第28章 LETTER IX(2)

Drunkenness,often the attendant disgrace of hospitality,will here,as well as everywhere else,give place to gallantry and refinement of manners;but the change will not be suddenly produced.

The people of every class are constant in their attendance at church;they are very fond of dancing,and the Sunday evenings in Norway,as in Catholic countries,are spent in exercises which exhilarate the spirits without vitiating the heart.The rest of labour ought to be gay;and the gladness I have felt in France on a Sunday,or Decadi,which I caught from the faces around me,was a sentiment more truly religious than all the stupid stillness which the streets of London ever inspired where the Sabbath is so decorously observed.I recollect,in the country parts of England,the churchwardens used to go out during the service to see if they could catch any luckless wight playing at bowls or skittles;yet what could be more harmless?It would even,I think,be a great advantage to the English,if feats of activity (I do not include boxing matches)were encouraged on a Sunday,as it might stop the progress of Methodism,and of that fanatical spirit which appears to be gaining ground.I was surprised when I visited Yorkshire,on my way to Sweden,to find that sullen narrowness of thinking had made such a progress since I was an inhabitant of the country.I could hardly have supposed that sixteen or seventeen years could have produced such an alteration for the worse in the morals of a place--yes,I say morals;for observance of forms,and avoiding of practices,indifferent in themselves,often supply the place of that regular attention to duties which are so natural,that they seldom are vauntingly exercised,though they are worth all the precepts of the law and the prophets.Besides,many of these deluded people,with the best meaning,actually lose their reason,and become miserable,the dread of damnation throwing them into a state which merits the term;and still more,in running after their preachers,expecting to promote their salvation,they disregard their welfare in this world,and neglect the interest and comfort of their families;so that,in proportion as they attain a reputation for piety,they become idle.

Aristocracy and fanaticism seem equally to be gaining ground in England,particularly in the place I have mentioned;I saw very little of either in Norway.The people are regular in their attendance on public worship,but religion does not interfere with their employments.

As the farmers cut away the wood they clear the ground.Every year,therefore,the country is becoming fitter to support the inhabitants.Half a century ago the Dutch,I am told,only paid for the cutting down of the wood,and the farmers were glad to get rid of it without giving themselves any trouble.At present they form a just estimate of its value;nay,I was surprised to find even firewood so dear when it appears to be in such plenty.The destruction,or gradual reduction,of their forests will probably ameliorate the climate,and their manners will naturally improve in the same ratio as industry requires ingenuity.It is very fortunate that men are a long time but just above the brute creation,or the greater part of the earth would never have been rendered habitable,because it is the patient labour of men,who are only seeking for a subsistence,which produces whatever embellishes existence,affording leisure for the cultivation of the arts and sciences that lift man so far above his first state.I never,my friend,thought so deeply of the advantages obtained by human industry as since Ihave been in Norway.The world requires,I see,the hand of man to perfect it,and as this task naturally unfolds the faculties he exercises,it is physically impossible that he should have remained in Rousseau's golden age of stupidity.And,considering the question of human happiness,where,oh where does it reside?Has it taken up its abode with unconscious ignorance or with the high-wrought mind?Is it the offspring of thoughtless animal spirits or the dye of fancy continually flitting round the expected pleasure?

The increasing population of the earth must necessarily tend to its improvement,as the means of existence are multiplied by invention.

You have probably made similar reflections in America,where the face of the country,I suppose,resembles the wilds of Norway.I am delighted with the romantic views I daily contemplate,animated by the purest air;and I am interested by the simplicity of manners which reigns around me.Still nothing so soon wearies out the feelings as unmarked simplicity.I am therefore half convinced that I could not live very comfortably exiled from the countries where mankind are so much further advanced in knowledge,imperfect as it is,and unsatisfactory to the thinking mind.Even now I begin to long to hear what you are doing in England and France.My thoughts fly from this wilderness to the polished circles of the world,till recollecting its vices and follies,I bury myself in the woods,but find it necessary to emerge again,that I may not lose sight of the wisdom and virtue which exalts my nature.

What a long time it requires to know ourselves;and yet almost every one has more of this knowledge than he is willing to own,even to himself.I cannot immediately determine whether I ought to rejoice at having turned over in this solitude a new page in the history of my own heart,though I may venture to assure you that a further acquaintance with mankind only tends to increase my respect for your judgment and esteem for your character.Farewell!