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Lectures XI; XII; and XIII







SAINTLINESS







The last lecture left us in a state of expectancy。  What may the



practical fruits for life have been; of such movingly happy



conversions as those we heard of?  With this question the really



important part of our task opens; for you remember that we began



all this empirical inquiry not merely to open a curious chapter



in the natural history of human consciousness; but rather to



attain a spiritual judgment as to the total value and positive



meaning of all the religious trouble and happiness which we have



seen。  We must; therefore; first describe the fruits of the



religious life; and then we must judge them。  This divides our



inquiry into two distinct parts。  Let us without further preamble



proceed to the descriptive task。







It ought to be the pleasantest portion of our business in these



lectures。  Some small pieces of it; it is true; may be painful;



or may show human nature in a pathetic light; but it will be



mainly pleasant; because the best fruits of religious experience



are the best things that history has to show。  They have always



been esteemed so; here if anywhere is the genuinely strenuous



life; and to call to mind a succession of such examples as I have



lately had to wander through; though it has been only in the



reading of them; is to feel encouraged and uplifted and washed in



better moral air。







The highest flights of charity; devotion; trust; patience;



bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves



have been flown for religious ideals。  I can do no better than



quote; as to this; some remarks which Sainte…Beuve in his History



of Port…Royal makes on the results of conversion or the state of



grace。







〃Even from the purely human point of view;〃 Sainte…Beuve says;



〃the phenomenon of grace must still appear sufficiently



extraordinary; eminent; and rare; both in its nature and in its



effects; to deserve a closer study。  For the soul arrives thereby



at a certain fixed and invincible state; a state which is



genuinely heroic; and from out of which the greatest deeds which



it ever performs are executed。  Through all the different forms



of communion; and all the diversity of the means which help to



produce this state; whether it be reached by a jubilee; by a



general confession; by a solitary prayer and effusion; whatever



in short to be the place and the occasion; it is easy to



recognize that it is fundamentally one state in spirit and



fruits。  Penetrate a little beneath the diversity of



circumstances; and it becomes evident that in Christians of



different epochs it is always one and the same modification by



which they are affected:  there is veritably a single fundamental



and identical spirit of piety and charity; common to those who



have received grace; an inner state which before all things is



one of love and humility; of infinite confidence in God; and of



severity for one's self; accompanied with tenderness for others。 



The fruits peculiar to this condition of the soul have the same



savor in all; under distant suns and in different surroundings;



in Saint Teresa of Avila just as in any Moravian brother of



Herrnhut。〃'143'







'143' Sainte…Beuve:  Port…Royal; vol。 i。 pp。 95 and 106;



abridged。















Sainte…Beuve has here only the more eminent instances of



regeneration in mind; and these are of course the instructive



ones for us also to consider。  These devotees have often laid



their course so differently from other men that; judging them by



worldly law; we might be tempted to call them monstrous



aberrations from the path of nature。  I begin therefore by asking



a general psychological question as to what the inner conditions



are which may make one human character differ so extremely from



another。











I reply at once that where the character; as something



distinguished from the intellect; is concerned; the causes of



human diversity lie chiefly in our differing susceptibilities of



emotional excitement; and in the different impulses and



inhibitions which these bring in their train。  Let me make this



more clear。







Speaking generally; our moral and practical attitude; at any



given time; is always a resultant of two sets of forces within



us; impulses pushing us one way and obstructions and inhibitions



holding us back。  〃Yes! yes!〃 say the impulses; 〃No! no!〃 say the



inhibitions。  Few people who have not expressly reflected on the



matter realize how constantly this factor of inhibition is upon



us; how it contains and moulds us by its restrictive pressure



almost as if we were fluids pent within the cavity of a jar。  The



influence is so incessant that it becomes subconscious。  All of



you; for example; sit here with a certain constraint at this



moment; and entirely without express consciousness of the fact;



because of the influence of the occasion。  If left alone in the



room; each of you would probably involuntarily rearrange himself;



and make his attitude more 〃free and easy。〃  But proprieties and



their inhibitions snap like cobwebs if any great emotional



excitement supervenes。  I have seen a dandy appear in the street



with his face covered with shaving…lather because a house across



the way was on fire; and a woman will run among strangers in her



nightgown if it be a question of saving her baby's life or her



own。  Take a self…indulgent woman's life in general。  She will



yield to every inhibition set by her disagreeable sensations; lie



late in bed; live upon tea or bromides; keep indoors from the



cold。  Every difficulty finds her obedient to its 〃no。〃  But make



a mother of her; and what have you?  Possessed by maternal



excitement; she now confronts wakefulness; weariness; and toil 



without an instant of hesitation or a word of complaint。 The



inhibitive power of pain over her is extinguished wherever the



baby's interests are at stake。  The inconveniences which this



creature occasions have become; as James Hinton says; the glowing



heart of a great joy; and indeed are now the very conditions



whereby the joy becomes most deep。







This is an example of what you have already heard of as the



〃expulsive power of a higher affection。〃  But be the affection



high or low; it makes no difference; so long as the excitement it



brings be strong enough。  In one of Henry Drummond's discourses



he tells of an inundation in India where an eminence with a



bungalow upon it remained unsubmerged; and became the refuge of a



number of wild animals and reptiles in addition to the human



beings who were there。  At a certain moment a royal Bengal tiger



appeared swimming towards it; reached it; and lay panting like a



dog upon the ground in the midst of the people; still possessed



by such an agony of terror that one of the Englishmen could



calmly step up with a rifle and blow out its brains。  The tiger's



habitual ferocity was temporarily quelled by the emotion of fear;



which became sovereign; and formed a new centre for his



character。







Sometimes no emotional state is sovereign; but many contrary ones



are mixed together。  In that case one hears both 〃yeses〃 and



〃noes;〃 and the 〃will〃 is called on then to solve the conflict。 



Take a soldier; for example; with his dread of cowardice



impelling him to advance; his fears impelling him to run; and his



propensities to imitation pushing him towards various courses if



his comrades offer various examples。  His person becomes the sea

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