alexandria and her schools-第20节

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　of　Neoplatonism；　the　scheme　was　swamped　by　the　courtiers　of　Gallienus；　and　the　earth　was　saved　the　sad　and　ludicrous　sight　of　a　realised　Laputa；　probably　a　very　quarrelsome　one。　That　was　his　highest　practical　conception：　　the　foundation　of　a　new　society：　　not　the　regeneration　of　society　as　it　existed。

That　work　was　left　for　the　Christian　schools；　and　up　to　a　certain　point　they　performed　it。　　They　made　men　good。　　This　was　the　test；　which　of　the　schools　was　in　the　right：　　this　was　the　test；　which　of　the　two　had　hold　of　the　eternal　roots　of　metaphysic。　　Cicero　says；　that　he　had　learnt　more　philosophy　from　the　Laws　of　the　Twelve　Tables　than　from　all　the　Greeks。　　Clement　and　his　school　might　have　said　the　same　of　the　Hebrew　Ten　Commandments　and　Jewish　Law；　which　are　so　marvellously　analogous　to　the　old　Roman　laws；　founded；　as　they　are；　on　the　belief　in　a　Supreme　Being；　a　Jupiterliterally　a　Heavenly　Fatherwho　is　the　source　and　the　sanction　of　law；　of　whose　justice　man's　justice　is　the　pattern；　who　is　the　avenger　of　crimes　against　marriage；　property；　life；　on　whom　depends　the　sanctity　of　an　oath。　　And　so；　to　compare　great　things　with　small；　there　was　a　truly　practical　human　element　here　in　the　Christian　teaching；　purely　ethical　and　metaphysical；　and　yet　palpable　to　the　simplest　and　lowest；　which　gave　to　it　a　regenerating　force　which　the　highest　efforts　of　Neoplatonism　could　never　attain。

And　yet　Alexandrian　Christianity；　notoriously　enough；　rotted　away；　and　perished　hideously。　　Most　true。　　But　what　if　the　causes　of　its　decay　and　death　were　owing　to　its　being　untrue　to　itself？

I　do　not　say　that　they　had　no　excuses　for　being　untrue　to　their　own　faith。　　We　are　not　here　to　judge　them。　　That　peculiar　subtlety　of　mind；　which　rendered　the　Alexandrians　the　great　thinkers　of　the　then　world；　had　with　Christians；　as　well　as　Heathens；　the　effect　of　alluring　them　away　from　practice　to　speculation。　　The　Christian　school；　as　was　to　be　expected　from　the　moral　ground　of　their　philosophy；　yielded　to　it　far　more　slowly　than　the　Heathen；　but　they　did　yield；　and　especially　after　they　had　conquered　and　expelled　the　Heathen　school。　　Moreover；　the　long　battle　with　the　Heathen　school　had　stirred　up　in　them　habits　of　exclusiveness；　of　denunciation；　the　spirit　which　cannot　assert　a　fact；　without　dogmatising　rashly　and　harshly　on　the　consequences　of　denying　that　fact。　　Their　minds　assumed　a　permanent　habit　of　combativeness。　Having　no　more　Heathens　to　fight；　they　began　fighting　each　other；　excommunicating　each　other；　denying　to　all　who　differed　from　them　any　share　of　that　light；　to　claim　which　for　all　men　had　been　the　very　ground　of　their　philosophy。　　Not　that　they　would　have　refused　the　Logos　to　all　men　in　words。　　They　would　have　cursed　a　man　for　denying　the　existence　of　the　Logos　in　every　man；　but　they　would　have　equally　cursed　him　for　acting　on　his　existence　in　practice；　and　treating　the　heretic　as　one　who　had　that　within　him　to　which　a　preacher　might　appeal。　　Thus　they　became　Dogmatists；　that　is；　men　who　assert　a　truth　so　fiercely；　as　to　forget　that　a　truth　is　meant　to　be　used；　and　not　merely　assertedif；　indeed；　the　fierce　assertion　of　a　truth　in　frail　man　is　not　generally　a　sign　of　some　secret　doubt　of　it；　and　in　inverse　proportion　to　his　practical　living　faith　in　it：　　just　as　he　who　is　always　telling　you　that　he　is　a　man；　is　not　the　most　likely　to　behave　like　a　man。　　And　why　did　this　befall　them？　　Because　they　forgot　practically　that　the　light　proceeded　from　a　Person。　　They　could　argue　over　notions　and　dogmas　deduced　from　the　notion　of　His　personality：　　but　they　were　shut　up　in　those　notions；　they　had　forgotten　that　if　He　was　a　Person；　His　eye　was　on　them；　His　rule　and　kingdom　within　them；　and　that　if　He　was　a　Person；　He　had　a　character；　and　that　that　character　was　a　righteous　and　a　loving　character：　　and　therefore　they　were　not　ashamed；　in　defending　these　notions　and　dogmas　about　Him；　to　commit　acts　abhorrent　to　His　character；　to　lie；　to　slander；　to　intrigue；　to　hate；　even　to　murder；　for　the　sake　of　what　they　madly　called　His　glory：　　but　which　was　really　only　their　own　glorythe　glory　of　their　own　dogmas；　of　propositions　and　conclusions　in　their　own　brain；　which；　true　or　false；　were　equally　heretical　in　their　mouths；　because　they　used　them　only　as　watchwords　of　division。　　Orthodox　or　unorthodox；　they　lost　the　knowledge　of　God；　for　they　lost　the　knowledge　of　righteousness；　and　love；　and　peace。　　That　Divine　Logos；　and　theology　as　a　whole；　receded　further　and　further　aloft　into　abysmal　heights；　as　it　became　a　mere　dreary　system　of　dead　scientific　terms；　having　no　practical　bearing　on　their　hearts　and　lives；　and　then　they；　as　the　Neoplatonists　had　done　before　them；　filled　up　the　void　by　those　daemonologies；　images；　base　Fetish　worships；　which　made　the　Mohammedan　invaders　regard　them；　and　I　believe　justly；　as　polytheists　and　idolaters；　base　as　the　pagan　Arabs　of　the　desert。

I　cannot　but　believe　them；　moreover；　to　have　been　untrue　to　the　teaching　of　Clement　and　his　school；　in　that　coarse　and　materialist　admiration　of　celibacy　which　ruined　Alexandrian　society；　as　their　dogmatic　ferocity　ruined　Alexandrian　thought。　　The　Creed　which　taught　them　that　in　the　person　of　the　Incarnate　Logos；　that　which　was　most　divine　had　been　proved　to　be　most　human；　that　which　was　most　human　had　been　proved　to　be　most　divine；　ought　surely　to　have　given　to　them；　as　it　has　given　to　modern　Europe；　nobler；　clearer；　simpler　views　of　the　true　relation　of　the　sexes。　　However；　on　this　matter　they　did　not　see　their　way。　Perhaps；　in　so　debased　an　age；　so　profligate　a　world；　as　that　out　of　which　Christianity　had　risen；　it　was　impossible　to　see　the　true　beauty　and　sanctity　of　those　primary　bonds　of　humanity。　　And　while　the　relation　of　the　sexes　was　looked　on　in　a　wrong　light；　all　other　social　relations　were　necessarily　also　misconceived。　　〃The　very　ideas　of　family　and　national　life；〃　as　it　has　been　said；　〃those　two　divine　roots　of　the　Church；　severed　from　which　she　is　certain　to　wither　away　into　that　most　cruel　and　most　godless　of　spectres；　a　religious　world；　had　perished　in　the　East；　from　the　evil　influence　of　the　universal　practice　of　slave…　holding；　as　well　as　from　the　degradation　of　that　Jewish　nation　which　had　been　for　ages　the　great　witness　for　these　ideas；　and　all　classes；　like　their　forefather　Adamlike；　indeed；　the　Old　Adamthe　selfish；　cowardly；　brute　nature　in　every　man　and　in　every　agewere　shifting　the　blame　of　sin　from　their　own　consciences　to　human　relationships　and　duties；　and　therein；　to　the　God　who　had　appointed　them；　and　saying；　as　of　old；　'The　woman　whom　Thou　gavest　to　be　with　me；　she　gave　me　of　the　tree；　and　I　did　eat。'〃

Much　as　Christianity　did；　even　in　Egypt；　for　woman；　by　asserting　her　moral　and　spiritual　equality　with　the　man；　there　seems　to　have　been　no　suspicion　that　she　was　the　true　complement　of　the　man；　not　merely　by　softening　him；　but　by　strengthening　him；　that　true　manhood　can　be　no　more　developed　without　the　influence　of　the　woman；　than　true　womanhood　without　the　influence　of　the　man。　　There　is　no　trace　among　the　Egyptian　celibates　of　that　chivalrous　woman…worship　which　our　Gothic　forefathers　brought　with　them　into　the　West；　which　shed　a　softening　and　ennobling　light　round　the　mediaeval　convent　life；　and　warded　off　for　centuries　the　worst　effects　of　monasticism。　　Among　the　religious　of　Egypt；　the　monk　regarded　the　nun；　the　nun　the　monk；　with　dread　and　aversion；　while　both　looked　on　the　married　population　of　the　opposite　sex　with　a　coarse　contempt　and　disgust　which　is　hardly　credible；　did　not　the　foul　records　of　it　stand　written　to　this　day；　in　Rosweyde's　extraordinary　〃Vitae　Patrum　Eremiticorum；〃　no　barren　school　of　metaphysic；　truly；　for　those　who　are　philosophic　enough　to　believe　that　all　phenomena　whatsoever　of　the　human　mind　are　worthy　matter　for　scientific　induction。

And　thus　grew　up　in　Egypt　a　monastic　world；　of　such　vastness　that　it　was　said　to　equal　in　number　the　laity。　　This　produced；　no　doubt；　an　enormous　increase　in　the　actual　amount　of　moral　evil。　　But　it　produced　three　other　effects；　which　were　the　ruin　of　Alexandria。　　First；　a　continually　growing　enervation　and　numerical　decrease　of　the　population；　next；　a　carelessness　of；　and　contempt　for　social　and　political　life；　and　lastly；　a　most　brutalising　effect　on　the　lay　population；　who；　told　that　they　were；　and　believing　themselves　to　be；　beings　of　a　lower　order；　and　living　by　a　lower　standard；　sank　down　more　and　more　generation　after　generation。　　They　were　of　the　world；　and　the　ways　of　the　world　they　must　follow。　　Political　life　had　no　inherent　sanctity　or　nobleness；　why　act　holily　and　nobly　in　it？　　Family　life　had　no　inherent　sanctity　or　nobleness；　why　act　holily　and　nobly　in　it　either；　if　there　were　no　holy；　noble；　and　divine　principle　or　ground　for　it？　　And　thus　grew　up；　both　in　Egypt；　Syria；　and　Byzantium；　a　chaos　of　profligacy　and　chicanery；　in　rulers　and　people；　in　the　home　and　the　market；　in　the　theatre　and　the　senate；　such　as　the　world　has　rarely　seen　before　or　since；　a　chaos　which　reached　its　culmination　in　the　seventh　century；　the　age　of　Justinian　and　Theodora；　perhaps　the　two　most　hideous　sovereigns；　worshipped　by　the　most　hideous　empire　of　parasites　and　hypocrites；　cowards　and　wantons；　tha