a study of bible-第33部分

快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完，想下次继续接着阅读，可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能！


ish　Bible；　and　no　one　can　read　Tennyson　intelligently　without　a　fairly　accurate　knowledge　of　the　Bible。

In　this　Victorian　group　the　last　name　is　Thackeray's。　He　is　another　whose　mother　trained　him　in　the　English　Bible。　The　title　of　Vanity　Fair　is　from　Pilgrim's　Progress；　but　the　motto　is　from　the　Scripture；　and　he　wrote　his　mother　regarding　the　book：　〃What　I　want　is　to　make　a　set　of　people　living　without　God　in　the　world　（only　that　is　a　cant　phrase。）〃　It　is　certain　his　mother　did　not　count　it　a　cant　phrase；　for　he　learned　it　from　the　Scripture。　The　subtitle　of　his　Adventures　of　Philip　says　he　is　to　show　who　robbed　him；　who　helped　him；　and　who　passed　him　by。　Thackeray　got　those　expressions　from　the　Bible。　Somewhere　very　early　in　any　of　his　works　he　reveals　the　influence　of　his　childhood　and　manhood　knowledge　of　the　English　Bible。

All　this　about　the　Victorian　group　is　meant　to　be　very　familiar　to　any　who　are　fresh　from　the　reading　of　literature。　They　are　great　names；　and　they　have　differences　as　wide　as　the　poles；　but　they　have　this　in　common；　that　they　have　drunk　lightly　or　deeply　from　the　same　fountain；　they　have　drawn　from　it　ideas；　allusions；　literary　style。　Each　of　them　has　weakened　as　he　has　gotten　farther　from　it；　and　loyalty　to　it　has　strengthened　any　one　of　them。


Turn　now　to　the　American　group　of　writers。　If　we　except　theological　writers　with　Jonathan　Edwards；　Horace　Bushnell；　Henry　Ward　Beecher；　and　their　like；　and　political　writers　with　Jefferson；　Webster；　and　their　like；　the　list　need　not　be　a　long　one。　Only　one　writer　in　our　narrower　sense　of　literature　must　be　named　in　the　earlier　dayBenjamin　Franklin。　In　the　period　before　the　Civil　War　must　be　named　Edgar　Allan　Poe　（died　1849）　and　Washington　Irving　（died　1859）。　The　Civil　War　group　is　the　large　one；　and　its　names　are　those　of　the　later　group　as　well。　Let　them　be　alphabetical；　for　convenience：　William　Cullen　Bryant；　poet　and　critic；　George　William　Curtis；　essayist　and　editor；　Emerson；　our　noblest　name　in　the　sphere　of　pure　essay　literature；　Hawthorne；　the　novelist　of　conscience；　as　Socrates　was　its　philosopher；　Oliver　Wendell　Holmes；　whose　〃two　chief　hatreds　were　orthodoxy　in　religion　and　heterodoxy　in　medicine〃；　James　Russell　Lowell；　essayist　and　poet；　apt　to　live　by　his　essays　rather　than　by　his　poetry；　Longfellow；　whose　〃Psalm　of　Life〃　and　〃Hiawatha〃　have　lived　through　as　much　parody　and　ridicule　as　any　two　bits　of　literature　extant；　and　have　lived　because　they　are　predestined　to　live；　Thoreau；　whose　Walden　may　show；　as　Lowell　said；　how　much　can　be　done　on　little　capital；　but　which　has　the　real　literary　tang　to　it；　and　Whittier；　whose　poetry　is　sung　the　world　around。

That　makes　only　twelve　names　from　Franklin　to　Whittier。　Others　could　be　included；　but　they　are　not　so　great　as　these。　No　one　of　these　could　be　taken　out　of　our　literature　without　affecting　it　and；　in　some　degree　at　least；　changing　the　current　of　it。　This　is　not　to　forget　Bret　Harte　nor　Samuel　L。　Clemens。　But　each　is　dependent　for　his　survival　on　a　taste　for　a　certain　kind　of　humor；　not　delicate　like　Irving's　and　Holmes's；　but　strong　and　sudden　and　a　bit　sharp。　If　we　should　forget　the　〃Luck　of　Roaring　Camp；〃　〃Truthful　James；〃　and　the　〃Heathen　Chinee；〃　we　would　also　forget　Bret　Harte。　We　are　not　apt　to　forget　Tom　Sawyer；　nor　perhaps　The　Innocents　Abroad；　but　we　are　forgetting　much　else　of　Mark　Twain。　Whitman　is　not　named。　His　claims　are　familiar；　but　in　spite　of　his　admirers　he　seems　so　charged　with　a　sensuous　egotism　that　he　is　not　apt　to　be　a　formative　influence　in　literary　history。　It　is　still　interesting；　however；　to　remember　how　frequently　he　reveals　his　reading　of　Scripture。

Fortunately；　all　these　writers　are　so　near；　and　their　work　is　so　familiar；　that　details　regarding　them　are　not　needed。　Two　or　three　general　words　can　be　said。　In　the　first　place；　observe　the　high　moral　tone　of　all　these　first…grade　writers；　and；　indeed；　of　the　others　who　may　be　spoken　of　as　in　second　rank。　There　is　not　a　meretricious　or　humiliating　book　in　the　whole　collection。　There　is　not　one　book　which　has　lived　in　American　literature　which　has　the　tone　of　Fielding's　Tom　Jones。　Whether　it　is　that　the　Puritan　strain　continues　in　us　or　not；　it　is　true　that　the　American　literary　public　has　not　taken　happily　to　stories　that　would　bring　a　blush　in　public　reading。　Professor　Richardson；　of　Dartmouth；　gives　some　clue　to　the　reason　of　that。　He　says　that　〃since　1870　or　1880　in　America　there　has　been　a　marked　increase　of　strength　of　theistic　and　spiritual　belief　and　argument　among　scientific　men；　students　of　philosophy；　religious　'radicals；'　and　others。〃　He　adds　that　while　much　contemporary　American　literature　and　thought　is　outside　the　accepted　orthodox　lines；　yet　〃it　is　not　hostile　to　Christianity；　to　the　principles　of　its　Founder　it　is　for　the　most　part　sincerely　attached。　On　the　other　hand；　materialism　has　scarcely　any　hold　upon　it。〃　Then　follows　a　very　notable　sentence　which　is　sustained　by　the　facts：　〃Not　an　American　book　of　the　first　class　has　ever　been　written　by　an　atheist　or　denier　of　immortality。〃　That　sentence　need　not　offend　an　admirer　of　Walt　Whitman；　for　he　〃accepts　both　theism　and　the　doctrine　of　the　future　life。〃　American　thought　has　remained　loyal　to　the　great　Trinity；　God；　Freedom；　and　Immortality。　So　it　comes　about　that　while　there　are　a　number　of　these　writers　who　could　be　put　under　the　ban　of　the　strongly　orthodox　in　religion；　every　one　of　them　shows　the　effect　of　early　training　in　religion　and　in　the　Scripture。＇1＇


＇1＇　This　is　fully　worked　out　in　Professor　Richardson's　American　Literature；　with　ample　illustration　and　argument。


Another　thing　to　be　said　is　that　America　has　a　unique　history　among　great　nations　in　that　it　has　never　been　affected　by　any　great　religious　influence　except　that　which　has　issued　from　the　Scriptures。　No　religion　has　ever　been　influential　in　America　except　Christianity。　For　many　years　there　have　been　sporadic　and　spasmodic　efforts　to　extend　the　influence　of　Buddhism　or　other　Indian　cults。　They　have　never　been　successful；　because　the　American　spirit　is　practical；　and　not　meditative。　We　are　not　an　introspective　people。　We　do　not　look　within　ourselves　for　our　religion。　Whatever　moral　and　religious　influence　our　literature　shows　gets　back　first　or　last　to　our　Scriptures。　The　point　of　view　of　nature　that　is　taken　by　our　writers　like　Bryant　and　Thoreau　is　that　of　the　Nineteenth　Psalm。　Moreover；　we　have　been　strongly　under　the　English　influence。　Irving　insisted　that　we　ought　to　be；　that　we　were　a　young　nation；　that　we　ought　frankly　to　follow　the　leadership　of　more　experienced　writers。　Longfellow　thought　we　had　gone　too　far　that　way；　and　that　our　poets；　at　least；　ought　to　be　more　independent；　ought　to　write　in　the　spirit　of　America　and　not　of　traditional　poetry。　Whether　we　ought　to　have　yielded　to　it　or　not；　it　is　true　that　English　influence　has　told　very　strongly　upon　us；　and　the　writers　who　have　influenced　our　writers　most　have　been　those　whom　we　have　named　as　being　themselves　under　the　Bible　influence。

We　need　not　go　into　detail　about　these　writers；　though　they　are　most　attractive。　Bryant　did　for　us　what　Wordsworth　did　for　England。　He　made　nature　seem　vocal。　〃Thanatopsi