English
Having obtained this great practical concession, I am not anxious to push farther my own conception, which, however, appears to me not an unimproving one, of all space, however infinite it may appear to us, having still bounds in such a sense that it is all conceived and compre- hended by the Supreme Mind which upholds it. There is, therefore, no infinity, except so far as He chooses perhaps of the voUtion of His divine wisdom to make it so. The worlds, there- fore, throughout all space have metaphysical limits, inasmuch as they are subject to Providence, though whether in fact they have bounds of space, I confess myself not to know. For, on the other hand, I most fireely concede to you, that whatever law of the Creator's wisdom may limit His creation or His doings, we cannot, except so far as He reveals it to us, compass it within the embrace of our faculties ; and as even our own thoughts run to and firo and forward and backward in space and time, without being limited by the detention of our bodies in one spot, or by the number of years and events which may intervene, much more the absolute Mind of the Supreme Foreseer and Governor must have infinite knowledge of things above and below, and of yes- terday, to-day, and to-morrow. Nor dare I ascribe to Him any limits drawn from our conceptions in general, though His otvti wis- dom may come forth assigning to Him the voluntary Umit of law. "Indeed, that thought which Saddnanda has started with reference to the Vedas, that they may contain sufficient truth for human guidance, though not the highest truth absolutely, may be applied fairly enough to my own argument. For though in a history of facts, which must have been in one way or another, we require strict correctness, and though a distinct revelation of truth is not to be explained away, yet it is probable enough that our conceptions of heavenly things may be so imperfect as to resemble them only by way of picture, and may be true relatively to us, inasmuch as they guide us adequately on our way, while 12—2 180 HINDU PASSIVENESS. yet the reality may in absolute truth be something transcending our thoughts, just as a mariner's chart serves to guide him, without representing to the eye the depth and majesty of the ocean. It seems, indeed, to be a necessary condition of exhibit- ing on the stage of our apprehensions a Being properly infinite, that it should empty itself as it were of its glory by assuming limits, and being subjected in our thoughts to that without which we can hardly recognise life. Only, is it not still an act of reasonable faith to believe, that the unseen reality corresponds, not of course exactly, but sufficiently for our guidance, with the fashion of it which we have conceived ? It may be regulatively wholesome, though not speculatively adequate. " For example, I can thus imagine the divine agency in either creating or preserving may differ much from what we term action in man. Yet I would not, therefore, lose sight of the idea of a divine agent, or an Iswara, properly so called. All the Hindd theories I have ever heard, either now, or on former occasions, appear tinged with that love of quietude which is characteristic of your people, as well as by the refinement already spoken of. Both Sad^nanda in what he said of the soul, and others in reasoning about the Deity, seem to think it would be a degradation or a misery for any immortal being to be actively employed. Hence you leave neither the soul nor the souVs great Author anything but the passive enjoyment of extreme tranquillity. Not such, however, is the conception of happiness, which either men or nations would frame in their vigorous prime. I will not argue the point from pictures which Northern nations have imagined of gods delighting in war and the chase ; for you would smile at them as inspirations of the blood rather than of the soul. Yet consider a little what sort of man is considered noblest, whether one who lives in passive enjoyment, even of a harmless kind, or one who serves his generation by undergoing peril, or achieving exploits, even at the cost of pain?" " Every one will admit the second is the nobler,' ' said Sad&nanda, after a little pause. " Then consider," said Blancombe, " what part WHY NOT ACTIVITY? 181 of our lives we look back upon with most pleasure. I believe, at least, so far as I can judge or observe, it is not the hours of ease, but the day of toil, or even of peril, and in general the scene of some duty well performed, which the mind lingers upon with instinctive satisfaction." " That may be so," said Sad&- nanda. " But certainly," proceeded Blancombe, " no one doubts which is most useful to mankind, for we all acknowledge that the active man benefits both his family and his country, while the indolent, in so far as his example is followed, becomes the ruin of everything. Supposing then beneficence to be an attri- bute of the Deity, I should doubt whether we do wisely in ima- gining the divine happiness to consist in a listless quietude. For if honour, inward satisfaction, and thanksgiving, belong most to the active, why should we remove from the Deity either these things or their cause? Yet please to understand me as not speaking of exertion, but of agency. " I should agree with you in not imagining the Highest Being as painfully toilsome, but I see no reason for conceiving of him as helpless. On the contrary, it is not mere power which would command our homage, so much as the purposing agent. There are many physical things in the world about us more powerftd than man. An elephant is stronger, a volcano and a storm more terrible, and the sea more ample; perhaps, too, a steam-engine may be called more useful ; but no one of them engages our respect or veneration so much as a man who acts justly and beneficently. " Perhaps we may consider thus what a good action implies : it has moral purpose in designing ; it has intelligence in adapt- ing ; it has skill in performance. But the Being who exhibits these virtues, would be nobler than one absorbed in Nirvdna. As regards action, therefore, on the whole, I am inclined to say something like what Madhwa would probably have said: we must not ascribe to the Deity actions in such a sense as they are limited and tinged by human imperfection, but we may piously ascribe to Him an infinite life of agency in all wisdom, justice. 182 ACTIVITY OF INTELLIGENCE. and beneficence, such as calls for humble adoration and obedience with thanksgiving. Two remarks only I would add on this point, that agency such as proceeds through the instrumentality of intelligence or providence is both the noblest in itself of all that we can conceive, or at least more so than any activity of physical force, and also such is the most consistent with that refinement of speculation, which you love, respecting the subtile and eminently spiritual nature of the Supreme Being. Again, it seems to follow from the very idea of agency that it presupposes an agent. For though in a steam-engine, for example, you have force, yet you have not properly agency. Thus for our Paramdswara we clearly require a Being as personally in- telligent and as sovereign by way of design, in His relation to the blind forces of nature, as the maker or guide of a steam-engine is in relation to the material force which he directs, and of whose instrumentality he avails himself to do his pleasure, yet doing so according to fixed laws. Moreover I think we need not fear to ascribe to Him agency in some such sense as I have mentioned, since to act is the property of those beings whom we instinctively reckon highest in this world, and to act well or beneficently excites veneration. Only if any one chooses to insist more on the possibly transcendent character of all divine agency, as being probably beyond our conceptions, I have no objection, so long as thereby he exalts the reality instead of lowering it. He may consider the process to be as subtile or as refined as he pleases, only he must not altogether take it away. Perhaps it may help him to retain his belief in it, if I remind him, that the more eminently the Deity works by intelligence, or anything higher, the more silent and mysterious will be the moving springs of His operation. It is only brute force that betrays itself by effort ; pure mind is able to produce effects which strike us, without thrusting its very finger as it were before our eyes.