登陆注册
20013100000071

第71章 LETTER LII(2)

Pray let no quibbles of lawyers,no refinements of casuists,break into the plain notions of right and wrong,which every man's right reason and plain common sense suggest to him.To do as you would be done by,is the plain,sure,and undisputed rule of morality and justice.Stick to that;and be convinced that whatever breaks into it,in any degree,however speciously it may be turned,and however puzzling it may be to answer it,is,notwithstanding,false in itself,unjust,and criminal.I do not know a crime in the world,which is not by the casuists among the Jesuits (especially the twenty-four collected,I think,by Escobar)allowed,in some,or many cases,not to be criminal.The principles first laid down by them are often specious,the reasonings plausible,but the conclusion always a lie:for it is contrary,to that evident and undeniable rule of justice which I have mentioned above,of not doing to anyone what you would not have him do to you.But,however,these refined pieces of casuistry and sophistry,being very convenient and welcome to people's passions and appetites,they gladly accept the indulgence,without desiring to detect the fallacy or the reasoning:and indeed many,I might say most people,are not able to do it;which makes the publication of such quibblings and refinements the more pernicious.I am no skillful casuist nor subtle disputant;and yet I would undertake to justify and qualify the profession of a highwayman,step by step,and so plausibly,as to make many ignorant people embrace the profession,as an innocent,if not even a laudable one;and puzzle people of some degree of knowledge,to answer me point by point.I have seen a book,entitled 'Quidlibet ex Quolibet',or the art of making anything out of anything;which is not so difficult as it would seem,if once one quits certain plain truths,obvious in gross to every understanding,in order to run after the ingenious refinements of warm imaginations and speculative reasonings.Doctor Berkeley,Bishop of Cloyne,a very worthy,ingenious,and learned man,has written a book,to prove that there is no such thing as matter,and that nothing exists but in idea:that you and I only fancy ourselves eating,drinking,and sleeping;you at Leipsig,and I at London:that we think we have flesh and blood,legs,arms,etc.,but that we are only spirit.His arguments are,strictly speaking,unanswerable;but yet I am so far from being convinced by them,that I am determined to go on to eat and drink,and walk and ride,in order to keep that MATTER,which I so mistakenly imagine my body at present to consist of,in as good plight as possible.Common sense (which,in truth,very uncommon)is the best sense I know of:abide by it,it will counsel you best.Read and hear,for your amusement,ingenious systems,nice questions subtilly agitated,with all the refinements that warm imaginations suggest;but consider them only as exercitations for the mind,and turn always to settle with common sense.

I stumbled,the other day,at a bookseller's,upon "Comte Gabalis,"in two very little volumes,which I had formerly read.I read it over again,and with fresh astonishment.Most of the extravagances are taken from the Jewish Rabbins,who broached those wild notions,and delivered them in the unintelligible jargon which the Caballists and Rosicrucians deal in to this day.Their number is,I believe,much lessened,but there are still some;and I myself have known two;who studied and firmly believed in that mystical nonsense.What extravagancy is not man capable of entertaining,when once his shackled reason is led in triumph by fancy and prejudice!The ancient alchemists give very much into this stuff,by which they thought they should discover the philosopher's stone;and some of the most celebrated empirics employed it in the pursuit of the universal medicine.Paracelsus,a bold empiric and wild Caballist,asserted that he had discovered it,and called it his 'Alkahest'.

Why or wherefore,God knows;only that those madmen call nothing by an intelligible name.You may easily get this book from The Hague:read it,for it will both divert and astonish you,and at the same time teach you 'nil admirari';a very necessary lesson.

同类推荐
  • 酉阳杂俎

    酉阳杂俎

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天道偶测

    天道偶测

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 草堂诗话

    草堂诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 四教仪集解

    四教仪集解

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南华真经循本

    南华真经循本

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 九州诸侯

    九州诸侯

    大晋代卫,天下分为九州。出于西南边陲的延州,在大将军元破敌的带领下,做为大晋抵抗蛮族人的坚固屏障,抵御着蛮族人的入侵。元破敌逝世后,其妻长公主欲收权于皇室,将亲子元慎冷落,由此引发出皇室和诸侯、母与子之间的爱恨情仇。
  • EXO之爱你的420个理由

    EXO之爱你的420个理由

    金允晗,一个美丽、乐观无比的富家女,她拥有一个出道机会但她放弃了,自愿去当一个娱乐记者!她还有两个好姐妹——朴智兴、闵可妍,一次的任务,认识了EXO。。。总之,她们三人也注定拥有一个不平凡的人生!
  • 工具人总裁,么么哒!

    工具人总裁,么么哒!

    她是冬日里一抹骄阳,硬生生把他黑暗的世界点亮。他是夏日里冰凉的雪碧,她不敢开封,生怕把这瓶雪碧都变成了二氧化碳,消散于空气,再也寻不着。可当一切一切都破封,把真相坦荡荡地暴露出来。他选择坚持走下去,而她却选择了背井离乡
  • 月起微澜紫苏殇

    月起微澜紫苏殇

    “妖又如何?世间万物,无奇不有。有什么稀奇的?”某女甚是无谓的说道。某男听了,猛的一把将某女扑倒在地,似要生吞活剥个干净。“你..你干嘛!我可不喜欢享用你这样瘦得跟个竹竿子似的男人。”说罢,眼角余光扫向某男的下半身某处。“哦?本座就让你尝尝,所谓的竹竿子,是个什么样的滋味儿~”此文原文已作整改,望朋友们多多支持,么么哒~因为特殊原因笔者上次点错东西结果改了书名封面已经重做~~希望亲们多加支持
  • 生命少不了篮球

    生命少不了篮球

    “前世我为篮球丢了生命,转世后,我依然会拥生命去打球。篮球才是我的一切,少了篮球,我活不下来。篮球是生命,或者说,我的生命是篮球。”看转世后,少林寺国宝级僧徒怎样还俗闯荡社会,怎样走上职业篮坛。
  • 困难的克服(现代人生成功方案丛书)

    困难的克服(现代人生成功方案丛书)

    人之所以高一位伟大的艺术家深知逆境出人才的道理,所以当有人问他,那位跟他学画的青年能否成为一位伟大的艺术家时,他便坚定地回答:“决不可能!因为他每年有6000英磅丰厚的收入呢!”贵是否可以这样说所谓专注,就是把意识集中在某个特定欲望等上的行为,并且一直集中到找出实现这项欲望的方法,而且成功地将之付诸实际行动并成功达到目的为止。非常的恒心、毅力、自信心和欲望等是构成专注行为的主要因素。,实现价值的真正动力是基本需要的满足。由于它一直被忽视,我们确实有必要承认它至少是这类因素中的一个,并且是特别重要的一个。在摩尔的著作中详细描述了需要的满足和挫折决定兴趣的几种方式。只在于人能思考……
  • 世界最伟大的身心灵修行课(上)

    世界最伟大的身心灵修行课(上)

    每一个时代都有一些智者,他们明白人生的秘密,他们总比别人过得幸福、快乐,他们总能取得比常人更高的成就,他们总能得到自己想要的人生,他们总能心想事成!他们成为杰出的领袖、富有的商人、成功的专业人士……
  • 仇仙纪

    仇仙纪

    她灿若晨华,可算命先生说她命里无子。他家道中落,但算命先生断他父凭子贵。她和他走到了一起,可起初的甜蜜由于婚后无子而逐渐苦涩。就在一天深夜里,他俩共入梦乡,突然床底下传出了婴儿的哭声……这是一个关于复仇的故事!
  • 千年海盗

    千年海盗

    为何海盗阴魂再袭亚丁湾?《千年海盗》全面解析海盗的历史与今天,为读者彻底揭秘海盗,讲述海盗卷土重来背后的故事。史上五大海盗时期,史上七大臭名昭著的海盗岛,东海枭雄:中国历史上的海盗代表,郑和下西洋:剿灭世界最大海盗集团。
  • 误入豪门:霸宠小天后

    误入豪门:霸宠小天后

    请你去死好吗!回心转意是个什么鬼?待虐的意思?金主先生,咱们说好的卖身不卖艺,请不要拿钱侮辱我的人格。一朝家变,事业爱情皆低谷。那绝境里伸来的唯一稻草,不管是不是救赎,慕夕夕都会毫不犹豫地握住。她从满身的伤痕里长出锋利的尖刺,自此所向披靡。可有人却宁愿被她扎地浑身血,也要拥她入怀,送她从回巅峰。金光灿灿的颁奖礼上,被误会隔在两端的人。他以为终于要失去她。她却说,这首歌送给陈先生。男人低声问:不是只卖身不卖艺,嗯?她娇笑的回:买一送一,再搭上全部的人格真心,要不要?