第 12 节
作者:尘小春      更新:2021-02-18 23:45      字数:9322
  that ten pounds would make his fortune; because with ten pounds he could
  set up a shop; instead of working out of the world's sight in a room。
  Lord Ipsden gave him ten pounds!
  A week after; he met Harvey; more ragged and dirty than before。
  Harvey had been robbed by a friend whom he had assisted。 Poor Harvey!
  Lord Ipsden gave him ten pounds more!
  Next week; Saunders; entering Harvey's house; found him in bed at noon;
  because he had no clothes to wear。
  Saunders suggested that it would be better to give his wife the next
  money; with strict orders to apply it usefully。
  This was done!
  The next day; Harvey; finding his clothes upon a chair; his tools
  redeemed from pawn; and a beefsteak ready for his dinner; accused his
  wife of having money; and meanly refusing him the benefit of it。 She
  acknowledged she had a little; and appealed to the improved state of
  things as a proof that she knew better than he the use of money。 He
  demanded the said money。 She refusedhe leathered hershe put him in
  prison。
  This was the best place for him。 The man was a drunkard; and all the
  riches of Egypt would never have made him better off。
  And here; gentlemen of the lower classes; a word with you。 How can you;
  with your small incomes; hope to be well off; if you are more extravagant
  than those who have large ones?
  〃Us extravagant?〃 you reply。
  Yes! your income is ten shillings a week; out of that you spend three
  shillings in drink; ay! you; the sober ones。 You can't afford it; my
  boys。 Find me a man whose income is a thousand a year; well; if he
  imitates you; and spends three hundred upon sensuality; I bet you the odd
  seven hundred he does not make both ends meet; the proportion is too
  great。 And _two…thirds of the distress of the lower orders is owing to
  thisthat they are more madly prodigal than the rich; in the worst;
  lowest and most dangerous item of all human prodigality!_
  Lord Ipsden went to see Mrs。 Harvey; it cost him much to go; she lived in
  the Old Town; and he hated disagreeable smells; he also knew from
  Saunders that she had two black eyes; and he hated women with black eyes
  of that sort。 But this good creature did go; did relieve Mrs。 Harvey;
  and; bare…headed; suffered himself to be bedewed ten minutes by her
  tearful twaddle。
  For once Virtue was rewarded。 Returning over the North Bridge; he met
  somebody whom but for his charity he would not have met。
  He came in one bright moment plump uponLady Barbara Sinclair。 She
  flushed; he trembled; and in two minutes he had forgotten every human
  event that had passed since he was by her side。
  She seemed pleased to see him; too; she ignored entirely his obnoxious
  proposal; he wisely took her cue; and so; on this secret understanding;
  they were friends。 He made his arrangements; and dined with her family。
  It was a family party。 In the evening Lady Barbara allowed it to
  transpire that she had made inquiries about him。
  (He was highly flattered。) And she had discovered he was lying hid
  somewhere in the neighborhood。
  〃Studying the guitar?〃 inquired she。
  〃No;〃 said he; 〃studying a new class of the community。 Do you know any of
  what they call the 'lower classes'?〃
  〃Yes。〃
  〃Monstrous agreeable people; are they not?〃
  〃No; very stupid! I only know two old womenexcept the servants; who
  have no characters。 They imitate us; I suspect; which does not say much
  for their taste。〃
  〃But some of my friends are young women; that makes all the difference。〃
  〃It does! and you ought to be ashamed。 If you want a low order of mind;
  why desert our own circle?〃
  〃My friends are only low in station; they have rather lofty minds; some
  of them。〃
  〃Well; amuse yourself with these lofty minds。 Amusement is the end of
  being; you know; and the aim of all the men of this day。〃
  〃We imitate the ladies;〃 said he; slyly。
  〃You do;〃 answered she; very dryly; and so the dialogue went on; and Lord
  Ipsden found the pleasure of being with his cousin compensate him fully
  for the difference of their opinions; in fact; he found it simply amusing
  that so keen a wit as his cousins s could be entrapped into the humor of
  decrying the time one happens to live in; and admiring any epoch one
  knows next to nothing about; and entrapped by the notion of its
  originality; above all things; the idea being the stale commonplace of
  asses in every age; and the manner of conveying the idea being a mere
  imitation of the German writers; not the good ones; _bien entendu;_ but
  the quill…drivers; the snobs of the Teutonic pen。
  But he was to learn that follies are not always laughable; that _eadem
  sentire_ is a bond; and that; when a clever and pretty woman chooses to
  be a fool; her lover; if he is wise; will be a greaterif he can。
  The next time they met; Lord Ipsden found Lady Barbara occupied with a
  gentleman whose first sentence proclaimed him a pupil of Mr。 Thomas
  Carlyle; and he had the mortification to find that she had neither an ear
  nor an eye for him。
  Human opinion has so many shades that it is rare to find two people
  agree。
  But two people may agree wonderfully; if they will but let a third think
  for them both。
  Thus it was that these two ran so smoothly in couples。
  Antiquity; they agreed; was the time when the world was old; its hair
  gray; its head wise。 Every one that said; 〃Lord; Lord!〃 two hundred years
  ago was a Christian。 There were no earnest men now; Williams; the
  missionary; who lived and died for the Gospel; was not earnest in
  religion; but Cromwell; who packed a jury; and so murdered his
  prisonerCromwell; in whose mouth was heaven; and in his heart temporal
  sovereigntywas the pattern of earnest religion; or; at all events;
  second in sincerity to Mahomet alone; in the absence of details
  respecting Satan; of whom we know only that his mouth is a Scripture
  concordance; and his hands the hands of Mr。 Carlyle's saints。
  Then they went back a century or two; and were eloquent about the great
  antique heart; and the beauty of an age whose samples were Abbot Sampson
  and Joan of Arc。
  Lord Ipsden hated argument; but jealousy is a brass spur; it made even
  this man fluent for once。
  He suggested 〃that five hundred years added to a world's life made it
  just five hundred years older; not youngerand if older; grayerand if
  grayer; wiser。
  〃Of Abbot Sampson;〃 said he; 〃whom I confess both a great and a good man;
  his author; who with all his talent belongs to the class muddle…head;
  tells us that when he had been two years in authority his red hair had
  turned gray; fighting against the spirit of his age; how the deuce; then;
  could he be a sample of the spirit of his age?
  〃Joan of Arc was burned by acclamation of her age; and is admired by our
  age。 Which fact identifies an age most with a heroine; to give her your
  heart; or to give her a blazing fagot and death?〃
  〃Abbot Sampson and Joan of Arc;〃 concluded he; 〃prove no more in favor of
  their age; and no less against it; than Lot does for or against Sodom。
  Lot was in Sodom; but not of it; and so were Sampson and Joan in; but not
  of; the villainous times they lived in。
  〃The very best text…book of true religion is the New Testament; and I
  gather from it; that the man who forgives his enemies while their ax
  descends on his head; however poor a creature he may be in other
  respects; is a better Christian than the man who has the God of Mercy
  forever on his lips; and whose hands are swift to shed blood。
  〃The earnest men of former ages are not extinct in this;〃 added he。
  〃Whenever a scaffold is erected outside a prison…door; if you are earnest
  in pursuit of truth; and can put up with disgusting objects; you shall
  see a relic of ancient manners hanged。
  〃There still exist; in parts of America; rivers on whose banks are
  earnest men who shall take your scalp; the wife's of your bosom; and the
  innocent child's of her bosom。
  〃In England we are as earnest as ever in pursuit of heaven; and of
  innocent worldly advantages。 If; when the consideration of life and death
  interposes; we appear less earnest in pursuit of comparative trifles such
  as kingdoms or dogmas; it is because cooler in action we are more earnest
  in thoughtbecause reason; experience; and conscience are things that
  check the unscrupulousness or beastly earnestness of man。
  〃Moreover; he who has the sense to see that questions have three sides is
  no longer so intellectually as well as morally degraded as to be able to
  cut every throat that utters an opinion contrary to his own。
  〃If the phrase 'earnest man' means man imitating the beasts that are deaf
  to reason; it is to be hoped that civilization and Christianity will
  really extinguish the whole race for the benefit of the earth。〃
  Lord Ipsden succeeded in annoying the fair theorist; but not in
  convincing her。
  The mediaeval enthusiasts looked on him as some rough animal that had
  burst into sacred grounds unconsciously; and gradually edged away from
  him。
  CHAPTER X。
  LORD IPSDEN had soon the mortification of discovering that this Mr。
  was a constant visitor at the house; and; although his cousin gave him
  her ear in this man's absence; on the arrival of her fellow…enthusiast he
  had ever the mortification of findi