darwin and modern science-第157节

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Again　the　child　helps　us　to　understand　our　own　primitive　selves。　　To　children　animals　are　always　people。　　You　promise　to　take　a　child　for　a　drive。　　The　child　comes　up　beaming　with　a　furry　bear　in　her　arms。　　You　say　the　bear　cannot　go。　　The　child　bursts　into　tears。　　You　think　it　is　because　the　child　cannot　endure　to　be　separated　from　a　toy。　　It　is　no　such　thing。　　It　is　the　intolerable　hurt　done　to　the　bear's　human　hearta　hurt　not　to　be　healed　by　any　proffer　of　buns。　　He　wanted　to　go；　but　he　was　a　shy；　proud　bear；　and　he　would　not　say　so。

The　relation　of　magic　to　religion　has　been　much　disputed。　　According　to　one　school　religion　develops　out　of　magic；　according　to　another；　though　they　ultimately　blend；　they　are　at　the　outset　diametrically　opposed；　magic　being　a　sort　of　rudimentary　and　mistaken　science　（This　view　held　by　Dr　Frazer　is　fully　set　forth　in　his　〃Golden　Bough〃　（2nd　edition）；　pages　73…79；　London；　1900。　　It　is　criticised　by　Mr　R。R。　Marett　in　〃From　Spell　to　Prayer〃；　〃Folk…　Lore〃　XI。　1900；　page　132；　also　very　fully　by　MM。　Hubert　and　Mauss；　〃Theorie　generale　de　la　Magie〃；　in　〃L'Annee　Sociologique〃；　VII。　page　1；　with　Mr　Marett's　view　and　with　that　of　MM。　Hubert　and　Mauss　I　am　in　substantial　agreement。）；　religion　having　to　do　from　the　outset　with　spirits。

But；　setting　controversy　aside；　at　the　present　stage　of　our　inquiry　their　relation　becomes；　I　think；　fairly　clear。　　Magic　is；　if　my　view　（This　view　as　explained　above　is；　I　believe；　my　own　most　serious　contribution　to　the　subject。　　In　thinking　it　out　I　was　much　helped　by　Prof。　Gilbert　Murray。）　be　correct；　the　active　element　which　informs　a　supersensuous　world　fashioned　to　meet　other　needs。　　This　blend　of　theory　and　practice　it　is　convenient　to　call　religion。　　In　practice　the　transition　from　magic　to　religion；　from　Spell　to　Prayer；　has　always　been　found　easy。　　So　long　as　mana　remains　impersonal　you　order　it　about；　when　it　is　personified　and　bulks　to　the　shape　of　an　overgrown　man；　you　drop　the　imperative　and　cringe　before　it。　　〃My　will　be　done〃　is　magic；　〃Thy　Will　be　done〃　is　the　last　word　in　religion。　　The　moral　discipline　involved　in　the　second　is　momentous；　the　intellectual　advance　not　striking。

I　have　spoken　of　magical　ritual　as　though　it　were　the　informing　life…spirit　without　which　religion　was　left　as　an　empty　shell。　　Yet　the　word　ritual　does　not；　as　normally　used；　convey　to　our　minds　this　notion　of　intense　vitalism。　　Rather　we　associate　ritual　with　something　cut　and　dried；　a　matter　of　prescribed　form　and　monotonous　repetition。　　The　association　is　correct；　ritual　tends　to　become　less　and　less　informed　by　the　life…impulse；　more　and　more　externalised。　　Dr　Beck　（〃Die　Nachahmung　und　ihre　Bedeutung　fur　Psychologie　und　Volkerkunde〃；　Leipzig；　1904。）　in　his　brilliant　monograph　on　〃Imitation〃　has　laid　stress　on　the　almost　boundless　influence　of　the　imitation　of　one　man　by　another　in　the　evolution　of　civilisation。　　Imitation　is　one　of　the　chief　spurs　to　action。　　Imitation　begets　custom；　custom　begets　sanctity。　　At　first　all　custom　is　sacred。　　To　the　savage　it　is　as　much　a　religious　duty　to　tattoo　himself　as　to　sacrifice　to　his　gods。　But　certain　customs　naturally　survive；　because　they　are　really　useful；　they　actually　have　good　effects；　and　so　need　no　social　sanction。　　Others　are　really　useless；　but　man　is　too　conservative　and　imitative　to　abandon　them。　　These　become　ritual。　　Custom　is　cautious；　but　la　vie　est　aleatoire。　　（Bergson；　op。　cit。　page　143。）

Dr　Beck's　remarks　on　ritual　are　I　think　profoundly　true　and　suggestive；　but　with　this　reservationthey　are　true　of　ritual　only　when　uninformed　by　personal　experience。　　The　very　elements　in　ritual　on　which　Dr　Beck　lays　such　stress；　imitation；　repetition；　uniformity　and　social　collectivity；　have　been　found　by　the　experience　of　all　time　to　have　a　twofold　influence　they　inhibit　the　intellect；　they　stimulate　and　suggest　emotion；　ecstasy；　trance。　　The　Church　of　Rome　knows　what　she　is　about　when　she　prescribes　the　telling　of　the　rosary。　　Mystery…cults　and　sacraments；　the　lineal　descendants　of　magic；　all　contain　rites　charged　with　suggestion；　with　symbols；　with　gestures；　with　half…understood　formularies；　with　all　the　apparatus　of　appeal　to　emotion　and　willthe　more　unintelligible　they　are　the　better　they　serve　their　purpose　of　inhibiting　thought。　　Thus　ritual　deadens　the　intellect　and　stimulates　will；　desire；　emotion。　　〃Les　operations　magiques。。。sont　le　resultat　d'une　science　et　d'une　habitude　qui　exaltent　la　volonte　humaine　au…dessus　de　ses　limites　habituelles。〃　　（Eliphas　Levi；　〃Dogme　et　Rituel　de　la　haute　Magie〃；　II。　page　32；　Paris；　1861；　and　〃A　defence　of　Magic〃；　by　Evelyn　Underhill；　〃Fortnightly　Review〃；　1907。）　　It　is　this　personal　EXPERIENCE；　this　exaltation；　this　sense　of　immediate；　non…intellectual　revelation；　of　mystical　oneness　with　all　things；　that　again　and　again　rehabilitates　a　ritual　otherwise　moribund。

To　resume。　　The　outcome　of　our　examination　of　ORIGINES　seems　to　be　that　religious　phenomena　result　from　two　delusive　processesa　delusion　of　the　non…critical　intellect；　a　delusion　of　the　over…confident　will。　　Is　religion　then　entirely　a　delusion？　　I　think　not。　　（I　am　deeply　conscious　that　what　I　say　here　is　a　merely　personal　opinion　or　sentiment；　unsupported　and　perhaps　unsupportable　by　reason；　and　very　possibly　quite　worthless；　but　for　fear　of　misunderstanding　I　prefer　to　state　it。）　　Every　dogma　religion　has　hitherto　produced　is　probably　false；　but　for　all　that　the　religious　or　mystical　spirit　may　be　the　only　way　of　apprehending　some　things　and　these　of　enormous　importance。　　It　may　also　be　that　the　contents　of　this　mystical　apprehension　cannot　be　put　into　language　without　being　falsified　and　misstated；　that　they　have　rather　to　be　felt　and　lived　than　uttered　and　intellectually　analysed；　and　thus　do　not　properly　fall　under　the　category　of　true　or　false；　in　the　sense　in　which　these　words　are　applied　to　propositions；　yet　they　may　be　something　for　which　〃true〃　is　our　nearest　existing　word　and　are　often；　if　not　necessary　at　least　highly　advantageous　to　life。　　That　is　why　man　through　a　series　of　more　or　less　grossly　anthropomorphic　mythologies　and　theologies　with　their　concomitant　rituals　tries　to　restate　them。　　Meantime　we　need　not　despair。　　Serious　psychology　is　yet　young　and　has　only　just　joined　hands　with　physiology。　　Religious　students　are　still　hampered　by　mediaevalisms　such　as　Body　and　Soul；　and　by　the　perhaps　scarcely　less　mythological　segregations　of　Intellect；　Emotion；　Will。　　But　new　facts　（See　the　〃Proceedings〃　of　the　Society　for　Psychical　Research；　London；　passim；　and　especially　Vols。　VII。…XV。　　For　a　valuable　collection　of　the　phenomena　of　mysticism；　see　William　James；　〃Varieties　of　Religious　Experience〃；　Edinburgh；　1901…2。）　are　accumulating；　facts　about　the　formation　and　flux　of　personality；　and　the　relations　between　the　conscious　and　the　sub…conscious。　　Any　moment　some　great　imagination　may　leap　out　into　the　dark；　touch　the　secret　places　of　life；　lay　bare　the　cardinal　mystery　of　the　marriage　of　the　spatial　with　the　non…spatial。　　It　is；　I　venture　to　think；　towards　the　apprehension　of　such　mysteries；　not　by　reason　only；　but　by　man's　whole　personality；　that　the　religious　spirit　in　the　course　of　its　evolution　through　ancient　magic　and　modern　mysticism　is　ever　blindly　yet　persistently　moving。

Be　this　as　it　may；　it　is　by　thinking　of　religion　in　the　light　of　evolution；　not　as　a　revelation　given；　not　as　a　realite　faite　but　as　a　process；　and　it　is　so　only；　I　think；　that　we　attain　to　a　spirit　of　real　patience　and　tolerance。　　We　have　ourselves　perhaps　learnt　laboriously　something　of　the　working　of　natural　law；　something　of　the　limitations　of　our　human　will；　and　we　have　therefore　renounced　the　practice　of　magic。　　Yet　we　are　bidden　by　those　in　high　places　to　pray　〃Sanctify　this　water　to　the　mystical　washing　away　of　sin。〃　　Mystical　in　this　connection　spells　magical；　and　we　have　no　place　for　a　god…magician：　　the　prayer　is　to　us　unmeaning；　irreverent。　　Or　again；　after　much　toil　we　have　ceased；　or　hope　we　have　ceased；　to　think　anthropomorphically。　　Yet　we　are　invited　to　offer　formal　thanks　to　God　for　a　meal　of　flesh　whose　sanctity　is　the　last　survival　of　that　sacrifice　of　bulls　and　goats　he　has　renounced。　　Such　a　ritual　confuses　our　intellect　and　fails　to　stir　our　emotion。　　But　to　others　this　ritual；　magical　or　anthropomorphic　as　it　is；　is　charged　with　emotional　impulse；　and　others；　a　still　larger　number；　think　that　they　act　by　reason　when　really　they　are　hypnotised　by　suggestion　and　tradition；　their　fathers　did　this　or　that　and　at　all　costs　they　must　do　it。　　It　was　good　that　primitive　man　in　his　youth　should　bear　the　yoke　of　conservative　custom；　from　each　man's　neck　that　yoke　will　fall；　when　and　because　he　has　outgrown　it。　　Science　teaches　us　to　await　that　moment　with　her　own　inward　and　abiding　patience。　　Such　a　patience；　such　a　gentleness　we　may　well　seek　to　practise　in　the　spirit　and　in　the　memory　of　Darwin。


XXVI。　　EVOLUTION　AND　THE　SCIENCE　OF　LANGUAGE。

By　P。　GILES；　M。A。；　LL。D。　（Aberdeen）；　Reader　in　Comparative　Philology　in　the　University　of　Cambridge。

In　no　study　has　the　historical　method　had　a　more　salutary　influence　than　in　the　Science　of　Language。　　Even　the　earliest　records　show　that　the　meaning　of　the　names　of　persons；