第 34 节
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Bath the following evening; to meet some one whom he specially
wished to see。 He hesitated for some little time; trying to
calculate the possibility of giving the meeting to his little
friend of the broken bowl and of still being in time for the
dinner…party in Bath; but finding this could not be; he wrote to
decline accepting the invitation on the plea of 'a pre…
engagement;' saying to us; 'I cannot disappoint her; she trusted
me so implicitly。'〃
(11) Miss Florence Nightingale has related the following incident as
having occurred before Sebastopol:… 〃I remember a sergeant who; on
picket; the rest of the picket killed and himself battered about
the head; stumbled back to camp; and on his way picked up a
wounded man and brought him in on his shoulders to the lines;
where he fell down insensible。 When; after many hours; he
recovered his senses; I believe after trepanning; his first words
were to ask after his comrade; 'Is he alive?' 'Comrade; indeed;
yes; he's aliveit is the general。' At that moment the general;
though badly wounded; appeared at the bedside。 'Oh; general; it's
you; is it; I brought in? I'm so glad; I didn't know your honour。
But; …; if I'd known it was you; I'd have saved you all the
same。' This is the true soldier's spirit。〃
In the same letter; Miss Nightingale says: 〃England; from her
grand mercantile and commercial successes; has been called sordid;
God knows she is not。 The simple courage; the enduring patience;
the good sense; the strength to suffer in silencewhat nation
shows more of this in war than is shown by her commonest soldier?
I have seen men dying of dysentery; but scorning to report
themselves sick lest they should thereby throw more labour on
their comrades; go down to the trenches and make the trenches
their deathbed。 There is nothing in history to compare with it。。。。
Say what men will; there is something more truly Christian in the
man who gives his time; his strength; his life; if need be; for
something not himselfwhether he call it his Queen; his country;
or his coloursthan in all the asceticism; the fasts; the
humiliations; and confessions which have ever been made: and this
spirit of giving one's life; without calling it a sacrifice; is
found nowhere so truly as in England。〃
(12) Mrs。 Grote's 'Life of Ary Scheffer;' pp。 154…5。
(13) The sufferings of this noble woman; together with those of her
unfortunate husband; were touchingly described in a letter
afterwards addressed by her to a female friend; which was
published some years ago at Haarlem; entitled; 'Gertrude von der
Wart; or; Fidelity unto Death。' Mrs。 Hemans wrote a poem of great
pathos and beauty; commemorating the sad story in her 'Records of
Woman。'
CHAPTER VI。SELF…CONTROL。
〃Honour and profit do not always lie in the same sack。〃GEORGE
HERBERT。
〃The government of one's self is the only true freedom for the
Individual。〃FREDERICK PERTHES。
〃It is in length of patience; and endurance; and forbearance; that
so much of what is good in mankind and womankind is shown。〃
ARTHUR HELPS。
〃Temperance; proof
Against all trials; industry severe
And constant as the motion of the day;
Stern self…denial round him spread; with shade
That might be deemed forbidding; did not there
All generous feelings flourish and rejoice;
Forbearance; charity indeed and thought;
And resolution competent to take
Out of the bosom of simplicity
All that her holy customs recommend。〃WORDSWORTH。
Self…control is only courage under another form。 It may almost be
regarded as the primary essence of character。 It is in virtue of
this quality that Shakspeare defines man as a being 〃looking
before and after。〃 It forms the chief distinction between man
and the mere animal; and; indeed; there can be no true manhood
without it。
Self…control is at the root of all the virtues。 Let a man give
the reins to his impulses and passions; and from that moment he
yields up his moral freedom。 He is carried along the current
of life; and becomes the slave of his strongest desire for
the time being。
To be morally freeto be more than an animalman must be able
to resist instinctive impulse; and this can only be done by the
exercise of self…control。 Thus it is this power which constitutes
the real distinction between a physical and a moral life; and that
forms the primary basis of individual character。
In the Bible praise is given; not to the strong man who 〃taketh a
city;〃 but to the stronger man who 〃ruleth his own spirit。〃 This
stronger man is he who; by discipline; exercises a constant
control over his thoughts; his speech; and his acts。 Nine…tenths
of the vicious desires that degrade society; and which; when
indulged; swell into the crimes that disgrace it; would shrink
into insignificance before the advance of valiant self…discipline;
self…respect; and self…control。 By the watchful exercise of these
virtues; purity of heart and mind become habitual; and the
character is built up in chastity; virtue; and temperance。
The best support of character will always be found in habit;
which; according as the will is directed rightly or wrongly; as
the case may be; will prove either a benignant ruler or a cruel
despot。 We may be its willing subject on the one hand; or its
servile slave on the other。 It may help us on the road to good;
or it may hurry us on the road to ruin。
Habit is formed by careful training。 And it is astonishing how
much can be accomplished by systematic discipline and drill。 See
how; for instance; out of the most unpromising materialssuch as
roughs picked up in the streets; or raw unkempt country lads taken
from the ploughsteady discipline and drill will bring out the
unsuspected qualities of courage; endurance; and self…sacrifice;
and how; in the field of battle; or even on the more trying
occasions of perils by seasuch as the burning of the SARAH
SANDS or the wreck of the BIRKENHEADsuch men; carefully
disciplined; will exhibit the unmistakable characteristics of true
bravery and heroism!
Nor is moral discipline and drill less influential in the
formation of character。 Without it; there will be no proper
system and order in the regulation of the life。 Upon it depends
the cultivation of the sense of self…respect; the education of the
habit of obedience; the development of the idea of duty。 The most
self…reliant; self…governing man is always under discipline: and
the more perfect the discipline; the higher will be his moral
condition。 He has to drill his desires; and keep them in
subjection to the higher powers of his nature。 They must obey the
word of command of the internal monitor; the conscience
otherwise they will be but the mere slaves of their inclinations;
the sport of feeling and impulse。
〃In the supremacy of self…control;〃 says Herbert Spencer;
〃consists one of the perfections of the ideal man。 Not to be
impulsivenot to be spurred hither and thither by each desire
that in turn comes uppermostbut to be self…restrained; self…
balanced; governed by the joint decision of the feelings in
council assembled; before whom every action shall have been fully
debated and calmly determinedthat it is which education; moral
education at least; strives to produce。〃 (1)
The first seminary of moral discipline; and the best; as we have
already shown; is the home; next comes the school; and after that
the world; the great school of practical life。 Each is
preparatory to the other; and what the man or woman becomes;
depends for the most part upon what has gone before。 If they have
enjoyed the advantage of neither the home nor the school; but
have been allowed to grow up untrained; untaught; and
undisciplined; then woe to themselveswoe to the society
of which they form part!
The best…regulated home is always that in which the discipline is
the most perfect; and yet where it is the least felt。 Moral
discipline acts with the force of a law of nature。 Those subject
to it yield themselves to it unconsciously; and though it shapes
and forms the whole character; until the life becomes crystallized
in habit; the influence thus exercised is for the most part unseen
and almost unfelt。
The importance of strict domestic discipline is curiously
illustrated by a fact mentioned in Mrs。 Schimmelpenninck's
Memoirs; to the following effect: that a lady who; with her
husband; had inspected most of the lunatic asylums of England and
the Continent; found the most numerous class of patients was
almost always composed of those who had been only children; and
whose wills had therefore rarely been thwarted or disciplined in
early life; whilst those who were members of large families; and
who had been trained in self…discipline; were far less frequent
victims to the malady。
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