A Man's Safety Lies Neither In Faith Nor Reason,
But In Temper - In The Power Of Fusing Faith And Reason, Even When
They Appear Most Mutually Destructive.
A man of temper will be
certain in spite of uncertainty, and at the same time uncertain in
spite of certainty; reasonable in spite of his resting mainly upon
faith rather than reason, and full of faith even when appealing
most strongly to reason.
If it is asked, In what should a man have
faith? To what faith should he turn when reason has led him to a
conclusion which he distrusts? the answer is, To the current
feeling among those whom he most looks up to - looking upon himself
with suspicion if he is either among the foremost or the laggers.
In the rough, homely common sense of the community to which we
belong we have as firm ground as can be got. This, though not
absolutely infallible, is secure enough for practical purposes.
As I have said, Catholic priests have rather a fascination for me -
when they are not Englishmen. I should say that the best North
Italian priests are more openly tolerant than our English clergy
generally are. I remember picking up one who was walking along a
road, and giving him a lift in my trap. Of course we fell to
talking, and it came out that I was a member of the Church of
England. "Ebbene, caro Signore," said he when we shook hands at
parting; "mi rincresce che Lei non crede come me, ma in questi
tempi non possiamo avere tutti i medesimi principii." {15}
I travelled another day from Susa to S. Ambrogio with a priest, who
told me he took in "The Catholic Times," and who was well up to
date on English matters. Being myself a Conservative, I found his
opinions sound on all points but one - I refer to the Irish
question: he had no sympathy with the obstructionists in
Parliament, but nevertheless thought the Irish were harshly
treated. I explained matters as well as I could, and found him
very willing to listen to our side of the question.
The one thing, he said, which shocked him with the English, was the
manner in which they went about distributing tracts upon the
Continent. I said no one could deplore the practice more
profoundly than myself, but that there were stupid and conceited
people in every country, who would insist upon thrusting their
opinions upon people who did not want them. He replied that the
Italians travelled not a little in England, but that he was sure
not one of them would dream of offering Catholic tracts to people,
for example, in the streets of London. Certainly I have never seen
an Italian to be guilty of such rudeness. It seems to me that it
is not only toleration that is a duty; we ought to go beyond this
now; we should conform, when we are among a sufficient number of
those who would not understand our refusal to do so; any other
course is to attach too much importance at once to our own opinions
and to those of our opponents. By all means let a man stand by his
convictions when the occasion requires, but let him reserve his
strength, unless it is imperatively called for. Do not let him
exaggerate trifles, and let him remember that everything is a
trifle in comparison with the not giving offence to a large number
of kindly, simple-minded people. Evolution, as we all know, is the
great doctrine of modern times; the very essence of evolution
consists in the not shocking anything too violently, but enabling
it to mistake a new action for an old one, without "making believe"
too much.
One day when I was eating my lunch near a fountain, there came up a
moody, meditative hen, crooning plaintively after her wont. I
threw her a crumb of bread while she was still a good way off, and
then threw more, getting her to come a little closer and a little
closer each time; at last she actually took a piece from my hand.
She did not quite like it, but she did it. This is the evolution
principle; and if we wish those who differ from us to understand
us, it is the only method to proceed upon. I have sometimes
thought that some of my friends among the priests have been
treating me as I treated the meditative hen. But what of that?
They will not kill and eat me, nor take my eggs. Whatever,
therefore, promotes a more friendly feeling between us must be pure
gain.
The mistake our advanced Liberals make is that of flinging much too
large pieces of bread at a time, and flinging them at their hen,
instead of a little way off her. Of course the hen is fluttered
and driven away. Sometimes, too, they do not sufficiently
distinguish between bread and stones.
As a general rule, the common people treat the priests
respectfully, but once I heard several attacking one warmly on the
score of eternal punishment. "Sara," said one, "per cento anni,
per cinque cento, per mille o forse per dieci mille anni, ma non
sara eterna; perche il Dio e un uomo forte - grande, generoso, di
buon cuore." {16} An Italian told me once that if ever I came upon
a priest whom I wanted to tease, I was to ask him if he knew a
place called La Torre Pellice. I have never yet had the chance of
doing this; for, though I am fairly quick at seeing whether I am
likely to get on with a priest or no, I find the priest is
generally fairly quick too; and I am no sooner in a diligence or
railway carriage with an unsympathetic priest, than he curls
himself round into a moral ball and prays horribly - bristling out
with collects all over like a cross-grained spiritual hedgehog.
Partly, therefore, from having no wish to go out of my way to make
myself obnoxious, and partly through the opposite party being
determined that I shall not get the chance, the question about La
Torre Pellice has never come off, and I do not know what a priest
would say if the subject were introduced, - but I did get a talking
about La Torre Pellice all the same.
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