The Great Ideas Today 1966
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Angel
Family
Animal
Fate
Aristocracy
Form
Art
Astronomy
God Good and
Beauty
Government
Being
Habit
Cause
Happiness
Chance
History
Change
Honor
Citizen
Hypothesis
Constitution
Idea
Courage
Immortality
Custom and Convention
Induction
Definition
Infinity
Democracy
Judgment
Desire
Justice
Dialectic
Know^ledge
Duty
Labor
Education
Language
Element
Law
Emotion
Liberty
Eternity
Life and Death
Evolution
Logic
Experience
Love
Evil
Wan
^^^^^^^^^^^^B
Mathematics
^^^^^B ^^^M
Matter
Reasoning Relation
^«B
Religion
"
Mechanics
Revolution
Medicine
Rhetoric
Memory and
Imagination
^^^^^^B
Same and Other
Metaphysics
Science
Mind
Sense
Monarchy
Sign and Symbol
Nature
Sin
Necessity and Contingency
Slavery
OHgarchy
Soul
One and Many
Space
Opinion
State
Opposition
Temperance
Philosophy
Theology
Physics
Time
Pleasure and Pain
Truth
Poetry
Tyranny
Principle
Universal and Particular
Progress
Virtue and Vice
Prophecy
War and
Prudence
Wealth
Punishment
Will
Quality
Wisdom
Quantity
World
Peace
'adam and
evp:"; diptyc;h
.
.
.
by albrecht durer, 1507. in the prado, Madrid
male and female
lie
created them.' (genesis
1)
THE GREAT IDEAS TODAY 1966
WILLIAM BENTON
Publisher
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNIC A, Chicago London '
•
Toronto
'
INC.
Geneva Sydney Tokyo Manila '
•
•
©
1966 by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Copyright under International Copyright Union All rights reserved
under Pan American and Universal Copyright Conventions
by Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Inc.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 61-65561
The Subjection
of
Women
permission of E. P. Dutton
by John Stuart Mill
&
Co., Inc.,
The Metamorphoses by Ovid, is
and
J.
translated
is
reprinted with the
M. Dent &
Sons, Ltd.
by Mary Innes,
reprinted with the permission of Penguin Books, Ltd.
Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine by John Henry Cardinal
Newman
is
reprinted with the permission of Doubleday
DISTRIBUTED TO THE TRADE
FREDERICK
A.
PRAEGER,
INC.,
NEW
&
Co., Inc.
BY:
YORK, WASHINGTON
THE GREAT IDEAS TODAY Robert M. Hutchins
Mortimer
J.
1966 Adler
Editors in Chief
Otto Bird Executive Editor
Contributors Elisabeth
Mann
Borgese
Lucius F. Cervantes
Anna Rosenberg HoflFman James A. Pike Susan Sontag
Asa Briggs
Hermann Bondi Warren
S.
McCulIoch
and Warren M. Brodey
Milton Mayer Contributing Editor
William R. Dell
Paul Carroll
Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Will Gallagher Art Director
Ann Palormo
Howard Baumann Layout
Picture Editor J.
Artist
Thomas Beatty
Production Manager
Elizabeth Chastain Chief Copy Editor
Frances K. Mitchell
Linda J. Goffen Copy Editors
Celia Wittenber
OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST Page
Credit
Description
PART 0\E Frontispiece
Dipt>ch of
Adam
nd
in the
Prado, Madrid.
11
(Left)
Wyoniia
14
Elisabeth
20
Tviis;
Mann
bv Albrecht Durer,
Bob Hayes.
(right)
Wide World
Borgese.
Balanchine rehearsing dancer of York City Ballet; (right) Bolshoi
(Left)
New
Art Reference Biireau.
the
Photos.
Lumachi. (Left) Martha Swope;
star
Pix from Publix.
Jan
Courtesy,
(right)
Camera
Press-
Plisetskaya.
"The Concert";
17th-century
painting
by
Stewart Gardner Museum.
Isabella
Vermeer, Dutch.
23
26 27 28 30
Art
(Left)
class
in
California;
Elaine
(right)
de Kooning doing portrait of Robert Mallary. (Left) Camille Clifford, original Gibson Girl, 1906; (right) man dressed in fashion of 1880's. Newly weds in London, 1966. Rev. Lucius F. Cervantes. The Cocroft family, 1886, photographed by
(Left) Ralph Crane, Life, © 1966, Time, Inc.; Rudolph Burckhardt. The Bettmann Archive, Inc.
(right)
Associated News photo. Courtesy of subject. Courtesy, The Staten Island Historical Society.
Alice Austen.
33
Girls with doll carriage.
magazine,
Friends
Courtesy,
photo
by
Nolan
Patterson.
woman; (right) frame from Orphan Annie" comic strip, 1966.
37
(Left) "Little
40 44 50
Cheerleaders at the
Pregnant
Housewife
(Left)
company 51
53
NCAA
Finals,
1961.
Anna Rosenberg Hoffman. survey;
Shopping ing windows. (Left)
Women
(Top)
World War
I;
participating in telephone (right) housecleaning.
supermarket;
in
working (center)
in
(right)
munitions
Dona
Felisa,
cleanfactory.
mayor
of
San Juan, at planning meeting; (bottom left) Lilly Dache, president. General Beauty Products, Inc.; (bottom right) airline hostess greet-
(Left) Charles Harbutt-Magnum; 1966 by News Syndicate Co., Inc. Wide World Photos.
(right)
©
Courtesy of subject. (Left) Courtesy, American Telephone and Telegraph Co.; (right) Inge Morath— Magnum. (Left) Inge Morath-Magnum; (right) AI Phillips, Chicn()'s American. (Top) Imperial War Museum, London; (center) Don Uhrbrock, Life, © 1964, Time, Inc.; (bottom left) Leonard McCombe, Life, © 1956, Time, Inc.; (bottom right) Courtesy, United Air Lines.
ing passengers.
56 66
Bishop James A. Pike. (Top) Mother with children at bedtime; (cenpostulant receiving new name from priest; Sister Mary Lauretta with student. ( bottom ) (Top) Swedish Lutheran minister; (bottom) nun with marchers in Alabama, March, 1965. ter)
67 83
(Center)
Statue of Nefertiti in the Berlin
Mu-
seum; (background) montage of contemporary magazine covers and advertisements featuring
women.
84
(Top) Mother and child; (bottom left) "Venus Willendorf"; statue excavated in Austria; (bottom center) terra cotta statue of Cybele, excavated at Caminus, 1863; (bottom right) Izanagi and Izanami, creators of Japan, shown on late 19th-century tapestry. (Left) Bronze statuette of Iris and Horus; (top right) statue of a mother goddess from Minos; (bottom right) "The Holy Family with Saint Catherine," by Ju.sepe Ribera. of
85
86
"Venus de Milo" in the Louvre; (right) of Venus" in the Uffizi Gallery. (Top) "Lady Hamilton as Circe," 18th-century portrait by Romney; (bottom) "Two Tahitian Women," oil by Paul Gauguin, 1899. (Top left) Advertisement from Seventeen maga(Left)
"The 87
88
zine.
Birth
May
Loren;
89
1966; (bottom)
(top right) film star Sophia billboard advertisement for
"Like" soft drink. (Top left) Marilyn
Monroe, photo by Cecil Beaton; (top right) Brigitte Bardot; (bottom left) Jean Shrimpton, cover girl on Stern magazine; bottom right Fiat ad\ ertiseiuent. (
)
IV
Courtesy of subject. (Top) Elliott Erwitt— Magnum; (center) Grey Life, © 1963, Time, Inc.; (bottom) A. Fenn, Life, © 1959, Time, Inc. (bottom) (Top) Gullers-Rapho Guillumette; Paul Conklin— Pix from Publix. (Center) The Mansell Collection; (background) Courtesy of Camera 35, Cosmo})oUtan, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, McCall's, PopVillet,
Diotographij, Redbook, U.S. Camera, ular Vogue, and Woman's Day magazines; Marcel Rochas Parfums, Inc. and Revlon, Inc. (Top) Elliott Erwitt-Magnmn; (bottom left)
Courtesy,
Prahistorische
Abteilung,
Naturhi-
Museum, Vienna; (bottom center) Courtesy, The Trustees of the British Museum; storisches
(bottom right) Courtesy, Musevuu of Fine Arts, Boston Bigelow Collection). (
Courtesy of (left)
the Syndics of the Fitzwil-
Museum,
Cambridge; (top right) The Mansell Collection; (bottom right) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, purchase, Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1934. liam
(Left) Archives Photographiques; nari — Art Reference Bureau.
(right)
Ali-
National
Portrait
Gal-
Coiirtesy
of
(
top
the
)
London; (bottom) The Metropolitan Mu-
ler>-,
seum (Top
of Art, gift of William Osborn,
1949.
C'ourtesy, Max P'actor & ('o.; (top Dan Budnik-Magnum; (bottom) ("ourThe Seven l^p ('ompany, St. Louis, Mo. left)
right) tesy.
(Top right)
C'amera Press— Pix from Publix; (top Douglas Kirkland-dpi; (bottom left) (bottom right) Courtesy,
left)
Montgomer> Woods, Doncg.in \
DaN-id
;
Co., Inc.
I
OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST ?age
Credit
Description
PART ONE,
continued
90
(Left) Photo from Lanz advertisement; (right) "Egyptian Girl," oil by John Singer Sargent.
91
Beach scene at St. Trope/., France. 'Top) Salvation Anny workers, Argonne Front, World War I; (bottom left) Madame Curie; (bottom right) Queen Victoria, 1891 photo. (Top left) Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow; (top right) Eleonora Duse; (bottom) May Day parade in New York City, early 1900's. (Top) Family camping trip in California; (bottom ) office workers in New York City.
92
93
94
95
96
(Top left) Advertisement from Seventeen, 1966, (top right) women at New York ball; (bottom) woman in Russian textile factory. (Top left) Peace Corps volunteer, Ecuador; (top right) Valentina Tereshkova; (center) Dr. Jeanne Smith of the University of Iowa; (bottom left ) Viet Cong volunteer; bottom center) Israeli policewoman; (bottom right) girl (
in
97
(Top
Eleanor
left)
Roosevelt; left)
right) (top Indira Gandhi;
(bottom right) Virginia Woolf.
Women
127
128
129
137 140 141 142
Granger Collection. (Top left) Wide World Photos; (top right and bottom ) Culver Pictures, Inc.
Wayne
(Top)
Miller— Magnum;
(bottom)
A.
Devaney— Publix. (Top
Courtesy, John C. Dowd, Inc.; (top Bruce Davidson— Magnum; (bottom) Lee
left)
right)
Lockwood— Black (Top
Star.
Paul Conklin-Pix from Publix; (top right) Sovfoto; (center) Theodore Berland; (bottom left) Keystone; (bottom center) Louis Goldman— Rapho Guillumette; (bottom right) Henri Cartier-Bresson— Magnum. left)
of Central Africa,
©
(Top
left) Joe Scherschel, Life, 1962, Time, (top right) Cornell Capa— Magnum; (bottom left) T. S. Satyan-Black Star; (bottom right) Gisele Freund.
Inc.;
George Rodger— Magnum.
1950's.
TWO
PART 100 107 113 115 126
(Top) Culver Pictures, Inc.; (bottom left) The Bettmann Archive, Inc.; (bottom right) The
Cuban Army.
Grandma Moses; (bottom
98
(Left) Courtesy of Douglas D. Simon Advertis(right) Courtesy of owners. Stern Magazine. ing, Inc.;
Milton Mayer.
Permanent agricultural exhibit
Two
in
Moscow.
Russian peasants.
Communist
Cell meeting of the
party,
Moscow.
James Larsen. Three Lions, Inc. Georg Oddner. William Klein.
(Top left) Polish farm couple; (top right) Jewish worship service in Russia; (bottom) selling
(Top
left)
Inc.;
(top right)
mushrooms
in Czechoslovakia.
ott
Dubna,
(Top
government-built town for scientists; (top right) assembly line in the ZIS truck factory; (bottom left) Russian harvest, 1940's; (bottom right) gymnastics in a Sochi sanatorium. (Top left) Weekend farming by students; (top right) motorcycle exhibit; (bottom left) jazz combo in 16th-century music hall, Prague; (bottom right) cabaret entertainment, St. Thomas Brewery, Prague. (Top) Larisa Golubkina, Soviet film star; (center) fashion show in Budapest; (bottom) government officials dining in Polish restaurant. Boris Pasternak, Russian Nobel Prize winner.
(Top
left)
Apartments built on site of the ghetto, Warsaw. Camping bungalows near Gdynia, Poland. State-run nursery in the Soviet Union.
Paul Schutzer, Life, Jerry Cooke;
©
1963, Time, (bottom) Elli-
Erwitt— Magnum. left)
Marc Riboud— Magnum; (top
right)
Henri Cartier-Bresson— Magnum; (bottom left) Robert Capa— Magnum; (bottom right) Jerr> Cooke.
(Top
left)
Marc Riboud-Magnum; (top right) left and
Cooke; (bottom Erwitt— Magnum.
Jerry
(Top)
Sovfoto;
num;
(bottom) Time, Inc. Cornell
Elliott Elliott
right) Elliott
(center) Elliott Er\vitt-MagPaul Schutzer, Life, © 1963,
Capa— Magnum. Erwitt— Magnum. Erwitt— Magnum.
Ken Heyman.
PART THREE 146
150
Portrait of (Left)
doch;
151
(Left)
Courtesy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc.; photo by Harry Hess.
Susan Sontag.
George
P.
Elliott;
(center)
Iris
Mur-
Graham Greene.
(right)
Peter
Matthiessen;
(right)
Flannery
O'Connor.
158
(Left)
Burt
173
Blechman;
(right)
Hortense
Cal-
WiUiam Burroughs. (Left)
Gass.
Carlo
(Left) Courtesy,
Emilio
Gadda;
(right)
William
Random House; photo by Ka-
"Leviton-Atlanta" from Black Star. (Left) Courtesy, Horizon Press, Inc.; (right) David Gahr. Courtesy, Grove Press; photo, Charles Henri Ford. (Left) Jerr>- Bauer; (right) Courtesy, The New trina
isher.
163
(Left) Courtesy, Viking Press, Inc.; photo by Mark Gerson; (right) (center) Christofides; Cecil Beaton, Camera Press— Pix from Publix.
Thomas;
(right)
American Library.
LIST Page
OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Description
PART THREE, 178
Credit
conthiucd
Nabokov;
Vladimir
(Left)
Daisne;
(right)
(
center
Johan
)
Peter Weiss.
(Left) Horst Tai)pe— Pix from Publix; (center) Courtesy, Horizon Press, Inc.; (right) D.P.A.— Pictorial Parade, Inc. (Left) Gisele P>eund; (right) Henri Daumann, Life, 1966, Time, Inc.
184
(Left)
194
Portrait of
Asa Briggs,
Photo by
240 247
Portrait of
Hermann Bondi.
BBC
Fraunhofer
lines in the
256
Supernova
in
Alain
Robbe-Grillet;
Marshall
(right)
©
McLuhan.
spectrum of the sun.
Sam Lambert.
Television Service Photo.
Moimt Wilson and Palomar Obser\a-
Courtesy, tories.
a
galaxy in
Virgo;
100-in.
tele-
scope.
264
tories.
Quasi-stellar radio source with 200-in. telescope.
272
3C 273; photographed
Diagram
(Top)
of
(bottom
universe;
the
wave spectrum
of the 200-in. telescope at pointing to the zenith;
left)
Palomar
observatory dish antenna observatory, England.
(bottom
288 300-301
right)
Warren
at
Jodrell
Bank
McCulloch. Drawings from "An N.M.R. Study of Collagen Hydration"; doctoral thesis by Herman BerPortrait of
S.
endsen. (Left and right) Photos of the model built on a simplified collagen macromolecule.
304
Mount Wilson and Palomar Observa-
Courtesy, tories.
Relation of the red shift and distance for extragalactic nebulae.
277
Mount Wilson and Palomar Observa-
Courtesy,
Mount Wilson and Palomar Obser\a-
Courtesy, tories.
(Top) Adapted from drawing by Max Gschwind, Fortune, 1962, Time, Inc.; (bottom left) Courtesy, Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories; (bottom right) Adolf Morath.
©
Courtesy of subject. Courtesy, Herman Berendsen.
C>ourtesy,
Herman Berendsen.
Courtesy,
The Newberr>
PART FOUR 336-405
Selected woodcuts from the 1522 Venetian edi-
The Metamorphoses by Ovid. John Henry Newman, 1847; engraving after the painting by W. C. Ross. (Top) Engraving of John Henry Newman; (center left) John Keble and (center right) Edward Bouverie Pusey, chalk drawings by George Richmond; (bottom left) R. W. Church, 1882 photo; (bottom right) W. G. Ward, line en-
Librar>
tion of
406
410
1882. Photo of A. C. Tait; (center) R. D. Hampden, drawing from Illustrated London News, 1848; (right) portrait of Bishop Richard Bagot in the Bishop's Palace, Wells. Cardinal Newman, photographed in the 1880's. Oil portrait of John Stuart Mill by G. F. Watts, 1873. John Stuart Mill, lithograph from Vanity Fair, (Sir Leslie 1873, after drawing by "Spy"
Radio Times Hulton Picture Library. (Top) right,
Brown bottom
Brothers; left,
(center
left,
center
The Granger
bottom right)
Collection.
graving,
411
453 454
455
(Left)
(Left and center) Radio Times Hulton Picture (right) Courtes\, Bishop of Bath and Librarv ;
Wells.'
Radio Times Hulton Picture Library. Courtesy, National Portrait Gallery, London.
The Granger
Collection.
Ward).
458
459
(Top) Miniature of Harriet Taylor Mill, 1840's; (center left) Richard Wagner, painting by Clementine Stocker-Escher, (center 1853; right) Mathilde Wesendonk, painting by C. Dorner, 1860; (bottom left and right) Clothilde de Vaux and Auguste Comte, lithographs by Tony TouUion. (Top left and right) Marie Daubrun and Charles Baudelaire, photos by Etienne Carjat; (bottom left) Georgette Leblanc; (bottom right) Maurice the 1890's.
512
Maeterlinck,
photographed
in
from Punch, March 30, 1867; cartoon from Punch, May 28, 1870; (bottom) 18th-century cartoon by George Cruikshank. (Top)
Cartoon
(center)
513
(Top)
Cartoon
from
Punch,
May
15,
1869;
lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1869; (bottom) cartoon from Punch, August 13, 1870. (center)
VI
(Top) Courtesy, British Librar> ot Political and Economic Science; (center left and right) HiBildarchiv Handke-Bad Bemeck; (bottom left and right) C;ourtes> Bibliotheque
storisches
,
Nationale, Paris.
left) Courtes>, (Toi) Paris; (top right) The
Nationale, Bibliotheciue Granger Collection; (botBrovMi Brothers; (bottom right) Radio tom Times Hulton Picture Library. left)
and center) Photographed b> John Freeman, Ltd.; (bottom) Culver Pictures, (Toi)
(Top and bottom) Photographed by John Freeman, Ltd.; (center) CourtesN Librar\ ,
Congress.
R. Inc.
R. of
CONTENTS FART ONE
The Difference
Woman and the Difference A Symposium
of
It
Makes—
Introduction
How Woman Woman: Nurture Makes The Changing Role
Differs
2
from Man: The Facts
the Difference: Elisabeth
of
Woman: A
4
Mann
Borgese
Biosocial Interpretation:
Lucius F. Cervantes
A New Look
at
Womans
28
Work: Anna Rosenberg Hoffman
The Church and Women: James
Woman
in
of the Difference:
A
Pictorial
44
56
A. Pike
Great Books of the Western World
Woman: The Image
14
Essay
72 83
PART TWO
Contemporary Aspects
The
New Man:
of a Great Idea
Milton Mayer
100
PART IHREE
The
Year's
Developments
in the Arts
and Sciences 146
Literature: Susan Sontag
The
Social Sciences
and History: Asa Briggs
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences: Hermann Bondi
The
Warren S. McCulloch and Warren M. Brodey
194
240
Biological Sciences:
288
PART FOUR
Additions to the Great Books Library
The Metamorphoses
"On
the
Development
of Ideas"
of Christian Doctrine:
The Subjection
of
(selections):
Ovid
336
from Essay on the Development
Newman
406
Stuart Mill
454
John Henry
Women: John PART FIVE
Additions to the Syntopicon
New Words and The
Great Ideas
530
A
NOTE ON REFERENCE STYLE
the following pages, passages InWorld are referred to by the
in
Great Books of the Western "GBWW," followed by
initials
volume, page number, and page section. Thus,
"GBWW,
Vol. 39,
210b" refers to page 210 in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which is Volume 39 in Great Books of the Western World. The small letter "b" indicates the page section. In books printed in single column, "a" and "b" refer to the upper and lower halves of the
p.
page. In books printed in double column, "a" and "b" refer to the
upper and lower halves of the left column, "c" and "d" to the upper and lower halves of the right column. For example, "Vol. 53, p. 210b" refers to the lower half of page 210, since Volume 53, James's Principles of Psijcholo'
this:
Major premise:
what
In the church isn't
Women
Minor premise:
done and
hasn't been
being done ought not to be done. haven't been ordained and aren't
being ordained.
Women
Conclusion:
shouldn't be ordained.
The conclusion would be
correct if both premises were sound, but in As to the major premise: Some people think this way about everything, but many sensible people who wouldn't do so about most things do so uncritically when it comes to the church because for them to challenge the supposed unchangeability of the church will be too psychologically threatening to their idolatry of this illusion. But the fact is that there are a lot of things about the church (just as there are about the nation or any other human institution) which are, and which perhaps always have been, that obviously cannot be rationally identified with what ought to be. That the church knows this is displayed by the very existence of the "Protestant" word "reformation" and the Roman Catholic word aggorniamento, and by the plain historical fact that change has been characteristic of the three C's of religion: creed, code, and fact neither
is.
cult.2
minor premise, we are in the realm of empirical fact; hence is to summarize the data about the ordination of women from the early church on to the present.
As
to the
the best answer
WOMEN
IN
THE EARLY CHURCH
existence of female ministers and The from the same period the other
their recognition as such dates
historic ministries of the Christian
as
church. Paul writing to the congregation in says: "I
commend
church which
is
unto you Phoebe our
at
Rome in who is
sister,
Cenchrea: that ye receive her
a.d. 56-58 deacon of the
about a
in the
Lord, as be-
cometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also." (Rom. 16:1, 2.) The word is used in the masculine form (diakonos), i.e., as the name of an office lield by persons of both sexes; the female form of
2
l-'or
examples, sec
my A Time
Publishers, Ine., 1964), chaps.
for Christian ii-i\
64
Candor (New York: Harper
&;
Row,
James A. Pike the word {diakonissa, or "deaconess") first reared its head in the Nicene Canon in the fourth century. Somewhat later, a section of the First Epistle to Timothy summarizes the attributes expected of bishops and deacons, two orders of ministry which had by then emerged with some definiteness, and a separate list is provided for male deacons and for female deacons (female being indicated by the word gunaikes— which
caused the translators of the Authorized Version, who were innocent of the existence of ordained women in any period of history, to mistranslate the designation as "the
entiation
was
to
wives of deacons"). The reason for the
omit from a
list
of qualities
which
is
diflFer-
otherwise parallel
the phrase "not greedy of filthy lucre," since at the time
women
did not
handle money and hence were inactive in the diaconal function of tributing alms to the
The
existence of
needy— and thus
women clergymen
free of
its
in the early
dis-
correlative temptation.
church
is
also attested
by Pliny the Younger in a letter to Trajan written in about the year 112 in which he refers to two women as "ministrae.'' There are frequent references to women in the diaconate in the work of the early Church Fathers, in various service books, including forms of ordination and investiture (with the stole as in the case of other ministers) and listing of functions. Various restrictions in function appear in different places and times, in some instances providing a priority for the doing of a given act by the male counterpart when available— in line with the mores of the time, but with no restriction on the quality of the holy order which was conferred on women. As the church moved westward and the new status conferred on women by Christianity more and more declined— and along with it the safety of women functioning alone— the numbers and significance of women ministers declined also. But there were still interesting "survivals" after the millenium. For example: (1) In what now had become communities of deaconesses or of unordained nuns, the abbess (who also enjoyed some episcopal prerogatives, including the use of miter and crozier) was in many cases ordained by the bishop to the diaconate. (2) In services for the consecration of bishops in some parts of the church, the authority to ordain women continued to be transmitted. (3) Until the eighteenth century, Benedictine and Cistercian nuns were ordained as a step beyond "profession" and "consecration," interestingly enough at the age of forty— the age which the canons of the early church had usually specified as requisite for the ordination of women. (4) To the present day, some of the older nuns of the Carthusian order (founded in the twelfth century) are ordained by the bishop, invested with customary diaconal vestments, and thereafter perform liturgical functions appertaining to the diaconate.^
3 For this information, the author is indebted to an unpublished essay by the Rev. Mary P. Truesdell, ordained Episcopal deaconess, written in 1964.
65
Woman
WOMAN These
S
POSITION TODAY
survivals (especially the last cited, since the practice
cussion in
more than
still
ob-
There is widespread disRoman Catholic papers and magazines today of the possibility
tains) are of
historical interest.
The Changing Role
of
POSTULANT RECEIVING NEW NAME
FROM
MOTHER TEACHING BEDTIME PRAYERS NUN
ASSISTING STUDENT
WITH PROBLEM
their own Inthis page say
PRIEST
way, the pictures on much about woman's traditional role in religion. That role has been auxiliary— helpmate of the church as teacher, nurse for the church as comforter, nun to the church as worshiper.
James A. Pike of the ordination
of
women; and
since ontological thinking
still
pre-
and debates within that church, these instances in answer to the taken-for-granted attitude sufficient provide a themselves so widely prevalent, namely, that women can't be ordained. The very existence of, for example, some seventy ordained Carthusian nuns makes
dominates
in analyses
Women
in the
Church
Lately, the image of woman as J merely mother, teacher, or wor-
and in its place a more modern picture has materialized. shiper has faded,
It
includes
woman
in a
new
pastoral
role {as at right) or in a militant leader role, as in civil rights
the picture of the
march
nun
at a
(beloiv).
SWEDISH LUTHERAN MINISTER
THE 1965
CIVIL RIGHTS
MARCH
IN
ALABAMA
Woman two principles of logic: (a) a negative particular destroys an affirmati\'e universal; and (/;) possibility cannot be denied in the face of actuality. However, to this author's knowledge, to date no reference has been made to this crucial bit of data in articles or essays either pro or con, and those opposed still repeat all the arguments summarized above to establish the ontological impossibility of the ordination of women. Meanwhile Carthusian nuns, one by one, are ordained on reaching the age at which it is said "life begins." There are no such "survivals" in the Eastern Orthodox churches, in spite of the fact that from the early church up to the twelfth century, ordination of women as deaconesses was much more widespread than in the Western church. But this usage disappeared when Muslim influence came too close.^ However, the Church of Greece, and the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America which is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, have taken active steps toward the revival of the ordination of women as deaconesses; and one of their leading theologians. Professor Theodorou, has pointed out that women ordained in the Eastern church in the earlier centuries of the church were fully admitted to the sacred ministry in exactly the same way as male deacons, receiving the laying on of hands at the altar and wearing the oraraion— the diaconal stole. But as regards ordination to the priesthood, the position of the Eastern Orthodox churches is flatly negative."' (It is interesting to note that the Monophysite and Nestorian churches have admitted women to sacred liturgical functions, and that women were ordained by entirely applicable
the Montanists.)
None
of the churches of the Anglican
the priesthood,^ and the that the
Order of Deaconess
The American House
Communion
Lambeth Conferences is
ordain
all
to
of Bishops in 1965, with an eye to the fact that the
nine other churches with which the Episcopal church negotiations
women
and 1948 declared the only order of ministry open to women. of 1930
ordain
women,
restated this in terms
is
now
more
in unity
descriptive
than normative by adding the words "at the present time." But these
same Lambeth Conferences recommended not merely "set apart."
On
this
be ordained, point, Anglican churches still differ; howthat deaconesses
4 Pastor Andre Dumas, "Biblical Anthropolo^ and the Participation of Women in the Ministry of the Church," in Concerning!, the Ordination of Women (World Council of Churches, 1964), p. 35. 5 See articles by Professor Nicolai Chitescu and Archiamandrite Georges Khoudre, op. cit., pp. 61 ff,
6 There has been one notable exception: In 1948 Bisliop Ronald Hall of Honj^ Kong ordained a Chinese deaconess, the Rev. Li Tim Oi, to the priesthood, hut the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops declared that it was "a most unwelcome unilateral act," and the bishop felt ohliged to ask her to suspend her priestly functions and to revert for practical purposes to her previous status.
68
J
James A. Pike
Church
England and the Episcopal Church of Scotland, some decades, and in 1964 the General Convention of the Episcopal church amended the canon law to provide for such ordination. Those parts of the Anglican Communion making this change have also followed the recommendation of the Lambeth ever, in the
women have been
of
thus ordained for
Conferences, referred to above, that the requirement of celibacy for
deaconesses be eliminated, consistent with the situation regarding other
ordained clergy. There
women
is
now
considerable discussion of the ordination
Church of England, and at its 1965 meeting the American House of Bishops established a committee to consider the whole status of women in the ministry of the church. Among the Lutheran churches, the United States seems to be the only of
to the priesthood in the
country (except Iceland and Finland) where ordination of not been provided for.
Women
are
now ordained
women
has
to the priesthood in the
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (including Greenland). They are ordained likewise in the Slovakian and Silesian Lutheran churches in Czechoslovakia, the Evangelical Lutheran churches of France and of the Netherlands, and in the Alsace-Lorraine Evangelical church.
state churches of
In the
German
church, ordination of
in its various parts,
women
to the pastorate
is
permitted
but restrictions vary according to the rules of the
respective regional churches. Virtually
all
churches of the Presbyterian-Reformed family ordain
women, with two important exceptions: the Church of Scotland, before whose General Assembly the matter came in 1964, with action postponed; and the Presbyterian Church of Australia, whose General Assembly voted favorably in 1946, but which action has not yet received the favorable en-
dorsement of a sufficient number of the presbyteries. In 1964 the PresbyChurch, U.S. (Southern), ordained its first woman; the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., has ordained quite a few women in the last few years. The United Church of Christ in our country and the United Church of
terian
Canada permit ordination Christ, the Evangelical
of
women. This
is
true, too, of the Disciples of
United Brethren, the Church of the Brethren,
and the Moravian churches. The ordination of women as pastors is characteristic of the Congregationalist and Baptist churches throughout the world, and the same is true of the Methodist churches, except in England (where, however, deaconesses may exercise preaching and sacramental functions). Women exercise full ministry also in the Society of Friends and in the Unitarian-Universalist churches. It is
thus obvious that a great deal of progress has been
open the doors
spread
the extension of provision for lay
is
church. But this
is
for ordination of
not the whole story any
made
in official
women, and even more wide-
action to
women
to hold office in the
more than the almost universal
pattern of proper official statements on the matter of racial equality has
69
Worymn hccn matched by practices and attitudes in local cliurches. A surxey of national church e\ecuti\es summarized in 1963 by the Bureau of Research and Sur\'ey, National Council of Churches, shows that women ministers "are not accepted as men are" and "are handicapped in securing pastoral positions" and that "local churches hesitate to employ women as pastors." It is also reported that womtni who are called as pastors are
more
likely to find
themselves in "small" or "rural" churches.
surprise then that there are proportionately
The same
of the churches.
women
It
few ordained women
is
in
no any
report discloses that the participation of lay
governing and policy-making bodies is by no means in proportion to their numbers in the church (except in the case of a few specific boards). The reasons given are "custom," "tradition," "prejudice."
One
in
are not
and another reports "a
Operative, too,
deemed competent
for the re-
women would
take over."
fear that
the assumption that
is
"men would be
appear from a comparison of
their efforts." It does
made
"women
stated that
official
sponsibility,"
1952 that the participation of lay
in
siderably broadened"; on the other hand,
women
tudes of local churches toward
tion—are
much
the
same
women
inclined to lessen
this
study with one
has "probably con-
would seem
it
"that the atti-
as pastors— hesitation
and opposi-
in 1963 as in 1952."
THE MORAL ISSUE
By
and
large, this
whole subject
is
one of relatively minor concern
or interest in the churches, something like the concern of
and there
improvement
for the
hymnody
of
the Psalms. Interest in discussion
is
or the
method
some here
of chanting
largely confined to isolated
women—
and "isolated" they do feci— who believe they are called to the ministry or
who would and
church,
like
to
use their talents more fully as laymen in the
little-heard-of
to
committees of the \\'orld
Council
bership of such groups as the Society for the Ministry of
Women
of
mem-
Churches, or the National Council of Churches, and to the slender
in the
England. It is not many decades ago that this was true also of the racial issue. But like that issue, the question of the status of women is actually quite critical. This is recognized by Bishop |()hn A. T. Robinson (author of Honest to Cod) in a passage in his latest book:
Church,
in
.
.
.
The church
of the
new Reformation must
old reformers hardly touched, and
what
is
still
tackle
what the
too hot for most
churchmen, namely, tJic sex line, as it cuts its path through the whole ministry of the church, ordained and unordained. 1 am increasingh' persuaded that this is not the isolated and secondarN' issue of ecclesiastical controversy that most of our churches would prefer to keep it. Unless the church can show that it is prepared to permit women as full scope for ministry and r('sj)()nsil)ility as e\er it .
.
,
70
James A. Pike gives to
then
men— and
as the
that "in Christ there
borne
world
is
increasingly giving to
women-
has no right to preach to the world a Gospel which declares
it
in
is
neither male nor female." This has been
upon me by a recent
the old Reformation faces
visit to
modem
Sweden, where the church of
secular society in starker contrast
than anywhere else I know. There the issue of women priests merely happens to focus the crisis of secularization which confronts the church everywhere. It was no accident that the fascinating confrontation of Christians and agnostics, for which I was asked over, was arranged by their leading woman priest-theologian. I had supposed before that the connection between "Honest to God" and the ordination of women was peripheral. But in Sweden the two are part of the same fight for the ear of the twentieth century— and who "
knows, perhaps elsewhere also?
All this touches the most basic issue of moral theology: Is the church prepared to treat— and urge the world to treat— individual persons as per-
sons or as
members
inferiority
When
question of the ordination of
women whom
which
of categories— categories
and superiority?
entail a
judgment
of
confronted with, for example, the
women, people tend
to visualize certain
they would not like to see in a pulpit or at an
altar.
Such
an evaluation could be sound or unsound, but it is not to the point. As an ecclesiastical administrator, I have made similar evaluations of men— and acted accordingly; yet this does not support an affirmation that no men should be ordained to the ministry. All that
is
to the point
is
unbiased
evaluation of particular persons— apart from general categories such as race or sex— with regard to their possession or nonpossession of requisite
education and personal capacity for the task to be performed.
Though
have known a number of women ministers whom I admire and respect, I have had personal experience administratively only with the one woman clergyman who is canonically resident in my diocese, the Rev. Phyllis Edwards. She has shown herself entirely capable of performing the prinI
we had several women clergy in our diocese, compelled to say that one or another of them could not be so favorably judged. But in my seven and one-half years as bishop, I've had occasion to make similar positive and negative judgments regarding particular male clergy. And all this applies equally to the capacity or incipal tasks of the ministry. If I
might
feel
capacity of
women— and men— serving
Thus, what
women
is
at stake
is
in posts of lay responsibility.
not just greater fulfillment in the lives of some
church members here and there.
What
of the church's profession that persons are to
anonymous components
7 The
New
is
at stake
is
the sincerity
be treated as persons, not as
of a generic category, that
is,
as things.
Reformation (London: S.C.M. Press; Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1965), pp. 59-60.
71
WOMAN IN
GREAT BOOKS OF THE WESTERN WORLD Chanticleer, that learned cock, voices feelings shared by all men, when he remarks, "mulier est hominis confusio,"** and then, mistranslating for his wife's benefit, declares: "Madam, the meaning of this Latin is, / Woman is man's delight and all his bliss" (Chaucer, The Nuns Priest's Tale, GBWW, Vol. 22, p. 455d). Whether the confusio is the cause of the delight may be questioned. There is no doubt, however, that men tend to find women confusing. Freud begins his lecture on the psychology of women with the observation that "throughout the ages, the problem of
woman has puzzled people of every kind" (GBWW, Vol. 54, p. 853d). Many women would object that this statement is characteristically male, for it assumes that there is a "problem of woman." Nor would all who accept the problem agree with Freud's formulation of it. In his view, the problem stems fundamentally from the difference of sex. "Male or female is the first differentiation that you make when you meet another human being," Freud declares, and he goes on to claim that we are "used to making that distinction with absolute certainty" (p. 854a). But although we readily note the difference and admit its pervasive influence, Freud asserts
we know
very little about it: "What constitutes masculinity or femian unknown element" about which neither anatomy nor psychology can tell us much (p. 854b). For a solution to "the riddle of femininity," we must wait until "we have learned in general how the differentiation of that
ninity
is
two sexes came about" (p. 855a). Freud that there is great ignorance concerning women, but he disagrees sharply with him on the reason for it. If woman is a ridliving creatures into
Mill agrees with
dle,
it is
not because of a radical mystery in her sex but because of man's
treatment of her.
Long
subjection to
perfect confidence, on either side,
own
man
is
has put her in a position where
impossible. Perhaps mindful of his
case as a son, he cites the analogous situation of the father-son rela-
tionship,
where
"in spite of real affection
on both
sides,"
it is
obvious to
all
the world that the father "does not know, nor suspect, parts of the son's
character familiar to his companions and equals" (see below, p. 476). Mill holds that the male stands in a similar position with regard to the female,
and
his
knowledge
Man
remains ignorant of woman's whereas no one knows, not even capabilities are, "because most of them have
suffers accordingly.
"actually existing thoughts
and
feelings,"
woman herself, what her full never been called out" (see below, p. 475). Woman may be a mystery now, but there is no reason, according to both 'Woman
is
man's confusion."
72
GBWW
on
Woman
and Freud, why she should forever remain so. Mill maintains that is to be learned about women's mental characteristics from women themselves once they achieve a position of equality with men. During the one hundred years since he wrote, women have advanced far toward equality, although, as our symposium testifies, much inequality still persists. The introductory survey on the facts about women also shows that we now know much about the biological and physiological diflFerences of women— more, certainly, than was known to Mill. It is by no means evident, however, that we know a great deal more about what Mill calls the "mental characteristics" of women. In fact, one of the underlying issues running throughout the discussion about women is precisely whether or not there are any distinctly feminine traits or abilities. Father Lucius Cervantes maintains that there are, Elisabeth Borgese denies it, and there is a long history behind each position. Mill
much
HER INFINITE VARIETY enigmatic perhaps about woman a paradox, The discussion consupposed be. The record of the discussion, subject is itself
as
as
as
to
is
its
tained in Great Books of the Western World, is clearly two-faced. The authors— all of whom, it might be noted, are men— frequently describe and
women, and almost always in terms derogatory. But besides the talk about women, usually by phi-
comment upon that are
the characteristics of
also meet many, many women in the pages of the poets, and novelists. What one set of authors explicitly has to say about women by no means jibes with the heroines and goddesses described by the others. To see that this is so, we need only consider some of the leading women of hterature. Let us set up a gallery of famous heroines, as poets used to do— a Homeric catalog, not of ships, but of women. Suppose we start with
we
losophers,
dramatists,
Homer
himself, with the extraordinary
women
in the life of
Odysseus: the
charming Nausicaa, the faithful nurse, and blood, mortal women; we must not forget
patient, loyal Penelope, the playful,
Euricleia.
These are
the great goddesses,
flesh first
Athena, of course, but also Circe, the sorceress,
and Calypso, who with gentler wiles kept Odysseus prisoner for nine years. Then too, in Homer, but also appearing in the Greek tragedies, and haunting ever afterward the imaginations of men, there are Helen of "the face that launched a thousand ships," Andromache the loving wife, Hecuba the much-enduring wife and mother, Cassandra the prophetic captive, Clytemnestra and her daughter, Electra, Jocasta and her daughter-granddaughter Antigone, Medea, Iphigenie, and Phaedra. Nor can
we leave out of our
way
who fought in her extraordinary woman from whom Socrates learned about
gallery Lysistrata,
for peace, or Diotima, the
love.
73
Woman we meet many of the same women, some subtly transformed: now a tender mother; Athena, once the companion Odysseus, now the fearful foe of Aeneas. But Virgil gives us new
In Virgil
Venus, once a mistress, of
women, ache
and unforgettable ones: Dido, the fateful queen, whose heartsummed up in Lorenzo's touching words:
is
too,
In such a night Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea banks, and waft her love To come again to Carthage.
—The Merchant V,
and Camilla, the warrior maid,
of Venice,
1 (Vol. 26, p.
430d).
whose death "an endless lament struck
at
the golden stars."
Of
quite another order are the great
mother
of us
all,
women
of the Bible:
Sarah, Rebecca, Esther, Ruth and
and Judith. In the
Naomi— and
Eve, the Jezebel,
New
Testament there are the three Marys, three women so different, each with her own virtue, yet having among them all virtues: the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the sister of Martha. To this illustrious group might be added also Dante's Beatrice, as associated with the reUgious and supernatural life, as well as Monica, the saintly mother of Augustine. In Chaucer we meet not only the playful but finally treacherous Cressida and the demure Prioress and her nuns, but also the inimitable Wife of Bath, who gives at some length and emphatically her version— rather, her solution— of "the woman question." Chaucer's women are wonderful and wonderfully various, but we have yet to touch upon the most glittering collection of all: the women of Shakespeare's plays. It is hard to draw the Delilah,
line, short of listing all of
them.
First,
perhaps, are the tragic heroines:
Opheha, Desdemona, and Cordelia; Gertrude, Cressida (how she is changed from what she was in Chaucer!), Lady Macbeth, Regan and Goneril, Cleopatra. And then the heroines— each more charming, more perfect, more womanly than the next— of the comedies and romances: Beatrice, Rosalind, Viola, Hero, Jessica, Isabella, Imogen, Perdita, Miranda—
Juliet,
to say
our
nothing of Katherine,
list
to
an end, can
we
who
is
not so shrewish after
leave out
Tom
Gretchen, Dostoevsky's Maria, and the
all.
Nor, bringing
Jones's Sophia
women
and Faust's War and
of Tolstoy's
whom some
Freudian psychologists have taken as the prototypes of the feminine psyche: the cold and beautiful Ilelene, the compassionate Princess Mary, the impulsive, lovely, and ever loving Natasha. Ask the poets, "What is woman?" and it seems that there is nothing she is not. In history as well as legend, she has been from the first a power both for good and for evil. The great women of literature range over as Peace,
wide a spectrum of temper and
talent as the
74
men and
are in almost every
:
GBWW way comparable
What man is more ambitious than Lady Macrevenge than Medea? as patient as Penelope, as
them.
to
more passionate
beth,
Womcm
on
in
loving as Juliet? as frank and forward as the Wife of Bath, as brave as Camilla or Judith? Is not Shakespeare's Beatrice as witty as his Benedick, and Cassandra as insistent as Cato? The lechery of women, according to
Panurge, has no a
weak sense
but
limit;
woman,
pictures a
when Milton
the lady in
Comus.
seeks an exemplar of chastity, he
Women
of justice, yet Shakespeare
woman
judge. Perhaps no
match
are often accused of having
makes Portia triumphant
as a
Odysseus cunning and wanderlust. Yet in every other respect, if not in these, there is a heroine to match the achievement of each hero, just as there is almost always a goddess to equal any god. So great is her variety that the individual woman as well as the whole sex has a reputation for it. "A shifting, changeful thing was woman ever" (varium et mutahile semper), the god tells Aeneas (The Aeneid, IV; Vol. is
a
for lago in villainy, or for
in
What
13, p. 183a).
she
is
and how she
acts
is
pictured as dependent on
her changeful moods. As lago declares, in exasperation with his wife:
You
are pictures out of doors,
Belles in your parlours, wild-cats in your kitchens,
Saints in your injuries, devils being offended, Players in your housewifery, and housewifes in your beds.
-Othello,
II, 1
(Vol. 27, p. 214c).
And
as Enobarbus says, describing Cleopatra— it famous description of all-
Age cannot wither her, not custom Her infinite variety. —Antony and Cleopatra,
perhaps the most
is
stale
II,
2
(Vol. 27, p. 321b).
The and
position of
comment ter
women
difference. Yet explicitly
with men,
Woman ...
is
it is
when
in great literature
is
scarcely one of inequality
authors and especially philosophers
upon woman and
to
compare her
in nature
come
almost always to her disadvantage.
described as
a mutilated
male— Aristotle, On the Generation
of Animals,
II (Vol. 9, p. 278a).
.
.
.
weaker and colder IV (p. 317b).
in
nature
...
a sort of natural deficiency
-ibid.,
...
the weaker sex -I Peter, 3:7, R.S.V.
... an
imperfect animal— Don Quixote,
p. 123c).
75
I,
to
and charac-
chap, xxxiii (Vol. 29,
Woman
We are told .
.
Not
.
Annals,
.
.
.
.
iiiie(}iial
spiteful, intri^uin^
is
it
33 (Vol.
III:'
Nature
.
the sex feeble and
()nl\- is
has liberty,
it
.
and
when
to hardship, but,
j;reed\ of
power.— Tacitus,
15, p. 53b).
did
manner mistake the road w hich she had
in a
traced formerK', and stray exceedinj^l\ from that excellence of providential judgment, b\ the
when
things,
Garglint u a and
.
.
.
which she had created and formed
she built, framed, and Pantal, the feud, and the
ties of
the several,
children
120
Milton Mayer
The
lynching, were transferred gradually to the public prerogative. ciple of revenge was,
if
prin-
not eliminated, palliated by the notions of deter-
rence and even correction.
The
prohibition of torture in theory led to
its
reduction in practice, to the restriction of execution to high crimes, to the
removal of execution from the sight of the slavering mob, and finally to the elimination of capital punishment for civil offenses in country after country. The bestialities of sport— the prizefight, the cockfight, the bullfightwere marvelously polite compared with the gladiatorial combat of the Roman arena. And "everywhere"— nowhere so spectacularly as in America —the arbitrary position of political rulers yielded to the rights of universal citizenship. Little
wonder
that the
new
of
Western man's condition,
all
that
liberalism
was dazzled by the forward march it would seem, his
manners, and even, behavior. "Institutions make men," said Montesquieu. flatly,
his
but the statement was taken that
flatly.
He
did not
mean
it
So, too, antiquarians
recalled that Socrates, maintaining, in one of his lighter moments, that
education produces a good form of the state and continually improves
had added, "and
this
improvement
affects the
breed in
man
it,
as in other
animals."^
The seventeenth-century Baconian dictum
that
knowledge
is
power was
once the seal of the Renaissance and the signal of the Enlightenment. It was an incontrovertible dictum— still is— if its second term was left undefined or was defined as man's manipulation of the external world. Knowledge meant better techniques and better instruments, whose application evoked and enabled the rise of better social conditions and political institutions. Those conditions and institutions had always been dreamed of— at
but only dreamed
and
for
something
of.
Now
like
two
they
came
to be, to
centuries, certainly
an ever increasing extent,
up
to impossible to believe that their actuality did not
the attitudes of men. That delicacy, too,
men had whose
displayed
lives
it
memorably
was
until 1914,
mean more
it
was next
delicacy in
few and many more, doubtless, seemed possible to man, and as old as the world; a
in every age,
were not recorded. But now
it
not just to this Stoic or that Saint.
So spectacular and cumulative was the evidence that something wonder-
was happening— or was sure to happen— to man that the traditional as good as abandoned (outside of theology) in the nineteenth century. The new slogan was "nurture, not nature." A dichotomy was driven between environment and heredity, the one thundered ever more aggressively from the podium and the press, the other ever more defensively and unpersuasively from the pulpit. Some day— some far off day, when the term "brainwashing" would be a commonplace— there might even be physicochemical devices to implement ful
view was
1
GBWW,
Vol. 7, p. 344b.
121
The
New Man
off 1965, the American Association for the Advancement of Science would be being informed (and warned) by Professor David Krech of the University of Cahfornia of the "beginnings of gen-
such assertions. In far
uine breakthroughs into the understanding of the mind.
If
then tomorrow— or the day thereafter, or the year thereafter. spell out for
not today,
need not
I
you what such understanding of the mind may mean
in
terms
of control of the mind."
The Enlightenment and its heirs of the next century discovered wonnew forces— environmentalism (as if Plato had not noticed that "the
derful
if Circe hadn't changed men and triumphantly, determinism (as if Socrates in his death cell hadn't challenged his legs to pick him up and carry him away to freedom). And environmentahsm, conditioning, and determinism gave rise to what would come to be called the social sciences of the man turned mass for behavioral manipulation. Gloomy Goethe, born into the
city
educates the man"); and conditioning (as
into swine); and, finally,
Enlightenment, reverted to the Faustian conclusion that der Mensch bleibt Mensch. Old hat. Still older hat was he who (oddly enough) first spoke of
human
Rousseau
perfectibility: that
who
insisted that the forces of civih-
"may have improved the human understanding while depraving the species, and made man wicked while making him sociable."New hat was the greatest historian of the age. In 1787 who better than Edward Gibbon had the right to adduce from all human history "the zation
pleasing conclusion that every age of the world has increased and
still in-
and perhaps the newer, by a few decades, was George
creases the real wealth, the happiness, the knowledge, virtue, of the
human
race?"-^ Still
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's Philosophy
of History.
Man
alone, said Hegel,
power to act, with some measure of freedom, upon his choice. This freedom— "however limited or conditioned"— is the freedom not merely to change or be changed but to will change. (The emphasis on the word icill is Hegel's.) Thus there is nothing new under the sun except in the spirit (or mind) of man, whose following, at this point, the long tradition, has the
destiny includes (the emphasis here
and It
is
Hegel's) "a real capacity for change,
that for the better, an impulse of perfectibility"'^
wasn't so
much what
life
actually was, or
had become,
dered the great prospect of the time; rather, what
was
man now
or might become. "Faith in progress, the will to progress,
original contribution of the eighteenth century," says Herbert
The Uses
of the
Past.'' "If
3
4
GBWW, Vol. 38, GBWW, Vol. 40, GBWW, Vol. 46,
p.
is J.
If
Muller in
p.
348a.
178b.
(New
York: Oxford University Press, 1952), p. 285.
122
evil,
they overrated the
p. 634c.
5 The Uses of the Past
life
the most
the philosophers overlooked possibilities of
they recognized real possibilities of betterment.
2
that engen-
thought
Milton Mayer
wholesome corrective to the They denied that freedom obedience or renunciation is good
natural goodness of man, they provided a traditional emphasis
on
his natural depravity.
sin, and that ." They enabled a decent self-respect Under this attack the Christian view of human nature appeared ever darker. The Reformation spread of the Bible had democratized the darkness without dispelling it. (And Luther was no gladder a voice than Calvin.) The church was isolated from the new vision of the New Man. The new knowledge conspired with the new faith in knowledge to provide the is
simply an invitation to
per
se.
.
.
in such weight as to tip the scales against the evidence of things unseen. The philosopher, like the theologian, was rooted in the prescientific past. He gave way to the man of the present and the future, whose advent was certified by Darwin himself a century after the birth of the Enlightenment. What man now was was godly compared with what "man," i.e., the lowest zoological primate, had been in his prebeginnings; why shouldn't he be godlier still, world without end?
evidence of things seen
Into
the midst of the enthusiasts— at the very height of their nineteenth-
century enthusiasm— there walked the newest hat of yet seen. Its bloodred ribbons deceived a great into thinking that
wasn't;
Marx.
it
He
was a
it
was only
a
little
many
all
and the oddest
of the enthusiasts
model entirely from their own. It extreme. It was worn by a German named
disagreed with the
different
men
of the
Enlightenment on one point:
He
was convinced that the human condition was becoming not better but worse. And on another: Where they dwelt in Utopian hope and promise, he proclaimed the inevitability of social (if not personal) perfection on the basis of inviolable historical law. But on another point he agreed with them: The techniques of production and distribution which had come cascading from the mind of man in the past century or two carried with them the promise of man's liberation from his woes. And on another he went the whole hog in rejecting the traditional view of man. "Human nature," he said, "has no reality." Since human nature had no reality, there was no natural obstacle to the development of the New Man. The only two things that stood in the way were religious and "philosophical"— Marx liked to put the word in quotation marks— superstitions as to man's nature and the economic system which those bodies of superstition supported. The whole history of the human race had been a struggle for the ownership of the means of production. Until the eighteenth century, the dispossessed masses had been misled by heavenly ecstasies and blinded to their dispossessed situation. But industrialization had opened their eyes: The tools they used now were bolted down to the floor of another man's factory. They were stripped of their age-old delusions. They saw themselves at last as they were— propertyless— and the system at last as it was, naked expropriation (in the form 123
The of profit) of the wealth that labor,
In
it
and labor
alone, created.
Marx circumstances change men, but "circumstances
precisely as
New Man
by men." This
was the
circularity
are changed
Achilles' heel of his doctrine,
remains the Achilles' heel of his doctrinaries
in the ruling places of
Communist empire today: The new institutions are easy enough to blueprint and declare operative. Their end product will be New Men worthy of them. But how is the Old Man to be got to operate the new the
New Man to operate them? abandon the idea altogether that man endured through circumstances— and molded them according to his capacities and desires; that is, that man made history— nor altogether embrace the idea that history made man. If he accepted the pre-Renaissance doctrine that der Mensch hleiht Mensch, he had no basis for his revolutionary faith that the sharpest, indeed, the first sharp, turn in human history was possible. If he rejected it utterly, he had no basis for the man who would consciously and willfully take that turn. His only alternative was to posit an undefined interaction, to call men to the consciousness and willfulness that slumbered in their natures, so that they would once and for all change the circumstances that would thereafter produce the New Man. A hundred years later, the Marxist-Leninist doctrinaries were still balanced on the institutions that require the
Marx would
neither
horns of his dilemma:
The moulding
of the
participation in
New Man
Communist
is
effected through his
own
active
construction and the development of
Communist principles in the economic and social spheres ... As Communist forms of social organization are created. Communist ideas will become more firmly rooted in life and work and in human relations,
and people
Communism
will
in a rational
develop the
ability to enjoy the benefits of
way. (Program of the C.P.S.U., 1961.)
Polemical as he sometimes was, especially
Marx never
really
claimed that the
when he worked with
New Man
would be
Engels,
in essence,
i.e.,
in
and inheritable essence, of a difi^erent nature from the old. (As far as I know, he never used the t^xpression "New Man.") Engels insisted that industrialism had made of the peasants and handicrafters a "quite difiPerent people" and that Communism would require "an entirely diflFerent kind of human material"; but he goes right on to say that men under Communism will "no longer develop one of their faculties at the expense of all others," but will be "well-rounded human beings," freed from "the one-sided character which the present-day division of labor impresses upon every individual."^' Nothing qualitatively or categorically new there. The character of the Communist change would be the emancipation— one of Marx's favorite terms— of man. No new creature would be created; irreversible
6 "Principles of Conununisin," Monthly Review, No.
124
4, 1952,
pp. 15-17,
Milton Mayer
would be restored. This creature had been reduced by private property to "a crippled monstrosity." Communism would not alter him but heal him so that he would be "a fully developed human
rather the original creature
being";" nothing
new
there either.
For Marx private property was the original sin— but his refusal to face the dilemma did not permit him to ask how private property came to be. He did not deny self-interest as one of the two abiding facts of human nature but called upon the other, namely, reason, to recognize that
self-
was served by assigning primacy to the social interest. Personal advantage remained the ultimate consideration, just as it did in Christian salvation hereafter and Christian commitment here. Had it not been said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you"? After all, Marx was addressing himself not to ecstatics— or to comfortable intellectuals and esthetes who might be moved from their comfort by Utopian fancy— but to the masses of men to whom "all these things" were of desperate necessity, men who lived uncomfortable physical lives and saw themselves and the world in uncomfortable physical terms. He was addressing himself to the poor, above all to the new poor of the machine age whose labor was cruelly unrelated to their own lives and (he argued) their own interests. The man who could shut down a shoe factory for any reason, or for no reason at all, could bring starvation upon thousands of men and women (and children) who, even when they had work, could not afford to buy the shoes their labor produced. Ripe as they were for revolution—for a New World of New Men— they had to be addressed according to their condition. They were self-interested first of all, and with more reason, than the factory owner who, in the name of an honest profit, appropriated the wealth that their labor added to the materials they worked. If Marx was slippery on the issue of human nature— but no more slippery than his forerunners of the Enlightenment— he was no less optimistic than they about the future of the race. He had no quarrel with Gibbon's "pleasing conclusion" or with Hegel's "impulse toward perfectibility." Human nature might or might not have any reality, but man was good. He was so good that the curse of private property had only to be lifted from his shoulders and he would stand forth in aboriginal splendor and resume the aboriginal habit of brotherhood which capitalism had suppressed. Marx was more optimistic than any man, even Condorcet, had been before him. Others had shown restraint in their forecasts and had taken a long (and even then a cautious) view of human evolution. In Marx something like the absolute miraculous was restored: A new system achieved— like all the old systems— by one "final" uprising of the oppressed, would do the whole job for the whole race in the bfinding flash that did it for Paul. interest
7
GBWW,
Vol. 50, p. 238c.
125
THE NEW MAN: STRONG TRADITION AND
SERVICES AT A SYNAGOGUE IN
In the "socialist camp," creating a
MOSCOW
New Man
gins necessarily with the sort of existing
resources that are inertia or sist
A POLISH COUPLE
shown on these pages.
some other
the imposition of
human Social
force has tended to re-
Communism's apocalyptic them with the in-
ideals or, at least, to soften
fusion of old, familiar
be-
traits.
THE FREE MARKET AT KUTNA HORA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
VITAL TRANSITION DENY THE IDEAL
.
.
CONTROL FACILITIES AT THE DUBNA ATOMIC RESEARCH CENTER NEAR MOSCOW
The
result has
been progress, but,
these pictures indicate,
it
as
has affected
the urban worker more than the rural. The question remains whether this progress
has advanced the ideal of creating a
New Man
or has bypassed these ideals
while proceeding on to
new
ones.
HARVEST ON A SOVIET COLLECTIVE
A WORKER AND HIS SUPERVISOR AT THE ZIS WORKS IN THE U.S.S.R.
EARLY MORNING EXERCISE AT A WORKERS SANATORIUM IN THE CRIMEA
SST^Ifv
.
WHILE THE YOUNG AND THE PRIVILEGED
1WBrnmm^
H-:'
-^^^ ^
^^'
^s ^^
->^B
r^ >
/
r
.
«.
4
/
I-
^ P%*^-.4
WOULD-BE MOTORCYCLIST
IN
PRAGUE
.*5S.^
^'^
A SATIRICAL REVIEW AT THE THOMAS BREWERY, PRAGUE
ST.
MOSCOW UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ON A SUNDAY WORK DETAIL THE
BIG
BEAT
IN
AN OLD HALL, PRAGUE
.
INDULGE IN THE FRUITS OF REVOLUTION As these pictures suggest, the Revolutionary Struggle has
become
a
way
of
There is skepticism or indifference toward the political establishment dominated by the elder generation which still clings to ideals considered outworn by the young. Among other things, there is yearning for broader self-expression and comfort of the sort even now enjoyed by the New Class in Communist societies. The problem is that the New Class accommodates only the few of the state elite, while the many of one entire generation are now clamoring to be let in. life
for the young.
1V
ft
K
i \f^ Xf'
-'
>
OUR SUN
MEDIUM BRIGHT
FAINT
^ At
if
-"^^ WHITE DWARFS
MEDIUM
LIGHT
249
HEAVY
its
mass
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences the mass for main-sequence stars and mild red giants, while white dwarfs are distinctly less luminous than main-sequence stars of the
same mass.
No
extreme red giants appear in this diagram, simply because these enormously distended stars lack any companions close enough for the relative if they had been close enough they would have been swallowed up completely. These stars are too rare also for it to be likely that they are part of a pair of stars actually visible sepa-
velocity to give a shift of the spectra;
rately—a visual binary.
B.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE
MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS structure goes back history the theory of The the United teenth-century work of Homer Lane of
stellar
to the nine-
States,
in
whose
pio-
neer papers (1869) are of great importance. It was clear to him that the stars were bodies of great mass, and, therefore, with very great gravitational field, so that the chief
problem
in
understanding their structure was
to describe the forces that resisted their collapse
tional force. If
we suppose
under
the density of a star to be
their
known
own
gravita-
as a function
of distance from the center, then the gravitational force can readily
we
calculated. If tional pull
is
due
assume, as seems natural, that
be
this resistance to gravita-
one can calculate the presif we assume a given function of the density throughout the star, its
to a pressure gradient, then
sure as a function of distance from the center. Conversely, that the pressure
is
may be determined. Homer Lane, and after him
structure
R.
Emden, made the assumption
pressure varied like a power of the temperature. This
is
that the
the well-known
adiabatic behavior of a gas in which changes in density are simply due to
changes pressed.
in pressure
A
without
loss of
any heat by the element being com-
whose precise power law assumed. The chief
beautiful mathematical theory gave models
structure then
depended on the
particular
remaining question about how compressible the material was, that is, which power law was appropriate, was not solved until the 1920's through the work of Eddington. He showed that the stars were gaseous in nature, an assumption first justified by the results of his theory and later by the newly discovered quantum theory. Although it seems plausible that, at the stars, all materials should be in the form of gases, yet the gravitational force of the stars compresses them so much that they have densities such as no gas has in our laboratory experience. Thus, the nican density of the sun is 1.4 times that of water, and at its center the density is presumably somewhere near 100 times that of water. Nevertheless, the temperature wins, as it were, and the material remains in the form of a gas until very much higher densities are reached than are found in any ordinary star. In a gas, the pressure is proportional
very high temperatures occurring in
250
Hermann to
Boncli
both the density and the temperature, and also depends on the compo-
sition of the gas.
Eddington assumed that the composition was the same throughout the and that the temperature dropped from the center toward the surface. A gradient of temperature like this implies a flow of heat which, in fact, will travel largely in the form of radiation. This stream of radiation on reaching the surface then travels out into space as the light of the star. In thus relating the temperature gradient, and hence the luminosity of the star, to the gravitational force, and hence also the mass and the radius, Eddington was able to derive his famous relation between mass, luminosity, and radius of a star, into which, in fact, the radius enters in so secondary a manner that it can often be neglected. The great triumph of his theory was that this relation between luminosity and mass fitted the observed one for main-sequence and similar stars. This result was particularly surprising in that questions about the source of the energy and how it was generated were not discussed at all. Assumptions about these were star
not necessary in order to derive the law.
The source
of the energy of the stars
had long been rather a puzzle. In
the nineteenth century Kelvin and Helmholtz suggested that the only possible source
was the
gravitational contraction of the stars. In other words,
they thought that, as a star contracted from wide dispersion, the gas in
would heat up, very much
as the air in a bicycle
compressed. The resulting heat would
make
it
pump
does
when
it
it is
glow and thus provide the
radiation that traveled out into space. It turned out, however, that in the
case of the sun, gravitation could account for the observed radiation for only twenty million years or thereabouts. This
amount is
of
absurdly
compared with the estimate geologists then made for the age of the whose existence, of course, presupposes the existence of the sun. The question remained unresolved until, again in the 1920's, it became clear that the nuclei of the atoms held tremendous energies, although many years passed before it was appreciated how this energy could be released. Only in the late 1930's was it first understood how hydrogen nuclei can, under the influence of very high temperature, combine to form helium nuclei, releasing large amounts of energy in the process. The amount of energy released is best described by relating it to the mass short
oldest fossils,
of the material taking part in the reaction. Special relativity theory proves
that energy has mass,
and
specifies precisely the
amount
of mass.
The
energy released in the fusion of hydrogen into helium can be expressed as a fraction of the tions,
such
as, say,
mass of the hydrogen involved. In
the burning of coal or
oil,
all
ordinary reac-
the fraction of the mass re-
be worth talking about, barely one but in the hydrogen-helium reaction, it amounts to about three-quarters of one percent of the mass. This is indeed the most
leased as energy part in
two
is
so minute as not to
billion,
energetic nuclear reaction that exists.
The
251
rate at
which
this reaction pro-
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences ceeds
is
strongly dependent on the temperature; consequently, this form
of energy production stars.
is
greatly concentrated toward the centers of the
In fact, a star of given mass will contract until
its
central tempera-
which these fusion reactions release just as from the surface according to Eddington's mass-luminosity-radius relation. This need for an adequate production of energy, therefore, yields a second relation between mass, luminosity, and radius, so that now both luminosity and the radius can be ture has reached a value at
much energy
known
as the star has to radiate
as functions of the mass.
For main-sequence stars, this relation fits in very well with the observed data. Moreover, it was shown by Cowling that such a star is, in fact, stable. One might have feared that, with a nuclear energy generation process so much dependent on temperature, a slight contraction would lead to a temperature rise at the center, resulting in greatly increased energy production, still higher temperature, and so on. Actually, there is a kind of thermostatic regulation which renders such an ordinary star completely stable owing to the fact that, with rising temperature, heat transport away from the center rises even more than production of energy. Knowledge of the enormous amounts of energy released led to the immediate resolution of the puzzle about the ages of the sun and similar stars. If the sun originally consisted only of hydrogen, then, in all of geological time only a very small fraction of it could have been converted into helium. This conversion, however, is the real index of the age of the star. It so happens that the luminosity of a star depends very closely on the mass. If one star has twice the mass of another, then it would be radiating perhaps twenty times as much; thus, it would be using up its store of hydrogen, only twice as great, at twenty times the rate of the other star and, hence, it would age ten times as fast as the less massive star. In other words, evolution will go on much faster in massive than in less massive stars. What is the eflPect of this evolution? Since the conversion of hydrogen into helium depends so much on temperature and is therefore so greatly concentrated toward the center, the central regions of a star will gradually change their composition and become less and less rich in hydrogen and richer and richer in helium. At the same pressure and temperature, helium is markedly heavier than hydrogen, and accordingly the heavy helium will stay near the center where it is produced and will not be distributed throughout the star. As the evolution of the star proceeds, it will cease, consequently, to be chemically homogeneous. The outer part will remain hydrogen rich while the inner part will become more and more impoverished in hydrogen and richer and richer in helium. As an immediate eflFect of this nonuniformity in the star, the outer part swells and the inner part contracts,
with a slight increase in luminosity. The expansion of the
outer part can be very large, and, in this way, the red giant stars are
formed.
252
Hermann Bondi be noticed from our diagram that giant formation occurs only
It will
for stars appreciably least in
the
more luminous than the
sun. This
means
that, at
our part of the universe, there has not been enough time for even
first stars
of solar
mass or
red giants. But for the
luminous
stars,
much
less to
have evolved
suflficiently to
become
faster evolving massive and, therefore, very
there has been plenty of time. As a star evolves
and
swells
up, nuclear reactions continue to convert hydrogen into helium, and, in
due course, the central region
will
become
entirely void of hydrogen, with
the result that no further fusion reactions can take place there. But the star will
then have a core contracted
suflficiently for
the inner edge of the
hydrogen-rich zone to be hot enough for the fusion reaction to take place
and a continuing contraction of the central region, as was shown by Sandage and Schwarzschild in 1952. This was the stage in the development of the theory that was reached in the mid-1950's with further work by Hoyle, Schwarzschild, and others, but it was not known what happens in the yet later evolution when the hydrogen-free central region, through continual contraction, becomes hotter and hotter. This will be discussed in a later section. there. This leads to further swelling of the star
C.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE
WHITE DWARF STARS the nature of the white dwarfs was a remarkable achievement of the then new quantum theory in the period 192640. The observations of their masses and radii showed that white dwarfs were objects of really quite fantastic densities— densities quite unknown either on earth or in the ordinary stars, of perhaps a million times that of water or even more. What is the structure of matter like in this situation? It is the characteristic of a gas that the motion of the particles alone causes the pressure. It is only because of their collisions with each other, and in no way because of the volume occupied by them, that pressure is generated in a perfect gas. But at these enormous densities, the situation is completely changed. What needs explaining is not so much the actual volume occupied by the bits of matter, which of course is fully ionized into electrons and nuclei, but a rather complex quantum theoretical point, namely that the electrons must satisfy what is called the exclusion principle. If two electrons are very close together, they must differ appreciably in their momenta. If they are very closely packed, many of them will have very high momenta and be hitting each other very hard. Thus a new kind of pressure is generated, a so-called degeneracy pressure, which depends only on the density of the material and not on its temperature, in com-
Understanding
plete contrast to the behavior of a gas.
bitrarily large,
The higher
the
momenta
of the
whereas the momenta can be arthe velocity can never exceed the speed of light. Thus,
electrons, the greater their velocity, but
253
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences
two diflFercnt kinds of degeneracy pressure: the rather mild one, where the electrons move with velocities distinctly less than the speed of light, and those of the more extreme kind, where the electrons move with there are
a speed very close to that of light. the density of the material
is
The
difference
is
very important, for
if
due to higher velocity) and
increased, then the pressure increases
the electrons hitting more often (because of their harder (because of their increased momenta), but the velocity effect will disappear when the material is so dense that they all move at almost the speed of light. Thus, the extraordinary situation
exceedingly high densities the material at
somewhat lower
is
reached that at more compressible than it is
densities. This difference
is
is
quite profound in
its
im-
plications.
In considering, as
and worrying about
Homer Lane had already done, a sphere of material, we need to imagine what happens when
its stability,
the sphere accidentally contracts a increase the density everywhere, ter,
and consequently
little.
it
This accidental contraction will
will bring all parts closer to the cen-
will increase the gravitational force
in
equilibrium than in the original position.
the higher densities to generate these higher pressures. Only pressibility of the material
result in
an increase
librium in the so that
it
new
is
in pressure at least
position or, better
adequate
still
for
to
this will
if
the material
such a body be stable against
out that
if
the com-
put the body
its stability,
returns to the original position. Thus, there
tion. It turns
if
to
to
not too great will the increase in density
level of compressibility so that only
than
parti-
new position One looks
Accordingly, higher pressures are required in the
cle.
keep the body
on every
its
the degeneracy pressure
move markedly slower than
own is
is is
a
little
in equi-
excessive
a definite critical less
compressible
gravitational attrac-
such that the electrons
light, the compressibility is small enough for most of them are moving at almost the speed of light, then the body becomes unstable. The chief characteristic of this degeneracy pressure is that it is independent of temperature, as has been pointed out. Thus, whereas any ordinary star has to have a high temperature, therefore has to radiate into space, and therefore has to undergo evolutionary changes, a star relying on degeneracy pressure is in existence by virtue of its own density, not its temperature, and is in a completely final stage of evolution. No further changes need occur. How great this degeneracy has to be depends on the mass of the star. If the mass of the star is small enough, the degeneracy will be of the kind where the electrons move markedly slower than light, and the body will be in a perfectly stable situation. If the mass is greater than this critical mass, the degeneracy has to be so severe because of the necessarily high density that the electrons move at virtually the speed of light, and the body is accordingly unstable. Such a star would be too
the
body
to
be
stable,
but
if
massive to evolve into a dwarf.
254
Hermann Bomli Thus there
exists a critical limiting mass, first
discovered by Chandra-
sekhar and Stoner in the 1930's. This theory of the composition of the
white dwarf sun. It
is
stars suggests, therefore, that there
out to be rather
this turns
less
indeed a remarkable
dwarfs known, none exceeds mass. its
A
white dwarf
is
test of the
or,
to
its
density. It
is
maximum
theory that of the
thus a completely stable
cooling because the pressure that supports
due
a
mass, and
many white
indeed, comes very close to this critical
relatively small surface area but unajffected in
field is
is
than one-and-a-half times the mass of the
it
body cooling gently from its chief structure by this
against
its
own
gravitational
a stable end product of evolution, but
it
occurs only for bodies of sufficiently small mass.
D. STELLAR CATASTROPHES
What
is
the end product of the evolution of massive stars? This
is
an important question, since the more massive stars, by using up their hydrogen at a very high rate, would evolve quickly. One would suspect, then, to find many of the end products of their evolution, except for the fact that no such end products would be stable. A catastrophic outcome, then, is what is to be expected, and the question arises whether we know of any catastrophes in the sky. clearly
In the year 1054 the Chinese noticed an extraordinarily brilliant star suddenly appearing, and gradually dying away over a period of months. At one stage this star was so incredibly bright that it was visible in daytime.
Two
of Europe's great astronomers of the sixteenth century,
Tycho
Brahe and Kepler, each discovered such a new star suddenly flaring up in the sky and gradually dying away. The modern astronomer calls this spectacular phenomenon a supernova. They seem to occur at random intervals, perhaps one every few hundred years in each galaxy. The astronomer with his telescopes can see them occurring in many different galaxies, but only those that happen near to us and in our own galaxy lead to the spectacle easily visible with the naked eye that has been described. Such a spectacular phenomenon may well have something to do with the fate of stars that have used up all their nuclear energy supplies and are too massive to turn into white dwarfs. It must be appreciated, however, that supernovae can account for only a small fraction of the end products of the evolution of massive stars. There are, perhaps, a million stars of the brightest classes defined by the astronomer in each galaxy, and their average lifetime is distinctly below a million years, so that, on average, one of these should reach the end of its evolution every year at least, not one every few hundred years. This becomes easier to understand when we remember the rotation of stars. Most stars rotate, and spectroscopic observations indicate that the bright main-sequence stars seem, on average, to be spinning rather fast. Though the surface velocity would 255
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences
OCCURRENCE OF A SUPERNOVA IN A GALAXY IN VIRGO The appearance and disappearance of a star observed over a five-year
period.
(Top) 20-minute exposure, August, 1937, star at maximum brightness. (Center) 45'minute exposure, November, 1938, star very faint. (Bottom) 85-minute exposure, January, 1942, star no longer visible
diminish during an expansion of the a time of contraction, and
it
is
star,
it
would increase again during
easy to see that an average star of this
kind could never attain such small dimensions that degeneracy would be-
come important. Long before that, its speed of rotation would become so great that it would begin to shed matter from its surface. This process may be connected with the nova phenomenon in which a star at various times increases
its
brightness markedly for limited periods. Only a small
minority of the stars would happen to have so
little
rotation that they
could contract enough for degeneracy to develop. Because these stars are so massive, the degeneracy could not maintain the star in equilibrium; it
would
collapse, and, as
one would expect, such a collapse would lead to
256
Hermann Bondi the
phenomenon
The
of a supernova.
average star occasionally throws
off
gentler, slower loss of
mass of the
matter and thereby gains brightness
must always be remembered that the interior of a star is so very hot that if, in any way, it should reach the surface, a tremendous amount of radiation would flow from it.
and then
E
.
loses
it
again.
It
THE ORIGIN OF THE ELEMENTS
Spectroscopic observation enables the astronomer to find out many things, and among them the chemical composition of the surfaces of the stars. The radius, luminosity, and mass of a star indicate something about the chemical composition of its interior. One can also get data about chemical composition from diflFuse matter in the universe. But all evidence leads to the conclusion that hydrogen constitutes most of the material in the universe, helium
is
the next largest component, and every-
thing else amounts to perhaps only one percent of percent.
However common
all
all
matter, perhaps two
the other elements appear to us on the
earth, they are, in fact, only a kind of impurity in the universe at large
which, in the main, consists only of hydrogen and helium. This situation persuaded people many years ago that perhaps the other elements had all,
somehow, been generated from hydrogen. Hydrogen,
lightest of all elements
after
is formed by the fusion of hydrogen in the centers Could there not be methods by which some stars, at
helium
of
stars.
least,
the other heavier elements? liant
It is this
all
that
ordinary build
question that received such a
and incredibly successful solution through the work of
the
all, is
we know
with the simplest nucleus. Indeed,
physicists
up
bril-
and
astronomers in the late 1950's.
The fundamental building blocks
of all nuclei are the positively charged
proton and the uncharged neutron. Apart from charge, these two particles
much
are very
neutron its
is
alike, a
neutron being a tiny bit more massive. The free
unstable and disintegrates, turning into a proton and expelling
negative charge as an electron in a process in which a neutrino
is
also
From the mass of the nucleus, which can be measured very accurately, we know how much energy is released in the formation of each nucleus. The amount of energy radiated during its formation apemitted.
pears as a mass defect of the nucleus. This mass defect
is
always small
enough for us to be able to say quite unambiguously how many protons and neutrons a nucleus contains, and from the charge of the nucleus
we know
also the
number
of protons. It
is,
then, useful to consider the
As we go from the nucleus consisting only of a single particle, the proton (the hydrogen nucleus), through the nuclei of mass two and three, to the helium nucleus with mass four, we get a very sharp increase in mass defect per particle. There is no stable nucleus of mass five, but beyond that there is a very gentle rise
mass defect per particle
for all the nuclei.
257
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences with slight fluctuations in the mass defect per particle as lium to iron. Beyond iron, the mass defect diminishes, at ally
and then rather
faster right
up
we go from first
he-
very gradu-
to the heaviest elements,
uranium
with a nucleus of 238 particles and the transuranian elements. The very heaviest nuclei are unstable, as
is
well known, being subject to radioactive
decay. Diff^erent nuclei have different decay times ranging in most cases
from a fraction of a second to millions of years, but for a particular mass in the radioactive group of elements this decay is, in fact, exceedingly fast. Nuclei with a multiple of four as the number of particles, half of them being protons and half neutrons, tend to have particularly large mass defects. Among these are carbon and oxygen. Such nuclei are, therefore, particularly tightly bound. The entire pattern can be readily explained in terms of nuclear forces: forces that saturate. What one means by this phrase is that, in a nucleus, not every particle attracts every other particle, as
is,
for example, the
case with gravitation. In gravitation, the energy of binding per particle proportional to the ent because once
number
we
of particles.
The nuclear
case
is
reach helium the binding force seems
quite
is
difi^er-
eflPectively to
kind— between
stop increasing. Thus, the nuclear forces are of a rather particular rather
more
like
chemical bonds. There
is
a very tight binding
two protons and two neutrons which form a kind of super-brick of mateand much less tight binding joining these super-bricks to each other and single particles to the super-bricks. This accounts very well for the curve of the mass defects until we come to the region beyond the iron nucleus, for beyond this the mass defect per particle decreases and the proportion of neutrons rises well above the 50 percent level usual for light and medium-heavy nuclei. This is due to the electric repulsion between difi^erent protons. This is not a saturating force, so that the energy per particle that one has to use to squeeze the protons so close to each rial,
other increases with the
number
sion, therefore, loosens the
of protons present. This electrical repul-
binding for nuclei of very
gives these nuclei the lowest energy
if
many
particles
and
they have distinctly more neutrons
than protons, the reduction in the nuclear binding energy due to
this
neu-
more than compensated for by having not quite so much electrical repulsion. Thus, in the uranium nucleus, barely 40 percent of the particles are protons, whereas in the nuclei below iron the number tends to be reasonably constant around 50 percent. The radioactive elements are then simply those where the electrical repulsion leads to such a loosening of the binding that there is a gradual decay and particles are occasionally tron excess being
expelled.
Nuclei with particularly large mass defects tend to belong to materials that are particularly
common compared
counts, for example, for the high
and so
on. Experiments in
which
with their neighbors. This ac-
abundance
of iron, of carbon, of oxygen,
particles are fired at each other indicate
258
Hermann Bondi quite clearly that the nuclear forces have only a very short range. particles are very close together, they are
immensely powerful;
When if
they
are even quite small distances apart by atomic standards, the nuclear forces are quite unimportant. Since all
repel each other. If
we
all
nuclei are positively charged, they
tried to build
up
nuclei
by
firing
protons at
them, we would not be very successful, because the electrical repulsion between the nucleus and the proton would deflect practically all protons so much they would never get near enough for nuclear binding to get a grip on them. It is infinitely more successful to fire neutrons at them, for these are not repelled by the positive charge of the nuclei. If, therefore, one's aim is good enough and the neutron approaches the nucleus closely enough, it may well be gripped by the nuclear forces and join the nucleus. Neutrons, however, are unstable and do not occur normally in free form. Unless there happens to be a source of free neutrons available, high energies are required to build up heavy nuclei. Even then, the chance of two nuclei getting close enough to each other to stick is rather small, so that we cannot expect to find nuclear reactions that lead to building up occurring naturally except in conditions where the material is very dense (and therefore the chance of hitting is greatly increased) and hot (which means the particles are moving very fast). Thus one's attention is immediately directed toward the centers of the stars. Eddington, indeed, thought that the centers of any ordinary stars were factories where, under the influence of high temperature and high density, heavy elements (this is the technical term for elements heavier than helium) were synthesized. But when Eddington first calculated the temperatures in the centers of the stars and found them to be a few tens of millions of degrees Kelvin, the nuclear physicists of the 1920's told him that these temperatures would be far too low to lead to any such fusion. Eddington is reported to have replied, "If the centers of the stars are not hot enough for the nuclear physicists, I wish they would go to a much hotter place."
The search
for this
"much
hotter place" started with these
words of Eddington. For many years it was thought that there was no such place in the universe. It was felt, in accordance with the cosmology then current, that only the hot early stages of the universe could have provided the situation in which the elements were manufactured. A great deal of work was done on this theory, particularly by Lemaitre and by Gamow and his colleagues. This, however, was anathema to the school of cosmology associated with the steady-state theory that arose in the late 1940's. According to this theory, if there ever were any places where heavy elements were synthesized, they must also exist now. Indeed, about this time, in the 1940's, Hoyle and van Albada showed, independently, that supernovae might form conditions in which heavy elements could readily be generated.
They attempted
to consider the fate of a contracting star in the
259
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences light of
modern nuclear
physics. Imagine, then, a star of considerable
mass that happens to have very little rotation. Such a star, because its high mass implies high luminosity, will relatively quickly reach a stage
when
it
has run out of
nosity-radius relation
it
all
nuclear sources of energy.
By
the mass-lumi-
must, however, continue to radiate, and the con-
form of radiation can only be covered by its density more and more; degeneracy will set in but will not be able to arrest the contraction of the star if its mass is above the Chandrasekhar-Stoner limit, because, as has been pointed out, such material is too compressible. Thus, the contraction of this dense hot mass will continue relentlessly. The constitution of the material will change, and reach the stage at which degeneracy of the electrons will become so great that they will be forced to join with the protons to form neutrons. This is a process that requires energy; thus, instead of nuclear reactions, as in an ordinary star, supplying energy to arrest contraction, the nuclear reactions themselves suddenly present a huge energy bill to the sole source of energy, gravitational contraction. Hence, at this stage the object will rapidly collapse, without limit, in a matter of minutes. Enormous densities and temperatures will be reached in this very short period of time, but at some stage, the rotation of the body, however small initially, will assert itself and blow it all to pieces. In the process of this explosion, there will be a rapid cooling, so quick in fact that any nuclei formed during the collapsing phase will be unable to turn back into their original form. Once the temperatures have become stant outflow of energy in the
contraction. This leads to the star increasing
ordinary, no further nuclear reactions can take place.
The composition
of
reached at the moment of very high density and temperature. Thus we have here a very rapid process of element formation. The early ideas of Hoyle and the material will then be frozen, as
it
were, into the state
it
van Albada were fully worked out later in the great work by the Burbidges. Fowler, and Hoyle, of which the completion of the supernova calculations forms only part. This rapid process
ing any nuclei that
out that
among
would tend
clearly necessary for form-
decay very rapidly. It has been pointed is always an element that
the radioactive chains there
decays extremely rapidly. it is
to
is
To
build up the massive radioactive elements,
therefore necessary to push through this particular level of exceed-
ingly rapid decay at such speed that there to occur.
Thus, there
is
is
no time even
for this
direct evidence that the heaviest of
all
decay
elements
can only be built up in such a fast process; similar evidence exists in other directions. Accordingly, the supernovae provide, in principle, a method for synthesizing elements, including the very heaviest ones. Moreover, not only are these elements built up, but owing to the explosion of the star,
they are scattered throughout space and are, therefore, available to
assist in the
we know
formation of
new
stars
and planets and the
about them.
260
like.
That
is
how
Hermann
Boncli
The one enormous disadvantage of the supernova theory abundance of the elements produced is far lower than what fact. One supernova occurs roughly every three hundred
is
is
that the
found
in
years, and,
hence, given the known age of our galaxy, only perhaps thirty million supernovae could have occurred in our galaxy. Each would originate as a star of perhaps three times the mass of the sun, but only a fraction of this mass would be turned into heavy elements in the explosion. Thus, as a maximum, perhaps fifty million solar masses of heavy materials could have
been synthesized in our galaxy. This is only a twentieth of 1 percent of the total mass of our galaxy, whereas we know that the elements heavier than helium account for perhaps 1-2 percent of all matter. The abundances resulting are not unreasonable for the very heaviest elements the radioactive elements but are quite absurdly low for like iron,
oxygen, and carbon. Another process
is
common
like
materials
required to build up
these elements.
be remembered that our account of the evolution of massive went up to the stage when they possessed a core which was free of hydrogen and consisted only of helium. The fusion reaction converting hydrogen into helium occurred in a skin surrounding this core. The whole star was greatly extended at this stage— it was a red giant—but as it evolved the core continued to contract more and more. In this continuing contraction, the density of the core continues to increase and so It will
stars only
does
its
temperature. In these circumstances the helium nuclei will even-
tually begin to stick together to is
form
in succession the nuclei
a multiple of the mass of helium. These include such
whose mass
common and
im-
portant materials as boron, carbon, oxygen, and magnesium.
The magnesium nucleus is capable of a disintegration in which neuNow, neutrons, as we have said, are the magic particles that are not repelled by nuclei, and so can easily come close enough to them to stick on and to form more and more massive nuclei. In this trons are emitted.
manner, during the continuing evolution, a gradual slow buildup of the elements will be carried out. There will be a tendency to build up mainly the elements with the highest mass defect; that is, the elements in the iron group, but all the ones less massive than these and some of the more massive ones will also be built up. The contracting core of the star is still subject to its rotational eflFects, whatever the original rotation may have been. At some stage, this, too, will lead to such a distortion of the core, and then of the whole star, that a complete breakup is likely to occur. Thus, we have here still another factory— a slowly working factory— for building up the elements; a method that also, like the supernova one,
produced throughout space. is no difficulty about producing sufficient quantities by this method, for the kind of red giant star needed is by no means uncommon. Tiiis process cannot, of course, build distributes the elements
In contrast to the supernova process there
261
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences
up the very heaviest elements, but these are rather rare in any case. After several important contributions by Cameron, Salpeter, and others, the Burbidges, Fowler, and Hoyle published in 1957 the definitive work on the origin of the elements. It incorporated all the theory of the structure and evolution of the stars that was necessary for the purpose and all the nuclear physics that was required. By a reasonable assumption about the various rates at which red giants formed and evolved, and the rate at which supernovae occurred, a complete analysis of the origin of elements could be given. The result was an extraordinarily fine agreement between the theoretical expectation of the occurrence, not only of
elements but of
all
all
the various
the isotopes from which they are composed, and the
exceedingly complicated actual curve of the relative abundances of these elements, which
was reproduced
in almost
all
embarrassing detail and
with astounding exactness.
The whole
of the comparison
eflFect
is
a striking demonstration of the
and it brings together the most detailed results and involved calculations about the structure and
correctness of the theory, of laboratory physics
evolution of the stars;
it
was, perhaps, the greatest triumph of physical
work is largely concerned with refining the approach down to the last detail of the less common elements. What later changes can have been made through the cosmic ray bombardment that all bodies sufiFer? What can be said on this basis about the size of the bodies of which the early solar system consisted? This kind of current research is entirely due to the confidence we have in the work of the Burscience in the 1950's. Present
bidges, Fowler,
Not
and Hoyle.
all difficulties
have disappeared, however. Although the theory of
the generation of the elements gives us an excellent account of the for-
mation of the
all
amount
into helium.
elements heavier than helium, there remains the problem of
of helium in the universe.
From
Every ordinary
the rate of radiation,
lium has been produced throughout the
means
we
life
star turns
can calculate
of the galaxy.
hydrogen
how much
he-
We also possess
how much helium there is, partly spectrobecause the helium content affects the structure of stars. be a serious discrepancy: there is too much helium in the
of measuring directly
scopically, partly
There seems to universe to be accounted for by the conversion of hydrogen into helium in stars. It may be that the origin of this extra helium lies in some conversion processes that we do not yet understand, but it may also be that this indeed is a hangover from a possible early superdense, superhot state of the universe, in contradiction to the steady-state theory (p. 273). But the situation is far from clear. Perhaps the helium abundance is a powerful indicator of what the early stages of the universe were like, or, alternatively, of nuclear fusion processes that are going on that do not, perhaps, produce visible light. It is not easy to think of any such processes sufficiently likely to occur to account for the helium abundance. 262
Hermann Bondi II.
COSMOLOGY
Even
more ambitious than
the attempt to apply physics to these very
distant objects, the stars,
is
the attempt to apply the terrestrially
discovered laws of physics to the entire universe. Whereas with the stars
we
have, as
we
discussed in the
lieve that the application
cosmology— the science
is
first
section, a great deal of reason to be-
justified,
we
of the structure
are naturally far less sure in
and evolution
of the universe.
Just because the question of the nature of the universe as a
mendous
attraction to the
human mind,
tre-
during the centuries, even the millenremains a field of science in which personal predi-
philosophical speculation about nia, of the past. It still
whole has
there has been a great deal of
it
and taste plays a far greater role than in any other. Naturally, it must be the task and purpose of scientific treatment to relegate this question of personal taste to a secondary role— to that of deciding which particular project a scientist regards as worth investigating, and not to answering the main question of what it is that we know, or choosing which theories are to be regarded as tenable. lection
The only way,
in this as in other scientific fields,
prescription: to propose theories, to
discard the theories
if
is
to follow Popper's
work out the consequences, and
to
the consequences do not agree with observation and
experiment. Cosmological theories, like any other scientific theories, are useful only that they
if
they are disprovable by observation. This means, above
must be
sufficiently well
worked out and
lead to consequences that can be tested.
Many
all,
sufficiently precise to
people have utterly wasted
by trying to propagate what are merely vague ideas, so flexible, so ill worked out, that no empirical test of them is possible. No theory, however attractive, merits scientific consideration unless it sticks out its neck sufficiently to be disproved by experiment or obsertheir time in this field
vation. in spite of our very limited knowledge and in spite of the difficulty making any relevant observations, this has been one of the most active and exciting fields of science in recent years. In less than twenty years, we first had a fascinating (and, to some, irritating) theory, the steadystate theory of Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle, and, not many years later, the total revision, by Baade and Sandage, of the time scale of the universe previously found by Hubble. Though the scale had been thought to be correct within about 20 percent, it was found to be too short by more than a factor of 5! The steady-state theory, unperturbed by the removal
Yet
of
(through the time-scale revision) of the severest objection to
then went on to score
its
greatest triumph
in stimulating the
its
rivals,
work on the
The new science of radio astronomy now burst on the scene, and with its number counts of radio sources added an utterly new way of testing theories. The first measurements
origin of the elements described above.
263
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences
THE FIRST IDENTIFIED QUASAR Quasi-stellar radio source
3C
273, whose exact location was determined in 1963
and although these were later more recent results (1962) come While all these developments, strik-
(1955) contradicted the steady-state theory,
found
to
be of
insufficient reliability, the
close to a total disproof of the theory.
ing as they were,
fitted,
however oddly,
discovery of quasars in early 1963
came
framework, the
into our general as a stunning
and wholly unex-
pected event. Not only were they themselves objects of a previously unsuspected kind (and their constitution remains a great puzzle), but they
enabled us to see much farther into the universe than was previously thought possible, and their distribution gave us a good deal of new information,
much
of
it still
state of confusion in
rather undigested.
which
it
The upshot
becomes important
is
a
and
thought unaffected by the recent developments.
lines of
A. OLBERS'
PARADOX
knowledge so small and so fragmentary that Ourdiscussing even theories that have been disproved. At
it
is
us
of all this
to identify results
some awareness
of
what the universe
portant considerations in cosmology
is
is
not
like.
One
is
well worth
least they give
of the
most im-
of this kind. It gives a clear intro-
duction to some of the best-established of the landmarks unsubmerged by the tide of recent discoveries.
Coming
at the
beginning of
scientific cos-
concerned with the background light of the sky and is associated with the name of Olbers, an astronomer who published his paper in 1826, though he had been anticipated some eighty years earlier by a docmology,
it is
Lausanne by the name of Chesieux. were prompted by the appearance of the night sky, in which we can distinguish a few bright stars, a much larger number of medium faint ones, and very large numbers indeed of very faint stars. If, in the first instance and on an average, this difference in apparent brighttor in
Olbers' thoughts
ness
is
ascribed to the distance of the stars, then one can account both
for tlie fact that the very bright stars arc
not nearly as
much space
few
in
number (because
there
is
near us as farther away) and also for the fact
that they are brighter than others (because the light does not have to
264
Hermann Bomli wondered whether one should not, perhaps, beyond the faintest visible stars. The greater the distance, the less the amount of light we receive from each star but the greater the number of such stars, if we are allowed to extrapolate. He then wondered whether the supposedly vast number of very distant stars should not combine to give the sky a kind of background glow. Since, by hypothesis, these stars are too far away to be seen, assumptions have to be made about the nature of these very distant regions. Olbers' first assumption was that the universe was uniform on a large scale, in the sense that distant regions of sufficient size were in no way systematically difiFerent from nearby regions of similar size. Stars would occur there, as in our own astronomical neighborhood, with the same average separation, although individual stars might be much closer together or much farther apart, yet the average was supposed to be the same far away as nearby. Similarly, stars far away would be expected, on the average, to emit as much light as near stars. In view of the finite velocity of light, the radiation from distant stars that we now receive was travel so far). Olbcrs then
think about stars far
sent out a very long time ago because of the travel time of the light. Ac-
background light of regions of the what the distant much what they were like long ago, when they emit-
cordingly, for the purpose of computing the present
the sky,
we
are interested not so
universe are like now, as in ted the light that
we now
Here Olbers made
his
in
see.
second assumption, namely, that long ago the
average situation in an astronomical region was
much
the same as it is was unchanging as well as uniform. Though Olbers evidently thought that the two conditions, uniform and unchanging, were sufficient to guarantee that there were no major systematic motions in the universe, we now know that this is not the case. To get to Olbers' picture, we have to complement the explicit assumptions in his work with a third one— the implicit assumption that, on a large scale, the universe is static. He did not deny that some stars may move in one direction and others in a different direction. What today.
He assumed
denied
that the universe on a large scale
any major systematic streaming motion in the is the fourth and final assumption that the same laws of physics applied far away and long ago as we can explore here and now. To what extent this is a separate assump-
is
is
that there
is
universe as a whole. Also implicit in Olbers' work
tion, I will discuss later.
On
the basis of these assumptions, the calculation of the background
quite simple and straightforward. Imagine a spherical and thickness h, centered on ourselves. The thickness h is supposed to be very much smaller than r, but the whole shell is supposed to be on such a huge scale that there are numerous stars within that shell. The volume of the shell, V, is readily seen to be equal to the surface of the sphere, multiplied by the thickness of the shell, that is to light of the sky
is
shell of radius r
265
Asironoimj and
PJujsical Scicticcs
tJic
THE SHELL WITH ITS CONTENT OF STARS
STAR
(P)
HERE OVER WHICH LIGHT FROM STAR IT REACHES THE EARTH
(P)
HAS SPREAD
BY THE TIME
DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF OLBERS SHELL THEORY the
Airr-h. If
ber of stars
number
we
of stars per unit
volume
expect to find in the shell
nosity of a star
is
is
given by
Vn. Again,
is
n,
given by L, then the total rate at which
the shell will radiate light
VnL. The
is
light
from any
then the num-
the average lumi-
if
all
the stars in
star in the shell will
have spread over a sphere with the star at the center and us on its surface, by the time it reaches us. That is to say, it will have spread over a sphere itself of
surface
iW-
to a sufficient approximation.
intensity of light received here
the
rate
at
which
light has spread. This is
true of the total
sends
it
=
we
calculate the
light
star in the shell
true of any star in the shell, and, therefore,
is
amount
that the intensity of light
VnL/47rr^
out
Thus,
by dividing by the area over which the
from any
it
by the stars in the shell, so here received from all the stars in the shell is of light sent out
hnL.
The important
feature about this last expression
of the radius of the shell. Thus,
we
get the
wherever situated. of such shells, each
is
that
it is
independent
same amount
of light from any
we imagine
the universe sub-
shell of this thickness
If
divided into a series
just outside the other, all of the
same thickness, then we receive the same finite amount of light from each of them and therefore an infinite amount of light in total. This result is absurd.
The
calculation
is
also technically
each star not only sends out
light, but,
flow of light from stars directly beyond
amount
wrong.
having a it.
It is
incorrect because
finite size,
Thus, we
it
obstructs the
not only get a certain
of light from each shell, but each shell blots out a certain fraction
of the sky so that light from
an average radius of each
more star
distant shells cannot then reach us. If
is
introduced, then
266
it
emerges readily
Hermann Bondi enough
that the fraction of the sky obscured
by each
shell
is
the same.
The unobscured portions therefore add up to a geometric series, and, when it is summed, it turns out that the total background light of the sky should be equal to the intensity of light on the surface of an average This result is readily intelligible in other ways, too.
Looking
at
any extended luminous
brightness, that
independent of
is,
its
amount
the two
we
find that
its
surface
amount of light received per unit solid angle, is distance. The farther the object is away, the larger the the
fraction of the object that total
object,
star.
we
see in a small solid angle, and, though the
of light received from an object
factors just balance so that in the
same
is
reduced with distance,
solid angle
we
receive the
same amount. On the basis of Olbers' assumptions, every line of sight, if pursued farther and farther, will eventually intercept a piece of stellar surface, so that we should be seeing a complete mosaic of tiny pieces of stellar surfaces covering the whole of the sky. The surface brightness of each of these will on average be the surface brightness of an average star like the sun, so that the whole star should have the same surface brightness to us as the sun. We should have a radiating hemisphere around us which is precisely the situation we would find on the surface of an average star. Again, if we want to consider the problem in a more refined way, we can say that we are investigating a thermodynamic system, namely, the space between the stars. It is well known that any such system will eventually reach equilibrium and that in equilibrium the temperature, and with it the flow of radiation, is everywhere the same as on the enclosure. The enclosure is made up of the surfaces of the stars, so that we should have at every point the same flux of radiation as at the surface of an aver-
age star, which again gives the same result. This average flux is in fact roughly forty thousand times sunlight, and so each of these arguments leads to the
same
result,
namely that there should be a background
light
of the sky equal to forty thousand times sunlight.
Of sky
course, this
is
fantastically
very dark indeed, and
is
and ridiculously wrong. In
we can
fact, the
night
only conclude that Olbers' four as-
sumptions about the structure of the universe lead to an observable consequence, namely, an amount of background lightness of the sky, in flagrant contradiction with observation. Therefore, Olbers' set of tions it
must be wrong. The weight of
this
assump-
conclusion and the information
gives about the structure of the universe as a whole, derived from the
we are not drowned in a tremendous flood many people as extraordinary, and numerous tempts have been made to indicate that Olbers' result is incorrect or trivial
observation that
radiation, has struck
of atir-
one can show quite readily that Olbers' result stands, however refined the consideration, though a few points do deserve derelevant. In fact,
tailed attention.
267
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences
CRITICISM OF OLBERS' PARADOX
B.
First, Olhcrs himself put forward the suggestion
that there were, in
addition to the stars, dark, obscuring clouds of matter in the universe
and that these would shield us from This
is
this
enormous amount
of radiation.
not a tenable proposition, however. In a universe built in accord-
ance with Olbers' assumption, any such cloud would have to go on absorbing for an arbitrarily long time. As such a cloud of dust and gas absorbs radiation,
energy; that
and
is
it
evidently absorbs energy;
to say,
it
will get hotter.
it
will increase
As time passes,
it
its
internal
will get hotter
go on getting glows so hard that it radiates as much as it receives. When it is in this situation, it does not act as a shield to radiation any longer, and in a universe of the type described by Olbers' assumptions, any such cloud would long ago have reached this state. Accordingly, the utilization of obscuring matter as a shield is useless. hotter, until eventually
hotter until
It is
it
starts to
glow.
It will
still
it
similarly useless to appeal for an explanation to dififerent kinds of
geometry.
It
may
well be that the geometry of the universe
would
is
not Euclid-
have a uniform geometry. That is to say, the surface of a sphere of radius r might be a function of r diflPerent from the familiar one, but in our calculations, we had to divide the surface of a sphere of radius r by the surface of a sphere of radius r and, irrespective of what this is, the result will always be the same, namely one. Even if the topology of the universe is not Euclidean, no advantage is gained. A uniform universe must be unbounded (otherwise some places are near the boundary, others far away, which would be a nonuniform system) but it may be finite in the sense that a light ray will come back to its starting point after circling the universe. Although such a universe would have a finite volume, and therefore contain only a finite number of stars, it would still be the case that the light from each star would reach us not only directly but also after one circuit of the universe, after two circuits, and so on. Thus, each star would give rise to an infinite number of points of light in the sky, and the result would be the same as before. All these geometrical attempts to deal with the problem are doomed to failure, as is readily seen from the thermodynamic argument. Thermodynamic equilibrium, in which every point has the same temperature, can never be upset by the introduction of lenses or mirrors; the temperature will still remain the same everywhere. Two other objections, however, need to be taken more seriously. The first one is due to the Swedish asean, but a uniform universe
tronomer Charlier, and suggests in the
universe
is
still
that, in fact, the
equal to zero. lie arrives
obvious observation that there are
stars,
mean
density of stars
at this result, in spite of
by considering
the
a rather compli-
cated hierarchical kind of universe. Basically, his suggestion was that the stars are arranged in groups— let us call them galaxies. Furthermore, the
268
Hermann Bomli galaxies occur in clusters of order one; clusters of order one are arranged in clusters of order two; clusters of order
An arrangement
order three, and so on.
mean
is
two are arranged
in clusters of
which the by a given
readily envisaged in
density of stars in any cluster of a given order
less
is
below it. The higher the order of mean density, and as we consider the mean density would indeed be zero. We
fraction than in the cluster of the order
the cluster, therefore, the less the
universe as a whole, then the just
happen
hence
we
to live in a galaxy inside a cluster of order
only a local
eflFect.
yet the whole idea that it
Though, is
this
logically, Charlier's universe
so complicated
has not received
it
one and so on, and
and galaxies near us but
see stars near us
much
and leads
further attention.
as a last resort only, without in
is
is
basically
impeccable,
few fruitful results may, indeed, regard
to so
We
any way doubting
its
logical self-con-
sistency.
The
other serious criticism of the Olbers argument arises from a simple
calculation of the distance from light in
an Olbers universe.
It
which we would be receiving most
turns out that this distance
is,
of the
indeed, tre-
mendous, not only as measured by ordinary astronomical considerations but enormous relative to all astronomical data. Half this radiation would indeed come from objects farther from us by a factor of at least a hundred million million than the most distant object seen in our telescopes. In other words, the Olbers flood of light becomes significant only when we consider regions enormously greater than any of which we have any knowledge whatever. In making the assumption of uniformity, we are not just going somewhat beyond the observed region but we are going beyond it by a colossal factor, and this is not likely to be sound practice. The relevance of the Olbers argument is saved, however, by the fact that the sky is indeed so very dark at night. Almost all the light that we receive comes from stars within our own galaxy. Yet, given the immensity of the universe, the average position in the universe will not fall within a
galaxy. If
we
subtract, then,
from the
light of the night sky that portion
we get very very little lightdue to the stars of our own only one object is then visible with the naked eye, the great nebula in Andromeda—and the total amount of light we then receive is down from the amount derived by Olbers by a factor of a few hundred million million. that
galaxy,
is
In other words, this reasoning suggests that
all
the light
we
receive
is
de-
rived from Olbers-type considerations as limited to the extent of our
The full relevance of this result will be disdoes show that a contradiction between Olbers and the observed brightness of the night sky is reached as soon as we
present-day observations.
cussed farther on, but
it
contemplate regions substantially beyond those actually investigated by the astronomers.
We that
can argue further, in favor of the relevance of the Olbers paradox, a theory of the physical universe, one must pursue
when one makes
269
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences
what has been clone in It is no use proposing a theory and then being halfhearted about deriving consequences. It we want to learn about nature by the only way open to us, namely, by the disproof of theories through their consequences, then we must be logically self-consistent. Criticism of the relevance of the Olbers paradox has been carried still farther in recent times by Harrison (1965), who has pointed out that if all the matter in the universe whose density is, after all, roughly known to us, were converted into radiant energy, this would still be insufficient to give us the Olbers amount of radiation by a very large factor. To put it a little diflPerently, if we do not convert all the matter into radiation but do so only to the extent to which stars do this, then the stars in the universe can be nowhere near sufficient to deliver as much radiation as Olbers demands. This is a very cogent and correct point, but not, perhaps, quite fundamental. We know from the observation of the darkness of the sky that we do not live in Olbers' universe. Consideration of the amount of light that could conceivably have been produced from the known matter density in the universe also shows that we do not live in such a unito
it
its
complete, logical conclusion, and this
is
reaching the Gibers paradox.
verse.
To disprove something already disproved new argument is more cogent
cance unless the
is
or
not of great
signifi-
more convincing
or
more primitive than the old one. We are here again in the region of taste, and there is no question that many physicists feel more at ease with Harrison's argument of the insufficiency of the energy sources than with the Olbers calculation
To my mind, however,
itself.
dark at night and that there are
stars
about
is
the observation that
very
much more
it is
primitive
than calculations of the total amount of light that the stars could conceivably have produced.
should also be realized that Harrison's argument in no
It
that an Olbers-type universe
is,
way
suggests
as such, impossible. If stars existed in
an
would receive as much radiation as it would not use up its own resources of hydro-
Olbers universe, then each star sends out, and, therefore,
it
gen by thermonuclear conversion into helium. It is only necessary to suppose that the universe at one stage had enough radiation for this state of affairs to exist, and it then can continue to exist in this situation, though flagrantly not the universe in
it is
which we
live.
C.THEEXPAN DING UNIVERSE All .
static all
these arguments lead to the conclusion that idea of an Olbers-type universe, that
is,
we must abandon
the
a uniform, unchanging,
universe in which the same laws of physics apply everywhere and at is so cogent and pleasing that one natuthem even though the whole set is untenable.
times. This set of assumptions
rally tries to retain
some
of
Direct observation gives considerable support to the assumption of uni-
270
Hermann Bondi formity. In whichever direction the astronomer looks— whether
or radio
means— he finds very much
the
same
galaxy into the vast spaces of the universe
much
situation.
filled
He
by
optical
looks out of our
with clusters of galaxies;
same picture (it must be admitted that the optical astronomer's picture is limited by the impenetrability of much matter in our own galaxy, which cuts out a sizable slice of the sky). If the system looks the same in every direction, then either it is nonin
every direction he sees very
the
uniform but spherically symmetrical with ourselves at the center, or it is a uniform system. There is much scientific objection to thinking of ourselves as enjoying
any kind of privileged position. In particular, there
the objection that
if
bility of
we
is
are not in a typical position, then the applica-
our laws of Nature elsewhere
The astronomer has no very
is
very
means
reliable
much
in doubt.
of measuring distances, but,
can be done, he again seems to reach the result that the arrangement is uniform in depth, lending further support to the assumption insofar as
it
and it argument about distribution in depth is very telling. Much more powerful support comes from another direction. Olbers thought that a uniform universe, and certainly a uniform unchanging universe, had to be static, but mathematical investigations show readily that a uniform system need not be static in order to remain uniform. However, it can have only a particular type of motion, namely, a motion in which the relative velocity of any two members of the system is along the line joining them with a velocity which is, roughly speaking, proportional to their separation. That such a motion is uniform and maintains uniformity may readily be realized when it is appreciated that velocity is, after all, only relative. There is no such thing as an absolute state of rest, as we have known since the days of Galileo and Newton. of uniformity. At great distances, however, other effects intervene, is
not, perhaps, correct to say that this particular
Let us imagine,
in a
purely mathematical sense, a set of objects evenly
distributed along a straight line in space, each one, that
rated by the same distance from
its
neighbors
all
is
to say, sepa-
along the
line; if
we
imagine ourselves to be on one of those objects with our neighbors either side moving away from us directly with a certain velocity, our neighbors next but one with twice that velocity, our neighbors next but two with three times that velocity, and so on, then pletely uniform along that line.
Any
we have
a system that
is
com-
other observer sitting on any other of
him at the velocwhich we see our neighbors separating from us; he will see his neighbors next but one separating at twice that velocity, and so on. The only difficulty arises at large distances where very large relative velocities occur, and then the theory of relativity is required to show that the system remains perfectly uniform, although at these very large separations the relative velocity is no longer proportional to distance but, of course, always remains below the velocity of light, as required by relativity. these objects will also see his neighbors separating from ity at
271
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences
CLUSTER NEBULA IN
DISTANCE IN LIGHT-YEARS
^hiftc; ppn ^^^ ^"'^^^
43,000.000
VIRGO
750 Ml/SEC
560.000.000
URSA MAJOR
9,300 Ml /sec
728.000.000
CORONA BOREALIS
13.400 Ml /SEC
1,290.000.000
BOOTES
24,400 Ml/SEC
1,960.000.000
HYDRA
38.000 Ml/SEC
RELATION BETWEEN RED SHIFT AND DISTANCE FOR EXTRAGALACTIC NEBULAE
The
galaxies at left, thought to he the same size, were all photographed with same magnification. The size difference corresponds to their different distances from the earth. In the spectra at right arrows indicate the shift of the H and K calcium lines from their standard positions
the
We need not imagine the motion to be restrieted to a line, nor need we imagine separation to be involved rather than approach. If, for example, we imagine a large block of rubber to which we apply compression in all directions and reduce it in one minute to one-half its former linear dimensions, then any two particles in that large uniform block of rubber will, in
the course of that minute, halve their distances apart, so that the
relative velocity of
any of them will be proportional to their distance motion compatible with uniformity and
apart. Thus, the only type of
272
Hermann
Boncli
motion with a velocity-distance relation. what the astronomer sees. To put it a little more critically, what the astronomer observes is that the spectral lines of distant galaxies are shifted toward the red. How distant a galaxy is, he can only tell from the amount of light he receives from that galaxy. By plotting one observed quantity, the red shift, against another observed quantity, the faintness of the galaxy, he obtains a welldefined relation between the two. If he interprets the red shift as being due to a velocity of recession and the faintness as due to distance, he obtains a velocity of recession proportional to distance. In other words, on
maintenance of uniformity This,
it
turns out,
is
is
precisely
the only plausible interpretation of the data, he finds the universe to be
unique state of motion compatible with uniformity. It is, therefore, not a matter for surprise that almost all the workers in the field regard uniformity not just as a convenient hypothesis but as something in exactly that
so cogently suggested
give It
it
by the observations that they would not readily
up.
should be noted that this velocity-distance relation— this motion of
recession, or, as
it is
sometimes rather unhappily
source of light
called, this
expansion of
Motion of a away from the observer with a high velocity comparable
the universe— also completely resolves
Olbers' paradox.
with the speed of light substantially reduces the intensity of light received by the observer. So if all Olbers' distant shells are indeed receding from us at very high velocities,
than he calculated; in
our observations require,
we
we
fact, if it
should be receiving far less light from them one puts into the equation the parameters
does indeed give us a very dark sky such as
actually see.
D. THE STEADY-STATE
THEORY
We
have seen that the observations firmly support Olbers' first assumption that the universe is uniform and are in strong contradiction with his third assumption that the universe is static. What do observations tell about his other two assumptions, that the universe is unchanging and that the same laws of physics apply elsewhere at other times as apply here and now? One can readily see that these two assumptions are, to some extent, interlinked. If the universe is really unchanging, as well as uniform, then this means that every place and every time in it is as good as any other place and any other time. In such circumstances it would be utterly absurd to suppose that the laws of nature were themselves in any way dependent upon place or time, since these are completely without any distinguishing features. If the universe
is
changing, then the laws of physics
might, nevertheless, be unaflFected by time, but certainly Olbers' fourth
assumption would then not be a consequence of the others. In other
273
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences
we assume
unchanging as well as uniform, then we obtain a logically closed and complete set. We drop Olbers' third assumption, and his fourth one is effectively a consequence of the first two. Of course, this is only an hypothesis, but it is the most complete, and indeed the most readily testable, hypothesis we can make. The theory of the structure of the universe based on these assumptions is known as the steady-state theory. All other theories assume that the universe is in some sense changing in time, that it is evolving in a significant manner and, hence, in contrast to the steady state, is an evolving universe. It is sometimes thought that the alternative to the steady-state universe is necessarily a universe with an explosive origin: the so-called big-bang universe. But this, as we shall see, is incorrect; the real contrast is between steady-state and evolving models, and only some of these evolving models have an explosive origin. In the steady-state model, an interesting point words,
arises
if
when we
that the universe
consider the
mean
is
density of the universe. Since the dis-
tances between any two galaxies are constantly increasing through the
motion of recession, one would expect the mean density of matter to be decreasing. This is unacceptable within the framework of the theory since the mean density, like any other physical parameter, must be unchanging. Accordingly, as a consequence of our assumptions, we must have, on the basis of the steady-state theory, a continual creation of matter. The rate at which this new matter appears is extremely low by our ordinary standards because the mean density of the universe is so low and its time scale so large. But on the huge scale of the universe, such a creation does make an enormous difference.
The function of this newly created matter in the theory is not only to keep up the mean density but also to keep down the mean age. Every star is continuously aging through the conversion of nuclear fuel into radiant energy. Any given group of stars will be aging, and every galaxy will be aging. If the universe is unchanging, the average age of galaxies must be constant in time. This means that new galaxies must be forming all the time. Only in this way can we have a system in which each individual member is aging but the system overall is unchanging. This is not unlike a stationary human population in which each individual is born, grows up, grows old, and dies, but society as a whole remains unchanging. It used to be thought that the only way in which new galaxies could arise was through the condensation of matter in the space between the galaxies. On this basis then, the bulk of the newly created matter would have to be laid down in the intergalactic spaces, where new galaxies would, in some way or other, be born and thus keep constant the mean distances between galaxies and their mean ages. More recently, however, astronomers have become aware of possible explosive processes within galaxies. If it is accepted that galaxies can split, then it may be the case that matter
is
newly created only
in the
274
general area where there
is
al-
Hermann Bondi ready a good deal of matter, so that each galaxy grows and gives birth to new galaxies through explosive processes. In this way, too, the stationary picture can be maintained, but the diflFerence between the two models is significant. Many investigations have shown that condensation of galaxies from matter in intergalactic space cannot readily occur in conditions such as
we
envisage for intergalactic space, and certainly cannot take place
is a fairly high density (by astronomical standards) in the space between the galaxies. Such a density would imply that the space
unless there
contains as
other hand,
much mass as if new galaxies
the galaxies themselves,
if
On
not more.
arise from old ones, then there
is
the
no reason
to
expect intergalactic space to be so densely populated.
The most
When we
significant feature of the steady-state theory
look at distant objects,
we
see
them
as they
is its
testability.
were a long time
ago, because of the substantial travel time of light. If the universe as a
whole
is
evolving,
we
see
more
distant objects at an earlier period of their
evolution than nearer objects. diflFerence of
age
is
What changes
objects, particularly of galaxies,
everywhere a cross section of Thus, the
when we
same
should be caused by
this
a question for the theory of evolution of astronomical
all
but on the steady-state theory, there ages which remains the same at
look at distant galaxies
we
see the
distribution of ages as in the case of near galaxies.
We
times.
same average age and
We
the theory, therefore, without having to have any notion about axies actually develop.
all
is
can
test
how
gal-
simply try to observe whether there
is
any
systematic change with distance of any property of galaxies, such as shape, size, color of light emitted, degree of clustering, etc.
Any such
change would disprove the steady-state theory. Again, from the rather sophisticated point of view of geometry, there is only one model geometry which is expanding and stationary in the sense of giving the same appearance at all times. This is the so-called de Sitter
model. Since, according to the theory, the density of galaxies at
times
is
all
the same, the theory must prescribe a definite relation between
number and
distance, or, to use the
measured
quantities,
between num-
ber and faintness. In any evolutionary theory other factors enter, for neither the density of objects nor their intrinsic luminosity
long ago as they are now. Unless one knows in time,
how
were the same
these properties change
one cannot predict what the number-faintness relation should be.
In this way, then, the steady-state theory has oflFered a particular chalit has made statements rigid and firm enough to be readily examined and tested. Some of the tests suggested have been extremely valuable in extending the kind of observation made and in giving us additional insight. The tests also constitute challenges
lenge to the observers because
for the steady-state theory.
One
of the earliest challenges has already
been dealt with: that of the
generation of the elements. In any theory in which the universe evolved
275
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences from an
initial
hot dense phase,
it
was natural
to relegate the origin of the
elements to that phase, as was, indeed, the opinion for
many
years.
To
the
was intolerable, for if ever there were which elements could be made, then these ways must still be op-
steady-state theory this relegation
ways
in
erating now. This principle led to the important investigations described earlier
The
on
in this article.
success of the Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler, and Hoyle theory,
therefore, not only
removed
theory but showed
how
a very serious objection to the steady-state
could be for developing an understanding of the structure and history of the universe. fruitful this theory
Another observation of
interest concerns the relation
between the con-
tinuous spectra of galaxies and the shift of the spectral lines. As was dis-
cussed in relation to
mation about
its
stars,
the continuous spectrum of a
temperature.
The mixture
body
gives infor-
of stars in a galaxy gives the
galaxies of different types very characteristic spectra. If long ago the mix-
was the same, then very much the same spectrum should retest, one would like to know whether, given the shift due to the motion of recession as measured by the spectral lines, the continuous spectrum has changed ture of stars
sult;
otherwise changes should be visible. Applying this
systematically with distance. So far,
all
of our investigations, even of
show no change in the continuwith what is required on the basis of
objects having great recession velocities,
ous spectrum. Again, this
is
in line
the steady-state theory.
In the 1930's Hubble and others made a considerable eflFort to determine the relation between faintness and number of galaxies. Although it was thought in those days that this was a particularly fruitful way of solving the cosmological puzzle by, as
it
were, directly exploring the rela-
between the geometry of the universe and its observable content, later observational work has completely discredited the reliability of the tion
material then assembled.
The
errors, particularly in the
determination of
the brightness of the objects, are necessarily too large to allow for figures
be subjected
if any be drawn from them. Thus, the steady-state theory did well in meeting the first tests. In recent years, however, a whole variety of tests have been giving answers which count very heavily against the theory. It became possible in the
that can
to the exceedingly detailed analysis required
substantial conclusions are to
1950's to carry out tests at radio frequencies similar to those previously
carried out at optical frequencies. Again, there
were some
difficulties at
but the work of the Cambridge school, and of others, eventually succeeded in establishing a remarkably rapid increase in number of radio first,
sources with faintness, in striking disagreement with the predictions of the
Though, undoubtedly, more data will be of advanperhaps somewhat different observational methods (all observational methods in this field are bound to be of great complexity and
steady-state theory. tage, using
276
Hermann Bondi sophistication), the evidence
is
able achievement, particularly
impressive and powerful.
when one
It is
a remark-
realizes the inherent difficulties
under which radio astronomy works. It does not have the help of innumerable features in the spectrum, such as spectral lines, which are of such assistance in optical astronomy. Owing to the greater wavelength of the radiation observed, the sharpness of definition is far below the optical OPTICAL AND RADIO ASTRONOMY— TWO WINDOWS INTO THE UNIVERSE
On
the surface of the earth man can only study two small portions of the radiation content of the universe. All wavelengths other than those of visible light and radio waves are absorbed by the atmosphere. Modern equipment, such as the 200-in. telescope at Mt. Palomar (below, left), has enabled the astronomer to make measurements of the exceedingly faint light reaching us from very distant sources. Similarly, the radio-astronomer, with refined equipment, such as the dish antenna at Jodrell Bank (below, right), can lo-
and measure the faint radio waves received from numerous sources. Some of the most important recent advances in astronomy have been the result of combined radio cate
and
optical observations
WAVELENGTH 100,000,000
IN
METERS
1
1
10,000
100
1
100
RADIO
W
H~MICROWAVESH
ATMOSPHERIC GASES
_, I
RADIO
OPTICAL
IWlNDOW
I
WINDOW
I
10,000
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences and sophistication more recent work
one, though with great ingenuity
has attained for specified objects almost optical accuracy. to note that
It is
interesting
although for some time there was doubt as to whether the
majority of these radio sources were really far away, well beyond the confines of our
own
modern outlook on cosmology
galaxy, the
is
such
that the uniformity of the distribution of the radio sources over the sky
immediately suggested that they were very distant. The basic idea of the uniformity of the universe
is
now
thing homogeneously distributed
so deeply ingrained in us all that any-
is
immediately ascribed to the most
dis-
tant regions.
Confirmation of
this
view has been derived from the
identification of
certain radio sources with optical objects, an identification that could only
be achieved when the radio astronomers managed to define their posiOnce an object is optically observable, its red shift can often be measured. This gives us an immediate indication of the distance, since we have become so used to the cosmic recession that we use it now as a measure of distance with little or no hesitation. The cooperation between the two kinds of astronomy, optical and radio, is quite striking. In optical astronomy the number of objects seen is so colossal that the astronomer is baffled by the need to make a choice before he can apply the time-consuming and laborious methods required for the measurement of the red shift. He does not know from the appearance of the source whether it is likely to be so distant that it is worth measuring its red shift. The radio astronomer has no spectral Hues whose shift he can measure, but until quite recently he, and he alone, was able to tell the optical observer which objects in the sky were likely to have a large red shift. In this way, the celebrated quasars were discovered. tions with very great accuracy.
THE QUASARS
E.
Radio
observations of great refinement indicated a very precise posi-
power. The optical telescopes showed an object which had been classified previously as a blue star— a member of our own galaxy, though perhaps on its confines, a mere few thousand light-years away. When its red shift was examined, however, it was found to be huge, the wavelength of reception being virtually twice that .
tion for a radio source of great
of transmission. This indicated that the object
was
at
an enormous
dis-
tance from us, several thousand millions of light-years. This was indeed
an amazing discovery, showing us an entirely
new
constituent of the uni-
verse. Before this, astronomers, seeing pinpoints of light in the sky, iden-
them as stars which, because there is apparently an upper limit to amount of light they send out, cannot be much beyond the confines our own galaxies. If they saw smudged objects, they identified them in
tified
the of
a minority of cases as a diffuse collection of glowing gas in our
278
own
gal-
Hermann Bondi axy, but
most of them
lions of stars.
away
Now
as distant galaxies consisting of
hundreds of mil-
here was an object that looked like a star but was as
To be seen at all from had to be enormously luminous, indeed, considerably more luminous than most galaxies, but as it looked like a star, a pinpoint, it followed that its actual dimensions must be very much smaller than far
as the farthest galaxies ever observed.
that far away,
it
those of a galaxy, not
much
bigger than those of a
star.
Accordingly, this
was termed a quasi-stellar radio source (quasar). Many other objects of this kind were identified shortly afterward, most of them having enormous red shifts. The optical astronomers then noticed that these objects had, in any case, a rather peculiar spectrum of light. They began to examine other objects previously classified as stars that showed such peculiar spectra. Again, they found very large red shifts, indicating enormous distances and, accordingly, enormous radiant power, although many object
of these did not emit
much
in the radio wavelengths.
An
entirely
new
kind of beacon in the sky had been observed— a beacon that promised to
much farther away into far greater distances than anything known because of its enormous luminosity.
take us ously
At the time of writing, the greatest red the wavelength received
What
is
observed
is
so great that
well over three times the wavelength emitted.
the quasars do for us then
tigation of the universe
shift
previ-
is,
in the first instance, to
by giving us
identifiable
help our inves-
beacons that can be seen
over enormous distances. They raise fascinating questions about their
own
and composition. The number-intensity relation for quasars is not in agreement with the steady-state theory; it shows considerably larger numbers at a distance than was expected, although their total number is still sufiiciently small for the statistics to be somewhat unre-
structure
liable.
Very recent work has thrown a good deal of doubt on the
utility of
quasars for exploring the structure of the universe. Consider a diagram
which one axis represents the intensity of light received from a quasar, and the other its red shift. If all quasars sent out the same amount of light, and if the red shift is taken to indicate the distance of the object, then all the points in the diagram should lie on a single line, since the greater the red shift, i.e., the greater the distance, the less the amount of light received here. In fact the points cover the diagram in an almost random manner, with only a barely detectable tendency to associate higher red shift with lower intensity. Whatever the cause (presumably large diflFerences in the amount of light sent out by diflFerent quasars), it is clear that quasars cannot be used as standard beacons. There are also indications that this awkwardness materially aflFects the
in
radio counts (p. 277). If the radio sources counted are divided into quasars and others (ordinary radio galaxies), and the increase of number with faintness
is
plotted separately for the
279
two groups, then
it
turns out that
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences
f
3C-273 (27.000)
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^ * (63,000) 3C-47
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3C-254
THE QUASARS sars
*
plots the distances of quafrom their red shifts,
inferred
using the optically established correbetween distance and red shift. The figures in parentheses describe the red shift in terms of the increase in wavelength divided by the original wavelength of the radiation
(93,000)
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'
>
6
7
8
,
9
BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS
FROM EARTH
almost the whole of the remarkably rapid rise of
found a
to
number with
faintness
is
be associated with the quasar group, the other one resulting in curve. Of course this result, if confirmed, in no way
much more normal
diminishes the puzzle of the radio counts, nor does
disagreement with the steady-state theory, but
it
it
more clearly on the discordant element, the They have also revealed another very fascinating
attention
materially
In a
number
of cases,
ultraviolet that
ionizes almost
it
known
any gas
to
in its
Because of
received as
visi-
readily observed here.
observe light from a region of the
be highly ionizing
way
is
is
radiation.
Such radiation
very readily, but, of course, in doing
so,
absorbed and scattered. The fact that we can rehere and now gives an indication that for the vast distance
the radiation
ceive
is
we do indeed
the
quasars. feature.
their great red shift, light emitted in the far ultraviolet
ble light and so penetrates the atmosphere and
afiFect
does perhaps focus our
itself is
through which this light traveled as ionizing radiation (that is, before its red shift relative to the local region turned it into a less vigorous kind of it remains unscattered. So we now know that the space between the galaxies must be amazingly empty of any material that could have had this effect of absorption and scattering on the radiation. Fully
radiation),
280
Hermann Bondi ionized matter
(
separate electrons and nuclei
)
is
least effective as a scat-
modest amount of such matter could populate intergalactic space. But even for this material, there are limits to the quantity that could be tolerated. The emptiness of the universe is really very striking. The mean density of un-ionized matter in the spaces between the galaxies must, on the basis of this measurement, be assumed to be much less than a millionth of the mean density within a galaxy. It seems as though in the process of galaxy formation the spaces between the galaxies have really been swept remarkably clean of all but a small amount of fully ionized matter. This presents a problem that must be explained by tering agent, so that a
the theory of the formation of the galaxies.
Of
course, all that
is
denied by
in the intergalactic space.
form of lumps,
this
A good
like brick ends,
observation
is
the existence of gas
deal of matter could be there in the
but there
suggest that matter in this form exists at
is
nothing in our knowledge to
all
out in the vast spaces in the
universe.
F.
OTHER RECENl OBSERVATIONS
Some
recent observations are related to Olbers' paradox.
The back-
ground light of the sky can be observed at various frequencies, and
be drawn. At opwhat is to be expected. It must again be pointed out that what we want for cosmic purposes is the light from distant sources that is unaflFected by the accidental circumstance that we live within a galaxy, and so see innumerable stars in what is, cosmically speaking, our immediate local neighborhood. At short radio wavelengths, the background radiation seems to have unexfrom
it
tentative conclusions about the universe can
tical frequencies,
the sky
is
indeed very dark, which
is
pectedly high values, particularly in the shorter wavelengths.
work
very recent, and
Some
of the
perhaps not yet absolutely clear whether some of this may not be connected with the outer regions of our galaxy rather than with the universe at large, though establishing these values
is
it
is
the isotropy of the radiation undoubtedly inclines one to regard
cosmic origin.
It
has been suggested that this radiation
is
it
as of
the remnant of
amount of radiation that must have existed if the universe had a hot dense origin. Observations made outside the atmosphere with rockets and artificial satellites have told us something about the background radiation at wavelengths that cannot reach the ground owing to absorption in the earth's atmosphere, in particular, X rays and gamma rays. If the background is truly of cosmic origin, it may be quite revealing, but it is a little too early to be sure about the identification. To come back now to the observations of the optical astronomers; they have made a sufficient number of measurements of the red shift to be able to draw a curve relating the red shift of galaxies of a given type to the enormous
281
Astronomy ami the Physical Sciences the
amount
of light
we
receive from them, and so, in a sense, to relate
red shift to distance. Basically, of course, the red shift distance. If the red shift
of the object indicates is
the same for
is
its
is
interpreted as a velocity, and
proportional to if
the faintness
distance, then the ratio of distance to velocity
and
all objects,
interval that, to the best of our
this ratio
is,
in fact, a
knowledge, turns out
to
time interval— an be approximately
ten billion years.
A
simple model helps to interpret the significance of this time interval.
we suppose
that all the galaxies were together initially and that this arrangement exploded and all galaxies afterward moved away from each other with constant velocity, then we would get such a velocity-dis-
If
initial
tance relation.
The
would indicate the time since through the influence of gravitation, the
interval just evaluated
the explosion occurred.
If,
in fact,
motion has been decelerating, so that long ago the galaxies moved faster than they do now, then the explosion must have occurred more recently than that. If, on the other hand, the motion is accelerating, then either the explosion occurred more than ten billion years ago, or perhaps it never occurred at all. The model of the steady-state theory, the de Sitter model, is
model the
of this kind. Since in this
ratio of distance to velocity
stant in time, each galaxy, through the eflFect of
its
own
is
velocity,
con-
keeps
drifting into regions of yet higher velocity and, therefore, keeps accelerating. Alternatively,
the galaxies
mum A
it
could be an oscillating kind of universe in which
moved toward each
distance apart, and are
further
other for a long time, reached a mini-
now
receding from each other.
measurement we can make
is
also a cause for puzzlement:
the deviation of the red-shift-faintness relation from linearity, the deceleration parameter.
cause of various factors.
We
First, there
moving
known
as
would expect some such deviation beis
the sheer lapse of time:
we
see
had long ago, and not in recent times. Second, the faintness is itself affected by the red shift for large red shifts; that is, the velocity has a direct effect on the intensity. Third, on any evolutionary theory, the rate at which galaxies radiated long ago may be different from the rate at which they radiate now, and this could affect the use of faintness as a measure of distance. The measurements and their interpretation are both subject to some doubts, but the indications seem to be that there is an actual deceleration. This is in striking contradiction to the steady-state theory and also raises some awkward questions in other directions. It will be recalled that when a star has burned up a sufficient amount of its hydrogen and converted it into helium, its structure changes and it leaves the main sequence {see above in diagram, p. 248). Given the rate of radiation of the star, one can work out how long this takes. We know certain groups of stars which contain no main-sequence stars whatever above a certain brightness, and this simply means that this group of stars is of a certain age, namely, such the distant objects
at the velocity they
282
Hermann Bondi that all stars of their
more than
this brightness will
have used up so much of
hydrogen that they are no longer on the main sequence. In the case
of several such groups of stars, times of distinctly
more than
ten bilHon
years emerge, whereas in a decelerating universe the catastrophic origin
must have been less than ten billion years ago. This diction which is rather puzzling.
G. RELATIVISTIC
On
is
a serious contra-
COSMOLOGY
the theoretical side, our discussion has so far been largely con-
makes such definite be tested against it. As we have seen, a substantial body of observational evidence
fined to the steady-state theory because this
forecasts that the observations can
we have
obtained as a result
speaking impressively against the steady-state theory. in the evolutionary theories there
is
On
the other hand,
a far wider variety of models, and
there seems Httle point in discussing and enumerating
all
the possibilities.
worth pointing out, however, that there is a most important set of models, based on Einstein's general theory of relativity, which provides the best theory we have of the behavior of matter in the large when gravitation is the predominant influence. There are two uses of this theory. First, one can take the theory as it is derived in the ordinary way and test it as a theory of gravitation in the solar system and elsewhere. Second, one can generalize the theory by introducing a parameter— the socalled cosmological constant— which enters the theory fairly naturally. This constant introduces a dimension— a length— into the theory, and this length must be chosen to be very large so as not to lead to any conflict It is
with local observations. In other words,
made for cosmological purposes. when he introduced this modification
this modification of the
in 1917.
Not long afterward,
is
this modification of the
for the rest of his life
with great vigor and determination.
may, indeed, be argued that there
is
criti-
theory led him to reject
cism of the effects of It
theory
This was, indeed, Einstein's view
only
it
great merit in investigating the
universe with a physical theory based on terrestrial knowledge, but there is little
point in modifying such a theory for the sole purpose of applying
if we are guided purely by mathematical convenience and locally acquired preconceptions. Clearly, an enormous va-
it
to the universe at large,
riety of modification
particular one
is
is
possible, at least in principle.
somewhat
arbitrary though
it is
The choice
of this
the only mathematically
simple choice that leaves the conservation laws of energy and
momentum
unchanged. The unmodified theory leads to models of the universe in which the expansion is necessarily decelerating. With one choice of parameters the expansion will come to a standstill a finite time in the future and be followed by contraction; in others, it goes on indefinitely though the velocity is continuously decreasing. All models which are comentirely
283
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences patible with our observations of the recession of the galaxies have an ex-
bang— less than ten billion years ago. With the modiwider range of models is possible, including models in which the universe is expanding following an earlier phase of contraction. In all these models, the expansion is now accelerating. A basic aim of general relativity theory is to link the material content of space with its geometry and with its motion, and the theory yields the mean density of matter for each such model. Our knowledge of the mean density of matter is rather poor. We do know from our knowledge of the galaxies how much luminous matter there is in space, and, from the case of our own galaxy, we have a little knowledge of the fraction of matter in nonluminous form in a galaxy like ours, though, of course, in other types of galaxy this fraction may be somewhat difiFerent. It is, perhaps, fair to say that in all cases we would expect less nonluminous matter in a galaxy than luminous matter, but even this conclusion is tentative rather plosive origin— a big fied theory, a far
than firm.
However, we are faced with the fact that the galaxies occupy only a all space so that nonluminous matter in the regions between the galaxies could make a colossal contribution to the mean densmall fraction of
sity of all
matter in the universe. The observation referred to above, that
ionizing radiation
cation
we have
is
not absorbed in intergalactic space,
is
of these regions being extremely empty. If
the
we
first
indi-
imagine an
expanding model of the universe in the simplest, most Newtonian manner, then we can ask for the relation of the density of matter to the rate of deceleration of the expansion. tain
mean
pansion significantly or bring
with
With
a given rate of expansion, a cer-
density of matter will be necessary to reduce the rate of exit
to a standstill. Accordingly, associated
this figure of ten billion years that characterizes
pansion, there
is
a figure for a
mean
the rate of the ex-
density sufficient to have an appre-
eflPect on the expansion. It turns out that the mean density of all luminous matter is markedly less than the density necessary to eflFect the dynamics of the cosmos.
ciable
One would
naturally have liked to have a logical link between the denand the motion, and it is a little disappointing that the luminous matter is insufficient to have such an efiFect by a substantial factor, likely to be well in excess of ten. The hope that the nonluminous matter will come to the rescue seems to be seriously compromised by the observations mentioned. This reduces the number of relativistic models available, but sity
the choice y»In
is still
embarrassingly large.
concluding, a
word should perhaps be
said about another constitu-
ent of the universe— the cosmic radiation. This penetrating radiation of
extremely energetic particles has presented physics with one of
its
great-
est challenges for
many
of cosmic rays
very substantial— fully comparable with that arriving in
is
years.
The amount 284
of energy arriving in the form
Hermann Bondi the form of light from galaxies other than our own. Although a tremendous amount of effort has been poured into attempts to understand how particles become accelerated to these enormous energies, we still have no absolutely clear and convincing theory of the origin of this radiation. As a result,
we
are not as clear as
radiation extends. Is
largely confined to
it
to the interior of other galaxies? all
space?
energy
If
the latter
situation in
be about how far this our galaxy and, by inference, like to
Or does the bulk
of
it
extend throughout
the case, the contribution to the
is
in the universe
we would
which one part of matter
is
density of
it
the other belongs to this fantastically energetic radiation. this direction will
mean
seems curious to have a very cold and very slow, while
very significant, and
is
perhaps help us to understand a
little
More insight in more about the
evolution of the universe.
To sum
up, then, great strides have been
made
in recent years in
mak-
ing further observations that have cosmical significance. In particular, the observations of the quasars, of the background radiation, and of the ioniz-
ing component of the quasar radiation, have yielded important further clues.
Together with the radio counts, they
now
give an impressive
body
of evidence against the steady-state theory, but they fail to help us very
much
in selecting other
models. In particular,
not perhaps of very great strength, that verse, then the contrast lion years
and that from
we
if
we
between the cosmic time stellar evolution
285
is
accept the evidence,
live in a decelerating uni-
scale of a
mere ten
positively embarrassing.
bil-
Astronomy and the Physical Sciences
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READINGS SEMITECHNICAL
DESCRITTIVE BoNDi, H. The Universe at Larfie.
Doubleday &
New
York:
Lynds, B., and Pillans, H. Elementary Astronomy. New Jersey: Oxford University
Co., 1960.
A. Modern Theories of the UniYork: Signet Book, 1963. CouDERC, P. The Wider Universe. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1960. Camow, G. The Creation of the Universe. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1952. The Birth and Death of the Sun. New
Coleman,
1959.
Press,
J.
New
verse.
O. Stellar Evolution. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1950. Thorne, K. S. "Gravitational Collapse and the Death of a Star." In Science, December 24, 1965, pp. 1671-79.
Struve,
.
The
York:
Vikin^r Press, Inc., 1940.
and Quasars. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965. Frontiers of Astronomy. London: Wilham Heinemann, Ltd., 1955. Opik, E. J, The Oscillating Universe. Mentor, 1960. HoYLE,
F. Galaxies, Nuclei
.
TECHNICAL BoNDi,
SciAMA, D. W. The Unity of the Universe. London: Faber & Faber, Ltd., 1959. .
Vol.
"The Red 1,
No. 9 (1965),
Whitrow, G. of the
Shift."
H.
Cosmology.
London:
Cambridge
University Press, 1960.
BuRBiDGE, G., BuRBiDGE, E., FowLER, W., and HoYLE, F. Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 29 (1958), p. 547. Eddington, a. S. Mathematical Theory of
In Science Journal,
p. 52.
The Structure and Evolution Universe. London: Hutchinson & Co., J.
Relativity.
1959.
London: Cambridge
L^niversity
Press, 1923.
Gratton, L. (ed.). Star Evolution. New York: Academic Press, Inc., 1964. Hayaski, C, Hoshi, R., and Sugimoto, D.
OLDER BOOKS BUT STILL OF INTEREST
Evolution of the Stars, Progress of Theoretical Physics. Supplement No. 22, 1962. Robinson, I., Schild, A., and Schucking, E. L. (eds.). Quasi-Stellar Sources and Gravitational Collapse. Chicago: University
Eddingtox, a. S. The Expanding Universe. London: Cambridge University Press, 1933. Hubble, E. The Realm of the Nebulae. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1936. Jeans, J. The Universe Around Us. London: Cambridge University Press, 1930.
of
Chicago
ScHATZMAN,
Press, 1965.
White Dwarfs. Amsterdam: North-Holland Pub. Co., 1958. E.
NOTE TO THE READER Professor Bondi comments on
follows the succeeding de\elopments through Einstein's account of the decline of classical physics and Eddington's and Jeans's considerations of contemporary cosmological specula-
the special
fascination that astronomy has always
had
human mind. In fact, its critical relevance for a wide range of ideas makes it a great idea, to which the whole of Chapter 5 of the Syntopicon is devoted. The reader infor the
tions. this material supplies tlie background Professor Bondi's discussion of the most recent developments in astronomy and cosmology. Some of it, of course, is highly pertinent, and the Syntopicon makes this readily
All
following the formulation of the first great astronomical theories possesses a wealtii of material in Great Books of the Western World— irom Ptolemy through (^opernicus and Kepler down to the first all-embracing theory of Newton. Gateway to the Great Books terested
for
in
a\ai]ablc. riu)\o.\iY
286
One might 1,
note,
citing passages
particularly,
As-
on the end, dig-
Hermann Bondi and utility of astronomy; Topic 5, devoted to astronomy and cosmology: the theory of the world or universe as reflecting astronomical conceptions; and Topic 13 on the history of astronomy. Much of Professor Bondi's essay is concerned with cosmology, a subject on which Great Books also have much to say, as is indicated by the fact that Chapter 102 on World is largely concerned with cosmologinity,
World 1 collects the references to discussions of diverse conceptions of the universe, while Topic 4 deals with the origin of the world: cosmos out of chaos, and Topic 7 cites passages on the size or extent of cal speculations.
the universe.
succeeding one another (Vol. 12, 16b-d). As is evident from recent developments, astronomy continues to raise crucial questions regarding the method of science and the nature of scientific knowledge. On these subjects, material in Great Books can be located by consulting Astronomy 2 on the method of astronomy and Science 4 and 5 on the nacyclically
p.
The most recent developments in cosmology have many analogues in the theories of the past. Olbers' assumptions of uniformity rest, of course, on the work of Newton. In a famous passage at the end of the Optics (GBWW, Vol. 34, pp. 541-^2), Newton formulated what became the classical hypothesis of a static universe with unchanging physical laws. He distinguishes five different types of permanent features. The first consists of the "primitive particles" or ultimate constituents of physical reality, "so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces," possessing the property of inertial force, or mass. The second changeless feature consists of "such passive laws of mo-
from that force [of inthe laws of motion expressed in the axioms of his theory. Third, there are "certain active principles," such as gravity, constituting "general laws of nature." The fourth and fifth enduring features of the universe are respectively the "wonderful uniformity in the planetary system" and the adaptive structure of animals that Newton refers to as "the uniformity in the bodies of animals." The Kant-Laplace theory of the origin of the planets challenged the fourth of Newton's uniformities. Kant also speculated that, on the astronomical scale, the universe might still be evolving, thereby challenging the notion of a static universe. The most recent models of the universe described by Bondi are analogous in pattern and structure to the cosmological theories of the ancients. The "big-bang" theory posits an origin of the universe in time and thus, like the creation story in Genesis and Plato's myth of tion as naturally result
ertia],"
the world's origin in the Timaeus (GBWW, fl^.), assumes that the universe beginning. The steady-state theory has its ancient parallel in Aristotle's theory of the eternity of motion and of the universe (see Physics VIII, Vol. 8, pp. 334 ff.). The theory of the oscillating universe suggests the cyclical cosmos of the Stoics— "the periodic movements of the universe," according to Marcus Aurelius (Vol. 12, p. 293d). It also bears a striking resemblance to Lucretius' account of the formation of the cosmos through the forces of attraction and the destruction of the cosmos through the forces of repulsion, Vol. 7, pp. 442 had a definite
i.e.,
287
ture and method of science. As Bondi notes, recent cosmological speculation raises some question whether one can use the laws of physics to reason about the universe as a whole and its beginning. This question involves a philosophical issue regarding the use of demonstration. Aquinas holds, for example, that creation of the world in time can be known only through faith, reason being incapable either of proving or disproving it (GBWW, Vol. 19, p. 253a-255d). So, too, Kant argues that questions about the "beginning in time" or "the boundaries of space" lead to antinomies and contradictions which cannot be resolved, since reason has pushed its concepts beyond the areas of their usefulness and application (Vol. 42, p. 132d-137a, also 152a-d; 160b-161d). Stephen Toulmin, reviewing recent cosmology in his book. The Discovery of Time, goes so far as to claim that the current debate "is still essentially philosophical rather than scientific," involving as it does issues about the meaning and use of the concepts of space and time. This being so, one can better appreciate that Bondi's enthusiasm for the steady-state theory derives not merely from his being one of its originators but also from its being testable by empirical methods. c;
The
WARREN For
this
S.
Biological
McCULLOCH
years review of the biological sciences
we have asked
Dr.
Warren S. McCulloch to survey recent developments in neurology ami particularly the modeling of the brain and central nervous system as an electronic, chemical, and mechanical system. Dr. McCulloch is a neurophysiologist, a psychiatrist, a philosopher, and a poet; he is one of the pioneers of cybernetics; yet he prefers to think of himself as "an experimental epistemologist."
He was born in 1898 in Orange, New Jersey, a descendant of the man immortalized in the Supreme Court decision of McCulloch versus Maryland in 1819. He was educated at Yale University and Columbia University, from which he received his degree in Mediwork in neurology at Bellevue Hospital, he worked in mathematical physics at New York University and then took psychiatric training at Rockland State Hospital. From 1941 until 1952 he was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois. In 1952 he became head of the neurophysiology cine in 1927. After laboratory
group
Research Laboratory of Electronics at Massachusetts He is the author of more than 170 scipapers, a selection of which was published in 1965 under
in the
Institute of Technology. entific
the
Embodiments of Mind. Warren M. Brodey has been a collaborator with Dr. McCul-
title
Dr.
loch at the ResearcJi Laboratory of Electronics since 1964.
nadian by birth,
lie
received
Jiis
medical degree
in
A
Ca-
1947 from the
University of Toronto. After practicing child psychiatry in Boston, he studied intra-family communication as a rcscarcJi })sycJiiatrist at the National Institutes of
Mental Health 288
at
Bethesda, Maryland.
Sciences
Coauthor
Today
no one can write a synopsis of
scriptively
its
data are too vast,
its
WARREN
all
that
is
new
M.
BRODEY
Deand its
in biology.
disciplines too dissimilar,
growth too rapid for our comprehension. Each must see it from his own angle. Both of us are psychiatrists. What we can tell you will unfold from our viewpoint. Our business is to understand the biology of people. We must, of course, see each person as an active physical structure. But that is not enough. We must see man as a system handling information in order to survive and in order to enjoy the most intimate forms of communication which Donald MacKay correctly calls "dialogue." This enables man to learn as is necessary for the survival of the species. Thus our biology (like its counterpart in engineering) distinguishes work from energy and signal from noise. Man's attempt to learn to know himself and his place in the universe is older than all written records. His powers of perception and expression were then superb. Witness his cave paintings. His sustained quantitative observation and construction produced Stonehenge. He had learned to kindle fire and to make wheels. Were they, our ancestors, alive today and had they from birth the environment we share, they would probably be as good scientists as we are. What has made the diflPerence between man then and now is focused for Western man in Greece and is a matter of record. It sprang from the Greek conception of lawfulness pervading all nature. In this society geometry and logic flourished. Aristotle, like Darwin, made rich observations, and biology received not only classification of genus and species but also the principles that underlie 'TDOund cause"— that like begets like— the heart-centered and then the nerve-centered theory of knowledge, and the foreshadowing of two other laws which were 289
The
Biological Sciences
not only the foundation of their eity-states but also of their biology: one,
no matter how dissimilar we may be we are all alike before the law, for health requires the harmonious team play of the many dissimilar parts severally necessary in living systems; the second, "general because best," that the idea or form among many which is to be widely accepted has to be the one most likely to succeed. The general is to be chosen who comes first to the best opinion. Finally, they had clearly separated living things from all others, by this— that the living have their own ends, hence our notion of function as the end in and of an operation. These were the foundations of their great school of medicine. By a.d. 200 they had an excellent gross anatomy of the brain. Then came the Roman conquest followed by other-worldliness, and biology lay dormant for a thousand years. Modern biology begins with modern physics. Leonardo da Vinci, picking up where Archimedes left oflF, generalized the theory of the lever and understood properly the action of muscle and tendon at a joint— thus functional anatomy. Galileo carefully excluded anima, soul or mind, as an explanation in physics; Descartes conceived beasts and men as automata governed by physical law, the soul of man sitting idly by. This led him to postulate the nervous impulse and the first feedback device, by way of a thread returning up the nerve to shut its valve when its impulse had done its work on muscles. At that time Leibniz was trying to build a computing machine. In his Monadologie he says that if he succeeds in making his computer so that it can think and perceive and feel as we do, then he could make it as big as a mill, but, if we were to wander around called the "equality of unequals," that
within
we would
it,
not see thinking, perceiving, or feeling, only forms in
motion. This holds not only for
modern computing machines but also for motion is what we have been doing,
brains. Yet looking at the forms in
and
it is
in this
biophysics that
explain mind, but
work, and
this will
it
we have been most
successful. It cannot
can lead to a physical understanding of
be our
first
how
brains
concern.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the methods of classical physics had given us vast knowledge of growth, form, and function of many living systems. We had a fair knowledge of the anatomical form of the brain, and some knowledge of the functions of its organs derived chiefly from the effect of destruction of its parts. We knew much about reflexes. We had begun to understand some of the chemistry of the brain and were able to detect grossly its electrical activity, using capillary electrometers and galvanometers. About 1930 came modern amplifiers and then microelectrodes letting us look at the acti\ity of single units.
Modern
neurophysiology got under way. Today one can scarcely keep up with
its
flood of publications.
At almost the same time modern biochemistry of brains began and has shot ahead, in part out of our necessity to understand the nerve gases of
290
McCulloch and Brodey
World War
is swamped in his literature. Neuropharmagait. same cology is now going at the Ordinary microscopy had revealed the organelles of protozoa and some details of other cells without fixation and staining, but phase-contrast
II.
The
specialist
microscopy made
it possible to see the activity of organelles in motion and histology came alive. Concurrently, tissue culture and tissue transplants began to give us control over the factors determining growth and regrowth. Thus between about 1908 and 1940, our picture of the biologic had passed from the static ones of Ramon y Cajal's Textura del sistema nervioso del hornhre tj de los vertebrados and D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form, in which processes could only have been inferred, to the direct observation of structures moving at least as fast as the eye could follow them. For this classical physics had sufficed. But more was in store for us. In 1908 the atom ceased to be the simple solid thing it had been. Biology felt this impact of the coming atomic age by way of X rays giving us first photography and fluoroscopy of opaque
objects, then treatment for neoplasms, and,
with always greater resolving
latterly.
power, down now
to less
X-ray microscopy than 10 angstroms,
and our hopeful friends expect it to reach 1 A soon. With the knowledge of isotopes, differing in weight and stability, mass spectography, scintillation counters, and radioautographs allowed us to follow tracers and to employ beams of many kinds of radiation to produce isolated lesions and to induce mutations. For an understanding of many of the structural properties of molecules, crystals, and parts of cells. X-ray diffraction and magnetic resonance have proved of great importance. The pressing problems raised by our accelerators and by the threat of nuclear war have attracted many first-rate young physicists, given them the tools, and created the posts for a rapid development of radiobiology which is now receiving a new boost from the space age. This comes first from the hazard of sunspots; sun flares greatly increase the radiation in space by particles moving so fast that their weight is much augmented by their velocity relative to the self-contained space capsule in which we must shield the astronaut and his biological environment. The space age has forced us to look into closed environments
where chlorophyll
know
is
of importance in utilizing carbon dioxide.
the effects of weightlessness on plants, as well as on
We
must
man whose
blood pressure tends to fall and whose calcium and phosphorus pour out of him— problems that cannot be fully investigated on earth. What is more, the questions of extraterrestrial life, besides the problem of sterilizing everything to land, say on Mars, have compelled us to look
some
which require oxygen, others not, to account for our own atmosphere whose oxygen was probably all liberated in an originally reducing atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and, perhaps, some carbon dioxide, like the atmosphere that may envelop Veat the varieties of chlorophylls,
of
291
The
Biological Sciences
The question as to whether there is hfe on Mars is now debated. Mars has some atmosphere, probably somewhat less than a twentieth of ours, with some oxygen and much COj, and its white polar caps are thought to be icy. Living things as we know them are chiefly water organized by macromolecules. Life not too unlike that on earth is not impossible on Mars. In a few years we will probably make a soft enough nus.
landing for instruments to detect Listening to
becomes
many
clear that
it.
debates and reading voluminous
most
reproduction, and usually
NASA
reports,
it
mean by "life" a process of growth, movement of some kind. They seek for ways
biologists
and relay the news to earth. Most plans presuppose that life on Mars will involve the same chief constituents we find here. These they would detect chemically. But to detect movement, they would like something comparable to vision. The communication back to earth is too poor and too slow to relay back televised pictures frequently enough for us to judge of motion. Our device must have ways of detecting it and noting shapes moving and at rest. Again, this to detect these
the metabolism of
new requirement
presses us forward.
The device
for detecting
movement
and shape must have some ability to think, therefore some computer, to select and to compress the significant data. There are many hostile environments, and sometimes simple requirements of size, weight, and speed preclude our sending a fellow man. To replace him with proper simulation in hardware requires that we know well what he does, and, because he has evolved to do it well, it pays to know how he does it. Such simulations created bionics, which has joined the biologist and the engineer in working teams to the advantage of both. Similarly, the problems of telemetering significant measures of life processes, or of hooking the living system directly to a computer, have produced team play, generally fostering a new field of bioengineering. Today there are machines teaching diflPerential diagnosis, and there are prospects of automated clinics as well as artificial pacemakers for failing hearts and artificial kidneys. Every simulation sharpens the biophysical problems and discloses any inadequacy of our conception of the function in question. Contrasted with these rapid and urgent contributions of biophysics and bioengineering, the natural pace of biology is slow for many reasons. This
is
in large part
because
it is
descriptive before
it is
anything
else. Its
observations often require years of careful study to reveal a single process
and aging, and even longer runs to detect the effects of is one reason we know so little of the larger and long-lived mammals in which we are most interested. Moreo\er, even with inbred strains, living things are so various and their enxironmental dependencies so complicated that one often needs to study large numbers of creatures imder a host of conditions to discover a general reguof development
selective breeding. This
larity.
292
McCulloch and Brodey perhaps the chief reason why general biological theories are Wallace could say in a short essay what took Darwin years of study and his ponderous Origin of Species to demonstrate, namely, that spontaneous generation of variants and a selection by the environment could account for evolution. The proof is more difficult and time consuming than one might expect, for often when placed in a new environment, a creature makes a significant change in its apparent form that persists for generations in the new environment only to revert to its original form of ofiFspring when put back into its original environment. This difficulty, in its most piquant form, was studied by Sir Bryan Matthews, who grew rats in a centrifuge, increasing the gravitational force with each generation so that it always exceeded that at which the previous mother could have carried her young. When he demonstrated them at the Cambridge meeting of the Physiological Society in 1953, they walked upright on massive hind legs and were capable of jumping to great heights. Yet their ofiFspring conceived and raised under normal gravity were like their ancestors prior to the whole experiment. Bacteria, with their rapid reproduction, quickly change the enzymes they produce to match the media in which they are placed, and so confuse us in questions of mutation, somatic inheritance, and progressive adaptation. Any and all of these and other mechanisms, comparable to those underlying This
is
so rare.
organism, may account for our everwoe in the appearance of strains of pathogenic organisms that have become resistant to particular chemotherapeutic agents. At this diflFerentiations of cells in a single
present
writing the pressing case
is
the development
Time
by
syphilis of strains resist-
answer these questions. There is now a quickening of the pace in comparative anatomy of the nervous system and in comparative physiology. Yet there are many years of work behind J. Z. Young's The Life of Vertebrates and his work on the octopus as there are behind T. Bullock's two great volumes on the neurophysiology of the invertebrates. From the vantage point atop the accumulated knowledge of comparative anatomy, comparative physiology, and ecology, E. Lloyd Du Brul is at last writing the first chapter of a book that will, in a sense, give us a critically scientific synopsis of ant to present antibiotics.
will
evolution of the vertebrates.
Like begets like not only with the slow variation underlying evolution but also with the surprising appearance of many hybrids. These must be distinguished from mutants by the reappearance of ancestral traits in the ofiFspring of the hybrids. These were best known in domestic plants. Darwin studied them and knew much of the work on them by his contemporaries, for he often quotes them. But he never mentioned Gregor Mendel's work, which appeared just one hundred years ago and was ignored until 1900. It marks the beginning of today's theoretical biology. Mendel, with a training in mathematics and physics as well as in horticulture, pro-
293
The
Biolo2 for which x" + t/" = 2% and it will start computing. Yet, because we have no proof of Fermat's last theorem, we do not know whether the answer exists. This shows that the nature of the difficulty is very real, no mere quibbling matter. That we can build and program such computing machines is due to
puter to seek the smallest integers
x,
t/,
z,
our complete calculus of extension, the so-called lower predicate cal." Even ." and "for all i.e., with "for some becomes mathematically opaque when regenerative closed loops are included to subserve memory. Generally they require a nesting of parenthetical functions of ever earlier times. This difficulty may be solved by finding a transparent symbolism, but twenty-three years of study have not disclosed it. The problem of purposive, homeostatic, or controlled behavior which is the central theme of cybernetics is up against our inability to foresee what will happen when two or more components are coupled. Even if each feedback loop is stable, the combination of several operating upon a given effector may produce destructive oscillations or lock the system in extreme position. We know tricks to handle this problem when both loops are so-called hnear systems, i.e., systems in which an addition of causes leads to an addition of consequences. There can be no general theory of nonlinear oscillations. Only a few simple types can be handled mathematically, usually by the so-called second method of Liapunov. Brian Goodwin has made good use of it in Temporal Organization in Cells. Professor Caianiello, at the 1966 Bionics Symposium, has proposed a sharp physically sound mathematical analysis for handling nonlinear oscillations. It is the first significant advance in this field since Wiener's handling of nonlinear filters. Whatever else a neuron is, mathematically it is a highly nonlinear oscillator. Note that we have been speaking of purely logical and mathematical problems which, regardless of the physics of the system considered, might be made of hardware of any description. Real brains are made of semisolid-state components whose physics we will next consider, because they are the biological substrate of man, real man able to enjoy dialogue. To him we will return from another angle. At every level and between levels there is a dialogue. We shall start from the
culus with quantification,
.
.
.
.
.
that theory
dialogue of H20's.
WATER — *'tHE mother AND MATRIX OF do What one would model atoms like to
reach to
in
is
to start
L
I
F e"
from the ultimate
particles,
so as to explain their chemical properties
forming molecules, and then deduce from
this a
proper model of their
aggregations to explain the structure of micelles and organelles, and then
from these deduce the structure of cells, thence the structure of tissues determining organs and organ systems, and finally to present the orga-
297
The
i
Biological Sciences
anatomy of social man. This is, While we do use theories of atomic structures
nization of these systems into a lively of course, not yet possible.
such as the spin of electrons, valence electrons,
imagine the behavior of atoms,
(2) to
interpret the results in order to determine their is
far
Behavior
is
characteristic of larger,
not be inferred from what is
to help us (1) to
momentary
(3) to
organization,
from a pure deduction.
the process
same
etc.,
design instrumentation, and
we know
more complex, structures that cancomponents separately. The logic and mathematics. Hence this
of their
true of the eternal verities of
limitation cannot be attributed solely to the present state of our knowledge of the components. Nevertheless, the properties of components put constraints on the system they compose, and an inadequate knowledge of these components often leads us astray, as in the case of water in living
systems.
The
liveliness of
water and
its
icy forms in biological organization
is
a
We
had once conceived of cells as sacks of solutions surrounded by a membrane permeable to some ions, not to others. Our thermodynamics, handling only equilibrium, gave us the famous Donnan delightful story.
membrane
equilibrium, to account for the voltage through the
mem-
membranes would be true only if they were dead. Guggenheim has shown that the electrochemical potential cannot be separated into chemical potential and electrical potential at equilibrium. About 1930 Teorell, working with Shedlovsky, showed that they could be separated in the steady state, say by a steady inflow of COo into a sack. But the picture was still wrong for want of a clear theory of the thermodynamics of open systems. Moreover, something was wrong either in the detail of the model of the cell membrane or in the cell contents. The energy of dilution was too small to account for the voltage by simple diffusion. Then Shedlovsky showed that over 80 percent of the conduction of electricity by pure water was due to proton hops, not to migration of OH~ or H2OH+ ions. He constructed a membrane of thin, soft glass permeable to H^", covered by a thin layer of an insoluble barium soap of a simple 10-carbon acid. With the same solution on both sides of the membrane, it produced voltages comparable to those of cell membranes. Just as a battery, by separating locations of oxidations and reducbrane. But such a picture of
tions, can produce a current over a metal that conducts only electrons, so by separating acid and base by a membrane that conducts only protons, a current can be obtained. This proved that one could produce at least one model that might account for the voltage through a membrane. Several things happened that forced the biologist to look into the structure of water in living systems. During World W^ir II studies in explosive decompression of tissues showed that cells were not ruptured but that intercellular spaces expanded making a spongy structure, even when the gases like COo could have passed into cells where there are hosts of par-
298
McCtilloch and Brodey tides that might have served as nuclei for bubble formation. Next, with
the advent of microelectrodes and their insertion in the giant axons of the squid,
it
became
nal electrodes
possible to
and
a
compare the voltages between several
common
external electrode.
electrodes of dissimilar chemical composition
When
inter-
several internal
were simultaneously
in-
comparison of the voltages was incompatible with known electromotive forces in any solutions. Here, again, the living system cannot be explained by the chemistry of solutions. Finally, Szent-Gyorgyi had found that dyestuflFs that fluoresce in water and phosphoresce in ice phosphoresce in muscle and squid axons. The structure of the water in the muscle and its cells must, therefore, be of a form different from that of simple solutions. We are compelled to look at ice. We are now acquainted with seven varieties of ice and have a fair crystallographic understanding of their structures. Around 1930 the first of these, ordinary ice I, had been analyzed. The structure of water was first discussed in the modern crystallographic sense by Bernal and Fowler in 1933.^ The authors were concerned with X-ray scattering, dielectric constants, and with the extra mobility of the hydrogen ion in acid solutions from a quantum-mechanical point of view. From that time on physicists have been studying the structure of water. When ordinary ice, ice I, melts, only 14.4 percent of its shared hydrogen bonds are broken, and even at 37 °C (body temperature), less than a third are gone. Thus throughout this range there must still be bonded clusters of many molecules even if some molecules are separate. The bonds in such clusters endure on the average about 10~^^ sec. as estimated from dielectric relaxation. At 10~^- sec. the molecules can only vibrate. Frank serted,
and Wen,
in 1957, aptly described these clusters as flickering, in the sense
and again breaking up. In 1960 Berendsen and McCulloch produced a model for such a cluster consisting of two parallel pentagonal faces and five warped hexagonal faces. This form would determine properties in conformity with what was then known as the radial distribution curves, coordination numbers, heat of fusion, and maximum density of 4°C. This shape puts little angular strain on the four bonds which naturally stick out like the spikes of a caltrop (at 109°28") as far apart as possible. The cavity of this cage easily accommodates an extra molecule of water. In this, these cages resemble the shells of water, called "calthrates," which form around hydrocarbons to make, for instance, the slush in our gas tanks. Both the cages described and the calthrates, although they can be formed into larger structures in one or more directions, cannot fill all space like a true ice. It is important that they are always rapidly forming
1
Bernal and Fowler, "A Theory of Water and Ionic Solutions with Particular Reference to Hydrogen and Hydroxy! Ions," Journal of Chemical Physics, I (1933), 515-48.
299
The
Biolo(n+J)a
PENTAGONAL MODEL BETWEEN MACROMOLECULES (a) Joining
of pentagonal cages of three macromolecules. (h) Profile in cages necessary for the structure to fit where
view showing distortion
cages join
a proper physical analogue of Shannon's famous coding ensuring in-
formation theoretic capacity— of which more
What happens when we add
later.
ions to water depends, in part at least, on
the strength and form of their shells of water. structure,
some
to strengthen
it.
K+
fits
Some
will tend to
harmlessly in ice
I;
Na+
pulls the
nearest water in too hard, producing a spiky shell that will not
consequently, this ion
expelled as water crystallizes.
is
a melt of last year's frozen seawater as happily as a his applejack, for the alcohol
and
fit,
An Eskimo
New
break and,
drinks
Englander drinks from the ice of
extractives are expelled
freezing cider and are tapped. Let us not here discuss the multiplicity of forces involved, or the particular role each plays in this expulsion.
They
are not fully understood. Similarly,
we
will neglect the
changes in
and enthalpy, etc., which are understood. They physics proper, and the physicists will solve them.
free energy, in entropy
are the business of
They can be understood
in
terms of a drift to equilibrium at the lowered
temperature. Instead, let us
move on
to the relation of
water to molecules which
dissolve in water, the so-called hydrophilic molecules like sugar; those that
do
not, the
hydrophobic, like
philic— called the polar polar end, like soap.
end— and
We
call
oil;
and those that have one end hydro-
the other hydrophobic, called the non-
these amphiphiles.
The
attractions
and
re-
make structures cells. To understand
pulsions of these molecules to water and to each other called micelles, their formation
which constitute many parts of living we must note that in the bulk of liquid water the mole-
and cages are tumbling about, and, therefore, the electromagdue to their valence electrons are on the average equal in all directions. At and near to a surface this cannot be so, and the lopsided fields there produce not only surface tension but also a tendcules
netic fields
301
TJic Biolo'thing. He promised them a new stock of men, unlike the former ones,
his
with
resolve.'
to
throat with his sharp ])lade,
warm
my
cense to their
and kill me. This was the test of truth on which he was resolved. Not content with that, he took a hostage sent him by the Molossian people, .slit the man's still
played
Yet
who would
quired
at night,
his limbs,
race,
would be
of
revealed myself as
I
is
the thought of the destruction of the hu-
homage. Lycaon, however, first laughed at their pious prayers, and then exclaimed: "I .shall find out, by an infallible test, whether he be god or mortal: there will be no doubt about the truth." His plan was to take
be punished, forth-
and sought
others
silent supporters.
the last
god, and the people began to do
.shall all
of the gods shouted their approval
indignation:
of
home
They
to crime!
with, as they deserve. Such
miraculous origin. he was on the point of launching
a race of
Now
and cooked boiling .some
342
thundcMbolts against e\er\ part of the
when he
sudden dread
lest
should set light to the pure upper
air
felt a
he by
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
many
so
up
it trembled, and by its movement threw open channels for the waters. Across the wide plains the rivers raced, overflowing their banks, sweeping away in one torrential flood crops and orchards, cattle and men, houses and temples, sacred images and all. Any building which did manage to survive this terrible disaster unshaken and remain standing, was in the end submerged when some wave yet
and send the whole
fiery bolts,
vault of heaven
in flames.
his trident;
He remem-
bered, too, one of fate's decrees, that a
time would come
dome
the
when
of the sky
sea and earth and would blaze up, and
the massive structure of the universe collapse in ruins. So he laid aside the
weapons
forged by the hands of the Cyclopes, and resolved on a different punishment, namely
send rain pouring
to
down from
every
and
quarter of the sky, and so destroy mankind
higher than the rest covered
beneath the waters. He wasted no time, but imprisoned the North wind in Aeolus' caves, together with
drowned beneath the waters. Now sea and earth could no longer be distinguished: all was sea, and a sea that had no shores. Some tried to escape by climbing to the its
the gusts which dispel the gathering
all
clouds;
On
and he
let
loose the South wind.
dripping wings the South wind flew,
hilltops,
there
was
a
thereafter
crash;
sheets
of
poured down from heaven. Juno's messenger Iris, clad in rainbow hues, drew up water and supplied nourishment to the clouds. The corn was laid low, and the crops the farmer had prayed for now lay flattened and sadly mourned, the long year's toil was wasted and gone for nothJupiter's
his brother
lent
anger
satisfied
own realm
towns and houses under the water; dol-
dashed against high branches, shaking the oak trees as they knocked against them. Wolves swam among the flocks, and the waves supported tawny lions, and tigers
with
Neptune, the god of the assistance of his waves.
summons
sea,
too.
The
He
was
of
and when they entered their king's home: 'No time now for long exhortations!' he cried. sent forth a
to the rivers,
'Exert your strength to the utmost:
curved
phins took possession of the woods, and
of heaven:
him the
their
in
Where lately sinewy goats cropped the grass, now ugly seals disported themselves. The Nereids wondered to see groves and
ing.
Nor was
sitting
grazed vineyards that lay beneath them.
rain
the resources of his
others,
boats, plied the oars
features
terrible
roof,
where lately they had been ploughing; some sailed over cornlands, over the submerged roofs of their homes, while some found fish in the topmost branches of the elms. At times it happened that they dropped anchor in green meadows, sometimes the curved keels
shrouded in pitchy darkness. His beard was heavy with rain, water streamed from his hoary locks, mists wreathed his brow, his robes and feathers dripped with moisture. When he crushed the hanging clouds in his broad hand, his
its
gables lay
lightning stroke of his strong tusk
no use, then,
his swift legs to the
swept away.
to the
wild boar, nor
stag— both alike were
Wandering
birds
searched
long for some land where they might
that
till
what we need. Fling wide your homes, withdraw all barriers, and give free course to your waters.' These were his orders. The rivers returned to their homes and, opening up the mouths of their springs, went rushing to the sea in frenzied tor-
their
wings grew weary and they
into the sea.
is
The
ocean,
all
rest, fell
restraints re-
moved, overwhelmed the hills, and waves were washing the mountain peaks, a sight never seen before. The greater part of the
human ters:
rents.
race
those
was swallowed up by the wa-
whom
lack of food,
Neptune himself struck the earth with
famine.
343
the sea spared died from overcome by long-continued
Great Books Library
••«i
DEUCALION AND PYRRHA
which separates There the fields of Boeotia from those of Oeta. It was a fertile spot while it was land, but now it had become part of the is
sea,
a land, Phocis,
called
When
its
the waters
of the earth, the
summits
to
had covered all the rest boat which carried
little
Deucalion and his wife ran aground here. Of all the men who ever lived, Deucalion
was the best and the most upright, no ever showed more reverence for
woman
first
was to offer prayers to the Corycian nymphs, to the deities of the mountain, and to Themis, the goddess who foretold action
the future from
Now
Jupiter
its
oracular shrine.
saw the earth
with standing waters.
He
all
covered
perceived that
one alone survived of so many thousand men, one only of so many thousand women, and he knew that both were guiltless, both true worshippers of god. So, with the help of the North wind he drove away
played their treetops uncovered, the
mist,
disphued heaven
earth to heaven.
The
sea
rose
mud
behind still clinging to their leaves. The world was restored: but when Deu-
left
calion
the storm clouds and, scattering the veils of
who
covered with
shellfish. Neptune bade him blow on his echoing conch shell, and recall waves and rivers by his signal. He lifted his hollow trumpet, a coiling instrument which broadens out in circling spirals from its base. When he blows upon it in mid-ocean, its notes fill the furthest shores of east and west. So now, too, the god put it to his lips, which were all damp from his dripping beard, and blew it, sending forth the signal for retreat as he had been bidden. The sound was heard by all the waters that covered earth and sea, and all the waves which heard it were checked in their course. The sea had shores once more, the swollen rivers were contained within their own channels, the floods sank down, and hills were seen to emerge. Earth rose up, its lands advancing as the waves retreated, and after a long interval the woods dis-
ridges pierce the clouds.
the gods than Pyrrha, his wife. Their
Triton,
his shoulders
clustering
a broad stretch of waters, suddenly
the stars, and
••
sea-god
from the deep,
formed. In that region a high mountain, called Parnassus, raises twin
the
to
to earth and was no longer
saw
its
deeply
emptiness,
the
desolate
silent, tears started to his
lands
all
eyes,
and he said
to Pyrrha:
'My
cousin,
my wife, the only woman left alive, related to me first b\' birth and blood, then joined to me in marriage— now, P\rrha, oin* very
angry, for the ruler of ocean soothed the waves, laying aside his trident. Then he
344
Ovid: The Metamorphoses dangers unite habitants of
We
With trembling lips she be excused: for she was afraid to injure her mother's ghost by disturbing her bones. But meanwhile they considered
two are the sole inthe lands which east and
us.
all
the
west behold. The sea has taken the rest. Indeed, even yet, I feel no certainty that we shall survive; even now the clouds strike terror to my heart. What would your
and obscure, and pondered them deeply: till after a time the son of Prometheus
be now, my poor wife, had fate snatched you to safety, without saving me? How could you have endured your fears,
Who
soothed the fears of Epimetheus' daughter
with these comforting words: 'Oracles are righteous, and never advise guilty action;
would
had you been left have comforted you in your grief? For believe me, if the sea had taken you with the rest,
I
alone?
my
should follow you,
me
and the sea would have could create
the
father's
If
skill!
earth and give race depends
we have been
nations
only
it
I
anew, by
breath:
now It is
the
my
great mother I
my
intuition deceives
is
means the stones
of the earth. It
human
god's will:
confidence in heaven's counsels. to the test.
They went down
the
loosened
their
ness to
it?
The
stones began to lose their
hardness and rigidity, and after a
The gables of the temple were discoloured with foul moss, and its altars stood unlit. At the temple steps they both fell forward, prone upon the ground, and timidly kissed the chill rock, saying: 'If the gods may be touched and softened by the prayers of the righteous, if divine anger may be thus turned aside, tell us, O
quired a definite shape.
soft.
little,
Then, once softened, they ac-
When they had and developed a tenderer nature, a certain likeness to a human form could be seen, though it was still not clear: they were like marble images, begun but
holy goddess.
grown
in size,
not yet properly chiselled out, or like unfinished statues.
The damp earthy
parts,
containing some moisture, were adapted
make
the body: that which
was solid became bone. What was lately a vein in the rock kept the same name, and in a brief space of time, thanks
repair the destruction
to
and
Most gentle
goddess, assist us in our distress.' pitied them,
veiled
tunics,
lowed, did not ancient tradition bear wit-
grew
'Depart from
hillside,
and threw the stones behind them, as they had been bidden. Who would believe what folheads,
their
they turned their steps to the shrine of the
The goddess
there
Still,
could be no harm in putting the matter
Without delay, they went side by side to the waters of Cephisus which, though not yet clear, were already flowing in their accustomed channel. When they had sprinkled their heads and garments with water drawn from the river
and uttered
my
temple, veil your heads, loosen the girdles of your garthis oracle.
The
daughter was impressed by her husband's surmise; but she did not trust her hopes, for neither of them had any
oracle.
how we may
in the
are in-
Titan's
samples of mankind.'
that has overtaken our race.
we
those
is
structed to throw behind our backs.'
So he spoke, and they wept together. Then they decided to pray to the god in heaven, and to seek help from the holy
Themis,
me, our
the earth, and by her bones
think the oracle
body
I
could mould the
upon us two. left as
only
unless
so,
dear one,
too. If
to
again the words of the oracle, so puzzling
feelings
all
goddess.
prayed
inflexible
to the divine will of the gods, the stones
thrown from male hands took on the appearance of men, while from those the woman threw, women were recreated. So it comes about that we are a hardy race, well accustomed to toil, giving evidence of the origin from which we sprang.
ments and throw behind you the bones of your great mother.' For long they stood in speechless wonder at this reply. Pyrrha was the first to break the silence, by declaring that she would not obev the commands of
345
Great Books Library
DAPHNE AND APOLLO
•«>'i
was no laurel in those days, and any tree served to provide the garland which Phoebus wore around his temples, to crown his handsome flowing locks. Daphne, the daughter of Peneus, was Phoebus' first love, and it was not blind chance which brought this about, but Cupid's savage spite. Not long before,
quiver, full of arrows, he
There
the Delian god,
still
with difterent properties.
love to flight, the other kindles
which kindles love flight
suited to
my
exultant over his slay-
shoulders: for
shafts unerringly, to
human
foe,
as
I
wound
I
one
my
ative.'
mine
lately slew the bloated
and
glory
is
to
took her delight in woodland
haunts and
in the spoils of
emulating
Diana,
Many
a suitor
the
captured beasts,
maiden
goddess,
wooed her
but, turning
roamed the knowing nothing of men,
their entreaties, she
pathless woods,
and caring nothing for them, heedless of what marriage or love or wedded life might be. Again and again her father said: 'It is your duty to marry and give me a
as all animals
>'()ur
it
shaft tipped with lead.
love; the other, fleeing the very
'lover',
away from
But Venus' son replied: 'Your bow will pierce yoti:
its
single ribbon.
pierce everything else, Phoebus, but
are inferior to the gods,
blunt,
That
with her hair carelessK caught back by a
wild beast or
Python with my countless arrows, though it covered so many acres with its pestilential coils. You be content with your torch to excite love, whatever that may be, and do not aspire to praises that are my prerog-
may
is
fell in
word
as these are
can aim
it.
golden, and shining,
With this arrow the god pierced the nymph, Peneus' daughter, but Apollo he wounded with the other, shooting it into the marrow of his bones. Immediately the
had seen Cupid bending his taut bow, and had said: 'You naughty boy, what have you to do with a
Weapons such
is
sharp-tipped; but that which puts
ing of the serpent,
warrior's arms?
drew two darts, The one puts
son-in-law, 'M\' child,
to
that extent less than mine.'
children.'
words he swiftly winged his way through the air, till he alighted on the shadv summit of Parnassus. From his
crime.
Witli these
my
child.'
Often he repeated:
your duty to give me grandHut she blushed, hating the
it is
thought of marriage as
The modest
fair face
346
if
it
were .some
colour crimsoned her
and, throwing her arms round her
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
'My
father's neck, she cried imploringly:
me
dear, dear father, let
maiden
of
bliss
for
ever!
granted her such a boon
Her
cattle in these regions.
in
flee.
but her very loveliness prevented her from being what she desired, and her quest,
His
I
own
to achieve his desire.
or as the
hedge
is
up
in a
fell
As the
harvested
set alight,
if
He
in
to
the son of Jupiter.
name
By my
skill,
and too.
the
of healer. All the properties of
herbs are
known
no herbs
to cure love,
his
to
me: but alas, there are and the skill which said
its
master.'
more,
but
the
time on further blandishments and, as
love
itself
prompted, sped swiftly after
Even so, when a Gallic hound spies a hare in some open meadow he tries by his her.
swiftness
to
by her dog, seeming
hare,
secure
his
swiftness, just
quarry, hopes at
prey,
whfle the
seeks safety:
the
about to fasten on his every moment that he
has her, and grazes her hind quarters with outstretched muzzle, but the hare, uncertain
whether she has not already been
caught, snatches herself out of his very jaws,
and escapes the teeth which almost
touch her.
Thus the god and the nymph sped on, one made swift by hope and one by fear; but he who pursued was swifter, for he was assisted by love's wings. He gave the fleeing maiden no respite, but followed close on her heels, and his breath touched the locks that lay scattered on her neck, till Daphne's strength was spent, and she grew pale and weary with the effort of her
turn shall pursue less swiftly!
whose heart you have charmed. I am no peasant, living in a mountain hut, nor am I a shepherd or his flocks
Claros,
him with his words unfinished; even then, she was graceful to see, as the wind bared her limbs and its gusts stirred her garments, blowing them out behind her. Her hair streamed in the light breeze, and her beauty was enhanced by her flight. But the youthful god could not endure to waste
looked at her eyes, sparkling
herdsman who tends
Delphi,
frightened maiden fled from him, leaving
'Yet stay to inquire
boorish
of
He would have
lips, and do more than look at them. He praised her fingers, her hands and arms, bare almost to the shoulder. Her hidden charms he imagined lovelier still. But Daphne ran off, swifter than the wind's breath, and did not stop to hear his words, though he called her back: "I implore you, nymph, daughter of Peneus, do not run away! Though I pursue you, I am no enemy. Stay, sweet nymph! You flee as the lamb flees the wolf, or the deer the lion, as doves on fluttering wings fly from an eagle, as all creatures flee their natural foes! But it is love that drives me to follow you. Alas, how I fear lest you trip and fall, lest briars scratch your innocent legs, and I be the cause of your hurting yourself. These are rough places through which you are running— go less swiftly, I beg of you, slow your flight, and I
lord
helps others cannot help
bright as stars, he looked at her
wanted
am
the
field,
a traveller
chance to kindle a fire too close, or leaves one smouldering when he goes off at daybreak, so the god was all on fire, his whole heart was aflame, and he nourished his fruitless love on hope. He eyed her hair as carelessly about her neck, and it hung sighed: 'What if it were properly arranged!'
am
and the future are revealed; thanks to me, the lyre strings thrill with music. My arrow is sine, though there is one surer still, which has wounded my carefree heart. The art of medicine is my invention, and men the world over give me
prophetic powers deceived him
light stubble blazes
I
past, the present,
with her, and wanted to marry her.
and he hoped
you do
Tenedos, and of the realms of Patara
father did, indeed, yield to her re-
in love
girl,
are fleeing: in-
deed, you do not, or else you would not
Diana's father
days gone by!'
beauty defeated her own wishes. As soon as Phoebus saw Daphne, he
Silly
know from whom you
not
enjoy this state
and
347
Croat Books Library swift flight.
Then she saw the waters
of
she shrank from his kisses. Then the
tree,
the Pencils: 'O father,' she cried, 'help me!
god
you rivers really have divine powers, work some transformation, and destroy this
surely you will at least be
If
was enclosed
grew
hair
into
leaves,
in thin bark,
arms
her
my
lyre,
my
my
bride,
My
tree.
quivers will always dis-
play the laurel. You will accompany the
Rome, when the Capitol be-
generals of
well!'
soft breast
my
hair,
beauty which makes me please all too Her prayer was scarcely ended when a deep languor took hold on her limbs, her
you cannot be
said: 'Since
holds
when
her into
processions,
joyful voices raise the song of vic-
You
tory.
branches, and her feet that were lately so
triumphal
long
their
posts
will
stand by Augustus' gate-
faithfully
too,
guarding his doors,
her.
He
and keeping watch from either side over the wreath of oak leaves that will hang there. Further, as my head is ever young, my tresses never shorn, so do you also, at all times, wear the crowning glory of
placed his hand against the trunk, and
felt
never-fading foliage.' Paean,
were held
swift
by sluggish
fast
roots,
while her face became the treetop. Nothing of her
was
left,
except her shining love-
liness.
Even
as a tree,
her heart
still
Phoebus loved
beating under the
new
had done: the
bark.
made
Embracing the branches as if they were limbs he kissed the wood: but, even as a
There
is
call
it
if it
were
mained hidden away
a grove in Haemonia, shut in
Tempe. Through
new-
branches, and seemed to nod her
leafy top, as
on every side by steep wooded slopes.
Men
healer,
a head, in consent.
AND JUPITER
lO
•'i
the
laurel tree inclined her
grove
this
in the
depths of his
cave, swelling his stream with tears, and in
utter misery lamenting the loss of his
He
know whether
flow the foaming waters of Peneus, gush-
daughter
ing out from the bottom of Pindus' range.
was
As the
but since he could not find her an\'where he assumed that she was nowhere to be
river roars
downwards, it gathers and scatters its drops
mists of light spray,
on the treetops. The noise of wearies the ear, far beyond
its
waters
found, and his heart feared worse than he
neigh-
knew. Jupiter had caught sight of her as she was returning from her father's stream, and had said: 'Maiden, you are fit for Jupiter himself to love, and will make someone divinely happy when you share his couch. Now, while the sun is at its
the most secret haunt of the great
cave hewn out of he was dispensing justice to the waves and to the nymphs who inhabited clifi^s,
his stream.
To
this spot there
came
she
the shades of the dead:
its
river. Sitting here, in a
the
did not
among
own
bourhood. This was the home, the dwelling,
lo.
alive or
first
zenith, seek shelter from
the rivers
own country— Spercheus,
its
heat
in
the
poplar-
depths of the greenwood,'— and he indi-
the never-resting Enipeus, old Apidanus, gentle Amphrysus, and Aeas:
afraid to go alone into the haunts of wild
of
his
fringed,
cated
none of them knowing whether to congratulate or to condole with Daphne's father. Then all the other rivers came, all the streams which, wherever their course has carried them, at
last
bring
down
beasts:
your for
Only Inachus was not present, but
you
who
their
you
way
god; no
waters, weary with wandering, to the sea.
shady grove— 'and do not be
the
will
be
safe,
though you make
into the ver\' heart of the forest,
will
be under the protection of a at that, but the one heaven's great sceptre, and
common god
holds
launches the roving thunderbolt. run
re-
348
away from me! —for
the
girl
Do was
not al-
Ovid: The Metamorphoses ready fleeing.
She had
left
the
pasture
her,
lands of Lerna behind her, and the Lyr-
cean
when wide
fields,
planted
thickly
with
trees,
the god spread darkness over the earth, concealing
it
from view. Then
he halted the maiden's flight, and robbed her of her maidenhood. Meanwhile Juno looked down over the
wondered
heart of Argos, and
made him reluctant. His love would have triumphed over his sense of shame: but if a gift as trivial as a cow were refused to one who was his sister and his wife, it might seem to be more than a cow. Her rival was handed over, but yet
daytime. She were no river mists, nor were they exhaled from the damp earth. She looked round to see where her husband was: for by now she knew well the deceptions practised by that husband, who had so often been caught behaving as he ought not. When she could not find him in the sky, 'Unless I am mistaken,' she said, 'he is doing me some wrong.' Then, gliding down from high heaven, she stood on earth and bade the clouds disperse. Jupiter had sensed his wife's arrival before she appeared, and had changed night
during
the
bright
that these
Inachus' daughter into a sleek heifer. as
a
cow she was
lovely.
to stop her asking further ques-
about
the other love
that float-
ing clouds should give the appearance of
realized
and
its parentage, said that it had been born of the earth. Then Saturn's daughter asked to have it as a present. What was he to do? It would be cruel to hand over his darling to another, but not to give her looked suspicious. On the one hand shame persuaded him to yield, but on
tions
the goddess did not immediately lay aside all
her fears. She was suspicious of Jove, trickery, until she had given
and afraid of
the heifer into the keeping of Argus, son of Arestor.
Argus had a head
set
with a hundred eyes, of which two
round in
turn
were always resting, while the others kept watch and remained on guard. In whatever position he stood he was watching lo; though he had his back to her, lo was still before his eyes. By day he allowed
Even
Juno, though
her to graze, but
against her will, admired the look of the
when
the sun sank far
below the earth he shut her up, and chained her innocent neck. Leaves of trees were her food, and bitter-tasting grass. Instead of a bed she lay on ground not al-
whose it was, where came from, and from what herd— as if she did not know the truth! Jupiter lied to animal, and inquired it
349
Great Books Library
ways even
grassy,
and
when she
poor
shape. 'Alas,' cried her father, clinging to
Even
the horns of the mourning heifer, and to
drink,
for
she had the niudd\
thing,
rivers.
her snowy neck.
wislied to stretch out her arms
*Alas,' he cried again, 'are you the daughter I have sought the world over? My sorrow was less keen when you were lost than it is now that you have been found. You do not speak, do not answer m\' words, but only heave sighs from deep down in v'our heart, and make lowing sounds in reply— all indeed that you can do. And I knew nothing of this, I was preparing a home and arranging a marriage for you, hoping for a son-in-law, first of all, and then for grandchildren. Now you must have a bull from the herd for husband, and your children will be cattle. I cannot even put an end to such grief by death: it is a hateful thing to be a god, for my sorrow is prolonged to eternity, since the gate of death is closed to me.' So they mourned together, till starryeyed Argus moved her on; driving the daughter away from her father, he herded her into distant pastures. Then he himself sat down on a lofty mountain top, near at hand: for, from that seat, he was able to keep watch in every direction.
appeal to Argus, she had no arms to stretch. W^hen she tried to comphiin, a in
lowing sound issued from her
was
afraid,
by
terrified
lips,
and she
own
lier
voice.
Moreover, when she came to the banks of Inachus' river, where she often used to she saw her gaping jaws and her
pla>',
strange
horns,
reflected
the
in
water.
Frightened and dismayed, she fled from herself.
The n\mphs
of the stream,
Inachus himself did not
and even
know who
she
was: but she followed her father and her sisters
about, allowing
them
to stroke her,
and offering herself to their attentions. The aged Inachus plucked some grasses, and held them out to her. She licked his hand, kissing her father's palms, and could not restrain her tears. If only the words would come, she would have asked for help, and told him her name and her misfortune. Instead of words, she traced letin the dust with her foot, and thus conveyed the sad news of her changed
ters
.ii
•'
AS
Jupiter
CALLISTO AND JUPITER
was hurrying busily
to
and
javelin or her
fro,
sion kindled the very
This
girl
marrow
to
was not one who spent her time
spinning soft fibres of wool, or in arranging her hair in different styles. She
was one of Diana's warriors, wearing her caught back in
b\'
but a
favoinite
is
never
the axe. Here she took her cjuiver
felt
from her shoulders, unstrung her pliant bow, and la\ down on the turf, resting her head on her painted (jui\er. When Jupiter saw her thus, tired and unprotected, he
tunic pinned together with a brooch, her
ribbon, and carrying
dearer than she
the goddess of the Crossways:
never a favoinite for long. The sun on high had passed its zenith, when she entered a grove whose trees had
of his bones.
in
tresses carelessly
bow. None of the nymphs
who haunt Maenalus was
he stopped short at the sight of an Arcadian maiden. The fire of pas.
a white
her hand a light
350
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
'Here
said:
know know of it,
will
is
a secret of
nothing; or
if
which
my
ridge of Maenalus, in high fettle after suc-
wife
she does get to
cessful hunting,
nymph, and
be worth her reproaches!' Without wasting time he assumed the appearance and the dress of Diana, and spoke to the girl. 'Dearest of all my companions,' he said, 'where have you been hunting? On what mountain ridges?' She raised herself from the grass: 'Greetings, it
will
divine mistress,' she cried, 'greater in sight than Jove himself— I care not
if
her
name
she caught sight of the
called to her.
the
At the sound
afraid at
girl fled,
of
lest
first
in disguise: but when nymphs accompanying Diana
was Jupiter
this
she saw the
she realized that there was no trickery here, cult
my
and she joined them.
it is
Alas,
how
diffi-
not to betray guilt by one's looks!
She scarcely raised her eyes from the ground, and did not stay close by the god-
he
hears me!' Jove laughed to hear her words.
dess as she usually did, nor did she take
Delighted to be preferred to himself, he
her place in the forefront of them
kissed
her— not with the
restraint
becom-
ing to a maiden's kisses: and as she be-
gan
to tell of
her hunting exploits
in the
he prevented her by his embrace, and betrayed his real self by a shameful action. So far from complying, she re-
forest,
sisted
him
as far as a
In-
she
nymphs perceived
Now
woman could— had
it,
so
men
say.
the moon's horns were
filling
out
complete their ninth circle, when the goddess wearied with hunting in the fierce
Juno seen her she would have been less cruel— but how could a girl overcome a man, and who could defeat Jupiter? He had his way, and returned to the upper air. The nymph was filled with loathing for the groves and woods that had witnessed
to
came to a cool grove, from which there flowed a murmuring stream that rippled over its smooth sandy bed. Diana exclaimed with pleasure at the sight, and dipped her foot in the water: deheat of the sun,
As she left, she almost forgot to up the quiver that held her darts, and the bow she had hung up. Now as Diana with her attendant company was making her way along the lofty
her
all.
remained silent, and by her blushes gave clear indication of the wrong she had suffered. If Diana herself had not been a virgin goddess, she could have perceived her guilt by a thousand signs; the stead
fall.
pick
lighted with this too,
she called to her
companions: 'There is no one here to see us— let us undress, and bathe in the brook.' The Arcadian maiden blushed. All the rest
351
Great Books Library took off their garments, while she alone
from her throat, angry and (juarrelsome,
sought excuses to delay. As she hesitated, the others pulled off her tunic, and at one
frightening
become a mind remained lui-
she had
hear;
to
bear, but even so her
and the same time revealed her body and
changed, and she declared her grief with
her crime. She stood dismayed, and with her hands vainly tried to cover up the evi-
continual lamentations, raising to the stars
But Diana cried: 'Off
ing Jove's ingratitude, though she could
dence of her with you!
Do
guilt.
in
not speak of
not defile this sacred spring!'
and ordered her company.
to
withdraw from her
huntress
in
her eyes. 'This
is
in
was
fled, terrified of
the hunters. Often
when
she saw wild beasts; though a bear her-
she shuddered at the sight of bears
self,
in
their
wolves
her heart
mountain haunts, and feared though her father was one of
too,
them.
Meanwhile her son Areas had reached He was quite unaware of what happened to his mother, Lycaon's daughter. But one day, when he was engaged in tracking wild creatures in the
the one insult
you shameless woman,' she cried, 'that you should bear a son. Now the wrong done to me has been made public by the birth of your child, and there is proof of my husband's misdemeanour. But you will not escape unpunished! For I shall rob you of that beauty, in which both you and my husband take such delight, you minx!' With these words she seized the hair above her rival's brow, and tugged till the girl fell forward on the ground. As she lay there, stretching out her arms to beg for mercy, these arms began to bristle with coarse black hairs, and her hands that
feel-
a time, not daring
she forgot what she was, and hid
There was now no reason for delay: already a child. Areas, had been born to her rival, and that in itself enraged Juno. She
and
Many
and
wood, she wandered before the home and in the fields that once were hers. Many a time, barking hounds drove her through rocky places, and the
a suitable opportunity should arise.
regarded the boy, with anger
it.
as she had,
to rest in the lonely
The wife of the mighty Lord of Thunder had long since realized what had happened, and was resolved to inflict stern punishment, but had postponed doing so until
heaven such hands
the age of fifteen.
lacking,
woods, choosing suitable hunting grounds and encircling the copses of Erymanthus with his nets, he came face to face with her. She stopped when she saw Areas, and
seemed to recognize him: but he, not knowing the reason for such behaviour, shrank back, terrified of this beast, which gazed at him so fixedly, never taking her eyes off him. As she tried, in her eagerness,
to
approach him, he would have
pierced her heart with his deadly spear:
curved round, turning into crooked claws,
but
which then served as feet. Her face, which Jupiter had once praised, was disfigured by wide gaping jaws. Then, lest her prayers and imploring words should wake sym-
and prevented a crime being committed, by removing both mother and son. A whirlwind carried them up, together, through the void of heaven, and then he in the sky, as neighbouring set them
pathy,
power
the goddess deprived her of the of speech.
A
harsh growling issued
almighty
constellations.
i.
...i
352
Jupiter
stayed
his
hand,
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
ACTAEON AND DIANA
•'i
There
was
with
needled
a valley, thickly
and
pitchpine,
cypress
and
Gargaphie,
trees.
was
overgrown
with
sharp-
was
called
to
Diana,
It
sacred
over their mistress.
Now mus,
Far in its depths lay a woodland cave, which no hand of man had wrought: but nature by her own devices had imitated art. She had carved a natural arch from the living stone and the soft tufa rocks. On the right hand was a murmuring spring of clear water, spreading out into a wide pool with grassy banks. Here the goddess, when she was tired with hunting in the woods, used to bathe her fastidious limbs in the pure wathe
ter.
goddess
When
of
she
the
hunt.
entered
the
grotto
his
itant
ter
of
rest,
hair
hung
in
capacious
jars,
the grove
but the goddess was
taller
own than
they,
When
clouds reflect the sun's rays, as bright as rosy dawn. rades,
who
Though hidden by her comgathered closely round her, she
stood turned aside, looking back over her
had her arrows ready to hand: instead, she caught up a
shoulder. She wished she
Nephele, Hyale,
handful of the water which she did have, and threw it in the young man's face. As she sprinkled his hair with the vengeful
drew up the
drops she also spoke these words, ominous
Rhanis, Psecas, and Phiale
water
all
head and shoulders above them all. she was caught unclad, a blush mantled her cheeks, as bright as when
she
Crocale, the daugh-
loose.
filled
Diana, they sheltered her with their bodies,
Ismenus, gathered up the tresses
own
man, and
with their sudden outcry. Crowding round
which lay scattered on the goddess' shoulders, and bound them into a knot, though her
steps
sight of a
javelin to
than the
for the present abandoned came wandering with hesthrough this wood which he
their nakedness, beat their breasts at the
her sandals. Yet another attendant, more skilled
who had
hunting,
had never seen before. He reached the grove— so were the fates directing him— and entered the cave, which was moist with spray. The nymphs, discovered in
one of the nymphs, who acted as her armour-bearer, along with her quiver and her bow, unstrung. Another nymph received her cloak and hung it across her arm, while two more took off
handed her
while Diana was bathing there in
her stream, as usual, the grandson of Cad-
and poured
of
it
353
coming
disaster.
'Now,
if
you can, you
Great Books Library
ma>
tell
dresseci.'
made
how
yoii
saw me when
She uttered no more
I
was
over the rocks and crags, over unapproach-
iiii-
able
threats, birt
ing
way
where she had scattered water on his brow. She lengthened his neck, brought the tips of his ears to a point, changed his hands to feet, his arms to long legs, and covered his body with a dappled skin. Then she put panic fear
in
his heart as well.
and even
fled,
as
himself so swift. face
and
he tried
The hero
he ran, marvelled to find When he glimpsed his
all.
chaetes fastened his teeth
in
his master's
but no words came.
clung to his shoulder. They had been slow to begin the chase, but had outstripped the
to say 'Alas!'
before.
the his
he changed
voice
others by taking a short cut over the
mind remained the same What was he to do? Return
to the royal palace, or
woods? He was ashamed
to
hide in the
do the
first,
do the second. As he hesitated, his hounds caught sight of him. Melampus and the wise Ichnobates were the first to give tongue, Ichnobates of the Cretan breed, and Melampus of the Spartan.
Then
the others rushed to
the chase, swifter than the wind,
Pam-
and Dorceus and Oribasus, all Arcadians, and strong Nebrophonus, fierce Theron and Laelaps too. Pterelas, the swift runner, was there, and keen-scented Agre, Hylaeus who had lately been gored by a wild boar, Nape, offspring of a wolf, Poemenis, the shepherd dog, Harpyia with her two pups, Ladon from Sicyon, slenderflanked, and Dromas and Canace, Sticte and Tigris, Alee, white-coated Leucon, and black -haired Asbolus; with them was Lacon, a dog of outstanding strength, Aello the stout runner, Thous and swift Lycisce with her brother Cyprius, Harpalus, who had a white spot in the middle of his black forehead, and Melaneus and shaggy Lachne, Lebros and Agriodus, both cross-bred of a Cretan mother and a phagus
father,
shrill-barking
moun-
While they held their master down, the rest of the pack gathered, and sank their teeth in his body, till there was no place left for tearing. Actaeon groaned, uttering a sound which, though not human, was yet such as no stag could produce. The ridges he knew so well were filled with his mournful cries. Falling to his knees, like a suppliant in prayer, he silently swayed his head this way and that, as if stretching out beseeching arms. But his friends, not knowing what they did, urged on the ravening mob with their usual encouragements and looked round for Actaeon, shouted for Actaeon, as if he were not there, each trying to call louder than the other. They lamented that their leader was absent, and that his slowness prevented him from seeing the booty chance had offered. Actaeon turned his he-ad at the sound of his name. Well might he wish to be absent, but he was all too surely present. Well might he wish to see and not to feel the cruel deeds of his hounds. They surrounded him on every side, fastening their jaws on his body, and tore to pieces the seeming stag, which was in fact their master. OnK- when he had been dispatched b\ wounds innumerable, so men say, was the anger tains.
afraid to
Spartan
at
back, then Theridamas and Oresitrophus
cheeks. Only his as
through places where the go-
difficult,
his bonis, reflected in the water,
He groaned— that was all had— and tears ran down
home
clifl^s,
was
and where there was no Actaeon fled, where he had himself so often pursued his quarry, fled, alas, before his own faithful hounds. He longed to cry out: 'I am Actaeon! Don't you know your own master?' but the words he wanted to utter would not come— the air echoed with barking. First Melan-
the horns of a long-lived stag sprout
Hylactor,
and others whom it would take long to name. The pack, eager for its prey, swept
of
Diana,
appeased.
354
the
quiver-bearing
goddess,
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
T
While
I
RE
s
these things were being done
on earth by
fate's decree,
cradle of twice-born Bacchus
while the
was
s
••
act of
striking
striker
to
you that
it
the opposite sex,
changes the I
shall
now
strike
it
that Jupiter put aside his
born returned.
He, then, was chosen to give his verdict this playful argument, and he confirmed what Jupiter had said. Then, they say, Juno was more indignant than she had any right to be, more so than the case demanded, and she condemned the judge in
to eternal blindness. It
woman. Once, when two huge serpents were
A
you again.' So, by striking the same snakes, he was restored to his former shape, and the nature with which he was
safely
happened, so the story goes, weighty cares; mellowed by deep draughts of nectar, he indulged in idle banter with Juno, who shared his leisure, and teased her, saying: 'Of course, you women get far more pleasure out of love than men do.' Juno denied that this was true. They decided to ask the opinion of the wise Tiresias, for he had experienced love both as a man and as a guarded,
I
is
not possible for
any god to undo the actions of another god, but in return for his loss of sight, the omnipotent father granted Tiresias the power to know the future and softened his punishment by conferring this honour upon him. His fame spread throughout the Aonian cities, and when the people consulted him he gave replies with which none could find fault.
in-
tertwining themselves in the depths of the
green wood, he had struck them with his
from being a man he was miracuchanged into a woman, and had lived as such for seven years. In the eighth year he saw the same serpents again and said: 'If there is such potent magic in the staff;
lously
355
Great Books Library
ECHO AND NARCISSUS dark The the first
river
nymph,
Liriope,
to test his reHabihty
and
was
learned to speak
She was the nymph whom Cephiembraced with his cui-ving stream, imprisoned in his waves, and forcefully ravished. When her time was come, that nymph most fair brought forth a child with whom one could have fallen in love even in his cradle, and she called him
Echo
fulness.
sus once
Narcissus.
When
asked whether ripe old age,
the prophetic seer
this
boy would
he replied:
'Yes,
live if
in
a
he does
talk,
a
body
then, she
power
was not
of speech
it
is
nymphs could
until the
And
voice.'
threats.
flee.
When
in
Echo
fact
still
she carried out her
repeats the last words
spoken, and gives back the sounds she has heard.
love with him, but his soft
when another
is
Juno realized what was happening, she said: 'I shall curtail the powers of that tongue which has tricked me: you will have only the briefest possible use of your
young body housed a pride so unyielding that none of those boys or girls dared to touch him. One day, as he was driving timid deer into his nets, he was seen by that talkative n\niph who cannot stay silent
Her name
was no now. All she could do was to repeat the last words of the many phrases that she heard. Juno had brought this about because often, when she could have caught the n\Tnphs lying with her Jupiter on the mountainside, Echo, knowing well what she did, used to detain the goddess with an endless flow of
come
fell
herself.
but although she was always
from what
different
this
girls
had
chattering, her
to know himself.' For a long time pronouncement seemed to be nothing but empty words: however it was justified by the outcome of events: the strange madness which afflicted the boy and the nature of his death proved its truth. Cephisus' child had reached his sixteenth year, and could be counted as at once boy and man. Many lads and many
not
still
just a voice:
was to
first
Echo, and she always answers back.
truth-
So,
when
she saw Narcissus wandering
through the lonely countryside. Echo in
his steps.
The more
the nearer was the
speaks, but yet has not
her:
356
fell
love with him, and followed secretly in
just
as sulphur,
closely she followed,
which scorched smeared round the
fire
r Ovid: The Metamorphoses tops of torches,
flame
is
is
quickly kindled
brought near
it.
How
when
had played with her affechad previously treated other spirits of the waters and the woods, and his male admirers too. Then one of those he had scorned raised up his hands to heaven and prayed: 'May he Narcissus
a
often she
tions,
wished to make flattering overtures to him, to approach him with tender pleas! But her handicap prevented this, and would not allow her to speak first; she was ready to do what it would allow, to wait for sounds which she might re-echo with her
own voice. The boy, by
himself
able to gain his
down here: for he was by the beauty of the place, and by the spring. While he sought to quench his thirst, another thirst grew in him, and as he drank, he was enchanted by the beautiful reflection that he saw. He fell in attracted
love with an insubstantial hope, mistaking a mere shadow for a real body. Spellbound by his own self, he remained there motion-
with fixed gaze, like a statue carved from Parian marble. As he lay on the bank, he gazed at the twin stars that were his less,
worthy of Bacchus or Apollo, his smooth cheeks, his
eyes, at his flowing locks,
complexion, admiring
her voice alone remained; they say, were turned to
stone. Since then, she hides in the
woods,
and, though never seen on the mountains, is
heard there by
all:
only part of her that
for her voice
still
is
all
the features for
which he was himself admired. Unwittingly, he desired hirrtself, and was himself the object of his own approval, at once seeking and sought, himself kindling the flame with which he burned. How often did he vainly kiss the treacherous pool, how often plunge his arms deep in the waters, as he tried to clasp the neck he saw! But he could not lay hold upon himself. He did not know what he was look-
Only her voice and her bones were finally
where a rosy snowy whiteness of his
ivory neck, his lovely face flush stained the
the freshness of her beauty withered into
for her bones,
he too be unloved one!' Nemesis heard
Narcissus, wearied with hunting in the
and was increased by the pain of having been rejected. Her anxious thoughts kept her awake, and made her pitifully thin. She became wrinkled and wasted; all
till
we
May
heat of the day, lay
her love remained firmly rooted in her
air.
love with another, as
always cool.
heart,
left,
in
and granted his righteous prayer. There was a clear pool, with shining silvery waters, where shepherds had never made their way; no goats that pasture on the mountains, no cattle had ever come there. Its peace was undisturbed by bird or beast or falling branches. Around it was a grassy sward, kept ever green by the nearby waters; encircling woods sheltered the spot from the fierce sun, and made it
chance,
that day, she dwells in lonely caves. Yet
the
fall
have done with him!
had wandered away from his faithful band of comrades, and he called out: 'Is there anybody here?' Echo answered: 'Here!' Narcissus stood still in astonishment, looking round in every direction, and cried at the pitch of his voice: 'Come!' As he called, she called in reply. He looked behind him, and when no one appeared, cried again: 'Why are you avoiding me?' But all he heard were his own words echoed back. Still he persisted, deceived by what he took to be another's voice, and said, 'Come here, and let us meet!' Echo answered: 'Let us meet!' Never again would she reply more willingly to any sound. To make good her words she came out of the wood and made to throw arms round the neck she loved: but he fled from her, crying as he did so, *Away with these embraces! I would die before I would have you touch me!' Her only answer was: 'I would have you touch me!' Thus scorned, she concealed herself in the woods, hiding her shamed face in the shelter of the leaves, and ever since still
treating her as he
the
lives.
357
Great Books Librartj
when
but was fired by the sight, and exthe very ilhision that deceived by cited his eyes. Poor foohsh boy, why vainly grasp at the fleeting image that ekides >'ou? The thing you are seeking does not exist: only turn aside and you will lose what you love. What you see is but the ing
at,
shadow it
is
by your reflection; in nothing. It comes with you, and
while go,
if
No
cast
\'()u
go
are there;
it
will
the
movement
me
in
itself
lasts
go when you
What
\'ou can.
separate
grass,
prayer
spot. Stretched on the shady he gazed at the shape that was no true shape with eyes that could never have their fill, and by his own eyes he was undone. Finally he raised himself a little. Holding out his arms to the surrounding woods: *Oh you woods,' he cried, 'has anyone ever felt a love more cruel? You surely know, for many lovers have found you an ideal haunt for secret meetings. You who have lived so many centuries, do you remember anyone, in all your long years, who has pined away as I do? I am in love, and see my loved one, but that form which I see and love, I cannot
to
keeps us apart.
am
be embraced: for whenever to kiss the clear waters he
I
My
How
I
little
very plenty wish I could
body!
A new
a lover, to wish the thing
Now of life
grief
my
cut off in the flower of
my me—
sapping
is
remains for
have no quarrel with death,
youth.
for in
death
I I
my pain: but I could wish that of my love might outlive me: as
shall forget
the object it is,
this
both of us will perish together,
one
life is
When
when
destroyed.'
he had finished speaking, he
turned to gazing distractedly
at that
re-
same
face. His tears disturbed the water, so that
the pool rippled, and the image grew dim.
He saw
it disappearing, and cried aloud: 'Where are you fleeing? Cruel creature, stay, do not desert one who loves you! Let me look upon you, if I cannot touch you. Let me, by looking, feed my ill-
starred love.' In his grief, he tore
away
the
upper portion of
his tunic,
struck
apples often shine red
and beat his bared breast with hands as white as marble. His breast flushed rosily where he
love himself desires lean for-
up his mine and strives to reach me. You would think he could be reached— it is ward
have.
m\self from m\
this, for
strength;
I
My
I
poor.
he loves away!
deluded by my love. My distress is all the greater because it is not a mighty ocean that separates us, nor >et highways or mountains, or city walls with close-barred gates. Only a little water
signs
can guess from
of your lovely lips, reply to
desire,
I
makes me
him from the
am
1
words that never reach my ears. Alas! I am m\self the boy I see. I know it: my own reflection does not deceive me. I am on fire with love for my own self. It is I who kindle the flames which I must endure. What should I do? Woo or be wooed? But what then shall I seek by my wooing?
thought of food or sleep could draw
reach: so far
my
was weeping. You answer
I
with nods, and, as far as
lifts
face to
in
it,
just
as
part, while part
gleams whitely, or as
such a small thing that hinders our love.
grapes, ripening in variegated clusters, are
Whoever you are, come out to me! Oh bo\ beyond compare, why do you elude me? Where do you go, when I try to reach you?
When Narcissus saw water— for the pool had retinned to its former calm— he could bear it no longer. As golden wax melts with gentle heat, as morning frosts are thawed b\' the warmth of the sun, so he was worn and wasted awa\- uith loxe, and slowly consumed b\ its hidden fire. His fair com-
Certainly
it
is
not
my
looks or
my
tinged with purple. this reflected in the
years
which you shun, for I am one of those the nymphs have loved. With friendly looks you proffer me some hope. When I stretch out m\' arms to you, you stretch yours towards me in return: you laugh when I do, and often I have marked \()ur tears
plexion
with
gone was
358
its
rosy
flush
faded away, and all the
his youthful strength,
Ovid: The Metamorphoses beauties which lately
charmed
weary head on the green grass, and death closed the eyes which so admired their owner's beauty. Even then, when he was received into the abode of the dead, he
eyes.
his
Nothing remained of that body which Echo once had loved. The nymph saw what had happened,
and although she remembered her own treatment, and was angry at it, still she grieved for him. As often as the unhappy boy sighed 'Alas,' she took up his sigh, and repeated 'Alas!' When he beat his hands against his shoulders she too gave back the same sound of mourning. His last words as he gazed into the familiar waters were: 'Woe is me for the boy I loved in vain!' and the spot re-echoed the same words. When he said his last farewell, 'Farewell!' said
Echo
too.
He
laid
down
kept looking at himself in the waters of the Styx. His spring,
is
one of
tured,'
The
pyre, the tossing torches, and the were now being prepared, but his body was nowhere to be found. Instead of his corpse, they discovered a flower
his
centre.
his
punishment
for an instant: however, he questioned the prisoner, and said: 'You are on the point of death, and by your death
all
you
sacred mysteries.'
behind his back.
a
man
of
bound Lydian
parentage, and a follower of the god. Pentheus looked at him, terrible anger in his eyes.
He
could
scarcely
bear to
serve
as
a
warning
to
others.
name and
the
names of your parents, tell me where you were bom, and why you celebrate the rites of this new cult.' The other was quite unperturbed. He replied: 'My name is Acoetes, I was bom in Lydia, and my parents were of humble stock. My father did not
who celebrates And they handed
He was
will
Speak, then, reveal your
priest
over a prisoner, whose hands were
with
a circle of white petals round a yellow
had not seen him. 'But here companions we have cap'a
The wood
and Echo sang
bier,
his
they said,
too,
of the
off their
her refrain to their lament.
inquired where Bacchus was, they de-
clared they
and cut
hair in tribute to their brother.
their
ter
nymphs
the
for him,
nymphs mourned him
the band returned, Nowstained with blood. When masof slaves
sisters,
mourned
delay
leave
359
me any
fields for
sturdy bullocks to
Great Books Library
He was man, as I am, and used to catch fish with hook and line: with his rod he drew them, leaping, from the stream. His fisherman's skill was all his wealth. This he passed on to me, saying: "Take such riches as I have, be my successor and heir to my craft." So he died, leaving me nothing but the waters. These alone can I call my inheritance. But I did not wish to spend the rest of my hfe on those selfsame rocks, so I soon learned to put my hand to a ship's rudder, and I marked well the till,
and blond Melanthus, who was our lookand Alcemidon said the same; so did Epopeus, whose task it was to apportion spells of rest, and to set the time for the rowers, spurring them on with his voice.
or any wooll>- flocks, or herds.
a poor
out,
All the others agreed with
rainy constellation of the Olenian goat, Taygete and the Hyades, and the Bears, and made myself familiar with the homes of the winds, and harbours fit for ships. It
happened I
put
that as
in to
men rowed
I
was making
the shores of Chios.
I
easily to the beach;
I
leaped
from the boat, and landed on the moist sand. There we spent the night. 'When the first flush of dawn appeared I rose, and showed my comrades the way fresh water.
them
restored
to fetch
myself climbed a high
I
what the breeze promised: then I called my men, and made my way back to the ship. Opheltes was the first of my friends to return. "Here we are!" he cried, and came along the shore, bringing with him a boy, as pretty as a girl. He had found him alone in a field, and had taken
low.
I
and was scarcely able
came
cannot
"What god
is
slid
down
after
his
to this place?
to
in the
will give
by
to fol-
all
that so hoist
drinking bout. the
all
sailors,
how
Where do you
in-
reach, and >ou will be set
land of your choice." "Direct
you hospitality." By the sea and
the gods the>- treacherously swore
would
it
sail
in
be,
and
the\- told
me
the painted ship. Naxos
to
was
on the right hand: but as I set my sail towards the right, Opheltes shouted: "You fool, what are >ou doing? What madness
within that body,
has possessed >'ou?"
are,
in,
cr\'ing:
"Make
And
every
man
for the left!"
joined
Most
of
them indicated their purpose by a nod, but some whispered in my ear what they was horrified. "Someone meant to do.
our behalf!" cried Dictys, the quickest man who ever climbed to the topmost halyard
and
throat
>our course towards Naxos," Liber told them. "My home is there, and that land
The
but a god there
whoever you
again,
you want
is. I pray be gracious and assist our labours. Grant pardon, too, to these your captors." "No need to pray on
you,
tell,
I
down
and his bearing, and saw that everything indicated him to be more than mortal. When I realized this, I said to my comI
my
and would
tend to take me?" "Do not be afraid," Proreus soothed him. "Tell us what harbour
looked at his clothes, at his features,
panions:
at
fists,
shouting?" he asked. "Tell me,
boy, drowsy with sleep and wine, seemed to stumble,
he tore
"What goes on here? What means
hill
to see
possession of this prize, as he thought.
blind
have dashed me overboard into the sea, if I had not, half-stunned as I was, clung to a rope which held me back. The scoundrelly crew applauded his deed; and then at last Bacchus, for it was Bacchus, intervened, as if his slumbers had been dispelled by the shouting and his senses
oars-
lightly
that led to a spring, telling
tried to resist him,
with his strong young
for Delos,
The
them— so
was their lust for plunder. But I retorted: "I have the chief say in this matter. I will not allow a ship of mine to become accursed by carr>'ing off holy cargo,"— and I barred the gangway of the ship. This enraged Lycabas, who was the boldest of them all. He had been banished from his city in Lydia for a horrible murder, and was enduring exile as a punishment. When
1
else
can take the rudder!"
I
cried,
and
refused to have anv share in their wicked-
again by the rope. Libys
360
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
They
ness, or in the sailing of the ship.
tigers
all
my
whole crew muttered angrily. Then one of them, Aethalion by name, exclaimed: "I suppose you think the safety of us all depends on you alone!" and he himself took my place, and performed my duties. Leaving Naxos behind, cursed me,
and lynxes and panthers with dap-
pled skins.
The
sailors
leaped overboard,
sped on, striking the sea with their oar-
whether in madness or in fear I cannot tell. Medon's body was the first to darken in colour, and his spine arched into a well-marked curve. Lycabas began to say to him: "What kind of monster are you turning into?" But even as he spoke, his own mouth widened, his nostrils became hooked, and his skin hardened into scales. Libys, as he strove to pull the sluggish oars, saw his hands shrinking into small compass, saw that they were no longer hands, but might rather be called fins. Yet another, as he tried to lift his arms to handle the twisted ropes, found that he had no arms and, arching his limbless body, sprang backwards into the waves. The end of his tail was sickle-shaped, bent round like the horns of a half-moon. On
blades.
all
he sailed off in a different direction. 'Then the god made sport of them. As if he had only just perceived their treachery, he stood on the curved stern, looking out over the sea, and pretended to
weep. "These are not the shores you promised me, sailors, this is not the land I asked for. What have I done to deserve such
What
treatment?
credit
is
it
for
a large
grown men to cheat a solitary boy?" I had long been weeping; but my wicked crew laughed at my tears, and band
of
'Now
sails
with heavy
clusters.
a
wand draped with
him
lay
hand he
phantom shapes ••«i
tiated into the sacred mysteries and, since
flourished
Around
then,
of wild beasts,
PYRA
about,
they sprang
blowing out the sea-water that washed into their broad nostrils. Where there had lately been twenty men— for that was the ship's crew— I alone remained. I was trembling with cold and fear, scarcely in my right mind; but the god comforted me, saying: "Be not afraid, make for Dia's isle." Brought safely to that island, I was ini-
The god
vine-leaves.
leaped
of spray:
throwing their bodies about in wanton play, like some troupe of dancers, and
himself wreathed his head with bunches of grapes, while in his
creatures
out of the water, and dived under again,
the blades in curling tendrils, and adorned the
these
sides
dashing up clouds
swear to you by that god himself—for there is no god greater than he— that what I tell you is as surely true as it seems past belief. The ship stood still in the water, as if held in a dry dock. The sailors, in surprise, kept on plying their oars and spread their sails, trying to run on with the help of both; but their oars were hampered with ivy, which twined up I
I
have been one of Bacchus' wor-
shippers.'
M U S AND
T
H
I
S
BE
•
and Thisbe lived next door to in the lofty city whose walls of brick are said to have been built by Semiramis. Pyramus was the most handsome of young men, and Thisbe the
been married, but
beauty of the East. Living so near, they came to know one another, and a friendship was begun; in time, love grew up between them, and they would have
communicated by nods and signs, and the more it was concealed, the more their hidden love blazed up. There was a crack, a slender chink, that
Pyramus
None
each other,
their parents forbade
it.
the less— for this their parents could
not forbid— both their hearts were caught in love's snare,
passion.
fairest
361
and both burned with equal
No one
shared their secret: they
Great Books Library
would
had developed in the party wall between their two houses, when it was being built. This fault had gone unnoticed for long years, and the lovers were the first to find
it:
steal
it
channel for their voices,
as a
means
endearments were one another, in the gentlest of whispers. Often when Pyramus stood on this side, Thisbe on that, when in turn they felt each other's breath, they used to exclaim: 'Jealous wall, why do you
and by
safely
this
conveyed
stand in the
way
their
to
of lovers?
How
little
it
once
watchmen and outside
their
any.
Her
came
to the
face
hidden by her
veil,
she
down under the Love made her bold. But
tomb, and
sat
appointed tree. suddenly a lioness, fresh from the kill, her slavering jaws dripping with the blood of her victims, came to slake her thirst at the neighbouring spring. While the animal was still some distance off, Thisbe saw her
in vain, on their opposite At nightfall, they said good-bye, and though they could not reach each other
talked,
sides.
with their kisses, they kissed their
doors;
waters came forth the night. Stealthily Thisbe turned the door on its hinges, and slipped out into the darkness, unseen by
would be to ask that you should let us embrace or, if that is too much, that you should at least open wide enough for us to exchange kisses! Not that we are ungrateful—we admit that it is thanks to you that we have any way at all by which our words can reach our true love's ears.' So they
of
homes, they would make their way out of the city too; and in case they should miss each other, wandering aimlessly in the open country, they agreed to meet at Ninus' tomb, and to hide in the shade of its tree. For a tree grew there, a tall mulberry, hung thick with snowy fruits; it stood close by a cool spring. They were enraptured with their plan. The daylight seemed slow to depart, but at last the sun plunged into the waters, and from those
nothing can escape a lover's eyes!
They used
try to slip past the
out
own
the moonlight. Frightened, she fled into
side of the wall.
in
Next day, when Aurora had put out night's starry fires and the sun's rays had
the darkness of a cave, and as she ran her
dried the frosty grass, they usual meeting place. At
came
first,
veil slipped
to their
left
from her shoulders, and was
behind.
When
the savage lioness had dnink her and was returning to the woods, she found the garment, though not the girl,
softly sigh-
lamented their sad lot. Then they determined that, at dead of night, they ing, they
fill,
362
Ovid: The Metamorphoses and tore
its
fine fabric to shreds, ripping
writhing on the bloodstained ground, and
it
Her cheeks grew paler than boxwood, and she trembled as the sea
started back.
with bloodstained jaws.
Pyramus came out of the city a Httle later. He saw the prints of the wild beast, clearly outlined in the deep dust, and the colour drained from his face. Worse still,
shivers
wound with drops kissing
He
full
picked up Thisbe's
there
is
some flaw
its
this
was the place
or not.
cold
salt
and passionately
cheeks.
when
'Pyramus,'
she recognized
exclaimed:
sword,
its
my
deed;
me
'Alas,
she
her
own
your
love, as great as yours, will give
strength to deal the wound.
follow you in death, and
men
will
shall
I
speak of
me
as at once the unhappy cause and the companion of your fate. Only death could have separated you from me, but not even death will part us. Most wretched parents, mine and his, I beg this one boon for us both: since our steadfast love and the hour of our death have united us, do not grudge
that
we be
And
you,
laid together in a single
O
tree,
tomb.
already sheltering one
hapless body, soon to shelter two, bear
marks of our death: always dark and mournful hue, to make men remember the blood we two have shed!' As she spoke, she placed the sword blade beneath her breast, and fell forward on the steel, which was still warm from Pyramus' death. Her prayers touched the gods, and they touched the parents for ever the
have
made
fruit of a
also: for the
her uncertain; she was unable to decide
whether
his
blood,
hand and your love have destroyed you. I, too, have a hand resolute for this one
in the lead,
fruit
his
and saw the ivory scabbard empty of
veil,
and through the narrow hissing crack a long stream of water shoots out, and beats on the air. The fruits of the tree were sprinkled with his blood, and changed to a dark purple hue. The roots, soaked in his gore, tinged the hanging berries with the same rich colour. Now, though Thisbe had not yet quite recovered from her fear, she came back; for she was anxious not to disappoint her lover. She looked about for the youth with eager eyes and heart, impatient to tell him of the perils she had escaped. But although she recognized the spot, and the shape of the tree, yet the colour of
her tears, mingling the
with
Thisbe,
ever.
and carried it into the shade of the tree where they should have met. Weeping and kissing the garment he knew so well, he said: 'Drink deep, now, of my blood too.' And as he spoke he took the sword which hung at his waist, and thrust it into his side: then, with a dying effort, pulled it out of the warm wound. As he lay, fallen back upon the ground, his blood spouted forth, just as when a water pipe if
sur-
'What mischance has taken you from me? Pyramus, speak to me! It is your own dear Thisbe who is calling you! Hear me, and raise your drooping head!' At Thisbe's name, Pyramus opened his eyes, which were already heavy with death's stupor; then, with one last look, closed them for
veil,
bursts,
its
cried.
of danger, and did not arrive first myself. Come, all you lions who live beneath this cliff, come and tear me limb from limb! With your fierce jaws, devour my guilty person. But it is a coward's trick, only to
pray for death!'
a soft breeze ripples
moment's pause, she recognized her love. Wailing aloud, she beat her innocent arms, tore her hair, and embracing his beloved form, bathed his
he found the veil, all stained with blood. Then he cried out: 'This night will bring about the death of two fond lovers, and of the two she deserved to live far more than I. 'Tis I who am to blame: poor girl, I who killed you! I told you to it was come, by night, to a place that was
when
face. After a
is
As she
of the
stood in doubt, she saw the quivering limbs
neral
363
berry of the tree,
when
ripe,
and the remains gathered from the fu-
a dark purple colour,
two fires,
lovers,
rest together in
a single urn.
Great Books Library
THE RAPE OF PROSERPINE Ceres was
the
to
first
come up from his dark dwelling and, in chariot drawn by black horses, was
break up the sods
of earth with the crooked plough, she
planted
first
com and
she imposed the All
we
have,
first
cultivated
his
cautiously driving round the foundations of
crops,
laws on the world.
we owe
to
Ceres.
the Sicilian land.
Of her
must I sing: I pray that my songs may be worthy of the goddess, for surely the goddess is worthy of my song.
his fears
tried
to
rise
again:
who was
seated on
son, she said:
'My
you who are arms and hands to me, and all my power, take those all-conquering darts, my Cupid, and shoot your swift arrows into the heart of the god to whose lot fell the last of the three kingdoms. You have conquered the divinities of the upper air, including Jupiter himself, and hold them in subjection; yes, and the gods of the
he spat
sea,
lord.
and flame from his cruel jaws. Often he strove to throw aside the weight of earth, and roll off the towns and massive hills that secured him. At such times the earth trembled and even the king of the silent shades was afraid lest the ground should split and gape wide open, and the davlight thus admitted to his kingdom
also,
Why
is
not excepting their over-
Tartarus
left
alone?
Why
not
extend your mother's domain, and \'our
own? A
third part of the world
we
while of the
than
is
at stake,
display such tolerance that
are being scorned in heaven.
god of love are dwindling, no
m\ own. Don't you
see
we
The powers
how
less
Pallas
and the huntress Diana have been lost to Ceres' daughter, too, will remain a virgin, if we allow it, for she has that same ambition. But do \nu, if vou have anv
me?
frighten the trembling ghosts. a disaster, the txrant
and
but mean-
son,
forth ashes
Dreading such
sufficiently
places,
set at rest:
Embracing her winged
but his right
it,
weak
her mountainside, saw him on his travels.
hand was pinned under Ausonian Pelorus, his left under Pachynus, while his legs were fastened down by Lilybaeum. Etna weighed heavily upon his head; as he lay stretched on his back beneath
had been
while the lady of Eryx,
The vast island of Sicily had been piled on top of Typhoeus' limbs, and the giant who had dared to hope for a home in heaven was crushed and held under by its mighty mass. He struggled, it is true, and often
He had made
sure that there were no
had
364
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
kingdom which we
feeling for the
share,
lived
herself
was the most nymphs, and from took its name. She rose she
there:
bring about a union between the goddess and her uncle.' Such were Venus' words.
famous of the
Cupid opened
from the midst of her waters as far as her waist, and recognized the goddess. 'You will go no further, Pluto!' she cried. 'You cannot be the son-in-law of Ceres, if she does not wish it. You should have asked for the girl, instead of snatching her away. If I may make a humble comparison, I too have been loved, by Anapis. But it
his
quiver
and,
her the pool
his
at
mother's wish, selected one of his thousand arrows, the sharpest
and
and most
surest,
obedient to the bow. Then, bending his pliant
bow
against
his
knee,
he struck
Pluto to the heart with the barbed shaft.
Not far from Henna's walls, there is a deep lake, called Fergus. The music of its swans rivals the songs that Cayster hears on its gliding waters. A ring of trees enclothing the lakeside
circles the pool,
Sicilian
itself
he had won me by his prayers became his bride, I was not fright-
was
after
that
I
ened into marriage
all
like this child.
As she
around, and the leaves of the trees shelter
spoke, she stretched out her arms on either
the spot from Phoebus' rays, like a screen.
side, to block
Their boughs afford cool shade, and the
son,
lush
meadow
is
bright with flowers. There
urged on
always spring. In this glade Proserpine was playing, picking violets or shining
strong
it is
lilies.
With
their path. Pluto,
Saturn's
contained his wrath no longer, but
grim steeds, and with his
his
arm hurled
his
royal
sceptre
to
Where it struck the ground opened up to afford
the depths of the pool.
childlike eagerness she gath-
bottom, the
ered the flowers into baskets and into the
a
gown, trying to pick more than any of her companions. Almost at one and the same time, Pluto saw her, and loved her, and bore her off— so swift is love. With
crater received his
wailing cries the terrified goddess called
more often to her mother. She rent and upper edge of her garment, till the flowers she had gathered fell from its loosened folds: and she was so young and
that none wasted away with weeping, she dissolved into those waters of which she had lately been the powerful spirit. Her limbs could be seen melting away, her bones growing flexible, her
innocent that even this loss caused her
nails losing their firmness.
Her captor urged on his chariot, called each of his horses by name, encouraging them to greater efforts, and shook his reins, dyed a dark and sombre
parts of her
folds of her
to her
down. As
shown silently
mother, and to her comrades, but
raced,
across
On
dark
they
Palici,
originally
had
from
Corinth
built their city walls
her heart a
in
hair,
wound
entirely
until,
The
body dissolved
first
slenderest of
her fingers, her legs and
needed but a
little
change
slight limbs
into
chill
all,
her
feet. It
to transform her
waters; after that
substantial streams, living
blood,
till
away
into in-
at last, instead of
water flowed through her
who
softened veins, and nothing remained for
on its between
anyone to grasp. Meanwhile Proserpine's mother Ceres,
place where the Bacchiadae, a people isthmus,
hurtled
her fountain's rights, nursing
for
breast disappeared, fading
that boil
up, bubbling, through the earth; past the
came
it
her shoulders, her back, her sides, her
deep lakes and over the
sulphurous pools of the
as
for
could heal;
distress.
hue, above their necks and manes.
and the yawning
chariot
Cyane, she lamented the rape of the goddess, and the contempt
tore the
fresh
road into Tartarus,
two harbours, a larger and a smaller one. Half-way between Cyane and Pisaean Arethusa there is a narrowing stretch of sea, shut in by jutting headlands. Cyane
with panic
in
sea.
When
tresses,
365
her heart, vainly sought her
all lands and over all the Aurora came forth, with dewy she never found the goddess rest-
daughter over
Great Books Library ing,
nor did Hesperus, the evening
Holding
in
either
hand
torch kindled at Etna's
disphu'ing on
star.
a
blazing pine
fires,
she bore them
Proserpine's
have
through the darkness of the frosty nights, never relaxing her search. When kindly
it
the
surface
fallen in her sacred pool.
and
well,
as
the water
Ceres
only then learned of her
as loss:
again she beat her breast. She
if
all
it,
she had
again and still
know where her daughter was, but proached
to
knew
soon as she recognized
tore her dishevelled hair,
day had dimmed the stars, still she sought her daughter from the rising to the setting sun. She grew weary with her efforts, and thirsty too, but before she found a spring of water to moisten her lips, she chanced to see a thatched cottage. She knocked at the humble door, and an old woman came out. When she saw the goddess and heard that she wanted some water, she gave her a sweet drink, into which she had sprinkled roasted barley. While Ceres was drinking this, a cheeky bold-faced boy stopped in front of her, taunting her, and calling her greedy. While he was still speaking, the offended goddess threw in his face the mixture of liquid and barley grains which she had not yet finished. As it soaked into his skin his complexion became spotted; he developed legs where previously he had had arms, and in his changed shape he acquired a tail as well. To prevent him from doing much mischief, he shrivelled up until he was like a tiny lizard, but even smaller. The old woman wondered and wept; she put out her hand to touch the strange creature, but it fled away, seeking a hiding-place; and now it bears a name appropriate to its disgrace, derived from the multi-coloured spots which star its body. It would take a long time to name the lands and seas over which the goddess wandered. She searched the whole wo ridin vain: and when there was no place left for her to search, she came back to Sicily. As she journeyed over the length and
of
which happened
girdle,
did not she re-
the lands of the earth, calling
them ungrateful, undeserving of the gift of com. More than all the rest, she blamed Sicily, where she had found traces of her she broke with hands the ploughs which turned up the earth, and in her anger condemned the farmers and the oxen which worked their fields to perish alike by plague. She ordered the fields to betray their trust, and caused seeds to be diseased. The land whose fertility had been vaunted throughout the whole world lay barren, treacherously disappointing men's hopes. Crops lost one. So, in that island,
cruel
perished as soon as their
They were
peared.
much
first
destroyed,
now by
shoots ap-
now by
too
winds and stormy seasons harmed them, and greedy birds pecked up the seeds as they were sown. Tares and thistles and grass, which could not be kept down, ruined the sun,
torrential rain:
corn harvest.
Then the n\'mph whom Alpheus loved, Arethusa of Elis, raised her head from her pool and, shaking back the dripping locks from her brow, said to Ceres: 'Great mother of the com crops, you who have sought your daughter throughout the whole world, enough of unending toil, enough of violent rage against the faithful earth! No blame attaches to the earth: if it gaped open to receive that robber, it did so reluctantly.
It
is
not for
my own
was born in Elis, Pisa birthplace. I came here as a
breadth of the island, she visited Cyane
land that
amongst other places. Had the nymph not been changed to water, she could have told
was m\
Ceres everything: but though she wished
beyond all others. This is now Arethusa's home, and this her dwelling. Do you, most gentle goddess, keep it safe. As to why I left my country
I
plead;
stranger, but Sicily,
to speak, she had no mouth, no tongue, nothing with which to talk. However, she
did give the mother an obvious clue, by
366
I
I
though
I
love this land
am
not a native of
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
deed was no crime, but an Only give your consent, and
and travelled across such a stretch of sea to Sicily, it will be time enough to tell of that later, when you are relieved of your anxieties, and can look more cheerful: suffice it now, that the earth opened up a way for me and, after passing deep
this
Ortygian
down through
its
lowest caverns,
I
lifted
ing through the Stygian pool beneath the
saw your Proserpine, with She was sad, certainly, and her face still showed signs of fear: none the less, she was a queen, the greatest in that world of shadows, the powerful conearth, there
I
eyes.
underworld.'
sort of the tyrant of the
When stood,
had inpomegranate from a drooping branch, and had placed in her mouth seven seeds taken from its pale husk. The only person who saw her was
she heard these words, the mother
as
long time seemed to be dazed;
till
nocently picked
her
crushing distress was replaced by bitter
and she went soaring up
indignation,
her
chariot,
into
the
realms
of
in
her father's heart to pity.
my
child.
For behold,
Do
so
men
in the
herself
say, to her
whom Orphne
own Acheron
bore,
long ago
dusky woods of Avernus, where she was not the least famous of the
He saw Proserpine what he had seen, cruelly prevented her return. Then the queen of Erebus moaned in distress, and changed nymphs
of the grove.
and, by telling
not regard
because she the daughter
less affection
a
Ascalaphus, the son
aether.
There she stood before Jupiter, with clouded brow, her hair all disarrayed, and said accusingly: 'I have come, Jupiter, to intercede for one who is your child as well as mine. If her mother has no influence with you, at least let your daughter move her with any
the well-tended gardens, she
in
turned to stone, and for a
if
son-in-
law will not disgrace us. Though he had no other qualities to recommend him, it is a great thing to be the brother of Jove. What then, when he does possess other qualities, and yields place to me only because of the luck of the draw? However, if you are so eager to separate them, Proserpine may return to heaven, but on one definite condition, that no food has passed her lips in that other world. Such is the provision made by the decree of the fates.' Jupiter had finished. Ceres was still resolved to rescue her daughter, but the fates would not allow it to be so, for the girl had broken her fast. While wandering
up my head again in these regions, and saw the stars which had grown strange to me. So it happened that, while I was glid-
my own
act of love. this
the
is
informer into a bird of evil omen.
Sprinkling
I
have sought so long has now at last been found— if you call it "finding" to be more certain that I have lost her, or if knowing where she is is finding her. But I shall overlook the theft, provided she be returned. A pirate is no fit husband for your daughter, even if she is no longer mine.' Jupiter answered her: *Our child is as dear to me as she is to you, and I feel my responsibility no less. But if you will only call things by their proper names,
Phlegethon feathers
head
his
gave
she
and huge
eyes.
with
him
He
water
beak
a
lost his
from and
human
shape, and found himself clad in tawny
wings; his head increased in size in proportion to his body, he developed long
hooked
and could scarcely raise had sprouted along his
talons,
the feathers which
languid
arms.
screech
owl,
a
He became
a
loathsome
bird,
sluggish
which
heralds impending disaster, a harbinger of
woe
.«>ii
,..
367
for mortals.
Great Books Library ••
When
Minerva had listened
stories,
and of
Then she
said to herself:
Arachne's the
into balls in
with her fingers, drawing out the
one long
soft thread, or
handwhether
deft thumb, or embroidering the finished material. It
was easy
had been
to see that she
taught by Pallas: but the
girl herself
de-
Offended at the suggestion that she had had any teacher, no matter how distinguished, 'Let Pallas come and compete with me!' she cried. 'If I am defeated, she can do what she likes with me!' nied
this.
Pallas
made
herself
up
put false streaks of grey
as an old
woman,
in the hair at
her
temples, and took a stick to support her
in a
lived in the small village
Then she began to speak Arachne, saying: 'Not all the things that
tottering steps.
Hypaepae, had gained a reputation throughout all Lydia by reason of her skill.
to
age brings in its train are to be shunned: with advancing years, we gain old
Often the nymphs used to leave the vine-
Tmolus
in
movements, whether she
she was twirling the slender spindle with
of
clad slopes of their beloved
skilful
still
stages of her task, or working the
ling, into
better than her husband. Their daughter,
still
first
stuff
Arachne was not of high rank, or noble family, but her talent had made her famous. Her father was a native of Colophon, called Idmon, who earned his living by dying absorbent wool with Phocaean purple. Her mother was dead, but she also had been of humble origin, no
cottage and
••
fleecy cloud of wool, with constant
herself.
bom
E
was winding the coarse yarn
'It is
what
I want is to be praised myself, and not to have others scorn my divine powers with impunity.' As she spoke, her thoughts turned to the fortunes of Arachne, a young woman of Maeonia, whose skill in spinning, so the goddess had heard, was earning no less admiration than that of Minerva
however, although she had been
HN
being woven. There was such grace
their righteous
not enough to praise other people:
A RA C
completed, but even while they were
such
to
she expressed her approval
of the Muses' song,
indignation.
MINERVA AND
experience. Pay heed, then, to
to ad-
my
mire her work, and the river nymphs came
seek recognition as the best of
from the waters of Pactolus. They enjoyed seeing the cloths, not only when they were
spinners, but admit the
all
advice;
mortal
supremacy of the goddess, and humbly ask her pardon for
368
Ovid: The Metamorphoses your hot-headed words. She will forgive you, if you ask her.' Arachne left the piece of weaving which she had begun. She eyed the old woman sullenly, and could scarcely
neath their breasts, out of the way, the
from striking her. Anger showed plainly on her face, as she answered Pallas, whom, of course, she did not recognize. 'You have lived too long,' she said, 'that is what is wrong with you. You are worn out with old age, and your mind is feeble too. If you have any daugh-
not conscious of the labour involved. Into
keep
to
what you have
worked with
girl
all
the cloth they in
wove threads dyed purple
Tyrian coppers, shades of colour
differ-
ing so slightly that they could scarcely be distinguished:
a shower,
after
so,
when
the sunlit rainbow paints heaven's vault
with
long arc, though a thousand dif-
its
listen
ferent colours shine there, the transition
can look after
from one to another is so gradual that the eye of the beholder cannot perceive it.
let
to say. I
them
the
the looms. In their eagerness, they were
herself
or daughters-in-law,
ters
and
goddess
speed, their hands moving skilfully over
myself. Don't imagine that your warnings effect on me; I am still of same opinion. Why does Pallas not come in person? Why does she avoid my
Where they meet, the colours look the same, yet their outer bands are completely
challenge?' 'She has come!' cried the god-
terwoven, as old stories were pictured on
dess and, throwing off the disguise of an
the looms.
have had any the
woman, she revealed
old
deed
that she
was
different. Pliant gold thread, too,
in-
Pallas' tapestry
showed the rock
on the acropolis of Cecrops'
Pallas.
The nymphs and the women of Mygdonia reverently humbled themselves before the goddess. They were all terrified,
Jupiter in their midst.
was recognized by
the
sky
but
crimsons a
in
little
when Aurora
for
a
victory
their
glorious
his
Each
own
of the gods
particular fea-
was one of royal Neptune was standing up, the rugged rocks with his long
dignity, while striking
foolishly
thought she could win, rushed upon her fate. Jove's daughter uttered no more warnings; she
all
tures: the figure of Jove
first
while shines white
which she
and the
majesty, were seated on lofty thrones, with
with the light of sunrise. She persisted in going on with her plan and, in her eagerness
of Mars,
what name the land should
deteiTTiine
have. Twelve gods, in
unwilling cheeks, and receded again, just
stirs,
in-
ancient contest that took place there, to
except Arachne, and even she leaped to her feet, and a sudden flush swept over her as
city,
was
trident.
From
and by
this
the
cleft,
the sea gushed out,
token he claimed the
city.
To
herself, Pallas
gave a shield and a sharp-
tipped spear.
On
her head she wore her
helmet, and her breast was protected by
accepted the challenge, and post-
poned the competition no further. Without wasting any time, she and Arachne
the aegis.
took their stance in different parts of the
berries,
Then she showed
the earth put-
ting forth a hoary olive tree, complete with
room,
where she had struck the ground with her spear. The gods were gazing in
frames to the crossbeams, separated the
tory completed the picture.
and each stretched the slender theads on her loom. Then they bound their threads of the
awe
warp with the heddle and,
Then,
with flying fingers wove the crossthreads in
at this miracle,
to
and the
figure of Vic-
give her rival illustration of
the reward she might expect for her insane
between, by means of the sharp-tipped
audacity, the goddess
As these threads were drawn through the warp, a blow from the comb with its notched teeth beat them into place. With their garments tucked up be-
added four scenes,
depicting contests, one in each corner,
shuttles.
all
though shown in miniature. One corner held Haemon and Thracian Rhodope, now icy mountains but once
brilliantly coloured,
369
Great Books Library
human
beings,
selves
the
gods.
A
happy
who dared
names
to
who
give them-
second corner showed the un-
queen
fate of the
later
bore him twin sons, and he was
deceiving Bisaltis as a ram. The goldenhaired mother of the corn crops, gentlest
greatest of the
of the
of goddesses,
of the P\'gmies.
knew him
Juno, after defeating her in a contest, had
horse,
ordained that she become a crane, and
snaky-haired princess,
declare
war on her own people. The god-
then.
still
applauds herself with
steed,
Phoebus was there, in peasant garb, and showed how he dressed himself, at one time in a hawk's plumage, at another in a lion's skin, and how he disguised himself as a shepherd to deceive Macareus' daughter, Isse. There was also
clat-
Cinyras after his bereavement, embracing
had once been
to the
the mother
other scenes
The remaining corner showed
the temple steps which
and
tic features.
Laomedon, could save her She grew wings and, as a shining
tering beak.
who was
he appeared as a were correctly depicted, people and places had their authen-
father,
white stork,
the shape of a
bird. All these incidents
dared to almighty Jupiter: royal Juno changed her into a bird. Neither the city of Troy nor her
in
as a dolphin,
winged
the
of
Antigone too, who once compete with the consort of
portra>ed
dess
Melantho
his
a picture of Bacchus, tricking Erigone with
daughters' limbs, and weeping as he lay
the semblance of a bunch of grapes, and
on the stone. Then Pallas embroidered the edges with
one of Saturn,
the symbol of peace.
olives,
own
ing waters.
The
held fast
b\'
tree.
flowers, intertwined with clustering ivy.
Neither Pallas nor even Jealousy personified
tle of
C\torian bo.xwood which she held three
times,
four
times,
in
she
showed Asterie
struck Idmon's daughter on the forehead.
Arachne found her plight be\ond endurance: with a fine show of spirit, she fastened a noose round her neck, to hang herself. But Pallas pitied her, as she hung
tapestry
how he
turned
there;
daughter as a flame, Mnemosyne as a shepherd, and Demeter's daughter, Proserpine, as a spotted snake.
She showed Neptune, his
too,
affair
changed
into
ate's
with Aeolus'
this
daughter. Disguised as the river god Eni-
was making love
lifting
her up,
may go on
the
goddess said:
you wicked girl, but you must be suspended in the air like this, all the time. Do not hope for any respite in the future— this same condition is imposed on \()ur race, to \'our remote descendants.' Then, as she departed, she sprinkled Arachne with the juice of Hec'You
Amphitryon when he embraced the lady how he tricked Danae by changing into a shower of gold, deceived Asopus'
peus, he
which displayed the crimes com-
her hand,
of Tir\ns:
for
The
mitted by the gods. Then, with the shut-
Antiope, and assumed the likeness of
bull
the work.
tion at her rival's success, tore to pieces the
tapestry
himself into a sat\r to bestow twins on
fierce
in
the struggling eagle, and
Jupiter in disguise, showing
a
could find an\- flaw
golden-haired goddess, wild with indigna-
Leda reclining under the swan's wings. Then the girl added further pictures of
fair
half horse,
half
Arachne wove a picture of Europa, deceived b>' Jupiter when he presented himself in the shape of a bull. You would have thought that the bull was a live one, and that the waves were real waves. Europa herself was seen, looking back at the shore she had left behind, crying to her companions, and timidly drawing up her feet, shrinking from the touch of the surgtoo,
the shape of a horse,
man. The outer edge of the cloth, bordered b\' a fine hem, was gay with
This was the end of her task: she finished her wea\ing with her
in
creating the centaur Chiron,
IumI).
living,
ImnicdiateK,
baneful potion, the
out, her nostrils
at
370
dropped too, and nothing. Her
and her ears went
her head shrank almost to
to Aloeus' wife.
the touch of
girl's liair
Ovid: The Metamorphoses whole body, likewise, became
Her
tiny.
belly;
to serve as legs,
and
all
the rest of her
king of Athens,
seeing
web
was
that
his
Tereus was rich and powerful, and a descendant of mighty Mars himself, gave him his daughter's hand in marriage. But
Hymen
neither the Graces nor
who bestows bridal pair
upon
their
She was
way, with torches
men,
regarding
what
is
A
flame of desire was kindled
when he saw
was further excited by
her, flaring
in
up
burns withered
Her
his
own
passionate
nature, for the people of his country are
an emotional race. So, thanks to the fault
temperament and of his own, he burned with ardent passion. His
of the national
impulse was to bribe the attendants
guarded
her,
loyalty, to
their
to
undermine her
who
nurse's
with magwhole kingdom to seize her and carry her defend his prize by savage
tempt the
girl herself
nificent gifts, lavishing his
on her: or else off, and then to fighting. There was nothing that his unbridled passion would not dare. His heart could not contain the fires that burned
advantage.
Now
one
who
beauty, indeed, was excuse enough, but he
day on
to
beauty.
often hears of the naiads and dryads
as quickly as the fire that
So blind are truly
own
descriptions
corn, or dry leaves, or stores of hay.
Pandion's
brated as public holidays.
her
that
as hers.
daughter had married the noble king of Thrace, and the birthday of their son Itys, too, should be cele-
which
in
still
the
like
Tereus' heart
knowing what impended, rejoiced
that the
Phil-
haunt the depths of the woodlands, if only they wore ornaments and garments such
with their king and queen, as the royal pair themselves gave thanks to the gods;
made
when suddenly
richly attired in gorgeous
robes, but richer
the
she would not be
her,
visit
omela appeared,
chamber. Such were the omens when Procne and Tereus were married, such the omens when they became parents. Thrace,
proclamation was
coming, and to deliver his wife's mespromising that if her sister were
allowed to
stolen from funeral processions. Furies prepared the marriage couch, and the cursed screech-owl brooded over their house, perched on the roof above their marriage
little
busy with her
ii-
kept away too long,
her blessing upon brides, was lit
is
as of old.
sage,
nor Juno,
present at that ceremony. Furies
she yet spins her
belly,
TEREUS AND PHILOMELA
•'i
Pandion,
from that
thread, and as a spider
slender fingers were fastened to her sides,
autumns had passed away, as the sun rolled on his yearly course, when five
Procne spoke coaxingly to her husband: Tf you love me at all, send me to see my sister, or else have my sister come here. You can promise my father that she will not be long away from home. A chance to see Philomela will be a magnificent gift for me.' Tereus gave orders for ships to be launched and, with the help of sail and oars, came to the harbours of Cecrops' land, where he disembarked on the shore of Piraeus. As soon as he was admitted to
He was impatient, now, of delay, and eagerly turned back to deliver Procne's message, and to put forward his own plea under cover of hers. Love made him eloquent, and whenever his request seemed too pressing, he declared that Procne would have it so. He enforced his arguments with tears, as if his wife had entrusted him with those as well.
within.
O
the presence of his father-in-law, the king,
gods above,
how
blind
we
mortals are!
The very acts which furthered his wicked scheme made people believe that he was
they shook each other by the hand, and
exchanged the usual greetings. Then Tereus began to explain the reason for
a devoted husband, and he
371
was praised
for
Great Books Library Phil-
her movements, her hands, and imagining
omehi shared his eagerness. Throwing her arms round her father's neck, she coaxed him to let her go to visit her sister, and begged him, as he hoped for her welfare, to agree to a plan which was, in fact, entirely contrary to it. Tereus gazed at the princess and already, in anticipation, held her in his arms. As he watched her kissing Pandion, throwing her arms about his neck, the sight of all this goaded him to greater frenzy, and added food and fuel to his desire. When he saw her embrace the king, how he wished that he were her father! Yet even had he been so, his desires would still have been equally wicked. The king yielded to the wishes of his two daughters: Philomela, overjoyed, thanked her father and supposed, poor girl, that his decision was a victory for herself and her sister, when in fact it was to be the
the parts he had not seen to be just as he would have them. So he fostered his love,
his
criminal
ruin of
Now
them
behaviour.
Moreover,
both.
had but a little way to go, were galloping down the slope of the evening sky: a kingly banquet was spread upon the tables, and the golden goblets were filled with wine. After the and
the sun
his horses
feast, the guests retired to
peaceful slum-
But the Thracian king, though he had gone to bed, was in a fever of love for the princess and lay, recalling her face, bers.
too restless to sleep.
When the dawn came, and Tereus was on the point of departure, Pandion clasped his hand and, with tears in his eyes, begged him to look after his companion. 'My dear son,' he said, 'since your affectionate pleading leaves trust this child of
me
mine
no choice,
I
en-
to you, in accord-
own wishes, Tereus, and two daughters. I beg you, by your honom-, by the gods above, and by the relationship that binds us, to watch over her like a father, and to send back to me, as soon as may be, this dear girl ance with your
those of
who
is
my
the comfort of
time will drag for me,
my all
old age.
The
the while she
is
you love me at all, come back to me as soon as you can. It is enough that your sister is so far from home.' With these injunctions, he kissed his daughter good-bye, crying quietK' as he did so. He asked them both to give him their hands as a pledge that they would keep their promise and then, joining their hands together, begged them to remember to convey his greetings to his absent daughter and to his grandson. Sobs choked him, so that he could scarcely manage to away.
And
you, Philomela,
if
Ovid: The Metamorphoses utter a last farewell:
his
mind was
am my
sister's rival, you a husband twice and Procne ought, by rights, to be my enemy. You traitor, why not take my life from me as well, to complete your crime? How I wish that you had done so, before I was forced into that unspeakable union! Then my ghost would have been guiltless. Yet if the gods above take notice of these things, if the power of heaven is more than an empty name, if all has not been lost, though I am lost, then one day no matter when, you will pay the penalty for this. I myself will throw aside all modesty, and proclaim your deeds. If I have the chance, I shall come forward before your people, and tell my story. If I am to be kept shut up in the woods, I shall fill the forests with my voice, and win sympathy from the very rocks that
filled
with anxious foreboding.
Once
was
Philomela
painted ship,
when
up under the
oar-blades,
over,
on
the sea
board
the
was churned
and the land
left
behind, then the barbarous prince cried
have won! I have on board with girl I prayed for!' In his triumph he could scarcely wait for the joys which he out:
me
'I
the
anticipated, could not tear his eyes
away
from his prize: as when an eagle, seizing a hare in its crooked talons, deposits the prize in its lofty eyrie— then the captor gazes gloatingly on the prisoner, for
whom
no escape. They had accomplished their journey and, on reaching their own shores, disembarked from the travel-worn ship. The king dragged Pandion's daughter to a high-walled steading, hidden in the dark depths of an ancient forest, and there he there
is
her
shut
She,
up.
for
her
part,
girl,
pale
Her words roused the
its scabbard where it hung at his and seizing his victim by the hair, twisted her arms behind her back, and bound them fast. Philomela, filled with hopes of death when she saw the sword, offered him her throat. But even as she poured out her scorn, still calling upon her father, and struggling to speak, he grasped her tongue with a pair of forceps, and cut
out of
it
still
the tongue
to herself again,
quivered itself
her arms and beat them against her breast,
writhed convulsively,
incoherently
when
she were in mourning. Then, stretch-
it
in
her throat, while
lay pulsing
ing
if
The remaining
out with his cruel sword.
stump
she tore her disordered hair, clawed at
as
Goaded on by
waist,
and above all She was quivering with fear, like some timid lamb which has been mauled and cast aside by a grey wolf, and cannot yet believe in its safety: or like a dove, its feathers matted with its own blood, still trembling and afraid of the greedy talons which held it fast.
came
fierce tyrant to
less.
both these passions, he snatched his sword
to the gods, for help.
she
will
and any god that dwells
anger, and to fear no
while she vainly called aloud
when
Heaven
degradation.
cries,
there!'
to her father, to her sister,
Soon,
my
hear
and trembling, frightened of everything, begged him with tears to tell her where her sister was. Instead, he told her of his guilty passion and, by sheer force, overcame the struggles of the lonely and defenceless
my
witnessed
to
and murmur-
dark
the like
has newly been cut
earth.
It
a
snake's
off
and, dying,
Even
tail
ing out her hands, she cried: 'You horrible
tried to reach
barbarian, you cruel scoundrel! Are you
this atrocity,
quite
unmoved by the charges my father upon you, by the affectionate tears he shed as he let me go? Do you care nothing
bring myself to believe
laid
his guilty passion often took his pleasure
for
my
youth,
sister's
or
for
anxiety,
your
have confounded
all
for
my
feelings:
mistress' feet.
they say, though it,
I
after
can hardly
that the king in
with the body he had so mutilated. After such behaviour, he had the au-
innocent
own marriage? You natural
its
dacity to go back to Procne.
When
queen saw her husband, she inquired
I
373
the for
Great Books Library lier sister,
own
and he
tlieii
told her a tale of
fore, the (}ueen left
her home,
all
read\' for
declared that Phil-
the worship of the god, and carrying the
omela was dead, groaning in pretended grief, and convincing the listeners by his tears. Procne tore from her shoulders her bright robes, with their broad golden hems, clothed herself in black, and set up an empty tomb, at which she made offerings to a ghost that was no ghost, and lamented the sad fate of her sister, whose sufferings were far other than she thought. The sungod had driven his car through the twelve signs of heaven, and a full year had passed. What could Philomela do? She was closely guarded to prevent her escape, the walls of the steading were
weapons of his frenzied followers. Her head was wreathed with vine leaves, a deerskin was slung over her left side, and she carried a light spear resting on her shoulder. Then she went whirling through the woods, accompanied by her
his
in\ention:
lie
stout, built of solid stone,
her
dumb
ritual
attendants, a figure that struck terror to heart. She pretended that she was being driven by Bacchus' frenzy, but it
the
was the fury
of grief that drove her on. At
came
length she
to the
hidden steading.
Amid howls and Bacchic
cries
the gates
were broken down; then Procne seized hei sister, dressed her in the costume of one Bacchus' worshippers, concealing her
of
lips
could not reveal what had happened. But
face with ivy leaves, and led the bewil-
and pain breed great ingenuity, and be inventive. Cunningly she set up her threads on a barbarian loom, and wove a scarlet design on a white ground, which pictured the wnong she had suffered. When it was finished, she gave it to one of her servants and, by her gestures, conveyed to the girl that she wished her to take it to the queen. The servant did as she was asked, and carried the tapestry to Procne, without knowing what she was giving her.
dered
grief
When
words,
she
could
none
enough. There was no time for stead,
.she
concentrated on
other's
the
sister's sobs, sa\'ing:
This
is
more
effecti\ e
am
than the sword,
to go to any lengths of crime, m\' sister— either to set the palace alight, and trap that scheming Tereus in the flames, or to cut out his tongue and his e\es, to hew off the limbs which wronged you, and drive his guilty soul from his body, through a thousand gaping wounds. The revenge prepared must be something tremendous: but I am still in doubt as to what it should be.' if
on
Rhodope rings with the cymbals. By night, there-
night, b\' lught shrill
She gazed steadfastly at and her gestures conveyed
for tears, but rather for the sword,
or anything
for
to confound completely the issues and wrong. It was the time of the solemn festival which the young women of Thrace celebrated every three years in honour of
clashing of
of liacchus' festival
sorrow.
ground,
no time
tears. In-
rites are carried
emblems
cut short her
was
Bacchus. Their sacred
the
Procne, blazing with uncontrollable anger,
of right
by
that accursed house, she shud-
what her voice could not: for she was eager to swear by the gods that she had been forcefully assaulted and disgraced.
revenge, and rushed ahead with a plan that
in distress,
eyes, considering herself the cause of the
bitter
schemes
to
dered
from her unhappy sister's brow, and uncovered her downcast face. She flung her arms around her, but Philomela did not dare to lift her head or meet her sister's
when she sought find
come
moved
the woven cloth, she read there the unhappy story of her own misfortunes. She uttered not a word: it was incredible how she restrained herself, but her grief was
for
to the palace.
Philomela realized that she had
and grew deathly pale: but Procne, having gained her home, re-
the cruel tyrant's wife unfolded
too great for speech and,
back
girl
When
distress teaches us to
374
such
>'ou have.
I
prepared
Ovid: The Metamorphoses While Procne was speaking,
up
to his mother.
The
Itys
came
it
gested what she could do and, looking at him with ruthless eyes, she murmured: 'How like his father he is!' Without an-
be present
so,
arms, kissing her and prattling childish endearments, the mother was shaken. Her anger was checked and, against her will,
could
me
her eyes. But as soon
sister?
See the kind of
to a distant part
some
dragging
banks,
through the thick
was his
in
store for
hands,
cried
tigress
an forest.
been more glad
He
Never would she have have been able to speak,
With
the
he would willingly have and disgorged from banquet of human flesh it the frightful which he had eaten. Then again he wept, calling himself the wretched tomb of his own son. Drawing his sword, he was rush-
have done burst open
fawn what
him and, stretching out 'Mother, Mother!' and
so,
his breast
throw his arms round her neck. But Procne drove a sword into his side, close to his breast, and did not even turn her face away. That wound alone was enough to kill him, but Philomela took the sword, and cut his throat as well. While his limbs were still warm, still retained some vestiges of life, the two sisters tore
ing in pursuit of Pandion's daughters,
them
the room was dripping with Then they cooked his flesh, boiling some in bronze pots, and roasting some on
The
spits.
in
tried to
it
fact,
of
partake of this
in
the
air,
girls'
raised
when
bodies were
up on wings: in One
they were hovering on wings.
them flew
oft
to the
woods, the other
flew under the eaves of the roof: traces of
murder were
the
her feathers were
apart:
Next, Procne invited her husband,
almost seemed that the
hovering
blood.
knew nothing
a
Thracian king pushed away the tables, invoking the snaky-haired sisters from the Stygian depths. Could he fury
of
roar
of the lofty
realized
to
to express her glee in fitting words.
on the Ganges'
unweaned
exultation.
to
fore his father's face.
She hesitated no longer, but dragged
away
first
thrust Itys' head, dripping with gore, be-
man
such as Tereus!'
palace, like
her cruel
conceal
be the
to
more, Philomela leaped forward in all her disarray, her hair spattered with the blood of the boy she had madly murdered. She
you have married, you, Pandion's daughter! You are not worthy of your father! It is criminal to feel affection for a husband
Itys
all
announce the catastrophe she had brought about, she told her husband: 'The boy you are asking for is here, inside, with you.' Tereus looked round, asking where his son was. As he inquired for him and called his name once
weakening her resolution, she turned away from him again, to look at her sister's face. As her eyes went from one to the other, she upbraided herself, saying: 'Why does one of them speak to me lovingly, while the other has no tongue to speak at all? Why does he call me mother, when she call
this pretext,
his ancestral throne,
not
Eager
as she felt her excessive love for the child
cannot
own
by himself, sat in and ate what was before him, swallowing down mouthfuls of flesh that was his own. He was so utterly blind to what was going on, that he called out: 'Bring Itys here!' Procne on
state
came close and greeted her, when drawing down her head with his little
in
On
the meal.
at
servants. So Tereus,
her son
tears gathered
practised in her
ritual,
she got rid of their attendants, and the
other word, seething with silent rage, she
prepared for her terrible deed. Even
was a sacred
country, and that only her husband might
sight of her son sug-
king,
made
for revenge,
He had
who
what she had done, to feast. She pretended that
of
visible
still
swift
was
on her breast,
crimson with blood.
by
grief
and longing
also turned into a bird.
a crest of feathers on his
head and,
place of his long sword, wore a huge called the hoopoe,
jutting beak. This bird
is
and
were accoutred
it
battle.
375
still
looks
as
if
it
for
Great Books Library
DAEDALUS AND ICARUS Meanwhile and of
Daedalus,
his long
was
filled
try,
but he was shut
he
said:
surely,
with longing for his
'The king
land or is
across
may
the
of
which
was engaged. Daedalus had put the finishing touches to his invention, he raised himself into the air, balancing his body on his two wings, and there he hovered, moving his feathers up and down. Then he prepared his son to fly too. 'I warn you, Icarus,' he said, Vou must follow a course midway between earth and heaven, in case the sun should scorch your feathers, if \ou go too high, or the water make them heavy if you are too low. Fly halfway between the two. And pay no attention to the stars, to Bootes, or Helice or Orion with his drawTi sword: take me as your guide, and follow me!' While he was giving Icarus these instructions on how to fl\', Daedalus was at the same time fastening the novel wings on his son's shoulders. As he worked and talked the old man's cheeks were wet with
Crete
block
ocean,
open, and that all
is
own counsea. Then my way by
but the sky,
how we
shall
the rest, but he
air.' With these words, mind to sciences never explored before, and altered the laws of nature. He laid down a row of feathers, beginning
does not possess the
he
set his
with tiny ones, and gradually increasing
edge seemed to same way, the pipe which shepherds used to play is built up their length, so that the
slope upwards. In the
from reeds, each slightly longer than the last.
Then he fastened the
feathers
to-
gether in the middle with thread, and at
when he had arranged them in this way, he bent them round into a gentle curve, to look like real
the bottom with wax;
birds' wings. His son
his father
When
by the
in
Minos may possess
go.
tired
absence from home,
tears, and his fatherly affection made his hands tremble. He kissed his son, whom he was never to kiss again: then, raising himself on his wings, flew in front, showing anxious concern for his companion, just like a bird who has brought her tender
Icarus stood beside
him and, not knowing that the materials he was handling were to endanger his life, laughingly captured the feathers which blew awa>' in the wind, or softened the yellow wax with his thumb, and by his pranks hindered the marvellous work on
fledgelings out of their nest in the treetops,
and lavmched them into the
376
air.
He urged
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
him was to be his ruin, moving own wings and keeping a watchful eye
As Daedalus was burying the body of ill-fated son, a chattering lapwing popped its head out of a muddy ditch, flapped its wings and crowed with joy. At that time it was the only bird of its kind, and none like it had ever been seen before. The transformation had been a recent one, and was a lasting reproach to Daedalus: for his sister, knowing nothing of fate's intention, had sent her son, an intelligent boy of twelve, to learn what Daedalus
Icarus to follow close, and instructed
his
in the art that
his
on those of fisher,
Some
behind him.
son
his
perhaps, plying his quivering rod,
some shepherd leaning on peasant
bent
over
his staff, or a
plough
his
handle
caught sight of them as they flew past
and stood stock
still
in astonishment, be-
who
lieving that these creatures
could
fly
must be gods. Now Juno's sacred isle of Samos lay on the left, Delos and Paros were already behind them, and Lebinthus was on their right hand, along with Calymne, rich in honey, when the boy Icarus began to enjoy the thrill of swooping boldly through the air. Drawn on by his eagerness for the open sky, he left his guide and soared upwards, till he came too close to the blazing sun, and it softened the sweetsmelling wax that bound his wings tothrough the
gether.
air
The wax melted,
Icarus
moved
could teach him. This lad, obsei-ving the
backbone of a fish, and taking tern, notched a series of teeth iron
his
in a
•'!
In
its
boy who was buried
too, to fasten
not soar high into the
name from
He arms
air,
nor does
it
build
nest on branches in the tree-tops: rather
it
flutters
along the ground, and lays
heights,
remembering
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON is
iron
its
it
fall
is
its
afraid of
in the
days
of long ago.
there.
the hill-country of Phrygia there
two
its
eggs in the hedgerows, for
laid his son to rest
tomb, and the land took
that of the
first,
Pallas, who looks favourably upon clever men, caught the lad as he fell and changed him into a bird, clothing him with feathers in mid-air. The swiftness of intellect he once displayed was replaced by swiftness of wing and foot. His name remained the same as before. However, this bird does
had no purchase on the air. Even as his lips were crying his father's name, they were swallowed up in the deep blue waters which are called after him. The unhappy father, a father no longer, cried out: 'Icarus!' Icarus,' he called. 'Where are you? Where am I to look for you?' As he was still calling Icarus' he saw the feathers on the water, and cursed feathers they
He
sharp
together into one joint, so that, while remaining equidistant, one arm might stand still, and the other describe a circle round it. Daedalus was jealous, and flung his nephew headlong down from Minerva's sacred citadel. Then he spread a false report that the boy had fallen over. But
bare arms up and down, but without their
his inventive skill.
as a pat-
in a
thus inventing the saw.
blade,
was the
it
an
divers
and
ii-
coots. Jupiter visited this place,
oak, growing close beside a linden tree,
disguised as a mortal, and Mercury, the
and a low wall surrounds them both. I have seen the spot myself, for Pittheus sent me on a mission to that land, where his father Pelops once was king. Not far off is a stagnant pool: once it was habit-
the magic wand, laid wings and accompanied his father. The two gods went to a thousand homes, looking for somewhere to rest, and found a thousand homes bolted and barred against them. However, one house took
able country, but stretch of water,
now
it
god who
aside
has become a
haunted by marsh
them
birds.
377
carries
his
in:
it
was, indeed, a humble dwell-
Great Books Library with thatch
ing roofed
and lifted down a side of smoked bacon that was hanging from the blackened rafters; then he cut off a small piece of their long-cherished meat, and boiled it till it was tender in the bubbling water.
and reeds from
the marsh, but a good-hearted old
fork
woman,
Baucis by name, and her husband Philemon, who was the same age as his wife, had been married in that cottage in their youth, and had grown grey in it together. By confessing their poverty and accepting it contentedly, they had eased the hardship of their lot. It made no difference in that house whether you asked for master or sei-vant— the two of them were the entire household: the same people gave the orders and carried them out. So, when the heaven-dwellers reached this humble home and, stooping down, entered its low
doorway, the old and invited them
man
set chairs for
to rest their
Meanwhile the old couple chattered on, pass the time, and kept their guests from noticing the delay. There was a beech-wood bowl there, hanging from a nail by its curved handle, which was filled with warm water, and the visitors washed to
in this, to refresh
themselves.
On
a
couch
with frame and legs of willow-wood lay a mattress, stuffed with soft sedge grass.
Baucis and Philemon
them,
the
weary limbs;
cloths
covered
which they used
only on solemn holidays— even
this
with
to
put out
so,
the stuff
Baucis bustled up anxiously to throw a
was old and cheap,
rough piece of cloth over the chairs, and stirred up the warm ashes on the hearth, fanning the remains of yesterday's fire,
willow couch. Then the gods took their
feeding bark,
it
flames.
Then the
old
it
till
it
split
woman
table
up
down
in
front of them.
One
of
its
was shorter than the others, but she pushed a tile in below, to make it the same height. When she had inserted this, and so levelled the sloping surface, she wiped over the table with some stalks of fresh mint. Then she placed upon the board the mottled berry which honest Minerva loves, wild cherries picked in the autumn and preserved in lees of wine,
burst into
took
for the
her dress and, with shaky hands, set the three legs
down
and dry twigs which were hanging from the roof, broke them into small pieces, and pushed them under her little pot. Her husband had brought in some vegetables from his carefully-watered garden, and these she stripped of their outer leaves. Philemon took a two-pronged finely
good match
places for the meal. Old Baucis tucked
with leaves and chips of dried
and blowing on
a
sticks
378
Ovid: The Metamorphoses country drowned
endives and radishes and a piece of cheese,
rest of their
and eggs hghtly roasted in ashes not too hot; all these were set out in clay dishes and, after they had been served, a flagon
waters, only their
with a raised pattern, just as table,
wept
ports, the thatch
provided them with food piping
aside for
a
was
of
no great
Then it was make way for
again.
little,
to
which consisted of nuts, a mixture of figs and wrinkled dates, plums and fragrant apples in shallow baskets, and dessert,
grapes,
gathered.
just
A
shining
honey-comb was set in the midst of these good things and, above all, there was cheerful company, and bustling hospitality, far beyond their means. As the dinner went on, the old man and woman saw that the flagon, as often as it was emptied, refilled itself of its own accord, and that the wine was automatically replenished. At the sight of this miracle, Baucis and Philemon were awed and afraid. Timidly stretching out their hands in prayer, they begged the gods' indulgence for a poor meal, without any elaborate preparations. They had a single goose, which acted as guardian of their little croft: in honour of their divine visitors, they were making ready to kill the but with the help of
owners
its
us off together at the
eluded
its
was granted. They looked
themselves,
who
fore the sacred steps,
said,
that
going to be punished as
it
it
ian peasant
are gods,' they
'and this wicked neighbourhood
All
you have
to
The two
all
that
still
points out the trees grow-
ing there side by side, trees that were once
richly deserves;
two bodies. This tale was told me by responsible old men, who had nothing to gain by deceiving me. Indeed, I myself have seen the wreaths hanging on the branches, and have hung up fresh ones,
do
is
to leave
>our home, and climb up the steep mountainside with us.'
talking of
is
but you will be allowed to escape this disaster.
temple
had happened there, when Baucis saw Philemon beginning to put forth leaves, and old Philemon saw Baucis growing leafy too. When the tree-tops were already growing over their two faces, they exchanged their last words while they could, and cried simultaneously: 'Good-bye, my dear one!' As they spoke, the bark grew over and concealed their lips. The Bithyn-
swift wings
declared
'We
after the
Then, one day, bowed down with their weight of years, they were standing be-
tired
gods
instant, so that
as long as they lived.
for a long time,
should not be killed.
same
may never see my wife's funeral, and she may never have to bury me.' Their prayer I
and them out, for age made them slow. At last it seemed to take refuge with the it
even for
small,
columns took the place of its wooden supgrew yellow, till the roof seemed to be made of gold, the doors appeared magnificently adorned with carvings, and marble paved the earthen floor. Then Saturn's son spoke in majestic tones: 'Tell me, my good old man, and you, who are a worthy wife for your good husband, what would you like from me?' Philemon and Baucis consulted together for a little, and then the old man told the gods what they both wished. 'We ask to be your priests, to serve your shrine; and since we have lived in happy companionship all our lives, we pray that death may carry
was sent round
bird,
which had been
and beech-wood cups, lined inside
hearth
black
stand-
astonishment, and
two, was changed into a temple: marble
hot and the wine, which
set
in
marshy
for the fate of their people, their old
cottage,
silver
with yellow wax. After a short while, the
age,
As they gazed
in left
dinner service, was set on the
their
as
much
ing.
own home
old people both
did as they were told.
saying:
When
'Whom
the gods love
are
and those who have shipped should be worshipped too.'
they were a bowshot distant from the top, they looked round and saw all the
themselves,
379
gods wor-
Great Books Library
THE SACRILEGE OF ERYSICHTHOX
•'
was Erysichwas a man who scorned the gods, and never made any offering of incense on the altars. He is even reported to have
wife of Autolyciis The thon's daughter. Her
used of
his
grove,
woodlands with
on
the
the
blade.
Among
as
much
Meanwhile, from the heart of the tree, was heard saying: 'I who dwell a nymph, whom Ceres warn you with my dying punishment for your wicked-
within this tree
trees
dearly loves.
these
breath, that
ness
is
at
death.'
in
am
I
hand: that thought comforts But Erysichthon persisted
When
his criminal action.
blows, ropes were attached to the trunk,
and
it
was brought crashing down, creatwood as it fell, by reason
ing havoc in the of
its
sorely
great weight. All her sister dryads, distressed
the
at
which the
loss
grove and they themselves had suffered, dressed themselves in black garments, and
begging That most beautiful goddess consented; nodding her head, she made the fields, laden
approached
mournfully
sichthon from wielding his axe against
that Erysichthon should be punished.
He
it.
down the when he saw them hesi-
ordered his servants to cut
tate to carry out his
drel snatched an axe
commands, the scounfrom one of the men,
Everyone stood
in
pious
lies
thoughts!'
he
stormed,
victim an object of pity indeed,
'There
is
a place,' she said, 'which
far off, in the icy land of Scythia, a
gloomy barren spot where the earth knows trees.
of sluggish Chill, of Pallor
It is
bid
Hunger bury
herself
the
home
and Ague, and
ravening Hunger lives there
an offering.
man
punishment which would have
nothing of crops or
horrified
his axe against the
its
spirits.
too.
in
Co, then,
the wicked
stomach of this impious wretch: tell her to fight and overcome m\- powers of nourishmcMit, and to let no amount of food defeat her. Do not be frightened at the length of the j()urne\ take my chariot and my dragons and drive them through the
glared at him: 'Take that as a reward for
your
a
made
he had not forfeited all men's pity by his deeds. She planned to torment him with deadly Hunger. Since destiny does not allow Ceres and Hunger to meet, she could not approach this creature herself, but she gave orders to a rustic oread, one of the mountain
ment: out of all dared to try to prevent the sacrilege, to stop the cruel axe. Thessalian Erysichthon
swung
vised
if
amazethe company, one man
still
Ceres,
with heavy harvests, tremble, as she de-
and shouted: 'Should this tree be itself a goddess, and not just a tree the goddess loves, still its leafy top will be brought down to earth!' As he uttered these words, he held his weapon poised, ready to strike the trunk obliquely. The oak tree of Ceres trembled and groaned: at the same time, the leaves and acorns began to turn white, and the long branches lost their colour. Then, when his impious hand had made a gash in its trunk, blood flowed out where the bark was split open, just as it pours from the severed neck of some mighty bull, slain before the altars as
in
the tree had at
grassy sward. Yet this did not deter Ery-
sacred tree and,
me
weakened by innumerable
been
length
above the
they did
blow
a voice
huge oak, which had
as
it
after blow.
grown sturdy and strong in the course of years, a forest in itself, hung round with wreaths and garlands and votive tablets, tributes for prayers that had been granted. Under this tree the dryads often held their festive dances, often they joined hands in a circle and embraced its trunk, whose circumference measured fifteen cubits. In height, too, it towered above the other trees,
Then he
turned again to the oak, and dealt
ancient
violating its
trees there stood a
the tree, lopping off his head.
father
axe
sacrilegious
Ceres*
«.
and
;
instead of
380
Ovid: The Metamorphoses air.'
Ceres then handed over her car, and was borne through the skies in
Although
borrowed chariot. She ahghted in Scythia, and there un\oked her dragons on the summit of a rocky mountain, which the inhabitants call Caucasus. She went to look for Hunger, whom she found in a stony field, tearing up a few scant grasses with her nails and less,
The
creature's face
was
through the
The
brittle
neath her hollow
and instead
(for
made
throat,
were out
of
all
protuberances
proportion.
When
of a
close,
but
delivered
the
breathing into his heart,
lips,
his
and spread famishing
tomed haunts. Erysichthon was fully,
still
slumbering peace-
soothed by the wings of the gentle
but he dreamed that he was and chewed uselessly at nothing, grinding his teeth together, and cheating himself by swallowing a mere pretence of food. Instead of a banquet he gulped down insubstantial air, all to no purpose. When he awoke, he was furiously hungry: his famished jaws and burning stomach were utterly at the mercy of his craving. Without delay, he gave orders for all the foodstuffs that earth and air and sea provide to be brought to him, complained of
god of
sleep,
feasting,
that
the
oread saw her, she did not venture to go
up
his
hunger through his hollow veins. When she had carried out her orders, she left the fertile world again, and returned to her poverty-stricken home and her accus-
was
a real swelling, and her
formed
ankle-bones
Immediately
arms around him, insinuated herself into
contrast to her skinny limbs, the curve
of her knees
visit.
Finding him sound asleep was night-time) she flung both her
it
her victim,
for,
stomach she had only a place for one. Her breast, hanging loose, looked as if it were held in position only by the framework of her spine. Her joints seemed large in
The wind carried her came to the house
she
Erysichthon.
bones stuck out be-
loins,
till
she entered the bedroom of the scoundrel
hard and transparent, revealing her inner organs.
air
air to
always
she had been told to
her lips bleached and cracked. Scabrous sores encrusted her throat, her skin
is
dess's instructions.
colour-
hollow-eyed, her hair uncared
she
Ceres' activities,
the
her teeth.
Haemonia. opposed to Hunger obeyed the god-
dragons back through the
the oread
goddess's
from a distance and, in a very short time, though she had only just come, and though she remained a good way off, she seemed herself to feel the pangs of hunger. Turning her team, she drove the orders
381
Great Books Library hunger when the hiden tables were set before him, and in the midst of feasting sought still more feasts. Supplies which would have satisfied whole cities or an entire nation were not enough for him, and the more he ate, the more he desired. As the sea receives rivers from all over the earth and >'et has alwa\s room for more, and drinks up the waters from distant lands, or as greedy flames never refuse nourishment, but gots,
bum up
made hungrier by
straight at her, said: 'You there, conceal-
ing your dangling hooks with tiny bits of bait, you with the rod in your hands, I wish you a calm sea, and gullible fishes that never notice the hook till they are
caught, is,
countless fag-
dance of supplies and requiring more, the
more they
so the jaws of the
are given:
were
provisions that
offered,
and
all
the
at
the
same time asked for more. All the food he consumed only excited his desire for food, and by eating he continually produced an aching void.
Now, thanks
to this
hunger, to the bot-
was his stomach, his family fortunes had dwindled away: but tomless
his
still
pit
that
dreadful
diminished
in
hunger remained, not
woman
the slightest. His burning
was unabated. At length, when he had eaten up all his wealth, he was with only his daughter, a
girl
penniless state, he sold her too:
she
was
a
of
girl
against having
a
spirit,
and
cried: 'You
who robbed me
of
my
turning
and,
The man round,
tions,
often sold her to different masters,
and she escaped
she
in the
form of a horse, or
a bird, or again as an ox or a stag, thus
me
obtaining provisions, dishonestly, for her
Neptune was the one who had the reward of which she spoke, and
violence of his malady he had
he did not scorn her prayer. Although her owner, coming along behind, had seen
aggravated
the
gluttonous father. However,
slavery!'
girl
only a
moment
be-
walked
maiden-
hood, and have your reward, rescue
from
girl
Her father, when he perceived that his daughter could undergo such transforma-
Stretching out
master.
the
to her.
but
rebelled
her hands over the nearby waters,
me where
standing on the shore just
away over the sand, cheated of his slave. Then the girl's true shape was restored
who
deserved to have had a better parent. In his
\'ou will tell
has set foot here.'
her
lieved
appetite
left
if
who was
now, with her hair all disordered, dressed in cheap clothes. I saw her on the sands: but tell me, where is she? For her footprints go no further.' The other, realizing that what the god had done for her had been successful, was delighted that she herself should be asked where she was. In reply to her master's question, she said: 'Excuse me, whoever you are. I have never taken my eyes off this pool, and have been entirely occupied with my fishing. To remove any doubts you may have, I swear, so may the god of the sea assist me in my livelihood, that no one but myself has been on this shore for a long time, and no
the very abun-
scoundrel Erysichthon welcomed
Her master came up and, looking
clothes.
before, the
all
that
when
in
the
consumed
was offered and had thus merely grievous
his
sickness,
the
and gnaw at his own limbs, and fed his bod\' by eating
god
wretch began
changed her shape, gave her the face of a man, and dressed her in fisherman's
it
..«>i
.'i
its
left fresh
speech without any harsh looks, though she did frown at his last words,
of
Mean-
resenting the reference to herself.
beyond the be overcome by
eternal,
divinity of Venus.
story goes that as a result of this, they
were visited by the wrath of the goddess, and were the first women to lose their good names by prostituting themselves in public. Then, as all sense of shame left them, the blood hardened in their cheeks, and it required only a slight alteration to transform them into stony flints. When Pygmalion saw these women, living such wicked lives, he was revolted by the many faults which nature has implanted in the female .sex, and long lived a bachelor existence, without any wife to share his home. But meanwhile, with marvellous artistry, he skilfully carved a snowy ivory statue. He made it lovelier than any woman born, and fell in love with his own creation. The statue had all the appearance of a real girl, so that it .seemed to be alive, to want to move, did not modesty forbid. So cleverly did his art conceal its art. Pygmalion gazed in wonder, and in his heart there rose a passionate love for this image of a human form. Often he ran his hands over the work, feeling
times he addressed it in flattering speeches, sometimes brought the kind of presents that girls enjoy: shells and polished pebbles, little birds and flowers of a thousand hues, lilies and painted balls, and drops of amber which fall from the trees that
were once Phaethon's the limbs of his statue
sisters.
in
He
dressed
woman's
robes,
and put rings on its fingers, long necklaces round its neck. Pearls hung from its ears, and chains were looped upon its breast. All this finery became the image well, but it was no less lovely unadorned. Pygmalion then placed the statue on a couch that was covered with cloths of T\ rian purple, laid its it
head
to rest
on
soft
down
pillows, as
could appreciate them, and called
it
if
his
bedfellow.
The 386
festival
of
Venus, which
is
cele-
Ovid: The Metamorphoses with the greatest
Ijrated
now
Cyprus, was
pomp
in progress,
all
through
and
heifers,
their
crooked horns gilded for the occas-
sion,
had
struck
fallen
snowy necks.
their
wife,
Smoke was
pray—' he did not dare to say:
I
maiden,' but finished: 'one like
the ivory maid.'
However, golden Venus,
present at her festival in person, understood
what
his
prayers meant, and as a
sign that the gods
the flames burned
were kindly disposed, up three times, shoot-
ing a tongue of fire into the air. When Pygmalion returned home, he made straight for the statue of the girl he loved, leaned over the couch, and kissed her. She seemed warm: he laid his lips on hers again, and touched her breast with his hands— at his touch the ivory lost its hard-
••«
Even
this
shaken from winds that give it
yellow
falls,
a flower sprang up,
was not enough the
for Bacchus.
very
fields
ful gift.
of
fully,
the eleventh day,
shepherded away the the king
came
when flock to
stars
it
its
quickly
stem by those same name, anemone.
it.
The Phrygian king went
of Bacchus' promise
off
cheer-
tested the good faith by touching this and
and could scarcely believe his own when he broke a green twig from a low-growing branch of oak, and the
that,
senses
twig turned to gold.
He
lifted
a stone
from the ground and the stone, likewise, gleamed pale gold. He touched a sod of earth and the earth, by the power of his
became a lump of ore. The dry ears which he gathered were a harvest golden metal, and when he plucked an
touch,
of corn of
apple from a tree and held it in his hand, you would have thought that the Hesperides had given it him. If he laid his finger on the pillars of his lofty doorways, they were seen to shine and glitter, and even when he washed his hands in clear water,
Lucifer had of
so fragile,
it is
delighted with the misfortune which
had befallen him. He
Thrace and, with a band of more seemly revellers, betook himself to the vineyards of his beloved Tmolus, and to the river Pactolus, though it was not then rich in gold, or envied for its precious sands. He was attended by his usual throng, satyrs and bacchants, but Silenus was not there. For Phrygian peasants had captured him, as he tottered along on feet made unsteady by age and wine. They had bound him with chains of flowers, and taken him to their king Midas, who had once been instructed in the Bacchic mysteries by Orpheus from Thrace, and by the Athenian Eumolpus. When Midas recognized him as one who was the god's companion and partner in his mysteries, he celebrated the arrival of such a guest with continuous festivities for ten days and nights on end.
high,
its its
MIDAS AND THE GOLDEN TOUCH
He abandoned
On
of brief duration: for
the trickles that flowed over his
palms might have served to deceive Danae. He dreamed of everything turned to gold, and his hopes soared beyond
on
Lydia, in great
good humour, and restored Silenus to his young ward. The god was glad to have his tutor back, and in return gave Midas the right to
the limits of his imagination.
So he exulted
in his
servants set before
good fortune, while
him
tables piled high
with meats, and with bread
in abundance. But then, when he touched a piece of bread, it grew stiff and hard: if he hun-
choose himself a gift— a privilege which
Midas welcomed, but one which did him little good, for he was fated to make poor use of the opportunity he was given. He said to the god: 'Grant that whatever my person touches be turned to yellow gold.' Bacchus, though sorry that Midas had not asked for something better, granted his request, and presented him with this bane-
grily tried to bite into the
meat, a sheet
of gold encased the food, as soon as his
teeth came in contact with it. He took some wine, itself the discovery of the god who had endowed him with his power, and adding clear water, mixed himself a drink:
391
the liquid could be seen turning
Great Books Library to
molten gold as
it
passed his
was boasting to the gentle nymphs, singing them his songs, and playing some trivial tune on the reeds, joined by wax, that formed his pipes. As he did so, he had
lips.
Wretched in spite of his riches, dismayed by the strange disaster which had befallen him, Midas prayed for a way of escape from his wealth, loathing what he had lately desired. No amount of food
the audacity to speak slightingly of Apollo's
music, compared with his own, and entered into unequal competition with the
could relieve his hunger, parching thirst
burned his throat, and he was tortured, as he deserved, by the gold he now hated. Raising his shining arms, he stretched his hands to heaven and cried: 'Forgive me, father Bacchus! I have sinned, yet pity me, I pray, and save me speedily from this disaster that promised so fair!' The gods are kind: when Midas confessed his fault, Bacchus restored him to his former state,
cancelling
the
which,
gift
filment of his promise, he
in
god, in a contest to be decided by Tmolus.
The
trees, until
its
home
gaze
who always
tain caves: but
dwells in
moved
round, his forests followed.
from Parnassus, his flowing robes, with Tyrian purple, swept the ground; in his left hand he held his lyre, inlaid with jewels and Indian ivory, his plectrum was in his right. His very stance was that of a musician. Then he plucked the strings with skilful fingers till Tmolus, enchanted by the sweetness of the melody, laurel
dyed
bade Pan admit
his pipes
inferior to the
lyre.
Everyone
else
agreed with the verdict
of the venerable mountain, but not Midas.
He
objected to the decision, declaring
it
to
be unjust. The Delian god would not allow ears so foolish to retain their human shape; he lengthened them, filled them with bristling grey hairs, and made them
in
the country, in the woods, and worshipped
Pan, the god
strains,
Apollo had wreathed his golden hair with
sods. his
with his wild
charmed Midas, who happened to be near at hand when he was playing. After hearing Pan, the worshipful Tmolus swung round his head to face Phoebus, and as his
had given the
made
only an oak wreath encircled
hair,
his rustic pipes and,
ful-
'And now,' he said, 'to rid yourself of the remaining traces of that gold which you so foolishly desired, go to the river close by the great city of Sardis. Then make your way along the Lydian ridge, travelling upstream till you come to the water's source. There, where the foaming spring bubbles up in great abundance, plunge your head and body in the water and, at the same time, wash away your crime.' The king went to the spring as he was bidden: his power to change things into gold passed from his person into the stream, and coloured its waters. Even today, though the vein of ore is now so ancient, the soil of the fields is hardened by the grains it receives, and gleams with gold where the water from the river Midas, hating riches,
own
with bunches of acorns hanging at his hollow temples. He looked at the god of the flocks, and said: 'The judge is ready.' Pan struck up an air on
dark
his
king.
moistens
elderly judge took his seat on his
mountain-side, and shook his ears free of
moun-
movable,
he remained a foolish per-
at
the point where the\' joined
the king's head, so that they could twitch.
and his own stupidity was to injure owner again, as it had done before. There is a mountain, Tmoliis, that rises steep and sheer, looking out over a wide prospect of sea, and sloping away on either side, to Sardis on the one hand, and to little Hypaepae on the other. There Pan
The
rest of Midas' shape remained human, for he was condemned to lose only this one part: but he was made to assume the ears of a lumbering ass. Now the king himself, ashamed of his disfigur(>mcnt, was anxious to conceal it, and tried to do so by wrapping his head in
son, its
392
Ovid: The Metamorphoses a
purple turban. But the barber
to trim his
who used
again, he buried the information he
long hair saw what had hap-
given and, after
filling in
had
the trench, went
pened. Eager though he was to tell what he had seen, he did not dare to reveal
quietly away. But a thick carpet of trem-
and yet he could not keep quiet about it. So he went off, and dug a hole in the ground: then he whispered softly to the earth he had dug out what kind of ears he had seen on his master's head. Throwing the earth back
and, at the end of the year,
bling reeds began to push
the shameful secret,
•«>"i
were
gardener:
King Ceyx, much disturbed both by his brother's fate and by the portents that had happened since, was preparing to go to the god of Claros, to consult the sacred oracle which comforts men in their distress. It was impossible to go to the temple at Delphi, for wicked Phorbas and his Phlegyans barred the way. However, before Ceyx set out, he told his faithful Alcyone of his intention. Immediately she was chilled with fear to
tell
me
my
that
down
dearest
you are travelling by
mourn your absence, not
I
shall
only
you as well? No, no, it is the sea that terrifies me, the dismal ocean. Recently I saw wrecked timbers on the shore, and I have often read names on tombs where no body lay. Do not let any false confidence buoy up your spirits at the thought that Aeolus is
fear for
your father-in-law, the god
who
I
by
their
know them
do know them, and often saw them, I was a little girl in my father's home) the more I think they are to be feared. But if no prayers can alter your resolution, my dear husband, if you are all too determined to go, take me along with you. Then, at any rate, we shall be storm-tossed together, and I shall fear only the perils I myself shall share. Together we shall endure whatever happens, and together sail over the wide seas.' Her husband, the son of the bright star, was touched by such words, and by the tears that Aeolus' daughter shed: for in his own heart the fire of love burned no less than in hers. But he would not give up his proposed voyage, nor yet was he willing to include Alcyone in a dangerous enterprise. So he answered her at length, trying to soothe her fears: for all that, he did not gain her approval. Then he added this further consolation, the only one that carried any weight with his loving wife:
troubled thoughts will not
be tinged with dread, and
The more
(for I
Where is that care for me, that used to come before everything else? Can you now depart, without a qualm, leaving Alcyone behind? Are you now resolved to journey far away? Am I now dearer to you when I am not there? I suppose you land, that
and calms the sea
When
when
one?
will
'••
fierce collisions.
proaches, as she pleaded: 'What fault of
my
by the gentle
striking out fiery lightning flashes
her cheeks and sobs choked her loving refeelings,
stirred
once the winds have been let out and have laid hold upon the ocean, nothing is forbidden them. Every land and all the waters are at their mercy, and they even harry the clouds in heaven, at will.
of her bones, her face
she tried to speak, the tears coursed
when
prisons the strong winds
grew pale as boxwood, and her eyes were wet with streaming tears. Three times, as
mine has altered your
for,
CEYX AND ALCYONE
at heart
marrow
when they grown, the reeds betrayed their
South wind, they uttered the words that had been buried, and revealed the truth about his master's ears.
Meanwhile
the very
full
up on the spot
'Any separation, indeed, is long for us, but I swear to you by my father's light that,
im-
provided the fates allow it, I shall moon has twice com-
return before the
393
Great Books Library pleted her
any words to be heard. All the same, some hastened of their own accord
circle.'
When
he had made this promise, raising her hopes of his speedy return, he immediatel) ordered his ship to be drawn down from the dock, to be hiunched and fitted with its rigging. When Alcyone saw it, once again, as if she knew l)eforehand
what was
to
tears started
sailors
to
last, most wretchedly, bade him a sad farewell: then she col-
Ceyx sought excuses
tain
double
first
and
her eyes could not distinguish his features, sel as
still
followed the departing ves-
long as possible. Then,
was
the ship seen, she
still
too far
away
watched the
to sails
sails
were
visible,
Trachinian ship was likewise tossed nately
up and down:
high as
if
in by arching waves, and looked up as if from some pool of the underworld, at the heavens high above. Often, as a wave struck its side, the ship gave a mighty crash, and groaned under a buffeting no
yards at the top of the mast, and unfurled all
The alter-
at one time, perched on a mountain-top, it seemed to look down into the valleys and depths of Acheron, at another it sank down, shut
and she sought her
empty couch where she lay down with a heavy heart. Her bed and her surroundings made her weep afresh, reminding her what part of herself she had lost. The voyagers had left the harbour, and the breeze had set the sail-ropes quivering. The captain shipped the oars, set the canvas, to catch the coming winds. Less
than
matters stood,
out in hissing sheets of white foam.
billowing
out from the masthead. Finally not even the
and admitted
know how
waters of the Styx, or again they spread
stern,
waved her gooddrew further away and
returned his salute as he
her gaze
himself was terrified,
be clearly
she could see her
husband standing on the curved bye. As the ship
to
when even
against their stout chests,
her moist eyes: at
others
what he should order, what forbid: so overwhelming was the danger, so much greater than his skill. Men were shouting, ropes creaking, the sea was a tumult of crashing waves, and rolling thunder filled the air. Mountainous seas seemed to reach the heavens, and sprinkle the brooding clouds with spray. Sometimes they were yellow as the sand they churned up from ocean's bed, sometimes blacker than the
drew
back their oars and cleft the waves with regular strokes. Alcyone raised row,
inboard,
it
that he did not
for delay, but his youthful crew, seated in
a
oars
One baled out the water, and back into the sea, another hastiK secured the spars. While these things were being done, without any kind of order, the storm increased in violence, and winds from every direction fought fiercely, throwing the angry sea into a turmoil. The cap-
come, she shuddered and the from her eyes. She embraced
completely.
the
reef the sails.
flung
her husband and at lapsed
draw
strengthen the ship's defences, others to
less
severe than
when on
occasion an iron
battering-ram or engine of war shakes a
voyage had been accomplished, or at any rate not more than half, and the ship was far distant from either land, when, about nightfall, the sea began to whiten with rising waves, and the driving East wind to blow more strongly. 'O^Jck, down with the yards from the top
winds, flung themselves on the defences
of the mast!' cried the captain. 'Reef in
of the ship,
half
the
shattered
citadel.
As stout-hearted
lions
come rushing weapons directed
gather their strength, and
upon
the
arms
and
against them, so the waves, letting themselves
go
before
the
risen
fury
of
the
and towered above it. Now were slipping from their places, seams gaped apart, with the wax that had covered them washed away, affording a passage to the deadly sea. Sud-
all
canvas!* Hut though he gave the orders,
the
the stonn winds blowing in his face pre-
vented them from reaching the crew, and the crashing of the water did not allow
394
wedges
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
lashing
down— it was
as
if
men
came
denly the clouds opened, and rain
whole
the
strive
seamanship
to
hold
them
within.
Their
the
sailors,
their
deserted
The
and a separate death seemed to be rushing upon them with each oncoming wave, breaking through their de-
of the storm further intensified the black-
one stood dazed, another called those men happy for whom there was proper burial in store, another begged and prayed for
heavens were descending into the seas, the whole swelling ocean rising up to the sky.
spirits sank,
sails were soaked with the deluge, and the waters of the sea united with those falling from the heavens above. The sky was empty of stars, and the darkness
But lightning flashes gloom and lit up the scene; the waters glowed red beneath their fire. And now the waves came with a bound ness
of
the
heaven's help,
night.
into the
hollow hull of the ship. Just as more spirited than all the
soldier,
rest,
tries
leaguered
time and again to scale a becity's
ramparts,
till
attains his goal and, inflamed
alone
among
at
last
for
men
takes possession of the wall: so,
the
glory,
he
with a dea thousand
sire
not restrain their tears,
vainly
stretching
out his
arms towards the sky he could not see. Some thought of their fathers and brothers, some of their homes and children, and whatever they had left behind. It was the thought of Alcyone that distressed Ceyx: Alcyone and nothing else was on his lips. She was his one desire, and yet he was glad she was not there. He would have liked, too, to look back at the shores of his country, and turn his eyes for a last time in the direction of his home, but indeed he
dispelled the
one
Some could
fences.
when
waves had nine times pounded the
know where
amid the
steep sides of the vessel a tenth, rising yet
did not
more hugely, came rushing to the attack, and did not abandon its onslaught on the weary ship till it descended, as if in-
ing and swirling of the sea, and the cur-
side
its
was still trying to invade the part was already inside. All were in a soldiers
its
The mast was broken by
the oniTish
tempestuous whirlwind, the rudder shattered. Then, like a victor triumph-
of the
ship, state
wave arched iton high, looking down on all the other waves. As violently as if Athos and Pindus ing in his spoils, one last
were undermining
the walls from the outside, while
boil-
the sky, redoubling the darkness of the night.
of confused terror, like the panic in a city
when enemy
lay,
tain of pitch-black clouds that concealed
captured walls. Part of the sea,
then,
it
self
own
395
Great Books Library were
from
torn
and
foundations
their
ready dead. So, to remove those
hurled in their entirety into the open sea, it crashed sheer down and, by its weight
hands from her
and the force of the blow combined, submerged the ship in the depths of the ocean. Many of the crew sank with the vessel, and were swallowed up in the sea, to die
quickly to the drowsy
Ceyx
himself, with the
hand
his father
and
that
his father-in-law.
he swam, the name most often on
as
was
lips
that of his
wife,
Alcyone.
and the
Near the Cimmerian country is a cave, deeply recessed, a hollow mountainside,
his
the secret dwelling-place of languid Sleep,
He
where the sun's rays can never reach, whether at his rising or at noon or at his setting. Dark mists are breathed out from the ground, and the half-light of evening's
wash
his body up where and that in death he might be buried by her loving hands. While he kept himself afloat, whenever the waves let him open his lips, he called to Alcyone, far away, and even when the seas closed over him, still he murmured her name. Suddenly an arching mass of
she would see
in
But
thought of her, spoke of her, prayed that the waves might
of Sleep,
shape of the dead Ceyx, to tell her the true state of affairs.' At her behest Iris put on her trailing robe of a thousand colours and, tracing a curved arc across the heavens, sought the cloud-wrapped palace of the king she had been told to visit.
once wielded a sceptre, held fast to a piece of wreckage and called, alas in vain,
upon
home
Iris:
messages, go
bid him send Alcyone a dream,
clung to spars and broken fragments of .ship.
my
'Most faithful bearer of
without rising to the surface again. Others the
ill-fated
she said to
altars,
it,
gloom. No crested cock summons the dawn with wakeful crowings, no anxious
dogs break the silence, or geese, shrewder than dogs. No wild beasts are heard, no cattle, nor is there any sound of
still
branches swaying
came crashing down over the midst of the seething ocean, and Ceyx sank and drowned beneath the breaking wave. On that day Lucifer was dim and black waters
quarrelling
of
the wind, or harsh
in
human
quiet dwells there:
tongues.
Voiceless
but from the depths
of the rocky cave flows the river of
Lethe
ments, some for his use, and others which
whose waters invite slumber as they glide, murmuring over whispering pebbles. Before the doors of the house poppies bloom in abundance and countless herbs from whose juices dewy Night gathers drowsiness and sprinkles it over the dark earth. There is not a door in the whole house, lest some turning hinge should creak, nor is there an\' watchman at the threshold. In
when he came made dutiful
the midst of the cavern stands a lofty couch of ebon wood, dark in colour, cov-
unrecognizable: since he could not leave the
sky,
he shrouded
face
his
in
thick
clouds.
Meanwhile Alcyone, knowing nothing of disaster, was counting the nights,
the
vainly promising herself her husband's return,
and hurrying on the making
she herself would wear back.
To
offerings
all
of
of gar-
the gods she incense,
but
most she worshipped
in
first
and
Juno's
ered
fore-
with
black
draperies,
where the god himself
temple,
lies,
visiting the altars of the
goddess on beone who was no more, praying that her husband might be brought safely back to her, and that he might prefer no other
laxed in luxurious weariness.
half of
lie
woman
trees, or
to herself: of all
her
many
prayers,
empty dreams, made
to
feather-soft, his limbs re-
Around him resemble
dif-
ferent shapes, as
many
as the corn ears in
the harvest,
leaves
on the woodland
as
sands scattered on the shore.
The goddess entered, and brushed aside with her hands the dreams that stood in her way. InmiediateU' the god's dwelling
was the only one that could be granted. The goddess could not endure any further petitions for a man who was al-
this
396
Ovid: The Metamorphoses was
filled
Then he
with the shining gleam of her
relaxed again, in soft slumber,
drooping head sank down into the
bright raiment, and Sleep himself strug-
and
eyes, languid and heavy Again and again he fell back and, as his head drooped, his chin nodded against his breast. At length however he roused himself and, leaning on his elbow, recognized Iris and asked her why she had come. She replied: *0 Sleep, in whom all things find rest, most peaceful of the gods, you who calm the mind, put cares to flight, soothe limbs wearied by liarsh tasks and refresh them for their toil, bid your dreams, which are indistinguishable from the real shapes they imitate, put on the appearance of King Ceyx, and go to Alcyone in the city of Trachis, which Hercules made famous. There let
pillows of his lofty couch.
them conjure up
a
you
wreck, for this
Juno's
gled to
lift
his
Morpheus flew through the darkness, wings making no sound, and soon reached the Haemonian city. There he laid aside his wings, and changed himself to look like Ceyx. When he had assumed the
with slumber.
mission over.
is
Iris
vision
of
the
his
appearance of the king, pale the
Ceyx, or has death changed
ship-
command.' Her
for
no
of
avail.
am
I
my
dead. In-
A South heavy with clouds, overtook our ship in the Aegean, and flung it about with tempestuous buffetings, till the vessel was wrecked, and the waves washed over my lips, as they vainly called your name. No unreliable messenger brings you this news, nor do you glean it from vague rumours. I myself, who suffered shipwreck, am here to tell you of my fate. Come now, rise up, shed tears for me, and put on mourning garb. Do not send
specialized in imitating
blowing from
me unwept
a
return.
sky
into the void of Tartarus.'
As he spoke, Morpheus Alcyone to be weeping real over,
she
could
easily
seemed tears:
believe
to
more-
that
the
voice was that of her husband, and he had
third son, Phantasos,
was possessed of yet another kind of skill, and assumed the deceptive appearance of earth, rock, water, trees, or anything inanimate. These were the dreams which would show themselves by night to kings and generals, while others strayed among
common
me were
wind,
men, whereas a second son, called Icelos by the gods and Phobetor by mortals, used to change himself into beast or bird or
Ceyx' gestures
gan to cry and trying cried.
in
too.
She moaned and be-
her sleep, raising her arms
to
touch
his
empty 'Whither away so
embraced
only
body— but
she
'Wait!'
she
air.
fast?
We
shall
go
together!'
Roused by the vision of her husband and her own cries, the queen started up from sleep, and first of all looked about her, to see if the man who had just ap-
So the aged god and from all the brothers chose Morpheus alone to carry out the commands of Thaumas' daughter.
by the
your husband's ghost in place O Alcyone, your prayers
dulge no false hopes of
come. from his host of sons, a thousand strong, the father woke up Morpheus, who was skilled in imitating human shapes. Xone was cleverer than he at reproducing a way of walking, an expression, the sound of a voice. In addition, he used the words and wore the clothes most typical of each
the ranks of
will find
appear-
know me:
of his true self.
lately
passed
my
ance? Look up, and you will
departed, for she could
A
was
he leaned over the bed, tears streaming down his cheeks, and said: 'My poor unhappy wife, do you recognize your
Now
lengthy serpent.
wife, Alcyone. His beard
dripping wet, and drops of water
splashed heavily from his sodden hair, as
escaped and traversed once more the arched path by which she
Morpheus
unhappy
seen
into her limbs, she
person.
as death, his
clothing gone, he stood before the bed of
no longer bear the compelling influence of Sleep. As she felt his drowsiness stealing
had
his
folk.
rest,
397
Cm rent
Books Library
was indeed there: for her wakened by her voice, had
prevented her from sa\ing more: sobs every word she spoke, and groans that came from the depths of her
to her
peared
servants,
brought
in a hinip.
grief
interrupted
W'lien she did not find
him an\where, with her own hand she
stricken heart.
garments from her breast, beat her breasts too, and tore down her hair without stopping to undo it. To her nurse who sought to know her cheeks,
struck
ripped
the
It
went
is
no more— she
is
not try to con-
me; he has perished in a shipwreck. I saw him, recognized him, stretched out my hands as he left me, and tried to hold him back. He was a ghost, but even so, clearK- and plainly the ghost of my husband. If >ou ask me what he looked like, his features were not as they used to be, sole
his face did not shine brightly as before.
Naked and pale, his hair still sodden with water— poor wretch, that was how I saw him. Look, he was standing on this very spot, a pitiful sight!'— and she looked to see if any trace of him remained. 'This was the reason, this was what made me apprehensive and afraid, when I begged you not to run away from me, not to follow where the winds bore >'ou. If >ou were going to your death, I wish \ou had at least taken me too. It would have been better far for me to go with you, for then none of my life would have been spent away from you, and we should not have been separated in our death. Now, though I was not there, I perished none the less, I too was tempesttossed, though I was left behind, and though the sea does not have me, still it holds me in its depths. My heart would be more unfeeling than the waters themselves, were I to strive to live any longer, to
struggle
to
survive such
shall not fight against
not desert you, least,
ashes
I
shall
may
not
m\
grief.
sorrow:
No, I
join lie in
\()u
the
tears for a stranger. 'Alas, for your fate,
whoever you
poor if
soul,'
she cried,
\ou have one/ The
was washed in nearer b\' the waves, and the more she gazed, the less and less
bod\'
could she control herself she saw
it
brought close
in
till,
in
agony,
to the shore,
near enough to be recognized.
It
was her
husband! 'It is he!' she cried, and at one and the same time rent her clothes, her cheeks, her hair. Then, stretching her trembling hands towards Ce\.\, she sobbed: *0 my dear, dear husband, it is thus that you
come back
to
me, so piteously?'
Adjoining the water's edge was an ficial
breakwater which, receiving the
artifirst
came in from the sea, broke and weakened their force. AlcNone leaped upon this— it was a miracle that she was able to do so. Then onslaught of the wa\es as thc\
I
she found herself fl>ing, beating the air with wings newly-formed. Changed into a
at
and,
though our
sorrowing bird,
same
urn, one in-
of
.she
skimmed the
surface
As she flew, a plaintive sound, like the lament of someone stricken with grief, came harshK' from the slender beak that was her mouth. When .she
will unite us in a single tomb. bones ma\ not mingle with \oins, vet our names will be ever linked.' Her
.scription If
are,
'and for >'our wife,
shall
m\ poor husband. Now,
Ceyx
She lingered there, murmuring: 'Here he untied the mooring ropes, here on the shore he kissed me as he went.' As she recalled his actions, remembering each by the place where it happened, she looked out to sea and descried, far off in the water, a shape like a human form; but at first it was difficult to say what it was. When the waves had brought it a little nearer, it was evident, though it was still some distance off, that it was indeed a body. Alc\one, moved by this omen of a shipwrecked man, but still not knowing who it was, spoke as if shedding departing.
nothing! She died to-
Do
home and
her
left
to the shore, sadK' seeking again the
spot from which she had watched
the reason for her grief, she cried; 'Alcyone
gether with her Ce\'x.
was morning. She
my
398
the
waves.
Ovid: The Met amor piloses reached the silent lifeless corpse, she embraced the dear limbs with her new wings, and all in vain kissed the cold lips with
The
this
They
beak.
•
people
to
hair,
began
to sigh deeply,
men who
seek
>
so provides
her
ter,
all
my
was the
how powerful
is
stronger:
violent.
O
affection.
another, a it
blood,
were
all
for-
came and went unmolested.
girl,
has stolen
it
already!" So
vain that Telemus gave
PoKphemus scorned
striding heavily or,
away along
him
his
true
words,
the shore with
when he was
tired, return-
ing to the darkness of his cave.
both pas-
'A
wedge-shaped
hill
juts
out into the
sea in a long promontory, with the sea's
gentle Venus,
who
in
huge steps
waves flowing round on either side. The Cyclops climbed up there, and sat down on the central ridge, followed by his uoolK flocks, with none to shepherd them. fierce
even to the wild woods, a danger to any him, one
was
warning.
your sway! For that savage
who saw
savagery-
and came to Etna. He visited the terrible Polyphemus, and warned him: "The single eye \ou have in the middle of your forehead will be torn from you by UK sses." But the giant laughed, and said: "You are wrong, you foolish, foolish prophet, for
creature Polyphemus, an object of terror
stranger
for
thirst
Your and in-
their expression.
your
'Meanwhile Telemus, the son of Eur\mus, who had never been mistaken about any omen, reached Sicily in his travels,
he had celebrated his sixteenth birthday. I sought his company incessantly, while the Cyclops Polyphemus sought mine. I cannot tell, if you ask me, whether my love for Acis or my hatred of
were equally
killing,
gotten, ships
soft cheeks, for
sions
for
satiable
He was a handsome boy, with the faint down of manhood just showing on his
the Cyclops
grand-
•
and composing
lust
and comforted the goddess. 'Dearest one, tell me your stor\',' she said, 'and do not hide from me the reason for your sorrow — \ou can trust me.' Then the Nereid answered Crataeis' daughter in these words: 'Acis was the son of Faunus and of the sea nymph Symaethis, dearly loved by his father and mother, but dearer still to me: he, held
for his
got his flocks and his caves. O Polyphemus, it was then you began to care about your appearance, to be anxious to please; you combed your bristling hair with a rake, and happily cut your shaggy beard with a scvthe, examining your uncouth features as the> were reflected in the wa-
'At least
our hand are not ruth-
Scylla, and you can refuse them, as \ou do, with impunity. But I, the daughter of Nereus and of the sea nymph Doris, though protected by a host of sisters too, could not escape the Cyclops' love, except at the cost of grief and pain.' Tears choked Galatea's voice as she spoke, but Scylla wiped them away with her snowy fingers,
and only
smooth sea
a
great Olvmpus and the gods as well— even he understood what love means. Seized by violent passion, his heart on fire, he for-
she
less,
for he,
still
seven
sons.
and addressed
these words to her companion: the
for
GALATEA AND THE CYCLOPS
the nymph Galatea, as Onewasday,allowing Scylla comb
vows were
their marriage
when they acquired wings. mate and become parents, and
da\s of calm in the winter Alcyone broods on the sea, wings outstretched over her nest: then the waves lie still and Aeolus, keeping guard over the winds, prevents their going out, and
doubted whether Ceyx felt her, or whether it was the motion of the sea that made him seem to raise his head: but surely he had felt her! At last the gods had pity on them, and both were changed into birds. Their love endured, even after thev had shared hard
her
and
fate,
not dissolved
despised
399
Great Books Library
When hirge
he had enough
than a mother bear, deafer than ocean,
laid at his feet the pine tree, to
which served him
carry
more pitiless than a trampled snake. Above all, and this is what I would chiefly wish to change, you flee, not just more swiftly than a stag, driven on its way by shrill-barking
rigging,
ship's
a
he took up his shepherd's pipe, of a hundred reeds fastened together. Then the whole mountain as a staff,
and the waves below heard the pastoral I was lying in my Acis' arms, hidden by a rock, and my ears caught such words as these— for I marked what I heard— "O Galatea, whiter than the petals
hounds, but swifter even than the winds,
snowy columbine, a sweeter flower than any in the meadows, more tall and stately than the alder, more radiant than crystal, you are more playful than the
hard to hold me. For
and the
strains.
yourself for wasting time, and
in
by the
more choice than than ice,
tall
sea,
more
winter or shade
summer,
apples, lovelier to see
plane trees, more sparkling than
swansdown
or creamy cheese and, did you not flee from me fairer than a wellwatered garden? "Yet, O Galatea, you are at the same time wilder than an unbroken heifer, harder than aged oak, more treacherous
never
more turbulent than
a river,
than
fire,
harsher than harrows, grimmer
peacocks,
juicy
I
am
nuts
felt,
nor yet winter's
blueblack
kind,
yoinin
husband, you
plenty,
but
also
fine
new wax. When will
and arbute
have chestberries
too:
every tree will be at your service. '
"All these
sheep are mine, and I have the valle\'s. Man\- are
many more, roaming
sheltering in the woods, and man\-
prouder
much-praised
is
I
yellow ones, that look like
more immovable than these
the
over with
arched
summer sun
than the sea, tougher than willow twigs rocks,
try
which the heat of the mid-
the
*
than
would
have caves, part
have fruit that weighs down the branches, and on the trailing vines bunches of grapes like gold, and purple ones as well. I am keeping both kinds for you. With your own hands you will pick luscious strawberries in the woodland shade, cherries in the autumn and plums too, not just
sweeter than ripe grapes, softer than
or white vines,
mountainside,
I
living stone, in
chill.
delightful
in
the
of
tender kid, smoother than shells continthan sun
if you knew me well, you would having fled; you would reproach
regret
of the
ually polished
fleeting breezes.
"But
*
fiercer
in
could not
400
tell
penned
Were you to a.sk, I nou how many there are. It
the caves at home.
Ovid: The Metamorphoses is
mark of a poor man, to count You need not take my word
the
flocks.
you can see
excellence:
their
here,
self,
how
my warm
for
your-
for
they can hardly walk for
their swollen udders. in
and hear a suppliant's prayers! For I kneel to you alone. I who despise Jupiter and heaven and the piercing thunderbolt, am awed by you, fair Nereid, and your anger is more terrible than the lightning flash. Even if you scorn me, I could bear it better if you shunned everyone: but why, after rejecting the Cyclops, do you bestow your affections on Acis, and prefer his embraces to mine? Still, he may feel pleased with himself, and even please you, Galatea, though I wish he did not— but just let me get at him! Then he will realize that my
his
There are lambs,
too,
sheepfolds, the younger off-
and
spring of the flock,
the same
kids,
as the lambs, are kept in other pens.
age
have a constant supply of snowy milk, some of which is kept for drinking while some has rennet added, to make it into I
curds.
"As for pets, you will have those too; and I won't give you just the usual ones, that are easily caught, such as deer or *
strength
drag
is
my
as great as
stature.
while he
his innards out,
and
shall
I
is still
alive,
them over
hares or goats, or a pair of doves, or nest-
tear his limbs apart,
from the tree-tops. On the summit of the mountain I found twin cubs, belonging to a shaggy bear, so like each other, you can hardly tell them apart. They can play with you. When I found them, I said: 1
the fields and over your waves. In that
lings
keep these
shall '
"Do
my
for
way, he can unite himself with you! For I am burning with love, and its flame scorches
spurned.
mistress.'
your shining head from
just raise
deep blue sea. Come to me now, Galatea, do not scorn my gifts. Assuredly I know what I look like; quite recently I saw my reflection in the clear water, and I liked what I saw. See how big I am! You speak of some Jupiter or other, who rules in heaven, but Jupiter is no bigger than I. Luxuriant locks hang over my rugged features, and shade my shoulders like a grove. And you must not think me ugly because my body is covered with a tree
is
me more I
feel
flames and
all,
all!"
Polyphemus was watching all this) just as a bull, maddened by the loss of its cow, cannot stand still, but wanders through the woods and its known haunts. Then he saw me, lying with Acis, oblivious of his coming, never suspecting any such thing. Wildly he cried: "I see you there! rose to his feet (for
I
shall
make
sure this
I
is
your
last
Cyclops ought to be: Etna shuddered at I, in terror, plunged beneath
the din, and
My
the neighbouring waters.
Symaethis' son, turned and
feathers,
of
their
their
and sheep are handsome because fleece.
It
right
is
for
men
"Galatea, your help,
help me, and
to
have a beard, and bristling hairs on their body. I have but one eye, in the middle
my
of
huge sun '
shield.
in
And
forehead, but
it
is
or
all
this
my
world of ours? father
is
let
am doomed
me
pray!
in to
to die!"
hero Acis,
fled,
O
crying:
parents,
your kingdom,
The Cyclops purhuge lump out of it
forward. Al-
though only the extreme tip of the rock struck Acis, it crushed him completely. Still, I did the one thing the fates allowed, and enabled him to assume the powers that belonged to his family of old. The crimson blood that trickled from under the
yet the sun has just one eye.
"Consider, too, that
I
I
sued him and, tearing a the mountainside, hurled
the size of a
Think, does not the great
heaven see
embrace!"
His voice was as loud as that of an angry
ugly with-
birds have
flanks,
am
'After these vain laments,
mane
its
I
as if I were carrying Etna, within my breast, and you,
out leaves, a horse unsightly unless a tawny covers
when
fiercely
Galatea, do not care at
the
thick bristling hair:
scatter
king
which you live. I make him your father-in-law. Only have pity on me.
of the sea, in
401
Great Books Library massive rock began, lose
its
in
by
of a river discoloured ually clearing.
Then
phemus
thrown
had
through the gash, a
pened. Suddenly a young man, wearing a garland of waving rushes round his
a brief space, to
redness, taking on at
first
rain,
the hue
newly-grown horns, rose out of the fissure, as far as his waist. Except that he was larger, and his face all a deep blue, it was Acis. Even in this form, he was Acis still, but Acis changed into a river, whose wa-
but grad-
the rock that Poly-
tall
split
open
and,
sturdy reed pushed
upwards. From the gaping crevasse roared leaping waters, and then a miracle hap-
ters
retain
his
original
name.'
GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA stopped speaking, and the group of Nereids dispersed, swimming away over the peaceful waters. But
Being passionately attached to occupied myself entirely with its business. Sometimes I sat on a rock and fished with rod and line, sometimes I hauled in the nets, drawing with them a
Galatea
a mortal.
the sea,
Scylla returned to the shore, for she did
not dare trust herself out in the open sea.
She wandered, unclad, on the thirsty sand, when she was tired, sought out some secluded cove, where she bathed her limbs in the cool sheltered waters. Suddenly shrill cries echoed across the sea, and Glaucus appeared. He had only recently become an inhabitant of the deep, after his body had undergone a transformation at Anthedon, opposite Euboea. When he saw the girl, he stopped short, filled with a desire to have her, and called to her, saying anything he thought might stop her running away. But still she fled, made swift by fear, till she reached the top of a mountain, that rose close by the shore. A great expanse of sea lay before her, for the wooded summit, towering up
load of fishes.
'Now
or
Here the
girl
ending scrutiny
in
writhing
a
and,
He
fish.
leaning on
a
his
am no
beast, but a
of
into
god of the
sea.
for
my
nets,
and those which had fasall unsuspecting, on m\
barbed hooks. What happened next sounds pure invention, but what good would it do me to invent this? As my catch came in contact with the grass, the fish began to stir and tinn over, and to move across the earth as if they were in the sea. Then,
down
while
her
hesitated, filled with astonishment,
I
the whole collection slipped awa\' into the
which
waves
which
to
the\'
the shore and their
belonged,
new
leaving
master. Utterly
still, seeking some and wondering for a long time whether it was a god, or some juice in the grass, which had caused this phe-
amazed,
In the realm
nor Triton
busy search
their
like
monster, maiden, nor a fierce
ocean, neither Proteus
in
tened themselves,
stood nearby, spoke to her, and said: 'I
off
the grass, those which chance had directed
body,
felt
rock,
a stretch of shore, bor-
there, to wreathe the heads of banqueters, no one has ever mown it, scythe in hand. I was the first to sit on that turf, drying my dripping lines. To count the fish that I had taken, I laid them all in order on
stopped and, from
and the lower part of
them
ried
Glaucus was a monster or a god, looked with wonder at his colouring, the hair that his back,
is
honey, no garlands have ever come from
her safe position, not knowing whether
covered his shoulders and streamed
there
dered by a green meadow, with the sea on one side, and on the other a grass\ sward, which has never been harmed b\ the grazing of horned cattle, or cropped by peaceful sheep or shaggy goats. No bees have ever gathered its flowers or car-
into a single peak, leaned far out over the
waters.
I
I
stood stock
explanation,
is
more powerful than
I, nor yet Palaemon, Athamas' son. In the past, however, I was
402
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
"Now what
nomenon.
possess?"
t^rass
I
properties does this
and come through the
coast,
that
many
a
ship has been wrecked in the narrow chan-
some blades, I Scarcely had the strange
nel
down my
swimming
juices passed suddenly I felt my within me, seized with
throat, than
heart beating fast
strait
separates Italy from Sicily, where
asked myself. Plucking bit and chewed them.
between the two strongly
god whose home
sea, the
From
shores.
across is
the in
there,
Etruscan
the surging
element,
waters of Euboea approached the domain
could not linger. Crying: "Good-
of Circe, daughter of the sun, her herb-
which I must never visit more!" I plunged beneath the waters. The gods of the sea received me, and deemed me worthy to join their company. They therefore asked Oceanus and Tethys to lemove whatever mortal elements there were in my nature. I was purified by these two gods, and when I had recited a charm,
covered hillsides and her palace thronged
nine times over, to cleanse myself of
your help.
a passionate desire for this other
the sea.
bye
was
I
earth,
to
immerse myself
told to
rivers.
in a
with the victims she had transformed into
different
directions,
her,
mine,
hundred
me. But in case you do not know the reason for my frenzy, I shall tell you what has happened. 'On the Italian shore, opposite the walls of Messana, I caught sight of Scylla. I am ashamed to tell you of the promises and prayers I made, the endearments I uttered, only to have her treat them all with scorn. But now, if spells have any power, pronounce a spell with those sacred lips of yours: or, if herbs are more effective, employ the tested virtues of some potent herb on my behalf. I do not ask you to cure me, or to heal these wounds of mine. There is no need to put an end to my love, only let her share my burning pas-
my mind knew
of the rest
When my
senses were restored,
found myself, in mind and body, quite from before. Then for the first time I saw this beard of rusty green, the hair which I sweep through the vast seas, these huge shoulders, dark blue arms, and my legs curving away at the end into a fish complete with fins. And yet, what pleasure is there in this appearance of mine, in having found favour with the gods of the sea, and being one myself, if \ ou are not interested in these things?' As the god was still speaking, and inI
different
tending
to
Glaucus, jected,
home
say
more,
furiously
made
his
Scylla
angry
way
to
at
left
sion.'
Now
re-
Already Etna lay behind him, the mounpiled on top of a giant's jaws, and of
was due
to her
own
had more susceptible
no one had a
tales Circe's father
told,
heart
to love than Circe.
your own, one held captive by a love that matches yours. You deserved to be the one who was courted: you certainly could have been and indeed, if you hold out any hope, believe me, you will be yet. Look, to dispel any doubts you may have, and give
Cyclopes too, whose harvests owed nothing to teams of oxen, fields
it
Accordingly she said to Glaucus in reply: *You would do better to pursue someone whose wishes and desires are the same as
the marvellous
of Circe, daughter of the sun.
tain
the
whether
nature, or to Venus, in her anger at the
him.
being
me deserving of No one knows better than I, of Titan, how potent herbs can
be, for they transformed
all
churned over my head. So tell you of the wonderful things that were done, so much do I renothing.
implore you, take pity on a
only you think
if
daughter
I
member: but
I
god! For you alone can relieve this love of
their waters
much can
Glaucus saw the godgreetings with
he burst out:
'Goddess,
sin,
and
as
dess and had exchanged
Straightway streams came flowing
down from
As soon
beasts.
the
where the use of plough or harrow was unknown. He had passed by Zancle, and the walls of Rhegium lying on the opposite
403
Great Books Library \ou confidence in your appearance, I mythough a goddess, daughter of the shining sun, so powerful with herbs and
round
smooth crescent, where Scylla When the sun, halfway on his course, was at his strongest, shining from the heights of heaven and reducing shade to a minimum, she used to retreat there, away from the heat of sea and sky.
charms, pray to be yours. Scorn the
who
girl
scorns you, pursue in your turn the
one who pursues, and so by a single act repay us both as we deserve.' But, though she tried to persuade him in this way, Glaucus replied: 'Sooner will leaves grow in the sea, and seaweed on the mountaintops, than my love for Scylla change, while she
still
In anticipation of her coming, the goddess
poisons. its
do
so, since
she loved him;
but she was angry with the girl he had preferred to herself. In her rage at finding her love rejected, she straightway ground together certain evil herbs,
whose
contained horrid powers and,
juices
when
she
had reduced them to powder, mixed them with spells that Hecate had taught her. Then, wrapping herself in a dark cloak, she proceeded out of the depths of the palace, through the host of fawning beasts. She made her way to Rhegium, which lies opposite rocky Zancle, walking over waves that boiled with currents, treading upon them as if on dry land, and skimming
was
a
little
she had poured them into
with her the beasts she sought to escape,
and when she looked
for her thighs, her
legs,
her feet, she found, instead of her
own
limbs,
gaping mouths
like
those of
Cerberus. She was standing upon a pack of wild dogs and,
and
womb
with truncated thighs
emerging from the mass, rested
heavily on the backs of the wild beasts that supported her from below.
Her
dry shod over the surface of the sea.
There
When
depths, she sprinkled the waters with a
baneful root and thrice nine times, with magic utterance, muttered a mysterious spell, in strange and riddling words. Scylla arrived, and had descended into the water up to her waist, when she saw her loins disfigured by barking monsters. At first, not believing that they were part of her own person, she tried to shrink away and drive them off, for she was afraid of the dogs' cruel jaws. But she dragged along
lives.'
The goddess was indignant. She could harm Glaucus himself, and would not to
rest.
tainted this pool with her wonder-working
not
have wished
in a
loved to
self,
bay that curved
fled
404
lover Glaucus wept her fate, and from the embraces of Circe, who had
Ovid: The Metamorphoses
made
too cruel a use of the powers of her
sunk the Trojan ships, had been changed into a reef, whose rocks still jut above the sea: and sailors still keep clear of her, even as a
wise
ScyHa remained where she was and, as soon as she had a chance, gave vent to her hatred of Circe by robbing Ulysses of his friends. In later times she
would
have
she not
herbs.
first
rock.
like-
THE END
405
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS by John Henry
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN. ENGRAVING FROM AN 1847 PAINTING BY W.
C.
ROSS
Newman
Great Books Library
INTRODUCTION
DoWhitehead
ideas have adventures?
The EngHsh philosopher Alfred North
much when he entitled one of his books Adventures of Ideas (1933). John Henry Newman, nineteenth-century apologist and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic church, not only agrees with Whitehead but goes further. He maintains that ideas undergo adimplied as
ventures that constitute a definite development that
is
either genuine
or corrupt.
We Americans, living under a written Constitution now almost two hundred years old, are familiar with this concept. The Supreme Court was established as a court of last resort to determine whether or not the laws passed by the legislature are in accord with the Constitution. Since any law passed by the duly constituted legislature is in one sense a development of the Constitution, the work of the court in its legislative review can also be described as that of deciding whether a given law is a genuine or a corrupt development of the original Constitution. Newman's interest in the theory of the development of ideas was both personal and religious. He passionately wanted to know, in order to decide his own course of action, whether the Roman Catholic church as it existed in 1840 was a genuine development of the original teaching of Christianity. The answer to this question, as he saw it, involved the larger question of the way ideas are received and understood by men in the course of time. He held that any living idea "which takes possession of the intellect and heart" can be expected to undergo change and expansion; "that from the nature of the human mind, time is necessary for the full comprehension and perfection of great ideas; and that the highest and most wonderful truths, though communicated to the world once for all by inspired teachers, could not be comprehended all at once by the recipients, but, as being received and transmitted by minds not inspired and through media which were human, have required only the longer time and deeper thought for their full elucidation." Ideas thus undergo development, and men come to see more in them than appeared at the time of their origin. Furthermore, Newman contended, some ideas are of such a nature that both corrupt and genuine developments are possible. He accordingly set to work to find the criteria or "Notes," as he called them, by which the two developments can be distinguished. His results were incorporated in Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, published in 1845.
we reprint from this book are restricted to his gendevelopment of ideas, and consist of Chapter One entire; Chapter Two, Section 1; Chapter Three, Sections 1 and 2; and Chapter Five entire. Newman, as has already been noted, had a religious motive The
selections that
eral theory of the
408
John Henry
Newman
and the main substance of his book consists of an apphcation of his theory to the development that Christianity has experienced in the Catholic and Protestant churches. The book, in efiPect, is apologetic in character and constitutes a defense of the Catholic church as a genuine development. Even in our selections, his religious purpose manifests itself in the religious cast of many of the examples used to in elaborating his theory,
illustrate his theory.
personal search that led Newman The entering the velopment resulted
to elaborate the theory of de-
Roman Catholic church. As he looked back upon his life in his autobiography, Newman believed that he had already taken a decisive step in this direction when he was elected a fellow of Oriel College in 1822. This college was leading the intellectual revival then under way in Oxford. In 1824 he was ordained in the Church of England and began the work and association with men of like minds that was to lead to the Anglican religious revival known as the Oxford Movement. Newman himself became the acknowledged leader of the group and wrote most of the influential Tracts for the Times, expounding the group's understanding of Christian reHgion. The first tract appeared in 1833, and with the appearance of the last of them in 1841, ninety had been published. During this time, Newman's own thought seemed to depart ever further from Protestantism until he was giving such a Roman interpretation of the Anglican position in Tract in his
90 that his bishop called for the discontinuance of the
Newman
gave up
Catholic
communion
Oxford and retired
series.
In 1842
nearby village of Littlemore, where he took up the study that resulted in Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine and his entrance into the Roman his position at
to the
in 1845.
After further studies in
Rome, he was ordained a
priest in the Catholic
church in 1846. Joining the congregation of the Oratory, a religious order founded by St. Philip Neri in the sixteenth century, he established the first Oratory in England at Birmingham, where he spent the remainder of his
life,
devoting his time almost entirely to writing.
1858 he was
first
From 1851
to
rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, the estab-
lishment of which provided occasion for his lectures published under
He wrote an autobiography of an apology for his faith in Apologia pro vita siia (1864). His noteworthy book on the theory and study of belief was published in 1870 as An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. Although his books were important and influential, Newman exercised his greatest personal influence as a preacher and was acknowledged by Catholics and non-Catholics alike to be one of the great preachers of the nineteenth century. In 1879, on the accession of Leo XIII to the papacy, he was made a cardinal. He died in 1890 and was buried at Rednal. the
title
The Idea
of a University (1852).
his religious life as
409
>
H
JOHN KEBLE
J9^
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
Leaders of the movement which sought to bring a new spirit into the Anglican church by a revival of its theological heritage
R.
W. CHURCH
W.
C.
WARD
The Men In The Oxford Movement Tudged by ti
the serenity and dignity of
they were scarcely the
stuflF
was one of Newman's most ardent sup-
here,
porters. Keble, a country pastor rather
of jarring
than a university don, provided a vital link with individual congregations.
shown
the various churchmen
between Oxford Movement (shown at the left) and their opponents (shown below) caused profound upheavals in theology and in estabhshed religion which reverberated in politics. With the passage of the Reform Act of
man was, his name soon became synonymous with the movement. Ry 1841,
Commons
a considerable discussion developed re-
controversy. Yet the controversy the
leaders
of
the
1832, election to the
House
of
was no longer restricted to members of the Church of England. Anglican clergymen began to reevaluate the role of the church to prove there was a theological basis for the position of authority which it had enjoyed. The group's first public opposition to the establishment occurred
over the appointment of R. D.
Hampden,
Pusey, a highly regarded Oxford professor, contributed to the Tracts for the
Times and helped give them a scholarly Although not the leader that New-
tone.
garding the church's position ship
to
the
Thirty-nine
group of Newman's
in relation-
Articles.
disciples,
led
One by
W. G. Ward, declared that these articles were incompatible with the catholic status of the church. In
solve
this
conflict,
an attempt to republished
Newman
Tract 90. Rather than settling the issue, controversy
such
a liberal theologian, to a professorship at
however,
Oxford
Although unsuccessful,
that A. C. Tait, the future Archbishop of
action called attention to the ideas
Canterbury, and Rishop Richard Ragot
this
of
in 1836.
the Oxford Movement.
In 1838
its
it
created
requested that the tracts be discontinued.
Newman was W. Church.
church was clarified further when Newman published Richard Hurrell Froude's Re-
avoided by the
mains, which criticized sharply the ideas
within the Anglican church caused him
and practices that had grown out of the
to
belief in the authority of the
Reformation. Froude, A. C.
TAIT
who
died in 1836, R. D.
Although public censure of eflForts
of R.
Newman's own doubt about
his position
withdraw from the Movement and de-
part from Oxford.
HAMPDEN
RICHARD BAGOT
JT^,
CONTENTS On
the Development of Ideas On the Process of Development in Ideas
On On
the Kiiuls of
the Antecedent
Development
413
in Ideas
416
To Be Expected
423
Argument
Behalf of Developments in Christian Doctrine in
Developments
On
the Historical
of Doctrine
Argument
in Behalf of the Existing
Method
Developments 426
of Proof
State of the Evidence
428
Genuine Developments Contrasted with Corruptions First
433
Note of a Genuine Development:
Preservation of
Type
434
Second Note: Continuity of Principles
438
Third Note: Power of Assimilation Fourth Note: Logical Sequence Fifth Note: Anticipation of Its Future
441
443
1
446
Sixth Note: Conservative Action
upon
Its
Past
Seventh Note: Chronic Vigour
448 450
412
J
Newman: On
the
Development
of Ideas
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS ON THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT IN IDEAS
It
is
the characteristic of our minds to be
principles, that of emanation, the intrinsic
judgment on
malignity of matter, the inculpability of
ever engaged
in passing
which come before us. No sooner do we apprehend than we judge; we allow nothing to stand by itself; we
pleasure of sense, of which
compare,
and subjective
the
sensual indulgence, or the guilt of every
things
abstract,
contrast,
connect, adjust, classify; and
generalize,
we view
last
two one or
other must be in the Gnostic a false aspect only.
all
our knowledge in the associations with which these processes have invested it. Of the judgments thus made, which become aspects in our minds of the things which meet us, some are mere opinions which come and go, or which remain with us only till an accident displaces them, whatever be the influence which they ex-
The idea which represents an object or supposed object is commensurate with the
sum
total of its possible aspects,
they
may
however
vary in the separate conscious-
ness of individuals; and in proportion to
the variety of aspects under which
minds depth, and the argument
it
pre-
and
meanwhile. Others are firmly fixed in our minds, with or without good reason, and have a hold upon us, whether they
sents itself to various
relate to matters of fact, or to principles of
the intellect as objective except through
ercise
conduct,
or
are
views
of
life
Ordinarily an idea
and the
Many
of
object,
such near relation that each implies the some are only not inconsistent with
not brought
home
to
not
lights, in
evidence of their
views of a material object
others;
in that they have a common some, as being actually incompati-
And as may be taken
reality.
from points so remote or so opposed that they seem at first sight incompatible, and
each other, origin;
reality.
its
bodily substances, which apprehended except under the clothing of their properties and results, and which admit of being walked round, and surveyed on opposite sides, and in different perspectives, and in contrary
are
them attach to one which is thus variously viewed, not only by various minds, but by the same. They sometimes lie in and the same
for
this variety; like
world, or are prejudices, imaginations, or convictions.
is
force
is its
ble with
each other, are, one or other, our minds with their object, and in any case they may be nothing more than ideas which we mistake for
especially as their
falsely associated in
portionate or even monstrous, and yet
things.
taining the point of vision or the surface of
Thus Judaism is an idea which once was objective, and Gnosticism is an idea which was never so. Both of them have various aspects: those of Judaism were such as
projection
these
anomalies
shadows will
will
be dispro-
disappear
and
these contrarieties be adjusted on
in
each case; so also
all all
ascer-
all
the
aspects of an idea are capable of coalition,
and of a resolution into the object to which it belongs; and the prima facie dissimilitude of its aspects becomes, when explained, an argument for its substantiveness and integrity, and their multiplicity for its originality and power.
monotheism, a certain ethical discipline, a ministration of divine vengeance, a preparation for Christianity; those of the Gnostic idea are such as the doctrine of two
413
Great Books Library carnation the central aspect of Christian-
out of which the three main aspects
ity,
no one aspect deep enough to exhaust the contents of a real idea, no one term or proposition which will serve to define it; though of course one representation of it is more just and exact than an-
There
and though when an idea
other,
complex,
if
consider
to
distinct
its
our intimate knowledge of animal
Nor can we
losophy,
we
that
or
call
is
When
phenomenon
this
the one or the other aspect were
Sometimes an attempt
is
made
is
ex-
light
is
fear.
an idea, whether real or not,
is
of
real as they are,
can
carried forward into the
duty, or religion
is
public throng of
men and draws
it is
attention,
not merely received passively
in
this or that
a sufficient account of those forms of re-
take.
it
and
form into many minds, but it becomes an active principle within them, leading them to an ever new contempla-
indeed would be an approximation to the truth; but it is plain that to argue or to
serious
and
it
But when some great enunciawhether true or false, about human nature, or present good, or government, or
then
would be a
love,
strict;
ordinarily.
anism
severally
is
mathematical ideas,
tion,
ligion
it
esoteric
hardly properly be called living, at least
and conduct which we call the heresy of Montanus or of Manes. Again, were said to lie in its if Protestantism theory of private judgment, and Luthcr-
if
is
and possess the mind, it may be said to have life, that is, to live in the mind which is its recipient. Thus
of doctrine
act as
it
indulgent and
a nature to arrest
the Platonic phi-
in its doctrine of justification,
it
dogmatical, devotional,
is
at once;
we
inclose in a for-
historical
oteric;
and dark;
that intellectual fact, or system of
thought, which
all
all
have not arrived at a true definition of any one of them, but are forced to enumerate properties and accidents by way of
mula
practical
and
life
of the structure of particular animals,
description.
the sacra-
allowed to exclude or to obscure another;
and Christianity
as-
separate ideas. Thus, with
rise,
But one aspect of Revelation must not be
very
is
teaching take their
its
mental, the hierarchical, and the ascetic.
allowable, for the sake of
is
it
convenience, pects as
of
is
tion of itself, to
mis-
an application of
it
in vari-
ous directions, and a propagation of
to de-
every side.
Such
is
it
on
the doctrine of the
termine the "leading idea," as it has been called, of Christianity, an ambitious essay
divine right of kings, or of the rights of
on a supernatural work, when,
priesthood, or utilitarianism, or free trade,
as emploN'cd
even
as regards the visible creation
man, or of the
and the
or the dut\
is
trines
influence,
the tidings of immortality, or the spiritual-
ously. Let
true religious service, or the salva-
tion of the elect, or
mental
union of the soul with God.
indeed,
communitN and it is not diffiwhat will be the result. At first men will not fulK realize what it is that moves them, and will express and explain themselves inadecjuateK There will be a general agitation of thought, and an tion of the
it is
only thereby meant to use one or other of the.se as a central
it,
no
fault
can be found with such a proceeding; and in
this sense
I
,
cult to \inderstand
idea for convenience, in
order to group others around
one such idea get possession of mind of any por-
the popular mind, or the
liberty, or the If,
of benevolent enterprises, or
which are of a nature to attract and and have so far a prima facie reality, that they may be looked at on many sides and strike various minds very vari-
us. Thus its some to be the restoration of our fallen race, by others philanthropy, by others
ity of
bearings of a
the philosophy of Zeno or Epicurus, doc-
beyond one idea has been said by
inventions of man, such a task
anti-social
.
should mvself call the In-
414
Newman: On mind upon mind. There
action of a
time of confusion,
when
Development
the
will
be
conceptions and
combination of diversified aspects,
a
in
of Ideas
with the suggestions and corrections of
misconceptions are
many minds, and
certain
experiences.
brought to bear upon the original statements of the doctrine put forward; judgments and aspects will accumulate. After
shorter in point of time,
in conflict, and it is unwhether anything is to come of the idea at all, or which view of it is to get the start of the others. New lights will be
a
while some definite teaching emerges;
and
too
in
some
field.
ess will not
On
hand
the other
this proc-
be a development, unless the
assemblage of aspects which constitute
its
other doctrines or
ultimate shape really belongs to the idea
other natural laws or established
from which they start. A republic, for instance, is not a development from a pure monarchy, though it may follow upon it; whereas the Greek "tyrant" may be con-
relation
to
times and places, to other religions, poli-
it
idea are brought into con-
truth or apparent truth on a large
mental
customs, to the varying circumstances of
ties,
it be longer or by which the as-
I call its development, being the germination and maturation of
or
its
facts, to
many
and form,
sistency
expanded by another, and then combined with a third; till the idea to which these various aspects belong will be to each mind separately what at first it was only to all together. It will be surveyed modified
This process, whether pects of an
time proceeds, one view will be
as
the illustration of
philosophies, as the case
may
be.
How
stands affected towards other systems,
sidered as included in the idea of a de-
how it affects them, how far it may be made to combine with them, how far it tolerates them, when it interferes with
have
them, will be gradually wrought out.
It
cannot
will
be interrogated and criticized by eneand defended by well-wishers. The multitude of opinions formed concerning it in these respects and many others will be collected, compared, sorted, sifted, se-
across,
mies,
ing and incorporating with itself existing
lected, it,
rejected,
gradually
from and of
separated
individuals will,
in
proportion
it,
in
the to
its
attached
Thus
in
it
to
vigour
will
them.
and
this
body
its
have
the
all
be
little
first,
its
And
so, as
life,
it
cutting
regards existing opinions,
measures,
community which
them
capabilities;
a
creating
more than
and it
institutions
has invaded;
of it
new meaning and what may be called
over them, in throwing
off
them
It
direction,
in
a jurisdiction
whatever in grows when it incorporates, and its identity is found not in isolation, but in continuity and sover-
the proper representative of one idea, being in substance what that idea meant
from the
human
without
develops by establishing relations between itself and them; it employs itself, in giving
of thought, thus laboriously
gained, will after
all
and thereby destroying or modify-
principles,
grown into an ethical code, or into a system of government, or into a theology, or into a ritual, according to
at
of thinking and operating. The development then of an idea is not like an investigation worked out on paper, in which each successive advance is a pure evolution from a foregoing, but it is carried on through and by means of communities of men and their leaders and guides; and it employs their minds as its instruments, and depends upon them while it uses
minds of community. It
time
progress
modes
and subtlety, introduce itself into the framework and details of social life, changing public opinion, and strengthening or undermining the foundations of established order.
will
this characteristic, that, its action be-
ing in the busy scene of
the
native
Moreover a development
mocracy.
complete image as seen
415
it
cannot assimilate.
Great Books Library eignty. This
it
much more
that imparts to the his-
is
and of rehgions its speturbulent and polemical character.
tory both of states
It
cially
battles
even
cording as
it
acts
upon the
into
in
it
escape the collision of opinion nor does
earlier years,
its
re-
it
main truer to itself, and with a better claim to be considered one and the same, though externally protected from vicissitude and change. It is indeed sometimes
or less incompatible with the rest,
and rallying followers or rousing
it is to be fully exhibited. and expanded by trial, and perfection and supremacy.
if
elicited
Nor does
Such is the explanation of the wranglings, whether of schools or of parliaments. It is the warfare of ideas under their various aspects striving for the mastery, each of them enterprising, engrossing, imperious,
more
is
said that the stream
foes, ac-
faith, the preju-
of this image,
dices, or the interest of parties or classes.
is
clearest near the
Whatever use may
spring.
be made
fairly
does not apply to the his-
it
which on more equable, and purer, and stronger when its bed has become deep, and broad, and full. It necessarily rises out of an existing state of things, and tory of a philosophy or belief,
the contrary
Moreover, an idea not only modifies but is
modified, or at least influenced, by the
which it is carried out, dependent in various ways on the circumstances which surround it. Its development proceeds quickly or slowly,
a time savours of the soil. Its vital element needs disengaging from what is foreign and temporary, and is employed in
state of things in
and
is
as
may
it
be; the order of succession in
for
efforts after
is
variable;
Its
it
nor of
bilities,
knows what
ground under
original fault
it,
it
ciples
alter
is
reappear
time
worth.
It
it;
dangers
relations;
under in
enters
it
points
bearing;
their
changes with them
But whatever be the risk of comiption from intercourse with the world around,
In
territory;
and fall around appear in new
is
it
capa-
no one
and feels its way. From makes essays which fail,
direction.
strange
troversy
it.
great idea
what
or
is,
its
first
and are in consequence abandoned. It seems in suspense which way to go; it wavers, and at length strikes out in one
upon
risk
scope. At
its
it
time to time
definite
a
years increase.
remains perhaps for a time quiescent; it tries, as it were, its limbs, and proves the
by the development of some
such
its
beginnings are no measure of
foreign principles, or at length shattered
within
freedom which become more
vigorous and hopeful as
its
shows differently in a small sphere of action and in an extended; it may be interrupted, retarded, mutilated, distorted, by external violence; it may be enfeebled by the effort of ridding itself of domestic foes; it may be impeded and swayed or even absorbed by counter energetic ideas; it may be coloured by the received tone of thought into which it comes, or depraved by the intrusion of separate stages
is
of
con-
parties
rise
and hopes
and old prin-
new
forms.
It
order to remain the
same. In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to
must be encountered if a duly to be understood, and
be perfect
is
to
have changed
often.
ON THE KINDS OF DEVELOPMENT IN IDEAS ^p^o attempt an
A
which come under the notion
accurate analysis or com-
of develop-
ment, exceeds the pretensions of an essay like the present; but, without some gen-
plete enumeration of the processes of
thought, whether speculative or practical.
416
Newman: On
the
Development
instruments of wealth, and these at present
view of the various mental exercises which go by the name we shall have
eral
in
our
leasoning and necessary exposure to
criti-
confusion
against
security
IK)
turned to insufficient account. Development in this case will proceed by estabrailroads, erecting factories,
First, then,
1.
the word
it
must be borne
commonly
is
in
mind
used, and
and
forming docks,
by which the natural
similar works,
riches of the country
is
may be made
to yield
the largest return and to exert the great-
in three senses indiscriminately,
used here,
down
lishing marts, cutting canals, laying
cism.
that
of Ideas
from defect of our language; on the one hand for the process of development, on
est influence. In this sense, art
the other for the result; and again either
to the purposes of utility
and beauty, the
generally for a development, true or not
human
the
(that
true
faithful
is,
or
unfaithful
velopment of nature, that being
intellect
its
is,
the de-
is
adaptation
developing
power.
to
which it started) or excludevelopment deserving the name. A false or unfaithful development a corrupis more properly to be called the idea from sively
for
a
2.
Next,
is
it
drawn out from mathematical definitions or equations, do not fall under our present though altogether analogous to it. There can be no corruption in such developments, because they are conducted on strict demonstration; and the conclusions in which they terminate, being necessary, cannot be declensions from the origi-
subject,
civilization
or other,
Where
some shape
reason, in
the incentive or the pretence of
is
table nature,
come
into consideration here;
frontiers. It lies uneasily in
excepting that, together with mathemat-
may be
taken as illustrations of
the general subject to
which we have
is
Nor have we
ill-shaped,
it
its
territory;
has unreal boundary
communication between
deficient
to
cipal points,
direct our attention. 4.
is
exists,
When an empire enlarges, it on the call of its allies, or for the balance of power, or from the necessity of a demonstration of strength, or from a fear for its
Nor, of course, do physical develop-
they
matter of the
development.
ments, as the growth of animal or vege-
ical,
various classes
exhibited in civilized communities.
nal idea. 3.
its
ideas
the system of truths
is,
and
society
interests are the subject
which are in operation, the development may be called political; as we see it in the growth of states or the changes of a constitution. Barbarians descend into southern regions from cupidity, and their warrant is the sword; this is no intellectual process, nor is it the mode of development
plain that mathematical
developments, that
When
5.
and
tion.
or
its
it
lines,
prin-
defenceless or turbulent
neighbours. Thus, of old time, Euboea was
to consider material de-
Athens,
and Cythera
velopments, which, though effected by hu-
necessary
man
Sparta; and Augustus left his advice, as a
contrivance, are
development, as
We
it is
still
physical; as the
legacy,
called, of the national
to
for
confine
the
for
Empire between
speak, for instance, of Ire-
the Atlantic, the Rhine and Danube, the
land, the United States, or the valley of
Euphrates, and the Arabian and African
the Indus, as admitting of a great develop-
deserts. In this day,
resources.
ment; by which
we mean,
we hear of the Rhine being the natural boundary of France, and the Indus of our Eastern empire; and we predict that, in the event of a war, Prussia
that those coun-
have fertile tracts, or abundant prodbroad and deep rivers, or central positions for commerce, or capacious and commodious harbours, the materials and
tries
ucts, or
change her outlines Europe. The development will
417
in is
the
map
of
material; but
Great Books Library an idea gives ment.
And
and force
to
move-
its
Again,
so to take a case of national politics,
a late
writer remarks of the
1628-29,
of
iinit\'
in
Parliament
contest with
its
Charles,
from encroaching on the just powers of a limited monarch, it never hinted at the securities which were necessar\' for its measures. However, "twelve years more of repeated aggression," he adds, "taught the Long Parliament what a few sagacious men might perhaps have already suspected; that they must recover more of their ancient constitution, from oblivion; that they must sustain its partial weakness by new securities; that, in order to render the existence of monarthat, so far
compatible
chy
with
that
they must not only strip
it
all
it
own." Whatever be the worth of thor's theory,
and incompatible
the origin or infancy
some satis-
developments,
And
take
ejected by
just
The
referred
supplies an instance in point.
to,
Sometimes discordant ideas are for a time connected and concealed by a common profession or name. Such is the case of coalitions in politics and comprehensions in religion, of which commonly no good is to be expected. Such is an ordinary function of committees and boards, and the sole aim of conciliations and concessions, to make contraries look the same, and to secure an outward agreement where there is no other unity.
its
this au-
his facts or representations
Again, developments, reactions, reforms, are
Church
of another is felt to be a politiarrangement so unsatisfactory that all parties seem to agree that either the population will develop in power or the Estab-
make
though
really
the growth of ideas, are often capricious
and irregular from the nature of
They
matter.
their sub-
by the
are influenced
character of sovereigns, the rise and
statesmen,
the
of
fate
battles,
fall
it
of
and the
ance."
haps the Greeks would be still involved in the heresy of the Monophysites," says
needed order
the emperor's horse had not
"if
sister,
.
.
.
succeeded
.
in
to
for
the
again a
new
constitutional
reconcile
the
theory
lawyer
existing
is
in
political
And so, again, in Parliamentary conmen first come to their conclusions by
ligion.
to the
flicts,
" .
them
state of things with the just claims of re-
fortimately stumbled; Theodosius expired;
orthodox
difficult to exhibit
And now
numberless vicissitudes of the world. "Per-
Gibbon,
very
any scientific analysis. Often the intellectual process is detached from the practical, and posterior to it. Thus it was after Elizabeth had established the Reformation that Hooker laid down his theory of Church and State as one and the same, differing only in idea; and after the Revolution and its political consequences that Warburton wrote his "Alli-
lishment in influence.
developments,
as of philosophical sects, so as to
states,
cal
Political
and changes of various kinds mixed together in the actual history of
revolutions,
should have a population of one creed and
throne
commonly
reign of Charles the First,
Again, at the present day, that Ireland
his
they are
can
any,
if
the gradual growth of the stronger.
ment.
ject
ele-
which must be ejected before any
place.
are an illustration of a political develop-
a
in
of politics, or indeed of philosophies,
factory
had
usuiped, but of something that was
often happens, or generally,
ments are found of
freedom,
of of
it
that various distinct
the external pressure of events or the force
.
principles, they do not know how; then they have to speak, and they look
of
1
and Fall XLVII, (;B\VW,
T}ie Decline pirc,
about for arguments; and a pamphlet
of the Roman KtnVol. 41, p. 144c.
published on the subject
418
in
is
debate, or an
Newman: On appears
article
review,
a
in
to
the
Development
commercial or
furnish
many. Other developments, though political, are strictly subjected and consequent to the ideas of which they are the exhibitions. Thus Locke's philosophy was a real guide, not a mere defence of the Revolution era, operating forcibly upon Church and Government in and after his day. Such too were the theories which preceded the overthrow of the old regime in France and other countries at the end of the last
commonplaces
this";
there
founded on no ideas custom, as
has
among
at all
are
tual character
in
feel
to
municipal
it
is
the introduction of no
development of one great premises
already received; that
its
have been decided long
since;
and that the
it
is
not open to us to inquire
be done in the abstract, no ideal model for the infallible guidance of nations; that change is only a question of time, and that there is a time for all things; that the application of principles ought not to go beyond the actual case, neither preceding nor com-
polities
as
We
see."
Jews
of
principle, but a
what ought
but on mere
logical,
will
bearings and issues.
present age has but to draw the conclu-
there
since
prominent that they
called
is
has lately been defended on the
ground that
the Asiatics.
so
is
may even be
imknown
The admission
new
it
an earnest of future conces-
is
that
it
policy,
have not seen the end of
"Our children
offices
In other developments the intellec-
6.
"It
agricultural
sions";
sion; that
perhaps
"We
often said,
for the
century.
Again,
of Ideas
to is
ing after an imperative
demand;
that in
point of fact Jews have lately been chosen
the
and
Anglican doctrine of the Royal Supremacy,
for offices,
which has been created
the law cannot refuse to legitimate such
in the courts of
law, not in the cabinet or on the field.
Hence
that in point of principle
elections.
carried out with a consistency
it is
and minute application which the history of constitutions cannot exhibit. It does not
only exist in statutes, or in articles, or in oaths,
it
realized in details:
is
conge
d'elire
ment
of a bishop; in the forms observed
in
and
letter-missive
on appoint-
where the universal or Church precedes the King but the national or really existing body follows
type,
name in large Names are in
printing his
and
in
fixing his
arms
in
capitals,
newspapers, letters and other posthumous documents, the industry of historians and biographers, and the lapse of years which dissipates parties and prejudices, are in this day the instruments of ceedings,
placing "sedition, privy conspiracy and
Again,
in
Courts of law. Parliamentary pro-
truths.
churches
rebellion," before "false doctrine, heresy,
and schism"
the Litany.
when some new philosophy
or
such development. Accordingly the poet
its
instalments are introduced into the meas-
makes Truth the daughter
ures of the legislature, or into the conces-
at
sions
made
to
may
gradual
ordinary
instead of the Crucifix; moreover, perhaps, in
the
and events. Judgments which were one time confined to a few at length spread through a community and attain general reception by the accumulation and concurrence of testimony. Thus some authoritative accounts die away; others gain a footing, and are ultimately received as
the Prayer-book,
in
developments being
at
abstract
while the Holiest
class of
historical;
facts,
Privy Council on the issuing of State
him;
called
formation of opinion concerning persons,
Prayers; in certain arrangements observed in
Another
7.
be
as in the
a political party, or into
right
419
of Time.
length approximations are appreciation
of
made
transactions
Thus to
a
and
Great Books Library
except
be
cannot
History
characters.
written
revealed
an after-age. Thus by develop-
in
ment the Canon
of the
New
Testament
obligations
content to leave their reputation to posternay, sometimes
men
outlive opposition
after they
being known, the
such internal worship are
Here
relations themselves."
and
ment
is
a develop-
worship of which parallel instances are obviously to be found
obloquy. Thus Saints are canonized in the
Church long
to
obligations of reason, arising out of those
great reactions take place in opinion;
ity;
than as the relations
lation; for, the relations
Thus pubhc men are
has been formed.
command
they stand in to us are matter of pure reve-
have entered into
of doctrine into
Church
in the
of
Rome.
their rest.
6
A 8.
argument and controversy,
As certain objects excite certain emotions and sentiments, so do sentiments imply objects and duties. Thus conscience, the existence of which we cannot deny, is a proof of the doctrine of a Moral Governor, which alone gives it a meaning and a scope; that is, the doctrine of a Judge and Judgment to come is a development of the
but are natural and personal, substituting is
priate,
congruous, desirable, pious, approgenerous,
for
strictly
logical
in-
ference. Bishop Butler supplies us with a
remarkable instance in the beginning of the second part of his Analogy. As principles imply applications, and general propositions
phenomenon
tells us,
plain that passions
include particulars, so, he do certain relations imply correlative duties, and certain objects demand certain acts and feelings. He observes that, even though we were not enjoined to pay divine honours to the Second and Third Persons of the Holy Trinity, what is predicated of Them in Scripture would be an abundant warrant, an indirect command, nay, a ground in reason for doing so. "Does not," he asks, "the duty of religious re-
social
civil
of
reverence,
manner
which
is
so again, the
innate
government.
And
in
and
us,
to
the usage of prayers
dead implies certain circumstances upon which such devotions bear. And rites and ceremonies are natural means through which the mind relieves itself of devotional and penitential emotions. And sometimes the cultivation of awe and love towards what is great, high, and unseen, has led a man to the abandonment of his sect for some more Catholic form of doctrine.
rela-
honour,
what
Aristotle furnishes us with an instance
this
.
is
for the
inward worship is to be expressed, is a matter of pine revealed command; but the worship, the internal worship itself, to the Son and Holy Ghost, is no further matter of pure external
it
of their state
between us and them?" He proceeds say that he is speaking of the inward regards
principle,
gives a divine sanction to society
tions
religious
And
posing them unknown.
and reinward good-will and kind intention which we owe to our fellow
love, trust, gratitude, fear, hope. "In
Again,
affections are in ac-
existence of those legitimate objects, sup-
of the very nature of these offices
common
and
minds before the presence of and their activity would of course be an antecedent argument of extreme cogency in behalf of the real
lations, as the
creatures arises out of the
conscience.
proper objects;
their
the view of reason, out
arise, to
of
tion in our
gards to both these Divine Persons as im-
mediately
to
which
to that
Butler speaks of must next be mentioned.
erly matter for
what
development converse
Ethical developments are not prop-
of the
.
development
in his
account
happy man. After showing
that his
of this kind of
definition
of happiness
the pleasinable, which
420
is
includes in
itself
the most obvious
Newman: On
the
Development
of Ideas
and popular idea of happiness, he goes on to say that still external goods are necessary to it, about which, however, the defi-
embrace
nition said nothing; that
an isolated
perity
is
by moral
does
impossible," he observes, "or not easy,
low-born,
or
bereaved and still
the
him
from whence he has not derived the certain and never-failing sources of religion are, on the one hand, the problems of our nature; on the other,
Thus
the necessity of seeking for morals a sanc-
he
an origin, and an aim. It therefore assumes many other forms beside that of a pure sentiment; it appears a union of doctrines, of precepts, of promises. This
if
tion,
friends,
"When
of association. Is
Truth
is
believe, very
human
object trines
all
contain
fruitful principle
dogmas?
not the heritage of any individual,
and profess
it
in
mankind ought common. Is it
ex-
considered with reference to the precepts that are associated with
religion;
makes, in the
her primary
fits.
of
its
creeds and preall
men
A
religious society, therefore, naturally
from the essential elements of reand is such a necessary consequence of it that the term which expresses the most energetic social sentiment, the most intense desire to propagate ideas and ex-
"Another cause also impels mankind to
GBWW,
A
should be incited to partake of their beneresults
8,
name
cepts; they ought to be diffused;
it.
I,
doctrines?
with respect to the promises that religion
to discover the creeds
2 Nicomachean Ethics, p. 344d.
its
law which is obligatory on a single individual, is so on all; it ought to be promulgated, and it is our duty to endeavour to bring all mankind under its dominion. It is the same
and docwhich contain, or are supposed to is
and
considered in the light
na-
destinies,
the origin of
true
religion
human
which cannot be solved in this life, which depend on an order of things unconnected with the visible world, but which unceasingly agitate the human mind with a desire to comprehend them. The solution of these problems is
its
and much more
tended. There are problems in ture, in
it
absolute and universal;
it is
this,
essential nature,
of a system of belief, a system of
not
to seek
from
is its
appears no longer a purely personal con-
nature of man. Religion different
its
cern, but a powerful
the complete expression of the religious I
thus brought back to
elements, to
either strangely is
truly constitutes religion; this
nation, a variety of poetry.
on European civilization, who shall be quoted at some length. "If we reduce religion," he says, "to a purely religious sentiment ... it appears evident that it must and ought to remain a purely mistaken, or this religious sentiment
what
fundamental character; it is not merely a form of sensibility, an impulse of the imagi-
lectures
is,
man
conducts
questions,
a sphere
This process of development has been
am
not conceal, or rather
it
to
is
I
do good,
without an author, with-
threshold of religion, and displays to
it.
well delineated by a living French writer,
personal concern. But
fact,
beyond this world? The science of by these spontaneous and inev-
itable
8
his
From whence do
childless, less
have very worthless children or or they were good and died." ^
in
.
morals,
appearance: for a person utterly deformed,
cannot quite be happy: and
.
not reveal to man, an origin, a des-
it
tiny,
abundant means. Many deeds are done by the instrumentality of friends, wealth and political power; and of some things the absence is a cloud upon happiness, as of noble birth, of hopeful children, and of personal to practise high virtue without
or
.
this self-existing obligation to
out an end? does
not by logical happy man. "For
fitness,
necessity, attached to the it is
is
a certain pros-
is,
religion
morals originate? whither do they lead?
ligion,
Vol. 9,
421
Great Books Library tend society,
term which
word
the
is
prosehjtism,
physical developments;
a
gious belief, and in fact consecrated to
it.
"When a religious society has ever been formed, when a certain number of men are united by a common religious creed, are governed by the same religious precepts, and enjoy the same religious hopes, some form of government is necessary. No society can endure a week, nay more, no society can endure a single hour, without
The moment,
a government. ciety
mation,
it
thus Walter Scott gradually enucleates his
its
in that of
any other
for-
"And not only but
sary,
When
.
.
when
power
is
.
its
the hands of the
a warlike expedition in agitation?
command.
bravest take the
The
power
in
.
civil
life,
effect in a religious society
has no sooner arisen
in
the
.
.
produces
Religion
"Now
human mind is
formed,
9.
It
logical
it
ously used,
I
often so vaguely
should be led to
and a
then some limitation
occasions
some
fresh
such
impressions
ideas,
is
evolutions
are
obviously
because they are the im-
pressions of Objects. Ideas
and
their de-
velopments are commonly not identical, the development being but the carrying out of the idea into its consequences. Thus the doctrine of Penance may be called a development of the doctrine of Baptism, \et still is a distinct doctrine; whereas the
remains to allude to what, unless
word were
another,
to
or
proposi-
individual and complete above other theo-
9
the
One
till what was an impreson the Imagination has become a system or creed in the Reason.
government."
its
to a third;
carried.
sion
than a religious society appears; and im-
mediately a religious society
be
matic statements,
has the same .
will
from the original idea, which indeed can never be said to be entirely exhausted. This process is its development, and results in a series, or rather body, of dog-
undertaking? The best informed will be the leader. The inequality of faculties and influence, which is the foundation of
necessarily leads
it
knows whither,
it
tion
posites
the association learned research, or a scien-
.
before
far,
required; and the combination of these op-
tific
.
it,
how
second
the object of
Is
adoration, and begins to form statements
concerning
most able, the most worthy, those who are most capable of carrying out the principles on which the society was founded. Is
with a devout curi-
Spirit, naturally turns
osity to the contemplation of the object of
force does not inter-
into
falls
may be
which it will be sufficient here to quote some sentences in explanation: "The mind which is habituated to the thought of God, of Christ, of the Holy
events are suffered to follow their
natural laws, fere,
itself.
the sacred
theological subject, in a former work, from
government neces-
a
is
in
with a reference to the highest
at length,
society.
naturally forms
it
it
thus,
employed in developing the solemn ideas, which it has hitherto held implicitly and without subjecting them to its reflecting and reasoning powers. I have already treated of this subject
government which shall mon truth which is the bond of the society, and promulgate and maintain the precepts that this truth ought to produce. The necessity of a superior power, of a form of government, is involved in the fact of the existence of a religious, as
and
proceeds;
story
province of theology, the mind
a government,— proclaim the com-
forth
calls
as
James, or Dalgetty as the action of his
indeed, a so-
formed, by the very fact of
is
mean such
I
mere analysis of the idea contemplated, and terminate in its exact and complete delineation. Thus Aristotle draws the character of a magnanimous or of a munificent man; thus Shakespeare might conceive and bring out his Hamlet or Ariel; are a
especially applied to reli-
is
and call
vari-
meta-
422
Newman: On
the
Development
Holy pormere Trinity and modes and impression, original of the tions of representing it. As God is one, so the impression which He gives us of Himself developments
meal, cannot use
in the doctrines of the
tireness,
the Incarnation are
is
one;
not a thing of parts;
it is
system; nor
is
it
When we
an object.
pray,
we
One
.
and
when we
called developments, that
.
they have nothing in doctrines.
tributes,
and
number
exhibitions, of
is,
common viewed
as
of
number of propositions, but as one and individual, and independent of words, like an impression conveyed through the
carnation as
its
central doctrine, the Epis-
by St. Ignatius, will be an instance of political development, the Theotokos of logical, the determination of
copate, as taught
senses.
Creeds and dogmas live in the one idea which they are designed to express, and which alone is substantive; and are .
a
As to Christianity, supposing the truths which it consists to admit of development, that development will be one or other of the last five kinds. Taking the In-
of qualities, at-
not as the subject
of a
.
into
the principle of private judgment, though
Unity, of the Son Incarnate, and of His
actions,
it
^
sary to add that, in many cases, development simply stands for exhibition, as in some of the instances adduced above. Thus both Calvinism and Unitarianism may be
idea or vision of the Blessed Trinity in
Presence, not as a
relations."
So much on the development of ideas in it may be neces-
speak of Him, we speak of a Person, not Religious of a Law or Manifestation men, according to their measure, have an .
oneness and en-
various subject matters:
pray, not to
Individual Being; and
in its
10
an assemblage of notions or to a creed, but to
it
without resolving
not a
it is
the vision of
It is
or
series of aspects
anything imperfect and
needing a counterpart.
of Ideas
.
necessary, because the
upon
not reflect
human mind
the date of our Lord's birth of historical,
the Holy Eucharist of moral, and the Atha-
can-
nasian Creed of metaphysical.
that idea except piece-
ON THE ANTECEDENT ARGUMENT IN BEHALF OF DEVELOPMENTS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE DEVELOPMENTS OF DOCTRINE TO BE EXPECTED 1.
If Christianity is
an idea of ject
itself
a fact and impresses
on our minds and
is
into series, into a
number
of statements,
strengthening, interpreting, correcting each
a sub-
matter of exercises of the reason, that
other,
and with more or
less
exactness
idea will in course of time expand into a
approximating, as they accumulate, to a
multitude of ideas, and aspects of ideas,
perfect image. There
connected and harmonious with one an-
learning or of teaching.
other,
and
in
immutable, as
which
is
is
the objective fact It is
cannot teach
identical with the thing itself
itself
a character-
are teaching.
Two
persons
which we
may each
con-
vey the same truth to a third, yet by methods and through representations altogether different. The same person will treat the
minds that they cannot take an object in which is submitted to them simply and integrally. We conceive by means of definition or description; whole objects do not create in the intellect whole ideas, but are, to use a mathematical phrase, thrown istic
no other way of
We
except by aspects or views which are not
themselves determinate and
thus represented.
is
of our
3 University Subjects, 3rd ed.; XV, 20-23, pp. 329-32.
423
Great Books Library same argument
Nor
differently in an essay or
is
the case altered by supposing
speech, according to the accident of the
that inspiration provided in behalf of the
day of writing, or of the audience, yet it will be substantially the same. And the more claim an idea has to be considered living, the more various will be its aspects; and the more social and political is its nature, the more complicated and subtle will be its issues, and the longer and more eventful will be its course. And in the number of these special ideas, which from their very depth and richness cannot be fully understood at once, but are more and more clearly expressed and taught the longer they last— having aspects many and bearings many, mutually connected and growing one out of another, and all parts of a whole, with a sympathy and correspondence keeping pace with the ever changing necessities of the world, multiform, prolific, and ever resourceful— among
first
what the
recipients of the Revelation,
Divine Fiat effected for herbs and plants
in
the beginning, which were created in maturity. Still, the
time at length came
when
recipients ceased to be inspired;
its
on
these
the
recipients
revealed
and
truths
would fall, as in other cases, at first vagueK and generally, though in spirit and in truth, and would afterwards be completed by developments.
Nor can
it
fairly
be made a
thus to treat of Christianity
some
sort
to
difficulty that
is
to level
it
in
and doctrines of the impute to it the imperfec-
sects
world, and to
tianity.
which characterize the productions man. Certainly it is a sort of degradation of a divine work to consider it under an earthly form; but it is no irreverence, since our Lord Himself, its Author and Cuardian, bore one also. Christianity differs from other religions and philosophies, in what is superadded to earth from heaven;
tion of the fact
not in kind, but in origin; not
these great doctrines surely shall not refuse a
we
tions
of
Christians
foremost place to Chris-
Such previously to the determinamust be our anticipation concerning it from a contemplation of its
may be
documents
objected
that
its
and of
all
message
its
it
grows
"in
wisdom
but the powers which
stature";
wields,
it
and the words which proceed out
mouth
attest
its
miraculous nativity.
Unless then some special ground of exception can be assigned,
it
as evident
is
that Christianity, as a doctrine ship, will
develop
ients, as that in
its
it
in
to
conforms the
and wor-
the minds of recipin
other respects,
external propagation or
framework,
which the course of things
its
political
methods by
general is
carried for-
ward.
maintained without extravagance that the letter of the New Testament, or of any assignable number of books, comprises a divine
in its nature,
personal characteristics; being
its
considered as such,
inspired
once determine the limits of its mission without further trouble; but ideas are in the writer and reader of the revelation, not the inspired text itself; and the question is whether those ideas which the letter conveys from writer to reader, reach the reader at once in their completeness and accuracy on his first perception of them, or whether they open out in his intellect and grow to perfection in the course of time. Nor could it surely be at
delineation of
in
informed and quickened by what is more than intellect, by a divine spirit. It is externally what the Apostle calls an "earthen vessel," being the religion of men. And,
achievements.
initial
It
but
which a assume when sub-
possible forms will
2.
Again,
if
Christianit\ be an universal
religion, suited not
mitted to a multitude of minds.
424
simply to one locality
Newman: On
the
Development
fundamental principle that the Bible and
and places, and dealings towards the world around it, that is, period but
or it
to
cannot but vary
all
times
the Bible only
in its relations
according as persons
and circumstances vary, and must be thrown into new shapes according to the form of society which they are to influence.
Hence not,
Few
all bodies of Christians, orthodox or develop the doctrines of Scripture. but will grant that Luther's view of
mind.
words before his time; that his phraseology and his positions were novel, whether called for by circumstances or not. It is equally cerjustification
had never been stated
in
3.
tain that the doctrine of justification de-
And, indeed, when we turn
consideration
some sense, new also. and remedy of errors cannot rise; and thus the fact of
of
fined at Trent was, in
which Scripture
The
we
shall see that
for
them
refutation
precede their false developments or corruptions involves ones. Moreover,
all
parties appeal to Scrip-
that is, argue from Scripture; but argument implies deduction, that is, development. Here there is no difference between early times and late, between a Pope ex cathedra and an individual Protestant, except that their authority is not on
a par. ity
On
ment.
common
tive
or
the
Scriptural
doctrine
(for
When
this
Word became
of
mind.
or the lawfulness of bearing arms, or the
or a representation
duty of public worship, or the substitution
then
first
day of the week
it
definite idea
declared that
is
three
flesh,"
propositions
and moreover imposes her addifundamental truths under sanction of an anathema. For themselves they deduce by quite as subtle a method, and act upon doctrines as implicit and on reasons as little analyzed in time past, as Catholic schoolmen. What prominence has the Royal Supremacy in the New Testament, it,
tions as
of the
letter of
wide
is
the
result,
which gather round the inspired sentence of which they come, giving it externally the form of a doctrine, and creating or deepening the idea of it in the
they do themselves) but that she contradicts
convey a
to
to the recipient.
multitude
complaint of
Church of Rome is she has added to the primi-
Protestants against the
not simply that
mere
they are to be more than
nouncement. What is meant by "the Word," what by "flesh," what by "became"? The answers to these involve a process of investigation, and are developments. Moreover, when they have been made, they will suggest a series of secondary questions; and thus at length a
either side the claim of author-
Accordingly, the
if
absolutely impossible in the
questions open upon us on the very an-
the same, and the process of develop-
is
it is
on
the greatest stress,
mere words, and "the
ture,
lays
to the
doctrines
particular
remain
to
Scripture,
correspondent manifestation of true
the
the religion of Protes-
is
These doctrines and usages, true or not, which is not the question here, are surely not gained by the direct use and immediate application of Scripture, nor by a mere exercise of argument upon words and sentences placed before the eyes, but by the unconscious growth of ideas suggested by the letter and habitual to the tants?
will develop. Principles require a very
it
various application
of Ideas
It is
true that so far as such statements
of Scripture are mysteries,
atively to us but words,
developed.
what unknown,
part
is
not
so;
they are
rel-
and cannot be
But as a mystery implies in incomprehensible or at least so does it in part imply what
it
is
implies a partial manifestation,
by economy. Because measure understood, it can so far be developed, though each result in the process will partake of the dim-
for the seventh,
or infant baptism, to say nothing of the
425
it
is
in
a
Great Books Library
comment, and whether any authoritative comment or commentator is provided; whether the revelation and the document
ness and confusion of the original impression.
are commensurate, or the one outruns the other;
these questions surely find no
all
This moreover should be considered
solution on the surface of Scripture, nor
—that great questions exist in the subject matter of which Scripture treats which
indeed under the surface in the case of most men, however long and diligent might be their study of it. Nor were these
4.
Scripture does not solve; questions too so so practical, that they
real,
swered, and, unless
must be an-
we suppose
a
we know,
answered by means of the revewhich we have, that is, by development. Such is the question of the Canon of Scripture and its inspiration: that is, whether Christianity depends upon a written document as Judaism; if so, on what writings and how many; whether that document is self-interpreting, or requires a revelation,
ligion;
lation
that
by authority,
as far as
commencement
of the re-
settled
difficulties
new
at the
yet surely
it
quite conceivable
is
might have dissipated them all in a few words, had Divine Wisdom thought fit. But in matter of fact the decision has been left to time, to the slow an
Apostle
process of thought, to the influence of
upon mind, the
mind and
issues of controversy,
the growth of opinion.
ON THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENT IN BEHALF OF THE EXISTING DEVELOPMENTS METHOD It
seems, then, that
we have
to deal
OF PROOF
with
their
a case something like the following:
Certain doctrines
come
to us,
assign
fifth,
he cannot
intelligibly
of internal character, from others
or
which he
disavows. Further, these doctrines occupy
yet their substance may, for
the whole field of theology, and leave noth-
what appears, be coeval with the and be expressed or implied
in
ing to be supplied, except in detail, by any
Apostles,
other
texts of
no
Scripture. Further, these existing doctrines
are
will,
it
the eighth, or the thirteenth century, as
may happen,
do what he
separate, whether in point of evidence or
the date of their formal
establishment to the fourth, or the
articles
which many
an impugner of the said doctrinal system, as a system, professes to accept, and which,
professing
be Apostolic, and possessed of such high antiquity that, though we are only to
able to
system even those primary
of faith, as the Incarnation,
universally
considered,
without
have none
any
question, in each age to be the echo of the
doctrines of the
system;
rival
system
while, is
in
matter of
fact,
forthcoming, so that
to
choose between
at
all.
Moreover,
this
this
we
theology and
theology alone
makes provision for that guidance of opinion and conduct, which seems externally to be the special aim of Revelation; and fulfils the promises of Scripture, by adapt-
times immediately pre-
ceding
them, and thus are continually thrown back to a date indefinitely early, even though their ultimate junction with the Apostolic Creed be out of sight and unascertainable. Moreover, they are confessed to form one body one with another, so that to reject one is to disparage the rest; and they include within the range of
itself to the various problems of thought and practice which meet us in life. And,
ing
further,
it
is
the nearest approach, to say
the least, to the religious sentiment, and
what
426
is
called ethos, of the early Church,
Netvman:
On
the
Development
We
of Ideas
prove them by using them, by
nay, to that of the Apostles and Prophets;
ously.
for all will agree so far as this, that Elijah,
applying them to the subject matter, or the
Jeremiah, the Baptist, and
evidence, or the body of circumstances, to
Paul are in
St.
which they belong,
and mode of life (I do not speak of measures of grace, no, nor of doctrine and conduct, for these are the points in dispute, but) in what is external and meets the eye (and this is no slight resemblance when things are viewed as a whole and from a distance)— these saintly and heroic men, I say, are more like a Dominitheir history
interpretation
friar,
more
like
Vincent Ferrer, or
St.
them, whatever
Alphonso Liguori, than to any indiany classes of men, that can be found in other communions. And then, is
which were
developments
of
we
interpret
obscure in separate portions by
is
we
Moreover,
clear.
proportion
to
the
strength of the antecedent probability in
the high antecedent
we
their favour,
would watch over His own work, and would direct and those
take the evidence for
such portions as are bear with these in
probability that Providence
ratify
the
or
be, as a whole, as form-
it
ing a combined proof; and
what
viduals, or to
addition, there
we
granted. Again,
or St.
in
fail, in
phenomena
its
it
matter
a
as
harmonizing facts do we discover that we must reject the doctrines or the statements which we had in the first instance taken for
Toribio, or
St.
they gave
if
colour
and only when they
of course;
Francis Xavier,
St.
as
its
event, in illustrating
can preacher, or a Jesuit missionary, or a Carmelite
or
are patient with difficulties
with apparent objec-
in their application,
them drawn from other matters
tions to
doctrine
deficiency
fact,
want
ness, or
inevitable.
their
in
of
comprehensive-
of neatness in their working,
provided their claims on our attention are considerable.
If this
is,
on the whole, a true view of
the general shape under which the existing
body
of developments
commonly
Thus most men take Newton's theory
called
Catholic present themselves before us, an-
gravitation for granted, because
tecedently to our looking into the partic-
erally received,
which they stand, I think we shall be at no loss to determine what both logical truth and duty prescribe to
testing
nomena
us as to our reception of them.
factorily
ular evidence on
little
we
to say that
we
It is
and truths
very
should treat them as
and the evidence
for
occurrence;
a
not scruple to admit as
more
with suspicion and criticism, but with a frank confidence. We do not in the first
miliares.
on
trust,
that
not
we
Persius,
of
set
purpose,
but
take
other.
spontane-
one
Ad
Fa-
Even
illustrated
point of history. Horace,
in
Tacitus,
throw
to
Plato
tator in Plotinus,
427
is
Suetonius,
may be made
them and we put them on trial, and
not begin with doubting;
^schylus
in
should
true explanation
explicit statement in his
by Aristophanes
do
its
we
by Sophopoint of language, and Thucydides
cles in
upon opinions
We
does not trouble us,
this
there must be of explaining
of Cicero's letters to Atticus,
a
faith.
solve,
found a concise or obscure passage
and what is our beWe meet them not
which are received, but our
by phenomena; and if phewhich it does not satis-
are found
way
haviour towards them?
instance exercise our reason
and use it without rigidly each for himself (as it can
them, consistently with that theory, though it does not occur to ourselves. Again, if we
for
them, such as come to us with a fair presumption in their favour. Such are of every day's
first,
be tested)
are accustomed to treat other alleged
facts
it
of
gen-
is
it
may
and
St.
and Juvenal upon each
light
gain a
Anselm
commenis
inter-
Great Books Library preted by
Two
Thomas.
St.
writers,
passage, "Out of Egypt have
in-
may be already known to differ, and then we do not join them together as fellow witnesses to common truths; Luther
Son." Nor do
deed,
has taken on himself to explain tine,
St.
and Voltaire, Pascal, without per-
comment does text, when there is
its
sider
mere
Much
action to
which
it
when
to interpret the prophetical text
and the types of the Old Testament. The event which is the development is also the of
the
prediction;
ing.
And we
short of
it,
or that the sacred writer
difficulty,
for instance,
in
upon
their
traditional
of
that
to
all
would be etc.,
or
God worship Him,"
the Angels of
connexion
assuming the intibetween Judaism and
and
Christianity,
New
Testament,
accounting for
lieve
it.
dice
to
not
acceptation it,
be told that the Prophet's
The
keeping,
who came
reader
influence
mate
the fact that the dispersion of the Jews
followed
or that a previous
refer to our Lord; but
accept certain events as the
incidental difficulties.
A
by himself, beyond the
"Let
prophecy from the broad correspondence of the one with the other, in
many
it,
it.
words, "A virgin shall conceive,"
mean-
make
to the inspired text
surprised
fulfilment of
spite of
We
no objection that the words themselves
which happily encompasses
pro-
it
vides a fulfilment by imposing a
applied, of the ad-
is
it
fulfilment satisfies
interpretation
do we con-
vantage of such interpretation.
did not contemplate
we have
less
fulness in the interpretation, or
cient reason for depriving the text, or the
come
Scripture,
our He-
in
definiteness, or again strangeness, as a suffi-
facie congruity
Thus too we deal with
My
when
Paul appeals to a text of the Old Testa-
care of themselves.
not dis-
a prima between them. We elucidate the text by the comment, though, or rather because, the comment is fuller and more explicit than the text.
agree with
called
I
a difficulty
brew copies; as the words, "A body hast Thou prepared Me." We receive such difficulties on faith, and leave them to take
suading the world that they have a claim to do so; but in no case do we begin with asking whether a
find
ment, which stands otherwise
Augus-
St.
we
Balaam
their
We
the inspiration of the
we do
not scruple to be-
rightly feel that
our
receiving
in its Christian
the
no prejuprophecy of
it is
meaning
that
it
is
departing from the Law, does not hinder
adequately
us from insisting on their present state as
tory of Jonah that
an argument against the infidel. Again, we readily submit our reason on competent
and has a moral in itself like an apologue; or the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek that it is too brief and simple to mean any great thing, as St. Paul inter-
and accept certain events as an accomplishment of predictions which seem verv far removed from them; as in the
authority,
prets
David; or the
fulfilled in it is
his-
poetical in character
it.
STATE OF THE EVIDENCE Bacon
is
the established tnith thereof, receives or
celebrated for destroying the
method resembling that which credit of a
of reasoning it
has
much
rejects
everything,
as
scjuaring
proving contrary to them,
been the
recommend. "He
is
with
or
only fitted to
such principles as he takes to be approved,
mix and confound things with words, reason with madness, and the world with fable and fiction, but not to interpret the works of nature." But he was aiming at the
granted and manifest, and, according to
application of these
object of this chapter to
who
is
not practised
"but forward
in
doubting," he says,
in asserting
and laying down
428
modes
of reasoning to
Newman: On what should be
the
investigation,
strict
that in the province of physics;
and
Development
and
then the simple question
this
struments are which are proper to a par-
he might well censure, without attempting (what is impossible) to banish them from history, ethics,
tested, to
anything but sense
is
irrational;
why
but to supersede
when
we we
or
We
authority
the senses
begin.
We
to
fail us;
deduce,
bless
past
or
ages,
the
imme-
in
less
exact methods of
who
And
if it is
much more may
benefits,
ethics
divine; while as to religion,
it
be the method of recommending Him and learning His will. If be His gracious purpose that we
ourselves to
which are
then
it
should learn
it,
the
means He
are His.
And what
more
ticular time, or to this person,
facts of
which are not present;
it is
gives for
be they promising or not to human eyes, are sufficient because they
wise with ethics, in which phenomena are
history,
be called
directly pro-
fesses to
decree of foreign
otherwise with
in-
certain sense, divine arts, as being divinely ordained means of our receiving divine
inductions,
it,
is
ethical
and
reasonable to consider medi-
learning
it
in
blesses experience
cine, or architecture, or engineering, in a
our hands and under our eyes.
But
The
duction in the art of medicine.
but with the senses
teachers, to determine matters
we may be
antecedent probabilities
inquiries,
abstract, we theorize from facts; we do not begin with surmise and conjecture, much less do we look to the tradition
of
they are of the appoint-
If
may do His work as well as the more perfect, if He blesses them. He may
have recourse to determine facts
we form
in-
reasoning
matter of sense
certain, less
less
what those
of a Divine Protector,
ever they are.
are the senses given us
informants?
reason
in a
is
sure that they will lead to the truth, what-
religion. Physical facts
and the senses may be satisfactorily corrected, and verified. To trust
senses,
diate
ticular case.
ment
they are submitted to the
present;
are
and
of Ideas
the
other-
and more personal to individuals than other facts, and not referable to any common standard by which all men can decide upon them. In such sciences, we cannot rest upon mere facts, if we would, because we have not got them. We must do our best with what is given us, and look about for aid from any quarter; and in such circumstances the subtle, closer,
His
depends on
He may have imposed and obedience on some men
disposition.
simple prayer
instrument of their
the
as
they are at this par-
attaining
to
the mysteries and precepts of Christianity.
He may
lead others through the written word, at least for some stages of their course;
He
and
if
the formal basis on which
has rested His revelations be, as
it
is,
the prescriptions of authority, antecedent
an historical and philosophical character, then antecedent probabilities, sub-
auguries,
sequently corroborated by facts, will be
opinions of others, the traditions of ages,
and the but, sifted
analogies,
like,
parallel
cases,
of
these
not indeed taken at random,
the evidence from
sufficient, as in the parallel case of
other
the senses,
history, to bring us safely to the matter,
and scrutinized, obviously become
or at least to the organ, of those revela-
like
of great importance.
And,
further,
pothesis that
a
if
we proceed on
tions.
which belong to mean, as history, antiquities, political science, ethics, metaphysics, and theology, which are preeminently such, and especially in theology Moreover,
the hy-
in subjects
moral proof, such,
merciful Providence has
supplied us with means of gaining such truth as concerns us, in different subject
matters, though with different instruments.
429
I
Great Books Library and ethics, antecedent probability ma> have a real weight and cogency which it cannot have in experimental science; and a mature politician or divine may have a
cioiis
power
well-known maxim of Aristotle that "it is much the same to admit the probabilities of a mathematician, and to look for demonstration from an orator." In all matters of human life, presumption verified by in-
of
The same
sequence of his peculiar habits of mind which is seldom given in the same degree to physical inquirers, who, for the purposes of this particular pursuit, are very much on a level.
And
this last
remark
who
at least
is
confesses,
con-
stances,
"Our
and,
method of discovering the sciences does not much depend upon subtlety and strength
it
as
and
understanding";
surely sciences there are in is
everything and rules
all
though
which genius
to
exemplifies
is
involved
in
the
our ordinary instrument of proof
is
the antecedent probability
great,
is
almost supersedes instances. Of course, is
we may
plain,
in that case,
err grievously in the
we
start with,
and
may be wide shows that we
our conclusions
of the truth; but that only
had no right to assume a premise which was untrustworthy, not that our reasoning was faulty.
but nothing.
be a great mistake then
It will
^
if
principle
antecedent view which
of genius, but lies level to almost every
capacity
he
while
logic
it.
of reaching matters of fact in con-
firmed by Lord Bacon,
writer recognizes the true principle
historical
suppose
that because this eminent philosopher con-
demned presumption and with
us, present
therefore
prescription in
I
which are external to and common to us all,
inquiries into facts us,
authority,
mere
am
speaking of the process
correctness
is
shown by
itself,
its
and
general
adoption. In religious questions a single
verisimili-
tradition,
tude, analogy, and the like, are
its
text of Scripture
is
all-sufficient
with most
"idols
people, whether the well disposed or the
den" or "of the theatre" in history Here we may oppose to him an in his own line as great as he is: author "Experience," says Bacon, "is by far the best demonstration, provided it dwell in
prejudiced, to prove a doctrine or a duty
of the
in cases
or ethics.
the experiment; for the transferring of
tradition
ends with Again,
when investigating an obscure Roman history— "instances are
velopment of
4
5
where the
paral-
Here
GBVVW,
Vol. 30,
1:70,
GBWW,
Vol. 30,
man
of sin.
plain that a man's after course
few and doubtful to bear insisting on at the time, and would have seemed ridiculous had we attempted to do so. And the antecedent probabilit) is even found to triumph over contrary evidence, as well
113b.
Novum Or^mium,
is
which, considered as evidence, were too
this saga-
1:61,
it
of those past indications of his character
the progressive de-
institutions."
Novum Or^mwm, p.
all,
in
"Forbidding to marry" de-
for good or bad brings out the passing words or obscure actions of previous years. Then, on a retrospect, we use the event as a presumptive interpretation of the past,
not arguments, but in history are scarcely
is
life.
termines the Pope to be the
question of
they exhibit
suffi-
there shall
Niebuhr explains or corrects him: "Instances are not arguments," he
lel
is
Sunday worship. "Where the tree falleth, it lie" shows that our probation
it
•'*
of less force; above
custom is established or a "Not forsaking the as-
sembling of oinselves together"
judged alike is very fallacious, unless done with great exactness and
grants,
a
strong.
is
cient for establishing social, public, nay,
to other things
regularity."
when
p. I16c-'
which His instances
aff^ord
which were external
though
he
some Eastern
of
"excellent not to touch a
mathematical truth, incorporated nothing from external sources. So far from the fact of such incorporation implying corruption, as is sometimes supyet,
it
to
Paul was not biassed by
St.
Orientalism,
manner
it.
The lasted,
has an
not of a perversion of Christianity, but of
at
of
it
them. At least
healing with the
had moistened,
lips
development shows the presence of a principle, and its success attempt
affinity to
be assumed here that, when the Gospels speak of virtue going out of our Lord, and
yet remains one.
The
corrupted by them, but that
antecedent
mere formula
is
show
has been unduly influenced, that
it
said,
after
sects, that
it
the
was
woman."
like
posed, development
is
Thus times
a process of incor-
Mahometanism may be in external developments scarcely more than a compound of other theologies, yet no one
politics,
in
proposed,
adopted, as
poration.
the\
are
possible;
would deny that there has been a living idea somewhere in a religion which has been so strong, so wide, so lasting a bond
it
ideas
to
with which,
wholes or
in
are some-
rejected,
or
happen, and sometimes be unmeaning and im-
sometimes they are
tialK' so, or in
442
nia\
shown
too,
discussed,
true,
but par-
subordination to other ideas, in
consecpience, they are as
part
incorporated, as far as
Newman: On these have affinities to them, the
the
Development
of Ideas
strong frames exult in their agility, and
power
to incorporate being thus recognized as a property of Hfe. Mr. Bentham's system
healthy constitutions throw
was an attempt to make the circle of legal and moral truths developments of certain principles of his own; those principles of his may, if it so happen, prove unequal to the weight of truths which are eternal, and the system founded on them may
rash,
break into pieces; or again, a state may absorb certain of them, for which it has
principle of
that
affinity,
is,
may
it
thamism, yet remain
develop
in
was
life
indispensable is
articles
when
the
weakly. Thus Presby-
terianism has maintained
its
original the-
ology in Scotland where legal subscriptions
Ben-
The Semi-Arians
are
religion
of
are enforced, while
it
has run into Arian-
ism or Unitarianism where that protection
before. In the history of the
characteristic ideas.
be
will
Forms, subscriptions, or
ternally.
substance what
in
and
sometimes be betrayed into extravagances, yet are brought right by their inherent vigour. On the other hand, unreal systems are commonly decent ex-
French Revolution we read of many middle parties, who attempted to form theories of constitutions short of those which they would call extreme, and successively failed from the want of power or reality in their it
off ailments, so
parties or schools that live can afford to
away. We have yet to see whether the Free Kirk can keep its present theological ground. The Church of Rome can consult is
expedience more freely than other bodies, as trusting to her living tradition, and is
sometimes thought to disregard principle and scruple, when she is but dispensing with forms. Thus Saints are often char-
at-
tempted a middle way between orthodoxy and heresy, but could not stand their ground; at length part fell into Macedonianism, and part joined the Church.
by acts which are no pattern and the most gifted men are, by reason of their very gifts, sometimes led into fatal inadvertences. Hence vows acterized
for others;
are the wise defence of unstable virtue,
The
stronger and
more
living
is
and general
an idea,
more powerful hold it exercises on the minds of men, the more able is it to dispense with safeguards, and trust to itself against the danger of corruption. As that
is,
the
rules the refuge of feeble au-
thority.
And
so
power
of
much may faithful
suffice
on the unitive
developments,
which
constitutes their third characteristic.
FOURTH note: LOGICAL SEQUENCE Logic J
as
is
a security for the
is
faithfulness of intellectual
and the necessity of using as far as this, that
transgressed. That ercise in
is
of
to conclusion, of course the answer must be in the negative. An idea under one or other of its aspects grows in the mind by remaining there; it becomes familiar and distinct, and is viewed in its relations; it leads to other aspects, and these
commu-
again to others, subtle, recondite, original,
developments; undeniable
ises
it is
rules
its
it is
must not be
not brought into ex-
every instance of doctrinal de-
velopment is owing to the mental constitution, whether nities or in individuals,
with
varieties in
if by this meant a conscious reasoning from prem-
than a logical operation; but,
the organization of thought, and,
being such,
whom
according
great
seeming truths are lodged. The question indeed may be asked whether a development can be other in any case
to
the
character,
intellectual
and moral, of the recipient; and thus a body of thought is gradually formed without his recognizing what is going on within
truths or
443
Great Books Library him.
And
all
this while, or at least
from
time to time, external circumstances elicit
The
which coming into being in the depths of his mind; and soon he has to begin to defend them; and then again a further process must take place, of analyzing his statements and ascertaining their dependence one on another. And thus he is led to regard as consequences, and to trace to principles, what hitherto he has discerned by a moral perception, and adopted on sympathy; and logic is brought in to arrange and inculcate what no science was employed in gaining. And so in the same way, such intellecinto formal statement the thoughts
tual processes,
in
mind come to
the
or school, of necessity later date,
been invidiously spoken of and contrasted with faith.
issues are scientifically arranged.
be
cedent ciples,
as
the original,
is
reason incor-
is,
itself
tionalism
of faith in matters of faith; but
congniity, expedience being
some
little
do not thereby make but ascertain— for instance, whether or not St. Mark wrote his Gospel with St. Matthew before him, or whether Solomon brought his merchandise from Tartessus or some Indian port. Ra-
then
prin-
as
deserves that imputation in any case, as an inquiry into an historical fact, which we
their
of
application
But,
and though we may
yet the developing
rectly,
not see
the exercise of reason instead
is
how
it
one does
can be faith to adopt the
premises, and unbelief to accept the con-
nature of the case, ante-
probability,
results:
its
develop erroneously, that
logic has the further function of propagation; analogy, the
and,
rationalistic,
such are
light at a
And
though which is development may happen to
subjected to
of a party
and are recognized, and
as rationalism
a particular doctrine or opinion
are carried on silently
as
and spontaneously
process of development, thus capa-
ble of a logical expression, has sometimes
are
clusion.
At the same time it may be granted that spontaneous process which goes on
methods of proof by which the development is continued from mind to mind and established in the faith of the community. Yet even then the analysis is not made on a principle, or with any view to its whole course and finished results. Each argument is brought for an immediate purpose; minds develop step by step, without looking behind them or anticipating their goal, and without either intention or
the
of the
within the
mind
itself is
than that which
being
is
scientific, is
can be taken and
who
higher and choicer
logical; for the latter,
common property, and made use of by minds
are personally strangers, in
any true and
sense, both to the ideas in question to their
development.
Thus, the holy Apostles would without all the truths concerning the
promise of forming a system. Afterwards,
words know
however, this logical character which the whole wears becomes a test that the proc-
high doctrines of theology, which contro-
them have piously and reduced to formuhr, and developed through argument. Thus, St. Justin or St. Ireuirus might be without any
been a true development, not a perversion or corruption, from its evident naturalness; and in some cases from the gravity, distinctness, precision, and majesty of its advance, and the harmony of its proportions, like the tall growth, and graceful branching, and rich foliage, of
ess has
after
versialists
charitably
digested Sin,
yet
ideas
of
Purgator\'
have an intense
or
Original
feeling,
which
they had not defined or located, both of the fault of oin- first nature and the respon-
some vegetable production.
444
Newman: On
our nature regenerate. Thus
sibilities of
Anthony
said to the philosophers
mock him, "He whose mind
to
the
does not need
and
letters";
Development
which the substance on the whole was
St.
who came
is
in health
St.
Ignatius
of Ideas
for the symbolical books of his Church." Next a reaction took place; private judgment was restored to the supremacy. Calixtus put reason, and Spener his,
Loyola, while yet an unlearned neophyte,
was favoured with transcendent perceptions of the Holy Trinity during his penance at Manresa. Thus St. Athanasius himself is more powerful in statement and ex-
the so-called religion of the heart, in the
place of dogmatic correctness. Pietism for the time died away; but rationalism de-
veloped
in
Wolf,
who
professed to prove
the orthodox doctrines, by a process
position than in proof; while in Bellarmine
all
we
of reasoning, from premises level with the
whole series of doctrines caredrawn out, duly adjusted with one another, and exactly analyzed one by one. The history of empires and of public find the
reason.
fully
men is
many
supplies so
development
instances of logical
the field of politics, that
in
it
the in-
had proved the Creed;
disproved the
it
What was
by the words of Jeroboam, "Now shall this kingdom return to the house of David, if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Wherefore the king took Jerusalem counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, Behold thy gods, O Israel." Idolatry was a duty of kingcraft with the schismatical kingdom. .
hands
in his
It is illustrated
.
that
in
the hands of Semler, Emesti, and others,
it
needless to do more than to refer to one
of them.
was soon found
It
strument which Wolf had used for orthodoxy could as plausibly be used against it;
sist in
authority
religion
now? A
Scripture.
of
be made
to
to
con-
sort of philosophical pietism
followed; or rather Spener's pietism and the original theory of justification were analyzed more thoroughly, and issued in
.
various theories of pantheism, which from
the
first
was
at
the bottom of Luther's
doctrine and personal character.
And
this
appears to be the state of Lutheranism at present, whether
we view
it
in the phi-
losophy of Kant, in the open infidelity of Strauss, or in the religious professions of
A
specimen of logical development is afforded us in the history of Lutheranism as it has of late years been drawn out by various English writers. Luther started on a double basis, his dogmatic principle being contradicted by his right of private judgment, and his sacramental by his
the
of justification. The sacramental element never showed signs of life; but on his death, that which he represented in
theory
his
own person
gained the
pression of his
became
a
norm
and "every
is
a
no perversion or corruption, but a faithful development of proof that that change
is
the original idea.
ex-
upon controverted points for the party, which, at all
times the largest, was at last coextensive
with the Church trous veneration
Evangelical Church of Prussia.
losophy of his present representatives,
as a teacher, the dogmatic,
ascendancy;
new
Applying this instance to the subject which it has been here brought to illustrate, I should say that the equable and orderly march and natural succession of views, by which the creed of Luther has been changed into the infidel or heretical phi-
itself.
This
is
but one out of
many
instances
with which the history of the Church sup-
This almost idola-
was perhaps increased by
plies
us.
The
fortunes
of
a
theological
school are made, in a later generation, the
the selection of declarations of faith, of
445
Great Books Library measure of the teaching of its founder. The great Origen after his many hibours died in peace; his immediate pupils were Saints and rulers in the Church; he has the praise of St. Athanasius, St. Basil, and St. Gregory Nazianzen, and furnishes materials to St. Ambrose and St. Hilary; yet, as time proceeded, a definite heterodoxy was the growing result of his theology, and at length, three hundred years after his death, he was condemned, and, as has generally been considered, in an Ecumenical Council. "Diodorus of Tarsus," says Tillemont, "died at an advanced age, in the peace of the Church, honoured by the praises of the greatest saints, and crowned with a glory, which, having ever attended him through life,
followed him after his death"; yet
Cyril
of
Alexandria
considers
complains, as (juoted by Facundus, that
who was and
in his
tion
from the orthodox,
his
ten thousand books
sight of priests, emperors,
own
St.
ment
is
of
and people, runs
Exit us acta probat; and
is
sanctioned by Divine wisdom when, warning us against false prophets, shall
A
know them by
it
says,
"Ye
their fruits."
doctrine, then, professed in
its
ma-
ture years by a philosoph>' or religion
is
be a true development, not a corruption, in proportion as it seems to be the
likely to
logical issue of
its
ITS
original teaching.
FUTURE
no wise strange that here and there defispecimens of advanced teaching should very early occur, which in the historical course are not found till a late day. The fact, then, of such early or recurring intimations of tendencies which afterwards are fully realized is a sort of evidence that those later and more s\stematic fulfilments are onh' in accordance with the original in
is,
nite
to
nature, and
is the same in all ages, development which is to come, though vague and isolated, may occur from the very first, though a lapse of time be necessary to bring them to perfection. And since developments are in great measure only aspects of the idea from which they proceed, and all of them are natural consequences of it, it is often a matter of accident in what order they are carried out in individual minds; and it is
and
re-
expressed in the proverb, not lim-
ited to Latin,
the long run, may under favourable circumstances show themselves early as well as late,
in
their chief." There is a advance and determinate path which belong to the history of a doctrine, policy, or institution, and which impress upon the common sense of mankind, that what it ultimately becomes is the issue of what it was at first. This senti-
the tendencies, which are carried out on
instances
composed
and of being called
FIFTH NOTE: ANTICIPATION OF
its
death
conflicts, after
certain continuous
he was in the highest reand the Eastern Synod
develop according to
after his
the risk of receiving the reward of heretics,
him and
Since, when an idea is living, that influential and effective, it is sure
now many
futation of errors, after his approval in the
his day,
in
and and overthrew every heresy, lifetime experienced no imputa-
so long ago, after his
considered the chief rationalizing doctor of antiquity; yet
died so happiU
so eminent a teacher for five
forty years,
Theodore of Mopsuestia the true authors of Nestorianism, and he was placed in the event by the Nestorians among their Saints. Theodore himself was condemned after his death by the same Council which is said to have condemned Origen, and is justly
pute
who
"Blessed Theodore,
logic a
idea.
2 Nothing
is
more common,
for instance,
than accounts or legends of the anticipations, which great men have given in
bovhood
446
of the
bent of their minds, as
Newman: On
Development
the
afterwards displayed in their history; so
shown
much
occasions
so that the popidar expectation has
of Ideas
that Socrates did on one or
two
evidence deliberate doubts on
sometimes led to the invention of them. child Cyrus mimics a despot's power, and St. Athanasius is elected bishop by his
would any one deny that the innovation in question had grounds for being considered
playfellows.
a true development, not a corruption?
The
noticeable that in the eleventh cen-
It is
tury,
the great principles of theism or morals,
when
the Russians were but pirates
upon the Black Sea, Constantinople was their aim; and that a prophecy was in cir-
study;
culation in that city that they should one
celebrated Abbot of
day gain possession
troversy
of
it.
In the reign of James the First,
we have
labour had a more prominent place than
much
so
with
so
an observable anticipation of the system of
management of political which was developed by Sir R.
that
De
Ranee, the
La Trappe,
Mabillon,
ground with great
in
maintained
conhis
plausibility against the
apology for the literary occupa-
latter's
which the Benedictines of France Nor can it be denied that the labours of such as Mabillon and Montfaucon are at least a development upon
influence in the parties,
Mona-
certain that, in the idea of
It is
chism, prevalent in ancient times, manual
tions for
are so famous.
Walpole a century afterwards. This attempt is traced by a living writer to the ingenuity of Lord Bacon. "He submitted to the King that there were expedients for more judiciously managing a House of Commons; that much might be done by forethought towards filling the House with well-affected persons, winning or blinding the lawyers and drawing the
jects, interpretation of Scripture, or points
chief constituent bodies of the assembly,
of theology. St. Basil, the founder of
the country gentlemen, the merchants, the
one of the most learned of the Greek Fathers, wrote his theological
.
the simplicity of the primitive institution.
And
it
chism
would be expedient to tender volungraces and modifications of
adds,
"This
circumstance,
others in the present reign, it
shows the
rise of a
tary influence,
like is
come the mainspring
in
labour.
religious sub-
Mona-
St.
the
intervals
Jerome,
the
of
agricultural
author
of
the
Latin versions of Scripture, lived as a poor
writer
monk
several
a cell at Bethlehem. These, in-
in
deed, were but exceptions in the character
curious, as
systematic parliamen-
which was one day
week on
in Pontus,
treatises
tarily certain
The
remarkable that St. Pachoauthor of a monastic rule,
tions three times a
.
the King's prerogative," etc.
first
and appointed conferences and disputa-
courtiers, to act for the King's advantage;
that
is
it
enjoined a library in each of his houses,
.
.
yet
mius, the
Monachism; but they suggest its and anticipate its history. Lit-
of early
to be-
capabilities
of government."
erature its
and Carneades, the founders Academy, are known to have innovated on the Platonic doctrine by inculcating a universal scepticism; and they did this, as if on the authority of Socrates, who had adopted the method of ironia against the Sophists, on their professing to know everything. This, of course, was an insufficient plea. However, could it be
is
certainly not inconsistent with
idea.
Arcesilas
of the later
In the controversies with the Gnostics, in
the second century,
striking anticipa-
tions occasionally occur, in the
their
Catholic opponents,
dogmatic
teaching
of
works of
the
developed
formal in
the
Church in the course of the Nestorian and Monophysite controversies in the fifth. On the other hand, Paul of Samosata, one of
447
Great Books Library the
first
disciples
Nestorianism,
like
the
of
Syrian
no
school
which that school
in
terminated, to be mistaken for
it
an opposite heresy.
Lutheranism has by this time become most places almost simple heresy or infidelity; it has terminated, if it has even yet reached its limit, in a denial both of the Canon and the Creed, nay, of many principles of morals. Accordingly the question arises, whether these conclusions are in fairness to be connected with its origi-
St.
vinism, again, in various distinct countries,
become Socinianism, and Calvin himseems to have denied our Lord's Eternal Sonship and ridiculed the Nicene
has
in
And
resolution to find
its
the Apocalypse, called the Epistle of
him the was Arianism,
nal teaching or are a corruption.
aid towards
James ''straminea" condemned the word "Trinity," fell into a kind of Eutychianism in his view of the Holy Eucharist, and in a particular case sanctioned bigamy. Cal-
in later
times; yet for a long while after characteristic of the school
little
that Luther himself at one time rejected
taught a heresy sufficiently
of theology,
self
Creed.
Another evidence, then, of the faithfulof an ultimate development is its
ness
definite anticipation at an early period in
the history of the idea to which
it is
it
belongs.
SIXTH NOTE: CONSERVATIVE ACTION UPON ITS PAST AS developments which are preceded by
xV definite
indications
have a
fair
no second opportunity. Virtue seems to lie in a mean, between vice and vice; and
pre-
grow There is a limit to human knowledge, and both sacred and profane writers witness that overwisdom is folly. And in the political world states rise and
sumption in their favour, so those which do but contradict and reverse the course of doctrine which has been developed before them, and out of which they spring, are certainly corrupt; for a corruption
development it
in that
is
as
a
very stage in which
fall,
the acquisitions gained in
its
It
is
phenomena which its
it
presents, that
tutissimus,
life
maximum
is
The grace
in earthly excellence,
of spring, the richness of
"vaulting
which
ambition,"
maintained as that truth
and the operation of the same causes which made things great makes them small again. Weakness is but the resulting product of power. Events move in cycles; all things come round, "the sun ariseth and goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." Flowers first bloom, and then fade; fruit ripens and decays. The fermenting process, unless stopped at the due point, corrupts the liquor which it has created. ever a
of their de-
seem to imply that too much of what is good is evil. So great a paradox of course cannot be
termination by a gradual,
imperceptible course of change. There
the instiiiments of their aggrandize-
struction.
the rule of creation, or rather of
passes on to
of imperfection, so to
And hence the frequent ethical maxims, such as, Ne quid nimis, Medio
pre-
vious history.
the
grew out
ment becoming the weapons
ceases to illustrate, and begins to dis-
turb,
it
into enormity.
literally leads to
falsehood, or that there can be an excess
but the appearance of things and the popular language about them will
of virtue;
at least serve us in obtaining
an additional
test for the discrimination of a
development of an idea from
bona its
fide
corrup-
tion.
A
true development, then,
scribed as one which
is
may be
de-
conservative of the
course of antecedent developments being
autumn
really those antecedents
moment, and worldly moralbid us Carpc diem, for we shall have
and something be-
an addition which
are but for a
sides them:
ists
trates, not obscures, corroborates, not cor-
448
it
is
illus-
Newman: On
the
the body of thought from which
rects,
proceeds; and this
is
Development
down, what is this but to be unthankful what is gained?" Vincentius of Lerins, in like manner, speaks of the development of Christian doctrine, as profectus fidei non
it
for
characteristic as
its
of Ideas
contrasted with a corruption.
And
permutatio.^
Law, our Lord For instance, a gradual conversion from
destroy, but to
so as regards the Jewish
said that
He came
"not to
fulfil."
much
a false to a true religion, plainly, has
of the character of a continuous process, or
mind
a development,
in
when
religions,
two
the
limits of
the
itself, even which are the
course, are antagonists.
its
Mahomet
Now
be observed, that such a change consists in addition and increase chiefly, not in destruction. "True religion is the let
it
summit and perfection
of false religions;
matter of
fact, if a religious
mind
tive,
True conversion
is
is
its
is
in
the
finished,
to to
op-
St.
what has been up what has been laid
reconsider
tear
This
German
phi-
Catholics are accused of
they answer that they hold, and can show that they hold, the doctrines of the Incarnation and Atonement as firmly as any Protestant can state them. To this it is replied that they do certainly profess them, but that they obscure and virtually annul them by their additions; that the cultus of St. Mary and the Saints is no development of the truth, but a corruption and a religious mischief to those doctrines of which it is the corruption, because it draws away the mind and heart from Christ. But they answer that, so far from
Leo. "To be seeking for what has been disclosed,
and there-
tive Creed,
^
language of
prevailed."
When Roman
the theory of the Fathers as
instanced
it;
the contradictions are such as
substituting another Gospel for the primi-
regards the doctrines fixed by Councils, as
a
is opposed to the evident design of the Church, and of her earliest teachers."
ever of a posi-
not a negative character."
Such too
is
is
ect
not be directly rejected, but indirectly, in
posite.
acknowledge
all
when
"which
to those of his sect
losopher "acknowledges that such a proj-
wrong doctrine would attach it to the truth; and that portion of its original doctrine, which was to be cast off as absolutely false, would the reception of the truth which
his later,
that they
hitherto
at first to the
it
by
known
they cannot solve them, then they will have one of the contradictory places to be revoked. And they reckon in the whole Alcoran about a hundred and fifty verses which are thus revoked." Schelling, says Mr. Dewar, considers "that the time has arrived when an esoteric speculative Christianity ought to take the place of the exoteric empiricism which has
it
were educated in and sincerely attached to some form of heathenism or heresy, and then were brought under the light of truth, it would be drawn off from error into the truth, not by losing what it had, but by gaining what it had not, not by being unclothed, but by being ^clothed upon,' 'that mortality may be swallowed up of life.' That same principle of faith which attaches
accused of contradicting his
thing so well
fore
combines in one whatever there is of good and true separately remaining in each. And in like manner the Catholic Creed is for the most part the combination of separate truths, which heretics have divided among themselves, and err in dividing. So that, in
is
earlier revelations
9 "An advance, not a change, of
8 Tracts for the Times, No. 85.
449
faith.
Great Books Library this,
necessary to preserve and to keep that
subserves, illustrates, protects the
it
doctrine of our Lord's loving kindness and
society in order."
On
mediation. Thus the parties in controversy
on the
join issue
developed
common which
doctrine
to
Long
the
Parlia-
usurp the executive,
they impaired the popular liberties which
the
reverses
when
the contrary,
ment proceeded
ground, that a
course of development which has preceded
they seemed to be advancing; for the se-
no true development but a corruption; also, that what is corrupt acts as an element of unhealthiness towards what is sound. This subject, however, will come before us in its proper place by and by.
curity of those
it, is
not executors of the laws.
And
justified
is
by
its utility
the history of ancient
in
Rome,
from the time that the privileges gained by the tribunes in behalf of the people became an object of ambition to themselves, the development had changed into a cor-
another subject matter, of a develop-
ment which
depends on the
powers, or on the enactors being subjects,
Blackstone supplies us with an instance, in
liberties
separation of the executive and legislative
ruption.
when
And
he observes that "when society is once formed, government results of course, as
ment
thus a sixth test of a true developthat
is
tive of
it
is
of a tendency conserva-
what has gone before
it.
SEVENTH NOTE: CHRONIC VIGOUR as
The chance
the corruption of an idea, as far
Since
the appearance goes,
accident or affection of
its
a sort of
is
strike
development,
state leading to a crisis,
it
is,
as has
and
violent
being the end of a course, and a transition
of a slow corruption does not
them.
Revolutions
now,
swift;
generally
are
they are
in fact,
the course of a corruption.
been
observed above, a brief and rapid process.
While ideas ever
live in
enlarging
men's minds, they are
into
fuller
The course
development;
they will not be stationary in their corruption any
more than before
solution
that
is
corruption
further
tends.
is
another
and disto which
state
Corruption
and thus
Si gravis, hrevis; si longus, levis'^^^ is
of
the
it
is
brief;
if
is
like death; or, it is
if
life it
resolved into
and does
some
way, then another. The abounding of iniquity is the token of the end approaching; the faithful in consequence cry out. How long? as if delay opposed reason as well as patience. Three \ears and a half are to complete the
consolation
reign of Antichrist.
Nor world
10 "If severe,
always short;
it. And in this way indeed, but in this way only, an heretical principle will continue in life many \ears, first iimning one
de-
under pain; and of a number of disorders it can even be said, The worse, the shorter. Sober men are indisposed to change in civil matters, and fear reforms and innovations, lest, if they go a little too far, they should at once run on to some great calamities before a remedy can be applied. topic
what
not result in death,
velopment. Stoical
is
new, perhaps opposite, course of error, which lays no claim to be connected with
cannot,
test of a faithful
of heresies
an intermediate state between
death, or
it;
therefore, be of long standing;
duration
it is
is is
this, evil
long, slight."
450
it
any
real
objection
ever cornipt, and yet,
does not
fill
up
its
that
the
in spite of
measure and
Netoman:
On
the
Development
of Ideas
after
Monophysite communions; such might have been the condition of Christianity had it been absorbed by the feudalism of the Middle Ages; such too is that Protestantism, or (as it sometimes calls itself) attachment to the Establishment, which is
there
not unfrequently the boast of the respecta-
overflow; for this arises from the external
counteractions of truth and virtue, which
bear
back;
it
let
and the world
And
the
so again,
if
Church be removed,
soon come to
will
its
end.
the chosen people age
age became worse and worse, till was no recovery, still their course of evil was continually broken by reformations, and was thrown back upon a less ad-
and wealthy among ourselves. Whether Mahometanism external to Christendom, and the Greek Church
ble
vanced stage of declension.
one form
it, fall under this description is yet be seen. Circumstances can be imagined which would even now rouse the fanaticism of the Moslem; and the Russian des-
a state
potism does not meddle with the usages,
within to
decay, which
It is true that
of corruption,
is
slow; but decay
is
is
which there is no violent or vigorous action at all, whether of a conservative or
though
in
a
destructive
the functions of its
own
the
character,
fluence being powerful
process.
life,
And
hostile
enough
we
may domineer
over the priest-
Thus, while a corruption is distinguished from decay by its energetic action, it is distinguished from a development by its
in-
to enfeeble
but not to quicken thus
it
hood, of the national religion.
transitory character.
see opinions,
which are of venerable and imposing aspect, but which have no soundness within them, and keep together from a habit of consistence, or from dependence on political institutions; or they become almost peculiarities of a coun-
usages, and systems,
the habits of a race, or the fashions
try, or
of society.
And
idea with itself through velopment from first to
then, at length, perhaps,
suddenly and die out under rough influence from without.
they go the
Such are seven out of various Notes, which may be assigned, of fidelity in the development of an idea. The point to be ascertained is the unity and identity of the
first
Such are the superstitions which pervade a population, like some ingrained dye or inveterate odour, and which at length
come
to
an end, because nothing
lasts for
which run no course, and have no history; such was the established paganism of classical times, which was the fit ever, but
subject of persecution, for
made
its
first
all
stages of
its
de-
and these are seven tokens that it may rightly be accounted one and the same all along. To guarantee its own substantial unity, it must be seen to be one in type, one in its system of principles, one in its unitive power towards externals, one in its logical consecutiveness, one in the witness of its early phases to its later, one in the protection which its later extend to its earlier, and one in its union of vigour with continuance,
off
breath
crumble and disappear. Such apparently is the state of the Nestorian and it
that
451
is,
in its tenacity.
last,
Great Books Library
NOTE TO THE READER Nownian's
theory of the development of
on the specific Christian in the Syntopicon chapter on God, particularly under Topic 9: Specifically Christian dogmas concerning the
doctrine.
Material
dogmas can be found
ideas constitutes an inteqiretation of inor cultural progress. For further discussion of this general topic, the reader should consult the Syntopicon essay on tellectual
the intellectual tradition: the sifting of tiuth
divine nature and human destiny. Outside of theological doctrine, Newman's theory finds perhaps its most fitting application to the development of a constitution. Ma-
from
terial
and especially the passages cited under Progress 6c: The use and criticism of Prck;ress
error.
Newman's
particular
concern
is
the
de-
in
bearing on this subject can be found the passages cited under Constitution 10:
The
velopment of Christian doctrine, and on this subject there is much material in Great Books of the Western World. Theology 4d cites the passages which discuss the roles of reason and authority in the development of sacred
growth, and vicissitudes of congovernment; and under Law 8: Historical observations on the development of origin,
stitutional
law.
452
Newman: On
the
Development
of Ideas
JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN, PHOTOGRAPHED ABOUT 1887
453
a
THE SUBJECTION OF
WOMEN
by John Stuart Mill
I
PORTRAIT OF JOHN STUART MILL BY G. F. WATTS, 1873. IN THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY,
LONDON "jOHN STUART MILL, THE PROTECTOR OF WOMEN." LITHOGRAPH IN Vanity Fair, 1873
INTRODUCTION provided Women have sometimes works Dante
the inspiration, as well as the
subject, of great
of art.
and Beatrice are perhaps
the most illustrious examples. But there are also Petrarch and Laura,
Baudelaire and Marie, Wagner and Mathilde Wesendonk, Maeterlinck and Georgette Leblanc. In each case, the woman concerned exerted the kind of influence usually associated with the muses of ancient legend. We now think of muses only in connection with poetry. Yet in the ancient world, muses were the goddesses of the whole circle of arts and sciences. History also records at least two philosophers whose thought was inspired by a muse. Auguste Comte, the nineteenth-century French founder of Positivism, is one, his muse being a woman by the name of Clotilde de Vaux. John Stuart Mill is another. Professor fitienne Gilson, in a book entitled Choir of Muses, describes the relation between an artist and his muse as one of love, even passionate love, in which the normal end in physical union is thwarted and denied and, more or less consciously, replaced by the creation of a work. Although John Stuart Mill and Harriet Hardy Taylor are not included in Gilson's study, they undoubtedly meet this criterion. Mill dedicated his essay On Liberty to her as "the inspirer, and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings," and declared that "like all that I have written for
many
years,
it
belongs as
much
to her as to
me" (GBWW,
Vol. 43, p. 267).
Mill
time
first
met Harriet Taylor
in 1830,
when he was depressed and
when he was
lonely, as
twenty-four, at a
he admitted
to his friends,
and looking for a wife. He had a very definite ideal of the kind of woman he wanted for a wife: She must be one of those higher natures "who from the combination of natural and acquired advantages have the greatest capacity of feeling happiness and of bestowing it ... as being beautiful to contemplate and therefore the natural objects of admiration and love; and also as being fitted ... by their qualities of mind and heart to promote .
.
.
the greatest possible happiness of
their influence." In Harriet
age
who met
this
all
Hardy Taylor,
standard.
The
who
are within the sphere of
Mill found a
woman
of his
own
only trouble was that she was the
wife of another and the mother of his children. Mill
and Harriet Taylor soon
fell
deeply in love with each other
even if they had wanted. Harriet confessed as much to her husband, and she and Mill, wanting to do what they thought right, agreed to his suggestion that they "renounce sight" of one another and confine their relation to correspondence. Mill threw himself into his work, but his writing suffered from the estrangement, as Harriet soon discovered. She felt it her duty to the world to help Mill with his work, and within a month they were seeing each other again, Harriet
and could not conceal the
fact,
456
John Stuart Mill her own literary ambitions in favor of inspiring and adWith the single exception of his System of Logic, he declares that he owes her not merely the inspiration of all his books but also much of their content. Mill wanted to dedicate his Principles of Political Economy to her in 1848 and reluctantly abandoned the idea only upon the protest of Harriet's husband against the indelicacy of such an action. Mill's relation to Mrs. Taylor was a puzzle to his friends. Carlyle wrote of the two: "They are innocent, says Charity; they are guilty, says Scandal." They saw each other almost constantly; they took vacations together on the continent; they met frequently for weekends at a small country place near London, given to Harriet by her husband: they were the butt of much gossip. Yet all available evidence indicates that what
now renouncing
vising Mill.
Mill wrote in his Autobiography is the literal truth: "Should there not be a summary of our relationship from its commencement in 1830 ... so as to preclude other and dijfferent versions of our lives at Keston and Walton— our summer excursions, etc. This ought to be done in its genuine truth and simplicity— strong aflFection— intimacy of friendship and no impropriety. It seems to me an edifying picture for those poor wretches who cannot conceive friendship but in sex— nor believe that expediency and the consideration for the feelings of others can conquer sensuality." From the time she met Mill until the death of John Taylor, Harriet remained loved and respected by both men, the friend and "muse" of the one, the wife of the other and mother of his three children. John Taylor died in 1849, sincerely lamented by his wife. After some doubts and much discussion of the rightness of the move, Mill and Harriet were married in 1851. They had but seven years together as man and wife, but these were years of great literary productivity for Mill. Harriet died of tuberculosis in 1858 and was buried at Avignon.
Hardy, the daughter of a surgeon and obstetrician, and a Thomas Hardy the novelist, was married in her eighteenth year to John Taylor, a prosperous London merchant, eleven years older than she. When she first met Mill in 1830, she was just beginning to cultivate her interest in literature and politics in a group formed by the Unitarian minister of her church. The group had its own publication, which included on its staff Harriet Martineau, the first woman professional journalist writing under her own name and an extreme feminist. Mill was soon contributing to the magazine and discussing with Harriet Taylor love, marriage, and woman's rights and expressing the sentiments which were to appear forty years later in the book en-
Harriet
distant relative of
The Subjection of Women. The book was first published in
titled
1869, eight years after Mill had finished was nothing but a development of Harriet's thought on the subject and especially of her essay, "The Enfranchisement
writing
it.
He
claimed
it
457
Inspiration of
Harriet Taylor Mill
*All is blissful
Beyond pains reach. Free and pure. Thine to eternity— The anguish
And the renunciation of Tristan
and
Isolde.
Their tears, their kisses. In musics sheer gold I lay at thy feet. That they may give praise to the angel Who has raised me so high.'*
Richard Wagner
Mathilde Wesendonk
a deep initiation of the affecthe last and indispensable completion of my entire preparation for philosophy: without it I could not adequately have fulfilled .
.
.
tions,
my
final
jnission
of
fundamental
service for the mighty regeneration of humanity."
Clothilde
De Vaux
Auguste Comte
Muse
the
'Through you, Marie,
come trarch
strong I
Laura. Be
and
I
shall be-
great. Like Pe-
immortalize guardian angel,
shall
my
muse, my Madonna, and lead on the road of Beauty."
my my me
Marie Daubrun
Charles Baudelaire
women on these pages form a Victorian composite of a muse. But although The Victorian, the force of inspiration appears have been heroic, contheir
also to
from the men they inspired {see captions). Even as late as the nineteenth century woman was not generally thought to possess the creative talent necessary to become an artist in her own right. But, if she was barred from creating art on her own, at least she could inspire men to do so. The five women shown here all inspired their respective artists and philosophers in diflFerent ways. Even so, the role of muse was, to a certain extent, thrust upon them, and the relationship between woman and man was rarely permanent— the Mills in this respect being an exception. What endured was the relationship of the muse with the work she inspired. sidering the fervent confessions of debt
7
dedicate to you this hook, which so to sj)eak, your work. There is a loftier and more real collaboration than that of the pen: it is that of thought and example. It
is,
my gaze to folyou closely in your life; thereby it followed the movewas
sufficient for
low
ments, gestures and habits of wis-
dom
itself."
Georgette Leblanc
Vlaiirice Maeterlinck
Great Books Library of
Women," which had appeared
in the
Westminster Review
Mill himself seems to have postponed publishing his
work
in
1851.
until in his
judgment the time was opportune for its aiding his fight to win women the right to vote. As a member of Parliament in 1867, he was the first to raise the question of
woman
sufi^rage,
thereby in
eflFect
starting the
movement. The book was an immediate success, a second edition was called for within tlie year, and it was soon translated into the leading European languages. Of all Mill's works, it aroused the most antagonism. But since his youth, Mill had been a fighter for radical causes. In the fight for woman's rights he championed the cause closest to Harriet Taylor, the woman whose memory was to him "a religion and her approbation the standard by which, summing up as it does all worthiness," he endeavored Sufi^ragette
to regulate his life.
460
The Subjection
Mill:
of
Women
CHAPTER object The as clearly of an opinion
of this Essay as
am
I
which
very earliest period
any opinions matters, and
weakened
at all
is
and customs, that we need not wonder to find them as yet less undermined and loosened than any of the rest by the progress of the great modern spiritual and
to explain
able, the
grounds
have held from the I had formed on social or political I
when
which,
instead
or modified, has
of
I
barbarisms
must be
been constantly
suppose
nor
transition;
social
being
the
that
which men cling longest barbarisms than those which
to
less
growing stronger by the progress of reflection and the experience of life. That the principle which regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes— the legal subordination of one sex to the other— is wrong in itself, and now one of the chief hindrances to human improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by
they earlier shake
a principle of perfect equality, admitting
a hearing, they are subjected to a set of
no power or privilege on the one side, nor on the other. The very words necessary to express the task I have undertaken, show how arduous it is. But it would be a mistake to suppose
logical requirements totally different
must
opinion.
The
which
my
attack
an
They must be very
a hearing at in
all.
obtaining a
have
if
universal
fortunate as
they obtain
They have more
trial,
hard on
is
almost
well as unusually capable
difficulty
than any other litigants
in getting a verdict. If
they do extort
those exacted from other people.
other cases, the burthen of proof
posed
to
person
is
from
In is
lie with the affirmative. charged with a murder, it
with those
lie in
the insufficiency or obscurity of the grounds of reason on
who
those
disability
that the difficulty of the case
ofi^.
In every respect the burthen
who
all
supIf
a
rests
accuse him to give proof
of his guilt, not with himself to prove his
conviction rests.
innocence. If there
is
a difference of opin-
which exists in all cases in which there is a mass of feeling to be contended against. So long as an
ion about the reality of an alleged historical
strongly rooted in the feelings,
Siege of Troy for example, those who maintain that the event took place are expected to produce their proofs, before
difficulty is
opinion it
is
that
gains rather than loses in stability
event,
by
having a preponderating weight of argument against it. For if it were accepted as a result of
worse
when
it
it
rests solely
made
their
in the old.
causes tending to
And
there are so
make
men as
in
the
by the others no value. Again, in practical matters, the burthen of proof is supposed to be with those who are against liberty; who contend for any restriction or prohibition; either any limitation of the general freedom of human action, or any disqualifiis
more persuaded its adherents feeling must have some deeper ground, which the arguments do not reach; and while the feeling remains, it is always throwing up fresh intrenchments of argument to repair any breach that
of
interested,
that the evidence produced
on
fares in argumentative
contest, the
are
feelings
much
who take the other side can be required to say anything; and at no time are these required to do more than show
the argument might shake the solidity of
feeling, the
which the
those
argument, the refutation of
the conviction; but
in
general are not
of
cation or disparity of privilege affecting
many
one person or kind of persons, as compared with others. The a priori presumption is in favour of freedom and impartiality. It is held that there should be no restraint not required by the general good, and that
the feelings con-
this subject the most intense and most deeply-rooted of all those which gather round and protect old institutions
nected with
461
Great Books Library the law should he no respecter of persons,
those of a high class.
save where dis-
itive reasons, either of justice or of policy.
I do not mention these difficulties to complain of them; first, because it would be useless; they are inseparable from hav-
But of none of these rules of evidence will who main-
standings
tain the opinion
feelings
hut should treat similarit\
all
alike,
of treatment
is
recjuired
hy pos-
ing
the henefit be allowed to those
me
profess. It
I
who
say that those
to
useless for
is
maintain the
bound
to
is
of
who deny
women
mankind would need
reliance in their
and
to
be much better
own power
of estimating
arguments, as to give up practical princi-
positive evidence for the submit to their rejection. It
me
their
before they can be asked to place such
and that they are
equally unavailing for
of
tendencies:
hostility
practical
cultivated than has ever yet been the case,
show
assertions, or
the
against
and
truly the understandings of the majority
doctrine that men have a right to command and women are under an obligation to obey, or that men are fit for government and women unfit, are on the affirmative side of the question,
contend through people's under-
to
ples in
which
have been born and
the\'
bred and which are the basis of of the existing order of the world,
to say that
any freedom or men, having
much at the
first
argumentative attack which they are
privilege rightly allowed to
not
capable of logically
them that they are opposing freedom and recommending partiality, must be held to the strictest proof of their case, and unless
not therefore quarrel with them for having
be such as to exclude all doubt, the judgment ought to go against them. These would be thought good pleas in any common case; but they will not be thought so in this instance. Before I could
prejudices of the reaction of the nineteenth
those
to
the double presumption against
their
hope
to
make any
impression,
ever been
said
I
to the
that has
by those who take the
that could be said in reasons,
sumption
in
its
as well as
favour,
superior to
to
produce
in
any
intellects
of
the
characteristic
unreasoning elements
in
human
na-
the false worships of the present day, of
now
the main support, will ground until it gives way before a sound psychology laying all
of
which
it is
probably hold
its
bare the real root of
down
to
as the
much
that
is
bowed
intention of Nature
and
the ordinance of God. As regards the present (juestion,
I
am
willing to accept the un-
favourable conditions which the prejudice assigns to me. I consent that established custom, and the general feeling, should be
deemed
conclusive against me, unless that custom and feeling from age to age can be shown to have owed their existence to
any
conviction which an appeal to reason has
power
custom and the general
one
is
which the eighteenth century is supposed to have ascribed to the reasoning elements. For the apotheosis of Reason we have substituted that of Instinct; and we call everything instinct which we find in ourselves and for which we cannot trace any rational foundation. This idolatry, infinitely more degrading than the other, and the most pernicious of
by them— to find answer all I find: and besides refuting all arguments for the affirmative, I shall be called upon for invincible positive arguments to prove a negative. And even if I could do all this, and leave the opposite party with a host of imanswered arguments against them, and not a single unrefuted one on their side, I should be thought to have done little; for a cause supported on the one hand by universal usage, and on the other by so great a preponderance of popular sentiment, is supposed to have a preall
argument, but for having
faith in
It
do
ture the infallibility
other side of the question, but to imagine
them
much
I
century against the eighteenth, to accord
should be
all
little faith in
too
feeling.
success
expected not only to answer
too
resisting.
but
462
The Subjection
Mill:
causes than their soundness, and have derived their power from the worse
never has been
other to
rather than the better parts of
human
na-
am
I
prove
for to
tion of
The
my
by
this, is
was
it
is,
or
first
a
the case,
is
when
tained.
If
adopted, or afterwards kept
the
authority
of
established,
first
men
human
society,
woman
(owing to the value attached to her by men, combined with her inferiority in muscular strength) was found every
the prac-
means
women, when
or forethought, or
any notion whatever
very earliest twilight of
once was, conducive to laud-
to such ends, and was grounded on experience of the mode in which they could be most effectually at-
up, as
of deliberation,
social ideas, or
what conduced to the benefit of humanity or the good order of society. It arose simply from the fact that from the
some
in
is
cases a strong presumption that
tice
of
of
task.
able ends. This
result
any
far the easiest por-
generality of a practice
at all events
made
any other: so which it is vulgarly opposed to theory, cannot be pretended to have pronounced any verdict. And in the second place, the adoption of this system of inequality never was the trial
that experience, in the sense in
wiHing that judgment should go against me, unless I can show that my judge has been tampered with. The concession is not so great as it might appear; ture.
Women
of
bondage to some man. Laws and systems of polity always begin by in a state of
recognising the relations they find already
over
had been
between individuals. They conwhat was a mere physical fact into a
existing
the result of a conscientious comparison
vert
between different modes of constituting the government of society; if, after trying various other modes of social organisation—the government of women over men, equality between the two, and such mixed and divided modes of government as might be invented— it had been decided, on the testimony of experience, that the mode in which women are wholly under the rule of men, having no share at all in public concerns, and each in private being under the legal obligation of obedience
legal right, give
it
the sanction of society,
and principally aim at the substitution of public and organised means of asserting and protecting these rights, instead of the irregular and lawless conflict of physical strength. Those who had already been compelled to obedience became in this manner legally bound to it. Slavery, from being a mere affair of force between the master and the slave, became regularised and a matter of compact among the masters, who, binding themselves to one an-
man with whom she has associated her destiny, was the arrangement most
other for
conducive to the happiness and well-being its general adoption might then be fairly thought to be some evidence that,
sessions of each, including his slaves. In
to the
by
of both;
at the time
when
it
was adopted,
it
early
tions
which recommended
it
may,
was
of the female.
some fore
like so
other primeval social facts of the
tion
have subsequently, in the course of ages, ceased to exist. But the greatest importance,
state of the case
is
reverse of this. In the
in
first
which to the
stronger, rests
upon theory
great
majority
of
slaves, as well as the
And many
the
whole
ages elapsed,
them ages of high cultivation, beany thinker was bold enough to questhe rightfulness, and the absolute soof
of the other.
the one slavery or
By degrees such
thinkers did
and (the general progress of society assisting) the slavery of the male sex has, in all the countries of Christian Europe at least (though, in one of them, only within the last few years) been at length abolarise;
place, the opin-
weaker sex
entirely subordinates the
protection, guaranteed
cial necessity, either of
every respect the
ion in favour of the present system,
the
times,
male sex were
the best: though even then the considera-
many
common
their collective strength the private pos-
only; for there
463
Great Books Library and that of the female sex has been changed into a milder form of dependence. Hut this dependence, as it exists at present, is not an original institution, taking a fresh start from considerations of justice and social expediency— it
present time.
j;radiiall\
institutions
However any
ished,
the
is
on,
primitive
through
modifications
slavery
of
state
by
occasioned
the
human
can only,
period of advanced civilisation by a well-
grounded feeling of its adaptation to hunature, and conduciveness to the general good. They do not understand the great vitality and durability of institutions which place right on the side of might;
man
and same
how
causes which have softened the general
manners, and brought
it
they think, have been preserved to this
lasting
mitigations
successive
of our present
may have begun,
intensely they are clung to;
good
how
the
it could be supposed must be grounded on its having lasted till now, when so many other things which came down from the same odious source have been done away with. And this, indeed, is what makes it strange to
bad propensities and sentiments of those who have power in their hands, become identified with retaining it; how slowly these bad institutions give way, one at a time, the weakest first, beginning with those which are least interwoven with the daily habits of life; and how very rarely those who have obtained legal power because they first had physical, have ever lost their hold of it until the physical power had passed over to the other side. Such shifting of the physical
ordinary ears, to hear
force not having taken place in the case
more under the
all
control of justice
influence of humanity.
It
has not
relations
and the lost
the
No
presumption in its favour, therefore, can be drawn from the fact of its existence. The only such taint of
its
brutal origin.
presumption which to have,
asserted that the
it
between men
as well as the
women;
combined with
and women has no other source than the law
peculiar and characteristic features of the
of the strongest.
particular case,
inequality
That
rights
of
statement
this
effect of a
paradox,
should have
is
some
in
of
the
first
and the improvement of the moral sentiments of mankind. We now live— that is to say, one or two of the most advanced nations of the world now live— in a state in which the law of the strongest seems to be entirely abandoned as the regulating professes relations
of
the
world's
affairs:
to
practise
doing
so,
it.
it
When
certain from the
that this branch of the system of right
customs; but which, so long as
proclaim
its
own
origin,
has not brought out
any-
under cover of some pretext which gives him the semblance of having some general social interest on his side. This being the ostensible state of things, people flatter themselves that the rule of mere force is ended; that the law of the strongest cannot be the reason of existence of anything which has remained in full operation down to the in
it
the
equal justice, an almost solitary exception to the general character of their laws and
nobody
it, and, as regards most of the between human beings, nobody
is permitted one succeeds
made
all
founded on might, though softened in its most atrocious features at an earlier period than several of the others, would be the very last to disappear. It was inevitable that this one case of a social relation groimded on force, would survive through generations of institutions grounded on
respects
creditable to the progress of civilisation,
principle
this fact,
not
is
felt
to
jar
its
and
it
does not
as discussion
true character,
with modern
is
civilisation,
any more than domestic slavery among Greeks jarred with their notion of
the
themselves as a free people.
The
truth
and the
last
is,
that people of the present
two or three generations have
lost all practical
sense of the primitive con-
and only the few who have studied history accurately, or have dition of humanity;
464
Mill:
much frequented
The Subjection
the parts of the world
force.
occupied by the hving representatives of ages long past, are able to form any mental
due
the
to
life,
human
exactly the regard
possessions,
and
entire
earthly happiness of any class of persons,
rights as
was measured by what they had the power of enforcing; how all who made any resistance to authorities that had arms in their hands, however dreadful might be the provocation, had not only the law of force but all other laws, and all the notions of social obligation against them; and in the eyes of those whom they resisted, were
I
tisement which
The
first
human
beings could
No
first
consequence,
instance of a portion of
lations
human
who men were
belief,
in
became ascend-
have been a stranger
theory;
nor,
of the Catholic Church,
the
after
was
without persons to stand up for
it
it.
ever
Yet to
was the most arduous task which Christianity ever had to perform. For more than a thousand years the Church kept up enforce
in-
it
the contest, with hardly any perceptible
was not for want of power over Its power was prodigious. It could make kings and nobles resign their success. It
men's minds.
most valued possessions to enrich the Church. It could make thousands in the prime of life and the height of worldly advantages, shut themselves to
work out
fasting,
up
salvation
their
and prayer.
It
in
convents
by poverty,
could send hun-
dreds of thousands across land and sea,
an-
Europe and
republics, being mostly grounded from the first upon some kind of mutual compact, or at any rate formed by an union of persons not very unequal in in
this
rise
cient
afforded,
Stoics were,
obligations to their slaves.
one, after Christianity
to
in a superior to acknowledge any right in inferiors, began when he had been induced, for convenience, to make some promise to them. Though these promises, even when sanctioned by the most solemn oaths, were for many ages revoked or violated on the most trifling provocation or temptation, it is probable that this, except by persons of still worse than the average morality, was seldom done with-
strength,
The
(except so far as the
ant, could ever again
obligation
The
beings.
first
bound by moral
small vestige of a feeling of
out some twinges of conscience.
human
believe, the
taught as a part of morality that
crimes, deserving the most cruel chas-
flict.
slaves,
Jewish law constitutes an exception)
not only guilty of crime, but of the worst of all
the original law of force
operation between them
full
limited
as
those ages, except a philosopher or a saint.
how
in
and also (except so far by express compact) between a commonwealth and its subjects, or other independent commonwealths; the banishment of that primitive law even from so narrow a field, commenced the regeneration of human nature, by giving birth to sentiments of which experience soon demonstrated the immense value even for material interests, and which thenceforward only required to be enlarged, not created. Though slaves were no part of the commonwealth, it was in the free states that slaves were first felt to have
what society then was. People are not aware how entirely, in former ages, the law of superior strength was the rule of life; how publicly and openly it was avowed, I do not say cynically or shamelessly—for these words imply a feeling that there was something in it to be ashamed of, and no such notion could find a place in the faculties of any person in History gives a cruel experience of
And though
remained and their
picture of
nature, in showing
Women
of
Asia, to give their lives for the
deliverance
could
make
of
the
Holy
Sepulchre.
kings relinquish
were the object of
wives
It
who
their passionate attach-
ment, because the Church declared that they were within the seventh (by our calcu-
the re-
fenced round, and placed under
lation
the dominion of another law than that of
the fourteenth) degree of relation-
ship. All this
465
it
did; but
it
could not
make
Great Books Library
men
with one another, nor tyran-
fight less
nise less cruelly over the serfs,
they were able, over burgesses.
make them renounce
This absolutely extreme case law of force, condemned by those who can tolerate almost every other form alK- to death.
and when
It
of the
could not
triumphant. This they could never be to
do
until
feelings of
in-
they were themselves
compelled by superior force. Only by the growing power of kings was an end put to fighting except between kings, or competitors for kingship; only by the growth of a wealthy and warlike bourgeoisie in the fortified towns, and of a plebeian infantry which proved more in
the
field
of
the
was persisted after,
in
expressly for
tween
than the undisci-
it
was a general practice bewas there
England
in
at
least,
a less
it,
amount
than of any other of the customary
it,
for its motive was the unmixed and undisguised; and those who profited by it were a very
abuses of force:
power
much
it,
slave-states. Yet not only
either of feeling or of interest in favour of
It
love of gain,
enabling them often to take conspicuous
vengeance; and on the Continent
from an im-
it
a greater strength of sentiment against
but,
not only until, but long
the oppressed had obtained a
look at
years ago, not only did slavery exist, but
over the bourgeoisie and
nobles
who
all
position,
the slave-trade, and the breeding of slaves
plined chivalry, was the insolent tyranny
peasantry brought within some bounds.
others
was the law of civili.sed and Christian England within the memory of persons now living: and in one half of Anglo-Saxon America three or four partial
in their turn
powerful
all
presents features the most revolting to the
cations of force; force militant, or force
duced
and which, of
of arbitrary power,
either of the appli-
small numerical fraction of the country,
of
continued to the time of the French
while the natural feeling of
who were was unmiti-
all
Revolution, though in England the earlier
not personally interested in
and better organisation of the democratic classes put an end to it sooner, by establishing equal laws and free national insti-
makes
it
other:
but consider the long duration of
tutions.
absolute monarchy. In England at present
If
people are mostly so
little
gated abhorrence. So extreme an instance
aware how
it
almost superfluous to refer to any
the almost universal conviction that
is
is a case of the law of having no other origin or justificaYet in all the great nations of Europe
completely, during the greater part of the
military despotism
duration of our species, the law of force
force,
was the avowed rule of general conduct, any other being only a special and exceptional consequence of peculiar ties— and from how very recent a date it is that the affairs of society in general have been even pretended to be regulated according to any moral law; as little do people remember or consider, how institutions and customs which never had any groinid but the law of force, last on into ages and states of general opinion which never would have permitted their first establishment. Less than forty years ago. Englishmen might still by law hold human beings in
bondage
as saleable property:
present centur\' thc\
and carrv them
off,
it,
tion.
except England
it
either
only just ceased to
now
still
exist,
exists, or
has
and has even
a strong party favourable to
ranks of the people, especially
it
in all
among
per-
sons of station and consequence. Such
power
the
when in
far
of an established system,
is
even
from universal; when not onK-
almost every period of
historx'
there
have been great and well-known examples of the contrary system, but these have almost invariably been afforded by the most illustrious and most prosperous communities. In this case, too,
the possessor of the
undue power, the person
within the
might kidnap them and work them liter-
ested
who 466
in
it,
is
directly
inter-
onK' one person, while those
are subject to
it
and
suffer
from
it
are
The Subjection
Mill:
the
literally all
rest.
The yoke
and necessarily humiliating to all persons, except the one who is on the throne, together with, at most, the one who expects to
succeed to
How
it.
cases from that of the
women!
am
I
question of ing
how
now
not
men
over
prejudging
the
of
justifiableness.
its
vastly
more permanent
not but be, even
it
down
to
our
own
time.
ever gratification of pride there possession
of
is
its
exercise,
is
locally
overmastering him,
no power of even and, on the
In
offence.
struggles
Whatin the
resistance, a large
and
in this case
still
more
number
mon
ures or the alleviations of their
whole male sex. Instead of bemost of its supporters, a thing de-
to the
chiefly
the
in
abstract,
or,
ual
and
to
is
of the
exercise, his share
those
desires power, desires
who
his life
is
most over
whom whom he has most common, and in whom any inhis
likely to interfere If,
in
authority
is
individ-
still
of the grossest
exist in
many
civi-
and have only recently been got rid of in others, it would be strange if that which is so much the deepest rooted had yet been perceptibly shaken anywhere. There is more reason to wonder that the protests and testimonies against it should have been so numerous and so weighty as they are. Some will object, that a comparison cannot fairly be made between the government of the male sex and the forms of unjust power which I have adduced in illised
passed, with
dependence of
And when some
of the other forms
are nearest to him, with
concerns in
erences.
it
own
ever any system of privilege
enforced
authority.
power equally with the highest nobleman. And the case is that in which the desire of power is the strongest: for everyone
who
If
tightly riveted
by factions, of little private importance to any but the leaders; it comes home to the person and hearth of every male head of a family, and of everyone who looks forward to being so. The clodhopper exeror
lot.
must make
sacrifice of the pleas-
subjection had its yoke on the necks of those who are kept down by it, this has. I have not yet shown that it is a wrong system: but everyone who is capable of thinking on the subject must see that even if it is, it was certain to outlast all other forms of unjust
like
the political ends usually contended for
cises,
often
of the leaders,
of the followers,
an almost complete
sirable
political
how
its
not confined to a limited class, but com-
ing, to
for
champions are bought off by bribes, or daunted by terrors. In the case of women, each individual of the subject-class is in a chronic state of bribery and intimidation combined. In setting up the standard of
could
power, and whatever per-
sonal interest in
him,
emancipation, everybody knows
these other dominations which have nevertheless lasted
against
seeking his favour and avoiding to give
not justifiable, than
if
with no means of com-
bining
him
am show-
I
fellow-subjects;
other hand, with the strongest motives for
different are these
power
Women
intimacy with him than with any of her
naturally
is
of
oftenest
with his individual pref-
the other cases specified,
powers manifestly grounded only on force, and having so much less to support them, are so slowly and with so much difficulty got rid of, much more must it be so with this, even if it rests on no better foundation than those. We must consider, too, that the possessors of the power have facilities in this case, greater than in any other, to prevent any uprising against it. Every one of the subjects lives under the very eye, and almost, it may be said, in the hands, of one of the masters— in closer
countries,
lustration of
it,
since these are arbitrary,
and the effect of mere usurpation, while it on the contrary is natural. But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it? There was a time when the division of mankind into two classes, a small one of masters and a numerous one of slaves, appeared, even to the most cultivated minds, to be nat-
467
Great Books Library and how imnatural the conception seemed, of a person of the inferior class claiming equality with them, or exercising authority over them. It hardly seemed less
and the only natural, condition of race. No less an intellect, and one which contributed no less to the prog-
selves,
iiial,
the
human
ress of this
human
thought, than Aristotle, held
opinion without doubt or misgiving;
so
to
held
the class
in
subjection.
The
and rested it on the same premises on which the same assertion in regard to the dominion of men over women is usually based, namely that there are different natures among mankind, free natures, and slave natures; that the Greeks were of a
emancipated serfs and burgesses, even in their most vigorous struggles, never made any pretension to a share of authority; they only demanded more or less of limi-
free natine, the barbarian races of Thra-
means only uncustomary, and that everything which is usual appears natural. The
tation
and Asiatics of a slave nature. But why need I go back to Aristotle? Did not the slave-owners of the Southern United States maintain the same doctrine, with all the fanaticism with which men cling to the theories that justify their passions and legitimate their personal interests? Did they not call heaven and earth to witness that the dominion of the white man over cians
the black
is
natural, that the black race
to
the
them. So true
power is it
of tyrannising
over
that unnatural generally
women
to men being a uniany departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural. But how entirely, even in this case, the feeling is dependent on custom, appears by ample experience. Nothing so much astonishes the people of distant parts of the world, when they first learn anything about England, as to be told that it is under a queen; the thing seems to them so unnatural as to be almost incredible. To Englishmen this does not seem in the least de-
subjection of
versal custom,
is
by nature incapable of freedom, and marked out for slavery? some even going so far as to say that the freedom of manual
gree unnatural, because they are used to
is an unnatural order of things anywhere. Again, the theorists of absolute monarchy have always affirmed it to be the only natural form of government; issuing from the patriarchal, which was the
war and
politics
primitive and spontaneous form of society,
natural to
women, because not unusual;
framed on the model of the paternal, which
seemed natural
labourers
is
anterior to society
itself,
itself,
for
that
to those
matter,
who
the
feel
unnatural that
it
Members
should be soldiers or
it;
women
of Parlia-
ment. In the feudal ages, on the contrary,
were not thought un-
that
women
ileged classes should be of
and, as they
contend, the most natural authority of
Nay,
but they do
inferior in
all.
it
of the priv-
manly character,
nothing but bodily strength to
husbands and fathers. The independence of women seemed rather less un-
law of force
their
could not plead any
other has always seemed the most natural
natural to the Greeks than to other an-
grounds for the exercise of authority. Conquering races hold it to be Nature's own dictate that the conquered should obey the conquerors, or as they euphoniously paraphrase it, that the feebler and more unwarlike races should submit to the braver and manlier. The smallest acquaintance with human life in the middle ages, shows how supremely natural the dominion of the feudal nobility over men of low condition appeared to the nobility them-
cients,
of
on account of the fabulous Amazons they believed to be historical), and the partial example afforded by the Spartan women; who, though no less subordinate by law than in other Greek states, were more free in fact, and being trained
all
(whom
to
bodily exercises
in
the
same manner
with men, gave ample proof that they were not naturally disqualified for them. There
can be
little
doubt that Spartan experience
suggested to Plato,
468
among many
other of
The Subjection
Mill: his doctrines, that of the social
and poHtical
Montfort called the deputies of the com-
mons
equahty of the two sexes. But,
be said, the rule of men over differs from all these others in not
it
women
women make no
tarily;
consenting parties to
complaint, and are
it.
In the
first
number of women do not accept Ever since there have been women able to make their sentiments known by their writings (the only mode of publicity which
ity
of
to
them),
an
the
many thousands of them, headed by the most eminent women known to the public, have petitioned Parliament for
as
and
solidly,
to
is
for their
ad-
closed
every year more urgent.
Though
op-
women who
frustrates
becomes
them,
against
its
never any want
is
attempts
all
to
maintain
power but protect the woman against abuses. In no other case (except that
mission into professions and occupations hitherto
but only of
itself,
their husbands.
same branches of urged with growing
demand
the
complain of ill-usage by There would be infinitely more, if complaint were not the greatest of all provocatives to a repetition and increase of the ill-usage. It is this which of
be educated
and with a great prospect of
success; while the
of
a political
is
pressive exercise. There
the
in
knowledge, as men, intensity,
women
power
ing of the
their admission to the Parliamentary Suf-
of
No
law of nature that those who are under any power of ancient origin, never begin by complain-
against their present social condition: and
The claim
oppression
individual
gross
king's officers. It
protests
recently
frage.
destroy ministries, and
mons pretended to nothing but to be exempt from arbitrary taxation, and from
increasing
them have recorded
make and
most ambitious of them. The nobilhad already these pretensions; the com-
of the
permits
Parliament,
such thought entered into the imagination
place,
a great
number
in
dictate to the king in affairs of State?
it.
society
time
an assembly, elected by their constituents,
should
accepted volun-
is
it
to sit for the first
did any of them dream of demanding that
will
being a rule of force:
Women
of
there are
a child)
is
who
the person
the its
of
has been proved
not in this country, as there are in the
judicially to
United States, periodical conventions and
placed under the physical power of the
an organised party to agitate for the Rights
culprit
Women,
numerous and active society organised and managed by women, for the more limited object of obtaining the political franchise. Nor is it only in our own country and in America that women are beginning to protest, more or of
less
there
collectively,
is
even
a
against
the
there are
similar
and
if,
a
in
pressible indignation, or
made moment
for their
by the
interfer-
of irre-
ence of neighbours, they are induced so, their
close as their
whole little
tyrant
effort
afterwards
as they can,
from
and
is
to
merited
his
to
do
to dis-
beg
off
chastise-
ment. All causes, social
silently
no one can possibly know; but there are abundant tokens how many would cherish them, were they not so strenuously taught to repress them as contrary to the proprieties of their sex. It must be remembered, also, that no enslaved class ever asked for complete liberty at once. When Simon de cherish
Accordingly wives,
it.
most extreme and protracted
avail themselves of the laws
protection:
disabilities
who
inflicted
injury, re-
cases of bodily ill-usage, hardly ever dare
under which they labour. France, and Italy, and Switzerland, and Russia now afford examples of the same thing. How
many more women
who
in the
have suffered an
aspirations,
to
make
it
collectively
and
unlikely that rebellious
natural,
women to
the
combine
should be
power
of
men. They are so far in a position different from all other subject classes, that their masters require something more from them than actual service. Men do not want solely the obedience of women, they want their sentiments. All men, except the
469
Great Books Library most brutish, desire to have, in the woman most nearl\ connected with them, not a forced
but
shive
not
one,
willing
a
of
tiveness.
other
therefore put everything in practice to enslave
their
other
slaves
minds.
The masters
of
maintaining
for
rely,
all
obe-
dience, on fear; either fear of themselves,
The masters
or religious fears.
women
of
wanted more than simple obedience, and they turned the whole force of education their
effect
to
purpose.
women
All
brought up from the very
Can
it
yokes
plebeian to find personal favour
in
the
eyes of some patrician, of every young
are
serf
with some seigneur;
with him,
years
earliest
as an essential part of sexual attrac-
be doubted that any of the which mankind have succeeded in breaking, would have subsisted till now if the same means had existed, and had been so sedulously used, to bow down their minds to it? If it had been made the object of the life of every young
a
They have
slave merely, but a favourite.
individual will into the hands of a
all
man,
if
domestication
and a share of his personal had been held out as the prize
in
the belief that their ideal of character
affections,
is
the very opposite to that of men; not
which they all should look out for, the most gifted and aspiring being able to reckon on the most desirable prizes; and if, when this prize had been obtained, they had been shut out by a wall of brass from all interests not centring in him, all feelings and desires but those which he shared or inculcated; would not serfs and seigneurs, plebeians and patricians, have been as broadly distinguished at this day as men and women are? and would not all but a thinker here and there, have believed the distinction to be a fundamental and unalterable fact in human na-
and government by
self-will,
self-control,
but submission, and yielding to the control of others. All
that
it
the moralities
the duty of
is
current sentimentalities that
it
them
tell
women, and is
all
the
their na-
make complete
ture, to live for others; to
abnegation of themselves, and to have no but
life
And by their meant the only ones they have— those to the men with
in their affections.
affections
are
are allowed to
whom
they are connected, or to the chil-
who
dren
and inbetween them and a man.
constitute an additional
defeasible tie
When we the
put together three things— first,
sexes;
ture?
The preceding considerations are amply to show that custom, however
between opposite secondly, the wife's entire depend-
natural
attraction
sufficient
ence on the husband, every privilege or pleasure she has being either his gift, or
depending entirely on suit,
consideration,
cial
ambition, can
or obtained
would be attractive
and
his will;
that the principal object of
and
all
universal
lastly,
human
pur-
objects of so-
in general be sought by her only through him, it
a miracle
if
the object of being
men had
to
not
become the
polar star of feminine education and for-
mation of character. And, of
influence
this great
over the minds
of
means
women
having been acquired, an instinct of selfishness made men avail themselves of it to the utmost as a means of holding women in
subjection,
by
representing
to
it
may
be, aff^ords in this case
no presumption, and ought not to create any prejudice, in favour of the arrangements which place women in social and political subjection to men. But I may go farther, and maintain that the course of history, and the tendencies of progressive human society, afiord not only no presumption in favoiu" of this system of inequality of rights, but a strong one against it; and that, so far as the whole course of human improvement up to the time, the whole stream of modern tendencies, warrants any inference on the subject, it is, that this relic of the past
them
is
discordant with
the future, and must nccessariK' disappear.
meekness, submissiveness, and resignation
For,
470
what
is
the peculiar character of
The Subjection
Mill:
Women
of
the
modern world— the difference which distinguishes modern institutions, modern social ideas, modern life itself,
industrial operation shall or shall not
chiefly
conducted, or what modes of conducting
from those of times long past?
to
human
It is,
them
that
men
and chained down by an inexorable bond to the place they are born to, but are free to employ their faculties, and such favourable chances as offer, to achieve the lot which may appear to them most desirable. Human society of old was constituted on a very different principle. All were born to a fixed social position, and were mostly kept in it by law, or interdicted from any means by which they could emerge from it. As some men are born white and others black, so some were born slaves and others freemen and citizens; some were born patricians, others plebeians; some were born feudal nobles, others commoners and roturiers. A slave life,
or serf could never
make
in
it
be
son was
bom
paternal
possessions,
is,
elapsed before
it
was
the
industrious
classes,
only
cation
arrived
at,
and not
of the
contrary theory had been
disastrous result,
now
(in
the
the most
choice is now known to be the only thing which procures the adoption of the best processes, and throws each operation into the hands of those who are best qualified
local
processes authoritatively pre-
for
it.
Nobody
thinks
it
necessary to
make
law that only a strong-armed man shall be a blacksmith. Freedom and competition suffice to make blacksmiths strong-armed men, because the weak-armed can earn more by engaging in occupations for which they are more fit. In consonance with this doctrine, it is felt to be an overstepping of the proper bounds of authority to fix beforehand, on some general presumption,
have stood in the pillory for presuming to carry on their business by new and improved methods. In modern Europe, and most in those parts of it which have participated most largely in all other modern improvements,
a
now preLaw and government do not underto prescribe by whom any social or
diametrically opposite doctrines
take
slowly
universally in
scribed. Manufacturers
vail.
to protect the rights
advanced countries, almost all that have pretensions to any sort of advancement. It is not that all processes are supposed to be equally good, or all persons to be equally qualified for everything; but that freedom of individual in
time
and nobody could practise any callimportant, in any but the legal
deemed manner— by
dis-
them
industrial department) prevails universally
were born members of a guild, or were adit by its members, could law-
ing
of
until almost every possible appli-
made with
mitted into limits;
own
sure to be mischievous. This
is
conclusion,
adopted
is
never go
and that any regulation
of others,
Among who
its
interested,
by authority, except
those
fully practise their calling within
which the individual
directly
right but as they are left to his
fully established that
the father could disinherit him.
that things in
cretion;
eldest
long
a
individual
all
the person
the exclusive heir to the
and
its
old
he had to do should, as far as practicable, be laid down for him by superior wisdom. Left to himself he was sure to go wrong. The modern conviction, the fruit of a thousand years of experience,
was not
the
nobles,
The
it.
the choice of the
to
left
agent; that
commoners could be en-
Even among
cases in
all
necessary,
theory was, that the least possible should
towards the close of the middle ages, and as a consequence of the growth of nobled.
is
necessity will suffice to enforce
till
regal power, that
country been repealed: there be-
this
which an apprenticeship
himself free, nor,
In most European countries
that work-
should serve an apprenticeship, have
ing ample assmance that in
except by the will of his master, become so.
left
choice of individuals.
unfettered
Even the laws which required
beings are no longer born to their
place in
be lawful. These things are
shall
the
be
471
Great Books Library that certain persons are not things.
tain
It
now
is
fit
do
to
plenty of such persons to choose from. In
cer-
thoroughly known
way of their own
their faculties for
for that of others. In the cases,
benefit
ciety of
At present,
and
if
this principle,
and return
if
the principle
as
if
to
we
believed
bom
be
is
true,
it,
and not
of hereditary succession, attain
more than
to
white, or a
commoner
man,
decide
shall
through all
tions.
that
all,
to
position
from positions, and
men
for
which forbids
Members
a
legal
once
fit
person, there
is
said,
excepted: but in this
is
it
to
be an exception—
special
estimating
their
which,
expediences,
though individuals and nations weight,
differ
in
unquestionably
exist. Hut in this exceptional which a high social function is, for important reasons, bestowed on birth instead of being put up to competition,
do
in
fact
case, in
in
a dozen years the conditions of eligibility
exclude a
have
I
traordinary
now
qualification
of Parliament. If only
obstacles to the natural ones. Royalty,
as
anomaly in the modem world, in marked opposition to its customs and principles, and to be justified only by ex-
reserved to them, the same argument applies
ficial
an
admit the utmost
for all the functions
accidents;
is
case everyone feels
ever pretended as to the superior
fitness of
All other
but no male under any legal ban: neither law nor opinion superadd arti-
human being
any
instead of a noble-
social
it.
indeed insuperable without the
aid of fortunate
except a few, respectable occupa-
Even were we is
jority, are
life— shall interdict people
more elevated
the
from
all
But
to ordain that
person's
birth,
and social advantages are open to the whole male sex: many indeed are only attainable by wealth, but wealth may be striven for by anyone, and is actually obtained by many men of the very humblest origin. The difficulties, to the ma-
be born black instead of the
their
dignities
to act
a girl instead of a boy,
at
still are born to the throne; no one, not of the reigning family, can ever occupy it, and no one even of that family can, by any means but the course
to the old
we ought
the
are
royalty. Persons
individ-
disabilities.
women
and ordain that they shall never in all their lives be allowed to compete for certain things. The one exception is that of
law and the government, of their own capacities and vocation; the world cannot too soon aban-
don
more improved coun-
persons
take
institutions
are not better judges than the
system of regulations and
it
only case, save one, in which laws and
who know them,
from the opinion of those
in the
the disabilities of
tries,
on the other
not true;
is
by from
of being served
the incompetent.
with such help as they can derive
uals,
some chances
the competent, without ever saving
general principle of social and
this
limi-
tation of the field of selection deprives so-
sisting in, the attempt. If
and any
stricted latitude of choice:
in
economical science
well are fewer
than the need, even with the most unre-
which the unfitness is real, the ordinary motives of human conduct will on the whole suffice to prevent the incompetent person from making, or from perhand,
who can do them
those
their using
place barriers in the
things of any difficulty and importance,
all
and admitted that if some such presumptions exist, no such presumption is infalhble. Even if it be well grounded in a majority of cases, which it is very likely not to be, there will be a minority of exceptional cases in which it does not hold: and in those it is both an injustice to the individuals, and a detriment to society, to
a real loss,
adhere
sub-
while the exclusion of thousands of unfit
all
no gain; for if the constitution of the electoral body disposes them to
stance to the principle from which they
persons
is
choose
unfit
persons,
there
are
free nations contrive to
in
nominally derogate; for they circumscribe
always
this
472
high function
b>-
conditions avowedly
The Subjection
Mill:
intended to prevent the person to belongs
ostensibly
ing
from
really
while the person by
it;
whom it
tion.
The
is
performed, the responsible minister, does obtain the post by a competition from
which no full-grown sex
is
legally
therefore,
to
The
which women are subject
from the mere fact of their birth, are the solitary examples of the kind in modern legislation. In no instance except this, are
the
higher
social
functions
race,
closed
against anyone by a fatality of birth which no exertions, and no change of circumstances, can overcome; for even religious disabilities (besides that in England and in Europe they have practically almost ceased to exist) do not close any career to the disqualified
to
stands out an isolated fact in institutions; a solitary
become
their
women
modern
is,
that
not
assert
in
general terms, that the ex-
perience of mankind has pronounced in
person in case of con-
social subordination of
should
eral assertions. It will not do, for instance,
favour of the existing system. Experience
cannot possibly have decided between two courses, so long as there has only been
version.
The
can be demanded
be considered as prejudged by existing fact and existing opinion, but open to discussion on its merits, as a question of justice and expediency: the decision on this, as on any of the other social arrangements of mankind, depending on what an enlightened estimate of tendencies and consequences may show to be most advantageous to humanity in general, without distinction of sex. And the discussion must be a real discussion, descending to foundations, and not resting satisfied with vague and gen-
disabilities,
which comprehends half the human
least that
question
the
male
citizen of the
excluded.
Women
publicanism and royalty, a balanced ques-
it
perform-
whom
of
thus
experience of one.
social
breach of what has
If
it
be said that the
doctrine of the equality of the sexes rests
only on theory,
fundamental law; a single
an old world of thought and pracexploded in everything else, but re-
it
must be remembered
relic of
that the contrary doctrine also has only
tice
theory to rest upon. All that
is
proved
favour by direct experience,
in
tained in the one thing of most universal
its
interest; as if a gigantic dolmen, or a vast temple of Jupiter Olympius, occupied the site of St. Paul's and received daily worship, while the surrounding Christian churches were only resorted to on fasts and festivals. This entire discrepancy be-
mankind have been able to exist under it, and to attain the degree of improvement and prosperity which we now see; but
tween one
social fact
and
all
else
of
have been under the other system, experience does not say. On the other hand,
those which
an
experience does say, that every step in im-
provement has been so invariably accompanied by a step made in raising the social position of women, that historians and philosophers have been led to adopt their elevation or debasement as on the whole the surest test and most correct measure
analogous
character, surely affords, to a conscientious
observer of
human
tendencies, serious mat-
of the civilisation of a people or an age.
raises a prima facie presumption on the unfavourable side, far outweighing any which custom and usage could in such circumstances create on the ter for reflection.
It
Through
man
this,
like
the
choice
between
all
the progressive period of hu-
history, the condition of
women
has
been approaching nearer to equality with men. This does not of itself prove that the assimilation must go on to complete
favourable; and should at least suffice to
make
that
whether that prosperity has been attained sooner, or is now greater, than it would
accompany it, and the radical opposition between its nature and the progressive movement which is the boast of the modern world, and which has successively swept
away everything
is
re-
473
Great Books Library equality; but
assuredly affords
it
sumption that such
is
some
appear; men, with that inability to recog-
pre-
the case.
own work which
nise their
distinguishes
them. Standing on the ground of
mind, indolently believe that the tree grows of itself in the way they have made it grow, and that it would die if one half of it were not kept in a vapour bath and the other half in the
sense and the constitution of
snow.
Neither does
it
avail
anything to say
two sexes adapts present functions and posi-
that the nature of the
them
to their
tion,
and renders
these
appropriate
to
common the human
Of
deny that anyone knows, or can know, the nature of the two sexes, as long as they have only been seen in their present relation to one another. If men had ever been found in society without women, or women without men, or if there had been a society of men and women in which the women were not under the control of the men, something might have been positively known about the mental and moral differences which may be inmind,
I
the nature
of
well-grounded opinions on arrangements, the greatest
speakable
mankind
some
in
stimulation in others.
It
asserted
down by an
been
alone,
people
ters.
they are. Because a cot-
appointed
not
think
when
the
them
execute
to
who
think the French incapable
Because the Greeks
who
think that the Turks are naturally
more
sincere:
and because women,
as
is
often said, care nothing about politics ex-
cept their personalities, the general good
is
it
is
supposed that
naturally less interest-
women than to men. History, which now so much better understood than
ing to
mas-
is
Then, because certain products of
formerly, teaches another lesson:
the general vital force sprout luxuriantly
by showing the extraordinary
and reach a great development
ity of
in
is
who
there are people
cheated the Turks, and the Turks only plundered the Greeks, there are persons
iron heel has gener-
heated atmosphere and under
or
are,
supposed, they have
in arrears to his landlord
of free government.
and
their
now
species
it is
turn their arms against them, there are
them has not been
and pleasure of
deeply
authorities
of the capabilities of their nature,
for the benefit
of
that the Irish are naturally idle. Because
liberty of
some
to be, such,
constitutions can be overthrown
if left with any development, it has developed itself according to its own laws; but in the case of women, a hot-house and stove cultivation has always been carried on of
let
of the
seem
industrious,
been, in some respects, more forcibly re-
ally
human
tion
tier
that no other class of dependents have had their character so entirely distorted from its natural proportions by their relation with their masters; for, if conquered and slave races have
crushed
inattention
in respect to the influences
made them what
without scruple,
pressed, whatever in
social
the un-
placed, clearly points out the causes that
unnatural
may be
now
a natural tendency to be: even when the most elementary knowledge of the circumstances in which they have been
What is now women is an em-
directions,
and
ignorance
and
life is
which form human character. Whatever any por-
inently artificial thing— the result of forced
repression
impede the
which
difficulties
all
progress of thought, and the formation of
herent in the nature of each. called
unanalytic
the
this
human
if
only
susceptibil-
nature to external influences,
and the extreme variableness of those of its manifestations which are supposed to be most universal and uniform. But in his-
this active
nurture and watering, while other shoots
from the same root, which are left outside the wintry air, with ice purposely heaped
in
travelling,
men
in
tory,
round them, have a stunted growth, and some are burnt off with fire and dis-
only what they already had
all
as
minds; and few learn
474
usually in
their
much from
see
own
history,
The Subjection
Mill:
who do
not bring
much with them
to
Hence,
in
regard to that most
hardly any medical practitioner
difficult
question, what are the natural differences between the two sexes— a subject on which
acteristics of
it,
almost
of the only
all
neglect and
make
means by which any
men. final
partial
to
know
the
know
it,
have given but
and that
be obtained into it. This is, an analytic study of the most important department of psychology, the laws of the influence of circumstances on character. For, however great and apparently ineradicable the moral and intellectual differences between men and women might be, the evidence of there being natural differences could only be negative. Those only could be inferred to be natural which could not possibly be artificial— the residuum, after deducting every characteristic of either sex which can admit of being explained from education or external circumstances. The profoundest knowledge
char-
same
testimony,
mostly suborned.
little,
stupid all
women them-
little
women.
It is
Stupidity
the world over.
A
is
easy
much
stupid per-
and feelings may confidently be inferred from those which prevail in the circle by which the person is surrounded. Not so with those whose opinions and feelings are an emanation from their own nature and faculties. It is only a man here and there who has any tolerable knowledge of the character even of the women of his own family. I do not mean, of their capabilities; these nobody knows, not even themselves, because most of them have never been called out. I mean their actually existing thoughts and feelings. Many a man thinks he perfectly understands women, because he has had amson's notions
is
indispensable to entitle anyone to affirm is
mental
more worth than those of common is a subject on which nothing can be known, so long as those who
selves,
insight can
even that there
the
their observations are
It
alone can really
light
of the laws of the formation of character
women;
but
a psy-
is
of no
complete and correct knowledge—while almost everybody dogmatises ciety to obtain
upon
Respecting
chologist.
impossible in the present state of so-
is
an im-
is
portant element to the psychologist:
study.
it
Women
bodily constitution; and this
in
its
of
any difference, much
more what the difference is, between the two sexes considered as moral and rational beings; and since no one, as yet, has that knowledge (for there is hardly any sub-
atory relations with several, perhaps with
many and
of them. If
he
is
a good observer,
his experience extends to quality as
well as quantity, he
may have
learnt some-
importance,
thing of one narrow department of their
far entitled to
studied), no one is thus any positive opinion on the subject. Conjectures are all that can at present be made; conjectures more or less
no department, important nature— an doubt. But of all the rest of it, few persons are generally more ignorant, because
probable, according as more or less au-
fully
ject
which, in proportion to
has been so
thorised
its
little
by such knowledge
as
have of the laws of psychology,
we
there are few from
Even
as applied
ing the character of a
are,
apart from
they are
his
what between the sexes now all
made what
question
they are,
as
crudest and most incomplete state. ical
how
to
is still
in
the
Med-
and physiologists have some extent, the differences
practitioners
ascertained, to
it
is
own
wife:
so care-
for
woman,
case
for studyis
that of
the opportunities are
greater, and the cases of complete sympathy not so unspeakably rare. And in fact, this is the source from which any knowledge worth having on the subject has, I believe, generally come. But most men have not had the opportunity of study-
the preliminary knowledge,
differences
whom
The most favourable
which a man can generally have
yet
to the formation of character.
the
hidden.
ing in this
475
way more than
a single case:
Great Books Library accordingly one can, to an almost laughable degree, infer like,
from
what
a man's wife
opinions about
his
women
thing else subordinate to his comfort and
in
feel
To make even this one case yield any result, the woman must be worth knowing, and the man not only a competent judge, but of a character so sympathetic in itself, and so well adapted to hers, that he can either read her mind by sympathetic intuition, or has nothing in himself which makes her shy of disclosing it. Hardly anything, I believe, can be more rare than this conjunction. It often happens that there is the most complete unity of feeling and community of interests as to general.
all
external
little
the other as ance.
things,
yet
the one has
admission into the internal if
they were
Even with
common
life
is
is
woman whom sufficient
as
they have been and are, without refer-
women
wretchedly
is
themselves have told
be
so,
all
that they have to
And
until
this
tell.
time has not come; nor will
come otherwise than gradualK.
It
is
it
but
women have either been by literary accomplishments, or permitted by society, to tell anything to the general public. As yet very few of them dare tell anything, which men, on
of yesterday that qualified
whom
their literary success
unwilling to
depends, are
Let us remember
hear.
what manner, up
ex-
to
in
a very recent time,
the expression, even by a male author, of uncustomary opinions, or what are deemed eccentric feelings, usually was, and in some degree still is, received; and we may form some faint conception under what impediments a woman, who is brought up to think custom and opinion her sovereign rule, attempts to express in books anything drawn from the depths of her own
and openness with him. The fear of losing ground in his opinion or in his feelings is so strong, that even in an upright character, there is an unconscious tendency to show only
the best side, or the side which, though not the best, is that which he most likes to see: and it may be confidently said that thorough knowledge of one another hardly ever exists, but between persons who, besides being intimates, are equals. How much more true, then, must all this be, when the one is not only under the it
When
consider that to understand one
imperfect and superficial, and always will
tremely unpropitious to complete sincerity
authority of the other, but has
any one
general, he has
ence to what they might be,
and child, the corresponding phenomenon must have been in the observation of everyone. As between father and son, how many are the cases in which the father, in spite of real affection on both sides, obviously to all the world does not know, nor suspect, parts of the son's character familiar to his companions and equals. The truth is, that the is
in
the
of
women of a single period of history; we may safely assert that the knowledge which men can acquire of women, even
as
of
acquaint-
another
alone,
even
not necessarily to understand any other woman; that even if he could study many women of one rank, or of one country, he would not thereby understand women of other ranks or countries; and even if he did, the\' are still only the
lation of parent
to
difficulties
of a man's obtaining
opportunit\' of studying.
we further woman is
not shown. In the analogous re-
up
way
knowledge
thorough
true affection, authority
position of looking
agreeable to him. All these
stand in the
on the one side and subordination on the other prevent perfect confidence. Though nothing may be intentionally withheld,
much
let him neither see nor anything coming from her, except what
pleasure, and to
is
nature.
The
greatest
woman who
has
left
writings behind her sufficient to give her
an eminent rank c()imtr\,
incul-
as a
motto
thought
in it
the literature of her
necessary
to her boldest
work,
pent braver ropinion; unc
cated on her as a duty to reckon every-
476
to
"C/;i
fcmmc
prefix
fumime doit s'y
Mill:
soumettre."
women
The
^
women
is
men. In the case of unmarried of it seems only intended to increase their chance of a husband. Many, both married and unmarried, overstep the mark, and inculcate a servility beyond what is desired or relished by any man, except the very vulgarest. But this is not so often the case as, even at a quite
phancy
to
women, much
late period,
women
willing
to
volved
life.
principles
in-
question
the
society,
women themselves— to be deown experience, and by
the use of their own faculties. There are no means of finding what either one person or many can do, but by trying— and no means by which anyone else can dis-
cover for them what
prod-
artificial
ucts, that their sentiments are
the
cided by their
Unfortunately, in this country especially,
they are themselves such
and
society
to all
modern
in
with
rests
sentiments.
express their real
relation
in
according to
For,
women
was. Literary
still
it
purpose connected with the position of
becoming more free-spoken, and more
are
Women
of
knowledge which can qualify them to lay down the law to women as to what is, or is not, their vocation. Happily, no such knowledge is necessary for any practical
of what mere syco-
part
greater
write about
The Subjection
compounded
it
for their happi-
is
ness to do or leave undone.
One
of a small element of individual observa-
we may be
thing
of— that
certain
and consciousness, and a very large one of acquired associations. This will be less and less the case, but it will remain
what
true to a great extent, as long as social
of
institutions do not admit the same free development of originality in women which is possible to men. When that time comes, and not before, we shall see, and not merely hear, as much as
ture, for fear lest nature should not suc-
tion
necessary
it
is
of
women, and
things to
know
to
of
its
is little
anxiety
nature cannot do, forbid
to
an
is
alto-
What quite
is
it
them from doing.
What they can do, but not so well as the men who are their competitors, competinobody
asks
for
them from;
protective
bounties in favour of
since
duties
women;
it
is
and only
asked that the present bounties and protective duties in favour of
caiisas inopisB
recalled. If
chance of reason-
women have
inclination for
there
themselves that they perfectly un-
derstand a subject of which most
The
solicitude.
tion suffices to exclude
and there
do by simply
purpose,
unnecessary
women by
it.
maximas
to
to interfere in behalf of na-
effecting
superfluous
able thinking on the matter, while people
know
in
gether
the adaptation of other
"opinio copiae inter
flatter
mankind
ceed
have dwelt so much on the difficulties which at present obstruct any real knowledge by men of the true nature of women, because in this as in so many other things ~;
made
giving their nature free play.
I
est"
contrary to women's nature to do,
they never will be
nature
the
is
is
and of which it is at present impossible that any man, or all men taken together, should have
make
former
the
some things than
no need of laws or
cation to
men
men
in
should be
a greater natural for others,
social incul-
the majority of
preference
to
them do
the
latter.
Whatever women's services are most wanted for, the free play of competition
absolutely nothing,
will to
hold out the strongest inducements
them
to undertake.
And,
as the
words
imply, they are most wanted for the things 1
"A man can defy public must submit Stael's
2
"A
opinion; a
it"— title page of
to
woman
Mme
which they are most fit; by the apportionment of which to them, the collective faculties of the two sexes can be applied on the whole with the greatest for
de
Delphine.
reputation
for
plenty
is
one of the
sum
greatest causes of want."
477
of valuable result.
Great Books Library
The
general opinion of
men
is
supposed
to be, that the natural vocation of a
have
woman
to think that the alleged natural
women was
vocation of
most repugnant that
if
of
things the
all
to their nature;
insomuch
they are free to do anything else—
any other means of living or occupation and faculties, is open, which has any chance of appearing desirable to them— there will not be enough of them who will be willing to accept the condition said to be natural to them. If this is
is
if
condition
of their time
induce them to accept
the
real
opinion
men
of
would be well that out.
I
it
plied in
much
lieve,
is
necessary
already im-
society
that chil-
is
They
compelled.
will not
to
but
do so unless they are
Therefore
necessary
is
it
to
compel them." The merits of the case would then be clearly defined. It would be is
of
closer to the point
impressment.
Sailors
is
them.
How
has
this
to
rec-
Hobson's
only
allows
And
here,
I
be-
they should
lest
that marriage
insist
should be on
equal conditions;
women
and capacity should prefer
of spirit
lest
all
not in their
else,
And
all
their earthly
consequence
truly, if this
were necessarily incident
marriage,
to
I
think that the apprehension would be very well founded. able that few
that
must absolutely
often
as
own
the clue to the feelings of those
is
possessions.
else,
I
agree
in
thinking
women, capable
it
prob-
of anything
would, unless under an
irresistible
entrainement, rendering them for the time
be had to defend the country. It often happens that they will not voluntarily enlist. Therefore there must be the power of forcing
one
"that or none."
master, and a master too of
necessary
and sugar should be grown. White men cannot produce them. Negroes will not, for any wages which we choose to give. Ergo they must be compelled." An still
its
not a sign of one's
is
doing almost anything
that cotton
illustration
for
own eyes degrading, rather than marry, when marrying is giving themselves a
exactly that of the slave-holders of South
Carolina and Louisiana. "It
It
women,
to it
men, who have a real antipathy to the equal freedom of women. I believe they are afraid, not lest women should be unwilling to marry, for I do not think that anyone in reality has that apprehension;
should be spoken
(it
when
tive,
choice,
written on the sub-
is
desirable
ommendations.
it
should marry and produce
ject)— "It
women
that
so
thinking the boon one offers very attrac-
should like to hear somebody openly
enunciating the doctrine
dren.
general,
in
this
no logical answer except "I will not": and as people are now not only ashamed, but are not desirous, to rob the labourer of his hire, impressment is no longer advocated. Those who attempt to force women into marriage by closing all other doors against them, lay themselves open to a similar retort. If they mean what they say, their opinion must evidently be, that men do not render the married
is that of a wife and mother. I say, is supposed to be, because, judging from acts— from the whole of the present constitution of society— one might infer that their opinion was the direct contrary. They might be
supposed
To
obtaining their services.
in
there
insensible to
such a
lot,
anything but
when any
to them of honomable place
open
logic
itself,
other
filling
choose
means were
a conventionally
and if men are determined that the law of marriage shall be a law of despotism, the\' are quite right,
been used! and, but for one flaw in it, without doubt it would have been successful up to this day. But it is open to the retort— First pay the sailors the honest value of their labour. When you have made it as well worth their while to serve you, as to work for other employers, you will have no more difflcultv than others
in
point
women case,
all
of
mere
in
life:
policy,
in
leaving
to
only Hobson's choice. But, in that that has been
done
in
the
modem
on the minds of women, has been a mistake. Thcv never world
478
to relax the chain
The Subjection
Mill:
and a disturbing element:
should have been allowed to receive a
Women who
literary education.
more women who
read,
much
wrong
CHAPTER be well
will
commence
to
branch of
it
to
of our observations has led us: the condi-
which the laws of
tions
this
and
other
all
countries annex to the marriage contract.
Marriage being the destination appointed by society for women, the prospect they are brought it
up
and the object which
to,
intended should be sought by
is
all
of
them, except those who are too little attractive to be chosen by any man as his
companion; one might have supposed that everything would have been done to make this
condition as eligible to
them
as pos-
have no cause to regret being denied the option of any other. Society, however, both in this, and, sible,
at
that they might
first,
to attain
in its
means: but it
other cases, has preferred
all
we
object by foul rather than fair this
is
and
the only case in which
are
women were
wife
continually
Christianity
is
her
just
was
it
told
have rights.
that civilisation
restored
to
band: no
father to the husband. Until a late period
goes, than slaves
less so, as far as legal obligation
commonly so called. vows a livelong obedience to him at altar, and is held to it all through life by law. Casuists may say that
European history, the father had the power to dispose of his daughter in marriage at his own will and pleasure, without any regard to hers. The Church, indeed, was so far faithful to a better morality as to require a formal "y^s" from in
the
Meanwhile the
the actual bondservant of her hus-
taken by force, or regularly sold by their
woman
and
with any ac-
II
woman
has substantially persisted in them even
to the present day. Originally
women up
and death over his wife. She could invoke no law against him; he was her sole tribunal and law. For a long time he could repudiate her, but she had no corresponding power in regard to him. By the old laws of England, the husband was called the lord of the wife; he was literally regarded as her sovereign, inasmuch that the murder of a man by his wife was called treason {petty as distinguished from high treason), and was more cruelly avenged than was usually the case with high treason, for the penalty was burning to death. Because these various enormities have fallen into disuse (for most of them were never formally abolished, or not until they had long ceased to be practised) men suppose that all is now as it should be in regard to the marriage contract; and
the detailed
by the parwhich the course
discussion of the subject
ticular
to bring
quirements but those of an odalisque, or of a domestic servant.
write, are, in the exist-
ing constitution of things, a contradiction
It
Women
of
She the
her the
obligation of obedience stops short of par-
crime,
but
tends to everything
else.
ticipation
marriage ceremony; but
in
it
certainly
ex-
She can do no
practically impossible for the girl to refuse
whatever but by his permission, at She can acquire no property but for him; the instant it becomes hers, even if by inheritance, it becomes ipso
compliance if the father persevered, except perhaps when she might obtain the protec-
under the common law of England
the
there
at the
was nothing
to
show
was other than compulsory, and
tion of religion to
the
take
to
it
least tacit.
was
facto his. In this respect the wife's position
by a determined resolution
monastic vows.
man had
terior
act
that the consent
After
many
countries:
was an-
the power of
worse
by the Roman law, for example, a slave might have his peculium, which to a certain extent the law guaranteed
marriage,
anciently (but this
Christianity)
is
than that of slaves in the laws of
life
479
Great Books Library to
him
The higher
for his exclusive use.
master's person,
have given an analogous advantage to their women, through special contracts setting aside the law, by conditions of pin-money, etc.: since paclasses in this country
By means
who
own sex, own daughter
a stranger to him.
is
of settlements, the rich usually
contrive to withdraw the whole or part
from
of the inherited property of the wife
a slave at
all
hours and
he has,
general
like
a
and when it is done, or when he is off duty, he disposes, within certain limits, of his own time, and has a family life into which the master rarely intrudes. "Uncle Tom" under his first master had his own life in his "cabin," almost as much as any man whose work takes him away from home, is able to have in his own family. Hut it cannot be so with
rental feeling being stronger with fathers
to a son-in-law
is
in
soldier, his fixed ta.sk,
than the class feeling of their a father generally prefers his
minutes;
all
Above
the wife.
all,
a female slave has (in
the absolute control of the husband: but
Christian countries) an admitted right, and
under do
refuse to her master the last familiarity.
they do not succeed
own
her
keeping
in
it
is
control; the utmost they can
considered under a moral obligation, to
only prevents the husband from squander-
Not
same time debarring the rightful owner from its use. The property itself is out of the reach of both; and as to the income derived from it, the form of settlement most favourable to the wife (that called "to her separate use") only precludes
be chained to— though she may know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him— he can claim from her and enforce the lowest degrada-
the husband from receiving
tion of a
ing
she
at the
it,
instead of
it
so the wife:
may
however brutal a tyrant
unfortunately
human
being, that of being
made
must pass through her hands, but if he takes it from her by personal violence as soon as she receives it, he can neither
the instrument of an animal function con-
be punished, nor compelled
her
her:
This
it
is
amount
the
trary to her inclinations. in this
to restitution.
of the protection which,
While she
is
held
worst description of slavery as to
own
person,
what
gard to the children
is
in
her position in re-
whom
she and her
under the laws of this country, the most powerful nobleman can give to his own daughter as respects her husband. In the
master have a joint interest? They are by law his children. He alone has any legal
immense majority of cases there settlement: and the absorption complete.
is
"one person
in
inferring that
whatever
is
his
is
is
is
hers
him responsible acts,
as
a
hers; the
master
for
is
tending that wives are
his,
maxim
I
but
is
not
make
far
in general
lengths,
and
of the word, as a wife
is.
a slave
in so full a sen.se
Hardly any
relation
fourd's Act. This
from preno better is
in
is
to
them, except
her legal
state.
And
from this state she has no means of withdrawing herself. If she leaves her husband, she can take nothing with her, neither her children nor anything which is rightfully her own. If he chooses, he can compel her to retiun, by law, or by physical force; or he may content himself with seizing for his own use anything which she may earn,
the acts of his
am
treated than slaves; but no slave
same
by delegation from him. Even after he is dead she is not their legal guardian, unless he by will has made her so. He could even send them away from her, and deprive her of the means of seeing or corresponding with them, until this power was in some degree restricted by Serjeant Tal-
third parties for her
to
slaves or of his cattle.
to the
all
never drawn that
applied against the man, except to
do
of
are called
is
act can she
towards or
law," for the purpose of
the parallel inference
whatever
The two
Not one
no
freedom
rights, all property, as well as all
of action,
rights over them.
is
slave,
except one immediately attached to the
480
The Subjection
Mill:
which may be given
or
lations. It
by her
to her
the case stand in any need of exaggeration.
re-
only legal separation by a de-
is
I
cree of a court of justice, which entitles her apart, without being forced
to live
which empowers her
back
legal position,
The laws
most
of
countries are far worse than the people
who
apply any earn-
to
have described the wife's
not her actual treatment.
into the custody of an exasperated jailer—
or
Women
of
execute them, and
many
them
of
are
only able to remain laws by being seldom
ings to her own use, without fear that a man whom perhaps she has not seen for
or never carried into
twenty years will pounce upon her some day and carry all off. This legal separation,
looking to the laws alone, society would
until lately, the courts of justice
give at an expense which sible to
were be a
would only
made
it
is
it
men
inacces-
which
Happily there are
and of those
connects
affords,
in
many
feelings, the tie
man
a
with
wife
his
a normal state of things, in-
in
comparably the strongest example. The only tie which at all approaches to it, that between him and his children, tends, in
is dependent for everything upon the chance of finding one who may be disposed to make a favourite of her instead of merely is
earth.
life
to be,
exclude, and in most, greatly temper,
to tyranny:
extreme of cruelty; and yet complaints are made every day that it is granted too easily. Surely, if a woman is denied any lot in life but that of being the personal body-servant of a despot, and
it
married
the impulses and propensities which lead
only given in cases of de-
sertion, or of the
a drudge,
upon
hell
eff^ect. If
might be expected
it
both feelings and interests which
anyone out of the higher ranks.
Even now
that
all
all
save exceptional cases, to strengthen,
instead of conflicting with, the
cause this
do not
a very cruel aggravation
is
because
true;
inflict,
men
women
nor
first.
in
suffer,
Be-
general all
the
of her fate that she should be allowed to
misery which could be inflicted and suf-
chance only once. The natural and corollary from this state of things would be, that since her all in life depends upon obtaining a good master, she should be allowed to change again and again until she finds one. I am not saying that she ought to be allowed this privilege. That is a totally diff^erent con-
fered
try
this
sideration.
The question
into
which
enter. All
whom
it
I
is
foreign to
now
say
is,
my
form of the
the free choice of servitude
is
invested were
institution
think that
all
its
is
is
the price paid for every great good.
is
justified,
But the mitigations
which are
in practice,
compatible with maintaining
in
full legal
force this or any other kind of tyranny,
one purpose to
is
of tyranny with
legally
and that any complaint merely quarrelling with the evil which
iniquity
is
instead of being any apology for despotism,
only serve to prove what power
that to those to
nothing but servitude
power is
the defenders of the existing
acted on;
of divorce, in the
sense involving liberty of remarriage,
the full
if
which the man
sequel
human
na-
ture possesses of reacting against the vilest
allowed,
the only,
institutions,
and with what
vitality
the
seeds of good as well as those of evil in
though a most insufficient, alleviation. Its refusal completes the assimilation of the wife to the slave— and the slave under not the mildest form of slavery: for in some slave codes the slave could, under certain circumstances of ill usage, legally compel the master to sell him. But no amount of ill usage, without adultery superadded, will in England free a wife from her tormentor. I have no desire to exaggerate, nor does
human
character
diffuse
and propagate
word can be said for the family which cannot be
themselves. Not a
despotism said
in
for political
despotism. Every abso-
lute king does not sit at his
window
to
enjoy the groans of his tortured subjects,
nor strips them of their
them out
ism of Louis
481
last
rag and turns
to shiver in the road.
XVI was
The despot-
not the despotism
Great Books Library under the absolute government of a good man? Meanwhile, laws and institutions require to be adapted, not to good men, but to bad. Marriage is not an institution de-
of Philippe le Bel, or of Nadir Shah, or of
was bad enough to justify the French Revolution, and to palliate Caligula; but
even
its
it
be made
horrors. If an appeal
to
Men
the intense attachments which exist be-
signed for a select few.
tween wives and their husbands, exactly as much may be said of domestic slavery. It was quite an ordinary fact in Greece and Rome for slaves to submit to death by
quired, as a preliminary to the marriage
prove by testimonials that be trusted with the exercise of absolute power. The tie of afi^ection and obligation to a wife and children is
torture rather than betray their masters.
Roman
In the proscriptions of the
wars
it
was remarked
many Romans
But
to
to
cial
feelings
are
in truth these intense individual feel-
all
nowhere
rise
to
such
tions.
It is
part of the irony of
life,
ceptible, are called forth in
towards
those
who,
human
having
ties of
the
beings
power
men
great a place in most
how much
in
to inquire.
this senti-
devotion,
religious
We
it
daily see
through
its
will
ac-
ultima ratio, the penal-
The
malefactor
vilest
some
has
And how many thousands are among the lowest classes in every
there
pears to be stimulated by the contempla-
whom God
there are
penalty.
Heaven ap-
their gratitude to
as
the law. In every grade of this des-
band.
voluntarily refrain from using that power.
How
it,
wretched woman tied to him, against whom he can commit any atrocity except killing her, and, if tolerably cautious, can do that without much danger o£ the legal
entirely to crush their earthly existence,
ment fills, even would be cruel
degrees of sensibilto
cending scale are men to whom are committed all the legal powers of a hus-
be sus-
to
all
insensibility
grades of goodness and wickedness in
tion but
that
the strongest feelings of devoted gratitude
which human nature seems
and
and with many
sensible to any other social
men, down to those whom no ties bind, and on whom society has no
luxuriant
a
are strong,
little
but there are
ties;
ity
ings
fit
who
treated their slaves.
height as under the most atrocious institu-
of
ceremony,
they are
very strong with those whose general so-
civil
and slaves sons very com-
that wives
were heroically faithful, monly treacherous. Yet we know how cruelly
are not re-
country, who,
without being
in
a legal
has
sense malefactors in any other respect, be-
not been so merciful as he has to them-
cause in every other quarter their aggres-
selves.
sions meet with resistance, indulge the utmost habitual excesses of bodily violence
tion of fellow-creatures to
Whether the is
institution to
be defended
towards the unhappy wife, who alone, at least of grown persons, can neither repel
slavery, political absolutism, or the ab-
solutism of the head of a family,
always expected to judge of best instances; and
we
it
we from
are
nor escape from their brutality; and
its
whom
wards
are presented with
the
excess
of
mean and savage
pictures of loving exercise of authority on
inspires
one side, loving submission to it on the other— superior wisdom ordering all things for the greatest good of the dependents, and surroimded by their smiles and benedictions. All this would be very much to the purpose if anyone pretended that there are no such things as good men. Who doubts that there may be great goodness, and great happiness, and great affection,
not with a generous forbearance,
their
point of honour to
whose
lot in life
is
to-
dependence
behave well
natures,
and a one
to
trusted entirely to their
kindness, but on the contrary with a no-
law has delivered her to be used at their pleasure, and that they are not expected to practise the consideration towards her which is required from them towards tion
them
482
that
the
as their thing, to
Mill:
The Subjection
everybody else. The law, which till lately even these atrocious extremes of left domestic oppression practically unpunished, has within these few years made some feeble attempts to repress them. But its attempts have done little, and cannot be expected to do much, because it is contrary to reason and experience to suppose that there can be any real check to brutality, consistent with leaving the victim
in
still
Until
executioner.
sonal violence, or at tion of
the
power
the
conviction
a
all
with the law, maintaining a creditable ap-
pearance to power, yet lives of all
woman
per-
of a prosecutor, or for
When we
consider
want
how
of
men,
down is
by want
is
the
would be tiresome
It
to
in general for
power, which,
man
here and
and most
to the basest
man
ferocious. It
known to have Ten Commandments,
not because a
not
is
broken any of the or because he maintains a respectable character in his dealings with those whom he cannot compel to have intercourse with
of a witness.
vast
make
but offered to every adult male,
there,
the
any great country, who are little higher than brutes, and that this never prevents them from being able, through the law of marriage, to obtain a victim, the breadth and depth of human misery caused in this shape alone by the abuse of the institution swells to some-
number
to
not placed in the hands of a
attempt for
often
are so, a torment and a
everyone knows by heart, were it not that hardly anyone thinks of applying these maxims to the case in which above all others they are applicable, that of power,
to repress these "aggravated assaults"
down
who
after the political discussions of centuries,
ipso facto to a divorce, or at
legal penalties will break
men
ness of
events a repeti-
least to a judicial separation, the
are not under their
repeat the commonplaces about the unfit-
after a first conviction, entitles
it
who
all
sufficient
burthen to them!
of the
for
Women
of
him, or because he does not
in
out into
fly
violent bursts of ill-temper against those
who it
is
are not obliged to bear with him, that
possible to surmise of
what
sort his
conduct will be in the unrestraint of home. Even the commonest men reserve the violent, the sulky, the undisguisedly
who
selfish side of their
character for those
extreme cases. They are the lowest abysses, but there is a sad succession of depth after depth before reaching them. In do-
have no power
withstand
mestic as in political tyranny,
wherever else they exist, are an overflowing from that source. A man who is morose or violent to his equals, is sure to be one who has lived among inferiors, whom he could frighten or worry into sub-
thing appalling.
Yet these are only the
the
case
is
which may not occur the despot pleases, and thus strong light what must be the
scarcely any horror
under
it
if
setting in a
as
angels,
perhaps
rarer:
ferocious
it.
The
dependents
to
mission. If the family in
frequency of things only a little atrocious. Absolute fiends are as rare
as
terrible less
to
superiors
rela-
is
the
nursery of these vices of character, which,
of the absolute monsters chiefly illustrates
the institution by showing that there
of
tion
sav-
it
pathy,
tenderness,
ness of
self,
ages, with occasional touches of humanity,
its
however very frequent: and in the wide interval which separates these from any worthy representatives of the human species, how many are the forms and gradations of animalism and selfishness, often under an outward varnish of civilisation and even cultivation, living at peace
ingness,
are
its
best forms
is,
often said to be, a school of sym-
is
it
is
and loving
still
forgetful-
oftener, as respects
chief, a school of wilfulness, overbear-
unbounded
a double-dyed
which
selfish
indulgence, and
and idealised
sacrifice
itself
is
selfishness, of
only a particular
form: the care for the wife and children
being only care for them as parts of the
man's their
483
own
interests
individual
and belongings, and
happiness
being
immo-
Great Books Library and more inoffensive; those who cannot be induced, even by provocation, to resort to any very harsh exercise of author-
lated in every shape to his smallest prefer-
ences.
What
better
is
be looked for un-
to
der the existing form of the institution? We know that the bad propensities of hu-
tyranny, and makes victims in their turn
is
compelled to
resist.
mon tendency
of
human
man
tutions give to the
What
over at least one
in
have become a second nature.
I
in
know
if
least
acter
of those
who would make
power
if
power
is
to a
it,
bad
highminded disdain
it.
And on
it
is
common
their
in
a
man
on her own; and urally
interests
his
to
as
re-
capable of feeling for
acquired
lastly,
over
the influence nat-
almost
all
human
beings by those near to their persons
(if
not actually disagreeable to them): who,
both
the
by
their
direct
entreaties,
and by
the insensible contagion of their feelings
and
dispositions,
are
often
able,
unless
counteracted by some equally strong per-
The
sonal
influence,
command
amiable cannot use such an instrument, the
it;
others, lays the foundation of caring for her
and who
other hand, the husbands against
with
congenial
sufficiently
which,
women;
use.
is
and the woman's char-
it
munity of interest as concerns third per(to which however there are very great limitations); the real importance of the wife to his daily comforts and enjoyments, and the value he consequently attaches to her on his personal account,
the worst use of
they themselves had
generally turn this
It
self-willed
growth
sons
most against the tyrannical superiors, and in favour of and
the
is
gards the children, and their general com-
I
avails
of irritable
which
that
the shrewish sanction— has the
weapon
real mitigating causes are, the
excite
she cannot effectu-
the least deserving dependents.
is
affection
susceptible of
life extremely uncomand by that power is able to carry many points which she ought, and many which she ought not, to prevail in. But this instrument of self-protection— which may be called the power of the
it
woman
of time in so far as the man's nature
can at least retaliate; she, too,
fatal defect, that
The
time.
personal
fortable,
or
little effect
modifying the general tendencies of
while the
can make the man's
scold,
tempers
time
another side to the question.
grant that the wife,
really
power only lasts young and attractive, often only while her charm is new, and not dimmed by familiarity; and on many men they have not much influence at any
he has always present —this power seeks out and evokes the latent germs of selfishness in the remotest corners of his nature— fans its faintest sparks and smouldering embers— offers to him a licence for the indulgence of those points of his original character which in all other relations he would have found it necessary to repress and conceal, and
which would
which
the situation; for their
whom
of
then,
it,
individual instances, have very
insti-
human being— the one with whom he
the repression
is
blandishments, though of great effect in
nature; the almost
unlimited power which present social
ally resist,
least
inclined to be tyrants.
makes it compatible with such amount of good as we actually see? Mere feminine
until a point
is
husbands who are
chiefly of those
reached at which they are Such being the com-
goes
there
of being disagree-
the corrupting effects of the power, and
almost
yield,
and
power
wife's
able generally only establishes a counter-
everyone to whom others on encroaching upon them,
pose,
resides,
The
ity.
man nature are only kept within bounds when they are allowed no scope for their indulgence. We know that from impulse and habit, when not from deliberate pur-
to
obtain
a
degree
of
over the conduct of the superior,
and unreasonable. altogether excessive Through these various means, the wife fre(|uently exercises even too much power
the
whom
used most effectively are the gentler
484
Mill:
over the man; she
The Subjection
in
affairs
those of states
is
families
of
power
nor
decision one
come
It is
rights.
A
in
should slave.
partnership
neither
By
have
entirely
slaves
be
ex-
by having no
will
her
No
ders.
in
business:
and
it
is
is
not
bound to obey his orone would enter into partnership
on terms which would subject him to the responsibilities of a principal, with only the powers and privileges of a clerk or agent. If the law dealt with other contracts as it does with marriage, it would ordain that one partner should administer
persuading him that she has no will) but his, in anything which regards their (or
and by making it the busito work upon his sentiments, a wife may gratify herself by influencing, and very probably perverting, joint relation,
ness of her
voluntary asso-
the others shall be
a
own
sinking
istence in her husband;
she
that
nor
all
found or thought necessary to enact that in every partnership, one partner shall have entire control over the concern, and
she tyrannises; but
would be
thing
desirable
the
not true that in
voluntary association, next to marriage,
own
Sultan's favourite slave has slaves
whom
must be
or the other
between two people, one of them must be absolute master: still less that the law must determine which of them it shall be. The most frequent case of
Her power often what she has no right to, but
under her, over
way
to.
ciation
a compensation
does not enable her to assert her
shall de-
differ in opin-
ion? Both cannot have their way, yet a
for the loss of freedom.
gives her
Who
ruler.
when married people
cide
things in
neither in the
Women
must be the ultimate
able to affect his con-
is
which she may not be quah'fied to influence it for good— in which her influence may be not only unenlightened, but employed on the morally wrong side; and in which he would act better if left to his own prompting. But duct
of
life
the
common
business as
was
if it
his pri-
his conduct, in those of his external rela-
vate concern; that the others should have
tions
which she has never qualified herjudge of, or in which she is herself wholly influenced by some personal or
only delegated powers; and that this one
self to
should be designated by some general presumption of law, for example as being the eldest. The law never does this: nor does experience show it to be necessary that any theoretical inequality of power should exist between the partners, or that
other partiahty or prejudice. Accordingly, as
things
now
are,
those
who
act
most
kindly to their wives, are quite as often
made
worse, as better, by the wife's in-
fluence, in respect to
ing
all
interests extend-
beyond the family. She
is
conditions than
appoint
and accordingly she seldom has any honest and conscientious opinion on them; and therefore hardly ever meddles with them for any legitimate purpose, but generally for an interested one. She neither knows nor cares which is the right side in politics, but she knows what
Yet
that sphere;
bring in
money
her husband a
title,
or invitations,
have any other
what they may themselves
by their articles of agreement. might seem that the exclusive power might be conceded with less danger to the rights and interests of the inferior, in
she has no business with things out of
will
should
partnership
the
taught that
it
the case of partnership than
marriage, since he
is
in
that of
free to cancel the
power by withdrawing from the connexion. The wife has no such power, and even
give
her son a place, or
if
sirable
good marriage. But how, it will be asked, can any society exist without government? In a family, as in a state, some one person her daughter a
she had,
it
before resorting to It is
to
be
is
almost always de-
that she should
try
all
measures
it.
quite true that things which have
decided
every
day,
and
cannot
adjust themselves gradually, or wait for
485
Great Books Library ought to depend on one one person must have their sole control. But it does not follow that this should always be the same person. The natural arrangement is a division of powers between the two; each being absolute in the executive branch of their own department, and any change of system and prina compromise,
responsibilities
will;
partners in business), cannot be satisfac-
riage institution
the
since
law,
must
it
now
pecuniary arrangements are
There would seldom
be any difficulty in deciding such things by mutual consent, unless the marriage was one of those unhappy ones in which other things, as well as
this,
become
and dispute. The division of rights would naturally follow the division of duties and functions; and that is already made by consent, or at all events not by law, but by general custom, modified and modifiable at the pleasure subjects
of
real
practical
whichever
decision
may be
given
of
to
even
does,
most cases give the preponderance man; at least until they both attain a time of life at which the difference in their years is of no importance. There will naturally also be a more potential voice on the side, whichever it is, that brings the means of support. Inequality from this source does not depend on the law of marriage, but on the general conditions to the
human
society, as
now
constituted.
able
The
character, will
other, ex-
little
apprehension
at present.
And
that
the
is
powers
to
same
side, sup-
the amenability plaintiff to
almost
cases,
prevail.
The matter is cerla> ing down as an
improved by
be raised upon a on one side and subjection on the other, and that every concession which the despot makes may, at his mere pleasure, and without any of free
government
shall
legal basis of despotism
this fact
foundation there
If so,
ordinance of law, that the superstructure
and of superior decision of necessarily tell for much.
always does so
shows how
for the
would be a motive with the
tainly not
influence of mental superiority, either general or special,
the
and obedience on the
any arbitration, but it would be just the reverse with the defendant. The despotic power which the law gives to the husband may be a reason to make the wife assent to any compromise by which power is practically shared between the two, but it cannot be the reason why the husband does. That there is always among decently conducted people a practical compromise, though one of them at least is under no physical or moral necessity of making it, shows that the natural motives which lead to a voluntary adjustment of the united life of two persons in a manner acceptable to both, do on the whole, except in unfavour-
legal
it
it
agree
will in
It
side,
judgment always
upon comparative qualifications. The mere fact that he is usually the eldest,
of
Things never
an issue of downright power on
pose the defendant.
affairs,
the
authority, will greatly depend, as
now
appor-
was, not to try the cause, but to give
bickering
of the persons concerned.
The
a failure.
is
so
been a mistake, and it would be a blessing to both parties to be relieved from it. Some may say that the very thing by which an amicable settlement of differences becomes possible, is the power of legal compulsion known to be in reserve; as people submit to an arbitration because there is a court of law in the background, which they know that they can be forced to obey. But to make the cases parallel, we must suppose that the rule of the court of law
by
often pre-appointed.
to
to
are
which the mar-
neither can nor should be pre-
depend on individual capacities and suitabilities. If the two persons chose, they might pre-appoint it by the marriage con-
all
of
cept where the connexion altogether has
established
tract, as
They always
tioned, except in cases in
one
(as
apportioned by agreement between
themselves.
come
life
The
ciple requiring the consent of both.
division
torily
of partners in
for
and
486
The Subjection
Mill:
Women
of
warning, be recalled. Besides that no free-
so long as they are universally taught that
dom
they are born and created for
is
worth much when held on so
precarious a tenure,
conditions are not
its
be the most equitable when law throws so prodigious a weight one scale; when the adjustment rests tween two persons one of whom is likely to
I
believe
equality
that
the
abate
the
into
which
is
of
exaggerated present
the
self-sacrifice.
rights
would
self-abnegation ideal
artificial
of
feminine character, and that a good woman would not be more self-sacrificing than the
be-
de-
other not only entitled to nothing except
best man: but on the other hand, men would be much more unselfish and self-
during the good pleasure of the
sacrificing than
clared to be entitled to everything, the
but
first,
their
oppression.
A
it
pertinacious adversary, pushed to ex-
may
tremities,
willing
are
make
husbands indeed reasonable, and to
be
to
to
without being compelled to
wives are not: that
own,
of
their
no
rights
at
will acknowledge anyone else, and
they in
all
never will yield
but that
it,
anything, unless they
in
can be compelled, by the man's mere authority, to yield in everything. This would
have been said by many persons some generations ago, when satires on women were in vogue, and men thought it a clever thing to
women
insult
being
for
what men made them. But it will be said by no one now who is worth replying to. It is not the doctrine of the present day that women are less susceptible of good feeling, and consideration for those with whom they are united by the strongest ties,
than
men
On
are.
perpetually told
them
women
that
than men, by those to treating
the contrary,
who
as
if
we
are
actually the law for another rational
There
There men,
are,
are
are
is
no doubt, women,
whom
they were as good;
com-
only
fit
and no human bebe compelled to associate with them. But the legal sub-
ordination tends to
dividual
own
If
self-sacrifice
family.
But
I
lay
women
their lives
make such characters among women more, rather than less, frequent. If the man exerts his whole power,
are better
it
surely
for
those
little stress
is
in-
the
woman
their
she
is
in
of
on
as there
to live alone,
sembling those celebrations of royal clemency which, according to Gulliver, the king of Lilliput always prefixed to his most in anything,
so
priv-
will
ings ought to
men
all
equality of consideration
plimentary face upon an injury, and re-
than
men
nothing which
not satisfy; with whom there is no peace while any will or wish is regarded but their own. Such persons are a proper subject for the law of divorce. They are
better
so that the saying has passed into a piece
sanguinary decrees.
worship
to
such a grand thing that
over another.
are totally opposed
of tiresome cant, intended to put a
will as
ileged persons, and all privileged classes, have had it. The more we descend in the scale of humanity, the intenser it is; and most of all in those who are not, and can never expect to be, raised above anyone except an unfortunate wife and children. The honourable exceptions are proportionally fewer than in the case of almost any other human infirmity. Philosophy and religion, instead of keeping it in check, are generally suborned to defend it; and nothing controls it but that practical feeling of the equality of human beings, which is the theory of Christianity, but which Christianity will never practically teach, while it sanctions institutions grounded on an arbitrary preference of one human being
allowed any rights
if
present, because they
easily learn as this self- worship:
partners
their
is
own
being.
say, that
concessions
fair
at
would no longer be taught
under the strongest moral and religious obligation not to rebel under any excess of
is
of course crushed:
mitted to assume power, there
this.
487
but
if
treated with indulgence, and peris
no rule
Great Books Library to
limits
set
The
her encroachments.
to
Whenever, in former ages, any approach has been made to society in
justice.
hiw, not determining her rights, but theoretically
allowing her none at
she has a right
to,
all,
the measure of
tically declares that
prac-
equality.
what
as the
what she can con-
is
in
equality of married persons before
the law,
is
mode in which can be made con-
the only
means
it
influence
and
of rendering the daily life
ready
modern
as
it
in
human
life,
life,
equal association
its
slaves,
force.
The
civilisation
joint
and
of
(if
only partially in practice)
be paramount
to
human
being, as
those of sex,
to
We
are entering into an
be the primary virtue; grounded as before on equal, but now also on sympathetic association; having its root no longer in the instinct of equals for self-protection,
but
in
a
sympathy between
cultivated
them; and no one being
now
left out,
but
an equal measure being extended to
all.
no novelty that mankind do not
dis-
It is
own
tinctly foresee their
to
coming
ages.
To
changes, and that
adapted
their sentiments are
to past, not
see the futurity of the
species has always been the privilege of elite, or of those who have from them; to have the feelings of that futurity has been the distinction, and usually the martyrdom, of a still rarer
the intellectual learnt
facts in
general rule.
citizens;
order of things in which justice will again
command
improves,
progressively
Roman
wearing away.
normal state. Aland more and more
and obedience become exceptional
male
class, or social position. The barriers which had begun to be levelled were raised again by the northern conquests; and the whole of modern history consists of the slow process by which they have since been
so-
life:
of
theory
in
such,
its
is
free
declared the claims of the
enemy. Society, from its highest place to its lowest, is one long chain, or rather ladder, where every individual is either above or below his nearest neighbour, and whereever he does not command he must obey. Existing moralities, accordingly, are mainly fitted to a relation of command and obedience. Yet command and obedience are but equality
in
Christianity obliterated these distinctions,
is
mankind, in any high sense, a school of moral cultivation. Though the truth may not be felt or generally acknowledged for generations to come, the only school of genuine moral sentiment is society between equals. The moral education of mankind has hitherto emanated chiefly from the law of force, and is adapted almost solely to the relations which force creates. In the less advanced states of society, people hardly recognize any relation with their equals. To be an equal is to be an
ciety in
claims
its
was thus
the unenfranchised residents
were under the law of
of
unfortunate necessities of
the
to
women, and
with justice to both sides, and con-
ducive to the happiness of both, but
It
the best of these, the equals were lim-
ited
not only the sole
that particular relation sistent
asserted
the free republics of antiquity. But even
trive to get.
The
has
Justice
foundation of virtue.
The
Institutions,
elite.
books,
education,
so-
ages next following, on the right of the
go on training human beings for the old, long after the new has come; much more when it is only coming. But
weak
the true virtue of himian beings
morality of the
first
ages rested on the
ciety, all
obligation to submit to power; that of the
forbearance and protection of
to the
the strong. of society
How much and
life
made
longer
is
one form
to content itself
to live together as equals;
ing for themselves but
with
We
concede
have had the morality of submission, and the morality of chivalry and generosity; the
the morality
time
is
now come
for another?
for
the
moralitv
mand sity,
488
fitness
the\' as freeU'
to ever\'one else; regarding
com-
of any kind as an exceptional neces-
and
in all
preferring,
of
what
is
claiming noth-
cases a temporarN' one; and
whenever
possible, the society
The Subjection
Mill:
whom
of those with
leading and follow-
gives cultivation
constituted
The family which the
ried people
exercise.
a school of despotism,
is
are largely nourished.
ship, in free countries,
is
the very foun-
even under the present law
ably a great majority), live in the spirit
in
of
a
just
law of equality.
Laws never
would be improved, if there were not numerous persons whose moral sentiments are better than the existing laws. Such
partly a school
modem
it is
hopes) that numbers of mar-
the higher classes of England prob-
(in
Citizen-
of society in equality; but citizenship
my
dation of
virtues of despotism, but also
vices,
its
by
readily admit (and
I
be alternate and reciprocal. To these virtues, nothing in life as at present ing can
Women
of
fills
and does
persons ought to support the principles
come near the daily habits or inmost sentiments. The family, justly constituted,
here advocated; of which the only ob-
would be the
similar to
only a small place in
life,
not
freedom.
It is
sure to be a sufficient one
everything
of
ject
real school of the virtues of
else.
It
will
What
make
to
all
other married couples
what these are now. But per-
even of considerable moral worth,
sons
always be a
unless
school of obedience for the children, of
command
is
they
are
also
thinkers,
are
very
ready to believe that laws or practices, the
needed
on the other. This
which they have not personally do not produce any evils, but (if seeming to be generally approved of) probably do good, and that it is wrong to object to them. It would, however, be a
the parents.
great mistake in such married people to
that
is,
it
for the parents.
equality,
in
is
evils
should be a school of sympathy of
living
together
in
love,
without power on one side or obedience it ought to be between would then be an exercise of those virtues which each requires to and a fit them for all other association, model to the children of the feelings and conduct which their temporary training by means of obedience is designed to render habitual, and therefore natural, to them. The moral training of mankind
the is
It
suppose, because the legal conditions of
which unites them do not occur to once in a twelvemonth, and because they live and feel in all respects as if they were legally equals, that the same is the case with all other married couples, wherever the husband is not a notorious ruffian. To suppose this, would be to show equal ignorance of human nature and of fact. The less fit a man is for the
life
for
which
all
other
human
progress
a preparation, until they practise in the
family
adapted
man
the
same
moral
rule
which
the possession of
is
power— the
less likely to
be allowed to exercise it over any person with that person's voluntary consent— the more does he hug himself in the consciousness of the power the law gives him, exact its legal rights to the utmost point which custom (the custom of men
moral constitution of husociety. Any sentiment of freedom to the
which can exist in a man whose nearest and dearest intimacies are with those of whom he is absolute master, is not the genuine or Christian love of freedom, but,
what the love
tie
their thoughts
never be adapted to the conditions of
will
of
experienced,
freedom generally was and in the middle ages— an intense feeling of the dignity and importance of his own personality; making him disdain a yoke for himself, of which he has no abhorrence whatever in the abstract, but which he is abundantly ready to impose on others for his own interest
like himself) will tolerate,
of
and take
pleas-
ure in using the power, merely to enliven
in the ancients
the agreeable sense of possessing is
more;
morally classes,
and
it.
What
most naturally brutal and uneducated part of the lower in the
the legal slavery of the
something
in
the
merely
woman, physical
subjection to their will as an instrument,
causes them to feel a sort of disrespect
or glorification.
489
Great Books Library and contempt towards their own wife which they do not feel towards any other woman, or any other hnman being, with whom they come in contact; and which makes her seem to them an appropriate subject for any kind of indignity. Let an acute observer of the signs of feehng,
really stationary society) of the declining
people, tried
make
to
of
who
ages of Christianity,
all
something of the same
it
Mussulmans, with the Bible for a Koran, all improvement: and great has been their power, and many have had to sacrifice their lives in resisting them. But they have been resisted, and
who
prohibiting
himself whether this
is not the case: and he finds that it is, let him not wonder at any amount of disgust and indignation that can be felt against institutions which if
lead naturally to this depraved state of
the
resistance
are,
and
made us what we make us what we are
has
will yet
to be.
human mind.
We
in
kind; to convert us into a sort of Christian
has the requisite opportunities, judge for
the
There have been abundance
portions.
what has been
After
said respecting the
be told, perhaps, that religion imposes the duty of obedience; as every
obligation of obedience,
established fact which
more special point included in the general one— a woman's right to her own property; for I need not hope that this treatise can make any impression upon those who need anything to convince them that a woman's
shall
is
too
bad
fluous
admit
to
of any other defence,
us
to
is always presented an injunction of religion. The
as
Church,
very true, enjoins
is
it
formularies,
but
would be
it
in
it
difficult
her to
any such injunction from Chris-
derive
We
tianity.
are told that
"Wives, obey your husbands": but he also
is
own
simple:
band's or wife's
not
should
with his object, the propagation of
ent
against existing laws.
anyone
ance of them,
all
is
The
to rebellion
no more
to
settlement,
Apostle's accept-
he found
social institutions as
children.
at
the proper time, than his declaration, of
my own
God,"
part,
gives his sanction to military despotism,
supporters of
and
resulting from
to that alone, as the Christian
form of
political government, or commands passive obedience to it. To pretend that Christianity was intended to stereotype existing forms of government and society, and
protect it
them against change,
to the level of
ism.
It
is
to
this,
reduce
because Christianity it has been the
that
religion of the progressive portion of
preserve
to
are
it
for
sentimentally
I
am one
of the strongest
community
of goods,
when
an entire unity of feeling
the owners, which makes
all things comhave no relish for a community of goods resting on the doctrine, that what is mine is yours, but what is yours is not mine; and I should prefer to decline entering into such a compact with anyone, though I were myself the person to profit by it. This particular injustice and oppression to women, which is, to common apprehen-
in
mon between
Islamism or of lirahmin-
precisely
has not done
is
order
in
Some people
shocked at the idea of a separate interest in money matters, as inconsistent with the ideal fusion of two lives into one. For
be construed as a
disapproval of attempts to improve them
"The powers that be are ordained
much
marriage as before. The rule whatever would be the hus-
if they were not married, be under their exclusive control during marriage; which need not interfere with the power to tie up property by
obey your masters." It was Paul's business, nor was it consist-
Christianity, to incite
the
after
said, "Slaves, St.
almost super-
concerning
inheritance or gains ought to be as
her
Paul said,
St.
is
it
anything
say
to
man-
kind, and Islamism, Hrahminism, etc. have
been those of the stationary portions; or rather (for there is no such thing as a
sions,
more obvious than remedy without
nuts of
490
them. But
I
all
the rest, ad-
interfering with
The Subjection
Mill:
any other mischiefs: and there can be httle doubt that it will be one of the earliest remedied. Already,
many
in
family. In an unjust state of things, her
doing so may be useful to her, by making her of more value in the eyes of the man
new
of the
Women
of
and several of the old States of the Amer-
who
ican Confederation, provisions have been
other hand,
inserted even in the written Constitutions,
abuse his power, by forcing her to work, and leaving the support of the family to her exertions, while he spends most of
women
securing to this
equality of rights in
and thereby improving ma-
respect:
terially the position, in the
women
of those
tion,
who have
by leaving them one instrument power which they have not signed away; and preventing also the scandalous abuse of the marriage institution, which is perproperty,
of
when
petrated
a
man
entraps a
girl
contract,
When
enforced
into
whom
man
common
arrangement, by which the
intends the domestic expenditure, seems to
me
most suitable division between the two persons. If, in
in general the
the connexion were no longer the
oppression
those
of
on
terms
just
(I
during marriage she should make use of her faculties. Like a
man when he when a woman
chooses
a profession,
marries,
it
may
nomical application of the husband's earn-
bringing up of a family, as the
ings to the general comfort of the family;
upon her
takes
not
only
her
share,
fair
but
of
her
exertions, during as
life
as
may be
first
many
required for the
purpose; and that she renounces, not
mental exertion required by their joint existence. If she undertakes any additional portion, it seldom relieves her from this, but only prevents her from performing it
other
The
care which she
is
herself
nobody
else
of the children
who do
not die, grow
takes;
and
occupations,
but
all all
which are not consistent with the requirements of this. The actual exercise, in a habitual or systematic manner, of outdoor occupations, or such as cannot be carried on at home, would by this principle be
disabled from taking of the children and the household,
objects
call
years
usually the larger share, of the bodily and
properly.
so,
in general
be understood that she makes choice of the management of a household, and the
in early years,
the wife undertakes the careful and eco-
she
to
purely a mischief, but a separa-
this particular
ing children, and the whole responsibility
and education
it is
tion, that
addition to the physical suffering of bear-
of their care
if
to
of a divorce), could
earns the income and the wife super-
of labour
on the
farther to
do not now speak be obtained by any woman who was morally entitled to it; and if she would then find all honourable employments as freely open to her as to men; it would not be necessary for her protection,
the support of the family
depends, not on property, but on earnings, the
but, still
not implying the obligation of
obedience;
marrying him without a settlement, for the sole puipose of getting possession of her
money.
enables him
it
his time in drinking and idleness. The power of earning is essential to the dignity of a woman, if she has not independent property. But if marriage were an equal
marriage rela-
at least
her master;
legally
is
practically interdicted to the greater
those
up
ber of married
and the management of likely to be so bad, as even in point of economy to be a great drawback from the value of the wife's
women. But
num-
the utmost
as they best can,
latitude ought to exist for the adaptation
the household
of general rules to individual suitabilities;
earnings. things,
it
In is
is
an otherwise not, therefore,
just I
state
and there ought
be nothing to prevent adapted to any other pursuit, from obeying their vocation notwithstanding marriage: due provision being made for supplying otherwise any falling-short which might become inevfaculties
of
think, a de-
sirable custom, that the wife should con-
tribute
by her labour
to the
income of the
491
to
exceptionally
Great Books Library itable, in
her
full
performance of the
directed on the subject, might with perfect
or-
safety be left to be regulated
dinary functions of mistress of a family.
These
things,
if
once opinion were rightly
CHAPTER
On
the other point which
admissibility to
all
crimes. In the present day,
anyone on the subject of
me women
has gone with
the equality of believe
that
their
in
the family.
I
their
own
thing
is
good:
when
accordingly,
forbidden to women,
it
is
any-
thought
necessary to say, and desirable to believe,
elsewhere
disabilities
power holds a
smoother language, and whomsoever it oppresses, always pretends to do so for
should antici-
pate no difficulty in convincing
who
sufficient expla-
nation and excuse for the most flagitious
cupations hitherto retained as the monopI
was deemed a
authority,
their
the functions and oc-
oly of the stronger sex,
III
government, and the support of existing
involved
is
women,
the just equality of
in
by opinion,
without anv interference of law.
and
are only clung to
in
order to maintain
that they are incapable of doing
subordination
in
domestic
that they depart from their real path of
their
life;
be-
cause the generality of the male sex can-
success and happiness
not yet tolerate the idea of living with an
to
equal.
Were
it
not for that,
I
almost everyone, in the existing state of
the
human
injustice of excluding half
number
race from the greater
is
a
real
which
trial all
of
personal
women were
the struggles of public
believed
in.
there
faculties
no one
The reason given
in
that no
in
({'('fat,
of
women
(I
women
necessary to maintain
at all are
men on whom
present devolve. For the function tion, or
fit
them, and
for
women
are inferior
is
if
those functions at the performance of
decided either by competi-
by any mode
of choice
which
se-
cures regard to the public interest, there
needs be no apprehension that any im-
was
employments
portant
hands of
(from
women
will
inferior to
or to the average of their
fall
into
the
average men,
male competitors.
really
The only
those
be fewer women than men in such employments; a result certain to happen in any case, if only from the preference al-
by which was meant men: just as the raisou
meaning the convenience
they aspire
mental faculties to the most mediocre
of the
interest of society, interest
when
reason plausible
of the highest intellec-
is
that the most eminent
days was not women's unfitness, but the the
this
and functions
tual character. It
not excluded) in life,
make
not sufficient to maintain that
tions
assigned as a reason their inferior mental
when
to
on the average are less gifted than men on the average, with certain of the higher mental faculties, or that a smaller number of women than of men are fit for occupa-
and from almost all high social functions; ordaining from their birth either that they are not, and cannot by any possibility become, fit for employments which are legally open to the stupidest and basest of the other sex, or else that however fit they may be, those employments shall be interdicted to them, in order to be preserved for the exclusive benefit of males. In the last two centuries, when (which was seldom the case) any reason beyond the mere existence of the fact was thought to be required to justify the disabilities of women, people seldom of lucrative occupations,
capacity; which, in times
But
do not say valid), those by whom it is urged must be prepared to carry it to a much greater length than anyone ventures to do in the face of present experience. It
think that
opinion in politics and political economy,
would admit the
it.
it,
of
ways
likely to
women
the
492
result
for the
would be
that there
would
be felt b>' the majority of one vocation in which there
Mill:
The Subjection
is nobody to compete with them. Now, the most determined depreciator of women
will not
venture to deny, that
Nor
successfully and
ably.
there
is
credit-
The utmost that can be said is, that are many things which none of them
who
Parliament, and
who
fluity of
men
fit
perhaps be
It will
sufficient
myself, in the details of
my
successful as to those, readily
granted
admissible to it
is
all
or
not.
it
be
should
here
me
let
all
others,
begin
broadly
their
right
independent of any question which can be raised concerning their faculties. I mean the suffrage, both to
which
is
entirely
share in the choice of those
The
who
right to
are to
altogether a dis-
is
from that of competing for the If no one could vote for a Member of Parliament who was not fit to be a candidate, the government would be a narrow oligarchy indeed. To have a tinct thing trust
for high duties, that so-
itself.
voice in choosing those by
be governed,
is
means
a
whom
one
is
to
of self-protection
due to everyone, though he were to remain for ever excluded from the function of governing: and that women are considered fit to have such a choice, may be presumed from the fact, that the law already gives it to women in the most
manmake
and refusing beforehand to available, however distinguished they may be? And even if we could do without them, would it be consistent with justice to refuse to them their fair share of honour and distinction, or to deny to them the equal moral right of all faculties
human
to
am
whether they are ad-
And
distinguished from
always finding a man made to our hands for any duty or function of social importance which falls vacant, that we lose noth-
their
if I
other occupations to which
by marking out one function,
any competent person? Are we so certain of
kind,
confine
I
probably will be
women
that
at all material
mitted
not this take place in
half of
if
argument,
functions of a public nature: since,
there so great a super-
upon one
as
individual choice.
ciety can afford to reject the service of
ing by putting a ban
of
on the exertions of the competitors,
exercise a public trust,
Is
Members
well as restricted to a narrower range of
qualified for the things in question than
women? Does
is
stimulating effect of greater competition
parliamentary and municipal.
competitions?
it
are deprived of the
What difference does it make that there may be men somewhere, fully employed about other things, who may be still better
all
risk?
are in a position to
cians or advocates, or elect
have succeeded in doing as well as they have been done by some men— many in which they have not reached the very highest rank. But there are extremely few, dependent only on mental faculties, in which they have not attained the rank next to the highest. Is not this enough, and much more than enough, to make it a tyranny to them, and a detriment to society, that they should not be allowed to compete with men for the exercise of these functions? Is it not a mere truism to say, that such functions are often filled by men far less fit for them than numbers of women, and who would be beaten by women in any fair field of competition?
these
own
the injustice confined to them:
by their services. To ordain that any kind of persons shall not be physicians, or shall not be advocates, or shall not be Members of Parliament, is to injure not them only, but all who employ physi-
done by men,
which
is
according to
others)
to
preferences, at their
benefit
capable of everything, perhaps without a
it
injury
own
shared by those
add the experience of recent times to that of ages past, women, and not a few merely, but many women, have proved themselves
and of doing
Women of
(short their
when we
single exception,
of
important of
all
cases to themselves: for
the choice of the a
woman
posed
beings to choose their occupation
493
to
to the
man who
end
of
life, is
is
to govern
alwa>s sup-
be voluntarily made by
herself.
Great Books Library In the case of election to public trusts,
held respecting the capacities of
it
law to surround the right of suffrage with all needful securities and limitations; but whatever securities are sufficient in the case of the male sex, no others need be business
the
is
required in
and
ever
men
limits,
suffrage, there
is
admitted
are
to
not a shadow of
Let us
the
first
make
psychological
justifi-
men
men
but the natural
are
effect
and indicate no radical
who
to those
doctrines
every
ought to
which
for
woman were
Even
contend.
I
wife ought to be a slave,
all
if
Let
only as they already
are, or as
and equal conbe obvious even no other of the
a wife, and
difference,
they are known to have been; and the capacities which they have already practically shown. What they have done, that at least, if nothing else, it is proved
require the suffrage,
coincide in
women
us consider
the
of
far less radical inferiority, of nature.
sideration. This
to
and circum-
differences in their education
of
stances,
women
all
show, that any of the mental differences supposed to exist between women and
same class, unless the question be in which the interests of women, as such, are in some way involved; and if so,
of
tending
one
as their guarantee of just
re-
entire abstraction of
considerations
the
they are
it
practical utility.
women under the the women of any
opinion from the majority of the
women, and them by high considerations
inforces
are not likely to differ in political
class
of
against the disabilities of
cation for not admitting
same. The majority of
from being
far
is
it
An unprejudiced view
gives additional strength to the arguments
what-
within
not essential,
is
irrelevant.
women. Under
the case of
whatever conditions,
tion
women
But, though this last considera-
in general.
constitutional
of
that they can do.
if
every
When we
sedulously they are
the more would
all
consider
trained
how
away from,
instead of being trained towards, any of
these slaves stand in need of legal protec-
the
and we know what legal protection the slaves have, where the laws are made by their masters.
men, it is evident that I am taking a very humble ground for them, when I rest their case on what they have actually achieved.
tion:
With regard
to the fitness of
women, not
occupations
For,
in
this
case,
only to participate in elections, but them-
worth
selves to hold offices or practise professions
conclusive.
involving important public responsibilities;
possible that a
I
have already observed that
eration
who
not essential
is
question
dispute:
in
succeeds
by that very it.
And
in
in the case of
is
public
the
system of the country is such as to exclude unfit men, it will equally exis
women: while
no additional
unfit persons
if it is
not, there
it
admits
may be
woman
not inference, but fact.
evil in the fact that the
whom
should be a Homer,
woman
has yet ac-
Now
it
a curious
is
consideration, that the only things which
either
women
women
from dohave proved do. There is no law from having written
or men. As long therefore as it is acknowledged that even a few women may be fit for these duties, the laws which
the existing law excludes
shut the door on those exceptions cannot
to
prevent a
be
all
the plays of Shakespeare, or
justified
is
cannot be inferred to be im-
produced works comparable to theirs in any of those lines of excellence. This negative fact at most leaves the question uncertain, and open to psychological discussion. But it is quite certain that a woman can be a Queen Elizabeth, or a Deborah, or a Joan of Arc, since this is
political
clude unfit
It
is
tually
qualified for offices, if
evidence
negative
while any positive evidence
Beethoven, because no
practical
any woman,
an open profession, proves
fact that she
for
or an Aristotle, or a Michael Angelo, or a
this consid-
the
to
since
little,
reserved
objects
or
ing, are the things
which
that they are able to
by any opinion which can be
494
woman
the>-
composed
The Subjection
Mill:
the operas of Mozart. But
all
Queen
Eliza-
beth or Queen Victoria, had they not
of
ago,
Women
tried
argument, and
the
retort
to
in-
turned the admitted truth into an addi-
herited the throne, could not have been
by saying that queens are because under kings women govern, but under queens, men. It may seem a waste of reasoning to argue against a bad joke; but such things do affect people's minds; and I have heard
entrusted with the smallest of the political
which the former showed her-
duties, of self
equal to the greatest.
anything conclusive could be inferred
If
from
without
experience,
psychological
We
it
know how
small a
number
in
with an
this saying,
for
air as
if
rate,
kings,
something serve as anything
will
it
a starting-point
say, then, that
women
it
is
in
discussion.
I
not true that under
govern. Such cases are en-
and weak kings have governed ill through the influence of male favourites, as of female. When a king is governed by a woman merely through his amatory propensities, good government is not probable, though even then there are exceptions. But French tirely
exceptional:
quite as often
of reign-
this smaller
kings,
At any
it.
else
ing queens history presents, in comparison
with that of kings. Of
than
they thought that there was
themselves.
distinguished
inently
insult,
men quote
would be that the things which women are not allowed to do are the very ones for which they are peculiarly qualified; since their vocation for government has made its way, and become conspicuous, through the very few opportunities which have been given; while in the lines of distinction which apparently were freely open to them, they have by no means so emanalysis,
tional
better
number
have shown talents though many of them have oc-
a far larger proportion
history counts
for rule;
two kings who have volun-
distin-
affairs during one to his mother, the other to his sister: one of them, Charles VIII, was a mere boy, but in doing so he
guished by merits the most opposite to
followed the intentions of his father Louis
the imaginary and conventional character
XI, the ablest
women: they have been as much remarked for the firmness and vigour of their rule, as for its intelligence. When, to
other. Saint Louis,
cupied the throne in is
difficult
tarily
many
periods. It
remarkable, too, that they have, in a
great
number
of
instances,
been
of
given the direction of years, the
monarch of was the
most vigorous rulers, since the time Charlemagne. Both these princesses ruled in a manner hardly equalled by any
of
Emperor Charles the
mankind
itic
is
swells to a great length.*
prince
This
so undeniable, that someone, long
Especially
is
sideration
Asia
this true if
as
well
we as
a
There
are
many such
by Hindoo
their
contemporaries. Fifth, the
prince of his time,
number
of able
men
who had in
The
most polas great
his service
as
of
served without oppression; if cultivation is extending, and the people prosperous, in three cases out of four that principality is under a woman's rule. This fact, to me an entirely unexpected one, I have collected from a long official knowledge of Hindoo
governments.
among
the heir; and minorities are frequent, the lives of the male rulers being so often prematurely terminated through the effect of inactivity and sensual excesses. When we consider that these princesses have never been seen in public, have never conversed with any man not of their own family except from behind a curtain, that they do not read, and if they did, there is no book in their languages which can give them the smallest instruction on political affairs; the example they afford of the natural ca-
take into conEurope. If a
Hindoo principality is strongly, vigilantly, and economically governed; if order is pre-
stances: for though,
The
and one
of the
queens and empresses, we add regents, and viceroys of provinces, the list of women who have been eminent rulers of fact
age.
his best,
in-
institutions,
woman cannot reign, she is the legal regent of a kingdom during the minority
pacity of
a
striking.
495
women
for
government
is
very
Great Books Library and was one of the
least
retained the supreme direction of affairs
likely of all sovereigns to sacrifice his in-
own hands: and if they listened to good advisers, they gave by that fact the strongest proof that their judgment fitted them for dealing with the great questions of government.
a ruler ever had,
terest to personal feelings,
made two
in their
prin-
cesses of his family successively Governors
and kept one or other them in that post during his whole life (they were afterwards succeeded by a third). Both ruled very successfully, and one of them, Margaret of Austria, was one of the Netherlands, of
of the
much as
of the
the
When
other.
the less?
Now
princes
under queens men govern, is the same meaning to be understood as when kings are said to be governed by women? Is it meant that queens choose as their instruments of government, the associates of their personal pleasures?
The
case
found
fluence,
is
to
be found.
better
and
a
superior
it
is
true, then,
for
both for the
and
for
of
with feel
choosing them;
and women must be better
men
of
actions
and
sovereign,
chief minister;
for
the
but have been allowed to
politics;
the
in
human
take a part.
The
ladies of reigning families
women who
not to govern in person, but to find the
same range development
of interests
ment
persons to conduct every departof public affairs.
sight into character,
The more
which
is
admitted points of superiority over men, must certainly
one of the in
other respects,
inferiority.
women
tion as
make them, with
anything like parity of qualifications
more apt than men
as
men; and
their case that there
rapid in-
any
which took place around them, which they might be called on to
are the only
fittest
to
being, in the great trans-
is
principal business of a Prime Minister
natural
interest
liberal
cultivated
qualified than
position
sisters
proper for them to concern themselves
in the
a
capacity
that
be
it
as
of statesmen, and adminisand directors of companies, and managers of public institutions, should be unable to do what is done by their brothers and husbands? The real reason is plain enough; it is that princesses, being more raised above the generality of men by their rank than placed below them by their sex, have never been taught that it was im-
hands of queen than under an must be that queens have
men under
average king,
If
and sisters of whenever called on, be competent as the princes them-
should,
trators,
even with those who are as unscrupulous on the latter point as Catherine II: and it is not in these cases that the good government, alleged to arise from male inthat the administration
there any reason in the nature that the wives
selves to their business, but that the wives
rare
is
Is
of things,
that
said
is
it
who
for the greater functions of politics,
fit
are incapable of qualifying themselves for
So
age.
one side of the question.
for
to
politicians
ablest
reasonable to think that those
Is it
are
is
are allowed the
and freedom of it
is
Exactly where and
women's
precisely in
not found to be any in
propor-
government that proportion have
capacities for
have been tried, in they been found adequate.
in
This fact
in that
is
in
accordance with the best
nearly the
general conclusions which the world's im-
most important business of everyone who has to do with governing mankind. Even the unprincipled Catherine de Medici could feel the value of a Chancellor de I'Hopital. But it is also true that most great queens have been great by their own talents for government, and have been
perfect experience seems as yet to sug-
choice of instruments, which
is
well served precisely for that reason.
gest,
concerning the peculiar tendencies
and aptitudes characteristic of women, as women have hitherto been. I do not say, as they will continue to be; for, as I have already said more than once, I consider it presumption in anyone to pretend to decide what women are or are not, can or
They
496
The Subjection
Mill:
Women
of
cannot be, by natural constitution. They
truths as can
have always hitherto been kept, as regards spontaneous development,
dividual
far as
so
in
be collected from their
means
in-
When, con-
of observation.
sequently, they chance to be as well pro-
men
unnatural a state, that their nature cannot
vided as
but have been greatly distorted and
people's experience, by reading and educa-
dis-
guised; and no one can safely pronounce that
women's nature were
if
direction as freely as men's,
its
tion (I use the
choose
left to
and
if
no
to
it
of
human
all,
shall presently
I
now
do not
may
see,
women it may
ulties,
than a
the subject, that the general bent of their
her.
ment
is
towards the practical. This
comformable
what
This
is
is
really
seldom the case with
of any ability. Their capacity of
them from
it.
With
equality of experience and of general fac-
be said of them, with more truth than
is
the facts which they are
to deal with,
"intuition" preserves
belongs to most other generalisations on talents
be de-
but what they have been taught
to expect.
in experience,
to
of present fact; they
there,
women
known
in
Men who
upon
very well have been produced merely by
as they are
life,
the self-
called
circumstances, without any difference of natural capacity. But, looking at
are
general with the essential requisites
in
ficient in the sense
show,
are such as
exist,
women
and successful practice. have been much taught, are apt
in
that even the least contestable of the differ-
ences which
for the greater concerns of
of skilful
the character and capacities which would
unfold themselves.
word chance advisedly, for, the knowledge that tends
educated) they are better furnished than
society,
ence, or perhaps any difference at
them
fit
men
and given to both sexes there would be any material differ-
alike,
to
the only educated
except that required by the conditions
to
respect
in
bent were attempted to be given
artificial
are with the results of other
woman usually sees much more man of what is immediately before
a
Now
this sensibility to the present,
is
the main quality on which the capacity
state-
to all the public his-
for practice, as distinguished
from theory,
the present and the
depends. To discover general principles,
borne out by common Let us consider the special nature of the mental capacities most characteristic of a woman of talent. They are all of a kind which fits them for practice, and makes them tend towards it.
belongs to the speculative faculty: to dis-
tory of past. It
and
women, is
no
daily
What
is
intuitive
in
less
meant by
a
perception?
and correct
cern and discriminate the particular cases
experience.
insight
woman's capacity means,
It
into
a
which they are and are not applicable, and for this, women as they now are have a peculiar aptitude. I admit that there can be no good practice without principles, and that the predominant place which quickness of observation holds among a woman's faculties, makes her particularly apt to build overhasty generalisations upon her own observation; though at the same time no less in
constitutes practical talent:
of
rapid
present fact.
It
has nothing to do with general principles.
Nobody ever perceived
a scientific law of
nature by intuition, nor arrived at a general rule of
duty or prudence by
it.
These
ready
are results of slow and careful collection
and comparison of experience; and neither the
men
nor the
women
can acquire by themselves. For what
are
is
makes them
peculiarly apt in gathering such
human
is
access to
race; general
knowledge— exactly the thing which education can best supply. A woman's mistakes
such as they
called their intuitive sagacity
generalisations,
wider range. But
the corrective to this defect,
shine in this department, unless, indeed, is
rectifying those
the experience of the
of intuition usually
the experience necessary
in
as her observation takes a
specifically
educated man,
those
who
of
a
clever
often sees
self-
what men
trained in routine do not see, but falls into
general
497
Great Books Library want of knowing things which have long been known. Of course he
what manner persons will be by it— these two things make her extremely unlikely to put faith in any speculation which loses sight of individuals, and deals with things as if they existed for the benefit of some imaginary entity, some mere creation of the mind, not
errors for
affected
acquired much of the pre-existing knowledge, or he could not have got on at all; but what he knows of it he has picked up in fragments and at random, has
women
as
But
this
do.
gravitation of
in
tice,
women's minds
resolved into the feelings of living beings.
to the present, to the real, to actual fact,
Women's thoughts
while
giving reality to those of thinking men, as
in its
errors,
exclusiveness
also a
is
it
is
a source of
men's thoughts
most useful counteractive The principal and
in
are thus as useful in
giving width and large-
women.
of the contrary error.
ness to those of
most characteristic aberration of speculative minds as such, consists precisely in
tinguished from breadth,
I greatly doubt even now, women, compared with men, are at any disadvantage.
if
the deficiency of this lively perception and
ever-present sense of objective fact. For
want the
If
oppose
which
outward
when
to their theories, but lose sight of
and
together,
let their
are thus valuable even in aid of
speculation, they are
facts
the legitimate purpose of speculation
the existing mental characteristics of
women
of this, they often not only overlook
contradiction
specialities either take
by the mere entanglement of words, and think these shadows the proper objects of the highest, the most transcendant, philosophy. Hardly anything can be of greater value to a man of theory and speculation who employs himself not in collecting materials of knowledge by observation, but in working them up by processes of thought into comprehensive truths of science and laws of conduct, than to carry on his speculations in the companionship, and under
to
nothing comparable to
it
things,
and the actual
sticking
tion.
The
which the
now
error of rules
in
fall
men, that of a case whose
out of the class
it
rules are applicable, or re-
another
consider
quickness
of
of
of
admitted
the
women,
clever
apprehension.
greater
not
Is
pre-eminently a quality which
fits
this
a per-
son for practice? In action, ever>thing continually
In
depends upon deciding promptly. nothing does. A mere
speculation,
thinker can wait, can take time to consider, is
can collect additional evidence; he
not obliged to complete his philosophy
at once, lest the opportunity should
The power
A
go by.
of drawing the best conclusion
possible from
deed useless
runs wild after an abstrac-
mind
their
to
superiorities
for keep-
habitual direction of her
common
quire a special adaption of them. Let us
woman.
facts of nature.
are comparatively unlikely to
the
into
ing his thoughts within the limits of real
woman seldom
work, for
For the reasons already given,
practice.
speculative faculties
created by the illusions of metaphysics or
is
its
carrying out the results of speculation into
al-
women
There
more important,
still
speculation has done
go astray into regions not peopled with real beings, animate or inanimate, even idealised, but with personified shadows
the criticism, of a really superior
In depth, as dis-
insufficient in
data
is
not in-
philosophy; the construc-
tion of a provisional h\pothesis consistent
to
known
dealing with things as individuals rather
with
and (what is closely connected with it) her more lively interest in the present feelings of persons, which makes her consider first of all, in anything which claims to be applied to prac-
basis for further inquiry. Hut this faculty
than
in groups,
is
all
facts
is
often the needful
rather serviceable in philosophy, than
the main qualification for
it:
and, for the
main operation, the philosopher can allow himself any time auxiliary as well as for the
498
The Subjection
Mill:
He
he pleases.
is
in
no need of the ca-
some
vicissitudes of air and temperature, and untrained in any of the occupations and exercises which give stimulus and development to the circulatory and muscular
doing rapidly what he does; what he rather needs is patience, to work pacity
of
have beand a conjecture has ripened into a theorem. For those, on the contrary, whose business is with the fugitive and on slowly
come
until imperfect lights
system, while their nervous system, espe-
perfect,
perishable— with individual
facts,
of facts— rapidity of thought
cially in its
emotional department,
in unnaturally active play;
not kinds
der
those of them
if
is
it
who do
is
kept
no won-
not die of
consumption, grow up with constitutions
a qualifica-
is
Women
of
tion next only in
importance to the power
liable to
of thought
He who
both internal and external, and without stamina to support any task, physical or
ulties
itself.
has not his fac-
under immediate command,
in the
derangement from
slight causes,
contingencies of action, might as well not
mental, requiring continuity of
have them at all. He may be fit to criticise, but he is not fit to act. Now it is in this that women, and the men who are most
women
like
women, confessedly
excel.
The
hood show none
and who obtain a sufficiency and exercise in after-life, very rarely have any excessive susceptibility of nerves which can disqualify them for active pursuits. There is indeed a certain their brothers,
of pure air
into habit.
be
said, perhaps, that the greater
women
is
proportion of persons, in both sexes, in
a dis-
qualification for practice, in anything but
whom
by rendering them mobile, changeable, too vehemently under the influence of the moment, incapable of dogged perseverance, unequal and uncertain in the power of using their faculties. I think that these phrases sum up the
bility
domestic
life,
the
to
fitness
of
women
higher class of serious business. all
this
is
Much
is
and ters;
we
see
of
fainting-fits, since
fashion.
brought
up,
like
higher classes (though
less so in
our
transmitted to sons as well as daugh-
but
it
is
possible,
and probable, that it
is
called)
are
doubt, within certain limits, an obstacle to
they have gone out
when people many women of
like
hereditary,
the
by the
Moreover,
is
is
by a greater number of women than of men. We will assume this as a fact: and let me then ask, are men of nervous temperament found to be unfit for the duties and pursuits usually followed by men? If not, why should women of the same temperament be unfit for them? The peculiarities of the temperament are, no is
almost total disappearance of "hysterics"
and
constitution,
the nervous temperament (as
of
also the result of conscious or unas
phenomena. This
other physical conformations,
energy run to waste, and would cease when the energy was directed to a definite end.
Much
and of so marked
influence over the whole character of the vital
the mere overflow of nervous
conscious cultivation;
constitutional,
organisation which exercises the greatest
the
for
an unusual degree of nervous sensiis
a character as to be the feature of their
commonly
greater part of the objections
made
morbid character-
an excess of sedentary work in confined and unhealthy rooms. Women who in their early years have shared in the healthful physical education and bodily freedom of
other
man, however pre-eminent may be his faculties, arrives slowly at complete command of them: rapidity of judgment and promptitude of judicious action, even in the things he knows best, are the gradual and late result of strenuous effort grown It will
of these
But
liveli-
unless indeed they are chained to
istics,
sort of
nervous susceptibility of
effort.
brought up to work for their
own
inherited
success in
country than in any other), a kind of hot-
aid to
house plants, shielded from the whole-
tion
499
is
it
some employments, though an
in others.
But when the occupaand
suitable to the temperament,
Great Books Library sometimes even when it is unsuitable, the most brilhant examples of success are continually given by the men of high nervous
They
sensibility.
ically rigid in their feelings of duty,
by
chiefly
that
that being susceptible of a higher degree
are
of excitement than those of another phys-
side,
constitution,
ical
powers when ex-
their
they are raised, as
bility of that lofty
themselves, and do things with ease which
they
wholly
are
But
times.
incapable
this lofty
of
excitement
weak bodily
constitutions, a
flash,
of an object.
It
is
the character of the
temperament
nervous
be capable of
to
what
meant
efforts. It is
by
what makes the high-bred
spirit. It is
is
racehorse run without slackening speed
he drops down dead. abled so
many
It
delicate
is
ing,
to
to
enthusiasm which takes out
of
every-day
his
can only be transient. Experience of
show those
maintain
be
less
fit,
of excitable
temperament
on the average, either
the most sublime constancy not only at the
ulation or practice, than the
through a long preliminary succession of mental and bodily tortures. It is evident that people of this temperament
citable.
stake, but
what may be
him
The capa-
races, as well as of individuals, does not
till
what has en-
women
of
ments of lofty excitement, although those, from the physical nature of a human be-
sustained excitement, holding out through
long-continued
other
upon the daily character itself. His aspirations and powers when he is in this exceptional state, become the type with which he compares, and by which he estimates, his sentiments and proceedings at other times: and his habitual purposes assume character a moulded by and assimilated to the mo-
not, ex-
is
a
character, reacts
mere which passes away immediately, leaving no permanent traces, and incompatible with persistent and steady pursuit cept in
human being
the
other
at
the
same strength
achieve this victory over himself.
were, above
it
on
interested
derives from that
in
his feelings
gation of justice, which enables
people, from those state:
intensely
where
gives
feeling the determined sense of the obli-
more than in the case of other shown in their ordinary
cited differ
The judge who
direction.
just decision in a case
this,
when
has been trained to act
their passion
are distinguished in their
manifestations
practical
passionate characters are the most fanat-
The French, and
undoubtedly excitable
more unex-
the Italians, are
by nature more
than
to
for spec-
nervously
the Teutonic races,
and,
are the material
compared at least with the English, they have a much greater habitual and daily emotional life: but have they been less
of great orators, great preachers, impres-
great in science, in public business, in legal
are particularly apt for
called
the executive department of the leadership of mankind.
sive
diffusers
They
of moral
constitution might be
influences.
deemed
less
and judicial eminence, or in war? There is abundant evidence that the Greeks were of old, as their descendants and successors still are, one of the most excitable of the races of mankind. It is superfluous to ask, what among the achie\'ements of men the> did not excel in. The Romans,
Their favour-
able to the qualities required from a states-
man
the cabinet, or from a judge.
in
would be
so, if
It
the consequence necessarily
followed that because people are excitable
they must always be
But
in a state of excite-
probably, as an equally southern people,
wholly a question of training. Strong feeling is the instrument and element of strong self-control: but it
the stern character of their national disci-
be cultivated in that direction. it forms not the heroes of im-
an example of the opposite type of national
ment.
re(|uires to
When
it
is,
this
is
had the same
original
temperament: but
pline, like that of the Spartans,
made them
strength
pulse only, but those also of self-conciucst.
character;
History and experience prove that the most
natural feelings being chiefly apparent in
500
the
greater
of
their
The Subjection
Mill:
the intensity which the
perament made artificial.
If
same
and
original tem-
these cases exemplify
naturally excitable people
what
Women remains to be shown whether
it
this
exclusive working of a part of the mind,
possible to give to the
it
of
a
whole thinking and concentraon a single work, is the normal
absorption
this
may be made,
of
the
faculty in a single subject,
afi^ord one of the aptest examples of what they are when left to themselves; (if those can be said to be left to themselves who have been for centuries
the Irish Celts
tion of
it
and healthful condition of the human even
ulties,
for
speculative
uses.
fac-
be-
I
what is gained in special development by this concentration, is lost in the capacity of the mind for the other purposes of life; and even in abstract lieve that
under the indirect influence of bad government, and the direct training of a Catholic hierarchy and of a sincere belief in the Catholic religion). The Irish character must
thought,
my
is
it
decided opinion that the
be considered, therefore, as an unfavour-
mind does more by frequently returning
able case: yet,
whenever the circumstances have been at all favourable, what people have shown greater capacity for the most varied and multifarious individual eminence? Like the French compared with the English, the Irish with the Swiss, the Greeks or Italians compared with the German races, so women compared with men may be found, on the average, to do the same things with some
to
a
difficult
of the individual
to
it
without interruption. For the pur-
variety in the particular kind of excellence.
the very mobility of which they are ac-
But,
that they
would do them
well on the whole, cultivation
were
if
fully
their education
adapted
to
poses, at
I
it,
out letting the active spring of the
women
as
power
far
cused.
down between
the two,
more valuable; and
this
inis
a
power
pre-eminently possess, by virtue of
They perhaps have
but they certainly
correcting
see not the
for
thinking of
have
it.
which women show
it
The for
capacity
indeed
doing their think-
ing in circumstances and at times which
things than for travelling in
now
run
it from nature, by training and education; for nearly the whole of the occupations of women consist in the management of small but multitudinous details, on each of which the mind cannot dwell even for a minute, but must pass on to other things, and if anything requires longer thought, must steal time at odd moments
as
and
however, to be true that
they
tellect
women
man would make
almost any
any one path to the highest point which can be reached by it: this may be true of
its
subject of consideration to another, with-
women's minds are by nature more mobile than those of men, less capable of persisting long in the same continuous effort, more fitted for dividing their faculties
among many
its
humblest departments, the capacity of passing promptly from one
smallest reason to doubt.
Supposing
events, of practice, from
all
highest to
instead of aggravating the infirmities in-
cident to their temperament,
problem, than by sticking
himself for not attempting
an excuse to it,
has often
been noticed: and a woman's mind, though it may be occupied only with small things, can hardly ever permit itself to be vacant, as a man's so often is when not engaged in what he chooses to consider the busi-
are (though not
without great and numerous exceptions),
and may account for their having remained behind the highest order of men in precisely the things in which this absorption of the whole mind in one set of ideas and occupations may seem to be most requisite. Still, this difference is one which
ness of his
ordinary
life.
life is
The
business of a
woman's
things in general, and can
as little cease to
go on as the world to go
round.
can only affect the kind of excellence, not the excellence itself, or its practical worth:
But
501
(it
is
said) there
is
anatomical evi-
Great Books Library dence of the superior mental capacity of with women: they have a
delicate of these— difi^erences in the effect
men compared larger brain.
the fact
I
reply, that in the
itself
doubtful.
is
means established
woman is
It
merely
because
bodily frame generally
is
a
in
by no
consequences.
boned man must on
this
it
to a greater average fineness of quality in
to
the brain and nervous system of
than
and largeshowing be won-
ference
tall
thing
a
quality,
women
abstract difficult
an organ
is
dif-
to
known
depend not solely on its size but on its and of this we have an approximate measure in the energy with which to
activity:
human
of
Dismissing
verify, the efficiency of
man, and an elephant or a whale must prodigiously excel mankind. The size of
much
men.
of
derfully superior in intelligence to a small
the brain in
differences of quality
tity:
a
of less dimensions
A
much on
woman's
of
than a man's, this criterion would lead to strange
as
the physical agents, as on their quan-
and if the quality of an instrument is be tested by the nicety and delicacy of the work it can do, the indications point
is
smaller than that of a man. If
is
inferred
depend
place
brain
the
that
first
beings, anatomists say,
the blood circulates through
both the
it,
than the size of the body,
stimulus and the reparative force being
and the one cannot from the other. It is certain that some women have as large a brain as any man. It is within my knowledge that a man who had weighed many human brains, said that the heaviest he knew of, heavier even than Cuvier's (the
mainly dependent on the circulation. It would not be surprising— it is indeed an hypothesis which accords well with the differences actually observed between the mental operations of the two sexes— if men
varies
less
or even of the head,
be
at all inferred
heaviest previously recorded),
woman. Next,
was
on the average should have the advantage in the size of the brain, and
that of
in activity of cerebral circulation.
must observe that the precise relation which exists between the brain and the intellectual powers is not
women The
re-
yet well understood, but
is
a subject of
which conjecture, founded on analogy, would lead us to expect from this difference of organisation, would correspond to some of those which we most
great dispute. That there
is
a very close
commonly
a
we
relation
cannot doubt. The brain
certainly the material organ of thought
and (making abstraction
feeling:
sults
I
of
appropriation
of
parts
different
of
mit that
it
life
all
we know
if
the
time to get into
ad-
hand,
the
more
the ex-
when once
in thinking,
nor
Large bodies take more full action.
On
the other
got thoroughly into play,
men's brain would bear more work. It would be more persistent in the line first taken; it would have more difficulty in
the size of
changing from one mode of action to another, but, in the one thing it was doing, it could go on longer without loss of power
if
all
women
as
so quick to feel.
no accession of power were derived from the great magnitude of the in.strument. But the exception and the anomaly would be fully as great if the organ exercised influence by its magnitude only. In
place,
be so prompt
the organ were wholly indifferent to the function;
first
men might be
the
of the general
and organisation,
the
pected to be slower. They would neither
would be an anomaly, and an
exception to
laws of
I
In
and
great unsettled controversy respecting the
brain to different mental faculties)
see.
mental operations of
is
And do we not find which men most excel women are those which require most plodding and long hammering at a single thought, while women do best what must be done rapidly? A woman's brain is or sense of fatigue. that the things in
delicate operations
nature— of which those of the animated creation are the most delicate, and those of the nervous system by far the most
of
sooner
502
fatigued,
sooner
exhausted;
but
The Subjection
Mill:
we
given the degree of exhaustion,
expect to find that sooner.
repeat that this speculation
I
tirely hypothetical;
remark,
itself is
en-
pretends to no more
it
than to suggest a line of inquiry. before repudiated the notion of
known
downward. In England it is a common how much more constant women are than men. Inconstancy has been longer reckoned discreditable to a woman, in England than in France; and English-
should
would recover
it
its
have
I
women are besides, in their inmost nature, much more subdued to opinion. It may be remarked by the way, that
being
any natural difference at all in the average strength or direction of the mental capacities of the two sexes, much less what that difference is. Nor is it possible that this should be known, so long as the psychological laws of the formation of character have been so little studied, even in a general way, and in the particular case never yet certainly
scientifically
that there
applied at
all;
is
Englishmen are
a kind
what is or is not natural, not merely to women, but to men, or to human beings altogether, at least if they have only Engexperience to go upon: because there no place where human nature shows so little of its original lineaments. Both in a good and a bad sense, the English are farther from a state of nature than any
lish is
so long as the
other
running
or in
down
these
plain
relations of
that
of
not so
They
are,
more than
much
conquering, as in suppress-
in
ing,
whatever
The
English,
hable to conflict with
is
it.
more than any other people,
not only act but feel according to rule.
ex-
In other countries, the taught opinion, or
the requirement of society,
different
beings to society and
may be
the
stronger power, but the promptings of the individual nature are always visible under
life.
To tions
people.
agree in
prefer to
by the
differences
human
spirit,
who
those
modem
any other people, a product of civilisation and discipline. England is the country in which social discipline has most succeeded,
of supercilious
contempt by the prevalent schools both of natural history and of mental philosophy: who, whether they look for the source of what mainly distinguishes human beings from one another, in the world of matter
unfavour-
peculiarly
in
able circumstances for attempting to judge
most obvious external causes of diff^erence of character are habitually disregarded— left unnoticed by the observer, and looked
down upon with
Women
of
so ridiculous an extent are the no-
it,
formed of the nature of women, mere
empirical
generalisations,
framed,
instances
there. In
with-
out philosophy or analysis, upon the
gree
first
which present themselves, that
the popular idea of
it
is
and often
stronger than
it:
substituted
for
itself is
of rule,
women
nature.
The
inclination
that of following a rule.
Oriental thinks that
still
is
carried on, not
and social circumstances of the country have given to the women living in it any speciality of development or non-develop-
An
may be
by under the control but by having no inclination but
following
life
ferent countries, according as the opinions
ment.
rule
but nature
England, rule has to a great de-
greater part of
different in dif-
resisting
nature,
Now
this
has
its
good side doubtless, though it has also a wretchedly bad one; but it must render an Englishman peculiarly ill-qualified to pass a judgment on the original tendencies of human nature from his own experience. The errors to which observers elsewhere
are
by nature peculiarly voluptuous; see the violent abuse of them on this ground in Hindoo writings. An Englishman usually thinks that they are by nature cold. The sayings about women's fickleness are mostly of French origin; from the famous distich of Francis the First, upward and
are liable on the subject, are of a difl^erent
An Englishman is ignorant rehuman nature, a Frenchman is prejudiced. An Englishman's errors are character.
specting
503
Great Books Library negative,
Frenchman's
a
Englishman
fancies
because
An
case which observation affords, of appar-
do not
ent inferiority of
them; a Frenchman thinks they must always and necessariK exist, because he does see them. An Englishman does not know nature, because he has had no opportunity of obexist,
serving great
a
it;
deal
he
positive.
things
that
never
Frenchman generally knows of
but often mistakes
it,
because he has only seen
it
strength.
how much
it
mode
sophisticated
In the
all
artificial
causes
what
scarcely
difference
of
The
probabilit\'.
art.
I
shall
it
man
We
cannot
i.solate
so
as
to
ascertain
is
women,
in
the present generation
mind possessing
the requisites of
first-
lapse
that
of
tastes
among
time,
the
and personal position
all
things all
which there but the very
highest grades in the scale of excellence, especially in the department in
have
been
longest
engaged,
which they literature
and poetr\)— women have done quite as much, have obtained fully as high prizes and as many of them, as could be expected from the length of time and the nimiber of competitors. If we go back to the earlier period when very few women made the attempt, yet some of those few made it with distinguished .success. The Creeks alwa\ s accounted Sappho among their great poets; and we ma> well suppose that Myrtis, said to have been the teacher of Pindar, and Corinna, who five times bore awa\ from him the prize of p()etr\, must at least ha\e had sufficient merit to admit of being compared with that great name. Aspasia did not leave (both
of exa hu-
experimen-
onl\
only
has yet been time for— in
what he would have been by nature; but we can consider what he is, and what his circumstances have been, and whether the one would have been capable of prothe
is
these pursuits. In
tally
ducing the other. Let us take, then,
generations since
suffiIt
admitted of their devoting themselves to
to
being from the circumstances of his
condition,
It
during
can be reached;
by tracing the mental consequences ternal influences.
three
women whose
by the
it,
ques-
eminence in speculation or creative art could have been expected, on the mere calculation of chances, to turn up
point, the
attempt to approach
only path by which
fairly
rate
the one most accessible to speculation;
and
we may
place,
first
have been at all numerous; and they are even now extremely few, everywhere but in England and France. It is a relevant question, whether
origin of the differences actually obsei-ved, is
are naturally incapable
them?
that their attempts
character
first
rank,
there any
try their capacity in philosophy, science, or
would be revealed. I am not about to attempt what I have pronounced impossible: but doubt does not forbid conjecture, and where certainty is unattainable, there may yet be the means of arriving at some degree of
first
Is
saving very rare exceptions, have begim to
now be known
natural
woman.
whether experience has afforded cient grounds for an induction.
men and women is natural, and how much artificial; whether there are any natural differences at all; or, supposwithdrawn,
we
philosophy,
in
tion
of the existing mental differ-
be
production
women
of producing
it,
ences between
ing
if
of accounting for this, without sup-
posing that
a
a
cannot
No
has been the work of a
spontaneously grow.
have said that
men,
to
science, or art, entitled to the
and distorted. For the artificial state superinduced by society disguises the natural tendencies of the thing which is the subject of observation, in two different ways: by extinguishing the nature, or by transfomiing it. In the one case there is but a starved residuum of nature remaining to be studied; in the other case there is much, but it may have expanded in any direction rather than that in which it would I
women
except the merely physical one of bodily
sees
marked
504
prose
The Subjection
Mill:
any philosophical writings; but
it
is
gards mere thought, that during
an ad-
have obtained
we
If
avowed himself
and
instruction,
fruitful
it.
women
consider the works of
modern
times,
and contrast them
study and
with
those of men, either in the literary or the
may be observed into
such
department,
artistic
inferiority
a
is
total
deficiency; for every production of
mind
which
of
is
mind
own— is
its
original,
the sense of
being unborrowed— of being derived from the thinker's
own
observations or intellec-
tual processes— are
ings of
abundant
in the writ-
women. But they have not
yet pro-
duced any of those great and luminous new ideas which form an era in thought,
new
nor those fundamentally in
efi^ects
a
which open a
art,
not before thought
new
school.
Their
conceptions of
vista of,
possible
and found
compositions
are
tailed
Our
the
works mani-
application
of
and
thought, is
no
has remarked on its
the
Stacl, nor, as a
top of so
tistic
now
to
be placed on the
others, that a long process
and of carrying up materials, b>' whoever aspires
of climbing,
to take a share in the present stage of the
work.
How many women
have
gone
are there
who
any such process? Mrs. Somerville, alone perhaps of women, knows as much of mathematics as is now needful for making any considerable mathematical discovery: is it any proof of
ar-
excellence, anything superior to the
Madame Sand, whose style acts upon the nervous system like a symphony of Haydn or Mozart. High originality of conception is, as I have said, what is chiefly wanting. And now to examine if there is any manner in which this deprose of
be accounted for. Let us remember, then, so far as
has
many
has to be gone through
Madame
specimen of purely
predecessors:
in the edifice
best novelists in point of composition,
and of the management of detail, have mostly been women; and there is not in all modern literature a more eloquent vede
most original
who have known most
what had been thought by and this will always henceforth be the case. Every fresh stone their
inferiority.
hicle of thought than the style of
I
present
thoroughly
for in point of execution, in the de-
perfection of style, there
al-
who
thinkers are those
their
is
that
widely from existing types. This
which
all.
age,
the
fest:
at
think,
Maurice,
thought, and their creations do not deviate
sort of inferiority
did not con-
the days of Hypatia to those of the
mostly grounded on the existing fund of
is
women
Reformation, the illustrious Heloisa
a conception of
in
previous
knowledge—
most the only woman to whom any such achievement might have been possible; and we know not how great a capacity of speculation in her may have been lost to mankind by the misfortunes of her life. Never since any considerable number of women have begim to cultivate serious thought, has originality been possible on easy terms. Nearly all the thoughts which can be reached by mere strength of original faculties, have long since been arrived at; and originality, in any high sense of the word, is now scarcely ever attained but by minds which have undergone elaborate discipline, and are deeply versed in the results of previous thinking. It is Mr.
not a copy of something
itself,
Thoughts
else.
From
any substantive value, has an
originality of
the
originality.
that time
all
little
of
acciimulation
themselves with speculation
cern
most material
Not
of
deficiency
during
as
resolves itself essentially
one thing: but that
one;
in
mere force of genius, with
in
the
in
which great and new truths could be arrived at by
progress of cultivation,
to
that
all
period in the world's existence, and
mitted fact that Socrates resorted to her for
Women
of
inferiority
through
in
women,
that
she
has
not
be one of the two or three persons who in her lifetime have associated their names with some striking advance-
happened
ficiency can
ment
re-
505
to
of the science?
Two women,
since
Great Books Library econoni) has been made a science, have known enough of it to write usefully on the subject: of how many of the innumerable men who have written on it
by verifying and working out?
political
during the same time, truth
is
it
If
may
I
case, a very large pro-
portion indeed.
we
If
possible with
turn
literature in the
say more? If no woman has been a great historian, what has had the necessary erudition?
and the
to
hitherto
my own
judge by
from pure speculation to narrow sense of the term,
fine arts, there
why women's
reason
is
a very obvious
literature
is,
in
its
woman If no woman is a great philologist, what woman has studied Sanscrit and Slavonic,
Roman
literature,
the Gothic of Ulphila and the Persic of the
satiet)',
not original, but an imitation of
Zendavesta? Even all
know what
is
in practical
general conception and tures,
we
matters
the
an imitation of men's. as
main
its
critics
Why
fea-
is
the
proclaim to
Greek? Simply because the Greeks
came
the value of the origi-
in
first.
If
women
lived in a difi^erent
of untaught geniuses. It means, in-
country from men, and had never read any
venting over again in its rudimentary form something already invented and improved
would have had a own. As it is, they have not created one, because they foimd a highly advanced literature already created. If there had been no suspension of the knowledge of antiquity, or if the Renaissance had occurred before the Gothic cathedrals were built, they never would have been built. We see that, in France and Italy, imitation of the ancient literature stopped the original development even after it had commenced. All women who write are pupils of the great male writers. A painter's early pictures, even if he be a Raffaello, are undistinguishable in style from those of his ma.ster. Even a Mozart does not display his powerful
nalit\-
of their writings, they literature of their
upon by many successive inventors. When women have had the preparation which all
men now it
will
require to be eminently original, be time enough to begin judging
by experience of
their capacity for origi-
nality.
no doubt often happens that a perhas not widely and accurately studied the thoughts of others on a subject, has by natural sagacity a happy intuition, which he can suggest, but cannot prove, which \'et when matured may be an important addition to knowledge: but even then, no justice can be done to it until some other person, who does possess the previous acquirements, takes it in hand, It
son,
tests
who
it,
gives
form, and
fits
existing truths
it
it
originality
into
its
place
among
is
for
want
ideas, not their real author's.
can
elapsed,
put forth by male writers,
l)el()ng
time
is
before
necessar\it
than
much
has
can emancipate
yet itself
an\ natural tendencies
common
to
women,
and distitiguishing their genius from that of men, \et e\or\' individual writer among them has her individual tendencies, which at present are still subdued b\' the influence of precedent and example: and it
tell
to
literature
from the influence of accepted models, and guide itself by its own impulses. But if, as I believe, there will not prove to be
man\' of the most original thoughts
woman by
women's
an\' diflerence of natural tendencies,
of a hus-
Who
What
destined to have a different collective
longer
band or friend who has the other knowledge which can enable him to estimate them properly and bring them before the world: and even when they are brought before it, they generally appear as his
how
pieces.
character from that of men, depending on
it supposed that such felicitous thoughts do not occur to women? They occiu- by hundreds to every woman of intellect. But
Is
lost,
earliest
tions are to a mass. If
the
of philosophy or science.
they are mostly
his
in
years are to a gifted individual, genera-
a scientific or practical
a
suggestion, to themselves onK-
506
The Subjection
Mill:
more, before their
will require generations
individuality
make head
developed
sufficiently
is
last centuries, and be long before they do so. The reason why the old painters were so greatly superior to the modern, is that a greatly it
against that influence.
that the prima facie evidence of inferior original
powers
in
women
appears the strongest:
may be
this
opinion
since
education,
department,
of passing
instead is
centuries
(it
mainly composed of
Yet
it.
exertion they have fallen
over
in this line of
still
more
applied themselves
the
and fifteenth were the
painters
Italian
most accomplished men of their age. The greatest of them were men of encxclopiedical acquirements and powers, like the great men of Greece. But in their times fine art was, to men's feelings and con-
the affluent classes
in
men
to the art. In the fourteenth
them from and
said) does not exclude
will
superior class of
sight
first
but rather encoinages them,
these, their
at
Wojncn
remarkable figure these
to
the fine arts, properly so called,
It is in
of
ceptions,
short
among
the
grandest things
in
the familiar fact, more universally true in
which a human being could excel; and by it men were made, what only political or military distinction now makes them, the companions of sovereigns, and the equals
the fine arts than in anything else;
the
of the highest nobility. In the present age,
persons
men of anything like similar calibre find something more important to do, for their own fame and the uses of the modern world, than painting: and it is only now and then that a Reynolds or a Turner (of whose relative rank among eminent men
than in
many
em-
others, of the highest
inence attained by men. This shortcoming,
however, needs no other explanation than
vast
superiority
over amateurs.
professional
of
Women
the educated
in
classes are almost universally taught
or less of fine arts,
some branch or other
but not that they artists
are
gain their
consequence by
living or their social
Women
may
more
of the
all
amateurs.
The
it.
ex-
I
ceptions are only of the kind which confirm the general truth.
Women
do not pretend
himself to that
to
art.
an opinion) applies
Music belongs
different order of things:
are taught
it
to
a
does not re-
music, but not for the purpose of compos-
quire the same general powers of mind,
and accordingly it is only as composers, that men, in music, are superior to women. The only one of the fine arts which women do follow, to any extent, as a profession, and an occupation for life, is the histrionic; and in that
but seems more dependent on a natural
ing, only of executing
it:
they are confessedly equal,
if
gift: and it may be thought surprising that no one of the great musical composers has been a woman. But even this natural gift, to be made available for great creations, requires study, and professional devotion to the pursuit. The only countries which have produced first-rate composers, even of the male sex, are Germany and Italycountries in which, both in point of spe-
not superior,
men. To make the comparison fair, it should be made between the productions of women in any branch of art, and those to
of
In
men
not following
musical
as
it
composition,
and of general cultivation, women have remained far behind France and England, being generally (it may be said
a profession. for
cial
example,
women
surely have produced fully as good things as have ever been produced by male amateurs. There are now a few
women,
a very few,
as a profession,
who
without exaggeration) very of the higher faculties
practise painting
and these are already be-
ginning to show quite as
could be expected.
much
Even male
{pace Mr. Ruskin) have not
those
countries
the
educated,
little
and having scarcely cultivated
at all
of mind.
men who
any
And are
in
ac-
talent as
quainted with the principles of musical
painters
composition must be counted by hundreds,
made any very
or
507
more
probably
by
thousands,
the
Great Books Library
women
barely
by
that
so
scores:
again, on the doctrine of averages,
here
A
can-
nearly
we
more than one eminent woman to fifty eminent men; and the last three centmies have not produced not reasonably expect to see
fifty
eminent male composers either
many
in
and the at
is
mode
intendence of a
onerous to the thoughts; cessant vigilance,
it
all this
for the
less
whole family of
the call
If
a
ment certs,
its
woman
art
active faculty than
the vast majority of
men. But
all.
this
is
not
Independently of which devolve
life is
expected to have
If
a
man
has not a
to he a ^ood or bad taste. The component parts of dress are continually changinjj; from ^reat to little, from short to lon^; but the
is
and the
general fixed,
alwa\'s the develop-
parties,
tion;
morning
form
still
remains:
same general dress which
her by the former
of the latter: the dinner parties, con-
evening
much
to
3 "It appears to be the same rij^ht turn of mind whieh enables a man to acciiiire the truth, or the just idea of what is ri^ht, in the ornaments, as in the more stable principles of art. It has still the same centre of perfection, though it is the centre of a smaller circle.— To illustrate this by the fashion of dress, in whieh there is allowed
intercoiuse with
called society,
made on
duty, the greater
to
posal of everybody.
in-
devolving on her the management
is
leisure, or
be deor speculation, they must greater original supply of
upon a woman, she
and circumstances which rea measure from these cares, she
others— of what
much
her time and faculties always at the dis-
of a rank
still
leave them either
an eye which no de-
hardly ever shake herself free.
has
practical interests
little
great to them) should
the regular offices of
escapes,
lieve her in
the
or science, or literature,
number of made
have a much
consideration
is
look only
(which are
voted
so
and presents questions for and solution, foreseen and unforeseen, at every hour of the day, from which the person responsible for them can tail
art,
energy and freedom of mind,
extremely
requires
her
and does actually exhaust much of the time and mental power they might have to spare for either.'^ If it were possible that
The superhousehold, even when not is
To
the outward side of the subject:
able results in
it.
other respects laborious,
in
arts of conversation.
of
manner
go a great way towards achieving respect-
admit of delegating that task
of conducting
employment
great
to hired agency, and submitting to all the waste and malversation inseparable from
that
of the higher ranks finds
sufficient
and continual exercise of thought which all women who attach any value to dressing well (I do not mean expensively, but with taste, and perception of natural and of artificial convenance) must bestow upon their own dress, perhaps also upon that of their daughters, would alone
Ger-
or in Italy.
rich as to
a
talents in cultivating the graces of
There are other reasons, besides those which we have now given, that help to explain why women remain behind men, even in the pursuits which are open to both. For one thing, very few women have time for them. This may seem a paradox; it is an undoubted social fact. The time and thoughts of every woman have to satisfy great previous demands on them for things practical. There is, first, the superintendence of the family and the domestic expenditure, which occupies at least one woman in every family, generally the one of mature years and acquired experience; unless the family
woman
clever
rest.
thouuli
but
it
He who
is
still
the
comparatiNely very slender founda-
on a on tliis whieh fashion must invents with the most success,
is
or dresses in the best taste,
visits,
it
is
would probably,
from the same sagacity employed to greater purposes, ha\e disco\ered ecjual skill, or ha\(' formed the same correct taste, in the liiuhest labours of art."— S/r Jo.sJnia Rey-
and all that goes with them. All this is over and above the engrossing duty which society imposes exclusively on women, of making themselves charming. letter-writing,
nolds' Di.scotirscs, Disc.
508
\ii.
The Subjection
Mill:
exempt him from such demands, still, if he has a pursuit, he offends nobody by devoting his time to it; occupa-
which,
profession to
already
possess of
casual
allowed as an exemption. illness in the family, or
something
common way, to entitle her to own business the precedence
give
over
other people's amusement.
ways be
beck and
at the
call
within
work which
hope
I
knowledge, arts, which is sufficient for contents them. This
which cannot be judging of
woman
does
done
is
wonderful, then,
It is
at
odd
times.
Is
for
it
Such
all,
is
them
and such,
must be kept
also
cises to attain
There added to
high
in
while to
constant exer-
all
these. In the various arts
intellectual occupations, there
come
and
who
tained where there
is
is
hardly ever
not, or
a
dergo
long
the
sufficient
and
stimulus patient
to
women
themselves
should not be
all
all
these ob-
all
concentrated
life,
when
should depend on them?
is
public
society has
her duties should be to all
her com-
The
natural
from our fellow-
as strong in a
man; but society has
woman
as in a
so ordered things that
consideration
is,
in
all
ordinary
by her through the consideration of her husband or of her male relations, while her private consideration is forfeited by making herself individually prominent, or appearing in any other character than that of an appendage to cases, only attainable
an
less
accounted the part of "noble
into her daily
creatures
at-
life,
ardent desire of celebrity. Nothing
is
desire of consideration
where there
has not been at some period of
commonly
forts
follow the pursuit pro-
the other
cir-
love of
them, and has contrived that
living by it, and there is a higher degree on which depend the great productions which immortalise a name. To the attainment of the former, there are adequate motives in all
The
ordained that
of proficiency sufficient for
the case of
do not
women.
upon the impressions made on those who
a degree
is
I
inherent in
are closed,
interests
another consideration to be
is
it
and the desire of fame itself considered daring and unfeminine. Besides, how could it be that a woman's
skill.
is
fessionally:
sake,
its
jects
devotion of the thoughts and feelings, the
hand
out of the account in
as they are.
if spoken of as their "last and is stimulated by the access which fame gives to all objects of ambition, including even the favour of women;
which, besides the
in
art,
always
a trait of character
infirmity,"
of the chief interest
philosophy,
is
they
minds," even
quire consecutive attention, and the con-
life?
liked,
whom
fame in men is encouraged by education and opinion: to "scorn delights and live laborious days"
the highest eminence in things which recentration on
be
to
is
only the natural result of their
cumstances.
she does not attain
if
influence
that, almost
is
left
women
at all believe that
woman, in a some day be pub-
will
The
who immediately
and the proficiency and accomplishments,
in
celebrated
remarks truly that everything a
over those
is
see with their eyes:
She must alof somebody,
lished,
generally confined
is
bounds.
loved, or admired, by those
must snatch any short inwhich accidentally occurs to be em-
A
Now,
genius.
surround them. Their desire
or a pursuit, she
it.
narrower
they seek
generally of everybody. If she has a study
in
me-
splendid
highest
fame. Their ambition
else out
of the
many
so
the
whether the cause be natural or artificial, women seldom have this eagerness for
requires an
It
her
above
for
we
absolutely
is
morials
every
to
which may be made on him. Are a woman's occupations, especially her chosen and voluntary ones, ever regarded as excusing her from any of what are termed the calls of society? Scarcely are her most necessary and recognised duties
of
required
great eminence in pursuits in which
gifts,
demand
is
answering
ployed
the case even of the greatest
in
natural
received as a valid excuse for his
tion
not
terval
Women
of
is
un-
drudgery.
509
Great Books Library men. Whoever
women's superior moral goodness may be
the least capable of
in
is
mind
estimating the influence on the
allowed to pair
of
the entire domestic and social position and the whole habit of a
ognise
life,
influence
that
in
planation of nearly
must easily a complete
the apparent
all
women and men,
ences between
ex-
capable of resisting their personal partialtheir judgment in grave affairs is warped by their s\mpathies and antipathies. Assuming it to be so, it is still
difl^er-
ities:
including
moral differences, considered as
distinguished
from
intellectual,
the
dis-
commonly drawn is to the advanwomen. They are declared to be than men; an empty compliment,
proved
be
to
feriority.
for
men by
their personal interests.
difference that
bitter smile
have private
except
when
it
by
their regard for
of
somebody
own) by
their else.
It
is
also
be considered, that all the education which women receive from society inculcates on them the feeling that the individuals connected with them are the only ones to whom they owe any duty— the only ones
to
whose
interest they are called
while,
for;
far
as
cerned, they are
true that servitude,
is
chief
(not being allowed to
interests
their regard for
obey the worse. If this piece of idle talk good for anything, it is only as an admission by men, of the corrupting influence of power; for that is certainly the only truth which the fact, if it be a fact, either proves it
The
case to be,
in that
interest
women
themselves,
is
And
would seem
than
feelings
are led from the course of duty
and the public
from every woman of spirit, since there is no other situation in life in which it is the established order, and considered quite natural and suitable, that the better should
or illustrates.
men
personal
their
oftener
are
by
tage of better
women
that
misled
tinction
which must provoke a
with the disparaging
rec-
the whole of those which imply any in-
As
off
one respecting their greater liability to moral bias. Women, we are told, are not
actually brutalises, though
upon
education
as
to care
con-
is
strangers even to the
left
elementar)' ideas which are presupposed
any
intelligent regard for larger interests
less so to the slaves
in
wholesomer for the moral nature to be restrained, even by arbitrary power, than to be allowed to exercise arbitrary power without re-
or
the sole duty which they are taught, and
straint. Women, it is said, seldomer fall under the penal law— contribute a much
mitted to practise.
corrupting to both,
is
than to the slave-masters.
smaller
number
It is
all
The
of offenders to the crimi-
intellectual,
and
The
silly
faithfully
of the
any arguments against the prerogative of sex are likely to be little attended to by the to
extort
them,
that
generality, as long as they are able to say to
themselves that
plain of to
it.
retain
longer;
That
women do
panegyrics on
of the
not
fact certainly enables
the unjust privilege
but does not
render
Exactly the same thing
just.
com-
men
some time less
un-
may be
said
it
women in the harem of an Oriental: they do not complain of not being allowed
the
women. dictum
merely into too
concessions of the privileged to the
unprivileged
depreciation of the
complimentary
only
by any better motive than the power
the influences of social circum-
moral, nature of
fulfil
itself
unprivileged are so seldom brought about
a
stances, than their silly
they
The complaint
objects.
resolves
almost the only one which they are per-
more signal instance of the blindess with which the world, including the herd of studious men, ignore and pass
over
that
this,
men. I doubt not that the same thing may be said, with the same truth, of negro slaves. Those who are under the control of others cannot often commit crimes, unless at the command and for the purposes of their masters. I do
know
them
against
nal calendar, than
not
higher moral
about
the
510
freedom of European women. The\'
The Subjection
Mill:
our
think
women
insufierably
How
it is
unfeminine.
rarely
bold
and
that even
men
Women
of
power
of the
of their lords, but only of
The commons began by
tyranny.
their
complain of the general order of society;
claiming a few municipal privileges; they
and how much rarer
next asked an exemption for themselves
plaint
existing
would such comknow of any anywhere else.
do not complain
of the general lot
be,
order
different
Women of
women;
from being taxed without their own consent; but they would at that time have thought it a great presumption to claim any share in the king's sovereign author-
or rather they do, for plaintive
on
elegies
writings of
still
they did not
if
it
very
are
common
women, and were
the
in
more
still
as long as the lamentations could not
ity.
The
women
case of
now
is
the only
so
case in which to rebel against established
be
rules
looked upon with the same
still
is
suspected of having any practical object.
eyes as was formerly a subject's claim to
Their complaints are
the
like
the complaints
which men make of the general
human
of
right
against
rebelling
A woman who
unsatis-
joins
king.
his
any movement
in
they are not
which her husband disapproves, makes
imply blame, or to plead for any change. But though women do not complain of the power of husbands, each complains of her own husband, or of the husbands of her friends. It is the same in
herself a martyr, without even being able
factoriness
meant
all
of
life;
to
be an apostle, for the husband can put a stop to her apostleship. Women cannot be expected to devote themselves to the emancipation of women, to
legally
other cases of servitude, at least in the
men
until
commencement of the emancipatory movement. The serfs did not at first complain
pared
remains a question, not of
importance
than
which
cussed, and
will
already
those
less
licity,
tional;
be asked the most
hardly to be expected
that
the
are pre-
under-
say that the evils are excep-
but no one can be blind to their
existence,
nor,
And
in it
is
the abuse of the
much checked
many
cases,
to
their
perfectly obvious that
power cannot be very
while the power remains.
It is a power given, or offered, not to good men, or to decently respectable men, but to all men; the most brutal, and the most criminal. There is no check but that of opinion, and such men are in general within the reach of no opinion but that of
of an abstract right? is
may
intensity.
conviction is somewhat shaken on the main point. What good are we to expect from the changes proposed in our customs and institutions? Would mankind be at all better off if women were free? If not, why disturb their minds, and attempt to make a social revolution in the
It
in
IV
dis-
importunately by those opponents whose
name
number
with them
taking.
CHAPTER There
considerable
in
join
to
men
this
question will be asked in respect to the
like
brutally
themselves. tyrannise
If
over
such
men
did not
the
one
human
being
whom
candid persons, counting those cases alone
earth,
but the heart of the worst
which are extreme,
must have become her temple. The law of
change proposed in
marriage.
the condition of
in
The
produced
by
subjection
women rible to
the
law compels to bear everything from them, society must already have reached a paradisiacal state. There could be no need any longer of laws to curb men's vicious propensities. Astriea must not only have returned to
sufferings, immoralities,
evils of all sorts,
cases
women
in
innumerable
of
individual
men, are far too terbe overlooked. Unthinking or un-
to individual
or
which
attain
pub-
511
the
man
Great Books Library servitude in marriage tradiction to
all
is
a monstrous con-
the principles of the
and to all the experience through which those principles have been slowly and painfully worked out. It is the ern
sole case,
mod-
world,
now
that negro slaver\' has been
abolished, in which a
human being
plenitude of every faculty to the
is
in
delivered
tender mercies of another
the
up
human
being, in the hope forsooth that this other
Equality:
MILLS LOGIC;
OR,
FRANCHISE FOR FEMALES 'Pray clear the way, there, for these— a— persons."
'I
AN "ugly
(^S^
rush!'
\^^^^
m^"^,
'
•A
MY WIFE IS A WOMAN OF MIND.
fjjllj":
IMmMw
.
:-"tN
:/M
Mill: will
of is
The Subjection
use the power solely for the good
the person subjected
to
the only actual bondage
it.
Marriage
known
to
our
of
Women
It is not,
therefore, on this part of the
subject, that the question
asked, Cui bono?
is
We may
likely to be be told that
law. There remain no legal slaves, except
the evil would outweigh the good, but the
the mistress of every house.
reality of the
good admits of no dispute.
Some Demurrals Nineteenth-century cartoons such as some of the opposition and unease
these reflect
that accompanied the emergence of woman into man's world. Attitudes ranged from obduracy, as in the John Bull
cartoon (center
to a sort of
left),
aspect of onrushing
bemusement
woman mounted on
at the
a velocipede
(right). In sum, the drawings convey the predominant male reaction as closer to indignation than resignation.
THE AGE OF IROX
Man as he
OUR PRETTY DOCTOR my good friends, what can I do for Dr. Arabella. "Well,
you?" Bill. "Well, Miss,
it's all
along
d me and my mates bein out d work, yer see, and to turn an honest penny hanyways we can; so,
wantin 'avin
a
tell as you teas young medical prac-
'card
risin
we thought as p'raps you wouldn't mind just a recommendin of hus as nurses."
titioner,
expects to be
Great Books Library In regard, however, to the larger question,
the removal of
recognition
women's
the equals of
as
men
in
them of and of the to
the
all
training
qualifies for those
many
persons for
they
defence;
to be told what would be obtained by
by justice instead of injustice. The vast amount of this gain to human nature, it is hardly possible, by any explanation or to
place in
in
a stronger light
anyone who attaches a moral meaning selfish propensities,
the
to
self-
is
worship, the unjust self-preference, which exist
among mankind, have
and root
in,
and derive
their
their
principal
whole conduct he habitually still, if he
fool,
she thinks that of course she
is
of
his
inherent
early the
superiority
like a sense of superiority all,
to
over the
he
feels,
woman whom he
a
above
honours b\
admitting her to a partnership of his
life.
imagined that all this does not pervert the whole manner of existence of the man, both as an individual and as a social being? It is an exact parallel to the feeling of a hereditary king that he is excellent above others by being born a king, or a noble by being born a noble. The relation between husband and wife is ver\ like that between lord and vassal, except that Is
folis
how
differently brought up,
owing her perhaps forbearance, but no real respect; and how sublime and sultan-
daily or hourly occasion to feel; but even in his
their
to
schoolboy upon another; how early the youth thinks himself superior to his mother,
is
lows a woman's guidance,
required
girl arises in his
between men and women. to a boy, to grow up to manhood in the belief that without any merit or any exertion of his own, though he may be the most frivolous and empty or the most ignorant and stolid of mankind, by the mere fact of being born a male he is by right the superior of all and every one of an entire half of the human race: including probably some whose real superiority to himself he has if
is
as
mind; how it grows with his growth and strengthens with his strength; how it is inoculated by one
source
of the relation it
as possible
the higher classes thus often escape the
notion
nourishment from, the present constitution
Think what
much
out of sight of the
bad influences of the situation in their early years, and only experience them when, arrived at manhood, they fall under the dominion of facts as they really exist. Such people are little aware, when a bo\'
placed by the bare statement, to
words. All the
all,
father: they are not permitted to
let me first answer, the advantage of having the most universal and pervading of all human relations regulated
it is
and well-bred people,
kept as
domineer over their sisters, nor are they accustomed to see these postponed to them, but the contrary; the compensations of the chivalrous feeling being made prominent, while the servitude which requires them is kept in the background. Well brought-up youths
just or legitimate
it.
illustration,
sinks into
it
male minds. For,
As much obedience from boys to their mother
To which
than
of
children.
require
express advantage abolishing
no
is
out of sight; above
employments— there are whom it is not enough
that the inequality has
right-feeling
the inequality
and education which
how deeply
immense majority
among
honourable emplovments,
all
of the cultivated classes are
often not aware
belongs to citizenship— the opening
that
And men
son?
disabilities— their
a
not,
and cannot be, equal in ability and judgment to himself; and if he is not a fool, he does worse— he sees that she is superior to him, and believes that, notwithstanding her superiority, he is entitled to command and she is bound to obey. What must be the eff^ect on his character, of this les-
it
the wife
is
held to more unlimited obedi-
ence than the vassal was. However the vassal's character may have been affected, better
and
for
ordination,
who
can help seeing that the
for
lord's
514
was
worse,
b\'
his
sub-
affected greatly for the worse?
Mill:
The Subjection
made by
whether he was led to beheve that his vassals were really superior to himself, or to feel that he was placed in command over people as good as himself, for no merits or labours of his own, but merely for
having,
as
Figaro
monarch,
or
of
and
tional humility,
the best few.
inspire with
it,
The
which values
advantages,
Above
all,
not
when
own
its
and
achieving.
the feeling of being raised
above the whole of the other sex is combined with personal authority over one individual
among them;
the situation,
if
a
is
to
of
men
conscientious
ingness;
academy or gymnasium for them in arrogance and overbearwhich vices, if curbed by the
certainty of resistance in their intercourse
with other men, their equals, break out towards all who are in a position to be
deference;
and not birth, is the only claim to power and authority. If
to
that,
power over the weak
rules
in
the very heart of society, the attempt
to
make
the equal right of the
weak
the
to
its
women
the
free
use of their
by leaving them the free choice of their employments, and opening to them the same field of occupation and the same prizes and encouragements as to other human beings, would be that of doubling the mass of mental faculties available for
they are obliged to submit to elsewhere.
and the educaby laying the domestic existence upon a afforded,
tion given to the sentiments,
first
claim
merit,
faculties,
wife for the involuntary restraint which
relation contradictory to the
that
respect:
but what they do, con-
their
all,
giving
them, and often revenge themselves upon the unfortunate obliged to tolerate
foundation of
to
in
and
that conduct,
outward actions will always be an uphill struggle; for the law of justice, which is also that of Christianity, will never get possession of men's inmost sentiments; they will be working against it, even when bending to it. The second benefit to be expected from
of another quality a regularly
The example
The
not attacked.
above
principle of
constituted training
is
entitles
are,
of the strong to
and affectionate forbearance to those whose strongest points of character are conscience and affection, school
politics,
men
is
modem movement
stitutes
rightful
upon accidental
itself
of
in-
no authority, not in its nature temporary, were allowed to one human being over another, society would not be employed in building up propensities with one hand which it has to curb with the other. The child would really, for the first time in man's existence on earth, be trained in the way he should go, and when he was old there would be a chance that he would not depart from it. But so long as the right
with pride, and the worst sort of pride, that
the
of
conduct alone,
are only inspired
rest
enemy
principle
not what
addi-
are always the few,
citadel of the
morals and
is
matched by the self-worship of the male. Human beings do not grow up from childhood in the possession of unearned distinctions, without pluming themselves upon them. Those whom privileges not acquired by their merit, and which they feel to be disproportioned to
doing to efface the
and replace them by those of justice, remains merely on the surface, as long as the
the
superior,
removal. All that education
its
civilisation are
fluences on character of the law of force,
self -worship of the
feudal
the
taken
says,
The
trouble to be born.
Women
of
the
higher service
there
principles
from the very naman, have a perverting influence of
is
now one
of
humanity.
Where
person qualified to bene-
mankind and promote the general im-
of social justice, must,
fit
ture of
provement, as a public teacher, or an administrator of some branch of public or
such magnitude, that
it
is
hardly possible
there would then be a affairs, chance of two. Mental superiority of any kind is at present everywhere so much
with our present experience to raise our imaginations
to
the
conception
great a change for the better as
of
social
so
would be
515
Great Books Library below the demand; there is such a deficiency of persons competent to do excellently anything which it requires any
other.
considerable amount of ability to do; that
level of that of
is
it
possesses,
true that this
is
extremely serious.
lost.
amount
Much
it is
idea that
and
from the remainder indirect benefit is in individual cases obtained, through
power
the things which
are of
which women are
be warned off— positively interdicted from most of it, coldly tolerated in the little which is allowed them— the mere consciousness a woman would then have of
women
that
all
are men's business, from
But these benefits are partial; their range is extremely circumscribed; and if they must be admitted, on the one hand, as a deduction from the of fresh social
the wider subjects of thought
all
action,
to
over individual men.
amount
the
this,
general and not solely of private interest,
many
the personal influence of individual
men, and making the one improvements made in
mere breaking down of the barrier would of itself have an educational virtue of the highest worth. The mere getting rid of the
power
of mental of
operate
all
the other. But independently of
It
employed, is and would in any case be employed, in domestic management, and in the few other occupations open to women; and not totally
women would
raising their education to the
participate in
use of one-half of the whole quantity of talent
way, the widening of the
this
by
for good,
make
the loss to the world, by refusing to
In
sphere of action for
being a
human being
like
any other, en-
choose her pursuits, urged or invited by the same inducements as anytitled to
would
be acquired by giving freedom to onehalf of the whole sum of human intellect, there must be added, on the other, the benefit of the stimulus that would be given to the intellect of men by the com-
one
else to interest herself in
interesting
to
human
whatever
beings, entitled
exert the share of influence on
all
is
to
human
concerns which belongs to an individual opinion,
more true expression) that would be imposed
whether
she
attempted
actual
them or not— this alone would effect an immense expansion of the faculties of women, as well as enlargement
petition; or (to use a
participation
by the necessity on them of deserving precedency before they could expect to obtain it.
in
of the range of their moral sentiments.
This great accession to the intellectual
Besides the addition to the amount of
amount of intellect available for the good management of its affairs, would be obtained, partly, through the better and more complete intellectual education of women, which would then improve pari passu with that of men. Women in general would be brought up equally capable of under-
individual talent available for the conduct
power
of the species,
and
standing business, public
to the
affairs,
the
same
class of society;
and the
human
affairs,
which certainly are not
abundantly provided in that respect that they can afford to dispense with one-half of what nature proffers; the at present so
opinion of
more
women would
then possess a
beneficial, rather than a greater, in-
belief
upon the general mass of human and sentiment. I say a more bene-
ficial,
rather than a greater influence; for
fluence
and the
higher matters of speculation, with in
of
men
the influence of
select
few of the one as well as of the other sex, who were qualified not only to comprehend what is done or thought by others, but to think or do something considerable themselves, would meet with the same facilities for improving and training their capacities in the one sex as in the
women
tone of opinion has
from the
over the general
alwa\'S,
or
at
least
known period, been \'ery The influence of mothers
earliest
considerable.
on the earl\ character of their sons, and the desire of \()ung
men
to
recommend
themselves to young women, have in recorded times been important agencies
516
all
in
Mill:
The Subjection
Women
of
the formation of character, and have de-
standard of the warlike qualities with the
termined some of the chief steps
the
cultivation of a totally different class of
the
virtues— those
progress
of
Homeric
Even
civihsation.
in
in
and
age, aiclos (respect) towards the
Troddas etkcsipeplous (long-robed Trojan woman) is an acknowledged and powerful motive of action in the great Hector. The moral influence of women has had two
modes
of operation.
First,
it
liable to
towards limiting its
has been a
as
they could
the practice of chivalry
Those who were not taught have naturally inclined in favour
any other mode of
sadly short of
who have been
In general,
by the indulgence of selfish passion, have been the most earnest supporters of any moral law which offered a means of bridling passion. Women were powerfully
favourable to it.
women
The conversion
may be
said to have been
begun by the
The
wives of Ethelbert and Clovis. The other
mode
powerful
women
to
those
qualities
moral
in
men, which, not being themselves trained in, it was necessary for them that they
social condition
so as to
is the acme of the women's sentiments on the cultivation of mankind: and if
influence
stimulus
theoretic standard than falls
chivalrous ideal
which the effect of women's opinion has been conspicuous, is by giving a in
its
much
so
tions;
Anglo-Saxons and of the Franks
of the
Though
even more
and instituhave been completely frustrated in the main object, yet never entirely inefficacious, and which has left a most sensible, and for the most part a highly valuable impress on the ideas and feelings of all subsequent times. advance of
querors to adopt the creed of Christianity,
much more
fell
carry into practice a moral ideal greatly in
instrumental in inducing the northern cona creed so
non-
below theory, it remains one of the most precious monuments of the moral history of our race; as a remarkable instance of a concerted and organised attempt by a most disorganised and distracted society, to raise up and
the greatest sufferers
than any that preceded
its
practice generally
settling differences
rather than that of fighting.
those
the
classes generally,
stead of extorting their subjection.
sphere and mitigating
excesses.
to fight,
of
much
as its
generosity,
towards
and a special submission and worship directed towards women; who were distinguished from the other defenceless classes by the high rewards which they had it in their power voluntarily to bestow on those who endeavoured to earn their favour, in-
be the victims of violence, have
naturally tended
gentleness,
and defenceless
military
who were most
softening influence. Those
of
self-abnegation,
of
are to remain in their subordinate
situation,
were greatly
it
to
be lamented
that the chivalrous standard should have
should find in their protectors. Courage,
passed away, for
the only one at
all
and the military virtues generally, have at all times been greatly indebted to the desire which men felt of being admired by women: and the stimulus reaches far beyond this one class of eminent qualities, since, by a very natural effect of their
capable of mitigating the demoralising
in-
position, the best passport to the admira-
infuse moral elements into a state of so-
tion
and favour of women has always been be thought highly of by men. From the combination of the two kinds of moral influence thus exercised by women, arose
ciety
to
good or
icacy and generosity. In
the spirit of chivalry:
all
which
is,
to
aim
at
it
is
fluences of that position. But the changes in
the general state of the species rendered the
substitution
of
ideal
of morality
for
inevitable different
totally
Chivalry was the attempt to
alrous one.
in
a
the chiv-
which everything depended for on individual prowess, under
evil
the softening influences of individual del-
the peculiarity of
things,
ment
combining the highest
517
even
of affairs,
in
the
modern
societies,
military
are decided, not
depart-
by
in-
Great Books Library dividual effort, but by the combined op-
in
main occupation of society has changed from fighting to business, from military to in-
alrous
dustrial life
numbers;
of
erations
The
life.
are
while
the
generosity.
in
the respect of each for the rights of every
of
and the
each to take care without legal
ability of
Chivalry
himself.
sentiments
the
and
traditions of spirit
is
higher than that of men;
the quality of justice,
somewhat
lower.
As regards the relations of private life it may be said generally, that their influence is, on the whole, encouraging to the softer virtues, discouraging to the sterner: though the statement must be taken with all the modifications dependent on individual
it
no longer entirely depends on them. The main foundations of the moral life of modern times must be justice and prudence; other,
fostering
In these points of character,
their standard
no more exclusive of the virtues
of generosity than those of the old, but
ideal— in
and continuing the
new
exigencies of the
keeping alive what remains of the chiv-
In
character.
left
check all forms of wrong which reigned unpunished throughout society; it only en-
to
trials
the
chief
which virtue
is
of
the
subject
greater
the
in
concerns of life— the conflict between
in-
and principle— the tendency of women's influence is of a very mixed char-
couraged a few to do right in preference to wrong, by the direction it gave to the instruments of praise and admiration. But
terest
the real dependence of morality must
pens to be one of the very few which the course of their religious or moral educa-
ways be upon to deter from
its
acter.
al-
penal sanctions— its power
evil.
The
security of society
tion
cannot rest on merely rendering honour to right, a motive so comparatively weak in all but a few, and which on very many does not operate at
all.
Modem
society
is
of without
The
tyrannise.
chivalrous
on a
far
now
particular
and purposes.
character:
it
to
do
I
am
afraid
it
must be
said,
very seldom encouraged or supported by
women's influence. It is small blame to them that they discourage objects of which
At present the moral influence of women no less real, but it is no longer of so a
little
duct of life— the devotion of the energies to purposes which hold out no promise of private advantages to the family— is
rest
except the conjugal.
is
but having
that disinterestedness in the general con-
and steadier support; or do so in every relation of life
marked and definite more nearly merged
acts,
with the general direction of the thoughts
surer
rather, they
women,
small part of the field of virtue, and are,
what they the weak, and the life,
with the
moreover, principally negative; forbidding
still
human
general comfort of
But,
pressed on them cover but a comparatively
beauties and graces of the
were, but the rights of
vir-
the moral principles which have been im-
are in a position to
character are
that stimulus.
present education and position of
them, without reliance on the chivalrous
who
they are potent auxiliaries to
and their husbands and sons are often prompted by them to acts of abnegation which they never would have been capable tue:
wrong through all departments of life, by a fit exertion of the superior strength which civilisation has given it, and thus to render the existence of the weaker members of society (no longer defenceless but protected by law) tolerable feelings of those
the principle involved hap-
has strongly impressed upon them-
selves,
able to repress
to
When
they have not learnt to see the advantage, and which withdraw their men from them,
has
fluence of public opinion. Both through the
and from the interests of the family. But the consequence is that women's influence
contagion of sympathy, and through the
is
desire
of
women,
men their
to
in
shine
feelings
the
in
general
the
eyes
have great
in-
of
often anything but favourable to public
virtue.
Women
eflect
518
have, however, some share of
The Subjection
Mill:
mo-
influence in giving the tone to public ralities
since
been a
httle
sphere of action has
their
widened, and since a conof them have occupied themselves practically in the promotion of siderable
number
beyond
objects reaching
own
their
family
and household. The influence of women counts for a great deal in two of the most marked features of modem European lifeits aversion to war, and its addiction to philanthropy.
Excellent
both; but unhappily,
women it
characteristics
the influence of
if
valuable in the encouragement
is
gives to these feelings in general, in the
the
applications
particular
direction
it
of
Women
acts, saps the
respect,
are
very foundations of the
and
.self-help,
the essential
conditions
self-
which
self-control
both of
in-
dividual prosperity and of social virtue—
waste of resources and of benevolent in doing harm instead of good,
this
feelings
immensely swelled by women's contriby their influence. Not that this is a mistake likely to be made by women, where they have actually the practical management of schemes of beneficence. It sometimes happens that women is
butions, and stimulated
who
administer public charities— with that
insight into present fact,
minds
the
and
and especially those
of
feelings
into
with
vous as useful. In the philanthropic depart-
whom they are in immediate contact, in which women generally excel men— recog-
ment more
nise in the clearest
gives to
them
at least as often mischie-
is
two provinces by women are religious
particularly, the
chiefly cultivated
proselytism and charity. Religious proselytism at home,
is
it is
and could give lessons on the many a male political economist. But women who only give their money, and are not brought face to face with the effects it produces, how can they be expected to foresee them? A woman bom to the present lot of women, and content with afforded,
but another word for em-
bittering of religious animosities:
subject to
abroad,
usually a blind running at an object,
without either knowing or heeding the fatal
mischiefs— fatal to the religious ob-
ject itself as well as to all other desirable
may be produced by the means employed. As for charity, it is a matter in which the immediate effect on the persons directly concerned, and the objects— which
it,
of
are apt to be at complete
while
women— an
education
the
of
given
by
their
to
life,
She
destiny
is
good enough
not
is is
self-
receive
to
why
the poor are; that
given to
of
for her
not free, and that what they need is them uneamed, they cannot be
She forgets that she
sentiments
whole
her
should be bad for the poor? Her familiar notions of good are of blessings descending from a superior.
what
rather than of the understanding— and the
habit inculcated
should she appreciate the value
self-dependence?
everything from others, and
war with one
education
the
how
dependent;
ultimate consequence to the general good, another:
manner the demoralis-
ing influence of the alms given or the help
is
if
that everybody can-
looking to immediate effects on persons,
compelled
and not to remote effects on classes of persons—make them both unable to see, and
not be taken care of by everybody, but
unwilling to admit, the ultimate evil tend-
ple to take care of themselves; and that to
ency
be helped
any
form
to earn
there must be
it:
some motive
to
to help themselves,
induce peothey are
or
phi-
commends itself to sympathetic feelings. The great and
their
physically capable of
con-
which proves to be charity in the end. These considerations show how usefully the part which women take in the formation of general opinion, would be modified for the better by that more enlarged instruction, and practical conver-
of
of
charity
lanthropy which
tinually increasing
mass of unenlightened
and short-sighted benevolence, which,
tak-
ing the care of people's lives out of their
own
hands, and relieving them from the
disagreeable
consequences of their
own 519
it,
is
if
the only charity
Great Books Library sancy with the things which their opinions
For, in the
would necessarily arise from their social and political emancipation. But the improvement it would work through
some
the influence they exercise, each in
means
influence, that
own
family,
would be
still
place, there
first
is
always
sacrifice of personal interest required;
either of social consequence, or of pecuni-
ary means; perhaps the risk of even the
her
of subsistence. These sacrifices and he may be willing to encounter for himself; but he will pause before he imposes them on his family. And his family in
more remark-
risks
able. It is often said that in the classes most exposed to temptation, a man's wife and children tend to keep him honest and re-
spectable,
means his wife and daughters; for he always hopes that his sons will feel as he feels himself, and that what he can do
fluence,
without, they will do without, willingly,
this case
both by the wife's direct inand by the concern he feels for their future welfare. This may be so, and no doubt often is so, with those who are more weak than wicked; and this beneficial influence would be preserved and strengthened under equal laws; it does not depend on the woman's servitude, but is, on the contrary, diminished by the disrespect which the inferior class of men always at heart feel towards those who are subject to their power. But when we ascend higher in the scale, we come among a totally different set of moving forces. The wife's influence tends, as far as
it
in
common
the country.
It
is
common
the auxiliary of the
ion.
A man who
his
inferior
in
is
any
and most
who
is
in these
If
those
truths
and
woman
is
the
but
level as
he himself
is
life,
at
but only
stake, the
has
given
a wife
and
to
Mrs.
hostages
it
a matter of indifference to him, of great importance to his wife.
is
The man himself may be above or
may
opinion,
compensation
find sufficient
in the
own way of thinkwomen connected with
opinion of those of his ing.
But
to
the
him, he can offer no compensation. The almost invariable tendency of the wife to place her influence
in
the
same
scale with
sometimes made a reproach to women, and represented as a peculiar trait of feebleness and childishness of character in them: surely with great injustice. Society makes the whole
social consideration,
the
of
common
that
Grundy. The approbation of that potentate
bonds, to attain
marriage
not the best
hesitate the longest
Whoever has
very severe.
may be
a
more conscientiously mankind— to all such
desires,
self-
while
disposed to sacri-
be not the comforts of
is still
drawbacks, unless he be so fortunate as to have a wife as much above heaviest
it
children
than the generality of
thoughts
man
unselfish
feel,
burthen upon his conscience and feelings
from the mass— if he sees truths which have not yet dawned upon them, or if, feeling in his heart truths which they nominally recognise, he would like to act to
is
social consideration,
exalted virtue. If he differs in his opinion
up
may
before bringing on her this consequence?
dead weight, or, worse than a dead weight, a drag, upon every aspiration of his to be better than public opinion requires him to be. It is hardly possible one
enthusiasm or the
the
fice are all in all to her; will
perpetual
for
of
the things which he
public opin-
her
none
in
approbation he himself
goes, to
finds
if she thought them worth would think so on trust, and sake— who could participate
sacrifice,
solely for his
The wife
married to a
intelligence,
unable to enter into or under-
made— who,
are
tends quite as strongly to it.
is
stand the objects for which these sacrifices
standard of approbation of
hinder him from rising above
same cause. But his daughters— their may depend upon it: and his
who
wife,
prevent the husband from falling below the
the
marriage
life
of a
woman,
in
tinued self-sacrifice;
is
the easy classes, a conit
exacts from her an
unremitting restraint of the whole of her
is.
520
Mill:
The Subjection
natural inclinations, and the sole retmn
makes
to her for
name
of
martyrdom,
a
Her consideration
is
is
she sees, they are as well entitled to as
some
consideration.
inseparably connected
operating
to lose
the cogency.
something not recognised or
tricity;
lowed world folly, is
for
it,
for
if
it
with her
thinks no worse!
in
al-
The dilemma
ple in general are kept
down which
it, by making profession of their beand giving their time, labour, and means, to anything undertaken in its be-
serve
Unlikeness
lief,
which
half.
men happen
to
of itself
cludes
them from, what
when
is
it
who
self (nine
Many
a
woman
may
is
but
attract,
and
it
is
likeness
proportion to the
in
the suitability of the individuals
are so unlike
arrest in limine the life-long conflict of in-
de-
clinations,
by deciding every question on
the side of their
own
When
preference.
be Very often
people are extremely unlike, there can
no
give the
identity
real
there
of
interest.
conscientious difference of opin-
is
between married people, on the highest points of duty. Is there any reality in the marriage union where this takes place? Yet it is not uncommon anywhere, when the woman has any earnestness of character; and it is a very general case indeed
tone to society would operate as an effectual exclusion.
create
disabilities
happy life. While men, it is not wonderful that selfish men should feel the need of arbitrary power in their own hands, to
women
pends mainly on what is thought of them personally— and however unexceptionable their breeding and habits, their being identified with opinions and public conduct unacceptable to those
becoming
to give each other a
considered the
their admission to
is
but of the broad line of
which those
retains;
likeness
when such
be of a rank and position neither gives them, nor ex-
which
best society;
is
medi-
in that
between the education and character of a woman and that of a man, requires to be considered. Nothing can be more unfavourable to that union of thoughts and inclinations which is the ideal of married life. Intimate society between people radically dissimilar to one another, is an idle dream.
they agree in opinion,
all
is
ocrity of respectability
difference
hold their opinion from conviction, and feel bound in honour and conscience to
The worst case of
or
more powerfully for not it any wonder that peo-
the
abilities directly,
thinking a
of men, who, without possessing talents which qualify them to make a figure among
whom
in
actively,
marked characteristic of modem times? There is another very injurious aspect in which the effect, not of women's dis-
hardest upon that very meritorious class
those with
influence
a
by the world, and which the
will agree
all
being asserted,
no reason of which she can She has sacrificed her whole life to it, and her husband will not sacrifice to it a whim, a freak, an eccenis
With such an
folks.
every house, either exerted
with that of her husband, and after paying the full price for it, she finds that she feel
perhaps honours, which, for aught
tions,
it
what often deserves the
Women
of
ion
flatters her-
times out of ten quite errone-
and her husband from moving in the highest society of her neighbourhood— society in which others well known to her, and in the same class of life, mix freely— except that her husband is unfortunately a Dissenter, or has the reputation of mingling in low radical politics. That it is, she thinks, which hinders George from getting a commission or a place, Caroline from making an advantageous match, and prevents her and her husband from obtaining invitaously) that nothing prevents her
in
when
Catholic countries,
ported
in
she
is
sup-
her dissent by the only other is taught to bow, With the usual barefacedness
authority to which she
the priest. of
power not accustomed the
disputed,
women
is
influence
attacked
by
of
find
itself
priests
over
to
Protestant
and
Liberal writers, less for being bad in self,
521
than because
it
is
it-
a rival authority
Great Books Library to
the husband,
and
raises
up
suppose that these differences of feeling and inclination only exist because women are brought up differently from men, and
revolt
a
against his infaHibiht)'. In England, similar
occasionally
differences
when
exist
an
there would not be differences of under any imaginable circumstances. But there is nothing beyond the mark in
Evangelical wife has allied herself with a
that
husband of
taste
a different quality; but in gen-
eral this source at least of dissension
is
got
by reducing the minds of women to such a nullity, that they have no opinions but those of Mrs. Grundy, or those which the husband tells them to have. When there is no difference of opinion, differences merely of taste may be sufficient to detract greatly from the happiness of married life. And though it may stimulate the amatory propensities of men, it does not conduce to married happiness, to exaggerate by differences of education whatever may be the native differences of
saying that the distinction in bringing up
rid of,
immensely aggravates those differences, and renders them wholly inevitable. While women are brought up as they are, a man and a woman will but rarely find in one another real agreement of tastes and wishes as to daily life. They will generally have to give it up as hopeless, and renounce the attempt to have, in the intimate assolife, that idem velle, idem nolle,^ which is the recognised bond of any society that is really such: or if the man succeeds in obtaining it, he does so by choosing a woman who is so complete a nullity that she has no velle or nolle at all, and is as ready to comply with one thing as another if anybody tells her to do so. Even this calculation is apt to fail; dullness and want of spirit are not
ciate of their daily
the sexes. If the married pair are wellbred and well-behaved people, they tolerate each other's tastes; but is mutual toleration
what people look forward to, when marriage? These differ-
they enter into
ences of inclination will naturally make their wishes different, if not restrained by affection or duty, as to almost all domestic
questions which arise.
What
always
which
a difference
there must be in the society which the two
a is
them. But
guarantee
of marriage?
quented by! Each
man
will
associates
desire
they were,
if
persons will wish to frequent, or be fre-
the
of
What,
obtain by
it,
submission
expected
confidently
so
in this case,
On
when each
of
two persons, instead
yet
a nothing,
is
a something;
postively
disagreeable
there can be none
the
to
who
other;
are not
totally
different
reign of Louis
visiting
lists,
as
in
partaking
the
XV. They cannot help havup each
will
wish
to see re-
in
either, or the wife has to
bitter suffering;
in the
other, partly
of each, but
yield— often with
and, with or without
same
things, assisted
by the insensible modification more by a real enriching of
and capacities of the other in addition to its own. This often happens between two
counterwork the husband's purposes.
would
of course
be extreme
by
the two natures, each acquiring the tastes
in-
tention, her occult influence continues to
It
are
sympathy, draws out the latent capacities of each for being interested in the things which were at first interesting onl\ to the other; and works a gradual assimilation of the tastes and characters to one an-
them their own tastes and sentiments: and there is either a compromise, and only a half-satisfaction to
produced
of being
when they
their
ing different wishes as to the bringing of the children:
the contrary,
attached to one another, and are not too much unlike to begin with; the constant
married people do not different parts of the house and have
to both, for in
a nurse, or a mistress?
common now live
does the
except an upper servant,
share their own tastes: the persons agreeable to one, will be indifferent or
who
from
this the ideal
is
folly to
4 "Willing and
522
niilinj^
tlu*
same
things.
The Subjection
Mill: friends of the
same
who
sex,
much
are
for
and it would not the commonest, case
of
Women
his
chosen,
timate, associate.
be a common,
improving,
if
did not the totally different
in marriage,
make
bringing up of the two sexes
form a
to an impossibility to
assorted union.
Were
this
as a general rule,
nimity
When
as
to
next
a
still
would
at
be
great
of
objects
be,
life.
and are a help and encouragement
each other in whatever regards these, the minor matters on which their tastes may differ are not all-important to them; to
and there
a foundation for solid friendenduring character, more likely than anything else to make it, through the whole of life, a greater pleasure to each to give pleasure to the other, than to reis
ship, of an
ceive
association of
it.
when
Mere
the
unlikeness
unlikeness,
when
is it
in-
only
means difference of good qualities, may be more a benefit in the way of mutual improvement, than a drawback from comfort. When each emulates, and desires and endeavours
to acquire, the other's peculiar
qualities the difference does not
produce
diversity of interest, but increased identity
and makes each still more valuable But when one is much the inferior of the two in mental ability and cultivation, and is not actively attempting by the other's aid to rise to the other's level, the whole influence of the connexion upon the development of the superior of the two is deteriorating: and still more so in a tolerably happy marriage than in an unhappy one. It is not with impunity that the superior in intellect shuts himself up with an inferior, and elects that inferior of
man almost always bewhen he is habitually
much
men
with
women
in
daily
and more complete than it ever was before. Men's life is more domestic. Formerly, their pleasures and chosen occupations were among men, and in men's company: their wives had but a fragment of their lives. At the present time, the progress of civilisation, and the turn of opinion against the rough amusements and convivial excesses which formerly occupied most men in their hours of relaxation— together with (it must be said) the improved tone of modern feeling as to the reciprocity of duty which binds the husband towards the wife— have thrown the man very much more upon home and its inmates, for his personal and social pleasures: while the kind and degree of improvement which has been made in women's education, has made them in some degree capable of being his companions in ideas and mental taste, while leaving them, in most cases, still hopelessly inferior to him. His desire of mental communion is thus in general satisfied by a communion from which he learns nothing. An unimproving and unstimulating companionship is substituted for (what he might otherwise have been obliged to seek) the society of his equals in powers and
have considered, thus far, the effects on the pleasures and benefits of the marriage union which depend on the mere unlikeness between the wife and the husband: but the evil tendency is prodigiously aggravated
really superior
life
I
feriority.
in-
phrase is) king of his company: and most habitual company the husband who has a wife inferior to him is always so. While his self-satisfaction is incessantly ministered to on the one hand, on the other he insensibly imbibes the modes of feeling, and looking at things, which belong to a more vulgar or a more limited mind than his own. This evil differs from many of those which have hitherto been dwelt on, by being an increasing one. The
the two persons both care for great
objects,
completely
in his
complete unity and una-
the
society
(as the
in in-
least
sole
Any
gins to deteriorate
really well-
remedied, what-
ever differences there might dividual tastes, there
it
is
the closer
so,
and
which is not deteriorating: and the more and more familiar it is. Even
associated in their daily hfe:
it,
to the other.
is
closer
his fellows in the higher pursuits.
523
We
see,
Great Books Lil)rary young men
accoidin^lx', that est
Thus
of the great-
promise generally cease to improve as
soon as they marry, and, not improving, inevitably
degenerate.
ing to
wife does
the
If
far,
the benefits which
has ap-
it
peared that the world would gain by ceas-
make
sex a disqualification for privi-
and a badge of subjection, are
leges
social
not push the husband forward, she always
rather than individual; consisting in an in-
holds him back. He ceases to care for what she does not care for; he no longer desires, and ends by disliking and shun-
crease of the general fund of thinking and
ning, society congenial to his former aspi-
men
rations,
and which would now shame his from them; his higher faculties both of mind and heart cease to be called into activity. And this change coinciding with the new and selfish interests which
ous understatement of the case to omit
falling-off
the most direct benefit of
acting power, and an improvement
general
may be
in
there exists that best kind of equal-
reciprocal
that each
ing
up
powers and capacities superiority
in
in
them— so
and can have
the
to
be guided and restrained
b\'
these
the exercise of their freedom; but they
do not therefore desire freedom less; they do not become disposed to accept the will of other people as the representative and
can enjoy the luxury of look-
to the other,
to
When they have learnt understand the meaning of duty and the value of reason, they incline more and more
with
the unspeak-
happiness
lawless freedom.
the case of
whom
of
all,
of
a griev-
them between a life of subjection to the and a life of rational freedom. After the primary necessities of food and raiment, freedom is the first and strongest want of human nature. While mankind are lawless, their desire is for to
similarity
private
would be
the
to
two persons of cultivated faculties, identical in opinions and purposes, between ity,
in
it
in
association
will of others,
pecuniary objects.
marriage
gain
the
liberated half of the species; the difference
created
common What
of
with women. Hut
able
by the family, after a feu' years he differs in no material respect from those who have never had wishes for anything but the common vanities and the are
conditions
alter-
On
nately the pleasure of leading and of be-
interpreter of those guiding principles.
ing led in the path of development— I will
which the reason has been most cultivated, and in which the idea of social duty has been most powerful, are those which have most strongly asserted the freedom of action of
not
attempt to describe.
To
those
the contrary,
who
no need; to those who cannot, it would appear the dream of an enthusiast. But I maintain, with the profoundest conviction, that this, and this only, is the ideal of marriage; and that all opinions, customs, and institutions which favour any other notion of it, or tinn the conceptions and aspirations connected with it into any other direction, by whatever pretences they may be coloured, are relics of primitive barbarism. The moral regeneration of mankind will only really commence, when the most fundamental of the social relations is placed under the rule of ecjual justice, and when human can conceive
beings
learn
it,
to
there
is
cultivate
sympathy with an
('(jual
their in
the
and
individual— the
liberty
govern his conduct duty,
scribe
b\' his
of
own
and by such laws and
straints
as
his
own
each
to
feelings of social
re-
to.
He who would ment
in
conscience can sub-
appreciate the
rightly
worth of personal independence of
happiness,
should
value he himself puts upon gredient of his own. There
is
as an ele-
consider the it
as
an
in-
no subject on
which there is a greater habitual difference of judgment between a man judging for himself, and the same man judging for other people. When he hears others com-
strongest
rights
the communities
in
plaiiung that the\
cultivation.
524
are
not
allowed free-
The Subjection
Mill:
dom
own
of action— that their
sufficient
influence
to
is,
himself
of
consider
their
managed? and answer
they
if
make
fail to
to these questions,
be
to
affairs
of
whom
people
Was
exceptionable
by a tutor
terests
nothing
his
as
the it
greatest
it
grievance
of
all,
mismanagement.
What
nations.
would
It is
of
citizen
any
listen to
a
offers of
itself
rendering
free
that
good and
exist
among
Even
skilful
if
country skil-
administration can
by a
lives
to the present, of the
which
gives
to
all
faculties,
that
But
of these feelings?
and
we may
assure ourselves, in the
feelings of
women.
Women
are
in
a
outward form. An active and energetic mind, if denied liberty, will seek for power: refused the command of itself, it will assert its personality by attempting to control others. To allow to any human beings no existence of their own but what depends on others, is giving far too high a premium on bending others to their purposes. Where liberty cannot be hoped for, and power can, power becomes the grand
ennobling influence the
being,
And does he imagine
different
government— the nerve and spring it
twice as
but the internal principle remains,
great rudeness
and imperfection in the details of public affairs? Let him rest assured that whatever he feels on this point, women feel in a fully equal degree. Whatever has been said or written, from the time of Herodotus of free
feel
human
schooled into suppressing them in their most natural and most healthy direction,
own, would not the consciousness of working out their own destiny under their own moral responsibility be a compenfeelings for
a
a striking fact, that the satisfactions
their part,
will not
their
sation to his
much
an influence these feelings exercise in their own lives. No less large and powerful is
he could believe
a people ruled
twice as
human feelings; perhaps because men compliment them in their own case with the names of so many other qualities, that they are seldom conscious how mighty
ful administration, in return for the abdi-
cation of freedom?
him
otherwise
natural
the same with
good and
manhood.
and mortifications of personal pride, though all in all to most men when the case is their own, have less allowance made for them in the case of other people, and are less listened to as a ground or a justification of conduct, than any other
in-
superfluous even to enter into the ques-
tion of
before?
is
not
if
bonds? Did he not
alive,
women have none
his personal exclusion
from the deciding authority appears
responsibilities of
not like the physical effect of tak-
painful,
much
him, does not
set over
-satisfy his feelings:
of
it
from obstructive, even
to
satisfy.
administration
and control of even
ing off a heavy weight, or releasing
out, in
But he has a quite different standard of judgment when he is deciding for himself. Then, the most unreasonable will
upon the
ing
him a sufficient case, he turns a deaf ear, and regards their complaint as the fanciful querulousness
man call to mind what he on emerging from boyhood—
loved and affectionate elders— and enter-
mis-
what appears
felt
from the tutelage
ask,
what are their grievances? what positive damage they sustain? and in what respect they
Women
piness? Let any
will has not
regulation
inclination
affairs— his
their
the
in
of
the
and higher objects which it presents to the intellect and feelings, the more unselfish public spirit, and calmer and broader views of duty, that it engenders, and the generally loftier platform on which it elevates the individual as a moral, spiritual, and social being— is every particle as true of women as of men. Are these things no important part of individual haplarger
object of
human
desire;
those to
whom
mancompenthey can, by meddling
others will not leave the undisturbed
agement
of their
sate themselves, for their
own if
affairs, will
own purposes with
the affaiis of
women's passion for personal beauty, and dress and display; and all the evils that flow from it, in the
others.
525
Hence
also
Great Books Library
way
and social impower and the love
of mischievous luxury
The
morality.
love of
of libert)' are in eternal antagonism.
there
least
is
liberty,
they have
Where
passion
the
serted by the sole occupation for fitted
which
themselves; and remain
with undiminished activity but with no
employment
for
for
imless perhaps a daugh-
it,
power is the most ardent and unsciiipulous. The desire of power over others can
ter or daughter-in-law
only cease to be a depraving agency among mankind, when each of them individually is able to do without it: which can only be where respect for liberty in the personal concerns of each is an established prin-
functions in her younger household. Surely
ciple.
women, and
But
it is
accounts their only social duty. Of such
and disposal of their own faculties is a source of individual happiness, and to be restricted in
unhappiness, to least
to
disease,
human
women. There
it,
want
life
as
though
as
ligion
Women who
rest,
expand— religion,
of feeling,
and of
cannot be a
action,
of
unless
in
re-
the
few of the administrative functions of government for which a person would not be fit, who is fit to bestow charity usefully. are
In
as
this
other cases (pre-eminently
in
in that of the
education of children), the
duties peiTnitted to
women
formed
without
properly,
cannot be pertheir
being
trained for duties which, to the great loss
And way in
of society, are not permitted to them.
whom, as new interests
here
but to
they are unal^le to acqiu're
this
form of charity. For charity many of them are by nature admirably fitted; but to practise it usefully, or even without doing mischief, requires the education, the manifold preparation, the knowledge and the thinking powers, of a skilful administrator. There
the
of a
they hope, of
to
But their
charity.
may be one
it
ceremonial observance,
worthy outlet for the active fachave the cares of a famiK', and while they have the cares of a family, have this outlet, and it generally suffices for them: but what of the greatly increasing number of women, who have had no opportunity of exercising the vocation which they are mocked by telling them is their proper one? What of the women whose children have been lost to them by death or distance, or have grown up, married, and formed homes of their own? There are abundant examples of men who, after a life engrossed by business, retire with a competency to the enjoyment, ulties.
and
religion
after
indigence, and guilt, so fatal to
the pleasurable enjoyment of
which are not suffered
tivities
and not
nothing,
whom
the only resources, speaking generally, are
a source of
beings, is
of those others to
duty has not been committed at all— many of whom pine through life with the consciousness of thwarted vocations, and ac-
not only through the sentiment
and
willing to abdicate
a hard lot for the old age of those who have worthily discharged, as long as it was given to them to discharge, what the world
of personal dignity, that the free direction
fettered
is
favour the discharge of the same
in their
let
me
notice the singular
which the question
and excitements that can replace the old, the change to a life of inactivit\' brings ennui, melancholy, and premature death. Yet no one thinks of the parallel case of so many worthy and devoted women, who, having paid what the\' are told is their debt to society— having brought up a family blamelessly to manhood and womanhood—having kept a house as long as they had a house needing to be kept— are de-
is
of
women's
disabilities
fre(}uently presented to view, b\- those
who
draw a ludicrous picdo not like, than to answer the arguments for it. When it is suggested that women's executive capacities and prudent counsels might sometimes be found valuable in affairs of State, these lovers of fun hold up to the ridicule of the find
ture of
it
easier to
what
the\'
world, as sitting
Cabinet,
526
girls
in
in
Parliament or
their
te(Mis,
or
in
the
Noung
The Subjection
Mill:
wives of two or three and twenty, transported bodily, exactly as
the)'
are,
from
the drawing-room to the
House
of
Com-
They
mons.
forget
males
not
usually selected at this early age for a seat
that
are
by its absence many a life is a failure, which is provided, in appearance, with
Parliament, or for responsible political
in
functions.
that
Common
vocation for married
other employment
life,
of
which society
yet
enough
to
present inevitable,
itself inflict
skilful
.society
them. The injudicious-
ness of parents, a youth's
nities for the
(as
presence
prefer to marriage
numbers
faculties
circum-
overcome, render such failures the
for
not
is
own
inexperi-
ence, or the absence of external opportu-
or preferring an-
their
many women even now
if
stances
need not
such as having no special
to
every requisite of success. But
often
them women,
tell
such trusts were confided to
if
would be
it
sense would
Womcti
of
congenial vocation, and their
an
for
men
uncongenial,
condemn
the attainment
doing one thing reluctantly and ill, when there are other things which they could have done well and happily. But on women this sentence is imposed by actual law, and by customs equivalent to law. What, in unenlightened societies, colour, race, religion, or in the case of a conquered country, nationality, are to some men, sex is to all women; a peremptory exclusion from almost all honourable occupations, but either such as cannot be fulfilled by others, or such as those others do not think worthy of their acceptance. Sufi^erings arising from causes of this nature usually meet with so little sympathy, that few persons are aware of the great amount of unhappiness
both of private and of public objects; and there are important matters of public ad-
even now produced by the feeling of a wasted life. The case will be even more
which few men are equally
frequent, as increased cultivation creates
among
a greater and greater disproportion between the ideas and faculties of women, and the scope which societx allows to their
some
few honourable occupations reach), have spent the best
of the
within their
years of their youth in attempting to qual-
themselves for the pursuits
ify
they desire to engage; or
still
in which more fre-
quently perhaps, widows or wives of forty fifty, by whom the knowledge of life and faculty of government which they have acquired in their families, could by
or
made
the aid of appropriate studies be
available on a less contracted scale. There is
no country of Europe
men have
in
which the ablest
not frequently experienced, and
keenly appreciated, the value of the ad-
and experienced
vice and help of clever
women
of the world,
ministration to
competent others, ture.
the
with
such
detailed
But what
in
we
women;
control
are
of
now
expendi-
discussing
is
not the need which society has of the services of
women
the dull and hopeless
which
to pass their lives in
activity.
When we
public business, but
in
of
consider
the
positive
evil
half
the
so
caused
condemns them, by forbidding them to exercise the practical abilities which many of them are conscious of, in any wider field than one which to some of them never was, and to others is no longer
human
profound dissatisfaction with
open.
are so often the substitute for
life
to
it
often
to
If
there
is
in
human
beings,
it
ver\'
This requisite of an enjoyable imperfectK'
granted,
or
disqualified
of
race by their disqualification— first
the loss of the most inspiriting and ele-
enjoyment, and
next in the weariness, disappointment, and
that
is
that they should relish their habitual pursuit.
the
vating kind of personal
an\thing vitally important
the happiness of
to
among
(juire for
the
life is
all
life, it;
the lessons which
which
one
feels
men
re-
carrying on the stniggle against
inevitable
imperfections of their
lot
on earth, there is no lesson which they more need, than not to add to the evils
altogether
denied, to a large part of mankind; and
527
Great Books Library which nature prejudiced
inflicts, b\' their
restrictions
on
jealous
one
by making them responsible for any evil actually caused by it), dries up pro tanto
and
another.
Their vain fears only substitute other and
the
worse evils for those which they are idly apprehensive of: while every restraint on the freedom of conduct of any of their human fellow-creatures (otherwise than
ness,
principal
fountain
of
an inappreciable degree, life
human
and leaves the species valuable
to
the
less
happirich,
in all that
individual
to
makes
human
being.
XOTE TO THE READER works On Liberty, Representative Government, and Utilitarianism are included in Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 43, pp. 267^76. His essay on Nature is printed in Gateway to the Great Books, Vol. 10, pp. 477-508. Further information on Mill's life can be found in the biographical notes introducing the above works. A selection from Mill's Autobiography is in-
and women and their equality or inequality can be found by consulting the citations under
Mill's
cluded 6,
in
Gateway
to the
5^7. What Great Books
Max
to say
Great Books, Vol.
of the
Western World
about the difference between
in the
Syntopicon.
the same problems with which Mill is concerned. Family 5a deals with the role of women in the family, 5b with the status of women in the state, and 5c with women in relation to war. Further discussion of the laws and customs regulating marriage can be found cited under Family 4d.
pp.
have
6/;
The position of women is the subject of Family 5, and the three topics under it contain many references to passages dealing with
men
528
PART FIVE
Additions to the Syntopicon
New Words and
The Great
Ideas
Additions to the Syntopicon
NEW WORDS AND THE GREAT IDEAS is like a river: the general form and shape remain the same, the banks sta\- put, but the water that flows by is always different. So too with words. Every
Lmguiige
is
r
every month sees a
year,
new
flood
and
a fact that familiarity
the old words cease to present the great ideas in all their range and depth. New words are needed to awaken us to their wealth and excitement. While new words can reveal new meanings, they sometimes also conceal old meanings and hide them from our view. This happens whenever a word strikes us
of
Some words are new because they name new things. "Sputnik" is an example. The word was new to us, although it was was
it
It is also
dulls our apprehension with the result that
them.
an old word to the Russians, but
too poor to express their full range
complexity.
new also for them as applied to the first man-made satellite. Many new words and usages, however, name not new things but old realities seen in a slightly new way. They throw new light on things that have
so
much
with
its
novelty that
presents a completely
new
we
believe
it
object and idea,
and ideas that contain and express the wis-
something no man has ever thought of beBlinded by the novelty, we fail to see how the word relates to the great ideas and conclude that the past can be dismissed as irrelevant. But the past of a great idea is never irrelevant to its present comprehension. In fact, it is fair to say that no great idea can be understood without under-
dom
standing
long been with us, single out aspects of
them
that
fore.
had not been emphasized be-
present them from novel points of
fore,
view. Such words as these, through their reference to things and ideas that
we
al-
ready know, are connected to the words of the past.
The most important new words
ideas are complex, many-faceted. Indeed, is
its
and wide-ranging significance. It takes many topics and issues to manifest and explore the implications of the idea and make clear the full range of its meaning, liecause great ideas are complex, no one word can ever catch all of their meaning. One word can at best locate and iden-
scope
tify
a single aspect of a great idea.
C
ness, helps to account not only for
its its
I
New
S
M OR CHARISMA Testament word now appearing
again
in
religious
discussions,
it
is
one with extended and even popular meanings. A theater manager, anaKzing
also
the
causes
of
Humphre\' Bogart's
post-
humous popularit)', sa\s: "The kids dig him because he's marvelously tough and
The
He comes
on hip and existential— neck out for nobody.' He also has that drifting quality. No occupation, no connection with family, community or country. He has terrific charisma." (News-
direct. 'I
standing. of a great idea,
HAR
A
mind, wrestling with these ideas, must continually find and make up new words with which to express its changing under-
Thus the density
past. As examples of this, let some words that have recently
been introduced into our language or that have received renewed currency.
those that involve the great ideas. Great the measure of an idea's greatness
its
us examine
are
rich-
per-
stick
my
week, November
and discussion but also for the necessity of introducing new words and usages to manifest and develop its significance. Language is never adequate to the great ideas. It is as though at any given
sistence in thought
1,
1965,
In this context, the
p. 94.)
word seems
to
mean
more than attraction for a certain group and power over them. It derives oiigiiially from the Greek word for gift, and Paul uses it of the various "spiritual little
time the language available from the past
530
Ncto Words
Don
possessed by the leaders of the Chris-
gifts"
.
.
another
For further discussion of the
.
.
(GBWW,
Syntopicon
.
of
the working of miracles, to another proph-
ECY gion
between
HoxoR
another various kinds of
and 3), esunder Phoph-
Vols. 2
pecially the passages cited
ecy, to another the ability to distinguish spirits, to
gifts
leadership, the reader should consult the
healing ... to another
gifts of
texts bequeathed by their au(The Literary Situation, 1954.)
thors."
.
ance of knowledge ... to another faith to
Quixote, Phcdre, Faust— ixW these are
more than
"There are varieties of gifts [charismaton]" he writes, "but the same Spirit. ... To one is given the utterance of wisdom, and to another the uttertian church.
the vocation of the prophet; Reli-
2:
the church as the mystical body;
3/;:
5/;:
hero-worship: the exaltation of
and History
tongues, to another the interpretation of
leaders;
tongues"
individual in history: the great man, hero.
Cor. 12: 4-10).
(I
4a(4): the role of the
Aquinas' analysis of this notion indicates
MM
how
the word has come to have some of its extended meanings. Aquinas considers the
C O
various gifts of which Paul speaks as ex-
A
amples of "gratuitous grace," called thus becavise "it is bestowed on a man beyond the capability of nature, and beyond the merit of the person.
but rather that he justification of
gica, p.
I-II,
352b).
.
.
.
may
other: "I have a desperate need for commitment, and what happens? I'm offered a job!" p. 30.)
Theolo-
The
20,
the
divinely
cording to both Aquinas and Paul, a
man
and applied
its
By
and even a
still
to the
Mohammed
works and of a recent
"human
existence
ciety,
power, experience, nature, reason,
family, state, or
some supernatural
but some commitment
are charis-
is
reality,
inevitable." (H.
A. Durfee, Journal of Reli