登陆注册
5363200000069

第69章

Education is their province; we derive from them civilization and refinement; and we may affirm of literature, what Otway has said of woman, "We had been brutes without you." It is thus that the acquisitions of the wise are handed down from age to age, and that we are enabled to mount step after step on the ladder of paradise, till we reach the skies.

But, inestimable as is the benefit we derive from books, there is something more searching and soul-stirring in the impulse of oral communication. We cannot shut our ears, as we shut our books; we cannot escape from the appeal of the man who addresses us with earnest speech and living conviction. It is thus, we are told, that, when Cicero pleaded before Caesar for the life of Ligarius, the conqueror of the world was troubled, and changed colour again and again, till at length the scroll prepared for the condemnation of the patriot fell from his hand. Sudden and irresistible conviction is chiefly the offspring of living speech. We may arm ourselves against the arguments of an author; but the strength of reasoning in him who addresses us, takes us at unawares. It is in the reciprocation of answer and rejoinder that the power of conversion specially lies. A book is an abstraction. It is but imperfectly that we feel, that a real man addresses us in it, and that what he delivers is the entire and deep-wrought sentiment of a being of flesh and blood like ourselves, a being who claims our attention, and is entitled to our deference. The living human voice, with a countenance and manner corresponding, constrains us to weigh what is said, shoots through us like a stroke of electricity, will not away from our memory, and haunts our very dreams. It is by means of this peculiarity in the nature of mind, that it has been often observed that there is from time to time an Augustan age in the intellect of nations, that men of superior powers shock with each other, and that light is struck from the collision, which most probably no one of these men would have given birth to, if they had not been thrown into mutual society and communion. And even so, upon a narrower scale, he that would aspire to do the most of which his faculties are susceptible, should seek the intercourse of his fellows, that his powers may be strengthened, and he may be kept free from that torpor and indolence of soul, which, without external excitement, are ever apt to take possession of us.

The man, who lives in solitude, and seldom communicates with minds of the same class as his own, works out his opinions with patient scrutiny, returns to the investigation again and again, imagines that he had examined the question on all sides, and at length arrives at what is to him a satisfactory conclusion. He resumes the view of this conclusion day after day; he finds in it an unalterable validity; he says in his heart, "Thus much I have gained; this is a real advance in the search after truth; I have added in a defined and palpable degree to what I knew before."

And yet it has sometimes happened, that this person, after having been shut up for weeks, or for a longer period, in his sanctuary, living, so far as related to an exchange of oral disquisitions with his fellow-men, like Robinson Crusoe in the desolate island, shall come into the presence of one, equally clear-sighted, curious and indefatigable with himself, and shall hear from him an obvious and palpable statement, which in a moment shivers his sightly and glittering fabric into atoms. The statement was palpable and near at hand; it was a thin, an almost imperceptible partition that hid it from him; he wonders in his heart that it never occurred to his meditations. And yet so it is: it was hid from him for weeks, or perhaps for a longer period: it might have been hid from him for twenty years, if it had not been for the accident that supplied it. And he no sooner sees it, than he instantly perceives that the discovery upon which he plumed himself, was an absurdity, of which even a schoolboy might be ashamed.

A circumstance not less curious, among the phenomena which belong to this subject of belief, is the repugnance incident to the most ingenuous minds, which we harbour against the suddenly discarding an opinion we have previously entertained, and the adopting one which comes recommended to us with almost the force of demonstration. Nothing can be better founded than this repugnance. The mind of man is of a peculiar nature. It has been disputed whether we can entertain more than one idea at a time. But certain it is, that the views of the mind at any one time are considerably narrowed. The mind is like the slate of a schoolboy, which can contain only a certain number of characters of a given size, or like a moveable panorama, which places a given scene or landscape before me, and the space assigned, and which comes within the limits marked out to my perception, is full. Many things are therefore almost inevitably shut out, which, had it not been so, might have essentially changed the view of the case, and have taught me that it was a very different conclusion at which I ought to have arrived.

At first sight nothing can appear more unreasonable, than that I should hesitate to admit the seemingly irresistible force of the argument presented to me. An ingenuous disposition would appear to require that, the moment the truth, or what seems to be the truth, is set before me, I should pay to it the allegiance to which truth is entitled. If I do otherwise, it would appear to argue a pusillanimous disposition, a mind not prompt and disengaged to receive the impression of evidence, a temper that loves something else better than the lustre which all men are bound to recognise, and that has a reserve in favour of ancient prejudice, and of an opinion no longer supported by reason.

In fact however I shall act most wisely, and in the way most honourable to my character, if I resolve to adjourn the debate.

同类推荐
  • 师友诗传录

    师友诗传录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 乞彩笺歌

    乞彩笺歌

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 地震问答

    地震问答

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 寄膳部李郎中昌符

    寄膳部李郎中昌符

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宋大事记讲义

    宋大事记讲义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 特种部队:谁与争锋

    特种部队:谁与争锋

    因为揍了一个小白脸,特种兵陈锋无奈离开王牌分队,化身菜鸟教官。当荣耀和功勋逐渐散去,铁血教官却带着王牌小队重回战场!战争风云再次掀起,往日仇怨必将重提,是英雄就该无所畏惧!狭路相逢,谁与争锋!
  • 你好,落魄千金

    你好,落魄千金

    女主是一个性格坚毅的富家女,她理所应当的享受着上天赐给她的一切幸福,直到知道真实身份,直到家破人亡,直到真相浮出水面,她的人生被改变了……
  • 阅微草堂笔记(中华国学经典)

    阅微草堂笔记(中华国学经典)

    全书主要记述狐鬼神怪故事,意在劝善惩恶,虽然不乏因果报应的说教,但是通过种种描写,折射出封建社会末世的腐朽和黑暗。他有意模仿晋宋笔记小说质朴简淡的文风,“雍容淡雅,天趣盎然”,“隽思妙语,时足解颐”(鲁迅《中国小说史略》)。所以每脱稿一种,即被亲朋好友竞相传抄,展转刻印,一时享有同《红楼梦》、《聊斋志异》并行海内的盛誉。
  • 汉朝这些人②(后刘邦时代)

    汉朝这些人②(后刘邦时代)

    历史应该是活的,历史应该是精彩的。读史这么多年,深知那些学究性的史料多么让人倒胃口,那些“专业”的术语和故作高深的文字将大多数人挡在历史的门外,与这些精彩的人物和事件无缘,不能不说这是一种遗憾和撰史者的悲哀!历史是人类生存、发展的鲜活记忆,我们要将历史上的功过是非铭记在心,我们不该忘记历史,不该忘记那些为我们今天生活作出贡献的历史人物!墨香满楼,开创现代历史的先河,写历史、写人物、写人心。
  • 旷世奇缘:皇后你不要搞事

    旷世奇缘:皇后你不要搞事

    常言道,最伟大的爱情,都是从耍流氓开始的。皇帝和太子抢对象,到底谁会获胜?蛮王和皇帝抢女友,谁又会抱的美人归?且看一个Flag满身的穿越女特工与一个Buff满点的当朝皇太子,在暗流汹涌的朝堂与江湖之上,将会碰撞出怎样的火花!情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 丫环好狠心

    丫环好狠心

    她爱上不该爱的人,被所爱的人背叛,承受不能承受之痛。她是舞蹈在剑刃上的炼狱锋芒,绝美凄艳,为复仇而来。他是大理国四皇子,与她初见,二见,一别三年,他登基称帝第三次见面,是一场心劫,终身误。一场豪赌拉开序幕,以天下江山为赌注,谁是最后赢家?她心机重重步步杀机,他始终站在她的身后,是她最大的支持者。而最终,她要报复的人不止有曾爱过的人,还有正在爱的他。帝王与丫鬟的爱恨情仇,胜者将会是谁?因为爱,所以拱手江山讨你欢,也因为爱,欠你的,我一一偿还。————————————————————《争妾》《总裁的失忆逃妻》《鬼迷心窍情人夜》已完结《成人之媒》上传中。
  • 2013中国短篇小说排行榜

    2013中国短篇小说排行榜

    本书主要收录了2013年的短篇小说,平均篇幅在万言左右的小说会被划归短篇小说。短篇小说在现代甚为流行。所有小说基础,其发展初期并无长短之分,随时代而区分。今短篇小说多要求文笔洗练,且受西洋三一定律一时一地一物观念影响,使其更生动详实但也限制其发展。
  • 精选个股就这几招

    精选个股就这几招

    选股,是投资者买卖股票的第一步,也是最重要的一步。选对了股票,投资者才有获利的机会。如果选错投资对象,那么再高明的投资者,也只能感叹“无力回天”。对于投资者而言,如果没有一种自己信任而且习惯的选股方法,那么,即使选出了黑马股,也会因为缺乏自信心而过早斩仓出局,只能看着“煮熟的鸭子”飞走了。一种好的选股方法,不仅能够告诉投资者应该买进什么股票,还能告诉投资者在何时以及何种价位买进股票。如果还能够提示投资者在什么情况下卖出股票,那就更是求之不得的事情。
  • 天降超级管家

    天降超级管家

    名门贵族学校来了个土包子大小姐!?她是大财团流落在外的千金大小姐,做事粗鲁、直率,毫无淑女风范。他是超级管家,舍弃校园超级名媛,转而侍奉粗野大小姐。却不想野蛮小姐要转正,不做大小姐做女友,一场贵族学校的爱情追逐战就此展开……
  • 独处的艺术:一个人的时候我们该想些什么

    独处的艺术:一个人的时候我们该想些什么

    有的人总是对孤独、独处避之不及,他们的手机里存满了亲朋好友的联系电话,生怕一个不小心,在孤独感来袭的时候找不到一个可以说话的人,继而被无边的孤独、脆弱所侵蚀。但是我们生存在世上,总想与自身和外界达到一种和谐的状态,这就要求我们适时的转身,下定决心,不再逃避孤独,试着学习独处。本书中,我们将一起探究:我们是如何丢了独处、又该如何把它找回来。我们将一起倾听自己内心的声音、并尝试去接纳和服从,从此接通自己与内心快乐的源泉,并获得新的航向。