a study of bible-第23节

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


　he　had　learned　from　the　Bible。　His　poetry　was　one　long　protest　against　banishing　God　from　the　universe。　It　was　literally　true　of　him　that　〃the　meanest　flower　that　grows　can　give　thoughts　that　too　often　lie　too　deep　for　tears。〃　If　this　were　the　time　to　be　critical；　one　would　think　that　too　much　was　sometimes　made　of　very　minute　occurrences；　but　this　tendency　to　get　back　of　the　event　and　see　how　God　is　moving　is　learned　best　from　Scripture；　where　Wordsworth　himself　learned　it。　If　you　read　his　〃Intimations　of　Immortality；〃　or　the　〃Ode　to　Duty；〃　or　〃Tintern　Abbay；〃　or　even　the　rather　labored　〃Excursion；〃　you　find　yourself　under　the　Scriptural　influence。

There　remains　in　this　Georgian　group　the　great　prose　master；　Walter　Scott。　Mr。　Gladstone　said　he　thought　Scott　the　greatest　of　his　countrymen。　John　Morley　suggested　John　Knox　instead。　Mr。　Gladstone　replied：　〃No；　the　line　must　be　drawn　firmly　between　the　writer　and　the　man　of　actionno　comparison　there。〃＇1＇　He　went　on　to　say　that　Burns　is　very　fine　and　true；　no　doubt；　〃but　to　imagine　a　whole　group　of　characters；　to　marshal　them；　to　set　them　to　work；　and　to　sustain　the　action；　I　must　count　that　the　test　of　highest　and　most　diversified　quality。〃　All　who　are　fond　of　Scott　will　realize　how　constantly　the　scenes　which　he　is　describing　group　themselves　around　religious　observances；　how　often　men　are　held　in　check　from　deeds　of　violence　by　religious　conception。　Many　of　these　scenes　crystallize　around　a　Scriptural　event。　Scott's　boyhood　was　spent　in　scenes　that　reminded　him　of　the　power　the　Scripture　had。　He　was　drilled　from　his　childhood　in　the　knowledge　of　its　words　and　phrases；　and　while　his　writing　as　a　whole　shows　more　of　the　Old　Testament　influence　than　of　the　New；　even　in　his　style　he　is　strongly　under　Bible　influence。


＇1＇　Morley；　Life　of　Gladstone；　vol。　iii；　p。　424。


The　preface　to　Guy　Mannering　tells　us　it　is　built　around　an　old　story　of　a　father　putting　a　lad　to　test　under　guidance　of　an　ancient　astrologer；　shutting　him　up　in　a　barren　room　to　be　tempted　by　the　Evil　One；　leaving　him　only　one　safeguard；　a　Bible；　lying　on　the　table　in　the　middle　of　the　room。　In　his　introduction　to　The　Heart　of　Midlothian；　Scott　makes　one　of　the　two　men　thrown　into　the　water　by　the　overturned　coach　remind　the　other　that　they　〃cannot　complain；　like　Cowley；　that　Gideon's　fleece　remains　dry　while　all　around　is　moist；　this　is　the　reverse　of　the　miracle。〃　A　little　later　a　speaker　describes　novels　as　the　Delilahs　that　seduce　wise　and　good　men　from　more　serious　reading。　In　the　dramatic　scene　when　Jeanie　Deans　faces　the　wretched　George　Staunton；　who　has　so　shamed　the　household；　she　exclaims：　〃O　sir；　did　the　Scripture　never　come　into　your　mind；　'Vengeance　is　mine；　and　I　will　repay　it？'　〃　〃Scripture！〃　he　sneers；　〃why　I　had　not　opened　a　Bible　for　five　years。〃　〃Wae's　me；　sir；〃　said　Jeanie〃and　a　minister's　son；　too！〃　Anthony　Foster；　in　Kenilworth；　looks　down　on　poor　Amy's　body　in　the　vault　into　which　she　has　fallen；　in　response　to　what　she　thought　was　Leicester's　whistle；　and　exclaims　to　Varney：　〃Oh；　if　there　be　judgment　in　heaven；　thou　hast　deserved　it；　and　will　meet　it！　Thou　hast　destroyed　her　by　means　of　her　best　affectionsit　is　the　seething　of　the　kid　in　the　mother's　milk！〃　And　when；　next　morning；　Varney　was　found　dead　of　the　secret　poison　and　with　a　sneering　sarcasm　on　his　ghastly　face；　Scott　dismisses　him　with　the　phrase：　〃The　wicked　man；　saith　the　Scripture；　hath　no　bonds　in　his　death。〃

His　characters　use　freely　the　familiar　Bible　events　and　phrases。　In　the　Fortunes　of　Nigel；　a　story　of　the　very　period　when　our　King　James　version　was　produced；　Hildebrod　declares　that　if　he　had　his　way　Captain　Peppercull　should　hang　as　high　as　Haman　ever　did。　In　Kenilworth；　when　Leicester　gives　Varney　his　signet…　ring；　he　says；　significantly：　〃What　thou　dost；　do　quickly。〃　Of　course；　Isaac；　the　Jew　in　Ivanhoe；　exclaims　frequently　in　Old　Testament　terms。　He　wishes　the　wheels　of　the　chariots　of　his　enemies　may　be　taken　off；　like　those　of　the　host　of　Pharoah；　that　they　may　drive　heavily。　He　expects　the　Palmer's　lance　to　be　as　powerful　as　the　rod　of　Moses；　and　so　on。

Scott　was　writing　of　the　period　when　men　stayed　themselves　with　Scripture；　and　his　men　are　all　sure　of　God　and　Satan　and　angels　and　judgment　and　all　eternal　things。　His　son…in…　law　vouches　for　the　old　story　that　when　Sir　Walter　was　on　his　death…bed　he　asked　Lockhart　to　read　him　something　from　the　Book；　and　when　Lockhart　asked；　〃What　book？〃　Scott　replied：　〃Why　do　you　ask？　There　is　but　one　book；　the　Bible。〃

All　this　is　scant　justice　to　the　Georgian　group；　but　it　may　give　a　hint　of　what　the　Bible　meant　even　at　that　period；　the　period　when　its　grip　on　men　was　most　lax　in　all　the　later　English　history。


It　is　in　the　Victorian　age　（1840…1900）　that　the　field　is　most　bewildering。　It　is　true；　as　Frederick　Harrison　says；　that　〃this　Victorian　age　has　no　Shakespeare　or　Milton；　no　Bacon　or　Hume；　no　Fielding　or　Scottno　supreme　master　in　poetry；　philosophy；　or　romance　whose　work　is　incorporated　with　the　thought　of　the　world；　who　is　destined　to　form　an　epoch；　to　endure　for　centuries。〃＇1＇　The　genius　of　the　period　is　more　scientific　than　literary；　yet　we　would　be　helpless　if　we　had　not　already　eliminated　from　our　discussion　everything　but　the　works　and　writers　of　pure　literature。　The　output　of　books　has　been　so　tremendous　that　it　would　be　impossible　to　analyze　the　influences　which　have　made　them。　There　are　in　this　Victorian　period　at　least　twelve　great　English　writers　who　must　be　known；　whose　work　affects　the　current　of　English　literature。　Many　other　names　would　need　mention　in　any　full　history　or　any　minute　study；　but　it　is　not　harsh　judgment　to　say　that　the　main　current　of　literature　would　be　the　same　without　them。　A　few　of　these　lesser　names　will　come　to　mind；　and　in　the　calling　of　them　one　realizes　the　influence；　even　on　them；　of　the　English　Bible。　Anthony　Trollope　wrote　sixty　volumes；　the　titles　of　most　of　which　are　now　popularly　unknown。　He　told　George　Eliot　that　it　was　not　brains　that　explained　his　writing　so　much；　but　rather　wax　which　he　put　in　the　seat　of　his　chair；　which　held　him　down　to　his　daily　stint　of　work。　He　could　boast；　and　it　was　worth　the　boasting；　that　he　had　never　written　a　line　which　a　pure　woman　could　not　read　without　a　blush。　His　whole　Framley　Parsonage　series　abounds　in　Bible　references　and　allusions。　So　Charlotte　Bronte　is　in　English　literature；　and　Jane　Eyre　does　prove　what　she　was　meant　to　prove；　that　a　commonplace　person　can　be　made　the　heroine　of　a　novel；　but　on　all　Charlotte　Bronte's　work　is　the　mark　of　the　rectory　in　which　she　grew　up。　So　Thomas　Grey　has　left　his　〃Elegy〃　and　his　〃Hymn　to　Adversity；〃　and　some　other　writing　which　most　of　us　have　forgotten　or　never　knew。　Then　there　are　Maria　Edgeworth　and　Jane　Austen。　We　may　even　remember　that　Macaulay　thought　Jane　Austen　could　be　compared　with　Shakespeare；　as；　of　course；　she　can　be；　since　any　one　can　be；　but　neither　of　these　good　women　has　strongly　affected　the　literary　current。　Many　others　could　be　named；　but　English　literature　would　be　substantially　the　same　without　them；　and；　though　all　might　show　Biblical　influence；　they　would　not　illustrate　what　we　are　trying　to　discover。　So　we　come；　without　apology　to　the　unnamed；　to　the　twelve；　without　whom　English　literature　would　be　different。　This　is　the　list　in　the　order　of　the　alphabet：　Matthew　Arnold；　Robert　Browning　（Mrs。　Browning　being　grouped　as　one　with　him）；　Carlyle；　Dickens；　George　Eliot；　Charles　Kingsley；　Macaulay；　Ruskin；　Robert　Louis　Stevenson；　Swinburne；　Tennyson；　and　Thackeray。


＇1＇　Early　Victorian　Literature；　p。　9


It　is　dangerous　to　make　such　a　list；　but　it　can　be　defended。　Literary　history　would　not　be　the　same　without　any　one　of　them；　unless　possibly　Swinburne；　whose　claim　to　place　is　rather　by　his　work　as　critic　than　as　creator。　Nor　is　any　name　omitted　whose　introduction　would　change　literary　history。

Benjamin　Jowett　thought　Arnold　too　flippant　on　religious　things　to　be　a　real　prophet。　At　any　rate；　this　much　is　true；　that　the　books　in　which　Arnold　dealt　with　the　fundamentals　of　religion　are　his　profoundest　work。　In　his　poetry　the　best　piece　of　the　whole　is　his　〃Rugby　Chapel。〃　His　Religion　and　Dogma　he　himself　calls　an　〃essay　toward　a　better　apprehension　of　the　Bible。〃　All　through　he　urges　it　as　the　one　Book　which　needs　recovery。　〃All　that　the　churches　can　say　about　the　importance　of　the　Bible　and　its　religion　we　concur　in。〃　The　book　throughout　is　an　effort　to　justify　his　own　faith　in　terms　of　the　Bible。　The　effort　is　sometimes　amusing；　because　it　takes　such　a　logical　and　verbal　agility　to　go　from　one　to　the　other；　but　he　is　always　at　it。　He　is　afraid　in　his　soul　that　England　will　swing　away　from　the　Bible。　He　fears　it　may　come　about　through　neglect　of　the　Bible　on　one　hand；　or　through　wrong　teaching　about　it　on　the　other。　Not　in　his　ideas　alone；　but　markedly　in　his　style；　Arnold　has　felt　the　Biblical　influence。　He　came　at　a　time　when　there　was　strong　temptation　to　fall　into　cumbrous　German　ways　of　speech。　Against　that　Arnold　set　a　simple　phraseology；　and　he　held　out　the　English　Bible　constantly　as　a　model　by　which　the　men　of　England　ought　to　learn　to　write。　He　never　gained　the　simplicity　of　the　old　Hebrew　sentence；　and