The removal of the contradiction between life and consciousness
is possible in two ways,--by a change of life or by a change of
consciousness, and in the choice of one of the two there can be no
doubt.
A man may stop doing what he considers bad, but he cannot stop
considering bad what is bad.
Even so the whole of humanity may stop doing what it considers bad,
but is powerless, not only to change, but even for a time to retard
the all-elucidating and expanding consciousness of what is bad and
what, therefore, ought not to be. It would seem that the choice
between the change of life and that of the consciousness ought to be
clear and above doubt.
And so, it would seem, it is indispensable for the Christian
humanity of our time to renounce the pagan forms of life, which it
condemns, and to build up its life on the Christian foundations,
which it professes.
But so it would be, if there did not exist the law of inertia, which
is as invariable in the lives of men and nations as in inanimate
bodies, and which is for men expressed by the psychological law, so
well stated in the Gospel with the words, "and did not walk toward
the light, because their deeds were evil." This law consists in
this, that the majority of men do not think in order to know the
truth, but in order to assure themselves that the life which they
lead, and which is agreeable and habitual to them, is the one which
coincides with the truth.
Slavery was contrary to all the moral principles which were preached
by Plato and Aristotle, and yet neither the one nor the other saw
this, because the negation of slavery destroyed all that life which
they lived. The same happens in our world.
The division of men into two castes, like the violence of the state
and of the army, is repugnant to all those moral principles by which
our world lives, and at the same time the leading men of culture of
our time do not seem to see it.
The majority, if not all, of the cultured people of our time
unconsciously try to maintain the previous social concept of life
which justifies their position, and to conceal from themselves
and from men its inadequacy, and, above all, the necessity of the
condition of the Christian life-conception, which destroys the whole
structure of the existing life. They strive to maintain the orders
that are based on the social life-conception, but themselves do
not believe in it, because it is obsolete, and it is impossible to
believe in it any longer.
All literature, the philosophic, the political, and that of the
_belles-lettres_, of our time is striking in this respect. What a
wealth of ideas, forms, colours, what erudition, elegance, abundance
of thoughts, and what total absence of serious contents, and even
what fear of every definiteness of thought and of its expression!
Circumlocutions, allegories, jests, general, extremely broad
reflections, and nothing simple, clear, pertinent to the matter,
that is, to the question of life.
But it is not enough that they write and say graceful vapidities;
they even write and say abominable, vile things, they in the most
refined manner adduce reflections which take men back to primeval
savagery, to the foundations, not only of pagan, but even of animal
life, which we outlived as far back as five thousand years ago.
It can, indeed, not be otherwise. In keeping shy of the Christian
life-conception, which for some impairs only the habitual order, and
for others both the habitual and the advantageous order, men cannot
help but return to the pagan concept of life, and to the teachings
which are based on them. In our time they not only preach patriotism
and aristocratism, as it was preached two thousand years ago, but
they even preach the coarsest epicurism, animality, with this one
difference, that the men who then preached it believed in what they
preached, while now the preachers themselves do not believe in what
they say, and they cannot believe, because what they preach no
longer has any meaning. It is impossible to remain in one place,
when the soil is in motion. If you do not go ahead, you fall behind.
And, though it is strange and terrible to say so, the cultured
people of our time, the leaders, with their refined reflections, in
reality are dragging society back, not even to the pagan state, but
to the state of primeval savagery.
In nothing may this direction of the activity of the leading men of
our time be seen so clearly as in their relation to the phenomenon
in which in our time the whole inadequacy of the social concept of
life has been expressed in a concentrated form,--in their relation
to war, to universal armaments, and to universal military service.
The indefiniteness, if not the insincerity, of the relation of
the cultured men of our time to this phenomenon is striking. The
relation to this matter in our cultured society is threefold: some
look upon this phenomenon as something accidental, which arose
from the peculiar political condition of Europe, and consider it
corrigible, without the change of the whole structure of life, by
means of external, diplomatic, international measures; others look
upon this phenomenon as upon something terrible and cruel, but
inevitable and fatal, like a disease or death; others again calmly
and coolly look upon war as an indispensable, beneficent, and
therefore desirable phenomenon.
These people look differently at the matter, but all of them
discuss war as an incident which is quite independent of the will
of men who take part in it, and so do not even admit that natural
question, which presents itself to every simple man, "Must I take
part in it?" According to the opinion of all these men, these
questions do not even exist, and every person, no matter how he
himself may look upon war, must in this respect slavishly submit to
the demands of the government.
The relation of the first, of those who see a salvation from wars in
diplomatic, international measures, is beautifully expressed in the
result of the last Congress of Peace in London, and in an article
and letters concerning war by prominent authors in No. 8 of the
_Revue des Revues_ for 1891.
Here are the results of the Congress: having collected the personal
or written opinions from learned men all over the world, the
Congress began by a Te Deum in the Cathedral, and ended with a
dinner with speeches, having for the period of five days listened
to a large number of speeches, and having arrived at the following
resolutions:
1. "The Congress affirms its belief that the brotherhood of man
involves as a necessary consequence a brotherhood of nations, in
which the true interests of all are acknowledged to be identical.
2. "The Congress recognizes the important influence which
Christianity exercises upon the moral and political progress of
mankind, and earnestly urges upon ministers of the Gospel, and other
teachers of religion and morality, the duty of setting forth the
principles of Peace and Good-will, and recommends that the third
Sunday in December in each year be set apart for that purpose.
3. "This Congress expresses its opinion that all teachers of history
should call the attention of the young to the grave evils inflicted
on mankind in all ages by war, and to the fact that such war has
been waged, as a rule, for most inadequate causes.
4. "The Congress protests against the use of military exercises
in connection with the physical exercises of school, and suggests
the formation of brigades for saving life rather than any of
a quasi-military character; and it urges the desirability of
impressing on the Board of Examiners, who formulate the questions
for examination, the propriety of guiding the minds of children into
the principles of Peace.
5. "The Congress holds that the doctrine of the universal rights
of man requires that aboriginal and weaker races shall be guarded
from injustice and fraud when brought into contact with civilized
peoples, alike as to their territories, their liberties, and their
property, and that they shall be shielded from the vices which are
so prevalent among the so-called advanced races of men. It further
expresses its conviction that there should be concert of action
among the nations for the accomplishment of these ends. The Congress
desires to express its hearty appreciation of the conclusions
arrived at by the late Anti-Slavery Conference, held in Brussels,
for the amelioration of the condition of the peoples of Africa.
6. "The Congress believes that the warlike prejudices and traditions
which are still fostered in the various nationalities, and the
misrepresentations by leaders of public opinion in legislative
assemblies, or through the press, are not infrequently indirect
causes of war. The Congress is therefore of opinion that these evils
should be counteracted by the publication of accurate statements
and information that would tend to the removal of misunderstanding
among nations, and recommends to the Inter-Parliamentary Committee
the importance of considering the question of commencing an
international newspaper, which should have such a purpose as one of
its primary objects.
7. "The Congress proposes to the Inter-Parliamentary Conference
that the utmost support should be given to every project for the
unification of weights and measures, of coinage, tariffs, postal
and telegraphic arrangements, means of transport, etc., which would
assist in constituting a commercial, industrial, and scientific
union of the peoples.
8. "The Congress, in view of the vast moral and social influence
of woman, urges upon every woman throughout the world to sustain
the things that make for peace; as otherwise she incurs grave
responsibilities for the continuance of the systems of war and
militarism.
9. "This Congress expresses the hope that the Financial Reform
Association, and other Similar Societies in Europe and America,
should unite in convoking at an early date a Conference to consider
the best means of establishing equitable commercial relations
between states by the reduction of import duties. The Congress feels
that it can affirm that the whole of Europe desires Peace, and is
impatiently waiting for the moment when it shall see the end of
those crushing armaments which, under the plea of defence, become in
their turn a danger, by keeping alive mutual distrust, and are at
the same time the cause of that economic disturbance which stands in
the way of settling in a satisfactory manner the problems of labour
and poverty, which should take precedence of all others.
10. "The Congress, recognizing that a general disarmament would be
the best guarantee of Peace, and would lead to the solution, in the
general interest, of those questions which must now divide states,
expresses the wish that a Congress of Representatives of all the
states of Europe may be assembled as soon as possible, to consider
the means of accepting a gradual general disarmament.
11. "The Congress, considering the timidity of the single Powers
or other causes might delay indefinitely the convocation of the
above-mentioned Congress, is of opinion that the Government which
should first dismiss any considerable number of soldiers would
confer a signal benefit on Europe and mankind, because it would
oblige other Governments, urged on by public opinion, to follow its
example, and by the moral force of this accomplished fact, would
have increased rather than diminished the condition of its national
defence.
12. "This Congress, considering the question of disarmament, as
well as the Peace question generally, depends upon public opinion,
recommends the Peace Societies here represented, and all friends of
Peace, to carry on an active propaganda among the people, especially
at the time of Parliamentary elections, in order that the electors
should give their vote to those candidates who have included in
their programme Peace, Disarmament, and Arbitration.
13. "The Congress congratulates the friends of Peace on the
resolution adopted by the International American Conference
at Washington in April last, by which it was recommended that
arbitration should be obligatory in all controversies concerning
diplomatic and consular privileges, boundaries, territories,
indemnities, right of navigation, and the validity, construction,
and enforcement of treaties, and in all other cases, whatever
their origin, nature, or occasion, except only those which, in the
judgment of any of the nations involved in the controversy, may
imperil its independence.
14. "The Congress respectfully recommends this resolution to the
attention of the statesmen of Europe, and expresses the ardent
desire that treaties in similar terms be speedily entered into
between the other nations of the world.
15. "The Congress expresses its satisfaction at the adoption
by the Spanish Senate, on June 16th last, of a project of law
authorizing the Government to negotiate general or special treaties
of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes, except those
relating to the independence and internal government of the state
affected; also at the adoption of resolutions to a like effect by
the Norwegian Storthing, and by the Italian Chamber, on July 11th.
16. "The Congress addresses official communications to the principal
religious, political, commercial, labour, and peace organizations
in civilized countries, requesting them to send petitions to
governmental authorities of their respective countries, praying
that measures be taken for the formation of suitable tribunals for
the adjudicature of any international questions, so as to avoid the
resort to war.
17. "Seeing (_a_) that the object pursued by all Peace Societies is
the establishment of juridical order between nations; (_b_) that
neutralization by international treaties constitutes a step toward
this juridical state, and lessens the number of districts in which
war can be carried on; the Congress recommends a larger extension
of the rule of neutralization, and expresses the wish: (_a_) that
all treaties which at present assure to a certain state the benefit
of neutrality remain in force, or, if necessary, be amended in a
manner to render the neutrality more effective, either by extending
neutralization to the whole of the state, of which a part only may
be neutralized, or by ordering the demolition of fortresses which
constitute rather a peril than a guarantee of neutrality; (_b_) that
new treaties, provided they are in harmony with the wishes of the
population, be concluded for the establishment of the neutralization
of other states.