Fourth + edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1875. 12mo, pp. xxii., 373. + (International Scientific Series, XII.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Nathan the Wise: A + Dramatic Poem, by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Translated by Ellen + Frothingham. Preceded by a brief account of the poet and his works, and + followed by an essay on the poem by Kuno Fischer. Second edition. New + York: Leypoldt & Holt. 1868.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Historical Difficulties + and Contested Events. By Octave Delepierre, LL. D., F. S. A., Secretary of + Legation to the King of the Belgians. 8vo. London: Murray. 1868.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ The Annals of Rural + Bengal. By W. W. Hunter. Vol. I. The Ethnical Frontier of Lower Bengal, + with the Ancient Principalities of Beerbhoom and Bishenpore. Second + Edition. New York: Leypoldt and Holt. 1868. 8vo., pp. xvi., 475.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ History of the United + Netherlands: from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years' + Truce, 1609. By John Lothrop Motley, D. C. L. In four volumes. Vols. III. + and IV. New York. 1868.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ This was written before + the deeds of Moltke had eclipsed those of Napoleon.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ The Divine Comedy of + Dante Alighieri. Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 3 vols. Boston: + Ticknor & Fields, 1867.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ As Dante himself + observes, "E pero sappia ciascuno, che nulla cosa per legame musaico + armonizzata si puo della sue loquela in altra trasmutare sanza rompere + tutta sue dolcezza e armonia. E questa e la ragione per che Omero non si + muto di greco in latino, come l'altre scritture che avemo da loro: e + questa e la ragione per che i versi del Psaltero sono sanza dolcezza di + musica e d'armonia; che essi furono trasmutati d' ebreo in greco, e di + greco in latino, e nella prima trasmutazione tutta quella dolcezza venne + meno." Convito, I. 7, Opere Minori, Tom. III. p. 80. The noble English + version of the Psalms possesses a beauty which is all its own.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ See Diez, Romance + Dictionary, s. v. "Marrir."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ On literally + retranslating lost into Italian, we should get the quite different word + perduta.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The more flexible method + of Dr. Parsons leads to a more satisfactory but still inadequate result:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Half-way on our life's Journey, in a wood, + From the right path I found myself astray."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Tanto e amara, che poco e piu morte: + Ma per trattar del teen ch' i' vi trovai, + Diro dell' altre Bose, ch' io v' ho scorte."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Suo cimitero da questa parte hanno + Con Epieuro tutti i suoi seguaci, + Che l'anima col corpo morta fanno." + Inferno, X. 13-15.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Che tra gli avelli flamme erano sparte, + Per le quali eran si del tutto accesi, + Che ferro piu non chiede verun' arte." + Inferno, IX. 118-120.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ A consummate Italian + scholar, the delicacy of whose taste is questioned by no one, and whose + knowledge of Dante's diction is probably not inferior to Mr. Longfellow's, + has told me that he regards the expression as a noble and effective one, + full of dignity and solemnity.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Quivi sospiri, pianti ed alti guai + Risonavan per l' ner senza stelle, + Perch' io al cominciar ne lagrimai."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ "Volan per l' aer dal + voler portate."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ "Che ne conceda i suoi + omeri forti."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Nel vano tutta sue coda guizzava, + Torcendo in su la venenosa forca, + Che, a guisa di scorpion, la punta armava."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ "Genti che l' aura nera + si gastiga."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ "La bocca mi bacio tutto + tremante."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Noi andavam per lo vespero attenti + Oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi, + Contra i raggi serotini e lucenti."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ See Blanc, Vocabolario + Dantesco, s. v. "caribo."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni + Costei ch' e fatta indomita e selvaggia, + E dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni, + + Giusto gindizio dalle stelle caggia + Sopra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo ed aperto, + Tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia: + Cheavete tu e il tuo padre sofferto, + Per cupidigia di costa distretti, + Che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto. + + Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, + Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura: + Color gia tristi, e questi con sospetti. + Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura + De' tuoi gentili, e cure lor magagne, + E vedrai Santafior com' e oscura (secura?) + + Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, + Vedova e sola, e di e notte chiama: + Cesare mio, perche non m' accompagne? + Vieni a veder la gente quanto s' ama; + E se nulla di noi pieta ti move, + A vergognar ti vien della tua fama."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso + Ad una, a due, a tre, e l' altre stanno + Timidette atterrando l' occhio e il muso;] + + E cio che fa la prima, e l' altre sanno, + Addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta, + Semplici e quete, e lo 'mperche non sanno."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ed ella a me: Nessun maggior dolore + Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria." + Inferno, V. 121-123.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ Yet admirable as it is, I + am not quite sure that Dr. Parsons, by taking further liberty with the + original, has not surpassed it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ond' ella, appresso d'un pio sospiro, + Gli occhi drizzo ver me con quel sembiante, + Che madre fa sopra figlinol deliro."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Era gia l' ora che volge il disio + Ai naviganti, e intenerisce il core + Lo di ch' hen detto ai dolci amici addio; + E che lo nuovo peregrin d' amore + Punge, se ode squilla di lontano, + Che paia il giorno pianger che si more."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ Don Juan, III. 108.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ Carlyle, Heroes and + Hero-Worship, p. 84.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ See my Outlines of Cosmic + Philosophy, Vol. I. p. 123.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ This work comes at the + end of the eighteenth-century period, as Pope's translation of Homer comes + at the beginning. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "These are the questions which they will + Urge equally; and therefore I the first + Of that will treat which hath the more of gall. + Of seraphim he who is most enskied, + Moses, and Samuel, and either John, + Choose which thou wilt, nor even Mary's self, + Have not in any other heaven their seats, + Than have those spirits which so late thou saw'st; + Nor more or fewer years exist; but all + Make the first circle beauteous, diversely + Partaking of sweet life, as more or less + Afflation of eternal bliss pervades them."] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Quand' ebbe detto cio, eon gli occhi torti + Riprese il teschio misero coi denti, + Che furo all' osso, come d'un can, forti." + Inferno, XXXIII. 76.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Lo pianto stesso li pianger non lascia, + E il duol, che trova in sugli occhi rintoppo, + Si volve in entro a far crescer l' ambascia." + Inferno, XXXIII. 94.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Levatemi dal viso i duri veli, + Si ch' io sfoghi il dolor che il cor m' impregna." + Ib. 112.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ Now within two years, Mr. + Paine's C-minor symphony has followed the completion of his oratorio.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ These peculiar + associations are no doubt what is chiefly enjoyed in music, antecedent to + a properly musical culture. Persons of slight acquaintance with music + invariably prefer the voice to the piano.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ The Philosophy of Art. By + H. Taine. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 1867.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ That is, in 1868.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ See Herod. V. 97; + Aristoph. Ekkl. 432; Thukyd. II. 13; Plutarch, Perikl. 37.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Unseen World and Other Essays, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 1486-h.htm or 1486-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/8/1486/ + +Produced by Charles Keller, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Unseen World and Other Essays + +Author: John Fiske + +Posting Date: August 26, 2008 [EBook #1486] +Release Date: October, 1998 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller + + + + + +THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS + +By John Fiske + + + +Transcriber's Note: This reviews Draper's Science and Religion and +contrasts two Dante translations. + + + + TO + JAMES SIME. + + MY DEAR SIME: + + Life has now and then some supreme moments of pure happiness, + which in reminiscence give to single days the value of months + or years. Two or three such moments it has been my good fortune + to enjoy with you, in talking over the mysteries which forever + fascinate while they forever baffle us. It was our midnight talks + in Great Russell Street and the Addison Road, and our bright May + holiday on the Thames, that led me to write this scanty essay on + the "Unseen World," and to whom could I so heartily dedicate it + as to you? I only wish it were more worthy of its origin. As for + the dozen papers which I have appended to it, by way of clearing + out my workshop, I hope you will read them indulgently, and + believe + me + + Ever faithfully yours, + JOHN + FISKE. + + HARVARD UNIVERSITY, February 3, 1876. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. THE UNSEEN WORLD + II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH" + III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY + IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA + V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES + VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION + VII. NATHAN THE WISE + VIII. HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES + IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL + X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS + XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE + XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER" + XIII. A PHILOSOPHY OF ART + XIV. ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE + + + + +ESSAYS. + + + + +I. THE UNSEEN WORLD. + + +PART FIRST. + +"What are you, where did you come from, and whither are you bound?"--the +question which from Homer's days has been put to the wayfarer in strange +lands--is likewise the all-absorbing question which man is ever asking +of the universe of which he is himself so tiny yet so wondrous a part. +From the earliest times the ultimate purpose of all scientific research +has been to elicit fragmentary or partial responses to this question, +and philosophy has ever busied itself in piecing together these several +bits of information according to the best methods at its disposal, in +order to make up something like a satisfactory answer. In old times the +best methods which philosophy had at its disposal for this purpose +were such as now seem very crude, and accordingly ancient philosophers +bungled considerably in their task, though now and then they came +surprisingly near what would to-day be called the truth. It was natural +that their methods should be crude, for scientific inquiry had as yet +supplied but scanty materials for them to work with, and it was only +after a very long course of speculation and criticism that men could +find out what ways of going to work are likely to prove successful and +what are not. The earliest thinkers, indeed, were further hindered from +accomplishing much by the imperfections of the language by the aid of +which their thinking was done; for science and philosophy have had to +make a serviceable terminology by dint of long and arduous trial +and practice, and linguistic processes fit for expressing general or +abstract notions accurately grew up only through numberless failures and +at the expense of much inaccurate thinking and loose talking. As in most +of nature's processes, there was a great waste of energy before a good +result could be secured. Accordingly primitive men were very wide of the +mark in their views of nature. To them the world was a sort of enchanted +ground, peopled with sprites and goblins; the quaint notions with which +we now amuse our children in fairy tales represent a style of thinking +which once was current among grown men and women, and which is still +current wherever men remain in a savage condition. The theories of the +world wrought out by early priest-philosophers were in great part made +up of such grotesque notions; and having become variously implicated +with ethical opinions as to the nature and consequences of right and +wrong behaviour, they acquired a kind of sanctity, so that any thinker +who in the light of a wider experience ventured to alter or amend the +primitive theory was likely to be vituperated as an irreligious man or +atheist. This sort of inference has not yet been wholly abandoned, +even in civilized communities. Even to-day books are written about "the +conflict between religion and science," and other books are written +with intent to reconcile the two presumed antagonists. But when we look +beneath the surface of things, we see that in reality there has +never been any conflict between religion and science, nor is any +reconciliation called for where harmony has always existed. The real +historical conflict, which has been thus curiously misnamed, has been +the conflict between the more-crude opinions belonging to the science of +an earlier age and the less-crude opinions belonging to the science of +a later age. In the course of this contest the more-crude opinions +have usually been defended in the name of religion, and the less-crude +opinions have invariably won the victory; but religion itself, which is +not concerned with opinion, but with the aspiration which leads us to +strive after a purer and holier life, has seldom or never been attacked. +On the contrary, the scientific men who have conducted the battle on +behalf of the less-crude opinions have generally been influenced by +this religious aspiration quite as strongly as the apologists of the +more-crude opinions, and so far from religious feeling having been +weakened by their perennial series of victories, it has apparently been +growing deeper and stronger all the time. The religious sense is as yet +too feebly developed in most of us; but certainly in no preceding age +have men taken up the work of life with more earnestness or with more +real faith in the unseen than at the present day, when so much of what +was once deemed all-important knowledge has been consigned to the limbo +of mythology. + +The more-crude theories of early times are to be chiefly distinguished +from the less-crude theories of to-day as being largely the products +of random guesswork. Hypothesis, or guesswork, indeed, lies at the +foundation of all scientific knowledge. The riddle of the universe, like +less important riddles, is unravelled only by approximative trials, and +the most brilliant discoverers have usually been the bravest guessers. +Kepler's laws were the result of indefatigable guessing, and so, in +a somewhat different sense, was the wave-theory of light. But the +guesswork of scientific inquirers is very different now from what it was +in older times. In the first place, we have slowly learned that a guess +must be verified before it can be accepted as a sound theory; and, +secondly, so many truths have been established beyond contravention, +that the latitude for hypothesis is much less than it once was. +Nine tenths of the guesses which might have occurred to a mediaeval +philosopher would now be ruled out as inadmissible, because they would +not harmonize with the knowledge which has been acquired since the +Middle Ages. There is one direction especially in which this continuous +limitation of guesswork by ever-accumulating experience has manifested +itself. From first to last, all our speculative successes and failures +have agreed in teaching us that the most general principles of action +which prevail to-day, and in our own corner of the universe, have always +prevailed throughout as much of the universe as is accessible to our +research. They have taught us that for the deciphering of the past and +the predicting of the future, no hypotheses are admissible which are not +based upon the actual behaviour of things in the present. Once there was +unlimited facility for guessing as to how the solar system might have +come into existence; now the origin of the sun and planets is adequately +explained when we have unfolded all that is implied in the processes +which are still going on in the solar system. Formerly appeals were made +to all manner of violent agencies to account for the changes which the +earth's surface has undergone since our planet began its independent +career; now it is seen that the same slow working of rain and tide, of +wind and wave and frost, of secular contraction and of earthquake pulse, +which is visible to-day, will account for the whole. It is not long +since it was supposed that a species of animals or plants could be swept +away only by some unusual catastrophe, while for the origination of new +species something called an act of "special creation" was necessary; and +as to the nature of such extraordinary events there was endless room for +guesswork; but the discovery of natural selection was the discovery of a +process, going on perpetually under our very eyes, which must inevitably +of itself extinguish some species and bring new ones into being. In +these and countless other ways we have learned that all the rich variety +of nature is pervaded by unity of action, such as we might expect to +find if nature is the manifestation of an infinite God who is without +variableness or shadow of turning, but quite incompatible with the +fitful behaviour of the anthropomorphic deities of the old mythologies. +By thus abstaining from all appeal to agencies that are extra-cosmic, +or not involved in the orderly system of events that we see occurring +around us, we have at last succeeded in eliminating from philosophic +speculation the character of random guesswork which at first of +necessity belonged to it. Modern scientific hypothesis is so far from +being a haphazard mental proceeding that it is perhaps hardly fair to +classify it with guesses. It is lifted out of the plane of guesswork, +in so far as it has acquired the character of inevitable inference from +that which now is to that which has been or will be. Instead of the +innumerable particular assumptions which were once admitted into cosmic +philosophy, we are now reduced to the one universal assumption which +has been variously described as the "principle of continuity," the +"uniformity of nature," the "persistence of force," or the "law of +causation," and which has been variously explained as a necessary datum +for scientific thinking or as a net result of all induction. I am not +unwilling, however, to adopt the language of a book which has furnished +the occasion for the present discussion, and to say that this grand +assumption is a supreme act of faith, the definite expression of a +trust that the infinite Sustainer of the universe "will not put us to +permanent intellectual confusion." For in this mode of statement the +harmony between the scientific and the religious points of view is +well brought out. It is as affording the only outlet from permanent +intellectual confusion that inquirers have been driven to appeal to +the principle of continuity; and it is by unswerving reliance upon this +principle that we have obtained such insight into the past, present, and +future of the world as we now possess. + +The work just mentioned [1] is especially interesting as an attempt to +bring the probable destiny of the human soul into connection with the +modern theories which explain the past and future career of the physical +universe in accordance with the principle of continuity. Its authorship +is as yet unknown, but it is believed to be the joint production of +two of the most eminent physicists in Great Britain, and certainly the +accurate knowledge and the ingenuity and subtlety of thought displayed +in it are such as to lend great probability to this conjecture. Some +account of the argument it contains may well precede the suggestions +presently to be set forth concerning the Unseen World; and we shall find +it most convenient to begin, like our authors, with a brief statement of +what the principle of continuity teaches as to the proximate beginning +and end of the visible universe. I shall in the main set down only +results, having elsewhere [2] given a simple exposition of the arguments +upon which these results are founded. + + [1] The Unseen Universe; or, Physical Speculations on a Future +State. [Attributed to Professors TAIT and BALFOUR STEWART.] New York: +Macmillan & Co. 1875. 8vo. pp. 212. + + [2] Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, based on the Doctrine of +Evolution. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co. 1875. 2 vols. 8vo. + + +The first great cosmological speculation which has been raised quite +above the plane of guesswork by making no other assumption than that of +the uniformity of nature, is the well-known Nebular Hypothesis. Every +astronomer knows that the earth, like all other cosmical bodies +which are flattened at the poles, was formerly a mass of fluid, and +consequently filled a much larger space than at present. It is further +agreed, on all hands, that the sun is a contracting body, since there +is no other possible way of accounting for the enormous quantity of heat +which he generates. The so-called primeval nebula follows as a necessary +inference from these facts. There was once a time when the earth was +distended on all sides away out to the moon and beyond it, so that the +matter now contained in the moon was then a part of our equatorial +zone. And at a still remoter date in the past, the mass of the sun was +diffused in every direction beyond the orbit of Neptune, and no planet +had an individual existence, for all were indistinguishable parts of the +solar mass. When the great mass of the sun, increased by the relatively +small mass of all the planets put together, was spread out in this way, +it was a rare vapour or gas. At the period where the question is taken +up in Laplace's treatment of the nebular theory, the shape of this mass +is regarded as spheroidal; but at an earlier period its shape may well +have been as irregular as that of any of the nebulae which we now see +in distant parts of the heavens, for, whatever its primitive shape, the +equalization of its rotation would in time make it spheroidal. That the +QUANTITY of rotation was the same then as now is unquestionable; for no +system of particles, great or small, can acquire or lose rotation by any +action going on within itself, any more than a man could pick himself +up by his waistband and lift himself over a stone wale So that +the primitive rotating spheroidal solar nebula is not a matter of +assumption, but is just what must once have existed, provided there has +been no breach of continuity in nature's operations. Now proceeding to +reason back from the past to the present, it has been shown that the +abandonment of successive equatorial belts by the contracting solar +mass must have ensued in accordance with known mechanical laws; and in +similar wise, under ordinary circumstances each belt must have parted +into fragments, and the fragments chasing each other around the same +orbit, must have at last coalesced into a spheroidal planet. Not only +this, but it has also been shown that as the result of such a process +the relative sizes of the planets would be likely to take the order +which they now follow; that the ring immediately succeeding that of +Jupiter would be likely to abort and produce a great number of tiny +planets instead of one good-sized one; that the outer planets would be +likely to have many moons, and that Saturn, besides having the greatest +number of moons, would be likely to retain some of his inner rings +unbroken; that the earth would be likely to have a long day and Jupiter +a short one; that the extreme outer planets would be not unlikely to +rotate in a retrograde direction; and so on, through a long list of +interesting and striking details. Not only, therefore, are we driven to +the inference that our solar system was once a vaporous nebula, but we +find that the mere contraction of such a nebula, under the influence of +the enormous mutual gravitation of its particles, carries with it the +explanation of both the more general and the more particular features of +the present system. So that we may fairly regard this stupendous process +as veritable matter of history, while we proceed to study it under some +further aspects and to consider what consequences are likely to follow. + +Our attention should first be directed to the enormous waste of energy +which has accompanied this contraction of the solar nebula. The first +result of such a contraction is the generation of a great quantity of +heat, and when the heat thus generated has been lost by radiation into +surrounding space it becomes possible for the contraction to continue. +Thus, as concentration goes on, heat is incessantly generated and +incessantly dissipated. How long this process is to endure depends +chiefly on the size of the contracting mass, as small bodies radiate +heat much faster than large ones. The moon seems to be already +thoroughly refrigerated, while Jupiter and Saturn are very much hotter +than the earth, as is shown by the tremendous atmospheric phenomena +which occur on their surfaces. The sun, again, generates heat so +rapidly, owing to his great energy of contraction, and loses it so +slowly, owing to his great size, that his surface is always kept in a +state of incandescence. His surface-temperature is estimated at some +three million degrees of Fahrenheit, and a diminution of his diameter +far too small to be detected by the finest existing instruments would +suffice to maintain the present supply of heat for more than fifty +centuries. These facts point to a very long future during which the sun +will continue to warm the earth and its companion planets, but at the +same time they carry on their face the story of inevitable ultimate +doom. If things continue to go on as they have all along gone on, the +sun must by and by grow black and cold, and all life whatever throughout +the solar system must come to an end. Long before this consummation, +however, life will probably have become extinct through the +refrigeration of each of the planets into a state like the present state +of the moon, in which the atmosphere and oceans have disappeared from +the surface. No doubt the sun will continue to give out heat a long time +after heat has ceased to be needed for the support of living organisms. +For the final refrigeration of the sun will long be postponed by the +fate of the planets themselves. The separation of the planets from their +parent solar mass seems to be after all but a temporary separation. So +nicely balanced are they now in their orbits that they may well seem +capable of rolling on in their present courses forever. But this is not +the case. Two sets of circumstances are all the while striving, the one +to drive the planets farther away from the sun, the other to draw them +all into it. On the one hand, every body in our system which contains +fluid matter has tides raised upon its surface by the attraction of +neighbouring bodies. All the planets raise tides upon the surface of the +sun and the periodicity of sun-spots (or solar cyclones) depends upon +this fact. These tidal waves act as a drag or brake upon the rotation +of the sun, somewhat diminishing its rapidity. But, in conformity with a +principle of mechanics well known to astronomers, though not familiar to +the general reader, all the motion of rotation thus lost by the sun is +added to the planets in the shape of annual motion of revolution, and +thus their orbits all tend to enlarge,--they all tend to recede somewhat +from the sun. But this state of things, though long-enduring enough, is +after all only temporary, and will at any rate come to an end when +the sun and planets have become solid. Meanwhile another set of +circumstances is all the time tending to bring the planets nearer to the +sun, and in the long run must gain the mastery. The space through which +the planets move is filled with a kind of matter which serves as a +medium for the transmission of heat and light, and this kind of matter, +though different in some respects from ordinary ponderable matter, is +yet like it in exerting friction. This friction is almost infinitely +little, yet it has a wellnigh infinite length of time to work in, and +during all this wellnigh infinite length of time it is slowly eating up +the momentum of the planets and diminishing their ability to maintain +their distances from the sun. Hence in course of time the planets will +all fall into the sun, one after another, so that the solar system will +end, as it began, by consisting of a single mass of matter. + +But this is by no means the end of the story. When two bodies rush +together, each parts with some of its energy of motion, and this lost +energy of motion reappears as heat. In the concussion of two cosmical +bodies, like the sun and the earth, an enormous quantity of motion is +thus converted into heat. Now heat, when not allowed to radiate, or when +generated faster than it can be radiated, is transformed into motion of +expansion. Hence the shock of sun and planet would at once result in the +vaporization of both bodies; and there can be no doubt that by the time +the sun has absorbed the outermost of his attendant planets, he will +have resumed something like his original nebulous condition. He will +have been dilated into a huge mass of vapour, and will have become +fit for a new process of contraction and for a new production of +life-bearing planets. + +We are now, however, confronted by an interesting but difficult +question. Throughout all this grand past and future career of the solar +system which we have just briefly traced, we have been witnessing a +most prodigal dissipation of energy in the shape of radiant heat. At +the outset we had an enormous quantity of what is called "energy of +position," that is, the outer parts of our primitive nebula had a very +long distance through which to travel towards one another in the slow +process of concentration; and this distance was the measure of the +quantity of work possible to our system. As the particles of our nebula +drew nearer and nearer together, the energy of position continually lost +reappeared continually as heat, of which the greater part was radiated +off, but of which a certain amount was retained. All the gigantic +amount of work achieved in the geologic development of our earth and +its companion planets, and in the development of life wherever life may +exist in our system, has been the product of this retained heat. At the +present day the same wasteful process is going on. Each moment the sun's +particles are losing energy of position as they draw closer and closer +together, and the heat into which this lost energy is metamorphosed is +poured out most prodigally in every direction. Let us consider for a +moment how little of it gets used in our system. The earth's orbit is +a nearly circular figure more than five hundred million miles in +circumference, while only eight thousand miles of this path are at any +one time occupied by the earth's mass. Through these eight thousand +miles the sun's radiated energy is doing work, but through the remainder +of the five hundred million it is idle and wasted. But the case is far +more striking when we reflect that it is not in the plane of the earth's +orbit only that the sun's radiance is being poured out. It is not an +affair of a circle, but of a sphere. In order to utilize all the solar +rays, we should need to have an immense number of earths arranged so as +to touch each other, forming a hollow sphere around the sun, with the +present radius of the earth's orbit. We may well believe Professor +Tyndall, therefore, when he tells us that all the solar radiance we +receive is less than a two-billionth part of what is sent flying through +the desert regions of space. Some of the immense residue of course hits +other planets stationed in the way of it, and is utilized upon their +surfaces; but the planets, all put together, stop so little of the total +quantity that our startling illustration is not materially altered by +taking them into the account. Now this two-billionth part of the solar +radiance poured out from moment to moment suffices to blow every wind, +to raise every cloud, to drive every engine, to build up the tissue of +every plant, to sustain the activity of every animal, including man, +upon the surface of our vast and stately globe. Considering the wondrous +richness and variety of the terrestrial life wrought out by the few +sunbeams which we catch in our career through space, we may well +pause overwhelmed and stupefied at the thought of the incalculable +possibilities of existence which are thrown away with the potent +actinism that darts unceasingly into the unfathomed abysms of immensity. +Where it goes to or what becomes of it, no one of us can surmise. + +Now when, in the remote future, our sun is reduced to vapour by the +impact of the several planets upon his surface, the resulting nebulous +mass must be a very insignificant affair compared with the nebulous mass +with which we started. In order to make a second nebula equal in size +and potential energy to the first one, all the energy of position at +first existing should have been retained in some form or other. But +nearly all of it has been lost, and only an insignificant fraction +remains with which to endow a new system. In order to reproduce, in +future ages, anything like that cosmical development which is now +going on in the solar system, aid must be sought from without. We must +endeavour to frame some valid hypothesis as to the relation of our solar +system to other systems. + +Thus far our view has been confined to the career of a single star,--our +sun,--with the tiny, easily-cooling balls which it has cast off in the +course of its development. Thus far, too, our inferences have been +very secure, for we have been dealing with a circumscribed group of +phenomena, the beginning and end of which have been brought pretty well +within the compass of our imagination. It is quite another thing to deal +with the actual or probable career of the stars in general, inasmuch +as we do not even know how many stars there are, which form parts of +a common system, or what are their precise dynamic relations to one +another. Nevertheless we have knowledge of a few facts which may support +some cautious inferences. All the stars which we can see are undoubtedly +bound together by relations of gravitation. No doubt our sun attracts +all the other stars within our ken, and is reciprocally attracted by +them. The stars, too, lie mostly in or around one great plane, as is the +case with the members of the solar system. Moreover, the stars are shown +by the spectroscope to consist of chemical elements identical with +those which are found in the solar system. Such facts as these make it +probable that the career of other stars, when adequately inquired +into, would be found to be like that of our own sun. Observation daily +enhances this probability, for our study of the sidereal universe is +continually showing us stars in all stages of development. We find +irregular nebulae, for example; we find spiral and spheroidal nebulae; +we find stars which have got beyond the nebulous stage, but are still at +a whiter heat than our sun; and we also find many stars which yield the +same sort of spectrum as our sun. The inference seems forced upon us +that the same process of concentration which has gone on in the case +of our solar nebula has been going on in the case of other nebulae. The +history of the sun is but a type of the history of stars in general. And +when we consider that all other visible stars and nebulae are cooling +and contracting bodies, like our sun, to what other conclusion could we +very well come? When we look at Sirius, for instance, we do not see +him surrounded by planets, for at such a distance no planet could be +visible, even Sirius himself, though fourteen times larger than our sun, +appearing only as a "twinkling little star." But a comparative survey +of the heavens assures us that Sirius can hardly have arrived at his +present stage of concentration without detaching, planet-forming rings, +for there is no reason for supposing that mechanical laws out there are +at all different from what they are in our own system. And the same kind +of inference must apply to all the matured stars which we see in the +heavens. + +When we duly take all these things into the account, the case of our +solar system will appear as only one of a thousand cases of evolution +and dissolution with which the heavens furnish us. Other stars, like our +sun, have undoubtedly started as vaporous masses, and have thrown off +planets in contracting. The inference may seem a bold one, but it after +all involves no other assumption than that of the continuity of natural +phenomena. It is not likely, therefore, that the solar system will +forever be left to itself. Stars which strongly gravitate toward each +other, while moving through a perennially resisting medium, must in +time be drawn together. The collision of our extinct sun with one of the +Pleiades, after this manner, would very likely suffice to generate even +a grander nebula than the one with which we started. Possibly the entire +galactic system may, in an inconceivably remote future, remodel itself +in this way; and possibly the nebula from which our own group of planets +has been formed may have owed its origin to the disintegration of +systems which had accomplished their career in the depths of the bygone +eternity. + +When the problem is extended to these huge dimensions, the prospect of +an ultimate cessation of cosmical work is indefinitely postponed, but +at the same time it becomes impossible for us to deal very securely +with the questions we have raised. The magnitudes and periods we have +introduced are so nearly infinite as to baffle speculation itself: One +point, however, we seem dimly to discern. Supposing the stellar universe +not to be absolutely infinite in extent, we may hold that the day of +doom, so often postponed, must come at last. The concentration of matter +and dissipation of energy, so often checked, must in the end prevail, +so that, as the final outcome of things, the entire universe will be +reduced to a single enormous ball, dead and frozen, solid and black, +its potential energy of motion having been all transformed into heat +and radiated away. Such a conclusion has been suggested by Sir William +Thomson, and it is quite forcibly stated by the authors of "The Unseen +Universe." They remind us that "if there be any one form of energy +less readily or less completely transformable than the others, and if +transformations constantly go on, more and more of the whole energy +of the universe will inevitably sink into this lower grade as time +advances." Now radiant heat, as we have seen, is such a lower grade +of energy. "At each transformation of heat-energy into work, a large +portion is degraded, while only a small portion is transformed into +work. So that while it is very easy to change all of our mechanical or +useful energy into heat, it is only possible to transform a portion of +this heat-energy back again into work. After each change, too, the +heat becomes more and more dissipated or degraded, and less and less +available for any future transformation. In other words," our authors +continue, "the tendency of heat is towards equalization; heat is +par excellence the communist of our universe, and it will no doubt +ultimately bring the system to an end..... It is absolutely certain that +life, so far as it is physical, depends essentially upon transformations +of energy; it is also absolutely certain that age after age the +possibility of such transformations is becoming less and less; and, so +far as we yet know, the final state of the present universe must be an +aggregation (into one mass) of all the matter it contains, i. e. the +potential energy gone, and a practically useless state of kinetic +energy, i. e. uniform temperature throughout that mass." Thus our +authors conclude that the visible universe began in time and will in +time come to an end; and they add that under the physical conditions of +such a universe "immortality is impossible." + +Concerning the latter inference we shall by and by have something to +say. Meanwhile this whole speculation as to the final cessation of +cosmical work seems to me--as it does to my friend, Professor Clifford +[3]--by no means trustworthy. The conditions of the problem so +far transcend our grasp that any such speculation must remain an +unverifiable guess. I do not go with Professor Clifford in doubting +whether the laws of mechanics are absolutely the same throughout +eternity; I cannot quite reconcile such a doubt with faith in the +principle of continuity. But it does seem to me needful, before we +conclude that radiated energy is absolutely and forever wasted, that we +should find out what becomes of it. What we call radiant heat is simply +transverse wave-motion, propagated with enormous velocity through an +ocean of subtle ethereal matter which bathes the atoms of all visible +or palpable bodies and fills the whole of space, extending beyond the +remotest star which the telescope can reach. Whether there are any +bounds at all to this ethereal ocean, or whether it is as infinite +as space itself, we cannot surmise. If it be limited, the possible +dispersion of radiant energy is limited by its extent. Heat and light +cannot travel through emptiness. If the ether is bounded by surrounding +emptiness, then a ray of heat, on arriving at this limiting emptiness, +would be reflected back as surely as a ball is sent back when thrown +against a solid wall. If this be the case, it will not affect our +conclusions concerning such a tiny region of space as is occupied by +the solar system, but it will seriously modify Sir William Thomson's +suggestion as to the fate of the universe as a whole. The radiance +thrown away by the sun is indeed lost so far as the future of our system +is concerned, but not a single unit of it is lost from the universe. +Sooner or later, reflected back in all directions, it must do work in +one quarter or another, so that ultimate stagnation be comes impossible. +It is true that no such return of radiant energy has been detected in +our corner of the world; but we have not yet so far disentangled all the +force-relations of the universe that we are entitled to regard such a +return as impossible. This is one way of escape from the consummation +of things depicted by our authors. Another way of escape is equally +available, if we suppose that while the ether is without bounds +the stellar universe also extends to infinity. For in this case the +reproduction of nebulous masses fit for generating new systems of worlds +must go on through space that is endless, and consequently the process +can never come to an end and can never have had a beginning. We have, +therefore, three alternatives: either the visible universe is finite, +while the ether is infinite; or both are finite; or both are infinite. +Only on the first supposition, I think, do we get a universe which began +in time and must end in time. Between such stupendous alternatives we +have no grounds for choosing. But it would seem that the third, whether +strictly true or not, best represents the state of the case relatively +to our feeble capacity of comprehension. Whether absolutely infinite +or not, the dimensions of the universe must be taken as practically +infinite, so far as human thought is concerned. They immeasurably +transcend the capabilities of any gauge we can bring to bear on them. +Accordingly all that we are really entitled to hold, as the outcome of +sound speculation, is the conception of innumerable systems of worlds +concentrating out of nebulous masses, and then rushing together and +dissolving into similar masses, as bubbles unite and break up--now +here, now there--in their play on the surface of a pool, and to this +tremendous series of events we can assign neither a beginning nor an +end. + + [3] Fortnightly Review, April, 1875. + + +We must now make some more explicit mention of the ether which carries +through space the rays of heat and light. In closest connection with +the visible stellar universe, the vicissitudes of which we have briefly +traced, the all-pervading ether constitutes a sort of unseen world +remarkable enough from any point of view, but to which the theory of our +authors ascribes capacities hitherto unsuspected by science. The very +existence of an ocean of ether enveloping the molecules of material +bodies has been doubted or denied by many eminent physicists, though of +course none have called in question the necessity for some interstellar +medium for the transmission of thermal and luminous vibrations. +This scepticism has been, I think, partially justified by the many +difficulties encompassing the conception, into which, however, we need +not here enter. That light and heat cannot be conveyed by any of the +ordinary sensible forms of matter is unquestionable. None of the forms +of sensible matter can be imagined sufficiently elastic to propagate +wave-motion at the rate of one hundred and eighty-eight thousand miles +per second. Yet a ray of light is a series of waves, and implies some +substance in which the waves occur. The substance required is one which +seems to possess strangely contradictory properties. It is commonly +regarded as an "ether" or infinitely rare substance; but, as Professor +Jevons observes, we might as well regard it as an infinitely solid +"adamant." "Sir John Herschel has calculated the amount of force which +may be supposed, according to the undulatory theory of light, to be +exerted at each point in space, and finds it to be 1,148,000,000,000 +times the elastic force of ordinary air at the earth's surface, so that +the pressure of the ether upon a square inch of surface must be about +17,000,000,000,000, or seventeen billions of pounds." [4] Yet at the +same time the resistance offered by the ether to the planetary motions +is too minute to be appreciable. "All our ordinary notions," says +Professor Jevons, "must be laid aside in contemplating such an +hypothesis; yet [it is] no more than the observed phenomena of light and +heat force us to accept. We cannot deny even the strange suggestion of +Dr. Young, that there may be independent worlds, some possibly existing +in different parts of space, but others perhaps pervading each other, +unseen and unknown, in the same space. For if we are bound to admit the +conception of this adamantine firmament, it is equally easy to admit a +plurality of such." + + [4] Jevons's Principles of Science, Vol. II. p. 145. The figures, +which in the English system of numeration read as seventeen billions, +would in the American system read as seventeen trillions. + + +The ether, therefore, is unlike any of the forms of matter which we +can weigh and measure. In some respects it resembles a fluid, in some +respects a solid. It is both hard and elastic to an almost inconceivable +degree. It fills all material bodies like a sea in which the atoms of +the material bodies are as islands, and it occupies the whole of what we +call empty space. It is so sensitive that a disturbance in any part of +it causes a "tremour which is felt on the surface of countless worlds." +Our old experiences of matter give us no account of any substance like +this; yet the undulatory theory of light obliges us to admit such a +substance, and that theory is as well established as the theory of +gravitation. Obviously we have here an enlargement of our experience +of matter. The analysis of the phenomena of light and radiant heat has +brought us into mental relations with matter in a different state from +any in which we previously knew it. For the supposition that the ether +may be something essentially different from matter is contradicted by +all the terms we have used in describing it. Strange and contradictory +as its properties may seem, are they any more strange than the +properties of a gas would seem if we were for the first time to discover +a gas after heretofore knowing nothing but solids and liquids? I think +not; and the conclusion implied by our authors seems to me eminently +probable, that in the so-called ether we have simply a state of matter +more primitive than what we know as the gaseous state. Indeed, the +conceptions of matter now current, and inherited from barbarous ages, +are likely enough to be crude in the extreme. It is not strange that +the study of such subtle agencies as heat and light should oblige us +to modify them; and it will not be strange if the study of electricity +should entail still further revision of our ideas. + +We are now brought to one of the profoundest speculations of modern +times, the vortex-atom theory of Helmholtz and Thomson, in which the +evolution of ordinary matter from ether is plainly indicated. The +reader first needs to know what vortex-motion is; and this has been +so beautifully explained by Professor Clifford, that I quote his +description entire: "Imagine a ring of india-rubber, made by joining +together the ends of a cylindrical piece (like a lead-pencil before +it is cut), to be put upon a round stick which it will just fit with a +little stretching. Let the stick be now pulled through the ring while +the latter is kept in its place by being pulled the other way on the +outside. The india-rubber has then what is called vortex-motion. Before +the ends were joined together, while it was straight, it might have been +made to turn around without changing position, by rolling it between the +hands. Just the same motion of rotation it has on the stick, only that +the ends are now joined together. All the inside surface of the ring is +going one way, namely, the way the stick is pulled; and all the outside +is going the other way. Such a vortex-ring is made by the smoker who +purses his lips into a round hole and sends out a puff of smoke. The +outside of the ring is kept back by the friction of his lips while +the inside is going forwards; thus a rotation is set up all round the +smoke-ring as it travels out into the air." In these cases, and in +others as we commonly find it, vortex-motion owes its origin to friction +and is after a while brought to an end by friction. But in 1858 the +equations of motion of an incompressible frictionless fluid were first +successfully solved by Helmholtz, and among other things he proved +that, though vortex-motion could not be originated in such a fluid, yet +supposing it once to exist, it would exist to all eternity and could +not be diminished by any mechanical action whatever. A vortex-ring, for +example, in such a fluid, would forever preserve its own rotation, and +would thus forever retain its peculiar individuality, being, as it were, +marked off from its neighbour vortex-rings. Upon this mechanical truth +Sir William Thomson based his wonderfully suggestive theory of the +constitution of matter. That which is permanent or indestructible in +matter is the ultimate homogeneous atom; and this is probably all that +is permanent, since chemists now almost unanimously hold that so-called +elementary molecules are not really simple, but owe their sensible +differences to the various groupings of an ultimate atom which is alike +for all. Relatively to our powers of comprehension the atom endures +eternally; that is, it retains forever unalterable its definite mass +and its definite rate of vibration. Now this is just what a vortex-ring +would do in an incompressible frictionless fluid. Thus the startling +question is suggested, Why may not the ultimate atoms of matter be +vortex-rings forever existing in such a frictionless fluid filling the +whole of space? Such a hypothesis is not less brilliant than Huyghens's +conjectural identification of light with undulatory motion; and it is +moreover a legitimate hypothesis, since it can be brought to the test +of verification. Sir William Thomson has shown that it explains a great +many of the physical properties of matter: it remains to be seen whether +it can explain them all. + +Of course the ether which conveys thermal and luminous undulations is +not the frictionless fluid postulated by Sir William Thomson. The most +conspicuous property of the ether is its enormous elasticity, a property +which we should not find in a frictionless fluid. "To account for such +elasticity," says Professor Clifford (whose exposition of the subject is +still more lucid than that of our authors), "it has to be supposed that +even where there are no material molecules the universal fluid is full +of vortex-motion, but that the vortices are smaller and more closely +packed than those of [ordinary] matter, forming altogether a more finely +grained structure. So that the difference between matter and ether +is reduced to a mere difference in the size and arrangement of the +component vortex-rings. Now, whatever may turn out to be the ultimate +nature of the ether and of molecules, we know that to some extent +at least they obey the same dynamic laws, and that they act upon +one another in accordance with these laws. Until, therefore, it is +absolutely disproved, it must remain the simplest and most probable +assumption that they are finally made of the same stuff, that the +material molecule is some kind of knot or coagulation of ether." [5] + + [5] Fortnightly Review, June, 1875, p. 784. + + +Another interesting consequence of Sir William Thomson's pregnant +hypothesis is that the absolute hardness which has been attributed to +material atoms from the time of Lucretius downward may be dispensed +with. Somewhat in the same way that a loosely suspended chain +becomes rigid with rapid rotation, the hardness and elasticity of the +vortex-atom are explained as due to the swift rotary motion of a soft +and yielding fluid. So that the vortex-atom is really indivisible, +not by reason of its hardness or solidity, but by reason of the +indestructibleness of its motion. + +Supposing, now, that we adopt provisionally the vortex theory,--the +great power of which is well shown by the consideration just +mentioned,--we must not forget that it is absolutely essential to the +indestructibleness of the material atom that the universal fluid in +which it has an existence as a vortex-ring should be entirely destitute +of friction. Once admit even the most infinitesimal amount of friction, +while retaining the conception of vortex-motion in a universal fluid, +and the whole case is so far altered that the material atom can +no longer be regarded as absolutely indestructible, but only as +indefinitely enduring. It may have been generated, in bygone eternity, +by a natural process of evolution, and in future eternity may come to an +end. Relatively to our powers of comprehension the practical difference +is perhaps not great. Scientifically speaking, Helmholtz and Thomson +are as well entitled to reason upon the assumption of a perfectly +frictionless fluid as geometers in general are entitled to assume +perfect lines without breadth and perfect surfaces without thickness. +Perfect lines and surfaces do not exist within the region of our +experience; yet the conclusions of geometry are none the less true +ideally, though in any particular concrete instance they are only +approximately realized. Just so with the conception of a frictionless +fluid. So far as experience goes, such a thing has no more real +existence than a line without breadth; and hence an atomic theory based +upon such an assumption may be as true ideally as any of the theorems +of Euclid, but it can give only an approximatively true account of +the actual universe. These considerations do not at all affect the +scientific value of the theory; but they will modify the tenour of +such transcendental inferences as may be drawn from it regarding, the +probable origin and destiny of the universe. + +The conclusions reached in the first part of this paper, while we were +dealing only with gross visible matter, may have seemed bold enough; but +they are far surpassed by the inference which our authors draw from the +vortex theory as they interpret it. Our authors exhibit various reasons, +more or less sound, for attributing to the primordial fluid some slight +amount of friction; and in support of this view they adduce Le Sage's +explanation of gravitation as a differential result of pressure, +and Struve's theory of the partial absorption of light-rays by the +ether,--questions with which our present purpose does not require us +to meddle. Apart from such questions it is every way probable that the +primary assumption of Helmholtz and Thomson is only an approximation +to the truth. But if we accredit the primordial fluid with even an +infinitesimal amount of friction, then we are required to conceive of +the visible universe as developed from the invisible and as destined to +return into the invisible. The vortex-atom, produced by infinitesimal +friction operating through wellnigh infinite time, is to be ultimately +abolished by the agency which produced it. In the words of our authors, +"If the visible universe be developed from an invisible which is not +a perfect fluid, then the argument deduced by Sir William Thomson +in favour of the eternity of ordinary matter disappears, since this +eternity depends upon the perfect fluidity of the invisible. In fine, +if we suppose the material universe to be composed of a series of +vortex-rings developed from an invisible universe which is not a perfect +fluid, it will be ephemeral, just as the smoke-ring which we develop +from air, or that which we develop from water, is ephemeral, the only +difference being in duration, these lasting only for a few seconds, +and the others it may be for billions of years." Thus, as our authors +suppose that "the available energy of the visible universe will +ultimately be appropriated by the invisible," they go on to imagine, +"at least as a possibility, that the separate existence of the visible +universe will share the same fate, so that we shall have no huge, +useless, inert mass existing in after ages to remind the passer-by of +a form of energy and a species of matter that is long since out of date +and functionally effete. Why should not the universe bury its dead out +of sight?" + +In one respect perhaps no more stupendous subject of contemplation than +this has ever been offered to the mind of man. In comparison with the +length of time thus required to efface the tiny individual atom, the +entire cosmical career of our solar system, or even that of the whole +starry galaxy, shrinks into utter nothingness. Whether we shall adopt +the conclusion suggested must depend on the extent of our speculative +audacity. We have seen wherein its probability consists, but in +reasoning upon such a scale we may fitly be cautious and modest in +accepting inferences, and our authors, we may be sure, would be the +first to recommend such modesty and caution. Even at the dimensions to +which our theorizing has here grown, we may for instance discern the +possible alternative of a simultaneous or rhythmically successive +generation and destruction of vortex-atoms which would go far to modify +the conclusion just suggested. But here we must pause for a moment, +reserving for a second paper the weightier thoughts as to futurity +which our authors have sought to enwrap in these sublime physical +speculations. + + + +PART SECOND. + + +UP to this point, however remote from ordinary every-day thoughts may be +the region of speculation which we have been called upon to traverse, we +have still kept within the limits of legitimate scientific hypothesis. +Though we have ventured for a goodly distance into the unknown, we have +not yet been required to abandon our base of operations in the known. Of +the views presented in the preceding paper, some are wellnigh certainly +established, some are probable, some have a sort of plausibility, +others--to which we have refrained from giving assent--may possibly be +true; but none are irretrievably beyond the jurisdiction of scientific +tests. No suggestion has so far been broached which a very little +further increase of our scientific knowledge may not show to be either +eminently probable or eminently improbable. We have kept pretty clear of +mere subjective guesses, such as men may wrangle about forever without +coming to any conclusion. The theory of the nebular origin of our +planetary system has come to command the assent of all persons qualified +to appreciate the evidence on which it is based; and the more immediate +conclusions which we have drawn from that theory are only such as +are commonly drawn by astronomers and physicists. The doctrine of +an intermolecular and interstellar ether is wrapped up in the +well-established undulatory theory of light. Such is by no means the +case with Sir William Thomson's vortex-atom theory, which to-day is in +somewhat the same condition as the undulatory theory of Huyghens two +centuries ago. This, however, is none the less a hypothesis truly +scientific in conception, and in the speculations to which it leads us +we are still sure of dealing with views that admit at least of definite +expression and treatment. In other words, though our study of the +visible universe has led us to the recognition of a kind of unseen world +underlying the world of things that are seen, yet concerning the economy +of this unseen world we have not been led to entertain any hypothesis +that has not its possible justification in our experiences of visible +phenomena. + +We are now called upon, following in the wake of our esteemed authors, +to venture on a different sort of exploration, in which we must cut +loose altogether from our moorings in the world of which we have +definite experience. We are invited to entertain suggestions concerning +the peculiar economy of the invisible portion of the universe which we +have no means of subjecting to any sort of test of probability, either +experimental or deductive. These suggestions are, therefore, not to be +regarded as properly scientific; but, with this word of caution, we may +proceed to show what they are. + +Compared with the life and death of cosmical systems which we have +heretofore contemplated, the life and death of individuals of the human +race may perhaps seem a small matter; yet because we are ourselves the +men who live and die, the small event is of vastly greater interest to +us than the grand series of events of which it is part and parcel. It +is natural that we should be more interested in the ultimate fate of +humanity than in the fate of a world which is of no account to us save +as our present dwelling-place. Whether the human soul is to come to an +end or not is to us a more important question than whether the visible +universe, with its matter and energy, is to be absorbed in an invisible +ether. It is indeed only because we are interested in the former +question that we are so curious about the latter. If we could dissociate +ourselves from the material universe, our habitat, we should probably +speculate much less about its past and future. We care very little what +becomes of the black ball of the earth, after all life has vanished +from its surface; or, if we care at all about it, it is only because our +thoughts about the career of the earth are necessarily mixed up with our +thoughts about life. Hence in considering the probable ultimate destiny +of the physical universe, our innermost purpose must be to know what +is to become of all this rich and wonderful life of which the physical +universe is the theatre. Has it all been developed, apparently at almost +infinite waste of effort, only to be abolished again before it +has attained to completeness, or does it contain or shelter some +indestructible element which having drawn sustenance for a while from +the senseless turmoil of physical phenomena shall still survive their +final decay? This question is closely connected with the time-honoured +question of the meaning, purpose, or tendency of the world. In the +career of the world is life an end, or a means toward an end, or only an +incidental phenomenon in which we can discover no meaning? Contemporary +theologians seem generally to believe that one necessary result of +modern scientific inquiry must be the destruction of the belief in +immortal life, since against every thoroughgoing expounder of scientific +knowledge they seek to hurl the charge of "materialism." Their doubts, +however, are not shared by our authors, thorough men of science as they +are, though their mode of dealing with the question may not be such as +we can well adopt. While upholding the doctrine of evolution, and all +the so-called "materialistic" views of modern science, they not only +regard the hypothesis of a future life as admissible, but they even go +so far as to propound a physical theory as to the nature of existence +after death. Let us see what this physical theory is. + +As far as the visible universe is concerned, we do not find in it any +evidence of immortality or of permanence of any sort, unless it be in +the sum of potential and kinetic energies on the persistency of which +depends our principle of continuity. In ordinary language "the stars in +their courses" serve as symbols of permanence, yet we have found reason +to regard them as but temporary phenomena. So, in the language of our +authors, "if we take the individual man, we find that he lives his short +tale of years, and that then the visible machinery which connects him +with the past, as well as that which enables him to act in the present, +falls into ruin and is brought to an end. If any germ or potentiality +remains, it is certainly not connected with the visible order of +things." In like manner our race is pretty sure to come to an end +long before the destruction of the planet from which it now gets its +sustenance. And in our authors opinion even the universe will by and +by become "old and effete, no less truly than the individual: it is a +glorious garment this visible universe, but not an immortal one; we +must look elsewhere if we are to be clothed with immortality as with a +garment." + +It is at this point that our authors call attention to "the apparently +wasteful character of the arrangements of the visible universe." The +fact is one which we have already sufficiently described, but we shall +do well to quote the words in which our authors recur to it: "All but a +very small portion of the sun's heat goes day by day into what we call +empty space, and it is only this very small remainder that is made use +of by the various planets for purposes of their own. Can anything be +more perplexing than this seemingly frightful expenditure of the very +life and essence of the system? That this vast store of high-class +energy should be doing nothing but travelling outwards in space at the +rate of 188,000 miles per second is hardly conceivable, especially when +the result of it is the inevitable destruction of the visible universe." + +Pursuing this teleological argument, it is suggested that perhaps this +apparent waste of energy is "only an arrangement in virtue of which our +universe keeps up a memory of the past at the expense of the present, +inasmuch as all memory consists in an investiture of present resources +in order to keep a hold upon the past." Recourse is had to the ingenious +argument in which Mr. Babbage showed that "if we had power to follow +and detect the minutest effects of any disturbance, each particle of +existing matter must be a register of all that has happened. The track +of every canoe, of every vessel that has yet disturbed the surface of +the ocean, whether impelled by manual force or elemental power, remains +forever registered in the future movement of all succeeding particles +which may occupy its place. The furrow which is left is, indeed, +instantly filled up by the closing waters; but they draw after them +other and larger portions of the surrounding element, and these again, +once moved, communicate motion to others in endless succession." In like +manner, "the air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever +written all that man has ever said or even whispered. There in their +mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest as well as +the latest sighs of mortality, stand forever recorded vows unredeemed, +promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united movements of each +particle the testimony of man's changeful will." [6] In some such way as +this, records of every movement that takes place in the world are each +moment transmitted, with the speed of light, through the invisible +ocean of ether with which the world is surrounded. Even the molecular +displacements which occur in our brains when we feel and think are thus +propagated in their effects into the unseen world. The world of ether is +thus regarded by our authors as in some sort the obverse or complement +of the world of sensible matter, so that whatever energy is dissipated +in the one is by the same act accumulated in the other. It is like the +negative plate in photography, where light answers to shadow and shadow +to light. Or, still better, it is like the case of an equation in which +whatever quantity you take from one side is added to the other with a +contrary sign, while the relation of equality remains undisturbed. Thus, +it will be noticed, from the ingenious and subtle, but quite defensible +suggestion of Mr. Babbage, a leap is made to an assumption which cannot +be defended scientifically, but only teleologically. It is one thing +to say that every movement in the visible world transmits a record of +itself to the surrounding ether, in such a way that from the undulation +of the ether a sufficiently powerful intelligence might infer the +character of the generating movement in the visible world. It is quite +another thing to say that the ether is organized in such a complex and +delicate way as to be like a negative image or counterpart of the world +of sensible matter. The latter view is no doubt ingenious, but it is +gratuitous. It is sustained not by scientific analogy, but by the desire +to find some assignable use for the energy which is constantly escaping +from visible matter into invisible ether. The moment we ask how do we +know that this energy is not really wasted, or that it is not put to +some use wholly undiscoverable by human intelligence, this assumption of +an organized ether is at once seen to be groundless. It belongs not to +the region of science, but to that of pure mythology. + + [6] Babbage, Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, p. 115; Jevons, +Principles of Science, Vol. II. p. 455. + + +In justice to our authors, however, it should be remembered that this +assumption is put forth not as something scientifically probable, but as +something which for aught we know to the contrary may possibly be true. +This, to be sure, we need not deny; nor if we once allow this prodigious +leap of inference, shall we find much difficulty in reaching the famous +conclusion that "thought conceived to affect the matter of another +universe simultaneously with this may explain a future state." This +proposition, quaintly couched in an anagram, like the discoveries of old +astronomers, was published last year in "Nature," as containing the gist +of the forthcoming book. On the negative-image hypothesis it is not hard +to see how thought is conceived to affect the seen and the unseen worlds +simultaneously. Every act of consciousness is accompanied by molecular +displacements in the brain, and these are of course responded to by +movements in the ethereal world. Thus as a series of conscious states +build up a continuous memory in strict accordance with physical laws of +motion, [7] so a correlative memory is simultaneously built up in +the ethereal world out of the ethereal correlatives of the molecular +displacements which go on in our brains. And as there is a continual +transfer of energy from the visible world to the ether, the extinction +of vital energy which we call death must coincide in some way with +the awakening of vital energy in the correlative world; so that the +darkening of consciousness here is coincident with its dawning there. +In this way death is for the individual but a transfer from one physical +state of existence to another; and so, on the largest scale, the +death or final loss of energy by the whole visible universe has its +counterpart in the acquirement of a maximum of life by the correlative +unseen world. + +There seems to be a certain sort of rigorous logical consistency in this +daring speculation; but really the propositions of which it consists are +so far from answering to anything within the domain of human experience +that we are unable to tell whether any one of them logically follows +from its predecessor or not. It is evident that we are quite out of the +region of scientific tests, and to whatever view our authors may urge we +can only languidly assent that it is out of our power to disprove it. + + [7] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 142-148. + + +The essential weakness of such a theory as this lies in the fact that it +is thoroughly materialistic in character. It is currently assumed that +the doctrine of a life after death cannot be defended on materialistic +grounds, but this is altogether too hasty an assumption. Our authors, +indeed, are not philosophical materialists, like Dr. Priestley,--who +nevertheless believed in a future life,--but one of the primary +doctrines of materialism lies at the bottom of their argument. +Materialism holds for one thing that consciousness is a product of +a peculiar organization of matter, and for another thing that +consciousness cannot survive the disorganization of the material body +with which it is associated. As held by philosophical materialists, like +Buchner and Moleschott, these two opinions are strictly consistent with +each other; nay, the latter seems to be the inevitable inference from +the former, though Priestley did not so regard it. Now our authors very +properly refuse to commit themselves to the opinion that mind is the +product of matter, but their argument nevertheless implies that some +sort of material vehicle is necessary for the continuance of mind in a +future state of existence. This material vehicle they seek to supply in +the theory which connects by invisible bonds of transmitted energy the +perishable material body with its counterpart in the world of ether. The +materialism of the argument is indeed partly veiled by the terminology +in which this counterpart is called a "spiritual body," but in this +novel use or abuse of scriptural language there seems to me to be a +strange confusion of ideas. Bear in mind that the "invisible universe" +into which energy is constantly passing is simply the luminiferous +ether, which our authors, to suit the requirements of their hypothesis, +have gratuitously endowed with a complexity and variety of structure +analogous to that of the visible world of matter. Their language is not +always quite so precise as one could desire, for while they sometimes +speak of the ether itself as the "unseen universe," they sometimes +allude to a primordial medium yet subtler in constitution and presumably +more immaterial. Herein lies the confusion. Why should the luminiferous +ether, or any primordial medium in which it may have been generated, be +regarded as in any way "spiritual"? Great physicists, like less trained +thinkers, are sometimes liable to be unconsciously influenced by old +associations of ideas which, ostensibly repudiated, still lurk under +cover of the words we use. I fear that the old associations which led +the ancients to describe the soul as a breath or a shadow, and which +account for the etymologies of such words as "ghost" and "spirit," +have had something to do with this spiritualization of the interstellar +ether. Some share may also have been contributed by the Platonic notion +of the "grossness" or "bruteness" of tangible matter,--a notion which +has survived in Christian theology, and which educated men of the +present day have by no means universally outgrown. Save for some such +old associations as these, why should it be supposed that matter becomes +"spriritualized" as it diminishes in apparent substantiality? Why should +matter be pronounced respectable in the inverse ratio of its density +or ponderability? Why is a diamond any more chargeable with "grossness" +than a cubic centimetre of hydrogen? Obviously such fancies are purely +of mythologic parentage. Now the luminiferous ether, upon which our +authors make such extensive demands, may be physically "ethereal" +enough, in spite of the enormous elasticity which leads Professor Jevons +to characterize it as "adamantine"; but most assuredly we have not the +slightest reason for speaking of it as "immaterial" or "spiritual." +Though we are unable to weigh it in the balance, we at least know it as +a transmitter of undulatory movements, the size and shape of which we +can accurately measure. Its force-relations with ponderable matter are +not only universally and incessantly maintained, but they have that +precisely quantitative character which implies an essential identity +between the innermost natures of the two substances. We have seen +reason for thinking it probable that ether and ordinary matter are alike +composed of vortex-rings in a quasi-frictionless fluid; but whatever be +the fate of this subtle hypothesis, we may be sure that no theory +will ever be entertained in which the analysis of ether shall require +different symbols from that of ordinary matter. In our authors' theory, +therefore, the putting on of immortality is in no wise the passage from +a material to a spiritual state. It is the passage from one kind +of materially conditioned state to another. The theory thus appeals +directly to our experiences of the behaviour of matter; and in deriving +so little support as it does from these experiences, it remains an +essentially weak speculation, whatever we may think of its ingenuity. +For so long as we are asked to accept conclusions drawn from our +experiences of the material world, we are justified in demanding +something more than mere unconditioned possibility. We require some +positive evidence, be it ever so little in amount; and no theory which +cannot furnish such positive evidence is likely to carry to our minds +much practical conviction. + +This is what I meant by saying that the great weakness of the hypothesis +here criticized lies in its materialistic character. In contrast with +this we shall presently see that the assertion of a future life which is +not materially conditioned, though unsupported by any item of experience +whatever, may nevertheless be an impregnable assertion. But first I +would conclude the foregoing criticism by ruling out altogether the +sense in which our authors use the expression "Unseen Universe." +Scientific inference, however remote, is connected by such insensible +gradations with ordinary perception, that one may well question the +propriety of applying the term "unseen" to that which is presented to +"the mind's eye" as inevitable matter of inference. It is true that we +cannot see the ocean of ether in which visible matter floats; but there +are many other invisible things which yet we do not regard as part of +the "unseen world." I do not see the air which I am now breathing within +the four walls of my study, yet its existence is sufficiently a matter +of sense-perception as it fills my lungs and fans my cheek. The atoms +which compose a drop of water are not only invisible, but cannot in any +way be made the objects of sense-perception; yet by proper inferences +from their behaviour we can single them out for measurement, so that Sir +William Thomson can tell us that if the drop of water were magnified to +the size of the earth, the constituent atoms would be larger than peas, +but not so large as billiard-balls. If we do not see such atoms with our +eyes, we have one adequate reason in their tiny dimensions, though +there are further reasons than this. It would be hard to say why the +luminiferous ether should be relegated to the "unseen world" any more +than the material atom. Whatever we know as possessing resistance +and extension, whatever we can subject to mathematical processes of +measurement, we also conceive as existing in such shape that, with +appropriate eyes and under proper visual conditions, we MIGHT see it, +and we are not entitled to draw any line of demarcation between such +an object of inference and others which may be made objects of +sense-perception. To set apart the ether as constituting an "unseen +universe" is therefore illegitimate and confusing. It introduces +a distinction where there is none, and obscures the fact that both +invisible ether and visible matter form but one grand universe in which +the sum of energy remains constant, though the order of its distribution +endlessly varies. + +Very different would be the logical position of a theory which should +assume the existence of an "Unseen World" entirely spiritual in +constitution, and in which material conditions like those of the visible +world should have neither place nor meaning. Such a world would not +consist of ethers or gases or ghosts, but of purely psychical relations +akin to such as constitute thoughts and feelings when our minds are +least solicited by sense-perceptions. In thus marking off the "Unseen +World" from the objective universe of which we have knowledge, our +line of demarcation would at least be drawn in the right place. The +distinction between psychical and material phenomena is a distinction of +a different order from all other distinctions known to philosophy, and +it immeasurably transcends all others. The progress of modern discovery +has in no respect weakened the force of Descartes's remark, that between +that of which the differential attribute is Thought and that of which +the differential attribute is Extension, there can be no similarity, no +community of nature whatever. By no scientific cunning of experiment or +deduction can Thought be weighed or measured or in any way assimilated +to such things as may be made the actual or possible objects of +sense-perception. Modern discovery, so far from bridging over the chasm +between Mind and Matter, tends rather to exhibit the distinction between +them as absolute. It has, indeed, been rendered highly probable that +every act of consciousness is accompanied by a molecular motion in the +cells and fibres of the brain; and materialists have found great comfort +in this fact, while theologians and persons of little faith have been +very much frightened by it. But since no one ever pretended that thought +can go on, under the conditions of the present life, without a +brain, one finds it rather hard to sympathize either with the +self-congratulations of Dr. Buchner's disciples [8] or with the terrors +of their opponents. But what has been less commonly remarked is the +fact that when the thought and the molecular movement thus occur +simultaneously, in no scientific sense is the thought the product of the +molecular movement. The sun-derived energy of motion latent in the food +we eat is variously transformed within the organism, until some of +it appears as the motion of the molecules of a little globule of +nerve-matter in the brain. In a rough way we might thus say that the +chemical energy of the food indirectly produces the motion of these +little nerve-molecules. But does this motion of nerve-molecules now +produce a thought or state of consciousness? By no means. It simply +produces some other motion of nerve-molecules, and this in turn +produces motion of contraction or expansion in some muscle, or becomes +transformed into the chemical energy of some secreting gland. At no +point in the whole circuit does a unit of motion disappear as motion to +reappear as a unit of consciousness. The physical process is complete in +itself, and the thought does not enter into it. All that we can say is, +that the occurrence of the thought is simultaneous with that part of the +physical process which consists of a molecular movement in the brain. +[9] To be sure, the thought is always there when summoned, but it +stands outside the dynamic circuit, as something utterly alien from and +incomparable with the events which summon it. No doubt, as Professor +Tyndall observes, if we knew exhaustively the physical state of the +brain, "the corresponding thought or feeling might be inferred; or, +given the thought or feeling, the corresponding state of the brain +might be inferred. But how inferred? It would be at bottom not a case +of logical inference at all, but of empirical association. You may +reply that many of the inferences of science are of this character; the +inference, for example, that an electric current of a given direction +will deflect a magnetic needle in a definite way; but the cases differ +in this, that the passage from the current to the needle, if not +demonstrable, is thinkable, and that we entertain no doubt as to the +final mechanical solution of the problem. But the passage from the +physics of the brain to the corresponding facts of consciousness is +unthinkable. Granted that a definite thought and a definite molecular +action in the brain occur simultaneously; we do not possess the +intellectual organ, nor apparently any rudiment of the organ, which +would enable us to pass by a process of reasoning from the one to the +other. They appear together, but we do not know why." [10] + + [8] The Nation once wittily described these people as "people who +believe that they are going to die like the beasts, and who congratulate +themselves that they are going to die like the beasts." + + [9] For a fuller exposition of this point, see my Outlines of +Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 436-445. + + [10] Fragments of Science, p. 119. + + +An unseen world consisting of purely psychical or spiritual phenomena +would accordingly be demarcated by an absolute gulf from what we call +the material universe, but would not necessarily be discontinuous with +the psychical phenomena which we find manifested in connection with the +world of matter. The transfer of matter, or physical energy, or anything +else that is quantitatively measurable, into such an unseen world, may +be set down as impossible, by reason of the very definition of such a +world. Any hypothesis which should assume such a transfer would involve +a contradiction in terms. But the hypothesis of a survival of present +psychical phenomena in such a world, after being denuded of material +conditions, is not in itself absurd or self-contradictory, though it may +be impossible to support it by any arguments drawn from the domain of +human experience. Such is the shape which it seems to me that, in +the present state of philosophy, the hypothesis of a future life must +assume. We have nothing to say to gross materialistic notions of ghosts +and bogies, and spirits that upset tables and whisper to ignorant vulgar +women the wonderful information that you once had an aunt Susan. The +unseen world imagined in our hypothesis is not connected with the +present material universe by any such "invisible bonds" as would allow +Bacon and Addison to come to Boston and write the silliest twaddle in +the most ungrammatical English before a roomful of people who have never +learned how to test what they are pleased to call the "evidence of +their senses." Our hypothesis is expressly framed so as to exclude all +intercourse whatever between the unseen world of spirit unconditioned +by matter and the present world of spirit conditioned by matter in which +all our experiences have been gathered. The hypothesis being framed in +such a way, the question is, What has philosophy to say to it? Can +we, by searching our experiences, find any reason for adopting such an +hypothesis? Or, on the other hand, supposing we can find no such reason, +would the total failure of experimental evidence justify us in rejecting +it? + +The question is so important that I will restate it. I have imagined a +world made up of psychical phenomena, freed from the material conditions +under which alone we know such phenomena. Can we adduce any proof of the +possibility of such a world? Or if we cannot, does our failure raise the +slightest presumption that such a world is impossible? + +The reply to the first clause of the question is sufficiently obvious. +We have no experience whatever of psychical phenomena save as manifested +in connection with material phenomena. We know of Mind only as a group +of activities which are never exhibited to us except through the medium +of motions of matter. In all our experience we have never encountered +such activities save in connection with certain very complicated +groupings of highly mobile material particles into aggregates which we +call living organisms. And we have never found them manifested to a +very conspicuous extent save in connection with some of those specially +organized aggregates which have vertebrate skeletons and mammary glands. +Nay, more, when we survey the net results of our experience up to the +present time, we find indisputable evidence that in the past history +of the visible universe psychical phenomena have only begun to be +manifested in connection with certain complex aggregates of material +phenomena. As these material aggregates have age by age become more +complex in structure, more complex psychical phenomena have been +exhibited. The development of Mind has from the outset been associated +with the development of Matter. And to-day, though none of us has any +knowledge of the end of psychical phenomena in his own case, yet +from all the marks by which we recognize such phenomena in our +fellow-creatures, whether brute or human, we are taught that when +certain material processes have been gradually or suddenly brought to an +end, psychical phenomena are no longer manifested. From first to last, +therefore, our appeal to experience gets but one response. We have not +the faintest shadow of evidence wherewith to make it seem probable that +Mind can exist except in connection with a material body. Viewed from +this standpoint of terrestrial experience, there is no more reason for +supposing that consciousness survives the dissolution of the brain +than for supposing that the pungent flavour of table-salt survives its +decomposition into metallic sodium and gaseous chlorine. + +Our answer from this side is thus unequivocal enough. Indeed, so uniform +has been the teaching of experience in this respect that even in their +attempts to depict a life after death, men have always found themselves +obliged to have recourse to materialistic symbols. To the mind of a +savage the future world is a mere reproduction of the present, with its +everlasting huntings and fightings. The early Christians looked forward +to a renovation of the earth and the bodily resurrection from Sheol of +the righteous. The pictures of hell and purgatory, and even of paradise, +in Dante's great poem, are so intensely materialistic as to seem +grotesque in this more spiritual age. But even to-day the popular +conceptions of heaven are by no means freed from the notion of matter; +and persons of high culture, who realize the inadequacy of these popular +conceptions, are wont to avoid the difficulty by refraining from putting +their hopes and beliefs into any definite or describable form. Not +unfrequently one sees a smile raised at the assumption of knowledge or +insight by preachers who describe in eloquent terms the joys of a future +state; yet the smile does not necessarily imply any scepticism as to the +abstract probability of the soul's survival. The scepticism is aimed at +the character of the description rather than at the reality of the thing +described. It implies a tacit agreement, among cultivated people, that +the unseen world must be purely spiritual in constitution. The agreement +is not habitually expressed in definite formulas, for the reason that no +mental image of a purely spiritual world can be formed. Much stress +is commonly laid upon the recognition of friends in a future life; and +however deep a meaning may be given to the phrase "the love of God," +one does not easily realize that a heavenly existence could be worth the +longing that is felt for it, if it were to afford no further scope for +the pure and tender household affections which give to the present life +its powerful though indefinable charm. Yet the recognition of friends +in a purely spiritual world is something of which we can frame no +conception whatever. We may look with unspeakable reverence on the +features of wife or child, less because of their physical beauty than +because of the beauty of soul to which they give expression, but to +imagine the perception of soul by soul apart from the material structure +and activities in which soul is manifested, is something utterly beyond +our power. Nay, even when we try to represent to ourselves the psychical +activity of any single soul by itself as continuing without the aid +of the physical machinery of sensation, we get into unmanageable +difficulties. A great part of the contents of our minds consists of +sensuous (chiefly visual) images, and though we may imagine reflection +to go on without further images supplied by vision or hearing, touch or +taste or smell, yet we cannot well see how fresh experiences could be +gained in such a state. The reader, if he require further illustrations, +can easily follow out this line of thought. Enough has no doubt been +said to convince him that our hypothesis of the survival of conscious +activity apart from material conditions is not only utterly unsupported +by any evidence that can be gathered from the world of which we have +experience, but is utterly and hopelessly inconceivable. + +It is inconceivable BECAUSE it is entirely without foundation in +experience. Our powers of conception are closely determined by the +limits of our experience. When a proposition, or combination of ideas, +is suggested, for which there has never been any precedent in human +experience, we find it to be UNTHINKABLE,--the ideas will not combine. +The proposition remains one which we may utter and defend, and perhaps +vituperate our neighbours for not accepting, but it remains none the +less an unthinkable proposition. It takes terms which severally have +meanings and puts them together into a phrase which has no meaning. +[11] Now when we try to combine the idea of the continuance of conscious +activity with the idea of the entire cessation of material conditions, +and thereby to assert the existence of a purely spiritual world, we +find that we have made an unthinkable proposition. We may defend our +hypothesis as passionately as we like, but when we strive coolly to +realize it in thought we find ourselves baulked at every step. + + [11] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. I. pp. 64-67. + + +But now we have to ask, How much does this inconceivability signify? +In most cases, when we say that a statement is inconceivable, we +practically declare it to be untrue; when we say that a statement is +without warrant in experience, we plainly indicate that we consider it +unworthy of our acceptance. This is legitimate in the majority of cases +with which we have to deal in the course of life, because experience, +and the capacities of thought called out and limited by experience, are +our only guides in the conduct of life. But every one will admit that +our experience is not infinite, and that our capacity of conception +is not coextensive with the possibilities of existence. It is not only +possible, but in the very highest degree probable, that there are +many things in heaven, if not on earth, which are undreamed of in our +philosophy. Since our ability to conceive anything is limited by the +extent of our experience, and since human experience is very far from +being infinite, it follows that there may be, and in all probability is, +an immense region of existence in every way as real as the region which +we know, yet concerning which we cannot form the faintest rudiment of a +conception. Any hypothesis relating to such a region of existence is not +only not disproved by the total failure of evidence in its favour, but +the total failure of evidence does not raise even the slightest prima +facie presumption against its validity. + +These considerations apply with great force to the hypothesis of an +unseen world in which psychical phenomena persist in the absence of +material conditions. It is true, on the one hand, that we can bring +up no scientific evidence in support of such an hypothesis. But on the +other hand it is equally true that in the very nature of things no +such evidence could be expected to be forthcoming: even were there such +evidence in abundance, it could not be accessible to us. The existence +of a single soul, or congeries of psychical phenomena, unaccompanied +by a material body, would be evidence sufficient to demonstrate the +hypothesis. But in the nature of things, even were there a million such +souls round about us, we could not become aware of the existence of +one of them, for we have no organ or faculty for the perception of soul +apart from the material structure and activities in which it has been +manifested throughout the whole course of our experience. Even our own +self-consciousness involves the consciousness of ourselves as partly +material bodies. These considerations show that our hypothesis is very +different from the ordinary hypotheses with which science deals. The +entire absence of testimony does not raise a negative presumption except +in cases where testimony is accessible. In the hypotheses with which +scientific men are occupied, testimony is always accessible; and if we +do not find any, the presumption is raised that there is none. When Dr. +Bastian tells us that he has found living organisms to be generated in +sealed flasks from which all living germs had been excluded, we demand +the evidence for his assertion. The testimony of facts is in this case +hard to elicit, and only skilful reasoners can properly estimate its +worth. But still it is all accessible. With more or less labour it can +be got at; and if we find that Dr. Bastian has produced no evidence save +such as may equally well receive a different interpretation from that +which he has given it, we rightly feel that a strong presumption +has been raised against his hypothesis. It is a case in which we are +entitled to expect to find the favouring facts if there are any, and +so long as we do not find such, we are justified in doubting their +existence. So when our authors propound the hypothesis of an unseen +universe consisting of phenomena which occur in the interstellar ether, +or even in some primordial fluid with which the ether has physical +relations, we are entitled to demand their proofs. It is not enough to +tell us that we cannot disprove such a theory. The burden of proof lies +with them. The interstellar ether is something concerning the physical +properties of which we have some knowledge; and surely, if all the +things are going on which they suppose in a medium so closely related +to ordinary matter, there ought to be some traceable indications of +the fact. At least, until the contrary can be shown, we must refuse +to believe that all the testimony in a case like this is utterly +inaccessible; and accordingly, so long as none is found, especially +so long as none is even alleged, we feel that a presumption is raised +against their theory. + +These illustrations will show, by sheer contrast, how different it is +with the hypothesis of an unseen world that is purely spiritual. The +testimony in such a case must, under the conditions of the present life, +be forever inaccessible. It lies wholly outside the range of experience. +However abundant it may be, we cannot expect to meet with it. And +accordingly our failure to produce it does not raise even the slightest +presumption against our theory. When conceived in this way, the belief +in a future life is without scientific support; but at the same time it +is placed beyond the need of scientific support and beyond the range of +scientific criticism. It is a belief which no imaginable future advance +in physical discovery can in any way impugn. It is a belief which is in +no sense irrational, and which may be logically entertained without +in the least affecting our scientific habit of mind or influencing our +scientific conclusions. + +To take a brief illustration: we have alluded to the fact that in the +history of our present world the development of mental phenomena has +gone on hand in hand with the development of organic life, while at the +same time we have found it impossible to explain mental phenomena as in +any sense the product of material phenomena. Now there is another side +to all this. The great lesson which Berkeley taught mankind was that +what we call material phenomena are really the products of consciousness +co-operating with some Unknown Power (not material) existing beyond +consciousness. We do very well to speak of "matter" in common parlance, +but all that the word really means is a group of qualities which have no +existence apart from our minds. Modern philosophers have quite generally +accepted this conclusion, and every attempt to overturn Berkeley's +reasoning has hitherto resulted in complete and disastrous failure. In +admitting this, we do not admit the conclusion of Absolute Idealism, +that nothing exists outside of consciousness. What we admit as existing +independently of our own consciousness is the Power that causes in +us those conscious states which we call the perception of material +qualities. We have no reason for regarding this Power as in itself +material: indeed, we cannot do so, since by the theory material +qualities have no existence apart from our minds. I have elsewhere +sought to show that less difficulty is involved in regarding this Power +outside of us as quasi-psychical, or in some measure similar to the +mental part of ourselves; and I have gone on to conclude that this Power +may be identical with what men have, in all times and by the aid of +various imperfect symbols, endeavoured to apprehend as Deity. [12] We +are thus led to a view of things not very unlike the views entertained +by Spinoza and Berkeley. We are led to the inference that what we call +the material universe is but the manifestation of infinite Deity to our +finite minds. Obviously, on this view, Matter--the only thing to +which materialists concede real existence--is simply an orderly +phantasmagoria; and God and the Soul--which materialists regard as mere +fictions of the imagination--are the only conceptions that answer to +real existences. + + [12] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Part I. Chap. IV.; +Part III. Chaps. III., IV. + + +In the foregoing paragraph I have been setting down opinions with which +I am prepared to agree, and which are not in conflict with anything that +our study of the development of the objective world has taught us. In +so far as that study may be supposed to bear on the question of a future +life, two conclusions are open to us. First we may say that since +the phenomena of mind appear and run their course along with certain +specialized groups of material phenomena, so, too, they must disappear +when these specialized groups are broken up. Or, in other words, we may +say that every living person is an organized whole; consciousness is +something which pertains to this organized whole, as music belongs to +the harp that is entire; but when the harp is broken it is silent, and +when the organized whole of personality falls to pieces consciousness +ceases forever. To many well-disciplined minds this conclusion seems +irresistible; and doubtless it would be a sound one--a good Baconian +conclusion--if we were to admit, with the materialists, that the +possibilities of existence are limited by our tiny and ephemeral +experience. + +But now, supposing some Platonic speculator were to come along and +insist upon our leaving room for an alternative conclusion; suppose he +were to urge upon us that all this process of material development, with +the discovery of which our patient study has been rewarded, may be +but the temporary manifestation of relations otherwise unknown between +ourselves and the infinite Deity; suppose he were to argue that +psychical qualities may be inherent in a spiritual substance which +under certain conditions becomes incarnated in matter, to wear it as a +perishable garment for a brief season, but presently to cast it off and +enter upon the freedom of a larger existence;--what reply should we be +bound to make, bearing in mind that the possibilities of existence are +in no wise limited by our experience? Obviously we should be bound to +admit that in sound philosophy this conclusion is just as likely to be +true as the other. We should, indeed, warn him not to call on us to help +him to establish it by scientific arguments; and we should remind him +that he must not make illicit use of his extra-experiential hypotheses +by bringing them into the treatment of scientific questions that lie +within the range of experience. In science, for example, we make no +use of the conception of a "spiritual substance" (or of a "material +substance" either), because we can get along sufficiently well by +dealing solely with qualities. But with this general understanding we +should feel bound to concede the impregnableness of his main position. + +I have supposed this theory only as an illustration, not as a theory +which I am prepared to adopt. My present purpose is not to treat as an +advocate the question of a future life, but to endeavour to point +out what conditions should be observed in treating the question +philosophically. It seems to me that a great deal is gained when we have +distinctly set before us what are the peculiar conditions of proof in +the case of such transcendental questions. We have gained a great deal +when we have learned how thoroughly impotent, how truly irrelevant, is +physical investigation in the presence of such a question. If we get not +much positive satisfaction for our unquiet yearnings, we occupy at any +rate a sounder philosophic position when we recognize the limits within +which our conclusions, whether positive or negative, are valid. + +It seems not improbable that Mr. Mill may have had in mind something +like the foregoing considerations when he suggested that there is no +reason why one should not entertain the belief in a future life if the +belief be necessary to one's spiritual comfort. Perhaps no suggestion +in Mr. Mill's richly suggestive posthumous work has been more generally +condemned as unphilosophical, on the ground that in matters of belief we +must be guided, not by our likes and dislikes, but by the evidence +that is accessible. The objection is certainly a sound one so far as +it relates to scientific questions where evidence is accessible. +To hesitate to adopt a well-supported theory because of some vague +preference for a different view is in scientific matters the one +unpardonable sin,--a sin which has been only too often committed. Even +in matters which lie beyond the range of experience, where evidence +is inaccessible, desire is not to be regarded as by itself an adequate +basis for belief. But it seems to me that Mr. Mill showed a deeper +knowledge of the limitations of scientific method than his critics, when +he thus hinted at the possibility of entertaining a belief not amenable +to scientific tests. The hypothesis of a purely spiritual unseen +world, as above described, is entirely removed from the jurisdiction of +physical inquiry, and can only be judged on general considerations of +what has been called "moral probability"; and considerations of this +sort are likely, in the future as in the past, to possess different +values for different minds. He who, on such considerations, entertains +a belief in a future life may not demand that his sceptical neighbour +shall be convinced by the same considerations; but his neighbour is at +the same time estopped from stigmatizing his belief as unphilosophical. + +The consideration which must influence most minds in their attitude +toward this question, is the craving, almost universally felt, for some +teleological solution to the problem of existence. Why we are here now +is a question of even profounder interest than whether we are to live +hereafter. Unfortunately its solution carries us no less completely +beyond the range of experience! The belief that all things are working +together for some good end is the most essential expression of religious +faith: of all intellectual propositions it is the one most closely +related to that emotional yearning for a higher and better life which +is the sum and substance of religion. Yet all the treatises on +natural theology that have ever been written have barely succeeded in +establishing a low degree of scientific probability for this belief. +In spite of the eight Bridgewater Treatises, and the "Ninth" beside, +dysteleology still holds full half the field as against teleology. Most +of this difficulty, however, results from the crude anthropomorphic +views which theologians have held concerning God. Once admitting that +the Divine attributes may be (as they must be) incommensurably greater +than human attributes, our faith that all things are working together +for good may remain unimpugned. + +To many minds such a faith will seem incompatible with belief in the +ultimate destruction of sentiency amid the general doom of the material +universe. A good end can have no meaning to us save in relation to +consciousness that distinguishes and knows the good from the evil. There +could be no better illustration of how we are hemmed in than the very +inadequacy of the words with which we try to discuss this subject. Such +words have all gained their meanings from human experience, and hence of +necessity carry anthropomorphic implications. But we cannot help this. +We must think with the symbols with which experience has furnished +us; and when we so think, there does seem to be little that is even +intellectually satisfying in the awful picture which science shows us, +of giant worlds concentrating out of nebulous vapour, developing with +prodigious waste of energy into theatres of all that is grand and +sacred in spiritual endeavour, clashing and exploding again into dead +vapour-balls, only to renew the same toilful process without end,--a +senseless bubble-play of Titan forces, with life, love, and aspiration +brought forth only to be extinguished. The human mind, however +"scientific" its training, must often recoil from the conclusion that +this is all; and there are moments when one passionately feels that this +cannot be all. On warm June mornings in green country lanes, with sweet +pine-odours wafted in the breeze which sighs through the branches, and +cloud-shadows flitting over far-off blue mountains, while little birds +sing their love-songs, and golden-haired children weave garlands of wild +roses; or when in the solemn twilight we listen to wondrous harmonies +of Beethoven and Chopin that stir the heart like voices from an unseen +world; at such times one feels that the profoundest answer which science +can give to our questionings is but a superficial answer after all. At +these moments, when the world seems fullest of beauty, one feels most +strongly that it is but the harbinger of something else,--that the +ceaseless play of phenomena is no mere sport of Titans, but an orderly +scene, with its reason for existing, its + + "One divine far-off event + To which the whole creation moves." + + +Difficult as it is to disentangle the elements of reasoning that enter +into these complex groups of feeling, one may still see, I think, that +it is speculative interest in the world, rather than anxious interest in +self, that predominates. The desire for immortality in its lowest phase +is merely the outcome of the repugnance we feel toward thinking of the +final cessation of vigorous vital activity. Such a feeling is naturally +strong with healthy people. But in the mood which I have above tried to +depict, this feeling, or any other which is merely self-regarding, is +lost sight of in the feeling which associates a future life with some +solution of the burdensome problem of existence. Had we but faith enough +to lighten the burden of this problem, the inferior question would +perhaps be less absorbing. Could we but know that our present lives +are working together toward some good end, even an end in no wise +anthropomorphic, it would be of less consequence whether we were +individually to endure. To the dog under the knife of the experimenter, +the world is a world of pure evil; yet could the poor beast but +understand the alleviation of human suffering to which he is +contributing, he would be forced to own that this is not quite true; +and if he were also a heroic or Christian dog, the thought would perhaps +take away from death its sting. The analogy may be a crude one; but +the reasonableness of the universe is at least as far above our +comprehension as the purposes of man surpass the understanding of the +dog. Believing, however, though as a simple act of trust, that the end +will crown the work, we may rise superior to the question which has here +concerned us, and exclaim, in the supreme language of faith, "Though He +slay me, yet will I trust in Him!" + + July, 1875. + + + + +II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH." + +Few of those who find pleasure in frequenting bookstores can have failed +to come across one or more of the profusely illustrated volumes in which +M. Louis Figuier has sought to render dry science entertaining to the +multitude. And of those who may have casually turned over their pages, +there are probably none, competent to form an opinion, who have not +speedily perceived that these pretentious books belong to the class of +pests and unmitigated nuisances in literature. Antiquated views, +utter lack of comprehension of the subjects treated, and shameless +unscrupulousness as to accuracy of statement, are faults but ill atoned +for by sensational pictures of the "dragons of the prime that tare each +other in their slime," or of the Newton-like brow and silken curls of +that primitive man in contrast with whom the said dragons have been +likened to "mellow music." + +Nevertheless, the sort of scientific reputation which these +discreditable performances have gained for M. Figuier among an +uncritical public is such as to justify us in devoting a few paragraphs +to a book [13] which, on its own merits, is unworthy of any notice +whatever. "The To-morrow of Death"--if one were to put his trust in the +translator's prefatory note--discusses a grave question upon "purely +scientific methods." We are glad to see this remark, because it shows +what notions may be entertained by persons of average intelligence with +reference to "scientific methods." Those--and they are many--who vaguely +think that science is something different from common-sense, and that +any book is scientific which talks about perihelia and asymptotes and +cetacea, will find their vague notions here well corroborated. Quite +different will be the impression made upon those--and they are yet too +few--who have learned that the method of science is the common-sense +method of cautiously weighing evidence and withholding judgment where +evidence is not forthcoming. If talking about remote and difficult +subjects suffice to make one scientific, then is M. Figuier scientific +to a quite terrible degree. He writes about the starry heavens as if he +had been present at the hour of creation, or had at least accompanied +the Arabian prophet on his famous night-journey. Nor is his knowledge of +physiology and other abstruse sciences at all less remarkable. But these +things will cease to surprise us when we learn the sources, hitherto +suspected only in mythology, from which favoured mortals can obtain a +knowledge of what is going on outside of our planet. + + [13] The To-morrow of Death; or, The Future Life according to +Science. By Louis Figuier. Translated from the French by S. R. Crocker. +Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1872. + + +The four inner planets being nearly alike in size (?) and in length of +day, M. Figuier infers, by strictly scientific methods, that whatever is +true of one of them, as our earth, will be true of the others (p. 34). +Hence, they are all inhabited by human beings. It is true that human +beings must find Venus rather warm, and are not unlikely to be seriously +incommoded by the tropical climate of Mercury. But we must remember +that "the men of Venus and Mercury are made by nature to resist heat, +as those of Jupiter and Saturn are made to endure cold, and those of the +Earth and Mars to live in a mean temperature: OTHERWISE THEY COULD NOT +EXIST" (p. 72). In view of this charming specimen of a truly scientific +inference, it is almost too bad to call attention to the fact that M. +Figuier is quite behind the age in his statement of facts. So far from +Jupiter and Saturn being cold, observation plainly indicates that they +are prodigiously hot, if not even incandescent and partly self-luminous; +the explanation being that, by reason of their huge bulk, they still +retain much of the primitive heat which smaller planets have more +quickly radiated away. As for M. Figuier's statement, that polar snows +have been witnessed on these planets, it is simply untrue; no such thing +has ever been seen there. Mars, on the other hand, has been observed +to resemble in many important respects its near neighbour, the Earth; +whence our author declares that if an aeronaut were to shoot clear of +terrestrial gravitation and land upon Mars, he would unquestionably +suppose himself to be still upon the earth. For aerolites, it seems, are +somehow fired down upon our planet both from Mars and from Venus; and +aerolites sometimes contain vegetable matter (?). Therefore, Mars has +a vegetation, and very likely its red colour is caused by its luxuriant +autumnal foliage! (p. 47.) To return to Jupiter: this planet, indeed, +has inconveniently short days. "In his 'Picture of the Heavens,' +the German astronomer, Littrow (these Germans think of nothing but +gormandizing), asks how the people of Jupiter order their meals in the +short interval of five hours." Nevertheless, says our author, the +great planet is compensated for this inconvenience by its equable and +delicious climate. + +In view, however, of our author's more striking and original +disclosures, one would suppose that all this discussion of the physical +conditions of existence on the various planets might have been passed +over without detriment to the argument. After these efforts at proving +(for M. Figuier presumably regards this rigmarole as proof) that all the +members of our solar system are habitable, the interplanetary ether is +forthwith peopled thickly with "souls," without any resort to argument. +This, we suppose, is one of those scientific truths which as M. Figuier +tells us, precede and underlie demonstration. Upon this impregnable +basis is reared the scientific theory of a future life. When we die our +soul passes into some other terrestrial body, unless we have been very +good, in which case we at once soar aloft and join the noble fraternity +of the ether-folk. Bad men and young children, on dying, must undergo +renewed probation here below, but ultimately all pass away into the +interplanetary ether. The dweller in ether is chiefly distinguished +from the mundane mortal by his acute senses and his ability to subsist +without food. He can see as if through a telescope and microscope +combined. His intelligence is so great that in comparison an Aristotle +would seem idiotic. It should not be forgotten, too, that he possesses +eighty-five per cent of soul to fifteen per cent of body, whereas in +terrestrial man the two elements are mixed in equal proportions. There +is no sex among the ether-folk, their numbers being kept up by the +influx of souls from the various planets. "Alimentation, that necessity +which tyrannizes over men and animals, is not imposed upon the +inhabitants of ether. Their bodies must be repaired and sustained by the +simple respiration of the fluid in which they are immersed, that is, of +ether." Most likely, continues our scientific author, the physiological +functions of the ether-folk are confined to respiration, and that it is +possible to breathe "without numerous organs is proved by the fact that +in all of a whole class of animals--the batrachians--the mere bare skin +constitutes the whole machinery of respiration" (p. 95). Allowing for +the unfortunate slip of the pen by which "batrachians" are substituted +for "fresh-water polyps," how can we fail to admire the severity of the +scientific method employed in reaching these interesting conclusions? + +But the King of Serendib must die, nor will the relentless scythe of +Time spare our Etherians, with all their exalted attributes. They will +die repeatedly; and after having through sundry periods of probation +attained spiritual perfection, they will all pour into the sun. Since +it is the sun which originates life and feeling and thought upon the +surface of our earth, "why may we not declare that the rays transmitted +by the sun to the earth and the other planets are nothing more nor less +than the emanations of these souls?" And now we may begin to form an +adequate conception, of the rigorously scientific character of our +author's method. There have been many hypotheses by which to account for +the supply of solar radiance. One of the most ingenious and probable +of these hypotheses is that of Helmholtz, according to which the +solar radiance is due to the arrested motion of the sun's constituent +particles toward their common centre of gravity. But this is too +fanciful to satisfy M. Figuier. The speculations of Helmholtz "have +the disadvantage of resting on the idea of the sun's nebulosity,--an +hypothesis which would need to be more closely examined before serving +as a basis for so important a deduction." Accordingly, M. Figuier +propounds an explanation which possesses the signal advantage that there +is nothing hypothetical in it. "In our opinion, the solar radiation is +sustained by the continual influx of souls into the sun." This, as the +reader will perceive, is the well-known theory of Mayer, that the solar +heat is due to a perennial bombardment of the sun by meteors, save that, +in place of gross materialistic meteors, M. Figuier puts ethereal souls. +The ether-folk are daily raining into the solar orb in untold millions, +and to the unceasing concussion is due the radiation which maintains +life in the planets, and thus the circle is complete. + +In spite of their exalted position, the ether-folk do not disdain to +mingle with the affairs of terrestrial mortals. They give us counsel +in dreams, and it is from this source, we presume, that our author has +derived his rigid notions as to scientific method. In evidence of this +dream-theory we have the usual array of cases, "a celebrated journalist, +M. R----," "M. L----, a lawyer," etc., etc., as in most books of this +kind. + +M. Figuier is not a Darwinian: the derivation of our bodies from the +bodies of apes is a conception too grossly materialistic for him. Our +souls, however, he is quite willing to derive from the souls of lower +animals. Obviously we have pre-existed; how are we to account for +Mozart's precocity save by supposing his pre-existence? He brought with +him the musical skill acquired in a previous life. In general, the souls +of musical children come from nightingales, while the souls of great +architects have passed into them from beavers (p. 247). We do not +remember these past existences, it is true; but when we become +ether-folk, we shall be able to look back in recollection over the whole +series. + +Amid these sublime inquiries, M. Figuier is sometimes notably oblivious +of humbler truths, as might indeed be expected. Thus he repeatedly +alludes to Locke as the author of the doctrine of innate ideas (!!), +[14] and he informs us that Kepler never quitted Protestant England (p. +336), though we believe that the nearest Kepler ever came to living in +England was the refusing of Sir Henry Wotton's request that he should +move thither. + + [14] Pages 251, 252, 287. So in the twenty-first century some +avatar of M. Figuier will perhaps describe the late professor Agassiz as +the author of the Darwinian theory. + + +And lastly, we are treated to a real dialogue, with quite a dramatic +mise en scene. The author's imaginary friend, Theophilus, enters, "seats +himself in a comfortable chair, places an ottoman under his feet, a +book under his elbow to support it, and a cigarette of Turkish tobacco +between his lips, and sets himself to the task of listening with a +grave air of collectedness, relieved by a certain touch of suspicious +severity, as becomes the arbiter in a literary and philosophic matter." +"And so," begins our author, "you wish to know, my dear Theophilus, +WHERE I LOCATE GOD? I locate him in the centre of the universe, or, in +better phrase, at the central focus, which must exist somewhere, of all +the stars that make the universe, and which, borne onward in a common +movement, gravitate together around this focus." + +Much more, of an equally scientific character, follows; but in fairness +to the reader, who is already blaming us for wasting the precious +moments over such sorry trash, we may as well conclude our sketch of +this new line of speculation. + + May, 1872. + + + + +III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY. [15] + + [15] The Jesus of History. Anonymous. 8vo. pp. 426. London: +Williams & Norgate, 1869. + +Vie de Jesus, par Ernest Renan. Paris, 1867. (Thirteenth edition, +revised and partly rewritten.) + +In republishing this and the following article on "The Christ of Dogma," +I am aware that they do but scanty justice to their very interesting +subjects. So much ground is covered that it would be impossible to treat +it satisfactorily in a pair of review-articles; and in particular the +views adopted with regard to the New Testament literature are rather +indicated than justified. These defects I hope to remedy in a future +work on "Jesus of Nazareth, and the Founding of Christianity," for +which the present articles must be regarded as furnishing only a few +introductory hints. This work has been for several years on my mind, +but as it may still be long before I can find the leisure needful for +writing it out, it seemed best to republish these preliminary sketches +which have been some time out of print. The projected work, however, +while covering all the points here treated, will have a much wider +scope, dealing on the one hand with the natural genesis of the complex +aggregate of beliefs and aspirations known as Christianity, and on +the other hand with the metamorphoses which are being wrought in this +aggregate by modern knowledge and modern theories of the world. + +The views adopted in the present essay as to the date of the Synoptic +Gospels may seem over-conservative to those who accept the ably-argued +conclusions of "Supernatural Religion." Quite possibly in a more +detailed discussion these briefly-indicated data may require revision; +but for the present it seems best to let the article stand as it was +written. The author of "Supernatural Religion" would no doubt admit +that, even if the synoptic gospels had not assumed their present form +before the end of the second century, nevertheless the body of tradition +contained in them had been committed to writing very early in that +century. So much appears to be proved by the very variations of text +upon which his argument relies. And if this be granted, the value of the +synoptics as HISTORICAL evidence is not materially altered. With their +value as testimony to so-called SUPERNATURAL events, the present essay +is in no way concerned. + + +Of all the great founders of religions, Jesus is at once the best known +and the least known to the modern scholar. From the dogmatic point of +view he is the best known, from the historic point of view he is the +least known. The Christ of dogma is in every lineament familiar to us +from early childhood; but concerning the Jesus of history we possess +but few facts resting upon trustworthy evidence, and in order to form +a picture of him at once consistent, probable, and distinct in +its outlines, it is necessary to enter upon a long and difficult +investigation, in the course of which some of the most delicate +apparatus of modern criticism is required. This circumstance is +sufficiently singular to require especial explanation. The case of +Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, which may perhaps be cited as +parallel, is in reality wholly different. Not only did Sakyamuni live +five centuries earlier than Jesus, among a people that have at no time +possessed the art of insuring authenticity in their records of events, +and at an era which is at best but dimly discerned through the mists of +fable and legend, but the work which he achieved lies wholly out of +the course of European history, and it is only in recent times that his +career has presented itself to us as a problem needing to be solved. +Jesus, on the other hand, appeared in an age which is familiarly and in +many respects minutely known to us, and among a people whose fortunes we +can trace with historic certainty for at least seven centuries previous +to his birth; while his life and achievements have probably had a +larger share in directing the entire subsequent intellectual and moral +development of Europe than those of any other man who has ever lived. +Nevertheless, the details of his personal career are shrouded in an +obscurity almost as dense as that which envelops the life of the remote +founder of Buddhism. + +This phenomenon, however, appears less strange and paradoxical when we +come to examine it more closely. A little reflection will disclose to +us several good reasons why the historical records of the life of Jesus +should be so scanty as they are. In the first place, the activity of +Jesus was private rather than public. Confined within exceedingly narrow +limits, both of space and of duration, it made no impression whatever +upon the politics or the literature of the time. His name does not +occur in the pages of any contemporary writer, Roman, Greek, or Jewish. +Doubtless the case would have been wholly different, had he, like +Mohammed, lived to a ripe age, and had the exigencies of his peculiar +position as the Messiah of the Jewish people brought him into relations +with the Empire; though whether, in such case, the success of his grand +undertaking would have been as complete as it has actually been, may +well be doubted. + +Secondly, Jesus did not, like Mohammed and Paul, leave behind him +authentic writings which might serve to throw light upon his mental +development as well as upon the external facts of his career. Without +the Koran and the four genuine Epistles of Paul, we should be nearly as +much in the dark concerning these great men as we now are concerning the +historical Jesus. We should be compelled to rely, in the one case, upon +the untrustworthy gossip of Mussulman chroniclers, and in the other +case upon the garbled statements of the "Acts of the Apostles," a book +written with a distinct dogmatic purpose, sixty or seventy years after +the occurrence of the events which it professes to record. + +It is true, many of the words of Jesus, preserved by hearsay tradition +through the generation immediately succeeding his death, have come +down to us, probably with little alteration, in the pages of the three +earlier evangelists. These are priceless data, since, as we shall see, +they are almost the only materials at our command for forming even a +partial conception of the character of Jesus' work. Nevertheless, even +here the cautious inquirer has only too often to pause in face of the +difficulty of distinguishing the authentic utterances of the great +teacher from the later interpolations suggested by the dogmatic +necessities of the narrators. Bitterly must the historian regret +that Jesus had no philosophic disciple, like Xenophon, to record his +Memorabilia. Of the various writings included in the New Testament, the +Apocalypse alone (and possibly the Epistle of Jude) is from the pen of +a personal acquaintance of Jesus; and besides this, the four epistles of +Paul, to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans, make up the sum of the +writings from which we may expect contemporary testimony. Yet from these +we obtain absolutely nothing of that for which we are seeking. The brief +writings of Paul are occupied exclusively with the internal significance +of Jesus' work. The epistle of Jude--if it be really written by Jesus' +brother of that name, which is doubtful--is solely a polemic directed +against the innovations of Paul. And the Apocalypse, the work of +the fiery and imaginative disciple John, is confined to a prophetic +description of the Messiah's anticipated return, and tells us nothing +concerning the deeds of that Messiah while on the earth. + +Here we touch upon our third consideration,--the consideration which +best enables us to see why the historic notices of Jesus are so meagre. +Rightly considered, the statement with which we opened this article +is its own explanation. The Jesus of history is so little known just +because the Christ of dogma is so well known. [16] Other teachers--Paul, +Mohammed, Sakyamuni--have come merely as preachers of righteousness, +speaking in the name of general principles with which their own +personalities were not directly implicated. But Jesus, as we shall see, +before the close of his life, proclaimed himself to be something more +than a preacher of righteousness. He announced himself--and justly, from +his own point of view--as the long-expected Messiah sent by Jehovah to +liberate the Jewish race. Thus the success of his religious teachings +became at once implicated with the question of his personal nature and +character. After the sudden and violent termination of his career, it +immediately became all-important with his followers to prove that he +was really the Messiah, and to insist upon the certainty of his speedy +return to the earth. Thus the first generation of disciples dogmatized +about him, instead of narrating his life,--a task which to them would +have seemed of little profit. For them the all-absorbing object of +contemplation was the immediate future rather than the immediate past. +As all the earlier Christian literature informs us, for nearly a century +after the death of Jesus, his followers lived in daily anticipation of +his triumphant return to the earth. The end of all things being so near +at hand, no attempt was made to insure accurate and complete memoirs +for the use of a posterity which was destined, in Christian imagination, +never to arrive. The first Christians wrote but little; even Papias, +at the end of a century, preferring second-hand or third-hand oral +tradition to the written gospels which were then beginning to come into +circulation. [17] Memoirs of the life and teachings of Jesus were called +forth by the necessity of having a written standard of doctrine to which +to appeal amid the growing differences of opinion which disturbed the +Church. Thus the earlier gospels exhibit, though in different degrees, +the indications of a modifying, sometimes of an overruling dogmatic +purpose. There is, indeed, no conscious violation of historic truth, but +from the varied mass of material supplied by tradition, such incidents +are selected as are fit to support the views of the writers concerning +the personality of Jesus. Accordingly, while the early gospels throw a +strong light upon the state of Christian opinion at the dates when they +were successively composed, the information which they give concerning +Jesus himself is, for that very reason, often vague, uncritical, and +contradictory. Still more is this true of the fourth gospel, written +late in the second century, in which historic tradition is moulded in +the interests of dogma until it becomes no longer recognizable, and +in the place of the human Messiah of the earlier accounts, we have a +semi-divine Logos or Aeon, detached from God, and incarnate for a brief +season in the likeness of man. + + [16] "Wer einmal vergottert worden ist, der hat seine Mensetheit +unwiederbringlich eingebusst."--Strauss, Der alte und der neue Glaube, +p. 76. + + [17] "Roger was the attendant of Thomas [Becket] during his +sojourn at Pontigny. We might have expected him to be very full on that +part of his history; but, writing doubtless mainly for the monks of +Pontigny, he says that HE WILL NOT ENLARGE UPON WHAT EVERY ONE KNOWS, +and cuts that part very short."--Freeman, Historical Essays, 1st series, +p. 90. + + +Not only was history subordinated to dogma by the writers of the +gospel-narratives, but in the minds of the Fathers of the Church who +assisted in determining what writings should be considered canonical, +dogmatic prepossession went very much further than critical acumen. +Nor is this strange when we reflect that critical discrimination in +questions of literary authenticity is one of the latest acquisitions of +the cultivated human mind. In the early ages of the Church the evidence +of the genuineness of any literary production was never weighed +critically; writings containing doctrines acceptable to the majority of +Christians were quoted as authoritative while writings which supplied +no dogmatic want were overlooked, or perhaps condemned as apocryphal. +A striking instance of this is furnished by the fortunes of the +Apocalypse. Although perhaps the best authenticated work in the New +Testament collection, its millenarian doctrines caused it to become +unpopular as the Church gradually ceased to look for the speedy return +of the Messiah, and, accordingly, as the canon assumed a definite shape, +it was placed among the "Antilegomena," or doubtful books, and continued +to hold a precarious position until after the time of the Protestant +Reformation. On the other hand, the fourth gospel, which was quite +unknown and probably did not exist at the time of the Quartodeciman +controversy (A. D. 168), was accepted with little hesitation, and at the +beginning of the third century is mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement, and +Tertullian, as the work of the Apostle John. To this uncritical spirit, +leading to the neglect of such books as failed to answer the dogmatic +requirements of the Church, may probably be attributed the loss of so +many of the earlier gospels. It is doubtless for this reason that we +do not possess the Aramaean original of the "Logia" of Matthew, or +the "Memorabilia" of Mark, the companion of Peter,--two works to which +Papias (A. D. 120) alludes as containing authentic reports of the +utterances of Jesus. + +These considerations will, we believe, sufficiently explain the curious +circumstance that, while we know the Christ of dogma so intimately, +we know the Jesus of history so slightly. The literature of early +Christianity enables us to trace with tolerable completeness the +progress of opinion concerning the nature of Jesus, from the time of +Paul's early missions to the time of the Nicene Council; but upon the +actual words and deeds of Jesus it throws a very unsteady light. The +dogmatic purpose everywhere obscures the historic basis. + +This same dogmatic prepossession which has rendered the data for +a biography of Jesus so scanty and untrustworthy, has also until +comparatively recent times prevented any unbiassed critical examination +of such data as we actually possess. Previous to the eighteenth century +any attempt to deal with the life of Jesus upon purely historical +methods would have been not only contemned as irrational, but +stigmatized as impious. And even in the eighteenth century, those +writers who had become wholly emancipated from ecclesiastic tradition +were so destitute of all historic sympathy and so unskilled in +scientific methods of criticism, that they utterly failed to comprehend +the requirements of the problem. Their aims were in the main polemic, +not historical. They thought more of overthrowing current dogmas than of +impartially examining the earliest Christian literature with a view of +eliciting its historic contents; and, accordingly, they accomplished but +little. Two brilliant exceptions must, however, be noticed. Spinoza, in +the seventeenth century, and Lessing, in the eighteenth, were men far +in advance of their age. They are the fathers of modern historical +criticism; and to Lessing in particular, with his enormous erudition and +incomparable sagacity, belongs the honour of initiating that method of +inquiry which, in the hands of the so-called Tubingen School, has led to +such striking and valuable conclusions concerning, the age and character +of all the New Testament literature. But it was long before any one +could be found fit to bend the bow which Lessing and Spinoza had +wielded. A succession of able scholars--Semler, Eichhorn, Paulus, +Schleiermacher Bretschneider, and De Wette--were required to examine, +with German patience and accuracy, the details of the subject, and +to propound various untenable hypotheses, before such a work could be +performed as that of Strauss. The "Life of Jesus," published by Strauss +when only twenty-six years of age, is one of the monumental works of the +nineteenth century, worthy to rank, as a historical effort, along with +such books as Niebuhr's "History of Rome," Wolf's "Prolegomena," or +Bentley's "Dissertations on Phalaris." It instantly superseded and +rendered antiquated everything which had preceded it; nor has any work +on early Christianity been written in Germany for the past thirty years +which has not been dominated by the recollection of that marvellous +book. Nevertheless, the labours of another generation of scholars have +carried our knowledge of the New Testament literature far beyond the +point which it had reached when Strauss first wrote. At that time the +dates of but few of the New Testament writings had been fixed with any +approach to certainty; the age and character of the fourth gospel, the +genuineness of the Pauline epistles, even the mutual relations of the +three synoptics, were still undetermined; and, as a natural result of +this uncertainty, the progress of dogma during the first century was ill +understood. At the present day it is impossible to read the early work +of Strauss without being impressed with the necessity of obtaining +positive data as to the origin and dogmatic character of the New +Testament writings, before attempting to reach any conclusions as to the +probable career of Jesus. These positive data we owe to the genius +and diligence of the Tubingen School, and, above all, to its founder, +Ferdinand Christian Baur. Beginning with the epistles of Paul, of which +he distinguished four as genuine, Baur gradually worked his way through +the entire New Testament collection, detecting--with that inspired +insight which only unflinching diligence can impart to original +genius--the age at which each book was written, and the circumstances +which called it forth. To give any account of Baur's detailed +conclusions, or of the method by which he reached them, would require +a volume. They are very scantily presented in Mr. Mackay's work on the +"Tubingen School and its Antecedents," to which we may refer the reader +desirous of further information. We can here merely say that twenty +years of energetic controversy have only served to establish most of +Baur's leading conclusions more firmly than ever. The priority of the +so-called gospel of Matthew, the Pauline purpose of "Luke," the second +in date of our gospels, the derivative and second-hand character of +"Mark," and the unapostolic origin of the fourth gospel, are points +which may for the future be regarded as wellnigh established by +circumstantial evidence. So with respect to the pseudo-Pauline epistles, +Baur's work was done so thoroughly that the only question still left +open for much discussion is that concerning the date and authorship +of the first and second "Thessalonians,"--a point of quite inferior +importance, so far as our present subject is concerned. Seldom have such +vast results been achieved by the labour of a single scholar. Seldom has +any historical critic possessed such a combination of analytic and +of co-ordinating powers as Baur. His keen criticism and his wonderful +flashes of insight exercise upon the reader a truly poetic effect like +that which is felt in contemplating the marvels of physical discovery. + +The comprehensive labours of Baur were followed up by Zeller's able work +on the "Acts of the Apostles," in which that book was shown to have been +partly founded upon documents written by Luke, or some other companion +of Paul, and expanded and modified by a much later writer with the +purpose of covering up the traces of the early schism between the +Pauline and the Petrine sections of the Church. Along with this, +Schwegler's work on the "Post-Apostolic Times" deserves mention as +clearing up many obscure points relating to the early development +of dogma. Finally, the "New Life of Jesus," by Strauss, adopting and +utilizing the principal discoveries of Baur and his followers, and +combining all into one grand historical picture, worthily completes the +task which the earlier work of the same author had inaugurated. + +The reader will have noticed that, with the exception of Spinoza, every +one of the names above cited in connection with the literary analysis +and criticism of the New Testament is the name of a German. Until +within the last decade, Germany has indeed possessed almost an absolute +monopoly of the science of Biblical criticism; other countries having +remained not only unfamiliar with its methods, but even grossly ignorant +of its conspicuous results, save when some German treatise of more than +ordinary popularity has now and then been translated. But during +the past ten years France has entered the lists; and the writings of +Reville, Reuss, Nicolas, D'Eichthal, Scherer, and Colani testify to the +rapidity with which the German seed has fructified upon her soil. [18] + + [18] But now, in annexing Alsace, Germany has "annexed" pretty +much the whole of this department of French scholarship,--a curious +incidental consequence of the late war. + + +None of these books, however, has achieved such wide-spread celebrity, +or done so much toward interesting the general public in this class +of historical inquiries, as the "Life of Jesus," by Renan. This +pre-eminence of fame is partly, but not wholly, deserved. From a purely +literary point of view, Renan's work doubtless merits all the celebrity +it has gained. Its author writes a style such as is perhaps surpassed by +that of no other living Frenchman. It is by far the most readable book +which has ever been written concerning the life of Jesus. And no doubt +some of its popularity is due to its very faults, which, from a critical +point of view, are neither few nor small. For Renan is certainly very +faulty, as a historical critic, when he practically ignores the extreme +meagreness of our positive knowledge of the career of Jesus, and +describes scene after scene in his life as minutely and with as much +confidence as if he had himself been present to witness it all. Again +and again the critical reader feels prompted to ask, How do you know all +this? or why, out of two or three conflicting accounts, do you +quietly adopt some particular one, as if its superior authority were +self-evident? But in the eye of the uncritical reader, these defects are +excellences; for it is unpleasant to be kept in ignorance when we are +seeking after definite knowledge, and it is disheartening to read page +after page of an elaborate discussion which ends in convincing us that +definite knowledge cannot be gained. + +In the thirteenth edition of the "Vie de Jesus," Renan has corrected +some of the most striking errors of the original work, and in particular +has, with praiseworthy candour, abandoned his untenable position with +regard to the age and character of the fourth gospel. As is well known, +Renan, in his earlier editions, ascribed to this gospel a historical +value superior to that of the synoptics, believing it to have been +written by an eyewitness of the events which it relates; and from this +source, accordingly, he drew the larger share of his materials. Now, +if there is any one conclusion concerning the New Testament literature +which must be regarded as incontrovertibly established by the labours of +a whole generation of scholars, it is this, that the fourth gospel was +utterly unknown until about A. D. 170, that it was written by some +one who possessed very little direct knowledge of Palestine, that its +purpose was rather to expound a dogma than to give an accurate record of +events, and that as a guide to the comprehension of the career of +Jesus it is of far less value than the three synoptic gospels. It +is impossible, in a brief review like the present, to epitomize the +evidence upon which this conclusion rests, which may more profitably +be sought in the Rev. J. J. Tayler's work on "The Fourth Gospel," or +in Davidson's "Introduction to the New Testament." It must suffice to +mention that this gospel is not cited by Papias; that Justin, Marcion, +and Valentinus make no allusion to it, though, since it furnishes so +much that is germane to their views, they would gladly have appealed +to it, had it been in existence, when those views were as yet under +discussion; and that, finally, in the great Quartodeciman controversy, +A. D. 168, the gospel is not only not mentioned, but the authority of +John is cited by Polycarp in flat contradiction of the view afterwards +taken by this evangelist. Still more, the assumption of Renan led at +once into complicated difficulties with reference to the Apocalypse. The +fourth gospel, if it does not unmistakably announce itself as the work +of John, at least professes to be Johannine; and it cannot for a moment +be supposed that such a book, making such claims, could have gained +currency during John's lifetime without calling forth his indignant +protest. For, in reality, no book in the New Testament collection would +so completely have shocked the prejudices of the Johannine party. John's +own views are well known to us from the Apocalypse. John was the most +enthusiastic of millenarians and the most narrow and rigid of Judaizers. +In his antagonism to the Pauline innovations he went farther than Peter +himself. Intense hatred of Paul and his followers appears in several +passages of the Apocalypse, where they are stigmatized as "Nicolaitans," +"deceivers of the people," "those who say they are apostles and are +not," "eaters of meat offered to idols," "fornicators," "pretended +Jews," "liars," "synagogue of Satan," etc. (Chap. II.). On the other +hand, the fourth gospel contains nothing millenarian or Judaical; it +carries Pauline universalism to a far greater extent than Paul himself +ventured to carry it, even condemning the Jews as children of darkness, +and by implication contrasting them unfavourably with the Gentiles; +and it contains a theory of the nature of Jesus which the Ebionitish +Christians, to whom John belonged, rejected to the last. + +In his present edition Renan admits the insuperable force of these +objections, and abandons his theory of the apostolic origin of the +fourth gospel. And as this has necessitated the omission or alteration +of all such passages as rested upon the authority of that gospel, the +book is to a considerable extent rewritten, and the changes are such as +greatly to increase its value as a history of Jesus. Nevertheless, the +author has so long been in the habit of shaping his conceptions of the +career of Jesus by the aid of the fourth gospel, that it has become +very difficult for him to pass freely to another point of view. He still +clings to the hypothesis that there is an element of historic tradition +contained in the book, drawn from memorial writings which had perhaps +been handed down from John, and which were inaccessible to the +synoptists. In a very interesting appendix, he collects the evidence +in favour of this hypothesis, which indeed is not without plausibility, +since there is every reason for supposing that the gospel was written at +Ephesus, which a century before had been John's place of residence. But +even granting most of Renan's assumptions, it must still follow that the +authority of this gospel is far inferior to that of the synoptics, and +can in no case be very confidently appealed to. The question is one +of the first importance to the historian of early Christianity. In +inquiring into the life of Jesus, the very first thing to do is to +establish firmly in the mind the true relations of the fourth gospel to +the first three. Until this has been done, no one is competent to write +on the subject; and it is because he has done this so imperfectly, +that Renan's work is, from a critical point of view, so imperfectly +successful. + +The anonymous work entitled "The Jesus of History," which we have placed +at the head of this article, is in every respect noteworthy as the first +systematic attempt made in England to follow in the footsteps of German +criticism in writing a life of Jesus. We know of no good reason why +the book should be published anonymously; for as a historical essay it +possesses extraordinary merit, and does great credit not only to its +author, but to English scholarship and acumen. [19] It is not, indeed, +a book calculated to captivate the imagination of the reading public. +Though written in a clear, forcible, and often elegant style, it +possesses no such wonderful rhetorical charm as the work of Renan; +and it will probably never find half a dozen readers where the "Vie de +Jesus" has found a hundred. But the success of a book of this sort is +not to be measured by its rhetorical excellence, or by its adaptation to +the literary tastes of an uncritical and uninstructed public, but rather +by the amount of critical sagacity which it brings to bear upon the +elucidation of the many difficult and disputed points in the subject of +which it treats. Measured by this standard, "The Jesus of History" must +rank very high indeed. To say that it throws more light upon the career +of Jesus than any work which has ever before been written in English +would be very inadequate praise, since the English language has been +singularly deficient in this branch of historical literature. We shall +convey a more just idea of its merits if we say that it will bear +comparison with anything which even Germany has produced, save only the +works of Strauss, Baur, and Zeller. + + [19] "The Jesus of History" is now known to have been written by +Sir Richard Hanson, Chief Justice of South Australia. + + +The fitness of our author for the task which he has undertaken is shown +at the outset by his choice of materials. In basing his conclusions +almost exclusively upon the statements contained in the first gospel, he +is upheld by every sound principle of criticism. The times and places +at which our three synoptic gospels were written have been, through the +labours of the Tubingen critics, determined almost to a certainty. Of +the three, "Mark" is unquestionably the latest; with the exception of +about twenty verses, it is entirely made up from "Matthew" and "Luke," +the diverse Petrine and Pauline tendencies of which it strives to +neutralize in conformity to the conciliatory disposition of the Church +at Rome, at the epoch at which this gospel was written, about A. D. 130. +The third gospel was also written at Rome, some fifteen years earlier. +In the preface, its author describes it as a compilation from previously +existing written materials. Among these materials was certainly the +first gospel, several passages of which are adopted word for word by the +author of "Luke." Yet the narrative varies materially from that of the +first gospel in many essential points. The arrangement of events is +less natural, and, as in the "Acts of the Apostles," by the same author, +there is apparent throughout the design of suppressing the old +discord between Paul and the Judaizing disciples, and of representing +Christianity as essentially Pauline from the outset. How far Paul was +correct in his interpretation of the teachings of Jesus, it is difficult +to decide. It is, no doubt, possible that the first gospel may have lent +to the words of Jesus an Ebionite colouring in some instances, and that +now and then the third gospel may present us with a truer account. +To this supremely important point we shall by and by return. For the +present it must suffice to observe that the evidences of an overruling +dogmatic purpose are generally much more conspicuous in the third +synoptist than in the first; and that the very loose manner in which +this writer has handled his materials in the "Acts" is not calculated to +inspire us with confidence in the historical accuracy of his gospel. +The writer who, in spite of the direct testimony of Paul himself could +represent the apostle to the Gentiles as acting under the direction of +the disciples at Jerusalem, and who puts Pauline sentiments into the +mouth of Peter, would certainly have been capable of unwarrantably +giving a Pauline turn to the teachings of Jesus himself. We are +therefore, as a last resort, brought back to the first gospel, which we +find to possess, as a historical narrative, far stronger claims upon our +attention than the second and third. In all probability it had assumed +nearly its present shape before A. D. 100, its origin is unmistakably +Palestinian; it betrays comparatively few indications of dogmatic +purpose; and there are strong reasons for believing that the speeches of +Jesus recorded in it are in substance taken from the genuine "Logia" of +Matthew mentioned by Papias, which must have been written as early as A. +D. 60-70, before the destruction of Jerusalem. Indeed, we are inclined +to agree with our author that the gospel, even in its present shape +(save only a few interpolated passages), may have existed as early as +A. D. 80, since it places the time of Jesus' second coming immediately +after the destruction of Jerusalem; whereas the third evangelist, who +wrote forty-five years after that event, is careful to tell us, "The +end is NOT immediately." Moreover, it must have been written while the +Paulo-Petrine controversy was still raging, as is shown by the parable +of the "enemy who sowed the tares," which manifestly refers to Paul, and +also by the allusions to "false prophets" (vii. 15), to those who say +"Lord, Lord," and who "cast out demons in the name of the Lord" (vii. +21-23), teaching men to break the commandments (v. 17-20). There is, +therefore, good reason for believing that we have here a narrative +written not much more than fifty years after the death of Jesus, +based partly upon the written memorials of an apostle, and in the main +trustworthy, save where it relates occurrences of a marvellous and +legendary character. Such is our author's conclusion, and in describing +the career of the Jesus of history, he relies almost exclusively upon +the statements contained in the first gospel. Let us now after this long +but inadequate introduction, give a brief sketch of the life of Jesus, +as it is to be found in our author. + + +Concerning the time and place of the birth of Jesus, we know next to +nothing. According to uniform tradition, based upon a statement of the +third gospel, he was about thirty years of age at the time when he began +teaching. The same gospel states, with elaborate precision, that +the public career of John the Baptist began in the fifteenth year of +Tiberius, or A. D. 28. In the winter of A. D. 35-36, Pontius Pilate was +recalled from Judaea, so that the crucifixion could not have taken place +later than in the spring of 35. Thus we have a period of about six years +during which the ministry of Jesus must have begun and ended; and if the +tradition with respect to his age be trustworthy, we shall not be far +out of the way in supposing him to have been born somewhere between B. +C. 5 and A. D. 5. He is everywhere alluded to in the gospels as Jesus +of Nazareth in Galilee, where lived also his father, mother brothers and +sisters, and where very likely he was born. His parents' names are +said to have been Joseph and Mary. His own name is a Hellenized form of +Joshua, a name very common among the Jews. According to the first gospel +(xiii. 55), he had four brothers,--Joseph and Simon; James, who was +afterwards one of the heads of the church at Jerusalem, and the most +formidable enemy of Paul; and Judas or Jude, who is perhaps the author +of the anti-Pauline epistle commonly ascribed to him. + +Of the early youth of Jesus, and of the circumstances which guided his +intellectual development, we know absolutely nothing, nor have we the +data requisite for forming any plausible hypothesis. He first appears +in history about A. D. 29 or 30, in connection with a very remarkable +person whom the third evangelist describes as his cousin, and who +seems, from his mode of life, to have been in some way connected with or +influenced by the Hellenizing sect of Essenes. Here we obtain our first +clew to guide us in forming a consecutive theory of the development of +Jesus' opinions. The sect of Essenes took its rise in the time of the +Maccabees, about B. C. 170. Upon the fundamental doctrines of Judaism it +had engrafted many Pythagorean notions, and was doubtless in the time of +Jesus instrumental in spreading Greek ideas among the people of Galilee, +where Judaism was far from being so narrow and rigid as at Jerusalem. +The Essenes attached but little importance to the Messianic expectations +of the Pharisees, and mingled scarcely at all in national politics. +They lived for the most part a strictly ascetic life, being indeed the +legitimate predecessors of the early Christian hermits and monks. But +while pre-eminent for sanctity of life, they heaped ridicule upon the +entire sacrificial service of the Temple, despised the Pharisees as +hypocrites, and insisted upon charity toward all men instead of the old +Jewish exclusiveness. + +It was once a favourite theory that both John the Baptist and Jesus were +members of the Essenian brotherhood; but that theory is now generally +abandoned. Whatever may have been the case with John, who is said to +have lived like an anchorite in the desert, there seems to have been but +little practical Essenism in Jesus, who is almost uniformly represented +as cheerful and social in demeanour, and against whom it was expressly +urged that he came eating and drinking, making no presence of +puritanical holiness. He was neither a puritan, like the Essenes, nor a +ritualist, like the Pharisees. Besides which, both John and Jesus seem +to have begun their careers by preaching the un-Essene doctrine of the +speedy advent of the "kingdom of heaven," by which is meant the reign of +the Messiah upon the earth. Nevertheless, though we cannot regard Jesus +as actually a member of the Essenian community or sect, we can hardly +avoid the conclusion that he, as well as John the Baptist, had been at +some time strongly influenced by Essenian doctrines. The spiritualized +conception of the "kingdom of heaven" proclaimed by him was just what +would naturally and logically arise from a remodelling of the Messianic +theories of the Pharisees in conformity to advanced Essenian notions. It +seems highly probable that some such refined conception of the functions +of the Messiah was reached by John, who, stigmatizing the Pharisees and +Sadducees as a "generation of vipers," called aloud to the people to +repent of their sins, in view of the speedy advent of the Messiah, and +to testify to their repentance by submitting to the Essenian rite of +baptism. There is no positive evidence that Jesus was ever a disciple +of John; yet the account of the baptism, in spite of the legendary +character of its details, seems to rest upon a historical basis; and +perhaps the most plausible hypothesis which can be framed is, that Jesus +received baptism at John's hands, became for a while his disciple, and +acquired from him a knowledge of Essenian doctrines. + +The career of John seems to have been very brief. His stern puritanism +brought him soon into disgrace with the government of Galilee. He was +seized by Herod, thrown into prison, and beheaded. After the brief hints +given as to the intercourse between Jesus and John, we next hear of +Jesus alone in the desert, where, like Sakyamuni and Mohammed, he may +have brooded in solitude over his great project. Yet we do not find that +he had as yet formed any distinct conception of his own Messiahship. +The total neglect of chronology by our authorities [20] renders it +impossible to trace the development of his thoughts step by step; but +for some time after John's catastrophe we find him calling upon the +people to repent, in view of the speedy approach of the Messiah, +speaking with great and commanding personal authority, but using no +language which would indicate that he was striving to do more than +worthily fill the place and add to the good work of his late master. The +Sermon on the Mount, which the first gospel inserts in this place, was +perhaps never spoken as a continuous discourse; but it no doubt for the +most part contains the very words of Jesus, and represents the general +spirit of his teaching during this earlier portion of his career. In +this is contained nearly all that has made Christianity so powerful in +the domain of ethics. If all the rest of the gospel were taken away, +or destroyed in the night of some future barbarian invasion, we should +still here possess the secret of the wonderful impression which Jesus +made upon those who heard him speak. Added to the Essenian scorn of +Pharisaic formalism, and the spiritualized conception of the Messianic +kingdom, which Jesus may probably have shared with John the Baptist, we +have here for the first time the distinctively Christian conception +of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, which ultimately +insured the success of the new religion. The special point of +originality in Jesus was his conception of Deity. As Strauss well says, +"He conceived of God, in a moral point of view, as being identical in +character with himself in the most exalted moments of his religious +life, and strengthened in turn his own religious life by this ideal. But +the most exalted religious tendency in his own consciousness was exactly +that comprehensive love, overpowering the evil only by the good, which +he therefore transferred to God as the fundamental tendency of His +nature." From this conception of God, observes Zeller, flowed naturally +all the moral teaching of Jesus, the insistence upon spiritual +righteousness instead of the mere mechanical observance of Mosaic +precepts, the call to be perfect even as the Father is perfect, the +principle of the spiritual equality of men before God, and the equal +duties of all men toward each other. + + [20] "The biographers [of Becket] are commonly rather careless as +to the order of time. Each.... recorded what struck him most or what +he best knew, one set down one event and another; and none of them paid +much regard to the order of details."--Freeman, Historical Essays, 1st +series, p. 94. + + +How far, in addition to these vitally important lessons, Jesus may have +taught doctrines of an ephemeral or visionary character, it is very +difficult to decide. We are inclined to regard the third gospel as +of some importance in settling this point. The author of that gospel +represents Jesus as decidedly hostile to the rich. Where Matthew has +"Blessed are the poor in spirit," Luke has "Blessed are ye poor." In +the first gospel we read, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after +righteousness, for they will be filled"; but in the third gospel we +find, "Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye will be filled"; and this +assurance is immediately followed by the denunciation, "Woe to you that +are rich, for ye have received your consolation! Woe to you that +are full now, for ye will hunger." The parable of Dives and Lazarus +illustrates concretely this view of the case, which is still further +corroborated by the account, given in both the first and the third +gospels, of the young man who came to seek everlasting life. Jesus here +maintains that righteousness is insufficient unless voluntary poverty be +superadded. Though the young man has strictly fulfilled the greatest of +the commandments,--to love his neighbour as himself,--he is required, as +a needful proof of his sincerity, to distribute all his vast possessions +among the poor. And when he naturally manifests a reluctance to perform +so superfluous a sacrifice, Jesus observes that it will be easier for a +camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to share +in the glories of the anticipated Messianic kingdom. It is difficult to +escape the conclusion that we have here a very primitive and probably +authentic tradition; and when we remember the importance which, +according to the "Acts," the earliest disciples attached to the +principle of communism, as illustrated in the legend of Ananias and +Sapphira, we must admit strong reasons for believing that Jesus himself +held views which tended toward the abolition of private property. +On this point, the testimony of the third evangelist singly is of +considerable weight; since at the time when he wrote, the communistic +theories of the first generation of Christians had been generally +abandoned, and in the absence of any dogmatic motives, he could only +have inserted these particular traditions because he believed them to +possess historical value. But we are not dependent on the third gospel +alone. The story just cited is attested by both our authorities, and is +in perfect keeping with the general views of Jesus as reported by the +first evangelist. Thus his disciples are enjoined to leave all, and +follow him; to take no thought for the morrow; to think no more of +laying up treasures on the earth, for in the Messianic kingdom they +shall have treasures in abundance, which can neither be wasted nor +stolen. On making their journeys, they are to provide neither money, +nor clothes, nor food, but are to live at the expense of those whom +they visit; and if any town refuse to harbour them, the Messiah, on his +arrival, will deal with that town more severely than Jehovah dealt with +the cities of the plain. Indeed, since the end of the world was to come +before the end of the generation then living (Matt. xxiv. 34; 1 Cor. xv. +51-56, vii. 29), there could be no need for acquiring property or making +arrangements for the future; even marriage became unnecessary. These +teachings of Jesus have a marked Essenian character, as well as his +declaration that in the Messianic kingdom there was to be no more +marriage, perhaps no distinction of sex (Matt. xxii. 30). The sect +of Ebionites, who represented the earliest doctrine and practice of +Christianity before it had been modified by Paul, differed from the +Essenes in no essential respect save in the acknowledgment of Jesus as +the Messiah, and the expectation of his speedy return to the earth. + +How long, or with what success, Jesus continued to preach the coming +of the Messiah in Galilee, it is impossible to conjecture. His +fellow-townsmen of Nazareth appear to have ridiculed him in his +prophetical capacity; or, if we may trust the third evangelist, to have +arisen against him with indignation, and made an attempt upon his life. +To them he was but a carpenter, the son of a carpenter (Matt. xiii. 55; +Mark vi. 3), who told them disagreeable truths. Our author represents +his teaching in Galilee to have produced but little result, but the +gospel narratives afford no definite data for deciding this point. We +believe the most probable conclusion to be that Jesus did attract many +followers, and became famous throughout Galilee; for Herod is said to +have regarded him as John the Baptist risen from the grave. To escape +the malice of Herod, Jesus then retired to Syro-Phoenicia, and during +this eventful journey the consciousness of his own Messiahship seems for +the first time to have distinctly dawned upon him (Matt. xiv. 1, 13; xv. +21; xvi. 13-20). Already, it appears, speculations were rife as to +the character of this wonderful preacher. Some thought he was John the +Baptist, or perhaps one of the prophets of the Assyrian period returned +to the earth. Some, in accordance with a generally-received tradition, +supposed him to be Elijah, who had never seen death, and had now at last +returned from the regions above the firmament to announce the coming of +the Messiah in the clouds. It was generally admitted, among enthusiastic +hearers, that he who spake as never man spake before must have some +divine commission to execute. These speculations, coming to the ears of +Jesus during his preaching in Galilee, could not fail to excite in him +a train of self-conscious reflections. To him also must have been +presented the query as to his own proper character and functions; +and, as our author acutely demonstrates, his only choice lay between a +profitless life of exile in Syro-Phoenicia, and a bold return to +Jewish territory in some pronounced character. The problem being thus +propounded, there could hardly be a doubt as to what that character +should be. Jesus knew well that he was not John the Baptist; nor, +however completely he may have been dominated by his sublime enthusiasm, +was it likely that he could mistake himself for an ancient prophet +arisen from the lower world of shades, or for Elijah descended from +the sky. But the Messiah himself he might well be. Such indeed was the +almost inevitable corollary from his own conception of Messiahship. +We have seen that he had, probably from the very outset, discarded the +traditional notion of a political Messiah, and recognized the truth that +the happiness of a people lies not so much in political autonomy as in +the love of God and the sincere practice of righteousness. The people +were to be freed from the bondage of sin, of meaningless formalism, of +consecrated hypocrisy,--a bondage more degrading than the payment of +tribute to the emperor. The true business of the Messiah, then, was to +deliver his people from the former bondage; it might be left to Jehovah, +in his own good time, to deliver them from the latter. Holding these +views, it was hardly possible that it should not sooner or later occur +to Jesus that he himself was the person destined to discharge this +glorious function, to liberate his countrymen from the thraldom of +Pharisaic ritualism, and to inaugurate the real Messianic kingdom of +spiritual righteousness. Had he not already preached the advent of this +spiritual kingdom, and been instrumental in raising many to loftier +conceptions of duty, and to a higher and purer life? And might he +not now, by a grand attack upon Pharisaism in its central stronghold, +destroy its prestige in the eyes of the people, and cause Israel to +adopt a nobler religious and ethical doctrine? The temerity of such a +purpose detracts nothing from its sublimity. And if that purpose should +be accomplished, Jesus would really have performed the legitimate work +of the Messiah. Thus, from his own point of view, Jesus was thoroughly +consistent and rational in announcing himself as the expected Deliverer; +and in the eyes of the impartial historian his course is fully +justified. + +"From that time," says the first evangelist, "Jesus began to show to his +disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from +the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and rise +again on the third day." Here we have, obviously, the knowledge of the +writer, after the event, reflected back and attributed to Jesus. It +is of course impossible that Jesus should have predicted with such +definiteness his approaching death; nor is it very likely that he +entertained any hope of being raised from the grave "on the third day." +To a man in that age and country, the conception of a return from the +lower world of shades was not a difficult one to frame; and it may well +be that Jesus' sense of his own exalted position was sufficiently great +to inspire him with the confidence that, even in case of temporary +failure, Jehovah would rescue him from the grave and send him back +with larger powers to carry out the purpose of his mission. But +the difficulty of distinguishing between his own words and the +interpretation put upon them by his disciples becomes here insuperable; +and there will always be room for the hypothesis that Jesus had in +view no posthumous career of his own, but only expressed his unshaken +confidence in the success of his enterprise, even after and in spite of +his death. + +At all events, the possibility of his death must now have been often in +his mind. He was undertaking a wellnigh desperate task,--to overthrow +the Pharisees in Jerusalem itself. No other alternative was left him. +And here we believe Mr. F. W. Newman to be singularly at fault in +pronouncing this attempt of Jesus upon Jerusalem a foolhardy attempt. +According to Mr. Newman, no man has any business to rush upon certain +death, and it is only a crazy fanatic who will do so. [21] But such +"glittering generalizations" will here help us but little. The historic +data show that to go to Jerusalem, even at the risk of death, was +absolutely necessary to the realization of Jesus' Messianic project. +Mr. Newman certainly would not have had him drag out an inglorious and +baffled existence in Syro-Phoenicia. If the Messianic kingdom was to be +fairly inaugurated, there was work to be done in Jerusalem, and Jesus +must go there as one in authority, cost what it might. We believe him to +have gone there in a spirit of grand and careless bravery, yet seriously +and soberly, and under the influence of no fanatical delusion. He +knew the risks, but deliberately chose to incur them, that the will of +Jehovah might be accomplished. + +We next hear of Jesus travelling down to Jerusalem by way of Jericho, +and entering the sacred city in his character of Messiah, attended by a +great multitude. It was near the time of the Passover, when people from +all parts of Galilee and Judaea were sure to be at Jerusalem, and the +nature of his reception seems to indicate that he had already secured a +considerable number of followers upon whose assistance he might hope +to rely, though it nowhere appears that he intended to use other than +purely moral weapons to insure a favourable reception. We must remember +that for half a century many of the Jewish people had been constantly +looking for the arrival of the Messiah, and there can be little doubt +that the entry of Jesus riding upon an ass in literal fulfilment of +prophecy must have wrought powerfully upon the imagination of the +multitude. That the believers in him were very numerous must be +inferred from the cautious, not to say timid, behaviour of the rulers +at Jerusalem, who are represented as desiring to arrest him, but as +deterred from taking active steps through fear of the people. We are +led to the same conclusion by his driving the money-changers out of the +Temple; an act upon which he could hardly have ventured, had not the +popular enthusiasm in his favour been for the moment overwhelming. But +the enthusiasm of a mob is short-lived, and needs to be fed upon the +excitement of brilliant and dramatically arranged events. The calm +preacher of righteousness, or even the fiery denouncer of the scribes +and Pharisees, could not hope to retain undiminished authority save by +the display of extraordinary powers to which, so far as we know, Jesus +(like Mohammed) made no presence (Matt. xvi. 1-4). The ignorant and +materialistic populace could not understand the exalted conception of +Messiahship which had been formed by Jesus, and as day after day elapsed +without the appearance of any marvellous sign from Jehovah, their +enthusiasm must naturally have cooled down. Then the Pharisees appear +cautiously endeavouring to entrap him into admissions which might +render him obnoxious to the Roman governor. He saw through their design, +however, and foiled them by the magnificent repartee, "Render unto +Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that +are God's." Nothing could more forcibly illustrate the completely +non-political character of his Messianic doctrines. Nevertheless, we +are told that, failing in this attempt, the chief priests suborned false +witnesses to testify against him: this Sabbath-breaker, this derider of +Mosaic formalism, who with his Messianic pretensions excited the people +against their hereditary teachers, must at all events be put out of the +way. Jesus must suffer the fate which society has too often had in store +for the reformer; the fate which Sokrates and Savonarola, Vanini +and Bruno, have suffered for being wiser than their own generation. +Messianic adventurers had already given much trouble to the Roman +authorities, who were not likely to scrutinize critically the peculiar +claims of Jesus. And when the chief priests accused him before Pilate +of professing to be "King of the Jews," this claim could in Roman +apprehension bear but one interpretation. The offence was treason, +punishable, save in the case of Roman citizens, by crucifixion. + + [21] Phases of Faith, pp. 158-164. + + +Such in its main outlines is the historic career of Jesus, as +constructed by our author from data furnished chiefly by the first +gospel. Connected with the narrative there are many interesting topics +of discussion, of which our rapidly diminishing space will allow us to +select only one for comment. That one is perhaps the most important of +all, namely, the question as to how far Jesus anticipated the views of +Paul in admitting Gentiles to share in the privileges of the Messianic +kingdom. Our author argues, with much force, that the designs of Jesus +were entirely confined to the Jewish people, and that it was Paul who +first, by admitting Gentiles to the Christian fold without requiring +them to live like Jews, gave to Christianity the character of a +universal religion. Our author reminds us that the third gospel is not +to be depended upon in determining this point, since it manifestly puts +Pauline sentiments into the mouth of Jesus, and in particular attributes +to Jesus an acquaintance with heretical Samaria which the first gospel +disclaims. He argues that the apostles were in every respect Jews, save +in their belief that Jesus was the Messiah; and he pertinently asks, if +James, who was the brother of Jesus, and Peter and John, who were his +nearest friends, unanimously opposed Paul and stigmatized him as a +liar and heretic, is it at all likely that Jesus had ever distinctly +sanctioned such views as Paul maintained? + +In the course of many years' reflection upon this point, we have several +times been inclined to accept the narrow interpretation of Jesus' +teaching here indicated; yet, on the whole, we do not believe it +can ever be conclusively established. In the first place it must be +remembered that if the third gospel throws a Pauline colouring over +the events which it describes, the first gospel also shows a decidedly +anti-Pauline bias, and the one party was as likely as the other to +attribute its own views to Jesus himself. One striking instance of this +tendency has been pointed out by Strauss, who has shown that the verses +Matt. v. 17-20 are an interpolation. The person who teaches men to break +the commandments is undoubtedly Paul, and in order to furnish a text +against Paul's followers, the "Nicolaitans," Jesus is made to declare +that he came not to destroy one tittle of the law, but to fulfil +the whole in every particular. Such an utterance is in manifest +contradiction to the spirit of Jesus' teaching, as shown in the very +same chapter, and throughout a great part of the same gospel. He who +taught in his own name and not as the scribes, who proclaimed himself +Lord over the Sabbath, and who manifested from first to last a more than +Essenian contempt for rites and ceremonies, did not come to fulfil the +law of Mosaism, but to supersede it. Nor can any inference adverse to +this conclusion be drawn from the injunction to the disciples (Matt. +x. 5-7) not to preach to Gentiles and Samaritans, but only "to the lost +sheep of the house of Israel"; for this remark is placed before the +beginning of Jesus' Messianic career, and the reason assigned for the +restriction is merely that the disciples will not have time even to +preach to all the Jews before the coming of the Messiah, whose approach +Jesus was announcing (Matt. x. 23) + +These examples show that we must use caution in weighing the testimony +even of the first gospel, and must not too hastily cite it as proof that +Jesus supposed his mission to be restricted to the Jews. When we come to +consider what happened a few years after the death of Jesus, we shall +be still less ready to insist upon the view defended by our anonymous +author. Paul, according to his own confession, persecuted the Christians +unto death. Now what, in the theories or in the practice of the Jewish +disciples of Jesus, could have moved Paul to such fanatic behaviour? +Certainly not their spiritual interpretation of Mosaism, for Paul +himself belonged to the liberal school of Gamaliel, to the views of +which the teachings and practices of Peter, James, and John might easily +be accommodated. Probably not their belief in Jesus as the Messiah, +for at the riot in which Stephen was murdered and all the Hellenist +disciples driven from Jerusalem, the Jewish disciples were allowed +to remain in the city unmolested. (See Acts viii. 1, 14.) This marked +difference of treatment indicates that Paul regarded Stephen and his +friends as decidedly more heretical and obnoxious than Peter, James, and +John, whom, indeed, Paul's own master Gamaliel had recently (Acts v. 34) +defended before the council. And this inference is fully confirmed by +the account of Stephen's death, where his murderers charge him with +maintaining that Jesus had founded a new religion which was destined +entirely to supersede and replace Judaism (Acts vi. 14). The Petrine +disciples never held this view of the mission of Jesus; and to this +difference it is undoubtedly owing that Paul and his companions forbore +to disturb them. It would thus appear that even previous to Paul's +conversion, within five or six years after the death of Jesus, there was +a prominent party among the disciples which held that the new religion +was not a modification but an abrogation of Judaism; and their name +"Hellenists" sufficiently shows either that there were Gentiles among +them or that they held fellowship with Gentiles. It was this which +aroused Paul to persecution, and upon his sudden conversion it was with +these Hellenistic doctrines that he fraternized, taking little heed of +the Petrine disciples (Galatians i. 17), who were hardly more than a +Jewish sect. + +Now the existence of these Hellenists at Jerusalem so soon after +the death of Jesus is clear proof that he had never distinctly and +irrevocably pronounced against the admission of Gentiles to the +Messianic kingdom, and it makes it very probable that the downfall of +Mosaism as a result of his preaching was by no means unpremeditated. +While, on the other hand, the obstinacy of the Petrine party in adhering +to Jewish customs shows equally that Jesus could not have unequivocally +committed himself in favour of a new gospel for the Gentiles. Probably +Jesus was seldom brought into direct contact with others than Jews, so +that the questions concerning the admission of Gentile converts did +not come up during his lifetime; and thus the way was left open for the +controversy which soon broke out between the Petrine party and Paul. +Nevertheless, though Jesus may never have definitely pronounced upon +this point, it will hardly be denied that his teaching, even as reported +in the first gospel, is in its utter condemnation of formalism far more +closely allied to the Pauline than to the Petrine doctrines. In his +hands Mosaism became spiritualized until it really lost its identity, +and was transformed into a code fit for the whole Roman world. And we do +not doubt that if any one had asked Jesus whether circumcision were an +essential prerequisite for admission to the Messianic kingdom, he would +have given the same answer which Paul afterwards gave. We agree with +Zeller and Strauss that, "as Luther was a more liberal spirit than +the Lutheran divines of the succeeding generation, and Sokrates a more +profound thinker than Xenophon or Antisthenes, so also Jesus must +be credited with having raised himself far higher above the narrow +prejudices of his nation than those of his disciples who could scarcely +understand the spread of Christianity among the heathen when it had +become an accomplished fact." + + January, 1870. + + + + +IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA. [22] + + [22] Saint-Paul, par Ernest Renan. Paris, 1869. + +Histoire du Dogme de la Divinite de Jesus-Christ, par Albert Reville. +Paris, 1869. + +The End of the World and the Day of Judgment. Two Discourses by the Rev. +W. R. Alger. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870. + + +The meagreness of our information concerning the historic career of +Jesus stands in striking contrast with the mass of information which +lies within our reach concerning the primitive character of Christologic +speculation. First we have the four epistles of Paul, written from +twenty to thirty years after the crucifixion, which, although they tell +us next to nothing about what Jesus did, nevertheless give us very +plain information as to the impression which he made. Then we have the +Apocalypse, written by John, A. D. 68, which exhibits the Messianic +theory entertained by the earliest disciples. Next we have the epistles +to the Hebrews, Philippians, Colossians, and Ephesians, besides the four +gospels, constituting altogether a connected chain of testimony to the +progress of Christian doctrine from the destruction of Jerusalem to the +time of the Quartodeciman controversy (A. D. 70-170). Finally, there is +the vast collection of apocryphal, heretical, and patristic literature, +from the writings of Justin Martyr, the pseudo-Clement, and the +pseudo-Ignatius, down to the time of the Council of Nikaia, when the +official theories of Christ's person assumed very nearly the shape which +they have retained, within the orthodox churches of Christendom, down +to the present day. As we pointed out in the foregoing essay, while all +this voluminous literature throws but an uncertain light upon the life +and teachings of the founder of Christianity, it nevertheless furnishes +nearly all the data which we could desire for knowing what the early +Christians thought of the master of their faith. Having given a brief +account of the historic career of Jesus, so far as it can now be +determined, we propose here to sketch the rise and progress of +Christologic doctrine, in its most striking features, during the first +three centuries. Beginning with the apostolic view of the human Messiah +sent to deliver Judaism from its spiritual torpor, and prepare it +for the millennial kingdom, we shall briefly trace the progressive +metamorphosis of this conception until it completely loses its identity +in the Athanasian theory, according to which Jesus was God himself, the +Creator of the universe, incarnate in human flesh. + +The earliest dogma held by the apostles concerning Jesus was that of his +resurrection from the grave after death. It was not only the earliest, +but the most essential to the success of the new religion. Christianity +might have overspread the Roman Empire, and maintained its hold upon +men's faith until to-day, without the dogmas of the incarnation and the +Trinity; but without the dogma of the resurrection it would probably +have failed at the very outset. Its lofty morality would not alone have +sufficed to insure its success. For what men needed then, as indeed they +still need, and will always need, was not merely a rule of life and a +mirror to the heart, but also a comprehensive and satisfactory theory +of things, a philosophy or theosophy. The times demanded intellectual as +well as moral consolation; and the disintegration of ancient theologies +needed to be repaired, that the new ethical impulse imparted by +Christianity might rest upon a plausible speculative basis. The doctrine +of the resurrection was but the beginning of a series of speculative +innovations which prepared the way for the new religion to emancipate +itself from Judaism, and achieve the conquest of the Empire. Even the +faith of the apostles in the speedy return of their master the Messiah +must have somewhat lost ground, had it not been supported by their +belief in his resurrection from the grave and his consequent transfer +from Sheol, the gloomy land of shadows, to the regions above the sky. + +The origin of the dogma of the resurrection cannot be determined with +certainty. The question has, during the past century, been the subject +of much discussion, upon which it is not necessary for us here to +comment. Such apparent evidence as there is in favour of the old theory +of Jesus' natural recovery from the effects of the crucifixion may be +found in Salvador's "Jesus-Christ et sa Doctrine"; but, as Zeller has +shown, the theory is utterly unsatisfactory. The natural return of +Jesus to his disciples never could have given rise to the notion of his +resurrection, since the natural explanation would have been the more +obvious one; besides which, if we were to adopt this hypothesis, we +should be obliged to account for the fact that the historic career of +Jesus ends with the crucifixion. The most probable explanation, on the +whole, is the one suggested by the accounts in the gospels, that the +dogma of the resurrection is due originally to the excited imagination +of Mary of Magdala. [23] The testimony of Paul may also be cited in +favour of this view, since he always alludes to earlier Christophanies +in just the same language which he uses in describing his own vision on +the road to Damascus. + + [23] See Taine, De l'Intelligence, II. 192. + + +But the question as to how the belief in the resurrection of Jesus +originated is of less importance than the question as to how it should +have produced the effect that it did. The dogma of the resurrection has, +until recent times, been so rarely treated from the historical point +of view, that the student of history at first finds some difficulty +in thoroughly realizing its import to the minds of those who first +proclaimed it. We cannot hope to understand it without bearing in mind +the theories of the Jews and early Christians concerning the structure +of the world and the cosmic location of departed souls. Since the time +of Copernicus modern Christians no longer attempt to locate heaven and +hell; they are conceived merely as mysterious places remote from the +earth. The theological universe no longer corresponds to that which +physical science presents for our contemplation. It was quite different +with the Jew. His conception of the abode of Jehovah and the angels, and +of departed souls, was exceedingly simple and definite. In the Jewish +theory the universe is like a sort of three-story house. The flat earth +rests upon the waters, and under the earth's surface is the land of +graves, called Sheol, where after death the souls of all men go, the +righteous as well as the wicked, for the Jew had not arrived at the +doctrine of heaven and hell. The Hebrew Sheol corresponds strictly to +the Greek Hades, before the notions of Elysium and Tartarus were added +to it,--a land peopled with flitting shadows, suffering no torment, but +experiencing no pleasure, like those whom Dante met in one of the upper +circles of his Inferno. Sheol is the first story of the cosmic house; +the earth is the second. Above the earth is the firmament or sky, which, +according to the book of Genesis (chap. i. v. 6, Hebrew text), is a vast +plate hammered out by the gods, and supports a great ocean like that +upon which the earth rests. Rain is caused by the opening of little +windows or trap-doors in the firmament, through which pours the water +of this upper ocean. Upon this water rests the land of heaven, where +Jehovah reigns, surrounded by hosts of angels. To this blessed land two +only of the human race had ever been admitted,--Enoch and Elijah, the +latter of whom had ascended in a chariot of fire, and was destined to +return to earth as the herald and forerunner of the Messiah. Heaven +forms the third story of the cosmic house. Between the firmament and the +earth is the air, which is the habitation of evil demons ruled by Satan, +the "prince of the powers of the air." + +Such was the cosmology of the ancient Jew; and his theology was equally +simple. Sheol was the destined abode of all men after death, and no +theory of moral retribution was attached to the conception. The rewards +and punishments known to the authors of the Pentateuch and the early +Psalms are all earthly rewards and punishments. But in course of +time the prosperity of the wicked and the misfortunes of the good man +furnished a troublesome problem for the Jewish thinker; and after the +Babylonish Captivity, we find the doctrine of a resurrection from Sheol +devised in order to meet this case. According to this doctrine--which +was borrowed from the Zarathustrian theology of Persia--the Messiah +on his arrival was to free from Sheol all the souls of the righteous, +causing them to ascend reinvested in their bodies to a renewed and +beautiful earth, while on the other hand the wicked were to be punished +with tortures like those of the valley of Hinnom, or were to be immersed +in liquid brimstone, like that which had rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah. +Here we get the first announcement of a future state of retribution. The +doctrine was peculiarly Pharisaic, and the Sadducees, who were strict +adherents to the letter of Mosaism, rejected it to the last. By +degrees this doctrine became coupled with the Messianic theories of +the Pharisees. The loss of Jewish independence under the dominion of +Persians, Macedonians, and Romans, caused the people to look ever more +earnestly toward the expected time when the Messiah should appear in +Jerusalem to deliver them from their oppressors. The moral doctrines +of the Psalms and earlier prophets assumed an increasingly political +aspect. The Jews were the righteous "under a cloud," whose sufferings +were symbolically depicted by the younger Isaiah as the afflictions of +the "servant of Jehovah"; while on the other hand, the "wicked" were the +Gentile oppressors of the holy people. Accordingly the Messiah, on his +arrival, was to sit in judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat, rectifying +the wrongs of his chosen ones, condemning the Gentile tyrants to the +torments of Gehenna, and raising from Sheol all those Jews who had lived +and died during the evil times before his coming. These were to find +in the Messianic kingdom the compensation for the ills which they had +suffered in their first earthly existence. Such are the main outlines of +the theory found in the Book of Enoch, written about B. C. 100, and it +is adopted in the Johannine Apocalypse, with little variation, save in +the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, and in the transferrence to +his second coming of all these wonderful proceedings. The manner of the +Messiah's coming had been variously imagined. According to an earlier +view, he was to enter Jerusalem as a King of the house of David, and +therefore of human lineage. According to a later view, presented in the +Book of Daniel, he was to descend from the sky, and appear among the +clouds. Both these views were adopted by the disciples of Jesus, who +harmonized them by referring the one to his first and the other to his +second appearance. + +Now to the imaginations of these earliest disciples the belief in the +resurrection of Jesus presented itself as a needful guarantee of his +Messiahship. Their faith, which must have been shaken by his execution +and descent into Sheol, received welcome confirmation by the springing +up of the belief that he had been again seen upon the face of the earth. +Applying the imagery of Daniel, it became a logical conclusion that he +must have ascended into the sky, whence he might shortly be expected to +make his appearance, to enact the scenes foretold in prophecy. That +such was the actual process of inference is shown by the legend of the +Ascension in the first chapter of the "Acts," and especially by the +words, "This Jesus who hath been taken up from you into heaven, will +come in the same manner in which ye beheld him going into heaven." In +the Apocalypse, written A. D. 68, just after the death of Nero, this +second coming is described as something immediately to happen, and +the colours in which it is depicted show how closely allied were the +Johannine notions to those of the Pharisees. The glories of the New +Jerusalem are to be reserved for Jews, while for the Roman tyrants +of Judaea is reserved a fearful retribution. They are to be trodden +underfoot by the Messiah, like grapes in a wine-press, until the gushing +blood shall rise to the height of the horse's bridle. + +In the writings of Paul the dogma of the resurrection assumes a very +different aspect. Though Paul, like the older apostles, held that Jesus, +as the Messiah, was to return to the earth within a few years, yet to +his catholic mind this anticipated event had become divested of its +narrow Jewish significance. In the eyes of Paul, the religion preached +by Jesus was an abrogation of Mosaism, and the truths contained in +it were a free gift to the Gentile as well as to the Jewish world. +According to Paul, death came into the world as a punishment for the +sin of Adam. By this he meant that, had it not been for the original +transgression, all men escaping death would either have remained +upon earth or have been conveyed to heaven, like Enoch and Elijah, in +incorruptible bodies. But in reality as a penance for disobedience, all +men, with these two exceptions, had suffered death, and been exiled to +the gloomy caverns of Sheol. The Mosaic ritual was powerless to free men +from this repulsive doom, but it had nevertheless served a good purpose +in keeping men's minds directed toward holiness, preparing them, as a +schoolmaster would prepare his pupils, to receive the vitalizing truths +of Christ. Now, at last, the Messiah or Christ had come as a second +Adam, and being without sin had been raised by Jehovah out of Sheol +and taken up into heaven, as testimony to men that the power of sin and +death was at last defeated. The way henceforth to avoid death and escape +the exile to Sheol was to live spiritually like Jesus, and with him to +be dead to sensual requirements. Faith, in Paul's apprehension, was not +an intellectual assent to definitely prescribed dogmas, but, as +Matthew Arnold has well pointed out, it was an emotional striving after +righteousness, a developing consciousness of God in the soul, such as +Jesus had possessed, or, in Paul's phraseology, a subjugation of the +flesh by the spirit. All those who should thus seek spiritual perfection +should escape the original curse. The Messiah was destined to return to +the earth to establish the reign of spiritual holiness, probably during +Paul's own lifetime (1 Cor. xv. 51). Then the true followers of Jesus +should be clothed in ethereal bodies, free from the imperfections of +"the flesh," and should ascend to heaven without suffering death, while +the righteous dead should at the same time be released from Sheol, even +as Jesus himself had been released. + +To the doctrine of the resurrection, in which ethical and speculative +elements are thus happily blended by Paul, the new religion doubtless +owed in great part its rapid success. Into an account of the causes +which favoured the spreading of Christianity, it is not our purpose +to enter at present. But we may note that the local religions of +the ancient pagan world had partly destroyed each other by mutual +intermingling, and had lost their hold upon people from the circumstance +that their ethical teaching no longer corresponded to the advanced +ethical feeling of the age. Polytheism, in short, was outgrown. It was +outgrown both intellectually and morally. People were ceasing to believe +in its doctrines, and were ceasing to respect its precepts. The learned +were taking refuge in philosophy, the ignorant in mystical superstitions +imported from Asia. The commanding ethical motive of ancient republican +times had been patriotism,--devotion to the interests of the community. +But Roman dominion had destroyed patriotism as a guiding principle of +life, and thus in every way the minds of men were left in a sceptical, +unsatisfied state,--craving after a new theory of life, and craving +after a new stimulus to right action. Obviously the only theology which +could now be satisfactory to philosophy or to common-sense was some form +of monotheism;--some system of doctrines which should represent all men +as spiritually subjected to the will of a single God, just as they were +subjected to the temporal authority of the Emperor. And similarly the +only system of ethics which could have a chance of prevailing must be +some system which should clearly prescribe the mutual duties of all men +without distinction of race or locality. Thus the spiritual morality of +Jesus, and his conception of God as a father and of all men as brothers, +appeared at once to meet the ethical and speculative demands of the +time. + +Yet whatever effect these teachings might have produced, if unaided +by further doctrinal elaboration, was enhanced myriadfold by the +elaboration which they received at the hands of Paul. Philosophic Stoics +and Epicureans had arrived at the conception of the brotherhood of men, +and the Greek hymn of Kleanthes had exhibited a deep spiritual sense of +the fatherhood of God. The originality of Christianity lay not so +much in its enunciation of new ethical precepts as in the fact that it +furnished a new ethical sanction,--a commanding incentive to holiness +of living. That it might accomplish this result, it was absolutely +necessary that it should begin by discarding both the ritualism and the +narrow theories of Judaism. The mere desire for a monotheistic creed +had led many pagans, in Paul's time, to embrace Judaism, in spite of +its requirements, which to Romans and Greeks were meaningless, and often +disgusting; but such conversions could never have been numerous. Judaism +could never have conquered the Roman world; nor is it likely that the +Judaical Christianity of Peter, James, and John would have been any more +successful. The doctrine of the resurrection, in particular, was not +likely to prove attractive when accompanied by the picture of the +Messiah treading the Gentiles in the wine-press of his righteous +indignation. But here Paul showed his profound originality The +condemnation of Jewish formalism which Jesus had pronounced, Paul +turned against the older apostles, who insisted upon circumcision. With +marvellous flexibility of mind, Paul placed circumcision and the Mosaic +injunctions about meats upon a level with the ritual observances of +pagan nations, allowing each feeble brother to perform such works as +might tickle his fancy, but bidding all take heed that salvation was not +to be obtained after any such mechanical method, but only by devoting +the whole soul to righteousness, after the example of Jesus. + +This was the negative part of Paul's work. This was the knocking down of +the barriers which had kept men, and would always have kept them, from +entering into the kingdom of heaven. But the positive part of Paul's +work is contained in his theory of the salvation of men from death +through the second Adam, whom Jehovah rescued from Sheol for his +sinlessness. The resurrection of Jesus was the visible token of the +escape from death which might be achieved by all men who, with God's +aid, should succeed in freeing themselves from the burden of sin which +had encumbered all the children of Adam. The end of the world was at +hand, and they who would live with Christ must figuratively die with +Christ, must become dead to sin. Thus to the pure and spiritual ethics +contained in the teachings of Jesus, Paul added an incalculably powerful +incentive to right action, and a theory of life calculated to satisfy +the speculative necessities of the pagan or Gentile world. To the +educated and sceptical Athenian, as to the critical scholar of modern +times, the physical resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and his ascent +through the vaulted floor of heaven, might seem foolishness or naivete. +But to the average Greek or Roman the conception presented no serious +difficulty. The cosmical theories upon which the conception was founded +were essentially the same among Jews and Gentiles, and indeed were but +little modified until the establishment of the Copernican astronomy. +The doctrine of the Messiah's second coming was also received without +opposition, and for about a century men lived in continual anticipation +of that event, until hope long deferred produced its usual results; +the writings in which that event was predicted were gradually explained +away, ignored, or stigmatized as uncanonical; and the Church ended by +condemning as a heresy the very doctrine which Paul and the Judaizing +apostles, who agreed in little else, had alike made the basis of +their speculative teachings. Nevertheless, by the dint of allegorical +interpretation, the belief has maintained an obscure existence even down +to the present time; the Antiochus of the Book of Daniel and the Nero of +the Apocalypse having given place to the Roman Pontiff or to the Emperor +of the French. + +But as the millenarism of the primitive Church gradually died out during +the second century, the essential principles involved in it lost none of +their hold on men's minds. As the generation contemporary with Paul died +away and was gathered into Sheol, it became apparent that the original +theory must be somewhat modified, and to this question the author of +the second epistle to the Thessalonians addresses himself. Instead of +literal preservation from death, the doctrine of a resurrection from the +grave was gradually extended to the case of the new believers, who were +to share in the same glorious revival with the righteous of ancient +times. And thus by slow degrees the victory over death, of which the +resurrection of Jesus was a symbol and a witness, became metamorphosed +into the comparatively modern doctrine of the rest of the saints in +heaven, while the banishment of the unrighteous to Sheol was made +still more dreadful by coupling with the vague conception of a gloomy +subterranean cavern the horrible imagery of the lake of fire and +brimstone borrowed from the apocalyptic descriptions of Gehenna. But +in this modification of the original theory, the fundamental idea of +a future state of retribution was only the more distinctly emphasized; +although, in course of time, the original incentive to righteousness +supplied by Paul was more and more subordinated to the comparatively +degrading incentive involved in the fear of damnation. There can hardly +be a doubt that the definiteness and vividness of the Pauline theory +of a future life contributed very largely to the rapid spread of the +Christian religion; nor can it be doubted that to the desire to be holy +like Jesus, in order to escape death and live with Jesus, is due +the elevating ethical influence which, even in the worst times of +ecclesiastic degeneracy, Christianity has never failed to exert. +Doubtless, as Lessing long, ago observed, the notion of future reward +and punishment needs to be eliminated in order that the incentive to +holiness may be a perfectly pure one. The highest virtue is that which +takes no thought of reward or punishment; but for a conception of this +sort the mind of antiquity was not ready, nor is the average mind +of to-day yet ready; and the sudden or premature dissolution of the +Christian theory--which is fortunately impossible--might perhaps entail +a moral retrogradation. + +The above is by no means intended as a complete outline of the religious +philosophy of Paul. We have aimed only at a clear definition of the +character and scope of the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, at the +time when it was first elaborated. We have now to notice the influence +of that doctrine upon the development of Christologic speculation. + +In neither or the four genuine epistles of Paul is Jesus described +as superhuman, or as differing in nature from other men, save in his +freedom from sin. As Baur has shown, "the proper nature of the Pauline +Christ is human. He is a man, but a spiritual man, one in whom spirit +or pneuma was the essential principle, so that he was spirit as well +as man. The principle of an ideal humanity existed before Christ in +the bright form of a typical man, but was manifested to mankind in the +person of Christ." Such, according to Baur, is Paul's interpretation +of the Messianic idea. Paul knows nothing of the miracles, of the +supernatural conception, of the incarnation, or of the Logos. The Christ +whom he preaches is the man Jesus, the founder of a new and spiritual +order of humanity, as Adam was the father of humanity after the flesh. +The resurrection is uniformly described by him as a manifestation of the +power of Jehovah, not of Jesus himself. The later conception of Christ +bursting the barred gates of Sheol, and arising by his own might to +heaven, finds no warrant in the expressions of Paul. Indeed, it was +essential to Paul's theory of the Messiah as a new Adam, that he should +be human and not divine; for the escape of a divine being from Sheol +could afford no precedent and furnish no assurance of the future escape +of human beings. It was expressly because the man Jesus had been rescued +from the grave because of his spirituality, that other men might hope, +by becoming spiritual like him, to be rescued also. Accordingly Paul is +careful to state that "since through man came death, through man came +also the resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor. xv. 21); a passage which +would look like an express denial of Christ's superhuman character, +were it probable that any of Paul's contemporaries had ever conceived of +Jesus as other than essentially human. + +But though Paul's Christology remained in this primitive stage, it +contained the germs of a more advanced theory. For even Paul conceived +of Jesus as a man wholly exceptional in spiritual character; or, in the +phraseology of the time, as consisting to a larger extent of pneuma than +any man who had lived before him. The question was sure to arise, +Whence came this pneuma or spiritual quality? Whether the question +ever distinctly presented itself to Paul's mind cannot be determined. +Probably it did not. In those writings of his which have come down to +us, he shows himself careless of metaphysical considerations. He is +mainly concerned with exhibiting the unsatisfactory character of Jewish +Christianity, and with inculcating a spiritual morality, to which the +doctrine of Christ's resurrection is made to supply a surpassingly +powerful sanction. But attempts to solve the problem were not long +in coming. According to a very early tradition, of which the obscured +traces remain in the synoptic gospels, Jesus received the pneuma at the +time of his baptism, when the Holy Spirit, or visible manifestation of +the essence of Jehovah, descended upon him and became incarnate in him. +This theory, however, was exposed to the objection that it implied +a sudden and entire transformation of an ordinary man into a person +inspired or possessed by the Deity. Though long maintained by the +Ebionites or primitive Christians, it was very soon rejected by the +great body of the Church, which asserted instead that Jesus had been +inspired by the Holy Spirit from the moment of his conception. From this +it was but a step to the theory that Jesus was actually begotten by or +of the Holy Spirit; a notion which the Hellenic mind, accustomed to +the myths of Leda, Anchises, and others, found no difficulty in +entertaining. According to the Gospel of the Hebrews, as cited by +Origen, the Holy Spirit was the mother of Jesus, and Joseph was his +father. But according to the prevailing opinion, as represented in the +first and third synoptists, the relationship was just the other way. +With greater apparent plausibility, the divine aeon was substituted +for the human father, and a myth sprang up, of which the materialistic +details furnished to the opponents of the new religion an opportunity +for making the most gross and exasperating insinuations. The dominance +of this theory marks the era at which our first and third synoptic +gospels were composed,--from sixty to ninety years after the death of +Jesus. In the luxuriant mythologic growth there exhibited, we may yet +trace the various successive phases of Christologic speculation but +imperfectly blended. In "Matthew" and "Luke" we find the original +Messianic theory exemplified in the genealogies of Jesus, in which, +contrary to historic probability (cf. Matt. xxii. 41-46), but in +accordance with a time-honoured tradition, his pedigree is traced back +to David; "Matthew" referring him to the royal line of Judah, while +"Luke" more cautiously has recourse to an assumed younger branch. +Superposed upon this primitive mythologic stratum, we find, in the same +narratives, the account of the descent of the pneuma at the time of +the baptism; and crowning the whole, there are the two accounts of the +nativity which, though conflicting in nearly all their details, agree +in representing the divine pneuma as the father of Jesus. Of these three +stages of Christology, the last becomes entirely irreconcilable with the +first; and nothing can better illustrate the uncritical character of the +synoptists than the fact that the assumed descent of Jesus from David +through his father Joseph is allowed to stand side by side with the +account of the miraculous conception which completely negatives it. +Of this difficulty "Matthew" is quite unconscious, and "Luke," while +vaguely noticing it (iii. 23), proposes no solution, and appears +undisturbed by the contradiction. + +Thus far the Christology with which we have been dealing is +predominantly Jewish, though to some extent influenced by Hellenic +conceptions. None of the successive doctrines presented in Paul, +"Matthew," and "Luke" assert or imply the pre-existence of Jesus. +At this early period he was regarded as a human being raised to +participation in certain attributes of divinity; and this was as far as +the dogma could be carried by the Jewish metaphysics. But soon after the +date of our third gospel, a Hellenic system of Christology arose into +prominence, in which the problem was reversed, and Jesus was regarded +as a semi-divine being temporarily lowered to participation in certain +attributes of humanity. For such a doctrine Jewish mythology supplied no +precedents; but the Indo-European mind was familiar with the conception +of deity incarnate in human form, as in the avatars of Vishnu, or +even suffering III the interests of humanity, as in the noble myth of +Prometheus. The elements of Christology pre-existing in the religious +conceptions of Greece, India, and Persia, are too rich and numerous to +be discussed here. A very full account of them is given in Mr. R. W. +Mackay's acute and learned treatise on the "Religious Development of the +Greeks and Hebrews{.}" + +It was in Alexandria, where Jewish theology first came into contact with +Hellenic and Oriental ideas, that the way was prepared for the dogma +of Christ's pre-existence. The attempt to rationalize the conception of +deity as embodied in the Jehovah of the Old Testament gave rise to the +class of opinions described as Gnosis, or Gnosticism. The signification +of Gnosis is simply "rationalism,"--the endeavour to harmonize the +materialistic statements of an old mythology with the more advanced +spiritualistic philosophy of the time. The Gnostics rejected the +conception of an anthropomorphic deity who had appeared visibly and +audibly to the patriarchs; and they were the authors of the doctrine, +very widely spread during the second and third centuries, that God could +not in person have been the creator of the world. According to them, +God, as pure spirit, could not act directly upon vile and gross matter. +The difficulty which troubled them was curiously analogous to that +which disturbed the Cartesians and the followers of Leibnitz in the +seventeenth century; how was spirit to act upon matter, without +ceasing, pro tanto, to be spirit? To evade this difficulty, the Gnostics +postulated a series of emanations from God, becoming successively less +and less spiritual and more and more material, until at the lowest end +of the scale was reached the Demiurgus or Jehovah of the Old Testament, +who created the world and appeared, clothed in material form, to the +patriarchs. According to some of the Gnostics this lowest aeon or +emanation was identical with the Jewish Satan, or the Ahriman of the +Persians, who is called "the prince of this world," and the creation of +the world was an essentially evil act. But all did not share in these +extreme opinions. In the prevailing, theory, this last of the divine +emanations was identified with the "Sophia," or personified "Wisdom," of +the Book of Proverbs (viii. 22-30), who is described as present with +God before the foundation of the world. The totality of these aeons +constituted the pleroma, or "fulness of God" (Coloss. i. 20; Eph. i. +23), and in a corollary which bears unmistakable marks of Buddhist +influence, it was argued that, in the final consummation of things, +matter should be eliminated and all spirit reunited with God, from whom +it had primarily flowed. + +It was impossible that such views as these should not soon be taken up +and applied to the fluctuating Christology of the time. According to the +"Shepherd of Hermas," an apocalyptic writing nearly contemporary with +the gospel of "Mark," the aeon or son of God who existed previous to +the creation was not the Christ, or the Sophia, but the Pneuma or Holy +Spirit, represented in the Old Testament as the "angel of Jehovah." +Jesus, in reward for his perfect goodness, was admitted to a share in +the privileges of this Pneuma (Reville, p. 39). Here, as M. Reville +observes, though a Gnostic idea is adopted, Jesus is nevertheless viewed +as ascending humanity, and not as descending divinity. The author of the +"Clementine Homilies" advances a step farther, and clearly assumes the +pre-existence of Jesus, who, in his opinion, was the pure, primitive +man, successively incarnate in Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, +Moses, and finally in the Messiah or Christ. The author protests, +in vehement language, against those Hellenists who, misled by their +polytheistic associations, would elevate Jesus into a god. Nevertheless, +his own hypothesis of pre-existence supplied at once the requisite +fulcrum for those Gnostics who wished to reconcile a strict monotheism +with the ascription of divine attributes to Jesus. Combining with this +notion of pre-existence the pneumatic or spiritual quality attributed +to Jesus in the writings of Paul, the Gnosticizing Christians maintained +that Christ was an aeon or emanation from God, redeeming men from the +consequences entailed by their imprisonment in matter. At this stage +of Christologic speculation appeared the anonymous epistle to the +"Hebrews," and the pseudo-Pauline epistles to the "Colossians," +"Ephesians," and "Philippians" (A. D. 130). In these epistles, which +originated among the Pauline Christians, the Gnostic theosophy is +skilfully applied to the Pauline conception of the scope and purposes of +Christianity. Jesus is described as the creator of the world (Coloss. i. +16), the visible image of the invisible God, the chief and ruler of the +"throues, dominions, principalities, and powers," into which, in Gnostic +phraseology, the emanations of God were classified. Or, according to +"Colossians" and "Philippians," all the aeons are summed up in him, in +whom dwells the pleroma, or "fulness of God." Thus Jesus is elevated +quite above ordinary humanity, and a close approach is made to ditheism, +although he is still emphatically subordinated to God by being made +the creator of the world,--an office then regarded as incompatible with +absolute divine perfection. In the celebrated passage, "Philippians" +ii. 6-11, the aeon Jesus is described as being the form or visible +manifestation of God, yet as humbling himself by taking on the form or +semblance of humanity, and suffering death, in return for which he is +to be exalted even above the archangels. A similar view is taken in +"Hebrews"; and it is probable that to the growing favour with which +these doctrines were received, we owe the omission of the miraculous +conception from the gospel of "Mark,"--a circumstance which has misled +some critics into assigning to that gospel an earlier date than +to "Matthew" and "Luke." Yet the fact that in this gospel Jesus is +implicitly ranked above the angels (Mark xiii. 32), reveals a later +stage of Christologic doctrine than that reached by the first and third +synoptists; and it is altogether probable that, in accordance with the +noticeable conciliatory disposition of this evangelist, the supernatural +conception is omitted out of deference to the Gnosticizing theories of +"Colossians" and "Philippians," in which this materialistic doctrine +seems to have had no assignable place. In "Philippians" especially, many +expressions seem to verge upon Docetism, the extreme form of Gnosticism, +according to which the human body of Jesus was only a phantom. +Valentinus, who was contemporary with the Pauline writers of the second +century, maintained that Jesus was not born of Mary by any process +of conception, but merely passed through her, as light traverses a +translucent substance. And finally Marcion (A. D. 140) carried the +theory to its extreme limits by declaring that Jesus was the pure Pneuma +or Spirit, who contained nothing in common with carnal humanity. + +The pseudo-Pauline writers steered clear of this extravagant doctrine, +which erred by breaking entirely with historic tradition, and was +consequently soon condemned as heretical. Their language, though +unmistakably Gnostic, was sufficiently neutral and indefinite to allow +of their combination with earlier and later expositions of dogma, and +they were therefore eventually received into the canon, where they +exhibit a stage of opinion midway between that of Paul and that of the +fourth gospel. + +For the construction of a durable system of Christology, still further +elaboration was necessary. The pre-existence of Jesus, as an emanation +from God, in whom were summed up the attributes of the pleroma or full +scale of Gnostic aeons, was now generally conceded. But the relation of +this pleroqma to the Godhead of which it was the visible manifestation, +needed to be more accurately defined. And here recourse was had to +the conception of the "Logos,"--a notion which Philo had borrowed +from Plato, lending to it a theosophic significance. In the Platonic +metaphysics objective existence was attributed to general terms, the +signs of general notions. Besides each particular man, horse, or tree, +and besides all men, horses, and trees, in the aggregate, there was +supposed to exist an ideal Man, Horse, and Tree. Each particular man, +horse, or tree consisted of abstract existence plus a portion of +the ideal man, horse, or tree. Sokrates, for instance, consisted of +Existence, plus Animality, plus Humanity, plus Sokraticity. The visible +world of particulars thus existed only by virtue of its participation in +the attributes of the ideal world of universals. God created the world +by encumbering each idea with an envelopment or clothing of visible +matter; and since matter is vile or imperfect, all things are more or +less perfect as they partake more or less fully of the idea. The pure +unencumbered idea, the "Idea of ideas," is the Logos, or divine Reason, +which represents the sum-total of the activities which sustain the +world, and serves as a mediator between the absolutely ideal God and +the absolutely non-ideal matter. Here we arrive at a Gnostic conception, +which the Philonists of Alexandria were not slow to appropriate. The +Logos, or divine Reason, was identified with the Sophia, or divine +Wisdom of the Jewish Gnostics, which had dwelt with God before the +creation of the world. By a subtle play upon the double meaning of the +Greek term (logos = "reason" or "word"), a distinction was drawn between +the divine Reason and the divine Word. The former was the archctypal +idea or thought of God, existing from all eternity; the latter was the +external manifestation or realization of that idea which occurred at the +moment of creation, when, according to Genesis, God SPOKE, and the world +was. + +In the middle of the second century, this Philonian theory was the one +thing needful to add metaphysical precision to the Gnostic and Pauline +speculations concerning the nature of Jesus. In the writings of Justin +Martyr (A. D. 150-166), Jesus is for the first time identified with the +Philonian Logos or "Word of God." According to Justin, an impassable +abyss exists between the Infinite Deity and the Finite World; the one +cannot act upon the other; pure spirit cannot contaminate itself by +contact with impure matter. To meet this difficulty, God evolves from +himself a secondary God, the Logos,--yet without diminishing himself any +more than a flame is diminished when it gives birth to a second flame. +Thus generated, like light begotten of light (lumen de lumine), the +Logos creates the world, inspires the ancient prophets with their divine +revelations, and finally reveals himself to mankind in the person of +Christ. Yet Justin sedulously guards himself against ditheism, insisting +frequently and emphatically upon the immeasurable inferiority of the +Logos as compared with the actual God (gr o ontws qeos). + +We have here reached very nearly the ultimate phase of New Testament +speculation concerning Jesus. The doctrines enunciated by Justin became +eventually, with slight modification, the official doctrines of the +Church; yet before they could thus be received, some further elaboration +was needed. The pre-existing Logos-Christ of Justin was no longer the +human Messiah of the first and third gospels, born of a woman, inspired +by the divine Pneuma, and tempted by the Devil. There was danger +that Christologic speculation might break quite loose from historic +tradition, and pass into the metaphysical extreme of Docetism. Had +this come to pass, there might perhaps have been a fatal schism in the +Church. Tradition still remained Ebionitish; dogma had become decidedly +Gnostic; how were the two to be moulded into harmony with each other? +Such was the problem which presented itself to the author of the fourth +gospel (A. D. 170-180). As M. Reville observes, "if the doctrine of the +Logos were really to be applied to the person of Jesus, it was necessary +to remodel the evangelical history." Tradition must be moulded so as +to fit the dogma, but the dogma must be restrained by tradition from +running into Docetic extravagance. It must be shown historically how +"the Word became flesh" and dwelt on earth (John i. 14), how the deeds +of Jesus of Nazareth were the deeds of the incarnate Logos, in whom was +exhibited the pleroma or fulness of the divine attributes. The author of +the fourth gospel is, like Justin, a Philonian Gnostic; but he differs +from Justin in his bold and skilful treatment of the traditional +materials supplied by the earlier gospels. The process of development in +the theories and purposes of Jesus, which can be traced throughout the +Messianic descriptions of the first gospel, is entirely obliterated +in the fourth. Here Jesus appears at the outset as the creator of the +world, descended from his glory, but destined soon to be reinstated. +The title "Son of Man" has lost its original significance, and become +synonymous with "Son of God." The temptation, the transfiguration, the +scene in Gethsemane, are omitted, and for the latter is substituted a +Philonian prayer. Nevertheless, the author carefully avoids the extremes +of Docetism or ditheism. Not only does he represent the human life +of Jesus as real, and his death as a truly physical death, but he +distinctly asserts the inferiority of the Son to the Father (John xiv. +28). Indeed, as M. Reville well observes, it is part of the very notion +of the Logos that it should be imperfect relatively to the absolute God; +since it is only its relative imperfection which allows it to sustain +relations to the world and to men which are incompatible with absolute +perfection, from the Philonian point of view. The Athanasian doctrine of +the Trinity finds no support in the fourth gospel, any more than in the +earlier books collected in the New Testament. + +The fourth gospel completes the speculative revolution by which the +conception of a divine being lowered to humanity was substituted for +that of a human being raised to divinity. We have here travelled a long +distance from the risen Messiah of the genuine Pauline epistles, or +the preacher of righteousness in the first gospel. Yet it does not seem +probable that the Church of the third century was thoroughly aware of +the discrepancy. The authors of the later Christology did not regard +themselves as adding new truths to Christianity, but merely as giving a +fuller and more consistent interpretation to what must have been known +from the outset. They were so completely destitute of the historic +sense, and so strictly confined to the dogmatic point of view, that +they projected their own theories back into the past, and vituperated as +heretics those who adhered to tradition in its earlier and simpler form. +Examples from more recent times are not wanting, which show that we are +dealing here with an inveterate tendency of the human mind. New facts +and new theories are at first condemned as heretical or ridiculous; but +when once firmly established, it is immediately maintained that every +one knew them before. After the Copernican astronomy had won the day, +it was tacitly assumed that the ancient Hebrew astronomy was Copernican, +and the Biblical conception of the universe as a kind of three-story +house was ignored, and has been, except by scholars, quite forgotten. +When the geologic evidence of the earth's immense antiquity could no +longer be gainsaid, it was suddenly ascertained that the Bible had from +the outset asserted that antiquity; and in our own day we have seen +an elegant popular writer perverting the testimony of the rocks and +distorting the Elohistic cosmogony of the Pentateuch, until the twain +have been made to furnish what Bacon long ago described as "a heretical +religion and a false philosophy." Now just as in the popular thought of +the present day the ancient Elohist is accredited with a knowledge of +modern geology and astronomy, so in the opinion of the fourth evangelist +and his contemporaries the doctrine of the Logos-Christ was implicitly +contained in the Old Testament and in the early traditions concerning +Jesus, and needed only to be brought into prominence by a fresh +interpretation. Hence arose the fourth gospel, which was no more a +conscious violation of historic data than Hugh Miller's imaginative +description of the "Mosaic Vision of Creation." Its metaphysical +discourses were readily accepted as equally authentic with the Sermon +on the Mount. Its Philonian doctrines were imputed to Paul and the +apostles, the pseudo-Pauline epistles furnishing the needful texts. The +Ebionites--who were simply Judaizing Christians, holding in nearly its +original form the doctrine of Peter, James, and John--were ejected from +the Church as the most pernicious of heretics; and so completely was +their historic position misunderstood and forgotten, that, in order to +account for their existence, it became necessary to invent an eponymous +heresiarch, Ebion, who was supposed to have led them astray from the +true faith! + +The Christology of the fourth gospel is substantially the same as that +which was held in the next two centuries by Tertullian, Clement of +Alexandria, Origen, and Arius. When the doctrine of the Trinity was +first announced by Sabellius (A. D. 250-260), it was formally condemned +as heretical, the Church being not yet quite prepared to receive it. +In 269 the Council of Antioch solemnly declared that the Son was NOT +consubstantial with the Father,--a declaration which, within sixty +years, the Council of Nikaia was destined as solemnly to contradict. +The Trinitarian Christology struggled long for acceptance, and did not +finally win the victory until the end of the fourth century. Yet from +the outset its ultimate victory was hardly doubtful. The peculiar +doctrines of the fourth gospel could retain their integrity only so long +as Gnostic ideas were prevalent. When Gnosticism declined in importance, +and its theories faded out of recollection, its peculiar phraseology +received of necessity a new interpretation. The doctrine that God could +not act directly upon the world sank gradually into oblivion as the +Church grew more and more hostile to the Neo-Platonic philosophy. And +when this theory was once forgotten, it was inevitable that the Logos, +as the creator of the world, should be raised to an equality or identity +with God himself. In the view of the fourth evangelist, the Creator +was necessarily inferior to God; in the view of later ages, the Creator +could be none other than God. And so the very phrases which had most +emphatically asserted the subordination of the Son were afterward +interpreted as asserting his absolute divinity. To the Gnostic formula, +lumen de lumine, was added the Athanasian scholium, Deum verum de Deo +vero; and the Trinitarian dogma of the union of persons in a single +Godhead became thus the only available logical device for preserving the +purity of monotheism. + + February, 1870. + + + + +V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES. [24] + + [24] These comments on Mr. Henry Rogers's review of M. Renan's +Les Apotres, contained in a letter to Mr. Lewes, were shortly afterwards +published by him in the Fortnightly Review, September 15, 1866. + + +It is the lot of every book which attempts to treat the origin and +progress of Christianity in a sober and scientific spirit, to meet +with unsparing attacks. Critics in plenty are always to be found, who, +possessed with the idea that the entire significance and value of the +Christian religion are demolished unless we regard it as a sort of +historical monstrosity, are only too eager to subject the offending +work to a scathing scrutiny, displaying withal a modicum of righteous +indignation at the unblushing heresy of the author, not unmixed with +a little scornful pity at his inability to believe very preposterous +stories upon very meagre evidence. "Conservative" polemics of this sort +have doubtless their function. They serve to purge scientific literature +of the awkward and careless statements too often made by writers not +sufficiently instructed or cautious, which in the absence of hostile +criticism might get accepted by the unthinking reader along with the +truths which they accompany. Most scientific and philosophical works +have their defects; and it is fortunate that there is such a thing as +dogmatic ardour in the world, ever sharpening its wits to the utmost, +that it may spy each lurking inaccuracy and ruthlessly drag it to light. +But this useful spirit is wont to lead those who are inspired by it to +shoot beyond the mark, and after pointing out the errors of others, +to commit fresh mistakes of their own. In the skilful criticism of M. +Renan's work on the Apostles, in No. 29 of the "Fortnightly Review" +there is now and then a vulnerable spot through which a controversial +shaft may perhaps be made to pierce. + +It may be true that Lord Lyttelton's tract on the Conversion of St. +Paul, as Dr. Johnson and Dr. Rogers have said, has never yet been +refuted; but if I may judge from my own recollection of the work, I +should say that this must be because no competent writer ever thought +it worth his pains to criticize it. Its argument contains about as much +solid consistency as a distended balloon, and collapses as readily at +the first puncture. It attempts to prove, first, that the conversion of +St. Paul cannot be made intelligible except on the assumption that there +was a miracle in the case; and secondly, that if Paul was converted by a +miracle, the truth of Christianity is impregnable. Now, if the first of +these points be established, the demonstration is not yet complete, for +the second point must be proved independently. But if the first point be +overthrown, the second loses its prop, and falls likewise. + +Great efforts are therefore made to show that no natural influences +could have intervened to bring about a change in the feelings of +Paul. He was violent, "thorough," unaffected by pity or remorse; and +accordingly he could not have been so completely altered as he was, had +he not actually beheld the risen Christ: such is the argument which Mr. +Rogers deems so conclusive. I do not know that from any of Paul's own +assertions we are entitled to affirm that no shade of remorse had ever +crossed his mind previous to the vision near Damascus. But waiving this +point, I do maintain that, granting Paul's feelings to have been as Mr. +Rogers thinks they were, his conversion is inexplicable, even on the +hypothesis of a miracle. He that is determined not to believe, will not +believe, though one should rise from the dead. To make Paul a believer, +it was not enough that he should meet his Lord face to face he must have +been already prepared to believe. Otherwise he would have easily found +means of explaining the miracle from his own point of view. He would +certainly have attributed it to the wiles of the demon, even as the +Pharisees are said to have done with regard to the miraculous cures +performed by Jesus. A "miraculous" occurrence in those days did not +astonish as it would at present. "Miracles" were rather the order of the +day, and in fact were lavished with such extreme bounty on all hands, +that their convincing power was very slight. Neither side ever thought +of disputing the reality of the miracles supposed to be performed on the +other; but each side considered the miracles of its antagonist to be the +work of diabolic agencies. Such being the case, it is useless to suppose +that Paul could have distinguished between a true and a false miracle, +or that a real miracle could of itself have had any effect in inducing +him to depart from his habitual course of belief and action. As far +as Paul's mental operations were concerned, it could have made no +difference whether he met with his future Master in person, or merely +encountered him in a vision. The sole point to be considered is whether +or not he BELIEVED in the Divine character and authority of the event +which had happened. What the event might have really been was of no +practical consequence to him or to any one else. What he believed it +to be was of the first importance. And since he did believe that he had +been divinely summoned to cease persecuting, and commence preaching the +new faith, it follows that his state of mind must have been more or less +affected by circumstances other than the mere vision. Had he not been +ripe for change, neither shadow nor substance could have changed him. + +This view of the case is by no means so extravagant as Mr. Rogers would +have us suppose. There is no reason for believing that Paul's character +was essentially different afterwards from what it had been before. +The very fervour which caused him, as a Pharisee, to exclude all +but orthodox Jews from the hope of salvation, would lead him, as a +Christian, to carry the Christian idea to its extreme development, and +admit all persons whatever to the privileges of the Church. The same +zeal for the truth which had urged him to persecute the Christians unto +the death afterwards led him to spare no toil and shun no danger which +might bring about the triumph of their cause. It must not be forgotten +that the persecutor and the martyr are but one and the same man under +different circumstances. He who is ready to die for his own faith will +sometimes think it fair to make other men die for theirs. Men of +a vehement and fiery temperament, moreover,--such as Paul always +was,--never change their opinions slowly, never rest in philosophic +doubt, never take a middle course. If they leave one extreme for an +instant, they are drawn irresistibly to the other; and usually very +little is needed to work the change. The conversion of Omar is a +striking instance in point, and has been cited by M. Renan himself. The +character of Omar bears a strong likeness to that of Paul. Previous +to his conversion, he was a conscientious and virulent persecutor +of Mohammedanism. [25] After his conversion, he was Mohammed's +most efficient disciple, and it may be safely asserted that for +disinterestedness and self-abnegation he was not inferior to the Apostle +of the Gentiles. The change in his case was, moreover, quite as sudden +and unexpected as it was with Paul; it was neither more nor less +incomprehensible; and if Paul's conversion needs a miracle to explain +it, Omar's must need one likewise. But in truth, there is no difficulty +in the case, save that which stupid dogmatism has created. The +conversions of Paul and Omar are paralleled by innumerable events which +occur in every period of religious or political excitement. Far from +being extraordinary, or inexplicable on natural grounds, such phenomena +are just what might occasionally be looked for. + + [25] Saint-Hilaire: Mahomet et le Coran, p. 109. + + +But, says Mr. Rogers, "is it possible for a moment to imagine the +doting and dreaming victim of hallucinations (which M. Renan's theory +represents Paul) to be the man whose masculine sense, strong logic, +practical prudence, and high administrative talent appear in the +achievements of his life, and in the Epistles he has left behind him?" +M. Renan's theory does not, however, represent Paul as the "victim of +hallucinations" to a greater degree than Mohammed. The latter, as +every one knows, laboured during much of his life under almost constant +"hallucination"; yet "masculine sense, strong logic," etc., were +qualities quite as conspicuous in him as in St. Paul. + +Here, as throughout his essay, Mr. Rogers shows himself totally unable +to comprehend the mental condition of men in past ages. If an Apostle +has a dream or sees a vision, and interprets it according to the ideas +of his time and country, instead of according to the ideas of scientific +England in the nineteenth century Mr. Rogers thinks he must needs be +mad: and when according to the well-known law that mental excitement +is contagious, [26] several persons are said to have concurred in +interpreting some phenomenon supernaturally, Mr. Rogers cannot see why +so many people should all go mad at once! "To go mad," in fact is his +favourite designation for a mental act, which nearly all the human race +have habitually performed in all ages; the act of mistaking subjective +impressions for outward realities. The disposition to regard all strange +phenomena as manifestations of supernatural power was universally +prevalent in the first century of Christianity, and long after. Neither +greatness of intellect nor thoroughness of scepticism gave exemption. +Even Julius Caesar, the greatest practical genius that ever lived, +was somewhat superstitious, despite his atheism and his Vigorous +common-sense. It is too often argued that the prevalence of scepticism +in the Roman Empire must have made men scrupulous about accepting +miracles. By no means. Nothing but physical science ever drives out +miracles: mere doctrinal scepticism is powerless to do it. In the age +of the Apostles, little if any radical distinction was drawn between a +miracle and an ordinary occurrence. No one supposed a miracle to be an +infraction of the laws of nature, for no one had a clear idea that +there were such things as laws of nature. A miracle was simply an +extraordinary act, exhibiting the power of the person who performed it. +Blank, indeed, would the evangelists have looked, had any one told them +what an enormous theory of systematic meddling with nature was destined +to grow out of their beautiful and artless narratives. + + [26] Hecker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages, pp. 87-152. + + +The incapacity to appreciate this frame of mind renders the current +arguments in behalf of miracles utterly worthless. From the fact that +Celsus and others never denied the reality of the Christian miracles, +it is commonly inferred that those miracles must have actually happened. +The same argument would, however, equally apply to the miracles of +Apollonius and Simon Magus, for the Christians never denied the reality +of these. What these facts really prove is that the state of human +intelligence was as I have just described it: and the inference to be +drawn from them is that no miraculous account emanating from an author +of such a period is worthy of serious attention. When Mr. Rogers +supposes that if the miracles had not really happened they would have +been challenged, he is assuming that a state of mind existed in which +it was possible for miracles to be challenged; and thus commits an +anachronism as monstrous as if he had attributed the knowledge of some +modern invention, such as steamboats, to those early ages. + +Mr. Rogers seems to complain of M. Renan for "quietly assuming" that +miracles are invariably to be rejected. Certainly a historian of the +present day who should not make such an assumption would betray his lack +of the proper qualifications for his profession. It is not considered +necessary for every writer to begin his work by setting out to prove the +first principles of historical criticism. They are taken for granted. +And, as M. Renan justly says, a miracle is one of those things which +must be disbelieved until it is proved. The onus probandi lies on +the assertor of a fact which conflicts with universal experience. +Nevertheless, the great number of intelligent persons who, even now, +from dogmatic reasons, accept the New Testament miracles, forbids that +they should be passed over in silence like similar phenomena elsewhere +narrated. But, in the present state of historical science, the arguing +against miracles is, as Colet remarked of his friend Erasmus's warfare +against the Thomists and Scotists of Cambridge, "a contest more +necessary than glorious or difficult." To be satisfactorily established, +a miracle needs at least to be recorded by an eyewitness; and the mental +attainments of the witness need to be thoroughly known besides. Unless +he has a clear conception of the difference between the natural and the +unnatural order of events, his testimony, however unimpeachable on the +score of honesty, is still worthless. To say that this condition was +fulfilled by those who described the New Testament miracles, would be +absurd. And in the face of what German criticism has done for the early +Christian documents, it would be an excess of temerity to assert +that any one of the supernatural accounts contained in them rests on +contemporary authority. Of all history, the miraculous part should be +attested by the strongest testimony, whereas it is invariably +attested by the weakest. And the paucity of miracles wherever we have +contemporary records, as in the case of primitive Islamism, is a most +significant fact. + +In attempting to defend his principle of never accepting a miracle, +M. Renan has indeed got into a sorry plight, and Mr. Rogers, in +controverting him, has not greatly helped the matter. By stirring M. +Renan's bemuddled pool, Mr. Rogers has only bemuddled it the more. +Neither of these excellent writers seems to suspect that transmutation +of species, the geologic development of the earth, and other like +phenomena do not present features conflicting with ordinary experience. +Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Darwin would be greatly astonished to be told +that their theories of inorganic and organic evolution involved any +agencies not known to exist in the present course of nature. The great +achievement of these writers has been to show that all past changes of +the earth and its inhabitants are to be explained as resulting from +the continuous action of causes like those now in operation, and that +throughout there has been nothing even faintly resembling a miracle. +M. Renan may feel perfectly safe in extending his principle back to the +beginning of things; and Mr. Rogers's argument, even if valid against M. +Renan, does not help his own case in the least. + +On some points, indeed, M. Renan has laid himself open to severe +criticism, and on other points he has furnished good handles for his +orthodox opponents. His views in regard to the authorship of the Fourth +Gospel and the Acts are not likely to be endorsed by many scholars; and +his revival of the rationalistic absurdities of Paulus merits in most +instances all that Mr. Rogers has said about it. As was said at the +outset, orthodox criticisms upon heterodox books are always welcome. +They do excellent service. And with the feeling which impels their +authors to defend their favourite dogmas with every available weapon of +controversy I for one can heartily sympathize. Their zeal in upholding +what they consider the truth is greatly to be respected and admired. But +so much cannot always be said for the mode of argumentation they +adopt, which too often justifies M. Renan's description, when he says, +"Raisonnements triomphants sur des choses que l'adversaire n'a pas +dites, cris de victoire sur des erreurs qu'il n'a pas commises, rien ne +parait deloyal a celui qui croft tenir en main les interets de la verite +absolue." + + August, 1866. + + + + +VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION. [27] + + [27] History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, by +John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. Fourth edition. New York: D. Appleton +& Co. 1875. 12mo, pp. xxii., 373. (International Scientific Series, +XII.) + + +Some twelve years ago, Dr. Draper published a bulky volume entitled +"A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe," in which his +professed purpose was to show that nations or races pass through certain +definable epochs of development, analogous to the periods of infancy, +childhood, youth, manhood, and old age in individuals. But while +announced with due formality, the carrying out of the argument was left +for the most part to the headings and running-titles of the several +chapters, while in the text the author peacefully meandered along down +the stream of time, giving us a succession of pleasant though somewhat +threadbare anecdotes, as well as a superabundance of detached and +fragmentary opinions on divers historical events, having apparently +quite forgotten that he had started with a thesis to prove. In the +arrangement of his "running heads," some points were sufficiently +curious to require a word of explanation, as, for example, when the +early ages of Christianity were at one time labelled as an epoch +of progress and at another time as an epoch of decrepitude. But the +argument and the contents never got so far en rapport with each other as +to clear up such points as this. On the contrary, each kept on the even +tenour of its way without much regard to the other. From the titles of +the chapters one was led to expect some comprehensive theory of European +civilization continuously expounded. But the text merely showed a +great quantity of superficial and second-hand information, serving +to illustrate the mental idiosyncrasies of the author. Among these +idiosyncrasies might be noted a very inadequate understanding of the +part played by Rome in the work of civilization, a singular lack of +appreciation of the political and philosophical achievements of Greece +under Athenian leadership, a strong hostility to the Catholic Church, +a curious disposition to overrate semi-barbarous, or abortive +civilizations, such as those of the old Asiatic and native +American communities, at the expense of Europe, and, above all, an +undiscriminating admiration for everything, great or small, that has +ever worn the garb of Islam or been associated with the career of the +Saracens. The discovery that in some respects the Mussulmans of +the Middle Ages were more highly cultivated than their Christian +contemporaries, has made such an impression on Dr. Draper's mind that it +seems to be as hard for him to get rid of it as it was for Mr. Dick to +keep the execution of Charles I. out of his "Memorial." Even in an +essay on the "Civil Policy of America," the turbaned sage figures quite +prominently; and it is needless to add that he reappears, as large as +life, when the subject of discussion is the attitude of science toward +religion. + +Speaking briefly with regard to this matter, we may freely admit that +the work done by the Arabs, in scientific inquiry as well as in the +making of events, was very considerable. It was a work, too, the value +of which is not commonly appreciated in the accounts of European history +written for the general reader, and we have no disposition to find fault +with Dr. Draper for describing it with enthusiasm. The philosophers of +Bagdad and Cordova did excellent service in keeping alive the traditions +of Greek physical inquiry at a time when Christian thinkers were too +exclusively occupied with transcendental speculations in theology and +logic. In some departments, as in chemistry and astronomy, they made +original discoveries of considerable value; and if we turn from abstract +knowledge to the arts of life, it cannot be denied that the mediaeval +Mussulmans had reached a higher plane of material comfort than their +Christian contemporaries. In short, the work of all kinds done by these +people would furnish the judicious advocate of the claims of the Semitic +race with materials for a pleasing and instructive picture. Dr. Draper, +however, errs, though no doubt unintentionally, by so presenting the +case as to leave upon the reader's mind the impression that all this +scientific and practical achievement was the work of Islamism, and that +the Mohammedan civilization was of a higher type than the Christian. It +is with an apparent feeling of regret that he looks upon the ousting +of the Moors from dominion in Spain; but this is a mistaken view. As +regards the first point, it is a patent fact that scientific inquiry was +conducted at the cost of as much theological obloquy in the Mohammedan +as in the Christian world. It is true there was more actual tolerance of +heresy on the part of Moslem governments than was customary in Europe in +those days; but this is a superficial fact, which does not indicate any +superiority in Moslem popular sentiment. The caliphate or emirate was +a truly absolute despotism, such as the Papacy has never been, and the +conduct of a sceptical emir in encouraging scientific inquiry goes +but little way toward proving anything like a general prevalence +of tolerance or of free-thinking. And this brings us to the second +point,--that Mohammedan civilization was, on the whole, rather a +skin-deep affair. It was superficial because of that extreme severance +between government and people which has never existed in European +nations within historic times, but which has always existed among the +principal races that have professed Moslemism. Nowhere in the Mohammedan +world has there ever been what we call a national life, and nowhere +do we find in its records any trace of such an intellectual impulse, +thrilling through every fibre of the people and begetting prodigious +achievements in art, poetry, and philosophy, as was awakened in Europe +in the thirteenth century and again in the fifteenth. Under the peculiar +form of unlimited material and spiritual despotism exemplified in the +caliphate, a few men may discover gases or comment on Aristotle, but no +general movement toward political progress or philosophical inquiry +is possible. Such a society is rigid and inorganic at bottom, whatever +scanty signs of flexibility and life it may show at the surface. There +is no better illustration of this, when well considered, than the fact +that Moorish civilization remained, politically and intellectually, a +mere excrescence in Spain, after having been fastened down over half the +country for nearly eight centuries. + +But we are in danger of forgetting our main theme, as Dr. Draper seems +to do, while we linger with him over these interesting wayside topics. +We may perhaps be excused, however, if we have not yet made any very +explicit allusion to the "Conflict between Religion and Science," +because this work seems to be in the main a repetition en petit of the +"Intellectual Development of Europe," and what we have said will apply +as well to one as to the other. In the little book, as in the big one, +we hear a great deal about the Arabs, and something about Columbus and +Galileo, who made men accept sundry truths in the teeth of clerical +opposition; and, as before, we float gently down the current of history +without being over well-informed as to the precise didactic purpose of +our voyage. Here, indeed, even our headings and running-titles do not +materially help us, for though we are supposed to be witnessing, +or mayhap assisting in, a perennial conflict between "science" and +"religion," we are nowhere enlightened as to what the cause or character +of this conflict is, nor are we enabled to get a good look at either of +the parties to the strife. With regard to it "religion" especially are +we left in the dark. What this dreadful thing is towards which "science" +is always playing the part of Herakles towards the Lernaean Hydra, we +are left to gather from the course of the narrative. Yet, in a book with +any valid claim to clearsightedness, one would think such a point as +this ought to receive very explicit preliminary treatment. + +The course of the narrative, however, leaves us in little doubt as to +what Dr. Draper means by a conflict between science and religion. When +he enlarges on the trite story of Galileo, and alludes to the more +modern quarrel between the Church and the geologists, and does this +in the belief that he is thereby illustrating an antagonism between +religion and science, it is obvious that he identifies the cause of +the anti-geologists and the persecutors of Galileo with the cause +of religion. The word "religion" is to him a symbol which stands for +unenlightened bigotry or narrow-minded unwillingness to look facts in +the face. Such a conception of religion is common enough, and unhappily +a great deal has been done to strengthen it by the very persons to whom +the interests of religion are presumed to be a professional care. It +is nevertheless a very superficial conception, and no book which is +vitiated by it can have much philosophic value. It is simply the crude +impression which, in minds unaccustomed to analysis, is left by the fact +that theologians and other persons interested in religion are usually +alarmed at new scientific truths, and resist them with emotions so +highly wrought that they are not only incapable of estimating evidence, +but often also have their moral sense impaired, and fight with foul +means when fair ones fail. If we reflect carefully on this class of +phenomena, we shall see that something besides mere pride of opinion is +involved in the struggle. At the bottom of changing theological beliefs +there lies something which men perennially value, and for the sake of +which they cling to the beliefs as long as possible. That which they +value is not itself a matter of belief, but it is a matter of conduct; +it is the searching after goodness,--after a higher life than the mere +satisfaction of individual desires. All animals seek for fulness +of life; but in civilized man this craving has acquired a moral +significance, and has become a spiritual aspiration; and this emotional +tendency, more or less strong in the human race, we call religious +feeling or religion. Viewed in this light, religion is not only +something that mankind is never likely to get rid of, but it is +incomparably the most noble as well as the most useful attribute of +humanity. + +Now, this emotional prompting toward completeness of life requires, of +course, that conduct should be guided, as far as possible, in accordance +with a true theory of the relations of man to the world in which he +lives. Hence, at any given era the religious feeling will always be +found enlisted in behalf of some theory of the universe. At any time, +whatever may be their shortcomings in practice, religious men will aim +at doing right according to their conceptions of the order of the +world. If men's conceptions of the order of nature remained constant, no +apparent conflict between their religious feelings and their knowledge +need ever arise. But with the first advance in our knowledge of nature +the case is altered. New and strange theories are naturally regarded +with fear and dislike by persons who have always been accustomed to +find the sanction and justification of their emotional prompting toward +righteousness in old familiar theories which the new ones are seeking to +supplant. Such persons oppose the new doctrine because their engrained +mental habits compel them to believe that its establishment will in some +way lower men's standard of life, and make them less careful of their +spiritual welfare. This is the case, at all events, when theologians +oppose scientific conclusions on religious grounds, and not simply from +mental dulness or rigidity. And, in so far as it is religious feeling +which thus prompts resistance to scientific innovation, it may be said, +with some appearance of truth, that there is a conflict between religion +and science. + +But there must always be two parties to a quarrel, and our statement +has to be modified as soon as we consider what the scientific innovator +impugns. It is not the emotional prompting toward righteousness, it +is not the yearning to live im Guten, Ganzen, Wahren, that he seeks to +weaken; quite likely he has all this as much at heart as the theologian +who vituperates him. Nor is it true that his discoveries, in spite of +him, tend to destroy this all-important mental attitude. It would be +ridiculous to say that the fate of religious feeling is really involved +in the fate of grotesque cosmogonies and theosophies framed in the +infancy of men's knowledge of nature; for history shows us quite the +contrary. Religious feeling has survived the heliocentric theory and +the discoveries of geologists; and it will be none the worse for the +establishment of Darwinism. It is the merest truism to say that religion +strikes its roots deeper down into human nature than speculative +opinion, and is accordingly independent of any particular set of +beliefs. Since, then, the scientific innovator does not, either +voluntarily or involuntarily, attack religion, it follows that there +can be no such "conflict" as that of which Dr. Draper has undertaken to +write the history. The real contest is between one phase of science +and another; between the more-crude knowledge of yesterday and the +less-crude knowledge of to-day. The contest, indeed, as presented in +history, is simply the measure of the difficulty which men find in +exchanging old views for new ones. All along, the practical question has +been, whether we should passively acquiesce in the crude generalizations +of our ancestors or venture actively to revise them. But as for the +religious sentiment, the perennial struggle in which it has been engaged +has not been with scientific inquiry, but with the selfish propensities +whose tendency is to make men lead the lives of brutes. + +The time is at hand when the interests of religion can no longer be +supposed to be subserved by obstinate adherence to crude speculations +bequeathed to us from pre-scientific antiquity. One good result of the +doctrine of evolution, which is now gaining sway in all departments of +thought, is the lesson that all our opinions must be held subject +to continual revision, and that with none of them can our religious +interests be regarded as irretrievably implicated. To any one who +has once learned this lesson, a book like Dr. Draper's can be neither +interesting nor useful. He who has not learned it can derive little +benefit from a work which in its very title keeps open an old and +baneful source of error and confusion. + + November. 1875. + + + + +VII. NATHAN THE WISE. [28] + + [28] Nathan the Wise: A Dramatic Poem, by Gotthold Ephraim +Lessing. Translated by Ellen Frothingham. Preceded by a brief account +of the poet and his works, and followed by an essay on the poem by Kuno +Fischer. Second edition. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 1868. + +Le Christianisme Moderne, etude sur Lessing. Par Ernest Fontanes. Paris: +Bailliere. 1867. + +The fame of Lessing is steadily growing. Year by year he is valued more +highly, and valued by a greater number of people. And he is destined, +like his master and forerunner Spinoza, to receive a yet larger share of +men's reverence and gratitude when the philosophic spirit which he lived +to illustrate shall have become in some measure the general possession +of the civilized part of mankind. In his own day, Lessing, though widely +known and greatly admired, was little understood or appreciated. He was +known to be a learned antiquarian, a terrible controversialist, and an +incomparable writer. He was regarded as a brilliant ornament to Germany; +and a paltry Duke of Brunswick thought a few hundred thalers well spent +in securing the glory of having such a man to reside at his provincial +court. But the majority of Lessing's contemporaries understood him as +little perhaps as did the Duke of Brunswick. If anything were needed to +prove this, it would be the uproar which was made over the publication +of the "Wolfenbuttel Fragments," and the curious exegesis which was +applied to the poem of "Nathan" on its first appearance. In order to +understand the true character of this great poem, and of Lessing's +religious opinions as embodied in it, it will be necessary first to +consider the memorable theological controversy which preceded it. + +During Lessing's residence at Hamburg, he had come into possession of +a most important manuscript, written by Hermann Samuel Reimarus, a +professor of Oriental languages, and bearing the title of an "Apology +for the Rational Worshippers of God." Struck with the rigorous logic +displayed in its arguments, and with the quiet dignity of its style, +while yet unable to accept its most general conclusions, Lessing +resolved to publish the manuscript, accompanying it with his own +comments and strictures. Accordingly in 1774, availing himself of the +freedom from censorship enjoyed by publications drawn from manuscripts +deposited in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbuttel, of which he was +librarian, Lessing published the first portion of this work, under the +title of "Fragments drawn from the Papers of an Anonymous Writer." +This first Fragment, on the "Toleration of Deists," awakened but little +opposition; for the eighteenth century, though intolerant enough, did +not parade its bigotry, but rather saw fit to disclaim it. A hundred +years before, Rutherford, in his "Free Disputation," had declared +"toleration of alle religions to bee not farre removed from blasphemie." +Intolerance was then a thing to be proud of, but in Lessing's time some +progress had been achieved, and men began to think it a good thing to +seem tolerant. The succeeding Fragments were to test this liberality +and reveal the flimsiness of the stuff of which it was made. When the +unknown disputant began to declare "the impossibility of a revelation +upon which all men can rest a solid faith," and when he began to +criticize the evidences of Christ's resurrection, such a storm burst out +in the theological world of Germany as had not been witnessed since +the time of Luther. The recent Colenso controversy in England was but +a gentle breeze compared to it. Press and pulpit swarmed with +"refutations," in which weakness of argument and scantiness of erudition +were compensated by strength of acrimony and unscrupulousness of +slander. Pamphlets and sermons, says M. Fontanes, "were multiplied, to +denounce the impious blasphemer, who, destitute alike of shame and of +courage, had sheltered himself behind a paltry fiction, in order to let +loose upon society an evil spirit of unbelief." But Lessing's artifice +had been intended to screen the memory of Reimarus, rather than his +own reputation. He was not the man to quail before any amount of human +opposition; and it was when the tempest of invective was just at its +height that he published the last and boldest Fragment of all,--on "the +Designs of Jesus and his Disciples." + +The publication of these Fragments led to a mighty controversy. The most +eminent, both for uncompromising zeal and for worldly position, of those +who had attacked Lessing, was Melchior Goetze, "pastor primarius" at the +Hamburg Cathedral. Though his name is now remembered only because of +his connection with Lessing, Goetze was not destitute of learning and +ability. He was a collector of rare books, an amateur in numismatics, +and an antiquarian of the narrow-minded sort. Lessing had known him +while at Hamburg, and had visited him so constantly as to draw forth +from his friends malicious insinuations as to the excellence of +the pastor's white wine. Doubtless Lessing, as a wise man, was not +insensible to the attractions of good Moselle; but that which he chiefly +liked in this theologian was his logical and rigorously consistent turn +of mind. "He always," says M. Fontanes, "cherished a holy horror of +loose, inconsequent thinkers; and the man of the past, the inexorable +guardian of tradition, appeared to him far more worthy of respect than +the heterodox innovator who stops in mid-course, and is faithful neither +to reason nor to faith." + +But when Lessing published these unhallowed Fragments, the hour of +conflict had sounded, and Goetze cast himself into the arena with a +boldness and impetuosity which Lessing, in his artistic capacity, could +not fail to admire. He spared no possible means of reducing his enemy to +submission. He aroused against him all the constituted authorities, +the consistories, and even the Aulic Council of the Empire, and he +even succeeded in drawing along with him the chief of contemporary +rationalists, Semler, who so far forgot himself as to declare that +Lessing, for what he had done, deserved to be sent to the madhouse. But +with all Goetze's orthodox valour, he was no match for the antagonist +whom he had excited to activity. The great critic replied with pamphlet +after pamphlet, invincible in logic and erudition, sparkling with wit, +and irritating in their utter coolness. Such pamphlets had not been seen +since Pascal published the "Provincial Letters." Goetze found that +he had taken up arms against a master in the arts of controversy, and +before long he became well aware that he was worsted. Having brought +the case before the Aulic Council, which consisted in great part of +Catholics, the stout pastor, forgetting that judgment had not yet been +rendered, allowed himself to proclaim that all who do not recognize +the Bible as the only source of Christianity are not fit to be called +Christians at all. Lessing was not slow to profit by this unlucky +declaration. Questioned, with all manner of ferocious vituperation, by +Goetze, as to what sort of Christianity might have existed prior to +and independently of the New Testament canon, Lessing imperturbably +answered: "By the Christian religion I mean all the confessions of faith +contained in the collection of creeds of the first four centuries of the +Christian Church, including, if you wish it, the so-called creed of +the apostles, as well as the creed of Athanasius. The content of these +confessions is called by the earlier Fathers the regula fidei, or rule +of faith. This rule of faith is not drawn from the writings of the New +Testament. It existed before any of the books in the New Testament were +written. It sufficed not only for the first Christians of the age of the +apostles, but for their descendants during four centuries. And it is, +therefore, the veritable foundation upon which the Church of Christ is +built; a foundation not based upon Scripture." Thus, by a master-stroke, +Lessing secured the adherence of the Catholics constituting a majority +of the Aulic Council of the Empire. Like Paul before him, he divided the +Sanhedrim. So that Goetze, foiled in his attempts at using violence, and +disconcerted by the patristic learning of one whom he had taken to be a +mere connoisseur in art and writer of plays for the theatre, concluded +that discretion was the surest kind of valour, and desisted from further +attacks. + +Lessing's triumph came opportunely; for already the ministry of +Brunswick had not only confiscated the Fragments, but had prohibited +him from publishing anything more on the subject without first obtaining +express authority to do so. His last replies to Goetze were published +at Hamburg; and as he held himself in readiness to depart from +Wolfenbuttel, he wrote to several friends that he had conceived the +design of a drama, with which he would tear the theologians in pieces +more than with a dozen Fragments. "I will try and see," said he, "if +they will let me preach in peace from my old pulpit, the theatre." In +this way originated "Nathan the Wise." But it in no way answered to the +expectations either of Lessing's friends or of his enemies. Both the one +and the other expected to see the controversy with Goetze carried on, +developed, and generalized in the poem. They looked for a satirical +comedy, in which orthodoxy should be held up for scathing ridicule, or +at least for a direful tragedy, the moral of which, like that of the +great poem of Lucretius, should be + + "Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum." + +Had Lessing produced such a poem, he would doubtless have gratified +his free-thinking friends and wreaked due literary vengeance upon +his theological persecutors. He would, perhaps, have given articulate +expression to the radicalism of his own time, and, like Voltaire, might +have constituted himself the leader of the age, the incarnation of its +most conspicuous tendencies. But Lessing did nothing of the kind; and +the expectations formed of him by friends and enemies alike show how +little he was understood by either. "Nathan the Wise" was, as we shall +see, in the eighteenth century an entirely new phenomenon; and its +author was the pioneer of a quite new religious philosophy. + +Reimarus, the able author of the Fragments, in his attack upon the +evidences of revealed religion, had taken the same ground as Voltaire +and the old English deists. And when we have said this, we have +sufficiently defined his position, for the tenets of the deists are at +the present day pretty well known, and are, moreover, of very little +vital importance, having long since been supplanted by a more just +and comprehensive philosophy. Reimarus accepted neither miracles nor +revelation; but in accordance with the rudimentary state of criticism in +his time, he admitted the historical character of the earliest Christian +records, and was thus driven to the conclusion that those writings must +have been fraudulently composed. How such a set of impostors as the +apostles must on this hypothesis have been, should have succeeded in +inspiring large numbers of their contemporaries with higher and grander +religious notions than had ever before been conceived; how they should +have laid the foundations of a theological system destined to hold +together the most enlightened and progressive portion of human society +for seventeen or eighteen centuries,--does not seem to have entered his +mind. Against such attacks as this, orthodoxy was comparatively safe; +for whatever doubt might be thrown upon some of its leading dogmas, +the system as a whole was more consistent and rational than any of +the theories which were endeavouring to supplant it. And the fact that +nearly all the great thinkers of the eighteenth century adopted this +deistic hypothesis, shows, more than anything else, the crudeness of +their psychological knowledge, and their utter lack of what is called +"the historical sense." + +Lessing at once saw the weak point in Reimarus's argument, but his +method of disposing of it differed signally from that adopted by his +orthodox contemporaries. The more advanced German theologians of that +day, while accepting the New Testament records as literally historical, +were disposed to rationalize the accounts of miracles contained in them, +in such a way as to get rid of any presumed infractions of the laws of +nature. This method of exegesis, which reached its perfection in Paulus, +is too well known to need describing. Its unsatisfactory character was +clearly shown, thirty years ago, by Strauss, and it is now generally +abandoned, though some traces of it may still be seen in the recent +works of Renan. Lessing steadily avoided this method of interpretation. +He had studied Spinoza to some purpose, and the outlines of Biblical +criticism laid down by that remarkable thinker Lessing developed into +a system wonderfully like that now adopted by the Tubingen school. The +cardinal results which Baur has reached within the past generation were +nearly all hinted at by Lessing, in his commentaries on the Fragments. +The distinction between the first three, or synoptic gospels, and the +fourth, the later age of the fourth, and the method of composition of +the first three, from earlier documents and from oral tradition, are +all clearly laid down by him. The distinct points of view from which +the four accounts were composed, are also indicated,--the Judaizing +disposition of "Matthew," the Pauline sympathies of "Luke," the +compromising or Petrine tendencies of "Mark," and the advanced Hellenic +character of "John." Those best acquainted with the results of modern +criticism in Germany will perhaps be most surprised at finding such +speculations in a book written many years before either Strauss or Baur +were born. + +But such results, as might have been expected, did not satisfy the +pastor Goetze or the public which sympathized with him. The valiant +pastor unhesitatingly declared that he read the objections which +Lessing opposed to the Fragmentist with more horror and disgust than +the Fragments themselves; and in the teeth of the printed comments +he declared that the editor was craftily upholding his author in his +deistical assault upon Christian theology. The accusation was unjust, +because untrue. There could be no genuine cooperation between a mere +iconoclast like Reimarus, and a constructive critic like Lessing. But +the confusion was not an unnatural one on Goetze's part, and I cannot +agree with M. Fontanes in taking it as convincing proof of the pastor's +wrong-headed perversity. It appears to me that Goetze interpreted +Lessing's position quite as accurately as M. Fontanes. The latter +writer thinks that Lessing was a Christian of the liberal school since +represented by Theodore Parker in this country and by M. Reville in +France; that his real object was to defend and strengthen the Christian +religion by relieving it of those peculiar doctrines which to the +freethinkers of his time were a stumbling-block and an offence. And, in +spite of Lessing's own declarations, he endeavours to show that he was +an ordinary theist,--a follower of Leibnitz rather than of Spinoza. But +I do not think he has made out his case. Lessing's own confession to +Jacobi is unequivocal enough, and cannot well be argued away. In that +remarkable conversation, held toward the close of his life, he indicates +clearly enough that his faith was neither that of the ordinary theist, +the atheist, nor the pantheist, but that his religious theory of the +universe was identical with that suggested by Spinoza, adopted by +Goethe, and recently elaborated in the first part of the "First +Principles" of Mr. Herbert Spencer. Moreover, while Lessing cannot be +considered an antagonist of Christianity, neither did he assume the +attitude of a defender. He remained outside the theological arena; +looking at theological questions from the point of view of a layman, or +rather, as M. Cherbuliez has happily expressed it, of a Pagan. His mind +was of decidedly antique structure. He had the virtues of paganism: +its sanity, its calmness, and its probity; but of the tenderness of +Christianity, and its quenchless aspirations after an indefinable ideal, +of that feeling which has incarnated itself in Gothic cathedrals, masses +and oratorios, he exhibited but scanty traces. His intellect was above +all things self-consistent and incorruptible. He had that imperial +good-sense which might have formed the ideal alike of Horace and of +Epictetus. No clandestine preference for certain conclusions could make +his reason swerve from the straight paths of logic. And he examined and +rejected the conclusions of Reimarus in the same imperturbable spirit +with which he examined and rejected the current theories of the French +classic drama. + +Such a man can have had but little in common with a preacher like +Theodore Parker, or with a writer like M. Fontanes, whose whole book is +a noble specimen of lofty Christian eloquence. His attribute was light, +not warmth. He scrutinized, but did not attack or defend. He recognized +the transcendent merits of the Christian faith, but made no attempt to +reinstate it where it had seemed to suffer shock. It was therefore with +the surest of instincts, with that same instinct of self-preservation +which had once led the Church to anathematize Galileo, that Goetze. +proclaimed Lessing a more dangerous foe to orthodoxy than the deists +who had preceded him. Controversy, he doubtless thought, may be kept +up indefinitely, and blows given and returned forever; but before the +steady gaze of that scrutinizing eye which one of us shall find himself +able to stand erect? It has become fashionable to heap blame and +ridicule upon those who violently defend an antiquated order of things; +and Goetze has received at the hands of posterity his full share of +abuse. His wrath contrasted unfavourably with Lessing's calmness; and it +was his misfortune to have taken up arms against an opponent who always +knew how to keep the laugh upon his own side. For my own part I am +constrained to admire the militant pastor, as Lessing himself admired +him. From an artistic point of view he is not an uninteresting figure +to contemplate. And although his attempts to awaken persecution were +reprehensible, yet his ardour in defending what he believed to be vital +truth is none the less to be respected. He had the acuteness to see that +Lessing's refutation of deism did not make him a Christian, while the +new views proposed as a substitute for those of Reimarus were such as +Goetze and his age could in no wise comprehend. + +Lessing's own views of dogmatic religion are to be found in his work +entitled, "The Education of the Human Race." These views have since so +far become the veriest commonplaces of criticism, that one can hardly +realize that, only ninety years ago, they should have been regarded as +dangerous paradoxes. They may be summed up in the statement that all +great religions are good in their time and place; that, "as there is +a soul of goodness in things evil, so also there is a soul of truth +in things erroneous." According to Lessing, the successive phases of +religious belief constitute epochs in the mental evolution of the human +race. So that the crudest forms of theology, even fetishism, now to +all appearance so utterly revolting, and polytheism, so completely +inadequate, have once been the best, the natural and inevitable results +of man's reasoning powers and appliances for attaining truth. The +mere fact that a system of religious thought has received the willing +allegiance of large masses of men shows that it must have supplied some +consciously felt want, some moral or intellectual craving. And the +mere fact that knowledge and morality are progressive implies that each +successive system may in due course of time be essentially modified or +finally supplanted. The absence of any reference to a future state of +retribution, in the Pentateuch and generally in the sacred writings +of the Jews, and the continual appeal to hopes and fears of a worldly +character, have been pronounced by deists an irremediable defect in +the Jewish religion. It is precisely this, however, says Lessing, which +constitutes one of its signal excellences. "That thy days may be long +in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee," was an appeal which the +uncivilized Jew could understand, and which could arouse him to action; +while the need of a future world, to rectify the injustices of this, not +yet being felt, the doctrine would have been of but little service. +But in later Hebrew literature, many magnificent passages revealed the +despair felt by prophet and thinker over the insoluble problem presented +by the evil fate of the good and the triumphant success of the wicked; +and a solution was sought in the doctrine of a Messianic kingdom, until +Christianity with its proclamation of a future life set the +question entirely aside. By its appeal to what has been aptly termed +"other-worldliness," Christianity immeasurably intensified human +responsibility, besides rendering clearer its nature and limits. But +according to Lessing, yet another step remains to be taken; and here we +come upon the gulf which separates him from men of the stamp of +Theodore Parker. For, says Lessing, the appeal to unearthly rewards +and punishments is after all an appeal to our lower feelings; +other-worldliness is but a refined selfishness; and we are to cherish +virtue for its own sake not because it will lead us to heaven. Here is +the grand principle of Stoicism. Lessing believed, with Mr. Mill, that +the less we think about getting rewarded either on earth or in heaven +the better. He was cast in the same heroic mould as Muhamad Efendi, who +when led to the stake exclaimed: "Though I have no hope of recompense +hereafter, yet the love of truth constraineth me to die in its defence!" + +With the truth or completeness of these views of Lessing we are not here +concerned; our business being not to expound our own opinions, but +to indicate as clearly as possible Lessing's position. Those who are +familiar with the general philosophical spirit of the present age, +as represented by writers otherwise so different as Littre and +Sainte-Beuve, will best appreciate the power and originality of these +speculations. Coming in the last century, amid the crudities of deism, +they made a well-defined epoch. They inaugurated the historical method +of criticism, and they robbed the spirit of intolerance of its only +philosophical excuse for existing. Hitherto the orthodox had been +intolerant toward the philosophers because they considered them +heretics; and the philosophers had been intolerant toward the orthodox +because they considered them fools. To Voltaire it naturally seemed +that a man who could believe in the reality of miracles must be what in +French is expressively termed a sot. But henceforth, to the disciple of +Lessing, men of all shade of opinion were but the representatives +and exponents of different phases in the general evolution of human +intelligence, not necessarily to be disliked or despised if they did not +happen to represent the maturest phase. + +Religion, therefore, from this point of view, becomes clearly demarcated +from theology. It consists no longer in the mental assent to certain +prescribed formulas, but in the moral obedience to the great rule of +life; the great commandment laid down and illustrated by the Founder +of the Christian religion, and concerning which the profoundest modern +philosophy informs us that the extent to which a society has learned +to conform to it is the test and gauge of the progress in civilization +which that society has achieved. The command "to love one another," to +check the barbarous impulses inherited from the pre-social state, while +giving free play to the beneficent impulses needful for the ultimate +attainment of social equilibrium,--or as Tennyson phrases it, to "move +upward, working out the beast, and letting the ape and tiger die,"--was, +in Lessing's view, the task set before us by religion. The true +religious feeling was thus, in his opinion, what the author of "Ecce +Homo" has finely termed "the enthusiasm of humanity." And we shall find +no better language than that of the writer just mentioned, in which to +describe Lessing's conception of faith:-- + +"He who, when goodness is impressively put before him, exhibits an +instinctive loyalty to it, starts forward to take its side, trusts +himself to it, such a man has faith, and the root of the matter is +in such a man. He may have habits of vice, but the loyal and faithful +instinct in him will place him above many that practice virtue. He may +be rude in thought and character, but he will unconsciously gravitate +toward what is right. Other virtues can scarcely thrive without a fine +natural organization and a happy training. But the most neglected and +ungifted of men may make a beginning with faith. Other virtues want +civilization, a certain amount of knowledge, a few books; but in +half-brutal countenances faith will light up a glimmer of nobleness. +The savage, who can do little else, can wonder and worship and +enthusiastically obey. He who cannot know what is right can know that +some one else knows; he who has no law may still have a master; he who +is incapable of justice may be capable of fidelity; he who understands +little may have his sins forgiven because he loves much." + +Such was Lessing's religion, so far as it can be ascertained from the +fragmentary writings which he has left on the subject. Undoubtedly it +lacked completeness. The opinions which we have here set down, though +constituting something more than a mere theory of morality, certainly +do not constitute a complete theory of religion. Our valiant knight has +examined but one side of the shield,--the bright side, turned toward us, +whose marvellous inscriptions the human reason can by dint of unwearied +effort decipher. But the dark side, looking out upon infinity, and +covered with hieroglyphics the meaning of which we can never know, +he has quite forgotten to consider. Yet it is this side which genuine +religious feeling ever seeks to contemplate. It is the consciousness +that there is about us an omnipresent Power, in which we live and move +and have our being, eternally manifesting itself throughout the whole +range of natural phenomena, which has ever disposed men to be religious, +and lured them on in the vain effort to construct adequate theological +systems. We may, getting rid of the last traces of fetishism, eliminate +arbitrary volition as much as we will or can. But there still remains +the consciousness of a divine Life in the universe, of a Power which is +beyond and above our comprehension, whose goings out and comings in no +man can follow. The more we know, the more we reach out for that which +we cannot know. And who can realize this so vividly as the scientific +philosopher? For our knowledge being, according to the familiar +comparison, like a brilliant sphere, the more we increase it the greater +becomes the number of peripheral points at which we are confronted +by the impenetrable darkness beyond. I believe that this restless +yearning,--vague enough in the description, yet recognizable by all who, +communing with themselves or with nature, have felt it,--this constant +seeking for what cannot be found, this persistent knocking at gates +which, when opened, but reveal others yet to be passed, constitutes an +element which no adequate theory of religion can overlook. But of this +we find nothing in Lessing. With him all is sunny, serene, and pagan. +Not the dim aisle of a vast cathedral, but the symmetrical portico of an +antique temple, is the worshipping-place into which he would lead us. + +But if Lessing's theology must be considered imperfect, it is none the +less admirable as far as it goes. With its peculiar doctrines of love +and faith, it teaches a morality far higher than any that Puritanism +ever dreamed of. And with its theory of development it cuts away every +possible logical basis for intolerance. It is this theology to which +Lessing has given concrete expression in his immortal poem of "Nathan." + +The central idea of "Nathan" was suggested to Lessing by Boccaccio's +story of "The Three Rings," which is supposed to have had a Jewish +origin. Saladin, pretending to be inspired by a sudden, imperious whim, +such as is "not unbecoming in a Sultan," demands that Nathan shall +answer him on the spur of the moment which of the three great religions +then known--Judaism, Mohammedanism, Christianity--is adjudged by reason +to be the true one. For a moment the philosopher is in a quandary. If he +does not pronounce in favour of his own religion, Judaism, he stultifies +himself; but if he does not award the precedence to Mohammedanism, he +will apparently insult his sovereign. With true Oriental tact he escapes +from the dilemma by means of a parable. There was once a man, says +Nathan, who possessed a ring of inestimable value. Not only was the +stone which it contained incomparably fine, but it possessed the +marvellous property of rendering its owner agreeable both to God and to +men. The old man bequeathed this ring to that one of his sons whom he +loved the most; and the son, in turn, made a similar disposition of +it. So that, passing from hand to hand, the ring finally came into the +possession of a father who loved his three sons equally well. Unto which +one should he leave it? To get rid of the perplexity, he had two other +rings made by a jeweller, exactly like the original, and to each of his +three sons he bequeathed one. Each then thinking that he had obtained +the true talisman, they began violently to quarrel, and after long +contention agreed to carry their dispute before the judge. But the judge +said: "Quarrelsome fellows! You are all three of you cheated cheats. +Your three rings are alike counterfeit. For the genuine ring is lost, +and to conceal the loss, your father had made these three substitutes." +At this unexpected denouement the Sultan breaks out in exclamations of +delight; and it is interesting to learn that when the play was brought +upon the stage at Constantinople a few years ago, the Turkish audience +was similarly affected. There is in the story that quiet, stealthy +humour which is characteristic of many mediaeval apologues, and in which +Lessing himself loved to deal. It is humour of the kind which hits +the mark, and reveals the truth. In a note upon this passage, Lessing +himself said: "The opinion of Nathan upon all positive religions has for +a long time been my own." Let him who has the genuine ring show it by +making himself loved of God and man. This is the central idea of the +poem. It is wholly unlike the iconoclasm of the deists, and, coming in +the eighteenth century, it was like a veritable evangel. + +"Nathan" was not brought out until three years after Lessing's death, +and it kept possession of the stage for but a short time. In a dramatic +point of view, it has hardly any merits. Whatever plot there is in it is +weak and improbable. The decisive incidents seem to be brought in like +the deus ex machina of the later Greek drama. There is no movement, +no action, no development. The characters are poetically but not +dramatically conceived. Considered as a tragedy, "Nathan" would be weak; +considered as a comedy, it would be heavy. With full knowledge of these +circumstances, Lessing called it not a drama, but a dramatic poem; and +he might have called it still more accurately a didactic poem, for +the only feature which it has in common with the drama is that the +personages use the oratio directa. + +"Nathan" is a didactic poem: it is not a mere philosophic treatise +written in verse, like the fragments of Xenophanes. Its lessons are +conveyed concretely and not abstractly; and its characters are not mere +lay figures, but living poetical conceptions. Considered as a poem among +classic German poems, it must rank next to, though immeasurably below, +Goethe's "Faust." + +There are two contrasted kinds of genius, the poetical and the +philosophical; or, to speak yet more generally, the artistic and the +critical. The former is distinguished by a concrete, the latter by an +abstract, imagination. The former sees things synthetically, in +all their natural complexity; the latter pulls things to pieces +analytically, and scrutinizes their relations. The former sees a tree +in all its glory, where the latter sees an exogen with a pair of +cotyledons. The former sees wholes, where the latter sees aggregates. + +Corresponding with these two kinds of genius there are two classes of +artistic productions. When the critical genius writes a poem or a +novel, he constructs his plot and his characters in conformity to +some prearranged theory, or with a view to illustrate some favourite +doctrine. When he paints a picture, he first thinks how certain +persons would look under certain given circumstances, and paints them +accordingly. When he writes a piece of music, he first decides that +this phrase expresses joy, and that phrase disappointment, and the other +phrase disgust, and he composes accordingly. We therefore say ordinarily +that he does not create, but only constructs and combines. It is far +different with the artistic genius, who, without stopping to think, +sees the picture and hears the symphony with the eyes and ears of +imagination, and paints and plays merely what he has seen and heard. +When Dante, in imagination, arrived at the lowest circle of hell, where +traitors like Judas and Brutus are punished, he came upon a terrible +frozen lake, which, he says,-- + + "Ever makes me shudder at the sight of frozen pools." + +I have always considered this line a marvellous instance of the +intensity of Dante's imagination. It shows, too, how Dante composed +his poem. He did not take counsel of himself and say: "Go to, let us +describe the traitors frozen up to their necks in a dismal lake, for +that will be most terrible." But the picture of the lake, in all its +iciness, with the haggard faces staring out from its glassy crust, came +unbidden before his mind with such intense reality that, for the rest +of his life, he could not look at a frozen pool without a shudder of +horror. He described it exactly as he saw it; and his description makes +us shudder who read it after all the centuries that have intervened. +So Michael Angelo, a kindred genius, did not keep cutting and chipping +away, thinking how Moses ought to look, and what sort of a nose he +ought to have, and in what position his head might best rest upon his +shoulders. But, he looked at the rectangular block of Carrara marble, +and beholding Moses grand and lifelike within it, knocked away the +environing stone, that others also might see the mighty figure. And so +Beethoven, an artist of the same colossal order, wrote out for us those +mysterious harmonies which his ear had for the first time heard; and +which, in his mournful old age, it heard none the less plainly because +of its complete physical deafness. And in this way Shakespeare wrote +his "Othello"; spinning out no abstract thoughts about jealousy and its +fearful effects upon a proud and ardent nature, but revealing to us +the living concrete man, as his imperial imagination had spontaneously +fashioned him. + +Modern psychology has demonstrated that this is the way in which the +creative artistic imagination proceeds. It has proved that a vast +portion of all our thinking goes on unconsciously; and that the results +may arise into consciousness piecemeal and gradually, checking each +other as they come; or that they may come all at once, with all the +completeness and definiteness of perceptions presented from without. The +former is the case with the critical, and the latter with the artistic +intellect. And this we recognize imperfectly when we talk of a genius +being "inspired." All of us probably have these two kinds of imagination +to a certain extent. It is only given to a few supremely endowed persons +like Goethe to possess them both to an eminent degree. Perhaps of no +other man can it be said that he was a poet of the first order, and as +great a critic as poet. + +It is therefore apt to be a barren criticism which studies the works of +creative geniuses in order to ascertain what theory lies beneath them. +How many systems of philosophy, how many subtle speculations, have we +not seen fathered upon Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Goethe! Yet +their works are, in a certain sense, greater than any systems. They +partake of the infinite complexity and variety of nature, and no more +than nature itself can they be narrowed down to the limits of a precise +formula. + +Lessing was wont to disclaim the title of poet; but, as Goethe said, +his immortal works refute him. He had not only poetical, but dramatic +genius; and his "Emilia Galotti" has kept the stage until to-day. +Nevertheless, he knew well what he meant when he said that he was more +of a critic than a poet. His genius was mainly of the critical order; +and his great work, "Nathan the Wise," was certainly constructed rather +than created. It was intended to convey a doctrine, and was carefully +shaped for the purpose. And when we have pronounced it the greatest of +all poems that have been written for a set purpose, and admit of being +expressed in a definite formula, we have classified it with sufficient +accuracy. + +For an analysis of the characters in the poem, nothing can be better +than the essay by Kuno Fischer, appended to the present volume. The +work of translation has been admirably done; and thanks are due to Miss +Frothingham for her reproduction of this beautiful poem. + + June, 1868. + + + + +VIII. HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES. [29] + + [29] Historical Difficulties and Contested Events. By Octave +Delepierre, LL. D., F. S. A., Secretary of Legation to the King of the +Belgians. 8vo. London: Murray. 1868. + + +History, says Sainte-Beuve, is in great part a set of fables which +people agree to believe in. And, on reading books like the present, +one certainly needs a good deal of that discipline acquired by long +familiarity with vexed historical questions, in order to check the +disposition to accept the great critic's ironical remark in sober +earnest. Much of what is currently accredited as authentic history is in +fact a mixture of flattery and calumny, myth and fable. Yet in this set +of fables, whatever may have been the case in past times, people will +no longer agree to believe. During the present century the criticism +of recorded events has gone far toward assuming the developed and +systematized aspect of a science, and canons of belief have been +established, which it is not safe to disregard. Great occurrences, +such as the Trojan War and the Siege of Thebes, not long ago faithfully +described by all historians of Greece, have been found to be part of +the common mythical heritage of the Aryan nations. Achilleus and Helena, +Oidipous and Iokasta, Oinone and Paris, have been discovered in India +and again in Scandinavia, and so on, until their nonentity has become +the legitimate inference from their very ubiquity. Legislators +like Romulus and Numa, inventors like Kadmos, have evaporated +into etymologies. Whole legions of heroes, dynasties of kings, and +adulteresses as many as Dante saw borne on the whirlwind, have vanished +from the face of history, and terrible has been the havoc in the opening +pages of our chronological tables. Nor is it primitive history alone +which has been thus metamorphosed. Characters unduly exalted or defamed +by party spirit are daily being set before us in their true, or at least +in a truer, light. What Mr. Froude has done for Henry VIII. we know; and +he might have done more if he had not tried to do so much. Humpbacked +Richard turns out to have been one of the handsomest kings that ever sat +on the throne of England. Edward I., in his dealings with Scotland, is +seen to have been scrupulously just; while the dignity of the patriot +hero Wallace has been somewhat impaired. Elizabeth is proved to have +befriended the false Mary Stuart much longer than was consistent with +her personal safety. Eloquent Cicero has been held up as an object of +contempt; and even weighty Tacitus has been said to owe much of his +reputation to his ability to give false testimony with a grave face. +It has lately been suspected that gloomy Tiberius, apart from his +gloominess, may have been rather a good fellow; not so licentious +as puritanical, not cruel so much as exceptionally merciful,--a rare +general, a sagacious statesman, and popular to boot with all his +subjects save the malignant oligarchy which he consistently snubbed, and +which took revenge on him by writing his life. And, to crown all, even +Catiline, abuser of our patience, seducer of vestal nuns, and drinker +of children's blood,--whose very name suggests murder, incest, and +robbery,--even Catiline has found an able defender in Professor Beesly. +It is claimed that Catiline was a man of great abilities and average +good character, a well-calumniated leader of the Marian party which +Caesar afterwards led to victory, and that his famous plot for burning +Rome never existed save in the unscrupulous Ciceronian fancy. And those +who think it easy to refute these conclusions of Professor Beesly +had better set to work and try it. Such are a few of the surprising +questions opened by recent historical research; and in the face of them +the public is quite excusable if it declares itself at a loss what to +believe. + +These, however, are cases in which criticism has at least made some +show of ascertaining the truth and detecting the causes of the prevalent +misconception. That men like Catiline and Tiberius should have had their +characters blackened is quite easily explicable. President Johnson +would have little better chance of obtaining justice at the hands of +posterity, if the most widely read history of his administration should +happen to be written by a radical member of the Rump Congress. But the +cases which Mr. Delepierre invites us to contemplate are of a different +character. They come neither under the head of myths nor under that of +misrepresentations. Some of them are truly vexed questions which it +may perhaps always be impossible satisfactorily to solve. Others may +be dealt with more easily, but afford no clew to the origin of +the popularly received error. Let us briefly examine a few of Mr. +Delepierre's "difficulties." And first, because simplest, we will take +the case of the Alexandrian Library. + +Every one has heard how Amrou, after his conquest of Egypt, sent to +Caliph Omar to know what should be done with the Alexandrian Library. +"If the books agree with the Koran," said the Caliph, "they are +superfluous; if they contradict it, they are damnable; in either case, +destroy them." So the books were taken and used to light the fires which +heated water for the baths; and so vast was the number that, used in +this way, they lasted six months! All this happened because John the +Grammarian was over-anxious enough to request that the books might be +preserved, and thus drew Amrou's attention to them. Great has been the +obloquy poured upon Omar for this piece of vandalism, and loud has +been the mourning over the treasures of ancient science and literature +supposed to have been irrecoverably lost in this ignominious +conflagration Theologians, Catholic and Protestant, have been fond of +quoting it as an instance of the hostility of Mahometanism to knowledge, +and we have even heard an edifying sermon preached about it. On seeing +the story put to such uses, one feels sometimes like using the ad +hominem argument, and quoting the wholesale destruction of pagan +libraries under Valens, the burning of books by the Latin stormers of +Constantinople, the alleged annihilation of 100,000 volumes by Genoese +crusaders at Tripoli, the book-burning exploits of Torquemada, the +bonfire of 80,000 valuable Arabic manuscripts, lighted up in the square +of Granada by order of Cardinal Ximenes, and the irreparable cremation +of Aztec writings by the first Christian bishops of Mexico. These +examples, with perhaps others which do not now occur to us, might be +applied in just though ungentle retort by Mahometan doctors. Yet the +most direct rejoinder would probably not occur to them: the Alexandrian +Library was NOT destroyed by the orders of Omar, and the whole story is +a figment! + +The very pithiness of it, so characteristic of the excellent but bigoted +Omar, is enough to cast suspicion upon it. De Quincey tells us that "if +a saying has a proverbial fame, the probability is that it was never +said." How many amusing stories stand a chance of going down +to posterity as the inventions of President Lincoln, of which, +nevertheless, he is doubtless wholly innocent! How characteristic was +Caesar's reply to the frightened pilot! Yet in all probability Caesar +never made it. + +Now for the evidence. Alexandria was captured by Armrou in 640. The +story of the burning of the library occurs for the first time in the +works of Abulpharagius, who flourished in 1264. Six hundred years had +elapsed. It is as if a story about the crusades of Louis IX. were to be +found for the first time in the writings of Mr. Bancroft. The Byzantine +historians were furiously angry with the Saracens; why did they, one +and all, neglect to mention such an outrageous piece of vandalism? Their +silence must be considered quite conclusive. Moreover we know "that the +caliphs had forbidden under severe penalties the destruction" of Jewish +and Christian books, a circumstance wholly inconsistent with this famous +story. And finally, what a mediaeval recklessness of dates is shown +in lugging into the story John the Grammarian, who was dead and in his +grave when Alexandria was taken by Amrou! + +But the chief item of proof remains to be mentioned. The Saracens did +not burn the library, because there was no library there for them to +burn! It had been destroyed just two hundred and fifty years before by a +rabble of monks, incited by the patriarch Theophilus, who saw in such +a vast collection of pagan literature a perpetual insult and menace +to religion. In the year 390 this turbulent bigot sacked the temple of +Serapis, where the books were kept, and drove out the philosophers who +lodged there. Of this violent deed we have contemporary evidence, for +Orosius tells us that less than fifteen years afterwards, while passing +through Alexandria, he saw the empty shelves. This fact disposes of the +story. + +Passing from Egypt to France, and from the seventh century to the +fifteenth, we meet with a much more difficult problem. That Jeanne d'Arc +was burnt at the stake, at Rouen, on the 30th of May, 1431, and her +bones and ashes thrown into the Seine, is generally supposed to be as +indisputable as any event in modern history. Such is, however, hardly +the case. Plausible evidence has been brought to prove that Jeanne d'Arc +was never burnt at the stake, but lived to a ripe age, and was even +happily married to a nobleman of high rank and reputation. We shall +abridge Mr. Delepierre's statement of this curious case. + +In the archives of Metz, Father Vignier discovered the following +remarkable entry: "In the year 1436, Messire Phlin Marcou was Sheriff +of Metz, and on the 20th day of May of the aforesaid year came the maid +Jeanne, who had been in France, to La Grange of Ormes, near St. Prive, +and was taken there to confer with any one of the sieurs of Metz, and +she called herself Claude; and on the same day there came to see her +there her two brothers, one of whom was a knight, and was called Messire +Pierre, and the other 'petit Jehan,' a squire, and they thought that she +had been burnt, but as soon as they saw her they recognized her and she +them. And on Monday, the 21st day of the said month, they took their +sister with them to Boquelon, and the sieur Nicole, being a knight, +gave her a stout stallion of the value of thirty francs, and a pair of +saddle-cloths; the sieur Aubert Boulle, a riding-hood, the sieur Nicole +Groguet, a sword; and the said maiden mounted the said horse nimbly, and +said several things to the sieur Nicole by which he well understood that +it was she who had been in France; and she was recognized by many tokens +to be the maid Jeanne of France who escorted King Charles to Rheims, +and several declared that she had been burnt in Normandy, and she spoke +mostly in parables. She afterwards returned to the town of Marnelle for +the feast of Pentecost, and remained there about three weeks, and then +set off to go to Notre Dame d'Alliance. And when she wished to leave, +several of Metz went to see her at the said Marnelle and gave her +several jewels, and they knew well that she was the maid Jeanne of +France; and she then went to Erlon, in the Duchy of Luxembourg, where +she was thronged,.... and there was solemnized the marriage of Monsieur +de Hermoise, knight, and the said maid Jeanne, and afterwards the said +sieur Hermoise, with his wife, the Maid, came to live at Metz, in the +house the said sieur had, opposite St. Seglenne, and remained there +until it pleased them to depart." + +This is surprising enough; but more remains behind. Dining shortly +afterwards with M. des Armoises, member of one of the oldest families in +Lorraine, Father Vignier was invited to look over the family archives, +that he might satisfy his curiosity regarding certain ancestors of his +host. And on looking over the family register, what was his astonishment +at finding a contract of marriage between Robert des Armoises, Knight, +and Jeanne d'Arcy, the so-called Maid of Orleans! + +In 1740, some time after these occurrences, there was found, in the town +hall of Orleans, a bill of one Jacques l'Argentier, of the year 1436, in +which mention is made of a small sum paid for refreshments furnished +to a messenger who had brought letters from the Maid of Orleans, and of +twelve livres given to Jean du Lis, brother of Jeanne d'Arc, to help +him pay the expenses of his journey back to his sister. Then come two +charges which we shall translate literally. "To the sieur de Lis, 18th +October, 1436, for a journey which he made through the said city while +on his way to the Maid, who was then at Erlon in Luxembourg, and for +carrying letters from Jeanne the Maid to the King at Loicher, where he +was then staying, six livres." And again: "To Renard Brune, 25th July, +1435, at evening, for paying the hire of a messenger who was carrying +letters from Jeanne the Maid, and was on his way to William Beliers, +bailiff of Troyes, two livres." + +As no doubt has been thrown upon the genuineness of these documents, it +must be considered established that in 1436, five years after the public +execution at Rouen, a young woman, believed to be the real Jeanne d'Arc, +was alive in Lorraine and was married to a M. Hermoises or Armoises. She +may, of course, have been an impostor; but in this case it is difficult +to believe that her brothers, Jean and Pierre, and the people of +Lorraine, where she was well known, would not have detected the +imposture at once. And that Jean du Lis, during a familiar intercourse +of at least several months, as indicated in the above extracts, should +have continued to mistake a stranger for his own sister, with whom he +had lived from childhood, seems a very absurd supposition. Nor is it +likely that an impostor would have exposed herself to such a formidable +test. If it had been a bold charlatan who, taking advantage of the +quite general belief, to which we have ample testimony, that there was +something more in the execution at Rouen than was allowed to come to the +surface, had resolved to usurp for herself the honours due to the woman +who had saved France, she would hardly have gone at the outset to a part +of the country where the real Maid had spent nearly all her life. Her +instant detection and exposure, perhaps a disgraceful punishment, would +have been inevitable. But if this person were the real Jeanne, escaped +from prison or returning from an exile dictated by prudence, what should +she have done but go straightway to the haunts of her childhood, where +she might meet once more her own friends and family? + +But the account does not end here. M. Wallon, in his elaborate history +of Jeanne d'Arc, states that in 1436 the supposed Maid visited France, +and appears to have met some of the men-at-arms with whom she had +fought. In 1439 she came to Orleans, for in the accounts of the town we +read, "July 28, for ten pints of wine presented to Jeanne des Armoises, +14 sous." And on the day of her departure, the citizens of Orleans, by a +special decree of the town-council, presented her with 210 livres, "for +the services which she had rendered to the said city during the siege." +At the same time the annual ceremonies for the repose of her soul were, +quite naturally, suppressed. Now we may ask if it is at all probable +that the people of Orleans, who, ten years before, during the siege, +must have seen the Maid day after day, and to whom her whole appearance +must have been perfectly familiar, would have been likely to show such +attentions as these to an impostor? "In 1440," says Mr. Delepierre, "the +people so firmly believed that Jeanne d'Arc was still alive, and that +another had been sacrificed in her place, that an adventuress who +endeavoured to pass herself off as the Maid of Orleans was ordered by +the government to be exposed before the public on the marble stone of +the palace hall, in order to prove that she was an impostor. Why +were not such measures taken against the real Maid of Orleans, who is +mentioned in so many public documents, and who took no pains to hide +herself?" + +There is yet another document bearing on this case, drawn from the +accounts of the auditor of the Orleans estate, in the year 1444, which +we will here translate. "An island on the River Loire is restored to +Pierre du Lis, knight, 'on account of the supplication of the said +Pierre, alleging that for the acquittal of his debt of loyalty toward +our Lord the King and M. the Duke of Orleans, he left his country to +come to the service of the King and M. the Duke, accompanied by his +sister, Jeanne the Maid, with whom, down to the time of her departure, +and since, unto the present time, he has exposed his body and goods in +the said service, and in the King's wars, both in resisting the former +enemies of the kingdom who were besieging the town of Orleans, and since +then in divers enterprises,' &c., &c." Upon this Mr. Delepierre justly +remarks that the brother might have presented his claims in a much +stronger light, "if in 1444, instead of saying 'up to the time of +her departure,' he had brought forward the martyrdom of his sister, as +having been the means of saving France from the yoke of England." The +expression here cited and italicized in the above translation, may +indeed be held to refer delicately to her death, but the particular +French phrase employed, "jusques a son absentement," apparently excludes +such an interpretation. The expression, on the other hand, might well +refer to Jeanne's departure for Lorraine, and her marriage, after which +there is no evidence that she returned to France, except for brief +visits. Thus a notable amount of evidence goes to show that Jeanne was +not put to death in 1431, as usually supposed, but was alive, married, +and flourishing in 1444. Upon this supposition, certain alleged +difficulties in the traditional account are easily disposed of. Mr. +Delepierre urges upon the testimony of Perceval de Cagny, that at the +execution in Rouen "the victim's face was covered when walking to the +stake, while at the same time a spot had been chosen for the execution +that permitted the populace to have a good view. Why this contradiction? +A place is chosen to enable the people to see everything, but the victim +is carefully hidden from their sight." Whether otherwise explicable or +not, this fact is certainly consistent with the hypothesis that +some other victim was secretly substituted for Jeanne by the English +authorities. + +We have thus far contented ourselves with presenting and re-enforcing +Mr. Delepierre's statement of the case. It is now time to interpose a +little criticism. We must examine our data somewhat more closely, for +vagueness of conception allows a latitude to belief which accuracy of +conception considerably restricts. + +On the hypothesis of her survival, where was Jeanne, and what was she +doing all the time from her capture before Compiegne, May 24, 1430, +until her appearance at Metz, May 20, 1436? Mr. Delepierre reminds us +that the Duke of Bedford, regent of France for the English king, died +in 1435, and "that most probably Jeanne d'Arc was released from prison +after this event." Now this supposition lands us in a fatally absurd +conclusion. We are, in fact, asked to believe that the English, while +holding Jeanne fast in their clutches, gratuitously went through the +horrid farce of burning some one else in her stead; and that, after +having thus inexplicably behaved, they further stultified themselves by +letting her go scot-free, that their foolishness might be duly exposed +and confuted. Such a theory is childish. If Jeanne d'Arc ever survived +the 30th May, 1431, it was because she escaped from prison and succeeded +in hiding herself until safer times. When could she have done this? In a +sortie from Compiegne, May 24, 1430, she was thrown from her horse by a +Picard archer and taken prisoner by the Bastard of Vendome, who sold her +to John of Luxembourg. John kept her in close custody at Beaulieu until +August. While there, she made two attempts to escape; first, apparently, +by running out through a door, when she was at once caught by the +guards; secondly, by jumping from a high window, when the shock of +the fall was so great that she lay insensible on the ground until +discovered. She was then removed to Beaurevoir, where she remained until +the beginning of November. By this time, Philip "the Good," Duke of +Burgundy, had made up his mind to sell her to the English for 10,000 +francs; and Jeanne was accordingly taken to Arras, and thence to Cotoy, +where she was delivered to the English by Philip's officers. So far, +all is clear; but here it may be asked, WAS she really delivered to the +English, or did Philip, pocketing his 10,000 francs, cheat and defraud +his allies with a counterfeit Jeanne? Such crooked dealing would have +been in perfect keeping with his character. Though a far more agreeable +and gentlemanly person, he was almost as consummate and artistic a +rascal as his great-great-great-grandson and namesake, Philip II. of +Spain. His duplicity was so unfathomable and his policy so obscure, +that it would be hardly safe to affirm a priori that he might not, for +reasons best known to himself, have played a double game with his friend +the Duke of Bedford. On this hypothesis, he would of course keep +Jeanne in close custody so long as there was any reason for keeping his +treachery secret. But in 1436, after the death of Bedford and the final +expulsion of the English from France, no harm could come from setting +her at liberty. + +But as soon as we cease to reason a priori, this is seen to be, after +all, a lame hypothesis. No one can read the trial of Jeanne at Rouen, +the questions that were put to her and the answers which she made, +without being convinced that we are here dealing with the genuine Maid +and not with a substitute. The first step of a counterfeit Jeanne would +have naturally been to save herself from the flames by revealing her +true character. Moreover, among the multitudes who saw her during her +cruel trial, it is not likely that none were acquainted with the true +Jeanne's voice and features. We must therefore conclude that Jeanne +d'Arc was really consigned to the tender mercies of the English. About +the 21st of November she was taken on horseback, strongly guarded, from +Cotoy to Rouen, where the trial began January 9, 1431. On the 21st of +February she appeared before the court; on the 13th of March she was +examined in the prison by an inquisitor; and on May 24, the Thursday +after Pentecost, upon a scaffold conspicuously placed in the Cemetery of +St. Ouen, she publicly recanted, abjuring her "heresies" and asking the +Church's pardon for her "witchcraft." We may be sure that the Church +dignitaries would not knowingly have made such public display of a +counterfeit Jeanne; nor could they well have been deceived themselves +under such circumstances. It may indeed be said, to exhaust all possible +suppositions, that a young girl wonderfully similar in feature and voice +to Jeanne d'Arc was palmed off upon the English by Duke Philip, and +afterwards, on her trial, comported herself like the Maid, trusting +in this recantation to effect her release. But we consider such an +hypothesis extremely far-fetched, nor does it accord with the events +which immediately followed. It seems hardly questionable that it was the +real Jeanne who publicly recanted on the 24th of May. This was only six +days before the execution. Four days after, on Monday the 28th, it was +reported that Jeanne had relapsed, that she had, in defiance of the +Church's prohibition, clothed herself in male attire, which had been +left in a convenient place by the authorities, expressly to test her +sincerity. On the next day but one, the woman purporting to be the Maid +of Orleans was led out, with her face carefully covered, and burnt at +the stake. + +Here is the first combination of circumstances which bears a suspicious +look. It disposes of our Burgundy hypothesis, for a false Jeanne, after +recanting to secure her safety, would never have stultified herself by +such a barefaced relapse. But the true Jeanne, after recanting, might +certainly have escaped. Some compassionate guard, who before would have +scrupled to assist her while under the ban of the Church, might have +deemed himself excusable for lending her his aid after she had been +absolved. Postulating, then, that Jeanne escaped from Rouen between +the 24th and the 28th, how shall we explain what happened immediately +afterward? + +The English feared Jeanne d'Arc as much as they hated her. She had, by +her mere presence at the head of the French army, turned their apparent +triumph into ignominious defeat. In those days the true psychological +explanation of such an event was by no means obvious. While the French +attributed the result to celestial interposition in their behalf, the +English, equally ready to admit its supernatural character, considered +the powers of hell rather than those of heaven to have been the prime +instigators. In their eyes Jeanne was a witch, and it was at least their +cue to exhibit her as such. They might have put her to death when she +first reached Rouen. Some persons, indeed, went so far as to advise that +she should be sewed up in a sack and thrown at once into the Seine; but +this was not what the authorities wanted. The whole elaborate trial, and +the extorted recantation, were devised for the purpose of demonstrating +her to be a witch, and thus destroying her credit with the common +people. That they intended afterwards to burn her cannot for an instant +be doubted; that was the only fit consummation for their evil work. + +Now when, at the end of the week after Pentecost, the bishops and +inquisitors at Rouen learned, to their dismay, that their victim had +escaped, what were they to do? Confess that they had been foiled, and +create a panic in the army by the news that their dreaded enemy was at +liberty? Or boldly carry out their purposes by a fictitious execution, +trusting in the authority which official statements always carry, and +shrewdly foreseeing that, after her recantation, the disgraced Maid +would no more venture to claim for herself the leadership of the French +forces? Clearly, the latter would have been the wiser course. We may +assume, then, that, by the afternoon of the 28th, the story of the +relapse was promulgated, as a suitable preparation for what was to come; +and that on the 30th the poor creature who had been hastily chosen to +figure as the condemned Maid was led out, with face closely veiled, to +perish by a slow fire in the old market-place. Meanwhile the true Jeanne +would have made her way, doubtless, in what to her was the effectual +disguise of a woman's apparel, to some obscure place of safety, outside +of doubtful France and treacherous Burgundy, perhaps in Alsace or the +Vosges. Here she would remain, until the final expulsion of the English +and the conclusion of a treaty of peace in 1436 made it safe for her to +show herself; when she would naturally return to Lorraine to seek her +family. + +The comparative obscurity in which she must have remained for the rest +of her life, otherwise quite inexplicable on any hypothesis of +her survival, is in harmony with the above-given explanation. The +ingratitude of King Charles towards the heroine who had won him his +crown is the subject of common historical remark. M. Wallon insists upon +the circumstance that, after her capture at Compiegne, no attempts were +made by the French Court to ransom her or to liberate her by a bold coup +de main. And when, at Rouen, she appealed in the name of the Church to +the Pope to grant her a fair trial, not a single letter was written by +the Archbishop of Rheims, High Chancellor of France, to his suffragan, +the Bishop of Beauvais, demanding cognizance of the proceedings. Nor did +the King make any appeal to the Pope, to prevent the consummation of the +judicial murder. The Maid was deliberately left to her fate. It is upon +her enemies at court, La Tremouille and Regnault de Chartres, that we +must lay part of the blame for this wicked negligence. But it is also +probable that the King, and especially his clerical advisers, were at +times almost disposed to acquiesce in the theory of Jeanne's witchcraft. +Admire her as they might, they could not help feeling that in her whole +behaviour there was something uncanny; and, after having reaped the +benefits of her assistance, they were content to let her shift for +herself. This affords the clew to the King's inconsistencies. It may +be thought sufficient to explain the fact that Jeanne is said to have +received public testimonials at Orleans, while we have no reason to +suppose that she visited Paris. It may help to dispose of the objection +that she virtually disappears from history after the date of the tragedy +at Rouen. + +Nevertheless, this last objection is a weighty one, and cannot easily +be got rid of. It appears to me utterly incredible that, if Jeanne d'Arc +had really survived, we should find no further mention of her than +such as haply occurs in one or two town-records and dilapidated +account-books. If she was alive in 1436, and corresponding with the +King, some of her friends at court must have got an inkling of the +true state of things. Why did they not parade their knowledge, to the +manifest discomfiture of La Tremouille and his company? Or why did not +Pierre du Lis cause it to be proclaimed that the English were liars, his +sister being safely housed in Metz? + +In the mere interests of historical criticism, we have said all that we +could in behalf of Mr. Delepierre's hypothesis. But as to the facts upon +which it rests, we may remark, in the first place, that the surname Arc +or "Bow" was not uncommon in those days, while the Christian name Jeanne +was and now is the very commonest of French names. There might have been +a hundred Jeanne d'Arcs, all definable as pucelle or maid, just as we +say "spinster": we even read of one in the time of the Revolution. We +have, therefore, no doubt that Robert des Hermoises married a Jeanne +d'Arc, who may also have been a maid of Orleans; but this does not prove +her to have been the historic Jeanne. Secondly, as to the covering of +the face, we may mention the fact, hitherto withheld, that it was by no +means an uncommon circumstance: the victims of the Spanish Inquisition +were usually led to the stake with veiled faces. Thirdly, the phrase +"jusques a son absentement" is hopelessly ambiguous, and may as well +refer to Pierre du Lis himself as to his sister. + +These brief considerations seem to knock away all the main props of Mr. +Delepierre's hypothesis, save that furnished by the apparent testimony +of Jeanne's brothers, given at second hand in the Metz archives. And +those who are familiar with the phenomena of mediaeval delusions will +be unwilling to draw too hasty an inference from this alone. From +the Emperor Nero to Don Sebastian of Portugal, there have been many +instances of the supposed reappearance of persons generally believed to +be dead. For my own part, therefore, I am by no means inclined to adopt +the hypothesis of Jeanne's survival, although I have endeavoured to give +it tangible shape and plausible consistency. But the fact that so much +can be said in behalf of a theory running counter not only to universal +tradition, but also to such a vast body of contemporaneous testimony, +should teach us to be circumspect in holding our opinions, and +charitable in our treatment of those who dissent from them. For those +who can discover in the historian Renan and the critic Strauss nothing +but the malevolence of incredulity, the case of Jeanne d'Arc, duly +contemplated, may serve as a wholesome lesson. + +We have devoted so much space to this problem, by far the most +considerable of those treated in Mr. Delepierre's book, that we have +hardly room for any of the others. But a false legend concerning Solomon +de Caus, the supposed original inventor of the steam-engine, is so +instructive that we must give a brief account of it. + +In 1834 "there appeared in the Musee des Familles a letter from the +celebrated Marion Delorme, supposed to have been written on the 3d +February, 1641, to her lover Cinq-Mars." In this letter it is stated +that De Caus came four years ago [1637] from Normandy, to inform the +King concerning a marvellous invention which he had made, being nothing +less than the application of steam to the propulsion of carriages. "The +Cardinal [Richelieu] dismissed this fool without giving him a hearing." +But De Caus, nowise discouraged, followed close upon the autocrat's +heels wherever he went, and so teased him, that the Cardinal, out of +patience, sent him off to a madhouse, where he passed the remainder +of his days behind a grated window, proclaiming his invention to the +passengers in the street, and calling upon them to release him. Marion +gives a graphic account of her visit, accompanied by the famous Lord +Worcester, to the asylum at Bicetre, where they saw De Caus at his +window; and Worcester, in whose mind the conception of the steam-engine +was already taking shape, informed her that the raving prisoner was +not a madman, but a genius. A great stir was made by this letter. The +anecdote was copied into standard works, and represented in engravings. +Yet it was a complete hoax. De Caus was not only never confined in a +madhouse, but he was architect to Louis XIII. up to the time of his +death, in 1630, just eleven years BEFORE Marion Delorme was said to have +seen him at his grated window! + +"On tracing this hoax to its source," says Mr. Delepierre, "we find +that M. Henri Berthoud, a literary man of some repute, and a constant +contributor to the Musee des Familles, confesses that the letter +attributed to Marion was in fact written by himself. The editor of this +journal had requested Gavarni to furnish him with a drawing for a tale +in which a madman was introduced looking through the bars of his cell. +The drawing was executed and engraved, but arrived too late; and the +tale, which could not wait, appeared without the illustration. However, +as the wood-engraving was effective, and, moreover, was paid for, the +editor was unwilling that it should be useless. Berthoud was, therefore, +commissioned to look for a subject and to invent a story to which the +engraving might be applied. Strangely enough, the world refused to +believe in M. Berthoud's confession, so great a hold had the anecdote +taken on the public mind; and a Paris newspaper went so far even as to +declare that the original autograph of this letter was to be seen in a +library in Normandy! M. Berthoud wrote again, denying its existence, and +offered a million francs to any one who would produce the said letter." + +From this we may learn two lessons, the first being that utterly +baseless but plausible stories may arise in queer ways. In the above +case, the most far-fetched hypothesis to account for the origin of the +legend could hardly have been as apparently improbable as the reality. +Secondly, we may learn that if a myth once gets into the popular +mind, it is next to impossible to get it out again. In the Castle of +Heidelberg there is a portrait of De Caus, and a folio volume of his +works, accompanied by a note, in which this letter of Marion Delorme is +unsuspectingly cited as genuine. And only three years ago, at a public +banquet at Limoges, a well-known French Senator and man of letters +made a speech, in which he retailed the story of the madhouse for the +edification of his hearers. Truly a popular error has as many lives as +a cat; it comes walking in long after you have imagined it effectually +strangled. + +In conclusion, we may remark that Mr. Delepierre does very scant justice +to many of the interesting questions which he discusses. It is to be +regretted that he has not thought it worth while to argue his points +more thoroughly, and that he has not been more careful in making +statements of fact. He sometimes makes strange blunders, the worst of +which, perhaps, is contained in his article on Petrarch and Laura. He +thinks Laura was merely a poetical allegory, and such was the case, he +goes on to say, "with Dante himself, whose Beatrice was a child who died +at nine years of age." Dante's Beatrice died on the 9th of June, 1290, +at the age of twenty-four, having been the wife of Simone dei Bardi +rather more than three years. + + October, 1868. + + + + +IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL. [30] + + [30] The Annals of Rural Bengal. By W. W. Hunter. Vol. I. The +Ethnical Frontier of Lower Bengal, with the Ancient Principalities of +Beerbhoom and Bishenpore. Second Edition. New York: Leypoldt and Holt. +1868. 8vo., pp. xvi., 475. + +No intelligent reader can advance fifty pages in this volume without +becoming aware that he has got hold of a very remarkable book. Mr. +Hunter's style, to begin with, is such as is written only by men of +large calibre and high culture. No words are wasted. The narrative flows +calmly and powerfully along, like a geometrical demonstration, omitting +nothing which is significant, admitting nothing which is irrelevant, +glowing with all the warmth of rich imagination and sympathetic genius, +yet never allowing any overt manifestation of feeling, ever concealing +the author's personality beneath the unswerving exposition of the +subject-matter. That highest art, which conceals art, Mr. Hunter appears +to have learned well. With him, the curtain is the picture. + +Such a style as this would suffice to make any book interesting, in +spite of the remoteness of the subject. But the "Annals of Rural +Bengal" do not concern us so remotely as one might at first imagine. +The phenomena of the moral and industrial growth or stagnation of a +highly-endowed people must ever possess the interest of fascination for +those who take heed of the maxim that "history is philosophy teaching +by example." National prosperity depends upon circumstances sufficiently +general to make the experience of one country of great value to another, +though ignorant Bourbon dynasties and Rump Congresses refuse to learn +the lesson. It is of the intimate every-day life of rural Bengal that +Mr. Hunter treats. He does not, like old historians, try our patience +with a bead-roll of names that have earned no just title to remembrance, +or dazzle us with a bountiful display of "barbaric pearls and gold," or +lead us in the gondolas of Buddhist kings down sacred rivers, amid +"a summer fanned with spice"; but he describes the labours and the +sufferings, the mishaps and the good fortune, of thirty millions of +people, who, however dusky may be their hue, tanned by the tropical suns +of fifty centuries, are nevertheless members of the imperial Aryan race, +descended from the cool highlands eastward of the Caspian, where, long +before the beginning of recorded history, their ancestors and those of +the Anglo-American were indistinguishably united in the same primitive +community. + +The narrative portion of the present volume is concerned mainly with +the social and economical disorganization wrought by the great famine +of 1770, and with the attempts of the English government to remedy the +same. The remainder of the book is occupied with inquiries into the +ethnic character of the population of Bengal, and particularly with an +exposition of the peculiarities of the language, religion, customs, and +institutions of the Santals, or hill-tribes of Beerbhoom. A few remarks +on the first of these topics may not be uninteresting. + +Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from the +remote times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim tradition down +to the present moment, there has occurred no calamity at once so sudden +and of such appalling magnitude as the famine which in the spring and +summer of 1770 nearly exterminated the ancient civilization of Bengal. +It presents that aspect of preternatural vastness which characterizes +the continent of Asia and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the +fourteenth century was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has +ever afflicted the Western world. But in the concentrated misery which +it occasioned the Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the Himalayas +dwarf by comparison the highest peaks of Switzerland. It is, moreover, +the key to the history of Bengal during the next forty years; and as +such, merits, from an economical point of view, closer attention than it +has hitherto received. + +Lower Bengal gathers in three harvests each year; in the spring, in the +early autumn, and in December, the last being the great rice-crop, the +harvest on which the sustenance of the people depends. Through the year +1769 there was great scarcity, owing to the partial failure of the crops +of 1768, but the spring rains appeared to promise relief, and in spite +of the warning appeals of provincial officers, the government was slow +to take alarm, and continued rigorously to enforce the land-tax. But in +September the rains suddenly ceased. Throughout the autumn there ruled a +parching drought; and the rice-fields, according to the description of +a native superintendent of Bishenpore, "became like fields of dried +straw." Nevertheless, the government at Calcutta made--with one +lamentable exception, hereafter to be noticed--no legislative attempt +to meet the consequences of this dangerous condition of things. The +administration of local affairs was still, at that date, intrusted to +native officials. The whole internal regulation was in the hands of the +famous Muhamad Reza Ehan. Hindu or Mussulman assessors pried into every +barn and shrewdly estimated the probable dimensions of the crops on +every field; and the courts, as well as the police, were still in +native hands. "These men," says our author, "knew the country, its +capabilities, its average yield, and its average requirements, with an +accuracy that the most painstaking English official can seldom hope to +attain to. They had a strong interest in representing things to be worse +than they were; for the more intense the scarcity, the greater the merit +in collecting the land-tax. Every consultation is filled with their +apprehensions and highly-coloured accounts of the public distress; but +it does not appear that the conviction entered the minds of the Council +during the previous winter months, that the question was not so much one +of revenue as of depopulation." In fact, the local officers had cried +"Wolf!" too often. Government was slow to believe them, and announced +that nothing better could be expected than the adoption of a generous +policy toward those landholders whom the loss of harvest had rendered +unable to pay their land-tax. But very few indulgences were granted, +and the tax was not diminished, but on the contrary was, in the month +of April, 1770, increased by ten per cent for the following year. The +character of the Bengali people must also be taken into the account in +explaining this strange action on the part of the government. + +"From the first appearance of Lower Bengal in history, its inhabitants +have been reticent, self-contained, distrustful of foreign observation, +in a degree without parallel among other equally civilized nations. The +cause of this taciturnity will afterwards be clearly explained; but no +one who is acquainted either with the past experiences or the present +condition of the people can be ignorant of its results. Local officials +may write alarming reports, but their apprehensions seem to be +contradicted by the apparent quiet that prevails. Outward, palpable +proofs of suffering are often wholly wanting; and even when, as in 1770, +such proofs abound, there is generally no lack of evidence on the other +side. The Bengali bears existence with a composure that neither accident +nor chance can ruffle. He becomes silently rich or uncomplainingly poor. +The emotional part of his nature is in strict subjection, his resentment +enduring but unspoken, his gratitude of the sort that silently descends +from generation to generation. The passion for privacy reaches its +climax in the domestic relations. An outer apartment, in even the +humblest households, is set apart for strangers and the transaction +of business, but everything behind it is a mystery. The most intimate +friend does not venture to make those commonplace kindly inquiries about +a neighbour's wife or daughter which European courtesy demands from mere +acquaintances. This family privacy is maintained at any price. During +the famine of 1866 it was found impossible to render public charity +available to the female members of the respectable classes, and many a +rural household starved slowly to death without uttering a complaint or +making a sign. + +"All through the stifling summer of 1770 the people went on dying. The +husbandmen sold their cattle; they sold their implements of agriculture; +they devoured their seed-grain; they sold their sons and daughters, till +at length no buyer of children could be found; they ate the leaves of +trees and the grass of the field; and in June, 1770, the Resident at the +Durbar affirmed that the living were feeding on the dead. Day and night +a torrent of famished and disease-stricken wretches poured into the +great cities. At an early period of the year pestilence had broken out. +In March we find small-pox at Moorshedabad, where it glided through +the vice-regal mutes, and cut off the Prince Syfut in his palace. The +streets were blocked up with promiscuous heaps of the dying and dead. +Interment could not do its work quick enough; even the dogs and jackals, +the public scavengers of the East, became unable to accomplish their +revolting work, and the multitude of mangled and festering corpses at +length threatened the existence of the citizens..... In 1770, the rainy +season brought relief, and before the end of September the province +reaped an abundant harvest. But the relief came too late to avert +depopulation. Starving and shelterless crowds crawled despairingly +from one deserted village to another in a vain search for food, or a +resting-place in which to hide themselves from the rain. The epidemics +incident to the season were thus spread over the whole country; and, +until the close of the year, disease continued so prevalent as to form +a subject of communication from the government in Bengal to the Court +of Directors. Millions of famished wretches died in the struggle to live +through the few intervening weeks that separated them from the harvest, +their last gaze being probably fixed on the densely-covered fields that +would ripen only a little too late for them..... Three months later, +another bountiful harvest, the great rice-crop of the year, was gathered +in. Abundance returned to Bengal as suddenly as famine had swooped down +upon it, and in reading some of the manuscript records of December it +is difficult to realize that the scenes of the preceding ten months have +not been hideous phantasmagoria or a long, troubled dream. On Christmas +eve, the Council in Calcutta wrote home to the Court of Directors that +the scarcity had entirely ceased, and, incredible as it may seem, that +unusual plenty had returned..... So generous had been the harvest that +the government proposed at once to lay in its military stores for the +ensuing year, and expected to obtain them at a very cheap rate." + +Such sudden transitions from the depths of misery to the most exuberant +plenty are by no means rare in the history of Asia, where the various +centres of civilization are, in an economical sense, so isolated +from each other that the welfare of the population is nearly always +absolutely dependent on the irregular: and apparently capricious bounty +of nature. For the three years following the dreadful misery above +described, harvests of unprecedented abundance were gathered in. Yet how +inadequate they were to repair the fearful damage wrought by six months +of starvation, the history of the next quarter of a century too plainly +reveals. "Plenty had indeed returned," says our annalist, "but it +had returned to a silent and deserted province." The extent of the +depopulation is to our Western imaginations almost incredible. During +those six months of horror, more than TEN MILLIONS of people had +perished! It was as if the entire population of our three or four +largest States--man, woman, and child--were to be utterly swept away +between now and next August, leaving the region between the Hudson and +Lake Michigan as quiet and deathlike as the buried streets of Pompeii. +Yet the estimate is based upon most accurate and trustworthy official +returns; and Mr. Hunter may well say that "it represents an aggregate +of individual suffering which no European nation has been called upon to +contemplate within historic times." + +This unparalleled calamity struck down impartially the rich and the +poor. The old, aristocratic families of Lower Bengal were irretrievably +ruined. The Rajah of Burdwan, whose possessions were so vast that, +travel as far as he would, he always slept under a roof of his own and +within his own jurisdiction, died in such indigence that his son had to +melt down the family plate and beg a loan from the government in order +to discharge his father's funeral expenses. And our author gives other +similar instances. The wealthy natives who were appointed to assess and +collect the internal revenue, being unable to raise the sums required +by the government, were in many cases imprisoned, or their estates were +confiscated and re-let in order to discharge the debt. + +For fifteen years the depopulation went on increasing. The children in +a community, requiring most nourishment to sustain their activity, are +those who soonest succumb to famine. "Until 1785," says our author, +"the old died off without there being any rising generation to step into +their places." From lack of cultivators, one third of the surface of +Bengal fell out of tillage and became waste land. The landed proprietors +began each "to entice away the tenants of his neighbour, by offering +protection against judicial proceedings, and farms at very low rents." +The disputes and deadly feuds which arose from this practice were, +perhaps, the least fatal of the evil results which flowed from it. For +the competition went on until, the tenants obtaining their holdings at +half-rates, the resident cultivators--who had once been the wealthiest +farmers in the country--were no longer able to complete on such terms. +They began to sell, lease, or desert their property, migrating to less +afflicted regions, or flying to the hills on the frontier to adopt a +savage life. But, in a climate like that of Northeastern India, it takes +but little time to transform a tract of untilled land into formidable +wilderness. When the functions of society are impeded, nature is swift +to assert its claims. And accordingly, in 1789, "Lord Cornwallis after +three years' vigilant inquiry, pronounced one third of the company's +territories in Bengal to be a jungle, inhabited only by wild beasts." + +On the Western frontier of Beerbhoom the state of affairs was, perhaps, +most calamitous. In 1776, four acres out of every seven remained +untilled. Though in earlier times this district had been a favourite +highway for armies, by the year 1780 it had become an almost impassable +jungle. A small company of Sepoys, which in that year by heroic +exertions forced its way through, was obliged to traverse 120 miles of +trackless forest, swarming with tigers and black shaggy bears. In 1789 +this jungle "continued so dense as to shut off all communication between +the two most important towns, and to cause the mails to be carried by a +circuit of fifty miles through another district." + +Such a state of things it is difficult for us to realize; but the +monotonous tale of disaster and suffering is not yet complete. Beerbhoom +was, to all intents and purposes, given over to tigers. "A belt +of jungle, filled with wild beasts, formed round each village." At +nightfall the hungry animals made their dreaded incursions carrying away +cattle, and even women and children, and devouring them. "The official +records frequently speak of the mail-bag being carried off by wild +beasts." So great was the damage done by these depredations, that "the +company offered a reward for each tiger's head, sufficient to maintain a +peasant's family in comfort for three months; an item of expenditure it +deemed so necessary, that, when under extraordinary pressure it had to +suspend all payments, the tiger-money and diet allowance for prisoners +were the sole exceptions to the rule." Still more formidable foes were +found in the herds of wild elephants, which came trooping along in the +rear of the devastation caused by the famine. In the course of a few +years fifty-six villages were reported as destroyed by elephants, and as +having lapsed into jungle in consequence; "and an official return states +that forty market-towns throughout the district had been deserted from +the same cause. In many parts of the country the peasantry did not dare +to sleep in their houses, lest they should be buried beneath them during +the night." These terrible beasts continued to infest the province as +late as 1810. + +But society during these dark days had even worse enemies than tigers +and elephants. The barbarous highlanders, of a lower type of mankind, +nourishing for forty centuries a hatred of their Hindu supplanters, like +that which the Apache bears against the white frontiersman, seized the +occasion to renew their inroads upon the lowland country. Year by year +they descended from their mountain fastnesses, plundering and burning. +Many noble Hindu families, ousted by the tax-collectors from their +estates, began to seek subsistence from robbery. Others, consulting +their selfish interests amid the general distress, "found it more +profitable to shelter banditti on their estates, levying blackmail from +the surrounding villages as the price of immunity from depredation, and +sharing in the plunder of such as would not come to terms. Their country +houses were robber strongholds, and the early English administrators of +Bengal have left it on record that a gang-robbery never occurred without +a landed proprietor being at the bottom of it." The peasants were not +slow to follow suit, and those who were robbed of their winter's store +had no alternative left but to become robbers themselves. The thieveries +of the Fakeers, or religious mendicants, and the bold, though stealthy +attacks of Thugs and Dacoits--members of Masonic brotherhoods, which at +all times have lived by robbery and assassination--added to the general +turmoil. In the cold weather of 1772 the province was ravaged far and +wide by bands of armed freebooters, fifty thousand strong; and to such +a pass did things arrive that the regular forces sent by Warren Hastings +to preserve order were twice disastrously routed; while, in Mr. Hunter's +graphic language, "villages high up the Ganges lived by housebreaking in +Calcutta." In English mansions "it was the invariable practice for the +porter to shut the outer door at the commencement of each meal, and not +to open it till the butler brought him word that the plate was safely +locked up." And for a long time nearly all traffic ceased upon the +imperial roads. + +This state of things, which amounted to chronic civil war, induced +Lord Cornwallis in 1788 to place the province under the direct military +control of an English officer. The administration of Mr. Keating--the +first hardy gentleman to whom this arduous office was assigned--is +minutely described by our author. For our present purpose it is enough +to note that two years of severe campaigning, attended and followed by +relentless punishment of all transgressors, was required to put an end +to the disorders. + +Such was the appalling misery, throughout a community of thirty million +persons, occasioned by the failure of the winter rice-crop in 1769. +In abridging Mr. Hunter's account we have adhered as closely to our +original as possible, but he who would obtain adequate knowledge of +this tale of woe must seek it in the ever memorable description of the +historian himself. The first question which naturally occurs to the +reader--though, as Mr. Hunter observes, it would have been one of +the last to occur to the Oriental mind--is, Who was to blame? To +what culpable negligence was it due that such a dire calamity was not +foreseen, and at least partially warded off? We shall find reason to +believe that it could not have been adequately foreseen, and that +no legislative measures could in that state of society have entirely +prevented it. Yet it will appear that the government, with the best of +intentions, did all in its power to make matters worse; and that to its +blundering ignorance the distress which followed is largely due. + +The first duty incumbent upon the government in a case like that of +the failure of the winter rice-crop of 1769, was to do away with all +hindrance to the importation of food into the province. One chief cause +of the far-reaching distress wrought by great Asiatic famines has been +the almost complete commercial isolation of Asiatic communities. In the +Middle Ages the European communities were also, though to a far less +extent, isolated from each other, and in those days periods of famine +were comparatively frequent and severe. And one of the chief causes +which now render the occurrence of a famine on a great scale almost +impossible in any part of the civilized world is the increased +commercial solidarity of civilized nations. Increased facility of +distribution has operated no less effectively than improved methods of +production. + +Now, in 1770 the province of Lower Bengal was in a state of almost +complete commercial isolation from other communities. Importation of +food on an adequate scale was hardly possible. "A single fact speaks +volumes as to the isolation of each district. An abundant harvest, we +are repeatedly told, was as disastrous to the revenues as a bad one; +for, when a large quantity of grain had to be carried to market, the +cost of carriage swallowed up the price obtained. Indeed, even if the +means of intercommunication and transport had rendered importation +practicable, the province had at that time no money to give in exchange +for food. Not only had its various divisions a separate currency which +would pass nowhere else except at a ruinous exchange, but in that +unfortunate year Bengal seems to have been utterly drained of its +specie..... The absence of the means of importation was the more to +be deplored, as the neighbouring districts could easily have supplied +grain. In the southeast a fair harvest had been reaped, except, in +circumscribed spots; and we are assured that, during the famine, this +part of Bengal was enabled to export without having to complain of any +deficiency in consequence..... INDEED, NO MATTER HOW LOCAL A FAMINE +MIGHT BE IN THE LAST CENTURY, THE EFFECTS WERE EQUALLY DISASTROUS. +Sylhet, a district in the northeast of Bengal, had reaped unusually +plentiful harvests in 1780 and 1781, but the next crop was destroyed by +a local inundation, and, notwithstanding the facilities for importation +afforded by water-carriage, one third of the people died." + +Here we have a vivid representation of the economic condition of a +society which, however highly civilized in many important respects, +still retained, at the epoch treated of, its aboriginal type of +organization. Here we see each community brought face to face with the +impossible task of supplying, unaided, the deficiencies of nature. We +see one petty district a prey to the most frightful destitution, even +while profuse plenty reigns in the districts round about it. We find an +almost complete absence of the commercial machinery which, by enabling +the starving region to be fed out of the surplus of more favoured +localities, has in the most advanced countries rendered a great famine +practically impossible. + +Now this state of things the government of 1770 was indeed powerless to +remedy. Legislative power and wisdom could not anticipate the invention +of railroads; nor could it introduce throughout the length and breadth +of Bengal a system of coaches, canals, and caravans; nor could it all at +once do away with the time-honoured brigandage, which increased the cost +of transport by decreasing the security of it; nor could it in a +trice remove the curse of a heterogeneous coinage. None, save those +uninstructed agitators who believe that governments can make water run +up-hill, would be disposed to find fault with the authorities in Bengal +for failing to cope with these difficulties. But what we are to +blame them for--though it was an error of the judgment and not of the +intentions--is their mischievous interference with the natural course of +trade, by which, instead of helping matters, they but added another +to the many powerful causes which were conspiring to bring about the +economic ruin of Bengal. We refer to the act which in 1770 prohibited +under penalties all speculation in rice. + +This disastrous piece of legislation was due to the universal prevalence +of a prejudice from which so-called enlightened communities are not yet +wholly free. It is even now customary to heap abuse upon those persons +who in a season of scarcity, when prices are rapidly rising, buy up the +"necessaries of life," thereby still increasing for a time the cost of +living. Such persons are commonly assailed with specious generalities to +the effect that they are enemies of society. People whose only ideas +are "moral ideas" regard them as heartless sharpers who fatten upon the +misery of their fellow-creatures. And it is sometimes hinted that such +"practices" ought to be stopped by legislation. + +Now, so far is this prejudice, which is a very old one, from being +justified by facts, that, instead of being an evil, speculation in +breadstuffs and other necessaries is one of the chief agencies by which +in modern times and civilized countries a real famine is rendered almost +impossible. This natural monopoly operates in two ways. In the first +place, by raising prices, it checks consumption, putting every one +on shorter allowance until the season of scarcity is over, and thus +prevents the scarcity from growing into famine. In the second place, by +raising prices, it stimulates importation from those localities where +abundance reigns and prices are low. It thus in the long run does much +to equalize the pressure of a time of dearth and diminish those extreme +oscillations of prices which interfere with the even, healthy course of +trade. A government which, in a season of high prices, does anything to +check such speculation, acts about as sagely as the skipper of a wrecked +vessel who should refuse to put his crew upon half rations. + +The turning-point of the great Dutch Revolution, so far as it concerned +the provinces which now constitute Belgium, was the famous siege and +capture of Antwerp by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The siege was a +long one, and the resistance obstinate, and the city would probably +not have been captured if famine had not come to the assistance of the +besiegers. It is interesting, therefore, to inquire what steps the civic +authorities had taken to prevent such a calamity. They knew that the +struggle before them was likely to be the life-and-death struggle of +the Southern Netherlands; they knew that there was risk of their being +surrounded so that relief from without would be impossible; they knew +that their assailant was one of the most astute and unconquerable of +men, by far the greatest general of the sixteenth century. Therefore +they proceeded to do just what our Republican Congress, under such +circumstances, would probably have done, and just what the New York +Tribune, if it had existed in those days, would have advised them to +do. Finding that sundry speculators were accumulating and hoarding up +provisions in anticipation of a season of high prices, they hastily +decided, first of all to put a stop to such "selfish iniquity." In their +eyes the great thing to be done was to make things cheap. They therefore +affixed a very low maximum price to everything which could be eaten, and +prescribed severe penalties for all who should attempt to take more than +the sum by law decreed. If a baker refused to sell his bread for a price +which would have been adequate only in a time of great plenty, his shop +was to be broken open, and his loaves distributed among the populace. +The consequences of this idiotic policy were twofold. + +In the first place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any +breadstuffs or other provisions from being brought into the city. It was +a long time before Farnese succeeded in so blockading the Scheldt as +to prevent ships laden with eatables from coming in below. Corn and +preserved meats might have been hurried by thousands of tons into the +beleaguered city. Friendly Dutch vessels, freighted with abundance, were +waiting at the mouth of the river. But all to no purpose. No merchant +would expose his valuable ship, with its cargo, to the risk of being +sunk by Farnese's batteries, merely for the sake of finding a market no +better than a hundred others which could be entered without incurring +danger. No doubt if the merchants of Holland had followed out the maxim +Vivre pour autrui, they would have braved ruin and destruction rather +than behold their neighbours of Antwerp enslaved. No doubt if they could +have risen to a broad philosophic view of the future interests of the +Netherlands, they would have seen that Antwerp must be saved, no matter +if some of them were to lose money by it. But men do not yet sacrifice +themselves for their fellows, nor do they as a rule look far beyond the +present moment and its emergencies. And the business of government is to +legislate for men as they are, not as it is supposed they ought to be. +If provisions had brought a high price in Antwerp, they would have been +carried thither. As it was, the city, by its own stupidity, blockaded +itself far more effectually than Farnese could have done it. + +In the second place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any +general retrenchment on the part of the citizens. Nobody felt it +necessary to economize. Every one bought as much bread, and ate it as +freely, as if the government by insuring its cheapness had insured its +abundance. So the city lived in high spirits and in gleeful defiance of +its besiegers, until all at once provisions gave out, and the government +had to step in again to palliate the distress which it had wrought. It +constituted itself quartermaster-general to the community, and doled +out stinted rations alike to rich and poor, with that stern democratic +impartiality peculiar to times of mortal peril. But this served only, +like most artificial palliatives, to lengthen out the misery. At the +time of the surrender, not a loaf of bread could be obtained for love or +money. + +In this way a bungling act of legislation helped to decide for the worse +a campaign which involved the territorial integrity and future welfare +of what might have become a great nation performing a valuable function +in the system of European communities. + +The striking character of this instructive example must be our excuse +for presenting it at such length. At the beginning of the famine in +Bengal the authorities legislated in very much the same spirit as the +burghers who had to defend Antwerp against Parma. + +"By interdicting what it was pleased to term the monopoly of grain, +it prevented prices from rising at once to their natural rates. The +Province had a certain amount of food in it, and this food had to last +about nine months. Private enterprise if left to itself would have +stored up the general supply at the harvest, with a view to realizing +a larger profit at a later period in the scarcity. Prices would in +consequence have immediately risen, compelling the population to reduce +their consumption from the very beginning of the dearth. The general +stock would thus have been husbanded, and the pressure equally spread +over the whole nine months, instead of being concentrated upon the last +six. The price of grain, in place of promptly rising to three half-pence +a pound as in 1865-66, continued at three farthings during the earlier +months of the famine. During the latter ones it advanced to twopence, +and in certain localities reached fourpence." + +The course taken by the great famine of 1866 well illustrates the +above views. This famine, also, was caused by the total failure of the +December rice-crop, and it was brought to a close by an abundant harvest +in the succeeding year. + +"Even as regards the maximum price reached, the analogy holds good, +in each case rice having risen in general to nearly twopence, and in +particular places to fourpence, a pound; and in each the quoted rates +being for a brief period in several isolated localities merely nominal, +no food existing in the market, and money altogether losing its +interchangeable value. In both the people endured silently to the end, +with a fortitude that casual observers of a different temperament and +widely dissimilar race may easily mistake for apathy, but which those +who lived among the sufferers are unable to distinguish from qualities +that generally pass under a more honourable name. During 1866, when the +famine was severest, I superintended public instruction throughout the +southwestern division of Lower Bengal, including Orissa. The subordinate +native officers, about eight hundred in number, behaved with a +steadiness, and when called upon, with a self-abnegation, beyond praise. +Many of them ruined their health. The touching scenes of self-sacrifice +and humble heroism which I witnessed among the poor villagers on my +tours of inspection will remain in my memory till my latest day." + +But to meet the famine of 1866 Bengal was equipped with railroads and +canals, and better than all, with an intelligent government. Far from +trying to check speculation, as in 1770, the government did all in its +power to stimulate it. In the earlier famine one could hardly engage +in the grain trade without becoming amenable to the law. "In 1866 +respectable men in vast numbers went into the trade; for government, by +publishing weekly returns of the rates in every district, rendered the +traffic both easy and safe. Every one knew where to buy grain cheapest, +and where to sell it dearest, and food was accordingly brought from +the districts that could best spare it, and carried to those which most +urgently needed it. Not only were prices equalized so far as possible +throughout the stricken parts, but the publicity given to the high rates +in Lower Bengal induced large shipments from the upper provinces, and +the chief seat of the trade became unable to afford accommodation for +landing the vast stores of grain brought down the river. Rice poured +into the affected districts from all parts,--railways, canals, and roads +vigorously doing their duty." + +The result of this wise policy was that scarcity was heightened into +famine only in one remote corner of Bengal. Orissa was commercially +isolated in 1866, as the whole country had been in 1770. "As far back as +the records extend, Orissa has produced more grain than it can use. It +is an exporting, not an importing province, sending away its surplus +grain by sea, and neither requiring nor seeking any communication with +Lower Bengal by land." Long after the rest of the province had begun to +prepare for a year of famine, Orissa kept on exporting. In March, when +the alarm was first raised, the southwest monsoon had set in, rendering +the harbours inaccessible. Thus the district was isolated. It was +no longer possible to apply the wholesome policy which was operating +throughout the rest of the country. The doomed population of Orissa, +like passengers in a ship without provisions, were called upon to suffer +the extremities of famine; and in the course of the spring and summer of +1866, some seven hundred thousand people perished. + + January, 1869. + + + + +X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. [31] + + [31] History of the United Netherlands: from the Death of William +the Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce, 1609. By John Lothrop Motley, D. +C. L. In four volumes. Vols. III. and IV. New York. 1868. + + +Tandem fit surculus arbor: the twig which Mr. Motley in his earlier +volumes has described as slowly putting forth its leaves and rootless, +while painfully struggling for existence in a hostile soil, has at last +grown into a mighty tree of liberty, drawing sustenance from all +lands, and protecting all civilized peoples with its pleasant shade. +We congratulate Mr. Motley upon the successful completion of the second +portion of his great work; and we think that the Netherlanders of our +time have reason to be grateful to the writer who has so faithfully and +eloquently told the story of their country's fearful struggle against +civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, and its manifold contributions to the +advancement of European civilization. + +Mr. Motley has been fortunate in his selection of a subject upon which +to write. Probably no century of modern times lends itself to the +purposes of the descriptive historian so well as the sixteenth. While on +the one hand the problems which it presents are sufficiently near for +us to understand them without too great an effort of the imagination, on +the other hand they are sufficiently remote for us to study them without +passionate and warping prejudice. The contest between Catholicism and +the reformed religion--between ecclesiastical autocracy and the right of +private investigation--has become a thing of the past, and constitutes +a closed chapter in human history. The epoch which begins where Mr. +Motley's history is designed to close--at the peace of Westphalia--is +far more complicated. Since the middle of the seventeenth century a +double movement has been going on in religion and philosophy, society +and politics,--a movement of destruction typified by Voltaire and +Rousseau, and a constructive movement represented by Diderot and +Lessing. We are still living in the midst of this great epoch: the +questions which it presents are liable to disturb our prejudices as well +as to stimulate our reason; the results to which it must sooner or +later attain can now be only partially foreseen; and even its present +tendencies are generally misunderstood, and in many quarters wholly +ignored. With the sixteenth century, as we have said, the case is far +different. The historical problem is far less complex. The issues at +stake are comparatively simple, and the historian has before him a +straightforward story. + +From the dramatic, or rather from the epic, point of view, the sixteenth +century is pre-eminent. The essentially transitional character of modern +history since the breaking up of the papal and feudal systems is at no +period more distinctly marked. In traversing the sixteenth century we +realize that we have fairly got out of one state of things and into +another. At the outset, events like the challenge of Barletta may make +us doubt whether we have yet quite left behind the Middle Ages. The +belief in the central position of the earth is still universal, and the +belief in its rotundity not yet, until the voyage of Magellan, generally +accepted. We find England--owing partly to the introduction of gunpowder +and the consequent disuse of archery, partly to the results of the +recent integration of France under Louis XI.--fallen back from the +high relative position which it had occupied under the rule of +the Plantagenets; and its policy still directed in accordance with +reminiscences of Agincourt, and garnet, and Burgundian alliances. We +find France just beginning her ill-fated career of intervention in the +affairs of Italy; and Spain, with her Moors finally vanquished and a new +world beyond the ocean just added to her domain, rapidly developing +into the greatest empire which had been seen since the days of the first +Caesars. But at the close of the century we find feudal life in castles +changed into modern life in towns; chivalric defiances exchanged for +over-subtle diplomacy; Maurices instead of Bayards; a Henry IV. instead +of a Gaston de Foix. We find the old theory of man's central position in +the universe--the foundation of the doctrine of final causes and of the +whole theological method of interpreting nature--finally overthrown +by Copernicus. Instead of the circumnavigability of the earth, the +discovery of a Northwest passage--as instanced by the heroic voyage of +Barendz, so nobly described by Mr. Motley--is now the chief geographical +problem. East India Companies, in place of petty guilds of weavers and +bakers, bear witness to the vast commercial progress. We find England, +fresh from her stupendous victory over the whole power of Spain, again +in the front rank of nations; France, under the most astute of modern +sovereigns, taking her place for a time as the political leader of the +civilized world; Spain, with her evil schemes baffled in every quarter, +sinking into that terrible death-like lethargy, from which she has +hardly yet awakened, and which must needs call forth our pity, though it +is but the deserved retribution for her past behaviour. While the little +realm of the Netherlands, filched and cozened from the unfortunate +Jacqueline by the "good" Duke of Burgundy, carried over to Austria as +the marriage-portion of Lady Mary, sent down to Spain as the personal +inheritance of the "prudent" Philip, and by him intolerably tormented +with an Inquisition, a Blood-Council, and a Duke of Alva, has after a +forty years' war of independence taken its position for a time as the +greatest of commercial nations, with the most formidable navy and one of +the best disciplined armies yet seen upon the earth. + +But the central phenomenon of the sixteenth century is the culmination +of the Protestant movement in its decisive proclamation by Luther. For +nearly three hundred years already the power of the Church had been +declining, and its function as a civilizing agency had been growing +more and more obsolete. The first great blow at its supremacy had been +directed with partial success in the thirteenth century by the Emperor +Frederick II. Coincident with this attack from without, we find a +reformation begun within, as exemplified in the Dominican and Franciscan +movements. The second great blow was aimed by Philip IV. of France, and +this time it struck with terrible force. The removal of the Papacy to +Avignon, in 1305, was the virtual though unrecognized abdication of its +beneficent supremacy. Bereft of its dignity and independence, from +that time forth it ceased to be the defender of national unity against +baronial anarchy, of popular rights against monarchical usurpation, and +became a formidable instrument of despotism and oppression. Through +the vicissitudes of the great schism in the fourteenth century, and the +refractory councils in the fifteenth, its position became rapidly more +and more retrograde and demoralized. And when, in 1530, it joined +its forces with those of Charles V., in crushing the liberties of the +worthiest of mediaeval republics, it became evident that the cause of +freedom and progress must henceforth be intrusted to some more faithful +champion. The revolt of Northern Europe, led by Luther and Henry VIII. +was but the articulate announcement of this altered state of affairs. +So long as the Roman Church had been felt to be the enemy of tyrannical +monarchs and the steadfast friend of the people, its encroachments, as +represented by men like Dunstan and Becket, were regarded with popular +favour. The strength of the Church lay ever in its democratic instincts; +and when these were found to have abandoned it, the indignant protest of +Luther sufficed to tear away half of Europe from its allegiance. + +By the end of the sixteenth century, we find the territorial struggle +between the Church and the reformed religion substantially decided. +Protestantism and Catholicism occupied then the same respective areas +which they now occupy. Since 1600 there has been no instance of a nation +passing from one form of worship to the other; and in all probability +there never will be. Since the wholesale dissolution of religious +beliefs wrought in the last century, the whole issue between Romanism +and Protestantism, regarded as dogmatic systems, is practically dead. M. +Renan is giving expression to an almost self-evident truth, when he says +that religious development is no longer to proceed by way of sectarian +proselytism, but by way of harmonious internal development. The contest +is no longer between one theology and another, but it is between +the theological and the scientific methods of interpreting natural +phenomena. The sixteenth century has to us therefore the interest +belonging to a rounded and completed tale. It contains within itself +substantially the entire history of the final stage of the theological +reformation. + +This great period falls naturally into two divisions, the first +corresponding very nearly with the reigns of Charles V. and Henry VIII., +and the second with the age of Philip II. and Elizabeth. The first of +these periods was filled with the skirmishes which were to open the +great battle of the Reformation. At first the strength and extent of the +new revolution were not altogether apparent. While the Inquisition was +vigorously crushing out the first symptoms of disaffection in Spain, it +at one time seemed as if the Reformers were about to gain the whole of +the Empire, besides acquiring an excellent foothold in France. Again, +while England was wavering between the old and the new faith, the last +hopes of the Reform in Germany seemed likely to be destroyed by the +military genius of Charles. But in Maurice, the red-bearded hero of +Saxony, Charles found more than his match. The picture of the rapid +and desperate march of Maurice upon Innspruck, and of the great Emperor +flying for his life at the very hour of his imagined triumph, has still +for us an intenser interest than almost any other scene of that age; for +it was the event which proved that Protestantism was not a mere local +insurrection which a monarch like Charles could easily put down, but a +gigantic revolution against which all the powers in the world might well +strive in vain. + +With the abdication of Charles in 1556 the new period may be said +to begin, and it is here that Mr. Motley's history commences. Events +crowded thick and fast. In 1556 Philip II., a prince bred and educated +for the distinct purpose of suppressing heresy, succeeded to the rule +of the most powerful empire which had been seen since the days of the +Antonines. In the previous year a new era had begun at the court of +Rome. The old race of pagan pontiffs, the Borgias, the Farneses, and the +Medicis, had come to an end, and the papal throne was occupied by the +puritanical Caraffa, as violent a fanatic as Robespierre, and a foe of +freedom as uncompromising as Philip II. himself. Under his auspices +took place the great reform in the Church signalized by the rise of the +Jesuits, as the reform in the thirteenth century had been attended +by the rise of the Cordeliers and Dominicans. His name should not be +forgotten, for it is mainly owing to the policy inaugurated by him that +Catholicism was enabled to hold its ground as well as it did. In 1557 +the next year, the strength of France was broken at St. Quentin, and +Spain was left with her hands free to deal with the Protestant powers. +In 1558, by the accession of Elizabeth, England became committed to the +cause of Reform. In 1559 the stormy administration of Margaret began in +the Netherlands. In 1560 the Scotch nobles achieved the destruction of +Catholicism in North Britain. By this time every nation except France, +had taken sides in the conflict which was to last, with hardly any +cessation, during two generations. + +Mr. Motley, therefore, in describing the rise and progress of the united +republic of the Netherlands, is writing not Dutch but European history. +On his pages France, Spain, and England make almost as large a figure as +Holland itself. He is writing the history of the Reformation during its +concluding epoch, and he chooses the Netherlands as his main subject, +because during that period the Netherlands were the centre of the +movement. They constituted the great bulwark of freedom, and upon the +success or failure of their cause the future prospect of Europe and of +mankind depended. Spain and the Netherlands, Philip II. and William the +Silent, were the two leading antagonists and were felt to be such by +the other nations and rulers that came to mingle in the strife. It is +therefore a stupid criticism which we have seen made upon Mr. Motley, +that, having brought his narrative down to the truce of 1609, he ought, +instead of describing the Thirty Years' War, to keep on with Dutch +history, and pourtray the wars against Cromwell and Charles II., and the +struggle of the second William of Orange against Louis XIV. By so doing +he would only violate the unity of his narrative. The wars of the Dutch +against England and France belong to an entirely different epoch in +European history,--a modern epoch, in which political and commercial +interests were of prime importance, and theological interests distinctly +subsidiary. The natural terminus of Mr. Motley's work is the Peace +of Westphalia. After bringing down his history to the time when the +independence of the Netherlands was virtually acknowledged, after +describing the principal stages of the struggle against Catholicism and +universal monarchy, as carried on in the first generation by Elizabeth +and William, and in the second by Maurice and Henry, he will naturally +go on to treat of the epilogue as conducted by Richelieu and Gustavus, +ending in the final cessation of religious wars throughout Europe. + +The conflict in the Netherlands was indeed far more than a mere +religious struggle. In its course was distinctly brought into prominence +the fact which we have above signalized, that since the Roman Church had +abandoned the liberties of the people they had found a new defender in +the reformed religion. The Dutch rebellion is peculiarly interesting, +because it was a revolt not merely against the Inquisition, but also +against the temporal sovereignty of Philip. Besides changing their +religion, the sturdy Netherlanders saw fit to throw off the sway of +their legitimate ruler, and to proclaim the thrice heretical doctrine +of the sovereignty of the people. In this one respect their views were +decidedly more modern than those of Elizabeth and Henry IV. These great +monarchs apparently neither understood nor relished the republican +theories of the Hollanders; though it is hardly necessary for Mr. Motley +to sneer at them quite so often because they were not to an impossible +degree in advance of their age. The proclamation of a republic in the +Netherlands marked of itself the beginning of a new era,--an era when +flourishing communities of men were no longer to be bought and sold, +transferred and bequeathed like real estate and chattels, but were to +have and maintain the right of choosing with whom and under whom they +should transact their affairs. The interminable negotiations for a +truce, which fill nearly one third of Mr. Motley's concluding volume, +exhibit with striking distinctness the difference between the old and +new points of view. Here again we think Mr. Motley errs slightly, in +calling too much attention to the prevaricating diplomacy of the Spanish +court, and too little to its manifest inability to comprehend the +demands of the Netherlanders. How should statesmen brought up under +Philip II. and kept under the eye of the Inquisition be expected to +understand a claim for liberty originating in the rights of the common +people and not in the gracious benevolence or intelligent policy of the +King? The very idea must have been practically inconceivable by them. +Accordingly, they strove by every available device of chicanery to +wheedle the Netherlanders into accepting their independence as a gift +from the King of Spain. But to such a piece of self-stultification the +clear-sighted Dutchmen could by no persuasion be brought to consent. +Their independence, they argued, was not the King's to give. They had +won it from him and his father, in a war of forty years, during which +they had suffered atrocious miseries, and all that the King of Spain +could do was to acknowledge it as their right, and cease to molest them +in future. Over this point, so simple to us but knotty enough in those +days, the commissioners wrangled for nearly two years. And when the +Spanish government, unable to carry on the war any longer without risk +of utter bankruptcy, and daily crippled in its resources by the attacks +of the Dutch navy, grudgingly a reed to a truce upon the Netherlanders' +terms, it virtually acknowledged its own defeat and the downfall of the +principles for which it had so obstinately fought. By the truce of +1609 the republican principle was admitted by the most despotic of +governments. + +Here was the first great triumph of republicanism over monarchy; and it +was not long in bearing fruits. For the Dutch revolution, the settlement +of America by English Puritans, the great rebellion of the Commons, the +Revolution of 1688, the revolt of the American Colonies, and the general +overthrow of feudalism in 1789, are but successive acts in the same +drama William the Silent was the worthy forerunner of Cromwell and +Washington; and but for the victory which he won, during his life and +after his untimely death, the subsequent triumphs of civil liberty might +have been long, postponed. + +Over the sublime figure of William--saevis tranquillus in undis--we +should be glad to dwell, but we are not reviewing the "Rise of the Dutch +Republic," and in Mr. Motley's present volumes the hero of toleration +appears no longer. His antagonist, however,--the Philip whom God for +some inscrutable purpose permitted to afflict Europe during a reign of +forty-two years,--accompanies us nearly to the end of the present work, +dying just in time for the historian to sum up the case against him, +and pronounce final judgment. For the memory of Philip II. Mr. Motley +cherishes no weak pity. He rarely alludes to him without commenting upon +his total depravity, and he dismisses him with the remark that "if +there are vices--as possibly there are--from which he was exempt, it +is because it is not permitted to human nature to attain perfection in +evil." The verdict is none the less just because of its conciseness. If +there ever was a strife between Hercules and Cacus, between Ormuzd and +Ahriman, between the Power of Light and the Power of Darkness, it +was certainly the strife between the Prince of Orange and the Spanish +Monarch. They are contrasted like the light and shade in one of Dore's +pictures. And yet it is perhaps unnecessary for Mr. Motley to say that +if Philip had been alive when Spinola won for him the great victory of +Ostend, "he would have felt it his duty to make immediate arrangements +for poisoning him." Doubtless the imputation is sufficiently justified +by what we know of Philip; but it is uncalled for. We do not care to +hear about what the despot might have done. We know what he did do, and +the record is sufficiently damning. There is no harm in our giving the +Devil his due, or as Llorente wittily says, "Il ne faut pas calomnier +meme l'Inquisition." + +Philip inherited all his father's bad qualities, without any of his good +ones; and so it is much easier to judge him than his father. Charles, +indeed, is one of those characters whom one hardly knows whether to love +or hate, to admire or despise. He had much bad blood in him. Charles the +Bold and Ferdinand of Aragon were not grandparents to be proud of. Yet +with all this he inherited from his grandmother Isabella much that one +can like, and his face, as preserved by Titian, in spite of its frowning +brow and thick Burgundian lip, is rather prepossessing, while the face +of Philip is simply odious. In intellect he must probably be called +great, though his policy often betrayed the pettiness of selfishness. +If, in comparison with the mediaeval emperor whose fame he envied, he +may justly be called Charles the Little, he may still, when compared to +a more modern emulator of Charlemagne,--the first of the Bonapartes,--be +considered great and enlightened. If he could lie and cheat more +consummately than any contemporary monarch, not excepting his rival, +Francis, he could still be grandly magnanimous, while the generosity of +Francis flowed only from the shallow surface of a maudlin good-nature. +He spoke many languages and had the tastes of a scholar, while his son +had only the inclinations of an unfeeling pedagogue. He had an inkling +of urbanity, and could in a measure become all things to all men, while +Philip could never show himself except as a gloomy, impracticable bigot. +It is for some such reasons as these, I suppose, that Mr. Buckle--no +friend to despots--speaks well of Charles, and that Mr. Froude is moved +to tell the following anecdote: While standing by the grave of Luther, +and musing over the strange career of the giant monk whose teachings had +gone so far to wreck his most cherished schemes and render his life a +failure, some fanatical bystander advised the Emperor to have the body +taken up and burned in the market-place. "There was nothing," says Mr. +Froude, "unusual in the proposal; it was the common practice of the +Catholic Church with the remains of heretics, who were held unworthy +to be left in repose in hallowed ground. There was scarcely, perhaps +another Catholic prince who would have hesitated to comply. But Charles +was one of nature's gentlemen. He answered, 'I war not with the dead.'" +Mr. Motley takes a less charitable view of the great Emperor. His +generous indignation against all persecutors makes him severe; and in +one of his earlier volumes, while speaking of the famous edicts for the +suppression of heresy in the Netherlands, he somewhere uses the word +"murder." Without attempting to palliate the crime of persecution, I +doubt if it is quite fair to Charles to call him a murderer. We must not +forget that persecution, now rightly deemed an atrocious crime, was once +really considered by some people a sacred duty; that it was none other +than the compassionate Isabella who established the Spanish Inquisition; +and that the "bloody" Mary Tudor was a woman who would not wilfully have +done wrong. With the progress of civilization the time will doubtless +come when warfare, having ceased to be necessary, will be thought highly +criminal; yet it will not then be fair to hold Marlborough or Wellington +accountable for the lives lost in their great battles. We still live in +an age when war is, to the imagination of some persons, surrounded with +false glories; and the greatest of modern generals [32] has still many +undiscriminating admirers. Yet the day is no less certainly at hand +when the edicts of Charles V. will be deemed a more pardonable offence +against humanity than the wanton march to Moscow. + + [32] This was written before the deeds of Moltke had eclipsed +those of Napoleon. + + +Philip II. was different from his father in capacity as a drudging +clerk, like Boutwell, is different from a brilliant financier like +Gladstone. In organization he differed from him as a boor differs from a +gentleman. He seemed made of a coarser clay. The difference between +them is well indicated by their tastes at the table. Both were terrible +gluttons, a fact which puritanic criticism might set down as equally +to the discredit of each of them. But even in intemperance there are +degrees of refinement, and the impartial critic of life and manners will +no doubt say that if one must get drunk, let it be on Chateau Margaux +rather than on commissary whiskey. Pickled partridges, plump capons, +syrups of fruits, delicate pastry, and rare fish went to make up the +diet of Charles in his last days at Yuste. But the beastly Philip would +make himself sick with a surfeit of underdone pork. + +Whatever may be said of the father, we can hardly go far wrong in +ascribing the instincts of a murderer to the son. He not only +burned heretics, but he burned them with an air of enjoyment and +self-complacency. His nuptials with Elizabeth of France were celebrated +by a vast auto-da-fe. He studied murder as a fine art, and was as +skilful in private assassinations as Cellini was in engraving on gems. +The secret execution of Montigny, never brought to light until the +present century, was a veritable chef d'oeuvre of this sort. The +cases of Escobedo and Antonio Perez may also be cited in point. Dark +suspicions hung around the premature death of Don John of Austria, his +too brilliant and popular half-brother. He planned the murder of William +the Silent, and rewarded the assassin with an annuity furnished by +the revenues of the victim's confiscated estates. He kept a staff of +ruffians constantly in service for the purpose of taking off Elizabeth, +Henry IV., Prince Maurice, Olden-Barneveldt, and St. Aldegonde. He +instructed Alva to execute sentence of death upon the whole population +of the Netherlands. He is partly responsible for the martyrdoms of +Ridley and Latimer, and the judicial murder of Cranmer. He first +conceived the idea of the wholesale massacre of St. Bartholomew, +many years before Catharine de' Medici carried it into operation. His +ingratitude was as dangerous as his revengeful fanaticism. Those who +had best served his interests were the least likely to escape the +consequences of his jealousy. He destroyed Egmont, who had won for him +the splendid victories of St. Quentin and Gravelines; and "with minute +and artistic treachery" he plotted "the disgrace and ruin" of Farnese, +"the man who was his near blood-relation, and who had served him most +faithfully from earliest youth." Contemporary opinion even held him +accountable for the obscure deaths of his wife Elizabeth and his son +Carlos; but M. Gachard has shown that this suspicion is unfounded. +Philip appears perhaps to better advantage in his domestic than in his +political relations. Yet he was addicted to vulgar and miscellaneous +incontinence; toward the close of his life he seriously contemplated +marrying his own daughter Isabella; and he ended by taking for his +fourth wife his niece, Anne of Austria, who became the mother of his +half-idiotic son and successor. We know of no royal family, unless it +may be the Claudians of Rome, in which the transmission of moral and +intellectual qualities is more thoroughly illustrated than in this +Burgundian race which for two centuries held the sceptre of Spain. The +son Philip and the grandmother Isabella are both needful in order to +comprehend the strange mixture of good and evil in Charles. But the +descendants of Philip--two generations of idiocy, and a third of +utter impotence--are a sufficient commentary upon the organization and +character of their progenitor. + +Such was the man who for two generations had been considered the bulwark +of the Catholic Church; who, having been at the bottom of nearly all the +villany that had been wrought in Europe for half a century, was yet +able to declare upon his death-bed that "in all his life he had never +consciously done wrong to any one." At a ripe old age he died of a +fearful disease. Under the influence of a typhus fever, supervening upon +gout, he had begun to decompose while yet alive. "His sufferings," says +Mr. Motley, "were horrible, but no saint could have manifested in +them more gentle resignation or angelic patience. He moralized on the +condition to which the greatest princes might thus be brought at last by +the hand of God, and bade the Prince observe well his father's present +condition, in order that when he too should be laid thus low, he might +likewise be sustained by a conscience void of offence." What more is +needed to complete the disgusting picture? Philip was fanatical up to +the point where fanaticism borders upon hypocrisy. He was possessed with +a "great moral idea," the idea of making Catholicism the ruler of the +world, that he might be the ruler of Catholicism. Why, it may be said, +shall the charge of fanaticism be allowed to absolve Isabella and +extenuate the guilt of Charles, while it only strengthens the case +against Philip? Because Isabella persecuted heretics in order to save +their souls from a worse fate, while Philip burnt them in order to +get them out of his way. Isabella would perhaps have gone to the stake +herself, if thereby she might have put an end to heresy. Philip would +have seen every soul in Europe consigned to eternal perdition before he +would have yielded up an iota of his claims to universal dominion. +He could send Alva to browbeat the Pope, as well as to oppress the +Netherlanders. He could compass the destruction of the orthodox Egmont +and Farnese, as well as of the heretical William. His unctuous piety +only adds to the abhorrence with which we regard him; and his humility +in face of death is neither better nor worse than the assumed humility +which had become second nature to Uriah Heep. In short, take him for +all in all, he was probably the most loathsome character in all European +history. He has frequently been called, by Protestant historians, +an incarnate devil; but we do not think that Mephistopheles would +acknowledge him. He should rather be classed among those creatures +described by Dante as "a Dio spiacenti ed ai nemici sui." + +The abdication of Charles V. left Philip ruler over wider dominions than +had ever before been brought together under the sway of one man. In his +own right Philip was master not only of Spain, but of the Netherlands, +Franche Comte, Lombardy, Naples, and Sicily, with the whole of North and +South America; besides which he was married to the Queen of England. In +the course of his reign he became possessed of Portugal, with all its +vast domains in the East Indies. His revenues were greater than those of +any other contemporary monarch; his navy was considered invincible, and +his army was the best disciplined in Europe. All these great advantages +he was destined to throw to the winds. In the strife for universal +monarchy, in the mad endeavour to subject England, Scotland, and +France to his own dominion and the tyranny of the Inquisition, besides +re-conquering the Netherlands, all his vast resources were wasted. The +Dutch war alone, like a bottomless pit, absorbed all that he could pour +into it. Long before the war was over, or showed signs of drawing to an +end, his revenues were wasted, and his troops in Flanders were mutinous +for want of pay. He had to rely upon energetic viceroys like Farnese and +the Spinolas to furnish funds out of their own pockets. Finally, he was +obliged to repudiate all his debts; and when he died the Spanish empire +was in such a beggarly condition that it quaked at every approach of a +hostile Dutch fleet. Such a result is not evidence of a statesmanlike +ability; but Philip's fanatical selfishness was incompatible with +statesmanship. He never could be made to believe that his projects had +suffered defeat. No sooner had the Invincible Armada been sent to the +bottom by the guns of the English fleet and the gales of the German +Ocean, than he sent orders to Farnese to invade England at once with the +land force under his command! He thought to obtain Scotland, when, after +the death of Mary, it had passed under the undisputed control of the +Protestant noblemen. He dreamed of securing for his family the crown of +France, even after Henry, with free consent of the Pope, had made his +triumphal entry into Paris. He asserted complete and entire sovereignty +over the Netherlands, even after Prince Maurice had won back from him +the last square foot of Dutch territory. Such obstinacy as this can +only be called fatuity. If Philip had lived in Pagan times, he would +doubtless, like Caligula, have demanded recognition of his own divinity. + +The miserable condition of the Spanish people under this terrible reign, +and the causes of their subsequent degeneracy, have been well treated by +Mr. Motley. The causes of the failure of Spanish civilization are partly +social and partly economical; and they had been operating for eight +hundred years when Philip succeeded to the throne. The Moorish conquest +in 711 had practically isolated Spain from the rest of Europe. In the +Crusades she took no part, and reaped none of the signal advantages +resulting from that great movement. Her whole energies were directed +toward throwing off the yoke of her civilized but "unbelieving" +oppressors. For a longer time than has now elapsed since the Norman +Conquest of England, the entire Gothic population of Spain was engaged +in unceasing religious and patriotic warfare. The unlimited power thus +acquired by an unscrupulous clergy, and the spirit of uncompromising +bigotry thus imparted to the whole nation, are in this way readily +accounted for. But in spite of this, the affairs of Spain at the +accession of Charles V. were not in an unpromising condition. The +Spanish Visigoths had been the least barbarous of the Teutonic +settlers within the limits of the Empire; their civil institutions were +excellent; their cities had obtained municipal liberties at an earlier +date than those of England; and their Parliaments indulged in a liberty +of speech which would have seemed extravagant even to De Montfort. So +late as the time of Ferdinand, the Spaniards were still justly proud of +their freedom; and the chivalrous ambition which inspired the marvellous +expedition of Cortes to Mexico, and covered the soil of Italy with +Spanish armies, was probably in the main a healthy one. But the forces +of Spanish freedom were united at too late an epoch; in 1492, the power +of despotism was already in the ascendant. In England the case was +different. The barons were enabled to combine and wrest permanent +privileges from the crown, at a time when feudalism was strong. But the +Spanish communes waited for combined action until feudalism had become +weak, and modern despotism, with its standing armies and its control of +the spiritual power, was arrayed in the ranks against them. The War of +the Communes, early in the reign of Charles V., irrevocably decided the +case in favour of despotism, and from that date the internal decline of +Spain may be said to have begun. + +But the triumphant consolidation of the spiritual and temporal powers of +despotism, and the abnormal development of loyalty and bigotry, were not +the only evil results of the chronic struggle in which Spain had been +engaged. For many centuries, while Christian Spain had been but a fringe +of debatable border-land on the skirts of the Moorish kingdom, +perpetual guerilla warfare had rendered consecutive labour difficult or +impracticable; and the physical configuration of the country contributed +in bringing about this result. To plunder the Moors across the border +was easier than to till the ground at home. Then as the Spaniards, +exemplifying the military superiority of the feudal over the sultanic +form of social organization, proceeded steadily to recover dominion over +the land, the industrious Moors, instead of migrating backward before +the advance of their conquerors, remained at home and submitted to them. +Thus Spanish society became compounded of two distinct castes,--the +Moorish Spaniards, who were skilled labourers, and the Gothic Spaniards, +by whom all labour, crude or skilful, was deemed the stigma of a +conquered race, and unworthy the attention of respectable people. As Mr. +Motley concisely says:-- + +"The highest industrial and scientific civilization that had been +exhibited upon Spanish territory was that of Moors and Jews. When in +the course of time those races had been subjugated, massacred, or driven +into exile, not only was Spain deprived of its highest intellectual +culture and its most productive labour, but intelligence, science, and +industry were accounted degrading, because the mark of inferior and +detested peoples." + +This is the key to the whole subsequent history of Spain. Bigotry, +loyalty, and consecrated idleness are the three factors which have +made that great country what it is to-day,--the most backward region in +Europe. In view of the circumstances just narrated, it is not surprising +to learn that in Philip II.'s time a vast portion of the real estate of +the country was held by the Church in mortmain; that forty-nine noble +families owned all the rest; that all great estates were held in tail; +and that the property of the aristocracy and the clergy was completely +exempt from taxation. Thus the accumulation and the diffusion of capital +were alike prevented; and the few possessors of property wasted it +in unproductive expenditure. Hence the fundamental error of Spanish +political economy, that wealth is represented solely by the precious +metals; an error which well enough explains the total failure, in spite +of her magnificent opportunities, of Spain's attempts to colonize the +New World. Such was the frightful condition of Spanish society under +Philip II.; and as if this state of things were not bad enough, the next +king, Philip III., at the instigation of the clergy, decided to drive +into banishment the only class of productive labourers yet remaining in +the country. In 1610, this stupendous crime and blunder--unparalleled +even in Spanish history--was perpetrated. The entire Moorish population +were expelled from their homes and driven into the deserts of Africa. +For the awful consequences of this mad action no remedy was possible. No +system of native industry could be created on demand, to take the place +of that which had been thus wantonly crushed forever. From this epoch +dates the social ruin of Spain. In less than a century her people were +riotous with famine; and every sequestered glen and mountain pathway +throughout the country had become a lurking-place for robbers. Whoever +would duly realize to what a lamentable condition this beautiful +peninsula had in the seventeenth century been reduced, let him study +the immortal pages of Lesage. He will learn afresh the lesson, not yet +sufficiently regarded in the discussion of social problems, that the +laws of nature cannot be violated without entailing a penalty fearful +in proportion to the extent of the violation. But let him carefully +remember also that the Spaniards are not and never have been a +despicable people. If Spain has produced one of the lowest characters +in history, she has also produced one of the highest. That man was every +inch a Spaniard who, maimed, diseased, and poor, broken down by long +captivity, and harassed by malignant persecution, lived nevertheless +a life of grandeur and beauty fit to be a pattern for coming +generations,--the author of a book which has had a wider fame than any +other in the whole range of secular literature, and which for delicate +humour, exquisite pathos, and deep ethical sentiment, remains to-day +without a peer or a rival. If Philip II. was a Spaniard, so, too, was +Cervantes. + +Spain could not be free, for she violated every condition by which +freedom is secured to a people. "Acuteness of intellect, wealth of +imagination, heroic qualities of heart and hand and brain, rarely +surpassed in any race and manifested on a thousand battle-fields, and in +the triumphs of a magnificent and most original literature, had not been +able to save a whole nation from the disasters and the degradation which +the mere words Philip II. and the Holy Inquisition suggest to every +educated mind." Nor could Spain possibly become rich, for, as Mr. Motley +continues, "nearly every law, according to which the prosperity of a +country becomes progressive, was habitually violated." On turning to +the Netherlands we find the most complete contrast, both in historical +conditions and in social results; and the success of the Netherlands in +their long struggle becomes easily intelligible. The Dutch and Flemish +provinces had formed a part of the renovated Roman Empire of Charles +the Great and the Othos. Taking advantage of the perennial contest for +supremacy between the popes and the Roman emperors, the constituent +baronies and municipalities of the Empire succeeded in acquiring and +maintaining a practical though unrecognized independence; and this is +the original reason why Italy and Germany, unlike the three western +European communities, have remained fragmentary until our own time. +By reason of the practical freedom of action thus secured, the Italian +civic republics, the Hanse towns, and the cities of Holland and +Flanders, were enabled gradually to develop a vast commerce. The +outlying position of the Netherlands, remote from the imperial +authorities, and on the direct line of commerce between Italy and +England, was another and a peculiar advantage. Throughout the Middle +Ages the Flemish and Dutch cities were of considerable political +importance, and in the fifteenth century the Netherland provinces were +the most highly civilized portion of Europe north of the Alps. For +several generations they had enjoyed, and had known how to maintain, +civic liberties, and when Charles and Philip attempted to fasten upon +them their "peculiar institution," the Spanish Inquisition, they were +ripe for political as well as theological revolt. Natural laws were +found to operate on the Rhine as well as on the Tagus, and at the end of +the great war of independence, Holland was not only better equipped than +Spain for a European conflict, but was rapidly ousting her from the East +Indian countries which she had in vain attempted to colonize. + +But if we were to take up all the interesting and instructive themes +suggested by Mr. Motley's work, we should never come to an end. We +must pass over the exciting events narrated in these last volumes; +the victory of Nieuport, the siege of Ostend, the marvellous career of +Maurice, the surprising exploits of Spinola. We have attempted not so +much to describe Mr. Motley's book as to indulge in sundry reflections +suggested by the perusal of it. But we cannot close without some remarks +upon a great man, whose character Mr. Motley seems to have somewhat +misconceived. + +If Mr. Motley exhibits any serious fault, it is perhaps the natural +tendency to TAKE SIDES in the events which he is describing, which +sometimes operates as a drawback to complete and thoroughgoing +criticism. With every intention to do justice to the Catholics, Mr. +Motley still writes as a Protestant, viewing all questions from the +Protestant side. He praises and condemns like a very fair-minded +Huguenot, but still like a Huguenot. It is for this reason that he +fails to interpret correctly the very complex character of Henry IV., +regarding him as a sort of selfish renegade whom he cannot quite forgive +for accepting the crown of France at the hands of the Pope. Now this +very action of Henry, in the eye of an impartial criticism, must seem to +be one of his chief claims to the admiration and gratitude of posterity. +Henry was more than a mere Huguenot: he was a far-seeing statesman. He +saw clearly what no ruler before him, save William the Silent, had +even dimly discerned, that not Catholicism and not Protestantism, +but absolute spiritual freedom was the true end to be aimed at by a +righteous leader of opinion. It was as a Catholic sovereign that he +could be most useful even to his Huguenot subjects; and he shaped +his course accordingly. It was as an orthodox sovereign, holding his +position by the general consent of Europe, that he could best subserve +the interests of universal toleration. This principle he embodied in his +admirable edict of Nantes. What a Huguenot prince might have done, may +be seen from the shameful way in which the French Calvinists abused +the favour which Henry--and Richelieu afterwards--accorded to them. +Remembering how Calvin himself "dragooned" Geneva, let us be thankful +for the fortune which, in one of the most critical periods of history, +raised to the highest position in Christendom a man who was something +more than a sectarian. + +With this brief criticism, we must regretfully take leave of Mr. +Motley's work. Much more remains to be said about a historical treatise +which is, on the whole, the most valuable and important one yet produced +by an American; but we have already exceeded our limits. We trust that +our author will be as successful in the future as he has been in the +past; and that we shall soon have an opportunity of welcoming the first +instalment of his "History of the Thirty Years' War." + + March, 1868. + + + + +XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE. [33] + + [33] The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Translated by Henry +Wadsworth Longfellow. 3 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. + +THE task of a translator is a thankless one at best. Be he never so +skilful and accurate, be he never so amply endowed with the divine +qualifications of the poet, it is still questionable if he can ever +succeed in saying satisfactorily with new words that which has once been +inimitably said--said for all time--with the old words. "Psychologically, +there is perhaps nothing more complex than an elaborate poem. The +sources of its effect upon our minds may be likened to a system of +forces which is in the highest degree unstable; and the slightest +displacement of phrases, by disturbing the delicate rhythmical +equilibrium of the whole, must inevitably awaken a jarring sensation." +Matthew Arnold has given us an excellent series of lectures upon +translating Homer, in which he doubtless succeeds in showing that some +methods of translation are preferable to others, but in which he proves +nothing so forcibly as that the simplicity and grace, the rapidity, +dignity, and fire, of Homer are quite incommunicable, save by the very +words in which they first found expression. And what is thus said of +Homer will apply to Dante with perhaps even greater force. With nearly +all of Homer's grandeur and rapidity, though not with nearly all +his simplicity, the poem of Dante manifests a peculiar intensity of +subjective feeling which was foreign to the age of Homer, as indeed to +all pre-Christian antiquity. But concerning this we need not dilate, +as it has often been duly remarked upon, and notably by Carlyle, in +his "Lectures on Hero-Worship." Who that has once heard the wail of +unutterable despair sounding in the line + + "Ahi, dura terra, perche non t' apristi?" + +can rest satisfied with the interpretation + + "Ah, obdurate earth, wherefore didst thou not open?" + +yet this rendering is literally exact. + +A second obstacle, hardly less formidable, hardly less fatal to a +satisfactory translation, is presented by the highly complicated system +of triple rhyme upon which Dante's poem is constructed. This, which must +ever be a stumbling-block to the translator, seems rarely to interfere +with the free and graceful movement of the original work. The mighty +thought of the master felt no impediment from the elaborate artistic +panoply which must needs obstruct and harass the interpretation of the +disciple. Dante's terza rima is a bow of Odysseus which weaker mortals +cannot bend with any amount of tugging, and which Mr. Longfellow has +judiciously refrained from trying to bend. Yet no one can fail to remark +the prodigious loss entailed by this necessary sacrifice of one of the +most striking characteristics of the original poem. Let any one who has +duly reflected upon the strange and subtle effect produced on him by +the peculiar rhyme of Tennyson's "In Memoriam," endeavour to realize the +very different effect which would be produced if the verses were to +be alternated or coupled in successive pairs, or if rhyme were to be +abandoned for blank verse. The exquisite melody of the poem would be +silenced. The rhyme-system of the "Divine Comedy" refuses equally to be +tampered with or ignored. Its effect upon the ear and the mind is quite +as remarkable as that of the rhyme-system of "In Memoriam"; and the +impossibility of reproducing it is one good reason why Dante must always +suffer even more from translation than most poets. + +Something, too, must be said of the difficulties inevitably arising from +the diverse structure and genius of the Italian and English languages. +None will deny that many of them are insurmountable. Take the third line +of the first canto,-- + + "Che la diritta via era smarrita," + +which Mr. Longfellow translates + + "For the straightforward pathway had been lost." + +Perhaps there is no better word than "lost" by which to translate +smarrita in this place; yet the two words are far from equivalent +in force. About the word smarrita there is thrown a wide penumbra of +meaning which does not belong to the word lost. [35] By its diffuse +connotations the word smarrita calls up in our minds an adequate picture +of the bewilderment and perplexity of one who is lost in a trackless +forest. The high-road with out, beaten hard by incessant overpassing +of men and beasts and wheeled vehicles, gradually becomes metamorphosed +into the shady lane, where grass sprouts up rankly between the ruts, +where bushes encroach upon the roadside, where fallen trunks now and +then intercept the traveller; and this in turn is lost in crooked +by-ways, amid brambles and underbrush and tangled vines, growing +fantastically athwart the path, shooting up on all sides of the +bewildered wanderer, and rendering advance and retreat alike hopeless. +No one who in childhood has wandered alone in the woods can help feeling +all this suggested by the word smarrita in this passage. How bald +in comparison is the word lost, which might equally be applied to a +pathway, a reputation, and a pocket-book! [36] The English is no doubt +the most copious and variously expressive of all living languages, yet +I doubt if it can furnish any word capable by itself of calling up the +complex images here suggested by smarrita. [37] And this is but one +example, out of many that might be cited, in which the lack of exact +parallelism between the two languages employed causes every translation +to suffer. + + [35] See Diez, Romance Dictionary, s. v. "Marrir." + + [36] On literally retranslating lost into Italian, we should get +the quite different word perduta. + + [37] The more flexible method of Dr. Parsons leads to a more +satisfactory but still inadequate result:-- + + "Half-way on our life's Journey, in a wood, + From the right path I found myself astray." + + +All these, however, are difficulties which lie in the nature of +things,--difficulties for which the translator is not responsible; of +which he must try to make the best that can be made, but which he can +never expect wholly to surmount. We have now to inquire whether there +are not other difficulties, avoidable by one method of translation, +though not by another; and in criticizing Mr. Longfellow, we +have chiefly to ask whether he has chosen the best method of +translation,--that which most surely and readily awakens in the reader's +mind the ideas and feelings awakened by the original. + +The translator of a poem may proceed upon either of two distinct +principles. In the first case, he may render the text of his original +into English, line for line and word for word, preserving as far as +possible its exact verbal sequences, and translating each individual +word into an English word as nearly as possible equivalent in its +etymological force. In the second case, disregarding mere syntactic and +etymologic equivalence, his aim will be to reproduce the inner meaning +and power of the original, so far as the constitutional difference of +the two languages will permit him. + +It is the first of these methods that Mr. Longfellow has followed in his +translation of Dante. Fidelity to the text of the original has been his +guiding principle; and every one must admit that, in carrying out that +principle, he has achieved a degree of success alike delightful and +surprising. The method of literal translation is not likely to receive +any more splendid illustration. It is indeed put to the test in such +a way that the shortcomings now to be noticed bear not upon Mr. +Longfellow's own style of work so much as upon the method itself with +which they are necessarily implicated. These defects are, first, the +too frequent use of syntactic inversion, and secondly, the too manifest +preference extended to words of Romanic over words of Saxon origin. + +To illustrate the first point, let me give a few examples. In Canto I. +we have:-- + + "So bitter is it, death is little more; + But of the good to treat which there I found, + Speak will I of the other things I saw there"; + +which is thus rendered by Mr. Cary,-- + + "Which to remember only, my dismay + Renews, in bitterness not far from death. + Yet to discourse of what there good befell, + All else will I relate discovered there"; + +and by Dr. Parsons,-- + + "Its very thought is almost death to me; + Yet, having found some good there, I will tell + Of other things which there I chanced to see." [38] + + [38] "Tanto e amara, che poco e piu morte: + Ma per trattar del teen ch' i' vi trovai, + Diro dell' altre Bose, ch' io v' ho scorte." + +Inferno, I. 7-10. + + +Again in Canto X. we find:-- + + "Their cemetery have upon this side + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body mortal make the soul";-- + +an inversion which is perhaps not more unidiomatic than Mr. Cary's,-- + + "The cemetery on this part obtain + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body make the spirit die"; + +but which is advantageously avoided by Mr. Wright,-- + + "Here Epicurus hath his fiery tomb, + And with him all his followers, who maintain + That soul and body share one common doom"; + +and is still better rendered by Dr. Parsons,-- + + "Here in their cemetery on this side, + With his whole sect, is Epicurus pent, + Who thought the spirit with its body died." [39] + + [39] "Suo cimitero da questa parte hanno + Con Epieuro tutti i suoi seguaci, + Che l'anima col corpo morta fanno." + Inferno, X. 13-15. + +And here my eyes, reverting to the end of Canto IX., + +fall upon a similar contrast between Mr. Longfellow's lines,-- + + "For flames between the sepulchres were scattered, + By which they so intensely heated were, + That iron more so asks not any art,"-- + +and those of Dr. Parsons,-- + + "For here mid sepulchres were sprinkled fires, + Wherewith the enkindled tombs all-burning gleamed; + Metal more fiercely hot no art requires." [40] + + [40] "Che tra gli avelli flamme erano sparte, + Per le quali eran si del tutto accesi, + Che ferro piu non chiede verun' arte." + Inferno, IX. 118-120. + +Does it not seem that in all these cases Mr. Longfellow, and to a +slightly less extent Mr. Cary, by their strict adherence to the letter, +transgress the ordinary rules of English construction; and that Dr. +Parsons, by his comparative freedom of movement, produces better +poetry as well as better English? In the last example especially, Mr. +Longfellow's inversions are so violent that to a reader ignorant of the +original Italian, his sentence might be hardly intelligible. In Italian +such inversions are permissible; in English they are not; and Mr. +Longfellow, by transplanting them into English, sacrifices the spirit +to the letter, and creates an obscurity in the translation where all is +lucidity in the original. Does not this show that the theory of absolute +literality, in the case of two languages so widely different as English +and Italian, is not the true one? + +Secondly, Mr. Longfellow's theory of translation leads him in most +cases to choose words of Romanic origin in preference to those of Saxon +descent, and in many cases to choose an unfamiliar instead of a familiar +Romanic word, because the former happens to be etymologically identical +with the word in the original. Let me cite as an example the opening of +Canto III.:-- + + "Per me si va nella eitti dolente, + Per me si va nell' eterno dolore, + Per me si va tra la perduta gente." + +Here are three lines which, in their matchless simplicity and grandeur, +might well excite despair in the breast of any translator. Let us +contrast Mr. Longfellow's version.-- + + "Through me the way is to the city dolent; + Through me the way is to eternal dole; + Through me the way among the people lost,"-- + +with that of Dr. Parsons,--, + + "Through me you reach the city of despair; + Through me eternal wretchedness ye find; + Through me among perdition's race ye fare." + +I do not think any one will deny that Dr. Parsons's version, while far +more remote than Mr. Longfellow's from the diction of the original, is +somewhat nearer its spirit. It remains to seek the explanation of this +phenomenon. It remains to be seen why words the exact counterpart of +Dante's are unfit to call up in our minds the feelings which Dante's own +words call up in the mind of an Italian. And this inquiry leads to +some general considerations respecting the relation of English to other +European languages. + +Every one is aware that French poetry, as compared with German poetry, +seems to the English reader very tame and insipid; but the cause of this +fact is by no means so apparent as the fact itself. That the poetry of +Germany is actually and intrinsically superior to that of France, may +readily be admitted; but this is not enough to account for all the +circumstances of the case. It does not explain why some of the very +passages in Corneille and Racine, which to us appear dull and prosaic, +are to the Frenchman's apprehension instinct with poetic fervour. It +does not explain the undoubted fact that we, who speak English, are +prone to underrate French poetry, while we are equally disposed to +render to German poetry even more than its due share of merit. The +reason is to be sought in the verbal associations established in +our minds by the peculiar composition of the English language. Our +vocabulary is chiefly made up on the one hand of indigenous Saxon words, +and on the other hand of words derived from Latin or French. It is +mostly words of the first class that we learn in childhood, and that are +associated with our homeliest and deepest emotions; while words of the +second class--usually acquired somewhat later in life and employed in +sedate abstract discourse--have an intellectual rather than an emotional +function to fulfil. Their original significations, the physical +metaphors involved in them, which are perhaps still somewhat apparent to +the Frenchman, are to us wholly non-existent. Nothing but the derivative +or metaphysical signification remains. No physical image of a man +stepping over a boundary is presented to our minds by the word +transgress, nor in using the word comprehension do we picture to +ourselves any manual act of grasping. It is to this double structure +of the English language that it owes its superiority over every other +tongue, ancient or modern, for philosophical and scientific purposes. +Albeit there are numerous exceptions, it may still be safely said, in +a general way, that we possess and habitually use two kinds of +language,--one that is physical, for our ordinary purposes, and one that +is metaphysical, for purposes of abstract reasoning and discussion. We +do not say like the Germans, that we "begripe" (begreifen) an idea, but +we say that we "conceive" it. We use a word which once had the very same +material meaning as begreifen, but which has in our language utterly +lost it. We are accordingly able to carry on philosophical inquiries +by means of words which are nearly or quite free from those shadows +of original concrete meaning which, in German, too often obscure the +acquired abstract signification. Whoever has dealt in English and German +metaphysics will not fail to recognize the prodigious superiority of +English in force and perspicuity, arising mainly from the causes here +stated. But while this homogeneity of structure in German injures it for +philosophical purposes, it is the very thing which makes it so excellent +as an organ for poetical expression, in the opinion of those who speak +English. German being nearly allied to Anglo-Saxon, not only do its +simple words strike us with all the force of our own homely Saxon terms, +but its compounds also, preserving their physical significations +almost unimpaired, call up in our minds concrete images of the greatest +definiteness and liveliness. It is thus that German seems to us +pre-eminently a poetical language, and it is thus that we are naturally +inclined to overrate rather than to depreciate the poetry that is +written in it. + +With regard to French, the case is just the reverse. The Frenchman has +no Saxon words, but he has, on the other hand, an indigenous stock of +Latin words, which he learns in early childhood, which give outlet +to his most intimate feelings, and which retain to some extent their +primitive concrete picturesqueness. They are to him just as good as our +Saxon words are to us. Though cold and merely intellectual to us, they +are to him warm with emotion; and this is one reason why we cannot do +justice to his poetry, or appreciate it as he appreciates it. To make +this perfectly clear, let us take two or three lines from Shakespeare:-- + + "Blow, blow, thou winter wind! + Thou art not so unkind + As man's ingratitude, + Thy tooth is not so keen," etc., etc.; + +which I have somewhere seen thus rendered into French: + + "Souffle, souffle, vent d'hiver! + Tu n'es pas si cruel + Que l'ingratitude de l'homme. + Ta dent n'est pas si penetrante," etc., etc. + +Why are we inclined to laugh as we read this? Because it excites in us +an undercurrent of consciousness which, if put into words, might run +something like this:-- + + "Insufflate, insufflate, wind hibernal! + Thou art not so cruel + As human ingratitude. + Thy dentition is not so penetrating," etc., etc. + +No such effect would be produced upon a Frenchman. The translation would +strike him as excellent, which it really is. The last line in particular +would seem poetical to us, did we not happen to have in our language +words closely akin to dent and penetrante, and familiarly employed in +senses that are not poetical. + +Applying these considerations to Mr. Longfellow's choice of words in his +translation of Dante, we see at once the unsoundness of the principle +that Italian words should be rendered by their Romanic equivalents +in English. Words that are etymologically identical with those in the +original are often, for that very reason, the worst words that could be +used. They are harsh and foreign to the English ear, however homelike +and musical they may be to the ear of an Italian. Their connotations are +unlike in the two languages; and the translation which is made literally +exact by using them is at the same time made actually inaccurate, or at +least inadequate. Dole and dolent are doubtless the exact counterparts +of dolore and dolente, so far as mere etymology can go. But when we +consider the effect that is to be produced upon the mind of the reader, +wretchedness and despairing are fat better equivalents. The former may +compel our intellectual assent, but the latter awaken our emotional +sympathy. + +Doubtless by long familiarity with the Romanic languages, the scholar +becomes to a great degree emancipated from the conditions imposed upon +him by the peculiar composition of his native English. The concrete +significance of the Romanic words becomes apparent to him, and they +acquire energy and vitality. The expression dolent may thus satisfy the +student familiar with Italian, because it calls up in his mind, through +the medium of its equivalent dolente, the same associations which the +latter calls up in the mind of the Italian himself. [41] But this power +of appreciating thoroughly the beauties of a foreign tongue is in the +last degree an acquired taste,--as much so as the taste for olives and +kirschenwasser to the carnal palate. It is only by long and profound +study that we can thus temporarily vest ourselves, so to speak, with +a French or Italian consciousness in exchange for our English one. The +literary epicure may keenly relish such epithets as dolent; but the +common English reader, who loves plain fare, can hardly fail to be +startled by it. To him it savours of the grotesque; and if there is any +one thing especially to be avoided in the interpretation of Dante, it is +grotesqueness. + + [41] A consummate Italian scholar, the delicacy of whose taste is +questioned by no one, and whose knowledge of Dante's diction is probably +not inferior to Mr. Longfellow's, has told me that he regards the +expression as a noble and effective one, full of dignity and solemnity. + + +Those who have read over Dante without reading into him, and those who +have derived their impressions of his poem from M. Dore's memorable +illustrations, will here probably demur. What! Dante not grotesque! That +tunnel-shaped structure of the infernal pit; Minos passing sentence on +the damned by coiling his tail; Charon beating the lagging shades with +his oar; Antaios picking up the poets with his fingers and lowering them +in the hollow of his hand into the Ninth Circle; Satan crunching in his +monstrous jaws the arch-traitors, Judas, Brutus and Cassius; Ugolino +appeasing his famine upon the tough nape of Ruggieri; Bertrand de Born +looking (if I may be allowed the expression) at his own dissevered head; +the robbers exchanging form with serpents; the whole demoniac troop of +Malebolge,--are not all these things grotesque beyond everything else +in poetry? To us, nurtured in this scientific nineteenth century, they +doubtless seem so; and by Leigh Hunt, who had the eighteenth-century way +of appreciating other ages than his own, they were uniformly treated +as such. To us they are at first sight grotesque, because they are no +longer real to us. We have ceased to believe in such things, and they no +longer awaken any feeling akin to terror. But in the thirteenth century, +in the minds of Dante and his readers, they were living, terrible +realities. That Dante believed literally in all this unearthly world, +and described it with such wonderful minuteness because he believed +in it, admits of little doubt. As he walked the streets of Verona the +people whispered, "See, there is the man who has been in hell!" Truly, +he had been in hell, and described it as he had seen it, with the keen +eyes of imagination and faith. With all its weird unearthliness, there +is hardly another book in the whole range of human literature which is +marked with such unswerving veracity as the "Divine Comedy." Nothing +is there set down arbitrarily, out of wanton caprice or for the sake of +poetic effect, but because to Dante's imagination it had so imposingly +shown itself that he could not but describe it as he saw it. In reading +his cantos we forget the poet, and have before us only the veracious +traveller in strange realms, from whom the shrewdest cross-examination +can elicit but one consistent account. To his mind, and to the +mediaeval mind generally, this outer kingdom, with its wards of Despair, +Expiation, and Beatitude, was as real as the Holy Roman Empire itself. +Its extraordinary phenomena were not to be looked on with critical eyes +and called grotesque, but were to be seen with eyes of faith, and to be +worshipped, loved, or shuddered at. Rightly viewed, therefore, the poem +of Dante is not grotesque, but unspeakably awful and solemn; and the +statement is justified that all grotesqueness and bizarrerie in its +interpretation is to be sedulously avoided. + +Therefore, while acknowledging the accuracy with which Mr. Longfellow +has kept pace with his original through line after line, following the +"footing of its feet," according to the motto quoted on his title-page, +I cannot but think that his accuracy would have been of a somewhat +higher kind if he had now and then allowed himself a little more liberty +of choice between English and Romanic words and idioms. + +A few examples will perhaps serve to strengthen as well as to elucidate +still further this position. + +"Inferno," Canto III., line 22, according to Longfellow:-- + + "There sighs, complaints, and ululations loud + Resounded through the air without a star, + Whence I at the beginning wept thereat." + +According to Cary:-- + + "Here sighs, with lamentations and loud moans + Resounded through the air pierced by no star, + That e'en I wept at entering." + +According to Parsons:-- + + "Mid sighs, laments, and hollow howls of woe, + Which, loud resounding through the starless air, + Forced tears of pity from mine eyes at first." [42] + + [42] "Quivi sospiri, pianti ed alti guai + Risonavan per l' ner senza stelle, + Perch' io al cominciar ne lagrimai." + +Canto V., line 84:-- + + LONGFELLOW.--"Fly through the air by their volition borne." + CARY.--"Cleave the air, wafted by their will along." + PARSONS.--"Sped ever onward by their wish alone." [43] + + [43] "Volan per l' aer dal voler portate." + + +Canto XVII., line 42:-- + + LONGFELLOW.--"That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders." + CARY--"That to us he may vouchsafe + The aid of his strong shoulders." + PARSONS.--"And ask for us his shoulders' strong support." [44] + + [44] "Che ne conceda i suoi omeri forti." + + +Canto XVII., line 25:-- + + LONGFELLOW.-- + "His tail was wholly quivering in the void, + Contorting upwards the envenomed fork + That in the guise of scorpion armed its point." + CARY.-- + "In the void + Glancing, his tail upturned its venomous fork, + With sting like scorpions armed." + + PARSONS.--"In the void chasm his trembling tail he showed, + As up the envenomed, forked point he swung, Which, as in + scorpions, armed its tapering end." [45] + + [45] "Nel vano tutta sue coda guizzava, + Torcendo in su la venenosa forca, + Che, a guisa di scorpion, la punta armava." + +Canto V., line 51:-- + + LONGFELLOW.--"People whom the black air so castigates. + CARY.--"By the black air so scourged." [46] + + [46] "Genti che l' aura nera si gastiga." + +Line 136:-- + + LONGFELLOW.--"Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating." + CARY.--"My lips all trembling kissed." [47] + + [47] "La bocca mi bacio tutto tremante." + +"Purgatorio," Canto XV., line 139:-- + + LONGFELLOW.-- + "We passed along, athwart the twilight peering + Forward as far as ever eye could stretch + Against the sunbeams serotine and lucent." [48] + + [48] "Noi andavam per lo vespero attenti + Oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi, + Contra i raggi serotini e lucenti." + + +Mr. Cary's "bright vespertine ray" is only a trifle better; but Mr. +Wright's "splendour of the evening ray" is, in its simplicity, far +preferable. + +Canto XXXI., line 131:-- + + LONGFELLOW.--"Did the other three advance Singing to their + angelic saraband." + + CARY.--"To their own carol on they came Dancing, in festive ring + angelical " + + WRIGHT.--"And songs accompanied their angel dance." + + +Here Mr. Longfellow has apparently followed the authority of the Crusca, +reading + + "Cantando al loro angelico carribo," + +and translating carribo by saraband, a kind of Moorish dance. The best +manuscripts, however, sanction M. Witte's reading:-- + + "Danzando al loro angelico carribo." + +If this be correct, carribo cannot signify "a dance," but rather "the +song which accompanies the dance"; and the true sense of the passage +will have been best rendered by Mr. Cary. [49] + + [49] See Blanc, Vocabolario Dantesco, s. v. "caribo." + + +Whenever Mr. Longfellow's translation is kept free from oddities of +diction and construction, it is very animated and vigorous. Nothing can +be finer than his rendering of "Purgatorio," Canto VI., lines 97-117:-- + + "O German Albert! who abandonest + Her that has grown recalcitrant and savage, + And oughtest to bestride her saddle-bow, + + May a just judgment from the stars down fall + Upon thy blood, and be it new and open, + That thy successor may have fear thereof: + + Because thy father and thyself have suffered, + By greed of those transalpine lands distrained, + The garden of the empire to be waste. + + Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti, + Monaldi and Filippeschi, careless man! + Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed! + + Come, cruel one! come and behold the oppression + Of thy nobility, and cure their wounds, + And thou shalt see how safe [?] is Santafiore. + + Come and behold thy Rome that is lamenting, + Widowed, alone, and day and night exclaims + 'My Caesar, why hast thou forsaken me?' + + Come and behold how loving are the people; + And if for us no pity moveth thee, + Come and be made ashamed of thy renown." [50] + + [50] "O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni + Costei ch' e fatta indomita e selvaggia, + E dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni, + + Giusto gindizio dalle stelle caggia + Sopra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo ed aperto, + Tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia: + Cheavete tu e il tuo padre sofferto, + Per cupidigia di costa distretti, + Che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto. + + Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, + Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura: + Color gia tristi, e questi con sospetti. + Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura + De' tuoi gentili, e cure lor magagne, + E vedrai Santafior com' e oscura [secura?]. + Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, + Vedova e sola, e di e notte chiama: + Cesare mio, perche non m' accompagne? + Vieni a veder la gente quanto s' ama; + E se nulla di noi pieta ti move, + A vergognar ti vien della tua fama." + + + +So, too, Canto III., lines 79-84:-- + + "As sheep come issuing forth from out the fold + By ones, and twos, and threes, and the others stand +Timidly holding down their eyes and nostrils, + + And what the foremost does the others do + Huddling themselves against her if she stop, + Simple and quiet, and the wherefore know not." [51] + + [51] "Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso + Ad una, a due, a tre, e l' altre stanno + Timidette atterrando l' occhio e il muso; + + E cio che fa la prima, e l' altre sanno, + Addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta, + Semplici e quete, e lo 'mperche non sanno." + + +Francesca's exclamation to Dante is thus rendered by Mr. Longfellow:-- + + "And she to me: There is no greater sorrow + Than to be mindful of the happy time + In misery." [52] + + [52] "Ed ella a me: Nessun maggior dolore + Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria." +Inferno, V. 121-123. + + + +This is admirable,--full of the true poetic glow, which would have been +utterly quenched if some Romanic equivalent of dolore had been used +instead of our good Saxon sorrow. [53] So, too, the "Paradiso," Canto +I., line 100:-- + + "Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh, + Her eyes directed toward me with that look + A mother casts on a delirious child." [54] + + [53] Yet admirable as it is, I am not quite sure that Dr. +Parsons, by taking further liberty with the original, has not surpassed +it:-- + + "And she to me: The mightiest of all woes + Is in the midst of misery to be cursed + With bliss remembered." + + [54] "Ond' ella, appresso d'un pio sospiro, + Gli occhi drizzo ver me con quel sembiante, + Che madre fa sopra figlinol deliro." + + +And, finally, the beginning of the eighth canto of the "Purgatorio":-- + + "'T was now the hour that turneth back desire + In those who sail the sea, and melts the heart, + The day they've said to their sweet friends farewell; + And the new pilgrim penetrates with love, + If he doth hear from far away a bell + That seemeth to deplore the dying day." [55] + + [55] "Era gia l' ora che volge il disio + Ai naviganti, e intenerisce il core + Lo di ch' hen detto ai dolci amici addio; + E che lo nuovo peregrin d' amore + Punge, se ode squilla di lontano, + Che paia il giorno pianger che si more." + +This passage affords an excellent example of what the method of literal +translation can do at its best. Except in the second line, where "those +who sail the sea" is wisely preferred to any Romanic equivalent of +naviganti the version is utterly literal; as literal as the one the +school-boy makes, when he opens his Virgil at the Fourth Eclogue, +and lumberingly reads, "Sicilian Muses, let us sing things a little +greater." But there is nothing clumsy, nothing which smacks of the +recitation-room, in these lines of Mr. Longfellow. For easy grace and +exquisite beauty it would be difficult to surpass them. They may well +bear comparison with the beautiful lines into which Lord Byron has +rendered the same thought:-- + + "Soft hour which wakes the wish, and melts the heart, + Of those who sail the seas, on the first day + When they from their sweet friends are torn apart; + Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way, + As the far bell of vesper makes him start, + Seeming to weep the dying day's decay. + Is this a fancy which our reason scorns? + Ah, surely nothing dies but something mourns!" [56] + + [56] Don Juan, III. 108. + +Setting aside the concluding sentimental generalization,--which is much +more Byronic than Dantesque,--one hardly knows which version to call +more truly poetical; but for a faithful rendering of the original +conception one can hardly hesitate to give the palm to Mr. Longfellow. + +Thus we see what may be achieved by the most highly gifted of +translators who contents himself with passively reproducing the diction +of his original, who constitutes himself, as it were, a conduit through +which the meaning of the original may flow. Where the differences +inherent in the languages employed do not intervene to alloy the result, +the stream of the original may, as in the verses just cited, come out +pure and unweakened. Too often, however, such is the subtle chemistry of +thought, it will come out diminished in its integrity, or will appear, +bereft of its primitive properties as a mere element in some new +combination. Our channel is a trifle too alkaline perhaps; and that the +transferred material may preserve its pleasant sharpness, we may need +to throw in a little extra acid. Too often the mere differences between +English and Italian prevent Dante's expressions from coming out in Mr. +Longfellow's version so pure and unimpaired as in the instance just +cited. But these differences cannot be ignored. They lie deep in the +very structure of human speech, and are narrowly implicated with equally +profound nuances in the composition of human thought. The causes which +make dolente a solemn word to the Italian ear, and dolent a queer word +to the English ear, are causes which have been slowly operating ever +since the Italian and the Teuton parted company on their way from +Central Asia. They have brought about a state of things which no cunning +of the translator can essentially alter, but to the emergencies of which +he must graciously conform his proceedings. Here, then, is the sole +point on which we disagree with Mr. Longfellow, the sole reason we have +for thinking that he has not attained the fullest possible measure of +success. Not that he has made a "realistic" translation,--so far we +conceive him to be entirely right; but that, by dint of pushing sheer +literalism beyond its proper limits, he has too often failed to be truly +realistic. Let us here explain what is meant by realistic translation. + +Every thoroughly conceived and adequately executed translation of +an ancient author must be founded upon some conscious theory or some +unconscious instinct of literary criticism. As is the critical spirit of +an age, so among other things will be its translations. Now the critical +spirit of every age previous to our own has been characterized by its +inability to appreciate sympathetically the spirit of past and bygone +times. In the seventeenth century criticism made idols of its ancient +models; it acknowledged no serious imperfections in them; it set them +up as exemplars for the present and all future times to copy. Let the +genial Epicurean henceforth write like Horace, let the epic narrator +imitate the supreme elegance of Virgil,--that was the conspicuous idea, +the conspicuous error, of seventeenth-century criticism. It overlooked +the differences between one age and another. Conversely, when it brought +Roman patricians and Greek oligarchs on to the stage, it made them +behave like French courtiers or Castilian grandees or English peers. +When it had to deal with ancient heroes, it clothed them in the garb +and imputed to them the sentiments of knights-errant. Then came the +revolutionary criticism of the eighteenth century, which assumed that +everything old was wrong, while everything new was right. It recognized +crudely the differences between one age and another, but it had a way +of looking down upon all ages except the present. This intolerance shown +toward the past was indeed a measure of the crudeness with which it was +comprehended. Because Mohammed, if he had done what he did, in France +and in the eighteenth century, would have been called an impostor, +Voltaire, the great mouthpiece and representative of this style of +criticism, portrays him as an impostor. Recognition of the fact that +different ages are different, together with inability to perceive that +they ought to be different, that their differences lie in the nature of +progress,--this was the prominent characteristic of eighteenth-century +criticism. Of all the great men of that century, Lessing was perhaps the +only one who outgrew this narrow critical habit. + +Now nineteenth-century criticism not only knows that in no preceding age +have men thought and behaved as they now think and behave, but it also +understands that old-fashioned thinking and behaviour was in its way +just as natural and sensible as that which is now new-fashioned. It does +not flippantly sneer at an ancient custom because we no longer cherish +it; but with an enlightened regard for everything human, it inquires +into its origin, traces its effects, and endeavours to explain its +decay. It is slow to characterize Mohammed as an impostor, because it +has come to feel that Arabia in the seventh century is one thing and +Europe in the nineteenth another. It is scrupulous about branding +Caesar as an usurper, because it has discovered that what Mr. Mill calls +republican liberty and what Cicero called republican liberty are widely +different notions. It does not tell us to bow down before Lucretius +and Virgil as unapproachable models, while lamenting our own hopeless +inferiority; nor does it tell us to set them down as half-skilled +apprentices, while congratulating ourselves on our own comfortable +superiority; but it tells us to study them as the exponents of an age +forever gone, from which we have still many lessons to learn, though +we no longer think as it thought or feel as it felt. The eighteenth +century, as represented by the characteristic passage from Voltaire, +cited by Mr. Longfellow, failed utterly to understand Dante. To the +minds of Voltaire and his contemporaries the great mediaeval poet was +little else than a Titanic monstrosity,--a maniac, whose ravings found +rhythmical expression; his poem a grotesque medley, wherein a few +beautiful verses were buried under the weight of whole cantos of +nonsensical scholastic quibbling. This view, somewhat softened, we +find also in Leigh Hunt, whose whole account of Dante is an excellent +specimen of this sort of criticism. Mr. Hunt's fine moral nature was +shocked and horrified by the terrible punishments described in the +"Inferno." He did not duly consider that in Dante's time these fearful +things were an indispensable part of every man's theory of the world; +and, blinded by his kindly prejudices, he does not seem to have +perceived that Dante, in accepting eternal torments as part and parcel +of the system of nature, was nevertheless, in describing them, inspired +with that ineffable tenderness of pity which, in the episodes of +Francesca and of Brunetto Latini, has melted the hearts of men in past +times, and will continue to do so in times to come. "Infinite pity, +yet infinite rigour of law! It is so Nature is made: it is so Dante +discerned that she was made." [57] This remark of the great seer of our +time is what the eighteenth century could in no wise comprehend. The men +of that day failed to appreciate Dante, just as they were oppressed or +disgusted at the sight of Gothic architecture; just as they pronounced +the scholastic philosophy an unmeaning jargon; just as they considered +mediaeval Christianity a gigantic system of charlatanry, and were wont +unreservedly to characterize the Papacy as a blighting despotism. In +our time cultivated men think differently. We have learned that the +interminable hair-splitting of Aquinas and Abelard has added precision +to modern thinking. [58] We do not curse Gregory VII. and Innocent III. +as enemies of the human race, but revere them as benefactors. We can +spare a morsel of hearty admiration for Becket, however strongly we may +sympathize with the stalwart king who did penance for his foul murder; +and we can appreciate Dante's poor opinion of Philip the Fair no less +than his denunciation of Boniface VIII. The contemplation of Gothic +architecture, as we stand entranced in the sublime cathedrals of York +or Rouen, awakens in our breasts a genuine response to the mighty +aspirations which thus became incarnate in enduring stone. And the +poem of Dante--which has been well likened to a great cathedral--we +reverently accept, with all its quaint carvings and hieroglyphic +symbols, as the authentic utterance of feelings which still exist, +though they no longer choose the same form of expression. + + [57] Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-Worship, p. 84. + + [58] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. I. p. 123. + + +A century ago, therefore, a translation of Dante such as Mr. +Longfellow's would have been impossible. The criticism of that time +was in no mood for realistic reproductions of the antique. It either +superciliously neglected the antique, or else dressed it up to suit +its own notions of propriety. It was not like a seven-league boot which +could fit everybody, but it was like a Procrustes-bed which everybody +must be made to fit. Its great exponent was not a Sainte-Beuve, but a +Boileau. Its typical sample of a reproduction of the antique was Pope's +translation of the Iliad. That book, we presume, everybody has read; +and many of those who have read it know that, though an excellent and +spirited poem, it is no more Homer than the age of Queen Anne was the +age of Peisistratos. Of the translations of Dante made during this +period, the chief was unquestionably Mr. Cary's. [59] For a man born and +brought up in the most unpoetical of centuries, Mr. Cary certainly made +a very good poem, though not so good as Pope's. But it fell far short +of being a reproduction of Dante. The eighteenth-century note rings out +loudly on every page of it. Like much other poetry of the time, it +is laboured and artificial. Its sentences are often involved and +occasionally obscure. Take, for instance, Canto IV. 25-36 of the +"Paradiso": + + [59] This work comes at the end of the eighteenth-century period, +as Pope's translation of Homer comes at the beginning. + + "These are the questions which they will + Urge equally; and therefore I the first + Of that will treat which hath the more of gall. + Of seraphim he who is most enskied, + Moses, and Samuel, and either John, + Choose which thou wilt, nor even Mary's self, + Have not in any other heaven their seats, + Than have those spirits which so late thou saw'st; + Nor more or fewer years exist; but all + Make the first circle beauteous, diversely + Partaking of sweet life, as more or less + Afflation of eternal bliss pervades them." + + +Here Mr. Cary not only fails to catch Dante's grand style; he does +not even write a style at all. It is too constrained and awkward to be +dignified, and dignity is an indispensable element of style. Without +dignity we may write clearly, or nervously, or racily, but we have +not attained to a style. This is the second shortcoming of Mr. Cary's +translation. Like Pope's, it fails to catch the grand style of its +original. Unlike Pope's, it frequently fails to exhibit any style. + +It is hardly necessary to spend much time in proving that Mr. +Longfellow's version is far superior to Mr. Cary's. It is usually easy +and flowing, and save in the occasional use of violent inversions, +always dignified. Sometimes, as in the episode of Ugolino, it even rises +to something like the grandeur of the original: + + "When he had said this, with his eyes distorted, + The wretched skull resumed he with his teeth, + Which, as a dog's, upon the bone were strong." [60] + + [60] "Quand' ebbe detto cio, eon gli occhi torti + Riprese il teschio misero coi denti, + Che furo all' osso, come d'un can, forti." + Inferno, XXXIII. 76. + + +That is in the grand style, and so is the following, which describes +those sinners locked in the frozen lake below Malebolge:-- + + "Weeping itself there does not let them weep, + And grief that finds a barrier in the eyes + Turns itself inward to increase the anguish. [61] + + [61] "Lo pianto stesso li pianger non lascia, + E il duol, che trova in sugli occhi rintoppo, + Si volve in entro a far crescer l' ambascia." + Inferno, XXXIII. 94. + + +And the exclamation of one of these poor "wretches of the frozen crust" +is an exclamation that Shakespeare might have written:-- + + "Lift from mine eyes the rigid veils, that I + May vent the sorrow which impregns my heart." [62] + + [62] "Levatemi dal viso i duri veli, + Si ch' io sfoghi il dolor che il cor m' impregna." + Ib. 112. + + +There is nothing in Mr. Cary's translation which can stand a comparison +with that. The eighteenth century could not translate like that. +For here at last we have a real reproduction of the antique. In the +Shakespearian ring of these lines we recognize the authentic rendering +of the tones of the only man since the Christian era who could speak +like Shakespeare. + +In this way Mr. Longfellow's translation is, to an eminent degree, +realistic. It is a work conceived and executed in entire accordance +with the spirit of our time. Mr. Longfellow has set about making a +reconstructive translation, and he has succeeded in the attempt. In view +of what he has done, no one can ever wish to see the old methods of +Pope and Cary again resorted to. It is only where he fails to be truly +realistic that he comes short of success. And, as already hinted, it +is oftenest through sheer excess of LITERALISM that he ceases to be +realistic, and departs from the spirit of his author instead of coming +nearer to it. In the "Paradiso," Canto X. 1-6, his method leads him into +awkwardness:-- + + "Looking into His Son with all the love + Which each of them eternally breathes forth, + The primal and unutterable Power + Whate'er before the mind or eye revolves + With so much order made, there can be none + Who this beholds without enjoying Him." + + +This seems clumsy and halting, yet it is an extremely literal paraphrase +of a graceful and flowing original:-- + + "Guardando nel suo figlio con l' amore + Che l' uno e l' altro eternalmente spire, + Lo primo ed ineffabile Valore, + Quanto per mente o per loco si gira + Con tanto ordine fe', ch' esser non puote + Senza gustar di lui ehi cio rimira " + +Now to turn a graceful and flowing sentence into one that is clumsy +and halting is certainly not to reproduce it, no matter how exactly the +separate words are rendered, or how closely the syntactic constructions +match each other. And this consideration seems conclusive as against +the adequacy of the literalist method. That method is inadequate, not +because it is too REALISTIC, but because it runs continual risk of being +too VERBALISTIC. It has recently been applied to the translation of +Dante by Mr. Rossetti, and it has sometimes led him to write curious +verses. For instance, he makes Francesca say to Dante,-- + + "O gracious and benignant ANIMAL!" + +for + + "O animal grazioso e benigno!" + +Mr. Longfellow's good taste has prevented his doing anything like this, +yet Mr. Rossetti's extravagance is due to an unswerving adherence to the +very rules by which Mr. Longfellow has been guided. + +Good taste and poetic genius are, however, better than the best of +rules, and so, after all said and done, we can only conclude that Mr. +Longfellow has given us a great and noble work not likely soon to +be equalled. Leopardi somewhere, in speaking of the early Italian +translators of the classics and their well-earned popularity, says, who +knows but Caro will live in men's remembrance as long as Virgil? "La +belie destinee," adds Sainte-Beuve, "de ne pouvoir plus mourir, sinon +avec un immortel!" Apart from Mr. Longfellow's other titles to undying +fame, such a destiny is surely marked out for him, and throughout the +English portions of the world his name will always be associated with +that of the great Florentine. + + June, 1867. + + + + +XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER." + +For music-lovers in America the great event of the season has been the +performance of Mr. Paine's oratorio, "St. Peter," at Portland, June 3. +This event is important, not only as the first appearance of an +American oratorio, but also as the first direct proof we have had of the +existence of creative musical genius in this country. For Mr. Paine's +Mass in D--a work which was brought out with great success several years +ago in Berlin--has, for some reason or other, never been performed here. +And, with the exception of Mr. Paine, we know of no American hitherto +who has shown either the genius or the culture requisite for writing +music in the grand style, although there is some of the Kapellmeister +music, written by our leading organists and choristers, which deserves +honourable mention. Concerning the rank likely to be assigned by +posterity to "St. Peter," it would be foolish now to speculate; and +it would be equally unwise to bring it into direct comparison with +masterpieces like the "Messiah," "Elijah," and "St. Paul," the greatness +of which has been so long acknowledged. Longer familiarity with the work +is needed before such comparisons, always of somewhat doubtful value, +can be profitably undertaken. But it must at least be said, as the net +result of our impressions derived both from previous study of the score +and from hearing, the performance at Portland, that Mr. Paine's oratorio +has fairly earned for itself the right to be judged by the same high +standard which we apply to these noble works of Mendelssohn and Handel. + +In our limited space we can give only the briefest description of +the general structure of the work. The founding of Christianity, as +illustrated in four principal scenes of the life of St. Peter, supplies +the material for the dramatic development of the subject. The overture, +beginning with an adagio movement in B-flat minor, gives expression +to the vague yearnings of that time of doubt and hesitancy when the +"oracles were dumb," and the dawning of a new era of stronger and +diviner faith was matter of presentiment rather than of definite hope or +expectation. Though the tonality is at first firmly established, yet +as the movement becomes more agitated, the final tendency of the +modulations also becomes uncertain, and for a few bars it would seem as +if the key of F-sharp minor might be the point of destination. But after +a short melody by the wind instruments, accompanied by a rapid upward +movement of strings, the dominant chord of C major asserts itself, being +repeated, with sundry inversions, through a dozen bars, and leading +directly into the triumphant and majestic chorus, "The time is +fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The second subject, +introduced by the word "repent" descending through the interval of a +diminished seventh and contrasted with the florid counterpoint of the +phrase, "and believe the glad tidings of God," is a masterpiece of +contrapuntal writing, and, if performed by a choir of three or four +hundred voices, would produce an overpowering effect. The divine call +of Simon Peter and his brethren is next described in a tenor recitative; +and the acceptance of the glad tidings is expressed in an aria, "The +spirit of the Lord is upon me," which, by an original but appropriate +conception, is given to the soprano voice. In the next number, the +disciples are dramatically represented by twelve basses and tenors, +singing in four-part harmony, and alternating or combining with the full +chorus in description of the aims of the new religion. The poem ends +with the choral, "How lovely shines the Morning Star!" Then follows the +sublime scene from Matthew xvi. 14-18, where Peter declares his +master to be "the Christ, the Son of the living God,"--one of the most +impressive scenes, we have always thought, in the gospel history, and +here not inadequately treated. The feeling of mysterious and awful +grandeur awakened by Peter's bold exclamation, "Thou art the Christ," is +powerfully rendered by the entrance of the trombones upon the inverted +subdominant triad of C-sharp minor, and their pause upon the dominant of +the same key. Throughout this scene the characteristic contrast between +the ardent vigour of Peter and the sweet serenity of Jesus is well +delineated in the music. After Peter's stirring aria, "My heart is +glad," the dramatic climax is reached in the C-major chorus, "The Church +is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." + +The second scene is carried out to somewhat greater length, +corresponding nearly to the last half of the first part of "Elijah," +from the point where the challenge is given to the prophets of Baal. +In the opening passages of mingled recitative and arioso, Peter is +forewarned that he shall deny his Master, and his half-indignant +remonstrance is sustained, with added emphasis, by the voices of the +twelve disciples, pitched a fourth higher. Then Judas comes, with +a great multitude, and Jesus is carried before the high-priest. The +beautiful F-minor chorus, "We hid our faces from him," furnishes the +musical comment upon the statement that "the disciples all forsook him +and fled." We hardly dare to give full expression to our feelings about +this chorus (which during the past month has been continually singing +itself over and over again in our recollection), lest it should be +supposed that our enthusiasm has got the better of our sober judgment. +The second theme, "He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet +he opened not his mouth," is quite Handel-like in the simplicity and +massiveness of its magnificent harmonic progressions. With the scene +of the denial, for which we are thus prepared, the dramatic movement +becomes exceedingly rapid, and the rendering of the events in the +high-priest's hall--Peter's bass recitative alternating its craven +protestations with the clamorous agitato chorus of the servants--is +stirring in the extreme. The contralto aria describing the Lord's +turning and looking upon Peter is followed by the orchestra with a +lament in B-flat minor, introducing the bass aria of the repentant and +remorse-stricken disciple, "O God, my God, forsake me not." As the last +strains of the lamentation die away, a choir of angels is heard, of +sopranos and contraltos divided, singing, "Remember from whence thou +art fallen," to an accompaniment of harps. The second theme, "He that +overcometh shall receive a crown of life," is introduced in full chorus, +in a cheering allegro movement, preparing the way for a climax higher +than any yet reached in the course of the work. This climax--delayed +for a few moments by an andante aria for a contralto voice, "The Lord is +faithful and righteous"--at last bursts upon us with a superb crescendo +of strings, and the words, "Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the +dead, and Christ shall give thee light." This chorus, which for +reasons presently to be given was heard at considerable disadvantage at +Portland, contains some of the best fugue-writing in the work, and is +especially rich and powerful in its instrumentation. + +The second part of the oratorio begins with the crucifixion and +ascension of Jesus. Here we must note especially the deeply pathetic +opening chorus, "The Son of Man was delivered into the hands of sinful +men," the joyous allegro, "And on the third day he rose again," the +choral, "Jesus, my Redeemer, lives," and the quartet, "Feed the flock +of God," commenting upon the command of Jesus, "Feed my lambs." This +quartet has all the heavenly sweetness of Handel's "He shall feed +his flock," which it suggests by similarity of subject, though not by +similarity of treatment; but in a certain quality of inwardness, or +religious meditativeness, it reminds one more of Mr. Paine's favourite +master, Bach. The choral, like the one in the first part and the one +which follows the scene of Pentecost, is taken from the Lutheran +Choral Book, and arranged with original harmony and instrumentation, in +accordance with the custom of Bach, Mendelssohn, and other composers, +"of introducing into their sacred compositions the old popular choral +melodies which are the peculiar offspring of a religious age." Thus the +noblest choral ever written, the "Sleepers, wake," in "St. Paul," was +composed in 1604 by Praetorius, the harmonization and accompaniment only +being the work of Mendelssohn. + +In "St. Peter," as in "Elijah," the second part, while forming the true +musical climax of the oratorio, admits of a briefer description than +the first part. The wave of emotion answering to the sensuously dramatic +element having partly spent itself, the wave of lyric emotion gathers +fresh strength, and one feels that one has reached the height of +spiritual exaltation, while, nevertheless, there is not so much which +one can describe to others who may not happen to have gone through with +the same experience. Something of the same feeling one gets in studying +Dante's "Paradiso," after finishing the preceding divisions of his poem: +there is less which can be pictured to the eye of sense, or left to +be supplied by the concrete imagination. Nevertheless, in the scene +of Pentecost, which follows that of the Ascension, there is no lack of +dramatic vividness. Indeed, there is nothing in the work more striking +than the orchestration of the introductory tenor recitative, the +mysterious chorus, "The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire," +or the amazed query which follows, "Behold, are not all these who speak +Galileans? and how is it that we every one hear them in our own tongue +wherein we were born?" We have heard the opinion expressed that Mr. +Paine's oratorio must be lacking in originality, since it suggests such +strong reminiscences of "St. Paul." Now, this suggestion, it seems to +us, is due partly to the similarity of the subjects, independently of +any likeness in the modes of treatment, and partly, perhaps, to the fact +that Mr. Paine, as well as Mendelssohn, has been a devoted student of +Bach, whose characteristics are so strong that they may well have left +their mark upon the works of both composers. But especially it would +seem that there is some real, though very general resemblance between +this colloquial chorus, "Behold," etc., and some choruses in "St. Paul," +as, for example Nos. 29 and 36-38. In the same way the scene in the +high-priest's hall might distantly suggest either of these passages, or +others in "Elijah;" These resemblances, however, are very superficial, +pertaining not to the musical but to the dramatic treatment of +situations which are generically similar in so far, and only in so far, +as they represent conversational passages between an apostle or prophet +and an ignorant multitude, whether amazed or hostile, under the sway of +violent excitement. As regards the musical elaboration of these terse +and striking alternations of chorus and recitative, its originality can +be questioned only after we have decided to refer all originality on +such matters to Bach, or, indeed, even behind him, into the Middle Ages. + +After the preaching of Peter, and the sweet contralto aria, "As for +man, his days are as grass," the culmination of this scene comes in the +D-major chorus, "This is the witness of God." What follows, beginning +with the choral, "Praise to the Father," is to be regarded as an +epilogue or peroration to the whole work. It is in accordance with +a sound tradition that the grand sacred drama of an oratorio should +conclude with a lyric outburst of thanksgiving, a psalm of praise to the +Giver of every good and perfect gift. Thus, after Peter's labours +are ended in the aria, "Now as ye were redeemed," in which the twelve +disciples and the full chorus join, a duet for tenor and soprano, "Sing +unto God," brings us to the grand final chorus in C major, "Great and +marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty." + +The cadence of this concluding chorus reminds us that one of the +noteworthy points in the oratorio is the character of its cadences. +The cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, now become so hackneyed from its +perpetual and wearisome repetition in popular church music, seems to be +especially disliked by Mr. Paine, as it occurs but once or twice in the +course of the work. In the great choruses the cadence is usually reached +either by a pedal on the tonic, as in the chorus, "Awake, thou that +sleepest," or by a pedal on the dominant culminating in a chord of the +major ninth, as in the final chorus; or there is a plagal cadence, as in +the first chorus of the second part; or, if the 6/4 chord is introduced, +as it is in the chorus, "He that overcometh," its ordinary effect is +covered and obscured by the movement of the divided sopranos. We do not +remember noticing anywhere such a decided use of the 6/4 chord as is +made, for example, by Mendelssohn, in "Thanks be to God," or in the +final chorus of "St. Paul." Perhaps if we were to confess our lingering +fondness for the cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, when not too +frequently introduced, it might only show that we retain a liking for +New England "psalm-tunes"; but it does seem to us that a sense of final +repose, of entire cessation of movement, is more effectually secured +by this cadence than by any other. Yet while the 6/4 cadence most +completely expresses finality and rest, it would seem that the plagal +and other cadences above enumerated as preferred by Mr. Paine have a +certain sort of superiority by reason of the very incompleteness with +which they express finality. There is no sense of finality whatever +about the Phrygian cadence; it leaves the mind occupied with the feeling +of a boundless region beyond, into which one would fain penetrate; and +for this reason it has, in sacred music, a great value. Something of +the same feeling, too, attaches to those cadences in which an unexpected +major third usurps the place of the minor which the ear was expecting, +as in the "Incarnatus" of Mozart's "Twelfth Mass," or in Bach's sublime +"Prelude," Part I., No. 22 of the "Well-tempered Clavichord." In a less +degree, an analogous effect was produced upon us by the cadence with a +pedal on the tonic in the choruses, "The Church is built," and "Awake, +thou that sleepest." On these considerations it may become intelligible +that to some hearers Mr. Paine's cadences have seemed unsatisfactory, +their ears having missed the positive categorical assertion of finality +which the 6/4 cadence alone can give. To go further into this subject +would take us far beyond our limits. + +The pleasant little town of Portland has reason to congratulate +itself, first, on being the birthplace of such a composer as Mr. Paine; +secondly, on having been the place where the first great work of America +in the domain of music was brought out; and thirdly, on possessing +what is probably the most thoroughly disciplined choral society in this +country. Our New York friends, after their recent experiences, will +perhaps be slow to believe us when we say that the Portland choir sang +this new work even better, in many respects, than the Handel and Haydn +Society sing the old and familiar "Elijah"; but it is true. In their +command of the pianissimo and the gradual crescendo, and in the +precision of their attack, the Portland singers can easily teach the +Handel and Haydn a quarter's lessons. And, besides all this, they know +how to preserve their equanimity under the gravest persecutions of the +orchestra; keeping the even tenour of their way where a less disciplined +choir, incited by the excessive blare of the trombones and the undue +scraping of the second violins, would be likely to lose its presence of +mind and break out into an untimely fortissimo. + +No doubt it is easier to achieve perfect chorus-singing with a choir of +one hundred and twenty-five voices than with a choir of six hundred. +But this diminutive size, which was an advantage so far as concerned the +technical excellence of the Portland choir, was decidedly a disadvantage +so far as concerned the proper rendering of the more massive choruses in +"St. Peter." All the greatest choruses--such as Nos. 1, 8, 19, 20, 28, +35, and 39--were seriously impaired in the rendering by the lack of +massiveness in the voices. For example, the grand chorus, "Awake, thou +that sleepest," begins with a rapid crescendo of strings, introducing +the full chorus on the word "Awake," upon the dominant triad of D major; +and after a couple of beats the voices are reinforced by the trombones, +producing the most tremendous effect possible in such a crescendo. +Unfortunately, however, the brass asserted itself at this point so much +more emphatically than the voices that the effect was almost to disjoin +the latter portion of the chord from its beginning, and thus to +dwarf the utterance of the word "Awake." To us this effect was very +disagreeable; and it was obviously contrary to the effect intended by +the composer. But with a weight of four or five hundred voices, the +effect would be entirely different. Instead of entering upon the scene +as intruders, the mighty trombones would only serve to swell and enrich +the ponderous chord which opens this noble chorus. Given greater weight +only, and the performance of the admirable Portland choir would have +left nothing to be desired. + +We cannot speak with so much satisfaction of the performance of the +orchestra. The instrumentation of "St. Peter" is remarkably fine. But +this instrumentation was rather clumsily rendered by the orchestra, +whose doings constituted the least enjoyable part of the performance. +There was too much blare of brass, whine of hautboy, and scraping of +strings. But in condonation of this serious defect, one must admit that +the requisite amount of rehearsal is out of the question when one's +choir is in Portland and one's orchestra in Boston; besides which the +parts had been inaccurately copied. For a moment, at the beginning of +the orchestral lament, there was risk of disaster, the wind instruments +failing to come in at the right time, when Mr. Paine, with fortunate +presence of mind, stopped the players, and the movement was begun over +again,--the whole occurring so quickly and quietly as hardly to attract +attention. + +In conclusion we would say a few words suggested by a recent critical +notice of Mr. Paine's work in the "Nation." While acknowledging the +importance of the publication of this oratorio, as an event in the +art-history of America, the writer betrays manifest disappointment that +this work should not rather have been a symphony, [63] and thus have +belonged to what he calls the "domain of absolute music." Now with +regard to the assumption that the oratorio is not so high a form of +music as the symphony, or, in other words, that vocal music in general +is artistically inferior to instrumental music, we may observe, first, +that Ambros and Dommer--two of the most profound musical critics now +living--do not sustain it. It is Beanquier, we think, who suggests that +instrumental music should rank above vocal, because it is "pure +music," bereft of the fictitious aids of language and of the emotional +associations which are grouped about the peculiar timbre of the human +voice. [64] At first the suggestion seems plausible; but on analogous +grounds we might set the piano above the orchestra, because the piano +gives us pure harmony and counterpoint, without the adventitious aid of +variety in timbre. And it is indeed true that, for some such reason as +this, musicians delight in piano-sonatas, which are above all things +tedious and unintelligible to the mind untrained in music. Nevertheless, +in spite of its great and peculiar prerogatives, it would be absurd +to prefer the piano to the orchestra; and there is a kindred absurdity +involved in setting the orchestra above that mighty union of orchestra, +organ, and voices which we get in the oratorio. When the reason alleged +for ranking the symphony above the oratorio leads us likewise to rank +the sonata above the symphony, we seem to have reached a reductio ad +absurdum. + + [63] Now within two years, Mr. Paine's C-minor symphony has +followed the completion of his oratorio. + + [64] These peculiar associations are no doubt what is chiefly +enjoyed in music, antecedent to a properly musical culture. Persons of +slight acquaintance with music invariably prefer the voice to the piano. + + +Rightly considered, the question between vocal and instrumental music +amounts to this, What does music express? This is a great psychological +question, and we have not now the space or the leisure requisite for +discussing it, even in the most summary way. We will say, however, that +we do not see how music can in any way express ideas, or anything but +moods or emotional states to which the ideas given in language may add +determination and precision. The pure symphony gives utterance to moods, +and will be a satisfactory work of art or not, according as the composer +has been actuated by a legitimate sequence of emotional states, like +Beethoven, or by a desire to produce novel and startling effects, like +Liszt. But the danger in purely instrumental music is that it may run +riot in the extravagant utterance of emotional states which are not +properly concatenated by any normal sequence of ideas associated with +them. This is sometimes exemplified in the most modern instrumental +music. + +Now, as in real life our sequent clusters of emotional states are in +general determined by their association with our sequent groups of +intellectual ideas, it would seem that music, regarded as an exponent of +psychical life, reaches its fullest expressiveness when the sequence of +the moods which it incarnates in sound is determined by some sequence +of ideas, such as is furnished by the words of a libretto. Not that the +words should have predominance over the music, or even coequal sway with +it, but that they should serve to give direction to the succession of +feelings expressed by the music. "Lift up your heads" and "Hallelujah" +do not owe their glory to the text, but to that tremendous energy +of rhythmic and contrapuntal progression which the text serves to +concentrate and justify. When precision and definiteness of direction +are thus added to the powerful physical means of expression which we get +in the combination of chorus, orchestra, and organ, we have attained +the greatest sureness as well as the greatest wealth of musical +expressiveness. And thus we may see the reasonableness of Dommer's +opinion that in order to restrain instrumental music from ruining itself +by meaningless extravagance, it is desirable that there should be +a renaissance of vocal music, such as it was in the golden age of +Palestrina and Orlando Lasso. + +We are not inclined to deny that in structural beauty--in the +symmetrical disposition and elaboration of musical themes--the symphony +has the advantage. The words, which in the oratorio serve to give +definite direction to the currents of emotion, may also sometimes +hamper the free development of the pure musical conception, just as in +psychical life the obtrusive entrance of ideas linked by association may +hinder the full fruition of some emotional state. Nevertheless, in spite +of this possible drawback, it may be doubted if the higher forms +of polyphonic composition fall so very far short of the symphony in +capability of giving full elaboration to the musical idea. The practical +testimony of Beethoven, in his Ninth Symphony, is decidedly adverse to +any such supposition. + +But to pursue this interesting question would carry us far beyond our +limits. Whatever may be the decision as to the respective claims of +vocal and instrumental music, we have every reason for welcoming the +appearance, in our own country, of an original work in the highest +form of vocal music. It is to be hoped that we shall often have the +opportunity to "hear with our ears" this interesting work; for as a rule +great musical compositions are peculiarly unfortunate among works of +art, in being known at first hand by comparatively few persons. In this +way is rendered possible that pretentious kind of dilettante criticism +which is so common in musical matters, and which is often positively +injurious, as substituting a factitious public opinion for one that is +genuine. We hope that the favour with which the new oratorio has already +been received will encourage the author to pursue the enviable career +upon which he has entered. Even restricting ourselves to vocal music, +there is still a broad field left open for original work. The secular +cantata--attempted in recent times by Schumann, as well as by English +composers of smaller calibre--is a very high form of vocal music; and +if founded on an adequate libretto, dealing with some supremely grand +or tragical situation, is capable of being carried to an unprecedented +height of musical elaboration. Here is an opportunity for original +achievement, of which it is to be hoped that some gifted and +well-trained composer, like the author of "St. Peter," may find it worth +while to avail himself. + + June, 1873. + + + + +XIII. A PHILOSOPHY OF ART. [65] + + [65] The Philosophy of Art. By H. Taine. New York: Leypoldt & +Holt. 1867. + +We are glad of a chance to introduce to our readers one of the works +of a great writer. Though not yet [66] widely known in this country, M. +Taine has obtained a very high reputation in Europe. He is still quite +a young man, but is nevertheless the author of nineteen goodly volumes, +witty, acute, and learned; and already he is often ranked with Renan, +Littre, and Sainte-Beuve, the greatest living French writers. + + [66] That is, in 1868. + + +Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was born at Vouziers, among the grand forests +of Ardennes, in 1828, and is therefore about forty years old. His family +was simple in habits and tastes, and entertained a steadfast belief +in culture, along with the possession of a fair amount of it. His +grandfather was sub-prefect at Rocroi, in 1814 and 1815, under the first +restoration of the Bourbons. His father, a lawyer by profession, was the +first instructor of his son, and taught him Latin, and from an uncle, +who had been in America, he learned English, while still a mere child. +Having gone to Paris with his mother in 1842, he began his studies +at the College Bourbon and in 1848 was promoted to the ecole Normale. +Weiss, About, and Prevost-Paradol were his contemporaries at this +institution. At that time great liberty was enjoyed in regard to +the order and the details of the exercises; so that Taine, with his +surprising rapidity, would do in one week the work laid out for a month, +and would spend the remainder of the time in private reading. In 1851 +he left college, and after two or three unsatisfactory attempts at +teaching, in Paris and in the provinces, he settled down at Paris as a +private student. He gave himself the very best elementary preparation +which a literary man can have,--a thorough course in mathematics and the +physical sciences. His studies in anatomy and physiology were especially +elaborate and minute. He attended the School of Medicine as regularly as +if he expected to make his daily bread in the profession. In this way, +when at the age of twenty-five he began to write books, M. Taine was a +really educated man; and his books show it. The day is past when a man +could write securely, with a knowledge of the classics alone. We doubt +if a philosophical critic is perfectly educated for his task, unless he +can read, for instance, Donaldson's "New Cratylus" on the one hand, and +Rokitansky's "Pathological Anatomy" on the other, for the sheer pleasure +of the thing. At any rate, it was an education of this sort which M. +Taine, at the outset of his literary career, had secured. By this solid +discipline of mathematics, chemistry, and medicine, M. Taine became +that which above all things he now is,--a man possessed of a central +philosophy, of an exact, categorical, well-defined system, which +accompanies and supports him in his most distant literary excursions. +He does not keep throwing out ideas at random, like too many literary +critics, but attaches all his criticisms to a common fundamental +principle; in short, he is not a dilettante, but a savant. + +His treatise on La Fontaine, in 1853, attracted much attention, both the +style and the matter being singularly fresh and original. He has since +republished it, with alterations which serve to show that he can be +docile toward intelligent criticisms. About the same time he prepared +for the French Academy his work upon the historian Livy, which was +crowned in 1855. Suffering then from overwork, he was obliged to make +a short journey to the Pyrenees, which he has since described in a +charming little volume, illustrated by Dore. + +His subsequent works are a treatise on the French philosophers of +the present century, in which the vapid charlatanism of M. Cousin is +satisfactorily dealt with; a history of English literature in five +volumes; a humorous book on Paris; three volumes upon the general theory +of art; and two volumes of travels in Italy; besides a considerable +collection of historical and critical essays. We think that several +of these works would be interesting to the American public, and might +profitably be translated. + +Some three or four years ago, M. Taine was appointed Professor in the +ecole des Beaux Arts, and we suppose his journey to Italy must have been +undertaken partly with a view to qualify himself for his new position. +He visited the four cities which may be considered the artistic centres +of Italy,--Rome, Naples, Florence, and Venice,--and a large part of his +account of his journey is taken up with descriptions and criticisms of +pictures, statues, and buildings. + +This is a department of criticism which, we may as well frankly +acknowledge, is far better appreciated on the continent of Europe than +in England or America. Over the English race there passed, about two +centuries ago, a deluge of Puritanism, which for a time almost drowned +out its artistic tastes and propensities. The Puritan movement, in +proportion to its success, was nearly as destructive to art in the West, +as Mohammedanism had long before been in the East. In its intense and +one-sided regard for morality, Puritanism not only relegated the love +for beauty to an inferior place, but contemned and spat upon it, as +something sinful and degrading. Hence, the utter architectural impotence +which characterizes the Americans and the modern English; and hence the +bewildered ignorant way in which we ordinarily contemplate pictures +and statues. For two centuries we have been removed from an artistic +environment, and consequently can with difficulty enter into the +feelings of those who have all this time been nurtured in love for art, +and belief in art for its own sake. These peculiarities, as Mr. Mill has +ably pointed out, have entered deep into our ethnic character. Even in +pure morals there is a radical difference between the Englishman and +the inhabitant of the continent of Europe. The Englishman follows virtue +from a sense of duty, the Frenchman from an emotional aspiration toward +the beautiful The one admires a noble action because it is right, the +other because it is attractive. And this difference underlies the moral +judgments upon men and events which are to be found respectively in +English and in continental literature. By keeping it constantly in view, +we shall be enabled to understand many things which might otherwise +surprise us in the writings of French authors. + +We are now slowly outgrowing the extravagances of Puritanism. It has +given us an earnestness and sobriety of character, to which much of our +real greatness is owing, both here and in the mother country. It has +made us stronger and steadier, but it has at the same time narrowed +us in many respects, and rendered our lives incomplete. This +incompleteness, entailed by Puritanism, we are gradually getting rid +of; and we are learning to admire and respect many things upon which +Puritanism set its mark of contempt. We are beginning, for instance, to +recognize the transcendent merits of that great civilizing agency, the +drama; we no longer think it necessary that our temples for worshipping +God should be constructed like hideous barracks; we are gradually +permitting our choirs to discard the droning and sentimental modern +"psalm-tune" for the inspiring harmonies of Beethoven and Mozart; and we +admit the classical picture and the undraped statue to a high place +in our esteem. Yet with all this it will probably be some time before +genuine art ceases to be an exotic among us, and becomes a plant of +unhindered native growth. It will be some time before we cease to regard +pictures and statues as a higher species of upholstery, and place them +in the same category with poems and dramas, duly reverencing them as +authentic revelations of the beauty which is to be found in nature. It +will be some time before we realize that art is a thing to be studied, +as well as literature, and before we can be quite reconciled to the +familiar way in which a Frenchman quotes a picture as we would quote a +poem or novel. + +Artistic genius, as M. Taine has shown, is something which will develop +itself only under peculiar social circumstances; and, therefore, if we +have not art, we can perhaps only wait for it, trusting that when the +time comes it will arise among us. But without originating, we may at +least intelligently appreciate. The nature of a work of art, and the +mode in which it is produced, are subjects well worthy of careful study. +Architecture and music, poetry, painting and sculpture, have in times +past constituted a vast portion of human activity; and without knowing +something of the philosophy of art, we need not hope to understand +thoroughly the philosophy of history. + +In entering upon the study of art in general, one may find many +suggestive hints in the little books of M. Taine, reprinted from the +lectures which he has been delivering at the ecole des Beaux Arts. The +first, on the Philosophy of Art, designated at the head of this paper, +is already accessible to the American reader; and translations of the +others are probably soon to follow. We shall for the present give a mere +synopsis of M. Taine's general views. + +And first it must be determined what a work of art is. Leaving for a +while music and architecture out of consideration, it will be admitted +that poetry, painting, and sculpture have one obvious character in +common: they are arts of IMITATION. This, says Taine, appears at first +sight to be their essential character. It would appear that their great +object is to IMITATE as closely as possible. It is obvious that a statue +is intended to imitate a living man, that a picture is designed to +represent real persons in real attitudes, or the interior of a house, or +a landscape, such as it exists in nature. And it is no less clear that +a novel or drama endeavours to represent with accuracy real characters, +actions, and words, giving as precise and faithful an image of them as +possible. And when the imitation is incomplete, we say to the painter, +"Your people are too largely proportioned, and the colour of your trees +is false"; we tell the sculptor that his leg or arm is incorrectly +modelled; and we say to the dramatist, "Never has a man felt or thought +as your hero is supposed to have felt and thought." + +This truth, moreover, is seen both in the careers of individual +artists, and in the general history of art. According to Taine, the +life of an artist may generally be divided into two parts. In the +first period, that of natural growth, he studies nature anxiously and +minutely, he keeps the objects themselves before his eyes, and strives +to represent them with scrupulous fidelity. But when the time for mental +growth ends, as it does with every man, and the crystallization of ideas +and impressions commences, then the mind of the artist is no longer +so susceptible to new impressions from without. He begins to nourish +himself from his own substance. He abandons the living model, and +with recipes which he has gathered in the course of his experience, he +proceeds to construct a drama or novel, a picture or statue. Now, the +first period, says Taine, is that of genuine art; the second is that of +mannerism. Our author cites the case of Michael Angelo, a man who was +one of the most colossal embodiments of physical and mental energy that +the world has ever seen. In Michael Angelo's case, the period of growth, +of genuine art, may be said to have lasted until after his sixtieth +year. But look, says Taine, at the works which he executed in his old +age; consider the Conversion of St. Paul, and the Last Judgment, painted +when he was nearly seventy. Even those who are not connoisseurs can see +that these frescos are painted by rule, that the artist, having stocked +his memory with a certain set of forms, is making use of them to +fill out his tableau; that he wantonly multiplies queer attitudes and +ingenious foreshortenings; that the lively invention, the grand +outburst of feeling, the perfect truth, by which his earlier works are +distinguished, have disappeared; and that, if he is still superior +to all others, he is nevertheless inferior to himself. The careers of +Scott, of Goethe, and of Voltaire will furnish parallel examples. In +every school of art, too, the flourishing period is followed by one of +decline; and in every case the decline is due to a failure to imitate +the living models. In painting, we have the exaggerated foreshorteners +and muscle-makers who copied Michael Angelo; the lovers of theatrical +decorations who succeeded Titian and Giorgione and the degenerate +boudoir-painters who followed Claucle and Poussin. In literature, we +have the versifiers, epigrammatists, and rhetors of the Latin decadence; +the sensual and declamatory dramatists who represent the last stages +of old English comedy; and the makers of sonnets and madrigals, or +conceited euphemists of the Gongora school, in the decline of Italian +and Spanish poetry. Briefly it may be said, that the masters copy +nature and the pupils copy the masters. In this way are explained the +constantly recurring phenomena of decline in art, and thus, also, it +is seen that art is perfect in proportion as it successfully imitates +nature. + +But we are not to conclude that absolute imitation is the sole and +entire object of art. Were this the case, the finest works would be +those which most minutely correspond to their external prototypes. In +sculpture, a mould taken from the living features is that which gives +the most faithful representation of the model; but a well-moulded +bust is far from being equal to a good statue. Photography is in +many respects more accurate than painting; but no one would rank a +photograph, however exquisitely executed, with an original picture. And +finally, if exact imitation were the supreme object of art, the best +tragedy, the best comedy, and the best drama would be a stenographic +report of the proceedings in a court of justice, in a family gathering, +in a popular meeting, in the Rump Congress. Even the works of artists +are not rated in proportion to their minute exactness. Neither in +painting nor in any other art do we give the precedence to that which +deceives the eye simply. Every one remembers how Zeuxis was said to have +painted grapes so faithfully that the birds came and pecked at them; +and how, Parrhasios, his rival, surpassed even this feat by painting a +curtain so natural in its appearance that Zeuxis asked him to pull it +aside and show the picture behind it. All this is not art, but mere +knack and trickery. Perhaps no painter was ever so minute as Denner. +It used to take him four years to make one portrait. He would omit +nothing,--neither the bluish lines made by the veins under the skin, nor +the little black points scattered over the nose, nor the bright spots +in the eye where neighbouring objects are reflected; the head seems to +start out from the canvas, it is so like flesh and blood. Yet who cares +for Denner's portraits? And who would not give ten times as much for one +which Van Dyck or Tintoretto might have painted in a few hours? So in +the churches of Naples and Spain we find statues coloured and draped, +saints clothed in real coats, with their skin yellow and bloodless, +their hands bleeding, and their feet bruised; and beside them Madonnas +in royal habiliments, in gala dresses of lustrous silk, adorned with +diadems, precious necklaces, bright ribbons, and elegant laces, with +their cheeks rosy, their eyes brilliant, their eyelashes sweeping. And +by this excess of literal imitation, there is awakened a feeling, not of +pleasure, but always of repugnance, often of disgust, and sometimes of +horror So in literature, the ancient Greek theatre, and the best Spanish +and English dramatists, alter on purpose the natural current of human +speech, and make their characters talk under all the restraints of rhyme +and rhythm. But we pronounce this departure from literal truth a merit +and not a defect. We consider Goethe's second "Iphigenie," written in +verse, far preferable to the first one written in prose; nay, it is the +rhythm or metre itself which communicates to the work its incomparable +beauty. In a review of Longfellow's "Dante," published last year, we +argued this very point in one of its special applications; the artist +must copy his original, but he must not copy it too literally. + +What then must he copy? He must copy, says Taine, the mutual relations +and interdependences of the parts of his model. And more than this, +he must render the essential characteristic of the object--that +characteristic upon which all the minor qualities depend--as salient +and conspicuous as possible. He must put into the background the +traits which conceal it, and bring into the foreground the traits which +manifest it. If he is sculpturing a group like the Laocoon, he must +strike upon the supreme moment, that in which the whole tragedy reveals +itself, and he must pass over those insignificant details of position +and movement which serve only to distract our attention and weaken our +emotions by dividing them. If he is writing a drama, he must not attempt +to give us the complete biography of his character; he must depict only +those situations which stand in direct subordination to the grand climax +or denoument. As a final result, therefore. Taine concludes that a work +of art is a concrete representation of the relations existing between +the parts of an object, with the intent to bring the essential or +dominating character thereof into prominence. + +We should overrun our limits if we were to follow out the admirable +discussion in which M. Taine extends this definition to architecture +and music. These closely allied arts are distinguished from poetry, +painting, and sculpture, by appealing far less directly to the +intelligence, and far more exclusively to the emotions. Yet these arts +likewise aim, by bringing into prominence certain relations of symmetry +in form as perceived by the eye, or in aerial vibrations as perceived by +the ear, to excite in us the states of feeling with which these species +of symmetry are by subtle laws of association connected. They, too, +imitate, not literally, but under the guidance of a predominating +sentiment or emotion, relations which really exist among the phenomena +of nature. And here, too, we estimate excellence, not in proportion to +the direct, but to the indirect imitation. A Gothic cathedral is not, +as has been supposed, directly imitated from the towering vegetation of +Northern forests; but it may well be the expression of the dim sentiment +of an unseen, all-pervading Power, generated by centuries of primeval +life amid such forests. So the sounds which in a symphony of Beethoven +are woven into a web of such amazing complexity may exist in different +combinations in nature; but when a musician steps out of his way to +imitate the crowing of cocks or the roar of the tempest, we regard +his achievement merely as a graceful conceit. Art is, therefore, an +imitation of nature; but it is an intellectual and not a mechanical +imitation; and the performances of the camera and the music-box are +not to be classed with those of the violinist's bow or the sculptor's +chisel. + +And lastly, in distinguishing art from science, Taine remarks, that +in disengaging from their complexity the causes which are at work in +nature, and the fundamental laws according to which they work, science +describes them in abstract formulas conveyed in technical language. But +art reveals these operative causes and these dominant laws, not in arid +definitions, inaccessible to most people, intelligible only to specially +instructed men, but in a concrete symbol, addressing itself not only to +the understanding, but still more to the sentiments of the ordinary man. +Art has, therefore, this peculiarity, that it is at once elevated and +popular, that it manifests that which is often most recondite, and that +it manifests it to all. + +Having determined what a work of art is, our author goes on to study +the social conditions under which works of art are produced; and he +concludes that the general character of a work of art is determined +by the state of intellect and morals in the society in which it is +executed. There is, in fact, a sort of moral temperature which acts +upon mental development much as physical temperature acts upon organic +development. The condition of society does not produce the artist's +talent; but it assists or checks its efforts to display itself; it +decides whether or not it shall be successful And it exerts a "natural +selection" between different kinds of talents, stimulating some and +starving others. To make this perfectly clear, we will cite at some +length Taine's brilliant illustration. + +The case chosen for illustration is a very simple one,--that of a state +of society in which one of the predominant feelings is melancholy. This +is not an arbitrary supposition, for such a time has occurred more than +once in human history; in Asia, in the sixth century before Christ, and +especially in Europe, from the fourth to the tenth centuries of our +era. To produce such a state of feeling, five or six generations of +decadence, accompanied with diminution of population, foreign invasions, +famines, pestilences, and increasing difficulty in procuring the +necessaries of life, are amply sufficient. It then happens that men lose +courage and hope, and consider life an evil. Now, admitting that among +the artists who live in such a time, there are likely to be the same +relative numbers of melancholy, joyous, or indifferent temperaments +as at other times, let us see how they will be affected by reigning +circumstances. + +Let us first remember, says Taine, that the evils which depress the +public will also depress the artist. His risks are no less than those of +less gifted people. He is liable to suffer from plague or famine, to +be ruined by unfair taxation or conscription, or to see his children +massacred and his wife led into captivity by barbarians. And if these +ills do not reach him personally, he must at least behold those around +him affected by them. In this way, if he is joyous by temperament, he +must inevitably become less joyous; if he is melancholy, he must become +more melancholy. + +Secondly, having been reared among melancholy contemporaries, his +education will have exerted upon him a corresponding influence. The +prevailing religious doctrine, accommodated to the state of affairs, +will tell him that the earth is a place of exile, life an evil, gayety +a snare, and his most profitable occupation will be to get ready to +die. Philosophy, constructing its system of morals in conformity to the +existing phenomena of decadence, will tell him that he had better never +have been born. Daily conversation will inform him of horrible events, +of the devastation of a province, the sack of a town by the Goths, the +oppression of the neighbouring peasants by the imperial tax-collectors, +or the civil war that has just burst out between half a dozen pretenders +to the throne. As he travels about, he beholds signs of mourning and +despair, crowds of beggars, people dying of hunger, a broken bridge +which no one is mending, an abandoned suburb which is going to ruin, +fields choked with weeds, the blackened walls of burned houses. Such +sights and impressions, repeated from childhood to old age (and we must +remember that this has actually been the state of things in what are now +the fairest parts of the globe), cannot fail to deepen whatever elements +of melancholy there may be already in the artist's disposition. + +The operation of all these causes will be enhanced by that very +peculiarity of the artist which constitutes his talent. For, according +to the definitions above given, that which makes him an artist is his +capacity for seizing upon the essential characteristics and the salient +traits of surrounding objects and events. Other men see things in part +fragmentarily; he catches the spirit of the ensemble. And in this way +he will very likely exaggerate in his works the general average of +contemporary feeling. + +Lastly, our author reminds us that a man who writes or paints does not +remain alone before his easel or his writing-desk. He goes out, looks +about him, receives suggestions from friends, from rivals, from books, +and works of art whenever accessible, and hears the criticisms of the +public upon his own productions and those of his contemporaries. In +order to succeed, he must not only satisfy to some extent the popular +taste, but he must feel that the public is in sympathy with him. If in +this period of social decadence and gloom he endeavours to represent +gay, brilliant, or triumphant ideas, he will find himself left to his +own resources; and, as Taine rightly says, the power of an isolated man +is always insignificant. His work will be likely to be mediocre. If +he attempts to write like Rabelais or paint like Rubens, he will get +neither assistance nor sympathy from a public which prefers the pictures +of Rembrandt, the melodies of Chopin, and the poetry of Heine. + +Having thus explained his position by this extreme instance, signified +for the sake of clearness, Taine goes on to apply such general +considerations to four historic epochs, taken in all their complexity. +He discusses the aspect presented by art in ancient Greece, in the +feudal and Catholic Middle Ages, in the centralized monarchies of the +seventeenth century, and in the scientific, industrial democracy +in which we now live. Out of these we shall select, as perhaps the +simplest, the case of ancient Greece, still following our author +closely, though necessarily omitting many interesting details. + +The ancient Greeks, observes Taine, understood life in a new and +original manner. Their energies were neither absorbed by a great +religious conception, as in the case of the Hindus and Egyptians, nor +by a vast social organization, as in the case of the Assyrians and +Persians, nor by a purely industrial and commercial regime, as in the +case of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Instead of a theocracy or a +rigid system of castes, instead of a monarchy with a hierarchy of civil +officials, the men of this race invented a peculiar institution, the +City, each city giving rise to others like itself, and from colony +to colony reproducing itself indefinitely. A single Greek city, for +instance, Miletos, produced three hundred other cities, colonizing with +them the entire coast of the Black Sea. Each city was substantially +self-ruling; and the idea of a coalescence of several cities into a +nation was one which the Greek mind rarely conceived, and never was able +to put into operation. + +In these cities, labour was for the most part carried on by slaves. +In Athens there were four or five for each citizen, and in places like +Korinth and Aigina the slave population is said to have numbered four +or five hundred thousand. Besides, the Greek citizen had little need of +personal service. He lived out of doors, and, like most Southern people, +was comparatively abstemious in his habits. His dinners were slight, his +clothing was simple, his house was scantily furnished, being intended +chiefly for a den to sleep in. + +Serving neither king nor priest, the citizen was free and sovereign in +his own city. He elected his own magistrates, and might himself serve +as city-ruler, as juror, or as judge. Representation was unknown. +Legislation was carried on by all the citizens assembled in mass. +Therefore politics and war were the sole or chief employments of the +citizen. War, indeed, came in for no slight share of his attention. For +society was not so well protected as in these modern days. Most of these +Greek cities, scattered over the coasts of the Aigeian, the Black +Sea, and the Mediterranean, were surrounded by tribes of barbarians, +Scythians, Gauls Spaniards, and Africans. The citizen must therefore +keep on his guard, like the Englishman of to-day in New Zealand, or +like the inhabitant of a Massachusetts town in the seventeenth century. +Otherwise Gauls Samnites, or Bithynians, as savage as North American +Indians, would be sure to encamp upon the blackened ruins of his town. +Moreover, the Greek cities had their quarrels with each other, and their +laws of war were very barbarous. A conquered city was liable to be razed +to the ground, its male inhabitants put to the sword, its women sold as +slaves. Under such circumstances, according to Taine's happy expression, +a citizen must be a politician and warrior, on pain of death. And not +only fear, but ambition also tended to make him so. For each city strove +to subject or to humiliate its neighbours, to acquire tribute, or to +exact homage from its rivals. Thus the citizen passed his life in +the public square, discussing alliances, treaties, and constitutions, +hearing speeches, or speaking himself, and finally going aboard of his +ship to fight his neighbour Greeks, or to sail against Egypt or Persia. + +War (and politics as subsidiary to it) was then the chief pursuit of +life. But as there was no organized industry, so there were no machines +of warfare. All fighting was done hand to hand. Therefore, the great +thing in preparing for war was not to transform the soldiers into +precisely-acting automata, as in a modern army, but to make each +separate soldier as vigorous and active as possible. The leading object +of Greek education was to make men physically perfect. In this respect, +Sparta may be taken as the typical Greek community, for nowhere else was +physical development so entirely made the great end of social life. In +these matters Sparta was always regarded by the other cities as taking +the lead,--as having attained the ideal after which all alike were +striving. Now Sparta, situated in the midst of a numerous conquered +population of Messenians and Helots, was partly a great gymnasium and +partly a perpetual camp. Her citizens were always in training. The +entire social constitution of Sparta was shaped with a view to the +breeding and bringing up of a strong and beautiful race. Feeble or +ill-formed infants were put to death. The age at which citizens might +marry was prescribed by law; and the State paired off men and women as +the modern breeder pairs off horses, with a sole view to the excellence +of the off-spring. A wife was not a helpmate, but a bearer of athletes. +Women boxed, wrestled, and raced; a circumstance referred to in the +following passage of Aristophanes, as rendered by Mr. Felton:-- + + + LYSISTRATA. + + Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women. + How shines thy beauty, O my sweetest friend! + How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame! + Why, thou couldst choke a bull. + + LAMPITO. + Yes, by the Twain; + For I do practice the gymnastic art, + And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels. + + LYSISTRATA. + In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold. + + +The young men lived together, like soldiers in a camp. They ate +out-of-doors, at a public table. Their fare was as simple as that of a +modern university boat-crew before a race. They slept in the open +air, and spent their waking hours in wrestling, boxing, running races, +throwing quoits, and engaging in mock battles. This was the way in which +the Spartans lived; and though no other city carried this discipline to +such an extent, yet in all a very large portion of the citizen's life +was spent in making himself hardy and robust. + +The ideal man, in the eyes of a Greek, was, therefore not the +contemplative or delicately susceptible thinker but the naked athlete, +with firm flesh and swelling muscles. Most of their barbarian neighbours +were ashamed to be seen undressed, but the Greeks seem to have felt +little embarrassment in appearing naked in public. Their gymnastic +habits entirely transformed their sense of shame. Their Olympic +and other public games were a triumphant display of naked physical +perfection. Young men of the noblest families and from the farthest +Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran, undraped, before +countless multitudes of admiring spectators. Note, too, as significant, +that the Greek era began with the Olympic games, and that time was +reckoned by the intervals between them; as well as the fact that the +grandest lyric poetry of antiquity was written in celebration of these +gymnastic contests. The victor in the foot-race gave his name to +the current Olympiad; and on reaching home, was received by his +fellow-citizens as if he had been a general returning from a successful +campaign. To be the most beautiful man in Greece was in the eyes of +a Greek the height of human felicity; and with the Greeks, beauty +necessarily included strength. So ardently did this gifted people admire +corporeal perfection that they actually worshipped it. According to +Herodotos, a young Sicilian was deified on account of his beauty, and +after his death altars were raised to him. The vast intellectual power +of Plato and Sokrates did not prevent them from sharing this universal +enthusiasm. Poets like Sophokles, and statesmen like Alexander, thought +it not beneath their dignity to engage publicly in gymnastic sports. + +Their conceptions of divinity were framed in accordance with these +general habits. Though sometimes, as in the case of Hephaistos, the +exigencies of the particular myth required the deity to be physically +imperfect, yet ordinarily the Greek god was simply an immortal man, +complete in strength and beauty. The deity was not invested with the +human form as a mere symbol. They could conceive no loftier way of +representing him. The grandest statue, expressing most adequately the +calmness of absolutely unfettered strength, might well, in their eyes, +be a veritable portrait of divinity. To a Greek, beauty of form was +a consecrated thing. More than once a culprit got off with his life +because it would have been thought sacrilegious to put an end to such +a symmetrical creature. And for a similar reason, the Greeks, though +perhaps not more humane than the Europeans of the Middle Ages, rarely +allowed the human body to be mutilated or tortured. The condemned +criminal must be marred as little as possible; and he was, therefore, +quietly poisoned, instead of being hung, beheaded, or broken on the +wheel. + +Is not the unapproachable excellence of Greek statuary--that art never +since equalled, and most likely, from the absence of the needful social +stimulus, destined never to be equalled--already sufficiently +explained? Consider, says our author, the nature of the Greek sculptor's +preparation. These men have observed the human body naked and in +movement, in the bath and the gymnasium, in sacred dances and public +games. They have noted those forms and attitudes in which are revealed +vigour, health, and activity. And during three or four hundred years +they have thus modified, corrected and developed their notions of +corporeal beauty. There is, therefore, nothing surprising in the fact +that Greek sculpture finally arrived at the ideal model, the perfect +type, as it was, of the human body. Our highest notions of physical +beauty, down to the present day, have been bequeathed to us by the +Greeks. The earliest modern sculptors who abandoned the bony, hideous, +starveling figures of the monkish Middle Ages, learned their first +lessons in better things from Greek bas-reliefs. And if, to-day, +forgetting our half-developed bodies, inefficiently nourished, because +of our excessive brain-work, and with their muscles weak and flabby from +want of strenuous exercise, we wish to contemplate the human form in its +grandest perfection, we must go to Hellenic art for our models. + +The Greeks were, in the highest sense of the word, an intellectual race; +but they never allowed the mind to tyrannize over the body. Spiritual +perfection, accompanied by corporeal feebleness, was the invention of +asceticism; and the Greeks were never ascetics. Diogenes might scorn +superfluous luxuries, but if he ever rolled and tumbled his tub about as +Rabelais says he did, it is clear that the victory of spirit over body +formed no part of his theory of things. Such an idea would have been +incomprehensible to a Greek in Plato's time. Their consciences were not +over active. They were not burdened with a sense of sinfulness. Their +aspirations were decidedly finite; and they believed in securing the +maximum completeness of this terrestrial life. Consequently they never +set the physical below the intellectual. To return to our author, they +never, in their statues, subordinated symmetry to expression, the body +to the head. They were interested not only in the prominence of the +brows, the width of the forehead, and the curvature of the lips, but +quite as much in the massiveness of the chest, the compactness of the +thighs, and the solidity of the arms and legs. Not only the face, but +the whole body, had for them its physiognomy. They left picturesqueness +to the painter, and dramatic fervour to the poet; and keeping strictly +before their eyes the narrow but exalted problem of representing the +beauty of symmetry, they filled their sanctuaries and public places with +those grand motionless people of brass, gold, ivory, copper, and marble, +in whom humanity recognizes its highest artistic types. Statuary was +the central art of Greece. No other art was so popular, or so completely +expressed the national life. The number of statues was enormous. In +later days, when Rome had spoiled the Greek world of its treasures, the +Imperial City possessed a population of statues almost equal in number +to its population of human beings. And at the present day, after all the +destructive accidents of so many intervening centuries, it is estimated +that more than sixty thousand statues have been obtained from Rome and +its suburbs alone. + +In citing this admirable exposition as a specimen of M. Taine's method +of dealing with his subject, we have refrained from disturbing the +pellucid current of thought by criticisms of our own. We think the +foregoing explanation correct enough, so far as it goes, though it deals +with the merest rudiments of the subject, and really does nothing toward +elucidating the deeper mysteries of artistic production. For this there +is needed a profounder psychology than M. Taine's. But whether his +theory of art be adequate or not, there can be but one opinion as to the +brilliant eloquence with which it is set forth. June, 1868. + + + + +XIV. ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE. + +IN a very interesting essay on British and Foreign Characteristics, +published a few years ago, Mr. W. R. Greg quotes the famous letter of +the Turkish cadi to Mr. Layard, with the comment that "it contains the +germ and element of a wisdom to which our busy and bustling existence is +a stranger"; and he uses it as a text for an instructive sermon on the +"gospel of leisure." He urges, with justice, that the too eager and +restless modern man, absorbed in problems of industrial development, may +learn a wholesome lesson from the contemplation of his Oriental brother, +who cares not to say, "Behold, this star spinneth round that star, and +this other star with a tail cometh and goeth in so many years"; who +aspires not after a "double stomach," nor hopes to attain to Paradise by +"seeking with his eyes." If any one may be thought to stand in need of +some such lesson, it is the American of to-day. Just as far as the Turk +carries his apathy to excess, does the American carry to excess his +restlessness. But just because the incurious idleness of the Turk is +excessive, so as to be detrimental to completeness of living, it +is unfit to supply us with the hints we need concerning the causes, +character, and effects of our over-activity. A sermon of leisure, if it +is to be of practical use to us, must not be a sermon of laziness. The +Oriental state of mind is incompatible with progressive improvement of +any sort, physical, intellectual, or moral. It is one of the phenomena +attendant upon the arrival of a community at a stationary condition +before it has acquired a complex civilization. And it appears +serviceable rather as a background upon which to exhibit in relief our +modern turmoil, than by reason of any lesson which it is itself +likely to convey. Let us in preference study one of the most eminently +progressive of all the communities that have existed. Let us take an +example quite different from any that can be drawn from Oriental +life, but almost equally contrasted with any that can be found among +ourselves; and let us, with the aid of it, examine the respective +effects of leisure and of hurry upon the culture of the community. + +What do modern critics mean by the "healthy completeness" of ancient +life, which they are so fond of contrasting with the "heated," +"discontented," or imperfect and one-sided existence of modern +communities? Is this a mere set of phrases, suited to some imaginary +want of the literary critic, but answering to nothing real? Are they to +be summarily disposed of as resting upon some tacit assumption of that +old-grannyism which delights in asseverating that times are not what +they used to be? Is the contrast an imaginary one, due to the softened, +cheerful light with which we are wont to contemplate classic antiquity +through the charmed medium of its incomparable literature? Or is it a +real contrast, worthy of the attention and analysis of the historical +inquirer? The answer to these queries will lead us far into the +discussion of the subject which we have propounded, and we shall best +reach it by considering some aspects of the social condition of ancient +Greece. The lessons to be learned from that wonderful country are not +yet exhausted Each time that we return to that richest of historic +mines, and delve faithfully and carefully, we shall be sure to dig up +some jewel worth carrying away. + +And in considering ancient Greece, we shall do well to confine our +attention, for the sake of definiteness of conception, to a single +city. Comparatively homogeneous as Greek civilization was, there was +nevertheless a great deal of difference between the social circumstances +of sundry of its civic communities. What was true of Athens was +frequently not true of Sparta or Thebes, and general assertions about +ancient Greece are often likely to be collect only in a loose and +general way. In speaking, therefore, of Greece, I must be understood +in the main as referring to Athens, the eye and light of Greece, the +nucleus and centre of Hellenic culture. + +Let us note first that Athens was a large city surrounded by pleasant +village-suburbs,--the demes of Attika,--very much as Boston is closely +girdled by rural places like Brookline, Jamaica Plain, and the rest, +village after village rather thickly covering a circuit of from ten +to twenty miles' radius. The population of Athens with its suburbs may +perhaps have exceeded half a million; but the number of adult freemen +bearing arms did not exceed twenty-five thousand. [67] For every one +of these freemen there were four or five slaves; not ignorant, degraded +labourers, belonging to an inferior type of humanity, and bearing the +marks of a lower caste in their very personal formation and in the +colour of their skin, like our lately-enslaved negroes; but intelligent, +skilled labourers, belonging usually to the Hellenic, and at any rate +to the Aryan race, as fair and perhaps as handsome as their masters, and +not subjected to especial ignominy or hardship. These slaves, of whom +there were at least one hundred thousand adult males, relieved the +twenty-five thousand freemen of nearly all the severe drudgery of life; +and the result was an amount of leisure perhaps never since known on an +equal scale in history. + + [67] See Herod. V. 97; Aristoph. Ekkl. 432; Thukyd. II. 13; +Plutarch, Perikl. 37. + + +The relations of master and slave in ancient Athens constituted, of +course, a very different phenomenon from anything which the history of +our own Southern States has to offer us. Our Southern slaveholders lived +in an age of industrial development; they were money-makers: they had +their full share of business in managing the operations for which their +labourers supplied the crude physical force. It was not so in Athens. +The era of civilization founded upon organized industry had not begun; +money-making had not come to be, with the Greeks, the one all-important +end of life; and mere subsistence, which is now difficult, was then +easy. The Athenian lived in a mild, genial, healthy climate, in a +country which has always been notable for the activity and longevity +of its inhabitants. He was frugal in his habits,--a wine-drinker and +an eater of meat, but rarely addicted to gluttony or intemperance. His +dress was inexpensive, for the Greek climate made but little protection +necessary, and the gymnastic habits of the Greeks led them to esteem +more highly the beauty of the body than that of its covering. His house +was simple, not being intended for social purposes, while of what we +should call home-life the Greeks had none. The house was a shelter at +night, a place where the frugal meal might be taken, a place where the +wife might stay, and look after the household slaves or attend to the +children. And this brings us to another notable feature of Athenian +life. The wife having no position in society, being nothing, indeed, +but a sort of household utensil, how greatly was life simplified! What a +door for expenditure was there, as yet securely closed, and which no one +had thought of opening! No milliner's or dressmaker's bills, no evening +parties, no Protean fashions, no elegant furniture, no imperious +necessity for Kleanthes to outshine Kleon, no coaches, no Chateau +Margaux, no journeys to Arkadia in the summer! In such a state of +society, as one may easily see, the labour of one man would support half +a dozen. It cost the Athenian but a few cents daily to live, and even +these few cents might be earned by his slaves. We need not, therefore, +be surprised to learn that in ancient Athens there were no paupers or +beggars. There might be poverty, but indigence was unknown; and because +of the absence of fashion, style, and display, even poverty entailed +no uncomfortable loss of social position. The Athenians valued wealth +highly, no doubt, as a source of contributions to public festivals and +to the necessities of the state. But as far as the circumstances of +daily life go, the difference between the rich man and the poor man was +immeasurably less than in any modern community, and the incentives to +the acquirement of wealth were, as a consequence, comparatively slight. + +I do not mean to say that the Athenians did not engage in business. +Their city was a commercial city, and their ships covered the +Mediterranean. They had agencies and factories at Marseilles, on the +remote coasts of Spain, and along the shores of the Black Sea. They +were in many respects the greatest commercial people of antiquity, +and doubtless knew, as well as other people, the keen delights of +acquisition. But my point is, that with them the acquiring of property +had not become the chief or only end of life. Production was carried +on almost entirely by slave-labour; interchange of commodities was the +business of the masters, and commerce was in those days simple. Banks, +insurance companies, brokers' boards,--all these complex instruments +of Mammon were as yet unthought of. There was no Wall Street in +ancient Athens; there were no great failures, no commercial panics, +no over-issues of stock. Commerce, in short, was a quite subordinate +matter, and the art of money-making was in its infancy. + +The twenty-five thousand Athenian freemen thus enjoyed, on the whole, +more undisturbed leisure, more freedom from petty harassing cares, +than any other community known to history. Nowhere else can we find, +on careful study, so little of the hurry and anxiety which destroys the +even tenour of modern life,--nowhere else so few of the circumstances +which tend to make men insane, inebriate, or phthisical, or prematurely +old. + +This being granted, it remains only to state and illustrate the obverse +fact. It is not only true that Athens has produced and educated a +relatively larger number of men of the highest calibre and most complete +culture than any other community of like dimensions which has ever +existed; but it is also true that there has been no other community, of +which the members have, as a general rule, been so highly cultivated, +or have attained individually such completeness of life. In proof of +the first assertion it will be enough to mention such names as those of +Solon, Themistokles, Perikles, and Demosthenes; Isokrates and Lysias; +Aristophanes and Menander; Aischylos, Sophokles, and Euripides; Pheidias +and Praxiteles; Sokrates and Plato; Thukydides and Xenophon: remembering +that these men, distinguished for such different kinds of achievement, +but like each other in consummateness of culture, were all produced +within one town in the course of three centuries. At no other time and +place in human history has there been even an approach to such a fact as +this. + +My other assertion, about the general culture of the community in which +such men were reared, will need a more detailed explanation. When I say +that the Athenian public was, on the whole, the most highly cultivated +public that has ever existed, I refer of course to something more than +what is now known as literary culture. Of this there was relatively +little in the days of Athenian greatness; and this was because there was +not yet need for it or room for it. Greece did not until a later time +begin to produce scholars and savants; for the function of scholarship +does not begin until there has been an accumulation of bygone literature +to be interpreted for the benefit of those who live in a later time. +Grecian greatness was already becoming a thing of the past, when +scholarship and literary culture of the modern type began at Rome and +Alexandria. The culture of the ancient Athenians was largely derived +from direct intercourse with facts of nature and of life, and with the +thoughts of rich and powerful minds orally expressed. The value of this +must not be underrated. We moderns are accustomed to get so large a +portion of our knowledge and of our theories of life out of books, +our taste and judgment are so largely educated by intercourse with the +printed page, that we are apt to confound culture with book-knowledge; +we are apt to forget the innumerable ways in which the highest +intellectual faculties may be disciplined without the aid of literature. +We must study antiquity to realize how thoroughly this could be done. +But even in our day, how much more fruitful is the direct influence of +an original mind over us, in the rare cases when it can be enjoyed, than +any indirect influence which the same mind may exert through the +medium of printed books! What fellow of a college, placed amid the most +abundant and efficient implements of study, ever gets such a stimulus to +the highest and richest intellectual life as was afforded to Eckermann +by his daily intercourse with Goethe? The breadth of culture and the +perfection of training exhibited by John Stuart Mill need not surprise +us when we recollect that his earlier days were spent in the society of +James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. And the remarkable extent of view, the +command of facts, and the astonishing productiveness of such modern +Frenchmen as Sainte-Beuve and Littre become explicable when we reflect +upon the circumstance that so many able and brilliant men are collected +in one city, where their minds may continually and directly react upon +each other. It is from the lack of such personal stimulus that it is +difficult or indeed wellnigh impossible, even for those whose resources +are such as to give them an extensive command of books, to keep up to +the highest level of contemporary culture while living in a village or +provincial town. And it is mainly because of the personal stimulus +which it affords to its students, that a great university, as a seat of +culture, is immeasurably superior to a small one. + +Nevertheless, the small community in any age possesses one signal +advantage over the large one, in its greater simplicity of life and its +consequent relative leisure. It was the prerogative of ancient Athens +that it united the advantages of the large to those of the small +community. In relative simplicity of life it was not unlike the modern +village, while at the same time it was the metropolis where the foremost +minds of the time were enabled to react directly upon one another. +In yet another respect these opposite advantages were combined. The +twenty-five thousand free inhabitants might perhaps all know something +of each other. In this respect Athens was doubtless much like a New +England country town, with the all-important difference that the sordid +tone due to continual struggle for money was absent. It was like the +small town in the chance which it afforded for publicity and community +of pursuits among its inhabitants. Continuous and unrestrained social +intercourse was accordingly a distinctive feature of Athenian life. +And, as already hinted, this intercourse did not consist in evening +flirtations, with the eating of indigestible food at unseasonable hours, +and the dancing of "the German." It was carried on out-of-doors in +the brightest sunlight; it brooked no effeminacy; its amusements were +athletic games, or dramatic entertainments, such as have hardly since +been equalled. Its arena was a town whose streets were filled with +statues and adorned with buildings, merely to behold which was in itself +an education. The participators in it were not men with minds so dwarfed +by exclusive devotion to special pursuits that after "talking shop" they +could find nothing else save wine and cookery to converse about. They +were men with minds fresh and open for the discussion of topics which +are not for a day only. + +A man like Sokrates, living in such a community, did not need to write +down his wisdom. He had no such vast public as the modern philosopher +has to reach. He could hail any one he happened to pass in the street, +begin an argument with him forthwith, and set a whole crowd thinking +and inquiring about subjects the mere contemplation of which would raise +them for the moment above matters of transient concern. For more +than half a century any citizen might have gratis the benefit of oral +instruction from such a man as he. And I sometimes think, by the way, +that--curtailed as it is to literary proportions in the dialogues of +Plato, bereft of all that personal potency which it had when it flowed, +instinct with earnestness, from the lips of the teacher--even to this +day the wit of man has perhaps devised no better general gymnastics for +the understanding than the Sokratic dialectic. I am far from saying that +all Athens listened to Sokrates or understood him: had it been so, the +caricature of Aristophanes would have been pointless, and the sublime +yet mournful trilogy of dialogues which pourtray the closing scenes of +the greatest life of antiquity would never have been written. But the +mere fact that such a man lived and taught in the way that he did +goes far in proof of the deep culture of the Athenian public. Further +confirmation is to be found in the fact that such tragedies as the +Antigone, the Oidipous, and the Prometheus were written to suit the +popular taste of the time; not to be read by literary people, or to be +performed before select audiences such as in our day listen to Ristori +or Janauschek, but to hold spell-bound that vast concourse of all kinds +of people which assembled at the Dionysiac festivals. + +Still further proof is furnished by the exquisite literary perfection +of Greek writings. One of the common arguments in favour of the study +of Greek at the present day is based upon the opinion that in the best +works extant in that language the art of literary expression has reached +wellnigh absolute perfection. I fully concur in this opinion, so far +as to doubt if even the greatest modern writers, even a Pascal or a +Voltaire, can fairly sustain a comparison with such Athenians as Plato +or Lysias. This excellence of the ancient books is in part immediately +due to the fact that they were not written in a hurry, or amid the +anxieties of an over-busy existence; but it is in greater part due to +the indirect consequences of a leisurely life. These books were written +for a public which knew well how to appreciate the finer beauties of +expression; and, what is still more to the point, their authors lived +in a community where an elegant style was habitual. Before a matchless +style can be written, there must be a good style "in the air," as the +French say. Probably the most finished talking and writing of modern +times has been done in and about the French court in the seventeenth +century; and it is accordingly there that we find men like Pascal and +Bossuet writing a prose which for precision, purity, and dignity has +never since been surpassed. It is thus that the unapproachable literary +excellence of ancient Greek books speaks for the genuine culture of the +people who were expected to read them, or to hear them read. For one of +the surest indices of true culture, whether professedly literary or not, +is the power to express one's self in precise, rhythmical, and dignified +language. We hardly need a better evidence than this of the superiority +of the ancient community in the general elevation of its tastes and +perceptions. Recollecting how Herodotos read his history at the Olympic +games, let us try to imagine even so picturesque a writer as Mr. Parkman +reading a few chapters of his "Jesuits in North America" before the +spectators assembled at the Jerome Park races, and we shall the better +realize how deep-seated was Hellenic culture. + +As yet, however, I have referred to but one side of Athenian life. +Though "seekers after wisdom," the cultivated people of Athens did not +spend all their valuable leisure in dialectics or in connoisseurship. +They were not a set of dilettanti or dreamy philosophers, and they were +far from subordinating the material side of life to the intellectual. +Also, though they dealt not in money-making after the eager fashion of +modern men, they had still concerns of immediate practical interest with +which to busy themselves. Each one of these twenty-five thousand free +Athenians was not only a free voter, but an office-holder, a legislator, +a judge. They did not control the government through a representative +body, but they were themselves the government. They were, one and all, +in turn liable to be called upon to make laws, and to execute them after +they were made, as well as to administer justice in civil and criminal +suits. The affairs and interests, not only of their own city, but of a +score or two of scattered dependencies, were more or less closely to be +looked after by them. It lay with them to declare war, to carry it on +after declaring it, and to pay the expenses of it. Actually and not by +deputy they administered the government of their own city, both in its +local and in its imperial relations. All this implies a more thorough, +more constant, and more vital political training than that which is +implied by the modern duties of casting a ballot and serving on a jury. +The life of the Athenian was emphatically a political life. From early +manhood onward, it was part of his duty to hear legal questions argued +by powerful advocates, and to utter a decision upon law and fact; or to +mix in debate upon questions of public policy, arguing, listening, and +pondering. It is customary to compare the political talent of the Greeks +unfavourably with that displayed by the Romans, and I have no wish to +dispute this estimate. But on a careful study it will appear that the +Athenians, at least, in a higher degree than any other community of +ancient times, exhibited parliamentary tact, or the ability to sit still +while both sides of a question are getting discussed,--that sort of +political talent for which the English races are distinguished, and to +the lack of which so many of the political failures of the French are +egregiously due. One would suppose that a judicature of the whole town +would be likely to execute a sorry parody of justice; yet justice was +by no means ill-administered at Athens. Even the most unfortunate and +disgraceful scenes,--as where the proposed massacre of the Mytilenaians +was discussed, and where summary retribution was dealt out to the +generals who had neglected their duty at Arginusai,--even these scenes +furnish, when thoroughly examined, as by Mr. Grote, only the more +convincing proof that the Athenian was usually swayed by sound reason +and good sense to an extraordinary degree. All great points in fact, +were settled rather by sober appeals to reason than by intrigue or +lobbying; and one cannot help thinking that an Athenian of the time +of Perikles would have regarded with pitying contempt the trick of the +"previous question." And this explains the undoubted pre-eminence +of Athenian oratory. This accounts for the fact that we find in the +forensic annals of a single city, and within the compass of a single +century, such names as Lysias, Isokrates, Andokides, Hypereides, +Aischines, and Demosthenes. The art of oratory, like the art of +sculpture, shone forth more brilliantly then than ever since, because +then the conditions favouring its development were more perfectly +combined than they have since been. Now, a condition of society in +which the multitude can always be made to stand quietly and listen to a +logical discourse is a condition of high culture. Readers of Xenophon's +Anabasis will remember the frequency of the speeches in that charming +book. Whenever some terrible emergency arose, or some alarming quarrel +or disheartening panic occurred, in the course of the retreat of the +Ten Thousand, an oration from one of the commanders--not a demagogue's +appeal to the lower passions, but a calm exposition of circumstances +addressed to the sober judgment--usually sufficed to set all things in +order. To my mind this is one of the most impressive historical lessons +conveyed in Xenophon's book. And this peculiar kind of self-control, +indicative of intellectual sobriety and high moral training, which was +more or less characteristic of all Greeks, was especially characteristic +of the Athenians. + +These illustrations will, I hope, suffice to show that there is nothing +extravagant in the high estimate which I have made of Athenian culture. +I have barely indicated the causes of this singular perfection of +individual training in the social circumstances amid which the Athenians +lived. I have alleged it as an instance of what may be accomplished by +a well-directed leisure and in the absence or very scanty development of +such a complex industrial life as that which surrounds us to-day. But I +have not yet quite done with the Athenians. Before leaving this part of +the subject, I must mention one further circumstance which tends to +make ancient life appear in our eyes more sunny and healthy and less +distressed, than the life of modern times. And in this instance, too, +though we are not dealing with any immediate or remote effects of +leisureliness, we still have to note the peculiar advantage gained by +the absence of a great complexity of interests in the ancient community. + +With respect to religion, the Athenians were peculiarly situated. They +had for the most part outgrown the primitive terrorism of fetishistic +belief. Save in cases of public distress, as in the mutilation of the +Hermai, or in the refusal of Nikias to retreat from Syracuse because of +an eclipse of the moon, they were no longer, like savages, afraid of the +dark. Their keen aesthetic sense had prevailed to turn the horrors of +a primeval nature-worship into beauties. Their springs and groves were +peopled by their fancy with naiads and dryads, not with trolls and +grotesque goblins. Their feelings toward the unseen powers at work +about them were in the main pleasant; as witness the little story about +Pheidippides meeting the god Pan as he was making with hot haste toward +Sparta to announce the arrival of the Persians. Now, while this original +source of mental discomfort, which afflicts the uncivilized man, had +ceased materially to affect the Athenians, they on the other hand +lived at a time when the vague sense of sin and self-reproof which was +characteristic of the early ages of Christianity, had not yet invaded +society. The vast complication of life brought about by the extension of +the Roman Empire led to a great development of human sympathies, +unknown in earlier times, and called forth unquiet yearnings, desire for +amelioration, a sense of short-coming, and a morbid self-consciousness. +It is accordingly under Roman sway that we first come across characters +approximating to the modern type, like Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and +Marcus Aurelius. It is then that we find the idea of social progress +first clearly expressed, that we discover some glimmerings of a +conscious philanthropy, and that we detect the earliest symptoms of that +unhealthy tendency to subordinate too entirely the physical to the moral +life, which reached its culmination in the Middle Ages. In the palmy +days of the Athenians it was different. When we hint that they were not +consciously philanthropists, we do not mean that they were not humane; +when we accredit them with no idea of progress, we do not forget how +much they did to render both the idea and the reality possible; when we +say that they had not a distressing sense of spiritual unworthiness, we +do not mean that they had no conscience. We mean that their moral and +religious life sat easily on them, like their own graceful drapery,--did +not gall and worry them, like the hair-cloth garment of the monk. They +were free from that dark conception of a devil which lent terror to +life in the Middle Ages; and the morbid self-consciousness which led +mediaeval women to immure themselves in convents would have been to an +Athenian quite inexplicable. They had, in short, an open and childlike +conception of religion; and, as such, it was a sunny conception. Any one +who will take the trouble to compare an idyl of Theokritos with a modern +pastoral, or the poem of Kleanthes with a modern hymn, or the Aphrodite +of Melos with a modern Madonna, will realize most effectually what I +mean. + +And, finally, the religion of the Athenians was in the main symbolized +in a fluctuating mythology, and had never been hardened into dogmas. The +Athenian was subject to no priest, nor was he obliged to pin his faith +to any formulated creed. His hospitable polytheism left little room +for theological persecution, and none for any heresy short of virtual +atheism. The feverish doubts which rack the modern mind left him +undisturbed. Though he might sink to any depth of scepticism in +philosophy, yet the eternal welfare of his soul was not supposed to hang +upon the issue of his doubts. Accordingly Athenian society was not +only characterized in the main by freedom of opinion, in spite of the +exceptional cases of Anaxagoras and Sokrates; but there was also none of +that Gothic gloom with which the deep-seated Christian sense of infinite +responsibility for opinion has saddened modern religious life. + +In these reflections I have wandered a little way from my principal +theme, in order more fully to show why the old Greek life impresses us +as so cheerful. Returning now to the keynote with which we started, +let us state succinctly the net result of what has been said about the +Athenians. As a people we have seen that they enjoyed an unparalleled +amount of leisure, living through life with but little turmoil and +clatter. Their life was more spontaneous and unrestrained, less +rigorously marked out by uncontrollable circumstances, than the life +of moderns. They did not run so much in grooves. And along with this +we have seen reason to believe that they were the most profoundly +cultivated of all peoples; that a larger proportion of men lived +complete, well-rounded, harmonious lives in ancient Athens than in +any other known community. Keen, nimble-minded, and self-possessed; +audacious speculators, but temperate and averse to extravagance; +emotionally healthy, and endowed with an unequalled sense of beauty and +propriety; how admirable and wonderful they seem when looked at across +the gulf of ages intervening,--and what a priceless possession to +humanity, of what noble augury for the distant future, is the fact that +such a society has once existed! + +The lesson to be drawn from the study of this antique life will impress +itself more deeply upon us after we have briefly contemplated the +striking contrast to it which is afforded by the phase of civilization +amid which we live to-day. Ever since Greek civilization was merged +in Roman imperialism, there has been a slowly growing tendency toward +complexity of social life,--toward the widening of sympathies, the +multiplying of interests, the increase of the number of things to +be done. Through the later Middle Ages, after Roman civilization had +absorbed and disciplined the incoming barbarism which had threatened to +destroy it, there was a steadily increasing complication of society, a +multiplication of the wants of life, and a consequent enhancement of the +difficulty of self-maintenance. The ultimate causes of this phenomenon +lie so far beneath the surface that they could be satisfactorily +discussed only in a technical essay on the evolution of society. It will +be enough for us here to observe that the great geographical discoveries +of the sixteenth century and the somewhat later achievements of physical +science have, during the past two hundred years, aided powerfully +in determining the entrance of the Western world upon an industrial +epoch,--an epoch which has for its final object the complete subjection +of the powers of nature to purposes of individual comfort and happiness. +We have now to trace some of the effects of this lately-begun industrial +development upon social life and individual culture. And as we studied +the leisureliness of antiquity where its effects were most conspicuous, +in the city of Athens, we shall now do well to study the opposite +characteristics of modern society where they are most conspicuously +exemplified, in our own country. The attributes of American life which +it will be necessary to signalize will be seen to be only the attributes +of modern life in their most exaggerated phase. + +To begin with, in studying the United States, we are no longer dealing +with a single city, or with small groups of cities. The city as a +political unit, in the antique sense, has never existed among us, and +indeed can hardly be said now to exist anywhere. The modern city is +hardly more than a great emporium of trade, or a place where large +numbers of people find it convenient to live huddled together; not a +sacred fatherland to which its inhabitants owe their highest allegiance, +and by the requirements of which their political activity is limited. +What strikes us here is that our modern life is diffused or spread out, +not concentrated like the ancient civic life. If the Athenian had been +the member of an integral community, comprising all peninsular Greece +and the mainland of Asia Minor, he could not have taken life so easily +as he did. + +Now our country is not only a very large one, but compared to its vast +territorial extent it contains a very small population. If we go on +increasing at the present rate, so that a century hence we number four +or five hundred millions, our country will be hardly more crowded than +China is to-day. Or if our whole population were now to be brought east +of Niagara Falls, and confined on the south by the Potomac, we should +still have as much elbow-room as they have in France. Political +economists can show the effects of this high ratio of land to +inhabitants, in increasing wages, raising the interest of money, and +stimulating production. We are thus living amid circumstances which +are goading the industrial activity characteristic of the last two +centuries, and notably of the English race, into an almost feverish +energy. The vast extent of our unwrought territory is constantly +draining fresh life from our older districts, to aid in the +establishment of new frontier communities of a somewhat lower or less +highly organized type. And these younger communities, daily springing +up, are constantly striving to take on the higher structure,--to +become as highly civilized and to enjoy as many of the prerogatives of +civilization as the rest. All this calls forth an enormous quantity +of activity, and causes American life to assume the aspect of a +life-and-death struggle for mastery over the material forces of that +part of the earth's surface upon which it thrives. + +It is thus that we are traversing what may properly be called the +BARBAROUS epoch of our history,--the epoch at which the predominant +intellectual activity is employed in achievements which are mainly of a +material character. Military barbarism, or the inability of communities +to live together without frequent warfare, has been nearly outgrown +by the whole Western world. Private wars, long since made everywhere +illegal, have nearly ceased; and public wars, once continual, have +become infrequent. But industrial barbarism, by which I mean the +inability of a community to direct a portion of its time to purposes of +spiritual life, after providing for its physical maintenance,--this +kind of barbarism the modern world has by no means outgrown. To-day, the +great work of life is to live; while the amount of labour consumed +in living has throughout the present century been rapidly increasing. +Nearly the whole of this American community toils from youth to old +age in merely procuring the means for satisfying the transient wants of +life. Our time and energies, our spirit and buoyancy, are quite used up +in what is called "getting on." + +Another point of difference between the structure of American and of +Athenian society must not be left out of the account. The time has gone +by in which the energies of a hundred thousand men and women could be +employed in ministering to the individual perfection of twenty-five +thousand. Slavery, in the antique sense,--an absolute command of brain +as well as of muscle, a slave-system of skilled labour,--we have never +had. In our day it is for each man to earn his own bread; so that the +struggle for existence has become universal. The work of one class does +not furnish leisure for another class. The exceptional circumstances +which freed the Athenian from industrial barbarism, and enabled him to +become the great teacher and model of culture for the human race, have +disappeared forever. + +Then the general standard of comfortable living, as already hinted, has +been greatly raised, and is still rising. What would have satisfied the +ancient would seem to us like penury. We have a domestic life of which +the Greek knew nothing. We live during a large part of the year in the +house. Our social life goes on under the roof. Our houses are not mere +places for eating and sleeping, like the houses of the ancients. It +therefore costs us a large amount of toil to get what is called shelter +for our heads. The sum which a young married man, in "good society," +has to pay for his house and the furniture contained in it, would have +enabled an Athenian to live in princely leisure from youth to old age. +The sum which he has to pay out each year, to meet the complicated +expense of living in such a house, would have more than sufficed to +bring up an Athenian family. If worthy Strepsiades could have got an +Asmodean glimpse of Fifth Avenue, or even of some unpretending street in +Cambridge, he might have gone back to his aristocratic wife a sadder but +a more contented man. + +Wealth--or at least what would until lately have been called wealth--has +become essential to comfort; while the opportunities for acquiring +it have in recent times been immensely multiplied. To get money is, +therefore, the chief end of life in our time and country. "Success +in life" has become synonymous with "becoming wealthy." A man who is +successful in what he undertakes is a man who makes his employment +pay him in money. Our normal type of character is that of the shrewd, +circumspect business man; as in the Middle Ages it was that of the hardy +warrior. And as in those days when fighting was a constant necessity, +and when the only honourable way for a gentleman of high rank to +make money was by freebooting, fighting came to be regarded as an end +desirable in itself; so in these days the mere effort to accumulate has +become a source of enjoyment rather than a means to it. The same truth +is to be witnessed in aberrant types of character. The infatuated +speculator and the close-fisted millionaire are our substitutes for the +mediaeval berserkir,--the man who loved the pell-mell of a contest so +well that he would make war on his neighbour, just to keep his hand in. +In like manner, while such crimes as murder and violent robbery have +diminished in frequency during the past century, on the other hand such +crimes as embezzlement, gambling in stocks, adulteration of goods, and +using of false weights and measures, have probably increased. If Dick +Turpin were now to be brought back to life, he would find the New York +Custom-House a more congenial and profitable working-place than the +king's highway. + +The result of this universal quest for money is that we are always in a +hurry. Our lives pass by in a whirl. It is all labour and no fruition. +We work till we are weary; we carry our work home with us; it haunts our +evenings, and disturbs our sleep as well as our digestion. Our minds are +so burdened with it that our conversation, when serious, can dwell upon +little else. If we step into a railway-car, or the smoking-room of +a hotel, or any other place where a dozen or two of men are gathered +together, we shall hear them talking of stocks, of investments, of +commercial paper, as if there were really nothing in this universe worth +thinking of, save only the interchange of dollars and commodities. So +constant and unremitted is our forced application, that our minds are +dwarfed for everything except the prosecution of the one universal +pursuit. + +Are we now prepared for the completing of the contrast? Must we say +that, as Athens was the most leisurely and the United States is the +most hurried community known in history, so the Americans are, as a +consequence of their hurry, lacking in thoroughness of culture? Or, +since it is difficult to bring our modern culture directly into contrast +with that of an ancient community, let me state the case after a +different but equivalent fashion. Since the United States present +only an exaggerated type of the modern industrial community, since the +turmoil of incessant money-getting, which affects all modern communities +in large measure, affects us most seriously of all, shall it be +said that we are, on the whole, less highly cultivated than our +contemporaries in Western Europe? To a certain extent we must confess +that this is the case. In the higher culture--in the culture of the +whole man, according to the antique idea--we are undoubtedly behind all +other nations with which it would be fair to compare ourselves. It +will not do to decide a question like this merely by counting literary +celebrities, although even thus we should by no means get a verdict in +our favour. Since the beginning of this century, England has produced +as many great writers and thinkers as France or Germany; yet the general +status of culture in England is said--perhaps with truth--to be lower +than it is in these countries. It is said that the average Englishman is +less ready than the average German or Frenchman to sympathize with ideas +which have no obvious market-value. Yet in England there is an amount of +high culture among those not professionally scholars, which it would +be vain to seek among ourselves. The purposes of my argument, however, +require that the comparison should be made between our own country and +Western Europe in general. Compare, then, our best magazines--not solely +with regard to their intrinsic excellence, but also with regard to the +way in which they are sustained--with the Revue des Deux Mondes or the +Journal des Debats. Or compare our leading politicians with men like +Gladstone, Disraeli, or Sir G. C. Lewis; or even with such men as +Brougham or Thiers. Or compare the slovenly style of our newspaper +articles, I will not say with the exquisite prose of the lamented +Prevost-Paradol, but with the ordinary prose of the French or English +newspaper. But a far better illustration--for it goes down to the root +of things--is suggested by the recent work of Matthew Arnold on the +schools of the continent of Europe. The country of our time where +the general culture is unquestionably the highest is Prussia. Now, in +Prussia, they are able to have a Minister of Education, who is a member +of the Cabinet. They are sure that this minister will not appoint or +remove even an assistant professor for political reasons. Only once, +as Arnold tells us, has such a thing been done; and then public opinion +expressed itself in such an emphatic tone of disapproval that the +displaced teacher was instantly appointed to another position. Nothing +of this sort, says Arnold, could have occurred in England; but still +less could it occur in America. Had we such an educational system, +there would presently be an "Education Ring" to control it. Nor can this +difference be ascribed to the less eager political activity of Germany. +The Prussian state of things would have been possible in ancient Athens, +where political life was as absorbing and nearly as turbulent as in the +United States. The difference is due to our lack of faith in culture, a +lack of faith in that of which we have not had adequate experience. + +We lack culture because we live in a hurry, and because our attention is +given up to pursuits which call into activity and develop but one side +of us. On the one hand contemplate Sokrates quietly entertaining a crowd +in the Athenian market-place, and on the other hand consider Broadway +with its eternal clatter, and its throngs of hurrying people elbowing +and treading on each other's heels, and you will get a lively notion of +the difference between the extreme phases of ancient and modern life. By +the time we have thus rushed through our day, we have no strength left +to devote to things spiritual. To-day finds us no nearer fruition than +yesterday. And if perhaps the time at last arrives when fruition is +practicable, our minds have run so long in the ruts that they cannot be +twisted out. + +As it is impossible for any person living in a given state of society +to keep himself exempt from its influences, detrimental as well as +beneficial, we find that even those who strive to make a literary +occupation subservient to purposes of culture are not, save in rare +cases, spared by the general turmoil. Those who have at once the +ability, the taste, and the wealth needful for training themselves to +the accomplishment of some many-sided and permanent work are of course +very few. Nor have our universities yet provided themselves with the +means for securing to literary talent the leisure which is essential +to complete mental development, or to a high order of productiveness. +Although in most industrial enterprises we know how to work together so +successfully, in literature we have as yet no co-operation. We have not +only no Paris, but we have not even a Tubingen, a Leipsic, or a Jena, or +anything corresponding to the fellowships in the English universities. +Our literary workers have no choice but to fall into the ranks, and +make merchandise of their half-formed ideas. They must work without +co-operation, they must write in a hurry, and they must write for those +who have no leisure for aught but hasty and superficial reading. + +Bursting boilers and custom-house frauds may have at first sight nothing +to do with each other or with my subject. It is indisputable, however, +that the horrible massacres perpetrated every few weeks or mouths by our +common carriers, and the disgraceful peculation in which we allow +our public servants to indulge with hardly ever an effective word of +protest, are alike to be ascribed to the same causes which interfere +with our higher culture. It is by no means a mere accidental coincidence +that for every dollar stolen by government officials in Prussia, at +least fifty or a hundred are stolen in the United States. This does not +show that the Germans are our superiors in average honesty, but it +shows that they are our superiors in thoroughness. It is with them an +imperative demand that any official whatever shall be qualified for his +post; a principle of public economy which in our country is not simply +ignored in practice, but often openly laughed at. But in a country where +high intelligence and thorough training are imperatively demanded, it +follows of necessity that these qualifications must insure for their +possessors a permanent career in which the temptations to malfeasance or +dishonesty are reduced to the minimum. On the other hand, in a country +where intelligence and training have no surety that they are to +carry the day against stupidity and inefficiency, the incentives to +dishonourable conduct are overpowering. The result in our own political +life is that the best men are driven in disgust from politics, and thus +one of the noblest fields for the culture of the whole man is given +over to be worked by swindlers and charlatans. To an Athenian such a +severance of the highest culture from political life would have been +utterly inconceivable. Obviously the deepest explanation of all this +lies in our lack of belief in the necessity for high and thorough +training. We do not value culture enough to keep it in our employ or to +pay it for its services; and what is this short-sighted negligence but +the outcome of the universal shiftlessness begotten of the habit of +doing everything in a hurry? On every hand we may see the fruits of +this shiftlessness, from buildings that tumble in, switches that are +misplaced, furnaces that are ill-protected, fire-brigades that are +without discipline, up to unauthorized meddlings with the currency, and +revenue laws which defeat their own purpose. + +I said above that the attributes of American life which we should find +it necessary for our purpose to signalize are simply the attributes +of modern life in their most exaggerated phase. Is there not a certain +sense in which all modern handiwork is hastily and imperfectly done? +To begin with common household arts, does not every one know that old +things are more durable than new things? Our grandfathers wore better +shoes than we wear, because there was leisure enough to cure the leather +properly. In old times a chair was made of seasoned wood, and its joints +carefully fitted; its maker had leisure to see that it was well put +together. Now a thousand are turned off at once by machinery, out of +green wood, and, with their backs glued on, are hurried off to their +evil fate,--destined to drop in pieces if they happen to stand near the +fireplace, and liable to collapse under the weight of a heavy man. +Some of us still preserve, as heirlooms, old tables and bedsteads of +Cromwellian times: in the twenty-first century what will have become of +our machine-made bedsteads and tables? + +Perhaps it may seem odd to talk about tanning and joinery in connection +with culture, but indeed there is a subtle bond of union holding +together all these things. Any phase of life can be understood only by +associating with it some different phase. Sokrates himself has taught us +how the homely things illustrate the grand things. If we turn to the art +of musical composition and inquire into some of the differences between +our recent music and that of Handel's time, we shall alight upon the +very criticism which Mr. Mill somewhere makes in comparing ancient with +modern literature: the substance has improved, but the form has in +some respects deteriorated. The modern music expresses the results of a +richer and more varied emotional experience, and in wealth of harmonic +resources, to say nothing of increased skill in orchestration, it is +notably superior to the old music. Along with this advance, however, +there is a perceptible falling off in symmetry and completeness of +design, and in what I would call spontaneousness of composition. I +believe that this is because modern composers, as a rule, do not drudge +patiently enough upon counterpoint. They do not get that absolute +mastery over technical difficulties of figuration which was the great +secret of the incredible facility and spontaneity of composition +displayed by Handel and Bach. Among recent musicians Mendelssohn is the +most thoroughly disciplined in the elements of counterpoint; and it is +this perfect mastery of the technique of his art which has enabled him +to outrank Schubert and Schumann, neither of whom would one venture to +pronounce inferior to him in native wealth of musical ideas. May we +not partly attribute to rudimentary deficiency in counterpoint the +irregularity of structure which so often disfigures the works of the +great Wagner and the lesser Liszt, and which the more ardent admirers of +these composers are inclined to regard as a symptom of progress? + +I am told that a similar illustration might be drawn from the modern +history of painting; that, however noble the conceptions of the great +painters of the present century, there are none who have gained such a +complete mastery over the technicalities of drawing and the handling of +the brush as was required in the times of Raphael, Titian, and Rubens. +But on this point I can only speak from hearsay, and am quite willing +to end here my series of illustrations, fearing that I may already +have been wrongly set down as a lavulator temporis acti. Not the idle +praising of times gone by, but the getting a lesson from them which may +be of use to us, has been my object. And I believe enough has been said +to show that the great complexity of modern life, with its multiplicity +of demands upon our energy, has got us into a state of chronic hurry, +the results of which are everywhere to be seen in the shape of less +thorough workmanship and less rounded culture. + +For one moment let me stop to note a further source of the relative +imperfection of modern culture, which is best illustrated in the case of +literature. I allude to the immense, unorganized mass of literature in +all departments, representing the accumulated acquisitions of past ages, +which must form the basis of our own achievement, but with which our +present methods of education seem inadequate to deal properly. Speaking +roughly, modern literature may be said to be getting into the state +which Roman jurisprudence was in before it was reformed by Justinian. +Philosophic criticism has not yet reached the point at which it may +serve as a natural codifier. We must read laboriously and expend a +disproportionate amount of time and pains in winnowing the chaff from +the wheat. This tends to make us "digs" or literary drudges; but I +doubt if the "dig" is a thoroughly developed man. Goethe, with all his +boundless knowledge, his universal curiosity, and his admirable capacity +for work, was not a "dig." But this matter can only be hinted at: it is +too large to be well discussed at the fag end of an essay while other +points are pressing for consideration. + +A state of chronic hurry not only directly hinders the performance of +thorough work, but it has an indirect tendency to blunt the enjoyment of +life. Let us consider for a moment one of the psychological consequences +entailed by the strain of a too complex and rapid activity. Every one +must have observed that in going off for a vacation of two or three +weeks, or in getting freed in any way from the ruts of every-day life, +time slackens its gait somewhat, and the events which occur are apt +a few years later to cover a disproportionately large area in our +recollections. This is because the human organism is a natural timepiece +in which the ticks are conscious sensations. The greater the number of +sensations which occupy the foreground of consciousness during the day, +the longer the day seems in the retrospect. But the various groups of +sensations which accompany our daily work tend to become automatic from +continual repetition, and to sink into the background of consciousness; +and in a very complex and busied life the number of sensations or states +of consciousness which can struggle up to the front and get attended to, +is comparatively small It is thus that the days seem so short when we +are busy about every-day matters, and that they get blurred together, +and as it were individually annihilated in recollection. When we travel, +a comparatively large number of fresh sensations occupy attention, there +is a maximum of consciousness, and a distinct image is left to loom up +in memory. For the same reason the weeks and years are much longer to +the child than to the grown man. The life is simpler and less hurried, +so that there is time to attend to a great many sensations. Now this +fact lies at the bottom of that keen enjoyment of existence which is the +prerogative of childhood and early youth. The day is not rushed through +by the automatic discharge of certain psychical functions, but each +sensation stays long enough to make itself recognized. Now when once we +understand the psychology of this matter, it becomes evident that the +same contrast that holds between the child and the man must hold also +between the ancient and the modern. The number of elements entering into +ancient life were so few relatively, that there must have been far +more than there is now of that intense realization of life which we can +observe in children and remember of our own childhood. Space permitting, +it would be easy to show from Greek literature how intense was this +realization of life. But my point will already have been sufficiently +apprehended. Already we cannot fail to see how difficult it is to get +more than a minimum of conscious fruition out of a too complex and rapid +activity. + +One other point is worth noticing before we close. How is this turmoil +of modern existence impressing itself upon the physical constitutions +of modern men and women? When an individual man engages in furious +productive activity, his friends warn him that he will break down. Does +the collective man of our time need some such friendly warning? Let +us first get a hint from what foreigners think of us ultra-modernized +Americans. Wandering journalists, of an ethnological turn of mind, +who visit these shores, profess to be struck with the slenderness, +the apparent lack of toughness, the dyspeptic look, of the American +physique. And from such observations it has been seriously argued that +the stalwart English race is suffering inevitable degeneracy in this +foreign climate. I have even seen it doubted whether a race of men can +ever become thoroughly naturalized in a locality to which it is not +indigenous. To such vagaries it is a sufficient answer that the English +are no more indigenous to England than to America. They are indigenous +to Central Asia, and as they have survived the first transplantation, +they may be safely counted on to survive the second. A more careful +survey will teach us that the slow alteration of physique which is +going on in this country is only an exaggeration of that which modern +civilization is tending to bring about everywhere. It is caused by the +premature and excessive strain upon the mental powers requisite to meet +the emergencies of our complex life. The progress of events has thrown +the work of sustaining life so largely upon the brain that we are +beginning to sacrifice the physical to the intellectual. We are growing +spirituelle in appearance at the expense of robustness. Compare any +typical Greek face, with its firm muscles, its symmetry of feature, and +its serenity of expression, to a typical modern portrait, with its more +delicate contour, its exaggerated forehead, its thoughtful, perhaps +jaded look. Or consider in what respects the grand faces of the +Plantagenet monarchs differ from the refined countenances of the leading +English statesmen of to-day. Or again, consider the familiar pictures of +the Oxford and Harvard crews which rowed a race on the Thames in 1869, +and observe how much less youthful are the faces of the Americans. By +contrast they almost look careworn. The summing up of countless such +facts is that modern civilization is making us nervous. Our most +formidable diseases are of nervous origin. We seem to have got rid of +the mediaeval plague and many of its typhoid congeners; but instead +we have an increased amount of insanity, methomania, consumption, +dyspepsia, and paralysis. In this fact it is plainly written that we are +suffering physically from the over-work and over-excitement entailed by +excessive hurry. + +In view of these various but nearly related points of difference between +ancient and modern life as studied in their extreme manifestations, it +cannot be denied that while we have gained much, we have also lost a +good deal that is valuable, in our progress. We cannot but suspect that +we are not in all points more highly favoured than the ancients. And it +becomes probable that Athens, at all events, which I have chosen as my +example, may have exhibited an adumbration of a state of things which, +for the world at large, is still in the future,--still to be remotely +hoped for. The rich complexity of modern social achievement is attained +at the cost of individual many-sidedness. As Tennyson puts it, "The +individual withers and the world is more and more." Yet the individual +does not exist for the sake of society, as the positivists would have us +believe, but society exists for the sake of the individual. And the test +of complete social life is the opportunity which it affords for complete +individual life. Tried by this test, our contemporary civilization +will appear seriously defective,--excellent only as a preparation for +something better. + +This is the true light in which to regard it. This incessant turmoil, +this rage for accumulation of wealth, this crowding, jostling, and +trampling upon one another, cannot be regarded as permanent, or +as anything more than the accompaniment of a transitional stage of +civilization. There must be a limit to the extent to which the standard +of comfortable living can be raised. The industrial organization of +society, which is now but beginning, must culminate in a state of things +in which the means of expense will exceed the demand for expense, in +which the human race will have some surplus capital. The incessant +manual labour which the ancients relegated to slaves will in course +of time be more and more largely performed by inanimate machinery. +Unskilled labour will for the most part disappear. Skilled labour will +consist in the guiding of implements contrived with versatile cunning +for the relief of human nerve and muscle. Ultimately there will be +no unsettled land to fill, no frontier life, no savage races to be +assimilated or extirpated, no extensive migration. Thus life will again +become comparatively stationary. The chances for making great fortunes +quickly will be diminished, while the facilities for acquiring a +competence by steady labour will be increased. When every one is able +to reach the normal standard of comfortable living, we must suppose +that the exaggerated appetite for wealth and display will gradually +disappear. We shall be more easily satisfied, and thus enjoy more +leisure. It may be that there will ultimately exist, over the civilized +world, conditions as favourable to the complete fruition of life as +those which formerly existed within the narrow circuit of Attika; +save that the part once played by enslaved human brain and muscle will +finally be played by the enslaved forces of insentient nature. Society +will at last bear the test of providing for the complete development of +its individual members. + +So, at least, we may hope; such is the probability which the progress of +events, when carefully questioned, sketches out for us. "Need we fear," +asks Mr. Greg, "that the world would stagnate under such a change? +Need we guard ourselves against the misconstruction of being held to +recommend a life of complacent and inglorious inaction? We think not. We +would only substitute a nobler for a meaner strife,--a rational for an +excessive toil,--an enjoyment that springs from serenity, for one that +springs from excitement only..... To each time its own preacher, to each +excess its own counteraction. In an age of dissipation, languor, and +stagnation, we should join with Mr. Carlyle in preaching the 'Evangel +of Work,' and say with him, 'Blessed is the man who has found his +work,--let him ask no other blessedness.' In an age of strenuous, +frenzied,.... and often utterly irrational and objectless exertion, +we join Mr. Mill in preaching the milder and more needed 'Evangel of +Leisure.'" + +Bearing all these things in mind, we may understand the remark of +the supremely cultivated Goethe, when asked who were his masters: Die +Griechen, die Griechen, und immer die Griechen. We may appreciate the +significance of Mr. Mill's argument in favour of the study of antiquity, +that it preserves the tradition of an era of individual completeness. +There is a disposition growing among us to remodel our methods of +education in conformity with the temporary requirements of the age +in which we live. In this endeavour there is much that is wise and +practical; but in so far as it tends to the neglect of antiquity, I +cannot think it well-timed. Our education should not only enhance the +value of what we possess; is should also supply the consciousness of +what we lack. And while, for generations to come, we pass toilfully +through an era of exorbitant industrialism, some fragment of our time +will not be misspent in keeping alive the tradition of a state of things +which was once briefly enjoyed by a little community, but which, in the +distant future, will, as it is hoped, become the permanent possession of +all mankind. + +January, 1873. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Unseen World and Other Essays, by John Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNSEEN WORLD AND OTHER ESSAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 1486.txt or 1486.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/8/1486/ + +Produced by Charles Keller + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR software + + + + + +The Unseen World and Other Essays, by John Fiske + + + + +TO +JAMES SIME. + +MY DEAR SIME: + +Life has now and then some supreme moments of pure happiness, +which in reminiscence give to single days the value of months +or years. Two or three such moments it has been my good fortune +to enjoy with you, in talking over the mysteries which forever +fascinate while they forever baffle us. It was our midnight talks +in Great Russell Street and the Addison Road, and our bright May +holiday on the Thames, that led me to write this scanty essay on +the "Unseen World," and to whom could I so heartily dedicate it +as to you? I only wish it were more worthy of its origin. As for +the dozen papers which I have appended to it, by way of clearing +out my workshop, I hope you will read them indulgently, and +believe +me + +Ever faithfully yours, +JOHN +FISKE. + + +HARVARD UNIVERSITY, February 3, 1876. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +I. THE UNSEEN WORLD +II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH" +III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY +IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA +V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES +VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION +VII. NATHAN THE WISE +VIII.HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES +IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL +X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS +XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE +XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER" +XIII.A PHILOSOPHY OF ART +XIV. ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE + + + +ESSAYS. + +I. THE UNSEEN WORLD. + +PART FIRST. + +"What are you, where did you come from, and whither are you +bound?"--the question which from Homer's days has been put to the +wayfarer in strange lands--is likewise the all-absorbing question +which man is ever asking of the universe of which he is himself +so tiny yet so wondrous a part. From the earliest times the +ultimate purpose of all scientific research has been to elicit +fragmentary or partial responses to this question, and philosophy +has ever busied itself in piecing together these several bits of +information according to the best methods at its disposal, in +order to make up something like a satisfactory answer. In old +times the best methods which philosophy had at its disposal for +this purpose were such as now seem very crude, and accordingly +ancient philosophers bungled considerably in their task, though +now and then they came surprisingly near what would to-day be +called the truth. It was natural that their methods should be +crude, for scientific inquiry had as yet supplied but scanty +materials for them to work with, and it was only after a very +long course of speculation and criticism that men could find out +what ways of going to work are likely to prove successful and +what are not. The earliest thinkers, indeed, were further +hindered from accomplishing much by the imperfections of the +language by the aid of which their thinking was done; for science +and philosophy have had to make a serviceable terminology by dint +of long and arduous trial and practice, and linguistic processes +fit for expressing general or abstract notions accurately grew up +only through numberless failures and at the expense of much +inaccurate thinking and loose talking. As in most of nature's +processes, there was a great waste of energy before a good result +could be secured. Accordingly primitive men were very wide of the +mark in their views of nature. To them the world was a sort of +enchanted ground, peopled with sprites and goblins; the quaint +notions with which we now amuse our children in fairy tales +represent a style of thinking which once was current among grown +men and women, and which is still current wherever men remain in +a savage condition. The theories of the world wrought out by +early priest-philosophers were in great part made up of such +grotesque notions; and having become variously implicated with +ethical opinions as to the nature and consequences of right and +wrong behaviour, they acquired a kind of sanctity, so that any +thinker who in the light of a wider experience ventured to alter +or amend the primitive theory was likely to be vituperated as an +irreligious man or atheist. This sort of inference has not yet +been wholly abandoned, even in civilized communities. Even to-day +books are written about "the conflict between religion and +science," and other books are written with intent to reconcile +the two presumed antagonists. But when we look beneath the +surface of things, we see that in reality there has never been +any conflict between religion and science, nor is any +reconciliation called for where harmony has always existed. The +real historical conflict, which has been thus curiously misnamed, +has been the conflict between the more-crude opinions belonging +to the science of an earlier age and the less-crude opinions +belonging to the science of a later age. In the course of this +contest the more-crude opinions have usually been defended in the +name of religion, and the less-crude opinions have invariably won +the victory; but religion itself, which is not concerned with +opinion, but with the aspiration which leads us to strive after a +purer and holier life, has seldom or never been attacked. On the +contrary, the scientific men who have conducted the battle on +behalf of the less-crude opinions have generally been influenced +by this religious aspiration quite as strongly as the apologists +of the more-crude opinions, and so far from religious feeling +having been weakened by their perennial series of victories, it +has apparently been growing deeper and stronger all the time. The +religious sense is as yet too feebly developed in most of us; but +certainly in no preceding age have men taken up the work of life +with more earnestness or with more real faith in the unseen than +at the present day, when so much of what was once deemed +all-important knowledge has been consigned to the limbo of +mythology. + +The more-crude theories of early times are to be chiefly +distinguished from the less-crude theories of to-day as being +largely the products of random guesswork. Hypothesis, or +guesswork, indeed, lies at the foundation of all scientific +knowledge. The riddle of the universe, like less important +riddles, is unravelled only by approximative trials, and the most +brilliant discoverers have usually been the bravest guessers. +Kepler's laws were the result of indefatigable guessing, and so, +in a somewhat different sense, was the wave-theory of light. But +the guesswork of scientific inquirers is very different now from +what it was in older times. In the first place, we have slowly +learned that a guess must be verified before it can be accepted +as a sound theory; and, secondly, so many truths have been +established beyond contravention, that the latitude for +hypothesis is much less than it once was. Nine tenths of the +guesses which might have occurred to a mediaeval philosopher +would now be ruled out as inadmissible, because they would not +harmonize with the knowledge which has been acquired since the +Middle Ages. There is one direction especially in which this +continuous limitation of guesswork by ever-accumulating +experience has manifested itself. From first to last, all our +speculative successes and failures have agreed in teaching us +that the most general principles of action which prevail to-day, +and in our own corner of the universe, have always prevailed +throughout as much of the universe as is accessible to our +research. They have taught us that for the deciphering of the +past and the predicting of the future, no hypotheses are +admissible which are not based upon the actual behaviour of +things in the present. Once there was unlimited facility for +guessing as to how the solar system might have come into +existence; now the origin of the sun and planets is adequately +explained when we have unfolded all that is implied in the +processes which are still going on in the solar system. Formerly +appeals were made to all manner of violent agencies to account +for the changes which the earth's surface has undergone since our +planet began its independent career; now it is seen that the same +slow working of rain and tide, of wind and wave and frost, of +secular contraction and of earthquake pulse, which is visible +to-day, will account for the whole. It is not long since it was +supposed that a species of animals or plants could be swept away +only by some unusual catastrophe, while for the origination of +new species something called an act of "special creation" was +necessary; and as to the nature of such extraordinary events +there was endless room for guesswork; but the discovery of +natural selection was the discovery of a process, going on +perpetually under our very eyes, which must inevitably of itself +extinguish some species and bring new ones into being. In these +and countless other ways we have learned that all the rich +variety of nature is pervaded by unity of action, such as we +might expect to find if nature is the manifestation of an +infinite God who is without variableness or shadow of turning, +but quite incompatible with the fitful behaviour of the +anthropomorphic deities of the old mythologies. By thus +abstaining from all appeal to agencies that are extra-cosmic, or +not involved in the orderly system of events that we see +occurring around us, we have at last succeeded in eliminating +from philosophic speculation the character of random guesswork +which at first of necessity belonged to it. Modern scientific +hypothesis is so far from being a haphazard mental proceeding +that it is perhaps hardly fair to classify it with guesses. It is +lifted out of the plane of guesswork, in so far as it has +acquired the character of inevitable inference from that which +now is to that which has been or will be. Instead of the +innumerable particular assumptions which were once admitted into +cosmic philosophy, we are now reduced to the one universal +assumption which has been variously described as the "principle +of continuity," the "uniformity of nature," the "persistence of +force," or the "law of causation," and which has been variously +explained as a necessary datum for scientific thinking or as a +net result of all induction. I am not unwilling, however, to +adopt the language of a book which has furnished the occasion for +the present discussion, and to say that this grand assumption is +a supreme act of faith, the definite expression of a trust that +the infinite Sustainer of the universe "will not put us to +permanent intellectual confusion." For in this mode of statement +the harmony between the scientific and the religious points of +view is well brought out. It is as affording the only outlet from +permanent intellectual confusion that inquirers have been driven +to appeal to the principle of continuity; and it is by unswerving +reliance upon this principle that we have obtained such insight +into the past, present, and future of the world as we now +possess. + +The work just mentioned[1] is especially interesting as an +attempt to bring the probable destiny of the human soul into +connection with the modern theories which explain the past and +future career of the physical universe in accordance with the +principle of continuity. Its authorship is as yet unknown, but it +is believed to be the joint production of two of the most eminent +physicists in Great Britain, and certainly the accurate knowledge +and the ingenuity and subtlety of thought displayed in it are +such as to lend great probability to this conjecture. Some +account of the argument it contains may well precede the +suggestions presently to be set forth concerning the Unseen +World; and we shall find it most convenient to begin, like our +authors, with a brief statement of what the principle of +continuity teaches as to the proximate beginning and end of the +visible universe. I shall in the main set down only results, +having elsewhere[2] given a simple exposition of the arguments +upon which these results are founded. + +[1] The Unseen Universe; or, Physical Speculations on a Future +State. [Attributed to Professors TAIT and BALFOUR STEWART.] New +York: Macmillan & Co. 1875. 8vo. pp. 212. + +[2] Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, based on the Doctrine of +Evolution. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co. 1875. 2 vols. 8vo. + + +The first great cosmological speculation which has been raised +quite above the plane of guesswork by making no other assumption +than that of the uniformity of nature, is the well-known Nebular +Hypothesis. Every astronomer knows that the earth, like all other +cosmical bodies which are flattened at the poles, was formerly a +mass of fluid, and consequently filled a much larger space than +at present. It is further agreed, on all hands, that the sun is a +contracting body, since there is no other possible way of +accounting for the enormous quantity of heat which he generates. +The so-called primeval nebula follows as a necessary inference +from these facts. There was once a time when the earth was +distended on all sides away out to the moon and beyond it, so +that the matter now contained in the moon was then a part of our +equatorial zone. And at a still remoter date in the past, the +mass of the sun was diffused in every direction beyond the orbit +of Neptune, and no planet had an individual existence, for all +were indistinguishable parts of the solar mass. When the great +mass of the sun, increased by the relatively small mass of all +the planets put together, was spread out in this way, it was a +rare vapour or gas. At the period where the question is taken up +in Laplace's treatment of the nebular theory, the shape of this +mass is regarded as spheroidal; but at an earlier period its +shape may well have been as irregular as that of any of the +nebulae which we now see in distant parts of the heavens, for, +whatever its primitive shape, the equalization of its rotation +would in time make it spheroidal. That the QUANTITY of rotation +was the same then as now is unquestionable; for no system of +particles, great or small, can acquire or lose rotation by any +action going on within itself, any more than a man could pick +himself up by his waistband and lift himself over a stone wale So +that the primitive rotating spheroidal solar nebula is not a +matter of assumption, but is just what must once have existed, +provided there has been no breach of continuity in nature's +operations. Now proceeding to reason back from the past to the +present, it has been shown that the abandonment of successive +equatorial belts by the contracting solar mass must have ensued +in accordance with known mechanical laws; and in similar wise, +under ordinary circumstances. each belt must have parted into +fragments, and the fragments chasing each other around the same +orbit, must have at last coalesced into a spheroidal planet. Not +only this, but it has also been shown that as the result of such +a process the relative sizes of the planets would be likely to +take the order which they now follow; that the ring immediately +succeeding that of Jupiter would be likely to abort and produce a +great number of tiny planets instead of one good-sized one; that +the outer planets would be likely to have many moons, and that +Saturn, besides having the greatest number of moons, would be +likely to retain some of his inner rings unbroken; that the earth +would be likely to have a long day and Jupiter a short one; that +the extreme outer planets would be not unlikely to rotate in a +retrograde direction; and so on, through a long list of +interesting and striking details. Not only, therefore, are we +driven to the inference that our solar system was once a vaporous +nebula, but we find that the mere contraction of such a nebula, +under the influence of the enormous mutual gravitation of its +particles, carries with it the explanation of both the more +general and the more particular features of the present system. +So that we may fairly regard this stupendous process as veritable +matter of history, while we proceed to study it under some +further aspects and to consider what consequences are likely to +follow. + +Our attention should first be directed to the enormous waste of +energy which has accompanied this contraction of the solar +nebula. The first result of such a contraction is the generation +of a great quantity of heat, and when the heat thus generated has +been lost by radiation into surrounding space it becomes possible +for the contraction to continue. Thus, as concentration goes on, +heat is incessantly generated and incessantly dissipated. How +long this process is to endure depends chiefly on the size of the +contracting mass, as small bodies radiate heat much faster than +large ones. The moon seems to be already thoroughly refrigerated, +while Jupiter and Saturn are very much hotter than the earth, as +is shown by the tremendous atmospheric phenomena which occur on +their surfaces. The sun, again, generates heat so rapidly, owing +to his great energy of contraction, and loses it so slowly, owing +to his great size, that his surface is always kept in a state of +incandescence. His surface-temperature is estimated at some three +million degrees of Fahrenheit, and a diminution of his diameter +far too small to be detected by the finest existing instruments +would suffice to maintain the present supply of heat for more +than fifty centuries. These facts point to a very long future +during which the sun will continue to warm the earth and its +companion planets, but at the same time they carry on their face +the story of inevitable ultimate doom. If things continue to go +on as they have all along gone on, the sun must by and by grow +black and cold, and all life whatever throughout the solar system +must come to an end. Long before this consummation, however, life +will probably have become extinct through the refrigeration of +each of the planets into a state like the present state of the +moon, in which the atmosphere and oceans have disappeared from +the surface. No doubt the sun will continue to give out heat a +long time after heat has ceased to be needed for the support of +living organisms. For the final refrigeration of the sun will +long be postponed by the fate of the planets themselves. The +separation of the planets from their parent solar mass seems to +be after all but a temporary separation. So nicely balanced are +they now in their orbits that they may well seem capable of +rolling on in their present courses forever. But this is not the +case. Two sets of circumstances are all the while striving, the +one to drive the planets farther away from the sun, the other to +draw them all into it. On the one hand, every body in our system +which contains fluid matter has tides raised upon its surface by +the attraction of neighbouring bodies. All the planets raise +tides upon the surface of the sun and the periodicity of +sun-spots (or solar cyclones) depends upon this fact. These tidal +waves act as a drag or brake upon the rotation of the sun, +somewhat diminishing its rapidity. But, in conformity with a +principle of mechanics well known to astronomers, though not +familiar to the general reader, all the motion of rotation thus +lost by the sun is added to the planets in the shape of annual +motion of revolution, and thus their orbits all tend to +enlarge,--they all tend to recede somewhat from the sun. But this +state of things, though long-enduring enough, is after all only +temporary, and will at any rate come to an end when the sun and +planets have become solid. Meanwhile another set of circumstances +is all the time tending to bring the planets nearer to the sun, +and in the long run must gain the mastery. The space through +which the planets move is filled with a kind of matter which +serves as a medium for the transmission of heat and light, and +this kind of matter, though different in some respects from +ordinary ponderable matter, is yet like it in exerting friction. +This friction is almost infinitely little, yet it has a wellnigh +infinite length of time to work in, and during all this wellnigh +infinite length of time it is slowly eating up the momentum of +the planets and diminishing their ability to maintain their +distances from the sun. Hence in course of time the planets will +all fall into the sun, one after another, so that the solar +system will end, as it began, by consisting of a single mass of +matter. + +But this is by no means the end of the story. When two bodies +rush together, each parts with some of its energy of motion, and +this lost energy of motion reappears as heat. In the concussion +of two cosmical bodies, like the sun and the earth, an enormous +quantity of motion is thus converted into heat. Now heat, when +not allowed to radiate, or when generated faster than it can be +radiated, is transformed into motion of expansion. Hence the +shock of sun and planet would at once result in the vaporization +of both bodies; and there can be no doubt that by the time the +sun has absorbed the outermost of his attendant planets, he will +have resumed something like his original nebulous condition. He +will have been dilated into a huge mass of vapour, and will have +become fit for a new process of contraction and for a new +production of life-bearing planets. + +We are now, however, confronted by an interesting but difficult +question. Throughout all this grand past and future career of the +solar system which we have just briefly traced, we have been +witnessing a most prodigal dissipation of energy in the shape of +radiant heat. At the outset we had an enormous quantity of what +is called "energy of position," that is, the outer parts of our +primitive nebula had a very long distance through which to travel +towards one another in the slow process of concentration; and +this distance was the measure of the quantity of work possible to +our system. As the particles of our nebula drew nearer and nearer +together, the energy of position continually lost reappeared +continually as heat, of which the greater part was radiated off, +but of which a certain amount was retained. All the gigantic +amount of work achieved in the geologic development of our earth +and its companion planets, and in the development of life +wherever life may exist in our system, has been the product of +this retained heat. At the present day the same wasteful process +is going on. Each moment the sun's particles are losing energy of +position as they draw closer and closer together, and the heat +into which this lost energy is metamorphosed is poured out most +prodigally in every direction. Let us consider for a moment how +little of it gets used in our system. The earth's orbit is a +nearly circular figure more than five hundred million miles in +circumference, while only eight thousand miles of this path are +at any one time occupied by the earth's mass. Through these eight +thousand miles the sun's radiated energy is doing work, but +through the remainder of the five hundred million it is idle and +wasted. But the case is far more striking when we reflect that it +is not in the plane of the earth's orbit only that the sun's +radiance is being poured out. It is not an affair of a circle, +but of a sphere. In order to utilize all the solar rays, we +should need to have an immense number of earths arranged so as to +touch each other, forming a hollow sphere around the sun, with +the present radius of the earth's orbit. We may well believe +Professor Tyndall, therefore, when he tells us that all the solar +radiance we receive is less than a two-billionth part of what is +sent flying through the desert regions of space. Some of the +immense residue of course hits other planets stationed in the way +of it, and is utilized upon their surfaces; but the planets, all +put together, stop so little of the total quantity that our +startling illustration is not materially altered by taking them +into the account. Now this two-billionth part of the solar +radiance poured out from moment to moment suffices to blow every +wind, to raise every cloud, to drive every engine, to build up +the tissue of every plant, to sustain the activity of every +animal, including man, upon the surface of our vast and stately +globe. Considering the wondrous richness and variety of the +terrestrial life wrought out by the few sunbeams which we catch +in our career through space, we may well pause overwhelmed and +stupefied at the thought of the incalculable possibilities of +existence which are thrown away with the potent actinism that +darts unceasingly into the unfathomed abysms of immensity. Where +it goes to or what becomes of it, no one of us can surmise. + +Now when, in the remote future, our sun is reduced to vapour by +the impact of the several planets upon his surface, the resulting +nebulous mass must be a very insignificant affair compared with +the nebulous mass with which we started. In order to make a +second nebula equal in size and potential energy to the first +one, all the energy of position at first existing should have +been retained in some form or other. But nearly all of it has +been lost, and only an insignificant fraction remains with which +to endow a new system. In order to reproduce, in future ages, +anything like that cosmical development which is now going on in +the solar system, aid must be sought from without. We must +endeavour to frame some valid hypothesis as to the relation of +our solar system to other systems. + +Thus far our view has been confined to the career of a single +star,--our sun,--with the tiny, easily-cooling balls which it has +cast off in the course of its development. Thus far, too, our +inferences have been very secure, for we have been dealing with a +circumscribed group of phenomena, the beginning and end of which +have been brought pretty well within the compass of our +imagination. It is quite another thing to deal with the actual or +probable career of the stars in general, inasmuch as we do not +even know how many stars there are, which form parts of a common +system, or what. are their precise dynamic relations to one +another. Nevertheless we have knowledge of a few facts which may +support some cautious inferences. All the stars which we can see +are undoubtedly bound together by relations of gravitation. No +doubt our sun attracts all the other stars within our ken, and is +reciprocally attracted by them. The stars, too, lie mostly in or +around one great plane, as is the case with the members of the +solar system. Moreover, the stars are shown by the spectroscope +to consist of chemical elements identical with those which are +found in the solar system. Such facts as these make it probable +that the career of other stars, when adequately inquired into, +would be found to be like that of our own sun. Observation daily +enhances this probability, for our study of the sidereal universe +is continually showing us stars in all stages of development. We +find irregular nebulae, for example; we find spiral and +spheroidal nebulae; we find stars which have got beyond the +nebulous stage, but are still at a whiter heat than our sun; and +we also find many stars which yield the same sort of spectrum as +our sun. The inference seems forced upon us that the same process +of concentration which has gone on in the case of our solar +nebula has been going on in the case of other nebulae. The +history of the sun is but a type of the history of stars in +general. And when we consider that all other visible stars and +nebulae are cooling and contracting bodies, like our sun, to what +other conclusion could we very well come? When we look at Sirius, +for instance, we do not see him surrounded by planets, for at +such a distance no planet could be visible, even Sirius himself, +though fourteen times larger than our sun, appearing only as a +"twinkling little star." But a comparative survey of the heavens +assures us that Sirius can hardly have arrived at his present +stage of concentration without detaching, planet-forming rings, +for there is no reason for supposing that mechanical laws out +there are at all different from what they are in our own system. +And the same kind of inference must apply to all the matured +stars which we see in the heavens. + +When we duly take all these things into the account, the case of +our solar system will appear as only one of a thousand cases of +evolution and dissolution with which the heavens furnish us. +Other stars, like our sun, have undoubtedly started as vaporous +masses, and have thrown off planets in contracting. The inference +may seem a bold one, but it after all involves no other +assumption than that of the continuity of natural phenomena. It +is not likely, therefore, that the solar system will forever be +left to itself. Stars which strongly gravitate toward each other, +while moving through a perennially resisting medium, must in time +be drawn together. The collision of our extinct sun with one of +the Pleiades, after this manner, would very likely suffice to +generate even a grander nebula than the one with which we +started. Possibly the entire galactic system may, in an +inconceivably remote future, remodel itself in this way; and +possibly the nebula from which our own group of planets has been +formed may have owed its origin to the disintegration of systems +which had accomplished their career in the depths of the bygone +eternity. + +When the problem is extended to these huge dimensions, the +prospect of an ultimate cessation of cosmical work is +indefinitely postponed, but at the same time it becomes +impossible for us to deal very securely with the questions we +have raised. The magnitudes and periods we have introduced are so +nearly infinite as to baffle speculation itself: One point, +however, we seem dimly to discern. Supposing the stellar universe +not to be absolutely infinite in extent, we may hold that the day +of doom, so often postponed, must come at last. The concentration +of matter and dissipation of energy, so often checked, must in +the end prevail, so that, as the final outcome of things, the +entire universe will be reduced to a single enormous ball, dead +and frozen, solid and black, its potential energy of motion +having been all transformed into heat and radiated away. Such a +conclusion has been suggested by Sir William Thomson, and it is +quite forcibly stated by the authors of "The Unseen Universe." +They remind us that "if there be any one form of energy less +readily or less completely transformable than the others, and if +transformations constantly go on, more and more of the whole +energy of the universe will inevitably sink into this lower grade +as time advances." Now radiant heat, as we have seen, is such a +lower grade of energy. "At each transformation of heat-energy +into work, a large portion is degraded, while only a small +portion is transformed into work. So that while it is very easy +to change all of our mechanical or useful energy into heat, it is +only possible to transform a portion of this heat-energy back +again into work. After each change, too, the heat becomes more +and more dissipated or degraded, and less and less available for +any future transformation. In other words," our authors continue, +"the tendency of heat is towards equalization; heat is par +excellence the communist of our universe, and it will no doubt +ultimately bring the system to an end. .... It is absolutely +certain that life, so far as it is physical, depends essentially +upon transformations of energy; it is also absolutely certain +that age after age the possibility of such transformations is +becoming less and less; and, so far as we yet know, the final +state of the present universe must be an aggregation (into one +mass) of all the matter it contains, i. e. the potential energy +gone, and a practically useless state of kinetic energy, i. e. +uniform temperature throughout that mass." Thus our authors +conclude that the visible universe began in time and will in time +come to an end; and they add that under the physical conditions +of such a universe "immortality is impossible." + +Concerning the latter inference we shall by and by have something +to say. Meanwhile this whole speculation as to the final +cessation of cosmical work seems to me--as it does to my friend, +Professor Clifford[3]--by no means trustworthy. The conditions of +the problem so far transcend our grasp that any such speculation +must remain an unverifiable guess. I do not go with Professor +Clifford in doubting whether the laws of mechanics are absolutely +the same throughout eternity; I cannot quite reconcile such a +doubt with faith in the principle of continuity. But it does seem +to me needful, before we conclude that radiated energy is +absolutely and forever wasted, that we should find out what +becomes of it. What we call radiant heat is simply transverse +wave-motion, propagated with enormous velocity through an ocean +of subtle ethereal matter which bathes the atoms of all visible +or palpable bodies and fills the whole of space, extending beyond +the remotest star which the telescope can reach. Whether there +are any bounds at all to this ethereal ocean, or whether it is as +infinite as space itself, we cannot surmise. If it be limited, +the possible dispersion of radiant energy is limited by its +extent. Heat and light cannot travel through emptiness. If the +ether is bounded by surrounding emptiness, then a ray of heat, on +arriving at this limiting emptiness, would be reflected back as +surely as a ball is sent back when thrown against a solid wall. +If this be the case, it will not affect our conclusions +concerning such a tiny region of space as is occupied by the +solar system, but it will seriously modify Sir William Thomson's +suggestion as to the fate of the universe as a whole. The +radiance thrown away by the sun is indeed lost so far as the +future of our system is concerned, but not a single unit of it is +lost from the universe. Sooner or later, reflected back in all +directions, it must do work in one quarter or another, so that +ultimate stagnation be comes impossible. It is true that no such +return of radiant energy has been detected in our corner of the +world; but we have not yet so far disentangled all the +force-relations of the universe that we are entitled to regard +such a return as impossible. This is one way of escape from the +consummation of things depicted by our authors. Another way of +escape is equally available, if we suppose that while the ether +is without bounds the stellar universe also extends to infinity. +For in this case the reproduction of nebulous masses fit for +generating new systems of worlds must go on through space that is +endless, and consequently the process can never come to an end +and can never have had a beginning. We have, therefore, three +alternatives: either the visible universe is finite, while the +ether is infinite; or both are finite; or both are infinite. Only +on the first supposition, I think, do we get a universe which +began in time and must end in time. Between such stupendous +alternatives we have no grounds for choosing. But it would seem +that the third, whether strictly true or not, best represents the +state of the case relatively to our feeble capacity of +comprehension. Whether absolutely infinite or not, the dimensions +of the universe must be taken as practically infinite, so far as +human thought is concerned. They immeasurably transcend the +capabilities of any gauge we can bring to bear on them. +Accordingly all that we are really entitled to hold, as the +outcome of sound speculation, is the conception of innumerable +systems of worlds concentrating out of nebulous masses, and then +rushing together and dissolving into similar masses, as bubbles +unite and break up--now here, now there--in their play on the +surface of a pool, and to this tremendous series of events we can +assign neither a beginning nor an end. + +[3] Fortnightly Review, April, 1875. + + +We must now make some more explicit mention of the ether which +carries through space the rays of heat and light. In closest +connection with the visible stellar universe, the vicissitudes of +which we have briefly traced, the all-pervading ether constitutes +a sort of unseen world remarkable enough from any point of view, +but to which the theory of our authors ascribes capacities +hitherto unsuspected by science. The very existence of an ocean +of ether enveloping the molecules of material bodies has been +doubted or denied by many eminent physicists, though of course +none have called in question the necessity for some interstellar +medium for the transmission of thermal and luminous vibrations. +This scepticism has been, I think, partially justified by the +many difficulties encompassing the conception, into which, +however, we need not here enter. That light and heat cannot be +conveyed by any of the ordinary sensible forms of matter is +unquestionable. None of the forms of sensible matter can be +imagined sufficiently elastic to propagate wave-motion at the +rate of one hundred and eighty-eight thousand miles per second. +Yet a ray of light is a series of waves, and implies some +substance in which the waves occur. The substance required is one +which seems to possess strangely contradictory properties. It is +commonly regarded as an "ether" or infinitely rare substance; +but, as Professor Jevons observes, we might as well regard it as +an infinitely solid "adamant." "Sir John Herschel has calculated +the amount of force which may be supposed, according to the +undulatory theory of light, to be exerted at each point in space, +and finds it to be 1,148,000,000,000 times the elastic force of +ordinary air at the earth's surface, so that the pressure of the +ether upon a square inch of surface must be about +17,000,000,000,000, or seventeen billions of pounds."[4] Yet at +the same time the resistance offered by the ether to the +planetary motions is too minute to be appreciable. "All our +ordinary notions," says Professor Jevons, "must be laid aside in +contemplating such an hypothesis; yet [it is] no more than the +observed phenomena of light and heat force us to accept. We +cannot deny even the strange suggestion of Dr. Young, that there +may be independent worlds, some possibly existing in different +parts of space, but others perhaps pervading each other, unseen +and unknown, in the same space. For if we are bound to admit the +conception of this adamantine firmament, it is equally easy to +admit a plurality of such." + +[4] Jevons's Principles of Science, Vol. II. p. 145. The figures, +which in the English system of numeration read as seventeen +billions, would in the American system read as seventeen +trillions. + + +The ether, therefore, is unlike any of the forms of matter which +we can weigh and measure. In some respects it resembles a fluid, +in some respects a solid. It is both hard and elastic to an +almost inconceivable degree. It fills all material bodies like a +sea in which the atoms of the material bodies are as islands, and +it occupies the whole of what we call empty space. It is so +sensitive that a disturbance in any part of it causes a "tremour +which is felt on the surface of countless worlds." Our old +experiences of matter give us no account of any substance like +this; yet the undulatory theory of light obliges us to admit such +a substance, and that theory is as well established as the theory +of gravitation. Obviously we have here an enlargement of our +experience of matter. The analysis of the phenomena of light and +radiant heat has brought us into mental relations with matter in +a different state from any in which we previously knew it. For +the supposition that the ether may be something essentially +different from matter is contradicted by all the terms we have +used in describing it. Strange and contradictory as its +properties may seem, are they any more strange than the +properties of a gas would seem if we were for the first time to +discover a gas after heretofore knowing nothing but solids and +liquids? I think not; and the conclusion implied by our authors +seems to me eminently probable, that in the so-called ether we +have simply a state of matter more primitive than what we know as +the gaseous state. Indeed, the conceptions of matter now current, +and inherited from barbarous ages, are likely enough to be crude +in the extreme. It is not strange that the study of such subtle +agencies as heat and light should oblige us to modify them; and +it will not be strange if the study of electricity should entail +still further revision of our ideas. + +We are now brought to one of the profoundest speculations of +modern times, the vortex-atom theory of Helmholtz and Thomson, in +which the evolution of ordinary matter from ether is plainly +indicated. The reader first needs to know what vortex-motion is; +and this has been so beautifully explained by Professor Clifford, +that I quote his description entire: "Imagine a ring of +india-rubber, made by joining together the ends of a cylindrical +piece (like a lead-pencil before it is cut), to be put upon a +round stick which it will just fit with a little stretching. Let +the stick be now pulled through the ring while the latter is kept +in its place by being pulled the other way on the outside. The +india-rubber has then what is called vortex-motion. Before the +ends were joined together, while it was straight, it might have +been made to turn around without changing position, by rolling it +between the hands. Just the same motion of rotation it has on the +stick, only that the ends are now joined together. All the inside +surface of the ring is going one way, namely, the way the stick +is pulled; and all the outside is going the other way. Such a +vortex-ring is made by the smoker who purses his lips into a +round hole and sends out a puff of smoke. The outside of the ring +is kept back by the friction of his lips while the inside is +going forwards; thus a rotation is set up all round the +smoke-ring as it travels out into the air." In these cases, and +in others as we commonly find it, vortex-motion owes its origin +to friction and is after a while brought to an end by friction. +But in 1858 the equations of motion of an incompressible +frictionless fluid were first successfully solved by Helmholtz, +and among other things he proved that, though vortex-motion could +not be originated in such a fluid, yet supposing it once to +exist, it would exist to all eternity and could not be diminished +by any mechanical action whatever. A vortex-ring, for example, in +such a fluid, would forever preserve its own rotation, and would +thus forever retain its peculiar individuality, being, as it +were, marked off from its neighbour vortex-rings. Upon this +mechanical truth Sir William Thomson based his wonderfully +suggestive theory of the constitution of matter. That which is +permanent or indestructible in matter is the ultimate homogeneous +atom; and this is probably all that is permanent, since chemists +now almost unanimously hold that so-called elementary molecules +are not really simple, but owe their sensible differences to the +various groupings of an ultimate atom which is alike for all. +Relatively to our powers of comprehension the atom endures +eternally; that is, it retains forever unalterable its definite +mass and its definite rate of vibration. Now this is just what a +vortex-ring would do in an incompressible frictionless fluid. +Thus the startling question is suggested, Why may not the +ultimate atoms of matter be vortex-rings forever existing in such +a frictionless fluid filling the whole of space? Such a +hypothesis is not less brilliant than Huyghens's conjectural +identification of light with undulatory motion; and it is +moreover a legitimate hypothesis, since it can be brought to the +test of verification. Sir William Thomson has shown that it +explains a great many of the physical properties of matter: it +remains to be seen whether it can explain them all. + +Of course the ether which conveys thermal and luminous +undulations is not the frictionless fluid postulated by Sir +William Thomson. The most conspicuous property of the ether is +its enormous elasticity, a property which we should not find in a +frictionless fluid. "To account for such elasticity," says +Professor Clifford (whose exposition of the subject is still more +lucid than that of our authors), "it has to be supposed that even +where there are no material molecules the universal fluid is full +of vortex-motion, but that the vortices are smaller and more +closely packed than those of [ordinary] matter, forming +altogether a more finely grained structure. So that the +difference between matter and ether is reduced to a mere +difference in the size and arrangement of the component +vortex-rings. Now, whatever may turn out to be the ultimate +nature of the ether and of molecules, we know that to some extent +at least they obey the same dynamic laws, and that they act upon +one another in accordance with these laws. Until, therefore, it +is absolutely disproved, it must remain the simplest and most +probable assumption that they are finally made of the same stuff, +that the material molecule is some kind of knot or coagulation of +ether."[5] + +[5] Fortnightly Review, June, 1875, p. 784. + + +Another interesting consequence of Sir William Thomson's pregnant +hypothesis is that the absolute hardness which has been +attributed to material atoms from the time of Lucretius downward +may be dispensed with. Somewhat in the same way that a loosely +suspended chain becomes rigid with rapid rotation, the hardness +and elasticity of the vortex-atom are explained as due to the +swift rotary motion of a soft and yielding fluid. So that the +vortex-atom is really indivisible, not by reason of its hardness +or solidity, but by reason of the indestructibleness of its +motion. + +Supposing, now, that we adopt provisionally the vortex +theory,--the great power of which is well shown by the +consideration just mentioned,--we must not forget that it is +absolutely essential to the indestructibleness of the material +atom that the universal fluid in which it has an existence as a +vortex-ring should be entirely destitute of friction. Once admit +even the most infinitesimal amount of friction, while retaining +the conception of vortex-motion in a universal fluid, and the +whole case is so far altered that the material atom can no longer +be regarded as absolutely indestructible, but only as +indefinitely enduring. It may have been generated, in bygone +eternity, by a natural process of evolution, and in future +eternity may come to an end. Relatively to our powers of +comprehension the practical difference is perhaps not great. +Scientifically speaking, Helmholtz and Thomson are as well +entitled to reason upon the assumption of a perfectly +frictionless fluid as geometers in general are entitled to assume +perfect lines without breadth and perfect surfaces without +thickness. Perfect lines and surfaces do not exist within the +region of our experience; yet the conclusions of geometry are +none the less true ideally, though in any particular concrete +instance they are only approximately realized. Just so with the +conception of a frictionless fluid. So far as experience goes, +such a thing has no more real existence than a line without +breadth; and hence an atomic theory based upon such an assumption +may be as true ideally as any of the theorems of Euclid, but it +can give only an approximatively true account of the actual +universe. These considerations do not at all affect the +scientific value of the theory; but they will modify the tenour +of such transcendental inferences as may be drawn from it +regarding, the probable origin and destiny of the universe. + +The conclusions reached in the first part of this paper, while we +were dealing only with gross visible matter, may have seemed bold +enough; but they are far surpassed by the inference which our +authors draw from the vortex theory as they interpret it. Our +authors exhibit various reasons, more or less sound, for +attributing to the primordial fluid some slight amount of +friction; and in support of this view they adduce Le Sage's +explanation of gravitation as a differential result of pressure, +and Struve's theory of the partial absorption of light-rays by +the ether,--questions with which our present purpose does not +require us to meddle. Apart from such questions it is every way +probable that the primary assumption of Helmholtz and Thomson is +only an approximation to the truth. But if we accredit the +primordial fluid with even an infinitesimal amount of friction, +then we are required to conceive of the visible universe as +developed from the invisible and as destined to return into the +invisible. The vortex-atom, produced by infinitesimal friction +operating through wellnigh infinite time, is to be ultimately +abolished by the agency which produced it. In the words of our +authors, "If the visible universe be developed from an invisible +which is not a perfect fluid, then the argument deduced by Sir +William Thomson in favour of the eternity of ordinary matter +disappears, since this eternity depends upon the perfect fluidity +of the invisible. In fine, if we suppose the material universe to +be composed of a series of vortex-rings developed from an +invisible universe which is not a perfect fluid, it will be +ephemeral, just as the smoke-ring which we develop from air, or +that which we develop from water, is ephemeral, the only +difference being in duration, these lasting only for a few +seconds, and the others it may be for billions of years." Thus, +as our authors suppose that "the available energy of the visible +universe will ultimately be appropriated by the invisible," they +go on to imagine, "at least as a possibility, that the separate +existence of the visible universe will share the same fate, so +that we shall have no huge, useless, inert mass existing in after +ages to remind the passer-by of a form of energy and a species of +matter that is long since out of date and functionally effete. +Why should not the universe bury its dead out of sight?" + +In one respect perhaps no more stupendous subject of +contemplation than this has ever been offered to the mind of man. +In comparison with the length of time thus required to efface the +tiny individual atom, the entire cosmical career of our solar +system, or even that of the whole starry galaxy, shrinks into +utter nothingness. Whether we shall adopt the conclusion +suggested must depend on the extent of our speculative audacity. +We have seen wherein its probability consists, but in reasoning +upon such a scale we may fitly be cautious and modest in +accepting inferences, and our authors, we may be sure, would be +the first to recommend such modesty and caution. Even at the +dimensions to which our theorizing has here grown, we may for +instance discern the possible alternative of a simultaneous or +rhythmically successive generation and destruction of +vortex-atoms which would go far to modify the conclusion just +suggested. But here we must pause for a moment, reserving for a +second paper the weightier thoughts as to futurity which our +authors have sought to enwrap in these sublime physical +speculations. + + + +PART SECOND. + + +UP to this point, however remote from ordinary every-day thoughts +may be the region of speculation which we have been called upon +to traverse, we have still kept within the limits of legitimate +scientific hypothesis. Though we have ventured for a goodly +distance into the unknown, we have not yet been required to +abandon our base of operations in the known. Of the views +presented in the preceding paper, some are wellnigh certainly +established, some are probable, some have a sort of plausibility, +others--to which we have refrained from giving assent--may +possibly be true; but none are irretrievably beyond the +jurisdiction of scientific tests. No suggestion has so far been +broached which a very little further increase of our scientific +knowledge may not show to be either eminently probable or +eminently improbable. We have kept pretty clear of mere +subjective guesses, such as men may wrangle about forever without +coming to any conclusion. The theory of the nebular origin of our +planetary system has come to command the assent of all persons +qualified to appreciate the evidence on which it is based; and +the more immediate conclusions which we have drawn from that +theory are only such as are commonly drawn by astronomers and +physicists. The doctrine of an intermolecular and interstellar +ether is wrapped up in the well-established undulatory theory of +light. Such is by no means the case with Sir William Thomson's +vortex-atom theory, which to-day is in somewhat the same +condition as the undulatory theory of Huyghens two centuries ago. +This, however, is none the less a hypothesis truly scientific in +conception, and in the speculations to which it leads us we are +still sure of dealing with views that admit at least of definite +expression and treatment. In other words, though our study of the +visible universe has led us to the recognition of a kind of +unseen world underlying the world of things that are seen, yet +concerning the economy of this unseen world we have not been led +to entertain any hypothesis that has not its possible +justification in our experiences of visible phenomena. + +We are now called upon, following in the wake of our esteemed +authors, to venture on a different sort of exploration, in which +we must cut loose altogether from our moorings in the world of +which we have definite experience. We are invited to entertain +suggestions concerning the peculiar economy of the invisible +portion of the universe which we have no means of subjecting to +any sort of test of probability, either experimental or +deductive. These suggestions are, therefore, not to be regarded +as properly scientific; but, with this word of caution, we may +proceed to show what they are. + +Compared with the life and death of cosmical systems which we +have heretofore contemplated, the life and death of individuals +of the human race may perhaps seem a small matter; yet because we +are ourselves the men who live and die, the small event is of +vastly greater interest to us than the grand series of events of +which it is part and parcel. It is natural that we should be more +interested in the ultimate fate of humanity than in the fate of a +world which is of no account to us save as our present +dwelling-place. Whether the human soul is to come to an end or +not is to us a more important question than whether the visible +universe, with its matter and energy, is to be absorbed in an +invisible ether. It is indeed only because we are interested in +the former question that we are so curious about the latter. If +we could dissociate ourselves from the material universe, our +habitat, we should probably speculate much less about its past +and future. We care very little what becomes of the black ball of +the earth, after all life has vanished from its surface; or, if +we care at all about it, it is only because our thoughts about +the career of the earth are necessarily mixed up with our +thoughts about life. Hence in considering the probable ultimate +destiny of the physical universe, our innermost purpose must be +to know what is to become of all this rich and wonderful life of +which the physical universe is the theatre. Has it all been +developed, apparently at almost infinite waste of effort, only to +be abolished again before it has attained to completeness, or +does it contain or shelter some indestructible element which +having drawn sustenance for a while from the senseless turmoil of +physical phenomena shall still survive their final decay? This +question is closely connected with the time-honoured question of +the meaning, purpose, or tendency of the world. In the career of +the world is life an end, or a means toward an end, or only an +incidental phenomenon in which we can discover no meaning? +Contemporary theologians seem generally to believe that one +necessary result of modern scientific inquiry must be the +destruction of the belief in immortal life, since against every +thoroughgoing expounder of scientific knowledge they seek to hurl +the charge of "materialism." Their doubts, however, are not +shared by our authors, thorough men of science as they are, +though their mode of dealing with the question may not be such as +we can well adopt. While upholding the doctrine of evolution, and +all the so-called "materialistic" views of modern science, they +not only regard the hypothesis of a future life as admissible, +but they even go so far as to propound a physical theory as to +the nature of existence after death. Let us see what this +physical theory is. + +As far as the visible universe is concerned, we do not find in it +any evidence of immortality or of permanence of any sort, unless +it be in the sum of potential and kinetic energies on the +persistency of which depends our principle of continuity. In +ordinary language "the stars in their courses" serve as symbols +of permanence, yet we have found reason to regard them as but +temporary phenomena. So, in the language of our authors, "if we +take the individual man, we find that he lives his short tale of +years, and that then the visible machinery which connects him +with the past, as well as that which enables him to act in the +present, falls into ruin and is brought to an end. If any germ or +potentiality remains, it is certainly not connected with the +visible order of things." In like manner our race is pretty sure +to come to an end long before the destruction of the planet from +which it now gets its sustenance. And in our authors opinion even +the universe will by and by become "old and effete, no less truly +than the individual: it is a glorious garment this visible +universe, but not an immortal one; we must look elsewhere if we +are to be clothed with immortality as with a garment." + +It is at this point that our authors call attention to "the +apparently wasteful character of the arrangements of the visible +universe." The fact is one which we have already sufficiently +described, but we shall do well to quote the words in which our +authors recur to it: "All but a very small portion of the sun's +heat goes day by day into what we call empty space, and it is +only this very small remainder that is made use of by the various +planets for purposes of their own. Can anything be more +perplexing than this seemingly frightful expenditure of the very +life and essence of the system? That this vast store of +high-class energy should be doing nothing but travelling outwards +in space at the rate of 188,000 miles per second is hardly +conceivable, especially when the result of it is the inevitable +destruction of the visible universe." + +Pursuing this teleological argument, it is suggested that perhaps +this apparent waste of energy is "only an arrangement in virtue +of which our universe keeps up a memory of the past at the +expense of the present, inasmuch as all memory consists in an +investiture of present resources in order to keep a hold upon the +past." Recourse is had to the ingenious argument in which Mr. +Babbage showed that "if we had power to follow and detect the +minutest effects of any disturbance, each particle of existing +matter must be a register of all that has happened. The track of +every canoe, of every vessel that has yet disturbed the surface +of the ocean, whether impelled by manual force or elemental +power, remains forever registered in the future movement of all +succeeding particles which may occupy its place. The furrow which +is left is, indeed, instantly filled up by the closing waters; +but they draw after them other and larger portions of the +surrounding element, and these again, once moved, communicate +motion to others in endless succession." In like manner, "the air +itself is one vast library, on whose pages are forever written +all that man has ever said or even whispered. There in their +mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest as well +as the latest sighs of mortality, stand forever recorded vows +unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united +movements of each particle the testimony of man's changeful +will."[6] In some such way as this, records of every movement +that takes place in the world are each moment transmitted, with +the speed of light, through the invisible ocean of ether with +which the world is surrounded. Even the molecular displacements +which occur in our brains when we feel and think are thus +propagated in their effects into the unseen world. The world of +ether is thus regarded by our authors as in some sort the obverse +or complement of the world of sensible matter, so that whatever +energy is dissipated in the one is by the same act accumulated in +the other. It is like the negative plate in photography, where +light answers to shadow and shadow to light. Or, still better, it +is like the case of an equation in which whatever quantity you +take from one side is added to the other with a contrary sign, +while the relation of equality remains undisturbed. Thus, it will +be noticed, from the ingenious and subtle, but quite defensible +suggestion of Mr. Babbage, a leap is made to an assumption which +cannot be defended scientifically, but only teleologically. It is +one thing to say that every movement in the visible world +transmits a record of itself to the surrounding ether, in such a +way that from the undulation of the ether a sufficiently powerful +intelligence might infer the character of the generating movement +in the visible world. It is quite another thing to say that the +ether is organized in such a complex and delicate way as to be +like a negative image or counterpart of the world of sensible +matter. The latter view is no doubt ingenious, but it is +gratuitous. It is sustained not by scientific analogy, but by the +desire to find some assignable use for the energy which is +constantly escaping from visible matter into invisible ether. The +moment we ask how do we know that this energy is not really +wasted, or that it is not put to some use wholly undiscoverable +by human intelligence, this assumption of an organized ether is +at once seen to be groundless. It belongs not to the region of +science, but to that of pure mythology. + +[6] Babbage, Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, p. 115; Jevons, +Principles of Science, Vol. II. p. 455. + + +In justice to our authors, however, it should be remembered that +this assumption is put forth not as something scientifically +probable, but as something which for aught we know to the +contrary may possibly be true. This, to be sure, we need not +deny; nor if we once allow this prodigious leap of inference, +shall we find much difficulty in reaching the famous conclusion +that "thought conceived to affect the matter of another universe +simultaneously with this may explain a future state." This +proposition, quaintly couched in an anagram, like the discoveries +of old astronomers, was published last year in "Nature," as +containing the gist of the forthcoming book. On the +negative-image hypothesis it is not hard to see how thought is +conceived to affect the seen and the unseen worlds +simultaneously. Every act of consciousness is accompanied by +molecular displacements in the brain, and these are of course +responded to by movements in the ethereal world. Thus as a series +of conscious states build up a continuous memory in strict +accordance with physical laws of motion,[7] so a correlative +memory is simultaneously built up in the ethereal world out of +the ethereal correlatives of the molecular displacements which go +on in our brains. And as there is a continual transfer of energy +from the visible world to the ether, the extinction of vital +energy which we call death must coincide in some way with the +awakening of vital energy in the correlative world; so that the +darkening of consciousness here is coincident with its dawning +there. In this way death is for the individual but a transfer +from one physical state of existence to another; and so, on the +largest scale, the death or final loss of energy by the whole +visible universe has its counterpart in the acquirement of a +maximum of life by the correlative unseen world. + +There seems to be a certain sort of rigorous logical consistency +in this daring speculation; but really the propositions of which +it consists are so far from answering to anything within the +domain of human experience that we are unable to tell whether any +one of them logically follows from its predecessor or not. It is +evident that we are quite out of the region of scientific tests, +and to whatever view our authors may urge we can only languidly +assent that it is out of our power to disprove it. + +[7] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 142-148. + + +The essential weakness of such a theory as this lies in the fact +that it is thoroughly materialistic in character. It is currently +assumed that the doctrine of a life after death cannot be +defended on materialistic grounds, but this is altogether too +hasty an assumption. Our authors, indeed, are not philosophical +materialists, like Dr. Priestley,--who nevertheless believed in a +future life,--but one of the primary doctrines of materialism +lies at the bottom of their argument. Materialism holds for one +thing that consciousness is a product of a peculiar organization +of matter, and for another thing that consciousness cannot +survive the disorganization of the material body with which it is +associated. As held by philosophical materialists, like Buchner +and Moleschott, these two opinions are strictly consistent with +each other; nay, the latter seems to be the inevitable inference +from the former, though Priestley did not so regard it. Now our +authors very properly refuse to commit themselves to the opinion +that mind is the product of matter, but their argument +nevertheless implies that some sort of material vehicle is +necessary for the continuance of mind in a future state of +existence. This material vehicle they seek to supply in the +theory which connects by invisible bonds of transmitted energy +the perishable material body with its counterpart in the world of +ether. The materialism of the argument is indeed partly veiled by +the terminology in which this counterpart is called a "spiritual +body," but in this novel use or abuse of scriptural language +there seems to me to be a strange confusion of ideas. Bear in +mind that the "invisible universe" into which energy is +constantly passing is simply the luminiferous ether, which our +authors, to suit the requirements of their hypothesis, have +gratuitously endowed with a complexity and variety of structure +analogous to that of the visible world of matter. Their language +is not always quite so precise as one could desire, for while +they sometimes speak of the ether itself as the "unseen +universe," they sometimes allude to a primordial medium yet +subtler in constitution and presumably more immaterial. Herein +lies the confusion. Why should the luminiferous ether, or any +primordial medium in which it may have been generated, be +regarded as in any way "spiritual"? Great physicists, like less +trained thinkers, are sometimes liable to be unconsciously +influenced by old associations of ideas which, ostensibly +repudiated, still lurk under cover of the words we use. I fear +that the old associations which led the ancients to describe the +soul as a breath or a shadow, and which account for the +etymologies of such words as "ghost" and "spirit," have had +something to do with this spiritualization of the interstellar +ether. Some share may also have been contributed by the Platonic +notion of the "grossness" or "bruteness" of tangible matter,--a +notion which has survived in Christian theology, and which +educated men of the present day have by no means universally +outgrown. Save for some such old associations as these, why +should it be supposed that matter becomes "spriritualized" as it +diminishes in apparent substantiality? Why should matter be +pronounced respectable in the inverse ratio of its density or +ponderability? Why is a diamond any more chargeable with +"grossness" than a cubic centimetre of hydrogen? Obviously such +fancies are purely of mythologic parentage. Now the luminiferous +ether, upon which our authors make such extensive demands, may be +physically "ethereal" enough, in spite of the enormous elasticity +which leads Professor Jevons to characterize it as "adamantine"; +but most assuredly we have not the slightest reason for speaking +of it as "immaterial" or "spiritual." Though we are unable to +weigh it in the balance, we at least know it as a transmitter of +undulatory movements, the size and shape of which we can +accurately measure. Its force-relations with ponderable matter +are not only universally and incessantly maintained, but they +have that precisely quantitative character which implies an +essential identity between the innermost natures of the two +substances. We have seen reason for thinking it probable that +ether and ordinary matter are alike composed of vortex-rings in a +quasi-frictionless fluid; but whatever be the fate of this subtle +hypothesis, we may be sure that no theory will ever be +entertained in which the analysis of ether shall require +different symbols from that of ordinary matter. In our authors' +theory, therefore, the putting on of immortality is in no wise +the passage from a material to a spiritual state. It is the +passage from one kind of materially conditioned state to another. +The theory thus appeals directly to our experiences of the +behaviour of matter; and in deriving so little support as it does +from these experiences, it remains an essentially weak +speculation, whatever we may think of its ingenuity. For so long +as we are asked to accept conclusions drawn from our experiences +of the material world, we are justified in demanding something +more than mere unconditioned possibility. We require some +positive evidence, be it ever so little in amount; and no theory +which cannot furnish such positive evidence is likely to carry to +our minds much practical conviction. + +This is what I meant by saying that the great weakness of the +hypothesis here criticized lies in its materialistic character. +In contrast with this we shall presently see that the assertion +of a future life which is not materially conditioned, though +unsupported by any item of experience whatever, may nevertheless +be an impregnable assertion. But first I would conclude the +foregoing criticism by ruling out altogether the sense in which +our authors use the expression "Unseen Universe." Scientific +inference, however remote, is connected by such insensible +gradations with ordinary perception, that one may well question +the propriety of applying the term "unseen" to that which is +presented to "the mind's eye" as inevitable matter of inference. +It is true that we cannot see the ocean of ether in which visible +matter floats; but there are many other invisible things which +yet we do not regard as part of the "unseen world." I do not see +the air which I am now breathing within the four walls of my +study, yet its existence is sufficiently a matter of +sense-perception as it fills my lungs and fans my cheek. The +atoms which compose a drop of water are not only invisible, but +cannot in any way be made the objects of sense-perception; yet by +proper inferences from their behaviour we can single them out for +measurement, so that Sir William Thomson can tell us that if the +drop of water were magnified to the size of the earth, the +constituent atoms would be larger than peas, but not so large as +billiard-balls. If we do not see such atoms with our eyes, we +have one adequate reason in their tiny dimensions, though there +are further reasons than this. It would be hard to say why the +luminiferous ether should be relegated to the "unseen world" any +more than the material atom. Whatever we know as possessing +resistance and extension, whatever we can subject to mathematical +processes of measurement, we also conceive as existing in such +shape that, with appropriate eyes and under proper visual +conditions, we MIGHT see it, and we are not entitled to draw any +line of demarcation between such an object of inference and +others which may be made objects of sense-perception. To set +apart the ether as constituting an "unseen universe" is therefore +illegitimate and confusing. It introduces a distinction where +there is none, and obscures the fact that both invisible ether +and visible matter form but one grand universe in which the sum +of energy remains constant, though the order of its distribution +endlessly varies. + +Very different would be the logical position of a theory which +should assume the existence of an "Unseen World" entirely +spiritual in constitution, and in which material conditions like +those of the visible world should have neither place nor meaning. +Such a world would not consist of ethers or gases or ghosts, but +of purely psychical relations akin to such as constitute thoughts +and feelings when our minds are least solicited by +sense-perceptions. In thus marking off the "Unseen World" from +the objective universe of which we have knowledge, our line of +demarcation would at least be drawn in the right place. The +distinction between psychical and material phenomena is a +distinction of a different order from all other distinctions +known to philosophy, and it immeasurably transcends all others. +The progress of modern discovery has in no respect weakened the +force of Descartes's remark, that between that of which the +differential attribute is Thought and that of which the +differential attribute is Extension, there can be no similarity, +no community of nature whatever. By no scientific cunning of +experiment or deduction can Thought be weighed or measured or in +any way assimilated to such things as may be made the actual or +possible objects of sense-perception. Modern discovery, so far +from bridging over the chasm between Mind and Matter, tends +rather to exhibit the distinction between them as absolute. It +has, indeed, been rendered highly probable that every act of +consciousness is accompanied by a molecular motion in the cells +and fibres of the brain; and materialists have found great +comfort in this fact, while theologians and persons of little +faith have been very much frightened by it. But since no one ever +pretended that thought can go on, under the conditions of the +present life, without a brain, one finds it rather hard to +sympathize either with the self-congratulations of Dr. Buchner's +disciples[8] or with the terrors of their opponents. But what has +been less commonly remarked is the fact that when the thought and +the molecular movement thus occur simultaneously, in no +scientific sense is the thought the product of the molecular +movement. The sun-derived energy of motion latent in the food we +eat is variously transformed within the organism, until some of +it appears as the motion of the molecules of a little globule of +nerve-matter in the brain. In a rough way we might thus say that +the chemical energy of the food indirectly produces the motion of +these little nerve-molecules. But does this motion of +nerve-molecules now produce a thought or state of consciousness? +By no means. It simply produces some other motion of +nerve-molecules, and this in turn produces motion of contraction +or expansion in some muscle, or becomes transformed into the +chemical energy of some secreting gland. At no point in the whole +circuit does a unit of motion disappear as motion to reappear as +a unit of consciousness. The physical process is complete in +itself, and the thought does not enter into it. All that we can +say is, that the occurrence of the thought is simultaneous with +that part of the physical process which consists of a molecular +movement in the brain.[9] To be sure, the thought is always there +when summoned, but it stands outside the dynamic circuit, as +something utterly alien from and incomparable with the events +which summon it. No doubt, as Professor Tyndall observes, if we +knew exhaustively the physical state of the brain, "the +corresponding thought or feeling might be inferred; or, given the +thought or feeling, the corresponding state of the brain might be +inferred. But how inferred? It would be at bottom not a case of +logical inference at all, but of empirical association. You may +reply that many of the inferences of science are of this +character; the inference, for example, that an electric current +of a given direction will deflect a magnetic needle in a definite +way; but the cases differ in this, that the passage from the +current to the needle, if not demonstrable, is thinkable, and +that we entertain no doubt as to the final mechanical solution of +the problem. But the passage from the physics of the brain to the +corresponding facts of consciousness is unthinkable. Granted that +a definite thought and a definite molecular action in the brain +occur simultaneously; we do not possess the intellectual organ, +nor apparently any rudiment of the organ, which would enable us +to pass by a process of reasoning from the one to the other. They +appear together, but we do not know why."[10] + +[8] The Nation once wittily described these people as "people who +believe that they are going to die like the beasts, and who +congratulate themselves that they are going to die like the +beasts." + +[9] For a fuller exposition of this point, see my Outlines of +Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. II. pp. 436-445. + +[10] Fragments of Science, p. 119. + + +An unseen world consisting of purely psychical or spiritual +phenomena would accordingly be demarcated by an absolute gulf +from what we call the material universe, but would not +necessarily be discontinuous with the psychical phenomena which +we find manifested in connection with the world of matter. The +transfer of matter, or physical energy, or anything else that is +quantitatively measurable, into such an unseen world, may be set +down as impossible, by reason of the very definition of such a +world. Any hypothesis which should assume such a transfer would +involve a contradiction in terms. But the hypothesis of a +survival of present psychical phenomena in such a world, after +being denuded of material conditions, is not in itself absurd or +self-contradictory, though it may be impossible to support it by +any arguments drawn from the domain of human experience. Such is +the shape which it seems to me that, in the present state of +philosophy, the hypothesis of a future life must assume. We have +nothing to say to gross materialistic notions of ghosts and +bogies, and spirits that upset tables and whisper to ignorant +vulgar women the wonderful information that you once had an aunt +Susan. The unseen world imagined in our hypothesis is not +connected with the present material universe by any such +"invisible bonds" as would allow Bacon and Addison to come to +Boston and write the silliest twaddle in the most ungrammatical +English before a roomful of people who have never learned how to +test what they are pleased to call the "evidence of their +senses." Our hypothesis is expressly framed so as to exclude all +intercourse whatever between the unseen world of spirit +unconditioned by matter and the present world of spirit +conditioned by matter in which all our experiences have been +gathered. The hypothesis being framed in such a way, the question +is, What has philosophy to say to it? Can we, by searching our +experiences, find any reason for adopting such an hypothesis? Or, +on the other hand, supposing we can find no such reason, would +the total failure of experimental evidence justify us in +rejecting it? + +The question is so important that I will restate it. I have +imagined a world made up of psychical phenomena, freed from the +material conditions under which alone we know such phenomena. Can +we adduce any proof of the possibility of such a world? Or if we +cannot, does our failure raise the slightest presumption that +such a world is impossible? + +The reply to the first clause of the question is sufficiently +obvious. We have no experience whatever of psychical phenomena +save as manifested in connection with material phenomena. We know +of Mind only as a group of activities which are never exhibited +to us except through the medium of motions of matter. In all our +experience we have never encountered such activities save in +connection with certain very complicated groupings of highly +mobile material particles into aggregates which we call living +organisms. And we have never found them manifested to a very +conspicuous extent save in connection with some of those +specially organized aggregates which have vertebrate skeletons +and mammary glands. Nay, more, when we survey the net results of +our experience up to the present time, we find indisputable +evidence that in the past history of the visible universe +psychical phenomena have only begun to be manifested in +connection with certain complex aggregates of material phenomena. +As these material aggregates have age by age become more complex +in structure, more complex psychical phenomena have been +exhibited. The development of Mind has from the outset been +associated with the development of Matter. And to-day, though +none of us has any knowledge of the end of psychical phenomena in +his own case, yet from all the marks by which we recognize such +phenomena in our fellow-creatures, whether brute or human, we are +taught that when certain material processes have been gradually +or suddenly brought to an end, psychical phenomena are no longer +manifested. From first to last, therefore, our appeal to +experience gets but one response. We have not the faintest shadow +of evidence wherewith to make it seem probable that Mind can +exist except in connection with a material body. Viewed from this +standpoint of terrestrial experience, there is no more reason for +supposing that consciousness survives the dissolution of the +brain than for supposing that the pungent flavour of table-salt +survives its decomposition into metallic sodium and gaseous +chlorine. + +Our answer from this side is thus unequivocal enough. Indeed, so +uniform has been the teaching of experience in this respect that +even in their attempts to depict a life after death, men have +always found themselves obliged to have recourse to materialistic +symbols. To the mind of a savage the future world is a mere +reproduction of the present, with its everlasting huntings and +fightings. The early Christians looked forward to a renovation of +the earth and the bodily resurrection from Sheol of the +righteous. The pictures of hell and purgatory, and even of +paradise, in Dante's great poem, are so intensely materialistic +as to seem grotesque in this more spiritual age. But even to-day +the popular conceptions of heaven are by no means freed from the +notion of matter; and persons of high culture, who realize the +inadequacy of these popular conceptions, are wont to avoid the +difficulty by refraining from putting their hopes and beliefs +into any definite or describable form. Not unfrequently one sees +a smile raised at the assumption of knowledge or insight by +preachers who describe in eloquent terms the joys of a future +state; yet the smile does not necessarily imply any scepticism as +to the abstract probability of the soul's survival. The +scepticism is aimed at the character of the description rather +than at the reality of the thing described. It implies a tacit +agreement, among cultivated people, that the unseen world must be +purely spiritual in constitution. The agreement is not habitually +expressed in definite formulas, for the reason that no mental +image of a purely spiritual world can be formed. Much stress is +commonly laid upon the recognition of friends in a future life; +and however deep a meaning may be given to the phrase "the love +of God," one does not easily realize that a heavenly existence +could be worth the longing that is felt for it, if it were to +afford no further scope for the pure and tender household +affections which give to the present life its powerful though +indefinable charm. Yet the recognition of friends in a purely +spiritual world is something of which we can frame no conception +whatever. We may look with unspeakable reverence on the features +of wife or child, less because of their physical beauty than +because of the beauty of soul to which they give expression, but +to imagine the perception of soul by soul apart from the material +structure and activities in which soul is manifested, is +something utterly beyond our power. Nay, even when we try to +represent to ourselves the psychical activity of any single soul +by itself as continuing without the aid of the physical machinery +of sensation, we get into unmanageable difficulties. A great part +of the contents of our minds consists of sensuous (chiefly +visual) images, and though we may imagine reflection to go on +without further images supplied by vision or hearing, touch or +taste or smell, yet we cannot well see how fresh experiences +could be gained in such a state. The reader, if he require +further illustrations, can easily follow out this line of +thought. Enough has no doubt been said to convince him that our +hypothesis of the survival of conscious activity apart from +material conditions is not only utterly unsupported by any +evidence that can be gathered from the world of which we have +experience, but is utterly and hopelessly inconceivable. + +It is inconceivable BECAUSE it is entirely without foundation in +experience. Our powers of conception are closely determined by +the limits of our experience. When a proposition, or combination +of ideas, is suggested, for which there has never been any +precedent in human experience, we find it to be UNTHINKABLE,--the +ideas will not combine. The proposition remains one which we may +utter and defend, and perhaps vituperate our neighbours for not +accepting, but it remains none the less an unthinkable +proposition. It takes terms which severally have meanings and +puts them together into a phrase which has no meaning.[11] Now +when we try to combine the idea of the continuance of conscious +activity with the idea of the entire cessation of material +conditions, and thereby to assert the existence of a purely +spiritual world, we find that we have made an unthinkable +proposition. We may defend our hypothesis as passionately as we +like, but when we strive coolly to realize it in thought we find +ourselves baulked at every step. + +[11] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. I. pp. 64-67. + + +But now we have to ask, How much does this inconceivability +signify? In most cases, when we say that a statement is +inconceivable, we practically declare it to be untrue; when we +say that a statement is without warrant in experience, we plainly +indicate that we consider it unworthy of our acceptance. This is +legitimate in the majority of cases with which we have to deal in +the course of life, because experience, and the capacities of +thought called out and limited by experience, are our only guides +in the conduct of life. But every one will admit that our +experience is not infinite, and that our capacity of conception +is not coextensive with the possibilities of existence. It is not +only possible, but in the very highest degree probable, that +there are many things in heaven, if not on earth, which are +undreamed of in our philosophy. Since our ability to conceive +anything is limited by the extent of our experience, and since +human experience is very far from being infinite, it follows that +there may be, and in all probability is, an immense region of +existence in every way as real as the region which we know, yet +concerning which we cannot form the faintest rudiment of a +conception. Any hypothesis relating to such a region of existence +is not only not disproved by the total failure of evidence in its +favour, but the total failure of evidence does not raise even the +slightest prima facie presumption against its validity. + +These considerations apply with great force to the hypothesis of +an unseen world in which psychical phenomena persist in the +absence of material conditions. It is true, on the one hand, that +we can bring up no scientific evidence in support of such an +hypothesis. But on the other hand it is equally true that in the +very nature of things no such evidence could be expected to be +forthcoming: even were there such evidence in abundance, it could +not be accessible to us. The existence of a single soul, or +congeries of psychical phenomena, unaccompanied by a material +body, would be evidence sufficient to demonstrate the hypothesis. +But in the nature of things, even were there a million such souls +round about us, we could not become aware of the existence of one +of them, for we have no organ or faculty for the perception of +soul apart from the material structure and activities in which it +has been manifested throughout the whole course of our +experience. Even our own self-consciousness involves the +consciousness of ourselves as partly material bodies. These +considerations show that our hypothesis is very different from +the ordinary hypotheses with which science deals. The entire +absence of testimony does not raise a negative presumption except +in cases where testimony is accessible. In the hypotheses with +which scientific men are occupied, testimony is always +accessible; and if we do not find any, the presumption is raised +that there is none. When Dr. Bastian tells us that he has found +living organisms to be generated in sealed flasks from which all +living germs had been excluded, we demand the evidence for his +assertion. The testimony of facts is in this case hard to elicit, +and only skilful reasoners can properly estimate its worth. But +still it is all accessible. With more or less labour it can be +got at; and if we find that Dr. Bastian has produced no evidence +save such as may equally well receive a different interpretation +from that which he has given it, we rightly feel that a strong +presumption has been raised against his hypothesis. It is a case +in which we are entitled to expect to find the favouring facts if +there are any, and so long as we do not find such, we are +justified in doubting their existence. So when our authors +propound the hypothesis of an unseen universe consisting of +phenomena which occur in the interstellar ether, or even in some +primordial fluid with which the ether has physical relations, we +are entitled to demand their proofs. It is not enough to tell us +that we cannot disprove such a theory. The burden of proof lies +with them. The interstellar ether is something concerning the +physical properties of which we have some knowledge; and surely, +if all the things are going on which they suppose in a medium so +closely related to ordinary matter, there ought to be some +traceable indications of the fact. At least, until the contrary +can be shown, we must refuse to believe that all the testimony in +a case like this is utterly inaccessible; and accordingly, so +long as none is found, especially so long as none is even +alleged, we feel that a presumption is raised against their +theory. + +These illustrations will show, by sheer contrast, how different +it is with the hypothesis of an unseen world that is purely +spiritual. The testimony in such a case must, under the +conditions of the present life, be forever inaccessible. It lies +wholly outside the range of experience. However abundant it may +be, we cannot expect to meet with it. And accordingly our failure +to produce it does not raise even the slightest presumption +against our theory. When conceived in this way, the belief in a +future life is without scientific support; but at the same time +it is placed beyond the need of scientific support and beyond the +range of scientific criticism. It is a belief which no imaginable +future advance in physical discovery can in any way impugn. It is +a belief which is in no sense irrational, and which may be +logically entertained without in the least affecting our +scientific habit of mind or influencing our scientific +conclusions. + +To take a brief illustration: we have alluded to the fact that in +the history of our present world the development of mental +phenomena has gone on hand in hand with the development of +organic life, while at the same time we have found it impossible +to explain mental phenomena as in any sense the product of +material phenomena. Now there is another side to all this. The +great lesson which Berkeley taught mankind was that what we call +material phenomena are really the products of consciousness +co-operating with some Unknown Power (not material) existing +beyond consciousness. We do very well to speak of "matter" in +common parlance, but all that the word really means is a group of +qualities which have no existence apart from our minds. Modern +philosophers have quite generally accepted this conclusion, and +every attempt to overturn Berkeley's reasoning has hitherto +resulted in complete and disastrous failure. In admitting this, +we do not admit the conclusion of Absolute Idealism, that nothing +exists outside of consciousness. What we admit as existing +independently of our own consciousness is the Power that causes +in us those conscious states which we call the perception of +material qualities. We have no reason for regarding this Power as +in itself material: indeed, we cannot do so, since by the theory +material qualities have no existence apart from our minds. I have +elsewhere sought to show that less difficulty is involved in +regarding this Power outside of us as quasi-psychical, or in some +measure similar to the mental part of ourselves; and I have gone +on to conclude that this Power may be identical with what men +have, in all times and by the aid of various imperfect symbols, +endeavoured to apprehend as Deity.[12] We are thus led to a view +of things not very unlike the views entertained by Spinoza and +Berkeley. We are led to the inference that what we call the +material universe is but the manifestation of infinite Deity to +our finite minds. Obviously, on this view, Matter--the only thing +to which materialists concede real existence--is simply an +orderly phantasmagoria; and God and the Soul--which materialists +regard as mere fictions of the imagination--are the only +conceptions that answer to real existences. + +[12] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Part I. Chap. IV.; +Part III. Chaps. III., IV. + + +In the foregoing paragraph I have been setting down opinions with +which I am prepared to agree, and which are not in conflict with +anything that our study of the development of the objective world +has taught us. In so far as that study may be supposed to bear on +the question of a future life, two conclusions are open to us. +First we may say that since the phenomena of mind appear and run +their course along with certain specialized groups of material +phenomena, so, too, they must disappear when these specialized +groups are broken up. Or, in other words, we may say that every +living person is an organized whole; consciousness is something +which pertains to this organized whole, as music belongs to the +harp that is entire; but when the harp is broken it is silent, +and when the organized whole of personality falls to pieces +consciousness ceases forever. To many well-disciplined minds this +conclusion seems irresistible; and doubtless it would be a sound +one--a good Baconian conclusion--if we were to admit, with the +materialists, that the possibilities of existence are limited by +our tiny and ephemeral experience. + +But now, supposing some Platonic speculator were to come along +and insist upon our leaving room for an alternative conclusion; +suppose he were to urge upon us that all this process of material +development, with the discovery of which our patient study has +been rewarded, may be but the temporary manifestation of +relations otherwise unknown between ourselves and the infinite +Deity; suppose he were to argue that psychical qualities may be +inherent in a spiritual substance which under certain conditions +becomes incarnated in matter, to wear it as a perishable garment +for a brief season, but presently to cast it off and enter upon +the freedom of a larger existence;--what reply should we be bound +to make, bearing in mind that the possibilities of existence are +in no wise limited by our experience? Obviously we should be +bound to admit that in sound philosophy this conclusion is just +as likely to be true as the other. We should, indeed, warn him +not to call on us to help him to establish it by scientific +arguments; and we should remind him that he must not make illicit +use of his extra-experiential hypotheses by bringing them into +the treatment of scientific questions that lie within the range +of experience. In science, for example, we make no use of the +conception of a "spiritual substance" (or of a "material +substance" either), because we can get along sufficiently well by +dealing solely with qualities. But with this general +understanding we should feel bound to concede the impregnableness +of his main position. + +I have supposed this theory only as an illustration, not as a +theory which I am prepared to adopt. My present purpose is not to +treat as an advocate the question of a future life, but to +endeavour to point out what conditions should be observed in +treating the question philosophically. It seems to me that a +great deal is gained when we have distinctly set before us what +are the peculiar conditions of proof in the case of such +transcendental questions. We have gained a great deal when we +have learned how thoroughly impotent, how truly irrelevant, is +physical investigation in the presence of such a question. If we +get not much positive satisfaction for our unquiet yearnings, we +occupy at any rate a sounder philosophic position when we +recognize the limits within which our conclusions, whether +positive or negative, are valid. + +It seems not improbable that Mr. Mill may have had in mind +something like the foregoing considerations when he suggested +that there is no reason why one should not entertain the belief +in a future life if the belief be necessary to one's spiritual +comfort. Perhaps no suggestion in Mr. Mill's richly suggestive +posthumous work has been more generally condemned as +unphilosophical, on the ground that in matters of belief we must +be guided, not by our likes and dislikes, but by the evidence +that is accessible. The objection is certainly a sound one so far +as it relates to scientific questions where evidence is +accessible. To hesitate to adopt a well-supported theory because +of some vague preference for a different view is in scientific +matters the one unpardonable sin,--a sin which has been only too +often committed. Even in matters which lie beyond the range of +experience, where evidence is inaccessible, desire is not to be +regarded as by itself an adequate basis for belief. But it seems +to me that Mr. Mill showed a deeper knowledge of the limitations +of scientific method than his critics, when he thus hinted at the +possibility of entertaining a belief not amenable to scientific +tests. The hypothesis of a purely spiritual unseen world, as +above described, is entirely removed from the jurisdiction of +physical inquiry, and can only be judged on general +considerations of what has been called "moral probability"; and +considerations of this sort are likely, in the future as in the +past, to possess different values for different minds. He who, on +such considerations, entertains a belief in a future life may not +demand that his sceptical neighbour shall be convinced by the +same considerations; but his neighbour is at the same time +estopped from stigmatizing his belief as unphilosophical. + +The consideration which must influence most minds in their +attitude toward this question, is the craving, almost universally +felt, for some teleological solution to the problem of existence. +Why we are here now is a question of even profounder interest +than whether we are to live hereafter. Unfortunately its solution +carries us no less completely beyond the range of experience! The +belief that all things are working together for some good end is +the most essential expression of religious faith: of all +intellectual propositions it is the one most closely related to +that emotional yearning for a higher and better life which is the +sum and substance of religion. Yet all the treatises on natural +theology that have ever been written have barely succeeded in +establishing a low degree of scientific probability for this +belief. In spite of the eight Bridgewater Treatises, and the +"Ninth" beside, dysteleology still holds full half the field as +against teleology. Most of this difficulty, however, results from +the crude anthropomorphic views which theologians have held +concerning God. Once admitting that the Divine attributes may be +(as they must be) incommensurably greater than human attributes, +our faith that all things are working together for good may +remain unimpugned. + +To many minds such a faith will seem incompatible with belief in +the ultimate destruction of sentiency amid the general doom of +the material universe. A good end can have no meaning to us save +in relation to consciousness that distinguishes and knows the +good from the evil. There could be no better illustration of how +we are hemmed in than the very inadequacy of the words with which +we try to discuss this subject. Such words have all gained their +meanings from human experience, and hence of necessity carry +anthropomorphic implications. But we cannot help this. We must +think with the symbols with which experience has furnished us; +and when we so think, there does seem to be little that is even +intellectually satisfying in the awful picture which science +shows us, of giant worlds concentrating out of nebulous vapour, +developing with prodigious waste of energy into theatres of all +that is grand and sacred in spiritual endeavour, clashing and +exploding again into dead vapour-balls, only to renew the same +toilful process without end,--a senseless bubble-play of Titan +forces, with life, love, and aspiration brought forth only to be +extinguished. The human mind, however "scientific" its training, +must often recoil from the conclusion that this is all; and there +are moments when one passionately feels that this cannot be all. +On warm June mornings in green country lanes, with sweet +pine-odours wafted in the breeze which sighs through the +branches, and cloud-shadows flitting over far-off blue mountains, +while little birds sing their love-songs, and golden-haired +children weave garlands of wild roses; or when in the solemn +twilight we listen to wondrous harmonies of Beethoven and Chopin +that stir the heart like voices from an unseen world; at such +times one feels that the profoundest answer which science can +give to our questionings is but a superficial answer after all. +At these moments, when the world seems fullest of beauty, one +feels most strongly that it is but the harbinger of something +else,--that the ceaseless play of phenomena is no mere sport of +Titans, but an orderly scene, with its reason for existing, its + + "One divine far-off event + To which the whole creation moves." + + +Difficult as it is to disentangle the elements of reasoning that +enter into these complex groups of feeling, one may still see, I +think, that it is speculative interest in the world, rather than +anxious interest in self, that predominates. The desire for +immortality in its lowest phase is merely the outcome of the +repugnance we feel toward thinking of the final cessation of +vigorous vital activity. Such a feeling is naturally strong with +healthy people. But in the mood which I have above tried to +depict, this feeling, or any other which is merely +self-regarding, is lost sight of in the feeling which associates +a future life with some solution of the burdensome problem of +existence. Had we but faith enough to lighten the burden of this +problem, the inferior question would perhaps be less absorbing. +Could we but know that our present lives are working together +toward some good end, even an end in no wise anthropomorphic, it +would be of less consequence whether we were individually to +endure. To the dog under the knife of the experimenter, the world +is a world of pure evil; yet could the poor beast but understand +the alleviation of human suffering to which he is contributing, +he would be forced to own that this is not quite true; and if he +were also a heroic or Christian dog, the thought would perhaps +take away from death its sting. The analogy may be a crude one; +but the reasonableness of the universe is at least as far above +our comprehension as the purposes of man surpass the +understanding of the dog. Believing, however, though as a simple +act of trust, that the end will crown the work, we may rise +superior to the question which has here concerned us, and +exclaim, in the supreme language of faith, "Though He slay me, +yet will I trust in Him!" + + July, 1875. + + + +II. "THE TO-MORROW OF DEATH." + +Few of those who find pleasure in frequenting bookstores can have +failed to come across one or more of the profusely illustrated +volumes in which M. Louis Figuier has sought to render dry +science entertaining to the multitude. And of those who may have +casually turned over their pages, there are probably none, +competent to form an opinion, who have not speedily perceived +that these pretentious books belong to the class of pests and +unmitigated nuisances in literature. Antiquated views, utter lack +of comprehension of the subjects treated, and shameless +unscrupulousness as to accuracy of statement, are faults but ill +atoned for by sensational pictures of the "dragons of the prime +that tare each other in their slime," or of the Newton-like brow +and silken curls of that primitive man in contrast with whom the +said dragons have been likened to "mellow music." + +Nevertheless, the sort of scientific reputation which these +discreditable performances have gained for M. Figuier among an +uncritical public is such as to justify us in devoting a few +paragraphs to a book[13] which, on its own merits, is unworthy of +any notice whatever. "The To-morrow of Death"--if one were to put +his trust in the translator's prefatory note--discusses a grave +question upon "purely scientific methods." We are glad to see +this remark, because it shows what notions may be entertained by +persons of average intelligence with reference to "scientific +methods." Those--and they are many--who vaguely think that +science is something different from common-sense, and that any +book is scientific which talks about perihelia and asymptotes and +cetacea, will find their vague notions here well corroborated. +Quite different will be the impression made upon those--and they +are yet too few--who have learned that the method of science is +the common-sense method of cautiously weighing evidence and +withholding judgment where evidence is not forthcoming. If +talking about remote and difficult subjects suffice to make one +scientific, then is M. Figuier scientific to a quite terrible +degree. He writes about the starry heavens as if he had been +present at the hour of creation, or had at least accompanied the +Arabian prophet on his famous night-journey. Nor is his knowledge +of physiology and other abstruse sciences at all less remarkable. +But these things will cease to surprise us when we learn the +sources, hitherto suspected only in mythology, from which +favoured mortals can obtain a knowledge of what is going on +outside of our planet. + +[13] The To-morrow of Death; or, The Future Life according to +Science. By Louis Figuier. Translated from the French by S. R. +Crocker. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1872. + + +The four inner planets being nearly alike in size (?) and in +length of day, M. Figuier infers, by strictly scientific methods, +that whatever is true of one of them, as our earth, will be true +of the others (p. 34). Hence, they are all inhabited by human +beings. It is true that human beings must find Venus rather warm, +and are not unlikely to be seriously incommoded by the tropical +climate of Mercury. But we must remember that "the men of Venus +and Mercury are made by nature to resist heat, as those of +Jupiter and Saturn are made to endure cold, and those of the +Earth and Mars to live in a mean temperature: OTHERWISE THEY +COULD NOT EXIST" (p. 72). In view of this charming specimen of a +truly scientific inference, it is almost too bad to call +attention to the fact that M. Figuier is quite behind the age in +his statement of facts. So far from Jupiter and Saturn being +cold, observation plainly indicates that they are prodigiously +hot, if not even incandescent and partly self-luminous; the +explanation being that, by reason of their huge bulk, they still +retain much of the primitive heat which smaller planets have more +quickly radiated away. As for M. Figuier's statement, that polar +snows have been witnessed on these planets, it is simply untrue; +no such thing has ever been seen there. Mars, on the other hand, +has been observed to resemble in many important respects its near +neighbour, the Earth; whence our author declares that if an +aeronaut were to shoot clear of terrestrial gravitation and land +upon Mars, he would unquestionably suppose himself to be still +upon the earth. For aerolites, it seems, are somehow fired down +upon our planet both from Mars and from Venus; and aerolites +sometimes contain vegetable matter (?). Therefore, Mars has a +vegetation, and very likely its red colour is caused by its +luxuriant autumnal foliage! (p. 47.) To return to Jupiter: this +planet, indeed, has inconveniently short days. "In his 'Picture +of the Heavens,' the German astronomer, Littrow (these Germans +think of nothing but gormandizing), asks how the people of +Jupiter order their meals in the short interval of five hours." +Nevertheless, says our author, the great planet is compensated +for this inconvenience by its equable and delicious climate. + +In view, however, of our author's more striking and original +disclosures, one would suppose that all this discussion of the +physical conditions of existence on the various planets might +have been passed over without detriment to the argument. After +these efforts at proving (for M. Figuier presumably regards this +rigmarole as proof) that all the members of our solar system are +habitable, the interplanetary ether is forthwith peopled thickly +with "souls," without any resort to argument. This, we suppose, +is one of those scientific truths which as M. Figuier tells us, +precede and underlie demonstration. Upon this impregnable basis +is reared the scientific theory of a future life. When we die our +soul passes into some other terrestrial body, unless we have been +very good, in which case we at once soar aloft and join the noble +fraternity of the ether-folk. Bad men and young children, on +dying, must undergo renewed probation here below, but ultimately +all pass away into the interplanetary ether. The dweller in ether +is chiefly distinguished from the mundane mortal by his acute +senses and his ability to subsist without food. He can see as if +through a telescope and microscope combined. His intelligence is +so great that in comparison an Aristotle would seem idiotic. It +should not be forgotten, too, that he possesses eighty-five per +cent of soul to fifteen per cent of body, whereas in terrestrial +man the two elements are mixed in equal proportions. There is no +sex among the ether-folk, their numbers being kept up by the +influx of souls from the various planets. "Alimentation, that +necessity which tyrannizes over men and animals, is not imposed +upon the inhabitants of ether. Their bodies must be repaired and +sustained by the simple respiration of the fluid in which they +are immersed, that is, of ether." Most likely, continues our +scientific author, the physiological functions of the ether-folk +are confined to respiration, and that it is possible to breathe +"without numerous organs is proved by the fact that in all of a +whole class of animals--the batrachians--the mere bare skin +constitutes the whole machinery of respiration" (p. 95). Allowing +for the unfortunate slip of the pen by which "batrachians" are +substituted for "fresh-water polyps," how can we fail to admire +the severity of the scientific method employed in reaching these +interesting conclusions? + +But the King of Serendib must die, nor will the relentless scythe +of Time spare our Etherians, with all their exalted attributes. +They will die repeatedly; and after having through sundry periods +of probation attained spiritual perfection, they will all pour +into the sun. Since it is the sun which originates life and +feeling and thought upon the surface of our earth, "why may we +not declare that the rays transmitted by the sun to the earth and +the other planets are nothing more nor less than the emanations +of these souls?" And now we may begin to form an adequate +conception, of the rigorously scientific character of our +author's method. There have been many hypotheses by which to +account for the supply of solar radiance. One of the most +ingenious and probable of these hypotheses is that of Helmholtz, +according to which the solar radiance is due to the arrested +motion of the sun's constituent particles toward their common +centre of gravity. But this is too fanciful to satisfy M. +Figuier. The speculations of Helmholtz "have the disadvantage of +resting on the idea of the sun's nebulosity,--an hypothesis which +would need to be more closely examined before serving as a basis +for so important a deduction." Accordingly, M. Figuier propounds +an explanation which possesses the signal advantage that there is +nothing hypothetical in it. "In our opinion, the solar radiation +is sustained by the continual influx of souls into the sun." +This, as the reader will perceive, is the well-known theory of +Mayer, that the solar heat is due to a perennial bombardment of +the sun by meteors, save that, in place of gross materialistic +meteors, M. Figuier puts ethereal souls. The ether-folk are daily +raining into the solar orb in untold millions, and to the +unceasing concussion is due the radiation which maintains life in +the planets, and thus the circle is complete. + +In spite of their exalted position, the ether-folk do not disdain +to mingle with the affairs of terrestrial mortals. They give us +counsel in dreams, and it is from this source, we presume, that +our author has derived his rigid notions as to scientific method. +In evidence of this dream-theory we have the usual array of +cases, "a celebrated journalist, M. R----," "M. L----, a lawyer," +etc., etc., as in most books of this kind. + +M. Figuier is not a Darwinian: the derivation of our bodies from +the bodies of apes is a conception too grossly materialistic for +him. Our souls, however, he is quite willing to derive from the +souls of lower animals. Obviously we have pre-existed; how are we +to account for Mozart's precocity save by supposing his +pre-existence? He brought with him the musical skill acquired in +a previous life. In general, the souls of musical children come +from nightingales, while the souls of great architects have +passed into them from beavers (p. 247). We do not remember these +past existences, it is true; but when we become ether-folk, we +shall be able to look back in recollection over the whole series. + +Amid these sublime inquiries, M. Figuier is sometimes notably +oblivious of humbler truths, as might indeed be expected. Thus he +repeatedly alludes to Locke as the author of the doctrine of +innate ideas (!!),[14] and he informs us that Kepler never +quitted Protestant England (p. 336), though we believe that the +nearest Kepler ever came to living in England was the refusing of +Sir Henry Wotton's request that he should move thither. + +[14] Pages 251, 252, 287. So in the twenty-first century some +avatar of M. Figuier will perhaps describe the late professor +Agassiz as the author of the Darwinian theory. + + +And lastly, we are treated to a real dialogue, with quite a +dramatic mise en scene. The author's imaginary friend, +Theophilus, enters, "seats himself in a comfortable chair, places +an ottoman under his feet, a book under his elbow to support it, +and a cigarette of Turkish tobacco between his lips, and sets +himself to the task of listening with a grave air of +collectedness, relieved by a certain touch of suspicious +severity, as becomes the arbiter in a literary and philosophic +matter." "And so," begins our author, "you wish to know, my dear +Theophilus, WHERE I LOCATE GOD? I locate him in the centre of the +universe, or, in better phrase, at the central focus, which must +exist somewhere, of all the stars that make the universe, and +which, borne onward in a common movement, gravitate together +around this focus." + +Much more, of an equally scientific character, follows; but in +fairness to the reader, who is already blaming us for wasting the +precious moments over such sorry trash, we may as well conclude +our sketch of this new line of speculation. + + May, 1872. + + + +III. THE JESUS OF HISTORY.[15] + +[15] The Jesus of History. Anonymous. 8vo. pp. 426. London: +Williams & Norgate, 1869. + +Vie de Jesus, par Ernest Renan. Paris, 1867. (Thirteenth edition, +revised and partly rewritten.) + +In republishing this and the following article on "The Christ of +Dogma," I am aware that they do but scanty justice to their very +interesting subjects. So much ground is covered that it would be +impossible to treat it satisfactorily in a pair of +review-articles; and in particular the views adopted with regard +to the New Testament literature are rather indicated than +justified. These defects I hope to remedy in a future work on +"Jesus of Nazareth, and the Founding of Christianity," for which +the present articles must be regarded as furnishing only a few +introductory hints. This work has been for several years on my +mind, but as it may still be long before I can find the leisure +needful for writing it out, it seemed best to republish these +preliminary sketches which have been some time out of print. The +projected work, however, while covering all the points here +treated, will have a much wider scope, dealing on the one hand +with the natural genesis of the complex aggregate of beliefs and +aspirations known as Christianity, and on the other hand with the +metamorphoses which are being wrought in this aggregate by modern +knowledge and modern theories of the world. + +The views adopted in the present essay as to the date of the +Synoptic Gospels may seem over-conservative to those who accept +the ably-argued conclusions of "Supernatural Religion." Quite +possibly in a more detailed discussion these briefly-indicated +data may require revision; but for the present it seems best to +let the article stand as it was written. The author of +"Supernatural Religion" would no doubt admit that, even if the +synoptic gospels had not assumed their present form before the +end of the second century, nevertheless the body of tradition +contained in them had been committed to writing very early in +that century. So much appears to be proved by the very variations +of text upon which his argument relies. And if this be granted, +the value of the synoptics as HISTORICAL evidence is not +materially altered. With their value as testimony to so-called +SUPERNATURAL events, the present essay is in no way concerned. + + +Of all the great founders of religions, Jesus is at once the best +known and the least known to the modern scholar. From the +dogmatic point of view he is the best known, from the historic +point of view he is the least known. The Christ of dogma is in +every lineament familiar to us from early childhood; but +concerning the Jesus of history we possess but few facts resting +upon trustworthy evidence, and in order to form a picture of him +at once consistent, probable, and distinct in its outlines, it is +necessary to enter upon a long and difficult investigation, in +the course of which some of the most delicate apparatus of modern +criticism is required. This circumstance is sufficiently singular +to require especial explanation. The case of Sakyamuni, the +founder of Buddhism, which may perhaps be cited as parallel, is +in reality wholly different. Not only did Sakyamuni live five +centuries earlier than Jesus, among a people that have at no time +possessed the art of insuring authenticity in their records of +events, and at an era which is at best but dimly discerned +through the mists of fable and legend, but the work which he +achieved lies wholly out of the course of European history, and +it is only in recent times that his career has presented itself +to us as a problem needing to be solved. Jesus, on the other +hand, appeared in an age which is familiarly and in many respects +minutely known to us, and among a people whose fortunes we can +trace with historic certainty for at least seven centuries +previous to his birth; while his life and achievements have +probably had a larger share in directing the entire subsequent +intellectual and moral development of Europe than those of any +other man who has ever lived. Nevertheless, the details of his +personal career are shrouded in an obscurity almost as dense as +that which envelops the life of the remote founder of Buddhism. + +This phenomenon, however, appears less strange and paradoxical +when we come to examine it more closely. A little reflection will +disclose to us several good reasons why the historical records of +the life of Jesus should be so scanty as they are. In the first +place, the activity of Jesus was private rather than public. +Confined within exceedingly narrow limits, both of space and of +duration, it made no impression whatever upon the politics or the +literature of the time. His name does not occur in the pages of +any contemporary writer, Roman, Greek, or Jewish. Doubtless the +case would have been wholly different, had he, like Mohammed, +lived to a ripe age, and had the exigencies of his peculiar +position as the Messiah of the Jewish people brought him into +relations with the Empire; though whether, in such case, the +success of his grand undertaking would have been as complete as +it has actually been, may well be doubted. + +Secondly, Jesus did not, like Mohammed and Paul, leave behind him +authentic writings which might serve to throw light upon his +mental development as well as upon the external facts of his +career. Without the Koran and the four genuine Epistles of Paul, +we should be nearly as much in the dark concerning these great +men as we now are concerning the historical Jesus. We should be +compelled to rely, in the one case, upon the untrustworthy gossip +of Mussulman chroniclers, and in the other case upon the garbled +statements of the "Acts of the Apostles," a book written with a +distinct dogmatic purpose, sixty or seventy years after the +occurrence of the events which it professes to record. + +It is true, many of the words of Jesus, preserved by hearsay +tradition through the generation immediately succeeding his +death, have come down to us, probably with little alteration, in +the pages of the three earlier evangelists. These are priceless +data, since, as we shall see, they are almost the only materials +at our command for forming even a partial conception of the +character of Jesus' work. Nevertheless, even here the cautious +inquirer has only too often to pause in face of the difficulty of +distinguishing the authentic utterances of the great teacher from +the later interpolations suggested by the dogmatic necessities of +the narrators. Bitterly must the historian regret that Jesus had +no philosophic disciple, like Xenophon, to record his +Memorabilia. Of the various writings included in the New +Testament, the Apocalypse alone (and possibly the Epistle of +Jude) is from the pen of a personal acquaintance of Jesus; and +besides this, the four epistles of Paul, to the Galatians, +Corinthians, and Romans, make up the sum of the writings from +which we may expect contemporary testimony. Yet from these we +obtain absolutely nothing of that for which we are seeking. The +brief writings of Paul are occupied exclusively with the internal +significance of Jesus' work. The epistle of Jude--if it be really +written by Jesus' brother of that name, which is doubtful--is +solely a polemic directed against the innovations of Paul. And +the Apocalypse, the work of the fiery and imaginative disciple +John, is confined to a prophetic description of the Messiah's +anticipated return, and tells us nothing concerning the deeds of +that Messiah while on the earth. + +Here we touch upon our third consideration,--the consideration +which best enables us to see why the historic notices of Jesus +are so meagre. Rightly considered, the statement with which we +opened this article is its own explanation. The Jesus of history +is so little known just because the Christ of dogma is so well +known.[16] Other teachers--Paul, Mohammed, Sakyamuni--have come +merely as preachers of righteousness, speaking in the name of +general principles with which their own personalities were not +directly implicated. But Jesus, as we shall see, before the close +of his life, proclaimed himself to be something more than a +preacher of righteousness. He announced himself--and justly, from +his own point of view--as the long-expected Messiah sent by +Jehovah to liberate the Jewish race. Thus the success of his +religious teachings became at once implicated with the question +of his personal nature and character. After the sudden and +violent termination of his career, it immediately became +all-important with his followers to prove that he was really the +Messiah, and to insist upon the certainty of his speedy return to +the earth. Thus the first generation of disciples dogmatized +about him, instead of narrating his life,--a task which to them +would have seemed of little profit. For them the all-absorbing +object of contemplation was the immediate future rather than the +immediate past. As all the earlier Christian literature informs +us, for nearly a century after the death of Jesus, his followers +lived in daily anticipation of his triumphant return to the +earth. The end of all things being so near at hand, no attempt +was made to insure accurate and complete memoirs for the use of a +posterity which was destined, in Christian imagination, never to +arrive. The first Christians wrote but little; even Papias, at +the end of a century, preferring second-hand or third-hand oral +tradition to the written gospels which were then beginning to +come into circulation.[17] Memoirs of the life and teachings of +Jesus were called forth by the necessity of having a written +standard of doctrine to which to appeal amid the growing +differences of opinion which disturbed the Church. Thus the +earlier gospels exhibit, though in different degrees, the +indications of a modifying, sometimes of an overruling dogmatic +purpose. There is, indeed, no conscious violation of historic +truth, but from the varied mass of material supplied by +tradition, such incidents are selected as are fit to support the +views of the writers concerning the personality of Jesus. +Accordingly, while the early gospels throw a strong light upon +the state of Christian opinion at the dates when they were +successively composed, the information which they give concerning +Jesus himself is, for that very reason, often vague, uncritical, +and contradictory. Still more is this true of the fourth gospel, +written late in the second century, in which historic tradition +is moulded in the interests of dogma until it becomes no longer +recognizable, and in the place of the human Messiah of the +earlier accounts, we have a semi-divine Logos or Aeon, detached +from God, and incarnate for a brief season in the likeness of +man. + +[16] "Wer einmal vergottert worden ist, der hat seine Mensetheit +unwiederbringlich eingebusst."--Strauss, Der alte und der neue +Glaube, p. 76. + +[17] "Roger was the attendant of Thomas [Becket] during his +sojourn at Pontigny. We might have expected him to be very full +on that part of his history; but, writing doubtless mainly for +the monks of Pontigny, he says that HE WILL NOT ENLARGE UPON WHAT +EVERY ONE KNOWS, and cuts that part very short."--Freeman, +Historical Essays, 1st series, p. 90. + + +Not only was history subordinated to dogma by the writers of the +gospel-narratives, but in the minds of the Fathers of the Church +who assisted in determining what writings should be considered +canonical, dogmatic prepossession went very much further than +critical acumen. Nor is this strange when we reflect that +critical discrimination in questions of literary authenticity is +one of the latest acquisitions of the cultivated human mind. In +the early ages of the Church the evidence of the genuineness of +any literary production was never weighed critically; writings +containing doctrines acceptable to the majority of Christians +were quoted as authoritative while writings which supplied no +dogmatic want were overlooked, or perhaps condemned as +apocryphal. A striking instance of this is furnished by the +fortunes of the Apocalypse. Although perhaps the best +authenticated work in the New Testament collection, its +millenarian doctrines caused it to become unpopular as the Church +gradually ceased to look for the speedy return of the Messiah, +and, accordingly, as the canon assumed a definite shape, it was +placed among the "Antilegomena," or doubtful books, and continued +to hold a precarious position until after the time of the +Protestant Reformation. On the other hand, the fourth gospel, +which was quite unknown and probably did not exist at the time of +the Quartodeciman controversy (A. D. 168), was accepted with +little hesitation, and at the beginning of the third century is +mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian, as the work of +the Apostle John. To this uncritical spirit, leading to the +neglect of such books as failed to answer the dogmatic +requirements of the Church, may probably be attributed the loss +of so many of the earlier gospels. It is doubtless for this +reason that we do not possess the Aramaean original of the +"Logia" of Matthew, or the "Memorabilia" of Mark, the companion +of Peter,--two works to which Papias (A. D. 120) alludes as +containing authentic reports of the utterances of Jesus. + +These considerations will, we believe, sufficiently explain the +curious circumstance that, while we know the Christ of dogma so +intimately, we know the Jesus of history so slightly. The +literature of early Christianity enables us to trace with +tolerable completeness the progress of opinion concerning the +nature of Jesus, from the time of Paul's early missions to the +time of the Nicene Council; but upon the actual words and deeds +of Jesus it throws a very unsteady light. The dogmatic purpose +everywhere obscures the historic basis. + +This same dogmatic prepossession which has rendered the data for +a biography of Jesus so scanty and untrustworthy, has also until +comparatively recent times prevented any unbiassed critical +examination of such data as we actually possess. Previous to the +eighteenth century any attempt to deal with the life of Jesus +upon purely historical methods would have been not only contemned +as irrational, but stigmatized as impious. And even in the +eighteenth century, those writers who had become wholly +emancipated from ecclesiastic tradition were so destitute of all +historic sympathy and so unskilled in scientific methods of +criticism, that they utterly failed to comprehend the +requirements of the problem. Their aims were in the main polemic, +not historical. They thought more of overthrowing current dogmas +than of impartially examining the earliest Christian literature +with a view of eliciting its historic contents; and, accordingly, +they accomplished but little. Two brilliant exceptions must, +however, be noticed. Spinoza, in the seventeenth century, and +Lessing, in the eighteenth, were men far in advance of their age. +They are the fathers of modern historical criticism; and to +Lessing in particular, with his enormous erudition and +incomparable sagacity, belongs the honour of initiating that +method of inquiry which, in the hands of the so-called Tubingen +School, has led to such striking and valuable conclusions +concerning, the age and character of all the New Testament +literature. But it was long before any one could be found fit to +bend the bow which Lessing and Spinoza had wielded. A succession +of able scholars--Semler, Eichhorn, Paulus, Schleiermacher +Bretschneider, and De Wette--were required to examine, with +German patience and accuracy, the details of the subject, and to +propound various untenable hypotheses, before such a work could +be performed as that of Strauss. The "Life of Jesus," published +by Strauss when only twenty-six years of age, is one of the +monumental works of the nineteenth century, worthy to rank, as a +historical effort, along with such books as Niebuhr's "History of +Rome," Wolf's "Prolegomena," or Bentley's "Dissertations on +Phalaris." It instantly superseded and rendered antiquated +everything which had preceded it; nor has any work on early +Christianity been written in Germany for the past thirty years +which has not been dominated by the recollection of that +marvellous book. Nevertheless, the labours of another generation +of scholars have carried our knowledge of the New Testament +literature far beyond the point which it had reached when Strauss +first wrote. At that time the dates of but few of the New +Testament writings had been fixed with any approach to certainty; +the age and character of the fourth gospel, the genuineness of +the Pauline epistles, even the mutual relations of the three +synoptics, were still undetermined; and, as a natural. result of +this uncertainty, the progress of dogma during the first century +was ill understood. At the present day it is impossible to read +the early work of Strauss without being impressed with the +necessity of obtaining positive data as to the origin and +dogmatic character of the New Testament writings, before +attempting to reach any conclusions as to the probable career of +Jesus. These positive data we owe to the genius and diligence of +the Tubingen School, and, above all, to its founder, Ferdinand +Christian Baur. Beginning with the epistles of Paul, of which he +distinguished four as genuine, Baur gradually worked his way +through the entire New Testament collection, detecting--with that +inspired insight which only unflinching diligence can impart to +original genius--the age at which each book was written, and the +circumstances which called it forth. To give any account of +Baur's detailed conclusions, or of the method by which he reached +them, would require a volume. They are very scantily presented in +Mr. Mackay's work on the "Tubingen School and its Antecedents," +to which we may refer the reader desirous of further information. +We can here merely say that twenty years of energetic controversy +have only served to establish most of Baur's leading conclusions +more firmly than ever. The priority of the so-called gospel of +Matthew, the Pauline purpose of "Luke," the second in date of our +gospels, the derivative and second-hand character of "Mark," and +the unapostolic origin of the fourth gospel, are points which may +for the future be regarded as wellnigh established by +circumstantial evidence. So with respect to the pseudo-Pauline +epistles, Baur's work was done so thoroughly that the only +question still left open for much discussion is that concerning +the date and authorship of the first and second +"Thessalonians,"--a point of quite inferior importance, so far as +our present subject is concerned. Seldom have such vast results +been achieved by the labour of a single scholar. Seldom has any +historical critic possessed such a combination of analytic and of +co-ordinating powers as Baur. His keen criticism and his +wonderful flashes of insight exercise upon the reader a truly +poetic effect like that which is felt in contemplating the +marvels of physical discovery. + +The comprehensive labours of Baur were followed up by Zeller's +able work on the "Acts of the Apostles," in which that book was +shown to have been partly founded upon documents written by Luke, +or some other companion of Paul, and expanded and modified by a +much later writer with the purpose of covering up the traces of +the early schism between the Pauline and the Petrine sections of +the Church. Along with this, Schwegler's work on the +"Post-Apostolic Times" deserves mention as clearing up many +obscure points relating to the early development of dogma. +Finally, the "New Life of Jesus," by Strauss, adopting and +utilizing the principal discoveries of Baur and his followers, +and combining all into one grand historical picture, worthily +completes the task which the earlier work of the same author had +inaugurated. + +The reader will have noticed that, with the exception of Spinoza, +every one of the names above cited in connection with the +literary analysis and criticism of the New Testament is the name +of a German. Until within the last decade, Germany has indeed +possessed almost an absolute monopoly of the science of Biblical +criticism; other countries having remained not only unfamiliar +with its methods, but even grossly ignorant of its conspicuous +results, save when some German treatise of more than ordinary +popularity has now and then been translated. But during the past +ten years France has entered the lists; and the writings of +Reville, Reuss, Nicolas, D'Eichthal, Scherer, and Colani testify +to the rapidity with which the German seed has fructified upon +her soil.[18] + +[18] But now, in annexing Alsace, Germany has "annexed" pretty +much the whole of this department of French scholarship,--a +curious incidental consequence of the late war. + + +None of these books, however, has achieved such wide-spread +celebrity, or done so much toward interesting the general public +in this class of historical inquiries, as the "Life of Jesus," by +Renan. This pre-eminence of fame is partly, but not wholly, +deserved. From a purely literary point of view, Renan's work +doubtless merits all the celebrity it has gained. Its author +writes a style such as is perhaps surpassed by that of no other +living Frenchman. It is by far the most readable book which has +ever been written concerning the life of Jesus. And no doubt some +of its popularity is due to its very faults, which, from a +critical point of view, are neither few nor small. For Renan is +certainly very faulty, as a historical critic, when he +practically ignores the extreme meagreness of our positive +knowledge of the career of Jesus, and describes scene after scene +in his life as minutely and with as much confidence as if he had +himself been present to witness it all. Again and again the +critical reader feels prompted to ask, How do you know all this? +or why, out of two or three conflicting accounts, do you quietly +adopt some particular one, as if its superior authority were +self-evident? But in the eye of the uncritical reader, these +defects are excellences; for it is unpleasant to be kept in +ignorance when we are seeking after definite knowledge, and it is +disheartening to read page after page of an elaborate discussion +which ends in convincing us that definite knowledge cannot be +gained. + +In the thirteenth edition of the "Vie de Jesus," Renan has +corrected some of the most striking errors of the original work, +and in particular has, with praiseworthy candour, abandoned his +untenable position with regard to the age and character of the +fourth gospel. As is well known, Renan, in his earlier editions, +ascribed to this gospel a historical value superior to that of +the synoptics, believing it to have been written by an eyewitness +of the events which it relates; and from this source, +accordingly, he drew the larger share of his materials. Now, if +there is any one conclusion concerning the New Testament +literature which must be regarded as incontrovertibly established +by the labours of a whole generation of scholars, it is this, +that the fourth gospel was utterly unknown until about A. D. 170, +that it was written by some one who possessed very little direct +knowledge of Palestine, that its purpose was rather to expound a +dogma than to give an accurate record of events, and that as a +guide to the comprehension of the career of Jesus it is of far +less value than the three synoptic gospels. It is impossible, in +a brief review like the present, to epitomize the evidence upon +which this conclusion rests, which may more profitably be sought +in the Rev. J. J. Tayler's work on "The Fourth Gospel," or in +Davidson's "Introduction to the New Testament." It must suffice +to mention that this gospel is not cited by Papias; that Justin, +Marcion, and Valentinus make no allusion to it, though, since it +furnishes so much that is germane to their views, they would +gladly have appealed to it, had it been in existence, when those +views were as yet under discussion; and that, finally, in the +great Quartodeciman controversy, A. D. 168, the gospel is not +only not mentioned, but the authority of John is cited by +Polycarp in flat contradiction of the view afterwards taken by +this evangelist. Still more, the assumption of Renan led at once +into complicated difficulties with reference to the Apocalypse. +The fourth gospel, if it does not unmistakably announce itself as +the work of John, at least professes to be Johannine; and it +cannot for a moment be supposed that such a book, making such +claims, could have gained currency during John's lifetime without +calling forth his indignant protest. For, in reality, no book in +the New Testament collection would so completely have shocked the +prejudices of the Johannine party. John's own views are well +known to us from the Apocalypse. John was the most enthusiastic +of millenarians and the most narrow and rigid of Judaizers. In +his antagonism to the Pauline innovations he went farther than +Peter himself. Intense hatred of Paul and his followers appears +in several passages of the Apocalypse, where they are stigmatized +as "Nicolaitans," "deceivers of the people," "those who say they +are apostles and are not," "eaters of meat offered to idols," +"fornicators," "pretended Jews," "liars," "synagogue of Satan," +etc. (Chap. II.). On the other hand, the fourth gospel contains +nothing millenarian or Judaical; it carries Pauline universalism +to a far greater extent than Paul himself ventured to carry it, +even condemning the Jews as children of darkness, and by +implication contrasting them unfavourably with the Gentiles; and +it contains a theory of the nature of Jesus which the Ebionitish +Christians, to whom John belonged, rejected to the last. + +In his present edition Renan admits the insuperable force of +these objections, and abandons his theory of the apostolic origin +of the fourth gospel. And as this has necessitated the omission +or alteration of all such passages as rested upon the authority +of that gospel, the book is to a considerable extent rewritten, +and the changes are such as greatly to increase its value as a +history of Jesus. Nevertheless, the author has so long been in +the habit of shaping his conceptions of the career of Jesus by +the aid of the fourth gospel, that it has become very difficult +for him to pass freely to another point of view. He still clings +to the hypothesis that there is an element of historic tradition +contained in the book, drawn from memorial writings which had +perhaps been handed down from John, and which were inaccessible +to the synoptists. In a very interesting appendix, he collects +the evidence in favour of this hypothesis, which indeed is not +without plausibility, since there is every reason for supposing +that the gospel was written at Ephesus, which a century before +had been John's place of residence. But even granting most of +Renan's assumptions, it must still follow that the authority of +this gospel is far inferior to that of the synoptics, and can in +no case be very confidently appealed to. The question is one of +the first importance to the historian of early Christianity. In +inquiring into the life of Jesus, the very first thing to do is +to establish firmly in the mind the true relations of the fourth +gospel to the first three. Until this has been done, no one is +competent to write on the subject; and it is because he has done +this so imperfectly, that Renan's work is, from a critical point +of view, so imperfectly successful. + +The anonymous work entitled "The Jesus of History," which we have +placed at the head of this article, is in every respect +noteworthy as the first systematic attempt made in England to +follow in the footsteps of German criticism in writing a life of +Jesus. We know of no good reason why the book should be published +anonymously; for as a historical essay it possesses extraordinary +merit, and does great credit not only to its author, but to +English scholarship and acumen.[19] It is not, indeed, a book +calculated to captivate the imagination of the reading public. +Though written in a clear, forcible, and often elegant style, it +possesses no such wonderful rhetorical charm as the work of +Renan; and it will probably never find half a dozen readers where +the "Vie de Jesus" has found a hundred. But the success of a book +of this sort is not to be measured by its rhetorical excellence, +or by its adaptation to the literary tastes of an uncritical and +uninstructed public, but rather by the amount of critical +sagacity which it brings to bear upon the elucidation of the many +difficult and disputed points in the subject of which it treats. +Measured by this standard, "The Jesus of History" must rank very +high indeed. To say that it throws more light upon the career of +Jesus than any work which has ever before been written in English +would be very inadequate praise, since the English language has +been singularly deficient in this branch of historical +literature. We shall convey a more just idea of its merits if we +say that it will bear comparison with anything which even Germany +has produced, save only the works of Strauss, Baur, and Zeller. + +[19] "The Jesus of History" is now known to have been written by +Sir Richard Hanson, Chief Justice of South Australia. + + +The fitness of our author for the task which he has undertaken is +shown at the outset by his choice of materials. In basing his +conclusions almost exclusively upon the statements contained in +the first gospel, he is upheld by every sound principle of +criticism. The times and places at which our three synoptic +gospels were written have been, through the labours of the +Tubingen critics, determined almost to a certainty. Of the three, +"Mark" is unquestionably the latest; with the exception of about +twenty verses, it is entirely made up from "Matthew" and "Luke," +the diverse Petrine and Pauline tendencies of which it strives to +neutralize in conformity to the conciliatory disposition of the +Church at Rome, at the epoch at which this gospel was written, +about A. D. 130. The third gospel was also written at Rome, some +fifteen years earlier. In the preface, its author describes it as +a compilation from previously existing written materials. Among +these materials was certainly the first gospel, several passages +of which are adopted word for word by the author of "Luke." Yet +the narrative varies materially from that of the first gospel in +many essential points. The arrangement of events is less natural, +and, as in the "Acts of the Apostles," by the same author, there +is apparent throughout the design of suppressing the old discord +between Paul and the Judaizing disciples, and of representing +Christianity as essentially Pauline from the outset. How far Paul +was correct in his interpretation of the teachings of Jesus, it +is difficult to decide. It is, no doubt, possible that the first +gospel may have lent to the words of Jesus an Ebionite colouring +in some instances, and that now and then the third gospel may +present us with a truer account. To this supremely important +point we shall by and by return. For the present it must suffice +to observe that the evidences of an overruling dogmatic purpose +are generally much more conspicuous in the third synoptist than +in the first; and that the very loose manner in which this writer +has handled his materials in the "Acts" is not calculated to +inspire us with confidence in the historical accuracy of his +gospel. The writer who, in spite of the direct testimony of Paul +himself could represent the apostle to the Gentiles as acting +under the direction of the disciples at Jerusalem, and who puts +Pauline sentiments into the mouth of Peter, would certainly have +been capable of unwarrantably giving a Pauline turn to the +teachings of Jesus himself. We are therefore, as a last resort, +brought back to the first gospel, which we find to possess, as a +historical narrative, far stronger claims upon our attention than +the second and third. In all probability it had assumed nearly +its present shape before A. D. 100, its origin is unmistakably +Palestinian; it betrays comparatively few indications of dogmatic +purpose; and there are strong reasons for believing that the +speeches of Jesus recorded in it are in substance taken from the +genuine "Logia" of Matthew mentioned by Papias, which must have +been written as early as A. D. 60-70, before the destruction of +Jerusalem. Indeed, we are inclined to agree with our author that +the gospel, even in its present shape (save only a few +interpolated passages), may have existed as early as A. D. 80, +since it places the time of Jesus' second coming immediately +after the destruction of Jerusalem; whereas the third evangelist, +who wrote forty-five years after that event, is careful to tell +us, "The end is NOT immediately." Moreover, it must have been +written while the Paulo-Petrine controversy was still raging, as +is shown by the parable of the "enemy who sowed the tares," which +manifestly refers to Paul, and also by the allusions to "false +prophets" (vii. 15), to those who say "Lord, Lord," and who "cast +out demons in the name of the Lord" (vii. 21-23), teaching men to +break the commandments (v. 17-20). There is, therefore, good +reason for believing that we have here a narrative written not +much more than fifty years after the death of Jesus, based partly +upon the written memorials of an apostle, and in the main +trustworthy, save where it relates occurrences of a marvellous +and legendary character. Such is our author's conclusion, and in +describing the career of the Jesus of history, he relies almost +exclusively upon the statements contained in the first gospel. +Let us now after this long but inadequate introduction, give a +brief sketch of the life of Jesus, as it is to be found in our +author. + + +Concerning the time and place of the birth of Jesus, we know next +to nothing. According to uniform tradition, based upon a +statement of the third gospel, he was about thirty years of age +at the time when he began teaching. The same gospel states, with +elaborate precision, that the public career of John the Baptist +began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, or A. D. 28. In the +winter of A. D. 35-36, Pontius Pilate was recalled from Judaea, +so that the crucifixion could not have taken place later than in +the spring of 35. Thus we have a period of about six years during +which the ministry of Jesus must have begun and ended; and if the +tradition with respect to his age be trustworthy, we shall not be +far out of the way in supposing him to have been born somewhere +between B. C. 5 and A. D. 5. He is everywhere alluded to in the +gospels as Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, where lived also his +father, mother brothers and sisters, and where very likely he was +born. His parents' names are said to have been Joseph and Mary. +His own name is a Hellenized form of Joshua, a name very common +among the Jews. According to the first gospel (xiii. 55), he had +four brothers,--Joseph and Simon; James, who was afterwards one +of the heads of the church at Jerusalem, and the most formidable +enemy of Paul; and Judas or Jude, who is perhaps the author of +the anti-Pauline epistle commonly ascribed to him. + +Of the early youth of Jesus, and of the circumstances which +guided his intellectual development, we know absolutely nothing, +nor have we the data requisite for forming any plausible +hypothesis. He first appears in history about A. D. 29 or 30, in +connection with a very remarkable person whom the third +evangelist describes as his cousin, and who seems, from his mode +of life, to have been in some way connected with or influenced by +the Hellenizing sect of Essenes. Here we obtain our first clew to +guide us in forming a consecutive theory of the development of +Jesus' opinions. The sect of Essenes took its rise in the time of +the Maccabees, about B. C. 170. Upon the fundamental doctrines of +Judaism it had engrafted many Pythagorean notions, and was +doubtless in the time of Jesus instrumental in spreading Greek +ideas among the people of Galilee, where Judaism was far from +being so narrow and rigid as at Jerusalem. The Essenes attached +but little importance to the Messianic expectations of the +Pharisees, and mingled scarcely at all in national politics. They +lived for the most part a strictly ascetic life, being indeed the +legitimate predecessors of the early Christian hermits and monks. +But while pre-eminent for sanctity of life, they heaped ridicule +upon the entire sacrificial service of the Temple, despised the +Pharisees as hypocrites, and insisted upon charity toward all men +instead of the old Jewish exclusiveness. + +It was once a favourite theory that both John the Baptist and +Jesus were members of the Essenian brotherhood; but that theory +is now generally abandoned. Whatever may have been the case with +John, who is said to have lived like an anchorite in the desert, +there seems to have been but little practical Essenism in Jesus, +who is almost uniformly represented as cheerful and social in +demeanour, and against whom it was expressly urged that he came +eating and drinking, making no presence of puritanical holiness. +He was neither a puritan, like the Essenes, nor a ritualist, like +the Pharisees. Besides which, both John and Jesus seem to have +begun their careers by preaching the un-Essene doctrine of the +speedy advent of the "kingdom of heaven," by which is meant the +reign of the Messiah upon the earth. Nevertheless, though we +cannot regard Jesus as actually a member of the Essenian +community or sect, we can hardly avoid the conclusion that he, as +well as John the Baptist, had been at some time strongly +influenced by Essenian doctrines. The spiritualized conception of +the "kingdom of heaven" proclaimed by him was just what would +naturally and logically arise from a remodelling of the Messianic +theories of the Pharisees in conformity to advanced Essenian +notions. It seems highly probable that some such refined +conception of the functions of the Messiah was reached by John, +who, stigmatizing the Pharisees and Sadducees as a "generation of +vipers," called aloud to the people to repent of their sins, in +view of the speedy advent of the Messiah, and to testify to their +repentance by submitting to the Essenian rite of baptism. There +is no positive evidence that Jesus was ever a disciple of John; +yet the account of the baptism, in spite of the legendary +character of its details, seems to rest upon a historical basis; +and perhaps the most plausible hypothesis which can be framed is, +that Jesus received baptism at John's hands, became for a while +his disciple, and acquired from him a knowledge of Essenian +doctrines. + +The career of John seems to have been very brief. His stern +puritanism brought him soon into disgrace with the government of +Galilee. He was seized by Herod, thrown into prison, and +beheaded. After the brief hints given as to the intercourse +between Jesus and John, we next hear of Jesus alone in the +desert, where, like Sakyamuni and Mohammed, he may have brooded +in solitude over his great project. Yet we do not find that he +had as yet formed any distinct conception of his own Messiahship. +The total neglect of chronology by our authorities[20] renders it +impossible to trace the development of his thoughts step by step; +but for some time after John's catastrophe we find him calling +upon the people to repent, in view of the speedy approach of the +Messiah, speaking with great and commanding personal authority, +but using no language which would indicate that he was striving +to do more than worthily fill the place and add to the good work +of his late master. The Sermon on the Mount, which the first +gospel inserts in this place, was perhaps never spoken as a +continuous discourse; but it no doubt for the most part contains +the very words of Jesus, and represents the general spirit of his +teaching during this earlier portion of his career. In this is +contained nearly all that has made Christianity so powerful in +the domain of ethics. If all the rest of the gospel were taken +away, or destroyed in the night of some future barbarian +invasion, we should still here possess the secret of the +wonderful impression which Jesus made upon those who heard him +speak. Added to the Essenian scorn of Pharisaic formalism, and +the spiritualized conception of the Messianic kingdom, which +Jesus may probably have shared with John the Baptist, we have +here for the first time the distinctively Christian conception of +the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, which +ultimately insured the success of the new religion. The special +point of originality in Jesus was his conception of Deity. As +Strauss well says, "He conceived of God, in a moral point of +view, as being identical in character with himself in the most +exalted moments of his religious life, and strengthened in turn +his own religious life by this ideal. But the most exalted +religious tendency in his own consciousness was exactly that +comprehensive love, overpowering the evil only by the good, which +he therefore transferred to God as the fundamental tendency of +His nature." From this conception of God, observes Zeller, flowed +naturally all the moral teaching of Jesus, the insistence upon +spiritual righteousness instead of the mere mechanical observance +of Mosaic precepts, the call to be perfect even as the Father is +perfect, the principle of the spiritual equality of men before +God, and the equal duties of all men toward each other. + +[20] "The biographers [of Becket] are commonly rather careless as +to the order of time. Each .... recorded what struck him most or +what he best knew, one set down one event and another; and none +of them paid much regard to the order of details."--Freeman, +Historical Essays, 1st series, p. 94. + + +How far, in addition to these vitally important lessons, Jesus +may have taught doctrines of an ephemeral or visionary character, +it is very difficult to decide. We are inclined to regard the +third gospel as of some importance in settling this point. The +author of that gospel represents Jesus as decidedly hostile to +the rich. Where Matthew has "Blessed are the poor in spirit," +Luke has "Blessed are ye poor." In the first gospel we read, +"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for +they will be filled"; but in the third gospel we find, "Blessed +are ye that hunger now, for ye will be filled"; and this +assurance is immediately followed by the denunciation, "Woe to +you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation! Woe to +you that are full now, for ye will hunger." The parable of Dives +and Lazarus illustrates concretely this view of the case, which +is still further corroborated by the account, given in both the +first and the third gospels, of the young man who came to seek +everlasting life. Jesus here maintains that righteousness is +insufficient unless voluntary poverty be superadded. Though the +young man has strictly fulfilled the greatest of the +commandments,--to love his neighbour as himself,--he is required, +as a needful proof of his sincerity, to distribute all his vast +possessions among the poor. And when he naturally manifests a +reluctance to perform so superfluous a sacrifice, Jesus observes +that it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a +needle than for a rich man to share in the glories of the +anticipated Messianic kingdom. It is difficult to escape the +conclusion that we have here a very primitive and probably +authentic tradition; and when we remember the importance which, +according to the "Acts," the earliest disciples attached to the +principle of communism, as illustrated in the legend of Ananias +and Sapphira, we must admit strong reasons for believing that +Jesus himself held views which tended toward the abolition of +private property. On this point, the testimony of the third +evangelist singly is of considerable weight; since at the time +when he wrote, the communistic theories of the first generation +of Christians had been generally abandoned, and in the absence of +any dogmatic motives, he could only have inserted these +particular traditions because he believed them to possess +historical value. But we are not dependent on the third gospel +alone. The story just cited is attested by both our authorities, +and is in perfect keeping with the general views of Jesus as +reported by the first evangelist. Thus his disciples are enjoined +to leave all, and follow him; to take no thought for the morrow; +to think no more of laying up treasures on the earth, for in the +Messianic kingdom they shall have treasures in abundance, which +can neither be wasted nor stolen. On making their journeys, they +are to provide neither money, nor clothes, nor food, but are to +live at the expense of those whom they visit; and if any town +refuse to harbour them, the Messiah, on his arrival, will deal +with that town more severely than Jehovah dealt with the cities +of the plain. Indeed, since the end of the world was to come +before the end of the generation then living (Matt. xxiv. 34; 1 +Cor. xv. 51-56, vii. 29), there could be no need for acquiring +property or making arrangements for the future; even marriage +became unnecessary. These teachings of Jesus have a marked +Essenian character, as well as his declaration that in the +Messianic kingdom there was to be no more marriage, perhaps no +distinction of sex (Matt. xxii. 30). The sect of Ebionites, who +represented the earliest doctrine and practice of Christianity +before it had been modified by Paul, differed from the Essenes in +no essential respect save in the acknowledgment of Jesus as the +Messiah, and the expectation of his speedy return to the earth. + +How long, or with what success, Jesus continued to preach the +coming of the Messiah in Galilee, it is impossible to conjecture. +His fellow-townsmen of Nazareth appear to have ridiculed him in +his prophetical capacity; or, if we may trust the third +evangelist, to have arisen against him with indignation, and made +an attempt upon his life. To them he was but a carpenter, the son +of a carpenter (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3), who told them +disagreeable truths. Our author represents his teaching in +Galilee to have produced but little result, but the gospel +narratives afford no definite data for deciding this point. We +believe the most probable conclusion to be that Jesus did attract +many followers, and became famous throughout Galilee; for Herod +is said to have regarded him as John the Baptist risen from the +grave. To escape the malice of Herod, Jesus then retired to +Syro-Phoenicia, and during this eventful journey the +consciousness of his own Messiahship seems for the first time to +have distinctly dawned upon him (Matt. xiv. 1, 13; xv. 21; xvi. +13-20). Already, it appears, speculations were rife as to the +character of this wonderful preacher. Some thought he was John +the Baptist, or perhaps one of the prophets of the Assyrian +period returned to the earth. Some, in accordance with a +generally-received tradition, supposed him to be Elijah, who had +never seen death, and had now at last returned from the regions +above the firmament to announce the coming of the Messiah in the +clouds. It was generally admitted, among enthusiastic hearers, +that he who spake as never man spake before must have some divine +commission to execute. These speculations, coming to the ears of +Jesus during his preaching in Galilee, could not fail to excite +in him a train of self-conscious reflections. To him also must +have been presented the query as to his own proper character and +functions; and, as our author acutely demonstrates, his only +choice lay between a profitless life of exile in Syro-Phoenicia, +and a bold return to Jewish territory in some pronounced +character. The problem being thus propounded, there could hardly +be a doubt as to what that character should be. Jesus knew well +that he was not John the Baptist; nor, however completely he may +have been dominated by his sublime enthusiasm, was it likely that +he could mistake himself for an ancient prophet arisen from the +lower world of shades, or for Elijah descended from the sky. But +the Messiah himself he might well be. Such indeed was the almost +inevitable corollary from his own conception of Messiahship. We +have seen that he had, probably from the very outset, discarded +the traditional notion of a political Messiah, and recognized the +truth that the happiness of a people lies not so much in +political autonomy as in the love of God and the sincere practice +of righteousness. The people were to be freed from the bondage of +sin, of meaningless formalism, of consecrated hypocrisy,--a +bondage more degrading than the payment of tribute to the +emperor. The true business of the Messiah, then, was to deliver +his people from the former bondage; it might be left to Jehovah, +in his own good time, to deliver them from the latter. Holding +these views, it was hardly possible that it should not sooner or +later occur to Jesus that he himself was the person destined to +discharge this glorious function, to liberate his countrymen from +the thraldom of Pharisaic ritualism, and to inaugurate the real +Messianic kingdom of spiritual righteousness. Had he not already +preached the advent of this spiritual kingdom, and been +instrumental in raising many to loftier conceptions of duty, and +to a higher and purer life? And might he not now, by a grand +attack upon Pharisaism in its central stronghold, destroy its +prestige in the eyes of the people, and cause Israel to adopt a +nobler religious and ethical doctrine? The temerity of such a +purpose detracts nothing from its sublimity. And if that purpose +should be accomplished, Jesus would really have performed the +legitimate work of the Messiah. Thus, from his own point of view, +Jesus was thoroughly consistent and rational in announcing +himself as the expected Deliverer; and in the eyes of the +impartial historian his course is fully justified. + +"From that time," says the first evangelist, "Jesus began to show +to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many +things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be put +to death, and rise again on the third day." Here we have, +obviously, the knowledge of the writer, after the event, +reflected back and attributed to Jesus. It is of course +impossible that Jesus should have predicted with such +definiteness his approaching death; nor is it very likely that he +entertained any hope of being raised from the grave "on the third +day." To a man in that age and country, the conception of a +return from the lower world of shades was not a difficult one to +frame; and it may well be that Jesus' sense of his own exalted +position was sufficiently great to inspire him with the +confidence that, even in case of temporary failure, Jehovah would +rescue him from the grave and send him back with larger powers to +carry out the purpose of his mission. But the difficulty of +distinguishing between his own words and the interpretation put +upon them by his disciples becomes here insuperable; and there +will always be room for the hypothesis that Jesus had in view no +posthumous career of his own, but only expressed his unshaken +confidence in the success of his enterprise, even after and in +spite of his death. + +At all events, the possibility of his death must now have been +often in his mind. He was undertaking a wellnigh desperate +task,--to overthrow the Pharisees in Jerusalem itself. No other +alternative was left him. And here we believe Mr. F. W. Newman to +be singularly at fault in pronouncing this attempt of Jesus upon +Jerusalem a foolhardy attempt. According to Mr. Newman, no man +has any business to rush upon certain death, and it is only a +crazy fanatic who will do so.[21] But such "glittering +generalizations" will here help us but little. The historic data +show that to go to Jerusalem, even at the risk of death, was +absolutely necessary to the realization of Jesus' Messianic +project. Mr. Newman certainly would not have had him drag out an +inglorious and baffled existence in Syro-Phoenicia. If the +Messianic kingdom was to be fairly inaugurated, there was work to +be done in Jerusalem, and Jesus must go there as one in +authority, cost what it might. We believe him to have gone there +in a spirit of grand and careless bravery, yet seriously and +soberly, and under the influence of no fanatical delusion. He +knew the risks, but deliberately chose to incur them, that the +will of Jehovah might be accomplished. + +We next hear of Jesus travelling down to Jerusalem by way of +Jericho, and entering the sacred city in his character of +Messiah, attended by a great multitude. It was near the time of +the Passover, when people from all parts of Galilee and Judaea +were sure to be at Jerusalem, and the nature of his reception +seems to indicate that he had already secured a considerable +number of followers upon whose assistance he might hope to rely, +though it nowhere appears that he intended to use other than +purely moral weapons to insure a favourable reception. We must +remember that for half a century many of the Jewish people had +been constantly looking for the arrival of the Messiah, and there +can be little doubt that the entry of Jesus riding upon an ass in +literal fulfilment of prophecy must have wrought powerfully upon +the imagination of the multitude. That the believers in him were +very numerous must be inferred from the cautious, not to say +timid, behaviour of the rulers at Jerusalem, who are represented +as desiring to arrest him, but as deterred from taking active +steps through fear of the people. We are led to the same +conclusion by his driving the money-changers out of the Temple; +an act upon which he could hardly have ventured, had not the +popular enthusiasm in his favour been for the moment +overwhelming. But the enthusiasm of a mob is short-lived, and +needs to be fed upon the excitement of brilliant and dramatically +arranged events. The calm preacher of righteousness, or even the +fiery denouncer of the scribes and Pharisees, could not hope to +retain undiminished authority save by the display of +extraordinary powers to which, so far as we know, Jesus (like +Mohammed) made no presence (Matt. xvi. 1-4). The ignorant and +materialistic populace could not understand the exalted +conception of Messiahship which had been formed by Jesus, and as +day after day elapsed without the appearance of any marvellous +sign from Jehovah, their enthusiasm must naturally have cooled +down. Then the Pharisees appear cautiously endeavouring to entrap +him into admissions which might render him obnoxious to the Roman +governor. He saw through their design, however, and foiled them +by the magnificent repartee, "Render unto Caesar the things that +are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Nothing +could more forcibly illustrate the completely non-political +character of his Messianic doctrines. Nevertheless, we are told +that, failing in this attempt, the chief priests suborned false +witnesses to testify against him: this Sabbath-breaker, this +derider of Mosaic formalism, who with his Messianic pretensions +excited the people against their hereditary teachers, must at all +events be put out of the way. Jesus must suffer the fate which +society has too often had in store for the reformer; the fate +which Sokrates and Savonarola, Vanini and Bruno, have suffered +for being wiser than their own generation. Messianic adventurers +had already given much trouble to the Roman authorities, who were +not likely to scrutinize critically the peculiar claims of Jesus. +And when the chief priests accused him before Pilate of +professing to be "King of the Jews," this claim could in Roman +apprehension bear but one interpretation. The offence was +treason, punishable, save in the case of Roman citizens, by +crucifixion. + +[21] Phases of Faith, pp. 158-164. + + +Such in its main outlines is the historic career of Jesus, as +constructed by our author from data furnished chiefly by the +first gospel. Connected with the narrative there are many +interesting topics of discussion, of which our rapidly +diminishing space will allow us to select only one for comment. +That one is perhaps the most important of all, namely, the +question as to how far Jesus anticipated the views of Paul in +admitting Gentiles to share in the privileges of the Messianic +kingdom. Our author argues, with much force, that the designs of +Jesus were entirely confined to the Jewish people, and that it +was Paul who first, by admitting Gentiles to the Christian fold +without requiring them to live like Jews, gave to Christianity +the character of a universal religion. Our author reminds us that +the third gospel is not to be depended upon in determining this +point, since it manifestly puts Pauline sentiments into the mouth +of Jesus, and in particular attributes to Jesus an acquaintance +with heretical Samaria which the first gospel disclaims. He +argues that the apostles were in every respect Jews, save in +their belief that Jesus was the Messiah; and he pertinently asks, +if James, who was the brother of Jesus, and Peter and John, who +were his nearest friends, unanimously opposed Paul and +stigmatized him as a liar and heretic, is it at all likely that +Jesus had ever distinctly sanctioned such views as Paul +maintained? + +In the course of many years' reflection upon this point, we have +several times been inclined to accept the narrow interpretation +of Jesus' teaching here indicated; yet, on the whole, we do not +believe it can ever be conclusively established. In the first +place it must be remembered that if the third gospel throws a +Pauline colouring over the events which it describes, the first +gospel also shows a decidedly anti-Pauline bias, and the one +party was as likely as the other to attribute its own views to +Jesus himself. One striking instance of this tendency has been +pointed out by Strauss, who has shown that the verses Matt. v. +17-20 are an interpolation. The person who teaches men to break +the commandments is undoubtedly Paul, and in order to furnish a +text against Paul's followers, the "Nicolaitans," Jesus is made +to declare that he came not to destroy one tittle of the law, but +to fulfil the whole in every particular. Such an utterance is in +manifest contradiction to the spirit of Jesus' teaching, as shown +in the very same chapter, and throughout a great part of the same +gospel. He who taught in his own name and not as the scribes, who +proclaimed himself Lord over the Sabbath, and who manifested from +first to last a more than Essenian contempt for rites and +ceremonies, did not come to fulfil the law of Mosaism, but to +supersede it. Nor can any inference adverse to this conclusion be +drawn from the injunction to the disciples (Matt. x. 5-7) not to +preach to Gentiles and Samaritans, but only "to the lost sheep of +the house of Israel"; for this remark is placed before the +beginning of Jesus' Messianic career, and the reason assigned for +the restriction is merely that the disciples will not have time +even to preach to all the Jews before the coming of the Messiah, +whose approach Jesus was announcing (Matt. x. 23) + +These examples show that we must use caution in weighing the +testimony even of the first gospel, and must not too hastily cite +it as proof that Jesus supposed his mission to be restricted to +the Jews. When we come to consider what happened a few years +after the death of Jesus, we shall be still less ready to insist +upon the view defended by our anonymous author. Paul, according +to his own confession, persecuted the Christians unto death. Now +what, in the theories or in the practice of the Jewish disciples +of Jesus, could have moved Paul to such fanatic behaviour? +Certainly not their spiritual interpretation of Mosaism, for Paul +himself belonged to the liberal school of Gamaliel, to the views +of which the teachings and practices of Peter, James, and John +might easily be accommodated. Probably not their belief in Jesus +as the Messiah, for at the riot in which Stephen was murdered and +all the Hellenist disciples driven from Jerusalem, the Jewish +disciples were allowed to remain in the city unmolested. (See +Acts viii. 1, 14.) This marked difference of treatment indicates +that Paul regarded Stephen and his friends as decidedly more +heretical and obnoxious than Peter, James, and John, whom, +indeed, Paul's own master Gamaliel had recently (Acts v. 34) +defended before the council. And this inference is fully +confirmed by the account of Stephen's death, where his murderers +charge him with maintaining that Jesus had founded a new religion +which was destined entirely to supersede and replace Judaism +(Acts vi. 14). The Petrine disciples never held this view of the +mission of Jesus; and to this difference it is undoubtedly owing +that Paul and his companions forbore to disturb them. It would +thus appear that even previous to Paul's conversion, within five +or six years after the death of Jesus, there was a prominent +party among the disciples which held that the new religion was +not a modification but an abrogation of Judaism; and their name +"Hellenists" sufficiently shows either that there were Gentiles +among them or that they held fellowship with Gentiles. It was +this which aroused Paul to persecution, and upon his sudden +conversion it was with these Hellenistic doctrines that he +fraternized, taking little heed of the Petrine disciples +(Galatians i. 17), who were hardly more than a Jewish sect. + +Now the existence of these Hellenists at Jerusalem so soon after +the death of Jesus is clear proof that he had never distinctly +and irrevocably pronounced against the admission of Gentiles to +the Messianic kingdom, and it makes it very probable that the +downfall of Mosaism as a result of his preaching was by no means +unpremeditated. While, on the other hand, the obstinacy of the +Petrine party in adhering to Jewish customs shows equally that +Jesus could not have unequivocally committed himself in favour of +a new gospel for the Gentiles. Probably Jesus was seldom brought +into direct contact with others than Jews, so that the questions +concerning the admission of Gentile converts did not come up +during his lifetime; and thus the way was left open for the +controversy which soon broke out between the Petrine party and +Paul. Nevertheless, though Jesus may never have definitely +pronounced upon this point, it will hardly be denied that his +teaching, even as reported in the first gospel, is in its utter +condemnation of formalism far more closely allied to the Pauline +than to the Petrine doctrines. In his hands Mosaism became +spiritualized until it really lost its identity, and was +transformed into a code fit for the whole Roman world. And we do +not doubt that if any one had asked Jesus whether circumcision +were an essential prerequisite for admission to the Messianic +kingdom, he would have given the same answer which Paul +afterwards gave. We agree with Zeller and Strauss that, "as +Luther was a more liberal spirit than the Lutheran divines of the +succeeding generation, and Sokrates a more profound thinker than +Xenophon or Antisthenes, so also Jesus must be credited with +having raised himself far higher above the narrow prejudices of +his nation than those of his disciples who could scarcely +understand the spread of Christianity among the heathen when it +had become an accomplished fact." + + January, 1870. + + + +IV. THE CHRIST OF DOGMA.[22] + +[22] Saint-Paul, par Ernest Renan. Paris, 1869. + +Histoire du Dogme de la Divinite de Jesus-Christ, par Albert +Reville. Paris, 1869. + +The End of the World and the Day of Judgment. Two Discourses by +the Rev. W. R. Alger. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870. + + +The meagreness of our information concerning the historic career +of Jesus stands in striking contrast with the mass of information +which lies within our reach concerning the primitive character of +Christologic speculation. First we have the four epistles of +Paul, written from twenty to thirty years after the crucifixion, +which, although they tell us next to nothing about what Jesus +did, nevertheless give us very plain information as to the +impression which he made. Then we have the Apocalypse, written by +John, A. D. 68, which exhibits the Messianic theory entertained +by the earliest disciples. Next we have the epistles to the +Hebrews, Philippians, Colossians, and Ephesians, besides the four +gospels, constituting altogether a connected chain of testimony +to the progress of Christian doctrine from the destruction of +Jerusalem to the time of the Quartodeciman controversy (A. D. +70-170). Finally, there is the vast collection of apocryphal, +heretical, and patristic literature, from the writings of Justin +Martyr, the pseudo-Clement, and the pseudo-Ignatius, down to the +time of the Council of Nikaia, when the official theories of +Christ's person assumed very nearly the shape which they have +retained, within the orthodox churches of Christendom, down to +the present day. As we pointed out in the foregoing essay, while +all this voluminous literature throws but an uncertain light upon +the life and teachings of the founder of Christianity, it +nevertheless furnishes nearly all the data which we could desire +for knowing what the early Christians thought of the master of +their faith. Having given a brief account of the historic career +of Jesus, so far as it can now be determined, we propose here to +sketch the rise and progress of Christologic doctrine, in its +most striking features, during the first three centuries. +Beginning with the apostolic view of the human Messiah sent to +deliver Judaism from its spiritual torpor, and prepare it for the +millennial kingdom, we shall briefly trace the progressive +metamorphosis of this conception until it completely loses its +identity in the Athanasian theory, according to which Jesus was +God himself, the Creator of the universe, incarnate in human +flesh. + +The earliest dogma held by the apostles concerning Jesus was that +of his resurrection from the grave after death. It was not only +the earliest, but the most essential to the success of the new +religion. Christianity might have overspread the Roman Empire, +and maintained its hold upon men's faith until to-day, without +the dogmas of the incarnation and the Trinity; but without the +dogma of the resurrection it would probably have failed at the +very outset. Its lofty morality would not alone have sufficed to +insure its success. For what men needed then, as indeed they +still need, and will always need, was not merely a rule of life +and a mirror to the heart, but also a comprehensive and +satisfactory theory of things, a philosophy or theosophy. The +times demanded intellectual as well as moral consolation; and the +disintegration of ancient theologies needed to be repaired, that +the new ethical impulse imparted by Christianity might rest upon +a plausible speculative basis. The doctrine of the resurrection +was but the beginning of a series of speculative innovations +which prepared the way for the new religion to emancipate itself +from Judaism, and achieve the conquest of the Empire. Even the +faith of the apostles in the speedy return of their master the +Messiah must have somewhat lost ground, had it not been supported +by their belief in his resurrection from the grave and his +consequent transfer from Sheol, the gloomy land of shadows, to +the regions above the sky. + +The origin of the dogma of the resurrection cannot be determined +with certainty. The question has, during the past century, been +the subject of much discussion, upon which it is not necessary +for us here to comment. Such apparent evidence as there is in +favour of the old theory of Jesus' natural recovery from the +effects of the crucifixion may be found in Salvador's +"Jesus-Christ et sa Doctrine"; but, as Zeller has shown, the +theory is utterly unsatisfactory. The natural return of Jesus to +his disciples never could have given rise to the notion of his +resurrection, since the natural explanation would have been the +more obvious one; besides which, if we were to adopt this +hypothesis, we should be obliged to account for the fact that the +historic career of Jesus ends with the crucifixion. The most +probable explanation, on the whole, is the one suggested by the +accounts in the gospels, that the dogma of the resurrection is +due originally to the excited imagination of Mary of Magdala.[23] +The testimony of Paul may also be cited in favour of this view, +since he always alludes to earlier Christophanies in just the +same language which he uses in describing his own vision on the +road to Damascus. + +[23] See Taine, De l'Intelligence, II. 192. + + +But the question as to how the belief in the resurrection of +Jesus originated is of less importance than the question as to +how it should have produced the effect that it did. The dogma of +the resurrection has, until recent times, been so rarely treated +from the historical point of view, that the student of history at +first finds some difficulty in thoroughly realizing its import to +the minds of those who first proclaimed it. We cannot hope to +understand it without bearing in mind the theories of the Jews +and early Christians concerning the structure of the world and +the cosmic location of departed souls. Since the time of +Copernicus modern Christians no longer attempt to locate heaven +and hell; they are conceived merely as mysterious places remote +from the earth. The theological universe no longer corresponds to +that which physical science presents for our contemplation. It +was quite different with the Jew. His conception of the abode of +Jehovah and the angels, and of departed souls, was exceedingly +simple and definite. In the Jewish theory the universe is like a +sort of three-story house. The flat earth rests upon the waters, +and under the earth's surface is the land of graves, called +Sheol, where after death the souls of all men go, the righteous +as well as the wicked, for the Jew had not arrived at the +doctrine of heaven and hell. The Hebrew Sheol corresponds +strictly to the Greek Hades, before the notions of Elysium and +Tartarus were added to it,--a land peopled with flitting shadows, +suffering no torment, but experiencing no pleasure, like those +whom Dante met in one of the upper circles of his Inferno. Sheol +is the first story of the cosmic house; the earth is the second. +Above the earth is the firmament or sky, which, according to the +book of Genesis (chap. i. v. 6, Hebrew text), is a vast plate +hammered out by the gods, and supports a great ocean like that +upon which the earth rests. Rain is caused by the opening of +little windows or trap-doors in the firmament, through which +pours the water of this upper ocean. Upon this water rests the +land of heaven, where Jehovah reigns, surrounded by hosts of +angels. To this blessed land two only of the human race had ever +been admitted,--Enoch and Elijah, the latter of whom had ascended +in a chariot of fire, and was destined to return to earth as the +herald and forerunner of the Messiah. Heaven forms the third +story of the cosmic house. Between the firmament and the earth is +the air, which is the habitation of evil demons ruled by Satan, +the "prince of the powers of the air." + +Such was the cosmology of the ancient Jew; and his theology was +equally simple. Sheol was the destined abode of all men after +death, and no theory of moral retribution was attached to the +conception. The rewards and punishments known to the authors of +the Pentateuch and the early Psalms are all earthly rewards and +punishments. But in course of time the prosperity of the wicked +and the misfortunes of the good man furnished a troublesome +problem for the Jewish thinker; and after the Babylonish +Captivity, we find the doctrine of a resurrection from Sheol +devised in order to meet this case. According to this +doctrine--which was borrowed from the Zarathustrian theology of +Persia--the Messiah on his arrival was to free from Sheol all the +souls of the righteous, causing them to ascend reinvested in +their bodies to a renewed and beautiful earth, while on the other +hand the wicked were to be punished with tortures like those of +the valley of Hinnom, or were to be immersed in liquid brimstone, +like that which had rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Here we get +the first announcement of a future state of retribution. The +doctrine was peculiarly Pharisaic, and the Sadducees, who were +strict adherents to the letter of Mosaism, rejected it to the +last. By degrees this doctrine became coupled with the Messianic +theories of the Pharisees. The loss of Jewish independence under +the dominion of Persians, Macedonians, and Romans, caused the +people to look ever more earnestly toward the expected time when +the Messiah should appear in Jerusalem to deliver them from their +oppressors. The moral doctrines of the Psalms and earlier +prophets assumed an increasingly political aspect. The Jews were +the righteous "under a cloud," whose sufferings were symbolically +depicted by the younger Isaiah as the afflictions of the "servant +of Jehovah"; while on the other hand, the "wicked" were the +Gentile oppressors of the holy people. Accordingly the Messiah, +on his arrival, was to sit in judgment in the valley of +Jehoshaphat, rectifying the wrongs of his chosen ones, condemning +the Gentile tyrants to the torments of Gehenna, and raising from +Sheol all those Jews who had lived and died during the evil times +before his coming. These were to find in the Messianic kingdom +the compensation for the ills which they had suffered in their +first earthly existence. Such are the main outlines of the theory +found in the Book of Enoch, written about B. C. 100, and it is +adopted in the Johannine Apocalypse, with little variation, save +in the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, and in the +transferrence to his second coming of all these wonderful +proceedings. The manner of the Messiah's coming had been +variously imagined. According to an earlier view, he was to enter +Jerusalem as a King of the house of David, and therefore of human +lineage. According to a later view, presented in the Book of +Daniel, he was to descend from the sky, and appear among the +clouds. Both these views were adopted by the disciples of Jesus, +who harmonized them by referring the one to his first and the +other to his second appearance. + +Now to the imaginations of these earliest disciples the belief in +the resurrection of Jesus presented itself as a needful guarantee +of his Messiahship. Their faith, which must have been shaken by +his execution and descent into Sheol, received welcome +confirmation by the springing up of the belief that he had been +again seen upon the face of the earth. Applying the imagery of +Daniel, it became a logical conclusion that he must have ascended +into the sky, whence he might shortly be expected to make his +appearance, to enact the scenes foretold in prophecy. That such +was the actual process of inference is shown by the legend of the +Ascension in the first chapter of the "Acts," and especially by +the words, "This Jesus who hath been taken up from you into +heaven, will come in the same manner in which ye beheld him going +into heaven." In the Apocalypse, written A. D. 68, just after the +death of Nero, this second coming is described as something +immediately to happen, and the colours in which it is depicted +show how closely allied were the Johannine notions to those of +the Pharisees. The glories of the New Jerusalem are to be +reserved for Jews, while for the Roman tyrants of Judaea is +reserved a fearful retribution. They are to be trodden underfoot +by the Messiah, like grapes in a wine-press, until the gushing +blood shall rise to the height of the horse's bridle. + +In the writings of Paul the dogma of the resurrection assumes a +very different aspect. Though Paul, like the older apostles, held +that Jesus, as the Messiah, was to return to the earth within a +few years, yet to his catholic mind this anticipated event had +become divested of its narrow Jewish significance. In the eyes of +Paul, the religion preached by Jesus was an abrogation of +Mosaism, and the truths contained in it were a free gift to the +Gentile as well as to the Jewish world. According to Paul, death +came into the world as a punishment for the sin of Adam. By this +he meant that, had it not been for the original transgression, +all men escaping death would either have remained upon earth or +have been conveyed to heaven, like Enoch and Elijah, in +incorruptible bodies. But in reality as a penance for +disobedience, all men, with these two exceptions, had suffered +death, and been exiled to the gloomy caverns of Sheol. The Mosaic +ritual was powerless to free men from this repulsive doom, but it +had nevertheless served a good purpose in keeping men's minds +directed toward holiness, preparing them, as a schoolmaster would +prepare his pupils, to receive the vitalizing truths of Christ. +Now, at last, the Messiah or Christ had come as a second Adam, +and being without sin had been raised by Jehovah out of Sheol and +taken up into heaven, as testimony to men that the power of sin +and death was at last defeated. The way henceforth to avoid death +and escape the exile to Sheol was to live spiritually like Jesus, +and with him to be dead to sensual requirements. Faith, in Paul's +apprehension, was not an intellectual assent to definitely +prescribed dogmas, but, as Matthew Arnold has well pointed out, +it was an emotional striving after righteousness, a developing +consciousness of God in the soul, such as Jesus had possessed, +or, in Paul's phraseology, a subjugation of the flesh by the +spirit. All those who should thus seek spiritual perfection +should escape the original curse. The Messiah was destined to +return to the earth to establish the reign of spiritual holiness, +probably during Paul's own lifetime (1 Cor. xv. 51). Then the +true followers of Jesus should be clothed in ethereal bodies, +free from the imperfections of "the flesh," and should ascend to +heaven without suffering death, while the righteous dead should +at the same time be released from Sheol, even as Jesus himself +had been released. + +To the doctrine of the resurrection, in which ethical and +speculative elements are thus happily blended by Paul, the new +religion doubtless owed in great part its rapid success. Into an +account of the causes which favoured the spreading of +Christianity, it is not our purpose to enter at present. But we +may note that the local religions of the ancient pagan world had +partly destroyed each other by mutual intermingling, and had lost +their hold upon people from the circumstance that their ethical +teaching no longer corresponded to the advanced ethical feeling +of the age. Polytheism, in short, was outgrown. It was outgrown +both intellectually and morally. People were ceasing to believe +in its doctrines, and were ceasing to respect its precepts. The +learned were taking refuge in philosophy, the ignorant in +mystical superstitions imported from Asia. The commanding ethical +motive of ancient republican times had been patriotism,--devotion +to the interests of the community. But Roman dominion had +destroyed patriotism as a guiding principle of life, and thus in +every way the minds of men were left in a sceptical, unsatisfied +state,--craving after a new theory of life, and craving after a +new stimulus to right action. Obviously the only theology which +could now be satisfactory to philosophy or to common-sense was +some form of monotheism;--some system of doctrines which should +represent all men as spiritually subjected to the will of a +single God, just as they were subjected to the temporal authority +of the Emperor. And similarly the only system of ethics which +could have a chance of prevailing must be some system which +should clearly prescribe the mutual duties of all men without +distinction of race or locality. Thus the spiritual morality of +Jesus, and his conception of God as a father and of all men as +brothers, appeared at once to meet the ethical and speculative +demands of the time. + +Yet whatever effect these teachings might have produced, if +unaided by further doctrinal elaboration, was enhanced myriadfold +by the elaboration which they received at the hands of Paul. +Philosophic Stoics and Epicureans had arrived at the conception +of the brotherhood of men, and the Greek hymn of Kleanthes had +exhibited a deep spiritual sense of the fatherhood of God. The +originality of Christianity lay not so much in its enunciation of +new ethical precepts as in the fact that it furnished a new +ethical sanction,--a commanding incentive to holiness of living. +That it might accomplish this result, it was absolutely necessary +that it should begin by discarding both the ritualism and the +narrow theories of Judaism. The mere desire for a monotheistic +creed had led many pagans, in Paul's time, to embrace Judaism, in +spite of its requirements, which to Romans and Greeks were +meaningless, and often disgusting; but such conversions could +never have been numerous. Judaism could never have conquered the +Roman world; nor is it likely that the Judaical Christianity of +Peter, James, and John would have been any more successful. The +doctrine of the resurrection, in particular, was not likely to +prove attractive when accompanied by the picture of the Messiah +treading the Gentiles in the wine-press of his righteous +indignation. But here Paul showed his profound originality The +condemnation of Jewish formalism which Jesus had pronounced, Paul +turned against the older apostles, who insisted upon +circumcision. With marvellous flexibility of mind, Paul placed +circumcision and the Mosaic injunctions about meats upon a level +with the ritual observances of pagan nations, allowing each +feeble brother to perform such works as might tickle his fancy, +but bidding all take heed that salvation was not to be obtained +after any such mechanical method, but only by devoting the whole +soul to righteousness, after the example of Jesus. + +This was the negative part of Paul's work. This was the knocking +down of the barriers which had kept men, and would always have +kept them, from entering into the kingdom of heaven. But the +positive part of Paul's work is contained in his theory of the +salvation of men from death through the second Adam, whom Jehovah +rescued from Sheol for his sinlessness. The resurrection of Jesus +was the visible token of the escape from death which might be +achieved by all men who, with God's aid, should succeed in +freeing themselves from the burden of sin which had encumbered +all the children of Adam. The end of the world was at hand, and +they who would live with Christ must figuratively die with +Christ, must become dead to sin. Thus to the pure and spiritual +ethics contained in the teachings of Jesus, Paul added an +incalculably powerful incentive to right action, and a theory of +life calculated to satisfy the speculative necessities of the +pagan or Gentile world. To the educated and sceptical Athenian, +as to the critical scholar of modern times, the physical +resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and his ascent through the +vaulted floor of heaven, might seem foolishness or naivete. But +to the average Greek or Roman the conception presented no serious +difficulty. The cosmical theories upon which the conception was +founded were essentially the same among Jews and Gentiles, and +indeed were but little modified until the establishment of the +Copernican astronomy. The doctrine of the Messiah's second coming +was also received without opposition, and for about a century men +lived in continual anticipation of that event, until hope long +deferred produced its usual results; the writings in which that +event was predicted were gradually explained away, ignored, or +stigmatized as uncanonical; and the Church ended by condemning as +a heresy the very doctrine which Paul and the Judaizing apostles, +who agreed in little else, had alike made the basis of their +speculative teachings. Nevertheless, by the dint of allegorical +interpretation, the belief has maintained an obscure existence +even down to the present time; the Antiochus of the Book of +Daniel and the Nero of the Apocalypse having given place to the +Roman Pontiff or to the Emperor of the French. + +But as the millenarism of the primitive Church gradually died out +during the second century, the essential principles involved in +it lost none of their hold on men's minds. As the generation +contemporary with Paul died away and was gathered into Sheol, it +became apparent that the original theory must be somewhat +modified, and to this question the author of the second epistle +to the Thessalonians addresses himself. Instead of literal +preservation from death, the doctrine of a resurrection from the +grave was gradually extended to the case of the new believers, +who were to share in the same glorious revival with the righteous +of ancient times. And thus by slow degrees the victory over +death, of which the resurrection of Jesus was a symbol and a +witness, became metamorphosed into the comparatively modern +doctrine of the rest of the saints in heaven, while the +banishment of the unrighteous to Sheol was made still more +dreadful by coupling with the vague conception of a gloomy +subterranean cavern the horrible imagery of the lake of fire and +brimstone borrowed from the apocalyptic descriptions of Gehenna. +But in this modification of the original theory, the fundamental +idea of a future state of retribution was only the more +distinctly emphasized; although, in course of time, the original +incentive to righteousness supplied by Paul was more and more +subordinated to the comparatively degrading incentive involved in +the fear of damnation. There can hardly be a doubt that the +definiteness and vividness of the Pauline theory of a future life +contributed very largely to the rapid spread of the Christian +religion; nor can it be doubted that to the desire to be holy +like Jesus, in order to escape death and live with Jesus, is due +the elevating ethical influence which, even in the worst times of +ecclesiastic degeneracy, Christianity has never failed to exert. +Doubtless, as Lessing long, ago observed, the notion of future +reward and punishment needs to be eliminated in order that the +incentive to holiness may be a perfectly pure one. The highest +virtue is that which takes no thought of reward or punishment; +but for a conception of this sort the mind of antiquity was not +ready, nor is the average mind of to-day yet ready; and the +sudden or premature dissolution of the Christian theory--which is +fortunately impossible--might perhaps entail a moral +retrogradation. + +The above is by no means intended as a complete outline of the +religious philosophy of Paul. We have aimed only at a clear +definition of the character and scope of the doctrine of the +resurrection of Jesus, at the time when it was first elaborated. +We have now to notice the influence of that doctrine upon the +development of Christologic speculation. + +In neither or the four genuine epistles of Paul is Jesus +described as superhuman, or as differing in nature from other +men, save in his freedom from sin. As Baur has shown, "the proper +nature of the Pauline Christ is human. He is a man, but a +spiritual man, one in whom spirit or pneuma was the essential +principle, so that he was spirit as well as man. The principle of +an ideal humanity existed before Christ in the bright form of a +typical man, but was manifested to mankind in the person of +Christ." Such, according to Baur, is Paul's interpretation of the +Messianic idea. Paul knows nothing of the miracles, of the +supernatural conception, of the incarnation, or of the Logos. The +Christ whom he preaches is the man Jesus, the founder of a new +and spiritual order of humanity, as Adam was the father of +humanity after the flesh. The resurrection is uniformly described +by him as a manifestation of the power of Jehovah, not of Jesus +himself. The later conception of Christ bursting the barred gates +of Sheol, and arising by his own might to heaven, finds no +warrant in the expressions of Paul. Indeed, it was essential to +Paul's theory of the Messiah as a new Adam, that he should be +human and not divine; for the escape of a divine being from Sheol +could afford no precedent and furnish no assurance of the future +escape of human beings. It was expressly because the man Jesus +had been rescued from the grave because of his spirituality, that +other men might hope, by becoming spiritual like him, to be +rescued also. Accordingly Paul is careful to state that "since +through man came death, through man came also the resurrection of +the dead" (1 Cor. xv. 21); a passage which would look like an +express denial of Christ's superhuman character, were it probable +that any of Paul's contemporaries had ever conceived of Jesus as +other than essentially human. + +But though Paul's Christology remained in this primitive stage, +it contained the germs of a more advanced theory. For even Paul +conceived of Jesus as a man wholly exceptional in spiritual +character; or, in the phraseology of the time, as consisting to a +larger extent of pneuma than any man who had lived before him. +The question was sure to arise, Whence came this pneuma or +spiritual quality? Whether the question ever distinctly presented +itself to Paul's mind cannot be determined. Probably it did not. +In those writings of his which have come down to us, he shows +himself careless of metaphysical considerations. He is mainly +concerned with exhibiting the unsatisfactory character of Jewish +Christianity, and with inculcating a spiritual morality, to which +the doctrine of Christ's resurrection is made to supply a +surpassingly powerful sanction. But attempts to solve the problem +were not long in coming. According to a very early tradition, of +which the obscured traces remain in the synoptic gospels, Jesus +received the pneuma at the time of his baptism, when the Holy +Spirit, or visible manifestation of the essence of Jehovah, +descended upon him and became incarnate in him. This theory, +however, was exposed to the objection that it implied a sudden +and entire transformation of an ordinary man into a person +inspired or possessed by the Deity. Though long maintained by the +Ebionites or primitive Christians, it was very soon rejected by +the great body of the Church, which asserted instead that Jesus +had been inspired by the Holy Spirit from the moment of his +conception. From this it was but a step to the theory that Jesus +was actually begotten by or of the Holy Spirit; a notion which +the Hellenic mind, accustomed to the myths of Leda, Anchises, and +others, found no difficulty in entertaining. According to the +Gospel of the Hebrews, as cited by Origen, the Holy Spirit was +the mother of Jesus, and Joseph was his father. But according to +the prevailing opinion, as represented in the first and third +synoptists, the relationship was just the other way. With greater +apparent plausibility, the divine aeon was substituted for the +human father, and a myth sprang up, of which the materialistic +details furnished to the opponents of the new religion an +opportunity for making the most gross and exasperating +insinuations. The dominance of this theory marks the era at which +our first and third synoptic gospels were composed,--from sixty +to ninety years after the death of Jesus. In the luxuriant +mythologic growth there exhibited, we may yet trace the various +successive phases of Christologic speculation but imperfectly +blended. In "Matthew" and "Luke" we find the original Messianic +theory exemplified in the genealogies of Jesus, in which, +contrary to historic probability (cf. Matt. xxii. 41-46), but in +accordance with a time-honoured tradition, his pedigree is traced +back to David; "Matthew" referring him to the royal line of +Judah, while "Luke" more cautiously has recourse to an assumed +younger branch. Superposed upon this primitive mythologic +stratum, we find, in the same narratives, the account of the +descent of the pneuma at the time of the baptism; and crowning +the whole, there are the two accounts of the nativity which, +though conflicting in nearly all their details, agree in +representing the divine pneuma as the father of Jesus. Of these +three stages of Christology, the last becomes entirely +irreconcilable with the first; and nothing can better illustrate +the uncritical character of the synoptists than the fact that the +assumed descent of Jesus from David through his father Joseph is +allowed to stand side by side with the account of the miraculous +conception which completely negatives it. Of this difficulty +"Matthew" is quite unconscious, and "Luke," while vaguely +noticing it (iii. 23), proposes no solution, and appears +undisturbed by the contradiction. + +Thus far the Christology with which we have been dealing is +predominantly Jewish, though to some extent influenced by +Hellenic conceptions. None of the successive doctrines presented +in Paul, "Matthew," and "Luke" assert or imply the pre-existence +of Jesus. At this early period he was regarded as a human being +raised to participation in certain attributes of divinity; and +this was as far as the dogma could be carried by the Jewish +metaphysics. But soon after the date of our third gospel, a +Hellenic system of Christology arose into prominence, in which +the problem was reversed, and Jesus was regarded as a semi-divine +being temporarily lowered to participation in certain attributes +of humanity. For such a doctrine Jewish mythology supplied no +precedents; but the Indo-European mind was familiar with the +conception of deity incarnate in human form, as in the avatars of +Vishnu, or even suffering III the interests of humanity, as in +the noble myth of Prometheus. The elements of Christology +pre-existing in the religious conceptions of Greece, India, and +Persia, are too rich and numerous to be discussed here. A very +full account of them is given in Mr. R. W. Mackay's acute and +learned treatise on the "Religious Development of the Greeks and +Hebrews{.}" + +It was in Alexandria, where Jewish theology first came into +contact with Hellenic and Oriental ideas, that the way was +prepared for the dogma of Christ's pre-existence. The attempt to +rationalize the conception of deity as embodied in the Jehovah of +the Old Testament gave rise to the class of opinions described as +Gnosis, or Gnosticism. The signification of Gnosis is simply +"rationalism,"--the endeavour to harmonize the materialistic +statements of an old mythology with the more advanced +spiritualistic philosophy of the time. The Gnostics rejected the +conception of an anthropomorphic deity who had appeared visibly +and audibly to the patriarchs; and they were the authors of the +doctrine, very widely spread during the second and third +centuries, that God could not in person have been the creator of +the world. According to them, God, as pure spirit, could not act +directly upon vile and gross matter. The difficulty which +troubled them was curiously analogous to that which disturbed the +Cartesians and the followers of Leibnitz in the seventeenth +century; how was spirit to act upon matter, without ceasing, pro +tanto, to be spirit? To evade this difficulty, the Gnostics +postulated a series of emanations from God, becoming successively +less and less spiritual and more and more material, until at the +lowest end of the scale was reached the Demiurgus or Jehovah of +the Old Testament, who created the world and appeared, clothed in +material form, to the patriarchs. According to some of the +Gnostics this lowest aeon or emanation was identical with the +Jewish Satan, or the Ahriman of the Persians, who is called "the +prince of this world," and the creation of the world was an +essentially evil act. But all did not share in these extreme +opinions. In the prevailing, theory, this last of the divine +emanations was identified with the "Sophia," or personified +"Wisdom," of the Book of Proverbs (viii. 22-30), who is described +as present with God before the foundation of the world. The +totality of these aeons constituted the pleroma, or "fulness of +God" (Coloss. i. 20; Eph. i. 23), and in a corollary which bears +unmistakable marks of Buddhist influence, it was argued that, in +the final consummation of things, matter should be eliminated and +all spirit reunited with God, from whom it had primarily flowed. + +It was impossible that such views as these should not soon be +taken up and applied to the fluctuating Christology of the time. +According to the "Shepherd of Hermas," an apocalyptic writing +nearly contemporary with the gospel of "Mark," the aeon or son of +God who existed previous to the creation was not the Christ, or +the Sophia, but the Pneuma or Holy Spirit, represented in the Old +Testament as the "angel of Jehovah." Jesus, in reward for his +perfect goodness, was admitted to a share in the privileges of +this Pneuma (Reville, p. 39). Here, as M. Reville observes, +though a Gnostic idea is adopted, Jesus is nevertheless viewed as +ascending humanity, and not as descending divinity. The author of +the "Clementine Homilies" advances a step farther, and clearly +assumes the pre-existence of Jesus, who, in his opinion, was the +pure, primitive man, successively incarnate in Adam, Enoch, Noah, +Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and finally in the Messiah or +Christ. The author protests, in vehement language, against those +Hellenists who, misled by their polytheistic associations, would +elevate Jesus into a god. Nevertheless, his own hypothesis of +pre-existence supplied at once the requisite fulcrum for those +Gnostics who wished to reconcile a strict monotheism with the +ascription of divine attributes to Jesus. Combining with this +notion of pre-existence the pneumatic or spiritual quality +attributed to Jesus in the writings of Paul, the Gnosticizing +Christians maintained that Christ was an aeon or emanation from +God, redeeming men from the consequences entailed by their +imprisonment in matter. At this stage of Christologic speculation +appeared the anonymous epistle to the "Hebrews," and the +pseudo-Pauline epistles to the "Colossians," "Ephesians," and +"Philippians" (A. D. 130). In these epistles, which originated +among the Pauline Christians, the Gnostic theosophy is skilfully +applied to the Pauline conception of the scope and purposes of +Christianity. Jesus is described as the creator of the world +(Coloss. i. 16), the visible image of the invisible God, the +chief and ruler of the "throues, dominions, principalities, and +powers," into which, in Gnostic phraseology, the emanations of +God were classified. Or, according to "Colossians" and +"Philippians," all the aeons are summed up in him, in whom dwells +the pleroma, or "fulness of God." Thus Jesus is elevated quite +above ordinary humanity, and a close approach is made to +ditheism, although he is still emphatically subordinated to God +by being made the creator of the world,--an office then regarded +as incompatible with absolute divine perfection. In the +celebrated passage, "Philippians" ii. 6-11, the aeon Jesus is +described as being the form or visible manifestation of God, yet +as humbling himself by taking on the form or semblance of +humanity, and suffering death, in return for which he is to be +exalted even above the archangels. A similar view is taken in +"Hebrews"; and it is probable that to the growing favour with +which these doctrines were received, we owe the omission of the +miraculous conception from the gospel of "Mark,"--a circumstance +which has misled some critics into assigning to that gospel an +earlier date than to "Matthew" and "Luke." Yet the fact that in +this gospel Jesus is implicitly ranked above the angels (Mark +xiii. 32), reveals a later stage of Christologic doctrine than +that reached by the first and third synoptists; and it is +altogether probable that, in accordance with the noticeable +conciliatory disposition of this evangelist, the supernatural +conception is omitted out of deference to the Gnosticizing +theories of "Colossians" and "Philippians," in which this +materialistic doctrine seems to have had no assignable place. In +"Philippians" especially, many expressions seem to verge upon +Docetism, the extreme form of Gnosticism, according to which the +human body of Jesus was only a phantom. Valentinus, who was +contemporary with the Pauline writers of the second century, +maintained that Jesus was not born of Mary by any process of +conception, but merely passed through her, as light traverses a +translucent substance. And finally Marcion (A. D. 140) carried +the theory to its extreme limits by declaring that Jesus was the +pure Pneuma or Spirit, who contained nothing in common with +carnal humanity. + +The pseudo-Pauline writers steered clear of this extravagant +doctrine, which erred by breaking entirely with historic +tradition, and was consequently soon condemned as heretical. +Their language, though unmistakably Gnostic, was sufficiently +neutral and indefinite to allow of their combination with earlier +and later expositions of dogma, and they were therefore +eventually received into the canon, where they exhibit a stage of +opinion midway between that of Paul and that of the fourth +gospel. + +For the construction of a durable system of Christology, still +further elaboration was necessary. The pre-existence of Jesus, as +an emanation from God, in whom were summed up the attributes of +the pleroma or full scale of Gnostic aeons, was now generally +conceded. But the relation of this pleroqma to the Godhead of +which it was the visible manifestation, needed to be more +accurately defined. And here recourse was had to the conception +of the "Logos,"--a notion which Philo had borrowed from Plato, +lending to it a theosophic significance. In the Platonic +metaphysics objective existence was attributed to general terms, +the signs of general notions. Besides each particular man, horse, +or tree, and besides all men, horses, and trees, in the +aggregate, there was supposed to exist an ideal Man, Horse, and +Tree. Each particular man, horse, or tree consisted of abstract +existence plus a portion of the ideal man, horse, or tree. +Sokrates, for instance, consisted of Existence, plus Animality, +plus Humanity, plus Sokraticity. The visible world of particulars +thus existed only by virtue of its participation in the +attributes of the ideal world of universals. God created the +world by encumbering each idea with an envelopment or clothing of +visible matter; and since matter is vile or imperfect, all things +are more or less perfect as they partake more or less fully of +the idea. The pure unencumbered idea, the "Idea of ideas," is the +Logos, or divine Reason, which represents the sum-total of the +activities which sustain the world, and serves as a mediator +between the absolutely ideal God and the absolutely non-ideal +matter. Here we arrive at a Gnostic conception, which the +Philonists of Alexandria were not slow to appropriate. The Logos, +or divine Reason, was identified with the Sophia, or divine +Wisdom of the Jewish Gnostics, which had dwelt with God before +the creation of the world. By a subtle play upon the double +meaning of the Greek term (logos = "reason" or "word"), a +distinction was drawn between the divine Reason and the divine +Word. The former was the archctypal idea or thought of God, +existing from all eternity; the latter was the external +manifestation or realization of that idea which occurred at the +moment of creation, when, according to Genesis, God SPOKE, and +the world was. + +In the middle of the second century, this Philonian theory was +the one thing needful to add metaphysical precision to the +Gnostic and Pauline speculations concerning the nature of Jesus. +In the writings of Justin Martyr (A. D. 150-166), Jesus is for +the first time identified with the Philonian Logos or "Word of +God." According to Justin, an impassable abyss exists between the +Infinite Deity and the Finite World; the one cannot act upon the +other; pure spirit cannot contaminate itself by contact with +impure matter. To meet this difficulty, God evolves from himself +a secondary God, the Logos,--yet without diminishing himself any +more than a flame is diminished when it gives birth to a second +flame. Thus generated, like light begotten of light (lumen de +lumine), the Logos creates the world, inspires the ancient +prophets with their divine revelations, and finally reveals +himself to mankind in the person of Christ. Yet Justin sedulously +guards himself against ditheism, insisting frequently and +emphatically upon the immeasurable inferiority of the Logos as +compared with the actual God (gr o ontws qeos). + +We have here reached very nearly the ultimate phase of New +Testament speculation concerning Jesus. The doctrines enunciated +by Justin became eventually, with slight modification, the +official doctrines of the Church; yet before they could thus be +received, some further elaboration was needed. The pre-existing +Logos-Christ of Justin was no longer the human Messiah of the +first and third gospels, born of a woman, inspired by the divine +Pneuma, and tempted by the Devil. There was danger that +Christologic speculation might break quite loose from historic +tradition, and pass into the metaphysical extreme of Docetism. +Had this come to pass, there might perhaps have been a fatal +schism in the Church. Tradition still remained Ebionitish; dogma +had become decidedly Gnostic; how were the two to be moulded into +harmony with each other? Such was the problem which presented +itself to the author of the fourth gospel (A. D. 170-180). As M. +Reville observes, "if the doctrine of the Logos were really to be +applied to the person of Jesus, it was necessary to remodel the +evangelical history." Tradition must be moulded so as to fit the +dogma, but the dogma must be restrained by tradition from running +into Docetic extravagance. It must be shown historically how "the +Word became flesh" and dwelt on earth (John i. 14), how the deeds +of Jesus of Nazareth were the deeds of the incarnate Logos, in +whom was exhibited the pleroma or fulness of the divine +attributes. The author of the fourth gospel is, like Justin, a +Philonian Gnostic; but he differs from Justin in his bold and +skilful treatment of the traditional materials supplied by the +earlier gospels. The process of development in the theories and +purposes of Jesus, which can be traced throughout the Messianic +descriptions of the first gospel, is entirely obliterated in the +fourth. Here Jesus appears at the outset as the creator of the +world, descended from his glory, but destined soon to be +reinstated. The title "Son of Man" has lost its original +significance, and become synonymous with "Son of God." The +temptation, the transfiguration, the scene in Gethsemane, are +omitted, and for the latter is substituted a Philonian prayer. +Nevertheless, the author carefully avoids the extremes of +Docetism or ditheism. Not only does he represent the human life +of Jesus as real, and his death as a truly physical death, but he +distinctly asserts the inferiority of the Son to the Father (John +xiv. 28). Indeed, as M. Reville well observes, it is part of the +very notion of the Logos that it should be imperfect relatively +to the absolute God; since it is only its relative imperfection +which allows it to sustain relations to the world and to men +which are incompatible with absolute perfection, from the +Philonian point of view. The Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity +finds no support in the fourth gospel, any more than in the +earlier books collected in the New Testament. + +The fourth gospel completes the speculative revolution by which +the conception of a divine being lowered to humanity was +substituted for that of a human being raised to divinity. We have +here travelled a long distance from the risen Messiah of the +genuine Pauline epistles, or the preacher of righteousness in the +first gospel. Yet it does not seem probable that the Church of +the third century was thoroughly aware of the discrepancy. The +authors of the later Christology did not regard themselves as +adding new truths to Christianity, but merely as giving a fuller +and more consistent interpretation to what must have been known +from the outset. They were so completely destitute of the +historic sense, and so strictly confined to the dogmatic point of +view, that they projected their own theories back into the past, +and vituperated as heretics those who adhered to tradition in its +earlier and simpler form. Examples from more recent times are not +wanting, which show that we are dealing here with an inveterate +tendency of the human mind. New facts and new theories are at +first condemned as heretical or ridiculous; but when once firmly +established, it is immediately maintained that every one knew +them before. After the Copernican astronomy had won the day, it +was tacitly assumed that the ancient Hebrew astronomy was +Copernican, and the Biblical conception of the universe as a kind +of three-story house was ignored, and has been, except by +scholars, quite forgotten. When the geologic evidence of the +earth's immense antiquity could no longer be gainsaid, it was +suddenly ascertained that the Bible had from the outset asserted +that antiquity; and in our own day we have seen an elegant +popular writer perverting the testimony of the rocks and +distorting the Elohistic cosmogony of the Pentateuch, until the +twain have been made to furnish what Bacon long ago described as +"a heretical religion and a false philosophy." Now just as in the +popular thought of the present day the ancient Elohist is +accredited with a knowledge of modern geology and astronomy, so +in the opinion of the fourth evangelist and his contemporaries +the doctrine of the Logos-Christ was implicitly contained in the +Old Testament and in the early traditions concerning Jesus, and +needed only to be brought into prominence by a fresh +interpretation. Hence arose the fourth gospel, which was no more +a conscious violation of historic data than Hugh Miller's +imaginative description of the "Mosaic Vision of Creation." Its +metaphysical discourses were readily accepted as equally +authentic with the Sermon on the Mount. Its Philonian doctrines +were imputed to Paul and the apostles, the pseudo-Pauline +epistles furnishing the needful texts. The Ebionites--who were +simply Judaizing Christians, holding in nearly its original form +the doctrine of Peter, James, and John--were ejected from the +Church as the most pernicious of heretics; and so completely was +their historic position misunderstood and forgotten, that, in +order to account for their existence, it became necessary to +invent an eponymous heresiarch, Ebion, who was supposed to have +led them astray from the true faith! + +The Christology of the fourth gospel is substantially the same as +that which was held in the next two centuries by Tertullian, +Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Arius. When the doctrine of +the Trinity was first announced by Sabellius (A. D. 250-260), it +was formally condemned as heretical, the Church being not yet +quite prepared to receive it. In 269 the Council of Antioch +solemnly declared that the Son was NOT consubstantial with the +Father,--a declaration which, within sixty years, the Council of +Nikaia was destined as solemnly to contradict. The Trinitarian +Christology struggled long for acceptance, and did not finally +win the victory until the end of the fourth century. Yet from the +outset its ultimate victory was hardly doubtful. The peculiar +doctrines of the fourth gospel could retain their integrity only +so long as Gnostic ideas were prevalent. When Gnosticism declined +in importance, and its theories faded out of recollection, its +peculiar phraseology received of necessity a new interpretation. +The doctrine that God could not act directly upon the world sank +gradually into oblivion as the Church grew more and more hostile +to the Neo-Platonic philosophy. And when this theory was once +forgotten, it was inevitable that the Logos, as the creator of +the world, should be raised to an equality or identity with God +himself. In the view of the fourth evangelist, the Creator was +necessarily inferior to God; in the view of later ages, the +Creator could be none other than God. And so the very phrases +which had most emphatically asserted the subordination of the Son +were afterward interpreted as asserting his absolute divinity. To +the Gnostic formula, lumen de lumine, was added the Athanasian +scholium, Deum verum de Deo vero; and the Trinitarian dogma of +the union of persons in a single Godhead became thus the only +available logical device for preserving the purity of monotheism. + + February, 1870. + + + +V. A WORD ABOUT MIRACLES.[24] + +[24] These comments on Mr. Henry Rogers's review of M. Renan's +Les Apotres, contained in a letter to Mr. Lewes, were shortly +afterwards published by him in the Fortnightly Review, September +15, 1866, + + +It is the lot of every book which attempts to treat the origin +and progress of Christianity in a sober and scientific spirit, to +meet with unsparing attacks. Critics in plenty are always to be +found, who, possessed with the idea that the entire significance +and value of the Christian religion are demolished unless we +regard it as a sort of historical monstrosity, are only too eager +to subject the offending work to a scathing scrutiny, displaying +withal a modicum of righteous indignation at the unblushing +heresy of the author, not unmixed with a little scornful pity at +his inability to believe very preposterous stories upon very +meagre evidence. "Conservative" polemics of this sort have +doubtless their function. They serve to purge scientific +literature of the awkward and careless statements too often made +by writers not sufficiently instructed or cautious, which in the +absence of hostile criticism might get accepted by the unthinking +reader along with the truths which they accompany. Most +scientific and philosophical works have their defects; and it is +fortunate that there is such a thing as dogmatic ardour in the +world, ever sharpening its wits to the utmost, that it may spy +each lurking inaccuracy and ruthlessly drag it to light. But this +useful spirit is wont to lead those who are inspired by it to +shoot beyond the mark, and after pointing out the errors of +others, to commit fresh mistakes of their own. In the skilful +criticism of M. Renan's work on the Apostles, in No. 29 of the +"Fortnightly Review" there is now and then a vulnerable spot +through which a controversial shaft may perhaps be made to +pierce. + +It may be true that Lord Lyttelton's tract on the Conversion of +St. Paul, as Dr. Johnson and Dr. Rogers have said, has never yet +been refuted; but if I may judge from my own recollection of the +work, I should say that this must be because no competent writer +ever thought it worth his pains to criticize it. Its argument +contains about as much solid consistency as a distended balloon, +and collapses as readily at the first puncture. It attempts to +prove, first, that the conversion of St. Paul cannot be made +intelligible except on the assumption that there was a miracle in +the case; and secondly, that if Paul was converted by a miracle, +the truth of Christianity is impregnable. Now, if the first of +these points be established, the demonstration is not yet +complete, for the second point must be proved independently. But +if the first point be overthrown, the second loses its prop, and +falls likewise. + +Great efforts are therefore made to show that no natural +influences could have intervened to bring about a change in the +feelings of Paul. He was violent, "thorough," unaffected by pity +or remorse; and accordingly he could not have been so completely +altered as he was, had he not actually beheld the risen Christ: +such is the argument which Mr. Rogers deems so conclusive. I do +not know that from any of Paul's own assertions we are entitled +to affirm that no shade of remorse had ever crossed his mind +previous to the vision near Damascus. But waiving this point, I +do maintain that, granting Paul's feelings to have been as Mr. +Rogers thinks they were, his conversion is inexplicable, even on +the hypothesis of a miracle. He that is determined not to +believe, will not believe, though one should rise from the dead. +To make Paul a believer, it was not enough that he should meet +his Lord face to face he must have been already prepared to +believe. Otherwise he would have easily found means of explaining +the miracle from his own point of view. He would certainly have +attributed it to the wiles of the demon, even as the Pharisees +are said to have done with regard to the miraculous cures +performed by Jesus. A "miraculous" occurrence in those days did +not astonish as it would at present. "Miracles" were rather the +order of the day, and in fact were lavished with such extreme +bounty on all hands, that their convincing power was very slight. +Neither side ever thought of disputing the reality of the +miracles supposed to be performed on the other; but each side +considered the miracles of its antagonist to be the work of +diabolic agencies. Such being the case, it is useless to suppose +that Paul could have distinguished between a true and a false +miracle, or that a real miracle could of itself have had any +effect in inducing him to depart from his habitual course of +belief and action. As far as Paul's mental operations were +concerned, it could have made no difference whether he met with +his future Master in person, or merely encountered him in a +vision. The sole point to be considered is whether or not he +BELIEVED in the Divine character and authority of the event which +had happened. What the event might have really been was of no +practical consequence to him or to any one else. What he believed +it to be was of the first importance. And since he did believe +that he had been divinely summoned to cease persecuting, and +commence preaching the new faith, it follows that his state of +mind must have been more or less affected by circumstances other +than the mere vision. Had he not been ripe for change, neither +shadow nor substance could have changed him. + +This view of the case is by no means so extravagant as Mr. Rogers +would have us suppose. There is no reason for believing that +Paul's character was essentially different afterwards from what +it had been before. The very fervour which caused him, as a +Pharisee, to exclude all but orthodox Jews from the hope of +salvation, would lead him, as a Christian, to carry the Christian +idea to its extreme development, and admit all persons whatever +to the privileges of the Church. The same zeal for the truth +which had urged him to persecute the Christians unto the death +afterwards led him to spare no toil and shun no danger which +might bring about the triumph of their cause. It must not be +forgotten that the persecutor and the martyr are but one and the +same man under different circumstances. He who is ready to die +for his own faith will sometimes think it fair to make other men +die for theirs. Men of a vehement and fiery temperament, +moreover,--such as Paul always was,--never change their opinions +slowly, never rest in philosophic doubt, never take a middle +course. If they leave one extreme for an instant, they are drawn +irresistibly to the other; and usually very little is needed to +work the change. The conversion of Omar is a striking instance in +point, and has been cited by M. Renan himself. The character of +Omar bears a strong likeness to that of Paul. Previous to his +conversion, he was a conscientious and virulent persecutor of +Mohammedanism.[25] After his conversion, he was Mohammed's most +efficient disciple, and it may be safely asserted that for +disinterestedness and self-abnegation he was not inferior to the +Apostle of the Gentiles. The change in his case was, moreover, +quite as sudden and unexpected as it was with Paul; it was +neither more nor less incomprehensible; and if Paul's conversion +needs a miracle to explain it, Omar's must need one likewise. But +in truth, there is no difficulty in the case, save that which +stupid dogmatism has created. The conversions of Paul and Omar +are paralleled by innumerable events which occur in every period +of religious or political excitement. Far from being +extraordinary, or inexplicable on natural grounds, such phenomena +are just what might occasionally be looked for. + +[25] Saint-Hilaire: Mahomet et le Coran, p. 109. + + +But, says Mr. Rogers, "is it possible for a moment to imagine the +doting and dreaming victim of hallucinations (which M. Renan's +theory represents Paul) to be the man whose masculine sense, +strong logic, practical prudence, and high administrative talent +appear in the achievements of his life, and in the Epistles he +has left behind him?" M. Renan's theory does not, however, +represent Paul as the "victim of hallucinations "to a greater +degree than Mohammed. The latter, as every one knows, laboured +during much of his life under almost constant "hallucination"; +yet "masculine sense, strong logic," etc., were qualities quite +as conspicuous in him as in St. Paul. + +Here, as throughout his essay, Mr. Rogers shows himself totally +unable to comprehend the mental condition of men in past ages. If +an Apostle has a dream or sees a vision, and interprets it +according to the ideas of his time and country, instead of +according to the ideas of scientific England in the nineteenth +century Mr. Rogers thinks he must needs be mad: and when +according to the well-known law that mental excitement is +contagious,[26] several persons are said to have concurred in +interpreting some phenomenon supernaturally, Mr. Rogers cannot +see why so many people should all go mad at once! "To go mad," in +fact is his favourite designation for a mental act, which nearly +all the human race have habitually performed in all ages; the act +of mistaking subjective impressions for outward realities. The +disposition to regard all strange phenomena as manifestations of +supernatural power was universally prevalent in the first century +of Christianity, and long after. Neither greatness of intellect +nor thoroughness of scepticism gave exemption. Even Julius +Caesar, the greatest practical genius that ever lived, was +somewhat superstitious, despite his atheism and his Vigorous +common-sense. It is too often argued that the prevalence of +scepticism in the Roman Empire must have made men scrupulous +about accepting miracles. By no means. Nothing but physical +science ever drives out miracles: mere doctrinal scepticism is +powerless to do it. In the age of the Apostles, little if any +radical distinction was drawn between a miracle and an ordinary +occurrence. No one supposed a miracle to be an infraction of the +laws of nature, for no one had a clear idea that there were such +things as laws of nature. A miracle was simply an extraordinary +act, exhibiting the power of the person who performed it. Blank, +indeed, would the evangelists have looked, had any one told them +what an enormous theory of systematic meddling with nature was +destined to grow out of their beautiful and artless narratives. + +[26] Hecker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages, pp. 87-152. + + +The incapacity to appreciate this frame of mind renders the +current arguments in behalf of miracles utterly worthless. From +the fact that Celsus and others never denied the reality of the +Christian miracles, it is commonly inferred that those miracles +must have actually happened. The same argument would, however, +equally apply to the miracles of Apollonius and Simon Magus, for +the Christians never denied the reality of these. What these +facts really prove is that the state of human intelligence was as +I have just described it: and the inference to be drawn from them +is that no miraculous account emanating from an author of such a +period is worthy of serious attention. When Mr. Rogers supposes +that if the miracles had not really happened they would have been +challenged, he is assuming that a state of mind existed in which +it was possible for miracles to be challenged; and thus commits +an anachronism as monstrous as if he had attributed the knowledge +of some modern invention, such as steamboats, to those early +ages. + +Mr. Rogers seems to complain of M. Renan for "quietly assuming" +that miracles are invariably to be rejected. Certainly a +historian of the present day who should not make such an +assumption would betray his lack of the proper qualifications for +his profession. It is not considered necessary for every writer +to begin his work by setting out to prove the first principles of +historical criticism. They are taken for granted. And, as M. +Renan justly says, a miracle is one of those things which must be +disbelieved until it is proved. The onus probandi lies on the +assertor of a fact which conflicts with universal experience. +Nevertheless, the great number of intelligent persons who, even +now, from dogmatic reasons, accept the New Testament miracles, +forbids that they should be passed over in silence like similar +phenomena elsewhere narrated. But, in the present state of +historical science, the arguing against miracles is, as Colet +remarked of his friend Erasmus's warfare against the Thomists and +Scotists of Cambridge, "a contest more necessary than glorious or +difficult." To be satisfactorily established, a miracle needs at +least to be recorded by an eyewitness; and the mental attainments +of the witness need to be thoroughly known besides. Unless he has +a clear conception of the difference between the natural and the +unnatural order of events, his testimony, however unimpeachable +on the score of honesty, is still worthless. To say that this +condition was fulfilled by those who described the New Testament +miracles, would be absurd. And in the face of what German +criticism has done for the early Christian documents, it would be +an excess of temerity to assert that any one of the supernatural +accounts contained in them rests on contemporary authority. Of +all history, the miraculous part should be attested by the +strongest testimony, whereas it is invariably attested by the +weakest. And the paucity of miracles wherever we have +contemporary records, as in the case of primitive Islamism, is a +most significant fact. + +In attempting to defend his principle of never accepting a +miracle, M. Renan has indeed got into a sorry plight, and Mr. +Rogers, in controverting him, has not greatly helped the matter. +By stirring M. Renan's bemuddled pool, Mr. Rogers has only +bemuddled it the more. Neither of these excellent writers seems +to suspect that transmutation of species, the geologic +development of the earth, and other like phenomena do not present +features conflicting with ordinary experience. Sir Charles Lyell +and Mr. Darwin would be greatly astonished to be told that their +theories of inorganic and organic evolution involved any agencies +not known to exist in the present course of nature. The great +achievement of these writers has been to show that all past +changes of the earth and its inhabitants are to be explained as +resulting from the continuous action of causes like those now in +operation, and that throughout there has been nothing even +faintly resembling a miracle. M. Renan may feel perfectly safe in +extending his principle back to the beginning of things; and Mr. +Rogers's argument, even if valid against M. Renan, does not help +his own case in the least. + +On some points, indeed, M. Renan has laid himself open to severe +criticism, and on other points he has furnished good handles for +his orthodox opponents. His views in regard to the authorship of +the Fourth Gospel and the Acts are not likely to be endorsed by +many scholars; and his revival of the rationalistic absurdities +of Paulus merits in most instances all that Mr. Rogers has said +about it. As was said at the outset, orthodox criticisms upon +heterodox books are always welcome. They do excellent service. +And with the feeling which impels their authors to defend their +favourite dogmas with every available weapon of controversy I for +one can heartily sympathize. Their zeal in upholding what they +consider the truth is greatly to be respected and admired. But so +much cannot always be said for the mode of argumentation they +adopt, which too often justifies M. Renan's description, when he +says, "Raisonnements triomphants sur des choses que l'adversaire +n'a pas dites, cris de victoire sur des erreurs qu'il n'a pas +commises, rien ne parait deloyal a celui qui croft tenir en main +les interets de la verite absolue." + + August, 1866. + + + +VI. DRAPER ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION.[27] + +[27] History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. by +John William Draper, M. D., LL. D. Fourth edition. New York: D. +Appleton & Co. 1875. 12mo, pp. xxii., 373. (International +Scientific Series, XII.) + + +Some twelve years ago, Dr. Draper published a bulky volume +entitled "A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe," +in which his professed purpose was to show that nations or races +pass through certain definable epochs of development, analogous +to the periods of infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age +in individuals. But while announced with due formality, the +carrying out of the argument was left for the most part to the +headings and running-titles of the several chapters, while in the +text the author peacefully meandered along down the stream of +time, giving us a succession of pleasant though somewhat +threadbare anecdotes, as well as a superabundance of detached and +fragmentary opinions on divers historical events, having +apparently quite forgotten that he had started with a thesis to +prove. In the arrangement of his "running heads," some points +were sufficiently curious to require a word of explanation, as, +for example, when the early ages of Christianity were at one time +labelled as an epoch of progress and at another time as an epoch +of decrepitude. But the argument and the contents never got so +far en rapport with each other as to clear up such points as +this. On the contrary, each kept on the even tenour of its way +without much regard to the other. From the titles of the chapters +one was led to expect some comprehensive theory of European +civilization continuously expounded. But the text merely showed a +great quantity of superficial and second-hand information, +serving to illustrate the mental idiosyncrasies of the author. +Among these idiosyncrasies might be noted a very inadequate +understanding of the part played by Rome in the work of +civilization, a singular lack of appreciation of the political +and philosophical achievements of Greece under Athenian +leadership, a strong hostility to the Catholic Church, a curious +disposition to overrate semi-barbarous. or abortive +civilizations, such as those of the old Asiatic and native +American communities, at the expense of Europe, and, above all, +an undiscriminating admiration for everything, great or small, +that has ever worn the garb of Islam or been associated with the +career of the Saracens. The discovery that in some respects the +Mussulmans of the Middle Ages were more highly cultivated than +their Christian contemporaries, has made such an impression on +Dr. Draper's mind that it seems to be as hard for him to get rid +of it as it was for Mr. Dick to keep the execution of Charles I. +out of his "Memorial." Even in an essay on the "Civil Policy of +America," the turbaned sage figures quite prominently; and it is +needless to add that he reappears, as large as life, when the +subject of discussion is the attitude of science toward religion. + +Speaking briefly with regard to this matter, we may freely admit +that the work done by the Arabs, in scientific inquiry as well as +in the making of events, was very considerable. It was a work, +too, the value of which is not commonly appreciated in the +accounts of European history written for the general reader, and +we have no disposition to find fault with Dr. Draper for +describing it with enthusiasm. The philosophers of Bagdad and +Cordova did excellent service in keeping alive the traditions of +Greek physical inquiry at a time when Christian thinkers were too +exclusively occupied with transcendental speculations in theology +and logic. In some departments, as in chemistry and astronomy, +they made original discoveries of considerable value; and if we +turn from abstract knowledge to the arts of life, it cannot be +denied that the mediaeval Mussulmans had reached a higher plane +of material comfort than their Christian contemporaries. In +short, the work of all kinds done by these people would furnish +the judicious advocate of the claims of the Semitic race with +materials for a pleasing and instructive picture. Dr. Draper, +however, errs, though no doubt unintentionally, by so presenting +the case as to leave upon the reader's mind the impression that +all this scientific and practical achievement was the work of +Islamism, and that the Mohammedan civilization was of a higher +type than the Christian. It is with an apparent feeling of regret +that he looks upon the ousting of the Moors from dominion in +Spain; but this is a mistaken view. As regards the first point, +it is a patent fact that scientific inquiry was conducted at the +cost of as much theological obloquy in the Mohammedan as in the +Christian world. It is true there was more actual tolerance of +heresy on the part of Moslem governments than was customary in +Europe in those days; but this is a superficial fact, which does +not indicate any superiority in Moslem popular sentiment. The +caliphate or emirate was a truly absolute despotism, such as the +Papacy has never been, and the conduct of a sceptical emir in +encouraging scientific inquiry goes but little way toward proving +anything like a general prevalence of tolerance or of +free-thinking. And this brings us to the second point,--that +Mohammedan civilization was, on the whole, rather a skin-deep +affair. It was superficial because of that extreme severance +between government and people which has never existed in European +nations within historic times, but which has always existed among +the principal races that have professed Moslemism. Nowhere in the +Mohammedan world has there ever been what we call a national +life, and nowhere do we find in its records any trace of such an +intellectual impulse, thrilling through every fibre of the people +and begetting prodigious achievements in art, poetry, and +philosophy, as was awakened in Europe in the thirteenth century +and again in the fifteenth. Under the peculiar form of unlimited +material and spiritual despotism exemplified in the caliphate, a +few men may discover gases or comment on Aristotle, but no +general movement toward political progress or philosophical +inquiry is possible. Such a society is rigid and inorganic at +bottom, whatever scanty signs of flexibility and life it may show +at the surface. There is no better illustration of this, when +well considered, than the fact that Moorish civilization +remained, politically and intellectually, a mere excrescence in +Spain, after having been fastened down over half the country for +nearly eight centuries. + +But we are in danger of forgetting our main theme, as Dr. Draper +seems to do, while we linger with him over these interesting +wayside topics. We may perhaps be excused, however, if we have +not yet made any very explicit allusion to the "Conflict between +Religion and Science," because this work seems to be in the main +a repetition en petit of the "Intellectual Development of +Europe," and what we have said will apply as well to one as to +the other. In the little book, as in the big one, we hear a great +deal about the Arabs, and something about Columbus and Galileo, +who made men accept sundry truths in the teeth of clerical +opposition; and, as before, we float gently down the current of +history without being over well-informed as to the precise +didactic purpose of our voyage. Here, indeed, even our headings +and running-titles do not materially help us, for though we are +supposed to be witnessing, or mayhap assisting in, a perennial +conflict between "science" and "religion," we are nowhere +enlightened as to what the cause or character of this conflict +is, nor are we enabled to get a good look at either of the +parties to the strife. With regard to it "religion" especially +are we left in the dark. What this dreadful thing is towards +which "science" is always playing the part of Herakles towards +the Lernaean Hydra, we are left to gather from the course of the +narrative. Yet, in a book with any valid claim to +clearsightedness, one would think such a point as this ought to +receive very explicit preliminary treatment. + +The course of the narrative, however, leaves us in little doubt +as to what Dr. Draper means by a conflict between science and +religion. When he enlarges on the trite story of Galileo, and +alludes to the more modern quarrel between the Church and the +geologists, and does this in the belief that he is thereby +illustrating an antagonism between religion and science, it is +obvious that he identifies the cause of the anti-geologists and +the persecutors of Galileo with the cause of religion. The word +"religion" is to him a symbol which stands for unenlightened +bigotry or narrow-minded unwillingness to look facts in the face. +Such a conception of religion is common enough, and unhappily a +great deal has been done to strengthen it by the very persons to +whom the interests of religion are presumed to be a professional +care. It is nevertheless a very superficial conception, and no +book which is vitiated by it can have much philosophic value. It +is simply the crude impression which, in minds unaccustomed to +analysis, is left by the fact that theologians and other persons +interested in religion are usually alarmed at new scientific +truths, and resist them with emotions so highly wrought that they +are not only incapable of estimating evidence, but often also +have their moral sense impaired, and fight with foul means when +fair ones fail. If we reflect carefully on this class of +phenomena, we shall see that something besides mere pride of +opinion is involved in the struggle. At the bottom of changing +theological beliefs there lies something which men perennially +value, and for the sake of which they cling to the beliefs as +long as possible. That which they value is not itself a matter of +belief, but it is a matter of conduct; it is the searching after +goodness,--after a higher life than the mere satisfaction of +individual desires. All animals seek for fulness of life; but in +civilized man this craving has acquired a moral significance, and +has become a spiritual aspiration; and this emotional tendency, +more or less strong in the human race, we call religious feeling +or religion. Viewed in this light, religion is not only something +that mankind is never likely to get rid of, but it is +incomparably the most noble as well as the most useful attribute +of humanity. + +Now, this emotional prompting toward completeness of life +requires, of course, that conduct should be guided, as far as +possible, in accordance with a true theory of the relations of +man to the world in which he lives. Hence, at any given era the +religious feeling will always be found enlisted in behalf of some +theory of the universe. At any time, whatever may be their +shortcomings in practice, religious men will aim at doing right +according to their conceptions of the order of the world. If +men's conceptions of the order of nature remained constant, no +apparent conflict between their religious feelings and their +knowledge need ever arise. But with the first advance in our +knowledge of nature the case is altered. New and strange theories +are naturally regarded with fear and dislike by persons who have +always been accustomed to find the sanction and justification of +their emotional prompting toward righteousness in old familiar +theories which the new ones are seeking to supplant. Such persons +oppose the new doctrine because their engrained mental habits +compel them to believe that its establishment will in some way +lower men's standard of life, and make them less careful of their +spiritual welfare. This is the case, at all events, when +theologians oppose scientific conclusions on religious grounds, +and not simply from mental dulness or rigidity. And, in so far as +it is religious feeling which thus prompts resistance to +scientific innovation, it may be said, with some appearance of +truth, that there is a conflict between religion and science. + +But there must always be two parties to a quarrel, and our +statement has to be modified as soon as we consider what the +scientific innovator impugns. It is not the emotional prompting +toward righteousness, it is not the yearning to live im Guten, +Ganzen, Wahren, that he seeks to weaken; quite likely he has all +this as much at heart as the theologian who vituperates him. Nor +is it true that his discoveries, in spite of him, tend to destroy +this all-important mental attitude. It would be ridiculous to say +that the fate of religious feeling is really involved in the fate +of grotesque cosmogonies and theosophies framed in the infancy of +men's knowledge of nature; for history shows us quite the +contrary. Religious feeling has survived the heliocentric theory +and the discoveries of geologists; and it will be none the worse +for the establishment of Darwinism. It is the merest truism to +say that religion strikes its roots deeper down into human nature +than speculative opinion, and is accordingly independent of any +particular set of beliefs. Since, then, the scientific innovator +does not, either voluntarily or involuntarily, attack religion, +it follows that there can be no such "conflict" as that of which +Dr. Draper has undertaken to write the history. The real contest +is between one phase of science and another; between the +more-crude knowledge of yesterday and the less-crude knowledge of +to-day. The contest, indeed, as presented in history, is simply +the measure of the difficulty which men find in exchanging old +views for new ones. All along, the practical question has been, +whether we should passively acquiesce in the crude +generalizations of our ancestors or venture actively to revise +them. But as for the religious sentiment, the perennial struggle +in which it has been engaged has not been with scientific +inquiry, but with the selfish propensities whose tendency is to +make men lead the lives of brutes. + +The time is at hand when the interests of religion can no longer +be supposed to be subserved by obstinate adherence to crude +speculations bequeathed to us from pre-scientific antiquity. One +good result of the doctrine of evolution, which is now gaining +sway in all departments of thought, is the lesson that all our +opinions must be held subject to continual revision, and that +with none of them can our religious interests be regarded as +irretrievably implicated. To any one who has once learned this +lesson, a book like Dr. Draper's can be neither interesting nor +useful. He who has not learned it can derive little benefit from +a work which in its very title keeps open an old and baneful +source of error and confusion. + + November. 1875. + + + +VII. NATHAN THE WISE.[28] + +[28] Nathan the Wise: A Dramatic Poem, by Gotthold Ephraim +Lessing. Translated by Ellen Frothingham. Preceded by a brief +account of the poet and his works, and followed by an essay on +the poem by Kuno Fischer. Second edition. New York: Leypoldt & +Holt. 1868. + +Le Christianisme Moderne. etude sur Lessing. Par Ernest Fontanes. +Paris: Bailliere. 1867. + +The fame of Lessing is steadily growing. Year by year he is +valued more highly, and valued by a greater number of people. And +he is destined, like his master and forerunner Spinoza, to +receive a yet larger share of men's reverence and gratitude when +the philosophic spirit which he lived to illustrate shall have +become in some measure the general possession of the civilized +part of mankind. In his own day, Lessing, though widely known and +greatly admired, was little understood or appreciated. He was +known to be a learned antiquarian, a terrible controversialist, +and an incomparable writer. He was regarded as a brilliant +ornament to Germany; and a paltry Duke of Brunswick thought a few +hundred thalers well spent in securing the glory of having such a +man to reside at his provincial court. But the majority of +Lessing's contemporaries understood him as little perhaps as did +the Duke of Brunswick. If anything were needed to prove this, it +would he the uproar which was made over the publication of the +"Wolfenbuttel Fragments," and the curious exegesis which was +applied to the poem of "Nathan" on its first appearance. In order +to understand the true character of this great poem, and of +Lessing's religious opinions as embodied in it, it will be +necessary first to consider the memorable theological controversy +which preceded it. + +During Lessing's residence at Hamburg, he had come into +possession of a most important manuscript, written by Hermann +Samuel Reimarus, a professor of Oriental languages, and bearing +the title of an "Apology for the Rational Worshippers of God." +Struck with the rigorous logic displayed in its arguments, and +with the quiet dignity of its style, while yet unable to accept +its most general conclusions, Lessing resolved to publish the +manuscript, accompanying it with his own comments and strictures. +Accordingly in 1774, availing himself of the freedom from +censorship enjoyed by publications drawn from manuscripts +deposited in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbuttel, of which he was +librarian, Lessing published the first portion of this work, +under the title of "Fragments drawn from the Papers of an +Anonymous Writer." This first Fragment, on the "Toleration of +Deists," awakened but little opposition; for the eighteenth +century, though intolerant enough, did not parade its bigotry, +but rather saw fit to disclaim it. A hundred years before, +Rutherford, in his "Free Disputation," had declared "toleration +of alle religions to bee not farre removed from blasphemie." +Intolerance was then a thing to be proud of, but in Lessing's +time some progress had been achieved, and men began to think it a +good thing to seem tolerant. The succeeding Fragments were to +test this liberality and reveal the flimsiness of the stuff of +which it was made. When the unknown disputant began to declare +"the impossibility of a revelation upon which all men can rest a +solid faith," and when he began to criticize the evidences of +Christ's resurrection, such a storm burst out in the theological +world of Germany as had not been witnessed since the time of +Luther. The recent Colenso controversy in England was but a +gentle breeze compared to it. Press and pulpit swarmed with +"refutations," in which weakness of argument and scantiness of +erudition were compensated by strength of acrimony and +unscrupulousness of slander. Pamphlets and sermons, says M. +Fontanes, "were multiplied, to denounce the impious blasphemer, +who, destitute alike of shame and of courage, had sheltered +himself behind a paltry fiction, in order to let loose upon +society an evil spirit of unbelief." But Lessing's artifice had +been intended to screen the memory of Reimarus, rather than his +own reputation. He was not the man to quail before any amount of +human opposition; and it was when the tempest of invective was +just at its height that he published the last and boldest +Fragment of all,--on "the Designs of Jesus and his Disciples." + +The publication of these Fragments led to a mighty controversy. +The most eminent, both for uncompromising zeal and for worldly +position, of those who had attacked Lessing, was Melchior Goetze, +"pastor primarius" at the Hamburg Cathedral. Though his name is +now remembered only because of his connection with Lessing, +Goetze was not destitute of learning and ability. He was a +collector of rare books, an amateur in numismatics, and an +antiquarian of the narrow-minded sort. Lessing had known him +while at Hamburg, and had visited him so constantly as to draw +forth from his friends malicious insinuations as to the +excellence of the pastor's white wine. Doubtless Lessing, as a +wise man, was not insensible to the attractions of good Moselle; +but that which he chiefly liked in this theologian was his +logical and rigorously consistent turn of mind. "He always," says +M. Fontanes, "cherished a holy horror of loose, inconsequent +thinkers; and the man of the past, the inexorable guardian of +tradition, appeared to him far more worthy of respect than the +heterodox innovator who stops in mid-course, and is faithful +neither to reason nor to faith." + +But when Lessing published these unhallowed Fragments, the hour +of conflict had sounded, and Goetze cast himself into the arena +with a boldness and impetuosity which Lessing, in his artistic +capacity, could not fail to admire. He spared no possible means +of reducing his enemy to submission. He aroused against him all +the constituted authorities, the consistories, and even the Aulic +Council of the Empire, and he even succeeded in drawing along +with him the chief of contemporary rationalists, Semler, who so +far forgot himself as to declare that Lessing, for what he had +done, deserved to be sent to the madhouse. But with all Goetze's +orthodox valour, he was no match for the antagonist whom he had +excited to activity. The great critic replied with pamphlet after +pamphlet, invincible in logic and erudition, sparkling with wit, +and irritating in their utter coolness. Such pamphlets had not +been seen since Pascal published the "Provincial Letters." Goetze +found that he had taken up arms against a master in the arts of +controversy, and before long he became well aware that he was +worsted. Having brought the case before the Aulic Council, which +consisted in great part of Catholics, the stout pastor, +forgetting that judgment had not yet been rendered, allowed +himself to proclaim that all who do not recognize the Bible as +the only source of Christianity are not fit to be called +Christians at all. Lessing was not slow to profit by this unlucky +declaration. Questioned, with all manner of ferocious +vituperation, by Goetze, as to what sort of Christianity might +have existed prior to and independently of the New Testament +canon, Lessing imperturbably answered: "By the Christian religion +I mean all the confessions of faith contained in the collection +of creeds of the first four centuries of the Christian Church, +including, if you wish it, the so-called creed of the apostles, +as well as the creed of Athanasius. The content of these +confessions is called by the earlier Fathers the regula fidei, or +rule of faith. This rule of faith is not drawn from the writings +of the New Testament. It existed before any of the books in the +New Testament were written. It sufficed not only for the first +Christians of the age of the apostles, but for their descendants +during four centuries. And it is, therefore, the veritable +foundation upon which the Church of Christ is built; a foundation +not based upon Scripture." Thus, by a master-stroke, Lessing +secured the adherence of the Catholics constituting a majority of +the Aulic Council of the Empire. Like Paul before him, he divided +the Sanhedrim. So that Goetze, foiled in his attempts at using +violence, and disconcerted by the patristic learning of one whom +he had taken to be a mere connoisseur in art and writer of plays +for the theatre, concluded that discretion was the surest kind of +valour, and desisted from further attacks. + +Lessing's triumph came opportunely; for already the ministry of +Brunswick had not only confiscated the Fragments, but had +prohibited him from publishing anything more on the subject +without first obtaining express authority to do so. His last +replies to Goetze were published at Hamburg; and as he held +himself in readiness to depart from Wolfenbuttel, he wrote to +several friends that he had conceived the design of a drama, with +which he would tear the theologians in pieces more than with a +dozen Fragments. "I will try and see," said he, "if they will let +me preach in peace from my old pulpit, the theatre." In this way +originated "Nathan the Wise." But it in no way answered to the +expectations either of Lessing's friends or of his enemies. Both +the one and the other expected to see the controversy with Goetze +carried on, developed, and generalized in the poem. They looked +for a satirical comedy, in which orthodoxy should be held up for +scathing ridicule, or at least for a direful tragedy, the moral +of which, like that of the great poem of Lucretius, should be + + "Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum." + +Had Lessing produced such a poem, he would doubtless have +gratified his free-thinking friends and wreaked due literary +vengeance upon his theological persecutors. He would, perhaps, +have given articulate expression to the radicalism of his own +time, and, like Voltaire, might have constituted himself the +leader of the age, the incarnation of its most conspicuous +tendencies. But Lessing did nothing of the kind; and the +expectations formed of him by friends and enemies alike show how +little he was understood by either. "Nathan the Wise" was, as we +shall see, in the eighteenth century an entirely new phenomenon; +and its author was the pioneer of a quite new religious +philosophy. + +Reimarus, the able author of the Fragments, in his attack upon +the evidences of revealed religion, had taken the same ground as +Voltaire and the old English deists. And when we have said this, +we have sufficiently defined his position, for the tenets of the +deists are at the present day pretty well known, and are, +moreover, of very little vital importance, having long since been +supplanted by a more just and comprehensive philosophy. Reimarus +accepted neither miracles nor revelation; but in accordance with +the rudimentary state of criticism in his time, he admitted the +historical character of the earliest Christian records, and was +thus driven to the conclusion that those writings must have been +fraudulently composed. How such a set of impostors as the +apostles must on this hypothesis have been, should have succeeded +in inspiring large numbers of their contemporaries with higher +and grander religious notions than had ever before been +conceived; how they should have laid the foundations of a +theological system destined to hold together the most enlightened +and progressive portion of human society for seventeen or +eighteen centuries,--does not seem to have entered his mind. +Against such attacks as this, orthodoxy was comparatively safe; +for whatever doubt might be thrown upon some of its leading +dogmas, the system as a whole was more consistent and rational +than any of the theories which were endeavouring to supplant it. +And the fact that nearly all the great thinkers of the eighteenth +century adopted this deistic hypothesis, shows, more than +anything else, the crudeness of their psychological knowledge, +and their utter lack of what is called "the historical sense." + +Lessing at once saw the weak point in Reimarus's argument, but +his method of disposing of it differed signally from that adopted +by his orthodox contemporaries. The more advanced German +theologians of that day, while accepting the New Testament +records as literally historical, were disposed to rationalize the +accounts of miracles contained in them, in such a way as to get +rid of any presumed infractions of the laws of nature. This +method of exegesis, which reached its perfection in Paulus, is +too well known to need describing. Its unsatisfactory character +was clearly shown, thirty years ago, by Strauss, and it is now +generally abandoned, though some traces of it may still be seen +in the recent works of Renan. Lessing steadily avoided this +method of interpretation. He had studied Spinoza to some purpose, +and the outlines of Biblical criticism laid down by that +remarkable thinker Lessing developed into a system wonderfully +like that now adopted by the Tubingen school. The cardinal +results which Baur has reached within the past generation were +nearly all hinted at by Lessing, in his commentaries on the +Fragments. The distinction between the first three, or synoptic +gospels, and the fourth, the later age of the fourth, and the +method of composition of the first three, from earlier documents +and from oral tradition, are all clearly laid down by him. The +distinct points of view from which the four accounts were +composed, are also indicated,--the Judaizing disposition of +"Matthew," the Pauline sympathies of "Luke," the compromising or +Petrine tendencies of "Mark," and the advanced Hellenic character +of "John." Those best acquainted with the results of modern +criticism in Germany will perhaps be most surprised at finding +such speculations in a book written many years before either +Strauss or Baur were born. + +But such results, as might have been expected, did not satisfy +the pastor Goetze or the public which sympathized with him. The +valiant pastor unhesitatingly declared that he read the +objections which Lessing opposed to the Fragmentist with more +horror and disgust than the Fragments themselves; and in the +teeth of the printed comments he declared that the editor was +craftily upholding his author in his deistical assault upon +Christian theology. The accusation was unjust, because untrue. +There could be no genuine cooperation between a mere iconoclast +like Reimarus, and a constructive critic like Lessing. But the +confusion was not an unnatural one on Goetze's part, and I cannot +agree with M. Fontanes in taking it as convincing proof of the +pastor's wrong-headed perversity. It appears to me that Goetze +interpreted Lessing's position quite as accurately as M. +Fontanes. The latter writer thinks that Lessing was a Christian +of the liberal school since represented by Theodore Parker in +this country and by M. Reville in France; that his real object +was to defend and strengthen the Christian religion by relieving +it of those peculiar doctrines which to the freethinkers of his +time were a stumbling-block and an offence. And, in spite of +Lessing's own declarations, he endeavours to show that he was an +ordinary theist,--a follower of Leibnitz rather than of Spinoza. +But I do not think he has made out his case. Lessing's own +confession to Jacobi is unequivocal enough, and cannot well be +argued away. In that remarkable conversation, held toward the +close of his life, he indicates clearly enough that his faith was +neither that of the ordinary theist, the atheist, nor the +pantheist, but that his religious theory of the universe was +identical with that suggested by Spinoza, adopted by Goethe, and +recently elaborated in the first part of the "First Principles" +of Mr. Herbert Spencer. Moreover, while Lessing cannot be +considered an antagonist of Christianity, neither did he assume +the attitude of a defender. He remained outside the theological +arena; looking at theological questions from the point of view of +a layman, or rather, as M. Cherbuliez has happily expressed it, +of a Pagan. His mind was of decidedly antique structure. He had +the virtues of paganism: its sanity, its calmness, and its +probity; but of the tenderness of Christianity, and its +quenchless aspirations after an indefinable ideal, of that +feeling which has incarnated itself in Gothic cathedrals, masses +and oratorios, he exhibited but scanty traces. His intellect was +above all things self-consistent and incorruptible. He had that +imperial good-sense which might have formed the ideal alike of +Horace and of Epictetus. No clandestine preference for certain +conclusions could make his reason swerve from the straight paths +of logic. And he examined and rejected the conclusions of +Reimarus in the same imperturbable spirit with which he examined +and rejected the current theories of the French classic drama. + +Such a man can have had but little in common with a preacher like +Theodore Parker, or with a writer like M. Fontanes, whose whole +book is a noble specimen of lofty Christian eloquence. His +attribute was light, not warmth. He scrutinized, but did not +attack or defend. He recognized the transcendent merits of the +Christian faith, but made no attempt to reinstate it where it had +seemed to suffer shock. It was therefore with the surest of +instincts, with that same instinct of self-preservation which had +once led the Church to anathematize Galileo, that Goetze. +proclaimed Lessing a more dangerous foe to orthodoxy than the +deists who had preceded him. Controversy, he doubtless thought, +may be kept up indefinitely, and blows given and returned +forever; but before the steady gaze of that scrutinizing eye +which one of us shall find himself able to stand erect? It has +become fashionable to heap blame and ridicule upon those who +violently defend an antiquated order of things; and Goetze has +received at the hands of posterity his full share of abuse. His +wrath contrasted unfavourably with Lessing's calmness; and it was +his misfortune to have taken up arms against an opponent who +always knew how to keep the laugh upon his own side. For my own +part I am constrained to admire the militant pastor, as Lessing +himself admired him. From an artistic point of view he is not an +uninteresting figure to contemplate. And although his attempts to +awaken persecution were reprehensible, yet his ardour in +defending what he believed to be vital truth is none the less to +be respected. He had the acuteness to see that Lessing's +refutation of deism did not make him a Christian, while the new +views proposed as a substitute for those of Reimarus were such as +Goetze and his age could in no wise comprehend. + +Lessing's own views of dogmatic religion are to be found in his +work entitled, "The Education of the Human Race." These views +have since so far become the veriest commonplaces of criticism, +that one can hardly realize that, only ninety years ago, they +should have been regarded as dangerous paradoxes. They may be +summed up in the statement that all great religions are good in +their time and place; that, "as there is a soul of goodness in +things evil, so also there is a soul of truth in things +erroneous." According to Lessing, the successive phases of +religious belief constitute epochs in the mental evolution of the +human race. So that the crudest forms of theology, even +fetishism, now to all appearance so utterly revolting, and +polytheism, so completely inadequate, have once been the best, +the natural and inevitable results of man's reasoning powers and +appliances for attaining truth. The mere fact that a system of +religious thought has received the willing allegiance of large +masses of men shows that it must have supplied some consciously +felt want, some moral or intellectual craving. And the mere fact +that knowledge and morality are progressive implies that each +successive system may in due course of time be essentially +modified or finally supplanted. The absence of any reference to a +future state of retribution, in the Pentateuch and generally in +the sacred writings of the Jews, and the continual appeal to +hopes and fears of a worldly character, have been pronounced by +deists an irremediable defect in the Jewish religion. It is +precisely this, however, says Lessing, which constitutes one of +its signal excellences. "That thy days may be long in the land +which Jehovah thy God giveth thee," was an appeal which the +uncivilized Jew could understand, and which could arouse him to +action; while the need of a future world, to rectify the +injustices of this, not yet being felt, the doctrine would have +been of but little service. But in later Hebrew literature, many +magnificent passages revealed the despair felt by prophet and +thinker over the insoluble problem presented by the evil fate of +the good and the triumphant success of the wicked; and a solution +was sought in the doctrine of a Messianic kingdom, until +Christianity with its proclamation of a future life set the +question entirely aside. By its appeal to what has been aptly +termed "other-worldliness," Christianity immeasurably intensified +human responsibility, besides rendering clearer its nature and +limits. But according to Lessing, yet another step remains to be +taken; and here we come upon the gulf which separates him from +men of the stamp of Theodore Parker. For, says Lessing, the +appeal to unearthly rewards and punishments is after all an +appeal to our lower feelings; other-worldliness is but a refined +selfishness; and we are to cherish virtue for its own sake not +because it will lead us to heaven. Here is the grand principle of +Stoicism. Lessing believed, with Mr. Mill, that the less we think +about getting rewarded either on earth or in heaven the better. +He was cast in the same heroic mould as Muhamad Efendi, who when +led to the stake exclaimed: "Though I have no hope of recompense +hereafter, yet the love of truth constraineth me to die in its +defence!" + +With the truth or completeness of these views of Lessing we are +not here concerned; our business being not to expound our own +opinions, but to indicate as clearly as possible Lessing's +position. Those who are familiar with the general philosophical +spirit of the present age, as represented by writers otherwise so +different as Littre and Sainte-Beuve, will best appreciate the +power and originality of these speculations. Coming in the last +century, amid the crudities of deism, they made a well-defined +epoch. They inaugurated the historical method of criticism, and +they robbed the spirit of intolerance of its only philosophical +excuse for existing. Hitherto the orthodox had been intolerant +toward the philosophers because they considered them heretics; +and the philosophers had been intolerant toward the orthodox +because they considered them fools. To Voltaire it naturally +seemed that a man who could believe in the reality of miracles +must be what in French is expressively termed a sot. But +henceforth, to the disciple of Lessing, men of all shade of +opinion were but the representatives and exponents of different +phases in the general evolution of human intelligence, not +necessarily to be disliked or despised if they did not happen to +represent the maturest phase. + +Religion, therefore, from this point of view, becomes clearly +demarcated from theology. It consists no longer in the mental +assent to certain prescribed formulas, but in the moral obedience +to the great rule of life; the great commandment laid down and +illustrated by the Founder of the Christian religion, and +concerning which the profoundest modern philosophy informs us +that the extent to which a society has learned to conform to it +is the test and gauge of the progress in civilization which that +society has achieved. The command "to love one another," to check +the barbarous impulses inherited from the pre-social state, while +giving free play to the beneficent impulses needful for the +ultimate attainment of social equilibrium,--or as Tennyson +phrases it, to "move upward, working out the beast, and letting +the ape and tiger die,"--was, in Lessing's view, the task set +before us by religion. The true religious feeling was thus, in +his opinion, what the author of "Ecce Homo" has finely termed +"the enthusiasm of humanity." And we shall find no better +language than that of the writer just mentioned, in which to +describe Lessing's conception of faith:-- + +"He who, when goodness is impressively put before him, exhibits +an instinctive loyalty to it, starts forward to take its side, +trusts himself to it, such a man has faith, and the root of the +matter is in such a man. He may have habits of vice, but the +loyal and faithful instinct in him will place him above many that +practice virtue. He may be rude in thought and character, but he +will unconsciously gravitate toward what is right. Other virtues +can scarcely thrive without a fine natural organization and a +happy training. But the most neglected and ungifted of men may +make a beginning with faith. Other virtues want civilization, a +certain amount of knowledge, a few books; but in half-brutal +countenances faith will light up a glimmer of nobleness. The +savage, who can do little else, can wonder and worship and +enthusiastically obey. He who cannot know what is right can know +that some one else knows; he who has no law may still have a +master; he who is incapable of justice may be capable of +fidelity; he who understands little may have his sins forgiven +because he loves much." + +Such was Lessing's religion, so far as it can be ascertained from +the fragmentary writings which he has left on the subject. +Undoubtedly it lacked completeness. The opinions which we have +here set down, though constituting something more than a mere +theory of morality, certainly do not constitute a complete theory +of religion. Our valiant knight has examined but one side of the +shield,--the bright side, turned toward us, whose marvellous +inscriptions the human reason can by dint of unwearied effort +decipher. But the dark side, looking out upon infinity, and +covered with hieroglyphics the meaning of which we can never +know, he has quite forgotten to consider. Yet it is this side +which genuine religious feeling ever seeks to contemplate. It is +the consciousness that there is about us an omnipresent Power, in +which we live and move and have our being, eternally manifesting +itself throughout the whole range of natural phenomena, which has +ever disposed men to be religious, and lured them on in the vain +effort to construct adequate theological systems. We may, getting +rid of the last traces of fetishism, eliminate arbitrary volition +as much as we will or can. But there still remains the +consciousness of a divine Life in the universe, of a Power which +is beyond and above our comprehension, whose goings out and +comings in no man can follow. The more we know, the more we reach +out for that which we cannot know. And who can realize this so +vividly as the scientific philosopher? For our knowledge being, +according to the familiar comparison, like a brilliant sphere, +the more we increase it the greater becomes the number of +peripheral points at which we are confronted by the impenetrable +darkness beyond. I believe that this restless yearning,--vague +enough in the description, yet recognizable by all who, communing +with themselves or with nature, have felt it,--this constant +seeking for what cannot be found, this persistent knocking at +gates which, when opened, but reveal others yet to be passed, +constitutes an element which no adequate theory of religion can +overlook. But of this we find nothing in Lessing. With him all is +sunny, serene, and pagan. Not the dim aisle of a vast cathedral, +but the symmetrical portico of an antique temple, is the +worshipping-place into which he would lead us. + +But if Lessing's theology must be considered imperfect, it is +none the less admirable as far as it goes. With its peculiar +doctrines of love and faith, it teaches a morality far higher +than any that Puritanism ever dreamed of. And with its theory of +development it cuts away every possible logical basis for +intolerance. It is this theology to which Lessing has given +concrete expression in his immortal poem of "Nathan." + +The central idea of "Nathan" was suggested to Lessing by +Boccaccio's story of "The Three Rings," which is supposed to have +had a Jewish origin. Saladin, pretending to be inspired by a +sudden, imperious whim, such as is "not unbecoming in a Sultan," +demands that Nathan shall answer him on the spur of the moment +which of the three great religions then known--Judaism, +Mohammedanism, Christianity--is adjudged by reason to be the true +one. For a moment the philosopher is in a quandary. If he does +not pronounce in favour of his own religion, Judaism, he +stultifies himself; but if he does not award the precedence to +Mohammedanism, he will apparently insult his sovereign. With true +Oriental tact he escapes from the dilemma by means of a parable. +There was once a man, says Nathan, who possessed a ring of +inestimable value. Not only was the stone which it contained +incomparably fine, but it possessed the marvellous property of +rendering its owner agreeable both to God and to men. The old man +bequeathed this ring to that one of his sons whom he loved the +most; and the son, in turn, made a similar disposition of it. So +that, passing from hand to hand, the ring finally came into the +possession of a father who loved his three sons equally well. +Unto which one should he leave it? To get rid of the perplexity, +he had two other rings made by a jeweller, exactly like the +original, and to each of his three sons he bequeathed one. Each +then thinking that he had obtained the true talisman, they began +violently to quarrel, and after long contention agreed to carry +their dispute before the judge. But the judge said: "Quarrelsome +fellows! You are all three of you cheated cheats. Your three +rings are alike counterfeit. For the genuine ring is lost, and to +conceal the loss, your father had made these three substitutes." +At this unexpected denouement the Sultan breaks out in +exclamations of delight; and it is interesting to learn that when +the play was brought upon the stage at Constantinople a few years +ago, the Turkish audience was similarly affected. There is in the +story that quiet, stealthy humour which is characteristic of many +mediaeval apologues, and in which Lessing himself loved to deal. +It is humour of the kind which hits the mark, and reveals the +truth. In a note upon this passage, Lessing himself said: "The +opinion of Nathan upon all positive religions has for a long time +been my own." Let him who has the genuine ring show it by making +himself loved of God and man. This is the central idea of the +poem. It is wholly unlike the iconoclasm of the deists, and, +coming in the eighteenth century, it was like a veritable +evangel. + +"Nathan" was not brought out until three years after Lessing's +death, and it kept possession of the stage for but a short time. +In a dramatic point of view, it has hardly any merits. Whatever +plot there is in it is weak and improbable. The decisive +incidents seem to be brought in like the deus ex machina of the +later Greek drama. There is no movement, no action, no +development. The characters are poetically but not dramatically +conceived. Considered as a tragedy, "Nathan" would be weak; +considered as a comedy, it would be heavy. With full knowledge of +these circumstances, Lessing called it not a drama, but a +dramatic poem; and he might have called it still more accurately +a didactic poem, for the only feature which it has in common with +the drama is that the personages use the oratio directa. + +"Nathan" is a didactic poem: it is not a mere philosophic +treatise written in verse, like the fragments of Xenophanes. Its +lessons are conveyed concretely and not abstractly; and its +characters are not mere lay figures, but living poetical +conceptions. Considered as a poem among classic German poems, it +must rank next to, though immeasurably below, Goethe's "Faust." + +There are two contrasted kinds of genius, the poetical and the +philosophical; or, to speak yet more generally, the artistic and +the critical. The former is distinguished by a concrete, the +latter by an abstract, imagination. The former sees things +synthetically, in all their natural complexity; the latter pulls +things to pieces analytically, and scrutinizes their relations. +The former sees a tree in all its glory, where the latter sees an +exogen with a pair of cotyledons. The former sees wholes, where +the latter sees aggregates. + +Corresponding with these two kinds of genius there are two +classes of artistic productions. When the critical genius writes +a poem or a novel, he constructs his plot and his characters in +conformity to some prearranged theory, or with a view to +illustrate some favourite doctrine. When he paints a picture, he +first thinks how certain persons would look under certain given +circumstances, and paints them accordingly. When he writes a +piece of music, he first decides that this phrase expresses joy, +and that phrase disappointment, and the other phrase disgust, and +he composes accordingly. We therefore say ordinarily that he does +not create, but only constructs and combines. It is far different +with the artistic genius, who, without stopping to think, sees +the picture and hears the symphony with the eyes and ears of +imagination, and paints and plays merely what he has seen and +heard. When Dante, in imagination, arrived at the lowest circle +of hell, where traitors like Judas and Brutus are punished, he +came upon a terrible frozen lake, which, he says,-- + + "Ever makes me shudder at the sight of frozen pools." + +I have always considered this line a marvellous instance of the +intensity of Dante's imagination. It shows, too, how Dante +composed his poem. He did not take counsel of himself and say: +"Go to, let us describe the traitors frozen up to their necks in +a dismal lake, for that will be most terrible." But the picture +of the lake, in all its iciness, with the haggard faces staring +out from its glassy crust, came unbidden before his mind with +such intense reality that, for the rest of his life, he could not +look at a frozen pool without a shudder of horror. He described +it exactly as he saw it; and his description makes us shudder who +read it after all the centuries that have intervened. So Michael +Angelo, a kindred genius, did not keep cutting and chipping away, +thinking how Moses ought to look, and what sort of a nose he +ought to have, and in what position his head might best rest upon +his shoulders. But, he looked at the rectangular block of Carrara +marble, and beholding Moses grand and lifelike within it, knocked +away the environing stone, that others also might see the mighty +figure. And so Beethoven, an artist of the same colossal order, +wrote out for us those mysterious harmonies which his ear had for +the first time heard; and which, in his mournful old age, it +heard none the less plainly because of its complete physical +deafness. And in this way Shakespeare wrote his "Othello"; +spinning out no abstract thoughts about jealousy and its fearful +effects upon a proud and ardent nature, but revealing to us the +living concrete man, as his imperial imagination had +spontaneously fashioned him. + +Modern psychology has demonstrated that this is the way in which +the creative artistic imagination proceeds. It has proved that a +vast portion of all our thinking goes on unconsciously; and that +the results may arise into consciousness piecemeal and gradually, +checking each other as they come; or that they may come all at +once, with all the completeness and definiteness of perceptions +presented from without. The former is the case with the critical, +and the latter with the artistic intellect. And this we recognize +imperfectly when we talk of a genius being "inspired." All of us +probably have these two kinds of imagination to a certain extent. +It is only given to a few supremely endowed persons like Goethe +to possess them both to an eminent degree. Perhaps of no other +man can it be said that he was a poet of the first order, and as +great a critic as poet. + +It is therefore apt to be a barren criticism which studies the +works of creative geniuses in order to ascertain what theory lies +beneath them. How many systems of philosophy, how many subtle +speculations, have we not seen fathered upon Dante, Cervantes, +Shakespeare, and Goethe! Yet their works are, in a certain sense, +greater than any systems. They partake of the infinite complexity +and variety of nature, and no more than nature itself can they be +narrowed down to the limits of a precise formula. + +Lessing was wont to disclaim the title of poet; but, as Goethe +said, his immortal works refute him. He had not only poetical, +but dramatic genius; and his "Emilia Galotti" has kept the stage +until to-day. Nevertheless, he knew well what he meant when he +said that he was more of a critic than a poet. His genius was +mainly of the critical order; and his great work, "Nathan the +Wise," was certainly constructed rather than created. It was +intended to convey a doctrine, and was carefully shaped for the +purpose. And when we have pronounced it the greatest of all poems +that have been written for a set purpose, and admit of being +expressed in a definite formula, we have classified it with +sufficient accuracy. + +For an analysis of the characters in the poem, nothing can be +better than the essay by Kuno Fischer, appended to the present +volume. The work of translation has been admirably done; and +thanks are due to Miss Frothingham for her reproduction of this +beautiful poem. + + June, 1868. + + +VIII. HISTORICAL DIFFICULTIES.[29] + +[29] Historical Difficulties and Contested Events. By Octave +Delepierre, LL. D., F. S. A., Secretary of Legation to the King +of the Belgians. 8vo. London: Murray. 1868. + + +History, says Sainte-Beuve, is in great part a set of fables +which people agree to believe in. And, on reading books like the +present, one certainly needs a good deal of that discipline +acquired by long familiarity with vexed historical questions, in +order to check the disposition to accept the great critic's +ironical remark in sober earnest. Much of what is currently +accredited as authentic history is in fact a mixture of flattery +and calumny, myth and fable. Yet in this set of fables, whatever +may have been the case in past times, people will no longer agree +to believe. During the present century the criticism of recorded +events has gone far toward assuming the developed and +systematized aspect of a science, and canons of belief have been +established. which it is not safe to disregard. Great +occurrences, such as the Trojan War and the Siege of Thebes, not +long ago faithfully described by all historians of Greece, have +been found to be part of the common mythical heritage of the +Aryan nations. Achilleus and Helena, Oidipous and Iokasta, Oinone +and Paris, have been discovered in India and again in +Scandinavia, and so on, until their nonentity has become the +legitimate inference from their very ubiquity. Legislators like +Romulus and Numa, inventors like Kadmos, have evaporated into +etymologies. Whole legions of heroes, dynasties of kings, and +adulteresses as many as Dante saw borne on the whirlwind, have +vanished from the face of history, and terrible has been the +havoc in the opening pages of our chronological tables. Nor is it +primitive history alone which has been thus metamorphosed. +Characters unduly exalted or defamed by party spirit are daily +being set before us in their true, or at least in a truer, light. +What Mr. Froude has done for Henry VIII. we know; and he might +have done more if he had not tried to do so much. Humpbacked +Richard turns out to have been one of the handsomest kings that +ever sat on the throne of England. Edward I., in his dealings +with Scotland, is seen to have been scrupulously just; while the +dignity of the patriot hero Wallace has been somewhat impaired. +Elizabeth is proved to have befriended the false Mary Stuart much +longer than was consistent with her personal safety. Eloquent +Cicero has been held up as an object of contempt; and even +weighty Tacitus has been said to owe much of his reputation to +his ability to give false testimony with a grave face. It has +lately been suspected that gloomy Tiberius, apart from his +gloominess, may have been rather a good fellow; not so licentious +as puritanical, not cruel so much as exceptionally merciful,--a +rare general, a sagacious statesman, and popular to boot with all +his subjects save the malignant oligarchy which he consistently +snubbed, and which took revenge on him by writing his life. And, +to crown all, even Catiline, abuser of our patience, seducer of +vestal nuns, and drinker of children's blood,--whose very name +suggests murder, incest, and robbery,--even Catiline has found an +able defender in Professor Beesly. It is claimed that Catiline +was a man of great abilities and average good character, a +well-calumniated leader of the Marian party which Caesar +afterwards led to victory, and that his famous plot for burning +Rome never existed save in the unscrupulous Ciceronian fancy. And +those who think it easy to refute these conclusions of Professor +Beesly had better set to work and try it. Such are a few of the +surprising questions opened by recent historical research; and in +the face of them the public is quite excusable if it declares +itself at a loss what to believe. + +These, however, are cases in which criticism has at least made +some show of ascertaining the truth and detecting the causes of +the prevalent misconception. That men like Catiline and Tiberius +should have had their characters blackened is quite easily +explicable. President Johnson would have little better chance of +obtaining justice at the hands of posterity, if the most widely +read history of his administration should happen to be written by +a radical member of the Rump Congress. But the cases which Mr. +Delepierre invites us to contemplate are of a different +character. They come neither under the head of myths nor under +that of misrepresentations. Some of them are truly vexed +questions which it may perhaps always be impossible +satisfactorily to solve. Others may be dealt with more easily, +but afford no clew to the origin of the popularly received error. +Let us briefly examine a few of Mr. Delepierre's "difficulties." +And first, because simplest, we will take the case of the +Alexandrian Library. + +Every one has heard how Amrou, after his conquest of Egypt, sent +to Caliph Omar to know what should be done with the Alexandrian +Library. "If the books agree with the Koran," said the Caliph, +"they are superfluous; if they contradict it, they are damnable; +in either case, destroy them." So the books were taken and used +to light the fires which heated water for the baths; and so vast +was the number that, used in this way, they lasted six months! +All this happened because John the Grammarian was over-anxious +enough to request that the books might be preserved, and thus +drew Amrou's attention to them. Great has been the obloquy poured +upon Omar for this piece of vandalism, and loud has been the +mourning over the treasures of ancient science and literature +supposed to have been irrecoverably lost in this ignominious +conflagration Theologians, Catholic and Protestant, have been +fond of quoting it as an instance of the hostility of +Mahometanism to knowledge, and we have even heard an edifying +sermon preached about it. On seeing the story put to such uses, +one feels sometimes like using the ad hominem argument, and +quoting the wholesale destruction of pagan libraries under +Valens, the burning of books by the Latin stormers of +Constantinople, the alleged annihilation of 100,000 volumes by +Genoese crusaders at Tripoli, the book-burning exploits of +Torquemada, the bonfire of 80,000 valuable Arabic manuscripts, +lighted up in the square of Granada by order of Cardinal Ximenes, +and the irreparable cremation of Aztec writings by the first +Christian bishops of Mexico. These examples, with perhaps others +which do not now occur to us, might be applied in just though +ungentle retort by Mahometan doctors. Yet the most direct +rejoinder would probably not occur to them: the Alexandrian +Library was NOT destroyed by the orders of Omar, and the whole +story is a figment! + +The very pithiness of it, so characteristic of the excellent but +bigoted Omar, is enough to cast suspicion upon it. De Quincey +tells us that "if a saying has a proverbial fame, the probability +is that it was never said." How many amusing stories stand a +chance of going down to posterity as the inventions of President +Lincoln, of which, nevertheless, he is doubtless wholly innocent! +How characteristic was Caesar's reply to the frightened pilot! +Yet in all probability Caesar never made it. + +Now for the evidence. Alexandria was captured by Armrou in 640. +The story of the burning of the library occurs for the first time +in the works of Abulpharagius, who flourished in 1264. Six +hundred years had elapsed. It is as if a story about the crusades +of Louis IX. were to be found for the first time in the writings +of Mr. Bancroft. The Byzantine historians were furiously angry +with the Saracens; why did they, one and all, neglect to mention +such an outrageous piece of vandalism? Their silence must be +considered quite conclusive. Moreover we know "that the caliphs +had forbidden under severe penalties the destruction" of Jewish +and Christian books, a circumstance wholly inconsistent with this +famous story. And finally, what a mediaeval recklessness of dates +is shown in lugging into the story John the Grammarian, who was +dead and in his grave when Alexandria was taken by Amrou! + +But the chief item of proof remains to be mentioned. The Saracens +did not burn the library, because there was no library there for +them to burn! It had been destroyed just two hundred and fifty +years before by a rabble of monks, incited by the patriarch +Theophilus, who saw in such a vast collection of pagan literature +a perpetual insult and menace to religion. In the year 390 this +turbulent bigot sacked the temple of Serapis, where the books +were kept, and drove out the philosophers who lodged there. Of +this violent deed we have contemporary evidence, for Orosius +tells us that less than fifteen years afterwards, while passing +through Alexandria, he saw the empty shelves. This fact disposes +of the story. + +Passing from Egypt to France, and from the seventh century to the +fifteenth, we meet with a much more difficult problem. That +Jeanne d'Arc was burnt at the stake, at Rouen, on the 30th of +May, 1431, and her bones and ashes thrown into the Seine, is +generally supposed to be as indisputable as any event in modern +history. Such is, however, hardly the case. Plausible evidence +has been brought to prove that Jeanne d'Arc was never burnt at +the stake, but lived to a ripe age, and was even happily married +to a nobleman of high rank and reputation. We shall abridge Mr. +Delepierre's statement of this curious case. + +In the archives of Metz, Father Vignier discovered the following +remarkable entry: "In the year 1436, Messire Phlin Marcou was +Sheriff of Metz, and on the 20th day of May of the aforesaid year +came the maid Jeanne, who had been in France, to La Grange of +Ormes, near St. Prive, and was taken there to confer with any one +of the sieurs of Metz, and she called herself Claude; and on the +same day there came to see her there her two brothers, one of +whom was a knight, and was called Messire Pierre, and the other +'petit Jehan,' a squire, and they thought that she had been +burnt, but as soon as they saw her they recognized her and she +them. And on Monday, the 21st day of the said month, they took +their sister with them to Boquelon, and the sieur Nicole, being a +knight, gave her a stout stallion of the value of thirty francs, +and a pair of saddle-cloths; the sieur Aubert Boulle, a +riding-hood, the sieur Nicole Groguet, a sword; and the said +maiden mounted the said horse nimbly, and said several things to +the sieur Nicole by which he well understood that it was she who +had been in France; and she was recognized by many tokens to be +the maid Jeanne of France who escorted King Charles to Rheims, +and several declared that she had been burnt in Normandy, and she +spoke mostly in parables. She afterwards returned to the town of +Marnelle for the feast of Pentecost, and remained there about +three weeks, and then set off to go to Notre Dame d'Alliance. And +when she wished to leave, several of Metz went to see her at the +said Marnelle and gave her several jewels, and they knew well +that she was the maid Jeanne of France; and she then went to +Erlon, in the Duchy of Luxembourg, where she was thronged,.... +and there was solemnized the marriage of Monsieur de Hermoise, +knight, and the said maid Jeanne, and afterwards the said sieur +Hermoise, with his wife, the Maid, came to live at Metz, in the +house the said sieur had, opposite St. Seglenne, and remained +there until it pleased them to depart." + +This is surprising enough; but more remains behind. Dining +shortly afterwards with M. des Armoises, member of one of the +oldest families in Lorraine, Father Vignier was invited to look +over the family archives, that he might satisfy his curiosity +regarding certain ancestors of his host. And on looking over the +family register, what was his astonishment at finding a contract +of marriage between Robert des Armoises, Knight, and Jeanne +d'Arcy, the so-called Maid of Orleans! + +In 1740, some time after these occurrences, there was found, in +the town hall of Orleans, a bill of one Jacques l'Argentier, of +the year 1436, in which mention is made of a small sum paid for +refreshments furnished to a messenger who had brought letters +from the Maid of Orleans, and of twelve livres given to Jean du +Lis, brother of Jeanne d'Arc, to help him pay the expenses of his +journey back to his sister. Then come two charges which we shall +translate literally. "To the sieur de Lis, 18th October, 1436, +for a journey which he made through the said city while on his +way to the Maid, who was then at Erlon in Luxembourg, and for +carrying letters from Jeanne the Maid to the King at Loicher, +where he was then staying, six livres." And again: "To Renard +Brune, 25th July, 1435, at evening, for paying the hire of a +messenger who was carrying letters from Jeanne the Maid, and was +on his way to William Beliers, bailiff of Troyes, two livres." + +As no doubt has been thrown upon the genuineness of these +documents, it must be considered established that in 1436, five +years after the public execution at Rouen, a young woman, +believed to be the real Jeanne d'Arc, was alive in Lorraine and +was married to a M. Hermoises or Armoises. She may, of course, +have been an impostor; but in this case it is difficult to +believe that her brothers, Jean and Pierre, and the people of +Lorraine, where she was well known, would not have detected the +imposture at once. And that Jean du Lis, during a familiar +intercourse of at least several months, as indicated in the above +extracts, should have continued to mistake a stranger for his own +sister, with whom he had lived from childhood, seems a very +absurd supposition. Nor is it likely that an impostor would have +exposed herself to such a formidable test. If it had been a bold +charlatan who, taking advantage of the quite general belief, to +which we have ample testimony, that there was something more in +the execution at Rouen than was allowed to come to the surface, +had resolved to usurp for herself the honours due to the woman +who had saved France, she would hardly have gone at the outset to +a part of the country where the real Maid had spent nearly all +her life. Her instant detection and exposure, perhaps a +disgraceful punishment, would have been inevitable. But if this +person were the real Jeanne, escaped from prison or returning +from an exile dictated by prudence, what should she have done but +go straightway to the haunts of her childhood, where she might +meet once more her own friends and family? + +But the account does not end here. M. Wallon, in his elaborate +history of Jeanne d'Arc, states that in 1436 the supposed Maid +visited France, and appears to have met some of the men-at-arms +with whom she had fought. In 1439 she came to Orleans, for in the +accounts of the town we read, "July 28, for ten pints of wine +presented to Jeanne des Armoises, 14 sous." And on the day of her +departure, the citizens of Orleans, by a special decree of the +town-council, presented her with 210 livres, "for the services +which she had rendered to the said city during the siege." At the +same time the annual ceremonies for the repose of her soul were, +quite naturally, suppressed. Now we may ask if it is at all +probable that the people of Orleans, who, ten years before, +during the siege, must have seen the Maid day after day, and to +whom her whole appearance must have been perfectly familiar, +would have been likely to show such attentions as these to an +impostor? "In 1440," says Mr. Delepierre, "the people so firmly +believed that Jeanne d'Arc was still alive, and that another had +been sacrificed in her place, that an adventuress who endeavoured +to pass herself off as the Maid of Orleans was ordered by the +government to be exposed before the public on the marble stone of +the palace hall, in order to prove that she was an impostor. Why +were not such measures taken against the real Maid of Orleans, +who is mentioned in so many public documents, and who took no +pains to hide herself?" + +There is yet another document bearing on this case, drawn from +the accounts of the auditor of the Orleans estate, in the year +1444, which we will here translate. "An island on the River Loire +is restored to Pierre du Lis, knight, 'on account of the +supplication of the said Pierre, alleging that for the acquittal +of his debt of loyalty toward our Lord the King and M. the Duke +of Orleans, he left his country to come to the service of the +King and M. the Duke, accompanied by his sister, Jeanne the Maid, +with whom, down to the time of her departure, and since, unto the +present time, he has exposed his body and goods in the said +service, and in the King's wars, both in resisting the former +enemies of the kingdom who were besieging the town of Orleans, +and since then in divers enterprises,' &c., &c." Upon this Mr. +Delepierre justly remarks that the brother might have presented +his claims in a much stronger light, "if in 1444," instead of +saying 'up to the time of her departure,' he had brought forward +the martyrdom of his sister, as having been the means of saving +France from the yoke of England." The expression here cited and +italicized in the above translation, may indeed be held to refer +delicately to her death, but the particular French phrase +employed, "jusques a son absentement," apparently excludes such +an interpretation. The expression, on the other hand, might well +refer to Jeanne's departure for Lorraine, and her marriage, after +which there is no evidence that she returned to France, except +for brief visits. Thus a notable amount of evidence goes to show +that Jeanne was not put to death in 1431, as usually supposed, +but was alive, married, and flourishing in 1444. Upon this +supposition, certain alleged difficulties in the traditional +account are easily disposed of. Mr. Delepierre urges upon the +testimony of Perceval de Cagny, that at the execution in Rouen +"the victim's face was covered when walking to the stake, while +at the same time a spot had been chosen for the execution that +permitted the populace to have a good view. Why this +contradiction? A place is chosen to enable the people to see +everything, but the victim is carefully hidden from their sight." +Whether otherwise explicable or not, this fact is certainly +consistent with the hypothesis that some other victim was +secretly substituted for Jeanne by the English authorities. + +We have thus far contented ourselves with presenting and +re-enforcing Mr. Delepierre's statement of the case. It is now +time to interpose a little criticism. We must examine our data +somewhat more closely, for vagueness of conception allows a +latitude to belief which accuracy of conception considerably +restricts. + +On the hypothesis of her survival, where was Jeanne, and what was +she doing all the time from her capture before Compiegne, May 24, +1430, until her appearance at Metz, May 20, 1436? Mr. Delepierre +reminds us that the Duke of Bedford, regent of France for the +English king, died in 1435, and "that most probably Jeanne d'Arc +was released from prison after this event." Now this supposition +lands us in a fatally absurd conclusion. We are, in fact, asked +to believe that the English, while holding Jeanne fast in their +clutches, gratuitously went through the horrid farce of burning +some one else in her stead; and that, after having thus +inexplicably behaved, they further stultified themselves by +letting her go scot-free, that their foolishness might be duly +exposed and confuted. Such a theory is childish. If Jeanne d'Arc +ever survived the 30th May, 1431, it was because she escaped from +prison and succeeded in hiding herself until safer times. When +could she have done this? In a sortie from Compiegne, May 24, +1430, she was thrown from her horse by a Picard archer and taken +prisoner by the Bastard of Vendome, who sold her to John of +Luxembourg. John kept her in close custody at Beaulieu until +August. While there, she made two attempts to escape; first, +apparently, by running out through a door, when she was at once +caught by the guards; secondly, by jumping from a high window, +when the shock of the fall was so great that she lay insensible +on the ground until discovered. She was then removed to +Beaurevoir, where she remained until the beginning of November. +By this time, Philip "the Good," Duke of Burgundy, had made up +his mind to sell her to the English for 10,000 francs; and Jeanne +was accordingly taken to Arras, and thence to Cotoy, where she +was delivered to the English by Philip's officers. So far, all is +clear; but here it may be asked, WAS she really delivered to the +English, or did Philip, pocketing his 10,000 francs, cheat and +defraud his allies with a counterfeit Jeanne? Such crooked +dealing would have been in perfect keeping with his character. +Though a far more agreeable and gentlemanly person, he was almost +as consummate and artistic a rascal as his +great-great-great-grandson and namesake, Philip II. of Spain. His +duplicity was so unfathomable and his policy so obscure, that it +would be hardly safe to affirm a priori that he might not, for +reasons best known to himself, have played a double game with his +friend the Duke of Bedford. On this hypothesis, he would of +course keep Jeanne in close custody so long as there was any +reason for keeping his treachery secret. But in 1436, after the +death of Bedford and the final expulsion of the English from +France, no harm could come from setting her at liberty. + +But as soon as we cease to reason a priori, this is seen to be, +after all, a lame hypothesis. No one can read the trial of Jeanne +at Rouen, the questions that were put to her and the answers +which she made, without being convinced that we are here dealing +with the genuine Maid and not with a substitute. The first step +of a counterfeit Jeanne would have naturally been to save herself +from the flames by revealing her true character. Moreover, among +the multitudes who saw her during her cruel trial, it is not +likely that none were acquainted with the true Jeanne's voice and +features. We must therefore conclude that Jeanne d'Arc was really +consigned to the tender mercies of the English. About the 21st of +November she was taken on horseback, strongly guarded, from Cotoy +to Rouen, where the trial began January 9, 1431. On the 21st of +February she appeared before the court; on the 13th of March she +was examined in the prison by an inquisitor; and on May 24, the +Thursday after Pentecost, upon a scaffold conspicuously placed in +the Cemetery of St. Ouen, she publicly recanted, abjuring her +"heresies" and asking the Church's pardon for her "witchcraft." +We may be sure that the Church dignitaries would not knowingly +have made such public display of a counterfeit Jeanne; nor could +they well have been deceived themselves under such circumstances. +It may indeed be said, to exhaust all possible suppositions, that +a young girl wonderfully similar in feature and voice to Jeanne +d'Arc was palmed off upon the English by Duke Philip, and +afterwards, on her trial, comported herself like the Maid, +trusting in this recantation to effect her release. But we +consider such an hypothesis extremely far-fetched, nor does it +accord with the events which immediately followed. It seems +hardly questionable that it was the real Jeanne who publicly +recanted on the 24th of May. This was only six days before the +execution. Four days after, on Monday the 28th, it was reported +that Jeanne had relapsed, that she had, in defiance of the +Church's prohibition, clothed herself in male attire, which had +been left in a convenient place by the authorities, expressly to +test her sincerity. On the next day but one, the woman purporting +to be the Maid of Orleans was led out, with her face carefully +covered, and burnt at the stake. + +Here is the first combination of circumstances which bears a +suspicious look. It disposes of our Burgundy hypothesis, for a +false Jeanne, after recanting to secure her safety, would never +have stultified herself by such a barefaced relapse. But the true +Jeanne, after recanting, might certainly have escaped. Some +compassionate guard, who before would have scrupled to assist her +while under the ban of the Church, might have deemed himself +excusable for lending her his aid after she had been absolved. +Postulating, then, that Jeanne escaped from Rouen between the +24th and the 28th, how shall we explain what happened immediately +afterward? + +The English feared Jeanne d'Arc as much as they hated her. She +had, by her mere presence at the head of the French army, turned +their apparent triumph into ignominious defeat. In those days the +true psychological explanation of such an event was by no means +obvious. While the French attributed the result to celestial +interposition in their behalf, the English, equally ready to +admit its supernatural character, considered the powers of hell +rather than those of heaven to have been the prime instigators. +In their eyes Jeanne was a witch, and it was at least their cue +to exhibit her as such. They might have put her to death when she +first reached Rouen. Some persons, indeed, went so far as to +advise that she should be sewed up in a sack and thrown at once +into the Seine; but this was not what the authorities wanted. The +whole elaborate trial, and the extorted recantation, were devised +for the purpose of demonstrating her to be a witch, and thus +destroying her credit with the common people. That they intended +afterwards to burn her cannot for an instant be doubted; that was +the only fit consummation for their evil work. + +Now when, at the end of the week after Pentecost, the bishops and +inquisitors at Rouen learned, to their dismay, that their victim +had escaped, what were they to do? Confess that they had been +foiled, and create a panic in the army by the news that their +dreaded enemy was at liberty? Or boldly carry out their purposes +by a fictitious execution, trusting in the authority which +official statements always carry, and shrewdly foreseeing that, +after her recantation, the disgraced Maid would no more venture +to claim for herself the leadership of the French forces? +Clearly, the latter would have been the wiser course. We may +assume, then, that, by the afternoon of the 28th, the story of +the relapse was promulgated, as a suitable preparation for what +was to come; and that on the 30th the poor creature who had been +hastily chosen to figure as the condemned Maid was led out, with +face closely veiled, to perish by a slow fire in the old +market-place. Meanwhile the true Jeanne would have made her way, +doubtless, in what to her was the effectual disguise of a woman's +apparel, to some obscure place of safety, outside of doubtful +France and treacherous Burgundy, perhaps in Alsace or the Vosges. +Here she would remain, until the final expulsion of the English +and the conclusion of a treaty of peace in 1436 made it safe for +her to show herself; when she would naturally return to Lorraine +to seek her family. + +The comparative obscurity in which she must have remained for the +rest of her life, otherwise quite inexplicable on any hypothesis +of her survival, is in harmony with the above-given explanation. +The ingratitude of King Charles towards the heroine who had won +him his crown is the subject of common historical remark. M. +Wallon insists upon the circumstance that, after her capture at +Compiegne, no attempts were made by the French Court to ransom +her or to liberate her by a bold coup de main. And when, at +Rouen, she appealed in the name of the Church to the Pope to +grant her a fair trial, not a single letter was written by the +Archbishop of Rheims, High Chancellor of France, to his +suffragan, the Bishop of Beauvais, demanding cognizance of the +proceedings. Nor did the King make any appeal to the Pope, to +prevent the consummation of the judicial murder. The Maid was +deliberately left to her fate. It is upon her enemies at court, +La Tremouille and Regnault de Chartres, that we must lay part of +the blame for this wicked negligence. But it is also probable +that the King, and especially his clerical advisers, were at +times almost disposed to acquiesce in the theory of Jeanne's +witchcraft. Admire her as they might, they could not help feeling +that in her whole behaviour there was something uncanny; and, +after having reaped the benefits of her assistance, they were +content to let her shift for herself. This affords the clew to +the King's inconsistencies. It may be thought sufficient to +explain the fact that Jeanne is said to have received public +testimonials at Orleans, while we have no reason to suppose that +she visited Paris. It may help to dispose of the objection that +she virtually disappears from history after the date of the +tragedy at Rouen. + +Nevertheless, this last objection is a weighty one, and cannot +easily be got rid of. It appears to me utterly incredible that, +if Jeanne d'Arc had really survived, we should find no further +mention of her than such as haply occurs in one or two +town-records and dilapidated account-books. If she was alive in +1436, and corresponding with the King, some of her friends at +court must have got an inkling of the true state of things. Why +did they not parade their knowledge, to the manifest discomfiture +of La Tremouille and his company? Or why did not Pierre du Lis +cause it to be proclaimed that the English were liars, his sister +being safely housed in Metz? + +In the mere interests of historical criticism, we have said all +that we could in behalf of Mr. Delepierre's hypothesis. But as to +the facts upon which it rests, we may remark, in the first place, +that the surname Arc or "Bow" was not uncommon in those days, +while the Christian name Jeanne was and now is the very commonest +of French names. There might have been a hundred Jeanne d'Arcs, +all definable as pucelle or maid, just as we say "spinster": we +even read of one in the time of the Revolution. We have, +therefore, no doubt that Robert des Hermoises married a Jeanne +d'Arc, who may also have been a maid of Orleans; but this does +not prove her to have been the historic Jeanne. Secondly, as to +the covering of the face, we may mention the fact, hitherto +withheld, that it was by no means an uncommon circumstance: the +victims of the Spanish Inquisition were usually led to the stake +with veiled faces. Thirdly, the phrase "jusques a son +absentement" is hopelessly ambiguous, and may as well refer to +Pierre du Lis himself as to his sister. + +These brief considerations seem to knock away all the main props +of Mr. Delepierre's hypothesis, save that furnished by the +apparent testimony of Jeanne's brothers, given at second hand in +the Metz archives. And those who are familiar with the phenomena +of mediaeval delusions will be unwilling to draw too hasty an +inference from this alone. From the Emperor Nero to Don Sebastian +of Portugal, there have been many instances of the supposed +reappearance of persons generally believed to be dead. For my own +part, therefore, I am by no means inclined to adopt the +hypothesis of Jeanne's survival, although I have endeavoured to +give it tangible shape and plausible consistency. But the fact +that so much can be said in behalf of a theory running counter +not only to universal tradition, but also to such a vast body of +contemporaneous testimony, should teach us to be circumspect in +holding our opinions, and charitable in our treatment of those +who dissent from them. For those who can discover in the +historian Renan and the critic Strauss nothing but the +malevolence of incredulity, the case of Jeanne d'Arc, duly +contemplated, may serve as a wholesome lesson. + +We have devoted so much space to this problem, by far the most +considerable of those treated in Mr. Delepierre's book, that we +have hardly room for any of the others. But a false legend +concerning Solomon de Caus, the supposed original inventor of the +steam-engine, is so instructive that we must give a brief account +of it. + +In 1834 "there appeared in the Musee des Familles a letter from +the celebrated Marion Delorme, supposed to have been written on +the 3d February, 1641, to her lover Cinq-Mars." In this letter it +is stated that De Caus came four years ago [1637] from Normandy, +to inform the King concerning a marvellous invention which he had +made, being nothing less than the application of steam to the +propulsion of carriages. "The Cardinal [Richelieu] dismissed this +fool without giving him a hearing." But De Caus, nowise +discouraged, followed close upon the autocrat's heels wherever he +went, and so teased him, that the Cardinal, out of patience, sent +him off to a madhouse, where he passed the remainder of his days +behind a grated window, proclaiming his invention to the +passengers in the street, and calling upon them to release him. +Marion gives a graphic account of her visit, accompanied by the +famous Lord Worcester, to the asylum at Bicetre, where they saw +De Caus at his window; and Worcester, in whose mind the +conception of the steam-engine was already taking shape, informed +her that the raving prisoner was not a madman, but a genius. A +great stir was made by this letter. The anecdote was copied into +standard works, and represented in engravings. Yet it was a +complete hoax. De Caus was not only never confined in a madhouse, +but he was architect to Louis XIII. up to the time of his death, +in 1630, just eleven years BEFORE Marion Delorme was said to have +seen him at his grated window! + +"On tracing this hoax to its source," says Mr. Delepierre, "we +find that M. Henri Berthoud, a literary man of some repute, and a +constant contributor to the Musee des Familles, confesses that +the letter attributed to Marion was in fact written by himself. +The editor of this journal had requested Gavarni to furnish him +with a drawing for a tale in which a madman was introduced +looking through the bars of his cell. The drawing was executed +and engraved, but arrived too late; and the tale, which could not +wait, appeared without the illustration. However, as the +wood-engraving was effective, and, moreover, was paid for, the +editor was unwilling that it should be useless. Berthoud was, +therefore, commissioned to look for a subject and to invent a +story to which the engraving might be applied. Strangely enough, +the world refused to believe in M. Berthoud's confession, so +great a hold had the anecdote taken on the public mind; and a +Paris newspaper went so far even as to declare that the original +autograph of this letter was to be seen in a library in Normandy! +M. Berthoud wrote again, denying its existence, and offered a +million francs to any one who would produce the said letter." + +From this we may learn two lessons, the first being that utterly +baseless but plausible stories may arise in queer ways. In the +above case, the most far-fetched hypothesis to account for the +origin of the legend could hardly have been as apparently +improbable as the reality. Secondly, we may learn that if a myth +once gets into the popular mind, it is next to impossible to get +it out again. In the Castle of Heidelberg there is a portrait of +De Caus, and a folio volume of his works, accompanied by a note, +in which this letter of Marion Delorme is unsuspectingly cited as +genuine. And only three years ago, at a public banquet at +Limoges, a well-known French Senator and man of letters made a +speech, in which he retailed the story of the madhouse for the +edification of his hearers. Truly a popular error has as many +lives as a cat; it comes walking in long after you have imagined +it effectually strangled. + +In conclusion, we may remark that Mr. Delepierre does very scant +justice to many of the interesting questions which he discusses. +It is to be regretted that he has not thought it worth while to +argue his points more thoroughly, and that he has not been more +careful in making statements of fact. He sometimes makes strange +blunders, the worst of which, perhaps, is contained in his +article on Petrarch and Laura. He thinks Laura was merely a +poetical allegory, and such was the case, he goes on to say, +"with Dante himself, whose Beatrice was a child who died at nine +years of age." Dante's Beatrice died on the 9th of June, 1290, at +the age of twenty-four, having been the wife of Simone dei Bardi +rather more than three years. + + October, 1868. + + + +IX. THE FAMINE OF 1770 IN BENGAL.[30] + +[30] The Annals of Rural Bengal. By W. W. Hunter. Vol. I. The +Ethnical Frontier of Lower Bengal, with the Ancient +Principalities of Beerbhoom and Bishenpore. Second Edition. New +York: Leypoldt and Holt. 1868. 8vo., pp. xvi., 475. + +No intelligent reader can advance fifty pages in this volume +without becoming aware that he has got hold of a very remarkable +book. Mr. Hunter's style, to begin with, is such as is written +only by men of large calibre and high culture. No words are +wasted. The narrative flows calmly and powerfully along, like a +geometrical demonstration, omitting nothing which is significant, +admitting nothing which is irrelevant, glowing with all the +warmth of rich imagination and sympathetic genius, yet never +allowing any overt manifestation of feeling, ever concealing the +author's personality beneath the unswerving exposition of the +subject-matter. That highest art, which conceals art, Mr. Hunter +appears to have learned well. With him, the curtain is the +picture. + +Such a style as this would suffice to make any book interesting, +in spite of the remoteness of the subject. But the "Annals of +Rural Bengal" do not concern us so remotely as one might at first +imagine. The phenomena of the moral and industrial growth or +stagnation of a highly-endowed people must ever possess the +interest of fascination for those who take heed of the maxim that +"history is philosophy teaching by example." National prosperity +depends upon circumstances sufficiently general to make the +experience of one country of great value to another, though +ignorant Bourbon dynasties and Rump Congresses refuse to learn +the lesson. It is of the intimate every-day life of rural Bengal +that Mr. Hunter treats. He does not, like old historians, try our +patience with a bead-roll of names that have earned no just title +to remembrance, or dazzle us with a bountiful display of +"barbaric pearls and gold," or lead us in the gondolas of +Buddhist kings down sacred rivers, amid "a summer fanned with +spice"; but he describes the labours and the sufferings, the +mishaps and the good fortune, of thirty millions of people, who, +however dusky may be their hue, tanned by the tropical suns of +fifty centuries, are nevertheless members of the imperial Aryan +race, descended from the cool highlands eastward of the Caspian, +where, long before the beginning of recorded history, their +ancestors and those of the Anglo-American were indistinguishably +united in the same primitive community. + +The narrative portion of the present volume is concerned mainly +with the social and economical disorganization wrought by the +great famine of 1770, and with the attempts of the English +government to remedy the same. The remainder of the book is +occupied with inquiries into the ethnic character of the +population of Bengal, and particularly with an exposition of the +peculiarities of the language, religion, customs, and +institutions of the Santals, or hill-tribes of Beerbhoom. A few +remarks on the first of these topics may not be uninteresting. + +Throughout the entire course of recorded European history, from +the remote times of which the Homeric poems preserve the dim +tradition down to the present moment, there has occurred no +calamity at once so sudden and of such appalling magnitude as the +famine which in the spring and summer of 1770 nearly exterminated +the ancient civilization of Bengal. It presents that aspect of +preternatural vastness which characterizes the continent of Asia +and all that concerns it. The Black Death of the fourteenth +century was, perhaps, the most fearful visitation which has ever +afflicted the Western world. But in the concentrated misery which +it occasioned the Bengal famine surpassed it, even as the +Himalayas dwarf by comparison the highest peaks of Switzerland. +It is, moreover, the key to the history of Bengal during the next +forty years; and as such, merits, from an economical point of +view, closer attention than it has hitherto received. + +Lower Bengal gathers in three harvests each year; in the spring, +in the early autumn, and in December, the last being the great +rice-crop, the harvest on which the sustenance of the people +depends. Through the year 1769 there was great scarcity, owing to +the partial failure of the crops of 1768, but the spring rains +appeared to promise relief, and in spite of the warning appeals +of provincial officers, the government was slow to take alarm, +and continued rigorously to enforce the land-tax. But in +September the rains suddenly ceased. Throughout the autumn there +ruled a parching drought; and the rice-fields, according to the +description of a native superintendent of Bishenpore, "became +like fields of dried straw." Nevertheless, the government at +Calcutta made--with one lamentable exception, hereafter to be +noticed--no legislative attempt to meet the consequences of this +dangerous condition of things. The administration of local +affairs was still, at that date, intrusted to native officials. +The whole internal regulation was in the hands of the famous +Muhamad Reza Ehan. Hindu or Mussulman assessors pried into every +barn and shrewdly estimated the probable dimensions of the crops +on every field; and the courts, as well as the police, were still +in native hands. "These men," says our author, "knew the country, +its capabilities, its average yield, and its average +requirements, with an accuracy that the most painstaking English +official can seldom hope to attain to. They had a strong interest +in representing things to be worse than they were; for the more +intense the scarcity, the greater the merit in collecting the +land-tax. Every consultation is filled with their apprehensions +and highly-coloured accounts of the public distress; but it does +not appear that the conviction entered the minds of the Council +during the previous winter months, that the question was not so +much one of revenue as of depopulation." In fact, the local +officers had cried "Wolf!" too often. Government was slow to +believe them, and announced that nothing better could be expected +than the adoption of a generous policy toward those landholders +whom the loss of harvest had rendered unable to pay their +land-tax. But very few indulgences were granted, and the tax was +not diminished, but on the contrary was, in the month of April, +1770, increased by ten per cent for the following year. The +character of the Bengali people must also be taken into the +account in explaining this strange action on the part of the +government. + +"From the first appearance of Lower Bengal in history, its +inhabitants have been reticent, self-contained, distrustful of +foreign observation, in a degree without parallel among other +equally civilized nations. The cause of this taciturnity will +afterwards be clearly explained; but no one who is acquainted +either with the past experiences or the present condition of the +people can be ignorant of its results. Local officials may write +alarming reports, but their apprehensions seem to be contradicted +by the apparent quiet that prevails. Outward, palpable proofs of +suffering are often wholly wanting; and even when, as in 1770, +such proofs abound, there is generally no lack of evidence on the +other side. The Bengali bears existence with a composure that +neither accident nor chance can ruffle. He becomes silently rich +or uncomplainingly poor. The emotional part of his nature is in +strict subjection, his resentment enduring but unspoken, his +gratitude of the sort that silently descends from generation to +generation. The. passion for privacy reaches its climax in the +domestic relations. An outer apartment, in even the humblest +households, is set apart for strangers and the transaction of +business, but everything behind it is a mystery. The most +intimate friend does not venture to make those commonplace kindly +inquiries about a neighbour's wife or daughter which European +courtesy demands from mere acquaintances. This family privacy is +maintained at any price. During the famine of 1866 it was found +impossible to render public charity available to the female +members of the respectable classes, and many a rural household +starved slowly to death without uttering a complaint or making a +sign. + +"All through the stifling summer of 1770 the people went on +dying. The husbandmen sold their cattle; they sold their +implements of agriculture; they devoured their seed-grain; they +sold their sons and daughters, till at length no buyer of +children could be found; they ate the leaves of trees and the +grass of the field; and in June, 1770, the Resident at the Durbar +affirmed that the living were feeding on the dead. Day and night +a torrent of famished and disease-stricken wretches poured into +the great cities. At an early period of the year pestilence had +broken out. In March we find small-pox at Moorshedabad, where it +glided through the vice-regal mutes, and cut off the Prince Syfut +in his palace. The streets were blocked up with promiscuous heaps +of the dying and dead. Interment could not do its work quick +enough; even the dogs and jackals, the public scavengers of the +East, became unable to accomplish their revolting work, and the +multitude of mangled and festering corpses at length threatened +the existence of the citizens..... In 1770, the rainy season +brought relief, and before the end of September the province +reaped an abundant harvest. But the relief came too late to avert +depopulation. Starving and shelterless crowds crawled +despairingly from one deserted village to another in a vain +search for food, or a resting-place in which to hide themselves +from the rain. The epidemics incident to the season were thus +spread over the whole country; and, until the close of the year, +disease continued so prevalent as to form a subject of +communication from the government in Bengal to the Court of +Directors. Millions of famished wretches died in the struggle to +live through the few intervening weeks that separated them from +the harvest, their last gaze being probably fixed on the +densely-covered fields that would ripen only a little too late +for them..... Three months later, another bountiful harvest, the +great rice-crop of the year, was gathered in. Abundance returned +to Bengal as suddenly as famine had swooped down upon it, and in +reading some of the manuscript records of December it is +difficult to realize that the scenes of the preceding ten months +have not been hideous phantasmagoria or a long, troubled dream. +On Christmas eve, the Council in Calcutta wrote home to the Court +of Directors that the scarcity had entirely ceased, and, +incredible as it may seem, that unusual plenty had returned..... +So generous had been the harvest that the government proposed at +once to lay in its military stores for the ensuing year, and +expected to obtain them at a very cheap rate." + +Such sudden transitions from the depths of misery to the most +exuberant plenty are by no means rare in the history of Asia, +where the various centres of civilization are, in an economical +sense, so isolated from each other that the welfare of the +population is nearly always absolutely dependent on the +irregular: and apparently capricious bounty of nature. For the +three years following the dreadful misery above described, +harvests of unprecedented abundance were gathered in. Yet how +inadequate they were to repair the fearful damage wrought by six +months of starvation, the history of the next quarter of a +century too plainly reveals. "Plenty had indeed returned," says +our annalist, "but it had returned to a silent and deserted +province." The extent of the depopulation is to our Western +imaginations almost incredible. During those six months of +horror, more than TEN MILLIONS of people had perished! It was as +if the entire population of our three or four largest +States--man, woman, and child--were to be utterly swept away +between now and next August, leaving the region between the +Hudson and Lake Michigan as quiet and deathlike as the buried +streets of Pompeii. Yet the estimate is based upon most accurate +and trustworthy official returns; and Mr. Hunter may well say +that "it represents an aggregate of individual suffering which no +European nation has been called upon to contemplate within +historic times." + +This unparalleled calamity struck down impartially the rich and +the poor. The old, aristocratic families of Lower Bengal were +irretrievably ruined. The Rajah of Burdwan, whose possessions +were so vast that, travel as far as he would, he always slept +under a roof of his own and within his own jurisdiction, died in +such indigence that his son had to melt down the family plate and +beg a loan from the government in order to discharge his father's +funeral expenses. And our author gives other similar instances. +The wealthy natives who were appointed to assess and collect the +internal revenue, being unable to raise the sums required by the +government, were in many cases imprisoned, or their estates were +confiscated and re-let in order to discharge the debt. + +For fifteen years the depopulation went on increasing. The +children in a community, requiring most nourishment to sustain +their activity, are those who soonest succumb to famine. "Until +1785," says our author, "the old died off without there being any +rising generation to step into their places." From lack of +cultivators, one third of the surface of Bengal fell out of +tillage and became waste land. The landed proprietors began each +"to entice away the tenants of his neighbour, by offering +protection against judicial proceedings, and farms at very low +rents." The disputes and deadly feuds which arose from this +practice were, perhaps, the least fatal of the evil results which +flowed from it. For the competition went on until, the tenants +obtaining their holdings at half-rates, the resident +cultivators--who had once been the wealthiest farmers in the +country--were no longer able to complete on such terms. They +began to sell, lease, or desert their property, migrating to less +afflicted regions, or flying to the hills on the frontier to +adopt a savage life. But, in a climate like that of Northeastern +India, it takes but little time to transform a tract of untilled +land into formidable wilderness. When the functions of society +are impeded, nature is swift to assert its claims. And +accordingly, in 1789, "Lord Cornwallis after three years' +vigilant inquiry, pronounced one third of the company's +territories in Bengal to be a jungle, inhabited only by wild +beasts." + +On the Western frontier of Beerbhoom the state of affairs was, +perhaps, most calamitous. In 1776, four acres out of every seven +remained untilled. Though in earlier times this district had been +a favourite highway for armies, by the year 1780 it had become an +almost impassable jungle. A small company of Sepoys, which in +that year by heroic exertions forced its way through, was obliged +to traverse 120 miles of trackless forest, swarming with tigers +and black shaggy bears. In 1789 this jungle "continued so dense +as to shut off all communication between the two most important +towns, and to cause the mails to be carried by a circuit of fifty +miles through another district." + +Such a state of things it is difficult for us to realize; but the +monotonous tale of disaster and suffering is not yet complete. +Beerbhoom was, to all intents and purposes, given over to tigers. +"A belt of jungle, filled with wild beasts, formed round each +village." At nightfall the hungry animals made their dreaded +incursions carrying away cattle, and even women and children, and +devouring them. "The official records frequently speak of the +mail-bag being carried off by wild beasts." So great was the +damage done by these depredations, that "the company offered a +reward for each tiger's head, sufficient to maintain a peasant's +family in comfort for three months; an item of expenditure it +deemed so necessary, that, when under extraordinary pressure it +had to suspend all payments, the tiger-money and diet allowance +for prisoners were the sole exceptions to the rule." Still more +formidable foes were found in the herds of wild elephants, which +came trooping along in the rear of the devastation caused by the +famine. In the course of a few years fifty-six villages were +reported as destroyed by elephants, and as having lapsed into +jungle in consequence; "and an official return states that forty +market-towns throughout the district had been deserted from the +same cause. In many parts of the country the peasantry did not +dare to sleep in their houses, lest they should be buried beneath +them during the night." These terrible beasts continued to infest +the province as late as 1810. + +But society during these dark days had even worse enemies than +tigers and elephants. The barbarous highlanders, of a lower type +of mankind, nourishing for forty centuries a hatred of their +Hindu supplanters, like that which the Apache bears against the +white frontiersman, seized the occasion to renew their inroads +upon the lowland country. Year by year they descended from their +mountain fastnesses, plundering and burning. Many noble Hindu +families, ousted by the tax-collectors from their estates, began +to seek subsistence from robbery. Others, consulting their +selfish interests amid the general distress, "found it more +profitable to shelter banditti on their estates, levying +blackmail from the surrounding villages as the price of immunity +from depredation, and sharing in the plunder of such as would not +come to terms. Their country houses were robber strongholds, and +the early English administrators of Bengal have left it on record +that a gang-robbery never occurred without a landed proprietor +being at the bottom of it." The peasants were not slow to follow +suit, and those who were robbed of their winter's store had no +alternative left but to become robbers themselves. The thieveries +of the Fakeers, or religious mendicants, and the bold, though +stealthy attacks of Thugs and Dacoits--members of Masonic +brotherhoods, which at all times have lived by robbery and +assassination--added to the general turmoil. In the cold weather +of 1772 the province was ravaged far and wide by bands of armed +freebooters, fifty thousand strong; and to such a pass did things +arrive that the regular forces sent by Warren Hastings to +preserve order were twice disastrously routed; while, in Mr. +Hunter's graphic language, "villages high up the Ganges lived by +housebreaking in Calcutta." In English mansions "it was the +invariable practice for the porter to shut the outer door at the +commencement of each meal, and not to open it till the butler +brought him word that the plate was safely locked up." And for a +long time nearly all traffic ceased upon the imperial roads. + +This state of things, which amounted to chronic civil war, +induced Lord Cornwallis in 1788 to place the province under the +direct military control of an English officer. The administration +of Mr. Keating--the first hardy gentleman to whom this arduous +office was assigned--is minutely described by our author. For our +present purpose it is enough to note that two years of severe +campaigning, attended and followed by relentless punishment of +all transgressors, was required to put an end to the disorders. + +Such was the appalling misery, throughout a community of thirty +million persons, occasioned by the failure of the winter +rice-crop in 1769. In abridging Mr. Hunter's account we have +adhered as closely to our original as possible, but he who would +obtain adequate knowledge of this tale of woe must seek it in the +ever memorable description of the historian himself. The first +question which naturally occurs to the reader--though, as Mr. +Hunter observes, it would have been one of the last to occur to +the Oriental mind--is, Who was to blame? To what culpable +negligence was it due that such a dire calamity was not foreseen, +and at least partially warded off? We shall find reason to +believe that it could not have been adequately foreseen, and that +no legislative measures could in that state of society have +entirely prevented it. Yet it will appear that the government, +with the best of intentions, did all in its power to make matters +worse; and that to its blundering ignorance the distress which +followed is largely due. + +The first duty incumbent upon the government in a case like that +of the failure of the winter rice-crop of 1769, was to do away +with all hindrance to the importation of food into the province. +One chief cause of the far-reaching distress wrought by great +Asiatic famines has been the almost complete commercial isolation +of Asiatic communities. In the Middle Ages the European +communities were also, though to a far less extent, isolated from +each other, and in those days periods of famine were +comparatively frequent and severe. And one of the chief causes +which now render the occurrence of a famine on a great scale +almost impossible in any part of the civilized world is the +increased commercial solidarity of civilized nations. Increased +facility of distribution has operated no less effectively than +improved methods of production. + +Now, in 1770 the province of Lower Bengal was in a state of +almost complete commercial isolation from other communities. +Importation of food on an adequate scale was hardly possible. "A +single fact speaks volumes as to the isolation of each district. +An abundant harvest, we are repeatedly told, was as disastrous to +the revenues as a bad one; for, when a large quantity of grain +had to be carried to market, the cost of carriage swallowed up +the price obtained. Indeed, even if the means of +intercommunication and transport had rendered importation +practicable, the province had at that time no money to give in +exchange for food. Not only had its various divisions a separate +currency which would pass nowhere else except at a ruinous +exchange, but in that unfortunate year Bengal seems to have been +utterly drained of its specie..... The absence of the means of +importation was the more to be deplored, as the neighbouring +districts could easily have supplied grain. In the southeast a +fair harvest had been reaped, except, in circumscribed spots; and +we are assured that, during the famine, this part of Bengal was +enabled to export without having to complain of any deficiency in +consequence..... INDEED, NO MATTER HOW LOCAL A FAMINE MIGHT BE IN +THE LAST CENTURY, THE EFFECTS WERE EQUALLY DISASTROUS. Sylhet, a +district in the northeast of Bengal, had reaped unusually +plentiful harvests in 1780 and 1781, but the next crop was +destroyed by a local inundation, and, notwithstanding the +facilities for importation afforded by water-carriage, one third +of the people died." + +Here we have a vivid representation of the economic condition of +a society which, however highly civilized in many important +respects, still retained, at the epoch treated of, its aboriginal +type of organization. Here we see each community brought face to +face with the impossible task of supplying, unaided, the +deficiencies of nature. We see one petty district a prey to the +most frightful destitution, even while profuse plenty reigns in +the districts round about it. We find an almost complete absence +of the commercial machinery which, by enabling the starving +region to be fed out of the surplus of more favoured localities, +has in the most advanced countries rendered a great famine +practically impossible. + +Now this state of things the government of 1770 was indeed +powerless to remedy. Legislative power and wisdom could not +anticipate the invention of railroads; nor could it introduce +throughout the length and breadth of Bengal a system of coaches, +canals, and caravans; nor could it all at once do away with the +time-honoured brigandage, which increased the cost of transport +by decreasing the security of it; nor could it in a trice remove +the curse of a heterogeneous coinage. None, save those +uninstructed agitators who believe that governments can make +water run up-hill, would be disposed to find fault with the +authorities in Bengal for failing to cope with these +difficulties. But what we are to blame them for--though it was an +error of the judgment and not of the intentions--is their +mischievous interference with the natural course of trade, by +which, instead of helping matters, they but added another to the +many powerful causes which were conspiring to bring about the +economic ruin of Bengal. We refer to the act which in 1770 +prohibited under penalties all speculation in rice. + +This disastrous piece of legislation was due to the universal +prevalence of a prejudice from which so-called enlightened +communities are not yet wholly free. It is even now customary to +heap abuse upon those persons who in a season of scarcity, when +prices are rapidly rising, buy up the "necessaries of life," +thereby still increasing for a time the cost of living. Such +persons are commonly assailed with specious generalities to the +effect that they are enemies of society. People whose only ideas +are "moral ideas" regard them as heartless sharpers who fatten +upon the misery of their fellow-creatures. And it is sometimes +hinted that such "practices" ought to be stopped by legislation. + +Now, so far is this prejudice, which is a very old one, from +being justified by facts, that, instead of being an evil, +speculation in breadstuffs and other necessaries is one of the +chief agencies by which in modern times and civilized countries a +real famine is rendered almost impossible. This natural monopoly +operates in two ways. In the first place, by raising prices, it +checks consumption, putting every one on shorter allowance until +the season of scarcity is over, and thus prevents the scarcity +from growing into famine. In the second place, by raising prices, +it stimulates importation from those localities where abundance +reigns and prices are low. It thus in the long run does much to +equalize the pressure of a time of dearth and diminish those +extreme oscillations of prices which interfere with the even, +healthy course of trade. A government which, in a season of high +prices, does anything to check such speculation, acts about as +sagely as the skipper of a wrecked vessel who should refuse to +put his crew upon half rations. + +The turning-point of the great Dutch Revolution, so far as it +concerned the provinces which now constitute Belgium, was the +famous siege and capture of Antwerp by Alexander Farnese, Duke of +Parma. The siege was a long one, and the resistance obstinate, +and the city would probably not have been captured if famine had +not come to the assistance of the besiegers. It is interesting, +therefore, to inquire what steps the civic authorities had taken +to prevent such a calamity. They knew that the struggle before +them was likely to be the life-and-death struggle of the Southern +Netherlands; they knew that there was risk of their being +surrounded so that relief from without would be impossible; they +knew that their assailant was one of the most astute and +unconquerable of men, by far the greatest general of the +sixteenth century. Therefore they proceeded to do just what our +Republican Congress, under such circumstances, would probably +have done, and just what the New York Tribune, if it had existed +in those days, would have advised them to do. Finding that sundry +speculators were accumulating and hoarding up provisions in +anticipation of a season of high prices, they hastily decided, +first of all to put a stop to such "selfish iniquity." In their +eyes the great thing to be done was to make things cheap. They +therefore affixed a very low maximum price to everything which +could be eaten, and prescribed severe penalties for all who +should attempt to take more than the sum by law decreed. If a +baker refused to sell his bread for a price which would have been +adequate only in a time of great plenty, his shop was to be +broken open, and his loaves distributed among the populace. The +consequences of this idiotic policy were twofold. + +In the first place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any +breadstuffs or other provisions from being brought into the city. +It was a long time before Farnese succeeded in so blockading the +Scheldt as to prevent ships laden with eatables from coming in +below. Corn and preserved meats might have been hurried by +thousands of tons into the beleaguered city. Friendly Dutch +vessels, freighted with abundance, were waiting at the mouth of +the river. But all to no purpose. No merchant would expose his +valuable ship, with its cargo, to the risk of being sunk by +Farnese's batteries, merely for the sake of finding a market no +better than a hundred others which could be entered without +incurring danger. No doubt if the merchants of Holland had +followed out the maxim Vivre pour autrui, they would have braved +ruin and destruction rather than behold their neighbours of +Antwerp enslaved. No doubt if they could have risen to a broad +philosophic view of the future interests of the Netherlands, they +would have seen that Antwerp must be saved, no matter if some of +them were to lose money by it. But men do not yet sacrifice +themselves for their fellows, nor do they as a rule look far +beyond the present moment and its emergencies. And the business +of government is to legislate for men as they are, not as it is +supposed they ought to be. If provisions had brought a high price +in Antwerp, they would have been carried thither. As it was, the +city, by its own stupidity, blockaded itself far more effectually +than Farnese could have done it. + +In the second place, the enforced lowness of prices prevented any +general retrenchment on the part of the citizens. Nobody felt it +necessary to economize. Every one bought as much bread, and ate +it as freely, as if the government by insuring its cheapness had +insured its abundance. So the city lived in high spirits and in +gleeful defiance of its besiegers, until all at once provisions +gave out, and the government had to step in again to palliate the +distress which it had wrought. It constituted itself +quartermaster-general to the community, and doled out stinted +rations alike to rich and poor, with that stern democratic +impartiality peculiar to times of mortal peril. But this served +only, like most artificial palliatives, to lengthen out the +misery. At the time of the surrender, not a loaf of bread could +be obtained for love or money. + +In this way a bungling act of legislation helped to decide for +the worse a campaign which involved the territorial integrity and +future welfare of what might have become a great nation +performing a valuable function in the system of European +communities. + +The striking character of this instructive example must be our +excuse for presenting it at such length. At the beginning of the +famine in Bengal the authorities legislated in very much the same +spirit as the burghers who had to defend Antwerp against Parma. + +"By interdicting what it was pleased to term the monopoly of +grain, it prevented prices from rising at once to their natural +rates. The Province had a certain amount of food in it, and this +food had to last about nine months. Private enterprise if left to +itself would have stored up the general supply at the harvest, +with a view to realizing a larger profit at a later period in the +scarcity. Prices would in consequence have immediately risen, +compelling the population to reduce their consumption from the +very beginning of the dearth. The general stock would thus have +been husbanded, and the pressure equally spread over the whole +nine months, instead of being concentrated upon the last six. The +price of grain, in place of promptly rising to three half-pence a +pound as in 1865-66, continued at three farthings during the +earlier months of the famine. During the latter ones it advanced +to twopence, and in certain localities reached fourpence." + +The course taken by the great famine of 1866 well illustrates the +above views. This famine, also, was caused by the total failure +of the December rice-crop, and it was brought to a close by an +abundant harvest in the succeeding year. + +"Even as regards the maximum price reached, the analogy holds +good, in each case rice having risen in general to nearly +twopence, and in particular places to fourpence, a pound; and in +each the quoted rates being for a brief period in several +isolated localities merely nominal, no food existing in the +market, and money altogether losing its interchangeable value. In +both the people endured silently to the end, with a fortitude +that casual observers of a different temperament and widely +dissimilar race may easily mistake for apathy, but which those +who lived among the sufferers are unable to distinguish from +qualities that generally pass under a more honourable name. +During 1866, when the famine was severest, I superintended public +instruction throughout the southwestern division of Lower Bengal, +including Orissa. The subordinate native officers, about eight +hundred in number, behaved with a steadiness, and when called +upon, with a self-abnegation, beyond praise. Many of them ruined +their health. The touching scenes of self-sacrifice and humble +heroism which I witnessed among the poor villagers on my tours of +inspection will remain in my memory till my latest day." + +But to meet the famine of 1866 Bengal was equipped with railroads +and canals, and better than all, with an intelligent government. +Far from trying to check speculation, as in 1770, the government +did all in its power to stimulate it. In the earlier famine one +could hardly engage in the grain trade without becoming amenable +to the law. "In 1866 respectable men in vast numbers went into +the trade; for government, by publishing weekly returns of the +rates in every district, rendered the traffic both easy and safe. +Every one knew where to buy grain cheapest, and where to sell it +dearest, and food was accordingly brought from the districts that +could best spare it, and carried to those which most urgently +needed it. Not only were prices equalized so far as possible +throughout the stricken parts, but the publicity given to the +high rates in Lower Bengal induced large shipments from the upper +provinces, and the chief seat of the trade became unable to +afford accommodation for landing the vast stores of grain brought +down the river. Rice poured into the affected districts from all +parts,--railways, canals, and roads vigorously doing their duty." + +The result of this wise policy was that scarcity was heightened +into famine only in one remote corner of Bengal. Orissa was +commercially isolated in 1866, as the whole country had been in +1770. "As far back as the records extend, Orissa has produced +more grain than it can use. It is an exporting, not an importing +province, sending away its surplus grain by sea, and neither +requiring nor seeking any communication with Lower Bengal by +land." Long after the rest of the province had begun to prepare +for a year of famine, Orissa kept on exporting. In March, when +the alarm was first raised, the southwest monsoon had set in, +rendering the harbours inaccessible. Thus the district was +isolated. It was no longer possible to apply the wholesome policy +which was operating throughout the rest of the country. The +doomed population of Orissa, like passengers in a ship without +provisions, were called upon to suffer the extremities of famine; +and in the course of the spring and summer of 1866, some seven +hundred thousand people perished. + + January, 1869. + + +X. SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS.[31] + +[31] History of the United Netherlands: from the Death of William +the Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce, 1609. By John Lothrop +Motley, D. C. L. In four volumes. Vols. III. and IV. New York. +1868. + + +Tandem fit surculus arbor: the twig which Mr. Motley in his +earlier volumes has described as slowly putting forth its leaves +and rootless, while painfully struggling for existence in a +hostile soil, has at last grown into a mighty tree of liberty, +drawing sustenance from all lands, and protecting all civilized +peoples with its pleasant shade. We congratulate Mr. Motley upon +the successful completion of the second portion of his great +work; and we think that the Netherlanders of our time have reason +to be grateful to the writer who has so faithfully and eloquently +told the story of their country's fearful struggle against civil +and ecclesiastical tyranny, and its manifold contributions to the +advancement of European civilization. + +Mr. Motley has been fortunate in his selection of a subject upon +which to write. Probably no century of modern times lends itself +to the purposes of the descriptive historian so well as the +sixteenth. While on the one hand the problems which it presents +are sufficiently near for us to understand them without too great +an effort of the imagination, on the other hand they are +sufficiently remote for us to study them without passionate and +warping prejudice. The contest between Catholicism and the +reformed religion--between ecclesiastical autocracy and the right +of private investigation--has become a thing of the past, and +constitutes a closed chapter in human history. The epoch which +begins where Mr. Motley's history is designed to close--at the +peace of Westphalia--is far more complicated. Since the middle of +the seventeenth century a double movement has been going on in +religion and philosophy, society and politics,--a movement of +destruction typified by Voltaire and Rousseau, and a constructive +movement represented by Diderot and Lessing. We are still living +in the midst of this great epoch: the questions which it presents +are liable to disturb our prejudices as well as to stimulate our +reason; the results to which it must sooner or later attain can +now be only partially foreseen; and even its present tendencies +are generally misunderstood, and in many quarters wholly ignored. +With the sixteenth century, as we have said, the case is far +different. The historical problem is far less complex. The issues +at stake are comparatively simple, and the historian has before +him a straightforward story. + +From the dramatic, or rather from the epic, point of view, the +sixteenth century is pre-eminent. The essentially transitional +character of modern history since the breaking up of the papal +and feudal systems is at no period more distinctly marked. In +traversing the sixteenth century we realize that we have fairly +got out of one state of things and into another. At the outset, +events like the challenge of Barletta may make us doubt whether +we have yet quite left behind the Middle Ages. The belief in the +central position of the earth is still universal, and the belief +in its rotundity not yet, until the voyage of Magellan, generally +accepted. We find England--owing partly to the introduction of +gunpowder and the consequent disuse of archery, partly to the +results of the recent integration of France under Louis +XI.--fallen back from the high relative position which it had +occupied under the rule of the Plantagenets; and its policy still +directed in accordance with reminiscences of Agincourt, and +garnet, and Burgundian alliances. We find France just beginning +her ill-fated career of intervention in the affairs of Italy; and +Spain, with her Moors finally vanquished and a new world beyond +the ocean just added to her domain, rapidly developing into the +greatest empire which had been seen since the days of the first +Caesars. But at the close of the century we find feudal life in +castles changed into modern life in towns; chivalric defiances +exchanged for over-subtle diplomacy; Maurices instead of Bayards; +a Henry IV. instead of a Gaston de Foix. We find the old theory +of man's central position in the universe--the foundation of the +doctrine of final causes and of the whole theological method of +interpreting nature--finally overthrown by Copernicus. Instead of +the circumnavigability of the earth, the discovery of a Northwest +passage--as instanced by the heroic voyage of Barendz, so nobly +described by Mr. Motley--is now the chief geographical problem. +East India Companies, in place of petty guilds of weavers and +bakers, bear witness to the vast commercial progress. We find +England, fresh from her stupendous victory over the whole power +of Spain, again in the front rank of nations; France, under the +most astute of modern sovereigns, taking her place for a time as +the political leader of the civilized world; Spain, with her evil +schemes baffled in every quarter, sinking into that terrible +death-like lethargy, from which she has hardly yet awakened, and +which must needs call forth our pity, though it is but the +deserved retribution for her past behaviour. While the little +realm of the Netherlands, filched and cozened from the +unfortunate Jacqueline by the "good" Duke of Burgundy, carried +over to Austria as the marriage-portion of Lady Mary, sent down +to Spain as the personal inheritance of the "prudent" Philip, and +by him intolerably tormented with an Inquisition, a +Blood-Council, and a Duke of Alva, has after a forty years' war +of independence taken its position for a time as the greatest of +commercial nations, with the most formidable navy and one of the +best disciplined armies yet seen upon the earth. + +But the central phenomenon of the sixteenth century is the +culmination of the Protestant movement in its decisive +proclamation by Luther. For nearly three hundred years already +the power of the Church had been declining, and its function as a +civilizing agency had been growing more and more obsolete. The +first great blow at its supremacy had been directed with partial +success in the thirteenth century by the Emperor Frederick II. +Coincident with this attack from without, we find a reformation +begun within, as exemplified in the Dominican and Franciscan +movements. The second great blow was aimed by Philip IV. of +France, and this time it struck with terrible force. The removal +of the Papacy to Avignon, in 1305, was the virtual though +unrecognized abdication of its beneficent supremacy. Bereft of +its dignity and independence, from that time forth it ceased to +be the defender of national unity against baronial anarchy, of +popular rights against monarchical usurpation, and became a +formidable instrument of despotism and oppression. Through the +vicissitudes of the great schism in the fourteenth century, and +the refractory councils in the fifteenth, its position became +rapidly more and more retrograde and demoralized. And when, in +1530, it joined its forces with those of Charles V., in crushing +the liberties of the worthiest of mediaeval republics, it became +evident that the cause of freedom and progress must henceforth be +intrusted to some more faithful champion. The revolt of Northern +Europe, led by Luther and Henry VIII. was but the articulate +announcement of this altered state of affairs. So long as the +Roman Church had been felt to be the enemy of tyrannical monarchs +and the steadfast friend of the people, its encroachments, as +represented by men like Dunstan and Becket, were regarded with +popular favour. The strength of the Church lay ever in its +democratic instincts; and when these were found to have abandoned +it, the indignant protest of Luther sufficed to tear away half of +Europe from its allegiance. + +By the end of the sixteenth century, we find the territorial +struggle between the Church and the reformed religion +substantially decided. Protestantism and Catholicism occupied +then the same respective areas which they now occupy. Since 1600 +there has been no instance of a nation passing from one form of +worship to the other; and in all probability there never will be. +Since the wholesale dissolution of religious beliefs wrought in +the last century, the whole issue between Romanism and +Protestantism, regarded as dogmatic systems, is practically dead. +M. Renan is giving expression to an almost self-evident truth, +when he says that religious development is no longer to proceed +by way of sectarian proselytism, but by way of harmonious +internal development. The contest is no longer between one +theology and another, but it is between the theological and the +scientific methods of interpreting natural phenomena. The +sixteenth century has to us therefore the interest belonging to a +rounded and completed tale. It contains within itself +substantially the entire history of the final stage of the +theological reformation. + +This great period falls naturally into two divisions, the first +corresponding very nearly with the reigns of Charles V. and Henry +VIII., and the second with the age of Philip II. and Elizabeth. +The first of these periods was filled with the skirmishes which +were to open the great battle of the Reformation. At first the +strength and extent of the new revolution were not altogether +apparent. While the Inquisition was vigorously crushing out the +first symptoms of disaffection in Spain, it at one time seemed as +if the Reformers were about to gain the whole of the Empire, +besides acquiring an excellent foothold in France. Again, while +England was wavering between the old and the new faith, the last +hopes of the Reform in Germany seemed likely to be destroyed by +the military genius of Charles. But in Maurice, the red-bearded +hero of Saxony, Charles found more than his match. The picture of +the rapid and desperate march of Maurice upon Innspruck, and of +the great Emperor flying for his life at the very hour of his +imagined triumph, has still for us an intenser interest than +almost any other scene of that age; for it was the event which +proved that Protestantism was not a mere local insurrection which +a monarch like Charles could easily put down, but a gigantic +revolution against which all the powers in the world might well +strive in vain. + +With the abdication of Charles in 1556 the new period may be said +to begin, and it is here that Mr. Motley's history commences. +Events crowded thick and fast. In 1556 Philip II., a prince bred +and educated for the distinct purpose of suppressing heresy, +succeeded to the rule of the most powerful empire which had been +seen since the days of the Antonines. In the previous year a new +era had begun at the court of Rome. The old race of pagan +pontiffs, the Borgias, the Farneses, and the Medicis, had come to +an end, and the papal throne was occupied by the puritanical +Caraffa, as violent a fanatic as Robespierre, and a foe of +freedom as uncompromising as Philip II. himself. Under his +auspices took place the great reform in the Church signalized by +the rise of the Jesuits, as the reform in the thirteenth century +had been attended by the rise of the Cordeliers and Dominicans. +His name should not be forgotten, for it is mainly owing to the +policy inaugurated by him that Catholicism was enabled to hold +its ground as well as it did. In 1557 the next year, the strength +of France was broken at St. Quentin, and Spain was left with her +hands free to deal with the Protestant powers. In 1558, by the +accession of Elizabeth, England became committed to the cause of +Reform. In 1559 the stormy administration of Margaret began in +the Netherlands. In 1560 the Scotch nobles achieved the +destruction of Catholicism in North Britain. By this time every +nation except France, had taken sides in the conflict which was +to last, with hardly any cessation, during two generations. + +Mr. Motley, therefore, in describing the rise and progress of the +united republic of the Netherlands, is writing not Dutch but +European history. On his pages France, Spain, and England make +almost as large a figure as Holland itself. He is writing the +history of the Reformation during its concluding epoch, and he +chooses the Netherlands as his main subject, because during that +period the Netherlands were the centre of the movement. They +constituted the great bulwark of freedom, and upon the success or +failure of their cause the future prospect of Europe and of +mankind depended. Spain and the Netherlands, Philip II. and +William the Silent, were the two leading antagonists and were +felt to be such by the other nations and rulers that came to +mingle in the strife. It is therefore a stupid criticism which we +have seen made upon Mr. Motley, that, having brought his +narrative down to the truce of 1609, he ought, instead of +describing the Thirty Years' War, to keep on with Dutch history, +and pourtray the wars against Cromwell and Charles II., and the +struggle of the second William of Orange against Louis XIV. By so +doing he would only violate the unity of his narrative. The wars +of the Dutch against England and France belong to an entirely +different epoch in European history,--a modern epoch, in which +political and commercial interests were of prime importance, and +theological interests distinctly subsidiary. The natural terminus +of Mr. Motley's work is the Peace of Westphalia. After bringing +down his history to the time when the independence of the +Netherlands was virtually acknowledged, after describing the +principal stages of the struggle against Catholicism and +universal monarchy, as carried on in the first generation by +Elizabeth and William, and in the second by Maurice and Henry, he +will naturally go on to treat of the epilogue as conducted by +Richelieu and Gustavus, ending in the final cessation of +religious wars throughout Europe. + +The conflict in the Netherlands was indeed far more than a mere +religious struggle. In its course was distinctly brought into +prominence the fact which we have above signalized, that since +the Roman Church had abandoned the liberties of the people they +had found a new defender in the reformed religion. The Dutch +rebellion is peculiarly interesting, because it was a revolt not +merely against the Inquisition, but also against the temporal +sovereignty of Philip. Besides changing their religion, the +sturdy Netherlanders saw fit to throw off the sway of their +legitimate ruler, and to proclaim the thrice heretical doctrine +of the sovereignty of the people. In this one respect their views +were decidedly more modern than those of Elizabeth and Henry IV. +These great monarchs apparently neither understood nor relished +the republican theories of the Hollanders; though it is hardly +necessary for Mr. Motley to sneer at them quite so often because +they were not to an impossible degree in advance of their age. +The proclamation of a republic in the Netherlands marked of +itself the beginning of a new era,--an era when flourishing +communities of men were no longer to be bought and sold, +transferred and bequeathed like real estate and chattels, but +were to have and maintain the right of choosing with whom and +under whom they should transact their affairs. The interminable +negotiations for a truce, which fill nearly one third of Mr. +Motley's concluding volume, exhibit with striking distinctness +the difference between the old and new points of view. Here again +we think Mr. Motley errs slightly, in calling too much attention +to the prevaricating diplomacy of the Spanish court, and too +little to its manifest inability to comprehend the demands of the +Netherlanders. How should statesmen brought up under Philip II. +and kept under the eye of the Inquisition be expected to +understand a claim for liberty originating in the rights of the +common people and not in the gracious benevolence or intelligent +policy of the King? The very idea must have been practically +inconceivable by them. Accordingly, they strove by every +available device of chicanery to wheedle the Netherlanders into +accepting their independence as a gift from the King of Spain. +But to such a piece of self-stultification the clear-sighted +Dutchmen could by no persuasion be brought to consent. Their +independence, they argued, was not the King's to give. They had +won it from him and his father, in a war of forty years, during +which they had suffered atrocious miseries, and all that the King +of Spain could do was to acknowledge it as their right, and cease +to molest them in future. Over this point, so simple to us but +knotty enough in those days, the commissioners wrangled for +nearly two years. And when the Spanish government, unable to +carry on the war any longer without risk of utter bankruptcy, and +daily crippled in its resources by the attacks of the Dutch navy, +grudgingly a reed to a truce upon the Netherlanders' terms, it +virtually acknowledged its own defeat and the downfall of the +principles for which it had so obstinately fought. By the truce +of 1609 the republican principle was admitted by the most +despotic of governments. + +Here was the first great triumph of republicanism over monarchy; +and it was not long in bearing fruits. For the Dutch revolution, +the settlement of America by English Puritans, the great +rebellion of the Commons, the Revolution of 1688, the revolt of +the American Colonies, and the general overthrow of feudalism in +1789, are but successive acts in the same drama William the +Silent was the worthy forerunner of Cromwell and Washington; and +but for the victory which he won, during his life and after his +untimely death, the subsequent triumphs of civil liberty might +have been long, postponed. + +Over the sublime figure of William--saevis tranquillus in +undis--we should be glad to dwell, but we are not reviewing the +"Rise of the Dutch Republic," and in Mr. Motley's present volumes +the hero of toleration appears no longer. His antagonist, +however,--the Philip whom God for some inscrutable purpose +permitted to afflict Europe during a reign of forty-two +years,--accompanies us nearly to the end of the present work, +dying just in time for the historian to sum up the case against +him, and pronounce final judgment. For the memory of Philip II. +Mr. Motley cherishes no weak pity. He rarely alludes to him +without commenting upon his total depravity, and he dismisses him +with the remark that "if there are vices--as possibly there +are--from which he was exempt, it is because it is not permitted +to human nature to attain perfection in evil." The verdict is +none the less just because of its conciseness. If there ever was +a strife between Hercules and Cacus, between Ormuzd and Ahriman, +between the Power of Light and the Power of Darkness, it was +certainly the strife between the Prince of Orange and the Spanish +Monarch. They are contrasted like the light and shade in one of +Dore's pictures. And yet it is perhaps unnecessary for Mr. Motley +to say that if Philip had been alive when Spinola won for him the +great victory of Ostend, "he would have felt it his duty to make +immediate arrangements for poisoning him." Doubtless the +imputation is sufficiently justified by what we know of Philip; +but it is uncalled for. We do not care to hear about what the +despot might have done. We know what he did do, and the record is +sufficiently damning. There is no harm in our giving the Devil +his due, or as Llorente wittily says, "Il ne faut pas calomnier +meme l'Inquisition." + +Philip inherited all his father's bad qualities, without any of +his good ones; and so it is much easier to judge him than his +father. Charles, indeed, is one of those characters whom one +hardly knows whether to love or hate, to admire or despise. He +had much bad blood in him. Charles the Bold and Ferdinand of +Aragon were not grandparents to be proud of. Yet with all this he +inherited from his grandmother Isabella much that one can like, +and his face, as preserved by Titian, in spite of its frowning +brow and thick Burgundian lip, is rather prepossessing, while the +face of Philip is simply odious. In intellect he must probably be +called great, though his policy often betrayed the pettiness of +selfishness. If, in comparison with the mediaeval emperor whose +fame he envied, he may justly be called Charles the Little, he +may still, when compared to a more modern emulator of +Charlemagne,--the first of the Bonapartes,--be considered great +and enlightened. If he could lie and cheat more consummately than +any contemporary monarch, not excepting his rival, Francis, he +could still be grandly magnanimous, while the generosity of +Francis flowed only from the shallow surface of a maudlin +good-nature. He spoke many languages and had the tastes of a +scholar, while his son had only the inclinations of an unfeeling +pedagogue. He had an inkling of urbanity, and could in a measure +become all things to all men, while Philip could never show +himself except as a gloomy, impracticable bigot. It is for some +such reasons as these, I suppose, that Mr. Buckle--no friend to +despots--speaks well of Charles, and that Mr. Froude is moved to +tell the following anecdote: While standing by the grave of +Luther, and musing over the strange career of the giant monk +whose teachings had gone so far to wreck his most cherished +schemes and render his life a failure, some fanatical bystander +advised the Emperor to have the body taken up and burned in the +market-place. "There was nothing," says Mr. Froude, "unusual in +the proposal; it was the common practice of the Catholic Church +with the remains of heretics, who were held unworthy to be left +in repose in hallowed ground. There was scarcely, perhaps another +Catholic prince who would have hesitated to comply. But Charles +was one of nature's gentlemen. He answered, 'I war not with the +dead.' " Mr. Motley takes a less charitable view of the great +Emperor. His generous indignation against all persecutors makes +him severe; and in one of his earlier volumes, while speaking of +the famous edicts for the suppression of heresy in the +Netherlands, he somewhere uses the word "murder." Without +attempting to palliate the crime of persecution, I doubt if it is +quite fair to Charles to call him a murderer. We must not forget +that persecution, now rightly deemed an atrocious crime, was once +really considered by some people a sacred duty; that it was none +other than the compassionate Isabella who established the Spanish +Inquisition; and that the "bloody" Mary Tudor was a woman who +would not wilfully have done wrong. With the progress of +civilization the time will doubtless come when warfare, having +ceased to be necessary, will be thought highly criminal; yet it +will not then be fair to hold Marlborough or Wellington +accountable for the lives lost in their great battles. We still +live in an age when war is, to the imagination of some persons, +surrounded with false glories; and the greatest of modern +generals[32] has still many undiscriminating admirers. Yet the +day is no less certainly at hand when the edicts of Charles V. +will be deemed a more pardonable offence against humanity than +the wanton march to Moscow. + +[32] This was written before the deeds of Moltke had eclipsed +those of Napoleon. + + +Philip II. was different from his father in capacity as a +drudging clerk, like Boutwell, is different from a brilliant +financier like Gladstone. In organization he differed from him as +a boor differs from a gentleman. He seemed made of a coarser +clay. The difference between them is well indicated by their +tastes at the table. Both were terrible gluttons, a fact which +puritanic criticism might set down as equally to the discredit of +each of them. But even in intemperance there are degrees of +refinement, and the impartial critic of life and manners will no +doubt say that if one must get drunk, let it be on Chateau +Margaux rather than on commissary whiskey. Pickled partridges, +plump capons, syrups of fruits, delicate pastry, and rare fish +went to make up the diet of Charles in his last days at Yuste. +But the beastly Philip would make himself sick with a surfeit of +underdone pork. + +Whatever may be said of the father, we can hardly go far wrong in +ascribing the instincts of a murderer to the son. He not only +burned heretics, but he burned them with an air of enjoyment and +self-complacency. His nuptials with Elizabeth of France were +celebrated by a vast auto-da-fe. He studied murder as a fine art, +and was as skilful in private assassinations as Cellini was in +engraving on gems. The secret execution of Montigny, never +brought to light until the present century, was a veritable chef +d'oeuvre of this sort. The cases of Escobedo and Antonio Perez +may also be cited in point. Dark suspicions hung around the +premature death of Don John of Austria, his too brilliant and +popular half-brother. He planned the murder of William the +Silent, and rewarded the assassin with an annuity furnished by +the revenues of the victim's confiscated estates. He kept a staff +of ruffians constantly in service for the purpose of taking off +Elizabeth, Henry IV., Prince Maurice, Olden-Barneveldt, and St. +Aldegonde. He instructed Alva to execute sentence of death upon +the whole population of the Netherlands. He is partly responsible +for the martyrdoms of Ridley and Latimer, and the judicial murder +of Cranmer. He first conceived the idea of the wholesale massacre +of St. Bartholomew, many years before Catharine de' Medici +carried it into operation. His ingratitude was as dangerous as +his revengeful fanaticism. Those who had best served his +interests were the least likely to escape the consequences of his +jealousy. He destroyed Egmont, who had won for him the splendid +victories of St. Quentin and Gravelines; and "with minute and +artistic treachery" he plotted "the disgrace and ruin" of +Farnese, "the man who was his near blood-relation, and who had +served him most faithfully from earliest youth." Contemporary +opinion even held him accountable for the obscure deaths of his +wife Elizabeth and his son Carlos; but M. Gachard has shown that +this suspicion is unfounded. Philip appears perhaps to better +advantage in his domestic than in his political relations. Yet he +was addicted to vulgar and miscellaneous incontinence; toward the +close of his life he seriously contemplated marrying his own +daughter Isabella; and he ended by taking for his fourth wife his +niece, Anne of Austria, who became the mother of his half-idiotic +son and successor. We know of no royal family, unless it may be +the Claudians of Rome, in which the transmission of moral and +intellectual qualities is more thoroughly illustrated than in +this Burgundian race which for two centuries held the sceptre of +Spain. The son Philip and the grandmother Isabella are both +needful in order to comprehend the strange mixture of good and +evil in Charles. But the descendants of Philip--two generations +of idiocy, and a third of utter impotence--are a sufficient +commentary upon the organization and character of their +progenitor. + +Such was the man who for two generations had been considered the +bulwark of the Catholic Church; who, having been at the bottom of +nearly all the villany that had been wrought in Europe for half a +century, was yet able to declare upon his death-bed that "in all +his life he had never consciously done wrong to any one." At a +ripe old age he died of a fearful disease. Under the influence of +a typhus fever, supervening upon gout, he had begun to decompose +while yet alive. "His sufferings," says Mr. Motley, "were +horrible, but no saint could have manifested in them more gentle +resignation or angelic patience. He moralized on the condition to +which the greatest princes might thus be brought at last by the +hand of God, and bade the Prince observe well his father's +present condition, in order that when he too should be laid thus +low, he might likewise be sustained by a conscience void of +offence." What more is needed to complete the disgusting picture? +Philip was fanatical up to the point where fanaticism borders +upon hypocrisy. He was possessed with a "great moral idea," the +idea of making Catholicism the ruler of the world, that he might +be the ruler of Catholicism. Why, it may be said, shall the +charge of fanaticism be allowed to absolve Isabella and extenuate +the guilt of Charles, while it only strengthens the case against +Philip? Because Isabella persecuted heretics in order to save +their souls from a worse fate, while Philip burnt them in order +to get them out of his way. Isabella would perhaps have gone to +the stake herself, if thereby she might have put an end to +heresy. Philip would have seen every soul in Europe consigned to +eternal perdition before he would have yielded up an iota of his +claims to universal dominion. He could send Alva to browbeat the +Pope, as well as to oppress the Netherlanders. He could compass +the destruction of the orthodox Egmont and Farnese, as well as of +the heretical William. His unctuous piety only adds to the +abhorrence with which we regard him; and his humility in face of +death is neither better nor worse than the assumed humility which +had become second nature to Uriah Heep. In short, take him for +all in all, he was probably the most loathsome character in all +European history. He has frequently been called, by Protestant +historians, an incarnate devil; but we do not think that +Mephistopheles would acknowledge him. He should rather be classed +among those creatures described by Dante as "a Dio spiacenti ed +ai nemici sui." + +The abdication of Charles V. left Philip ruler over wider +dominions than had ever before been brought together under the +sway of one man. In his own right Philip was master not only of +Spain, but of the Netherlands, Franche Comte, Lombardy, Naples, +and Sicily, with the whole of North and South America; besides +which he was married to the Queen of England. In the course of +his reign he became possessed of Portugal, with all its vast +domains in the East Indies. His revenues were greater than those +of any other contemporary monarch; his navy was considered +invincible, and his army was the best disciplined in Europe. All +these great advantages he was destined to throw to the winds. In +the strife for universal monarchy, in the mad endeavour to +subject England, Scotland, and France to his own dominion and the +tyranny of the Inquisition, besides re-conquering the +Netherlands, all his vast resources were wasted. The Dutch war +alone, like a bottomless pit, absorbed all that he could pour +into it. Long before the war was over, or showed signs of drawing +to an end, his revenues were wasted, and his troops in Flanders +were mutinous for want of pay. He had to rely upon energetic +viceroys like Farnese and the Spinolas to furnish funds out of +their own pockets. Finally, he was obliged to repudiate all his +debts; and when he died the Spanish empire was in such a beggarly +condition that it quaked at every approach of a hostile Dutch +fleet. Such a result is not evidence of a statesmanlike ability; +but Philip's fanatical selfishness was incompatible with +statesmanship. He never could be made to believe that his +projects had suffered defeat. No sooner had the Invincible Armada +been sent to the bottom by the guns of the English fleet and the +gales of the German Ocean, than he sent orders to Farnese to +invade England at once with the land force under his command! He +thought to obtain Scotland, when, after the death of Mary, it had +passed under the undisputed control of the Protestant noblemen. +He dreamed of securing for his family the crown of France, even +after Henry, with free consent of the Pope, had made his +triumphal entry into Paris. He asserted complete and entire +sovereignty over the Netherlands, even after Prince Maurice had +won back from him the last square foot of Dutch territory. Such +obstinacy as this can only be called fatuity. If Philip had lived +in Pagan times, he would doubtless, like Caligula, have demanded +recognition of his own divinity. + +The miserable condition of the Spanish people under this terrible +reign, and the causes of their subsequent degeneracy, have been +well treated by Mr. Motley. The causes of the failure of Spanish +civilization are partly social and partly economical; and they +had been operating for eight hundred years when Philip succeeded +to the throne. The Moorish conquest in 711 had practically +isolated Spain from the rest of Europe. In the Crusades she took +no part, and reaped none of the signal advantages resulting from +that great movement. Her whole energies were directed toward +throwing off the yoke of her civilized but "unbelieving" +oppressors. For a longer time than has now elapsed since the +Norman Conquest of England, the entire Gothic population of Spain +was engaged in unceasing religious and patriotic warfare. The +unlimited power thus acquired by an unscrupulous clergy, and the +spirit of uncompromising bigotry thus imparted to the whole +nation, are in this way readily accounted for. But in spite of +this, the affairs of Spain at the accession of Charles V. were +not in an unpromising condition. The Spanish Visigoths had been +the least barbarous of the Teutonic settlers within the limits of +the Empire; their civil institutions were excellent; their cities +had obtained municipal liberties at an earlier date than those of +England; and their Parliaments indulged in a liberty of speech +which would have seemed extravagant even to De Montfort. So late +as the time of Ferdinand, the Spaniards were still justly proud +of their freedom; and the chivalrous ambition which inspired the +marvellous expedition of Cortes to Mexico, and covered the soil +of Italy with Spanish armies, was probably in the main a healthy +one. But the forces of Spanish freedom were united at too late an +epoch; in 1492, the power of despotism was already in the +ascendant. In England the case was different. The barons were +enabled to combine and wrest permanent privileges from the crown, +at a time when feudalism was strong. But the Spanish communes +waited for combined action until feudalism had become weak, and +modern despotism, with its standing armies and its control of the +spiritual power, was arrayed in the ranks against them. The War +of the Communes, early in the reign of Charles V., irrevocably +decided the case in favour of despotism, and from that date the +internal decline of Spain may be said to have begun. + +But the triumphant consolidation of the spiritual and temporal +powers of despotism, and the abnormal development of loyalty and +bigotry, were not the only evil results of the chronic struggle +in which Spain had been engaged. For many centuries, while +Christian Spain had been but a fringe of debatable border-land on +the skirts of the Moorish kingdom, perpetual guerilla warfare had +rendered consecutive labour difficult or impracticable; and the +physical configuration of the country contributed in bringing +about this result. To plunder the Moors across the border was +easier than to till the ground at home. Then as the Spaniards, +exemplifying the military superiority of the feudal over the +sultanic form of social organization, proceeded steadily to +recover dominion over the land, the industrious Moors, instead of +migrating backward before the advance of their conquerors, +remained at home and submitted to them. Thus Spanish society +became compounded of two distinct castes,--the Moorish Spaniards, +who were skilled labourers, and the Gothic Spaniards, by whom all +labour, crude or skilful, was deemed the stigma of a conquered +race, and unworthy the attention of respectable people. As Mr. +Motley concisely says:-- + +"The highest industrial and scientific civilization that had been +exhibited upon Spanish territory was that of Moors and Jews. When +in the course of time those races had been subjugated, massacred, +or driven into exile, not only was Spain deprived of its highest +intellectual culture and its most productive labour, but +intelligence, science, and industry were accounted degrading, +because the mark of inferior and detested peoples." + +This is the key to the whole subsequent history of Spain. +Bigotry, loyalty, and consecrated idleness are the three factors +which have made that great country what it is to-day,--the most +backward region in Europe. In view of the circumstances just +narrated, it is not surprising to learn that in Philip II.'s time +a vast portion of the real estate of the country was held by the +Church in mortmain; that forty-nine noble families owned all the +rest; that all great estates were held in tail; and that the +property of the aristocracy and the clergy was completely exempt +from taxation. Thus the accumulation and the diffusion of capital +were alike prevented; and the few possessors of property wasted +it in unproductive expenditure. Hence the fundamental error of +Spanish political economy, that wealth is represented solely by +the precious metals; an error which well enough explains the +total failure, in spite of her magnificent opportunities, of +Spain's attempts to colonize the New World. Such was the +frightful condition of Spanish society under Philip II.; and as +if this state of things were not bad enough, the next king, +Philip III., at the instigation of the clergy, decided to drive +into banishment the only class of productive labourers yet +remaining in the country. In 1610, this stupendous crime and +blunder--unparalleled even in Spanish history--was perpetrated. +The entire Moorish population were expelled from their homes and +driven into the deserts of Africa. For the awful consequences of +this mad action no remedy was possible. No system of native +industry could be created on demand, to take the place of that +which had been thus wantonly crushed forever. From this epoch +dates the social ruin of Spain. In less than a century her people +were riotous with famine; and every sequestered glen and mountain +pathway throughout the country had become a lurking-place for +robbers. Whoever would duly realize to what a lamentable +condition this beautiful peninsula had in the seventeenth century +been reduced, let him study the immortal pages of Lesage. He will +learn afresh the lesson, not yet sufficiently regarded in the +discussion of social problems, that the laws of nature cannot be +violated without entailing a penalty fearful in proportion to the +extent of the violation. But let him carefully remember also that +the Spaniards are not and never have been a despicable people. If +Spain has produced one of the lowest characters in history, she +has also produced one of the highest. That man was every inch a +Spaniard who, maimed, diseased, and poor, broken down by long +captivity, and harassed by malignant persecution, lived +nevertheless a life of grandeur and beauty fit to be a pattern +for coming generations,--the author of a book which has had a +wider fame than any other in the whole range of secular +literature, and which for delicate humour, exquisite pathos, and +deep ethical sentiment, remains to-day without a peer or a rival. +If Philip II. was a Spaniard, so, too, was Cervantes. + +Spain could not be free, for she violated every condition by +which freedom is secured to a people. "Acuteness of intellect, +wealth of imagination, heroic qualities of heart and hand and +brain, rarely surpassed in any race and manifested on a thousand +battle-fields, and in the triumphs of a magnificent and most +original literature, had not been able to save a whole nation +from the disasters and the degradation which the mere words +Philip II. and the Holy Inquisition suggest to every educated +mind." Nor could Spain possibly become rich, for, as Mr. Motley +continues, "nearly every law, according to which the prosperity +of a country becomes progressive, was habitually violated." On +turning to the Netherlands we find the most complete contrast, +both in historical conditions and in social results; and the +success of the Netherlands in their long struggle becomes easily +intelligible. The Dutch and Flemish provinces had formed a part +of the renovated Roman Empire of Charles the Great and the Othos. +Taking advantage of the perennial contest for supremacy between +the popes and the Roman emperors, the constituent baronies and +municipalities of the Empire succeeded in acquiring and +maintaining a practical though unrecognized independence; and +this is the original reason why Italy and Germany, unlike the +three western European communities, have remained fragmentary +until our own time. By reason of the practical freedom of action +thus secured, the Italian civic republics, the Hanse towns, and +the cities of Holland and Flanders, were enabled gradually to +develop a vast commerce. The outlying position of the +Netherlands, remote from the imperial authorities, and on the +direct line of commerce between Italy and England, was another +and a peculiar advantage. Throughout the Middle Ages the Flemish +and Dutch cities were of considerable political importance, and +in the fifteenth century the Netherland provinces were the most +highly civilized portion of Europe north of the Alps. For several +generations they had enjoyed, and had known how to maintain, +civic liberties, and when Charles and Philip attempted to fasten +upon them their "peculiar institution," the Spanish Inquisition, +they were ripe for political as well as theological revolt. +Natural laws were found to operate on the Rhine as well as on the +Tagus, and at the end of the great war of independence, Holland +was not only better equipped than Spain for a European conflict, +but was rapidly ousting her from the East Indian countries which +she had in vain attempted to colonize. + +But if we were to take up all the interesting and instructive +themes suggested by Mr. Motley's work, we should never come to an +end. We must pass over the exciting events narrated in these last +volumes; the victory of Nieuport, the siege of Ostend, the +marvellous career of Maurice, the surprising exploits of Spinola. +We have attempted not so much to describe Mr. Motley's book as to +indulge in sundry reflections suggested by the perusal of it. But +we cannot close without some remarks upon a great man, whose +character Mr. Motley seems to have somewhat misconceived. + +If Mr. Motley exhibits any serious fault, it is perhaps the +natural tendency to TAKE SIDES in the events which he is +describing, which sometimes operates as a drawback to complete +and thoroughgoing criticism. With every intention to do justice +to the Catholics, Mr. Motley still writes as a Protestant, +viewing all questions from the Protestant side. He praises and +condemns like a very fair-minded Huguenot, but still like a +Huguenot. It is for this reason that he fails to interpret +correctly the very complex character of Henry IV., regarding him +as a sort of selfish renegade whom he cannot quite forgive for +accepting the crown of France at the hands of the Pope. Now this +very action of Henry, in the eye of an impartial criticism, must +seem to be one of his chief claims to the admiration and +gratitude of posterity. Henry was more than a mere Huguenot: he +was a far-seeing statesman. He saw clearly what no ruler before +him, save William the Silent, had even dimly discerned, that not +Catholicism and not Protestantism, but absolute spiritual freedom +was the true end to be aimed at by a righteous leader of opinion. +It was as a Catholic sovereign that he could be most useful even +to his Huguenot subjects; and he shaped his course accordingly. +It was as an orthodox sovereign, holding his position by the +general consent of Europe, that he could best subserve the +interests of universal toleration. This principle he embodied in +his admirable edict of Nantes. What a Huguenot prince might have +done, may be seen from the shameful way in which the French +Calvinists abused the favour which Henry--and Richelieu +afterwards--accorded to them. Remembering how Calvin himself +"dragooned" Geneva, let us be thankful for the fortune which, in +one of the most critical periods of history, raised to the +highest position in Christendom a man who was something more than +a sectarian. + +With this brief criticism, we must regretfully take leave of Mr. +Motley's work. Much more remains to be said about a historical +treatise which is, on the whole, the most valuable and important +one yet produced by an American; but we have already exceeded our +limits. We trust that our author will be as successful in the +future as he has been in the past; and that we shall soon have an +opportunity of welcoming the first instalment of his "History of +the Thirty Years' War." + + March, 1868. + + + +XI. LONGFELLOW'S DANTE.[33] + +[33] The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Translated by Henry +Wadsworth Longfellow. 3 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. + +THE task of a translator is a thankless one at best. Be he never +so skilful and accurate, be he never so amply endowed with the +divine qualifications of the poet, it is still questionable if he +can ever succeed in saying satisfactorily with new words that +which has once been inimitably said--said for all time--with the +old words. Psychologically, there is perhaps nothing more complex +than an elaborate poem. The sources of its effect upon our minds +may be likened to a system of forces which is in the highest +degree unstable; and the slightest displacement of phrases, by +disturbing the delicate rhythmical equilibrium of the whole, must +inevitably awaken a jarring sensation." Matthew Arnold has given +us an excellent series of lectures upon translating Homer, in +which he doubtless succeeds in showing that some methods of +translation are preferable to others, but in which he proves +nothing so forcibly as that the simplicity and grace, the +rapidity, dignity, and fire, of Homer are quite incommunicable, +save by the very words in which they first found expression. And +what is thus said of Homer will apply to Dante with perhaps even +greater force. With nearly all of Homer's grandeur and rapidity, +though not with nearly all his simplicity, the poem of Dante +manifests a peculiar intensity of subjective feeling which was +foreign to the age of Homer, as indeed to all pre-Christian +antiquity. But concerning this we need not dilate, as it has +often been duly remarked upon, and notably by Carlyle, in his +"Lectures on Hero-Worship." Who that has once heard the wail of +unutterable despair sounding in the line + + "Ahi, dura terra, perche non t' apristi?" + +can rest satisfied with the interpretation + + "Ah, obdurate earth, wherefore didst thou not open?" + +yet this rendering is literally exact. + +[34] As Dante himself observes, "E pero sappia ciascuno, che +nulla cosa per legame musaico armonizzata si puo della sue +loquela in altra trasmutare sanza rompere tutta sue dolcezza e +armonia. E questa e la ragione per che Omero non si muto di greco +in latino, come l'altre scritture che avemo da loro: e questa e +la ragione per che i versi del Psaltero sono sanza dolcezza di +musica e d'armonia; che essi furono trasmutati d' ebreo in +greco, e di greco in latino, e nella prima trasmutazione tutta +quella dolcezza venne meno." Convito, I. 7, Opere Minori, Tom. +III. p. 80. The noble English version of the Psalms possesses a +beauty which is all its own. + + +A second obstacle, hardly less formidable, hardly less fatal to a +satisfactory translation, is presented by the highly complicated +system of triple rhyme upon which Dante's poem is constructed. +This, which must ever be a stumbling-block to the translator, +seems rarely to interfere with the free and graceful movement of +the original work. The mighty thought of the master felt no +impediment from the elaborate artistic panoply which must needs +obstruct and harass the interpretation of the disciple. Dante's +terza rima is a bow of Odysseus which weaker mortals cannot bend +with any amount of tugging, and which Mr. Longfellow has +judiciously refrained from trying to bend. Yet no one can fail to +remark the prodigious loss entailed by this necessary sacrifice +of one of the most striking characteristics of the original poem. +Let any one who has duly reflected upon the strange and subtle +effect produced on him by the peculiar rhyme of Tennyson's "In +Memoriam," endeavour to realize the very different effect which +would be produced if the verses were to be alternated or coupled +in successive pairs, or if rhyme were to be abandoned for blank +verse. The exquisite melody of the poem would be silenced. The +rhyme-system of the "Divine Comedy" refuses equally to be +tampered with or ignored. Its effect upon the ear and the mind is +quite as remarkable as that of the rhyme-system of "In Memoriam"; +and the impossibility of reproducing it is one good reason why +Dante must always suffer even more from translation than most +poets. + +Something, too, must be said of the difficulties inevitably +arising from the diverse structure and genius of the Italian and +English languages. None will deny that many of them are +insurmountable. Take the third line of the first canto,-- + + "Che la diritta via era smarrita," + +which Mr. Longfellow translates + + "For the straightforward pathway had been lost." + +Perhaps there is no better word than "lost" by which to translate +smarrita in this place; yet the two words are far from equivalent +in force. About the word smarrita there is thrown a wide penumbra +of meaning which does not belong to the word lost.[35] By its +diffuse connotations the word smarrita calls up in our minds an +adequate picture of the bewilderment and perplexity of one who is +lost in a trackless forest. The high-road with out, beaten hard +by incessant overpassing of men and beasts and wheeled vehicles, +gradually becomes metamorphosed into the shady lane, where grass +sprouts up rankly between the ruts, where bushes encroach upon +the roadside, where fallen trunks now and then intercept the +traveller; and this in turn is lost in crooked by-ways, amid +brambles and underbrush and tangled vines, growing fantastically +athwart the path, shooting up on all sides of tile bewildered +wanderer, and rendering advance and retreat alike hopeless. No +one who in childhood has wandered alone in the woods can help +feeling all this suggested by the word smarrita in this passage. +How bald in comparison is the word lost, which might equally be +applied to a pathway, a reputation, and a pocket-book![36] The +English is no doubt the most copious and variously expressive of +all living languages, yet I doubt if it can furnish any word +capable by itself of calling up the complex images here suggested +by smarrita.[37] And this is but one example, out of many that +might be cited, in which the lack of exact parallelism between +the two languages employed causes every translation to suffer. + +[35] See Diez, Romance Dictionary, s. v. "Marrir." + +[36] On literally retranslating lost into Italian, we should get +the quite different word perduta. + +[37] The more flexible method of Dr. Parsons leads to a more +satisfactory but still inadequate result:-- + "Half-way on our life's Journey, in a wood, + From the right path I found myself astray." + + +All these, however, are difficulties which lie in the nature of +things,--difficulties for which the translator is not +responsible; of which he must try to make the best that can be +made, but which he can never expect wholly to surmount. We have +now to inquire whether there are not other difficulties, +avoidable by one method of translation, though not by another; +and in criticizing Mr. Longfellow, we have chiefly to ask whether +he has chosen the best method of translation,--that which most +surely and readily awakens in the reader's mind the ideas and +feelings awakened by the original. + +The translator of a poem may proceed upon either of two distinct +principles. In the first case, he may render the text of his +original into English, line for line and word for word, +preserving as far as possible its exact verbal sequences, and +translating each individual word into an English word as nearly +as possible equivalent in its etymological force. In the second +case, disregarding mere syntactic and etymologic equivalence, his +aim will be to reproduce the inner meaning and power of the +original, so far as the constitutional difference of the two +languages will permit him. + +It is the first of these methods that Mr. Longfellow has followed +in his translation of Dante. Fidelity to the text of the original +has been his guiding principle; and every one must admit that, in +carrying out that principle, he has achieved a degree of success +alike delightful and surprising. The method of literal +translation is not likely to receive any more splendid +illustration. It is indeed put to the test in such a way that the +shortcomings now to be noticed bear not upon Mr. Longfellow's own +style of work so much as upon the method itself with which they +are necessarily implicated. These defects are, first, the too +frequent use of syntactic inversion, and secondly, the too +manifest preference extended to words of Romanic over words of +Saxon origin. + +To illustrate the first point, let me give a few examples. In +Canto I. we have:-- + + "So bitter is it, death is little more; + But of the good to treat which there I found, + Speak will I of the other things I saw there"; + +which is thus rendered by Mr. Cary,-- + + "Which to remember only, my dismay + Renews, in bitterness not far from death. + Yet to discourse of what there good befell, + All else will I relate discovered there"; + +and by Dr. Parsons,-- + + "Its very thought is almost death to me; + Yet, having found some good there, I will tell + Of other things which there I chanced to see."[38] + +[38] "Tanto e amara, che poco e piu morte: + Ma per trattar del teen ch' i' vi trovai, + Diro dell' altre Bose, ch' io v' ho scorte." + +Inferno, I. 7-10. + + +Again in Canto X. we find:-- + + "Their cemetery have upon this side + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body mortal make the soul";-- + +an inversion which is perhaps not more unidiomatic than Mr. +Cary's,-- + + "The cemetery on this part obtain + With Epicurus all his followers, + Who with the body make the spirit die"; + +but which is advantageously avoided by Mr. Wright,-- + + "Here Epicurus hath his fiery tomb, + And with him all his followers, who maintain + That soul and body share one common doom"; + +and is still better rendered by Dr. Parsons,-- + + "Here in their cemetery on this side, + With his whole sect, is Epicurus pent, + Who thought the spirit with its body died."[39] + +[39] "Suo cimitero da questa parte hanno + Con Epieuro tutti i suoi seguaci, + Che l'anima col corpo morta fanno." + Inferno, X. 13-15. + +And here my eyes, reverting to the end of Canto IX., + +fall upon a similar contrast between Mr. Longfellow's lines,-- + + "For flames between the sepulchres were scattered, + By which they so intensely heated were, + That iron more so asks not any art,"-- + +and those of Dr. Parsons,-- + + "For here mid sepulchres were sprinkled fires, +Wherewith the enkindled tombs all-burning gleamed; + Metal more fiercely hot no art requires."[40] + +[40] "Che tra gli avelli flamme erano sparte, + Per le quali eran si del tutto accesi, + Che ferro piu non chiede verun' arte." + Inferno, IX. 118-120. + +Does it not seem that in all these cases Mr. Longfellow, and to a +slightly less extent Mr. Cary, by their strict adherence to the +letter, transgress the ordinary rules of English construction; +and that Dr. Parsons, by his comparative freedom of movement, +produces better poetry as well as better English? In the last +example especially, Mr. Longfellow's inversions are so violent +that to a reader ignorant of the original Italian, his sentence +might be hardly intelligible. In Italian such inversions are +permissible; in English they are not; and Mr. Longfellow, by +transplanting them into English, sacrifices the spirit to the +letter, and creates an obscurity in the translation where all is +lucidity in the original. Does not this show that the theory of +absolute literality, in the case of two languages so widely +different as English and Italian, is not the true one? + +Secondly, Mr. Longfellow's theory of translation leads him in +most cases to choose words of Romanic origin in preference to +those of Saxon descent, and in many cases to choose an unfamiliar +instead of a familiar Romanic word, because the former happens to +be etymologically identical with the word in the original. Let me +cite as an example the opening of Canto III.:-- + + "Per me si va nella eitti dolente, + Per me si va nell' eterno dolore, + Per me si va tra la perduta gente." + +Here are three lines which, in their matchless simplicity and +grandeur, might well excite despair in the breast of any +translator. Let us contrast Mr. Longfellow's version.-- + + "Through me the way is to the city dolent; + Through me the way is to eternal dole; + Through me the way among the people lost,"-- + +with that of Dr. Parsons,--, + + "Through me you reach the city of despair; + Through me eternal wretchedness ye find; + Through me among perdition's race ye fare." + +I do not think any one will deny that Dr. Parsons's version, +while far more remote than Mr. Longfellow's from the diction of +the original, is somewhat nearer its spirit. It remains to seek +the explanation of this phenomenon. It remains to be seen why +words the exact counterpart of Dante's are unfit to call up in +our minds the feelings which Dante's own words call up in the +mind of an Italian. And this inquiry leads to some general +considerations respecting the relation of English to other +European languages. + +Every one is aware that French poetry, as compared with German +poetry, seems to the English reader very tame and insipid; but +the cause of this fact is by no means so apparent as the fact +itself. That the poetry of Germany is actually and intrinsically +superior to that of France, may readily be admitted; but this is +not enough to account for all the circumstances of the case. It +does not explain why some of the very passages in Corneille and +Racine, which to us appear dull and prosaic, are to the +Frenchman's apprehension instinct with poetic fervour. It does +not explain the undoubted fact that we, who speak English, are +prone to underrate French poetry, while we are equally disposed +to render to German poetry even more than its due share of merit. +The reason is to be sought in the verbal associations established +in our minds by the peculiar composition of the English language. +Our vocabulary is chiefly made up on the one hand of indigenous +Saxon words, and on the other hand of words derived from Latin or +French. It is mostly words of the first class that we learn in +childhood, and that are associated with our homeliest and deepest +emotions; while words of the second class--usually acquired +somewhat later in life and employed in sedate abstract +discourse--have an intellectual rather than an emotional function +to fulfil. Their original significations, the physical metaphors +involved in them, which are perhaps still somewhat apparent to +the Frenchman, are to us wholly non-existent. Nothing but the +derivative or metaphysical signification remains. No physical +image of a man stepping over a boundary is presented to our minds +by the word transgress, nor in using the word comprehension do we +picture to ourselves any manual act of grasping. It is to this +double structure of the English language that it owes its +superiority over every other tongue, ancient or modern, for +philosophical and scientific purposes. Albeit there are numerous +exceptions, it may still be safely said, in a general way, that +we possess and habitually use two kinds of language,--one that is +physical, for our ordinary purposes, and one that is +metaphysical, for purposes of abstract reasoning and discussion. +We do not say like the Germans, that we "begripe" (begreifen) an +idea, but we say that we "conceive" it. We use a word which once +had the very same material meaning as begreifen, but which has in +our language utterly lost it. We are accordingly able to carry on +philosophical inquiries by means of words which are nearly or +quite free from those shadows of original concrete meaning which, +in German, too often obscure the acquired abstract signification. +Whoever has dealt in English and German metaphysics will not fail +to recognize the prodigious superiority of English in force and +perspicuity, arising mainly from the causes here stated. But +while this homogeneity of structure in German injures it for +philosophical purposes, it is the very thing which makes it so +excellent as an organ for poetical expression, in the opinion of +those who speak English. German being nearly allied to +Anglo-Saxon, not only do its simple words strike us with all the +force of our own homely Saxon terms, but its compounds also, +preserving their physical significations almost unimpaired, call +up in our minds concrete images of the greatest definiteness and +liveliness. It is thus that German seems to us pre-eminently a +poetical language, and it is thus that we are naturally inclined +to overrate rather than to depreciate the poetry that is written +in it. + +With regard to French, the case is just the reverse. The +Frenchman has no Saxon words, but he has, on the other hand, an +indigenous stock of Latin words, which he learns in early +childhood, which give outlet to his most intimate feelings, and +which retain to some extent their primitive concrete +picturesqueness. They are to him just as good as our Saxon words +are to us. Though cold and merely intellectual to us, they are to +him warm with emotion; and this is one reason why we cannot do +justice to his poetry, or appreciate it as he appreciates it. To +make this perfectly clear, let us take two or three lines from +Shakespeare:-- + + "Blow, blow, thou winter wind! + Thou art not so unkind + As man's ingratitude, + Thy tooth is not so keen," etc., etc.; + +which I have somewhere seen thus rendered into French: + + "Souffle, souffle, vent d'hiver! + Tu n'es pas si cruel + Que l'ingratitude de l'homme. + Ta dent n'est pas si penetrante," etc., etc. + +Why are we inclined to laugh as we read this? Because it excites +in us an undercurrent of consciousness which, if put into words, +might run something like this:-- + + "Insufflate, insufflate, wind hibernal! + Thou art not so cruel + As human ingratitude. + Thy dentition is not so penetrating," etc., etc. + +No such effect would be produced upon a Frenchman. The +translation would strike him as excellent, which it really is. +The last line in particular would seem poetical to us, did we not +happen to have in our language words closely akin to dent and +penetrante, and familiarly employed in senses that are not +poetical. + +Applying these considerations to Mr. Longfellow's choice of words +in his translation of Dante, we see at once the unsoundness of +the principle that Italian words should be rendered by their +Romanic equivalents in English. Words that are etymologically +identical with those in the original are often, for that very +reason, the worst words that could be used. They are harsh and +foreign to the English ear, however homelike and musical they may +be to the ear of an Italian. Their connotations are unlike in the +two languages; and the translation which is made literally exact +by using them is at the same time made actually inaccurate, or at +least inadequate. Dole and dolent are doubtless the exact +counterparts of dolore and dolente, so far as mere etymology can +go. But when we consider the effect that is to be produced upon +the mind of the reader, wretchedness and despairing are fat +better equivalents. The former may compel our intellectual +assent, but the latter awaken our emotional sympathy. + +Doubtless by long familiarity with the Romanic languages, the +scholar becomes to a great degree emancipated from the conditions +imposed upon him by the peculiar composition of his native +English. The concrete significance of the Romanic words becomes +apparent to him, and they acquire energy and vitality. The +expression dolent may thus satisfy the student familiar with +Italian, because it calls up in his mind, through the medium of +its equivalent dolente, the same associations which the latter +calls up in the mind of the Italian himself.[41] But this power +of appreciating thoroughly the beauties of a foreign tongue is in +the last degree an acquired taste,--as much so as the taste for +olives and kirschenwasser to the carnal palate. It is only by +long and profound study that we can thus temporarily vest +ourselves, so to speak, with a French or Italian consciousness in +exchange for our English one. The literary epicure may keenly +relish such epithets as dolent; but the common English reader, +who loves plain fare, can hardly fail to be startled by it. To +him it savours of the grotesque; and if there is any one thing +especially to be avoided in the interpretation of Dante, it is +grotesqueness. + +[41] A consummate Italian scholar, the delicacy of whose taste is +questioned by no one, and whose knowledge of Dante's diction is +probably not inferior to Mr. Longfellow's, has told me that he +regards the expression as a noble and effective one, full of +dignity and solemnity. + + +Those who have read over Dante without reading into him, and +those who have derived their impressions of his poem from M. +Dore's memorable illustrations, will here probably demur. What! +Dante not grotesque! That tunnel-shaped structure of the infernal +pit; Minos passing sentence on the damned by coiling his tail; +Charon beating the lagging shades with his oar; Antaios picking +up the poets with his fingers and lowering them in the hollow of +his hand into the Ninth Circle; Satan crunching in his monstrous +jaws the arch-traitors, Judas, Brutus and Cassius; Ugolino +appeasing his famine upon the tough nape of Ruggieri; Bertrand de +Born looking (if I may be allowed the expression) at his own +dissevered head; the robbers exchanging form with serpents; the +whole demoniac troop of Malebolge,--are not all these things +grotesque beyond everything else in poetry? To us, nurtured in +this scientific nineteenth century, they doubtless seem so; and +by Leigh Hunt, who had the eighteenth-century way of appreciating +other ages than his own, they were uniformly treated as such. To +us they are at first sight grotesque, because they are no longer +real to us. We have ceased to believe in such things, and they no +longer awaken any feeling akin to terror. But in the thirteenth +century, in the minds of Dante and his readers, they were living, +terrible realities. That Dante believed literally in all this +unearthly world, and described it with such wonderful minuteness +because he believed in it, admits of little doubt. As he walked +the streets of Verona the people whispered, "See, there is the +man who has been in hell!" Truly, he had been in hell, and +described it as he had seen it, with the keen eyes of imagination +and faith. With all its weird unearthliness, there is hardly +another book in the whole range of human literature which is +marked with such unswerving veracity as the "Divine Comedy." +Nothing is there set down arbitrarily, out of wanton caprice or +for the sake of poetic effect, but because to Dante's imagination +it had so imposingly shown itself that he could not but describe +it as he saw it. In reading his cantos we forget the poet, and +have before us only the veracious traveller in strange realms, +from whom the shrewdest cross-examination can elicit but one +consistent account. To his mind, and to the mediaeval mind +generally, this outer kingdom, with its wards of Despair, +Expiation, and Beatitude, was as real as the Holy Roman Empire +itself. Its extraordinary phenomena were not to be looked on with +critical eyes and called grotesque, but were to be seen with eyes +of faith, and to be worshipped, loved, or shuddered at. Rightly +viewed, therefore, the poem of Dante is not grotesque, but +unspeakably awful and solemn; and the statement is justified that +all grotesqueness and bizarrerie in its interpretation is to be +sedulously avoided. + +Therefore, while acknowledging the accuracy with which Mr. +Longfellow has kept pace with his original through line after +line, following the "footing of its feet," according to the motto +quoted on his title-page, I cannot but think that his accuracy +would have been of a somewhat higher kind if he had now and then +allowed himself a little more liberty of choice between English +and Romanic words and idioms. + +A few examples will perhaps serve to strengthen as well as to +elucidate still further this position. + +"Inferno," Canto III., line 22, according to Longfellow:-- + + "There sighs, complaints, and ululations loud + Resounded through the air without a star, + Whence I at the beginning wept thereat." + +According to Cary:-- + + "Here sighs, with lamentations and loud moans + Resounded through the air pierced by no star, + That e'en I wept at entering." + +According to Parsons:-- + + "Mid sighs, laments, and hollow howls of woe, + Which, loud resounding through the starless air, + Forced tears of pity from mine eyes at first."[42] + +[42] "Quivi sospiri, pianti ed alti guai + Risonavan per l' ner senza stelle, + Perch' io al cominciar ne lagrimai." + +Canto V., line 84:-- + +LONGFELLOW.--"Fly through the air by their volition borne." +CARY.--"Cleave the air, wafted by their will along." +PARSONS.--"Sped ever onward by their wish alone."[43] + +[43] "Volan per l' aer dal voler portate." + + +Canto XVII., line 42:-- + +LONGFELLOW.--"That he concede to us his stalwart shoulders." +CARY--"That to us he may vouchsafe + The aid of his strong shoulders." + PARSONS.--"And ask for us his shoulders' strong support."[44] + +[44] "Che ne conceda i suoi omeri forti." + + +Canto XVII., line 25:-- + +LONGFELLOW.-- +"His tail was wholly quivering in the void, + Contorting upwards the envenomed fork + That in the guise of scorpion armed its point." +CARY.-- +"In the void +Glancing, his tail upturned its venomous fork, +With sting like scorpions armed." + +PARSONS.--"In the void chasm his trembling tail he showed, +As up the envenomed, forked point he swung, Which, as in +scorpions, armed its tapering end."[45] + +[45] "Nel vano tutta sue coda guizzava, + Torcendo in su la venenosa forca, + Che, a guisa di scorpion, la punta armava." + +Canto V., line 51:-- + +LONGFELLOW.--"People whom the black air so castigates. + CARY.--"By the black air so scourged."[46] + +[46] "Genti che l' aura nera si gastiga." + +Line 136:-- + +LONGFELLOW.--"Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating." +CARY.--"My lips all trembling kissed."[47] + +[47] "La bocca mi bacio tutto tremante." + +"Purgatorio," Canto XV., line 139:-- + +LONGFELLOW.-- +"We passed along, athwart the twilight peering + Forward as far as ever eye could stretch + Against the sunbeams serotine and lucent."[48] + +[48] "Noi andavam per lo vespero attenti + Oltre, quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi, + Contra i raggi serotini e lucenti." + + +Mr. Cary's "bright vespertine ray" is only a trifle better; but +Mr. Wright's "splendour of the evening ray" is, in its +simplicity, far preferable. + +Canto XXXI., line 131:-- + +LONGFELLOW.--"Did the other three advance Singing to their +angelic saraband." + +CARY.--"To their own carol on they came Dancing, in festive ring +angelical " + +WRIGHT.--"And songs accompanied their angel dance." + + +Here Mr. Longfellow has apparently followed the authority of the +Crusca, reading + + "Cantando al loro angelico carribo," + +and translating carribo by saraband, a kind of Moorish dance. The +best manuscripts, however, sanction M. Witte's reading:-- + + "Danzando al loro angelico carribo." + +If this be correct, carribo cannot signify "a dance," but rather +"the song which accompanies the dance"; and the true sense of the +passage will have been best rendered by Mr. Cary.[49] + +[49] See Blanc, Vocabolario Dantesco, s. v. "caribo." + + +Whenever Mr. Longfellow's translation is kept free from oddities +of diction and construction, it is very animated and vigorous. +Nothing can be finer than his rendering of "Purgatorio," Canto +VI., lines 97-117:-- + + "O German Albert! who abandonest + Her that has grown recalcitrant and savage, + And oughtest to bestride her saddle-bow, + + May a just judgment from the stars down fall + Upon thy blood, and be it new and open, + That thy successor may have fear thereof: + + Because thy father and thyself have suffered, + By greed of those transalpine lands distrained, + The garden of the empire to be waste. + + Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti, + Monaldi and Filippeschi, careless man! + Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed! + + Come, cruel one! come and behold the oppression + Of thy nobility, and cure their wounds, + And thou shalt see how safe [?] is Santafiore. + + Come and behold thy Rome that is lamenting, + Widowed, alone, and day and night exclaims + 'My Caesar, why hast thou forsaken me?' + + Come and behold how loving are the people; + And if for us no pity moveth thee, + Come and be made ashamed of thy renown."[50] + +[50] "O Alberto Tedesco, che abbandoni + Costei ch' e fatta indomita e selvaggia, + E dovresti inforcar li suoi arcioni, + + Giusto gindizio dalle stelle caggia + Sopra il tuo sangue, e sia nuovo ed aperto, + Tal che il tuo successor temenza n' aggia: + Cheavete tu e il tuo padre sofferto, + Per cupidigia di costa distretti, + Che il giardin dell' imperio sia diserto. + + Vieni a veder Montecchi e Cappelletti, + Monaldi e Filippeschi, uom senza cura: + Color gia tristi, e questi con sospetti. + Vien, crudel, vieni, e vedi la pressura + De' tuoi gentili, e cure lor magagne, + E vedrai Santafior com' e oscura [secura?]. + Vieni a veder la tua Roma che piagne, + Vedova e sola, e di e notte chiama: + Cesare mio, perche non m' accompagne? + Vieni a veder la gente quanto s' ama; + E se nulla di noi pieta ti move, + A vergognar ti vien della tua fama." + + + +So, too, Canto III., lines 79-84:-- + + "As sheep come issuing forth from out the fold + By ones, and twos, and threes, and the others stand +Timidly holding down their eyes and nostrils, + + And what the foremost does the others do + Huddling themselves against her if she stop, + Simple and quiet, and the wherefore know not."[51] + +[51] "Come le pecorelle escon del chiuso + Ad una, a due, a tre, e l' altre stanno + Timidette atterrando l' occhio e il muso; + + E cio che fa la prima, e l' altre sanno, + Addossandosi a lei s' ella s' arresta, + Semplici e quete, e lo 'mperche non sanno." + + +Francesca's exclamation to Dante is thus rendered by Mr. +Longfellow:-- + + "And she to me: There is no greater sorrow + Than to be mindful of the happy time + In misery."[52] + +[52] "Ed ella a me: Nessun maggior dolore + Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria." +Inferno, V. 121-123. + + + +This is admirable,--full of the true poetic glow, which would +have been utterly quenched if some Romanic equivalent of dolore +had been used instead of our good Saxon sorrow.[53] So, too, the +"Paradiso," Canto I., line 100:-- + + "Whereupon she, after a pitying sigh, + Her eyes directed toward me with that look + A mother casts on a delirious child."[54] + +[53] Yet admirable as it is, I am not quite sure that Dr. +Parsons, by taking further liberty with the original, has not +surpassed it:-- + "And she to me: The mightiest of all woes + Is in the midst of misery to be cursed + With bliss remembered." + +[54] "Ond' ella, appresso d'un pio sospiro +, Gli occhi drizzo ver me con quel sembiante, + Che madre fa sopra figlinol deliro." + + +And, finally, the beginning of the eighth canto of the +"Purgatorio":-- + + "'T was now the hour that turneth back desire + In those who sail the sea, and melts the heart, + The day they've said to their sweet friends farewell; + And the new pilgrim penetrates with love, + If he doth hear from far away a bell + That seemeth to deplore the dying day."[55] + +[55] "Era gia l' ora che volge il disio + Ai naviganti, e intenerisce il core + Lo di ch' hen detto ai dolci amici addio; + E che lo nuovo peregrin d' amore + Punge, se ode squilla di lontano, + Che paia il giorno pianger che si more." + +This passage affords an excellent example of what the method of +literal translation can do at its best. Except in the second +line, where "those who sail the sea" is wisely preferred to any +Romanic equivalent of naviganti the version is utterly literal; +as literal as the one the school-boy makes, when he opens his +Virgil at the Fourth Eclogue, and lumberingly reads, "Sicilian +Muses, let us sing things a little greater." But there is nothing +clumsy, nothing which smacks of the recitation-room, in these +lines of Mr. Longfellow. For easy grace and exquisite beauty it +would be difficult to surpass them. They may well bear comparison +with the beautiful lines into which Lord Byron has rendered the +same thought:-- + + "Soft hour which wakes the wish, and melts the heart, + Of those who sail the seas, on the first day + When they from their sweet friends are torn apart; + Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way, + As the far bell of vesper makes him start, + Seeming to weep the dying day's decay. + Is this a fancy which our reason scorns? + Ah, surely nothing dies but something mourns!"[56] + +[56] Don Juan, III. 108. + +Setting aside the concluding sentimental generalization,--which +is much more Byronic than Dantesque,--one hardly knows which +version to call more truly poetical; but for a faithful rendering +of the original conception one can hardly hesitate to give the +palm to Mr. Longfellow. + +Thus we see what may be achieved by the most highly gifted of +translators who contents himself with passively reproducing the +diction of his original, who constitutes himself, as it were, a +conduit through which the meaning of the original may flow. Where +the differences inherent in the languages employed do not +intervene to alloy the result, the stream of the original may, as +in the verses just cited, come out pure and unweakened. Too +often, however, such is the subtle chemistry of thought, it will +come out diminished in its integrity, or will appear, bereft of +its primitive properties as a mere element in some new +combination. Our channel is a trifle too alkaline perhaps; and +that the transferred material may preserve its pleasant +sharpness, we may need to throw in a little extra acid. Too often +the mere differences between English and Italian prevent Dante's +expressions from coming out in Mr. Longfellow's version so pure +and unimpaired as in the instance just cited. But these +differences cannot be ignored. They lie deep in the very +structure of human speech, and are narrowly implicated with +equally profound nuances in the composition of human thought. The +causes which make dolente a solemn word to the Italian ear, and +dolent a queer word to the English ear, are causes which have +been slowly operating ever since the Italican and the Teuton +parted company on their way from Central Asia. They have brought +about a state of things which no cunning of the translator can +essentially alter, but to the emergencies of which he must +graciously conform his proceedings. Here, then, is the sole point +on which we disagree with Mr. Longfellow, the sole reason we have +for thinking that he has not attained the fullest possible +measure of success. Not that he has made a "realistic" +translation,--so far we conceive him to be entirely right; but +that, by dint of pushing sheer literalism beyond its proper +limits, he has too often failed to be truly realistic. Let us +here explain what is meant by realistic translation. + +Every thoroughly conceived and adequately executed translation of +an ancient author must be founded upon some conscious theory or +some unconscious instinct of literary criticism. As is the +critical spirit of an age, so among other things will be its +translations. Now the critical spirit of every age previous to +our own has been characterized by its inability to appreciate +sympathetically the spirit of past and bygone times. In the +seventeenth century criticism made idols of its ancient models; +it acknowledged no serious imperfections in them; it set them up +as exemplars for the present and all future times to copy. Let +the genial Epicurean henceforth write like Horace, let the epic +narrator imitate the supreme elegance of Virgil,--that was the +conspicuous idea, the conspicuous error, of seventeenth-century +criticism. It overlooked the differences between one age and +another. Conversely, when it brought Roman patricians and Greek +oligarchs on to the stage, it made them behave like French +courtiers or Castilian grandees or English peers. When it had to +deal with ancient heroes, it clothed them in the garb and imputed +to them the sentiments of knights-errant. Then came the +revolutionary criticism of the eighteenth century, which assumed +that everything old was wrong, while everything new was right. It +recognized crudely the differences between one age and another, +but it had a way of looking down upon all ages except the +present. This intolerance shown toward the past was indeed a +measure of the crudeness with which it was comprehended. Because +Mohammed, if he had done what he did, in France and in the +eighteenth century, would have been called an impostor, Voltaire, +the great mouthpiece and representative of this style of +criticism, portrays him as an impostor. Recognition of the fact +that different ages are different, together with inability to +perceive that they ought to be different, that their differences +lie in the nature of progress,--this was the prominent +characteristic of eighteenth-century criticism. Of all the great +men of that century, Lessing was perhaps the only one who outgrew +this narrow critical habit. + +Now nineteenth-century criticism not only knows that in no +preceding age have men thought and behaved as they now think and +behave, but it also understands that old-fashioned thinking and +behaviour was in its way just as natural and sensible as that +which is now new-fashioned. It does not flippantly sneer at an +ancient custom because we no longer cherish it; but with an +enlightened regard for everything human, it inquires into its +origin, traces its effects, and endeavours to explain its decay. +It is slow to characterize Mohammed as an impostor, because it +has come to feel that Arabia in the seventh century is one thing +and Europe in the nineteenth another. It is scrupulous about +branding Caesar as an usurper, because it has discovered that +what Mr. Mill calls republican liberty and what Cicero called +republican liberty are widely different notions. It does not tell +us to bow down before Lucretius and Virgil as unapproachable +models, while lamenting our own hopeless inferiority; nor does it +tell us to set them down as half-skilled apprentices, while +congratulating ourselves on our own comfortable superiority; but +it tells us to study them as the exponents of an age forever +gone, from which we have still many lessons to learn, though we +no longer think as it thought or feel as it felt. The eighteenth +century, as represented by the characteristic passage from +Voltaire, cited by Mr. Longfellow, failed utterly to understand +Dante. To the minds of Voltaire and his contemporaries the great +mediaeval poet was little else than a Titanic monstrosity,--a +maniac, whose ravings found rhythmical expression; his poem a +grotesque medley, wherein a few beautiful verses were buried +under the weight of whole cantos of nonsensical scholastic +quibbling. This view, somewhat softened, we find also in Leigh +Hunt, whose whole account of Dante is an excellent specimen of +this sort of criticism. Mr. Hunt's fine moral nature was shocked +and horrified by the terrible punishments described in the +"Inferno." He did not duly consider that in Dante's time these +fearful things were an indispensable part of every man's theory +of the world; and, blinded by his kindly prejudices, he does not +seem to have perceived that Dante, in accepting eternal torments +as part and parcel of the system of nature, was nevertheless, in +describing them, inspired with that ineffable tenderness of pity +which, in the episodes of Francesca and of Brunetto Latini, has +melted the hearts of men in past times, and will continue to do +so in times to come. "Infinite pity, yet infinite rigour of law! +It is so Nature is made: it is so Dante discerned that she was +made."[57] This remark of the great seer of our time is what the +eighteenth century could in no wise comprehend. The men of that +day failed to appreciate Dante, just as they were oppressed or +disgusted at the sight of Gothic architecture; just as they +pronounced the scholastic philosophy an unmeaning jargon; just as +they considered mediaeval Christianity a gigantic system of +charlatanry, and were wont unreservedly to characterize the +Papacy as a blighting despotism. In our time cultivated men think +differently. We have learned that the interminable hair-splitting +of Aquinas and Abelard has added precision to modern +thinking.[58] We do not curse Gregory VII. and Innocent III. as +enemies of the human race, but revere them as benefactors. We can +spare a morsel of hearty admiration for Becket, however strongly +we may sympathize with the stalwart king who did penance for his +foul murder; and we can appreciate Dante's poor opinion of Philip +the Fair no less than his denunciation of Boniface VIII. The +contemplation of Gothic architecture, as we stand entranced in +the sublime cathedrals of York or Rouen, awakens in our breasts a +genuine response to the mighty aspirations which thus became +incarnate in enduring stone. And the poem of Dante--which has +been well likened to a great cathedral--we reverently accept, +with all its quaint carvings and hieroglyphic symbols, as the +authentic utterance of feelings which still exist, though they no +longer choose the same form of expression. + +[57] Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-Worship, p. 84. + +[58] See my Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Vol. I. p. 123. + + +A century ago, therefore, a translation of Dante such as Mr. +Longfellow's would have been impossible. The criticism of that +time was in no mood for realistic reproductions of the antique. +It either superciliously neglected the antique, or else dressed +it up to suit its own notions of propriety. It was not like a +seven-league boot which could fit everybody, but it was like a +Procrustes-bed which everybody must be made to fit. Its great +exponent was not a Sainte-Beuve, but a Boileau. Its typical +sample of a reproduction of the antique was Pope's translation of +the Iliad. That book, we presume, everybody has read; and many of +those who have read it know that, though an excellent and +spirited poem, it is no more Homer than the age of Queen Anne was +the age of Peisistratos. Of the translations of Dante made during +this period, the chief was unquestionably Mr. Cary's.[59] For a +man born and brought up in the most unpoetical of centuries, Mr. +Cary certainly made a very good poem, though not so good as +Pope's. But it fell far short of being a reproduction of Dante. +The eighteenth-century note rings out loudly on every page of it. +Like much other poetry of the time, it is laboured and +artificial. Its sentences are often involved and occasionally +obscure. Take, for instance, Canto IV. 25-36 of the "Paradiso": + +[59] This work comes at the end of the eighteenth-century period, +as Pope's translation of Homer comes at the beginning. + + "These are the questions which they will + Urge equally; and therefore I the first + Of that will treat which hath the more of gall. + Of seraphim he who is most enskied, + Moses, and Samuel, and either John, + Choose which thou wilt, nor even Mary's self, + Have not in any other heaven their seats, + Than have those spirits which so late thou saw'st; + Nor more or fewer years exist; but all + Make the first circle beauteous, diversely + Partaking of sweet life, as more or less + Afflation of eternal bliss pervades them." + + +Here Mr. Cary not only fails to catch Dante's grand style; he +does not even write a style at all. It is too constrained and +awkward to be dignified, and dignity is an indispensable element +of style. Without dignity we may write clearly, or nervously, or +racily, but we have not attained to a style. This is the second +shortcoming of Mr. Cary's translation. Like Pope's, it fails to +catch the grand style of its original. Unlike Pope's, it +frequently fails to exhibit any style. + +It is hardly necessary to spend much time in proving that Mr. +Longfellow's version is far superior to Mr. Cary's. It is usually +easy and flowing, and save in the occasional use of violent +inversions, always dignified. Sometimes, as in the episode of +Ugolino, it even rises to something like the grandeur of the +original: + + "When he had said this, with his eyes distorted, + The wretched skull resumed he with his teeth, + Which, as a dog's, upon the bone were strong."[60] + +[60] "Quand' ebbe detto cio, eon gli occhi torti + Riprese il teschio misero coi denti, + Che furo all' osso, come d'un can, forti." + Inferno, XXXIII. 76. + + +That is in the grand style, and so is the following, which +describes those sinners locked in the frozen lake below +Malebolge:-- + + "Weeping itself there does not let them weep, + And grief that finds a barrier in the eyes + Turns itself inward to increase the anguish.[61] + +[61] "Lo pianto stesso li pianger non lascia, + E il duol, che trova in sugli occhi rintoppo, + Si volve in entro a far crescer l' ambascia." + Inferno, XXXIII. 94. + + +And the exclamation of one of these poor "wretches of the frozen +crust" is an exclamation that Shakespeare might have written:-- + + "Lift from mine eyes the rigid veils, that I + May vent the sorrow which impregns my heart."[62] + +[62] "Levatemi dal viso i duri veli, + Si ch' io sfoghi il dolor che il cor m' impregna." + Ib. 112. + + +There is nothing in Mr. Cary's translation which can stand a +comparison with that. The eighteenth century could not translate +like that. For here at last we have a real reproduction of the +antique. In the Shakespearian ring of these lines we recognize +the authentic rendering of the tones of the only man since the +Christian era who could speak like Shakespeare. + +In this way Mr. Longfellow's translation is, to an eminent +degree, realistic. It is a work conceived and executed in entire +accordance with the spirit of our time. Mr. Longfellow has set +about making a reconstructive translation, and he has succeeded +in the attempt. In view of what he has done, no one can ever wish +to see the old methods of Pope and Cary again resorted to. It is +only where he fails to be truly realistic that he comes short of +success. And, as already hinted, it is oftenest through sheer +excess of LITERALISM that he ceases to be realistic, and departs +from the spirit of his author instead of coming nearer to it. In +the "Paradiso," Canto X. 1-6, his method leads him into +awkwardness:-- + + "Looking into His Son with all the love + Which each of them eternally breathes forth, + The primal and unutterable Power + Whate'er before the mind or eye revolves + With so much order made, there can be none + Who this beholds without enjoying Him." + + +This seems clumsy and halting, yet it is an extremely literal +paraphrase of a graceful and flowing original:-- + + "Guardando nel suo figlio con l' amore + Che l' uno e l' altro eternalmente spire, + Lo primo ed ineffabile Valore, + Quanto per mente o per loco si gira + Con tanto ordine fe', ch' esser non puote + Senza gustar di lui ehi cio rimira " + +Now to turn a graceful and flowing sentence into one that is +clumsy and halting is certainly not to reproduce it, no matter +how exactly the separate words are rendered, or how closely the +syntactic constructions match each other. And this consideration +seems conclusive as against the adequacy of the literalist +method. That method is inadequate, not because it is too +REALISTIC, but because it runs continual risk of being too +VERBALISTIC. It has recently been applied to the translation of +Dante by Mr. Rossetti, and it has sometimes led him to write +curious verses. For instance, he makes Francesca say to Dante,-- + + "O gracious and benignant ANIMAL!" + +for + + "O animal grazioso e benigno!" + +Mr. Longfellow's good taste has prevented his doing anything like +this, yet Mr. Rossetti's extravagance is due to an unswerving +adherence to the very rules by which Mr. Longfellow has been +guided. + +Good taste and poetic genius are, however, better than the best +of rules, and so, after all said and done, we can only conclude +that Mr. Longfellow has given us a great and noble work not +likely soon to be equalled. Leopardi somewhere, in speaking of +the early Italian translators of the classics and their +well-earned popularity, says, who knows but Caro will live in +men's remembrance as long as Virgil? "La belie destinee," adds +Sainte-Beuve, "de ne pouvoir plus mourir, sinon avec un +immortel!" Apart from Mr. Longfellow's other titles to undying +fame, such a destiny is surely marked out for him, and throughout +the English portions of the world his name will always be +associated with that of the great Florentine. + + June, 1867. + + + +XII. PAINE'S "ST. PETER." + +For music-lovers in America the great event of the season has +been the performance of Mr. Paine's oratorio, "St. Peter," at +Portland, June 3. This event is important, not only as the first +appearance of an American oratorio, but also as the first direct +proof we have had of the existence of creative musical genius in +this country. For Mr. Paine's Mass in D--a work which was brought +out with great success several years ago in Berlin--has, for some +reason or other, never been performed here. And, with the +exception of Mr. Paine, we know of no American hitherto who has +shown either the genius or the culture requisite for writing +music in the grand style, although there is some of the +Kapellmeister music, written by our leading organists and +choristers, which deserves honourable mention. Concerning the +rank likely to be assigned by posterity to "St. Peter," it would +be foolish now to speculate; and it would be equally unwise to +bring it into direct comparison with masterpieces like the +"Messiah," "Elijah," and "St. Paul," the greatness of which has +been so long acknowledged. Longer familiarity with the work is +needed before such comparisons, always of somewhat doubtful +value, can be profitably undertaken. But it must at least be +said, as the net result of our impressions derived both from +previous study of the score and from hearing, the performance at +Portland, that Mr. Paine's oratorio has fairly earned for itself +the right to be judged by the same high standard which we apply +to these noble works of Mendelssohn and Handel. + +In our limited space we can give only the briefest description of +the general structure of the work. The founding of Christianity, +as illustrated in four principal scenes of the life of St. Peter, +supplies the material for the dramatic development of the +subject. The overture, beginning with an adagio movement in +B-flat minor, gives expression to the vague yearnings of that +time of doubt and hesitancy when the "oracles were dumb," and the +dawning of a new era of stronger and diviner faith was matter of +presentiment rather than of definite hope or expectation. Though +the tonality is at first firmly established, yet as the movement +becomes more agitated, the final tendency of the modulations also +becomes uncertain, and for a few bars it would seem as if the key +of F-sharp minor might be the point of destination. But after a +short melody by the wind instruments, accompanied by a rapid +upward movement of strings, the dominant chord of C major asserts +itself, being repeated, with sundry inversions, through a dozen +bars, and leading directly into the triumphant and majestic +chorus, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at +hand." The second subject, introduced by the word "repent" +descending through the interval of a diminished seventh and +contrasted with the florid counterpoint of the phrase, "and +believe the glad tidings of God," is a masterpiece of +contrapuntal writing, and, if performed by a choir of three or +four hundred voices, would produce an overpowering effect. The +divine call of Simon Peter and his brethren is next described in +a tenor recitative; and the acceptance of the glad tidings is +expressed in an aria, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me," which, +by an original but appropriate conception, is given to the +soprano voice. In the next number, the disciples are dramatically +represented by twelve basses and tenors, singing in four-part +harmony, and alternating or combining with the full chorus in +description of the aims of the new religion. The poem ends with +the choral, "How lovely shines the Morning Star!" Then follows +the sublime scene from Matthew xvi. 14-18, where Peter declares +his master to be "the Christ, the Son of the living God,"--one of +the most impressive scenes, we have always thought, in the gospel +history, and here not inadequately treated. The feeling of +mysterious and awful grandeur awakened by Peter's bold +exclamation, "Thou art the Christ," is powerfully rendered by the +entrance of the trombones upon the inverted subdominant triad of +C-sharp minor, and their pause upon the dominant of the same key. +Throughout this scene the characteristic contrast between the +ardent vigour of Peter and the sweet serenity of Jesus is well +delineated in the music. After Peter's stirring aria, "My heart +is glad," the dramatic climax is reached in the C-major chorus, +"The Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and +prophets." + +The second scene is carried out to somewhat greater length, +corresponding nearly to the last half of the first part of +"Elijah," from the point where the challenge is given to the +prophets of Baal. In the opening passages of mingled recitative +and arioso, Peter is forewarned that he shall deny his Master, +and his half-indignant remonstrance is sustained, with added +emphasis, by the voices of the twelve disciples, pitched a fourth +higher. Then Judas comes, with a great multitude, and Jesus is +carried before the high-priest. The beautiful F-minor chorus, "We +hid our faces from him," furnishes the musical comment upon the +statement that "the disciples all forsook him and fled." We +hardly dare to give full expression to our feelings about this +chorus (which during the past month has been continually singing +itself over and over again in our recollection), lest it should +be supposed that our enthusiasm has got the better of our sober +judgment. The second theme, "He was brought as a lamb to the +slaughter, yet he opened not his mouth," is quite Handel-like in +the simplicity and massiveness of its magnificent harmonic +progressions. With the scene of the denial, for which we are thus +prepared, the dramatic movement becomes exceedingly rapid, and +the rendering of the events in the high-priest's hall--Peter's +bass recitative alternating its craven protestations with the +clamorous agitato chorus of the servants--is stirring in the +extreme. The contralto aria describing the Lord's turning and +looking upon Peter is followed by the orchestra with a lament in +B-flat minor, introducing the bass aria of the repentant and +remorse-stricken disciple, "O God, my God, forsake me not." As +the last strains of the lamentation die away, a choir of angels +is heard, of sopranos and contraltos divided, singing, "Remember +from whence thou art fallen," to an accompaniment of harps. The +second theme, "He that overcometh shall receive a crown of life," +is introduced in full chorus, in a cheering allegro movement, +preparing the way for a climax higher than any yet reached in the +course of the work. This climax--delayed for a few moments by an +andante aria for a contralto voice, "The Lord is faithful and +righteous"--at last bursts upon us with a superb crescendo of +strings, and the words, "Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from +the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." This chorus, which +for reasons presently to be given was heard at considerable +disadvantage at Portland, contains some of the best fugue-writing +in the work, and is especially rich and powerful in its +instrumentation. + +The second part of the oratorio begins with the crucifixion and +ascension of Jesus. Here we must note especially the deeply +pathetic opening chorus, "The Son of Man was delivered into the +hands of sinful men," the joyous allegro, "And on the third day +he rose again," the choral, "Jesus, my Redeemer, lives," and the +quartet, "Feed the flock of God," commenting upon the command of +Jesus, "Feed my lambs." This quartet has all the heavenly +sweetness of Handel's "He shall feed his flock," which it +suggests by similarity of subject, though not by similarity of +treatment; but in a certain quality of inwardness, or religious +meditativeness, it reminds one more of Mr. Paine's favourite +master, Bach. The choral, like the one in the first part and the +one which follows the scene of Pentecost, is taken from the +Lutheran Choral Book, and arranged with original harmony and +instrumentation, in accordance with the custom of Bach, +Mendelssohn, and other composers, "of introducing into their +sacred compositions the old popular choral melodies which are the +peculiar offspring of a religious age." Thus the noblest choral +ever written, the "Sleepers, wake," in "St. Paul," was composed +in 1604 by Praetorius, the harmonization and accompaniment only +being the work of Mendelssohn. + +In "St. Peter," as in "Elijah," the second part, while forming +the true musical climax of the oratorio, admits of a briefer +description than the first part. The wave of emotion answering to +the sensuously dramatic element having partly spent itself, the +wave of lyric emotion gathers fresh strength, and one feels that +one has reached the height of spiritual exaltation, while, +nevertheless, there is not so much which one can describe to +others who may not happen to have gone through with the same +experience. Something of the same feeling one gets in studying +Dante's "Paradiso," after finishing the preceding divisions of +his poem: there is less which can be pictured to the eye of +sense, or left to be supplied by the concrete imagination. +Nevertheless, in the scene of Pentecost, which follows that of +the Ascension, there is no lack of dramatic vividness. Indeed, +there is nothing in the work more striking than the orchestration +of the introductory tenor recitative, the mysterious chorus, "The +voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire," or the amazed +query which follows, "Behold, are not all these who speak +Galileans? and how is it that we every one hear them in our own +tongue wherein we were born?" We have heard the opinion expressed +that Mr. Paine's oratorio must be lacking in originality, since +it suggests such strong reminiscences of "St. Paul." Now, this +suggestion, it seems to us, is due partly to the similarity of +the subjects, independently of any likeness in the modes of +treatment, and partly, perhaps, to the fact that Mr. Paine, as +well as Mendelssohn, has been a devoted student of Bach, whose +characteristics are so strong that they may well have left their +mark upon the works of both composers. But especially it would +seem that there is some real, though very general resemblance +between this colloquial chorus, "Behold," etc., and some choruses +in "St. Paul," as, for example Nos. 29 and 36-38. In the same way +the scene in the high-priest's hall might distantly suggest +either of these passages, or others in "Elijah;" These +resemblances, however, are very superficial, pertaining not to +the musical but to the dramatic treatment of situations which are +generically similar in so far, and only in so far, as they +represent conversational passages between an apostle or prophet +and an ignorant multitude, whether amazed or hostile, under the +sway of violent excitement. As regards the musical elaboration of +these terse and striking alternations of chorus and recitative, +its originality can be questioned only after we have decided to +refer all originality on such matters to Bach, or, indeed, even +behind him, into the Middle Ages. + +After the preaching of Peter, and the sweet contralto aria, "As +for man, his days are as grass," the culmination of this scene +comes in the D-major chorus, "This is the witness of God." What +follows, beginning with the choral, "Praise to the Father," is to +be regarded as an epilogue or peroration to the whole work. It is +in accordance with a sound tradition that the grand sacred drama +of an oratorio should conclude with a lyric outburst of +thanksgiving, a psalm of praise to the Giver of every good and +perfect gift. Thus, after Peter's labours are ended in the aria, +"Now as ye were redeemed," in which the twelve disciples and the +full chorus join, a duet for tenor and soprano, "Sing unto God," +brings us to the grand final chorus in C major, "Great and +marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty." + +The cadence of this concluding chorus reminds us that one of the +noteworthy points in the oratorio is the character of its +cadences. The cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, now become so +hackneyed from its perpetual and wearisome repetition in popular +church music, seems to be especially disliked by Mr. Paine, as it +occurs but once or twice in the course of the work. In the great +choruses the cadence is usually reached either by a pedal on the +tonic, as in the chorus, "Awake, thou that sleepest," or by a +pedal on the dominant culminating in a chord of the major ninth, +as in the final chorus; or there is a plagal cadence, as in the +first chorus of the second part; or, if the 6/4 chord is +introduced, as it is in the chorus, "He that overcometh," its +ordinary effect is covered and obscured by the movement of the +divided sopranos. We do not remember noticing anywhere such a +decided use of the 6/4 chord as is made, for example, by +Mendelssohn, in "Thanks be to God," or in the final chorus of +"St. Paul." Perhaps if we were to confess our lingering fondness +for the cadence prepared by the 6/4 chord, when not too +frequently introduced, it might only show that we retain a liking +for New England "psalm-tunes"; but it does seem to us that a +sense of final repose, of entire cessation of movement, is more +effectually secured by this cadence than by any other. Yet while +the 6/4 cadence most completely expresses finality and rest, it +would seem that the plagal and other cadences above enumerated as +preferred by Mr. Paine have a certain sort of superiority by +reason of the very incompleteness with which they express +finality. There is no sense of finality whatever about the +Phrygian cadence; it leaves the mind occupied with the feeling of +a boundless region beyond, into which one would fain penetrate; +and for this reason it has, in sacred music, a great value. +Something of the same feeling, too, attaches to those cadences in +which an unexpected major third usurps the place of the minor +which the ear was expecting, as in the "Incarnatus" of Mozart's +"Twelfth Mass," or in Bach's sublime "Prelude," Part I., No. 22 +of the "Well-tempered Clavichord." In a less degree, an analogous +effect was produced upon us by the cadence with a pedal on the +tonic in the choruses, "The Church is built," and "Awake, thou +that sleepest." On these considerations it may become +intelligible that to some hearers Mr. Paine's cadences have +seemed unsatisfactory, their ears having missed the positive +categorical assertion of finality which the 6/4 cadence alone can +give. To go further into this subject would take us far beyond +our limits. + +The pleasant little town of Portland has reason to congratulate +itself, first, on being the birthplace of such a composer as Mr. +Paine; secondly, on having been the place where the first great +work of America in the domain of music was brought out; and +thirdly, on possessing what is probably the most thoroughly +disciplined choral society in this country. Our New York friends, +after their recent experiences, will perhaps be slow to believe +us when we say that the Portland choir sang this new work even +better, in many respects, than the Handel and Haydn Society sing +the old and familiar "Elijah"; but it is true. In their command +of the pianissimo and the gradual crescendo, and in the precision +of their attack, the Portland singers can easily teach the Handel +and Haydn a quarter's lessons. And, besides all this, they know +how to preserve their equanimity under the gravest persecutions +of the orchestra; keeping the even tenour of their way where a +less disciplined choir, incited by the excessive blare of the +trombones and the undue scraping of the second violins, would be +likely to lose its presence of mind and break out into an +untimely fortissimo. + +No doubt it is easier to achieve perfect chorus-singing with a +choir of one hundred and twenty-five voices than with a choir of +six hundred. But this diminutive size, which was an advantage so +far as concerned the technical excellence of the Portland choir, +was decidedly a disadvantage so far as concerned the proper +rendering of the more massive choruses in "St. Peter." All the +greatest choruses--such as Nos. 1, 8, 19, 20, 28, 35, and +39--were seriously impaired in the rendering by the lack of +massiveness in the voices. For example, the grand chorus, "Awake, +thou that sleepest," begins with a rapid crescendo of strings, +introducing the full chorus on the word "Awake," upon the +dominant triad of D major; and after a couple of beats the voices +are reinforced by the trombones, producing the most tremendous +effect possible in such a crescendo. Unfortunately, however, the +brass asserted itself at this point so much more emphatically +than the voices that the effect was almost to disjoin the latter +portion of the chord from its beginning, and thus to dwarf the +utterance of the word "Awake." To us this effect was very +disagreeable; and it was obviously contrary to the effect +intended by the composer. But with a weight of four or five +hundred voices, the effect would be entirely different. Instead +of entering upon the scene as intruders, the mighty trombones +would only serve to swell and enrich the ponderous chord which +opens this noble chorus. Given greater weight only, and the +performance of the admirable Portland choir would have left +nothing to be desired. + +We cannot speak with so much satisfaction of the performance of +the orchestra. The instrumentation of "St. Peter" is remarkably +fine. But this instrumentation was rather clumsily rendered by +the orchestra, whose doings constituted the least enjoyable part +of the performance. There was too much blare of brass, whine of +hautboy, and scraping of strings. But in condonation of this +serious defect, one must admit that the requisite amount of +rehearsal is out of the question when one's choir is in Portland +and one's orchestra in Boston; besides which the parts had been +inaccurately copied. For a moment, at the beginning of the +orchestral lament, there was risk of disaster, the wind +instruments failing to come in at the right time, when Mr. Paine, +with fortunate presence of mind, stopped the players, and the +movement was begun over again,--the whole occurring so quickly +and quietly as hardly to attract attention. + +In conclusion we would say a few words suggested by a recent +critical notice of Mr. Paine's work in the "Nation." While +acknowledging the importance of the publication of this oratorio, +as an event in the art-history of America, the writer betrays +manifest disappointment that this work should not rather have +been a symphony,[63] and thus have belonged to what he calls the +"domain of absolute music." Now with regard to the assumption +that the oratorio is not so high a form of music as the symphony, +or, in other words, that vocal music in general is artistically +inferior to instrumental music, we may observe, first, that +Ambros and Dommer--two of the most profound musical critics now +living--do not sustain it. It is Beanquier, we think, who +suggests that instrumental music should rank above vocal, because +it is "pure music," bereft of the fictitious aids of language and +of the emotional associations which are grouped about the +peculiar timbre of the human voice.[64] At first the suggestion +seems plausible; but on analogous grounds we might set the piano +above the orchestra, because the piano gives us pure harmony and +counterpoint, without the adventitious aid of variety in timbre. +And it is indeed true that, for some such reason as this, +musicians delight in piano-sonatas, which are above all things +tedious and unintelligible to the mind untrained in music. +Nevertheless, in spite of its great and peculiar prerogatives, it +would be absurd to prefer the piano to the orchestra; and there +is a kindred absurdity involved in setting the orchestra above +that mighty union of orchestra, organ, and voices which we get in +the oratorio. When the reason alleged for ranking the symphony +above the oratorio leads us likewise to rank the sonata above the +symphony, we seem to have reached a reductio ad absurdum. + +[63] Now within two years, Mr. Paine's C-minor symphony has +followed the completion of his oratorio. + +[64] These peculiar associations are no doubt what is chiefly +enjoyed in music, antecedent to a properly musical culture. +Persons of slight acquaintance with music invariably prefer the +voice to the piano. + + +Rightly considered, the question between vocal and instrumental +music amounts to this, What does music express? This is a great +psychological question, and we have not now the space or the +leisure requisite for discussing it, even in the most summary +way. We will say, however, that we do not see how music can in +any way express ideas, or anything but moods or emotional states +to which the ideas given in language may add determination and +precision. The pure symphony gives utterance to moods, and will +be a satisfactory work of art or not, according as the composer +has been actuated by a legitimate sequence of emotional states, +like Beethoven, or by a desire to produce novel and startling +effects, like Liszt. But the danger in purely instrumental music +is that it may run riot in the extravagant utterance of emotional +states which are not properly concatenated by any normal sequence +of ideas associated with them. This is sometimes exemplified in +the most modern instrumental music. + +Now, as in real life our sequent clusters of emotional states are +in general determined by their association with our sequent +groups of intellectual ideas, it would seem that music, regarded +as an exponent of psychical life, reaches its fullest +expressiveness when the sequence of the moods which it incarnates +in sound is determined by some sequence of ideas, such as is +furnished by the words of a libretto. Not that the words should +have predominance over the music, or even coequal sway with it, +but that they should serve to give direction to the succession of +feelings expressed by the music. "Lift up your heads" and +"Hallelujah" do not owe their glory to the text, but to that +tremendous energy of rhythmic and contrapuntal progression which +the text serves to concentrate and justify. When precision and +definiteness of direction are thus added to the powerful physical +means of expression which we get in the combination of chorus, +orchestra, and organ, we have attained the greatest sureness as +well as the greatest wealth of musical expressiveness. And thus +we may see the reasonableness of Dommer's opinion that in order +to restrain instrumental music from ruining itself by meaningless +extravagance, it is desirable that there should be a renaissance +of vocal music, such as it was in the golden age of Palestrina +and Orlando Lasso. + +We are not inclined to deny that in structural beauty--in the +symmetrical disposition and elaboration of musical themes--the +symphony has the advantage. The words, which in the oratorio +serve to give definite direction to the currents of emotion, may +also sometimes hamper the free development of the pure musical +conception, just as in psychical life the obtrusive entrance of +ideas linked by association may hinder the full fruition of some +emotional state. Nevertheless, in spite of this possible +drawback, it may be doubted if the higher forms of polyphonic +composition fall so very far short of the symphony in capability +of giving full elaboration to the musical idea. The practical +testimony of Beethoven, in his Ninth Symphony, is decidedly +adverse to any such supposition. + +But to pursue this interesting question would carry us far beyond +our limits. Whatever may be the decision as to the respective +claims of vocal and instrumental music, we have every reason for +welcoming the appearance, in our own country, of an original work +in the highest form of vocal music. It is to be hoped that we +shall often have the opportunity to "hear with our ears" this +interesting work; for as a rule great musical compositions are +peculiarly unfortunate among works of art, in being known at +first hand by comparatively few persons. In this way is rendered +possible that pretentious kind of dilettante criticism which is +so common in musical matters, and which is often positively +injurious, as substituting a factitious public opinion for one +that is genuine. We hope that the favour with which the new +oratorio has already been received will encourage the author to +pursue the enviable career upon which he has entered. Even +restricting ourselves to vocal music, there is still a broad +field left open for original work. The secular cantata--attempted +in recent times by Schumann, as well as by English composers of +smaller calibre--is a very high form of vocal music; and if +founded on an adequate libretto, dealing with some supremely +grand or tragical situation, is capable of being carried to an +unprecedented height of musical elaboration. Here is an +opportunity for original achievement, of which it is to be hoped +that some gifted and well-trained composer, like the author of +"St. Peter," may find it worth while to avail himself. + + June, 1873. + + + +XIII. A PHILOSOPHY OF ART.[65] + +[65] The Philosophy of Art. By H. Taine. New York: Leypoldt &; +Holt. 1867. + +We are glad of a chance to introduce to our readers one of the +works of a great writer. Though not yet[66] widely known in this +country, M. Taine has obtained a very high reputation in Europe. +He is still quite a young man, but is nevertheless the author of +nineteen goodly volumes, witty, acute, and learned; and already +he is often ranked with Renan, Littre, and Sainte-Beuve, the +greatest living French writers. + +[66] That is, in 1868. + + +Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was born at Vouziers, among the grand +forests of Ardennes, in 1828, and is therefore about forty years +old. His family was simple in habits and tastes, and entertained +a steadfast belief in culture, along with the possession of a +fair amount of it. His grandfather was sub-prefect at Rocroi, in +1814 and 1815, under the first restoration of the Bourbons. His +father, a lawyer by profession, was the first instructor of his +son, and taught him Latin, and from an uncle, who had been in +America, he learned English, while still a mere child. Having +gone to Paris with his mother in 1842, he began his studies at +the College Bourbon and in 1848 was promoted to the ecole +Normale. Weiss, About, and Prevost-Paradol were his +contemporaries at this institution. At that time great liberty +was enjoyed in regard to the order and the details of the +exercises; so that Taine, with his surprising rapidity, would do +in one week the work laid out for a month, and would spend the +remainder of the time in private reading. In 1851 he left +college, and after two or three unsatisfactory attempts at +teaching, in Paris and in the provinces, he settled down at Paris +as a private student. He gave himself the very best elementary +preparation which a literary man can have,--a thorough course in +mathematics and the physical sciences. His studies in anatomy and +physiology were especially elaborate and minute. He attended the +School of Medicine as regularly as if he expected to make his +daily bread in the profession. In this way, when at the age of +twenty-five he began to write books, M. Taine was a really +educated man; and his books show it. The day is past when a man +could write securely, with a knowledge of the classics alone. We +doubt if a philosophical critic is perfectly educated for his +task, unless he can read, for instance, Donaldson's "New +Cratylus" on the one hand, and Rokitansky's "Pathological +Anatomy" on the other, for the sheer pleasure of the thing. At +any rate, it was an education of this sort which M. Taine, at the +outset of his literary career, had secured. By this solid +discipline of mathematics, chemistry, and medicine, M. Taine +became that which above all things he now is,--a man possessed of +a central philosophy, of an exact, categorical, well-defined +system, which accompanies and supports him in his most distant +literary excursions. He does not keep throwing out ideas at +random, like too many literary critics, but attaches all his +criticisms to a common fundamental principle; in short, he is not +a dilettante, but a savant. + +His treatise on La Fontaine, in 1853, attracted much attention, +both the style and the matter being singularly fresh and +original. He has since republished it, with alterations which +serve to show that he can be docile toward intelligent +criticisms. About the same time he prepared for the French +Academy his work upon the historian Livy, which was crowned in +1855. Suffering then from overwork, he was obliged to make a +short journey to the Pyrenees, which he has since described in a +charming little volume, illustrated by Dore. + +His subsequent works are a treatise on the French philosophers of +the present century, in which the vapid charlatanism of M. Cousin +is satisfactorily dealt with; a history of English literature in +five volumes; a humorous book on Paris; three volumes upon the +general theory of art; and two volumes of travels in Italy; +besides a considerable collection of historical and critical +essays. We think that several of these works would be interesting +to the American public, and might profitably be translated. + +Some three or four years ago, M. Taine was appointed Professor in +the ecole des Beaux Arts, and we suppose his journey to Italy +must have been undertaken partly with a view to qualify himself +for his new position. He visited the four cities which may be +considered the artistic centres of Italy,--Rome, Naples, +Florence, and Venice,--and a large part of his account of his +journey is taken up with descriptions and criticisms of pictures, +statues, and buildings. + +This is a department of criticism which, we may as well frankly +acknowledge, is far better appreciated on the continent of Europe +than in England or America. Over the English race there passed, +about two centuries ago, a deluge of Puritanism, which for a time +almost drowned out its artistic tastes and propensities. The +Puritan movement, in proportion to its success, was nearly as +destructive to art in the West, as Mohammedanism had long before +been in the East. In its intense and one-sided regard for +morality, Puritanism not only relegated the love for beauty to an +inferior place, but contemned and spat upon it, as something +sinful and degrading. Hence, the utter architectural impotence +which characterizes the Americans and the modern English; and +hence the bewildered ignorant way in which we ordinarily +contemplate pictures and statues. For two centuries we have been +removed from an artistic environment, and consequently can with +difficulty enter into the feelings of those who have all this +time been nurtured in love for art, and belief in art for its own +sake. These peculiarities, as Mr. Mill has ably pointed out, have +entered deep into our ethnic character. Even in pure morals there +is a radical difference between the Englishman and the inhabitant +of the continent of Europe. The Englishman follows virtue from a +sense of duty, the Frenchman from an emotional aspiration toward +the beautiful The one admires a noble action because it is right, +the other because it is attractive. And this difference underlies +the moral judgments upon men and events which are to be found +respectively in English and in continental literature. By keeping +it constantly in view, we shall be enabled to understand many +things which might otherwise surprise us in the writings of +French authors. + +We are now slowly outgrowing the extravagances of Puritanism. It +has given us an earnestness and sobriety of character, to which +much of our real greatness is owing, both here and in the mother +country. It has made us stronger and steadier, but it has at the +same time narrowed us in many respects, and rendered our lives +incomplete. This incompleteness, entailed by Puritanism, we are +gradually getting rid of; and we are learning to admire and +respect many things upon which Puritanism set its mark of +contempt. We are beginning, for instance, to recognize the +transcendent merits of that great civilizing agency, the drama; +we no longer think it necessary that our temples for worshipping +God should be constructed like hideous barracks; we are gradually +permitting our choirs to discard the droning and sentimental +modern "psalm-tune" for the inspiring harmonies of Beethoven and +Mozart; and we admit the classical picture and the undraped +statue to a high place in our esteem. Yet with all this it will +probably be some time before genuine art ceases to be an exotic +among us, and becomes a plant of unhindered native growth. It +will be some time before we cease to regard pictures and statues +as a higher species of upholstery, and place them in the same +category with poems and dramas, duly reverencing them as +authentic revelations of the beauty which is to be found in +nature. It will be some time before we realize that art is a +thing to be studied, as well as literature, and before we can be +quite reconciled to the familiar way in which a Frenchman quotes +a picture as we would quote a poem or novel. + +Artistic genius, as M. Taine has shown, is something which will +develop itself only under peculiar social circumstances; and, +therefore, if we have not art, we can perhaps only wait for it, +trusting that when the time comes it will arise among us. But +without originating, we may at least intelligently appreciate. +The nature of a work of art, and the mode in which it is +produced, are subjects well worthy of careful study. Architecture +and music, poetry, painting and sculpture, have in times past +constituted a vast portion of human activity; and without knowing +something of the philosophy of art, we need not hope to +understand thoroughly the philosophy of history. + +In entering upon the study of art in general, one may find many +suggestive hints in the little books of M. Taine, reprinted from +the lectures which he has been delivering at the ecole des Beaux +Arts. The first, on the Philosophy of Art, designated at the head +of this paper, is already accessible to the American reader; and +translations of the others are probably soon to follow. We shall +for the present give a mere synopsis of M. Taine's general views. + +And first it must be determined what a work of art is. Leaving +for a while music and architecture out of consideration, it will +be admitted that poetry, painting, and sculpture have one obvious +character in common: they are arts of IMITATION. This, says +Taine, appears at first sight to be their essential character. It +would appear that their great object is to IMITATE as closely as +possible. It is obvious that a statue is intended to imitate a +living man, that a picture is designed to represent real persons +in real attitudes, or the interior of a house, or a landscape, +such as it exists in nature. And it is no less clear that a novel +or drama endeavours to represent with accuracy real characters, +actions, and words, giving as precise and faithful an image of +them as possible. And when the imitation is incomplete, we say to +the painter, "Your people are too largely proportioned, and the +colour of your trees is false"; we tell the sculptor that his leg +or arm is incorrectly modelled; and we say to the dramatist, +"Never has a man felt or thought as your hero is supposed to have +felt and thought." + +This truth, moreover, is seen. both in the careers of individual +artists, and in the general history of art. According to Taine, +the life of an artist may generally be divided into two parts. In +the first period, that of natural growth, he studies nature +anxiously and minutely, he keeps the objects themselves before +his eyes, and strives to represent them with scrupulous fidelity. +But when the time for mental growth ends, as it does with every +man, and the crystallization of ideas and impressions commences, +then the mind of the artist is no longer so susceptible to new +impressions from without. He begins to nourish himself from his +own substance. He abandons the living model, and with recipes +which he has gathered in the course of his experience, he +proceeds to construct a drama or novel, a picture or statue. Now, +the first period, says Taine, is that of genuine art; the second +is that of mannerism. Our author cites the case of Michael +Angelo, a man who was one of the most colossal embodiments of +physical and mental energy that the world has ever seen. In +Michael Angelo's case, the period of growth, of genuine art, may +be said to have lasted until after his sixtieth year. But look, +says Taine, at the works which he executed in his old age; +consider the Conversion of St. Paul, and the Last Judgment, +painted when he was nearly seventy. Even those who are not +connoisseurs can see that these frescos are painted by rule, that +the artist, having stocked his memory with a certain set of +forms, is making use of them to fill out his tableau; that he +wantonly multiplies queer attitudes and ingenious +foreshortenings; that the lively invention, the grand outburst of +feeling, the perfect truth, by which his earlier works are +distinguished, have disappeared; and that, if he is still +superior to all others, he is nevertheless inferior to himself. +The careers of Scott, of Goethe, and of Voltaire will furnish +parallel examples. In every school of art, too, the flourishing +period is followed by one of decline; and in every case the +decline is due to a failure to imitate the living models. In +painting, we have the exaggerated foreshorteners and +muscle-makers who copied Michael Angelo; the lovers of theatrical +decorations who succeeded Titian and Giorgione and the degenerate +boudoir-painters who followed Claucle and Poussin. In literature, +we have the versifiers, epigrammatists, and rhetors of the Latin +decadence; the sensual and declamatory dramatists who represent +the last stages of old English comedy; and the makers of sonnets +and madrigals, or conceited euphemists of the Gongora school, in +the decline of Italian and Spanish poetry. Briefly it may be +said, that the masters copy nature and the pupils copy the +masters. In this way are explained the constantly recurring +phenomena of decline in art, and thus, also, it is seen that art +is perfect in proportion as it successfully imitates nature. + +But we are not to conclude that absolute imitation is the sole +and entire object of art. Were this the case, the finest works +would be those which most minutely correspond to their external +prototypes. In sculpture, a mould taken from the living features +is that which gives the most faithful representation of the +model; but a well-moulded bust is far from being equal to a good +statue. Photography is in many respects more accurate than +painting; but no one would rank a photograph, however exquisitely +executed, with an original picture. And finally, if exact +imitation were the supreme object of art, the best tragedy, the +best comedy, and the best drama would be a stenographic report of +the proceedings in a court of justice, in a family gathering, in +a popular meeting, in the Rump Congress. Even the works of +artists are not rated in proportion to their minute exactness. +Neither in painting nor in any other art do we give the +precedence to that which deceives the eye simply. Every one +remembers how Zeuxis was said to have painted grapes so +faithfully that the birds came and pecked at them; and how, +Parrhasios, his rival, surpassed even this feat by painting a +curtain so natural in its appearance that Zeuxis asked him to +pull it aside and show the picture behind it. All this is not +art, but mere knack and trickery. Perhaps no painter was ever so +minute as Denner. It used to take him four years to make one +portrait. He would omit nothing,--neither the bluish lines made +by the veins under the skin, nor the little black points +scattered over the nose, nor the bright spots in the eye where +neighbouring objects are reflected; the head seems to start out +from the canvas, it is so like flesh and blood. Yet who cares for +Denner's portraits? And who would not give ten times as much for +one which Van Dyck or Tintoretto might have painted in a few +hours? So in the churches of Naples and Spain we find statues +coloured and draped, saints clothed in real coats, with their +skin yellow and bloodless, their hands bleeding, and their feet +bruised; and beside them Madonnas in royal habiliments, in gala +dresses of lustrous silk, adorned with diadems, precious +necklaces, bright ribbons, and elegant laces, with their cheeks +rosy, their eyes brilliant, their eyelashes sweeping. And by this +excess of literal imitation, there is awakened a feeling, not of +pleasure, but always of repugnance, often of disgust, and +sometimes of horror So in literature, the ancient Greek theatre, +and the best Spanish and English dramatists, alter on purpose the +natural current of human speech, and make their characters talk +under all the restraints of rhyme and rhythm. But we pronounce +this departure from literal truth a merit and not a defect. We +consider Goethe's second "Iphigenie," written in verse, far +preferable to the first one written in prose; nay, it is the +rhythm or metre itself which communicates to the work its +incomparable beauty. In a review of Longfellow's "Dante," +published last year, we argued this very point in one of its +special applications; the artist must copy his original, but he +must not copy it too literally. + +What then must he copy? He must copy, says Taine, the mutual +relations and interdependences of the parts of his model. And +more than this, he must render the essential characteristic of +the object--that characteristic upon which all the minor +qualities depend--as salient and conspicuous as possible. He must +put into the background the traits which conceal it, and bring +into the foreground the traits which manifest it. If he is +sculpturing a group like the Laocoon, he must strike upon the +supreme moment, that in which the whole tragedy reveals itself, +and he must pass over those insignificant details of position and +movement which serve only to distract our attention and weaken +our emotions by dividing them. If he is writing a drama, he must +not attempt to give us the complete biography of his character; +he must depict only those situations which stand in direct +subordination to the grand climax or denoument. As a final +result, therefore. Taine concludes that a work of art is a +concrete representation of the relations existing between the +parts of an object, with the intent to bring the essential or +dominating character thereof into prominence. + +We should overrun our limits if we were to follow out the +admirable discussion in which M. Taine extends this definition to +architecture and music. These closely allied arts are +distinguished from poetry, painting, and sculpture, by appealing +far less directly to the intelligence, and far more exclusively +to the emotions. Yet these arts likewise aim, by bringing into +prominence certain relations of symmetry in form as perceived by +the eye, or in aerial vibrations as perceived by the ear, to +excite in us the states of feeling with which these species of +symmetry are by subtle laws of association connected. They, too, +imitate, not literally, but under the guidance of a predominating +sentiment or emotion, relations which really exist among the +phenomena of nature. And here, too, we estimate excellence, not +in proportion to the direct, but to the indirect imitation. A +Gothic cathedral is not, as has been supposed, directly imitated +from the towering vegetation of Northern forests; but it may well +be the expression of the dim sentiment of an unseen, +all-pervading Power, generated by centuries of primeval life amid +such forests. So the sounds which in a symphony of Beethoven are +woven into a web of such amazing complexity may exist in +different combinations in nature; but when a musician steps out +of his way to imitate the crowing of cocks or the roar of the +tempest, we regard his achievement merely as a graceful conceit. +Art is, therefore, an imitation of nature; but it is an +intellectual and not a mechanical imitation; and the performances +of the camera and the music-box are not to be classed with those +of the violinist's bow or the sculptor's chisel. + +And lastly, in distinguishing art from science, Taine remarks, +that in disengaging from their complexity the, causes which are +at work in nature, and the fundamental laws according to which +they work, science describes them in abstract formulas conveyed +in technical language. But art reveals these operative causes and +these dominant laws, not in arid definitions, inaccessible to +most people, intelligible only to specially instructed men, but +in a concrete symbol, addressing itself not only to the +understanding, but still more to the sentiments of the ordinary +man. Art has, therefore, this peculiarity, that it is at once +elevated and popular, that it manifests that which is often most +recondite, and that it manifests it to all. + +Having determined what a work of art is, our author goes on to +study the social conditions under which works of art are +produced; and he concludes that the general character of a work +of art is determined by the state of intellect and morals in the +society in which it is executed. There is, in fact, a sort of +moral temperature which acts upon mental development much as +physical temperature acts upon organic development. The condition +of society does not produce the artist's talent; but it assists +or checks its efforts to display itself; it decides whether or +not it shall be successful And it exerts a "natural selection" +between different kinds of talents, stimulating some and starving +others. To make this perfectly clear, we will cite at some length +Taine's brilliant illustration. + +The case chosen for illustration is a very simple one,--that of a +state of society in which one of the predominant feelings is +melancholy. This is not an arbitrary supposition, for such a time +has occurred more than once in human history; in Asia, in the +sixth century before Christ, and especially in Europe, from the +fourth to the tenth centuries of our era. To produce such a state +of feeling, five or six generations of decadence, accompanied +with diminution of population, foreign invasions, famines, +pestilences, and increasing difficulty in procuring the +necessaries of life, are amply sufficient. It then happens that +men lose courage and hope, and consider life an evil. Now, +admitting that among the artists who live in such a time, there +are likely to be the same relative numbers of melancholy, joyous, +or indifferent temperaments as at other times, let us see how +they will be affected by reigning circumstances. + +Let us first remember, says Taine, that the evils which depress +the public will also depress the artist. His risks are no less +than those of less gifted people. He is liable to suffer from +plague or famine, to be ruined by unfair taxation or +conscription, or to see his children massacred and his wife led +into captivity by barbarians. And if these ills do not reach him +personally, he must at least behold those around him affected by +them. In this way, if he is joyous by temperament, he must +inevitably become less joyous; if he is melancholy, he must +become more melancholy. + +Secondly, having been reared among melancholy contemporaries, his +education will have exerted upon him a corresponding influence. +The prevailing religious doctrine, accommodated to the state of +affairs, will tell him that the earth is a place of exile, life +an evil, gayety a snare, and his most profitable occupation will +be to get ready to die. Philosophy, constructing its system of +morals in conformity to the existing phenomena of decadence, will +tell him that he had better never have been born. Daily +conversation will inform him of horrible events, of the +devastation of a province, the sack of a town by the Goths, the +oppression of the neighbouring peasants by the imperial +tax-collectors, or the civil war that has just burst out between +half a dozen pretenders to the throne. As he travels about, he +beholds signs of mourning and despair, crowds of beggars, people +dying of hunger, a broken bridge which no one is mending, an +abandoned suburb which is going to ruin, fields choked with +weeds, the blackened walls of burned houses. Such sights and +impressions, repeated from childhood to old age (and we must +remember that this has actually been the state of things in what +are now the fairest parts of the globe), cannot fail to deepen +whatever elements of melancholy there may be already in the +artist's disposition. + +The operation of all these causes will be enhanced by that very +peculiarity of the artist which constitutes his talent. For, +according to the definitions above given, that which makes him an +artist is his capacity for seizing upon the essential +characteristics and the salient traits of surrounding objects and +events. Other men see things in part fragmentarily; he catches +the spirit of the ensemble. And in this way he will very likely +exaggerate in his works the general average of contemporary +feeling. + +Lastly, our author reminds us that a man who writes or paints +does not remain alone before his easel or his writing-desk. He +goes out, looks about him, receives suggestions from friends, +from rivals, from books, and works of art whenever accessible, +and hears the criticisms of the public upon his own productions +and those of his contemporaries. In order to succeed, he must not +only satisfy to some extent the popular taste, but he must feel +that the public is in sympathy with him. If in this period of +social decadence and gloom he endeavours to represent gay, +brilliant, or triumphant ideas, he will find himself left to his +own resources; and, as Taine rightly says, the power of an +isolated man is always insignificant. His work will be likely to +be mediocre. If he attempts to write like Rabelais or paint like +Rubens, he will get neither assistance nor sympathy from a public +which prefers the pictures of Rembrandt, the melodies of Chopin, +and the poetry of Heine. + +Having thus explained his position by this extreme instance, +signified for the sake of clearness, Taine goes on to apply such +general considerations to four historic epochs, taken in all +their complexity. He discusses the aspect presented by art in +ancient Greece, in the feudal and Catholic Middle Ages, in the +centralized monarchies of the seventeenth century, and in the +scientific, industrial democracy in which we now live. Out of +these we shall select, as perhaps the simplest, the case of +ancient Greece, still following our author closely, though +necessarily omitting many interesting details. + +The ancient Greeks, observes Taine, understood life in a new and +original manner. Their energies were neither absorbed by a great +religious conception, as in the case of the Hindus and Egyptians, +nor by a vast social organization, as in the case of the +Assyrians and Persians, nor by a purely industrial and commercial +regime, as in the case of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. +Instead of a theocracy or a rigid system of castes, instead of a +monarchy with a hierarchy of civil officials, the men of this +race invented a peculiar institution, the City, each city giving +rise to others like itself, and from colony to colony reproducing +itself indefinitely. A single Greek city, for instance, Miletos, +produced three hundred other cities, colonizing with them the +entire coast of the Black Sea. Each city was substantially +self-ruling; and the idea of a coalescence of several cities into +a nation was one which the Greek mind rarely conceived, and never +was able to put into operation. + +In these cities, labour was for the most part carried on by +slaves. In Athens there were four or five for each citizen, and +in places like Korinth and Aigina the slave population is said to +have numbered four or five hundred thousand. Besides, the Greek +citizen had little need of personal service. He lived out of +doors, and, like most Southern people, was comparatively +abstemious in his habits. His dinners were slight, his clothing +was simple, his house was scantily furnished, being intended +chiefly for a den to sleep in. + +Serving neither king nor priest, the citizen was free and +sovereign in his own city. He elected his own magistrates, and +might himself serve as city-ruler, as juror, or as judge. +Representation was unknown. Legislation was carried on by all the +citizens assembled in mass. Therefore politics and war were the +sole or chief employments of the citizen. War, indeed, came in +for no slight share of his attention. For society was not so well +protected as in these modern days. Most of these Greek cities, +scattered over the coasts of the Aigeian, the Black Sea, and the +Mediterranean, were surrounded by tribes of barbarians, +Scythians, Gauls Spaniards, and Africans. The citizen must +therefore keep on his guard, like the Englishman of to-day in New +Zealand, or like the inhabitant of a Massachusetts town in tho +seventeenth century. Otherwise Gauls Samnites, or Bithynians, as +savage as North American Indians, would be sure to encamp upon +the blackened ruins of his town. Moreover, the Greek cities had +their quarrels with each other, and their laws of war were very +barbarous. A conquered city was liable to be razed to the ground, +its male inhabitants put to the sword, its women sold as slaves. +Under such circumstances, according to Taine's happy expression, +a citizen must be a politician and warrior, on pain of death. And +not only fear, but ambition also tended to make him so. For each +city strove to subject or to humiliate its neighbours, to acquire +tribute, or to exact homage from its rivals. Thus the citizen +passed his life in the public square, discussing alliances, +treaties, and constitutions, hearing speeches, or speaking +himself, and finally going aboard of his ship to fight his +neighbour Greeks, or to sail against Egypt or Persia. + +War (and politics as subsidiary to it) was then the chief pursuit +of life. But as there was no organized industry, so there were no +machines of warfare. All fighting was done hand to hand. +Therefore, the great thing in preparing for war was not to +transform the soldiers into precisely-acting automata, as in a +modern army, but to make each separate soldier as vigorous and +active as possible. The leading object of Greek education was to +make men physically perfect. In this respect, Sparta may be taken +as the typical Greek community, for nowhere else was physical +development so entirely made the great end of social life. In +these matters Sparta was always regarded by the other cities as +taking the lead,--as having attained the ideal after which all +alike were striving. Now Sparta, situated in the midst of a +numerous conquered population of Messenians and Helots, was +partly a great gymnasium and partly a perpetual camp. Her +citizens were always in training. The entire social constitution +of Sparta was shaped with a view to the breeding and bringing up +of a strong and beautiful race. Feeble or ill-formed infants were +put to death. The age at which citizens might marry was +prescribed by law; and the State paired off men and women as the +modern breeder pairs off horses, with a sole view to the +excellence of the off-spring. A wife was not a helpmate, but a +bearer of athletes. Women boxed, wrestled, and raced; a +circumstance referred to in the following passage of +Aristophanes, as rendered by Mr. Felton:-- + +LYSISTRATA. + Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women. + How shines thy beauty, O my sweetest friend! + How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame! + Why, thou couldst choke a bull. + + LAMPITO. + Yes, by the Twain; + For I do practice the gymnastic art, + And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels. + LYSISTRATA. + In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold. + + +The young men lived together, like soldiers in a camp. They ate +out-of-doors, at a public table. Their fare was as simple as that +of a modern university boat-crew before a race. They slept in the +open air, and spent their waking hours in wrestling, boxing, +running races, throwing quoits, and engaging in mock battles. +This was the way in which the Spartans lived; and though no other +city carried this discipline to such an extent, yet in all a very +large portion of the citizen's life was spent in making himself +hardy and robust. + +The ideal man, in the eyes of a Greek, was, therefore not the +contemplative or delicately susceptible thinker but the naked +athlete, with firm flesh and swelling muscles. Most of their +barbarian neighbours were ashamed to be seen undressed, but the +Greeks seem to have felt little embarrassment in appearing naked +in public. Their gymnastic habits entirely transformed their +sense of shame. Their Olympic and other public games were a +triumphant display of naked physical perfection. Young men of the +noblest families and from the farthest Greek colonies came to +them, and wrestled and ran, undraped, before countless multitudes +of admiring spectators. Note, too, as significant, that the Greek +era began with the Olympic games, and that time was reckoned by +the intervals between them; as well as the fact that the grandest +lyric poetry of antiquity was written in celebration of these +gymnastic contests. The victor in the foot-race gave his name to +the current Olympiad; and on reaching home, was received by his +fellow-citizens as if he had been a general returning from a +successful campaign. To be the most beautiful man in Greece was +in the eyes of a Greek the height of human felicity; and with the +Greeks, beauty necessarily included strength. So ardently did +this gifted people admire corporeal perfection that they actually +worshipped it. According to Herodotos, a young Sicilian was +deified on account of his beauty, and after his death altars were +raised to him. The vast intellectual power of Plato and Sokrates +did not prevent them from sharing this universal enthusiasm. +Poets like Sophokles, and statesmen like Alexander, thought it +not beneath their dignity to engage publicly in gymnastic sports. + +Their conceptions of divinity were framed in accordance with +these general habits. Though sometimes, as in the case of +Hephaistos, the exigencies of the particular myth required the +deity to be physically imperfect, yet ordinarily the Greek god +was simply an immortal man, complete in strength and beauty. The +deity was not invested with the human form as a mere symbol. They +could conceive no loftier way of representing him. The grandest +statue, expressing most adequately the calmness of absolutely +unfettered strength, might well, in their eyes, be a veritable +portrait of divinity. To a Greek, beauty of form was a +consecrated thing. More than once a culprit got off with his life +because it would have been thought sacrilegious to put an end to +such a symmetrical creature. And for a similar reason, the +Greeks, though perhaps not more humane than the Europeans of the +Middle Ages, rarely allowed the human body to be mutilated or +tortured. The condemned criminal must be marred as little as +possible; and he was, therefore, quietly poisoned, instead of +being hung, beheaded, or broken on the wheel. + +Is not the unapproachable excellence of Greek statuary--that art +never since equalled, and most likely, from the absence of the +needful social stimulus, destined never to be equalled--already +sufficiently explained? Consider, says our author, the nature of +the Greek sculptor's preparation. These men have observed the +human body naked and in movement, in the bath and the gymnasium, +in sacred dances and public games. They have noted those forms +and attitudes in which are revealed vigour, health, and activity. +And during three or four hundred years they have thus modified, +corrected and developed their notions of corporeal beauty. There +is, therefore, nothing surprising in the fact that Greek +sculpture finally arrived at the ideal model, the perfect type, +as it was, of the human body. Our highest notions of physical +beauty, down to the present day, have been bequeathed to us by +the Greeks. The earliest modern sculptors who abandoned the bony, +hideous, starveling figures of the monkish Middle Ages, learned +their first lessons in better things from Greek bas-reliefs. And +if, to-day, forgetting our half-developed bodies, inefficiently +nourished, because of our excessive brain-work, and with their +muscles weak and flabby from want of strenuous exercise, we wish +to contemplate the human form in its grandest perfection, we must +go to Hellenic art for our models. + +The Greeks were, in the highest sense of the word, an +intellectual race; but they never allowed the mind to tyrannize +over the body. Spiritual perfection, accompanied by corporeal +feebleness, was the invention of asceticism; and the Greeks were +never ascetics. Diogenes might scorn superfluous luxuries, but if +he ever rolled and tumbled his tub about as Rabelais says he did, +it is clear that the victory of spirit over body formed no part +of his theory of things. Such an idea would have been +incomprehensible to a Greek in Plato's time. Their consciences +were not over active. They were not burdened with a sense of +sinfulness. Their aspirations were decidedly finite; and they +believed in securing the maximum completeness of this terrestrial +life. Consequently they never set the physical below the +intellectual. To return to our author, they never, in their +statues, subordinated symmetry to expression, the body to the +head. They were interested not only in the prominence of the +brows, the width of the forehead, and the curvature of the lips, +but quite as much in the massiveness of the chest, the +compactness of the thighs, and the solidity of the arms and legs. +Not only the face, but the whole body, had for them its +physiognomy. They left picturesqueness to the painter, and +dramatic fervour to the poet; and keeping strictly before their +eyes the narrow but exalted problem of representing the beauty of +symmetry, they filled their sanctuaries and public places with +those grand motionless people of brass, gold, ivory, copper, and +marble, in whom humanity recognizes its highest artistic types. +Statuary was the central art of Greece. No other art was so +popular, or so completely expressed the national life. The number +of statues was enormous. In later days, when Rome had spoiled the +Greek world of its treasures, the Imperial City possessed a +population of statues almost equal in number to its population of +human beings. And at the present day, after all the destructive +accidents of so many intervening centuries, it is estimated that +more than sixty thousand statues have been obtained from Rome and +its suburbs alone. + +In citing this admirable exposition as a specimen of M. Taine's +method of dealing with his subject, we have refrained from +disturbing the pellucid current of thought by criticisms of our +own. We think the foregoing explanation correct enough, so far as +it goes, though it deals with the merest rudiments of the +subject, and really does nothing toward elucidating the deeper +mysteries of artistic production. For this there is needed a +profounder psychology than M. Taine's. But whether his theory of +art be adequate or not, there can be but one opinion as to the +brilliant eloquence with which it is set forth. + June, 1868. + + + +XIV. + +ATHENIAN AND AMERICAN LIFE. + +IN a very interesting essay on British and Foreign +Characteristics, published a few years ago, Mr. W. R. Greg quotes +the famous letter of the Turkish cadi to Mr. Layard, with the +comment that "it contains the germ and element of a wisdom to +which our busy and bustling existence is a stranger"; and he uses +it as a text for an instructive sermon on the "gospel of +leisure." He urges, with justice, that the too eager and restless +modern man, absorbed in problems of industrial development, may +learn a wholesome lesson from the contemplation of his Oriental +brother, who cares not to say, "Behold, this star spinneth round +that star, and this other star with a tail cometh and goeth in so +many years"; who aspires not after a "double stomach," nor hopes +to attain to Paradise by "seeking with his eyes." If any one may +be thought to stand in need of some such lesson, it is the +American of to-day. Just as far as the Turk carries his apathy to +excess, does the American carry to excess his restlessness. But +just because the incurious idleness of the Turk is excessive, so +as to be detrimental to completeness of living, it is unfit to +supply us with the hints we need concerning the causes, +character, and effects of our over-activity. A sermon of leisure, +if it is to be of practical use to us, must not be a sermon of +laziness. The Oriental state of mind is incompatible with +progressive improvement of any sort, physical, intellectual, or +moral. It is one of the phenomena attendant upon the arrival of a +community at a stationary condition before it has acquired a +complex civilization. And it appears serviceable rather as a +background upon which to exhibit in relief our modern turmoil, +than by reason of any lesson which it is itself likely to convey. +Let us in preference study one of the most eminently progressive +of all the communities that have existed. Let us take an example +quite different from any that can be drawn from Oriental life, +but almost equally contrasted with any that can be found among +ourselves; and let us, with the aid of it, examine the respective +effects of leisure and of hurry upon the culture of the +community. + +What do modern critics mean by the "healthy completeness" of +ancient life, which they are so fond of contrasting with the +"heated," "discontented," or imperfect and one-sided existence of +modern communities? Is this a mere set of phrases, suited to some +imaginary want of the literary critic, but answering to nothing +real? Are they to be summarily disposed of as resting upon some +tacit assumption of that old-grannyism which delights in +asseverating that times are not what they used to be? Is the +contrast an imaginary one, due to the softened, cheerful light +with which we are wont to contemplate classic antiquity through +the charmed medium of its incomparable literature? Or is it a +real contrast, worthy of the attention and analysis of the +historical inquirer? The answer to these queries will lead us far +into the discussion of the subject which we have propounded, and +we shall best reach it by considering some aspects of the social +condition of ancient Greece. The lessons to be learned from that +wonderful country are not yet exhausted Each time that we return +to that richest of historic mines, and delve faithfully and +carefully, we shall be sure to dig up some jewel worth carrying +away. + +And in considering ancient Greece, we shall do well to confine +our attention, for the sake of definiteness of conception, to a +single city. Comparatively homogeneous as Greek civilization was, +there was nevertheless a great deal of difference between the +social circumstances of sundry of its civic communities. What was +true of Athens was frequently not true of Sparta or Thebes, and +general assertions about ancient Greece are often likely to be +collect only in a loose and general way. In speaking, therefore, +of Greece, I must be understood in the main as referring to +Athens, the eye and light of Greece, the nucleus and centre of +Hellenic culture. + +Let us note first that Athens was a large city surrounded by +pleasant village-suburbs,--the demes of Attika,--very much as +Boston is closely girdled by rural places like Brookline, Jamaica +Plain, and the rest, village after village rather thickly +covering a circuit of from ten to twenty miles' radius. The +population of Athens with its suburbs may perhaps have exceeded +half a million; but the number of adult freemen bearing arms did +not exceed twenty-five thousand.[67] For every one of these +freemen there were four or five slaves; not ignorant, degraded +labourers, belonging to an inferior type of humanity, and bearing +the marks of a lower caste in their very personal formation and +in the colour of their skin, like our lately-enslaved negroes; +but intelligent, skilled labourers, belonging usually to the +Hellenic, and at any rate to the Aryan race, as fair and perhaps +as handsome as their masters, and not subjected to especial +ignominy or hardship. These slaves, of whom there were at least +one hundred thousand adult males, relieved the twenty-five +thousand freemen of nearly all the severe drudgery of life; and +the result was an amount of leisure perhaps never since known on +an equal scale in history. + +[67] See Herod. V. 97; Aristoph. Ekkl. 432; Thukyd. II. 13; +Plutarch, Perikl. 37. + + +The relations of master and slave in ancient Athens constituted, +of course, a very different phenomenon from anything which the +history of our own Southern States has to offer us. Our Southern +slaveholders lived in an age of industrial development; they were +money-makers: they had their full share of business in managing +the operations for which their labourers supplied the crude +physical force. It was not so in Athens. The era of civilization +founded upon organized industry had not begun; money-making had +not come to be, with the Greeks, the one all-important end of +life; and mere subsistence, which is now difficult, was then +easy. The Athenian lived in a mild, genial, healthy climate, in a +country which has always been notable for the activity and +longevity of its inhabitants. He was frugal in his habits,--a +wine-drinker and an eater of meat, but rarely addicted to +gluttony or intemperance. His dress was inexpensive, for the +Greek climate made but little protection necessary, and the +gymnastic habits of the Greeks led them to esteem more highly the +beauty of the body than that of its covering. His house was +simple, not being intended for social purposes, while of what we +should call home-life the Greeks had none. The house was a +shelter at night, a place where the frugal meal might be taken, a +place where the wife might stay, and look after the household +slaves or attend to the children. And this brings us to another +notable feature of Athenian life. The wife having no position in +society, being nothing, indeed, but a sort of household utensil, +how greatly was life simplified! What a door for expenditure was +there, as yet securely closed, and which no one had thought of +opening! No milliner's or dressmaker's bills, no evening parties, +no Protean fashions, no elegant furniture, no imperious necessity +for Kleanthes to outshine Kleon, no coaches, no Chateau Margaux, +no journeys to Arkadia in the summer! In such a state of society, +as one may easily see, the labour of one man would support half a +dozen. It cost the Athenian but a few cents daily to live, and +even these few cents might be earned by his slaves. We need not, +therefore, be surprised to learn that in ancient Athens there +were no paupers or beggars. There might be poverty, but indigence +was unknown; and because of the absence of fashion, style, and +display, even poverty entailed no uncomfortable loss of social +position. The Athenians valued wealth highly, no doubt, as a +source of contributions to public festivals and to the +necessities of the state. But as far as the circumstances of +daily life go, the difference between the rich man and the poor +man was immeasurably less than in any modern community, and the +incentives to the acquirement of wealth were, as a consequence, +comparatively slight. + +I do not mean to say that the Athenians did not engage in +business. Their city was a commercial city, and their ships +covered the Mediterranean. They had agencies and factories at +Marseilles, on the remote coasts of Spain, and along the shores +of the Black Sea. They were in many respects the greatest +commercial people of antiquity, and doubtless knew, as well as +other people, the keen delights of acquisition. But my point is, +that with them the acquiring of property had not become the chief +or only end of life. Production was carried on almost entirely by +slave-labour; interchange of commodities was the business of the +masters, and commerce was in those days simple. Banks, insurance +companies, brokers' boards,--all these complex instruments of +Mammon were as yet unthought of. There was no Wall Street in +ancient Athens; there were no great failures, no commercial +panics, no over-issues of stock. Commerce, in short, was a quite +subordinate matter, and the art of money-making was in its +infancy. + +The twenty-five thousand Athenian freemen thus enjoyed, on the +whole, more undisturbed leisure, more freedom from petty +harassing cares, than any other community known to history. +Nowhere else can we find, on careful study, so little of the +hurry and anxiety which destroys the even tenour of modern +life,--nowhere else so few of the circumstances which tend to +make men insane, inebriate, or phthisical, or prematurely old. + +This being granted, it remains only to state and illustrate the +obverse fact. It is not only true that Athens has produced and +educated a relatively larger number of men of the highest calibre +and most complete culture than any other community of like +dimensions which has ever existed; but it is also true that there +has been no other community, of which the members have, as a +general rule, been so highly cultivated, or have attained +individually such completeness of life. In proof of the first +assertion it will be enough to mention such names as those of +Solon, Themistokles, Perikles, and Demosthenes; Isokrates and +Lysias; Aristophanes and Menander; Aischylos, Sophokles, and +Euripides; Pheidias and Praxiteles; Sokrates and Plato; +Thukydides and Xenophon: remembering that these men, +distinguished for such different kinds of achievement, but like +each other in consummateness of culture, were all produced within +one town in the course of three centuries. At no other time and +place in human history has there been even an approach to such a +fact as this. + +My other assertion, about the general culture of the community in +which such men were reared, will need a more detailed +explanation. When I say that the Athenian public was, on the +whole, the most highly cultivated public that has ever existed, I +refer of course to something more than what is now known as +literary culture. Of this there was relatively little in the days +of Athenian greatness; and this was because there was not yet +need for it or room for it. Greece did not until a later time +begin to produce scholars and savants; for the function of +scholarship does not begin until there has been an accumulation +of bygone literature to be interpreted for the benefit of those +who live in a later time. Grecian greatness was already becoming +a thing of the past, when scholarship and literary culture of the +modern type began at Rome and Alexandria. The culture of the +ancient Athenians was largely derived from direct intercourse +with facts of nature and of life, and with the thoughts of rich +and powerful minds orally expressed. The value of this must not +be underrated. We moderns are accustomed to get so large a +portion of our knowledge and of our theories of life out of +books, our taste and judgment are so largely educated by +intercourse with the printed page, that we are apt to confound +culture with book-knowledge; we are apt to forget the innumerable +ways in which the highest intellectual faculties may be +disciplined without the aid of literature. We must study +antiquity to realize how thoroughly this could be done. But even +in our day, how much more fruitful is the direct influence of an +original mind over us, in the rare cases when it can be enjoyed, +than any indirect influence which the same mind may exert through +the medium of printed books! What fellow of a college, placed +amid the most abundant and efficient implements of study, ever +gets such a stimulus to the highest and richest intellectual life +as was afforded to Eckermann by his daily intercourse with +Goethe? The breadth of culture and the perfection of training +exhibited by John Stuart Mill need not surprise us when we +recollect that his earlier days were spent in the society of +James Mill and Jeremy Bentham. And the remarkable extent of view, +the command of facts, and the astonishing productiveness of such +modern Frenchmen as Sainte-Beuve and Littre become explicable +when we reflect upon the circumstance that so many able and +brilliant men are collected in one city, where their minds may +continually and directly react upon each other. It is from the +lack of such personal stimulus that it is difficult or indeed +wellnigh impossible, even for those whose resources are such as +to give them an extensive command of books, to keep up to the +highest level of contemporary culture while living in a village +or provincial town. And it is mainly because of the personal +stimulus which it affords to its students, that a great +university, as a seat of culture, is immeasurably superior to a +small one. + +Nevertheless, the small community in any age possesses one signal +advantage over the large one, in its greater simplicity of life +and its consequent relative leisure. It was the prerogative of +ancient Athens that it united the advantages of the large to +those of the small community. In relative simplicity of life it +was not unlike the modern village, while at the same time it was +the metropolis where the foremost minds of the time were enabled +to react directly upon one another. In yet another respect these +opposite advantages were combined. The twenty-five thousand free +inhabitants might perhaps all know something of each other. In +this respect Athens was doubtless much like a New England country +town, with the all-important difference that the sordid tone due +to continual struggle for money was absent. It was like the small +town in the chance which it afforded for publicity and community +of pursuits among its inhabitants. Continuous and unrestrained +social intercourse was accordingly a distinctive feature of +Athenian life. And, as already hinted, this intercourse did not +consist in evening flirtations, with the eating of indigestible +food at unseasonable hours, and the dancing of "the German." It +was carried on out-of-doors in the brightest sunlight; it brooked +no effeminacy; its amusements were athletic games, or dramatic +entertainments, such as have hardly since been equalled. Its +arena was a town whose streets were filled with statues and +adorned with buildings, merely to behold which was in itself an +education. The participators in it were not men with minds so +dwarfed by exclusive devotion to special pursuits that after +"talking shop" they could find nothing else save wine and cookery +to converse about. They were men with minds fresh and open for +the discussion of topics which are not for a day only. + +A man like Sokrates, living in such a community, did not need to +write down his wisdom. He had no such vast public as the modern +philosopher has to reach. He could hail any one he happened to +pass in the street, begin an argument with him forthwith, and set +a whole crowd thinking and inquiring about subjects the mere +contemplation of which would raise them for the moment above +matters of transient concern. For more than half a century any +citizen might have gratis the benefit of oral instruction from +such a man as he. And I sometimes think, by the way, +that--curtailed as it is to literary proportions in the dialogues +of Plato, bereft of all that personal potency which it had when +it flowed, instinct with earnestness, from the lips of the +teacher--even to this day the wit of man has perhaps devised no +better general gymnastics for the understanding than the Sokratic +dialectic. I am far from saying that all Athens listened to +Sokrates or understood him: had it been so, the caricature of +Aristophanes would have been pointless, and the sublime yet +mournful trilogy of dialogues which pourtray the closing scenes +of the greatest life of antiquity would never have been written. +But the mere fact that such a man lived and taught in the way +that he did goes far in proof of the deep culture of the Athenian +public. Further confirmation is to be found in the fact that such +tragedies as the Antigone, the Oidipous, and the Prometheus were +written to suit the popular taste of the time; not to be read by +literary people, or to be performed before select audiences such +as in our day listen to Ristori or Janauschek, but to hold +spell-bound that vast concourse of all kinds of people which +assembled at the Dionysiac festivals. + +Still further proof is furnished by the exquisite literary +perfection of Greek writings. One of the common arguments in +favour of the study of Greek at the present day is based upon the +opinion that in the best works extant in that language the art of +literary expression has reached wellnigh absolute perfection. I +fully concur in this opinion, so far as to doubt if even the +greatest modern writers, even a Pascal or a Voltaire, can fairly +sustain a comparison with such Athenians as Plato or Lysias. This +excellence of the ancient books is in part immediately due to the +fact that they were not written in a hurry, or amid the anxieties +of an over-busy existence; but it is in greater part due to the +indirect consequences of a leisurely life. These books were +written for a public which knew well how to appreciate the finer +beauties of expression; and, what is still more to the point, +their authors lived in a community where an elegant style was +habitual. Before a matchless style can be written, there must be +a good style "in the air," as the French say. Probably the most +finished talking and writing of modern times has been done in and +about the French court in the seventeenth century; and it is +accordingly there that we find men like Pascal and Bossuet +writing a prose which for precision, purity, and dignity has +never since been surpassed. It is thus that the unapproachable +literary excellence of ancient Greek books speaks for the genuine +culture of the people who were expected to read them, or to hear +them read. For one of the surest indices of true culture, whether +professedly literary or not, is the power to express one's self +in precise, rhythmical, and dignified language. We hardly need a +better evidence than this of the superiority of the ancient +community in the general elevation of its tastes and perceptions. +Recollecting how Herodotos read his history at the Olympic games, +let us try to imagine even so picturesque a writer as Mr. Parkman +reading a few chapters of his "Jesuits in North America" before +the spectators assembled at the Jerome Park races, and we shall +the better realize how deep-seated was Hellenic culture. + +As yet, however, I have referred to but one side of Athenian +life. Though "seekers after wisdom," the cultivated people of +Athens did not spend all their valuable leisure in dialectics or +in connoisseurship. They were not a set of dilettanti or dreamy +philosophers, and they were far from subordinating the material +side of life to the intellectual. Also, though they dealt not in +money-making after the eager fashion of modern men, they had +still concerns of immediate practical interest with which to busy +themselves. Each one of these twenty-five thousand free Athenians +was not only a free voter, but an office-holder, a legislator, a +judge. They did not control the government through a +representative body, but they were themselves the government. +They were, one and all, in turn liable to be called upon to make +laws, and to execute them after they were made, as well as to +administer justice in civil and criminal suits. The affairs and +interests, not only of their own city, but of a score or two of +scattered dependencies, were more or less closely to be looked +after by them. It lay with them to declare war, to carry it on +after declaring it, and to pay the expenses of it. Actually and +not by deputy they administered the government of their own city, +both in its local and in its imperial relations. All this implies +a more thorough, more constant, and more vital political training +than that which is implied by the modern duties of casting a +ballot and serving on a jury. The life of the Athenian was +emphatically a political life. From early manhood onward, it was +part of his duty to hear legal questions argued by powerful +advocates, and to utter a decision upon law and fact; or to mix +in debate upon questions of public policy, arguing, listening, +and pondering. It is customary to compare the political talent of +the Greeks unfavourably with that displayed by the Romans, and I +have no wish to dispute this estimate. But on a careful study it +will appear that the Athenians, at least, in a higher degree than +any other community of ancient times, exhibited parliamentary +tact, or the ability to sit still while both sides of a question +are getting discussed,--that sort of political talent for which +the English races are distinguished, and to the lack of which so +many of the political failures of the French are egregiously due. +One would suppose that a judicature of the whole town would be +likely to execute a sorry parody of justice; yet justice was by +no means ill-administered at Athens. Even the most unfortunate +and disgraceful scenes,--as where the proposed massacre of the +Mytilenaians was discussed, and where summary retribution was +dealt out to the generals who had neglected their duty at +Arginusai,--even these scenes furnish, when thoroughly examined, +as by Mr. Grote, only the more convincing proof that the Athenian +was usually swayed by sound reason and good sense to an +extraordinary degree. All great points in fact, were settled +rather by sober appeals to reason than by intrigue or lobbying; +and one cannot help thinking that an Athenian of the time of +Perikles would have regarded with pitying contempt the trick of +the "previous question." And this explains the undoubted +pre-eminence of Athenian oratory. This accounts for the fact that +we find in the forensic annals of a single city, and within the +compass of a single century, such names as Lysias, Isokrates, +Andokides, Hypereides, Aischines, and Demosthenes. The art of +oratory, like the art of sculpture, shone forth more brilliantly +then than ever since, because then the conditions favouring its +development were more perfectly combined than they have since +been. Now, a condition of society in which the multitude can +always be made to stand quietly and listen to a logical discourse +is a condition of high culture. Readers of Xenophon's Anabasis +will remember the frequency of the speeches in that charming +book. Whenever some terrible emergency arose, or some alarming +quarrel or disheartening panic occurred, in the course of the +retreat of the Ten Thousand, an oration from one of the +commanders--not a demagogue's appeal to the lower passions, but a +calm exposition of circumstances addressed to the sober +judgment--usually sufficed to set all things in order. To my mind +this is one of the most impressive historical lessons conveyed in +Xenophon's book. And this peculiar kind of self-control, +indicative of intellectual sobriety and high moral training, +which was more or less characteristic of all Greeks, was +especially characteristic of the Athenians. + +These illustrations will, I hope, suffice to show that there is +nothing extravagant in the high estimate which I have made of +Athenian culture. I have barely indicated the causes of this +singular perfection of individual training in the social +circumstances amid which the Athenians lived. I have alleged it +as an instance of what may be accomplished by a well-directed +leisure and in the absence or very scanty development of such a +complex industrial life as that which surrounds us to-day. But I +have not yet quite done with the Athenians. Before leaving this +part of the subject, I must mention one further circumstance +which tends to make ancient life appear in our eyes more sunny +and healthy and less distressed, than the life of modern times. +And in this instance, too, though we are not dealing with any +immediate or remote effects of leisureliness, we still have to +note the peculiar advantage gained by the absence of a great +complexity of interests in the ancient community. + +With respect to religion, the Athenians were peculiarly situated. +They had for the most part outgrown the primitive terrorism of +fetishistic belief. Save in cases of public distress, as in the +mutilation of the Hermai, or in the refusal of Nikias to retreat +from Syracuse because of an eclipse of the moon, they were no +longer, like savages, afraid of the dark. Their keen aesthetic +sense had prevailed to turn the horrors of a primeval +nature-worship into beauties. Their springs and groves were +peopled by their fancy with naiads and dryads, not with trolls +and grotesque goblins. Their feelings toward the unseen powers at +work about them were in the main pleasant; as witness the little +story about Pheidippides meeting the god Pan as he was making +with hot haste toward Sparta to announce the arrival of the +Persians. Now, while this original source of mental discomfort, +which afflicts the uncivilized man, had ceased materially to +affect the Athenians, they on the other hand lived at a time when +the vague sense of sin and self-reproof which was characteristic +of the early ages of Christianity, had not yet invaded society. +The vast complication of life brought about by the extension of +the Roman Empire led to a great development of human sympathies, +unknown in earlier times, and called forth unquiet yearnings, +desire for amelioration, a sense of short-coming, and a morbid +self-consciousness. It is accordingly under Roman sway that we +first come across characters approximating to the modern type, +like Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. It is then +that we find the idea of social progress first clearly expressed, +that we discover some glimmerings of a conscious philanthropy, +and that we detect the earliest symptoms of that unhealthy +tendency to subordinate too entirely the physical to the moral +life, which reached its culmination in the Middle Ages. In the +palmy days of the Athenians it was different. When we hint that +they were not consciously philanthropists, we do not mean that +they were not humane; when we accredit them with no idea of +progress, we do not forget how much they did to render both the +idea and the reality possible; when we say that they had not a +distressing sense of spiritual unworthiness, we do not mean that +they had no conscience. We mean that their moral and religious +life sat easily on them, like their own graceful drapery,--did +not gall and worry them, like the hair-cloth garment of the monk. +They were free from that dark conception of a devil which lent +terror to life in the Middle Ages; and the morbid +self-consciousness which led mediaeval women to immure themselves +in convents would have been to an Athenian quite inexplicable. +They had, in short, an open and childlike conception of religion; +and, as such, it was a sunny conception. Any one who will take +the trouble to compare an idyl of Theokritos with a modern +pastoral, or the poem of Kleanthes with a modern hymn, or the +Aphrodite of Melos with a modern Madonna, will realize most +effectually what I mean. + +And, finally, the religion of the Athenians was in the main +symbolized in a fluctuating mythology, and had never been +hardened into dogmas. The Athenian was subject to no priest, nor +was he obliged to pin his faith to any formulated creed. His +hospitable polytheism left little room for theological +persecution, and none for any heresy short of virtual atheism. +The feverish doubts which rack the modern mind left him +undisturbed. Though he might sink to any depth of scepticism in +philosophy, yet the eternal welfare of his soul was not supposed +to hang upon the issue of his doubts. Accordingly Athenian +society was not only characterized in the main by freedom of +opinion, in spite of the exceptional cases of Anaxagoras and +Sokrates; but there was also none of that Gothic gloom with which +the deep-seated Christian sense of infinite responsibility for +opinion has saddened modern religious life. + +In these reflections I have wandered a little way from my +principal theme, in order more fully to show why the old Greek +life impresses us as so cheerful. Returning now to the keynote +with which we started, let us state succinctly the net result of +what has been said about the Athenians. As a people we have seen +that they enjoyed an unparalleled amount of leisure, living +through life with but little turmoil and clatter. Their life was +more spontaneous and unrestrained, less rigorously marked out by +uncontrollable circumstances, than the life of moderns. They did +not run so much in grooves. And along with this we have seen +reason to believe that they were the most profoundly cultivated +of all peoples; that a larger proportion of men lived complete, +well-rounded, harmonious lives in ancient Athens than in any +other known community. Keen, nimble-minded, and self-possessed; +audacious speculators, but temperate and averse to extravagance; +emotionally healthy, and endowed with an unequalled sense of +beauty and propriety; how admirable and wonderful they seem when +looked at across the gulf of ages intervening,--and what a +priceless possession to humanity, of what noble augury for the +distant future, is the fact that such a society has once existed! + +The lesson to be drawn from the study of this antique life will +impress itself more deeply upon us after we have briefly +contemplated the striking contrast to it which is afforded by the +phase of civilization amid which we live to-day. Ever since Greek +civilization was merged in Roman imperialism, there has been a +slowly growing tendency toward complexity of social life,--toward +the widening of sympathies, the multiplying of interests, the +increase of the number of things to be done. Through the later +Middle Ages, after Roman civilization had absorbed and +disciplined the incoming barbarism which had threatened to +destroy it, there was a steadily increasing complication of +society, a multiplication of the wants of life, and a consequent +enhancement of the difficulty of self-maintenance. The ultimate +causes of this phenomenon lie so far beneath the surface that +they could be satisfactorily discussed only in a technical essay +on the evolution of society. It will be enough for us here to +observe that the great geographical discoveries of the sixteenth +century and the somewhat later achievements of physical science +have, during the past two hundred years, aided powerfully in +determining the entrance of the Western world upon an industrial +epoch,--an epoch which has for its final object the complete +subjection of the powers of nature to purposes of individual +comfort and happiness. We have now to trace some of the effects +of this lately-begun industrial development upon social life and +individual culture. And as we studied the leisureliness of +antiquity where its effects were most conspicuous, in the city of +Athens, we shall now do well to study the opposite +characteristics of modern society where they are most +conspicuously exemplified, in our own country. The attributes of +American life which it will be necessary to signalize will be +seen to be only the attributes of modern life in their most +exaggerated phase. + +To begin with, in studying the United States, we are no longer +dealing with a single city, or with small groups of cities. The +city as a political unit, in the antique sense, has never existed +among us, and indeed can hardly be said now to exist anywhere. +The modern city is hardly more than a great emporium of trade, or +a place where large numbers of people find it convenient to live +huddled together; not a sacred fatherland to which its +inhabitants owe their highest allegiance, and by the requirements +of which their political activity is limited. What strikes us +here is that our modern life is diffused or spread out, not +concentrated like the ancient civic life. If the Athenian had +been the member of an integral community, comprising all +peninsular Greece and the mainland of Asia Minor, he could not +have taken life so easily as he did. + +Now our country is not only a very large one, but compared to its +vast territorial extent it contains a very small population. If +we go on increasing at the present rate, so that a century hence +we number four or five hundred millions, our country will be +hardly more crowded than China is to-day. Or if our whole +population were now to be brought east of Niagara Falls, and +confined on the south by the Potomac, we should still have as +much elbow-room as they have in France. Political economists can +show the effects of this high ratio of land to inhabitants, in +increasing wages, raising the interest of money, and stimulating +production. We are thus living amid circumstances which are +goading the industrial activity characteristic of the last two +centuries, and notably of the English race, into an almost +feverish energy. The vast extent of our unwrought territory is +constantly draining fresh life from our older districts, to aid +in the establishment of new frontier communities of a somewhat +lower or less highly organized type. And these younger +communities, daily springing up, are constantly striving to take +on the higher structure,--to become as highly civilized and to +enjoy as many of the prerogatives of civilization as the rest. +All this calls forth an enormous quantity of activity, and causes +American life to assume the aspect of a life-and-death struggle +for mastery over the material forces of that part of the earth's +surface upon which it thrives. + +It is thus that we are traversing what may properly be called the +BARBAROUS epoch of our history,--the epoch at which the +predominant intellectual activity is employed in achievements +which are mainly of a material character. Military barbarism, or +the inability of communities to live together without frequent +warfare, has been nearly outgrown by the whole Western world. +Private wars, long since made everywhere illegal, have nearly +ceased; and public wars, once continual, have become infrequent. +But industrial barbarism, by which I mean the inability of a +community to direct a portion of its time to purposes of +spiritual life, after providing for its physical +maintenance,--this kind of barbarism the modern world has by no +means outgrown. To-day, the great work of life is to live; while +the amount of labour consumed in living has throughout the +present century been rapidly increasing. Nearly the whole of this +American community toils from youth to old age in merely +procuring the means for satisfying the transient wants of life. +Our time and energies, our spirit and buoyancy, are quite used up +in what is called "getting on." + +Another point of difference between the structure of American and +of Athenian society must not be left out of the account. The time +has gone by in which the energies of a hundred thousand men and +women could be employed in ministering to the individual +perfection of twenty-five thousand. Slavery, in the antique +sense,--an absolute command of brain as well as of muscle, a +slave-system of skilled labour,--we have never had. In our day it +is for each man to earn his own bread; so that the struggle for +existence has become universal. The work of one class does not +furnish leisure for another class. The exceptional circumstances +which freed the Athenian from industrial barbarism, and enabled +him to become the great teacher and model of culture for the +human race, have disappeared forever. + +Then the general standard of comfortable living, as already +hinted, has been greatly raised, and is still rising. What would +have satisfied the ancient would seem to us like penury. We have +a domestic life of which the Greek knew nothing. We live during a +large part of the year in the house. Our social life goes on +under the roof. Our houses are not mere places for eating and +sleeping, like the houses of the ancients. It therefore costs us +a large amount of toil to get what is called shelter for our +heads. The sum which a young married man, in "good society," has +to pay for his house and the furniture contained in it, would +have enabled an Athenian to live in princely leisure from youth +to old age. The sum which he has to pay out each year, to meet +the complicated expense of living in such a house, would have +more than sufficed to bring up an Athenian family. If worthy +Strepsiades could have got an Asmodean glimpse of Fifth Avenue, +or even of some unpretending street in Cambridge, he might have +gone back to his aristocratic wife a sadder but a more contented +man. + +Wealth--or at least what would until lately have been called +wealth--has become essential to comfort; while the opportunities +for acquiring it have in recent times been immensely multiplied. +To get money is, therefore, the chief end of life in our time and +country. "Success in life" has become synonymous with "becoming +wealthy." A man who is successful in what he undertakes is a man +who makes his employment pay him in money. Our normal type of +character is that of the shrewd, circumspect business man; as in +the Middle Ages it was that of the hardy warrior. And as in those +days when fighting was a constant necessity, and when the only +honourable way for a gentleman of high rank to make money was by +freebooting, fighting came to be regarded as an end desirable in +itself; so in these days the mere effort to accumulate has become +a source of enjoyment rather than a means to it. The same truth +is to be witnessed in aberrant types of character. The infatuated +speculator and the close-fisted millionaire are our substitutes +for the mediaeval berserkir,--the man who loved the pell-mell of +a contest so well that he would make war on his neighbour, just +to keep his hand in. In like manner, while such crimes as murder +and violent robbery have diminished in frequency during the past +century, on the other hand such crimes as embezzlement, gambling +in stocks, adulteration of goods, and using of false weights and +measures, have probably increased. If Dick Turpin were now to be +brought back to life, he would find the New York Custom-House a +more congenial and profitable working-place than the king's +highway. + +The result of this universal quest for money is that we are +always in a hurry. Our lives pass by in a whirl. It is all labour +and no fruition. We work till we are weary; we carry our work +home with us; it haunts our evenings, and disturbs our sleep as +well as our digestion. Our minds are so burdened with it that our +conversation, when serious, can dwell upon little else. If we +step into a railway-car, or the smoking-room of a hotel, or any +other place where a dozen or two of men are gathered together, we +shall hear them talking of stocks, of investments, of commercial +paper, as if there were really nothing in this universe worth +thinking of, save only the interchange of dollars and +commodities. So constant and unremitted is our forced +application, that our minds are dwarfed for everything except the +prosecution of the one universal pursuit. + +Are we now prepared for the completing of the contrast? Must we +say that, as Athens was the most leisurely and the United States +is the most hurried community known in history, so the Americans +are, as a consequence of their hurry, lacking in thoroughness of +culture? Or, since it is difficult to bring our modern culture +directly into contrast with that of an ancient community, let me +state the case after a different but equivalent fashion. Since +the United States present only an exaggerated type of the modern +industrial community, since the turmoil of incessant +money-getting, which affects all modern communities in large +measure, affects us most seriously of all, shall it be said that +we are, on the whole, less highly cultivated than our +contemporaries in Western Europe? To a certain extent we must +confess that this is the case. In the higher culture--in the +culture of the whole man, according to the antique idea--we are +undoubtedly behind all other nations with which it would be fair +to compare ourselves. It will not do to decide a question like +this merely by counting literary celebrities, although even thus +we should by no means get a verdict in our favour. Since the +beginning of this century, England has produced as many great +writers and thinkers as France or Germany; yet the general status +of culture in England is said--perhaps with truth--to be lower +than it is in these countries. It is said that the average +Englishman is less ready than the average German or Frenchman to +sympathize with ideas which have no obvious market-value. Yet in +England there is an amount of high culture among those not +professionally scholars, which it would be vain to seek among +ourselves. The purposes of my argument, however, require that the +comparison should be made between our own country and Western +Europe in general. Compare, then, our best magazines--not solely +with regard to their intrinsic excellence, but also with regard +to the way in which they are sustained--with the Revue des Deux +Mondes or the Journal des Debats. Or compare our leading +politicians with men like Gladstone, Disraeli, or Sir G. C. +Lewis; or even with such men as Brougham or Thiers. Or compare +the slovenly style of our newspaper articles, I will not say with +the exquisite prose of the lamented Prevost-Paradol, but with the +ordinary prose of the French or English newspaper. But a far +better illustration--for it goes down to the root of things--is +suggested by the recent work of Matthew Arnold on the schools of +the continent of Europe. The country of our time where the +general culture is unquestionably the highest is Prussia. Now, in +Prussia, they are able to have a Minister of Education, who is a +member of the Cabinet. They are sure that this minister will not +appoint or remove even an assistant professor for political +reasons. Only once, as Arnold tells us, has such a thing been +done; and then public opinion expressed itself in such an +emphatic tone of disapproval that the displaced teacher was +instantly appointed to another position. Nothing of this sort, +says Arnold, could have occurred in England; but still less could +it occur in America. Had we such an educational system, there +would presently be an "Education Ring" to control it. Nor can +this difference be ascribed to the less eager political activity +of Germany. The Prussian state of things would have been possible +in ancient Athens, where political life was as absorbing and +nearly as turbulent as in the United States. The difference is +due to our lack of faith in culture, a lack of faith in that of +which we have not had adequate experience. + +We lack culture because we live in a hurry, and because our +attention is given up to pursuits which call into activity and +develop but one side of us. On the one hand contemplate Sokrates +quietly entertaining a crowd in the Athenian market-place, and on +the other hand consider Broadway with its eternal clatter, and +its throngs of hurrying people elbowing and treading on each +other's heels, and you will get a lively notion of the difference +between the extreme phases of ancient and modern life. By the +time we have thus rushed through our day, we have no strength +left to devote to things spiritual. To-day finds us no nearer +fruition than yesterday. And if perhaps the time at last arrives +when fruition is practicable, our minds have run so long in the +ruts that they cannot be twisted out. + +As it is impossible for any person living in a given state of +society to keep himself exempt from its influences, detrimental +as well as beneficial, we find that even those who strive to make +a literary occupation subservient to purposes of culture are not, +save in rare cases, spared by the general turmoil. Those who have +at once the ability, the taste, and the wealth needful for +training themselves to the accomplishment of some many-sided and +permanent work are of course very few. Nor have our universities +yet provided themselves with the means for securing to literary +talent the leisure which is essential to complete mental +development, or to a high order of productiveness. Although in +most industrial enterprises we know how to work together so +successfully, in literature we have as yet no co-operation. We +have not only no Paris, but we have not even a Tubingen, a +Leipsic, or a Jena, or anything corresponding to the fellowships +in the English universities. Our literary workers have no choice +but to fall into the ranks, and make merchandise of their +half-formed ideas. They must work without co-operation, they must +write in a hurry, and they must write for those who have no +leisure for aught but hasty and superficial reading. + +Bursting boilers and custom-house frauds may have at first sight +nothing to do with each other or with my subject. It is +indisputable, however, that the horrible massacres perpetrated +every few weeks or mouths by our common carriers, and the +disgraceful peculation in which we allow our public servants to +indulge with hardly ever an effective word of protest, are alike +to be ascribed to the same causes which interfere with our higher +culture. It is by no means a mere accidental coincidence that for +every dollar stolen by government officials in Prussia, at least +fifty or a hundred are stolen in the United States. This does not +show that the Germans are our superiors in average honesty, but +it shows that they are our superiors in thoroughness. It is with +them an imperative demand that any official whatever shall be +qualified for his post; a principle of public economy which in +our country is not simply ignored in practice, but often openly +laughed at. But in a country where high intelligence and thorough +training are imperatively demanded, it follows of necessity that +these qualifications must insure for their possessors a permanent +career in which the temptations to malfeasance or dishonesty are +reduced to the minimum. On the other hand, in a country where +intelligence and training have no surety that they are to carry +the day against stupidity and inefficiency, the incentives to +dishonourable conduct are overpowering. The result in our own +political life is that the best men are driven in disgust from +politics, and thus one of the noblest fields for the culture of +the whole man is given over to be worked by swindlers and +charlatans. To an Athenian such a severance of the highest +culture from political life would have been utterly +inconceivable. Obviously the deepest explanation of all this lies +in our lack of belief in the necessity for high and thorough +training. We do not value culture enough to keep it in our employ +or to pay it for its services; and what is this short-sighted +negligence but the outcome of the universal shiftlessness +begotten of the habit of doing everything in a hurry? On every +hand we may see the fruits of this shiftlessness, from buildings +that tumble in, switches that are misplaced, furnaces that are +ill-protected, fire-brigades that are without discipline, up to +unauthorized meddlings with the currency, and revenue laws which +defeat their own purpose. + +I said above that the attributes of American life which we should +find it necessary for our purpose to signalize are simply the +attributes of modern life in their most exaggerated phase. Is +there not a certain sense in which all modern handiwork is +hastily and imperfectly done? To begin with common household +arts, does not every one know that old things are more durable +than new things? Our grandfathers wore better shoes than we wear, +because there was leisure enough to cure the leather properly. In +old times a chair was made of seasoned wood, and its joints +carefully fitted; its maker had leisure to see that it was well +put together. Now a thousand are turned off at once by machinery, +out of green wood, and, with their backs glued on, are hurried +off to their evil fate,--destined to drop in pieces if they +happen to stand near the fireplace, and liable to collapse under +the weight of a heavy man. Some of us still preserve, as +heirlooms, old tables and bedsteads of Cromwellian times: in the +twenty-first century what will have become of our machine-made +bedsteads and tables? + +Perhaps it may seem odd to talk about tanning and joinery in +connection with culture, but indeed there is a subtle bond of +union holding together all these things. Any phase of life can be +understood only by associating with it some different phase. +Sokrates himself has taught us how the homely things illustrate +the grand things. If we turn to the art of musical composition +and inquire into some of the differences between our recent music +and that of Handel's time, we shall alight upon the very +criticism which Mr. Mill somewhere makes in comparing ancient +with modern literature: the substance has improved, but the form +has in some respects deteriorated. The modern music expresses the +results of a richer and more varied emotional experience, and in +wealth of harmonic resources, to say nothing of increased skill +in orchestration, it is notably superior to the old music. Along +with this advance, however, there is a perceptible falling off in +symmetry and completeness of design, and in what I would call +spontaneousness of composition. I believe that this is because +modern composers, as a rule, do not drudge patiently enough upon +counterpoint. They do not get that absolute mastery over +technical difficulties of figuration which was the great secret +of the incredible facility and spontaneity of composition +displayed by Handel and Bach. Among recent musicians Mendelssohn +is the most thoroughly disciplined in the elements of +counterpoint; and it is this perfect mastery of the technique of +his art which has enabled him to outrank Schubert and Schumann, +neither of whom would one venture to pronounce inferior to him in +native wealth of musical ideas. May we not partly attribute to +rudimentary deficiency in counterpoint the irregularity of +structure which so often disfigures the works of the great Wagner +and the lesser Liszt, and which the more ardent admirers of these +composers are inclined to regard as a symptom of progress? + +I am told that a similar illustration might be drawn from the +modern history of painting; that, however noble the conceptions +of the great painters of the present century, there are none who +have gained such a complete mastery over the technicalities of +drawing and the handling of the brush as was required in the +times of Raphael, Titian, and Rubens. But on this point I can +only speak from hearsay, and am quite willing to end here my +series of illustrations, fearing that I may already have been +wrongly set down as a lavulator temporis acti. Not the idle +praising of times gone by, but the getting a lesson from them +which may be of use to us, has been my object. And I believe +enough has been said to show that the great complexity of modern +life, with its multiplicity of demands upon our energy, has got +us into a state of chronic hurry, the results of which are +everywhere to be seen in the shape of less thorough workmanship +and less rounded culture. + +For one moment let me stop to note a further source of the +relative imperfection of modern culture, which is best +illustrated in the case of literature. I allude to the immense, +unorganized mass of literature in all departments, representing +the accumulated acquisitions of past ages, which must form the +basis of our own achievement, but with which our present methods +of education seem inadequate to deal properly. Speaking roughly, +modern literature may be said to be getting into the state which +Roman jurisprudence was in before it was reformed by Justinian. +Philosophic criticism has not yet reached the point at which it +may serve as a natural codifier. We must read laboriously and +expend a disproportionate amount of time and pains in winnowing +the chaff from the wheat. This tends to make us "digs" or +literary drudges; but I doubt if the "dig" is a thoroughly +developed man. Goethe, with all his boundless knowledge, his +universal curiosity, and his admirable capacity for work, was not +a "dig." But this matter can only be hinted at: it is too large +to be well discussed at the fag end of an essay while other +points are pressing for consideration. + +A state of chronic hurry not only directly hinders the +performance of thorough work, but it has an indirect tendency to +blunt the enjoyment of life. Let us consider for a moment one of +the psychological consequences entailed by the strain of a too +complex and rapid activity. Every one must have observed that in +going off for a vacation of two or three weeks, or in getting +freed in any way from the ruts of every-day life, time slackens +its gait somewhat, and the events which occur are apt a few years +later to cover a disproportionately large area in our +recollections. This is because the human organism is a natural +timepiece in which the ticks are conscious sensations. The +greater the number of sensations which occupy the foreground of +consciousness during the day, the longer the day seems in the +retrospect. But the various groups of sensations which accompany +our daily work tend to become automatic from continual +repetition, and to sink into the background of consciousness; and +in a very complex and busied life the number of sensations or +states of consciousness which can struggle up to the front and +get attended to, is comparatively small It is thus that the days +seem so short when we are busy about every-day matters, and that +they get blurred together, and as it were individually +annihilated in recollection. When we travel, a comparatively +large number of fresh sensations occupy attention, there is a +maximum of consciousness, and a distinct image is left to loom up +in memory. For the same reason the weeks and years are much +longer to the child than to the grown man. The life is simpler +and less hurried, so that there is time to attend to a great many +sensations. Now this fact lies at the bottom of that keen +enjoyment of existence which is the prerogative of childhood and +early youth. The day is not rushed through by the automatic +discharge of certain psychical functions, but each sensation +stays long enough to make itself recognized. Now when once we +understand the psychology of this matter, it becomes evident that +the same contrast that holds between the child and the man must +hold also between the ancient and the modern. The number of +elements entering into ancient life were so few relatively, that +there must have been far more than there is now of that intense +realization of life which we can observe in children and remember +of our own childhood. Space permitting, it would be easy to show +from Greek literature how intense was this realization of life. +But my point will already have been sufficiently apprehended. +Already we cannot fail to see how difficult it is to get more +than a minimum of conscious fruition out of a too complex and +rapid activity. + +One other point is worth noticing before we close. How is this +turmoil of modern existence impressing itself upon the physical +constitutions of modern men and women? When an individual man +engages in furious productive activity, his friends warn him that +he will break down. Does the collective man of our time need some +such friendly warning? Let us first get a hint from what +foreigners think of us ultra-modernized Americans. Wandering +journalists, of an ethnological turn of mind, who visit these +shores, profess to be struck with the slenderness, the apparent +lack of toughness, the dyspeptic look, of the American physique. +And from such observations it has been seriously argued that the +stalwart English race is suffering inevitable degeneracy in this +foreign climate. I have even seen it doubted whether a race of +men can ever become thoroughly naturalized in a locality to which +it is not indigenous. To such vagaries it is a sufficient answer +that the English are no more indigenous to England than to +America. They are indigenous to Central Asia, and as they have +survived the first transplantation, they may be safely counted on +to survive the second. A more careful survey will teach us that +the slow alteration of physique which is going on in this country +is only an exaggeration of that which modern civilization is +tending to bring about everywhere. It is caused by the premature +and excessive strain upon the mental powers requisite to meet the +emergencies of our complex life. The progress of events has +thrown the work of sustaining life so largely upon the brain that +we are beginning to sacrifice the physical to the intellectual. +We are growing spirituelle in appearance at the expense of +robustness. Compare any typical Greek face, with its firm +muscles, its symmetry of feature, and its serenity of expression, +to a typical modern portrait, with its more delicate contour, its +exaggerated forehead, its thoughtful, perhaps jaded look. Or +consider in what respects the grand faces of the Plantagenet +monarchs differ from the refined countenances of the leading +English statesmen of to-day. Or again, consider the familiar +pictures of the Oxford and Harvard crews which rowed a race on +the Thames in 1869, and observe how much less youthful are the +faces of the Americans. By contrast they almost look careworn. +The summing up of countless such facts is that modern +civilization is making us nervous. Our most formidable diseases +are of nervous origin. We seem to have got rid of the mediaeval +plague and many of its typhoid congeners; but instead we have an +increased amount of insanity, methomania, consumption, dyspepsia, +and paralysis. In this fact it is plainly written that we are +suffering physically from the over-work and over-excitement +entailed by excessive hurry. + +In view of these various but nearly related points of difference +between ancient and modern life as studied in their extreme +manifestations, it cannot be denied that while we have gained +much, we have also lost a good deal that is valuable, in our +progress. We cannot but suspect that we are not in all points +more highly favoured than the ancients. And it becomes probable +that Athens, at all events, which I have chosen as my example, +may have exhibited an adumbration of a state of things which, for +the world at large, is still in the future,--still to be remotely +hoped for. The rich complexity of modern social achievement is +attained at the cost of individual many-sidedness. As Tennyson +puts it, "The individual withers and the world is more and more." +Yet the individual does not exist for the sake of society, as the +positivists would have us believe, but society exists for the +sake of the individual. And the test of complete social life is +the opportunity which it affords for complete individual life. +Tried by this test, our contemporary civilization will appear +seriously defective,--excellent only as a preparation for +something better. + +This is the true light in which to regard it. This incessant +turmoil, this rage for accumulation of wealth, this crowding, +jostling, and trampling upon one another, cannot be regarded as +permanent, or as anything more than the accompaniment of a +transitional stage of civilization. There must be a limit to the +extent to which the standard of comfortable living can be raised. +The industrial organization of society, which is now but +beginning, must culminate in a state of things in which the means +of expense will exceed the demand for expense, in which the human +race will have some surplus capital. The incessant manual labour +which the ancients relegated to slaves will in course of time be +more and more largely performed by inanimate machinery. Unskilled +labour will for the most part disappear. Skilled labour will +consist in the guiding of implements contrived with versatile +cunning for the relief of human nerve and muscle. Ultimately +there will be no unsettled land to fill, no frontier life, no +savage races to be assimilated or extirpated, no extensive +migration. Thus life will again become comparatively stationary. +The chances for making great fortunes quickly will be diminished, +while the facilities for acquiring a competence by steady labour +will be increased. When every one is able to reach the normal +standard of comfortable living, we must suppose that the +exaggerated appetite for wealth and display will gradually +disappear. We shall be more easily satisfied, and thus enjoy more +leisure. It may be that there will ultimately exist, over the +civilized world, conditions as favourable to the complete +fruition of life as those which formerly existed within the +narrow circuit of Attika; save that the part once played by +enslaved human brain and muscle will finally be played by the +enslaved forces of insentient nature. Society will at last bear +the test of providing for the complete development of its +individual members. + +So, at least, we may hope; such is the probability which the +progress of events, when carefully questioned, sketches out for +us. "Need we fear," asks Mr. Greg, "that the world would stagnate +under such a change? Need we guard ourselves against the +misconstruction of being held to recommend a life of complacent +and inglorious inaction? We think not. We would only substitute a +nobler for a meaner strife,--a rational for an excessive +toil,--an enjoyment that springs from serenity, for one that +springs from excitement only. . . . . To each time its own +preacher, to each excess its own counteraction. In an age of +dissipation, languor, and stagnation, we should join with Mr. +Carlyle in preaching the 'Evangel of Work,' and say with him, +'Blessed is the man who has found his work,--let him ask no other +blessedness.' In an age of strenuous, frenzied, .... and often +utterly irrational and objectless exertion, we join Mr. Mill in +preaching the milder and more needed 'Evangel of Leisure.' " + +Bearing all these things in mind, we may understand the remark of +the supremely cultivated Goethe, when asked who were his masters: +Die Griechen, die Griechen, und immer die Griechen. We may +appreciate the significance of Mr. Mill's argument in favour of +the study of antiquity, that it preserves the tradition of an era +of individual completeness. There is a disposition growing among +us to remodel our methods of education in conformity with the +temporary requirements of the age in which we live. In this +endeavour there is much that is wise and practical; but in so far +as it tends to the neglect of antiquity, I cannot think it +well-timed. Our education should not only enhance the value of +what we possess; is should also supply the consciousness of what +we lack. And while, for generations to come, we pass toilfully +through an era of exorbitant industrialism, some fragment of our +time will not be misspent in keeping alive the tradition of a +state of things which was once briefly enjoyed by a little +community, but which, in the distant future, will, as it is +hoped, become the permanent possession of all mankind. + +January, 1873. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Unseen World and Other Essays + diff --git a/old/nswoe10.zip b/old/nswoe10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7baa45 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/nswoe10.zip |