Project Gutenberg's Education and the Higher Life, by J. L. Spalding This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Education and the Higher Life Author: J. L. Spalding Release Date: April 12, 2007 [EBook #21045] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE *** Produced by Sigal Alon, Marcia, Fox in the Stars and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE BY BISHOP SPALDING. EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE. 12mo. $1.00. THINGS OF THE MIND. 12mo. $1.00. MEANS AND ENDS OF EDUCATION. 12mo. $1.00. THOUGHTS AND THEORIES OF LIFE AND EDUCATION. 12mo. $1.00. OPPORTUNITY AND OTHER ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES. 12mo. $1.00. SONGS: CHIEFLY FROM THE GERMAN. 16mo, gilt top. $1.25. A. C. McCLURG & CO. CHICAGO. EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE BY J. L. Spalding Bishop of Peoria THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION IS NOT, AS I THINK, TO PERFECT THE LEARNER IN ANY OF the SCIENCES, BUT TO GIVE HIS MIND THAT FREEDOM AND DISPOSITION, AND THOSE HABITS, which may enable him to attain every part of knowledge himself.—LOCKE SIXTH EDITION CHICAGO [Pg 1] [Pg 2] [Pg 3] A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1900 Copyright, BY A. C. MCCLURG AND CO., A. D. 1890. CONTENTS. EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE. CHAPTER I. IDEALS. A noble aim, Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed. WORDSWORTH. TO FEW MEN DOES LIFE BRING A BRIGHTER DAY THAN THAT WHICH PLACES THE CROWN UPON THEIR SCHOLASTIC LABORS, AND BIDS THEM GO FORTH FROM THE HALLS OF THE ALMA MATER TO THE GREAT WORLD'S BATTLEFIELD. THERE IS A FRESHNESS IN these early triumphs which, like the bloom and fragrance of the flower, is quickly lost, never to be found again EVEN BY THOSE FOR WHOM FORTUNE RESERVES HER MOST CHOICE GIFTS. FAME, THOUGH HYMNED BY MYRIAD TONGUES, IS NOT SO SWEET AS THE DELIGHT WE DRINK FROM THE TEAR-DIMMED EYES OF OUR MOTHERS AND SISTERS, IN THE SACRED HOURS WHEN WE CAN YET CLAIM AS OUR OWN the LOVE OF HIGHER THINGS, THE FAITH AND HOPE WHICH MAKE THIS MORTAL LIFE IMMORTAL, AND FILL A MOMENT WITH A WEALTH OF MEMORIES WHICH LASTS THROUGH YEARS. THE HIGHEST JOY IS SERIOUS, AND IN THE MIDST OF SUPREME DELIGHT THERE COMES TO THE SOUL A STILLNESS WHICH PERMITS IT TO RISE TO THE SERENE SPHERE WHERE TRUTH IS MOST GLADLY HEARD AND MOST EASILY PERCEIVED; AND IN SUCH EXALTATION, THE YOUNG SEE THAT LIFE IS NOT WHAT THEY TAKE IT TO BE. THEY THINK IT LONG; IT IS SHORT. THEY THINK IT HAPPY; IT IS FULL OF CARES AND SORROWS. THIS TWO-FOLD ILLUSION WIDENS THE HORIZON OF LIFE AND TINGES IT WITH GOLD. IT GIVES TO YOUTH ITS CHARM AND MAKES OF IT A BLESSED TIME TO WHICH WE EVER TURN REGRETFUL EYES. BUT I AM WRONG TO CALL ILLUSION THAT which in truth is but an omen of the divine possibilities of man's nature. To the young, life is not mean OR SHORT, BECAUSE THE BLESSED FREEDOM OF YOUTH MAY MAKE IT NOBLE AND IMMORTAL. THE YOUNG STAND UPON THE THRESHOLD OF THE WORLD. OF THE MANY CAREERS WHICH ARE OPEN TO HUMAN ACTIVITY, THEY WILL CHOOSE ONE; AND THEIR FORTUNES will be various, even though THEIR MERITS SHOULD BE EQUAL. BUT IF POSITION, FAME, AND WEALTH ARE OFTEN DENIED TO THE MOST PERSISTENT EFFORTS AND THE BEST ABILITY, IT IS CONSOLING TO KNOW THEY ARE NOT THE HIGHEST; AND AS THEY ARE NOT THE END OF LIFE, THEY SHOULD NOT BE MADE ITS aim. An aim, NEVERTHELESS, WE MUST HAVE, IF WE HOPE TO LIVE TO GOOD PURPOSE. ALL MEN, IN FACT, WHETHER OR NOT THEY KNOW IT, HAVE AN IDEAL, BASE OR LOFTY, WHICH MOLDS character and shapes destiny. Whether it be pleasure or gain or renown or knowledge, or several of THESE, OR SOMETHING ELSE, WE ALL ASSOCIATE LIFE WITH SOME END, OR ENDS, THE ATTAINMENT OF WHICH SEEMS TO US MOST desirable. THIS IDEAL, THAT WHICH IN OUR INMOST SOULS WE LOVE AND DESIRE, WHICH WE LAY TO HEART AND LIVE BY, IS AT ONCE THE [Pg 4] [Pg 5] CHAPTER I. IDEALS CHAPTER II. EXERCISE OF MIND CHAPTER III. THE LOVE OF EXCELLENCE CHAPTER IV. CULTURE AND THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE CHAPTER V. SELF-CULTURE CHAPTER VI. GROWTH AND DUTY CHAPTER VII. RIGHT HUMAN LIFE CHAPTER VIII. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION 7 30 51 73 92 117 144 172 [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] [Pg 9] TRUEST EXPRESSION OF OUR NATURE AND THE MOST POTENT AGENCY IN DEVELOPING ITS POWERS. NOW, IN YOUTH WE FORM THE IDEALS WHICH WE LABOR TO BODY FORTH IN OUR LIVES. WHAT IN THESE GROWING DAYS WE YEARN FOR WITH ALL OUR being, IS HEAPED UPON US IN OLD AGE. ALL IMPORTANT, THEREFORE, IS THE CHOICE OF AN IDEAL; FOR THIS MORE THAN RULES OR PRECEPTS WILL DETERMINE WHAT WE ARE TO BECOME. THE LOVE OF THE BEST IS TWIN-BORN WITH THE SOUL. WHAT IS THE BEST? WHAT IS THE WORTHIEST LIFE-AIM? IT MUST BE SOMETHING WHICH IS WITHIN THE REACH OF EVERY ONE, AS Nature's BEST GIFTS—AIR AND SUNSHINE AND WATER—BELONG TO ALL. WHAT ONLY THE FEW CAN ATTAIN, CANNOT BE LIFE'S real end or the highest good. The best is not far removed from any one of us, but is alike near to the poor and THE RICH, TO THE LEARNED AND THE IGNORANT, TO THE SHEPHERD AND THE KING, AND ONLY THE BEST CAN GIVE TO THE SOUL REPOSE AND CONTENTMENT. WHAT THEN IS THE TRUE LIFE-IDEAL? RECALLING TO MIND THE THOUGHTS AND THEORIES OF MANY MEN, I CAN FIND NOTHING BETTER THAN THIS, "SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD." "LOVE NOT PLEASURE," SAYS CARLYLE, "LOVE GOD. THIS IS THE EVERLASTING YEA, WHEREIN ALL CONTRADICTION IS SOLVED; WHEREIN WHOSO WALKS AND works, it is well with him." TO THE HIGH AND ASPIRING HEART OF YOUTH, FAME, HONOR, GLORY, APPEAL WITH SUCH IRRESISTIBLE POWER, AND APPEAR CLAD IN FORMS SO BEAUTIFUL, THAT AT A TIME OF LIFE WHEN ALL OF US ARE UNREAL IN OUR SENTIMENTS AND CRUDE IN OUR opinions, they are often MISTAKEN FOR THE BEST. BUT FAME IS GOOD ONLY IN SO FAR AS IT GIVES POWER FOR GOOD. For THE REST, IT IS NOMINAL. THEY WHO HAVE DESERVED IT CARE NOT FOR IT. A GREAT SOUL IS ABOVE ALL PRAISE AND DISPRAISE OF MEN, WHICH ARE EVER GIVEN IGNORANTLY AND WITHOUT FINE DISCERNMENT. THE POPULAR BREATH, EVEN WHEN winnowed by the winds of centuries, is hardly pure. AND THEN FAME CANNOT BE THE GOOD OF WHICH I SPEAK, FOR ONLY A VERY FEW CAN EVEN HOPE FOR IT. TO NEARLY ALL, THE GIFTS WHICH MAKE IT POSSIBLE ARE DENIED; AND TO OTHERS, THE OPPORTUNITIES. MANY, INDEED, LOVE AND WIN notoriety, but such as they NEED NOT DETAIN US HERE. A LOWER RACE OF YOUTH, IN WHOM THE BLOOD IS WARMER THAN the soul, think pleasure life's best gift, and are content to let occasion die, while they revel in the elysium of the SENSES. BUT TO MAKE PLEASURE AN END IS TO THWART ONE'S PURPOSE, FOR JOY IS GOOD ONLY WHEN IT COMES UNBIDDEN. THE PLEASURE WE SEEK BEGINS ALREADY TO PALL. IT IS GOOD, INDEED, IF IT COME AS REFRESHMENT TO THE WEARY, SOLACE TO THE HEAVY-HEARTED, AND REST TO THE CAREWORN; BUT IF SOUGHT FOR ITS OWN SAKE, IT IS "THE HONEY OF POISON FLOWERS AND ALL THE MEASURELESS ILL." ONLY THE YOUNG, OR THE DEPRAVED, CAN BELIEVE THAT TO LIVE FOR PLEASURE IS NOT TO BE FOREORDAINED TO MISERY. WHOSO LOVES GOD OR FREEDOM OR GROWTH OF MIND OR STRENGTH OF heart, feels that pleasure is his foe. "A king of feasts and flowers, and wine and revel, And love and mirth, was never King of glory." OF MONEY, AS THE END OR IDEAL OF LIFE, IT SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY TO SPEAK. AS A FINE CONTEMPT FOR LIFE, A WILLINGNESS TO THROW IT AWAY IN DEFENCE OF ANY JUST CAUSE OR NOBLE OPINION, IS ONE OF THE PRIVILEGES OF YOUTH, SO THE GENEROUS HEART OF THE YOUNG HOLDS CHEAP THE MATERIAL COMFORTS WHICH MONEY PROCURES. TO BE YOUNG IS TO be FREE, TO BE ABLE TO LIVE ANYWHERE ON LAND OR SEA, IN THE MIDST OF DESERTS OR AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE; IS TO BE ABLE TO FIT THE MIND AND BODY TO ALL CIRCUMSTANCE, AND TO RISE ALMOST ABOVE NATURE'S IRON LAW. HE WHO IS IMPELLED BY THIS HIGH AND HEAVENLY SPIRIT WILL DREAM OF FLYING AND NOT OF HOBBLING THROUGH LIFE ON GOLDEN CRUTCHES. LET THE FEEBLE AND THE OLD PUT THEIR TRUST IN MONEY; BUT WHERE THERE IS STRENGTH AND YOUTH, THE SOUL should be our guide. And yet the very law and movement of our whole social life seem to point to riches as the chief good. "What is that which I should turn to, lighting upon days like these? Every door is barred with gold, and opens but to golden keys." MONEY IS THE GOD IN WHOM WE PUT OUR TRUST, TO WHOM INSTINCTIVELY WE PAY HOMAGE. WE BELIEVE THAT THE RICH ARE FORTUNATE, ARE HAPPY, THAT THE BEST OF LIFE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THEM. WE HAVE FAITH IN THE POWER OF MONEY, IN ITS SOVEREIGN EFFICACY TO SAVE US NOT ONLY FROM BEGGARY, FROM SNEERS AND INSULTS, BUT WE BELIEVE THAT IT CAN transform US, AND TAKE AWAY THE POVERTY OF MIND, THE NARROWNESS OF HEART, THE DULLNESS OF IMAGINATION, WHICH MAKE US WEAK, HARD, AND COMMON. EVEN OUR HATRED OF THE RICH IS BUT ANOTHER FORM OF THE WORSHIP OF MONEY. THE POOR THINK THEY ARE WRETCHED, BECAUSE THEY THINK MONEY THE CHIEF GOOD; AND IF THEY ARE RIGHT, THEN IS IT A HOLY WORK TO STRIVE TO OVERTHROW SOCIETY AS IT IS NOW CONSTITUTED. BUCKLE AND STRAUSS FIND FAULT WITH THE Christian religion because it does not inculcate the love of money. But in this, faith and REASON ARE IN HARMONY. WEALTH IS NOT THE BEST, AND TO MAKE IT THE END OF LIFE IS IDOLATRY, AND AS SAINT PAUL DECLARES, THE ROOT OF EVIL. MAN IS MORE THAN MONEY, AS THE WORKMAN IS MORE THAN HIS TOOLS. THE SOUL CRAVES QUITE OTHER NOURISHMENT THAN THAT WHICH THE WHOLE MATERIAL UNIVERSE CAN SUPPLY. MAN'S CHIEF GOOD LIES IN THE INFINITE WORLD OF THOUGHT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. FAME AND WEALTH AND PLEASURE ARE GOOD WHEN THEY ARE BORN OF HIGH THINKING AND RIGHT LIVING, WHEN THEY LEAD TO PURER FAITH AND LOVE; BUT IF THEY ARE SOUGHT AS ENDS AND LOVED FOR THEMSELVES, THEY blight and corrupt. The VALUE OF CULTURE IS GREAT, AND THE IDEAL IT PRESENTS POINTS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN bidding US BUILD UP THE BEING WHICH WE ARE. BUT SINCE MAN IS NOT THE HIGHEST, HE MAY NOT REST IN HIMSELF, AND CULTURE THEREFORE IS A MEANS RATHER THAN AN END. IF WE MAKE IT THE CHIEF AIM OF LIFE, IT DEGENERATES INTO A PRINCIPLE OF exclusion, destroys sympathy, and terminates in a sort of self-worship. WHAT REMAINS, THEN, BUT THE IDEAL WHICH I HAVE PROPOSED?—"SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD." UNLESS THE [Pg 10] [Pg 11] [Pg 12] [Pg 13] light of Heaven fall along our way, thick darkness gathers about us, and in the end, whatever our success may have been, we fail, and are without God and WITHOUT HOPE. SO LONG AS ANY SERIOUSNESS IS LEFT, RELIGION IS MAN'S FIRST AND DEEPEST CONCERN; TO BE INDIFFERENT IS TO BE DULL OR DEPRAVED, AND DOUBT IS DISEASE. DIFFICULTIES ASSUREDLY THERE ARE, UNDERLYING NOT ONLY FAITH, BUT ALL SYSTEMS OF KNOWLEDGE. HOW AM I CERTAIN THAT I KNOW ANYTHING? IS A QUESTION, DEBATED IN ALL PAST TIME, DEBATABLE IN ALL FUTURE TIME; BUT WE ARE NONE THE LESS CERTAIN THAT WE KNOW. THE MIND IS GOVERNED BY LAWS WHICH NEITHER SCIENCE NOR PHILOSOPHY CAN CHANGE, AND WHILE THEORIES AND SYSTEMS RISE AND PASS AWAY, THE ETERNAL PROBLEMS PRESENT THEMSELVES EVER ANEW CLOTHED IN THE ETERNAL MYSTERY. BUT LITTLE DISCERNMENT IS NEEDED TO ENABLE US TO PERCEIVE HOW POOR AND SYMBOLIC ARE THE THOUGHTS OF THE MULTITUDE. HALF IN PITY, HALF IN CONTEMPT, WE RISE TO HIGHER REGIONS ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT WHEREVER WE MAY BE THERE ALSO ARE THE LAWS AND THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR BEING; AND THAT IN WHATSOEVER SANCTUARIES WE MAY TAKE REFUGE, WE ARE STILL OF THE CROWD. WE CANNOT GRASP THE INFINITE; LANGUAGE CANNOT EXPRESS EVEN WHAT WE KNOW OF THE DIVINE BEING, AND HENCE THERE REMAINS A BACKGROUND OF DARKNESS, WHERE IT IS POSSIBLE TO ADORE, OR TO MOCK. BUT RELIGION DISPELS MORE MYSTERY THAN IT INVOLVES. WITH IT, THERE IS twilight IN THE WORLD; WITHOUT IT, NIGHT. WE ARE IN THE WORLD TO ACT, NOT TO DOUBT. LEAVING QUIBBLES TO THOSE WHO CAN find NO BETTER USE FOR LIFE, THE WISE, WITH FIRM FAITH IN GOD AND MAN, STRIVE TO MAKE THEMSELVES WORTHY TO DO BRAVE AND RIGHTEOUS WORK. DISTRUST IS THE LAST WISDOM A GREAT HEART LEARNS; AND NOBLE NATURES FEEL THAT THE GENEROUS VIEW IS, IN THE END, THE TRUE VIEW. FOR THEM LIFE MEANS GOOD; THEY FIND STRENGTH AND JOY IN THIS WHOLESOME AND CHEERFUL FAITH, AND IF THEY ARE IN ERROR, IT CAN NEVER BE KNOWN, FOR IF DEATH END ALL, WITH IT knowledge ceases. Perceiving this, THEY STRIVE TO GAIN SPIRITUAL INSIGHT, THEY LOOK TO GOD; TOWARD HIM THEY TURN THE CURRENT OF THEIR THOUGHT AND LOVE; THE UNSEEN WORLD OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY BECOMES THEIR HOME; AND WHILE MATTER FLOWS ON AND BREAKS AND REMAKES ITSELF TO BREAK AGAIN, THEY DWELL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ETERNAL, AND BECOME CO-WORKERS WITH THE INFINITE POWER WHICH MAKES GOODNESS GOOD, AND JUSTICE RIGHT. THEY LOVE KNOWLEDGE, BECAUSE GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS; THEY LOVE BEAUTY, BECAUSE HE IS ITS SOURCE; THEY LOVE THE SOUL, BECAUSE IT BRINGS MAN INTO CONSCIOUS COMMUNION WITH HIM AND HIS UNIVERSE. IF THEIR IDEAL IS POETICAL, THEY CATCH IN THE FINER SPIRIT OF TRUTH WHICH THE POET BREATHES, THE FRAGRANCE OF THE BREATH OF GOD; IF IT IS SCIENTIFIC, THEY DISCOVER IN THE LAWS OF NATURE THE HARMONY OF HIS ATTRIBUTES; IF IT IS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL, THEY TRACE THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE AND LIBERTY TO HIM; IF IT IS PHILAN THROPIC, THEY UNDERSTAND THAT LOVE WHICH IS THE BASIS, AIM, and end of life is also God. THE ROOT OF THEIR BEING IS IN HIM, AND THE ILLUSORY WORLD OF THE SENSES CANNOT DIM THEIR VISION OF THE REAL WORLD which is eternal. By self-analysis the mind is SUBLIMATED UNTIL IT BECOMES A SHADOW IN A SHADOWY UNIVERSE; AND THE CRITICISM OF THE REASON DRIVES US TO DOUBT AND INACTION, FROM WHICH WE ARE REDEEMED BY OUR NECESSARY FAITH IN OUR OWN FREEDOM, IN OUR POWER TO ACT, AND IN THE DUTY OF ACTING IN OBEDIENCE TO HIGHER LAW. KNOWLEDGE COMES OF DOING. NEVER TO ACT IS NEVER TO KNOW. THE WORLD OF WHICH WE ARE CONSCIOUS IS THE WORLD AGAINST WHICH WE THROW OURSELVES BY THE POWER OF THE WILL; HENCE LIFE IS CHIEFLY CONDUCT, AND ITS IDEAL IS NOT MERELY RELIGIOUS, BUT MORAL. THE DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO OUR BETTER SELF DETERMINES THE PURPOSE AND END OF ACTION, FOR THE BETTER SELF IS UNDER THE IMPULSE OF GOD. WHETHER WE LOOK WITHOUT OR WITHIN, WE FIND THINGS ARE AS THEY SHOULD NOT BE; AND THERE AWAKENS THE DESIRE, NAY, THE DEMAND THAT THEY BE MADE OTHER AND BETTER. THE ACTUAL IS A MOCKERY UNLESS IT MAY BE LOOKED UPON AS THE MEANS OF A HIGHER STATE. IF ALL THINGS COME FORTH ONLY TO PERISH AND AGAIN COME FORTH AS THEY WERE BEFORE; IF LIFE IS A MONSTER WHICH DESTROYS ITSELF THAT IT MAY AGAIN BE BORN, AGAIN TO DESTROY ITSELF,—WERE IT NOT BET TER THAT THE TRAGEDY SHOULD CEASE? FOR MANY CENTURIES MEN HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING FOR RICHER AND HAPPIER LIFE; AND YET WHEN WE BEHOLD THE SINS, THE MISERIES, THE WRONGS, THE SORROWS, OF WHICH THE WORLD IS FULL, WE ARE TEMPTED TO THINK THAT PROGRESS MEANS FAILURE. THE MULTITUDE ARE STILL CONDEMNED TO TOIL FROM YOUTH TO AGE TO PROVIDE THE FOOD BY WHICH LIFE IS KEPT IN THE BODY; IMMORTAL SPIRITS ARE STILL DRIVEN BY HARD NECESSITY TO FIX THEIR THOUGHTS UPON MATTER FROM WHICH THEY WITH MUCH labor dig forth what nourishes THE ANIMAL. LIKE THE SAVAGE, WE STILL TREMBLE BEFORE THE PITILESS MIGHT OF NATURE. FLOODS, HURRICANES, EARTHQUAKES, UNTIMELY FROSTS, DESTROY IN A MOMENT WHAT WITH LONG AND PAINFUL EFFORT HAS BEEN PROVIDED. PESTILENCE STILL STALKS THROUGH THE EARTH TO SLAY AND MAKE DESOLATE. EACH DAY A HUNDRED THOUSAND HUMAN BEINGS DIE; AND HOW MANY OF THESE PERISH AS THE VICTIMS OF SINS OF IGNORANCE, OF SELFISHNESS, of sensuality. TO-DAY, AS OF OLD, IT WOULD SEEM MAN'S WORST ENEMY IS MAN. WHAT HORDES STILL WANDER THROUGH ASIA AND AFRICA, SEEKING OPPORTUNITY FOR MURDER AND RAPINE; WHAT MULTITUDES ARE STILL HUNTED LIKE BEASTS, CAUGHT AND SOLD INTO SLAVERY. IN EUROPE MILLIONS OF MEN STAND, ARMS IN HAND, WAITING FOR THE SLAUGHTER. THEY STILL BELIEVE, BECAUSE THEY WERE BORN ON DIFFER ENT SIDES OF A RIVER AND SPEAK DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, THAT THEY ARE NATURAL ENEMIES, MADE TO DESTROY ONE ANOTHER. AND IN OUR OWN COUNTRY, WHAT OTHER SUFFERINGS AND WRONGS,—GREED, SENSUALITY, INJUSTICE, DECEIT,—MAKE US ENEMIES ONE OF ANOTHER! THERE IS A GENERAL STRUGGLE IN WHICH EACH ONE STRIVES TO GET THE MOST, HEEDLESS OF THE MISERY OF OTHERS. WE TRADE UPON THE WEAKNESSES, THE VICES, AND THE FOLLIES OF OUR FELLOW-MEN; AND EVERY ATTEMPT AT REFORM IS MET BY AN ARMY OF UPHOLDERS OF ABUSE. WHEN WE consider the murders, the suicides, THE DIVORCES, THE ADULTERIES, THE PROSTITUTIONS, THE BRAWLS, THE DRUNKENNESS, the DISHONESTIES, THE POLITICAL AND OFFICIAL CORRUPTIONS, OF WHICH OUR LIFE IS FULL, IT IS DIFFICULT TO HAVE COMPLACENT THOUGHTS OF OURSELVES. CONSIDER, TOO, OUR PRISONS, OUR INSANE ASYLUMS, OUR POOR-HOUSES; THE MULTITUDES OF OLD MEN AND WOMEN, WHO HAVING WORN OUT STRENGTH AND HEALTH IN TOIL WHICH BARELY GAVE THEM FOOD AND RAIMENT, are THRUST ASIDE, NO LONGER NOW FIT TO BE BOUGHT AND SOLD; THE COUNTLESS YOUNG PEOPLE, WHO HAVE, AS WE SAY, BEEN EDUCATED, BUT WHO HAVE NOT BEEN TAUGHT THE PRINCIPLES AND HABITS WHICH LEAD TO HONORABLE LIVING; THE THOUSANDS IN OUR GREAT CITIES WHO ARE DRIVEN INTO SURROUNDINGS WHICH PERVERT AND UNDERMINE CHARACTER. AND [Pg 14] [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] WORSE STILL, THE GOOD, INSTEAD OF UNITING TO LABOR FOR A BETTER STATE OF THINGS, MISUNDERSTAND AND THWART ONE ANOTHER. THEY DIVIDE INTO PARTIES, ARE JEALOUS AND CONTENTIOUS, AND WASTE THEIR TIME AND EXHAUST THEIR STRENGTH IN FOOLISH AND FUTILE CONTROVERSIES. THEY ARE NOT ANXIOUS THAT GOOD BE DONE, NOR ASKING NOR CARING BY WHOM; BUT THEY SEEK CREDIT FOR THEMSELVES, AND WHILE THEY SEEM TO BE LABORING FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE, ARE striving rather to satisfy their own selfish vanity. BUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THIS DOES NOT DISCOURAGE HIM WHO, GUIDED BY THE LIGHT OF TRUE IDEALS, LABORS TO MAKE REASON AND THE WILL OF GOD PREVAIL. IF THINGS ARE BAD HE KNOWS THEY HAVE BEEN WORSE. NEVER BEFORE HAVE THE FAITH AND CULTURE WHICH MAKE US HUMAN, WHICH MAKE US STRONG AND WISE, BEEN THE POSSESSION OF SO LARGE A PORTION OF THE RACE. RELIGION AND CIVILIZATION HAVE DIFFUSED THEMSELVES, FROM LITTLE CENTRES—FROM ATHENS AND JERUSALEM AND ROME—UNTIL PEOPLE AFTER PEOPLE, WHOLE CONTINENTS, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UNDER THEIR INFLUENCE. AND IN OUR DAY THIS DIFFUSION IS SO RAPID THAT IT SPREADS FARTHER IN A DECADE THAN FORMERLY IN CENTURIES. For AGES, MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS AND OCEANS WERE BARRIERS BEHIND WHICH TRIBES AND NATIONS ENTRENCHED THEMSELVES AGAINST THE HUMAN FOE. BUT WE HAVE TUNNELED THE MOUNTAINS; WE HAVE BRIDGED THE RIVERS; WE HAVE TAMED THE OCEANS. WE HITCH STEAM AND ELECTRICITY TO OUR WAGONS, AND IN A FEW DAYS MAKE THE CIRCUIT OF THE GLOBE. ALL LANDS, ALL SEAS, ARE OPEN TO US. THE RACE IS GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH ITSELF. WE MAKE A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ALL LITERATURES, OF ALL RELIGIONS, OF ALL PHILOSOPHIES, OF ALL POLITICAL SYSTEMS. WE FIND SOME SOUL OF GOODNESS IN WHATEVER STRUGGLES AND YEARNINGS HAVE TRIED MAN'S HEART. AS THE PRODUCTS OF EVERY CLIME ARE CARRIED everywhere, like gifts from other WORLDS, SO THE HIGHEST SCIENCE AND THE PUREST RELIGION ARE COMMUNICATED AND taught THROUGHOUT THE EARTH: AND AS A RESULT, NATIONAL PREJUDICES AND ANTAGONISMS ARE BEGINNING TO DISAPPEAR; WARS ARE BECOMING LESS FREQUENT AND LESS CRUEL; ESTABLISHED WRONGS ARE YIELDING TO THE PRESSURE OF OPINION; PRIVILEGED CLASSES ARE LOSING THEIR HOLD UPON THE IMAGINATION; AND OPPORTUNITY OFFERS ITSELF TO EVER-INCREASING numbers. NOW, IN ALL THIS, WHAT DO WE PERCEIVE BUT THE PURPOSE OF GOD, URGING MANKIND TO WIDER AND NOBLER LIFE? HISTORY IS HIS MANY-CHAMBERED SCHOOL. HERE HE HAS TAUGHT THIS LESSON, AND THERE ANOTHER, STILL LEADING HIS CHILDREN OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF SIN AND IGNORANCE TOWARD THE LIGHT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE, UNTIL HIS KINGDOM COME, UNTIL HIS WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. TO BELIEVE IN GOD AND IN THIS DIVINE EDUCATION, AND TO MAKE CO-OPERATION WITH HIS PROVIDENTIAL GUIDANCE OF THE RACE A LIFE-AIM IS TO HAVE AN IDEAL WHICH IS NOT ONLY THE HIGHEST, BUT WHICH ALSO BLENDS ALL OTHER TRUE IDEALS INTO HARMONY. AND THE LOVERS OF CULTURE SHOULD BE THE FIRST TO PERCEIVE THAT INTELLECTUAL GOOD IS EMPTY, ILLUSORY, UNLESS THERE BE ADDED TO IT THE GOOD OF THE HEART, THE GOOD OF CONSCIENCE. TO LIVE FOR THE CULTIVATION OF ONE'S MIND, IS, AFTER ALL, TO LIVE FOR ONE'S SELF, AND THEREFORE OUT OF HARMONY WITH THE ETERNAL LAW WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO FIND OURSELVES EXCEPT IN WHAT IS NOT OURSELVES. "IT IS THE CAPITAL FAULT OF ALL CULTIVATED MEN," SAYS GOETHE, "THAT THEY DEVOTE THEIR WHOLE ENERGIES TO THE CARRYING OUT OF A MERE IDEA, AND SELDOM OR NEVER TO THE REALIZATION OF PRACTICAL GOOD." WHATEVER MAY BE SAID IN PRAISE OF CULTURE, OF ITS POWER TO MAKE ITS POSSESSOR AT HOME IN THE WORLD OF THE BEST THOUGHT, THE PUREST SENTIMENT, THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE RACE; OF THE FREEDOM, THE MILDNESS, THE REASONABLENESS OF THE TEMPER IT BEGETS; OF ITS AIM AT COMPLETENESS AND PERFECTION,—IT IS NEVERTHELESS TRUE, THAT IF IT BE SOUGHT APART FROM FAITH IN GOD AND DEVOTION TO MAN, ITS TENDENCY IS TO PRODUCE AN ARTIFICIAL AND UNSYMPATHETIC CHARACTER. THE PRIMAL IMPULSE OF OUR NATURE IS TO ACTION; AND UNLESS WE CAN MAKE OUR THOUGHT A KIND OF deed, IT SEEMS TO BE VAIN AND UNREAL; AND UNLESS THE HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF ALL THE ENDOWMENTS WHICH MAKE THE BEAUTY AND DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE, GIVE US NEW STRENGTH AND WILL TO WORK WITH GOD FOR THE GOOD OF MEN, SADNESS AND A SENSE OF FAILURE FALL UPON US. TO HAVE A CULTIVATED MIND, TO BE ABLE TO SEE THINGS ON MANY SIDES, TO HAVE WIDE SYMPATHY AND THE POWER OF GENEROUS APPRECIATION,—IS MOST DESIRABLE, AND WITHOUT something OF ALL THIS, NOT ONLY IS OUR LIFE NARROW AND UNINTERESTING, BUT OUR ENERGY IS TURNED IN WRONG DIRECTIONS, AND OUR very religion is in danger of losing its catholicity. CULTURE, THEN, IS NECESSARY. WE NEED IT AS A CORRECTIVE OF THE TENDENCY TO SEEK THE GOOD OF LIFE IN WHAT IS EXTERNAL, AS A MEANS OF HELPING US TO OVERCOME OUR VULGAR SELF-COMPLACENCY, OUR SATISFACTION WITH LOW AIMS AND CHEAP ACCOMPLISHMENTS, OUR BELIEF IN THE SOVEREIGN POTENCY OF MACHINES AND MEASURES. WE NEED IT TO MAKE OUR LIVES LESS UNLOVELY, LESS HARD, LESS MATERIAL; TO HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE IDOLATRY OF THE WORSHIP OF STEAM AND ELECTRICITY, THE UTTER INSUFFICIENCY OF THE IDEALS OF INDUSTRIALISM. BUT IF CULTURE IS TO BECOME A MIGHTY transforming influence it must be WEDDED TO RELIGIOUS FAITH, WITHOUT WHICH, WHILE IT WIDENS THE INTELLECTUAL VIEW, it WEAKENS THE WILL TO ACT. TO TAKE US OUT OF OURSELVES AND TO URGE US ON TO LABOR with GOD THAT WE MAY LEAVE THE WORLD BETTER BECAUSE WE HAVE LIVED, RELIGION ALONE HAS POWER. IT GIVES NEW VIGOR TO THE CULTIVATED MIND; IT TAKES AWAY THE EXCLUSIVE AND FASTIDIOUS TEMPER WHICH A PURELY INTELLECTUAL HABIT TENDS TO PRODUCE; IT ENLARGES SYMPATHY; IT TEACHES REVERENCE; IT NOURISHES FAITH, INSPIRES HOPE, EXALTS THE IMAGINATION, AND KEEPS ALIVE THE FIRE OF LOVE. TO LEAD A NOBLE, A BEAUTIFUL, AND A USEFUL LIFE, WE SHOULD ACCEPT AND FOLLOW THE IDEALS BOTH OF religion and of culture. In the midst of THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF MANY KINDS WHICH ARE TAKING PLACE IN THE CIVILIZED world, NEITHER THE UNEDUCATED NOR THE IRRELIGIOUS MIND CAN BE OF HELP. LARGE AND TOLERANT VIEWS ARE NECESSARY; BUT NOT LESS SO IS THE ENTHUSIASM, THE EARNESTNESS, THE CHARITY OF CHRISTIAN FAITH. THEY WHO ARE TO BE LEADERS IN THE GREAT MOVEMENTS UPON WHICH WE HAVE ENTERED, MUST BOTH KNOW AND BELIEVE. THEY MUST UNDERSTAND THE AGE, MUST SYMPATHIZE WITH WHATEVER IS TRUE AND BENEFICENT IN ITS ASPIRATIONS, MUST HAIL WITH thankfulness WHATEVER HELP SCIENCE, AND ART, AND CULTURE CAN BRING; BUT THEY MUST ALSO KNOW AND FEEL THAT MAN IS OF THE race of God, and that his real and true life is IN THE UNSEEN, INFINITE, AND ETERNAL WORLD OF THOUGHT AND LOVE, WITH WHICH THE ACTUAL WORLD OF THE SENSES MUST BE BROUGHT INTO EVER-INCREASING HARMONY. LIBERTY AND EQUALITY ARE [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] [Pg 24] good, wealth is good, and with them we can do much, but not all that needs to be done. The spirit of Christ is NOT MERELY THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY AND EQUALITY; IT IS MORE ESSENTIALLY THE SPIRIT OF LOVE, OF SYMPATHY, OF GOODNESS; and this spirit MUST BREATHE UPON OUR SOCIAL LIFE UNTIL IT BECOMES AS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT IS AS IS FRAGRANT SPRING FROM CHEERLESS WINTER. SYMPATHY MUST BECOME UNIVERSAL; NOT MERELY AS A SENTIMENT PROMPTING TO DEEDS OF HELPFULNESS AND MERCY, BUT AS THE INFORMING PRINCIPLE OF SOCIETY UNTIL IT ATTAINS SUCH PERFECTNESS THAT WHATEVER IS LOSS OR GAIN FOR ONE, SHALL BE FELT AS LOSS OR GAIN FOR ALL. THE NARROW, EXCLUSIVE SELF MUST LOSE ITSELF IN WIDER AIMS, IN GENEROUS DEEDS, IN THE COMPREHENSIVE LOVE OF GOD AND MAN. THE GOOD MUST NO LONGER THWART ONE ANOTHER; THE WEAK MUST BE PROTECTED; THE WICKED MUST BE SURROUNDED BY INFLUENCES WHICH MAKE FOR righteousness; and the forces of NATURE ITSELF MUST MORE AND MORE BE BROUGHT UNDER MAN'S CONTROL. PESTILENCE AND FAMINE MUST NO LONGER BRING DEATH AND DESOLATION; MEN MUST NO LONGER DRINK IMPURE WATER AND ADULTERATED LIQUORS, NO LONGER MUST THEY BREATHE THE POISONOUS AIR OF BADLY CONSTRUCTED HOUSES; DWELLINGS WHICH ARE NOW MADE WARM IN WINTER, MUST BE MADE COOL IN SUMMER; MIASMATIC SWAMPS MUST BE DRAINED; SALOONS, WHICH STAND LIKE PAINTED HARLOTS TO LURE MEN TO SIN AND DEATH, MUST BE CLOSED. WOMEN MUST HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES AS MEN; CHILDREN MUST NO LONGER BE MADE THE VICTIMS OF MAMMON AND OFFERED IN SACRIFICE IN HIS TEMPLE, THE FACTORY; IGNORANCE, WHICH IS THE MOST FRUITFUL CAUSE OF MISERY, MUST GIVE PLACE TO KNOWLEDGE; WAR MUST BE CONDEMNED AS PUBLIC MURDER, AND OUR PRESENT SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL COMPETITION MUST be considered worse than war; the SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, WHICH MAKES THE FEW RICH, AND DOOMS THE MANY TO THE SLAVERY OF POORLY PAID TOIL, MUST CEASE TO EXIST; AND IF THE POLITICAL STATE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CRUELTY, IT MUST FIND A REMEDY, OR BE OVERTHROWN; SOCIETY MUST BE MADE TO REST UPON JUSTICE AND LOVE, WITHOUT WHICH IT IS BUT ORGANIZED WRONG. THESE PRINCIPLES MUST SO THOROUGHLY PERVADE OUR PUBLIC LIFE THAT IT CAN NO MORE BE THE INTEREST OF ANY ONE TO WRONG HIS FELLOW, TO GROW RICH AT THE COST OF THE POVERTY AND MISERY OF ANOTHER. Life MUST BE PROLONGED BOTH BY REMOVING MANY OF THE PHYSICAL CAUSES OF DEATH, AND BY MAKING MEN MORE RATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS, MORE WILLING AND ABLE TO DENY THEMSELVES THOSE INDULGENCES WHICH ARE BUT A KIND OF SLOW suicide. NEVER BEFORE HAVE QUESTIONS SO VAST, SO COMPLEX, SO PREGNANT WITH MEANING, SO FRAUGHT WITH THE PROMISE OF GOOD, PRESENTED THEMSELVES; AND IT CAN HARDLY BE VANITY OR CONCEIT WHICH PROMPTS US TO BELIEVE THAT IN THIS MIGHTY MOVEMENT TOWARD A SOCIAL LIFE IN HARMONY WITH OUR IDEA OF GOD AND WITH THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE SOUL, AMERICA IS THE DIVINELY APPOINTED LEADER. BUT IF THIS FAITH IS NOT TO BE A MERE DELUSION, IT MUST BECOME FOR THE best among us the impulse to strong and persevering effort. Not by millionaires and not by politicians shall this SALVATION BE WROUGHT; BUT BY MEN WHO TO PURE RELIGION ADD THE BEST INTELLECTUAL CULTURE. THE AMERICAN YOUTH MUST LEARN PATIENCE; HE MUST ACQUIRE THAT SERENE CONFIDENCE IN THE POWER OF LABOR, WHICH MAKES workers WILLING TO WAIT. HE MUST NOT, LIKE A FOOLISH CHILD, RUSH FORWARD TO PLUCK THE FRUIT BEFORE IT IS RIPE, LEST THIS BE HIS epitaph: The promise of his early life was great, his performance insignificant. DO NOT OUR YOUNG MEN LACK NOBLE AMBITION? ARE THEY NOT SATISFIED WITH LOW AIMS? TO BE A LEGISLATOR; TO BE A GOVERNOR; TO BE TALKED ABOUT; TO LIVE IN A MARBLE HOUSE,—SEEMS TO THEM A THING TO BE DESIRED. UNHAPPY YOUTHS FROM WHOM THE POWER AND GOODNESS OF LIFE ARE HIDDEN, WHO, STANDING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE UNSEEN, INFINITE WORLD OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY, CAN ONLY DREAM SOME ALDERMANIC NIGHTMARE. THEY THRUST THEMSELVES INTO THE NOISY CROWD, AND ARE THROWN INTO CONTACT WITH DISENCHANTING EXPERIENCE AT A TIME OF LIFE WHEN THE MIND AND HEART SHOULD DRAW nourISHMENT AND WISDOM FROM COMMUNION WITH GOD AND WITH GREAT THOUGHTS. AMID THE UNIVERSAL CLATTER OF TONGUES, AND IN THE OVERFLOWING CEASELESS STREAM OF NEWSPAPER GOSSIP, THE SOUL IS BEWILDERED AND STIFLED. IN A BLATANT LAND, THE YOUNG SHOULD LEARN TO BE SILENT. THE NOBLEST MINDS ARE FASHIONED in secrecy, through long travail like,— "Wines that, Heaven knows where, Have sucked the fire of some forgotten sun And kept it thro' a hundred years of gloom Yet glowing in a heart of ruby." IS IT NOT WORTH THE LABOR AND EXPECTATION OF A LIFE-TIME TO BE ABLE TO DO, EVEN ONCE, THE RIGHT THING EXCELLENTLY WELL? THE EAGER PASSION FOR DISPLAY, THE DESIRE TO SPEAK AND ACT IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD, IS BOYISH. WILL IS CONCENTRATION, AND A GREAT PURPOSE WORKS IN SECRECY. OH, THE GOODNESS AND THE SERIOUSNESS OF LIFE, THE ILLIMITABLE REACH OF ACHIEVEMENT, WHICH IT OPENS TO THE YOUNG WHO HAVE A GREAT HEART AND NOBLE AIMS! WITH THEM IS GOD'S ALMIGHTY POWER AND LOVE, AND HIS VERY PRESENCE IS HIDDEN FROM THEM BY A FILM ONLY. FROM THIS LITTLE ISLET THEY LOOK OUT UPON INFINITE WORLDS; HEAVEN BENDS OVER THEM, AND EARTH BEARS THEM UP AS THOUGH IT WOULD HAVE THEM FLY. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO REMAIN INFERIOR WHEN WE BELIEVE IN GOD AND KNOW THAT THIS AGE IS THE RIGHT MOMENT FOR ALL HIGH AND HOLY WORK? THE YEARNING FOR GUIDANCE HAS NEVER BEEN SO GREAT. WE HAVE REACHED HEIGHTS WHERE THE BRAIN SWIMS, AND THOUGHTS ARE CONFUSED, AND IT IS HELD TO BE QUESTIONABLE WHETHER WE ARE TO TURN BACKWARD OR TO MOVE ONWARD TO THE LAND OF PROMISE; WHETHER WE ARE TO BE OVERWHELMED BY the material world which we have so marvelously transformed, or with the aid of the secrets we HAVE LEARNED, are to rise Godward to a purer and fairer life of knowledge, justice, and love. IS THE MATERIAL PROGRESS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY A CRADLE OR A GRAVE? ARE WE TO CONTINUE TO DIG AND DELVE AND PEER INTO MATTER UNTIL GOD AND THE SOUL FADE FROM OUR VIEW AND WE BECOME LIKE THE THINGS WE WORK IN? TO PUT SUCH QUESTIONS TO THE MULTITUDE WERE IDLE. THERE IS HERE NO AFFAIR OF VOTES AND MAJORITIES. HUMAN NATURE HAS NOT CHANGED, AND NOW, AS IN THE PAST, CROWDS FOLLOW LEADERS. WHAT THE BEST MINDS AND THE most [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] [Pg 27] [Pg 28] ENERGETIC CHARACTERS BELIEVE AND TEACH AND PUT IN PRACTICE, THE MILLIONS WILL COME TO ACCEPT. THE DOUBT IS WHETHER THE LEADERS WILL BE WORTHY,—THE REAL PERMANENT LEADERS, FOR THE NOISY APPARENT LEADERS CAN NEVER BE SO. AND HERE WE TOUCH THE CORE OF THE PROBLEM WHICH AMERICANS HAVE TO SOLVE. NO OTHER PEOPLE HAS SUCH NUMBERS WHO ARE READY TO THRUST THEMSELVES FORWARD AS LEADERS, NO OTHER HAS SO FEW WHO ARE REALLY ABLE TO LEAD. IN MITIGATION OF THIS FACT, IT MAY BE SAID WITH TRUTH, THAT NOWHERE ELSE IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO LEAD; FOR NOWHERE ELSE DOES FORCE RULE SO LITTLE. EVERY ONE HAS OPINIONS; THE WHOLE NATION IS AWAKENED; THOUSANDS ARE ABLE TO DISCUSS ANY SUBJECT WITH PLAUSIBILITY; AND TO BE SIMPLY KEEN-WITTED AND VERSATILE IS TO BE OF THE CROWD. WE NEED MEN WHOSE INTELLECTUAL VIEW EMBRACES THE HISTORY OF THE RACE, WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH ALL LITERATURE, WHO have studied all social movements, who are ACQUAINTED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT, WHO ARE NOT BLINDED BY PHYSICAL MIRACLES AND INDUSTRIAL WONDERS, BUT KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE ALL TRUTH, ALL BEAUTY, ALL GOODNESS. AND TO THIS WIDE CULTURE THEY MUST JOIN THE EARNESTNESS, THE CONFIDENCE, THE CHARITY, AND THE PURITY OF MOTIVE WHICH CHRISTIAN FAITH INSPIRES. WE NEED SCHOLARS WHO ARE SAINTS, AND SAINTS WHO ARE SCHOLARS. WE NEED MEN OF GENIUS WHO LIVE FOR GOD AND THEIR COUNTRY; MEN OF ACTION WHO SEEK FOR LIGHT IN THE COMPANY OF those who know; men of religion who understand that God reveals himself in science, and works in Nature as IN THE SOUL OF MAN, FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. LET US KNOW THE RIGHT MOMENT, AND LET US KNOW THAT IT comes for those alone who are prepared. CHAPTER II. EXERCISE OF MIND. O heavens! how awful is the might of souls And what they do within themselves while yet The yoke of earth is new to them, the world Nothing but a wild field where they were sown. WORDSWORTH. LEARNING IS ACQUAINTANCE WITH WHAT OTHERS HAVE FELT, THOUGHT, AND DONE; KNOWLEDGE IS THE RESULT OF WHAT WE OURSELVES HAVE FELT, THOUGHT, AND DONE. HENCE A MAN KNOWS BEST WHAT HE HAS TAUGHT HIMSELF; WHAT PERSONAL CONTACT WITH GOD, WITH MAN, AND WITH NATURE HAS MADE HIS OWN. THE IMPORTANT THING, THEN, IS NOT SO MUCH TO KNOW THE THOUGHTS AND LOVES OF OTHERS, AS TO BE ABLE OURSELVES TO THINK TRULY, AND TO LOVE NOBLY. THE AIM SHOULD BE TO ROUSE, STRENGTHEN, AND ILLUMINE THE MIND RATHER THAN TO STORE IT WITH LEARNING; AND THE GREAT EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM HAS BEEN, AND IS, HOW TO GIVE TO THE SOUL PURITY OF INTENTION, TO THE CONSCIENCE STEADFASTNESS, AND TO THE MIND FORCE, PLIABILITY, AND OPENNESS TO LIGHT; OR IN OTHER WORDS, HOW TO BRING PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION TO THE AID OF THE WILL SO THAT THE BETTER SELF SHALL PREVAIL AND EACH GENERATION INTRODUCE its successor to a higher plane of life. TO THIS END THE EFFORTS OF ALL TEACHERS HAVE, WITH MORE OR LESS CONSCIOUSNESS, TENDED; AND IN THIS DIRECTION TOO, ALONG WINDING WAYS AND WITH PERIODS OF ARREST OR PARTIAL RETURN, THE RACE OF MAN HAS FOR AGES BEEN MOVING; and he who aspires to gain a place in the van of the mighty army on its heavenward march,— "And draw new furrows 'neath the healthy morn And plant the great Hereafter in this Now,"— MAY BE RASH, BUT HIS SPIRIT IS NOT IGNOBLE. TO HIM IT MAY NOT BE GIVEN "TO FAN AND WINNOW FROM THE COMING STEP OF TIME THE CHAFF OF CUSTOM;" BUT IF HE PERSEVERE HE MAY CONFIDENTLY HOPE THAT HIS THOUGHT AND LOVE SHALL AT length rise to fairer and more ENDURING WORLDS. HE WEDS HIMSELF TO THINGS OF LIGHT, SEEKS AIDS TO TRUE LIFE WITHIN, LEARNS TO LIVE WITH THE NOBLE DEAD, AND WITH THE GREAT SOULS OF THE PRESENT WHO HAVE UTTERED THE TRUTH WHEREBY THEY LIVE, IN A WAY MORE INTIMATE AND HIGHER THAN THAT GRANTED TO THOSE WHO ARE WITH THEM DAY BY DAY; FOR minds are not separated by time AND SPACE, BUT BY QUALITY OF THOUGHT. BUT TO BE ABLE TO LOVE THIS LIFE, AND WITH all ONE'S HEART TO SEEK THIS CLOSE COMMUNION WITH GOD, WITH NOBLE SOULS, AND WITH NATURE IS NOT EASY, AND IT MAY BE THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT DRAWN TO IT BY IRRESISTIBLE INSTINCTS. FOR THE INTELLECT, AT LEAST, ATTRACTIONS ARE PROPORTIONAL TO DESTINY; AND THE ART OF INTELLECTUAL LIFE IS NOT MOST SURELY LEARNED BY THOSE WHOM circumstances FAVOR, BUT BY THOSE WHOM WILL IMPELS ONWARD TO EXERCISE OF MIND; WHOM NEITHER DAILY wants, NOR ANIMAL APPETITES, NOR HOPE OF GAIN, NOR LOW AMBITION, NOR SNEERS OF WORLDLINGS, NOR PRAYERS OF FRIENDS, NOR AUGHT ELSE CAN TURN FROM THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM; WHO, WITH CEASELESS LABOR AND WITH PATIENT THOUGHT, EAT THEIR WAY IN SILENCE, LIKE CATERPILLARS, TO THE LIGHT, BECOME THEIR OWN COMPANIONS, WALK UPLIFTED BY THEIR own THOUGHTS, AND BY SLOW AND IMPERCEPTIBLE PROCESSES ARE TRANSFORMED AND GROW TO BE THE EMBODIMENT OF THE truth and beauty which they see and love. THE OVERMASTERING LOVE OF MENTAL EXERCISE, OF THE GOOD OF THE INTELLECT, IS PROBABLY NEVER FOUND IN FORMAL AND PROSAIC MINDS; OR IF SO, ITS FIRST AWAKENING IS IN THE EARLY YEARS WHEN TO THINK IS TO FEEL, WHEN THE SOUL, FRESH FROM GOD, COMES TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY, AND THE SUN AND MOON AND STARS, AND THE HILLS AND FLOWING waters [Pg 29] [Pg 30] [Pg 31] [Pg 32] SEEM BUT MADE TO CROWN WITH JOY HEARTS THAT LOVE. IT IS IN THESE DEWY DAWNS THAT THE IMAGE OF BEAUTY IS IMPRINTED ON THE SOUL AND THE SENSE OF MYSTERY AWAKENS. WE MOVE ABOUT AND BECOME A PART OF ALL WE SEE, GROW AKIN TO STONES AND LEAVES AND BIRDS, AND TO ALL YOUNG AND HAPPY THINGS. WE LOSE OURSELVES IN LIFE WHICH IS POURED ROUND US LIKE AN UNENDING SEA; ARE NATURAL, HEALTHFUL, ALIVE TO ALL WE SEE AND TOUCH; HAVE NO MISGIVINGS, BUT WALK AS THOUGH THE ETERNAL GOD HELD US BY THE HAND. THESE ARE THE FAIR SPRING DAYS WHEN WE SUCK HONEY THAT SHALL NOURISH US IN THE WINTERS OF WHICH WE DO NOT DREAM; WHEN SUNSETS INTERFUSE THEMSELVES WITH ALL OUR BEING UNTIL WE ARE DYED IN THE MANY-TINTED GLORY; WHEN THE MIRACLE OF THE CHANGING YEAR IS THE SOUL'S FAIR SEED-TIME; WHEN LYING IN THE GRASS, THE HEAD RESTING IN CLASPED HANDS, WHILE SOFT WHITE CLOUDS FLOAT LAZILY THROUGH AZURE SKIES, AND THE BIRDS WARBLE, AND THE WATERS MURMUR, AND THE FLOWERS BREATHE FRAGRANCE, WE FEEL A KIND OF UNCONSCIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS OF A UNIVERSAL LIFE IN NATURE. THE VERY ROCKS SEEM TO BE LISTENING to WHAT THE LEAVES WHISPER; AND THROUGH THE SILENT ETERNITIES WE ALMOST SEE THE DEAD BECOMING THE LIVING, THE living the dead, until both grow to be one, and whatever is, is life. HE WHO HAS NEVER HAD THESE VISIONS; HAS NEVER HEARD THESE AIRY VOICES; HAS NEVER SEEMED ABOUT TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE INNER HEART OF BEING, PULSING BENEATH THE VEIL OF VISIBLE THINGS; HAS NEVER FELT THAT HE HIMSELF IS A spirit looking blindly on a universe, which if his eyes could but see and his ears hear, would be revealed as the VERY HEAVEN OF THE INFINITE GOD,—MUST FOREVER LACK SOMETHING OF THE FRESHNESS, OF THE EAGER DELIGHT, WITH WHICH A POETIC MIND CONTEMPLATES THE WORLD AND FOLLOWS WHITHER THE DIVINE INTIMATIONS POINT. THIS EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH NATURE NOURISHES THE SOUL, DEEPENS THE INTELLECT, EXALTS THE IMAGINATION, AND FILLS THE MEMORY with FAIR AND NOBLE FORMS AND IMAGES WHICH ABIDE WITH US, AND AS YEARS PASS ON, GAIN IN SOFTNESS AND PURITY WHAT THEY MAY LOSE IN DISTINCTNESS OF OUTLINE AND COLOR. THIS IS THE SOURCE OF INTELLECTUAL WEALTH, OF TRANQUIL MOODS, OF PATIENCE IN THE MIDST OF OPPOSITION, OF CONFIDENCE IN THE FRUITFULNESS OF LABOR AND THE TRANSFORMING power of TIME. HERE IS GIVEN THE MATERIAL WHICH MUST BE MOLDED INTO FORM; THE RUDE BLOCKS WHICH MUST BE CUT AND DRESSED AND FITTED TOGETHER UNTIL THEY BECOME A SPIRITUAL TEMPLE WHEREIN THE SOUL MAY REST AT ONE WITH GOD AND NATURE, AND WITH ITS OWN THOUGHT AND LOVE. TO RUN, TO JUMP, TO RIDE, TO SWIM, TO SKATE, TO SIT IN THE shade of trees BY FLOWING WATER, TO WATCH REAPERS AT THEIR WORK, TO LOOK ON ORCHARDS BLOSSOMING, TO DREAM IN THE SILENCE THAT LIES AMID THE HILLS, TO FEEL THE SOLEMN LONELINESS OF DEEP WOODS, TO FOLLOW CATTLE AS THEY CROP THE SWEET-SCENTED CLOVER,—TO LEARN TO KNOW, AS ONE KNOWS A MOTHER'S FACE, EVERY CHANGE THAT COMES OVER THE HEAVENS FROM THE DEWY FRESHNESS OF EARLY DAWN TO THE RESTFUL CALM OF EVENING, FROM THE OVERPOWERING MYSTERY OF THE STARLIT SKY TO THE TENDER HUMAN LOOK WITH WHICH THE MOON SMILES UPON THE EARTH,—ALL THIS IS EDUCATION OF A HIGHER AND ALTOGETHER MORE REAL KIND THAN IT IS POSSIBLE TO RECEIVE WITHIN THE WALLS OF A SCHOOL; AND LACKING THIS, NOTHING SHALL HAVE POWER TO DEVELOP THE FACULTIES OF THE SOUL IN SYMMETRY AND COMPLETENESS. HENCE A PHILOSOPHER HAS SAID THERE ARE TEN THOUSAND CHANCES TO ONE THAT GENIUS, TALENT, AND VIRTUE SHALL ISSUE FROM A FARMHOUSE RATHER THAN FROM A PALACE. THE DAILY INTERCOURSE WITH NATURE IN CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH INTERTWINES WITH NOBLE AND ENDURING OBJECTS THE PASSIONS WHICH FORM THE MIND AND HEART OF MAN, WHEREAS THOSE WHO ARE SHUT OUT FROM SUCH COMMUNION ARE NECESSARILY THROWN INTO CONTACT WITH WHAT IS MEAN AND VULGAR; AND SINCE OUR EARLY YEARS, WHATEVER OUR SURROUNDINGS MAY HAVE BEEN, SEEM TO US SWEET AND fair BECAUSE LIFE ITSELF IS THEN A CLEAR-FLOWING FOUNTAIN, THEY CANNOT HELP BLENDING THE MEMORY OF THAT INNOCENT AND happy time with thoughts of base and mechanical objects, or, it may be, of low and ignoble associates. HE IS FORTUNATE WHO, DURING THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF HIS LIFE, ESCAPES THE CONFINEMENT AND REPRES SION OF SCHOOL, AND LIVES AT HOME IN THE COUNTRY AMID THE FIELDS AND THE WOODS, DAY BY DAY GROWING FAMILIAR WITH THE LOOK ON NATURE'S FACE, WITH ALL HER MOODS, WITH EVERY COMMON OBJECT, WITH LIVING THINGS IN THE AIR AND THE WATER AND on THE EARTH; WHO SEES THE CORN SPROUT, AND WATCHES IT GROW WEEK AFTER WEEK UNTIL THE YELLOW HARVEST WAVES IN THE SUNLIGHT; WHO LOOKS WITH UNAWED EYE ON RISING THUNDER-CLOUDS AND SHOUTS WITH GLEE AMID THE LIGHTNING'S PLAY; WHO LEARNS TO KNOW THAT WHATEVER HE LOOKS UPON IS THEREBY HUMANIZED, AND TO FEEL THAT HE IS PART OF ALL HE SEES AND LOVES. HE WILL CARRY WITH HIM TO THE STUDY OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLD OF MEN'S THOUGHTS SHUT UP IN BOOKS, A STRENGTH OF MIND, A DEPTH AND FRESHNESS OF HEART WHICH ONLY THOSE CAN OWN WHO HAVE drunk at Nature's deep flowing FOUNTAIN, AND COME UP TO LIFE'S TRAINING-COURSE WET WITH HER DEWS AND WITH THE FRAGRANCE OF HER FLOWERS ON THEIR BREATH. IN THE EYES OF THE OLD GREEKS, WHO FIRST MADE EDUCATION A SCIENCE, THE SCHOLAR WAS AN IDLER,—ONE WHO HAD LEISURE TO LOOK ABOUT HIM, TO STROLL AMID THE OLIVE GROVES, TO LET HIS EYE REST UPON THE PURPLE HILLS OR THE BLUE SEA STUDDED WITH GREEN ISLES, TO LISTEN TO THE BROOKS AND THE NIGHTINGALES, TO READ THE LESSON THE FAIR EARTH TEACHES MORE THAN THAT IMPRINTED ON PARCHMENT; AND THE SCHOOL MUST STILL PRESERVE SOMETHING OF THIS FREEDOM FROM CONSTRAINT, MUST ENCOURAGE THE PLAY OF BODY AND OF MIND, THE DELIGHT NATURAL TO THE YOUNG IN THE EXERCISE OF STRENGTH OF WHATEVER KIND, AND THUS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE LIGHTEN THE LABOR AND DRUDGERY OF ELEMENTARY STUDIES WITH THOUGHTS OF LIBERTY, OF BEAUTY, AND OF EXCELLENCE. LET THE BOY FEEL HOW GOOD IT IS TO BE ALIVE THOUGH LIFE MEANT ONLY THE NARROW WORLD AND THE MERE SURFACES OF THINGS WITH WHICH ALONE IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE ACQUAINTED; AND THEN WHEN WE ASK HIM TO BELIEVE THAT IN HIGH THINKING AND IN NOBLE ACTING HE WILL FIND A LIFE INFINITELY MORE WORTHY, HIS EAGER SOUL WILL BE INFLAMED WITH A DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE AND VIRTUE, AND BEARING IN HIS HEART THE STRENGTH AND WEALTH OF IMAGINATION GAINED FROM his early experience, his thoughts WILL TURN TO GREAT AND GOOD MEN. DIM VISIONS OF MIGHTY CONQUERORS, OF POETS AT WHOSE SONG THE WOODS AND WAVES GROW CALM, OF ORATORS WHOSE WORDS WITH STORM-LIKE FORCE, whatever WAY THEY TAKE, SWEEP WITH THEM THE WILLS OF MEN,—WILL RISE BEFORE HIS MIND. HIS YOUNG FANCY WILL ENDOW THEM WITH PRETERNATURAL QUALITIES; AND HE WILL YEARN TO DRAW NEAR, TO MINGLE WITH THEM AND TO CATCH THE SECRET OF THEIR DIVINE POWER. THE GERM OF THE GODLIKE WITHIN HIS BOSOM BURSTS AND SPRINGS. WHAT THEY WERE, WHY MAY NOT HE ALSO BECOME? WHAT BARS ARE THROWN ATHWART HIS PATH, WHAT OBSTACLES HEM HIS WAY, which, [Pg 33] [Pg 34] [Pg 35] [Pg 36] [Pg 37] [Pg 38] whoever IN ANY AGE HAS EXCELLED, HAS NOT HAD TO BREAK DOWN AND SURMOUNT? HERE THE WISE TEACHER COMES TO CHEER HIM, TO TELL HIM HIS FAITH IS NOT WRONG, HIS HOPE NOT WITHOUT PROMISE OF ATTAINMENT IF HE BUT TRUST HIMSELF, AND BEND HIS WHOLE MIND TO THE TASK; THAT WHATEVER GOAL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF HUMAN POWER, THE WILL SETS TO itself, it may reach. IN ORDER TO DEVELOP, STRENGTHEN, AND CONFIRM THIS HIGH MOOD, THIS NOBLE TEMPER, LET HIM BY ALL MEANS BE MADE ACQUAINTED WITH THE LANGUAGE AND GENIUS OF GREECE. HERE HE WILL BE INTRODUCED TO A WORLD OF THOUGHT AND SENTIMENT ALMOST AS FRESH, AS FAIR AND MANY-SIDED AS NATURE HERSELF,—THE FRAGRANT BLOSSOMING IN MYRIAD HUES AND FORMS OF THE LIFE AND MIND OF THE MOST RICHLY ENDOWED PORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE. NOT ONLY ARE THE GREEKS THE MOST HIGHLY-GIFTED OF ALL PEOPLE, BUT IN THIS CLASSICAL AGE THEY HAVE ALSO THIS SPECIAL CHARM AND POWER,—THAT THE KEENEST INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES ARE IN THEM UNITED WITH THE FEELINGS, HOPES, AND FANCIES OF A NOBLE AND GREAT-HEARTED YOUTH. EVEN SOCRATES AND PLATO TALK LIKE HIGH-SOULED BOYS WHO CAN SEE THE WORLD ONLY IN THE LIGHT OF IDEALS, FOR WHOM WHAT THE MIND BEHOLDS AND THE HEART LOVES IS ALONE REAL. HOW HEALTHFULLY THEY LOOK ON LIFE, WITH WHAT DELIGHT THEY BREATHE THE AIR! WHAT FINE CONTEMPT HAVE THEY NOT OF DEATH, THINKING no fortune so good as THAT WHICH COMES TO THE HERO WHO DIES IN A WORTHY CAUSE! THERE IS ATHENS, ALREADY THE WORLD'S UNIVERSITY; BUT NO BOOKS, NO LIBRARIES, NO LECTURE-HALLS, ONLY GREAT TEACHERS WHO WALK ABOUT FOLLOWED BY A CROWD OF YOUTHS EAGER TO DRINK IN THEIR WORDS. HERE IS THE ACROPOLIS, WITH ITS SNOW-WHITE TEMPLES AND PROPYLÆUM, FAIR AND CHASTE AS THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN BUILT IN HEAVEN AND GENTLY LOWERED TO THIS ATTIC MOUND BY THE HANDS OF ANGELS. THERE IN THE PARTHENON ARE THE SCULPTURES OF PHIDIAS, AND YONDER IN THE TEMPLE OF THE DIOSCURI, THE PAINTINGS OF POLYGNOTUS,—IDEAL BEAUTY BODIED FORTH TO LURE THE SOULS OF MEN TO UNSEEN AND ETERNAL WORLDS. IF THEY TURN TO THE EAST, THE ISLES OF THE ÆGEAN LOOK UP TO THEM LIKE VIRGINS WHO WELCOME HAPPY LOVERS; TO THE WEST, MOUNT PENTELICUS, FROM WHOSE HEART THE ARCHITECTURAL GLORY OF THE CITY HAS BEEN CARVED, BIDS THEM THINK WHAT PATIENCE WILL ENABLE MAN'S GENIUS TO ACCOMPLISH; AND TO THE NORTH, HYMETTUS, FRAGRANT WITH THE BREATH OF A THOUSAND HERBS AND MUSICAL WITH THE HUM OF BEES, STOOPS WITH GENTLE UNDULATIONS TO THEIR FEET. THEY LIVE IN THE AIR; THEIR TEMPLES ARE OPEN TO THE SUNLIGHT; THEIR THEATRES ARE UNCOVERED TO THE HEAVENS; AND WHITHERSOEVER THEY MOVE, THEY ARE SURROUNDED BY WHAT IS FAIR, NOBLE, AND INSPIRING. THIS FREE AND HAPPY LIFE IN THE COMPANY OF GREAT TEACHERS BECOMES THE STIMULUS TO THE KEENEST EXERCISE OF MIND. THEY ARE AS EAGER TO SEE THINGS IN A TRUE LIGHT AS THEY ARE QUICK TO SYMPATHIZE WITH WHATEVER IS HEROIC OR BEAUTIFUL; AND ALL THEIR TALK IS OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE, THE GOOD, THE FAIR, THE EXCELLENT, OF PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, POETRY, AND ART, AND OF WHATEVER ELSE SEEMS FAVORABLE TO HUMAN LIFE AND TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAL MANHOOD. OF THE MERELY USEFUL THEY HAVE THE SCORN OF YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED MINDS; AND HIPPOCRATES PROCLAIMS HIMSELF READY TO GIVE PROTAGORAS, NOT ONLY WHATEVER HE HIMSELF POSSESSES, BUT ALSO THE PROPERTY OF HIS FRIENDS, IF HE WILL BUT TEACH HIM WISDOM. SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE WAS TO THEM OF ALL THINGS THE MOST ADMIRABLE AND THE MOST TO BE DESIRED. WHAT NOBLE THOUGHTS HAVE THEY NOT CONCERNING EDUCATION? "AN INTELLIGENT MAN," SAYS PLATO, "WILL PRIZE THOSE STUDIES WHICH RESULT IN HIS SOUL GETTING SOBERNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND WISDOM, AND WILL LESS VALUE the others." The culture of the mind is made a kind of religion, in the spreading of WHICH THE PERSONAL INFLUENCE OF THE TEACHER IS NOT LESS ACTIVE THAN THE TRUTHS HE SETS FORTH. BONDS OF AFFECTION BIND THE DISCIPLE TO THE MASTER whose words have for HIM THE SACREDNESS OF WISDOM AND THE CHARM OF GENIUS, POWER TO CONFIRM THE WILL, AND warmth and color whereby the imagination is raised. THIS SECRET OF MAKING KNOWLEDGE ATTRACTIVE, OF CLOTHING TRUTH IN CHASTE AND BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE, OF ASSOCIATING IT WITH WHATEVER IS FAIR AND NOBLE IN NATURE, AND OF RELATING IT TO LIFE AND CONDUCT, WHICH IS PART OF THE GENIUS OF Greece, still LIVES IN HER LITERATURE; AND TO READ THE WORDS OF HER POETS, ORATORS, AND PHILOSOPHERS IS TO FEEL THE PRESENCE OF A HIGH AND ACTIVE SPIRIT, IS TO BREATHE IN AN INTELLECTUAL ATMOSPHERE OF LIGHT AND LIBERTY, IS OF ITSELF ENLARGEMENT AND CULTIVATION OF MIND. HENCE, IN THE REALMS OF THOUGHT, THE GREEKS ARE THE CIVILIZERS and EMANCIPATORS OF THE WORLD; AND WHOEVER THINKS, IS TO SOME EXTENT THEIR DEBTOR. THE MUSIC OF THEIR ELOQUENCE AND POETRY CAN NEVER GROW SILENT; THE FORMS OF BEAUTY THEIR GENIUS HAS CREATED CAN NEVER PERISH, AND NEVER CEASE TO WIN THE ADMIRATION AND LOVE OF NOBLE MINDS AND GENTLE HEARTS, OR TO BE THE INSPIRATION, GENERATION AFTER GENERATION, TO HIGH THOUGHTS AND HEROIC MOODS. SO LONG AS GLORY, BEAUTY, FREEDOM, LIGHT, AND GLADNESS SHALL SEEM GOOD AND FAIR, SO LONG WILL THE FINER SPIRITS OF THE WORLD FEEL THE ATTRACTION AND THE CHARM OF GREECE, and know the sweet surprise which thrilled the heart of Keats when first he read Homer:— "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken, Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific, and all his men Looked at each other with a wild surmise, Silent, upon a peak in Darien." IN A LESS DEGREE, ROMAN LITERATURE, WHICH IS THE OFFSPRING OF GREEK CULTURE, HAS VALUE AS AN INTELLECTUAL STIMULUS AND DISCIPLINE. HERE ALSO THE YOUTHFUL MIND IS BROUGHT INTO THE PRESENCE OF A GREAT AND NOBLE PEOPLE, WHO, IF THEY HAVE LESS GENIUS AND A DULLER SENSE OF BEAUTY THAN THE GREEKS, EXCEL THEM IN STEADINESS OF PURPOSE, IN dignity of character, in reverence for law and religion, and above all in the art of governing. THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE CLASSICS DOES NOT LIE SO MUCH IN THE GREEK AND LATIN LANGUAGES AS IN THE TYPE OF MIND, THE SENSE OF PROPORTION AND BEAUTY, THE HEROIC TEMPER, THE PHILOSOPHIC MOOD, THE KEEN RELISH FOR HIGH ENTERPRISE, AND THE JOYFUL LOVE OF LIFE WHICH THEY MAKE KNOWN TO US. THE WORLD TO WHICH THEY INTRODUCE US IS [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] [Pg 42] so REMOTE THAT THE PRE-OCCUPATIONS AND VULGARITIES OF THE PRESENT, BY WHICH WE ALL ARE HEMMED AND WARPED, FALL AWAY FROM US; AND IT IS AT THE SAME TIME SO REAL AND OF SUCH ABSORBING INTEREST THAT WE ARE CAUGHT UP IN spirit and carried to the Attic Plain and THE HILLS OF LATIUM. THEY ARE USEFUL, NOT BECAUSE THEY TEACH US ANYTHING THAT MAY NOT BE LEARNED AND LEARNED MORE ACCURATELY FROM MODERN BOOKS, BUT BECAUSE THEY MOVE THE mind, FIRE THE HEART, ENNOBLE AND REFINE THE IMAGINATION IN A WAY WHICH NOTHING ELSE HAS POWER TO DO. THEY ARE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION; THEY FIRST ROUSED THE MODERN MIND TO ACTIVITY; AND THE POTENCY OF THEIR INFLUENCE CAN NEVER CEASE TO BE FELT BY THOSE WHOSE APTITUDES LEAD THEM TO THE LOVE OF INTELLECTUAL PERFECTION, WHO DELIGHT IN THE FREE PLAY OF THE MIND, WHO ARE ATTRACTED BY WHAT IS SYMMETRICAL, WHO HAVE THE INSTINCT FOR BEAUTY, WHO SWIM IN A CURREN...