登陆注册
5382300000260

第260章 CHAPTER XXXIV(4)

This was the ridiculous side of the movement, but underneath the absurdities there was something serious. These young men and women, who were themselves terribly in earnest, were systematically hostile not only to accepted conventionalities in the matter of dress, but to all manner of shams, hypocrisy, and cant in the broad Carlylean sense of those terms. To the "beautiful souls" of the older generation, who had habitually, in conversation and literature, shed pathetic tears over the defects of Russian social and political organisation without ever moving a finger to correct them--especially the landed proprietors who talked and wrote about civilisation, culture, and justice while living comfortably on the revenues provided for them by their unfortunate serfs--these had the strongest aversion; and this naturally led them to condemn in strong language the worship of aesthetic culture. But here again they fell into exaggeration. Professing extreme utilitarianism, they explained that the humble shoemaker who practises his craft diligently is, in the true sense, a greater man than a Shakespeare, or a Goethe, because humanity has more need of shoes than of dramas and poetry.

Such silly paradoxes provoked, of course, merely a smile of compassion; what alarmed the sensible, respectable "Philistine" was the method of cleansing the Augean stable recommended by these enthusiasts. Having discovered in the course of their desultory reading that most of the ills that flesh is heir to proceed directly or indirectly from uncontrolled sexual passion and the lust of gain, they proposed to seal hermetically these two great sources of crime and misery by abolishing the old-fashioned institutions of marriage and private property. When society, they argued, should be so organised that all the healthy instincts of human nature could find complete and untrammelled satisfaction, there would be no motive or inducement for committing crimes or misdemeanours. For thousands of years humanity had been sailing on a wrong tack. The great law-givers of the world, religious and civil, in their ignorance of physical science and positivist methods, had created institutions, commonly known as law and morality, which were utterly unfitted to human nature, and then the magistrate and the moralist had endeavoured to compel or persuade men and women to conform to them, but their efforts had failed most signally. In vain the police had threatened and punished and the priests had preached and admonished. Human nature had systematically and obstinately rebelled, and still rebels, against the unnatural constraint. It is time, therefore, to try a new system. Instead of continuing, as has been done for thousands of years, to force men and women, as it were, into badly fitting, unelastic clothes which cause intense discomfort and prevent all healthy muscular action, why not adapt the costume to the anatomy and physiology of the human frame? Then the clothes will no longer be rent, and those who wear them will be contented and happy.

Unfortunately for the progress of humanity there are serious obstacles in the way of this radical change of system. The absurd, antiquated and pernicious institutions and customs are supported by abstruse metaphysical reasons and enshrined in mystical romantic sentiment, and in this way they may still be preserved for generations unless the axe be laid to the root of the tree. Now is the critical moment. Russia must be made to rise at once from the metaphysical to the positivist stage of intellectual development;

metaphysical reasoning and romantic sentiment must be rigorously discarded; and everything must be brought to the touchstone of naked practical utility.

One might naturally suppose that men holding such opinions must be materialists of the grossest type--and, indeed, many of them gloried in the name of materialist and atheist--but such an inference would be erroneous. While denouncing metaphysics, they were themselves metaphysicians in so far as they were constantly juggling with abstract conceptions, and letting themselves be guided in their walk and conversation by a priori deductions; while ridiculing romanticism, they had romantic sentiment enough to make them sacrifice their time, their property, and sometimes even their life, to the attainment of an unrealisable ideal; and while congratulating themselves on having passed from the religious to the positivist stage of intellectual development, they frequently showed themselves animated with the spirit of the early martyrs!

Rarely have the strange inconsistencies of human nature been so strikingly exemplified as in these unpractical, anti-religious fanatics. In dealing with them I might easily, without very great exaggeration, produce a most amusing caricature, but I prefer describing them as they really were. A few years after the period here referred to I knew some of them intimately, and I must say that, without at all sharing or sympathising with their opinions, I

could not help respecting them as honourable, upright, quixotic men and women who had made great sacrifices for their convictions. One of them whom I have specially in view at this moment suffered patiently for years from the utter shipwreck of his generous illusions, and when he could no longer hope to see the dawn of a brighter day, he ended by committing suicide. Yet that man believed himself to be a Realist, a Materialist, and a Utilitarian of the purest water, and habitually professed a scathing contempt for every form of romantic sentiment! In reality he was one of the best and most sympathetic men I have ever known.

同类推荐
  • 明词综

    明词综

    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。
  • 规箴

    规箴

    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。
  • The Pigeon

    The Pigeon

    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。
  • 风土记

    风土记

    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。
  • 内府秘传经验女科

    内府秘传经验女科

    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
  • 世界地理未解之谜(大全集)

    世界地理未解之谜(大全集)

    本书集合了众多的地理未解之谜,我们为喜欢和爱好追问未解之谜的朋友挑选最精彩的奇谜,荟萃世界上最令人匪夷所思、极具探索价值的谜团,再配以丰富多彩的图片对其进行生动的展现和说明,试图为读者创造了一个诡异而又神秘的想象空间:星空世界、地球探秘、天象奇观、地理地貌、江河湖泊、神秘地域、洞穴岛屿、文明遗迹、失落宝藏、神秘海洋、怪兽之谜、自然灾难和南北极谜团。我们在参考大量文献资料的基础上,将种种神秘现象客观、公正地呈现在读者面前,以期启迪读者的心智。
  • 执执不可既——醉夜曲

    执执不可既——醉夜曲

    她是榜上赫赫有名的电竞女神,一场意外,她选择退出。时隔多年,可爱的弟弟又因电竞黑幕而成为植物人。她忍无可忍,毅然重返电竞,为的是所谓的清明公正......。”你看,那儿黑了。“他突然伸出手,向街上的一处角落指去。莫执明明是胜利了,但心情却意外地沉重。方尚清向他所指的地方望去。街上一片繁荣,那处角落中更是耀眼明亮。那黑了......黑了......怎么会黑了呢......【女扮男装,三观不正。剩下的天注定。】
  • 精灵之伊布传说

    精灵之伊布传说

    带着可以八种形态转化的伊布,阿布表示无论你出什么,他都有克制你的精灵。书友群:557281857
  • 优秀员工的8项修炼

    优秀员工的8项修炼

    只有抱着“为自己工作”的心态,才能心平气和地将手中的事情做好,最终获得丰厚的物质报酬,赢得社会的尊重,实现自己的人生价值。这也是本书的主旨所在。本书介绍了我们应该如何看待工作以及对待工作的态度。语言通俗易懂,观点鲜明透亮,理论和案例相结合。不仅帮助你了解,更重要的是帮助你“改变”。书中汇集了大量职场精英的经验,提供了工作中应对各种问题和挫折的技巧和程序。本书有助于员工调整心态,重燃工作激情,使人生从平庸走向杰出;是成就员工职业辉煌、提升企业凝聚力、建立企业文化的完美指导手册;是一本很适合单位培训和个人发展的职场读物。
  • 席恩战记

    席恩战记

    在恶魔的蛊惑下,由于战乱失去一切的克丽丝汀远离故土,踏上了寻找女神遗迹的旅程;另一片大陆上,意识残缺的巫师海克西斯虎视眈眈,希望借助一场摧毁世界的爆炸打开诸神之门;美丽的游吟诗人,神秘的银发盗贼,张狂的海盗,恐怖的佣兵组织,被无形的命运之手牵绊在一起;随着诸神的苏醒,一个被后世称为“席恩计划”的巨大阴谋终于浮出水面……这个故事里没有所谓的正义与邪恶,有的只是生存、信仰、忠诚,或者背叛。
  • 火影之仙术对决

    火影之仙术对决

    水易是个孤儿,因为过度疲劳在修罗魂界与六道相遇,从此,他的世界开始改变。管六道仙人叫师傅,学习六道仙术。与鸣人称兄道弟,让他不再孤独,水易有个梦想,建立一个属于自己的国家,让和平友爱在这个世界开花结果。已开新书《火影之大灾难》,急需大家支持。惊云QQ群:38514402(满),139816430(空)
  • O PIONEERS!

    O PIONEERS!

    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。
  • 牟梨曼陀罗咒经

    牟梨曼陀罗咒经

    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。
  • 阿那邠邸化七子经

    阿那邠邸化七子经

    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。
  • 六十种曲蕉帕记

    六十种曲蕉帕记

    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。