alexandria and her schools-第12章

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r's　Zeus　right　in　declaring　man　to　be　〃the　most　wretched　of　all　the　beasts　of　the　field。〃

And　yet　one　cannot　help　looking　with　a　sort　of　awe　（I　dare　not　call　it　respect）　at　that　melancholic　faithless　Hegesias。　　Doubtless　he；　like　his　compeers；　and　indeed　all　Alexandria　for　three　hundred　years；　cultivated　philosophy　with　no　more　real　purpose　than　it　was　cultivated　by　the　graceless　beaux…esprits　of　Louis　XV。's　court；　and　with　as　little　practical　effect　on　morality；　but　of　this　Hegesias　alone　it　stands　written；　that　his　teaching　actually　made　men　do　something；　and　moreover；　do　the　most　solemn　and　important　thing　which　any　man　can　do；　excepting　always　doing　right。　　I　must　confess；　however；　that　the　result　of　his　teaching　took　so　unexpected　a　form；　that　the　reigning　Ptolemy；　apparently　Philadelphus；　had　to　interfere　with　the　sacred　right　of　every　man　to　talk　as　much　nonsense　as　he　likes；　and　forbade　Hegesias　to　teach　at　Alexandria。　　For　Hegesias；　a　Cyrenaic　like　Theodorus；　but　a　rather　more　morose　pedant　than　that　saucy　and　happy　scoffer；　having　discovered　that　the　great　end　of　man　was　to　avoid　pain；　also　discovered　（his　digestion　being　probably　in　a　disordered　state）　that　there　was　so　much　more　pain　than　pleasure　in　the　world；　as　to　make　it　a　thoroughly　disagreeable　place；　of　which　man　was　well　rid　at　any　price。　　Whereon　he　wrote　a　book　called；　＇Greek　text：　　apokarteroon＇；　in　which　a　man　who　had　determined　to　starve　himself；　preached　the　miseries　of　human　life；　and　the　blessings　of　death；　with　such　overpowering　force；　that　the　book　actually　drove　many　persons　to　commit　suicide；　and　escape　from　a　world　which　was　not　fit　to　dwell　in。　　A　fearful　proof　of　how　rotten　the　state　of　society　was　becoming；　how　desperate　the　minds　of　men；　during　those　frightful　centuries　which　immediately　preceded　the　Christian　era；　and　how　fast　was　approaching　that　dark　chaos　of　unbelief　and　unrighteousness；　which　Paul　of　Tarsus　so　analyses　and　describes　in　the　first　chapter　of　his　Epistle　to　the　Romanswhen　the　old　light　was　lost；　the　old　faiths　extinct；　the　old　reverence　for　the　laws　of　family　and　national　life；　destroyed；　yea　even　the　natural　instincts　themselves　perverted；　that　chaos　whose　darkness　Juvenal；　and　Petronius；　and　Tacitus　have　proved；　in　their　fearful　pages；　not　to　have　been　exaggerated　by　the　more　compassionate　though　more　righteous　Jew。

And　now　observe；　that　this　selfishnessthis　wholesome　state　of　equilibriumthis　philosophic　calm；　which　is　really　only　a　lazy　pride；　was；　as　far　as　we　can　tell；　the　main　object　of　all　the　schools　from　the　time　of　Alexander　to　the　Christian　era。　　We　know　very　little　of　those　Sceptics；　Cynics；　Epicureans；　Academics；　Peripatetics；　Stoics；　of　whom　there　has　been　so　much　talk；　except　at　second…hand；　through　the　Romans；　from　whom　Stoicism　in　after　ages　received　a　new　and　not　ignoble　life。　But　this　we　do　know　of　the　later　sets；　that　they　gradually　gave　up　the　search　for　truth；　and　propounded　to　themselves　as　the　great　type　for　a　philosopher；　How　shall　a　man　save　his　own　soul　from　this　evil　world？　They　may　have　been　right；　it　may　have　been　the　best　thing　to　think　about　in　those　exhausted　and　decaying　times：　　but　it　was　a　question　of　ethics；　not　of　philosophy；　in　the　sense　which　the　old　Greek　sages　put　on　that　latter　word。　　Their　object　was；　not　to　get　at　the　laws　of　all　things；　but　to　fortify　themselves　against　all　things；　each　according　to　his　scheme；　and　so　to　be　self…sufficient　and　alone。　　Even　in　the　Stoics；　who　boldly　and　righteously　asserted　an　immutable　morality；　this　was　the　leading　conception。　　As　has　been　well　said　of　them：

〃If　we　reflect　how　deeply　the　feeling　of　an　intercourse　between　men　and　a　divine　race　superior　to　themselves　had　worked　itself　into　the　Greek　characterwhat　a　number　of　fables；　some　beautiful；　some　impure；　it　had　impregnated　and　procured　credence　forhow　it　sustained　every　form　of　polity　and　every　system　of　laws；　we　may　imagine　what　the　effects　must　have　been　of　its　disappearance。　　If　it　is　possible　for　any　man；　it　was　not；　certainly；　possible　for　a　Greek；　to　feel　himself　connected　by　any　real　bonds　with　his　fellow…creatures　around　him；　while　he　felt　himself　utterly　separated　from　any　being　above　his　fellow…creatures。　　But　the　sense　of　that　isolation　would　affect　different　minds　very　differently。　It　drove　the　Epicurean　to　consider　how　he　might　make　a　world　in　which　he　should　live　comfortably；　without　distracting　visions　of　the　past　and　future；　and　the　dread　of　those　upper　powers　who　no　longer　awakened　in　him　any　feelings　of　sympathy。　　It　drove　Zeno　the　Stoic　to　consider　whether　a　man　may　not　find　enough　in　himself　to　satisfy　him；　though　what　is　beyond　him　be　ever　so　unfriendly。　。　。　。　We　may　trace　in　the　productions　which　are　attributed　to　Zone　a　very　clear　indication　of　the　feeling　which　was　at　work　in　his　mind。　　He　undertook；　for　instance；　among　other　tasks；　to　answer　Plato's　'Republic。'　　The　truth　that　a　man　is　a　political　being；　which　informs　and　pervades　that　book；　was　one　which　must　have　been　particularly　harassing　to　his　mind；　and　which　he　felt　must　be　got　rid　of；　before　he　could　hope　to　assert　his　doctrine　of　a　man's　solitary　dignity。〃

Woe　to　the　nation　or　the　society　in　which　this　individualising　and　separating　process　is　going　on　in　the　human　mind！　　Whether　it　take　the　form　of　a　religion　or　of　a　philosophy；　it　is　at　once　the　sign　and　the　cause　of　senility；　decay；　and　death。　　If　man　begins　to　forget　that　he　is　a　social　being；　a　member　of　a　body；　and　that　the　only　truths　which　can　avail　him　anything；　the　only　truths　which　are　worthy　objects　of　his　philosophical　search；　are　those　which　are　equally　true　for　every　man；　which　will　equally　avail　every　man；　which　he　must　proclaim；　as　far　as　he　can；　to　every　man；　from　the　proudest　sage　to　the　meanest　outcast；　he　enters；　I　believe；　into　a　lie；　and　helps　forward　the　dissolution　of　that　society　of　which　he　is　a　member。　　I　care　little　whether　what　he　holds　be　true　or　not。　　If　it　be　true；　he　has　made　it　a　lie　by　appropriating　it　proudly　and　selfishly　to　himself；　and　by　excluding　others　from　it。　　He　has　darkened　his　own　power　of　vision　by　that　act　of　self…appropriation；　so　that　even　if　he　sees　a　truth；　he　can　only　see　it　refractedly；　discoloured　by　the　medium　of　his　own　private　likes　and　dislikes；　and　fulfils　that　great　and　truly　philosophic　law；　that　he　who　loveth　not　his　brother　is　in　darkness；　and　knoweth　not　whither　he　goeth。　　And　so　it　befell　those　old　Greek　schools。　　It　is　out　of　our　path　to　follow　them　to　Italy；　where　sturdy　old　Roman　patriots　cursed　them；　and　with　good　reason；　as　corrupting　the　morals　of　the　young。　　Our　business　is　with　Alexandria；　and　there；　certainly；　they　did　nothing　for　the　elevation　of　humanity。　　What　culture　they　may　have　given；　probably　helped　to　make　the　Alexandrians；　what　Caesar　calls　them；　the　most　ingenious　of　all　nations：　but　righteous　or　valiant　men　it　did　not　make　them。　　When；　after　the　three　great　reigns　of　Soter；　Philadelphus；　and　Euergetes；　the　race　of　the　Ptolemies　began　to　wear　itself　out；　Alexandria　fell　morally；　as　its　sovereigns　fell；　and　during　a　miserable　and　shameful　decline　of　a　hundred　and　eighty　years；　sophists　wrangled；　pedants　fought　over　accents　and　readings　with　the　true　odium　gammaticum；　and　kings　plunged　deeper　and　deeper　into　the　abysses　of　luxury　and　incest；　laziness　and　cruelty；　till　the　flood　came；　and　swept　them　all　away。　　Cleopatra；　the　Helen　of　Egypt；　betrayed　her　country　to　the　Roman；　and　thenceforth　the　Alexandrians　became　slaves　in　all　but　name。

And　now　that　Alexandria　has　become　a　tributary　province；　is　it　to　share　the　usual　lot　of　enslaved　countries　and　lose　all　originality　and　vigour　of　thought？　　Not　so。　　From　this　point；　strangely　enough；　it　begins　to　have　a　philosophy　of　its　own。　　Hitherto　it　has　been　importing　Greek　thought　into　Egypt　and　Syria；　even　to　the　furthest　boundaries　of　Persia；　and　the　whole　East　has　become　Greek：　　but　it　has　received　little　in　return。　　The　Indian　Gymnosophists；　or　Brahmins；　had　little　or　no　effect　on　Greek　philosophy；　except　in　the　case　of　Pyrrho：　　the　Persian　Dualism　still　less。　　The　Egyptian　symbolic　nature…worship　had　been　too　gross　to　be　regarded　by　the　cultivated　Alexandrian　as　anything　but　a　barbaric　superstition。　　One　eastern　natio