Fontenelle said, " 1 am eighty
"years old; lama Frenchman, and I have
"never, through all my life, treated the
"smallest virtue with the smallest ridicule.
"years old; lama Frenchman, and I have
"never, through all my life, treated the
"smallest virtue with the smallest ridicule.
Madame de Stael - Germany
III.
c c
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? 386 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
throwing their pallid flashes over a withered
cheek.
Even when, in the flower of age, life is
withdrawn from the bosom of man, neither
the admiration excited by the convulsions of
nature, nor the interest awakened by the
wreck of monuments, can be made to belong
to the inanimate corpse of the most lovely
of created beings. The love which cherished
this enchanting form, love itself cannot en-
dure the remains of it; and nothing of man
exists after him on earth but what makes
even his friends tremble.
Ah! what a lesson do the horrors of de-
struction thus incarnate in the human race
afford! Is not this to announce to man that
his life is to be elsewhere? Would nature
humble him so low, if the Divinity were not
willing to raise him up again?
The true final causes of nature are these
relations with our soul and our immortal
destiny. Physical objects themselves have
a destination which is not bounded by the
contracted existence of man below; they
are placed here to assist in the developement
of our thoughts to the work of our moral
life. The phenomena of nature must not be
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? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 387
understood according to the laws of matter
alone, however well combined those laws
may be ; they have a philosophical sense and
a religious end, of which the most attentive
contemplation will never know the extent.
cc 2
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? 388 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
CHAPTER X.
Of Enthusiasm.
Many people are prejudiced against En-
thusiasm; they confound it with Fanaticism,
which is a great mistake. Fanaticism is an
exclusive passion, the object of which is an
opinion; enthusiasm is connected with the
harmony of the universe: it is the love of
the beautiful, elevation of soul, enjoyment
of devotion, all united in one single feeling
which combines grandeur and repose. The
sense of this word amongst the Greeks affords
the noblest definition of it: enthusiasm sig-
nifies God in us. In fact, when the existence
of man is expansive, it has something
divine.
Whatever leads us to sacrifice our own
comfort, or our own life, is almost always
enthusiasm; for the high road of reason, to
the selfish, must be to make themselves the
object of all their efforts, and to value no-
thing in the world but health, riches, and
power. Without doubt, conscience is suf-
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? ENTHUSIASM. 389
ficient to lead the coldest character into the
track of virtue; but enthusiasm is to con-
science what honour is to duty: there is in
us << superfluity of soul which it is sweet to
consecrate to what is fine, when what is
good has been accomplished. Genius and
imagination also stand in need of a little care
for their welfare in the world; and the law
of duty, however sublime it may be, is not
sufficient to enable us to taste all the won-
ders of the heart, and of the thought.
It cannot be denied that his own interests,
as an individual, surround a man on all sides;
there is even in what is vulgar a certain en-
joyment, of which many people are very sus-
ceptible, and the traces of ignoble passions
are often found under the appearance of the
most distinguished manners. Superior talents
are not always a guarantee against that de-
gradation of nature which disposes blindly
of the existence of men, and leads them to
place their happiness lower than themselves.
Enthusiasm alone can counterbalance the
tendency to selfishness; and it is by this di-
vine sign that we recognise the creatures of
immortality. When you speak to any one
on subjects worthy of holy respect, you per-
ceive at once if he feels a noble trembling;
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? 390 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
if his heart beats with elevated sentiments;
if he has formed an alliance with the other
life, or if he has only that little portion of
mind which serves him to direct the me-
chanism of existence. And what then is
human nature when we see in it nothing
but a prudence, of which its own advantage
is the object? The instinct of animals is
of more worth, for it is sometimes generous
and proud; but this calculation, which
seems the attribute of reason, ends by ren-
dering us incapable of the first of virtues,
self-devotion.
Amongst those who endeavour to turn
exalted sentiments into ridicule, many are,
nevertheless, susceptible of them, though
unknown to themselves. War, undertaken
with personal views, always affords . some of
the enjoyments of enthusiasm; the trans-
port of a day of battle, the singular plea-
sure of exposing ourselves to death, when
our whole nature would enjoin to us the
love of life, can only be attributed to en-
thusiasm. The martial music, the neighing
of the steeds, the roar of the cannon, the
multitude of soldiers clothed in the same co-
lours, moved by the same desire, assembled
around the same. banners, inspire an emo-
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? ENTHUSIASM.
391
tion capable of triumphing over that instinct
which would preserve existence; and so
strong is this enjoyment, that neither fatigues,
nor sufferings, nor dangers, can withdraw the
soul from it. Whoever has once led this life
loves no other. The attainment of our object
never satisfies us; it is the action of risking
ourselves, which is necessary, it is that which
introduces enthusiasm into the blood; and
although it may be more pure at the bottom
of the soul, it is still of a noble nature,
when it is able to become an impulse almost
physical.
Sincere enthusiasm is often reproached
with what belongs only to affected enthu-
siasm: the more pure a sentiment is, the
more odious is a false imitation of it. To
tyrannize over the admiration of men is what
is most culpable, for we dry up in them the
source of good emotions when we make
them blush for having felt them. Besides,
nothing is more painful than the false sounds
which appear to proceed from the sanctuary
of the soul itself: Vanity may possess her-
self of whatever is external; conceit and dis-
grace are the only evils which will result
from it; but when she counterfeits our
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? 392 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
inward feelings, she appears to violate the
last asylum in which we can hope to escape
her. It is easy, nevertheless, to discover
sincerity in enthusiasm; it is a melody so
pure, that the smallest discord destroys its
whole charm; a word, an accent, a look,
express the concentrated emotion which an-
swers to a whole life. Persons who are
called severe in the world, very often have
in them something exalted. The strength
which reduces others to subjection may be
no more than cold calculation. The strength
which triumphs over ourselves is always in-
spired by a generous sentiment.
Enthusiasm, far from exciting a just sus-
picion of its excesses, perhaps leads in ge-
neral to a contemplative disposition, which
impairs the power of acting: the Germans
are a proof of it; no nation is more capable
of feeling or thinking; but when the moment
of taking a side is arrived, the very extent of
their conceptions detracts from the decision
of their character. Character and enthusiasm
differ in many respects; we ought to choose
our object by enthusiasm, but to approach
it by character: thought is nothing without
enthusiasm, and action without character;
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? ENTHUSIASM. 393
enthusiasm is every thing for literary nations,
character is every thing to those which are
active; free nations stand in need of both.
Selfishness takes pleasure in speaking in-
cessantly of the dangers of enthusiasm; this
affected fear is in truth derision; if the cun-
ning men of the world would be sincere, they
would say, that nothing suits them better
than to have to do with persons with whom
so many means are impossible, and who can
so easily renounce what occupies the greater
part of mankind.
This disposition of the mind has strength,
notwithstanding its sweetness; and he who
feels it knows how to draw from it a noble
constancy. The storms of the passions sub-
side, the pleasures of self-love fade away,
enthusiasm alone is unalterable; the mind
itself would be lost in physical existence, if
something proud and animated did not snatch
it away from the vulgar ascendancy of self-
ishness: that moral dignity, which is proof
against all attempts, is what is most ad-
mirable in the gift of existence; it is for
this that in the bitterest pains it is still
noble to have lived as it would be noble to
die.
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? 394 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
Let us now examine the influence of en-
thusiasm upon learning and happiness. These
last reflections will terminate the train of
thoughts to which the different subjects that
I had to discuss have led me.
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 395
CHAPTER XI.
Of the Influence of Enthusiasm on Learning.
This chapter is, in some respects, the reca-
pitulation of my whole work; for enthusiasm.
being the quality which really distinguishes
the German nation, we may judge of the'
influence it exerts over learning, according .
to the progress of human nature in Germany.
Enthusiasm gives life to what is invisible,
and interest to what has no immediate action
on our comfort in this world; no sentiment,
therefore, is more adapted to the pursuit of
abstract truths; they are, therefore, culti-
vated in Germany with a remarkable ardour
and firmness.
The philosophers who are inspired by en-
thusiasm are'those, perhaps, who have the
most exactness and patience in their labours,
and at the same time those who the least
endeavour to shine; they love science for
itself, and set no value upon themselves,
when the object of their pursuit is in ques-
tion: physical nature pursues its own inva-
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? 396 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
liable march over the destruction of indi-
viduals; the thought of man assumes a sub-
lime character when it arrives at the power
of examining itself from an universal point
of view; it then silentljr assists the triumphs
of truth, and truth is, like nature, a force
which acts only by a progressive and regular
developement.
It may be said, with some reason, that
enthusiasm leads to a systematizing spirit;
when we are much attached to our ideas,
we endeavour to connect every thing with
them; but, in general, it is easier to deal
with sincere opinions, than with opinions
adopted through vanity. If, in our relations
with men, we had to do only with what they
really think, we should easily understand
one another; it is what they affect to think
that breeds discord.
Enthusiasm has been often accused of
leading to error, but perhaps a superficial
interest is much more deceitful; for, to pe-
netrate the essence of things, it is necessary
there should be an impulse to excite our at-
tention to them with ardour. Besides, in
considering human destiny in general, I be-
lieve it may be affirmed, that we shall never
arrive at truth, but by elevation of soul;
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 397
every thing that tends to lower us is false-
hood, and, whatever they may say of it, the
error lies on the side of vulgar sentiments.
Enthusiasm, I repeat, has no resemblance
to fanaticism, and cannot mislead as it does. .
Enthusiasm is tolerant, not through indiffer- .
enee, but because it makes us feel the in-
terest and the beauty of all things. Reason
does not give happiness in the place of that
which it deprives us of; enthusiasm finds,
in the musing of the heart, and in depth of
thought, what fanaticism and passion com-
prise in a single idea, or a single object. This
sentiment, on account even of its universality,
is very favourable to thought and to imagi-
nation.
Society developes wit, but it is contem- ,
plation alone that forms genius. Self-love is
the spring of countries where society pre-
vails, and self-love necessarily leads to jest-
ing, which destroys all enthusiasm.
Itis amusing enough, it cannot be denied,
to have a quick perception of what is ridi-
culous, and to paint it with grace and gaiety;
perhaps it would be better to deny ourselves
this pleasure, but, nevertheless, that is not
the kind of jesting the consequences of which
are the most to be feared; that which is at-
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? S98 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
tached to ideas and to sentiments is the most
fatal of all, for it insinuates itself into the
source of strong and devoted affections. Man
has a great empire over man: and of all the
evils he can do to his fellow-creature, the
greatest perhaps is to place the phantoms of
ridicule between generous emotions and the
actions they would inspire.
Love, genius, talent, distress itself, all
these sacred things are exposed to irony, and
it is impossible to calculate to what point
the empire of this irony may extend. There
is a relish in wickedness: there is something
weak in goodness. Admiration for great
things may be made the sport of wit; and he
who attaches no importance to any thing, has
the air of being superior to every thing: if,
therefore, our heart and our mind are not
defended by enthusiasm, they are exposed
on all sides to be surprised by this darkest
shade of the beautiful, which unites insolence
to gaiety.
The social spirit is so formed that we are
often commanded to laugh, and much oftener
are made ashamed of weeping: from what
does this proceed? From this--that self-
love thinks itself safer in pleasantry than in
emotion. A man must be able to rely well
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM, &C. 399
on his wit before he can dare to be serious
against a jest; it requires much strength to
disclose sentiments which may be turned
into ridicule.
Fontenelle said, " 1 am eighty
"years old; lama Frenchman, and I have
"never, through all my life, treated the
"smallest virtue with the smallest ridicule. "
This sentence argued a profound knowledge
of society. Fontenelle was not a sensible
man, but he had a great deal of wit; and
whenever a man is endowed with any su-
periority, he feels the necessity of serious-
ness in human nature. It is only persons of
middling understanding who would wish
that the foundation of every thing should be
sand, in order that no man might leave upon
the earth a trace more durable than their
own.
The Germans have not to struggle amongst
themselves against the enemies of enthusiasm,
which is a great obstacle at least to distin-
guished men. Wit grows sharper by con-
test, but talent has need of confidence. It
is necessary to expect admiration, glory, im-
mortality, in order to experience the inspira-
tion of genius; and what makes the distinc-
tion between different ages is not nature,
which is always lavish of the same gifts, but
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? 400 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
the opinion which prevails at the epoch in
which we live: if the tendency of that opi-
nion is towards enthusiasm, great men spring
up on all sides; if discouragement is pro-
claimed in one country, when in others noble
efforts would be excited, nothing remains in
literature but judges of the time past.
The terrible events of which we have been
witnesses have dried up men's hearts, and
every thing that belongs to thought appeared
tarnished by the side of the omnipotence of
action. Difference of circumstances has Jed
minds to support all sides of the same ques-
tions; the consequence has been, that people
no longer believe in ideas, or consider them,
at best, as means. Conviction does not seem
to belong to our times; and when a man
says he is of such an opinion, that is under-
stood to be a delicate manner of expressing
that he has such an interest.
The most honest men, then, make to
themselves a system which changes their
idleness into dignity: they say that nothing
can be done with nothing; they repeat, with
the Hermit of Prague, in Shakspeare, that
what is, is, and that theories have no influ-
ence on the world. Such men leave off with
making what they say true; for with such a
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 40l
mode of thinking they cannot act upon
others; and if wit consisted in seeing theybf
and against of every subject, it would make
the objects which encompass us turn round
in such a manner that we could not walk
with a firm step upon this tottering ground.
We also see young people, ambitious of
appearing free from all enthusiasm, affect a
philosophical contempt for exalted senti-
ments; they think by that to display a pre-
cocious force of reason; but it is a premature
decay of which they are boasting. They
treat talent like the old man who asked, if
Love still existed? The mind deprived of
imagination would gladly treat even Nature
with disdain, if Nature were not too strong
for it.
We certainly do great mischief to those
persons who are yet animated with noble
desires, by incessantly opposing them with
all the argument which can disturb the most
confiding hope; nevertheless, good faith
cannot grow weary of itself, for it is not
the appearance, but the reality of things
which employs her. With whatever atmo-
sphere we may be surrounded, a sincere
word was never completely lost; if there is
but one day on which success can be gained,
VOL. III. D D
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? 401 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
there are ages for the operation of the good
which may be done by truth.
The inhabitants of Mexico, as they pass
along the great road, each of them carry a
small stone to the grand pyramid which they
are raising in the midst of their country.
No individual will confer his name upon it:
but all will have contributed to this monu-
ment, which must survive them all.
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? INFLUENCE. OF ENTHUSIASM. 403
CHAPTER XII. AND LAST.
Of the Influence of Enthusiasm upon
Happiness.
1 The course of my subject necessarily leads
me here to treat of happiness. I have
hitherto studiously avoided the word, because
now for almost a century it has been the
custom to place it principally in pleasures so
gross, in a way of life so selfish, in calcula-
tions so narrow and confined, that its very
image is sullied and profaned. It, however, 1
may be pronounced with confidence, that of
all the feelings of the human heart enthu-
siasm confers the greatest happiness, that
indeed it alone confers real happiness, alone
can enable us to bear the lot of mortality in
every situation in which fortune has the
power to place us.
x| Vainly would we reduce ourselves to sen-
sual enjoyments; the soul asserts itself on
every side. Pride, ambition, self-love, all
these are still from the soul, although in
them a poisonous and pestilential blast mixes
dd2
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? 404 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
with its essence. Meanwhile, how wretched
is the existence of that crowd of mortals,
who, playing the hypocrite with themselves
almost as much as with others, are con-
tinually employed in repressing the generous
emotions,, which struggle to revive within
their bosoms, as diseases of the imagination,
which the open air should at once dispel.
How impoverished is the existence of those,
who content themselves with abstaining
from doing evil, and treat as weakness and
delusion the source of the most beautiful
deeds and the most noble conceptions!
From mere vanity they imprison themselves
in obstinate mediocrity, which they might
easily have opened to the light of know-
ledge, which every where surrounds them;
they sentence and condemn themselves to
that monotony of ideas, to that deadness of
feeling, which suffers the days to pass, one
after the other, without deriving from them
any advantage, without making in them any
progress, without treasuring up any matter
for future recollection. If time in its course
had nbt cast a change upon their features,
what proofs would they have preserved of
its having passed at all? If to grow old
and to die were not the necessary law of our
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM. 405
nature, what serious reflection would ever
have arisen in their minds ? / % ^ 0 ^
Some reasoners there are, who object that
enthusiasm produces a distaste for ordinary
life; and that as we cannot always remain
in the same frame of mind, it is more for
our advantage never to indulge it: and why
then, I would ask them, have they accepted
the gift of truth, why of life itself, since
they well knew that they were not to last
for ever? Why have they loved (if indeed
they ever have loved), since death at any
moment might separate them from the ob-
jects of their affection? Can there be a
more wretched economy than of the faculties
of the soul? They were given us to be im-
proved and expanded, to be carried as near
as possible to perfection, even to be prodi-
gally lavished for a high and noble end.
The more we benumb our feelings and
render ourselves insensible, the nearer (it
will be said) we approach to a state of ma-
terial existence, and the more we diminish
the dominion of pain and sorrow over us.
This argument imposes upon many; it con-
sists, in fact, in recommending to us to make
an attempt to live with as little of life as
possible. But our own degradation is al-
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? 406 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
ways accompanied by an uneasiness of
mind, for which we cannot account, and
which unremittingly attends upon us in se-
cret. The discontent, the shame, and the
weariness, which it causes, are arranged by
vanity in the garb of impertinence and con-
tempt; but it is very rare that any man can
settle peaceably in this confined and desert
sphere of being, which leaves him without
resource in himself when he is abandoned
by the prosperity of the world. Man has a
consciousness of the beautiful as well as of
the virtuous; and in the absence of the for-
mer he feels a void, as in a deviation from
the latter he finds remorse.
It is a common accusation against enthu-
siasm, that it is transitory; man were too
much blessed, if he could fix and retain
emotions so beautiful; but it is because
they are so easily dissipated and lost, that
we should strive and exert ourselves to pre-
serve them. Poetry and the fine arts are
the means of calling forth in man this hap-
piness of illustrious origin, which raises the
depressed heart; and, instead of an unquiet
satiety of life, gives an habitual feeling of
the divine harmony, in which nature and
ourselves claim a part.
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM. 407
There is no duty, there is no pleasure,
there is no sentiment, which does not bor- .
row from enthusiasm I know not what *
charm, which is still in perfect unison with.
the simple beauty of truth.
All men take up arms indeed for the de-
fence of the land which they inhabit, when
circumstances demand this duty of them;
but if they are inspired by the enthusiasm of
their country, what warm emotions do they
not feel within them? The sun, which shone
upon their birth, the land of their fathers,
the sea which bathes their rocks*, their
many recollections of the past, their many
hopes for the future, every thing around
them presents itself as a summons and en-
couragement for battle, and in every pulsa-
tion of the heart rises a thought of affection
and of honour. God has given this country
to men who can defend it; to women, who,
for its sake, consent to the dangers of their
brothers, their husbands, and their sons. At
the approach of the perils which threaten it,
* It is easy to perceive, that by this phrase, and by those
which follow, I have been trying to designate England; in
fact, I could not speak of war with enthusiasm, without
representing it to myself as the contest of a free nation for her
independence.
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? 408 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
a fever, exempt from shuddering as from
delirium, quickens the blood in the veins.
Every effort, in such a struggle, comes from
the deepest source of inward thought. As
yet nothing can be seen in the features of
these generous citizens but tranquillity;
there is too much dignity in their emotions
for outward demonstration; but let the sig-
nal once be heard, let the banner of their
country wave in the air, and you will see
those looks, before so gentle, and so ready
to resume that character at the sight of mis-
fortune, at once animated by a determina-
tion holy and terrible! They shudder no
more, neither at wounds nor at blood; it is
no longer pain, it is no longer death, it is an
offering to the God of armies; no regret, no
hesitation, now intrudes itself into the most
desperate resolutions; and when the heart is
entirely in its object, then is the highest en-
joyment of existence! As soon as man has,
within his own mind, separated himself from
himself, to him life is only an evil; and if it
be true, that of all the feeliDgs enthusiasm
confers the greatest happiness, it is because,
more than any other, it unites all the forces
of the soul in the same direction for the same
end.
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM. 409
The labours of the understanding are con-
sidered by many writers as an occupation
almost merely mechanical, and which fills up
their life in the same manner as any other
profession. It is still something that their
choice has fallen upon literature; but have such
men even an idea of the sublime happiness
of thought when it is animated by enthu-
siasm? Do they know the hope which pe-
netrates the soul, when there arises in it the
confident belief, that by the gift of eloquence
we are about to demonstrate and declare some
profound truth, some truth which will be at
once a generous bond of union between us
and every soul that sympathizes with ours?
Writers without enthusiasm, know of
the career of literature nothing but the criti-
cisms, the reviling, the jealousies which at-
tend upon it, and which necessarily must
endanger our peace of mind, if we allow
ourselves to be entangled amongst the pas-
sions of men. Unjust attacks of this nature
may, indeed, sometimes do us injury; but
the true, the heartfelt internal enjoyment
which belongs to talent, cannot be affected
by them. Even at the moment of the first
public appearance of a work, and before its
character is yet decided, how many hours of
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? 410 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
happiness has it not already been worth to
him who wrote it from his heart, and as an
act and office of his worship! How many
tears of rapture has he not shed in his soli-
tude over those wonders of life, love,
glory, and religion^Has he not, in his trans-
ports, enjoyed the air of heaven like a bird;
the waters like a thirsty hunter; the flowers
like a lover, who believes that he is breath-
ing the sweets which surround his mistress?
In the world, we have the feeling of being
oppressed beneath our own faculties, and
we often suffer from the consciousness that
we are the only one of our own disposition,
in the midst of so many beings, who exist
so easily, and at the expense of so little in-
tellectual exertion; but the creative talent of
imagination, for some moments at least, sa-
tisfies all our wishes and desires; it opens to
us treasures of wealth ; it offers to us crowns
of glory; it raises before our eyes the pure
and bright image of an ideal world; and so
mighty sometimes is its power, that by it we
hear in our hearts the very voice and accents
of one whom we have loved.
Does he who is not endowed with an en-
thusiastic imagination flatter himself that he
is, in any degree, acquainted with the earth
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM. 411
upon which he lives, or that he has travelled
through any of its various countries? Does
his heart beat at the echo of the mountains?
or has the air of the south lulled his senses
in its voluptuous softness? Does he per-
ceive wherein countries differ, the one from
the other? Does he remark the accent, and
does he understand the peculiar character of
the idioms of their languages? Does he hear
in the popular song, and see in the national
dance, the manners and the genius of the
people? Does one single sensation at once
fill his mind with a crowd of recollections?
Is Nature to be felt without enthusiasm?
Can common men address to her the tale of
their mean interests and low desires? What
have the sea and the stars to answer to the
little vanities with which each individual is
content to fill up each day? But if the soul
be really moved within us, if in the universe
it seeks a God, even if it be still sensible to
glory and to love, the clouds of heaven will
hold converse with it, the torrents will listen
to its voice, and the breeze that passes
through the grove seems to deign to whisper
to us something of those we love.
xThere are some who, although devoid of
enthusiasm, etill believe that they have a
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? 412 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
taste and relish for the fine arts; and indeed
they do love the refinement of luxury, and
they wish to acquire a knowledge of music
and of painting, that they may be able to
converse upon them with ease and with taste,
and even with that confidence which be-
comes the man of the world, when the sub-
ject turns upon imagination, or upon Na-
ture; but what are these barren pleasures,
when compared with true enthusiasm ? --
What an emotion runs through the brain when
we contemplate in the Niobe that settled
look of calm and terrible despair which seems
to reproach the gods with their jealousy of
her maternal happiness? What consolation
does the sight of beauty breathe upon us!
Beauty also is from the soul, and pure and
noble is the admiration it inspires. To feel
the grandeur of the Apollo demands in the
spectator a pride which tramples under foot
all the serpents of the earth. None but a
Christian can penetrate the countenance of
the Virgins of Raphael, and the St. Jerome
of Domenichino.
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? 386 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
throwing their pallid flashes over a withered
cheek.
Even when, in the flower of age, life is
withdrawn from the bosom of man, neither
the admiration excited by the convulsions of
nature, nor the interest awakened by the
wreck of monuments, can be made to belong
to the inanimate corpse of the most lovely
of created beings. The love which cherished
this enchanting form, love itself cannot en-
dure the remains of it; and nothing of man
exists after him on earth but what makes
even his friends tremble.
Ah! what a lesson do the horrors of de-
struction thus incarnate in the human race
afford! Is not this to announce to man that
his life is to be elsewhere? Would nature
humble him so low, if the Divinity were not
willing to raise him up again?
The true final causes of nature are these
relations with our soul and our immortal
destiny. Physical objects themselves have
a destination which is not bounded by the
contracted existence of man below; they
are placed here to assist in the developement
of our thoughts to the work of our moral
life. The phenomena of nature must not be
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? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 387
understood according to the laws of matter
alone, however well combined those laws
may be ; they have a philosophical sense and
a religious end, of which the most attentive
contemplation will never know the extent.
cc 2
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? 388 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
CHAPTER X.
Of Enthusiasm.
Many people are prejudiced against En-
thusiasm; they confound it with Fanaticism,
which is a great mistake. Fanaticism is an
exclusive passion, the object of which is an
opinion; enthusiasm is connected with the
harmony of the universe: it is the love of
the beautiful, elevation of soul, enjoyment
of devotion, all united in one single feeling
which combines grandeur and repose. The
sense of this word amongst the Greeks affords
the noblest definition of it: enthusiasm sig-
nifies God in us. In fact, when the existence
of man is expansive, it has something
divine.
Whatever leads us to sacrifice our own
comfort, or our own life, is almost always
enthusiasm; for the high road of reason, to
the selfish, must be to make themselves the
object of all their efforts, and to value no-
thing in the world but health, riches, and
power. Without doubt, conscience is suf-
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? ENTHUSIASM. 389
ficient to lead the coldest character into the
track of virtue; but enthusiasm is to con-
science what honour is to duty: there is in
us << superfluity of soul which it is sweet to
consecrate to what is fine, when what is
good has been accomplished. Genius and
imagination also stand in need of a little care
for their welfare in the world; and the law
of duty, however sublime it may be, is not
sufficient to enable us to taste all the won-
ders of the heart, and of the thought.
It cannot be denied that his own interests,
as an individual, surround a man on all sides;
there is even in what is vulgar a certain en-
joyment, of which many people are very sus-
ceptible, and the traces of ignoble passions
are often found under the appearance of the
most distinguished manners. Superior talents
are not always a guarantee against that de-
gradation of nature which disposes blindly
of the existence of men, and leads them to
place their happiness lower than themselves.
Enthusiasm alone can counterbalance the
tendency to selfishness; and it is by this di-
vine sign that we recognise the creatures of
immortality. When you speak to any one
on subjects worthy of holy respect, you per-
ceive at once if he feels a noble trembling;
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? 390 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
if his heart beats with elevated sentiments;
if he has formed an alliance with the other
life, or if he has only that little portion of
mind which serves him to direct the me-
chanism of existence. And what then is
human nature when we see in it nothing
but a prudence, of which its own advantage
is the object? The instinct of animals is
of more worth, for it is sometimes generous
and proud; but this calculation, which
seems the attribute of reason, ends by ren-
dering us incapable of the first of virtues,
self-devotion.
Amongst those who endeavour to turn
exalted sentiments into ridicule, many are,
nevertheless, susceptible of them, though
unknown to themselves. War, undertaken
with personal views, always affords . some of
the enjoyments of enthusiasm; the trans-
port of a day of battle, the singular plea-
sure of exposing ourselves to death, when
our whole nature would enjoin to us the
love of life, can only be attributed to en-
thusiasm. The martial music, the neighing
of the steeds, the roar of the cannon, the
multitude of soldiers clothed in the same co-
lours, moved by the same desire, assembled
around the same. banners, inspire an emo-
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? ENTHUSIASM.
391
tion capable of triumphing over that instinct
which would preserve existence; and so
strong is this enjoyment, that neither fatigues,
nor sufferings, nor dangers, can withdraw the
soul from it. Whoever has once led this life
loves no other. The attainment of our object
never satisfies us; it is the action of risking
ourselves, which is necessary, it is that which
introduces enthusiasm into the blood; and
although it may be more pure at the bottom
of the soul, it is still of a noble nature,
when it is able to become an impulse almost
physical.
Sincere enthusiasm is often reproached
with what belongs only to affected enthu-
siasm: the more pure a sentiment is, the
more odious is a false imitation of it. To
tyrannize over the admiration of men is what
is most culpable, for we dry up in them the
source of good emotions when we make
them blush for having felt them. Besides,
nothing is more painful than the false sounds
which appear to proceed from the sanctuary
of the soul itself: Vanity may possess her-
self of whatever is external; conceit and dis-
grace are the only evils which will result
from it; but when she counterfeits our
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? 392 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
inward feelings, she appears to violate the
last asylum in which we can hope to escape
her. It is easy, nevertheless, to discover
sincerity in enthusiasm; it is a melody so
pure, that the smallest discord destroys its
whole charm; a word, an accent, a look,
express the concentrated emotion which an-
swers to a whole life. Persons who are
called severe in the world, very often have
in them something exalted. The strength
which reduces others to subjection may be
no more than cold calculation. The strength
which triumphs over ourselves is always in-
spired by a generous sentiment.
Enthusiasm, far from exciting a just sus-
picion of its excesses, perhaps leads in ge-
neral to a contemplative disposition, which
impairs the power of acting: the Germans
are a proof of it; no nation is more capable
of feeling or thinking; but when the moment
of taking a side is arrived, the very extent of
their conceptions detracts from the decision
of their character. Character and enthusiasm
differ in many respects; we ought to choose
our object by enthusiasm, but to approach
it by character: thought is nothing without
enthusiasm, and action without character;
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? ENTHUSIASM. 393
enthusiasm is every thing for literary nations,
character is every thing to those which are
active; free nations stand in need of both.
Selfishness takes pleasure in speaking in-
cessantly of the dangers of enthusiasm; this
affected fear is in truth derision; if the cun-
ning men of the world would be sincere, they
would say, that nothing suits them better
than to have to do with persons with whom
so many means are impossible, and who can
so easily renounce what occupies the greater
part of mankind.
This disposition of the mind has strength,
notwithstanding its sweetness; and he who
feels it knows how to draw from it a noble
constancy. The storms of the passions sub-
side, the pleasures of self-love fade away,
enthusiasm alone is unalterable; the mind
itself would be lost in physical existence, if
something proud and animated did not snatch
it away from the vulgar ascendancy of self-
ishness: that moral dignity, which is proof
against all attempts, is what is most ad-
mirable in the gift of existence; it is for
this that in the bitterest pains it is still
noble to have lived as it would be noble to
die.
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? 394 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
Let us now examine the influence of en-
thusiasm upon learning and happiness. These
last reflections will terminate the train of
thoughts to which the different subjects that
I had to discuss have led me.
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 395
CHAPTER XI.
Of the Influence of Enthusiasm on Learning.
This chapter is, in some respects, the reca-
pitulation of my whole work; for enthusiasm.
being the quality which really distinguishes
the German nation, we may judge of the'
influence it exerts over learning, according .
to the progress of human nature in Germany.
Enthusiasm gives life to what is invisible,
and interest to what has no immediate action
on our comfort in this world; no sentiment,
therefore, is more adapted to the pursuit of
abstract truths; they are, therefore, culti-
vated in Germany with a remarkable ardour
and firmness.
The philosophers who are inspired by en-
thusiasm are'those, perhaps, who have the
most exactness and patience in their labours,
and at the same time those who the least
endeavour to shine; they love science for
itself, and set no value upon themselves,
when the object of their pursuit is in ques-
tion: physical nature pursues its own inva-
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? 396 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
liable march over the destruction of indi-
viduals; the thought of man assumes a sub-
lime character when it arrives at the power
of examining itself from an universal point
of view; it then silentljr assists the triumphs
of truth, and truth is, like nature, a force
which acts only by a progressive and regular
developement.
It may be said, with some reason, that
enthusiasm leads to a systematizing spirit;
when we are much attached to our ideas,
we endeavour to connect every thing with
them; but, in general, it is easier to deal
with sincere opinions, than with opinions
adopted through vanity. If, in our relations
with men, we had to do only with what they
really think, we should easily understand
one another; it is what they affect to think
that breeds discord.
Enthusiasm has been often accused of
leading to error, but perhaps a superficial
interest is much more deceitful; for, to pe-
netrate the essence of things, it is necessary
there should be an impulse to excite our at-
tention to them with ardour. Besides, in
considering human destiny in general, I be-
lieve it may be affirmed, that we shall never
arrive at truth, but by elevation of soul;
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 397
every thing that tends to lower us is false-
hood, and, whatever they may say of it, the
error lies on the side of vulgar sentiments.
Enthusiasm, I repeat, has no resemblance
to fanaticism, and cannot mislead as it does. .
Enthusiasm is tolerant, not through indiffer- .
enee, but because it makes us feel the in-
terest and the beauty of all things. Reason
does not give happiness in the place of that
which it deprives us of; enthusiasm finds,
in the musing of the heart, and in depth of
thought, what fanaticism and passion com-
prise in a single idea, or a single object. This
sentiment, on account even of its universality,
is very favourable to thought and to imagi-
nation.
Society developes wit, but it is contem- ,
plation alone that forms genius. Self-love is
the spring of countries where society pre-
vails, and self-love necessarily leads to jest-
ing, which destroys all enthusiasm.
Itis amusing enough, it cannot be denied,
to have a quick perception of what is ridi-
culous, and to paint it with grace and gaiety;
perhaps it would be better to deny ourselves
this pleasure, but, nevertheless, that is not
the kind of jesting the consequences of which
are the most to be feared; that which is at-
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? S98 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
tached to ideas and to sentiments is the most
fatal of all, for it insinuates itself into the
source of strong and devoted affections. Man
has a great empire over man: and of all the
evils he can do to his fellow-creature, the
greatest perhaps is to place the phantoms of
ridicule between generous emotions and the
actions they would inspire.
Love, genius, talent, distress itself, all
these sacred things are exposed to irony, and
it is impossible to calculate to what point
the empire of this irony may extend. There
is a relish in wickedness: there is something
weak in goodness. Admiration for great
things may be made the sport of wit; and he
who attaches no importance to any thing, has
the air of being superior to every thing: if,
therefore, our heart and our mind are not
defended by enthusiasm, they are exposed
on all sides to be surprised by this darkest
shade of the beautiful, which unites insolence
to gaiety.
The social spirit is so formed that we are
often commanded to laugh, and much oftener
are made ashamed of weeping: from what
does this proceed? From this--that self-
love thinks itself safer in pleasantry than in
emotion. A man must be able to rely well
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM, &C. 399
on his wit before he can dare to be serious
against a jest; it requires much strength to
disclose sentiments which may be turned
into ridicule.
Fontenelle said, " 1 am eighty
"years old; lama Frenchman, and I have
"never, through all my life, treated the
"smallest virtue with the smallest ridicule. "
This sentence argued a profound knowledge
of society. Fontenelle was not a sensible
man, but he had a great deal of wit; and
whenever a man is endowed with any su-
periority, he feels the necessity of serious-
ness in human nature. It is only persons of
middling understanding who would wish
that the foundation of every thing should be
sand, in order that no man might leave upon
the earth a trace more durable than their
own.
The Germans have not to struggle amongst
themselves against the enemies of enthusiasm,
which is a great obstacle at least to distin-
guished men. Wit grows sharper by con-
test, but talent has need of confidence. It
is necessary to expect admiration, glory, im-
mortality, in order to experience the inspira-
tion of genius; and what makes the distinc-
tion between different ages is not nature,
which is always lavish of the same gifts, but
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? 400 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
the opinion which prevails at the epoch in
which we live: if the tendency of that opi-
nion is towards enthusiasm, great men spring
up on all sides; if discouragement is pro-
claimed in one country, when in others noble
efforts would be excited, nothing remains in
literature but judges of the time past.
The terrible events of which we have been
witnesses have dried up men's hearts, and
every thing that belongs to thought appeared
tarnished by the side of the omnipotence of
action. Difference of circumstances has Jed
minds to support all sides of the same ques-
tions; the consequence has been, that people
no longer believe in ideas, or consider them,
at best, as means. Conviction does not seem
to belong to our times; and when a man
says he is of such an opinion, that is under-
stood to be a delicate manner of expressing
that he has such an interest.
The most honest men, then, make to
themselves a system which changes their
idleness into dignity: they say that nothing
can be done with nothing; they repeat, with
the Hermit of Prague, in Shakspeare, that
what is, is, and that theories have no influ-
ence on the world. Such men leave off with
making what they say true; for with such a
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM, &C. 40l
mode of thinking they cannot act upon
others; and if wit consisted in seeing theybf
and against of every subject, it would make
the objects which encompass us turn round
in such a manner that we could not walk
with a firm step upon this tottering ground.
We also see young people, ambitious of
appearing free from all enthusiasm, affect a
philosophical contempt for exalted senti-
ments; they think by that to display a pre-
cocious force of reason; but it is a premature
decay of which they are boasting. They
treat talent like the old man who asked, if
Love still existed? The mind deprived of
imagination would gladly treat even Nature
with disdain, if Nature were not too strong
for it.
We certainly do great mischief to those
persons who are yet animated with noble
desires, by incessantly opposing them with
all the argument which can disturb the most
confiding hope; nevertheless, good faith
cannot grow weary of itself, for it is not
the appearance, but the reality of things
which employs her. With whatever atmo-
sphere we may be surrounded, a sincere
word was never completely lost; if there is
but one day on which success can be gained,
VOL. III. D D
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? 401 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
there are ages for the operation of the good
which may be done by truth.
The inhabitants of Mexico, as they pass
along the great road, each of them carry a
small stone to the grand pyramid which they
are raising in the midst of their country.
No individual will confer his name upon it:
but all will have contributed to this monu-
ment, which must survive them all.
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? INFLUENCE. OF ENTHUSIASM. 403
CHAPTER XII. AND LAST.
Of the Influence of Enthusiasm upon
Happiness.
1 The course of my subject necessarily leads
me here to treat of happiness. I have
hitherto studiously avoided the word, because
now for almost a century it has been the
custom to place it principally in pleasures so
gross, in a way of life so selfish, in calcula-
tions so narrow and confined, that its very
image is sullied and profaned. It, however, 1
may be pronounced with confidence, that of
all the feelings of the human heart enthu-
siasm confers the greatest happiness, that
indeed it alone confers real happiness, alone
can enable us to bear the lot of mortality in
every situation in which fortune has the
power to place us.
x| Vainly would we reduce ourselves to sen-
sual enjoyments; the soul asserts itself on
every side. Pride, ambition, self-love, all
these are still from the soul, although in
them a poisonous and pestilential blast mixes
dd2
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? 404 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
with its essence. Meanwhile, how wretched
is the existence of that crowd of mortals,
who, playing the hypocrite with themselves
almost as much as with others, are con-
tinually employed in repressing the generous
emotions,, which struggle to revive within
their bosoms, as diseases of the imagination,
which the open air should at once dispel.
How impoverished is the existence of those,
who content themselves with abstaining
from doing evil, and treat as weakness and
delusion the source of the most beautiful
deeds and the most noble conceptions!
From mere vanity they imprison themselves
in obstinate mediocrity, which they might
easily have opened to the light of know-
ledge, which every where surrounds them;
they sentence and condemn themselves to
that monotony of ideas, to that deadness of
feeling, which suffers the days to pass, one
after the other, without deriving from them
any advantage, without making in them any
progress, without treasuring up any matter
for future recollection. If time in its course
had nbt cast a change upon their features,
what proofs would they have preserved of
its having passed at all? If to grow old
and to die were not the necessary law of our
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM. 405
nature, what serious reflection would ever
have arisen in their minds ? / % ^ 0 ^
Some reasoners there are, who object that
enthusiasm produces a distaste for ordinary
life; and that as we cannot always remain
in the same frame of mind, it is more for
our advantage never to indulge it: and why
then, I would ask them, have they accepted
the gift of truth, why of life itself, since
they well knew that they were not to last
for ever? Why have they loved (if indeed
they ever have loved), since death at any
moment might separate them from the ob-
jects of their affection? Can there be a
more wretched economy than of the faculties
of the soul? They were given us to be im-
proved and expanded, to be carried as near
as possible to perfection, even to be prodi-
gally lavished for a high and noble end.
The more we benumb our feelings and
render ourselves insensible, the nearer (it
will be said) we approach to a state of ma-
terial existence, and the more we diminish
the dominion of pain and sorrow over us.
This argument imposes upon many; it con-
sists, in fact, in recommending to us to make
an attempt to live with as little of life as
possible. But our own degradation is al-
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? 406 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
ways accompanied by an uneasiness of
mind, for which we cannot account, and
which unremittingly attends upon us in se-
cret. The discontent, the shame, and the
weariness, which it causes, are arranged by
vanity in the garb of impertinence and con-
tempt; but it is very rare that any man can
settle peaceably in this confined and desert
sphere of being, which leaves him without
resource in himself when he is abandoned
by the prosperity of the world. Man has a
consciousness of the beautiful as well as of
the virtuous; and in the absence of the for-
mer he feels a void, as in a deviation from
the latter he finds remorse.
It is a common accusation against enthu-
siasm, that it is transitory; man were too
much blessed, if he could fix and retain
emotions so beautiful; but it is because
they are so easily dissipated and lost, that
we should strive and exert ourselves to pre-
serve them. Poetry and the fine arts are
the means of calling forth in man this hap-
piness of illustrious origin, which raises the
depressed heart; and, instead of an unquiet
satiety of life, gives an habitual feeling of
the divine harmony, in which nature and
ourselves claim a part.
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? INFLUENCE OP ENTHUSIASM. 407
There is no duty, there is no pleasure,
there is no sentiment, which does not bor- .
row from enthusiasm I know not what *
charm, which is still in perfect unison with.
the simple beauty of truth.
All men take up arms indeed for the de-
fence of the land which they inhabit, when
circumstances demand this duty of them;
but if they are inspired by the enthusiasm of
their country, what warm emotions do they
not feel within them? The sun, which shone
upon their birth, the land of their fathers,
the sea which bathes their rocks*, their
many recollections of the past, their many
hopes for the future, every thing around
them presents itself as a summons and en-
couragement for battle, and in every pulsa-
tion of the heart rises a thought of affection
and of honour. God has given this country
to men who can defend it; to women, who,
for its sake, consent to the dangers of their
brothers, their husbands, and their sons. At
the approach of the perils which threaten it,
* It is easy to perceive, that by this phrase, and by those
which follow, I have been trying to designate England; in
fact, I could not speak of war with enthusiasm, without
representing it to myself as the contest of a free nation for her
independence.
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? 408 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
a fever, exempt from shuddering as from
delirium, quickens the blood in the veins.
Every effort, in such a struggle, comes from
the deepest source of inward thought. As
yet nothing can be seen in the features of
these generous citizens but tranquillity;
there is too much dignity in their emotions
for outward demonstration; but let the sig-
nal once be heard, let the banner of their
country wave in the air, and you will see
those looks, before so gentle, and so ready
to resume that character at the sight of mis-
fortune, at once animated by a determina-
tion holy and terrible! They shudder no
more, neither at wounds nor at blood; it is
no longer pain, it is no longer death, it is an
offering to the God of armies; no regret, no
hesitation, now intrudes itself into the most
desperate resolutions; and when the heart is
entirely in its object, then is the highest en-
joyment of existence! As soon as man has,
within his own mind, separated himself from
himself, to him life is only an evil; and if it
be true, that of all the feeliDgs enthusiasm
confers the greatest happiness, it is because,
more than any other, it unites all the forces
of the soul in the same direction for the same
end.
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM. 409
The labours of the understanding are con-
sidered by many writers as an occupation
almost merely mechanical, and which fills up
their life in the same manner as any other
profession. It is still something that their
choice has fallen upon literature; but have such
men even an idea of the sublime happiness
of thought when it is animated by enthu-
siasm? Do they know the hope which pe-
netrates the soul, when there arises in it the
confident belief, that by the gift of eloquence
we are about to demonstrate and declare some
profound truth, some truth which will be at
once a generous bond of union between us
and every soul that sympathizes with ours?
Writers without enthusiasm, know of
the career of literature nothing but the criti-
cisms, the reviling, the jealousies which at-
tend upon it, and which necessarily must
endanger our peace of mind, if we allow
ourselves to be entangled amongst the pas-
sions of men. Unjust attacks of this nature
may, indeed, sometimes do us injury; but
the true, the heartfelt internal enjoyment
which belongs to talent, cannot be affected
by them. Even at the moment of the first
public appearance of a work, and before its
character is yet decided, how many hours of
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? 410 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
happiness has it not already been worth to
him who wrote it from his heart, and as an
act and office of his worship! How many
tears of rapture has he not shed in his soli-
tude over those wonders of life, love,
glory, and religion^Has he not, in his trans-
ports, enjoyed the air of heaven like a bird;
the waters like a thirsty hunter; the flowers
like a lover, who believes that he is breath-
ing the sweets which surround his mistress?
In the world, we have the feeling of being
oppressed beneath our own faculties, and
we often suffer from the consciousness that
we are the only one of our own disposition,
in the midst of so many beings, who exist
so easily, and at the expense of so little in-
tellectual exertion; but the creative talent of
imagination, for some moments at least, sa-
tisfies all our wishes and desires; it opens to
us treasures of wealth ; it offers to us crowns
of glory; it raises before our eyes the pure
and bright image of an ideal world; and so
mighty sometimes is its power, that by it we
hear in our hearts the very voice and accents
of one whom we have loved.
Does he who is not endowed with an en-
thusiastic imagination flatter himself that he
is, in any degree, acquainted with the earth
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? INFLUENCE OF ENTHUSIASM. 411
upon which he lives, or that he has travelled
through any of its various countries? Does
his heart beat at the echo of the mountains?
or has the air of the south lulled his senses
in its voluptuous softness? Does he per-
ceive wherein countries differ, the one from
the other? Does he remark the accent, and
does he understand the peculiar character of
the idioms of their languages? Does he hear
in the popular song, and see in the national
dance, the manners and the genius of the
people? Does one single sensation at once
fill his mind with a crowd of recollections?
Is Nature to be felt without enthusiasm?
Can common men address to her the tale of
their mean interests and low desires? What
have the sea and the stars to answer to the
little vanities with which each individual is
content to fill up each day? But if the soul
be really moved within us, if in the universe
it seeks a God, even if it be still sensible to
glory and to love, the clouds of heaven will
hold converse with it, the torrents will listen
to its voice, and the breeze that passes
through the grove seems to deign to whisper
to us something of those we love.
xThere are some who, although devoid of
enthusiasm, etill believe that they have a
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? 412 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
taste and relish for the fine arts; and indeed
they do love the refinement of luxury, and
they wish to acquire a knowledge of music
and of painting, that they may be able to
converse upon them with ease and with taste,
and even with that confidence which be-
comes the man of the world, when the sub-
ject turns upon imagination, or upon Na-
ture; but what are these barren pleasures,
when compared with true enthusiasm ? --
What an emotion runs through the brain when
we contemplate in the Niobe that settled
look of calm and terrible despair which seems
to reproach the gods with their jealousy of
her maternal happiness? What consolation
does the sight of beauty breathe upon us!
Beauty also is from the soul, and pure and
noble is the admiration it inspires. To feel
the grandeur of the Apollo demands in the
spectator a pride which tramples under foot
all the serpents of the earth. None but a
Christian can penetrate the countenance of
the Virgins of Raphael, and the St. Jerome
of Domenichino.
