Chapter 29 Twenty-eight, Lessing

On the night of September 20, 1792, a battle broke out between the French Revolutionary Army and the troops of the Allied Monarchs who had come to put down this terrible riot. It was a glorious victory, but not the Confederates.The Confederate infantry couldn't move on the slippery slopes of Valmy Village.The battle became a continuous artillery battle, but the rebels fired more violently and quickly than the royal army, so that the latter retreated first from the field and retreated northward at night.Among the combatants was a man named Goethe, assistant to the hereditary Weimar princes.

A few years later, the young man published his memoirs of the day.He stood in the thick, sticky ankle-length mud of Lorraine and became a prophet.He predicted that after this artillery battle, the world would never be the same again.He is right.On a day that will always be remembered, the sovereign power, in the favor of God, was consigned to the rubbish heap.Participants in the human rights movement did not flee like chickens, as one might expect.Armed with guns, they crossed the valleys and climbed the mountains, spreading the idea of ​​"liberty, equality, and fraternity" to the remotest corners of Europe, and tied their horses to every castle and church on the entire continent.

We have no trouble writing such words.The leaders of this revolution have been dead for about a hundred and fifty years, and we can make fun of them all we want.We can even thank them for the good they do for the world. But the men and women who survived those days—the ones who danced joyously under the Village of Liberty one morning only to be chased about like rats in the city sewer for the next three months— — It is impossible to stand on the sidelines of this upheaval.As soon as they had crawled out of their cellars and attics, and combed their wigs, which were as disheveled as a chicken coop, they set about trying to avoid a repetition of this dreadful catastrophe.

But in order to be successful against an adversary, they must first cover the past.This is not the vague past in the historical sense, but the "past" in which they themselves secretly read Mr. Voltaire's books and openly expressed their admiration for the Encyclopedia.Now they pile up M. Voltaire's books in the garret, sell M. Dirrod's to the scrap dealer, and throw into the coal-bin the revealing pamphlets they have read devoutly.They have gone to great pains in every possible way to conceal the traces that might reveal their sojourn in the liberal sphere. Alas, as is so often the case with the destruction of written material, these confessors overlooked one thing, worse than the rumors so widely held, and that was the theatrical stage.It would be naive of them to say that they never believed in the possibility of equality for all, after they have lavished loads of compliments on The Marriage of Figaro.They have shed tears for "wise Nansen", so they can no longer justify their insistence that religious tolerance is a sign of government weakness.

What this play and its success proves is the exact opposite of what they say. This play is a well-known play that catered to popular sentiments in the late eighteenth century, and its author is a German named Gerthhold Ephraim Lessing.The son of a Lutheran priest, he studied theology at the University of Leipzig.But he was unwilling to take religion as a career and often played truant.When his father heard the news, he called him home and asked him to choose whether to drop out of school immediately or write an application to study in the medical department.Gerthhold was no more interested in being a doctor than a priest, and he made sure to do everything his father asked of him.Although he returned to Leipzig, he continued to guarantee loans for some of his favorite actor friends.Later these people disappeared from the city, and Lessing had to flee to Wittenberg in order to avoid being arrested for debts.

His escape meant the beginning of long walks and starvation.He first came to Berlin, and for several years he wrote for several theological journals for a very low fee.Later he worked as a private secretary to a wealthy friend who was going on a round-the-world trip.As soon as they set out, the Seven Years' War broke out.The friend was forced to join the army and returned home in the first carriage.Lessing lost his job again and was living in Leipzig. But Lessing was a sociable person, and soon found a new friend named Edward Christina Kleist.This friend is an official during the day and writes poetry at night. He is a sensitive person.He gave the hungry theologian insight into the new spirit slowly entering the world.But Kleist was killed at the Battle of Kuneddorf, and Lessing was driven to the brink of poverty and had to become a newspaper columnist.

Then, Lessing worked as a private secretary for the commander of Bresler (now Wroclaw) Castle for a period of time. Since the life in the garrison was boring, he studied Spinoza's works seriously for entertainment. It was a hundred years after the philosopher's death that his writings began to circulate abroad. All this, however, does not solve the problems of everyday life.Lessing was almost forty years old at this time, and he wanted to start a family.His friends suggested that he be appointed librarian of the Royal Library.But events many years earlier had made Lessing unpopular at the Prussian court.He met Voltaire on his first visit to Berlin.The French philosopher was a man of great generosity, without airs at all.He allowed the young man to borrow the manuscript of The Century of Louis XIV, which was then ready for publication.Unfortunately, Lessing typed the manuscript in his luggage (entirely by accident) when he left Berlin in a hurry.Voltaire, already annoyed by the poor coffee and hard beds of the stingy Prussian court, immediately shouted that he had been stolen, that the young German had stolen his most important manuscript, and that the police must watch the borders Wait, looks exactly like an excited Frenchman in a foreign country.Within a few days, the postman brought his lost manuscript, but it was also accompanied by a letter from Lessing, in which the outspoken young Teutonic offered his opinion to those who dared to doubt his honesty.

It would be easy to forget what happened in the chocolate jar, but the eighteenth century was a time when the chocolate jar played a huge role in the lives of men and women.Even after twenty years, King Frederick still did not like his troublesome French friend Voltaire, so he did not allow Lessing to come to court. Lessing bid farewell to Berlin and came to Hamburg.There is a rumor here that a new national theater is to be built.But this plan failed to materialize, and Lessing accepted a job as a librarian in the library of the hereditary Grand Duke Brunswick in desperation.At that time, the city of Wolfenbutel where he lived was not considered a big city, but the library of the Grand Duke was second to none in Germany.It houses more than 10,000 manuscripts, several of which are the most important documents of the Christian Reformation in history.

Boredom is, of course, a major source of slander and gossip.In Wolfenbutel, the former art critic, newspaper columnist, and theater sketch writer was doubtful, and Lessing soon found himself in trouble again.Not that he did anything, but he was rumored to have done something, namely publish a series of articles attacking the old Lutheran theological orthodoxy. These sermons (because they were sermons) were actually written by a former dean of Hamburg, but the Grand Duke of Brunswick, alarmed at the prospect of a religious war in his domain, ordered His librarians played it safe and avoided all controversy.Lessing did as his master asked.However, no one had discussed this issue clearly at the time, so Lessing set to work to reformulate his views in the form of drama.

The play that was born in the small town recroom was called "Clever Nansen." This topic is very old, I mentioned it earlier.Lovers of the classics will find it in Boccaccio, where it is called The Tragic Tale of the Three Rings.The plot is as follows: Long, long ago, a prince of Islam wanted to squeeze a lot of money from one of his Jewish subjects.But he was troubled by depriving the poor man of his property for no good reason, and he devised a trick.He sent for the victim, praised him for his learning and wisdom, and asked him which of the three most widespread religions—Turkish, Judaic, and Christian—was his opinion The most true?The venerable old man did not answer the prince directly, but said: "Oh, great sultan, let me tell you a little story! Once upon a time, there was a rich man who had a very beautiful ring. He wrote in the will It is written in the book that when he died, whichever son wore the ring would inherit all his property. His son later made the same will, and so did his grandson. For hundreds of years, the ring generation From one generation to the next, it has been perfect. But at last there was a master who had three sons, whom he loved so much that he could not decide which one should be entitled to this priceless treasure. So he went to a goldsmith and had him make two of them and his own. The exact same ring on his hand. When he was dying, he lay on his bed and called all three children to bless everyone. They also thought they were the heirs of the ring. After the father's funeral, the three children declared themselves It was the heir because they both had that ring. This led to many arguments and finally the matter was brought to the judge. Since the three rings were identical, even the judge couldn't decide which was the real one, so the case dragged on , procrastinate and procrastinate, it is likely to procrastinate to the end of the world. Amen."

Lessing uses this old folktale to demonstrate his belief that no religion has a monopoly on truth.A person's inner world is more valuable than his superficial compliance with certain prescribed rituals and dogmas. Therefore, people's task is to get along with each other. No one has the right to regard himself as a perfect idol for others to worship, and he has no right to declare " I am better than anyone else because only I have the truth." But the idea, which had been so popular in 1778, was now unpopular among the lesser states.The small princes tried their best to keep their remaining property and livestock in the great storm. In order to restore their lost prestige, they handed over the land to the police, and expected the pastors and gentlemen who depended on them for their livelihood to play the role of spiritual support and help them. Police restore law and order. This out-and-out reaction was a complete success, and those attempts to reshape people's minds in the mold of religious tolerance fifty years ago ended in failure.It couldn't have turned out otherwise.It is true that the majority of the people in all countries are weary of revolutions and riots, of parliaments and meaningless speeches, of tariffs of all kinds which have utterly ruined commerce and industry.They want peace, peace at any cost.They wanted to do business, to sit in their living room drinking coffee, no longer being harassed by the soldiers who lived at home, and then forced to drink the disgusting sap from the oak tree.If they can enjoy such a happy life, they would rather put up with some small inconveniences, such as saluting everyone with brass buttons, bowing before every royal letter box, and using "sir" Hail the official chimney-sweep helper. But this humility is entirely the result of necessity, of a short respite after a long period of turmoil.Every morning there was a new uniform, a new political platform, a new policy, a new ruler who belonged to both God and the common people.Yet, from this general state of servility alone, from the shouting of the god-appointed master, one concludes that in the depths of their hearts the people have forgotten the urges of Sergeant Grande, who had stirred their minds and hearts. Erjing, that would be wrong. Their government has the inherent cynical thinking of all reactionary dictators, and mainly requires superficial compliance and order, but they don't care about people's spiritual life, so ordinary people enjoy a large degree of freedom.The common man goes to church on Sunday with a large Bible, and the rest of the week is free to think as he pleases.But they must keep silent, keep their opinions private, look carefully before they say anything, and make sure there are no spies under the sofa or behind the stove.But while they could talk with gusto about the events of that day, they learned from the duly inspected, double-checked, and sterilized newspapers that the new masters had adopted some new foolish method of keeping the kingdom peaceful, that the people Take it back to 1600 A.D., and they'll shake their heads miserably again. What their masters did was what all masters of the same kind, ignorant of human history, have been doing under similar circumstances since A.D. 1.The owners ordered the vat of biscuits removed because someone stood on it and made a vehement attack on the government, thinking it would destroy free speech.Whenever they could, they imprisoned bad orators, handed down severe sentences (forty, fifty, or a hundred years), and gave these poor souls the reputation of martyrs.But in many cases these owners are nothing but frivolous idiots who have read only a few books and pamphlets which they cannot understand. Warned by such examples, others shun public playgrounds and take refuge in out-of-the-way taverns or public hotels in overcrowded cities, where they are sure they have discreet audiences whose influence is greater than Bigger on the public podium. There is nothing more wretched in the world than God, in His wisdom, empowering someone with a modicum of power, and fearing the loss of his official prestige because of it.A king can lose his throne and laugh at one of the little episodes that interrupt his dreary life.Whether he wore the manservant's brown bowler hat or his grandfather's crown, he was still a king.But for the mayor of a third-rate city, as long as he is stripped of his gavel and badge of office, he is nothing more than an ordinary Johnny, a ridiculously self-righteous man, a man who has been ridiculed for falling into trouble.Therefore, disaster will befall anyone who dares to approach the person in power at that time without obviously showing him due respect and adoration. But for those who do not bow their heads before the mayor, those who openly question the existing order with academic tomes, geological manuals, anthropology, and economics, they are in a terrible situation. Immediately and dishonorably deprived of their means of livelihood, they were thrown out of the town where they spread the poisonous doctrine, leaving their wives and children in the care of their neighbors. This outburst of reactionary spirit has greatly inconvenienced a large number of people who sincerely wanted to eradicate many social ills.Time, however, is the great washerman, and has long since removed the stains that the local police could detect on the uniforms of these benevolent scholars.Frederick William of Prussia is remembered today chiefly for his interference with the teachings of the dangerous radical Immanuel Kant.According to Kant, the principles by which we act have the value of becoming the laws of the universe, his teachings, according to police records, please only "the hairless youth and the ignorant fool."The Duke of Cumberland was always notorious because, as King of Hanover, he exiled a man named Jacob Grimm, who protested in a copy of "Your Majesty's Unlawful Cancellation of the National Constitution." signed.Metternich also gained a bad reputation for extending his skepticism into music, censoring Schubert's music. Poor Austria! Now that Austria is dead and gone, the whole world is fond of the "Empire of Pleasure", forgetting that the country once had an active academic life, and that there are things better than good cheap wine at decent fun country fairs , cheap cigars and a charming waltz composed and conducted by Johann Strauss himself. Looking further, we can say that throughout the eighteenth century Austria played a very important role in spreading religious tolerance.Immediately after the Christian Reformation, the Protestants found a fertile land between the Danube and the Carpathian Mountains for their use of arms.But as soon as Rudolf II became emperor, all this changed. This Rudolph was the German incarnation of Philip of Spain, a ruler in whom treaties with infidels meant nothing.Although Rudolph had a Jesuit education, his incorrigible laziness spared his empire from drastic changes in policy. This happened when Ferdinand was elected emperor.His main qualification as monarch is that he is the only Habsburg royal with several sons.Early in his reign he also visited the famous House of the Annunciation, which was relocated to the center of Italy in 1291 by a group of angels from Nazareth to Dalmatia.In an outburst of religious fervor, Ferdinand vowed to make his country 100 percent Catholic. He keeps his word.In 1629 Catholicism was once again declared the official religion and sole religion in Austria, Styria, Bohemia, and Silesia. Meanwhile, Hungary developed a nepotistic relationship with this strange family, and each new wife brought a large European estate as a dowry.Ferdinand then endeavored to drive the Protestants out of areas where the Magyars concentrated.But Hungary was able to keep Protestants independent until the second half of the eighteenth century, thanks to the support of Transylvanian Unitarians and Turkish pagans.At this time, great changes also took place in Austria. The Habsburgs were staunch supporters of the Holy See, but in the end even the dullest of minds grew weary of the Pope's constant interference and were tempted to risk a policy against Rome's will. In an earlier part of this book I have said that there were many medieval Catholics who believed that the church system was all wrong.Critics remarked that in the time of the martyrs the Church was a truly democratic institution, since it was run by elders and bishops, elected by parishioners.They readily recognized the Bishop of Rome, who claimed to be the immediate heir of St. Peter, entitled to a preferential position in the church councils.But they insisted that this power was only honorary, and that the pope should therefore not consider himself superior to other bishops, and should not extend his influence as far as it should. The popes met this thought with bulls, curses, and excommunications, with the result that several brave reformers perished for boldly advocating the decentralization of the priesthood. The question was never clearly resolved, until it was revived in the mid-eighteenth century by the vicar of the rich and powerful Bishop Sterrier.His name was John van Antitheme, but he was known by his Latin pseudonym, Verbronius.He was educated in free thought.After studying at the University of Louvain for several years, he temporarily left his family to study at the University of Leiden.He arrived there just as the purely Calvinist old castle was beginning to be suspected of having a liberal presence within it.This suspicion became public incrimination when Professor Gerard, a member of the Law Department, was admitted into theology and delivered a speech praising the ideals of religious toleration. Anti-Tym's method of reasoning is ingenious, to say the least. He said: "God is omnipotent. He can formulate scientific laws that apply to all people at any time and under any circumstances. So, if He wants to do it, he can easily guide people's minds and make people believe in religion. God holds the same view. We know God does not do that. Therefore, if we use force to convince others that we are right, we are violating the express will of God." It is difficult to say whether Anti-Tym was directly influenced by Erasmus.But traces of Erasmus's rationalist thought can be found in the writings against Thame, and he later developed his own ideas on the issue of bishop's authority and decentralization of the Pope's authority. As might be expected, his book was immediately condemned by the Holy See (February 1764).But at this time Maria Thérèse supported the anti-Tyme because it was in her interest.The movement he started, known as Febronianism or Episcopalism, continued to flourish in Austria, culminating in the practical Patent of Toleration, Maria Thales' son Joseph II in 17 On October 13, 1981, he bestowed it on his subjects. Joseph, the personification of his mother's archenemy, Frederick of Prussia, had an astonishing genius for doing the right thing at the wrong moment.For the last two hundred years, Austrian parents have threatened to take their children away if they don't sleep Protestants when they put their children to sleep.It was impossible, then, for children to think of Protestants (who they knew as men with horns and a long black tail) as brothers and sisters.Likewise, poor, honest, industrious, fallible Joseph is always surrounded by well-paid uncles, aunts, and cousins ​​of bishops, cardinals, and deaconesses, so his sudden courage is to be commended.Among the Catholic rulers, he was the first to boldly declare that toleration was an ideal and practical asset in governing the country. What he did three months later was even more shocking.On February 2, 1782, he issued his famous decree concerning the Jews, extending the liberties enjoyed only by Protestants and Catholics to these Jews, who until now considered themselves lucky, were allowed To breathe the same air as our Christian neighbors. We should stop here and reassure readers that the good work is still going on and that Austria is now a paradise for those who wish to act according to their conscience. I hope this is true.Joseph and a few of his ministers may have made a leap of common sense, but Austrian peasants had been taught since antiquity that Jews were their destiny and Protestants rebels and apostates, so it was impossible for them to overcome their prejudice. The deep-seated prejudices of Jews and Protestants for heaven's sake. A century and a half after the illustrious Edict of Toleration, the position of the non-Catholic is still as disadvantageous as it was in the sixteenth century.In theory, a Jew or a Protestant could count on being prime minister or being appointed commander-in-chief of the army.But in fact, he couldn't even have a meal with the emperor's shoeblack. So much for this decree on paper.