LOOKING FURTHER BACKWARD. Arthur Dudley Vinton. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Arthur Dudley Vinton
Издательство: Bookwire
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Жанр произведения: Языкознание
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isbn: 9788027224890
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the birth of Jesus Christ, one Julian West, who then occupied the chair of history, now occupied by me, wrote a book which he called Looking Backward1 This book you have all perused in your earlier historical studies; and you are all somewhat familiar with the condition of society which it purported to describe. I will not, therefore, dwell upon it for any length of time, though some reference to it is necessary, as I propose in my lectures to you, to continue the history of your country from the period at which Professor West stops to the present day.

      You will remember that Professor West, in his book, gave many of his own sensations, but few of his own impressions or observations as to the social conditions which surrounded him on his awakening from his strange sleep. He confined himself to repeating the opinions and remarks of a certain garrulous old gentleman, called Dr. Leete. Your previous studies have also informed you that this gentleman took a most optimistic and favorable view of his own times, and, especially, of the remarkable system of government under which your parents then suffered.

      Before proceeding to the direct study of the events of the last quarter century, it is necessary that you should understand some, at least, of the defects of that extraordinary system of government, because it was through those defects that the father of our present reigning Emperor, was enabled to endow you with the glorious civilization of China, and to give to you, even against the will of your barbarian progenitors, our present happy system of government. These defects it is my purpose to point out to you — not always in my own words, however, but often in the words of Professor West. I copy his criticism of them from manuscripts, in his own handwriting, found among his baggage after the second batlie of Lake Erie, where, as you know, he fell at the head of the regiment which he had raised from the graduates of the Historical Section of Shawmut College. He writes :

      " Dr. Leete was a very talkative old gentleman, whose explanations were quite interesting for a while, but after a little time, he began to tell his stories over and over again and insisted on explaining every thing to me a second and third time; so I made tip my mind that it was decidedly my duty to be idle no longer, but to at once assume my professorship at Shawmut College. In repeated interviews with my host I made this quite plain. Li a little while, therefore, I was installed in my professorship, much to Dr. Leete's regret, for he had probably never before had so good a listener as I had been.

      " My marriage with Edith, soon followed.

      " At first, when I had been but recently awakened, every thing was so strange to me that I felt confused and bewildered. The only sensation that I was capable of, was surprise. The analytical powers of my mind were in a state of abeyance. But, after I had become more familiar with the society into which the strange sequence of phenomenal events had cast me, I began to see that Dr. Leete had pictured things in altogether too roseate a light. Human nature, I found, was much the same as it had been a century ago. There were now, as then, people who thought that the existing state of affairs was the best that could be devised; but there were many, now, as then, who were discontented with their condition in life, and ready to welcome any change. Human ambition was as actiye now as it had been then, only it ran in different channels. The spirit of acquisitiveness, the desire of gain, manifested itself in more than one of the men whom I was thrown into contact with. It did not, to be sure, show itself in the desire to accumulate money, for two generations had had no use for money, and could have no practical knowledge of the superiority which the possession of great riches gave to men of my time. But I was made sharp-sighted by an experience which none now living, except myself, has had, and I could see that the desire to accumulate property was still with many men a ruling motive, which manifested itself in many ways. I saw, moreover, that demagoguery and corruption2 were not words having only in historical significance, as Dr. Leete would have had me believe, but that favoritism was rank in all branches of the public service, that officials were constantly being impeached for it —the men for giving the prettier women advantage over those who were homelier, while the women took fancies to men, and made distinctions in their favor. From my present observations, I am inclined to think that the women are far more given to this vice of favoritism than the men are.

      " The inheritance of property3 was still permitted; and this, allowyig the accumulation of valuable goods and chattels, was a continual source of inequality—though Dr. Leete had told me to the contrary. I found that one family (by the name of Bassett) in Boston had gradually become possessed of. the masterpieces of American artists, while another (the Hayes family) was envied for its wonderful collection of gold and silver ornaments. The price of jewels, too, had risen enormously above what it had been in my day, owing probably to the fact that these were especially desirable as heirlooms, since they were intrinsically beautiful in themselves, and capable of being stored in such small compass that their possession was no burden.

      " I found, also, that the grading and re-grading system,4 which Dr. Leete had described to me as meeting with universal approval, was a standing grievance to every one who did not rise at all and to many who rose, as they thought, too slowly; and was prolific in engendering discontent and envy."

      Thus far we have the testimony of Professor West as to the most apparent faults of what we now call the old order of society. He left behind him other writings than that from which I have just quoted, and these writings (among them, a diary of the events which he took part in) I shall have occasion to quote from later on. After his death at the battle of Lake Erie, his papers were taken possession of by the Chinese authorities, and upon my appointment to this professorship at Shawmut College, were delivered to me.

      Your previous studies will have told you what professor West mentions in his book, that the Nationalist idea of government prevailed at the opening of this century, in all of Europe, all of North America and in the greater part of South America,5 I do not think that he mentions that the Nationalistic notions also prevailed to an extent in India and Russian Asia; nor that the Nationalists of Great Britain had secured a quiet government only after the complete deportation of all the Irish to Australia — which since that day has been in a continued state of anarchy. China alone of all the principal nations upon the globe had retained her ancient civilization and form of government. It is fortunate for the world that she did so.

      So far, what I have had to say to you has been in the nature of an introduction. Let me now recite the events that brought about the fall of the Nationalistic system. Most of these events your previous studies have already made you acquainted with, but it is my purpose to so recite them that you can see the cause and effect of each and the relation which one bears to the others.

      We learn from our books of history that the French have always been a fickle nation, fond of change, eager in the pursuit of ideas. They were the first to follow the example of the United States and adopt the Nationalist idea of government. They were first also to depart from that idea.

      On the 6th of January, A. D. 2012, a riot broke out at Marseilles, the occasion being the public announcement of orders from the government to curtail the manufacture of toys. For many years France had been the toy-shop of the world and Paris had been the principal manufacturer and sales-agent of playthings; but in the preceding decade Marseilles had rivalled the industrial importance of Paris, and much jealousy and ill-feeling had in consequence been engendered between the two cities. When the orders from the central government were promulgated, it was at once believed by the Marseillais that the Parisians had secured their passage; and the occasion was used as a pretext to begin a revolution which we, in the light of subsequent events, and with the knowledge we now possess, have every reason to believe had been carefully arranged beforehand.

      I stood once on the slope of Tung-nan, one of the great mountain ranges of my mother country. I was well up toward the summit, and with my guides had halted for a little while to rest. Sitting on a projecting crag, far above the tree line, I, in an idle mood, cast upon the loose scoriae below a fragment of rock that had lain beside me. The missile did work that I had not contemplated. It struck the volcanic debris and rolled slowly downward ; and, as it went, other stones followed it, and they in turn dislodged other stones, until at length an avalanche roared down the mountain side beneath me. The idle casting of a stone had set huge fragments of rocks descending earthward. Trifles are sometimes pregnant ol great things. Great oaks from little acorns grow. The world is changed because a stone is thrown.

      When you were at school you learned dates and names,