第 44 节
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When he was hastening with his army over bad roads to the help of
Wellington; on the 18th of June; 1815; he encouraged his troops by
words and gestures。 〃Forwards; childrenforwards!〃 〃It is
impossible; it can't be done;〃 was the answer。 Again and again he
urged them。 〃Children; we must get on; you may say it can't be
done; but it MUST be done! I have promised my brother Wellington
PROMISED; do you hear? You wouldn't have me BREAK MY WORD!〃
And it was done。
Truth is the very bond of society; without which it must cease to
exist; and dissolve into anarchy and chaos。 A household cannot be
governed by lying; nor can a nation。 Sir Thomas Browne once
asked; 〃Do the devils lie?〃 〃No;〃 was his answer; 〃for then even
hell could not subsist。〃 No considerations can justify the
sacrifice of truth; which ought to be sovereign in all the
relations of life。
Of all mean vices; perhaps lying is the meanest。 It is in some
cases the offspring of perversity and vice; and in many others of
sheer moral cowardice。 Yet many persons think so lightly of it
that they will order their servants to lie for them; nor can they
feel surprised if; after such ignoble instruction; they find their
servants lying for themselves。
Sir Harry Wotton's description of an ambassador as 〃an honest man
sent to lie abroad for the benefit of his country;〃 though meant
as a satire; brought him into disfavour with James I。 when it
became published; for an adversary quoted it as a principle of the
king's religion。 That it was not Wotton's real view of the duty
of an honest man; is obvious from the lines quoted at the head of
this chapter; on 'The Character of a Happy Life;' in which he
eulogises the man
〃Whose armour is his honest thought;
And simple truth his utmost skill。〃
But lying assumes many formssuch as diplomacy; expediency; and
moral reservation; and; under one guise or another; it is found
more or less pervading all classes of society。 Sometimes it
assumes the form of equivocation or moral dodgingtwisting and
so stating the things said as to convey a false impressiona
kind of lying which a Frenchman once described as 〃walking round
about the truth。〃
There are even men of narrow minds and dishonest natures; who
pride themselves upon their jesuitical cleverness in equivocation;
in their serpent…wise shirking of the truth and getting out of
moral back…doors; in order to hide their real opinions and evade
the consequences of holding and openly professing them。
Institutions or systems based upon any such expedients must
necessarily prove false and hollow。 〃Though a lie be ever so well
dressed;〃 says George Herbert; 〃it is ever overcome。〃 Downright
lying; though bolder and more vicious; is even less contemptible
than such kind of shuffling and equivocation。
Untruthfulness exhibits itself in many other forms: in reticency
on the one hand; or exaggeration on the other; in disguise or
concealment; in pretended concurrence in others opinions; in
assuming an attitude of conformity which is deceptive; in making
promises; or allowing them to be implied; which are never intended
to be performed; or even in refraining from speaking the truth
when to do so is a duty。 There are also those who are all things
to all men; who say one thing and do another; like Bunyan's Mr。
Facing…both…ways; only deceiving themselves when they think they
are deceiving othersand who; being essentially insincere; fail
to evoke confidence; and invariably in the end turn out failures;
if not impostors。
Others are untruthful in their pretentiousness; and in assuming
merits which they do not really possess。 The truthful man is; on
the contrary; modest; and makes no parade of himself and his
deeds。 When Pitt was in his last illness; the news reached
England of the great deeds of Wellington in India。 〃The more I
hear of his exploits;〃 said Pitt; 〃the more I admire the modesty
with which he receives the praises he merits for them。 He is the
only man I ever knew that was not vain of what he had done; and
yet had so much reason to be so。〃
So it is said of Faraday by Professor Tyndall; that 〃pretence of
all kinds; whether in life or in philosophy; was hateful to him。〃
Dr。 Marshall Hall was a man of like spiritcourageously
truthful; dutiful; and manly。 One of his most intimate friends
has said of him that; wherever he met with untruthfulness or
sinister motive; he would expose it; saying〃I neither will; nor
can; give my consent to a lie。〃 The question; 〃right or wrong;〃
once decided in his own mind; the right was followed; no matter
what the sacrifice or the difficultyneither expediency nor
inclination weighing one jot in the balance。
There was no virtue that Dr。 Arnold laboured more sedulously to
instil into young men than the virtue of truthfulness; as being
the manliest of virtues; as indeed the very basis of all true
manliness。 He designated truthfulness as 〃moral transparency;〃
and he valued it more highly than any other quality。 When lying
was detected; he treated it as a great moral offence; but when a
pupil made an assertion; he accepted it with confidence。 〃If you
say so; that is quite enough; OF COURSE I believe your word。〃 By
thus trusting and believing them; he educated the young in
truthfulness; the boys at length coming to say to one another:
〃It's a shame to tell Arnold a liehe always believes one。〃 (10)
One of the most striking instances that could be given of the
character of the dutiful; truthful; laborious man; is presented in
the life of the late George Wilson; Professor of Technology in the
University of Edinburgh。 (11) Though we bring this illustration
under the head of Duty; it might equally have stood under that of
Courage; Cheerfulness; or Industry; for it is alike illustrative
of these several qualities。
Wilson's life was; indeed; a marvel of cheerful laboriousness;
exhibiting the power of the soul to triumph over the body; and
almost to set it at defiance。 It might be taken as an
illustration of the saying of the whaling…captain to Dr。 Kane; as
to the power of moral force over physical: 〃Bless you; sir; the
soul will any day lift the body out of its boots!〃
A fragile but bright and lively boy; he had scarcely entered
manhood ere his constitution began to exhibit signs of disease。
As early; indeed; as his seventeenth year; he began to complain of
melancholy and sleeplessness; supposed to be the effects of bile。
〃I don't think I shall live long;〃 he then said to a friend; 〃my
mind willmust work itself out; and the body will soon follow
it。〃 A strange confession for a boy to make! But he gave his
physical health no fair chance。 His life was all brain…work;
study; and competition。 When he took exercise it was in sudden
bursts; which did him more harm than good。 Long walks in the
Highlands jaded and exhausted him; and he returned to his brain…
work unrested and unrefreshed。
It was during one of his forced walks of some twenty…four miles in
the neighbourhood of Stirling; that he injured one of his feet;
and he returned home seriously ill。 The result was an abscess;
disease of the ankle…joint; and long agony; which ended in the
amputation of the right foot。 But he never relaxed in his
labours。 He was now writing; lecturing; and teaching chemistry。
Rheumatism and acute inflammation of the eye next attacked him;
and were treated by cupping; blisetring; and colchicum。 Unable
himself to write; he went on preparing his lectures; which he
dictated to his sister。 Pain haunted him day and night; and sleep
was only forced by morphia。 While in this state of general
prostration; symptoms of pulmonary disease began to show
themselves。 Yet he continued to give the weekly lectures to which
he stood committed to the Edinburgh School of Arts。 Not one was
shirked; though their delivery; before a large audience; was a
most exhausting duty。 〃Well; there's another nail put into my
coffin;〃 was the remark made on throwing off his top…coat on
returning home; and a sleepless night almost invariably followed。
At twenty…seven; Wilson was lecturing ten; eleven; or more hours
weekly; usually with setons or open blister…wounds upon himhis
〃bosom friends;〃 he used to call them。 He felt the shadow of
death upon him; and he worked as if his days were numbered。
〃Don't be surprised;〃 he wrote to a friend; 〃if any morning at
breakfast you hear that I am gone。〃 But while he said so; he did
not in the least degree indulge in the feeling of sickly
sentimentality。 He worked on as cheerfully and hopefully as if in
the very fulness of his strength。 〃To none;〃 said he; 〃is life so
sweet as to those who have lost all fear to die。〃
Sometimes he was compelled to desist from his labours by sheer
debility; occasioned by loss of blood from the lungs; but after a
few weeks' rest and change of air; he