The government of a state consists in its customs, laws, and councils, and their enforcements.
I. Customs.
As one person primarily differs from another by fineness of nature, and, secondarily, by fineness of training, so also, a polite nation differs from a savage2 one, first, by the refinement3 of its nature, and secondly4 by the delicacy5 of its customs.
In the completeness of custom, which is the nation’s self-government, there are three stages — first, fineness in method of doing or of being; — called the manner or moral of acts; secondly, firmness in holding such method after adoption6, so that it shall become a habit in the character: i. e., a constant “having” or “behaving;” and, lastly, ethical7 power in performance and endurance, which is the skill following on habit, and the ease reached by frequency of right doing.
The sensibility of the nation is indicated by the fineness of its customs; its courage, continence, and self-respect by its persistence8 in them.
By sensibility I mean its natural perception of beauty, fitness, and rightness; or of what is lovely, decent, and just: faculties9 dependent much on race, and the primal10 signs of fine breeding in man; but cultivable also by education, and necessarily perishing without it. True education has, indeed, no other function than the development of these faculties, and of the relative will. It has been the great error of modern intelligence to mistake science for education. You do not educate a man by telling him what he knew not, but by making him what he was not.
And making him what he will remain for ever: for no wash of weeds will bring back the faded purple. And in that dyeing there are two processes — first, the cleansing12 and wringing-out, which is the baptism with water; and then the infusing of the blue and scarlet13 colours, gentleness and justice, which is the baptism with fire.
107.54 The customs and manners of a sensitive and highly-trained race are always Vital: that is to say, they are orderly manifestations14 of intense life, like the habitual15 action of the fingers of a musician. The customs and manners of a vile16 and rude race, on the contrary, are conditions of decay: they are not, properly speaking, habits, but incrustations; not restraints, or forms, of life; but gangrenes, noisome17, and the beginnings of death.
And generally, so far as custom attaches itself to indolence instead of action, and to prejudice instead of perception, it takes this deadly character, so that thus
Custom hangs upon us with a weight
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life.
But that weight, if it become impetus18, (living instead of dead weight) is just what gives value to custom, when it works with life, instead of against it.
108. The high ethical training of a nation implies perfect Grace, Pitifulness, and Peace; it is irreconcilably19 inconsistent with filthy20 or mechanical employments — with the desire of money — and with mental states of anxiety, jealousy22, or indifference23 to pain. The present insensibility of the upper classes of Europe to the surrounding aspects of suffering, uncleanness, and crime, binds24 them not only into one responsibility with the sin, but into one dishonour25 with the foulness26, which rot at their thresholds. The crimes daily recorded in the police-courts of London and Paris (and much more those which are unrecorded) are a disgrace to the whole body politic;55 they are, as in the body natural, stains of disease on a face of delicate skin, making the delicacy itself frightful28. Similarly, the filth21 and poverty permitted or ignored in the midst of us are as dishonourable to the whole social body, as in the body natural it is to wash the face, but leave the hands and feet foul27. Christ’s way is the only true one: begin at the feet; the face will take care of itself.
109. Yet, since necessarily, in the frame of a nation, nothing but the head can be of gold, and the feet, for the work they have to do, must be part of iron, part of clay; — foul or mechanical work is always reduced by a noble race to the minimum in quantity; and, even then, performed and endured, not without sense of degradation29, as a fine temper is wounded by the sight of the lower offices of the body. The highest conditions of human society reached hitherto have cast such work to slaves; but supposing slavery of a politically defined kind to be done away with, mechanical and foul employment must, in all highly organized states, take the aspect either of punishment or probation30. All criminals should at once be set to the most dangerous and painful forms of it, especially to work in mines and at furnaces,56 so as to relieve the innocent population as far as possible: of merely rough (not mechanical) manual labour, especially agricultural, a large portion should be done by the upper classes; —bodily health, and sufficient contrast and repose32 for the mental functions, being unattainable without it; what necessarily inferior labour remains to be done, as especially in manufactures, should, and always will, when the relations of society are reverent34 and harmonious35, fall to the lot of those who, for the time, are fit for nothing better. For as, whatever the perfectness of the educational system, there must remain infinite differences between the natures and capacities of men; and these differing natures are generally rangeable under the two qualities of lordly, (or tending towards rule, construction, and harmony), and servile (or tending towards misrule, destruction, and discord); and since the lordly part is only in a state of profitableness while ruling, and the servile only in a state of redeemableness while serving, the whole health of the state depends on the manifest separation of these two elements of its mind; for, if the servile part be not separated and rendered visible in service, it mixes with, and corrupts36, the entire body of the state; and if the lordly part be not distinguished37, and set to rule, it is crushed and lost, being turned to no account, so that the rarest qualities of the nation are all given to it in vain.57
II. Laws.
110. These are the definitions and bonds of custom, or of what the nation desires should become custom.
Law is either archic,58 (of direction), meristic, (of division), or critic, (of judgment38).
Archic law is that of appointment and precept39: it defines what is and is not to be done.
Meristic law is that of balance and distribution: it defines what is and is not to be possessed40.
Critic law is that of discernment and award: it defines what is and is not to be suffered.
111. A. Archic Law. If we choose to unite the laws of precept and distribution under the head of “statutes,” all law is simply either of statute41 or judgment; that is, first the establishment of ordinance42, and, secondly, the assignment of the reward, or penalty, due to its observance or violation43.
To some extent these two forms of law must be associated, and, with every ordinance, the penalty of disobedience to it be also determined44. But since the degrees and guilt45 of disobedience vary, the determination of due reward and punishment must be modified by discernment of special fact, which is peculiarly the office of the judge, as distinguished from that of the lawgiver and law-sustainer, or king; not but that the two offices are always theoretically, and in early stages, or limited numbers, of society, are often practically, united in the same person or persons.
112. Also, it is necessary to keep clearly in view the distinction between these two kinds of law, because the possible range of law is wider in proportion to their separation. There are many points of conduct respecting which the nation may wisely express its will by a written precept or resolve, yet not enforce it by penalty:59 and the expedient46 degree of penalty is always quite a separate consideration from the expedience47 of the statute; for the statute may often be better enforced by mercy than severity, and is also easier in the bearing, and less likely to be abrogated48. Farther, laws of precept have reference especially to youth, and concern themselves with training; but laws of judgment to manhood, and concern themselves with remedy and reward. There is a highly curious feeling in the English mind against educational law: we think no man’s liberty should be interfered49 with till he has done irrevocable wrong; whereas it is then just too late for the only gracious and kingly interference, which is to hinder him from doing it. Make your educational laws strict, and your criminal ones may be gentle; but, leave youth its liberty and you will have to dig dungeons50 for age. And it is good for a man that he “wear the yoke51 in his youth:” for the reins52 may then be of silken thread; and with sweet chime of silver bells at the bridle53; but, for the captivity54 of age, you must forge the iron fetter55, and cast the passing bell.
113. Since no law can be, in a final or true sense, established, but by right, (all unjust laws involving the ultimate necessity of their own abrogation56), the law-giving can only become a law-sustaining power in so far as it is Royal, or “right doing;"— in so far, that is, as it rules, not misrules, and orders, not dis-orders, the things submitted to it. Throned on this rock of justice, the kingly power becomes established and establishing; “θειο?,” or divine, and, therefore, it is literally57 true that no ruler can err11, so long as he is a ruler, or αρχων ουδει? αμαρτανει τοτε ?ταν αρχων η; perverted58 by careless thought, which has cost the world somewhat, into —“the king can do no wrong.”
114. B. Meristic Law,60 or that of the tenure59 of property, first determines what every individual possesses by right, and secures it to him; and what he possesses by wrong, and deprives him of it. But it has a far higher provisory function: it determines what every man should possess, and puts it within his reach on due conditions; and what he should not possess, and puts this out of his reach, conclusively60.
115. Every article of human wealth has certain conditions attached to its merited possession; when these are unobserved, possession becomes rapine. And the object of meristic law is not only to secure to every man his rightful share (the share, that is, which he has worked for, produced, or received by gift from a rightful owner), but to enforce the due conditions of possession, as far as law may conveniently reach; for instance, that land shall not be wantonly allowed to run to waste, that streams shall not be poisoned by the persons through whose properties they pass, nor air be rendered unwholesome beyond given limits. Laws of this kind exist already in rudimentary degree, but need large development; the just laws respecting the possession of works of art have not hitherto been so much as conceived, and the daily loss of national wealth, and of its use, in this respect, is quite incalculable. And these laws need revision quite as much respecting property in national as in private hands. For instance: the public are under a vague impression that, because they have paid for the contents of the British Museum, every one has an equal right to see and to handle them. But the public have similarly paid for the contents of Woolwich arsenal62; yet do not expect free access to it, or handling of its contents. The British Museum is neither a free circulating library, nor a free school: it is a place for the safe preservation63, and exhibition on due occasion, of unique books, unique objects of natural history, and unique works of art; its books can no more be used by everybody than its coins can be handled, or its statues cast. There ought to be free libraries in every quarter of London, with large and complete reading-rooms attached; so also free educational museums should be open in every quarter of London, all day long, until late at night, well lighted, well catalogued, and rich in contents both of art and natural history. But neither the British Museum nor National Gallery is a school; they are treasuries64; and both should be severely65 restricted in access and in use. Unless some order of this kind is made, and that soon, for the MSS. department of the Museum, (its superintendents66 have sorrowfully told me this, and repeatedly), the best MSS. in the collection will be destroyed, irretrievably, by the careless and continual handling to which they are now subjected.
Finally, in certain conditions of a nation’s progress, laws limiting accumulation of any kind of property may be found expedient.
116. C. Critic Law determines questions of injury, and assigns due rewards and punishments to conduct.
Two curious economical questions arise laterally67 with respect to this branch of law, namely, the cost of crime, and the cost of judgment. The cost of crime is endured by nations ignorantly, that expense being nowhere stated in their budgets; the cost of judgment, patiently, (provided only it can be had pure for the money), because the science, or perhaps we ought rather to say the art, of law, is felt to found a noble profession and discipline; so that civilized68 nations are usually glad that a number of persons should be supported by exercise in oratory69 and analysis. But it has not yet been calculated what the practical value might have been, in other directions, of the intelligence now occupied in deciding, through courses of years, what might have been decided70 as justly, had the date of judgment been fixed71, in as many hours. Imagine one half of the funds which any great nation devotes to dispute by law, applied72 to the determination of physical questions in medicine, agriculture, and theoretic science; and calculate the probable results within the next ten years!
I say nothing yet of the more deadly, more lamentable73 loss, involved in the use of purchased, instead of personal, justice —"επακτω παρ αλλων—απορια οικεων.”
117. In order to true analysis of critic law, we must understand the real meaning of the word “injury.”
We commonly understand by it, any kind of harm done by one man to another; but we do not define the idea of harm: sometimes we limit it to the harm which the sufferer is conscious of; whereas much the worst injuries are those he is unconscious of; and, at other times, we limit the idea to violence, or restraint; whereas much the worse forms of injury are to be accomplished74 by indolence, and the withdrawal75 of restraint.
118. “Injury” is then simply the refusal, or violation of, any man’s right or claim upon his fellows: which claim, much talked of in modern times, under the term “right,” is mainly resolvable into two branches: a man’s claim not to be hindered from doing what he should; and his claim to be hindered from doing what he should not; these two forms of hindrance76 being intensified77 by reward, help, and fortune, or Fors, on one side, and by punishment, impediment, and even final arrest, or Mors, on the other.
119. Now, in order to a man’s obtaining these two rights, it is clearly needful that the worth of him should be approximately known; as well as the want of worth, which has, unhappily, been usually the principal subject of study for critic law, careful hitherto only to mark degrees of de-merit, instead of merit; — assigning, indeed, to the Deficiencies (not always, alas78! even to these) just estimate, fine, or penalty; but to the Efficiencies, on the other side, which are by much the more interesting, as well as the only profitable part of its subject, assigning neither estimate nor aid.
120. Now, it is in this higher and perfect function of critic law, enabling instead of disabling, that it becomes truly Kingly, instead of Draconic79: (what Providence80 gave the great, wrathful legislator his name?): that is, it becomes the law of man and of life, instead of the law of the worm and of death — both of these laws being set in changeless poise82 one against another, and the enforcement of both being the eternal function of the lawgiver, and true claim of every living soul: such claim being indeed strong to be mercifully hindered, and even, if need be, abolished, when longer existence means only deeper destruction, but stronger still to be mercifully helped, and recreated, when longer existence and new creation mean nobler life. So that reward and punishment will be found to resolve themselves mainly61 into help and hindrance; and these again will issue naturally from time recognition of deserving, and the just reverence83 and just wrath81 which follow instinctively84 on such recognition.
121. I say, “follow,” but, in reality, they are part of the recognition. Reverence is as instinctive85 as anger; — both of them instant on true vision: it is sight and understanding that we have to teach, and these are reverence. Make a man perceive worth, and in its reflection he sees his own relative unworth, and worships thereupon inevitably86, not with stiff courtesy, but rejoicingly, passionately88, and, best of all, restfully: for the inner capacity of awe89 and love is infinite in man, and only in finding these, can we find peace. And the common insolences and petulances of the people, and their talk of equality, are not irreverence90 in them in the least, but mere31 blindness, stupefaction, and fog in the brains,62 the first sign of any cleansing away of which is, that they gain some power of discerning, and some patience in submitting to, their true counsellors and governors. In the mode of such discernment consists the real “constitution” of the state, more than in the titles or offices of the discerned person; for it is no matter, save in degree of mischief91, to what office a man is appointed, if he cannot fulfil it.
122. III. Government by Council.
This is the determination, by living authority, of the national conduct to be observed under existing circumstances; and the modification92 or enlargement, abrogation or enforcement, of the code of national law according to present needs or purposes. This government is necessarily always by council, for though the authority of it may be vested in one person, that person cannot form any opinion on a matter of public interest but by (voluntarily or involuntarily) submitting himself to the influence of others.
This government is always twofold — visible and invisible.
The visible government is that which nominally93 carries on the national business; determines its foreign relations, raises taxes, levies94 soldiers, orders war or peace, and otherwise becomes the arbiter95 of the national fortune. The invisible government is that exercised by all energetic and intelligent men, each in his sphere, regulating the inner will and secret ways of the people, essentially96 forming its character, and preparing its fate.
Visible governments are the toys of some nations, the diseases of others, the harness of some, the burdens of more the necessity of all. Sometimes their career is quite distinct from that of the people, and to write it, as the national history, is as if one should number the accidents which befall a man’s weapons and wardrobe, and call the list his biography. Nevertheless, a truly noble and wise nation necessarily has a noble and wise visible government, for its wisdom issues in that conclusively.
123. Visible governments are, in their agencies, capable of three pure forms, and of no more than three.
They are either monarchies98, where the authority is vested in one person; oligarchies99, when it is vested in a minority; or democracies, when vested in a majority.
But these three forms are not only, in practice, variously limited and combined, but capable of infinite difference in character and use, receiving specific names according to their variations; which names, being nowise agreed upon, nor consistently used, either in thought or writing, no man can at present tell, in speaking of any kind of government, whether he is understood; nor, in hearing, whether he understands. Thus we usually call a just government by one person a monarchy100, and an unjust or cruel one, a tyranny: this might be reasonable if it had reference to the divinity of true government; but to limit the term “oligarchy” to government by a few rich people, and to call government by a few wise or noble people “aristocracy,” is evidently absurd, unless it were proved that rich people never could be wise, or noble people rich; and farther absurd, because there are other distinctions in character, as well as riches or wisdom (greater purity of race, or strength of purpose, for instance), which may give the power of government to the few. So that if we had to give names to every group or kind of minority, we should have verbiage101 enough. But there is only one right name —“oligarchy.”
124. So also the terms “republic” and “democracy”63 are confused, especially in modern use; and both of them are liable to every sort of misconception. A republic means, properly, a polity in which the state, with its all, is at every man’s service, and every man, with his all, at the state’s service —(people are apt to lose sight of the last condition), but its government may nevertheless be oligarchic102 (consular, or decemviral, for instance), or monarchic103 (dictatorial). But a democracy means a state in which the government rests directly with the majority of the citizens. And both these conditions have been judged only by such accidents and aspects of them as each of us has had experience of; and sometimes both have been confused with anarchy104, as it is the fashion at present to talk of the “failure of republican institutions in America,” when there has never yet been in America any such thing as an institution, but only defiance105 of institution; neither any such thing as a res-publica, but only a multitudinous res-privata; every man for himself. It is not republicanism which fails now in America; it is your model science of political economy, brought to its perfect practice. There you may see competition, and the “law of demand and supply” (especially in paper), in beautiful and unhindered operation.64 Lust106 of wealth, and trust in it; vulgar faith in magnitude and multitude, instead of nobleness; besides that faith natural to backwoodsmen —“lucum ligna,”65— perpetual self-contemplation, issuing in passionate87 vanity; total ignorance of the finer and higher arts, and of all that they teach and bestow107; and the discontent of energetic minds unoccupied, frantic108 with hope of uncomprehended change, and progress they know not whither;66— these are the things that have “failed” in America; and yet not altogether failed — it is not collapse110, but collision; the greatest railroad accident on record, with fire caught from the furnace, and Catiline’s quenching111 “non aqua, sed ruina.”67 But I see not, in any of our talk of them, justice enough done to their erratic112 strength of purpose, nor any estimate taken of the strength of endurance of domestic sorrow, in what their women and children suppose a righteous cause. And out of that endurance and suffering, its own fruit will be born with time; [not abolition113 of slavery, however. See § 130.] and Carlyle’s prophecy of them (June, 1850), as it has now come true in the first clause, will, in the last:—
“America, too, will find that caucuses114, divisionalists, stump-oratory, and speeches to Buncombe will not carry men to the immortal115 gods; that the Washington Congress, and constitutional battle of Kilkenny cats is there, as here, naught116 for such objects; quite incompetent117 for such; and, in fine, that said sublime118 constitutional arrangement will require to be (with terrible throes, and travail119 such as few expect yet) remodelled120, abridged121, extended, suppressed, torn asunder122, put together again — not without heroic labour and effort, quite other than that of the stump-orator and the revival123 preacher, one day.”
125.68 Understand, then, once for all, that no form of government, provided it be a government at all, is, as such, to be either condemned124 or praised, or contested for in anywise, but by fools. But all forms of government are good just so far as they attain33 this one vital necessity of policy —that the wise and kind, few or many, shall govern the unwise and unkind; and they are evil so far as they miss of this, or reverse it. Not does the form, in any case, signify one whit109, but its firmness, and adaptation to the need; for if there be many foolish persons in a state, and few wise, then it is good that the few govern; and if there be many wise, and few foolish, then it is good that the many govern; and if many be wise, yet one wiser, then it is good that one should govern; and so on. Thus, we may have “the ant’s republic, and the realm of bees,” both good in their kind; one for groping, and the other for building; and nobler still, for flying; — the Ducal monarchy69 of those
Intelligent of seasons, that set forth125
The aery caravan126, high over seas.
126. Nor need we want examples, among the inferior creatures, of dissoluteness, as well as resoluteness127, in government. I once saw democracy finely illustrated128 by the beetles129 of North Switzerland, who by universal suffrage130, and elytric acclamation, one May twilight131, carried it, that they would fly over the Lake of Zug; and flew short, to the great disfigurement of the Lake of Zug — Κανθαρον λιμην— over some leagues square, and to the close of the cockchafer democracy for that year. Then, for tyranny, the old fable132 of the frogs and the stork133 finely touches one form of it; but truth will image it more closely than fable, for tyranny is not complete when it is only over the idle, but when it is over the laborious134 and the blind. This description of pelicans135 and climbing perch137, which I find quoted in one of our popular natural histories, out of Sir Emerson Tennant’s Ceylon, comes as near as may be to the true image of the thing:—
“Heavy rains came on, and as we stood on the high ground, we observed a pelican136 on the margin138 of the shallow pool gorging139 himself; our people went towards him, and raised a cry of ‘Fish, fish!’ We hurried down, and found numbers of fish struggling upward through the grass, in the rills formed by the trickling140 of the rain. There was scarcely water to cover them, but nevertheless they made rapid progress up the bank, on which our followers141 collected about two baskets of them. They were forcing their way up the knoll142, and had they not been interrupted, first by the pelican, and afterwards by ourselves, they would in a few minutes have gained the highest point, and descended143 on the other side into a pool which formed another portion of the tank. In going this distance, however, they must have used muscular exertion144 enough to have taken them half a mile on level ground; for at these places all the cattle and wild animals of the neighbourhood had latterly come to drink, so that the surface was everywhere indented145 with footmarks, in addition to the cracks in the surrounding baked mud, into which the fish tumbled in their progress. In those holes, which were deep, and the sides perpendicular146, they remained to die, and were carried off by kites and crows.”70
127. But whether governments be bad or good, one general disadvantage seems to attach to them in modern times — that they are all costly147.71 This, however, is not essentially the fault of the governments. If nations choose to play at war, they will always find their governments willing to lead the game, and soon coming under that term of Aristophanes, “καπηλοι ασπιδων,” “shield-sellers.” And when (πημ επι πηματι)72 the shields take the form of iron ships, with apparatus148 “for defence against liquid fire,"— as I see by latest accounts they are now arranging the decks in English dockyards — they become costly biers enough for the grey convoy149 of chief mourner waves, wreathed with funereal150 foam151, to bear back the dead upon; the massy shoulders of those corpse-bearers being intended for quite other work, and to bear the living, and food for the living, if we would let them.
128. Nor have we the least right to complain of our governments being expensive, so long as we set the government to do precisely152 the work which brings no return. If our present doctrines153 of political economy be just, let us trust them to the utmost; take that war business out of the government’s hands, and test therein the principles of supply and demand. Let our future sieges of Sebastopol be done by contract — no capture, no pay —(I admit that things might sometimes go better so); and let us sell the commands of our prospective154 battles, with our vicarages, to the lowest bidder155; so may we have cheap victories, and divinity. On the other hand, if we have so much suspicion of our science that we dare not trust it on military or spiritual business, would it not be but reasonable to try whether some authoritative156 handling may not prosper157 in matters utilitarian158? If we were to set our governments to do useful things instead of mischievous159, possibly even the apparatus itself might in time come to be less costly. The machine, applied to the building of the house, might perhaps pay, when it seems not to pay, applied to pulling it down. If we made in our dockyards ships to carry timber and coals, instead of cannon160, and with provision for the brightening of domestic solid culinary fire, instead of for the scattering161 of liquid hostile fire, it might have some effect on the taxes. Or suppose that we tried the experiment on land instead of water carriage; already the government, not unapproved, carries letters and parcels for us; larger packages may in time follow; — even general merchandise — why not, at last, ourselves? Had the money spent in local mistakes and vain private litigation, on the railroads of England, been laid out, instead, under proper government restraint, on really useful railroad work, and had no absurd expense been incurred162 in ornamenting163 stations, we might already have had — what ultimately it will be found we must have — quadruple rails, two for passengers, and two for traffic, on every great line; and we might have been carried in swift safety, and watched and warded164 by well-paid pointsmen, for half the present fares. [For, of course, a railroad company is merely an association of turnpike-keepers, who make the tolls165 as high as they can, not to mend the roads with, but to pocket. The public will in time discover this, and do away with turnpikes on railroads, as on all other public-ways.]
129. Suppose it should thus turn out, finally, that a true government set to true work, instead of being a costly engine, was a paying one? that your government, rightly organized, instead of itself subsisting166 by an income-tax, would produce its subjects some subsistence in the shape of an income dividend167? — police, and judges duly paid besides, only with less work than the state at present provides for them.
A true government set to true work! — Not easily to be imagined, still less obtained; but not beyond human hope or ingenuity168. Only you will have to alter your election systems somewhat, first. Not by universal suffrage, nor by votes purchasable with beer, is such government to be had. That is to say, not by universal equal suffrage. Every man upwards169 of twenty, who has been convicted of no legal crime, should have his say in this matter; but afterwards a louder voice, as he grows older, and approves himself wiser. If he has one vote at twenty, he should have two at thirty, four at forty, ten at fifty. For every single vote which he has with an income of a hundred a year, he should have ten with an income of a thousand, (provided you first see to it that wealth is, as nature intended it to be, the reward of sagacity and industry — not of good luck in a scramble170 or a lottery). For every single vote which he had as subordinate in any business, he should have two when he became a master; and every office and authority nationally bestowed171, implying trustworthiness and intellect, should have its known proportional number of votes attached to it. But into the detail and working of a true system in these matters we cannot now enter; we are concerned as yet with definitions only, and statements of first principles, which will be established now sufficiently172 for our purposes when we have examined the nature of that form of government last on the list in § 105 — the purely173 “Magistral,” exciting at present its full share of public notice, under its ambiguous title of “slavery.”
130. I have not, however, been able to ascertain174 in definite terms, from the declaimers against slavery, what they understand by it. If they mean only the imprisonment175 or compulsion of one person by another, such imprisonment or compulsion being in many cases highly expedient, slavery, so defined, would be no evil in itself, but only in its abuse; that is, when men are slaves, who should not be, or masters, who should not be, or even the fittest characters for either state, placed in it under conditions which should not be. It is not, for instance, a necessary condition of slavery, nor a desirable one, that parents should be separated from children, or husbands from wives; but the institution of war, against which people declaim with less violence, effects such separations — not unfrequently in a very permanent manner. To press a sailor, seize a white youth by conscription for a soldier, or carry off a black one for a labourer, may all be right acts, or all wrong ones, according to needs and circumstances. It is wrong to scourge176 a man unnecessarily. So it is to shoot him. Both must be done on occasion; and it is better and kinder to flog a man to his work, than to leave him idle till he robs, and flog him afterwards. The essential thing for all creatures is to be made to do right; how they are made to do it — by pleasant promises, or hard necessities, pathetic oratory, or the whip — is comparatively immaterial.73 To be deceived is perhaps as incompatible177 with human dignity as to be whipped; and I suspect the last method to be not the worst, for the help of many individuals. The Jewish nation throve under it, in the hand of a monarch97 reputed not unwise; it is only the change of whip for scorpion178 which is inexpedient; and that change is as likely to come to pass on the side of license179 as of law. For the true scorpion whips are those of the nation’s pleasant vices180, which are to it as St. John’s locusts181 — crown on the head, ravin in the mouth, and sting in the tail. If it will not bear the rule of Athena and Apollo, who shepherd without smiting182 (ου πληγη νεμοντε?), Athena at last calls no more in the corners of the streets; and then follows the rule of Tisiphone, who smites183 without shepherding.
131. If, however, by slavery, instead of absolute compulsion, is meant the purchase, by money, of the right of compulsion, such purchase is necessarily made whenever a portion of any territory is transferred, for money, from one monarch to another: which has happened frequently enough in history, without its being supposed that the inhabitants of the districts so transferred became therefore slaves. In this, as in the former case, the dispute seems about the fashion of the thing, rather than the fact of it. There are two rocks in mid-sea, on each of which, neglected equally by instructive and commercial powers, a handful of inhabitants live as they may. Two merchants bid for the two properties, but not in the same terms. One bids for the people, buys them, and sets them to work, under pain of scourge; the other bids for the rock, buys it, and throws the inhabitants into the sea. The former is the American, the latter the English method, of slavery; much is to be said for, and something against, both, which I hope to say in due time and place.74
132. If, however, slavery mean not merely the purchase of the right of compulsion, but the purchase of the body and soul of the creature itself for money, it is not, I think, among the black races that purchases of this kind are most extensively made, or that separate souls of a fine make fetch the highest price. This branch of the inquiry184 we shall have occasion also to follow out at some length, for in the worst instances of the selling of souls, we are apt to get, when we ask if the sale is valid185, only Pyrrhon’s answer75—“None can know.”
133. The fact is that slavery is not a political institution at all, but an inherent, natural, and eternal inheritance of a large portion of the human race — to whom, the more you give of their own free will, the more slaves they will make themselves. In common parlance186, we idly confuse captivity with slavery, and are always thinking of the difference between pine-trunks (Ariel in the pine), and cowslip-bells (“in the cowslip-bell I lie”), or between carrying wood and drinking (Caliban’s slavery and freedom), instead of noting the far more serious differences between Ariel and Caliban themselves, and the means by which, practically, that difference may be brought about or diminished.
134.76 Plato’s slave, in the Polity, who, well dressed and washed, aspires187 to the hand of his master’s daughter, corresponds curiously188 to Caliban attacking Prospero’s cell; and there is an undercurrent of meaning throughout, in the Tempest as well as in the Merchant of Venice; referring in this case to government, as in that to commerce. Miranda77 (“the wonderful,” so addressed first by Ferdinand, “Oh, you wonder!") corresponds to Homer’s Arete: Ariel and Caliban are respectively the spirits of faithful and imaginative labour, opposed to rebellious189, hurtful and slavish labour. Prospero (“for hope”), a true governor, is opposed to Sycorax, the mother of slavery, her name “Swine-raven,” indicating at once brutality190 and deathfulness; hence the line —
“As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed, with raven’s feather,"—&c.
For all these dreams of Shakespeare, as those of true and strong men must be, are “φαντασματα θεια, και σκιαι των οντων"— divine phantasms, and shadows of things that are. We hardly tell our children, willingly, a fable with no purport191 in it; yet we think God sends his best messengers only to sing fairy tales to us, fond and empty. The Tempest is just like a grotesque192 in a rich missal, “clasped where paynims pray.” Ariel is the spirit of generous and free-hearted service, in early stages of human society oppressed by ignorance and wild tyranny: venting193 groans194 as fast as mill-wheels strike; in shipwreck195 of states, dreadful; so that “all but mariners196 plunge197 in the brine, and quit the vessel198, then all afire with me,” yet having in itself the will and sweetness of truest peace, whence that is especially called “Ariel’s “ song, “Come unto these yellow sands, and there, take hands,” “courtesied when you have, and kissed, the wild waves whist:” (mind, it is “cortesia,” not “curtsey,") and read “quiet” for “whist,” if you want the full sense. Then you may indeed foot it featly, and sweet spirits bear the burden for you — with watch in the night, and call in early morning. The vis viva in elemental transformation199 follows —“Full fathom200 five thy father lies, of his bones are coral made.” Then, giving rest after labour, it “fetches dew from the still vext Bermo?thes, and, with a charm joined to their suffered labour, leaves men asleep.” Snatching away the feast of the cruel, it seems to them as a harpy; followed by the utterly201 vile, who cannot see it in any shape, but to whom it is the picture of nobody, it still gives shrill202 harmony to their false and mocking catch, “Thought is free;” but leads them into briers and foul places, and at last hollas the hounds upon them. Minister of fate against the great criminal, it joins itself with the “incensed seas and shores “— the sword that layeth at it cannot hold, and may “with bemocked-at stabs as soon kill the still-closing waters, as diminish one dowle that is in its plume203.” As the guide and aid of true love, it is always called by Prospero “fine” (the French “fine,” not the English), or “delicate”— another long note would be needed to explain all the meaning in this word. Lastly, its work done, and war, it resolves itself into the elements. The intense significance of the last song, “Where the bee sucks,” I will examine in its due place.
The types of slavery in Caliban are more palpable, and need not be dwelt on now: though I will notice them also, severally, in their proper places; — the heart of his slavery is in his worship: “That’s a brave god, and bears celestial204 — liquor.” But, in illustration of the sense in which the Latin “benignus” and “malignus” are to be coupled with Eleutheria and Douleia, note that Caliban’s torment205 is always the physical reflection of his own nature —“cramps” and “side stiches that shall pen thy breath up; thou shalt be pinched, as thick as honeycombs:” the whole nature of slavery being one cramp206 and cretinous contraction207. Fancy this of Ariel! You may fetter him, but you set no mark on him; you may put him to hard work and far journey, but you cannot give him a cramp.
135. I should dwell, even in these prefatory papers, at more length on this subject of slavery, had not all I would say been said already, in vain, (not, as I hope, ultimately in vain), by Carlyle, in the first of the Latter-day Pamphlets, which I commend to the reader’s gravest reading; together with that as much neglected, and still more immediately needed, on model prisons, and with the great chapter on “Permanence” (fifth of the last section of “Past and Present”), which sums what is known, and foreshadows, or rather forelights, all that is to be learned of National Discipline. I have only here farther to examine the nature of one world-wide and everlasting208 form of slavery, wholesome61 in use, as deadly in abuse; — the service of the rich by the poor.
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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refinement
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secondly
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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primal
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err
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cleansing
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scarlet
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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noisome
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impetus
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irreconcilably
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| （观点、目标或争议）不可调和的，不相容的 | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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foulness
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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frightful
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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probation
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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reverent
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harmonious
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corrupts
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的第三人称单数 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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distinguished
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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precept
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possessed
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statute
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ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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expedience
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| n.方便，私利，权宜 | |
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abrogated
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| 废除（法律等）( abrogate的过去式和过去分词 )； 取消； 去掉； 抛开 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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dungeons
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yoke
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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bridle
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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fetter
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| n./vt.脚镣，束缚 | |
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abrogation
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| n.取消，废除 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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tenure
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conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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arsenal
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preservation
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treasuries
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severely
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superintendents
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| 警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长 | |
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laterally
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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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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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alas
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draconic
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| adj.龙的，似龙的； 非常严厉的，非常严酷的 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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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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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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89
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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90
irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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91
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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92
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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93
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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94
levies
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| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
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95
arbiter
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| n.仲裁人，公断人 | |
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96
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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97
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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98
monarchies
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| n. 君主政体, 君主国, 君主政治 | |
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99
oligarchies
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| n.寡头统治的政府( oligarchy的名词复数 )；寡头政治的执政集团；寡头统治的国家 | |
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100
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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101
verbiage
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| n.冗词；冗长 | |
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102
oligarchic
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| adj.寡头政治的，主张寡头政治的 | |
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103
monarchic
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| 国王的，君主政体的 | |
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104
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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105
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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106
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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107
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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108
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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109
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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110
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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111
quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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112
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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113
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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114
caucuses
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| n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议 | |
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115
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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116
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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117
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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118
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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119
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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120
remodelled
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| v.改变…的结构[形状]( remodel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121
abridged
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| 削减的，删节的 | |
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122
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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123
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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124
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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125
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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126
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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127
resoluteness
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128
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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129
beetles
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| n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 ) | |
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130
suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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131
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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132
fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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133
stork
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| n.鹳 | |
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134
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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135
pelicans
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| n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 ) | |
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136
pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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137
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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138
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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139
gorging
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕 | |
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140
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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141
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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142
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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143
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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144
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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145
indented
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| adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版 | |
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146
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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147
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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148
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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149
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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150
funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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151
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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152
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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153
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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154
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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155
bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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156
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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157
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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158
utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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159
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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160
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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161
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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162
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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163
ornamenting
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| v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的现在分词 ) | |
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164
warded
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| 有锁孔的，有钥匙榫槽的 | |
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165
tolls
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| （缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏 | |
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166
subsisting
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的现在分词 ) | |
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167
dividend
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| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
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168
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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169
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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170
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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171
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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172
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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173
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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174
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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175
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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176
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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177
incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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178
scorpion
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| n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭 | |
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179
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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180
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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181
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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182
smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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183
smites
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的第三人称单数 ) | |
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184
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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185
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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186
parlance
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| n.说法；语调 | |
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187
aspires
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 ) | |
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188
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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189
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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190
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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191
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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192
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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193
venting
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| 消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风 | |
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194
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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195
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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196
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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197
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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198
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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199
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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200
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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201
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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202
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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203
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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204
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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205
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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206
cramp
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| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
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207
contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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208
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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