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01-fate-第5部分

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carry the house away。  But the Marquis of Worcester; Watt; and Fulton

bethought themselves; that; where was power; was not devil; but was

God; that it must be availed of; and not by any means let off and

wasted。  Could he lift pots and roofs and houses so handily? he was

the workman they were in search of。  He could be used to lift away;

chain; and compel other devils; far more reluctant and dangerous;

namely; cubic miles of earth; mountains; weight or resistance of

water; machinery; and the labors of all men in the world; and time he

shall lengthen; and shorten space。



        It has not fared much otherwise with higher kinds of steam。

The opinion of the million was the terror of the world; and it was

attempted; either to dissipate it; by amusing nations; or to pile it

over with strata of society;  a layer of soldiers; over that; a

layer of lords; and a king on the top; with clamps and hoops of

castles; garrisons; and police。  But; sometimes; the religious

principle would get in; and burst the hoops; and rive every mountain

laid on top of it。  The Fultons and Watts of politics; believing in

unity; saw that it was a power; and; by satisfying it; (as justice

satisfies everybody;) through a different disposition of society; 

grouping it on a level; instead of piling it into a mountain;  they

have contrived to make of his terror the most harmless and energetic

form of a State。



        Very odious; I confess; are the lessons of Fate。  Who likes to

have a dapper phrenologist pronouncing on his fortunes?  Who likes to

believe that he has hidden in his skull; spine; and pelvis; all the

vices of a Saxon or Celtic race; which will be sure to pull him down;

 with what grandeur of hope and resolve he is fired;  into a

selfish; huckstering; servile; dodging animal?  A learned physician

tells us; the fact is invariable with the Neapolitan; that; when

mature; he assumes the forms of the unmistakable scoundrel。  That is

a little overstated;  but may pass。



        But these are magazines and arsenals。  A man must thank his

defects; and stand in some terror of his talents。  A transcendent

talent draws so largely on his forces; as to lame him; a defect pays

him revenues on the other side。  The sufferance; which is the badge

of the Jew; has made him; in these days; the ruler of the rulers of

the earth。  If Fate is ore and quarry; if evil is good in the making;

if limitation is power that shall be; if calamities; oppositions; and

weights are wings and means;  we are reconciled。



        Fate involves the melioration。  No statement of the Universe

can have any soundness; which does not admit its ascending effort。

The direction of the whole; and of the parts; is toward benefit; and

in proportion to the health。  Behind every individual; closes

organization: before him; opens liberty;  the Better; the Best。

The first and worst races are dead。  The second and imperfect races

are dying out; or remain for the maturing of higher。  In the latest

race; in man; every generosity; every new perception; the love and

praise he extorts from his fellows; are certificates of advance out

of fate into freedom。  Liberation of the will from the sheaths and

clogs of organization which he has outgrown; is the end and aim of

this world。  Every calamity is a spur and valuable hint; and where

his endeavors do not yet fully avail; they tell as tendency。  The

whole circle of animal life;  tooth against tooth;  devouring

war; war for food; a yelp of pain and a grunt of triumph; until; at

last; the whole menagerie; the whole chemical mass is mellowed and

refined for higher use;  pleases at a sufficient perspective。



        But to see how fate slides into freedom; and freedom into fate;

observe how far the roots of every creature run; or find; if you can;

a point where there is no thread of connection。  Our life is

consentaneous and far…related。  This knot of nature is so well tied;

that nobody was ever cunning enough to find the two ends。  Nature is

intricate; overlapped; interweaved; and endless。  Christopher Wren

said of the beautiful King's College chapel; 〃that; if anybody would

tell him where to lay the first stone; he would build such another。〃

But where shall we find the first atom in this house of man; which is

all consent; inosculation; and balance of parts?



        The web of relation is shown in _habitat_; shown in

hybernation。  When hybernation was observed; it was found; that;

whilst some animals became torpid in winter; others were torpid in

summer: hybernation then was a false name。  The _long sleep_ is not

an effect of cold; but is regulated by the supply of food proper to

the animal。  It becomes torpid when the fruit or prey it lives on is

not in season; and regains its activity when its food is ready。



        Eyes are found in light; ears in auricular air; feet on land;

fins in water; wings in air; and; each creature where it was meant to

be; with a mutual fitness。  Every zone has its own _Fauna_。  There is

adjustment between the animal and its food; its parasite; its enemy。

Balances are kept。  It is not allowed to diminish in numbers; nor to

exceed。  The like adjustments exist for man。  His food is cooked;

when he arrives; his coal in the pit; the house ventilated; the mud

of the deluge dried; his companions arrived at the same hour; and

awaiting him with love; concert; laughter; and tears。  These are

coarse adjustments; but the invisible are not less。  There are more

belongings to every creature than his air and his food。  His

instincts must be met; and he has predisposing power that bends and

fits what is near him to his use。  He is not possible until the

invisible things are right for him; as well as the visible。  Of what

changes; then; in sky and earth; and in finer skies and earths; does

the appearance of some Dante or Columbus apprise us!



        How is this effected?  Nature is no spendthrift; but takes the

shortest way to her ends。  As the general says to his soldiers; 〃if

you want a fort; build a fort;〃 so nature makes every creature do its

own work and get its living;  is it planet; animal; or tree。  The

planet makes itself。  The animal cell makes itself;  then; what it

wants。  Every creature;  wren or dragon;  shall make its own

lair。  As soon as there is life; there is self…direction; and

absorbing and using of material。  Life is freedom;  life in the

direct ratio of its amount。  You may be sure; the new…born man is not

inert。  Life works both voluntarily and supernaturally in its

neighborhood。  Do you suppose; he can be estimated by his weight in

pounds; or; that he is contained in his skin;  this reaching;

radiating; jaculating fellow?  The smallest candle fills a mile with

its rays; and the papillae of a man run out to every star。



        When there is something to be done; the world knows how to get

it done。  The vegetable eye makes leaf; pericarp; root; bark; or

thorn; as the need is; the first cell converts itself into stomach;

mouth; nose; or nail; according to the want: the world throws its

life into a hero or a shepherd; and puts him where he is wanted。

Dante and Columbus were Italians; in their time: they would be

Russians or Americans to…day。  Things ripen; new men come。  The

adaptation is not capricious。  The ulterior aim; the purpose beyond

itself; the correlation by which planets subside and crystallize;

then animate beasts and men; will not stop; but will work into finer

particulars; and from finer to finest。



        The secret of the world is; the tie between person and event。

Person makes event; and event person。  The 〃times;〃 〃the age;〃 what

is that; but a few profound persons and a few active persons who

epitomize the times?   Goethe; Hegel; Metternich; Adams; Calhoun;

Guizot; Peel; Cobden; Kossuth; Rothschild; Astor; Brunel; and the

rest。  The same fitness must be presumed between a man and the time

and event; as between the sexes; or between a race of animals and the

food it eats; or the inferior races it uses。  He thinks his fate

alien; because the copula is hidden。  But the soul contains the event

that shall befall it; for the event is only the actualization of its

thoughts; and what we pray to ourselves for is always granted。  The

event is the print of your form。  It fits you like your skin。  What

each does is proper to him。  Events are the children of his body and

mind。  We learn that the soul of Fate is the soul of us; as Hafiz

sings;



        Alas! till now I had not known;

        My guide and fortune's guide are one。

 

        All the toys that infatuate men; and which they play for; 

houses; land; money; luxury; power; fame; are the selfsame thing;

with a new gauze or two of illusion overlaid。  And of all the drums

and rattles by which men are made willing to have their heads broke;

and are led out solemnly every morning to parade;  the most

admirable is this by which we are brought to believe that events are

arbitrary; and independent of actions。  At the conjuror's; we detect

the hair by which he moves his puppet; but we have not eyes sharp

enough to descry the thread that ties cause and effect。



        Nature magically suits the man to his fortunes; by making these

the fruit of his character。  Ducks take to the water; eagles to the

sky; waders to the sea margin; hunters to the forest; clerks to

counting…rooms; soldiers to the frontier。  Thus events grow on the

same stem with persons; are sub…persons。  The pleasure of life is

according to the man that lives it; and not according to the work or

the place。  Life is an ecstasy。  We know what madness belongs to

love;  what power to paint a vile object in hues of heaven。  As

insane persons are indifferent to their dress; diet; and other

accommodations; and; as we do in dreams; with equanimity; the most

absurd acts; so; a drop more of wine in our cup of life will

reconcile us to strange company
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