Читать книгу For the Blood Is the Life - Francis Marion Crawford - Страница 27

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" I have made up my mind that I will never be surprised at anything again," said Lady Brenda, as the party sat at their mid-day breakfast on the day after the events last recorded. She had been telling the rest about the king's visit.

"You are quite right," answered Augustus. " You are quite right, my dearly beloved mother-in-law. Surprise is nothing but a disturbance in the balance of the faculties. Now, when a woman possesses faculties like yours it is a pity that they should not be always balanced."

"Really, Augustus— "

"Quite so," continued Chard,imperturbably. "When once you have discovered that we are likely to meet dead men who talk very agreeably, almost every day, it is as well to make the most of your opportunities. The phenomenon will probably be explained some day; meanwhile let us enjoy it as much as we can. It would be very pleasant, if these charming people could dine with us, but I gather from various things that they do not dine at all, nor even breakfast. Who is going on the expedition this afternoon ? "

"We all are," said the three ladies, with a unanimity as rarely found in the country when a walk is proposed, as it is general in town when there is a ball.

They had determined to take a long walk among the mountains, and, as the day was comparatively cool, they started immediately after breakfast. Augustus led them up the rocky path, past their little stone hut which was the centre of his experiments, and along the steep side of the mountain over the sea. They were all four good, walkers and fond of exercise.

" It would be very amusing if some of our friends would walk with us," remarked Diana, as she picked her way over the rocks.

"Delightful," said Gwendoline, steadying herself with her stick upon the summit of a small boulder, and looking at the view.

"Dear me! " exclaimed Lady Brenda, " who can that be? Do you see, Augustus ? Such a very odd dress ! Do they still wear three-cornered hats in this part of the world — and brown coats with brass buttons?"

"He is a very big man," said Augustus, eyeing the stranger, who was coming down the rocks and was not more than a hundred yards from them. "A very big man indeed. He must be some old peasant. We will talk to him."

They walked on and in a few seconds came up to the solitary pedestrian. Augustus spoke to him. He was of colossal size, with a huge head surmounted by an old full-bottomed wig and a three-cornered hat. He wore knee-breeches and stockings, with stout buckled shoes, and he carried in his hand a huge oak stick, which looked more like a club. Augustus addressed him in the dialect of the hills.

"Me fat'u piace, m'andecat' a'ndusse wa p'anna a Pussita? "

"Sir," replied the stranger in English, in a loud, gruff voice, " from your appearance I take you to be an Englishman, like myself."

"I beg your pardon," said Augustus, very much surprised. " There are so few of our countrymen about here—"

"Your surprise is venial sir," returned the other, fixing his dark eyes on Chard's face. "I am not only an Englishman, but a dead Englishman; and, what is more, sir, I believe that a dead Englishman is better than a live Italian. I am Samuel Johnson."

"Dr. Johnson!" exclaimed the four living people in astonishment.

"Do not doctor me, sir," roared the great man in tremendous tones. "Do not doctor me, sir, for I am past doctoring!" He glared a moment at the party and then suddenly broke into a peal of laughter, in which the others soon joined.

"If I cannot frighten you," he continued, goodnaturedly, "I can at least excite your merriment. But, sir, I have seen little boys in Scotland tremble at the sight of this stick."

"You have found it, then?" said Augustus. "I congratulate you."

"Yes sir, they stole it, the villains; I always said so."

In a few minutes they all proceeded on their walk. Augustus stated who he was and presented Dr. Johnson to his three companions. The doctor showed the greatest delight and explained that he had just met the party of dead men, who were passing the afternoon among the rocks. He was intimate with them, he said, and they had told him all about Chard and his experiments. Indeed the doctor had taken the road towards the Castello del Gaudio in hopes of meeting the inhabitants of the castle.

"I wonder," said Augustus, " that you should care to walk here — you who are so fond of trees."

"Since I have hung loose on the world," replied Johnson, " and have been at liberty to walk where I please, and as long as I please, I have grown tolerant of contrast. It is one thing to be obliged to traverse a country where there is no timber; it is another matter to be independent of those laws which, while we are alive, force us to spend some time in moving from place to place."

"Do you think," asked Lady Brenda, " that when one has as many beautiful things as one likes, one begins to like ugly things, just for a change? "

"No, madam," said Johnson. " I do not like ugly things, but I have learned that there are no ugly things in nature. In living persons the impression of the ugliness of external objects is purely relative; since we know that an African negro in the natural state sees more beauty in a black woman of his own race than in a white woman of ours, and that with ourselves the contrary is the case. But if the negro be taken to a country inhabited by white men and women, he soon comes to regard the white woman as the type of what a woman should be, and before long he will see beauty where he formerly supposed that there was nothing but ugliness."

"But of course white women are more beautiful than black!" exclaimed Lady Brenda.

"When you say that they are more beautiful, you imply that their beauty is contrasted with the less beauty of black women," continued Johnson. " For since you employ a comparative form in describing the one, it may reasonably be supposed that you find something in the other with which the first may be compared. Indeed, comparison is at the root of all intelligence, and, if other things be alike, the man who is able to compare any two things with greater accuracy than his neighbour, is the wiser of the two; for, if we suppose that two men are equally able to remember that which they have learned, it is clear that he v/ho is able to discern the comparative value of the different things he knows, possesses of the two the greater facility for using his knowledge. It may be doubted whether Sir Isaac Newton possessed a more remarkable memory than Lord Chesterfield; but it cannot be questioned that, whereas, in the latter, the power of comparison merely produced a brilliant wit, in Newton the power was so great that it produced a very great man and a very great discoverer."

" Is it fair to compare a statesman with a scientist?" asked Diana, as the party paused in their walk.

"If statesmanship is a science, it is fair," answered the doctor, looking down at the young girl.

"Statesmanship must be the greatest of sciences," said Augustus. " There are a hundred scientists today alive, who are commonly called great. There are certainly not three statesmen alive to whom the epithet is applied now, or will be applied when they are dead."

"You are quite right, sir," answered Johnson.

"I suppose there is less room for them," remarked Gwendoline.

"I do not know," returned her husband. " There are hundreds of important places in which a man might distinguish himself, if we count together all the important governments in the world. If great statesmen were plenty, there would be no reason why a whole government should not consist of great men. Almost every university in the world pretends to boast of possessing one or two great men, and nobody seems able to prove that they are not really as great as is pretended."

"Scientists," said the doctor, " or men of science, as we called them in my day, are in a position which differs wholly from that of statesmen; for while the former are privileged to speak without acting, the latter are often compelled to act without explaining themselves in words. A man is not to be held responsible for his convictions, provided that he does not act upon them; but the actions of a statesman produce results of the sort which soon become manifest to all men and which influence the lives of mankind, so that mankind has the right to judge him. If all the theories of men of science were subjected to the test of experiment upon the corpus vile of whole nations, it may be doubted whether popular opinion would continue to be as tolerant of scientific opinion as it now is; for though one man might succeed in rearing men from a litter of monkeys, the next experimenter might very likely, by a small error, reduce men to the state of apes. One man rises up, and declares to the people that they must believe in him, but that, in order to believe in him, it is necessary that they should not believe in God. He exalts science to the position of the Deity, and tells people that they must worship it; but it is his own science which he exalts, and not that of his adversary, who has invented a different kind of idol. No, sir, science is a good thing so long as it is useful; but when, in its present state, it takes upon itself to tamper with so enormous and vital a matter as the belief of man in his Creator, it is pernicious, it is dangerous, and it will soon become destructive."

"You see, Augustus," said Lady Brenda, triumphantly, " I always told you that it was great rubbish."

"My dear mother-in-law," returned Chard, "you forget that I belong to the brotherhood of the Ignorantines. My principal conviction is that nobody knows anything.

"Sir," said Johnson, " you are not far wrong. One of the greatest mistakes of these days is the attempt to make people believe that they can know everything. Science cannot be made popular; for if it be within the reach of every one, and so simple that everybody can understand it, why then many persons could have discovered its secrets long ago; but if it be indeed a hard matter to understand, it must be reserved for those whose intellect is equal to so great an effort, and it is useless to make that popular which the people can never comprehend. If those men, who occupy themselves by attempting to substitute in others their own theories in the place of a wholesome religion, would confine their efforts to communicating such knowledge as they possess without endeavouring to destroy that belief which excites their unreasoning hatred, they might indeed deserve some credit; but their arguments are of so partial a nature, their language is so vehement and unrestrained, that we are forced to believe that they are animated rather by a desire to destroy religion than by a legitimate wish to extend the sphere of human knowledge and to do good to humanity by teaching that which is useful."

"Yes," said Augustus, " there is no reason why we should not learn the little that can be known, without upsetting religion. I think some modern scientists might read the life of Pascal with advantage, not to say that of Newton. I do not suppose that any of our living professors pretend to be as great as either of those two, who were extremely religious men."

"Pascal," replied the doctor, "was a tremendous young man. He discovered the weight of the atmosphere, he invented a calculating machine, he found the law of cycloids, he wrote like a father of the early Church, and he instituted the first omnibus that ever ran. A man cannot do more than that in thirty-nine years, but he did most of these things before he was five and twenty. As for Sir Isaac Newton he wrote a book of ' Arguments in Proof of a Deity' and a chronology of ancient history, both of which are much better than is commonly supposed."

"Dear me I " exclaimed Gwendoline, " I never knew that Pascal invented the omnibus. He must have had a great deal of common sense."

"Both common and uncommon, madam," answered Johnson, "and I venture to say that the common sense which can invent the omnibus is as valuable to mankind as the uncommon intelligence which is able to conceive that the atmosphere may have weight and that the cycloid curve may be reduced to a law."

"Yes," said Augustus, "but the weight of the atmosphere is more interesting than the invention of a public carriage. I should think that a man with a big intellect would prefer to study big things."

"No, sir," answered Johnson. "It is not more interesting, but it is more attractive. When a man of science discovers a lacuna in his wisdom, he makes haste to fill up the breach with a new theory, in the framing of which he at once enjoys the pleasures of imagination and the satisfaction which is felt in the exercise of ingenuity. His theory will stop the hole in the wall until it is worn out, or until some one finds a better theory to substitute in its place; and those portions of his work which are the result of knowledge acquired independently of the imagination, even if not very perfect, will always afford him some ground for congratulating himself upon his own abilities as compared with those of others. But the case of the man who occupies himself in endeavouring to better the condition of his fellow-men by imparting to them some of the results of his study, is very different. For, while the man of speculative science acts upon ideas, theories, and the like, the student of the applied sciences acts upon things and in a high degree upon people. It is clear that the immediate results produced by the man who acts upon living men are, in the present, incalculably more important than those brought about by the student who speculates upon the origin of the human race, or upon the ultimate nature of human happiness; although it is true that where speculation results in discoveries capable of being widely and advantageously applied, the man of science attains to an importance which cannot be over-estimated. When Pascal discovered that the atmosphere has weight, he laid the foundation for the invention of the first steam-engine; when Newton established the nature of the laws of gravity, he gave to science the means of weighing the earth, and on his method of prime and ultimate ratios is founded the most subtle, powerful and universally applicable system of calculation now known. But there are few who combine common and uncommon sense in the same degree as those two men; and we may safely say that those persons who act upon men directly, as statesmen, or upon things, as engineers, are the men who, in the present, make their influence most widely felt. Any great railway of the world transports from place to place in one month, affording thereby immense facilities to their lives, a greater number of people than in the whole world have read, or perhaps ever heard of, Mr. Darwin's book upon the origin of man, or Professor Kant's work on the criticism exercised by pure reason."

"The only measure of force, of which we know, is the result produced," said Augustus.

"And will any one venture to compare the result produced upon the lives, the wealth and the prosperity of mankind by so small a modification of an existing machine as is comprised in the invention of the marine compound engine of to-day, with the result produced by Mr. Darwin's researches concerning the origin of man ? The simple idea of using the steam twice over in cylinders of different sizes has revolutionised modern commerce, has been the death-warrant of thousands of sailing vessels, and has caused thousands of steamships to be built, employing many millions of men and iipsetting all oldfashioned notions of trade. But I will venture to say that the theory which teaches people to believe that they are descended from monkeys has neither contributed to the happiness of mankind nor in any way increased the prosperity of nations. If it possesses merits as a theory, which may or may not be questioned, it can certainly never be said to have any application bearing upon the lives of men ; and though it will survive as a remarkable monument of the ingenuity, the imagination and the industry of a learned man, it will neither inspire humanity at large with elevating and strengthening thoughts, nor will it help individuals in particular to better their condition or to surmount the ordinary difficulties of everyday life."

"I should think not! " exclaimed Lady Brenda in a tone of conviction. " But of course one has to pretend to believe what everybody else does — or at least one must let other people believe what they please. It makes life so much easier ! "

"Madam," said Johnson, sternly, " it is always easier to avoid a responsibility than to assume it."

"Oh dear ! I did not mean to be so serious! " rejoined the lady. " But I really could not take upon myself to persuade all the people I meet in society that they are not descended from monkeys, when they assure me that they are, you know."

"No, madam," answered the doctor, with a twinkle in his eye. " So nice a matter should be referred to a court of claims, and the candidates for the honours of monkeydom should be judged upon their own merits."

"And if approved, be declared tenants in tail for ever," suggested Augustus.

"Sir," said Johnson, almost angrily, " puns are the last resource of exhausted wit, as swearing is the refuge of those whose vocabulary is too limited to furnish them with a means of expressing their anger or disappointment."

"I beg your pardon," returned Augustus, smiling. " Wit is much exhausted in our day."

"It must be, sir," answered the doctor, who did not seem quite pacified. But the three ladies laughed.

"Won't you let me make a pun?" asked Lady Brenda, beseechingly.

"No, madam. Not if I can help it," returned Johnson, smiling and resuming his good-humour. "I ask your pardon, sir," he continued, turning to Augustus. " I did not mean to imply that your wit was exhausted."

"It is, I assure you. So pray do not mention the matter," answered Chard, laughing. " The unconscious ratiocination of my feeble brain found expression in words."

"Some day," said the doctor, " I would like to discuss with you the nature of wit and humour. At present the digression would be too great, for we were speaking of men of science, in whom wit is rarely abundant and in whom humour is as conspicuous by its absence as speech in a whale. But I should except Pascal, who was a very witty man. You would find great advantage in his acquaintance."

"Do you often see him?" asked Diana, eagerly. She loved and admired the writer as distinguished from the scientist.

"Sometimes," answered Johnson. " He is a most unclubable man. He loves solitude and his own thoughts, which, to tell the truth, are very good, so that he is not altogether to be blamed."

They walked together along the ridge of the mountain, stopping now and then to rest a little and to look at the wonderful views which were unfolded to their eyes almost at every step. The bare brown rocks over which they climbed contrasted strongly with the deep blue of the sea far below and with the grand sweep of the Gulf of Salerno in the distance, where the green and marshy plain beyond the white city stretched back from the water towards the Calabrian hills. The sun was not hot at that high elevation and the sea breeze swept the rocks and blew cool in the faces of the party. Suddenly the mountain path came abruptly to an end as they reached the foot of a high and inaccessible rock. It was evident that they must go round it, and turning to the left they ascended a little channel which led up through the boulders. The sound of voices reached their ears, and Gwendoline paused to listen.

"We shall find our friends here," said Dr. Johnson. " They must be just beyond that corner."

They hastened forward and soon they came upon the strange company, seated together in a half circle where there was an indentation in the hill. Caesar was there, and Francis, Heine and Chopin and one other, whom they had not seen before. He was a man in white armour, complete save that he wore no helmet; a slender, graceful man seated in an easy attitude, his chin resting on his hand. His face was of calm, angelic beauty, pale and refined, but serene and strong. Short curls of chestnut hair clustered about his white brow and his deep-set blue eyes looked quietly at the advancing party.

"Who is the man in armour ? " asked Gwendoline of Dr Johnson in a low voice as they approached.

"A very good man, madam," he answered. " That is no less a person, madam, than Pierre du Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard, known as the Chevalier Bayard, without fear and without reproach. A man, madam, of whom it is impossible to say whether he is most to be revered for his virtue, admired for his prowess, or imitated for his fidelity to his sovereign."

"Really! " exclaimed Gwendoline. But there was not time for more. The dead men rose to their feet together, and greetings were exchanged between them and their living acquaintances. King Francis presented Bayard to Lady Brenda, who in her turn presented Gwendoline, Diana and Augustus to the king.

"We feared you were not coming," said the latter, smiling pleasantly. " Indeed, we were planning the siege of your castle, and Bayard had volunteered to lead the forlorn hope."

"If we had taken him prisoner," said Augustus, " the ladies would not have let him go as Ludovico did, when he rushed into Milan alone."

"Indeed," said the chevalier, " I fear I should not have had the courage to offer a ransom."

"Let us go on," suggested Gwendoline. " I like to see the water — then we can all sit down and talk. " You are not tired ? " she asked, looking inquiringly round the group.

"No," laughed Heine, "we are indestructible. We have not even the satisfaction of wearing out our shoes and of getting new ones. I will show you the way to a beautiful spot."

They all moved forward together, skirting the boulders for a couple of hundred yards. Then suddenly they came in sight of the sea, between the steep sides of the gorge. Heine and Johnson had gone in front and were already gazing at the view as the others came up.