战争与和平(上)-第204章

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t　to　us　of　a　later　generation；　contemplating　in　all　its　vastness　the　immensity　of　the　accomplished　fact；　and　seeking　to　penetrate　its　simple　and　fearful　significance；　those　explanations　must　appear　insufficient。　To　us　it　is　inconceivable　that　millions　of　Christian　men　should　have　killed　and　tortured　each　other；　because　Napoleon　was　ambitious；　Alexander　firm；　English　policy　crafty；　and　the　Duke　of　Oldenburg　hardly　treated。　We　cannot　grasp　the　connection　between　these　circumstances　and　the　bare　fact　of　murder　and　violence；　nor　why　the　duke’s　wrongs　should　induce　thousands　of　men　from　the　other　side　of　Europe　to　pillage　and　murder　the　inhabitants　of　the　Smolensk　and　Moscow　provinces　and　to　be　slaughtered　by　them。
For　us　of　a　later　generation；　who　are　not　historians　led　away　by　the　process　of　research；　and　so　can　look　at　the　facts　with　common…sense　unobscured；　the　causes　of　this　war　appear　innumerable　in　their　multiplicity。　The　more　deeply　we　search　out　the　causes　the　more　of　them　we　discover；　and　every　cause；　and　even　a　whole　class　of　causes　taken　separately；　strikes　us　as　being　equally　true　in　itself；　and　equally　deceptive　through　its　insignificance　in　comparison　with　the　immensity　of　the　result；　and　its　inability　to　produce　（without　all　the　other　causes　that　concurred　with　it）　the　effect　that　followed。　Such　a　cause；　for　instance；　occurs　to　us　as　Napoleon’s　refusal　to　withdraw　his　troops　beyond　the　Vistula；　and　to　restore　the　duchy　of　Oldenburg；　and　then　again　we　remember　the　readiness　or　the　reluctance　of　the　first　chance　French　corporal　to　serve　on　a　second　campaign；　for　had　he　been　unwilling　to　serve；　and　a　second　and　a　third；　and　thousands　of　corporals　and　soldiers　had　shared　that　reluctance；　Napoleon’s　army　would　have　been　short　of　so　many　men；　and　the　war　could　not　have　taken　place。
If　Napoleon　had　not　taken　offence　at　the　request　to　withdraw　beyond　the　Vistula；　and　had　not　commanded　his　troops　to　advance；　there　would　have　been　no　war。　But　if　all　the　sergeants　had　been　unwilling　to　serve　on　another　campaign；　there　could　have　been　no　war　either。
And　the　war　would　not　have　been　had　there　been　no　intrigues　on　the　part　of　England；　no　Duke　of　Oldenburg；　no　resentment　on　the　part　of　Alexander；　nor　had　there　been　no　autocracy　in　Russia；　no　French　Revolution　and　consequent　dictatorship　and　empire；　nor　all　that　led　to　the　French　Revolution；　and　so　on　further　back：　without　any　one　of　those　causes；　nothing　could　have　happened。　And　so　all　those　causes—myriads　of　causes—coincided　to　bring　about　what　happened。　And　consequently　nothing　was　exclusively　the　cause　of　the　war；　and　the　war　was　bound　to　happen；　simply　because　it　was　bound　to　happen。　Millions　of　men；　repudiating　their　common…sense　and　their　human　feelings；　were　bound　to　move　from　west　to　east；　and　to　slaughter　their　fellows；　just　as　some　centuries　before　hordes　of　men　had　moved　from　east　to　west　to　slaughter　their　fellows。
The　acts　of　Napoleon　and　Alexander；　on　whose　words　it　seemed　to　depend　whether　this　should　be　done　or　not；　were　as　little　voluntary　as　the　act　of　each　soldier；　forced　to　march　out　by　the　drawing　of　a　lot　or　by　conscription。　This　could　not　be　otherwise；　for　in　order　that　the　will　of　Napoleon　and　Alexander　（on　whom　the　whole　decision　appeared　to　rest）　should　be　effective；　a　combination　of　innumerable　circumstances　was　essential；　without　any　one　of　which　the　effect　could　not　have　followed。　It　was　essential　that　the　millions　of　men　in　whose　hands　the　real　power　lay—the　soldiers　who　fired　guns　and　transported　provisions　and　cannons—should　consent　to　carry　out　the　will　of　those　feeble　and　isolated　persons；　and　that　they　should　have　been　brought　to　this　acquiescence　by　an　infinite　number　of　varied　and　complicated　causes。
We　are　forced　to　fall　back　upon　fatalism　in　history　to　explain　irrational　events　（that　is　those　of　which　we　cannot　comprehend　the　reason）。　The　more　we　try　to　explain　those　events　in　history　rationally；　the　more　irrational　and　incomprehensible　they　seem　to　us。　Every　man　lives　for　himself；　making　use　of　his　free…will　for　attainment　of　his　own　objects；　and　feels　in　his　whole　being　that　he　can　do　or　not　do　any　action。　But　as　soon　as　he　does　anything；　that　act；　committed　at　a　certain　moment　in　time；　becomes　irrevocable　and　is　the　property　of　history；　in　which　it　has　a　significance；　predestined　and　not　subject　to　free　choice。
There　are　two　aspects　to　the　life　of　every　man：　the　personal　life；　which　is　free　in　proportion　as　its　interests　are　abstract；　and　the　elemental　life　of　the　swarm；　in　which　a　man　must　inevitably　follow　the　laws　laid　down　for　him。
Consciously　a　man　lives　on　his　own　account　in　freedom　of　will；　but　he　serves　as　an　unconscious　instrument　in　bringing　about　the　historical　ends　of　humanity。　An　act　he　has　once　committed　is　irrevocable；　and　that　act　of　his；　coinciding　in　time　with　millions　of　acts　of　others；　has　an　historical　value。　The　higher　a　man’s　place　in　the　social　scale；　the　more　connections　he　has　with　others；　and　the　more　power　he　has　over　them；　the　more　conspicuous　is　the　inevitability　and　predestination　of　every　act　he　commits。　“The　hearts　of　kings　are　in　the　hand　of　God。”　The　king　is　the　slave　of　history。
History—that　is　the　unconscious　life　of　humanity　in　the　swarm；　in　the　community—makes　every　minute　of　the　life　of　kings　its　own；　as　an　instrument　for　attaining　its　ends。
Although　in　that　year；　1812；　Napoleon　believed　more　than　ever　that　to　shed　or　not　to　shed　the　blood　of　his　peoples　depended　entirely　on　his　will　（as　Alexander　said　in　his　last　letter　to　him）；　yet　then；　and　more　than　at　any　time；　he　was　in　bondage　to　those　laws　which　forced　him；　while　to　himself　he　seemed　to　be　acting　freely；　to　do　what　was　bound　to　be　his　share　in　the　common　edifice　of　humanity；　in　history。
The　people　of　the　west　moved　to　the　east　for　men　to　kill　one　another。　And　by　the　law　of　the　coincidence　of　causes；　thousands　of　petty　causes　backed　one　another　up　and　coincided　with　that　event　to　bring　about　that　movement　and　that　war：　resentment　at　the　non…observance　of　the　continental　system；　and　the　Duke　of　Oldenburg；　and　the　massing　of　troops　in　Prussia—a　measure　undertaken；　as　Napoleon　supposed；　with　the　object　of　securing　armed　peace—and　the　French　Emperor’s　love　of　war；　to　which　he　had　grown　accustomed；　in　conjunction　with　the　inclinations　of　his　people；　who　were　carried　away　by　the　grandiose　scale　of　the　preparations；　and　the　expenditure　on　those　preparations；　and　the　necessity　of　recouping　that　expenditure。　Then　there　was　the　intoxicating　effect　of　the　honours　paid　to　the　French　Emperor　in　Dresden；　and　the　negotiations　too　of　the　diplomatists；　who　were　supposed　by　contemporaries　to　be　guided　by　a　genuine　desire　to　secure　peace；　though　they　only　inflamed　the　amour…propre　of　both　sides；　and　millions　upon　millions　of　other　causes；　chiming　in　with　the　fated　event　and　coincident　with　it。
When　the　apple　is　ripe　and　falls—why　does　it　fall？　Is　it　because　it　is　drawn　by　gravitation　to　the　earth；　because　its　stalk　is　withered；　because　it　is　dried　by　the　sun；　because　it　grows　heavier；　because　the　wind　shakes　it；　or　because　the　boy　standing　under　the　tree　wants　to　eat　it？
Not　one　of　those　is　the　cause。　All　that　simply　makes　up　the　conjunction　of　conditions　under　which　every　living；　organic；　elemental　event　takes　place。　And　the　botanist　who　says　that　the　apple　has　fallen　because　the　cells　are　decomposing；　and　so　on；　will　be　just　as　right　as　the　boy　standing　under　the　tree　who　says　the　apple　has　fallen　because　he　wanted　to　eat　it　and　prayed　for　it　to　fall。　The　historian；　who　says　that　Napoleon　went　to　Moscow　because　he　wanted　to；　and　was　ruined　because　Alexander　desired　his　ruin；　will　be　just　as　right　and　as　wrong　as　the　man　who　says　that　the　mountain　of　millions　of　tons；　tottering　and　undermined；　has　been　felled　by　the　last　stroke　of　the　last　workingman’s　pick…axe。　In　historical　events　great　men—so　called—are　but　the　labels　that　serve　to　give　a　name　to　an　event；　and　like　labels；　they　have　the　least　possible　connection　with　the　event　itself。
Every　action　of　theirs；　that　seems　to　them　an　act　of　their　own　free…will；　is　in　an　historical　sense　not　free　at　all；　but　in　bondage　to　the　whole　course　of　previous　history；　and　predestined　from　all　eterni