第 34 节
作者:片片      更新:2022-08-21 16:31      字数:9322
  Bath the following evening; to meet some one whom he specially
  wished to see。  He hesitated for some little time; trying to
  calculate the possibility of giving the meeting to his little
  friend of the broken bowl and of still being in time for the
  dinner…party in Bath; but finding this could not be; he wrote to
  decline accepting the invitation on the plea of 'a pre…
  engagement;' saying to us; 'I cannot disappoint her; she trusted
  me so implicitly。'〃
  (11) Miss Florence Nightingale has related the following incident as
  having occurred before Sebastopol:… 〃I remember a sergeant who; on
  picket; the rest of the picket killed and himself battered about
  the head; stumbled back to camp; and on his way picked up a
  wounded man and brought him in on his shoulders to the lines;
  where he fell down insensible。  When; after many hours; he
  recovered his senses; I believe after trepanning; his first words
  were to ask after his comrade; 'Is he alive?' 'Comrade; indeed;
  yes; he's aliveit is the general。' At that moment the general;
  though badly wounded; appeared at the bedside。  'Oh; general; it's
  you; is it; I brought in? I'm so glad; I didn't know your honour。
  But; …; if I'd known it was you; I'd have saved you all the
  same。' This is the true soldier's spirit。〃
  In the same letter; Miss Nightingale says: 〃England; from her
  grand mercantile and commercial successes; has been called sordid;
  God knows she is not。  The simple courage; the enduring patience;
  the good sense; the strength to suffer in silencewhat nation
  shows more of this in war than is shown by her commonest soldier?
  I have seen men dying of dysentery; but scorning to report
  themselves sick lest they should thereby throw more labour on
  their comrades; go down to the trenches and make the trenches
  their deathbed。  There is nothing in history to compare with it。。。。
  Say what men will; there is something more truly Christian in the
  man who gives his time; his strength; his life; if need be; for
  something not himselfwhether he call it his Queen; his country;
  or his coloursthan in all the asceticism; the fasts; the
  humiliations; and confessions which have ever been made: and this
  spirit of giving one's life; without calling it a sacrifice; is
  found nowhere so truly as in England。〃
  (12) Mrs。 Grote's 'Life of Ary Scheffer;' pp。 154…5。
  (13) The sufferings of this noble woman; together with those of her
  unfortunate husband; were touchingly described in a letter
  afterwards addressed by her to a female friend; which was
  published some years ago at Haarlem; entitled; 'Gertrude von der
  Wart; or; Fidelity unto Death。' Mrs。 Hemans wrote a poem of great
  pathos and beauty; commemorating the sad story in her 'Records of
  Woman。'
  CHAPTER VI。SELF…CONTROL。
  〃Honour and profit do not always lie in the same sack。〃GEORGE
  HERBERT。
  〃The government of one's self is the only true freedom for the
  Individual。〃FREDERICK PERTHES。
  〃It is in length of patience; and endurance; and forbearance; that
  so much of what is good in mankind and womankind is shown。〃
  ARTHUR HELPS。
  〃Temperance; proof
  Against all trials; industry severe
  And constant as the motion of the day;
  Stern self…denial round him spread; with shade
  That might be deemed forbidding; did not there
  All generous feelings flourish and rejoice;
  Forbearance; charity indeed and thought;
  And resolution competent to take
  Out of the bosom of simplicity
  All that her holy customs recommend。〃WORDSWORTH。
  Self…control is only courage under another form。  It may almost be
  regarded as the primary essence of character。  It is in virtue of
  this quality that Shakspeare defines man as a being 〃looking
  before and after。〃  It forms the chief distinction between man
  and the mere animal; and; indeed; there can be no true manhood
  without it。
  Self…control is at the root of all the virtues。  Let a man give
  the reins to his impulses and passions; and from that moment he
  yields up his moral freedom。  He is carried along the current
  of life; and becomes the slave of his strongest desire for
  the time being。
  To be morally freeto be more than an animalman must be able
  to resist instinctive impulse; and this can only be done by the
  exercise of self…control。  Thus it is this power which constitutes
  the real distinction between a physical and a moral life; and that
  forms the primary basis of individual character。
  In the Bible praise is given; not to the strong man who 〃taketh a
  city;〃 but to the stronger man who 〃ruleth his own spirit。〃  This
  stronger man is he who; by discipline; exercises a constant
  control over his thoughts; his speech; and his acts。  Nine…tenths
  of the vicious desires that degrade society; and which; when
  indulged; swell into the crimes that disgrace it; would shrink
  into insignificance before the advance of valiant self…discipline;
  self…respect; and self…control。  By the watchful exercise of these
  virtues; purity of heart and mind become habitual; and the
  character is built up in chastity; virtue; and temperance。
  The best support of character will always be found in habit;
  which; according as the will is directed rightly or wrongly; as
  the case may be; will prove either a benignant ruler or a cruel
  despot。  We may be its willing subject on the one hand; or its
  servile slave on the other。  It may help us on the road to good;
  or it may hurry us on the road to ruin。
  Habit is formed by careful training。  And it is astonishing how
  much can be accomplished by systematic discipline and drill。  See
  how; for instance; out of the most unpromising materialssuch as
  roughs picked up in the streets; or raw unkempt country lads taken
  from the ploughsteady discipline and drill will bring out the
  unsuspected qualities of courage; endurance; and self…sacrifice;
  and how; in the field of battle; or even on the more trying
  occasions of perils by seasuch as the burning of the SARAH
  SANDS or the wreck of the BIRKENHEADsuch men; carefully
  disciplined; will exhibit the unmistakable characteristics of true
  bravery and heroism!
  Nor is moral discipline and drill less influential in the
  formation of character。  Without it; there will be no proper
  system and order in the regulation of the life。  Upon it depends
  the cultivation of the sense of self…respect; the education of the
  habit of obedience; the development of the idea of duty。  The most
  self…reliant; self…governing man is always under discipline: and
  the more perfect the discipline; the higher will be his moral
  condition。  He has to drill his desires; and keep them in
  subjection to the higher powers of his nature。  They must obey the
  word of command of the internal monitor; the conscience
  otherwise they will be but the mere slaves of their inclinations;
  the sport of feeling and impulse。
  〃In the supremacy of self…control;〃 says Herbert Spencer;
  〃consists one of the perfections of the ideal man。  Not to be
  impulsivenot to be spurred hither and thither by each desire
  that in turn comes uppermostbut to be self…restrained; self…
  balanced; governed by the joint decision of the feelings in
  council assembled; before whom every action shall have been fully
  debated and calmly determinedthat it is which education; moral
  education at least; strives to produce。〃 (1)
  The first seminary of moral discipline; and the best; as we have
  already shown; is the home; next comes the school; and after that
  the world; the great school of practical life。  Each is
  preparatory to the other; and what the man or woman becomes;
  depends for the most part upon what has gone before。  If they have
  enjoyed the advantage of neither the home nor the school; but
  have been allowed to grow up untrained; untaught; and
  undisciplined; then woe to themselveswoe to the society
  of which they form part!
  The best…regulated home is always that in which the discipline is
  the most perfect; and yet where it is the least felt。  Moral
  discipline acts with the force of a law of nature。  Those subject
  to it yield themselves to it unconsciously; and though it shapes
  and forms the whole character; until the life becomes crystallized
  in habit; the influence thus exercised is for the most part unseen
  and almost unfelt。
  The importance of strict domestic discipline is curiously
  illustrated by a fact mentioned in Mrs。 Schimmelpenninck's
  Memoirs; to the following effect: that a lady who; with her
  husband; had inspected most of the lunatic asylums of England and
  the Continent; found the most numerous class of patients was
  almost always composed of those who had been only children; and
  whose wills had therefore rarely been thwarted or disciplined in
  early life; whilst those who were members of large families; and
  who had been trained in self…discipline; were far less frequent
  victims to the malady。
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