"Hold!" exclaimed the Angel: "This is blasphemy against Olympus, 'The Spectator,' and other High-Brows."
"Sir," replied his dragoman gravely, "I am not one of those who accept gilded doctrines without examination; I read in the Book of Life rather than in the million tomes written by men to get away from their own unhappiness."
"I perceive," said the Angel, with a shrewd glance, "that you have something up your sleeve. Shake it out!"
"My conclusion is this, sir," returned hisdragoman, well pleased: "Man is only happy when he is living at a certain pressure of life to the square inch; in other words, when he is so absorbed in what he is doing, making, saying, thinking, or dreaming, that he has lost self-consciousness. If there be upon him any ill—such as toothache or moody meditation—so poignant as to prevent him losing himself in the interest of the moment, then he is not happy. Nor must he merely think himself absorbed, but actually be so, as are two lovers sitting under one umbrella, or he who is just making a couplet rhyme."
"Would you say, then," insinuated the Angel, "that a man is happy when he meets a mad bull in a narrow lane? For there will surely be much pressure of life to the square inch."
"It does not follow," responded his dragoman; "for at such moments one is prone to stand apart, pitying himself and reflecting on the unevenness of fortune. But if he collects himself and meets the occasion with spirit he will enjoy it until, while sailing over the hedge, he has leisure to reflect once more. It is clear to me," he proceeded, "that the fruit of the tree of knowledge in the old fable was not, as has hitherto been supposed by a puritanical people, the mere knowledge of sex, but symbolised rather general self-consciousness; for I have little doubt that Adam and Evesat together under one umbrella long before they discovered they had no clothes on. Not until they became self-conscious about things at large did they become unhappy."
"Love is commonly reputed by some, and power by others, to be the keys of happiness," said the Angel, regardless of his grammar.
"Duds," broke in his dragoman. "For love and power are only two of the various paths to absorption, or unconsciousness of self; mere methods by which men of differing natures succeed in losing their self-consciousness, for he who, like Saint Francis, loves all creation, has no time to be conscious of loving himself, and he who rattles the sword and rules like Bill Kaser, has no time to be conscious that he is not ruling himself. I do not deny that such men may be happy, but not because of the love or the power. No, it is because they are loving or ruling with such intensity that they forget themselves in doing it."
"There is much in what you say," said the Angel thoughtfully. "How do you apply it to the times and land in which you live?"
"Sir," his dragoman responded, "the Englishman never has been, and is not now, by any means so unhappy as he looks, for, where you see a furrow in the brow, or a mouth a little open, itportends absorption rather than thoughtfulness—unless, indeed, it means adenoids—and is the mark of a naturally self-forgetful nature; nor should you suppose that poverty and dirt which abound, as you see, even under the sway of the Laborious, is necessarily deterrent to the power of living in the moment; it may even be a symptom of that habit. The unhappy are more frequently the clean and leisured, especially in times of peace, when they have little to do save sit under mulberry trees, invest money, pay their taxes, wash, fly, and think about themselves. Nevertheless, many of the Laborious also live at half-cock, and cannot be said to have lost consciousness of self."
"Then democracy is not synonymous with happiness?" asked the Angel.
"Dear sir," replied his dragoman, "I know they said so at the time of the Great Skirmish. But they said so much that one little one like that hardly counted. I will let you into a secret. We have not yet achieved democracy, either here or anywhere else. The old American saying about it is all very well, but since not one man in ten has any real opinion of his own on any subject on which he votes, he cannot, with the best will in the world, put it on record. Not until he learns to have and record his own real opinionwill he truly govern himself for himself, which is, as you know, the test of true democracy."
"I am getting fuddled," said the Angel. "What is it you want to make you happy?"
His dragoman sat up: "If I am right," he purred, "in my view that happiness is absorption, our problem is to direct men's minds to absorption in right and pleasant things. An American making a corner in wheat is absorbed and no doubt happy, yet he is an enemy of mankind, for his activity is destructive. We should seek to give our minds to creation, to activities good for others as well as for ourselves, to simplicity, pride in work, and forgetfulness of self in every walk of life. We should do things for the sheer pleasure of doing them, and not for what they may or may not be going to bring us in, and be taught always to give our whole minds to it; in this way only will the edge of our appetite for existence remain as keen as a razor which is stropped every morning by one who knows how. On the negative side we should be brought up to be kind, to be clean, to be moderate, and to love good music, exercise, and fresh air."
"That sounds a bit of all right," said the Angel. "What measures are being taken in these directions?"
"It has been my habit, sir, to study the Education Acts of my country ever since that which was passed at the time of the Great Skirmish; but, with the exception of exercise, I have not as yet been able to find any direct allusion to these matters. Nor is this surprising when you consider that education is popularly supposed to be, not for the acquisition of happiness, but for the good of trade or the promotion of acute self-consciousness through what we know as culture. If by any chance there should arise a President of Education so enlightened as to share my views, it would be impossible for him to mention the fact for fear of being sent to Colney Hatch."
"In that case," asked the Angel, "you do not believe in the progress of your country?"
"Sir," his dragoman replied earnestly, "you have seen this land for yourself and have heard from me some account of its growth from the days when you were last on earth, shortly before the Great Skirmish; it will not have escaped your eagle eye that this considerable event has had some influence in accelerating the course of its progression; and you will have noticed how, notwithstanding the most strenuous intentions at the close of that tragedy, we have yielded to circumstance and in every direction followed the line of least resistance."
"I have a certain sympathy with that," said the Angel, with a yawn; "it is so much easier."
"So we have found; and our country has got along, perhaps, as well as one could have expected, considering what it has had to contend with: pressure of debt; primrose paths; pelf; party; patrio-Prussianism; the people; pundits; Puritans; proctors; property; philosophers; the Pontifical; and progress. I will not disguise from you, however, that we are far from perfection; and it may be that on your next visit, thirty-seven years hence, we shall be further. For, however it may be with angels, sir, with men things do not stand still; and, as I have tried to make clear to you, in order to advance in body and spirit, it is necessary to be masters of your environment and discoveries instead of letting them be masters of you. Wealthy again we may be; healthy and happy we are not, as yet."
"I have finished my beer," said the Angel Æthereal, with finality, "and am ready to rise. You have nothing to drink! Let me give you a testimonial instead!" Pulling a quill from his wing, he dipped it in the mustard and wrote: "A Dry Dog—No Good For Trade" on his dragoman's white hat. "I shall now leave the earth," he added.
"I am pleased to hear it," said his dragoman,"for I fancy that the longer you stay the more vulgar you will become. I have noticed it growing on you, sir, just as it does on us."
The Angel smiled. "Meet me by sunlight alone," he said, "under the left-hand lion in Trafalgar Square at this hour of this day, in 1984. Remember me to the waiter, will you? So long!" And, without pausing for a reply, he spread his wings, and soared away.
"L'homme moyen sensuel! Sic itur ad astra!" murmured his dragoman enigmatically, and, lifting his eyes, he followed the Angel's flight into the empyrean.
1917–18.
VILLA RUBEIN, and Other StoriesTHE ISLAND PHARISEESTHE MAN OF PROPERTYTHE COUNTRY HOUSEFRATERNITYTHE PATRICIANTHE DARK FLOWERTHE FREELANDSBEYONDFIVE TALES
A COMMENTARYA MOTLEYTHE INN OF TRANQUILLITYTHE LITTLE MAN, and Other SatiresA SHEAFANOTHER SHEAF
PLAYS: FIRST SERIESand SeparatelyTHE SILVER BOXJOYSTRIFE
PLAYS: SECOND SERIESand SeparatelyTHE ELDEST SONTHE LITTLE DREAMJUSTICE
PLAYS: THIRD SERIESand SeparatelyTHE FUGITIVETHE PIGEONTHE MOB
A BIT O' LOVE
MOODS, SONGS, AND DOGGERELSMEMORIES. Illustrated
Footnotes[A]Since these words were written one hears of demobilization schemes ready to the last buttons. Let us hope the buttons won't come off.—J. G.[B]"England and the War." Hodder & Stoughton.[C]The first part of this paper was published in theHibbert Journalin 1910.[D]A paper read on March 21st, 1918.[E]From an essay by the President of the German Agricultural Council, quoted by Mr. T. H. Middleton, of the Board of Agriculture, in his report on the recent development of German agriculture.
[A]Since these words were written one hears of demobilization schemes ready to the last buttons. Let us hope the buttons won't come off.—J. G.
[B]"England and the War." Hodder & Stoughton.
[C]The first part of this paper was published in theHibbert Journalin 1910.
[D]A paper read on March 21st, 1918.
[E]From an essay by the President of the German Agricultural Council, quoted by Mr. T. H. Middleton, of the Board of Agriculture, in his report on the recent development of German agriculture.
Transcriber's Note:Inconsistent hyphenation retained as printed in the original.The footnotes have been moved to the end of the book.p. 56: Corrected spelling of word "lacheront" to "lâcheront" located in the phrase "Les Anglais ne lacheront pas".p. 149: Corrected spelling of word "gound" to "ground" located in line "up yearly more and more gound to less and less".p. 174: Removed extraneous "the" located in the phrase "for the the speaker was once Minister for Agriculture".p. 205: "hand" in the phrase "riding at a hand gallop" (a speed between a canter and a full out gallop) retained as printed.p. 207: Corrected spelling of word "knowlledge" to "knowledge" located in line "district a model farm radiates scientific knowlledge".p. 273: Replaced the period after "no." with a comma located in line "Oh dear, no. sir!".p. 322: Added missing comma after the word "dignity" located in the phrase "said the Angel, with dignity".