“In vain thou deniest it,” says the Professor; “thou art my Brother. Thy very Hatred8, thy very Envy, those foolish Lies thou tellest of me in thy splenetic humor: what is all this but an inverted9 Sympathy? Were I a Steam-engine, wouldst thou take the trouble to tell lies of me? Not thou! I should grind all unheeded, whether badly or well.
“Wondrous10 truly are the bonds that unite us one and all; whether by the soft binding11 of Love, or the iron chaining of Necessity, as we like to choose it. More than once have I said to myself, of some perhaps whimsically strutting12 Figure, such as provokes whimsical thoughts: ‘Wert thou, my little Brotherkin, suddenly covered up within the largest imaginable Glass bell, — what a thing it were, not for thyself only, but for the world! Post Letters, more or fewer, from all the four winds, impinge against thy Glass walls, but have to drop unread: neither from within comes there question or response into any Post-bag; thy Thoughts fall into no friendly ear or heart, thy Manufacture into no purchasing hand: thou art no longer a circulating venous-arterial Heart, that, taking and giving, circulatest through all Space and all Time: there has a Hole fallen out in the immeasurable, universal World-tissue, which must be darned up again!’
“Such venous-arterial circulation, of Letters, verbal Messages, paper and other Packages, going out from him and coming in, are a blood-circulation, visible to the eye: but the finer nervous circulation, by which all things, the minutest that he does, minutely influence all men, and the very look of his face blesses or curses whomso it lights on, and so generates ever new blessing13 or new cursing: all this you cannot see, but only imagine. I say, there is not a red Indian, hunting by Lake Winnipeg, can quarrel with his squaw, but the whole world must smart for it: will not the price of beaver14 rise? It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble15 from my hand alters the centre of gravity of the Universe.
“If now an existing generation of men stand so woven together, not less indissolubly does generation with generation. Hast thou ever meditated16 on that word, Tradition: how we inherit not Life only, but all the garniture and form of Life; and work, and speak, and even think and feel, as our Fathers, and primeval grandfathers, from the beginning, have given it us? — Who printed thee, for example, this unpretending Volume on the Philosophy of Clothes? Not the Herren Stillschweigen and Company; but Cadmus of Thebes, Faust of Mentz, and innumerable others whom thou knowest not. Had there been no Moesogothic Ulfila, there had been no English Shakspeare, or a different one. Simpleton! It was Tubal-cain that made thy very Tailor’s needle, and sewed that court-suit of thine.
“Yes, truly, if Nature is one, and a living indivisible whole, much more is Mankind, the Image that reflects and creates Nature, without which Nature were not. As palpable lifestreams in that wondrous Individual Mankind, among so many life-streams that are not palpable, flow on those main currents of what we call Opinion; as preserved in Institutions, Polities, Churches, above all in Books. Beautiful it is to understand and know that a Thought did never yet die; that as thou, the originator thereof, hast gathered it and created it from the whole Past, so thou wilt transmit it to the whole Future. It is thus that the heroic heart, the seeing eye of the first times, still feels and sees in us of the latest; that the Wise Man stands ever encompassed17, and spiritually embraced, by a cloud of witnesses and brothers; and there is a living, literal Communion of Saints, wide as the World itself, and as the History of the World.
“Noteworthy also, and serviceable for the progress of this same Individual, wilt thou find his subdivision into Generations. Generations are as the Days of toilsome Mankind: Death and Birth are the vesper and the matin bells, that summon Mankind to sleep, and to rise refreshed for new advancement19. What the Father has made, the Son can make and enjoy; but has also work of his own appointed him. Thus all things wax, and roll onwards; Arts, Establishments, Opinions, nothing is completed, but ever completing. Newton has learned to see what Kepler saw; but there is also a fresh heaven-derived force in Newton; he must mount to still higher points of vision. So too the Hebrew Lawgiver is, in due time, followed by an Apostle of the Gentiles. In the business of Destruction, as this also is from time to time a necessary work, thou findest a like sequence and perseverance21: for Luther it was as yet hot enough to stand by that burning of the Pope’s Bull; Voltaire could not warm himself at the glimmering22 ashes, but required quite other fuel. Thus likewise, I note, the English Whig has, in the second generation, become an English Radical23; who, in the third again, it is to be hoped, will become an English Rebuilder. Find Mankind where thou wilt, thou findest it in living movement, in progress faster or slower: the Phoenix soars aloft, hovers24 with outstretched wings, filling Earth with her music; or, as now, she sinks, and with spheral swan-song immolates25 herself in flame, that she may soar the higher and sing the clearer.”
Let the friends of social order, in such a disastrous26 period, lay this to heart, and derive20 from it any little comfort they can. We subjoin another passage, concerning Titles:—
“Remark, not without surprise,” says Teufelsdrockh, “how all high Titles of Honor come hitherto from Fighting. Your Herzog (Duke, Dux) is Leader of Armies; your Earl (Jarl) is Strong Man; your Marshal cavalry27 Horse-shoer. A Millennium28, or reign29 of Peace and Wisdom, having from of old been prophesied30, and becoming now daily more and more indubitable, may it not be apprehended31 that such Fighting titles will cease to be palatable32, and new and higher need to be devised?
“The only Title wherein I, with confidence, trace eternity33 is that of King. Konig (King), anciently Konning, means Ken-ning (Cunning), or which is the same thing, Can-ning. Ever must the Sovereign of Mankind be fitly entitled King.”
“Well, also,” says he elsewhere, “was it written by Theologians: a King rules by divine right. He carries in him an authority from God, or man will never give it him. Can I choose my own King? I can choose my own King Popinjay, and play what farce34 or tragedy I may with him: but he who is to be my Ruler, whose will is to be higher than my will, was chosen for me in Heaven. Neither except in such Obedience36 to the Heaven-chosen is Freedom so much as conceivable.”
The Editor will here admit that, among all the wondrous provinces of Teufelsdrockh’s spiritual world, there is none he walks in with such astonishment37, hesitation38, and even pain, as in the Political. How, with our English love of Ministry39 and Opposition40, and that generous conflict of Parties, mind warming itself against mind in their mutual41 wrestle42 for the Public Good, by which wrestle, indeed, is our invaluable43 Constitution kept warm and alive; how shall we domesticate44 ourselves in this spectral45 Necropolis, or rather City both of the Dead and of the Unborn, where the Present seems little other than an inconsiderable Film dividing the Past and the Future? In those dim long-drawn expanses, all is so immeasurable; much so disastrous, ghastly; your very radiances and straggling light-beams have a supernatural character. And then with such an indifference46, such a prophetic peacefulness (accounting the inevitably47 coming as already here, to him all one whether it be distant by centuries or only by days), does he sit; — and live, you would say, rather in any other age than in his own! It is our painful duty to announce, or repeat, that, looking into this man, we discern a deep, silent, slow-burning, inextinguishable Radicalism48, such as fills us with shuddering49 admiration50.
Thus, for example, he appears to make little even of the Elective Franchise51; at least so we interpret the following: “Satisfy yourselves,” he says, “by universal, indubitable experiment, even as ye are now doing or will do, whether FREEDOM, heaven-born and leading heavenward, and so vitally essential for us all, cannot peradventure be mechanically hatched and brought to light in that same Ballot–Box of yours; or at worst, in some other discoverable or devisable Box, Edifice52, or Steam-mechanism. It were a mighty53 convenience; and beyond all feats54 of manufacture witnessed hitherto.” Is Teufelsdrockh acquainted with the British constitution, even slightly? — He says, under another figure: “But after all, were the problem, as indeed it now everywhere is, To rebuild your old House from the top downwards56 (since you must live in it the while), what better, what other, than the Representative Machine will serve your turn? Meanwhile, however, mock me not with the name of Free, ‘when you have but knit up my chains into ornamental57 festoons.’" — Or what will any member of the Peace Society make of such an assertion as this: “The lower people everywhere desire War. Not so unwisely; there is then a demand for lower people — to be shot!”
Gladly, therefore, do we emerge from those soul-confusing labyrinths58 of speculative59 Radicalism, into somewhat clearer regions. Here, looking round, as was our hest, for “organic filaments,” we ask, may not this, touching60 “Hero-worship,” be of the number? It seems of a cheerful character; yet so quaint55, so mystical, one knows not what, or how little, may lie under it. Our readers shall look with their own eyes:—
“True is it that, in these days, man can do almost all things, only not obey. True likewise that whoso cannot obey cannot be free, still less bear rule; he that is the inferior of nothing, can be the superior of nothing, the equal of nothing. Nevertheless, believe not that man has lost his faculty61 of Reverence62; that if it slumber63 in him, it has gone dead. Painful for man is that same rebellious64 Independence, when it has become inevitable65; only in loving companionship with his fellows does he feel safe; only in reverently66 bowing down before the Higher does he feel himself exalted67.
“Or what if the character of our so troublous Era lay even in this: that man had forever cast away Fear, which is the lower; but not yet risen into perennial68 Reverence, which is the higher and highest?
“Meanwhile, observe with joy, so cunningly has Nature ordered it, that whatsoever69 man ought to obey, he cannot but obey. Before no faintest revelation of the Godlike did he ever stand irreverent; least of all, when the Godlike showed itself revealed in his fellow-man. Thus is there a true religious Loyalty70 forever rooted in his heart; nay in all ages, even in ours, it manifests itself as a more or less orthodox Hero-worship. In which fact, that Hero-worship exists, has existed, and will forever exist, universally among Mankind, mayest thou discern the corner-stone of living rock, whereon all Polities for the remotest time may stand secure.”
Do our readers discern any such corner-stone, or even so much as what Teufelsdrockh, is looking at? He exclaims, “Or hast thou forgotten Paris and Voltaire? How the aged35, withered71 man, though but a Sceptic, Mocker, and millinery Court-poet, yet because even he seemed the Wisest, Best, could drag mankind at his chariot-wheels, so that princes coveted72 a smile from him, and the loveliest of France would have laid their hair beneath his feet! All Paris was one vast Temple of Hero-worship; though their Divinity, moreover, was of feature too apish.
“But if such things,” continues he, “were done in the dry tree, what will be done in the green? If, in the most parched73 season of Man’s History, in the most parched spot of Europe, when Parisian life was at best but a scientific Hortus Siccus, bedizened with some Italian Gumflowers, such virtue74 could come out of it; what is to be looked for when Life again waves leafy and bloomy, and your Hero–Divinity shall have nothing apelike, but be wholly human? Know that there is in man a quite indestructible Reverence for whatsoever holds of Heaven, or even plausibly75 counterfeits76 such holding. Show the dullest clodpoll, show the haughtiest77 featherhead, that a soul higher than himself is actually here; were his knees stiffened78 into brass79, he must down and worship.”
Organic filaments, of a more authentic80 sort, mysteriously spinning themselves, some will perhaps discover in the following passage:—
“There is no Church, sayest thou? The voice of Prophecy has gone dumb? This is even what I dispute: but in any case, hast thou not still Preaching enough? A Preaching Friar settles himself in every village; and builds a pulpit, which he calls Newspaper. Therefrom he preaches what most momentous81 doctrine82 is in him, for man’s salvation83; and dost not thou listen, and believe? Look well, thou seest everywhere a new Clergy84 of the Mendicant85 Orders, some barefooted, some almost bare-backed, fashion itself into shape, and teach and preach, zealously86 enough, for copper87 alms and the love of God. These break in pieces the ancient idols88; and, though themselves too often reprobate89, as idol-breakers are wont to be, mark out the sites of new Churches, where the true God-ordained, that are to follow, may find audience, and minister. Said I not, Before the old skin was shed, the new had formed itself beneath it?”
Perhaps also in the following; wherewith we now hasten to knit up this ravelled sleeve:—
“But there is no Religion?” reiterates90 the Professor. “Fool! I tell thee, there is. Hast thou well considered all that lies in this immeasurable froth-ocean we name LITERATURE? Fragments of a genuine Church-Homiletic lie scattered91 there, which Time will assort: nay fractions even of a Liturgy92 could I point out. And knowest thou no Prophet, even in the vesture, environment, and dialect of this age? None to whom the Godlike had revealed itself, through all meanest and highest forms of the Common; and by him been again prophetically revealed: in whose inspired melody, even in these rag-gathering and rag-burning days, Man’s Life again begins, were it but afar off, to be divine? Knowest thou none such? I know him, and name him — Goethe.
“But thou as yet standest in no Temple; joinest in no Psalm93-worship; feelest well that, where there is no ministering Priest, the people perish? Be of comfort! Thou art not alone, if thou have Faith. Spake we not of a Communion of Saints, unseen, yet not unreal, accompanying and brother-like embracing thee, so thou be worthy18? Their heroic Sufferings rise up melodiously94 together to Heaven, out of all lands, and out of all times, as a sacred Miserere; their heroic Actions also, as a boundless95 everlasting96 Psalm of Triumph. Neither say that thou hast now no Symbol of the Godlike. Is not God’s Universe a Symbol of the Godlike; is not Immensity a Temple; is not Man’s History, and Men’s History, a perpetual Evangel? Listen, and for organ-music thou wilt ever, as of old, hear the Morning Stars sing together.”
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1
phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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filaments
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| n.（电灯泡的）灯丝( filament的名词复数 )；丝极；细丝；丝状物 | |
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melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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strutting
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| 加固，支撑物 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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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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hovers
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| 鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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immolates
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| vt.宰杀…作祭品（immolate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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millennium
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| n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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wrestle
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| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
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invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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domesticate
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| vt.驯养；使归化，使专注于家务 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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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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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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radicalism
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| n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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franchise
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| n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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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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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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plausibly
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| 似真地 | |
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counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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haughtiest
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| haughty（傲慢的，骄傲的）的最高级形式 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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82
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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85
mendicant
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| n.乞丐；adj.行乞的 | |
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86
zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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87
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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88
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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reiterates
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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liturgy
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| n.礼拜仪式 | |
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psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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melodiously
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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