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1、WilliamBlakeTheGloriousRevolution:‘TheHappinessofagovernedSocietyconsistsintheenjoymentoflife,liberty,andfreedomofconscience...thingswhichshouldnotbesubjecttothearbitrarywillofoneman,butratherformulatedinthecivilinstitutionsforthecommongood’.Thisconfidentassertionconcerningthecorrespondenceb
2、etweentheRevolutionSettlement(1688-1701)andprotestantlibertieswascongenialtolatitudinariandivineslikeBishopHoadly,whoacceptedreadilythenecessityofJamesII’sdepositionandtheimportanceofparliamentasacheckonabsolutepower.Nomanhadabsolutearbitrarypoweroverthecivilrightsofanother.Suchsentimentswer
3、enotshared,however,byhisnon-juringformerbrethrenwhoclungrigidlytotheabsolutistprincipleoflegitimatesuccessionandtheconsequentdutyofunquestioningobedience.Feudalisticabsolutism,however,hadbeendealtamortalblowandsupportersoftherevolutionlookedforwardtowhattheybelievedwouldbeabetterfuture.Butdi
4、danythingreallychangefromfeudalistictimes?Werethepoornowfreefromoppressionbytherichandpowerful?Wastheindividualnowfreefromthesubtletyrannyofthechurch?Asaself-appointedprophet,WilliamBlakeuseshisspecialvisiontoseetherealitybehindtheappearanceofeighteenth-centurysociety.Blakelivedsurroundedbyt
5、heageofdeifiedreason,theeraoftheindustrialrevolutionandtheapotheosisofthebourgeoisie.Heabhorredthenewlymechanised,dehumanisedsocietyaroundhim.Withenclosureandthedeclineoftheagriculturalsystemintheeighteenthcentury,familiesflockedtothecitieswhichwerepoorlypreparedtoreceivethisvastinflux.Littl
6、echildrenweresoldtoworkaschimneysweeps.Therichgotricher,andthepoorbecameimpoverished.Alienatedfromthesocietyaroundhim,Blakerebelsagainsttyranny,establishedsocialandreligiousauthority,restraintsonsexualexpression;materialism,corruptedcities,hypocrisy,warandoppressionofthepoor.Rejectingconvent
7、ionalsocialandreligiousauthority,Blakere-createsanewkindofreligion:thefreeexpressionofimagination,inspirationandpropheticvisionwillbetheguidingforcesoftheworld.Sensuousexpansionbecomesthegatewaytoaperceptionoftheunknownandtheinfinite.Blake’ssenseof
