The almost
hysterical changes of light and darkness, summer and winter, which have
impressed themselves on the literature of the North, are unknown here.
Northern people, whether from climatic or other causes, are prone to
extremes, like their own myths and sagas. The Bible is essentially a
book of extremes. It is a violent document. The Goth or Anglo-Saxon has
taken kindly to this book because it has always suited his purposes. It
has suited his purposes because, according to his abruptly varying
moods, he has never been at a loss to discover therein exactly what he
wanted--authority for every grade of emotional conduct, from savage
vindictiveness to the most abject self-abasement. One thing he would
never have found, had he cared to look for it--an incitement to live the
life of reason, to strive after intellectual honesty and self-respect,
and to keep his mind open to the logic of his five senses. That is why,
during the troubled Middle Ages when the oscillations of national and
individual life were yet abrupter--when, therefore, that classical
quality of temperance was more than ever at a discount--the Bible took
so firm a hold upon you.
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