war; only from savages, or barbarians whose lack of skill to enrich themselves by industry impels them to plunder; or from enslaved nations, driven by their masters to a war from which they themselves will reap no advantage. In the former case, each indi- vidual civilized state must already be the stronger through the arts of civilization; against the latter danger, the common advantage of all demands that they should strengthen themselves by union. No free state can reasonably suffer in its vicinity associations BOOK III. FAITH. 125 governed by rulers whose interests would be pro- moted by the subjugation of adjacent nations, and whose very existence is therefore a constant source of danger to their neighbours; a regard for their own security compels all free states to transform all around them into free states like themselves; and thus, for the sake of their own welfare, to extend the empire of culture over barbarism, of freedom over slavery. Soon will the nations, civilized or enfranchised by them, find themselves placed in the same relation towards others still enthralled by barbarism or slavery, in which the earlier free nations previously stood towards them, and be compelled to do the same things for these which were previously done for themselves; and thus, of necessity, by reason of the existence of some few really free states, will the empire of civil- ization, freedom, and with it universal peace, grad- ually embrace the whole world.
Thus, from the establishment of a just internal organization, and of peace between individuals, there will necessarily result integrity in the external rela- tions of nations towards each other, and universal peace among them. But the establishment of this just internal organization, and the emancipation of the first nation that shall be truly free, arises as a neces- sary consequence from the ever-growing oppression exercised by the ruling classes towards their subjects, which gradually becomes insupportable, — a progress which may be safely left to the passions and the blind- ness of those classes, even although warned of the result.
In these only true states all temptation to evil, nay, even the possibility of a man resolving upon a bad action with any reasonable hope of benefit to himself, 126 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
will be entirely taken away; and the strongest possible motives will be offered to every man to make virtue the sole object of his will.
There is no man who loves evil because it is evil; it is only the advantages and enjoyments expected from it, and which, in the present condition of hu- manity, do actually, in most cases, result from it, that are loved. So long as this condition shall continue, so long as a premium shall be set 'upon vice, a funda- mental improvement of mankind, as a whole, can scarcely be hoped for. But in a civil society consti- tuted as it ought to be, as reason requires it to be, as the thinker may easily describe it to himself although he may nowhere find it actually existing at the present day, and as it must necessarily exist in the first nation that shall really acquire true freedom, — in such a state of society, evil will present no advantages, but rather the most certain disadvantages, and self-love itself will restrain the excess of self-love when it would run out into injustice. By the unerring administration of such a state, every fraud or oppression practised upon others, all self-aggrandizement at their expense, will be rendered not merely vain, and all labour so applied fruitless, but such attempts would even recoil upon their author, and assuredly bring home to himself the evil which he would cause to others. In his own land, — out of his own land, — throughout the whole world, he could find no one whom he might injure and yet go unpunished. But it is not to be expected, even of a bad man, that he would determine upon evil merely for the sake of such a resolution, although he had no power to carry it into effect, and nothing could arise from it but infamy to himself. The use of liberty for evil purposes is thus destroyed; man BOOK III. FAITH. 127 must resolve either to renounce his freedom alto- gether, and patiently to become a mere passive wheel in the great machine of the universe, or else to employ it for good. In soil thus prepared, good will easily prosper. When men shall no longer be divided by selfish purposes, nor their powers exhausted in strug- gles with each other, nothing will remain for them but to direct their united strength against the one com- mon enemy which still remains unsubdued, — resisting, uncultivated nature. No longer estranged from each other by private ends, they will necessarily combine for this common object; and thus there arises a body, everywhere animated by the same spirit and the same love. Every misfortune to the individual, since it can no longer be a gain to any other individual, is a mis- fortune to the whole, and to each individual member of the whole; and is felt with the same pain, and remedied with the same activity, by every member; — • every step in advance made by one man is a step in advance made by the whole race. Here, where the petty, narrow self of mere individual personality is merged in the more comprehensive unity of the social constitution, each man truly loves every other as him- self,— as a member of this greater self which now claims all his love, and of which he himself is no more than a member, capable of participating only in a common gain or in a common loss. The strife of evil against good is here abolished, for here no evil can intrude. The strife of the good among them- selves for the sake of good, disappears, now that they find it easy to love good for its own sake alone and not because they are its authors; now that it has be- come of all-importance to them that the truth should really be discovered, that the useful action should be 128 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
done, — but not at all by whom this may be accom- plished. Here each individual is at all times ready to join his strength to that of others, to make it subordinate to that of others; and whoever, accord- ing to the judgment of all, is most capable of ac- complishing the greatest amount of good, will be supported by all, and his success rejoiced in by all with an equal joy.
This is the purpose of our earthly life, which reason sets before us, and for the infallible attainment of which she is our pledge and security. This is not an object given to us only that we may strive after it for the mere purpose of exercising our powers on some- thing great, the real existence of which we may per- haps be compelled to abandon to doubt; — it shall, it must be realized; there must be a time in which it shall be accomplished, as surely as there is a sensible world and a race of reasonable beings existent in time with respect to which nothing earnest and rational is conceivable besides this purpose, and whose existence becomes intelligible only through this purpose. Un- less all human life be metamorphosed into a mere the- atrical display for the gratification of some malignant spirit, who has implanted in poor humanity this inex- tinguishable longing for the imperishable only to amuse himself with its ceaseless pursuit of that which it can never overtake, — its ever-repeated efforts, Ixion-like, to embrace that which still eludes its grasp, — its rest- less hurrying onward in an ever-recurring circle, — only to mock its earnest aspirations with an empty, insipid farce; — unless the wise man, seeing through this mockery, and feeling an irrepressible disgust at BOOK III. FAITH. 129 continuing to play his part in it, is to cast life indig- nantly from him and make the moment of his awak- ening to reason also that of his physical death; — unless these things are so this purpose most assuredly must be attained. — Yes! it is attainable in life, and through life, for Reason commands me to live: — it is attain- able, for I am.
III.
III.
But when this end shall have been attained, and humanity shall at length stand at this point, what is there then to do? Upon earth there is no higher state than this; — the generation which has once reached it, can no more than abide there, steadfastly maintain its position, die, and leave behind it descend- ants who shall do the like, and who will again leave behind them descendants to follow in their footsteps. Humanity would thus stand still upon her path; and therefore her earthly end cannot be her highest end. This earthly end is conceivable, attainable, and finite. Even although we consider all preceding generations as means for the production of the last complete one, we do not thereby escape the question of earnest rea- son,— to what end then is this last one? Since a Human Race has appeared upon earth, its existence there must certainly be in accordance with, and not contrary to, reason; and it must attain all the devel- opment which it is possible for it to attain on earth. But why should such a race have an existence at all, — why may it not as well have remained in the womb of chaos? Reason it not for the sake of existence, but existence for the sake of reason. An existence 130 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
which does not of itself satisfy reason and solve all her questions, cannot by possibility be the true being.
And, then, are those actions which are commanded by the voice of conscience, — by that voice whose dic- tates I never dare to criticise, but must always obey in silence, — are those actions, in reality, always the means, and the only means, for the attainment of the earthly purpose of humanity? That I cannot do otherwise than refer them to this purpose, and dare not have any other object in view to be attained by means of them, is incontestible. But then are these, my intentions, always fulfilled? — is it enough that we will what is good, in order that it may happen? Alas! many virtuous intentions are entirely lost for this world, and others appear even to hinder the purpose which they were designed to promote. On the other hand, the most despicable passions of men, their vices and their crimes, often forward, more certainly, the good cause than the endeavours of the virtuous man, who will never do evil that good may come! It seems that the Highest Good of the world pursues its course of increase and prosperity quite independently of all human virtues or vices, according to its own laws, through an invisible and unknown Power, — just as the heavenly bodies run their appointed course, independ- ently of all human effort; and that this Power carries forward, in its own great plan, all human intentions, good and bad, and with overruling wisdom, employs for its own purpose that which was undertaken for other ends.
Thus, even if the attainment of this earthly end could be the purpose of our existence, and every doubt which reason could start with regard to it were silenced, yet would this end not be ours, but the end BOOK III. FAITH. 131 of that unknown power. We do not know, even for a moment, what is conducive to this end; and noth- ing is left to us but to give by our actions some ma- terial, no matter what, for this power to work upon, and to leave to it the task of elaborating this material to its own purposes. It would, in that case, be our highest wisdom not to trouble ourselves about matters that do not concern us; to live according to our own fancy or inclinations, and quietly leave the conse- quences to that unknown power. The moral law within us would be void and superfluous, and abso- lutely unfitted to a being destined to nothing higher than this. In order to be at one with ourselves, we should have to refuse obedience to that law, and to suppress it as a perverse and foolish fanaticism.
No! — I will not refuse obedience to the law of duty; as surely as I live and am, I will obey, absolutely be- cause it commands. This resolution shall be first and highest in my mind; that by which everything else is determined, but which is itself determined by noth- ing else; — this shall be the innermost principle of my spiritual life.
But, as a reasonable being, before whom a purpose must be set solely by its own will and determination, it is impossible for me to act without a motive and without an end. If this obedience is to be recognised by me as a reasonable service, — if the voice which de- mands this obedience be really that of the creative reason within me, and not a mere fanciful enthusiasm, invented by my own imagination, or communicated to me somehow from without, — this obedience must have some consequences, must serve some end. It is evi- 132 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
dent that it does not serve the purpose of the world of sense; — there must, therefore, be a super-sensual world, whose purposes it does promote.
The mist of delusion clears away from before my sight! I receive a new organ, and a new world opens before me. It is disclosed to me only by the law of reason, and answers only to that law in my spirit. I apprehend this world, — limited as I am by my sensuous view, I must thus name the unnameable — I apprehend this world merely in and through the end which is promised to my obedience; — it is in reality nothing else than this necessary end itself which reason annexes to the law of duty.
Setting aside everything else, how could I suppose that this law had reference to the world of sense, or that the whole end and object of the obedience which it demands is to be found within that world, since that which alone is of importance in this obedience serves no purpose whatever in that world, can never become a cause in it, and can never produce results. In the world of sense, which proceeds on a chain of material causes and effects, and in which whatever happens depends merely on that which preceded it, it is never of any moment how, and with what motives and intentions, an action is performed, but only what the action is.
Had it been the whole purpose of our existence to produce an earthly condition of our race, there would have been required only an unerring mechanism by which our outward actions might have.been deter- mined,— we would not have needed to be more than wheels well fitted to the great machine. Freedom BOOK III. FAITH. 133 would have been, not merely vain, but even obstruc- tive; a virtuous will wholly superfluous. The world would, in that case, be most unskilfully directed, and attain the purposes of its existence by wasteful ex- travagance and circuitous byways. Hadst thou, mighty World-Spirit! withheld from us this freedom, which thou art now constrained to adapt to thy plans with labour and contrivance; hadst thou rather at once compelled us to act in the way in which thy plans required that we should act, thou wouldst have at- tained thy purposes by a much shorter way, as the humblest of the dwellers in these thy worlds can tell thee. But I am free; and therefore such a chain of causes and effects, in which freedom is absolutely su- perfluous and without aim, cannot exhaust my whole nature. I must be free; for it is not the mere me- chanical act, but the free determination of free will, for the sake of duty and for the ends of duty only, — thus speaks the voice of conscience within us, — this alone it is which constitutes our true worth. The bond with which this law of duty binds me is a bond for living spirits only; it disdains to rule over a dead mechanism, and addresses its decrees only to the liv- ing and the free. It requires of me this obedience; — this obedience therefore cannot be nugatory or super- fluous.
And now the Eternal World rises before me more brightly, and the fundamental law of its order stands clearly and distinctly apparent to my mental vision. In this world, will alone, as it lies concealed from mortal eye in the secret obscurities of the soul, is the first link in a chain of consequences that stretches through the whole invisible realms of spirit; as, in 134 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
the physical world, action — a certain movement of matter — is the first link in a material chain that runs through the whole system of nature. The will is the efficient, living principle of the world of reason, as motion is the efficient, living principle of the world of sense. I stand in the centre of two entirely oppo- site worlds: — a visible world, in which action is the only moving power; and an invisible and absolutely incomprehensible world, in which will is the ruling principle. I am one of the primitive forces of both these worlds. My will embraces both. This will is, in itself, a constituent element of the super-sensual world; for as I move it by my successive resolutions, I move and change something in that world, and my activity thus extends itself throughout the whole, and gives birth to new and ever-enduring results which henceforward possess a real existence and need not again to be produced. This will may break forth in a material act, — and this act belongs to the world of sense and does there that which pertains to a material act to do.
It is not necessary that I should first be severed from the terrestrial world before I can obtain admission into the celestial one; — I am and live in it even now, far more truly than in the terrestrial; even now it is my only sure foundation, and the eternal life on the possession of which I have already entered is the only ground why I should still prolong this earthly one. That which we call heaven does not lie beyond the grave; it is even here diffused around us, and its light arises in every pure heart. My will is mine, and it is the only thing that is wholly mine and entirely de- pendent on myself; and through it I have already become a citizen of the realm of freedom and of pure BOOK III. FAITH. 135 spiritual activity. What determination of my will — of the only thing by which I am raised from earth into this region — is best adapted to the order of the spiritual world, is proclaimed to me at every moment by my conscience, the bond that constantly unites me to it; — and it depends solely on myself to give my activity the appointed direction. Thus I cultivate myself for this world; labour in it, and for it, in cultivating one of its members; in it, and only in it, pursue my purpose according to a settled plan, with- out doubt or hesitation, certain of the result, since here no foreign power stands opposed to my free will. That, in the world of sense, my will also becomes an action, is but the law of this sensuous world. I did not send forth the act as I did the will; only the lat- ter was wholly and purely my work, — it was all that proceeded forth from me. It was not even necessary that there should be another particular act on my part to unite the deed to the will; the deed unites itself to it according to the law of that second world with which I am connected through my will, and in which this will is likewise an original force, as it is in the first. I am indeed compelled, when I regard my will, determined according to the dictates of con- science, as a fact and an efficient cause in the world of sense, to refer it to that earthly purpose of humanity as a means to the accomplishment of an end; — not as if I should first survey the plan of the world and from this knowledge calculate what I had to do; but the specific action, which conscience directly enjoins me to do, reveals itself to me at once as the only means by which, in my position, I can contribute to the at- tainment of that end. Even if it should afterwards appear as if this end had not been promoted — nay, if 136 THE VOCATION OF MAN.
it should even seem to have been hindered — by my action, yet I can never regret it, nor perplex myself about it, so surely as I have truly obeyed my con- science in performing this act. Whatever conse- quences it may have in this world, in the other world there can nothing but good result from it. And even in this world,.should my action appear to have failed of its purpose, my conscience for that very reason commands me to repeat it in a manner that may more effectually reach its end; or, should it seem to have hindered that purpose, for that very reason to make good the detriment and annihilate the untoward re- sult. I will as I ought, and the new deed follows. It may happen that the consequences of this new ac- tion, in the world of sense, may appear to me not more beneficial than those of the first; but, with re- spect to the other world, I retain the same calm as- surance as before; and, in the present, it,is again my bounden duty to make good my previous failure by new action. And thus, should it still appear that, during my whole earthly life, I have not advanced the good cause a single hair's-breadth in this world, yet I dare not cease my efforts: after every unsuccess- ful attempt, I must still believe that the next will be successful. But in the spiritual world no step is ever lost. In short, I do not pursue the earthly purpose for its own sake alone, or as a final aim; but only because my true final aim, obedience to the law of conscience, does not present itself to me in this world in any other shape than as the advancement of this end. I may not cease to pursue it, unless I were to deny the law of duty, or unless that law were to mani- fest itself to me, in this life, in some other shape than as a commandment to promote this purpose in my