the new machiavelli-第51章

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also　a　hinterland；　which　is　never　really　immediate；　which　draws　

continually　upon　human　experience　and　influences　human　action　more　

and　more；　but　which　is　itself　never　the　actual　player　upon　the　

stage。　　It　is　the　unseen　dramatist　who　never　takes　a　call。　　Now　it　

was　just　through　the　fact　that　our　group　about　the　Baileys　didn't　

understand　this；　that　with　a　sort　of　frantic　energy　they　were　trying　

to　develop　that　sham　expert　officialdom　of　theirs　to　plan；　regulate；　

and　direct　the　affairs　of　humanity；　that　the　perplexing　note　of　

silliness　and　shallowness　that　I　had　always　felt　and　felt　now　most　

acutely　under　Britten's　gibes；　came　in。　　They　were　neglecting　human　

life　altogether　in　social　organisation。



In　the　development　of　intellectual　modesty　lies　the　growth　of　

statesmanship。　　It　has　been　the　chronic　mistake　of　statecraft　and　

all　organising　spirits　to　attempt　immediately　to　scheme　and　arrange　

and　achieve。　　Priests；　schools　of　thought；　political　schemers；　

leaders　of　men；　have　always　slipped　into　the　error　of　assuming　that　

they　can　think　out　the　wholeor　at　any　rate　completely　think　out　

definite　partsof　the　purpose　and　future　of　man；　clearly　and　

finally；　they　have　set　themselves　to　legislate　and　construct　on　that　

assumption；　and；　experiencing　the　perplexing　obduracy　and　evasions　

of　reality；　they　have　taken　to　dogma；　persecution；　training；　

pruning；　secretive　education；　and　all　the　stupidities　of　self…

sufficient　energy。　　In　the　passion　of　their　good　intentions　they　

have　not　hesitated　to　conceal　fact；　suppress　thought；　crush　

disturbing　initiatives　and　apparently　detrimental　desires。　　And　so　

it　is　blunderingly　and　wastefully；　destroying　with　the　making；　that　

any　extension　of　social　organisation　is　at　present　achieved。



Directly；　however；　this　idea　of　an　emancipation　from　immediacy　is　

grasped；　directly　the　dominating　importance　of　this　critical；　less　

personal；　mental　hinterland　in　the　individual　and　of　the　collective　

mind　in　the　race　is　understood；　the　whole　problem　of　the　statesman　

and　his　attitude　towards　politics　gain　a　new　significance；　and　

becomes　accessible　to　a　new　series　of　solutions。　　He　wants　no　longer　

to　〃fix　up；〃　as　people　say；　human　affairs；　but　to　devote　his　forces　

to　the　development　of　that　needed　intellectual　life　without　which　

all　his　shallow　attempts　at　fixing　up　are　futile。　　He　ceases　to　

build　on　the　sands；　and　sets　himself　to　gather　foundations。



You　see；　I　began　in　my　teens　by　wanting　to　plan　and　build　cities　and　

harbours　for　mankind；　I　ended　in　the　middle　thirties　by　desiring　

only　to　serve　and　increase　a　general　process　of　thought；　a　process　

fearless；　critical；　real…spirited；　that　would　in　its　own　time　give　

cities；　harbours；　air；　happiness；　everything　at　a　scale　and　quality　

and　in　a　light　altogether　beyond　the　match…striking　imaginations　of　

a　contemporary　mind。　　I　wanted　freedom　of　speech　and　suggestion；　

vigour　of　thought；　and　the　cultivation　of　that　impulse　of　veracity　

that　lurks　more　or　less　discouraged　in　every　man。　　With　that　I　felt　

there　must　go　an　emotion。　　I　hit　upon　a　phrase　that　became　at　last　

something　of　a　refrain　in　my　speech　and　writings；　to　convey　the　

spirit　that　I　felt　was　at　the　very　heart　of　real　human　progress

love　and　fine　thinking。



（I　suppose　that　nowadays　no　newspaper　in　England　gets　through　a　week　

without　the　repetition　of　that　phrase。）



My　convictions　crystallised　more　and　more　definitely　upon　this。　　The　

more　of　love　and　fine　thinking　the　better　for　men；　I　said；　the　less；　

the　worse。　　And　upon　this　fresh　basis　I　set　myself　to　examine　what　I　

as　a　politician　might　do。　　I　perceived　I　was　at　last　finding　an　

adequate　expression　for　all　that　was　in　me；　for　those　forces　that　

had　rebelled　at　the　crude　presentations　of　Bromstead；　at　the　

secrecies　and　suppressions　of　my　youth；　at　the　dull　unrealities　of　

City　Merchants；　at　the　conventions　and　timidities　of　the　Pinky　

Dinkys；　at　the　philosophical　recluse　of　Trinity　and　the　phrases　and　

tradition…worship　of　my　political　associates。　　None　of　these　things　

were　half　alive；　and　I　wanted　life　to　be　intensely　alive　and　awake。　　

I　wanted　thought　like　an　edge　of　steel　and　desire　like　a　flame。　　The　

real　work　before　mankind　now；　I　realised　once　and　for　all；　is　the　

enlargement　of　human　expression；　the　release　and　intensification　of　

human　thought；　the　vivider　utilisation　of　experience　and　the　

invigoration　of　researchand　whatever　one　does　in　human　affairs　has　

or　lacks　value　as　it　helps　or　hinders　that。



With　that　I　had　got　my　problem　clear；　and　the　solution；　so　far　as　I　

was　concerned；　lay　in　finding　out　the　point　in　the　ostensible　life　

of　politics　at　which　I　could　most　subserve　these　ends。　　I　was　still　

against　the　muddles　of　Bromstead；　but　I　had　hunted　them　down　now　to　

their　essential　form。　　The　jerry…built　slums；　the　roads　that　went　

nowhere；　the　tarred　fences；　litigious　notice…boards　and　barbed　wire　

fencing；　the　litter　and　the　heaps　of　dump；　were　only　the　outward　

appearances　whose　ultimate　realities　were　jerry…built　conclusions；　

hasty　purposes；　aimless　habits　of　thought；　and　imbecile　bars　and　

prohibitions　in　the　thoughts　and　souls　of　men。　　How　are　we　through　

politics　to　get　at　that　confusion？



We　want　to　invigorate　and　reinvigorate　education。　　We　want　to　create　

a　sustained　counter　effort　to　the　perpetual　tendency　of　all　

educational　organisations　towards　classicalism；　secondary　issues；　

and　the　evasion　of　life。



We　want　to　stimulate　the　expression　of　life　through　art　and　

literature；　and　its　exploration　through　research。



We　want　to　make　the　best　and　finest　thought　accessible　to　every　one；　

and　more　particularly　to　create　and　sustain　an　enormous　free　

criticism；　without　which　art；　literature；　and　research　alike　

degenerate　into　tradition　or　imposture。



Then　all　the　other　problems　which　are　now　so　insoluble；　destitution；　

disease；　the　difficulty　of　maintaining　international　peace；　the　

scarcely　faced　possibility　of　making　life　generally　and　continually　

beautiful；　becomeEASY。　。　。　。



It　was　clear　to　me　that　the　most　vital　activities　in　which　I　could　

engage　would　be　those　which　most　directly　affected　the　Church；　

public　habits　of　thought；　education；　organised　research；　literature；　

and　the　channels　of　general　discussion。　　I　had　to　ask　myself　how　my　

position　as　Liberal　member　for　Kinghamstead　squared　with　and　

conduced　to　this　essential　work。







CHAPTER　THE　SECOND



SEEKING　ASSOCIATES







1





I　have　told　of　my　gradual　abandonment　of　the　pretensions　and　habits　

of　party　Liberalism。　　In　a　sense　I　was　moving　towards　aristocracy。　　

Regarding　the　development　of　the　social　and　individual　mental　

hinterland　as　the　essential　thing　in　human　progress；　I　passed　on　

very　naturally　to　the　practical　assumption　that　we　wanted　what　I　may　

call　〃hinterlanders。〃　　Of　course　I　do　not　mean　by　aristocracy　the　

changing　unorganised　medley　of　rich　people　and　privileged　people　who　

dominate　the　civilised　world　of　to…day；　but　as　opposed　to　this；　a　

possibility　of　co…ordinating　the　will　of　the　finer　individuals；　by　

habit　and　literature；　into　a　broad　common　aim。　　We　must　have　an　

aristocracynot　of　privilege；　but　of　understanding　and　purposeor　

mankind　will　fail。　　I　find　this　dawning　more　and　more　clearly　when　I　

look　through　my　various　writings　of　the　years　between　1903　and　1910。　　

I　was　already　emerging　to　plain　statements　in　1908。



I　reasoned　after　this　fashion。　　The　line　of　human　improvement　and　

the　expansion　of　human　life　lies　in　the　direction　of　education　and　

finer　initiatives。　　If　humanity　cannot　develop　an　education　far　

beyond　anything　that　is　now　provided；　if　it　cannot　collectively　

invent　devices　and　solve　problems　on　a　much　richer；　broader　scale　

than　it　does　at　the　present　time；　it　cannot　hope　to　achieve　any　very　

much　finer　order　or　any　more　general　happiness　than　it　now　enjoys。　　

We　must　believe；　therefore；　that　it　CAN　develop　such　a　training　and　

education；　or　we　must　abandon　secular　constructive　hope。　　And　here　

my　peculiar　difficulty　as　against　crude　democracy　comes　in。　　If　

humanity　at　large　is　capable　of　that　high　education　and　those　

creative　freedoms　our　hope　demands；　much　more　must　its　better　and　

more　vigorous　types　be　so　capable。　　And　if　those　who　have　power　and　

leisure　now；　and　freedom　to　respond　to　imaginative　appeals；　cannot　

be　won　to　the　idea　of　collective　self…development；　then　the　whole　of　

humanity　cannot　be　won　to　that。　　From　that　one　passes　to　what　has　

become　my　general　conception　in　politics；　the　conception　of　the　

constructive　imagination　working　upon　the　vast　complex　of　powerful　

people；　clever　people；　enterprising　people；　influential　people；　

amidst　whom　power　is　diffused　to…day；　to　produce　that　self…

conscious；　highly　selective；　open…minded；　devoted　aristocratic　

culture；　which　seems　to　me　to　be　the　necessary　next　phase　in　the　

development　of　human　affairs。　　I　see　human　progress；　not　as　the　

spontaneous　product　of　crowds　of　raw　minds　swayed　by　elementary　

needs；　but　as　a　natural　but　elaborate　result　of　intricate　human　

interdependencies；　of　human　energy　and　curiosity　liberated　and　

acting　at　leisure；　of　human　passions　and　motives；　modified　and　

redirected　by　literature　and　art。　。　。　。



But　now　the　reader　will　understand　how　it　came　about　that；　

disappointed　by　the　essential　littleness　of　Liberalism；　and　

disillusioned　about　the　representative　quality　of　the　professed　

Socialists；　I　turned　my　mind　more　and　more　to　a　scrutiny　of　the　big　

people；　the　wealthy　and　influential　people；　against　whom　Liberalism　

pits　its　forces。　　I　was　asking　myself　definitely　whether；　after　all；　

it　was　not　my　particular　job　to　work　through　them　and　not　against　

them。　　Was　I　not　altogether　out　of　my　element　as　an　Anti…？　　Weren't　

there　big　bold　qualities　about　these　people　that　common　men　lack；　

and　the　possibility　of　far　more　splendid　dreams？　　Were　they　really　

the　obstacles；　might　they　not　be　rather　the　vehicles　of　the　possible　

new　braveries　of　life？







2





The　faults　of　the　Imperialist　movement　were　obvious　enough。　　The　

conception　of　the　Boer　War　had　been　clumsy　and　puerile；　the　costly　

errors　of　that　struggle　appalling；　and　the　subsequent　campaign　of　

Mr。　Chamberlain　for　Tariff　Reform　seemed　calculated　to　combine　the　

financial　adventurers　of　the　Empire　in　one　vast　conspiracy　against　

the　consumer。　　The　cant　of　Imperialism　was　easy　to　learn　and　use；　it　

was　speedily　adopted　by　all　sorts　of　base　enterprises　and　turned　to　

all　sorts　of　base　ends。　　But　a　big　child　is　permitted　big　mischief；　

and　my　mind　was　now　continually　returning　to　the　persuasion　that　

after　all　in　some　development　of　the　idea　of　Imperial　patriotism　

might　be　found　that　wide；　rough；　politically　acceptable　expression　

of　a　constructive　dream　capable　of　sustaining　a　great　educational