Theprincipleofequalitynecessarilyintroducesseveralotherchangesintolanguage。Inaristocraticages,wheneachnationtendstostandalooffromallothersandlikestohavedistinctcharacteristicsofitsown,itoftenhappensthatseveralpeopleswhichhaveacommonoriginbecomeneverthelessestrangedfromeachother,sothat,withoutceasingtounderstandthesamelanguage,theynolongerallspeakitinthesamemanner。Intheseageseachnationisdividedintoacertainnumberofclasses,whichseebutlittleofeachother,anddonotintermingle。Eachoftheseclassescontracts,andinvariablyretains,habitsofmindpeculiartoitself,andadoptsbychoicecertainwordsandcertainterms,whichafterwardspassfromgenerationtogeneration,liketheirestates。Thesameidiomthencomprisesalanguageofthepoorandalanguageoftherich—alanguageofthecitizenandalanguageofthenobility—alearnedlanguageandavulgarone。Thedeeperthedivisions,andthemoreimpassablethebarriersofsocietybecome,themoremustthisbethecase。Iwouldlayawager,thatamongstthecastesofIndiathereareamazingvariationsoflanguage,andthatthereisalmostasmuchdifferencebetweenthelanguageofthepariahandthatoftheBrahminasthereisintheirdress。When,onthecontrary,men,beingnolongerrestrainedbyranks,meetontermsofconstantintercourse—whencastesaredestroyed,andtheclassesofsocietyarerecruitedandintermixedwitheachother,allthewordsofalanguagearemingled。Thosewhichareunsuitabletothegreaternumberperish;theremainderformacommonstore,whenceeveryonechoosesprettynearlyatrandom。
AlmostallthedifferentdialectswhichdividedtheidiomsofEuropeannationsaremanifestlydeclining;thereisnopatoisintheNewWorld,anditisdisappearingeverydayfromtheoldcountries。
Theinfluenceofthisrevolutioninsocialconditionsisasmuchfeltinstyleasitisinphraseology。Notonlydoeseveryoneusethesamewords,butahabitspringsupofusingthemwithoutdiscrimination。Theruleswhichstylehadsetuparealmostabolished:thelineceasestobedrawnbetweenexpressionswhichseembytheirverynaturevulgar,andotherwhichappeartoberefined。Personsspringingfromdifferentranksofsocietycarrythetermsandexpressionstheyareaccustomedtousewiththem,intowhatevercircumstancestheymaypass;thustheoriginofwordsislostliketheoriginofindividuals,andthereisasmuchconfusioninlanguageasthereisinsociety。
Iamawarethatintheclassificationofwordsthereareruleswhichdonotbelongtooneformofsocietyanymorethantoanother,butwhicharederivedfromthenatureofthings。Someexpressionsandphrasesarevulgar,becausetheideastheyaremeanttoexpressarelowinthemselves;othersareofahighercharacter,becausetheobjectstheyareintendedtodesignatearenaturallyelevated。Nointermixtureofrankswillevereffacethesedifferences。Buttheprincipleofequalitycannotfailtorootoutwhateverismerelyconventionalandarbitraryintheformsofthought。PerhapsthenecessaryclassificationwhichI
pointedoutinthelastsentencewillalwaysbelessrespectedbyademocraticpeoplethanbyanyother,becauseamongstsuchapeopletherearenomenwhoarepermanentlydisposedbyeducation,culture,andleisuretostudythenaturallawsoflanguage,andwhocausethoselawstoberespectedbytheirownobservanceofthem。
Ishallnotquitthistopicwithouttouchingonafeatureofdemocraticlanguages,whichisperhapsmorecharacteristicofthemthananyother。Ithasalreadybeenshownthatdemocraticnationshaveataste,andsometimesapassion,forgeneralideas,andthatthisarisesfromtheirpeculiarmeritsanddefects。
Thislikingforgeneralideasisdisplayedindemocraticlanguagesbythecontinualuseofgenerictermsorabstractexpressions,andbythemannerinwhichtheyareemployed。Thisisthegreatmeritandthegreatimperfectionoftheselanguages。
Democraticnationsarepassionatelyaddictedtogenerictermsorabstractexpressions,becausethesemodesofspeechenlargethought,andassisttheoperationsofthemindbyenablingittoincludeseveralobjectsinasmallcompass。AFrenchdemocraticwriterwillbeapttosaycapacitesintheabstractformenofcapacity,andwithoutparticularizingtheobjectstowhichtheircapacityisapplied:hewilltalkaboutactualitestodesignateinonewordthethingspassingbeforehiseyesattheinstant;
andhewillcomprehendunderthetermeventualiteswhatevermayhappenintheuniverse,datingfromthemomentatwhichhespeaks。Democraticwritersareperpetuallycoiningwordsofthiskind,inwhichtheysublimateintofurtherabstractiontheabstracttermsofthelanguage。Nay,more,torendertheirmodeofspeechmoresuccinct,theypersonifythesubjectoftheseabstractterms,andmakeitactlikearealentity。ThustheywouldsayinFrench,"Laforcedeschosesveutquelescapacitesgouvernent。"
IcannotbetterillustratewhatImeanthanbymyownexample。Ihavefrequentlyusedtheword"equality"inanabsolutesense—nay,Ihavepersonifiedequalityinseveralplaces;thusIhavesaidthatequalitydoessuchandsuchthings,orrefrainsfromdoingothers。ItmaybeaffirmedthatthewritersoftheageofLouisXIVwouldnothaveusedtheseexpressions:theywouldneverhavethoughtofusingtheword"equality"withoutapplyingittosomeparticularobject;andtheywouldratherhaverenouncedthetermaltogetherthanhaveconsentedtomakealivingpersonageofit。
Theseabstracttermswhichaboundindemocraticlanguages,andwhichareusedoneveryoccasionwithoutattachingthemtoanyparticularfact,enlargeandobscurethethoughtstheyareintendedtoconvey;theyrenderthemodeofspeechmoresuccinct,andtheideacontainedinitlessclear。Butwithregardtolanguage,democraticnationspreferobscuritytolabor。Iknownotindeedwhetherthisloosestylehasnotsomesecretcharmforthosewhospeakandwriteamongstthesenations。Asthemenwholivetherearefrequentlylefttotheeffortsoftheirindividualpowersofmind,theyarealmostalwaysapreytodoubt;andastheirsituationinlifeisforeverchanging,theyareneverheldfasttoanyoftheiropinionsbythecertaintenureoftheirfortunes。Menlivingindemocraticcountriesare,then,apttoentertainunsettledideas,andtheyrequirelooseexpressionstoconveythem。Astheyneverknowwhethertheideatheyexpressto—daywillbeappropriatetothenewpositiontheymayoccupyto—morrow,theynaturallyacquirealikingforabstractterms。
Anabstracttermislikeaboxwithafalsebottom:youmayputinitwhatideasyouplease,andtakethemoutagainwithoutbeingobserved。
Amongstallnations,genericandabstracttermsformthebasisoflanguage。Idonot,therefore,affecttoexpelthesetermsfromdemocraticlanguages;Isimplyremarkthatmenhaveanespecialtendency,intheagesofdemocracy,tomultiplywordsofthiskind—totakethemalwaysbythemselvesintheirmostabstractacceptation,andtousethemonalloccasions,evenwhenthenatureofthediscoursedoesnotrequirethem。
ChapterXVII:OfSomeOfTheSourcesOfPoetryAmongstDemocraticNationsVariousdifferentsignificationshavebeengiventotheword"poetry。"ItwouldwearymyreadersifIweretoleadthemintoadiscussionastowhichofthesedefinitionsoughttobeselected:
IprefertellingthematoncethatwhichIhavechosen。Inmyopinion,poetryisthesearchandthedelineationoftheideal。
Thepoetishewho,bysuppressingapartofwhatexists,byaddingsomeimaginarytouchestothepicture,andbycombiningcertainrealcircumstances,butwhichdonotinfactconcurrentlyhappen,completesandextendstheworkofnature。Thustheobjectofpoetryisnottorepresentwhatistrue,buttoadornit,andtopresenttothemindsomeloftierimagery。Verse,regardedastheidealbeautyoflanguage,maybeeminentlypoetical;butversedoesnot,ofitself,constitutepoetry。
Inowproceedtoinquirewhether,amongsttheactions,thesentiments,andtheopinionsofdemocraticnations,thereareanywhichleadtoaconceptionofidealbeauty,andwhichmayforthisreasonbeconsideredasnaturalsourcesofpoetry。Itmustinthefirstplace,beacknowledgedthatthetasteforidealbeauty,andthepleasurederivedfromtheexpressionofit,areneversointenseorsodiffusedamongstademocraticasamongstanaristocraticpeople。Inaristocraticnationsitsometimeshappensthatthebodygoesontoactasitwerespontaneously,whilstthehigherfacultiesareboundandburdenedbyrepose。
Amongstthesenationsthepeoplewillveryoftendisplaypoetictastes,andsometimesallowtheirfancytorangebeyondandabovewhatsurroundsthem。Butindemocraciestheloveofphysicalgratification,thenotionofbetteringone’scondition,theexcitementofcompetition,thecharmofanticipatedsuccess,aresomanyspurstourgemenonwardsintheactiveprofessionstheyhaveembraced,withoutallowingthemtodeviateforaninstantfromthetrack。Themainstressofthefacultiesistothispoint。Theimaginationisnotextinct;butitschieffunctionistodevisewhatmaybeuseful,andtorepresentwhatisreal。
Theprincipleofequalitynotonlydivertsmenfromthedescriptionofidealbeauty—italsodiminishesthenumberofobjectstobedescribed。Aristocracy,bymaintainingsocietyinafixedposition,isfavorabletothesolidityanddurationofpositivereligions,aswellastothestabilityofpoliticalinstitutions。Itnotonlykeepsthehumanmindwithinacertainsphereofbelief,butitpredisposesthemindtoadoptonefaithratherthananother。AnaristocraticpeoplewillalwaysbepronetoplaceintermediatepowersbetweenGodandman。Inthisrespectitmaybesaidthatthearistocraticelementisfavorabletopoetry。Whentheuniverseispeopledwithsupernaturalcreatures,notpalpabletothesensesbutdiscoveredbythemind,theimaginationrangesfreely,andpoets,findingathousandsubjectstodelineate,alsofindacountlessaudiencetotakeaninterestintheirproductions。Indemocraticagesitsometimeshappens,onthecontrary,thatmenareasmuchafloatinmattersofbeliefastheyareintheirlaws。Scepticismthendrawstheimaginationofpoetsbacktoearth,andconfinesthemtotherealandvisibleworld。Evenwhentheprincipleofequalitydoesnotdisturbreligiousbelief,ittendstosimplifyit,andtodivertattentionfromsecondaryagents,tofixitprincipallyontheSupremePower。Aristocracynaturallyleadsthehumanmindtothecontemplationofthepast,andfixesitthere。Democracy,onthecontrary,givesmenasortofinstinctivedistasteforwhatisancient。Inthisrespectaristocracyisfarmorefavorabletopoetry;forthingscommonlygrowlargerandmoreobscureastheyaremoreremote;andforthistwofoldreasontheyarebettersuitedtothedelineationoftheideal。
Afterhavingdeprivedpoetryofthepast,theprincipleofequalityrobsitinpartofthepresent。Amongstaristocraticnationsthereareacertainnumberofprivilegedpersonages,whosesituationis,a...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看:
第41章