第 44 节
作者:片片      更新:2022-08-21 16:31      字数:9322
  When he was hastening with his army over bad roads to the help of
  Wellington; on the 18th of June; 1815; he encouraged his troops by
  words and gestures。  〃Forwards; childrenforwards!〃  〃It is
  impossible; it can't be done;〃 was the answer。  Again and again he
  urged them。  〃Children; we must get on; you may say it can't be
  done; but it MUST be done!  I have promised my brother Wellington
  PROMISED; do you hear?  You wouldn't have me BREAK MY WORD!〃
  And it was done。
  Truth is the very bond of society; without which it must cease to
  exist; and dissolve into anarchy and chaos。  A household cannot be
  governed by lying; nor can a nation。  Sir Thomas Browne once
  asked; 〃Do the devils lie?〃  〃No;〃 was his answer; 〃for then even
  hell could not subsist。〃  No considerations can justify the
  sacrifice of truth; which ought to be sovereign in all the
  relations of life。
  Of all mean vices; perhaps lying is the meanest。 It is in some
  cases the offspring of perversity and vice; and in many others of
  sheer moral cowardice。  Yet many persons think so lightly of it
  that they will order their servants to lie for them; nor can they
  feel surprised if; after such ignoble instruction; they find their
  servants lying for themselves。
  Sir Harry Wotton's description of an ambassador as 〃an honest man
  sent to lie abroad for the benefit of his country;〃 though meant
  as a satire; brought him into disfavour with James I。 when it
  became published; for an adversary quoted it as a principle of the
  king's religion。  That it was not Wotton's real view of the duty
  of an honest man; is obvious from the lines quoted at the head of
  this chapter; on 'The Character of a Happy Life;' in which he
  eulogises the man
  〃Whose armour is his honest thought;
  And simple truth his utmost skill。〃
  But lying assumes many formssuch as diplomacy; expediency; and
  moral reservation; and; under one guise or another; it is found
  more or less pervading all classes of society。  Sometimes it
  assumes the form of equivocation or moral dodgingtwisting and
  so stating the things said as to convey a false impressiona
  kind of lying which a Frenchman once described as 〃walking round
  about the truth。〃
  There are even men of narrow minds and dishonest natures; who
  pride themselves upon their jesuitical cleverness in equivocation;
  in their serpent…wise shirking of the truth and getting out of
  moral back…doors; in order to hide their real opinions and evade
  the consequences of holding and openly professing them。
  Institutions or systems based upon any such expedients must
  necessarily prove false and hollow。  〃Though a lie be ever so well
  dressed;〃 says George Herbert; 〃it is ever overcome。〃  Downright
  lying; though bolder and more vicious; is even less contemptible
  than such kind of shuffling and equivocation。
  Untruthfulness exhibits itself in many other forms: in reticency
  on the one hand; or exaggeration on the other; in disguise or
  concealment; in pretended concurrence in others opinions; in
  assuming an attitude of conformity which is deceptive; in making
  promises; or allowing them to be implied; which are never intended
  to be performed; or even in refraining from speaking the truth
  when to do so is a duty。  There are also those who are all things
  to all men; who say one thing and do another; like Bunyan's Mr。
  Facing…both…ways; only deceiving themselves when they think they
  are deceiving othersand who; being essentially insincere; fail
  to evoke confidence; and invariably in the end turn out failures;
  if not impostors。
  Others are untruthful in their pretentiousness; and in assuming
  merits which they do not really possess。  The truthful man is; on
  the contrary; modest; and makes no parade of himself and his
  deeds。  When Pitt was in his last illness; the news reached
  England of the great deeds of Wellington in India。  〃The more I
  hear of his exploits;〃 said Pitt; 〃the more I admire the modesty
  with which he receives the praises he merits for them。  He is the
  only man I ever knew that was not vain of what he had done; and
  yet had so much reason to be so。〃
  So it is said of Faraday by Professor Tyndall; that 〃pretence of
  all kinds; whether in life or in philosophy; was hateful to him。〃
  Dr。 Marshall Hall was a man of like spiritcourageously
  truthful; dutiful; and manly。  One of his most intimate friends
  has said of him that; wherever he met with untruthfulness or
  sinister motive; he would expose it; saying〃I neither will; nor
  can; give my consent to a lie。〃  The question; 〃right or wrong;〃
  once decided in his own mind; the right was followed; no matter
  what the sacrifice or the difficultyneither expediency nor
  inclination weighing one jot in the balance。
  There was no virtue that Dr。 Arnold laboured more sedulously to
  instil into young men than the virtue of truthfulness; as being
  the manliest of virtues; as indeed the very basis of all true
  manliness。  He designated truthfulness as 〃moral transparency;〃
  and he valued it more highly than any other quality。  When lying
  was detected; he treated it as a great moral offence; but when a
  pupil made an assertion; he accepted it with confidence。  〃If you
  say so; that is quite enough; OF COURSE I believe your word。〃  By
  thus trusting and believing them; he educated the young in
  truthfulness; the boys at length coming to say to one another:
  〃It's a shame to tell Arnold a liehe always believes one。〃 (10)
  One of the most striking instances that could be given of the
  character of the dutiful; truthful; laborious man; is presented in
  the life of the late George Wilson; Professor of Technology in the
  University of Edinburgh。 (11)  Though we bring this illustration
  under the head of Duty; it might equally have stood under that of
  Courage; Cheerfulness; or Industry; for it is alike illustrative
  of these several qualities。
  Wilson's life was; indeed; a marvel of cheerful laboriousness;
  exhibiting the power of the soul to triumph over the body; and
  almost to set it at defiance。  It might be taken as an
  illustration of the saying of the whaling…captain to Dr。 Kane; as
  to the power of moral force over physical: 〃Bless you; sir; the
  soul will any day lift the body out of its boots!〃
  A fragile but bright and lively boy; he had scarcely entered
  manhood ere his constitution began to exhibit signs of disease。
  As early; indeed; as his seventeenth year; he began to complain of
  melancholy and sleeplessness; supposed to be the effects of bile。
  〃I don't think I shall live long;〃 he then said to a friend; 〃my
  mind willmust work itself out; and the body will soon follow
  it。〃  A strange confession for a boy to make!  But he gave his
  physical health no fair chance。  His life was all brain…work;
  study; and competition。  When he took exercise it was in sudden
  bursts; which did him more harm than good。  Long walks in the
  Highlands jaded and exhausted him; and he returned to his brain…
  work unrested and unrefreshed。
  It was during one of his forced walks of some twenty…four miles in
  the neighbourhood of Stirling; that he injured one of his feet;
  and he returned home seriously ill。  The result was an abscess;
  disease of the ankle…joint; and long agony; which ended in the
  amputation of the right foot。  But he never relaxed in his
  labours。  He was now writing; lecturing; and teaching chemistry。
  Rheumatism and acute inflammation of the eye next attacked him;
  and were treated by cupping; blisetring; and colchicum。  Unable
  himself to write; he went on preparing his lectures; which he
  dictated to his sister。  Pain haunted him day and night; and sleep
  was only forced by morphia。  While in this state of general
  prostration; symptoms of pulmonary disease began to show
  themselves。  Yet he continued to give the weekly lectures to which
  he stood committed to the Edinburgh School of Arts。  Not one was
  shirked; though their delivery; before a large audience; was a
  most exhausting duty。  〃Well; there's another nail put into my
  coffin;〃 was the remark made on throwing off his top…coat on
  returning home; and a sleepless night almost invariably followed。
  At twenty…seven; Wilson was lecturing ten; eleven; or more hours
  weekly; usually with setons or open blister…wounds upon himhis
  〃bosom friends;〃 he used to call them。  He felt the shadow of
  death upon him; and he worked as if his days were numbered。
  〃Don't be surprised;〃 he wrote to a friend; 〃if any morning at
  breakfast you hear that I am gone。〃  But while he said so; he did
  not in the least degree indulge in the feeling of sickly
  sentimentality。  He worked on as cheerfully and hopefully as if in
  the very fulness of his strength。  〃To none;〃 said he; 〃is life so
  sweet as to those who have lost all fear to die。〃
  Sometimes he was compelled to desist from his labours by sheer
  debility; occasioned by loss of blood from the lungs; but after a
  few weeks' rest and change of air; he