heroes and hero worship-第39节

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age；　there　is　nothing　yet　got！

These　things　look　strange；　truly；　and　are　not　such　as　we　commonly　speculate　upon。　　But　we　are　fallen　into　strange　times；　these　things　will　require　to　be　speculated　upon；　to　be　rendered　practicable；　to　be　in　some　way　put　in　practice。　　These；　and　many　others。　　On　all　hands　of　us；　there　is　the　announcement；　audible　enough；　that　the　old　Empire　of　Routine　has　ended；　that　to　say　a　thing　has　long　been；　is　no　reason　for　its　continuing　to　be。　The　things　which　have　been　are　fallen　into　decay；　are　fallen　into　incompetence；　large　masses　of　mankind；　in　every　society　of　our　Europe；　are　no　longer　capable　of　living　at　all　by　the　things　which　have　been。　　When　millions　of　men　can　no　longer　by　their　utmost　exertion　gain　food　for　themselves；　and　〃the　third　man　for　thirty…six　weeks　each　year　is　short　of　third…rate　potatoes；〃　the　things　which　have　been　must　decidedly　prepare　to　alter　themselves！I　will　now　quit　this　of　the　organization　of　Men　of　Letters。


Alas；　the　evil　that　pressed　heaviest　on　those　Literary　Heroes　of　ours　was　not　the　want　of　organization　for　Men　of　Letters；　but　a　far　deeper　one；　out　of　which；　indeed；　this　and　so　many　other　evils　for　the　Literary　Man；　and　for　all　men；　had；　as　from　their　fountain；　taken　rise。　　That　our　Hero　as　Man　of　Letters　had　to　travel　without　highway；　companionless；　through　an　inorganic　chaos；and　to　leave　his　own　life　and　faculty　lying　there；　as　a　partial　contribution　towards　_pushing_　some　highway　through　it：　　this；　had　not　his　faculty　itself　been　so　perverted　and　paralyzed；　he　might　have　put　up　with；　might　have　considered　to　be　but　the　common　lot　of　Heroes。　　His　fatal　misery　was　the　_spiritual　paralysis_；　so　we　may　name　it；　of　the　Age　in　which　his　life　lay；　whereby　his　life　too；　do　what　he　might；　was　half　paralyzed！　　The　Eighteenth　was　a　_Sceptical_　Century；　in　which　little　word　there　is　a　whole　Pandora's　Box　of　miseries。　　Scepticism　means　not　intellectual　Doubt　alone；　but　moral　Doubt；　all　sorts　of　infidelity；　insincerity；　spiritual　paralysis。　　Perhaps；　in　few　centuries　that　one　could　specify　since　the　world　began；　was　a　life　of　Heroism　more　difficult　for　a　man。　　That　was　not　an　age　of　Faith；an　age　of　Heroes！　　The　very　possibility　of　Heroism　had　been；　as　it　were；　formally　abnegated　in　the　minds　of　all。　　Heroism　was　gone　forever；　Triviality；　Formulism　and　Commonplace　were　come　forever。　　The　〃age　of　miracles〃　had　been；　or　perhaps　had　not　been；　but　it　was　not　any　longer。　　An　effete　world；　wherein　Wonder；　Greatness；　Godhood　could　not　now　dwell；in　one　word；　a　godless　world！

How　mean；　dwarfish　are　their　ways　of　thinking；　in　this　time；compared　not　with　the　Christian　Shakspeares　and　Miltons；　but　with　the　old　Pagan　Skalds；　with　any　species　of　believing　men！　　The　living　TREE　Igdrasil；　with　the　melodious　prophetic　waving　of　its　world…wide　boughs；　deep…rooted　as　Hela；　has　died　out　into　the　clanking　of　a　World…MACHINE。　　〃Tree〃　and　〃Machine：〃　contrast　these　two　things。　　I；　for　my　share；　declare　the　world　to　be　no　machine！　　I　say　that　it　does　_not_　go　by　wheel…and…pinion　〃motives〃　self…interests；　checks；　balances；　that　there　is　something　far　other　in　it　than　the　clank　of　spinning…jennies；　and　parliamentary　majorities；　and；　on　the　whole；　that　it　is　not　a　machine　at　all！The　old　Norse　Heathen　had　a　truer　motion　of　God's…world　than　these　poor　Machine…Sceptics：　　the　old　Heathen　Norse　were　_sincere_　men。　　But　for　these　poor　Sceptics　there　was　no　sincerity；　no　truth。　　Half…truth　and　hearsay　was　called　truth。　　Truth；　for　most　men；　meant　plausibility；　to　be　measured　by　the　number　of　votes　you　could　get。　　They　had　lost　any　notion　that　sincerity　was　possible；　or　of　what　sincerity　was。　　How　many　Plausibilities　asking；　with　unaffected　surprise　and　the　air　of　offended　virtue；　What！　am　not　I　sincere？　　Spiritual　Paralysis；　I　say；　nothing　left　but　a　Mechanical　life；　was　the　characteristic　of　that　century。　　For　the　common　man；　unless　happily　he　stood　_below_　his　century　and　belonged　to　another　prior　one；　it　was　impossible　to　be　a　Believer；　a　Hero；　he　lay　buried；　unconscious；　under　these　baleful　influences。　　To　the　strongest　man；　only　with　infinite　struggle　and　confusion　was　it　possible　to　work　himself　half　loose；　and　lead　as　it　were；　in　an　enchanted；　most　tragical　way；　a　spiritual　death…in…life；　and　be　a　Half…Hero！

Scepticism　is　the　name　we　give　to　all　this；　as　the　chief　symptom；　as　the　chief　origin　of　all　this。　　Concerning　which　so　much　were　to　be　said！　　It　would　take　many　Discourses；　not　a　small　fraction　of　one　Discourse；　to　state　what　one　feels　about　that　Eighteenth　Century　and　its　ways。　　As　indeed　this；　and　the　like　of　this；　which　we　now　call　Scepticism；　is　precisely　the　black　malady　and　life…foe；　against　which　all　teaching　and　discoursing　since　man's　life　began　has　directed　itself：　　the　battle　of　Belief　against　Unbelief　is　the　never…ending　battle！　　Neither　is　it　in　the　way　of　crimination　that　one　would　wish　to　speak。　　Scepticism；　for　that　century；　we　must　consider　as　the　decay　of　old　ways　of　believing；　the　preparation　afar　off　for　new　better　and　wider　ways；an　inevitable　thing。　　We　will　not　blame　men　for　it；　we　will　lament　their　hard　fate。　　We　will　understand　that　destruction　of　old　_forms_　is　not　destruction　of　everlasting　_substances_；　that　Scepticism；　as　sorrowful　and　hateful　as　we　see　it；　is　not　an　end　but　a　beginning。

The　other　day　speaking；　without　prior　purpose　that　way；　of　Bentham's　theory　of　man　and　man's　life；　I　chanced　to　call　it　a　more　beggarly　one　than　Mahomet's。　　I　am　bound　to　say；　now　when　it　is　once　uttered；　that　such　is　my　deliberate　opinion。　　Not　that　one　would　mean　offence　against　the　man　Jeremy　Bentham；　or　those　who　respect　and　believe　him。　　Bentham　himself；　and　even　the　creed　of　Bentham；　seems　to　me　comparatively　worthy　of　praise。　　It　is　a　determinate　_being_　what　all　the　world；　in　a　cowardly　half…and…half　manner；　was　tending　to　be。　　Let　us　have　the　crisis；　we　shall　either　have　death　or　the　cure。　　I　call　this　gross；　steam…engine　Utilitarianism　an　approach　towards　new　Faith。　　It　was　a　laying…down　of　cant；　a　saying　to　oneself：　〃Well　then；　this　world　is　a　dead　iron　machine；　the　god　of　it　Gravitation　and　selfish　Hunger；　let　us　see　what；　by　checking　and　balancing；　and　good　adjustment　of　tooth　and　pinion；　can　be　made　of　it！〃　　Benthamism　has　something　complete；　manful；　in　such　fearless　committal　of　itself　to　what　it　finds　true；　you　may　call　it　Heroic；　though　a　Heroism　with　its　_eyes_　put　out！　　It　is　the　culminating　point；　and　fearless　ultimatum；　of　what　lay　in　the　half…and…half　state；　pervading　man's　whole　existence　in　that　Eighteenth　Century。　　It　seems　to　me；　all　deniers　of　Godhood；　and　all　lip…believers　of　it；　are　bound　to　be　Benthamites；　if　they　have　courage　and　honesty。　Benthamism　is　an　_eyeless_　Heroism：　　the　Human　Species；　like　a　hapless　blinded　Samson　grinding　in　the　Philistine　Mill；　clasps　convulsively　the　pillars　of　its　Mill；　brings　huge　ruin　down；　but　ultimately　deliverance　withal。　　Of　Bentham　I　meant　to　say　no　harm。

But　this　I　do　say；　and　would　wish　all　men　to　know　and　lay　to　heart；　that　he　who　discerns　nothing　but　Mechanism　in　the　Universe　has　in　the　fatalest　way　missed　the　secret　of　the　Universe　altogether。　　That　all　Godhood　should　vanish　out　of　men's　conception　of　this　Universe　seems　to　me　precisely　the　most　brutal　error；I　will　not　disparage　Heathenism　by　calling　it　a　Heathen　error；that　men　could　fall　into。　　It　is　not　true；　it　is　false　at　the　very　heart　of　it。　　A　man　who　thinks　so　will　think　_wrong_　about　all　things　in　the　world；　this　original　sin　will　vitiate　all　other　conclusions　he　can　form。　　One　might　call　it　the　most　lamentable　of　Delusions；not　forgetting　Witchcraft　itself！　　Witchcraft　worshipped　at　least　a　living　Devil；　but　this　worships　a　dead　iron　Devil；　no　God；　not　even　a　Devil！　　Whatsoever　is　noble；　divine；　inspired；　drops　thereby　out　of　life。　　There　remains　everywhere　in　life　a　despicable　_caput…mortuum_；　the　mechanical　hull；　all　soul　fled　out　of　it。　　How　can　a　man　act　heroically？　　The　〃Doctrine　of　Motives〃　will　teach　him　that　it　is；　under　more　or　less　disguise；　nothing　but　a　wretched　love　of　Pleasure；　fear　of　Pain；　that　Hunger；　of　applause；　of　cash；　of　whatsoever　victual　it　may　be；　is　the　ultimate　fact　of　man's　life。　　Atheism；　in　brief；which　does　indeed　frightfully　punish　itself。　　The　man；　I　say；　is　become　spiritually　a　paralytic　man；　this　godlike　Universe　a　dead　mechanical　steam…engine；　all　working　by　motives；　checks；　balances；　and　I　know　not　what；　wherein；　as　in　the　detestable　belly　of　some　Phalaris'…Bull　of　his　own　contriving；　he　the　poor　Phalaris　sits　miserably　dying！

Belief　I　define　to　be　the　healthy　act　of　a　man's　mind。　　It　is　a　mysterious　indescribable　process；　that　of　getting　to　believe；indescribable；　as　all　vital　acts　are。　　We　have　our　mind　given　us；　not　that　it　may　cavil　and　argue；　but　that　it　may　see　into　something；　give　us　clear　belief　and　understanding　about　something；　whereon　we　are　then　to　proceed　to　act。　Doubt；　truly；　is　not　itself　a　crime。　　Certainly　we　do　not　rush　out；　clutch　up　the　first　thing　we　find；　and　straightway　believe　that！　　All　manner　of　doubt；　inquiry；　＇Gr。＇　_skepsis_　as　it　is　named；　about　all　manner　of　objects；　dwells　in　every　reasonable　mind。　　It　is　the　mystic　working　of　the　mind；　on　the　object　it　is　_getting_　to　know　and　believ