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I The Elements of Worth in the Individual 9

II Character: Its Materials and External Teachers 33

V The Mind and the Duty of Right Thinking 99

VI The Moral Uses of Memory 123

X Visions that Disturb Contentment 213

THE ELEMENTS OF WORTH IN THE INDIVIDUAL

THE ELEMENTS OF WORTH IN THE INDIVIDUAL

Our scientific experts are investigating the wastes of society. Their reports indicate that man is a great spendthrift. He seems not so much a husbandman, making the most of the treasures of his life-garden, as a robber looting a storehouse for booty.

Travelers affirm that one part of the northern pineries has been wasted by man's careless fires and much of the rest by his reckless axe. Coal experts insist that a large percentage of heat passes out of the chimney. The new chemistry claims that not a little of the precious ore is cast upon the slag heap.

In the fields the farmers overlook some ears of corn and pass by some handfuls of wheat. In the work-room the scissors leave selvage and remnant. In the mill the saw and plane refuse slabs and edges. In the kitchen a part of what the husband carries in, the wife's wasteful cooking casts out. But the secondary wastes involve still heavier losses. Man's carelessness in the factory breaks delicate machinery, his ignorance spoils raw materials, his idleness burns out boilers, his recklessness blows up engines; and no skill of manager in juggling figures in January can retrieve the wastes of June.

Passing through the country the traveler finds the plow rusting in the furrow, mowers and reapers exposed to rain and snow; passing through the city he sees the docks lined with boats, the alleys full of broken vehicles, while the streets exhibit some broken-down men. A journey through life is like a journey along the trackway of a retreating army; here a valuable ammunition wagon is abandoned because a careless smith left a flaw in the tire; there a brass cannon is deserted because a tug was improperly stitched; yonder a brave soldier lies dying in the thicket where he fell because excited men forgot the use of an ambulance. What with the wastes of intemperance and ignorance, of idleness and class wars, the losses of society are enormous. But man's prodigality with his material treasures does but interpret his wastefulness of the greater riches of mind and heart. Life's chief destructions are in the city of man's soul. Many persons seem to be trying to solve this problem: "Given a soul stored with great treasure, and three score and ten years for happiness and usefulness, how shall one kill the time and waste the treasure?" Man's pride over his casket stored with gems must be modified by the reflection that daily his pearls are cast before swine, that should have been woven into coronets.

Man's evident failure to make the most out of his material life suggests a study of the elements in each citizen that make him of value to his age and community. What are the measurements of mankind, and why is it that daily some add new treasures to the storehouse of civilization, while others take from and waste the store already accumulated? These are questions of vital import. Many and varied estimates of man's value have been made. Statisticians reckon the average man's value at 0 a year. Each worker in wood, iron or brass stands for an engine or industrial plant worth ,000, producing at 6 per cent. an income of 0. The death of the average workman, therefore, is equivalent to the destruction of a ,000 mill or engine. The economic loss through the non-productivity of 20,000 drunkards is equal to one Chicago fire involving two hundred millions. Of course, some men produce less and others more than 0 a year; and some there are who have no industrial value--non-producers, according to Adam Smith; paupers, according to John Stuart Mill; thieves, according to Paul, who says, "Let him that stole steal no more, but rather work." In this group let us include the tramps, who hold that the world owes them a living; these are they who fail to realize that society has given them support through infancy and childhood; has given them language, literature, liberty. Wise men know that the noblest and strongest have received from society a thousandfold more than they can ever repay, though they vex all the days and nights with ceaseless toil. In this number of non-sufficing persons are to be included the paupers--paupers plebeian, supported in the poorhouse by many citizens; paupers patrician, supported in palace by one citizen, generally father or ancestor; the two classes differing in that one is the foam at the top of the glass and the other the dregs at the bottom. To these two groups let us add the social parasites, represented by thieves, drunkards, and persons of the baser sort whose business it is to trade in human passion. We revolt from the red aphides upon the plant, the caterpillar upon the tree, the vermin upon bird or beast. How much more do we revolt from those human vermin whose business it is to propagate parasites upon the body politic! The condemnation of life is that a man consumes more than he produces, taking out of society's granary that which other hands have put in. The praise of life is that one is self-sufficing, taking less out than he put into the storehouse of civilization.

A man's original capital comes through his ancestry. Nature invests the grandsire's ability, and compounds it for the grandson. Plato says: "The child is a charioteer driving two steeds up the long life-hill; one steed is white, representing our best impulses; one steed is dark, standing for our worst passions." Who gave these steeds their color? Our fathers, Plato replies, and the child may not change one hair, white or black. Oliver Wendell Holmes would have us think that a man's value is determined a hundred years before his birth. The ancestral ground slopes upward toward the mountain-minded man. The great never appear suddenly. Seven generations of clergymen make ready for Emerson, each a signboard pointing to the coming philosopher. The Mississippi has power to bear up fleets for war or peace because the storms of a thousand summers and the snows of a thousand winters have lent depth and power. The measure of greatness in a man is determined by the intellectual streams and moral tides flowing down from the ancestral hills and emptying into the human soul. The Bach family included one hundred and twenty musicians. Paganini was born with muscles in his wrists like whipcords. What was unique in Socrates was first unique in Sophroniscus. John ran before Jesus, but Zacharias foretold John. No electricity along rope wires, and no vital living truths along rope nerves to spongy brain. There are millions in our world who have been rendered physical and moral paupers by the sins of their ancestors. Their forefathers doomed them to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. A century must pass before one of their children can crowd his way up and show strength enough to shape a tool, outline a code, create an industry, reform a wrong. Despotic governments have stunted men--made them thin-blooded and low-browed, all backhead and no forehead. Each child has been likened to a cask whose staves represent trees growing on hills distant and widely separated; some staves are sound and solid, standing for right-living ancestors; some are worm eaten, standing for ancestors whose integrity was consumed by vices. At birth all the staves are brought together in the infant cask--empty, but to be filled by parents and teachers and friends. As the waste-barrel in the alley is filled with refuse and filth, so the orphan waifs in our streets are made receptacles of all vicious thoughts and deeds. These children are not so much born as damned into life. But how different is the childhood of some others. On the Easter day, in foreign cathedrals, a beauteous vase is placed beside the altar, and as the multitudes crowd forward and the solemn procession moves up the aisles, men and women cast into the vase their gifts of gold and silver and pearls and lace and rich textures. The well-born child seems to be such a vase, unspeakably beautiful, filled with knowledges and integrities more precious than gold and pearls. "Let him who would be great select the right parents," was the keen dictum of President Dwight.

The second measure of a man's value to society is found in his original endowment of physical strength. The child's birth-stock of vital force is his capital to be traded upon. Other things being equal his productive value is to be estimated mathematically upon the basis of physique. Born weak and nerveless, he must go to society's ambulance wagon, and so impede the onward march. Born vigorous and rugged, he can help to clear the forest roadway or lead the advancing columns. Fundamentally man is a muscular machine for producing the ideas that shape conduct and character. All fine thinking stands with one foot on fine brain fiber. Given large physical organs, lungs with capacity sufficient to oxygenate the life-currents as they pass upward; large arteries through which the blood may have full course, run, and be glorified; a brain healthy and balanced with a compact nervous system, and you have the basis for computing what will be a man's value to society. Men differ, of course, in ways many--they differ in the number and range of their affections, in the scope of conscience, in taste and imagination, and in moral energy. But the original point of variance is physical. Some have a small body and a powerful mind, like a Corliss engine in a tiny boat, whose frail structure will soon be racked to pieces. Others are born with large bodies and very little mind, as if a toy engine were set to run a mudscow. This means that the poor engineer must pole up stream all his life. Others, by ignorance of parent, or accident through nurse, or through their own blunder or sin, destroy their bodily capital. Soon they are like boats cast high and dry upon the beach, doomed to sun-cracking and decay. Then, in addition to these absolute weaknesses, come the disproportions of the body, the distemperature of various organs. It is not necessary for spoiling a timepiece to break its every bearing; one loose screw stops all the wheels. Thus a very slight error as to the management of the bodily mechanism is sufficient to prevent fine creative work as author, speaker, or inventor. Few men, perhaps, ever learn how to so manage their brain and stomach as to be capable of high-pressure brain action for days at a time--until the cumulative mental forces break through all obstacles and conquer success. A great leader represents a kind of essence of common sense, but rugged common sense is sanity of nerve and brain. He who rules and leads must have mind and will, but he must have chest and stomach also. Beecher says the gun carriage must be in proportion to the gun it carries. When health goes the gun is spiked. Ideas are arrows, and the body is the bow that sends them home. The mind aims; the body fires.

Good health may be better than genius or wealth or honor. It was when the gymnasium had made each Athenian youth an Apollo in health and strength that the feet of the Greek race ran most nimbly along the paths of art and literature and philosophy.

Another test of a man's value is an intellectual one. The largest wastes of any nation are through ignorance. Failure is want of knowledge; success is knowing how. Wealth is not in things of iron, wood and stone. Wealth is in the brain that organizes the metal. Pig iron is worth a ton; made into horse shoes, ; into knife blades, 0; into watch springs, ,000. That is, raw iron , brain power, 0. Millet bought a yard of canvas for 1 franc, paid 2 more francs for a hair brush and some colors; upon this canvas he spread his genius, giving us "The Angelus." The original investment in raw material was 60 cents; his intelligence gave that raw material a value of 5,000. One of the pictures at the World's Fair represented a savage standing on the bank of a stream, anxious but ignorant as to how he could cross the flood. Knowledge toward the metal at his feet gave the savage an axe; knowledge toward the tree gave him a canoe; knowledge toward the union of canoes gave him a boat; knowledge toward the wind added sails; knowledge toward fire and water gave him the ocean steamer. Now, if from the captain standing on the prow of that floating palace, the City of New York, we could take away man's knowledge as we remove peel after peel from an onion, we would have from the iron steamer, first, a sailboat, then a canoe, then axe and tree, and at last a savage, naked and helpless to cross a little stream. In the final analysis it is ignorance that wastes; it is knowledge that saves; it is wisdom that gives precedence. If sleep is the brother of death, ignorance is full brother to both sleep and death. An untaught faculty is at once quiescent and dead. An ignorant man has been defined as one "whom God has packed up and men have not unfolded. The best forces in such a one are perpetually paralyzed. Eyes he has, but he cannot see the length of his hand; ears he has, and all the finest sounds in creation escape him; a tongue he has, and it is forever blundering." A mechanic who has a chest of forty tools and can use only the hammer, saw, and gimlet, has little chance with his fellows and soon falls far behind. An educated mind is one fully awakened to all the sights and scenes and forces in the world through which he moves. This does not mean that a ,000 man can be made out of a two-cent boy by sending him to college. Education is mind-husbandry; it changes the size but not the sort. But if no amount of drill will make a Shetland pony show a two-minute gait, neither will the thoroughbred show this speed save through long and assiduous and patient education. The primary fountains of our Nation's wealth are not in fields and forests and mines, but in the free schools, churches, and printing presses. Ignorance breeds misery, vice, and crime. Mephistopheles was a cultured devil, but he is the exception. History knows no illiterate seer or sage or saint. No Dante or Shakespeare ever had to make "his X mark."

When John Cabot Lodge made his study of the distribution of ability in the United States, he found that in ninety years five of the great Western States had produced but twenty-seven men who were mentioned in the American and English encyclopedias, while little Massachusetts had 2,686 authors, orators, philosophers, and builders of States. But analysis shows that the variance is one of education and ideas. Boston differs from Quebec as differ their methods of instruction. The New England settlers were Oxford and Cambridge men that represented the best blood, brain, and accumulated culture of old England. Landing in the forest they clustered their cabins around the building that was at once church, school, library, and town hall. Rising early and sitting up late they plied their youth with ideas of liberty and intelligence. They came together on Sunday morning at nine o'clock to listen to a prayer one hour long, a sermon of three hours, and after a cold lunch heard a second brief sermon of two hours and a half--those who did not die became great. What Sunday began the week continued. We may smile at their methods but we must admire the men they produced. Mark the intellectual history of Northampton. During its history this town has sent out 114 lawyers, 112 ministers, 95 physicians, 100 educators, 7 college presidents, 30 professors, 24 editors, 6 historians, 14 authors, among whom are George Bancroft, John Lothrop Motley, Professor Whitney, the late J.G. Holland; 38 officers of State, 28 officers of the United States, including members of the Senate, and one President. How comes it that this little colony has raised up this great company of authors, statesmen, reformers? No mere chance is working here. The relation between sunshine and harvest is not more essential than the relation between these folk and their renowned descendants. Fruit after his kind is the divine explanation of Northampton's influence upon the nation. "Education makes men great" is the divine dictum. George William Curtis has said: "The Revolutionary leaders were all trained men, as the world's leaders always have been from the day when Themistocles led the educated Athenians at Salamis, to that when Von Moltke marshaled the educated Germans against France. The sure foundations of states are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at book learning, which is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind, is the demagogue's sneer at intelligent liberty, inviting national degeneration and ruin."

Consider, also, how the misfits of life affect man's value. The successful man grasps the handle of his being. He moves in the line of least resistance. That one accomplishes most whose heart sings while his hand works. Like animals men have varied uses. The lark sings, the ox bears burdens, the horse is for strength and speed. But men who are wise toward beasts are often foolish toward themselves. Multitudes drag themselves toward the factory or field who would have moved toward the forum with "feet as hind's feet." Other multitudes fret and chafe in the office whose desires are in the streets and fields. Whoever scourges himself to a task he hates serves a hard master, and the slave will get but scant pay. If a farmer should hitch horses to a telescope and try to plow with it he would ruin the instrument in the summer and starve his family in the winter. Not the wishes of parent, nor the vanity of wife, nor the pride of place, but God and nature choose occupation. Each child is unique, as new as was the first arrival upon this planet. The school is to help the boy unpack what intellectual tools he has; education does not change, but puts temper into these tools. No man can alter his temperament, though trying to he can break his heart. How pathetic the wrecks of men who have chosen the wrong occupation! The driver bathes the raw shoulder of a horse whose collar does not fit, but when men make their misfits and the heart is sore society does not soothe, but with whips it scourges the man to his fruitless task. This large class may be counted unproductive. John Stuart Mill placed the industrial mismatings among the heavier losses of society.

To this element of wisdom in relating one's self to duties must be added skill in maintaining smooth relations with one's fellows. Men may produce much by industry and ability, and yet destroy more by the malign elements they carry. The proud domineering employer tears down with one hand what he builds up with the other. One foolish man can cost a city untold treasure. How many factories have failed because the owner has no skill in managing men and mollifying difficulties. History shows that stupid thrones and wars go together, while skillful kings bring long intervals of peace. Contrasting the methods of two prominent men, an editor once said: "The first man in making one million cost society ten millions; but the other so produced his one million as to add ten more to society's wealth." A most disastrous strike in England's history had its origin in ignorance of this principle. The miners of a certain coal field had suffered a severe cut in wages. They had determined to accept it, though it took their children out of school, and took away their meat dinner. When the hour appointed for the conference came, prudence would have dictated that every cause of irritation be guarded against. But the employer foolishly drove his liveried carriage into the center of the vast crowd of workmen, and for an hour flaunted his wealth before the sore-hearted miners. When the men saw the footman, the prancing horses, the gold-plated harness, and thought of their starving wives, they reversed their acceptance of the cut in wages. They plunged into a long strike, taking this for their motto: "Furs for his footmen and gold plate for his horses, and also three meals a day for our wives and children." Now, the ensuing strike and riots, long protracted, cost England ?5,000,000. But that bitter strike was all needless. These are the men who take off the chariot wheels for God's advancing hosts. When one comes to the front who has skill in allaying friction, all society begins a new forward march. Skill in personal carriage has much to do with a man's value.

Integrity enhances human worth. Iniquities devastate a city like fire and pestilence. Social wealth and happiness are through right living. Goodness is a commodity. Conscience in a cashier has a cash value. If arts and industries are flowers and fruits, moralities are the roots that nourish them. Disobedience is slavery. Obedience is liberty. Disobedience to law of fire or water or acid is death. Obedience to law of color gives the artist his skill; obedience to the law of eloquence gives the orator his force; obedience to the law of iron gives the inventor his tool; disobedience to the law of morals gives waste and want and wretchedness. That individual or nation is hastening toward poverty that does not love the right and hate the wrong. So certain is the penalty of wrongdoing that sin seems infinitely stupid. Every transgression is like an iron plate thrown into the air; gravity will pull it back upon the wrongdoer's head to wound him. It has been said for a man to betray his trust for money, is for him to stand on the same intellectual level with a monkey that scalds its throat with boiling water because it is thirsty. A drunkard is one who exchanges ambrosia and nectar for garbage. A profligate is one who declines an invitation to banquet with the gods that he may dine out of an ash barrel. What blight is to the vine, sin is to a man. When the first thief appeared in Plymouth colony a man was withdrawn from the fields to make locks for the houses; when two thieves came a second toiler was withdrawn from the factory to serve as night watchman. Soon others were taken from productive industry to build a jail and to interpret and execute the law. Every sin costs the state much hard cash. Consider what wastes hatred hath wrveit??n ja itsens?hillitsemist?. Egypti oli purevan ja juoruavan panettelun pes?paikka, eik? kumminkaan siell?k??n voitu kuiskutella sanaakaan h?nen el?m?ns? tahrattomuutta vastaan. Ja kun kotimatkalla h?nen puolisonsa kuoli, ei syv??n juurtunut taikausko, joka katsoi vaaralliseksi purjehtia merell? ruumis laivassa, ei vaara, myrsky, ei haaksirikon uhka saattanut karkoittaa h?nt? puolison ruumiin ??rest?, ennenkuin h?n oli t?lle turvannut s??dyllisen ja kunniallisen hautauksen. Siin? hyv?n ja sankarillisen naisen piirteit?; ja ett? h?nt? el?hyttiv?t samat kunnioituksen tunteet kuin sisarenpoikaa, joka on niin innokas h?nt? kiitt?m??n, sen saattaa p??tell? siit?, ett? kun Seneca ensi kertaa tavoitti valtion virkaa, t?ti riist?ysi irti tavanomaisesta koturiolostaan, kukisti hetkeksi naisellisen arkatuntoisuutensa ja auttaakseen h?nt? ??nten onkimisessa h?nen t?htens? rohkeasti esiintyi keskell? joukkoja, jotka karkean julkealla, pyydystelev?ll? kohullaan t?yttiv?t Rooman foorumin ja kadut.

Kaksi velje?, kesken??n hyvin erilaista tavoiltaan ja luonteeltaan, t?ydensi perheenpiirin, Marcus Annaeus Novatus ja Lucius Annaeus Mela, joista edellinen oli vanhempi, j?lkimm?inen nuorempi kuuluisampaa velje?ns?.

Marcus Annaeus Novatus on historiassa tunnettu nimell? Junius Gallio, mink? nimen h?n otti samannimisen puhujan, is?ns? yst?v?n, ottopoikana. H?n ei ole kukaan muu kuin Apostolien tekojen Gallio, Akaian k?skynhaltija, jonka nimi on tullut kristittyjen kesken yleisesti mainituksi kuvaamaan hyv?ns?vyist? v?linpit?m?tt?myytt? uskonasioissa.

Kuitenkin on se kohtaus, jossa Raamattu vilaukselta n?ytt?? h?nt? meille, suuresti v??rin ymm?rretty, ja kun puhutaan "v?linpit?m?tt?m?st? Galliosta" tai kun lis?ksi lauselma, ett? "h?n ei v?litt?nyt siit? mit??n", k?sitet??n piittaamattomuudeksi uskonnon asioissa, niin kertomuksen henki selitet??n kokonaan v??rin. Itse asiassa oli tapaus n?in. Paavalin saarnojen menestyksest? kiukustuneina juutalaiset vetiv?t h?net Gallion tuomioistuimen eteen ja syyttiv?t h?nt? laittomien jumalanpalvelusmuotojen k?yt?nt??n ottamisesta. Kun apostoli k?vi puolustautumaan, Gallio ylenkatseellisesti keskeytti h?net sanoen juutalaisille: "Jos olisi tehty rikos tai paha ilkity?, olisi kohtuullista, ett? k?rsiv?llisesti kuuntelisin teit?. Mutta jos teill? on riitakysymyksi? opista ja nimist? ja teid?n laistanne, olkoot ne teid?n huolenanne; niit? en min? tahdo ratkaista." N?in sanoen h?n ajoi heid?t pois tuomioistuimensa edest? juuri samalla roomalaisen ylenkatseellisella ylemmyydell? juutalaisia ja heid?n uskonasioitaan kohtaan kuin mit? my?hemmin Festus osoitti ep?ilij?? Agrippaa kohtaan ja jota Pontius Pilatus varemmin oli ilmaissut h?liseviin farisealaisiin n?hden. Riemastuen t?st? vihattujen juutalaisten tappiosta ja n?enn?isesti asettuen Paavalin puolelle kreikkalaiset sitten tunkeutuivat rakennukseen, ottivat kiinni Sosteneen, juutalaisten synagoganesimiehen, ja l?iv?t h?nt? k?skynhaltijan silmien edess? t?m?n istuessa tuomioistuimellaan. T?t? tapahtumaa Gallio katseli niin j?rk?ht?m?tt?m?ll? ylenkatseella. Mit? se lainkaan liikutti h?nt?, suurta k?skynhaltijaa, pieksiv?tk? kreikkalaiset kurjaa juutalaisparkaa vaiko ei? Niin kauan kuin he eiv?t tehneet mit??n kapinaa tai aiheuttaneet h?nelle lis?? kiusaa siit? jupakasta, saattoivat he hakata Sosteneen tai miten monta juutalaista tahansa vaikka kuinka sinelmille, jos se heit? huvitti, kaikki se oli h?nelle aivan yhdentekev??.

Ainoa piirre h?nest?, mik? on s?ilynyt meille, asettaa h?net ahneutensa takia kerrassaan ep?edulliseen valoon. Kun h?nen kuuluisa poikansa, tuo onneton runoilija, oli tuomittu hengilt? ja toisekseen sy?ssyt itsens? h?pe??n ilmaisemalla oman ?itins?, Atillan, osalliseksi Pison salaliittoon, Mela ei suinkaan murtunut h?pe??n ja tuskaan, vaan julkean itarana viipym?tt? rupesi ker??m??n poikansa saatavia, ik??nkuin osoittaakseen Nerolle, ett? tuo menetys ei tuottanut h?nelle suurtakaan surua. Mutta t?m? ei riitt?nyt Neron pohjattomalle ilkeydelle; Nero vaati Melaa seuraamaan poikaansa, ja h?nen oli pakko totella k?sky? ja kuolla.

Jos Helvia eli poikiansa ja pojanpoikiansa kauemmin, niin h?n ep?ilem?tt? katkerasti katui sit? p?iv??, jolloin h?n puolisonsa ja pienten lastensa kera luopui C?rdovan hiljaisesta ja rauhallisesta el?m?st?. Jokainen h?nen kolmesta pojastaan varttui nerolliseksi mieheksi ja jokainen heist? joutui tahraamaan muistoansa teoilla, jotka heid?n olisi ollut parempi j?tt?? tekem?tt?, ja kuolemaan v?kivaltaisen kuoleman oman k?tens? kantta tahi tyrannin tahdosta. Mela kuoli kuten olemme n?hneet; h?nen poikansa Lucanuksen ja veljens? Senecan ajoi kuolemaan Neron julma k?sky. N?yrrytty??n hurjan pelon vallassa armonanomuksiin henkens? s?ilytt?miseksi Gallio lopulta kuoli itsemurhan kautta. H?pe?llisen ja surkean lopun saivat kaikki; osaksi se johtui heid?n omista erehdyksist??n, osaksi ankarasta v?ltt?m?tt?myydest? niin? turmeluksen aikoina, joissa he eliv?t.

SENECAN KASVATUS.

Syyst?, johon jo olen viitannut -- tarkoitan sit? ett? vanhanajan kirjailijat yleisesti ovat niin vaiteliaita lapsuudenaikansa suhteen -- ei ole helppo muodostaa kovinkaan el?v?? k?sityst? siit? kasvatuksen laadusta, mit? roomalaispoika hyv?st? perheest? sai viidenteentoista ik?vuoteensa menness?, jolloin h?n heitti pois kultaisen amuletin ja ompeleilla kirjaillun toogan astuakseen riippumattomampaan el?m?nmuotoon.

Muutamia seikkoja me kumminkin voimme ker?t? Horatiuksen, Juvenaliksen, Martialiksen ja Persiuksen sinne t?nne sinuttelemista viitteist?. N?ilt? runoilijoilta me saamme tiet??, ett? koulunopettajat olivat enimm?kseen huonosti palkattuja ja ylenkatsottuja, vaikka heilt? toiselta puolen tiukasti vaadittiin yht? turhantarkkaa kuin hy?dyt?nt? oppia. Saamme my?skin tiet??, ett? he olivat ylenm??rin ankaroita ruumiillisen kurituksen k?ytt?misess?; Orbilius, Horatiuksen opettaja, n?ytt?? olleen todellinen tohtori Busby, ja runoilija Martialis muistelee mieliharmilla niit? raakamaisia rankaisuja, joita h?nen joka p?iv? t?ytyi olla n?kem?ss?.

T?m?ntapaista, sanoja ja lausetapoja koskevaa tekstinlukemista sek? fantastista muinaistiedett? kohtaan Seneca, joka varmaankin oli kaiken sen kiirastulen l?pik?ynyt, ilmaisee syv?? ja hyvin ymm?rrett?v?? halveksumista. Eritt?in huvittavassa kohdassa h?n asettaa vastakkain sen hy?dyn, mik? l?htisi toiselta puolen filosoofin, toiselta kieliopin opettajan antamasta Virgilius-tunnista. P??sten s?keisiin

Optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus aevi Prima fugit; subeunt morbi, tristique senectus.

Vasta sitten, kun pelk?t kouluopinnot olivat p??ttyneet, poika alkoi vakavasti k?yd? k?siksi kaunopuheisuuden ja filosofian tutkimiseen, mitk? opinnot sen vuoksi vastaavat tavallaan meid?n "yliopistokasvatusta". Gallio ja Mela, Senecan vanhempi ja nuorempi veli, antautuivat t?ydell? harrastuksella kaunopuheisuuden teorian ja k?yt?nn?n harjoitukseen; Seneca teki harvinaisemman ja viisaamman vaalin omistautuessaan koko innostuksellansa filosofian tutkimiseen.

Rajattoman deklamoimisen aika, herke?m?tt?m?n jaarittelun aika on taimilava, jossa tunteen todellinen syvyys ja ylevyys kantaa ep?kelpoja hedelmi?. Tyyli ei ole milloinkaan kehnompaa kuin niin? aikoina, jolloin muuta kuin sit? opetetaan vain hyvin v?h?n. Sellainen opetus aiheuttaa ajatusten tyhjyyden, joka k?tkeytyy sanavuolauden taa. T?m? lukemattomain puhujataidon mestarien aika oli erikoisen silm??npist?v?sti rappeutumisen ja kuihtumisen aikakautta. Siin? ilmenee ontto kaiku, sen ??ness? falsettis?vy, kiusaava kirjallinen v??nne sen kirjailijain esitystavassa. Sen nerokkaatkin kirjailijat oli vallitseva muoti pilannut ja turmellut. He eiv?t osaa mit??n sanoa yksinkertaisesti: aina he liikkuvat koturnilla. Viel?p? heid?n suuttumuksensakin ja syd?men katkeruutensa, niin todenper?inen kuin onkin, pukeutuu teatraaliseen ilmaisumuotoon.

T?ynn? tyhjyyksi? ovat heid?n kirjoituksensa. Koko heid?n esityksens? t?rvelev?t teenn?inen k?tevyys, antiteesit, epigrammit, paradoksit, haetut ilmaisukeinot, puhekuvat ja -k??nteet, jotka tavoittelevat muka alkuvoimaisuutta ja syv?llisyytt?, vaikka m?rehtiv?tkin vain pelkki? yleisi? jokap?iv?isi? lauselmia. Mit? muuta saattoikaan odottaa moiselta aikakaudelta, kun puhujat olivat palkatut ja kasvatetut pintapuolisen puhelun pett?v?ss? ilmapiiriss? ja alituiseen jaarittelivat ja h?pisiv?t suurista intohimoista, joita eiv?t olleet koskaan tunteneet, ja suurista teoista, joita j?ljittelem??n he kaikkein viimeisin? olisivat ryhtyneet. Alituiseen ruhjottuaan Tarquiniukset ja Peisistratoot p?yhkeilev?ss? kaunosanaisuudessa he olisivat alentuneet nuolemaan tyrannin kenkien tomuakin. Mitenk? kaunopuheisuus jaksaisikaan en?? el??, kun ylev?mielisyys ja vapaus, jotka siihen innostavat, olivat kuolleet, ja kun miehet ja kirjat, jotka julistivat sit? opettavansa, olivat t?ynn? arvottomia osviittoja siit?, miss? asennossa puhujan tulee pit?? k?si??n tai oliko h?nelle edullista vaiko ei ly?d? l?isk?hytt?? otsaansa tahi p?rr?tt?? tukkaansa.

Filosofialla oli poikavuosista asti ollut voimakas vaikutus Senecan palavaan sieluun, ja sen opetus oli ainakin parempaa kuin t?m?; ja enemm?n kuin yksi h?nen filosofian-opettajistaan onnistui voittamaan h?nen l?mpim?n kiintymyksens? sek? kaavailemaan h?nen el?m?ns? periaatteita ja elintapoja. Kaksi heist? h?n mainitsee erikoisella kunnioituksella, nim. pytagorealaisen Sotionin ja stoalaisen Attaluksen. H?n kuunteli my?skin sujuvakielisen, sulosanaisen Fabianus Papiriuksen luentoja, mutta n?ytt?? perineen h?nelt? v?hemm?n kuin muilta opettajiltaan.

Sotion oli omaksunut Pytagoraan ajatuskannan sielun vaelluksesta, opin, joka tuomitsi liharuuan nauttimisen ihmissy?mist? ja is?nmurhaa vain hivent? paremmaksi. Jos kohta moniaat h?nen seuraajansa olivatkin hyl?nneet t?m?n mielipiteen, tahtoi Sotion kuitenkin pit?? kiinni siit?, ett? ellei lihansy?nti ollutkaan jumalattomuutta, se oli ainakin julmuutta ja kehnoutta. "Mihin vaikeuksiin neuvoni teid?t muka sy?kseek??n?" oli h?nen tapansa kysy?. "Min?h?n vain pelastan teid?t nauttimasta korppikotkain ja leijonain ruokaa." Intomielisess? pojassa -- sill? t?h?n aikaan Seneca ei ole voinut olla enemm?n kuin seitsentoistavuotias -- n?m? mielipiteet synnyttiv?t niin syv?n vakaumuksen, ett? h?nest? tuli kasvinsy?j?. Ensimm?lt? lihasta luopuminen oli hyvinkin tuskallista, mutta vuoden per?st?, h?n kertoo , ei se ollut ainoastaan helppoa, vaan mieluisaakin; ja h?n uskoi, vaikkei tahtonut v?itt?? sen olevan juuri niin, ett? se teki h?nen j?rkens? ter?v?mm?ksi ja pirte?mm?ksi. Kasvinsy?nnin h?n heitti vain totellen ep?filosoofisen is?ns? varoituksia; is? olisi huoletta siet?nyt moista houretta, niinkuin h?n sanoi, ellei siin? olisi piillyt se vaara, ett? se saattoi antaa aihetta panetteluun ja syyt?ksiin. Sill? t?h?n aikaan Tiberius karkoitti Roomasta kaikki outojen, vierasten uskontojen kannattajat; ja kun moniaissa niist? paastoaminen oli s??detty uskonnonmeno, arveli Senecan is?, ett? h?nen poikansa saattaisi kenties, pid?tt?ytym?ll? lihansy?nnist?, saattaa itsens? sen kauhistuttavan ep?luulon alaiseksi, ett? h?n oli kristitty tai juutalainen.

Er?s toinen pytagorealainen filosoofi, jota h?n ihaillen mainitsee, oli Sextius. T?lt? h?n oppi jokap?iv?isen itsens?-tutkistelun kiitett?v?n tavan: -- "Kun p?iv? oli ohitse ja h?n k?ym?ss? levolle, oli h?nen tapana kysy? itselt??n: mit? pahaa sin? olet t?n??n oikaissut? mit? pahetta vastaan taistellut? miss? suhteessa sin? olet parantunut?" "Min?kin olen omaksunut t?m?n tavan", sanoo Seneca kirjassaan Vihasta, "ja joka p?iv? pohdin asiaani, kun valkea on sammutettu ja vaimoni, joka nyt on selvill? menettelyist?ni, on vaipunut uneen; huolellisesti min? mieless?ni l?pik?yn koko p?iv?n ja tarkalleen tutkistelen tekojani ja sanojani."

N?m? tottumukset ja ajatukset luovat runsasta valoa Senecan luonteeseen. Ne n?ytt?v?t, ett? h?n oli kyennyt hamasta lapsuudestaan saakka omaksumaan itsens?kielt?misen el?m?ns? periaatteeksi ja ett? h?ness? s?ilyi p?iv?ins? loppuun asti monta piirrett?, joista h?nen yksityisel?m?ns? sai yksinkertaisen ja kunnioitettavan leiman, jos kohta julkisen el?m?n vaatimukset olivatkin pakottaneet h?net muuntamaan toisia. Vaikka h?n kunnioituksesta is??ns? kohtaan luopui oudosta kielt?ymyksen muodosta, on meille kyllin tietty? ja ilmeist?, ett? h?n vanhoilla p?ivill??n j?lleen palasi j?yh?n yksinkertaiseen elintapaan, jonka innostusherk?ss? nuoruudessaan oli oppinut ylev?mielisilt? opettajiltaan. N?m? seikat todellakin riitt?v?t joka tapauksessa kumoamaan nuo t?rke?t syytteet Senecan luonnetta vastaan, joita Dio Cassiuksen tapainen kademieli kreikkalainen myrkyllisesti levittelee, joihin ei ole rahtuakaan luottamista, vaan jotka n?ytt?v?t johtuvan pelk?st??n kateudesta ja parjauksenhalusta. En aio puolestani puuttua noihin h?v?istysjuttuihin, koska en lainkaan niihin usko. Miest?, joka saattoi "Historiaansa", kuten Cassius on tehnyt, asettaa roomalaisen senaattorin suuhun moisia mielett?mi? valheita kuin h?n on v?itt?nyt Fufius Calenuksen syyt?neen julkisessa senaatin istunnossa Ciceroa vastaan, vallitsi sellainen henki, joka riist?? h?nen lausunnoiltaan kaiken uskottavuuden. Seneca oli vaihemielinen filosoofi sek? teoriassa ett? k?yt?nn?ss?. H?n lankesi kielt?m?tt? suuriin hairahduksiin, jotka syv?sti himment?v?t h?nen luonnettaan silmiss?mme. Mutta mik??n irstaileva ja hekumallinen mies h?n ei ollut, kaukana siit?. On t?ysi syy uskoa, ett? h?n keskell? ylellisyytt? ja loistoa ja kaikkia siihen k?tkeytyvi? kiusauksia s?ilytti saman tottumuksiensa yksinkertaisuuden ja mielens? suoruuden. Mik? lieneekin ollut h?nen viidensadan setripuisen ja norsunluisen p?yt?ns? melkein tarumainen arvo, harvoin niille levitettiin muuta suurenmoisempaa kuin vett?, kasviksia ja hedelmi?. Mitk? lienev?tkin olleet h?nen ?veri?sten ja ylh?isten aikalaistensa kesken vallitsevat huvitukset, me tied?mme, ett? h?nelle korkeinta iloa tuottivat viattomat huvitukset puutarhassa ja ett? h?n liikuntoa saadakseen siell? juoksenteli kilpaa pienen orjapojan kanssa.

ROOMAN YHTEISKUNTAEL?M?N TILA.

Olemme Senecan omista kirjoituksista poimineet, mit? on ollut saatavissa, h?nen varhaista kasvatustaan koskevaa. Mutta jokaisen ihmisen el?m?ss? on vaikutelmia paljon tehokkaampaa ja syv?lle tunkevampaa laatua kuin ne, jotka tulevat koulujen tahi opettajien taholta. Ajan henki, yleinen ajatustavan s?vy, seurael?m?ss? vallitsevat tavat, valtiolliset pyrkimykset, jotka muodostelivat kansan kohtaloa -- kaikki t?m? on ep?ilem?tt? vaikuttanut Senecan mieleen, v?hemm?n huomattavasti totta kyll?, mutta voimakkaammin kuin Sotionin tahikka Attaluksenkin luennot. Ja jos meill? on syyt? pel?t?, ett? sen ajan hienossa kasvatuksessa oli paljon onttoa, niin saamme n?hd?, ett? sen yhteiskunnan yleinen haahmo, joka nuorta filosoofiamme kehdosta pit?en ymp?r?i, oli sit?kin h?pe?llisempi ja viheli?isempi.

Meid?n tulee muistaa t?m? tosiseikka, jos oikein tahdomme tuomita Senecaa. Heitt?k??mme siis silm?ys sen yhteiskunnan tilaan, jonka keskell? h?n eli. Onnellista kyll? me saatamme vain silm?ist? sinne. Pahinta ei voi kertoa. Rikoksistahan saattaa kyll?kin puhua; mutta suunnattomat ja ep?inhimilliset teot on i?ksi peitett?v? unholaan. Me saatamme vain seisoa luolan aukolla ja heitt?? yksin?isen valons?teen sen pime??n syvyyteen. Jos meid?n olisi astuminen sis??n, niin sen seini? kiert?v?t saastaiset huurut sammuttaisivat lamppumme.

Augustuksen aikaan alkoi tuo "pitk? vitkallinen kuolonkamppaus", tuo murheellinen luhistuminen, kun kokonainen yhteiskunta asteettain meni palasiksi omain paheittensa hajoittavan vaikutuksen alaisena, luhistuminen, jota kesti melkein keskeytym?tt?, kunnes Roomalla ei edess? ollut muuta paitsi maahan hy?kk??v?in barbaarien tuli ja miekka. Se n?ki ei ainoastaan kunniansa, vaan hyveens?kin "t?hti t?hdelt? sammuvan". Vanha sankarius, vanhat uskomukset, entinen miehek?s ja yksinkertainen olenta olivat kadonneet ja kuolleet; niit? oli seurannut orjan n?yryys ja taikausko, ylellisyys ja irstaus.

Ihmissuvun vaiheet, kaikki yksin suin Menneisyyden takaa toistaa opetuksen t??n: Ensin vapaus, kunnia sitten; se kun haihtuu, Rikkaus, pahe, turmelus -- raakalaisuus viimein; Ja historialla, niteittens? kautta kaikkein, Yksi ompi sivu vainen; sen piirto t?ss? tarkka, syv?, L?j?nnyt kun yhteen ompi korska tyranni Aarteet, ihanuudet kaikki, mit' aistimuksin Syd?n ja sielu halaa, kieli pyyt?? voi.

Jokainen n?ist? "loistavista pahantekij?ist?" eli keskell? kuuliaista hellittelij?in, loisolentojen, turvattien, vallanalaisten ja orjien joukkoa. Siin? v?entungoksessa, joka joka aamu t?ykki toisiaan atriumin marmorilla, oli tavattavissa kirjava ja erilainen ihmiskokoelma. Kaikenik?isi? orjia kaikista kansakunnista -- germaaneja, egyptil?isi?, gallialaisia, goottilaisia, syyrialaisia, brittej?, arabialaisia, p?yhkeit?, suuriluuloisia vapautettuja orjia, h?vytt?mi? lemmikkipalvelijoita, sy?l?it? ilveilij?it?, jotka eliv?t laskemalla huonoa pilaa muitten ihmisten p?yd?ss?; dakialaisia miekkailijoita, joilla tappelu oli ammattina; filosoofeja, joitten maine p??asiallisesti riippui parran pituudesta; notkeita kreikkalaisia Tartuffen laatua, valmiita imartelemaan tai parjaamaan mit? harjaantuneimmalla taituruudella ja levitellen luonteensa lokaa kuten mit?kin ruttoa kaikkialle, mihin joutuivat; ja kaikkien n?itten seassa joukko k?yhi?, mutta kunniallisia klienttej?, joitten oli pakko k?rsiv?llisesti siet?? tuhatlukuisia herjauksia ja solvauksia ja jurossa joutilaisuudessa el?? sportulalla elikk? jokap?iv?isill? armolahjoilla, joita heid?n korskeat is?nt?ns? vastahakoisessa anteliaisuudessaan jakoivat. Entinen j?ykk? Rooman kansalainen oli melkein tyystin kadonnut; varma itsen?isyys, miehek?s itseluottamus ty?t?tekev?ss? v?est?ss? oli kerrassaan tuntematon. R?yhke?t laiskottelijat, jotka r?hisiv?t foorumilla, olivat pelk?st??n Italian lehtolapsia, muukalaisia, jotka oli raahattu sinne kahleissa -- kaikkien kansojen sakkaa, jotka tulvasivat Roomaan ik??nkuin lokaviem?riin, ainoana perint?n?ns? erikoiset kansalliset paheensa. He persoilivat vain kahta asiaa: leip?? ja leikkej?, sirkusn?yt?nt?j?. Niin kauan kuin heid?n is?ntiens? sportula, keisarin tilap?inen lahja ja valtiollisten onnenonkijain kunnianhimo tyydyttiv?t n?it? pyyteit?, he eliv?t tyytyv?isin? alennuksentilassansa, kaipaamatta vapautta taikka valtaa.

"Kun Vitellius kestit pani toimeen, Oli p?yd?ss? karjalauma kuin arkissa muinen."

"He sy?v?t", sanoi Seneca, "ja sitten he oksentavat; he oksentavat ja sitten he sy?v?t." Mutta t?ss?k??n asiassa me emme voi puhua kaikkea, mit? siit? pahinta on sanottava.

P?yd?t, sitruunapuusta ja kalliista kivist? tehdyt, Herkkuja kantoivat upeoita, Viinins? antoivat Setia, Cales, Falerno, Chios ja Kreeta, ja maljat ne kullasta Hohti ja gemmat ja helmet kirjasi Myrha- ja kristallikolpakkoja.

"Ci-git Jean Rosbif, ?cuyer, Qui se pendit pour se d?sennuyer",

piti kirjaimellisesti ja tarkkaan paikkansa monestakin roomalaisesta t?ll? aikakaudella. Marcellinus, nuori, ?veri?s ylimys, n??nnytti itsens? n?l?ll? ja sitten tukahutti itsens? l?mpim?ss? kylvyss?, yksist??n sen takia, ett? h?n oli sairastunut tautiin, joka helposti oli parannettavissa. Filosofia, joka yksin kehui kykenev?ns? parantamaan ihmisten murheita, ylisteli vapaaehtoisen kuoleman n?enn?ist? rohkeutta, ja se oli liian abstraktista, liian fantastista ja aivan liiaksi pelk?st??n teoreettista luonteeltaan tarjotakseen heille mit??n todellista tai kest?v?? lohdutusta. Ei mik??n ajatuskanta her?tt?nyt roomalaisissa suurempaa kummastusta kuin se, joka on tallella Maecenaan huomattavassa katkelmassa

"Debilem facito manu, Debilem pede, coxa, Tuber adstrue gibberum, Lubricos quate dentes; Vita dum superest bene est: Hanc mihi vel acuta Si sedeam cruce sustine;"

joka suomennettakoon seuraavasti:

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