alexandria and her schools-第21章

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ell　to　have　as　many　friends　at　court　as　possible　Noetic　Gods；　Noeric　Gods；　rulers；　angels；　daemons；　heroesto　enable　him　to　do　what？　　To　understand　Plato's　most　mystical　and　far…seeing　speculations。　　The　Eternal　Nous；　the　Intellectual　Teacher　has　vanished　further　and　further　off；　further　off　still　some　dim　vision　of　a　supreme　Goodness。　　Infinite　spaces　above　that　looms　through　the　mist　of　the　abyss　a　Primaeval　One。　　But　even　that　has　a　predicate；　for　it　is　one；　it　is　not　pure　essence。　　Must　there　not　be　something　beyond　that　again；　which　is　not　even　one；　but　is　nameless；　inconceivable；　absolute？　　What　an　abyss！　　How　shall　the　human　mind　find　anything　whereon　to　rest；　in　the　vast　nowhere　between　it　and　the　object　of　its　search？　　The　search　after　the　One　issues　in　a　wail　to　the　innumerable；　and　kind　gods；　angels；　and　heroes；　not　human　indeed；　but　still　conceivable　enough　to　satisfy　at　least　the　imagination；　step　in　to　fill　the　void；　as　they　have　done　since；　and　may　do　again；　and　so；　as　Mr。　Carlyle　has　it；　〃the　bottomless　pit　got　roofed　over；〃　as　it　may　be　again　ere　long。

Are　we　then　to　say；　that　Neoplatonism　was　a　failure？　　That　Alexandria；　during　four　centuries　of　profound　and　earnest　thought；　added　nothing？　Heaven　forbid　that　we　should　say　so　of　a　philosophy　which　has　exercised　on　European　thought；　at　the　crisis　of　its　noblest　life　and　action；　an　influence　as　great　as　did　the　Aristotelian　system　during　the　Middle　Ages。　　We　must　never　forget；　that　during　the　two　centuries　which　commence　with　the　fall　of　Constantinople；　and　end　with　our　civil　wars；　not　merely　almost　all　great　thinkers；　but　courtiers；　statesmen；　warriors；　poets；　were　more　or　less　Neoplatonists。　　The　Greek　grammarians；　who　migrated　into　Italy；　brought　with　them　the　works　of　Plotinus；　Iamblichus；　and　Proclus；　and　their　gorgeous　reveries　were　welcomed　eagerly　by　the　European　mind；　just　revelling　in　the　free　thought　of　youthful　manhood。　　And　yet　the　Alexandrian　impotence　for　any　practical　and　social　purposes　was　to　be　manifested；　as　utterly　as　it　was　in　Alexandria　or　in　Athens　of　old。　　Ficinus　and　Picus　of　Mirandola　worked　no　deliverance；　either　for　Italian　morals　or　polity；　at　a　time　when　such　deliverance　was　needed　bitterly　enough。　　Neoplatonism　was　petted　by　luxurious　and　heathen　popes；　as　an　elegant　play　of　the　cultivated　fancy；　which　could　do　their　real　power；　their　practical　system；　neither　good　nor　harm。　　And　one　cannot　help　feeling；　while　reading　the　magnificent　oration　on　Supra…sensual　Love；　which　Castiglione；　in　his　admirable　book　〃The　Courtier；〃　puts　into　the　mouth　of　the　profligate　Bembo；　how　near　mysticism　may　lie　not　merely　to　dilettantism　or　to　Pharisaism；　but　to　sensuality　itself。　　But　in　England；　during　Elizabeth's　reign；　the　practical　weakness　of　Neoplatonism　was　compensated　by　the　noble　practical　life　which　men　were　compelled　to　live　in　those　great　times；　by　the　strong　hold　which　they　had　of　the　ideas　of　family　and　national　life；　of　law　and　personal　faith。　And　I　cannot　but　believe　it　to　have　been　a　mighty　gain　to　such　men　as　Sidney；　Raleigh；　and　Spenser；　that　they　had　drunk；　however　slightly；　of　the　wells　of　Proclus　and　Plotinus。　　One　cannot　read　Spenser's　〃Fairy　Queen；〃　above　all　his　Garden　of　Adonis；　and　his　cantos　on　Mutability；　without　feeling　that　his　Neoplatonism　must　have　kept　him　safe　from　many　a　dark　eschatological　superstition；　many　a　narrow　and　bitter　dogmatism；　which　was　even　then　tormenting　the　English　mind；　and　must　have　helped　to　give　him　altogether　a　freer　and　more　loving　conception；　if　not　a　consistent　or　accurate　one；　of　the　wondrous　harmony　of　that　mysterious　analogy　between　the　physical　and　the　spiritual；　which　alone　makes　poetry　（and　I　had　almost　said　philosophy　also）　possible；　and　have　taught　him　to　behold　alike　in　suns　and　planets；　in　flowers　and　insects；　in　man　and　in　beings　higher　than　man；　one　glorious　order　of　love　and　wisdom；　linking　them　all　to　Him　from　whom　they　all　proceed；　rays　from　His　cloudless　sunlight；　mirrors　of　His　eternal　glory。

But　as　the　Elizabethan　age；　exhausted　by　its　own　fertility；　gave　place　to　the　Caroline；　Neoplatonism　ran　through　much　the　same　changes。　　It　was　good　for　us；　after　all；　that　the　plain　strength　of　the　Puritans；　unphilosophical　as　they　were；　swept　it　away。　　One　feels　in　reading　the　later　Neoplatonists；　Henry　More；　Smith；　even　Cudworth　（valuable　as　he　is）；　that　the　old　accursed　distinction　between　the　philosopher；　the　scholar；　the　illuminate；　and　the　plain　righteous　man；　was　growing　up　again　very　fast。　　The　school　from　which　the　〃Religio　Medici〃　issued　was　not　likely　to　make　any　bad　men　good；　or　any　foolish　men　wise。

Besides；　as　long　as　men　were　continuing　to　quote　poor　old　Proclus　as　an　irrefragable　authority；　and　believing　that　he；　forsooth；　represented　the　sense　of　Plato；　the　new…born　Baconian　philosophy　had　but　little　chance　in　the　world。　　Bacon　had　been　right　in　his　dislike　of　Platonism　years　before；　though　he　was　unjust　to　Plato　himself。　　It　was　Proclus　whom　he　was　really　reviling；　Proclus　as　Plato's　commentator　and　representative。　The　lion　had　for　once　got　into　the　ass's　skin；　and　was　treated　accordingly。　　The　true　Platonic　method；　that　dialectic　which　the　Alexandrians　gradually　abandoned；　remains　yet　to　be　tried；　both　in　England　and　in　Germany；　and　I　am　much　mistaken；　if；　when　fairly　used；　it　be　not　found　the　ally；　not　the　enemy；　of　the　Baconian　philosophy；　in　fact；　the　inductive　method　applied　to　words；　as　the　expressions　of　Metaphysic　Laws；　instead　of　to　natural　phenomena；　as　the　expressions　of　Physical　ones。　　If　you　wish　to　see　the　highest　instances　of　this　method；　read　Plato　himself；　not　Proclus。　　If　you　wish　to　see　how　the　same　method　can　be　applied　to　Christian　truth；　read　the　dialectic　passages　in　Augustine's　〃Confessions。〃　　Whether　or　not　you　shall　agree　with　their　conclusions；　you　will　not　be　likely；　if　you　have　a　truly　scientific　habit　of　mind；　to　complain　that　they　want　either　profundity；　severity；　or　simplicity。

So　concludes　the　history　of　one　of　the　Alexandrian　schools　of　Metaphysic。　　What　was　the　fate　of　the　other　is　a　subject　which　I　must　postpone　to　my　next　Lecture。



LECTURE　IVTHE　CROSS　AND　THE　CRESCENT



I　tried　to　point　out；　in　my　last　Lecture；　the　causes　which　led　to　the　decay　of　the　Pagan　metaphysic　of　Alexandria。　　We　have　now　to　consider　the　fate　of　the　Christian　school。

You　may　have　remarked　that　I　have　said　little　or　nothing　about　the　positive　dogmas　of　Clement；　Origen；　and　their　disciples；　but　have　only　brought　out　the　especial　points　of　departure　between　them　and　the　Heathens。　　My　reason　for　so　doing　was　twofold：　　first；　I　could　not　have　examined　them　without　entering　on　controversial　ground；　next；　I　am　very　desirous　to　excite　some　of　my　hearers；　at　least；　to　examine　these　questions　for　themselves。

I　entreat　them　not　to　listen　to　the　hasty　sneer　to　which　many　of　late　have　given　way；　that　the　Alexandrian　divines　were　mere　mystics；　who　corrupted　Christianity　by　an　admixture　of　Oriental　and　Greek　thought。　My　own　belief　is　that　they　expanded　and　corroborated　Christianity；　in　spite　of　great　errors　and　defects　on　certain　points；　far　more　than　they　corrupted　it；　that　they　presented　it　to　the　minds　of　cultivated　and　scientific　men　in　the　only　form　in　which　it　would　have　satisfied　their　philosophic　aspirations；　and　yet　contrived；　with　wonderful　wisdom；　to　ground　their　philosophy　on　the　very　same　truths　which　they　taught　to　the　meanest　slaves；　and　to　appeal　in　the　philosophers　to　the　same　inward　faculty　to　which　they　appealed　in　the　slave；　namely；　to　that　inward　eye；　that　moral　sense　and　reason；　whereby　each　and　every　man　can；　if　he　will；　〃judge　of　himself　that　which　is　right。〃　　I　boldly　say　that　I　believe　the　Alexandrian　Christians　to　have　made　the　best；　perhaps　the　only；　attempt　yet　made　by　men；　to　proclaim　a　true　world…philosophy；　whereby　I　mean　a　philosophy　common　to　all　races；　ranks；　and　intellects；　embracing　the　whole　phenomena　of　humanity；　and　not　an　arbitrarily　small　portion　of　them；　and　capable　of　being　understood　and　appreciated　by　every　human　being　from　the　highest　to　the　lowest。　　And　when　you　hear　of　a　system　of　reserve　in　teaching；　a　disciplina　arcani；　of　an　esoteric　and　exoteric；　an　inner　and　outer　school；　among　these　men；　you　must　n