,,lyof ,n4 ,,tolsto ,,xix ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,,what ,,is ,,art8 ,illustration3 ,,count ,,tolsto ,,plowing ,,from ,,the ,,painting ,,by ,,repin ,,the ,,novels ,,and ,,other ,,works ,,of ,,lyof ,n4 ,,tolsto ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,,what ,,is ,,art8 ,illustration3 publisher mark ,,new ,,york ,,charles ,,scribner',s ,,sons #aijb ,,copyright1 #ahii1 ,,by ,,thomas ,v4 ,,crowell ,,co4 ,,introduction ,the present volume contains two contrasting treatises4 ,the first is religious1 and shows in ,count ,tolsto's earnest and eloquent manner the meaning of ,christ's words which he takes for his text1--,the ,kingdom of ,god is within you4 ,the outward forms of religion1 however helpful they may be to some souls1 are not essential2 the superstitions with which ,faith sometimes clothes or masks herself may or may not be uplifting2 but the foundation of ,christianity is the truth contained in ,christ's words1 his simple1 plain1 undogmatic commands and prohibitions4 ,one word sums it all up1 and that word is ,love4 ,if the world should take love for its guiding star1 it is evident that all the evils of the world would cease1--wars1 crimes1 poverty1 ambitions2 the millennium would come6 ,count ,tolsto shows how that blessed period may begin in every man4 ,the translation of this beautiful and inspiring book has been made by ,mrs4 ,aline ,delano of ,boston4 ,in answering the question1 ,what is ,art8 ,count ,tolsto analyzes and tests the various definitions given by other writers4 ,he shows up with merciless severity what he considers the fallacy in the popular delusion that the fetish of ,art pardons bestiality1 obscenity1 and whatever conduces to stimulating the passions4 ,the work is strongly controversial1 and attacks unsparingly many of the popular notions of the day1 as1 for instance1 that ,art is the manifestation of some mysterious idea of ,god1 or the expression of man's emotions by external signs1 or the production of pleasing objects4 ,he believes that art has a loftier function1 and he proceeds elaborately to argue in favor of this universal activity1 which should be to effect a union among men so that they may have the same noble feelings and progress together toward universal and individual well-being4 ,art for art's sake is meaningless to him4 ,it is interesting to notice that the most original and independent of the ,french critics has recently taken practically the same ground in a lecture1 in which he asserts that it is the critic's business to test art and literature1 and that art has a most intimate relation with morality4 ,much of the book is racy and amusing2 much of it is abstruse1 and requires close attention4 ,but whether one follows the author in his individual opinions or not1 it cannot be denied that the general tone of the treatise is helpful and uplifting1 and that it is based on sound common sense4 ,mr4 ,aylmer ,maude of ,england is the translator of this work1 and has had the benefit of ,count ,tolsto's own suggestions in regard to certain points4 ,as the special preface explains1 the translation accurately represents the author's views1 while the edition published in ,russia was in many ways garbled and distorted4 ,the translators of both treatises have seized the opportunity of carefully revising their work4 ,,contents ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,,page ,,introductory #a ,,chapter ,i ,doctrine of non-resistance to evil1 from the origin of ,christianity1 has been1 and still is1 professed by the minority of men #c ,,chapter ,,ii ,opinions of believers and unbelievers in regard to non-resistance #cj ,,chapter ,,iii ,misconception of ,christianity by non-believers #dg ,,chapter ,,iv ,misconception of ,christianity by scientists #gi ,,chapter ,v ,contradiction of our life and ,christian consciousness #ajj ,,chapter ,,vi ,attitude of men of the present day toward war #abb ,,chapter ,,vii ,significance of the military conscription #aeb ,,chapter ,,viii ,certainty of the acceptance of the ,christian doctrine of non-resistance to evil by violence by the men of our world #aga ,,chapter ,,ix ,the acceptance of the ,christian life-conception delivers men from the miseries of our pagan life #aid ,,chapter ,x ,uselessness of violence for the destruction of evil--,the moral advance of mankind is accomplished1 not only through the knowledge of truth1 but also through the establishment of public opinion #bah ,,chapter ,,xi ,christian public opinion already arises in our society1 and will inevitably destroy the system of violence of our life--,when this will come about #bdb ,,chapter ,,xii ,conclusion3 ,repent1 for the ,kingdom of ,heaven is at hand6 #bed ,,what ,,is ,,art8 ,,translator',s ,,preface #cci ,,author',s ,,preface #cda ,,chapter ,i ,time and labor spent on art--,lives stunted in its service--,morality sacrificed to and anger justified by art--,the rehearsal of an opera described #cde ,,chapter ,,ii ,does art compensate for so much evil8--,what is art8--,confusion of opinions--,is it that which produces beauty8--,the word beauty in ,russian--,chaos in sthetics #cea ,,chapter ,,iii ,summary of various sthetic theories and definitions1 from ,baumgarten to to-day #cfj ,,chapter ,,iv ,definitions of art founded on beauty--,taste not definable--,a clear definition needed to enable us to recognize works of art #cgf ,,chapter ,v ,definitions not founded on beauty--,tolsto's definition--,the extent and necessity of art--,how people in the past have distinguished good from bad in art #chc ,,chapter ,,vi ,how art for pleasure has come into esteem--,religions indicate what is considered good and bad--,church ,christianity--,the ,renaissance--,skepticism of the upper classes--,they confound beauty with goodness #chi ,,chapter ,,vii ,an sthetic theory framed to suit this view of life #cif ,,chapter ,,viii ,who have adopted it8--,real art needful for all men--,our art too expensive1 too unintelligible1 and too harmful for the masses--,the theory of the elect in art #dja ,,chapter ,,ix ,perversion of our art--,it has lost its natural subject-matter--,has no flow of fresh feeling--,transmits chiefly three base emotions #djf ,,chapter ,x ,loss of comprehensibility--,decadent art--,recent ,french art--,have we a right to say it is bad and that what we like is good art8--,the highest art has always been comprehensible to normal people--,what fails to infect normal people is not art #dab ,,chapter ,,xi ,counterfeits of art produced by3 ,borrowing2 ,imitating2 ,striking2 ,interesting--,qualifications needful for production of real works of art1 and those sufficient for production of counterfeits #dcf ,,chapter ,,xii ,causes of production of counterfeits--,professionalism-- ,criticism--,schools of art #ddf ,,chapter ,,xiii ,wagner's ,nibelung's ,ring a type of counterfeit art--,its success1 and the reasons thereof #dee ,,chapter ,,xiv ,truths fatal to preconceived views are not readily recognized--,proportion of works of art to counterfeits--,perversion of taste and incapacity to recognize art--,examples #dfh ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,quality ,,of ,,art1 ,,considered ,,apart ,,from ,,its ,,subject-,,matter--,the sign of art3 ,infectiousness-- ,incomprehensible to those whose taste is perverted--,conditions of infection3 ,individuality2 ,clearness2 ,sincerity #dgf ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,quality ,,of ,,art1 ,,considered ,,according ,,to ,,its ,,subject-,,matter--,the better the feeling the better the art--,the cultured crowd--,the religious perception of our age--,the new ideals put fresh demands to art--,art unites--,religious art--,universal art--,both coperate to one result--,the new appraisement of art--,bad art--,examples of art--,how to test a work claiming to be art #dgi ,,chapter ,,xvii ,results of absence of true art--,results of perversion of art3 ,labor and lives spent on what is useless and harmful--,the abnormal life of the rich-- ,perplexity of children and plain folk--,confusion of right and wrong--,nietzsche and ,redbeard-- ,superstition1 ,patriotism1 and ,sensuality #dig ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the purpose of human life is the brotherly union of man--,art must be guided by this perception #ejg ,,chapter ,,xix ,the art of the future not a possession of a select minority1 but a means toward perfection and unity #eaj ,,chapter ,,xx ,the connection between science and art--,the mendacious sciences2 the trivial sciences--,science should deal with the great problems of human life1 and serve as a basis for art #eag ,,appendices ,,appendix ,i #ebh ,,appendix ,,ii #ecj ,,appendix ,,iii #ecg ,,appendix ,,iv #edb ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,,or1 ,,christianity ,,not ,,as ,a ,,mystical ,,doctrine1 ,,but ,,as ,a ,,new-,,life ,,conception ,,author',s ,,preface ,in this book ,i have endeavored to show that our modern ,christianity has been tried and found wanting1 that the armed camp of ,europe is not ,christian1 but ,pagan1 as is latter-day religion1 of which the present state of affairs is the outcome4 ,the book contains three principal ideas1--the first1 that ,christianity is not only the worship of ,god and a doctrine of salvation1 but is1 above all things1 a new conception of life1 which is changing the whole fabric of human society2 the second1 that from the first appearance of ,christianity there entered into it two opposite currents1--the one establishing the true and new conception of life1 which it gave to humanity1 and the other perverting the true ,christian doctrine and converting it into a ,pagan religion1 and that this contradiction has attained in our days the highest degree of tension which now expresses itself in universal armaments1 and on the ,continent in general conscription2 and the third1 that this contradiction1 which is masked by hypocrisy1 can only be solved by an effort of sincerity on the part of every individual endeavoring to conform the acts of his life1--independent of what are regarded as the exigencies of family1 society1 and the ,state1--with those moral principles which he considers to be true4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the above is an extract 7slightly adapted7 from an article on ,count ,tolsto which appeared in the ,london ,daily ,chronicle of #bfth ,december1#ahic4 ,sent by ,miss ,tatiana ,tolsto1 on behalf of her father1 to the publishers of this edition of his work1 it is inserted here as a ,preface at the suggestion of ,count ,tolsto4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you2 ,,or1 ,,christianity ,,not ,,as ,a ,,mystical ,,doctrine1 ,,but ,,as ,a ,,new ,,life-,,conception ,and ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free4--,,john viii4 #cb4 ,and fear not them which kill the body1 but are not able to kill the soul2 but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell4--,,matthew x4 #bh4 ,ye are bought with a price2 be not ye the servants of men4--,i ,,corinthians vii4 #bc4 ,,introductory ,in #ahhd ,i wrote a book entitled ,my ,religion1 wherein ,i formulated my creed4 ,while affirming my faith in the doctrine taught by ,christ1 ,i could not refrain from manifesting at the same time the reason why ,i look upon the ecclesiastical doctrine commonly called ,christianity as erroneous1 and to me incredible4 ,among the many deviations of the latter from the doctrine of ,christ1 ,i called attention to the principal one2 namely--the evasion of the commandment that forbids man to resist evil by violence1 as a striking example of the perversion of the doctrine of ,christ by ecclesiastical interpretation4 ,i knew but little1 no more than other men1 of what had been taught or written on the subject of non-resistance in former times4 ,i was familiar with the opinions of the ,fathers of the ,church1 ,origen1 ,tertullian1 and others2 and ,i also knew of the existence of certain sects called ,mennonites1 ,herrnhuters1 and ,quakers1 all of which forbid ,christians the use of arms1 and will not submit to conscription1 but ,i never knew the arguments by which these sects sought to maintain their views4 ,my book1 as ,i had anticipated1 was prohibited by the ,russian censors1 but partly in consequence of my reputation as a writer1 partly because it excited curiosity1 it had a circulation in manuscript1 and while1 on the one hand1 it called forth from those persons who sympathized with my ideas1 information concerning works written on the same subject1 on the other1 it excited criticisms on the opinions therein maintained4 ,these two results1 together with the historical events of recent years1 made many things clear to me1 and led me to many new deductions and conclusions which ,i now desire to set forth4 ,i shall speak in the first place of the information ,i received in regard to the history of this matter of non-resistance to evil2 and in the second place1 of the arguments upon the subject offered by religious critics1 that is1 by critics who profess the religion of ,christ1 as well as those of secular critics1 that is to say1 of men who make no such profession2 and finally1 the conclusions which ,i drew from the arguments of both parties1 as well as from the historical events of later years4 ,,chapter ,i ,,doctrine ,,of ,,non-,,resistance ,,to ,,evil ,,from ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,christianity1 ,,has ,,been1 ,,and ,,still ,,is1 ,,professed ,,by ,,the ,,minority ,,of ,,men ,concerning the book ,my ,religion--,information called forth by this book--,letters of ,quakers--,professions of ,garrison--,adin ,ballou1 his works and ,catechism--,the ,net of ,faith of ,helchitsky--,relations of men toward works that explain the teachings of ,christ--,the book of ,dymond ,on ,war--,assertion of ,non-resistance by ,musser--,relations of government in #ahah toward those who refuse to join the military service--,general inimical attitude of governments and liberal men toward those who refused to take part in the violence of governments and their conscious effort to conceal and ignore these demonstrations of ,christian ,non-resistance4 ,among the early responses called forth by my book were letters from ,american ,quakers4 ,in these letters1 while expressing their sympathy with my ideas in regard to the unlawfulness of violence and war where ,christians are concerned1 the ,quakers made known to me many details in relation to their sect1 which for more than two hundred years has professed the doctrine of ,christ in the matter of non-resistance1 and which never has1 nor does it now use weapons for self-defense4 ,together with the letters1 the ,quakers sent me many of their pamphlets1 periodicals1 and books4 ,from these publications ,i learned that already1 many years ago1 they had demonstrated the ,christian's duty of keeping the commandment of non-resistance to evil by violence1 and the error of the church which countenances wars and executions4 ,having shown by a succession of arguments and texts that war--the slaughter and mutilation of men--is inconsistent with a religion founded on peace and good-will to men1 the ,quakers go on to assert that nothing is so conducive to the defamation of ,christ's truth in the eyes of the heathen1 or so successful in arresting the spread of ,christianity throughout the world1 as the refusal to obey this commandment1 made by men who call themselves ,christians1 and by the sanction thus given to war and violence4 ,the doctrine of ,christ1 which has entered into the consciousness of men1 not by force or by the sword1 as they say1 but by non-resistance to evil1 by humility1 meekness1 and the love of peace1 can only be propagated among men by the example of peace1 love1 and concord given by its followers4 ,a ,christian1 according to the teaching of the ,lord1 should be guided in his relations toward men only by the love of peace1 and therefore there should be no authority having power to compel a ,christian to act in a manner contrary to ,god's law1 and contrary to his chief duty toward his fellow-men4 ,the requirements of the civil law1 they say1 may oblige men1 who1 to win some worldly advantages1 seek to conciliate that which is irreconcilable1 to violate the law of ,god2 but for a ,christian1 who firmly believes that his salvation depends upon following the teaching of ,christ1 this law can have no meaning4 ,my acquaintance with the activity of the ,quakers and with their publications1 with ,fox1 ,paine1 and particularly with a work published by ,dymond in #ahbg1 proved to me not only that men have long since recognized the impossibility of harmonizing ,christianity and war1 but that this incompatibility has been proved so clearly and irrefragably1 that one can only wonder how it is possible for this incongruous union of ,christianity with violence--a doctrine which is still taught by the church--to remain in force4 ,besides the information obtained from the ,quakers1 ,i also received from ,america about the same time advices on the subject from another and hitherto unknown source4 ,the son of ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 the famous anti-slavery champion1 wrote to me that1 having read my book1 wherein he had found ideas similar to those expressed by his father in #ahch1 and taking it for granted that ,i should be interested to know that fact1 he sent me a book written by ,mr4 ,garrison some fifty years ago1 entitled ,non-resistance4 ,this avowal of principle took place under the following circumstances3--,in #ahch1 on the occasion of a meeting of the ,society for the ,promotion of ,peace1 ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 while discussing means for the suppression of war1 arrived at the conclusion that the establishment of universal peace can have no solid foundation save in the literal obedience to the commandment of non-resistance by violence 7,matthew v4 #ci71 as understood by the ,quakers1 with whom ,garrison was on friendly terms4 ,having arrived at this conclusion1 he wrote1 offering to the ,society the following proclamation1 which at that time1 in #ahch1 was signed by many of its members3-- ,declaration of ,sentiments adopted by the ,peace ,convention1 held in ,boston1 ,september #ah1 #ai1 and #bj1 #ahch3-- ,assembled in ,convention1 from various sections of the ,american ,union1 for the promotion of ,peace on earth and ,good-will among men1 ,we1 the undersigned1 regard it as due to ourselves1 to the cause which we love1 to the country in which we live1 and to the world1 to publish a ,declaration1 expressive of the principles we cherish1 the purposes we aim to accomplish1 and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful1 universal reformation4 ,we cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government2 neither can we oppose any such government by a resort to physical force4 ,we recognize but one ,king and ,lawgiver1 one ,judge and ,ruler of mankind4 ,we are bound by the laws of a ,kingdom which is not of this world2 the subjects of which are forbidden to fight2 in which ,mercy and ,truth are met together1 and ,righteousness and ,peace have kissed each other2 which has no state lines1 no national partitions1 no geographical boundaries2 in which there is no distinction of rank or division of caste1 or inequality of sex2 the officers of which are ,peace1 its exactors ,righteousness1 its walls ,salvation1 and its gates ,praise2 and which is destined to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms4 ,our country is the world1 our countrymen are all mankind4 ,we love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands4 ,the interests1 rights1 liberties of ,american citizens are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race4 ,hence1 we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury2 the ,principle of ,peace1 under whose stainless banner we rally1 came not to destroy1 but to save1 even the worst of enemies4 ,he has left us an example1 that we should follow ,his steps4 ,god commendeth his love toward us1 in that while we were yet sinners1 ,christ died for us4 ,we conceive that if a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies1 or to punish its invaders1 no individual possesses that right in his own case4 ,the unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate4 ,if one man may take life1 to obtain or defend his rights1 the same license must necessarily be granted to communities1 states1 and nations4 ,if he may use a dagger or a pistol1 they may employ cannon1 bombshells1 land and naval forces4 ,the means of self-preservation must be in proportion to the magnitude of interests at stake1 and the number of lives exposed to destruction4 ,but if a rapacious and bloodthirsty soldiery1 thronging these shores from abroad1 with intent to commit rapine and destroy life1 may not be resisted by the people or magistracy1 then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troubles of the public peace or of private security4 ,no obligation can rest upon ,americans to regard foreigners as more sacred in their persons than themselves1 or to give them a monopoly of wrong-doing with impunity4 ,the dogma1 that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of ,god1 and that the powers that be in the ,united ,states1 in ,russia1 in ,turkey1 are in accordance with ,his will1 is not less absurd than impious4 ,it makes the impartial ,author of human freedom and equality unequal and tyrannical4 ,it cannot be affirmed that the powers that be1 in any nation1 are actuated by the spirit or guided by the example of ,christ1 in the treatment of enemies2 therefore1 they cannot be agreeable to the will of ,god2 and therefore their overthrow1 by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects1 is inevitable4 ,we register our testimony not only against all wars1 whether offensive or defensive1 but all preparations for war2 against every naval ship1 every arsenal1 every fortification2 against the militia system and a standing army2 against all military chieftains and soldiers2 against all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe1 all trophies won in battle1 all celebrations in honor of military or naval exploits2 against all appropriations for the defense of a nation by force and army1 on the part of any legislative body2 against every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service4 ,hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms1 or to hold a military office4 ,as every human government is upheld by physical strength1 and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bayonet1 we cannot hold any office which imposes upon its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right1 on pain of imprisonment or death4 ,we therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body1 and repudiate all human politics1 worldly honors1 and stations of authority4 ,if we cannot occupy a seat in the legislature or on the bench1 neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity4 ,it follows that we cannot sue any man at law1 to compel him by force to restore anything which he may have wrongfully taken from us or others2 but if he has seized our coat1 we shall surrender up our cloak1 rather than subject him to punishment4 ,we believe that the penal code of the old covenant1 ',an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth1' has been abrogated by ,jesus ,christ2 and that under the new covenant1 the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined upon all ,his disciples1 in all cases whatsoever4 ,to extort money from enemies1 or set them upon a pillory1 or cast them into prison1 or hang them upon gallows1 is obviously not to forgive1 but to take retribution4 ',vengeance is mine1 ,i will repay1 saith the ,lord4' ,the history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration2 that the sinful disposition of men can be subdued only by love2 that evil can be exterminated from the earth only by goodness2 that it is not safe to rely upon an arm of flesh1 upon man whose breath is in his nostrils1 to preserve us from harm2 that there is great security in being gentle1 harmless1 long-suffering1 and abundant in mercy2 that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth1 for the violent who resort to the sword are destined to perish with the sword4 ,hence1 as a measure of sound policy--of safety to property1 life1 and liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as well as on the ground of allegiance to ,him who is ,king of kings and ,lord of lords1 we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle2 being confident that it provides for all possible consequences1 will insure all things needful to us1 is armed with omnipotent power1 and must ultimately triumph over every assailing force4 ,we advocate no jacobinical doctrine4 ,the spirit of jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation1 violence1 and murder4 ,it neither fears ,god nor regards man4 ,we would be filled with the spirit of ,jesus ,christ4 ,if we abide by our principles1 it is impossible for us to be disorderly1 or plot treason1 or participate in any evil work2 we shall submit to every ordinance of man1 for the ,lord's sake2 obey all the requirements of government1 except such as we deem contrary to the commands of the gospel2 and in no case resist the operation of law1 except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience4 ,but while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive submission1 we purpose1 in a moral and spiritual sense1 to speak and act boldly in the cause of ,god2 to assail iniquity in high places and in low places2 to apply our principles to all existing civil1 political1 legal1 and ecclesiastical institutions2 and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our ,lord and of ,his ,christ1 and ,he shall reign forever4 ,it appears to us a self-evident truth1 that1 whatever the gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world1 being contrary to it1 ought now to be abandoned4 ,if1 then1 the time is predicted when swords shall be beaten into plowshares1 and spears into pruning-hooks1 and men shall not learn the art of war any more1 it follows that all who manufacture1 sell1 or wield those deadly weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the ,son of ,god on earth4 ,having thus briefly stated our principles and purposes1 we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt in carrying our object into effect4 ,we expect to prevail through the foolishness of preaching1--striving to commend ourselves unto every man's conscience1 in the sight of ,god4 ,from the press we shall promulgate our sentiments as widely as practicable4 ,we shall endeavor to secure the coperation of all persons1 of whatever name or sect4 ,the triumphant progress of the cause of ,temperance and of ,abolition in our land1 through the instrumentality of benevolent and voluntary associations1 encourages us to combine our own means and efforts for the promotion of a still greater cause4 ,hence1 we shall employ lecturers1 circulate tracts and publications1 form societies1 and petition our state and national governments1 in relation to the subject of ,universal ,peace4 ,it will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views1 feelings1 and practices of society1 respecting the sinfulness of war and the treatment of enemies4 ,in entering upon the great work before us1 we are not unmindful that1 in its prosecution1 we may be called to test our sincerity even as in a fiery ordeal4 ,it may subject us to insult1 outrage1 suffering1 yea1 even death itself4 ,we anticipate no small amount of misconception1 misrepresentation1 calumny4 ,tumults may arise against us4 ,the ungodly and violent1 the proud and pharisaical1 the ambitious and tyrannical1 principalities and powers1 and spiritual wickedness in high places1 may contrive to crush us4 ,so they treated the ,messiah1 whose example we are humbly striving to imitate4 ,if we suffer with ,him we know that we shall reign with ,him4 ,we shall not be afraid of their terror1 neither be troubled4 ,our confidence is in the ,lord ,almighty1 not in man4 ,having withdrawn from human protection1 what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world8 ,we shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us1 as though some strange thing had happened unto us2 but rejoice1 inasmuch as we are partakers of ,christ's sufferings4 ,wherefore1 we commit the keeping of our souls to ,god1 in well-doing1 as unto a faithful ,creator4 ,for every one that forsakes house1 or brethren1 or sisters1 or father1 or mother1 or wife1 or children1 or lands1 for ,christ's sake1 shall receive a hundredfold1 and shall inherit everlasting life4 ,firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the sentiments contained in this declaration1 however formidable may be the opposition arrayed against them--in solemn testimony of our faith in their divine origin--we hereby affix our signatures to it1 commending it to the reason and conscience of mankind1 giving ourselves no anxiety as to what may befall us1 and resolving in the strength of the ,lord ,god calmly and meekly to abide the issue4 ,later on1 ,garrison founded a ,non-resistance ,society and started a periodical entitled ,the ,non-resistant1 wherein the full significance and consequences of the doctrine were plainly set forth1 as has been stated in the proclamation4 ,i gained1 subsequently1 further information concerning the fate of this society and the periodical from a biography of ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 written by his sons4 ,neither the periodical nor the society enjoyed a long life4 ,the majority of ,garrison's associates in the work of liberating the slaves1 apprehensive lest the too radical views expressed in the ,the ,non-resistant might alienate men from the practical business of the abolition of slavery1 renounced the doctrine of non-resistance as expressed in the declaration1 and both periodical and society passed out of existence4 ,one would suppose that this declaration of ,garrison1 formulating1 as it did1 an important profession of faith in terms both energetic and eloquent1 would have made a deeper impression on men1 and have become a subject for universal consideration4 ,on the contrary1 not only is it unknown in ,europe1 but even among those ,americans who honor the memory of ,garrison there are but few who are familiar with this4 ,a similar fate befell another ,american champion of the same doctrine1 ,adin ,ballou1 who died recently1 and who for fifty years had preached in favor of non-resistance to evil4 ,how little is known in regard to the question of non-resistance may be gathered from the fact that the younger ,garrison 7who has written an excellent biography of his father in four large volumes71 in answer to my inquiry whether any society for the defense of the principles of non-resistance was yet alive and possessed adherents1 wrote me that1 so far as he knew1 the society had dissolved and its members were no longer interested1 while at this very time ,adin ,ballou1 who had shared ,garrison's labors1 and who had devoted fifty years of his life to the teaching of the doctrine of non-resistance1 both by pen and by tongue1 was still living in ,hopedale1 ,massachusetts4 ,afterward ,i received a letter from ,wilson1 a disciple and co-worker of ,ballou1 and subsequently ,i entered into correspondence with ,ballou himself4 ,i wrote to him1 and he sent me his works1 from one of which ,i made the following extract3--,jesus ,christ is my ,lord and ,master1 says ,ballou in one of his articles1 written to show the inconsistency of ,christians who believe in the right of defensive and offensive warfare4 ,i have covenanted to forsake all and follow ,him1 through good and evil report1 until death4 ,but ,i am nevertheless a ,democratic ,republican citizen of the ,united ,states1 implicitly sworn to bear true allegiance to my country1 and to support its ,constitution1 if need be1 with my life4 ,jesus ,christ requires me to do unto others as ,i would that others should do unto me4 ,the ,constitution of the ,united ,states requires me to do unto twenty-seven hundred thousand slaves 7they had slaves then2 now they could easily be replaced by workmen7 the very contrary of what ,i would have them do unto me--viz41 assist to keep in a grievous bondage4444 ,but ,i am quite easy4 ,i vote on4 ,i help govern on4 ,i am willing to hold any office ,i may be elected to under the ,constitution4 ,and ,i am still a ,christian4 ,i profess on4 ,i find difficulty in keeping covenant both with ,christ and the ,constitution4 ,jesus ,christ forbids me to resist evil-doers by taking 'eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 blood and life for life4' ,my government requires the very reverse1 and depends1 for its own self-preservation1 on the halter1 the musket1 and the sword1 seasonably employed against its domestic and foreign enemies4 ,in the maintenance and use of this expensive life-destroying apparatus we can exemplify the virtues of forgiving our injuries1 loving our enemies1 blessing them that curse us1 and doing good to those that hate us4 ,for this reason we have regular ,christian chaplains to pray for us and call down the smiles of ,god on our holy murders4 ,i see it all 7that is1 the contradiction between profession and life71 and yet ,i insist that ,i am as good a ,christian as ever4 ,i fellowship all2 ,i vote on2 ,i help govern on2 ,i profess on2 and ,i glory in being at once a devoted ,christian and a no less devoted adherent to the existing government4 ,i will not give in to those miserable non-resistant notions4 ,i will not throw away my political influence1 and leave unprincipled men to carry on government alone4 ,the ,constitution says--',congress shall have power to declare war1 grant letters of marque and reprisal1' and ,i agree to this1 ,i indorse it4 ,i swear to help carry it through4 ,i vote for men to hold office who are sworn to support all this4 ,what1 then1 am ,i less a ,christian8 ,is not war a ,christian service8 ,is it not perfectly ,christian to murder hundreds of thousands of fellow human beings2 to ravish defenseless females1 sack and burn cities1 and enact all the other cruelties of war8 ,out upon these new-fangled scruples6 ,this is the very way to forgive injuries1 and love our enemies6 ,if we only do it all in true love nothing can be more ,christian than wholesale murder6 ,in another pamphlet1 entitled ,how many does it take8 he says--,one man must not kill4 ,if he does1 it is murder2 two1 ten1 one hundred men1 acting on their responsibility1 must not kill4 ,if they do1 it is still murder4 ,but a state or nation may kill as many as they please1 and it is no murder4 ,it is just1 necessary1 commendable1 and right4 ,only get people enough to agree to it1 and the butchery of myriads of human beings is perfectly innocent4 ,but how many does it take8 ,this is the question4 ,just so with theft1 robbery1 burglary1 and all other crimes4 ,man-stealing is a great crime in one man1 or a very few men only4 ,but a whole nation can commit it1 and the act becomes not only innocent1 but highly honorable4 ,the following is1 in substance1 a catechism of ,ballou1 compiled for the use of his congregation3-- ,,the ,,catechism ,,of ,,non-,,resistance4#a #a ,from the ,russian version1 which ,count ,tolsto calls a free translation made with some omissions4 ,after diligent search and inquiry ,i have been unable to find this catechism among ,ballou's works4--,,tr4 ,q4 ,whence comes the word non-resistance8 ,a4 ,from the utterance3 ,but ,i say unto you1 ,that ye resist not evil4--,matthew v4 #ci4 ,q4 ,what does this word denote8 ,a4 ,it denotes a lofty ,christian virtue1 commanded by ,christ4 ,q4 ,are we to understand the word non-resistance in its broad sense1 that is1 as meaning that one should offer no resistance to evil whatsoever8 ,a4 ,no2 it should be understood literally as ,christ taught it--that is1 not to return evil for evil4 ,evil should be resisted by all lawful means1 but not by evil4 ,q4 ,from what does it appear that ,christ gave that meaning to non-resistance8 ,a4 ,from the words which he used on that occasion4 ,he said3 ,ye have heard that it hath been said1 ,an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth4 ,but ,i say unto you1 ,that ye resist not evil3 but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek1 turn to him the other also4 ,and if any man will sue thee at the law1 and take away thy coat1 let him have thy cloke also4 ,q4 ,whom did he mean by the words3 ,ye have heard that it hath been said8 ,a4 ,the patriarchs and the prophets1 and that which they spoke and which is contained in the ,old ,testament1 that the ,jews generally call the ,law and ,prophets4 ,q4 ,to what laws did ,christ allude in the words3 ,ye have heard8 ,a4 ,to those in which ,noah1 ,moses1 and other prophets grant the use of personal violence against those who commit it1 for the purpose of punishing and destroying evil deeds4 ,q4 ,mention such commandments4 ,a4 ,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed4--,genesis ix4 #f4 ,he that smiteth a man1 so that he die1 shall be surely put to death4 ,and if any mischief follow1 then thou shalt give life for life1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 hand for hand1 foot for foot1 burning for burning1 wound for wound1 stripe for stripe4--,exodus xxi4 #ab1 #bc1 #bd1 #be4 ,and he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death4 ,and if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor2 as he hath done1 so shall it be done to him2 breach for breach1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth4--,leviticus xxiv4 #ag1 #ai1 #bj4 ,and the judges shall make diligent inquisition3 and1 behold1 if the witness be a false witness1 and hath testified falsely against his brother2 then shall ye do unto him1 as he had thought to have done unto his brother4 ,and thine eye shall not pity2 but life shall go for life1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 hand for hand1 foot for foot4--,deuteronomy xix4 #ah1 #ai1 #ba4 ,these are the injunctions of which ,jesus speaks4 ,noah1 ,moses1 and the prophets taught that he who murders1 mutilates1 or tortures his neighbor doeth evil4 ,in order to combat and destroy this evil1 the evil-doer must be chastised by death1 mutilation1 or some personal torture4 ,transgressions are to be avenged by transgressions1 murder by murder1 torture by torture1 evil by evil4 ,thus taught ,noah1 ,moses1 and the prophets4 ,but ,christ forbids all this4 ,the gospel says3 ,i say unto you1 resist ye not evil1 avenge not one transgression by another1 but rather bear a repetition of the offense from the evil-doer4 ,that which has been allowed is now forbidden4 ,having understood what resistance we have been taught1 we know exactly what ,christ meant by non-resistance4 ,q4 ,did the teaching of the ,ancients admit of resisting transgression by transgression8 ,a4 ,yes2 but ,christ forbade it4 ,a ,christian has no right in any case to take the life of1 or to offend against1 the evil-doer4 ,q4 ,may he not kill or wound another in self-defense8 ,a4 ,no4 ,q4 ,may he enter a complaint to the magistrates for the purpose of chastising the offender8 ,a4 ,no4 ,for that which he does through others1 he practically does himself4 ,q4 ,may he fight in the army against foreign or domestic enemies8 ,a4 ,certainly not4 ,he can take no part in war1 or in the preparation therefor4 ,he cannot make use of weapons4 ,he cannot resist one transgression by another1 whether he is alone or in company1 either personally or through other agents4 ,q4 ,may he voluntarily select or drill soldiers for the government8 ,a4 ,he cannot do this1 if he wishes to be faithful to the law of ,christ4 ,q4 ,may he voluntarily contribute money to assist a government which is supported by military power1 executions1 and violence in general8 ,a4 ,no2 unless the money is to be used for some special purpose1 justifiable in itself1 where the object and the means employed are good4 ,q4 ,may he pay taxes to such a government8 ,a4 ,no2 he should not pay taxes on his own accord1 but he should not resist the levying of a tax4 ,a tax imposed by the government is levied independently of the will of the citizens4 ,it may not be resisted without recourse to violence1 and a ,christian should not use violence2 therefore he must deliver his property to the forced damage caused by authorities4 ,q4 ,may a ,christian vote at elections and take part in courts of law or in the government8 ,a4 ,no4 ,to take a part in elections1 courts of law1 or in the administration of government is the same thing as a participation in the violence of the government4 ,q4 ,what is the chief significance of the doctrine of non-resistance8 ,a4 ,to show that it is possible to extirpate evil from one's own heart1 as well as from that of one's neighbor4 ,this doctrine forbids men to do that which perpetuates and multiplies evil in this world4 ,he who attacks another1 and does him an injury1 excites a feeling of hatred1 the worst of all evil4 ,to offend our neighbor because he has offended us1 with ostensible motive of self-defense1 means but to repeat the evil act against him as well as against ourselves1--it means to beget1 or at least to let loose1 or to encourage the ,evil ,spirit whom we wish to expel4 ,satan cannot be driven out by ,satan1 falsehood cannot be purged by falsehood1 nor can evil be conquered by evil4 ,true non-resistance is the only real method of resisting evil4 ,it crushes the serpent's head4 ,it destroys and exterminates all evil feeling4 ,q4 ,but admitting that the idea of the doctrine is correct1 is it practicable8 ,a4 ,as practicable as any virtue commanded by the law of ,god4 ,good deeds cannot be performed under all circumstances without self-sacrifice1 privations1 suffering1 and1 in extreme cases1 without the loss of life itself4 ,but he who prizes life more than the fulfilment of ,god's will is already dead to the only true life4 ,such a man1 in trying to save his life1 will lose it4 ,furthermore1 wherever non-resistance costs the sacrifice of one's life1 or of some essential advantage of life1 resistance costs thousands of such sacrifices4 ,non-resistance preserves2 resistance destroys4 ,it is much safer to act justly than unjustly2 to endure an offense rather than resist it by violence2 safer even in regard to the present life4 ,if all men refused to resist evil1 the world would be a happy one4 ,q4 ,but if only a few were to act thus1 what would become of them8 ,a4 ,even if but one man were to act thus1 and the others should agree to crucify him1 would it not be more glorious for him to die in the glory of non-resisting love1 praying for his enemies1 than live wearing the crown of ,csar1 besprinkled with the blood of the murdered8 ,but whether it be one man or thousands of men who are firmly determined not to resist evil by evil1 still1 whether in the midst of civilized or uncivilized neighbors1 men who do not rely on violence are safer than those who do4 ,a robber1 a murderer1 a villain1 will be less likely to harm them if he finds them offering no armed resistance4 ,all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword1 and he who seeks peace1 who acts like a friend1 who is inoffensive1 who forgives and forgets injuries1 generally enjoys peace1 or if he dies1 he dies a blessed death4 ,hence1 if all were to follow the commandment of non-resistance1 there would manifestly be neither offense nor evil-doing4 ,if even the majority were composed of such men they would establish the rule of love and good-will even toward the offenders1 by not resisting evil by evil nor using violence4 ,even if such men formed a numerous minority1 they would have such an improving moral influence over society that every severe punishment would be revoked1 and violence and enmity would be replaced by peace and good-will4 ,if they formed but a small minority1 they would rarely experience anything worse than the contempt of the world1 while the world1 without preserving it or feeling grateful therefor1 would become better and wiser from its latent influence4 ,and if1 in the most extreme cases1 certain members of the minority might be persecuted unto death1 these men1 thus dying for the truth1 would have left their doctrine already sanctified by the blood of martyrdom4 ,peace be with all ye who seek peace2 and may the all-conquering love be the imperishable inheritance of every soul who submits of its own accord to the law of ,christ4 ,resist not evil by violence4--,,adin ,,ballou4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for fifty years ,ballou wrote and published books chiefly on the subject of non-resistance4 ,in these writings1 remarkable for their eloquence and simplicity of style1 the question is considered in all its aspects4 ,he proved it to be the duty of every ,christian who professes to believe that the ,bible is a revelation from ,god1 to obey this commandment4 ,he enumerates the arguments against the commandment of non-resistance1 drawn from the ,old as well as the ,new ,testament1 the expulsion from the ,temple1 among others1 and answers each one in turn4 ,setting the ,bible aside1 he points out the practical good sense on which this principle is founded1 sums up the arguments against it1 and refutes them4 ,for instance1 in one chapter of his work he treats of non-resistance to evil in exceptional cases1 and affirms that granting the truth of the supposition that there are cases to which the rule of non-resistance cannot be applied1 that would prove that the rule in general is inconsistent4 ,citing such exceptional cases1 he proves that these are the very occasions when the application of this rule is both wise and necessary4 ,the question has been viewed from every side1 and no argument1 whether of opponent or sympathizer1 has been neglected or left unanswered4 ,i mention this in order to call attention to the deep interest which works of this class ought to excite in men who profess ,christianity2 and it would seem therefore that ,ballou's zeal should have been recognized1 and the ideas he expressed either accepted or disproved4 ,but such was not the case4 ,the life-work of ,garrison1 the father1 his founding the society of the ,non-resistant1 and his declaration1 convinced me1 more even than my intercourse with the ,quakers1 that the divergence of the ,christianity of the ,state from ,christ's law of non-resistance by violence has been long since noticed and pointed out1 and men have labored and still do labor to counteract it4 ,thus ,ballou's earnestness has fortified my opinion4 ,but the fate of ,garrison1 and particularly that of ,ballou1 almost unknown1 notwithstanding fifty years of active and persistent work in one direction1 has confirmed me in the belief that there exists a certain inexpressed but fixed determination to oppose all such attempts by a wall of silence4 ,in ,august of #ahij ,ballou died1 and his obituary appeared in the ,american ,religio-,philosophical ,journal of ,august #bc;d4 ,from this obituary we learn that ,ballou was the spiritual leader of a community1 that he had preached from #hjjj to #ijjj sermons1 married #ajjj couples1 and written #ejj articles1 but in regard to the object of his life's devotion not a word is said2 the word non-resistance is never mentioned4 ,all the exhortations of the ,quakers for #bjj years1 all the efforts of ,garrison1 the father1 the foundation of his society1 his periodical1 and his declarations1 as well as the life-work of ,ballou1 are the same as if they had never existed4 ,another striking example of the obscurity into which a work written for the purpose of explaining the principle of non-resistance1 and to denounce those who refuse to recognize this commandment1 may fall1 is the fate of a book by the ,czech ,helchitsky1 which has only recently been discovered1 and which up to the present time has never been printed4 ,shortly after the publication of my book in ,german1 ,i received a letter from a professor of the ,prague ,university1 who wrote to tell me of a book which had never been printed1 a work written in the fifteenth century by the ,czech ,helchitsky1 and entitled ,the ,net of ,faith4 ,in this work1 written four centuries ago1 ,helchitsky1 as the professor tells me1 has expressed exactly the same opinion in regard to true and false ,christianity that ,i did in my work entitled ,my ,religion4 ,the professor wrote that the work of ,helchitsky was to appear in print for the first time in the ,czech language in one of the publications of the ,st4 ,petersburg ,academy of ,science4 ,as ,i was unable to obtain the book1 ,i endeavored to ascertain all that was known of ,helchitsky himself1 and this knowledge ,i gained from a ,german book sent to me by the same professor in ,prague4 ,besides that ,i learned something from ,pipin's ,history of ,czech ,literature4 ,pipin says3-- ',the ,net of ,faith' is the doctrine of ,christ1 wherewith man is to be raised from the gloomy depths of the social sea of iniquity4 ,true faith is to believe the words of ,god2 but we are living in times when men call the true faith heresy2 hence it is upon our own reason that we must rely to discover the truth if we possess it not4 ,darkness has concealed it from men1 and they no longer recognize the true law of ,christ4 ,as an illustration of the law1 ,helchitsky cites the original social organization of ,christian society1 which is considered by the ,church of ,rome of the present time as rank heresy4 ,this primitive church was his own ideal of a social order founded upon equality1 liberty1 and fraternity4 ,christianity1 according to ,helchitsky1 still preserves this foundation1 and has but to return to its pure teaching to render any other social order1 whose existence requires the authority of pope or king1 quite superfluous4 ,the law of love will suffice for all4444 ,historically1 ,helchitsky assigns the decadence of ,christianity to the time of ,constantine the ,great1 whom the ,pope ,silvester received into the ,church in spite of his pagan life and morals4 ,constantine1 in return1 rewarded the ,pope by endowing him with riches and temporal power4 ,since then these two forces have played into each other's hands1 seeking only outward glory4 ,doctors1 men of learning1 and the clergy1 caring only to maintain their influence over the world1 excited the nations one against the other1 encouraging the crimes of murder and rapine1 and thus destroying ,christianity1 both in faith and practice4 ,helchitsky totally denies the right of man to wage war or to exact the penalty of death4 ,according to him1 every soldier1 even if he be a 'knight1' is only a transgressor1 a criminal1 and a murderer4 ,all this1 with the addition of some biographical details and extracts from the correspondence of ,helchitsky1 is related in the ,german book4 ,having thus become acquainted with the essence of ,helchitsky's teachings1 ,i waited with still greater impatience the appearance of ,the ,net of ,faith in the ,academy's periodical4 ,but one1 two1 three years passed1 and the book was not forthcoming4 ,it was only in #ahhh that ,i learned that the printing had been suspended4 ,i obtained the proof-sheets of what had been printed1 and read them4 ,in many respects it was a wonderful book4 ,its contents have been accurately summarized by ,pipin4 ,helchitsky's principal idea is that ,christianity1 in league with sovereignty during the reign of ,constantine the ,great1 and continuing to develop under these conditions1 became corrupted1 and ceased to be ,christianity4 ,he called his book ,the ,net of ,faith because he had chosen for his motto that verse from the ,new ,testament which speaks of the disciples as fishers of men4 ,he carries on the simile thus3 ,through ,his disciples1 ,christ caught the world in the net of ,his faith1 but the larger fishes1 breaking the net1 escaped2 then others followed through these same holes made by the large fishes1 and the net was left almost empty4 ,by the big fish he means the popes1 emperors1 and sovereigns who1 without giving up their authority1 accepted ,christianity1 not in its reality1 but in its semblance4 ,helchitsky teaches the same doctrine that is now taught by the non-resistant ,mennonites and ,quakers1 and in former times by the ,bogomiles1 the ,paulicians1 and other sects4 ,he teaches that ,christianity1 requiring1 as it does from its followers1 humility1 gentleness1 a forgiving spirit1 the turning of the other cheek when one is struck1 and the love of one's enemies1 is not compatible with that violence which is an essential element of authority4 ,a ,christian1 according to ,helchitsky1 should not only refuse to be a commander or a soldier1 but he should take no part in government1 neither should he become a tradesman1 nor even a landowner4 ,he might be an artisan or a farmer4 ,this book is among the few which have been saved from the flame into which books denouncing official ,christianity were commonly cast4 ,as all such so-called heretical works were usually burned with their authors1 very few of those which denounce official ,christianity have been preserved--and for this reason the book of which we speak has a special interest4 ,but apart from its interest1 concerning which there may be differences of opinion1 it is one of the most remarkable results of human thought1 both on account of its profundity and the wonderful power and beauty of its language1 not to mention its antiquity4 ,and yet this book has remained unprinted for centuries1 and continues to be unknown except to a few specialists4 7,see ,note1 end of ,chapter47 ,one would think that works like these of the ,quakers1 of ,garrison1 of ,ballou1 and of ,helchitsky1--which affirm and prove by the authority of the ,bible that the world misinterprets the teaching of ,christ1--would arouse an interest1 would make a sensation1 would give rise to discussions between the clergy and their flocks4 ,one might suppose that works which deal with the very essence of the ,christian doctrine would be reviewed1 and either acknowledged to be just1 or else refuted and condemned4 ,not at all4 ,every one of these works suffers the same fate4 ,men of widely differing opinions1 believers1 and1 what is still more surprising1 unbelieving liberals1 as though by common consent1 preserve an obstinate silence in regard to them4 ,thus every attempt to explain the true meaning of ,christ's doctrine goes for nothing4 ,and more astonishing still is the ignorance concerning two works whose existence was made known to me after the publication of my own book4 ,one is a work by ,dymond1 ,on ,war1 printed for the first time in ,london in #ahbd1 and the other by ,daniel ,musser1 entitled ,non-resistance ,asserted1 was written in #ahfd4 ,the ignorance in regard to these books is amazing2 the more so1 that apart from their merit1 both treat1 not so much of the theory as of its practical application to life2 of the relations of ,christianity to military service1 which is particularly interesting in view of the system of conscription4 ,it may be asked1 perhaps1 what action is befitting for a subject who believes that war is incompatible with religion when his government calls upon him for military service8 ,one would take this to be a vital question1 whose answer1 in view of our present system of conscription1 becomes one of serious importance4 ,all men1 or the majority of mankind1 are ,christians1 and every male is required to do military duty4 ,how man1 in his ,christian character1 is to meet this demand1 ,dymond gives the following reply3-- ,it is his duty1 mildly and temperately1 yet firmly1 to refuse to serve4 ,there are some persons who1 without any determinate process of reasoning1 appear to conclude that responsibility for national measures attaches solely to those who direct them2 that it is the business of governments to consider what is good for the community1 and that1 in these cases1 the duty of the subject is merged in the will of the sovereign4 ,considerations like these are1 ,i believe1 often voluntarily permitted to become opiates of the conscience4 ,i have no part1 it is said1 in the councils of the government1 and am not1 therefore1 responsible for its crimes4 ,we are1 indeed1 not responsible for the crimes of our rulers1 but we are responsible for our own2 and the crimes of our rulers are our own1 if1 whilst we believe them to be crimes1 we promote them by our coperation4444 ,those who suppose that obedience in all things is required1 or that responsibility in political affairs is transferred from the subject to the sovereign1 reduce themselves to a great dilemma4 ,it is to say that we must resign our conduct and our consciences to the will of others1 and act wickedly1 or well1 as their good or evil may preponderate1 without merit for virtue or responsibility for crime4 ,it is worthy of notice that the same is expressed in a maxim to soldiers1 which they are required to memorize4 ,dymond says that only a commander answers for the consequences of his order4 ,but this is unjust4 ,a man cannot remove the responsibility for his actions from himself4 ,and this is evident from the following3 ,if your superior orders you to kill your child1 your neighbor1 your father1 or your mother1 will you obey8 ,if you will not1 there is an end of the argument2 for if you may reject his authority in one instance1 where is the limit to rejection8 ,there is no rational limit but that which is assigned by ,christianity1 and that is both rational and practicable4444 ,we think1 then1 that it is the business of every man who believes that war is inconsistent with our religion1 respectfully1 but steadfastly1 to refuse to engage in it4 ,let such as these remember that an honorable and an awful duty is laid upon them4 ,it is upon their fidelity1 so far as human agency is concerned1 that the cause of peace is suspended4 ,let them1 then1 be willing to avow their opinions and to defend them4 ,neither let them be contented with words1 if more than words1 if suffering also1 is required4 ,it is only by the unyielding fidelity of virtue that corruption can be extirpated4 ,if you believe that ,jesus ,christ has prohibited slaughter1 let not the opinions or the commands of a world induce you to join in it4 ,by this 'steady and determinate pursuit of virtue1' the benediction which attaches to those who hear the sayings of ,god1 and do them1 will rest upon you1 and the time will come when even the world will honor you as contributors to the work of human reformation4 ,musser's work1 entitled ,non-resistance ,asserted2 or1 ,kingdom of ,christ and ,kingdom of this ,world ,separated1 was published in #ahfd4 ,this book deals with the same question1 drawing its illustrations from the drafting of the ,united ,states citizens during the time of the ,civil ,war4 ,in setting forth the reasons why men should have the right to decline military service1 his arguments are no less applicable to the present time4 ,in his ,introduction the author says3 ,it is well known that there are great numbers of people in the ,united ,states who profess to be conscientiously opposed to war4 ,they are mostly called non-resistants1 or defenseless ,christians1 and refuse to defend their country1 or take up arms at the call of the government and go forth to battle against its enemies4 ,hitherto this conscientious scruple has been respected by the government in this country2 and those claiming it have been relieved or excused from this service4 ,since the commencement of the present civil war in the ,united ,states the public mind has been unusually agitated on this subject4 ,it is not unreasonable that such persons as feel it to be their duty to go forth and endure the hardships of camp life1 and imperil health1 life1 and limb in defense of their country and government1 should feel some jealousy of those who have1 with themselves1 long enjoyed the protection and benefits of the government1 and yet1 in the hour of its need1 refuse to share the burden of its defense and protection4 ,neither is it strange that such a position should be looked upon as most unreasonable and monstrous1 and those who hold it be regarded with some suspicion4 ,many able speakers and writers1 says the author1 have raised their voices and pens to refute the idea of non-resistance1 as both unreasonable and unscriptural4 ,this is not to be wondered at1 seeing that those who profess the principle and do not possess it1 or correctly understand it1 act inconsistently1 and thereby bring the profession into disrepute and contempt4 ,however much misapplication or abuse of a principle may prejudice the minds of those who are unacquainted with a subject1 it is yet no argument against its truth4 ,the author at first proves it to be the duty of each ,christian to obey the rule of non-resistance4 ,he says that the rule is perfectly explicit1 and that it has been given by ,christ to all ,christianity without any possibility of being misinterpreted4 ,judge for yourselves1 whether it is right or wrong to obey man more than you do the ,lord1 said both ,peter and ,john2 and in exactly the same way every man who wishes to be a ,christian should regard the requirement of his nation to be a soldier1 remembering that ,christ has told him1 ,do not resist evil4 ,this1 in the opinion of ,musser1 decides the question of principle4 ,another point1 as to the right of declining military duty while one enjoys the advantages accruing through violence1 the author considers in detail1 and arrives at the conclusion that should a ,christian who follows the teaching of ,christ refuse to go to the war1 he must also decline to take any position under the government or any part in the elections1 neither must he have recourse to any officer of the law for his own personal advantage4 ,our author goes on to consider the relation between the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 and the significance of government for non-,christians2 arguments against the doctrine of non-resistance are enumerated and refuted4 ,the author closes his book with the following words3--,christians need no governments3 for they ought not to obey it in those matters wherein ,christ's teaching is set at naught1 and still less should they take an active part in it4 ,christ has chosen ,his disciples out of the world4 ,they have no promise of temporal good or happiness1 but the contrary4 ,their promise is in the world to come4 ,the spirit which they possess renders them happy and contented in any sphere of life4 ,so long as the world tolerates them1 they are contented2 but if it will not let them dwell in peace1 they flee to another city or place2 and so they are true pilgrims and strangers on earth1 having no certain abiding place4444 ,they are well contented that the dead may bury their dead1 if they are only permitted to follow ,christ4 ,without deciding upon the merits of this definition of a ,christian's duty in regard to war1 which we find set down in these two works1 we cannot fail to see the urgent need for a decision in regard to the question itself4 ,there are men--hundreds of thousands of ,quakers1 ,mennonites1 our own ,duhobortzi1 ,molokani1 men who belong to no sect whatsoever--who believe that violence and therefore military service is incompatible with ,christianity2 every year1 for instance1 we see in ,russia a number of men refusing to obey the conscription because of their religious opinions4 ,and how does the government deal with them8 ,does it release them8 ,oh1 no6444 ,does it use force1 and in case of disobedience punish them8 ,not exactly4444 ,in #ahah1 government managed the affair in this wise4 ,the following is an extract1 hardly known to any one in ,russia1 from a letter of ,muraviev-,karsky1 which was prohibited by the ,russian censor3-- ,,tiflis1 ,october #b;d1 #ahah4 ,this morning the commander of the fortress told me that five peasants belonging to the landowners of the government of ,tambov had been recently sent into the province of ,grusia4 ,these men were intended to serve as soldiers1 but they refused to obey4 ,they were flogged several times and made to run the gantlet1 but they were ready to give themselves up to the most cruel tortures1 yea1 even to death itself1 to escape military service4 ',let us go our way and harm us not2 we do no harm ourselves4 ,all men are equal4 ,the sovereign is a man like one of us1 why should we pay him taxes1 and wherefore should we risk our lives to kill in battle those who have never done us any harm8 ,draw and quarter us1 if you will1 and we shall never change our minds2 we will never wear the uniform1 nor mess at the soldier's table4 ,some pitying soul may give us alms but from the government we neither have had nor will have anything whatsoever4' ,such are the words of these peasants1 who assure us that there are many men in ,russia like themselves4 ,four times they were brought before the ,committee of ,ministers1 and it was finally decided that a report be made to the ,czar1 who ordered them to be sent to ,grusia for discipline1 and desired the ,commander-in-,chief to forward a monthly report of the progress made in bringing these peasants to a proper frame of mind4 ,the final result of this discipline is not known1 for the matter was kept a profound secret1 and the episode may never have been made public4 ,this was the conduct of the government seventy-five years ago in the greater number of cases1 always carefully hiding the truth from the people2 and it pursues the same policy at the present day1 except in regard to the ,german ,mennonites1 who live in the government of ,kherson1 and who in lieu of military duty serve a corresponding term as foresters1--the justice of their refusal to obey the conscription being recognized4 ,but they are the sole exception2 all others who1 from religious scruples1 refuse to perform military duty are treated in the manner just described4 ,at first the government employs all the methods of coercion now in use to discipline and convert the rebels1 while at the same time the most profound secrecy envelops all these proceedings4 ,i know of a process which was begun in #ahhd against a man who had declined to serve1--a long-drawn-out trial which was guarded by the ,ministry as a great secret4 ,the first step is usually to send the accused to the priests1 and1 be it said to their shame1 they always try to win over the insubordinate4 ,but as the influence exercised in the name of ,christ is generally unsuccessful1 the delinquent is sent from the clergy to the gendarmes1 who1 finding in him no political offense1 send him back2 whereupon he is despatched to the scientists1 the doctors1 and thence into the insane hospital4 ,while he is thus sent to and fro1 the delinquent1 deprived of his liberty like a condemned convict1 is made to endure every kind of indignity and suffering4 ,four such cases have come to my knowledge4 ,the doctors generally release the man from the insane hospital1 and then every underhanded and crafty device is employed to delay the accused1 because his release might encourage others to follow his example4 ,he is not allowed to remain among the soldiers lest they discover from him that conscription is not1 as they are taught to believe1 in accordance with the law of ,god1 but opposed to it4 ,the most satisfactory arrangement for a government would be either to execute the delinquent1 or beat him with rods until he died1 as was done in former times4 ,but it is awkward to condemn a man to public execution because he is true to the doctrine which we all profess to believe4 ,nor is it possible to take no notice of a man when he refuses to obey4 ,so the government either tortures the man in order to compel him to deny ,christ1 or tries to rid itself of him by some means which will hide both the man and the crime from the eyes of the world1 rather than resort to public execution4 ,all sorts of cunning manuvers and tricks are employed to torment the man4 ,he is either banished to some remote province1 or exasperated to disobedience and then imprisoned1 or sent to the reform battalion1 where he may be subjected to torture without publicity or restriction2 or he is pronounced insane and locked up in the insane asylum4 ,for instance1 one was exiled to ,tashkent2 that is to say1 a pretense was made of transferring him thither4 ,another was sent to ,omsk1 a third was court-martialed for disobedience and imprisoned1 and a fourth was put into a house for the insane4 ,the same thing is repeated on every side4 ,not only the government1 but the majority of liberal free-thinkers1 as though by preconcerted agreement1 carefully avoid alluding to what has been said1 written1 or done in this matter of denouncing the inconsistency of violence1 as embodied in its most shocking1 crude1 and striking form1 in the person of a soldier1--this readiness to commit murder1--not only with the precepts of ,christianity1 but with the dictates of mere humanity1 which the world professes to obey4 ,hence all the information that ,i have gathered concerning what has been accomplished1 and what is still going on in this work of explaining the doctrine of ,christ and the light in which it is regarded by the ruling powers of ,europe and ,america1 has confirmed me in the conviction that a spirit inimical to true ,christianity dwells in these authorities1 exhibited chiefly by the conspiracy of silence with which they enshroud any manifestation of it4 ,,note ,the publication of this book 7',the ,net of ,faith'7 was ended completed by the ,academy in the last months of the present year 7#ahic74--,note received by the ,publisher from ,count ,tolsto while this work was going to press4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,opinions ,,of ,,believers ,,and ,,unbelievers ,,in ,,regard ,,to ,,non-,,resistance ,the fate of the book1 ,my ,religion--,the evasive answers of religious critics to the questions propounded in that book--#ast answer1 ,violence does not contradict ,christianity--#b;d answer1 ,necessity of violence for the purpose of repressing evil-doers--#c;d answer1 ,necessity of violence for the defense of one's neighbor--#dth answer1 ,the violation of the commandment of ,non-resistance regarded as a weakness--#eth answer1 ,evasion of the answer by a pretense that this matter has long since been decided--,the cloak of church authority1 antiquity1 the holiness of religious men1 explain for many the contradictions between violence and ,christianity1 in theory as well as in life--,usual attitude of the clergy and authorities in regard to the profession of true ,christianity--,general character of ,russian secular writers--,foreign secular critics--,incorrectness of the opinions of the former and the latter caused by a failure to understand the true meaning of the doctrine of ,christ4 ,all the criticisms of the statements contained in my own book have given me a similar impression of a wish to ignore the subject4 ,as ,i had anticipated1 no sooner was the book published than it was prohibited1 and should1 according to law1 have been burned4 ,but instead of being consumed by the flames1 every copy was taken by the government officials and circulated in large numbers1 both in manuscript and in the lithographed sheets1 as well as in translations which were published abroad4 ,it was not long before criticisms began to appear1 not only from the clergy1 but from the secular world1 which the government1 so far from forbidding1 took pains to encourage4 ,hence the very refutation of the book1 the existence of which they assumed to be unknown1 was made the theme of theological controversy4 ,these criticisms1 both foreign and domestic1 may be divided into two classes1 religious and secular2 the former by persons who consider themselves believers1 and the latter by free-thinkers4 ,i shall begin by considering the former4 ,in my book ,i accuse the clergy of inculcating doctrines contrary to the commandments of ,christ1 plainly and clearly expressed in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and particularly in regard to the commandment of non-resistance to evil1 thereby depriving the doctrine of ,christ of all its significance4 ,do the ministers of the gospel believe the ,sermon on the ,mount1 including the commandment of non-resistance1 to be of divine origin8 ,having felt themselves obliged to review my book1 it would seem as if they must first of all answer the principal charge1 and declare at once whether they do or do not consider the ,sermon on the ,mount and the commandment of non-resistance obligatory upon a ,christian4 ,instead of making the usual reply1 couched in words such as1 ,though one cannot deny1 neither can one affirm1 the more so as1 etc41 let them give a categorical answer to my question3 ,did ,christ practically require his disciples to do that which he taught in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and therefore may a ,christian appeal to a legal tribunal1 either for defense or prosecution1 and still remain a ,christian8 ,may he consistently take a part in a government which is the instrument of violence8 ,and that most important question1 which1 since the introduction of the general conscription1 concerns us all3 ,may a ,christian remain a ,christian and still disobey the direct command of ,christ2 may he promise to conduct himself in a manner directly opposed to the doctrine of ,christ1 by entering into military service and putting himself in training to be a murderer8 ,the questions are put plainly and directly1 and would seem to call for plain and direct answers4 ,but no2 my book has been received just as all previous denunciations have been1 those denunciations of the clergy who have deviated from the law of ,christ1 with which history abounds since the time of ,constantine the ,great4 ,many words have been expended in noting the errors of my interpretation of this or that passage of the ,scriptures1 of how wrong ,i am in referring to the ,trinity1 the ,redemption1 and the ,immortality of the soul1 but never a word of that vital question3 ,how are we to reconcile those lessons of forgiveness1 humility1 patience1 and love toward all mankind1 our neighbors as well as our enemies1 taught us by the ,teacher1 which dwell in the heart of each of us1 with the necessities caused by military aggressions against our own countrymen as well as against foreigners8 ,all that deserves the name of a response to these questions may be summed up under five headings4 ,i have endeavored to bring together in this book not only the criticisms upon my book1 but everything that has ever been written on this subject4 ,the first criticisms with which ,i deal come mostly from men of high position1 either in ,church or ,state1 who feel quite sure that no one will venture to combat their assertions2 should any one make the attempt1 they would never hear the arguments4 ,these men1 intoxicated for the most part by their authority1 have forgotten that there is a ,christianity in whose name they hold their places4 ,they condemn as sectarian all that which is truly ,christ-like in ,christianity1 while on the other hand1 every text in both ,old and ,new ,testaments which can be wrested from its meaning so as to justify an anti-,christian or pagan sentiment--upon these they establish the foundation of ,christianity4 ,in order to confirm their statement that ,christianity is not opposed to violence1 these men generally quote1 with the greatest assurance1 equivocal passages from the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 interpreting them in the most anti-,christian spirit--the death of ,ananias and ,sapphira1 the execution of ,simon the ,sorcerer1 etc4 ,all of ,christ's words that can possibly be misinterpreted are quoted in vindication of cruelty--the expulsion from the ,temple1 the words 444 it shall be more tolerable in that day for ,sodom than for that city 7,luke x4 #ab71 and other passages4 ,according to these men1 a ,christian is not at all obliged to be guided by the spirit of humility1 forgiveness1 and love of his enemies4 ,it is useless to try to refute such a doctrine1 because men who affirm it refute themselves1 or rather they turn away from ,christ ,himself1 to invent an ideal and a form of religion all their own1 forgetful of ,him in whose name both the ,church and the offices they hold exist4 ,if men but knew that the ,church preaches an unforgiving1 murder-loving1 and belligerent ,christ1 they would not believe in that ,church1 and its doctrines would be defended by none4 ,the second method1 somewhat more awkward1 consists in affirming that though ,christ did1 in point of fact1 teach us to turn the other cheek1 and to share our cloak1 and that these are indeed lofty moral laws1 still 444 the world abounds in evil-doers1 and if these wretches are not subdued by force1 the righteous will perish and the world will be destroyed4 ,i met with this argument for the first time in ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom1 and have called attention to its unfairness in my book entitled ,my ,religion4 ,this argument is groundless1 because if we allow ourselves to look upon our fellow-men as evil-doers1 outcasts 7,raka71 we sap the very foundations of the ,christian doctrine1 which teaches us that we1 the children of the ,heavenly ,father1 are brothers1 and equal one to the other4 ,in the second place1 if the same ,father had permitted us to use violence toward wrong-doers1 as there is no infallible rule for distinguishing the good from the evil1 every individual or every community might class its neighbors under the head of evil-doers1 which is practically the case at the present time4 ,in the third place1 if it were possible to distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous1 even then it would not be expedient in a ,christian community to put to death1 to cripple1 or to imprison the evil-doers1 as in such a community there would be no one to execute these sentences1 since every man in his quality of ,christian is forbidden to do violence to a malefactor4 ,the third mode of reply1 more ingenious than the preceding ones1 consists in affirming that while to obey the commandment of non-resistance is every ,christian's duty1 when the injury is a personal one1 it ceases to be obligatory when harm is done to one's neighbor1 and that in such an emergency a ,christian is bound to break the commandment and use force against the evil-doer4 ,this assertion is purely arbitrary1 and one finds no justification for it throughout the whole body of the doctrine of ,christ4 ,such an interpretation is not only a narrow one1 but actually amounts to a direct negation4 ,if every man has the right to employ violence whenever his neighbor is threatened with danger1 then the question becomes reduced to this3 ,how may one define what is called danger to one's neighbor8 ,if1 however1 my private judgment is to be arbiter in this matter1 then any violence which ,i might commit on any occasion whatever could be excused by the declaration that my neighbor was in danger4 ,magicians have been burned1 aristocrats and ,girondists put to death1 because the men in power considered them dangerous4 ,if this important condition1 which destroys the significance of the commandment1 ever entered into the thought of ,christ1 it would have been formulated somewhere4 ,not only is no such exception to the commandment to be found throughout the ,teacher's life and lessons1 but there is on the other hand a warning against an interpretation so false and misleading4 ,the error and the impracticability of such a definition is vividly illustrated in the ,bible story of ,caiaphas1 who made use of this very same interpretation4 ,he admitted that it was not well to put to death the innocent ,jesus1 but at the same time he perceived the existence of a danger1 not for himself1 but for all the people1 and therefore declared it better for one man to die1 rather than that a whole nation should perish4 ,and we have a still more explicit proof of the fallacy of this interpretation in the words addressed to ,peter1 when he tried to revenge by violence the attack upon ,jesus 7,matthew xxvi4 #ea74 ,peter was defending not himself1 but his beloved and divine ,master1 and ,christ distinctly forbade him1 saying1 ,for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword 7,matthew xxvi4 #eb74 ,one can never justify an act of violence against one's fellow-man by claiming to have done it in defense of another who was enduring some wrong1 because in committing an act of violence1 it is impossible to compare the one wrong with the other1 and to say which is the greater1 that which one is about to commit1 or the wrong done against one's neighbor4 ,we release society from the presence of a criminal by putting him to death1 but we cannot possibly know that the former might not have so changed by the morrow as to render the execution a useless cruelty4 ,we imprison another1 we believe him a dangerous man2 but no later than next day this very man may have ceased to be dangerous1 and his imprisonment has become unnecessary4 ,i see a robber1 a man known to me1 pursuing a girl2 ,i hold a gun in my hand2 ,i wound or perhaps kill the robber1 and save the girl4 ,the fact that ,i have either wounded or killed the robber remains1 but ,i know not what might have happened had ,i not done so4 ,and what a vast amount of harm must and does accrue from the assurance that a man feels of his right to provide against a possible calamity4 ,ninety-nine parts of the world's iniquity1 from the ,inquisition to the bomb-throwing of the present day1 and the execution of tens of thousands of political criminals1 so called1 result from this very assurance4 ,the fourth and still more ingenious reply to this question of the ,christian's responsibility in regard to the commandment of ,christ concerning non-resistance to evil by violence1 consists in asserting that this commandment is not denied1 but acknowledged1 like all the others2 it is only the special significance attributed to it by sectarians that is denied4 ,our critics declare that the views of ,garrison1 ,ballou1 and ,dymond1 as well as those professed by the ,quakers1 the ,shakers1 the ,mennonites1 the ,moravians1 the ,waldenses1 ,albigenses1 ,bogomiles1 and ,paulicians1 are those of bigoted sectarians4 ,this commandment1 they say1 has the importance1 no more and no less1 of all the others2 and one who through weakness has transgressed against any of the commandments1 whether that of non-resistance or another1 does not for that cause cease to be a ,christian1 provided his creed be true4 ,this is a very cunning and persuasive subterfuge1 especially for those who are willing to be deceived1 reducing the direct negation of the commandment to its accidental infraction4 ,one has1 however1 but to compare the attitude of the clergy toward this or any of the other commandments which they do acknowledge1 to be convinced that it is quite different from their attitude toward this one4 ,the commandment against fornication they acknowledge without reservation1 and in no case will they ever admit that this sin is not an evil4 ,there are no circumstances mentioned by the clergy when the commandment against fornication may be broken1 and they always insist that the occasions for this sin must be avoided4 ,but in regard to non-resistance it is a very different matter4 ,every clergyman believes that there are circumstances wherein this commandment may be held in abeyance1 and they preach accordingly4 ,so far from teaching their parishioners to avoid the temptations to this sin1 chief among which is the oath of allegiance1 they take the oath themselves4 ,clergymen have never been known to advocate the breaking of any other commandment2 but in regard to the doctrine of non-resistance1 they distinctly teach that this prohibition must not be taken too literally1 that so far from always obeying this commandment1 one should on occasion follow the opposite course--that is1 one should sit in judgment1 should go to war1 and should execute criminals4 ,thus in most of the cases where non-resistance to evil by violence is in question1 the preachers will be found to advocate disobedience4 ,obedience to this commandment1 they say1 is difficult1 and can only be practicable in a state of society whose members are perfect4 ,but how is it to become less difficult1 when its infraction is not only condoned1 but directly encouraged1 when legal tribunals1 prisons1 the implements of warfare1 the cannon and muskets1 armies and battles1 receive the blessing of the ,church8 ,therefore this reply is not true4 ,evidently the statement that this commandment is acknowledged by the clergy to be of equal validity with the other commandments cannot be true4 ,clergymen do not really acknowledge it1 yet1 unwilling to admit this fact1 they try by evasion to conceal their non-acknowledgment4 ,such is the fourth method of answering4 ,the fifth1 more ingenious than its predecessor1 is the popular one of all4 ,it consists in quietly evading reply1 pretending that the question was solved ages ago1 in a cogent and satisfactory manner1 and that it would be a waste of words to reopen the subject4 ,this method is employed by all the more cultured authors1 who1 if they made answer at all1 would feel themselves bound to be logical4 ,realizing that the inconsistency between that doctrine of ,christ1 of which we make a verbal profession1 and the scheme of our daily lives1 is not to be solved by words1 and that the more it is talked the more glaring this inconsistency becomes1 they evade it with more or less circumspection1 pretending that the question of union between ,christianity and the law of violence has either been already solved1 or else that it cannot be solved at all4#b #b ,i know of but one criticism1 or rather essay1 for it can hardly be termed criticism1 in the strict sense of the word1 which treats of the same subject1 having my book in view4 ,it is a pamphlet by ,trotzky1 called ,the ,sermon on the ,mount 7printed in ,kazan74 ,evidently the author acknowledges the doctrine of ,christ in the fullness of its meaning4 ,he declares that the commandment of non-resistance to evil means what it says1 and the same with the commandment as to taking an oath4 ,he does not deny1 as others have done1 the meaning of ,christ's teaching1 but unfortunately neither does he draw those inevitable conclusions which must result from a conception such as his own of ,christ's doctrine4 ,if one is not to resist evil by violence1 nor to take an oath1 it is but natural to ask3 ,then what is the duty of a soldier8 ,and what is to be done about taking the oath of allegiance8 ,but to these questions the author makes no reply1 and surely a reply should have been given4 ,if he had none to make1 it would have been better to have said nothing at all4 ,most of my clerical critics have made use of this method4 ,i might quote scores of criticisms of this class1 wherein everything is discussed except the vital principle of the book4 ,as a characteristic specimen of these criticisms ,i will quote from an article by that well-known and scholarly ,englishman1 the writer and preacher1 ,canon ,farrar1 who1 like so many other learned theologians1 is an expert in the art of silently ignoring and evading a statement4 ,the article appeared in an ,american magazine1 ,the ,forum1 for ,october1 #ahhh4 ,after briefly but conscientiously setting forth the subject-matter of my book1 ,farrar says3--,after repeated search the central principle of all ,christ's teaching seemed to him ,tolsto to be1 ',resist not evil' or 'him that is evil4' ,he came to the conclusion that a coarse deceit had been palmed upon the world when these words were held by civil society to be compatible with war1 courts of justice1 capital punishment1 divorce1 oaths1 national prejudice1 and indeed with most of the institutions of civil and social life4 ,he now believes that the ,kingdom of ,god would come if all men kept these five commandments1 which he holds to be the pith of all ,christ's teaching--viz43 #a4 ,live in peace with all men4 #b4 ,be pure4 #c4 ,take no oaths4 #d4 ,never resist evil4 #e4 ,renounce national distinctions4444 ,most of the ,bible does not seem to him to reflect the spirit of ,christ at all1 though it has been brought into artificial and unwarrantable connection with it4 ,hence he rejects the chief doctrines of the ,church3 that of the ,atonement by blood1 that of the ,trinity1 that of the descent of the ,holy ,ghost upon the ,apostles and the transmission to the priesthood by laying on of hands1 that of the need of the seven sacraments for salvation4 ,he sets aside the authority of ,paul1 of councils1 of fathers1 popes1 or patriarchs1 and believes himself to be the immediate disciple of ,christ alone4444 ,but we are compelled to ask1 ,is this interpretation of ,christ a true one8 ,are all men bound1 or is any man bound1 to act as this great writer has done8 ,one might naturally expect that this vital question1 which alone could induce a man to write a dissertation on the book1 would be answered either by admitting that my interpretation of the doctrine of ,christ is correct and should be accepted1 or declaring that it is erroneous1 proving his point1 and offering a more correct interpretation of the words which ,i have misconstrued4 ,but no2 ,farrar merely expresses his belief that though actuated by the noblest sincerity1 ,count ,tolsto has been misled by partial and one-sided interpretations of the meaning of the gospel and the mind and will of ,christ4 ,in what this error consists he does not explain1 but says3 ,to enter into the proof of this is impossible in this article1 for ,i have already exceeded the space at my command4 ,and concludes with equanimity3 ,meanwhile the reader who feels troubled lest it should be his duty also to forsake all the conditions of his life1 and to take up the position and work of a common laborer1 may rest for the present on the principle1 ',securus judicat orbis terrarum4' ,with few and rare exceptions the whole of ,christendom1 from the days of the ,apostles down to our own1 has come to the firm conclusion that it was the object of ,christ to lay down great eternal principles1 but not to disturb the bases and revolutionize the institutions as well as all inevitable conditions4 ,were it my object to prove how untenable is the doctrine of communism1 based by ,count ,tolsto upon the divine paradoxes1 which can be interpreted on only historical principles in accordance with the whole method of the teaching of ,jesus1 it would require an ampler canvas than ,i have here at my disposal4 ,what a pity that he has no space6 ,and1 wonderful to relate1 no one for fifteen centuries ever had the space to prove that the ,christ whom we profess said one thing and meant another4 ,and of course they could prove it if they would6 ,but it is not worth while to prove what everybody knows to be true4 ,it is enough to say3 ,securus judicat orbis terrarum4 ,the criticisms of all educated believers are very much alike1 because realizing as they must the danger of their position1 they feel that their only safeguard lies in the hope that by sheltering themselves behind the authority and holiness of the ,church1 they may succeed in intimidating their readers1 or diverting them from any idea of reading the ,bible for themselves or using their own reason to solve this question4 ,and this is a method that succeeds4 ,to whom would it ever occur1 indeed1 that all these assurances1 repeated with so much solemnity1 century after century1 by archdeacons1 bishops1 and archbishops1 synods and popes1 are a base falsehood1 a calumny against the character of ,christ1 uttered for the purpose of assuring to themselves the money they require to lead a life of ease at the expense of others1--a falsehood and a calumny so palpable1 particularly now1 that the only chance of perpetuating this falsehood lies in holding the people in awe by their arrogance and audacity8 ,the very same thing has been going on of late years in the ,bureau of military conscription4 ,a number of aged officials1 decorated and self-important1 are at a table1 a full-lengthed portrait of the ,emperor with the mirror of justice before them1 and1 while leisurely chatting with each other1 they write1 call out the names1 and give their orders4 ,here also1 with a cross upon his breast1 his hair blowing over his stole1 a genial and venerable-looking priest dressed in a silk robe sits before a pulpit on which is placed a golden cross and a ,bible with gilt clasps4 ,ivan ,petrov is called4 ,an untidy1 poorly clad youth1 with a frightened expression1 twitching muscles1 and gleaming eyes that have a wandering look1 steps forward1 and in a hesitating1 broken voice almost whispers3 ,i 444 according to law 444 as a ,christian 444 ,i 444 ,i cannot4444 ,what is he muttering8 asks the chairman1 impatiently1 squinting and making an effort to hear1 as he raises his head from the book4 ,speak louder6 exclaims the colonel with the glittering shoulder-straps4 ,as a ,christian 444 ,i 444 ,i4444 ,and at last it becomes plain that the youth refuses to enter the military service because he is a ,christian4 ,don't talk nonsense6 ,measure him6 ,doctor1 be kind enough to look at the measure4 ,will he do8 ,he will do4 ,holy ,father1 let him take the oath4 ,not only is there no uneasiness on the part of the officers1 but no one pays the least attention to the muttering of this frightened1 pitiable youth4 ,they always mutter1 and we are in a hurry2 we have still so many more to receive4 ,the recruit tries to speak again4 ,this is against the law of ,christ6 ,move on6 move on6 ,we know what is lawful and what is not6 ,move on6 ,father1 make him understand6 ,next6 ,vassili ,nikitin6 ,then the trembling youth is led away4 ,now which of all these men1 the soldiers1 ,vassili ,nikitin1 the new man on the list1 or any other witness of the scene1--which of these would ever dream that the unintelligible1 broken utterances of the youth1 silenced forthwith by the magistrates1 embodied the real truth1 while the loud1 arrogant speeches of the officials1 of the priest1 uttered with authority1 were actually false8 ,the same impression is made not only by ,farrar's essay1 but by all those grandiloquent sermons1 reviews1 and other publications which spring into existence on every side wherever truth is found combating the arrogance of falsehood4 ,at once these orators and writers1 subtle or bombastic1 begin by dwelling upon points closely allied to the vital question1 while preserving an artful silence on the question itself4 ,and this is the fifth and most efficacious method of accounting for the inconsistent attitude of ecclesiastical ,christianity1 which1 while professing ,christ1 with its own life denies1 and teaches others to deny1 this doctrine in the practice of daily life4 ,they who employ the first method of justification by boldly and distinctly affirming that ,christ sanctioned violence1 meaning wars and murders1 put themselves beyond the pale of ,christ's teaching2 while they who defend themselves according to the second1 third1 and fourth methods soon become entangled1 and are easily convicted of falsehood2 but the fifth class1 they who condescend not to reason1 use their dignity for a screen1 and insist that all these questions were settled ages ago1 and need no reconsideration2 they1 apparently invulnerable1 will maintain an undisputed authority1 and men will repose under the hypnotic suggestion of ,church and ,state1 nor seek to throw off the yoke4 ,such were the views of the clergy1 of the professors of ,christianity1 in regard to my book1 nor could anything different have been expected3 they are in bonds to their inconsistent position1 believers in the divinity of the ,teacher1 and yet discrediting ,his plainest words1--an inconsistency which they are bound to reconcile in some way4 ,hence it is not to be supposed that they would give unbiased opinions in regard to the essential question of that change which must take place in the life of one who makes a practical application of the doctrine of ,christ to the existing order4 ,from secular critics and free-thinkers1 who acknowledge no obligation to the doctrine of ,christ1 and who might be expected to judge them without prejudice1 ,i had prepared myself for criticisms such as these4 ,i thought that the ,liberals would look upon ,christ not only as the founder of a religion involving personal salvation 7as understood by the ecclesiastics and their followers71 but1 to use their own expression1 as upon a reformer who tears down the old foundations to make way for new ones1 and whose reformation is not even yet complete4 ,to set forth that conception of ,christ and his doctrine has been the object of my book4 ,but to my surprise not one out of the many criticisms1 ,russian or foreign1 that have appeared1 has accepted my view1 or even discussed it from my standpoint1 which is1 that the teaching of ,christ is a philosophical1 moral1 and social doctrine4 7,i use the phraseology of the scientists47 ,the ,russian secular critics1 conceiving the sum and substance of my book to be a plea in favor of resistance to evil1 and taking it for granted 7probably for the sake of argument7 that the doctrine forbade any struggle whatsoever against the wrong1 made a virulent1 and for several years1 most successful attack upon this doctrine1 proving that the teaching of ,christ must be false1 since it forbids any effort to overcome evil4 ,their refutations of this so-called false doctrine had all the more chance of success1 because the censorship had prohibited1 not only the book itself1 but also all articles in its defense1 and consequently they knew beforehand that their arguments could not be assailed4 ,it is worthy of note that here in ,russia1 where not a word against the ,holy ,scriptures is allowed by the censor1 for several years in succession the distinct and unmistakable commandment of ,christ 7,matthew v4 #ci7 was criticized1 distorted1 condemned1 and mocked at in all the leading periodicals4 ,the ,russian secular critics1 apparently ignorant of all that had been said and done in regard to non-resistance to evil1 seemed to think that ,i had invented the principle myself1 and attacked it as if it were my idea1 first distorting and then refuting it with great ardor1 bringing forward time-worn arguments that had been analyzed and refuted over and over again1 showing that the oppressed and downtrodden should be defended by violence1 and declaring the doctrine of ,christ concerning non-resistance to be immoral4 ,all the significance that the ,russian critics saw in ,christ's preaching was1 that it seemed expressly intended to hamper them in their struggles against what they believe to be an evil in the present day4 ,thus it came about that the principle of non-resistance to evil by violence was attacked from two opposite camps2 the ,conservatives1 because this principle interfered with them in their efforts to suppress sedition1 and as opposed to all persecution1 as well as to the punishment of death2 the ,revolutionists1 because this principle forbade them to resist the oppression of the ,conservatives1 or to attempt their overthrow4 ,the ,conservatives were indignant that the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by violence should thwart an energetic suppression of revolutionary elements1 which might imperil the welfare of a nation2 the ,revolutionists in the like manner were indignant because this same doctrine averted the downfall of the ,conservatives1 who1 in their opinion1 imperil the welfare of the people4 ,it is a circumstance worthy of notice that the ,revolutionists should attack the principle of non-resistance to evil by violence2 for of all the doctrines dreaded by despotism1 and dangerous to its existence1 this is the chief one4 ,since the creation of the world the opposite principle of resistance by violence has been the corner-stone of every despotic institution1 from the ,inquisition to the fortress of ,schlsselburg4 ,moreover1 the ,russian critics declared that the progress of civilization itself would be checked were this commandment of non-resistance applied to everyday life1 by which they mean the civilization of ,europe1 which is1 according to them1 the model for all mankind4 ,such was the substance of ,russian criticism4 ,foreign critics start from the same premises1 but their deductions differ somewhat from those of the ,russian critics2 not only are they less captious and more cultivated1 but their modes of analysis are not the same4 ,in discussing my book1 and more particularly the gospel doctrine as it is expressed in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 the foreign critics affirmed that the latter could not really be called ,christian doctrine 7they believe that the ,christian doctrine is embodied in ,catholicism or ,protestantism71 and that the precepts of the ,sermon on the ,mount are only a series of the delightful but unpractical visions of the charmant docteur1 as ,renan says1 suited to the artless1 half-civilized ,galileans who lived #ahjj years ago1 or to the ,russian and semi-barbarous peasants1 to ,sutaev and ,bondarev1 and to the ,russian mystic ,tolsto1 but which are by no means adapted to the lofty plane of ,european culture4 ,the foreign secular critics1 in a courteous way1 in order not to wound my feelings1 have endeavored to show that my belief that mankind may be guided by so simple a doctrine as the ,sermon on the ,mount arises partly from my limited knowledge of history and ignorance of the many vain attempts to carry out in daily life the principles of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 which history tells us have always proved an utter failure1 and partly from my misconception of the significance of our modern civilization1 with its ,krupp guns1 its smokeless powder1 its ,african colonization1 its ,home ,rule1 its parliaments1 journalism1 strikes1 and constitutions1 not to mention the ,eiffel ,tower1--on which the entire population of ,europe is at present reposing4 ,thus wrote ,vog1 thus wrote ,leroy-,beaulieu1 ,matthew ,arnold1 the ,american writer ,talmage1 who is also a popular preacher1 the free-thinker ,ingersoll1 and others4 ,the teaching of ,christ is no longer practicable1 because it does not suit our industrial times1 ,ingersoll ingenuously remarks1 and thereby he no doubt gives utterance to the views which this cultured generation holds in regard to the doctrine of ,christ4 ,the doctrine has no affinity with the industrialism of the present age1 as though industrialism were a sacred institution which can suffer no change4 ,a drunkard might thus reply to one who calls upon him to be sober1 that a man in liquor finds such advice absurd4 ,the arguments of all secular writers1 ,russian as well as foreign1 however varied in form or expression1 are substantially alike2 they all agree in misapprehending the doctrine of ,christ1 with its outcome of non-resistance1 and in affirming that it is not expedient because it implies a need of a change of life4 ,the doctrine of life is inexpedient1 because if we lived up to it our lives could not go on as they have done hitherto2 in other words1 if we were to begin to live like righteous men1 as ,christ bids us1 we must abandon the wicked ways to which we have grown accustomed4 ,so far from discussing the question of non-resistance of evil by violence1 the very mention of the fact that the precepts of ,christ include such a command is considered as sufficient proof of the inexpediency of the whole doctrine4 ,and yet it would seem necessary to offer some solution of this question1 as it lies at the root of all that most interests us4 ,the question is how to settle these differences among men1 when the very action that is considered evil by one man is considered good by another4 ,it is no answer to say that ,i think an action evil although my adversary may consider it a good one4 ,there are but two ways of solving the difficulty4 ,one is to find a positive and indisputable standard of evil1 and the other is to obey the command1 resist not evil by violence4 ,men have tried to achieve the former from the earliest historical ages1 and we all know with what unsuccessful results4 ,the second solution--that is1 the non-resistance of what we must consider evil until we have found a universal standard3 that solution has been suggested by ,christ himself4 ,it might be thought that the solution suggested by ,christ was the wrong one1 and a better one might be substituted after the standard had been found which is to define evil once and for all4 ,one might not know of the existence of such a question1 as is the case with the barbarous races1 but no one can be permitted to pretend1 like the learned critics of the ,christian doctrine1 that no such question does exist1 or that the recognition of the right of certain individuals or groups of individuals1 and still less of one's own right1 to define evil1 and to resist it by violence1 decides the question1 because we all know that such a recognition does not decide it at all1 for there are always persons who will refuse to admit that such a prerogative can exist4 ,and yet this very acknowledgment1 that anything that seems evil to us is evil1 or else an utter misconception of the question1 affords a basis for the conclusions of secular critics concerning the doctrine of ,christ2 hence not only the utterances of the clerical1 but also those of the secular critics in regard to my book1 have made it evident to me that most men totally fail to comprehend either the doctrine of ,christ1 or the questions which it is intended to decide4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,misconception ,,of ,,christianity ,,by ,,non-,,believers ,the meaning of the ,christian doctrine1 which is clear for the minority1 has become unintelligible for the majority of men--,the cause of it is the false conception of ,christianity and the misguided assurance of believers1 as well as of unbelievers1 that they apprehend it--,the apprehension of ,christianity for believers is concealed by the ,church--,the apprehension of ,christianity--,its essence and its unlikeness to the pagan doctrines--,misunderstood at first1 it has grown clear to those who embrace it owing to its correspondence with the truth--,contemporaneously with it arose the assertion that the true meaning of the doctrine was understood1 and had been confirmed by miraculous transmission--,the ,council of ,disciples according to the ,acts--,authoritative and miraculous assertion of the true conception of ,christ's doctrine has found its logical conclusion in the acknowledgment of the ,credo and the ,church--,the ,church could not have been established by ,christ--,definition of ,churches according to the ,catechism--,there are various ,churches1 ever antagonistic to one another--,where is heresy8--,the work of ,mr4 ,arnold concerning heresies--,heresies are the sign of activity in the ,churches--,churches always divide mankind1 and are ever inimical to ,christianity--,in what the activity of the ,russian ,church consists--,matthew xxiv4 #bc--,the ,sermon on the ,mount1 or the ,credo--,the ,orthodox ,church conceals from the people the true meaning of ,christianity--,the same is done by other ,churches--,all the contemporary external conditions are such that they destroy the doctrine of the ,church1 and therefore ,churches use all their efforts to defend it4 ,the knowledge which ,i obtained after the publication of my book in regard to the views which the minority of mankind have held1 and still hold1 concerning the doctrine of ,christ in its simplicity and real significance1 as well as the criticisms of clerical and secular writers1 who deny the possibility of apprehending it in its actual meaning1 have convinced me that while the minority has not only always possessed a true conception of this doctrine1 and that this conception has grown steadily more and more clear1 for the majority1 on the other hand1 its sense has become more and more vague1 reaching at last such a degree of obscurity that men fail to understand the simplest commands expressed in the ,bible1 even when couched in the plainest possible language4 ,the inability that prevails at the present time to comprehend the doctrine of ,christ in its true1 simple1 and actual meaning1 when its light has penetrated into the remotest recesses of the human understanding1 when1 as ,christ said1 they proclaim from the roofs that which ,he whispered in the ear2 when this doctrine penetrates every phase of human life1 domestic1 economical1 civil1 politic1 and international1--this failure to apprehend it would be inexplicable1 if one had not discovered the reasons for it4 ,one of the reasons is1 that believers as well as unbelievers are perfectly sure that they long ago understood the doctrine of ,christ so completely1 unquestionably1 and finally1 that it can have no other meaning but the one which they attribute to it4 ,that is because the tradition of this false conception has been handed down for ages1--and therefore its misconception4 ,the most powerful stream of water cannot add one single drop to a vessel that is already full4 ,one might succeed in explaining to the dullest of men the most difficult of problems1 if he had no previous conception in regard to them2 but it is impossible to explain to the cleverest man even the simplest matters1 if he is perfectly sure that he knows everything about it4 ,the ,christian doctrine appears to men of the present times to be a doctrine of that kind1 known for ages1 and never to be questioned in its most trivial details1 and which is susceptible of no other interpretation4 ,at the present time ,christianity is conceived by those who profess the doctrines of the ,church as a supernatural1 miraculous revelation of all that is expressed in the ,credo2 while unbelievers look upon it as an affair of the past1 a manifestation of the demand of humanity for a belief in the supernatural1 as an historical fact1 which has found its fullest expression in ,catholicism1 ,orthodoxy1 and ,protestantism1 and which has for us no vital meaning4 ,for the believers the real significance of the doctrine is concealed by the ,church2 for the unbelievers it is hidden by science4 ,let us begin by considering the former4 ,eighteen hundred years ago1 in the pagan world of ,rome1 there appeared a strange and novel doctrine1 unlike any of its predecessors1 which was ascribed to the man ,christ4 ,it was a doctrine wholly new in form as well as in substance1 both for the ,hebrew world1 from whose midst it had sprung1 as well as for the ,roman world1 in whose midst it was preached and promulgated4 ,among the accurately defined religious precepts of the ,jews1 where1 according to ,isaiah1 there was precept upon precept1 and among the highly perfected ,roman legislative assemblies1 there appeared a doctrine that not only repudiated all deities1 all fear of them1 all augury and all faith in it1 but also denied the necessity for any human institutions whatsoever4 ,instead of the precepts and creeds of former times1 this doctrine presented only an image of interior perfection1 truth1 and love in the person of ,christ1 and the attainment of this interior perfection possible for men1 and1 as a consequence1 of the outward perfection foretold by the prophets3 the coming of the ,kingdom of ,god1 when all enmity shall cease1 when every man will hear the word of the ,lord and be united with another in brotherly love1 and when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together4 ,instead of threats of punishment for the non-observance of the commandments of the old laws1 religious no less than secular1 instead of tempting men by promise of rewards to observe these laws1 this doctrine attracted mankind only by proclaiming itself to be the truth4 ,if any man will do his will1 he shall know of the doctrine1 whether it be of ,god1 or whether ,i speak of myself4--,john vii4 #ag4 ,which of you convinceth me of sin8 ,and if ,i say the truth1 why do ye not believe me8--,john viii4 #df4 ,but now ye seek to kill me1 a man that hath told you the truth4444--,john viii4 #dj4 ,and ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free4--,john viii4 #cb4 ,god must be worshiped in truth4 ,all the doctrine will be made plain by the ,spirit of ,truth4 ,do as ,i command you1 and you will know whether what ,i say is the truth4 ,no evidence was brought to prove the doctrine1 except the truth and its harmony therewith4 ,the whole substance consisted in learning the truth and in following its guidance1 drawing nearer and nearer to it in the affairs of everyday life4 ,according to this doctrine1 there is no mode of action that can justify a man or make him righteous2 as regards interior perfection we have only the image of truth1 in the person of ,christ1 to win our hearts1 and outward perfection is expressed by a realization of the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,in order to fulfil the doctrine it needs but to take ,christ for our model1 and to advance in the direction of interior perfection by the road which has been pointed out to us1 as well as in that of exterior perfection1 which is the establishment of the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,the degree of human happiness1 whether it be more or less1 depends1 according to this doctrine1 not on the degree of perfection at which it arrives1 but on the comparative rate of progress toward that perfection4 ,the advance toward perfection of ,zacchus the publican1 of the adulteress1 of the thief on the cross1 is1 according to this doctrine1 better than the stagnation of the righteous ,pharisee4 ,the shepherd rejoices more over the one sheep which was lost and is found than over the ninety and nine which are in the fold4 ,the prodigal returned1 the piece of money which was lost and is found1 is more precious unto ,god than that which was never lost4 ,according to this doctrine1 each state is but a step on the road toward the unattainable interior and exterior perfection1 and therefore it has no significance in itself4 ,the progress of this movement toward perfection is its merit2 the least cessation of this movement means the cessation of good works4 ,let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth1 and ,no man1 having put his hand to the plow1 and looking back1 is fit for the kingdom of ,god4 ,rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you2 but rather rejoice1 because your names are written in heaven4 ,be ye therefore perfect1 even as your ,father which is in heaven is perfect4 ,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god and his righteousness4 ,the fulfilment of the doctrine lies in a continual progress toward the attainment of a higher truth1 and in the growing realization of that truth within one's self1 by means of an ever increasing love2 as well as in a more and more keen realization of the ,kingdom of ,god in the world around us4 ,it is evident that the doctrine that appeared in the midst of the ,hebrew and pagan world could not be accepted by the majority of men1 who lived a life so totally unlike the one prescribed by this new doctrine2 and even those who did accept it could not comprehend its full meaning1 because of its contradiction of all former ideas4 ,it is only through a series of misapprehensions1 errors1 one-sided explanations1 corrected and supplemented by generations of men1 that the meaning of the ,christian doctrine has become more and more plain4 ,the ,christian world-conception and that of the ,hebrew and pagan peoples mutually acted and reacted upon each other1 and the ,christian principle being the more vital1 it penetrated deeper and deeper into the ,hebrew and pagan principles that had outlived their usefulness1 and became more clearly defined1 freeing itself from the spurious admixtures imposed upon it4 ,men understood its meaning better and better1 and realized it more and more unmistakably in life4 ,the older the world grew1 the more lucid became its apprehension of ,christianity1 as must always be the case with any doctrine relating to human life4 ,successive generations rectified the mistakes of the preceding ones and approached nearer and nearer to the apprehension of its true meaning4 ,thus it was from the very beginning of ,christianity4 ,and it was then that certain men came to the front who affirmed that the only true interpretation was the one which they themselves proclaimed1 adducing the miracles as a proof thereof4 ,this was the principal cause of its misapprehension in the first place1 and of its complete perversion in the second4 ,the doctrine of ,christ was supposed to be transmitted to mankind not like any other truth1 but in a peculiar1 supernatural manner2 hence they propose to prove its authority1 not because it satisfies the demands of reason and of human nature in general1 but because of the miraculous character of its transmission1 which is supposed to be an incontrovertible proof of the validity of its conception4 ,this idea sprang from a misconception1 and the result was that it became impossible to understand it4 ,it originated at the very beginning1 when the doctrine was so imperfectly understood and often so erroneously construed2 as1 for example1 in the ,gospels and the ,acts4 ,the less men understood it1 the more mysterious it appeared1 and the greater need was there for visible proof of its authenticity4 ,the rule for doing unto others as you would wish them to do unto you1 called for no miraculous proof1 neither did it require faith1 because the proposition is convincing in itself1 both to reason and to human nature4 ,but the proposition that ,christ was ,god needed miraculous testimony4 ,the more mystical grew the apprehension of ,christ's teaching1 the more the miraculous element entered into it2 and the more miraculous it became1 the farther it was from its original meaning2 and the more complicated1 mystical1 and remote from its original meaning it came to be1 the more necessary it was to declare its infallibility1 and the less intelligible it became4 ,from the very beginning of ,christianity one could see from the ,gospels1 the ,acts1 and the ,epistles how the misapprehension of the doctrine called forth the necessity of proofs--miraculous and beyond human intelligence4 ,it dated from the time mentioned in the ,acts1 when the disciples went up to ,jerusalem to consult with the elders in regard to the question that had arisen as to whether the uncircumcised and those who abstained not from the meat offered to idols should be baptized4 ,the very manner of asking the question showed that those who discussed it misconceived the doctrine of ,christ1 who rejected all external rites1 such as the washing of the feet1 purification1 fasts1 and the ,sabbath4 ,it is said distinctly3 ,not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man2 but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart2 and they defile the man4 ,and therefore the question in regard to the baptism of those not circumcised could only arise among men who1 loving their ,teacher and with the intuitive perception of the grandeur of his doctrine1 could not as yet comprehend its exact meaning4 ,and so it was4 ,and in proportion as the members of the assembly failed to comprehend the doctrine1 did they stand in need of an outward affirmation of their incomplete conception4 ,and in order to decide the question1 whose very proposal proves the misconception of the doctrine1 it was that in this assembly for the first time1 according to the description given in the ,acts1 were uttered those awful words1 productive of so much harm1 by which the truth of certain propositions has been for the first time confirmed3 ,for it seemed good to the ,holy ,ghost1 and to us2 that is to say1 it was a declaration that the truth of what they said was witnessed by a miraculous participation of the ,holy ,ghost1 that is--of ,god4 ,but the assertion that the ,holy ,ghost--that is to say1 ,god--had spoken through the apostles1 in its turn required proof4 ,and therefore it became necessary to declare that on the fiftieth day the ,holy ,ghost1 in the shape of fiery tongues1 descended on those who had made this assertion4 ,in the description the descent of the ,holy ,ghost precedes the council1 but the ,acts were written much later than either4 ,but the descent of the ,holy ,ghost must also be proved1 though it would be difficult to say why a fiery tongue hovering over a man's head should be a proof of the truth of what he says any more than the miracles1 the cures1 the resurrections1 the martyrdoms1 and all the rest of those persuasive miracles with which the ,acts are filled1 and which serve rather to repel than to convince one of the truth of the ,christian dogmas4 ,the results of these methods were such that the more pains they took to confirm their statements1 accumulating stories of miracles1 the more the doctrine itself deviated from its original meaning1 and the less intelligible it became4 ,thus it was from the beginning of the ,christian era1 and thus it continued to increase1 until in its own time it has reached its logical consummation in the dogma of transubstantiation1 the infallibility of the ,pope1 the bishops1 and ,scriptures1 which is something utterly incomprehensible and nonsensical1 requiring a blind faith1 not in ,god or ,christ1 nor even in the doctrine1 but a faith either in one person1 as in ,catholicism1 or in many persons1 as in ,orthodoxy1 or in a book1 as in ,protestantism4 ,the more widely spread ,christianity became1 and the larger the number of uninstructed men it received1 the less it was understood1 the more the infallibility of its conceptions was insisted upon1 and the more slender grew the possibility of understanding its true meaning4 ,already1 about the time of ,constantine1 the entire conception of the doctrine amounted to the rsum formulated by the temporal power1--the outcome of discussions that took place in the council1--to the ,credo1 in which it is said3 ,i believe in this and that1 etc41 and at the end1 in the one holy1 ,apostolic and cumenical ,church1 that is1 in the infallibility of the persons who constitute it2 so that it all amounted to this1 that a man believed not in ,god1 nor in ,christ1 as they revealed themselves to him1 but in that which was believed by the ,church4 ,but the ,church is holy1 and was founded by ,christ4 ,god could not allow men to interpret ,his doctrine as they chose1 and therefore ,he established the ,church4 ,all these propositions are so unjust and unfounded1 that one is actually ashamed to refute them4 ,in no place1 and in no manner whatsoever1 save in the assertion of the ,church1 is it seen that either ,god or ,christ can ever have founded anything like the ,church in its ecclesiastical sense4 ,there is a distinct and evident warning in the ,new ,testament against the ,church1 as an outside authority1 in the passage which bids the disciples of ,christ call no man father or master4 ,but nowhere is there a word in regard to the establishment of what the ecclesiastics call the ,church4 ,the word church is used in the ,new ,testament twice1 once in speaking of the assembly which is to decide a dispute2 the second time in connection with the obscure words in regard to the rock1 ,peter1 and the gates of hell4 ,from these two references1 where the word is used only in the sense of an assembly1 men have derived the institution which we recognize at present under the same of the ,church4 ,but ,christ could by no means have founded a church1 that is1 what we understand by that word at the present time1 because nothing like our ,church1 as we know it in these days1 with the sacraments1 the hierarchy1 and above all the establishment of infallibility1 was to be found either in the words of ,christ1 or in the ideas of the men of those times4 ,because men have called something which has been established since1 by the same word that ,christ used in regard to another thing1 by no means gives them a right to assert that ,christ founded only one true ,church4 ,moreover1 if ,christ had it in his mind to establish a church which was to be the depository of the whole doctrine and faith1 ,he would surely have expressed this so plainly and clearly1 and would have given1 apart from all stories of miracles which are repeated with every variety of superstition1 such signs as would leave no doubt as to its authenticity2 yet this was not the case1 and now1 as always1 one finds different institutions1 each one calling itself the only true ,church4 ,the ,catholic catechism says3 ,l',eglise est la socit des fidles tablie par ,n4-,s4 ,jsus-,christ1 rpandue sur toute la terre et soumise l'autorit de pasteurs lgitimes1 principalement notre ,s4-,p4 le pape1--meaning by pasteurs lgitimes1#c a human institution made up of a number of men bound together by a certain organization of which the ,pope is the head4 #c ,the ,church is the society of the faithful1 established by our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 diffused throughout the world1 subject to the authority of its lawful pastors and our holy father the ,pope4 ,the ,orthodox catechism says3 ,our ,church is a society established on earth by ,jesus ,christ1 united by the divine doctrine and the sacraments under the government and direction of a hierarchy established by the ,lord1--those words1 established by the ,lord1 signifying a ,greek hierarchy1 composed of certain men who are ordained to fill certain places4 ,the ,lutheran catechism says3 ,our ,church is a holy ,christian society of believers under ,christ1 our ,master1 in which the ,holy ,ghost1 by means of the ,bible and the sacraments1 offers1 communicates1 and dispenses the divine salvation1--meaning by that1 that the ,catholic ,church is in error1 and has fallen away from grace1 and that the genuine tradition has been preserved in ,protestantism4 ,for ,catholics the divine ,church is identified with the ,pope and the ,roman hierarchy4 ,for the ,orthodox it is identified with the institution of the ,eastern and ,russian hierarchy4#d ,for ,lutherans the divine ,church signifies a congregation of men who acknowledge the ,bible and the ,lutheran catechism4 #d ,the definition of ,homiakov1 which had a certain success among the ,russians1 does not help the case1 if one believes with him that the ,orthodox is the only true ,church4 ,homiakov asserts that a church is a society of men 7without distinction between the ecclesiastics and the laity7 united by love1 and to whom the truth is revealed 7,let us love one another1 that we may unanimously profess1 etc471 and that such a church is1 in the first place1 one that professes the ,nicene creed1 and1 secondly1 one which1 after the division of the churches1 refused to recognize the authority of the ,pope and the new dogmas4 ,with such a definition as this1 the difficulty of identifying a church which is united by love with a church professing the ,nicene creed1 and the accuracy of ,photius1 as ,homiakov would have it1 is still greater4 ,hence the statement of ,homiakov that this church united by love1 and therefore holy1 is the same as that of the ,greek hierarchy1 is still more arbitrary than the assertions of the ,catholics and the old ,greek ,orthodox believers4 ,if we admit the existence of the ,church according to the idea of ,homiakov1 that is1 as a society of men united by love and truth1 then all that any man can say in regard to it1 is that it would be most desirable to be a member of that society1--if such an one exists1--that is1 to live in the spirit of love and truth2 but there are no outward manifestations by which one could either acknowledge one's self1 or recognize others as members of this holy society1 or exclude one's self from it1 for there is no outward institution to be found which corresponds to that idea4 ,when those who belong to any one of the existing churches speak of the beginnings of ,christianity1 they generally use the word church in the singular1 as though there had never been but one church4 ,this is quite unfair4 ,the ,church1 which as an institution declares itself to be the depository of infallible truth1 did not arise until there were already two4 ,while the faithful still agreed among themselves1 the congregation was united1 and there was no occasion for calling itself a church4 ,it was only when it separated into two hostile parties that each party felt obliged to assert its possession of the truth by claiming infallibility4 ,during the course of the controversies between the two parties1 while each one claimed infallibility for itself and declared its opponent heretical1 arose the idea of the one church4 ,we know that there was a church in the year #ea1 which granted the admission of the uncircumcised1 and we know it only because there was another1 the ,jewish ,church1 which denied their right to membership4 ,if at the present time there is a ,catholic ,church which asserts its infallibility1 it is because there are other churches1 namely1 the ,greek ,orthodox and the ,lutheran1 each one asserting its own infallibility1 and thus disowning all other churches4 ,hence the idea of one church is but the product of the imagination1 containing not a shadow of reality4 ,it is an historical fact that there have existed1 and still continue to exist1 numerous bodies1 each one of whom maintains itself to be the true ,church established by ,christ1 declaring at the same time that all the others who call themselves churches are heretical and schismatic4 ,the catechisms of those churches which possess the greatest number of communicants1 the ,catholic1 the ,orthodox1 and the ,lutheran1 express this in the plainest language4 ,the ,catholic catechism says3 ,quels sont ceux qui sont hors de l',eglise8 ,les infidles1 hrtiques1 et schismatiques4#e ,by schismatics it means the so-called ,orthodox1 and by heretics the ,lutherans2 so that1 according to the ,catholic catechism1 the ,church is composed only of ,catholics4 #e ,who are those outside the ,church8 ,the infidels1 heretics1 and schismatics4 ,in the so-called ,orthodox catechism it says3 ,the name ,church of ,christ means only the ,orthodox ,church1 which has remained in perfect union with the universal ,church4 ,as to the ,roman ,church and the ,protestant creeds 7they are not even called a church71 they cannot belong to the one true ,church1 for they have separated themselves from it4 ,according to this definition the ,catholics and the ,protestants are outside of the ,church1 and only the ,orthodox are in it4 ,the ,lutheran catechism says3 ,die wahre ,kirche wird darein erkannt1 das in ihr das ,wort ,gottes lauter und rein ohne ,menschenzusetzung gelehrt und die ,sacramenten treu nach ,christ ,einsetzung gewartet werden4#f #f ,thereby may be the true ,church known that in it the word of ,god is taught plainly and clearly1 without human additions1 and that sacraments are administered faithfully according to the teaching of ,christ4 ,according to this definition1 those who have added anything whatsoever to the teaching of ,christ and the apostles1 as the ,catholic and ,greek ,churches have done1 are outside the ,church1 and the ,lutherans alone are in it4 ,the ,catholics assert that the ,holy ,ghost dwells perpetually with their hierarchy2 the ,orthodox assert that the same ,holy ,ghost resides also with them2 the ,arians claim that the ,holy ,ghost manifests itself to them 7and they have the same right to assert this as have the prevailing religions of the present day72 all the denominations of ,protestants--,lutherans1 ,reformed ,presbyterians1 ,methodists1 ,swedenborgians1 and ,mormons--assert that the ,holy ,ghost manifests itself only with them4 ,if the ,catholics assert that the ,holy ,ghost during the separation of the ,arian and ,greek ,churches withdrew from the separating churches and remained in the one true ,church1 then the ,protestants of any denomination whatsoever may assert with as much right that during the separation of their ,church from the ,catholic1 the ,holy ,ghost left the ,catholic ,church and entered into their own4 ,and this is exactly what they do say4 ,every church professes to derive its creed by an unbroken tradition from ,christ and the apostles4 ,and certainly every ,christian creed derived from ,christ must have reached the present generation through tradition of some sort4 ,but this is no proof that any one of these traditions embodies infallible truth1 to the exclusion of all others4 ,every branch proceeds from the root without interruption2 but the fact that each one comes from one root1 by no means proves it to be the only branch4 ,and so it is in regard to the churches4 ,the proofs which each church offers of its apostolic succession1 and the miracles which are to prove its authenticity1 are the same in every case2 consequently there is but one exact definition of what is called a church 7not the imaginary church which we may desire1 but the actual church which has really existed74 ,the ,church is a body of men which lays claim to the exclusive possession of the truth4 ,all these various societies which were afterward transformed by ,state authority into powerful organizations have really been the chief obstacles to the diffusion of true ,christianity4 ,it could not be otherwise3 for the principal characteristic which distinguishes the doctrine of ,christ from those of earlier times is that the men who accepted it strove to understand and to fulfil it more and more perfectly2 whereas the doctrine of the ,church affirmed that it was already thoroughly understood and also fulfilled4 ,however strange this may seem to us1 reared as we have been in the false doctrine of the ,church1 as if it were a ,christian institution1 and taught to despise heresy1 it is nevertheless in that which men call heresy that true progress1 that is1 true ,christianity1 was manifested1 and it only ceased to be such when these heresies were checked1 and it was1 so to speak1 stamped with the immutable imprint of the ,church4 ,what1 then1 is heresy8 ,read all the theological works which treat of heresies1 of that subject which above all others calls for an exact definition1 for every theologian speaks of the true doctrine in the midst of the false ones by which it is surrounded1 and nowhere will you find even the shadow of a definition of heresy4 ,as an instance of the complete absence of the definition of what is understood by the word heresy1 we will quote the opinion of a learned ,christian historian1 ,e4 de ,pressens in ,histoire du ,dogme1 with its epigraph1 ,ubi ,christus1 ibi ,ecclesia 7,paris1 #ahfi74 ,this is what he says in his preface 7p4 #d73-- ,i know that they dispute our right to qualify thus 7that is1 to pronounce them heretical7 the tendencies which were so actively resisted by the early ,fathers4 ,the very name of heresy seems an attack upon liberty of conscience and thought4 ,we cannot share these scruples1 for they would simply deprive ,christianity of any individual character4 ,and having said that after ,constantine the ,church did in fact abuse its authority to describe the dissenters as heretics and to persecute them1 he says1 in speaking of the early ages of ,christianity3 ,the ,church is a free association2 there is an advantage to be gained in separating from it4 ,the controversy against error is based on feelings and ideas2 no uniform body of dogma has as yet been adopted2 differences of secondary importance appear in the ,east and ,west with perfect freedom2 theology is not limited by unalterable formulas4 ,if amid these varying opinions a common groundwork of faith is discerned1 have we not the right to see in this1 not a definite system devised and formulated by the representatives of a school1 but faith itself in its most unerring instinct and spontaneous manifestation8 ,if this very unanimity which is revealed in the essential matters of faith is found to be antagonistic to certain tendencies1 have we not the right to infer that these tendencies disagreed with the fundamental principles of ,christianity8 ,will not this supposition become a certainty if we recognize in the doctrine rejected by the ,church the characteristic features of one of the religions of the past8 ,if we admit that gnosticism or ebionitism are legitimate forms of ,christian thought1 we must boldly declare that ,christian thought does not exist1 nor does it possess any specific characteristic by which it may be recognized4 ,we should destroy it even while pretending to enlarge its limits4 ,in the time of ,plato no one would have dared to advocate a doctrine which would leave no room for the theory of ideas1 and he would have been subjected to the well-deserved ridicule of ,greece1 if he attempted to make of ,epicurus or of ,zeno a disciple of the ,academy4 ,let us then admit that if there exists a religion or a doctrine called ,christianity1 it may have its heresies4 ,the writer's argument amounts to this1 that every opinion which does not accord with the code of dogmas that we have professed at any given time1 is a heresy4 ,at a certain time and in a certain place men make a certain profession1 but this profession can never be a fixed criterion of the truth4 ,all is summed up in the ,ubi ,christus1 ibi ,ecclesia1 and ,christ is wherever we are4 ,every so-called heresy which claims that what it professes is the actual truth1 may likewise find in the history of the ,church a consistent explanation of the faith it professes1 and apply all the arguments to its own use4 ,pressens simply calls his own creed ,christian truth1 precisely as every heretical sect has done4 ,the primary definition of the word heresy 7the word means a part7 is the name given by a society of men to any opinion contradicting any part of the doctrine professed by the society4 ,a more specific meaning is an expression of an opinion which denies the truth of the creed1 established and maintained by the temporal power4 ,there is a remarkable1 although little known1 work entitled ,unpartheyische ,kirchen und ,ketzer-,historie1 #agbi1 by ,gottfried ,arnold1 which treats of this subject1 and points out the illegality1 the perversity1 the lack of sense1 and the cruelty of employing the word heresy in the sense of refutation4 ,this book is an attempt to relate the history of ,christianity in the form of a history of heresies4 ,in his introduction the author asks a series of questions3 7#a7 ,of those who make heretics 7,von denen ,ketzermachern selbst72 7#b7 ,of those who have become heretics2 7#c7 ,of the subjects of heresy2 7#d7 ,of the ways of making heretics2 and 7#e7 ,of the aims and consequences of the making of heretics4 ,to each of these points he adds scores of other questions1 giving the answers from the works of well-known theologians1 but principally leaving it to the reader to draw his own deductions from the contents of the book4 ,as instances of questions which are to a certain extent their own answers ,i will quote the following3--,concerning the #dth question1 of the methods for making heretics1 he asks in one of the questions 7the #gth73 ,does not all history tend to show us that the greatest makers of heretics1 the adepts in the art1 were those very wiseacres from whom the ,father concealed his secrets--that is1 the hypocrites1 the ,pharisees1 and the ,scribes1 or utterly godless and evil-minded men8 7,question #bj-ba7 ,and in the corrupted times of ,christianity did not the hypocrites and envious ones reject the very men1 talented and especially indorsed by the ,lord1 who would have been highly esteemed in periods of pure ,christianity8 7#ba7 ,and1 on the other hand1 would not those men who during the decadence of ,christianity rose above all others1 and set themselves up as teachers of the purest ,christianity1 would not they1 during the times of the apostles of ,christ and his disciples1 have been considered as the shameful heretics and anti-,christians8 ,among other things1 while expressing the idea that the verbal declaration of the essence of faith which was required by the ,church1 the abjuration of which was regarded as a heresy1 could never cover all the ideas and beliefs of the faithful1 and that hence the requirement that faith shall be expressed by a certain formula of words is the immediate cause of heresy1 he says in the #bast question3-- ,and supposing that holy acts and thoughts appear to a man so high and so profound that he finds no adequate words wherewith to convey them1 should he be considered a heretic if he is unable to formulate his conception8 7#cc7 ,and was not this the reason why there were no heresies in the early times of ,christianity1 because ,christians judged each other1 not by their words1 but by their hearts and by their deeds1 enjoying a perfect freedom of expression1 without the fear of being called heretic8 ,was it not one of the convenient and easiest methods of the ,church1 he asks in the #cast question1 when the ecclesiastics wished to rid themselves of any one1 or ruin his reputation1 to excite suspicion in regard to the doctrine he held1 and by investing him in the garment of heresy1 condemn and cast him out8 ,although it is true that among so-called heretics sins and errors have been committed1 it is no less true1 as the numerous examples here quoted bear testimony 7that is to say1 in the history of the ,church and of heresies71 that there has never been a sincere and conscientious man of any importance whose safety has not been endangered through the envy of the ecclesiastics4 ,this was the interpretation of heresy almost #bjj years ago1 and the same meaning is attached to it to-day1 and so long as the idea of the ,church shall exist it will never change4 ,where the ,church exists there must also exist the idea of heresy4 ,the ,church is a body of men claiming possession of indisputable truth4 ,a heresy is the opinion of men who do not acknowledge the truth of the ,church to be indisputable4 ,heresy is the manifestation of a movement in the ,church2 it is an attempt to destroy the immutable assertion of the ,church1 the attempt of a living apprehension of the doctrine4 ,each advance that has been made toward the comprehension and the practice of the doctrine has been accomplished by heretics3 ,tertullian1 ,origen1 ,augustine1 and ,luther1 ,huss1 ,savonarola1 ,helchitsky1 and others were all heretics4 ,it could not be otherwise4 ,a disciple of ,christ1 who possesses an ever growing sense of the doctrine and of its progressive fulfilment as it advances toward perfection1 cannot1 either for himself or others1 affirm1 simply because he is a disciple of ,christ1 that he understands and practises the doctrine of ,christ to its fullest extent2 still less could he affirm this in regard to any body of men4 ,to whatsoever state of comprehension and perfection he may have arrived1 he must always feel the inadequacy both of his conception and of its application1 and must ever strive for something more satisfactory4 ,and therefore to claim for one's self1 or for any body of men whatsoever1 the possession of a complete apprehension and practice of the doctrine of ,christ is in direct contradiction to the spirit of ,christ's doctrine itself4 ,however strange this statement may appear1 every church1 as a church1 has always been1 and always must be1 an institution not only foreign1 but absolutely hostile1 to the doctrine of ,christ4 ,it is not without reason that ,voltaire called it l'infme2 it is not without reason that all so-called ,christian sects believe the ,church to be the ,scarlet ,woman prophesied by the ,revelation2 it is not without reason that the history of the ,church is the history of cruelties and horrors4 ,churches in themselves are1 as some persons believe1 institutions based upon a ,christian principle1 from which they have deviated to a certain extent2 but considered in the light of churches1 of bodies of men claiming infallibility1 they are anti-,christian institutions4 ,between churches in the ecclesiastical sense and ,christianity1 not only is there nothing in common except the name1 but they are two utterly contradictory and hostile elements4 ,one is pride1 violence1 self-assertion1 inertia1 and death4 ,the other is meekness1 repentance1 submission1 activity1 and life4 ,no man can serve these two masters at the same time2 he must choose either the one or the other4 ,the servants of the churches of every creed1 especially in these modern times1 strive to represent themselves as the partisans of progress in ,christianity2 they make concessions1 they try to correct the abuses that have crept into the ,church1 and protest that it is wrong to deny the principle of the ,christian ,church on account of these abuses1 because it is only through the medium of the ,church that unity can be obtained1 and that the ,church is the only mediator between ,god and man4 ,all this is untrue4 ,so far from fostering the spirit of unity1 the churches have ever been the fruitful source of human enmity1 of hatred1 wars1 conflicts1 inquisitions1 ,eves of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 and so on2 neither do the churches act as the mediators between ,god and man1--an office1 moreover1 quite unnecessary1 and directly forbidden by ,christ himself1 who has revealed his doctrine unto each individual2 it is but the dead formula1 and not the living ,god1 which the churches offer to man1 and which serves rather to increase than diminish the distance between man and his ,creator4 ,the churches1 which were founded upon a misconception1 and which preserve this misconception by their immutability1 must of necessity harass and persecute any new conception1 because they know1 however they may try to conceal it1 that every advance along the road indicated by ,christ is undermining their own existence4 ,whenever one reads or listens to the essays and sermons in which ecclesiastical writers of modern times belonging to the various creeds discuss the ,christian truths and virtues1 when one hears and reads these artificial arguments1 these exhortations1 these professions of faith1 elaborated through centuries1 that now and then sound sincere1 one is almost ready to doubt if the churches can be inimical to ,christianity4 ,it cannot be possible that men like ,john ,chrysostom1 ,fnelon1 ,butler1 and other ,christian preachers1 could be inimical to it4 ,one would like to say1 ,the churches may have gone astray from ,christianity1 may have committed errors1 but they cannot have been hostile to it4 ,but one must first see the fruit before he can know the tree1 as ,christ has taught1 and one sees that their fruits were evil1 that the result of their works has been the distortion of ,christianity2 and one cannot help concluding that1 however virtuous the men may have been1 the cause of the church in which these men served was not ,christian4 ,the goodness and virtue of certain individuals who served the churches were peculiar to themselves1 and not to the cause which they served4 ,all these excellent men1 like ,francis of ,assisi and ,francis de ,sales1 ,tichon ,zadnsky1 ,thomas ,kempis1 and others1 were good men1 even though they served a cause hostile to ,christianity2 and they would have been still more charitable and more exemplary had they not yielded obedience to false doctrines4 ,but why do we speak of1 or sit in judgment on1 the past1 which may be falsely represented1 and is1 in any event1 but little known to us8 ,the churches1 with their principles and their works1 are not of the past2 we have them with us to-day1 and can judge them by their works and by their influence over men4 ,what1 then1 constitutes their power8 ,how do they influence men8 ,what is their work in the ,greek1 the ,catholic1 and in all the ,protestant denominations8 and what are the consequences of such work8 ,the work of our ,russian so-called ,orthodox ,church is visible to all4 ,it is a factor of primary importance1 which can neither be concealed nor disputed4 ,in what manner is the activity of the ,russian ,church displayed1--that vast institution which labors with so much zeal1 that institution which numbers among its servants half a million of men1 and costs the people tens of millions8 ,the activity of the ,church consists in forcing1 by every means in its power1 upon the one hundred millions of ,russian people1 those antiquated1 time-worn beliefs which have lost all significance1 and which were formerly professed by foreigners1 with whom we had nothing in common1 beliefs in which nearly every man has lost his faith1 even in some cases those very men whose duty it is to inculcate them4 ,the endeavor to force upon the people those formulas of the ,byzantine clergy1 marvelous to them and senseless to us1 concerning the ,trinity1 the ,virgin1 the sacraments1 grace1 and so forth1 embraces one province of the activity of the ,russian ,church2 another function is the encouragement given to idolatry1 in the literal sense of the word3 the veneration of holy relics and holy images1 the sacrifices offered to them in the faith that they will hear and grant prayers4 ,i will pass over in silence what is written in the ecclesiastical magazines by the clergy who possess a semblance of learning and liberality1 and will speak only of what is really done by the clergy throughout the immense extent of ,russia1 among its one hundred millions of inhabitants4 ,what is it that is taught to the people with such unremitting pains and endeavor1 and with so much earnestness8 ,what is required of them for the sake of the so-called ,christian religion8 ,i will start at the beginning1 with the birth of the child4 ,when a child is born1 we are taught that a prayer must be read over the mother and child1 in order to purify them1 for without that prayer the mother remains unclean4 ,for that purpose1 and facing the ikons of the saints1 whom the common people simply call gods1 the priest takes the infant in his arms1 reads the exhortation1 and by that means he is supposed to cleanse the mother4 ,then the parents are instructed1 nay1 even ordered1 under penalty of punishment in the event of non-compliance1 to christen the child--that is1 to let the priest immerse it three times in the water1 while words unintelligible to all present are read1 and still less intelligible ceremonies are performed1 such as the application of oil to different parts of the body1 the cutting of the hair1 the blowing and spitting of the sponsors at the imaginary devil4 ,all this is necessary to cleanse the child1 and make a ,christian of him4 ,then the parents are told that the child must receive the holy sacrament--that is1 he is to swallow1 in the form of bread and wine1 a particle of the body of ,christ1 by which means the child will receive the blessing of ,christ1 and so on4 ,then they are told that as the child grows it must be taught to pray1 which means that he is to stand in front of boards upon which the faces of ,christ1 the ,virgin1 and the saints are painted1 bow his head and body1 while with his right hand1 his fingers being folded in a peculiar manner1 he touches his forehead1 his shoulders1 and his stomach1 and utters certain ,slavonic words1 the commonest of which1 those which all children learn1 are the following3 ,mother of ,god1 444 ,virgin1 rejoice1 etc4 ,then the child is taught that he must repeat this--that is1 that he must make the sign of the cross whenever he sees a church or an ikon4 ,furthermore1 he is taught that on a holiday 7holidays are either the day on which ,christ was born1 although no one knows when that took place1 or the day of his circumcision1 or that on which the ,virgin died1 or when the cross or the ikon was brought1 or when some fanatic beheld a vision1 etc47 he should array himself in his best clothes1 go to church1 buy candles1 and set them up before the ikons of the saints1 give to the priest memoranda bearing the names of the dead who are to be prayed for1 receive bread with triangular pieces cut out of it1 pray repeatedly for the health and welfare of the ,czar and bishops1 as well as for himself and his own affairs1 and then kiss the cross and the hand of the priest4 ,thus is he taught to pray2 and besides this1 he is also taught that he must perform his devotions once a year4 ,to perform one's devotions means to go to church and tell one's sins to the priest1 it being assumed that this recital of one's sins to a stranger will have a purifying effect on a man2 then he is to swallow a spoonful of bread and wine1 which will purify him still more4 ,moreover1 men are told that if a man and woman desire to have their sexual relation sanctified they must come to church1 put crowns of metal upon their heads1 swallow some wine1 walk three times round a table1 accompanied by the sound of singing1 and this will make their sexual relation holy and entirely different from any others4 ,in daily life the observation of the following rules is enjoined3 to eat no meat nor drink no milk on certain days1 to say ,te ,deums and ,requiems on certain other days1 to invite the priest to one's house on holidays and present him with money2 to take from the church several times a year boards upon which are painted the images of the saints1 and to carry them on towels through fields and houses4 ,before death a man must without fail receive a spoonful of bread and wine2 and if there be time to be anointed with oil1 that is still better1 for it insures his welfare in the future life4 ,after his death his relatives are told that1 in order to save his soul1 it is well to place in his hand a printed prayer2 it is also a good thing to read a certain book over the dead1 and for his name to be mentioned in church at stated times4 ,this is what constitutes every man's religious obligation4 ,but if any one wishes to take a special care of his soul1 this creed teaches that the greatest amount of happiness may be secured in the next world by bequeathing money for churches and monasteries1 thereby obliging the saints to pray for one4 ,according to this faith it is also well to visit monasteries and kiss the miraculous ikons and the relics4 ,these are believed to impart a peculiar holiness1 strength1 and grace2 and to be near these objects1 as one must be in kissing them1 placing tapers before them1 crawling under them1 and repeating ,te ,deums before them1 greatly promotes salvation4 ,and this is the faith called ,orthodox1 this is the true faith1 the one which1 under the garb of a ,christian religion1 has been energetically taught to the people for many centuries1 and is inculcated at the present time more vigorously than ever4 ,let it not be said that the ,orthodox teachers look upon all this as an ancient form of faith which it was not considered worth while to abolish1 and that the essence of the doctrine abides elsewhere4 ,this is not the truth4 ,throughout ,russia1 and lately with increased energy1 the entire ,russian clergy teaches this faith1 and this alone4 ,nothing else is taught4 ,men may write about other doctrines and discuss them in the capitals1 but among the hundred million inhabitants this1 and only this1 is taught4 ,the ecclesiastics may discuss other doctrines1 but only this is what is taught4 ,all this--the worship of relics and shrines--is included in theology and the catechism2 the people are carefully instructed in all this1 theoretically and practically1 by every kind of solemnity1 splendor1 authority1 and violence2 the people are compelled to believe in it all2 they are hypnotized1 and the faith is jealously guarded against any attempt to deliver them from these foolish superstitions4 ,as ,i said in my book1 ,i have during the course of many years had frequent opportunities to remark the ridicule and rude jests that have been applied to ,christ's words and doctrine1 and the ecclesiastics not only failed to condemn it1 they even encouraged this scoffing2 but let a man venture to say one disrespectful word of the ugly idol called the ,iverskaya1#g sacrilegiously carried around ,moscow by intoxicated men1 and a groan of indignation will rise from these same ,orthodox ecclesiastics4 ,in fact1 it is only an external worship in the form of idolatry that is propagated4 ,and let it not be said that the one does not exclude the other1 that ,all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe1 that observe and do2 but do not ye after their works3 for they say1 and do not 7,matthew xxiii4 #c74 ,this is said concerning the ,pharisees1 who fulfilled all the outward commands of the law1 and therefore the words1 whatsoever they bid you observe1 that observe and do1 refer to acts of benevolence and charity2 whereas the words1 do not ye after their works1 for they say and do not1 refer to their observances of the rites and their indifference to works of charity1 and directly contradicts the clerical interpretation of this passage1 which explains it as a commandment which has to do only with the rites4 ,an external worship is hardly compatible with the service of charity and truth2 one is apt to exclude the other4 ,it was so with the ,pharisees1 and the same may be said of our professing ,christians4 #g ,the ikon of the ,virgin which stands in a chapel in the heart of ,moscow1 and which is the object of a special veneration to the ,russians4--,,tr4 ,if a man is to be saved by redemption1 the sacraments1 and prayer1 good works are no longer of any value to him4 ,it must be either the ,sermon on the ,mount or the ,credo4 ,no man can believe in both1 and the ecclesiastics have chosen the latter4 ,the ,credo is taught and recited as a prayer in the churches1 while the ,sermon on the ,mount is excluded even from selections from the ,bible which are read in churches1 so that the congregation never hear it1 except on the days when the entire ,bible is read4 ,it is inevitable2 the men who can believe that a cruel and unreasonable ,god had condemned humanity to eternal death and sacrificed his own ,son1 and who had destined a certain portion of mankind to everlasting torture1 cannot believe in a ,god of love4 ,a man who believes in ,god1 in the ,christ who is coming in his glory to judge and punish the dead and the living1 cannot believe in a ,christ who commands us to turn the other cheek to the offender1 who forbids us to sit in judgment1 and who bids us to forgive our enemies and to love them4 ,a man who believes in the inspiration of the ,old ,testament and in the holiness of ,david1 who on his deathbed ordered the murder of an old man who had offended him1 and whom he could not kill himself because he was bound by an oath 7#a ,kings ii4 #h1i71 and many other horrors of a similar character1 in which the ,old ,testament abounds1 cannot believe in the moral law of ,christ2 a man who believes in the doctrine and sermons of the ,church1 wherein the practice of war and the penalty of death are reconciled with ,christianity1 cannot believe in the brotherhood of humanity4 ,but1 above all1 a man who believes in salvation through faith1 in redemption1 and in the sacraments1 cannot strive with all his might to live up to the moral precepts of ,christ4 ,a man who has been taught by the ,church the sacrilegious doctrine that he is to be saved through a certain medium1 and not by his own efforts1 will surely have recourse to that medium2 he will not trust to his own efforts1 on which1 he has been assured1 it is sinful to rely4 ,every ,church1 with its doctrines of redemption and salvation1 and above all1 the ,orthodox faith1 with its idolatry1 excludes the doctrine of ,christ4 ,but it is said1 ,this has always been the faith of the people1 and that they will continue to hold it is proved by the whole history of the ,russian nation4 ,it would be wrong to deprive them of their traditions4 ,herein lies the fallacy4 ,the people1 it is true1 did once upon a time profess something like what is at present professed by the ,church2 but besides this worship of images and relics1 the people had always a profound moral conception of ,christianity never possessed by the ,church1 and only met with in her noblest representatives2 but the people1 in the better class1 and in spite of the obstacles raised by the ,state and the ,church1 have long since abandoned the cruder phase of belief1 a fact that is proved by the rationalistic sects that are beginning to spring up on every side1 sects that ,russia is filled with at the present day1 and against which the ecclesiastics wage so hopeless a warfare4 ,the people are beginning to recognize the moral1 vital side of ,christianity more and more plainly4 ,and now the ,church appears1 failing to give them a moral support1 but forcibly teaching old-time paganism1--the ,church1 with its immutable formulas1 endeavoring to thrust men back into the gloom from which they are struggling so earnestly to escape4 ,the ecclesiastics say3 ,we are teaching nothing new2 it is the same faith which the people already hold1 only we teach it in a more perfect manner4 ,it is like binding a chicken and trying to put it back into the shell from which it came4 ,i have often been struck by the spectacle1 which would be simply absurd were not its results so terrible1 of men traveling1 so to speak1 in a circle1 deceived and deceiving1 but wholly unable to escape from the charmed circle4 ,the first question1 the first doubt1 that enters the head of every ,russian when he begins to reason1 is a suspicion of the miraculous ikons1 and principally of the relics3 is it true that they are incorruptible1 and that they perform miracles8 ,hundreds and thousands of men ask these questions1 and are at a loss for an answer1 especially since bishops and metropolitans and other eminent persons kiss both the relics and the miraculous images4 ,ask the bishops and other personages of importance why they do this1 and they will tell you that they do it in order to impress the masses1 and the masses do it because the bishops and other magnates do it4 ,the activity of the ,russian ,church1 despite the veneer of modernity and the scientific and spiritual standards which its members have begun to establish by their essays1 their religious reviews1 and their sermons1 consists not only in encouraging the people in a coarse and grotesque idolatry1 but in strengthening and promulgating superstition and religious ignorance1 and in endeavoring to destroy the vital conception of ,christianity that exists in the people side by side with this idolatry4 ,i remember being once in a book-shop of the monastery of ,optin ,desert while an old peasant was selecting spiritual reading for his educated grandson4 ,the monk was offering him a description of relics1 of holy days1 of miraculous ikons1 the ,book of ,psalms1 and the like4 ,i asked the old man if he had a ,bible4 ,no1 he replied4 ,give him a ,russian ,bible1 ,i said to the monk4 ,we don't sell that to them1 said the monk4 ,this1 in short1 is the activity of our ,church4 ,but the ,european or ,american reader may say1 ,that only happens in barbaric ,russia1 and the remark will be correct1 but only so far as it applies to the government1 which supports the ,church to maintain in our land its stupefying and demoralizing influence4 ,it is true that there is nowhere in ,europe a government so despotic1 or that is in more perfect accord with the established ,church4 ,therefore in ,russia the government authorities play an important part in demoralizing the people2 but it is not true that the ,russian ,church differs from other churches in respect to its influence over the people4 ,churches are everywhere alike1 and if the ,catholic1 ,anglican1 and ,lutheran have not at their beck so submissive a government as the ,russian1 we may be sure that they would not fail to take advantage of it were it within their reach4 ,the ,church as a church1 whether it be ,catholic1 ,anglican1 ,lutheran1 or ,presbyterian1 or any denomination whatsoever1 inasmuch as it is a church1 cannot help striving after the same object as the ,russian ,church--namely1 to conceal the true meaning of the doctrine of ,christ1 and to substitute a meaning of its own1 which imposes no obligations1 which excludes the possibility of understanding the true1 living doctrine of ,christ1 and which above all justifies the existence of a priesthood living at the expense of the people4 ,do we not find ,catholicism with its prohibition against reading the ,bible1 and with its demand for implicit obedience to the clergy and the infallible ,pope8 ,wherein does ,catholicism differ in its preaching from the ,russian ,church8 ,the same external worship1 the same relics1 miracles1 and statues1 miracle-performing ,madonnas and processions2 the same vague and mystical utterances concerning ,christianity in books and sermons1 and all in support of the grossest idolatry4 ,and is it not the same in the ,anglican or in the ,lutheran1 or in any other ,protestant denomination with an established form of church8 ,the same demands that the congregation shall acknowledge a belief in dogmas which were defined in the fourth century1 and which have lost all meaning for the men of our time2 the same call for idol worship1 if not of relics or ikons1 at least of the ,sabbath and the letter of the ,bible2 the same endeavor to conceal the real requirement of ,christianity and the substitution of exterior rites1 and cant1 as the ,english so happily define the tendency which finds such sway among them4 ,this activity is more noticeable in ,protestantism1 because that creed has not even the excuse of antiquity4 ,and is not the same thing going on in the present ,revivalism1 a regenerated ,calvinism1 which has given birth to the ,salvation ,army8 ,inasmuch as the attitude of all ecclesiastical dogmas toward the doctrine of ,christ is very much the same1 so are their methods of a similar character4 ,the attitude they have taken obliges them to make every effort to conceal the doctrine of that ,christ in whose name they speak4 ,the disparity between ecclesiastical creeds and the doctrine of ,christ is so great that a special effort is required to keep mankind in ignorance4 ,indeed1 one needs but to consider the position of any adult1 ,i do not say educated1 but one who has assimilated superficially the current notions concerning geology1 physics1 chemistry1 cosmography1 and history1 when for the first time he actually reflects on the faith impressed upon him in his childhood1 and maintained by the ,church1 concerning the creation of the world in six days1 the appearance of light before the sun was created1 the story of ,noah's ark and the animals preserved in it1--concerning ,jesus and his divine origin as the ,son of ,god who created all things before time existed2 that this ,god came down to earth because of ,adam's sin2 that he rose from the dead1 ascended into heaven1 and sits on the right hand of the ,father2 that he will come in the clouds to judge the living and the dead1 etc4 ,all these ideas evolved by the men of the fourth century1 which had for them a certain meaning1 have none whatever for us4 ,the present generation may repeat these words1 but it can never believe in them1 because the statements that ,god dwells in heaven1 that the heavens opened and a voice was heard to utter certain words1 that ,christ arose from the dead and ascended into heaven1 that he will come again from some place in the clouds1 etc41 have no meaning for us4 ,it was possible for a man who believed that heaven was a substantial arch of limited dimensions to believe or to disbelieve that ,god created it1 that it opened1 and that ,christ ascended thither1--but for us there is no sense in such ideas4 ,men of our time can only affirm that it is one's duty to believe all this1--which they do4 ,but they cannot really believe in what has no meaning in it for them4 ,but if all these utterances are supposed to have an allegorical signification and are only intended as similes1 then we know in the first place that all the churchmen will not agree to this--on the contrary1 the majority insist on taking the ,scriptures literally2 and in the second place1 that these interpretations differ greatly1 and are supported by no reliable authority4 ,and even if a man wished to believe the doctrine of the ,church as it is taught1 the increase of culture1 the reading of the ,bible1 and the intercourse among the members of different churches1 form a greater and more insurmountable obstacle to belief4 ,nowadays a man has but to buy the ,bible for threepence1 and to read the simple1 indisputable words of ,christ to the ,samaritan woman1 that the ,father seeketh worshipers neither in ,jerusalem nor in this or that mountain1 but worshipers in spirit and truth2 or the words1 that a ,christian should pray not like the heathen in the temples1 nor at the corners of streets1 but in the secrecy of his closet2 or1 that a disciple of ,christ may call no one father or mother1--one has but to read these words to be indubitably convinced that priests who call themselves teachers in opposition to the teaching of ,christ1 and dispute among themselves1 cannot be authorities1 and that that which they teach is not ,christian4 ,but this is not enough4 ,if the modern man were to go on believing in miracles and never read the ,bible1 the fellowship with men of other creeds and professions1 which is so much a matter of course in these days1 will compel him to question the truth of his religion4 ,it was natural enough for a man who had never met a believer in a creed different from his own1 to think that his was the only faith2 but an intelligent man has but to encounter--and that is an everyday occurrence--good and bad men of all creeds1 who criticize each other's beliefs1 in order to question the truth of his own religion4 ,now1 only a man either totally ignorant or indifferent to the problems of life as dealt with by religion can remain in the faith of the ,church4 ,what shrewdness is needed1 and what efforts must the churches make1 in order to go on1 in the face of all these faith-destroying influences1 building temples1 saying masses1 preaching1 instructing1 converting1 and above all receiving for this the large compensations which all those priests1 pastors1 stewards1 superintendents1 abbots1 archdeacons1 bishops1 and archbishops receive6 ,a special and supernatural effort is called for1 and to this the ,church responds1 exerting herself more and more4 ,in ,russia1 besides many other measures1 they employ a simple1 rude violence1 by virtue of the power invested in the ,church4 ,people who shrink from an outward observance of faith and who do not conceal the fact are simply punished or deprived of their civil rights2 and to those who strictly comply with the rites1 privileges and rewards are granted4 ,so much for the ,orthodoxy2 but every church1 without exception1 makes the most of the means at its disposal1 and hypnotism is one of the chief agents4 ,every art1 from architecture to poetry1 is enlisted1 in order to move and intoxicate the human soul4 ,this hypnotic and mesmerizing influence is markedly displayed in the activity of the ,salvation ,army1 which employs novel1 and to us abnormal1 methods1 such1 for instance1 as drums1 horns1 singing1 banners1 uniforms1 processions1 dancing1 outbursts of tears1 and dramatic gestures4 ,still1 these methods are startling simply because of their novelty4 ,is not the familiar form of worship in cathedrals1 with their peculiar illumination1 the golden pomp1 the candles1 choirs1 organs1 bells1 vestments1 the weeping preachers1 etc41 of a similar nature8 ,and yet1 however powerful may be the influence of this hypnotism1 it is by no means the chief or most harmful form which the activity of the ,church assumes4 ,its most malign activity is that which is devoted to deceiving the children--those little ones of whom ,jesus has said1 ,woe be unto him who tempts the least of these4 ,from the earliest awakening of a child's intelligence he is deceived and formally taught that which his teachers no longer believe themselves1 and this goes on until the delusion becomes from habit a part of his nature4 ,a child is systematically deceived concerning the most important affair in life1 and when this deception has become so incorporated with his being that it is difficult to uproot it1 then the world of science and reality is opened to him--a world that is wholly at variance with the faith which he has imbibed from his teachers--and he is left to reconcile those contradictions as best he may4 ,given the problem of how to muddle a man so that he will be unable to discriminate between two antagonistic conceptions that have been taught to him since his childhood1 one could never have devised anything more effectual than the education of every young man in our so-called ,christian society4 ,shocking as it is to contemplate the work of the churches among men1 still1 if we consider their position1 we shall see that they cannot act otherwise4 ,they are face to face with a dilemma3 the ,sermon on the ,mount or the ,nicene creed2 the one excludes the other4 ,if a man sincerely believes the ,sermon on the ,mount1 the ,nicene creed must inevitably lose all its meaning for him1 and the same would hold true as regards the ,church and its representatives2 but if a man accepts the ,nicene creed1 that is to say1 the ,church1 or those who call themselves its representatives1 then he will find no use for the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,hence it is incumbent on the churches to make every effort to obscure the meaning of the ,sermon on the ,mount and to endeavor to draw the people toward them4 ,it is only due to their intense activity in that direction that the influence of the churches has not decreased4 ,let the ,church but pause in this effort to influence the masses by hypnotizing men and deceiving children for ever so short a time1 and men will comprehend the doctrine of ,christ1 and this comprehension will do away with churches and their influence4 ,therefore the churches cease not for one moment their compulsory activity through the hypnotism of adults and the deception of children4 ,and it is this activity of the churches that gives people a false conception of ,christ's doctrine1 and prevents the majority of men1 the so-called believers1 from understanding it4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,misconception ,,of ,,christianity ,,by ,,scientists ,the relation of scientists to religions in general--,what are religions1 and their significance to human life--,three conceptions of life--,the ,christian doctrine is the expression of the divine life-conception--,the misconception of ,christianity by scientists who study its outward manifestations due to the fact that they consider it from the standpoint of the social life-conception--,opinion resulting therefrom1 that the teaching of ,christ is exaggerated and unpractical--,the expression of the life-conception of the gospel--,erroneous judgments of scientists concerning ,christianity are based upon the assurance that they possess an infallible criterion of knowledge--,hence arise two misapprehensions in regard to the ,christian doctrine--,the first misapprehension concerning the impracticability of the doctrine arises from the fact that the ,christian doctrine presents a conduct of life different from that of the social life-conception--,christianity offers not a rule1 but an ideal--,christ adds the consciousness of a divine power to that of an animal power--,christianity seems to exclude the possibility of life only when the indication of the ideal is taken for the rule--,an ideal cannot be belittled--,according to the doctrine of ,christ1 life is movement--,the ideal and the commandments--,the second misapprehension arises from the attempt to replace the love of ,god and ,his service by the love and service of humanity--,scientists believe that ,christianity and their doctrine concerning the service of humanity are identical--,the doctrine of love toward humanity has for its foundation the social life-conception--,the love for humanity which springs logically from love for the individual has no meaning1 because humanity is a fiction--,christian love springing from the love of ,god has for its object not only humanity but the whole world--,christianity teaches a life in accordance with its divine nature--,it indicates that the essence of a man's soul is love1 and that its good is obtained from its love of ,god1 whom he feels to be within him through love4 ,let us now turn our attention to another fallacious conception of ,christianity1 which is antagonistic to its actual principles1--the scientific conception4 ,the ,christianity of the churchmen is something which they have evolved for themselves1 and which they believe to be the only true interpretation of ,christian doctrine4 ,the scientists take the professions of faith of the various churches for ,christianity1 and assuming that these dogmas embody an exhaustive definition of ,christian doctrine1 they affirm that ,christianity has had its day4 ,one needs but to take into consideration the important part which all religions1 and especially ,christianity1 have played in the life of man1 and the significance which science attaches to them1 to see at once how impossible it would be to obtain any just apprehension of ,christian doctrine through these conceptions4 ,as each individual must possess certain impressions in regard to the meaning of his life1 and1 though often unconsciously1 conform his conduct thereunto1 so mankind in the aggregate1 or groups of men living under the same conditions1 must likewise possess a conception of the meaning of their common life and its consequent activities4 ,as an individual passing from one period of life to another inevitably changes his ideas1 the point of view of a grown-up man differs from that of a child1 so also mankind in the aggregate--the nation--inevitably1 and in conformity with its age1 changes its views of life and the activity that springs therefrom4 ,the difference in this respect between an individual and mankind in general lies in the fact that while the individual1 in forming his conception of the significance and responsibilities of that new period of life upon which he is about to enter1 may avail himself of the advice of his predecessors who have already passed that stage1 mankind can have no such advantage1 because it is advancing along an unbeaten track and there is no one of whom it can ask for the clue to the mystery of life1 or how it shall demean itself under these unfamiliar conditions to which no nation has ever yet been subjected4 ,the married man with a family of children will not continue to view life as he did when he was a child2 neither is it possible for mankind1 with the many changes that have taken place1--the density of the population1 the constant intercourse of nations1 the perfected means of combating the forces of nature1 and the increase of knowledge generally1--to view the life of the present day in the light of the past2 hence it becomes necessary to evolve a life-conception from which activities corresponding with a new system which is to be established will naturally develop4 ,and this need is supplied by that peculiar capacity of the race for producing men able to impart a new significance to human life1--a significance developing a different set of activities4 ,the birth of the life-conception1 which always takes place when mankind enters upon new conditions and its subsequent activities1 is what we call religion4 ,therefore1 in the first place1 religion is not1 as science regards it1 a phenomenon which formerly traveled hand in hand with the development of mankind1 and which has since been left behind2 on the contrary1 it is a phenomenon inherent to human existence itself1 and never more distinctly manifested than at the present day4 ,in the second place1 religion defines future rather than past activities2 therefore it is evident that an investigation of the phenomena of the past can by no means touch the essence of religion4 ,the longing to typify the forces of nature is no more the essence of religion than is the fear of those same forces1 or the need of the miraculous and its outward manifestations1 as the scientists suppose4 ,the essence of religion lies in the power of man to foreknow and to point out the way in which mankind must walk4 ,it is a definition of a new life which will give birth to new activities4 ,this faculty of foreknowledge concerning the destiny of humanity is more or less common1 no doubt1 to all people2 still from time to time a man appears in whom the faculty has reached a higher development1 and these men have the power clearly and distinctly to formulate that which is vaguely conceived by all men1 thus instituting a new life-conception from which is to flow an unwonted activity1 whose results will endure for centuries to come4 ,thus far there have been three of these life-conceptions2 two of them belong to a bygone era1 while the third is of our own time and is called ,christianity4 ,it is not that we have merged the various conceptions of the significance of life into three arbitrary divisions1 but that there really have been but three distinct conceptions1 by which the actions of mankind have been influenced1 and save through these we have no means of comprehending life4 ,these three life-conceptions are--firstly1 the individual or animal2 secondly1 the social or pagan2 and thirdly1 the universal or divine4 ,according to the first of these1 a man's life is his personality1 and that only1 and his life's object is to gratify his desires4 ,according to the second1 his life is not limited to his own personality2 it includes the sum and continuity of many personalities1--of the family1 of the race1 and of the ,state1 and his life's object is to gratify the will of the communities of individuals4 ,and according to the third1 his life is confined neither to his personality nor to that of the aggregate of individuals1 but finds its significance in the eternal source of all life1--in ,god ,himself4 ,these three life-conceptions serve as the basis for the religions of every age4 ,the savage sees life only through the medium of his own desires4 ,he cares for nothing but himself1 and for him the highest good is the full satisfaction of his own passions4 ,the incentive of his life is personal enjoyment4 ,his religion consists of attempts to propitiate the gods in his favor1 and of the worship of imaginary deities1 who exist only for their own personal ends4 ,a member of the pagan world recognizes life as something concerning others besides himself2 he sees it as concerning an aggregate of individuals1--the family1 the race1 the nation1 the ,state1 and is ready to sacrifice himself for the aggregate4 ,the incentive of his life is glory4 ,his religion consists in honoring the chiefs of his race1 his progenitors1 his ancestors1 his sovereigns1 and in the worship of those gods who are the exclusive patrons of his family1 his tribe1 his race1 and his ,state4#h #h ,the unity of this social and pagan life-conception is by no means destroyed by the numerous and varied systems which grow out of it1 such as the existence of the family1 of the nation1 and of the ,state1 and even of that life of humanity conceived according to the theory of the ,positivists4 ,these multifarious systems of life are based upon the fundamental idea of the insignificance of the individual1 and the assurance that the meaning of life is to be sought and found only in humanity1 taken in its broadest sense4--,,author4 ,the man who possesses the divine life-conception neither looks upon life as centered in his own personality nor in that of mankind at large1 whether family1 tribe1 race1 nation1 or ,state2 but rather does he conceive of it as taking its rise in the eternal life of ,god1 and to fulfil ,his will he is ready to sacrifice his personal1 family1 and social well-being4 ,love is the impelling motive of his life1 and his religion is the worship1 in deed and in truth1 of the beginning of all things1--of ,god ,himself4 ,history is but the transcript of the gradual transition from the animal life-conception of the individual to the social1 and from the social to the divine4 ,the history of the ancients for thousands of centuries1 culminating in that of ,rome1 is the history of the evolution from the animal life-conception of the individual to that of society and the ,state4 ,from the advent of ,christianity and the fall of ,imperial ,rome we have the history of that change which is still going on from the social to the divine life-conception4 ,the latter1 together with the ,christian doctrine which is based upon it1 and by which our lives are shaped1 and our activities1 both practical and scientific1 are quickened1 is regarded by the pseudo-scientists1 who judge it only by its outward signs1 as something outlived1 which has lost all meaning for us4 ,according to scientists this doctrine is embodied in the dogmas of the ,trinity1 the ,redemption1 the miracles1 the ,church and its sacraments1 etc41 and is only one of the many religions which have arisen during the progress of human history1 and now1 having played its part and outlived its time1 is vanishing before the dawn of science and true enlightenment4 ,the grossest of human errors spring in most cases from the fact that men who stand on a low intellectual plane1 when they encounter phenomena of a higher order1 instead of trying to rise to the higher plane from which these phenomena may be fitly regarded1 and making an effort to understand them1 judge them by their own low standard1 and the less they know of what they speak1 the more bold and determined are their judgments4 ,most scientists1 who treat of the moral doctrine of ,christ from the lower standpoint of a social life-conception1 regard it as nothing more than an amalgam without cohesion of the asceticism of ,india with the doctrine of the ,stoics and ,neo-,platonists1 and of vague anti-social dreams1 devoid of all serious meaning in these latter days2 they simply see its outward manifestation in the form of dogmas in ,catholicism1 in ,protestantism1 and in its struggle with the powers of the world4 ,interpreting the design of ,christianity from its outward aspects1 they are like unto deaf men1 who judge of the meaning and excellence of music by the movements of the musicians4 ,hence it is that all such men1 from ,comte and ,strauss to ,spencer and ,renan1 not understanding the purport of ,christ's words1 knowing nothing whatever of their intention1 ignorant of the question to which they serve as an answer1 and taking no pains to learn it1--such men1 if they are inimical to ,christianity1 utterly deny the sense of the doctrine2 but if they are leniently inclined1 then1 from the height of their superior wisdom1 they amend it1 taking for granted that ,christ would have said what they think ,he meant1 had ,he known how to express himself4 ,they treat ,his doctrine just as men of overweening self-conceit treat their inferiors1 correcting them in their speech3 ,you mean so and so4 ,and the spirit of emendation is always such as to reduce the doctrine of the higher1 the divine life-conception1 to that of the lower and the social conception4 ,it is usually admitted that the moral teaching of ,christianity is good but exaggerated2 that in order to make it perfect1 its hyperboles1 which are incompatible with our present mode of life1 should be discarded4 ,a doctrine which requires so much that is impracticable is more hurtful than one which demands of men only what is in proportion to their strength4 ,thus declare the learned interpreters of ,christianity1 thus unwittingly reiterating the assertion of those who misunderstood the ,christian doctrine long years ago1 and crucified the ,master4 ,the ,hebrew law1 ,an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth1 the retributive justice known to mankind thousands of years ago1 seems far better suited to the court of contemporary scientists than the law of love which ,christ preached #ahjj years ago1 and which was to replace this identical law of justice4 ,it would seem that every action of those men who accepted the teaching of ,christ in its literal sense1 and lived up to it1 all the words and deeds of sincere ,christians1 and all the agencies which1 under the guise of socialism and communism1 are now transforming the world1 are merely exaggeration1 not worth discussing4 ,nations which have lived under ,christian influences1 and which are now represented by their advanced thinkers1 the scientists1 have arrived at the conclusion that the ,christian doctrine is a matter of dogma2 that its practical teaching has been a mistake and an exaggeration1 inimical to the just requirements of morality that are in accord with human nature1 and that the very doctrine which ,christ repudiated1 and for which he substituted a dogma of his own1 is far better suited to us4 ,the scientist considers the commandment of non-resistance to evil by violence an exaggeration1 and even an act of folly4 ,it would be far better1 in his opinion1 to reject it1 never dreaming that it is not the doctrine of ,christ which he is controverting1 but something which he assumes to be the doctrine in question4 ,he does not realize when he says that the commandment of non-resistance in the doctrine of ,christ is an exaggeration1 that he is like one who1 teaching the theory of the circle1 declares that the equality of the radii is an exaggeration4 ,it is just as if one who has no idea of the form of a circle were to affirm that the law which requires that each point of its circumference shall be equidistant from its center1 is an exaggeration4 ,as a suggestion to reject or modify the proposition concerning the equality of the radii of a circle signifies an ignorance in regard to the circle itself1 so also does the idea of rejecting or modifying1 in the practical teaching of ,christ1 the commandment of non-resistance to evil by violence signify a misunderstanding of the doctrine4 ,and those who entertain these views do not really comprehend the doctrine4 ,they do not understand that it is the unfolding of a new conception of life1 corresponding to the new phase of existence upon which the world entered #ahjj years ago1 and a definition of the new activity to which it gave birth4 ,either they do not believe that ,christ said what ,he meant to say1 or that what is found in the ,sermon on the ,mount and elsewhere ,he said either from ,his enthusiasm or lack of wisdom and simplicity of character4#i #i ,here1 for example1 is a characteristic expression of opinion in the ,american periodical1 ,the ,arena1 for ,november1 #ahij1 from an article entitled ,new ,basis of ,church ,life4 ,discussing the significance of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and especially the doctrine of non-resistance to evil1 the author1 having no reason for obscuring its meaning as the ecclesiastics do1 says3-- ,devout common sense must gradually come to look upon ,christ as a philanthropic teacher1 who1 like every enthusiast who ever taught1 went to an ,utopian extreme in his own philosophy4 ,every great agitation for the betterment of the world has been led by men who beheld their own mission with such absorbing intensity that they could see little else4 ,it is no reproach to ,christ to say that he had the typical reformer's temperament2 that his precepts cannot be literally accepted as a complete philosophy of life2 and that men are to analyze them reverently1 but1 at the same time1 in the spirit of ordinary truth-seeking criticism1 etc4 ,christ did in fact preach absolute communism and anarchy2 but1 and so on4 ,christ would have been glad to have expressed ,himself in more fitting terms1 but ,he did not possess our critical faculty in the use of exact definitions1 therefore we will set ,him right4 ,all ,he said concerning meekness1 sacrifice1 poverty1 and of taking no thought for the morrow1 were but haphazard utterances1 because of ,his ignorance of scientific phraseology4 ,matt4 vi4 #be-cd4--be4 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,take no thought for your life1 what ye shall eat1 or what ye shall drink2 nor yet for your body1 what ye shall put on4 ,is not the life more than meat1 and the body than raiment8 #bf4 ,behold the fowls of the air3 for they sow not1 neither do they reap1 nor gather into barns2 yet your heavenly ,father feedeth them4 ,are ye not much better than they8 #bg4 ,which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature8 #bh4 ,and why take ye thought for raiment8 ,consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow2 they toil not1 neither do they spin3 #bi4 ,and yet ,i say unto you1 ,that even ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these4 #cj4 ,wherefore1 if ,god so clothe the grass of the field1 which to-day is1 and to-morrow is cast into the oven1 shall he not much more clothe you1 ,o ye of little faith8 #ca4 ,therefore take no thought1 saying1 ,what shall we eat8 or1 ,what shall we drink8 or1 ,wherewithal shall we be clothed8 #cb4 7,for after all these things do the ,gentiles seek37 for your heavenly ,father knoweth that ye have need of all these things4 #cc4 ,but seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and his righteousness2 and all these things shall be added unto you4 #cd4 ,take therefore no thought for the morrow3 for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself4 ,sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof4 ,luke xii4 #cc-cd4--cc4 ,sell that ye have1 and give alms2 provide yourselves bags which wax not old1 a treasure in the heavens that faileth not1 where no thief approacheth1 neither moth corrupteth4 #cd4 ,for where your treasure is1 there will your heart be also4 ,matt4 xix4 #ba4--;,go and sell that thou hast1 and give to the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven3 and come and follow me4 ,mark viii4 #cd4--,whosoever will come after me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross1 and follow me4 ,john iv4 #cd4--,my meat is to do the will of him that sent me1 and to finish his work4 ,luke xxii4 #db4--,not my will1 but thine1 be done4 ,not what ,i wish1 but what ,thou wishest1 and not as ,i wish1 but as ,thou wishest4 ,life consists in doing not your own will1 but the will of ,god4 ,all these doctrines are regarded by men who adhere to the lower life-conception as expressions of enthusiastic exaltation1 with no special reference to daily life4 ,and yet these doctrines are no less the natural outcome of the ,christian life-conception than is the idea of giving one's labor for the common good1 or of sacrificing one's life to defend one's country1 the outcome of the social life-conception4 ,as the believer in the social life-conception says to the savage3 ,rouse yourself6 ,consider what you are doing6 ,the life that man lives for himself alone cannot be the true one1 for life is fleeting and full of woe4 ,it is the life of the community at large1 the race1 the family1 the ,state1 that endures3 therefore a man must sacrifice his personality for the life of the family and the ,state2 ,christianity in like manner says unto him who believes in a social life-conception of the community3 ,repent1 1 that is1 arouse yourself1 consider your ways1 else shall you perish4 ,know you that this bodily1 animal life is born to-day and dies to-morrow2 nothing can assure its permanence1 no outward expedients1 no system whatsoever can give it stability4 ,consider your ways and learn that the life you live is not the real life1 that neither family1 social1 nor ,state life will save you from perdition4 ,an honest rational life is possible for man provided that he be1 not a participant of the life of the family or life of the ,state1 but a partaker of the source of all life--that of the ,father ,himself2 then his life is united to the life of the ,father4 ,such is beyond a doubt the meaning of the ,christian conception of life1 clearly set forth in every maxim of the ,new ,testament4 ,one may not share such a conception of life1 one may deny it1 or prove it to be inaccurate and fallacious2 but no man can possibly judge a doctrine without having first made himself familiar with the life-conception which forms its basis2 and still more impossible is it to judge a lofty subject from a low standpoint1 to pronounce upon the belfry from a knowledge of the foundation4 ,yet this is precisely what is done by contemporary scientists4 ,and this is because they are laboring under an error similar to that of the clergy1 in believing that they possess such infallible methods of studying their subject that1 if they but bring their so-called scientific methods to bear upon the subject under consideration1 there can be no doubt as to the accuracy of their conclusion4 ,the possession of a guide to knowledge1 which they believe to be infallible1 is really the chief obstacle to the comprehension of the ,christian doctrine among unbelievers and so-called scientists1 by whose opinions the great majority of unbelievers1 the so-called educated classes1 are guided4 ,all the errors of the scientists concerning ,christianity1 and especially two strange misapprehensions that avail more than anything else to blind men to its real signification1 arise therefrom4 ,one of these misapprehensions is that the doctrine of a ,christian life not being practical1 it remains optional with the individual whether he take it for his guide or no2 and if he chooses to do so1 it may then be modified to suit the exigencies of our social life4 ,the second misapprehension is that the ,christian doctrine of love of ,god1 and therefore of the service due to ,him1 is a mystical requirement1 neither clearly expressed nor offering any well-defined object of love3 consequently the more definite and intelligible doctrine of love of man and of the service of humanity may be substituted for it4 ,the first misapprehension which relates to the impracticability of the ,christian doctrine arises from the fact that men who believe in the social life-conception1 not comprehending the rule obeyed by men who hold the ,christian doctrine1 and mistaking the ,christian standard of perfection for the guiding principle of life1 believe and declare that it is impossible to follow the teaching of ,christ1 because implicit obedience to this doctrine would end by destroying life4 ,if man were to fulfil the precepts of ,christ1 he would destroy his life2 and if all the world were to fulfil them1 the human race would soon become extinct4 ,if you were to take no thought for the morrow1 neither of what ye shall eat or drink1 nor what ye shall put on2 if one may not resist evil by violence or defend one's life1 nor even give up one's life for his friend2 if one is to preserve absolute chastity1 mankind could not long exist2 so they believe and affirm4 ,and they are right1 if one takes the incentives to perfection offered by the teaching of ,christ as laws which each man must obey1 just as1 for instance1 in the social order every man must pay his taxes1 and some must serve in the courts of law1 and so on4 ,the misapprehension consists in overlooking the fact that the doctrine of ,christ1 and the doctrine formulated by a lower life-conception1 guide men in very different ways4 ,the doctrines of the social life-conception guide men in fulfilling the requirements of the law4 ,the doctrine of ,christ guides men by manifesting the infinite perfection of the ,heavenly ,father1 to which it is natural for every man to aspire1 whatever may be his shortcomings4 ,the misconception of those who judge the ,christian doctrine by the standard of the state or civil doctrine is this1--that they imagine that the perfection of which ,christ speaks may be attained in this life1 and ask themselves just as they would ask concerning some law of the ,state1 what will happen when all this shall be fulfilled8 ,this hypothesis is fallacious1 because the perfection indicated by ,christianity is infinite and can never be attained2 and ,christ promulgates his doctrine1 knowing that although absolute perfection will never be attained1 yet the aspiration toward it will ever contribute to the welfare of mankind1 that this welfare may by this means be everlastingly increased4 ,christ is not teaching angels1 but men who live and move in an animal life1 and whose impulses are of an animal nature4 ,and to this animal impulse ,christ1 so to speak1 adds another force by communicating to man a sense of the divine perfection1 guiding the current of life between these two forces4 ,to take it for granted that human life is to follow the direction indicated by ,christ would be like expecting the boatman1 who1 crossing a swift river1 steers almost directly against the current1 to float in that direction4 ,christ recognizes the fact that a parallelogram has two sides1 and that a man's life is controlled by two indestructible forces3 his animal nature and his consciousness of a filial relationship to ,god4 ,disregarding the factor of the animal life1 which never looses its hold1 and is beyond man's control1 ,christ speaks of the divine consciousness1 urging man to its fuller recognition1 its complete emancipation from all that fetters it1 and to its utmost development4 ,man's true life1 according to the precepts of ,christ1 is only to be found in this emancipation and in the growth of the divine consciousness4 ,according to the old dispensation1 a true life meant the fulfilment of the precepts of the law2 but according to ,christ1 it means the closest approach to the divine perfection which has been manifested to every man1 and which every man recognizes1--a closer and closer union of his will to the will of ,god2 a union which every man is striving to attain1 and which would utterly destroy the life we now lead4 ,god's perfection is the asymptote of human life1 toward which it is forever aspiring and drawing nearer1 although it can only reach its goal in the infinite4 ,it is only when men mistake the suggestion of an ideal for a rule of conduct that the ,christian doctrine seems at odds with life4 ,indeed1 the reverse is true1 for it is by the doctrine of ,christ1 and that alone1 that a true life is rendered possible4 ,it is a mistake to require too much1 men usually say1 when discussing the demands of the ,christian religion4 ,one ought not to be required to take no thought for the morrow1 as the ,bible teaches1 but of course one should not be over-anxious2 one cannot give all that he possesses to the poor1 still he should bestow a certain portion of his goods in charity2 one ought not to remain unmarried1 but let him avoid a dissolute life2 one need not renounce his wife and children1 although one must not idolize them4 ,these arguments are equivalent to telling a man who is crossing a swift river and steering his boat against the current1 that no one can cross a river by steering against the current1 but that he must direct his boat in a straight line toward the point he wishes to reach4 ,the doctrine of ,christ differs from former doctrines in that it influences men1 not by outward observances1 but by the interior consciousness that divine perfection may be attained4 ,it is this illimitable and divine perfection that absorbs the soul of man1 not restricted laws of justice and philanthropy4 ,it needs but the aspiration toward this divine perfection to impel the course of human life from the animal to the divine1 so far as may be humanly possible4 ,in order to land at any given point one must steer beyond it4 ,to lower the standard of an ideal means not only to lessen the chances of attaining perfection1 but to destroy the ideal itself4 ,the ideal that influences mankind is not an ingenious invention2 it is something that dwells in the soul of each individual4 ,it is this ideal of utter and infinite perfection that excites men and urges them to action4 ,a possible degree of perfection would have no appeal to the souls of men4 ,it is because the doctrine of ,christ requires illimitable perfection1 that is to say1 the blending of the divine essence1 which is in each man's soul1 with the will of ,god1 the union of the ,son with the ,father1 that it has authority4 ,it is only the emancipation of the ,son of ,god1 who dwells with each one of us1 from the animal element within us1 and the drawing near to the ,father1 that can1 in the ,christian sense of the word1 be called life4 ,the presence of the animal element in man is not enough of itself to constitute human life4 ,neither is a spiritual life1 which is guided only by the will of ,god1 a human life4 ,a true human life is composed of an animal and of a spiritual life united to the will of ,god1 and the nearer this component life approaches to the life of ,god1 the more it has life4 ,according to the ,christian doctrine1 life is a condition of progress toward the perfection of ,god2 hence no one condition can be either higher or lower than another1 because each is in itself a certain stage in human progress toward the unattainable perfection1 and therefore of equal importance with all the others4 ,any spiritual quickening1 according to this doctrine1 is simply an accelerated movement toward perfection4 ,therefore the impulse of ,zacchus the publican1 of the adulteress1 and the thief on the cross1 show forth a higher order of life than does the passive righteousness of the ,pharisee4 ,this doctrine1 therefore1 can never be enforced by obligatory laws4 ,the man who1 from a lower plane1 lives up to the doctrine he professes1 ever advancing toward perfection1 leads a higher life than one who may perhaps stand on a superior plane of morality1 but who is making no progress toward perfection4 ,thus the stray lamb is dearer to the ,father than those which are in the fold2 the prodigal returned1 the coin that was lost and is found again1 more highly prized than those that never were lost4 ,since the fulfilment of this doctrine is an impulse from self toward ,god1 it is evident that there can be no fixed laws for its movement4 ,it may spring from any degree of perfection or of imperfection2 the fulfilment of rules and fulfilment of the doctrine are by no means synonymous2 there could be no rules or obligatory laws for its fulfilment4 ,the difference between social laws and the doctrine of ,christ is the natural result of the radical dissimilarity between the doctrine of ,christ and those earlier doctrines which had their source in a social life-conception4 ,the latter are for the most part positive1 enjoining certain acts1 by the performance of which men are to be justified and made righteous1 whereas the ,christian precepts 7the precept of love is not a commandment in the strict sense of the word1 but the expression of the very essence of the doctrine71 the five commandments of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 are all negative1 only meant to show men who have reached a certain degree of development what they must avoid4 ,these commandments are1 so to speak1 mile-stones on the infinite road to perfection1 toward which humanity is struggling2 they mark the degrees of perfection which it is possible for it to attain at a certain period of its development4 ,in the ,sermon on the ,mount ,christ expressed the eternal ideal to which mankind instinctively aspires1 showing at the same time the point of perfection to which human nature in its present stage may attain4 ,the ideal is to bear no malice1 excite no ill-will1 and to love all men4 ,the commandment which forbids us to offend our neighbor is one which a man who is striving to attain this ideal must not do less than obey4 ,and this is the first commandment4 ,the ideal is perfect chastity in thought1 no less than in deed2 and the commandment which enjoins purity in married life1 forbidding adultery1 is one which every man who is striving to attain this ideal must not do less than obey4 ,and this is the second commandment4 ,the ideal is to take no thought for the morrow1 to live in the present1 and the commandment1 the fulfilment of which is the point beneath which we must not fall1 is against taking oath or making promises for the future4 ,such is the third commandment4 ,the ideal--to use no violence whatsoever--shows us that we must return good for evil1 endure injuries with patience1 and give up the cloak to him who has taken the coat4 ,such is the fourth commandment4 ,the ideal is to love your enemies1 to do good to them that despitefully use you4 ,in order to keep the spirit of this commandment one must at least refrain from injuring one's enemies1 one must speak kindly of them1 and treat all one's fellow-creatures with equal consideration4 ,such is the fifth commandment4 ,all these commandments are reminders of that which we1 in our striving for perfection1 must and can avoid2 reminders1 too1 that we must labor now to acquire by degrees habits of self-restraint1 until such habits become second nature4 ,but these commandments1 far from exhausting the doctrine1 do not by any means cover it4 ,they are but stepping-stones on the way to perfection1 and must necessarily be followed by higher and still higher ones1 as men pursue the course toward perfection4 ,that is why a ,christian doctrine would make higher demands than those embodied in the commandments1 and not in the least decrease its demands1 as they who judge the ,christian doctrine from a social life-conception seem to think4 ,this is one of the mistakes of the scientists in regard to the significance of ,christ's doctrine4 ,and the substitution of the love of humanity for the love and service of ,god is another1 and it springs from the same source4 ,in the ,christian doctrine of loving and of serving ,god1 and 7as the natural consequence of such love and service7 of loving and serving one's neighbor1 there seems to the scientific mind a certain mysticism1 something at once confused and arbitrary2 and1 believing that the doctrine of love for humanity rests on a firmer basis and is altogether more intelligible1 they utterly reject the requirement of love and service of ,god4 ,the theory of a scientist is that a virtuous life1 a life with a purpose1 must be useful to the world at large2 and in a life of this kind they discover the solution of the ,christian doctrine1 to which they reduce ,christianity itself4 ,assuming their own doctrine to be identical with that of ,christianity1 they seek and believe that they find in the latter an affirmation of their own views4 ,this is a fallacy4 ,the ,christian doctrine1 and the doctrine of the ,positivists1 and of all advocates of the universal brotherhood of man1 founded on the utility of such a brotherhood1 have nothing in common1 and especially do they differ in that the doctrine of ,christianity has a solid and a clearly defined foundation in the human soul1 whereas love of humanity is but a theoretical conclusion reached through analogy4 ,the doctrine of the love of humanity has for its basis the social life-conception4 ,the essence of the social life-conception consists in replacing the sense of individual life by that of the life of the group4 ,in its first steps1 this is a simple and natural progression1 as from the family to the tribe2 from the family to the race is more difficult1 and requires special education1--which has arrived at its utmost limits when the ,state has been reached4 ,it is natural for every man to love himself1 and he needs no incentive thereto2 to love his tribe1 which lends both support and protection2 to love his wife1 the delight and comfort of his daily life2 the children1 who are his consolation and his future hope2 his parents1 who gave him life and cherished him1--all this1 although not so intense as love of self1 is natural and common to mankind4 ,to love one's race1 one's people1 for their own sake1 although not so instinctive1 is also common4 ,to love one's ancestors1 one's kinsfolk1 through pride1 is also natural and frequent2 and a man may feel love for his fellow-countrymen1 who speak the same language and profess the same faith as himself1 although the emotion is less strong than love of self or love of family4 ,but love for a nation1 ,turkey1 for instance1 or ,germany1 ,england1 ,austria1 ,russia1 is almost impossible1 and notwithstanding the training given in that direction1 it is only a fictitious semblance2 it has no real existence4 ,at this aggregate ceases man's power of transfusing his innermost consciousness2 for such a fiction he can feel no direct sentiment4 ,and yet the ,positivists and all the preachers of the scientific fraternity1 not taking into consideration the fact that this feeling is weakened in proportion to the expansion of its object1 continue to theorize on the same lines4 ,they say3 ,if it were to the advantage of an individual to transfuse his consciousness into the family1 and thence into the nation and the ,state1 it follows that it will be to his further advantage to transfuse his consciousness into the universal entity1 mankind1 that all men may live for humanity1 as they have lived for the family and for the ,state4 ,and theoretically they are right4 ,after having transferred the consciousness and love for the individual to the family1 and from the family to the race1 the nation1 and the ,state1 it would be perfectly logical for men1 in order to escape the strife and disasters that result from the division of mankind into nations and states1 to transfer their love to humanity at large4 ,this would appear to be the logical outcome1 and it has been offered as a theory by those who forget that love is an innate sentiment1 which can never be inspired by preaching2 that it must have a real object1 and that the entity which men call humanity is not a real object1 but a fiction4 ,a family1 a race1 even a ,state1 are no inventions of men2 these things have formed themselves like a hive of bees1 or a colony of ants1 and possess an actual existence4 ,the man who loves his family1 after a human fashion1 knows whom he is loving--,ann1 ,maria1 ,john1 or ,peter4 ,the man who loves his ancestors1 and is proud of them1 knows that he loves the ,guelphs1 for instance1 or the ,ghibellines2 the man who loves his country knows that he loves ,france from the ,rhine to the ,pyrenees1 that he loves its capital1 ,paris1 and all its history4 ,but the man who loves humanity1 what is it that he loves8 ,there is a ,state1 there is a people1 there is the abstract conception of man4 ,but humanity as a concrete conception is impossible4 ,humanity8 ,where is its limit8 ,where does it end and where does it begin8 ,does it exclude the savage1 the idiot1 the inebriate1 the insane8 ,if one were to draw a line of demarcation so as to exclude the lower representatives of the human race1 where ought it to be drawn8 ,ought it to exclude the ,negro1 as they do in the ,united ,states1 or the ,hindoos1 as some ,englishmen do1 or the ,jews1 as does another nation8 ,but if we include all humanity without exception1 why should we restrict ourselves to men8 ,why should we exclude the higher animals1 some of whom are superior to the lowest representatives of the human race8 ,we do not know humanity in the concrete1 nor can we fix its limits4 ,humanity is a fiction1 and therefore it cannot be loved4 ,indeed1 it would be advantageous if men could love humanity as they love the family4 ,it would be very useful1 as the communists say1 to substitute a community of interests for individual competition1 or the universal for the personal2 in a word1 to make the whole world a mutual benefit society1--only that there are no motives to bring about such a result4 ,the ,positivists1 communists1 and all the exponents of the scientific fraternity exhort us to extend the love which men feel for themselves1 their families1 their fellow-countrymen1 over humanity at large1 forgetting that the love of which they speak is a personal love1 which may be kindled for the family1 and even extend to include one's native country1 but which expires altogether when it is appealed to in behalf of an artificial state1 such as ,austria1 ,england1 or ,turkey2 and when claimed for that mystical object1 humanity in general1 one cannot even grasp the idea4 ,a man loves himself1 his physical personality1 he loves his family1 he even loves his country4 ,why should he not also love mankind8 ,it would seem such a happy consummation6 ,and it so happens that ,christianity inculcates the same precept4 ,these are the opinions of the ,positivist1 the communist1 and the socialist fraternities4 ,it would indeed be fortunate1 but it is impossible1 because love founded on a personal and social life-conception can go no further than the love of country4 ,the flaw in the argument arises from the fact that the social life-conception1 the basis of family love and of patriotism1 is itself an individual love1 and such a love1 in its transference from a person to a family1 a race1 a nation1 and a ,state1 gradually loses its efficiency1 and in the ,state has reached its final limit1 and can go no further4 ,the necessity for widening the sphere of love is not to be denied1 and yet it is the very attempt to satisfy this requirement that destroys its possibility1 and proves the inadequacy of personal human love4 ,and here it is that the advocates of the ,positivist1 communist1 and socialist brotherhood offer as a prop to the humanitarianism that has proved its inefficiency1 a ,christian love1 not in its essence1 but only in its results2 in other words1 not the love of ,god1 but the love of man4 ,but there can be no such love2 it has no raison d'tre4 ,christian love comes only from a ,christian life-conception1 whose sole manifestation is the love and service of ,god4 ,by a natural sequence in the extension of love from the individual to the family1 and thence to the race1 the nation1 and the ,state1 the social life-conception has brought men not to the consciousness of love for humanity1--which is illimitable--the unification of every living creature1--but to a condition which evokes no feeling in man1 to a contradiction for which it provides no reconciliation4 ,it is only the ,christian doctrine which1 by lending to human life a new significance1 is able to solve the difficulty4 ,christianity presents the love of self and the love of the family1 as well as patriotism and the love of humanity1 but it is not to be restricted to humanity alone2 it is to be given to every living creature2 it recognizes the possibility of an indefinite expansion of the kingdom of love1 but its object is not to be found outside itself1 in the aggregate of individuals1 neither in the family1 nor in the race1 nor in the ,state1 nor in mankind1 nor all the wide world1 but in itself1 in its personality1--a divine personality1 whose essence is the very love which needed a wider sphere4 ,the distinction between the ,christian doctrine and those which preceded it may be thus defined4 ,the social doctrine says3 ,curb thy nature 7meaning the animal nature alone72 subject it to the visible law of the family1 of society1 and of the ,state4 ,christianity says3 ,live up to thy nature 7meaning the divine nature72 make it subject to nothing2 neither to thine own animal nature1 nor to that of another1 and then thou shalt attain what thou seekest by subjecting thine outward personality to visible laws4 ,the ,christian doctrine restores to man his original consciousness of self1 not the animal self1 but the godlike self1 the spark of divinity1 as the son of ,god1 like unto the ,father1 but clothed in a human form4 ,this consciousness of one's self as a son of ,god1 whose essence is love1 satisfies at once all those demands made by the man who professes the social life-conception for a broader sphere of love4 ,again1 in the social life-conception the enlargement of the domain of love was a necessity for the salvation of the individual2 it was attached to certain objects1 to one's self1 to one's family1 to society1 and to humanity4 ,with the ,christian world-conception love is not a necessity1 neither is it attached to any special object2 it is the inherent quality of a man's soul2 he loves because he cannot help loving4 ,the ,christian doctrine teaches to man that the essence of his soul is love2 that his well-being may be traced1 not to the fact that he loves this object or that one1 but to the fact that he loves the principle of all things--,god1 whom he recognizes in himself through love1 and will by the love of ,god love all men and all things4 ,this is the essential difference between the ,christian doctrine and that of the ,positivists1 and all other non-,christian theorists of a universal brotherhood4 ,such are the two chief misapprehensions in regard to the ,christian doctrine1 and from those most of the false arguments on the subject have originated4 ,one is1 that the doctrine of ,christ1 like the doctrines which preceded it1 promulgates rules which men must obey1 and that these rules are impracticable4 ,the other1 that the whole meaning of ,christianity is contained in the doctrine of a coperative union of mankind1 in one family1 to attain which1 leaving aside the question of love of ,god1 one should obey only the rule of love of one's fellow-men4 ,finally1 the mistake of scientists1 in supposing that the doctrine of the supernatural contains the essence of ,christianity1 that its life-teaching is not practicable1 together with the general misapprehensions that result from such a misconception1 further explains why men of our time have so misunderstood ,christianity4 ,,chapter ,v ,,contradiction ,,of ,,our ,,life ,,and ,,christian ,,consciousness ,men consider that they may accept ,christianity without changing their life--,the pagan life-conception no longer corresponds to the present age of humanity1 which the ,christian life-conception alone can satisfy--,the ,christian life-conception is still misunderstood by men1 but our life itself necessitates its acceptance--,the requirements of a new life-conception always seem unintelligible1 mystical1 and supernatural--,such1 for the majority of men1 seem the requirements of the ,christian life-conception--,the acceptance of a ,christian life-conception will inevitably be accomplished both through spiritual and material agencies--,the fact that men1 conscious of a higher life-conception1 continue to entertain the lower forms of life1 causes contradiction and suffering1 which embitter life and require its alteration--,contradictions of our life--,the economical contradiction1 and the suffering it causes to the working-men and to the rich--,the contradiction of ,state1 and the sufferings that arise from obedience to ,state laws--,the international contradiction1 and its acknowledgment by contemporary writers3 ,komarvosky1 ,ferri1 ,booth1 ,passy1 ,lawson1 ,wilson1 ,bartlett1 ,defourny1 ,moneta--,the military contradiction the extreme4 ,many causes have contributed toward the misunderstanding of the teaching of ,christ4 ,one of these is that men assumed to understand the doctrine1 when1 like the faithful of the ,church1 they accepted the statement that it had been transmitted in a supernatural manner2 or1 like the scientists1 after having investigated certain of its outward manifestations4 ,another reason may be found in the conviction that it is impracticable1 and that it may be replaced by the doctrine of love of humanity4 ,but the principal reason of all such misconceptions is that men look upon the doctrine of ,christ as one that may be accepted or rejected without any special change in one's life4 ,men1 attached by habit to the existing order1 shrink from attempting to change it1 hence they agree to consider this doctrine as a mass of revelations and laws that may be accepted without making any change in one's life3 whereas the doctrine of ,christ is not a doctrine of rules for man to obey1 but unfolds a new life-conception1 meant as a guide for men who are now entering upon a new period1 one entirely different from the past4 ,the life of humanity continues its course and has its stages1 like the life of an individual2 each age has its own life-conception1 which a man must adopt whether he will or no4 ,those who do not adopt it consciously1 adopt it unconsciously4 ,the same change that takes place in the views of the individual1 as life goes on1 occurs also in the existence of nations and of humanity in general4 ,if a father were to conduct his affairs like a child1 his life would certainly become so unbearable that he would cast about for a different plan of life1 and would eagerly grasp at one better suited to his years4 ,and the human race is at the present time passing through a similar experience1 in its transition from a pagan to a ,christian life-conception4 ,a man of the society of the present day finds that the pagan life-conception is no longer suited to the times1 hence he is induced to submit to the requirements of the ,christian religion1 whose truths1 however misunderstood and falsely interpreted they may be1 are yet familiar to his ears1 and seem to offer the only practical solution of the contradictions that beset his path4 ,if the demands of the ,christian doctrine seem unintelligible1 peculiar1 and dangerous to a man who has hitherto held the social life-conception1 the demands of the latter seemed none the less so to a savage of a previous age1 who neither fully apprehended them1 nor was able to foresee their consequences4 ,the savage reasoned thus3 ,it would be folly for me to sacrifice my peace or my life to defend an incomprehensible1 intangible1 and uncertain ideal1 family1 race1 country1 and1 above all1 it would be dangerous to deliver myself into the hands of an unknown power4 ,but there came a time in the life of the savage when1 on the one hand1 he had begun1 although vaguely1 to understand the meaning of social life1 as well as that of its chief incentive1--social approval or condemnation3 glory1--while1 on the other hand1 the sufferings of his personal life had become so severe that it was no longer possible for him to go on believing in the truth of his former life-conception2 whereupon he accepted the social and ,state doctrine and submitted to its laws4 ,and he who holds the social life-conception is now undergoing a similar experience4 ,it is madness--thus reasons the man holding such views--to sacrifice one's interests or those of one's family and of one's country1 in order to fulfil the requirements of a law that would compel one to renounce the most natural and praiseworthy feelings toward one's self1 one's family1 and one's country1 and1 above all1 the guarantee of protection afforded by the ,state4 ,but there comes a time when1 on the one hand1 a vague awakening consciousness stirs the soul1 the consciousness of the higher law1 love of ,god and one's neighbor1 and the sufferings a man endures from the contradictions of life1 compel him to renounce the social life-conception and to adopt the new ,christian life-conception which is offered him4 ,and this time has now arrived4 ,to us1 who underwent the transition from the individual to the social life-conception thousands of years ago1 this transition appears to have been both natural and inevitable1 just as the present transition1 through which we have been passing these last #ahjj years1 seems arbitrary1 unnatural1 and overwhelming4 ,but it seems so for the simple reason that the former change is a thing of the past1 and has fixed in us certain habits1 whereas we are still practically accomplishing the present transition1 and have to accomplish it consciously4 ,it was centuries1 indeed thousands of years1 before the social life-conception was adopted by all mankind2 it passed through various phases1 and we ourselves possess it through heredity1 education1 and unconscious habit2 hence it seems natural to us4 ,but #ejjj years ago it seemed as strange and unnatural to men as the ,christian doctrine in its true meaning seems to them now4 ,the universal brotherhood of man1 the equality of races1 the abolition of property1 the anomalous doctrine of non-resistance1 all these requirements of the ,christian religion seem to us impossibilities4 ,but in olden times1 thousands of years ago1 not only the requirements of the ,state1 but even those of the family1 as1 for instance1 the obligation of parents to feed their children1 of children to support their aged parents1 and that of conjugal fidelity1 seemed equally impossible4 ,and still more unreasonable seemed the demands of the ,state1 requiring citizens to submit to established authority1 to pay taxes1 to perform military duty in defense of their country1 etc4 ,we find no difficulty in comprehending these requirements now2 they seem perfectly simple and natural1 with nothing mystical or alarming in their aspect2 but five or even three thousand years ago1 such demands seemed intolerable4 ,thus the social life-conception served as a foundation for religion1 for at the time when it was first manifested to men it seemed to them to be utterly incomprehensible1 mystical1 and supernatural4 ,now that we have passed that phase of human life1 we can understand the reasons for the aggregation of men into families1 communities1 and states4 ,but in the early ages the demand for these aggregations was made in the name of the supernatural1 and its fulfilment assured by the same authority4 ,the patriarchal religion deified the family1 the race1 the people4 ,state religions deified the sovereigns and the ,state4 ,even at the present day the uneducated masses1 the ,russian peasants1 for instance1 who call the ,czar a ,god upon earth1 obey the laws from religious instinct1 not because their reason counsels them to do so1 nor because they have the least idea of a ,state4 ,and to those men of our own times who hold the social life-conception1 the ,christian doctrine seems to be a supernatural religion1 whereas in reality there is nothing mystical or supernatural about it2 it is only a doctrine concerning human life1 corresponding with the degree of development which man has attained1 and one which he cannot refuse to accept4 ,the time will come1 and it is already near at hand1 when the ,christian foundations of life--equality1 brotherly love1 community of goods1 non-resistance of evil by violence--will seem as natural and simple as the foundations of family1 social1 and ,state life appear to us at the present time4 ,there can be no retrogression for humanity4 ,men have outgrown the lower life-conception of the family and the ,state1 and must press forward to embrace the next higher conception1 as they have already begun to do4 ,this movement is accomplished in two ways3 consciously1 by moral causes2 unconsciously1 by material ones4 ,it rarely happens that a man changes his mode of life at the dictates of reason2 however conscious he may be of the new design and purpose revealed to him by his reason1 he goes on in the old fashion until his life has become intolerably inconsistent1 and therefore distressing4 ,likewise1 the larger portion of mankind1 after learning through its religious teachers a new conception of life and its objects1 to which it has yet to adjust itself1 will for a long time pursue its wonted course1 and only make the change in the end because its former life has become impossible4 ,in spite of the necessity for a change of life1 acknowledged and proclaimed by our religious guides and admitted by the wisest men1 in spite of the religious respect entertained for these guides1 the majority of men continue to be influenced in life1 now additionally complicated1 by their former views4 ,it is as if the father of a family1 knowing well enough how to conduct himself properly1 should through force of habit or thoughtlessness continue to live as if he were still a child4 ,at this very moment we are experiencing one of these transitions4 ,humanity has outgrown its social1 its civic age1 and has entered upon a new epoch4 ,it knows the doctrine that must underlie the foundations of life in this new epoch2 but1 yielding to inertia1 it still clings to its former habits4 ,from this inconsistency between the theory of life and its practice follow a series of contradictions and sufferings that embitter man's life and compel him to make a change4 ,one needs but to compare the practice of life with its theory to be horrified at the extraordinary contradictions between the conditions of life and our inner consciousness4 ,man's whole life is a continual contradiction of what he knows to be his duty4 ,this contradiction prevails in every department of life1 in the economical1 the political1 and the international4 ,as though his intelligence were forgotten and his faith temporarily eclipsed1--for he must have faith1 else would his life have no permanence1--he acts in direct opposition to the dictates of his conscience and his common sense4 ,in our economical and international relations we are guided by the fundamental principles of bygone ages1--principles quite contradictory to our mental attitude and the conditions of our present life4 ,it was right for a man who believed in the divine origin of slavery1 and in its necessity1 to live in the relation of a master to his slaves4 ,but is such a life possible in these days8 ,a man of antiquity might believe himself justified in taking advantage of his fellow-man1 oppressing him for generations1 merely because he believed in diversity of origin1 noble or base1 descent from ,ham or ,japheth4 ,not only have the greatest philosophers of ancient times1 the teachers of mankind1 ,plato and ,aristotle1 justified the existence of slavery and adduced proofs of its legality1 but no longer than three centuries ago those who described an ideal state of society could not picture it without slaves4 ,in ancient times1 and even in the ,middle ,ages1 it was honestly thought that men were not born equal1 that the men worthy of respect were only ,persians1 only ,greeks1 only ,romans1 or only ,frenchmen2 but no one believes it now4 ,and the enthusiastic advocates of the principles of aristocracy and patriotism at this present day cannot believe in their own statements4 ,we all know1 and cannot help knowing1 even if we had never heard it defined and never attempted to define it ourselves1 that we all possess an inherent conviction deep in our hearts of the truth of that fundamental doctrine of ,christianity1 that we are all children of one ,father1 yea1 every one of us1 wheresoever we may live1 whatsoever language we may speak2 that we are all brothers1 subject only to the law of love implanted in our hearts by our common ,father4 ,whatever may be the habits of thought or the degree of education of a man of our time1 whether he be an educated liberal1 whatsoever his shade of opinion1 a philosopher1 whatsoever may be his system1 a scientist1 an economist of any of the various schools1 an uneducated adherent of any religious faith1--every man in these days knows that in the matter of life and worldly goods all men have equal rights2 that no man is either better or worse than his fellow-men1 but that all men are born free and equal4 ,every man has an instinctive assurance of this fact1 and yet he sees his fellow-beings divided into two classes1 the one in poverty and distress1 which labors and is oppressed1 the other idle1 tyrannical1 luxurious2 and not only does he see all this1 but1 whether voluntarily or otherwise1 he falls in line with one or the other of these divisions1--a course repugnant to his reason4 ,hence he must suffer both from his sense of the incongruity and his own share in it4 ,whether he be master or slave1 a man in these days is forever haunted by this distressing inconsistency between his ideal and the actual fact1 nor can he fail to perceive the suffering that springs therefrom4 ,the masses--that is to say1 the majority of mankind1 who suffer and toil1 their lives dull and uninteresting1 never enlivened by a ray of brightness1 enduring numberless privations--are those who recognize most clearly the sharp contrasts between what is and what ought to be1 between the professions of mankind and their actions4 ,they know that they work like slaves1 that they are perishing in want and in darkness1 that they may minister to the pleasures of the minority4 ,and it is this very consciousness that enhances its bitterness2 indeed1 it constitutes the essence of their suffering4 ,a slave in old times knew that he was a slave by birth1 whereas the working-man of our day1 while he feels himself to be a slave1 knows that he ought not to be one1 and suffers the tortures of ,tantalus from his unsatisfied yearning for that which not only could be granted him1 but which is really his due4 ,the sufferings of the working-classes that spring from the contradictions of their fate are magnified tenfold by the envy and hatred which are the natural fruits of the sense of these contradictions4 ,a working-man in our period1 even though his work may be less fatiguing than the labor of the ancient slave1 and even were he to succeed in obtaining the eight-hour system and twelve-and-sixpence a day1 still has the worst of it1 because he manufactures objects which he will never use or enjoy2--he is not working for himself2 he works in order to gratify the luxurious and idle1 to increase the wealth of the capitalist1 the mill-owner1 or manufacturer4 ,he knows that all this goes on in a world where men acknowledge certain propositions such as the economic principle that labor is wealth1 that it is an act of injustice to employ another man's labor for one's own benefit1 that an illegal act is punishable by law1 in a world1 moreover1 where the doctrine of ,christ is professed1--that doctrine which teaches us that all men are brothers1 and that it is the duty of a man to serve his neighbor and to take no unfair advantage of him4 ,he realizes all this1 and must suffer keenly from the shocking contradiction between the world as it should be and the world as it is4 ,according to what ,i am told and what ,i hear men profess1 says a working-man to himself1 ,i ought to be a free man equal to any other man1 and loved2 ,i am a slave1 hated and despised4 ,then he in his turn is filled with hatred1 and seeks to escape from his position1 to overthrow the enemy that oppresses him1 and to get the upper hand himself4 ,they say3 ,it is wrong for a workman to wish himself in the place of a capitalist1 or for a poor man to envy the rich4 ,but this is false4 ,if this were a world where ,god had ordained masters and slaves1 rich and poor1 it would be wrong for the working-man or the poor man to wish himself in the place of the rich3 but this is not so2 he wishes it in a world which professes the doctrine of the gospel1 whose first principle is embodied in the relation of the son to the ,father1 and consequently of fraternity and equality4 ,and however reluctant men may be to acknowledge it1 they cannot deny that one of the first conditions of ,christian life is love1 expressed1 not in words1 but in deeds4 ,the man of education suffers even more from these inconsistencies4 ,if he has any faith whatever he believes1 perhaps1 in fraternity1--at least in the sentiment humanity2 and if not in the sentiment humanity1 then in justice2 and if not in justice1 then surely in science2 and he cannot help knowing all the while that the conditions of his life are opposed to every principle of ,christianity1 humanity1 justice1 and science4 ,he knows that the habits of life in which he has been bred1 and whose abandonment would cause him much discomfort1 can only be supported by the weary and often suicidal labor of the down-trodden working-class--that is1 by the open infraction of those principles of ,christianity1 humanity1 justice1 and even of science 7political science71 in which he professes to believe4 ,he affirms his faith in the principles of fraternity1 humanity1 justice1 and political science1 and yet the oppression of the working-class is an indispensable factor in his daily life1 and he constantly employs it to attain his own ends in spite of his principles2 and he not only lives in this manner1 but he devotes all his energies to maintain a system which is directly opposed to all his beliefs4 ,we are brothers3 but every morning my brother or my sister performs for me the most menial offices4 ,we are brothers3 but ,i must have my morning cigar1 my sugar1 my mirror1 or what not1--objects whose manufacture has often cost my brothers and sisters their health1 yet ,i do not for that reason forbear to use these things2 on the contrary1 ,i even demand them4 ,we are brothers3 and yet ,i support myself by working in some bank1 commercial house1 or shop1 and am always trying to raise the price of the necessities of life for my brothers and sisters4 ,we are brothers3 ,i receive a salary for judging1 convicting1 and punishing the thief or the prostitute1 whose existence is the natural outcome of my own system of life1 and ,i fully realize that ,i should neither condemn nor punish4 ,we are all brothers3 yet ,i make my living by collecting taxes from the poor1 that the rich may live in luxury and idleness4 ,we are brothers3 and yet ,i receive a salary for preaching a pseudo-,christian doctrine1 in which ,i do not myself believe1 thus hindering men from discovering the true one2 ,i receive a salary as priest or bishop for deceiving people in a matter which is of vital importance to them4 ,we are brothers3 but ,i make my brother pay for all my services1 whether ,i write books for him1 educate him1 or prescribe for him as a physician4 ,we are all brothers3 but ,i receive a salary for fitting myself to be a murderer1 for learning the art of war1 or for manufacturing arms and ammunition and building fortresses4 ,the whole existence of our upper classes is utterly contradictory1 and the more sensitive a man's nature the more painful is the incongruity4 ,a man with a sensitive conscience can enjoy no peace of mind in such a life4 ,even supposing that he succeeds in stifling the reproaches of his conscience1 he is still unable to conquer his fears4 ,those men and women of the dominant classes who have hardened themselves1 and have succeeded in stifling their consciences1 must still suffer through their fear of the hatred they inspire4 ,they are quite well aware of its existence among the laboring classes2 they know that it can never die2 they know1 too1 that the working-men realize the deceits practised upon them1 and the abuses that they endure2 that they have started organizations to throw off the yoke1 and to take vengeance on their oppressors4 ,the happiness of the upper classes is poisoned by fear of the impending calamity1 foreshadowed by the unions1 the strikes1 and ,first of ,may demonstrations4 ,recognizing the calamity that threatens them1 their fear turns to defiance and hatred4 ,they know that if they relax for one moment in this conflict with the oppressed1 they are lost1 because their slaves1 already embittered1 grow more and more so with every day's oppression4 ,the oppressors1 though they may see it1 cannot cease to oppress4 ,they realize that they themselves are doomed from the moment they abate one jot of their severity4 ,so they go on in their career of oppression1 notwithstanding their affectation of interest in the welfare of the working-men1 the eight-hour system1 the laws restricting the labor of women and children1 the pensions1 and the rewards4 ,all this is mere pretense1 or at best the natural anxiety of the master to keep his slave in good condition2 but the slave remains a slave all the while1 and the master1 who cannot live without the slave1 is less willing than ever to set him free4 ,the governing classes find themselves in regard to the working-men very much in the position of one who has overthrown his opponent1 and who holds him down1 not so much because he does not choose to let him escape1 but because he knows that should he for one moment lose his hold on him1 he would lose his own life1 for the vanquished man is infuriated1 and holds a knife in his hand4 ,hence our wealthy classes1 whether their consciences be tender or hardened1 cannot enjoy the advantages they have wrung from the poor1 as did the ancients1 who were convinced of the justice of their position4 ,all the pleasures of life are poisoned either by remorse or fear4 ,such is the economic inconsistency4 ,still more striking is that of the civil power4 ,a man is trained first of all in habits of obedience to state laws4 ,at the present time every act of our lives is under the supervision of the ,state1 and in accordance with its dictates a man marries and is divorced1 rears his children1 and in some countries accepts the religion it prescribes4 ,what is this law1 then1 that determines the life of mankind8 ,do men believe in it8 ,do they consider it true8 ,not at all4 ,in most cases they recognize its injustice1 they despise it1 and yet they obey it4 ,it was fit that the ancients should obey their law4 ,it was chiefly religious1 and they sincerely believed it to be the only true law1 to which all men owed obedience4 ,is that the case with us8 ,we cannot refuse to acknowledge that the law of our ,state is not the eternal law1 but only one of the many laws of many states1 all equally imperfect1 and frequently wholly false and unjust1--a law that has been openly discussed in all its aspects by the public press4 ,it was fit that the ,hebrew should obey his laws1 since he never doubted that the finger of ,god ,himself had traced them2 or for the ,roman1 who believed that he received them from the nymph ,egeria2 or even for those peoples who believed that the rulers who made the laws were anointed of ,god1 or that legislative assemblies have both the will and the ability to devise laws as good as possible4 ,but we know that laws are the offspring of party conflicts1 false dealing1 and the greed of gain1 that they are not1 and can never be1 the depository of true justice2 and therefore it is impossible for people of the present day to believe that obedience to civil or state laws can ever satisfy the rational demands of human nature4 ,men have long since realized that there is no sense in obeying a law whose honesty is more than doubtful1 and therefore they must suffer when1 though privately denying its prerogative1 they still conform to it4 ,when a man's whole life is held in bondage by laws whose injustice1 cruelty1 and artificiality he plainly discerns1 and yet is compelled to obey these laws under penalty of punishment1 he must suffer2 it cannot be otherwise4 ,we recognize the disadvantages of custom-houses and import duties1 but we are yet obliged to pay them2 we see the folly of supporting the court and its numerous officials1 we admit the harmful influence of church preaching1 and still we are compelled to support both2 we also admit the cruel and iniquitous punishments inflicted by the courts1 and yet we play our part in them2 we acknowledge that the distribution of land is wrong and immoral1 but we have to submit to it2 and despite the fact that we deny the necessity for armies or warfare1 we are made to bear the heavy burden of supporting armies and waging war4 ,these contradictions1 however1 are but trifling in comparison with the one which confronts us in the problem of our international relations1 and which cries aloud for solution1 since both human reason and human life are at stake1 and this is the antagonism between the ,christian faith and war4 ,we1 ,christian nations1 whose spiritual life is one and the same1 who welcome the birth of every wholesome and profitable thought with joy and pride1 from whatsoever quarter of the globe it may spring1 regardless of race or creed2 we1 who love not only the philanthropists1 the poets1 the philosophers1 and the scientists of other lands2 we1 who take as much pride in the heroism of a ,father ,damien as if it was our own2 we1 who love the ,french1 the ,germans1 the ,americans1 and the ,english1 not only esteeming their qualities1 but ready to meet them with cordial friendship2 we1 who not only would be shocked to consider war with them in the light of an exploit1--when we picture to ourselves the possibility that at some future day a difference may arise between us that can only be reconciled by murder1 and that any one of us may be called upon to play his part in an inevitable tragedy1--we shudder at the thought4 ,it was well enough for a ,hebrew1 a ,greek1 or a ,roman to maintain the independence of his country by murder1 and even to subdue other nations by the same means1 because he firmly believed himself a member of the one favored people beloved by ,god1 and that all the others were ,philistines and barbarians4 ,also1 in the times of the ,middle ,ages men might well have held these opinions1 and even they who lived toward the end of the last century and at the beginning of this4 ,but we1 whatever provocation may be offered us1 we cannot possibly believe as they did2 and this difficulty is so painful for us in these times that it has become impossible to live without trying to solve it4 ,we live in a time replete with contradictions1 writes ,count ,komarovsky1 the ,professor of ,international ,law1 in his learned treatise4 ,everywhere the tone of the public press seems to indicate a general desire for peace1 and shows the need of it for all nations4 ,and the representatives of the government1 in their private as well as in their public capacity1 in parliamentary speeches and diplomatic negotiations1 express themselves in the same temper4 ,nevertheless1 the governments increase the military force year after year1 impose new taxes1 negotiate loans1 and will leave as a legacy to future generations the responsibilities of the present mistaken policy4 ,how are the word and the deed at variance6 ,by way of justification the governments claim that all their armaments and the consequent outlay are simply defensive in their character1 but to the uninitiated the question naturally suggests itself3 ,whence is to come the attack if all the great powers are devoting themselves to a defensive policy8 ,it certainly looks as if each one of them lived in hourly expectation of attack from his neighbor1 and the consequence is a strife between the different governments to surpass each other in strength4 ,the very existence of this spirit of rivalry favors the chances of war3 the nations1 no longer able to support the increased armament1 will sooner or later prefer open war to the tension in which they live and the ruin which menaces them1 so that the slightest pretext will avail to kindle in ,europe the conflagration of a general war4 ,it is a mistake to suppose that such a crisis will heal the political and economic ills under which we groan4 ,the experience of late wars shows us that each one served only to exacerbate the animosity of the nations against each other1 to increase the unbearable burden of military despotism1 and has involved the political and economic situation of ,europe in a more melancholy and pitiable plight than ever4 ,contemporary ,europe keeps under arms nine millions of men1 says ,enrico ,ferri1 and a reserve force of fifteen millions1 at a cost of four milliards of francs a year4 ,by increasing its armament it paralyzes more and more the springs of social and individual welfare1 and may be compared to a man who1 in order to obtain weapons1 condemns himself to anmia1 thereby depriving himself of the strength to use the weapons he is accumulating1 whose weight will eventually overpower him4 ,the same idea has been expressed by ,charles ,booth1 in his address delivered in ,london1 ,july #bf1 #ahhg1 before the ,association for the ,reform and ,codification of ,national ,laws4 ,having mentioned the same numbers1--over nine millions in active service and fifteen millions in reserve1 and the enormous sums required to support these armies and armaments1--he says1 in substance3 ,these numbers represent but a small part of the actual expenditure1 because outside of the expenses enumerated in the budgets of the nations we must take into consideration the great losses to society from the removal of so many able-bodied men1 lost to industry in all its branches1 and moreover1 the interest on the enormous sums spent in military preparations1 which yield no returns4 ,as might be expected1 the constantly increasing national debts are the inevitable result of these outlays in preparation for war4 ,by far the greater proportion of the debt of ,europe has been contracted for munitions of war4 ,the sum total is four milliards of pounds1 or forty milliards of roubles1 and these debts are increasing every year4 ,komarovsky1 whom we lately quoted1 says elsewhere3 ,we are living in hard times4 ,everywhere we hear complaints of the stagnation of commerce and industry1 and of the wretched economical situation4 ,they tell us of the hard conditions of life among the laboring classes and the general impoverishment of the people4 ,but regardless of this1 governments1 determined to maintain their independence1 go to the utmost limits of folly4 ,additional taxes are levied on every side1 and the financial oppression of the people knows no bounds4 ,if we glance at the budgets of ,european states for the last hundred years1 we shall be struck with their constantly increasing figures4 ,how can we explain this abnormal condition that sooner or later threatens to overwhelm us with inevitable bankruptcy8 ,most assuredly it is caused by the expense of maintaining armies1 which absorbs one-third1 or even one-half1 of the budget of all ,european nations4 ,the saddest part of it1 however1 is that there is no end to this increase of budgets and consequent impoverishment of the masses4 ,what is socialism but a protest against the abnormal situation in which the majority of mankind of our continent finds itself8 ,we are being ruined1 says ,frdric ,passy1 in a paper read before the last ,peace ,congress in ,london 7#ahij71 to enable us to take part in the senseless wars of the future1 or to pay the interest of debts left us by the criminal and insane wars and contests of the past4 ,we shall perish with hunger1 to have success in murder4 ,going on to speak of the opinion of ,france in regard to this matter1 he says3 ,we believe that now1 a hundred years after the proclamation formulating the belief in the rights of men and citizens1 the time has come to declare the rights of nations and to repudiate once and for all time those undertakings of fraud and violence1 which1 under the name of conquests1 are actually crimes against humanity1 and which1 however much the pride of nations or the ambition of monarchs may seek to justify them1 serve only to enervate the conquerors4 ,i am always very much surprised at the way religion is carried on in this country1 says ,sir ,wilfred ,lawson before the same ,congress4 ,you send a boy to the ,sunday-school1 and you tell him3 ',my dear boy1 you must love your enemies2 if any boy strikes you1 don't strike him again2 try to reform him by loving him4' ,well1 the boy goes to the ,sunday-school till he is fourteen or fifteen years of age1 and then his friends say1 ',put him in the army4' ,what has he to do in the army8 ,why1 not love his enemies1 but whenever he sees an enemy1 to run him through the body with a bayonet is the nature of all religious teaching in this country4 ,i do not think that that is a very good way of carrying out the precepts of religion4 ,i think if it is a good thing for the boy to love his enemy1 it is a good thing for the man to love his enemy4444 ,and later6 ,in ,europe great ,christian nations keep among them #bh1jjj1jjj of armed men to settle quarrels by killing one another1 instead of by arguing4 ,this is what the ,christian nations of the world are doing at this moment4 ,it is a very expensive way also2 for in a publication which ,i saw--,i believe it was correct--it was made out that since the year #ahab these nations had spent the almost incredible amount of #a1ejj1jjj1jjj of money in preparing and settling their quarrels by killing one another4 ,now it seems to me that with that state of things one of two positions must be accepted1--either that ,christianity is a failure1 or that those who profess to expound ,christianity have failed in expounding it properly4 ,so long as our men-of-war are not disarmed and our army not disbanded1 we have no right to be called a ,christian nation1 said ,mr4 ,f4 ,l4 ,wilson4 ,in a conversation in regard to the duty of ,christian ministers in the matter of preaching against war1 ,mr4 ,g4 ,d4 ,bartlett remarked1 among other things3-- ,if ,i understand the ,scriptures1 ,i say that men are only playing with ,christianity when they ignore this question4444 ,i have lived a long life1 ,i have heard many sermons1 and ,i can say without any exaggeration that ,i never heard universal peace recommended from the pulpit half a dozen times in my life4444 ,some twenty years ago ,i happened to stand in a drawing-room where there were forty or fifty people1 and ,i dared to make the proposition that war was incompatible with ,christianity4 ,they looked upon me as an arrant fanatic4 ,the idea that we could get on without war was regarded as unmitigated weakness and folly4 ,a ,catholic priest1 the ,abb ,defourny1 has spoken in a similar spirit4 ,one of the first commandments of the eternal law1 engraved in every man's conscience1 says the ,abb ,defourny1 forbids a man to take his neighbor's life or shed his blood 7without sufficient cause1 being forced to it by stress of circumstance74 ,this is a commandment more deeply engraved in the human heart than all the others4444 ,but as soon as it becomes a question of war1 that is1 a question of the wholesale shedding of human blood1 men in these days do not wait for a sufficient cause4 ,those who are active in war forget to ask themselves if there is any justification for the numerous manslaughters that take place1 whether they are just or unjust1 legal or illegal1 innocent or criminal1 or whether they break the principal law that forbids us to commit murder 7without just cause74 ,their conscience is silent4444 ,war has ceased to be a matter connected with morality4 ,the soldier1 amid all the fatigues and dangers he undergoes1 knows no joy but conquest1 no sorrow but defeat4 ,don't tell me that they serve the country4 ,a great genius has long ago answered this statement in words that have since become a proverb3 ',take away justice1 and what is then a nation but a great band of robbers8 ,and is not a band of robbers in itself a small state8 ,they1 too1 have their laws4 ,they1 too1 fight for booty1 and even honor4' ,the aim of this organization 7it was a question of establishing international tribunals7 is to influence the ,european nations until they cease to be nations of thieves1 and their armies bands of robbers4 ,yes1 our armies are nothing less than a rabble of slaves belonging to one or two monarchs and their ministers1 who1 as we all know1 rule them tyrannically and without any responsibility other than nominal1 as we know4 ,it is the characteristic of a slave that he is a tool in the hands of his master4 ,such are the soldiers1 officers1 and generals1 who at the beck of their sovereign go forth to slay or to be slain4 ,there is a military slavery1 and it is the worst of all slaveries1 particularly now1 when by means of conscription it forges chains for the necks of all the free and strong men of the nation1 in order to use them as instruments of murder1 to make them executioners and butchers of human flesh1 since that is the sole reason why they are drafted and drilled4444 ,two or three potentates in their cabinets make treaties1 without protocols1 without publicity1 and therefore without responsibility1 sending men to the slaughter4 ',protests against increased armaments began before our time1' said ,signor ,e4 ,g4 ,moneta4 ,listen to ,montesquieu3 ',france' 7for ,france we might now substitute ,europe7 'is perishing from an overgrown army4 ,a new disease is spreading throughout ,europe4 ,it has affected kings1 and obliges them to maintain an incredible number of troops4 ,it is like a rash1 and therefore contagious2 for no sooner does one nation increase its troops than all the others follow suit4 ,nothing can result from this condition of affairs but general calamity4 ',each government maintains as many troops as it would require if its people were threatened with destruction1 and this state of tension is called peace4 ,europe is in truth ruined4 ,if private individuals were reduced to such straits as these1 the richest man among them would be practically destitute4 ,the wealth of the world and its commerce are in our hands1 and yet we are poor4' ,this was written almost #aej years ago4 ,it seems like a picture of the present4 ,one thing alone has changed--the form of government4 ,in the time of ,montesquieu it was said that the reason for the maintenance of large armies might be found in the unlimited power of kings1 who carried on war in the hope of increasing their private property and their glory4 ,then it was said3 ',ah6 if the people could but choose representatives who would have a right to refuse the governments when they called for soldiers and money--there would be an end of a military policy4' ,now1 almost everywhere in ,europe there are representative governments1 and still the military expenditure in preparation for war has increased in frightful proportion4 ,it looks as though the folly of the rulers had passed into the ruling classes4 ,now they no longer fight because one king has been rude to another king's mistress1 as in the time of ,louis ,,xiv41 but by exaggerating the importance of national dignity and patriotism1--emotions which are natural and honorable in themselves1--and exciting the public opinion of one country against the other1 until they have arrived at such a pitch of sensitiveness that it is enough to say1 for instance 7even were the report to prove false71 one country has refused to receive the ambassador of another1 to precipitate the most frightful and disastrous war4 ,europe maintains under arms at the present time more soldiers than were in the field during the great wars of ,napoleon4 ,every citizen on our continent1 with a few exceptions1 is forced to spend several years in the barracks4 ,fortresses1 arsenals1 men-of-war are built1 new firearms are invented1 which in a short time are replaced by others1 because science1 which should always be devoted to the promotion of human welfare1 contributes1 it must be regretfully acknowledged1 to human destruction1 inventing ever new means of killing greater numbers of men in the shortest possible time4 ,in these stupendous preparations for slaughter1 and in the maintenance of these vast numbers of troops1 hundreds of millions are yearly expended--sums that would suffice to educate the masses1 and to carry on the most important works of public improvement1 thereby contributing toward a perfect solution of the social problem4 ,therefore1 notwithstanding all our scientific victories1 ,europe finds herself in this respect not one whit better off than she was in the most barbarous times of the ,middle ,ages4 ,every one laments a state of things which is neither war nor peace1 and longs to be delivered from it4 ,the heads of governments emphatically affirm that they desire peace1 and eagerly emulate each other in their pacific utterances1 but almost immediately thereafter they propose to the legislative assemblies measures for increasing the armament1 asserting that they take these precautions for the preservation of peace4 ,but this is not the sort of peace we care for1 and the nations are not deceived by it4 ,true peace has for its foundation mutual confidence1 whereas these appalling armaments show1 if not a declared hostility1 at least a secret distrust among the different nations4 ,what should we say of a man who1 wishing to show his friendly feelings to his neighbor1 should invite him to consider a certain scheme1 holding a loaded pistol while he unfolds it before him8 ,it is this monstrous contradiction between the assurances of peace and the military policy of the governments1 that good citizens wish to put an end to1 at any cost4 ,one is amazed to learn that there are #fj1jjj suicides reported in ,europe1 not including ,turkey and ,russia1 every year1 and these are all well-substantiated cases2 but it would be far more remarkable if the number were less4 ,any man in these times who investigates the antagonism between his convictions and his actions1 finds himself in a desperate plight4 ,setting aside the many other contradictions between actual life and conviction which abound in the life of a man of the present day1 to view the military situation in ,europe in the light of its profession of ,christianity is enough to make a man doubt the existence of human reason1 and drive him to escape from a barbarous and insane world by putting an end to his own life4 ,this inconsistency1 which is the very quintessence of all the others1 is so shocking1 that one can only go on living and taking any part in it1 by dint of trying not to think about it1--to forget it all4 ,what can it mean8 ,we are ,christians1 who not only profess to love one another1 but are actually leading one common life2 our pulses beat in harmony2 we meet each other in love and sympathy1 deriving support and counsel from our mutual intercourse4 ,were it not for this sympathy life would have no meaning4 ,but at any moment some demented ruler may utter a few rash words1 to which another gives reply1 and lo6 ,i am ordered to march at the risk of my life1 to slay those who have never injured me1 whom ,i really love4 ,and it is no remote contingency1 but an inevitable climax for which we are all preparing ourselves4 ,fully to realize this is enough to drive one to madness and to suicide1 and this is but too common an occurrence1 especially among soldiers4 ,a moment's reflection shows us why this seems an inevitable conclusion4 ,it explains the frightful intensity with which men plunge into all kinds of dissipation1--wine1 tobacco1 cards1 newspaper reading1 travel1 all manner of shows and pleasures4 ,they pursue all these amusements in deadly earnest1 as if they were serious avocations1 as indeed they are4 ,if men possessed none of these distractions1 half of them would kill themselves out of hand1 for to live a life that is made up of contradictions is simply unbearable1 and such is the life that most of us lead at the present day4 ,we are living in direct contradiction to our inmost convictions4 ,this contradiction is evident both in economic and in political relations2 it is manifested most unmistakably in the inconsistency of the acknowledgment of the ,christian law of brotherly love and military conscription1 which obliges men to hold themselves in readiness to take each other's lives1--in short1 every man to be at once a ,christian and a gladiator4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,attitude ,,of ,,men ,,of ,,the ,,present ,,day ,,toward ,,war ,men do not endeavor to destroy the contradiction between life and consciousness by a change of life1 but educated men use all their power to stifle the demands of consciousness and to justify their lives1 and thus degrade society to a condition worse than pagan1 to a state of primeval savagery--,uncertainty of the attitude of our leading men toward war1 universal armament1 and general military conscription--,those who regard war as an accidental political phenomenon easily to be remedied by external measures--,the ,peace ,congress--,article in the ,revue des ,revues--,proposition of ,maxime du ,camp--,significance of ,courts of ,arbitration and ,disarmament--,relations of governments to these1 and the business they pursue--,those who regard war as a cruel inevitable phenomenon--,maupassant--,rod--,those who regard it as indispensable1 even useful--,camille ,doucet1 ,claretie1 ,zola1 ,vog4 ,the contradictions of life and of consciousness may be solved in two ways3 by change of life1 or by change of consciousness2 and it would seem as if there could be no hesitation in a choice between the two4 ,when a man acknowledges a deed to be evil he may refrain from the deed itself1 but he can never cease to regard it as evil4 ,indeed1 the whole world might cease from evil-doing1 and yet have no power to transform1 or even to check for a season1 the progress of knowledge in regard to that which is evil1 and which ought not to exist4 ,one would think that the alternative of a change of life to accord with consciousness might be settled without question1 and that it would therefore seem unavoidable for the ,christian world of the present day to abandon those pagan forms which it condemns1 and regulate its life by the ,christian precepts which it acknowledges4 ,such would be the result were it not for the principle of inertia 7a principle no less unalterable in human life than in the world of matter71 which finds its expression in the psychological law defined in the gospel by the words3 ,men loved darkness rather than light1 because their deeds were evil 7,john iii4 #ai74 ,most persons1 in conformity to this principle1 do not use their reason in order to ascertain the truth1 but rather to persuade themselves that they possess it1 and that their daily life1 which is pleasant for them1 is in harmony with the precepts of truth4 ,slavery conflicted with all the moral principles taught by ,plato and ,aristotle1 and yet neither of them perceived this1 because the disavowal of slavery must have destroyed that life by which they lived4 ,and the same thing is repeated in our times4 ,the division of mankind into two classes1 the existence of political and military injustice1 is opposed to all those moral principles which our society professes1 and yet the most progressive and cultivated men of the age seem not to perceive this4 ,almost every educated man at the present day is striving unconsciously to preserve the old-time conception of society1 which justifies his attitude1 and to conceal from others and from himself its inconsistencies1 chief among which is the necessity of adopting the ,christian ideal1 which is subversive of the very structure of our social existence4 ,it is this antiquated social system1 in which they no longer believe1 because it is really a thing of the past1 that men are trying to uphold4 ,contemporary literature1 philosophical1 political1 and artistic1--all contemporary literature affords a striking proof of the truth of my statement4 ,what wealth of imagination1 what form and color1 what erudition and art1 but what a lack of serious purpose1 what reluctance to face any exact thought6 ,ambiguity of expression1 indirect allusion1 witticisms1 vague reflection1 but no straightforward or candid dealing with the subject they treat of1 namely1 life4 ,indeed1 our writers treat of obscenities and improprieties2 in the guise of refined paradox they convey suggestions which thrust men back to primeval savagery1 to the lowest dregs1 not only of pagan life1 but animal life1 which we outlived #ejjj years ago4 ,delivering themselves from the ,christian life-conception1 which for some simply interferes with the accustomed current of their lives1 while for others it interferes with certain advantages1 men must of necessity return to the pagan life-conception and to the doctrines to which it gave rise4 ,not only are patriotism and the rights of the aristocracy preached at the present time as they used to be #bjjj years ago1 but also the coarsest epicureanism and sensuality1 with this difference only1--that the teachers of old believed in the doctrines they taught1 whereas those of the present day neither do nor can possess any faith in what they utter1 because there is no longer any sense in it4 ,when the ground is shifting under our feet1 we cannot stand still1 we must either recede or advance4 ,it sounds exaggerated to say that the enlightened men of our time1 the advanced thinkers1 are speciously degrading society1 plunging it into a condition worse than pagan1--into a state of primeval barbarism4 ,in no other matter has this tendency of the leading men of our time been so plainly shown as in their attitude toward that phenomenon in which at present all the inconsistency of social life is concentrated1--toward war1 universal armament1 and military conscription4 ,the equivocal1 if not unscrupulous1 attitude of the educated men of our time toward this question is a striking one4 ,it may be stated from three points of view4 ,some regard this phenomenon as an accidental state of affairs1 which has sprung from the peculiar political situation of ,europe1 and believe it to be susceptible of adjustment by diplomatic and international mediation1 without injury to the structure of nations4 ,others look upon it as something appalling and cruel1 fatal yet unavoidable1--like disease or death4 ,still others1 in cold blood1 calmly pronounce war to be an indispensable1 salutary1 and therefore desirable event4 ,men may differ in their views in regard to this matter1 but all discuss it as something with which the will of the individuals who are to take part in it has nothing whatever to do2 therefore they do not even admit the natural question which presents itself to most men2 viz41 ,is it my duty to take part in it8 ,in the opinion of these judges there is no reason in such a question1 and every man1 whatever may be his personal prejudices in regard to war1 must submit in this matter to the demands of the ruling powers4 ,the attitude of those in the first category1 who expect deliverance from war by means of diplomatic and international mediation1 is well defined in the results of the ,london ,peace ,congress1 and in an article1 together with letters concerning war from prominent writers1 which may be found in the ,revue des ,revues 7,no4 #h1 #ahia74 ,these are the results of the ,congress4 ,having collected from all parts of the globe the opinions of scientists1 both written and oral1 the ,congress1 opening with a ,te ,deum in the cathedral1 and closing with a dinner and speeches1 listened for five days to numerous addresses1 and arrived at the following conclusions3-- ,resolution ,i4 ,the ,congress affirms its belief that the brotherhood of man involves as a necessary consequence a brotherhood of nations1 in which1 the true interests of all are acknowledged to be identical4 ,the ,congress is convinced that the true basis for an enduring peace will be found in the application by nations of this great principle in all their relations one to another4 ,,ii4 ,the ,congress recognizes the important influence which ,christianity exercises upon the moral and political progress of mankind1 and earnestly urges upon ministers of the gospel and other teachers of religion and morality the duty of setting forth these principles of ,peace and ,good-will1 which occupy such a central place in the teaching of ,jesus ,christ1 of philosophers and of moralists1 and it recommends that the third ,sunday in ,december in each year be set apart for that purpose4 ,,iii4 ,the ,congress expresses its opinion that all teachers of history should call the attention of the young to the grave evils inflicted on mankind in all ages by war1 and to the fact that such war has been waged1 as a rule1 for most inadequate causes4 ,,iv4 ,the ,congress protests against the use of military drill in connection with the physical exercises of schools1 and suggests the formation of brigades for saving life rather than any of quasi-military character2 and it urges the desirability of impressing on the ,board of ,examiners1 who formulate the questions for examination1 the propriety of guiding the minds of children into the principles of ,peace4 ,v4 ,the ,congress holds that the doctrine of the universal rights of man requires that aboriginal and weaker races shall be guarded from injustice and fraud when brought into contact with civilized peoples1 alike as to their territories1 their liberties1 and their property1 and that they shall be shielded from the vices which are so prevalent among the so-called advanced races of men4 ,it further expresses its conviction that there should be concert of action among the nations for the accomplishment of these ends4 ,the ,congress desires to express its hearty appreciation of the conclusions arrived at by the late ,anti-,slavery ,conference1 held in ,brussels1 for the amelioration of the condition of the peoples of ,africa4 ,,vi4 ,the ,congress believes that the warlike prejudices and traditions which are still fostered in the various nationalities1 and the misrepresentations by leaders of public opinion in legislative assemblies1 or through the press1 are not infrequently indirect causes of war4 ,the ,congress is therefore of opinion that these ends should be counteracted by the publication of accurate statements and information that would tend to the removal of misunderstanding amongst nations1 and recommends to the ,inter-,parliamentary ,committee the importance of considering the question of starting an international newspaper1 which should have such a purpose as one of its primary objects4 ,,vii4 ,the ,congress proposes to the ,inter-,parliamentary ,conference that the utmost support should be given to every project for the unification of weights and measures1 of coinage1 tariffs1 postal and telegraphic arrangements1 means of transport1 etc41 which would assist in constituting a commercial1 industrial1 and scientific union of the peoples4 ,,viii4 ,in view of the vast moral and social influence of woman1 the ,congress urges upon every woman throughout the world to sustain1 as wife1 mother1 sister1 or citizen1 the things that make for peace1 as otherwise she incurs grave responsibilities for the continuance of the systems of war and militarism1 which not only desolate but corrupt the home-life of the nation4 ,to concentrate and to practically apply this influence1 the ,congress recommends that women should unite themselves with societies for the promotion of international peace4 ,,ix4 ,this ,congress expresses the hope that the ,financial ,reform ,association and other similar societies in ,europe and ,america should unite in convoking at an early date a conference to consider the best means of establishing equitable commercial relations between ,states by the reduction of import duties as a step toward ,free ,trade4 ,the ,congress feels that it can affirm that the whole of ,europe desires ,peace1 and is impatiently waiting for the moment when it shall see the end of those crushing armaments which1 under the plea of defense1 become in their turn a danger1 by keeping alive mutual distrust1 and are1 at the same time1 the cause of the general economic disturbance which stands in the way of settling in a satisfactory manner the problems of labor and poverty1 which should take precedence of all others4 ,x4 ,this ,congress1 recognizing that a general disarmament would be the best guarantee of ,peace1 and would lead to the solution1 in the general interest1 of those questions which now must divide ,states1 expresses the wish that a ,congress of ,representatives of all the ,states of ,europe may be assembled as soon as possible to consider the means of effecting a gradual general disarmament1 which already seems feasible4 ,,xi4 ,this ,congress1 considering that the timidity of a single ,power or other cause might delay indefinitely the convocation of the above-mentioned ,congress1 is of the opinion that the ,government which should first dismiss any considerable number of soldiers would confer a signal benefit on ,europe and mankind1 because it would oblige other ,governments1 urged on by public opinion1 to follow its example1 and by the moral force of this accomplished fact would have increased rather than diminished the conditions of its national defense4 ,,xii4 ,this ,congress1 considering the question of disarmament1 as well as the ,peace question generally1 depends upon public opinion1 recommends the ,peace ,societies here represented1 and all friends of ,peace1 to carry on an active propaganda among the people1 especially at the time of ,parliamentary elections1 in order that the electors should give their votes to those candidates who have included in their programme ,peace1 ,disarmament1 and ,arbitration4 ,,xiii4 ,this ,congress congratulates the friends of ,peace on the resolution adopted by the ,international ,american ,conference 7with the exception of the representatives of ,chili and ,mexico7 at ,washington in ,april last1 by which it was recommended that arbitration should be obligatory in all controversies concerning diplomatic and consular privileges1 boundaries1 territories1 indemnities1 right of navigation1 and the validity1 construction1 and enforcement of treaties1 and in all other causes1 whatever their origin1 nature1 or occasion1 except only those which1 in the judgment of any of the nations involved in the controversy1 may imperil its independence4 ,,xiv4 ,this ,congress respectfully recommends this resolution to the statesmen of ,europe1 and expresses the ardent desire that treaties in similar terms be speedily entered into between the other nations of the world4 ,,xv4 ,this ,congress expresses its satisfaction at the adoption by the ,spanish ,senate1 on ,june #ahth last1 of a project of law authorizing the ,government to negotiate general or special treaties of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes1 except those relating to the independence and internal government of the ,states affected2 also at the adoption of resolutions to a like effect by the ,norwegian ,storthing on ,march #fth last1 and by the ,italian ,chamber on ,july #aath4 ,,xvi4 ,that a committee of five be appointed to prepare and address communications1 in the name of the ,congress1 to the principal religious1 political1 economical1 labor1 and peace organizations in civilized countries1 requesting them to send petitions to the governmental authorities of their respective countries1 praying that measures be taken for the formation of suitable tribunals for the adjudication of international questions1 so as to avoid the resort to war4 ,,xvii4 ,seeing 7#a7 that the object pursued by all ,peace ,societies is the establishment of juridical order between nations3 7#b7 ,that neutralization by international treaties constitutes a step toward this juridical state1 and lessens the number of districts in which war can be carried on3 ,this ,congress recommends a larger extension of the rule of neutralization1 and expresses the wish3-- 7#a7 ,that all treaties which at present assure to certain ,states the benefit of neutrality remain in force1 or1 if necessary1 be amended in a manner to render the neutrality more effective1 either by extending neutralization to the whole of the ,state1 of which a part only may be neutralized1 or by ordering the demolition of fortresses1 which constitute rather a peril than a guarantee for neutrality4 7#b7 ,that new treaties1 provided that they are in harmony with the wishes of the populations concerned1 be concluded for establishing the neutralization of other ,states4 ,,xviii4 ,the ,committee ,section proposes3-- 7#a7 ,that the next ,congress be held immediately before or immediately after the next session of the ,inter-,parliamentary ,conference1 and at the same places4 7#b7 ,that the question of an international ,peace ,emblem be postponed sine die4 7#c7 ,the adoption of the following resolutions3-- 7a7 ,resolved1 that we express our satisfaction at the formal and official overtures of the ,presbyterian ,church in the ,united ,states of ,america1 addressed to the highest representatives of each church organization in ,christendom1 inviting the same to unite with itself in a general conference1 the object of which shall be to promote the substitution of international arbitration for war4 7b7 ,that this ,congress1 assembled in ,london from the #adth to the #aith ,july1 desires to express its profound reverence for the memory of ,aurelio ,salfi1 the great ,italian jurist1 a member of the ,committee of the ,international ,league of ,peace and ,liberty4 7#d7 ,that the memorial to the various heads of the civilized ,states adopted by this ,congress1 and signed by the ,president1 should1 so far as practicable1 be presented to each ,power by an influential deputation4 7#e7 ,that the ,organization ,committee be empowered to make the needful verbal emendations in the papers and resolutions presented4 7#f7 ,that the following resolutions be adopted3-- 7a7 ,a resolution of thanks to the ,presidents of the various sittings of the ,congress4 7b7 ,a resolution of thanks to the chairman1 the secretary1 and the members of the ,bureau of this ,congress4 7c7 ,a resolution of thanks to the conveners and members of the sectional committees4 7d7 ,a resolution of thanks to ,rev4 ,canon ,scott ,holland1 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,reuan ,thomas1 and ,rev4 ,j4 ,morgan ,gibbon1 for their pulpit addresses before the ,congress1 and that they be requested to furnish copies of the same for publication2 and also ,stamford ,hall ,congregational ,church for the use of those buildings for public services4 7e7 ,a letter of thanks to ,her ,majesty for permission to visit ,windsor ,castle4 7f7 ,and also a resolution of thanks to the ,lord ,mayor and ,lady ,mayoress1 to ,mr4 ,passmore ,edwards1 and other friends who have extended their hospitality to the members of the ,congress4 ,,xix4 ,this ,congress places on record a heartfelt expression of gratitude to ,almighty ,god for the remarkable harmony and concord which have characterized the meetings of the ,assembly1 in which so many men and women of varied nations1 creeds1 tongues1 and races have gathered in closest coperation2 and in the conclusion of the labors of this ,congress1 it expresses its firm and unshaken belief in the ultimate triumph of the cause of ,peace1 and of the principles which have been advocated at these meetings4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the fundamental idea of the ,congress is--firstly1 that it is necessary to disseminate by all means among all men the belief that war is not advantageous for mankind1 and that peace is a great benefit2 and secondly1 to influence governments1 impressing upon them the advantages and necessity of disarmament4 ,to accomplish the first end1 the ,congress advises teachers of history1 women1 and ministers of the gospel1 to teach people1 every third ,sunday of ,december1 the evils of war and the benefits of peace2 to accomplish the second1 the ,congress addresses itself to governments1 suggesting to them disarmament and arbitration4 ,to preach the evils of war and the benefits of peace6 ,but the evils of war are so well known to men1 that from the earliest ages the most welcome greeting was always3 ,peace be unto you6 ,not only ,christians but all pagans were fully aware of the benefits of peace and of the evils of war thousands of years ago1 so that the advice to the ministers of the gospel to preach against the evils of war and to advocate the benefits of peace every third ,sunday in ,december is quite superfluous4 ,a real ,christian cannot do otherwise than preach thus1 constantly1 as long as he lives4 ,but if there are those who are called ,christians1 or ,christian preachers1 who do not do this1 there must be a cause for it1 and so long as this cause exists no advice will avail4 ,still less effective will be the advice to governments to disband armies and have recourse to ,international ,courts of ,arbitration4 ,governments know very well all the difficulties and burdens of conscription and of maintaining armies1 and if in the face of such difficulties and burdens they still continue to do so1 it is evident that they have no means of doing otherwise1 and the advice of a ,congress could in no way bring about a change4 ,but scientists will not admit this1 and still hope to find some combination of influences by means of which those governments which make war may be induced to restrain themselves4 ,is it possible to avoid war8 writes a scientist in the ,revue des ,revues 7,no4 #h of #ahia74 ,all agree in recognizing the fact that if war should ever break out in ,europe1 its consequences would be similar to those of the great invasions4 ,it would imperil the very existence of nations2 it would be bloody1 atrocious1 desperate4 ,this consideration1 and the consideration of the terrible nature of the engines of destruction at the command of modern science1 retards its declaration and temporarily maintains the present system1--a system which might be continued indefinitely1 if it were not for the enormous expenses that burden the ,european nations and threaten to culminate in disasters fully equal to those occasioned by war4 ,impressed with these thoughts1 men of all nationalities have sought for means to arrest1 or at least to diminish1 the shocking consequences of the carnage that threatens us4 ,such are the questions which are to be debated by the next ,congress of ,universal ,peace to be held in ,rome1 which have already been discussed in a recently published pamphlet on ,disarmament4 ,unfortunately1 it is quite certain that with the present organization of the greater number of the ,european states1 isolated one from the other and controlled by different interests1 the absolute cessation of war is an illusion which it would be folly to cherish4 ,still1 the adoption of somewhat wiser rules and regulations in regard to these international duels would at least tend to limit their horrors4 ,it is equally ,utopian to build one's hope on projects of disarmament1 whose execution1 owing to considerations of a national character1 which exist in the minds of all our readers1 is practically impossible4 7,this probably means that ,france cannot disarm until she has retaliated47 ,public opinion is not prepared to accept them1 and1 furthermore1 the international relations make it impossible to adopt them4 ,disarmament demanded by one nation of another1 under conditions imperiling its security1 would be equivalent to a declaration of war4 ,still1 we must admit that an exchange of opinions between the nations interested may to a certain extent aid in establishing an international understanding1 and also contribute to lessen the military expenses that now crush ,european nations1 to the great detriment of the solution of social questions1 the necessity of the solution of which is realized by each nation individually1 under the penalty of being confronted by a civil war1 due to the efforts made to prevent a foreign one4 ,one may at least hope for a decrease of the enormous expenses necessary for the present military organization1 which is maintained for the purpose of invading a foreign territory in twenty-four hours1 or of a decisive battle a week after the declaration of war4 ,it ought not to be possible for one nation to attack another and take possession of its territory within twenty-four hours4 ,this practical sentiment was expressed by ,maxime du ,camp1 and is the conclusion of his study of the subject4 ,maxime du ,camp offers the following propositions3-- #ast4 ,a ,diplomatic ,congress1 to assemble every year4 #b;d4 ,no war to be declared until two months after the incident which gave rise to it4 7,here the difficulty lies in determining the nature of the incident that kindled the war--that is1 every declaration of war is caused by several circumstances1 and it would be necessary to determine from which one the two months are to be reckoned47 #c;d4 ,no war shall be declared until the vote of the people shall have been taken4 #dth4 ,hostilities must not begin until a month after the declaration of war4 ,no war shall be declared 444 etc4 ,but who is to prevent hostilities beginning8 ,who will compel men to do this or that8 ,who will compel governments to wait a certain stated time8 ,other nations4 ,but all the other nations are in the very same position1 requiring to be restrained and kept within bounds1 in other words1 coerced4 ,and who will coerce them8 ,and how is it to be done8 ,by public opinion4 ,but if public opinion has sufficient influence to force a nation to postpone its action until a stated time1 this public opinion can prevent it from waging war at any time4 ,but1 it is said1 there might be a balance of power1 which would oblige nations to restrain themselves4 ,this very experiment has been and is still being tried2 this was the object of the ,holy ,alliance1 the ,league of ,peace1 etc4 ,but all would agree to this1 it is said4 ,if all would agree to this1 then wars would cease1 and there would be no need of ,courts of ,appeal or of ,arbitration4 ,a ,court of ,arbitration would take the place of war4 ,disputes would be decided by a ,board of ,arbitrators1 like that which pronounced on the ,alabama claims4 ,the ,pope has been requested to decide the question concerning the ,caroline ,islands3 ,switzerland1 ,belgium1 ,denmark1 and ,holland have declared that they prefer the decision of a ,court of ,arbitration to war4 ,i believe ,monaco has expressed a similar wish4 ,it is a pity that ,germany1 ,russia1 ,austria1 and ,france have thus far shown no sign of imitating their example4 ,it is astonishing how easily men can deceive themselves when they feel inclined4 ,the governments will agree to allow their disputes to be decided by a ,board of ,arbitration and to dismiss their armies4 ,the trouble between ,russia and ,poland1 ,england and ,ireland1 ,austria and the ,czechs1 ,turkey and the ,slavs1 ,france and ,germany1 will be settled by mutual consent4 ,this is very much like suggesting to merchants and bankers that they shall sell at cost price1 and devote their services gratuitously to the distribution of property4 ,of course the essence of commerce and banking consists in buying cheap and selling dear1 and therefore the suggestion to sell at cost price and the consequent overthrow of money amounts to a proposal of self-destruction4 ,the same is true in regard to governments4 ,the suggestion to governments to desist from violence1 and to adjust all differences by arbitration1 would be to recommend a suicidal policy1 and no government would ever agree to that4 ,learned men found societies 7there are more than one hundred of them71 they assemble in ,congresses 7like those held in ,london and ,paris and the one which is to be held in ,rome71 they read essays1 hold banquets1 make speeches1 edit journals devoted to the subject1 and by all these means they endeavor to prove that the strain upon nations who are obliged to support millions of soldiers has become so severe that something must be done about it2 that this armament is opposed to the character1 the aims1 and the wishes of the populations2 but they seem to think that if they consume a good deal of paper1 and devote a good deal of eloquence to the subject1 that they may succeed in conciliating opposing parties and conflicting interests1 and at last effect the suppression of war4 ,when ,i was a child ,i was told that if ,i wished to catch a bird ,i must put salt on its tail4 ,i took a handful and went in pursuit of the birds1 but ,i saw at once that if ,i could sprinkle salt on their tails ,i could catch them1 and that what ,i had been told was only a joke4 ,those who read essays and works on ,courts of ,arbitration and the disarmament of nations must feel very much the same4 ,if it were possible to sprinkle salt on a bird's tail it would be tantamount to saying that the bird could not fly1 and therefore it would be no effort to catch it4 ,if a bird has wings and does not wish to be caught1 it will not allow any salt to be put on its tail1 for it is the nature of a bird to fly4 ,likewise it is the nature of a government not to be ruled1 but to rule its subjects4 ,and a government rightly is named such only when it is able to rule its subjects1 and not be ruled by them4 ,this1 therefore1 is its constant aim1 and it will never voluntarily resign its power4 ,and as it derives its power from the army it will never give up the army1 nor will it ever renounce that for which the army is designed1--war4 ,the misapprehension springs from the fact that the learned jurists1 deceiving themselves as well as others1 depict in their books an ideal of government1--not as it really is1 an assembly of men who oppress their fellow-citizens1 but in accordance with the scientific postulate1 as a body of men who act as the representatives of the rest of the nation4 ,they have gone on repeating this to others so long that they have ended by believing it themselves1 and they really seem to think that justice is one of the duties of governments4 ,history1 however1 shows us that governments1 as seen from the reign of ,csar to those of the two ,napoleons and ,prince ,bismarck1 are in their very essence a violation of justice2 a man or a body of men having at command an army of trained soldiers1 deluded creatures who are ready for any violence1 and through whose agency they govern the ,state1 will have no keen sense of the obligation of justice4 ,therefore governments will never consent to diminish the number of those well-trained and submissive servants1 who constitute their power and influence4 ,such is the attitude of certain scientists toward that self-contradiction under which the world groans1 and such are their expedients for its relief4 ,tell these scientists that the question deals only with the personal relations of each individual toward the moral and religious question1 and then ask them what they think of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of taking part in the general conscription1 and their sole reply will be a shrug of the shoulders2 they will not even deign to give a thought to your question4 ,their way of solving the difficulty is to make speeches1 write books1 choose their presidents1 vice-presidents1 and secretaries2 assembled in a body1 to hold forth in one city or another4 ,they think that the result of their efforts will be to induce governments to cease to recruit soldiers1 on whom all their power depends2 they expect that their appeals will be heard1 and that armies will be disbanded1 leaving governments defenseless1 not only in the presence of neighbors1 but of their subjects2 that they1 like highwaymen who1 having bound their defenseless victims in order to rob them1 no sooner hear the outcries of pain than they loosen the rope that causes it1 and let their prisoners go free4 ,and there really are men who believe in this1 who spend their time in promoting ,leagues of ,peace1 in delivering addresses1 and in writing books2 and of course the governments sympathize with it all1 pretending that they approve of it2 just as they pretend to support temperance1 while they actually derive the larger part of their income from intemperance2 just as they pretend to maintain liberty of the constitution1 when it is the absence of liberty to which they owe their power2 just as they pretend to care for the improvement of the laboring classes1 while on oppression of the workman rest the very foundations of the ,state2 just as they pretend to uphold ,christianity1 when ,christianity is subversive of every government4 ,in order to accomplish these ends they have long since instituted laws in regard to intemperance that can never avail to destroy it2 educational projects that not only do not prevent the spread of ignorance1 but do everything to increase it2 decrees in the name of liberty that are no restraint upon despotism2 measures for the benefit of the working-man which will never liberate him from slavery2 they have established a ,christianity which serves to prop the government rather than destroy it4 ,and now another interest is added to their cares1--the promotion of peace4 ,governments1 or rather those rulers who are going about at present with their ministers of state1 making up their minds on such radical questions as1 for instance1 whether the slaughter of millions shall begin this year or next1--they are quite well assured that discussions on peace are not going to prevent them from sending millions of men to slaughter whenever they see fit to do so4 ,they like to hear these discussions1 they encourage them1 and even take part themselves4 ,it does no harm to the government2 on the contrary1 it is useful1 by way of diverting observation from that radical question3 ,when a man is drafted1 ought he or ought he not to fulfil his military duty8 ,thanks to all these unions and congresses1 peace will presently be established2 meanwhile put on your uniforms1 and be prepared to worry and harass each other for our benefit1 say the governments4 ,and the scientists1 the essayists1 and the promoters of congresses take the same view4 ,this is one way of looking at it1 and so advantageous for the ,state that all prudent governments encourage it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the way another class has of regarding it is more tragic4 ,they declare that although it is the fate of humanity to be forever striving after love and peace1 it is nevertheless abnormal and inconsistent4 ,those who affirm this are mostly the sensitive men of genius1 who see and realize all the horror1 folly1 and cruelty of war1 but by some strange turn of mind never look about them for any means of escape1 but who seem to take a morbid delight in realizing to the utmost the desperate condition of mankind4 ,the view of the famous ,french writer1 ,maupassant1 on the subject of war1 affords a noteworthy example of this kind4 ,gazing from his yacht upon a drill and target-practice of ,french soldiers1 the following thoughts arise in his mind3-- ,i have but to think of the word 'war' and a paralyzing sense of horror creeps over me1 as though ,i were listening to stories of witchcraft1 or tales of the ,inquisition1 or of things abominable1 monstrous1 unnatural1 of ages past4 ,when people talk of cannibals we smile contemptuously with a sense of superiority to such savages4 ,but who are the savages1 the true savages8 ,those who fight that they may drive off the conquered1 or those who fight for the pure pleasure of killing8 ,those sharp-shooters running over yonder are destined to be killed like a flock of sheep who are driven by the butcher to the slaughter-house4 ,those men will fall on some battlefield with a sabre-cut in the head1 or with a ball through the heart4 ,yet they are young men1 who might have done useful work4 ,their fathers are old and poor2 their mothers1 who have idolized them for twenty years as only mothers can idolize1 will learn after six months1 or perhaps a year1 that the son1 the baby1 the grown-up child on whom so much love and pains were lavished1 who was reared at such an expense1 has been torn by a bullet1 trampled under foot1 or crushed by a cavalry charge1 and finally flung like a dead dog into some ditch4 ,why must her boy1 her beautiful1 her only boy1 the hope and pride of her life1 why must he be killed8 ,she knows not2 she can but ask why4 ,war6444 ,the fighting6444 ,the murdering6444 ,the slaughter of men6444 ,and to-day1 with all our wisdom1 civilization1 with the advancement of science1 the degree of philosophy to which the human spirit has attained1 we have schools where the art of murder1 of aiming with deadly accuracy and killing large numbers of men at a distance1 is actually taught1 killing poor1 harmless devils who have families to support1 killing them without even the pretext of the law4 ,it is stupefying that the people do not rise up in arms against the governments4 ,what difference is there between monarchies and republics8 ,it is stupefying that society does not revolt as a unit at the very sound of the word war4 ,alas6 we shall never be free from oppression of the hateful1 hideous customs1 the criminal prejudices1 and the ferocious impulses of our barbarous ancestors1 for we are beasts2 and beasts we shall remain1 moved by our instincts and susceptible of no improvement4 ,any one but ,victor ,hugo would have been banished when he uttered his sublime cry of freedom and truth3-- ',to-day force is called violence1 and the nations condemn it2 they inveigh against war4 ,civilization1 listening to the appeal of humanity1 undertakes the case and prepares the accusation against the victors and the generals4 ,the nations begin to understand that the magnitude of a crime cannot lessen its wickedness2 that if it be criminal to kill one man1 the killing of numbers cannot be regarded in the light of extenuation2 that if it be shameful to steal1 it cannot be glorious to lead an invading army4 ',let us proclaim these absolute truths1 let us dishonor the name of war6' ,but the wrath and indignation of the poet are all in vain1 continues ,maupassant4 ,war is more honored than ever4 ,a clever expert in this business1 a genius in the art of murder1 ,von ,moltke1 once made to a peace-delegate the following astonishing reply3-- ',war is sacred2 it is a divine institution2 it fosters every lofty and noble sentiment in the human heart3 honor1 self-sacrifice1 virtue1 courage1 and saves men1 so to speak1 from settling into the most shocking materialism4' ,assembling in herds by the hundred thousand1 marching night and day without rest1 with no time for thought or for study1 never to read1 learning nothing1 of no use whatsoever to any living being1 rotting with filth1 sleeping in the mud1 living like a wild beast in a perennial state of stupidity1 plundering cities1 burning villages1 ruining whole nations2 then to encounter another mountain of human flesh1 rush upon it1 cause rivers of blood to flow1 and strew the fields with the dead and the dying1 all stained with the muddy and reddened soil1 to have one's limbs severed1 one's brain scattered as wanton waste1 and to perish in the corner of a field while one's aged parents1 one's wife and children1 are dying of hunger at home1--this is what it means to be saved from falling into the grossest materialism6 ,soldiers are the scourge of the world4 ,we struggle against nature1 ignorance1 all kinds of obstacles1 in the effort to make our wretched lives more endurable4 ,there are men1 scientists and philanthropists1 who devote their whole lives to benefit their fellow-men1 seeking to improve their condition4 ,they pursue their efforts tirelessly1 adding discovery to discovery1 expanding the human intelligence1 enriching science1 opening new fields of knowledge1 day by day increasing the well-being1 comfort1 and vigor of their country4 ,then war comes upon the scene1 and in six months all the results of twenty years of patient labor and of human genius are gone forever1 crushed by victorious generals4 ,and this is what they mean when they speak of man's rescue from materialism6 ,we have seen war4 ,we have seen men maddened2 returned to the condition of the brutes1 we have seen them kill in wanton sport1 out of terror1 or for mere bravado and show4 ,where right exists no longer1 and law is dead1 where all sense of justice has been lost1 we have seen innocent men shot down on the highway1 because they were timid and thus excited suspicion4 ,we have seen dogs chained to their masters' doors killed by way of target-practice1 we have seen cows lying in a field fired at by the mitrailleuses1 just for the fun of shooting at something4 ,and this is what they call saving men from the most shocking materialism6 ,to invade a country1 to kill the man who defends his home because he wears a blouse and does not wear a kepi1 to burn the dwellings of starving wretches1 to ruin or plunder a man's household goods1 to drink the wine found in the cellars1 to violate the women found in the streets1 consume millions of francs in powder1 and to leave misery and cholera in their track4 ,this is what they mean by saving men from the most shocking materialism6 ,what have military men ever done to prove that they possess the smallest degree of intelligence8 ,nothing whatever4 ,what have they invented8 ,the cannon and the musket2 nothing more4 ,has not the inventor of the wheelbarrow1 by the simple and practical contrivance of a wheel and a couple of boards1 accomplished more than the inventor of modern fortification8 ,what has ,greece bequeathed to the world8 ,its literature and its marbles4 ,was she great because she conquered1 or because she produced8 ,was it the ,persian invasion that saved ,greece from succumbing to the most shocking materialism8 ,did the invasions of the ,barbarians save and regenerate ,rome8 ,did ,napoleon ,i4 continue the great intellectual movement started by the philosophers at the end of the last century8 ,very well1 then2 can it be a matter of surprise1 since governments usurp the rights of life and death over the people1 that the people from time to time assume the right of life and death over their governments8 ,they defend themselves1 and they have the right4 ,no man has an inalienable right to govern others4 ,it is allowable only when it promotes the welfare of the governed4 ,it is as much the duty of those who govern to avoid war as it is that of a captain of a ship to avoid shipwreck4 ,when a captain has lost his ship he is indicted1 and if he is found to have been careless or even incompetent1 he is convicted4 ,as soon as war has been declared why should not the people sit in judgment upon the act of the government8 ,if they could once be made to understand the power that would be theirs1 if they were the judges of the rulers who lead them on to slay their fellow-men1 if they refused to allow themselves to be needlessly slaughtered1 if they were to turn their weapons against the very men who have put them into their hands--that day would see the last of war4444 ,but never will that day arrive4--,sur l',eau4 ,the author perceives the full horror of war1 realizes that the government is its author1 that government forces men to go slay1 or be slain1 when there is no need for it2 he realizes that the men who make up the armies might turn their weapons against the government and demand a reckoning4 ,still the author does not believe that this will ever happen1 or that there is any possible deliverance from the existing condition of affairs4 ,he grants that the result of war is shocking1 but he believes it to be inevitable2 assuming that the never ceasing requisition of soldiers on the part of government is as inevitable as death1 then wars must follow as a matter of course4 ,these are the words of a writer of talent1 endowed with a faculty of vividly realizing his subject1 which is the essence of the poetic gift4 ,he shows us all the cruel contradictions between creed and deed2 but since he fails to offer a solution1 it is evident that he feels that such a contradiction must exist1 and regards it as a contribution to the romantic tragedy of life4 ,another and an equally gifted writer1 ,edouard ,rod1 paints with colors still more vivid the cruelty and folly of the present situation1 but he1 like ,maupassant1 feels the influence of the dramatic element1 and neither suggests a remedy nor anticipates any change4 ,why do we toil8 ,why do we plan and hope to execute8 ,and how can one even love one's neighbor in these troublous times1 when the morrow is nothing but a menace8444 ,everything that we have begun1 our ripening schemes1 our plans for work1 the little good that we might accomplish1 will it not all be swept away by the storm that is gathering8444 ,everywhere the soil quakes beneath our feet1 and threatening clouds hang low on the horizon4 ,ah6 if we had nothing more to fear than the bugbear of the ,revolution6444 ,unable to conceive a society worse than our own1 ,i am more inclined to distrust than to fear the one that may replace it1 and if ,i should suffer in consequence of the change1 ,i should console myself with the reflection that the executioners of the present were victims of the past1 and the hope of a change for the better would make me endure the worst4 ,but it is not this remote danger which alarms me4 ,i see another close at hand and far more cruel1 since it is both unjustifiable and irrational1 and nothing good can come out of it4 ,day by day the chances of war are weighed1 and day by day they become more pitiless4 ,the human mind refuses to believe in the catastrophe which even now looms up before us1 and which the close of this century must surely witness1 a catastrophe which will put an end to all the progress of our age1 and yet we must try to realize it4 ,science has devoted all her energy these twenty years to the invention of destructive weapons1 and soon a few cannon-balls will suffice to destroy an army2#aj not the few thousands of wretched mercenaries1 whose life-blood has been bought and paid for1 but whole nations are about to exterminate each other2 during conscription their time is stolen from them in order to steal their lives with more certainty4 ,by way of stimulating a thirst for blood mutual animosities are excited1 and gentle1 kind-hearted men allow themselves to be deluded1 and it will not be long before they attack each other with all the ferocity of wild beasts2 multitudes of peace-loving citizens will obey a foolish command1 ,god only knows on what pretext1--some stupid frontier quarrel1 perhaps1 or it may be some colonial mercantile interest4444 ,they will go like a flock of sheep to the slaughter1 yet knowing where they go1 conscious that they are leaving their wives and their children to suffer hunger2 anxious1 but unable to resist the enticement of those plausible and treacherous words that have been trumpeted into their ears4 ,unresistingly they go2 although they form a mass and a force1 they fail to realize the extent of their power1 and that if they were all agreed they might establish the reign of reason and fraternity1 instead of lending themselves to the barbarous trickeries of diplomacy4 #aj ,the book was published a year ago1 and since then dozens of new weapons and smokeless powder have been invented for the annihilation of mankind4--,,author4 ,so self-deceived are they that bloodshed takes on the aspect of duty1 and they implore the blessing of ,god upon their sanguinary hopes4 ,as they march1 they trample underfoot the harvests which they themselves have planted1 burning the cities which they have helped to build1 with songs1 shouts of enthusiasm1 and music4 ,and their sons will raise a statue to those who have slain them by the most approved methods4444 ,the fate of a whole generation hangs on the hour when some saturnine politician shall make the sign1 and the nations will rush upon each other4 ,we know that the noblest among us will be cut down1 and that our affairs will go to destruction4 ,we know this1 we tremble in anger1 yet are powerless4 ,we have been caught in a snare of bureaucracy and waste paper from which we can only escape by measures too energetic for us4 ,we belong to the laws which we have made for our protection1 and which oppress us4 ,we are nothing more than the creatures of that antinomic abstraction1 the ,state1 which makes of each individual a slave in the name of all1 each individual of which all1 taken separately1 would desire the exact contrary of what he will be made to do4 ,and if it were but the sacrifice of a single generation6 ,but many other interests are involved4 ,paid orators1 demagogues1 taking advantage of the passions of the masses and of the simple-minded who are dazzled by high-sounding phrases1 have so embittered national hatreds that to-morrow's war will decide the fate of a race3 one of the component parts of the modern world is threatened2 the vanquished nation will morally disappear2 it matters not which chances to be the victim1 a power will disappear 7as though there had ever been one too many for the good74 ,a new ,europe will then be established on a basis so unjust1 so brutal1 so bloodstained1 that it cannot fail to be worse than that of to-day1--more iniquitous1 more barbarous1 and more aggressive4444 ,thus a fearful depression hangs over us4 ,we are like men dashing up and down a narrow passageway1 with muskets pointed at us from all the roofs4 ,we work like sailors executing their last manuver after the ship has begun to sink4 ,our pleasures are those of the prisoner to whom a choice dish is offered a quarter of an hour before his execution4 ,anxiety paralyzes our thought1 and the utmost we can do is to wonder1 as we con the vague utterances of ministers1 or construe the meaning of the words of monarchs1 or turn over those ascribed to the diplomatists1 retailed at random by the newspapers1 never sure of their information1 whether all this is to happen to-morrow or the day after1 whether it is this year or next that we are all to be killed4 ,in truth1 one might seek in vain throughout the pages of history for an epoch more unsettled or more pregnant with anxiety4--,le ,sens de la ,vie4 ,he shows us that the power is really in the hands of those who allow themselves to be destroyed1 in the hands of separate individuals who compose the mass2 that the root of all evil is the ,state4 ,it would seem as if the contradiction between one's faith and one's actual life had reached its utmost limit1 and that the solution could not be far to seek4 ,but the author is of a different opinion4 ,all that he sees in this is the tragedy of human life1 and having given us a detailed description of the horror of this state of things1 he perceives no reason why human life should not be spent in the midst of this horror4 ,such are the views of the second class of writers1 who consider only the fatalistic and tragic side of war4 ,there is still another view1 and this is the one held by men who have lost all conscience1 and are consequently dead to common sense and human feeling4 ,to this class belong ,moltke1 whose opinions are quoted by ,maupassant1 and nearly all military men who have been taught to believe this cruel superstition1 who are supported by it1 and who naturally regard war not only as an inevitable evil1 but as a necessary and even profitable occupation4 ,and there are civilians too1 scientists1 men of refinement and education1 who hold very much the same views4 ,the famous academician ,doucet1 in reply to a query of the editor of the ,revue des ,revues in regard to his opinions on war1 replies as follows in the number containing letters concerning war3#aa-- ,,dear ,,sir1--,when you ask of the least belligerent of all the academicians if he is a partizan of war1 his reply is already given4 ,unfortunately you yourself classify the peaceful contemplations which inspire your fellow-countrymen at the present hour as idle visions4 ,ever since ,i was born ,i have always heard good men protesting against this shocking custom of international carnage4 ,all recognize this evil and lament it4 ,but where is its remedy8 ,the effort to suppress duelling has often been made4 ,it seems to be so easy4 ,far from it4 ,all that has been accomplished toward achieving this noble purpose amounts to nothing1 nor will it ever amount to more4 ,against war and duelling the congresses of the two hemispheres vote in vain4 ,superior to all arbitrations1 conventions1 and legislations will ever remain human honor1 which has always demanded the duel1 and national interests1 which have always called for war4 ,nevertheless1 ,i wish with all my heart that the ,universal ,peace ,congress may succeed at last in its difficult and honorable task4--,accept the assurance1 etc41 ,,camille ,,doucet4 #aa ,la ,revue des ,revues1 ,la guerre1 tat de la question1 jug par nos grands hommes contemporains4--,,tr4 ,it amounts to this1 that honor obliges men to fight1 that it is for the interest of nations that they should attack and destroy one another1 and that all endeavors to abolish war can but excite a smile4 ,jules ,claretie expresses himself in similar terms3-- ,,dear ,,sir1--,a sensible man can have but one opinion on the question of war and peace4 ,humanity was created to live--to live for the purpose of perfecting its existence by peaceful labor4 ,the mutual relations of cordiality which are promoted and preached by the ,universal ,congress of ,peace may be but a dream perhaps1 yet certainly is the most delightful of dreams4 ,the vision of the land of promise is ever before the eyes1 and upon the soil of the future the harvest will ripen1 secure from the plowing of the projectile1 or the crushing of cannon-wheels4 ,but1 alas6444 ,since philosophers and philanthropists are not the rulers of mankind1 it is fit that our soldiers should guard our frontiers and our homes1 and their weapons1 skilfully wielded1 are perhaps the surest guarantees of the peace we love so well4 ,peace is given only to the strong and the courageous4--,accept the assurances of1 etc41 ,,jules ,,claretie4 ,the substance of this is1 that there is no harm in talking about what no one intends to do1 and what ought not in any event to be done4 ,when fighting is in order1 there is no alternative but to fight4 mile ,zola1 the most popular novelist in ,europe1 gives utterance to his views on the subject of war in the following terms3-- ,i look upon war as a fatal necessity which seems to us indispensable because of its close connection with human nature and all creation4 ,would that it might be postponed as long as possible6 ,nevertheless a time will come when we shall be forced to fight4 ,at this moment ,i am regarding the subject from the universal standpoint1 and am not hinting at our unfriendly relations with ,germany1 which are but a trifling incident in the world's history4 ,i affirm that war is useful and necessary1 since it is one of the conditions of human existence4 ,the fighting instinct is to be found not only among the different tribes and peoples1 but in domestic and private life as well4 ,it is one of the chief elements of progress1 and every advancing step taken by mankind up to the present time has been accompanied by bloodshed4 ,men have talked1 and still do talk1 of disarmament2 and yet disarmament is utterly impossible1 for even though it were possible1 we should be compelled to renounce it4 ,it is only an armed nation that can be powerful and great4 ,i believe that a general disarmament would be followed by a moral degradation1 assuming the form of a widespread effeminacy which would impede the progress of humanity4 ,warlike nations have always been vigorous4 ,the military art has contributed to the development of other arts4 ,history shows us this4 ,in ,athens and ,rome1 for instance1 commerce1 industry1 and literature reached their highest development when these cities ruled the world by the force of arms4 ,and nearer to our own time we found an example in the reign of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,the wars of the great king1 so far from impeding the advance of arts and sciences1 seemed rather to promote and to favor their progress4 ,war is useful6 ,but chief among the advocates of these views1 and the most talented of all the writers of this tendency1 is the academician ,vog1 who1 in an article on the military section of the ,exhibition of #ahhi1 writes as follows3-- ,on the ,esplanade des ,invalides1 the center of exotic and colonial structures1 a building of a more severe order stands out from the midst of the picturesque bazaar2 these various fragments of our terrestrial globe adjoin the palace of war4 ,a magnificent theme and antithesis for humanitarian rhetoric which never loses a chance to lament a juxtaposition of this kind1 and to utter its 'this will kill that' ceci tuera cela#ab2 that the confederacy of nations brought about by science and labor will overpower the military instinct4 ,let it cherish this vision of a golden age1 caressing it with fond hopes4 ,we have no objection2 but should it ever be realized1 it would very soon become an age of corruption4 ,history teaches us that the former has been accomplished by the means of the latter1 that blood is necessary to hasten and to seal the confederacy of nations4 ,in our own time the natural sciences have strengthened the mysterious law which revealed itself to ,joseph de ,maistre through the inspiration of his genius and meditation on primordial dogmas2 he saw how the world would redeem its hereditary fall by offering a sacrifice4 ,science shows us that the world is made better by struggle and violent selection2 this affirmation of the same law1 with varied utterance1 comes from two sources4 ,it is by no means a pleasant one4 ,the laws of the world1 however1 are not established for our pleasure1 but for our perfection4 ,let us then enter this necessary and indispensable palace of war1 and we shall have the opportunity to observe how our most inveterate instinct1 losing nothing of its power1 is transformed in its adaptation to the various demands of historical moments4 #ab ,words taken from ,victor ,hugo's ,notre ,dame1 where he says that printing will kill architecture4--,,author4 ,this idea1 namely1 that the proof of the necessity of war may be found in the writings of ,de ,maistre and of ,darwin1 two great thinkers1 as he calls them1 pleases ,vog so much that he repeats it4 ,sir1 he writes to the editor of the ,revue des ,revues1 you ask my opinion in regard to the possible success of the ,universal ,peace ,congress4 ,i believe1 with ,darwin1 that vehement struggle is the law governing all being1 and ,i believe1 with ,joseph de ,maistre1 that it is a divine law1--two different modes of characterizing the same principle4 ,if1 contrary to all expectations1 a certain fraction of humanity--for example1 all the civilized ,west--should succeed in arresting the issue of this law1 the more primitive races would execute it against us2 in these races the voice of nature would prevail over human intellect4 ,and they would succeed1 because the certainty of peace--,i do not say peace1 but the absolute certainty of peace--would in less than half a century produce a corruption and a decadence in men more destructive than the worst of wars4 ,i believe that one should act in regard to war--that criminal law of humanity--as in regard to all criminal laws3 modify it1 or endeavor to make its execution as rare as possible1 and use every means in our power to render it superfluous4 ,but experience of all history teaches us that it cannot be suppressed1 so long as there shall be found on earth two men1 bread1 money1 and a woman between them4 ,i should be very glad if the ,congress could prove to me the contrary2 but ,i doubt if it can disprove history1 and the law of ,god and of nature4--,accept my assurance1 etc41 ,e4 ,m4 ,,de ,,vog4 ,this may be summed up as follows3 ,history and nature1 ,god and man1 show us that so long as there are two men left on earth1 and the stakes are bread1 money1 and woman1 just so long there will be war4 ,that is1 that no amount of civilization will ever destroy that abnormal concept of life which makes it impossible for men to divide bread1 money 7of all absurdities71 and woman without a fight4 ,it is odd that people meet in congresses and hold forth as to the best method of catching birds by putting salt on their tails1 although they must know that this can never be done6 ,it is astonishing that men like ,rod1 ,maupassant1 and others1 clearly realizing all the horrors of war1 and all the contradictions that ensue from men not doing what they ought to do1 and what it would be to their advantage to do1 who bemoan the tragedy of life1 and yet fail to see that this tragic element would vanish as soon as men ceased to discuss a subject which should not be discussed1 and ceased to do that which is both painful and repulsive for them to do6 ,one may wonder at them2 but men who1 like ,vog and others1 believe in the law of evolution1 and look upon war as not only unavoidable1 but even useful1 and therefore desirable1--such men are fairly shocking1 horrible in their moral aberration4 ,the former at least declare that they hate evil and love good1 but the latter believe there is neither good nor evil4 ,all this discussion of the possibility of establishing peace instead of continual warfare is but the mischievous sentimentalism of idle talkers4 ,there is a law of evolution which seems to prove that ,i must live and do wrong4 ,what1 then1 can ,i do8 ,i am an educated man1--,i am familiar with the doctrine of evolution2 hence it follows that ,i shall work evil4 ,entrons au palais de la guerre4 ,there is a law of evolution1 and therefore there can be no real evil2 and one must live one's life and leave the rest to the law of evolution4 ,this is the last expression of refined civilization2 it is with this idea that the educated classes at the present day deaden their conscience4 ,the desire of these classes to preserve their favorite theories and the life that they have built up on them can go no further4 ,they lie1 and by their specious arguments deceive themselves as well as others1 obscuring and deadening their intuitive perceptions4 ,rather than adapt their lives to their consciousness1 they try by every means to befog and to silence it4 ,but the light shines in the darkness1 and even now it begins to dawn4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,significance ,,of ,,the ,,military ,,conscription ,general military conscription is not a political accident1 but the extreme limit of contradiction contained in the social life-conception--,rise of power in society--,the basis of power is personal violence--,the organization of armed men1 an army1 is required by power to enable it to accomplish violence--,the rise of power in society1 that is1 of violence1 destroys by degrees the social life-conception--,attitude of power toward the masses1 that is to say1 the oppressed--,governments endeavor to make workmen believe in the necessity of ,state violence for their preservation from external foes--,but the army is needed principally to defend government from its own subjects1 the oppressed working-men--,address of ,caprivi--,all the privileges of the ruling classes are assured by violence--,increase of armies leads to a general military conscription--,general military conscription destroys all the advantages of social life which it is the duty of the ,state to guard--,general military conscription is the extreme limit of obedience1 as it demands in the name of the ,state the abnegation of all that may be dear to man--,is the ,state needed8--,the sacrifices which it requires from citizens through the general military conscription have no longer any basis--,hence it is more advantageous for man to rebel against the demands of the ,state than to submit to them4 ,the efforts which the educated men of the upper classes are making to silence the growing consciousness that the present system of life must be changed1 are constantly on the increase1 while life itself1 continuing to develop and to become more complex without changing its direction1 as it increases the incongruities and suffering of human existence1 brings men to the extreme limit of this contradiction4 ,an example of this uttermost limit is found in the general military conscription4 ,it is usually supposed that this conscription1 together with the increasing armaments and the consequent increase of the taxes and national debts of all countries1 are the accidental results of a certain crisis in ,european affairs1 which might be obviated by certain political combinations1 without change of the interior life4 ,this is utterly erroneous4 ,the general conscription is nothing but an internal contradiction which has crept into the social life-conception1 and which has only become evident because it has arrived at its utmost limits at a period when men have attained a certain degree of material development4 ,the social life-conception transfers the significance of life from the individual to mankind in general1 through the unbroken continuity of the family1 the tribe1 and the ,state4 ,according to the social life-conception it is supposed that as the significance of life is comprised in the sum total of mankind1 each individual will of his own accord sacrifice his interests to those of the whole4 ,this in fact has always been the case with certain aggregates1 like the family or the tribe4 ,in consequence of custom1 transmitted by education and confirmed by religious suggestion1 and without compulsion1 the individual merges his interests in those of the group1 and sacrifices himself for the benefit of the whole4 ,but the more complex became societies1 the larger they grew1--conquest especially contributing to unite men in social organizations1--the more individuals would be found striving to attain their ends at the expense of their fellow-men2 and thus the necessity for subjugation by power1 or1 in other words1 by violence1 became more and more frequent4 ,the advocates of the social life-conception usually attempt to combine the idea of authority1 otherwise violence1 with that of moral influence2 but such a union is utterly impossible4 ,the result of moral influence upon man is to change his desires1 so that he willingly complies with what is required of him4 ,a man who yields to moral influence takes pleasure in conforming his actions to its laws2 whereas authority1 as the word is commonly understood1 is a means of coercion1 by which a man is forced to act in opposition to his wishes4 ,a man who submits to authority does not do as he pleases1 he yields to compulsion1 and in order to force a man to do something for which he has an aversion1 the threat of physical violence1 or violence itself1 must be employed3 he may be deprived of his liberty1 flogged1 mutilated1 or he may be threatened with these punishments4 ,and this is what constitutes power both in the past and in the present4 ,despite the unremitting efforts of rulers to conceal these facts1 and to attribute a different significance to authority1 it simply means the rope and chain wherewith a man is bound and dragged1 the lash wherewith he is flogged1 the knife or ax wherewith his limbs1 nose1 ears1 and head are hewed off4 ,authority is either the menace or the perpetration of these acts4 ,this was the practice in the times of ,nero and ,genghis ,khan1 and is still in force even in the most liberal governments1 like the republics of ,france and ,america4 ,if men submit to authority1 it is only because they fear that if they were to resist1 they would be subjected to violence4 ,all the requisitions of the ,state1 such as the payment of taxes and the fulfilment of public duties1 the submission to penalties in the form of exile1 fines1 etc41 to which men seem to yield voluntarily1 are always enforced by the physical threat or the reality of physical punishment4 ,physical violence is the basis of authority4 ,it is the military organization that makes it possible to inflict physical violence1 that organization wherein the entire armed force acts as one man1 obeying a single will4 ,this assemblage of armed men1 submitting to one will1 forms what is called an army4 ,the army has ever been and still is the basis of an authority1 vested in the commanding generals2 and the most engrossing interest of every sovereign1 from the ,roman ,csars to the ,russian and ,german emperors1 has always been to protect and flatter the army1 for they realize that when the army is on their side1 power is also in their hands4 ,it is the drilling and the increase of the troops required for the maintenance of authority which has brought into the social life-conception an element of dissolution4 ,the aim of authority1 and its consequent justification1 is to restrain those men who are endeavoring1 by methods which are detrimental to those of mankind in general1 to promote their own interests4 ,but whether authority has been acquired by force of arms1 or by hereditary succession1 or by election1 men who have gained authority are in no way different from their fellow-men2 they are just like all others1 not inclined to waive their own interests in favor of the many1 but1 since they hold power in their hands1 are more likely to make the interests of the many give way to their own4 ,whatever measures may have been devised by way of restraining those in authority who might seek their own ends at the expense of the public1 or to vest authority in the hands of infallible men1 no satisfactory results have as yet been attained4 ,attributing divine right to kings1 hereditary succession1 election2 congresses1 parliaments1 and senates2--none of these have ever yet proved effectual4 ,everybody knows that no expedient has ever succeeded either in committing authority into the hands of infallible men1 or of preventing its abuses4 ,on the contrary1 we know that men who have the authority1 be they emperors1 ministers of ,state1 chiefs of police1 or even policemen1 always are more liable1 because of their position1 to become immoral1--that is1 to put their own private interests before those of the public1--than men who do not possess such an authority2 and this is inevitable4 ,the social life-conception could be justified only while all men voluntarily sacrificed their private interests to those of the public in general2 but no sooner did men appear who refused to sacrifice their interests1 than authority1 in other words1 violence1 was required to restrain these men4 ,thus there entered into the social life-conception1 and the organization based on it1 a principle containing within itself the germs of dissolution1--the principle of authority1 or the tyranny of the few over the many4 ,in order that the authority held by certain men might fulfil its object1 which is to restrain those who are trying to further their own interests to the detriment of society in general1 it would be necessary to have it in the hands of infallible men1 as is supposed to be the case in ,china1 or as it was believed to be in the ,middle ,ages1 and is even at the present time by those who have faith in consecration by unction4 ,it is only under such conditions that the social organization can be justified4 ,but as no such conditions exist1 and1 furthermore1 as men who are in authority1 from the very fact of its possession1 must ever be far from being saints1 the social organization that is based upon authority cannot possibly have any justification4 ,if there ever was a time when a low standard of morality1 and the general tendency of men toward violence1 called for an authority possessing the power to restrict this violence1 an authority whose existence may have been an advantage1--that is1 when the violence of the ,state was less than the violence of individuals toward each other1--we cannot help seeing now that this prerogative of the ,state1 when violence no longer exists1 cannot go on forever4 ,morals improved in proportion to the gradual decrease of individual violence1 while the prerogative of authority lost ground in measure as it became corrupted by the possession of unbridled power4 ,the entire history of the last #bjjj years will have been told when we have described this change in the relations between the moral development of man and the demoralization of governments4 ,in its simplest form it runs thus3 men lived together in tribes1 in families1 and in races1 and were at enmity one with another2 they employed violence1 they spread desolation1 they murdered one another4 ,thus devastation was on a scale both great and small3 man fought with man1 tribe with tribe1 family with family1 race with race1 nation with nation4 ,the larger and more powerful communities absorbed the weaker ones2 and the greater and more vigorous became the aggregation of men1 the more seldom did one hear of acts of violence within these communities1 and the more secure the continuity of their existence appeared4 ,when the members of a tribe or a family unite together to form one community1 they are naturally less hostile to each other1 and the tribes and families are not so likely to die out2 while among the citizens of a ,state subjected to one authority the contentions seem even less frequent1 and hence is the life of the ,state on a basis still more assured4 ,these fusions into larger and larger aggregates took place1 not because men realized that it would be to their advantage1 as is illustrated by the fable that tells of the falling of the ,varegs in ,russia1 but are due rather to natural growth on the one hand1 and struggle and conquest on the other4 ,when conquest was achieved1 the authority of the conqueror put an end to internal strife1 and the social life-conception was justified4 ,but this justification is only temporary4 ,internal feuds cease only when the pressure of authority is brought to bear with greater weight upon individuals formerly inimical to one another4 ,the violence of the internal struggle1 not annihilated by authority1 is the offspring of authority itself4 ,authority is in the hands of men who1 like all the rest1 are ever ready to sacrifice the common weal if their own personal interests are at stake2 with the sole difference that these men1 encountering no resistance from the oppressed1 are wholly subject to the corrupting influence of authority itself4 ,therefore it is that the evil principle of violence relegated to authority is ever increasing1 and the evil becomes in time worse than that which it is supposed to control3 whereas1 in the individual members of society1 the inclination to violence is always diminishing1 and the violence of authority becomes less and less necessary4 ,as its power increases in measure of its duration1 ,state authority1 though it may eradicate internal violence1 introduces into life other and new forms of violence1 always increasing in intensity4 ,and though the violence of authority in the ,state is less striking than that of individual members of society toward each other1 its principal manifestation being not that of strife1 but of oppression1 it exists none the less1 and in the highest degree4 ,it cannot be otherwise2 for not only does the possession of authority corrupt men1 but1 either from design or unconsciously1 rulers are always striving to reduce their subjects to the lowest degree of weakness1--for the more feeble the subject1 the less the effort required to subdue him4 ,therefore violence employed against the oppressed is pushed to its utmost limit1 just stopping short of killing the hen that lays the golden egg4 ,but if the hen has ceased to lay1 like the ,american ,indians1 the ,fiji ,islanders1 or the ,negroes1 then it is killed1 despite the sincere protests of the philanthropists against that mode of procedure4 ,the most conclusive proof of this assertion1 at the present time1 is the position of the working-men1 who are in truth simply vanquished men4 ,despite all the pretended efforts of the upper classes to lighten their position1 all the working-men of the world are subjected to an immutable iron rule1 which prescribes that they shall have scarcely enough to live upon1 in order that their necessities may urge them to unremitting toil1 the fruits of which are to be enjoyed by their masters1 in other words1 their conquerors4 ,it has always been the case that1 after the long continuance and growth of power1 the advantages accruing to those who have submitted to it have failed1 while the disadvantages have multiplied4 ,thus it is and thus it always has been1 under whatsoever form of government the nation may have lived2 only that where despotism prevails authority is confined to a limited number of oppressors1 and violence takes on a ruder form1 while in the constitutional monarchies1 and in the republics of ,france and ,america1 authority is distributed among a greater number of oppressors1 and its manifestations are less rude2 but the result1 in which the disadvantages of dominion are greater than the advantages1 and the method--reduction of the oppressed to the lowest possible degree of abjection1 for the benefit of the oppressors1 remain ever the same4 ,such has been the position of all the oppressed1 but until lately they have been unaware of the fact1 and for the most part have innocently believed that governments were instituted for their benefit1 to preserve them from destruction1 and that to permit the idea that men might live without governments would be a thought sacrilegious beyond expression2 it would be the doctrine of anarchy1 with all its attendant horrors4 ,men believed1 as in something so thoroughly proved that it needed no further testimony1 that as all nations had hitherto developed into the ,state form1 this was to remain the indispensable condition for the development of mankind forever4 ,and so it has gone on for hundreds1 nay1 thousands of years1 and the governments1 that is to say1 their representatives1 have endeavored1 and still go on endeavoring1 to preserve this delusion among the people4 ,as it was during the time of the ,roman emperors1 so it is now4 ,although the idea of the uselessness1 and even of the detriment1 of power enters more and more into the consciousness of men1 it might endure forever1 if governments did not think it necessary to increase the armies in order to support their authority4 ,it is the popular belief that governments increase armies as a means of defense against other nations1 forgetting that troops are principally needed by governments to protect them against their own enslaved subjects4 ,this has always been necessary1 and has grown more so with the spread of education1 the increase of intercourse among different nationalities2 and at the present time1 in view of the communist1 socialist1 anarchist1 and labor movements1 it is a more urgent necessity than ever4 ,governments realize this fact1 and increase their principal means of defense1--the disciplined army4#ac #ac ,that the abuse of authority exists in ,america1 despite the small number of troops1 by no means refutes our argument2 on the contrary1 it serves rather as a testimony in its favor4 ,in ,america there are fewer troops than in other ,states1 and nowhere do we find less oppression of the downtrodden classes1 and nowhere have men come so near to the abolition of governmental abuses1 and even of government itself4 ,however1 it is in ,america that1 owing to the growing unity among the working-men1 voices have been heard1 more and more frequently of late1 calling for an increase of troops1 and this when no foreign invasion threatens the ,states4 ,the ruling classes are fully aware that an army of #ej1jjj men is insufficient1 and1 having lost confidence in ,pinkerton's forces1 they believe that their salvation can only be secured by the increase of the army4 ,it was but recently that in the ,german ,reichstag1 in giving the reason why more money was needed to increase the pay of the subaltern officers1 the ,german ,chancellor answered candidly that trusty subaltern officers are needed in order to fight against socialism4 ,caprivi put into words what every one knows1 although it has been carefully concealed from the people4 ,the reason why the ,swiss and ,scottish ,guards were hired to protect the popes and the ,french kings1 and why the ,russian regiments are so carefully shuffled1 is in order that those which are posted in the interior may be recruited by men from the borders1 and those on the borders by men from the interior4 ,the meaning of ,caprivi's reply1 translated into simple1 everyday language1 means that money is needed1 not to repel a foreign enemy1 but to bribe the subaltern officers to hold themselves in readiness to act against the oppressed working-men4 ,caprivi incidentally expressed what every man knows--or if he does not know it he feels it--namely1 that the existing system of life is such as it is1 not because it is natural for it to be so1 or that the people are content to have it so1 but because violence on the part of governments1 the army1 with its bribed subaltern officers1 its captains and generals1 sustains it4 ,if a working-man has no land1 if he is not allowed to enjoy the natural right possessed by every man1 to draw from the soil the means of subsistence for himself and his family1 it is not so because the people oppose it1 but because the right to grant or to withhold this privilege from working-men is given to certain individuals--namely1 to the landed proprietors4 ,and this unnatural order of things is maintained by the troops4 ,if the enormous wealth earned and saved by working-men is not regarded as common property1 but as something to be enjoyed by the chosen few2 if certain men are invested with the power of levying taxes on labor1 and with the right of using that money for whatsoever purposes they deem necessary2 if the strikes of the working-men are suppressed1 and the trusts of the capitalists are encouraged2 if certain men are allowed to choose in the matter of religious and civil education and the instruction of children2 if to certain others the right is given to frame laws which all men must obey1 and if they are to enjoy the control of human life and property1--all this is not because the people wish it1 or because it has come about in the course of nature1 but because the governments will have it so for their own advantage and that of the ruling classes2 and all this is accomplished by means of physical violence4 ,if every man is not yet aware of this1 he will find it out whenever attempts are made to change the present order of things4 ,and therefore all the governments and the ruling classes stand in need of troops above all things1 in order to maintain a system of life which1 far from having developed from the needs of the people1 is often detrimental to them1 and is only advantageous for the government and the ruling classes4 ,every government requires troops to enforce obedience1 that it may profit by the labor of its subjects4 ,but no government exists alone3 side by side with it stands the government of the adjacent country1 which is also profiting by the enforced labor of its subjects1 and ever ready to pounce upon its neighbor and take possession of the goods which it has won from the labor of its own subjects4 ,hence it is that every government needs an army1 not only for home use1 but to guard its plunder from foreign depredations4 ,thus each government finds itself obliged to outdo its neighbor in the increase of its army1 and1 as ,montesquieu said one hundred and fifty years ago1 the expansion of armies is a veritable contagion4 ,one ,state makes additions to its army in order to overawe its own subjects2 its neighbor takes alarm1 and straightway follows the example4 ,armies have reached the millions which they now number not only from the fear of foreign invasion2 the increase was first caused by the necessity for putting down all attempts at rebellion on the part of the subjects of the ,state4 ,the causes for the expansion of armies are contemporary1 the one depending on the other2 armies are needed against internal attempts at revolt1 as well as for external defense4 ,the one depends upon the other4 ,the despotism of governments increases exactly in proportion to the increase of their strength and their internal successes1 and their foreign aggression with the increase of internal despotism4 ,european governments try to outdo one another1 ever increasing their armaments1 and compelled at last to adopt the expedient of a general conscription as a means of enrolling the greatest number of troops at the smallest possible expense4 ,germany was the first to whom this plan suggested itself4 ,and no sooner was it done by one nation than all the others were forced to do likewise4 ,thus all the citizens took up arms to assist in upholding the wrongs that were committed against them2 in fact1 they became their own oppressors4 ,general military conscription was the inevitable and logical consummation at which it was but natural to arrive2 at the same time it is the last expression of the innate contradiction of the social life-conception which sprang into existence when violence was required for its support4 ,general military conscription made this contradiction a conspicuous fact4 ,indeed1 the very significance of the social life-conception consists in this1--that a man1 realizing the cruelty of the struggle of individuals among themselves1 and the peril that the individual incurs1 seeks protection by transferring his private interests to a social community2 whereas the result of the system of conscription is that men1 after having made every sacrifice to escape from the cruel struggle and uncertainties of life1 are once more called upon to undergo all the dangers they had hoped to escape1 and moreover1 the community--the ,state for which the individuals gave up their previous advantages--is now exposed to the same risk of destruction from which the individual himself formerly suffered4 ,governments should have set men free from the cruelty of the personal struggle1 and given them confidence in the inviolable structure of ,state life2 but instead of doing this they impose on individuals a repetition of the same dangers1 with this difference1 that in the place of struggle between individuals of the same group1 it is a case of struggle between groups4 ,the establishment of a general military conscription is like the work of a man who props a crumbling house4 ,the walls have settled1 sloping inward--he braces them2 the ceiling begins to hang down--he supports that2 and when the boards between give way1 other braces are supplied4 ,at last it reaches the point when1 although the braces hold the house together1 they actually make it uninhabitable4 ,the same may be said of the general conscription system4 ,the general military conscription nullifies all those advantages of social life which it is expected to protect4 ,the advantages of social life are those guarantees which it offers for the protection of property and labor1 as well as coperation for the purposes of mutual advantage2 the general military conscription destroys all this4 ,the taxes collected from the people for purposes of war absorb the greater part of the productions of their labor1 which the army ought to protect4 ,when men are taken from the ordinary avocations of daily life1 labor is practically destroyed4 ,where war is ever threatening to break forth1 it does not seem worth while to improve social conditions4 ,if a man had formerly been told that unless he submitted to the civil authority he would run the risk of being assaulted by wicked men1 that he would be in danger from domestic as well as from foreign foes1 against whom he would be forced to defend himself1 that he might be murdered1 and therefore he would find it for his advantage to suffer certain privations if by that means he succeeded in escaping all these perils1 he might have believed this1 especially as the sacrifices required by the ,state promised him the hope of a peaceful existence within the well-established community in whose name he had made them4 ,but now1 when these sacrifices are not only multiplied1 but the promised advantages are not realized1 it is quite natural for men to think that their subjection to authority is utterly useless4 ,but the fatal significance of the general conscription1 as the manifestation of that contradiction which dwells in the social life-conception1 lies not in this4 ,wherever military conscription exists1 every citizen who becomes a soldier likewise becomes a supporter of the ,state system1 and a participant in whatsoever the ,state may do1 at the same time that he does not acknowledge its validity2 and this may be called its chief manifestation4 ,governments declare that armies are principally required for external defense2 but this is untrue4 ,they are1 in the first place1 needed to overawe their own subjects1 and every man who yields to military conscription becomes an involuntary participator in all the oppressive acts of government toward its subjects4 ,it is necessary to remember what goes on in every ,state in the name of order and the welfare of the community1 all the while enforced by military authority1 to be convinced that every man who fulfils military duty becomes a participant in acts of the ,state of which he cannot approve4 ,every dynastic and political feud1 all the executions resulting from such feuds1 the crushing of rebellions1 the use of the military in dispersing mobs1 in putting down strikes1 all extortionate taxation1 the injustice of land ownership and the limitations of freedom of labor1--all this is done1 if not directly by the troops1 then by the police supported by the troops4 ,he who performs his military duty becomes a participant in all these acts1 about which he often feels more than dubious1 and which are in most cases directly opposed to his conscience4 ,men do not wish to leave the land which they have tilled for generations2 they do not wish to disperse on the bidding of the government2 they do not wish to pay the taxes which are extorted from them2 neither do they willingly submit to laws which they have not helped to make2 they do not wish to give up their nationality4 ,and ,i1 if ,i am performing military duty1 must come forward and strike these men down4 ,i cannot take part in such proceedings without asking myself if they be right4 ,and ought ,i to coperate in carrying them out8 ,general military conscription is the last step in the process of coercion required by governments for the support of the whole structure2 for subjects it is the extreme limit of obedience4 ,it is the keystone of the arch that supports the walls1 the abstraction of which would destroy the whole fabric4 ,the time has come when the ever growing abuses of governments1 and their mutual contests1 have required from all their subjects not only material but moral sacrifices1 till each man pauses and asks himself1 ,can ,i make these sacrifices8 ,and for whose sake am ,i to make them8 ,these sacrifices are demanded in the name of the ,state4 ,in the name of the ,state ,i am asked to give up all that makes life dear to a man1--peace1 family1 safety1 and personal dignity4 ,what1 then1 is this ,state in whose name such appalling sacrifices are demanded8 ,and of what use is it8 ,we are told that the ,state is necessary1 in the first place1 because were it not for that no man would be safe from violence and the attacks of wicked men2 in the second place1 without the ,state we should be like savages1 possessing neither religion1 morals1 education1 instruction1 commerce1 means of communication1 nor any other social institutions2 and1 in the third place1 because without the ,state we should be subject to the invasion of the neighboring nations4 ,were it not for the ,state1 we are told1 we should be subjected to violence and to the attacks of evil men in our own land4 ,but who are these evil men from whose violence and attacks the government and the army saves us8 ,if such men existed three or four centuries ago1 when men prided themselves on their military skill and strength of arm1 when a man proved his valor by killing his fellow-men1 we find none such at the present time3 men of our time neither use nor carry weapons1 and1 believing in the precepts of humanity and pity for their neighbors1 they are as desirous for peace and a quiet life as we are ourselves4 ,hence this extraordinary class of marauders1 against whom the ,state might defend us1 no longer exists4 ,but if1 when they speak of the men from whose attacks the government defends us1 we understand that they mean the criminal classes1 in that case we know that they are not extraordinary beings1 like beasts of prey among sheep1 but are men very much like ourselves1 who are naturally just as reluctant to commit crimes as those against whom they commit them4 ,we know now that threats and punishments are powerless to decrease the numbers of such men1 but that their numbers may be decreased by change of environment and by moral influence4 ,hence the theory of the necessity of ,state violence in order to protect mankind against evil-doers1 if it had any foundation three or four centuries ago1 has none whatever at the present time4 ,one might say quite the reverse nowadays1 for the activity of governments1 with their antiquated and merciless methods of punishment1 their galleys1 prisons1 gallows1 and guillotines1 so far below the general plane of morality1 tends rather to lower the standard of morals than to elevate it1 and therefore rather to increase than to lessen the number of criminals4 ,it is said that without the ,state there would be no institutions1 educational1 moral1 religious1 or international2 there would be no means of communication4 ,were it not for the ,state1 we should be without organizations necessary to all of us4 ,an argument like this could only have had a basis several centuries ago4 ,if there ever was a time when men had so little international communication1 and were so unused to intercourse or interchange of thought that they could not come to an agreement on matters of general interest--commercial1 industrial1 or economical--without the assistance of the ,state1 such is not the case at present4 ,the widely diffused means of communication and transmission of thought have achieved this result1--that when the modern man desires to found societies1 assemblies1 corporations1 congresses1 scientific1 economical1 or political institutions1 not only can he easily dispense with the assistance of governments1 but in the majority of cases governments are more of a hindrance than a help in the pursuit of such objects4 ,since the end of the last century almost every progressive movement on the part of mankind has been not only discouraged1 but invariably hampered1 by governments4 ,such was the case with the abolition of corporal punishment1 torture1 and slavery2 with the establishment of freedom of the press and liberty of meeting4 ,furthermore1 ,state authorities and governments nowadays not only do not coperate1 but they directly hinder the activity by means of which men work out new forms of life4 ,the solution of labor and land questions1 of political and religious problems1 is not only unencouraged1 but distinctly opposed1 by the government authority4 ,if there were no ,state and government authority1 nations would be subjugated by their neighbors4 ,it is not worth while to answer this last argument4 ,it refutes itself4 ,we are told that the government and its armies are necessary for our defense against the neighboring ,states which might subject us4 ,but all the governments say this of one another2 and yet we know that every ,european nation professes the same principles of liberty and fraternity1 and therefore needs no defense against its neighbor4 ,but if one speaks of defense against barbarians1 then one per cent of the troops under arms at the present time would suffice4 ,it is not only that the increase of armed force fails to protect us from danger of attack from our neighbors1 it actually provokes the very attack which it deprecates4 ,hence no man who reflects on the significance of the ,state1 in whose name he is required to sacrifice his peace1 his safety1 and his life1 can escape the conviction that there is no longer any reasonable ground for such sacrifices4 ,even regarding the subject theoretically1 a man must realize that the sacrifices demanded by the ,state are without sufficient reason2 and when he considers the matter from a practical point of view1 weighing all the different conditions in which he has been placed by the ,state1 every man must see that so far as he himself is concerned1 the fulfilment of the requirements of the ,state and his own subjection to military conscription is indubitably and in every case less advantageous for him than if he refused to comply with it4 ,if the majority of people prefer obedience to insubordination1 it is not because they have given the subject dispassionate consideration1 weighing the advantages and disadvantages1 but because they are1 so to speak1 under the influence of hypnotic suggestion4 ,men submit to demands like this without using their reason or making the least effort of the will4 ,it requires independent reasoning1 as well as effort1 to refuse submission1--effort which some men are incapable of making4 ,but supposing we exclude the moral significance of submission and non-submission1 and consider only their advantages1 then non-submission will always prove more advantageous than submission4 ,whoever ,i may be1 whether ,i belong to the well-to-do--the oppressing class--or to the oppressed laboring class1 in either case the disadvantages of non-submission are less numerous than the disadvantages of submission1 and the advantages of non-submission greater than those of submission4 ,if ,i belong to the oppressive1 which is the smallest class1 and refuse to submit to the demands of the government1 ,i shall be tried as one who refuses to fulfil his obligations1--,i shall be tried1 and in case my trial terminates favorably1 ,i shall either be declared not guilty1 or ,i may be dealt with as they treat the ,mennonites in ,russia--that is1 be compelled to serve my term of military service by performing some non-military work2 if1 on the contrary1 an unfavorable verdict is rendered1 ,i shall be condemned to exile or imprisonment for two or three years 7,i am speaking of cases in ,russia72 or possibly my term of imprisonment may be longer4 ,and ,i may even be condemned to suffer the penalty of death1 although that is not at all probable4 ,such are the disadvantages of non-submission4 ,the disadvantages of submission are as follows3--,if ,i am fortunate ,i shall not be sent to murder men1 neither shall ,i run the risk myself of being disabled or killed2 they will simply make a military slave of me4 ,i shall be arrayed in the garments of a clown2 my superior officers1 from the corporal to the field-marshal1 will order me about4 ,at their word of command ,i shall be put through a series of gymnastic contortions1 and after being detained from one to five years ,i shall be released1 but still obliged for ten years longer to hold myself in readiness at any moment ,i may be summoned to execute the orders these people give me4 ,and if ,i am less fortunate ,i shall be sent to the wars1 still in the same condition of slavery1 and there ,i shall be forced to slay fellow-men of other countries who never did me any harm4 ,or ,i may be sent to a place where ,i may be mutilated or killed2 perhaps find myself1 as at ,sevastopol1 sent to certain death2 these things happen in every war4 ,worse than all things else1 ,i may be sent to fight against my fellow-countrymen1 and compelled to kill my own brethren for some matter dynastic or governmental1 and to me of foreign interest4 ,such are the comparative disadvantages4 ,the comparative advantages of submission and non-submission are as follows3--,for him who has submitted the advantages are these3 after he has subjected himself to all the degradations and committed all the cruel deeds required of him1 he may1 provided he be not killed1 receive some scarlet or golden bauble to decorate his clown's attire2 or if he be especially favored1 hundreds of thousands of just such brutal men like himself may be put under his command1 and he be called field-marshal1 and receive large sums of money4 ,by refusing to submit he will possess the advantages of preserving his manly dignity1 of winning the respect of good men1 and1 above all1 he will enjoy the assurance that he is doing ,god's business1 and therefore an unquestionable benefit to mankind4 ,such are the advantages and disadvantages1 on either side1 for the oppressor1 a member of the wealthy class4 ,for a man of the working-class--a poor man--the advantages and disadvantages are about the same1 if we include one important addition to the disadvantages4 ,the special disadvantage for a man of the working-class who has not refused to perform military service is that1 when he enters the service1 his participation and his tacit consent go toward confirming the oppression in which he finds himself4 ,but the question concerning the ,state1 whether its continued existence is a necessity1 or whether it would be wiser to abolish it1 cannot be decided by discussion on its usefulness for the men who are required to support it by taking part in the military service1 and still less by weighing the comparative advantages and disadvantages of submission or non-submission for the individual himself4 ,it is decided irrevocably and without appeal by the religious consciousness1 by the conscience of each individual1 to whom no sooner does military conscription become a question than it is followed by that of the necessity or non-necessity of the ,state4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,certainty ,,of ,,the ,,acceptance ,,of ,,the ,,christian ,,doctrine ,,of ,,non-,,resistance ,,to ,,evil ,,by ,,violence ,,by ,,the ,,men ,,of ,,our ,,world ,christianity is not a legislation but a new life-conception2 hence it was not obligatory1 nor has it been accepted by all men in its full meaning1 but only by a few2 the rest have accepted it in a corrupted form--,moreover1 ,christianity is a prophecy of the disappearance of the pagan life1 and therefore of the necessity of accepting the ,christian doctrine--,non-resistance of evil by violence is one of the principles of the ,christian doctrine which must inevitably be accepted by men at the present day--,two methods of solving every struggle--,the first method consists in believing the general definitions of evil to be binding upon all1 and to resist this evil by violence--,the second1 the ,christian method1 consists in not resisting evil by violence--,although the failure of the first method was recognized in the first centuries of ,christianity1 it is still employed2 but as humanity advanced it has become more evident that there is not1 nor can there be1 a general definition of evil--,now this has become evident to all1 and if the violence which is destined to combat evil exists1 it is not because it is considered necessary1 but because men do not know how to dispense with it--,the difficulty of dispensing with it is due to the skilfulness and complexity of political violence--,this violence is supported by four methods3 by threats1 bribes1 hypnotism1 and the employment of military force--,deliverance from ,state violence cannot be accomplished by overthrowing the ,state--,through experience of the misery of pagan life men are compelled to acknowledge the doctrine of ,christ1 with its non-resistance to evil1--a doctrine which they have hitherto ignored--,to this same necessity of acknowledging the ,christian doctrine we are brought by the consciousness of its truth--,this consciousness is in utter contradiction to our life1 and is especially evident in regard to general military conscription2 but1 in consequence of habit and the four methods of ,state violence1 men do not see this inconsistency of ,christianity with the duties of a soldier--,men do not see it even when the authorities themselves show them plainly all the immorality of the duties of a soldier--,the call of the general conscription is the extreme trial for every man1--the command to choose between the ,christian doctrine of non-resistance or servile submission to the existing organization of the ,state--,men generally submit to the demands of the ,state organization1 renouncing all that is sacred1 as though there were no other issue--,for men of the pagan life-conception1 indeed1 no other issue does exist2 they are compelled to acknowledge it1 regardless of all the dreadful calamities of war--,society composed of such men must inevitably perish1 and no social changes can save it--,the pagan life has reached its last limits2 it works its own destruction4 ,it is frequently said that if ,christianity be a truth1 it would have been accepted by all men on its first appearance1 and would straightway have changed and improved the lives of men4 ,one might as well say that if the seed is alive it must instantly sprout and produce its flower or its fruit4 ,the ,christian doctrine is not a law which1 being introduced by violence1 can forthwith change the life of mankind4 ,christianity is a life-conception more lofty and excellent than the ancient2 and such a new conception of life cannot be enforced2 it must be adopted voluntarily1 and by two processes1 the spiritual or interior process1 and the experimental or external process4 ,some men there are--but the smaller proportion--who instantly1 and as though by prophetic intuition1 divine the truth1 surrender themselves to its influence1 and live up to its precepts2 others--and they are the majority--are brought to the knowledge of the truth1 and the necessity for its adoption1 by a long series of errors1 by experience and suffering4 ,it is to this necessity of adopting the doctrine by the external process of experience that ,christendom has at last arrived4 ,now and then one wonders why the mistaken presentment of ,christianity1 which even at the present time prevents men from accepting it in its true significance1 could have been necessary4 ,and yet the very errors1 having brought men to their present position1 have been the medium through which it has become possible for the majority to accept ,christianity in its true meaning4 ,if instead of that corrupted form of ,christianity which was given to the people1 it had been offered to them in its purity1 the greater portion of mankind would have refused it1 like the ,asiatic peoples to whom it is yet unknown4 ,but having once accepted it in its corrupted form1 the nations embracing it were subjected to its slow but sure influence1 and by a long succession of errors1 and the suffering that ensued therefrom1 have now been brought to the necessity of adopting it in its true meaning4 ,the erroneous presentation of ,christianity1 and its acceptance by the majority of mankind1 with all its errors1 was then a necessity1 just as the seed1 if it is to sprout1 must for a time be buried in the soil4 ,the ,christian doctrine is the doctrine of truth as well as of prophecy4 ,eighteen hundred years ago the ,christian doctrine revealed to men the true conduct of life1 and at the same time foretold the result of disobeying its injunctions and of continuing to pursue their former course1 guided only by the precepts which were taught before the dawn of ,christianity2 and it also showed them what life may become if they accept the ,christian doctrine and obey its dictates4 ,having taught in the ,sermon on the ,mount those precepts by which men should order their daily lives1 ,christ said3 ,therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine1 and doeth them1 ,i will liken him unto a wise man1 which built his house upon a rock3 and the rain descended1 and the floods came1 and the winds blew1 and beat upon that house2 and it fell not3 for it was founded upon a rock4 ,and every one that heareth these sayings of mine1 and doeth them not1 shall be likened unto a foolish man1 which built his house upon the sand3 and the rain descended1 and the floods came1 and the winds blew1 and beat upon that house2 and it fell3 and great was the fall of it 7,matthew vii4 #bd-bg74 ,and thus1 after eighteen centuries1 the prophecy has been fulfilled4 ,as the result of the abandonment of ,christ's teachings1 having disregarded the principle of non-resistance to evil1 men have unwittingly fallen into the condition of imminent peril foretold by ,christ to those who refused to follow ,his precepts4 ,men often think that the question of resistance or non-resistance to evil by violence is an artificial question1 which may be evaded4 ,and yet this is the question that life presents to mankind in general1 and to each thinking man in particular1 and it is one that must be solved4 ,in social life1 ever since ,christianity was first preached1 this question has been like the doubt that confronts the traveler when he comes to a place where the road which he has followed divides1 and he knows not which branch to choose4 ,he must pursue his way1 and he can no longer go on without pausing to deliberate1 because there are now two roads from which to choose1 whereas before there was but one2 he must make up his mind which he will take4 ,in like manner1 since the doctrine of ,christ has been made known to men1 they can no longer say1 ,i will go on living as ,i did before1 without deciding the question of resistance or non-resistance to evil by violence4 ,one must decide at the beginning of every fresh struggle whether one ought or ought not to resist by violence that which one believes to be evil4 ,the question of resistance or non-resistance of evil by violence arose with the first contest among men1 for every contest is simply the resistance by violence of something which each combatant believes to be an evil4 ,but before the time of ,christ men did not understand that resistance by violence of whatever the individual believed to be evil--only the same action which seems evil to one man may seem good to another--is simply one mode of settling the difficulty1 and that the other method consists in not resisting evil by violence4 ,before the appearance of the doctrine of ,christ men believed that there could be but one way of deciding the contest1 that of resisting evil by violence1 and acted accordingly1 while each combatant strove to persuade himself and others that what he regarded as evil was in fact the actual and absolute evil4 ,for this purpose1 dating from the oldest times1 men began to invent certain definitions of evil which should be obligatory for all1 and for the purpose of establishing definitions which should be thus binding1 were issued1 either certain laws supposed to have been received in a supernatural manner1 or commands of individuals or of bodies of men to whom an infallible wisdom was ascribed4 ,men used violence against their fellow-men and assured themselves and others that they were but using such violence against an evil acknowledged by all4 ,this was the custom from the most ancient times1 particularly among men who had usurped authority1 and men have been long in seeing its baselessness4 ,but the longer mankind existed the more complex grew its mutual relations1 and the more evident it became that to resist by violence everything that is considered evil is unwise2 that the struggle is not diminished thereby1 and that no human wisdom can ever define an infallible standard of evil4 ,when ,christianity first appeared in the ,roman ,empire it had already become evident to most men that whatever ,nero or ,caligula called evil1 and sought to overcome by violence1 was not necessarily an evil for the rest of mankind4 ,even then men had already begun to realize that the human laws for which a divine origin was claimed were really written by men2 that men cannot be infallible1 no matter with what external authority they may be invested2 and that fallible men will not become infallible because they meet together and call themselves a ,senate1 or any other similar name4 ,even then this had been perceived and understood by many4 ,and it was then that ,christ preached ,his doctrine1 which not only embodied the principle of non-resistance1 but which revealed a new conception of life1 of which the application to social life would lead to the suppression of strife among men1 not by obliging one class to yield to whatsoever authority shall ordain1 but by forbidding all men1 and especially those in power1 to employ violence against others4 ,the doctrine was at that time embraced by a very limited number of disciples1 while the majority of men1 particularly those who were in authority1 although they nominally accepted ,christianity1 continued to follow the practice of resisting by violence whatever they regarded as evil4 ,so it was during the times of the ,roman and ,byzantine emperors1 and so it went on in later times4 ,the inconsistency of an authoritative definition of evil and its resistance by violence1 already apparent in the first centuries of ,christianity1 had grown still more evident at the time of the dissolution of the ,roman ,empire and its subdivision into numerous independent states hostile to one another and torn by internal dissensions4 ,but men were not yet ready to accept the law of ,christ1 and the former method of defining an evil to be resisted by the establishment of laws1 enforced by coercion and binding upon all men1 continued to be employed4 ,the arbiter1 whose office it was to decide upon the nature of the evil to be resisted by violence1 was alternately the ,emperor1 the ,pope1 the elected body1 or the nation at large4 ,but both within and without the ,state men were always to be found who refused to hold themselves bound1 either by those laws which were supposed to be the expression of the divine will1 or by the human laws which claimed to manifest the will of the people2--men whose views on the subject of evil were quite at variance with those of the existing authorities1 men who resisted the authorities1 employing the same methods of violence that had been directed against themselves4 ,men invested with religious authority would condemn as evil a matter which to men and institutions invested with a temporal authority commended itself as desirable1 and vice versa1 and more and more furious grew the struggle4 ,and the oftener men had recourse to violence in settling the difficulty1 the more evident it became that it was ill chosen1 because there is not1 nor can there ever be1 a standard authority of evil to which all mankind would agree4 ,thus matters went on for eighteen centuries1 and at last arrived at their present condition1 which is1 that no man can dispute the fact that an infallible definition of evil will never be made4 ,we have reached the point when men have ceased not only to believe in the possibility of finding a universal definition which all men will admit1 but they have even ceased to believe in the necessity of such a definition4 ,we have reached the point when men in authority no longer seek to prove that that which they consider evil is evil1 but candidly acknowledge that they consider that to be evil which does not please them1 and those who are subject to authority obey1 not because they believe that the definitions of evil made by authority are just1 but only because they have no power to resist4 ,the annexation of ,nice to ,france1 ,lorraine to ,germany1 the ,czechs to ,austria1 the partition of ,poland1 the subjection of ,ireland and ,india to the ,english rule1 the waging of war against ,china1 the slaughter of ,africans1 the expulsion of the ,chinese1 the persecution of the ,jews in ,russia1 or the derivation of profits by landowners from land which they do not cultivate1 and by capitalists from the results of labor performed by others1--none of all this is done because it is virtuous1 or because it will benefit mankind and is essentially opposed to evil1 but because those who hold authority will have it so4 ,the result at the present time is this3 certain men use violence1 no longer in the name of resistance to evil1 but from caprice1 or because it is for their advantage2 while certain other men submit to violence1 not because they believe1 like those of former ages1 that violence is used to defend them from evil1 but simply because they cannot escape it4 ,if a ,roman1 or a man of the ,middle ,ages1 or a ,russian1 such a man as ,i can remember fifty years ago1 believed implicitly that the existing violence of authority was needed to save him from evil1--that taxes1 duties1 serfdom1 prisons1 the lash1 the knout1 galleys1 executions1 military conscription1 and wars were unavoidable1--it would be difficult to find a man at the present time who believes that all the violences committed saves a single man from evil2 on the contrary1 not one could be found who had not a distinct assurance that most of the violations to which he is subjected1 and in which he himself participates1 are in themselves a great and unprofitable calamity4 ,there is hardly a man to be found at the present time who fails to realize all the uselessness and absurdity of collecting taxes from the laboring classes for the purpose of enriching idle officials2 or the folly of punishing weak and immoral men by exile or imprisonment1 where1 supported as they are1 and living in idleness1 they become still weaker and more depraved2 or1 again1 the unspeakable folly and cruelty of those preparations for war1 which can neither be explained nor justified1 and which ruin and imperil the safety of nations4 ,nevertheless these violations continue1 and the very men who realize and even suffer from their uselessness1 absurdity1 and cruelty1 contribute to their encouragement4 ,if fifty years ago it was possible that the wealthy man of leisure and the illiterate laborer should both believe that their positions1 the one a continual holiday1 the other a life of incessant labor1 were ordained by ,god--in these days1 not only throughout ,europe1 and even in ,russia1 owing to the activity of the people1 the growth of education1 and the art of printing1 it is hardly possible to find a man1 either rich or poor1 who in one way or another would not question the justice of such an order of things4 ,not only do the rich realize that the possession of wealth is in itself a fault1 for which they strive to atone by donations to science and art1 as formerly they redeemed their sins by endowing churches2 but even the majority of the laboring class now understand that the existing order is false1 and should be altered1 if not abolished4 ,men who profess religion1 of whom we have millions in ,russia1 the so-called sectarians1 acknowledge1 because they interpret the gospel doctrine correctly1 that this order of things is false and should be destroyed4 ,the working-men consider it false because of the socialistic1 communistic1 or anarchical theories that have already found way into their ranks4 ,in these days the principle of violence is maintained1 not because it is considered necessary1 but simply because it has been so long in existence1 and is so thoroughly organized by those who profit by it--that is to say1 by the governments and ruling classes--that those who are in their power find it impossible to escape4 ,nowadays every government1 the despotic as well as the most liberal1 has become what ,herzen has so cleverly termed a ,genghis ,khan with a telegraphic equipment1 that is1 with an organization of violence1 having for basis nothing less than the most brutal tyranny1 and converting all the means invented by science for the inter-communication and peaceful activities of free and equal men to its own tyrannous and oppressive ends4 ,the existing governments and the ruling classes no longer care to present even the semblance of justice1 but rely1 thanks to scientific progress1 on an organization so ingenious that it is able to inclose all men within a circle of violence through which it is impossible to break4 ,this circle is made up of four expedients1 each connected with and supporting the other like the rings of a chain4 ,the first and the oldest expedient is intimidation4 ,it consists in representing the actual organization of the ,state1 whether it be that of a liberal republic or of an arbitrary despotism1 as something sacred and immutable1 which therefore punishes by the most cruel penalties any attempt at revolution4 ,this expedient has been put into practice recently wherever a government exists3 in ,russia against the so-called nihilists1 in ,america against the anarchists1 in ,france against the imperialists1 monarchists1 communists1 and anarchists4 ,railroads1 telegraphs1 telephones1 photography1 the improved method of disposing of criminals by imprisoning them in solitary confinement for the remainder of their lives in cells1 where1 hidden from human view1 they die forgotten1 as well as numerous other modern inventions upon which governments have the prior claim1 give them such power1 that if once the authority fell into certain hands1 and the regular and secret police1 administrative officials1 and all kinds of procureurs1 jailers1 and executioners labored zealously to support it1 there would be no possibility whatsoever of overthrowing the government1 however cruel or senseless it might be4 ,the second expedient is bribery4 ,this consists in taking the property of the laboring classes by means of taxation and distributing it among the officials1 who1 in consideration of this1 are bound to maintain and increase the bondage of the people4 ,the bribed officials1 from the prime ministers to the lowest scribes1 form one unbroken chain of individuals1 united by a common interest1 supported by the labor of the people1 fulfilling the will of the government with a submission proportionate to their gains1 never hesitating to use any means in any department of business to promote the action of that governmental violence on which their well-being rests4 ,the third expedient ,i can call by no other name than hypnotism4 ,it consists in retarding the spiritual development of men1 and1 by means of various suggestions1 influencing them to cling to the theory of life which mankind has already left behind1 and upon which rests the foundation of governmental authority4 ,we have at the present time a hypnotizing system1 organized in a most complex manner1 beginning in childhood and continued until the hour of death4 ,this hypnotism begins during the early years of a man's life in a system of compulsory education4 ,children receive in school the same ideas in regard to the universe which their ancestors entertained1 and which are in direct contradiction to contemporary knowledge4 ,in countries where a ,state religion exists1 children are taught the senseless and sacrilegious utterances of church catechisms1 with the duty of obedience to authorities2 in the republics they are taught the absurd superstition of patriotism1 and the same obligation of obedience to the government4 ,in maturer years this hypnotizing process is continued by the encouragement of religious and patriotic superstition4 ,religious superstition is encouraged by the erection of churches built from money collected from the people1 by holidays1 processions1 painting1 architecture1 music1 by incense that stupefies the brain1 and1 above all1 by the maintenance of the so-called clergy1 whose duty consists in befogging the minds of men and keeping them in a continual state of imbecility1 what with the solemnity of their services1 their sermons1 their intervention with the private lives of men in time of marriage1 birth1 and death4 ,the patriotic superstition is encouraged by the governments and the ruling classes by instituting national festivals1 spectacles1 and holidays1 by erecting monuments with money collected from the people1 which will influence men to believe in the exclusive importance and greatness of their own ,state or country and its rulers1 and encourage a feeling of hostility and even of hatred toward other nations4 ,furthermore1 autocratic governments directly forbid the printing and circulation of books and the delivery of speeches that might enlighten men2 and those teachers who have the power to rouse the people from its torpor are either banished or imprisoned4 ,and every government1 without exception1 conceals from the masses all that would tend to set them free1 and encourages all that would demoralize them1--all those writings1 for instance1 that tend to confirm them in the crudeness of their religious and patriotic superstition2 all kinds of sensual pleasures1 shows1 circuses1 theaters2 and all means for producing physical stupor1 especially those1 like tobacco or brandy1 which are among the principal sources of national income4 ,even prostitution is encouraged2 it is not only recognized1 but organized by the majority of governments4 ,such is the third expedient4 ,the fourth expedient consists in this3 certain individuals are selected from among the mass of enslaved and stupefied beings1 and these1 after having been subjected to a still more vigorous process of brutalization1 are made the passive instruments of the cruelties and brutalities indispensable to the government4 ,this state of brutality and imbecility is produced by taking men in their youth1 before they have yet had time to gain any clear conception of morality2 and then1 having removed them from all the natural conditions of human life1 from home1 family1 birthplace1 and the possibility of intelligent labor1 by shutting them up together in barracks1 where1 dressed in a peculiar uniform1 to the accompaniment of shouts1 drums1 music1 and the display of glittering gewgaws1 they are daily forced to perform certain prescribed evolutions4 ,by these methods they are reduced to that hypnotic condition when they cease to be men and become imbecile and docile machines in the hands of the hypnotizer4 ,these physically strong young men thus hypnotized 7and at the present time1 with the general conscription system1 all young men answer to this description71 supplied with murderous weapons1 ever obedient to the authority of the government1 and ready at its command to commit any violence whatsoever1 constitute the fourth and the principal means for subjugating men4 ,so the circle of violence is completed4 ,intimidation1 bribery1 and hypnotism force men to become soldiers2 soldiers give power and make it possible to execute and to rob mankind 7with the aid of bribed officials71 as well as to hypnotize and to recruit men who are in their turn to become soldiers4 ,the circle is complete1 and there is no possibility of escape from it4 ,if some men believe that deliverance from violence1 or even a certain abatement of its energy1 may be the result of its overthrow by the oppressed1 who will then replace it by a system which will require no such violence and subjugation1 and if1 so believing1 they attempt to bring this about1 they only deceive themselves and others4 ,so far from improving the position1 these attempts will only render things worse4 ,the activity of such men only strengthens the despotism of governments by giving the latter a convenient pretext for increasing their defenses4 ,for even when1 following a train of circumstances highly demoralizing to the government1--take the case of ,france in #ahgj1 for example1--a government is overthrown by violence and the authority passes into other hands1 this new authority is by no means likely to be less oppressive than the former4 ,on the contrary1 obliged to defend itself from its exasperated and overthrown enemies1 it will be even more cruel and despotic than its predecessor1 as has ever been the case in periods of revolution4 ,if socialists and communists believe that the possession of individual capital is a pernicious influence in society1 and anarchists regard government itself as an evil1 there are1 on the other hand1 monarchists1 conservatives1 and capitalists who look upon the social and communal state as an evil order of society1 no less than anarchy itself2 and all these parties have nothing better to offer by way of reconciling mankind than violence4 ,thus1 whichever party gains the upper hand1 it will be forced1 in order to introduce and maintain its own system1 not only to avail itself of all former methods of violence1 but to invent new ones as well4 ,it simply means a change of slavery with new victims and a new organization2 but the violence will remain1--nay1 increase1--because human hatred1 intensified by the struggle1 will devise new means for reducing the conquered to subjection4 ,this has always been the result of every revolution and violent overthrow of government4 ,each struggle serves but to increase the power of those in authority at the time to enslave their fellow-men4 ,one domain of human activity1 and only one1 has hitherto escaped the encroachments of the governments--the domain of the family1 the economical domain of private life and domestic labor4 ,but now even this domain1 in consequence of the struggle of socialists and communists1 is gradually passing into the hands of the governments1 so that labor and recreation1 the dwellings1 clothes1 and food of the people will by degrees1 if the desires of the reformers are accomplished1 be determined and regulated by the government4 ,the long experiment of ,christian life by nation after nation1 during eighteen centuries1 has inevitably brought men to the necessity of deciding whether the doctrine of ,christ is to be accepted or refused1 and of deciding1 too1 the question of social life dependent thereupon1--the resistance or non-resistance of evil by violence4 ,but there is this difference1--that formerly men could either accept or reject the decision given by ,christianity1 whereas now it has become imperative1 because it affords the sole means of deliverance from that condition of slavery in which1 as in a net1 men find themselves entangled4 ,nor is it alone this sad plight that brings them to this necessity4 ,parallel with the negative proof of the falsehood of the pagan order of things there has been positive proof of the truth of the ,christian doctrine4 ,indeed1 in the course of the eighteen centuries1 the best men in all ,christendom1 through an inner spiritual medium1 having recognized the truths of the doctrine1 have borne witness of it1 regardless of threats1 privations1 miseries1 and torture4 ,these nobler men1 by their martyrdom1 have sealed the truth of the doctrine4 ,christianity penetrated into human consciousness1 not alone by the method of negative proof1 that1 namely1 it had become impossible to go on with the pagan life2 but by its simplifying process1 by its explanation of1 and its deliverance from1 superstition1 and by its consequent spread among all classes of society4 ,eighteen centuries of the profession of ,christianity have not passed in vain for those who accepted it1 even if it were but in outward form4 ,these eighteen centuries have made men realize all the miseries of the pagan state1 even though they have continued to lead a pagan existence1 out of harmony with an age of humanity2 and at the bottom of their hearts they believe now 7and herein lies the only reason for living at all7 that salvation from such an existence can be found in the fulfilment of the ,christian doctrine in its true sense4 ,as to when and where this salvation is to be accomplished1 opinions differ1 according to the intellectual development of men and the prejudices among which they live2 but every educated man recognizes that our salvation is to be found in the fulfilment of the ,christian doctrine4 ,certain believers1 those who consider the ,christian doctrine divine1 affirm that this salvation will be accomplished when all men believe in ,christ and the time of the second advent approaches2 others1 who also have faith in the divinity of ,christ's doctrine1 believe that this salvation will come through the churches1 which1 having got all men within the fold1 will implant in their hearts those ,christian virtues which will transform their lives4 ,others1 again1 who do not accept the divinity of ,christ1 believe that the salvation of men will be accomplished by means of a slow1 continuous progress1 during which the groundwork of pagan life will be gradually replaced by the groundwork of liberty1 equality1 and fraternity--that is1 by the basis of ,christianity4 ,still others there are who preach a new social organization1 and who believe that this salvation will be brought about when1 by means of a violent revolution1 men are forced to a community of goods1 to the abolition of governments1 to collective rather than individual labor--that is1 by the realization of one of the aspects of ,christianity4 ,thus1 after one fashion or another1 all men of our epoch not only renounce the existing order of life as no longer suited to the times1 but acknowledge1 often without realizing it1 and regarding themselves as enemies of ,christianity1 that our salvation lies only in the adaptation to life of a whole or a part of the ,christian doctrine in its true sense4 ,for the majority of men ,christianity1 as its ,teacher has expressed it1 could not be comprehended at once1 but was to grow1 like unto a huge tree1 from the tiniest seed4 ,the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed1 444 which indeed is the least of all seeds3 but when it is grown1 it is the greatest among herbs1 and becometh a tree4 ,and thus it has grown and continues to grow1 if not in manifestation1 then in human consciousness4 ,it is no longer reserved for the minority of men1 who have always understood ,christianity by its veritable truth2 but it is acknowledged by the great majority1 who1 if we are to judge by their social life1 are far removed from it4 ,look at the private life of individuals1 listen to their estimation of human actions as they pronounce judgment on each other2 listen not only to public sermons and orations1 but to the precepts which parents and teachers offer to their charges1 and you will see that1 however far removed from the practice of ,christian truths may be the political or social existence of men who are in bonds to violence1 yet ,christian virtues are admired and exalted by all2 while1 on the contrary1 the anti-,christian vices are unhesitatingly condemned as harmful to all mankind4 ,those who sacrifice their lives in the service of humanity are looked upon as the better men2 while those who take advantage of the misfortune of their neighbors to further their own selfish interests are universally condemned4 ,there may still be men who1 insensible to ,christian ideals1 have set up for themselves other ideals1 such as power1 courage1 or wealth2 but these ideals are passing away2 they are not accepted by all1 nor by the men of the better class4 ,indeed1 the ,christian ideals are the only ones which are recognized as obligatory for all4 ,the position of our ,christian world1 looked at from without1 with its cruelty and slavery1 is indeed appalling4 ,but if we consider it from the standpoint of human consciousness1 it presents a very different aspect4 ,all the evil of our life seems to exist only because it always has existed from all ages1 and the men whose actions are evil have had neither the time nor the experience to overcome their evil habits1 although all are willing to abandon them4 ,evil seems to exist by reason of some cause apparently independent of the consciousness of men4 ,strange and contradictory as it may seem1 modern men hate the very order of things which they themselves support4 ,i believe it is ,max ,mller who describes the astonishment of an ,indian converted to ,christianity1 who1 having apprehended the essence of the ,christian doctrine1 came to ,europe and beheld the life of ,christians4 ,he could not recover from his astonishment in the presence of the reality1 so different from the state of things he had expected to find among ,christian nations4 ,if we are not surprised at the contradiction between our convictions and our actions1 it is only because the influences which obscure this contradiction act upon us4 ,we have but to look at our life from the standpoint of the ,indian1 who understood ,christianity in its true significance1 without any concessions or adaptations1 and to behold the barbarous cruelties with which our life is filled1 in order to be horrified at the contradictions in the midst of which we live1 without noticing them4 ,one has but to remember the preparations for war1 the cartridge-boxes1 the silver-plated bullets1 the torpedoes1 and--the ,red ,cross2 the establishment of prisons for solitary confinement1 experiments with electrocution1 and--the care for the welfare of the prisoners2 the philanthropic activity of the rich1 and--their daily life1 which brings about the existence of the poor1 whom they seek to benefit4 ,and these contradictions arise1 not1 as it might seem1 because men pretend to be ,christians while they are actually heathens1 but because they lack something1 or because there is some power which prevents them from being what they really desire to be1 and what they even conscientiously believe themselves to be4 ,it is not that modern men merely pretend to hate oppression1 the inequality of class distinctions1 and all kinds of cruelty1 whether practised against their fellow-men or against animals4 ,they are sincere in their hatred of these abuses2 but they do not know how to abolish them1 or they lack the courage to alter their own mode of life1 which depends upon all this1 and which seems to them so important4 ,ask1 indeed1 any individual if he considers it praiseworthy or even honorable for a man to fill a position for which he receives a salary so high as to be out of all proportion to the amount of his labor1 as1 for instance1 that of collecting from the people1 often from beggars1 taxes which are to be devoted to the purchase of cannon1 torpedoes1 and other instruments for murdering the men with whom we wish to live in peace1 and who wish to live in peace with us2 or1 to receive a salary for spending his life either in perfecting these instruments of murder1 or in the military exercises by which men are trained for slaughter8 ,ask whether it be praiseworthy or compatible with the dignity of man1 or becoming to a ,christian1 to undertake1 also for money1 to arrest some unfortunate man1 some illiterate drunkard1 for some petty theft not to be compared with the magnitude of our own appropriation1 or for manslaughter not conducted by our advanced methods2 and for such offenses to throw people into prison1 or put them to death8 ,ask whether it be laudable and becoming in a man and a ,christian1 also for money1 to teach the people foolish and injurious superstitions instead of the doctrine of ,christ8 ,whether1 again1 it be laudable and worthy of a man to wrench from his neighbor1 in order to gratify his own caprice1 the very necessaries of life1 as the great landowners do2 or to exact from his fellow-man an excessive and exhausting toil for the purpose of increasing his own wealth1 as the mill-owners and manufacturers do2 or to take advantage of human necessities to build up colossal fortunes1 as the merchants do8 ,every individual would reply not1 especially if the question regarded his neighbor4 ,and at the same time the very man who acknowledges all the ignominy of such deeds1 when the case is presented to him1 will often1 of his own accord1 and for no advantage of a salary1 but moved by childish vanity1 the desire to possess a trinket of enamel1 a decoration1 a stripe1 voluntarily enter the military service1 or become an examining magistrate1 a justice of the peace1 a minister of state1 an uriadnik1 a bishop1 accepting an office whose duties will oblige him to do things1 the shame and ignominy of which he cannot help realizing4 ,many of these men will1 ,i am sure1 defend themselves on the ground of the lawfulness and necessity of their position2 they will argue that the authorities are of ,god1 that the functions of ,state are indispensable for the good of mankind1 that ,christianity is not opposed to wealth1 that the rich youth was bidden to give up his goods only if he wished to be perfect1 that the present distribution of wealth and commerce is beneficial to all men1 and that it is right and lawful4 ,but however much they may try to deceive themselves and others1 they all know that what they do is opposed to the highest interests of life1 and at the bottom of their hearts1 when they listen only to their consciences1 they are ashamed and pained to think of what they are doing1 especially when the baseness of their deeds has been pointed out to them4 ,a man in modern life1 whether he does or does not profess to believe in the divinity of ,christ1 must know that to be instrumental either as a czar1 minister1 governor1 or policeman1 as in selling a poor family's last cow to pay taxes to the treasury1 the money of which is devoted to the purchase of cannon or to pay the salaries or pensions of idle and luxurious officials1 is to do more harm than good2 or to be a party to the imprisonment of the father of a family1 for whose demoralization we are ourselves responsible1 and to bring his family to beggary2 or to take part in piratical and murderous warfare2 or to teach absurd superstitions of idol-worship instead of the doctrine of ,christ2 or to impound a stray cow belonging to a man who has no land2 or to deduct the value of an accidentally injured article from the wages of a mechanic2 or to sell something to a poor man for double its value1 only because he is in dire necessity2--the men of our modern life cannot but know that all such deeds are wrong1 shameful1 and that they ought not to commit them4 ,they do all know it4 ,they know that they are doing wrong1 and would abstain from it1 had they but the strength to oppose those forces which blind them to the criminality of their actions while drawing them on to do wrong4 ,but there is nothing that demonstrates so vividly the degree of contradiction to which human life has attained as the system that embodies both the method and the expression of violence1--the general conscription system4 ,it is only because a general armament and military conscription have come imperceptibly and by slow degrees1 and that governments employ for their support all the means of intimidation at their disposal1--bribery1 bewilderment1 and violence1--that we do not realize the glaring contradiction between this state of affairs and those ,christian feelings and ideas with which all modern men are penetrated4 ,this contradiction has become so common that we fail to see the shocking imbecility and immorality of the actions1 not only of those men who1 of their own accord1 choose the profession of murder as something honorable1 but of those unfortunates who consent to serve in the army1 and of those who1 in countries where military conscription has not yet been introduced1 give of their own free will the fruits of their labor to be used for the payment of mercenaries and for the organization for murder4 ,all these men are either ,christians or men professing humanitarianism and liberalism1 who know that they participate in the most imbecile1 aimless1 and cruel murders2 yet still they go on committing them4 ,but this is not all4 ,in ,germany1 where the system of general military conscription originated1 ,caprivi has revealed something that has always been carefully hidden3 that the men who run the risk of being killed are not only foreigners1 but are quite as likely to be fellow-countrymen1--working-men1--from which class most of the soldiers are obtained4 ,nevertheless1 this admission neither opened men's eyes nor shocked their sensibilities4 ,they continue just as they did before1 to go like sheep1 and submit to anything that is demanded of them4 ,and this is not all4 ,the ,german ,emperor has recently explained with minute precision the character and vocation of a soldier1 having distinguished1 thanked1 and rewarded a private for killing a defenseless prisoner who attempted to escape4 ,in thanking and rewarding a man for an act which is looked upon even by men of the lowest type of morality as base and cowardly1 ,wilhelm pointed out that the principal duty of a soldier1 and one most highly prized by the authorities1 is that of an executioner1--not like the professional executioners who put to death condemned prisoners only1 but an executioner of the innocent men whom his superiors order him to kill4 ,yet more4 ,in #ahia this same ,wilhelm1 the enfant terrible of ,state authority1 who expresses what other men only venture to think1 in a talk with certain soldiers1 uttered publicly the following words1 which were repeated the next day in thousands of papers3-- ,recruits6 ,you have given me the oath of allegiance before the altar and the servant of the ,lord4 ,you are still too young to comprehend the true meaning of what has been said here1 but first of all take care ever to follow the orders and instructions that are given to you4 ,you have taken the oath of allegiance to me2 this means1 children of my guards1 that you are now my soldiers1 that you have given yourselves up to me1 body and soul4 ,but one enemy exists for you--my enemy4 ,with the present socialistic intrigues it may happen that ,i shall command you to shoot your own relatives1 your brothers1 even your parents 7from which may ,god preserve us671 and then you are in duty bound to obey my orders unhesitatingly4 ,this man expresses what is known1 but carefully concealed1 by all wise rulers4 ,he says outright that the men who serve in the army serve himand his advantage1 and should be ready for that purpose to kill their brothers and fathers4 ,roughly but distinctly he lays bare all the horror of the crime for which men who become soldiers prepare themselves1--all that abyss of self-abasement into which they fling themselves when they promise obedience4 ,like a bold hypnotizer1 he tests the depth of the slumber2 he applies red-hot iron to the sleeper's body2 it smokes and shrivels1 but the sleeper does not awaken4 ,poor1 sick1 miserable man1 intoxicated with power1 who by these words insults all that is sacred to men of modern civilization6 ,and we1 ,christians1 liberals1 men of culture1 so far from feeling indignant at this insult1 pass it over in silence4 ,men are put to the final test in its rudest form2 but they hardly observe that a test is in question1 that a choice is put before them4 ,it seems to them as if there were no choice1 but only the one necessity of slavish submission4 ,it would seem as if these insane words1 offensive to all that a civilized human being holds sacred1 ought to rouse indignation1--but nothing of the kind happens4 ,year after year every young man in ,europe is subjected to the same test1 and with very few exceptions they all forswear what is and should be sacred to every man2 all manifest a readiness to kill their brothers and even their fathers1 at the order of the first misguided man who wears a red and gold livery1 asking only when and whom they are to be ordered to kill--for they are ready to do it4 ,even by savages certain objects are held sacred1 for whose sake they are ready to suffer rather than submit4 ,but what is sacred for the man of the modern world8 ,he is told3 ,be my slave1 in a bondage where you may have to murder your own father2 and he1 oftentimes a man of learning1 who has studied all the sciences in the university1 submissively offers his neck to the halter4 ,he is dressed in a clown's garments1 ordered to leap1 to make contortions1 to salute1 to kill--and he submissively obeys2 and when at last allowed to return to his former life1 he continues to hold forth on the dignity of man1 freedom1 equality1 and brotherhood4 ,but what is to be done8 we often hear men ask in perplexity4 ,if every man were to refuse1 it would be a different matter2 but1 as it is1 ,i should suffer alone without benefiting any one4 ,and they are right2 for a man who holds the social life-conception cannot refuse4 ,life has no significance for him except as it concerns his personal welfare2 it is for his advantage to submit1 therefore he does so4 ,to whatever torture or injury he may be subjected he will submit1 because he can do nothing alone2 he lacks the foundation which alone would enable him to resist violence1 and those who are in authority over him will never give him the chance of uniting with others4 ,it has often been said that the invention of the terrible military instruments of murder will put an end to war1 and that war will exhaust itself4 ,this is not true4 ,as it is possible to increase the means for killing men1 so it is possible to increase the means for subjecting those who hold the social life-conception4 ,let them be exterminated by thousands and millions1 let them be torn to pieces1 men will still continue like stupid cattle to go to the slaughter1 some because they are driven thither under the lash1 others that they may win the decorations and ribbons which fill their hearts with pride4 ,and it is with material like this that the public leaders--conservatives1 liberals1 socialists1 anarchists--discuss the ways and means of organizing an intelligent and moral society1 with men who have been so thoroughly confused and bewildered that they will promise to murder their own parents4 ,what kind of intelligence and morality can there be in a society organized from material like this8 ,just as it is impossible to build a house from bent and rotten timber1 however manipulated1 so also is it impossible with such materials to organize an intelligent and moral society4 ,they can only be governed like a drove of cattle1 by the shouts and lash of the herdsman4 ,and so1 indeed1 they are governed4 ,again1 while on the one hand we find men1 ,christians in name1 professing the principles of liberty1 equality1 and fraternity1 on the other hand we see these same men ready1 in the name of liberty1 to yield the most abject and slavish obedience2 in the name of equality1 to approve of the most rigid and senseless subdivision of men into classes2 and in the name of fraternity1 ready to slay their own brothers4#ad #ad ,the fact that some nations1 like the ,english and ,american1 have no general conscription system 7although one hears already voices in its favor71 but a system of recruiting and hiring soldiers1 nowise alters the case as regards the slavery of the citizens under the government4 ,in the former system every man must go himself to kill or be killed2 in the latter1 he must give the proceeds of his labor to employ and drill murderers4 ,the contradiction of the moral consciousness1 and hence the misery of life1 has reached its utmost limit1 beyond which it can go no further4 ,life1 based on principles of violence1 has culminated in the negation of the basis on which it was founded4 ,the organization1 on principles of violence1 of a society whose object was to insure the happiness of the individual and the family1 and the social welfare of humanity1 has brought men to such a pass that these benefits are practically annulled4 ,the first part of the prophecy in regard to those men and their descendants who adopted this doctrine has been fulfilled1 and now their descendants are forced to realize the justice of its second part4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,acceptance ,,of ,,the ,,christian ,,life-,,conception ,,delivers ,,men ,,from ,,the ,,miseries ,,of ,,our ,,pagan ,,life ,the external life of ,christian nations remains pagan1 but they are already penetrated by the ,christian life-conception--,the issue from this contradiction is in the acceptance of the ,christian life-conception--,in it alone is every man free1 and it alone frees him from all human authority--,this deliverance is brought about1 not by a change of external conditions1 but only by a change in the conception of one's life--,the ,christian life-conception demands the renunciation of violence1 and1 in delivering the man who accepts it1 it frees the world from all external authority--,the issue from the present apparently hopeless position consists in every man accepting the ,christian life-conception and living accordingly--,but men consider this method too slow1 and see their salvation in change of the material conditions of life made with the aid of the authority of the ,state--,this method will have no issue1 because men themselves cause the evil from which they suffer--,this is especially evident in regard to the submissive acceptance of military duty1 for it is more advantageous for a man to refuse than accept--,human freedom will be brought about only through the liberation of each individual man1 and already there are signs of this liberation1 which threatens to destroy ,state organization--,the repudiation of the un-,christian demands of governments undermines their authority and makes men free--,therefore instances of such refusals are feared by governments more than conspiracies or violence--,instances1 in ,russia1 of refusals to take the oath of allegiance1 to pay taxes1 to accept passports or positions in the police1 to take part in courts of law1 or to be drafted as soldiers--,similar instances in other countries--,governments know not how to dispose of men who refuse to obey their requirements because of the ,christian doctrine--,these men destroy without a struggle the foundations of governments from the inside--,to punish them would mean for governments to deny ,christianity themselves1 and to contribute to the diffusion of that consciousness from which such refusals spring--,hence the position of governments is a desperate one1 and men who preach the uselessness of personal deliverance only arrest the destruction of the existing system of government founded on violence4 ,the ,christian nations of the present day are in a position no less cruel than that of pagan times4 ,in many respects1 especially in the matter of oppression1 their position has grown worse4 ,a contrast like that of modern and ancient times may be seen in the vegetation of the last days of autumn as compared with that of the early days of spring4 ,in the autumn the outward decay and death correspond to the interior process1 which is the suspension of life2 in the spring the apparent lifelessness is in direct contradiction to the real vitality within1 and the approaching transition to new forms of life4 ,and thus it is as regards the apparent resemblance between pagan life and that of the present day4 ,it exists only in appearance4 ,the inner lives of men in the times of paganism were quite unlike those of the men of our days4 ,in the former the external aspect of cruelty and slavery corresponded with the inner consciousness of men1 a conformity which only increased as time went on2 in the latter the external condition of cruelty and slavery is in utter contradiction to the ,christian consciousness of men1 a contradiction which grows more and more striking every year4 ,the misery and suffering resulting therefrom seem so useless4 ,it is like prolonged suffering in child-labor4 ,everything is ready for the coming life1 and yet no life appears4 ,apparently the situation is without deliverance4 ,it would indeed be so were it not that to men1 and therefore to the world1 there has been vouchsafed the capacity for a loftier conception of life1 which has the power to set free1 and at once1 from all fetters1 however firmly riveted4 ,and this is the ,christian life-conception presented to men #ahjj years ago4 ,a man has but to assimilate this life-conception and he will be set free1 as a matter of course1 from the fetters that now restrain him1 and feel free as a bird who spreads his wings and flies over the wall that has kept him a prisoner4 ,they talk of setting the ,christian ,church free from the ,state1 of granting freedom to or withholding it from ,christians4 ,such thoughts and expressions are strangely misleading4 ,liberty can neither be granted to nor withheld from a ,christian or ,christians4 ,but if there is a question of granting or withholding liberty1 then evidently it is not the true ,christians who are meant1 but only men who call themselves by that name4 ,a ,christian cannot help being free1 because in the pursuit and attainment of his object no one can either hinder or retard him4 ,a man has but to understand his life as ,christianity teaches him to understand it2 that is1 he must realize that it does not belong to himself1 nor to his family1 nor to the ,state1 but to ,him who sent him into the world2 he must therefore know that it is his duty to live1 not in accordance with the law of his own personality1 nor of that of his family or ,state1 but to fulfil the infinite law of ,him who gave him life1 in order to feel himself so entirely free from all human authority that he will cease to regard it as a possible obstacle4 ,a man needs but to realize that the object of his life is the fulfilment of ,god's law2 then the preminence of that law1 claiming as it does his entire allegiance1 will of necessity invalidate the authority and restrictions of all human laws4 ,the ,christian who contemplates that law of love implanted in every human soul1 and quickened by ,christ1 the only guide for all mankind1 is set free from human authority4 ,a ,christian may suffer from external violence1 may be deprived of his personal freedom1 may be a slave to his passions1--the man who commits sin is the slave of the sin1--but he cannot be controlled or coerced by threats into committing an act contrary to his consciousness4 ,he cannot be forced to this1 because the privations and sufferings that are so powerful an influence over men who hold the social life-conception have no influence whatever over him4 ,the privations and sufferings that destroy the material welfare which is the object of the social life-conception produce no effect upon the welfare of the ,christian's life1 which rests on the consciousness that he is doing ,god's will--nay1 they may even serve to promote that welfare when they are visited upon him for fulfilling that will4 ,a ,christian1 therefore1 who submits to the inner1 the divine law1 is not only unable to execute the biddings of the outward law when they are at variance with his consciousness of ,god's law of love1 as in the case of the demands made upon him by the government2 but he cannot acknowledge the obligation of obeying any individual whomsoever1 cannot acknowledge himself to be what is called a subject4 ,for a ,christian to promise to subject himself to any government whatsoever--a subjection which may be considered the foundation of ,state life--is a direct negation of ,christianity2 since an individual who promises beforehand to obey implicitly every law that men may enact1 by that promise utters an emphatic denial of ,christianity1 whose very essence is obedience in all contingencies to the law which he feels to be within him--the law of love4 ,with the pagan life-conception it was possible to promise to obey the will of temporal authorities without violating the laws of ,god1 which were supposed to consist in carrying out such customs as circumcision1 the observance of the ,sabbath1 the utterance of prayer at certain periods1 abstinence from certain kinds of food1 etc4 ,the one did not contradict the other4 ,but ,christianity differs from paganism inasmuch as its requirements are not of an external or negative character2 on the contrary1 they are such as reverse man's former relations toward his fellow-men1 and may call for acts on his part which could not be anticipated1 and consequently are not defined4 ,hence it is that a ,christian can neither promise to obey nor to disobey the will of another1 ignorant as he must be of the nature of its requirements2 not only must he refuse to obey human laws1 but he cannot promise to do or abstain from doing anything definite at any given time1 because he can never tell at what hour or in what manner the ,christian law of love1 on which his life-conception is based1 will demand his coperation4 ,a ,christian1 promising in advance to obey unconditionally the laws of men1 admits by that promise that the inner law of ,god does not constitute for him the sole law of his life4 ,when a ,christian promises to obey the commands or laws of men1 he is like a craftsman who1 having hired himself out to one master1 promises at the same time to execute the orders of other persons4 ,no man can serve two masters4 ,a ,christian is freed from human authority by acknowledging the supremacy of one authority alone1 that of ,god1 whose law1 revealed to him through ,christ1 he recognizes within himself1 and obeys1--that and no other4 ,and this deliverance is accomplished neither by means of a struggle1 nor by the destruction of previous customs of life1 but only through a change in his life-conception4 ,the deliverance proceeds1 in the first place1 from the ,christian's acknowledgment of the law of love1 as revealed to him by his ,teacher1 which suffices to determine the relations of men1 and according to which every act of violence seems superfluous and unlawful4 ,secondly1 because those privations and miseries1 or the anticipations of such1 which influence a man who holds the social life-conception and reduces him to obedience1 seem to him no more than the inevitable consequences of existence1 which he would never dream of opposing by violence1 but bears patiently1 as he would bear disease1 hunger1 or any other misery2 which1 indeed1 have no possible influence over his actions4 ,the ,christian's only guide must be the divine indwelling element1 subject neither to restriction nor to control4 ,a ,christian lives in accordance with the words spoken by the ,master3 ,he shall not strive1 nor cry2 neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets4 ,a bruised reed shall he not break1 and smoking flax shall he not quench1 till he send forth judgment unto victory4#ae #ae ,matthew xii4 #ai1 #bj4 ,a ,christian enters into no dispute with his neighbor1 he neither attacks nor uses violence2 on the contrary1 he suffers violence himself without resistance1 and by his very attitude toward evil not only sets himself free1 but helps to free the world at large from all outward authority4 ,and ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free4#af ,if there were any doubt of the truth of ,christianity there could be no more indubitable proof of its authenticity than the complete freedom1 recognizing no fetters1 which a man feels as soon as he assimilates the ,christian life-conception4 #af ,john viii4 #cb4 ,human beings in their present condition may be likened to bees in the act of swarming1 as we see them clinging in a mass to a single bough4 ,their position is a temporary one1 and must inevitably be changed4 ,they must rise and find themselves a new abode4 ,every bee knows this1 and is eager to shift its own position1 as well as that of the others1 but not one of them will do so until the whole swarm rises4 ,the swarm cannot rise1 because one bee clings to the other and prevents it from separating itself from the swarm1 and so they all continue to hang4 ,it might seem as if there were no deliverance from this position1 precisely as it seems to men of the world who have become entangled in the social net4 ,indeed1 there would be no outlet for the bees if each one were not a living creature possessed of a pair of wings4 ,neither would there be any issue for men if each one were not a living individual1 being gifted with a capacity for assimilating the ,christian life-conception4 ,if among these bees who are able to fly not one could be found willing to start1 the swarm would never change its position4 ,and it is the same among men4 ,if the man who has assimilated the ,christian life-conception waits for others before he proceeds to live in accordance with it1 mankind will never change its attitude4 ,and as all that is needed to change a solid mass of bees into a flying swarm is for one bee to spread its wings and fly away1 when the second1 the third1 the tenth1 and the hundredth will follow suit2 so all that is needed to break through the magic circle of social life1 deliverance from which seems so hopeless1 is1 that one man should view life from a ,christian standpoint and begin to frame his own life accordingly1 whereupon others will follow in his footsteps4 ,but men think that the deliverance of mankind by this method is too slow a process1 and that a simultaneous deliverance might be effected by some other method4 ,just as if bees1 when the swarm was ready to rise1 were to decide that it would be too long a process if they waited for each bee to spread its wings and rise separately1 and that some means must be devised whereby the swarm may rise all at once1 whenever it pleases4 ,but that is impossible4 ,not until the first1 second1 third1 and hundredth bee has unfolded its wings and flown away can the swarm take flight and find for itself a new home4 ,not until each individual man adopts the ,christian life-conception1 and begins to live in conformity with its precepts1 will the contradictions of human life be solved1 and new forms of life become established4 ,one of the most striking events of our time is the propaganda of slavery which is spread among the masses1 not only by the government1 to whom it is of use1 but by those exponents of socialistic theories who consider themselves the champions of freedom4 ,these men preach that the amelioration in the conditions of life1 the reconciliation between actuality and consciousness1 will not be brought about by the personal efforts of individual men1 but that it will evolve itself out of a certain forced reorganization of society by some unknown influence4 ,their theory is that men should not proceed of their own accord to the place where they wish to go1 but that they should have a platform built under their feet1 upon which they may be carried to the spot they desire to reach4 ,hence they must not move as far as their strength will permit1 but all their efforts must be directed toward building this imaginary platform without stirring from their position4 ,there is a theory in economics preached in these days of which the essential principle is this3 the worse the condition of affairs1 the better the prospect2 the greater the accumulation of capital and oppression of the working-man resulting therefrom1 the nearer the day of deliverance2 and therefore any effort on the part of the individual to free himself from the oppression of capital is useless4 ,in regard to the government it is declared that the greater its authority1 which1 according to this theory1 should include the domain of private life1 hitherto uninvaded1 the better it will be1 and hence one should solicit the interference of governments with private life4 ,in regard to international politics1 it is declared that the increase of armies and modes of extermination will lead to the necessity of a general disarmament through the agency of congresses1 arbitration1 etc4 ,and the most surprising part of all is that human lethargy is so profound that men credit these theories1 although the whole structure of life1 and every stage in human progress1 demonstrate their fallacy4 ,men suffer from oppression1 and by way of deliverance certain expedients are suggested for the improvement of their condition1 these means of relief to be administered by authority1 to which they continue to submit4 ,this will naturally tend to augment authority and to increase the consequent oppression of government4 ,of all the errors of humanity there is none that so retards its progress as this4 ,men will do anything in the world to achieve their purpose save the one simple deed1 which it is every man's duty to perform4 ,men will invent the most ingenious devices for changing the position which is burdensome to them1 but never dream of the simple remedy of abstaining from the acts which cause it4 ,i was told of an incident which happened to an intrepid stanovoy1 who1 on arriving in a village where the peasants had revolted1 and whither troops had been sent1 undertook1 like the ,emperor ,nicholas ,i41 to quell the disturbance by his personal influence4 ,he ordered several loads of rods to be brought1 and having gathered all the peasants into the barn1 he entered himself1 shut himself in with them1 and so terrified them by his shouts and threats that in compliance with his commands they began to flog each other4 ,and so they went on flogging one another until some fool revolted1 and1 shouting to his comrades1 bade them leave off4 ,it was not until then that the flogging ceased1 and the stanovoy escaped from the barn4 ,it is this very advice of the fool that men who believe in the necessity of civil government seem unable to follow4 ,they are unable to stop punishing themselves1 and setting an absurd example for others to imitate4 ,such is the consummation of merely human wisdom4 ,is it possible1 indeed1 to imagine a more striking imitation of those men flogging one another than the meekness with which the men of these days fulfil those social duties that lead them into bondage1 especially the military conscription8 ,it is clear that men enslave themselves2 they suffer from this slavery1 and yet they believe it inevitable2 they also believe that it will not affect the ultimate emancipation of mankind1 which they declare the final outcome1 in spite of the fact that slavery is ever increasing4 ,the man of modern times1 whoever he may be 7,i do not mean a true ,christian71 educated or ignorant1 a believer or an unbeliever1 rich or poor1 married or single1 does his work1 takes his pleasures1 and dreads all restrictions and privations1 all enmity and suffering4 ,thus he is living1 peaceably4 ,suddenly men come to him and say3 ,first1 promise on your oath that you will obey us like a slave in all that we command2 believe that whatever we tell you is unquestionably true1 and submit to all that we shall call laws4 ,or1 secondly1 give us a share in the product of your labor1 that we may use it to keep you in bondage1 and prevent you from revolting against our commands4 ,or1 thirdly1 choose1 or be chosen among1 the so-called officials of the government1 knowing that the government will go on quite regardless of the foolish speeches which you1 or others like you1 may utter2 that it will be carried on in accordance with our wishes and the wishes of those who control the army4 ,or1 fourthly1 come to the law-courts1 and take part in all the senseless cruelties which we commit against men1 who are erring and depraved men1 and who have become so through our fault1--in the form of imprisonment1 exile1 solitary confinement1 and execution4 ,or1 lastly1 although you may be on the most friendly terms with men who belong to other nations1 you must be ready at a moment's notice1 whenever the command is issued1 to look upon such of them as we shall indicate as your enemies1 and either personally or by substitute contribute to the ruin1 robbery1 and murder of these men1 of old men1 women1 and children--even1 if we require it1 of your fellow-countrymen and your parents4 ,one would think that in these days there could be but one reply from any man in his senses4 ,why must ,i do all this8 ,why must ,i promise to obey all the orders of ,salisbury to-day1 those of ,gladstone to-morrow2 ,boulanger to-day1 and to-morrow the orders of an assembly composed of men like ,boulanger2 ,peter ,,iii4 to-day1 ,catharine to-morrow1 and the next day ,pugatchov2 to-day the insane ,king of ,bavaria1 to-morrow the ,emperor ,william8 ,why should ,i promise this to men whom ,i know to be wicked or foolish1 or men whom ,i know nothing at all about8 ,why should ,i1 in the form of taxes1 hand over to them the fruits of my labor1 knowing that this money will be used to bribe officials1 to support prisons1 churches1 and armies1 to pay for the execution of evil acts destined for my oppression8 ,in other words1 why should ,i apply the rod to my own back8 ,why should ,i go on wasting my time1 averting my eyes1 helping to give a semblance of legality to the acts of wrong-doers1 play a part in elections1 and pretend to participate in the government1 when ,i know perfectly well that the country is ruled by those who control the army8 ,why should ,i go into the courts and be a party to the infliction of tortures and executions upon my erring fellow-beings1 knowing1 if ,i am a ,christian1 that the law of love has been substituted for the law of vengeance1 and if ,i am an educated man1 that punishment1 so far from reforming its victims1 serves only to demoralize them8 ,why should ,i1 in person or in substitute1 go and kill and despoil1 and expose myself to the dangers of war1 simply because the key of the temple of ,jerusalem happens to be in the keeping of one bishop rather than in that of another2 because ,bulgaria is to be ruled by one ,german prince instead of another2 or because the privileges of the seal fishery are reserved for the ,english to the exclusion of the ,american merchants4 ,why should ,i regard as my enemies the inhabitants of a neighboring country1 with whom up to the present day ,i have lived1 and still wish to live1 in peace and amity1--why should ,i go myself1 or pay for soldiers1 to murder and ruin them8 ,and1 above all1 why should ,i contribute1 whether in person or by paying for military service1 to the enslavement and destruction of my brothers and parents8 ,why should ,i scourge myself8 ,all this is of no use to me2 on the contrary1 it does me harm4 ,it is altogether degrading1 immoral1 mean1 and contemptible4 ,why1 then1 should ,i do all this8 ,if ,i am told that ,i shall be made to suffer in any event1 ,i reply that in the first place1 there can be no possible suffering greater than that which would befall me were ,i to execute your commands4 ,and in the second place1 it is perfectly evident to me that if we refuse to scourge ourselves1 no one else will do it for us4 ,governments are but sovereigns1 statesmen1 officials1 who can no more force me against my will1 than the stanovoy could force the peasants2 ,i should be brought before the court1 or thrown into prison1 or executed1 not by the sovereign1 or the high officials1 but by men in the same position as myself2 and as it would be equally injurious and disagreeable for them to be scourged as for me1 ,i should probably open their eyes1 and they would not only refrain from injuring me1 but would doubtless follow my example4 ,and in the third place1 though ,i were made to suffer for this1 it would still be better for me to be exiled or imprisoned1 doing battle in the cause of common sense and truth1 which must eventually triumph1 if not to-day1 then to-morrow1 or before many days1 than to suffer in the cause of folly and evil4 ,it would rather be to my advantage to risk being exiled1 imprisoned1 or even executed1 than remain1 through my own fault1 a life-long slave of evil men1 to be ruined by an invading enemy1 or mutilated like an idiot1 or killed while defending a cannon1 a useless territory1 or a senseless piece of cloth called a flag4 ,i have no inclination to scourge myself1 it would be of no use4 ,you may do it yourselves if you choose--,i refuse4 ,it would seem as though not only the religious and moral element in human nature1 but ordinary common sense and wise counsel1 would influence every man of the present day thus to make reply1 and to suit the action to the word4 ,but no4 ,men who hold the social life-conception consider such a course not only useless1 but even prejudicial to the object in view1--the deliverance of mankind from slavery4 ,they advise us to go on1 like the peasants1 punishing one another1 comforting ourselves with the reflection that our chatter in parliaments and assemblies1 our trade unions1 our ,first of ,may demonstrations1 our conspiracies and covert threats to the governments that scourge us1 must result in our final deliverance1 even though we go on strengthening our fetters4 ,nothing so hampers human liberty as this wonderful delusion4 ,instead of making individual efforts to achieve freedom1 every man for himself devoting all his energies to that object1 through the attainment of a new life-conception1 men are looking for a universal scheme of deliverance1 and are in the meanwhile sinking deeper and deeper into slavery4 ,it is as if a man were to declare that in order to obtain heat one must merely place every lump of coal in a certain position1 never minding whether it kindled or not4 ,and yet that the liberation of mankind can only be accomplished by means of the deliverance of the individual grows more and more evident4 ,the liberation of individuals from the dominion of the ,state1 in the name of the ,christian life-conception1 which was formerly an exceptional occurrence and one that attracted but little attention1 has attained in these days a menacing significance for the authority of ,state4 ,if in the days of ancient ,rome it happened that a ,christian1 professing his faith1 refused to take a part in sacrifices1 or in the worship of the emperors or the gods1 or in the ,middle ,ages refused to worship ikons or to acknowledge the temporal authority of the ,pope1 such refusals were the exception2 a man might be obliged to confess to his faith1 but he might perhaps live all his life without being forced to do so4 ,but now all men1 without exception1 are subjected to trial of faith4 ,every man of modern times is obliged1 either to participate in the cruelties of pagan life1 or to repudiate them4 ,and secondly1 in those days any refusal to bow before the gods1 the ikons1 or the ,pope was of no consequence to the ,state4 ,whether those who bowed before the gods1 the ikons1 or the ,pope were many or few1 the ,state lost none of its power4 ,whereas at the present time every refusal to execute the un-,christian demands of the government undermines the authority of the ,state1 because the authority of the ,state rests on the fulfilment of these anti-,christian requirements4 ,temporal authority1 in order to maintain itself1 has been forced by the conditions of life to demand from its subjects certain actions which it is impossible for men who profess true ,christianity to perform4 ,therefore at the present time every man who professes it helps to undermine the authority of the government1 and will eventually pave the way for the liberation of mankind4 ,of what apparent importance are such acts as the refusal of a score or two of fools1 as they are called1--men who decline to take the oath of allegiance1 to pay taxes1 or to take part in courts of law1 or to serve in the army8 ,such men are tried and condemned1 and life remains unchanged4 ,these occurrences may seem unimportant1 and yet these are precisely the factors that undermine the authority of the government more than any others1 and thus prepare the way for the liberation of mankind4 ,these are the bees who are the first to separate themselves from the swarm1 and1 still hovering near1 they wait for the whole swarm to rise and follow them4 ,the governments are aware of this1 and look upon such occurrences with more apprehension than upon all the socialists1 anarchists1 and communists1 with their conspiracies and their dynamite bombs4 ,a new rgime is inaugurated4 ,each subject1 according to custom1 is required to take the oath of allegiance to the new government4 ,a proclamation is issued1 and all are bidden to assemble in the cathedral to take the oath4 ,suddenly one man in ,perm1 another in ,tula1 a third in ,moscow1 a fourth in ,kaluga1 refuse to take the oath and 7without preconcerted action7 justify their refusal by the same argument1--that the ,christian law forbids the oath2 but1 even were the oath not forbidden1 they could not1 according to the spirit of this law1 promise to perform such evil deeds as the oath requires1--such as reporting those antagonistic to the interests of the government1 defending that government by armed force1 or attacking its enemies4 ,they are summoned to appear before the stanovoys1 spravniks1 priests1 governors2 they are reasoned with1 coaxed1 threatened1 and punished2 yet they adhere to their determination1 and refuse to take the oath4 ,they are asked1 ,is it true that you never took the oath8 ,it is4 ,and what was done to you8 ,nothing4 ,every subject is required to pay his taxes1 and the taxes are paid4 ,but one man in ,charkov1 another in ,iver1 and a third in ,samara1 refuse to comply1 and1 as by one accord1 each man alleges the same reason4 ,one of them says that he will pay after he has learned the object for which his money is to be used4 ,if it is to be used for charity1 he will give of his own free will1 and even more than is demanded of him4 ,but if it is to be applied to evil purposes1 he will give nothing of his own free will1 because1 according to the law of ,christ1 which he obeys1 he can take no part in doing evil4 ,and the others who refuse to pay taxes1 except on compulsion1 express the same idea1 perhaps in other words4 ,those who have property are forced to pay1 and those who have none are simply let alone4 ,then you have not paid your tax8 ,no4 ,and what was done to you8 ,nothing4 ,the passport system is instituted4 ,every man who leaves his home must apply for one1 and pay a tax for it4 ,suddenly1 in different places1 are to be found those who declare that passports should not be used1 that a man should not acknowledge his dependence upon the ,state1 which is supported by violence2 and these men take no passports1 consequently they pay no tax for them4 ,and again1 there are no means of coercing them to comply with the demand4 ,they are imprisoned1 but when after a time they find themselves at liberty again1 they go on living without passports4 ,every peasant is expected to perform police duty as sotsky or dessiatsky1#ag etc42 but some peasant in ,charkov refuses to fulfil this duty1 because1 as he says in explanation of his refusal1 the law of ,christ1 which he professes1 forbids him to arrest1 imprison1 or transport his fellow-men4 ,another peasant in ,iver or in ,tambov makes the same statement4 ,the peasants are threatened1 beaten1 and imprisoned1 but they adhere to their resolution1 and refuse to perform actions contrary to their religious belief4 ,and they cease to be elected sotsky1 and are gradually left in peace4 #ag ,petty rural police4--,,tr4 ,it is the duty of every citizen to serve on the jury4 ,all at once men of widely different classes1--carriage-makers1 professors1 merchants1 peasants1 nobles1--as if moved by a single impulse1 refuse to fulfil this duty1 not for reasons valid in the eyes of the law1 but because the tribunal itself is1 in their opinion1 illegal and un-,christian1 and ought not to exist4 ,these men are fined1 and false reasons are ascribed for their refusal1 the true ones meanwhile remaining hidden from the public4 ,the same treatment is employed in regard to those who1 for similar reasons1 refuse to appear as witnesses in courts of law4 ,these1 too1 are finally left undisturbed4 ,every man at the age of twenty-one must draw lots4 ,suddenly there is found a man in ,moscow1 another in ,iver1 another in ,charkov1 and still another in ,kiev1 who1 as it were by agreement1 go to the department and declare that they will neither take the oath of allegiance nor serve in the army1 because they are ,christians4 ,here are the details of an affair which was among the earlier cases1--of late these refusals have begun to multiply1--a case with which ,i am myself familiar1#ah which is but one example among many4 #ah ,the details of this case are authentic4 ,in the ,city ,hall of ,moscow a young man of average education gives his reasons for refusing to comply4 ,his words are not heeded1 and he is bidden to repeat the words of the oath with the other men4 ,he still persists in his refusal1 and quotes a certain passage in the ,bible that forbids men to take an oath4 ,no attention is paid to his arguments1 and again he is ordered to take the oath1 which he declines to do4 ,whereupon it is taken for granted that he is a sectarian1 and therefore misunderstands ,christianity2 in other words1 that he differs from the priests paid by the ,state4 ,he is then sent under guard to the priests that they may convince him1 which they endeavor to do2 but the arguments uttered in the name of ,christ1 by which they strive to persuade him to deny ,christ1 evidently have no effect on the young man4 ,so they declare him incorrigible1 and send him back to the army4 ,still he openly refuses to take the oath and to fulfil his military duties4 ,it is a case not anticipated by the law4 ,a refusal to comply with the demands of the government cannot be overlooked1 neither can this case be called one of ordinary insubordination4 ,after conferring1 the military authorities decide that1 in order to rid themselves of this objectionable youth1 the better way will be to consider him as a rebel and forward him under military escort to the ,department of the ,secret ,police4 ,the police officials and the gendarmes question the young man1 but his replies will not serve to classify his offense under the heading of any crime that comes within their jurisdiction2 they cannot either accuse him of revolutionary motives1 or of conspiracy1 because he declares that he has no desire to destroy anything whatsoever2 on the contrary1 he opposes all violence4 ,he says that he has nothing to conceal2 he desires only an opportunity for saying and doing all things in the most open manner4 ,and as it resulted with the clergy1 so also with the gendarmes1 who1 though rarely embarrassed as to how to put the law in operation1 can find no pretext for an accusation against the young man1 and send him back to the ranks4 ,once more there is a conference1 and his superiors decide that1 although he has not taken the oath of allegiance1 he is to be regarded as a soldier4 ,he is put into uniform1 his name is entered on the lists1 and he is sent under convoy to his post4 ,here his immediate superiors once more order him to perform his military duty1 and still he refuses to obey1 and in the presence of the other soldiers he states his reasons1 saying that1 as a ,christian1 he cannot of his own free will prepare himself to commit murder1 which was forbidden even by the law of ,moses4 ,all this takes place in a provincial city4 ,the occurrence excites the interest and the sympathy1 not only of outsiders1 but even of the officers1 and therefore there is hesitation about employing the usual punishment for contumacy4 ,however1 for the sake of appearances1 he is thrown into jail1 and a request is sent to the higher military authorities for further instructions in the case4 ,from an official standpoint this refusal to take part in a military organization1 in which the ,czar himself serves1 and which is blessed by the ,church1 must be regarded as insanity1 and therefore the message is received from ,st4 ,petersburg that the young man is probably insane1 and that before any violent measures are used against him he must be sent to the insane hospital4 ,thither he is sent in the hope that he will remain there1 as happened some ten years ago in the case of a young man from ,iver1 who also refused to serve1 and who was tortured in the hospital until at last he was subdued4 ,but in the present instance even this measure fails to relieve the military authorities from this troublesome young man4 ,the doctors examine him1 become interested in him1 and1 discovering no symptoms of insanity1 they return him to his post4 ,he is received1 and pretending that his refusal and its causes are forgotten1 he is once more invited to join the drill1 and again he refuses1 in the presence of other soldiers1 stating his reasons for his refusal4 ,the affair attracts more and more notice from soldiers as well as from civilians4 ,again the question is referred to ,st4 ,petersburg1 and thence comes the order to transfer the young man to the frontier1 where the troops are in active service1 and where1 if he refuses to obey orders1 he may be shot without exciting attention1 as there are but few ,russians and ,christians in that far-away territory1 the majority being foreigners and ,mohammedans4 ,this is done4 ,the young man is ordered to join the ,trans-,caspian troops1 and with other criminals he is delivered into the hands of commanders noted for their severity and determination4 ,meanwhile1 during all these transportations from place to place1 the young man has suffered from harsh treatment1 from cold1 hunger1 and filth1 and his life has been made miserable4 ,yet all these trials do not weaken his resolution4 ,in the ,trans-,caspian province1 where he is once more ordered to serve as a sentry under arms1 he refuses to obey4 ,he consents to stand where he is sent1 beside the hayricks1 but declines to take a weapon in his hand1 declaring that on no account will he use violence against any one whomsoever4 ,all this occurs in the presence of the soldiers4 ,such contumacy cannot go unpunished2 consequently he is court-martialed for an infringement of military discipline1 convicted1 and sentenced to two years' confinement in a military prison4 ,and once again1 with the criminals1 he is sent by tape to the ,caucasus and then thrown into prison1 his fate being left to the discretionary power of the jailer4 ,there he is tortured for a year and a half1 but still his resolution to avoid the use of weapons remains unchanged1 and he continues to explain to every one whom he meets the reasons for his refusal4 ,toward the end of the second year1 before his term has really expired1 he is set at liberty2 and although not in accordance with the law1 they are so anxious to rid themselves of him1 that his imprisonment is accepted as an equivalent of further active service4 ,and in various parts of ,russia others are found who1 as if by a concerted plan1 imitate his example1 and in every case the action of the government is undecided1 vacillating1 and underhanded4 ,some of these men are confined in the insane hospitals1 some are appointed military clerks and sent to serve in ,siberia1 some are made foresters1 others are thrown into prison1 others are fined4 ,at the present time several of these men are imprisoned1 not for their substantial offense1 denying the legality of the acts of the government1 but for disobeying the particular orders of their superiors4 ,for instance1 an officer of the reserve recently failed to give information of the place of his residence1 and declined to serve further in the army2 he was fined thirty roubles for disobeying the orders of the authorities1--and this he declined to pay1 except under compulsion4 ,several peasants and soldiers who refused to take part in a drill and to use weapons were put under arrest for disobedience and contention4 ,such instances of a refusal to comply with the demands of the ,state when opposed to ,christianity1 especially refusals to perform military service1 occur not only in ,russia1 but everywhere4 ,i know that in ,servia1 men from the so-called sect of ,nazarenes steadily refuse to enter the army1 and the ,austrian government has for several years made futile attempts to convert them by means of imprisonment4 ,in #ahhe there were #acj refusals of this kind4 ,i know that in ,switzerland1 in #ahij1 there were men in confinement in the castle of ,chillon for refusing to perform military duty whose determination was not to be influenced by punishment4 ,such refusals have occurred in ,sweden2 the men there also were imprisoned1 and the government carefully concealed the affairs from the people4 ,similar instances occurred in ,prussia4 ,i know of one subaltern officer in the guards who1 in #ahia1 in ,berlin1 announced to his superiors that he1 as a ,christian1 could not continue his military service1 and in spite of all remonstrances and threats he adhered to his resolution4 ,in the south of ,france a community of men called the ,hinschist has recently been established 7my information is derived from the ,peace ,herald of ,july1 #ahia71 who1 as professing the ,christian doctrine1 refuse to perform military duty4 ,at first they were told off to serve in hospitals1 but now1 with the increase of the sect1 they are punished for insubordination1 while they still refuse to bear arms4 ,socialists1 communists1 and anarchists1 with their bombs and their revolutions1 are far less dangerous to governments than these men1 who from different places proclaim their refusals1 all based upon the same doctrine1 familiar to all4 ,every government knows how to defend itself from revolutionists2 it holds the means in its own hands1 and therefore does not fear these external foes4 ,but what can a government do to protect itself from men who declaim against all authority as useless1 superfluous1 and injurious1 offering1 however1 no opposition to authority1 merely rejecting its offices1 dispensing with its services1 and therefore refusing to participate in it8 ,the revolutionists say3 ,state organization is bad1 either for one reason or for another2 it should be destroyed1 and replaced by such and such a system4 ,but a ,christian says3 ,i know nothing of ,state organization1 whether it be good or bad1 and it is for this very reason that ,i do not wish to support it4 ,and ,i cannot undertake submission1 because such submission is contrary to my conscience4 ,all the institutions of the ,state are opposed to the conscience of a ,christian3 the oath of allegiance1 taxation1 courts of law1 armies2 while the whole authority of government is dependent upon them4 ,revolutionary foes struggle against the government1 but ,christianity enters not into this contest2 internally1 it destroys the principles on which government is based4 ,with the ,russian people1 in whose midst1 particularly since the time of ,peter ,i41 the protest of ,christianity against the ,state has never ceased2 in the midst of this people1 where the conditions of life are such that whole communes emigrate to ,turkey1 ,china1 and uninhabited portions of the globe1 who1 so far from needing the government1 always consider it an unnecessary burden1 and only endure it as a calamity1 whether it be ,russian1 ,chinese1 or ,turkish1--the cases of isolated individuals who1 from ,christian motives1 have liberated themselves from the control of government have grown more and more frequent in these latter days4 ,such manifestations are particularly dreaded by the government at the present time1 because the men who protest often belong not to the so-called lower1 the uneducated classes1 but are men of average and even superior education1 and because these men explain their refusals1 not by some mystical belief peculiar to the individual1 as in olden times1 nor do they complicate them with superstition and fanaticism1 like the sects of the ,self-burners or ,bieguni1 but assign as the reason for their refusals the simplest1 most obvious of truths1 patent to and admitted by all the world4 ,thus men refuse to pay taxes of their own free will1 because the money is used to promote violence2 in other words1 to pay the wages of the violators in the army1 for building prisons and fortresses1 or for manufacturing cannon1--in all of which1 as ,christians1 they consider it wrong and immoral to take a part4 ,they refuse to take the oath of allegiance1 for were they to promise to obey the authorities1--that is1 men who use violence1--they must contradict the sense of the ,christian doctrine4 ,they refuse to swear in court1 because an oath is distinctly forbidden by the gospel4 ,they decline police duties1 because in that office they would be compelled to use violence against their brethren and to distress them1 and a ,christian cannot do this4 ,they refuse to take part in courts of law1 because they look upon every tribunal as a vehicle for the law of vengeance1 and therefore incompatible with the ,christian law of forgiveness and love4 ,they decline to have anything to do with military preparations1 or to enter the ranks of the army1 because they neither can nor will be executioners1 nor prepare themselves for such an office4 ,and the reasons alleged for these refusals are of such a nature that1 however arbitrary the governments may be1 they cannot punish openly those who refuse4 ,were the governments to punish men for such refusals1 they would be forced to abjure forever both justice and virtue1 those principles by which1 as they assure us1 all their authority is supported4 ,what are governments to do with these men8 ,of course they have the power to execute1 to imprison1 and to condemn to transportation and penal servitude all enemies who attempt to overthrow them by violence2 they can obtain by bribery half the men they need1 and have at their command millions of armed soldiers1 who are ready to put to death all the enemies of authority4 ,but what can be done with men who wish neither to destroy nor to establish anything1 whose sole desire is to avoid in their own private lives any act that may be opposed to the ,christian law1 and who consequently refuse to perform duties which are regarded by the government as the most natural and obligatory of all8 ,if they were revolutionists1 preaching violence and practising it1 it would be an easy matter to oppose them4 ,some might be bribed1 some deceived1 others intimidated1 and those who could neither be bought1 deceived1 nor intimidated would be manifestly criminals1 enemies of society who1 as such1 could be executed or beaten to death2 and the people would approve the acts of the government4 ,if they were fanatics belonging to some particular sect1 one might1 in view of the superstitions inherent in their doctrine1 refute at the same time what truth their arguments contained4 ,but what is to be done with men who neither preach rebellion nor any special dogmas1 who wish to live in peace with all mankind1 who refuse to take the oath of allegiance or to pay taxes1 or to take part in tribunals1 to perform military service1 and the various duties of a similar nature1 on which the whole organization of the ,state is founded8 ,what is to be done with them8 ,they cannot be bribed4 ,the very risk they are willing to take shows their integrity4 ,neither can they be deceived when these things are represented as the commands of ,god1 because their refusal is based on the indubitable law of ,god1 by which the very men who are trying to coerce them to disobey this law profess to hold themselves bound4 ,it is vain to hope to intimidate them by threats1 because the very suffering and privations which they endure for righteousness' sake serve but to strengthen their devotion to their faith1 whose law distinctly commands them first of all to obey ,god1 to fear not them that kill the body1 but to fear those who can kill both body and soul4 ,neither can they be executed or imprisoned for life4 ,their past lives1 their thoughts and actions1 their friends1 speak for them2 every one knows them to be gentle1 kindly1 and harmless men1 and it is impossible to represent them in the light of criminals whose suppression is needed for the salvation of society4 ,moreover1 the execution of men acknowledged by all to be virtuous would arouse defenders who would endeavor to explain the causes for their disobedience4 ,and when all men are made to recognize the reasons why these ,christians refuse to obey the demands of the ,state1 they cannot fail to acknowledge the same obligation1 and to admit that all men should long since have refused obedience4 ,confronted with these insubordinations1 governments find themselves in a desperate plight4 ,they realize that the prophecies of ,christianity are about to be fulfilled1 that it is loosening the fetters of them that are in bonds and setting men free2 they realize that such freedom will inevitably destroy those who have held mankind in bondage4 ,governments realize this2 they know that their hours are counted1 that they are helpless to resist4 ,all that they are able to do is to retard the hour of dissolution4 ,and this they try to do2 but their position is still a desperate one4 ,it is like the predicament of a conqueror who wishes to preserve the town set on fire by the inhabitants4 ,no sooner does he put the fire out in one place than two other fires break out2 when he separates the burning portion from the main body of a large building the flames burst out at both extremities4 ,these outbreaks are not1 as yet1 of frequent occurrence1 but the spark has been kindled1 and the fire will burn steadily until all is consumed4 ,the position of governments in the presence of men who profess ,christianity is so precarious that very little is needed to shake to pieces their power1 built up through so many centuries1 and apparently so solid in structure4 ,and it is now that the sociologist comes forward1 preaching that it is useless1 and even hurtful and immoral1 for the individual to emancipate himself alone4 ,let us suppose that men have been working for a long time to divert the course of a river2 they have at last succeeded in digging a canal1 and all that remains now is to make an opening and let the water flow through it into the canal2 suppose now certain other men arrive upon the scene and suggest that1 instead of letting the water flow into the canal1 it would be much better to erect over the river some form of machinery1 by means of which the water would be poured from one side to the other4 ,but things have gone too far4 ,governments are aware of their weakness and helplessness1 and men of the ,christian faith are awakening from their torpor1 beginning already to realize their power4 ,i am come to send fire on the earth1 said ,christ4 ,and this is the fire that begins to burn4 ,,chapter ,x ,,uselessness ,,of ,,violence ,,for ,,the ,,destruction ,,of ,,evil4 ,,the ,,moral ,,advance ,,of ,,mankind ,,is ,,accomplished1 ,,not ,,only ,,through ,,the ,,knowledge ,,of ,,truth1 ,,but ,,also ,,through ,,the ,,establishment ,,of ,,public ,,opinion ,christianity destroys the ,state--,which is more necessary1 ,christianity or the ,state8--,there are men who defend the necessity of the ,state1 and others who1 on the same grounds1 deny this necessity--,neither can be proved by abstract reasoning--,the question decides the character of a man's consciousness1 which either allows or forbids him to participate in the organization of the ,state--,realization of the uselessness and immorality of taking part in the organization of the ,state1 which is contradictory to ,christian doctrine1 decides this question for each one1 regardless of the destiny of the ,state--,argument of the defenders of the ,state1 as a form of social life indispensable for the defense of the good from the wicked1 until all nations1 and all members of each nation1 shall have become ,christians--,the more wicked are always those in power--,history is but a recital of the usurpation of power by the bad over the good--,the acknowledgment by authority of the necessity of struggle with evil by violence is equivalent to self-destruction--,the annihilation of violence is not only possible1 but is going on before our eyes--,however1 it is not destroyed by ,state violence1 but through those men who1 obtaining power by violence1 and recognizing its vanity and futility1 benefit by experience and become incapable of using violence--,this is the process through which individual men1 as well as whole nations1 have passed--,it is in that way that ,christianity penetrates into the consciousness of men1 and not only is this accomplished despite the violence used by authority1 but through its agency1 and therefore the abolition of authority is not only without danger1 but it goes on continually as life itself--,objection of the defenders of the ,state system that the diffusion of ,christianity is improbable--,diffusion of ,christian truth interdicting violence accomplished not only slowly and gradually1 by the internal method1 by individual recognition of the truth1 by prophetic intuition1 by the realizing of the emptiness of power and abandonment of it by individual men1 but accomplished also by the external method1 by which large numbers of men1 inferior in intellectual development1 at once1 in view of their confidence in the others1 adopt the new truth--,the diffusion of truth at a certain stage creates a public opinion1 which compels the majority of men who have previously opposed it to recognize the new truth at once--,therefore a universal renunciation of violence may very soon come to pass2 namely1 when a ,christian public opinion shall be established--,the conviction of the necessity of violence prevents the establishment of ,christian public opinion--,violence compels men to discredit the moral force which can alone exalt them--,neither nations nor individual men have been conquered by violence1 but by public opinion1 which no violence can resist--,it is possible to conquer savage men and nations only by the diffusion of ,christian public opinion among them1 whereas the ,christian nations1 in order to conquer them1 do everything in their power to destroy the establishment of a ,christian public opinion--,these unsuccessful experiments cannot be cited as a proof of the impossibility of conquering men by ,christianity--,violence which corrupts public opinion only prevents the social organization from becoming what it should be1 and with the abolition of violence ,christian public opinion will be established--,whatever may take place when violence has been abolished1 the unknown future can be no worse than the present1 and therefore one need not fear it--,to penetrate to the unknown and move toward it is the essence of life4 ,christianity1 faithfully interpreted1 saps the foundations of the civil law1 and this was always understood from the very outset4 ,it was for this that ,christ was crucified2 and until men felt the necessity for justifying the establishment of the ,christian state1 they always accepted that interpretation4 ,the cleverly constructed theories intended to reconcile the doctrines of ,christianity with that of the ,state date back to the time when rulers of nations adopted a nominal external ,christianity4 ,but in these times it is impossible for a sincere and earnest man not to perceive the incompatibility of the ,christian doctrine of love1 meekness of spirit1 and forgiveness of injuries1 with the despotism1 the violence1 and the wars of the ,state4 ,the profession of true ,christianity not only forbids the recognition of the ,state1 but strikes at its very foundations4 ,but if it be true that ,christianity is incompatible with the ,state1 one naturally asks which is the better adapted to promote the well-being of mankind1 the system prescribed by the ,state1 or the precepts of ,christianity8 ,there are those who affirm that the ,state organization is the more indispensable2 they declare that its overthrow would check all human progress1 that no development is possible save through the channels of civil government1 and that all those evils which we find prevailing among nations who live under ,state laws are not the result of the organization1 which permits progress and the attainment of the highest degree of civilization4 ,they who hold these views quote1 in support of their position1 certain historical1 philosophical1 and even religious arguments1 which seem to them irrefutable4 ,but there are others who entertain views diametrically opposed to these4 ,for instance1 they say that the fact of the world having existed at one time without a government1 might be taken to prove the ,state to be only a temporary condition2 that the time was sure to come when men would require a change1 which time had now arrived4 ,to support their theory1 these men in turn adduce historical1 philosophical1 and religious arguments which seem to them irrefutable4 ,volumes may be and have been written in defense of the former position1 and of late years a great deal has been written1 and ably written too1 from the opposite standpoint4 ,it can neither be proved on the one hand1 as the partizans of the ,state claim1 that its destruction would be followed by a general upheaval1 by robberies and murders1 and by the nullification of all social laws1 and the return of man to a condition of barbarism2 nor on the other1 as the enemies of the ,state affirm1 that man has grown so virtuous and well disposed that1 preferring peace to enmity1 he will no longer rob and murder his neighbor2 that he is quite able1 without ,state assistance1 to establish a community1 and conduct his own affairs2 and that the ,state itself1 while assuming an air of protection1 is really exerting a demoralizing influence4 ,it is impossible to prove either one or the other by abstract arguments4 ,and naturally neither point can be proved by experience1 as it is a question first of all of getting the requisite experience4 ,whether or not the time has arrived for abolishing the ,state is a question which could not be answered were it not that we possess other means that will assist us to settle it beyond dispute4 ,it needs no one to tell the young birds when it is time to burst the shell2 they know very well when there is no longer room for them in the eggs1 and begin of their own accord to break the shell and leave it behind4 ,so it is with this question of a change in human affairs4 ,has the time come for men to cast aside the customs of the ,state and establish a new order8 ,when a man's inner consciousness has so developed that he feels himself hampered by the requirements of the ,state1 and can no longer submit to the restraint1 realizing at the same time that he has ceased to need its protecting care1 the question whether or no men have matured sufficiently to enable them to dispense with the ,state is disposed of without reference to former arguments4 ,a man who has outgrown the ,state can no more be coerced into submission to its laws than can the fledgling be made to renter its shell4 ,the ,state may have been necessary at one time1 and for aught that ,i know it may even now serve the purposes you mention1 says the man who holds the ,christian life-conception4 ,i can only say that ,i have no need of it1 nor can ,i conform to its requirements4 ,you must decide for yourself whether it be advantageous or no4 ,i shall not attempt to generalize on the subject with the expectation of proving my point4 ,i only recognize what ,i need and what ,i don't need2 what ,i can1 and what ,i cannot do4 ,i know1 as far as ,i am myself concerned1 that ,i do not need to separate from the men of other nations1 and therefore ,i can neither recognize an exclusive affiliation to this or that one1 nor acknowledge myself the subject of any one government4 ,i need none of the institutions established by the ,state1 and therefore ,i am not willing to surrender the fruits of my labor in the form of taxes to support institutions which ,i believe to be not only unnecessary but positively injurious4 ,i know that ,i need neither magistrates1 nor tribunals founded on and supported by violence1 and therefore ,i can have nothing to do with them2 ,i know that ,i feel no inclination to attack other nations and put their citizens to death1 neither do ,i wish to defend myself against them by force of arms1 and therefore ,i can take no part in wars nor in preparations for wars4 ,doubtless there are men who believe that all these things are an indispensable part of human life1--,i cannot argue with them1--but ,i know that for me they have no meaning1 and that ,i will have nothing to do with them4 ,and this is not a matter of personal selection1 but because ,i must obey the commands of ,him who has sent me into the world1 and has given me an unmistakable law by which ,i am to be guided through life4 ,whatever arguments may be advanced to prove that harm and probably disaster will accrue from abolishing the authority of the ,state1 the man who has already outgrown the ,state ideal cannot possibly be bound by it4 ,and whatever arguments may be adduced to prove its necessity1 he can never return to it4 ,he is like the young bird who can never return to its outgrown shell4 ,but granting this to be true1 say the partizans of the existing order1 we cannot dispense with the supremacy of the ,state until all men are ,christians1 because even among those who claim the title there are many who are very far from being ,christians--evil-doers1 who seek their own gratification at the expense of their fellow-men1 and if the governments were overthrown1 so far from improving the condition of the people1 it would greatly add to their miseries4 ,the subversion of the ,state would be a misfortune1 not only where the minority are true ,christians1 but even supposing the whole people to be so2 while the neighboring nations are still non-,christian1 these latter would make their lives a martyrdom by rapine and murder and all manner of violence4 ,it would serve only to provide the vicious and unprincipled with an opportunity to oppress the innocent4 ,therefore the ,state should not be abolished until all the wicked have ceased from troubling1 which will not happen just at present4 ,hence1 however much certain individual ,christians may wish to escape from the authority of the ,state1 the greater good of the greater number demands its preservation4 ,so say the defenders of the ,state principle4 ,if it were not1 they say1 for ,state authority there would be no protection against the malice and injustice of the oppressor2 that authority alone makes it possible to restrain the wicked4 ,but in uttering these sentiments the partizans of the existing order take it for granted that they have proved the truth of what they assert4 ,when they declare that the evil-doers would ride roughshod over the defenseless and the innocent were it not for the authority of the ,state1 they imply that the governing power is vested at the present time in a body of virtuous men1 who control all the wrong-doers4 ,but this is a proposition which must be proved4 ,it could only be a correct statement if we happened to resemble the inhabitants of ,china1 where it is popularly believed1 although the belief is not justified by fact1 that the good are always in authority1 because should it become known that the rulers are no better than those over whom they rule1 it is the duty of the citizens to overthrow the government4 ,but although this is supposed to be one of the customs of ,china1 it is not1 nor would it be possible for it to be so1 since1 in order to overthrow a criminal government1 one needs the power as well as the right4 ,even in ,china this is a mere supposition1 and in our own ,christian land we have never so much as dreamed of it4 ,as far as we are concerned1 there is no reason to believe that power is in the hands of the virtuous and high-minded1 rather than in those of men who took it by violence and have held it for themselves and their descendants4 ,for surely it would be impossible for a high-minded man to usurp authority by violence and to continue to hold it4 ,in order to gain possession of power1 and to retain it1 one must have a love for it1 and the love of power is incompatible with goodness2 it accords with the opposite qualities of pride1 duplicity1 and cruelty4 ,both the origin and the maintenance of power depend upon the exaltation of the individual1 and the degradation of the people by means of hypocrisy and fraud1 by prisons1 fortresses1 and murders4 ,if ,state authority were to be abolished1 then would the more wicked people dominate over the less wicked1 say the upholders of ,state organization4 ,but if the ,egyptians conquered the ,hebrews1 and the ,persians the ,egyptians1 and the ,macedonians the ,persians1 and the ,romans the ,greeks1 and the barbarians the ,romans1 is it really possible that the conquerors are always better than the conquered8 ,and so with political changes in the ,state2 is the power always transferred to the better men8 ,when ,louis ,,xvi4 was deposed1 and control passed into the hands of ,robespierre1 and when1 later1 he was in turn succeeded by ,napoleon1 was it the better or the worse man who held the power8 ,again1 were they of ,versailles or the communists the better men8 ,charles the ,first or ,cromwell8 ,when ,peter ,,iii4 reigned1 or1 after his murder1 when ,catharine ruled over one part of ,russia1 and ,pugatchov over the other--who then was good and who was wicked8 ,all those in authority affirm that their office is required in order that the unprincipled may be hindered from oppressing the innocent1 implying thereby that they themselves1 being virtuous1 are protecting other virtuous men from the malice of the evil-doer4 ,to possess power and to do violence are synonymous terms2 to do violence means doing something to which the victim of violence objects1 and which the aggressor would resent were it directed against himself4 ,therefore the possession of power really means doing unto others what we should not like if it were done to ourselves1--that is1 harm4 ,obedience signifies that a man holds patience to be better than violence1 and to choose patience rather than violence means to be good1 or1 at least1 not so wicked as those who do unto others what they would not wish to have done to themselves4 ,therefore all the probabilities are that those in authority were in past times1 as they are in present1 worse men than those they ruled over4 ,doubtless there are wicked men among those who submit to authority1 but it is impossible that the better men should rule over the worse4 ,this might be thought in pagan times1 when the definition of goodness was inaccurate2 but with the clear and exact conception of the qualities of good and evil presented by ,christianity before us we cannot imagine it4 ,if in the pagan world they who were more or less good1 and they who were more or less bad1 might not be easily distinguished1 the characteristics of goodness and wickedness have been so clearly defined by the ,christian conception that it is impossible to mistake them4 ,according to the doctrine of ,christ1 the good are those who submit and are long-suffering1 who do not resist evil by violence1 who forgive injuries1 and love their enemies2 the wicked are the vainglorious1 who tyrannize1 who are arrogant and violent with others4 ,therefore1 if we are guided by the doctrine of ,christ1 we shall have no difficulty in deciding where to seek the good and the wicked among rulers and subjects4 ,it is even absurd to speak of ,christians as sovereigns or rulers4 ,the non-,christians--that is1 those to whom life is but a matter of temporal welfare--must always rule over the ,christians1 for whom life means self-denial and disregard of temporal things4 ,and thus it has always been1 and it has been manifested more and more plainly as the ,christian doctrine has become more clearly defined and widespread4 ,the farther true ,christianity extended1 the firmer the hold it gained on the consciousness of men1 the less possible it became for ,christians to belong to the dominant class1 and the easier for non-,christians to gain the ascendancy4 ,to abolish the supremacy of the ,state before all men have become true ,christians would only afford the wicked a chance to tyrannize over the good and maltreat them with impunity1 say the upholders of the existing order4 ,it has always been the same from the beginning of the world until this present time1 and it always will be4 ,the wicked always rule over the good and do violence to them4 ,cain did violence to ,abel1 the astute ,jacob betrayed the trusting ,esau1 and was himself deceived by ,laban2 ,caiaphas and ,pilate sat in judgment on ,christ2 the ,roman emperors ruled over ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 and other high-minded ,romans of those times2 ,ivan ,,iv4 with his ,opritchniks1 the tipsy syphilitic ,peter with his clowns1 the prostitute ,catharine with her lovers1 ruled over the industrious1 ,god-fearing ,russian people of those times1 and trampled upon them4 ,william rules the ,germans1 ,stambulov the ,bulgarians1 and the ,russian officials rule over the ,russian people2 the ,germans ruled over the ,italians1 and now they rule over the ,hungarians and the ,slavs4 ,the ,turks ruled over the ,greeks and now rule over the ,slavs1 the ,english over the ,hindoos1 the ,mongolians over the ,chinese4 ,so we see that whether the tyranny of the ,state is or is not to be abolished1 the position of the innocent1 who are oppressed by the tyrants1 will not be materially affected thereby4 ,men are not to be frightened by being told that the wicked will oppress the good1 because that is the natural course1 and will never change4 ,the whole of pagan history is a mere narrative of events wherein the wicked have got the upper hand1 and1 once in power1 by craft and cruelty have kept their hold upon men1 announcing themselves meanwhile as the guardians of justice and the defenders of the innocent against the oppressor4 ,all revolutions are but the result of the appropriation of power by the wicked and their rule over the good4 ,when the rulers say that if their power were to be destroyed the evil-doers would tyrannize over the innocent1 what they really mean is that the tyrants in power are reluctant to yield to those other tyrants who would fain wrest from them their authority4 ,when they protest that this authority of theirs1 which is actually violence1 is necessary to defend the people against the possible tyranny of others1#ai they are simply denouncing themselves4 ,the reason why violence is dangerous is that1 whenever it is employed1 all the arguments which the perpetrators advanced in their own defense may be used against them with even greater force4 ,they talk of the violence done in the past1 and more frequently of future and imaginary violence1 while they themselves are the real offenders4 ,you say that men committed robbery and murder in former times1 and profess anxiety lest all men be robbed or murdered unless protected by your authority4 ,this may or may not be true1 but the fact that you allow thousands of men to perish in prisons by enforced labor1 in fortresses1 and in exile1 that your military requisitions ruin millions of families and imperil1 morally and physically1 millions of men1 this is not a supposititious but an actual violence1 which1 according to your own reasoning1 should be resisted by violence4 ,and therefore1 by your own admission1 the wicked ones1 against whom one should use violence1 are yourselves4 ,thus should the oppressed reply to their oppressors4 ,and such are the language1 the thoughts1 and the actions of non-,christians4 ,wherever the oppressed are more wicked than the oppressor1 they attack and overthrow them whenever they are able2 or else--and this is more frequently the case--they enter the ranks of the oppressors and take part in their tyranny4 #ai ,such declarations on the part of ,russian authorities1 who are noted for their oppression of foreign nationalities1--the ,poles1 the ,germans of the ,baltic provinces1 and the ,jews1--strike one as both amusing and artless4 ,the ,russian government1 which has oppressed its own subjects for centuries1 and which has never protected the ,malo-,russians in ,poland1 the ,latishi in the ,baltic provinces1 nor the ,russian peasants1 of whom all sorts of people have taken advantage for hundreds of years1 suddenly becomes a champion of the oppressed1 of the very same people whom it still continues to oppress4 ,thus the dangers of which the defenders of ,state rights make a bugbear--that if authority were overthrown the wicked would prevail over the good--potentially exist at all times4 ,the destruction of ,state violence1 in fact1 never can1 for this very reason1 lead to any real increase of violence on the part of the wicked over the good4 ,if ,state violence disappeared1 it is not unlikely that other acts of violence would be committed2 but the sum of violence can never be increased simply because the power passes from the hands of one into those of another4 ,state violence can never be abolished until all the wicked disappear1 say the advocates of the existing order1 by which they imply that there must always be violence1 because there will always be wicked people4 ,this could only prove true1 supposing the oppressors to be really beneficent1 and supposing the true deliverance of mankind from evil must be accomplished by violence4 ,then1 of course1 violence could never cease4 ,but as1 on the contrary1 violence never really overcomes evil1 and since there is another way altogether to overcome it1 the assertion that violence will never cease is untrue4 ,violence is diminishing1 and clearly tending to disappear2 though not1 as is claimed by the defenders of the existing order1 in consequence of the amelioration of those who live under an oppressive government 7their condition really gets worse71 but because the consciousness of mankind is becoming more clear4 ,hence even the wicked men who are in power are growing less and less wicked1 and will at last become so good that they will be incapable of committing deeds of violence4 ,the reason why humanity marches forward is not because the inferior men1 having gained possession of power1 reform their subjects by arbitrary methods1 as is claimed both by ,conservatives and ,revolutionists1 but is due above all to the fact that mankind in general is steadily1 and with an ever increasing appreciation1 adopting the ,christian life-conception4 ,there is a phenomenon observable in human life in a manner analogous to that of boiling4 ,those who profess the social life-conception are always ambitious to rule1 and struggle to attain power4 ,in this struggle the most gross and cruel1 the least ,christian elements of society1 bubble up1 as it were1 and rise1 by reason of their violence1 into the ruling or upper classes of society4 ,but then is fulfilled what ,christ prophesied3 ,woe unto you that are rich6 ,woe unto you that are full6 ,woe unto you1 when all men shall speak well of you6 7,luke vi4 #bd-bf74 ,the men who have attained power1 and glory1 and riches1 and who have realized all their cherished aims1 live to discover that all is vanity1 and gladly return to their former estate4 ,charles ,v41 ,ivan the ,terrible1 ,alexander ,i41 having realized the evils of power and its futility1 renounced it because they recognized it as a calamity1 having lost all pleasure in the deeds of violence which they formerly enjoyed4 ,but it is not alone kings like ,charles ,v4 and ,alexander ,i4 who arrive at this disgust of power1 but every man who has attained the object of his ambition4 ,not only the statesman1 the general1 the millionaire1 the merchant1 but every official who has gained the position for which he has longed this half score of years1 every well-to-do peasant who has saved one or two hundred roubles1 finds at last the same disillusion4 ,not only individuals1 but entire nations1 mankind as a whole1 have passed through this experience4 ,the attractions of power and all it brings--riches1 honors1 luxury--seem to men really worth struggling for only until they are won2 for no sooner does a man hold them within his grasp than they manifest their own emptiness and gradually lose their charm1 like clouds1 lovely and picturesque in outline seen from afar1 but no sooner is one enveloped in them than all their beauty vanishes4 ,men who have obtained riches and power1 those who have struggled for them1 but more particularly those who have inherited them1 cease to be greedy for power or cruel in its acquisition4 ,having learned by experience1 sometimes in one generation1 sometimes in several1 how utterly worthless are the fruits of violence1 men abandon those vices acquired by the passion for riches and power1 and growing more humane1 they lose their positions1 being crowded out by others who are less ,christian and more wicked2 whereupon they fall back into a stratum1 which1 though lower in the social scale1 is higher in that of morality1 thus increasing the mean level of ,christian consciousness4 ,but straightway1 the worse1 the rougher1 and less ,christian elements rise to the surface1 and being subject to the same experience as their predecessors1 after one or two generations these men1 too1 recognize the hollowness of violent ambitions1 and1 being penetrated with the spirit of ,christianity1 fall back into the ranks of the oppressed4 ,these are in turn replaced by new oppressors1 less despotic than the former1 but rougher than those whom they oppress4 ,so that although the authority is to all outward seeming unchanged1 yet the number of those who have been driven by the exigencies of life to adopt the ,christian life-conception increases with every change of rulers4 ,they may be more harsh1 more cruel1 and less ,christian than their subjects2 but always men less and less violent replace their predecessors in authority4 ,violence chooses its instruments from among the worst elements of society2 men who gradually become leavened1 and1 softened and changed for the better1 are returned into society4 ,such is the process by means of which ,christianity takes fuller possession of men day by day4 ,christianity enters into the consciousness of men in spite of the violence of power1 and even owing to that violence4 ,the argument of the defenders of the ,state1 that if power were abolished the wicked would tyrannize over the good1 not only fails to prove that the domination of the wicked is a new thing to be dreaded1--as it exists already1--but proves1 on the contrary1 that the tyranny of the ,state1 which allows the wicked to govern the good1 is itself the real evil which we ought to eradicate1 and which is constantly decreasing by the very nature of things4 ,but if ,state violence is not to cease until the rulers have become so far ,christianized that they will renounce it of their own accord and no others will be found to take their places1--if these things are coming to pass1 say the defenders of the existing order1 when is it to happen8 ,if #ahjj years have passed1 and still so many long to rule1 it is wholly improbable that we shall soon behold this change1 if it ever takes place at all4 ,even though there may be at present1 as there always have been1 certain individuals who would not rule if they could1 who do not choose to benefit themselves in that way1 still the number of those who do prefer to rule rather than to be ruled is so great that it is difficult to imagine a time when the number will be exhausted4 ,in order to accomplish the conversion of all men1 to induce each one to exchange the pagan for the ,christian life-conception1 voluntarily resigning riches and power1 there being none left to profit by these1 it would be necessary that not only all the rude1 half-barbarous people1 unfitted either to accept ,christianity or follow its precepts1 who are always to be found in every ,christian community1 should become ,christians1 but that all savage and non-,christian nations1 which are still numerous1 should also become ,christian4 ,therefore were one to admit that the ,christianizing process may at some future time embrace all humanity1 we must still take into consideration the degree of progress that has been made in #ahjj years1 and realize that this can only happen after many centuries4 ,hence we need not for the present trouble ourselves about the overthrow of authority2 all we have to do is to look to it that it is in the best hands4 ,thus reply the partizans of the existing system4 ,and this reasoning would be perfectly consistent1 provided that the transition of men from one life-conception to another were only to be effected by the process of individual conversion2 that is to say1 that each man1 through his personal experience1 should realize the vanity of power1 and apprehend ,christian truth4 ,this process is constantly going on1 and in that way1 one by one1 men are converted to ,christianity4 ,but men do not become converted to ,christianity merely in this way2 there is an exterior influence brought to bear which accelerates the process4 ,the progression of mankind from one system of life to another is accomplished not only gradually1 as the sand glides through the hour-glass1 grain by grain1 until all has run out1 but rather as water which enters an immersed vessel1 at first slowly1 at one side1 then1 borne down by its weight1 suddenly plunges1 and at once fills completely4 ,and this is what happens in human communities during a change in their life-conception1 which is equivalent to the change from one organization to another4 ,it is only at first that men by degrees1 one by one1 accept the new truth and obey its dictates2 but after it has been to a certain extent disseminated1 it is accepted1 not through intuition1 and not by degrees1 but generally and at once1 and almost involuntarily4 ,and therefore the argument of the advocates of the present system1 that but a minority have embraced ,christianity during the last #ahjj years1 and that another #ahjj years must pass away before the rest of mankind will accept it1 is erroneous4 ,for one must take into consideration another mode1 in addition to the intuitive of assimilating new truth1 and of making the transition from one mode of life to another4 ,this other mode is this3 men assimilate a truth not alone because they may have come to realize it through prophetic insight or through individual experience1 but the truth having been spread abroad1 those who dwell on a lower plane of intelligence accept it at once1 because of their confidence in those who have received it and incorporated it in their lives4 ,every new truth that changes the manner of life and causes humanity to move onward is at first accepted by a very limited number1 who grasp it by knowledge of it4 ,the rest of mankind1 accepting on faith the former truth upon which the existing system has been founded1 is always opposed to the spread of the new truth4 ,but as1 in the first place1 mankind is not stationary1 but is ever progressing1 growing more and more familiar with truth and approaching nearer to it in everyday life3 and secondly1 as all men progress according to their opportunities1 age1 education1 nationality1 beginning with those who are more1 and ending with those who are less1 capable of receiving new truth--the men nearest those who have perceived the truth intuitively pass1 one by one1 and with gradually diminishing intervals1 over to the side of the new truth4 ,so1 as the number of men who acknowledge it increases1 the truth itself becomes more clearly manifested4 ,the feeling of confidence in the new truth increases in proportion to the numbers who have accepted it4 ,for1 owing to the growing intelligibility of the truth itself1 it becomes easier for men to grasp it1 especially for those lower intellectually1 until finally the greater number readily adopt it1 and help to found a new rgime4 ,the men who go over to the new truth1 once it has gained a certain hold1 go over en masse1 of one accord1 much as ballast is rapidly put into a ship to maintain its equilibrium4 ,if not ballasted1 the vessel would not be sufficiently immersed1 and would change its position every moment4 ,this ballast1 which at first may seem superfluous and a hindrance to the progress of the ship1 is indispensable to its equipoise and motion4 ,thus it is with the masses when1 under the influence of some new idea that has won social approval1 they abandon one system to adopt another1 not singly1 but in a body4 ,it is the inertia of this mass which impedes the rapid and frequent transition from one system of life1 not ratified by wisdom1 to another2 and which for a long time arrests the progress of every truth destined to become a part of human consciousness4 ,it is erroneous1 then1 to argue that because only a small percentage of the human race has in these eighteen centuries adopted the ,christian doctrine1 that many1 many times eighteen centuries must elapse before the whole world will accept it1--a period of time so remote that we who are now living can have no interest in it4 ,it is unfair1 because those men who stand on a lower plane of development1 whom the partizans of the existing order represent as hindrances to the realization of the ,christian system of life1 are those men who always go over in a body to a truth accepted by those above them4 ,and therefore that change in the life of mankind1 when the powerful will give up their power without finding any to assume it in their stead1 will come to pass when the ,christian life-conception1 rendered familiar1 conquers1 not merely men one by one1 but masses at a time4 ,but even if it were true1 the advocates of the existing order may say1 that public opinion has the power to convert the inert non-,christian mass of men1 as well as the corrupt and gross who are to be found in every ,christian community1 how shall we know that a ,christian mode of life is born1 and that ,state violence will be rendered useless8 ,after renouncing the despotism by which the existing order has been maintained1 in order to trust to the vague and indefinite force of public opinion1 we risk permitting those savages1 those existing among us1 as well as those outside1 to commit robbery1 murder1 and other outrages upon ,christians4 ,if even with the help of authority we have a hard struggle against the anti-,christian elements ever ready to overpower us1 and destroy all the progress made by civilization1 how then could public opinion prove an efficient substitute for the use of force1 and avail for our protection8 ,to rely upon public opinion alone would be as foolhardy as to let loose all the wild beasts of a menagerie1 because they seem inoffensive when in their cages and held in awe by red-hot irons4 ,those men entrusted with authority1 or born to rule over others by the divine will of ,god1 have no right to imperil all the results of civilization1 simply to make an experiment1 and learn whether public opinion can or cannot be substituted for the safeguard of authority4 ,alphonse ,karr1 a ,french writer1 forgotten to-day1 once said1 in trying to prove the impossibility of abolishing the death penalty3 ,que ,messieurs les assassins commencent par nous donner l'exemple4 ,and ,i have often heard this witticism quoted by persons who really believed they were using a convincing and intellectual argument against the suppression of the penalty of death4 ,nevertheless1 there could be no better argument against the violence of government4 ,let the assassins begin by showing us an example1 say the defenders of government authority4 ,the assassins say the same1 but with more justice4 ,they say3 ,let those who have set themselves up as teachers and guides show us an example by the suppression of legal assassination1 and we will imitate it4 ,and this they say1 not by way of a jest1 but in all seriousness1 for such is in reality the situation4 ,we cannot cease to use violence while we are surrounded by those who commit violence4 ,there is no more insuperable barrier at the present time to the progress of humanity1 and to the establishment of a system that shall be in harmony with its present conception of life1 than this erroneous argument4 ,those holding positions of authority are fully convinced that men are to be influenced and controlled by force alone1 and therefore to preserve the existing system they do not hesitate to employ it4 ,and yet this very system is supported1 not by violence1 but by public opinion1 the action of which is compromised by violence4 ,the action of violence actually weakens and destroys that which it wishes to support4 ,at best1 violence1 if not employed as a vehicle for the ambition of those in high places1 condemns in the inflexible form a law which public opinion has most probably long ago repudiated and condemned2 but there is this difference1 that while public opinion rejects and condemns all acts that are opposed to the moral law1 the law supported by force repudiates and condemns only a certain limited number of acts1 seeming thus to justify all acts of a like order which have not been included in its formula4 ,from the time of ,moses public opinion has regarded covetousness1 lust1 and cruelty as crimes1 and condemned them as such4 ,it condemns and repudiates every form that covetousness may assume1 not only the acquisition of another man's property by violence1 fraud1 or cunning1 but the cruel abuse of wealth as well4 ,it condemns all kinds of lust1 let it be impudicity with a mistress1 a slave1 a divorced wife1 or with one's wife2 it condemns all cruelty1--blows1 bad usage1 murder1--all cruelty1 not only toward human beings1 but toward animals4 ,whereas1 the law1 based upon violence1 attacks only certain forms of covetousness1 such as theft and fraud1 and certain forms of lust and cruelty1 such as conjugal infidelity1 assault1 and murder2 and thus it seems to condone those manifestations of covetousness1 lust1 and cruelty which do not fall within its narrow limits4 ,but violence not only demoralizes public opinion1 it excites in the minds of men a pernicious conviction that they move onward1 not through the impulsion of a spiritual power1 which would help them to comprehend and realize the truth by bringing them nearer to that moral force which is the source of every progressive movement of mankind1--but1 by means of violence1--by the very factor that not only impedes our progress toward truth1 but withdraws us from it4 ,this is a fatal error1 inasmuch as it inspires in man a contempt for the fundamental principle of his life1--spiritual activity1--and leads him to transfer all his strength and energy to the practice of external violence4 ,it is as though men would try to put a locomotive in motion by turning its wheels with their hands1 not knowing that the expansion of steam was the real motive-power1 and that the action of the wheels was but the effect1 and not the cause4 ,if by their hands and their levers they move the wheels1 it is but the semblance of motion1 and1 if anything1 injures the wheels and makes them useless4 ,the same mistake is made by those who expect to move the world by violence4 ,men affirm that the ,christian life cannot be established save by violence1 because there are still uncivilized nations outside of the ,christian world1 in ,africa and ,asia 7some regard even the ,chinese as a menace of our civilization71 and because1 according to the new theory of heredity1 there exist in society congenital criminals1 savage and irredeemably vicious4 ,but the savages whom we find in our own community1 as well as those beyond its pale1 with whom we threaten ourselves and others1 have never yielded to violence1 and are not yielding to it now4 ,one people never conquered another by violence alone4 ,if the victors stood on a lower plane of civilization than the conquered1 they always adopted the habits and customs of the latter1 never attempting to force their own methods of life upon them4 ,it is by the influence of public opinion1 not by violence1 that nations are reduced to submission4 ,when a people have accepted a new religion1 have become ,christians1 or turned ,mohammedans1 it has come to pass1 not because it was made obligatory by those in power 7violence often produced quite the opposite result71 but because they were influenced by public opinion4 ,nations constrained by violence to accept the religion of the conqueror have never really done so4 ,the same may be said in regard to the savage elements found in all communities3 neither severity nor clemency in the matter of punishments1 nor modifications in the prison system1 nor augmenting of the police force1 have either diminished or increased the aggregate of crimes1 which will only decrease through an evolution in our manner of life4 ,no severities have ever succeeded in suppressing the vendetta1 or the custom of dueling in certain countries4 ,however many of his fellows may be put to death for thieving1 the ,tcherkess continues to steal out of vainglory4 ,no girl will marry a ,tcherkess who has not proved his daring by stealing a horse1 or at least a sheep4 ,when men no longer fight duels1 and the ,tcherkess cease to steal1 it will not be from fear of punishment 7the danger of capital punishment adds to the prestige of daring71 but because public manners will have undergone a change4 ,the same may be said of all other crimes4 ,violence can never suppress that which is countenanced by general custom4 ,if public opinion would but frown upon violence1 it would destroy all its power4 ,what would happen if violence were not employed against hostile nations and the criminal element in society we do not know4 ,but that the use of violence subdues neither we do know through long experience4 ,and how can we expect to subdue by violence nations whose education1 traditions1 and even religious training all tend to glorify resistence to the conqueror1 and love of liberty as the loftiest of virtues8 ,and how is it possible to extirpate crime by violence in the midst of communities where the same act1 regarded by the government as criminal1 is transformed into an heroic exploit by public opinion8 ,nations and races may be destroyed by violence--it has been done4 ,they cannot be subdued4 ,the power transcending all others which has influenced individuals and nations since time began1 that power which is the convergence of the invisible1 intangible1 spiritual forces of all humanity1 is public opinion4 ,violence serves but to enervate this influence1 disintegrating it1 and substituting for it one not only useless1 but pernicious to the welfare of humanity4 ,in order to win over all those outside the ,christian fold1 all the ,zulus1 the ,manchurians1 the ,chinese1 whom many consider uncivilized1 and the uncivilized among ourselves1 there is only one way4 ,this is by the diffusion of a ,christian mode of thought1 which is only to be accomplished by a ,christian life1 ,christian deeds1 a ,christian example4 ,but instead of employing this one way of winning those who have remained outside the fold of ,christianity1 men of our epoch have done just the opposite4 ,in order to convert uncivilized nations who do us no harm1 whom we have no motive for oppressing1 we ought1 above all1 to leave them in peace1 and act upon them only by our showing them an example of the ,christian virtues of patience1 meekness1 temperance1 purity1 and brotherly love4 ,instead of this we begin by seizing their territory1 and establishing among them new marts for our commerce1 with the sole view of furthering our own interests--we1 in fact1 rob them2 we sell them wine1 tobacco1 and opium1 and thereby demoralize them2 we establish our own customs among them1 we teach them violence and all its lessons2 we teach them the animal law of strife1 that lowest depth of human degradation1 and do all that we can to conceal the ,christian virtues we possess4 ,then1 having sent them a score of missionaries1 who gabble an absurd clerical jargon1 we quote the results of our attempt to convert the heathen as an indubitable proof that the truths of ,christianity are not adaptable to everyday life4 ,and as for those whom we call criminals1 who live in our midst1 all that has just been said applies equally to them4 ,there is only one way to convert them1 and that is by means of a public opinion founded on true ,christianity1 accompanied by the example of a sincere ,christian life4 ,and by way of preaching this ,christian gospel and confirming it by ,christian example1 we imprison1 we execute1 guillotine1 hang2 we encourage the masses in idolatrous religions calculated to stultify them2 the government authorizes the sale of brain-destroying poisons--wine1 tobacco1 opium2 prostitution is legalized2 we bestow land upon those who need it not2 surrounded by misery1 we display in our entertainments an unbridled extravagance2 we render impossible in such ways any semblance of a ,christian life1 and do our best to destroy ,christian ideas already established2 and then1 after doing all we can to demoralize men1 we take and confine them like wild beasts in places from which they cannot escape1 and where they will become more brutal than ever2 or we murder the men we have demoralized1 and then use them as an example to illustrate and prove our argument that people are only to be controlled by violence4 ,even so does the ignorant physician act1 who1 having placed his patient in the most unsanitary conditions1 or having administered to him poisonous drugs1 afterward contends that his patient has succumbed to the disease1 when had he been left to himself he would have recovered long ago4 ,violence1 which men regard as an instrument for the support of ,christian life1 on the contrary1 prevents the social system from reaching its full and perfect development4 ,the social system is such as it is1 not because of violence1 but in spite of it4 ,therefore the defenders of the existing social system are self-deceived when they say that1 since violence barely holds the evil and un-,christian elements of society in awe1 its subversion1 and the substitution of the moral influence of public opinion1 would leave us helpless in face of them4 ,they are wrong1 because violence does not protect mankind2 but it deprives men of the only possible chance of an effectual defense by the establishment and propagation of the ,christian principle of life4 ,but how can one discard the visible and tangible protection of the policeman with his baton1 and trust to invisible1 intangible public opinion8 ,and1 moreover1 is not its very existence problematical8 ,we are all familiar with the actual state of things2 whether it be good or bad we know its faults1 and are accustomed to them2 we know how to conduct ourselves1 how to act in the present conditions2 but what will happen when we renounce the present organization1 and confide ourselves to something invisible1 intangible1 and utterly unfamiliar8 ,men dread the uncertainty into which they would plunge if they were to renounce the familiar order of things4 ,certainly were our situation an assured and stable one1 it would be well to dread the uncertainties of change4 ,but so far from enjoying an assured position1 we know that we are on the verge of a catastrophe4 ,if we are to give way to fear1 then let it be before something that is really fearful1 and not before something that we imagine may be so4 ,in fearing to make an effort to escape from conditions that are fatal to us1 only because the future is obscure and unknown1 we are like the passengers of a sinking ship who crowd into the cabin and refuse to leave it1 because they have not the courage to enter the boat that would carry them to the shore2 or like sheep who1 in fear of the fire that has broken out in the farmyard1 huddle together in a corner and will not go out through the open gate4 ,how can we1 who stand on the threshold of a shocking and devastating social war1 before which1 as those who are preparing for it tell us1 the horrors of #agic will pale1 talk seriously about the danger threatened by the natives of ,dahomey1 the ,zulus1 and others who live far away1 and who have no intention of attacking us2 or about the few thousands of malefactors1 thieves1 and murderers--men whom we have helped to demoralize1 and whose numbers are not decreased by all our courts1 prisons1 and executions8 ,moreover1 this anxiety lest the visible protection of the police be overthrown1 is chiefly confined to the inhabitants of cities--that is1 to those who live under abnormal and artificial conditions4 ,those who live normally in the midst of nature1 dealing with its forces1 require no such protection2 they realize how little avails violence to protect us from the real danger that surrounds us4 ,there is something morbid in this fear1 which arises chiefly from the false conditions in which most of us have grown up and continue to live4 ,a doctor to the insane related how1 one day in summer1 when he was about to leave the asylum1 the patients accompanied him as far as the gate that led into the street4 ,come with me into town6 he proposed to them4 ,the patients agreed1 and a little band followed him4 ,but the farther they went through the streets where they met their sane fellow-men moving freely to and fro1 the more timid they grew1 and pressed more closely around the doctor4 ,at last they begged to be taken back to the asylum1 to their old but accustomed mode of insane life1 to their keepers and their rough ways1 to strait jackets and solitary confinement4 ,and thus it is with those whom ,christianity is waiting to set free1 to whom it offers the untrammeled rational life of the future1 the coming century2 they huddle together and cling to their insane customs1 to their factories1 courts1 and prisons1 their executioners1 and their warfare4 ,they ask3 ,what security will there be for us when the existing order has been swept away8 ,what kind of laws are to take the place of those under which we are now living8 ,not until we know exactly how our life is to be ordered will we take a single step toward making a change4 ,it is as if a discoverer were to insist upon a detailed description of the region he is about to explore4 ,if the individual man1 while passing from one period of his life to another1 could read the future and know just what his whole life were to be1 he would have no reason for living4 ,and so it is with the career of humanity4 ,if1 upon entering a new period1 a program detailing the incidents of its future existence were possible1 humanity would stagnate4 ,we cannot know the conditions of the new order of things1 because we have to work them out for ourselves4 ,the meaning of life is to search out that which is hidden1 and then to conform our activity to our new knowledge4 ,this is the life of the individual as it is the life of humanity4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,christian ,,public ,,opinion ,,already ,,arises ,,in ,,our ,,society1 ,,and ,,will ,,inevitably ,,destroy ,,the ,,system ,,of ,,violence ,,of ,,our ,,life4 ,,when ,,this ,,will ,,come ,,about ,the condition and organization of our society is shocking2 it is upheld by public opinion1 but can be abolished by it--,men's views in regard to violence have already changed2 the number of men ready to serve the governments decreases1 and functionaries of government themselves begin to be ashamed of their position1 to the point of often not fulfilling their duties--,these facts1 signs of the birth of a public opinion1 which1 in becoming more and more general1 will lead finally to the impossibility of finding men willing to serve governments--,it becomes more and more clear that such positions are no longer needed--,men begin to realize the uselessness of all the institutions of violence2 and if this is realized by a few men1 it will later be understood by all--,the time when the deliverance will be accomplished is unknown1 but it depends on men themselves2 it depends on how much each man is willing to live by the light that is within him4 ,the position of the ,christian nations1 with their prisons1 their gallows1 their factories1 their accumulations of capital1 taxes1 churches1 taverns1 and public brothels1 their increasing armaments1 and their millions of besotted men1 ready1 like dogs1 to spring at a word from the master1 would be shocking indeed if it were the result of violence2 but such a state of things is1 before all1 the result of public opinion2 and what has been established by public opinion not only may be1 but will be1 overthrown by it4 ,millions and millions of money1 tens of millions of disciplined soldiers1 marvelous weapons of destruction1 an infinitely perfected organization1 legions of men charged to delude and hypnotize the people1--this is all under the control of men who believe that this organization is advantageous for them1 who know that without it they would disappear1 and who therefore devote all their energy to its maintenance4 ,what an indomitable array of power it seems6 ,and yet we have but to realize whither we are fatally tending1 for men to become as much ashamed of acts of violence1 and to profit by them1 as they are ashamed now of dishonesty1 theft1 beggary1 cowardice2 and the whole complicated and apparently omnipotent system will die at once without any struggle4 ,to accomplish this transformation it is not necessary that any new ideas should find their way into the human consciousness1 but only that the mist which now veils the true significance of violence should lift1 in order that the growing ,christian public opinion and methods may conquer the methods of the pagan world4 ,and this is gradually coming to pass4 ,we do not observe it1 as we do not observe the movement of things when we are turning1 and everything around us is turning as well4 ,it is true that the social organization seems for the most part as much under the influence of violence as it seemed a thousand years ago1 and in respect of armaments and war seems even more2 but the ,christian view of life is already having its effect4 ,the withered tree1 to all appearance1 stands as firmly as ever2 it seems even firmer1 because it has grown harder1 but it is already rotten at the heart and preparing to fall4 ,it is the same with the present mode of life based upon violence4 ,the outward position of man appears the same4 ,there are the same oppressors1 the same oppressed1 but the feeling of both classes in regard to their respective positions has undergone a change4 ,the oppressors1 that is1 those who take part in the government1 and those who are benefited by oppression1 the wealthy classes1 do not constitute1 as formerly1 the lite of society1 nor does their condition suggest that ideal of human prosperity and greatness to which formerly all the oppressed aspired4 ,now1 it often happens that the oppressors renounce of their own accord the advantages of their position1 choosing the position of the oppressed1 and endeavor1 by the simplicity of their mode of life1 to resemble them4 ,not to speak of those offices and positions generally considered contemptible1 such as that of the spy1 the detective1 the usurer1 or the keeper of a tavern1 a great many of the positions held by the oppressors1 and formerly considered honorable1 such as those of police officers1 courtiers1 judges1 administrative functionaries1 ecclesiastical or military1 masters on a large scale1 and bankers1 are not only considered little enviable1 but are already avoided by estimable men4 ,already there are men who choose to renounce such once envied positions1 preferring others which1 although less advantageous1 are not associated with violence4 ,it is not merely such as these who renounce their privileges2 men influenced1 not by religious motives1 as was the case in former ages1 but by growing public opinion1 refuse to accept fortunes fallen to them by inheritance1 because they believe that a man ought to possess only the fruits of his own labor4 ,high-minded youths1 not as yet depraved by life1 when about to choose a career1 prefer the professions of doctors1 engineers1 teachers1 artists1 writers1 or even of farmers1 who live by their daily toil1 to the positions of judges1 administrators1 priests1 soldiers in the pay of government2 they decline even the position of living on their income4 ,most of the monuments at the present day are no longer erected in honor of statesmen or generals1 still less of men of wealth1 but to scientists1 artists1 and inventors1 to men who not only had nothing in common with government or authority1 but who frequently opposed it4 ,it is to their memory that the arts are thus consecrated4 ,the class of men who will govern1 and of rich men1 tends every day to grow less numerous1 and so far as intellect1 education1 and especially morality1 are concerned1 rich men and men in power are not the most distinguished members of society1 as was the case in olden times4 ,in ,russia and ,turkey1 as in ,france and ,america1 notwithstanding the frequent changes of officials1 the greater number are often covetous and venal1 and so little to be commended from the point of view of morality that they do not satisfy even the elementary exigencies of honesty demanded in government posts4 ,thus one hears often the ingenuous complaints of those in government that the best men among us1 strangely enough as it seems to them1 are always found among those opposed to them4 ,it is as if one complained that it is not the nice1 good people who become hangmen4 ,rich men of the present day1 as a general thing1 are mere vulgar amassers of wealth1 for the most part having but little care beyond that of increasing their capital1 and that most often by impure means2 or are the degenerate inheritors1 who1 far from playing an important part in society1 often incur general contempt4 ,many positions have lost their ancient importance4 ,kings and emperors now hardly direct at all2 they seldom effect internal changes or modify external policy1 leaving the decision of such questions to the departments of ,state1 or to public opinion4 ,their function is reduced to being the representatives of state unity and power4 ,but even this duty they begin to neglect4 ,most of them not only fail to maintain themselves in their former unapproachable majesty1 but they grow more and more democratic1 they prefer even to be bourgeois2 they lay down thus their last distinction1 destroying precisely what they are expected to maintain4 ,the same may be said of the army4 ,the high officers1 instead of encouraging the roughness and cruelty of the soldiers1 which befit their occupation1 promote the diffusion of education among them1 preach humanity1 often sympathize with the socialistic ideas of the masses1 and deny the utility of war4 ,in the late conspiracies against the ,russian government many of those concerned were military men4 ,it often happens1 as it did recently1 that the troops1 when called upon to establish order1 refuse to fire on the people4 ,the barrack code of ideas is frankly deprecated by military men themselves1 who often enough make it the subject of derision4 ,the same may be said of judges and lawyers4 ,judges1 whose duty it is to judge and condemn criminals1 conduct their trials in such a fashion as to prove them innocent2 thus the ,russian government1 when it desires the condemnation of those it wishes to punish1 never confides them to the ordinary tribunals2 it tries them by court-martial1 which is but a parody of justice4 ,the same may be said of lawyers1 who often refuse to accuse1 and1 twisting round the law1 defend those they should accuse4 ,learned jurists1 whose duty it is to justify the violence of authority1 deny more and more frequently the right of punishment1 and in its place introduce theories of irresponsibility1 often prescribing1 not punishment1 but medical treatment for so-called criminals4 ,jailers and turnkeys in convict prisons often become the protectors of those it is a part of their business to torture4 ,policemen and detectives are constantly saving those they ought to arrest4 ,ecclesiastics preach tolerance2 they often deny the right of violence1 and the more educated among them attempt in their sermons to avoid the deception which constitutes all the meaning of their position1 and which they are expected to preach4 ,executioners refuse to perform their duty2 the result is that often in ,russia death-warrants cannot be carried out for lack of executioners1 for1 notwithstanding all the advantages of the position1 the candidates1 who are chosen from convicts1 diminish in number every year4 ,governors1 commissioners1 and tax-collectors1 pitying the people1 often try to find pretexts for remitting the taxes4 ,rich men no longer dare to use their wealth for themselves alone1 but sacrifice a part of it to social charities4 ,landowners establish hospitals and schools on their estates1 and some even renounce their estates and bestow them on the cultivators of the soil1 or establish agricultural colonies upon them4 ,manufacturers and mill-owners found schools1 hospitals1 and savings-banks1 institute pensions1 and build houses for the workmen2 some start associations of which the profits are equally divided among all4 ,capitalists expend a portion of their wealth on educational1 artistic1 and philanthropic institutions for the public benefit4 ,many men who are unwilling to part with their riches during their lifetime bequeath them to public institutions4 ,these facts might be deemed the result of chance were it not that they all originate from one source1 as1 when certain trees begin to bud in the spring of the year1 we might believe it accidental1 only we know the cause2 and that if on some trees the buds begin to swell1 we know that the same thing will happen to all of them4 ,even so is it in regard to ,christian public opinion and its manifestations4 ,if this public opinion already influences some of the more sensitive men1 and makes each one in his own sphere decline the advantages obtained by violence or its use1 it will continue to influence men more and more1 until it brings about a change in their mode of life and reconciles it with that ,christian consciousness already possessed by the most advanced4 ,and if there are already rulers who do not venture on any undertaking on their own responsibility1 and who try to be like ordinary men rather than monarchs1 who declare themselves ready to give up their prerogatives and become the first citizens of their country1 and soldiers who1 realizing all the sin and evil of war1 do not wish to kill either foreigners or their fellow-countrymen1 judges and lawyers who do not wish to accuse and condemn criminals1 priests who evade preaching lies1 tax-gatherers who endeavor to fulfil as gently as possible what they are called upon to do1 and rich men who give up their wealth1 then surely it will ultimately come to pass that other rulers1 soldiers1 priests1 and rich men will follow their example4 ,and when there are no more men ready to occupy positions supported by violence1 the positions themselves will cease to exist4 ,but this is not the only way by which public opinion leads toward the abolition of the existing system1 and the substitution of a new one4 ,as the positions supported by violence become by degrees less and less attractive1 and there are fewer and fewer applicants to fill them1 their uselessness becomes more and more apparent4 ,we have to-day the same rulers and governments1 the same armies1 courts of law1 tax-gatherers1 priests1 wealthy landowners1 manufacturers1 and capitalists as formerly1 but their relative positions are changed4 ,the same rulers go about to their various interviews1 they have the same meetings1 hunts1 festivities1 balls1 and uniforms2 the same diplomatists have the same conversations about alliances and armies2 the same parliaments1 in which ,eastern and ,african questions are discussed1 and questions in regard to alliances1 ruptures1 ,home ,rule1 the eight-hour day4 ,changes of ministry take place just as of old1 accompanied by the same speeches and incidents4 ,but to those who know how an article in a newspaper changes perhaps the position of affairs more than dozens of royal interviews and parliamentary sessions1 it becomes more and more evident that it is not these meetings1 interviews1 and parliamentary discussions that control affairs1 but something independent of all this1 something which has no local habitation4 ,the same generals1 officers1 soldiers1 cannon1 fortresses1 parades1 and evolutions4 ,but one year elapses1 ten1 twenty years elapse1 and there is no war4 ,and troops are less and less to be relied on to suppress insurrection1 and it becomes more and more evident that generals1 officers1 and soldiers are only figure-heads in triumphal processions1 the plaything of a sovereign1 a sort of unwieldy and expensive corps-de-ballet4 ,the same lawyers and judges1 and the same sessions1 but it becomes more and more evident that as civil courts make decisions in a great variety of causes without anxiety about purely legal justice1 and that criminal courts are useless1 because the punishment does not produce the desired result1 therefore these institutions have no other object than the maintenance of men incapable of doing other things more useful4 ,the same priests1 bishops1 churches1 and synods1 but it becomes more and more evident to all that these men themselves have long since ceased to believe what they preach1 and are therefore unable to persuade any one of the necessity of believing what they no longer believe themselves4 ,the same tax-gatherers1 but more and more incapable of extorting money from the people by force1 and it becomes more and more evident that1 without such collectors1 it would be possible to obtain by voluntary contribution all that is required for social needs4 ,the same rich men1 and yet it becomes more and more evident that they can be useful only when they cease to be personal administrators of their possessions1 and surrender to society their wealth in whole or part4 ,when this becomes as plain to all men as it now is to a few1 the question will naturally arise3 ,why should we feed and support all those emperors1 kings1 presidents1 members of departments1 and ministers1 if all their interviews and conversations amount to nothing8 ,would it not be better1 as some wit expressed it1 to set up an india-rubber queen8 ,and of what use to us are armies1 with their generals1 their musicians1 their horses1 and drums8 ,of what use are they when there is no war1 when no one wishes to conquer anybody else8 ,and even if there were a war1 other nations would prevent us from reaping its advantages2 while upon their compatriots the troops would refuse to fire4 ,and what is the use of judges and attorneys whose decisions in civil cases are not according to the law1 and who1 in criminal ones1 are aware that punishments are of no avail8 ,and of what use are tax-gatherers who are reluctant to collect the taxes1 when all that is needed could be contributed without their assistance8 ,and where is the use of a clergy which has long ceased to believe what it preaches8 ,and of what use is capital in the hands of private individuals when it can be beneficial only when it becomes public property8 ,having once asked all these questions1 men cannot but arrive at the conclusion that institutions which have lost their usefulness should no longer be supported4 ,and furthermore1 men who themselves occupy positions of privilege come to see the necessity of abandoning them4 ,one day1 in ,moscow1 ,i was present at a religious discussion which is usually held during ,st4 ,thomas's week1 near the church in the ,okhotny ,ryad4 ,a group of perhaps twenty men had gathered on the pavement1 and a serious discussion concerning religion was in progress4 ,meanwhile1 in the nobles' club near at hand1 a concert was taking place1 and a police-officer1 having noticed the group of people gathered near the church1 sent a mounted policeman to order them to disperse1--not that the police-officer cared in the least whether the group stayed where it was or dispersed4 ,the twenty men who had gathered inconvenienced no one1 but the officer had been on duty all the morning and felt obliged to do something4 ,the young policeman1 a smart-looking fellow1 with his right arm akimbo and a clanking sword1 rode up to us1 calling out in an imperative tone3 ,disperse1 you fellows6 ,what business have you to gather there8 ,every one turned to look at him1 while one of the speakers1 a modest-looking man in a peasant's coat1 replied calmly and pleasantly3 ,we are talking about business1 and there is no reason why we should disperse2 it might be better for you1 my young friend1 if you were to jump off from your horse and to listen to us4 ,very likely it would do you good2 and turning away he continued the conversation4 ,the policeman turned his horse without a word and rode away4 ,such scenes as this must be of frequent occurrence in countries where violence is employed4 ,the officer was bored2 he had nothing to do1 and the poor fellow was placed in a position where he felt in duty bound to give orders4 ,he was deprived of a rational human existence2 he could do nothing but look on and give orders1 give orders and look on1 although both were works of supererogation4 ,it will not be long before all those unfortunate rulers1 ministers1 members of parliaments1 governors1 generals1 officers1 bishops1 priests1 and even rich men1 will find themselves--indeed they have already done so--in precisely the same position4 ,their sole occupation consists in issuing orders2 they send out their subordinates1 like the officer who sent the policeman to interfere with the people2 and as the people with whom they interfere ask not to be interfered with1 this seems to their official intelligence only to prove that they are very necessary4 ,but the time will surely come when it will be perfectly evident to every one that they are not only useless1 but an actual impediment1 and those whose course they obstruct will say gently and pleasantly1 like the man in the peasant's coat3 ,we beg that you will let us alone4 ,then the subordinates as well as their instructors will find themselves compelled to take the good advice that is offered them1 cease to prance about among men with their arms akimbo1 and having discarded their glittering livery1 listen to what is said among men1 and unite with them to help to promote the serious work of the world4 ,sooner or later the time will surely come when all the present institutions supported by violence will cease to be2 their too evident uselessness1 absurdity1 and even unseemliness1 will finally destroy them4 ,there must come a time when the same thing that happened to the king in ,andersen's fairy tale1 ,the ,king's ,new ,clothes1 will happen to men occupying positions created by violence4 ,the tale tells of a king who cared enormously for new clothes1 and to whom one day came two tailors who agreed to make him a suit woven from a wonderful stuff4 ,the king engaged them and they set to work1 saying that the stuff possessed the remarkable quality of becoming invisible to any one unfit for the office he holds4 ,the courtiers came to inspect the work of the tailors1 but could see nothing1 because these men were drawing their needles through empty space4 ,however1 remembering the consequences1 they all pretended to see the cloth and to be very much pleased with it4 ,even the king himself praised it4 ,the hour appointed for the procession when he was to walk wearing his new garment arrived4 ,the king took off his clothes and put on the new ones--that is1 he remained naked all the while1 and thus he went in procession4 ,but remembering the consequences1 no one had the courage to say that he was not dressed1 until a little child1 catching sight of the naked king1 innocently exclaimed1 ,but he has nothing on6 ,whereupon all the others who had known this before1 but had not acknowledged it1 could no longer conceal the fact4 ,thus will it be with those who1 through inertia1 continue to fill offices that have long ceased to be of any consequence1 until some chance observer1 who happens not to be engaged1 as the ,russian proverb has it1 in washing one hand with the other1 will ingenuously exclaim1 ,it is a long time since these men were good for anything6 ,the position of the ,christian world1 with its fortresses1 cannon1 dynamite1 guns1 torpedoes1 prisons1 gallows1 churches1 factories1 custom-houses1 and palaces is monstrous4 ,but neither fortresses nor cannon nor guns by themselves can make war1 nor can the prisons lock their gates1 nor the gallows hang1 nor the churches themselves lead men astray1 nor the custom-houses claim their dues1 nor palaces and factories build and support themselves2 all these operations are performed by men4 ,and when men understand that they need not make them1 then these things will cease to be4 ,and already men are beginning to understand this4 ,if not yet understood by all1 it is already understood by those whom the rest of the world eventually follows4 ,and it is impossible to cease to understand what once has been understood1 and the masses not only can1 but inevitably must1 follow where those who have understood have already led the way4 ,hence the prophecy3 that a time will come when all men will hearken unto the word of ,god1 will forget the arts of war1 will melt their swords into plowshares and their lances into reaping-hooks2--which1 being translated1 means when all the prisons1 the fortresses1 the barracks1 the palaces1 and the churches will remain empty1 the gallows and the cannon will be useless4 ,this is no longer a mere ,utopia1 but a new and definite system of life1 toward which mankind is progressing with ever increasing rapidity4 ,but when will it come8 ,eighteen hundred years ago ,christ1 in answer to this question1 replied that the end of the present world--that is1 of the pagan system--would come when the miseries of man had increased to their utmost limit2 and when1 at the same time1 the good news of the ,kingdom of ,heaven--that is1 of the possibility of a new system1 one not founded upon violence--should be proclaimed throughout the earth4#bj #bj ,matt4 xxiv4 #c-bh4 ,but of that day and hour knoweth no man1 no1 not the angels of heaven1 but my ,father only1#ba said ,christ4 ,watch therefore3 for ye know not what hour your ,lord doth come4 #ba ,matt4 xxiv4 #cf4 ,when will the hour arrive8 ,christ said that we cannot know4 ,and for that very reason we should hold ourselves in readiness to meet it1 as the goodman should watch his house against thieves1 or like the virgins who await with their lamps the coming of the bridegroom2 and1 moreover1 we should work with all our might to hasten the coming of that hour1 as the servants should use the talents they have received that they may increase4#bb #bb ,matt4 xxiv4 #dc2 xxv4 #a--ac1 #ad-cj4 ,and there can be no other answer4 ,the day and the hour of the advent of the ,kingdom of ,god men cannot know1 since the coming of that hour depends only on men themselves4 ,the reply is like that of the wise man who1 when the traveler asked him how far he was from the city1 answered1 ,go on6 ,how can we know if it is still far to the goal toward which humanity is aiming1 when we do not know how it will move toward it2 that it depends on humanity whether it moves steadily onward or pauses1 whether it accelerates or retards its pace4 ,all that we can know is what we who form humanity should or should not do in order to bring about this ,kingdom of ,god4 ,and that we all know2 for each one has but to begin to do his duty1 each one has but to live according to the light that is within him1 to bring about the immediate advent of the promised ,kingdom of ,god1 for which the heart of every man yearns4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,conclusion ,,repent1 ,,for ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,heaven ,,is ,,at ,,hand6 #a ,encounter with a train carrying soldiers to establish order among famine-stricken peasants--,the cause of the disorder--,how the mandates of the higher authorities are carried out in case of peasants' resistance--,the affair at ,orel as an example of violence and murder committed for the purpose of asserting the rights of the rich--,all the advantages of the rich are founded on like acts of violence4 #b ,the ,tula train and the behavior of the persons composing it--,how men can behave as these do--,the reasons are neither ignorance1 nor cruelty1 nor cowardice1 nor lack of comprehension or of moral sense--,they do these things because they think them necessary to maintain the existing system1 to support which they believe to be every man's duty--,on what the belief of the necessity and immutability of the existing order of things is founded--,for the upper classes it is based on the advantages it affords them--,but what compels men of the lower classes to believe in the immutability of this system1 when they derive no advantage from it1 and maintain it with acts contrary to their conscience8--,the reason lies in the deceit practised by the upper classes upon the lower in regard to the necessity of the existing order1 and the legitimacy of acts of violence for its maintenance--,general deception--,special deception--,the conscription4 #c ,how men reconcile the legitimacy of murder with the precepts of morality1 and how they admit the existence in their midst of a military organization for purposes of violence which incessantly threatens the safety of society--,admitted only by the powers for whom the present organization is advantageous--,violence sanctioned by the higher authorities and carried out by the lower1 notwithstanding the knowledge of its immorality1 because1 owing to the organization of the ,state1 the moral responsibility is divided among a large number of participants1 each of whom considers some other than himself responsible--,moreover1 the loss of consciousness of moral responsibility is also due to a mistaken opinion as to the inequality of men1 the consequent abuse of power by the authorities1 and servility of the lower classes--,the condition of men who commit acts contrary to their conscience is like the condition of a hypnotized person acting under the influence of suggestion--,in what does submission to the suggestion of the ,state differ from submission to men of a higher order of consciousness or to public opinion8--,the present system1 which is the outcome of ancient public opinion1 and which is already in contradiction to the modern1 is maintained only through torpor of conscience1 induced by auto-suggestion among the upper classes1 and by the hypnotization of the lower--,the conscience or intelligent consciousness of these men may awaken1 and there are instances when it does awaken2 therefore it cannot be said that any one of them will1 or will not1 do what he sets out to do--,everything depends on the degree of comprehension of the illegitimacy of the acts of violence1 and this consciousness in men may either awaken spontaneously or be roused by those already awakened4 #d ,everything depends upon the strength of conviction of each individual man in regard to ,christian truth--,but the advanced men of the present day consider it unnecessary to explain and profess ,christian truth1 regarding it sufficient for the improvement of human life to change its outward conditions within the limits allowed by power--,upon this scientific theory of hypocrisy1 which has taken the place of the hypocrisy of religion1 men of the wealthy classes base the justification of their position--,in consequence of this hypocrisy1 maintained by violence and falsehood1 they can pretend before each other to be ,christians1 and rest content--,the same hypocrisy allows men who preach the ,christian doctrine to take part in a rgime of violence--,no external improvements of life can make it less miserable2 its miseries are caused by disunion2 disunion springs from following falsehood instead of truth--,union is possible only in truth--,hypocrisy forbids such a union1 for while remaining hypocrites1 men conceal from themselves and others the truth they know--,hypocrisy changes into evil everything destined to ameliorate life--,it perverts the conception of right and wrong1 and therefore is a bar to the perfection of men--,acknowledged malefactors and criminals do less harm than those who live by legalized violence cloaked by hypocrisy--,all recognize the iniquity of our life1 and would long since have modified it1 if it were not covered by the cloak of hypocrisy--,but it seems as if we had reached the limits of hypocrisy1 and have but to make an effort of consciousness in order to awaken--like the man who has nightmare--to a different reality4 #e ,can man make this effort8--,according to the existing hypocritical theory1 man is not free to change his life--,he is not free in his acts1 but is always free to acknowledge or disregard certain truths already known to him--,the recognition of truth is the cause of action--,the cause of the apparent insolvability of the question of man's freedom--,it lies only in the acknowledgment of the truth revealed unto him--,no other freedom exists--,the acknowledgment of the truth gives freedom1 and points the way in which a man1 willingly or unwillingly1 must walk--,the recognition of truth and of true freedom allows man to become a participant of the work of ,god1 to be not the slave but a creator of life--,men have but to forego the attempt to improve the external conditions of life1 and direct all their energies toward the recognition and profession of the truth that is known to them1 and the present painful system of life will vanish forthwith1 and that portion of the ,kingdom of ,god which is accessible to men would be established--,one has only to cease lying and shamming to accomplish this--,but what awaits us in the future8--,what will happen to mankind when they begin to obey the dictates of their conscience1 and how will they exist without the customary conditions of civilization8--,nothing truly good and beneficial can perish because of the realization of the truth1 but will only increase in strength when freed from the admixture of falsehood and hypocrisy4 #f ,our system of life has reached the limit of misery1 and cannot be ameliorated by any pagan reorganization--,all our life1 with its pagan institutions1 is devoid of meaning--,are we obeying the will of ,god in maintaining our present privileges and obligations8--,we are in this position1 not because such is the law of the universe1 that it is inevitable1 but because we wish it1 because it is advantageous for some of us--,all our consciousness contradicts this1 and our deliverance consists in acknowledging the ,christian truth1 not to do to one's neighbor that which one would not have done to one's self--,as our obligations in regard to ourselves should be subordinate to our obligations to others1 so in like manner our obligations to others should be subordinate to our obligations to ,god--,deliverance from our position consists1 if not in giving up our position and its rights at once1 at least in acknowledging our guilt1 and neither lying nor trying to justify ourselves--,the true significance of our life consists in knowing and professing the truth1 whereas our approval of1 and our activity in1 the service of the ,state takes all meaning from life--,god demands that we serve ,him1 that is1 that we seek to establish the greatest degree of union among all human beings1 which union is possible only in truth4 ,i was just putting the finishing touches to this two years' work when1 on the #ith day of ,september1#bc ,i had occasion to go by rail to visit districts in the governments of ,tula and ,ryazan1 where certain peasants were suffering from last year's famine1 and others were enduring still greater suffering from the same causes this year4#bd ,at one of the stations the train in which ,i was a passenger met the express1 which carried the ,governor and troops supplied with rods and loaded rifles for torturing and murdering the famine-stricken peasants4 #bc #ahib4--,tr4 #bd #ahic4 ,although corporal punishment was legally abolished in ,russia thirty years ago1 the custom of flogging as a means of making the decisions of authority respected has been revived1 and has of late been frequently employed4 ,i had heard of it1 had read in the papers of the frightful tortures of which the ,governor of ,nijni-,novgorod1 ,baranov1 has gone so far as to boast1 and of the tortures that have been inflicted in ,tchernigov1 ,tambov1 ,saratov1 ,astrakhan1 and ,orel1 but ,i had never yet witnessed1 as ,i did now1 how these things were actually done4 ,and ,i myself saw well-meaning ,russians1 penetrated with the spirit of ,christ1 but armed with muskets and carrying rods1 on their way to murder and torture their starving brothers4 ,the pretext was as follows3-- ,on the estate of a rich landowner1 upon a piece of ground held by him in common with the peasants1 a forest had been allowed to grow4 7,when ,i say that the forest grew1 ,i mean that the peasants had not only planted it1 but had continued to take care of it47 ,they had always had the use of it1 and therefore looked upon it as their own1 or at least as common property2 but the landowner1 confiscating it entirely to himself1 began to cut down the trees4 ,the peasants lodged a complaint4 ,the judge of the lower court pronounced an illegal decision 7,i call it illegal on the authority of the ,procureur#be and the ,governor1 who surely ought to understand the case7 in favor of the landowner4 ,the higher courts1 as well as the ,senate1 although they could see that the case had been unfairly tried1 confirmed the decision1 and the wood was awarded to the landowner1 who continued to fell the trees4 ,but the peasants1 believing it impossible that such an injustice could be perpetrated by the higher magistrates1 refused to submit to the decision1 and drove away the workmen sent to cut down the trees1 saying that the forest belonged to them1 and that they would appeal to the ,czar himself before they would allow it to be touched4 #be ,attorney-,general4 ,the case was reported to ,st4 ,petersburg1 from whence the ,governor received the order to enforce the decision of the courts1 and in order to execute the command1 asked for troops4 ,hence these soldiers who1 armed with bayonets and provided with cartridges and rods expressly prepared for the occasion and stored in one of the vans1 were on their way to enforce the decision of the higher authorities4 ,the execution of an order from the ruling powers can be accomplished either by threats of torture and death1 or by the enforcement of those threats1 according to the degree of resistance on the part of the people4 ,if1 for instance1 in ,russia 7it is practically the same in other lands where state authority and the rights of ownership exist71 the peasants offer to resist1 the result is as follows3 ,the superior officer makes a speech and orders them to obey4 ,the excited crowd1 accustomed to be duped by those in high places1 understands not a word that the representative of authority is saying in his official1 conventional language1 and is by no means pacified4 ,whereupon the commanding officer declares that unless they submit and disperse1 he will be forced to have recourse to arms4 ,if the crowd still refuses to yield and does not disperse1 he orders his men to load the muskets and to fire over their heads1 and then1 if the peasants still stand their ground1 he orders the soldiers to aim at the crowds2 they fire1 and men fall wounded and killed in the street4 ,the crowd is dispersed1 the soldiers1 carrying out the orders of their commanders1 having laid hands upon those whom they suppose to be the chief instigators1 and arrested them4 ,the dying1 stained with blood1 the wounded1 mutilated1 and dead1 among whom are often women and children1 are picked up4 ,the dead are buried1 the wounded sent to the hospitals4 ,those who are supposed to be the ringleaders are taken to the city and court-martialed1 and if proved that they have used violence1 they are summarily hung4 ,this has happened in ,russia repeatedly1 and similar scenes must take place wherever the system of government is based upon violence4 ,such is the course adopted in cases of revolt4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the peasants submit1 the scene that ensues is entirely original and peculiarly ,russian4 ,the ,governor1 on his arrival at the place1 either quarters the soldiers in the different houses of the village1 where their maintenance ruins the peasants1 or1 satisfied by threatening the people1 he graciously pardons them and departs4 ,or1 as more frequently happens1 he addresses the multitude1 upbraids it for disobedience1 and announces that the ringleaders must be punished2 he seizes a certain number of men considered as such1 and without any form of trial causes them to be beaten with rods in his presence4 ,in order to give an idea of the manner in which such an affair is conducted1 ,i will describe an instance of the kind which happened in ,orel1 which was approved by the higher authorities4 ,like the landowner in ,tula1 the landed proprietor at ,orel chose to take possession of the peasants' property1 and here1 too1 as in the former instance1 the peasants resisted4 ,in this case1 the landowner1 without the consent of the peasants1 wished to dam up1 for the benefit of his mill1 a flow of water which supplied the meadows4 ,the peasants resisted this4 ,the landlord lodged a complaint with the rural commissary1 who illegally 7as was afterward admitted by the court7 decided the case in favor of the landowner1 giving him leave to divert the water4 ,the landowner sent workmen to close the channel through which the water descended4 ,the peasants1 excited at this unfair judgment1 sent their women to prevent the landowner's men from damming the channel4 ,the women proceeded to the dam1 upset the carts1 and drove the workmen away4 ,the landowner entered a complaint against them for committing a lawless act4 ,the rural commissary gave the order to arrest and lock up in the village jail one woman out of every family1--an order rather difficult to execute1 since each family included several women2 and as it was impossible to tell which of them to arrest1 the police could not fulfil the order4 ,the landowner complained to the ,governor of the laxity of the police4 ,the ,governor1 without stopping to consider the case1 gave strict orders to the ,ispravnik to carry out at once the orders of the rural commissary4 ,in obedience to his superior the ,ispravnik arrived in the village1 and with that contempt for the individual peculiar to ,russian authorities1 ordered the police to seize the first women they could4 ,disputes and resistance arose4 ,the ,ispravnik1 paying no attention to this1 persisted in his order that the police should take one woman1 innocent or guilty1 from every household1 and put her under arrest4 ,the peasants defended their wives and mothers2 they refused to give them up1 and resisted the police and the ,ispravnik4 ,thus another and a greater offense was committed1--resistance to authority1--which was at once reported in town4 ,then the ,governor1 just as ,i saw the ,governor of ,tula1 with a battalion of soldiers supplied with rods and muskets1 backed by all due accessories of telegraph and telephone1 accompanied by a learned physician who was to superintend the flogging from a medical standpoint1 started on an express train for the spot1 like the modern ,genghis ,khan predicted by ,herzen4 ,in the ,volostnoye ,pravlenie#bf were the soldiers1 a detachment of police with their revolvers suspended on red cords1 the principal peasants of the neighborhood1 and the men accused4 ,around them had collected a crowd of perhaps a thousand4 #bf ,house of the rural communal government4 ,driving up to the house of the ,volostnoye ,pravlenie1 the ,governor alighted from his carriage and delivered an address1 which had been prepared in advance1 after which he inquired for the criminals1 and ordered a bench to be brought4 ,no one understood what he meant until the policeman1 who always accompanied the ,governor and made all the arrangements for the punishments which had already been enforced several times in the government of ,orel1 explained that the bench was to be used for flogging4 ,this bench and the rods that had been brought by the party were both produced4 ,the executioners had been previously selected from certain horse-thieves taken from the same village1 the military having refused to do the business4 ,when all was ready the ,governor bade the first of the twelve men who were pointed out to him by the landowner as the ringleaders to step forward4 ,it so happened that he was the father of a family1 a man forty-five years of age1 respected in the community1 whose rights he had manfully defended4 ,he was led to the bench1 stripped1 and ordered to lie down4 ,he would have begged for mercy1 but realizing how little it would avail1 he made the sign of the cross and stretched himself out on the bench4 ,two policemen held him down1 and the learned doctor stood by1 ready in case of need to give his scientific assistance4 ,the executioners having spat upon their hands1 swung the rods1 and the flogging began4 ,the bench1 it seemed1 was too narrow1 and it was found difficult to keep the writhing victim1 whose muscles twitched convulsively1 from falling off4 ,then the ,governor ordered to be brought another bench1 to which a plank was adjusted in such a way as to support it4 ,the soldiers1 ever ready with their continual salutes and responses of ,yes1 your ,excellency1 swiftly and obediently executed the orders1 while in the meantime the half-naked1 pale1 and suffering man1 trembling1 with contracted brows and downcast eyes1 stood by waiting4 ,when the bench was readjusted1 he was again stretched out upon it1 and the horse-stealers renewed their blows4 ,his back1 his legs1 and even his sides were covered with bleeding wounds1 and every blow was followed by the muffled groan which he could no longer repress4 ,in the crowd that stood by one could hear the sobs of the wife and mother1 the children1 and the kinsfolk of the man1 as well as of all who had been called to witness the punishment4 ,the wretched ,governor1 intoxicated with power1 who had no doubt convinced himself of the necessity for this performance1 counted the strokes on his fingers1 while he smoked cigarette after cigarette1 for the lighting of which several obliging persons hastened to offer him a burning match4 ,after fifty blows had been given1 the peasant lay motionless1 without uttering a sound1 and the doctor1 who had been educated in a government school that he might devote his scientific knowledge to the service of his country and his sovereign1 approached the tortured man1 felt his pulse1 listened to the beating of his heart1 and reported to the representative of authority that the victim had become unconscious1 and declared that1 from a scientific point of view1 it might prove dangerous to prolong the punishment4 ,but the unfortunate ,governor1 utterly intoxicated by the sight of blood1 ordered the flogging to go on until seventy strokes had been given1 the number which he for some reason deemed necessary4 ,after the seventieth blow the ,governor said3-- ,that will do6 ,now bring on the next one6 ,they raised the mutilated and unconscious man1 with his swollen back1 and carried him away1 and the next was brought forward4 ,the sobs and groans of the crowd increased1 but the tortures were continued4 ,so it went on until each of the twelve men had received seventy strokes4 ,they begged for mercy1 they groaned and screamed4 ,the sobs and moans of the women grew louder and more heartrending1 and the faces of the men of the crowd more gloomy4 ,but there stood the troops1 and the torture did not cease until it had seemed sufficient to the unfortunate1 half-intoxicated1 erring man called the ,governor4 ,not only did the magistrates1 the officers1 and the soldiers sanction this act by their presence1 but they took part in it1 preventing the crowd from interfering with the order of its execution4 ,when ,i asked one of the chief officials why these tortures were inflicted after the men had already submitted1 he replied1 with the significant air of a man who understands all the fine points of political wisdom1 that it was done because it had been proved by experience that if the peasants are not punished they will soon begin again to oppose the decrees of authority1 and that the punishment of a few strengthens forever the power of authority4 ,and now ,i saw the ,governor of ,tula1 with his clerks1 officers1 and soldiers1 on his way to perform a similar act4 ,once more by murder or torture the sentence of the higher authorities was to be carried out1--a sentence whose object was to enable a young landowner1 the possessor of a yearly income of #ajj1jjj roubles1 to receive #cjjj more for a tract of wood of which he had basely defrauded a whole community of needy and starving peasants1 the price of which he would squander in a few weeks in the restaurants of ,st4 ,petersburg1 ,moscow1 and ,paris4 ,such was the errand of the men ,i met4 ,it would seem as if there must be some purpose in this encounter1 when1 after two years of incessant contemplation1 of continuous thought in one direction1 fate should1 for the first time in my life1 bring me face to face with this phenomenon1 a living illustration of the theory ,i have so long cherished2 namely1 that the entire organization of our life rests1 not on any principle of justice1 as men who occupy and enjoy advantageous positions under the existing system like to imagine1 but on the rudest and most barefaced violence1 on the murder and torture of human beings4 ,those who possess large estates and large capital1 or who receive high salaries collected from the needy working-classes1 from the people who often lack the necessaries of life2 merchants1 clerks1 doctors1 lawyers1 artists1 scientists1 writers1 coachmen1 cooks1 and valets1 who earn their living in the service of rich men1--fondly believe that the privileges which they enjoy are not the outcome of violence1 but the natural result of a voluntary interchange of services2 that these privileges are by no means the result of the outrages and floggings endured by their fellow-men1 such as took place last summer1 in ,russia1 in ,orel and elsewhere1 as the like took place in many parts of ,europe and ,america4 ,they prefer to believe that the privileges they enjoy are the spontaneous result of a mutual agreement among men2 that violence is only the natural result of certain universal and superior laws1 judicial1 political1 or economic4 ,they try not to see that the privileges they possess are only held by them in consequence of some circumstance1 not unlike that which compelled the peasants1 who had tended the growing forest and greatly needed it1 to surrender it to the rich landowner1 who had taken no pains to preserve it1 and who did not require it for his own use2 men who will either be flogged or murdered if they refuse to surrender it4 ,now1 if it is an undeniable fact that the mill in ,orel was made to yield an increased income to the proprietor1 and that the forest raised by the peasants was given to the landowner only because of the flogging and the executions either threatened or actually suffered1 then it must be equally evident that all the other exclusive rights of the rich1 which deprive the poor of the bare necessaries of life1 rest on the same basis4 ,if the peasants who need land in order to support their families may not cultivate the land around them1 and if land sufficient to feed a thousand families is in the hands of one man1 a ,russian1 an ,englishman1 an ,austrian1 a rich landowner of whatever nationality2 and if the merchant who buys grain from the needy grower keeps it in his warehouses in the midst of a destitute and famishing population1 or sells it for three times its value to those of whom he bought it at the lowest price1--it evidently springs from the same cause4 ,and if1 beyond a certain line called the frontier1 one man is not allowed to purchase certain goods without paying duties to other men who have nothing to do with their production1 and if a man is obliged to part with his last cow in order to pay taxes which are distributed by the government among its officials1 or used for the support of soldiers who may kill the taxpayers1 it would seem evident that all this is not the result of certain abstract rights1 but of incidents like those which may even now be going on in the government of ,tula1 which in one form or another occur periodically all the world over1 wherever state organization exists1 and wherever there are rich and poor4 ,owing to the fact that outrage and murder do not accompany all social relations founded on violence1 those who possess the exclusive privileges of the governing classes assure themselves and others that the advantages which they enjoy are not the result of violence and bloodshed1 but derived from certain vague and abstract rights4 ,still it ought to be evident that if those men1 who realize the injustice of it all 7as is the case with the working-classes at the present day71 continue to surrender the greater part of their earnings to the capitalist and the landowner1 and if they pay taxes1 knowing that such taxes are not put to a good use1 they do this1 not because they acknowledge the justice of certain abstract rights1 whose meaning is unknown to them1 but only because they know that they will be whipped and put to death if they refuse to comply4 ,if it is not always necessary to imprison men1 to flog them1 or to put them to death when the landowner collects his rents1 if the needy peasant pays a treble price to the merchant who deceives him1 or the mechanic accepts wages absurdly small in comparison with the income of his master1 or the poor man parts with his last rouble for duties and taxes1 it is because he remembers that men have been flogged and put to death for trying to avoid compliance with what was demanded of them4 ,like a caged tiger1 who does not touch the meat that lies before his eyes1 and who when he is ordered to leap over a stick obeys at once1 not because he likes it1 but because he has not forgotten past hunger or the red-hot iron which he felt every time he refused to obey2 so it is with men1 who1 when they submit to a law which is not for their advantage1 to a law which is disastrous to their interests1 or to one which they firmly believe to be unjust1 do so because they remember what they will have to suffer if they refuse to comply4 ,those who benefit by privileges born of violence long since perpetrated1 often forget1 and are very glad to forget1 how such privileges were obtained4 ,and yet one has but to recall the annals of history1--not the history of the exploits of kings1 but genuine history1--the history of the oppression of the majority by the minority1 in order to acknowledge that the scourge1 the prison1 and the gallows have been the original and only sources whence all the advantages of the rich over the poor have sprung4 ,one has but to remember the persistent and undying passion for gain among men1 the mainspring of human action in these days1 to become convinced that the advantages of the rich over the poor can be maintained in no other way4 ,at rare intervals1 oppression1 flogging1 imprisonment1 executions1 the direct object of which is not to promote the welfare of the rich1 may possibly occur1 but we can positively declare that in our community1 where for every man who lives at ease there are ten overworked1 hungry1 and often cruelly suffering families of working-men1 all the privileges of the rich1 all their luxury1 all their superfluities1 are acquired and maintained only by tortures1 imprisonments1 and executions4 ,the train that ,i met on the #ith day of ,september carrying soldiers1 muskets1 ammunition1 and rods to the famine-stricken peasants1 in order that the wealthy landowner might possess in peace the tract of wood he had wrested from the peasants1 a necessity of life to them1 to him a mere superfluity1 affords a vivid proof of the degree to which men have unconsciously acquired the habit of committing acts wholly at variance with their convictions and their conscience4 ,the express consisted of one first-class carriage for the ,governor1 officials1 and officers1 and several vans crowded with soldiers4 ,the jaunty young fellows in their fresh new uniforms were crowded together1 either standing1 or sitting with their legs dangling outside the wide open sliding doors of the vans4 ,some were smoking1 laughing1 and jesting1 some cracking seeds and spitting out the shells4 ,a few who jumped down upon the platform to get a drink of water from the tub1 meeting some of the officers1 slackened their pace and made that senseless gesture of lifting one hand to the forehead2 then1 with serious faces1 as though they had been doing something not only sensible but actually important1 they passed by1 watching the officers as they went4 ,soon they broke into a run1 evidently in high spirits1 stamping on the planks of the platform as they ran1 and chatting1 as is but natural for good-natured1 healthy young fellows who are making a journey together4 ,these men1 who were on their way to murder starving fathers and grandfathers1 seemed as unconcerned as though they were off on the pleasantest1 or at least the most everyday1 business in the world4 ,the gaily dressed officers and officials who were scattered about on the platform and in the first-class waiting-room produced the same impression4 ,at a table laden with bottles sat the ,governor1 the commander of the expedition1 attired in his semi-military uniform1 eating his luncheon and quietly discussing the weather with some friends he had met1 as though the business that called him hither was so simple a matter that it could neither ruffle his equanimity nor diminish his interest in the change of the weather4 ,at some distance1 but tasting no food1 sat the chief of the police with a mournful countenance1 seemingly oppressed with the tiresome formalities4 ,officers in gaudy1 gold-embroidered uniforms moved to and fro1 talking loudly2 one group was seated at a table just finishing a bottle of wine2 an officer at the bar who had eaten a cake brushed away the crumbs that had fallen on his uniform1 and with a self-sufficient air flung a coin upon the counter2 some walked nonchalantly up and down in front of our train looking at the faces of the women4 ,all these men on their way to commit murder1 or to torture the starved and defenseless peasants1 by whose toil they were supported1 looked as if engaged upon some important business which they were really proud to execute4 ,what did it mean8 ,these men1 who were within half an hour's ride of the spot where1 in order to procure for a rich man an extra #cjjj roubles1 of which he had no need whatever1 which he was unjustly confiscating from a community of famished peasants1 might be obliged to perform the most shocking deeds that the imagination can conceive1--to murder and torture1 as they did in ,orel1 innocent men1 their brothers4 ,these men were now calmly approaching the time and place when these horrors were to begin4 ,since the preparations had been made1 it could not very well be claimed that all these men1 officers and privates1 did not know what was before them1 and what they were expected to do4 ,the ,governor had given orders for the rods1 the officials had purchased the birch twigs1 bargained for them1 and noted the purchase in their accounts4 ,in the military department orders had been given and received concerning ball cartridges4 ,they all knew that they were on their way to torture and possibly to put to death their brothers exhausted by famine1 and that perhaps in an hour they might begin the work4 ,to say1 as they themselves would say1 that they are acting from principle1 from a conviction that the state system must be maintained1 is untrue4 ,those men1 in the first place1 have rarely1 if ever1 bestowed a single thought upon political science2 and in the second place1 because they could never be convinced that the business on which they are engaged serves to support rather than destroy the ,state2 and finally1 because1 as a matter of fact1 the majority of these men1 if not all of them1 would not only be unwilling to sacrifice their peace and comfort to maintain the ,state1 but would never miss the opportunity to promote their own interests at the expense of the ,state1--therefore it is not for the sake of so vague a principle as that of maintaining the ,state that they do this4 ,what1 then1 does all this mean8 ,i know these men4 ,i may not know them as individuals1 it is true1 yet ,i know their dispositions1 their past lives1 their modes of thought4 ,they have had mothers1 some have wives and children4 ,actually1 they are1 for the most part1 kindly1 gentle1 tender-hearted men1 who abhor any kind of cruelty1 to say nothing of killing or torturing2 moreover1 every one of them professes ,christianity1 and considers violence perpetrated against the defenseless a contemptible and shameful act4 ,each taken individually1 in everyday life1 is not only incapable1 for the sake of personal advantage1 of doing one-hundredth part of what was done by the ,governor at ,orel1 but any one of them would consider himself insulted if it were suggested that he could be capable of doing anything like it in private life4 ,and yet they are within a half-hour's ride of the spot where they will inevitably find themselves compelled to do such deeds4 ,what can it mean1 then8 ,it is not only the men on this train who are ready to commit murder and violence1 but those others with whom the affair originated1 the landowner1 the steward1 the judge1 those in ,st4 ,petersburg who issue orders1--the ,minister of ,state1 the ,czar1 also worthy men and professors of ,christianity1--how can they1 knowing the consequences1 conceive such a scheme1 and direct its execution8 ,how can they1 even1 who take no active part in it1--the spectators1 whose indignation would be aroused by accounts of private violence1 even though it be but the ill-usage of a horse1--how can they allow this shocking business to go on without rising in wrath to resist it1 crying aloud1 ,no1 we will not allow you to flog or to kill starving men because they refuse to surrender their last property villainously attempted to be wrested from them6 ,and not only are men found willing to do these deeds1 but most of them1 even the chief instigators1 like the steward1 the landowner1 the judge1 and those who take part in originating prosecution and punishment1 the ,governor1 the ,minister of ,state1 the ,czar1 remain perfectly calm1 and show no sign of remorse over such things4 ,and they who are about to execute this crime are equally calm4 ,even the spectators1 who1 it would seem1 have no personal interest in the matter1 look upon these men who are about to take part in this dastardly business with sympathy rather than with aversion or condemnation4 ,in the same compartment with me sat a merchant who dealt in timber1 a peasant by birth1 who in loud and decided tones expressed his approval of the outrage which the peasants were about to suffer4 ,the government must be obeyed2 that's what it's for4 ,if we pepper them well1 they will never rebel again4 ,it's no more than they deserve6 he said4 ,what did it all mean8 ,it could not be said that all these men1 the instigators1 the participants1 the accomplices in this business1 were rascals1 who1 in defiance of conscience1 realizing the utter abomination of the act1 were1 either from mercenary motives or from fear of punishment1 determined to commit it4 ,any man of them would1 given the requisite circumstances1 stand up for his convictions4 ,not one of those officials would steal a purse1 or read another man's letter1 or endure an insult without demanding satisfaction from the offender4 ,not one of those officers would cheat at cards1 or neglect to pay a gambling debt1 or betray a companion1 or flee from the battlefield1 or abandon a flag4 ,not one of those soldiers would dare to reject the sacrament1 or even taste meat on ,good ,friday4 ,each of these men would choose to endure any kind of privation1 suffering1 or danger1 rather than consent to do a deed which he considered wrong4 ,hence it is evident that they are able to resist whatever is contrary to their convictions4 ,still less true would it be to pronounce these men brutes1 to whom such deeds are congenial rather than repulsive4 ,one needs but to talk with them to become convinced that all1--landowner1 judge1 minister1 governor1 ,czar1 officers1 and soldiers1--at the bottom of their hearts not only disapprove of such deeds1 but when a sense of their true significance is borne in upon them1 really suffer at being forced to take part in these scenes4 ,they can only try not to think of them4 ,one needs but to speak to those who are actors in this business1 beginning with the landowner and ending with the lowest policeman or soldier1 to discover that at the bottom of their hearts they all acknowledge the wickedness of the deed1 and know that it would be better to abstain from it2 and this knowledge makes them suffer4 ,a lady of liberal views in our train1 seeing the ,governor and the officers in the first-class waiting-room1 and learning the object of their journey1 began to talk in an ostensibly loud tone1 in order that they might hear what she said1 condemning the present laws and crying shame upon the men who took part in this business4 ,this made everybody feel uncomfortable4 ,the men knew not where to look1 yet no one ventured to argue the point4 ,the passengers pretended that remarks so senseless deserved no reply1 but it was evident by the expression of their faces and their wandering eyes that they felt ashamed4 ,i noticed the same in regard to the soldiers4 ,they knew well enough that they were going about an evil business1 and they preferred not to think of what was before them4 ,when the timber merchant1 insincerely1 in my opinion1 and simply by way of showing his superior knowledge1 began to speak of the necessity of these measures1 the soldiers who heard him turned away frowning1 and pretended not to listen to him4 ,the landowner1 his steward1 the minister1 the ,czar1 all who are parties to this business1 those who were traveling by this train1 even those who1 taking no part in the affair1 were but lookers-on1 all really know it to be wicked4 ,why1 then1 do they do these things1 why do they repeat them1 why do they permit them to be8 ,ask the landowner who started the affair2 the judge who rendered a decision legal in form1 but absolutely unjust2 and those who1 like the soldiers and the peasants1 will1 with their own hands1 execute this work of beating and murdering their brothers1--all of them1 instigators1 administrators1 and executioners1 will make essentially the same reply4 ,the officials will say that the present system requires to be supported in this manner1 and it is for this reason that they do these things1 because the good of the country1 the welfare of mankind in general1 of social life and civilization1 demand it4 ,the soldiers1 men of the lower classes1 who are forced to execute this violence with their own hands1 will answer that the higher authorities1 who are supposed to know their business1 have commanded it1 and that it is for them to obey4 ,it never occurs to them to question the capacity of those who represent the higher authorities4 ,if the possibility of error is ever admitted1 it is only in the case of some subordinate authority2 the higher power whence all things emanate is supposed to be absolutely infallible4 ,thus1 while attributing their actions to various motives1 both principals and subordinates agree that the existing order is the one best suited to the present time1 and that it is the sacred duty of every man to maintain it4 ,this assurance of the necessity and immutability of the existing order is continually advanced by all participators in violence committed by the ,state1 and that1 as the existing order never can be changed1 the refusal of a single individual to perform the duties imposed on him will make no difference as far as the fundamental principle is concerned1 and will only result in the substitution of another who may be more cruel and do more harm4 ,this belief that the existing order is immutable1 and that it is the sacred duty of every man to lend it support1 encourages every man of good moral character to take part1 with a conscience more or less clear1 in such affairs as that which occurred in ,orel1 and the one in which those in the train for ,tula were going to take part4 ,on what1 then1 is this belief founded8 ,it is but natural that it should seem pleasant and desirable to a landowner to believe that the existing order is indispensable and immutable1 because it secures to him the income from his hundreds and thousands of dessiatins by which his idle and luxurious existence is maintained4 ,it is also natural that the judge should willingly admit the necessity of a system through which he receives fifty times more than the most hard-working laboring man4 ,and the same may be said in regard to the other higher functionaries4 ,it is only while the present system endures that he1 as governor1 procureur1 senator1 or member of the council1 can receive his salary of several thousands1 without which he and his family would certainly perish2 for outside the place which he fills1 more or less well according to his abilities and diligence1 he could command only a fraction of what he receives4 ,the ministers1 the head of the ,state1 and every person in high authority are all alike in this1 save that the higher their rank1 the more exclusive their position1 the more important it becomes that they should believe no order possible1 except that which now exists2 for were it overthrown1 not only would they find it impossible to gain similar positions1 but they would fall lower in the scale than other men4 ,the man who voluntarily hires himself out as a policeman for ten roubles a month1 a sum which he could easily earn in any other position1 has but little interest in the preservation of the existing system1 and therefore may or may not believe in its immutability4 ,but the king or emperor1 who receives his millions1 who knows that around him there are thousands of men envious to take his place1 who knows that from no other quarter could he draw such an income or receive such homage1 that1 if overthrown1 he might be judged for abuse of power1--there is neither king nor emperor who can help believing in the immutability and sanctity of the existing order4 ,the higher the position in which a man is placed1 the more unstable it is2 and the more perilous and frightful the possible downfall1 the more firmly will he believe in the immutability of the existing order2 and he is able to do wicked and cruel deeds with a perfectly peaceful conscience1 because he persuades himself that they are done1 not for his own benefit1 but for the support of the existing order4 ,and so it is with every individual in authority1 from obscure policemen to the man who occupies the most exalted rank1--the positions they occupy being more advantageous than those which they might be capable of filling if the present system did not exist4 ,all these men believe more or less in its immutability1 because it is advantageous to them4 ,but what influences the peasants1 the soldiers1 who stand on the lowest rung of the ladder and who derive no advantage from the existing system1 who are in the most enslaved and degraded condition2 what induces them to believe that the existing order1 which serves to keep them in this inferior position1 is the best1 and one which should be maintained2 and why are they willing1 in order to promote this end1 to violate their consciences by committing wicked deeds8 ,what urges them to the false conclusion that the existing order is immutable and ought therefore to be maintained1 when the fact is that its immutability is due only to their own effort to maintain it8 ,why do those men1 taken from the plow1 whom we see masquerading in ugly1 objectionable uniforms1 with blue collars and gold buttons1 go about armed with muskets and sabers to kill their famishing fathers and brothers8 ,they derive no advantage from their present position2 they would be no losers were they deprived of it1 since it is worse than the one from which they were taken4 ,those in authority belonging to the higher classes1 the landowners and merchants1 the judges1 senators1 governors1 ministers1 and kings1 the officials in general1 participate in such actions and maintain the present system1 because such a system is for their interest4 ,often enough they are kind-hearted and gentle men4 ,they play no personal part in these acts2 all they do is to institute inquiries1 pronounce judgments1 and issue commands4 ,those in authority do not themselves execute the deeds which they have devised and ordered4 ,they but rarely see in what manner these dreadful deeds are executed4 ,but the unfortunate members of the lower classes1 who receive no benefit from the existing system1 who1 on the other hand1 find themselves greatly despised because of the duties which they perform in order that a system which is opposed to their own interests may be maintained1--they who tear men from the bosom of their families to send them to the galleys1 who bind and imprison them1 who stand on guard over them1 who shoot them1 why do they do this8 ,what is it that compels these men to believe that the existing order is immutable1 and that it is their duty to maintain it8 ,violence exists only because there are those who with their own hands maltreat1 bind1 imprison1 and murder4 ,if there were no policemen1 or soldiers1 or armed men of any sort ready when bidden to use violence and to put men to death1 not one of those who sign death-warrants1 or sentence for imprisonment for life or hard labor in the galleys1 would ever have sufficient courage himself to hang1 imprison1 or torture one thousandth part of those whom now1 sitting in their studies1 these men calmly order to be hung or tortured1 because they do not see it done1 they do not do it themselves4 ,their servants do it for them in some far-away corner4 ,all these deeds of injustice and cruelty have become an integral part of the existing system of life1 only because there are men ever ready to execute them4 ,if there were no such men1 the multitude of human beings who are now the victims of violence would be spared1 and furthermore1 the magistrates would never dare to issue1 nor even dream of issuing1 those commands which they now send forth with such assurance4 ,if there were no men to obey the will of others and to execute commands to torture and murder1 no one would ever dare to defend the declaration so confidently made by landowners and men of leisure2 namely1 that the land lying on all sides of the unfortunate peasants1 who are perishing for the want of it1 is the property of the man who does not till it1 and that reserves of grain1 fraudulently obtained1 are to be held intact amidst a famine-stricken and dying population1 because the merchant must have his profit4 ,if there were no men ready at the bidding of the authorities to torture and murder1 the landowner would never dream of seizing a forest which had been tended by the peasants2 nor would officials consider themselves entitled to salaries paid to them from money wrung from the famished people whom they oppress1 or which they derive for the prosecution1 imprisonment1 and exile of men who denounce falsehood and preach the truth4 ,all this is done because those in authority well know that they have always at hand submissive agents ready to obey their commands to outrage and to murder4 ,it is to this crowd of submissive slaves1 ready to obey all orders1 that we owe the deeds of the whole series of tyrants1 from ,napoleon to the obscure captain who bids his men fire upon the people4 ,it is through the agency of policemen and soldiers 7especially the latter1 since the former can act only when supported by military force7 that these deeds of violence are committed4 ,what1 then1 has induced those who are by no means benefited by doing with their hands these dreadful deeds1--what is it that has led these kindly men into an error so gross that they actually believe that the present system1 which is so distressing1 so baleful1 so fatal1 is the one best suited to the times8 ,who has led them into this extraordinary aberration8 ,they can never have persuaded themselves that a course which is not only painful and opposed to their interests1 but which is fatal to their class1 which forms nine-tenths of the entire population1 one which1 too1 is opposed to their conscience1 is right4 ,what reason can you give for killing men1 when ,god's commandment says1 ',thou shalt not kill'8 is a question ,i have often put to different soldiers4 ,and it always embarrassed them to have a question put which recalled what they would rather not remember4 ,they knew that the divine law forbade murder1--thou shalt not kill1--and they had always known of this compulsory military duty1 but had never thought of one as contradictory to the other4 ,the hesitating replies to my question were usually to the effect that the act of killing a man in war and the execution of criminals by order of the government were not included in the general prohibition against murder4 ,but when ,i rejoined that no such limitation existed in the law of ,god1 and cited the ,christian doctrine of brotherhood1 the forgiveness of injuries1 the injunction to love one's neighbor1 all of which precepts are quite contrary to murder1 the men of the lower class would usually agree with me and ask1 ,how then can it be that the government 7which they believe cannot err7 sends troops to war and orders the execution of criminals8 ,when ,i replied that this was a mistake on the part of the government1 my interlocutors became still more uncomfortable1 and either dropped the conversation or showed annoyance4 ,probably there is a law for it4 ,i should think the bishops know more than you do1 a ,russian soldier once said to me4 ,and he evidently felt relieved1 confident that his superiors had found a law1 one that had authorized his ancestors and their successors1 millions of men like himself1 to serve the ,state1 and that the question ,i had asked is in the nature of a conundrum4 ,every man in ,christendom has undoubtedly been taught by tradition1 by revelation1 and by the voice of conscience1 which can never be gainsaid1 that murder is one of the most heinous crimes men can commit2 it is thus affirmed in the gospel1 and they know that this sin of murder is not altered by conditions--that is to say1 if it is sinful to kill one man1 it is sinful to kill another4 ,any man knows that1 if murder be a sin1 it is not changed by the character or position of the man against whom it is committed1 which is the case also with adultery1 theft1 and all other sins1 and yet men are accustomed from childhood to see murder1 not only acknowledged1 but blessed by those whom they are taught to regard as their spiritual directors appointed by ,christ1 and to know that their temporal leaders1 with calm assurance1 countenance the custom of murder1 and summon all men1 in the name of the law and even the name of ,god1 to its participation4 ,men perceive the existence of an inconsistency1 but finding themselves unable to discern its cause1 they naturally attribute the idea to their own ignorance4 ,the obviousness and crudity of the contradiction confirms them in this belief4 ,they cannot imagine that their superiors and teachers1 even the scientists1 could advocate with so much assurance two principles so utterly at variance as the command to follow the law of ,christ1 and the requirement to commit murder4 ,no pure-minded1 innocent child1 no youth1 could imagine that men who stand so high in his esteem1 whom he looks upon with such reverence1 could for any purpose deceive him so unscrupulously4 ,and yet it is this very deception which is constantly practised4 ,in the first place1 to all working-men1 who have personally no time to analyze moral and religious problems1 it is taught from childhood1 by example and precept1 that tortures and murders are compatible with ,christianity1 and in certain cases they should not only be permitted1 but must be employed2 in the second place1 to certain among them1 engaged in the army either through conscription or voluntarily1 it is conveyed that the accomplishment with their own hands of torture or homicide is not only their sacred duty1 but a glorious exploit1 meriting praise and recompense4 ,this universal deception is propagated by all catechisms or their substitutes1 those books which at the present time teachers are compelled to use in the instruction of the young4 ,it is taught that violence1--outrage1 imprisonment1 execution1--the murder that takes place in civil or in foreign war1 has for its object the maintenance and security of the political organization1--whether this be an absolute or a constitutional monarchy1 consulate1 republic1 or commune1--that it is perfectly legitimate1 and that it is in contradiction neither to morality nor ,christianity4 ,and men are so firmly convinced of this that they grow up1 live1 and die in the belief1 never for a moment doubting it4 ,so much for this universal deception4 ,and now for another1 which is special1 and practised upon soldiers and police1 the instruments by whose agency outrages and murders1 necessary for the support and maintenance of the existing order1 are accomplished4 ,the military rules and regulations of every country are practically the same as those formulated in the ,russian military code4 #hg4 ,to fulfil exactly1 and without comment1 the orders of the superior officers1 means--to execute orders with precision1 without considering whether they are good or bad1 or whether their execution be possible4 ,only the superior is responsible for the consequences of his order4 #hh4 ,the only occasion on which the inferior should not obey the order of his superior is when he sees plainly that in obeying it 444 7,here one naturally thinks it will surely go on to say when he plainly sees that in fulfilling the order of his superior he violates the law of ,god4 ,not at all2 it goes on to say37 sees plainly that he violates the oath of allegiance and duty to his sovereign4 ,it is stated in the code that a man1 in becoming a soldier1 can and must execute all the orders1 without exception1 which he receives from his superior2 orders which1 for a soldier1 are for the most part connected with murder4 ,he may violate every law1 human and divine1 as long as he does not violate his oath of allegiance to him who1 at a given time1 happens to be in power4 ,thus it stands in the ,russian military code1 and this is the substance of the military codes of other nations4 ,it could not be otherwise4 ,the foundations of the power of the ,state rest upon the delusion by means of which men are set free from their obligations to ,god and to their own consciences1 and bound to obey the will of a casual superior4 ,this is the basis of the appalling conviction that prevails among the lower classes1 that the existing system1 so ruinous to them1 is necessary and justifiable1 and that it must be maintained by outrage and murder4 ,this is inevitable4 ,in order to force the lower1 the more numerous classes to act as their own oppressors and tormentors1 to commit deeds contrary to their consciences1 it is necessary to deceive them4 ,and this is done4 ,not long since ,i saw again put into practice this shameful deception1 and again wondered to see it effected without opposition and so audaciously4 ,in the beginning of ,november1 on my way through ,tula1 ,i saw at the gates of the ,zemskaya ,uprava the familiar dense crowd of men and women1 from which issued the sounds of drunken voices1 blended with the heartrending sobs of the wives and mothers4 ,the military conscription was in progress4 ,as usual1 ,i could not pass by without pausing2 the sight attracts me as by fascination4 ,again ,i mingled with the crowd1 and stood looking on1 questioning1 and marveling at the facility with which this most terrible of all offenses is committed in broad daylight1 and in the midst of a large city4 ,on the first day of ,november1 in every village in ,russia1 with its population of one hundred millions1 the starostas1#bg according to custom1 take the men whose names are entered on the rolls1 frequently their own sons1 and carry them to town4 #bg ,elders4 ,on the way the men drink freely1 unchecked by the elder men2 they realize that entering upon this insane business of leaving their wives and mothers1 giving up everything that is sacred to them1 only to become the senseless tools of murder1 is too painful if one's senses are not stupefied with wine4 ,and thus they journey on1 carousing1 brawling1 singing1 and fighting4 ,the night is spent in a tavern1 and on this morning1 having drunk still more1 they assemble before the house of the ,uprava4 ,some in new sheepskin coats1 with knit mufflers wound round their necks1 some with their eyes swollen with drinking1 some noisy and boisterous1 by way of stimulating their courage1 others silent and woebegone1 they were gathered near the gates1 surrounded by their wives and mothers with tear-stained faces1 awaiting their turn 7,i happened to be there on the day when the recruits were received1 that is to say1 the day on which they were examined71 while others were crowding the entry of the office4 ,meanwhile they are hurrying on the work within4 ,a door opens and the guard calls for ,piotr ,sidorov4 ,piotr ,sidorov makes the sign of the cross1 looks around with a startled gaze1 and opening a glass door1 he enters the small room where the recruits take off their clothes4 ,the man before him1 his friend1 who has just been enrolled1 has but this moment stepped out of the office stark naked1 and with chattering teeth hastens to put on his clothes4 ,piotr ,sidorov has heard1 and can plainly see by the look on his face1 that the man has been enlisted4 ,he longs to question him1 but he is ordered to undress as quickly as possible4 ,he pulls off his sheepskin coat1 drops his waistcoat and his shirt1 and with prominent ribs1 trembling and reeking with the odors of liquor1 tobacco1 and sweat1 steps barefooted into the office1 wondering what he shall do with his large sinewy hands4 ,a portrait of the ,emperor in uniform1 with a ribbon across his breast1 in a large golden frame1 hangs in a conspicuous place1 while a small ikon of ,christ1 clad in a loose garment1 with the crown of thorns on his head1 hangs in one corner4 ,in the middle of the room is a table covered with a green cloth on which papers are lying1 and on which stands a small three-cornered object surmounted by an eagle and called the mirror of justice4 ,around the table the officials sit tranquilly4 ,one smokes1 another turns over the papers4 ,as soon as ,sidorov enters a guard comes up and measures him4 ,his chin is raised and his feet are adjusted4 ,then a man who is smoking a cigarette--the doctor--approaches him1 and without glancing at his face1 but gazing in another direction1 touches his body with an expression of disgust1 measures him1 orders the guard to open his mouth1 tells him to breathe1 and then proceeds to dictate to another man who takes down the minutes4 ,finally1 and still without even one glance at his face1 the doctor says3 ,he will do6 ,the next6 and with a wearied air he seats himself at the table4 ,once more the guard hustles him about1 bidding him to make haste4 ,somehow or other he pulls on his shirt1 fumbling for the sleeves1 hastily gets on his trousers1 wraps his feet in the rags he uses for stockings1 pulls on his boots1 hunts for his muffler and cap1 tucks his sheepskin coat under his arm1 and is escorted to that part of the hall which is fenced off by a bench1 where the recruits who have been admitted are placed4 ,a young countryman like himself1 but from another1 far-away government1 who is a soldier already1 with a musket to which a bayonet is attached1 guards him1 ready to run him through the body if he should attempt to escape4 ,meanwhile the crowd of fathers1 mothers1 and wives1 hustled by policemen1 presses around the gates1 trying to find out who has been taken and who rejected4 ,a man who has been rejected comes out and tells them that ,piotr has been admitted2 then is heard the cry of ,piotr's young wife1 for whom this word means a four or five years' separation1 and the dissolute life such as a soldier's wife in domestic service is4 ,but here comes a man with flowing hair and dressed differently from the others1 who has just arrived2 he descends from his droschky and goes toward the house of the ,zemskaya ,uprava1 while the policemen clear a way for him through the crowd4 ,the ,father has arrived to swear them in4 ,and this ,father1 who has always been accustomed to believe himself a special and privileged servant of ,christ1 and who is usually quite unconscious of his false position1 enters the room where the recruits who have been admitted are waiting for him2 he puts on1 as a vestment1 a sort of brocade curtain1 disengages from it his flowing hair1 opens the ,bible wherein an oath is forbidden1 lifts the cross1 that cross on which ,christ was crucified for refusing to do what this person1 his supposed servant1 commands men to do1 and all these defenseless and deluded young men repeat after him the lie so familiar to his lips1 which he utters with such assurance4 ,he reads while they repeat3 ,i promise and swear to the ,lord ,almighty1 upon ,his holy ,bible1 etc4 444 to defend 7that is1 to murder all those whom ,i shall be ordered to murder7 and to do whatever those men1 strangers to me1 who regard me only as a necessary tool to be used in perpetrating the outrages by which they oppress my brethren and preserve their own positions1 command me to do4 ,all the recruits having stupidly repeated the words1 the so-called ,father departs1 quite sure that he has performed his duty in the most accurate and conscientious manner1 while the young men deluded by him really believe that by the absurd1 and to them almost unintelligible1 words which they have just uttered1 they are released during their term of service from all obligations to their fellow-men1 and are bound by new and more imperative ties to the duties of a soldier4 ,and this is done publicly1 but not a man comes forward to say to the deceived and the deceivers1 ,come to your senses and go your way2 this is all a base and treacherous lie2 it imperils not only your bodies1 but your souls4 ,no one does this4 ,on the contrary1 as if in derision1 after they have all been enrolled and are about to depart1 the colonel enters the hall where these poor1 drunken1 and deluded creatures are locked in1 and with a solemn air1 calls out to them in military fashion3 ,good day1 men6 ,i congratulate you upon entering the ,czar's service4 ,and they1 poor fellows1 mumble in their semi-drunken way1 a reply which has already been taught them1 to the effect that it fills their hearts with joy4 ,the expectant crowd of fathers1 mothers1 and wives is still standing at the gates4 ,women1 with tear-worn1 wide-open eyes1 watch the door4 ,suddenly it opens and the men come rolling out1 assuming an air of bravado1 the ,petruhas1 ,vanuhas1 and ,makars1 now enrolled1 trying to avoid the eyes of their relatives1 pretending not to see them4 ,at once break out the sobs and cries of the wives and mothers4 ,some of the men clasp them in their arms1 weeping1 some put on a devil-may-care look1 others make an attempt to console them4 ,the wives1 the mothers1 realizing that they are now abandoned1 without support1 for three or four years1 cry and wail bitterly4 ,the fathers say little2 they only sigh and make a clicking sound with their tongues that indicates their grief2 they know that they are about to lose that help which they have reared and trained their sons to render2 that when their sons return they will no longer be sober and industrious laborers1 but soldiers1 weaned from their former life of simplicity1 grown dissolute1 and vain of their uniforms4 ,now the whole crowd has departed1 driving down the street in sleighs to the taverns and inns1 and louder grows the chorus of mingled sobs1 songs1 and drunken cries1 the moaning and muttering of the wives and mothers1 the sounds of the accordion1 the noise of altercations4 ,all repair to the eating-houses and taverns1 from the traffic of which part of the revenue of the government is derived1 and there they give themselves up to drink1 stupefying their senses so that they care nothing for the injustice done to them4 ,then they spend several weeks at home1 drinking nearly all the time4 ,when the day arrives1 they are driven like cattle to the appointed place1 where they are drilled in military exercises by those who a few years ago1 like themselves1 were deceived and brutalized4 ,during the instructions the means employed are lying1 blows1 and vodka4 ,and before the year is over the good1 kindly1 and intelligent fellows will have become as brutal as their teachers4 ,suppose your father were arrested and attempted escape1 ,i once suggested to a young soldier1 what would you do8 ,it would be my duty to thrust my bayonet through his body1 he replied1 in the peculiar1 meaningless monotone of the soldier4 ,and if he ran ,i should shoot1 he added1 taking pride apparently in thinking what he should do if his father attempted to run4 ,when a good young fellow is reduced to a condition lower than that of the brute1 he is ready for those who wish to use him as an instrument of violence4 ,he is ready4 ,the man is lost1 and a new instrument of violence has been created4 ,and all this goes on throughout ,russia in the autumn of every year1 in broad daylight1 in the heart of a great city1 witnessed by all the inhabitants1 and the stratagem is so skilfully managed1 that though men at the bottom of their hearts realize its infamy1 still they have not the power to throw off the yoke4 ,after our eyes are once opened1 and we view this frightful delusion in its true light1 it is astonishing that preachers of ,christianity and morality1 teachers of youth1 or even those kindly and sensible parents who are to be found in every community1 can advocate any principles of morality whatever in the midst of a society where torture and murder are openly recognized as constituting indispensable conditions in human life1--openly acknowledged by all churches and governments1--where certain men among us must be always ready to murder their brethren1 and where any of us may have to do the same4 ,not to speak of ,christian doctrine1 how are children1 how are youths1 how are any to be taught morality1 while the principle that murder is required in order to maintain the general welfare is taught2 when men are made to believe that murder is lawful1 that some men1 and any of us may be among them1 must kill and torture their neighbors1 and commit every kind of crime at the command of those in authority8 ,if this principle is right1 then there is not1 nor can there be1 any doctrine of morality2 might is right1 and there is no other law4 ,this principle1 which some seek to justify on the hypothesis of the struggle for existence1 in fact dominates society4 ,what kind of moral doctrine can that be which permits murder for any object whatsoever8 ,it is as impossible as a mathematical problem which would affirm that #b #c4 ,it may be admitted that #b #c looks like mathematics1 but it is not mathematics at all4 ,every code of morals must be founded first of all upon the acknowledgment that human life is to be held sacred4 ,the doctrine of an eye for an eye1 a tooth for a tooth1 and a life for a life1 has been revoked by ,christianity because that doctrine was but the justification of immorality1 a semblance of justice1 but without meaning4 ,life is a substance which can neither be weighed1 measured1 nor compared2 hence the taking of one life for another has no sense4 ,moreover1 the aim of every social law is amelioration of human life4 ,how1 then1 can the destruction of certain lives improve the condition of other lives8 ,the destruction of life is not an act that tends to improve it2 it is suicide4 ,to destroy human life1 and call it justice1 may be likened to the act of a man who1 having lost one arm1 cuts off the other1 by way of making matters even4 ,not to speak of the deceit of presenting the most shocking crimes in the light of a duty1 of the shocking abuse of using ,christ's name and authority in order to confirm acts which he condemned1 how can men1 looking at the matter from the standpoint merely of personal safety1 suffer the existence of the shocking1 senseless1 cruel1 and dangerous force which every organized government1 supported by the army1 represents8 ,the most violent and rapacious band of robbers is less to be feared than such an organization4 ,even the authority of the leader of a band of robbers is more or less limited by the will of each individual member of the band1 who1 retaining a certain degree of independence1 has the right to oppose acts with which he does not agree4 ,but the authority of men who form part of an organized government1 maintained by the army with its present system of discipline1 is unlimited4 ,when their master1 be he ,boulanger1 ,pugatchov1 or ,napoleon1 issues his commands1 there is no crime too hideous for those who form part of the government and the army to commit4 ,it must often occur to one who sees conscriptions1 drills1 and military manuvers taking place1 who sees police going about with loaded revolvers1 sentinels armed with bayonets1--to one who hears from morning till night1 as ,i do 7in the district of ,hamovniky1#bh where ,i live71 the whirring balls and the concussion as they strike the target1--to ask why these things are tolerated4 ,and when one sees in the same city1 where every attempt at violence is at once suppressed1 where even the sale of powder or medicines is prohibited1 where a doctor is not allowed to practice without a diploma1 thousands of disciplined men1 controlled by one individual1 being trained for murder1 one cannot help asking how men who have any regard for their own safety can calmly endure such a condition of affairs1 and allow it to continue8 ,leaving aside the question of the immorality and pernicious influence of it1 what could be more dangerous8 ,what are they thinking of1--,i speak not now of ,christians1 ,christian pastors1 philanthropists1 or moralists1 but simply those who value their lives1 their safety1 their welfare8 ,granting that power is at present in the hands of a moderate ruler1 it may fall to-morrow into those of a ,biron1 an ,elizabeth1 a ,catharine1 a ,pugatchov1 a ,napoleon4 ,and even though the ruler be moderate to-day1 he may become a mere savage to-morrow2 he may be succeeded by an insane or half-insane heir1 like the ,king of ,bavaria or the ,emperor ,paul4 #bh ,in ,moscow4 ,it is not only those who fill the highest offices1 but all the lesser authorities scattered over the land--the chiefs of police1 the commanders of companies1 even the stanovoys#bi--may commit shocking crimes before they can be dismissed2 it is an everyday occurrence4 #bi ,chiefs of rural police4 ,involuntarily one asks3 ,how can men allow these things to go on8 ,how can they tolerate them with any regard to their own personal safety8 ,it may be replied that some men do oppose it4 7,those who are deluded and live in subjection have nothing either to tolerate or interdict47 ,those who favor the continuance of the present system are only those who derive some special advantage from it4 ,they favor it1 and even with the disadvantages of having an insane or tyrannical man at the head of the government and the army1 the position is less disadvantageous to them than if the present organization were abolished4 ,whether his position be held under a ,boulanger1 a ,republic1 a ,pugatchov1 or a ,catharine1--the judge1 the police commissioner1 the governor1 the officer1 will remain in it4 ,but if the system which assures their positions were overthrown1 they would lose them4 ,therefore it is a matter of indifference to these men whether one man or another be at the head of the organization of violence4 ,what they do fear is its abolition2 so they support it4 ,one wonders why men of independent means1 who are not obliged to become soldiers1 the so-called lite of society1 enter military service in ,russia1 in ,england1 in ,germany1 in ,austria1 and even in ,france1 and desire the chance of killing8 ,why do parents1 why do moral men1 send their children to military schools8 ,why do mothers buy them such toys as helmets1 swords1 and muskets8 7,no child of a peasant ever plays at being a soldier47 ,why do kindly men and women1 who can have no manner of interest in war1 go into ecstasies over the exploits of a man like ,skobelev8 ,why do men who are under no obligation to do it1 and who receive no pay for it1 like ,marshals of ,nobility in ,russia1 devote months to the service which demands such unremitting labor1 wearying to the minds as well as to the body1--the enlistment of recruits8 ,why do all emperors and kings wear a military dress1 why do they have drills and parades and military rewards8 ,why are monuments built to generals and conquerors8 ,why do wealthy and independent men regard it as an honor to occupy the position of lackeys to kings1 to flatter them and feign a belief in their special superiority8 ,why do men who have long since ceased to believe in the medieval superstitions of the ,church still constantly and solemnly pretend to do so1 and thus support a sacrilegious and demoralizing institution8 ,why is the ignorance of the people so zealously preserved1 not only by the government1 but by men of the higher classes8 ,why do they so energetically denounce every attempt to overthrow popular superstition and to promote popular education8 ,why do historians1 novelists1 and poets1 who can derive no benefit in exchange for their flattery1 paint in such glowing colors the emperors1 kings1 and generals of bygone times8 ,why do the so-called scientists devote their lives to formulate theories that violence committed on the people by power is legitimate violence--is right8 ,one often wonders why an artist or a woman of the world1 neither of whom1 it would seem1 ordinarily take much interest in sociological or military questions--why should they condemn strikes among workmen1 or advocate war with such partizan zeal8 ,but one ceases to feel surprise when one realizes that the members of the higher classes possess the keenest insight1 an intuitive perception1 as it were1 concerning those conditions which are friendly and those which are hostile to the organization upon whose existence their privileges depend4 ,it is true that the woman of society does not deliberately argue thus3 ,were there no capitalists1 or armies to defend them1 my husband would have no money1 and ,i should have neither salon nor fashionable gowns2 nor does the artist tell himself1 in so many words1 that if his pictures are to be sold there must be capitalists1 defended by armies1 to buy them2 yet instinct1 here doing duty for reason1 is their surest guide4 ,this instinct guides1 with rare exceptions1 all men who support those political1 religious1 and economic institutions which are advantageous to themselves4 ,but is it possible that men who belong to the higher classes defend this organization only because it is for their own advantage8 ,they surely cannot fail to see that as an organization it is irrational1 incompatible with the present consciousness of men1 with public opinion1 and that it is fraught with danger4 ,good1 intelligent1 honest men who belong to the ruling class cannot but suffer from such contradictions1 nor can they close their eyes to the dangers that menace them4 ,and is it possible that the millions of men of the lower classes can go on calmly committing deeds which are so manifestly criminal1 such as are the murders and tortures which they commit1 simply from fear of punishment8 ,surely these things could not exist were not the falsehood and brutality of their actions hidden from all classes of men by the system of the political organization4 ,when such deeds are committed1 there are so many instigators1 participants1 and abettors that no single individual feels himself morally responsible4 ,assassins compel all the witnesses of an assassination to strike the body of the victim1 with the intention of dividing the responsibility among the greatest number possible4 ,and whenever those crimes by the aid of which the state system is maintained are to be committed1 this same thing is observed4 ,the rulers of ,state always endeavor to involve the greatest possible number of citizens in the participation of the crimes which it is to their interest to have committed4 ,in these latter days this is made especially evident by the drawing of citizens on the jury in courts of law1 by drafting them into the army as soldiers1 and into the communal or legislative administration as electors or elected4 ,as in a wicker basket all the ends are so carefully interwoven that they cannot be seen1 so is it with the responsibility for crime4 ,individual responsibilities are so manipulated that no man perceives precisely what he is incurring4 ,in olden times tyrants were responsible for the crimes which were committed1 but in the present age the most frightful crimes are perpetrated1 such as would hardly have been possible in the time of ,nero1 and still no one is held responsible4 ,some demand the crime1 some propose it1 some determine it1 some confirm it1 some order it1 some execute it4 ,women and old men are hung1 are flogged to death--even quite innocent people1 as was recently the case with us in ,russia1 in the affair of the factory at ,uzova2 or1 as is done all over in ,europe and ,america1 in the struggle with anarchists and other revolutionists1 hundreds1 thousands of men are shot1 are killed2 or1 as happens in time of war1 millions of men are massacred2 or1 as is happening always1 the souls of men are destroyed by solitary confinement1 by the debauchery of barrack life--and no one is responsible4 ,on the lower scale of the social ladder are posted soldiers armed with muskets1 pistols1 swords2 they go about doing violence and killing1 and through their doing so force other men to become soldiers like themselves1 and yet they never dream that the responsibility rests on their shoulders2 they shift it on to their superiors1 who give the orders4 ,the czars1 the presidents1 the ministers of ,state1 the general assemblies1 order tortures1 murders1 conscriptions1 and as they enjoy the absolute assurance that they rule by the grace of ,god or by the will of the society they govern1 and that that society demands from them what they order1 they cannot regard themselves as responsible4 ,between these two classes we find a number of intermediaries1 who take charge of the executions1 tortures1 conscriptions1 and they1 too1 wash their hands of all responsibility1 alleging on the one hand the orders of their superiors1 and on the other that it is for such as themselves1 who stand lower on the social ladder1 to do these things4 ,the power that demands and the power that fulfils commands1 the two extremes of governmental organization1 unite like the two ends of a chain1 each depending on and supporting the other1 and all the intervening links4 ,were it not for the conviction that there are men who assume the whole responsibility of such deeds1 no soldier would lift his hand to torture or murder his fellow-man4 ,were it not for the conviction that the nation demands it1 no king1 emperor1 president1 or assembly would venture to issue commands for murder and torture4 ,were it not that he believes that there are men above him who assume the responsibility of his actions1 and others below him whose welfare requires this treatment1 no man of the intermediate class would ever perform the functions committed to him4 ,the organization of the ,state is such that on whatever position of the social ladder a man may stand1 his irresponsibility remains intact4 ,the higher he stands1 the more liable he is to feel the pressure brought to bear on him from below1 urging him to issue commands1 and the less likely he will be to be influenced by orders from above1 and vice versa4 ,but it is not enough that all men bound by the organization of the ,state transfer their responsibility from one to the other1--the peasant1 for instance1 who becomes a soldier to the merchant who has become an officer2 the officer to the noble who occupies the position of governor2 the governor to the minister of ,state2 the minister to the sovereign2 and the sovereign who in his turn shifts the responsibility upon all1--officials1 nobles1 merchants1 peasants4 ,not only do men in this way merely free themselves from all sense of responsibility for their actions1 but because1 as they adapt themselves to fulfil the requirements of political organizations1 they so constantly1 persistently1 and strenuously assure themselves and others that all men are not equal that they begin to believe it sincerely themselves4 ,thus we are assured that some men are superior and must be especially honored and obeyed2 while1 on the other hand1 we are assured in every way that others are inferior1 and therefore bound to obey without murmur the commands of their superiors4 ,it is to this inequality1--the exaltation of some upon the abasement of others1--that we may chiefly attribute the incapacity which men display for discerning the folly of the existing system1 with the cruelty and deceptions committed by some1 and suffered by others4 ,there are certain men who have been made to believe that they are possessed of a peculiar importance and greatness1 who have become so intoxicated by their imaginary superiority that they cease to realize their responsibility for the actions they commit2 others who1 on the contrary1 have been told that they are insignificant beings1 and that it is their duty to submit to those above them1 and1 as the natural result of this continual state of degradation1 fall into a strange condition of stupefied servility1 and in this state they1 too1 lose all sense of responsibility for their actions4 ,and as to the intermediate class1 subservient to those above them1 and yet to a certain extent regarding themselves as superiors1 they are apt to be both servile and arrogant1 and they also lose the sense of responsibility4 ,one needs but to glance at any official of high rank in the act of reviewing the troops4 ,accompanied by his staff1 mounted on a magnificently caparisoned charger1 equipped in a brilliant uniform1 displaying all his decorations1 he rides in front of the ranks1 while the band plays martial music and the soldiers present arms1 standing1 as they do1 as though verily petrified with servility1--one has but to see this to understand how in such moments1 under such conditions1 both generals and soldiers might commit deeds which they never would have dreamed of committing4 ,but the intoxication to which men succumb under conditions like parades1 pageants1 religious ceremonies1 and coronations1 though acute1 is not enduring1 while there is another which is chronic1 shared by all who have any authority whatsoever1 from the ,czar to the policemen on the street1 shared1 too1 by the masses who submit to authority in a state of stupefied servility1 and who by way of justifying their submission1 after the usual manner of slaves1 ascribe the greatest importance and dignity to those whom they obey4 ,it is this delusion in regard to human inequality and the consequent intoxication of power and stupefaction of servility1 which makes it possible for those who are associated in a state organization to commit crimes and suffer no remorse4 ,under the influence of this intoxication1--there is an intoxication of servility as well as of power1--men seem to others1 no less than to themselves1 not the ordinary human beings which they really are1 but specially privileged beings1--nobles1 merchants1 governors1 judges1 officers1 kings1 statesmen1 soldiers1 having no longer ordinary human duties1 but only the duties of the class to which they belong4 ,thus the landed proprietor who prosecuted the peasants on account of the forest did so because he did not regard himself as an ordinary man1 with the same rights as the peasants1 his neighbors1 but as a great landowner and a member of the nobility1 and1 as such1 exalted by the intoxication of authority1 felt himself insulted by the opposition of the peasants4 ,and regardless of the consequences1 he sends in his petition to be reinstated in his pretended rights4 ,the judges who rendered an unfair decision in his favor1 did so because they fancied themselves different from ordinary men1 who are guided only by truth2 under the spell of the intoxication of authority1 they believed themselves the guardians of a justice which cannot err2 and at the same time1 under the influence of servility1 they considered themselves obliged to apply certain texts set forth in a certain book and called the laws2 and all the other persons who took part in this affair1 from the representatives of higher authority down to the last soldier ready to fire upon his brother1--they all accepted themselves in their conventionally accredited characters4 ,not one asked himself if he should take part in an act which his conscience reprobated1 but each accepted himself as one who had simply to fulfil a certain function2 let it be the ,czar1 anointed of ,god1 an exceptional being called to look after the welfare of a hundred million men2 let it be the noble2 the priest1 the recipient of grace through ordination2 the soldier1 bound by oath to fulfil commands without hesitation1--it is the same with all4 ,all their activity1 past1 present1 and future1 is stimulated by a like intoxicating influence4 ,if they had not the firm conviction that the title of king1 statesman1 governor1 judge1 landowner1 marshal of nobility1 officer1 or soldier is of serious import and necessity1 not one of them could contemplate without horror and disgust his own share in the deeds done in these latter days4 ,arbitrary distinctions1 established hundreds of years ago1 recognized for hundreds of years1 described by special names and distinguished by special dress1 sanctioned by all kinds of solemnities calculated to influence men through their emotions1 have been so thoroughly impressed upon the human imagination that men have forgotten the common1 everyday aspects of life2 they look upon themselves and others from a point of view dependent upon outward conditions1 and regard their own acts and those of their neighbors accordingly4 ,here1 for instance1 we see a man of advanced years1 a man perfectly in possession of his senses1 who1 because he has been decorated with some bauble1 and is attired in a ridiculous habit1 or because he is the holder of certain keys1 or has received a bit of blue ribbon fitter for the wear of a coquettish child1 when he is called general1 chamberlain1 chevalier of the order of ,st4 ,andrew1 or some such absurdity1 becomes at once proud1 arrogant1 happy2 if1 on the contrary1 he fails to get the gewgaw or the nickname he expected1 he becomes unhappy and ill1 really to the point of sickness4 ,or let us take a still more remarkable case4 ,a man1 morally sane1 young1 free1 and absolutely safe from want1 has no sooner received the name of district-attorney1 of ,zemsky ,nachalnik1 than he pounces upon some luckless widow1 takes her from her small children1 and throws her into jail1 all because the poor woman has been secretly selling wine1 and thus depriving the treasury of #be roubles' revenue4 ,this man feels no remorse4 ,another still more surprising case is that of a man1 ordinarily kind and good1 who1 because he wears a uniform or carries a medal1 and is told that he is a keeper garde-champtre or custom-house officer1 considers himself justified in shooting men down1 and no one ever dreams of blaming him for it1 nor does he think himself in the wrong2 but if he failed to fire upon his fellow-men he would then indeed be culpable4 ,i say nothing of judges and jurymen1 who condemn men to death1 nor of troops1 who slaughter thousands without a vestige of remorse1 because they are told that they are not in the position of ordinary men1 but are jurymen1 judges1 generals1 soldiers4 ,this abnormal and surprising state of affairs is formulated in words like these3 ,as a man1 ,i sympathize with him1 but as a keeper1 a judge1 a general1 a czar1 or a soldier1 ,i must torture or murder him4 ,so it is in this present case2 men are on the way to slaughter and torment their famine-stricken brethren1 admitting all the while that in this dispute between the peasants and the landowner the former are in the right 7all the superior officials told me so74 ,they know that the peasants are miserable1 poor1 and hungry1 and that the landowner is wealthy and one who inspires no sympathy1 and yet these men are going to kill the peasants in order that this landowner may gain #cjjj roubles2 and all because they regard themselves at the moment not as men1 but one as a governor1 another as a general of gendarmerie1 another as an officer1 or as soldiers1 as the case may be1 and bound not by the eternal laws of the human conscience1 but by the accidental1 transitory demands of their positions4 ,however strange it may appear1 the only explanation of this surprising phenomenon is that men are like those under hypnotic influence1 who1 as suggested by the hypnotizers1 imagine themselves in certain conditions4 ,thus1 for instance1 when it is suggested to a hypnotized patient that he is lame1 he proceeds to limp2 that he is blind1 he ceases to see2 that he is an animal1 and he begins to bite4 ,and this is the state of all those who put their social and political duties before1 and to the detriment of1 their duties as human beings4 ,the essential characteristic of this condition is1 that men1 influenced by the thought that has been suggested to them1 are unable to weigh their own actions1 and simply obey the suggestion that has been communicated to them4 ,the difference between men artificially hypnotized and those under the influence of governmental suggestion consists in this1--that to the former their imagined environment is suggested suddenly by one person1 and the suggestion operates only for a short time2 whereas to the latter1 their imagined position has been the result of gradual suggestion1 going on1 not for years1 but for generations1 and proceeds not from a single individual1 but from their entire circumstances4 ,but1 it will be objected1 always1 in all societies1 the majority of men1 all the children1 all the women1 absorbed in the duties and cares of motherhood1 all the great mass of workers1 who are completely absorbed by their labor1 all those of weak mind1 all the enfeebled1 the many who have come under the subjection of nicotine1 alcohol1 opium1 or what not1--all these are not in a position to think for themselves1 and consequently they submit to those who stand on a higher intellectual level1 or they simply act according to domestic or social tradition1 or in accordance with public opinion1--and in their acting thus there is nothing abnormal or contradictory4 ,indeed1 there is nothing unnatural in it1 and the readiness with which those who reason but little submit to the guidance of men who stand on a higher plane of consciousness is a universal phenomenon1 and one without which social life could not be4 ,the minority submit to principles which they have considered for themselves1 and in consequence of the accordance of these principles with their reason2 the rest of men1 the majority1 submit to the same principles1 not because of personal apprehension of their validity1 but because public opinion demands it4 ,such submission to public opinion of men who can think but little for themselves has nothing abnormal about it so long as public opinion maintains its unity4 ,but there is a period when the higher forms of truth1 having been revealed to the few1 are in process of transmission to the many2 and when the public opinion which was based on a lower plane of consciousness has already begun to waver1 to give place to the new1 ready to be established4 ,and now men begin to view their own and other men's actions in the light of their new consciousness1 while1 influenced by inertia and tradition1 they still continue to apply principles which were the outcome of the once highest consciousness1 but which are now distinctly opposed to it4 ,hence it is that men find themselves in an abnormal position1 and that1 while realizing the necessity of conforming to this new public opinion1 they lack courage to abandon conformity to the old one4 ,this is the attitude which men1 not only the men on the train1 but the greater part of mankind1 occupy toward ,christian truths4 ,the attitude of those who belong to the upper classes1 and who have all the advantages of high position1 is the same as that of the lower classes who obey implicitly every command that is given to them4 ,men of the ruling classes1 who have no reasonable explanation of their privileges1 and who in order to retain them are forced to repress all their nobler and more humane tendencies1 try to persuade themselves of the necessity of their superior position2 while the lower classes1 stultified and oppressed by labor1 are kept by the higher classes in a state of constant subjection4 ,this is the only possible explanation of the amazing phenomena which ,i witnessed on the train on the #ith of ,september1 when men1 naturally kindly and inoffensive1 were to be seen going with an easy conscience to commit the most cruel1 contemptible and idiotic of crimes4 ,it cannot be said that they are devoid of the conscience which should forbid them to do these things1 as was the case with the men who1 centuries ago1 tortured their fellow-men1 scourged them to death1 and burned them at the stake2--nay1 it does exist in them1 but it is kept dormant2 auto-suggestion1 as the psychologist calls it1 keeps it thus among the upper classes1 while the soldiers1 the executioners1 are under the hypnotic influence of the classes above them4 ,conscience may slumber for a time1 but it is not dead1 and in spite of suggestion and auto-suggestion1 it still whispers2 yet a little while and it will awaken4 ,one might compare these men to a person under the influence of hypnotism1 to whom it has been suggested that he shall commit some act contrary to his conception of right and wrong1 as1 for example1 to murder his mother or his child4 ,he feels himself so far coerced by the suggestion given him that he cannot refrain2 and yet as the appointed time and place draw near1 he seems to hear the stifled voice of conscience reviving1 and he begins to draw back1 he tries to awaken himself4 ,and no one can tell whether or not hypnotic suggestion will conquer in the end2 all depends on the relative strength of conflicting influences4 ,so it was with the soldiers on that train1 so it is with all men of our period who take part in state violence and profit by it4 ,there was a time when1 having gone forth to do violence and murder1 to terrify by an example1 men did not return until they had performed their mission1 and then they suffered no doubt or remorse2 but having done their fellow-men to death1 they placidly returned to the bosom of their families1 caressed their children1 and with jest and laughter gave themselves up to all the pure joys of the hearth4 ,the men who were then benefited by violence1 landed proprietors and men of wealth1 believed their own interests to have a direct connection with these cruelties4 ,it is different now1 when men know1 or at least suspect1 the real reason why they do these things4 ,they may close their eyes and try to silence their consciences1 but neither those who commit such outrages1 nor those who order them1 can longer fail to discern the significance of their acts4 ,it may be that they do not fully appreciate it until they are on the point of committing the deed1 or in some cases not until after the deed has been done4 ,those soldiers1 for instance1 who administered the tortures during the riot at the ,yuzovo factory1 at ,nijni-,novgorod1 ,saratov1 and ,orel1 did not fully apprehend the significance of what they were doing until it was all over2 and now1 both they who gave the orders1 and they who executed them1 suffer agonies of shame in the condemnation of public opinion and of their own conscience4 ,i have talked with some of the soldiers about it2 they either tried to change the subject or spoke of it with horror and repugnance4 ,there are instances of men coming to their senses1 however1 just as they are on the point of committing deeds of the kind4 ,i know of a sergeant who during the riots was beaten by two peasants2 he reported the fact to the commander of his company1 but on the following day1 when he saw the tortures inflicted upon other peasants1 he persuaded his superior officer to destroy his report and to allow the peasants who had beaten him to depart unpunished4 ,i know of a case where the soldiers appointed to shoot a prisoner refused to obey2 and of other occasions where the superior officers have refused to direct tortures and executions4 ,the men who were in the train on the #ith of ,september started with the intention of torturing and murdering their fellow-men1 but whether they would carry out their intention one could not know4 ,however each one's share in the responsibility of this affair might be concealed from him1 however strong the hypnotic suggestion among those taking part in it that they did so1 not as men1 but as functionaries1 and so could violate all human obligations1--in spite of this1--the nearer they approached their destination1 the more they must have hesitated about it4 ,it is impossible that the ,governor should not pause at the moment of giving the decisive order to begin to murder and torture4 ,he knows that the conduct of the ,governor at ,orel has excited the indignation of the honorable men1 and he himself1 influenced by public opinion1 has repeatedly expressed his own disapproval of the affair2 he knows that the lawyer who ought to have accompanied him distinctly refused to do so1 denouncing the whole affair as shameful2 he knows that changes are likely to take place in the government at any moment1 the result of which would be that those who were in favor yesterday may be in disgrace to-morrow2 that if the ,russian press remains silent1 the foreign press may give an account of this business that might cover him with opprobrium4 ,already he feels the influence of the new public opinion which is to supersede and destroy the old one4 ,moreover1 he has no assurance that his subordinates may not at the last moment refuse to obey him4 ,he hesitates2 it is impossible to divine what he will do4 ,the functionaries and officers who accompany him feel more or less as he does4 ,they all know at the bottom of their hearts that they are engaged in a shameful business1 that their share in it stains and degrades them in the eyes of those persons whose opinion they value4 ,they know that a man who participates in deeds like these feels shame in the presence of the woman he loves4 ,and like the ,governor1 they1 too1 feel doubtful whether the soldiers will obey them at the last moment4 ,what a contrast to the self-assurance of their bearing on the platform of the station6 ,not only do they suffer1 but they actually hesitate1 and it is partly to hide their inward agitation that they assume an air of bravado4 ,and this agitation increases as they draw nearer to their destination4 ,and1 indeed1 the entire body of soldiers1 although they give no outward sign1 and seem utterly submissive1 are really in the same state of mind4 ,they are no longer like the soldiers of former days1 who gave up the natural life of labor1 and surrendered themselves to debauchery1 rapine1 and murder1 as the ,roman legions did1 or the veterans of the ,thirty ,years' ,war1 or even those soldiers of more modern times1 whose term of service lasted twenty-five years4 ,now they are for the most part men newly taken from their families1 with all the memories of the wholesome1 rational life from which they have been torn still fresh in their minds4 ,these young men1 peasants for the most part1 know what they are going to do2 they know that the land-owners generally ill-treat the peasants1 and that this probably is a case in point4 ,furthermore1 the majority of them can read1 and the books they read are not always in favor of the service2 some even demonstrate its immorality4 ,they find comrades who are independent thinkers1 volunteers and young officers1 and the seed of doubt respecting the merit and rectitude of such deeds as they are about to commit has already been sown in their minds4 ,true1 they have all been subjected to that ingenious discipline1 the work of centuries1 which tends to kill the spirit of independence in every man1 and are so accustomed to automatic obedience that at the words of command1 ,fire along the line6444 ,fire6 and so forth1 their muskets are raised mechanically1 and they perform the customary movements4 ,but now1 ,fire6 means something more than firing at a target2 it means the murder of their abused1 downtrodden fathers and brothers1 who are grouped yonder in the street with their wives and children1 gesticulating and crying out one does not know what4 ,there they are3 here a man with thin beard1 clad in a patched kaftan1 with bast shoes on his feet1 just like the father left behind in the province of ,kazan or ,ryazan2 there another1 with gray beard and bowed shoulders1 leaning on a stout staff1 just like the grandfather2 and here a youth1 with big boots and red shirt1 just like himself a year ago1--the soldier who is about to shoot him4 ,and there is a woman1 with her bast shoes and petticoat1 like the mother he left behind him4 ,and he must fire upon them6 ,and ,god alone knows what each soldier will do at the supreme moment4 ,the slightest suggestion that they ought not to do it1 that they must not do it1--a single word or hint1--would be enough to make them pause4 ,every one of these men at the moment of action will be like one hypnotized1 to whom it has been suggested to chop a log1 who1 as he approaches the object which is told to him is a log1 sees as he raises the ax that it is not a log at all1 but his own brother who lies sleeping there4 ,he may accomplish the act which has been suggested to him1 or he may awake at the moment of committing it4 ,it is the same with these men4 ,if they do not awaken1 then will a deed be done as shocking as that committed in ,orel1 and the reign of official hypnotism will thereby gain new power4 ,if they awaken1 then not only will the deed remain undone1 but many of those who hear of their refusal to do it will free themselves from the suggestion under whose influence they have hitherto acted1 or at least will think of the possibility of doing so4 ,if only a few of these men come to their senses1 and refuse to do the deed1 and fearlessly express their opinion of the wickedness of such deeds1 even such a few men might enable the rest to throw off the suggestion under the influence of which they act1 and such evil deeds would not be done4 ,and another thing3 if but a few of those persons who are simply spectators of the affair would1 from their knowledge of other affairs of the same kind1 boldly express their opinion to those engaged in it1 and point out to them their folly1 cruelty1 and criminality1 even this would not be without a salutary influence4 ,this is precisely what happened in the case of ,tula4 ,partly because certain persons expressed reluctance to take a part in the affair2 because a lady passenger and others showed their indignation at a railway station2 because one of the colonels whose regiment was summoned to reduce the peasants to obedience declared that soldiers are not executioners1--because of these and other apparently trifling influences the affair took on a different aspect1 and the troops1 on arriving1 did not commit outrages1 but contented themselves with cutting down the trees and sending them to the landowner4 ,had it not been that certain of these men conceived a distinct idea that they were doing wrong1 and had not the idea got abroad1 the occurrences at ,orel would have been repeated4 ,had the feeling been stronger1 perhaps the ,governor and his troops would not have gone so far as even to fell the trees and deliver them to the landowner4 ,had it been more powerful still1 perhaps the ,governor would not have dared even to set out for ,tula2 its influence might even have gone so far as to prevent the ,minister from framing1 and the ,emperor from confirming1 such decrees4 ,all depends1 as we come therefore to see1 upon the degree of consciousness that men possess of ,christian truth4 ,hence1 let all men to-day who wish to promote the welfare of mankind direct their efforts toward the development of this consciousness of ,christian truth4 ,but1 strange to say1 those men who nowadays talk most of the amelioration of human life1 and who are the acknowledged leaders of public opinion1 declare this to be precisely the wrong thing to do1 and that there are more effectual expedients for improving human existence4 ,they insist that any improvement in the conditions of human life must be accomplished1 not through individual moral effort1 nor through the propagation of truth1 but through progressive modifications in the general material conditions of life4 ,therefore1 they say1 individual effort should be devoted to the gradual reform of the everyday conditions of life2 and seeing that any individual profession of the truth which may happen to be incompatible with the existing order is harmful1 because it provokes1 on the part of the government1 an opposition which prevents the individual from continuing efforts which may be of utility to society4 ,according to this theory1 all changes in the life of mankind proceed from the same causes that control the lives of the brute creation4 ,and all the religious teachers1 like ,moses and the ,prophets1 ,confucius1 ,lao ,tze1 ,buddha1 and ,christ1 preached their doctrines1 and their followers adopted them1 not because they divined and loved the truth1 but because the political1 social1 and1 above all1 the economical conditions of the nations in whose midst these doctrines found expression were favorable to their exposition and development4 ,therefore the principal activity of a man who wishes to serve the world and to improve the condition of his kind should be directed1 according to this theory1 not to teaching and profession of the truth1 but to the improvement of the outward1 political1 social1 and1 above all1 economic conditions of life4 ,the change in these conditions may be accomplished by serving the government and introducing liberal and progressive principles1 by contributing to the development of commerce1 by propagating socialistic principles1 but1 above all1 by promoting the diffusion of science4 ,according to this doctrine1 it is a matter of no consequence whether one profess the revealed truth or not2 there is no obligation to live in accordance with its precepts1 or to refrain from actions opposed to them1--as1 for instance1 to serve the government1 though one considers its power detrimental2 to profit by the organization of capital1 though one disapproves of it2 to subscribe to certain forms of religion1 though one considers them superstitions4 ,practise in the courts of law1 though one believes them to be corrupt2 or enter the army1 or take the oath of allegiance1 or indeed lie1 or do anything that is convenient4 ,these things are trivial2 for it is a matter of vital importance1 instead of challenging the prevailing customs of the day1 to conform to them1 though they be contrary to one's convictions1 satisfied meanwhile to try and liberalize the existing institutions1 by encouraging commerce1 propagating socialistic doctrines1 and generally promoting soi-disant science and civilization4 ,according to this convenient theory1 it is possible for a man to remain a landowner1 a merchant1 a manufacturer1 a judge1 a functionary paid by the government1 a soldier1 an officer1 and at the same time to be humanitarian1 socialist1 and revolutionary4 ,hypocrisy1 formerly growing only out of such religious doctrines as that of original sin1 redemption1 the ,church1 has in these latter days1 by means of the new theory1 gained for itself a scientific basis1 and those whose intellectual habit of mind renders the hypocrisy of the ,church unendurable1 are yet deceived by this new hypocrisy with the cachet of science4 ,if in old times a man who professed the doctrines taught by the ,church could with a clear conscience take part in any political crime1 and benefit by so doing1 provided he complied with the external forms of his faith1 men of the present day1 who deny ,christianity1 and view the conduct of life from a secular and scientific standpoint1 are every whit as sure of their own innocence1 even of their lofty morality1 when they participate in and benefit by the evil-doings of government4 ,it is not alone in ,russia1 but in ,france1 ,england1 ,germany1 and ,america as well1 that we find the wealthy landed proprietor1 who1 in return for having allowed the men who live on his estate and who supply him with the products of the soil1 extorts from these men1 who are often poverty-stricken1 all that he possibly can4 ,whenever these oppressed laborers make an attempt to gain something for themselves from the lands which the rich man calls his own1 without first asking his consent1 troops are called out1 who torture and put to death those who have been bold enough to take such liberties4 ,by methods like this are claims to the ownership of land made good4 ,one would hardly imagine that a man who lived in such a wicked and selfish manner could call himself a ,christian1 or even liberal4 ,one would think that if a man cared to seem ,christian or liberal1 he would at least cease to plunder and to torment his fellow-men with the aid of the government1 in order to vindicate his claims to the ownership of land4 ,and such would be the case were it not for the metaphysical hypocrisy which teaches that from a religious standpoint it is immaterial whether one owns land or not1 and that1 from the scientific point of view1 for a single individual to give up his land would be a useless sacrifice1 without any effect on the well-being of mankind1 the amelioration of which can only be brought about by a progressive modification of outward conditions4 ,meanwhile1 your modern landowner will1 without the least hesitation or doubt1 organize an agricultural exhibition1 or a temperance society1 or1 through his wife and daughters1 distribute warm underclothing and soup to three old women2 and he will hold forth before the domestic circle1 or in society1 or as a member of committees1 or in the public press1 upon the gospel of love for mankind in general and the agricultural class in particular1 that class which he never ceases to torment and oppress4 ,and those who occupy a similar position will believe in him and sing his praises1 and take counsel together upon the best methods of improving the condition of those very laboring classes they spend their lives in exploiting2 and for this purpose they suggest every possible expedient1 save that which would effect it1--namely1 to desist from robbing the poor of the land necessary for their subsistence4 7,a striking example of this hypocrisy was presented by the ,russian landowners during the struggle with the famine of last year1#cj a famine of which they were themselves the cause1 and by which they profited1 not only by selling bread at the highest price1 but even by disposing of the dried potato-plants for five roubles a dessiatin1 to be used as fuel by the freezing peasants47 #cj #ahib4 ,the business of the merchant1 again 7as is the case with business of any kind71 is based upon a series of frauds2 he takes advantage of the necessities of men by buying his merchandise below1 and selling it above1 its value4 ,one would think that a man1 the mainspring of whose activity is what he himself in his own language calls shrewdness1 ought to feel ashamed of this1 and never dream of calling himself ,christian or liberal while he continues a merchant4 ,but1 according to the new metaphysic of hypocrisy1 he may pass for a virtuous man and still pursue his evil career2 the religious man has but to believe1 the liberal man but to coperate1 in the reform of external conditions to promote the general progress of commerce2 the rest does not signify4 ,so this merchant 7who1 besides1 often sells bad commodities1 adulterates1 and uses false weights and measures1 or deals exclusively in commodities that imperil human life1 such as alcohol or opium7 frankly considers himself1 and is considered by others1--always provided he only does not cheat his colleagues in business and knavery1 his fellow-tradesmen1--a model of conscientiousness and honesty4 ,and if he spend one per cent of his stolen money on some public institution1 hospital1 museum1 or school1 men call him the benefactor of the people on whose exploitation all his welfare depends2 and if he gives but the least part of this money to the ,church or to the poor1 then is he deemed an exemplary ,christian indeed4 ,take again the factory-owner1 whose entire income is derived from reducing the pay of his workmen to its lowest terms1 and whose whole business is carried on by forced and unnatural labor1 endangering the health of generations of men4 ,one would suppose that if this man professed ,christian or liberal principles he would cease to sacrifice human lives to his interests4 ,but1 according to the existing theory1 he encourages industry1 and it would be a positive injury to society if he were to abandon his operations1 even supposing he were willing to do so4 ,and1 too1 this man1 the cruel slave-driver of thousands of human beings1 having built for those injured in his service minute houses1 with gardens six feet in extent1 or established a fund1 or a home for the aged1 or a hospital1 is perfectly satisfied that he has more than atoned for the moral and physical jeopardy into which he has plunged so many lives2 and he continues to live calmly1 proud of his work4 ,we find that the functionary1 civil1 military1 or ecclesiastical1 who performs his duties to gratify his selfishness or ambition1 or1 as is more usually the case1 for the sake of the stipend1 collected in the shape of taxes from an exhausted and crippled people1--if1 by a rare exception1 he does not directly steal from the public treasury1--considers himself1 and is considered by his equals1 a most useful and virtuous member of society4 ,there are judges and other legal functionaries who know that their decisions have condemned hundreds and thousands of unfortunate men to be torn from their families and thrown into prison4 ,there these hapless beings are locked up in solitary confinement1 or sent to the galleys1 where they go desperate and put an end to themselves by starving themselves to death1 by swallowing glass1 or by some such means4 ,and who knows what the mothers1 wives1 and children of these men suffer by the separation and imprisonment1 and the disgrace of it1--who have vainly begged for pardon for their sons1 husbands1 brothers1 or that their lot may be a little alleviated4 ,but the judge or other legal functionary is so primed with the current hypocrisy that he himself1 his colleagues1 his wife1 and his friends are all quite sure1 despite what he does1 that he is a good and sensible man4 ,according to the current philosophy of hypocrisy1 such a man performs a duty of great importance to the public4 ,and this man1 who has injured hundreds or thousands of human beings1 who owe it to him that they have lost their belief in goodness and their faith in ,god1 goes to church with a benevolent smile1 listens to the ,bible1 makes liberal speeches1 caresses his children1 bestows moral lessons upon them1 for their edification1 and grows sentimental over imaginary suffering4 ,not only these men1 their wives and children1 but the entire community around them1 all the teachers1 actors1 cooks1 jockeys1 live by preying upon the life-blood of the working-people1 which in one way or another they absorb like leeches4 ,every one of their days of pleasure costs thousands of days in the lives of the workers4 ,they see the suffering and privation of these workmen1 of their wives and children1 of their aged and feeble4 ,they know what punishments are visited upon those who attempt to resist the organized system of pillage1 but so far from abandoning or concealing their luxurious habits1 they flaunt them in the faces of those whom they oppress and by whom they are hated4 ,all the while they assure themselves and others that they have the welfare of the working-man greatly at heart4 ,on ,sundays1 clad in rich garments1 they drive in their carriages to churches where the mockery of ,christianity is preached1 and listen there to the words of men who have learned their falsehoods by heart4 ,some of these men wear stoles1 some wear white cravats2 they all preach the doctrine of love for one's neighbor1 a doctrine belied by their daily lives4 ,and they have all grown so accustomed to playing this part that they really believe themselves to be what they pretend4 ,this universal hypocrisy1 which has become to every class of society at the present day like the air it breathes1 is so familiar that men are no longer exasperated by it4 ,it is very fitting that hypocrisy should signify acting or playing of a part4 ,it has become so much a matter of course that it no longer excites surprise when the representatives of ,christ pronounce a blessing over murderers as they stand in rank holding their guns in the position which signifies1 in military parlance1 for prayers1 or when the priests and pastors of various ,christian sects accompany the executioner to the scaffold1 and1 by lending the sanction of their presence to murder1 make men believe it compatible with ,christianity4 7,one minister was present when experiments in electrocution took place in the ,united ,states47 ,at the ,international ,prison ,exposition recently held in ,st4 ,petersburg1 where instruments of torture1 such as chains1 and models of prison-cells for solitary confinement1--means of torture worse than the knout or the rod1--were on exhibition1 sympathetic ladies and gentlemen went to see them1 and seemed greatly entertained4 ,no one marvels to find liberal science insisting upon the equality1 fraternity1 and liberty of men on the one hand1 while on the other it is striving to prove the necessity of armies1 executions1 custom-houses1 of censorship of the press1 of legalized prostitution1 of the expulsion of foreign labor1 of the prohibition of emigration1 and of the necessity and justice of colonization established by the pillage and extermination of whole races of so-called savages1 etc4 ,they talk of what will happen when all men shall profess what they call ,christianity 7by which they mean the different conflicting creeds72 when every one will be fed and clothed2 when men will communicate with one another all over the world by telegraph and telephones1 and will travel in balloons2 when all working-men will accept the doctrine of socialism2 when the trade unions will embrace many millions of men and possess millions of money2 when all men will be educated1 will read the papers1 and be familiar with all the sciences4 ,but what good will this do if after all these improvements men are still false to the truth8 ,the miseries of men are caused by disunion1 and disunion arises from the fact that men follow not truth1 but falsehood1 of which there is no end4 ,truth is the only bond by which men may be united2 and the more sincerely men strive after the truth the nearer they approach to true unity4 ,but how are men to be united in the truth1 or even approach it1 if they not only fail to proclaim the truth which they possess1 but actually think it useless to do so1 and pretend to believe in something which they know to be a lie8 ,in reality no improvement in the condition of mankind is possible while men continue to hide the truth from themselves1 nor until they acknowledge that their unity1 and consequently their welfare1 can be promoted only by the spirit of truth2 until they admit that to profess1 and to act in obedience to the truth as it has been revealed to them1 is more important than all things else4 ,let all the material progress ever dreamt of by religious and scientific men be made2 let all men accept ,christianity1 and let all the improvements suggested by the ,bellamys and ,richets1 with every possible addition and correction1 be carried out2 and yet if the hypocrisy of to-day still flourishes1 if men do not make known the truth that is within them1 but go on pretending to believe what they know to be untrue1 showing respect where they no longer feel it1 their condition will never improve2 on the contrary1 it will become worse4 ,the more men are raised above want1 the more telegraphs1 telephones1 books1 newspapers1 and reviews they possess1 the more numerous will be the channels for the diffusion of falsehood and hypocrisy1 and the more at variance and miserable will men become1--and it is even so at the present time4 ,let all those material changes take place1 and still the position of humanity will in no way be improved by them2 but let every man1 so far as he is able1 begin at once and live up to his highest ideal of the truth or1 at the least1 cease to defend a lie1 then indeed should we see even in this year of #ahic such an advance in the establishment of the truth upon earth1 and in the deliverance of mankind1 as could hardly be hoped for in a hundred years4 ,it was not without reason that the only harsh and denunciatory words that ,christ uttered were addressed to hypocrites4 ,it is neither theft1 nor robbery1 nor murder1 nor fornication1 nor fraud1 but falsehood1 that particular hypocritical falsehood1 which destroys in men's conscience the distinction between good and evil1 which corrupts them and takes from them the possibility of avoiding evil and of seeking good1 which deprives them of that which constitutes the essence of a true human life1--it is this which bars the way to all improvement4 ,those men who do evil1 knowing not the truth1 inspire in the beholder compassion for their victims and repugnance for themselves1 but they only injure the few whom they molest4 ,whereas those men who1 knowing the good1 yet pursue the evil1 wearing all the while the mantle of hypocrisy1 commit a wrong1 not only against themselves and their victims1 but also against thousands of other men who are deceived by the falsehood under which they conceal the wrong4 ,thieves1 robbers1 murderers1 rogues1 who commit acts which they themselves1 as well as other men1 know to be evil1 serve as a warning to show men what is evil1 and make them hate it4 ,those1 however1 who steal1 rob1 torture1 and murder1 justifying themselves by pretended religious1 scientific1 or other motives1 like the landowners1 merchants1 factory-owners1 and government servants of the present time1 by provoking imitation1 injure not only their victims1 but thousands and millions of men who are corrupted by their influence1 and who become so blinded that they cannot distinguish the difference between good and evil4 ,one fortune acquired by trading in the necessaries of life or in articles that tend to demoralize men1 or by speculations in the stock exchange1 or by the acquisition of cheap lands which subsequently rise in value by reason of the increasing needs of the people1 or by the establishment of factories that endanger human health and human lives1 or by rendering civil or military service to the ,state1 or by any occupation that tends to the demoralization of mankind1--a fortune acquired in any of these ways1 not only permitted1 but approved by the leaders of society1 when1 furthermore1 it is supported by a show of charity1 surely demoralizes men more than millions of thefts1 frauds1 or robberies1--sins committed against the laws of the land and subject to judicial prosecution4 ,a single enforcement of capital punishment1 ordained by men of education and wealth1 sanctioned by the approval of the ,christian clergy1 and declared to be an act of justice essential to the welfare of the ,state1 tends far more to degrade and brutalize mankind than hundreds and thousands of murders committed in passion by the ignorant4 ,a more demoralizing scene than the execution suggested by ,jukovsky1 calculated as it is to excite a feeling of religious exaltation1 it would be difficult to conceive4#ca #ca ,see vol4 iv4 of the works of ,jukovsky 7a ,russian poet74 ,a war1 even of the shortest duration1--with all its customary consequences1 the destruction of harvests1 the thefts1 the unchecked debauchery and murders1 with the usual explanations of its necessity and justice1 with the accompanying glorification and praise bestowed upon military exploits1 upon patriotism1 devotion to the flag1 with the assumption of tenderness and care for the wounded1--will do more in one year to demoralize men than thousands of robberies1 arsons1 and murders committed in the course of centuries by individual men carried away by passion4 ,the existence of one household1 one not even extravagant beyond the ordinary limits1 esteeming itself virtuous and innocent1 which yet consumes the production of enough to support thousands of the men who live near in poverty and distress1 has a more degrading influence on mankind than innumerable orgies of gross shopkeepers1 officers1 or workmen who are addicted to drink and debauchery1 and who smash mirrors and crockery by way of amusement4 ,one solemn procession1 one religious service1 or one sermon from the pulpit1 embodying a falsehood which the preacher himself does not believe1 does infinitely more harm than thousands of frauds1 adulterations of food1 etc4 ,men talk of the hypocrisy of the ,pharisees2 but the hypocrisy of our contemporaries far surpasses the comparatively harmless sanctimoniousness of the ,pharisees4 ,they at least had an outward religious law1 whose fulfilment may perhaps have prevented them from discerning their duty toward their neighbors2 indeed1 those duties had not then been distinctly defined4 ,to-day there is no such law4 7,i do not consider such gross and stupid men as even now believe that sacraments or absolution of the ,pope can free them from sins47 ,on the contrary1 the law of the gospel1 which in one form or another we all profess1 makes our duties perfectly plain4 ,indeed1 those precepts which were but vaguely indicated by certain of the prophets have since been so clearly formulated1 have grown to be such truisms1 that the very school-boys and hack writers repeat them4 ,therefore men of our times cannot feign ignorance concerning them4 ,those men who enjoy the advantages of the existing system1 and who are always protesting love for their neighbor1 without suspicion that their own lives are an injury to their neighbors1 are like the robber who1 caught with an uplifted knife1 his victim crying desperately for help1 protests that he did not know that he was doing anything unpleasant to the man whom he was in the act of robbing and about to murder4 ,since the denial of this robber and murderer would be of no avail1 his act being patent to all observers1 it would seem equally futile for our fellow-citizens1 who live by the sufferings of the oppressed1 to assure themselves and others that they desire the welfare of those whom they never cease to rob1 and that they had not realized the nature of the methods by which their prosperity had been attained4 ,we can no longer persuade ourselves that we do not know of the one hundred thousand men in ,russia alone who have been shut up in galleys or in prisons for the purpose of securing to us our property and our peace2 and that we do not know of the existence of those courts of law at which we preside1 to which we bring our accusations1 which sentence those men1 who have attacked our property or our lives1 to the galleys1 to imprisonment1 or to exile1 where human beings1 no worse than they who have pronounced judgment upon them1 become degraded and lost2 nor that we do not know that everything that we possess has been won and is preserved at the expense of murder and violence4 ,we cannot shut our eyes and pretend that we do not see the policeman1 who1 armed with a revolver1 paces before our window1 protecting us while we are eating our excellent dinner1 or when we are at the theater seeing a new play2 nor do not know of the existence of the soldiers who will appear armed with guns and cartridges whenever our property is menaced4 ,we know perfectly well that if we finish our dinner1 see the new play to its end1 enjoy a merry-making at ,christmas1 take a walk1 go to a ball1 a race1 or a hunt1 we owe it to the policeman's revolver or the ball in the soldier's musket1 which will pierce the hungry belly of the disinherited man who1 with watering mouth1 peeps round the corner at our pleasures1 and who might interrupt them if the policeman or the soldiers in the barracks were not ready to appear at our first call4 ,hence1 as the man who is caught in the act of robbery in broad daylight cannot deny that he threatened his victim with a knife for the purpose of stealing his purse1 it might be supposed that we could no longer represent to ourselves and to others that the soldiers and policemen whom we see around us are here1 not for the purpose of protecting us1 but to repulse foreign enemies1 to assure public order1 to adorn by their presence public rejoicings and ceremonies4 ,we cannot pretend we do not know that men are not fond of starving to death4 ,we know that they do not like to die of hunger1 being deprived of the right to earn their living from the soil upon which they live1 that they are not anxious to work ten to fourteen hours a day underground1 standing in water1 or in over-heated rooms1 twelve or fourteen hours a day1 or at night1 manufacturing articles which contribute to our pleasures4 ,it would seem impossible to deny what is so evident1 and yet it is what we do deny4 ,it cannot be denied that there are people of the wealthy class1 and ,i am glad to say that ,i meet them more and more frequently1 particularly in the younger generation and among women1 who1 on being reminded by what means and at what a price their pleasures are obtained1 instantly admit the truth of it1 and with bowed heads exclaim3 ,ah1 do not tell us of it6 ,if it is as you say1 one cannot live6 ,if1 however1 there are some who are willing to admit their sin1 though they know not how to escape from it1 still1 the majority of men nowadays have become so confirmed in hypocrisy that they boldly deny facts that are patent to every one who has eyes4 ,it is all nonsense1 they say4 ,no one forces the people to work for the landowners or in the factories4 ,it is a matter of mutual accommodation4 ,large properties and capital are indispensable1 because they enable men to organize companies and provide work for the laboring classes1 and the work in mills and factories is by no means so dreadful as you represent it4 ,when real abuses are found to exist1 the government and society in general take measures to abolish them and to render the labor of the working-men easier and more agreeable4 ,the working-classes are used to physical labor1 and are not as yet capable of doing anything else4 ,the poverty of the people is caused neither by the landowners nor by the tyranny of the capitalists2 it springs from other causes1--from ignorance1 disorder1 and intemperance4 ,we1 the governing classes1 who counteract this state of poverty by wise administration2 and we1 the capitalists1 who counteract it by the multiplication of useful inventions2 and we1 the liberals1 who contribute our share by instituting trade unions and by diffusing education1--these are the methods by which we promote the welfare of the people1 without making any radical change in our position4 ,we do not wish all to be poor like the poor2 we wish all to be rich like the rich4 ,as to torturing and killing men for the purpose of making them work for the rich1 that is all sophistry2 the troops are sent out to quell disturbances when men1 not appreciating their advantages1 rebel and disturb the peace essential for the general welfare4 ,it is equally necessary to restrain malefactors1 for whom prisons1 gallows1 and the like are established4 ,we are anxious enough to abolish them as far as possible ourselves1 and are working for that purpose4 ,hypocrisy1 which nowadays is supported by two methods1 the quasi-religious and the quasi-scientific1 has attained such proportions1 that if we did not live in its atmosphere continually1 it would be impossible to believe that humanity could sink to such depths of self-deception4 ,men have reached so surprising a state1 their hearts have become so hardened1 that they look and do not see2 listen1 and do not hear or understand4 ,for a long time they have been living a life that is contrary to their conscience4 ,were it not for the aid of hypocrisy they would be unable so to live1 for such a life1 so opposed to conscience1 can only continue because it is veiled by hypocrisy4 ,and the greater the difference between the practice and the conscience of men1 the more elastic becomes hypocrisy4 ,yet even hypocrisy has its limits1 and ,i believe that we have reached them4 ,every man of the present day1 with the ,christian consciousness that has involuntarily become his1 may be likened to a sleeper who dreams that he is doing what even in his dream he knows he ought not to do4 ,in the depths of his dream-consciousness he realizes his conduct1 and yet seems unable to change his course1 and to cease doing that which he is aware he should not do4 ,then1 in the progress of his dream1 his state of mind becoming less and less endurable1 he begins to doubt the reality of what has seemed so real1 and makes a conscious effort to break the spell that holds him4 ,the average man of our ,christian world is in exactly the same strait4 ,he feels that everything going on around him is absurd1 senseless1 and impossible2 that the situation is becoming more and more painful1 that it has indeed reached the crisis4 ,it is impossible that we of the present age1 endowed with the ,christian conscience that has become a part of our very flesh and blood as it were1 who live with a full consciousness of the dignity of man and the equality of all men1 who feel our need for peaceable relations with each other and for the unity of all nations1 should go on living in such a way4 ,it is impossible that all our pleasures1 all our satisfactions1 should be purchased by the sufferings and the lives of our brethren2 impossible that we should be ready at a moment's notice to rush upon each other like wild beasts1 one nation against another1 and relentlessly destroy the lives and labor of men1 only because one foolish diplomatist or ruler says or writes something foolish to another4 ,it is impossible2 and yet all men of our time see that this is what does happen every day1 and all wait for the catastrophe1 while the situation grows more and more strained and painful4 ,and as a man in his sleep doubts the reality of his dream and longs to awaken and return to real life1 so the average man of our day cannot1 in the bottom of his heart1 believe the terrible situation in which he finds himself1 and which is growing worse and worse1 to be the reality4 ,he longs to attain to a higher reality1 the consciousness of which is already within him4 ,and like this sleeper1 who has but to make the conscious effort to ask himself whether it be a dream1 in order to transform its seeming hopelessness into a joyous awakening1 our average man has but to make a conscious effort and ask himself1 ,is not all this an illusion8 in order to feel himself forthwith like the awakened sleeper1 transported from an hypocritical and horrible dream-world into a living1 peaceful1 and joyous real one4 ,and for this he has no need of any heroic achievement2 he has only to make the effort prompted by his moral consciousness4 ,but is man able to make this effort8 ,according to the existing theory1 one indispensable from the point of view of hypocrisy1 man is not free and may not change his life4 ,a man cannot change his life1 because he is not a free agent4 ,he is not a free agent1 because his acts are the result of preceding causes4 ,and whatever he may do1 certain it is that preceding causes always determine that a man must act in one way rather than in another2 therefore a man is not free to change his life1--thus argue the defenders of the metaphysic of hypocrisy4 ,and they would be perfectly right if man were an unconscious and stationary being1 incapable of apprehending the truth1 and unable to advance to a higher state by means of it4 ,but man is a conscious being1 able to grow more and more in the knowledge of truth4 ,therefore if he be not free in his acts1 the causes of these acts1 which consist in the recognition simply of such and such truth1 are yet within his mastery4 ,so that if a man is not free to do certain acts1 he is yet free to work toward the suppression of the moral causes which prevent their performance4 ,he may be likened to the engineer of a locomotive1 who1 though not at liberty to change the past or present motion of his engine1 is yet free to determine its future progress4 ,no matter what an intelligent man may do1 he adopts a certain course of action only because he acknowledges to himself that at the moment that course alone is the right one2 or because he has formerly recognized it as such1 and now continues to act as he does through force of habit1 or through mental inertia4 ,whether a man eats or abstains from food1 whether he works or rests1 whether he avoids danger or seeks it1 he acts as he does because he considers it to be reasonable at the time1 or because previously he saw that the truth consisted in acting in that way and not in another4 ,the admission or the denial of a certain truth depends not on outward causes1 but on certain conditions that man finds within himself4 ,thus frequently1 with all the outward and1 as it may seem1 favorable conditions for recognizing the truth1 one may reject it1 while another may receive it under the most unfavorable conditions1 and without apparent motives4 ,as it is said in the gospel3 ,no man can come to me1 except the ,father which hath sent me draw him2--that is to say1 the recognition of truth1 which is the cause of all the manifestations of a man's life1 does not depend on outward conditions1 but on certain inherent qualities which escape recognition4 ,therefore a man who is not free in his acts still feels himself free in regard to the cause of his acts2 that is1 in regard to the recognition or non-recognition of truth4 ,thus a man who1 under the influence of passion1 has committed a deed contrary to the truth he knows1 still remains free in recognizing or denying the truth2 in other words1 denying the truth1 he may consider his act necessary and justify himself in committing it1 or1 accepting the truth1 he may acknowledge his deed to be evil and himself guilty4 ,thus a gambler or a drunkard1 who has succumbed to his passion1 is free to acknowledge gambling or drunkenness either as evils1 or as amusements without consequence4 ,in the first instance1 if he cannot get rid of his passion at once1 he becomes free from it gradually1 according to the depth of his conviction of its evil4 ,in the second instance1 his passion grows and gradually deprives him of all chance of deliverance4 ,so1 too1 with a man who1 unable to endure the scorching flames for the rescue of his friend1 himself escapes from a burning house1 while he recognizes the truth that a man should save the life of his fellow-man at the peril of his own1 is yet free to look upon his act as evil1 and therefore to condemn himself for it2 or1 denying this truth1 to judge his act to be both natural and necessary1 and so justify himself in his own opinion4 ,in the first instance1 his recognition of the truth1 even though he has not acted in accordance with it1 helps him to prepare for a series of self-sacrificing actions that will inevitably follow such recognition4 ,in the second instance1 he prepares for a series of actions just as selfish4 ,i do not say that a man is always free to recognize or not to recognize every truth4 ,certain truths there are1 long since recognized by men1 and transmitted by tradition1 education1 and mere force of habit until they have become second nature2 and there are other truths which men perceive as but dimly and afar4 ,a man is not free not to recognize the first of these2 he is not free to recognize the second4 ,but there is a third category of truths1 which have not as yet become unquestioned motors of his activity1 but have revealed themselves to man so unmistakably that he is unable to disregard them2 he must inevitably consider them1 and either accept or reject them4 ,it is by his relation to these truths that a man's freedom is manifested4 ,each man in his perception of truth is like a wayfarer who walks by the aid of a lantern whose light he casts before him3 he does not see what as yet has not been revealed by its beams1 he does not see the path he has left behind1 merged again in the darkness2 but at any given point he sees that which the lantern reveals1 and he is always at liberty to choose one side of the road or the other4 ,there exist for each man certain concealed truths1 as yet unrevealed to his mental vision2 certain others1 which he has experienced1 assimilated1 and forgotten2 and yet others1 that rise up before him demanding immediate recognition from his reason4 ,and it is in the recognition or the disregard of these truths that what we call freedom becomes evident4 ,all the apparent difficulty of the question of man's liberty comes from the fact that those who seek to solve it represent man as stationary in the presence of the truth4 ,undoubtedly he is not free if we look upon him as a stationary being2 if we forget that the life of all humanity is an eternal procession from darkness to light1 from the lower conception of truth to a higher one1 from truth mingled with error to purer truth4 ,a man would not be free if he were ignorant of all truth2 neither would he be free1 nor even have any conception of liberty1 if the truth were suddenly revealed to him in its entire purity and without any admixture of error4 ,but man is not a stationary being4 ,and as he advances in life1 every individual discovers an ever increasing proportion of truth1 and thus becomes less liable to error4 ,the relations of man to truth are threefold4 ,some truths are so familiar to him that they have become the unconscious springs of action2 others have only been dimly revealed to him2 again others1 though still unfamiliar1 are revealed to him so plainly that they force themselves upon his attention1 and inevitably1 in one way or another1 he is obliged to consider them4 ,he cannot ignore them1 but must either recognize or repudiate them4 ,and it is in the recognition or in the disregard of these truths that man's free agency is manifested4 ,a man's freedom does not consist in a faculty of acting independently of his environment and the various influences it brings to bear upon his life1 but in his power to become1 through recognizing and professing the truth that has been revealed to him1 a free and willing laborer at the eternal and infinite work performed by ,god and his universe2 or1 in shutting his eyes to truth1 to become a slave and be forced against his will into a way in which he is loath to go4 ,not only does truth point out the direction a man's life should take1 but it opens the only road he can take4 ,hence1 all men will invariably1 free or not1 follow the road of truth2--some willingly1 doing the work they have set themselves to do2 others involuntarily1 by submitting in spite of themselves to the law of life4 ,it is in the power of choice that a man's freedom lies4 ,freedom1 in limits so narrow as these1 appears to men so insignificant that they fail to perceive it4 ,the believers in causation prefer to overlook it2 the believers in unlimited free will1 keeping in view their own ideal1 disdain a freedom to them so insignificant4 ,freedom1 confined between the limits of entire ignorance of the truth1 or of the knowledge of only a part of it1 does not seem to them to be freedom1 the more so that whether a man is or is not willing to recognize the truth revealed unto him1 he will inevitably be forced to obey it in life4 ,a horse harnessed to a load in company with other horses is not free to remain in one place4 ,if he does not pull the load1 the load will strike him and force him to move in the direction it is going1 thus compelling him to advance4 ,still1 in spite of this limitation of freedom1 the horse is still free to pull the load of his own accord1 or be pushed forward by it4 ,the same reasoning can be applied to human freedom4 ,be this freedom great or small as compared with the chimerical freedom for which we sigh1 it is the only true freedom1 and through it alone is to be found all the happiness accessible to man4 ,and not only does this freedom promote the happiness of men1 but it is the only means through which the work of the world can be accomplished4 ,according to the doctrine of ,christ1 a man who limits his observation of life to the sphere in which there is no freedom--to the sphere of effects--that is1 of acts--does not live a true life4 ,he only lives a true life who has transferred his life into the sphere in which freedom lies1--into the domain of first causes1--that is to say1 by the recognition and practice of the truth revealed to him4 ,the man who consecrates his life to sensual acts is ever performing acts that depend on temporary causes beyond his control4 ,of himself he does nothing2 it only seems to him that he is acting independently1 whereas in reality all that he imagines he is doing by himself is done through him by a superior force2 he is not the creator of life1 but its slave4 ,but the man who devotes his life to the acknowledgment and practice of the truth revealed to him unites himself with the source of universal life1 and accomplishes1 not personal1 individual acts1 that depend on the conditions of time and space1 but acts that have no causes1 but are in themselves causes of all else1 and have an endless and unlimited significance4 ,because of their setting aside the essence of true life1 which consists in the recognition and practice of the truth1 and directing their efforts toward the improvement of the external conditions of life1 men of the pagan life-conception may be likened to passengers on a steamer1 who should1 in their anxiety to reach their destination1 extinguish the engine-fires1 and instead of making use of steam and screw1 try during a storm to row with oars which cannot reach the water4 ,the ,kingdom of ,god is attained by effort1 and it is only those who make the effort that do attain it4 ,it is this effort1 which consists in sacrificing outward conditions for the sake of the truth1 by which the ,kingdom of ,god is attained1--an effort which can and ought to be made now1 in our own epoch4 ,men have but to understand this3 that they must cease to care for material and external matters1 in which they are not free2 let them apply one hundredth part of the energy now used by them in outward concerns to those in which they are free1--to the recognition and profession of the truth that confronts them1 to the deliverance of themselves and others from the falsehood and hypocrisy which conceal the truth1--and then the false system of life which now torments us1 which threatens us with still greater suffering1 will be destroyed at once without struggle4 ,then the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 at least in that first stage for which men through the development of their consciousness are already prepared1 will be established4 ,as one shake is sufficient to precipitate into crystals a liquid saturated with salt1 so at the present time it may be that only the least effort is needed in order that the truth1 already revealed to us1 should spread among hundreds1 thousands1 millions of men1 and a public opinion become established in conformity with the existing consciousness1 and the entire social organization become transformed4 ,it depends upon us to make this effort4 ,if only each of us would try to understand and recognize the ,christian truth1 which in the most varied forms surrounds us on all sides1 pleading to be admitted into our hearts2 if we would cease to lie and pretend that we do not see this truth1 or that we are anxious to fulfil it1 excepting in the one thing that it really demands2 if we would only recognize this truth which calls us1 and would fearlessly profess it1--we should find forthwith that hundreds1 thousands1 and millions of men are in the same position as ourselves1 fearing like ourselves to stand alone in its recognition1 and waiting only to hear its avowal from others4 ,if men would only cease to be hypocrites they would perceive at once that this cruel organization of society1 which alone hampers them and yet appears to them like something immutable1 necessary1 and sacred1 established by ,god1 is already wavering1 and is maintained only by the hypocrisy and the falsehood of ourselves and our fellow-men4 ,but if it be true that it depends only on ourselves to change the existing order of life1 have we the right to do it without knowing what we shall put in its place8 ,what will become of the world if the present system be destroyed8 ,what is there beyond the walls of the world we leave behind us8 ,fear seizes us1--emptiness1 space1 freedom4444--how is one to go on1 not knowing whither8 ,how is one to lose1 without the hope of gain8444 ,had ,columbus reasoned thus he never would have weighed anchor4 ,it was madness to attempt to cross an unknown ocean1 to set sail for a country whose very existence was doubtful4 ,but he discovered a new world through this madness4 ,to be sure1 if people had only to move from one furnished house into another and a more commodious one1 it would be an easy matter1 but the trouble lies in there being no one to prepare the new apartments4 ,the future looks more uncertain still than the ocean1--it promises nothing1--it will only be what men and circumstances make it4 ,if you are content with the old world1 try to preserve it2 it is sick1 and will not live long4 ,but if you can no longer live in the eternal conflict between your convictions and life1 thinking one way and acting another1 take it upon yourselves to leave the shelter of the blanched and ruinous arches of the ,middle ,ages4 ,i am aware that this is not an easy matter4 ,it is hard to part with all one has been accustomed to from birth4 ,men are ready for great sacrifices1 but not those which the new life demands of them4 ,are they ready to sacrifice their present civilization1 their mode of life1 their religion1 their conventional morality8 ,are they ready to be deprived of all the results of such prolonged efforts1 the results we have boasted of for three centuries1 of all the conveniences and attractions of our existence1 to give the preference to wild youth rather than to civilized senility1 to pull down the palace built by our fathers simply for the pleasure of laying the foundation of a new house1 which1 without doubt1 will not be completed till long after our time4#cb ,thus wrote1 almost half a century ago1 a ,russian author1 who1 with penetrating vision1 clearly discerned even at that time what is recognized by every man to-day who reflects a little1--the impossibility of continuing life on the former basis1 and the necessity of establishing some new mode of existence4 #cb ,herzen1 vol4 v41 p4 #ee4 ,it is plain from the simplest and most ordinary point of view that it is folly to remain under a roof that threatens to fall1 and that one must leave it4 ,indeed1 it is difficult to imagine a more miserable situation than that of the present ,christian world1 with its nations arrayed in arms one against the other1 with its ever increasing taxes for the purpose of supporting its growing armaments1 with the burning hatred of the working-classes for the rich1 with war suspended above all like the sword of ,damocles ready to fall1 as it may1 at any moment4 ,it is doubtful whether any revolution could be more disastrous than the present social order1 or rather disorder1 with its perpetual victims of overwork1 misery1 drunkenness1 dissipation1 with all the horrors of impending war that in one year will sacrifice more lives than all the revolutions of the present century4 ,what will become of mankind if each one fulfils that which ,god demands through the conscience that is in him4 ,shall ,i be safe if1 under the orders of my master1 ,i accomplish in his great workshop the tasks he has set me1 although1 ignorant of his final plans1 ,i may think it strange8 ,nor is it alone the question of the future that troubles men when they hesitate to do the master's bidding4 ,they are concerned about the question as to how they are to live without the familiar conditions which we call science1 art1 civilization1 culture4 ,we feel individually all the burden of our present way of living2 we see that were this order of things to continue1 it would inevitably ruin us2 and yet we are anxious to have these conditions continue1 to have our science1 our art1 our civilization1 and culture remain unchanged4 ,it is as though a man who dwells in an old house1 suffering from cold and discomfort1 who is moreover aware that its walls may tumble at any moment1 should consent to the remodeling of it1 only on condition that he may be allowed to remain there1 a condition that is equivalent to a refusal to have his dwelling rebuilt4 ,what1 if ,i should leave my house1 he says1 ,i should be temporarily deprived of its comforts2 the new house may not be built after all1 or it may be constructed on a new plan1 which will lack the conveniences to which ,i have been accustomed6 ,but if the materials and the workmen are ready1 it is probable that the new house will be built1 and in a better manner than the old one2 while it is not only probable but certain that the old house will soon fall into ruins1 crushing those who remain within its walls4 ,in order that the old1 everyday conditions of life may disappear and make room for new and better ones1 we must surely leave behind the old conditions1 which are at length become fatal and impossible1 and issue forth to meet the future4 ,but science1 art1 civilization1 and culture will cease to be6 ,but if all these are only diverse manifestations of truth1 the impending change is to be accomplished for the sake of a further advance toward truth and its realization4 ,how1 then1 can the manifestations of truth disappear1 in consequence of further realization of truth8 ,the manifestations of truth will be different1 better1 loftier1 the error that has been in them will perish1 while the verity that is in them will remain and flourish with renewed vigor4 ,return to yourselves1 sons of men1 and have faith in the gospel1 and in its doctrine of eternal happiness6 ,if you heed not this warning1 you shall all perish like the men slain by ,pilate1 like those upon whom the tower of ,siloam fell2 like millions of other men1 who slew and were slain1 who executed and suffered execution1 who tortured and were tortured2 as perished the man who so foolishly filled his granaries1 counting on a long life1 on the very night when his soul was required of him4 ,return1 sons of men1 and believe in the words which ,christ uttered #ahjj years ago1 words which ,he repeats to-day with greater force1 warning us that the evil day ,he foretold is at hand1 and that our life has reached its last descent of folly and wickedness4 ,now1 after so many centuries of futile effort to protect ourselves by the methods of the pagan system of violence1 it should be evident to every man that all such effort1 far from insuring our safety1 tends only to add a new element of danger both to individual and social existence4 ,no matter by what names we may be called1 nor what garments we may wear1 nor in the presence of what priest we may be anointed1 nor how many millions our subjects may number1 nor how many guards may be posted on our journey1 nor how many policemen may protect our property1 nor how many so-called criminals1 revolutionists1 or anarchists we may execute2 no matter what exploits we may perform1 nor what states we may establish1 nor what fortresses and towers we may erect1 from the ,tower of ,babel to the ,eiffel ,tower1--we have before us two ever present and unavoidable conditions1 that deprive our mode of life of all significance3 7#a7 death1 that may overtake each of us at any moment1 and 7#b7 the transitory nature of all our undertakings1 that disappear1 leaving no trace behind them4 ,no matter what we may do1 found kingdoms1 build palaces and monuments1 write poems and songs1--all is but fleeting and leaves no trace behind4 ,therefore no matter how much we may attempt to conceal this from ourselves1 we cannot fail to perceive that the true significance of our life lies neither in our individual1 physical existence1 subjected to unavoidable suffering and death1 nor in any institution or social organization4 ,whoever you are1 you who read these lines1 reflect upon your position and your duties1 not upon the position of landowner1 merchant1 judge1 emperor1 president1 minister1 priest1 or soldier1 which you may assume but for a time1 not upon the imaginary duties which these positions impose upon you1 but upon your actual and eternal position as a being1 who1 after a whole eternity of non-existence1 is called by the will of ,some ,one from unconsciousness into life1 and who may at any moment return whence he came by the same will4 ,consider your duties6 ,not your imaginary duties of landowner in regard to your estate1 nor of merchant to your capital1 nor of emperor1 minister1 or governor to the ,state1 but of your real duties1 of a being called forth into life and endowed with love and reason4 ,do that which ,he who has sent you into this world1 and to whom you will shortly return1 demands of you4 ,are you doing what he requires8 ,are you doing right when1 as landowner or manufacturer1 you take the products of the labor of the poor1 and establish your life on this spoliation2 or when1 as governor or judge1 you do violence in condemning men to death2 or when1 as soldier1 you prepare for war1 for fighting1 robbery1 and murder1--are you doing right8 ,you say that the world is as you find it1 that it is inevitable that it should be as it is1 that what you do you are compelled to do4 ,but can it be that1 having so strongly rooted an aversion to the suffering of men1 to violence1 to murder2 having such a need of loving your fellow-men1 and of being loved by them2 seeing clearly1 too1 that the greatest good possible to men comes from acknowledging human brotherhood1 from one serving another3 can it be that your heart tells you all this1 that you are taught it by your reason1 that science repeats it to you1 and yet regardless of it1 on the strength of some mysterious and complicated argument1 you are forced to contradict it all in your daily conduct8 ,is it possible that1 being a landowner or a capitalist1 you should establish your life on the oppression of the people2 that1 being an emperor or a president1 you should command armies1 and be a leader of murderers2 that1 being a functionary of ,state1 you should take from the poor their hard-earned money for your own benefit1 or for the benefit of the rich2 that1 being a judge or juror1 you should condemn erring men to torture and death1 because the truth has not been revealed to them2 or1 above all1 is it possible that you1 a youth1 should enter the army1 doing that upon which all the evil of the world is founded1 that1 renouncing your own will1 all your human sympathy1 you should engage at the will of others to murder those whom they bid you murder8 ,it is impossible6 ,if you are told that all this is essential for the support of the existing system of life2 that this system1 with its pauperism1 famine1 prisons1 executions1 armies1 wars1 is necessary for society1 and that if it were to be abolished worse evils would follow1 you are told so only by those who benefit by this system2 while those who suffer from it1--and their numbers are ten times greater1--all think and say the opposite4 ,and at the bottom of your heart you know that this is false1--that the existing system has had its day1 and must inevitably be remodeled on new foundations2 and that there is no need whatsoever to support it by the sacrifice of human life4 ,even supposing that the existing system is necessary1 how is it that you should have to support it by trampling upon all finer feelings8 ,but who has made you a guardian of this crumbling structure8 ,neither has the ,state1 nor society1 nor has any one requested you individually to support it by occupying your position of landowner1 merchant1 emperor1 priest1 or soldier1 and you are well aware that you have accepted and are holding it1 not for purposes of self-denial1 for the good of your fellow-men1 but for your own selfish interest2 for your greed of gain1 vainglory1 ambition1 through your indolence or your cowardice4 ,if you do not desire this position you should not persist in doing what is cruel1 false1 and contemptible in order to retain it4 ,if you would once refrain from these things which you do continually for the purpose of retaining it1 you would lose it at once4 ,if you are a ruler or an official1 make only an attempt to cease polite lying1 cease to take part in violences and executions2 if you are a priest1 desist from deceiving2 if a soldier1 cease killing2 if a land-owner or manufacturer1 cease defending your property by roguery and violence2 and forthwith you will lose the position which1 as you say1 is forced upon you and seems to you burdensome4 ,it cannot be that a man should be placed against his will in a position contrary to conscience4 ,if you are put in such a position1 it is not because it is necessary for some one to be there1 but only because you are willing to accept it4 ,and therefore1 knowing that such a position is directly opposed to the mandates of your heart1 your reason1 your faith1 and even to the teaching of that science you believe in1 you cannot but pause to consider1 if you wish to keep it1 and especially if you try to justify it1 if you are doing what you ought to do4 ,you might run the risk if you had but the time to see your mistake and correct it1 and if you ran the risk for something worth having4 ,but when you know for certain that you are liable to die at any moment1 without the slightest possibility either for yourself or for those whom you have drawn in with you of rectifying your mistake2 and1 moreover1 since you know that no matter what those about you may accomplish in the material organization of the world1 it will all very shortly disappear as certainly as you yourself1 leaving no trace behind1--it is surely obvious that you have no inducement to run the risk of making a mistake so terrible4 ,this would seem perfectly plain and simple if we did not veil with hypocrisy the truth that is indubitably revealed to us4 ,share what you have with others2 do not amass riches2 be not vain2 do not rob1 torture1 or murder men2 do not to others what you would not that others should do to you1--these things have been said not eighteen hundred but five thousand years ago1 and there can be no doubt of the truth of them4 ,save for hypocrisy1 it would be impossible1 even if one did not obey these rules1 not to acknowledge that they ought to be obeyed1 and that those who do not obey them do wrong4 ,but you say that there is still the general well-being1 for the sake of which one should deviate from these rules4 ,it is allowable for the general well-being to kill1 torture1 and rob4 ,it is better that one man should perish than a whole nation1 you say1 like ,caiaphas1 when you are signing death-warrants2 or you load your gun to shoot your fellow-man1 who is to perish for the general good2 or you imprison him or take away his goods4 ,you say that you do these cruel things because you are a part of society1 of the ,state1 and must serve your government and carry out its laws1 as landowner1 judge1 emperor1 or soldier4 ,but if you are a part of the ,state and have duties in consequence1 you are also a partaker of the infinite life of ,god's universe1 and have higher duties in consequence of that4 ,as your duties to your family or to society are always subject to the higher duties that depend upon your citizenship in the ,state1 so your duties of citizenship are subject to the duties arising from your relations to the life of the universe1 from your sonship to ,god4 ,and as it would be unwise to cut down telegraph poles in order to furnish fuel for the benefit of a family or a few people1 because this would be breaking the laws that protect the welfare of the ,state2 so it is equally unwise1 in order to promote the welfare of the ,state1 to execute or murder a man1 because this is breaking the immutable laws which preserve the welfare of the world4 ,the obligations of citizenship must be subject to the higher and eternal obligations on your part in the everlasting life of ,god1 and must not contradict them4 ,as it was said eighteen hundred years ago by the disciples of ,christ1 ,whether it be right in the sight of ,god to hearken unto you more than unto ,god1 judge ye4#cc ,we ought to obey ,god rather than men4#cd #cc ,acts iv4 #ai4 #cd ,acts v4 #bi4 ,you are told to believe that in order to maintain an ever changing system1 established but yesterday by a few men in a corner of the globe1 you should commit violent deeds that are against the fixed and eternal order established by ,god or reason4 ,can it be possible8 ,do not fail1 then1 to reflect upon your position of land-owner1 merchant1 judge1 emperor1 president1 minister1 priest1 or soldier--associated with violence1 oppression1 deceit1 torture1 and murder2 refuse to recognize the lawfulness of these crimes4 ,i do not mean that if you are a landowner you should forthwith give your land to the poor2 or if a capitalist1 your money or your factory to your workmen2 or if a czar1 a minister1 a magistrate1 a judge1 or a general1 you should forthwith abdicate all your advantages2 or if a soldier1 whose occupation in its very nature is based on violence1 you should at once refuse to continue longer a soldier1 despite all the dangers of such a refusal4 ,should you do this1 it will indeed be an heroic act2 but it may happen--and most probably--that you will not be able to do it4 ,you have connections1 a family1 subordinates1 chiefs2 you may be surrounded by temptations so strong that you cannot overcome them2 but to acknowledge the truth to be the truth1 and not to lie--that you are always able to do4 ,you can refrain from affirming that you continue to be a landowner or factory-owner1 a merchant1 an artist1 an author1 because you are thus useful to men2 from declaring that you are a governor1 an attorney-general1 a czar1 not because it is agreeable or you are accustomed to be such1 but for the good of men2 from saying that you remain a soldier1 not through fear of punishment1 but because you consider the army indispensable for the protection of men's lives4 ,to keep from speaking thus falsely before yourself and others--this you are always able to do1 and not only able1 but in duty bound to do1 because in this alone--in freeing yourself from falsehood and in working out the truth--lies the highest duty of your life4 ,and do but this and it will be sufficient for the situation to change at once of itself4 ,one only thing in which you are free and all-powerful has been given you2 all others are beyond you4 ,it is this1--to know the truth and to profess it4 ,and it is only because of other miserable and erring men like yourself that you have become a soldier1 an emperor1 a landowner1 a capitalist1 a priest1 or a general2 that you commit evil deeds so obviously contrary to the dictates of your heart and reason2 that you torture1 rob1 and murder men1 establishing your life on their sufferings2 and that1 above all1 instead of performing your paramount duty of acknowledging and professing the truth which is known to you1 you pretend not to know it1 concealing it from yourself and others1 doing the very opposite of what you have been called to do4 ,and under what conditions are you doing this8 ,being liable to die at any moment1 you sign a death-warrant1 declare war or take part in it1 pass judgment1 torture and rob workmen1 live in luxury surrounded by misery1 and teach weak and trusting men that all this is right and for you is a matter of duty1 while all the time you are in danger of your life being destroyed by a bullet or a bacillus1 and you may be deprived forever of the power to rectify or counteract the evil you have done to others and to yourself2 having wasted a life given you but once in all eternity1 having left undone in it the one thing for which it was given you4 ,no matter how trite it may appear to state it1 nor how we may hypocritically deceive ourselves1 nothing can destroy the certainty of the simple and obvious truth that external conditions can never render safe this life of ours1 so fraught with unavoidable suffering1 and ended infallibly by death1 that human life can have no other meaning than the constant fulfilment of that for which the ,almighty ,power has sent us here1 and for which ,he has given us one sure guide in this life1 namely1 our conscious reason4 ,this ,power does not require from us what is unreasonable and impossible1--the organization of our temporal1 material life1 the life of society1 or of the ,state4 ,he demands of us only what is reasonable and possible1--to serve the ,kingdom of ,god1 which establishes the unity of mankind1 a unity possible only in the truth2 to recognize and profess the truth revealed to us1 which it is always in our power to do4 ,seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and his righteousness2 and all these things shall be added unto you4#ce #ce ,matt4 vi4 #cc4 ,the only significance of life consists in helping to establish the ,kingdom of ,god2 and this can be done only by means of the acknowledgment and profession of the truth by each one of us4 ,the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation3 neither shall they say1 ,lo here6 or1 lo there6 for1 behold the kingdom of ,god is within you4#cf #cf ,luke xvii4 #bj1 #ba4 ,,what ,,is ,,art8 ,,translator',s ,,preface ,the fundamental thought expressed in this book leads inevitably to conclusions so new1 so unexpected1 and so contrary to what is usually maintained in literary and artistic circles1 that although it is clearly and emphatically expressed 7and this ,i hope has not been lost in translation71 most readers who wish to possess themselves of it will have to read the work carefully1 and to digest it slowly4 ,especially the introductory ,chapters ,,ii41 ,,iii41 ,,iv41 and ,v41 need careful perusal by any who1 having adopted one or other of the current theories on beauty and art1 may find it difficult to abandon a preconceived view1 and to clear their minds for a fair appreciation of what is new to them4 ,the first four chapters raise the problem1 and tell us briefly what has been said by previous writers4 ,chapter ,,iii4 gives 7in highly condensed form7 the substance of the teaching of some sixty philosophers on this subject1 and since many of them were extremely confused1 the chapter cannot1 in the nature of things1 be easy reading4 ,i should like to remark1 in passing1 that though ,tolsto in this chapter 7presumably for convenience of verification7 refers chiefly to the compilations of ,schasler1 ,kralik1 and ,knight1 he has gone behind these authorities to the primary sources4 ,to give a single instance3 in the paragraph on ,darwin1 the foot-note refers us to ,knight1 but the remark that the origin of the art of music may be traced back to the call of the males to the females in the animal world will be found in ,darwin1 but will not be found in ,knight4 ,in ,chapter ,v4 we come to ,tolsto's definition of art1 which definition should be kept well in mind while reading the rest of the book4 ,no doubt most of those to whom it is an end in itself1 who live by it1 or make it their chief occupation1 will read this book 7or leave it unread7 and go on in their former way1 much as ,pharaoh1 of old1 hardened his heart1 and did not sympathize with what ,moses had to say on the labor question4 ,but for those of us who have felt that art is too valuable a matter to be lost out of our lives1 and who1 in their quest for social justice1 have met the reproach that they were sacrificing the pleasures and advantages of art1 this book is of inestimable value1 in that it solves a perplexed question of far-reaching importance to practical life4 ,to this class of readers neither the masterly elucidation of the former theories contained in the opening chapters1 nor the explanation of how it has come about that such great importance is attached to the activity we call art 7,chapters ,,vi4 and ,,vii471 nor the explanation and illustrations of the perversion that art has undergone1 nor even the elucidation of the terrible evils this perversion is producing 7,,xvii471 will equal in significance the remaining chapters of the book4 ,these show us what to look for in art1 how to distinguish it from counterfeits 7,,xv41 ,,xvi41 and ,,xviii471 treat of the true art of the future 7,,xix471 and explain how science and art are linked together in man's life1 are directed by his perception of the meaning of life1 and inevitably react on all he thinks and feels4 ,,the ,,author',s ,,preface ,this book of mine1 ,what is ,art8 appears now for the first time in its true form4 ,more than one edition has already been issued in ,russia1 but in each case it has been so mutilated by the ,censor1 that ,i request all who are interested in my views on art only to judge of them by the work in its present shape4 ,the causes which led to the publication of the book--with my name attached to it--in a mutilated form were the following3 ,in accordance with a decision ,i arrived at long ago1--not to submit my writings to the ,censorship 7which ,i consider to be an immoral and irrational institution71 but to print them only in the shape in which they were written1--,i intended not to attempt to print this work in ,russia4 ,however1 my good acquaintance1 ,professor ,grote1 editor of a ,moscow psychological magazine1 having heard of the contents of my work1 asked me to print it in his magazine1 and promised me that he would get the book through the ,censor's office unmutilated if ,i would but agree to a few very unimportant alterations1 merely toning down certain expressions4 ,i was weak enough to agree to this1 and it has resulted in a book appearing under my name1 from which not only have some essential thoughts been excluded1 but into which the thoughts of other men--even thoughts utterly opposed to my own convictions--have been introduced4 ,the thing occurred in this way4 ,first1 ,grote softened my expressions1 and in some cases weakened them4 ,for instance1 he replaced the words3 always by sometimes1 all by some1 ,church religion by ,roman ,catholic religion1 ,mother of ,god by ,madonna1 patriotism by pseudo-patriotism1 palaces by palatii1#cg etc41 and ,i did not consider it necessary to protest4 ,but when the book was already in type1 the ,censor required that whole sentences should be altered1 and that instead of what ,i said about the evil of landed property1 a remark should be substituted on the evils of a landless proletariate4#ch ,i agreed to this also1 and to some further alterations4 ,it seemed not worth while to upset the whole affair for the sake of one sentence1 and when one alteration had been agreed to it seemed not worth while to protest against a second and a third4 ,so1 little by little1 expressions crept into the book which altered the sense and attributed things to me that ,i could not have wished to say4 ,so that by the time the book was printed it had been deprived of some part of its integrity and sincerity4 ,but there was consolation in the thought that the book1 even in this form1 if it contains something that is good1 would be of use to ,russian readers whom it would otherwise not have reached4 ,things1 however1 turned out otherwise4 ,nous comptions sans notre hte4 ,after the legal term of four days had already elapsed1 the book was seized1 and1 on instructions received from ,petersburg1 it was handed over to the ,spiritual ,censor4 ,then ,grote declined all further participation in the affair1 and the ,spiritual ,censor proceeded to do what he would with the book4 ,the ,spiritual ,censorship is one of the most ignorant1 venal1 stupid1 and despotic institutions in ,russia4 ,books which disagree in any way with the recognized state religion of ,russia1 if once it gets hold of them1 are almost always totally suppressed and burnt2 which is what happened to all my religious works when attempts were made to print them in ,russia4 ,probably a similar fate would have overtaken this work also1 had not the editors of the magazine employed all means to save it4 ,the result of their efforts was that the ,spiritual ,censor1 a priest who probably understands art and is interested in art as much as ,i understand or am interested in church services1 but who gets a good salary for destroying whatever is likely to displease his superiors1 struck out all that seemed to him to endanger his position1 and substituted his thoughts for mine wherever he considered it necessary to do so4 ,for instance1 where ,i speak of ,christ going to the ,cross for the sake of the truth ,he professed1 the ,censor substituted a statement that ,christ died for mankind1 i4e4 he attributed to me an assertion of the dogma of the ,redemption1 which ,i consider to be one of the most untrue and harmful of ,church dogmas4 ,after correcting the book in this way1 the ,spiritual ,censor allowed it to be printed4 #cg ,tolsto's remarks on ,church religion were re-worded so as to seem to relate only to the ,western ,church1 and his disapproval of luxurious life was made to apply1 not1 say1 to ,queen ,victoria or ,nicholas ,,ii41 but to the ,csars or the ,pharaohs4--,,tr4 #ch ,the ,russian peasant is usually a member of a village commune1 and has therefore a right to a share in the land belonging to the village4 ,tolsto disapproves of the order of society which allows less land for the support of a village full of people than is sometimes owned by a single landed proprietor4 ,the ,censor will not allow disapproval of this state of things to be expressed1 but is prepared to admit that the laws and customs1 say1 of ,england--where a yet more extreme form of landed property exists1 and the men who actually labor on the land usually possess none of it--deserve criticism4--,,tr4 ,to protest in ,russia is impossible--no newspaper would publish such a protest2 and to withdraw my book from the magazine1 and place the editor in an awkward position with the public1 was also not possible4 ,so the matter has remained4 ,a book has appeared under my name containing thoughts attributed to me which are not mine4 ,i was persuaded to give my article to a ,russian magazine in order that my thoughts1 which may be useful1 should become the possession of ,russian readers2 and the result has been that my name is affixed to a work from which it might be assumed that ,i quite arbitrarily assert things contrary to the general opinion1 without adducing my reasons2 that ,i only consider false patriotism bad1 but patriotism in general a very good feeling2 that ,i merely deny the absurdities of the ,roman ,catholic ,church and disbelieve in the ,madonna1 but that ,i believe in the ,orthodox ,eastern faith and in the ,mother of ,god2 that ,i consider all the writings collected in the ,bible to be holy books1 and see the chief importance of ,christ's life in the ,redemption of mankind by ,his death4 ,i have narrated all this in such detail because it strikingly illustrates the indubitable truth that all compromise with institutions of which your conscience disapproves1--compromises which are usually made for the sake of the general good1--instead of producing the good you expected1 inevitably lead you1 not only to acknowledge the institution you disapprove of1 but also to participate in the evil that institution produces4 ,i am glad to be able by this statement at least to do something to correct the error into which ,i was led by my compromise4 ,i have also to mention that besides reinstating the parts excluded by the ,censor from the ,russian editions1 other corrections and additions of importance have been made in this edition4 #bith ,march1 #ahih4 ,,what ,,is ,,art8 ,,chapter ,i ,take up any one of our ordinary newspapers1 and you will find a part devoted to the theater and music4 ,in almost every number you will find a description of some art exhibition1 or of some particular picture1 and you will always find reviews of new works of art that have appeared1 of volumes of poems1 of short stories1 or of novels4 ,promptly1 and in detail1 as soon as it has occurred1 an account is published of how such and such an actress or actor played this or that rle in such and such a drama1 comedy1 or opera2 and of the merits of the performance1 as well as of the contents of the new drama1 comedy1 or opera1 with its defects and merits4 ,with as much care and detail1 or even more1 we are told how such and such an artist has sung a certain piece1 or has played it on the piano or violin1 and what were the merits and defects of the piece and of the performance4 ,in every large town there is sure to be at least one1 if not more than one1 exhibition of new pictures1 the merits and defects of which are discussed in the utmost detail by critics and connoisseurs4 ,new novels and poems1 in separate volumes or in the magazines1 appear almost every day1 and the newspapers consider it their duty to give their readers detailed accounts of these artistic productions4 ,for the support of art in ,russia 7where for the education of the people only a hundredth part is spent of what would be required to give every one the opportunity of instruction7 the government grants millions of roubles in subsidies to academies1 conservatoires1 and theaters4 ,in ,france twenty million francs are assigned for art1 and similar grants are made in ,germany and ,england4 ,in every large town enormous buildings are erected for museums1 academies1 conservatoires1 dramatic schools1 and for performances and concerts4 ,hundreds of thousands of workmen--carpenters1 masons1 painters1 joiners1 paperhangers1 tailors1 hairdressers1 jewelers1 molders1 type-setters--spend their whole lives in hard labor to satisfy the demands of art1 so that hardly any other department of human activity1 except the military1 consumes so much energy as this4 ,not only is enormous labor spent on this activity1 but in it1 as in war1 the very lives of men are sacrificed4 ,hundreds of thousands of people devote their lives from childhood to learning to twirl their legs rapidly 7dancers71 or to touch notes and strings very rapidly 7musicians71 or to draw with paint and represent what they see 7artists71 or to turn every phrase inside out and find a rhyme to every word4 ,and these people1 often very kind and clever1 and capable of all sorts of useful labor1 grow savage over their specialized and stupefying occupations1 and become one-sided and self-complacent specialists1 dull to all the serious phenomena of life1 and skilful only at rapidly twisting their legs1 their tongues1 or their fingers4 ,but even this stunting of human life is not the worst4 ,i remember being once at the rehearsal of one of the most ordinary of the new operas which are produced at all the opera houses of ,europe and ,america4 ,i arrived when the first act had already commenced4 ,to reach the auditorium ,i had to pass through the stage entrance4 ,by dark entrances and passages1 ,i was led through the vaults of an enormous building1 past immense machines for changing the scenery and for illuminating2 and there in the gloom and dust ,i saw workmen busily engaged4 ,one of these men1 pale1 haggard1 in a dirty blouse1 with dirty1 work-worn hands and cramped fingers1 evidently tired and out of humor1 went past me1 angrily scolding another man4 ,ascending by a dark stair1 ,i came out on the boards behind the scenes4 ,amid various poles and rings and scattered scenery1 decorations and curtains1 stood and moved dozens1 if not hundreds1 of painted and dressed-up men1 in costumes fitting tight to their thighs and calves1 and also women1 as usual1 as nearly nude as might be4 ,these were all singers1 or members of the chorus1 or ballet-dancers1 awaiting their turns4 ,my guide led me across the stage and1 by means of a bridge of boards across the orchestra 7in which perhaps a hundred musicians of all kinds1 from kettledrum to flute and harp1 were seated71 to the dark pit-stalls4 ,on an elevation1 between two lamps with reflectors1 and in an arm-chair placed before a music-stand1 sat the director of the musical part1 bton in hand1 managing the orchestra and singers1 and1 in general1 the production of the whole opera4 ,the performance had already commenced1 and on the stage a procession of ,indians who had brought home a bride was being presented4 ,besides men and women in costume1 two other men in ordinary clothes bustled and ran about on the stage2 one was the director of the dramatic part1 and the other1 who stepped about in soft shoes and ran from place to place with unusual agility1 was the dancing-master1 whose salary per month exceeded what ten laborers earn in a year4 ,these three directors arranged the singing1 the orchestra1 and the procession4 ,the procession1 as usual1 was enacted by couples1 with tinfoil halberds on their shoulders4 ,they all came from one place1 and walked round and round again1 and then stopped4 ,the procession took a long time to arrange3 first the ,indians with halberds came on too late2 then too soon2 then at the right time1 but crowded together at the exit2 then they did not crowd1 but arranged themselves badly at the sides of the stage2 and each time the whole performance was stopped and recommenced from the beginning4 ,the procession was introduced by a recitative1 delivered by a man dressed up like some variety of ,turk1 who1 opening his mouth in a curious way1 sang1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide4 ,he sings and waves his arm 7which is of course bare7 from under his mantle4 ,the procession commences1 but here the ,french horn1 in the accompaniment of the recitative1 does something wrong2 and the director1 with a shudder as if some catastrophe had occurred1 raps with his stick on the stand4 ,all is stopped1 and the director1 turning to the orchestra1 attacks the ,french horn1 scolding him in the rudest terms1 as cabmen abuse each other1 for taking the wrong note4 ,and again the whole thing recommences4 ,the ,indians with their halberds again come on1 treading softly in their extraordinary boots2 again the singer sings1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide4 ,but here the pairs get too close together4 ,more raps with the stick1 more scolding1 and a recommencement4 ,again1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide1 again the same gesticulation with the bare arm from under the mantle1 and again the couples1 treading softly with halberds on their shoulders1 some with sad and serious faces1 some talking and smiling1 arrange themselves in a circle and begin to sing4 ,all seems to be going well1 but again the stick raps1 and the director1 in a distressed and angry voice1 begins to scold the men and women of the chorus4 ,it appears that when singing they had omitted to raise their hands from time to time in sign of animation4 ,are you all dead1 or what8 ,cows that you are6 ,are you corpses1 that you can't move8 ,again they recommence1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide1 and again1 with sorrowful faces1 the chorus-women sing1 first one and then another of them raising their hands4 ,but two chorus-girls speak to each other1--again a more vehement rapping with the stick4 ,have you come here to talk8 ,can't you gossip at home8 ,you there in red breeches1 come nearer4 ,look toward me6 ,recommence6 ,again1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide4 ,and so it goes on for one1 two1 three hours4 ,the whole of such a rehearsal lasts six hours on end4 ,raps with the stick1 repetitions1 placings1 corrections of the singers1 of the orchestra1 of the procession1 of the dancers1--all seasoned with angry scolding4 ,i heard the words1 asses1 fools1 idiots1 swine1 addressed to the musicians and singers at least forty times in the course of one hour4 ,and the unhappy individual to whom the abuse is addressed1--flautist1 horn-blower1 or singer1--physically and mentally demoralized1 does not reply1 and does what is demanded of him4 ,twenty times is repeated the one phrase1 ,home ,i bring the bri-i-ide1 and twenty times the striding about in yellow shoes with a halberd over the shoulder4 ,the conductor knows that these people are so demoralized that they are no longer fit for anything but to blow trumpets and walk about with halberds and in yellow shoes1 and that they are also accustomed to dainty1 easy living1 so that they will put up with anything rather than lose their luxurious life4 ,he therefore gives free vent to his churlishness1 especially as he has seen the same thing done in ,paris and ,vienna1 and knows that this is the way the best conductors behave1 and that it is a musical tradition of great artists to be so carried away by the great business of their art that they cannot pause to consider the feelings of other artists4 ,it would be difficult to find a more repulsive sight4 ,i have seen one workman abuse another for not supporting the weight piled upon him when goods were being unloaded1 or1 at hay-stacking1 the village elder scold a peasant for not making the rick right1 and the man submitted in silence4 ,and1 however unpleasant it was to witness the scene1 the unpleasantness was lessened by the consciousness that the business in hand was needful and important1 and that the fault for which the head man scolded the laborer was one which might spoil a needful undertaking4 ,but what was being done here8 ,for what1 and for whom8 ,very likely the conductor was tired out1 like the workman ,i passed in the vaults2 it was even evident that he was2 but who made him tire himself8 ,and for what was he tiring himself8 ,the opera he was rehearsing was one of the most ordinary of operas for people who are accustomed to them1 but also one of the most gigantic absurdities that could possibly be devised4 ,an ,indian king wants to marry2 they bring him a bride2 he disguises himself as a minstrel2 the bride falls in love with the minstrel and is in despair1 but afterwards discovers that the minstrel is the king1 and every one is highly delighted4 ,that there never were1 or could be1 such ,indians1 and that they were not only unlike ,indians1 but that what they were doing was unlike anything on earth except other operas1 was beyond all manner of doubt2 that people do not converse in such a way as recitative1 and do not place themselves at fixed distances1 in a quartet1 waving their arms to express their emotions2 that nowhere1 except in theaters1 do people walk about in such a manner1 in pairs1 with tinfoil halberds and in slippers2 that no one ever gets angry in such a way1 or is affected in such a way1 or laughs in such a way1 or cries in such a way2 and that no one on earth can be moved by such performances2 all this is beyond the possibility of doubt4 ,instinctively the question presents itself3 ,for whom is this being done8 ,whom can it please8 ,if there are1 occasionally1 good melodies in the opera1 to which it is pleasant to listen1 they could have been sung simply1 without these stupid costumes and all the processions and recitatives and hand-wavings4 ,the ballet1 in which half-naked women make voluptuous movements1 twisting themselves into various sensual wreathings1 is simply a lewd performance4 ,so one is quite at a loss as to whom these things are done for4 ,the man of culture is heartily sick of them1 while to a real working-man they are utterly incomprehensible4 ,if any one can be pleased by these things 7which is doubtful71 it can only be some young footman or depraved artisan1 who has contracted the spirit of the upper classes but is not yet satiated with their amusements1 and wishes to show his breeding4 ,and all this nasty folly is prepared1 not simply1 nor with kindly merriment1 but with anger and brutal cruelty4 ,it is said that it is all done for the sake of art1 and that art is a very important thing4 ,but is it true that art is so important that such sacrifices should be made for its sake8 ,this question is especially urgent1 because art1 for the sake of which the labor of millions1 the lives of men1 and1 above all1 love between man and man1 are being sacrificed1--this very art is becoming something more and more vague and uncertain to human perception4 ,criticism1 in which the lovers of art used to find support for their opinions1 has latterly become so self-contradictory1 that1 if we exclude from the domain of art all that to which the critics of various schools themselves deny the title1 there is scarcely any art left4 ,the artists of various sects1 like the theologians of the various sects1 mutually exclude and destroy themselves4 ,listen to the artists of the schools of our times1 and you will find1 in all branches1 each set of artists disowning others4 ,in poetry the old romanticists deny the parnassiens and the decadents2 the parnassiens disown the romanticists and the decadents2 the decadents disown all their predecessors and the symbolists2 the symbolists disown all their predecessors and les mages2 and les mages disown all1 all their predecessors4 ,among novelists we have naturalists1 psychologists1 and nature-ists1 all rejecting each other4 ,and it is the same in dramatic art1 in painting1 and in music4 ,so that art1 which demands such tremendous labor-sacrifices from the people1 which stunts human lives and transgresses against human love1 is not only not a thing clearly and firmly defined1 but is understood in such contradictory ways by its own devotees that it is difficult to say what is meant by art1 and especially what is good1 useful art1--art for the sake of which we might condone such sacrifices as are being offered at its shrine4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,for the production of every ballet1 circus1 opera1 operetta1 exhibition1 picture1 concert1 or printed book1 the intense and unwilling labor of thousands and thousands of people is needed at what is often harmful and humiliating work4 ,it were well if artists made all they require for themselves1 but1 as it is1 they all need the help of workmen1 not only to produce art1 but also for their own usually luxurious maintenance4 ,and1 one way or other1 they get it2 either through payments from rich people1 or through subsidies given by government 7in ,russia1 for instance1 in grants of millions of roubles to theaters1 conservatoires1 and academies74 ,this money is collected from the people1 some of whom have to sell their only cow to pay the tax1 and who never get those sthetic pleasures which art gives4 ,it was all very well for a ,greek or ,roman artist1 or even for a ,russian artist of the first half of our century 7when there were still slaves1 and it was considered right that there should be71 with a quiet mind to make people serve him and his art2 but in our day1 when in all men there is at least some dim perception of the equal rights of all1 it is impossible to constrain people to labor unwillingly for art1 without first deciding the question whether it is true that art is so good and so important an affair as to redeem this evil4 ,if not1 we have the terrible probability to consider1 that while fearful sacrifices of the labor and lives of men1 and of morality itself1 are being made to art1 that same art may be not only useless but even harmful4 ,and therefore it is necessary for a society in which works of art arise and are supported1 to find out whether all that professes to be art is really art2 whether 7as is presupposed in our society7 all that which is art is good2 and whether it is important and worth those sacrifices which it necessitates4 ,it is still more necessary for every conscientious artist to know this1 that he may be sure that all he does has a valid meaning2 that it is not merely an infatuation of the small circle of people among whom he lives which excites in him the false assurance that he is doing a good work2 and that what he takes from others for the support of his often very luxurious life1 will be compensated for by those productions at which he works4 ,and that is why answers to the above questions are especially important in our time4 ,what is this art1 which is considered so important and necessary for humanity that for its sake these sacrifices of labor1 of human life1 and even of goodness may be made8 ,what is art8 ,what a question6 ,art is architecture1 sculpture1 painting1 music1 and poetry in all its forms1 usually replies the ordinary man1 the art amateur1 or even the artist himself1 imagining the matter about which he is talking to be perfectly clear1 and uniformly understood by everybody4 ,but in architecture1 one inquires further1 are there not simple buildings which are not objects of art1 and buildings with artistic pretensions which are unsuccessful and ugly and therefore cannot be considered as works of art8 ,wherein lies the characteristic sign of a work of art8 ,it is the same in sculpture1 in music1 and in poetry4 ,art1 in all its forms1 is bounded on one side by the practically useful1 and on the other by unsuccessful attempts at art4 ,how is art to be marked off from each of these8 ,the ordinary educated man of our circle1 and even the artist who has not occupied himself especially with sthetics1 will not hesitate at this question either4 ,he thinks the solution has been found long ago1 and is well known to every one4 ,art is such activity as produces beauty1 says such a man4 ,if art consists in that1 then is a ballet or an operetta art8 you inquire4 ,yes1 says the ordinary man1 though with some hesitation1 a good ballet or a graceful operetta is also art1 in so far as it manifests beauty4 ,but without even asking the ordinary man what differentiates the good ballet and the graceful operetta from their opposites 7a question he would have much difficulty in answering71 if you ask him whether the activity of costumiers and hairdressers1 who ornament the figures and faces of the women for the ballet and the operetta1 is art2 or the activity of ,worth1 the dressmaker2 of scent-makers and men cooks1--then he will1 in most cases1 deny that their activity belongs to the sphere of art4 ,but in this the ordinary man makes a mistake1 just because he is an ordinary man and not a specialist1 and because he has not occupied himself with sthetic questions4 ,had he looked into these matters1 he would have seen in the great ,renan's book1 ,marc ,aurele1 a dissertation showing that the tailor's work is art1 and that those who do not see in the adornment of woman an affair of the highest art are very small-minded and dull4 ,c'est le grand art1 says ,renan4 ,moreover1 he would have known that in many sthetic systems--for instance1 in the sthetics of the learned ,professor ,kralik1 ,weltschnheit1 ,versuch einer allgemeinen sthetik1 von ,richard ,kralik1 and in ,les ,problmes de l',esthtique ,contemporaine1 by ,guyau--the arts of costume1 of taste1 and of touch are included4 ,es ,folgt nun ein ,fnfblatt von ,knsten1 die der subjectiven ,sinnlichkeit entkeimen 7,there results then a pentafoliate of arts1 growing out of the subjective perceptions71 says ,kralik 7p4 #age74 ,sie sind die sthetische ,behandlung der fnf ,sinne4 7,they are the sthetic treatment of the five senses47 ,these five arts are the following3-- ,die ,kunst des ,geschmacksinns--,the art of the sense of taste 7p4 #age74 ,die ,kunst des ,geruchsinns--,the art of the sense of smell 7p4 #agg74 ,die ,kunst des ,tastsinns--,the art of the sense of touch 7p4 #ahj74 ,die ,kunst des ,gehrsinns--,the art of the sense of hearing 7p4 #ahb74 ,die ,kunst des ,gesichtsinns--,the art of the sense of sight 7p4 #ahd74 ,of the first of these--die ,kunst des ,geschmacksinns--he says3 ,man hlt zwar gewhnlich nur zwei oder hchstens drei ,sinne fr wrdig1 den ,stoff knstlerischer ,behandlung abzugeben1 aber ich glaube nur mit bedingtem ,recht4 ,ich will kein allzugrosses ,gewicht darauf legen1 dass der gemeine ,sprachgebrauch manch andere ,knste1 wie zum ,beispiel die ,kochkunst kennt4#ci #ci ,only two1 or at most three1 senses are generally held worthy to supply matter for artistic treatment1 but ,i think this opinion is only conditionally correct4 ,i will not lay too much stress on the fact that our common speech recognizes many other arts1 as1 for instance1 the art of cookery4 ,and further3 ,und es ist doch gewiss eine sthetische ,leistung1 wenn es der ,kochkunst gelingt ans einem thierischen ,kadaver einen ,gegenstand des ,geschmacks in jedem ,sinne zu machen4 ,der ,grundsatz der ,kunst des ,geschmacksinns 7die weiter ist als die sogenannte ,kochkunst7 ist also dieser3 ,es soll alles ,geniessbare als ,sinnbild einer ,idee behandelt werden und in jedesmaligem ,einklang zur auszudrckenden ,idee4#dj #dj ,and yet it is certainly an sthetic achievement when the art of cooking succeeds in making of an animal's corpse an object in all respects tasteful4 ,the principle of the ,art of ,taste 7which goes beyond the so-called ,art of ,cookery7 is therefore this3 ,all that is eatable should be treated as the symbol of some ,idea1 and always in harmony with the ,idea to be expressed4 ,this author1 like ,renan1 acknowledges a ,kostmkunst 7,art of ,costume7 7p4 #bjj71 etc4 ,such is also the opinion of the ,french writer1 ,guyau1 who is highly esteemed by some authors of our day4 ,in his book1 ,les ,problmes de l',esthtique ,contemporaine1 he speaks seriously of touch1 taste1 and smell as giving1 or being capable of giving1 sthetic impressions3 ,si la couleur manque au toucher1 il nous fournit en revanche une notion que l'il seul ne peut nous donner1 et qui a une valeur esthtique considrable1 celle du doux1 du soyeux1 du poli4 ,ce qui caractrise la beaut du velours1 c'est sa douceur au toucher non moins que son brillant4 ,dans l'ide que nous nous faisons de la beaut d'une femme1 le velout de sa peau entre comme lment essentiel4 ,chacun de nous probablement avec un peu d'attention se rappellera des jouissances du got1 qui ont t de vritables jouissances esthtiques4#da ,and he recounts how a glass of milk drunk by him in the mountains gave him sthetic enjoyment4 #da ,if the sense of touch lacks color1 it gives us1 on the other hand1 a notion which the eye alone cannot afford1 and one of considerable sthetic value1 namely1 that of softness1 silkiness1 polish4 ,the beauty of velvet is characterized not less by its softness to the touch than by its luster4 ,in the idea we form of a woman's beauty1 the softness of her skin enters as an essential element4 ,each of us1 probably1 with a little attention1 can recall pleasures of taste which have been real sthetic pleasures4 ,so it turns out that the conception of art1 as consisting in making beauty manifest1 is not at all so simple as it seemed1 especially now1 when in this conception of beauty are included our sensations of touch and taste and smell1 as they are by the latest sthetic writers4 ,but the ordinary man either does not know1 or does not wish to know1 all this1 and is firmly convinced that all questions about art may be simply and clearly solved by acknowledging beauty to be the subject-matter of art4 ,to him it seems clear and comprehensible that art consists in manifesting beauty1 and that a reference to beauty will serve to explain all questions about art4 ,but what is this beauty which forms the subject-matter of art8 ,how is it defined8 ,what is it8 ,as is always the case1 the more cloudy and confused the conception conveyed by a word1 with the more aplomb and self-assurance do people use that word1 pretending that what is understood by it is so simple and clear that it is not worth while even to discuss what it actually means4 ,this is how matters of orthodox religion are usually dealt with1 and this is how people now deal with the conception of beauty4 ,it is taken for granted that what is meant by the word beauty is known and understood by every one4 ,and yet not only is this not known1 but1 after whole mountains of books have been written on the subject by the most learned and profound thinkers during one hundred and fifty years 7ever since ,baumgarten founded sthetics in the year #agej71 the question1 ,what is beauty8 remains to this day quite unsolved1 and in each new work on sthetics it is answered in a new way4 ,one of the last books ,i read on sthetics is a not ill-written booklet by ,julius ,mithalter1 called ,rtsel des ,schnen 7,the ,enigma of the ,beautiful74 ,and that title precisely expresses the position of the question1 ,what is beauty8 ,after thousands of learned men have discussed it during one hundred and fifty years1 the meaning of the word beauty remains an enigma still4 ,the ,germans answer the question in their manner1 though in a hundred different ways4 ,the physiologist-stheticians1 especially the ,englishmen1 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,grant ,allen1 and his school1 answer it1 each in his own way2 the ,french eclectics1 and the followers of ,guyau and ,taine1 also each in his own way2 and all these people know all the preceding solutions given by ,baumgarten1 and ,kant1 and ,schelling1 and ,schiller1 and ,fichte1 and ,winckelmann1 and ,lessing1 and ,hegel1 and ,schopenhauer1 and ,hartmann1 and ,schasler1 and ,cousin1 and ,lvque1 and others4 ,what is this strange conception beauty1 which seems so simple to those who talk without thinking1 but in defining which all the philosophers of various tendencies and different nationalities can come to no agreement during a century and a half8 ,what is this conception of beauty1 on which the dominant doctrine of art rests8 ,in ,russian1 by the word krasota 7beauty7 we mean only that which pleases the sight4 ,and though latterly people have begun to speak of an ugly deed1 or of beautiful music1 it is not good ,russian4 ,a ,russian of the common folk1 not knowing foreign languages1 will not understand you if you tell him that a man who has given his last coat to another1 or done anything similar1 has acted beautifully1 that a man who has cheated another has done an ugly action1 or that a song is beautiful4 ,in ,russian a deed may be kind and good1 or unkind and bad4 ,music may be pleasant and good1 or unpleasant and bad2 but there can be no such thing as beautiful or ugly music4 ,beautiful may relate to a man1 a horse1 a house1 a view1 or a movement4 ,of actions1 thoughts1 character1 or music1 if they please us1 we may say that they are good1 or1 if they do not please us1 that they are not good4 ,but beautiful can be used only concerning that which pleases the sight4 ,so that the word and conception good includes the conception of beautiful1 but the reverse is not the case2 the conception beauty does not include the conception good4 ,if we say good of an article which we value for its appearance1 we thereby say that the article is beautiful2 but if we say it is beautiful1 it does not at all mean that the article is a good one4 ,such is the meaning ascribed by the ,russian language1 and therefore by the sense of the people1 to the words and conceptions good and beautiful4 ,in all the ,european languages1 i4e4 the languages of those nations among whom the doctrine has spread that beauty is the essential thing in art1 the words beau1 schn1 beautiful1 bello1 etc41 while keeping their meaning of beautiful in form1 have come to also express goodness1 kindness1 i4e4 have come to act as substitutes for the word good4 ,so that it has become quite natural in those languages to use such expressions as belle ame1 schne ,gedanken1 of beautiful deed4 ,those languages no longer have a suitable word wherewith expressly to indicate beauty of form1 and have to use a combination of words such as beau par la forme1 beautiful to look at1 etc41 to convey that idea4 ,observation of the divergent meanings which the words beauty and beautiful have in ,russian on the one hand1 and in those ,european languages now permeated by this sthetic theory on the other hand1 shows us that the word beauty has1 among the latter1 acquired a special meaning1 namely1 that of good4 ,what is remarkable1 moreover1 is that since we ,russians have begun more and more to adopt the ,european view of art1 the same evolution has begun to show itself in our language also1 and some people speak and write quite confidently1 and without causing surprise1 of beautiful music and ugly actions1 or even thoughts2 whereas forty years ago1 when ,i was young1 the expressions beautiful music and ugly actions were not only unusual1 but incomprehensible4 ,evidently this new meaning given to beauty by ,european thought begins to be assimilated by ,russian society4 ,and what really is this meaning8 ,what is this beauty as it is understood by the ,european peoples8 ,in order to answer this question1 ,i must here quote at least a small selection of those definitions of beauty most generally adopted in existing sthetic systems4 ,i especially beg the reader not to be overcome by dullness1 but to read these extracts through1 or1 still better1 to read some one of the erudite sthetic authors4 ,not to mention the voluminous ,german stheticians1 a very good book for this purpose would be either the ,german book by ,kralik1 the ,english work by ,knight1 or the ,french one by ,lvque4 ,it is necessary to read one of the learned sthetic writers in order to form at firsthand a conception of the variety in opinion and the frightful obscurity which reigns in this region of speculation2 not1 in this important matter1 trusting to another's report4 ,this1 for instance1 is what the ,german sthetician ,schasler says in the preface to his famous1 voluminous1 and detailed work on sthetics3-- ,hardly in any sphere of philosophic science can we find such divergent methods of investigation and exposition1 amounting even to self-contradiction1 as in the sphere of sthetics4 ,on the one hand1 we have elegant phraseology without any substance1 characterized in great part by most one-sided superficiality2 and on the other hand1 accompanying undeniable profundity of investigation and richness of subject-matter1 we get a revolting awkwardness of philosophic terminology1 infolding the simplest thoughts in an apparel of abstract science1 as though to render them worthy to enter the consecrated palace of the system2 and finally1 between these two methods of investigation and exposition there is a third1 forming1 as it were1 the transition from one to the other1 a method consisting of eclecticism1 now flaunting an elegant phraseology1 and now a pedantic erudition4444 ,a style of exposition that falls into none of these three defects but it is truly concrete1 and1 having important matter1 expresses it in clear and popular philosophic language1 can nowhere be found less frequently than in the domain of sthetics4#db #db ,m4 ,schasler1 ,kritische ,geschichte der sthetik1 #ahgb1 vol4 i41 p4 #ac4 ,it is only necessary1 for instance1 to read ,schasler's own book to convince oneself of the justice of this observation of his4 ,on the same subject the ,french writer ,vron1 in the preface to his very good work on sthetics1 says3 ,il n'y a pas de science1 qui ait t plus que l'esthtique livre aux rveries des mtaphysiciens4 ,depuis ,platon jusqu'aux doctrines officielles de nos jours1 on a fait de l'art je ne sais quel amalgame de fantaisies quintessencies1 et de mystres transcendantaux qui trouvent leur expression suprme dans la conception absolue du ,beau idal1 prototype immuable et divin des choses relles 7,l',esthtique1 #ahgh1 p4 #e74dc #dc ,there is no science which1 more than sthetics1 has been handed over to the reveries of the metaphysicians4 ,from ,plato down to the received doctrines of our day1 people have made of art a strange amalgam of quintessential fancies and transcendental mysteries1 which find their supreme expression in the conception of an absolute ideal ,beauty1 immutable and divine prototype of actual things4 ,if the reader will only be at the pains to peruse the following extracts1 defining beauty1 taken from the chief writers on sthetics1 he may convince himself that this censure is thoroughly deserved4 ,i shall not quote the definitions of beauty attributed to the ancients1--,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle1 etc41 down to ,plotinus1--because1 in reality1 the ancients had not that conception of beauty separated from goodness which forms the basis and aim of sthetics in our time4 ,by referring the judgments of the ancients on beauty to our conception of it1 as is usually done in sthetics1 we give the words of the ancients a meaning which is not theirs4#dd #dd ,see on this matter ,benard's admirable book1 ,l',esthtique d',aristote1 also ,walter's ,geschichte der sthetik in ,altertum4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,i begin with the founder of sthetics1 ,baumgarten 7#agad-agfb74 ,according to ,baumgarten1#de the object of logical knowledge is ,truth1 the object of sthetic 7i4e4 sensuous7 knowledge is ,beauty4 ,beauty is the ,perfect 7the ,absolute7 recognized through the senses2 ,truth is the ,perfect perceived through reason2 ,goodness is the ,perfect reached by moral will4 #de ,schasler1 p4 #cfa4 ,beauty is defined by ,baumgarten as a correspondence1 i4e4 an order of the parts in their mutual relations to each other and in their relation to the whole4 ,the aim of beauty itself is to please and excite a desire1 ,wohlgefallen und ,erregung eines ,verlangens4 7,a position precisely the opposite of ,kant's definition of the nature and sign of beauty47 ,with reference to the manifestations of beauty1 ,baumgarten considers that the highest embodiment of beauty is seen by us in nature1 and he therefore thinks that the highest aim of art is to copy nature4 7,this position also is directly contradicted by the conclusions of the latest stheticians47 ,passing over the unimportant followers of ,baumgarten1--,maier1 ,eschenburg1 and ,eberhard1--who only slightly modified the doctrine of their teacher by dividing the pleasant from the beautiful1 ,i will quote the definitions given by writers who came immediately after ,baumgarten1 and defined beauty quite in another way4 ,these writers were ,sulzer1 ,mendelssohn1 and ,moritz4 ,they1 in contradiction to ,baumgarten's main position1 recognize as the aim of art1 not beauty1 but goodness4 ,thus ,sulzer 7#agbj-aggg7 says that only that can be considered beautiful which contains goodness4 ,according to his theory1 the aim of the whole life of humanity is welfare in social life4 ,this is attained by the education of the moral feelings1 to which end art should be subservient4 ,beauty is that which evokes and educates this feeling4 ,beauty is understood almost in the same way by ,mendelssohn 7#agbi-aghf74 ,according to him1 art is the carrying forward of the beautiful1 obscurely recognized by feeling1 till it becomes the true and good4 ,the aim of art is moral perfection4#df #df ,schasler1 p4 #cfi4 ,for the stheticians of this school1 the ideal of beauty is a beautiful soul in a beautiful body4 ,so that these stheticians completely wipe out ,baumgarten's division of the ,perfect 7the ,absolute71 into the three forms of ,truth1 ,goodness1 and ,beauty2 and ,beauty is again united with the ,good and the ,true4 ,but this conception is not only not maintained by the later stheticians1 but the sthetic doctrine of ,winckelmann arises1 again in complete opposition4 ,this divides the mission of art from the aim of goodness in the sharpest and most positive manner1 makes external beauty the aim of art1 and even limits it to visible beauty4 ,according to the celebrated work of ,winckelmann 7#agag-agfg71 the law and aim of all art is beauty only1 beauty quite separated from and independent of goodness4 ,there are three kinds of beauty3 7#a7 beauty of form1 7#b7 beauty of idea1 expressing itself in the position of the figure 7in plastic art71 7#c7 beauty of expression1 attainable only when the two first conditions are present4 ,this beauty of expression is the highest aim of art1 and is attained in antique art2 modern art should therefore aim at imitating ancient art4#dg #dg ,schasler1 pp4 #chh-cij4 ,art is similarly understood by ,lessing1 ,herder1 and afterwards by ,goethe and by all the distinguished stheticians of ,germany till ,kant1 from whose day1 again1 a different conception of art commences4 ,native sthetic theories arose during this period in ,england1 ,france1 ,italy1 and ,holland1 and they1 though not taken from the ,german1 were equally cloudy and contradictory4 ,and all these writers1 just like the ,german stheticians1 founded their theories on a conception of the ,beautiful1 understanding beauty in the sense of a something existing absolutely1 and more or less intermingled with ,goodness or having one and the same root4 ,in ,england1 almost simultaneously with ,baumgarten1 even a little earlier1 ,shaftesbury1 ,hutcheson1 ,home1 ,burke1 ,hogarth1 and others1 wrote on art4 ,according to ,shaftesbury 7#afgj-agac71 ,that which is beautiful is harmonious and proportionable1 what is harmonious and proportionable is true1 and what is at once both beautiful and true is of consequence agreeable and good4#dh ,beauty1 he taught1 is recognized by the mind only4 ,god is fundamental beauty2 beauty and goodness proceed from the same fount4 #dh ,knight1 ,philosophy of the ,beautiful1 i41 pp4 #afe1 #aff4 ,so that1 although ,shaftesbury regards beauty as being something separate from goodness1 they again merge into something inseparable4 ,according to ,hutcheson 7#afid-agdg--;,inquiry into the ,original of our ,ideas of ,beauty and ,virtue71 the aim of art is beauty1 the essence of which consists in evoking in us the perception of uniformity amid variety4 ,in the recognition of what is art we are guided by an internal sense4 ,this internal sense may be in contradiction to the ethical one4 ,so that1 according to ,hutcheson1 beauty does not always correspond with goodness1 but separates from it and is sometimes contrary to it4#di #di ,schasler1 p4 #bhi4 ,knight1 pp4 #afh1 #afi4 ,according to ,home1 ,lord ,kames 7#afif-aghb71 beauty is that which is pleasant4 ,therefore beauty is defined by taste alone4 ,the standard of true taste is that the maximum of richness1 fullness1 strength1 and variety of impression should be contained in the narrowest limits4 ,that is the ideal of a perfect work of art4 ,according to ,burke 7#agbi-agig--,philosophical ,inquiry into the ,origin of our ,ideas of the ,sublime and ,beautiful71 the sublime and beautiful1 which are the aim of art1 have their origin in the promptings of self-preservation and of society4 ,these feelings1 examined in their source1 are means for the maintenance of the race through the individual4 ,the first 7self-preservation7 is attained by nourishment1 defense1 and war2 the second 7society7 by intercourse and propagation4 ,therefore self-defense1 and war1 which is bound up with it1 is the source of the sublime2 sociability1 and the sex-instinct1 which is bound up with it1 is the source of beauty4#ej #ej ,r4 ,kralik1 ,weltschnheit1 ,versuch einer allgemeinen sthetik1 pp4 #cjd-cjf4 ,such were the chief ,english definitions of art and beauty in the eighteenth century4 ,during that period1 in ,france1 the writers on art were ,pre ,andr and ,batteux1 with ,diderot1 ,d',alembert1 and1 to some extent1 ,voltaire1 following later4 ,according to ,pre ,andr 7,essai sur le ,beau1 #agda71 there are three kinds of beauty1--divine beauty1 natural beauty1 and artificial beauty4#ea #ea ,knight1 p4 #aja4 ,according to ,batteux 7#agac-aghj71 art consists in imitating the beauty of nature1 its aim being enjoyment4#eb ,such is also ,diderot's definition of art4 #eb ,schasler1 p4 #caf4 ,the ,french writers1 like the ,english1 consider that it is taste that decides what is beautiful4 ,and the laws of taste are not only not laid down1 but it is granted that they cannot be settled4 ,the same view was held by ,d',alembert and ,voltaire4#ec #ec ,knight1 pp4 #ajb-ajd4 ,according to the ,italian sthetician of that period1 ,pagano1 art consists in uniting the beauties dispersed in nature4 ,the capacity to perceive these beauties is taste1 the capacity to bring them into one whole is artistic genius4 ,beauty commingles with goodness1 so that beauty is goodness made visible1 and goodness is inner beauty4#ed #ed ,r4 ,kralik1 p4 #abd4 ,according to the opinion of other ,italians3 ,muratori 7#afgb-agej71--,riflessioni sopra il buon gusto intorno le science e le arti1--and especially ,spaletti1#ee--,saggio sopra la bellezza 7#agfe71--;art amounts to an egotistical sensation1 founded 7as with ,burke7 on the desire for self-preservation and society4 #ee ,spaletti1 ,schasler1 p4 #cbh4 ,among ,dutch writers1 ,hemsterhuis 7#agbj-agij71 who had an influence on the ,german stheticians and on ,goethe1 is remarkable4 ,according to him1 beauty is that which gives most pleasure1 and that gives most pleasure which gives us the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time4 ,enjoyment of the beautiful1 because it gives the greatest quantity of perceptions in the shortest time1 is the highest notion to which man can attain4#ef #ef ,schasler1 pp4 #cca-ccc4 ,such were the sthetic theories outside ,germany during the last century4 ,in ,germany1 after ,winckelmann1 there again arose a completely new sthetic theory1 that of ,kant 7#agbd-ahjd71 which1 more than all others1 clears up what this conception of beauty1 and consequently of art1 really amounts to4 ,the sthetic teaching of ,kant is founded as follows3 ,man has a knowledge of nature outside him and of himself in nature4 ,in nature1 outside himself1 he seeks for truth2 in himself1 he seeks for goodness4 ,the first is an affair of pure reason1 the other of practical reason 7free will74 ,besides these two means of perception1 there is yet the judging capacity 7,urteilskraft71 which forms judgments without reasonings and produces pleasure without desire 7,urtheil ohne ,begriff und ,vergngen ohne ,begehren74 ,this capacity is the basis of sthetic feeling4 ,beauty1 according to ,kant1 in its subjective meaning is that which1 in general and necessarily1 without reasonings and without practical advantage1 pleases4 ,in its objective meaning it is the form of a suitable object1 in so far as that object is perceived without any conception of its utility4#eg #eg ,schasler1 pp4 #ebe-ebh4 ,beauty is defined in the same way by the followers of ,kant1 among whom was ,schiller 7#agei-ahje74 ,according to ,schiller1 who wrote much on sthetics1 the aim of art is1 as with ,kant1 beauty1 the source of which is pleasure without practical advantage4 ,so that art may be called a game1 not in the sense of an unimportant occupation1 but in the sense of a manifestation of the beauties of life itself without other aim than that of beauty4#eh #eh ,knight1 pp4 #fa-fc4 ,besides ,schiller1 the most remarkable of ,kant's followers in the sphere of sthetics was ,wilhelm ,humboldt1 who1 though he added nothing to the definition of beauty1 explained various forms of it1--the drama1 music1 the comic1 etc4#ei #ei ,schasler1 pp4 #gdj-gdc4 ,after ,kant1 besides the second-rate philosophers1 the writers on sthetics were ,fichte1 ,schelling1 ,hegel1 and their followers4 ,fichte 7#agfb-ahad7 says that perception of the beautiful proceeds from this3 the world--i4e4 nature--has two sides3 it is the sum of our limitations1 and it is the sum of our free idealistic activity4 ,in the first aspect the world is limited1 in the second aspect it is free4 ,in the first aspect every object is limited1 distorted1 compressed1 confined--and we see deformity2 in the second we perceive its inner completeness1 vitality1 regeneration--and we see beauty4 ,so that the deformity or beauty of an object1 according to ,fichte1 depends on the point of view of the observer4 ,beauty therefore exists1 not in the world1 but in the beautiful soul 7schner ,geist74 ,art is the manifestation of this beautiful soul1 and its aim is the education1 not only of the mind--that is the business of the savant1 not only of the heart--that is the affair of the moral preacher1 but of the whole man4 ,and so the characteristic of beauty lies1 not in anything external1 but in the presence of a beautiful soul in the artist4#fj #fj ,schasler1 pp1 #gfi-gga4 ,following ,fichte1 and in the same direction1 ,friedrich ,schlegel and ,adam ,mller also defined beauty4 ,according to ,schlegel 7#aggb-ahbi71 beauty in art is understood too incompletely1 one-sidedly1 and disconnectedly4 ,beauty exists1 not only in art1 but also in nature and in love2 so that the truly beautiful is expressed by the union of art1 nature1 and love4 ,therefore1 as inseparably one with sthetic art1 ,schlegel acknowledges moral and philosophic art4#fa #fa ,schasler1 pp4 #ghf1 #ghg4 ,according to ,adam ,mller 7#aggi-ahbi71 there are two kinds of beauty3 the one1 general beauty1 which attracts people as the sun attracts the planet--this is found chiefly in antique art2 and the other1 individual beauty1 which results from the observer himself becoming a sun1 attracting beauty--this is the beauty of modern art4 ,a world in which all contradictions are harmonized is the highest beauty4 ,every work of art is a reproduction of this universal harmony4#fb ,the highest art is the art of life4#fc #fb ,kralik1 p4 #adh4 #fc ,kralik1 p4 #hbj4 ,next after ,fichte and his followers came a contemporary of his1 the philosopher ,schelling 7#agge-ahed71 who has had a great influence on the sthetic conceptions of our times4 ,according to ,schelling's philosophy1 art is the production or result of that conception of things by which the subject becomes its own object1 or the object its own subject4 ,beauty is the perception of the infinite in the finite4 ,and the chief characteristic of works of art is unconscious infinity4 ,art is the uniting of the subjective with the objective1 of nature with reason1 of the unconscious with the conscious1 and therefore art is the highest means of knowledge4 ,beauty is the contemplation of things in themselves as they exist in the prototype 7,in den ,urbildern74 ,it is not the artist who by his knowledge or skill produces the beautiful1 but the idea of beauty in him itself produces it4#fd #fd ,schasler1 pp4 #hbh1 #hbi1 #hcd-hda4 ,of ,schelling's followers the most noticeable was ,solger 7#aghj-ahai--,vorlesungen ber sthetik74 ,according to him1 the idea of beauty is the fundamental idea of everything4 ,in the world we see only distortions of the fundamental idea1 but art1 by imagination1 may lift itself to the height of this idea4 ,art is therefore akin to creation4#fe #fe ,schasler1 p4 #hia4 ,according to another follower of ,schelling1 ,krause 7#agha-ahcb71 true1 positive beauty is the manifestation of the ,idea in an individual form2 art is the actualization of the beauty existing in the sphere of man's free spirit4 ,the highest stage of art is the art of life1 which directs its activity toward the adornment of life so that it may be a beautiful abode for a beautiful man4#ff #ff ,schasler1 p4 #iag4 ,after ,schelling and his followers came the new sthetic doctrine of ,hegel1 which is held to this day1 consciously by many1 but by the majority unconsciously4 ,this teaching is not only no clearer or better defined than the preceding ones1 but is1 if possible1 even more cloudy and mystical4 ,according to ,hegel 7#aggj-ahca71 ,god manifests himself in nature and in art in the form of beauty4 ,god expresses himself in two ways3 in the object and in the subject1 in nature and in spirit4 ,beauty is the shining of the ,idea through matter4 ,only the soul1 and what pertains to it1 is truly beautiful2 and therefore the beauty of nature is only the reflection of the natural beauty of the spirit--the beautiful has only a spiritual content4 ,but the spiritual must appear in sensuous form4 ,the sensuous manifestation of spirit is only appearance 7schein71 and this appearance is the only reality of the beautiful4 ,art is thus the production of this appearance of the ,idea1 and is a means1 together with religion and philosophy1 of bringing to consciousness and of expressing the deepest problems of humanity and the highest truths of the spirit4 ,truth and beauty1 according to ,hegel1 are one and the same thing2 the difference being only that truth is the ,idea itself as it exists in itself1 and is thinkable4 ,the ,idea1 manifested externally1 becomes to the apprehension not only true but beautiful4 ,the beautiful is the manifestation of the ,idea4#fg #fg ,schasler1 pp4 #idf1 #ajhe1 #ihd1 #ihe1 #iij4 ,following ,hegel came his many adherents1 ,weisse1 ,arnold ,ruge1 ,rosenkrantz1 ,theodor ,vischer1 and others4 ,according to ,weisse 7#ahja-ahfg71 art is the introduction 7,einbildung7 of the absolute spiritual reality of beauty into external1 dead1 indifferent matter1 the perception of which latter1 apart from the beauty brought into it1 presents the negation of all existence in itself 7,negation alles ,frsichseins74 ,in the idea of truth1 ,weisse explains1 lies a contradiction between the subjective and the objective sides of knowledge1 in that an individual ,i discerns the ,universal4 ,this contradiction can be removed by a conception that should unite into one the universal and the individual1 which fall asunder in our conceptions of truth4 ,such a conception would be reconciled 7aufgehoben7 truth4 ,beauty is such a reconciled truth4#fh #fh ,schasler1 pp4 #iff1 #fee1 #ief4 ,according to ,ruge 7#ahjb-ahhj71 a strict follower of ,hegel1 beauty is the ,idea expressing itself4 ,the spirit1 contemplating itself1 either finds itself expressed completely1 and then that full expression of itself is beauty2 or incompletely1 and then it feels the need to alter this imperfect expression of itself1 and becomes creative art4#fi #fi ,schasler1 p4 #ajag4 ,according to ,vischer 7#ahjg-ahhg71 beauty is the ,idea in the form of a finite phenomenon4 ,the ,idea itself is not indivisible1 but forms a system of ideas1 which may be represented by ascending and descending lines4 ,the higher the idea1 the more beauty it contains2 but even the lowest contains beauty1 because it forms an essential link of the system4 ,the highest form of the ,idea is personality1 and therefore the highest art is that which has for its subject-matter the highest personality4#gj #gj ,schasler1 pp4 #ajfe1 #ajff4 ,such were the theories of the ,german stheticians in the ,hegelian direction1 but they did not monopolize sthetic dissertations4 ,in ,germany1 side by side and simultaneously with the ,hegelian theories1 there appeared theories of beauty not only independent of ,hegel's position 7that beauty is the manifestation of the ,idea71 but directly contrary to this view1 denying and ridiculing it4 ,such was the line taken by ,herbart and1 more particularly1 by ,schopenhauer4 ,according to ,herbart 7#aggf-ahda71 there is not1 and cannot be1 any such thing as beauty existing in itself4 ,what does exist is only our opinion1 and it is necessary to find the base of this opinion 7sthetisches ,elementarurtheil74 ,such bases are connected with our impressions4 ,there are certain relations which we term beautiful2 and art consists in finding these relations1 which are simultaneous in painting1 the plastic art1 and architecture1 successive and simultaneous in music1 and purely successive in poetry4 ,in contradiction to the former stheticians1 ,herbart holds that objects are often beautiful which express nothing at all1 as1 for instance1 the rainbow1 which is beautiful for its lines and colors1 and not for its mythological connection with ,iris or ,noah's rainbow4#ga #ga ,schasler1 pp4 #ajig-aajj4 ,another opponent of ,hegel was ,schopenhauer1 who denied ,hegel's whole system1 his sthetics included4 ,according to ,schopenhauer 7#aghh-ahfj71 ,will objectivizes itself in the world on various planes2 and although the higher the plane on which it is objectivized the more beautiful it is1 yet each plane has its own beauty4 ,renunciation of one's individuality and contemplation of one of these planes of manifestation of ,will gives us a perception of beauty4 ,all men1 says ,schopenhauer1 possess the capacity to objectivize the ,idea on different planes4 ,the genius of the artist has this capacity in a higher degree1 and therefore makes a higher beauty manifest4#gb #gb ,schasler1 pp4 #aabd1 #aajg4 ,after these more eminent writers there followed1 in ,germany1 less original and less influential ones1 such as ,hartmann1 ,kirkmann1 ,schnasse1 and1 to some extent1 ,helmholtz 7as an sthetician71 ,bergmann1 ,jungmann1 and an innumerable host of others4 ,according to ,hartmann 7#ahdb71 beauty lies1 not in the external world1 nor in the thing in itself1 neither does it reside in the soul of man1 but it lies in the seeming 7,schein7 produced by the artist4 ,the thing in itself is not beautiful1 but is transformed into beauty by the artist4#gc #gc ,knight1 pp4 #ha1 #hb4 ,according to ,schnasse 7#agih-ahge71 there is no perfect beauty in the world4 ,in nature there is only an approach toward it4 ,art gives what nature cannot give4 ,in the energy of the free ego1 conscious of harmony not found in nature1 beauty is disclosed4#gd #gd ,knight1 p4 #hc4 ,kirkmann wrote on experimental sthetics4 ,all aspects of history in his system are joined by pure chance4 ,thus1 according to ,kirkmann 7#ahjb-ahhd71 there are six realms of history3 ,the realm of ,knowledge1 of ,wealth1 of ,morality1 of ,faith1 of ,politics1 and of ,beauty2 and activity in the last-named realm is art4#ge #ge ,schasler1 p4 #aaba4 ,according to ,helmholtz 7#ahba71 who wrote on beauty as it relates to music1 beauty in musical productions is attained only by following unalterable laws4 ,these laws are not known to the artist2 so that beauty is manifested by the artist unconsciously1 and cannot be subjected to analysis4#gf #gf ,knight1 pp4 #he1 #hf4 ,according to ,bergmann 7#ahdj7 7,ueber das ,schne1 #ahhg71 to define beauty objectively is impossible4 ,beauty is only perceived subjectively1 and therefore the problem of sthetics is to define what pleases whom4#gg #gg ,knight1 p4 #hh4 ,according to ,jungmann 7d4 #ahhe71 firstly1 beauty is a suprasensible quality of things2 secondly1 beauty produces in us pleasure by merely being contemplated2 and1 thirdly1 beauty is the foundation of love4#gh #gh ,knight1 p4 #hh4 ,the sthetic theories of the chief representatives of ,france1 ,england1 and other nations in recent times have been the following3-- ,in ,france1 during this period1 the prominent writers on sthetics were ,cousin1 ,jouffroy1 ,pictet1 ,ravaisson1 ,lvque4 ,cousin 7#agib-ahfg7 was an eclectic1 and a follower of the ,german idealists4 ,according to his theory1 beauty always has a moral foundation4 ,he disputes the doctrine that art is imitation and that the beautiful is what pleases4 ,he affirms that beauty may be defined objectively1 and that it essentially consists in variety in unity4#gi #gi ,knight1 p4 #aab4 ,after ,cousin came ,jouffroy 7#agif-ahdb71 who was a pupil of ,cousin's and also a follower of the ,german stheticians4 ,according to his definition1 beauty is the expression of the invisible by those natural signs which manifest it4 ,the visible world is the garment by means of which we see beauty4#hj #hj ,knight1 p4 #aaf4 ,the ,swiss writer ,pictet repeated ,hegel and ,plato1 supposing beauty to exist in the direct and free manifestation of the divine ,idea revealing itself in sense forms4#ha #ha ,knight1 pp4 #aah1 #aai4 ,lvque was a follower of ,schelling and ,hegel4 ,he holds that beauty is something invisible behind nature--a force or spirit revealing itself in ordered energy4#hb #hb ,knight1 pp4 #abc1 #abd4 ,similar vague opinions about the nature of beauty were expressed by the ,french metaphysician ,ravaisson1 who considered beauty to be the ultimate aim and purpose of the world4 ,la beaut la plus divine et principalement la plus parfaite contient le secret du monde4#hc ,and again1 ,le monde entier est l'uvre d'une beaut absolue1 qui n'est la cause des choses que par l'amour qu'elle met en elles4 #hc ,la ,philosophie en ,france1 p4 #bcb4 ,i purposely abstain from translating these metaphysical expressions1 because1 however cloudy the ,germans may be1 the ,french1 once they absorb the theories of the ,germans and take to imitating them1 far surpass them in uniting heterogeneous conceptions into one expression1 and putting forward one meaning or another indiscriminately4 ,for instance1 the ,french philosopher ,renouvier1 when discussing beauty1 says1 ,ne craignons pas de dire qu'une vrit qui ne serait pas belle1 ne serait qu'un jeu logique de notre esprit et que la seule vrit solide et digne de ce nom c'est la beaut4#hd #hd ,du ,fondement de l',induction4 ,besides the sthetic idealists who wrote and still write under the influence of ,german philosophy1 the following recent writers have also influenced the comprehension of art and beauty in ,france3 ,taine1 ,guyau1 ,cherbuliez1 ,coster1 and ,vron4 ,according to ,taine 7#ahbh-ahic71 beauty is the manifestation of the essential characteristic of any important idea more completely than it is expressed in reality4#he #he ,philosophie de l',art1 vol4 i41 #ahic1 p4 #dg4 ,guyau 7#ahed-ahhh7 taught that beauty is not something exterior to the object itself1--is not1 as it were1 a parasitic growth on it1--but is itself the very blossoming forth of that on which it appears4 ,art is the expression of reasonable and conscious life1 evoking in us both the deepest consciousness of existence and the highest feelings and loftiest thoughts4 ,art lifts man from his personal life into the universal life by means1 not only of participation in the same ideas and beliefs1 but also by means of similarity in feeling4#hf #hf ,knight1 pp4 #aci-ada4 ,according to ,cherbuliez1 art is an activity1 7#a7 satisfying our innate love of forms 7apparences71 7#b7 endowing these forms with ideas1 7#c7 affording pleasure alike to our senses1 heart1 and reason4 ,beauty is not inherent in objects1 but is an act of our souls4 ,beauty is an illusion2 there is no absolute beauty4 ,but what we consider characteristic and harmonious appears beautiful to us4 ,coster held that the ideas of the beautiful1 the good1 and the true are innate4 ,these ideas illuminate our minds and are identical with ,god1 who is ,goodness1 ,truth1 and ,beauty4 ,the idea of ,beauty includes unity of essence1 variety of constitutive elements1 and order1 which brings unity into the various manifestations of life4#hg #hg ,knight1 p4 #acd4 ,for the sake of completeness1 ,i will further cite some of the very latest writings upon art4 ,la ,psychologie du ,beau et de l',art1 par ,mario ,pilo 7#ahie71 says that beauty is a product of our physical feelings4 ,the aim of art is pleasure1 but this pleasure 7for some reason7 he considers to be necessarily highly moral4 ,the ,essai sur l',art ,contemporain1 par ,fierens ,gevaert 7#ahig71 says that art rests on its connection with the past1 and on the religious ideal of the present which the artist holds when giving to his work the form of his individuality4 ,then again1 ,sar ,peladan's ,l',art ,idealiste et ,mystique 7#ahid71 says that beauty is one of the manifestations of ,god4 ,il n'y a pas d'autre ,ralit que ,dieu1 il n'y a pas d'autre ,vrit que ,dieu1 il n'y a pas d'autre ,beaut que ,dieu 7p4 #cc74 ,this book is very fantastic and very illiterate1 but is characteristic in the positions it takes up1 and noticeable on account of a certain success it is having with the younger generation in ,france4 ,all the sthetics diffused in ,france up to the present time are similar in kind1 but among them ,vron's ,l',esthtique 7#ahgh7 forms an exception1 being reasonable and clear4 ,that work1 though it does not give an exact definition of art1 at least rids sthetics of the cloudy conception of an absolute beauty4 ,according to ,vron 7#ahbe-ahhi71 art is the manifestation of emotion transmitted externally by a combination of lines1 forms1 colors1 or by a succession of movements1 sounds1 or words subjected to certain rhythms4#hh #hh ,l',esthtique1 p4 #ajf4 ,in ,england1 during this period1 the writers on sthetics define beauty more and more frequently1 not by its own qualities1 but by taste2 and the discussion about beauty is superseded by a discussion on taste4 ,after ,reid 7#agjd-agif71 who acknowledged beauty as being entirely dependent on the spectator1 ,alison1 in his ,essay on the ,nature and ,principles of ,taste 7#agij71 proved the same thing4 ,from another side this was also asserted by ,erasmus ,darwin 7#agca-ahjb71 the grandfather of the celebrated ,charles ,darwin4 ,he says that we consider beautiful that which is connected in our conception with what we love4 ,richard ,knight's work1 ,an ,analytical ,inquiry into the ,principles of ,taste1 also tends in the same direction4 ,most of the ,english theories of sthetics are on the same lines4 ,the prominent writers on sthetics in ,england during the present century have been ,charles ,darwin 7to some extent71 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,grant ,allen1 ,ker1 and ,knight4 ,according to ,charles ,darwin 7#ahji-ahhb--;,descent of ,man1 #ahga71 beauty is a feeling natural not only to man1 but also to animals1 and consequently to the ancestors of man4 ,birds adorn their nests and esteem beauty in their mates4 ,beauty has an influence on marriages4 ,beauty includes a variety of diverse conceptions4 ,the origin of the art of music is the call of the males to the females4#hi #hi ,knight1 p4 #bch4 ,according to ,herbert ,spencer 7b4 #ahbj71 the origin of art is play1 a thought previously expressed by ,schiller4 ,in the lower animals all the energy of life is expended in life-maintenance and race-maintenance2 in man1 however1 there remains1 after these needs are satisfied1 some superfluous strength4 ,this excess is used in play1 which passes over into art4 ,play is an imitation of real activity2 so is art4 ,the sources of sthetic pleasure are threefold3 7#a7 ,that which exercises the faculties affected in the most complete ways1 with the fewest drawbacks from exercise1 7#b7 the difference of a stimulus in large amount1 which awakens a glow of agreeable feeling1 7#c7 the partial revival of the same1 with special combinations4#ij #ij ,knight1 pp4 #bci1 #bdj4 ,in ,todhunter's ,theory of the ,beautiful 7#ahgb71 beauty is infinite loveliness1 which we apprehend both by reason and by the enthusiasm of love4 ,the recognition of beauty as being such depends on taste2 there can be no criterion for it4 ,the only approach to a definition is found in culture4 7,what culture is1 is not defined47 ,intrinsically1 art--that which affects us through lines1 colors1 sounds1 or words--is not the product of blind forces1 but of reasonable ones1 working1 with mutual helpfulness toward a reasonable aim4 ,beauty is the reconciliation of contradictions4#ia #ia ,knight1 pp4 #bdj-bdc4 ,grant ,allen is a follower of ,spencer1 and in his ,physiological sthetics 7#ahgg7 he says that beauty has a physical origin4 sthetic pleasures come from the contemplation of the beautiful1 but the conception of beauty is obtained by a physiological process4 ,the origin of art is play2 when there is a superfluity of physical strength man gives himself to play2 when there is a superfluity of receptive power man gives himself to art4 ,the beautiful is that which affords the maximum of stimulation with the minimum of waste4 ,differences in the estimation of beauty proceed from taste4 ,taste can be educated4 ,we must have faith in the judgments of the finest-nurtured and most discriminative men4 ,these people form the taste of the next generation4#ib #ib ,knight1 pp4 #bej-beb4 ,according to ,ker's ,essay on the ,philosophy of ,art 7#ahhc71 beauty enables us to make part of the objective world intelligible to ourselves without being troubled by reference to other parts of it1 as is inevitable for science4 ,so that art destroys the opposition between the one and the many1 between the law and its manifestation1 between the subject and its object1 by uniting them4 ,art is the revelation and vindication of freedom1 because it is free from the darkness and incomprehensibility of finite things4#ic #ic ,knight1 pp4 #beh1 #bei4 ,according to ,knight's ,philosophy of the ,beautiful1 ,part ,,ii4 7#ahic71 beauty is 7as with ,schelling7 the union of object and subject1 the drawing forth from nature of that which is cognate to man1 and the recognition in oneself of that which is common to all nature4 ,the opinions on beauty and on art here mentioned are far from exhausting what has been written on the subject4 ,and every day fresh writers on sthetics arise1 in whose disquisitions appear the same enchanted confusion and contradictoriness in defining beauty4 ,some1 by inertia1 continue the mystical sthetics of ,baumgarten and ,hegel with sundry variations2 others transfer the question to the region of subjectivity1 and seek for the foundation of the beautiful in questions of taste2 others--the stheticians of the very latest formation--seek the origin of beauty in the laws of physiology2 and finally1 others again investigate the question quite independently of the conception of beauty4 ,thus ,sully1 in his ,sensation and ,intuition3 ,studies in ,psychology and sthetics 7#ahgd71 dismisses the conception of beauty altogether1 art1 by his definition1 being the production of some permanent object or passing action fitted to supply active enjoyment to the producer1 and a pleasurable impression to a number of spectators or listeners1 quite apart from any personal advantage derived from it4#id #id ,knight1 p4 #bdc4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,to what do these definitions of beauty amount8 ,not reckoning the thoroughly inaccurate definitions of beauty which fail to cover the conception of art1 and which suppose beauty to consist either in utility1 or in adjustment to a purpose1 or in symmetry1 or in order1 or in proportion1 or in smoothness1 or in harmony of the parts1 or in unity amid variety1 or in various combinations of these--not reckoning these unsatisfactory attempts at objective definition1 all the sthetic definitions of beauty lead to two fundamental conceptions4 ,the first is that beauty is something having an independent existence 7existing in itself71 that it is one of the manifestations of the absolutely ,perfect1 of the ,idea1 of the ,spirit1 of ,will1 or of ,god2 the other is that beauty is a kind of pleasure received by us1 not having personal advantage for its object4 ,the first of these definitions was accepted by ,fichte1 ,schelling1 ,hegel1 ,schopenhauer1 and the philosophizing ,frenchmen1 ,cousin1 ,jouffroy1 ,ravaisson1 and others1 not to enumerate the second-rate sthetic philosophers4 ,and this same objective-mystical definition of beauty is held by a majority of the educated people of our day4 ,it is a conception very widely spread1 especially among the elder generation4 ,the second view1 that beauty is a certain kind of pleasure received by us1 not having personal advantage for its aim1 finds favor chiefly among the ,english sthetic writers1 and is shared by the other part of our society1 principally by the younger generation4 ,so there are 7and it could not be otherwise7 only two definitions of beauty3 the one objective1 mystical1 merging this conception into that of the highest perfection1 ,god--a fantastic definition1 founded on nothing2 the other1 on the contrary1 a very simple and intelligible subjective one1 which considers beauty to be that which pleases 7,i do not add to the word pleases the words without the aim of advantage1 because pleases naturally presupposes the absence of the idea of profit74 ,on the one hand1 beauty is viewed as something mystical and very elevated1 but unfortunately at the same time very indefinite1 and consequently embracing philosophy1 religion1 and life itself 7as in the theories of ,schelling and ,hegel1 and their ,german and ,french followers72 or1 on the other hand 7as necessarily follows from the definition of ,kant and his adherents71 beauty is simply a certain kind of disinterested pleasure received by us4 ,and this conception of beauty1 although it seems very clear is1 unfortunately1 again inexact2 for it widens out on the other side1 i4e4 it includes the pleasure derived from drink1 from food1 from touching a delicate skin1 etc41 as is acknowledged by ,guyau1 ,kralik1 and others4 ,it is true that1 following the development of the sthetic doctrines on beauty1 we may notice that1 though at first 7in the times when the foundations of the science of sthetics were being laid7 the metaphysical definition of beauty prevailed1 yet the nearer we get to our own times the more does an experimental definition 7recently assuming a physiological form7 come to the front1 so that at last we even meet with such stheticians as ,vron and ,sully1 who try to escape entirely from the conception of beauty4 ,but such stheticians have very little success1 and with the majority of the public1 as well as of artists and the learned1 a conception of beauty is firmly held which agrees with the definitions contained in most of the sthetic treatises1 i4e4 which regards beauty either as something mystical or metaphysical1 or as a special kind of enjoyment4 ,what1 then1 is this conception of beauty1 so stubbornly held to by people of our circle and day as furnishing a definition of art8 ,in the subjective aspect1 we call beauty that which supplies us with a particular kind of pleasure4 ,in the objective aspect1 we call beauty something absolutely perfect1 and we acknowledge it to be so only because we receive1 from the manifestation of this absolute perfection1 a certain kind of pleasure2 so that this objective definition is nothing but the subjective conception differently expressed4 ,in reality both conceptions of beauty amount to one and the same thing2 namely1 the reception by us of a certain kind of pleasure2 i4e4 we call beauty that which pleases us without evoking in us desire4 ,such being the position of affairs1 it would seem only natural that the science of art should decline to content itself with a definition of art based on beauty 7i4e4 on that which pleases71 and seek a general definition1 which should apply to all artistic productions1 and by reference to which we might decide whether a certain article belonged to the realm of art or not4 ,but no such definition is supplied1 as the reader may see from those summaries of the sthetic theories which ,i have given1 and as he may discover even more clearly from the original sthetic works1 if he will be at the pains to read them4 ,all attempts to define absolute beauty in itself--whether as an imitation of nature1 or as suitability to its object1 or as a correspondence of parts1 or as symmetry1 or as harmony1 or as unity in variety1 etc4--either define nothing at all1 or define only some traits of some artistic productions1 and are far from including all that everybody has always held1 and still holds1 to be art4 ,there is no objective definition of beauty4 ,the existing definitions 7both the metaphysical and the experimental7 amount only to one and the same subjective definition1 which 7strange as it seems to say so7 is1 that art is that which makes beauty manifest1 and beauty is that which pleases 7without exciting desire74 ,many stheticians have felt the insufficiency and instability of such a definition1 and1 in order to give it a firm basis1 have asked themselves why a thing pleases4 ,and they have converted the discussion on beauty into a question concerning taste1 as did ,hutcheson1 ,voltaire1 ,diderot1 and others4 ,but all attempts to define what taste is must lead to nothing1 as the reader may see both from the history of sthetics and experimentally4 ,there is and can be no explanation of why one thing pleases one man and displeases another1 or vice versa4 ,so that the whole existing science of sthetics fails to do what we might expect from it1 being a mental activity calling itself a science2 namely1 it does not define the qualities and laws of art1 or of the beautiful 7if that be the content of art71 or the nature of taste 7if taste decides the question of art and its merit71 and then1 on the basis of such definitions1 acknowledge as art those productions which correspond to these laws1 and reject those which do not come under them4 ,but this science of sthetics consists in first acknowledging a certain set of productions to be art 7because they please us71 and then framing such a theory of art that all those productions which please a certain circle of people should fit into it4 ,there exists an art canon1 according to which certain productions favored by our circle are acknowledged as being art1--,phidias1 ,sophocles1 ,homer1 ,titian1 ,raphael1 ,bach1 ,beethoven1 ,dante1 ,shakespear1 ,goethe1 and others1--and the sthetic laws must be such as to embrace all these productions4 ,in sthetic literature you will incessantly meet with opinions on the merit and importance of art1 founded not on any certain laws by which this or that is held to be good or bad1 but merely on the consideration whether this art tallies with the art canon we have drawn up4 ,the other day ,i was reading a far from ill-written book by ,folgeldt4 ,discussing the demand for morality in works of art1 the author plainly says that we must not demand morality in art4 ,and in proof of this he advances the fact that if we admit such a demand1 ,shakespear's ,romeo and ,juliet1 and ,goethe's ,wilhelm ,meister1 would not fit into the definition of good art2 but since both these books are included in our canon of art1 he concludes that the demand is unjust4 ,and therefore it is necessary to find a definition of art which shall fit the works2 and instead of a demand for morality1 ,folgeldt postulates as the basis of art a demand for the important 7,bedeutungsvolles74 ,all the existing sthetic standards are built on this plan4 ,instead of giving a definition of true art1 and then deciding what is and what is not good art by judging whether a work conforms or does not conform to the definition1 a certain class of works1 which for some reason please a certain circle of people1 is accepted as being art1 and a definition of art is then devised to cover all these productions4 ,i recently came upon a remarkable instance of this method in a very good ,german work1 ,the ,history of ,art in the ,nineteenth ,century1 by ,muther4 ,describing the pre-,raphaelites1 the ,decadents and the ,symbolists 7who are already included in the canon of art71 he not only does not venture to blame their tendency1 but earnestly endeavors to widen his standard so that it may include them all1 they appearing to him to represent a legitimate reaction from the excesses of realism4 ,no matter what insanities appear in art1 when once they find acceptance among the upper classes of our society1 a theory is quickly invented to explain and sanction them2 just as if there had never been periods in history when certain special circles of people recognized and approved false1 deformed1 and insensate art which subsequently left no trace and has been utterly forgotten4 ,and to what lengths the insanity and deformity of art may go1 especially when1 as in our days1 it knows that it is considered infallible1 may be seen by what is being done in the art of our circle to-day4 ,so that the theory of art1 founded on beauty1 expounded by sthetics1 and1 in dim outline1 professed by the public1 is nothing but the setting up as good of that which has pleased and pleases us1 i4e4 pleases a certain class of people4 ,in order to define any human activity1 it is necessary to understand its sense and importance4 ,and1 in order to do that1 it is primarily necessary to examine that activity in itself1 in its dependence on its causes1 and in connection with its effects1 and not merely in relation to the pleasure we can get from it4 ,if we say that the aim of any activity is merely our pleasure1 and define it solely by that pleasure1 our definition will evidently be a false one4 ,but this is precisely what has occurred in the efforts to define art4 ,now1 if we consider the food question1 it will not occur to anyone to affirm that the importance of food consists in the pleasure we receive when eating it4 ,every one understands that the satisfaction of our taste cannot serve as a basis for our definition of the merits of food1 and that we have therefore no right to presuppose that the dinners with cayenne pepper1 ,limburg cheese1 alcohol1 etc41 to which we are accustomed and which please us1 form the very best human food4 ,and in the same way1 beauty1 or that which pleases us1 can in no sense serve as the basis for the definition of art2 nor can a series of objects which afford us pleasure serve as the model of what art should be4 ,to see the aim and purpose of art in the pleasure we get from it1 is like assuming 7as is done by people of the lowest moral development1 e4g4 by savages7 that the purpose and aim of food is the pleasure derived when consuming it4 ,just as people who conceive the aim and purpose of food to be pleasure cannot recognize the real meaning of eating1 so people who consider the aim of art to be pleasure cannot realize its true meaning and purpose1 because they attribute to an activity1 the meaning of which lies in its connection with other phenomena of life1 the false and exceptional aim of pleasure4 ,people come to understand that the meaning of eating lies in the nourishment of the body only when they cease to consider that the object of that activity is pleasure4 ,and it is the same with regard to art4 ,people will come to understand the meaning of art only when they cease to consider that the aim of that activity is beauty1 i4e4 pleasure4 ,the acknowledgment of beauty 7i4e4 of a certain kind of pleasure received from art7 as being the aim of art1 not only fails to assist us in finding a definition of what art is1 but1 on the contrary1 by transferring the question into a region quite foreign to art 7into metaphysical1 psychological1 physiological1 and even historical discussions as to why such a production pleases one person1 and such another displeases or pleases some one else71 it renders such definition impossible4 ,and since discussions as to why one man likes pears and another prefers meat do not help toward finding a definition of what is essential in nourishment1 so the solution of questions of taste in art 7to which the discussions on art involuntarily come71 not only does not help to make clear what this particular human activity which we call art really consists in1 but renders such elucidation quite impossible1 until we rid ourselves of a conception which justifies every kind of art1 at the cost of confusing the whole matter4 ,to the question1 ,what is this art1 to which is offered up the labor of millions1 the very lives of men1 and even morality itself8 we have extracted replies from the existing sthetics1 which all amount to this that the aim of art is beauty1 that beauty is recognized by the enjoyment it gives1 and that artistic enjoyment is a good and important thing1 because it is enjoyment4 ,in a word1 that enjoyment is good because it is enjoyment4 ,thus1 what is considered the definition of art is no definition at all1 but only a shuffle to justify existing art4 ,therefore1 however strange it may seem to say so1 in spite of the mountains of books written about art1 no exact definition of art has been constructed4 ,and the reason of this is that the conception of art has been based on the conception of beauty4 ,,chapter ,v ,what is art1 if we put aside the conception of beauty1 which confuses the whole matter8 ,the latest and most comprehensible definitions of art1 apart from the conception of beauty1 are the following3 7#a a7 ,art is an activity arising even in the animal kingdom1 and springing from sexual desire and the propensity to play 7,schiller1 ,darwin1 ,spencer71 and 7#a b7 accompanied by a pleasurable excitement of the nervous system 7,grant ,allen74 ,this is the physiological-evolutionary definition4 7#b7 ,art is the external manifestation1 by means of lines1 colors1 movements1 sounds1 or words1 of emotions felt by man 7,vron74 ,this is the experimental definition4 ,according to the very latest definition 7,sully71 7#c7 ,art is the production of some permanent object or passing action1 which is fitted1 not only to supply an active enjoyment to the producer1 but to convey a pleasurable impression to a number of spectators or listeners1 quite apart from any personal advantage to be derived from it4 ,notwithstanding the superiority of these definitions to the metaphysical definitions which depended on the conception of beauty1 they are yet far from exact4 7#a a7 ,the first1 the physiological-evolutionary definition1 is inexact1 because1 instead of speaking about the artistic activity itself1 which is the real matter in hand1 it treats of the derivation of art4 ,the modification of it 7#a b71 based on the physiological effects on the human organism1 is inexact1 because within the limits of such definition many other human activities can be included1 as has occurred in the neo-sthetic theories1 which reckon as art the preparation of handsome clothes1 pleasant scents1 and even of victuals4 ,the experimental definition 7#b71 which makes art consist in the expression of emotions1 is inexact1 because a man may express his emotions by means of lines1 colors1 sounds1 or words1 and yet may not act on others by such expression2 and then the manifestation of his emotions is not art4 ,the third definition 7that of ,sully7 is inexact1 because in the production of objects or actions affording pleasure to the producer and a pleasant emotion to the spectators or hearers apart from personal advantage may be included the showing of conjuring tricks or gymnastic exercises1 and other activities which are not art4 ,and1 further1 many things1 the production of which does not afford pleasure to the producer1 and the sensation received from which is unpleasant1 such as gloomy1 heartrending scenes in a poetic description or a play1 may nevertheless be undoubted works of art4 ,the inaccuracy of all these definitions arises from the fact that in them all 7as also in the metaphysical definitions7 the object considered is the pleasure art may give1 and not the purpose it may serve in the life of man and of humanity4 ,in order correctly to define art1 it is necessary1 first of all1 to cease to consider it as a means to pleasure1 and to consider it as one of the conditions of human life4 ,viewing it in this way1 we cannot fail to observe that art is one of the means of intercourse between man and man4 ,every work of art causes the receiver to enter into a certain kind of relationship both with him who produced1 or is producing1 the art1 and with all those who1 simultaneously1 previously1 or subsequently1 receive the same artistic impression4 ,speech1 transmitting the thoughts and experiences of men1 serves as a means of union among them1 and art acts in a similar manner4 ,the peculiarity of this latter means of intercourse1 distinguishing it from intercourse by means of words1 consists in this1 that whereas by words a man transmits his thoughts to another1 by means of art he transmits his feelings4 ,the activity of art is based on the fact that a man1 receiving through his sense of hearing or sight another man's expression of feeling1 is capable of experiencing the emotion which moved the man who expressed it4 ,to take the simplest example3 one man laughs1 and another1 who hears1 becomes merry2 or a man weeps1 and another1 who hears1 feels sorrow4 ,a man is excited or irritated1 and another man1 seeing him1 comes to a similar state of mind4 ,by his movements1 or by the sounds of his voice1 a man expresses courage and determination1 or sadness and calmness1 and this state of mind passes on to others4 ,a man suffers1 expressing his sufferings by groans and spasms1 and this suffering transmits itself to other people2 a man expresses his feeling of admiration1 devotion1 fear1 respect1 or love to certain objects1 persons1 or phenomena1 and others are infected by the same feelings of admiration1 devotion1 fear1 respect1 or love to the same objects1 persons1 and phenomena4 ,and it is on this capacity of man to receive another man's expression of feeling1 and experience those feelings himself1 that the activity of art is based4 ,if a man infects another or others1 directly1 immediately1 by his appearance1 or by the sounds he gives vent to at the very time he experiences the feeling2 if he causes another man to yawn when he himself cannot help yawning1 or to laugh or cry when he himself is obliged to laugh or cry1 or to suffer when he himself is suffering--that does not amount to art4 ,art begins when one person1 with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling1 expresses that feeling by certain external indications4 ,to take the simplest example3 a boy1 having experienced1 let us say1 fear on encountering a wolf1 relates that encounter2 and1 in order to evoke in others the feeling he has experienced1 describes himself1 his condition before the encounter1 the surroundings1 the wood1 his own light-heartedness1 and then the wolf's appearance1 its movements1 the distance between himself and the wolf1 etc4 ,all this1 if only the boy1 when telling the story1 again experiences the feelings he had lived through and infects the hearers and compels them to feel what the narrator had experienced1 is art4 ,if even the boy had not seen a wolf but had frequently been afraid of one1 and if1 wishing to evoke in others the fear he had felt1 he invented an encounter with a wolf1 and recounted it so as to make his hearers share the feelings he experienced when he feared the wolf1 that also would be art4 ,and just in the same way it is art if a man1 having experienced either the fear of suffering or the attraction of enjoyment 7whether in reality or in imagination71 expresses these feelings on canvas or in marble so that others are infected by them4 ,and it is also art if a man feels or imagines to himself feelings of delight1 gladness1 sorrow1 despair1 courage1 or despondency1 and the transition from one to another of these feelings1 and expresses these feelings by sounds1 so that the hearers are infected by them1 and experience them as they were experienced by the composer4 ,the feelings with which the artist infects others may be most various1--very strong or very weak1 very important or very insignificant1 very bad or very good3 feelings of love for native land1 self-devotion and submission to fate or to ,god expressed in a drama1 raptures of lovers described in a novel1 feelings of voluptuousness expressed in a picture1 courage expressed in a triumphal march1 merriment evoked by a dance1 humor evoked by a funny story1 the feeling of quietness transmitted by an evening landscape or by a lullaby1 or the feeling of admiration evoked by a beautiful arabesque--it is all art4 ,if only the spectators or auditors are infected by the feelings which the author has felt1 it is art4 ,to evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced1 and having evoked it in oneself1 then1 by means of movements1 lines1 colors1 sounds1 or forms expressed in words1 so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling--this is the activity of art4 ,art is a human activity1 consisting in this1 that one man consciously1 by means of certain external signs1 hands on to others feelings he has lived through1 and that other people are infected by these feelings1 and also experience them4 ,art is not1 as the metaphysicians say1 the manifestation of some mysterious ,idea of beauty1 or ,god2 it is not1 as the sthetical physiologists say1 a game in which man lets off his excess of stored-up energy2 it is not the expression of man's emotions by external signs2 it is not the production of pleasing objects2 and1 above all1 it is not pleasure2 but it is a means of union among men1 joining them together in the same feelings1 and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity4 ,as1 thanks to man's capacity to express thoughts by words1 every man may know all that has been done for him in the realms of thought by all humanity before his day1 and can1 in the present1 thanks to this capacity to understand the thoughts of others1 become a sharer in their activity1 and can himself hand on to his contemporaries and descendants the thoughts he has assimilated from others1 as well as those which have arisen within himself2 so1 thanks to man's capacity to be infected with the feelings of others by means of art1 all that is being lived through by his contemporaries is accessible to him1 as well as the feelings experienced by men thousands of years ago1 and he has also the possibility of transmitting his own feelings to others4 ,if people lacked this capacity to receive the thoughts conceived by the men who preceded them1 and to pass on to others their own thoughts1 men would be like wild beasts1 or like ,kaspar ,hauser4#ie #ie ,the foundling of ,nuremberg1 found in the market-place of that town on #bfth ,may1 #ahbh1 apparently some sixteen years old4 ,he spoke little1 and was almost totally ignorant even of common objects4 ,he subsequently explained that he had been brought up in confinement underground1 and visited by only one man1 whom he saw but seldom4--,,tr4 ,and if men lacked this other capacity of being infected by art1 people might be almost more savage still1 and1 above all1 more separated from1 and more hostile to1 one another4 ,and therefore the activity of art is a most important one1 as important as the activity of speech itself1 and as generally diffused4 ,we are accustomed to understand art to be only what we hear and see in theaters1 concerts1 and exhibitions2 together with buildings1 statues1 poems1 novels4444 ,but all this is but the smallest part of the art by which we communicate with each other in life4 ,all human life is filled with works of art of every kind1--from cradle-song1 jest1 mimicry1 the ornamentation of houses1 dress1 and utensils1 up to church services1 buildings1 monuments1 and triumphal processions4 ,it is all artistic activity4 ,so that by art1 in the limited sense of the word1 we do not mean all human activity transmitting feelings1 but only that part which we for some reason select from it and to which we attach special importance4 ,this special importance has always been given by all men to that part of this activity which transmits feelings flowing from their religious perception1 and this small part of art they have specifically called art1 attaching to it the full meaning of the word4 ,that was how men of old--,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle--looked on art4 ,thus did the ,hebrew prophets and the ancient ,christians regard art2 thus it was1 and still is1 understood by the ,mahommedans1 and thus is it still understood by religious folk among our own peasantry4 ,some teachers of mankind--as ,plato in his ,republic1 and people such as the primitive ,christians1 the strict ,mahommedans1 and the ,buddhists--have gone so far as to repudiate all art4 ,people viewing art in this way 7in contradiction to the prevalent view of to-day1 which regards any art as good if only it affords pleasure7 considered1 and consider1 that art 7as contrasted with speech1 which need not be listened to7 is so highly dangerous in its power to infect people against their wills1 that mankind will lose far less by banishing all art than by tolerating each and every art4 ,evidently such people were wrong in repudiating all art1 for they denied that which cannot be denied1--one of the indispensable means of communication1 without which mankind could not exist4 ,but not less wrong are the people of civilized ,european society of our class and day1 in favoring any art if it but serves beauty1 i4e4 gives people pleasure4 ,formerly1 people feared lest among the works of art there might chance to be some causing corruption1 and they prohibited art altogether4 ,now1 they only fear lest they should be deprived of any enjoyment art can afford1 and patronize any art4 ,and ,i think the last error is much grosser than the first1 and that its consequences are far more harmful4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,but how could it happen that that very art1 which in ancient times was merely tolerated 7if tolerated at all71 should have come1 in our times1 to be invariably considered a good thing if only it affords pleasure8 ,it has resulted from the following causes4 ,the estimation of the value of art 7i4e4 of the feelings it transmits7 depends on men's perception of the meaning of life2 depends on what they consider to be the good and the evil of life4 ,and what is good and what is evil is defined by what are termed religions4 ,humanity unceasingly moves forward from a lower1 more partial1 and obscure understanding of life1 to one more general and more lucid4 ,and in this1 as in every movement1 there are leaders1--those who have understood the meaning of life more clearly than others1--and of these advanced men there is always one who has1 in his words and by his life1 expressed this meaning more clearly1 accessibly1 and strongly than others4 ,this man's expression of the meaning of life1 together with those superstitions1 traditions1 and ceremonies which usually form themselves round the memory of such a man1 is what is called a religion4 ,religions are the exponents of the highest comprehension of life accessible to the best and foremost men at a given time in a given society2 a comprehension toward which1 inevitably and irresistibly1 all the rest of that society must advance4 ,and therefore only religions have always served1 and still serve1 as bases for the valuation of human sentiments4 ,if feelings bring men nearer the ideal their religion indicates1 if they are in harmony with it and do not contradict it1 they are good2 if they estrange men from it and oppose it1 they are bad4 ,if the religion places the meaning of life in worshiping one ,god and fulfilling what is regarded as ,his will1 as was the case among the ,jews1 then the feelings flowing from love to that ,god1 and to ,his law1 successfully transmitted through the art of poetry by the prophets1 by the psalms1 or by the epic of the book of ,genesis1 is good1 high art4 ,all opposing that1 as1 for instance1 the transmission of feelings of devotion to strange gods1 or of feelings incompatible with the law of ,god1 would be considered bad art4 ,or if1 as was the case among the ,greeks1 the religion places the meaning of life in earthly happiness1 in beauty and in strength1 then art successfully transmitting the joy and energy of life would be considered good art1 but art which transmitted feelings of effeminacy or despondency would be bad art4 ,if the meaning of life is seen in the well-being of one's nation1 or in honoring one's ancestors and continuing the mode of life led by them1 as was the case among the ,romans and the ,chinese respectively1 then art transmitting feelings of joy at sacrificing one's personal well-being for the common weal1 or at exalting one's ancestors and maintaining their traditions1 would be considered good art1 but art expressing feelings contrary to this would be regarded as bad4 ,if the meaning of life is seen in freeing oneself from the yoke of animalism1 as is the case among the ,buddhists1 then art successfully transmitting feelings that elevate the soul and humble the flesh will be good art1 and all that transmits feelings strengthening the bodily passions will be bad art4 ,in every age1 and in every human society1 there exists a religious sense1 common to that whole society1 of what is good and what is bad1 and it is this religious conception that decides the value of the feelings transmitted by art4 ,and therefore1 among all nations1 art which transmitted feelings considered to be good by this general religious sense was recognized as being good and was encouraged2 but art which transmitted feelings considered to be bad by this general religious conception1 was recognized as being bad1 and was rejected4 ,all the rest of the immense field of art by means of which people communicate one with another1 was not esteemed at all1 and was only noticed when it ran counter to the religious conception of its age1 and then merely to be repudiated4 ,thus it was among all nations1--,greeks1 ,jews1 ,indians1 ,egyptians1 and ,chinese1--and so it was when ,christianity appeared4 ,the ,christianity of the first centuries recognized as productions of good art only legends1 lives of saints1 sermons1 prayers1 and hymn-singing1 evoking love of ,christ1 emotion at ,his life1 desire to follow ,his example1 renunciation of worldly life1 humility1 and the love of others2 all productions transmitting feelings of personal enjoyment they considered to be bad1 and therefore rejected3 for instance1 tolerating plastic representations only when they were symbolical1 they rejected all the pagan sculptures4 ,this was so among the ,christians of the first centuries1 who accepted ,christ's teaching1 if not quite in its true form1 at least not in the perverted1 paganized form in which it was accepted subsequently4 ,but besides this ,christianity1 from the time of the wholesale conversion of nations by order of the authorities1 as in the days of ,constantine1 ,charlemagne1 and ,vladimir1 there appeared another1 a ,church ,christianity1 which was nearer to paganism than to ,christ's teaching4 ,and this ,church ,christianity1 in accordance with its own teaching1 estimated quite otherwise the feelings of people and the productions of art which transmitted those feelings4 ,this ,church ,christianity not only did not acknowledge the fundamental and essential positions of true ,christianity1--the immediate relationship of each man to the ,father1 the consequent brotherhood and equality of all men1 and the substitution of humility and love in place of every kind of violence1--but1 on the contrary1 having set up a heavenly hierarchy similar to the pagan mythology1 and having introduced the worship of ,christ1 of the ,virgin1 of angels1 of apostles1 of saints1 and of martyrs1 and not only of these divinities themselves1 but also of their images1 it made blind faith in the ,church and its ordinances the essential point of its teaching4 ,however foreign this teaching may have been to true ,christianity2 however degraded1 not only in comparison with true ,christianity1 but even with the life-conception of ,romans such as ,julian and others1--it was1 for all that1 to the barbarians who accepted it1 a higher doctrine than their former adoration of gods1 heroes1 and good and bad spirits4 ,and therefore this teaching was a religion to them1 and on the basis of that religion the art of the time was assessed4 ,and art transmitting pious adoration of the ,virgin1 ,jesus1 the saints and the angels1 a blind faith in and submission to the ,church1 fear of torments and hope of blessedness in a life beyond the grave1 was considered good2 all art opposed to this was considered bad4 ,the teaching on the basis of which this art arose was a perversion of ,christ's teaching1 but the art which sprang up on this perverted teaching was nevertheless a true art1 because it corresponded to the religious view of life held by the people among whom it arose4 ,the artists of the ,middle ,ages1 vitalized by the same source of feeling--religion--as the mass of the people1 and transmitting1 in architecture1 sculpture1 painting1 music1 poetry or drama1 the feelings and states of mind they experienced1 were true artists2 and their activity1 founded on the highest conceptions accessible to their age and common to the entire people1 though1 for our times a mean art1 was1 nevertheless a true one1 shared by the whole community4 ,and this was the state of things until1 in the upper1 rich1 more educated classes of ,european society1 doubt arose as to the truth of that understanding of life which was expressed by ,church ,christianity4 ,when1 after the ,crusades and the maximum development of papal power and its abuses1 people of the rich classes became acquainted with the wisdom of the classics1 and saw1 on the one hand1 the reasonable lucidity of the teaching of the ancient sages1 and1 on the other hand1 the incompatibility of the ,church doctrine with the teaching of ,christ1 they lost all possibility of continuing to believe the ,church teaching4 ,if1 in externals1 they still kept to the forms of ,church teaching1 they could no longer believe in it1 and held to it only by inertia and for the sake of influencing the masses1 who continued to believe blindly in ,church doctrine1 and whom the upper classes1 for their own advantage1 considered it necessary to support in those beliefs4 ,so that a time came when ,church ,christianity ceased to be the general religious doctrine of all ,christian people2 some--the masses--continued blindly to believe in it1 but the upper classes--those in whose hands lay the power and wealth1 and therefore the leisure to produce art and the means to stimulate it--ceased to believe in that teaching4 ,in respect to religion1 the upper circles of the ,middle ,ages found themselves in the same position in which the educated ,romans were before ,christianity arose1 i4e4 they no longer believed in the religion of the masses1 but had no beliefs to put in place of the worn-out ,church doctrine which for them had lost its meaning4 ,there was only this difference3 that whereas for the ,romans1 who lost faith in their emperor-gods and household-gods1 it was impossible to extract anything further from all the complex mythology they had borrowed from all the conquered nations1 and it was consequently necessary to find a completely new conception of life1 the people of the ,middle ,ages1 when they doubted the truth of the ,church teaching1 had no need to seek a fresh one4 ,that ,christian teaching which they professed in a perverted form as ,church doctrine had mapped out the path of human progress so far ahead that they had but to rid themselves of those perversions which hid the teaching announced by ,christ1 and to adopt its real meaning--if not completely1 then at least in some greater degree than that in which the ,church had held it4 ,and this was partially done1 not only in the reformations of ,wyclif1 ,huss1 ,luther1 and ,calvin1 but by all that current of non-,church ,christianity represented in earlier times by the ,paulicians1 the ,bogomili1#if and1 afterward1 by the ,waldenses and the other non-,church ,christians who were called heretics4 ,but this could be1 and was1 done chiefly by poor people--who did not rule4 ,a few of the rich and strong1 like ,francis of ,assisi and others1 accepted the ,christian teaching in its full significance1 even though it undermined their privileged positions4 ,but most people of the upper classes 7though in the depth of their souls they had lost faith in the ,church teaching7 could not or would not act thus1 because the essence of that ,christian view of life1 which stood ready to be adopted when once they rejected the ,church faith1 was a teaching of the brotherhood 7and therefore the equality7 of man1 and this negatived those privileges on which they lived1 in which they had grown up and been educated1 and to which they were accustomed4 ,not1 in the depth of their hearts1 believing in the ,church teaching1--which had outlived its age and had no longer any true meaning for them1--and not being strong enough to accept true ,christianity1 men of these rich1 governing classes--popes1 kings1 dukes1 and all the great ones of the earth--were left without any religion1 with but the external forms of one1 which they supported as being profitable and even necessary for themselves1 since these forms screened a teaching which justified those privileges which they made use of4 ,in reality1 these people believed in nothing1 just as the ,romans of the first centuries of our era believed in nothing4 ,but at the same time these were the people who had the power and the wealth1 and these were the people who rewarded art and directed it4 #if ,eastern sects well known in early ,church history1 who rejected the ,church's rendering of ,christ's teaching1 and were cruelly persecuted4--,,tr4 ,and1 let it be noticed1 it was just among these people that there grew up an art esteemed1 not according to its success in expressing men's religious feelings1 but in proportion to its beauty1--in other words1 according to the enjoyment it gave4 ,no longer able to believe in the ,church religion1 whose falsehood they had detected1 and incapable of accepting true ,christian teaching1 which denounced their whole manner of life1 these rich and powerful people1 stranded without any religious conception of life1 involuntarily returned to that pagan view of things which places life's meaning in personal enjoyment4 ,and then took place among the upper classes what is called the ,renaissance of science and art1 and which was really not only a denial of every religion1 but also an assertion that religion is unnecessary4 ,the ,church doctrine is so coherent a system that it cannot be altered or corrected without destroying it altogether4 ,as soon as doubt arose with regard to the infallibility of the ,pope 7and this doubt was then in the minds of all educated people71 doubt inevitably followed as to the truth of tradition4 ,but doubt as to the truth of tradition is fatal not only to popery and ,catholicism1 but also to the whole ,church creed1 with all its dogmas3 the divinity of ,christ1 the resurrection1 and the ,trinity2 and it destroys the authority of the ,scriptures1 since they were considered to be inspired only because the tradition of the ,church decided it so4 ,so that the majority of the highest classes of that age1 even the popes and the ecclesiastics1 really believed in nothing at all4 ,in the ,church doctrine these people did not believe1 for they saw its insolvency2 but neither could they follow ,francis of ,assisi1 ,keltchitsky1#ig and most of the heretics1 in acknowledging the moral1 social teaching of ,christ1 for that teaching undermined their social position4 ,and so these people remained without any religious view of life4 ,and1 having none1 they could have no standard wherewith to estimate what was good and what was bad art but that of personal enjoyment4 ,and1 having acknowledged their criterion of what was good to be pleasure1 i4e4 beauty1 these people of the upper classes of ,european society went back in their comprehension of art to the gross conception of the primitive ,greeks which ,plato had already condemned4 ,and conformably to this understanding of life1 a theory of art was formulated4 #ig ,keltchitsky1 a ,bohemian of the fifteenth century1 was the author of a remarkable book1 ,the ,net of ,faith1 directed against ,church and ,state4 ,it is mentioned in ,tolsto's ,the ,kingdom of ,god is ,within ,you4--,,tr4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,from the time that people of the upper classes lost faith in ,church ,christianity1 beauty 7i4e4 the pleasure received from art7 became their standard of good and bad art4 ,and1 in accordance with that view1 an sthetic theory naturally sprang up among those upper classes justifying such a conception1--a theory according to which the aim of art is to exhibit beauty4 ,the partizans of this sthetic theory1 in confirmation of its truth1 affirmed that it was no invention of their own1 but that it existed in the nature of things1 and was recognized even by the ancient ,greeks4 ,but this assertion was quite arbitrary1 and has no foundation other than the fact that among the ancient ,greeks1 in consequence of the low grade of their moral ideal 7as compared with the ,christian71 their conception of the good1 1 was not yet sharply divided from their conception of the beautiful1 4 ,that highest perfection of goodness 7not only not identical with beauty1 but1 for the most part1 contrasting with it7 which was discerned by the ,jews even in the times of ,isaiah1 and fully expressed by ,christianity1 was quite unknown to the ,greeks4 ,they supposed that the beautiful must necessarily also be the good4 ,it is true that their foremost thinkers--,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle--felt that goodness may happen not to coincide with beauty4 ,socrates expressly subordinated beauty to goodness2 ,plato1 to unite the two conceptions1 spoke of spiritual beauty2 while ,aristotle demanded from art that it should have a moral influence on people 74 ,but1 notwithstanding all this1 they could not quite dismiss the notion that beauty and goodness coincide4 ,and consequently1 in the language of that period1 a compound word 7-1 beauty-goodness7 came into use to express that notion4 ,evidently the ,greek sages began to draw near to that perception of goodness which is expressed in ,buddhism and in ,christianity1 and they got entangled in defining the relation between goodness and beauty4 ,plato's reasonings about beauty and goodness are full of contradictions4 ,and it was just this confusion of ideas that those ,europeans of a later age1 who had lost all faith1 tried to elevate into a law4 ,they tried to prove that this union of beauty and goodness is inherent in the very essence of things2 that beauty and goodness must coincide2 and that the word and conception - 7which had a meaning for ,greeks1 but has none at all for ,christians7 represents the highest ideal of humanity4 ,on this misunderstanding the new science of sthetics was built up4 ,and1 to justify its existence1 the teachings of the ancients on art were so twisted as to make it appear that this invented science of sthetics had existed among the ,greeks4 ,in reality1 the reasoning of the ancients on art was quite unlike ours4 ,as ,benard1 in his book on the sthetics of ,aristotle1 quite justly remarks1 ,pour qui veut y regarder de prs1 la thorie du beau et celle de l'art sont tout fait spares dans ,aristote1 comme elles le sont dans ,platon et chez tous leurs successeurs 7,l',esthtique d',aristote et de ses ,successeurs1 ,paris1 #ahhi1 p4 #bh74ih ,and indeed the reasoning of the ancients on art not only does not confirm our science of sthetics1 but rather contradicts its doctrine of beauty4 ,but nevertheless all the sthetic guides1 from ,schasler to ,knight1 declare that the science of the beautiful--sthetic science--was commenced by the ancients1 by ,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle2 and was continued1 they say1 partially by the ,epicureans and ,stoics3 by ,seneca and ,plutarch1 down to ,plotinus4 ,but it is supposed that this science1 by some unfortunate accident1 suddenly vanished in the fourth century1 and stayed away for about #aejj years1 and only after these #aejj years had passed did it revive in ,germany1 #agej ,a4,d41 in ,baumgarten's doctrine4 #ih ,any one examining closely may see that the theory of beauty and that of art are quite separated in ,aristotle as they are in ,plato and in all their successors4 ,after ,plotinus1 says ,schasler1 fifteen centuries passed away during which there was not the slightest scientific interest felt for the world of beauty and art4 ,these one and a half thousand years1 says he1 have been lost to sthetics1 and have contributed nothing toward the erection of the learned edifice of this science4#ii #ii ,die ,lcke von fnf ,jahrhunderten1 welche zwischen den ,kunst-philosophischen ,betrachtungen des ,plato und ,aristoteles und die des ,plotins fllt1 kann zwar auffllig erscheinen2 dennoch kann man eigentlich nicht sagen1 dass in dieser ,zwischenzeit berhaupt von sthetischen ,dingen nicht die ,rede gewesen2 oder dass gar ein vlliger ,mangel an ,zusammenhang zwischen den ,kunst-anschauungen des letztgenannten ,philosophen und denen der ersteren existire4 ,freilich wurde die von ,aristoteles begrndete ,wissenschaft in ,nichts dadurch gefrdert2 immerhin aber zeigt sich in jener ,zwischenzeit noch ein gewisses ,interesse fr sthetische ,fragen4 ,nach ,plotin aber1 die wenigen1 ihm in der ,zeit nahestehenden ,philosophen1 wie ,longin1 ,augustin1 u4 s4 f4 kommen1 wie wir gesehen1 kaum in ,betracht und schliessen sich brigens in ihrer ,anschauungsweise an ihn an1--vergehen nicht fnf1 sondern fnfzehn ,jahrhunderte1 in denen von irgend einer wissenschaftlichen ,interesse fr die ,welt des ,schnen und der ,kunst nichts zu spren ist4 ,diese anderthalbtausend ,jahre1 innerhalb deren der ,weltgeist durch die mannigfachsten ,kmpfe hindurch zu einer vllig neuen ,gestaltung des ,lebens sich durcharbeitete1 sind fr die ,aesthetik1 hinsichtlich des weiteren ,ausbaus dieser ,wissenschaft verloren4--,,max ,,schasler4 ,in reality nothing of the kind happened4 ,the science of sthetics1 the science of the beautiful1 neither did nor could vanish1 because it never existed4 ,simply1 the ,greeks 7just like everybody else1 always and everywhere7 considered art 7like everything else7 good only when it served goodness 7as they understood goodness71 and bad when it was in opposition to that goodness4 ,and the ,greeks themselves were so little developed morally1 that goodness and beauty seemed to them to coincide4 ,on that obsolete ,greek view of life was erected the science of sthetics1 invented by men of the eighteenth century1 and especially shaped and mounted in ,baumgarten's theory4 ,the ,greeks 7as any one may see who will read ,benard's admirable book on ,aristotle and his successors and ,walter's work on ,plato7 never had a science of sthetics4 sthetic theories arose about one hundred and fifty years ago among the wealthy classes of the ,christian ,european world1 and arose simultaneously among different nations1--,german1 ,italian1 ,dutch1 ,french1 and ,english4 ,the founder and organizer of it1 who gave it a scientific1 theoretic form1 was ,baumgarten4 ,with a characteristically ,german1 external exactitude1 pedantry1 and symmetry1 he devised and expounded this extraordinary theory4 ,and1 notwithstanding its obvious insolidity1 nobody else's theory so pleased the cultured crowd1 or was accepted so readily and with such an absence of criticism4 ,it so suited the people of the upper classes1 that to this day1 notwithstanding its entirely fantastic character and the arbitrary nature of its assertions1 it is repeated by learned and unlearned as though it were something indubitable and self-evident4 ,habent sua fata libelli pro capite lectoris1 and so1 or even more so1 theories habent sua fata according to the condition of error in which that society is living1 among whom and for whom the theories are invented4 ,if a theory justifies the false position in which a certain part of a society is living1 then1 however unfounded or even obviously false the theory may be1 it is accepted1 and becomes an article of faith to that section of society4 ,such1 for instance1 was the celebrated and unfounded theory1 expounded by ,malthus1 of the tendency of that population of the world to increase in geometrical progression1 but of the means of sustenance to increase only in arithmetical progression1 and of the consequent over-population of the world2 such1 also1 was the theory 7an outgrowth of the ,malthusian7 of selection and struggle for existence as the basis of human progress4 ,such1 again1 is ,marx's theory1 which regards the gradual destruction of small private production by large capitalistic production1 now going on around us1 as an inevitable decree of fate4 ,however unfounded such theories are1 however contrary to all that is known and confessed by humanity1 and however obviously immoral they may be1 they are accepted with credulity1 pass uncriticized1 and are preached1 perchance for centuries1 until the conditions are destroyed which they served to justify1 or until their absurdity has become too evident4 ,to this class belongs this astonishing theory of the ,baumgartenian ,trinity1--,goodness1 ,beauty1 and ,truth1--according to which it appears that the very best that can be done by the art of nations after #aijj years of ,christian teaching1 is to choose as the ideal of their life the ideal that was held by a small1 semi-savage1 slave-holding people who lived #bjjj years ago1 who imitated the nude human body extremely well1 and erected buildings pleasant to look at4 ,all these incompatibilities pass completely unnoticed4 ,learned people write long1 cloudy treatises on beauty as a member of the sthetic trinity of ,beauty1 ,truth1 and ,goodness3 das ,schne1 das ,wahre1 das ,gute2 le ,beau1 le ,vrai1 le ,bon1 are repeated1 with capital letters1 by philosophers1 stheticians1 and artists1 by private individuals1 by novelists1 and by feuilletonistes1 and they all think1 when pronouncing these sacrosanct words1 that they speak of something quite definite and solid--something on which they can base their opinions4 ,in reality1 these words not only have no definite meaning1 but they hinder us in attaching any definite meaning to existing art2 they are wanted only for the purpose of justifying the false importance we attribute to an art that transmits every kind of feeling1 if only those feelings afford us pleasure4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,but if art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen1 how could it be that humanity for a certain rather considerable period of its existence 7from the time people ceased to believe in ,church doctrine down to the present day7 should exist without this important activity1 and1 instead of it1 should put up with an insignificant artistic activity only affording pleasure8 ,in order to answer this question1 it is necessary1 first of all1 to correct the current error people make in attributing to our art the significance of true1 universal art4 ,we are so accustomed1 not only navely to consider the ,circassian family the best stock of people1 but also the ,anglo-,saxon race the best race if we are ,englishmen or ,americans1 or the ,teutonic if we are ,germans1 or the ,gallo-,latin if we are ,french1 or the ,slavonic if we are ,russians1 that1 when speaking of our own art1 we feel fully convinced1 not only that our art is true art1 but even that it is the best and only true art4 ,but in reality our art is not only not the only art 7as the ,bible once was held to be the only book71 but it is not even the art of the whole of ,christendom--only of a small section of that part of humanity4 ,it was correct to speak of a national ,jewish1 ,grecian1 or ,egyptian art1 and one may speak of a now-existing ,chinese1 ,japanese1 or ,indian art shared in by a whole people4 ,such art1 common to a whole nation1 existed in ,russia till ,peter the ,first's time1 and existed in the rest of ,europe until the thirteenth or fourteenth century2 but since the upper classes of ,european society1 having lost faith in the ,church teaching1 did not accept real ,christianity but remained without any faith1 one can no longer speak of an art of the ,christian nations in the sense of the whole of art4 ,since the upper classes of the ,christian nations lost faith in ,church ,christianity1 the art of those upper classes has separated itself from the art of the rest of the people1 and there have been two arts1--the art of the people and genteel art4 ,and therefore the answer to the question1 ,how it could occur that humanity lived for a certain period without real art1 replacing it by art which served enjoyment only8 is1 that not all humanity1 nor even any considerable portion of it1 lived without real art1 but only the highest classes of ,european ,christian society1 and even they only for a comparatively short time1--from the commencement of the ,renaissance down to our own day4 ,and the consequence of this absence of true art showed itself1 inevitably1 in the corruption of that class which nourished itself on the false art4 ,all the confused1 unintelligible theories of art1 all the false and contradictory judgments on art1 and particularly the self-confident stagnation of our art in its false path1 all arise from the assertion1 which has come into common use and is accepted as an unquestioned truth1 but is yet amazingly and palpably false1 the assertion1 namely1 that the art of our upper classes#ajj is the whole of art1 the true1 the only1 the universal art4 ,and although this assertion 7which is precisely similar to the assertion made by religious people of the various ,churches who consider that theirs is the only true religion7 is quite arbitrary and obviously unjust1 yet it is calmly repeated by all the people of our circle with full faith in its infallibility4 #ajj ,the contrast made is between the classes and the masses2 between those who do not and those who do earn their bread by productive manual labor2 the middle classes being taken as an offshoot of the upper classes4--,,tr4 ,the art we have is the whole of art1 the real1 the only art1 and yet two-thirds of the human race 7all the peoples of ,asia and ,africa7 live and die knowing nothing of this sole and supreme art4 ,and even in our ,christian society hardly one per cent of the people make use of this art which we speak of as being the whole of art2 the remaining ninety-nine per cent live and die1 generation after generation1 crushed by toil1 and never tasting this art1 which1 moreover1 is of such a nature that1 if they could get it1 they would not understand anything of it4 ,we1 according to the current sthetic theory1 acknowledge art as one of the highest manifestations of the ,idea1 ,god1 ,beauty1 or as the highest spiritual enjoyment2 furthermore1 we hold that all people have equal rights1 if not to material1 at any rate to spiritual well-being2 and yet ninety-nine per cent of our ,european population live and die1 generation after generation1 crushed by toil1 much of which toil is necessary for the production of our art which they never use1 and we1 nevertheless1 calmly assert that the art which we produce is the real1 true1 only art--all of art6 ,to the remark that if our art is the true art every one should have the benefit of it1 the usual reply is that if not everybody at present makes use of existing art1 the fault lies1 not in the art1 but in the false organization of society2 that one can imagine to oneself1 in the future1 a state of things in which physical labor will be partly superseded by machinery1 partly lightened by its just distribution1 and that labor for the production of art will be taken in turns2 that there is no need for some people always to sit below the stage moving the decorations1 winding up the machinery1 working at the piano or ,french horn1 and setting type and printing books1 but that the people who do all this work might be engaged only a few hours per day1 and in their leisure time might enjoy all the blessings of art4 ,that is what the defenders of our exclusive art say4 ,but ,i think they do not themselves believe it4 ,they cannot help knowing that fine art can arise only on the slavery of the masses of the people1 and can continue only as long as that slavery lasts1 and they cannot help knowing that only under conditions of intense labor for the workers1 can specialists--writers1 musicians1 dancers1 and actors--arrive at that fine degree of perfection to which they do attain1 or produce their refined works of art2 and only under the same conditions can there be a fine public to esteem such productions4 ,free the slaves of capital1 and it will be impossible to produce such refined art4 ,but even were we to admit the inadmissible1 and say that means may be found by which art 7that art which among us is considered to be art7 may be accessible to the whole people1 another consideration presents itself showing that fashionable art cannot be the whole of art1 viz41 the fact that it is completely unintelligible to the people4 ,formerly men wrote poems in ,latin1 but now their artistic productions are as unintelligible to the common folk as if they were written in ,sanscrit4 ,the usual reply to this is1 that if the people do not now understand this art of ours1 it only proves that they are undeveloped1 and that this has been so at each fresh step forward made by art4 ,first it was not understood1 but afterward people got accustomed to it4 ,it will be the same with our present art2 it will be understood when everybody is as well educated as we are--the people of the upper classes--who produce this art1 say the defenders of our art4 ,but this assertion is evidently even more unjust than the former2 for we know that the majority of the productions of the art of the upper classes1 such as various odes1 poems1 dramas1 cantatas1 pastorals1 pictures1 etc41 which delighted the people of the upper classes when they were produced1 never were afterward either understood or valued by the great masses of mankind1 but have remained1 what they were at first1 a mere pastime for rich people of their time1 for whom alone they ever were of any importance4 ,it is also often urged1 in proof of the assertion that the people will some day understand our art1 that some productions of so-called classical poetry1 music1 or painting1 which formerly did not please the masses1 do--now that they have been offered to them from all sides--begin to please these same masses2 but this only shows that the crowd1 especially the half-spoilt town crowd1 can easily 7its taste having been perverted7 be accustomed to any sort of art4 ,moreover1 this art is not produced by these masses1 nor even chosen by them1 but is energetically thrust upon them in those public places in which art is accessible to the people4 ,for the great majority of working-people1 our art1 besides being inaccessible on account of its costliness1 is strange in its very nature1 transmitting1 as it does1 the feelings of people far removed from those conditions of laborious life which are natural to the great body of humanity4 ,that which is enjoyment to a man of the rich classes is incomprehensible1 as a pleasure1 to a working-man1 and evokes in him1 either no feeling at all1 or only a feeling quite contrary to that which it evokes in an idle and satiated man4 ,such feelings as form the chief subjects of present-day art--say1 for instance1 honor1#aja patriotism1 and amorousness--evoke in a working-man only bewilderment and contempt1 or indignation4 ,so that even if a possibility were given to the laboring classes1 in their free time1 to see1 to read1 and to hear all that forms the flower of contemporary art 7as is done to some extent1 in towns1 by means of picture galleries1 popular concerts1 and libraries71 the working-man 7to the extent to which he is a laborer1 and has not begun to pass into the ranks of those perverted by idleness7 would be able to make nothing of our fine art1 and if he did understand it1 that which he understood would not elevate his soul1 but would certainly1 in most cases1 pervert it4 ,to thoughtful and sincere people there can1 therefore1 be no doubt that the art of our upper classes never can be the art of the whole people4 ,but if art is an important matter1 a spiritual blessing1 essential for all men 7like religion1 as the devotees of art are fond of saying71 then it should be accessible to every one4 ,and if1 as in our day1 it is not accessible to all men1 then one of two things3 either art is not the vital matter it is represented to be1 or that art which we call art is not the real thing4 #aja ,dueling is still customary among the higher circles in ,russia1 as in other continental countries4--,,tr4 ,the dilemma is inevitable1 and therefore clever and immoral people avoid it by denying one side of it1 viz41 denying that the common people have a right to art4 ,these people simply and boldly speak out 7what lies at the heart of the matter71 and say that the participators in and utilizers of what1 in their esteem1 is highly beautiful art1 i4e4 art furnishing the greatest enjoyment1 can only be schne ,geister1 the elect1 as the romanticists called them1 the ,uebermenschen1 as they are called by the followers of ,nietzsche2 the remaining vulgar herd1 incapable of experiencing these pleasures1 must serve the exalted pleasures of this superior breed of people4 ,the people who express these views at least do not pretend1 and do not try1 to combine the incombinable1 but frankly admit1 what is the case1 that our art is an art of the upper classes only4 ,so essentially art has been1 and is1 understood by every one engaged on it in our society4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,the unbelief of the upper classes of the ,european world had this effect--that instead of an artistic activity aiming at transmitting the highest feelings to which humanity has attained1--those flowing from religious perception1--we have an activity which aims at affording the greatest enjoyment to a certain class of society4 ,and of all the immense domain of art1 that part has been fenced off1 and is alone called art1 which affords enjoyment to the people of this particular circle4 ,apart from the moral effects on ,european society of such a selection from the whole sphere of art of what did not deserve such a valuation1 and the acknowledgment of it as important art1 this perversion of art has weakened art itself1 and well-nigh destroyed it4 ,the first great result was that art was deprived of the infinite1 varied1 and profound religious subject-matter proper to it4 ,the second result was that having only a small circle of people in view1 it lost its beauty of form and became affected and obscure2 and the third and chief result was that it ceased to be either natural or even sincere1 and became thoroughly artificial and brain-spun4 ,the first result--the impoverishment of subject-matter--followed because only that is a true work of art which transmits fresh feelings not before experienced by man4 ,as thought-product is only then real thought-product when it transmits new conceptions and thoughts1 and does not merely repeat what was known before1 so also an art-product is only then a genuine art-product when it brings a new feeling 7however insignificant7 into the current of human life4 ,this explains why children and youths are so strongly impressed by those works of art which first transmit to them feelings they had not before experienced4 ,the same powerful impression is made on people by feelings which are quite new1 and have never before been expressed by man4 ,and it is the source from which such feelings flow of which the art of the upper classes has deprived itself by estimating feelings1 not in conformity with religious perception1 but according to the degree of enjoyment they afford4 ,there is nothing older and more hackneyed than enjoyment1 and there is nothing fresher than the feelings springing from the religious consciousness of each age4 ,it could not be otherwise3 man's enjoyment has limits established by his nature1 but the movement forward of humanity1 that which is voiced by religious perception1 has no limits4 ,at every forward step taken by humanity--and such steps are taken in consequence of the greater and greater elucidation of religious perception--men experience new and fresh feelings4 ,and therefore only on the basis of religious perception 7which shows the highest level of life-comprehension reached by the men of a certain period7 can fresh emotion1 never before felt by man1 arise4 ,from the religious perception of the ancient ,greeks flowed the really new1 important1 and endlessly varied feelings expressed by ,homer and the tragic writers4 ,it was the same among the ,jews1 who attained the religious conception of a single ,god1--from that perception flowed all those new and important emotions expressed by the prophets4 ,it was the same for the poets of the ,middle ,ages1 who if they believed in a heavenly hierarchy1 believed also in the ,catholic commune2 and it is the same for a man of to-day who has grasped the religious conception of true ,christianity1--the brotherhood of man4 ,the variety of fresh feelings flowing from religious perception is endless1 and they are all new2 for religious perception is nothing else than the first indication of that which is coming into existence1 viz41 the new relation of man to the world around him4 ,but the feelings flowing from the desire for enjoyment are1 on the contrary1 not only limited1 but were long ago experienced and expressed4 ,and therefore the lack of belief of the upper classes of ,europe has left them with an art fed on the poorest subject-matter4 ,the impoverishment of the subject-matter of upper-class art was further increased by the fact that1 ceasing to be religious1 it ceased also to be popular1 and this again diminished the range of feelings which it transmitted4 ,for the range of feelings experienced by the powerful and the rich1 who have no experience of labor for the support of life1 is far poorer1 more limited1 and more insignificant than the range of feelings natural to working-people4 ,people of our circle1 stheticians1 usually think and say just the contrary of this4 ,i remember how ,gontchareff1 the author1 a very clever and educated man1 but a thorough townsman and an sthetician1 said to me that after ,tourgenieff's ,memoirs of a ,sportsman there was nothing left to write about in peasant life4 ,it was all used up4 ,the life of working-people seemed to him so simple that ,tourgenieff's peasant stories had used up all there was to describe4 ,the life of our wealthy people1 with their love-affairs and dissatisfaction with themselves1 seemed to him full of inexhaustible subject-matter4 ,one hero kissed his lady on her palm1 another on her elbow1 and a third somewhere else4 ,one man is discontented through idleness1 and another because people don't love him4 ,and ,gontchareff thought that in this sphere there is no end of variety4 ,and this opinion--that the life of working-people is poor in subject-matter1 but that our life1 the life of the idle1 is full of interest--is shared by very many people in our society4 ,the life of a laboring man1 with its endlessly varied forms of labor1 and the dangers connected with this labor on sea and underground2 his migrations1 the intercourse with his employers1 overseers1 and companions1 and with men of other religions and other nationalities2 his struggles with nature and with wild beasts1 the associations with domestic animals1 the work in the forest1 on the steppe1 in the field1 the garden1 the orchard2 his intercourse with wife and children1 not only as with people near and dear to him1 but as with co-workers and helpers in labor1 replacing him in time of need2 his concern in all economic questions1 not as matters of display or discussion1 but as problems of life for himself and his family2 his pride in self-suppression and service to others1 his pleasures of refreshment2 and with all these interests permeated by a religious attitude toward these occurrences--all this to us1 who have not these interests and possess no religious perception1 seems monotonous in comparison with those small enjoyments and insignificant cares of our life1--a life1 not of labor nor of production1 but of consumption and destruction of that which others have produced for us4 ,we think the feelings experienced by people of our day and our class are very important and varied2 but in reality almost all the feelings of people of our class amount to but three very insignificant and simple feelings1--the feeling of pride1 the feeling of sexual desire1 and the feeling of weariness of life4 ,these three feelings1 with their outgrowths1 form almost the only subject-matter of the art of the rich classes4 ,at first1 at the very beginning of the separation of the exclusive art of the upper classes from universal art1 its chief subject-matter was the feeling of pride4 ,it was so at the time of the ,renaissance and after it1 when the chief subject of works of art was the laudation of the strong1--popes1 kings1 and dukes3 odes and madrigals were written in their honor1 and they were extolled in cantatas and hymns2 their portraits were painted1 and their statues carved1 in various adulatory ways4 ,next1 the element of sexual desire began more and more to enter into art1 and 7with very few exceptions1 and in novels and dramas almost without exception7 it has now become an essential feature of every art-product of the rich classes4 ,the third feeling transmitted by the art of the rich--that of discontent with life--appeared yet later in modern art4 ,this feeling1 which1 at the commencement of the present century1 was expressed only by exceptional men3 by ,byron1 by ,leopardi1 and afterward by ,heine1 has latterly become fashionable1 and is expressed by most ordinary and empty people4 ,most justly does the ,french critic ,doumic characterize the works of the new writers3 ,c'est la lassitude de vivre1 le mpris de l'poque prsente1 le regret d'un autre temps aperu travers l'illusion de l'art1 le got du paradoxe1 le besoin de se singulariser1 une aspiration de raffins vers la simplicit1 l'adoration enfantine du merveilleux1 la sduction maladive de la rverie1 l'branlement des nerfs1--surtout l'appel exaspr de la sensualit 7,les ,jeunes1 ,ren ,doumic74#ajb ,and1 as a matter of fact1 of these three feelings it is sensuality1 the lowest 7accessible not only to all men1 but even to all animals71 which forms the chief subject-matter of works of art of recent times4 #ajb ,it is the weariness of life1 contempt for the present epoch1 regret for another age seen through the illusion of art1 a taste for paradox1 a desire to be singular1 a sentimental aspiration after simplicity1 an infantine adoration of the marvelous1 a sickly tendency toward reverie1 a shattered condition of nerves1 and1 above all1 the exasperated demand of sensuality4 ,from ,boccaccio to ,marcel ,prvost1 all the novels1 poems1 and verses invariably transmit the feeling of sexual love in its different forms4 ,adultery is not only the favorite1 but almost the only theme of all the novels4 ,a performance is not a performance unless1 under some pretense1 women appear with naked busts and limbs4 ,songs and romances--all are expressions of lust1 idealized in various degrees4 ,a majority of the pictures by ,french artists represent female nakedness in various forms4 ,in recent ,french literature there is hardly a page or a poem in which nakedness is not described1 and in which1 relevantly or irrelevantly1 their favorite thought and word nu is not repeated a couple of times4 ,there is a certain writer1 ,ren de ,gourmond1 who gets printed1 and is considered talented4 ,to get an idea of the new writers1 ,i read his novel1 ,les ,chevaux de ,diomde4 ,it is a consecutive and detailed account of the sexual connections some gentleman had with various women4 ,every page contains lust-kindling descriptions4 ,it is the same in ,pierre ,lou s' book1 ,aphrodite1 which met with success2 it is the same in a book ,i lately chanced upon1 ,huysmans' ,certains1 and1 with but few exceptions1 it is the same in all the ,french novels4 ,they are all the productions of people suffering from erotic mania4 ,and these people are evidently convinced that as their whole life1 in consequence of their diseased condition1 is concentrated on amplifying various sexual abominations1 therefore the life of all the world is similarly concentrated4 ,and these people1 suffering from erotic mania1 are imitated throughout the whole artistic world of ,europe and ,america4 ,thus in consequence of the lack of belief and the exceptional manner of life of the wealthy classes1 the art of those classes became impoverished in its subject-matter1 and has sunk to the transmission of the feelings of pride1 discontent with life1 and1 above all1 of sexual desire4 ,,chapter ,x ,in consequence of their unbelief1 the art of the upper classes became poor in subject-matter4 ,but besides that1 becoming continually more and more exclusive1 it became at the same time continually more and more involved1 affected1 and obscure4 ,when a universal artist 7such as were some of the ,grecian artists or the ,jewish prophets7 composed his work1 he naturally strove to say what he had to say in such a manner that his production should be intelligible to all men4 ,but when an artist composed for a small circle of people placed in exceptional conditions1 or even for a single individual and his courtiers1--for popes1 cardinals1 kings1 dukes1 queens1 or for a king's mistress1--he naturally only aimed at influencing these people1 who were well known to him1 and lived in exceptional conditions familiar to him4 ,and this was an easier task1 and the artist was involuntarily drawn to express himself by allusions comprehensible only to the initiated1 and obscure to every one else4 ,in the first place1 more could be said in this way2 and secondly1 there is 7for the initiated7 even a certain charm in the cloudiness of such a manner of expression4 ,this method1 which showed itself both in euphemism and in mythological and historical allusions1 came more and more into use1 until it has1 apparently1 at last reached its utmost limits in the so-called art of the ,decadents4 ,it has come1 finally1 to this3 that not only is haziness1 mysteriousness1 obscurity1 and exclusiveness 7shutting out the masses7 elevated to the rank of a merit and a condition of poetic art1 but even incorrectness1 indefiniteness1 and lack of eloquence are held in esteem4 ,thophile ,gautier1 in his preface to the celebrated ,fleurs du ,mal1 says that ,baudelaire1 as far as possible1 banished from poetry eloquence1 passion1 and truth too strictly copied 7l'loquence1 la passion1 et la vrit calque trop exactement74 ,and ,baudelaire not only expressed this1 but maintained his thesis in his verses1 and yet more strikingly in the prose of his ,petits ,pomes en ,prose1 the meanings of which have to be guessed like a rebus1 and remain for the most part undiscovered4 ,the poet ,verlaine 7who followed next after ,baudelaire1 and was also esteemed great7 even wrote an ,art ,potique1 in which he advises this style of composition3-- ,de la musique avant toute chose1 ,et pour cela prfre l',impair ,plus vague et plus soluble dans l'air1 ,sans rien en lui qui pse ou qui pose4 ,il faut aussi que tu n'ailles point ,choisir tes mots sans quelque mprise3 ,rien de plus cher que la chanson grise ,o l',indcis au ,prcis se joint4 ,and again3-- ,de la musique encore et toujours6 ,que ton vers soit la chose envole ,qu'on sent qui fuit d'une me en alle ,vers d'autres cieux d'autres amours4 ,que ton vers soit la bonne aventure ,eparse au vent crisp du matin1 ,qui va fleurant la menthe et le thym4444 ,et tout le reste est littrature4#ajc #ajc ,music1 music before all things ,the eccentric still prefer1 ,vague in air1 and nothing weighty1 ,soluble4 ,yet do not err1 ,choosing words2 still do it lightly1 ,do it too with some contempt2 ,dearest is the song that's tipsy1 ,clearness1 dimness not exempt4 99 99 99 99 ,music always1 now and ever ,be thy verse the thing that flies ,from a soul that's gone1 escaping1 ,gone to other loves and skies4 ,gone to other loves and regions1 ,following fortunes that allure1 ,mint and thyme and morning crispness4444 ,all the rest's mere literature4 ,after these two comes ,mallarm1 considered the most important of the young poets1 and he plainly says that the charm of poetry lies in our having to guess its meaning--that in poetry there should always be a puzzle3-- ,je pense qu'il faut qu'il n'y ait qu'allusion1 says he4 ,la contemplation des objets1 l'image s'envolant des rveries suscites par eux1 sont le chant3 les ,parnassiens1 eux1 prennent la chose entirement et la montrent2 par l ils manquent de mystre2 ils retirent aux esprits cette joie dlicieuse de croire qu'ils crent4 ,nommer un objet1 c'est supprimer les trois quarts de la jouissance du pome1 qui est faite du bonheur de deviner peu peu3 le suggrer1 voil le rve4 ,c'est le par fait usage de ce mystre qui constitue le symbole3 voquer petit petit un objet pour montrer un tat d'me1 ou1 inversement1 choisir un objet et en dgager un tat d'me1 par une srie de dchiffrements4 4444 ,si un tre d'une intelligence moyenne1 et d'une prparation littraire insuffisante1 ouvre par hasard un livre ainsi fait et prtend en jouir1 il y a malentendu1 il faut remettre les choses leur place4 ,il doit y avoir toujours nigme en posie1 et c'est le but de la littrature1 il n'y en a pas d'autre1--d'voquer les objets4--,enqute sur l'volution ,littraire1 ,jules ,huret1 pp4 #fj1 #fa4ajd #ajd ,i think there should be nothing but allusions4 ,the contemplation of objects1 the flying image of reveries evoked by them1 are the song4 ,the ,parnassiens state the thing completely1 and show it1 and thereby lack mystery2 they deprive the mind of that delicious joy of imagining that it creates4 ,to name an object is to take three-quarters from the enjoyment of the poem1 which consists in the happiness of guessing little by little3 to suggest1 that is the dream4 ,it is the perfect use of this mystery that constitutes the symbol3 little by little1 to evoke an object in order to show a state of the soul2 or1 inversely1 to choose an object1 and from it to disengage a state of the soul by a series of decipherings4 4444 ,if a being of mediocre intelligence and insufficient literary preparation chance to open a book made in this way and pretends to enjoy it1 there is a misunderstanding--things must be returned to their places4 ,there should always be an enigma in poetry1 and the aim of literature--it has no other--is to evoke objects4 ,thus is obscurity elevated into a dogma among the new poets4 ,as the ,french critic ,doumic 7who has not yet accepted the dogma7 quite correctly says3-- ,il serait temps aussi d'en finir avec cette fameuse 'thorie de l'obscurite' que la nouvelle cole a leve1 en effet1 la hauteur d'un dogme4--,les ,jeunes1 par ,ren ,doumic4#aje #aje ,it were time also to have done with this famous theory of obscurity1 which the new school have practically raised to the height of a dogma4 ,but it is not ,french writers only who think thus4 ,the poets of all other countries think and act in the same way3 ,german1 and ,scandinavian1 and ,italian1 and ,russian1 and ,english4 ,so also do the artists of the new period in all branches of art3 in painting1 in sculpture1 and in music4 ,relying on ,nietzsche and ,wagner1 the artists of the new age conclude that it is unnecessary for them to be intelligible to the vulgar crowd2 it is enough for them to evoke poetic emotion in the finest nurtured1 to borrow a phrase from an ,english sthetician4 ,in order that what ,i am saying may not seem to be mere assertion1 ,i will quote at least a few examples from the ,french poets who have led this movement4 ,the name of these poets is legion4 ,i have taken ,french writers1 because they1 more decidedly than any others1 indicate the new direction of art1 and are imitated by most ,european writers4 ,besides those whose names are already considered famous1 such as ,baudelaire and ,verlaine1 here are the names of a few of them3 ,jean ,moras1 ,charles ,morice1 ,henri de ,rgnier1 ,charles ,vignier1 ,adrien ,remacle1 ,ren ,ghil1 ,maurice ,maeterlinck1 ,g4 ,albert ,aurier1 ,rmy de ,gourmont1 ,saint-,pol-,roux-le-,magnifique1 ,georges ,rodenbach1 le comte ,robert de ,montesquiou-,fezensac4 ,these are ,symbolists and ,decadents4 ,next we have the ,magi3 ,josphin ,pladan1 ,paul ,adam1 ,jules ,bois1 ,m4 ,papus1 and others4 ,besides these1 there are yet one hundred and forty-one others1 whom ,doumic mentions in the book referred to above4 ,here are some examples from the work of those of them who are considered to be the best1 beginning with that most celebrated man1 acknowledged to be a great artist worthy of a monument--,baudelaire4 ,this is a poem from his celebrated ,fleurs du ,mal3-- ,no4 ,,xxiv ,je t'adore l'gal de la vote nocturne1 ,o vase de tristesse1 grande taciturne1 ,et t'aime d'autant plus1 belle1 que tu me fuis1 ,et que tu me parais1 ornement de mes nuits1 ,plus ironiquement accumuler les lieues ,qui sparent mes bras des immensits bleues4 ,je m'avance l'attaque1 et je grimpe aux assauts1 ,comme aprs un cadavre un chur de vermisseaux1 ,et je chris1 bte implacable et cruelle1 ,jusqu' cette froideur par o tu m'es plus belle6#ajf #ajf ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,and this is another by the same writer3-- ,no4 ,,xxxvi ,,duellum ,deux guerriers ont couru l'un sur l'autre2 leurs armes ,ont clabouss l'air de lueurs et de sang4 ,ces jeux1 ces cliquetis du fer sont les vacarmes ,d'une jeunesse en proie l'amour vagissant4 ,les glaives sont briss6 comme notre jeunesse1 ,ma chre6 ,mais les dents1 les ongles acrs1 ,vengent bientt l'pe et la dague tratresse4 ,o fureur des curs mrs par l'amour ulcrs6 ,dans le ravin hant des chats-pards et des onces ,nos hros1 s'treignant mchamment1 ont roul1 ,et leur peau fleurira l'aridit des ronces4 ,ce gouffre1 c'est l'enfer1 de nos amis peupl6 ,roulons-y sans remords1 amazone inhumaine1 ,afin d'terniser l'ardeur de notre haine6#ajg #ajg ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,to be exact1 ,i should mention that the collection contains verses less comprehensible than these1 but not one poem which is plain and can be understood without a certain effort--an effort seldom rewarded2 for the feelings which the poet transmits are evil and very low ones4 ,and these feelings are always1 and purposely1 expressed by him with eccentricity and lack of clearness4 ,this premeditated obscurity is especially noticeable in his prose1 where the author could1 if he liked1 speak plainly4 ,take1 for instance1 the first piece from his ,petits ,pomes3-- ,l',,etranger ,qui aimes-tu le mieux1 homme nigmatique1 dis8 ton pre1 ta mre1 ta sur1 ou ton frre8 ,je n'ai ni pre1 ni mre1 ni sur1 ni frre4 ,tes amis8 ,vous vous servez l d'une parole dont le sens m'est rest jusqu' ce jour inconnu4 ,ta patrie8 ,j'ignore sous quelle latitude elle est situe4 ,la beaut8 ,je l'aimerais volontiers1 desse et immortelle4 ,l'or8 ,je le hais comme vous hassez ,dieu4 ,et qu'aimes-tu donc1 extraordinaire tranger8 ,j'aime les nuages 4444 les nuages qui passent 4444 l bas1 4444 les merveilleux nuages6#ajh ,the piece called ,la ,soupe et les ,nuages is probably intended to express the unintelligibility of the poet even to her whom he loves4 ,this is the piece in question3-- ,ma petite folle bien-aime me donnait dner1 et par la fentre ouverte de la salle manger je contemplais les mouvantes architectures que ,dieu fait avec les vapeurs1 les merveilleuses constructions de l'impalpable4 ,et je me disais1 travers ma contemplation3 ,toutes ces fantasmagories sont presque aussi belles que les yeux de ma belle bien-aime1 la petite folle monstrueuse aux yeux verts4 ,et tout coup je reus un violent coup de poing dans le dos1 et j'entendis une voix rauque et charmante1 une voix hystrique et comme enroue par l'eau-de-vie1 la voix de ma chre petite bien-aime1 qui me disait1 ,allez-vous bientt manger votre soupe1 s4444 b4444 de marchand de nuages8#ajh #ajh ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,however artificial these two pieces may be1 it is still possible1 with some effort1 to guess at what the author meant them to express1 but some of the pieces are absolutely incomprehensible--at least to me4 ,le ,galant ,tireur is a piece ,i was quite unable to understand4 ,,le ,,galant ,,tireur ,comme la voiture traversait le bois1 il la fit arrter dans le voisinage d'un tir1 disant qu'il lui serait agrable de tirer quelques balles pour tuer le ,temps4 ,tuer ce monstre-l1 n'est-ce pas l'occupation la plus ordinaire et la plus lgitime de chacun8--,et il offrit galamment la main sa chre1 dlicieuse et excrable femme1 cette mystrieuse femme laquelle il doit tant de plaisirs1 tant de douleurs1 et peut-tre aussi une grande partie de son gnie4 ,plusieurs balles frapprent loin du but propos1 l'une d'elles s'enfona mme dans le plafond2 et comme la charmante crature riait follement1 se moquant de la maladresse de son poux1 celui-ci se tourna brusquement vers elle1 et lui dit3 ,observez cette poupe1 l-bas1 droite1 qui porte le nez en l'air et qui a la mine si hautaine4 ,eh bien6 cher ange1 je me figure que c'est vous4 ,et il ferma les yeux et il lcha la dtente4 ,la poupe fut nettement dcapite4 ,alors s'inclinant vers sa chre1 sa dlicieuse1 son excrable femme1 son invitable et impitoyable ,muse1 et lui baisant respectueusement la main1 il ajouta3 ,ah6 mon cher ange1 combien je vous remercie de mon adresse6#aji #aji ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,the productions of another celebrity1 ,verlaine1 are not less affected and unintelligible4 ,this1 for instance1 is the first poem in the section called ,ariettes ,oublis4 ,le vent dans la plaine ,suspend son haleine4--,,favart4 ,c'est l'extase langoureuse1 ,c'est la fatigue amoureuse1 ,c'est tous les frissons des bois ,parmi l'treinte des brises1 ,c'est1 vers les ramures grises1 ,le chur des petites voix4 ,o le frle et frais murmure6 ,cela gazouille et susurre1 ,cela ressemble au cri doux ,que l'herbe agite expire4444 ,tu dirais1 sous l'eau qui vire1 ,le roulis sourd des cailloux4 ,cette me qui se lamente ,en cette plainte dormante ,c'est la ntre1 n'est-ce pas8 ,la mienne1 dis1 et la tienne1 ,dont s'exhale l'humble antienne ,par ce tide soir1 tout bas8#aaj #aaj ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,what chur des petites voix8 and what cri doux que l'herbe agite expire8 and what it all means1 remains altogether unintelligible to me4 ,and here is another ,ariette3-- ,,viii ,dans l'interminable ,ennui de la plaine1 ,la neige incertaine ,luit comme du sable4 ,le ciel est de cuivre1 ,sans lueur aucune4 ,on croirait voir vivre ,et mourir la lune4 ,comme des nues ,flottent gris les chnes ,des forts prochaines ,parmi les bues4 ,le ciel est de cuivre1 ,sans lueur aucune4 ,on croirait voir vivre ,et mourir la lune4 ,corneille poussive ,et vous1 les loups maigres1 ,par ces bises aigres ,quoi donc vous arrive8 ,dans l'interminable ,ennui de la plaine1 ,la neige incertaine ,luit comme du sable4#aaa #aaa ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,how does the moon seem to live and die in a copper heaven8 ,and how can snow shine like sand8 ,the whole thing is not merely unintelligible1 but1 under pretense of conveying an impression1 it passes off a string of incorrect comparisons and words4 ,besides these artificial and obscure poems there are others which are intelligible1 but which make up for it by being altogether bad1 both in form and in subject4 ,such are all the poems under the heading ,la ,sagesse4 ,the chief place in these verses is occupied by a very poor expression of the most commonplace ,roman ,catholic and patriotic sentiments4 ,for instance1 one meets with verses such as this3-- ,je ne veux plus penser qu' ma mre ,marie1 ,sige de la sagesse et source de pardons1 ,mre de ,france aussi de qui nous attendons ,inbranlablement l'honneur de la patrie4#aab #aab ,i do not wish to think any more1 except about my mother ,mary1 ,seat of wisdom and source of pardon1 ,also ,mother of ,france1 from whom we ,steadfastly expect the honor of our country4 ,before citing examples from other poets1 ,i must pause to note the amazing celebrity of these two versifiers1 ,baudelaire and ,verlaine1 who are now accepted as being great poets4 ,how the ,french1 who had ,chnier1 ,musset1 ,lamartine1 and1 above all1 ,hugo1--and among whom quite recently flourished the so-called ,parnassiens3 ,leconte de ,lisle1 ,sully-,prudhomme1 etc41--could attribute such importance to these two versifiers1 who were far from skilful in form and most contemptible and commonplace in subject-matter1 is to me incomprehensible4 ,the conception of life of one of them1 ,baudelaire1 consisted in elevating gross egotism into a theory1 and replacing morality by a cloudy conception of beauty1 and especially artificial beauty4 ,baudelaire had a preference1 which he expressed1 for a woman's face painted rather than showing its natural color1 and for metal trees and a theatrical imitation of water rather than real trees and real water4 ,the life-conception of the other1 ,verlaine1 consisted in weak profligacy1 confession of his moral impotence1 and1 as an antidote to that impotence1 in the grossest ,roman ,catholic idolatry4 ,both1 moreover1 were quite lacking in navet1 sincerity1 and simplicity1 and both overflowed with artificiality1 forced originality and self-assurance4 ,so that in their least bad productions one sees more of ,m4 ,baudelaire or ,m4 ,verlaine than of what they were describing4 ,but these two indifferent versifiers form a school1 and lead hundreds of followers after them4 ,there is only one explanation of this fact3 it is that the art of the society in which these versifiers lived is not a serious1 important matter of life1 but is a mere amusement4 ,and all amusements grow wearisome by repetition4 ,and1 in order to make wearisome amusement again tolerable1 it is necessary to find some means to freshen it up4 ,when1 at cards1 ombre grows stale1 whist is introduced2 when whist grows stale1 cart is substituted2 when cart grows stale1 some other novelty is invented1 and so on4 ,the substance of the matter remains the same1 only its form is changed4 ,and so it is with this kind of art4 ,the subject-matter of the art of the upper classes growing continually more and more limited1 it has come at last to this1 that to the artists of these exclusive classes it seems as if everything has already been said1 and that to find anything new to say is impossible4 ,and therefore1 to freshen up this art1 they look out for fresh forms4 ,baudelaire and ,verlaine invent such a new form1 furbish it up1 moreover1 with hitherto unused pornographic details1 and--the critics and the public of the upper classes hail them as great writers4 ,this is the only explanation of the success1 not of ,baudelaire and ,verlaine only1 but of all the ,decadents4 ,for instance1 there are poems by ,mallarm and ,maeterlinck which have no meaning1 and yet for all that1 or perhaps on that very account1 are printed by tens of thousands1 not only in various publications1 but even in collections of the best works of the younger poets4 ,this1 for example1 is a sonnet by ,mallarm3-- ,a la nue accablante tu ,basse de basalte et de laves ,a mme les chos esclaves ,par une trompe sans vertu4 ,quel spulcral naufrage 7tu ,le soir1 cume1 mais y baves7 ,suprme une entre les paves ,abolit le mt dvtu4 ,ou cela que furibond faute ,de quelque perdition haute ,tout l'abme vain ploy ,dans le si blanc cheveu qui trane ,avarement aura noy ,le flanc enfant d'une sirne4#aac 7,pan1 #ahie1 ,no4 #a47 #aac ,this sonnet seems too unintelligible for translation4--,,tr4 ,this poem is not exceptional in its incomprehensibility4 ,i have read several poems by ,mallarm1 and they also had no meaning whatever4 ,i give a sample of his prose in ,appendix ,i4 ,there is a whole volume of this prose called ,divagations4 ,it is impossible to understand any of it4 ,and that is evidently what the author intended4 ,and here is a song by ,maeterlinck1 another celebrated author of to-day3-- ,quand il est sorti1 7,j'entendis la porte7 ,quand il est sorti ,elle avait souri 4444 ,mais quand il entra 7,j'entendis la lampe7 ,mais quand il entra ,une autre tait l 4444 ,et j'ai vu la mort1 7,j'entendis son me7 ,et j'ai vu la mort ,qui l'attend encore 4444 ,on est venu dire1 7,mon enfant j'ai peur7 ,on est venu dire ,qu'il allait partir 4444 ,ma lampe allume1 7,mon enfant j'ai peur7 ,ma lampe allume ,me suis approche 4444 ,a la premire porte1 7,mon enfant j'ai peur7 ,a la premire porte1 ,la flamme a trembl 4444 ,a la seconde porte1 7,mon enfant j'ai peur7 ,a la seconde porte1 ,la flamme a parl 4444 ,a la troisime porte1 7,mon enfant j'ai peur7 ,a la troisime porte1 ,la lumire est morte 4444 ,et s'il revenait un jour ,que faut-il lui dire8 ,dites-lui qu'on l'attendit ,jusqu' s'en mourir 4444 ,et s'il demande o vous tes ,que faut-il rpondre8 ,donnez-lui mon anneau d'or ,sans rien lui rpondre 4444 ,et s'il m'interroge alors ,sur la dernire heure8 ,dites lui que j'ai souri ,de peur qu'il ne pleure 4444 ,et s'il m'interroge encore ,sans me reconnatre8 ,parlez-lui comme une sur1 ,il souffre peut-tre 4444 ,et s'il veut savoir pourquoi ,la salle est dserte8 ,montrez lui la lampe teinte ,et la porte ouverte 4444#aad 7,pan1 #ahie1 ,no4 #b47 #aad ,for translation1 see ,appendix ,,iv4 ,who went out8 ,who came in8 ,who is speaking8 ,who died8 ,i beg the reader to be at the pains of reading through the samples ,i cite in ,appendix ,,ii4 of the celebrated and esteemed young poets--,griffin1 ,verhaeren1 ,moras1 and ,montesquiou4 ,it is important to do so in order to form a clear conception of the present position of art1 and not to suppose1 as many do1 that ,decadentism is an accidental and transitory phenomenon4 ,to avoid the reproach of having selected the worst verses1 ,i have copied out of each volume the poem which happened to stand on page #bh4 ,all the other productions of these poets are equally unintelligible1 or can only be understood with great difficulty1 and then not fully4 ,all the productions of those hundreds of poets1 of whom ,i have named a few1 are the same in kind4 ,and among the ,germans1 ,swedes1 ,norwegians1 ,italians1 and us ,russians1 similar verses are printed4 ,and such productions are printed and made up into book form1 if not by the million1 then by the hundred thousand 7some of these works sell in tens of thousands74 ,for type-setting1 paging1 printing1 and binding these books1 millions and millions of working days are spent--not less1 ,i think1 than went to build the great pyramid4 ,and this is not all4 ,the same is going on in all the other arts3 millions and millions of working days are being spent on the production of equally incomprehensible works in painting1 in music1 and in the drama4 ,painting not only does not lag behind poetry in this matter1 but rather outstrips it4 ,here is an extract from the diary of an amateur of art1 written when visiting the ,paris exhibitions in #ahid3-- ,i was to-day at three exhibitions3 the ,symbolists'1 the ,impressionists'1 and the ,neo-,impressionists'4 ,i looked at the pictures conscientiously and carefully1 but again felt the same stupefaction and ultimate indignation4 ,the first exhibition1 that of ,camille ,pissarro1 was comparatively the most comprehensible1 though the pictures were out of drawing1 had no subject1 and the colorings were most improbable4 ,the drawing was so indefinite that you were sometimes unable to make out which way an arm or a head was turned4 ,the subject was generally 'effets'--,effet de brouillard1 ,effet du soir1 ,soleil couchant4 ,there were some pictures with figures1 but without subjects4 ,in the coloring1 bright blue and bright green predominated4 ,and each picture had its special color1 with which the whole picture was1 as it were1 splashed4 ,for instance1 in ',a ,girl ,guarding ,geese1' the special color is vert de gris1 and dots of it were splashed about everywhere2 on the face1 the hair1 the hands1 and the clothes4 ,in the same gallery--',durand ,ruel'--were other pictures by ,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,manet1 ,monet1 ,renoir1 ,sisley--who are all ,impressionists4 ,one of them1 whose name ,i could not make out1--it was something like ,redon1--had painted a blue face in profile4 ,on the whole face there is only this blue tone1 with white-of-lead4 ,pissarro has a water-color all done in dots4 ,in the foreground is a cow1 entirely painted with various-colored dots4 ,the general color cannot be distinguished1 however much one stands back from1 or draws near to1 the picture4 ,from there ,i went to see the ,symbolists4 ,i looked at them long without asking any one for an explanation1 trying to guess the meaning2 but it is beyond human comprehension4 ,one of the first things to catch my eye was a wooden haut-relief1 wretchedly executed1 representing a woman 7naked7 who with both hands is squeezing from her two breasts streams of blood4 ,the blood flows down1 becoming lilac in color4 ,her hair first descends1 and then rises again1 and turns into trees4 ,the figure is all colored yellow1 and the hair is brown4 ,next--a picture3 a yellow sea1 on which swims something which is neither a ship nor a heart2 on the horizon is a profile with a halo and yellow hair1 which changes into a sea1 in which it is lost4 ,some of the painters lay on their colors so thickly that the effect is something between painting and sculpture4 ,a third exhibit was even less comprehensible3 a man's profile2 before him a flame and black stripes--leeches1 as ,i was afterwards told4 ,at last ,i asked a gentleman who was there what it meant1 and he explained to me that the haut-relief was a symbol1 and that it represented ',la ,terre4' ,the heart swimming in a yellow sea was ',illusion perdue1' and the gentleman with the leeches ',le ,mal4' ,there were also some ,impressionist pictures3 elementary profiles1 holding some sort of flowers in their hands3 in monotone1 out of drawing1 and either quite blurred or else marked out with wide black outlines4 ,this was in #ahid2 the same tendency is now even more strongly defined1 and we have ,bcklin1 ,stuck1 ,klinger1 ,sasha ,schneider1 and others4 ,the same thing is taking place in the drama4 ,the play-writers give us an architect who1 for some reason1 has not fulfilled his former high intentions1 and who consequently climbs on to the roof of a house he has erected1 and tumbles down head foremost2 or an incomprehensible old woman 7who exterminates rats71 and who1 for an unintelligible reason1 takes a poetic child to the sea1 and there drowns him2 or some blind men who1 sitting on the seashore1 for some reason always repeat one and the same thing2 or a bell of some kind1 which flies into a lake1 and there rings4 ,and the same is happening in music--in that art which1 more than any other1 one would have thought1 should be intelligible to everybody4 ,an acquaintance of yours1 a musician of repute1 sits down to the piano and plays you what he says is a new composition of his own1 or of one of the new composers4 ,you hear the strange1 loud sounds1 and admire the gymnastic exercises performed by his fingers2 and you see that the performer wishes to impress upon you that the sounds he is producing express various poetic strivings of the soul4 ,you see his intention1 but no feeling whatever is transmitted to you except weariness4 ,the execution lasts long1 or at least it seems very long to you1 because you do not receive any clear impression1 and involuntarily you remember the words of ,alphonse ,karr1 ,plus a va vite1 plus a dure longtemps4#aae ,and it occurs to you that perhaps it is all a mystification2 perhaps the performer is trying you--just throwing his hands and fingers wildly about the keyboard in the hope that you will fall into the trap and praise him1 and then he will laugh and confess that he only wanted to see if he could hoax you4 ,but when at last the piece does finish1 and the perspiring and agitated musician rises from the piano evidently anticipating praise1 you see that it was all done in earnest4 #aae ,the quicker it goes the longer it lasts4 ,the same thing takes place at all the concerts1 with pieces by ,liszt1 ,wagner1 ,berlioz1 ,brahms1 and 7newest of all7 ,richard ,strauss1 and the numberless other composers of the new school1 who unceasingly produce opera after opera1 symphony after symphony1 piece after piece4 ,the same is occurring in a domain in which it seemed hard to be unintelligible1--in the sphere of novels and short stories4 ,read ,l ,bas1 by ,huysmans1 or some of ,kipling's short stories1 or ,l',annonciateur1 by ,villiers de l',isle ,adam in his ,contes ,cruels1 etc41 and you will find them not only abscons 7to use a word adopted by the new writers71 but absolutely unintelligible both in form and in substance4 ,such1 again1 is the work by ,e4 ,morel1 ,terre ,promise1 now appearing in the ,revue ,blanche1 and such are most of the new novels4 ,the style is very high-flown1 the feelings seem to be most elevated1 but you can't make out what is happening1 to whom it is happening1 and where it is happening4 ,and such is the bulk of the young art of our time4 ,people who grew up in the first half of this century1 admiring ,goethe1 ,schiller1 ,musset1 ,hugo1 ,dickens1 ,beethoven1 ,chopin1 ,raphael1 da ,vinci1 ,michael ,angelo1 ,delaroche1 being unable to make head or tail of this new art1 simply attribute its productions to tasteless insanity1 and wish to ignore them4 ,but such an attitude toward this new art is quite unjustifiable1 because1 in the first place1 that art is spreading more and more1 and has already conquered for itself a firm position in society1 similar to the one occupied by the ,romanticists in the third decade of this century2 and1 secondly and chiefly1 because1 if it is permissible to judge in this way of the productions of the latest form of art1 called by us ,decadent art1 merely because we do not understand it1 then remember there are an enormous number of people1--all the laborers1 and many of the non-laboring folk1--who1 in just the same way1 do not comprehend those productions of art which we consider admirable3 the verses of our favorite artists--,goethe1 ,schiller1 and ,hugo2 the novels of ,dickens1 the music of ,beethoven and ,chopin1 the pictures of ,raphael1 ,michael ,angelo1 da ,vinci1 etc4 ,if ,i have a right to think that great masses of people do not understand and do not like what ,i consider undoubtedly good because they are not sufficiently developed1 then ,i have no right to deny that perhaps the reason why ,i cannot understand and cannot like the new productions of art is merely that ,i am still insufficiently developed to understand them4 ,if ,i have a right to say that ,i1 and the majority of people who are in sympathy with me1 do not understand the productions of the new art1 simply because there is nothing in it to understand1 and because it is bad art1 then1 with just the same right1 the still larger majority1 the whole laboring mass1 who do not understand what ,i consider admirable art1 can say that what ,i reckon as good art is bad art1 and there is nothing in it to understand4 ,i once saw the injustice of such condemnation of the new art with especial clearness1 when1 in my presence1 a certain poet1 who writes incomprehensible verses1 ridiculed incomprehensible music with gay self-assurance2 and1 shortly afterwards1 a certain musician1 who composes incomprehensible symphonies1 laughed at incomprehensible poetry with equal self-confidence4 ,i have no right1 and no authority1 to condemn the new art on the ground that ,i 7a man educated in the first half of the century7 do not understand it2 ,i can only say that it is incomprehensible to me4 ,the only advantage the art ,i acknowledge has over the ,decadent art1 lies in the fact that the art ,i recognize is comprehensible to a somewhat larger number of people than the present-day art4 ,the fact that ,i am accustomed to a certain exclusive art1 and can understand it1 but am unable to understand another still more exclusive art1 does not give me a right to conclude that my art is the real true art1 and that the other one1 which ,i do not understand1 is an unreal1 a bad art4 ,i can only conclude that art1 becoming ever more and more exclusive1 has become more and more incomprehensible to an ever increasing number of people1 and that1 in this its progress toward greater and greater incomprehensibility 7on one level of which ,i am standing1 with the art familiar to me71 it has reached a point where it is understood by a very small number of the elect1 and the number of these chosen people is ever becoming smaller and smaller4 ,as soon as ever the art of the upper classes separated itself from universal art1 a conviction arose that art may be art and yet be incomprehensible to the masses4 ,and as soon as this position was admitted1 it had inevitably to be admitted also that art may be intelligible only to the very smallest number of the elect1 and1 eventually1 to two1 or to one1 of our nearest friends1 or to oneself alone4 ,which is practically what is being said by modern artists3 ,i create and understand myself1 and if any one does not understand me1 so much the worse for him4 ,the assertion that art may be good art1 and at the same time incomprehensible to a great number of people1 is extremely unjust1 and its consequences are ruinous to art itself2 but at the same time it is so common and has so eaten into our conceptions1 that it is impossible sufficiently to elucidate all the absurdity of it4 ,nothing is more common than to hear it said of reputed works of art1 that they are very good but very difficult to understand4 ,we are quite used to such assertions1 and yet to say that a work of art is good1 but incomprehensible to the majority of men1 is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good1 but that most people can't eat it4 ,the majority of men may not like rotten cheese or putrefying grouse--dishes esteemed by people with perverted tastes2 but bread and fruit are only good when they please the majority of men4 ,and it is the same with art4 ,perverted art may not please the majority of men1 but good art always pleases every one4 ,it is said that the very best works of art are such that they cannot be understood by the mass1 but are accessible only to the elect who are prepared to understand these great works4 ,but if the majority of men do not understand1 the knowledge necessary to enable them to understand should be taught and explained to them4 ,but it turns out that there is no such knowledge1 that the works cannot be explained1 and that those who say the majority do not understand good works of art1 still do not explain those works1 but only tell us that1 in order to understand them1 one must read1 and see1 and hear these same works over and over again4 ,but this is not to explain1 it is only to habituate6 ,and people may habituate themselves to anything1 even to the very worst things4 ,as people may habituate themselves to bad food1 to spirits1 tobacco1 and opium1 just in the same way they may habituate themselves to bad art--and that is exactly what is being done4 ,moreover1 it cannot be said that the majority of people lack the taste to esteem the highest works of art4 ,the majority always have understood1 and still understand1 what we also recognize as being the very best art3 the epic of ,genesis1 the gospel parables1 folk-legends1 fairy-tales1 and folk-songs1 are understood by all4 ,how can it be that the majority has suddenly lost its capacity to understand what is high in our art8 ,of a speech it may be said that it is admirable1 but incomprehensible to those who do not know the language in which it is delivered4 ,a speech delivered in ,chinese may be excellent1 and may yet remain incomprehensible to me if ,i do not know ,chinese2 but what distinguishes a work of art from all other mental activity is just the fact that its language is understood by all1 and that it infects all without distinction4 ,the tears and laughter of a ,chinese infect me just as the laughter and tears of a ,russian2 and it is the same with painting and music and poetry1 when it is translated into a language ,i understand4 ,the songs of a ,kirghiz or of a ,japanese touch me1 though in a lesser degree than they touch a ,kirghiz or a ,japanese4 ,i am also touched by ,japanese painting1 ,indian architecture1 and ,arabian stories4 ,if ,i am but little touched by a ,japanese song and a ,chinese novel1 it is not that ,i do not understand these productions1 but that ,i know and am accustomed to higher works of art4 ,it is not because their art is above me4 ,great works of art are only great because they are accessible and comprehensible to every one4 ,the story of ,joseph1 translated into the ,chinese language1 touches a ,chinese4 ,the story of ,sakya ,muni touches us4 ,and there are1 and must be1 buildings1 pictures1 statues1 and music of similar power4 ,so that1 if art fails to move men1 it cannot be said that this is due to the spectators' or hearers' lack of understanding2 but the conclusion to be drawn may and should be1 that such art is either bad art1 or is not art at all4 ,art is differentiated from activity of the understanding1 which demands preparation and a certain sequence of knowledge 7so that one cannot learn trigonometry before knowing geometry71 by the fact that it acts on people independently of their state of development and education1 that the charm of a picture1 sounds1 or of forms1 infects any man whatever his plane of development4 ,the business of art lies just in this1--to make that understood and felt which1 in the form of an argument1 might be incomprehensible and inaccessible4 ,usually it seems to the recipient of a truly artistic impression that he knew the thing before but had been unable to express it4 ,and such has always been the nature of good1 supreme art2 the ,iliad1 the ,odyssey1 the stories of ,isaac1 ,jacob1 and ,joseph1 the ,hebrew prophets1 the psalms1 the gospel parables1 the story of ,sakya ,muni1 and the hymns of the ,vedas3 all transmit very elevated feelings1 and are nevertheless quite comprehensible now to us1 educated or uneducated1 as they were comprehensible to the men of those times1 long ago1 who were even less educated than our laborers4 ,people talk about incomprehensibility2 but if art is the transmission of feelings flowing from man's religious perception1 how can a feeling be incomprehensible which is founded on religion1 i4e4 on man's relation to ,god8 ,such art should be1 and has actually always been1 comprehensible to everybody1 because every man's relation to ,god is one and the same4 ,and therefore the churches and the images in them were always comprehensible to every one4 ,the hindrance to understanding the best and highest feelings 7as is said in the gospel7 does not at all lie in deficiency of development or learning1 but1 on the contrary1 in false development and false learning4 ,a good and lofty work of art may be incomprehensible1 but not to simple1 unperverted peasant laborers 7all that is highest is understood by them7--it may be1 and often is1 unintelligible to erudite1 perverted people destitute of religion4 ,and this continually occurs in our society1 in which the highest feelings are simply not understood4 ,for instance1 ,i know people who consider themselves most refined1 and who say that they do not understand the poetry of love to one's neighbor1 of self-sacrifice1 or of chastity4 ,so that good1 great1 universal1 religious art may be incomprehensible to a small circle of spoilt people1 but certainly not to any large number of plain men4 ,art cannot be incomprehensible to the great masses only because it is very good--as artists of our day are fond of telling us4 ,rather we are bound to conclude that this art is unintelligible to the great masses only because it is very bad art1 or even is not art at all4 ,so that the favorite argument 7navely accepted by the cultured crowd71 that in order to feel art one has first to understand it 7which really only means habituate oneself to it71 is the truest indication that what we are asked to understand by such a method is either very bad1 exclusive art1 or is not art at all4 ,people say that works of art do not please the people because they are incapable of understanding them4 ,but if the aim of works of art is to infect people with the emotion the artist has experienced1 how can one talk about not understanding8 ,a man of the people reads a book1 sees a picture1 hears a play or a symphony1 and is touched by no feeling4 ,he is told that this is because he cannot understand4 ,people promise to let a man see a certain show2 he enters and sees nothing4 ,he is told that this is because his sight is not prepared for this show4 ,but the man well knows that he sees quite well1 and if he does not see what people promised to show him1 he only concludes 7as is quite just7 that those who undertook to show him the spectacle have not fulfilled their engagement4 ,and it is perfectly just for a man who does feel the influence of some works of art to come to this conclusion concerning artists who do not1 by their works1 evoke feeling in him4 ,to say that the reason a man is not touched by my art is because he is still too stupid1 besides being very self-conceited and also rude1 is to reverse the rles1 and for the sick to send the hale to bed4 ,voltaire said that ,tous les genres sont bons1 hors le genre ennuyeux2#aaf but with even more right one may say of art that ,tous les genres sont bons1 hors celui qu'on ne comprend pas1 or qui ne produit pas son effet1#aag for of what value is an article which fails to do that for which it was intended8 #aaf ,all styles are good except the wearisome style4 #aag ,all styles are good except that which is not understood1 or which fails to produce its effect4 ,mark this above all3 if only it be admitted that art may be art and yet be unintelligible to any one of sound mind1 there is no reason why any circle of perverted people should not compose works tickling their own perverted feelings and comprehensible to no one but themselves1 and call it art1 as is actually being done by the so-called ,decadents4 ,the direction art has taken may be compared to placing on a large circle other circles1 smaller and smaller1 until a cone is formed1 the apex of which is no longer a circle at all4 ,that is what has happened to the art of our times4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,becoming ever poorer and poorer in subject-matter1 and more and more unintelligible in form1 the art of the upper classes1 in its latest productions1 has even lost all the characteristics of art1 and has been replaced by imitations of art4 ,not only has upper-class art1 in consequence of its separation from universal art1 become poor in subject-matter1 and bad in form1 i4e4 ever more and more unintelligible1 it has1 in course of time1 ceased even to be art at all1 and has been replaced by counterfeits4 ,this has resulted from the following causes3 ,universal art arises only when some one of the people1 having experienced a strong emotion1 feels the necessity of transmitting it to others4 ,the art of the rich classes1 on the other hand1 arises not from the artist's inner impulse1 but chiefly because people of the upper classes demand amusement and pay well for it4 ,they demand from art the transmission of feelings that please them1 and this demand artists try to meet4 ,but it is a very difficult task2 for people of the wealthy classes1 spending their lives in idleness and luxury1 desire to be continually diverted by art2 and art1 even the lowest1 cannot be produced at will1 but has to generate spontaneously in the artist's inner self4 ,and therefore1 to satisfy the demands of people of the upper classes1 artists have had to devise methods of producing imitations of art4 ,and such methods have been devised4 ,these methods are those of 7#a7 borrowing1 7#b7 imitating1 7#c7 striking 7effects71 and 7#d7 interesting4 ,the first method consists in borrowing whole subjects1 or merely separate features1 from former works recognized by every one as being poetical1 and in so re-shaping them1 with sundry additions1 that they should have an appearance of novelty4 ,such works1 evoking in people of a certain class memories of artistic feelings formerly experienced1 produce an impression similar to art1 and1 provided only that they conform to other needful conditions1 they pass for art among those who seek for pleasure from art4 ,subjects borrowed from previous works of art are usually called poetical subjects4 ,objects and people thus borrowed are called poetical objects and people4 ,thus1 in our circle1 all sorts of legends1 sagas1 and ancient traditions are considered poetical subjects4 ,among poetical people and objects we reckon maidens1 warriors1 shepherds1 hermits1 angels1 devils of all sorts1 moonlight1 thunder1 mountains1 the sea1 precipices1 flowers1 long hair1 lions1 lambs1 doves1 and nightingales4 ,in general1 all those objects are considered poetical which have been most frequently used by former artists in their productions4 ,some forty years ago a stupid but highly cultured--ayant beaucoup d'acquis--lady 7since deceased7 asked me to listen to a novel written by herself4 ,it began with a heroine who1 in a poetic white dress1 and with poetically flowing hair1 was reading poetry near some water in a poetic wood4 ,the scene was in ,russia1 but suddenly from behind the bushes the hero appears1 wearing a hat with a feather la ,guillaume ,tell 7the book specially mentioned this7 and accompanied by two poetical white dogs4 ,the authoress deemed all this highly poetical1 and it might have passed muster if only it had not been necessary for the hero to speak4 ,but as soon as the gentleman in the hat la ,guillaume ,tell began to converse with the maiden in the white dress1 it became obvious that the authoress had nothing to say1 but had merely been moved by poetic memories of other works1 and imagined that by ringing the changes on those memories she could produce an artistic impression4 ,but an artistic impression1 i4e4 infection1 is only received when an author has1 in the manner peculiar to himself1 experienced the feeling which he transmits1 and not when he passes on another man's feeling previously transmitted to him4 ,such poetry from poetry cannot infect people1 it can only simulate a work of art1 and even that only to people of perverted sthetic taste4 ,the lady in question being very stupid and devoid of talent1 it was at once apparent how the case stood2 but when such borrowing is resorted to by people who are erudite and talented and have cultivated the technique of their art1 we get those borrowings from the ,greek1 the antique1 the ,christian or mythological world which have become so numerous1 and which1 particularly in our day1 continue to increase and multiply1 and are accepted by the public as works of art1 if only the borrowings are well mounted by means of the technique of the particular art to which they belong4 ,as a characteristic example of such counterfeits of art in the realm of poetry1 take ,rostand's ,princesse ,lointaine1 in which there is not a spark of art1 but which seems very poetical to many people1 and probably also to its author4 ,the second method of imparting a semblance of art is that which ,i have called imitating4 ,the essence of this method consists in supplying details accompanying the thing described or depicted4 ,in literary art this method consists in describing1 in the minutest details1 the external appearance1 the faces1 the clothes1 the gestures1 the tones1 and the habitations of the characters represented1 with all the occurrences met with in life4 ,for instance1 in novels and stories1 when one of the characters speaks1 we are told in what voice he spoke1 and what he was doing at the time4 ,and the things said are not given so that they should have as much sense as possible1 but1 as they are in life1 disconnectedly1 and with interruptions and omissions4 ,in dramatic art1 besides such imitation of real speech1 this method consists in having all the accessories and all the people just like those in real life4 ,in painting1 this method assimilates painting to photography1 and destroys the difference between them4 ,and1 strange to say1 this method is used also in music3 music tries to imitate1 not only by its rhythm but also by its very sounds1 the sounds which in real life accompany the thing it wishes to represent4 ,the third method is by action1 often purely physical1 on the outer senses4 ,work of this kind is said to be striking1 effectful4 ,in all arts these effects consist chiefly in contrasts2 in bringing together the terrible and the tender1 the beautiful and the hideous1 the loud and the soft1 darkness and light1 the most ordinary and the most extraordinary4 ,in verbal art1 besides effects of contrast1 there are also effects consisting in the description of things that have never before been described4 ,these are usually pornographic details evoking sexual desire1 or details of suffering and death evoking feelings of horror1 as1 for instance1 when describing a murder1 to give a detailed medical account of the lacerated tissues1 of the swellings1 of the smell1 quantity1 and appearance of the blood4 ,it is the same in painting3 besides all kinds of other contrasts1 one is coming into vogue which consists in giving careful finish to one object and being careless about all the rest4 ,the chief and usual effects in painting are effects of light and the depiction of the horrible4 ,in the drama1 the most common effects1 besides contrasts1 are tempests1 thunder1 moonlight1 scenes at sea or by the seashore1 changes of costume1 exposure of the female body1 madness1 murders1 and death generally3 the dying person exhibiting in detail all the phases of agony4 ,in music the most usual effects are a crescendo1 passing from the softest and simplest sounds to the loudest and most complex crash of the full orchestra2 a repetition of the same sounds arpeggio in all the octaves and on various instruments2 or that the harmony1 tone1 and rhythm be not at all those naturally flowing from the course of the musical thought1 but such as strike one by their unexpectedness4 ,besides these1 the commonest effects in music are produced in a purely physical manner by strength of sound1 especially in an orchestra4 ,such are some of the most usual effects in the various arts1 but there yet remains one common to them all2 namely1 to convey by means of one art what it would be natural to convey by another3 for instance1 to make music describe 7as is done by the programme music of ,wagner and his followers71 or to make painting1 the drama1 or poetry1 induce a frame of mind 7as is aimed at by all the ,decadent art74 ,the fourth method is that of interesting 7that is1 absorbing the mind7 in connection with works of art4 ,the interest may lie in an intricate plot--a method till quite recently much employed in ,english novels and ,french plays1 but now going out of fashion and being replaced by authenticity1 i4e4 by detailed description of some historical period or some branch of contemporary life4 ,for example1 in a novel1 interestingness may consist in a description of ,egyptian or ,roman life1 the life of miners1 or that of the clerks in a large shop4 ,the reader becomes interested and mistakes this interest for an artistic impression4 ,the interest may also depend on the very method of expression2 a kind of interest that has now come much into use4 ,both verse and prose1 as well as pictures1 plays1 and music1 are constructed so that they must be guessed like riddles1 and this process of guessing again affords pleasure and gives a semblance of the feeling received from art4 ,it is very often said that a work of art is very good because it is poetic1 or realistic1 or striking1 or interesting2 whereas not only can neither the first1 nor the second1 nor the third1 nor the fourth of these attributes supply a standard of excellence in art1 but they have not even anything in common with art4 ,poetic--means borrowed4 ,all borrowing merely recalls to the reader1 spectator1 or listener some dim recollection of artistic impressions they have received from previous works of art1 and does not infect them with feeling which the artist has himself experienced4 ,a work founded on something borrowed1 like ,goethe's ,faust1 for instance1 may be very well executed and be full of mind and every beauty1 but because it lacks the chief characteristic of a work of art--completeness1 oneness1 the inseparable unity of form and contents expressing the feeling the artist has experienced--it cannot produce a really artistic impression4 ,in availing himself of this method1 the artist only transmits the feeling received by him from a previous work of art2 therefore every borrowing1 whether it be of whole subjects1 or of various scenes1 situations1 or descriptions1 is but a reflection of art1 a simulation of it1 but not art itself4 ,and therefore1 to say that a certain production is good because it is poetic--i4e4 resembles a work of art--is like saying of a coin that it is good because it resembles real money4 ,equally little can imitation1 realism1 serve1 as many people think1 as a measure of the quality of art4 ,imitation cannot be such a measure2 for the chief characteristic of art is the infection of others with the feelings the artist has experienced1 and infection with a feeling is not only not identical with description of the accessories of what is transmitted1 but is usually hindered by superfluous details4 ,the attention of the receiver of the artistic impression is diverted by all these well-observed details1 and they hinder the transmission of feeling even when it exists4 ,to value a work of art by the degree of its realism1 by the accuracy of the details reproduced1 is as strange as to judge of the nutritive quality of food by its external appearance4 ,when we appraise a work according to its realism1 we only show that we are talking1 not of a work of art1 but of its counterfeit4 ,neither does the third method of imitating art--by the use of what is striking or effectual--coincide with real art any better than the two former methods2 for in effectfulness--the effects of novelty1 of the unexpected1 of contrasts1 of the horrible--there is no transmission of feeling1 but only an action on the nerves4 ,if an artist were to paint a bloody wound admirably1 the sight of the wound would strike me1 but it would not be art4 ,one prolonged note on a powerful organ will produce a striking impression1 will often even cause tears1 but there is no music in it1 because no feeling is transmitted4 ,yet such physiological effects are constantly mistaken for art by people of our circle1 and this not only in music1 but also in poetry1 painting1 and the drama4 ,it is said that art has become refined4 ,on the contrary1 thanks to the pursuit of effectfulness1 it has become very coarse4 ,a new piece is brought out and accepted all over ,europe1 such1 for instance1 as ,hannele1 in which play the author wishes to transmit to the spectators pity for a persecuted girl4 ,to evoke this feeling in the audience by means of art1 the author should either make one of the characters express this pity in such a way as to infect every one1 or he should describe the girl's feelings correctly4 ,but he cannot1 or will not1 do this1 and chooses another way1 more complicated in stage management1 but easier for the author4 ,he makes the girl die on the stage2 and1 still further to increase the physiological effect on the spectators1 he extinguishes the lights in the theater1 leaving the audience in the dark1 and to the sound of dismal music he shows how the girl is pursued and beaten by her drunken father4 ,the girl shrinks--screams--groans--and falls4 ,angels appear and carry her away4 ,and the audience1 experiencing some excitement while this is going on1 are fully convinced that this is true sthetic feeling4 ,but there is nothing sthetic in such excitement2 for there is no infecting of man by man1 but only a mingled feeling of pity for another1 and of self-congratulation that it is not ,i who am suffering3 it is like what we feel at the sight of an execution1 or what the ,romans felt in their circuses4 ,the substitution of effectfulness for sthetic feeling is particularly noticeable in musical art--that art which by its nature has an immediate physiological action on the nerves4 ,instead of transmitting by means of a melody the feelings he has experienced1 a composer of the new school accumulates and complicates sounds1 and by now strengthening1 now weakening them1 he produces on the audience a physiological effect of a kind that can be measured by an apparatus invented for the purpose4#aah ,and the public mistake this physiological effect for the effect of art4 #aah ,an apparatus exists by means of which a very sensitive arrow1 in dependence on the tension of a muscle of the arm1 will indicate the physiological action of music on the nerves and muscles4 ,as to the fourth method--that of interesting--it also is frequently confounded with art4 ,one often hears it said1 not only of a poem1 a novel1 or a picture1 but even of a musical work1 that it is interesting4 ,what does this mean8 ,to speak of an interesting work of art means either that we receive from a work of art information new to us1 or that the work is not fully intelligible1 and that little by little1 and with effort1 we arrive at its meaning1 and experience a certain pleasure in this process of guessing it4 ,in neither case has the interest anything in common with artistic impression4 ,art aims at infecting people with feeling experienced by the artist4 ,but the mental effort necessary to enable the spectator1 listener1 or reader to assimilate the new information contained in the work1 or to guess the puzzles propounded1 by distracting him1 hinders the infection4 ,and therefore the interestingness of a work1 not only has nothing to do with its excellence as a work of art1 but rather hinders than assists artistic impression4 ,we may1 in a work of art1 meet with what is poetic1 and realistic1 and striking1 and interesting1 but these things cannot replace the essential of art1--feeling experienced by the artist4 ,latterly1 in upper-class art1 most of the objects given out as being works of art are of the kind which only resemble art1 and are devoid of its essential quality1--feeling experienced by the artist4 ,and1 for the diversion of the rich1 such objects are continually being produced in enormous quantities by the artisans of art4 ,many conditions must be fulfilled to enable a man to produce a real work of art4 ,it is necessary that he should stand on the level of the highest life-conception of his time1 that he should experience feeling and have the desire and capacity to transmit it1 and that he should1 moreover1 have a talent for some one of the forms of art4 ,it is very seldom that all these conditions necessary to the production of true art are combined4 ,but in order--aided by the customary methods of borrowing1 imitating1 introducing effects1 and interesting--unceasingly to produce counterfeits of art which pass for art in our society and are well paid for1 it is only necessary to have a talent for some branch of art2 and this is very often to be met with4 ,by talent ,i mean ability3 in literary art1 the ability to express one's thoughts and impressions easily and to notice and remember characteristic details2 in the depictive arts1 to distinguish and remember lines1 forms1 and colors2 in music1 to distinguish the intervals1 and to remember and transmit the sequence of sounds4 ,and a man1 in our times1 if only he possesses such a talent and selects some specialty1 may1 after learning the methods of counterfeiting used in his branch of art1--if he has patience and if his sthetic feeling 7which would render such productions revolting to him7 be atrophied1--unceasingly1 till the end of his life1 turn out works which will pass for art in our society4 ,to produce such counterfeits1 definite rules or recipes exist in each branch of art4 ,so that the talented man1 having assimilated them1 may produce such works froid1 cold drawn1 without any feeling4 ,in order to write poems a man of literary talent needs only these qualifications3 to acquire the knack1 conformably with the requirements of rhyme and rhythm1 of using1 instead of the one really suitable word1 ten others meaning approximately the same2 to learn how to take any phrase which1 to be clear1 has but one natural order of words1 and despite all possible dislocations still to retain some sense in it2 and lastly1 to be able1 guided by the words required for the rhymes1 to devise some semblance of thoughts1 feelings1 or descriptions to suit these words4 ,having acquired these qualifications1 he may unceasingly produce poems--short or long1 religious1 amatory1 or patriotic1 according to the demand4 ,if a man of literary talent wishes to write a story or novel1 he need only form his style--i4e4 learn how to describe all that he sees--and accustom himself to remember or note down details4 ,when he has accustomed himself to this1 he can1 according to his inclination or the demand1 unceasingly produce novels or stories--historical1 naturalistic1 social1 erotic1 psychological1 or even religious1 for which latter kind a demand and fashion begins to show itself4 ,he can take subjects from books or from the events of life1 and can copy the characters of the people in his book from his acquaintances4 ,and such novels and stories1 if only they are decked out with well-observed and carefully noted details1 preferably erotic ones1 will be considered works of art1 even though they may not contain a spark of feeling experienced4 ,to produce art in dramatic form1 a talented man1 in addition to all that is required for novels and stories1 must also learn to furnish his characters with as many smart and witty sentences as possible1 must know how to utilize theatrical effects1 and how to entwine the action of his characters so that there should not be any long conversations1 but as much bustle and movement on the stage as possible4 ,if the writer is able to do this1 he may produce dramatic works one after another without stopping1 selecting his subjects from the reports of the law courts1 or from the latest society topic1 such as hypnotism1 heredity1 etc41 or from deep antiquity1 or even from the realms of fancy4 ,in the sphere of painting and sculpture it is still easier for the talented man to produce imitations of art4 ,he need only learn to draw1 paint1 and model--especially naked bodies4 ,thus equipped he can continue to paint pictures1 or model statues1 one after another1 choosing subjects according to his bent--mythological1 or religious1 or fantastic1 or symbolical2 or he may depict what is written about in the papers--a coronation1 a strike1 the ,turko-,grecian war1 famine scenes2 or1 commonest of all1 he may just copy anything he thinks beautiful--from naked women to copper basins4 ,for the production of musical art the talented man needs still less of what constitutes the essence of art1 i4e4 feeling wherewith to infect others3 but on the other hand1 he requires more physical1 gymnastic labor than for any other art1 unless it be dancing4 ,to produce works of musical art1 he must first learn to move his fingers on some instrument as rapidly as those who have reached the highest perfection2 next1 he must know how in former times polyphonic music was written1 must study what are called counterpoint and fugue2 and1 furthermore1 he must learn orchestration1 i4e4 how to utilize the effects of the instruments4 ,but once he has learned all this1 the composer may unceasingly produce one work after another2 whether programme-music1 opera1 or song 7devising sounds more or less corresponding to the words71 or chamber music1 i4e4 he may take another man's themes and work them up into definite forms by means of counterpoint and fugue2 or1 what is commonest of all1 he may compose fantastic music1 i4e4 he may take a conjunction of sounds which happens to come to hand1 and pile every sort of complication and ornamentation on to this chance combination4 ,thus1 in all realms of art1 counterfeits of art are manufactured to a ready-made1 prearranged recipe1 and these counterfeits the public of our upper classes accept for real art4 ,and this substitution of counterfeits for real works of art was the third and most important consequence of the separation of the art of the upper classes from universal art4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,in our society three conditions coperate to cause the production of objects of counterfeit art4 ,they are--7#a7 the considerable remuneration of artists for their productions1 and the professionalization of artists which this has produced1 7#b7 art criticism1 and 7#c7 schools of art4 ,while art was as yet undivided1 and only religious art was valued and rewarded while indiscriminate art was left unrewarded1 there were no counterfeits of art1 or1 if any existed1 being exposed to the criticism of the whole people1 they quickly disappeared4 ,but as soon as that division occurred1 and the upper classes acclaaimed every kind of art as good if only it afforded them pleasure1 and began to reward such art more highly than any other social activity1 immediately a large number of people devoted themselves to this activity1 and art assumed quite a different character1 and became a profession4 ,and as soon as this occurred1 the chief and most precious quality of art--its sincerity--was at once greatly weakened and eventually quite destroyed4 ,the professional artist lives by his art1 and has continually to invent subjects for his works1 and does invent them4 ,and it is obvious how great a difference must exist between works of art produced on the one hand by men such as the ,jewish prophets1 the authors of the ,psalms1 ,francis of ,assisi1 the authors of the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 of folk-stories1 legends1 and folk-songs1 many of whom not only received no remuneration for their work1 but did not even attach their names to it2 and1 on the other hand1 works produced by court poets1 dramatists and musicians receiving honors and remuneration2 and later on by professional artists1 who lived by the trade1 receiving remuneration from newspaper editors1 publishers1 impresarios1 and in general from those agents who come between the artists and the town public--the consumers of art4 ,professionalism is the first condition of the diffusion of false1 counterfeit art4 ,the second condition is the growth1 in recent times1 of artistic criticism1 i4e4 the valuation of art1 not by everybody1 and1 above all1 not by plain men1 but by erudite1 that is1 by perverted and at the same time self-confident individuals4 ,a friend of mine1 speaking of the relation of critics to artists1 half jokingly defined it thus3 ,critics are the stupid who discuss the wise4 ,however partial1 inexact1 and rude this definition may be1 it is yet partly true1 and is incomparably juster than the definition which considers critics to be men who can explain works of art4 ,critics explain6 ,what do they explain8 ,the artist1 if a real artist1 has by his work transmitted to others the feeling he experienced4 ,what is there1 then1 to explain8 ,if a work be good as art1 then the feeling expressed by the artist--be it moral or immoral--transmits itself to other people4 ,if transmitted to others1 then they feel it1 and all interpretations are superfluous4 ,if the work does not infect people1 no explanation can make it contagious4 ,an artist's work cannot be interpreted4 ,had it been possible to explain in words what he wished to convey1 the artist would have expressed himself in words4 ,he expressed it by his art only because the feeling he experienced could not be otherwise transmitted4 ,the interpretation of works of art by words only indicates that the interpreter is himself incapable of feeling the infection of art4 ,and this is actually the case2 for1 however strange it may seem to say so1 critics have always been people less susceptible than other men to the contagion of art4 ,for the most part they are able writers1 educated and clever1 but with their capacity of being infected by art quite perverted or atrophied4 ,and therefore their writings have always largely contributed1 and still contribute1 to the perversion of the taste of that public which reads them and trusts them4 ,artistic criticism did not exist--could not and cannot exist--in societies where art is undivided1 and where1 consequently1 it is appraised by the religious understanding of life common to the whole people4 ,art criticism grew1 and could grow1 only on the art of the upper classes1 who did not acknowledge the religious perception of their time4 ,universal art has a definite and indubitable internal criterion1--religious perception2 upper-class art lacks this1 and therefore the appreciators of that art are obliged to cling to some external criterion4 ,and they find it in the judgments of the finest-nurtured1 as an ,english sthetician has phrased it1 that is1 in the authority of the people who are considered educated1 nor in this alone1 but also in a tradition of such authorities4 ,this tradition is extremely misleading1 both because the opinions of the finest-nurtured are often mistaken1 and also because judgments which were valid once cease to be so with the lapse of time4 ,but the critics1 having no basis for their judgments1 never cease to repeat their traditions4 ,the classical tragedians were once considered good1 and therefore criticism considers them to be so still4 ,dante was esteemed a great poet1 ,raphael a great painter1 ,bach a great musician--and the critics1 lacking a standard by which to separate good art from bad1 not only consider these artists great1 but regard all their productions as admirable and worthy of imitation4 ,nothing has contributed1 and still contributes1 so much to the perversion of art as these authorities set up by criticism4 ,a man produces a work of art1 like every true artist expressing in his own peculiar manner a feeling he has experienced4 ,most people are infected by the artist's feeling2 and his work becomes known4 ,then criticism1 discussing the artist1 says that the work is not bad1 but all the same the artist is not a ,dante1 nor a ,shakespear1 nor a ,goethe1 nor a ,raphael1 nor what ,beethoven was in his last period4 ,and the young artist sets to work to copy those who are held up for his imitation1 and he produces not only feeble works1 but false works1--counterfeits of art4 ,thus1 for instance1 our ,pushkin writes his short poems1 ,evgeniy ,onegin1 ,the ,gipsies1 and his stories--works all varying in quality1 but all true art4 ,but then1 under the influence of false criticism extolling ,shakespear1 he writes ,boris ,godunoff1 a cold1 brain-spun work1 and this production is lauded by the critics1 set up as a model1 and imitations of it appear3 ,minin1 by ,ostrovsky1 and ,tsar ,boris1 by ,alexe ,tolsto1 and such imitations of imitations as crowd all literatures with insignificant productions4 ,the chief harm done by the critics is this1--that themselves lacking the capacity to be infected by art 7and that is the characteristic of all critics2 for did they not lack this they could not attempt the impossible--the interpretation of works of art71 they pay most attention to1 and eulogize1 brain-spun1 invented works1 and set these up as models worthy of imitation4 ,that is the reason they so confidently extol1 in literature1 the ,greek tragedians1 ,dante1 ,tasso1 ,milton1 ,shakespear1 ,goethe 7almost all he wrote71 and1 among recent writers1 ,zola and ,ibsen2 in music1 ,beethoven's last period1 and ,wagner4 ,to justify their praise of these brain-spun1 invented works1 they devise entire theories 7of which the famous theory of beauty is one72 and not only dull but also talented people compose works in strict deference to these theories2 and often even real artists1 doing violence to their genius1 submit to them4 ,every false work extolled by the critics serves as a door through which the hypocrites of art at once crowd in4 ,it is solely due to the critics1 who in our times still praise rude1 savage1 and1 for us1 often meaningless works of the ancient ,greeks3 ,sophocles1 ,euripides1 schylus1 and especially ,aristophanes2 or1 of modern writers1 ,dante1 ,tasso1 ,milton1 ,shakespear2 in painting1 all of ,raphael1 all of ,michael ,angelo1 including his absurd ,last ,judgment2 in music1 the whole of ,bach1 and the whole of ,beethoven1 including his last period1--thanks only to them have the ,ibsens1 ,maeterlincks1 ,verlaines1 ,mallarms1 ,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,klingers1 ,bcklins1 ,stucks1 ,schneiders2 in music1 the ,wagners1 ,liszts1 ,berliozes1 ,brahmses1 and ,richard ,strausses1 etc41 and all that immense mass of good-for-nothing imitators of these imitators1 become possible in our day4 ,as a good illustration of the harmful influence of criticism1 take its relation to ,beethoven4 ,among his innumerable hasty productions written to order1 there are1 notwithstanding their artificiality of form1 works of true art4 ,but he grows deaf1 cannot hear1 and begins to write invented1 unfinished works1 which are consequently often meaningless and musically unintelligible4 ,i know that musicians can imagine sounds vividly enough1 and can almost hear what they read1 but imaginary sounds can never replace real ones1 and every composer must hear his production in order to perfect it4 ,beethoven1 however1 could not hear1 could not perfect his work1 and consequently published productions which are artistic ravings4 ,but criticism1 having once acknowledged him to be a great composer1 seizes on just these abnormal works with special gusto1 and searches for extraordinary beauties in them4 ,and1 to justify its laudations 7perverting the very meaning of musical art71 it attributed to music the property of describing what it cannot describe4 ,and imitators appear--an innumerable host of imitators of these abnormal attempts at artistic productions which ,beethoven wrote when he was deaf4 ,then ,wagner appears1 who at first in critical articles praises just ,beethoven's last period1 and connects this music with ,schopenhauer's mystical theory that music is the expression of ,will--not of separate manifestations of will objectivized on various planes1 but its very essence--which is in itself as absurd as this music of ,beethoven4 ,and afterward he composes music of his own on this theory1 in conjunction with another still more erroneous system of the union of all the arts4 ,after ,wagner yet new imitators appear1 diverging yet further from art3 ,brahms1 ,richard ,strauss1 and others4 ,such are the results of criticism4 ,but the third condition of the perversion of art1 namely1 art schools1 is almost more harmful still4 ,as soon as art became1 not art for the whole people1 but for a rich class1 it became a profession2 as soon as it became a profession1 methods were devised to teach it2 people who chose this profession of art began to learn these methods1 and thus professional schools sprang up3 classes of rhetoric or literature in the public schools1 academies for painting1 conservatoires for music1 schools for dramatic art4 ,in these schools art is taught6 ,but art is the transmission to others of a special feeling experienced by the artist4 ,how can this be taught in schools8 ,no school can evoke feeling in a man1 and still less can it teach him how to manifest it in the one particular manner natural to him alone4 ,but the essence of art lies in these things4 ,the one thing these schools can teach is how to transmit feelings experienced by other artists in the way those other artists transmitted them4 ,and this is just what the professional schools do teach2 and such instruction not only does not assist the spread of true art1 but1 on the contrary1 by diffusing counterfeits of art1 does more than anything else to deprive people of the capacity to understand true art4 ,in literary art people are taught how1 without having anything they wish to say1 to write a many-paged composition on a theme about which they have never thought1 and1 moreover1 to write it so that it should resemble the work of an author admitted to be celebrated4 ,this is taught in schools4 ,in painting1 the chief training consists in learning to draw and paint from copies and models1 the naked body chiefly 7the very thing that is never seen1 and which a man occupied with real art hardly ever has to depict71 and to draw and paint as former masters drew and painted4 ,the composition of pictures is taught by giving out themes similar to those which have been treated by former acknowledged celebrities4 ,so also in dramatic schools1 the pupils are taught to recite monologues just as tragedians1 considered celebrated1 declaimed them4 ,it is the same in music4 ,the whole theory of music is nothing but a disconnected repetition of those methods which the acknowledged masters of composition made use of4 ,i have elsewhere quoted the profound remark of the ,russian artist ,bruloff on art1 but ,i cannot here refrain from repeating it1 because nothing better illustrates what can and what cannot be taught in the schools4 ,once when correcting a pupil's study1 ,bruloff just touched it in a few places1 and the poor dead study immediately became animated4 ,why1 you only touched it a wee bit1 and it is quite another thing6 said one of the pupils4 ,art begins where the wee bit begins1 replied ,bruloff1 indicating by these words just what is most characteristic of art4 ,the remark is true of all the arts1 but its justice is particularly noticeable in the performance of music4 ,that musical execution should be artistic1 should be art1 i4e4 should infect1 three chief conditions must be observed1--there are many others needed for musical perfection2 the transition from one sound to another must be interrupted or continuous2 the sound must increase or diminish steadily2 it must be blended with one and not with another sound2 the sound must have this or that timbre1 and much besides1--but take the three chief conditions2 the pitch1 the time1 and the strength of the sound4 ,musical execution is only then art1 only then infects1 when the sound is neither higher nor lower than it should be1 that is1 when exactly the infinitely small center of the required note is taken2 when that note is continued exactly as long as is needed2 and when the strength of the sound is neither more nor less than is required4 ,the slightest deviation of pitch in either direction1 the slightest increase or decrease in time1 or the slightest strengthening or weakening of the sound beyond what is needed1 destroys the perfection and1 consequently1 the infectiousness of the work4 ,so that the feeling of infection by the art of music1 which seems so simple and so easily obtained1 is a thing we receive only when the performer finds those infinitely minute degrees which are necessary to perfection in music4 ,it is the same in all arts3 a wee bit lighter1 a wee bit darker1 a wee bit higher1 lower1 to the right or the left--in painting2 a wee bit weaker or stronger in intonation1 or a wee bit sooner or later--in dramatic art2 a wee bit omitted1 over-emphasized1 or exaggerated--in poetry1 and there is no contagion4 ,infection is only obtained when an artist finds those infinitely minute degrees of which a work of art consists1 and only to the extent to which he finds them4 ,and it is quite impossible to teach people by external means to find these minute degrees2 they can only be found when a man yields to his feeling4 ,no instruction can make a dancer catch just the tact of the music1 or a singer or a fiddler take exactly the infinitely minute center of his note1 or a sketcher draw of all possible lines the only right one1 or a poet find the only meet arrangement of the only suitable words4 ,all this is found only by feeling4 ,and therefore schools may teach what is necessary in order to produce something resembling art1 but not art itself4 ,the teaching of the schools stops there where the wee bit begins--consequently where art begins4 ,accustoming people to something resembling art1 disaccustoms them to the comprehension of real art4 ,and that is how it comes about that none are more dull to art than those who have passed through the professional schools and been most successful in them4 ,professional schools produce an hypocrisy of art precisely akin to that hypocrisy of religion which is produced by theological colleges for training priests1 pastors1 and religious teachers generally4 ,as it is impossible in a school to train a man so as to make a religious teacher of him1 so it is impossible to teach a man how to become an artist4 ,art schools are thus doubly destructive of art3 first1 in that they destroy the capacity to produce real art in those who have the misfortune to enter them and go through a seven or eight years' course2 secondly1 in that they generate enormous quantities of that counterfeit art which perverts the taste of the masses and overflows our world4 ,in order that born artists may know the methods of the various arts elaborated by former artists1 there should exist in all elementary schools such classes for drawing and music 7singing7 that1 after passing through them1 every talented scholar may1 by using existing models accessible to all1 be able to perfect himself in his art independently4 ,these three conditions--the professionalization of artists1 art criticism1 and art schools--have had this effect3 that most people in our times are quite unable even to understand what art is1 and accept as art the grossest counterfeits of it4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,to what an extent people of our circle and time have lost the capacity to receive real art1 and have become accustomed to accept as art things that have nothing in common with it1 is best seen from the works of ,richard ,wagner1 which have latterly come to be more and more esteemed1 not only by the ,germans1 but also by the ,french and the ,english1 as the very highest art1 revealing new horizons to us4 ,the peculiarity of ,wagner's music1 as is known1 consists in this1--that he considered that music should serve poetry1 expressing all the shades of a poetical work4 ,the union of the drama with music1 devised in the fifteenth century in ,italy for the revival of what they imagined to have been the ancient ,greek drama with music1 is an artificial form which had1 and has1 success only among the upper classes1 and that only when gifted composers1 such as ,mozart1 ,weber1 ,rossini1 and others1 drawing inspiration from a dramatic subject1 yielded freely to the inspiration and subordinated the text to the music1 so that in their operas the important thing to the audience was merely the music on a certain text1 and not the text at all1 which latter1 even when it was utterly absurd1 as1 for instance1 in the ,magic ,flute1 still did not prevent the music from producing an artistic impression4 ,wagner wishes to correct the opera by letting music submit to the demands of poetry and unite with it4 ,but each art has its own definite realm1 which is not identical with the realm of other arts1 but merely comes in contact with them2 and therefore1 if the manifestation of1 ,i will not say several1 but even of two arts--the dramatic and the musical--be united in one complete production1 then the demands of the one art will make it impossible to fulfil the demands of the other1 as has always occurred in the ordinary operas1 where the dramatic art has submitted to1 or rather yielded place to1 the musical4 ,wagner wishes that musical art should submit to dramatic art1 and that both should appear in full strength4 ,but this is impossible2 for every work of art1 if it be a true one1 is an expression of intimate feelings of the artist1 which are quite exceptional1 and not like anything else4 ,such is a musical production1 and such is a dramatic work1 if they be true art4 ,and therefore1 in order that a production in the one branch of art should coincide with a production in the other branch1 it is necessary that the impossible should happen3 that two works from different realms of art should be absolutely exceptional1 unlike anything that existed before1 and yet should coincide1 and be exactly alike4 ,and this cannot be1 just as there cannot be two men1 or even two leaves on a tree1 exactly alike4 ,still less can two works from different realms of art1 the musical and the literary1 be absolutely alike4 ,if they coincide1 then either one is a work of art and the other a counterfeit1 or both are counterfeits4 ,two live leaves cannot be exactly alike1 but two artificial leaves may be4 ,and so it is with works of art4 ,they can only coincide completely when neither the one nor the other is art1 but only cunningly devised semblances of it4 ,if poetry and music may be joined1 as occurs in hymns1 songs1 and romances--7though even in these the music does not follow the changes of each verse of the text1 as ,wagner wants to1 but the song and the music merely produce a coincident effect on the mind7--this occurs only because lyrical poetry and music have1 to some extent1 one and the same aim3 to produce a mental condition and the conditions produced by lyrical poetry and by music can1 more or less1 coincide4 ,but even in these conjunctions the center of gravity always lies in one of the two productions1 so that it is one of them that produces the artistic impression while the other remains unregarded4 ,and still less is it possible for such union to exist between epic or dramatic poetry and music4 ,moreover1 one of the chief conditions of artistic creation is the complete freedom of the artist from every kind of preconceived demand4 ,and the necessity of adjusting his musical work to a work from another realm of art is a preconceived demand of such a kind as to destroy all possibility of creative power2 and therefore works of this kind1 adjusted to one another1 are1 and must be1 as has always happened1 not works of art1 but only imitations of art1 like the music of a melodrama1 signatures to pictures1 illustrations1 and librettos to operas4 ,and such are ,wagner's productions4 ,and a confirmation of this is to be seen in the fact that ,wagner's new music lacks the chief characteristic of every true work of art2 namely1 such entirety and completeness that the smallest alteration in its form would disturb the meaning of the whole work4 ,in a true work of art--poem1 drama1 picture1 song1 or symphony--it is impossible to extract one line1 one scene1 one figure1 or one bar from its place and put it in another1 without infringing the significance of the whole work2 just as it is impossible1 without infringing the life of an organic being1 to extract an organ from one place and insert it in another4 ,but in the music of ,wagner's last period1 with the exception of certain parts of little importance which have an independent musical meaning1 it is possible to make all kinds of transpositions1 putting what was in front behind1 and vice versa1 without altering the musical sense4 ,and the reason why these transpositions do not alter the sense of ,wagner's music is because the sense lies in the words and not in the music4 ,the musical score of ,wagner's later operas is like what the result would be should one of those versifiers--of whom there are now many1 with tongues so broken that they can write verses on any theme to any rhymes in any rhythm1 which sound as if they had a meaning--conceive the idea of illustrating by his verses some symphony or sonata of ,beethoven1 or some ballade of ,chopin1 in the following manner4 ,to the first bars1 of one character1 he writes verses corresponding in his opinion to those first bars4 ,next come some bars of a different character1 and he also writes verses corresponding in his opinion to them1 but with no internal connection with the first verses1 and1 moreover1 without rhymes and without rhythm4 ,such a production1 without the music1 would be exactly parallel in poetry to what ,wagner's operas are in music1 if heard without the words4 ,but ,wagner is not only a musician1 he is also a poet1 or both together2 and therefore1 to judge of ,wagner1 one must know his poetry also--that same poetry which the music has to subserve4 ,the chief poetical production of ,wagner is ,the ,nibelung's ,ring4 ,this work has attained such enormous importance in our time1 and has such influence on all that now professes to be art1 that it is necessary for every one to-day to have some idea of it4 ,i have carefully read through the four booklets which contain this work1 and have drawn up a brief summary of it1 which ,i give in ,appendix ,,iii4 ,i would strongly advise the reader 7if he has not perused the poem itself1 which would be the best thing to do7 at least to read my account of it1 so as to have an idea of this extraordinary work4 ,it is a model work of counterfeit art1 so gross as to be even ridiculous4 ,but we are told that it is impossible to judge of ,wagner's works without seeing them on the stage4 ,the ,second ,day of this drama1 which1 as ,i was told1 is the best part of the whole work1 was given in ,moscow last winter1 and ,i went to see the performance4 ,when ,i arrived the enormous theater was already filled from top to bottom4 ,there were grand dukes1 and the flower of the aristocracy1 of the merchant class1 of the learned1 and of the middle-class official public4 ,most of them held the libretto1 fathoming its meaning4 ,musicians--some of them elderly1 gray-haired men--followed the music1 score in hand4 ,evidently the performance of this work was an event of importance4 ,i was rather late1 but ,i was told that the short prelude1 with which the act begins1 was of little importance1 and that it did not matter having missed it4 ,when ,i arrived1 an actor sat on the stage amid decorations intended to represent a cave1 and before something which was meant to represent a smith's forge4 ,he was dressed in trico-tights1 with a cloak of skins1 wore a wig and an artificial beard1 and with white1 weak genteel hands 7his easy movements1 and especially the shape of his stomach and his lack of muscle revealed the actor7 beat an impossible sword with an unnatural hammer in a way in which no one ever uses a hammer2 and at the same time1 opening his mouth in a strange way1 he sang something incomprehensible4 ,the music of various instruments accompanied the strange sounds which he emitted4 ,from the libretto one was able to gather that the actor had to represent a powerful gnome1 who lived in the cave1 and who was forging a sword for ,siegfried1 whom he had reared4 ,one could tell he was a gnome by the fact that the actor walked all the time bending the knees of his trico-covered legs4 ,this gnome1 still opening his mouth in the same strange way1 long continued to sing or shout4 ,the music meanwhile runs over something strange1 like beginnings which are not continued and do not get finished4 ,from the libretto one could learn that the gnome is telling himself about a ring which a giant had obtained1 and which the gnome wishes to procure through ,siegfried's aid1 while ,siegfried wants a good sword1 on the forging of which the gnome is occupied4 ,after this conversation or singing to himself has gone on rather a long time1 other sounds are heard in the orchestra1 also like something beginning and not finishing1 and another actor appears1 with a horn slung over his shoulder1 and accompanied by a man running on all fours dressed up as a bear1 whom he sets at the smith-gnome4 ,the latter runs away without unbending the knees of his trico-covered legs4 ,this actor with the horn represented the hero1 ,siegfried4 ,the sounds which were emitted in the orchestra on the entrance of this actor were intended to represent ,siegfried's character1 and are called ,siegfried's leit-motiv4 ,and these sounds are repeated each time ,siegfried appears4 ,there is one fixed combination of sounds1 or leit-motiv1 for each character1 and this leit-motiv is repeated every time the person whom it represents appears2 and when any one is mentioned the motiv is heard which relates to that person4 ,moreover1 each article also has its own leit-motiv or chord4 ,there is a motiv of the ring1 a motiv of the helmet1 a motiv of the apple1 a motiv of fire1 spear1 sword1 water1 etc42 and as soon as the ring1 helmet1 or apple is mentioned1 the motiv or chord of the ring1 helmet1 or apple is heard4 ,the actor with the horn opens his mouth as unnaturally as the gnome1 and long continues in a chanting voice to shout some words1 and in a similar chant ,mime 7that is the gnome's name7 answers something or other to him4 ,the meaning of this conversation can only be discovered from the libretto2 and it is that ,siegfried was brought up by the gnome1 and therefore1 for some reason1 hates him and always wishes to kill him4 ,the gnome has forged a sword for ,siegfried1 but ,siegfried is dissatisfied with it4 ,from a ten-page conversation 7by the libretto71 lasting half an hour and conducted with the same strange openings of the mouth1 and chantings1 it appears that ,siegfried's mother gave birth to him in the wood1 and that concerning his father all that is known is that he had a sword which was broken1 the pieces of which are in ,mime's possession1 and that ,siegfried does not know fear and wishes to go out of the wood4 ,mime1 however1 does not want to let him go4 ,during the conversation the music never omits1 at the mention of father1 sword1 etc41 to sound the motiv of these people and things4 ,after these conversations fresh sounds are heard--those of the god ,wotan--and a wanderer appears4 ,this wanderer is the god ,wotan4 ,also dressed up in a wig1 and also in tights1 this god ,wotan1 standing in a stupid pose with a spear1 thinks proper to recount what ,mime must have known before1 but what it is necessary to tell the audience4 ,he does not tell it simply1 but in the form of riddles which he orders himself to guess1 staking his head 7one does not know why7 that he will guess right4 ,moreover1 whenever the wanderer strikes his spear on the ground1 fire comes out of the ground1 and in the orchestra the sounds of spear and of fire are heard4 ,the orchestra accompanies the conversation1 and the motiv of the people and things spoken of are always artfully intermingled4 ,besides this the music expresses feelings in the most nave manner3 the terrible by sounds in the bass1 the frivolous by rapid touches in the treble1 etc4 ,the riddles have no meaning except to tell the audience what the nibelungs are1 what the giants are1 what the gods are1 and what has happened before4 ,this conversation also is chanted with strangely opened mouths and continues for eight libretto pages1 and correspondingly long on the stage4 ,after this the wanderer departs1 and ,siegfried returns and talks with ,mime for thirteen pages more4 ,there is not a single melody the whole of this time1 but merely intertwinings of the leit-motiv of the people and things mentioned4 ,the conversation tells that ,mime wishes to teach ,siegfried fear1 and that ,siegfried does not know what fear is4 ,having finished this conversation1 ,siegfried seizes one of the pieces of what is meant to represent the broken sword1 saws it up1 puts it on what is meant to represent the forge1 melts it1 and then forges it and sings3 ,heiho6 heiho6 heiho6 ,ho6 ho6 ,aha6 oho6 aha6 ,heiaho6 heiaho6 heiaho6 ,ho6 ho6 ,hahei6 hoho6 hahei6 and ,act ,i4 finishes4 ,as far as the question ,i had come to the theater to decide was concerned1 my mind was fully made up1 as surely as on the question of the merits of my lady acquaintance's novel when she read me the scene between the loose-haired maiden in the white dress and the hero with two white dogs and a hat with a feather la ,guillaume ,tell4 ,from an author who could compose such spurious scenes1 outraging all sthetic feeling1 as those which ,i had witnessed1 there was nothing to be hoped2 it may safely be decided that all that such an author can write will be bad1 because he evidently does not know what a true work of art is4 ,i wished to leave1 but the friends ,i was with asked me to remain1 declaring that one could not form an opinion by that one act1 and that the second would be better4 ,so ,i stopped for the second act4 ,act ,,ii41 night4 ,afterward1 dawn4 ,in general1 the whole piece is crammed with lights1 clouds1 moonlight1 darkness1 magic fires1 thunder1 etc4 ,the scene represents a wood1 and in the wood there is a cave4 ,at the entrance of the cave sits a third actor in tights1 representing another gnome4 ,it dawns4 ,enter the god ,wotan1 again with a spear1 and again in the guise of a wanderer4 ,again his sounds1 together with fresh sounds of the deepest bass that can be produced4 ,these latter indicate that the dragon is speaking4 ,wotan awakens the dragon4 ,the same bass sounds are repeated1 growing yet deeper and deeper4 ,first the dragon says1 ,i want to sleep1 but afterward he crawls out of the cave4 ,the dragon is represented by two men2 it is dressed in a green1 scaly skin1 waves a tail at one end1 while at the other it opens a kind of crocodile's jaw that is fastened on1 and from which flames appear4 ,the dragon 7who is meant to be dreadful1 and may appear so to five-year-old children7 speaks some words in a terribly bass voice4 ,this is all so stupid1 so like what is done in a booth at a fair1 that it is surprising that people over seven years of age can witness it seriously2 yet thousands of quasi-cultured people sit and attentively hear and see it1 and are delighted4 ,siegfried1 with his horn1 reappears1 as does ,mime also4 ,in the orchestra the sounds denoting them are emitted1 and they talk about whether ,siegfried does or does not know what fear is4 ,mime goes away1 and a scene commences which is intended to be most poetical4 ,siegfried1 in his tights1 lies down in a would-be beautiful pose1 and alternately keeps silent and talks to himself4 ,he ponders1 listens to the song of birds1 and wishes to imitate them4 ,for this purpose he cuts a reed with his sword and makes a pipe4 ,the dawn grows brighter and brighter2 the birds sing4 ,siegfried tries to imitate the birds4 ,in the orchestra is heard the imitation of birds1 alternating with sounds corresponding to the words he speaks4 ,but ,siegfried does not succeed with his pipe-playing1 so he plays on his horn instead4 ,this scene is unendurable4 ,of music1 i4e4 of art serving as a means to transmit a state of mind experienced by the author1 there is not even a suggestion4 ,there is something that is absolutely unintelligible musically4 ,in a musical sense a hope is continually experienced1 followed by disappointment1 as if a musical thought were commenced only to be broken off4 ,if there are something like musical commencements1 these commencements are so short1 so encumbered with complications of harmony and orchestration and with effects of contrast1 are so obscure and unfinished1 and what is happening on the stage meanwhile is so abominably false1 that it is difficult even to perceive these musical snatches1 let alone to be infected by them4 ,above all1 from the very beginning to the very end1 and in each note1 the author's purpose is so audible and visible that one sees and hears neither ,siegfried nor the birds1 but only a limited1 self-opinionated ,german1 of bad taste and bad style1 who has a most false conception of poetry1 and who1 in the rudest and most primitive manner1 wishes to transmit to me these false and mistaken conceptions of his4 ,every one knows the feeling of distrust and resistance which is always evoked by an author's evident predetermination4 ,a narrator need only say in advance1 ,prepare to cry or to laugh1 and you are sure neither to cry nor to laugh4 ,but when you see that an author prescribes emotion at what is not touching1 but only laughable or disgusting1 and when you see1 moreover1 that the author is fully assured that he has captivated you1 a painfully tormenting feeling results1 similar to what one would feel if an old1 deformed woman put on a ball-dress1 and smilingly coquetted before you1 confident of your approbation4 ,this impression was strengthened by the fact that around me ,i saw a crowd of three thousand people1 who not only patiently witnessed all this absurd nonsense1 but even considered it their duty to be delighted with it4 ,i somehow managed to sit out the next scene also1 in which the monster appears1 to the accompaniment of his bass notes intermingled with the motiv of ,siegfried2 but after the fight with the monster1 and all the roars1 fires1 and sword-wavings1 ,i could stand no more of it1 and escaped from the theater with a feeling of repulsion which1 even now1 ,i cannot forget4 ,listening to this opera1 ,i involuntarily thought of a respected1 wise1 educated country laborer1--one1 for instance1 of those wise and truly religious men whom ,i know among the peasants1--and ,i pictured to myself the terrible perplexity such a man would be in were he to witness what ,i was seeing that evening4 ,what would he think if he knew of all the labor spent on such a performance1 and saw that audience1 those great ones of the earth1--old1 bald-headed1 gray-bearded men1 whom he had been accustomed to respect1--sit silent and attentive1 listening to and looking at all these stupidities for five hours on end8 ,not to speak of an adult laborer1 one can hardly imagine even a child of over seven occupying himself with such a stupid1 incoherent fairy tale4 ,and yet an enormous audience1 the cream of the cultured upper classes1 sits out five hours of this insane performance1 and goes away imagining that by paying tribute to this nonsense it has acquired a fresh right to esteem itself advanced and enlightened4 ,i speak of the ,moscow public4 ,but what is the ,moscow public8 ,it is but a hundredth part of that public which1 while considering itself most highly enlightened1 esteems it a merit to have so lost the capacity of being infected by art1 that not only can it witness this stupid sham without being revolted1 but can even take delight in it4 ,in ,bayreuth1 where these performances were first given1 people who consider themselves finely cultured assembled from the ends of the earth1 spent1 say one hundred pounds each1 to see this performance1 and for four days running they went to see and hear this nonsensical rubbish1 sitting it out for six hours each day4 ,but why did people go1 and why do they still go to these performances1 and why do they admire them8 ,the question naturally presents itself3 ,how is the success of ,wagner's works to be explained8 ,that success ,i explain to myself in this way3 thanks to his exceptional position in having at his disposal the resources of a king1 ,wagner was able to command all the methods for counterfeiting art which have been developed by long usage1 and1 employing these methods with great ability1 he produced a model work of counterfeit art4 ,the reason why ,i have selected his work for my illustration is1 that in no other counterfeit of art known to me are all the methods by which art is counterfeited--namely1 borrowings1 imitation1 effects1 and interestingness--so ably and powerfully united4 ,from the subject1 borrowed from antiquity1 to the clouds and the risings of the sun and moon1 ,wagner1 in this work1 has made use of all that is considered poetical4 ,we have here the sleeping beauty1 and nymphs1 and subterranean fires1 and gnomes1 and battles1 and swords1 and love1 and incest1 and a monster1 and singing-birds--the whole arsenal of the poetical is brought into action4 ,moreover1 everything is imitative2 the decorations are imitated1 and the costumes are imitated4 ,all are just as1 according to the data supplied by archology1 they would have been in antiquity4 ,the very sounds are imitative2 for ,wagner1 who was not destitute of musical talent1 invented just such sounds as imitate the strokes of a hammer1 the hissing of molten iron1 the singing of birds1 etc4 ,furthermore1 in this work everything is in the highest degree striking in its effects and in its peculiarities3 its monsters1 its magic fires1 and its scenes under water2 the darkness in which the audience sit1 the invisibility of the orchestra1 and the hitherto unemployed combinations of harmony4 ,and besides1 it is all interesting4 ,the interest lies not only in the question who will kill whom1 and who will marry whom1 and who is whose son1 and what will happen next8--the interest lies also in the relation of the music to the text4 ,the rolling waves of the ,rhine--now how is that to be expressed in music8 ,an evil gnome appears--how is the music to express an evil gnome8--and how is it to express the sensuality of this gnome8 ,how will bravery1 fire1 or apples be expressed in music8 ,how are the leit-motiv of the people speaking to be interwoven with the leit-motiv of the people and objects about whom they speak8 ,besides1 the music has a further interest4 ,it diverges from all formerly accepted laws1 and most unexpected and totally new modulations crop up 7as is not only possible1 but even easy in music having no inner law of its being72 the dissonances are new1 and are allowed in a new way--and this1 too1 is interesting4 ,and it is this poeticality1 imitativeness1 effectfulness1 and interestingness which1 thanks to the peculiarities of ,wagner's talent1 and to the advantageous position in which he was placed1 are in these productions carried to the highest pitch of perfection1 that so act on the spectator1 hypnotizing him as one would be hypnotized who should listen for several consecutive hours to the ravings of a maniac pronounced with great oratorical power4 ,people say3 ,you cannot judge without having seen ,wagner performed at ,bayreuth3 in the dark1 where the orchestra is out of sight concealed under the stage1 and where the performance is brought to the highest perfection4 ,and this just proves that we have here no question of art1 but one of hypnotism4 ,it is just what the spiritualists say4 ,to convince you of the reality of their apparitions they usually say1 ,you cannot judge2 you must try it1 be present at several sances1 i4e4 come and sit silent in the dark for hours together in the same room with semi-sane people1 and repeat this some ten times over1 and you shall see all that we see4 ,yes1 naturally6 ,only place yourself in such conditions1 and you may see what you will4 ,but this can be still more quickly attained by getting drunk or smoking opium4 ,it is the same when listening to an opera of ,wagner's4 ,sit in the dark for four days in company with people who are not quite normal1 and1 through the auditory nerves1 subject your brain to the strongest action of the sounds best adapted to excite it1 and you will no doubt be reduced to an abnormal condition1 and be enchanted by absurdities4 ,but to attain this end you do not even need four days2 the five hours during which one day is enacted1 as in ,moscow1 are quite enough4 ,nor are five hours needed2 even one hour is enough for people who have no clear conception of what art should be1 and who have come to the conclusion in advance that what they are going to see is excellent1 and that indifference or dissatisfaction with this work will serve as a proof of their inferiority and lack of culture4 ,i observed the audience present at this representation4 ,the people who led the whole audience and gave the tone to it were those who had previously been hypnotized1 and who again succumbed to the hypnotic influence to which they were accustomed4 ,these hypnotized people1 being in an abnormal condition1 were perfectly enraptured4 ,moreover1 all the art critics1 who lack the capacity to be infected by art and therefore always especially prize works like ,wagner's opera where it is all an affair of the intellect1 also1 with much profundity1 expressed their approval of a work affording such ample material for ratiocination4 ,and following these two groups went that large city crowd 7indifferent to art1 with their capacity to be infected by it perverted and partly atrophied71 headed by the princes1 millionaires1 and art patrons1 who1 like sorry harriers1 keep close to those who most loudly and decidedly express their opinion4 ,oh1 yes1 certainly6 ,what poetry6 ,marvelous6 ,especially the birds6 ,yes1 yes6 ,i am quite vanquished6 exclaim these people1 repeating in various tones what they have just heard from men whose opinion appears to them authoritative4 ,if some people do feel insulted by the absurdity and spuriousness of the whole thing1 they are timidly silent1 as sober men are timid and silent when surrounded by tipsy ones4 ,and thus1 thanks to the masterly skill with which it counterfeits art while having nothing in common with it1 a meaningless1 coarse1 spurious production finds acceptance all over the world1 costs millions of roubles to produce1 and assists more and more to pervert the taste of people of the upper classes and their conception of what is art4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,i know that most men--not only those considered clever1 but even those who are very clever1 and capable of understanding most difficult scientific1 mathematical1 or philosophic problems--can very seldom discern even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as to oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions they have formed1 perhaps with much difficulty--conclusions of which they are proud1 which they have taught to others1 and on which they have built their lives4 ,and therefore ,i have little hope that what ,i adduce as to the perversion of art and taste in our society will be accepted or even seriously considered4 ,nevertheless1 ,i must state fully the inevitable conclusion to which my investigation into the question of art has brought me4 ,this investigation has brought me to the conviction that almost all that our society considers to be art1 good art1 and the whole of art1 far from being real and good art1 and the whole of art1 is not even art at all1 but only a counterfeit of it4 ,this position1 ,i know1 will seem very strange and paradoxical2 but if we once acknowledge art to be a human activity by means of which some people transmit their feelings to others 7and not a service of ,beauty1 nor a manifestation of the ,idea1 and so forth71 we shall inevitably have to admit this further conclusion also4 ,if it is true that art is an activity by means of which one man1 having experienced a feeling1 intentionally transmits it to others1 then we have inevitably to admit further1 that of all that among us is termed the art of the upper classes--of all those novels1 stories1 dramas1 comedies1 pictures1 sculptures1 symphonies1 operas1 operettas1 ballets1 etc41 which profess to be works of art--scarcely one in a hundred thousand proceeds from an emotion felt by its author1 all the rest being but manufactured counterfeits of art1 in which borrowing1 imitating1 effects1 and interestingness replace the contagion of feeling4 ,that the proportion of real productions of art is to the counterfeits as one to some hundreds of thousands or even more1 may be seen by the following calculation4 ,i have read somewhere that the artist painters in ,paris alone number #cj1jjj2 there will probably be as many in ,england1 as many in ,germany1 and as many in ,russia1 ,italy1 and the smaller states combined4 ,so that in all there will be in ,europe1 say1 #abj1jjj painters2 and there are probably as many musicians and as many literary artists4 ,if these #cfj1jjj individuals produce three works a year each 7and many of them produce ten or more71 then each year yields over a million so-called works of art4 ,how many1 then1 must have been produced in the last ten years1 and how many in the whole time since upper-class art broke off from the art of the whole people8 ,evidently millions4 ,yet who of all the connoisseurs of art has received impressions from all these pseudo works of art8 ,not to mention all the laboring classes who have no conception of these productions1 even people of the upper classes cannot know one in a thousand of them all1 and cannot remember those they have known4 ,these works all appear under the guise of art1 produce no impression on any one 7except when they serve as pastimes for the idle crowd of rich people71 and vanish utterly4 ,in reply to this it is usually said that without this enormous number of unsuccessful attempts we should not have the real works of art4 ,but such reasoning is as though a baker1 in reply to a reproach that his bread was bad1 were to say that if it were not for the hundreds of spoiled loaves there would not be any well-baked ones4 ,it is true that where there is gold there is also much sand2 but that cannot serve as a reason for talking a lot of nonsense in order to say something wise4 ,we are surrounded by productions considered artistic4 ,thousands of verses1 thousands of poems1 thousands of novels1 thousands of dramas1 thousands of pictures1 thousands of musical pieces1 follow one after another4 ,all the verses describe love1 or nature1 or the author's state of mind1 and in all of them rhyme and rhythm are observed4 ,all the dramas and comedies are splendidly mounted and are performed by admirably trained actors4 ,all the novels are divided into chapters2 all of them describe love1 contain effective situations1 and correctly describe the details of life4 ,all the symphonies contain allegro1 andante1 scherzo1 and finale2 all consist of modulations and chords1 and are played by highly trained musicians4 ,all the pictures1 in gold frames1 saliently depict faces and sundry accessories4 ,but among these productions in the various branches of art1 there is in each branch one among hundreds of thousands1 not only somewhat better than the rest1 but differing from them as a diamond differs from paste4 ,the one is priceless1 the others not only have no value1 but are worse than valueless1 for they deceive and pervert taste4 ,and yet1 externally1 they are1 to a man of perverted or atrophied artistic perception1 precisely alike4 ,in our society the difficulty of recognizing real works of art is further increased by the fact that the external quality of the work in false productions is not only no worse1 but often better1 than in real ones2 the counterfeit is often more effective than the real1 and its subject more interesting4 ,how is one to discriminate8 ,how is one to find a production in no way distinguished in externals from hundreds of thousands of others intentionally made to imitate it precisely8 ,for a country peasant of unperverted taste this is as easy as it is for an animal of unspoilt scent to follow the trace he needs among a thousand others in wood or forest4 ,the animal unerringly finds what he needs4 ,so also the man1 if only his natural qualities have not been perverted1 will1 without fail1 select from among thousands of objects the real work of art he requires1--that infecting him with the feeling experienced by the artist4 ,but it is not so with those whose taste has been perverted by their education and life4 ,the receptive feeling for art of these people is atrophied1 and in valuing artistic productions they must be guided by discussion and study1 which discussion and study completely confuse them4 ,so that most people in our society are quite unable to distinguish a work of art from the grossest counterfeit4 ,people sit for whole hours in concert-rooms and theaters listening to the new composers1 consider it a duty to read the novels of the famous modern novelists1 and to look at pictures representing either something incomprehensible1 or just the very things they see much better in real life2 and1 above all1 they consider it incumbent on them to be enraptured by all this1 imagining it all to be art1 while at the same time they will pass real works of art by1 not only without attention1 but even with contempt1 merely because1 in their circle1 these works are not included in the list of works of art4 ,a few days ago ,i was returning home from a walk feeling depressed1 as occurs sometimes4 ,on nearing the house ,i heard the loud singing of a large choir of peasant women4 ,they were welcoming my daughter1 celebrating her return home after her marriage4 ,in this singing1 with its cries and clanging of scythes1 such a definite feeling of joy1 cheerfulness1 and energy was expressed1 that1 without noticing how it infected me1 ,i continued my way toward the house in a better mood1 and reached home smiling1 and quite in good spirits4 ,that same evening1 a visitor1 an admirable musician1 famed for his execution of classical music1 and particularly of ,beethoven1 played us ,beethoven's sonata1 ,opus #aja4 ,for the benefit of those who might otherwise attribute my judgment of that sonata of ,beethoven to non-comprehension of it1 ,i should mention that1 whatever other people understand of that sonata and of other productions of ,beethoven's later period1 ,i1 being very susceptible to music1 equally understood4 ,for a long time ,i used to attune myself so as to delight in those shapeless improvisations which form the subject-matter of the works of ,beethoven's later period1 but ,i had only to consider the question of art seriously1 and to compare the impression ,i received from ,beethoven's later works with those pleasant1 clear1 and strong musical impressions which are transmitted1 for instance1 by the melodies of ,bach 7his arias71 ,haydn1 ,mozart1 ,chopin1 7when his melodies are not overloaded with complications and ornamentation71 and of ,beethoven himself in his earlier period1 and1 above all1 with the impressions produced by folk-songs1--,italian1 ,norwegian1 or ,russian1--by the ,hungarian tzardas1 and other such simple1 clear1 and powerful music1 and the obscure1 almost unhealthy excitement from ,beethoven's later pieces that ,i had artificially evoked in myself was immediately destroyed4 ,on the completion of the performance 7though it was noticeable that every one had become dull7 those present1 in the accepted manner1 warmly praised ,beethoven's profound production1 and did not forget to add that formerly they had not been able to understand that last period of his1 but that they now saw that he was really then at his very best4 ,and when ,i ventured to compare the impression made on me by the singing of the peasant women--an impression which had been shared by all who heard it--with the effect of this sonata1 the admirers of ,beethoven only smiled contemptuously1 not considering it necessary to reply to such strange remarks4 ,but1 for all that1 the song of the peasant women was real art1 transmitting a definite and strong feeling2 while the #ajast sonata of ,beethoven was only an unsuccessful attempt at art1 containing no definite feeling1 and therefore not infectious4 ,for my work on art ,i have this winter read diligently1 though with great effort1 the celebrated novels and stories1 praised by all ,europe1 written by ,zola1 ,bourget1 ,huysmans1 and ,kipling4 ,at the same time ,i chanced on a story in a child's magazine1 and by a quite unknown writer1 which told of the ,easter preparations in a poor widow's family4 ,the story tells how the mother managed with difficulty to obtain some wheat-flour1 which she poured on the table ready to knead4 ,she then went out to procure some yeast1 telling the children not to leave the hut1 and to take care of the flour4 ,when the mother had gone1 some other children ran shouting near the window1 calling those in the hut to come to play4 ,the children forgot their mother's warning1 ran into the street1 and were soon engrossed in the game4 ,the mother1 on her return with the yeast1 finds a hen on the table throwing the last of the flour to her chickens1 who were busily picking it out of the dust of the earthen floor4 ,the mother1 in despair1 scolds the children1 who cry bitterly4 ,and the mother begins to feel pity for them--but the white flour has all gone4 ,so to mend matters she decides to make the ,easter cake with sifted rye-flour1 brushing it over with white of egg1 and surrounding it with eggs4 ,rye-bread which we bake is akin to any cake1 says the mother1 using a rhyming proverb to console the children for not having an ,easter cake made with white flour4 ,and the children1 quickly passing from despair to rapture1 repeat the proverb and await the ,easter cake more merrily even than before4 ,well6 the reading of the novels and stories by ,zola1 ,bourget1 ,huysmans1 ,kipling1 and others1 handling the most harrowing subjects1 did not touch me for one moment1 and ,i was provoked with the authors all the while1 as one is provoked with a man who considers you so nave that he does not even conceal the trick by which he intends to take you in4 ,from the first lines you see the intention with which the book is written1 and the details all become superfluous1 and one feels dull4 ,above all1 one knows that the author had no other feeling all the time than a desire to write a story or a novel1 and so one receives no artistic impression4 ,on the other hand1 ,i could not tear myself away from the unknown author's tale of the children and the chickens1 because ,i was at once infected by the feeling which the author had evidently experienced1 revoked in himself1 and transmitted4 ,vasnetsoff is one of our ,russian painters4 ,he has painted ecclesiastical pictures in ,kieff ,cathedral1 and every one praises him as the founder of some new1 elevated kind of ,christian art4 ,he worked at those pictures for ten years1 was paid tens of thousands of roubles for them1 and they are all simply bad imitations of imitations of imitations1 destitute of any spark of feeling4 ,and this same ,vasnetsoff drew a picture for ,tourgenieff's story1 ,the ,quail 7in which it is told how1 in his son's presence1 a father killed a quail and felt pity for it71 showing the boy asleep with pouting upper lip1 and above him1 as a dream1 the quail4 ,and this picture is a true work of art4 ,in the ,english ,academy of #ahig two pictures were exhibited together2 one of which1 by ,j4 ,c4 ,dolman1 was the temptation of ,st4 ,anthony4 ,the saint is on his knees praying4 ,behind him stands a naked woman and animals of some kind4 ,it is apparent that the naked woman pleased the artist very much1 but that ,anthony did not concern him at all2 and that1 so far from the temptation being terrible to him 7the artist7 it is highly agreeable4 ,and therefore if there be any art in this picture1 it is very nasty and false4 ,next in the same book of academy pictures comes a picture by ,langley1 showing a stray beggar-boy1 who has evidently been called in by a woman who has taken pity on him4 ,the boy1 pitifully drawing his bare feet under the bench1 is eating2 the woman is looking on1 probably considering whether he will not want some more2 and a girl of about seven1 leaning on her arm1 is carefully and seriously looking on1 not taking her eyes from the hungry boy1 and evidently understanding for the first time what poverty is1 and what inequality among people is1 and asking herself why she has everything provided for her while this boy goes barefoot and hungry8 ,she feels sorry1 and yet pleased4 ,and she loves both the boy and goodness4444 ,and one feels that the artist loved this girl1 and that she too loves4 ,and this picture1 by an artist who1 ,i think1 is not very widely known1 is an admirable and true work of art4 ,i remember seeing a performance of ,hamlet by ,rossi4 ,both the tragedy itself and the performer who took the chief part are considered by our critics to represent the climax of supreme dramatic art4 ,and yet1 both from the subject-matter of the drama and from the performance1 ,i experienced all the time that peculiar suffering which is caused by false imitations of works of art4 ,and ,i lately read of a theatrical performance among the savage tribe1 the ,voguls4 ,a spectator describes the play4 ,a big ,vogul and a little one1 both dressed in reindeer skins1 represent a reindeer-doe and its young4 ,a third ,vogul1 with a bow1 represents a huntsman on snow-shoes1 and a fourth imitates with his voice a bird that warns the reindeer of their danger4 ,the play is that the huntsman follows the track that the doe with its young one has traveled4 ,the deer run off the scene1 and again reappear4 7,such performances take place in a small tent-house47 ,the huntsman gains more and more on the pursued4 ,the little deer is tired1 and presses against its mother4 ,the doe stops to draw breath4 ,the hunter comes up with them and draws his bow4 ,but just then the bird sounds its note1 warning the deer of their danger4 ,they escape4 ,again there is a chase1 and again the hunter gains on them1 catches them1 and lets fly his arrow4 ,the arrow strikes the young deer4 ,unable to run1 the little one presses against its mother4 ,the mother licks its wound4 ,the hunter draws another arrow4 ,the audience1 as the eye-witness describes them1 are paralyzed with suspense2 deep groans and even weeping is heard among them4 ,and1 from the mere description1 ,i felt that this was a true work of art4 ,what ,i am saying will be considered irrational paradox1 at which one can only be amazed2 but for all that ,i must say what ,i think2 namely1 that people of our circle1 of whom some compose verses1 stories1 novels1 operas1 symphonies1 and sonatas1 paint all kinds of pictures and make statues1 while others hear and look at these things1 and again others appraise and criticize it all1 discuss1 condemn1 triumph1 and raise monuments to one another1 generation after generation1--that all these people1 with very few exceptions1 artists1 and public1 and critics1 have never 7except in childhood and earliest youth1 before hearing any discussions on art7 experienced that simple feeling familiar to the plainest man and even to a child1 that sense of infection with another's feeling1--compelling us to joy in another's gladness1 to sorrow at another's grief1 and to mingle souls with another1--which is the very essence of art4 ,and therefore these people not only cannot distinguish true works of art from counterfeits1 but continually mistake for real art the worst and most artificial1 while they do not even perceive works of real art1 because the counterfeits are always more ornate1 while true art is modest4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,art1 in our society1 has been so perverted that not only has bad art come to be considered good1 but even the very perception of what art really is has been lost4 ,in order to be able to speak about the art of our society1 it is1 therefore1 first of all necessary to distinguish art from counterfeit art4 ,there is one indubitable indication distinguishing real art from its counterfeit1 namely1 the infectiousness of art4 ,if a man1 without exercising effort and without altering his standpoint1 on reading1 hearing1 or seeing another man's work1 experiences a mental condition which unites him with that man and with other people who also partake of that work of art1 then the object evoking that condition is a work of art4 ,and however poetical1 realistic1 effectful1 or interesting a work may be1 it is not a work of art if it does not evoke that feeling 7quite distinct from all other feelings7 of joy1 and of spiritual union with another 7the author7 and with others 7those who are also infected by it74 ,it is true that this indication is an internal one1 and that there are people who have forgotten what the action of real art is1 who expect something else from art 7in our society the great majority are in this state71 and that therefore such people may mistake for this sthetic feeling the feeling of divertisement and a certain excitement which they receive from counterfeits of art4 ,but though it is impossible to undeceive these people1 just as it is impossible to convince a man suffering from ,daltonism that green is not red1 yet1 for all that1 this indication remains perfectly definite to those whose feeling for art is neither perverted nor atrophied1 and it clearly distinguishes the feeling produced by art from all other feelings4 ,the chief peculiarity of this feeling is that the receiver of a true artistic impression is so united to the artist that he feels as if the work were his own and not some one else's1--as if what it expresses were just what he had long been wishing to express4 ,a real work of art destroys1 in the consciousness of the receiver1 the separation between himself and the artist2 nor that alone1 but also between himself and all whose minds receive this work of art4 ,in this freeing of our personality from its separation and isolation1 in this uniting of it with others1 lies the chief characteristic and the great attractive force of art4 ,if a man is infected by the author's condition of soul1 if he feels this emotion and this union with others1 then the object which has effected this is art2 but if there be no such infection1 if there be not this union with the author and with others who are moved by the same work--then it is not art4 ,and not only is infection a sure sign of art1 but the degree of infectiousness is also the sole measure of excellence in art4 ,the stronger the infection the better is the art2 as art1 speaking now apart from its subject-matter1 i4e4 not considering the quality of the feelings it transmits4 ,and the degree of the infectiousness of art depends on three conditions3-- 7#a7 ,on the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted2 7#b7 on the greater or lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted2 7#c7 on the sincerity of the artist1 i4e4 on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits4 ,the more individual the feeling transmitted the more strongly does it act on the receiver2 the more individual the state of soul into which he is transferred the more pleasure does the receiver obtain1 and therefore the more readily and strongly does he join in it4 ,the clearness of expression assists infection1 because the receiver1 who mingles in consciousness with the author1 is the better satisfied the more clearly the feeling is transmitted1 which1 as it seems to him1 he has long known and felt1 and for which he has only now found expression4 ,but most of all is the degree of infectiousness of art increased by the degree of sincerity in the artist4 ,as soon as the spectator1 hearer1 or reader feels that the artist is infected by his own production1 and writes1 sings1 or plays for himself1 and not merely to act on others1 this mental condition of the artist infects the receiver2 and1 contrariwise1 as soon as the spectator1 reader1 or hearer feels that the author is not writing1 singing1 or playing for his own satisfaction1--does not himself feel what he wishes to express1--but is doing it for him1 the receiver1 a resistance immediately springs up1 and the most individual and the newest feelings and the cleverest technique not only fail to produce any infection1 but actually repel4 ,i have mentioned three conditions of contagiousness in art1 but they may be all summed up into one1 the last1 sincerity1 i4e4 that the artist should be impelled by an inner need to express his feeling4 ,that condition includes the first2 for if the artist is sincere he will express the feeling as he experienced it4 ,and as each man is different from every one else1 his feeling will be individual for every one else2 and the more individual it is1--the more the artist has drawn it from the depths of his nature1--the more sympathetic and sincere will it be4 ,and this same sincerity will impel the artist to find a clear expression of the feeling which he wishes to transmit4 ,therefore this third condition--sincerity--is the most important of the three4 ,it is always complied with in peasant art1 and this explains why such art always acts so powerfully2 but it is a condition almost entirely absent from our upper-class art1 which is continually produced by artists actuated by personal aims of covetousness or vanity4 ,such are the three conditions which divide art from its counterfeits1 and which also decide the quality of every work of art apart from its subject-matter4 ,the absence of any one of these conditions excludes a work from the category of art and relegates it to that of art's counterfeits4 ,if the work does not transmit the artist's peculiarity of feeling1 and is therefore not individual1 if it is unintelligibly expressed1 or if it has not proceeded from the author's inner need for expression--it is not a work of art4 ,if all these conditions are present1 even in the smallest degree1 then the work1 even if a weak one1 is yet a work of art4 ,the presence in various degrees of these three conditions--individuality1 clearness1 and sincerity--decides the merit of a work of art1 as art1 apart from subject-matter4 ,all works of art take rank of merit according to the degree in which they fulfil the first1 the second1 and the third of these conditions4 ,in one the individuality of the feeling transmitted may predominate2 in another1 clearness of expression2 in a third1 sincerity2 while a fourth may have sincerity and individuality1 but be deficient in clearness2 a fifth1 individuality and clearness1 but less sincerity2 and so forth1 in all possible degrees and combinations4 ,thus is art divided from not art1 and thus is the quality of art1 as art1 decided1 independently of its subject-matter1 i4e4 apart from whether the feelings it transmits are good or bad4 ,but how are we to define good and bad art with reference to its subject-matter8 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,how in art are we to decide what is good and what is bad in subject-matter8 ,art1 like speech1 is a means of communication1 and therefore of progress1 i4e4 of the movement of humanity forward toward perfection4 ,speech renders accessible to men of the latest generations all the knowledge discovered by the experience and reflection1 both of preceding generations and of the best and foremost men of their own times2 art renders accessible to men of the latest generations all the feelings experienced by their predecessors1 and those also which are being felt by their best and foremost contemporaries4 ,and as the evolution of knowledge proceeds by truer and more necessary knowledge dislodging and replacing what is mistaken and unnecessary1 so the evolution of feeling proceeds through art1--feelings less kind and less needful for the well-being of mankind are replaced by others kinder and more needful for that end4 ,that is the purpose of art4 ,and1 speaking now of its subject-matter1 the more art fulfils that purpose the better the art1 and the less it fulfils it the worse the art4 ,and the appraisement of feelings 7i4e4 the acknowledgment of these or those feelings as being more or less good1 more or less necessary for the well-being of mankind7 is made by the religious perception of the age4 ,in every period of history1 and in every human society1 there exists an understanding of the meaning of life which represents the highest level to which men of that society have attained1--an understanding defining the highest good at which that society aims4 ,and this understanding is the religious perception of the given time and society4 ,and this religious perception is always clearly expressed by some advanced men1 and more or less vividly perceived by all the members of the society4 ,such a religious perception and its corresponding expression exists always in every society4 ,if it appears to us that in our society there is no religious perception1 this is not because there really is none1 but only because we do not want to see it4 ,and we often wish not to see it because it exposes the fact that our life is inconsistent with that religious perception4 ,religious perception in a society is like the direction of a flowing river4 ,if the river flows at all1 it must have a direction4 ,if a society lives1 there must be a religious perception indicating the direction in which1 more or less consciously1 all its members tend4 ,and so there always has been1 and there is1 a religious perception in every society4 ,and it is by the standard of this religious perception that the feelings transmitted by art have always been estimated4 ,only on the basis of this religious perception of their age have men always chosen from the endlessly varied spheres of art that art which transmitted feelings making religious perception operative in actual life4 ,and such art has always been highly valued and encouraged2 while art transmitting feelings already outlived1 flowing from the antiquated religious perceptions of a former age1 has always been condemned and despised4 ,all the rest of art1 transmitting those most diverse feelings by means of which people commune together1 was not condemned1 and was tolerated1 if only it did not transmit feelings contrary to religious perception4 ,thus1 for instance1 among the ,greeks1 art transmitting the feeling of beauty1 strength1 and courage 7,hesiod1 ,homer1 ,phidias7 was chosen1 approved1 and encouraged2 while art transmitting feelings of rude sensuality1 despondency1 and effeminacy was condemned and despised4 ,among the ,jews1 art transmitting feelings of devotion and submission to the ,god of the ,hebrews and to ,his will 7the epic of ,genesis1 the prophets1 the ,psalms7 was chosen and encouraged1 while art transmitting feelings of idolatry 7the golden calf7 was condemned and despised4 ,all the rest of art--stories1 songs1 dances1 ornamentation of houses1 of utensils1 and of clothes--which was not contrary to religious perception1 was neither distinguished nor discussed4 ,thus1 in regard to its subject-matter1 has art been appraised always and everywhere1 and thus it should be appraised2 for this attitude toward art proceeds from the fundamental characteristics of human nature1 and those characteristics do not change4 ,i know that according to an opinion current in our times religion is a superstition which humanity has outgrown1 and that it is therefore assumed that no such thing exists as a religious perception1 common to us all1 by which art1 in our time1 can be estimated4 ,i know that this is the opinion current in the pseudo-cultured circles of to-day4 ,people who do not acknowledge ,christianity in its true meaning because it undermines all their social privileges1 and who1 therefore1 invent all kinds of philosophic and sthetic theories to hide from themselves the meaninglessness and wrongness of their lives1 cannot think otherwise4 ,these people intentionally1 or sometimes unintentionally1 confusing the conception of a religious cult with the conception of religious perception1 think that by denying the cult they get rid of religious perception4 ,but even the very attacks on religion1 and the attempts to establish a life-conception contrary to the religious perception of our times1 most clearly demonstrate the existence of a religious perception condemning the lives that are not in harmony with it4 ,if humanity progresses1 i4e4 moves forward1 there must inevitably be a guide to the direction of that movement4 ,and religions have always furnished that guide4 ,all history shows that the progress of humanity is accomplished not otherwise than under the guidance of religion4 ,but if the race cannot progress without the guidance of religion1--and progress is always going on1 and consequently also in our own times1--then there must be a religion of our times4 ,so that1 whether it pleases or displeases the so-called cultured people of to-day1 they must admit the existence of religion1--not of a religious cult1 ,catholic1 ,protestant1 or another1 but of religious perception1--which1 even in our times1 is the guide always present where there is any progress4 ,and if a religious perception exists amongst us1 then our art should be appraised on the basis of that religious perception2 and1 as has always and everywhere been the case1 art transmitting feelings flowing from the religious perception of our time should be chosen from all the indifferent art1 should be acknowledged1 highly esteemed1 and encouraged2 while art running counter to that perception should be condemned and despised1 and all the remaining indifferent art should neither be distinguished nor encouraged4 ,the religious perception of our time1 in its widest and most practical application1 is the consciousness that our well-being1 both material and spiritual1 individual and collective1 temporal and eternal1 lies in the growth of brotherhood among all men--in their loving harmony with one another4 ,this perception is not only expressed by ,christ and all the best men of past ages1 it is not only repeated in the most varied forms and from most diverse sides by the best men of our own times1 but it already serves as a clue to all the complex labor of humanity1 consisting as this labor does1 on the one hand1 in the destruction of physical and moral obstacles to the union of men1 and1 on the other hand1 in establishing the principles common to all men which can and should unite them into one universal brotherhood4 ,and it is on the basis of this perception that we should appraise all the phenomena of our life1 and1 among the rest1 our art also2 choosing from all its realms whatever transmits feelings flowing from this religious perception1 highly prizing and encouraging such art1 rejecting whatever is contrary to this perception1 and not attributing to the rest of art an importance not properly pertaining to it4 ,the chief mistake made by people of the upper classes of the time of the so-called ,renaissance--a mistake which we still perpetuate--was not that they ceased to value and to attach importance to religious art 7people of that period could not attach importance to it1 because1 like our own upper classes1 they could not believe in what the majority considered to be religion71 but their mistake was that they set up in place of religious art1 which was lacking1 an insignificant art which aimed only at giving pleasure1 i4e4 they began to choose1 to value1 and to encourage1 in place of religious art1 something which1 in any case1 did not deserve such esteem and encouragement4 ,one of the ,fathers of the ,church said that the great evil is1 not that men do not know ,god1 but that they have set up1 instead of ,god1 that which is not ,god4 ,so also with art4 ,the great misfortune of the people of the upper classes of our time is not so much that they are without a religious art1 as that1 instead of a supreme religious art1 chosen from all the rest as being specially important and valuable1 they have chosen a most insignificant and1 usually1 harmful art1 which aims at pleasing certain people1 and which1 therefore1 if only by its exclusive nature1 stands in contradiction to that ,christian principle of universal union which forms the religious perception of our time4 ,instead of religious art1 an empty and often vicious art is set up1 and this hides from men's notice the need of that true religious art which should be present in life in order to improve it4 ,it is true that art which satisfies the demands of the religious perception of our time is quite unlike former art1 but1 notwithstanding this dissimilarity1 to a man who does not intentionally hide the truth from himself1 it is very clear and definite what does form the religious art of our age4 ,in former times1 when the highest religious perception united only some people 7who1 even if they formed a large society1 were yet but one society surrounded by others--,jews1 or ,athenian or ,roman citizens71 the feelings transmitted by the art of that time flowed from a desire for the might1 greatness1 glory1 and prosperity of that society1 and the heroes of art might be people who contributed to that prosperity by strength1 by craft1 by fraud1 or by cruelty 7,ulysses1 ,jacob1 ,david1 ,samson1 ,hercules1 and all the heroes74 ,but the religious perception of our times does not select any one society of men2 on the contrary1 it demands the union of all1--absolutely of all people without exception1--and above every other virtue it sets brotherly love to all men4 ,and1 therefore1 the feelings transmitted by the art of our time not only cannot coincide with the feelings transmitted by former art1 but must run counter to them4 ,christian1 truly ,christian1 art has been so long in establishing itself1 and has not yet established itself1 just because the ,christian religious perception was not one of those small steps by which humanity advances regularly1 but was an enormous revolution1 which1 if it has not already altered1 must inevitably alter the entire life-conception of mankind1 and1 consequently1 the whole internal organization of their life4 ,it is true that the life of humanity1 like that of an individual1 moves regularly2 but in that regular movement come1 as it were1 turning-points1 which sharply divide the preceding from the subsequent life4 ,christianity was such a turning-point2 such1 at least1 it must appear to us who live by the ,christian perception of life4 ,christian perception gave another1 a new1 direction to all human feelings1 and therefore completely altered both the contents and the significance of art4 ,the ,greeks could make use of ,persian art and the ,romans could use ,greek art1 or1 similarly1 the ,jews could use ,egyptian art1--the fundamental ideals were one and the same4 ,now the ideal was the greatness and prosperity of the ,persians1 now the greatness and prosperity of the ,greeks1 now that of the ,romans4 ,the same art was transferred into other conditions1 and served new nations4 ,but the ,christian ideal changed and reversed everything1 so that1 as the gospel puts it1 ,that which was exalted among men has become an abomination in the sight of ,god4 ,the ideal is no longer the greatness of ,pharaoh or of a ,roman emperor1 not the beauty of a ,greek1 nor the wealth of ,phnicia1 but humility1 purity1 compassion1 love4 ,the hero is no longer ,dives1 but ,lazarus the beggar2 not ,mary ,magdalene in the day of her beauty1 but in the day of her repentance2 not those who acquire wealth1 but those who have abandoned it2 not those who dwell in palaces1 but those who dwell in catacombs and huts2 not those who rule over others1 but those who acknowledge no authority but ,god's4 ,and the greatest work of art is no longer a cathedral of victory#aai with statues of conquerors1 but the representation of a human soul so transformed by love that a man who is tormented and murdered yet pities and loves his persecutors4 #aai ,there is in ,moscow a magnificent ,cathedral of our ,saviour1 erected to commemorate the defeat of the ,french in the war of #ahab4--,,tr4 ,and the change is so great that men of the ,christian world find it difficult to resist the inertia of the heathen art to which they have been accustomed all their lives4 ,the subject-matter of ,christian religious art is so new to them1 so unlike the subject-matter of former art1 that it seems to them as though ,christian art were a denial of art1 and they cling desperately to the old art4 ,but this old art1 having no longer1 in our day1 any source in religious perception1 has lost its meaning1 and we shall have to abandon it whether we wish to or not4 ,the essence of the ,christian perception consists in the recognition by every man of his sonship to ,god1 and of the consequent union of men with ,god and with one another1 as is said in the gospel 7,john xvii4 #baabj74 ,therefore the subject-matter of ,christian art is such feeling as can unite men with ,god and with one another4 #abj ,that they may be one2 even as thou1 ,father1 art in me1 and ,i in thee1 that they also may be in us4 ,the expression unite men with ,god and with one another may seem obscure to people accustomed to the misuse of these words which is so customary1 but the words have a perfectly clear meaning nevertheless4 ,they indicate that the ,christian union of man 7in contradiction to the partial1 exclusive union of only some men7 is that which unites all without exception4 ,art1 all art1 has this characteristic1 that it unites people4 ,every art causes those to whom the artist's feeling is transmitted to unite in soul with the artist1 and also with all who receive the same impression4 ,but non-,christian art1 while uniting some people together1 makes that very union a cause of separation between these united people and others2 so that union of this kind is often a source1 not only of division1 but even of enmity toward others4 ,such is all patriotic art1 with its anthems1 poems1 and monuments2 such is all ,church art1 i4e4 the art of certain cults1 with their images1 statues1 processions1 and other local ceremonies4 ,such art is belated and non-,christian art1 uniting the people of one cult only to separate them yet more sharply from the members of other cults1 and even to place them in relations of hostility to each other4 ,christian art is only such as tends to unite all without exception1 either by evoking in them the perception that each man and all men stand in like relation toward ,god and toward their neighbor1 or by evoking in them identical feelings1 which may even be the very simplest1 provided only that they are not repugnant to ,christianity and are natural to every one without exception4 ,good ,christian art of our time may be unintelligible to people because of imperfections in its form1 or because men are inattentive to it1 but it must be such that all men can experience the feelings it transmits4 ,it must be the art1 not of some one group of people1 nor of one class1 nor of one nationality1 nor of one religious cult2 that is1 it must not transmit feelings which are accessible only to a man educated in a certain way1 or only to an aristocrat1 or a merchant1 or only to a ,russian1 or a native of ,japan1 or a ,roman ,catholic1 or a ,buddhist1 etc41 but it must transmit feelings accessible to every one4 ,only art of this kind can be acknowledged in our time to be good art1 worthy of being chosen out from all the rest of art and encouraged4 ,christian art1 i4e4 the art of our time1 should be catholic in the original meaning of the word1 i4e4 universal1 and therefore it should unite all men4 ,and only two kinds of feeling do unite all men3 first1 feelings flowing from the perception of our sonship to ,god and of the brotherhood of man2 and next1 the simple feelings of common life1 accessible to every one without exception--such as the feeling of merriment1 of pity1 of cheerfulness1 of tranquillity1 etc4 ,only these two kinds of feelings can now supply material for art good in its subject-matter4 ,and the action of these two kinds of art1 apparently so dissimilar1 is one and the same4 ,the feelings flowing from perception of our sonship to ,god and of the brotherhood of man--such as a feeling of sureness in truth1 devotion to the will of ,god1 self-sacrifice1 respect for and love of man--evoked by ,christian religious perception2 and the simplest feelings--such as a softened or a merry mood caused by a song or an amusing jest intelligible to every one1 or by a touching story1 or a drawing1 or a little doll3 both alike produce one and the same effect1--the loving union of man with man4 ,sometimes people who are together are1 if not hostile to one another1 at least estranged in mood and feeling1 till perchance a story1 a performance1 a picture1 or even a building1 but oftenest of all1 music1 unites them all as by an electric flash1 and1 in place of their former isolation or even enmity1 they are all conscious of union and mutual love4 ,each is glad that another feels what he feels2 glad of the communion established1 not only between him and all present1 but also with all now living who will yet share the same impression2 and more than that1 he feels the mysterious gladness of a communion which1 reaching beyond the grave1 unites us with all men of the past who have been moved by the same feelings1 and with all men of the future who will yet be touched by them4 ,and this effect is produced both by the religious art which transmits feelings of love to ,god and one's neighbor1 and by universal art1 transmitting the very simplest feelings common to all men4 ,the art of our time should be appraised differently from former art chiefly in this1 that the art of our time1 i4e4 ,christian art 7basing itself on a religious perception which demands the union of man71 excludes from the domain of art good in subject-matter everything transmitting exclusive feelings1 which do not unite but divide men4 ,it relegates such work to the category of art bad in its subject-matter1 while1 on the other hand1 it includes in the category of art good in subject-matter a section not formerly admitted to deserve to be chosen out and respected1 namely1 universal art1 transmitting even the most trifling and simple feelings if only they are accessible to all men without exception1 and therefore unite them4 ,such art cannot1 in our time1 but be esteemed good1 for it attains the end which the religious perception of our time1 i4e4 ,christianity1 sets before humanity4 ,christian art either evokes in men those feelings which1 through love of ,god and of one's neighbor1 draw them to greater and ever greater union1 and make them ready for and capable of such union2 or evokes in them those feelings which show them that they are already united in the joys and sorrows of life4 ,and therefore the ,christian art of our time can be and is of two kinds3 7#a7 art transmitting feelings flowing from a religious perception of man's position in the world in relation to ,god and to his neighbor--religious art in the limited meaning of the term2 and 7#b7 art transmitting the simplest feelings of common life1 but such1 always1 as are accessible to all men in the whole world--the art of common life--the art of a people--universal art4 ,only these two kinds of art can be considered good art in our time4 ,the first1 religious art1--transmitting both positive feelings of love to ,god and one's neighbor1 and negative feelings of indignation and horror at the violation of love1--manifests itself chiefly in the form of words1 and to some extent also in painting and sculpture3 the second kind 7universal art71 transmitting feelings accessible to all1 manifests itself in words1 in painting1 in sculpture1 in dances1 in architecture1 and1 most of all1 in music4 ,if ,i were asked to give modern examples of each of these kinds of art1 then1 as examples of the highest art1 flowing from love of ,god and man 7both of the higher1 positive1 and of the lower1 negative kind71 in literature ,i should name1 ,the ,robbers1 by ,schiller2 ,victor ,hugo's ,les ,pauvres ,gens and ,les ,misrables2 the novels and stories of ,dickens1--,the ,tale of ,two ,cities1 ,the ,christmas ,carol1 ,the ,chimes1 and others2 ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin2 ,dostoievsky's works--especially his ,memoirs from the ,house of ,death2 and ,adam ,bede1 by ,george ,eliot4 ,in modern painting1 strange to say1 works of this kind1 directly transmitting the ,christian feeling of love of ,god and of one's neighbor1 are hardly to be found1 especially among the works of the celebrated painters4 ,there are plenty of pictures treating of the gospel stories2 they1 however1 depict historical events with great wealth of detail1 but do not1 and cannot1 transmit religious feeling not possessed by their painters4 ,there are many pictures treating of the personal feelings of various people1 but of pictures representing great deeds of self-sacrifice and of ,christian love there are very few1 and what there are1 are principally by artists who are not celebrated1 and are1 for the most part1 not pictures1 but merely sketches4 ,such1 for instance1 is the drawing by ,kramskoy 7worth many of his finished pictures71 showing a drawing-room with a balcony1 past which troops are marching in triumph on their return from the war4 ,on the balcony stands a wet-nurse holding a baby and a boy4 ,they are admiring the procession of the troops1 but the mother1 covering her face with a handkerchief1 has fallen back on the sofa1 sobbing4 ,such also is the picture by ,walter ,langley1 to which ,i have already referred1 and such again is a picture by the ,french artist ,morlon1 depicting a lifeboat hastening1 in a heavy storm1 to the relief of a steamer that is being wrecked4 ,approaching these in kind are pictures which represent the hard-working peasant with respect and love4 ,such are the pictures by ,millet1 and1 particularly1 his drawing1 ,the ,man with the ,hoe2 also pictures in this style by ,jules ,breton1 ,l',hermitte1 ,defregger1 and others4 ,as examples of pictures evoking indignation and horror at the violation of love to ,god and man1 ,gay's picture1 ,judgment1 may serve1 and also ,leizen-,mayer's1 ,signing the ,death ,warrant4 ,but there are also very few of this kind4 ,anxiety about the technique and the beauty of the picture for the most part obscures the feeling4 ,for instance1 ,grme's ,pollice ,verso expresses1 not so much horror at what is being perpetrated as attraction by the beauty of the spectacle4#aba #aba ,in this picture the spectators in the ,roman ,amphitheater are turning down their thumbs to show that they wish the vanquished gladiator to be killed4--,,tr4 ,to give examples1 from the modern art of our upper classes1 of art of the second kind1 good universal art or even of the art of a whole people1 is yet more difficult1 especially in literary art and music4 ,if there are some works which by their inner contents might be assigned to this class 7such as ,don ,quixote1 ,molire's comedies1 ,david ,copperfield and ,the ,pickwick ,papers by ,dickens1 ,gogol's and ,pushkin's tales1 and some things of ,maupassant's71 these works are for the most part--from the exceptional nature of the feelings they transmit1 and the superfluity of special details of time and locality1 and1 above all1 on account of the poverty of their subject-matter in comparison with examples of universal ancient art 7such1 for instance1 as the story of ,joseph7--comprehensible only to people of their own circle4 ,that ,joseph's brethren1 being jealous of his father's affection1 sell him to the merchants2 that ,potiphar's wife wishes to tempt the youth2 that having attained the highest station1 he takes pity on his brothers1 including ,benjamin1 the favorite1--these and all the rest are feelings accessible alike to a ,russian peasant1 a ,chinese1 an ,african1 a child1 or an old man1 educated or uneducated2 and it is all written with such restraint1 is so free from any superfluous detail1 that the story may be told to any circle and will be equally comprehensible and touching to every one4 ,but not such are the feelings of ,don ,quixote or of ,molire's heroes 7though ,molire is perhaps the most universal1 and therefore the most excellent1 artist of modern times71 nor of ,pickwick and his friends4 ,these feelings are not common to all men1 but very exceptional2 and therefore1 to make them infectious1 the authors have surrounded them with abundant details of time and place4 ,and this abundance of detail makes the stories difficult of comprehension to all people not living within reach of the conditions described by the author4 ,the author of the novel of ,joseph did not need to describe in detail1 as would be done nowadays1 the blood-stained coat of ,joseph1 the dwelling and dress of ,jacob1 the pose and attire of ,potiphar's wife1 and how1 adjusting the bracelet on her left arm1 she said1 ,come to me1 and so on1 because the subject-matter of feelings in this novel is so strong that all details1 except the most essential1--such as that ,joseph went out into another room to weep1--are superfluous1 and would only hinder the transmission of feelings4 ,and therefore this novel is accessible to all men1 touches people of all nations and classes1 young and old1 and has lasted to our times1 and will yet last for thousands of years to come4 ,but strip the best novels of our times of their details1 and what will remain8 ,it is therefore impossible in modern literature to indicate works fully satisfying the demands of universality4 ,such works as exist are1 to a great extent1 spoilt by what is usually called realism1 but would be better termed provincialism1 in art4 ,in music the same occurs as in verbal art1 and for similar reasons4 ,in consequence of the poorness of the feeling they contain1 the melodies of the modern composers are amazingly empty and insignificant4 ,and to strengthen the impression produced by these empty melodies1 the new musicians pile complex modulations on to each trivial melody1 not only in their own national manner1 but also in the way characteristic of their own exclusive circle and particular musical school4 ,melody--every melody--is free1 and may be understood of all men2 but as soon as it is bound up with a particular harmony1 it ceases to be accessible except to people trained to such harmony1 and it becomes strange1 not only to common men of another nationality1 but to all who do not belong to the circle whose members have accustomed themselves to certain forms of harmonization4 ,so that music1 like poetry1 travels in a vicious circle4 ,trivial and exclusive melodies1 in order to make them attractive1 are laden with harmonic1 rhythmic1 and orchestral complications1 and thus become yet more exclusive2 and1 far from being universal1 are not even national1 i4e4 they are not comprehensible to the whole people but only to some people4 ,in music1 besides marches and dances by various composers1 which satisfy the demands of universal art1 one can indicate very few works of this class3 ,bach's famous violin aria1 ,chopin's nocturne in ,e-flat major1 and perhaps a dozen bits 7not whole pieces1 but parts7 selected from the works of ,haydn1 ,mozart1 ,schubert1 ,beethoven1 and ,chopin4#abb #abb ,while offering as examples of art those that seem to me the best1 ,i attach no special importance to my selection2 for1 besides being insufficiently informed in all branches of art1 ,i belong to the class of people whose taste has1 by false training1 been perverted4 ,and therefore my old1 inured habits may cause me to err1 and ,i may mistake for absolute merit the impression a work produced on me in my youth4 ,my only purpose in mentioning examples of works of this or that class is to make my meaning clearer1 and to show how1 with my present views1 ,i understand excellence in art in relation to its subject-matter4 ,i must1 moreover1 mention that ,i consign my own artistic productions to the category of bad art1 excepting the story ,god sees the ,truth1 which seeks a place in the first class1 and ,the ,prisoner of the ,caucasus1 which belongs to the second4 ,although in painting the same thing is repeated as in poetry and music1--namely1 that in order to make them more interesting1 works weak in conception are surrounded by minutely studied accessories of time and place1 which give them a temporary and local interest but make them less universal1--still1 in painting1 more than in the other spheres of art1 may be found works satisfying the demands of universal ,christian art2 that is to say1 there are more works expressing feelings in which all men may participate4 ,in the arts of painting and sculpture1 all pictures and statues in so-called genre style1 depictions of animals1 landscapes and caricatures with subjects comprehensible to every one1 and also all kinds of ornaments1 are universal in subject-matter4 ,such productions in painting and sculpture are very numerous 7e4g4 china dolls71 but for the most part such objects 7for instance1 ornaments of all kinds7 are either not considered to be art or are considered to be art of a low quality4 ,in reality all such objects1 if only they transmit a true feeling experienced by the artist and comprehensible to every one 7however insignificant it may seem to us to be7 are works of real good ,christian art4 ,i fear it will here be urged against me that having denied that the conception of beauty can supply a standard for works of art1 ,i contradict myself by acknowledging ornaments to be works of good art4 ,the reproach is unjust1 for the subject-matter of all kinds of ornamentation consists not in the beauty1 but in the feeling 7of admiration of1 and delight in1 the combination of lines and colors7 which the artist has experienced and with which he infects the spectator4 ,art remains what it was and what it must be3 nothing but the infection by one man of another1 or of others1 with the feelings experienced by the infector4 ,among those feelings is the feeling of delight at what pleases the sight4 ,objects pleasing the sight may be such as please a small or a large number of people1 or such as please all men4 ,and ornaments for the most part are of the latter kind4 ,a landscape representing a very unusual view1 or a genre picture of a special subject1 may not please every one1 but ornaments1 from ,yakutsk ornaments to ,greek ones1 are intelligible to every one and evoke a similar feeling of admiration in all1 and therefore this despised kind of art should1 in ,christian society1 be esteemed far above exceptional1 pretentious pictures and sculptures4 ,so that there are only two kinds of good ,christian art3 all the rest of art not comprised in these two divisions should be acknowledged to be bad art1 deserving not to be encouraged1 but to be driven out1 denied1 and despised1 as being art not uniting but dividing people4 ,such1 in literary art1 are all novels and poems which transmit ,church or patriotic feelings1 and also exclusive feelings pertaining only to the class of the idle rich2 such as aristocratic honor1 satiety1 spleen1 pessimism1 and refined and vicious feelings flowing from sex-love--quite incomprehensible to the great majority of mankind4 ,in painting we must similarly place in the class of bad art all the ,church1 patriotic1 and exclusive pictures2 all the pictures representing the amusements and allurements of a rich and idle life2 all the so-called symbolic pictures1 in which the very meaning of the symbol is comprehensible only to the people of a certain circle2 and1 above all1 pictures with voluptuous subjects--all that odious female nudity which fills all the exhibitions and galleries4 ,and to this class belongs almost all the chamber and opera music of our times1--beginning especially from ,beethoven 7,schumann1 ,berlioz1 ,liszt1 ,wagner71 by its subject-matter devoted to the expression of feelings accessible only to people who have developed in themselves an unhealthy1 nervous irritation evoked by this exclusive1 artificial1 and complex music4 ,what6 the ',ninth ,symphony' not a good work of art6 ,i hear exclaimed by indignant voices4 ,and ,i reply1 ,most certainly it is not4 ,all that ,i have written ,i have written with the sole purpose of finding a clear and reasonable criterion by which to judge the merits of works of art4 ,and this criterion1 coinciding with the indications of plain and sane sense1 indubitably shows me that that symphony by ,beethoven is not a good work of art4 ,of course1 to people educated in the adoration of certain productions and of their authors1 to people whose taste has been perverted just by being educated in such adoration1 the acknowledgment that such a celebrated work is bad is amazing and strange4 ,but how are we to escape the indications of reason and of common sense8 ,beethoven's ,ninth ,symphony is considered a great work of art4 ,to verify its claim to be such1 ,i must first ask myself whether this work transmits the highest religious feeling8 ,i reply in the negative1 for music in itself cannot transmit those feelings2 and therefore ,i ask myself next1 ,since this work does not belong to the highest kind of religious art1 has it the other characteristic of the good art of our time1--the quality of uniting all men in one common feeling3 does it rank as ,christian universal art8 ,and again ,i have no option but to reply in the negative2 for not only do ,i not see how the feelings transmitted by this work could unite people not specially trained to submit themselves to its complex hypnotism1 but ,i am unable to imagine to myself a crowd of normal people who could understand anything of this long1 confused1 and artificial production1 except short snatches which are lost in a sea of what is incomprehensible4 ,and therefore1 whether ,i like it or not1 ,i am compelled to conclude that this work belongs to the rank of bad art4 ,it is curious to note in this connection1 that attached to the end of this very symphony is a poem of ,schiller's which 7though somewhat obscurely7 expresses this very thought1 namely1 that feeling 7,schiller speaks only of the feeling of gladness7 unites people and evokes love in them4 ,but though this poem is sung at the end of the symphony1 the music does not accord with the thought expressed in the verses2 for the music is exclusive and does not unite all men1 but unites only a few1 dividing them off from the rest of mankind4 ,and just in this same way1 in all branches of art1 many and many works considered great by the upper classes of our society will have to be judged4 ,by this one sure criterion we shall have to judge the celebrated ,divine ,comedy and ,jerusalem ,delivered1 and a great part of ,shakespear's and ,goethe's works1 and in painting every representation of miracles1 including ,raphael's ,transfiguration1 etc4 ,whatever the work may be and however it may have been extolled1 we have first to ask whether this work is one of real art or a counterfeit4 ,having acknowledged1 on the basis of the indication of its infectiousness even to a small class of people1 that a certain production belongs to the realm of art1 it is necessary1 on the basis of the indication of its accessibility1 to decide the next question1 ,does this work belong to the category of bad1 exclusive art1 opposed to religious perception1 or to ,christian art1 uniting people8 ,and having acknowledged an article to belong to real ,christian art1 we must then1 according to whether it transmits the feelings flowing from love to ,god and man1 or merely the simple feelings uniting all men1 assign it a place in the ranks of religious art or in those of universal art4 ,only on the basis of such verification shall we find it possible to select from the whole mass of what1 in our society1 claims to be art1 those works which form real1 important1 necessary spiritual food1 and to separate them from all the harmful and useless art1 and from the counterfeits of art which surround us4 ,only on the basis of such verification shall we be able to rid ourselves of the pernicious results of harmful art1 and to avail ourselves of that beneficent action which is the purpose of true and good art1 and which is indispensable for the spiritual life of man and of humanity4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,art is one of two organs of human progress4 ,by words man interchanges thoughts1 by the forms of art he interchanges feelings1 and this with all men1 not only of the present time1 but also of the past and the future4 ,it is natural to human beings to employ both these organs of intercommunication1 and therefore the perversion of either of them must cause evil results to the society in which it occurs4 ,and these results will be of two kinds3 first1 the absence1 in that society1 of the work which should be performed by the organ2 and secondly1 the harmful activity of the perverted organ4 ,and just these results have shown themselves in our society4 ,the organ of art has been perverted1 and therefore the upper classes of society have1 to a great extent1 been deprived of the work that it should have performed4 ,the diffusion in our society of enormous quantities of1 on the one hand1 those counterfeits of art which only serve to amuse and corrupt people1 and1 on the other hand1 of works of insignificant1 exclusive art1 mistaken for the highest art1 have perverted most men's capacity to be infected by true works of art1 and have thus deprived them of the possibility of experiencing the highest feelings to which mankind has attained1 and which can only be transmitted from man to man by art4 ,all the best that has been done in art by man remains strange to people who lack the capacity to be infected by art1 and is replaced either by spurious counterfeits of art or by insignificant art1 which they mistake for real art4 ,people of our time and of our society are delighted with ,baudelaires1 ,verlaines1 ,morases1 ,ibsens1 and ,maeterlincks in poetry2 with ,monets1 ,manets1 ,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,burne-,joneses1 ,stucks1 and ,bcklins in painting2 with ,wagners1 ,liszts1 ,richard ,strausses1 in music2 and they are no longer capable of comprehending either the highest or the simplest art4 ,in the upper classes1 in consequence of this loss of capacity to be infected by works of art1 people grow up1 are educated1 and live1 lacking the fertilizing1 improving influence of art1 and therefore not only do not advance toward perfection1 do not become kinder1 but1 on the contrary1 possessing highly developed external means of civilization1 they yet tend to become continually more savage1 more coarse1 and more cruel4 ,such is the result of the absence from our society of the activity of that essential organ--art4 ,but the consequences of the perverted activity of that organ are yet more harmful4 ,and they are numerous4 ,the first consequence1 plain for all to see1 is the enormous expenditure of the labor of working people on things which are not only useless1 but which1 for the most part1 are harmful2 and more than that1 the waste of priceless human lives on this unnecessary and harmful business4 ,it is terrible to consider with what intensity1 and amid what privations1 millions of people--who lack time and opportunity to attend to what they and their families urgently require--labor for #aj1 #ab1 or #ad hours on end1 and even at night1 setting the type for pseudo-artistic books which spread vice among mankind1 or working for theaters1 concerts1 exhibitions1 and picture-galleries1 which1 for the most part1 also serve vice2 but it is yet more terrible to reflect that lively1 kindly children1 capable of all that is good1 are devoted from their early years to such tasks as these3 that for #f1 #h1 or #aj hours a day1 and for #aj or #ae years1 some of them should play scales and exercises2 others should twist their limbs1 walk on their toes1 and lift their legs above their heads2 a third set should sing solfeggios2 a fourth set1 showing themselves off in all manner of ways1 should pronounce verses2 a fifth set should draw from busts or from nude models and paint studies2 a sixth set should write compositions according to the rules of certain periods2 and that in these occupations1 unworthy of a human being1 which are often continued long after full maturity1 they should waste their physical and mental strength and lose all perception of the meaning of life4 ,it is often said that it is horrible and pitiful to see little acrobats putting their legs over their necks1 but it is not less pitiful to see children of #aj giving concerts1 and it is still worse to see school-boys of #aj who1 as a preparation for literary work1 have learnt by heart the exceptions to the ,latin grammar4 ,these people not only grow physically and mentally deformed1 but also morally deformed1 and become incapable of doing anything really needed by man4 ,occupying in society the rle of amusers of the rich1 they lose their sense of human dignity1 and develop in themselves such a passion for public applause that they are always a prey to an inflated and unsatisfied vanity which grows in them to diseased dimensions1 and they expend their mental strength in efforts to obtain satisfaction for this passion4 ,and what is most tragic of all is that these people1 who for the sake of art are spoilt for life1 not only do not render service to this art1 but1 on the contrary1 inflict the greatest harm on it4 ,they are taught in academies1 schools1 and conservatoires how to counterfeit art1 and by learning this they so pervert themselves that they quite lose the capacity to produce works of real art1 and become purveyors of that counterfeit1 or trivial1 or depraved art which floods our society4 ,this is the first obvious consequence of the perversion of the organ of art4 ,the second consequence is that the productions of amusement-art1 which are prepared in such terrific quantities by the armies of professional artists1 enable the rich people of our times to live the lives they do1 lives not only unnatural1 but in contradiction to the humane principles these people themselves profess4 ,to live as do the rich1 idle people1 especially the women1 far from nature and from animals1 in artificial conditions1 with muscles atrophied or misdeveloped by gymnastics1 and with enfeebled vital energy1 would be impossible were it not for what is called art--for this occupation and amusement which hides from them the meaninglessness of their lives1 and saves them from the dullness that oppresses them4 ,take from all these people the theaters1 concerts1 exhibitions1 piano-playing1 songs1 and novels with which they now fill their time1 in full confidence that occupation with these things is a very refined1 sthetical1 and therefore good occupation2 take from the patrons of art who buy pictures1 assist musicians1 and are acquainted with writers1 their rle of protectors of that important matter art1 and they will not be able to continue such a life1 but will all be eaten up by ennui and spleen1 and will become conscious of the meaninglessness and wrongness of their present mode of life4 ,only occupation with what1 among them1 is considered art renders it possible for them to continue to live on1 infringing all natural conditions1 without perceiving the emptiness and cruelty of their lives4 ,and this support afforded to the false manner of life pursued by the rich is the second consequence1 and a serious one1 of the perversion of art4 ,the third consequence of the perversion of art is the perplexity produced in the minds of children and of plain folk4 ,among people not perverted by the false theories of our society1 among workers and children1 there exists a very definite conception of what people may be respected and praised for4 ,in the minds of peasants and children the ground for praise or eulogy can only be either physical strength3 ,hercules1 the heroes and conquerors2 or moral1 spiritual1 strength3 ,sakya ,muni giving up a beautiful wife and a kingdom to save mankind1 ,christ going to the cross for the truth he professed1 and all the martyrs and the saints4 ,both are understood by peasants and children4 ,they understand that physical strength must be respected1 for it compels respect2 and the moral strength of goodness an unperverted man cannot fail to respect1 because all his spiritual being draws him toward it4 ,but these people1 children1 and peasants1 suddenly perceive that besides those praised1 respected1 and rewarded for physical or moral strength1 there are others who are praised1 extolled1 and rewarded much more than the heroes of strength and virtue1 merely because they sing well1 compose verses1 or dance4 ,they see that singers1 composers1 painters1 ballet-dancers1 earn millions of roubles and receive more honor than the saints do3 and peasants and children are perplexed4 ,when fifty years had elapsed after ,pushkin's death1 and1 simultaneously1 the cheap edition of his works began to circulate among the people and a monument was erected to him in ,moscow1 ,i received more than a dozen letters from different peasants asking why ,pushkin was raised to such dignity4 ,and only the other day a literate#abc man from ,saratoff called on me who had evidently gone out of his mind over this very question4 ,he was on his way to ,moscow to expose the clergy for having taken part in raising a monament to ,mr4 ,pushkin4 #abc ,in ,russian it is customary to make a distinction between literate and illiterate people1 i4e4 between those who can and those who cannot read4 ,literate in this sense does not imply that the man would speak or write correctly4--,,tr4 ,indeed1 one need only imagine to oneself what the state of mind of such a man of the people must be when he learns1 from such rumors and newspapers as reach him1 that the clergy1 the ,government officials1 and all the best people in ,russia are triumphantly unveiling a statue to a great man1 the benefactor1 the pride of ,russia--,pushkin1 of whom till then he had never heard4 ,from all sides he reads or hears about this1 and he naturally supposes that if such honors are rendered to any one1 then without doubt he must have done something extraordinary--either some feat of strength or of goodness4 ,he tries to learn who ,pushkin was1 and having discovered that ,pushkin was neither a hero nor a general1 but was a private person and a writer1 he comes to the conclusion that ,pushkin must have been a holy man and a teacher of goodness1 and he hastens to read or to hear his life and works4 ,but what must be his perplexity when he learns that ,pushkin was a man of more than easy morals1 who was killed in a duel1 i4e4 when attempting to murder another man1 and that all his service consisted in writing verses about love1 which were often very indecent4 ,that a hero1 or ,alexander the ,great1 or ,genghis ,khan1 or ,napoleon were great1 he understands1 because any one of them could have crushed him and a thousand like him2 that ,buddha1 ,socrates1 and ,christ were great he also understands1 for he knows and feels that he and all men should be such as they were2 but why a man should be great because he wrote verses about the love of women he cannot make out4 ,a similar perplexity must trouble the brain of a ,breton or ,norman peasant who hears that a monument1 une statue 7as to the ,madonna71 is being erected to ,baudelaire1 and reads1 or is told1 what the contents of his ,fleurs du ,mal are2 or1 more amazing still1 to ,verlaine1 when he learns the story of that man's wretched1 vicious life1 and reads his verses4 ,and what confusion it must cause in the brains of peasants when they learn that some ,patti or ,taglioni is paid #aj1jjj for a season1 or that a painter gets as much for a picture1 or that authors of novels describing love-scenes have received even more than that4 ,and it is the same with children4 ,i remember how ,i passed through this stage of amazement and stupefaction1 and only reconciled myself to this exaltation of artists to the level of heroes and saints by lowering in my own estimation the importance of moral excellence1 and by attributing a false1 unnatural meaning to works of art4 ,and a similar confusion must occur in the soul of each child and each man of the people when he learns of the strange honors and rewards that are lavished on artists4 ,this is the third consequence of the false relation in which our society stands toward art4 ,the fourth consequence is that people of the upper classes1 more and more frequently encountering the contradictions between beauty and goodness1 put the ideal of beauty first1 thus freeing themselves from the demands of morality4 ,these people1 reversing the rles1 instead of admitting1 as is really the case1 that the art they serve is an antiquated affair1 allege that morality is an antiquated affair1 which can have no importance for people situated on that high plane of development on which they opine that they are situated4 ,this result of the false relation to art showed itself in our society long ago2 but recently1 with its prophet ,nietzsche and his adherents1 and with the decadents and certain ,english sthetes who coincide with him1 it is being expressed with especial impudence4 ,the decadents1 and sthetes of the type at one time represented by ,oscar ,wilde1 select as a theme for their productions the denial of morality and the laudation of vice4 ,this art has partly generated1 and partly coincides with1 a similar philosophic theory4 ,i recently received from ,america a book entitled1 ,the ,survival of the ,fittest3 ,philosophy of ,power1 #ahif1 by ,ragnar ,redbeard1 ,chicago4 ,the substance of this book1 as it is expressed in the editor's preface1 is that to measure right by the false philosophy of the ,hebrew prophets and weepful ,messiahs is madness4 ,right is not the offspring of doctrine1 but of power4 ,all laws1 commandments1 or doctrines as to not doing to another what you do not wish done to you1 have no inherent authority whatever1 but receive it only from the club1 the gallows1 and the sword4 ,a man truly free is under no obligation to obey any injunction1 human or divine4 ,obedience is the sign of the degenerate4 ,disobedience is the stamp of the hero4 ,men should not be bound by moral rules invented by their foes4 ,the whole world is a slippery battlefield4 ,ideal justice demands that the vanquished should be exploited1 emasculated1 and scorned4 ,the free and brave may seize the world4 ,and1 therefore1 there should be eternal war for life1 for land1 for love1 for women1 for power1 and for gold4 7,something similar was said a few years ago by the celebrated and refined academician1 ,vog47 ,the earth and its treasures is booty for the bold4 ,the author has evidently by himself1 independently of ,nietzsche1 come to the same conclusions which are professed by the new artists4 ,expressed in the form of a doctrine these positions startle us4 ,in reality they are implied in the ideal of art serving beauty4 ,the art of our upper classes has educated people in this ideal of the over-man1#abd--which is1 in reality1 the old ideal of ,nero1 ,stenka ,razin1#abe ,genghis ,khan1 ,robert ,macaire1#abf or ,napoleon1 and all their accomplices1 assistants1 and adulators--and it supports this ideal with all its might4 ,foootnote #abd3 ,the over-man 7,uebermensch71 in the ,nietzschean philosophy1 is that superior type of man whom the struggle for existence is to evolve1 and who will seek only his own power and pleasure1 will know nothing of pity1 and will have the right1 because he will possess the power1 to make ordinary people serve him4--,,tr4 #abe ,stenka ,razin was by origin a common ,cossack4 ,his brother was hung for a breach of military discipline1 and to this event ,stenka ,razin's hatred of the governing classes has been attributed4 ,he formed a robber band1 and subsequently headed a formidable rebellion1 declaring himself in favor of freedom for the serfs1 religious toleration1 and the abolition of taxes4 ,like the government he opposed1 he relied on force1 and1 though he used it largely in defense of the poor against the rich1 he still held to ,the good old rule1 the simple plan1 ,that they should take who have the power1 ,and they should keep who can4 ,like ,robin ,hood1 he is favorably treated in popular legends4--,,tr4 #abf ,robert ,macaire is a modern type of adroit and audacious rascality4 ,he was the hero of a popular play produced in ,paris in #ahcd4--,,tr4 ,it is this supplanting of the ideal of what is right by the ideal of what is beautiful1 i4e4 of what is pleasant1 that is the fourth consequence1 and a terrible one1 of the perversion of art in our society4 ,it is fearful to think of what would befall humanity were such art to spread among the masses of the people4 ,and it already begins to spread4 ,finally1 the fifth and chief result is1 that the art which flourishes in the upper classes of ,european society has a directly vitiating influence1 infecting people with the worst feelings and with those most harmful to humanity1--superstition1 patriotism1 and1 above all1 sensuality4 ,look carefully into the causes of the ignorance of the masses1 and you may see that the chief cause does not at all lie in the lack of schools and libraries1 as we are accustomed to suppose1 but in those superstitions1 both ecclesiastical and patriotic1 with which the people are saturated1 and which are unceasingly generated by all the methods of art4 ,church superstitions are supported and produced by the poetry of prayers1 hymns1 painting1 by the sculpture of images and of statues1 by singing1 by organs1 by music1 by architecture1 and even by dramatic art in religious ceremonies4 ,patriotic superstitions are supported and produced by verses and stories1 which are supplied even in schools1 by music1 by songs1 by triumphal processions1 by royal meetings1 by martial pictures1 and by monuments4 ,were it not for this continual activity in all departments of art1 perpetuating the ecclesiastical and patriotic intoxication and embitterment of the people1 the masses would long ere this have attained to true enlightenment4 ,but it is not only in ,church matters and patriotic matters that art depraves2 it is art in our time that serves as the chief cause of the perversion of people in the most important question of social life1--in their sexual relations4 ,we nearly all know by our own experience1 and those who are fathers and mothers know in the case of their grown-up children also1 what fearful mental and physical suffering1 what useless waste of strength1 people suffer merely as a consequence of dissoluteness in sexual desire4 ,since the world began1 since the ,trojan war1 which sprang from that same sexual dissoluteness1 down to and including the suicides and murders of lovers described in almost every newspaper1 a great proportion of the sufferings of the human race have come from this source4 ,and what is art doing8 ,all art1 real and counterfeit1 with very few exceptions1 is devoted to describing1 depicting1 and inflaming sexual love in every shape and form4 ,when one remembers all those novels and their lust-kindling descriptions of love1 from the most refined to the grossest1 with which the literature of our society overflows2 if one only remembers all those pictures and statues representing women's naked bodies1 and all sorts of abominations which are reproduced in illustrations and advertisements2 if one only remembers all the filthy operas and operettas1 songs1 and romances with which our world teems1 involuntarily it seems as if existing art had but one definite aim1--to disseminate vice as widely as possible4 ,such1 though not all1 are the most direct consequences of that perversion of art which has occurred in our society4 ,so that what in our society is called art not only does not conduce to the progress of mankind1 but1 more than almost anything else1 hinders the attainment of goodness in our lives4 ,and therefore the question which involuntarily presents itself to every man free from artistic activity and therefore not bound to existing art by self-interest1 the question asked by me at the beginning of this work3 ,is it just that to what we call art1 to a something belonging to but a small section of society1 should be offered up such sacrifices of human labor1 of human lives1 and of goodness as are now being offered up8 receives the natural reply3 ,no2 it is unjust1 and these things should not be6 ,so also replies sound sense and unperverted moral feeling4 ,not only should these things not be1 not only should no sacrifices be offered up to what among us is called art1 but1 on the contrary1 the efforts of those who wish to live rightly should be directed toward the destruction of this art1 for it is one of the most cruel of the evils that harass our section of humanity4 ,so that1 were the question put3 ,would it be preferable for our ,christian world to be deprived of all that is now esteemed to be art1 and1 together with the false1 to lose all that is good in it8 ,i think that every reasonable and moral man would again decide the question as ,plato decided it for his ,republic1 and as all the ,church ,christian and ,mohammedan teachers of mankind decided it1 i4e4 would say1 ,rather let there be no art at all than continue the depraving art1 or simulation of art1 which now exists4 ,happily1 no one has to face this question1 and no one need adopt either solution4 ,all that man can do1 and that we--the so-called educated people1 who are so placed that we have the possibility of understanding the meaning of the phenomena of our life--can and should do1 is to understand the error we are involved in1 and not harden our hearts in it1 but seek for a way of escape4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the cause of the lie into which the art of our society has fallen was that people of the upper classes1 having ceased to believe in the ,church teaching 7called ,christian71 did not resolve to accept true ,christian teaching in its real and fundamental principles of sonship to ,god and brotherhood to man1 but continued to live on without any belief1 endeavoring to make up for the absence of belief--some by hypocrisy1 pretending still to believe in the nonsense of the ,church creeds2 others by boldly asserting their disbelief2 others by refined agnosticism2 and others1 again1 by returning to the ,greek worship of beauty1 proclaiming egotism to be right1 and elevating it to the rank of a religious doctrine4 ,the cause of the malady was the non-acceptance of ,christ's teaching in its real1 i4e4 its full1 meaning4 ,and the only cure for the illness lies in acknowledging that teaching in its full meaning4 ,and such acknowledgment in our time is not only possible1 but inevitable4 ,already to-day a man1 standing on the height of the knowledge of our age1 whether he be nominally a ,catholic or a ,protestant1 cannot say that he really believes in the dogmas of the ,church3 in ,god being a ,trinity1 in ,christ being ,god1 in the scheme of redemption1 and so forth2 nor can he satisfy himself by proclaiming his unbelief or skepticism1 nor by relapsing into the worship of beauty and egotism4 ,above all1 he can no longer say that we do not know the real meaning of ,christ's teaching4 ,that meaning has not only become accessible to all men of our times1 but the whole life of man to-day is permeated by the spirit of that teaching1 and1 consciously or unconsciously1 is guided by it4 ,however differently in form people belonging to our ,christian world may define the destiny of man2 whether they see it in human progress in whatever sense of the words1 in the union of all men in a socialistic realm1 or in the establishment of a commune2 whether they look forward to the union of mankind under the guidance of one universal ,church1 or to the federation of the world1--however various in form their definitions of the destination of human life may be1 all men in our times already admit that the highest well-being attainable by men is to be reached by their union with one another4 ,however people of our upper classes 7feeling that their ascendancy can only be maintained as long as they separate themselves--the rich and learned--from the laborers1 the poor1 and the unlearned7 may seek to devise new conceptions of life by which their privileges may be perpetuated1--now the ideal of returning to antiquity1 now mysticism1 now ,hellenism1 now the cult of the superior person 7over-man-ism71--they have1 willingly or unwillingly1 to admit the truth which is elucidating itself from all sides1 voluntarily and involuntarily1 namely1 that our welfare lies only in the unification and the brotherhood of man4 ,unconsciously this truth is confirmed by the construction of means of communication1--telegraphs1 telephones1 the press1 and the ever increasing attainability of material well-being for every one1--and consciously it is affirmed by the destruction of superstitions which divide men1 by the diffusion of the truths of knowledge1 and by the expression of the ideal of the brotherhood of man in the best works of art of our time4 ,art is a spiritual organ of human life which cannot be destroyed1 and therefore1 notwithstanding all the efforts made by people of the upper classes to conceal the religious ideal by which humanity lives1 that ideal is more and more clearly recognized by man1 and even in our perverted society is more and more often partially expressed by science and by art4 ,during the present century works of the higher kind of religious art have appeared more and more frequently1 both in literature and in painting1 permeated by a truly ,christian spirit1 as also works of the universal art of common life1 accessible to all4 ,so that even art knows the true ideal of our times1 and tends toward it4 ,on the one hand1 the best works of art of our times transmit religious feelings urging toward the union and the brotherhood of man 7such are the works of ,dickens1 ,hugo1 ,dostoievsky2 and in painting1 of ,millet1 ,bastien ,lepage1 ,jules ,breton1 ,l',hermitte1 and others72 on the other hand1 they strive toward the transmission1 not of feelings which are natural to people of the upper classes only1 but of such feelings as may unite every one without exception4 ,there are as yet few such works1 but the need of them is already acknowledged4 ,in recent times we also meet more and more frequently with attempts at publications1 pictures1 concerts1 and theaters for the people4 ,all this is still very far from accomplishing what should be done1 but already the direction in which good art instinctively presses forward to regain the path natural to it can be discerned4 ,the religious perception of our time--which consists in acknowledging that the aim of life 7both collective and individual7 is the union of mankind--is already so sufficiently distinct that people have now only to reject the false theory of beauty1 according to which enjoyment is considered to be the purpose of art1 and religious perception will naturally take its place as the guide of the art of our time4 ,and as soon as the religious perception1 which already unconsciously directs the life of man1 is consciously acknowledged1 then immediately and naturally the division of art1 into art for the lower and art for the upper classes1 will disappear4 ,there will be one common1 brotherly1 universal art2 and first1 that art will naturally be rejected which transmits feelings incompatible with the religious perception of our time1--feelings which do not unite1 but divide men1--and then that insignificant1 exclusive art will be rejected to which an importance is now attached to which it has no right4 ,and as soon as this occurs1 art will immediately cease to be what it has been in recent times1--a means of making people coarser and more vicious2 and it will become1 what it always used to be and should be1 a means by which humanity progresses toward unity and blessedness4 ,strange as the comparison may sound1 what has happened to the art of our circle and time is what happens to a woman who sells her womanly attractiveness1 intended for maternity1 for the pleasure of those who desire such pleasures4 ,the art of our time and of our circle has become a prostitute4 ,and this comparison holds good even in minute details4 ,like her it is not limited to certain times1 like her it is always adorned1 like her it is always salable1 and like her it is enticing and ruinous4 ,a real work of art can only arise in the soul of an artist occasionally as the fruit of the life he has lived1 just as a child is conceived by its mother4 ,but counterfeit art is produced by artisans and handicraftsmen continually1 if only consumers can be found4 ,real art1 like the wife of an affectionate husband1 needs no ornaments4 ,but counterfeit art1 like a prostitute1 must always be decked out4 ,the cause of the production of real art is the artist's inner need to express a feeling that has accumulated1 just as for a mother the cause of sexual conception is love4 ,the cause of counterfeit art1 as of prostitution1 is gain4 ,the consequence of true art is the introduction of a new feeling into the intercourse of life1 as the consequence of a wife's love is the birth of a new man into life4 ,the consequences of counterfeit art are the perversion of man1 pleasure which never satisfies1 and the weakening of man's spiritual strength4 ,and this is what people of our day and of our circle should understand1 in order to avoid the filthy torrent of depraved and prostituted art with which we are deluged4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,people talk of the art of the future1 meaning by art of the future some especially refined1 new art1 which1 as they imagine1 will be developed out of that exclusive art of one class which is now considered the highest art4 ,but no such new art of the future can or will be found4 ,our exclusive art1 that of the upper classes of ,christendom1 has found its way into a blind alley4 ,the direction in which it has been going leads nowhere4 ,having once let go of that which is most essential for art 7namely1 the guidance given by religious perception71 that art has become ever more and more exclusive1 and therefore ever more and more perverted1 until1 finally1 it has come to nothing4 ,the art of the future1 that which is really coming1 will not be a development of present-day art1 but will arise on completely other and new foundations1 having nothing in common with those by which our present art of the upper classes is guided4 ,art of the future1 that is to say1 such part of art as will be chosen from among all the art diffused among mankind1 will consist1 not in transmitting feelings accessible only to members of the rich classes1 as is the case to-day1 but in transmitting such feelings as embody the highest religious perception of our times4 ,only those productions will be considered art which transmit feelings drawing men together in brotherly union1 or such universal feelings as can unite all men4 ,only such art will be chosen1 tolerated1 approved1 and diffused4 ,but art transmitting feelings flowing from antiquated1 worn-out religious teaching1--,church art1 patriotic art1 voluptuous art1 transmitting feelings of superstitious fear1 of pride1 of vanity1 of ecstatic admiration of national heroes1--art exciting exclusive love of one's own people1 or sensuality1 will be considered bad1 harmful art1 and will be censured and despised by public opinion4 ,all the rest of art1 transmitting feelings accessible only to a section of people1 will be considered unimportant1 and will be neither blamed nor praised4 ,and the appraisement of art in general will devolve1 not1 as is now the case1 on a separate class of rich people1 but on the whole people2 so that for a work to be esteemed good1 and to be approved of and diffused1 it will have to satisfy the demands1 not of a few people living in identical and often unnatural conditions1 but it will have to satisfy the demands of all those great masses of people who are situated in the natural conditions of laborious life4 ,and the artists producing art will also not be1 as now1 merely a few people selected from a small section of the nation1 members of the upper classes or their hangers-on1 but will consist of all those gifted members of the whole people who prove capable of1 and are inclined toward1 artistic activity4 ,artistic activity will then be accessible to all men4 ,it will become accessible to the whole people1 because1 in the first place1 in the art of the future1 not only will that complex technique1 which deforms the productions of the art of to-day and requires so great an effort and expenditure of time1 not be demanded1 but1 on the contrary1 the demand will be for clearness1 simplicity1 and brevity--conditions mastered1 not by mechanical exercises1 but by the education of taste4 ,and secondly1 artistic activity will become accessible to all men of the people because1 instead of the present professional schools which only some can enter1 all will learn music and depictive art 7singing and drawing7 equally with letters in the elementary schools1 and in such a way that every man1 having received the first principles of drawing and music1 and feeling a capacity for1 and a call to1 one or other of the arts1 will be able to perfect himself in it4 ,people think that if there are no special art schools the technique of art will deteriorate4 ,undoubtedly1 if by technique we understand those complications of art which are now considered an excellence1 it will deteriorate2 but if by technique is understood clearness1 beauty1 simplicity1 and compression in works of art1 then1 even if the elements of drawing and music were not to be taught in the national schools1 the technique will not only not deteriorate1 but1 as is shown by all peasant art1 will be a hundred times better4 ,it will be improved1 because all the artists of genius now hidden among the masses will become producers of art and will give models of excellence1 which 7as has always been the case7 will be the best schools of technique for their successors4 ,for every true artist1 even now1 learns his technique1 chiefly1 not in the schools1 but in life1 from the examples of the great masters2 then--when the producers of art will be the best artists of the whole nation1 and there will be more such examples1 and they will be more accessible--such part of the school training as the future artist will lose will be a hundredfold compensated for by the training he will receive from the numerous examples of good art diffused in society4 ,such will be one difference between present and future art4 ,another difference will be that art will not be produced by professional artists receiving payment for their work and engaged on nothing else besides their art4 ,the art of the future will be produced by all the members of the community who feel the need of such activity1 but they will occupy themselves with art only when they feel such need4 ,in our society people think that an artist will work better1 and produce more1 if he has a secured maintenance4 ,and this opinion would serve once more to show clearly1 were such demonstration still needed1 that what among us is considered art is not art1 but only its counterfeit4 ,it is quite true that for the production of boots or loaves division of labor is very advantageous1 and that the bootmaker or baker who need not prepare his own dinner or fetch his own fuel will make more boots or loaves than if he had to busy himself about these matters4 ,but art is not a handicraft2 it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced4 ,and sound feeling can only be engendered in a man when he is living on all its sides the life natural and proper to mankind4 ,and therefore security of maintenance is a condition most harmful to an artist's true productiveness1 since it removes him from the condition natural to all men1--that of struggle with nature for the maintenance of both his own life and that of others1--and thus deprives him of opportunity and possibility to experience the most important and natural feelings of man4 ,there is no position more injurious to an artist's productiveness than that position of complete security and luxury in which artists usually live in our society4 ,the artist of the future will live the common life of man1 earning his subsistence by some kind of labor4 ,the fruits of that highest spiritual strength which passes through him he will try to share with the greatest possible number of people1 for in such transmission to others of the feelings that have arisen in him he will find his happiness and his reward4 ,the artist of the future will be unable to understand how an artist1 whose chief delight is in the wide diffusion of his works1 could give them only in exchange for a certain payment4 ,until the dealers are driven out1 the temple of art will not be a temple4 ,but the art of the future will drive them out4 ,and therefore the subject-matter of the art of the future1 as ,i imagine it to myself1 will be totally unlike that of to-day4 ,it will consist1 not in the expression of exclusive feelings3 pride1 spleen1 satiety1 and all possible forms of voluptuousness1 available and interesting only to people who1 by force1 have freed themselves from the labor natural to human beings2 but it will consist in the expression of feelings experienced by a man living the life natural to all men and flowing from the religious perception of our times1 or of such feelings as are open to all men without exception4 ,to people of our circle who do not know and cannot or will not understand the feelings which will form the subject-matter of the art of the future1 such subject-matter appears very poor in comparison with those subtleties of exclusive art with which they are now occupied4 ,what is there fresh to be said in the sphere of the ,christian feeling of love of one's fellow-man8 ,the feelings common to every one are so insignificant and monotonous1 think they4 ,and yet1 in our time1 the really fresh feelings can only be religious1 ,christian feelings1 and such as are open1 accessible1 to all4 ,the feelings flowing from the religious perception of our times1 ,christian feelings1 are infinitely new and varied1 only not in the sense some people imagine1--not that they can be evoked by the depiction of ,christ and of gospel episodes1 or by repeating in new forms the ,christian truths of unity1 brotherhood1 equality1 and love1--but in that all the oldest1 commonest1 and most hackneyed phenomena of life evoke the newest1 most unexpected1 and touching emotions as soon as a man regards them from the ,christian point of view4 ,what can be older than the relations between married couples1 of parents to children1 of children to parents2 the relations of men to their fellow-countrymen and to foreigners1 to an invasion1 to defense1 to property1 to the land1 or to animals8 ,but as soon as a man regards these matters from the ,christian point of view1 endlessly varied1 fresh1 complex1 and strong emotions immediately arise4 ,and1 in the same way1 that realm of subject-matter for the art of the future which relates to the simplest feelings of common life open to all will not be narrowed1 but widened4 ,in our former art only the expression of feelings natural to people of a certain exceptional position was considered worthy of being transmitted by art1 and even then only on condition that these feelings were transmitted in a most refined manner1 incomprehensible to the majority of men2 all the immense realm of folk-art1 and children's art--jests1 proverbs1 riddles1 songs1 dances1 children's games1 and mimicry--was not esteemed a domain worthy of art4 ,the artist of the future will understand that to compose a fairy-tale1 a little song which will touch1 a lullaby or a riddle which will entertain1 a jest which will amuse1 or to draw a sketch which will delight dozens of generations or millions of children and adults1 is incomparably more important and more fruitful than to compose a novel or a symphony1 or paint a picture which will divert some members of the wealthy classes for a short time1 and then be forever forgotten4 ,the region of this art of the simple feelings accessible to all is enormous1 and it is as yet almost untouched4 ,the art of the future1 therefore1 will not be poorer1 but infinitely richer in subject-matter4 ,and the form of the art of the future will also not be inferior to the present forms of art1 but infinitely superior to them4 ,superior1 not in the sense of having a refined and complex technique1 but in the sense of the capacity briefly1 simply1 and clearly to transmit1 without any superfluities1 the feeling which the artist has experienced and wishes to transmit4 ,i remember once speaking to a famous astronomer who had given public lectures on the spectrum analysis of the stars of the ,milky ,way1 and saying it would be a good thing if1 with his knowledge and masterly delivery1 he would give a lecture merely on the formation and movements of the earth1 for certainly there were many people at his lecture on the spectrum analysis of the stars of the ,milky ,way1 especially among the women1 who did not well know why night follows day and summer follows winter4 ,the wise astronomer smiled as he answered1 ,yes1 it would be a good thing1 but it would be very difficult4 ,to lecture on the spectrum analysis of the ,milky ,way is far easier4 ,and so it is in art4 ,to write a rhymed poem dealing with the times of ,cleopatra1 or paint a picture of ,nero burning ,rome1 or compose a symphony in the manner of ,brahms or ,richard ,strauss1 or an opera like ,wagner's1 is far easier than to tell a simple story without any unnecessary details1 yet so that it should transmit the feelings of the narrator1 or to draw a pencil-sketch which should touch or amuse the beholder1 or to compose four bars of clear and simple melody1 without any accompaniment1 which should convey an impression and be remembered by those who hear it4 ,it is impossible for us1 with our culture1 to return to a primitive state1 say the artists of our time4 ,it is impossible for us now to write such stories as that of ,joseph or the ',odyssey1' to produce such statues as the ,venus of ,milo1 or to compose such music as the folk-songs4 ,and indeed1 for the artists of our society and day1 it is impossible1 but not for the future artist1 who will be free from all the perversion of technical improvements hiding the absence of subject-matter1 and who1 not being a professional artist and receiving no payment for his activity1 will only produce art when he feels impelled to do so by an irresistible inner impulse4 ,the art of the future will thus be completely distinct1 both in subject-matter and in form1 from what is now called art4 ,the only subject-matter of the art of the future will be either feelings drawing men toward union1 or such as already unite them2 and the forms of art will be such as will be open to every one4 ,and therefore1 the ideal of excellence in the future will not be the exclusiveness of feeling1 accessible only to some1 but1 on the contrary1 its universality4 ,and not bulkiness1 obscurity1 and complexity of form1 as is now esteemed1 but1 on the contrary1 brevity1 clearness1 and simplicity of expression4 ,only when art has attained to that1 will art neither divert nor deprave men as it does now1 calling on them to expend their best strength on it1 but be what it should be1--a vehicle wherewith to transmit religious1 ,christian perception from the realm of reason and intellect into that of feeling1 and really drawing people in actual life nearer to that perfection and unity indicated to them by their religious perception4 ,,chapter ,,xx ,,the ,,conclusion ,i have accomplished1 to the best of my ability1 this work which has occupied me for fifteen years1 on a subject near to me--that of art4 ,by saying that this subject has occupied me for fifteen years1 ,i do not mean that ,i have been writing this book fifteen years1 but only that ,i began to write on art fifteen years ago1 thinking that when once ,i undertook the task ,i should be able to accomplish it without a break4 ,it proved1 however1 that my views on the matter then were so far from clear that ,i could not arrange them in a way that satisfied me4 ,from that time ,i have never ceased to think on the subject1 and ,i have recommenced to write on it six or seven times2 but each time1 after writing a considerable part of it1 ,i have found myself unable to bring the work to a satisfactory conclusion1 and have had to put it aside4 ,now ,i have finished it2 and however badly ,i may have performed the task1 my hope is that my fundamental thought as to the false direction the art of our society has taken and is following1 as to the reasons of this1 and as to the real destination of art1 is correct1 and that therefore my work will not be without avail4 ,but that this should come to pass1 and that art should really abandon its false path and take the new direction1 it is necessary that another equally important human spiritual activity1--science1--in intimate dependence on which art always rests1 should abandon the false path which it too1 like art1 is following4 ,science and art are as closely bound together as the lungs and the heart1 so that if one organ is vitiated the other cannot act rightly4 ,true science investigates and brings to human perception such truths and such knowledge as the people of a given time and society consider most important4 ,art transmits these truths from the region of perception to the region of emotion4 ,therefore1 if the path chosen by science be false1 so also will be the path taken by art4 ,science and art are like a certain kind of barge with kedge-anchors which used to ply on our rivers4 ,science1 like the boats which took the anchors up-stream and made them secure1 gives direction to the forward movement2 while art1 like the windlass worked on the barge to draw it toward the anchor1 causes the actual progression4 ,and thus a false activity of science inevitably causes a correspondingly false activity of art4 ,as art in general is the transmission of every kind of feeling1 but in the limited sense of the word we only call that art which transmits feelings acknowledged by us to be important1 so also science in general is the transmission of all possible knowledge2 but in the limited sense of the word we call science that which transmits knowledge acknowledged by us to be important4 ,and the degree of importance1 both of the feelings transmitted by art and of the information transmitted by science1 is decided by the religious perception of the given time and society1 i4e4 by the common understanding of the purpose of their lives possessed by the people of that time or society4 ,that which most of all contributes to the fulfilment of that purpose will be studied most2 that which contributes less will be studied less2 that which does not contribute at all to the fulfilment of the purpose of human life will be entirely neglected1 or1 if studied1 such study will not be accounted science4 ,so it always has been1 and so it should be now2 for such is the nature of human knowledge and of human life4 ,but the science of the upper classes of our time1 which not only does not acknowledge any religion1 but considers every religion to be mere superstition1 could not and cannot make such distinctions4 ,scientists of our day affirm that they study everything impartially2 but as everything is too much 7is in fact an infinite number of objects71 and as it is impossible to study all alike1 this is only said in the theory1 while in practice not everything is studied1 and study is applied far from impartially1 only that being studied which1 on the one hand1 is most wanted by1 and on the other hand1 is pleasantest to1 those people who occupy themselves with science4 ,and what the people1 belonging to the upper classes1 who are occupying themselves with science most want is the maintenance of the system under which those classes retain their privileges2 and what is pleasantest are such things as satisfy idle curiosity1 do not demand great mental efforts1 and can be practically applied4 ,and therefore one side of science1 including theology and philosophy adapted to the existing order1 as also history and political economy of the same sort1 are chiefly occupied in proving that the existing order is the very one which ought to exist2 that it has come into existence and continues to exist by the operation of immutable laws not amenable to human will1 and that all efforts to change it are therefore harmful and wrong4 ,the other part1 experimental science1--including mathematics1 astronomy1 chemistry1 physics1 botany1 and all the natural sciences1--is exclusively occupied with things that have no direct relation to human life3 with what is curious1 and with things of which practical application advantageous to people of the upper classes can be made4 ,and to justify that selection of objects of study which 7in conformity to their own position7 the men of science of our times have made1 they have devised a theory of science for science's sake1 quite similar to the theory of art for art's sake4 ,as by the theory of art for art's sake it appears that occupation with all those things that please us--is art1 so1 by the theory of science for science's sake1 the study of that which interests us--is science4 ,so that one side of science1 instead of studying how people should live in order to fulfil their mission in life1 demonstrates the righteousness and immutability of the bad and false arrangements of life which exist around us2 while the other part1 experimental science1 occupies itself with questions of simple curiosity or with technical improvements4 ,the first of these divisions of science is harmful1 not only because it confuses people's perceptions and gives false decisions1 but also because it exists1 and occupies the ground which should belong to true science4 ,it does this harm1 that each man1 in order to approach the study of the most important questions of life1 must first refute these erections of lies which have during ages been piled around each of the most essential questions of human life1 and which are propped up by all the strength of human ingenuity4 ,the second division--the one of which modern science is so particularly proud1 and which is considered by many people to be the only real science--is harmful in that it diverts attention from the really important subjects to insignificant subjects1 and is also directly harmful in that1 under the evil system of society which the first division of science justifies and supports1 a great part of the technical gains of science are turned1 not to the advantage1 but to the injury of mankind4 ,indeed1 it is only to those who are devoting their lives to such study that it seems as if all the inventions which are made in the sphere of natural science were very important and useful things4 ,and to these people it seems so only when they do not look around them and do not see what is really important4 ,they only need tear themselves away from the psychological microscope under which they examine the objects of their study1 and look about them1 in order to see how insignificant is all that has afforded them such nave pride1 all that knowledge not only of geometry of n-dimensions1 spectrum analysis of the ,milky ,way1 the form of atoms1 dimensions of human skulls of the ,stone ,age1 and similar trifles1 but even our knowledge of micro-organisms1 ,x-rays1 etc41 in comparison with such knowledge as we have thrown aside and handed over to the perversions of the professors of theology1 jurisprudence1 political economy1 financial science1 etc4 ,we need only look around us to perceive that the activity proper to real science is not the study of whatever happens to interest us1 but the study of how man's life should be established1--the study of those questions of religion1 morality1 and social life1 without the solution of which all our knowledge of nature will be harmful or insignificant4 ,we are highly delighted and very proud that our science renders it possible to utilize the energy of a waterfall and make it work in factories1 or that we have pierced tunnels through mountains1 and so forth4 ,but the pity of it is that we make the force of the waterfall labor1 not for the benefit of the workmen1 but to enrich capitalists who produce articles of luxury or weapons of man-destroying war4 ,the same dynamite with which we blast the mountains to pierce tunnels we use for wars1 from which latter we not only do not intend to abstain1 but which we consider inevitable1 and for which we unceasingly prepare4 ,if we are now able to inoculate preventatively with diphtheritic microbes1 to find a needle in a body by means of ,x-rays1 to straighten a hunched-back1 cure syphilis1 and perform wonderful operations1 we should not be proud of these acquisitions either 7even were they all established beyond dispute7 if we fully understood the true purpose of real science4 ,if but one-tenth of the efforts now spent on objects of pure curiosity or of merely practical application were expended on real science organizing the life of man1 more than half the people now sick would not have the illnesses from which a small minority of them now get cured in hospitals4 ,there would be no poor-blooded and deformed children growing up in factories1 no death-rates1 as now1 of fifty per cent among children1 no deterioration of whole generations1 no prostitution1 no syphilis1 and no murdering of hundreds of thousands in wars1 nor those horrors of folly and of misery which our present science considers a necessary condition of human life4 ,we have so perverted the conception of science that it seems strange to men of our day to allude to sciences which should prevent the mortality of children1 prostitution1 syphilis1 the deterioration of whole generations1 and the wholesale murder of men4 ,it seems to us that science is only then real science when a man in a laboratory pours liquids from one jar into another1 or analyzes the spectrum1 or cuts up frogs and porpoises1 or weaves in a specialized1 scientific jargon an obscure network of conventional phrases--theological1 philosophical1 historical1 juridical1 or politico-economical--semi-intelligible to the man himself1 and intended to demonstrate that what now is1 is what should be4 ,but science1 true science1--such science as would really deserve the respect which is now claimed by the followers of one 7the least important7 part of science1--is not at all such as this3 real science lies in knowing what we should and what we should not believe1 in knowing how the associated life of man should and should not be constituted2 how to treat sexual relations1 how to educate children1 how to use the land1 how to cultivate it oneself without oppressing other people1 how to treat foreigners1 how to treat animals1 and much more that is important for the life of man4 ,such has true science ever been and such it should be4 ,and such science is springing up in our times2 but1 on the one hand1 such true science is denied and refuted by all those scientific people who defend the existing order of society1 and1 on the other hand1 it is considered empty1 unnecessary1 unscientific science by those who are engrossed in experimental science4 ,for instance1 books and sermons appear1 demonstrating the antiquatedness and absurdity of ,church dogmas1 as well as the necessity of establishing a reasonable religious perception suitable to our times1 and all the theology that is considered to be real science is only engaged in refuting these works and in exercising human intelligence again and again to find support and justification for superstitions long since outlived1 and which have now become quite meaningless4 ,or a sermon appears showing that land should not be an object of private possession1 and that the institution of private property in land is a chief cause of the poverty of the masses4 ,apparently science1 real science1 should welcome such a sermon and draw further deductions from this position4 ,but the science of our times does nothing of the kind3 on the contrary1 political economy demonstrates the opposite position2 namely1 that landed property1 like every other form of property1 must be more and more concentrated in the hands of a small number of owners4 ,again1 in the same way1 one would suppose it to be the business of real science to demonstrate the irrationality1 unprofitableness1 and immorality of war and of executions2 or the inhumanity and harmfulness of prostitution2 or the absurdity1 harmfulness1 and immorality of using narcotics or of eating animals2 or the irrationality1 harmfulness1 and antiquatedness of patriotism4 ,and such works exist1 but are all considered unscientific2 while works to prove that all these things ought to continue1 and works intended to satisfy an idle thirst for knowledge lacking any relation to human life1 are considered to be scientific4 ,the deviation of the science of our time from its true purpose is strikingly illustrated by those ideals which are put forward by some scientists1 and are not denied1 but admitted1 by the majority of scientific men4 ,these ideals are expressed not only in stupid1 fashionable books1 describing the world as it will be in #ajjj or #cjjj years' time1 but also by sociologists who consider themselves serious men of science4 ,these ideals are that food1 instead of being obtained from the land by agriculture1 will be prepared in laboratories by chemical means1 and that human labor will be almost entirely superseded by the utilization of natural forces4 ,man will not1 as now1 eat an egg laid by a hen he has kept1 or bread grown on his field1 or an apple from a tree he has reared and which has blossomed and matured in his sight2 but he will eat tasty1 nutritious1 food which will be prepared in laboratories by the conjoint labor of many people in which he will take a small part4 ,man will hardly need to labor1 so that all men will be able to yield to idleness as the upper1 ruling classes now yield to it4 ,nothing shows more plainly than these ideals to what a degree the science of our times has deviated from the true path4 ,the great majority of men in our times lack good and sufficient food 7as well as dwellings and clothes and all the first necessaries of life74 ,and this great majority of men is compelled1 to the injury of its well-being1 to labor continually beyond its strength4 ,both these evils can easily be removed by abolishing mutual strife1 luxury1 and the unrighteous distribution of wealth1 in a word1 by the abolition of a false and harmful order and the establishment of a reasonable1 human manner of life4 ,but science considers the existing order of things to be as immutable as the movements of the planets1 and therefore assumes that the purpose of science is--not to elucidate the falseness of this order and to arrange a new1 reasonable way of life--but1 under the existing order of things1 to feed everybody and enable all to be as idle as the ruling classes1 who live a depraved life1 now are4 ,and1 meanwhile1 it is forgotten that nourishment with corn1 vegetables1 and fruit raised from the soil by one's own labor is the pleasantest1 healthiest1 easiest1 and most natural nourishment1 and that the work of using one's muscles is as necessary a condition of life as is the oxidation of the blood by breathing4 ,to invent means whereby people might1 while continuing our false division of property and labor1 be well nourished by means of chemically prepared food1 and might make the forces of nature work for them1 is like inventing means to pump oxygen into the lungs of a man kept in a closed chamber1 the air of which is bad1 when all that is needed is to cease to confine the man in the closed chamber4 ,in the vegetable and animal kingdoms a laboratory for the production of food has been arranged1 such as can be surpassed by no professors1 and to enjoy the fruits of this laboratory1 and to participate in it1 man has only to yield to that ever joyful impulse to labor1 without which man's life is a torment4 ,and lo and behold6 the scientists of our times1 instead of employing all their strength to abolish whatever hinders man from utilizing the good things prepared for him1 acknowledge the conditions under which man is deprived of these blessings to be unalterable1 and instead of arranging the life of man so that he might work joyfully and be fed from the soil1 they devise methods which will cause him to become an artificial abortion4 ,it is like not helping a man out of confinement into the fresh air1 but devising means1 instead1 to pump into him the necessary quantity of oxygen and arranging so that he may live in a stifling cellar instead of living at home4 ,such false ideals could not exist if science were not on a false path4 ,and yet the feelings transmitted by art grow up on the bases supplied by science4 ,but what feelings can such misdirected science evoke8 ,one side of this science evokes antiquated feelings1 which humanity has used up1 and which1 in our times1 are bad and exclusive4 ,the other side1 occupied with the study of subjects unrelated to the conduct of human life1 by its very nature cannot serve as a basis for art4 ,so that art in our times1 to be art1 must either open up its own road independently of science1 or must take direction from the unrecognized science which is denounced by the orthodox section of science4 ,and this is what art1 when it even partially fulfils its mission1 is doing4 ,it is to be hoped that the work ,i have tried to perform concerning art will be performed also for science--that the falseness of the theory of science for science's sake will be demonstrated2 that the necessity of acknowledging ,christian teaching in its true meaning will be clearly shown1 that on the basis of that teaching a reappraisement will be made of the knowledge we possess1 and of which we are so proud2 that the secondariness and insignificance of experimental science1 and the primacy and importance of religious1 moral1 and social knowledge will be established2 and that such knowledge will not1 as now1 be left to the guidance of the upper classes only1 but will form a chief interest of all free1 truth-loving men1 such as those who1 not in agreement with the upper classes1 but in their despite1 have always forwarded the real science of life4 ,astronomical1 physical1 chemical1 and biological science1 as also technical and medical science1 will be studied only in so far as they can help to free mankind from religious1 juridical1 or social deceptions1 or can serve to promote the well-being of all men1 and not of any single class4 ,only then will science cease to be what it is now1--on the one hand a system of sophistries1 needed for the maintenance of the existing worn-out order of society1 and1 on the other hand1 a shapeless mass of miscellaneous knowledge1 for the most part good for little or nothing1--and become a shapely and organic whole1 having a definite and reasonable purpose comprehensible to all men2 namely1 the purpose of bringing to the consciousness of men the truths that flow from the religious perception of our times4 ,and only then will art1 which is always dependent on science1 be what it might and should be1 an organ co-equally important with science for the life and progress of mankind4 ,art is not a pleasure1 a solace1 or an amusement2 art is a great matter4 ,art is an organ of human life1 transmitting man's reasonable perception into feeling4 ,in our age the common religious perception of men is the consciousness of the brotherhood of man--we know that the well-being of man lies in union with his fellow-men4 ,true science should indicate the various methods of applying this consciousness to life4 ,art should transform this perception into feeling4 ,the task of art is enormous4 ,through the influence of real art1 aided by science guided by religion1 that peaceful coperation of man which is now obtained by external means--by our law-courts1 police1 charitable institutions1 factory inspection1 etc4--should be obtained by man's free and joyous activity4 ,art should cause violence to be set aside4 ,and it is only art that can accomplish this4 ,all that now1 independently of the fear of violence and punishment1 makes the social life of man possible 7and already now this is an enormous part of the order of our lives7--all this has been brought about by art4 ,if by art it has been inculcated how people should treat religious objects1 their parents1 their children1 their wives1 their relations1 strangers1 foreigners2 how to conduct themselves to their elders1 their superiors1 to those who suffer1 to their enemies1 and to animals2 and if this has been obeyed through generations by millions of people1 not only unenforced by any violence1 but so that the force of such customs can be shaken in no way but by means of art--then1 by the same art1 other customs1 more in accord with the religious perception of our time1 may be evoked4 ,if art has been able to convey the sentiment of reverence for images1 for the eucharist1 and for the king's person2 of shame at betraying a comrade1 devotion to a flag1 the necessity of revenge for an insult1 the need to sacrifice one's labor for the erection and adornment of churches1 the duty of defending one's honor or the glory of one's native land--then that same art can also evoke reverence for the dignity of every man and for the life of every animal2 can make men ashamed of luxury1 of violence1 of revenge1 or of using for their pleasure that of which others are in need2 can compel people freely1 gladly1 and without noticing it1 to sacrifice themselves in the service of man4 ,the task for art to accomplish is to make that feeling of brotherhood and love of one's neighbor1 now attained only by the best members of society1 the customary feeling and the instinct of all men4 ,by evoking1 under imaginary conditions1 the feeling of brotherhood and love1 religious art will train men to experience those same feelings under similar circumstances in actual life2 it will lay in the souls of men the rails along which the actions of those whom art thus educates will naturally pass4 ,and universal art1 by uniting the most different people in one common feeling1 by destroying separation1 will educate people to union1 will show them1 not by reason1 but by life itself1 the joy of universal union reaching beyond the bounds set by life4 ,the destiny of art in our time is to transmit from the realm of reason to the realm of feeling the truth that well-being for men consists in being united together1 and to set up1 in place of the existing reign of force1 that kingdom of ,god1 i4e4 of love1 which we all recognize to be the highest aim of human life4 ,possibly1 in the future1 science may reveal to art yet newer and higher ideals1 which art may realize2 but1 in our time1 the destiny of art is clear and definite4 ,the task for ,christian art is to establish brotherly union among men4 ,,appendix ,i ,this is the first page of ,mallarm's book1 ,divagations3-- ,,le ,,ph,,nom,,ne ,,futur ,un ciel ple1 sur le monde qui finit de dcrpitude1 va peut-tre partir avec les nuages3 les lambeaux de la pourpre use des couchants dteignent dans une rivire dormant l'horizon submerg de rayons et d'eau4 ,les arbres s'ennuient1 et1 sous leur feuillage blanchi 7de la poussire du temps plutt que celle des chemins7 monte la maison en toile de ,montreur de choses ,passes3 maint rverbre attend le crpuscule et ravive les visages d'une malheureuse foule1 vaincue par la maladie immortelle et le pch des sicles1 d'hommes prs de leurs chtives complices enceintes des fruits misrables avec lesquels prira la terre4 ,dans le silence inquiet de tous les yeux suppliant l-bas le soleil qui1 sous l'eau1 s'enfonce avec le dsespoir d'un cri1 voici le simple boniment3 ,nulle enseigne ne vous rgale du spectacle intrieur1 car il n'est pas maintenant un peintre capable d'en donner une ombre triste4 ,j'apporte1 vivante 7et prserve travers les ans par la science souveraine7 une ,femme d'autrefois4 ,quelque folie1 originelle et nave1 une extase d'or1 je ne sais quoi6 par elle nomm sa chevelure1 se ploie avec la grce des toffes autour d'un visage qu' claire la nudit sanglante de ses lvres4 ,a la place du vtement vain1 elle a un corps2 et les yeux1 semblables aux pierres rares6 ne valent pas ce regard qui sort de sa chair heureuse3 des seins levs comme s'ils taient pleins d'un lait ternel1 la pointe vers le ciel1 les jambes lisses qui gardent le sel de la mer premire4 ,se rappelant leurs pauvres pouses1 chauves1 morbides et pleines d'horreur1 les maris se pressent3 elles aussi par curiosit1 mlancoliques1 veulent voir4 ,quand tous auront contempl la noble crature1 vestige de quelque poque dj maudite1 les uns indiffrents1 car ils n'auront pas eu la force de comprendre1 mais d'autres navrs et la paupire humide de larmes rsignes1 se regarderont2 tandis que les potes de ces temps1 sentant se rallumer leur yeux teints1 s'achemineront vers leur lampe1 le cerveau ivre un instant d'une gloire confuse1 hants du ,rythme et dans l'oubli d'exister une poque qui survit la beaut4 ,,the ,,future ,,phenomenon--,,by ,,mallarm4 ,a pale sky1 above the world that is ending through decrepitude1 going1 perhaps1 to pass away with the clouds3 shreds of worn-out purple of the sunsets wash off their color in a river sleeping on the horizon1 submerged with rays and water4 ,the trees are weary and1 beneath their foliage1 whitened 7by the dust of time rather than that of the roads71 rises the canvas house of ,showman of things ,past4 ,many a lamp awaits the gloaming1 and brightens the faces of a miserable crowd vanquished by the immortal illness and the sin of ages1 of men by the sides of their puny accomplices pregnant with the miserable fruit with which the world will perish4 ,in the anxious silence of all the eyes supplicating the sun there1 which sinks under the water with the desperation of a cry1 this is the plain announcement3 ,no sign-board now regales you with the spectacle that is inside1 for there is no painter now capable of giving even a shadow of it4 ,i bring living 7and preserved by sovereign science through the years7 a ,woman of other days4 ,some kind of folly1 nave and original1 an ecstasy of gold1 ,i know not what1 by her called her hair1 clings with the grace of some material round a face brightened by the blood-red nudity of her lips4 ,in place of vain clothing1 she has a body2 and her eyes1 resembling precious stones6 are not worth that look1 which comes from her happy flesh3 breasts raised as if full of eternal milk1 the points toward the sky2 the smooth legs1 that keep the salt of the first sea4 ,remembering their poor spouses1 bald1 morbid1 and full of horrors1 the husbands press forward3 the women1 too1 from curiosity1 gloomily wish to see4 ,when all shall have contemplated the noble creature1 vestige of some epoch already damned1 some indifferently1 for they will not have had strength to understand1 but others1 broken-hearted1 and with eyelids wet with tears of resignation1 will look at each other2 while the poets of those times1 feeling their dim eyes rekindled1 will make their way toward their lamp1 their brain for an instant drunk with confused glory1 haunted by ,rhythm1 and forgetful that they exist at an epoch which has survived beauty4 ,,appendix ,,ii#abg #abg ,the translations in ,appendices ,i41 ,,ii41 and ,,iv41 are by ,louise ,maude4 ,the aim of these renderings has been to keep as close to the originals as the obscurity of meaning allowed4 ,the sense 7or absence of sense7 has therefore been more considered than the form of the verses4 ,no4 #a ,the following verses are by ,viel-,griffin1 from page #bh of a volume of his ,poems3-- ,,oiseau ,,bleu ,,couleur ,,du ,,temps #a ,sait-tu l'oubli ,d'un vain doux rve1 ,oiseau moqueur ,de la fort8 ,le jour plit1 ,la nuit se lve1 ,et dans mon cur ,l'ombre a pleur2 #b ,o chante-moi ,ta folle gamme1 ,car j'ai dormi ,ce jour durant2 ,le lche emoi ,o fut mon me ,sanglote ennui ,le jour mourant4444 #c ,sais-tu le chant ,de sa parole ,et de sa voix1 ,toi qui redis ,dans le couchant ,ton air frivole ,comme autrefois ,sous les midis8 #d ,o chante alors ,la mlodie ,de son amour1 ,mon fol espoir1 ,parmi les ors ,et l'incendie ,du vain doux jour ,qui meurt ce soir4 ,,francis ,,viel-,,griffin4 ,,blue ,,bird #a ,canst thou forget1 ,in dreams so vain1 ,oh1 mocking bird ,of forest deep8 ,the day doth set1 ,night comes again1 ,my heart has heard ,the shadows weep2 #b ,thy tones let flow ,in maddening scale1 ,for ,i have slept ,the livelong day2 ,emotions low ,in me now wail1 ,my soul they've kept3 ,light dies away4444 #c ,that music sweet1 ,ah1 do you know ,her voice and speech8 ,your airs so light ,you who repeat ,in sunset's glow1 ,as you sang1 each1 ,at noonday's height4 #d ,of my desire1 ,my hope so bold1 ,her love--up1 sing1 ,sing1 'neath this light1 ,this flaming fire1 ,and all the gold ,the eve doth bring ,ere comes the night4 ,no4 #b ,and here are some verses by the esteemed young poet ,verhaeren1 which ,i also take from page #bh of his ,works3-- ,,attirances ,lointainement1 et si trangement pareils1 ,de grands masques d'argent que la brume recule1 ,vaguent1 au jour tombant1 autour des vieux soleils4 ,les doux lointaines6--et comme1 au fond du crpuscule1 ,ils nous fixent le cur1 immensment le cur1 ,avec les yeux dfunts de leur visage d'me4 ,c'est toujours du silence1 moins1 dans la pleur ,du soir1 un jet de feu soudain1 un cri de flamme1 ,un dpart de lumire inattendu vers ,dieu4 ,on se laisse charmer et troubler de mystre1 ,et l'on dirait des morts qui taisent un adieu ,trop mystique1 pour tre cout par la terre6 ,sont-ils le souvenir matriel et clair ,des phbes chrtiens couchs aux catacombes ,parmi les lys8 ,sont-ils leur regard et leur chair8 ,ou seul1 ce qui survit de merveilleux aux tombes ,de ceux qui sont partis1 vers leurs rves1 un soir1 ,conqurir la folie l'assaut des nues8 ,lointainement1 combien nous les sentons vouloir ,un peu d'amour pour leurs uvres destitues1 ,pour leur errance et leur tristesse aux horizons4 ,toujours6 aux horizons du cur et des penses1 ,alors que les vieux soirs clatent en blasons ,soudains1 pour les gloires noires et angoisses4 ,,mile ,,verhaeren1 ,pomes4 ,,attractions ,large masks of silver1 by mists drawn away1 ,so strangely alike1 yet so far apart4 ,float round the old suns when faileth the day4 ,they transfix our heart1 so immensely our heart1 ,those distances mild1 in the twilight deep1 ,looking out of dead faces with their spirit eyes4 ,all around is now silence1 except when there leap ,in the pallor of evening1 with fiery cries1 ,some fountains of flame that ,god-ward do fly4 ,mysterious trouble and charms us infold1 ,you might think that the dead spoke a silent good-by1 ,oh6 too mystical far on earth to be told6 ,are they the memories1 material and bright1 ,of the ,christian youths that in catacombs sleep ',mid the lilies8 ,are they their flesh or their sight8 ,or the marvel alone that survives1 in the deep1 ,of those that1 one night1 returned to their dream ,of conquering folly by assaulting the skies8 ,for their destitute works--we feel it seems1 ,for a little love their longing cries ,from horizons far--for their errings and pain4 ,in horizons ever of heart and thought1 ,while the evenings old in bright blaze wane ,suddenly1 for black glories anguish fraught4 ,no4 #c ,and the following is a poem by ,moras1 evidently an admirer of ,greek beauty4 ,it is from page #bh of a volume of his ,poems3-- ,,enone ,,au ,,clair ,,visage ,enone1 j'avais cru qu'en aimant ta beaut ,o l'me avec le corps trouvent leur unit1 ,j'allais1 m'affermissant et le cur et l'esprit1 ,monter jusqu' cela qui jamais ne prit1 ,n'ayant t cre1 qui n'est froideur ou feu1 ,qui n'est beau quelque part et laid en autre lieu2 ,et me flattais encor' d'une belle harmonie ,que j'eusse compos du meilleur et du pire1 ,ainsi que le chanteur qui chrit ,polimnie1 ,en accordant le grave avec l'aigu1 retire ,un son bien lev sur les nerfs de sa lyre4 ,mais mon courage1 hlas6 se pmant comme mort1 ,m'enseigna que le trait qui m'avait fait amant ,ne fut pas de cet arc que courbe sans effort ,la ,vnus qui naquit du mle seulement1 ,mais que j'avais souffert cette ,vnus dernire1 ,qui a le cur couard1 n d'une faible mre4 ,et pourtant1 ce mauvais garon1 chasseur habile1 ,qui charge son carquois de sagette subtile1 ,qui secoue en riant sa torche1 pour un jour1 ,qui ne pose jamais que sur de tendres fleurs1 ,c'est sur un teint charmant qu'il essuie les pleurs1 ,et c'est encore un ,dieu1 ,enone1 cet ,amour4 ,mais1 laisse1 les oiseaux du printemps sont partis1 ,et je vois les rayons du soleil amortis4 ,enone1 ma douleur1 harmonieux visage1 ,superbe humilit1 doux honnte langage1 ,hier me remirant dans cet tang glac ,qui au bout du jardin se couvre de feuillage1 ,sur ma face je vis que les jours ont pass4 ,,jean ,,mor,,as4 ,,enone ,enone1 in loving thy beauty1 ,i thought1 ,where the soul and the body to union are brought1 ,that mounting by steadying my heart and my mind1 ,in that which can't perish1 myself ,i should find4 ,for it ne'er was created1 is not ugly and fair2 ,is not coldness in one part1 while on fire it is there4 ,yes1 ,i flattered myself that a harmony fine ,i'd succeed to compose of the worst and the best1 ,like the bard who adores ,polyhymnia divine1 ,and mingling sounds different from the nerves of his lyre1 ,from the grave and the smart draws melodies higher4 ,but1 alas6 my courage1 so faint and nigh spent1 ,the dart that has struck me proves without fail ,not to be from that bow which is easily bent ,by the ,venus that's born alone of the male4 ,no1 'twas that other ,venus that caused me to smart1 ,born of frail mother with cowardly heart4 ,and yet that naughty lad1 that little hunter bold1 ,who laughs and shakes his flowery torch just for a day1 ,who never rests but upon tender flowers and gay1 ,on sweetest skin who dries the tears his eyes that fill1 ,yet oh1 ,enone mine1 a ,god's that ,cupid still4 ,let it pass2 for the birds of the ,spring are away1 ,and dying ,i see the sun's lingering ray4 ,enone1 my sorrow1 oh1 harmonious face1 ,humility grand1 words of virtue and grace1 ,i looked yestere'en in the pond frozen fast1 ,strewn with leaves at the end of the garden's fair space1 ,and ,i read in my face that those days are now past4 ,no4 #d ,and this is also from page #bh of a thick book1 full of similar poems1 by ,m4 ,montesquiou4 ,,berceuse ,d',,ombre ,des formes1 des formes1 des formes ,blanche1 bleue1 et rose1 et d'or ,descendront du haut des ormes ,sur l'enfant qui se rendort4 ,des formes6 ,des plumes1 des plumes1 des plumes ,pour composer un doux nid4 ,midi sonne3 les enclumes ,cessent2 la rumeur finit4444 ,des plumes6 ,des roses1 des roses1 des roses ,pour embaumer son sommeil1 ,vos ptales sont moroses ,prs du sourire vermeil4 ,o roses6 ,des ailes1 des ailes1 des ailes ,pour bourdonner sont front1 ,abeilles et demoiselles1 ,des rythmes qui berceront4 ,des ailes6 ,des branches1 des branches1 des branches ,pour tresser un pavillon1 ,par o des clarts moins franches ,descendront sur l'oisillon4 ,des branches6 ,des songes1 des songes1 des songes ,dans ses pensers entr' ouverts ,glissez un peu de mensonges ,a voir le vie au travers ,des songes6 ,des fes1 des fes1 des fes ,pour filer leurs cheveaux ,des mirages1 de bouffes ,dans tous ces petits cerveaux4 ,des fes6 ,des anges1 des anges1 des anges ,pour emporter dans l'ther ,les petits enfants tranges ,qui ne veulent pas rester4444 ,nos anges6 ,,comte ,,robert ,,de ,,montesquiou-,,fezensac1 ,les ,hortensias ,bleus4 ,,the ,,shadow ,,lullaby ,oh forms1 oh forms1 oh forms ,white1 blue1 and gold1 and red ,descending from the elm trees1 ,on sleeping baby's head4 ,oh forms6 ,oh feathers1 feathers1 feathers ,to make a cozy nest4 ,twelve striking3 stops the clamor2 ,the anvils are at rest4444 ,oh feathers6 ,oh roses1 roses1 roses ,to scent his sleep awhile1 ,pale are your fragrant petals ,beside his ruby smile4 ,oh roses6 ,oh wings1 oh wings1 oh wings ,of bees and dragon-flies1 ,to hum around his forehead1 ,and lull him with your sighs4 ,oh wings6 ,branches1 branches1 branches ,a shady bower to twine1 ,through which1 oh daylight1 faintly ,descend on birdie mine4 ,branches6 ,oh dreams1 oh dreams1 oh dreams ,into his opening mind1 ,let in a little falsehood ,with sights of life behind4 ,dreams6 ,oh fairies1 fairies1 fairies ,to twine and twist their threads ,with puffs of phantom visions ,into these little heads4 ,fairies6 ,angels1 angels1 angels ,to the ether far away1 ,those children strange to carry ,that here don't wish to stay4444 ,our angels6 ,,appendix ,,iii ,these are the contents of ,the ,nibelung's ,ring3-- ,the first part tells that the nymphs1 the daughters of the ,rhine1 for some reason guard gold in the ,rhine1 and sing3 ,weia1 ,waga1 ,woge du ,welle1 ,walle zur ,wiege1 ,wagala-weia1 ,wallala1 ,weiala1 ,weia1 and so forth4 ,these singing nymphs are pursued by a gnome 7a nibelung7 who desires to seize them4 ,the gnome cannot catch any of them4 ,then the nymphs guarding the gold tell the gnome just what they ought to keep secret1 namely1 that whoever renounces love will be able to steal the gold they are guarding4 ,and the gnome renounces love1 and steals the gold4 ,this ends the first scene4 ,in the second scene a god and a goddess lie in a field in sight of a castle which giants have built for them4 ,presently they wake up and are pleased with the castle1 and they relate that in payment for this work they must give the goddess ,freia to the giants4 ,the giants come for their pay4 ,but the god ,wotan objects to parting with ,freia4 ,the giants get angry4 ,the gods hear that the gnome has stolen the gold1 promise to confiscate it1 and to pay the giants with it4 ,but the giants won't trust them1 and seize the goddess ,freia in pledge4 ,the third scene takes place underground4 ,the gnome ,alberich1 who stole the gold1 for some reason beats a gnome1 ,mime1 and takes from him a helmet which has the power both of making people invisible and of turning them into other animals4 ,the gods1 ,wotan and others1 appear and quarrel with one another and with the gnomes1 and wish to take the gold1 but ,alberich won't give it up1 and 7like everybody all through the piece7 behaves in a way to insure his own ruin4 ,he puts on the helmet1 and becomes first a dragon and then a toad4 ,the gods catch the toad1 take the helmet off it1 and carry ,alberich away with them4 ,scene ,,iv4 ,the gods bring ,alberich to their home1 and order him to command his gnomes to bring them all the gold4 ,the gnomes bring it4 ,alberich gives up the gold1 but keeps a magic ring4 ,the gods take the ring4 ,so ,alberich curses the ring1 and says it is to bring misfortune on any one who has it4 ,the giants appear2 they bring the goddess ,freia1 and demand her ransom4 ,they stick up staves of ,freia's height1 and gold is poured in between these staves3 this is to be the ransom4 ,there is not enough gold1 so the helmet is thrown in1 and they also demand the ring4 ,wotan refuses to give it up1 but the goddess ,erda appears and commands him to do so1 because it brings misfortune4 ,wotan gives it up4 ,freia is released4 ,the giants1 having received the ring1 fight1 and one of them kills the other4 ,this ends the ,prelude1 and we come to the ,first ,day4 ,the scene shows a house in a tree4 ,siegmund runs in tired1 and lies down4 ,sieglinda1 the mistress of the house 7and wife of ,hunding71 gives him a drugged draught1 and they fall in love with each other4 ,sieglinda's husband comes home1 learns that ,siegmund belongs to a hostile race1 and wishes to fight him next day2 but ,sieglinda drugs her husband1 and comes to ,siegmund4 ,siegmund discovers that ,sieglinda is his sister1 and that his father drove a sword into the tree so that no one can get it out4 ,siegmund pulls the sword out1 and commits incest with his sister4 ,act ,,ii4 ,siegmund is to fight with ,hunding4 ,the gods discuss the question to whom they shall award the victory4 ,wotan1 approving of ,siegmund's incest with his sister1 wishes to spare him1 but1 under pressure from his wife1 ,fricka1 he orders the ,valkyrie ,brnnhilda to kill ,siegmund4 ,siegmund goes to fight2 ,sieglinda faints4 ,brnnhilda appears and wishes to slay ,siegmund4 ,siegmund wishes to kill ,sieglinda also1 but ,brnnhilda does not allow it2 so he fights with ,hunding4 ,brnnhilda defends ,siegmund1 but ,wotan defends ,hunding4 ,siegmund's sword breaks1 and he is killed4 ,sieglinda runs away4 ,act ,,iii4 ,the ,valkyries 7divine ,amazons7 are on the stage4 ,the ,valkyrie ,brnnhilda arrives on horseback1 bringing ,siegmund's body4 ,she is flying from ,wotan1 who is chasing her for her disobedience4 ,wotan catches her1 and as a punishment dismisses her from her post as a ,valkyrie4 ,he casts a spell on her1 so that she has to go to sleep and to continue asleep until a man wakes her4 ,when some one wakes her she will fall in love with him4 ,wotan kisses her2 she falls asleep4 ,he lets off fire1 which surrounds her4 ,we now come to the ,second ,day4 ,the gnome ,mime forges a sword in a wood4 ,siegfried appears4 ,he is a son born from the incest of brother with sister 7,siegmund with ,sieglinda71 and has been brought up in this wood by the gnome4 ,in general the motives of the actions of everybody in this production are quite unintelligible4 ,siegfried learns his own origin1 and that the broken sword was his father's4 ,he orders ,mime to reforge it1 and then goes off4 ,wotan comes in the guise of a wanderer1 and relates what will happen3 that he who has not learnt to fear will forge the sword1 and will defeat everybody4 ,the gnome conjectures that this is ,siegfried1 and wants to poison him4 ,siegfried returns1 forges his father's sword1 and runs off1 shouting1 ,heiho6 heiho6 heiho6 ,ho6 ho6 ,aha6 oho6 aha6 ,heiaho6 heiaho6 heiaho6 ,ho6 ho6 ,hahei6 hoho6 hahei6 ,and we get to ,act ,,ii4 ,alberich sits guarding a giant1 who1 in form of a dragon1 guards the gold he has received4 ,wotan appears1 and for some unknown reason foretells that ,siegfried will come and kill the dragon4 ,alberich wakes the dragon1 and asks him for the ring1 promising to defend him from ,siegfried4 ,the dragon won't give up the ring4 ,exit ,alberich4 ,mime and ,siegfried appear4 ,mime hopes the dragon will teach ,siegfried to fear4 ,but ,siegfried does not fear4 ,he drives ,mime away and kills the dragon1 after which he puts his finger1 smeared with the dragon's blood1 to his lips4 ,this enables him to know men's secret thoughts1 as well as the language of birds4 ,the birds tell him where the treasure and the ring are1 and also that ,mime wishes to poison him4 ,mime returns1 and says out loud that he wishes to poison ,siegfried4 ,this is meant to signify that ,siegfried1 having tasted dragon's blood1 understands people's secret thoughts4 ,siegfried1 having learnt ,mime's intentions1 kills him4 ,the birds tell ,siegfried where ,brnnhilda is1 and he goes to find her4 ,act ,,iii4 ,wotan calls up ,erda4 ,erda prophesies to ,wotan1 and gives him advice4 ,siegfried appears1 quarrels with ,wotan1 and they fight4 ,suddenly ,siegfried's sword breaks ,wotan's spear1 which had been more powerful than anything else4 ,siegfried goes into the fire to ,brnnhilda3 kisses her2 she wakes up1 abandons her divinity1 and throws herself into ,siegfried's arms4 ,third ,day4 ,prelude4 ,three ,norns plait a golden rope1 and talk about the future4 ,they go away4 ,siegfried and ,brnnhilda appear4 ,siegfried takes leave of her1 gives her the ring1 and goes away4 ,act ,i4 ,by the ,rhine4 ,a king wants to get married1 and also to give his sister in marriage4 ,hagen1 the king's wicked brother1 advises him to marry ,brnnhilda and to give his sister to ,siegfried4 ,siegfried appears2 they give him a drugged draught1 which makes him forget all the past and fall in love with the king's sister1 ,gutrune4 ,so he rides off with ,gunther1 the king1 to get ,brnnhilda to be the king's bride4 ,the scene changes4 ,brnnhilda sits with the ring4 ,a ,valkyrie comes to her and tells her that ,wotan's spear is broken1 and advises her to give the ring to the ,rhine nymphs4 ,siegfried comes1 and by means of the magic helmet turns himself into ,gunther1 demands the ring from ,brnnhilda1 seizes it1 and drags her off to sleep with him4 ,act ,,ii4 ,by the ,rhine4 ,alberich and ,hagen discuss how to get the ring4 ,siegfried comes1 tells how he has obtained a bride for ,gunther and spent the night with her1 but put a sword between himself and her4 ,brnnhilda rides up1 recognizes the ring on ,siegfried's hand1 and declares that it was he1 and not ,gunther1 who was with her4 ,hagen stirs everybody up against ,siegfried1 and decides to kill him next day when hunting4 ,act ,,iii4 ,again the nymphs in the ,rhine relate what has happened4 ,siegfried1 who has lost his way1 appears4 ,the nymphs ask him for the ring1 but he won't give it up4 ,hunters appear4 ,siegfried tells the story of his life4 ,hagen then gives him a draught1 which causes his memory to return to him4 ,siegfried relates how he aroused and obtained ,brnnhilda1 and every one is astonished4 ,hagen stabs him in the back1 and the scene is changed4 ,gutrune meets the corpse of ,siegfried4 ,gunther and ,hagen quarrel about the ring1 and ,hagen kills ,gunther4 ,brnnhilda cries4 ,hagen wishes to take the ring from ,siegfried's hand1 but the hand of the corpse raises itself threateningly4 ,brnnhilda takes the ring from ,siegfried's hand1 and when ,siegfried's corpse is carried to the pyre1 she gets on to a horse and leaps into the fire4 ,the ,rhine rises1 and the waves reach the pyre4 ,in the river are three nymphs4 ,hagen throws himself into the fire to get the ring1 but the nymphs seize him and carry him off4 ,one of them holds the ring2 and that is the end of the matter4 ,the impression obtainable from my recapitulation is1 of course1 incomplete4 ,but however incomplete it may be1 it is certainly infinitely more favorable than the impression which results from reading the four booklets in which the work is printed4 ,,appendix ,,iv ,translations of ,french poems and prose quoted in ,chapter ,x4 ,,baudelaire',s ,,flowers ,,of ,,evil ,no4 ,,xxiv ,i adore thee as much as the vaults of night1 ,o vase full of grief1 taciturnity great1 ,and ,i love thee the more because of thy flight4 ,it seemeth1 my night's beautifier1 that you ,still heap up those leagues--yes6 ironically heap6 ,that divide from my arms the immensity blue4 ,i advance to attack1 ,i climb to assault1 ,like a choir of young worms at a corpse in the vault2 ,thy coldness1 oh cruel1 implacable beast6 ,yet heightens thy beauty1 on which my eyes feast6 ,,baudelaire',s ,,flowers ,,of ,,evil ,no4 ,,xxxvi ,,duellum ,two warriors come running1 to fight they begin1 ,with gleaming and blood they bespatter the air2 ,these games1 and this clatter of arms1 is the din ,of youth that's a prey to the surgings of love4 ,the rapiers are broken6 and so is our youth1 ,but the dagger's avenged1 dear6 and so is the sword1 ,by the nail that is steeled and the hardened tooth4 ,oh1 the fury of hearts aged and ulcered by love6 ,in the ditch1 where the ounce and the pard have their lair1 ,our heroes have rolled in an angry embrace2 ,their skin blooms on brambles that erewhile were bare4 ,that ravine is a friend-inhabited hell6 ,then let us roll in1 oh woman inhuman1 ,to immortalize hatred that nothing can quell6 ,,from ,,baudelaire',s ,,prose ,,work ,,entitled ,,little ,,poems ,,the ,,stranger ,whom dost thou love best8 say1 enigmatical man--thy father1 thy mother1 thy brother1 or thy sister8 ,i have neither father1 nor mother1 nor sister1 nor brother4 ,thy friends8 ,you there use an expression the meaning of which till now remains unknown to me4 ,thy country8 ,i ignore in what latitude it is situated4 ,beauty8 ,i would gladly love her1 goddess and immortal4 ,gold8 ,i hate it as you hate ,god4 ,then what do you love1 extraordinary stranger8 ,i love the clouds 444 the clouds that pass 444 there 444 the marvelous clouds6 ,,baudelaire',s ,,prose ,,poem ,,the ,,soup ,,and ,,the ,,clouds ,my beloved little silly was giving me my dinner1 and ,i was contemplating1 through the open window of the dining-room1 those moving architectures which ,god makes out of vapors1 the marvelous constructions of the impalpable4 ,and ,i said to myself1 amid my contemplations1 ,all these phantasmagoria are almost as beautiful as the eyes of my beautiful beloved1 the monstrous little silly with the green eyes4 ,suddenly ,i felt the violent blow of a fist on my back1 and ,i heard a harsh1 charming voice1 an hysterical voice1 as it were hoarse with brandy1 the voice of my dear little well-beloved1 saying1 ,are you going to eat your soup soon1 you d---- b---- of a dealer in clouds8 ,,baudelaire',s ,,prose ,,poem ,,the ,,gallant ,,marksman ,as the carriage was passing through the forest1 he ordered it to be stopped near a shooting-gallery1 saying that he wished to shoot off a few bullets to kill ,time4 ,to kill this monster1 is it not the most ordinary and the most legitimate occupation of every one8 ,and he gallantly offered his arm to his dear1 delicious1 and execrable wife--that mysterious woman to whom he owed so much pleasure1 so much pain1 and perhaps also a large part of his genius4 ,several bullets struck far from the intended mark--one even penetrated the ceiling2 and as the charming creature laughed madly1 mocking her husband's awkwardness1 he turned abruptly toward her and said1 ,look at that doll there on the right with the haughty mien and her nose in the air2 well1 dear angel1 ,i imagine to myself that it is you6 ,and he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger4 ,the doll was neatly decapitated4 ,then1 bowing toward his dear one1 his delightful1 execrable wife1 his inevitable pitiless muse1 and kissing her hand respectfully1 he added1 ,ah6 my dear angel1 how ,i thank you for my skill6 ,,verlaine',s ,,forgotten ,,airs ,no4 ,i ,the wind in the plain ,suspends its breath4--,,favart4 ',tis ecstasy languishing1 ,amorous fatigue1 ,of woods all the shudderings ,embraced by the breeze1 ',tis the choir of small voices ,toward the gray trees4 ,oh1 the frail and fresh murmuring6 ,the twitter and buzz1 ,the soft cry resembling ,that's expired by the grass4444 ,oh1 the roll of the pebbles ',neath waters that pass6 ,oh1 this soul that is groaning ,in sleepy complaint6 ,in us is it moaning8 ,in me and in you8 ,low anthem exhaling ,while soft falls the dew4 ,,verlaine',s ,,forgotten ,,airs ,no4 ,,viii ,in the unending ,dullness of this land1 ,uncertain the snow ,is gleaming like sand4 ,no kind of brightness ,in copper-hued sky1 ,the moon you might see ,now live and now die4 ,gray float the oak trees-- ,cloudlike they seem-- ,of neighboring forests1 ,the mists in between4 ,wolves hungry and lean1 ,and famishing crow1 ,what happens to you ,when acid winds blow8 ,in the unending ,dullness of this land1 ,uncertain the snow ,is gleaming like sand4 ,,song ,,by ,,maeterlinck ,when he went away1 7,then ,i heard the door7 ,when he went away1 ,on her lips a smile there lay4444 ,back he came to her1 7,then ,i heard the lamp7 ,back he came to her1 ,someone else was there4444 ,it was death ,i met1 7,and ,i heard her soul7 ,it was death ,i met1 ,for her he's waiting yet4444 ,someone came to say1 7,child1 ,i am afraid7 ,someone came to say ,that he would go away4444 ,with my lamp alight1 7,child1 ,i am afraid7 ,with my lamp alight1 ,approached ,i in affright4444 ,to one door ,i came1 7,child1 ,i am afraid7 ,to one door ,i came1 ,a shudder shook the flame4444 ,at the second door1 7,child1 ,i am afraid7 ,at the second door ,forth words of flame did pour4444 ,to the third ,i came1 7,child1 ,i am afraid7 ,to the third ,i came1 ,then died the little flame4444 ,should he one day return ,then what shall we say8 ,waiting1 tell him1 one ,and dying for him lay4444 ,if he asks for you1 ,say what answer then8 ,give him my gold ring ,and answer not a thing4444 ,should he question me ,concerning the last hour8 ,say ,i smiled for fear ,that he should shed a tear4444 ,should he question more ,without knowing me8 ,like a sister speak2 ,suffering he may be4444 ,should he question why ,empty is the hall8 ,show the gaping door1 ,the lamp alight no more4444 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,variations in spelling1 punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error4 ,missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the original text4 ,page #e3 ,the transcriber has completed the word meeting4 ,in #ahch1 on the occasion of a meet- of the ,society for the ,promotion of ,peace 444 ,page #cgb3 ,footnote #hf1 ,knight1 pp4 #aci-ada4 ,the number the transcriber has rendered as #aci is unclear4