It is many years ago that in the Bodleian at Oxford1 I was shown into the beautiful room where John Selden's noble library is placed. It is a lofty, well-proportioned room, and on the walls are arrayed the silent legions of the great scholar's books.
At that time I was still fonder of books than of realities, and with breathless haste I ran over the title-pages and contents of the grand folios in over fifteen languages, written by scholars of all the Western nations and of many an Oriental people.
Then I paused before the fine oil-painting near the entrance of the room representing the face and upper body of the scholar-patriot. The face is singularly, touchingly2 beautiful. The delicately swung lines of the lips tell at once, more especially in their discreet3 corners, of the deep reticence4 and subtle tact5 of the man. No wonder my Lady Kent loved him. The combination of political power, boundless7 erudition, and charming male beauty could not but be pleasing to a knowing woman of the world. His eyes, big and lustrous8, yet veil more than they reveal. He evidently was a man who saw more than he expressed, and felt more than he cared to show. Living in the troublous times of James the First and Charles the[Pg 161] First, he worked strenuously9 for the liberties of his country, while all the time pouring forth10 works of the heaviest erudition on matters of ancient law, religions, and antiquities11.
His printed works are, in keeping with the custom of his day, like comets: a small kernel12 of substance, appended to a vast tail of quotations13 from thousands of authors. Like the unripe14 man I was, I liked the tail more than the kernel. Yet I had been in various countries and had acquired a little knowledge of substance.
And as I gazed with loving looks at the mild beauty of the scholar, I fell slowly into a reverie. I had read him and about him with such zeal15 that it seemed to me I knew the man personally. Then also I had walked over the very streets and in the very halls where he had walked and talked to Camden, Cotton, Archbishop Ussher, Sir Mathew Hale, Lord Ellesmere, Coke, Cromwell. It was the period that we, in Hungary, had been taught to admire most in all English history.
And there was more particularly one maxim17 of Selden's, which he carefully wrote on every one of the books of his library, which had always impressed me most.
It ran: "Liberty above everything"; or as he wrote it, in Greek: περ? παντ?? τ?ν ?λευθερ?αν.
Yes, liberty—that is, political liberty—above everything else. I had, like all people born in the fifties of the last century, believed in that one idea as one believes in the goodness and necessity of bread and wine. I could not doubt it; I thought, to doubt it was almost absurd. And so I had long made up my mind to go one day to Oxford and to make my reverent[Pg 162] bow to the scholar who had adorned19 the shallowest book of his vast collection by writing on it the Greek words in praise of liberty.
However, before I could carry out my pilgrimage to the Bodleian, I had been five years in the States. There indeed was plenty of political liberty, but after a year or so I could not but see that the sacrifices which the Americans had to make for their political liberty were heavy, very heavy, not to say crushing.
And I began to doubt.
I conceived that it was perhaps not impossible to assume that in Selden's maxim there were certain "ifs" and certain drawbacks. My soul darkened; and when finally I arrived at the Bodleian, I went into Selden's room, and to his portrait, prompted by an unarticulated hope that in some way or other I might get a solution of the problem from the man whose maxim I had held in so great esteem20 for many a long year.
So I gazed at him, and waited. The room became darker; the evening shadows began spreading about the shelves. The portrait alone was still in a frame of strangely white light. It was as if Apollo could not tear himself away from the face of one who had been his ardent21 devotee.
After a while I observed, or thought I did, with a sensation of mingled22 horror and delight, that the eyes of the portrait were moving towards me. I took courage and uttered my wish, and asked Selden outright23 whether now, after he had spent centuries in the Elysian fields with Pericles and Plato, whether he still was of opinion that liberty, political liberty, is the chief aim of a nation, an aim to be secured at all prices.
[Pg 163]
Thereupon I clearly saw how his eyes deepened, and how the surface of their silent reserve began to ripple24, as it were, and finally a mild smile went over them like a cloud over a Highland25 lake.
That smile sent a shiver through my soul. Selden, too, doubts his maxim? Can political liberty be bought at too great a price? Are there goods more valuable than political liberty?
After I recovered from my first shock, I boldly approached the smiling portrait, and implored26 Selden to help me.
And then, in the silence of the deserted27 room, I saw how his lips moved, and I heard English sounds pronounced in a manner considerably28 different from what they are to-day. They sounded like the bass29 notes of a clarionet, and there was much more rhythm and cadence30 in them than one can hear to-day. They were also of exquisite31 politeness, and the words were, one imagined, like so many courtiers, hat in hand, bowing to one another, yet with a ready sword at the side.
To my request he replied: "If it should fall out to be your fervent32 desire to know the clandestine34 truth of a matter so great and weighty, I shall, for the love of your devotion, be much pleased to be your suitor and help. Do not hesitate to follow me."
With that he stepped out from the frame and stood before me in the costume of the time of the Cavaliers. He took me by the hand, and in a way that seemed both natural and supernatural, so strangely did I feel at that moment, we left unseen and unnoticed the lofty room, and arrived almost immediately after that at a place in the country that[Pg 164] reminded me of Kenilworth, or some other part of lovely Warwickshire.
It was night, and a full moon shed her mysteries over trees, valleys, and mountains. On a lawn, in the midst of a fine wood of alders35, Selden halted.
There were several persons present. They struck me as being Greeks; their costume was that of Athenians in the time of Alcibiades. I soon saw that I was right, for they talked ancient Greek. Selden explained to me that they had left Elysium for a time, in order to see how the world beneath was going on. In their travels they had come to England, and were anxious to meet men of the past as well as men of the present, and to inquire into the nature and lot of the nation of which they had heard, by rumour36, that it had something of the nature of the Athenians, much of the character of the Spartans38, a good deal of the people of Syracuse and Tarentum, and also a trait or two of the Romans.
Of those Greeks I at once recognised Pericles, the son of Xanthippus; Alcibiades, the son of Clinias; Plato, the son of Ariston; Euripides, the son of Mnesarchos; moreover, a man evidently an archon or high official of the oracle39 of Delphi; and in the retinue40 I saw sculpturesque maidens41 of Sparta and charming women of Argos, set off by incomparably formed beauties of Thebes, and girls of Tanagra smiling sweetly with stately daintiness.
Selden was received by them with hearty42 friendliness43, and conversation was soon at its best, just as if it had been proceeding44 in the cool groves45 of the Academy at Athens.
[Pg 165]
The first to speak was Pericles. He expressed to Selden his great amazement46 at the things he had seen in England.
"Had I not governed the city of holy Athena for thirty years," he said, "I should be perhaps pleased with what I see in this strange country. But having been at the head of affairs of a State which in my time was the foremost of the world; and having always availed myself of the advice and wisdom of men like Damon, the musician-philosopher, Anaxagoras, the thinker, Protagoras, the sophist, and last, not least, Aspasia, my tactful wife and friend, I am at a loss to understand the polity that you call England.
"What has struck me most in this country is the sway allowed to what we used to call Orphic Associations. In Athens we had, in my time, a great number of private societies the members of which devoted48 themselves to the cult49 of extreme, unnatural50, and un-Greek ideas and superstitions51. Thus we had thiasoi, as we called them, the members of which were fanatic52 vegetarians54; others, again, who would not allow their adherents55 to partake of a single drop of Chian or any other wine; others, again, who would under no circumstances put on any woollen shirt or garment.
"But if any of these Orphic mystagogues had arrogated56 to themselves the right of proposing laws in the Public Assembly, or what this nation calls the Parliament, with a view of converting the whole State of Athens into an Association of Orphic rites57 and mysteries, then, I am sure, my most resolute58 antagonists59 would have joined hands with me to counteract60 such unholy and scurrilous61 attempts.
[Pg 166]
"I can well understand that the Spartans, who are quite unwilling62 to vest any real power whatever in either their kings, their assembly, their senate, or their minor63 officials, are consequently compelled to vest inordinate64 power in their few Ephors, and in the constantly practised extreme self-control of each individual Spartan37. In a commonwealth65 like Sparta, where the commune is allowed very little, or no, power; where there are neither generals, directors of police, powerful priests or princes, nor any other incumbents66 of great coercive powers; in such a community the individual himself must needs be his own policeman, his own priest, prince, general, and coercive power. This he does by being a vegetarian53, a strict Puritan, teetotaller, melancholist, and universal killer67 of joy."
Here Pericles was interrupted by the suave68 voice of Selden, who, in pure Attic69, corroborated70 the foregoing statements by a reference to the people called Hebrews in Palestine. "These men," Selden said, "were practically at all times so fond of liberty that they could not brook71 any sort of government in the form of officials, policemen, soldiers, princes, priests, or lords whatever. In consequence of which they introduced a system of individual self-control called ritualism, by means of which each Hebrew tied himself down with a thousand filigree72 ties as to eating, drinking, sleeping, merrymaking, and, in short, as to every act of ordinary life. So that, O Pericles, the Hebrews are one big Orphic Association of extremists, less formidable than the Spartans, but essentially73 similar to them."
Selden had scarcely finished his remarks, when Alcibiades, encouraged by a smile from Plato,[Pg 167] joined the discussion, and, looking at Pericles, exclaimed:
"My revered74 relative, I have listened to your observations with close attention; and I have also, in my rambles75 through this country, met a great number of men and women. It seems to me that but for their Orphic Associations, which here some people call Societies of Cranks and Faddists, the population of this realm would have one civil war after the other.
"Surely you all remember how, in my youth, misunderstanding as I did the Orphic and mystery-craving76 nature of man, I made fun of it, and was terribly punished for it at the hands of Hermes, a god far from being as great as Zeus, Apollo, or Dionysus. Little did I know at that time that the exuberance77 of vitality78, which I, owing to my wealth and station in life, could gratify by gorgeous chariot races at Olympia under the eyes of all the Hellenes, was equally strong, but yet unsatisfied, in the average and less dowered citizens of my State.
"My chequered experience has taught me that no sort of people can quite do without Orphic mysteries, and when I sojourned among the Thracians, I saw that those barbarians79, fully18 aware of the necessity of Mysteries and Orphic Trances, had long ago introduced festivals at which their men and women could give free vent33 to their subconscious80, vague, yet powerful chthonic craving for impassioned daydreaming81 and revelry. They indulge in wild dances on the mountains, at night, invoking82 the gods of the nether83 world, indulging freely in the wildest form of boundless hilarity84, and rivalling in their exuberance the mad sprouting85 of trees and herbs in spring.
[Pg 168]
"You Laconian maidens, usually so proud and cold and Amazonian, I call upon you to say whether in your strictly86 regulated polity of Sparta you do not, at times, rove in the wildest fashion over the paths, ravines, and clefts87 of awful Mount Taygetus, in reckless search of the joy of frantic88 vitality which your State ordinarily does not allow you to indulge in? And you women of Argos, are you too not given to wild rioting at stated times? Have I not watched you in your religious revivals89 of fierce joy?"
Both the Laconian and Argive women admitted the fact, and one of them asked: "Do the women of this country not observe similar festivals? I pity them if they don't."
And a Theban girl added: "The other day we passed over Snowdon and other mounts in a beauteous land which they call Wales. It is much like our own holy Mount Kith?ron. Why, then, do the women of this country not rove, in honour of the god, over the Welsh mountains, free and unobserved, as we do annually90 over wild Kith?ron? They would do it gracefully91, for I have noticed that they run much better than they walk, and they would swing the thyrsus in their hand with more elegance92 than the sticks they use in their games."
At that moment there arose from the haze93 and clouded mystery of the neighbouring woods a rocket of sounds, sung by female voices and soon joined in the distance by a chorus of men. The company on the lawn suddenly stopped talking, and at the bidding of the Delphic archon, whom they called Trichas, they all went in search of ivy94, and, having found it, wreathed themselves with it. The[Pg 169] music, more and more passionate95, came nearer and nearer.
From my place I could slightly distinguish, in mid-air, a fast travelling host of women in light dresses, swinging the thyrsus, dancing with utter freedom of beautiful movement, and singing all the time songs in praise of Dionysus, the god of life and joy.
Trichas solemnly called upon us to close our eyes, and he intoned a p?an of strange impressiveness, imploring96 the god to pardon our presence and to countenance97 us hereafter as before.
But the Laconian, Theban, and Argive maidens left us, and soaring into air, as it were, joined the host of revelling98 women.
After a time the music subsided99 far away, and nothing could be heard but the melodious100 soughing of the wind through the lank101 alder-trees.
Then, at a sign of Trichas, Plato took the word and said:
"You are aware, my friends, that whatever I have taught in my Athenian days regarding the punishment of our faults at the hands of the Powers of the Netherworld, all that has been amply visited upon me in the shape of commentaries written on my works by learned teachers, after the fashion of savages102 who tattoo103 the beautiful body of a human being.
"I may therefore say that I have at last come to a state of purification and castigation104 which allows[Pg 170] one to see things in their right proportion. Thus, with regard to this curious country in which we are just at present, I cannot but think that while there is much truth in what all of you have remarked, yet you do not seem to grasp quite clearly the essence, or, as we used to say, the ο?σ?α of the whole problem.
"This nation, like all of us Hellenes, has many centuries ago made up its mind to keep its political liberty intact and undiminished. For that purpose it always tried to limit, and in the last three hundred years actually succeeded in limiting, or even destroying, most of the coercive powers of the State, the Church, the nobility, the army. Selden not improperly105 compared them to the Jews. And as in the case of the Jews, so in the case of the English, the lack of the coercive powers of State, Church, nobility, and army inevitably106 engendered107 coercive powers of an individual or private character.
"This is called, in a general word, Puritanism. Our Spartans, who would not tolerate public coercive corporate108 powers any more than do the English, were likewise driven into an individual Puritanism, called their ?γωγ?, which likewise consisted of fanatic teetotalism, mutisme, anti-intellectualism, and other common features.
"This inevitable109 Puritanism in England assumed formerly110 what they call a Biblical form; now it feeds on teetotalism—that is, it has become liquid Puritanism. I have it on the most unquestionable authority, that the contemporary Britons are, in point of consumption of spirits and wine, the most moderate consumers of all the European nations; and the average French person, for example, drinks[Pg 171] 152 times more wine per annum than the average Englishman. Even in point of beer, the average Belgian, for instance, drinks twice as much as the average Englishman; while the average Dane drinks close on five times more spirits than the average Briton.
"Yet all these facts will convert no one. For, since the Puritan wants Puritanism and not facts, he can be impressed only by inducing him to adopt another sort of Puritanism, but never by facts.
"Accordingly, they have introduced Christian111 Science, or one of the oldest Orphic fallacies, which the Medi?val Germans used to call 'to pray oneself sound.' They have likewise inaugurated anti-vivisectionism, vegetarianism112, anti-tobacconism, Sabbatarianism, and a social class system generally, which combines all the features of all the kinds of Puritanism.
"We in Athens divided men only on lines of the greater or lesser113 political rights we gave them; but we never drew such lines in matters social and purely114 human. The freest Athenian readily shook hands with a metic or denizen115; and we ate all that was eatable and good. In England the higher class looks upon the next lower as the teetotaller looks upon beer, the vegetarian upon beef, or the Sabbatarian upon what they call the Continental116 Sunday.
"Moreover, there is in England, in addition to the science of zoology117 or botany, such as my hearer Aristotle founded it, a social zoology and botany, treating of such animals and plants as cannot, according to English class Puritanism, be offered to one's friends at meals. Thus, mussels and cockles are socially ostracised, except in unrecognisable form;[Pg 172] bread is offered in hom?opathic doses; beer at a banquet is simply impossible; black radishes, a personal insult.
"In the same way, streets, squares, halls, theatres, watering-places—in short, everything in the material universe is or is not 'class'; that is, it is subject or not subject to social Puritanism. All this, as in the case of the Hebrews, who have an infinitely118 developed ritualism of eatables and drinkables, of things 'pure' or 'impure'; all this, I say, is the inevitable consequence of the unwillingness119 of the English to grant any considerable coercive power to the State, the Church, the nobility, the army, or any other organised corporate institution.
"They hate the idea of conscription, because they hate to give power to the army, and prefer to fall into the snares120 of faddists.
"The coercive power which they will not grant in one form, they must necessarily admit in another form. They destroy Puritanism as wielded122 by State or Church, and must therefore, since coercive powers are always indispensable, accept it as Puritanism of fads123.
"What are the Jews other than a nation of extreme faddists? Being quite apolitical, as we call it, they must necessarily be extremely Orphic—that is, extreme Puritans.
"Political liberty is bought at the expense of social freedom. Nobody dares to give himself freely and naively124; he must needs watch with sickly self-consciousness over every word or act of his, as a policeman watches over the traffic of streets. And lest he betray his real sentiments, he suppresses[Pg 173] all gestures, because gestures give one away at once. One cannot make a gesture of astonishment125 without being really astonished at all, and vice47 versa.
"And so slowly, by degrees, the whole of the human capital is repressed, disguised, unhumanised, and, in a word, sacrificed at the altar of political liberty.
"The Romans, much wiser than the Spartans, gave immense coercive power both to corporate bodies, such as the Roman Senate, and to single officials, such as a Consul126, a Censor127, a Tribune, or a Pr?tor. They therefore did not need any grotesque128 private coercive institutions or fads.
"The English, on the other hand, want to wield121 such an empire as the Roman, and yet build up their polity upon the narrow plane of a Spartan ?γωγ?. In this there is an inherent contradiction. They hamper129 their best intentions, and must at all times, and against their better convictions, legislate130 for faddists, because they lack the courage of their Imperial mission.
"Empires want Imperial institutions, that is, such as are richly endowed in point of political power. Offices ought to be given by appointment, and not by competitive examinations, if only for five or ten years. The police ought to have a very much more comprehensive power, and the schools ought to be subject to a national committee. Parliament must be Imperial, and not only British. Very much more might be said about the necessity of rendering131 this Realm more apotelestic, as we have called it, but I see that Euripides is burning to make his remarks, and I am sure that he is able to give us the final[Pg 174] expression of the whole difficulty in a manner that none of us can rival."
Thereupon Euripides addressed the company as follows:
"For many, many a year I have observed and studied the most life-endowed commonwealth that the world has ever seen, Athens. I watched the Athenians in their homes, in the market-place, in the law courts, in peace and war, in the theatre and in the temple, at the holy places of Eleusis and Delphi, their men as well as their women.
"Personally I long inclined towards a view of the world almost exclusively influenced by Apollo. I thought that as the sun is evidently the great life-giver of all existence, so light, reason, system, liberty, and consummately132 devised measures constitute the highest wisdom of the community.
"In all I wrote or said I worked for the great god of Light, and Reason, and Progress. I could not find words and phrases trenchant133 enough to express my disdain134 for sentiments and ideas discountenanced by Apollo. I persecuted135 and fiercely attacked all those dark, chthonic, and mysterious passions of which man is replete136 to overflowing137. I hated Imperialism138, I adored Liberty; I extolled139 Philosophy, and execrated140 Orphic ideas.
"But at last, when I had gone through the fearful experiences of the Peloponnesian War, with all its supreme141 glories and its unrelieved shames, I learned[Pg 175] to think otherwise. I learned to see that as man has two souls in his breast, one celestial142 or Apollinic, the other terrestrial or Dionysiac, so there are two gods, and not one, that govern this sub-lunar world.
"The two are Apollo and Dionysus.
"One rules the world of light, of political power, of scientific reason, and of harmonious143 muses144. The other is the god of unreason, of passion, and wild enthusiasm, of that unwieldy Heart of ours which is fuller of monsters, and also of precious pearls, than is the wide ocean.
"Unless in a given commonwealth the legislator wisely provides for the cult of both gods, in an orderly and public fashion, Dionysus or Apollo will take fearful revenge for the neglect they suffer at the hands of short-sighted statesmen and impudent145 unbelievers.
"In the course of our Great War we have come into contact and conflict with many a non-Greek nation, or people whom we rightly term Barbarians. For while some of them sedulously146, perhaps over-zealously, worship Dionysus, they all ignore or scorn Apollo. The consequence is that the great god blinds them to their own advantages, robs them of light and moderation, and they prosper147 enduringly neither as builders of States nor as private citizens in their towns.
"For Apollo, like all the gods, is a severe god, and his bow he uses as unerringly as his lyre.
"It is even so with Dionysus.
"The nation that affects to despise him, speedily falls a wretched victim to his awful revenge. Instead of worshipping him openly and in public fashion, such a nation falls into grotesque and absurd eccen[Pg 176]tricities, that readily degenerate148 into poisonous vices149, infesting150 every organ of the body politic6 and depriving social intercourse151 of all its charms. The Spartans, although they allowed their women a temporary cult of the god Dionysus, yet did not pay sufficient attention to him, worshipping mainly Apollo. They had, in consequence, to do much that tends to de-humanisation, and, while many admired them, no one loved them.
"It was this, my late and hard-won insight into the nature of man, which I wanted to articulate in the strongest fashion imaginable in my drama called the Bacch?. I see with bitterness how little my commentators152 grasped the real mystery of my work. If Dionysus was to me only the symbol of wine and merrymaking, why should I have indulged in the gratuitous153 cruelty of punishing the neglect of Bacchus by the awful murder of a son-king at the hands of his own frenzied154 mother-queen? All my Hellenic sentiment of moderation shudders155 at such a ghastly exaggeration.
"Neither the myth nor my drama refers to wanton, barbarous bloodshed; and such scholars as assume archaic156 human sacrifices in honour of Dionysus, and 'survivals' thereof in Dionysiac rites, ought to be taken in hand by the god's own M?nads and suffer for their impudence157.
"Human sacrifices indeed, but not such as are made by stabbing people with knives and bleeding them to physical death. Human sacrifices in the sense of a terrible loss of human capital, of a de-humanisation caused by the browbeating158 of the Heart—this and nothing else was the meaning of my drama.
[Pg 177]
"And what country is a fuller commentary on the truth of my Bacch? than England?
"Here is a country that, had Dionysus been properly worshipped by its people, might be the happiest, brightest of all nations, a model for all others, and living like the gods in perpetual bliss—that is, in perfect equilibrium159 of thought and action, reason and sentiment, beauty and moderation. They have done much and successfully for Pythian Apollo; they have established a solid fabric160 of Liberty and Imperial Power; various intellectual pursuits they have cultivated with glory; and in their p?ans to Apollo they have shown exquisite beauties of expression and feeling.
"But Dionysus they persistently161 want to neglect, to discredit162, to oust163.
"Instead of bowing humbly164 and openly to the god of enthusiasm, of unreasoned lilt of sentiment and passion, and of the intense delight in all that lives and throbs165 and vibrates with pleasure and joy; they affect to suppress sentiments, to rein166 in all pleasures, and to cast a slur167 on joy.
"And then the god, seeing the scorn with which they treat him, avenges168 himself, and blinds and maddens them, as he did King Pentheus of Thebes, King Perseus of Argos, the daughters of Minyas of Orchomenos, Proitos of Tiryns, and so many others. The god Dionysus puts into their hearts absurd thoughts and fantastic prejudices, and some of them spend millions of money a year to stop the use of the Bacchic gifts in a country which has long been the least drinking country in the white world, and as a matter of fact drinks far too little good and noble wine.
[Pg 178]
"Others again are made by angry Dionysus to μα?νεσθαι or rage by adding to the 250 unofficial yearly fogs of the country, fifty-two official ones, which they call Sundays.
"Again others, instigated169 by the enraged170 god Dionysus, drive people to furor171 by their intolerable declamations against alleged172 cruelties to animals, while they are themselves full of cruel boredom173 to human beings.
"There is, I note with satisfaction, one among them who seems to have an inkling of the anger of the god, and who has tried to restore, in a fashion, the cult of Dionysiac festivals.
"He calls his Orphic Association the Salvation174 Army.
"They imitate not quite unsuccessfully the doings of the legs and feet of the true worshippers of Dionysus; but the spirit of the true cult is very far off from them.
"And so Dionysus, ignored and looked down upon by the people of this country, avenges himself in a manner the upshot and sum of which is not inadequately175 represented in my Bacch?.
"And yet the example of the Hellas of Hellas, or of the town of Athens, which all of them study in their schools, might have taught them better things.
"When, by about the eighth or seventh century B.C. (as they say), the cult of Dionysus began to spread in Greece, the various States opposed it at first with all their power. All these States were Apollinic contrivances. They were ordered by reasoned constitutions, generally by one man. In them everything was deliberately176 arranged for light, order, good rhythm, clearness, and system. It was all in honour[Pg 179] of Apollo, the city-builder. Naturally the leaders of those States hated Dionysus.
"However, they were soon convinced of the might of the new god, and, instead of scorning, defying or neglecting him, the wise men at the head of affairs resolved to adopt him officially. In this they followed (O Trichas, did they not?) the example of Delphi, which, although formerly purely Apollinic, now readily opened its holy halls to the new god Dionysus, so that ever after Delphi was as much Dionysiac as it was Apollinic.
"At Athens they honoured the new god so deeply and fully that, not content with the ordinary rural sports and processions given in his honour, the Athenians created the great Tragedy and Comedy as a fit cult of the mighty177 god. The Athenians were paid to go to those wondrous178 plays, where their Dionysiac soul could and did find ample food, and was thereby179 purged180 and purified, or, in other words, prevented from falling into the snares of silly faddists of religious or other impostures. But for those Dionysiac festivals in addition to the cult of Apollo, the Greeks would have become the Chinese of Europe.
"Why, then, do not the English do likewise? Why do they not build a mighty, State-kept theatre, or several of them? Why does their State try to pension decrepit181 persons, and not rather help to balance young minds? Why have they no public agones or competitions in singing, reciting, and dancing? They do officially, next to nothing for music; and if one of their strategi or ministers was known to be a good pianist or violinist, as they call their instruments, they would scorn him as unworthy[Pg 180] of his post. Yet few of such strategi are the equals of Epaminondas, who excelled both in dancing and playing our harp182.
"But while they ignore music—that is, Dionysus' chief gift—they crouch183 before the unharmonious clamour of any wretched Orphic teetotaller, vegetarian, or Sabbatarian.
"This is how Dionysus avenges himself.
"I see how uneasy they are with regard to the great might of the Germans. Why, then, do they not learn to respect Dionysus, who was the chief help to the powerful consolidation184 of the German Empire? German music kept North and South Germans intimately together; it saved them from wasting untold185 sums of money, of time, of force, on arid186 fads; it paved the way to political intimacy187.
"Had the English not neglected Dionysus, had they sung in his honour those soul-attaching songs which once learned in youth can never be forgotten, they might have retained the millions of Irishmen, who have left their shores, by the heart-melting charm of a common music. From the lack of such a delicate but enduring tie, the Irish had to be held by sterile188 political measures only.
"In music there is infinitely more than a mere16 tinkling189 of rhythm; there is Dionysus in it. Their teachers of politics sneer190 at Aristotle because he treats solemnly of music in his 'Politics.' But Aristotle told me himself that he sneers191 at them, seeing what absurd socialistic schemes they discuss because they do not want to steady the souls of their people by a proper cult of Dionysus.
"Socialism is doomed192 to the fate of Pentheus at the terrible hands of Dionysus. Socialism despises[Pg 181] Dionysus; the god will speedily drive it to madness.
"See, friends, we must leave—yonder Apollo is rising; he wants to join Dionysus, who passed us a little while ago. Should both stay in this country, and should they both be properly worshipped, we might from time to time come back again. At present I propose to leave forthwith for the Castalian springs."
The End
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touchingly
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3
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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4
reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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5
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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6
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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7
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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8
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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9
strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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10
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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11
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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12
kernel
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| n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心 | |
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13
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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14
unripe
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| adj.未成熟的；n.未成熟 | |
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15
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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16
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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17
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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18
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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19
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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20
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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21
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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22
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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23
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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24
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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25
highland
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| n.(pl.)高地，山地 | |
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26
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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28
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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29
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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30
cadence
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| n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫 | |
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31
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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32
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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33
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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34
clandestine
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| adj.秘密的，暗中从事的 | |
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35
alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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36
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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37
spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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38
spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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39
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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40
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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41
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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42
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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43
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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44
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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45
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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46
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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47
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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48
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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49
cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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50
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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51
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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52
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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53
vegetarian
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| n.素食者；adj.素食的 | |
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54
vegetarians
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| n.吃素的人( vegetarian的名词复数 )；素食者；素食主义者；食草动物 | |
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55
adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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56
arrogated
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| v.冒称，妄取( arrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；没来由地把…归属（于） | |
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57
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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58
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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59
antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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60
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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61
scurrilous
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| adj.下流的，恶意诽谤的 | |
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62
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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63
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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64
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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65
commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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66
incumbents
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| 教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者 | |
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67
killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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68
suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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69
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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70
corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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71
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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72
filigree
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| n.金银丝做的工艺品；v.用金银细丝饰品装饰；用华而不实的饰品装饰；adj.金银细丝工艺的 | |
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73
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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74
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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76
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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77
exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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78
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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79
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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80
subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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81
daydreaming
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| v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 ) | |
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82
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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83
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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84
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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85
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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86
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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87
clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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88
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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89
revivals
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| n.复活( revival的名词复数 )；再生；复兴；（老戏多年后）重新上演 | |
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90
annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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91
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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92
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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93
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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94
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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95
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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96
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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97
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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98
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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99
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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100
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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101
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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102
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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103
tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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104
castigation
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| n.申斥，强烈反对 | |
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105
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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106
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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107
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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109
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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110
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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111
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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112
vegetarianism
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| n.素食，素食主义 | |
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113
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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114
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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115
denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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116
continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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117
zoology
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| n.动物学，生态 | |
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118
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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119
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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120
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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121
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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122
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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123
fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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124
naively
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| adv. 天真地 | |
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125
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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126
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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127
censor
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| n./vt.审查，审查员；删改 | |
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128
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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129
hamper
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| vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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130
legislate
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| vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法 | |
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131
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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132
consummately
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| adv.完成地，至上地 | |
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133
trenchant
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| adj.尖刻的，清晰的 | |
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134
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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135
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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136
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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137
overflowing
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| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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138
imperialism
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| n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策 | |
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139
extolled
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| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
execrated
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| v.憎恶( execrate的过去式和过去分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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141
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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142
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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143
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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144
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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145
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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146
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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147
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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150
infesting
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| v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的现在分词 )；遍布于 | |
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151
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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152
commentators
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| n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员 | |
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153
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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shudders
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| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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156
archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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157
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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158
browbeating
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| v.（以言辞或表情）威逼，恫吓( browbeat的现在分词 ) | |
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equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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160
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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161
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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162
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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oust
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| vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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avenges
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的第三人称单数 )；为…报复 | |
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169
instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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170
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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171
furor
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| n.狂热；大骚动 | |
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172
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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173
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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174
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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175
inadequately
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| ad.不够地；不够好地 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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177
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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178
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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180
purged
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| 清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响 | |
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181
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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182
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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183
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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184
consolidation
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| n.合并,巩固 | |
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185
untold
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| adj.数不清的，无数的 | |
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186
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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187
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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188
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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189
tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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190
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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191
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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192
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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