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01-what is man-第4章

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law。  None can escape it。



Y。M。  Well; take the case of a bad boy who



O。M。  You needn't mention it; it is a waste of time。  It is

no matter about the bad boy's act。  Whatever it was; he had a

spirit…contenting reason for it。  Otherwise you have been

misinformed; and he didn't do it。



Y。M。  It is very exasperating。  A while ago you said that man's

conscience is not a born judge of morals and conduct; but has to

be taught and trained。  Now I think a conscience can get drowsy

and lazy; but I don't think it can go wrong; if you wake it up







A Little Story





O。M。  I will tell you a little story:



Once upon a time an Infidel was guest in the house of a

Christian widow whose little boy was ill and near to death。  The

Infidel often watched by the bedside and entertained the boy with

talk; and he used these opportunities to satisfy a strong longing

in his naturethat desire which is in us all to better other

people's condition by having them think as we think。  He was

successful。  But the dying boy; in his last moments; reproached

him and said:



〃I BELIEVED; AND WAS HAPPY IN IT; YOU HAVE TAKEN MY BELIEF

AWAY; AND MY COMFORT。  NOW I HAVE NOTHING LEFT; AND I DIE

MISERABLE; FOR THE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE TOLD ME DO NOT TAKE THE

PLACE OF THAT WHICH I HAVE LOST。〃



And the mother; also; reproached the Infidel; and said:



〃MY CHILD IS FOREVER LOST; AND MY HEART IS BROKEN。  HOW

COULD YOU DO THIS CRUEL THING?  WE HAVE DONE YOU NO HARM; BUT

ONLY KINDNESS; WE MADE OUR HOUSE YOUR HOME; YOU WERE WELCOME TO

ALL WE HAD; AND THIS IS OUR REWARD。〃



The heart of the Infidel was filled with remorse for what he

had done; and he said:



〃IT WAS WRONGI SEE IT NOW; BUT I WAS ONLY TRYING TO DO HIM

GOOD。  IN MY VIEW HE WAS IN ERROR; IT SEEMED MY DUTY TO TEACH HIM

THE TRUTH。〃



Then the mother said:



〃I HAD TAUGHT HIM; ALL HIS LITTLE LIFE; WHAT I BELIEVED TO

BE THE TRUTH; AND IN HIS BELIEVING FAITH BOTH OF US WERE HAPPY。

NOW HE IS DEAD;AND LOST; AND I AM MISERABLE。  OUR FAITH CAME

DOWN TO US THROUGH CENTURIES OF BELIEVING ANCESTORS; WHAT RIGHT

HAD YOU; OR ANY ONE; TO DISTURB IT?  WHERE WAS YOUR HONOR; WHERE

WAS YOUR SHAME?〃



Y。M。  He was a miscreant; and deserved death!



O。M。  He thought so himself; and said so。



Y。M。  Ahyou see; HIS CONSCIENCE WAS AWAKENED1!



O。M。  Yes; his Self…Disapproval was。  It PAINED him to see

the mother suffer。  He was sorry he had done a thing which

brought HIM pain。  It did not occur to him to think of the mother

when he was misteaching the boy; for he was absorbed in providing

PLEASURE for himself; then。  Providing it by satisfying what he

believed to be a call of duty。



Y。M。  Call it what you please; it is to me a case of

AWAKENED CONSCIENCE。  That awakened conscience could never get

itself into that species of trouble again。  A cure like that is a

PERMANENT cure。



O。M。  PardonI had not finished the story。  We are

creatures of OUTSIDE INFLUENCESwe originate NOTHING within。

Whenever we take a new line of thought and drift into a new line

of belief and action; the impulse is ALWAYS suggested from the

OUTSIDE。  Remorse so preyed upon the Infidel that it dissolved

his harshness toward the boy's religion and made him come to

regard it with tolerance; next with kindness; for the boy's sake

and the mother's。  Finally he found himself examining it。  From

that moment his progress in his new trend was steady and rapid。

He became a believing Christian。  And now his remorse for having

robbed the dying boy of his faith and his salvation was bitterer

than ever。  It gave him no rest; no peace。  He MUST have rest and

peaceit is the law of nature。  There seemed but one way to get

it; he must devote himself to saving imperiled souls。  He became

a missionary。  He landed in a pagan country ill and helpless。  A

native widow took him into her humble home and nursed him back to

convalescence。  Then her young boy was taken hopelessly ill; and

the grateful missionary helped her tend him。  Here was his first

opportunity to repair a part of the wrong done to the other boy

by doing a precious service for this one by undermining his

foolish faith in his false gods。  He was successful。  But the

dying boy in his last moments reproached him and said:



〃I BELIEVED; AND WAS HAPPY IN IT; YOU HAVE TAKEN MY BELIEF

AWAY; AND MY COMFORT。  NOW I HAVE NOTHING LEFT; AND I DIE

MISERABLE; FOR THE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE TOLD ME DO NOT TAKE THE

PLACE OF THAT WHICH I HAVE LOST。〃



And the mother; also; reproached the missionary; and said:



〃MY CHILD IS FOREVER LOST; AND MY HEART IS BROKEN。  HOW

COULD YOU DO THIS CRUEL THING?  WE HAD DONE YOU NO HARM; BUT ONLY

KINDNESS; WE MADE OUR HOUSE YOUR HOME; YOU WERE WELCOME TO ALL WE

HAD; AND THIS IS OUR REWARD。〃



The heart of the missionary was filled with remorse for what

he had done; and he said:



〃IT WAS WRONGI SEE IT NOW; BUT I WAS ONLY TRYING TO DO HIM

GOOD。  IN MY VIEW HE WAS IN ERROR; IT SEEMED MY DUTY TO TEACH HIM

THE TRUTH。〃



Then the mother said:



〃I HAD TAUGHT HIM; ALL HIS LITTLE LIFE; WHAT I BELIEVED TO

BE THE TRUTH; AND IN HIS BELIEVING FAITH BOTH OF US WERE HAPPY。

NOW HE IS DEADAND LOST; AND I AM MISERABLE。  OUR FAITH CAME

DOWN TO US THROUGH CENTURIES OF BELIEVING ANCESTORS; WHAT RIGHT

HAD YOU; OR ANY ONE; TO DISTURB IT?  WHERE WAS YOUR HONOR; WHERE

WAS YOUR SHAME?〃



The missionary's anguish of remorse and sense of treachery

were as bitter and persecuting and unappeasable; now; as they had

been in the former case。  The story is finished。  What is your

comment?



Y。M。  The man's conscience is a fool!  It was morbid。  It

didn't know right from wrong。



O。M。  I am not sorry to hear you say that。  If you grant

that ONE man's conscience doesn't know right from wrong; it is an

admission that there are others like it。  This single admission

pulls down the whole doctrine of infallibility of judgment in

consciences。  Meantime there is one thing which I ask you to

notice。



Y。M。  What is that?



O。M。  That in both cases the man's ACT gave him no spiritual

discomfort; and that he was quite satisfied with it and got

pleasure out of it。  But afterward when it resulted in PAIN to

HIM; he was sorry。  Sorry it had inflicted pain upon the others;

BUT FOR NO REASON UNDER THE SUN EXCEPT THAT THEIR PAIN GAVE HIM

PAIN。  Our consciences take NO notice of pain inflicted upon

others until it reaches a point where it gives pain to US。  In

ALL cases without exception we are absolutely indifferent to

another person's pain until his sufferings make us uncomfortable。

Many an infidel would not have been troubled by that Christian

mother's distress。  Don't you believe that?



Y。M。  Yes。  You might almost say it of the AVERAGE infidel;

I think。



O。M。  And many a missionary;  sternly fortified by his sense

of duty; would not have been troubled by the pagan mother's

distressJesuit missionaries in Canada in the early French

times; for instance; see episodes quoted by Parkman。



Y。M。  Well; let us adjourn。  Where have we arrived?



O。M。  At this。  That we (mankind) have ticketed ourselves

with a number of qualities to which we have given misleading

names。  Love; Hate; Charity; Compassion; Avarice; Benevolence;

and so on。  I mean we attach misleading MEANINGS to the names。

They are all forms of self…contentment; self…gratification; but

the names so disguise them that they distract our attention from

the fact。  Also we have smuggled a word into the dictionary which

ought not to be there at allSelf…Sacrifice。  It describes a

thing which does not exist。  But worst of all; we ignore and

never mention the Sole Impulse which dictates and compels a man's

every act:  the imperious necessity of securing his own approval;

in every emergency and at all costs。  To it we owe all that we

are。  It is our breath; our heart; our blood。  It is our only

spur; our whip; our goad; our only impelling power; we have no

other。  Without it we should be mere inert images; corpses; no

one would do anything; there would be no progress; the world

would stand still。  We ought to stand reverently uncovered when

the name of that stupendous power is uttered。



Y。M。  I am not convinced。



O。M。  You will be when you think。







III



Instances in Point





Old Man。  Have you given thought to the Gospel of Self…

Approval since we talked?



Young Man。  I have。



O。M。  It was I that moved you to it。  That is to say an

OUTSIDE INFLUENCE moved you to itnot one that originated in

your head。  Will you try to keep that in mind and not forget it?



Y。M。  Yes。  Why?



O。M。  Because by and by in one of our talks; I wish to

further impress upon you that neither you; nor I; nor any man

ever originates a thought in his own head。  THE UTTERER OF A

THOUGHT ALWAYS UTTERS A SECOND…HAND ONE。



Y。M。  Oh; now



O。M。  Wait。  Reserve your remark till we get to that part of

our discussiontomorrow or next day; say。  Now; then; have you

been considering the proposition that no act is ever born of any

but a self…contenting impulse(primarily)。  You have sought。

What have you found?



Y。M。  I have not been very fortunate。  I have examined many

fine and apparently self…sacrificing deeds in romances and

biographies; but



O。M。  Under searching analysis the ostensible self…sacrifice

disappeared?  It naturally would。



Y。M。  But here in this novel is one which seems to promise。

In the Adirondack woods is a wage…earner and lay preacher in the

lumber…camps who is of noble character and deeply religious。  An

earnest and practical laborer in the New York slums comes up

there on vacationhe is leader of a section of the University

Settlement。  Holme; the lumberman; is fired with a desire to

throw away his excellent worldly prospects and go down and save

souls on the East Side。  He counts it happiness to make this

sacrifice for the glory of God and for the cause of Christ。  He

resigns his place; makes the sacrifice cheerfully; and goes to

the East Side and preaches Christ and Him crucified every day and

every night to little groups of half…civilized foreign paupers

who scoff at him。  But he rejoices in the scoffings; since he is

suffering them in the great cause of Christ。  You have so filled

my mind with suspicions that I was constantly expecting to find a

hidden questionable impulse back of all this; but I am thankful

to say I have failed。  This man saw his duty; and for DUTY'S SAKE

he sacrificed self and assumed the burden it imposed。



O。M。  Is that as far as you have read?



Y。M。  Yes。



O。M。  Let us read further; presently。  Meantime; in

sacrificing himselfNOT for the glory of God; PRIMARILY; as HE

imagined; but FIRST to content that exacting and inflexible

master within himDID HE SACRIFICE ANYBODY ELSE?



Y。M。  How do you me

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