heroes and hero worship-第45节

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　the　supreme　place；　and　loyally　reverence　him：　　you　have　a　perfect　government　for　that　country；　no　ballot…box；　parliamentary　eloquence；　voting；　constitution…building；　or　other　machinery　whatsoever　can　improve　it　a　whit。　It　is　in　the　perfect　state；　an　ideal　country。　　The　Ablest　Man；　he　means　also　the　truest…hearted；　justest；　the　Noblest　Man：　　what　he　_tells　us　to　do_　must　be　precisely　the　wisest；　fittest；　that　we　could　anywhere　or　anyhow　learn；the　thing　which　it　will　in　all　ways　behoove　US；　with　right　loyal　thankfulness　and　nothing　doubting；　to　do！　　Our　_doing_　and　life　were　then；　so　far　as　government　could　regulate　it；　well　regulated；　that　were　the　ideal　of　constitutions。

Alas；　we　know　very　well　that　Ideals　can　never　be　completely　embodied　in　practice。　　Ideals　must　ever　lie　a　very　great　way　off；　and　we　will　right　thankfully　content　ourselves　with　any　not　intolerable　approximation　thereto！　　Let　no　man；　as　Schiller　says；　too　querulously　〃measure　by　a　scale　of　perfection　the　meagre　product　of　reality〃　in　this　poor　world　of　ours。　We　will　esteem　him　no　wise　man；　we　will　esteem　him　a　sickly；　discontented；　foolish　man。　　And　yet；　on　the　other　hand；　it　is　never　to　be　forgotten　that　Ideals　do　exist；　that　if　they　be　not　approximated　to　at　all；　the　whole　matter　goes　to　wreck！　　Infallibly。　　No　bricklayer　builds　a　wall　_perfectly_　perpendicular；　mathematically　this　is　not　possible；　a　certain　degree　of　perpendicularity　suffices　him；　and　he；　like　a　good　bricklayer；　who　must　have　done　with　his　job；　leaves　it　so。　　And　yet　if　he　sway　_too　much_　from　the　perpendicular；　above　all；　if　he　throw　plummet　and　level　quite　away　from　him；　and　pile　brick　on　brick　heedless；　just　as　it　comes　to　hand！　　Such　bricklayer；　I　think；　is　in　a　bad　way。　　He　has　forgotten　himself：　　but　the　Law　of　Gravitation　does　not　forget　to　act　on　him；　he　and　his　wall　rush　down　into　confused　welter　of　ruin！

This　is　the　history　of　all　rebellions；　French　Revolutions；　social　explosions　in　ancient　or　modern　times。　　You　have　put　the　too　_Un_able　Man　at　the　head　of　affairs！　　The　too　ignoble；　unvaliant；　fatuous　man。　　You　have　forgotten　that　there　is　any　rule；　or　natural　necessity　whatever；　of　putting　the　Able　Man　there。　　Brick　must　lie　on　brick　as　it　may　and　can。　　Unable　Simulacrum　of　Ability；　_quack_；　in　a　word；　must　adjust　himself　with　quack；　in　all　manner　of　administration　of　human　things；which　accordingly　lie　unadministered；　fermenting　into　unmeasured　masses　of　failure；　of　indigent　misery：　　in　the　outward；　and　in　the　inward　or　spiritual；　miserable　millions　stretch　out　the　hand　for　their　due　supply；　and　it　is　not　there。　　The　〃law　of　gravitation〃　acts；　Nature's　laws　do　none　of　them　forget　to　act。　　The　miserable　millions　burst　forth　into　Sansculottism；　or　some　other　sort　of　madness：　　bricks　and　bricklayer　lie　as　a　fatal　chaos！

Much　sorry　stuff；　written　some　hundred　years　ago　or　more；　about　the　〃Divine　right　of　Kings；〃　moulders　unread　now　in　the　Public　Libraries　of　this　country。　　Far　be　it　from　us　to　disturb　the　calm　process　by　which　it　is　disappearing　harmlessly　from　the　earth；　in　those　repositories！　　At　the　same　time；　not　to　let　the　immense　rubbish　go　without　leaving　us；　as　it　ought；　some　soul　of　it　behindI　will　say　that　it　did　mean　something；　something　true；　which　it　is　important　for　us　and　all　men　to　keep　in　mind。　　To　assert　that　in　whatever　man　you　chose　to　lay　hold　of　（by　this　or　the　other　plan　of　clutching　at　him）；　and　claps　a　round　piece　of　metal　on　the　head　of；　and　called　King；there　straightway　came　to　reside　a　divine　virtue；　so　that　_he_　became　a　kind　of　god；　and　a　Divinity　inspired　him　with　faculty　and　right　to　rule　over　you　to　all　lengths：　　this；what　can　we　do　with　this　but　leave　it　to　rot　silently　in　the　Public　Libraries？　　But　I　will　say　withal；　and　that　is　what　these　Divine…right　men　meant；　That　in　Kings；　and　in　all　human　Authorities；　and　relations　that　men　god…created　can　form　among　each　other；　there　is　verily　either　a　Divine　Right　or　else　a　Diabolic　Wrong；　one　or　the　other　of　these　two！　　For　it　is　false　altogether；　what　the　last　Sceptical　Century　taught　us；　that　this　world　is　a　steam…engine。　　There　is　a　God　in　this　world；　and　a　God's…sanction；　or　else　the　violation　of　such；　does　look　out　from　all　ruling　and　obedience；　from　all　moral　acts　of　men。　There　is　no　act　more　moral　between　men　than　that　of　rule　and　obedience。　Woe　to　him　that　claims　obedience　when　it　is　not　due；　woe　to　him　that　refuses　it　when　it　is！　　God's　law　is　in　that；　I　say；　however　the　Parchment…laws　may　run：　　there　is　a　Divine　Right　or　else　a　Diabolic　Wrong　at　the　heart　of　every　claim　that　one　man　makes　upon　another。

It　can　do　none　of　us　harm　to　reflect　on　this：　　in　all　the　relations　of　life　it　will　concern　us；　in　Loyalty　and　Royalty；　the　highest　of　these。　　I　esteem　the　modern　error；　That　all　goes　by　self…interest　and　the　checking　and　balancing　of　greedy　knaveries；　and　that　in　short；　there　is　nothing　divine　whatever　in　the　association　of　men；　a　still　more　despicable　error；　natural　as　it　is　to　an　unbelieving　century；　than　that　of　a　〃divine　right〃　in　people　_called_　Kings。　　I　say；　Find　me　the　true　_Konning_；　King；　or　Able…man；　and　he　_has_　a　divine　right　over　me。　　That　we　knew　in　some　tolerable　measure　how　to　find　him；　and　that　all　men　were　ready　to　acknowledge　his　divine　right　when　found：　　this　is　precisely　the　healing　which　a　sick　world　is　everywhere；　in　these　ages；　seeking　after！　　The　true　King；　as　guide　of　the　practical；　has　ever　something　of　the　Pontiff　in　him；guide　of　the　spiritual；　from　which　all　practice　has　its　rise。　　This　too　is　a　true　saying；　That　the　_King_　is　head　of　the　_Church_。But　we　will　leave　the　Polemic　stuff　of　a　dead　century　to　lie　quiet　on　its　bookshelves。


Certainly　it　is　a　fearful　business；　that　of　having　your　Ableman　to　_seek_；　and　not　knowing　in　what　manner　to　proceed　about　it！　　That　is　the　world's　sad　predicament　in　these　times　of　ours。　　They　are　times　of　revolution；　and　have　long　been。　　The　bricklayer　with　his　bricks；　no　longer　heedful　of　plummet　or　the　law　of　gravitation；　have　toppled；　tumbled；　and　it　all　welters　as　we　see！　　But　the　beginning　of　it　was　not　the　French　Revolution；　that　is　rather　the　_end_；　we　can　hope。　　It　were　truer　to　say；　the　_beginning_　was　three　centuries　farther　back：　　in　the　Reformation　of　Luther。　　That　the　thing　which　still　called　itself　Christian　Church　had　become　a　Falsehood；　and　brazenly　went　about　pretending　to　pardon　men's　sins　for　metallic　coined　money；　and　to　do　much　else　which　in　the　everlasting　truth　of　Nature　it　did　_not_　now　do：　　here　lay　the　vital　malady。　　The　inward　being　wrong；　all　outward　went　ever　more　and　more　wrong。　　Belief　died　away；　all　was　Doubt；　Disbelief。　　The　builder　cast　_away_　his　plummet；　said　to　himself；　〃What　is　gravitation？　　Brick　lies　on　brick　there！〃　　Alas；　does　it　not　still　sound　strange　to　many　of　us；　the　assertion　that　there　_is_　a　God's…truth　in　the　business　of　god…created　men；　that　all　is　not　a　kind　of　grimace；　an　〃expediency；〃　diplomacy；　one　knows　not　what！

From　that　first　necessary　assertion　of　Luther's；　〃You；　self…styled　_Papa_；　you　are　no　Father　in　God　at　all；　you　area　Chimera；　whom　I　know　not　how　to　name　in　polite　language！〃from　that　onwards　to　the　shout　which　rose　round　Camille　Desmoulins　in　the　Palais…Royal；　〃_Aux　armes_！〃　when　the　people　had　burst　up　against　_all_　manner　of　Chimeras；I　find　a　natural　historical　sequence。　　That　shout　too；　so　frightful；　half…infernal；　was　a　great　matter。　Once　more　the　voice　of　awakened　nations；starting　confusedly；　as　out　of　nightmare；　as　out　of　death…sleep；　into　some　dim　feeling　that　Life　was　real；　that　God's…world　was　not　an　expediency　and　diplomacy！　　Infernal；yes；　since　they　would　not　have　it　otherwise。　　Infernal；　since　not　celestial　or　terrestrial！　　Hollowness；　insincerity　_has_　to　cease；　sincerity　of　some　sort　has　to　begin。　　Cost　what　it　may；　reigns　of　terror；　horrors　of　French　Revolution　or　what　else；　we　have　to　return　to　truth。　　Here　is　a　Truth；　as　I　said：　　a　Truth　clad　in　hell…fire；　since　they　would　not　but　have　it　so！

A　common　theory　among　considerable　parties　of　men　in　England　and　elsewhere　used　to　be；　that　the　French　Nation　had；　in　those　days；　as　it　were　gone　_mad_；　that　the　French　Revolution　was　a　general　act　of　insanity；　a　temporary　conversion　of　France　and　large　sections　of　the　world　into　a　kind　of　Bedlam。　　The　Event　had　risen　and　raged；　but　was　a　madness　and　nonentity；gone　now　happily　into　the　region　of　Dreams　and　the　Picturesque！To　such　comfortable　philosophers；　the　Three　Days　of　July；　183O；　must　have　been　a　surprising　phenomenon。　　Here　is　the　French　Nation　risen　again；　in　musketry　and　death…struggle；　out　shooting　and　being　shot；　to　make　that　same　mad　French　Revolution　good！　　The　sons　and　grandsons　of　those　men；　it　would　seem；　persist　in　the　enterprise：　　they　do　not　disown　it；　they　will　have　it　made　good；　will　have　themselves　shot；　if　it　be　not　made　good。　　To　philosophers　who　had　made　up　their　life…system；　on　that　〃madness〃　quietus；　no　phenomenon　could　be　more　alarming。　　Poor　Niebuhr；　they　say；　the　Prussian　Professor　and　Historian；　fell　broken…hearted　in　consequence；　sickened；　if　we　can　believe　it；　and　died　of　the　Three　Days！　It　was　surely　not　a　very　heroic　death；little　better　than　Racine's；　dying　because　Louis　Fourteenth　looked　sternly　on　him　once。　　The　world　ha