While living, his abnormal mind repelled2 men of strong personality.
He had never been able to control more than two dozen people in anyenterprise which he undertook. And in these small bands rebellionsalways broke out.
The paranoiac3 had been transfigured now into the Hero and the Saintthrough the worship of the mob which his insanity4 had created. Hisapparent strength of character was in reality weakness, an incapacity tomaster himself or control his criminal impulses. But the Jacobin mind ofhis followers5 did not consider realities. They only cherished dreams,illusions, assertions. The mob never reasons. It only believes. Reasonis submerged in passion.
John Brown was a typical Jacobin leader. He was first and last a Puritanmystic. The God he worshipped was a fiend, but he worshipped Him withall the more passionate6 devotion for that reason. When he committedmurder on the Pottawattomie he stalked his prey7 as a panther. He sangpraises to his God as he paused in the brush before he sprang. Hisnarrow mind, with a single fixed8 idea, was inaccessible9 to anyinfluences save those which fed his mania10. Nothing could loose the gripof his soul on this dream. He closed his glittering eyes and refused toconsider anything that might contradict his faith.
He acted without reason, driven blindly forward by an impulse. When hiscunning mind used reason it was never for the purpose of finding truth.
It was only for the purpose of confounding his enemies. He never used itas a guide to conduct.
By the magic of mental contagion11 he had transferred from the scaffoldthis Jacobin mind to the soul of a nation. The contact of persons is notnecessary to transfer this disease. Its contagion is electric. It movesin subtle thought waves, as a mysterious pestilence12 spreads in thenight. The mob mind, once formed, is a new creation and becomes withamazing rapidity a resistless force. The reason for its uncannypower lies in the fact that when once formed it is dominated by theunconscious, not the conscious forces, of man's nature. Its credulity isboundless. Its passions dominate all life. The records of history are asealed book. Experience does not exist.
Impulse rules the universe.
And this mob mind moves always as a unit. It devours13 individuality. Menwho as individuals may be gentle and humane14 are swept into accord withthe most beastly cry of the crowd. This mental unity15 grows out of thecrushing power of contagion. Gestures, cries, deeds of hate and fury arecaught, approved, repeated.
Any lie can be built into a religion if repeated often enough to a crowdby a mind on fire with its passions. Pirates have died as bravely asJohn Brown. The glorification16 of the manner of his dying was merely aphenomenon of the unity of the crowd mind. It was precisely18 the gripof his Puritan mysticism, his worship of the Devil, that gave to hisinsanity its most dangerous appeal.
For the first time in the history of the republic the mob mind hadmastered the collective soul of its people. The contagion had spreadboth North and South. In the North by sympathy, in the South by aprocess of reaction even more violent and destructive of reason.
John Brown had realized his vision of the Plains. He had raised aNational Blood Feud19.
No hand could stay the scourge20. The Red Thought burst into a flame thatswept North and South, as a prairie fire sweeps the stubble of autumn.
_Uncle Tom's Cabin_ had prepared the stubble.
From the Northern press began to pour a stream of vindictive21 abuse. Afair specimen22 of this insanity appeared in the New York _Independent_:
"The mass of the population of the Atlantic Coast of the slave region ofthe South are descended23 from the transported convicts and outcasts ofGreat Britain. Oh, glorious chivalry24 and hereditary25 aristocracy of theSouth! Peerless first families of Virginia and Carolina! Progeny26 of thehighwaymen, the horse thieves and sheep stealers and pickpockets27 of OldEngland!"The fact that this paper was a religious publication, the outgrowth ofthe New England conscience, gave its columns a peculiar28 power over theNorthern mind.
The South retorted in kind. _De Bow's Review_ declared:
"The basic framework and controlling inference of Northern sentiment isPuritanic, the old Roundhead rebel refuse of England, which has everbeen an unruly sect29 of Pharisees, the worst bigots on earth and themeanest tyrants30 when they have the power to exercise it."When the Conventions met a few months later to name candidates for thePresidency and make a declaration of principles, leaders had ceased tolead and there were no principles to declare.
The mob mind was supreme31.
The Democratic Convention met at Charleston, South Carolina, to namethe successor of James Buchanan. Their constituents32 commanded a vastmajority of the voters of the Nation. The Convention became a mob. Theone man, the one giant leader left in the republic, the one constructivemind, the one man of political genius who could have saved the nationfrom the holocaust33 toward which it was plunging34 was Stephen A. Douglasof Illinois. He could have been elected President by an overwhelmingmajority had he been nominated by this united convention. He wasentitled to the nomination35. He had proven himself a statesman of thehighest rank. He had proven himself impervious36 to sectional hatred37 orsectional appeal. He was a Northern man, but a friend of the South aswell as the North. He was an American of the noblest type.
But the radical39 wing of his party in the South were seeing Red. OldBrown's words to them meant the spirit of the North. They heard echoingand reechoing from every newspaper and pulpit:
"I, JOHN BROWN, AM NOW QUITE CERTAIN THAT THE CRIMES OF THIS GUILTY LANDWILL NEVER BE PURGED40 AWAY BUT WITH BLOOD."If the hour for bloodshed had come they demanded that the South preparewithout further words. And they believed that the hour had come. Theyheard the tread of swarming41 hosts. They were eager to meet them.
Reason was flung to the winds. Passion ruled. Compromise was a thingbeyond discussion. Douglas was a Northern man and they would have noneof him. He was hooted42 and catcalled until he was compelled to withdrawfrom the Convention.
The radical South named their own candidate for President. He couldn'tbe elected. No matter. War was inevitable43.
Let it come.
The Northern Democratic Convention named Douglas for President. Hecouldn't be elected. No matter. War was inevitable. Let it come.
In dumb amazement44 at the tragedy approaching--the tragedy of a dividedunion and a bloody45 civil war--the union men of the party nominated athird ticket, Bell of Tennessee and Everett of Massachusetts. Theycouldn't be elected. No matter. War was inevitable. It had to come. Theywould stand by their principles and go down with them.
When the new Republican party met at Chicago they were sobered by theresponsibility suddenly thrust upon them of naming the next President ofthe United States. Fremont, a mere17 figurehead as their candidate, hadpolled a million votes in the campaign before. With three Democratictickets in the field, success was sure.
They wrote a conservative platform and named for their candidate AbrahamLincoln, the one man in their party who had denounced John Brown'sdeeds, the man who had declared in his debates with Douglas that he didnot believe in making negroes voters or jurors, that he did not believein the equality of the races, that he did not believe that two suchraces could ever live together in a Democracy on terms of political orsocial equality.
Their candidate was the gentlest, broadest, sanest46 man within theirranks. Unless the nation had already gone mad they felt that in histriumph they would be safe from the Red Menace which stalked throughtheir crowded hall. Their radical leaders were furious. But they werecompelled to submit and fight for his election. The life of their partydepended on it. Their own life was bound up in their party.
There was really but one issue before the nation--peace or war. The newparty, both in its candidate and its platform, sought with all its powerto stem the Red Tide of the Blood Feud which John Brown had raised.
Their well-meant efforts came too late.
War is a condition of mind primarily. Its causes are alwayspsychological--not physical. The result of this state of mind is anabnormal condition of the nervous system, in which the thoughts and actsof men are controlled by the collective mind--the mob mind. Indiansexecute their war dances for days and nights to produce this mentalstate. Once it had been created, the war cry alone can be heard.
This mind, once formed, deliberative bodies cease to exist. The Congressof the United States ceased to exist as a deliberative body at thesession which followed John Brown's execution.
The atmosphere of both the Senate and the House was electric with hatredand passion. Men who met at the last session as friends, now glared intoeach other's faces, mortal enemies.
L. Q. C. Lamar, the young statesman from Mississippi, threw a firebrandinto the House on the day of its opening.
"The Republicans of this House are not guiltless of the blood of JohnBrown, his conspirators48, and the innocent victims of his ruthlessvengeance."Keitt of South Carolina shouted:
"The South asks nothing but her rights. I would have no more, but asGod is my judge I would shatter this republic from turret49 to foundationstone before I would take a little less!"Old Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania scrambled50 up on his club foot andwith a face flaming with scorn replied:
"I do not blame gentlemen of the South for using this threat of rendingGod's creation from foundation to turret. They have tried it fiftytimes, and fifty times they have found weak and recreant51 tremblers inthe North who have been affected52 by it, and who have retreated beforethese intimidations."He turned to the group of conservative members of his own party with alook of triumphant53 taunting54. He wanted war. He courted it. He saw itscoming with a shout of joy.
The House was in an uproar55. Members leaped from their seats and jammedthe aisles56, shouting, cheering, hissing57, catcalling. The clerk waspowerless to preserve order.
For two months the bedlam58 continued while they voted in vain to electa Speaker. The new party was determined59 to have John Sherman. Theopposition was divided but finally chose Mr. Pennington, a moderate ofmediocre ability.
During these eight weeks of senseless wrangling60 the members began to armthemselves with revolvers. One of the weapons dropped from the pocket ofa member from New York and he was accused of attempting to draw it foruse against an opponent.
The sergeant61 at arms was summoned and pandemonium62 broke loose. For amoment it seemed that a pitched battle before the dais of the Speakerwas inevitable.
John Sherman rose and made a remarkable63 statement--remarkable in showinghow the mob mind will inevitably64 destroy the mind of the individualuntil its unity is undisputed. He spoke65 in tones of reconciliation66.
"When I came here I did not believe that the Slavery question would comeup; and but for the unfortunate affair of Brown's at Harper's Ferry Ido not believe that there would have been any feeling on the subject.
Northern members came here with kindly67 feelings, no man approving of thedeed of John Brown, and every man willing to say so, every man willingto admit it an act of lawless violence."It was true. And yet before that mad session closed they were Brown'sdisciples and he had become their martyr68 here. The mob mind devoursindividuality, and reduces all to the common denominator of the archaicimpulse.
In the fierce conflict for Speaker four years before, when Banks hadbeen chosen, Slavery was then the issue. Good humor, courtesy and reasonruled the contest which lasted three days longer than the fight overSherman. Instead of courtesy and reason--hatred, passion, defiance,assertion were now the order of the day. Four years before a threat ofdisunion was made on the floor. The House received it with shouts ofderision and laughter. Keitt's dramatic threat had thrown the House intoan uproar which had to be quelled69 by the sergeant at arms. Envy, hate,jealousy, spite, passion were supreme. The favorite epithets70 hurledacross the Chamber72 were:
"Slave driver!""Nigger thief!"The newspapers no longer reported speeches as delivered. They wererevised and raised to greater powers of vituperation and abuse. Insteadof a convincing, logical speech, their champion hurled71 a "torrent73 ofscathing denunciation," "withering74 sarcasm," and "crushing invective75!"At this historic session appeared the first suit of Confederate Gray,worn by Roger A. Pryor, the brilliant young member from Virginia.
Immediately a Northern member leaped to his feet. He had caught thesignificance of the Southern emblem76. He gave a moment's silent surveyto the gray suit and opened his address on the State of the Country bysaying:
"Virginia, instead of clothing herself in sheep's wool, had better donher appropriate garb77 of sackcloth and ashes!"The nation was already at war before Abraham Lincoln left Springfieldfor Washington to take his seat as President. It was deemed wise that heshould enter the city practically in disguise.
In vain the great heart that beat within his lonely breast tried to stemthe Red Tide in his first inaugural78. With infinite pathos79 he turnedtoward the South and spoke his words of peace, reconciliation andassurance:
"I have no purpose directly or indirectly80 to interfere81 with theinstitution of Slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I haveno lawful82 right to do so, and I have no inclination83 to do so."His closing sentences were spoken with his deep eyes swimming in tears.
"I am loath84 to close. We are not enemies but friends. We must not beenemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bondsof affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from everybattlefield and patriot85 grave, to every living heart and hearthstone allover this broad land, will yet swell38 the chorus of the union when againtouched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."The noblest men of North and South joined with the new President,pleading for peace. They knew by the light of reason that a war ofbrothers would be a wanton crime. They proved by irresistible86 logic47 thatevery issue dividing the nation could be settled at the Council Table.
They pleaded in vain. They pitched straws against a hurricane. From thedeep, subconscious87 nature of man, the lair88 of the beast, came only thegrowl of challenge to mortal combat.
The new President is but a leaf tossed by the wind. The union of whichour fathers dreamed is rent in twain. With tumult89 and shout, the armiesgather, blue and gray, brother against brother. A madman's soul nowrides the storm and leads the serried90 lines as they sweep to the redrendezvous with Death.
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收听单词发音
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1
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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paranoiac
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| n.偏执狂患者 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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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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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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devours
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| 吞没( devour的第三人称单数 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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glorification
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| n.赞颂 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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pickpockets
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| n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 ) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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holocaust
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| n.大破坏；大屠杀 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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40
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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41
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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42
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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46
sanest
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| adj.心智健全的( sane的最高级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的 | |
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47
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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48
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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49
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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50
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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51
recreant
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| n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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53
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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54
taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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55
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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56
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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57
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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65
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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69
quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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epithets
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| n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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71
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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73
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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74
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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75
invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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76
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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77
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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78
inaugural
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| adj.就职的；n.就职典礼 | |
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79
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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80
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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81
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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82
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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83
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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84
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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85
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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86
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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87
subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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88
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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89
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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90
serried
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| adj.拥挤的；密集的 | |
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