----------------------------------------
--------------------    ,transcriber's  
,note                                   
,obvious typographical errors have been 
corrected in            this text4 ,for 
a complete list1 please see the bottom  
of       this document4                 
,text printed using the ,greek alphabet 
in the original book     is shown as    
follows3 ,greek3 logos                  
----------------------------------------
--------------------     ,,progress     
,,and ,,history  ,,essays ,,arranged    
,,and ,,edited  ,,by  ,f4 ,s4 ,,marvin  
,,late ,,senior ,,scholar ,,of ,,st4    
,,john',s ,,college1 ,,oxford  ,,author 
,,of ',,the ,,living ,,past'  ,,editor  
,,of ',,the ,,unity ,,of ,,western      
,,civilization'   ',tanta patet rerum   
series et omne futurum ,nititur in      
lucem4'                     ,,lucan4    
,,third ,,impression    ,,humphrey      
,,milford  ,,oxford ,,university ,,press
  ,,london  ,,edinburgh  ,,glasgow      
,,new ,,york ,,toronto  ,,melbourne     

,,cape ,,town  ,,bombay  #aiai          
,,printed ,,in ,,england ,,at ,,the     
,,oxford ,,university ,,press           
,,preface   ,this volume is a sequel to 
,the ,unity of ,western ,civilization   
published last year and arose in the    
same way1 from a course of lectures     
given at the ,woodbrooke ,settlement1   
,birmingham4  ,the former book attempted
 to describe some of the permanent      
unifying factors which hold our ,western
 civilization together in spite of such 
catastrophic divisions as the present   
war4 ,this book attempts to show these  
forces in growth4 ,the former aimed     
rather at a statical1 the present at a  
dynamical view of the same problem4     
,both are historical in spirit4  ,it is 
hoped that these courses may serve as an
 introduction to a series of cognate    
studies1 of which clearly both the      
supply and the scope are infinite1 for  
under the general conception of         
',progress in ,unity' all great human   
topics might be embraced4 ,one subject  

has been suggested for early treatment  
which would have especial interest at   
the present time1 viz4 ',recent         
,progress in ,european ,thought'4 ,we   
are by the war brought more closely than
 before into contact with other nations 
of ,europe who are pursuing with        
inevitable differences the same main    
lines of evolution4 ,to indicate these  
in general1 with stress on the factor of
 betterment1 is the aim of the present  
volume4  ,f4,s4,m4     ,,contents       
,,page     ,i4 ,,the ,,idea ,,of        
,,progress                              
#g           ,by ,f4 ,s4 ,,marvin4      
,,ii4 ,,progress ,,in ,,prehistoric     
,,times                                 
#bg          ,by ,r4 ,r4 ,,marett1      
,reader in ,social ,anthropology1       
,oxford4   ,,iii4 ,,progress ,,and      
,,hellenism                             
#dh          ,by ,f4 ,,melian ,,stawell1
 late ,lecturer at           ,newnham   
,college1 ,cambridge4    ,,iv4          
,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,middle ,,ages   

#gb          ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,j4      
,,carlyle1 ,tutor and                   
,lecturer at ,university ,college1      
,oxford4     ,v4 ,,progress ,,in        
,,religion                              
#if          ,by ,,baron ,,friedrich    
,,von ,h,ue,g,e,l4    ,,vi4 ,,moral     
,,progress                              
#acd          ,by ,l4 ,p4 ,,jacks1      
,principal of ,manchester           ,new
 ,college1 ,oxford4   ,,vii4            
,,government                            
#aea          ,by ,a4 ,e4 ,,zimmern1    
late ,fellow of ,new           ,college1
 ,oxford4  ,,viii4 ,,industry           
#ahi          ,by ,a4 ,e4 ,,zimmern4    
,,ix4 ,,art                             
#bbd          ,by ,a4 ,,clutton ,,brock4
     ,x4 ,,science                      
#bdh          ,by ,f4 ,s4 ,,marvin4     
,,xi4 ,,philosophy                      
#bgc          ,by ,j4 ,a4 ,,smith1      
,waynflete ,professor of                
,mental and ,moral ,philosophy1 ,oxford4
   ,,xii4 ,,progress ,,as ,,an ,,ideal  

,,of ,,action                           
#bie          ,by ,j4 ,a4 ,,smith4      
,i  ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,progress  ,f4   
,s4 ,,marvin   ,the editor of these     
essays was busy in the autumn of last   
year collating the opinions attached by 
different people to the word 'progress'4
 ,one ,sunday afternoon he happened to  
be walking with two friends in ,oxford1 
one a professor of philosophy1 the other
 a lady4 ,the professor of philosophy   
declared that to him human progress must
 always mean primarily the increase of  
knowledge2 the editor urged the increase
 of power as its most characteristic    
feature1 but the lady added at once that
 to her progress had always meant1 and  
could only mean1 increase in our        
appreciation of the humanity of others4 
,the first two thoughts1 harmonized and 
directed by the third1 may be taken to  
cover the whole field1 and this volume  
to be merely a commentary upon them4    
,what we have to consider is1 when and  
how this idea of progress1 as a general 

thing affecting mankind as a whole1     
first appeared in the world1 how far it 
has been realized in history1 and how   
far it gives us any guidance and hope   
for the future4 ,in the midst of a      
catastrophe which appears at first sight
 to be a deadly blow to the ideal1 such 
an inquiry has a special interest and   
may have some permanent value4  ,words  
are the thought of ages crystallized1 or
 rather embodied with a constantly      
growing soul4 ,the word ',progress'1    
like the word ',humanity'1 is one of the
 most significant4 ,it is a ,latin word1
 not used in its current abstract sense 
until after the ,roman incorporation of 
the ,mediterranean world4 ,it contains  
,greek thought summed up and applied by 
,roman minds4 ,many of the earlier      
,greek thinkers1 ,xenophanes and        
,empedocles as well as ,plato and       
,aristotle1 had thought and spoken of a 
steady process in things1 including man 
himself1 from lower to higher forms2 but
 the first writer who expounds the      

notion with sufficient breadth of view  
and sufficiently accurate and concrete  
observation to provide a preliminary    
sketch1 was the great ,roman poet who   
attributed all the best that was in him 
to the ,greeks and yet has given us a   
highly original picture of the upward   
tendency of the world and of human      
society upon it4 ,he1 too1 so far as one
 can discover1 was the first to use the 
word 'progress' in the sense of our     
inquiry4 ,the passage in ,lucretius at  
the end of his fifth book on the ,nature
 of ,things is so true and brilliant and
 anticipates so many points in later    
thought that it is worth quoting at some
 length1 and the poet's close relation  
with ,cicero1 the typical ,greco-,roman 
thinker1 gives his ideas the more weight
 as an historical document4  ,he begins 
by describing a struggle for existence  
in which the less well-adapted creatures
 died off1 those who wanted either the  
power to protect themselves or the means
 of adapting themselves to the purposes 

of man4 ,in this stage1 however1 man was
 a hardier creature than he afterwards  
became4 ,he lived like the beasts of the
 field and was ignorant of tillage or   
fire or clothes or houses4 ,he had no   
laws or government or marriage1 and     
though he did not fear the dark1 he     
feared the real danger of fiercer       
beasts4 ,men often died a miserable     
death1 but not in multitudes on a single
 day as they do now by battle or        
shipwreck4  ,the next stage sees huts   
and skins and fire which softened their 
bodies1 and marriage and the ties of    
family which softened their tempers4    
,and tribes began to make treaties of   
alliance with other tribes4  ,speech    
arose from the need which all creatures 
feel to exercise their natural powers1  
just as the calf will butt before his   
horns protrude4 ,men began to apply     
different sounds to denote different    
things1 just as brute beasts will do to 
express different passions1 as any one  
must have noticed in the cases of dogs  

and horses and birds4 ,no one man set   
out to invent speech4  ,fire was first  
learnt from lightning and the friction  
of trees1 and cooking from the softening
 and ripening of things by the sun4     
,then men of genius invented improved   
methods of life1 the building of cities 
and private property in lands and       
cattle4 ,but gold gave power to the     
wealthy and destroyed the sense of      
contentment in simple happiness4 ,it    
must always be so whenever men allow    
themselves to become the slaves of      
things which should be their dependants 
and instruments4  ,they began to believe
 in and worship gods1 because they saw  
in dreams shapes of preterhuman strength
 and beauty and deemed them immortal2   
and as they noted the changes of the    
seasons and all the wonders of the      
heavens1 they placed their gods there   
and feared them when they spoke in the  
thunder4  ,metals were discovered       
through the burning of the woods1 which 
caused the ores to run4 ,copper and     

brass came first and were rated above   
gold and silver4 ,and then the metals   
took the place of hands1 nails1 teeth1  
and clubs1 which had been men's earliest
 arms and tools4 ,weaving followed the  
discovery of the use of iron4  ,sowing1 
planting1 and grafting were learnt from 
nature herself1 and gradually the       
cultivation of the soil was carried     
farther and farther up the hills4  ,men 
learnt to sing from the birds1 and to   
blow on pipes from the whistling of the 
zephyr through the reeds3 and those     
simple tunes gave as much rustic jollity
 as our more elaborate tunes do now4    
,then1 in a summary passage at the end1 
,lucretius enumerates all the chief     
discoveries which men have made in the  
age-long process--ships1 agriculture1   
walled cities1 laws1 roads1 clothes1    
songs1 pictures1 statues1 and all the   
pleasures of life--and adds1 'these     
things practice and the experience of   
the unresting mind have taught mankind  
gradually as they have progressed from  

point to point'4#a  ,it is the first    
definition and use of the word in       
literature4 ,if we accept it as a       
typical presentation of the             
,greco-,roman view1 seen by a man of    
exceptional genius and insight at the   
climax of the period1 there are two or  
three points which must arrest our      
attention4 ,lucretius is thinking mainly
 of progress in the arts1 and especially
 of the arts as they affect man's       
happiness4 ,there is no mention of      
increase in knowledge or in love4 ,as in
 the famous parallel passage in         
,sophocles' ,antigone1 it is man's      
strength and skill which most impressed 
the poet1 and his skill especially as   
exhibited in the arts4 ,compared with   
what we shall see as typical utterances 
of later times1 it is an external view  
of the subject4 ,the absence of love as 
an element of progress carries with it  
the absence of the idea of humanity4    
,there is no conception here1 nor       
anywhere in classical thought before the

 ,stoics1 of a world-wide ,being which  
has contributed to the advance and      
should share fully in its fruits4 ,still
 less do we find any hint of the        
possibilities of an infinite progress4  
,the moral1 on the contrary1 is that we 
should limit our desires1 banish        
disturbing thoughts1 and settle down to 
a quiet and sensible enjoyment of the   
good things that advancing skill has    
provided for us4 ,it is1 of course1 true
 that thoughts can be found in          
individual writers1 especially in ,plato
 and ,aristotle1 which would largely    
modify this view4 ,yet it can hardly be 
questioned that ,lucretius here         
represents the prevalent tone of        
thoughtful men of his day4 ,they had    
begun to realize the fact of human      
progress1 but envisaged it1 as was      
natural in a first view1 mainly on the  
external side1 and1 above all1 had no   
conception of its infinite              
possibilities4  ,when we turn to typical
 utterances of the next great age in    

history the contrast is striking4       
,catholic doctrine had absorbed much    
that was congenial to it from the       
,stoics1 from ,plato and ,aristotle1 but
 it added a thing that was new in the   
world1 a passionate love and an         
overpowering desire for personal moral  
improvement4 ,this is so clear in the   
greatest figures of the ,middle ,ages1  
men such as ,st4 ,bernard and ,st4      
,francis1 and it is so unlike anything  
that we know in the world before1 that  
we are justified in treating it as      
characteristic of the age4 ,to some of  
us1 indeed1 it will appear as the most  
important element in the general notion 
of progress which we are tracing4 ,it so
 appeared to ,comte4#b ,of numberless   
passages that might be quoted from      
fathers and doctors of the ,church1 a   
few words from ,nicholas of ,cusa must  
suffice4 ,he was a divine of the early  
fifteenth century1 true to the faith1   
but anxious to improve the discipline of
 the ,church4 ,to him progress took an  

entirely spiritual form4 ',to be able to
 understand more and more without end is
 the type of eternal wisdom4444 ,let a  
man desire to understand better what he 
does understand and to love more what he
 does love and the whole world will not 
satisfy him4'  ,here is a point of view 
so different from the last that we find 
some difficulty in fitting it into the  
same scheme of things4 ,yet both are    
essential elements in ,western          
civilization2 both have been developed  
by the operations of similar forces in  
the world civilized and incorporated by 
,greece and ,rome4  ,the ,catholic      
divine looks entirely inward for his    
idea of progress1 and his conception    
contains elements of real and permanent 
validity1 of which our present notions  
are full4 ,his eyes are turned towards  
the future and there is no limit to his 
vision4 ,and though the progress        
contemplated is within the soul of the  
individual believer1 it rests on the two
 fundamental principles of knowledge and

 love which are both essentially social4
 ,the believer may isolate himself from 
the world to develop his higher nature1 
but the knowledge and the love which he 
carries with him into his solitude are  
themselves fruits of that intercourse   
with his fellows from which an exclusive
 religious ideal temporarily cuts him   
off4  ,nor must we forget that ,catholic
 doctrine and discipline1 though aiming 
at this perfection of the individual    
rather than of the race1 was embodied in
 an organization which carried farther  
than the ,roman ,empire the idea of a   
united civilization and furnished to    
many thinkers1 ,bossuet as well as      
,dante1 a first sketch of the progress  
of mankind4  ,but it is clear that this 
construction was provisional only1      
either on the side of personal belief   
and practice1 or of ecclesiastical      
organization2 provisional1 that is1 if  
we are looking for real unity in the    
mind of mankind4 ,for we need a         
doctrine1 a scheme of knowledge1 into   

which all that we discover about the    
world and our own nature may find its   
place2 we need principles of action     
which will guide us in attaining a state
 of society more congruent with our     
knowledge of the possibilities of the   
world and human nature1 more thoroughly 
inspired by human love1 love of man for 
man as a being living his span of life  
here and now1 under conditions which    
call for a concentration of skill and   
effort to realize the best4 ,the        
breaking of the old ,catholic synthesis1
 narrow but admirable within its limits1
 took place at what we call the         
,renascence and ,reformation2 the       
linking up of a new one is the task of  
our own and many later generations4 ,let
 it not be thought that such a change   
involves the destruction of any vital   
element in the idea of progress already 
achieved2 if true and vital1 every      
element must survive4 ,but it does      
involve an acceptance of the fact that  
progress1 or humanity1 or the evolution 

of the divine within us--however we     
prefer to phrase it--is a larger thing  
than any one organization or any one set
 of carefully harmonized doctrines4 ,the
 truth1 and the organ in which we       
enshrine it1 must grow with the human   
minds who are collectively producing it4
 ,the new unity is itself progress4  ,it
 must give us confidence in facing such 
a prospect to observe that at each      
remove from the first appearance of the 
idea of progress in the world man's use 
of the word has carried more meaning    
and1 though sometimes quieter in tone1  
as in recent times1 is better grounded  
in the facts of life and history4 ,such 
an advance in our conceptions took place
 after the ,renascence4 ,at the         
beginning of the seventeenth century1   
when the art and science of the ancient 
world had been recovered1 the word and  
the idea of progress started on a fresh 
course of unexampled vigour4 ,the lines 
were closer to those of the             
pre-,christian than of the ,catholic    

world1 but it would be by no means true 
to call them pagan4 ,when ,bacon and    
,descartes begin to sound the modern    
note of progress1 they think primarily  
of an advance in the arts and sciences1 
but there is a spiritual and human side 
to their ideal which could not be really
 paralleled in classical thought4 ,the  
,spirit of ,man is now invoked1 and     
this1 not in the sense of an elite1 the 
builders of the ,greek ,state or the    
rulers of the ,roman ,empire1 but of    
mankind as a whole4 ,this is ,christian1
 or perhaps we should say1              
,stoical-,christian4 ,thus ,descartes   
tells us that he looks to science to    
furnish us ultimately with an art which 
will make us 'masters and possessors of 
nature 444 and this not solely for the  
pleasure of enjoying with ease the good 
things of the world1 but principally for
 the preservation and improvement of    
human health which is both the          
foundation of all other goods and the   
means of strengthening the spirit       

itself' 7',discours de la ,methode'74   
,it is significant that the two words   
,progress and ,humanity come into use in
 their modern sense side by side4 ,the  
latter is the basis and the ideal of the
 former4  ,but the new thing which had  
come into the world at this point1 and  
gives a fresh impulse and content to the
 idea of progress1 is the development of
 science4 ,the ,greeks had founded it   
and1 as we shall see in a later chapter1
 it was the recovery of the ,greek      
thread which gave the moderns their     
clue4 ,but no one before the sixteenth  
century1 before the marvels revealed by 
,galileo's telescope and knit up by     
,newton's synthetic genius1 could have  
conceived the visions of human          
regeneration by science which light up  
the pioneers of the seventeenth century 
and are the gospel of the eighteenth4   
,we turn to the eighteenth century1 and 
primarily to the school of thinkers     
called 'philosophes' in ,france1 for the
 fullest and most enthusiastic statement

 of progress as a gospel4 ,it is1 of    
course1 ,european1 as all the greatest  
advances of thought have been2 and      
,german thinkers1 as well as ,english1  
stand with the ,french in the vanguard4 
,kant and ,herder1 from different points
 of view1 thought it out perhaps more   
thoroughly than any one else at that    
time2 but the ,french believed in it as 
a nation and were willing to stake their
 lives and souls on the belief4 ,thus   
,turgot1 before the ,revolution1        
declared that 'the total mass of the    
human race marches continually though   
sometimes slowly towards an             
ever-increasing perfection'4 ,and       
,condorcet1 in the midst of the         
,revolution1 while himself under its    
ban1 painted a picture 'of the human    
race1 freed from its chains1 and        
marching with a firm tread on the road  
of truth and virtue and happiness'4     
,here is the gospel in its purest and   
simplest form1 and when we are inclined 
to think that the crimes and the partial

 failure of the ,revolution discredit   
its principles1 it is well to remember  
that the man who believed in them most  
systematically1 expounded his belief    
with perfect calmness and confidence as 
he lay under sentence of death from a   
revolutionary tribunal4  ,if this       
enthusiasm is madness1 we might all well
 wish to be possessed4 ,the true line of
 criticism is different4 ,at the        
,revolution1 as before at the           
,renascence1 the leaders of the new     
movement could not see all their debt to
 the past4 ,like the ,renascence1 they  
idealized certain features in classical 
antiquity1 but they had not yet gained  
the notion of historical continuity2    
above all1 they did not realize the     
value of the religious development of   
the ,middle ,ages4 ,it was left for the 
nineteenth century and for us1 its      
successors1 to attempt the supreme task 
of seeing things steadily and seeing    
them whole4  ,for in spite of the       
capital contributions of the ,renascence

 to progress and the idea of progress1  
especially by its scientific            
constructions1 it is undeniable that a  
bias was then given to the course of    
,western civilization from which it has 
suffered ever since1 and which it is now
 our urgent duty to correct4 ,two       
aspects of this may be specified4 ,the  
old international unity which ,rome had 
achieved1 at least superficially1 in the
 ,mediterranean world1 and which the    
,catholic ,church had extended and      
deepened1 was broken up in favour of a  
system of sovereign and independent     
states controlling religion and         
influencing education on lines          
calculated to strengthen the national   
forces and the national forces alone4   
,they even believed that1 at any rate in
 trade and commerce1 the interests of   
these independent states were rather    
rival than co-operative4 ,the           
,revolution struck the note of human    
association clearly enough1 but we have 
not yet learnt to set all our other     

tunes in accord with it4 ,another1 and  
perhaps even more fundamental1 weakness 
of the ,renascence tradition was the    
stress it laid on the material1         
mechanical1 external side of progress4  
,on the one hand1 the spiritual side of 
life tended to be identified with that  
system of thought and discipline which  
had been so rudely disrupted4 ,on the   
other hand1 the new advance in science  
brought quickly after it a corresponding
 growth of wealth and mechanical        
inventions and material comforts4 ,the  
spirit of man was for the time impeded  
and half suffocated by its own          
productions4  ,the present war seems to 
many of us the supreme struggle of our  
better nature to gain the mastery over  
these obstructions1 and freedom for its 
proper growth4  ,now if this analysis be
 anywhere near the truth1 it is clear   
that our task for the future is one of  
synthesis on the lines of social        
progress4 ,knowledge1 power1 wealth1    
increase of skill1 increase of health1  

we have them all in growing measure1 and
 ,mr4 ,clutton ,brock will tell us in   
his chapter in this volume that we may  
be able by an exercise of will to       
achieve even a new renascence in art4   
,but we certainly do not yet possess    
these things fairly distributed or in   
harmony of mind4  ,the connexion        
therefore between progress as we now    
envisage it1 and unity1 both in         
ourselves and in society at large1      
becomes apparent4 ,at each of the       
previous great moments in the history of
 the ,west development has been secured 
by emphasis on one side of our nature at
 the expense of the rest4 ,visions of   
mankind in common progress have flashed 
on individual thinkers1 a ,roman        
,emperor1 a ,catholic ,schoolman1 a     
,revolutionary prophet4 ,but the thing  
achieved has been one-sided1 and the    
needed correction has been given by     
another movement more one-sided still4  
,the greatest hope of the present day   
lies in the fact that in all branches of

 life1 in government as well as in      
philosophy1 in science as in social     
reform1 in religion and in international
 politics1 men are now striving with    
determination to bind the threads       
together4  ,there is no necessary       
opposition between the rival forces     
which have so often led to conflict4 ,in
 all our controversies harmony can be   
reached and has often been reached by   
the application of patience1 knowledge1 
and goodwill4 ,and goodwill implies here
 the readiness to submit the particular 
issue to the arbitration of the general 
good4 ,the international question has   
been so fully canvassed in these days   
that it would be superfluous to discuss 
it here4 ,the moral is obvious1 and     
abundant cases throughout the world     
illustrate the truth that well-organized
 nationalities contain in themselves    
nothing contrary to the ideal of        
international peace4#c ,nor is the still
 more persistent and universal          
opposition of capital and labour really 

less amenable to reconciliation1 because
 in this case also the two factors in   
the problem are equally necessary to    
social progress1 and we shall not enter 
on the various practical                
solutions--co-operation1 co-partnership1
 partial state-socialism1 c4--which have
 been proposed for a problem which no   
one believes to be insoluble4 ,the      
conflict in our own souls between the   
things of matter and sense and the life 
of the spirit1 is more closely germane  
to the present argument1 because        
ultimately this has to be resolved1 if  
not in every mind yet in the dominant   
mind of ,europe1 before the more        
practical questions can be generally    
settled4 ,harmony here is at the root of
 a sound idea of progress4  ,when the   
concluding chapters of this volume are  
reached it will be seen how fully the   
recent developments both in science and 
philosophy corroborate the line which is
 here suggested for the reconciliation  
of conflicts and the establishment of a 

stronger and more coherent notion of    
what we may rightly pursue as progress4 
,for both in science and still more in  
philosophy attention is being more and  
more closely concentrated on the meaning
 of life itself1 which science          
approaches by way of its physical       
concomitants1 and philosophy from the   
point of view of consciousness4 ,and    
while science has been analysing the    
characteristics of a living organism1   
philosophy finds in our consciousness   
just that element of community with     
others which an organic conception of   
progress demands4 ,the only progress of 
which we can be certain1 the philosopher
 tells us1 is progress in our own       
consciousness1 which becomes constantly 
fuller1 more knowing1 and more social1  
as time unfolds4 ,this1 he tells us1    
must endure1 though the storms of       
passion and nature may fall upon us4    
,on such a firm basis we would all      
gladly build our faith4 ,no unity can be
 perfect except that which we achieve in

 our own souls1 and no progress can be  
relied on except that which we can know 
within1 and can develop from1 our own   
consciousness and our own powers4 ,but  
we cannot rest in this4 ,we are bound to
 look outside our own consciousness for 
some objective correspondence to that   
progress which our own nature craves2   
and history supplies this evidence4 ,it 
is from history that we derive the first
 idea and the accumulating proofs of the
 reality of progress4 ,lucretius's first
 sketch is really his summary of social 
history up to that point4 ,the ,catholic
 thinker had a wider scope4 ,he was able
 to see that the whole course of        
,greco-,roman civilization was1 from his
 point of view1 a preparation for the   
,church which had the care of the       
spiritual life of man while on earth4   
,and in the next stage1 that in which we
 now live1 we see all the interests of  
life taken back again into the          
completeness of human progress1 and can 
trace that complete being1 labouring    

slowly but unmistakably to a higher     
state1 outside us in the world1 as well 
as within our own consciousness1 which  
is ready to expand if we will give it   
range4  ,on such lines we may sketch the
 historical aspect of progress on which 
the personal is based2 and it is of the 
utmost importance to keep the two       
aspects before us concurrently1 because 
reliance on the growing fullness of the 
individual life to the neglect of the   
social evolution is likely to empty that
 life itself of its true content1 to    
leave the self-centred visionary        
absorbed in the contemplation of some   
ideal perfection within himself1 while  
the world outside him from which he     
ultimately derives his notions1 is      
toiling and suffering from the want of  
those very elements which he is best    
able to supply4  ,the succeeding        
chapters of this book will1 it is hoped1
 supply some evidence of the concrete   
reality of progress1 as well as of the  
tendency to greater coherence and purity

 in the ideal itself4 ,it would have    
been easy to accumulate evidence2 some  
sides of life are hardly touched on at  
all4 ,the collective and the            
intellectual sides are fully dealt with 
both in this and in the volume on ,the  
,unity of ,western ,civilization4 ,but  
if we make our survey over a sufficient 
space1 coming down especially to our own
 days1 our conclusion as to the advance 
made in the physical and moral          
well-being of mankind1 will be hardly   
less emphatic4 ,our average lives are   
longer and continue to lengthen1 and    
they are unquestionably spent with far  
less physical suffering than was        
generally the case at any previous      
period4 ,we are bound to give full      
weight to this1 however much we rightly 
deplore the deadening effect of         
monotonous and mechanical toil on so    
large a part of the population4 ,and    
even for these the opportunities for a  
free and improving life are amazingly   
enlarged4 ,we groan and chafe at what   

remains to be done because of the       
unexampled size of the modern industrial
 populations with which we have to deal4
 ,but we know in some points very       
definitely what we want1 and we are now 
all persuaded with ,john ,stuart ,mill  
that the remedy is in our own hands1    
'that all the great sources of human    
suffering are in a great degree1 many of
 them entirely1 conquerable by human    
care and effort4' ,this conviction is   
perhaps the greatest step of all that we
 have gained4 ,in morality some         
pertinent and necessary questions are   
raised in ,chap4 ,,vi1 but the general  
progress would be doubted by very few   
who have had the opportunity of         
comparing the evidence as to any        
previous state of morals1 say in the    
,middle ,ages or in the ,elizabethan    
age--the crown of the ,renascence in    
,england--with that of the present day4 
,the capital advance in morality1 which 
by itself would be sufficient to justify
 our thesis1 is the increase in the     

consciousness and the obligation of the 
'common weal'1 that conception of which 
,government1 increasingly better        
organized1 is the most striking         
practical realization4 ,it has its      
drawback in the spread of what we feel  
as a debasing 'vulgarity'1 but the      
general balance is overwhelmingly on the
 side of good4 ,and in all such         
discussions we are apt to allow far too 
little weight to the change which the   
,new ,world1 and especially the ,united 
,states1 has brought about4 ,in matters 
of personal prosperity and a high       
general standard of intellectual and    
moral competence1 what has been achieved
 there would outweigh a good deal of our
 ,old ,world defects when we come to    
drawing up a world's balance-sheet4  ,it
 will be seen therefore that we dismiss 
altogether any doctrine of an 'illusion 
of progress' as a necessary decoy to    
progressive action4 ,progress is a fact 
as well as an ideal1 and the ideal1     
though it springs from an objective     

reality1 will always be in advance of   
it4 ,so it is with all man's activities 
when he comes to man's estate4 ,in      
science he has always an ideal of a more
 perfect knowledge before him though he 
becomes scientific by experience4 ,in   
art he is always striving to idealize   
fresh things1 though he first becomes an
 artist from the pure spontaneous       
pleasure of expressing what is in him4  
,the deliberate projection of the ideal 
into the future1 seeing how far it will 
take us and whether we are journeying in
 the right direction1 is a late stage4  
,as to progress1 the largest general    
ideal which can affect man's action1 it 
is only recently that mankind as a whole
 has been brought to grips with the     
conception1 also enlarged to the full4  
,he was standing1 somewhat bewildered1  
somewhat dazzled1 before it1 when the   
war1 like an eclipse of the sun1 came   
suddenly and darkened the view4 ,but an 
eclipse has been found an invaluable    
time for studying some of the problems  

of the sun's nature and of light itself4
  ,one of the most acute critics of the 
mid-,victorian prophets of progress1    
,dr4 ,john ,grote1 did very well in     
disentangling the ideal element which is
 inherent in every sound doctrine of    
progress as a guide to conduct4 ,he took
 the theory of a continuous inevitable  
progress in human affairs1 and showed   
how this by itself might lead to a      
weakening of the will1 on which alone in
 his view progress in the proper sense  
depends4 ,he took the mechanical theory 
of utilitarianism and subjected it to a 
similar analysis4 ,we cannot evaluate   
progress as an increase in a sum-total  
of happiness4 ,this is incapable of     
calculation1 and if we aim directly at  
it1 we are likely to lose the higher    
things on which it depends1 and which   
are capable of being made the objects of
 that direct striving which is essential
 to progress4 ,dr4 ,grote's analysis has
 long since passed into current         
philosophical teaching1 but he will     

always be well worth reading for his    
fresh and vigorous reasoning and for the
 way in which he builds up his own      
position without denying the solid      
contributions of those whom he          
criticizes4 ,complete truth in the      
matter seems to us to involve a larger  
share for the historical element than   
,dr4 ,grote explicitly allows4 ,we grant
 fully the paramount necessity for an   
ideal of progress and for constantly    
revising1 purifying1 and strengthening  
it4 ,but in its formation we should     
trace more than he does to the          
collective forces of mankind as         
expressed in history4 ,these have given 
us the ideal and will carry us on       
towards it by a force which is greater  
than1 and in one sense independent of1  
any individual will4 ,this is the       
cardinal truth of sociology1 and is     
obvious if we consider how in matters of
 everyday experience we are all         
compelled by some social force not      
ourselves1 as for instance in actions   

tending to maintain the family or in a  
national crisis such1 as the war4 ,this 
general will is not1 of course1         
independent of all the wills concerned1 
but it acts more or less as an outside  
compelling force in the case of every   
one4 ,moreover our selves are composite 
as well as wholes1 and parts of us are  
active in forming the general will1     
parts acquiesce and parts are overborne4
 ,thus it is clear that a general       
tendency to progress in the human race  
may be well established--as we hold it  
to be--and yet go on in ways capable of 
infinite variation and at very various  
speed4 ,we are all1 let us suppose1     
being carried onward by one mighty and  
irresistible stream4 ,we may combine our
 strength and skill and make the best   
use of the surrounding forces4 ,this is 
working and steering to the chosen goal4
 ,or we may rest on our oars and let the
 stream take us where it will4 ,this is 
drifting1 and we shall certainly be     
carried on somewhere2 but we may be     

badly bruised or even shipwrecked in the
 process1 and in any case we shall have 
contributed nothing to the advance4     
,some few may even waste their strength 
in trying to work backwards against the 
stream4 ,we seem to have reached the    
point in history when for the first time
 we are really conscious of our         
position1 and the problem is now a      
possible and an urgent one to mark the  
goal clearly and unitedly and bend our  
common efforts to attaining it4  ,if    
this be so1 the work of synthesis may be
 thought to have a higher practical     
value for the moment than the analysis  
which has prevailed in ,european thought
 for the last forty or fifty years4 ,in 
the earlier part of the nineteenth      
century the great formative ideas which 
had been gathering volume and enthusiasm
 during the revolutionary period1 took  
shape in complete systems of religious  
and philosophic truth--,kant1 ,hegel1   
,spencer1 ,comte4 ,they have been       
followed by a period of criticism which 

has left none of them whole1 but on the 
other hand has produced a mass of       
contradictions and specialisms highly   
confusing and even hopeless to the      
public mind and veiling the more        
important and profound agreements which 
have been growing all the time beneath4 
,there are now abundant signs of a      
reaction towards unity and construction 
of a broad and solid kind4 ,in no       
respect is such a knitting up more      
desirable than in this idea of progress 
itself4 ,are we to say that there is no 
such thing as all-round continuous      
progress1 but only progress in definite 
branches of thought and activity1       
progress in science or in particular    
arts1 social progress1 physical         
progress1 progress in popular education 
and the like1 but that any two or more  
branches only coincide occasionally and 
by accident1 and that when working at   
one we can and should have no thought of
 working at them all8 ,this is no doubt 
a prevalent view and we may hope that   

some things said in this book may modify
 it4 ,another school of critical        
thinkers1 approaching the question from 
the point of view of the ultimate object
 of action1 asks what is the one thing  
for which all others are to be pursued  
as means8 ,is increase of knowledge the 
absolute good or increase of happiness8 
,or if it is increase of love1 is it    
quite indifferent what we love8 ,a few  
words on this may fitly conclude this   
chapter4  ,the task of mankind1 and of  
every one of us so far as he is able to 
enter into it1 is to bring together     
these various aspects of human          
excellence1 to see them as parts of one 
ideal and labour to approach it4 ,this  
approach is progress1 and if you say    
'progress of what1 and to what end'1 the
 answer can only be1 the progress of    
humanity1 and the end further progress4 
,some of the writers in this book will  
indicate the point at which in their    
view this progress is in contact with   
the infinite1 with something not given  

in history2 but1 whatever our view of   
the transcendental problem may be1 it is
 of the utmost importance for all of us 
to realize that we have given to us in  
the actual process of time1 in concrete 
history1 a development of humanity1 a   
growth from a lower to a higher state of
 being1 which may be most perfectly     
realized in the individual              
consciousness1 fully awake and fully    
socialized1 but is also clearly         
traceable in the doings of the human    
race as a whole4 ,such is in fact the   
uniting thread of these essays1 and when
 we proceed to the converse of this     
truth and apply this ideal which we have
 shown to be the course of realization1 
as a governing motive in our lives1 it  
is even more imperative to strive       
constantly to keep the whole together1  
and not to regard either knowledge or   
power or beauty or even love as an      
ultimate and supreme thing to which all 
other ends are merely means4 ,the end is
 a more perfect man1 developed by the   

perfecting of all mankind4  ,such a     
conception embraces all the separate    
aspects of our nature each in its place1
 and each from its own angle supreme4   
,love and knowledge inseparable and     
fundamental1 freedom and happiness      
essential conditions of healthy growth1 
personality developed with the          
development of the greater personality  
in which we all live and grow4 ,this    
greater personality is at its highest   
immeasurably above us1 and has no       
assignable limits in time or in capacity
 to know1 to love1 or to enjoy4 ,we     
cannot fix its origin at any known point
 in the birth of planets1 nor does the  
cooling of our sun nor of all the suns  
seem to put any limit in our imagination
 to the continuous unfolding of life    
like our own4 ,while thus practically   
infinite1 the ideal of human nature is  
revealed to us concretely in countless  
types of goodness and truth and beauty  
which we may know and love and imitate4 
,to all it is open to study the         

lineaments of this ideal in the records 
and figures of the past2 to most it is  
revealed in some fellow beings known in 
life4 ,from these1 the human spirits    
which embody the strivings1 the hopes1  
the conquered failings of the past1 we  
may form our better selves and build the
 humanity of the future4  ,there is a   
famous and magnificent passage in       
,dante's ,purgatorio which ,catholic    
commentators interpret in sacramental   
terms but we may well apply in a wider  
sense to the progress of the human      
spirit towards the ideal4 ,it occurs at 
that crucial point where the ascending  
poet leaves the circles of sad          
repentance to reach the higher regions  
of growing light4       ',and when we   
came there1 to the first step1 it was of
 white      marble1 so polished that ,i 
could see myself just as ,i am4         
',and the second was coloured dark1 a   
rugged stone1 cracked      lengthwise   
and across4 ,and the third piled above  
it was      flaming porphyry1 red like  

the blood from a vein4       ',above    
this one was the angel of ,god1 sitting 
on the      threshold1 bright as a      
diamond4       ',up the three steps my  
master led me with goodwill and then    
he said1 ,beg humbly that he unlock the 
door4'#d  ,like this1 the path man has  
to tread is not an easy progress4 ,but  
he is rising all the time and he rises  
on steps of his own past4 ,he sees      
reflected in them the image of himself1 
and he sees too the deep faults in his  
nature1 and the rough surface of his    
path through time4 ,the last step1      
tinged by his own blood1 gives access to
 a higher dwelling1 firm and bright and 
leading higher still4 ,but it is open   
only after a long ascent1 and to the    
human spirit that has worked faithfully1
 with love for his comrades and leaders1
 and reverence for the laws which bind  
both the world and him4   ,,books ,,for 
,,reference  ,john ,grote1 ,examination 
of ,utilitarian ,philosophy4  ,kant1    
,principles of ,politics 7translated by 

,hastie and published by ,clark7        
contains his smaller works on ,universal
 ,history1 ,perpetual ,peace1 and the   
,principle of ,progress4 ,see also the  
,essay on ,herder4  ,comte's ,positive  
,polity1 vols4 i4 and ii1 passim4       
,,footnotes3  #a 'usus et impigrae simul
 experientia mentis      paulatim docuit
 pedetemtim progredientes4'  #b ,comte1 
,positive ,polity1 ii #aaf4  #c ,see    
,delisle ,burns1 ,morality of ,nations1 
and ,the ,unity of ,western             
,civilization1 passim4  #d ,purgatorio1 
ix4 #id-ajh4     ,,ii  ,,progress ,,in  
,,prehistoric ,,times  ,r4 ,r4 ,,marett 
,if ,i am unable to deliver this lecture
 in person1 it will be because ,i have  
to attend in ,jersey to the excavation  
of a cave once occupied by men of the   
,glacial ,epoch4 ,now these men knew how
 to keep a good fire burning within     
their primitive shelter2 their skill in 
the chase provided them with a          
well-assorted larder2 their fine strong 
teeth were such as to make short work of

 their meals2 lastly1 they were clever  
artisans and one may even say artists in
 flint and greenstone1 not only having  
the intelligence to make an economic use
 of the material at their disposal1 but 
likewise having enough sense of form to 
endow their implements with more than a 
touch of symmetry and beauty4 ,all this 
we know from what they have left behind 
them2 and the rest is silence4  ,and now
 let us imagine ourselves possessed of  
one of those time-machines of which ,mr4
 ,h4 ,g4 ,wells is the inventor4        
,transported by such means to the       
,europe of that distant past1 could we  
undertake to beat the record of those   
cave-men8  ,clearly1 all will depend on 
how many of us1 and how much of the     
apparatus of civilization1 our          
time-machine is able to accommodate4 ,if
 it were simply to drop a pair of us1   
naked and presumably ashamed1 into the  
midst of the rigours of the great ,ice  
,age1 the chances surely are that the   
unfortunate immigrants must perish      

within a week4 ,adam could hardly manage
 to kindle a fire without the help of   
matches4 ,eve would be no less sorely   
troubled to make clothes without the    
help of a needle4 ,on the other hand1 if
 the time-machine were as capacious as  
,noah's ,ark1 the venture would         
undoubtedly succeed1 presenting no      
greater difficulty than1 let us say1 the
 planting of a settlement in ,labrador  
or on the ,yukon4 ,given numbers1       
specialized labour1 tools1 weapons1     
books1 domesticated animals and plants1 
and so forth1 the civilized community   
would do more than hold its own with the
 prehistoric cave-man1 devoid of all    
such aids to life4 ,indeed1 it is       
tolerably certain that1 willingly or    
unwillingly1 our colonists would soon   
drive the ancient type of man clean out 
of existence4  ,on the face of it1 then1
 it would seem that we1 as compared with
 men of ,glacial times1 have decidedly  
'progressed'4 ,but it is not so easy to 
say off-hand in what precisely such     

progress consists4  ,are we happier8 ,as
 well ask whether the wild wolf or the  
tame dog is the happier animal4 ,the    
truth would seem to be that wolf and dog
 alike can be thoroughly happy each in  
its own way2 whereas each would be as   
thoroughly miserable1 if forced to live 
the life of the other4 ,in one of his   
most brilliant passages ,andrew ,lang1  
after contrasting the mental condition  
of one of our most distant ancestors    
with yours or mine1 by no means to our  
disadvantage1 concludes with these      
words3 ',and after all he was probably  
as happy as we are2 it is not saying    
much4'#e  ,but1 if not happier1 are we  
nobler8 ,if ,i may venture to speak as a
 philosopher1 ,i should reply1          
confidently1 ',yes4' ,it comes to this1 
that we have and enjoy more soul4 ,on   
the intellectual side1 we see farther   
afield4 ,on the moral side1 our         
sympathies are correspondingly wider4   
,imaginatively1 and even to no small    
extent practically1 we are in touch with

 myriads of men1 present and past4 ,we  
participate in a world-soul2 and by so  
doing are advanced in the scale of      
spiritual worth and dignity as members  
of the human race4 ,yet this common soul
 of mankind we know largely and even    
chiefly as something divided against    
itself4 ,not only do human ideals       
contradict each other2 but the ideal in 
any and all of its forms is contradicted
 by the actual4 ,so it is the discontent
 of the human world-soul that is mainly 
borne in upon him who shares in it most 
fully4 ,a possibility of completed good 
may glimmer at the far end of the quest2
 but the quest itself is experienced as 
a bitter striving4 ,bitter though it may
 be1 however1 it is likewise ennobling4 
,here1 then1 ,i find the philosophic1   
that is1 the ultimate and truest1       
touchstone of human progress1 namely1 in
 the capacity for that ennobling form of
 experience whereby we become conscious 
co-workers and co-helpers in an         
age-long1 world-wide striving after the 

good4  ,but to-day ,i come before you1  
not primarily as a philosopher1 but     
rather as an anthropologist1 a student  
of prehistoric man4 ,i must therefore   
define progress1 not in the philosophic 
or ultimate way1 but simply as may serve
 the strictly limited aims of my special
 science4 ,as an anthropologist1 ,i want
 a workable definition--one that will   
set me working and keep me working on   
promising lines4 ,i do not ask ultimate 
truth of my anthropological definition4 
,for my science deals with but a single 
aspect of reality2 and the other aspects
 of the real must likewise be considered
 on their merits before a final account 
can be rendered of it4  ,now            
anthropology is just the scientific     
history of man2 and ,i suppose that     
there could be a history of man that did
 without the idea of human progress     
altogether4 ,progress means1 in some    
sense1 change for the better4 ,but1     
strictly1 history as such deals with    
fact2 and is not concerned with         

questions of better or worse--in a word1
 with value4 ,hence1 it must always be  
somewhat arbitrary on the part of an    
historian to identify change in a given 
direction with a gain or increase in    
value4 ,nevertheless1 the anthropologist
 may do so1 if he be prepared to take   
the risk4 ,he sees that human life has  
on the whole grown more complex4 ,he    
cannot be sure that it will continue to 
grow more complex4 ,much less has he a  
right to lay it down for certain that it
 ought to grow more complex4 ,but so    
long as he realizes that he is thereby  
committing himself by implication to a  
prophetic and purposive interpretation  
of the facts1 he need not hesitate to   
style this growth of complexity progress
 so far as man is concerned4 ,for if he 
is an anthropologist1 he is also a man1 
and cannot afford to take a wholly      
external and impartial view of the      
process whereby the very growth of his  
science is itself explained4            
,anthropologists though we be1 we run   

with the other runners in the race of   
life1 and cannot be indifferent to the  
prize to be won4  ,progress1 then1      
according to the anthropologist1 is     
defined as increase in complexity1 with 
the tacit assumption that this somehow  
implies betterment1 though it is left   
with the philosopher to justify such an 
assumption finally and fully4 ,whereas  
in most cases man would seem to have    
succeeded in the struggle for existence 
by growing more complex1 though in some 
cases survival has been secured by way  
of simplification1 anthropology         
concentrates its attention on the former
 set of cases as the more interesting   
and instructive even from a theoretical 
point of view4 ,let biology by all means
 dispense with the notion of progress1  
and consider man along with the other   
forms of life as subject to mere        
process4 ,but anthropology1 though in a 
way it is a branch of biology1 has a    
right to a special point of view4 ,for  
it employs special methods involving the

 use of a self-knowledge that in respect
 to the other forms of life is          
inevitably wanting4 ,anthropology1 in   
short1 like charity1 begins at home4    
,because we know in ourselves the will  
to progress1 we go on to seek for       
evidences of progress in the history of 
mankind4 ,nor need we cease to think of 
progress as something to be willed1     
something that concerns the inner man1  
even though for scientific purposes we  
undertake to recognize it by some       
external sign1 as1 for instance1 by the 
sign of an increasing complexity1 that  
is1 such differentiation as likewise    
involves greater cohesion4 ,all history1
 and more especially the history of     
early man1 must deal primarily with     
externals4 ,thence it infers the inner  
life2 and thereby it controls the       
tendency known as 'the psychologist's   
fallacy'1 namely1 that of reading one's 
own mind into that of another man       
without making due allowance for        
differences of innate capacity and of   

acquired outlook4 ,in what follows1     
then1 let us1 as anthropologists1 be    
content to judge human progress in      
prehistoric times primarily by its      
external and objective manifestations2  
yet let us at no point in our inquiries 
forget that these ancient men1 some of  
whom are our actual ancestors1 were not 
only flesh of our flesh1 but likewise   
spirit of our spirit4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,a rapid 
sketch such as this must take for       
granted on the part of the audience some
 general acquaintance with that         
succession of prehistoric epochs which  
modern research has definitely          
established4 ,pre-history1 as           
distinguished from proto-history1 may1  
in reference to ,europe as a whole1 be  
made coextensive with the ,stone ,age4  
,this divides into the ,old ,stone ,age 
and the ,new4 ,the ,old ,stone ,age1 or 
,palaeolithic ,period1 yields three     
well-marked subdivisions1 termed ,early1
 ,middle1 and ,late4 ,the ,new ,stone   

,age1 or ,neolithic ,period1 includes   
two sub-periods1 the ,earlier or        
,transitional1 and the ,later or        
,typical4 ,thus our historical survey   
will fall naturally into five chapters4 
,there are reasons1 however1 why it will
 be more convenient to move over the    
whole ground twice4 ,the material on    
which our judgements must be founded is 
not all of one kind4 ,anthropology is   
the joint work of two departments1 which
 are known as ,physical ,anthropology   
and ,cultural ,anthropology             
respectively4 ,the former1 we may say1  
deals with man as an organism1 the      
latter with him as an organizer4 ,here1 
then1 are very different standpoints4   
,for1 in a broad way of speaking1 nature
 controls man through his physical      
organization1 whereas through his       
cultural organization man controls      
nature4 ,from each of these standpoints 
in turn1 then1 let us inquire how far   
prehistoric man can be shown to have    
progressed4 ,first1 did the breed       

improve during the long course of the   
,stone ,age in ,europe8 ,secondly1 did  
the arts of life advance1 so that by    
their aid man might establish himself   
more firmly in his kingdom8  ,did the   
breed improve during prehistoric times8 
,i have said that1 broadly speaking1    
nature controls man as regards his      
physical endowment4 ,now in theory one  
must admit that it might be otherwise4  
,if ,eugenics were to mature on its     
purely scientific side1 there is no     
reason why the legislator of the future 
should not try to make a practical      
application of its principles2 and the  
chances are that1 of many experiments1  
some would prove successful4 ,but that  
conscious breeding was practised in     
prehistoric times is out of the         
question4 ,the men of those days were   
one and all what we are                 
ourselves--nature's mongrels1 now broken
 up into varieties by casual isolation1 
and now by no less casual intermixture  
recompounded in a host of relatively    

unstable forms4 ,whatever progress1     
therefore1 may have occurred in this    
respect has been unconscious4 ,man      
cannot take the credit for it1 except in
 so far as it is indirectly due to that 
increase and spread of the race which   
have been promoted by his achievements  
in the way of culture4  ,the barest     
outline of the facts must suffice4 ,for 
the ,early ,pleistocene1 apart from the 
,java fossil1 ,pithecanthropus erectus1 
a veritable 'missing link'1 whom we may 
here disregard as falling altogether    
outside our world of ,europe1 there are 
only two individuals that can with      
certainty be referred to this distant   
period4 ,these are the ,piltdown and the
 ,heidelberg specimens4 ,the former     
consists of a fragmentary brain-case1   
thick-boned and narrow-fronted1 but     
typically human in its general          
characters1 and of the greater part of a
 lower jaw1 which1 as regards both its  
own elongated and curiously flanged     
structure1 and that of the teeth it     

contained1 including an enormous pointed
 canine1 is conversely more appropriate 
to an ape-like being than to a man4 ,the
 latter consists only of a lower jaw1 of
 which the teeth1 even the canines1 are 
altogether human1 whereas the jaw itself
 is hardly less simian than that of the 
,sussex skull4 ,if we add the ,java     
example to the list of very primitive   
forms1 it is remarkable to note how1    
though differing widely from each other1
 all alike converge on the ape4         
,nevertheless1 even in ,pithecanthropus1
 the brute is passing into the man4 ,we 
note the erect attitude1 to be inferred 
from his thigh-bone1 and the            
considerably enlarged1 though even so   
hardly human1 brain4 ,the ,piltdown     
individual1 on the other hand1 has      
crossed the ,rubicon4 ,he has a         
brain-capacity entitling him to rank as 
a man and an ,englishman4 ,such a brain1
 too1 implies a cunning hand1 which     
doubtless helped him greatly to procure 
his food1 even if his massive jaw       

enabled him to dispose of the food in   
question without recourse to the        
adventitious aids of knife and fork4    
,for the matter of that1 if our         
knowledge made it possible to correlate 
these rare finds of bones more exactly  
with the innumerable flint implements   
ascribable to this period 7and1 indeed1 
not without analogies among the spoil   
from the ,piltdown gravels71 it might   
turn out that even the equivalent of    
knife and fork was not wanting to the   
,early ,pleistocene supper-party1 or1 at
 any rate1 that the human hand was      
already advanced from the status of     
labourer to the more dignified position 
of superintendent of the tool4  ,the    
,middle ,pleistocene ,epoch belongs to  
the men of the ,neanderthal type4 ,some 
thirty specimens1 a few of them more or 
less complete1 have come down to us1 and
 we can form a pretty clear notion of   
the physical appearance of the race4    
,speaking generally1 we may say that it 
marks a stage of progress as compared   

with the ,piltdown type2 though1 if the 
jaw1 heavy and relatively chinless as it
 is1 has become less simian1 the        
protruding brow-ridge lends a monstrous 
look to the face1 while the forehead is 
markedly receding--a feature which turns
 out1 however1 to be not incompatible   
with a weight of brain closely          
approaching our own average4 ,whether   
this type has disappeared altogether    
from the earth1 or survives in certain  
much modified descendants1 is an open   
question4 ,the fact remains that during 
the last throes of the ,glacial ,epoch  
this rough-hewn kind of man apparently  
had ,northern ,europe as his exclusive  
province2 and it is by no means evident 
what ,homo ,sapiens1 the supposed highly
 superior counterpart and rival of ,homo
 ,neanderthalensis1 was doing with      
himself in the meantime4 ,moreover1 not 
only in respect of space does the       
population of that frozen world show    
remarkable homogeneity2 but also in     
respect of time must we allow it an     

undisputed sway extending over thousands
 of years1 during which the race bred   
true4 ,the rate of progress1 whether    
reckoned in physical terms or otherwise1
 is so slow as to be almost             
imperceptible4 ,a type suffices for an  
age4 ,whereas in the life-history of an 
individual there is rapid development   
during youth1 and after maturity a      
steadying down1 it is the other way     
about in the life-history of the race4  
,man1 so to speak1 was born old and     
accommodated to a jog-trot4 ,we moderns 
are the juveniles1 and it is left for us
 to go the pace4  ,yet ,late            
,pleistocene ,period introduces us to   
more diversity in the way of human      
types4 ,only one race1 however1 that    
named after the rock-shelter of         
,cro-,magnon in the ,dordogne1 is       
represented by a fair number of         
specimens1 namely1 about a dozen4 ,at   
this point we come suddenly and without 
previous warning on as pretty a kind of 
man as ever walked this earth4 ,in his  

leading characters he is remarkably     
uniform4 ,six feet high and long-legged1
 he likewise possessed a head well      
stocked with brains and a face that1 if 
rather broad and short1 was furnished by
 way of compensation with a long and    
narrow nose4 ,if the present world can  
show nothing quite like him1 it at least
 cannot produce anything more shapely in
 the way of the 'human form divine'4    
,apart from the ,cro-,magnons1 the      
remains of an old woman and a youth     
found at the lowest level of the ,grotte
 des ,enfants at ,mentone are usually   
held to belong to a distinct stock known
 as the ,grimaldi4 ,the physical        
characters of the pair are regarded as  
negroid1 verging on the ,pygmy2 but if  
we could study an adult male of the same
 stock1 it might possibly turn out not  
to be so very divergent from the        
,cro-,magnon4 ,again1 a single specimen 
does duty for the so-called ,chancelade 
race4 ,the skeleton is of comparatively 
low stature1 and is deemed to show close

 affinities to the type of the modern   
,eskimo4 ,without being unduly          
sceptical1 one may once more wonder if  
the ,cro-,magnon stock may not have     
produced this somewhat aberrant form4   
,even on such a theory1 however--and it 
is hardly orthodox--diversity of        
physical structure would seem to be on  
the increase4 ,on the other hand1 there 
are reasons of considerable cogency for 
referring to the end of this period     
skeletons of what ,huxley termed the    
',river-bed type'1 the peculiarity of   
which consists in the fact that they are
 more or less indistinguishable from the
 later ,neolithic men and indeed from   
any of those slight-built1 shortish1    
long-headed folk who form the majority  
in the crowded cities of to-day4 ,some  
authorities would ascribe a far greater 
antiquity to this type1 but1 ,i venture 
to think1 on the strength of doubtful   
evidence4 ,the notorious ,galley ,hill  
skeleton1 for instance1 found more or   
less intact in an ,early ,pleistocene   

bed in which the truly contemporary     
animals are represented by the merest   
battered remnants1 to my mind reeks of  
modernity4 ,be these things as they may1
 however1 when we come to ,neolithic    
times a race of similar physical        
characters has ,europe to itself1 though
 it would seem to display minor         
variations in a way that suggests that  
the reign of the mongrel has at length  
begun4 ,and here we may close our       
enumeration of the earliest known       
branches of our family tree1 since the  
coming of the broad-heads pertains to   
the history of the ,bronze ,age1 and    
hence falls outside the scope of the    
present survey4  ,now what is the       
bearing of these somewhat scanty data on
 the question of progress8 ,it is not   
easy to extract from them more than the 
general impression that1 as time went   
on1 the breed made persistent headway as
 regards both the complexity of its     
organization and the profusion of its   
forms4 ,after all1 we must not expect   

too much from this department of the    
subject4 ,for one thing1 beyond the     
limits of ,north-western ,europe the    
record is almost blank2 and yet we can  
scarcely hope to discover the central   
breeding-place of man in what is1       
geographically1 little more than a blind
 alley4 ,in the next place1 ,physical   
,anthropology1 not only in respect to   
human palaeontology1 but in general1 is 
as barren of explanations as it is      
fertile in detailed observations4 ,the  
systematic study of heredity as it bears
 on the history of the human organism   
has hardly begun4 ,hence1 it would not  
befit one who is no expert in relation  
to such matters to anticipate the       
verdict of a science that needs only    
public encouragement in order to come   
into its own4 ,suffice it to suggest    
here that nature as she presides over   
organic evolution1 that is1 the         
unfolding of the germinal powers1 may be
 conceived as a kindly but slow-going   
and cautious liberator4 ,one by one new 

powers1 hitherto latent1 are set free as
 an appropriate field of exercise is    
afforded them by the environment4 ,at   
first divergency is rarely tolerated4 ,a
 given type is extremely uniform4 ,on   
the other hand1 when divergency is      
permitted1 it counts for a great deal4  
,the wider variations occur nearest the 
beginning1 each for a long time breeding
 true to itself4 ,later on1 such        
uncompromising plurality gives way to a 
more diffused multiplicity begotten of  
intermixture4 ,mongrelization has set   
in4 ,not but what there may spring up   
many true-breeding varieties among the  
mongrels2 and these1 given suitable     
conditions1 will be allowed to          
constitute lesser types possessed of    
fairly uniform characters4 ,such at     
least is in barest outline the picture  
presented by the known facts concerning 
the physical evolution of man1 if one   
observe it from outside without         
attempting to explore the hidden causes 
of the process4 ,some day1 when these   

causes are better understood1 man may   
take a hand in the game1 and become1 in 
regard to the infinite possibilities    
still sleeping in the transmitted germ1 
a self-liberator4 ,nature is but a      
figurative expression for the chances of
 life1 and the wise man faces no more   
chances than he needs must4 ,scientific 
breeding is no mere application of the  
multiplication table to a system of     
items4 ,we must make resolutely for the 
types that seem healthy and capable1    
suppressing the defectives in a no less 
thorough1 if decidedly more considerate1
 way than nature has been left to do in 
the past4 ,here1 then1 along physical   
lines is one possible path of human     
progress1 none the less real because    
hitherto pursued1 not by the aid of eyes
 that can look and choose1 but merely in
 response to painful proddings at the   
tail-end4  ,our remaining task is to    
take stock of that improvement in the   
arts of life whereby man has come       
gradually to master an environment that 

formerly mastered him4 ,for the ,early  
,palaeolithic ,period our evidence in   
respect of its variety1 if not of its   
gross quantity1 is wofully              
disappointing4 ,not to speak of man's   
first and rudest experiments in the     
utilization of stone1 which are         
doubtless scattered about the world in  
goodly numbers if only we could         
recognize them clearly for what they    
are1 the ,chellean industry by its wide 
distribution leads one to suppose that  
mankind in those far-off days was only  
capable of one idea at a time--a time1  
too1 that lasted a whole age4 ,yet the  
succeeding ,acheulean style of          
workmanship in flint testifies to the   
occurrence of progress in one of its    
typical forms1 namely1 in the form of   
what may be termed 'intensive' progress4
 ,the other typical form ,i might call  
'intrusive' progress1 as happens when a 
stimulating influence is introduced from
 without4 ,now it may be that the       
,acheulean culture came into being as a 

result of contact between an immigrant  
stock and a previous population         
practising the ,chellean method of      
stone-work4 ,we are at present far too  
ill-informed to rule out such a guess4  
,but1 on the face of it1 the greater    
refinement of the ,acheulean handiwork  
looks as if it had been literally       
hammered out by steadfastly following up
 the ,chellean pattern into its further 
possibilities4 ,explain it as we will1  
this evolution of the so-called         
coup-de-poing affords almost the sole   
proof that the human world of that      
remote epoch was moving at all4 ,if we  
could see their work in wood1 we might  
discern a more diversified skill or we  
might not4 ,as it is1 we can but        
conclude in the light of our very       
imperfect knowledge that in mind no less
 than in body mankind of ,early         
,palaeolithic times displayed a fixity  
of type almost amounting to that of one 
of the other animal species4  ,during   
,middle ,palaeolithic times the         

,mousterian culture rules without a     
rival4 ,the cave-period has begun2 and1 
thanks to the preservation of sundry    
dwelling-places together with a goodly  
assortment of their less perishable     
contents1 we can frame a fairly adequate
 notion of the home-life of ,neanderthal
 man4 ,i have already alluded to my     
excavations in ,jersey1 and need not    
enter into fuller details here4 ,but ,i 
should like to put on record the opinion
 borne in upon me by such first-hand    
experience as ,i have had that cultural 
advance in ,mousterian days was almost  
as portentously slow as ever it had been
 before4 ,the human deposits in the     
,jersey cave are in some places about   
ten feet thick1 and the fact that they  
fall into two strata separated by a     
sterile layer that appears to consist of
 the dust of centuries points to a very 
long process of accumulation4 ,yet      
though there is one kind of elephant    
occurring amid the bone refuse at the   
bottom of the bed1 and another and1 it  

would seem1 later kind at the top1 one  
and the same type of flint instrument is
 found at every level alike2 and the    
only development one can detect is a    
certain gain in elegance as regards the 
,mousterian 'point'1 the reigning       
substitute for the former coup-de-poing4
 ,once more there is intensive progress 
only1 so far at least as most of the    
,jersey evidence goes4 ,one             
coup-de-poing1 however1 and that hardly 
,acheulean in conception but exactly    
what a hand accustomed to the fashioning
 of the ,mousterian 'point' would be    
likely to make by way of an imitation of
 the once fashionable pattern1 lay at   
lowest floor-level2 as if to remind one 
that during periods of transition the   
old is likely to survive by the side of 
the new1 and may even survive in it as a
 modifying element4 ,as a matter of     
fact1 the coup-de-poing is frequent in  
the earliest ,mousterian sites2 so that 
we cannot but ask ourselves how it came 
to be in the end superseded4 ,whether   

the ,mousterians were of a different    
race from the ,acheuleans is not known4 
,certain it is1 on the other hand1 that 
the industry that makes its first       
appearance in their train represents a  
labour-saving device4 ,the ,mousterian  
had learned how to break up his         
flint-nodule into flakes1 which simply  
needed to be trimmed on one face to     
yield a cutting edge4 ,the ,acheulean   
had been content to attain this result  
more laboriously by pecking a pebble on 
both faces until what remained was sharp
 enough for his purpose4 ,here1 then1 we
 are confronted with that supreme       
condition of progress1 the inventor's   
happy thought4 ,one of those big-brained
 ,neanderthal men1 we may suppose1 had  
genius2 nature1 the liberator1 having   
released some latent power in the racial
 constitution4 ,given such a            
culture-hero1 the common herd was       
capable of carrying on more or less     
mechanically for an aeon or so4 ,and so 
it must ever be4 ,the world had better  

make the most of its geniuses2 for they 
amount to no more than perhaps a single 
one in a million4 ,anyway1 ,neanderthal 
man never produced a second genius1 so  
far as we can tell2 and that is why1    
perhaps1 his peculiar type of brow-ridge
 no longer adorns the children of men4  
,before we leave the ,mousterians1      
another side of their culture deserves  
brief mention4 ,not only did they       
provide their dead with rude graves1 but
 they likewise furnished them with      
implements and food for use in a future 
life4 ,herein surely we may perceive the
 dawn of what ,i do not hesitate to term
 religion4 ,a distinguished scholar and 
poet did indeed once ask me whether the 
,mousterians1 when they performed these 
rites1 did not merely show themselves   
unable to grasp the fact that the dead  
are dead4 ,but ,i presume that my friend
 was jesting4 ,a sympathy stronger than 
death1 overriding its grisly terror1 and
 converting it into the vehicle of a    
larger hope--that is the work of soul2  

and to develop soul is progress4 ,a     
religious animal is no brute1 but a real
 man with the seed of genuine progress  
in him4 ,if ,neanderthal man belonged to
 another species1 as the experts mostly 
declare and ,i very humbly beg leave to 
doubt1 we must even so allow that ,god  
made him also after his own image1      
brow-ridges and all4  ,the presence of  
soul in man is even more manifest when  
we pass on to the ,late ,palaeolithic   
peoples4 ,they are cave-dwellers2 they  
live by the chase2 in a word1 they are  
savages still4 ,but they exhibit a taste
 and a talent for the fine arts of      
drawing and carving that1 as it were1   
enlarge human existence by a new        
dimension4 ,again a fresh power has been
 released1 and one in which many would  
seem to have participated2 for good     
artists are as plentiful during this    
epoch as ever they were in ancient      
,athens or mediaeval ,florence4 ,they   
must have married-in somewhat closely1  
one would think1 for this special       

aptitude to have blossomed forth so     
luxuriantly4 ,i cannot here dwell at    
length on the triumphs of ,aurignacian  
and ,magdalenian artistry4 ,indeed1 what
 ,i have seen with my own eyes on the   
walls of certain ,french caves is almost
 too wonderful to be described4 ,the    
simplicity of the style does not in the 
least detract from the fullness of the  
charm4 ,on the contrary1 one is tempted 
to doubt whether the criterion of       
complexity applies here--whether1 in    
fact1 progress has any meaning in       
relation to fine art--since1 whether    
attained by simple or by complex means1 
beauty is always beauty1 and cannot     
further be perfected4 ,shall we say1    
then1 with ,plato that beauty was       
revealed to man from the first in its   
absolute nature1 so that the human soul 
might be encouraged to seek for the real
 in its complementary forms of truth and
 goodness1 such as are less immediately 
manifest8 ,for the rest1 the soul of    
these transcendently endowed savages was

 in other respects more imperfectly     
illuminated2 as may be gathered from the
 fact that they carved and drew partly  
from the love of their art1 but partly  
also1 and1 perhaps1 even primarily1 for 
luck4 ,it seems that these delineations 
of the animals on which they lived were 
intended to help them towards good      
hunting4 ,such is certainly the object  
of a like custom on the part of the     
,australian aborigines2 there being this
 difference1 however1 that the art of   
the latter considered as art is wholly  
inferior4 ,now we know enough about the 
soul of the ,australian native1 thanks  
largely to the penetrating              
interpretations of ,sir ,baldwin        
,spencer1 to greet and honour in him the
 potential lord of the universe1 the    
harbinger of the scientific control of  
nature4 ,it is more than half the battle
 to have willed the victory2 and the    
picture-charm as a piece of moral       
apparatus is therefore worthy of our    
deepest respect4 ,the chariot of        

progress1 of which the will of man is   
the driver1 is drawn by two steeds1     
namely1 ,imagination and ,reason        
harnessed together4 ,of the pair1       
,reason is the more sluggish1 though    
serviceable enough for the heavy work4  
,imagination1 full of fire as it is1    
must always set the pace4 ,so the soul  
of the ,late ,palaeolithic hunter1      
having already in imagination controlled
 the useful portion of the animal world1
 was more than half-way on the road to  
its domestication4 ,but in so far as he 
mistook the will for the accomplished   
deed1 he was not getting the value out  
of his second horse2 or1 to drop        
metaphor1 the scientific reason as yet  
lay dormant in his soul4 ,but his dream 
was to come true presently4  ,the       
,neolithic ,period marks the first      
appearance of the 'cibi-cultural'       
peoples4 ,the food-seekers have become  
food-raisers4 ,but the change did not   
come all at once4 ,the earlier          
,neolithic culture is at best           

transitional4 ,there may even have been 
one of those set-backs in culture which 
we are apt to ignore when we are        
narrating the proud tale of human       
advance4 ,europe had now finally escaped
 from the last ravages of an ,arctic    
climate2 but there was cruel demolition 
to make good1 and in the meantime there 
would seem1 as regards man1 to have been
 little doing4 ,life among the          
kitchen-middens of ,denmark was sordid2 
and the ,azilians who pushed up from    
,spain as far as ,scotland did not      
exactly step into a paradise ready-made4
 ,somewhere1 however1 in the far        
south-east a higher culture was brewing4
 ,by steps that have not yet been       
accurately traced legions of herdsmen   
and farmer-folk overspread our world1   
either absorbing or driving before them 
the roving hunters of the older         
dispensation4 ,we term this1 the        
earliest of true civilizations1         
'neolithic'1 as if it mattered in the   
least whether your stone implement be   

chipped or polished to an edge4 ,the    
real source of increased power and      
prosperity lay in the domestication of  
food-animals and food-plants4 ,the man  
certainly had genius and pluck into the 
bargain who first trusted himself to the
 back of an unbroken horse4 ,it needed  
hardly less genius to discover that it  
is no use singing charms over the       
seed-bearing grass in order to make it  
grow1 unless some of the seed is saved  
to be sowed in due season4 ,society     
possibly brained the inventor--such is  
the way of the crowd2 but1 as it duly   
pocketed the invention1 we have perhaps 
no special cause to complain4  ,by way  
of appreciating the conditions          
prevailing in the ,later ,neolithic     
,age1 let us consider in turn the       
,lake-dwellers of ,switzerland and the  
,dolmen-builders of our ,western        
coast-lands4 ,i was privileged to       
assist1 on the shore of the ,lake of    
,neuchatel1 in the excavation of a site 
where one ,neolithic village of         

pile-dwellings had evidently been       
destroyed by fire1 and at some later    
date1 just falling within the ,stone    
,age1 had been replaced by another4     
,here we had lighted on a crucial       
instance of the march of cultural       
progress4 ,the very piles testified to  
it1 those of the older settlement being 
ill-assorted and slight1 whereas the    
later structure was regularly built and 
heavily timbered4 ,it was clear1 too1   
that the first set of inhabitants had   
lived narrow lives4 ,all their worldly  
goods were derived from strictly local  
sources4 ,on the other hand1 their      
successors wore shells from the         
,mediterranean and amber beads from the 
,baltic among their numerous            
decorations2 while for their flint they 
actually went as far afield as ,grand   
,pressigny in ,west-,central ,france1   
the mines of which provided the         
butter-like nodules that represented the
 ne plus ultra of ,neolithic luxury4    
,commerce must have been decidedly      

flourishing in those days4 ,no longer   
was it a case of the so-called 'silent  
trade'1 which the furtive savage        
prosecutes with fear and trembling1     
placing1 let us say1 a lump of venison  
on a rock in the stream dividing his    
haunts from those of his dangerous      
neighbours1 and stealing back later on  
to see if the red ochre for which he    
pines has been deposited in return on   
the primitive counter4 ,the ,neolithic  
trader1 on the other side1 must have    
pushed the science of barter to the     
uttermost limits short of the invention 
of a circulating medium1 if indeed some 
crude form of currency was not already  
in vogue4  ,when we turn to the         
,dolmen-builders1 and contemplate their 
hoary sanctuaries1 we are back among the
 problems raised by the philosophic     
conception of progress as an advance in 
soul-power4 ,is any religion better than
 none8 ,does it make for soul-power to  
be preoccupied with the cult of the     
dead8 ,does the imagination1 which in   

alliance with the scientific reason     
achieves such conquests over nature1    
give way at times to morbid aberration1 
causing the chill and foggy loom of an  
after-life to obscure the honest face of
 the day8 ,i can only say for myself    
that the deepening of the human         
consciousnesses due to the effort to    
close with the mystery of evil and      
death1 and to extort therefrom a message
 of hope and comfort1 seems to me to    
have been worth the achievement at      
almost any cost of crimes and follies   
perpetrated by the way4 ,i do not think 
that progress in religion is progress   
towards its ultimate abolition4 ,rather1
 religion1 if regarded in the light of  
its earlier history1 must be treated as 
the parent source of all the more       
spiritual activities of man2 and on     
these his material activities must      
depend4 ,else the machine will surely   
grind the man to death2 and his body    
will finally stop the wheels that his   
soul originally set in motion4  ,the    

panorama is over4 ,it has not been easy1
 at the rate of about a millennium to a 
minute1 to present a coherent account of
 the prehistoric record1 which at best  
is like a jig-saw puzzle that has lost  
most of the pieces needed to            
reconstitute the design4 ,but1 even on  
this hasty showing1 it looks as if the  
progressive nature of man were beyond   
question4 ,there is manifest gain in    
complexity of organization1 both        
physical and cultural2 and only less    
manifest1 in the sense that the         
inwardness of the process cannot make   
appeal to the eye1 is the corresponding 
gain in realized power of soul4 ,in     
short1 the men of the ,stone ,age       
assuredly bore their full share in the  
work of race-improvement2 and the only  
point on which there may seem to be     
doubt is whether we of the age of metal 
are as ready and able to bear our share4
 ,but let us be optimistic about        
ourselves4 ,as long as we do not allow  
our material achievements to blind us to

 the need of an education that keeps the
 spiritual well to the fore1 then       
progress is assured so far as it depends
 on culture4  ,yet if we could likewise 
breed for spirituality1 humanity's      
chances1 ,i believe1 would be bettered  
by as much again or more4 ,but how is   
this to be done8 ,science must somehow  
find out4 ,to leave it to nature is     
treason to the mind4 ,man may be an ass 
on the whole1 but nature is even more of
 an ass1 especially when it stands for  
human nature minus its saving grace of  
imaginative1 will-directed intelligence4
 ,so let us hope that one day people    
will marry intelligently1 and that the  
best marriages will be the richest in   
offspring4 ,i believe that the spiritual
 is not born of the sickly2 and at any  
rate should be prepared to make trial of
 such a working principle in my ,new    
,republic4  ,so much for the practical  
corollaries suggested by our flying     
visit to ,prehistoric ,europe4 ,but1    
even if any detailed lessons to be drawn

 from such fragmentary facts have to be 
received with caution1 you need not     
hesitate to pursue this branch of study 
for its own sake as part of the general 
training of the mind4 ,accustom         
yourselves to a long perspective4       
,cultivate the eagle's faculty of       
spacious vision4 ,it is only thus that  
one can get the values right--see right 
and wrong1 truth and error1 beauty and  
ugliness in their broad and cumulative  
effects4 ,analytic studies1 as they are 
termed1 involving the exploration of the
 meaning of received ideas1 must come   
first in any scheme of genuine          
education4 ,we must learn to affirm     
before we can go on to learn how to     
criticize4 ,but historical studies are a
 necessary sequel4 ,other people's      
received ideas turn out in the light of 
history to have sometimes worked well1  
and sometimes not so well2 and we are   
thereupon led to revise our own opinions
 accordingly4 ,now the history of man   
has hitherto stood almost exclusively   

for the history of ,european            
civilization4 ,being so limited1 it     
loses most of its value as an instrument
 of criticism4 ,for how can a single    
phase of culture criticize itself8 ,how 
can it step out of the scales and assess
 its own weight8 ,anthropology1 however1
 will never acquiesce in this parochial 
view of the province of history4        
,history worthy of the name must deal   
with man universal4 ,so ,i would have   
you all become anthropologists4 ,let    
your survey of human progress be        
age-long and world-wide4 ,you come of a 
large family and an ancient one4 ,learn 
to be proud of it1 and then you will    
seek likewise to be worthy of it4       
,,books ,,for ,,reference  ,w4 ,j4      
,sollas1 ,ancient ,hunters and their    
,modern ,representatives1 #bnd edition1 
#aiae4  ,e4 ,a4 ,parkyn1 ,introduction  
to the study of ,prehistoric ,art4  ,r4 
,r4 ,marett1 ,anthropology 7,home       
,university ,library74  ,j4 ,l4 ,myres1 
,dawn of ,history 7,home ,university74  

,,footnotes3  #e ,presidential ,address 
to the ,international ,folk-,lore       
,congress1 #ahia1 p4 #i4     ,,iii      
,,progress ,,and ,,hellenism  ,f4       
,,melian ,,stawell   ,to speak the truth
 about national characteristics it is   
often necessary to speak in paradoxes1  
for of all unities on earth nothing     
contains so many contradictions as a    
nation4 ,so it is here3 it may be said  
quite truly that the ,greeks had at once
 the most profound conceptions about    
,progress and no faith in it3 that they 
were at once the most hopeful and the   
most despairing of peoples4 ,let me try 
to explain4 ,when we speak of a faith in
 ,progress1 whatever else we mean1 we   
must mean1 ,i take it1 that there is a  
real advance in human welfare throughout
 time from the ,past to the ,future1    
that 'the best is yet to be'1 and that  
the good wine is kept to the last4 ,but 
if we are to have a philosophy          
underlying that faith we must be able to
 say something more4 ,what1 in the first

 place1 do we mean by 'a real advance'8 
,or by 'human welfare'8 ,progress1 yes1 
but progress towards what8 ,what is the 
standard8 ,and if we cannot indicate a  
standard1 what right have we to say that
 one life is any better than another8   
,the life of the scientific man any     
better than the life of the ,south ,sea 
,islander--content if only he has enough
 bananas to eat8 ,or than the life of a 
triumphant conqueror1 a ,zenghis ,khan  
or a ,tamberlaine--exultant if he has   
enough human heads before him8 ,or1     
indeed1 any of these rather than the    
blank of ,nirvana or the life of a      
vegetable8  ,our first need1 then1 is   
the need of a standard for good over and
 above the conflicting opinions of men1 
and some idea as to what that standard  
implies4  ,and the next question is1 why
 we should hold that any of this good is
 going to be realized in human life at  
all8 ,if it is1 there must be some      
connexion of cause and effect between   
goodness and human existence4 ,what is  

the nature of that connexion8 ,finally1 
why should we hope that this goodness is
 realized more and more fully as time   
goes on8  ,the ,greeks faced these      
questions1 as they faced so many1 with  
extraordinary daring and penetration and
 with an intimate mixture of sadness and
 hope4  ,they themselves1 of all nations
 known to us in history1 had made the   
greatest progress in the shortest space 
of time4 ,a long course of preparation1 
it is true1 underlay that marvellous    
growth4 ,the classical ,greeks1--and    
when ,i speak of ,hellenism ,i mean the 
flower of classical ,greek culture1--the
 classical ,greeks entered into the     
labours of the island peoples1 who1     
whether kindred to them or not1 had     
built up from neolithic times a great   
civilization1 the major part of which   
they could1 and did1 assimilate4 ,they  
found the soil already worked4 ,none the
 less it is to their own original genius
 that we owe those great discoveries of 
the spirit which1 to quote a recent     

writer1 'created a new world of science 
and art1 established an ideal of the    
sane mind in the sane body and the      
perfect man in the perfect society1 cut 
out a new line of progress between      
anarchy and despotism1 and made moral   
ends supreme over national in the       
,state4'#f  ,but these practical        
achievements of theirs have been already
 summed up by ,professor ,j4 ,a4 ,smith 
in his lecture#g at this school last    
year1 and it is to that lecture that ,i 
would refer you4 ,i will take it as a   
basis and proceed for my own purposes to
 discuss the ,greek conceptions about   
progress4 ,those conceptions were       
complex1 and1 speaking roughly1 we may  
say this3 if belief in real progress    
implies belief in three things1 namely1 
7#a7 an absolute standard apprehended1  
however dimly1 by man1 7#b7 a causal    
connexion between existence and         
perfection1 and 7#c7 a persistent       
advance through time1 then the ,greeks  
held to the first two and doubted1 or   

even denied1 the third4 ,their two great
 thinkers1 ,plato and ,aristotle1 worked
 out systems based on the conviction    
that there really was an absolute       
standard of perfection1 that man could  
really apprehend something of this      
perfection1 and that the effort towards 
it was essential to the very existence  
of the world1 part of the stuff1 as it  
were1 that made the universe4 ,these    
systems have had an effect not to be    
exaggerated on the whole movement of    
thought since their day4 ,moreover1 many
 of their fundamental conceptions are   
being revived in modern science and     
metaphysics4 ,and the convictions that  
underlie them are calculated1 one would 
say1 to lead at once to a buoyant faith 
in progress4 ,but with ,plato1 and      
,aristotle1 and the ,greeks generally1  
they did not so lead4 ,the ,greeks could
 not feel sure that this effort towards 
perfection1 though it is part of        
existence1 is strong enough to deliver  
man in this world from the web of evil  

in which also he is involved1 nor even  
that he makes any approach on the whole 
towards the loosening of the toils4 ,the
 spectre of world-destruction1 as       
,whitman says of ,carlyle1 was always   
before them4 ,and ,i wish to ask later  
on if we may not surmise definite       
reasons in their own history for this   
recurring note of discouragement4 ,but  
let us first look at the positive side1 
and first in ,plato4 ,plato came to his 
system by several lines of thought1 and 
to understand it we ought to take       
account of all4  #a4 ,in the first place
 no thinker1 ,i suppose1 ever felt more 
keenly than he felt the desire for an   
absolute standard of truth1 especially  
in matters of right and wrong1 if only  
to decide between the disputes of men4  
,and1 in ,greece men disputed so boldly 
and so incessantly that there was no    
possibility of forgetting the clash of  
opinion in any 'dogmatic slumber'4 ,thus
 ,plato is always asking1 like ,robert  
,browning in ',rabbi ,ben ,ezra'1--     

,now1 who shall arbitrate8       ,ten   
men love what ,i hate1     ,shun what ,i
 follow1 slight what ,i receive2        
,ten who in ears and eyes       ,match  
me3 we all surmise1     ,they this      
thing1 and ,i that2 whom shall my soul  
believe8  ,in one of his very earliest  
dialogues1 the ',euthyphro'1 ,plato puts
 the question almost in so many words4  
,what is it1 he asks 7#g ,a-,e71 that   
men quarrel over most passionately when 
they dispute8 ,is it not over the great 
questions of justice and injustice1 of  
beauty1 goodness1 and the like8 ,they do
 not quarrel thus over a question of    
physical size1 simply because they can  
settle such a dispute by reference to an
 unquestioned standard1 a standard      
measure1 let us say4  ,if there is no   
corresponding standard for right and    
wrong1 if each man is really the judge  
and the measure for himself1 then there 
is no sense1 ,plato feels1 in claiming  
that one man is wiser than another in   
conduct1 or indeed any man wiser than a 

dog-faced baboon 7,theaet4 #afa ,c-,e74 
#b4 ,again1 ,plato feels most poignantly
 the inadequacy of all the goodness and 
beauty we have ever actually seen in    
this world of space and time1 compared  
with the ideal we have of them in their 
perfection4 ,how can we have this sense 
of deficiency1 he asks1 unless somehow  
we apprehend something supreme1 over and
 above all the approaches to it that    
have as yet appeared8 7,phaedo1 #gd ,e74
  ,this vision of an absolute           
perfection1 as yet unrealized on earth1 
so dominates all his thinking1 and has  
such peculiar features of its own1 that 
even familiar quotations must be quoted 
here4 ,you will find an exquisite       
translation of a typical passage in our 
,poet ,laureate's ,anthology1 ,the      
,spirit of ,man 7,no4 #cg74 ,specially  
to be noted here is the stress on the   
unchanging character of this eternal    
perfection and the suggestion that it   
cannot be fully realized in the world4  
,at the same time1 ,plato is equally    

sure that it is only through the study  
of this world that our apprehension of  
that perfection is awakened at all3--   
',he who has thus been instructed in the
 science of ,love1 and      has been led
 to see beautiful things in their due   
order and      rank1 when he comes      
toward the end of his discipline1 will  
suddenly catch sight of a wondrous      
thing1 beautiful with the      absolute 
,beauty 444 he will see a ,beauty       
eternal1 not      growing or decaying1  
not waxing or waning1 nor will it be    
fair here and foul there 444 as if fair 
to some and foul to      others 444 but 
,beauty absolute1 separate1 simple1 and 
everlasting2 which lending of its virtue
 to all beautiful      things that we   
see born to decay1 itself suffers       
neither      increase nor diminution1   
nor any other change' 7,symp4           
#baa74  ,all beautiful things remind    
man1 ,plato tells us in his mythological
 fashion1 of this perfect ,beauty1      
because we had seen it once before in   

another life1 before our souls were born
 into this world1 'that blissful sight  
and spectacle' 7,phaedrus1 #bej ,b7 when
 we followed ,zeus in his winged car and
 all the company of the gods1 and went  
out into the realm beyond the sky1 a    
realm 'of which no mortal poet has ever 
sung or ever will sing worthily'4  #c4  
,but1 beside this passion for the ideal1
 ,plato was intensely interested in our 
knowledge of the actual world of        
appearances around us4 ,and one of the  
prime questions with which he was then  
concerned was the question1 what we mean
 when we talk about the nature or       
character of the things we see1 a plant1
 say1 or an animal1 or a man4 ,we must  
mean something definite1 otherwise we   
could not recognize1 for example1 that a
 plant is a plant through all its       
varieties and all the different stages  
of its growth4 ,plato's answer was1 that
 in all natural things there is a       
definite principle that copies1 as it   
were1 a definite ,type or ,form1 and    

this ,type he calls an ,idea4 ,thus in  
some sense it is this ,type1 this ,idea1
 this ,form1 that brings the particular 
thing into being4  #d4 ,but it was not  
enough for ,plato to say that every     
natural thing had in some sense a       
certain type for its basis1 unless he   
could believe that this type was good1  
and that all the types were harmonious  
with each other4 ,he could only be      
satisfied with the world1 in short1 if  
he could feel that it came about through
 a movement towards perfection4 ,he     
makes his ,socrates say that in asking  
about 'the causes of things1 what it is 
that makes each thing come into being'1 
it was not enough for him if he could   
only see that the thing was there       
because something had put it there3 he  
also wanted to see that it was good for 
it to be there4 ,socrates tells us that 
what he needed he thought he had found  
in a book by ,anaxagoras1 which         
announced 'that ,mind was the disposer  
and cause of all' because1 ',i said to  

myself1 ,if this be so--if ,mind is the 
orderer1 it will have all in order1 and 
put every single thing in the place that
 is best for it'4#h  ,it is the same    
feeling as that which underlies the     
words of ,genesis about the ,creation1  
',and ,god saw that it was good'4 ,and  
there is no doubt that such a view of   
the world would be supremely satisfying 
if we could count it true4 ,there may be
 considerable intellectual satisfaction1
 no doubt1 in merely solving a puzzle as
 to how things come about1 but it is as 
nothing compared to the joy there would 
be in contemplating their goodness4  #e4
 ,but is it true8 ,can we possibly say  
so in view of the hideous imperfection  
round us8 ,the writers of ,genesis spoke
 of a ,fall4 ,plato1 in his own way1    
speaks of a ,fall himself4 ,he never    
gives up the belief in an ,absolute     
,perfection1 a system of ,perfect ,types
 somehow--he does not say exactly       
how--influencing the structure of things
 in this world4 ,but he holds that on   

earth this perfection is always thwarted
 by a medium which prevents its full    
manifestation4 ,this medium is the      
medium of ,space and ,time1 and         
therefore the medium of history--and    
therefore history is always and         
inevitably a record of failure4 ',while 
we are in the body1' ,plato writes1 'and
 while the soul is contaminated with its
 evils1 our desire will never be        
thoroughly satisfied4'#i ',the body is a
 tomb1' he writes elsewhere1 quoting a  
current phrase4  ,this is sad enough3   
yet if we put against it ,plato's vision
 of what ,man might be1 we get as       
inspiring words as ever were written3   
',we have spoken of ,man'1 he says at   
the end of the ,republic1 'as he appears
 to us now1 but now he looks as ,glaucus
 looked after he had been cast into the 
sea1 and his original nature was        
scarcely to be discerned1 for his limbs 
were broken and crushed and defaced by  
the waters1 and strange things had grown
 round him1 shells and seaweed and      

stones1 so that he was more like a beast
 than a man4 ,that is how the soul looks
 to us now encompassed by all her evils4
 ,it is elsewhere1 my friend1 that we   
ought to look4' ,where8 asks ,plato's   
friend1 and ,plato answers1 ',we should 
look to her love of wisdom and realize  
what she clings to1 what company she    
desires1 for she is akin to the ,divine 
and ,immortal and ,eternal1 and we      
should understand what she would become 
if she followed after it1 with all her  
strength1 and were lifted by that effort
 out of the sea where she now lies4444  
,then we should understand her real     
nature4' 7,republic1 #faa47  ,somewhere1
 ,plato believes1 this true nature of   
man may be realized4 ,the ,principle of 
,good is something active1 not a dead   
helpless thing1 with no effect on the   
rest of the universe 7,sophist1 #bdh1   
#bdi72 it is a living power1 which      
desires that everything everywhere      
should be as glorious as possible 7,tim4
 #bi ,d74 ,there is no envy1 ,plato     

says1 in the ,divine1 that grudging     
spirit has no part in the heavenly      
company4 ,only it is not on earth that  
the glory can be realized4 ,it is       
towards the life after death that       
,plato's real hopes are directed4  ,none
 the less1 and this is important1 this  
world does not cease to be significant  
for him4 ,he does not turn aside1--as   
some souls1 intoxicated with the        
,divine1 have done1--from this world    
altogether4  ,because he holds that man 
can only advance by struggling to make  
this world better4 ,man's ordinary life 
may be like the life in a cave1 as he   
says in his famous myth1 but the true   
philosopher who has once risen out of   
the cave must go back into it again and 
teach the prisoners there what the      
universe really is 7,republic1 ,book vi1
 fin42 vii1 init474 ,the very passage   
that ,i quoted about man's real nature  
comes at the end of the ,republic4 ,now 
the ,republic is a ,utopia1 and no one  
writes a ,utopia unless he believes that

 the effort to reach it is of prime     
importance to man and helps him to      
advance4  ,only1 for ,plato1 the advance
 is not marked in the successive stages 
of history1 as the modern faith in      
progress asserts4 ,the life on earth1   
for ,plato1 is like a school through    
which men pass and in which they may    
learn and grow1 but the school itself   
does not go on growing4 ,it is not that 
he does not envisage change in history1 
but what he seems to hope for at the    
best is nothing more hopeful than       
recurring cycles of better and worse4   
,he tells a fable1 in his dialogue ',the
 ,statesman'1 of how at one time the    
world is set spinning in the right      
direction by ,god and then all goes     
well1 and again how ,god ceases to      
control it1 and then it gradually       
forgets the divine teaching and slips   
from good to bad and from bad to worse1 
until at last ,god takes pity on it once
 more to save it from utter destruction 
7,polit4 #bfi ff474 ,no doubt in this   

idea of cycles ,plato is influenced by  
the popular thought of his time3 this   
feeling that there had been a lost      
,golden ,age in the past was deeply     
rooted in ,greek mythology4 ,we get it  
long before ,plato1 in ,hesiod1 and     
there are similar touches in ,homer1 and
 once men believe that they have sunk   
from glory1 there is always the dread   
that if ever they recover it they will  
lose it again4 ,and with ,plato this    
dread is reinforced by his sense of     
something incurable in the world1 the   
thwarting influence of spatial and      
temporal matter 7,theaet4 #agf ,a74  ,it
 is strange that1 though he is always   
thinking of the individual soul as      
learning through experience in its      
passage from one life to another1 ,plato
 does not seem to have the idea of      
mankind learning by the lessons of      
history1 of knowledge being handed down 
from one age to another1 and growing in 
the process4 ,that is one of the most   
inspiring ideas in modern thought3 a    

,german writer has spoken of history as 
the long ,odyssey of the human spirit1  
the common mind of ,man coming at last  
through its wanderings to find out what 
it really wants1 and where its true home
 lies4  ,and here1 significantly enough1
 we find we are brought back in our     
modern way to something very like       
,plato's own conception of an eternal   
unchanging ,reality4 ,there are endless 
problems in the whole conception of the 
,eternal that ,i am quite unable even to
 attempt2 but this much at least seems  
clear to me1 that the whole idea of     
mankind learning by the experience of   
,history1 implies something of permanent
 value running through that experience4 
,the very thought of continued progress 
implies that man can look back at the   
successive stages of the ,past and say  
of each3 ,in that lay values which ,i1  
to-day and always1 can recognize as     
good1 although ,i believe we have more  
good now4 ,seeley speaks in a noble     
passage of how religion might conceive a

 progressive revelation which was1 in a 
sense1 the same through all its stages1 
and yet was a growing thing3--'each new 
revelation asserts its own superiority  
to those which went before1' but the    
superiority is 'not of one thing to     
another thing--but of the developed     
thing to the undeveloped'4 ',it is      
thus'1 he writes1 'that the ages should 
behave to one another4' ,this is the    
true 'understanding and concert with    
time'4#aj ,and though ,plato does not   
live in the thought of historic         
progress1 yet such a conception of      
progress which recognizes at different  
stages different expressions1 more or   
less adequate1 of one eternal value1    
such a way of thinking is entirely      
,platonic4 ,when we look back at history
 in this mood we think not only of      
grasping the right principles for the   
,future1 but of rejoicing in the        
definite achievements of the ,past1 and 
we feel this most poignantly1 ,i think1 
of the achievements won by the spirit of

 ,beauty4 ,great works of ,art we are   
accustomed actually to call immortal1   
and we mean by this not merely that we  
think they will always be famous1 but   
that there is something in them that    
makes it impossible for them ever to be 
superseded4 ,in themselves they are     
inexhaustible3 if they cease to interest
 us1 it is our fault and not theirs4 ,we
 may want more1 we do want more1 where  
they came from1 but we never want to    
lose them1 any more than we could bear  
to lose our old friends1 though we may  
desire to make new ones4 ,of all the    
divine ,ideas1 said ,plato1 ,beauty is  
the one that shows itself most plainly  
in the world of sense and speaks to us  
most plainly of the eternal realities4  
,this1 however1 is perhaps trenching on 
the subject of ,progress in ,art1 and ,i
 should like to return to the general   
,greek conception of the tendency in all
 nature towards the ,good1 the perfect  
realization of perfect types4  ,plato   
does not expressly insist that this     

tendency is of the nature of effort1    
though ,i think that is involved in his 
view4 ,but ,aristotle does4 ,following  
,plato in essentials1 he makes bold to  
say outright that every natural thing in
 its own way longs for the divine and   
desires to share in the divine life1 so 
far as it can4#aa ,every such thing in  
this world of space and time has to cope
 with difficulties and is imperfect1 but
 everything struggles towards the good4 
,that good is in the life of ,god1 a    
thinking life1 an activity of thought1  
existing in some sense beyond this      
imperfect world2 and this life is so    
supremely desirable that it makes       
everything else struggle to reach it4   
,it moves the whole world1 ,aristotle   
says1 in a famous passage1 because it is
 loved4 ,it is the world's desire4#ab   
,now this idea of effort--or of         
something analogous to                  
effort--constituting the inner nature of
 every natural thing reappears1 with    
pregnant consequences1 in modern        

thought1 though seldom with these vast  
theological consequences4 ,the idea of  
an upward effort through nature lies at 
the base of our most hopeful theories of
 evolution1 and forms the true support  
of our modern faith in progress4        
,broadly speaking1 our evolutionists are
 now divided into two schools3 the      
adherents of the one believe that       
variations are purely accidental1 and   
may occur in any direction whatsoever1  
the useful ones being preserved only    
because they happen to be useful for the
 life of the species1 while the         
adherents of the other--the school that 
,i would call the school of             
hope--believe that accident1 even with  
natural selection to aid it1 is utterly 
inadequate to account for the ordered   
beauty and harmony that we do see in    
natural things4 ,they admit1 as ,plato  
and ,aristotle admit1 imperfection and  
difficulty in the world1 but they insist
 on a movement towards value3 in short1 
they conceive an order emerging that is 

brought about1 to quote a modern writer1
 both in nature and in society1 by 'a   
principle of movement and progress      
conflicting with a principle of         
inertia4'#ac  ,aristotle1 in words that 
are strikingly modern1 raises the very  
question at issue here4#ad ,he asks     
whether we can suppose that nature does 
not aim at the good at all1 but that    
variations arise by chance and are      
preserved just because they are useful1 
and he scouts the idea that chance could
 do more1 as ,zeller says1 than 'bring  
about isolated and abnormal results'4   
,he chooses instead the conception of   
purpose and effort1 and this in spite of
 the difficulties in conceiving a       
purpose and an effort that are not      
definitely conscious4 ,the sort of thing
 that is in ,aristotle's mind when he   
speaks of nature aiming at the good1    
comes out in a passage by ,edward       
,carpenter in his little book ,the ,art 
of ,creation4 ,carpenter plunges boldly 
and compares the principle that makes a 

tree grow and propagate its kind with   
the impulse that makes a man express    
himself4 ,man1 he says1       has a     
,will and ,purpose1 a ,character1 which1
 do what you      will1 tends to push   
outwards towards expression4 ,you put   
,george ,fox in prison1 you flog and    
persecute him1 but the      moment he   
has a chance he goes and preaches just  
the same as      before4444 ,but take a 
,tree and you notice exactly the same   
thing4 ,a dominant ,idea informs the    
life of the ,tree2      persisting1 it  
forms the tree4 ,you may snip the leaves
 as      much as you like to a certain  
pattern1 but they will only      grow in
 their own shape4 ,finally1 you may cut 
the tree down      root and branch and  
burn it1 but1 if there is left a single 
seed1 within that seed 444 lurks the    
formative ideal1 which      under proper
 conditions will again spring into life 
and      expression4#ae  ,aristotle     
would have endorsed almost every word of
 this4 ,in his pithy way1 speaking of   

the distinction between natural and     
artificial objects1 he says himself that
 if you planted a wooden bed and the    
wood could still grow1 it would grow up1
 not a bed1 but a tree4#af  ,he would   
not have gone so far as to talk about   
the ,will of a tree1 but he would have  
admitted that what made the tree grow   
was the same sort of thing as ,will4    
,and in one respect he goes farther than
 ,edward ,carpenter does4 ,for he       
considers that not only growth but even 
the movement of natural things through  
space is somehow an expression of a     
tendency towards the good and the       
divine1 a tendency which1 when          
consciousness supervenes1 we can call   
effort1 an activity1 even though1 at its
 best1 only an imperfect activity4 ,he  
looks up at the splendour of the        
circling stars and asks if it is        
possible that so glorious an order can  
be anything but a manifestation of      
something akin to the divine4 ,here     
indeed he is speaking of movements made 

by existences he reckoned among the     
highest in the world1 for he thought the
 stars were living beings higher than   
man4 ,but he recognized a rudimentary   
form of such activity even in what we   
now call inanimate matter4 ,here we come
 to a leading conception of             
,aristotle's1 and one most important for
 our purpose3 the conception of a       
hierarchy of natural existences1 all of 
them with some value1 less or more4     
,when ,aristotle is truest to himself1  
he will tell us not to be afraid of     
studying the meanest forms of natural   
existence1 because in everything there  
is something marvellous and divine4 ,he 
quotes with much satisfaction the story 
of ,heracleitus1 who welcomed his       
friends into the bakehouse with the     
saying that 'there were gods in the     
bakehouse too'4#ag  ,thus1 at the lowest
 end of the scale1 we have what we call 
inanimate matter1 which ,aristotle      
thinks of much as we do1 namely1 as     
something occupying space1 the different

 parts of it being endowed with         
different powers of movement1 and with  
different properties1 such as warmth or 
coldness1 wetness or dryness4 ,a natural
 thing1 he says1 is a thing that has a  
principle of activity in itself1        
something that makes it act in a        
definite way1 whenever it is not        
interfered with by anything else4#ah    
,aristotle speaks1 for example1 of fire 
having a natural tendency to mount up1  
much as we might speak of solids having 
a natural tendency to gravitate towards 
one another4 ,go back as far as we like1
 and1 ,aristotle thinks1 we still find  
certain primitive differences which     
constitute what we call the primitive   
elements4 ,this1 ,i imagine1 is much the
 point of view of modern science4  ,and 
these primitive elements in ,aristotle's
 view influence each other1 unite with  
each other1 or change into each other4  
,as a rule1 however1 they exhibit no new
 powers4 ,but given a happy concurrence 
of qualities1 say a certain union of    

heat and cold1 and a new power does     
become manifest3 the power of life4     
,thus1 in a sense1 ,aristotle does      
envisage the spontaneous generation of  
life2 and he knows1 roughly1 what he    
means by life4 ,the living thing can go 
through far more changes than the       
non-living1 while yet remaining         
recognizably the same thing4 ,for       
example1 it shows in itself a greater   
advance to richness and also a decline1 
it uses other things to foster this     
advance1 and it sends out fresh things1 
like itself1 but independent of itself3 
in short1 it grows1 decays1 feeds       
itself1 and propagates its kind4#ai  ,as
 ,i understand ,aristotle1 for him there
 is not an entire and absolute          
difference between ordinary matter and  
living things1 and yet there is a real  
difference1 and one not to be explained 
away1 for there is a new manifestation  
of active energy4 ,and if we consider   
life of more value than mere motion1    
then we are right in saying there is a  

higher energy4 ,the quality of growth is
 a quality which could not be deduced   
from the quality of warmth or from the  
quality of mere movement in space1 and  
yet all three qualities are alike in    
this1 that they are all manifestations  
of an energy which is somehow inherent  
in things1 and not merely imposed on    
them from without4 ,the manifestations  
of life are started1 in a sense1 by the 
different movements1 'mechanical'1 if   
you like to call them so1 in the        
rudimentary forms of matter1 the        
elements meeting each other in space4   
,the process of life could not have     
begun without such movements4 ,but      
neither could it have begun if the      
elements1 just as they appear1 had been 
all there was4 ,there had to be latent1 
that is1 the possibility of a different 
and higher mode of action4 ,this higher 
mode of action ,aristotle calls a higher
 ,form1 a higher ,idea4 ,and ,i think it
 is true to him to say that he believes 
the lower ,forms1 the lower ,ideas1 do  

their most perfect work when they bring 
about the conditions under which the    
higher ones can operate4 ,for when he   
speaks of that concurrence of elements  
that conditions life he speaks of the   
'warmth and cold' as 'having mastered   
the matter'4#bj  ,in any case he        
conceives a whole series of higher and  
lower ,forms1 the higher coming nearer  
and nearer to that full and glorious    
activity which he conceives to be the   
life of ,god4 ,above the power of the   
thing to grow as a plant grows appears  
the power of sensation as it is present 
in animals1 and above that again the    
power1 first seen in man1 of living the 
life of thought1 perceiving what is     
beautiful and true in the 'forms'1 the  
characters1 of all the things around    
him1 and with this that further power of
 setting consciously before himself what
 he really wants to be and to do1 the   
power of moral action strictly          
so-called4  ,throughout this series1 in 
every higher stage the lower is present 

as a kind of basis4 ,in the man who     
thinks there is active not only the     
power of thought1 but also the power of 
sensation1 the faculty of growth1 and   
the physical properties of the body4 ,it
 would seem that ,aristotle has only to 
take one step1 and he would be a        
thoroughgoing evolutionist4 ,he has only
 to say that the different stages are   
successive in time1 the lower regularly 
preceding the higher4 ,but this step he 
hesitates to take4  ,he often comes very
 near it4 ,he speaks of nature passing  
gradually from inanimate things through 
living things to living animals4 ,he    
speaks of what is first in itself1 first
 inherently1 'prior' in the logical     
sense because it is the goal and the    
completion of the thing1 as appearing   
later in time4 ,for instance1 he        
believes that man can only find his real
 happiness and develop his real nature  
in the ,state1 but the ,state appears   
later in time than the primitive        
associations of the household and the   

family4#ba ,what came earlier in history
 were barbarous communities such as     
those of the ,cyclopes1 where 'each man 
laid down the law for his wife and      
children and obeyed no other law'4  ,but
 ,aristotle does not go on from this    
belief to the belief in a universal     
upward process throughout all history4  
,the developed ,state1 it is true1 may  
always have been preceded by a lower    
form1 but that lower form may itself    
have been preceded by a higher4         
,aristotle1 in short1 is haunted1 like  
,plato1 by the idea of cycles1          
alternations1 decline and progress1     
progress and decline4 ,he feels this    
both in the life of ,states and in the  
whole life of the world4 ,he speaks of  
the same discoveries being made over and
 over again1 an infinite number of      
times1 in the history of civilization4  
,and his words recall the sad passage in
 ,plato's ,laws 7#fgf7 referring to the 
numberless nations and states1 ten      
thousand times ten thousand1 that had   

risen and fallen all over the world1    
passing from worse to better and from   
better to worse4 ,similarly ,aristotle  
will speak of degraded animal forms1 and
 sometimes write as though the animal   
world could sink back into the vegetable
 altogether4  ,admitting1 however1      
something like progress within the      
different cycles1 we must ask a little  
more about the kind of progress which   
,aristotle would have desired4 7,i take 
,aristotle again as a typical ,greek47  
,man at his best1 he clearly holds1 in  
trying to realize his true nature should
 aim at a happiness which involves a    
harmony of all his faculties1 a harmony 
inspired and led by the highest faculty 
of all1 the ,reason which rejoices in   
the contemplation of what is at once    
true and good and beautiful4  ,now in   
this aim1 we must ask1 does a man need  
other men and other creatures1 and in   
what sense does he need them8 ,here1 ,i 
think1 we come on two inconsistent      
tendencies in ,aristotle's thought1     

connected with two different ways of    
regarding the hierarchy of existences4  
,we say that one existence is higher    
than another4 ,does this mean that what 
we call the lower are only so many      
blundering attempts to reach the higher8
 ,that every creature1 for example1     
which is not a thinking man is1 on the  
whole1 a mistake8 ,aristotle often does 
speak like that4 ,woman1 he says in one 
passage1 is only a mutilated male4#bb   
,the principle which ought to develop   
into the active power of thought could  
not1 he explains1 in women master the   
recalcitrant element which is always    
thwarting perfection1 and thus woman is 
man manque4 ,on these lines of thought  
it is easy to slip into looking on all  
other forms of existence as merely      
valuable in so far as they serve the    
direct purposes of men1 and indeed only 
of a few men1 those namely who are able 
to think as philosophers4 ,this is the  
kind of view according to which1 as the 
satirist suggests1 cork-trees only grow 

in order to make corks for              
champagne-bottles1 and the inferior     
races of mankind only exist to furnish  
slaves for the higher4 ,and ,aristotle  
does1 on occasion1 lend himself to such 
a view3 he justifies a slavery in which1
 as he says1 some men are to be treated 
merely as living tools4 ,and yet on his 
own principles every man ought to aim at
 realizing his own end1 and not merely  
the ends of others4  ,but there is a    
widely different view1 also present in  
,aristotle1 and truer to the essence of 
his thought4 ,it is a view instinct with
 that reverence for all existence of    
which ,i spoke at first1 and it holds   
that all the different natural types1   
high or low1 could all be united in one 
harmony1 like an ordered army1 as       
,aristotle himself would say1 in which  
the divine spirit was present even as   
the spirit of a general is present in   
his men4 ,the greatest thing in man1    
,aristotle thinks1 is the godlike power 
of apprehending the different characters

 of all the things around him1 and this 
of itself suggests the belief that all  
these characters have a value of their  
own1 unique and indispensable1 each     
aiming at a distinct aspect of the      
,divine1 each1 if it fulfilled its inner
 nature1 finding1 as ,plato might have  
said1 the place where it was best for it
 to be4 ,again1 it is clear from        
,aristotle's whole treatment of the     
,state1 that when he wrote his famous   
phrase1 ',man is by nature a political  
animal'1 he meant that man1 as we should
 say1 is essentially social4 ,it is part
 of man's goal to live with others2 it  
is not merely a means to the goal4 ,his 
highest happiness lies in the           
contemplation of the good1 and the good1
 ,aristotle says1 can be contemplated   
far better in others than in ourselves4 
,this is a profound saying1 and from    
this thought springs the deep           
significance of friendship in           
,aristotle's system4 ,the crown of the  
civic life he takes to be the community 

of friends who recognize the good in    
each other1 and enjoy each other through
 this4 ,the wider this community1 then1 
we must surely say1 the better4  ,for   
,aristotle then1 man's perfection ought 
to mean the perfection of every         
individual1 and progress1 so far as he  
conceives it1 involve progress towards  
this end4 ,this should lead on to belief
 in the supreme importance of the       
individual soul1 and to ,kant's great   
principle that we should always treat   
each man as an end in himself4  ,thus1  
if we concentrate on the hopeful        
elements in ,plato and ,aristotle1 we   
may fairly say1 ,i think1 that we can   
see outlined in their philosophies      
something like the following belief3    
every natural thing in this world1 and  
every natural creature1 so far as it is 
good1--and all are more or less         
good1--tends to express some distinct   
aspect of a perfect harmony3 we human   
beings are the first on earth to be     
definitely conscious of such a tendency1

 the first to be able definitely to     
direct it to its true goal1 and our     
business in life is therefore threefold3
 to make actual our own function in this
 harmony1 to help other creatures to    
actualize theirs1 and to contemplate    
every such manifestation1 in men or in  
things1 with reverence and rejoicing4   
,the harmony1 if complete1 would be a   
manifestation of a divine reality1 and  
thus the love of ,god1 the love of our  
neighbour1 the love of nature1          
self-development1 political life1       
scientific study1 poetic contemplation1 
and philosophic speculation1 would all  
unite in one comprehensive and glorious 
task4  ,this1 surely1 is hopeful enough4
 ,but the ,greek hope faltered and sank4
 ,could this harmony ever be realized8  
,would not the thwarting element in the 
world always drag it down again and     
again1 and drag some men down always1 so
 that after all progress was impossible1
 and for some men should not even be    
attempted8 ,as a matter of fact1 ,plato 

and ,aristotle do limit their           
exhortations to a narrow circle of      
cultured ,greeks1 and even with them    
they doubt of success4  ,now this       
despondency came partly1 ,i think1      
through the very sensitiveness of the   
,hellenic nature4 ,the spectacle of the 
ever-baffled struggle in ,nature and    
,man they felt at times almost          
intolerable4 ,aristotle saw that this   
perpetual failure in the heart of       
glorious good made the very essence of  
tragedy4 ,the tragic hero is the man of 
innate nobleness who yet has some one   
defect that lays him open to ruin4 ,man 
is set in a world full of difficulties1 
a world much of which is dark and       
strange to him3 his action and those of 
others have results which he did not1   
and in his ignorance could not1 foresee2
 he is not strong enough for his great  
task4  ,all the ,greek poets have this  
deep sadness4 ,homer has it1 in and     
through his intense feeling for the     
beauty and energy of life4 ,there has   

never been such war-poetry as ,homer's1 
and yet there has never been any which  
felt more poignantly the senselessness  
in war4 ',and ,i must come here'1       
,achilles says to his noble enemy at the
 close1 'to torture you and your        
children4'  ,in the next place1 the     
sadness of the world could not be       
lightened for the ,greeks by the vision 
that the modern theory of evolution has 
opened up to us of the long advance in  
the history of life on the planet4 ,even
 their knowledge of history in the      
strict sense was scanty1 and it is only 
a long view of history that is likely to
 be comforting4 ,what history they did  
know could bring them little comfort4   
,in the first place it showed them a    
series of great civilizations1 rising   
and falling1 and those that had fallen  
seemed at least as good as those that   
followed them4 ,a ,greek like ,plato    
knew of the ,homeric civilization1      
simpler indeed1 but fresher and purer   
than his own4 ,and he believed1 what we 

now know to be the fact1 that even      
before the ,homeric there had been a    
wonderful island-culture1 what we call  
the ,minoan1 flourishing before the     
,homeric4 ',there had been kings before 
,agamemnon4'  ,and behind ,minos and    
,agamemnon lay the great1 and by that   
time the ossifying1 kingdom of ,egypt1  
compared to which the ,greeks were1 and 
felt themselves to be1 but children4    
,plato had seen1 finally1 the           
degeneration of the ,persian            
,empire--once so magnificent and mighty4
  ,this fact of recurrent decay is one  
of the heaviest that the human spirit   
can shoulder4 ,any theory of progress   
must come to terms with it1 for         
,progress through history is certainly  
not an uninterrupted ascent2 a spiral is
 the better image4 ,and the weight must 
lie most heavily on a generation which  
feels its own self to be in peril of    
decay4 ,now ,plato and ,aristotle lived 
at such a period4 ,greece had gone      
through the bitter experiences of the   

,peloponnesian ,war1 and the shadow of  
it lay on them1 as on its historian     
,thucydides4 ,in that fratricidal       
conflict ,greece tore herself to pieces4
 ,it was a struggle between the two     
leaders of the then civilized world1 and
 it has a terrible likeness to the      
struggle that is going on now4 ,from its
 devastating influence ,greece never    
recovered4 ,historians still dispute1   
and always will1 as to the exact        
proportion of praise and blame between  
the two4 ,but ,thucydides himself1 a    
true-hearted ,athenian1 brings out the  
tyrannical side in the ,athenian temper4
 ,not indeed towards her own people1 but
 towards all who were not of her own    
immediate stock4 ,because ,athens       
thought herself the fairest city in the 
world1 as indeed she was1 because she   
thought herself menaced by ,sparta1 and 
menaced she was1 she allowed herself to 
tyrannize and lightly took up the burden
 of war between brethren4 ,there are few
 passages in history more stately than  

the ,funeral ,oration of ,pericles in   
which he calls ,athens the ,school of   
,hellas1 but even in it there is a      
certain deadly coldness of heart4 ,and  
few things are more terrible than the   
coarsening of temper which ,thucydides  
depicts as the war goes on and ,pericles
 is succeeded by his caricature ,cleon1 
the man who means to prosecute the war  
vigorously1 and by vigour means         
ruthlessness4 ,nor was there ever a     
sterner indictment of aggression than   
that given in the dialogue between the  
spokesmen of ,melos1 the little island  
that desired to stand out of the        
conflict1 and the ,athenian             
representatives who were determined to  
force her into their policy4 ,and after 
that dialogue comes1 in ,thucydides'    
great drama1 the fall of ,athens4  ,the 
city recovered in some measure from her 
fall1 but only to face another disaster4
 ,if she sinned in the ,peloponnesian   
,war through the spirit of aggression1  
she sinned in the struggle with ,macedon

 through slackness and cowardice4 ,in   
the one struggle she lost comradeship2  
in the other she lost liberty4 ,and with
 the loss of the two she lost buoyancy4 
,in a deeper sense than ,pericles used  
the phrase1 'the springtime went out of 
her year'4 ,ultimately1 perhaps1 we     
cannot explain why this should be so4   
,other nations have had as disheartening
 experiences and yet risen above them4  
,some of the most inspired prophecies in
 the ,hebrew writings came after the    
tiny state of ,judaea had been torn in  
pieces by the insensate conflict between
 ,north and ,south1 and after the whole 
people had been swept into captivity4   
,but whatever the ultimate reason1      
,athens did not recover4 ,we must not   
end1 however1 on a note of despair4 ,far
 from it4 ,the work of ,aristotle and   
,plato and of the ,greeks generally1 was
 cramped for lack of sympathy and lack  
of hope1 and1 strangely enough1 it was  
after they had passed and their glory   
with them that sympathy grew in the     

world1 and after sympathy grew1 hope    
returned4  ,for it is exactly in those  
failing years1 when the ,hellenic gave  
way to the ,hellenistic1 that men first 
grasped1 and grasped so firmly that it  
could hardly be lost again1 one of the  
fundamental principles on which the     
whole fabric of our later civilization  
has rested1 or ought to rest1 the great 
principle of personal equality1 the     
claim of every individual to            
transcendent value1 irrespective of race
 and creed and endowment4 ,the          
conquering rule of ,alexander1 whatever 
else it did1 broke down the barriers of 
the little city-states and made men of  
different races feel themselves members 
of mankind4 ,there rose among the       
,stoics the conviction that all men do  
belong together and are all made for    
each other4 ,and with the advent of     
,christianity came the belief that every
 man1 however mean and unworthy1 can    
receive a power that will make him all  
he ought to be4 ,the highest is within  

his reach4 ,there is no reason now why  
the glorious life that ,hellenism       
conceived for a few should not lie open 
to all men4  ,finally1 we might say1 and
 truly1 that the vast political         
organization built up by ,rome gave us  
,europeans1 once and for all1 the vision
 of a united ,europe4  ,that dream has  
never left it4 ,even to-day1 here and   
now1 in spite of our disasters1 our     
blunders1 and our crimes1 let us not    
forget it1 that dream which is 'not all 
a dream'1 the dream of once again       
constructing a system in which we might1
 all of us1 all nations and all men and 
women1 make progress together in the    
common task4   ,,books ,,for ,,reference
  ,g4 ,l4 ,dickinson1 ,the ,greek ,view 
of ,life4  ,zeller1 ,aristotle and the  
,earlier ,peripatetics4  ,edited by     
,evelyn ,abbott1 ,hellenica4  ,bury1    
,history of ,greece4  ,davies and       
,vaughan1 ,plato's ,republic4  ,welldon1
 ,aristotle's ,politics4  ,peters1      
,aristotle's ,ethics4  ,bridges1 ,the   

,spirit of ,man4   ,,footnotes3  #f ,g4 
,h4 ,perris1 ,history of ,war and       
,peace1 p4 #ed4  #g ',the ,unity of     
,western ,civilization1' c4 ,,iii4  #h  
,the ,spirit of ,man1 #dj2 ,phaedo1 #if4
  #i ,the ,spirit of ,man1 #af2 ,phaedo1
 #ff4  #aj ,natural ,religion1 part ii1 
c4 #e4  #aa ,de ,an4 ii4 #d1 #dae1 p4   
#ce4  #ab ,the ,spirit of ,man1 #ci2    
,aristotle1 ,met4 #aj4  #ac ,t4 ,w4     
,rolleston1 ,parallel ,paths4  #ad      
,phys4 ii4 #h1 #aih #af-cd4  #ae ,pp4   
#bh-i4  #af ,phys4 ii1 c4 ,i4  #ag ,de  
,part4 ,an41 ,bk4 i1 c4 #e4  #ah ,phys4 
ii4 ,i1 init4  #ai ,de ,anima1 init4    
#bj ,meteor1 iv4 #a4 #cgh4 ,see         
,zeller's ,aristotle1 vol4 i1 fin4  #ba 
,polit4 #abec a2 ,eth4 #aafb a4  #bb    
,gen4 ,an4 ii4 #c4 #gcg4     ,,iv       
,,progress ,,in ,,the ,,middle ,,ages   
,a4 ,j4 ,,carlyle   ,there still        
survives1 not indeed among students of  
history1 but among some literary        
persons1 the notion that the            
civilization of the ,middle ,ages was   

fixed and unprogressive2 that the       
conditions of these centuries were      
wholly different from those of the      
ancient world and of modern time2 that  
there was little continuity with the    
ancient world1 and little connexion with
 the characteristic aspects of progress 
in the modern world4  ,the truth is very
 different4 ,it may be doubted whether  
at any other time1 except perhaps in    
those two marvellous centuries of the   
flower of ,greek civilization1 there has
 been a more rapid development of the   
most important elements of civilization 
than in the period from the end of the  
tenth to the end of the thirteenth      
centuries4 ,while it is true that much  
was lost in the ruin of the ancient     
world1 much also survived1 and there was
 a real continuity of civilization2     
indeed some of the greatest conceptions 
of the later centuries of the ancient   
world are exactly those upon which      
mediaeval civilization was built4 ,and  
again1 it was in the ,middle ,ages that 

the foundations were laid upon which the
 most characteristic institutions of the
 modern world have grown4  ,indeed this 
notion that the civilization of the     
,middle ,ages was fixed and             
unprogressive is a mere literary        
superstition1 and its origin is to be   
found in the ignorance and perversity of
 the men of the ,renaissance2 and hardly
 less1 it must be added1 in the         
foolishness of many of the conceptions  
of the ,romantic revival4  ,there are1  
indeed1 excuses for these mistakes and  
confusions4 ,the ,renaissance           
represents1 among other things1 a great 
and necessary movement of revolt against
 a religious and intellectual           
civilization which had once been living 
and moving1 but had tended from the     
latter years of the thirteenth century  
to grow stiff and rigid4 ,it was        
probably a real misfortune that the     
great thinkers and scholars of the      
thirteenth century1 like ,alexander of  
,hales and ,thomas ,aquinas1 had        

embarked upon what was a premature      
attempt at the systematization of all   
knowledge2 they made the same mistake as
 the ,encyclopaedists of the eighteenth 
century or ,herbert ,spencer in the     
nineteenth1 but with more disastrous    
results4 ,for this work unhappily       
encouraged the mediaeval ,church in its 
most fatal mistake1 its tendency to     
suspect and oppose the apprehensions of 
new aspects of truth4  ,the men of the  
,renaissance had to break the forms     
under which the schoolmen had thought to
 express all truth1 they had to carry   
forward the great enterprise and        
adventure of the discovery of truth1 and
 they had to do this in the teeth of a  
violent resistance on the part of those 
who thought themselves the              
representatives of the mediaeval        
civilization4 ,there are1 therefore1    
excuses for them in their contempt for  
the intellectual life of the past2 but  
there is no real excuse for them in     
their contempt for mediaeval art and    

literature4 ,when they turned their back
 upon the immediate past1 and           
endeavoured pedantically to reproduce   
the ancient world1 they were guilty of  
an outrageous ignorance and stupidity1 a
 stupidity which is expressed in that   
unhappy phrase of ,pope1 the ',gothic   
night'4 ,happily neither the great      
artists of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries nor the great poets of        
,england and ,spain were much affected  
by the classical pedantry of which      
unhappily ,petrarch was the begetter4   
,it is this foolishness of the          
,renaissance which is the best excuse   
for the foolishness of the ,romantic    
revival2 the new classical movement had 
in such a degree interrupted the        
continuity of ,european art that it was 
very difficult for men in the eighteenth
 century to recover the past1 and we    
must make allowance for the often       
ludicrous terms and forms of the new    
mediaevalism4 ,indeed it is a strange   
and often absurd art--the half-serious1 

half-parodying imitations of ,thomson   
and ,walpole and ,wieland1 this         
ludicrous caricature ,gothic of         
,strawberry ,hill and ,all ,souls1 the  
notion of ,gothic architecture as a mass
 of crockets1 battlements1 crypts1 and  
dungeons--and all in ruins4 ,indeed1 the
 ,romantic conception of the ,middle    
,ages was often as absurd as that of the
 ,renaissance1 and if we are to get at  
the truth1 if we are to make any serious
 attempt to understand the ,middle      
,ages1 we must clear our minds of two   
superstitions2 the one1 which we derive 
from the ,renaissance1 that mediaeval   
civilization was sterile1 ignorant1 and 
content to be ignorant2 the other1 which
 survives from the ,romantic movement1  
that it was essentially religious1      
chivalrous and adventurous1 that men    
spent their time in saying their        
prayers1 making reverent love to their  
ladies1 or carving the heads of the     
infidel4  ,what ,i should desire to do  
is to persuade you that the more you    

study the ,middle ,ages the more you    
will see that these men and women were  
really very much like ourselves1        
ignorant1 no doubt1 of much which is to 
us really or superficially important1   
gifted on the other hand with some      
qualities which for the time we seem to 
have in a large measure lost1 but       
substantially very like ourselves1      
neither very much better nor very much  
worse4 ,let me illustrate this by       
considering for a moment the figure     
which to us is typical of the ,middle   
,ages4 ,what was the mediaeval knight8  
,we think of him as a courteous1        
chivalrous person of a romantic and     
adventurous temper1 whose business it   
was to fight for his lady or in the     
service of religion against the infidel4
 ,in reality he was usually a small     
landowner1 who held his land on         
condition of military service to some   
lord2 the title 'knight' means in its   
,latin form 7miles71 simply a soldier1  
in its ,germanic form a servant1 and    

distinguishes him from the older type of
 landowner who held his land in absolute
 ownership and free of all service      
except of a national kind4 ,in virtue of
 his holding a certain amount of land he
 had to present himself for military    
service on those occasions and for those
 periods for which he could be legally  
summoned4 ,but even this description    
implies a wholly wrong emphasis1 for he 
was not primarily a soldier1 but a small
 landowner and cultivator1 very much    
what we should call a squireen4 ,he was 
normally much more concerned about his  
crops1 his cattle and pigs1 than about  
his lord's affairs and his lord's       
quarrels4 ,he was ignorant1 often rather
 brutal1 and turbulent1 very ready for a
 quarrel with his neighbour1 but with no
 taste for national wars1 and the       
prolonged absence from his home which   
they might involve1 unless indeed there 
was a reasonable prospect of plunder4   
,indeed1 he was a very matter-of-fact   
person1 with very little sense of       

romance1 and little taste for adventure 
unless there was something to be got out
 of it4 ,we must dismiss from our minds 
the pretty superstitions of romance from
 ,chaucer and ,spenser to the time of   
the ,romantic revival1 and we must      
understand that the people of the       
,middle ,ages were very much like       
ourselves2 the times were rougher1 more 
disorderly1 there was much less         
security1 but on the whole the character
 of human life was not very different4  
,what was it1 then1 that happened with  
the end of the ancient world8 ,well1 the
 civilization of the ,roman ,empire was 
overthrown by our barbarous ancestors1  
the old order1 and tranquillity1 and    
comfort disappeared1 and the world fell 
back into discomfort and turbulence1 and
 disorder2 the roads fell into disrepair
 and were not mended1 the drains were   
neglected1 and the towns dwindled and   
shrank4 ,we must remember1 however1 that
 this great civilization was dying out1 
was failing by some internal weakness1  

and that the barbarians only hastened   
the process4  ,much of the achievement  
of ,greece and ,rome was lost1 much both
 material and intellectual1 but not all1
 and the new civilization which began   
rapidly to grow up on the ruins of the  
old was in many respects continuous with
 it4 ,in order1 however1 that we may    
understand this we must remember that   
the form of civilization with which the 
,middle ,ages were continuous was the   
,graeco-,roman civilization of the later
 ,empire1 and not the great ,hellenic   
civilization itself4 ,what the ,middle  
,ages knew was primarily that which the 
,christian ,fathers like ,st4 ,augustine
 and ,st4 ,gregory the ,great1 ,st4     
,basil and ,st4 ,gregory of ,nazianzus  
learned at their schools and            
universities4 ,some of these ,fathers   
were educated at the great universities1
 like ,athens1 others at comparatively  
humble provincial institutions2 some of 
them were men of powerful intellect1    
while others were more commonplace4     

,what they learned was the general      
intellectual system of the late ,empire1
 and what they learned they handed on to
 the ,middle ,ages2 but it was not the  
great intellectual culture of ,greece4  
,we have still too strong an inclination
 to think of the ancient world as one   
and homogeneous2 we have not yet        
sufficiently apprehended the great      
changes both in the form and in the     
temper of that world4 ,and yet the      
varieties1 the changes1 are very        
diverse1 the outlook1 the artistic      
methods of the ,homeric poetry are very 
different from the emotional and        
intellectual modernity of ,euripides4   
,the philosophy of ,plato and ,aristotle
 is very different from that of the     
,stoics and ,neoplatonists4 ,in that    
picturesque but perhaps not very        
felicitous phrase which ,mr4 ,murray has
 borrowed from ,mr4 ,cornford1 there was
 a 'failure of nerve' which separates   
the earlier from the later stages of the
 moral and intellectual culture of the  

ancient world4 ,however this may be1 and
 we shall have more to say about this   
presently1 the civilization of the      
,middle ,ages was made up on the one    
hand of elements drawn from the later   
,empire1 and on the other of            
characteristics and principles which    
seem to have belonged to the ,barbarian 
races themselves4  ,with the end of the 
sixth century the ancient world had     
passed away and the mediaeval world had 
begun1 and we have to consider the      
nature and movement of the new order1 or
 rather we have to consider some of its 
elements1 and their development1        
especially during the period from the   
end of the tenth century to the end of  
the thirteenth1 during which it reached 
its highest level4 ,we have to pass over
 the great attempt of the ninth century1
 for we can only deal with a small part 
of a large subject1 and we shall only   
deal with a few aspects of it1 and      
chiefly with the development of the     
spiritual conception of life which we   

call religion1 with the reconstruction  
of the political order of society1 with 
the beginning of a new intellectual life
 and the pursuit of truth1 and with the 
development under new forms of the      
passion for beauty4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,i have been      
compelled to warn you against the       
romantic superstition that the ,middle  
,ages were specifically religious1 and  
yet it is quite true that the first     
aspect of mediaeval life which compels  
our attention is exactly the development
 of the sense of the significance of the
 spiritual quality of life4 ,this was   
the first great task of the men of the  
,middle ,ages1 and this was in a real   
sense their achievement2 but not as     
contradicting the characteristic        
developments of the ,hellenic           
civilization1 but rather as completing  
and fulfilling it4 ,it is indeed a      
singular superstition that the ,hellenic
 world was lacking in spiritual insight1
 but ,i need only refer you to ,miss    

,stawell's lecture1 as serving to show  
you how great and how real this was4 ,it
 really was not a mistake when an honest
 but rather stupid man like ,justin     
,martyr1 and the more acute and         
penetrating minds of the ,alexandrian   
,fathers like ,clement and ,origen1     
thought that they heard the authentic   
accents of the ',word' of ,god in the   
great philosophers of ,greece1 and      
especially in ,plato4  ,the apprehension
 of the spiritual element in human      
experience was not wanting in ,hellenic 
civilization1 but it needed a further   
development and especially in relation  
to those new apprehensions of           
personality and individuality1 whose    
appearance we can trace both in the     
post-,aristotelian philosophy1 and in   
the later ,hebrew prophets and poets1   
which ,christianity found in the world1 
and to which in its conception of the   
human in the ,divine1 and the ,divine in
 the human1 it gave a new force and     
breath4 ,it is easy for us to smile at  

what may well be the over-rhetorical    
phrases of ,seneca when he speaks of the
 self-sufficingness 7,greek3 autarkeia7 
of the wise man1 or when he says that   
the wise man is1 but for his mortality1 
like ,god himself2 and yet these        
rhetorical phrases are1 after all1 the  
forms of an apprehension which has      
changed and is changing the world4 ,and1
 it must be remembered that to          
understand the full significance of     
these phrases1 we must bear in mind that
 the men of the ,graeco-,roman          
civilization had put aside once and for 
all the 'natural' distinction between   
the ',greek' and the ',barbarian'1 had  
recognized that men were equal and      
alike1 not different and unequal1 that  
all men were possessed of reason1 and   
all were capable of virtue1#bc or1 in   
the ,christian terms1 all men are the   
children of ,god and capable of         
communion with ,him4  ,it is this new   
apprehension of life for which the      
,middle ,ages found a new form in the   

great organization of the ,church1 and  
it is this which justifies our sense of 
the great and permanent significance of 
the tremendous conflict of the ,papacy  
and the ,empire4 ,it is true that at    
times some of the representatives of the
 ,church seem to have fallen into the   
mistake of aiming at a tyranny of the   
,church over the ,state1 which would    
have been in the end as disastrous to   
the ,church itself as to the ,state4    
,but the normal principle of the ,church
 was that which was first fully stated  
by ,pope ,gelasius ,i in the fifth      
century1 that the two great authorities1
 the spiritual and the temporal1 are    
each divine1 each draws its authority   
ultimately from ,god himself1 each is   
supreme and independent in its own      
sphere1 while each recognizes the       
authority of the other within its proper
 sphere4  ,it is1 indeed1 the freedom of
 the spiritual life which the mediaeval 
,church was endeavouring to defend2 it  
was the apprehension that there was some

 ultimate quality in human nature which 
stands and must stand outside of the    
direct or coercive control of society1  
which lies behind all the confused      
clamour of the conflicts of ,church and 
,state4  ,it is true that in this great 
and generous effort to secure the       
freedom of the human soul men in some   
measure lost their way4 ,they demanded  
and in a measure they succeeded in      
asserting the freedom of the religious  
organization1 as against the temporal   
organization1 but in doing this they    
went perilously near to denying the     
freedom of the individual spiritual     
experience4 ,they went perilously near  
to denying it1 but they never wholly    
forgot it4 ,the ,church claimed and     
exercised an immense authority in       
religion1 so immense an authority that  
it might easily seem as though there    
were no place left for the freedom of   
the individual judgement and conscience4
 ,and yet that was not the case4 ,the   
theory of excommunication that is set   

out in the canonical literature of the  
,middle ,ages has generally been        
carelessly studied and imperfectly      
understood4 ,it was the greatest and    
most masterful of the ,popes1 ,innocent 
,,iii1 who laid down in memorable       
phrases which are embodied in the great 
collection of the ,decretals1 that if a 
,christian man or woman is convinced in 
his own mind and conscience that it     
would be a mortal sin to do or to leave 
undone some action1 he must follow his  
own conscience even against the command 
of the authorities of the ,church1 and  
must submit patiently to ,church        
censures and even excommunication2 for  
it may well happen that the ,church may 
condemn him whom ,god approves1 or      
approve him whom ,god condemns4#bd ,this
 is no isolated or exceptional opinion1 
but is the doctrine which is constantly 
laid down in the canonical              
literature4#be ,it is1 ,i think1        
profoundly true to say that when men at 
last revolted against what seemed to    

them the exaggerated claims of the      
,church1 when they slowly fought their  
way towards toleration and religious    
freedom1 they were only asserting and   
carrying out its one most vital         
principle1 the principle of the         
independence or autonomy of the         
spiritual life2 the modern world is only
 fulfilling the ,middle ,ages4  ,i do   
not continue to develop this aspect of  
the progress of western civilization1   
not because it is unimportant1 for      
indeed it is perhaps the greatest and   
most significant aspect of mediaeval    
life1 but because it is well known to   
you1 and indeed1 it has generally been  
insisted on to such a degree as to      
obscure the other aspects of progress in
 the ,middle ,ages1 with which we must  
deal4         99       99       99      
99       99  ,and first ,i would ask you
 to observe that it was in these        
centuries that there were laid over     
again the foundations of the social and 
political order of civilization1 and    

that there were devised those forms of  
the political order upon which the      
structure of modern society is founded4 
,we are familiar with the conception of 
the divine nature of political          
authority1 the normal and fundamental   
mediaeval view of the ,state4 ,if we    
translate this into more general terms  
we shall find that its meaning is that  
the ,state has an ethical or moral      
purpose or function2 the ,state exists  
to secure and to maintain justice4 ,you 
must not1 indeed1 confuse this great    
conception with that foolish perversion 
of it which was suggested1 ,i think1 by 
some characteristically reckless phrases
 of ,st4 ,augustine1 stated in set terms
 by ,st4 ,gregory the ,great1 almost    
forgotten in the ,middle ,ages1 and     
unhappily revived by the perversity of  
some ,anglicans and ,gallicans in the   
seventeenth century4 ,this foolish      
perversion1 which we know as the theory 
of the ',divine ,right of ,kings'1 is   
indeed the opposite of the great        

,pauline and mediaeval conception of the
 divine nature of political authority1  
for to ,st4 ,paul1 to the more normal   
,fathers like ,st4 ,ambrose1 and to the 
political theory of the ,middle ,ages   
authority is divine just because1 and   
only in so far as1 its aim and purpose  
is the attainment and maintenance of    
justice4 ,indeed1 it is not only the    
notion of the ',divine ,right' which was
 inconsistent with the mediaeval        
conception of the ,state1 but the notion
 of an absolute sovereignty inherent in 
the ,state1 that notion with which some 
eccentric or ignorant modern political  
theorists1 ignorant of ,rousseau as well
 as of ,aristotle1 have played1 to the  
great danger of society2 we have1       
indeed1 got beyond the theory of the    
sovereignty of the king1 but we are in  
some danger of being hag-ridden by the  
imposture of the sovereignty of the     
majority4 ,whatever mistakes the people 
of the ,middle ,ages may have made1 they
 were1 with rare exceptions1 clear that 

there was no legitimate authority which 
was not just1 and which did not make for
 justice4  ,it is here that we find the 
real meaning of the second great        
political principle of the ,middle      
,ages1 that is the supremacy of law2    
that it is the law which is the supreme 
authority in the ,state1 the law which  
is over every person in the ,state4     
,when ,john of ,salisbury1 the secretary
 of ,thomas a ,becket1 wishes to        
distinguish between the prince and the  
tyrant1 he insists that the prince is   
one who rules according to law1 while   
the tyrant is one who ignores and       
violates the law4#bf ,and in a memorable
 phrase1 ,bracton1 the great ,english   
jurist of the latter part of the        
thirteenth century1 lays it down        
dogmatically that the king has two      
superiors1 ,god and the law4#bg ,there  
is an absurd notion still current among 
more ignorant persons--,i have even     
heard some theologians fall into the    
mistake--that men in the ,middle ,ages  

thought of authority as something       
arbitrary and unintelligible1 while the 
truth is that such a conception was     
wholly foreign to the temper of that    
time4 ,it is quite true that the        
political life of the ,middle ,ages     
seems constantly to oscillate between   
anarchy and despotism1 but this is not  
because the men of those days did not   
understand the meaning of law and of    
freedom1 but because they were only     
slowly working out the organization     
through which these can be secured4 ,the
 supreme authority in the mediaeval     
state was the law1 and it was supreme   
because it was taken by them to be the  
embodiment of justice4  ,it is again out
 of this principle that there arose     
another great conception which is still 
often thought to be modern1 but which is
 really mediaeval1 the conception that  
the authority of the ruler rests upon   
and is conditioned by an agreement or   
contract between him and the people4    
,for this agreement was not an abstract 

conception1 but was based upon the      
mutual oaths of the mediaeval coronation
 ceremony1 the oath of the king to      
maintain the law1 and to administer     
justice1 and the oath of the people to  
serve and obey the king whom they had   
recognized or elected4 ,the people do1  
indeed1 owe the king honour and loyal   
service1 but only on the condition that 
he holds inviolable his oath4 ,the ruler
 who breaks this is a tyrant1 and for   
him there was no place in mediaeval     
political theory4 ,this conception was  
expressed in very plain and even crude  
terms by ,manegold in the eleventh      
century when he said that the king was  
in the same relation to the community as
 the man who is hired to keep the pigs  
to his master4 ,if the swineherd fails  
to do his work the master turns him off 
and finds another4 ,and if the king or  
prince refuses to fulfil the conditions 
on which he holds his power he must be  
deposed4#bh ,john of ,salisbury in the  
twelfth century expressed this in even  

stronger terms when he said that if the 
prince became a tyrant and violated the 
laws1 he had no rights1 and should be   
removed1 and if there were no other way 
to do it1 it was lawful for any citizen 
to slay him4#bi  ,these are1 no doubt1  
extreme forms of the mediaeval          
conception1 but the principle that the  
authority of the ruler was conditioned  
by his faithful discharge of his        
obligations is the normal doctrine of   
the ,middle ,ages1 is maintained by the 
compilers of the feudal law-books of the
 ,kingdom of ,jerusalem1 by the great   
,english jurist ,bracton1 by ,st4       
,thomas ,aquinas1 and even by some of   
the most representative of the ,roman   
jurists of ,bologna1 like ,azo4  ,these 
were the fundamental principles of the  
conception of the nature of political   
authority whose development we can trace
 in the ,middle ,ages1 and it is out of 
these conceptions that there grew the   
system of the control of the common     
affairs of the community by means of the

 representation of the community4 ,for  
it should be more clearly understood    
than it is1 that the representative     
system was the creation of the mediaeval
 political genius1 it was these men--to 
whom even yet the more ignorant would   
deny the true political instinct--it was
 these men who devised that method upon 
which the structure of modern civilized 
government has been built up4  ,there   
is1 however1 yet another aspect of the  
development of political civilization   
which deserves our attention if we are  
to understand the nature of political   
progress in the ,middle ,ages4 ,it was  
in these centuries that there were      
created the elementary forms of the     
administrative system of government4    
,and indeed1 there is perhaps no clearer
 distinction between a barbarian and a  
civilized government than this1 that    
while the barbarian government hangs    
precariously on the life of the capable 
king1 the civilized government is       
carried on continuously by an organized 

civil service4 ,it would be impossible  
here to discuss the earlier forms of    
this in the organization of government  
by ,charles the ,great1 or the very     
interesting developments of the royal or
 imperial chapel as the nucleus of a    
civil service in ,germany1 it is enough 
here to remind ourselves that it is the 
creation of this organized              
administration by ,henry ,i and ,henry  
,,ii of ,england which laid the         
foundations of our national order4      
,enough has1 ,i think1 been said to     
illustrate the reality and significance 
of the progressive reconstruction of the
 political order of ,western society in 
the ,middle ,ages4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,it may1 however1 
be said that this may all be true1 but  
that in all this we have after all only 
an example of the preoccupation of the  
,middle ,ages with conduct and religion4
 ,i must1 therefore1 ask you to consider
 the character and development of the   
intellectual movement of the ,middle    

,ages4 ,and here1 fortunately1 we can   
find the best of guidance in ,dr4       
,rashdall's great work on ,the          
,universities of ,europe in the ,middle 
,ages1 and in ,dr4 ,r4 ,l4 ,poole's     
,illustrations of ,mediaeval ,thought4  
,indeed ,i could wish that a little more
 attention was given to the history and 
character of the intellectual movement  
which the ,universities represent1 and  
perhaps a little less to reading and    
discussing the great scholastic works of
 the thirteenth century1 which are      
almost impossible to understand except  
in relation to the intellectual         
movements of the twelfth century4  ,the 
new intellectual movement came very     
suddenly in the last years of the       
eleventh century2 why it should have    
come then is hard to determine1 but it  
seems reasonable to say that it         
represents the reawakening of the desire
 for knowledge which had been in        
abeyance during the stormy centuries    
after the fall of the ,roman ,empire in 

the ,west1 when men had little leisure  
for anything but the constant labour to 
secure a little decent order and peace4 
,for a few years1 indeed1 in the ninth  
century the genius of ,charlemagne had  
almost restored the order of            
civilization1 and even in those few     
years the human mind reasserted itself1 
and for a moment the learning and       
culture which had been preserved mainly 
by the ,irish and their pupils in       
,britain1 and in ,central ,europe1      
flowered and bore fruit2 but with his   
death ,western ,europe plunged again    
into anarchy and misery1 and it was only
 slowly that the genius of the great    
,german emperors in ,central ,europe1   
and of the ,norman settlers in ,france  
and ,england1 rebuilt the commonwealth  
of ,european civilization4 ,by the end  
of the eleventh century the work was not
 indeed done1 but was being done1 and   
men had again a little leisure1 and the 
desire for knowledge reawakened1 but    
indeed it was no mere gentle desire1 but

 a veritable passion which possessed the
 men of the twelfth century1 and it was 
this spontaneous passion which produced 
the universities4  ,the first thing1    
indeed1 which we must observe about the 
oldest universities of ,europe1         
especially ,bologna1 ,paris1 and        
,oxford1 is just this1 that they were   
not made by any external authority1 that
 they did not derive their being from   
,church or ,state1 from pope or king1   
but that they were formed by the        
enthusiasm and passion which drew men   
from every quarter of ,europe to sit at 
the feet of some man or another who     
could give them the knowledge which they
 desired1 and1 in their turn1 to become 
teachers4 ,it is quite true that as time
 went on1 and they found that popes and 
kings were friendly and interested1     
these groups of students procured for   
themselves bulls and charters of        
recognition and protection1 but while   
later universities may trace their      
foundation to these respectable patrons1

 the older universities recognize them  
indeed as benefactors and friends1 but  
not as founders1 but rather claim that  
they grew out of men's desire for       
knowledge1 and that they were recognized
 by the general consent of the civilized
 world4  ,in the second place it is     
important1 and especially ,i think in   
these days1 to understand that the men  
who thus created the universities in    
their eagerness to learn1 were of every 
class and condition1 rich and poor1     
noble and simple1 and they lived as they
 could1 in comfortable quarters if they 
were wealthy men1 or in the garrets and 
cellars of the citizens if they were    
poor1 and for the most part they were   
poor2 but neither poverty nor riches    
could destroy their noble thirst for    
knowledge4 ,the life of the universities
 was indeed turbulent and disorderly1   
the students were always at war with the
 citizens1 and1 when they were not      
breaking the heads of the citizens or   
having their heads broken by them1 they 

were at war with each other1 the men of 
the north with the southerners1 the     
western with the eastern2 for the       
universities were not local or national 
institutions1 but were made up of a     
cosmopolitan crowd of men of every      
nation in ,europe1 intelligible to each 
other1 as unhappily we are not1 by the  
universal knowledge and use of that     
mediaeval ,latin1 which might distress  
the ,ciceronian ears of a pedant of the 
,renaissance1 but was a good1 useful1   
and adaptable language4 ,it was a       
turbulent1 disorderly1 brutal1          
profligate1 and drunken world1 for the  
students were as hard drinkers as the   
citizens1 but it was animated1 it was   
made alive by a true passion for        
knowledge1 by an unwearied and never    
satisfied intellectual curiosity4  ,but 
it will be asked1 what did they learn8  
,well1 the only answer that one can give
 is that they learned whatever there was
 to learn4 ,our literary friends have   
often still the impression that in the  

,middle ,ages men spent their whole time
 in learning theology1 and were afraid  
of other forms of knowledge1 but this is
 a singular delusion4 ,as the           
universities developed a system1 their  
studies were arranged in the main under 
four heads1 the general studies of what 
came to be called the ,faculty of ,arts1
 and the professional studies of the    
three superior ,faculties of ,law1      
,medicine1 and ,theology1 but the       
student was not normally allowed to     
study in the three superior ,faculties  
until he had spent some years in the    
studies of the ,faculty of ,arts4 ,it is
 therefore with this latter that we are 
primarily occupied4 ,the studies in the 
,faculty of ,arts consisted1 to use our 
modern terminology1 of literature1      
philosophy1 and science1 and the        
accomplished mediaeval student was      
expected to know whatever there was to  
know4  ,and this means--what is         
strangely often forgotten--that the     
studies of the mediaeval universities   

were primarily based upon the literature
 which had survived from the ancient    
world4 ,the ,latin poets and orators    
were their models of literary art1 the  
surviving treatises of the ancients     
their text-books in medicine1 and the   
,greek philosophers in ,latin           
translations1 or in ,latin works founded
 on them1 their masters in thought4 ,to 
understand the extent of the influence  
and the knowledge of antiquity of a     
twelfth-century scholar we need only    
turn again to ,john of ,salisbury1 and  
we shall find him as familiar as any    
,renaissance scholar with ,latin        
literature1 and possessing a very       
considerable acquaintance with ,greek   
literature so far as it could be        
obtained through the ,latin4#cj ,indeed1
 so much is he possessed by the         
literature of antiquity that in works   
like the ,policraticus he can hardly    
write two lines together without a      
quotation from some classical author4   
,this type of literary scholarship has  

been too much overlooked1 and1 as ,i    
said before1 too exclusive an attention 
has been given to the thirteenth-century
 schoolmen1 who are neither from a      
literary nor from a philosophical point 
of view as representative of mediaeval  
scholars1 and philosophically they are  
often really unmediaeval1 for the       
general quality of mediaeval thought is 
its ,platonism3 the ,aristotelian logic 
was indeed known to the ,middle ,ages   
through ,boethius1 but the other        
,aristotelian works were not known till 
towards the middle of the thirteenth    
century4  ,it would be impossible here1 
even if ,i were competent1 which ,i am  
not1 to discuss the character of        
mediaeval thought1 but one thing we can 
observe1 one aspect of the intellectual 
method which may serve to clear away    
some confusion4 ,the great intellectual 
master of the ,middle ,ages was         
,abelard1 and the method which he       
elaborated in his ,sic et ,non is the   
method which imposed itself upon all    

aspects of mediaeval thought4  ,it has  
often been supposed that mediaeval      
thinkers were in such a sense the       
creatures of authority that it was      
impossible for them to exercise any     
independent judgement2 how far this may 
have been true of the decadent          
scholasticism of the fourteenth and     
fifteenth centuries ,i do not pretend to
 say1 but such a judgement is a         
ludicrous caricature of the living and  
active thought of the twelfth and       
thirteenth centuries1 and a little      
consideration of the critical method    
which ,abelard developed is sufficient  
to correct this4 ,this is as follows3   
first some general principle is         
enunciated for consideration1 then all  
the authorities which may seem to       
support it are cited1 then all the      
authorities against1 and finally the    
writer delivers his own judgement1      
criticizing and explaining the opinions 
which may seem contrary to it4 ,the     
method has its defects and its          

limitations1 but its characteristic is  
rather that of scepticism than of       
credulity4 ,and it is on this method    
that the most important systems of      
knowledge of the ,middle ,ages are      
constructed4 ,it was applied by ,gratian
 in his ,decretum1 the first great      
reasoned treatise on ,church law1 and   
leads there often to somewhat unexpected
 conclusions1 such as that even the     
legislative authority of the ,pope is   
limited by the consenting custom of the 
,christian people2#ca and it is this    
method upon which the great systematic  
treatises1 like the ,suma ,theologica of
 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 were constructed
 in the thirteenth century4 ,whatever   
its defects may be the method cannot    
fairly be accused of ignoring           
difficulties and of a submission to     
authority which leaves no place for the 
critical reason4  ,i have1 ,i hope1 said
 enough to make it clear that there was 
a real and living intellectual movement 
in the ,middle ,ages1 and that even in  

those days men had resumed the great    
adventure of the pursuit of truth4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,we can only for a moment consider the  
significance and the character of       
mediaeval civilization as it expresses  
itself in ,art1 and we must begin by    
noticing a distinction between mediaeval
 art and mediaeval learning1 which is of
 the first importance4  ,the            
intellectual movement of the ,middle    
,ages was related to the ancient world1 
both in virtue of that continuity which 
was mediated by the ,christian ,fathers1
 whose education was that of the later  
,empire1 and also in virtue of the      
intense and eager care with which       
mediaeval scholars studied all that they
 possessed of ancient literature4 ,the  
relation of the art of the ,middle ,ages
 to the ancient world was quite         
different4 ,there was no continuity     
between the vernacular poetry of the    
,middle ,ages and that of the ancient   
world1 and while there was a certain    

continuity in architecture and in mosaic
 painting1 this amounted to little more 
than that the mediaeval artists took the
 formal structure or method as the      
starting-point of their own independent 
and original work4 ,for the western art 
of the third and fourth centuries was   
conventional and decadent1 and had      
apparently lost its power of recovery1  
while the art of the centuries which    
followed was at first rude and          
imperfect1 but was full of new life1    
determined in its reality and dominated 
by some intimate sense of beauty2 it was
 in no sense imitative of ancient art1  
but grew and changed under the terms of 
its own inherent life and power4        
,mediaeval art1 whatever else is to be  
said about it1 was new and independent1 
and it had all the variety1 the         
audacious experiments1 characteristic of
 a living art4 ,nothing is so foolish as
 to imagine that it was uniform and     
unchanging4 ,indeed1 from the historical
 point of view1 the interest of the     

study of it is curiously contrasted with
 that of the art of the ancient world4  
,there we have only an imperfect and    
fragmentary knowledge of the earlier and
 ruder form2 its history1 as we know it1
 might almost be said to begin with the 
perfection of the sixth and fifth       
centuries1 and what we know after that  
is the history of a long decadence1 not 
indeed without new developments of      
importance1 as for instance in the      
architectural structure of ,roman       
building1 and perhaps in the sculpture  
of the ,early ,empire on one side1 and  
in certain aspects of ,latin literature 
on another4 ,the history of mediaeval   
art is the history of the long          
development from what are generally rude
 forms to the highly developed art of   
the thirteenth century1 a development   
full of incidents and experiments and   
variety4 ,i have called the early form  
rude1 but the phrase is not very happy1 
as those who know either the early      
mosaic or the early epic will           

understand4  ,there are still some      
people1 ,i suppose1 who think that      
mediaeval poetry was all of one kind1   
cast in one mould1 but the truth is that
 it is of every form and character4 ,it 
ranges from the bold imaginative realism
 of the ,epic of ,england1 ,iceland1    
,germany1 and ,france1 to the exquisite 
and gracious but somewhat artificial    
allegory of the ,romance of the ,rose4  
,it includes the first great emotional  
poetry of the modern world--the sense of
 the greatness and tragedy of human     
passion has perhaps never been expressed
 in more moving terms than in the       
,tristan and ,iseult of ,thomas or      
,beroul--but it also includes the       
mordant satire of the ,renard poetry and
 of ,jean de ,meun1 and the gross       
realistic humour of the ,fabliaux4 ,the 
mediaeval drama1 in whose complex       
development we have to trace many       
strands1 probably represents in its     
oldest forms the coarse farcical        
buffoonery which may be related to the  

last fashions of the ancient world2 it  
received a new impulse from the         
dramatization of scripture history in   
the twelfth century2 but in the         
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 at 
least in ,france1 it had already become 
substantially a drama of romantic or    
contemporary life1 as we can see in     
,jean ,bodel's ,jeu de ,st4 ,nicholas1  
in ,adam de la ,halle's ,jeu de la      
,feuillee and ,robin et ,marion1 and in 
dramas like the ,empress of ,rome or the
 ,otho4 ,whatever criticism we might    
want to make on mediaeval literature1 at
 least we cannot say that it was of one 
type and of one mood4  ,it is hardly    
necessary to point out the movement and 
changes in the other forms of art in the
 ,middle ,ages2 it is only necessary to 
remind ourselves that1 while we can see 
that the artists were often hampered by 
inadequate technical knowledge1 they    
were not conventional or merely         
imitative4  ,it would be impossible here
 to consider the history of mosaic      

painting1 and its development from the  
decadent ,graeco-,roman work of ,santa  
,pudenziana in ,rome1 to the magnificent
 and living decorations of ,st4 ,mark's 
in ,venice1 or of the cathedral of      
,monreale4 ,it is enough to remind      
ourselves of the immense interval which 
lies between the rude but living        
sculpture of the ninth century1 and the 
exquisite grace of ,chester or ,wells1  
and of that development of architecture 
which culminates in the majesty of      
,durham1 and in the beauty of ,chartres 
and ,westminster ,abbey4  ,it is        
doubtful if we have yet at all fully or 
correctly appreciated the nature of     
mediaeval art2 there has been a good    
deal of foolish talk about 'primitives'1
 which usually goes with a singular     
ignorance of mediaeval civilization2 the
 one thing which is already clear1 and  
which grows clearer1 is that the men of 
those ages had an instinct and a passion
 for beauty which expressed itself in   
almost every thing that they touched2   

and1 whatever we have gained1 we have in
 a large measure lost this4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,the     
mediaeval world was then a living       
growing world1 neither cut off from the 
past1 nor unrelated to the future4 ,it  
was a rough and turbulent world1 our    
ancestors were dogged1 quarrelsome1 and 
self-assertive1 and the first task of   
civilization was to produce some sort of
 decent order4 ,the world was a long way
 off from the firm urbanity of the      
,english policeman4 ,and yet the men of 
the ,middle ,ages never fell into that  
delusion which1 as it would seem1 has   
ruined other civilizations2 the great   
effort for order was not in their mind  
to be fulfilled by any mere mechanical  
discipline1 by any system imposed from  
outside1 the only system of order which 
they were prepared to accept was one    
which should express the character1 the 
tradition1 and finally the will of the  
whole community4 ,the great phrase of   
,edward ,i's summons to ,parliament1    

',quod omnes tangit1 ab omnibus         
approbetur' 7,that which concerns all1  
must be approved by all71 was not a mere
 tag1 as some foolish people have       
thought1 but expressed the character and
 the genius of a living political       
civilization4  ,and this rough turbulent
 world was inspired by a great breath of
 spiritual and intellectual and artistic
 life and freedom4  ,it might well seem 
as though the ,church and religion were 
merely a new bondage1 and in part that  
is true1 but it is not the whole truth4 
,with all its mistakes the religion of  
the ,middle ,ages meant the growing     
apprehension of the reality of that     
'love which moves the sun and other     
stars'1 it meant the growth of reverence
 for that which is beyond and above     
humanity and which is also within it4   
,for it is the last truth of the        
,christian faith that we know ,god only 
under the terms of human life and       
nature4 ,and with all the cruelty and   
brutality of the ,middle ,ages they     

taught men love as well as obedience4   
,again1 it was in these ages1 as soon as
 the confusion of the outer world was a 
little reduced1 that the passion for    
knowledge awoke again in men's hearts4  
,it is true that some were afraid lest  
the eager inquiry of men's minds should 
destroy the foundations of that order   
which men were slowly achieving1 but    
still the passionate pursuit of         
knowledge has rarely been more          
determined4 ,and once again the world   
was rough1 but these men had an         
instinct1 a passion for beauty which    
expressed itself in almost everything   
which they touched4 ,they had not1      
indeed1 the almost miraculous sense and 
mastery of the great artists of ,greece1
 that did not come again till the time  
of the great ,italian artists of the    
fifteenth century4 ,but they were free  
from pedantry1 from formalism1 they left
 the dying art of the ancient world and 
made their own way4 ,their sense of     
colour was almost infallible1 as those  

who have seen the mosaics of the older  
,roman basilicas and of ,st4 ,mark's in 
,venice will know2 but1 indeed1 we have 
only to look at the illuminated         
manuscripts which are to be found in all
 our libraries4 ,and in that great art  
in which1 above all perhaps1 they       
expressed themselves1 in their great    
architecture1 we see the growth of a    
constructive genius which is only       
overshadowed by the superb beauty of its
 form4  ,a rough1 disorderly1 turbulent1
 greedy1 cruel world1 but it knew the   
human soul1 and it knew the human heart4
 ,the ancient world had ended in a great
 destruction1 but the sadness and       
emptiness of its last days compel us to 
feel that it was well that it should    
end4 ,and the new world was a world of  
life1 of crude force and restless       
energy1 and from it we have received the
 principles and the forms of a great    
civilization1 and the temper which is   
never satisfied1 for there is no end to 
life4   ,,books ,,for ,,reference  ,h4  

,w4 ,c4 ,davis1 ,mediaeval ,europe      
7,home ,university ,library74  ,lord    
,bryce1 ,history of ,roman ,empire4     
,rashdall1 ,universities of ,empire in  
the ,middle ,ages4  ,r4 ,l4 ,poole1     
,illustrations of ,mediaeval ,thought4  
,gierke1 ,political ,theories of the    
,middle ,ages4  ,w4 ,p4 ,ker1 ,epic and 
,romance4   ,,footnotes3  #bc ,cf4      
,cicero1 ,de ,legibus1 i4 #aj-ab2 and   
,seneca1 ,de ,beneficiis1 iii4 #ah4  #bd
 ,cf4 ,decretals1 v4 #ci4 #dd1 #bh4  #be
 ,cf4 ,carlyle1 ,mediaeval ,political   
,theory1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #bdd-i4  #bf ,cf4 
,john of ,salisbury1 ,policraticus1 iv4 
#a4  #bg ,cf4 ,bracton1 ,de ,legibus et 
,consuetudinibus1 i4 #h1 #e4  #bh ,cf4  
,manegold1 ,ad ,gebehardum1 c4 ,,xxx4   
#bi ,cf4 ,john of ,salisbury1           
,policraticus1 iii4 #ae1 viii4 #ag1 #ah1
 #bj4  #cj ,cf4 ,c4 ,c4 ,j4 ,webb's     
edition of ,john of ,salisbury's        
,policraticus1 introduction4  #ca ,cf4  
,gratian1 ,decretum1 ,d4 iv4 c4 #c4     
,v  ,,progress ,,in ,,religion  ,,baron 

,,friedrich ,,von ,h,ue,g,e,l   ,the    
difficulties are deep and delicate which
 confront any man at all well acquainted
 with the fuller significance of        
,religion and of ,progress1 who attempts
 clearly and shortly to describe or     
define the ultimate relations between   
these two sets of fact and conviction4  
,it is plain that ,religion is the      
deeper and richer of the two terms2 and 
that we have here1 above all1 to attempt
 to fathom the chief elements and forces
 of ,religion as such1 and then to see  
whether ,progress is really traceable in
 ,religion at all4 ,and again it is     
clear that strongly religious souls     
will1 as such1 hold that ,religion      
answers to1 and is occasioned by1 the   
action1 within our human life and needs1
 of great1 abiding1 living non-human    
,realities2 and yet1 if such souls are  
at all experienced and sincere1 they    
will also admit--as possibly the most   
baffling of facts--that the human       
individuals1 families1 races1 are       

relatively rare in whom this sense and  
need of ,religion is strongly1          
sensitively active4 ,thus the religion  
of most men will either all but         
completely wither or vanish before the  
invasion of other great facts and       
interests of human life--,economics or  
,politics or ,ethics1 or again1         
,science1 ,art1 ,philosophy2 or it will1
 more frequently1 become largely        
assimilated1 in its conception1         
valuation1 and practice1 to the quite   
distinct1 and often subtly different1   
conceptions1 valuations1 and practices  
pertaining to such of these other ranges
 and levels of human life as happen here
 to be vigorously active4 ,and such     
assimilations are1 of course1 effected  
with a particular ,philosophy or ,ethic1
 mostly some passing fashion of the day1
 which does not reach the deepest laws  
and standards even of its own domain1   
and which1 if taken as ,religion1 will  
gravely numb and mar the power and      
character of such religious perception  

as may still remain in this particular  
soul4  ,i will1 then1 first attempt some
 discriminations in certain fundamental 
questions concerning the functioning of 
our minds1 feelings1 wills4 ,i will next
 attempt short1 vivid descriptions of   
the chief stages in the ,jewish and     
,christian ,religions1 with a view to   
tracing here what may concern their     
progress2 and will very shortly         
illustrate the main results attained by 
the corresponding main peculiarities of 
,confucianism1 ,buddhism1 and           
,mohammedanism4 ,and ,i will finally    
strive to elucidate and to estimate1 as 
clearly as possible1 the main facts in  
past and present ,religion which concern
 the question of religious              
',progressiveness'4   ,i  ,i begin with 
insisting upon some seven               
discriminations which1 even only forty  
years ago1 would have appeared largely  
preposterous to the then fashionable    
philosophy4  ,first1 then1 our          
,knowledge is always wider and deeper   

than is our ,science4 ,i know my mother1
 ,i know my dog1 ,i know my favourite   
rose-tree2 and this1 although ,i am     
quite ignorant of the anatomical        
differences between woman and man2 of   
the psychological limits between dog and
 human being2 or of the natural or      
artificial botanical order to which my  
rose-plant belongs4 ,any kind or degree 
of consciousness on my part as to these 
three realities is a knowledge of their 
content4 ',knowledge is not simply the  
reduction of phenomena to law and their 
resolution into abstract elements2 since
 thus the unknowable would be found well
 within the facts of experience itself1 
in so far as these possess a concrete   
character which refuses translation into
 abstract relations4' ,so ,professor    
,aliotta urges with unanswerable        
truth4#cb  ,and next1 this spontaneous  
awareness of other realities by myself1 
the reality ,man1 contains always1 from 
the first1 both matter and form1 and    
sense1 reason1 feeling1 volition1 all   

more or less in action4 ,sir ,henry     
,jones insists finely3 ',the difference 
between the primary and elementary data 
of thought on the one hand1 and the     
highest forms of systematized knowledge 
on the other1 is no difference in kind1 
analogous to a mere particular and a    
mere universal2 but it is a difference  
of articulation4'#cc  ,thirdly1 direct1 
unchallengeable ,experience is always   
only experience of a particular moment2 
only by means of ,thought1 and trust in 
,thought1 can such ,experience be       
extended1 communicated1 utilized4 ,the  
sceptic1 to be at all effective1        
practises this trust as really as does  
his opponent4 ,thought1 taken apart from
 ,experience1 is indeed artificial and  
arid2 but ,experience without ,thought1 
is largely an orderless flux4           
,philosophers as different as the       
,neo-,positivist ,mach and the          
,intuitionist ,bergson1 do indeed       
attempt to construct systems composed   
solely of direct ,experience and pure   

,intuition2 and1 at the same time1      
almost ceaselessly insist upon the sheer
 novelty1 the utter unexpectedness of   
all direct ,experience1 and the entire  
artificiality of the constructions of   
,thought--constructions which alone     
adulterate our perceptions of reality   
with the non-realities repetition1      
uniformity1 foreseeableness4 ,yet the   
amazing success of the application of   
such constructions to actual ,nature    
stares us all in the face4 ',it is1     
indeed1 strange1' if that contention be 
right1 'that facts behave as if they too
 had a turn for mathematics4' ,assuredly
 'if thought1 with its durable and      
coherent structure1 were not the        
reflection of some order of stable      
relations in the nature of things1 it   
would be worthless as an organ of       
life'4#cd  ,fourthly1 both ,space and   
,time are indeed essential constituents 
of all our perceptions1 thoughts1       
actions1 at least in this life4 ,yet    
,time is perhaps the more real1 and     

assuredly the richer1 constituent of the
 two4 ,but this rich reality applies    
only to ,concrete or ,filled ,time1     
,duration1 in which our experiences1    
although always more or less successive1
 interpenetrate each other in various   
degrees and ways1 and are thus more or  
less simultaneous4 ,an absolutely even  
flow of equal1 mutually exclusive       
moments1 on the contrary1 exists only   
for our theoretical thinking1 in        
,abstract1 ,empty1 or ,clock time4      
,already1 in #ahhf1 ,professor ,james   
,ward wrote3 ',in time1 conceived as    
physical1 there is no trace of          
intensity2 in time1 as psychically      
experienced1 duration is primarily an   
intensive magnitude4'#ce ,and in #ahhi  
,professor ,bergson1 in his ,essai sur  
les ,donnees ,immediates de la          
,conscience1 gave us exquisite          
descriptions of time as we really       
experience it1 of 'duration strictly    
speaking'1 which 'does not possess      
moments that are identical or exterior  

to each other'4#cf ,thus all our real   
soul life1 in proportion to its depth1  
moves in ,partial ,simultaneity2 and it 
apprehends1 requires and rests1 at its  
deepest1 in an overflowingly rich ,pure 
,simultaneity4  ,fifthly1 ,man is ,body 
as well as ,soul1 and the two are       
closely interrelated4 ,the sensible     
perception of objects1 however humble1  
is always necessary for the beginning1  
and 7in the long run7 for the           
persistence and growth1 of the more     
spiritual apprehensions of man4 ,hence  
,historical ,persons and ,happenings1   
,institutions1 affording ,sensible ,acts
 and ,contacts1 and ,social             
,corporations1 each different according 
to the different ranges and levels of   
life1 can hardly fail to be of          
importance for man's full               
awakening--even ethical and spiritual4  
,professor ,ernst ,troeltsch1 so free   
from natural prejudice in favour of such
 a ,sense-and-,spirit position1 has     
become perhaps the most adequate        

exponent of this great fact of life1    
which is ever in such danger of         
evaporation amidst the intellectual and 
leading minority of men4  ,sixthly1 the 
cultivated modern man is still largely  
arrested and stunted by the spell of    
,descartes1 with his insistence upon    
immediate unity of outlook and perfect  
clearness of idea as the sole1 universal
 tests1 indeed constituents1 of truth4  
',i judged that ,i could take for my    
general rule that the things which we   
conceive very clearly and very          
distinctly are all true'--these and     
these alone4#cg ,thus thenceforth       
,mathematics and ,mechanics have        
generally been held to be the only full 
and typical sciences1 and human         
knowledge to be co-extensive with such  
sciences alone4 ,yet ,biology and       
,psychology now rightly claim to be     
sciences1 each with its own special     
methods and tests distinct from those of
 ,mathematics and ,mechanics4 ,indeed1  
the wisest and most fruitful philosophy 

is now coming to see that ',reality     
generally eludes our thought1 when      
thought is reduced to mathematical      
formulas'4#ch ,concrete thought1        
contrariwise1 finds full room also for  
,history1 ,philosophy1 ,religion1 for   
each as furnishing rich subject-matters 
for ,knowledge or ,science1 of a special
 but true kind4  ,seventhly4 ,already   
,mathematics and ,mechanics absolutely  
depend1 for the success of their        
applications to actual ,nature1 upon a  
spontaneous correspondence between the  
human reason and the ,rationality of    
,nature4 ,the immensity of this success 
is an unanswerable proof that this      
rationality is not imposed1 but found   
there1 by man4 ,but ,thought without a  
,thinker is an absurd proposition4 ,thus
 faith in ,science is faith in ,god4    
,perhaps the most impressive declaration
 of this necessary connexion between    
,knowledge and ,theism stands at the end
 of that great work1 ,christoph         
,sigwart's ,logik4 ',as soon as we raise

 the question as to the real right'1 the
 adequate reason1 'of our demands for a 
correspondence1 within our several      
sciences1 between the principles and the
 objects of the researches special to   
each1 there emerges the need for the    
,last and ,unconditional ,reason4 ,and  
the actual situation is not that this   
,reason appears only on the horizon of  
our finite knowledge1' as ,kant would   
have it4 ',not in thus merely extending 
our knowledge lies the significance of  
the situation1 but in the fact that this
 ,unconditional ,reason constitutes the 
presupposition without which no desire  
for ,knowledge 7in the proper and strict
 sense of the word7 is truly            
thinkable4'#ci  ,and lastly1 all this   
and more points to philosophical        
,agnosticism as an artificial system1   
and one hopelessly inadequate to the    
depths of human experience4 ,assuredly  
,bossuet is right3 'man knows not the   
whole of anything'2 and mystery1 in this
 sense1 is also of the essence of all   

higher religion4 ,but what man knows of 
anything is that thing manifested1 not  
essentially travestied1 in that same    
thing's appearances4 ,we men are most   
assuredly realities forming part of a   
real world-whole of various realities2  
those other realities continuously      
affect our own reality2 we cannot help  
thinking certain things about these     
other realities2 and these things1 when 
accepted and pressed home by us in      
action or in science1 turn out1 by our  
success in this their utilization1 to be
 rightly apprehended by us1 as parts of 
interconnected1 objective ,nature4 ,thus
 our knowledge of ,reality is real as   
far as it goes1 and philosophical       
,agnosticism is a doctrinaire position4 
,we can say with ,herbert ,spencer1 in  
spite of his predominant ,agnosticism1  
that 'the error' committed by           
philosophers intent upon demonstrating  
the limits and conditions of            
consciousness 'consists in assuming that
 consciousness contains nothing but     

limits and conditions1 to the entire    
neglect of that which is limited and    
conditioned'4 ,in reality 'there is some
 thing which alike forms the raw        
material of definite thought and remains
 after the definiteness1 which thinking 
gave to it1 has been destroyed'4#dj     
,,ii  ,let us next consider five of the 
most ancient and extensively developed  
amongst the still living ,religions3 the
 ,israelitish-,jewish and the ,christian
 religions shall1 as by far the best    
known to us and as the most fully       
articulated1 form the great bulk of this
 short account2 the ,confucian1         
,buddhist1 and ,mohammedan religions    
will be taken quite briefly1 only as    
contrasts to1 or elucidations of1 the   
characteristics found in the ,jewish and
 ,christian faiths4 ,all this in view of
 the question concerning the relations  
between ,religion and ,progress4  #a4   
,we can roughly divide the              
,israelitish-,jewish religion into three
 long periods2 in each the points that  

specially concern us will greatly vary  
in clearness1 importance1 and richness  
of content4  ,the first period1 from the
 time of the founder ,moses and the     
,jewish exodus out of ,egypt to the     
appearance of the first great prophet   
,elijah 7say #acjj ,b4,c4 to about #hfj 
,b4,c47 is indeed but little known to   
us2 yet it gives us the great historical
 figure of the initial lawgiver1 the    
recipient and transmitter of deep       
ethical and religious experiences and   
convictions4 ,true1 the code of ,king   
,hammurabi of ,babylon 7in #aieh to     
#aiaf ,b4,c42 or1 according to others1  
in about #afej7 anticipates many of the 
laws of the ,book of the ,covenant      
7,exod4 xx1 #bb-xxiii4 #cc71 the oldest 
amongst the at all lengthy bodies of    
laws in the ,pentateuch2 and1 again1    
this covenant appears to presuppose the 
,jewish settlement in ,canaan 7say in   
#abej ,b4,c47 as an accomplished fact4  
,and1 indeed1 the ,law and the books of 
,moses generally have undoubtedly passed

 through a long1 deep1 wide1 and        
elaborate development1 of which three   
chief stages1 all considerably          
subsequent to the ,covenant-,book1 have1
 by now1 been established with          
substantial certainty and precision4    
,the record of directly ,mosaic sayings 
and writings is thus certainly very     
small4 ,yet it is assuredly a gross     
excess to deny the historical reality of
 ,moses1 as even distinguished scholars 
such as ,edward ,meyer and ,bernhard    
,stade have done4 ,far wiser here is    
,wellhausen1 who finds1 in the very     
greatness and fixity of orientation of  
the development in the ,law and in the  
figure of the ,lawgiver1 a conclusive   
proof of the rich reality and greatness 
of the ,man of ,god1 ,moses4 ,yet it is 
,hermann ,gunkel1 ,i think1 who has     
reached the best balanced judgement in  
this matter4 ,with ,gunkel we can       
securely hold that ,moses called ,god   
,yahweh1 and proclaimed ,him as the     
national ,god of ,israel2 that ,moses   

invoked ,him as ',yahweh is my          
banner'--the divine leader of the       
,israelites in battle 7,exod4 xvii4     
#ae72 and that ,yahweh is for ,moses a  
,god of righteousness--of the right and 
the law which he1 ,moses1 brought down  
from ,mount ,sinai and published at its 
foot4 ,fierce as may now appear to us   
the figure of ,yahweh1 thus proclaimed1 
yet the soul's attitude towards ,him is 
already here1 from the first1 a religion
 of the will3 an absolute trust in ,god 
7',yahweh shall fight for you1 and ye   
shall hold your peace1' ,exod4 xiv4     
#ad71 and a terrible relentlessness in  
the execution of ,his commands--as when 
,moses orders the sons of ,levi to go to
 and fro in the camp1 slaying all who1  
as worshippers of the ,golden ,calf1 had
 not been 'on ,yahweh's side' 7,exod4   
xxxii4 #be-bi72 and when the chiefs1 who
 had joined in the worship of           
,baal-,peor1 are 'hung up unto ,yahweh  
before the sun' 7,num4 xxv4 #a-e74 ,long
 after ,moses the ,jews still believed  

in the real existence of the gods of the
 heathen2 and the religion of ,moses was
 presumably1 in the first instance1     
',monolatry' 7the adoration of ,one ,god
 among many72 but already accompanied by
 the conviction that ,yahweh was        
mightier than any other god--certainly  
,micah1 ',who is like ,yahweh81' is a   
very ancient ,israelitish name4 ,and if 
,yahweh is worshipped by ,moses on a    
mountain 7,sinai7 and ,his law is       
proclaimed at a spring1 if ,moses       
perhaps himself really fashioned the    
brazen serpent as a sensible symbol of  
,yahweh1 ,yahweh nevertheless remains   
without visible representation in or on 
the ,ark2 ,he is never conceived as the 
sheer equivalent of natural forces2 and 
all mythology is absent here--the       
vehement rejection of the calf-worship  
shows this strikingly4 ,michael ,angelo1
 himself a soul of fire1 understood     
,moses well1 ,gunkel thinks4#da  ,the   
second period1 from ,elijah's first     
public appearance 7about #hfj ,b4,c47 to

 the ,dedication of the ,second ,temple 
7#eaf ,b4,c471 and on to the public     
subscription to the ,law of ,moses1     
under ,ezra 7in #ddd ,b4,c471 is        
surpassed1 in spiritual richness and    
importance1 only by the classical times 
of ,christianity itself4 ,its beginning1
 its middle1 and its end each possess   
distinctive characters4  ,the whole     
opens with ,elijah1 'the grandest heroic
 figure in all the ,bible1' as it still 
breathes and burns in the ,first ,book  
of ,kings4 ',for ,elijah there existed  
not1 in different regions1 forces       
possessed of equal rights and equal     
claims to adoration1 but everywhere only
 one ,holy ,power that revealed ,itself1
 not like ,baal1 in the life of ,nature1
 but like ,yahweh1 in the moral demands 
of the ,spirit' 7,wellhausen74  ,and    
then 7in about #gej ,b4,c47 appears     
,amos1 the first of the noble           
'storm-birds' who herald the coming     
national destructions and divine        
survivals4 ',yahweh was for these       

prophets above all the god of justice1  
and ,god of ,israel only in so far as   
,israel satisfied ,his demands of       
justice4 ,and yet the special relation  
of ,yahweh to ,israel is still          
recognized as real2 the ethical truth1  
which now stood high above ,israel1 had1
 after all1 arisen within ,israel and   
could still only be found within it4'   
,the two oldest lengthy narrative       
documents of the ,pentateuch--the       
,yahwist 7,j7 and the ,ephraemite       
7,e7--appear to have been composed1 the 
first in ,judah in the time of ,elijah1 
the second in ,israel in the time of    
,amos4 ,j gives us the immortal stories 
of ,paradise and the ,fall1 ,cain and   
,abel1 ,noah and the ,flood2 ,e1        
,abraham's sacrifice of ,isaac2 and the 
documents conjointly furnish the more   
naive and picturesque parts of the grand
 accounts of the ,patriarchs            
generally--the first great narrative    
stage of the ,pentateuch4 ,god here     
gives us some of ,his most exquisite    

self-revelations through the            
,israelitish peasant-soul4 ,and ,isaiah 
of ,jerusalem1 successful statesman as  
well as deep seer1 still vividly lives  
for us in some thirty-six chapters of   
that great collection the ',book of     
,isaiah' 7i-xii1 xv-xx1 xxii-xxxix74    
,there is his majestic vocation in about
 #gdj ,b4,c41 described by himself1     
without ambiguity1 as a precise1        
objective revelation 7chap4 vi72 and    
there is the divinely impressive close  
of his long and great activity1 when he 
nerves ,king ,hezekiah to refuse the    
surrender of the ,holy ,city to the     
all-powerful ,sennacherib1 ,king of     
,assyria3 that ,yahweh would not allow a
 single arrow to be shot against it1 and
 would turn back the ,assyrian by the   
way by which he came--all which actually
 happens as thus predicted 7chap4       
xxxvii74  ,the middle of this rich      
second period is filled by a great      
prophet-priest's figure1 and a great    
prophetical priestly reform4 ,jeremiah  

is called in #fbh ,b4,c41 and dies      
obscurely in ,egypt in about #ehe       
,b4,c42 and the ,deuteronomic ,law and  
,book is found in the ,temple1 and is   
solemnly proclaimed to1 and accepted by1
 the people1 under the leadership of the
 ,high ,priest ,hilkiah and ,king       
,josiah1 'the ,constantine of the       
,jewish ,church1' in #fbh ,b4,c4        
,jeremiah and ,deuteronomy 7,d7 are     
strikingly cognate in style1 temper1 and
 injunctions2 and especially ,d         
contrasts remarkably in all this with   
the documents ,j and ,e4 ,we thus have  
here the second great development of the
 ,mosaic ,law4 ,both ,jeremiah and      
,deuteronomy possess a deeply interior1 
tenderly spiritual1 kernel and a        
fiercely polemical husk--they both are  
full of the contrast between the one    
,all-,holy ,god to be worshipped in the 
one ,holy ,place1 ,jerusalem1 and the   
many impure heathen gods worshipped in  
so many places by the ,jewish crowd4    
,thus in ,jeremiah ,yahweh declares3    

',this shall be my covenant that ,i will
 make with the house of ,israel3 ,i will
 write my law in their hearts3 and they 
shall all know me1 from the least to the
 greatest3 for ,i will remember their   
sin no more' 7xxxi4 #cc1 #cd74 ,and     
,yahweh exclaims3 ',my people have      
committed two evils3 they have forsaken 
me1 the fountain of living waters1 and  
have hewn out cisterns that can hold no 
water4' ',lift up thine eyes unto the   
high places 444 thou hast polluted the  
land with thy wickedness4' ',wilt thou  
not from this time cry unto me3 ,my     
,father1 thou art the guide of my       
youth8' 7ii4 #ac1 iii4 #b1 #d74 ,and    
,deuteronomy teaches magnificently3     
',this commandment which ,i command you 
this day1 is not too hard for thee1     
neither is it far off4 ,it is not in    
heaven1 neither is it beyond the sea1   
that thou shouldest say3 ,who shall go  
up for us to heaven or over the sea1 and
 bring it unto us8 ,but the word is very
 nigh unto thee1 in thy mouth and in thy

 heart1 that thou mayest do it' 7xxx4   
#aa-ad74 ,and there are here exquisite  
injunctions--to bring back stray cattle 
to their owners2 to spare the sitting   
bird1 where eggs or fledglings are      
found2 to leave over1 at the harvest1   
some of the grain1 olives1 grapes1 for  
the stranger1 the orphan1 the widow2 and
 not to muzzle the ox when treading out 
the corn 7xxii4 #a1 #f1 #g2 xxiv4 #ai2  
xxv4 #d74 ,yet the same ,deuteronomy    
ordains3 ',if thine own brother1 son1   
daughter1 wife1 or bosom friend entice  
thee secretly1 saying1 let us go and    
serve other gods1 thine hand shall be   
first upon him to put him to death4'    
,also ',there shall not be found with   
thee any consulter with a familiar      
spirit 444 or a necromancer4 ,yahweh thy
 ,god doth drive them out before thee4' 
,and1 finally1 amongst the laws of war1 
'of the cities of these people          
7,hittite1 ,amorite1 ,canaanite1        
,perizzite1 ,hivite1 ,jebusite7 thou    
shalt save alive nothing that breatheth1

 as ,yahweh thy ,god hath commanded     
thee' 7xii4 #b-e2 xiii4 #f1 #i2 xviii4  
#aj-ac2 xx4 #af1 #ag74 ,here we must    
remember that the immorality of these   
,canaanitish tribes and cults was of the
 grossest1 indeed largely unnatural1    
kind2 that it had copiously proved its  
terrible fascination for their kinsmen1 
the ,jews2 that these ancient ,easterns1
 e4g4 the ,assyrians1 were ruthlessly   
cruel at the storming of enemy cities2  
and especially that the morality and    
spirituality1 thus saved for humanity   
from out of a putrid flood1 was 7in very
 deed7 immensely precious4 ,one point   
here is particularly far-sighted--the   
severe watchfulness against all animism1
 spiritualism1 worship of the dead1     
things in which the environing world of 
the ,jews' fellow ,semites was steeped4 
,the ,israelitish-,jewish prophetic     
movement did not first attain belief in 
a ,future ,life1 and then1 through this1
 belief in ,god2 but the belief in ,god1
 strongly hostile to all those          

spiritualisms1 only very slowly1 and not
 until the danger of any infusion of    
those naturalisms had become remote1 led
 on the ,jews to a realization of the   
soul's survival with a consciousness at 
least equal to its earthly aliveness4   
,the ,second ,book of ,kings 7chaps4    
xxii1 xxiii7 gives a graphic account of 
,king ,josiah's rigorous execution of   
the ,deuteronomic law4  ,the end of this
 most full second period is marked by   
the now rapid predominance of a largely 
technical priestly legislation and a    
corresponding conception of past        
history2 by the inception of the        
,synagogue and the religion of the      
,book2 but also by writings the most    
profound of any in the ,old ,testament1 
all presumably occasioned by the probing
 experiences of the ,exile4 ,in #eig and
 #ehf ,b4,c4 ,jerusalem is destroyed and
 the majority of the ,jews are taken    
captives to ,babylon2 and in between 7in
 #eic7 occurs the vocation of the       
prophet-priest ,ezekiel1 and his book is

 practically complete by #egc ,b4,c4    
,here the prophecies as to the          
restoration are strangely detailed and  
schematic--already somewhat like the    
apocalyptic writers4 ,yet ,ezekiel      
reveals to us deathless truths--the     
responsibility of the individual soul   
for its good and its evil1 and ,god     
,himself as the ,good ,shepherd of the  
lost and the sick 7xviii4 #bj-cb2 xxxiv4
 #a-f72 he gives us the grand pictures  
of the resurrection unto life of the    
dead bones of ,israel 7chap4 xxxvii71   
and of the waters of healing and of life
 which flow forth1 ever deeper and      
wider1 from beneath the ,temple1 and by 
their sweetness transform all sour      
waters and arid lands that they touch   
7xlvii4 #a-ab74 ,a spirit and doctrine  
closely akin to those of ,ezekiel       
produced the third1 last1 and most      
extensive development of the            
,pentateuchal legislation and doctrinal 
history--in about #efj ,b4,c41 the ,law 
of ,holiness 7,lev41 chaps4 xvii-xxvi72 

and in about #ejj ,b4,c41 the ,priestly 
,code4 ,as with ,ezekiel's look forward1
 so here with these ,priests' look      
backward1 we have to recognize much     
schematic precision of dates1           
genealogies1 and explanations instinct  
with technical interests4 ,the unity of 
sanctuary and the removal from the      
feasts and the worship of all traces of 
naturalism1 which in ,jeremiah1         
,deuteronomy1 and the ,second ,book of  
,kings appear still as the              
subject-matters of intensest effort and 
conflict1 are here assumed as operative 
even back to patriarchal times4 ,yet it 
can reasonably be pleaded that the      
life-work of ,moses truly involved all  
this development2 and even that         
,monotheism 7at least1 for the times and
 peoples here concerned7 required some  
such rules as are assumed by ,p         
throughout4  ,and ,p gives us the great 
six days' ,creation ,story with its     
splendid sense of rational order        
pervasive of the ,universe1 the work of 

the all-reasonable ,god--its single     
parts good1 its totality very good2 and 
man and woman springing together from   
the ,creator's will4 ,but the writer    
nowhere indicates that he means long    
periods by the 'days'2 each creation    
appears as effected in an instant1 and  
these instants as separated from each   
other by but twenty-four hours4  ,in    
between ,deuteronomy and the ,priestly  
,code1 or a little later still1 lies    
probably the composition of three       
religious works full1 respectively1 of  
exultant thanksgiving1 of the noblest   
insight into the fruitfulness of        
suffering1 and of the deepest           
questionings issuing in childlike trust 
in ,god4 ,for an anonymous writer       
composes 7say1 in #eej ,b4,c47 the great
 bulk of the magnificent chapters forty 
to fifty-five of our ,book of ,isaiah--a
 paean of spiritual exultation over the 
,jews' proximate deliverance from exile 
by the ,persian ,king ,cyrus4 ,in #ech  
,b4,c4 ,cyrus issues the edict for the  

restoration to ,judaea1 and in #eaf the 
,second ,temple is dedicated4 ,within   
this great ,consolation stand 7xlii4    
#a-d2 xlix4 #a-f2 l4 #d-i2 lii4         
#ac-liii4 #ab7 the four poems on the    
,suffering ,servant of ,yahweh--the     
tenderest revelation of the ,old        
,testament--apparently written          
previously in the ,exile1 say in        
#egj-efj ,b4,c4 ,the ,old ,law here     
reaches to the very feet of the ,new    
,law--to the ,lamb of ,god who taketh   
away the sins of the world4 ,and the    
,book of ,job1 in its chief constituents
 7chaps4 i-xxxi1 xxxviii-xlii71 was     
probably composed when ,greek influences
 began--say in about #dhj ,b4,c41 the   
year of the battle of ,thermopylae4 ,the
 canonization of this daringly          
speculative book indicates finely how   
sensitive even the deepest faith and    
holiness can remain to the apparently   
unjust distribution of man's earthly    
lot4  ,our second period ends in #ddd   
,b4,c41 when the priest and scribe ,ezra

 solemnly proclaims1 and receives the   
public subscription to1 the ,book of the
 ,law of ,moses--the ,priestly ,code1   
brought by him from ,babylon4  ,the     
,jewish last period1 from ,ezra's       
,proclamation #ddd ,b4,c4 to the        
completion of the ,fourth ,book of      
,ezra1 about ,a4,d4 #ie1 is 7upon the   
whole7 derivative4 ,amos1 ,isaiah1      
,jeremiah were absorbed in the realities
 of their own epoch-making times1 and of
 ,god's universal governance of the     
world past and future2 ,daniel now1 with
 practically all the other ,apocalyptic 
writers in his train1 is absorbed in    
those earlier prophecies1 and in        
ingenious speculations and precise      
computations as to the how and the when 
of the world's ending4 ,the ,exile had  
given rise to the ,synagogue1 and had   
favoured the final development and      
codifying of the ,mosaic law2 the       
seventy years intermission of the       
,temple sacrifices and symbolic acts had
 turned the worship1 which had been so  

largely visible1 dramatic1 social1 into 
the praying1 singing1 reading1 preaching
 of extant texts1 taken as direct and   
final rules for all thought and action1 
and as incapable of additions or        
interpretations equal in value to       
themselves4 ,yet thus priceless         
treasures of spiritual truth and light  
were handed down to times again aglow   
with great--the greatest religious gifts
 and growths2 and indeed this literature
 itself introduced various conceptions  
or images destined to form a largely    
fitting1 and in the circumstances       
attractive1 garment for the profound    
further realities brought by            
,christianity4  ,in the ,book of ,daniel
 7written somewhere between #afc and    
#afe ,b4,c47 all earthly events appear  
as already inscribed in the heavenly    
books 7vii4 #aj71 and the events which  
have still really to come consist in the
 complete and speedy triumph of the     
,church-,state ,israel against ,king    
,antiochus ,epiphanes4 ,but here we get 

the earliest clear proclamation of a    
heightened life beyond death--though not
 yet for all 7xii4 #b74 ,the noble      
vision of the four great beasts that    
came up from the sea1 and of one like   
unto a ,son of ,man that came with the  
clouds of heaven 7chap4 vii71 doubtless 
here figures the earthly kingdoms1      
,babel1 ,media1 ,persia1 ,greece        
7,alexander71 and ,god's kingdom        
,israel4 ,the ,psalter appears to have  
been closed as late as #adj ,b4,c42 some
 ,psalms doubtless date back to #gja--;a
 few perhaps to ,david himself1 about   
#ajjj ,b4,c4 ,the comminatory ,psalms1  
even if spoken as by representatives of 
,god's ,church and people1 we cannot now
 echo within our own spiritual life2 any
 heightened consciousness after death is
 frequently denied 7e4g4 vi4 #e3 'in the
 grave who shall give thee thanks8' and 
cxv4 #ag3 'the dead praise not the      
,lord'7--we have seen the impressive    
reason of this2 and perhaps a quarter of
 the ,psalms are doubles1 or pale       

imitations of others4 ,but1 for the     
rest1 the ,psalter remains as           
magnificently fresh and powerful as     
ever3 culminating in the glorious       
self-commitment 7,ps4 lxxiii71 ',i was  
as a beast before ,thee4 ,nevertheless  
,i am continually with ,thee4 ,whom have
 ,i in heaven but ,thee1 and there is   
none upon earth that ,i desire beside   
,thee4' ,the keen sense1 present        
throughout this amazingly rich          
collection1 of the reality1 prevenience1
 presence1 protection--of the central   
importance for man1 of ,god1 the        
,all-,abiding1 finds thus its full1     
deathless articulation4  ,religiously   
slighter1 yet interesting as a          
preparation for ,christian theology1 are
 the writings of ,philo1 a devout1      
,greek-trained ,jew of ,alexandria1 who 
in ,a4,d4 #dj appeared before the       
,emperor ,caligula in ,rome4 ,philo does
 not feel his daringly allegorical      
sublimations as any departures from the 
devoutest ,biblical faith4 ,thus ',god  

never ceases from action2 as to burn is 
special to fire1 so is action to        
,god'--this in spite of ,god's rest on  
the seventh day 7,gen4 ii4 #b74 ',there 
exist two kinds of men3 the heavenly man
 and the earthly man4'#db ,the long     
,life of ,moses#dc represents him as the
 ,king1 ,lawgiver1 ,high ,priest1       
,prophet1 ,mediator4 ,the ,word1 the    
,logos 7which here everywhere hovers    
near1 but never reaches1 personality7 is
 'the firstborn son of ,god'1 'the image
 of ,god'#dd2 its types are 'the ,rock'1
 the ,manna1 the ,high ,priest's ,coat2 
it is 'the ,wine ,pourer and ,master of 
the ,drinking ,feast of ,god'4#de ,the  
majority of the ,jews1 who did not      
accept ,jesus as the ,christ1 soon felt 
they had no need for so much allegory1  
and dropped it1 with advantage upon the 
whole1 to the ,jewish faith4 ,but       
already ,st4 ,paul and the ,fourth      
,gospel find here noble mental raiment  
for the great new facts revealed by     
,jesus ,christ4  #b4 ,the ,christian    

,religion we will take1 as to our       
points1 at four stages of its           
development--,synoptic1 ,johannine1     
,augustinian1 ,thomistic4  ,the         
,synoptic material here specially       
concerned we shall find especially in   
,mark i4 #a to xv4 #dg2 but also in     
,matt4 iii4 #a to xxvii4 #ef1 and in    
,luke iii4 #a to xxiii4 #ef4 ,within the
 material thus marked off1 there is no  
greater or lesser authenticity conferred
 by treble1 or double1 or only single   
attestation2 for this material springs  
from two original sources--a collection 
primarily of doings and sufferings1     
which our ,mark incorporates with some  
expansions2 and a collection primarily  
of discourses1 utilized especially by   
,matthew and ,luke in addition to the   
original ,mark4 ,both these sources     
contain the records of eyewitnesses1    
probably ,saints ,peter and ,matthew4   
,the chronological order and the special
 occasions of the growths in our ,lord's
 self-manifestation1 or in the          

self-consciousness of ,his human soul1  
are most carefully given by ,mark and   
next by ,luke4 ,matthew largely ignores 
the stages and occasions of both these  
growths1 and assumes1 as fully explicit 
from the beginning of the ,ministry1    
what was manifested only later on or at 
the last2 and he already introduces     
ecclesiastical and ,christological terms
 and discriminations which1 however     
really implicit as to their substance in
 ,jesus's teaching1 or inevitable 7as to
 their particular form7 for the         
maintenance and propagation of          
,christianity in the near future1 are   
nevertheless still absent from the      
accounts of ,mark and ,luke4  ,the chief
 rules for the understanding of the     
specific character of our ,lord's       
revelation appear to be the following4  
,the life and teaching must be taken    
entire2 and1 within this entirety1 each 
stage must be apprehended in its own    
special peculiarities4 ,the thirty years
 in the home1 the school1 the synagogue1

 the workshop at ,nazareth1 form a      
profoundly important constituent of ,his
 life and teaching--impressively        
contrasted1 as they are1 with the       
probably not full year of the ,public   
,ministry1 even though we are almost    
completely bereft of all details for    
those years of silent preparation4  ,the
 ,public ,ministry1 again1 consists of  
two strongly contrasted stages1 divided 
by the great scene of ,jesus with the   
,apostles alone at ,caesarea ,philippi  
7,mark viii4 #bg-cc2 ,luke ix4 #ah-bb2  
,matt4 xvi4 #ac-bc74 ,the stage before  
is predominantly expansive1 hopeful1    
peacefully growing2 the stage after1 is 
concentrated1 sad1 in conflict1 and in  
storm4 ,to the first stage belong the   
plant parables1 full of exquisite       
sympathy with the unfolding of natural  
beauty and of slow fruitfulness2 to the 
second stage belong the parables of keen
 watchfulness and of the proximate1     
sudden second coming4 ,both movements   
are essential to the physiognomy of our 

,lord4 ,and they are not simply         
differences in self-manifestation2 they 
represent a growth1 a relatively new    
element1 in ,his human soul's experience
 and outlook4  ,the central doctrine in 
the teaching is throughout the ,kingdom 
of ,god4 ,but in the first stage this   
central doctrine appears as especially  
upheld by ,jesus's fundamental          
experience--the ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,in
 the second stage the central doctrine  
appears as especially coloured by       
,jesus's other great experience--of     
,himself as the ,son of ,man4 ,in the   
earlier stage the ,kingdom is presented 
more in the spirit of the ancient       
prophets1 as predominantly ethical1 as  
already come in its beginnings1 and as  
subject to laws analogous to those      
obtaining in the natural world4 ,in the 
second stage the coming of the ,kingdom 
is presented more with the form of the  
apocalyptic writers1 in a purely        
religious1 intensely transcendent1 and  
dualistic outlook--especially this also 

in the ,parables of ,immediate          
,expectation--as not present but future 
7,matt4 xix4 #bh72 not distant but      
imminent 7,matt4 xvi4 #bh2 xxiv4 #cc2   
xxvi4 #fd72 not gradual but sudden      
7,matt4 xxiv4 #bg1 #ci1 #dc72 not at all
 achieved by man but purely given by    
,god 7so still in ,rev4 xxi4 #aj74  ,to 
the earlier stage belongs the great     
,rejoicing of ,jesus 7,matt4 xi4 #be-cj2
 ,luke x4 #ba1 #bb74 ,the splendid      
opening1 ',i thank ,thee1 ,father--for  
so it hath seemed good in ,thy sight'1  
and the exquisite close1 special to     
,matthew1 ',come unto ,me--and my       
burthen is light'1 raise no grave       
difficulty4 ,but the intermediate       
majestic declaration1 ',all things are  
delivered unto ,me by the               
,father--neither knoweth any man the    
,father save the ,son and he to         
whomsoever the ,son will reveal him'1   
causes critical perplexities4  ,i take  
this declaration to be modelled upon    
actual words of ,jesus1 which genuinely 

implied rather than clearly proclaimed a
 unique relation between the ,father and
 ,himself4 ,numerous other words and    
acts involve such a relation and        
,jesus's full consciousness of it4 ,his 
first public act1 ,his baptism1 is      
clearly described by ,mark as a personal
 experience1 ',he saw the heavens       
opened' and heard a heavenly voice      
',thou art my beloved ,son1 in whom ,i  
am well pleased' 7i4 #aj1 #aa74 ,already
 in the first stage ,jesus declares the 
,baptist to be 'more than a prophet'    
7,matt4 xi4 #i71 yet claims superiority 
over him and over ,solomon 7xi4 #aa2    
xii4 #db74 ,his doctrine is new wine    
requiring new bottles 7,mark ii4 #bb72  
indeed ,his whole attitude towards the  
law is that of a superior1 who most     
really exhorts all1 ',learn of ,me'4    
,and soon after ,caesarea ,philippi ,he 
insists to the people3 ',whosoever shall
 be ashamed of ,me in this generation1  
of him also shall the ,son of ,man be   
ashamed1 when ,he cometh in the glory of

 the ,father' 7,mark viii4 #ch74 ,the   
most numerous cures1 physical1          
psychical1 moral1 certainly performed by
 ,him1 appear as the spontaneous effect 
of a unique degree and kind of spiritual
 authority2 and the sinlessness         
attributed to ,him throughout by the    
apostolic community 7#b ,cor4 v4 #ba2   
,heb4 iv4 #ae2 ,john viii4 #df2 #a ,john
 ii4 #bi7 entirely corresponds to the   
absence1 in the records of ,him1 of all 
traits indicating troubles of conscience
 and the corresponding fear of ,god4    
,and this ,his unique ,sonship is       
conjoined1 in the earliest picture of   
,him1 with an endless variety and       
combination of all the joys1            
admirations1 affections1                
disappointments1 desolations1           
temptations possible to such a stainless
 human soul and will4 ,we thus find here
 a comprehensiveness unlike the attitude
 of the ,baptist or ,st4 ,paul1 and     
like1 although far exceeding1 the joy in
 nature and the peace in suffering of   

,st4 ,francis of ,assisi4  ,the ,second 
,stage opens with the great scene at    
,caesarea ,philippi and its sequel      
7given with specially marked            
successiveness in ,mark viii4 #bg-x4    
#de71 when1 for the first time in a     
manner beyond all dispute1 ,mark        
represents ,jesus as adopting the       
designation 'the ,son of ,man' in a     
,messianic and eschatological sense4    
,for our ,lord here promptly corrects   
,peter's conception of ',messiah' by    
repeated insistence upon 'the ,son of   
,man'--,his glory yet also ,his         
sufferings4 ,thus ,jesus adopts the term
 of ,daniel vii4 #ac 7which already the 
,apocalypse of ,enoch had understood of 
a personal ,messiah7 as a succinct      
description of ,his specific            
vocation--its heavenly origin and       
difference from all earthly ,messianism2
 its combination of the depths of human 
weakness1 dereliction1 sufferings with  
the highest elevation in joy1 power and 
glory2 and its connexion of that pain   

with this triumph as strictly           
interrelated--only with and through the 
,cross1 was there here the offer and    
acceptance of the ,crown4  ,as to the   
,passion and ,death1 and the ,risen     
,life1 four points appear to be central 
and secured4 ,neither the ,old          
,testament nor ,jewish ,theology really 
knew of a ,suffering ,messiah4 ,jesus   
,himself clearly perceived1 accepted1   
and carried out this profound new       
revelation4 ,this suffering and death   
were conceived by ,him as the final act 
and crown of ,his service--so in ,mark  
x4 #dd1 #de and ,luke xxii4 #bd-g4 7,all
 this remains previous to1 and          
independent of1 ,st4 ,paul's elaborated 
doctrine as to the strictly vicarious   
and juridical character of the whole47  
,and the ,risen ,life is an objectively 
real1 profoundly operative life--the    
visions of the ,risen ,one were effects 
of the truly living ,jesus1 the ,christ4
  ,the ,second ,christian ,stage1 the   
,johannine writings1 are fully          

understandable only as posterior to ,st4
 ,paul--the most enthusiastic and       
influential1 indeed1 of all our ,lord's 
early disciples1 but a convert1 from the
 activity of a strict persecuting       
,pharisee1 not to the earthly ,jesus1 of
 soul and body1 whom he never knew1 but 
to the heavenly ,spirit-,christ1 whom he
 had so suddenly experienced4 ,saul1 the
 man of violent passions and acute      
interior conflicts1 thus abruptly       
changed in a substantially pneumatic    
manner1 is henceforth absorbed1 not in  
the past ,jewish ,messiah1 but in the   
present universal ,christ2 not in the   
,kingdom of ,god1 but in ,pneuma1 the   
,spirit4 ,christ1 the second ,adam1 is  
here a life-giving ,spirit1 an element  
that surrounds and penetrates the human 
spirit2 we are baptized1 dipped1 into   
,christ1 ,spirit2 we can drink ,christ1 
the ,spirit4 ,and this ,christ-,spirit  
effects and maintains the universal     
brotherhood of mankind1 and articulates 
in particular posts and functions the   

several human spirits1 as variously     
necessary members of the one ,christian 
society and ,church4  ,now the          
,johannine ,gospel indeed utilizes      
considerable ,synoptic materials1 and   
does not1 as ,st4 ,paul1 restrict itself
 to the ,passion and ,resurrection4 ,yet
 it gives us1 substantially1 the        
,spirit-,christ1 the ,heavenly ,man2 and
 the growth1 prayer1 temptation1 appeal 
for sympathy1 dereliction1 agony1 which1
 in the ,synoptists1 are still so real  
for the human soul of ,jesus ,himself1  
appear here as sheer condescensions1 in 
time and space1 of ,him who1 as all     
things good1 descends from the ,eternal 
,above1 so that we men here below may   
ascend thither with ,him4 ,on the other 
hand1 the ,church and the ,sacraments1  
still predominantly implicit in the     
,synoptists1 and the subjects of costly 
conflict and organization in the        
,pauline writings1 here underlie1 as    
already fully operative facts1          
practically the entire profound work4   

,the great dialogue with ,nicodemus     
concerns ,baptism2 the great discourse  
in the synagogue at ,capernaum1 the     
,holy ,eucharist--in both cases1 the    
strict need of these ,sacraments4 ,and  
from the side of the dead ,jesus flow   
blood and water1 as those two great     
,sacraments flow from the everliving    
,christ2 whilst at the ,cross's foot ,he
 leaves ,his seamless coat1 symbol of   
the ,church's indivisible unity4 ,the   
,universalism of this ,gospel is not    
merely apparent3 ',god so loved the     
world' 7iii4 #af71 'the ,saviour of the 
world' 7iv4 #db7--this glorious teaching
 is traceable in many a passage4 ,yet   
,christ here condemns the ,jews--in the 
,synoptists only the ,pharisees2 ,he is 
from above1 they are from below2 all    
those that came before ,him were thieves
 and robbers2 ,he will not pray for the 
world--'ye shall die in your sins'      
7xvii4 #i2 viii4 #bd72 and the          
commandment1 designated here by ,jesus  
as ,his own and as new1 to 'love one    

another'1 is for and within the         
community to which ,he gives ,his       
'example' 7xv4 #ab2 xiii4 #cd7--;in     
contrast with the great double          
commandment of love proclaimed by ,him1 
in the ,synoptists1 as already          
formulated in the ,mosaic ,law 7,mark   
xii4 #bh-cd71 and as directly applicable
 to every fellow-man--indeed1 a         
schismatic ,samaritan is given as the   
pattern of such perfect love 7,luke x4  
#be-cg74  ,deuteronomy gained its full  
articulation in conflict with ,canaanite
 impurity2 the ,johannine writings take 
shape during the earlier battles of the 
long war with ,gnosticism--the most     
terrible foe ever1 so far1 encountered  
by the ,catholic ,church1 and conquered 
by her in open and fair fight4 ,also    
these writings lay much stress upon     
,knowing and the ,truth3 'this is life  
eternal1 to know ,thee1 the only true   
,god and ,jesus ,christ whom ,thou hast 
sent' 7xvii4 #c72 symbolism and         
mysticism prevail very largely2 and1 in 

so far as they are not absorbed in an   
,eternal ,present1 the reception of     
truth and experience is not limited to  
,christ's earthly sojourn--'the ,father 
will give you another ,helper1 the      
spirit of truth who will abide with you 
forever' 7xiv4 #af74 ,yet here the      
knowing and the truth are also deeply   
ethical and social3 'he who doeth the   
truth cometh to the light' 7iii4 #ba72  
and ,christ has a fold1 and other sheep 
not of this fold--them also ,he must    
bring1 there will be one fold1 one      
,shepherd2 indeed1 ministerial          
gradations exist in this one ,church 7so
 in xiii4 #e-aj2 xx4 #c-h2 xxi4 #g-ai74 
,and the ,mysticism here is but an      
emotional intuitive apprehension of the 
great historical figure of ,jesus1 and  
of the most specifically religious of   
all facts--of the already overflowing   
operative existence1 previous to all our
 action1 of ,god1 the ,prevenient ,love4
 ',not we loved ,god 7first71 but ,he   
7first7 loved us1' 'let us love ,him1   

because ,he first loved us1' 'no man can
 come to ,me1 unless the ,father draw   
him'--a drawing which awakens a hunger  
and thirst for ,christ and ,god 7#a     
,john iv4 #aj1 #ai2 ,john vi4 #dd2 iv4  
#ad2 vi4 #ce74  ,the ,third ,stage we   
can find in ,st4 ,augustine1 who1 born a
 ,north ,african ,roman 7,a4,d4 #ced7   
and a convert from an impure life and   
,manichaeism1 with its spatially        
extended ,god 7,a4,d4 #chf71 wrote his  
,confessions in #cig1 lived to          
experience the capture and sack of ,rome
 by ,alaric the ,goth1 #daj1 composed   
his great work1 ,the ,city of ,god1     
amidst the clear dissolution of a mighty
 past and the dim presage of a          
problematical future1 and died at       
,hippo1 his episcopal city1 in #dcj1    
whilst the ,vandals were besieging it4  
,st4 ,augustine is more largely a       
convert and a rigorist even than ,st4   
,paul when ,st4 ,paul is most incisive4 
,but here he shall testify only to the  
natures of ,eternity and of real time1 a

 matter in which he remains unequalled  
in the delicate vividness and balance of
 his psychological analysis and         
religious perception4 ',thou1 ,o ,god1  
precedest all past times by the height  
of ,thine ever-present ,eternity2 and   
,thou exceedest all future times1 since 
they are future1 and1 once they have    
come1 will be past times4 ,all thy years
 abide together1 because they abide2 but
 these our years will all be1 only when 
they all will have ceased to be4 ,thy   
years are but ,one ,day--not every day1 
but ,to-,day4 ,this ,thy ,to-,day is    
,eternity'4#df ,the human soul1 even in 
this life1 has moments of a vivid       
apprehension of ,eternity1 as in the    
great scene of ,augustine and ,monica at
 the window in ,ostia4#dg ,and this our 
sense of ,eternity1 ,beatitude1 ,god1   
proceeds at bottom from ,himself1       
immediately present in our lives2 the   
succession1 duration of man is sustained
 by the ,simultaneity1 the ,eternity of 
,god3 'this day of ours does pass within

 ,thee1 since all these things' of our  
deeper experience 'have no means of     
passing unless1 somehow1 ,thou dost     
contain them all'4 ',behold1 ,thou wast 
within1 and ,i was without 444 ,thou    
wast with me1 but ,i was not with       
,thee4' ',is not the blessed life       
precisely that life which all men       
desire8 ,even those who only hope to be 
blessed would not1 unless they in some  
manner already possessed the blessed    
life1 desire to be blessed1 as1 in      
reality1 it is most certain that they   
desire to be4'#dh ,especially           
satisfactory is the insistence upon the 
futility of the question as to what ,god
 was doing in ,time before ,he created4 
,time is only a quality inherent in all 
creatures2 it never existed of          
itself4#di  ,and our fourth1 last       
,christian ,stage shall be represented  
by ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas 7,a4,d4        
#abbe-gd71 in the one great question    
where this ,norman-,italian ,friar      
,noble1 a soul apparently so largely    

derivative and abstractive1 is more     
complete and balanced1 and penetrates to
 the specific genius of ,christianity   
more deeply1 than ,saints ,paul and     
,augustine with all their greater       
directness and intensity4 ,we saw how   
the deepest originality of our ,lord's  
teaching and temper consisted in ,his   
non-rigoristic earnestness1 in ,his     
non-,gnostic detachment from things     
temporal and spatial4 ,the absorbing    
expectation of the ,second ,coming1     
indeed the old1 largely effete          
,graeco-,roman world1 had first to go1  
the great ,germanic migrations had to be
 fully completed1 the first ,crusades   
had to pass1 before--some twelve        
centuries after ,nazareth and           
,calvary--,christianity attained in     
,aquinas a systematic and promptly      
authoritative expression of this its    
root-peculiarity and power4 ,no one has 
put the point better than ,professor ,e4
 ,troeltsch3 ',the decisive point here  
is the conception1 peculiar to the      

,middle ,ages1 of what is ,christian as 
,supernatural1 or rather the full       
elaboration of the consequences involved
 in the conception of the ,supernatural4
 ,the ,supernatural is now recognized   
not only in the great complicated       
miracle of man's redemption from out of 
the world corrupted by original sin4    
,but the ,supernatural now unfolds      
itself as an autonomous principle of a  
logical1 religious and ethical kind4    
,the creature1 even the perfect         
creature1 is only ,natural--is possessed
 of only natural laws and ends2 ,god    
alone is ,supernatural4 ,hence the      
essence of ,christian ,supernaturalism  
consists in the elevation of the        
creature1 above this creature's         
co-natural limitations1 to ,god's own   
,supernature'4 ,the distinction is no   
longer1 as in the ,ancient ,church1     
between two kinds 7respectively perfect 
and relative7 of the one sole ,natural  
,law2 the distinction here is between   
,natural ,law in general and            

,supernature generally4 ',the           
,decalogue1 in strictness1 is not yet   
the ,christian ,ethic4 ,biblical now    
means revealed1 but not necessarily     
,christian2 for the ,bible represents1  
according to ,aquinas1 a process of     
development which moves through         
universal history and possesses various 
stages4 ,the ,decalogue is indeed       
present in the legislation of ,christ1  
but as a stage preliminary to the       
specifically ,christian ,ethic4 ,the    
formula1 on the contrary1 for the       
specifically ,christian ,moral ,law is  
here the ,augustinian definition of the 
love of ,god as the highest and         
absolute1 the entirely simple1 ,moral   
end--an end which contains the demand of
 the love of ,god in the stricter sense 
7self-sanctification1 self-denial1      
contemplation7 and the demand of the    
love of our neighbour 7the active       
relating of all to ,god1 the active     
interrelating of all in ,god1 and the   
most penetrating1 mutual self-sacrifice 

for ,god74 ,this ,ethic1 a mystical     
interpretation of the ,evangelical      
,preaching1 forms indeed a strong       
contrast to the ,this-,world ,ethic of  
the ,natural ,law1 ,aristotle1 the      
,decalogue and ,natural ,prosperity2 but
 then this cannot fail to be the case1  
given the entire fundamental character  
of the ,christian ,ethic'4#ej  ,thus the
 widest and most primitive contrasts    
here are1 not ,sin and ,redemption      
7though these1 of course1 remain7 but   
,nature 7however good in its kind7 and  
,supernature4 ,the ,state becomes the   
complex of that essentially good thing1 
,nature2 the ,church the complex of that
 different1 higher good1 ,supernature2  
roughly speaking1 where the ,state      
leaves off1 the ,church begins4  ,it    
lasted not long1 before the ,canonists  
and certain ruling ,churchmen helped to 
break up1 in the consciousness of men at
 large1 this noble perception of the    
two-step ladder from ,god to man and    
from man to ,god4 ,and the ,protestant  

,reformers1 as a whole1 went even beyond
 ,saints ,paul and ,augustine in        
exclusive preoccupation with ,sin and   
,redemption4 ,henceforth the single-step
 character of man's call now more than  
ever predominates4 ,the ,protestant     
,reformation1 like the ,french          
,revolution1 marks the existence of     
grave abuses1 the need of large reforms1
 and1 especially on this point1 the all 
but inevitable excessiveness of man once
 he is aroused to such 'reforming'      
action4 ,certainly1 to this hour1       
,protestantism as such has produced1    
within and for religion specifically1   
nothing that can seriously compare1 in  
massive1 balanced completeness1 with the
 work of the short-lived golden ,middle 
,ages of ,aquinas and ,dante4 ,hence1   
for our precise present purpose1 we can 
conclude our ,jewish and ,christian     
survey here4  #c4 ,only a few words     
about ,confucianism1 ,buddhism1         
,mohammedanism1 as these1 in some of    
their main outlines1 illustrate the     

points especially brought out by the    
,jewish ,christian development4         
,confucianism admittedly consists1 at   
least as we have it1 in a greatly       
complicated system of the direct worship
 of ,nature 7,sun1 ,moon1 ,stars        
especially7 and of ,ancestors1 and of a 
finely simple system of ethical rules   
for man's ordinary social intercourse4  
,that ,nature-worship closely resembles 
what the ,deuteronomic reform fought so 
fiercely in ,israel2 and the immemorial 
antiquity and still vigorous life of    
such a worship in ,china indicates      
impressively how little such            
,nature-worship tends1 of itself1 to its
 own supersession by a definite ,theism4
 ,and the ,ethical ,rules1 and their    
very large observance1 illustrate well  
how real can be the existence1 and the  
goodness in its own kind1 of ,natural1  
,this-,world morality1 even where it    
stands all but entirely unpenetrated or 
supplemented by any clear and strong    
supernatural attraction or conviction4  

,buddhism1 in its original form1        
consisted neither in the ,wheel of      
,reincarnation alone1 nor in ,nirvana   
alone1 but precisely in the combination 
of the two2 for that ceaseless flux of  
reincarnation was there felt with such  
horror1 that the ,nirvana--the condition
 in which that flux is abolished--was   
hailed as a blessed release4 ,the       
judgement as to the facts--that all     
human experience is of sheer1 boundless 
change--was doubtless excessive2 but the
 value-judgement--that if life be such  
pure shiftingness1 then the cessation of
 life is the one end for man to work and
 pray for--was assuredly the authentic  
cry of the human soul when fully normal 
and awake4 ,this position thus          
strikingly confirms the whole ,jewish   
and ,christian persistent search for    
permanence in change--for a             
,simultaneity1 the support of our       
succession4  ,and ,mohammedanism1 both  
in its striking achievements and in its 
marked limitations1 indeed also in the  

presentations of it by its own          
spokesmen1 appears as a religion        
primarily not of a special pervasive    
spirit and of large1 variously          
applicable maxims1 but as one of        
precise1 entirely immutable rules4 ,thus
 we find here something not all unlike1 
but mostly still more rigid than1 the   
post-,exilic ,jewish religion--something
 doubtless useful for certain times and 
races1 but which could not expand and   
adapt itself to indefinite varieties of 
growths and peoples without losing that 
interior unity and self-identity so     
essential to all living and powerful    
religion4   ,,iii  ,let us now attempt1 
in a somewhat loose and elastic order1 a
 short allocation and estimate of the   
facts in past and present religion which
 mainly concern the question of         
,religion and ,progress4  ,we ,west     
,europeans have apparently again reached
 the fruitful stage when man is not     
simply alive to this or that physical or
 psychic need1 nor even to the practical

 interest and advantage of this or that 
,art1 ,science1 ,sociology1 ,politics1  
,ethics2 but when he awakens further to 
the question as to why and how these    
several activities1 all so costly where 
at all effectual1 can deserve all this  
sacrifice--can be based in anything     
sufficiently abiding and objective4 ,the
 history of all the past efforts1 and   
indeed all really adequate richness of  
immediate outlook1 combine1 ,i think1 to
 answer that only the experience and the
 conviction of an ,objective ,reality   
distinct from1 and more than1 man1 or   
indeed than the whole of the world      
apprehended by man as less than1 or as  
equal to1 man himself1 can furnish      
sufficiently deep and tenacious roots   
for our sense and need of an objective  
supreme ,beauty1 ,truth1 and            
,goodness--of a living ,reality already 
overflowing that which1 in lesser       
degrees and ways1 we small realities    
cannot altogether cease from desiring to
 become4 ,it is ,religion which1 from   

first to last1 but with increasing      
purity and power1 brings with it this   
evidence and conviction4 ,its sense of  
the ,objective1 ,full ,reality of ,god1 
and its need of ,adoration are quite    
essential to ,religion1 although        
considerable systems1 which are largely 
satisfactory in the more immediate      
questions raised by ,aesthetics and even
 by ,ethics1 and which are sincerely    
anxious to do justice also to the       
religious sense1 are fully at work to   
explain away these essential            
characteristics of all wideawake        
,religion4 ,paul ,natorp1 the           
distinguished ,plato-scholar in         
,germany1 the short-lived pathetically  
eloquent ,m4 ,guyau in ,france1 and1    
above all1 ,benedetto ,croce1 the large 
encyclopaedic mind in ,italy1 have      
influenced or led much of this movement1
 which1 in questions of ,religion1 has  
assuredly not reached the deepest and   
most tenacious teachings of life4  ,the 
intimations as to this deepest ,reality 

certainly arise within my own mind1     
emotion1 will2 and these my faculties   
cannot1 upon the whole1 be constrained  
by my fellow mortals2 indeed1 as men    
grow more manysidedly awake1 all        
attempts at any such constraint only    
arrest or deflect the growth of these   
intimations4 ,yet the dispositions      
necessary for the sufficient            
apprehension of these religious         
intimations--sincerity1                 
conscientiousness1 docility--are not1   
even collectively1 already ,religion1   
any more than they are ,science or      
,philosophy4 ,with these dispositions on
 our part1 objective facts and living   
,reality can reach us--and1 even so1    
these facts reach us practically always1
 at first1 through human teachers       
already experienced in these things4    
,the need of such facts and such persons
 to teach them are1 in the first years  
of every man1 and for long ages in the  
history of mankind1 far more pressing   
than any question of toleration4 ,even  

vigorous persecution or keen            
exclusiveness of feeling have--pace     
,lord ,acton--saved for mankind1 at     
certain crises of its difficult         
development1 convictions of priceless   
worth--as in the ,deuteronomic ,reform  
and the ,johannine ,writings4 ,in       
proportion as men become more           
manysidedly awake1 they acquire at least
 the capacity for greater sensitiveness 
concerning the laws and forces intrinsic
 to the various ranges and levels of    
life2 and1 where such sensitiveness is  
really at work1 it can advantageously   
replace1 by means of the spontaneous    
acceptance of such objective realities1 
the constraints of past                 
ages--constraints which now1 in any     
case1 have become directly mischievous  
for such minds4 ,none the less will men1
 after this change as before1 require   
the corporate experience and            
manifestation of religion as1 in varying
 degrees and ways1 a permanent necessity
 for the vigorous life of religion4     

,indeed1 such corporate tradition       
operates strongly even where men's      
spiritual sense seems most individual1  
or where1 with the retention of some    
ethical nobility of outlook1 they most  
keenly combat all and every religious   
institution4 ,so with ,george ,fox's    
doctrine of the ,divine ,enlightenment  
of every soul separately and without    
mediation of any kind1 a doctrine       
derived by him from that highly         
ecclesiastical document1 the ,gospel of 
,st4 ,john2 and with many a ,jacobin's  
fierce proclamation of the rights of    
,man1 never far away from reminiscences 
of ,st4 ,paul4  ,this permanent         
necessity of ,religious ,institutions is
 primarily a need for men to teach and  
exemplify1 not simply ,natural1         
,this-,world ,morality1 but a           
,supernatural1 ,other-,world ,ethic2 and
 not simply that abstraction1 ,religion 
in ,general or a ,religious ,hypothesis1
 but that rich concretion1 this or that 
,historical ,religion4 ,in proportion as

 such an ,historical ,religion is deep  
and delicate1 it will doubtless contain 
affinities with all that is wholesome   
and real within the other extant        
historical religions4 ,nevertheless1 all
 religions are effectual through their  
special developments1 where these       
developments remain true at all4 ,as    
well deprive a flower of its 'mere      
details' of pistil1 stamen1 pollen1 or  
an insect of its 'superfluous' antennae1
 as simplify any ,historical ,religion  
down to the sorry stump labelled 'the   
religion of every honest man'4 ,we shall
 escape all bigotry1 without lapsing    
into such most unjust indifferentism1 if
 we vigorously hold and unceasingly     
apply the doctrine of such a ,church    
theologian as ,juan de ,lugo4 ,de ,lugo 
7,a4,d4 #aehc-affj71 ,spaniard1         
post-,reformation ,roman ,catholic1     
,jesuit1 ,theological ,professor1 and a 
,cardinal writing in ,rome under the    
eyes of ,pope ,urban ,,viii1 teaches    
that the members of the various         

,christian sects1 of the ,jewish and    
,mohammedan communions1 and of the      
heathen religions and philosophical     
schools1 who achieve their salvation1 do
 so1 ordinarily1 simply through the aid 
afforded by ,god's grace to their good  
faith in its instinctive concentration  
upon1 and in its practice of1 those     
elements in their respective community's
 worship and teaching1 which are true   
and good and originally revealed by     
,god4#ea ,thus we escape all undue      
individualism and all unjust            
equalization of the 7very variously     
valuable7 religious and philosophical   
bodies2 and yet we clearly hold the     
profound importance of the single soul's
 good faith and religious instinct1 and 
of the worship or school1 be they ever  
so elementary and imperfect1 which      
environ such a soul4  ,a man's religion1
 in proportion to its depth1 will move  
in a ,concrete ,time which becomes more 
and more a ,partial ,simultaneity4 ,and 
these his depths then more and more     

testify to1 and contrast with1 the      
,fully ,simultaneous1 ,god4 ,because man
 thus lives1 not in an ever-equal chain 
of mutually exclusive moments1 in ,clock
 ,time1 but in ,duration1 with its      
variously close interpenetrations of the
 successive parts2 and because these    
interpenetrations are close in          
proportion to the richness and          
fruitfulness of the durations he lives  
through2 he can1 indeed he must1        
conceive absolutely perfect life as     
absolutely simultaneous4 ,god is thus   
not ,unending1 but ,eternal2 the very   
fullness of ,his life leaves no room or 
reason for succession and our poor need 
of it4 ,dr4 ,f4 ,c4 ,s4 ,schiller has   
admirably drawn out this grand doctrine1
 with the aid of ,aristotle's ,unmoving 
,action1 in ,humanism1 #aijc1 pp4       
#bjd-bg4 ,we need only persistently     
apprehend this ,simultaneity as         
essential to ,god1 and ,succession as   
varyingly essential to all creatures1   
and there remains no difficulty--at     

least as regards the ,time-element--in  
the doctrine of ,creation4 ,for only    
with the existence of creatures does    
,time thus arise at all--it exists only 
in and through them4 ,and assuredly all 
finite things1 that we know at all1 bear
 traces of a history involving a        
beginning and an end4 ,professor        
,bernardino ,varisco1 in his great ,know
 ,thyself1 has noble pages on this large
 theme4#eb ,in any case we must beware  
of all more or less ,pantheistic        
conceptions of the simultaneous life of 
,god and the successive life of         
creatures as but essential and necessary
 elements of one single                 
,divine-,creaturely existence1 in the   
manner1 e4g41 of ,professor ,josiah     
,royce1 in his powerful work ,the ,world
 and the ,individual1 #bnd series1      
#aija4 ,all such schemes break down     
under an adequate realization of those  
dread facts error and evil4 ,a certain  
real independence must have been left by
 ,god to reasonable creatures4 ,and let 

it be noted carefully3 the great        
difficulty against all ,theism lies in  
the terrible reality of ,evil2 and the  
deepest adequacy of this same ,theism1  
especially of ,christianity1 consists in
 its practical attitude towards1 and    
success against1 this most real ,evil4  
,but ,pantheism increases1 whilst       
seeming to surmount1 the theoretical    
difficulty1 since the world as it       
stands1 and not an ,ultimate ,reality   
behind it1 is held to be perfect2 and it
 entirely fails really to transmute     
,evil in practice4 ,theism1 no more than
 any other outlook1 really explains     
,evil2 but it alone1 in its fullest1    
,jewish-,christian forms1 has done more1
 and better1 than explain ,evil3 it has 
fully faced1 it has indeed greatly      
intensified1 the problem1 by its noble  
insistence upon the reality and         
heinousness of ,sin2 and it has then    
overcome all this ,evil1 not indeed in  
theory1 but in practice1 by actually    
producing in the midst of deep          

suffering1 through a still deeper faith 
and love1 souls the living expression of
 the deepest beatitude and peace4  ,the 
fully ,simultaneous ,reality awakens and
 satisfies man's deepest1 most nearly   
simultaneous life1 by a certain         
adaptation of its own intrinsic life to 
these human spirits4 ,in such varyingly 
'incarnational' acts or action the      
non-successive ,god ,himself condescends
 to a certain successiveness2 but this1 
in order to help ,his creatures to      
achieve as much simultaneity as is      
compatible with their several ranks and 
calls4 ,we must not wonder if1 in the   
religious literature1 these             
condescensions of ,god largely appear as
 though they themselves were more or    
less non-successive2 nor1 again1 if the 
deepest religious consciousness tends   
usually to conceive ,god's outward      
action1 if future1 then as proximate1   
and1 if present1 then as strictly       
instantaneous4 ,for ,god in ,himself is 
indeed ,simultaneous2 and if we try to  

picture ,simultaneity by means of       
temporal images at all1 then the        
instant1 and not any period long or     
short1 is certainly nearest to the      
truth--as regards the form and vehicle  
of the experience4  ,the greater acts of
 ,divine ,condescension and             
,self-,revelation1 our ,religious       
,accessions1 have mostly occurred at    
considerable intervals1 each from the   
other1 in our human history4 ,after they
 have actually occurred1 these several  
acts can be compared and arranged1      
according to their chief                
characteristics1 and even in a series of
 7upon the whole7 growing content and   
worth--hence the ,science of ,religion4 
,yet such ,science gives us no power to 
produce1 or even to foresee1 any further
 acts4 ,these great ,accessions of      
,spiritual ,knowledge and ,experience   
are not the simple result of the        
conditions obtaining previously in the  
other levels of life1 or even in that of
 religion itself2 they often much       

anticipate1 they sometimes greatly lag  
behind1 the rise or decline of the other
 kinds of life4 ,and where 7as with the 
great ,jewish ,prophets1 and1 in some   
degree1 with ,john the ,baptist and ,our
 ,lord7 these ,accessions do occur at   
times of national stress1 these several 
crises are1 at most1 the occasion for   
the demand1 not the cause of the supply4
  ,the mostly long gaps between these   
,accessions have been more or less      
filled up1 amongst the peoples          
concerned1 by varyingly vigorous and    
valuable attempts to articulate and     
systematize1 to apply in practice1 and  
rightly to place 7within the other      
ranges of man's total life7 these great1
 closely-packed masses of spiritual     
fact2 or to elude1 to deflect1 or       
directly to combat them1 or some of     
their interpretations or applications4  
,now fairly steady improvement is       
possible1 desirable1 and largely actual1
 in the critical sifting and            
appraisement1 as to the dates and the   

actual reality1 of the historical       
documents and details of these          
,accessions2 in the philosophical       
articulation of their doctrinal and     
evidential content2 in the finer        
understanding and wider application of  
their ethical demands2 and in the       
greater adequacy 7both as to firmness   
and comprehensiveness7 of the           
institutional organs and incorporations 
special to these same ,accessions4 ,all 
this can and does progress1 but mostly  
slowly1 intermittently1 with short      
violent paroxysms of excess and long    
sleepy reactions of defect1 with        
one-sidedness1 travesties1 and--worst of
 all--with worldly indifference and     
self-seeking4 ,the grace and aid of the 
,simultaneous ,richness are here also   
always necessary2 nor can these things  
ever really progress except through a   
deep religious sense--all mere          
scepticism and all levelling down are   
simply so much waste4 ,still1 we can    
speak of progress in the ,science of    

,religion more appropriately than we can
 of progress in the ,knowledge of       
,religion4  ,the ,crusades1 the         
,renaissance1 the ,revolution1 no doubt 
exercised1 in the long run1 so potent a 
secularizing influence1 because men's   
minds had become too largely            
other-worldly--had lost a sufficient    
interest in this wonderful world2 and   
hence all those new1 apparently         
boundless outlooks and problems were    
taken up largely as a revolt and escape 
from what looked like a                 
prison-house--religion4 ,yet through all
 these violent oscillations there       
persisted1 in human life1 the           
supernatural need and call4 ,in this    
,god is the great central interest1 love
 and care of the soul4 ,we must look to 
it that both these interests and ,ethics
 are kept awake1 strong and distinct    
within a costingly rich totality of     
life3 the ,ethic of the honourable      
citizen1 merchant1 lawyer--of ,confucius
 and ,socrates2 and the ,ethic of the   

,jewish ,prophets at their deepest1 of  
the ,suffering ,servant1 of our ,lord's 
,beatitudes1 of ,st4 ,paul's great      
eulogy of love1 of ,augustine and       
,monica at the window in ,ostia1 of     
,father ,damian's voluntarily dying a   
leper amidst the lepers4 ,the ,church is
 the born incorporation of this pole1 as
 the ,state is of the other4 ,the       
,church indeed should1 at its lower     
limit1 also encourage the ,this-world   
,stage2 the ,state1 at its higher limit1
 can1 more or less consciously1 prepare 
us for the ,other-,world ,stage4 ,both  
spring from the same ,god1 at two levels
 of ,his action2 both concern the same  
men1 at two stages of their response and
 need4 ,yet the primary duty of the     
,state is turned to this life2 the      
primary care of the ,church1 to that    
life--to life in its deepest depths4    
,will men1 after this great war1 more   
largely again apprehend1 love1 and      
practise this double polarity of their  
lives8 ,only thus will the truest       

progress be possible in the             
understanding1 the application1 and the 
fruitfulness of ,religion1 with its     
great central origin and object1 ,god1  
the beginning and end of all our true   
progress1 precisely because ,he ,himself
 already possesses immeasurably more    
than all ,he helps us to become1--,he   
,who1 even now already1 is our ,peace in
 ,action1 our ,joy even in the ,cross4  
,,books ,,for ,,reference  ,i4   #a4    
,oswold ,kuelpe1 ,the ,philosophy of the
 ,present in ,germany1      ,english    
translation4 ,london3 ,george ,allen1   
#aiac1 #cs4 #f;d4      net4       #b4   
,j4 ,mc,keller ,stewart1 ,a ,critical   
,exposition of ,bergon's                
,philosophy4 ,london3 ,macmillan1 #aiac1
 #fs4 net4  ,,ii4  #a4 ,r4 ,h4 ,charles1
 ,a ,critical ,history of the ,doctrine 
of a ,future      ,life4 ,london3 ,a4   
,c4 ,black1 #ahii1 #ajs4 #f;d4 net4     
#b4 ,ernest ,t4 ,scott1 ,the ,fourth    
,gospel4 ,edinburgh3 ,t4  ,t4           
,clark1 #aijf1 #fs4 net4  ,,iii4 #a4    

,aliotta1 ,the ,idealistic ,reaction    
against ,science4 ,english              
translation4 ,macmillan1 #aiad1 #abs4   
net4       #b4 ,f4 ,c4 ,schiller1       
,humanism1 ,macmillan1 #aijc1 #gs4 #f;d4
 net4       #c4 ,c4 ,c4 ,j4 ,webb1      
,group ,theories of ,religion and the   
,individual1      ,allen and ,unwin1    
#aiaf1 #es4 net4   ,,footnotes3  #cb    
,the ,idealistic ,reaction against      
,science1 ,engl4 tr4 #aiad1 pp4 #f1 #g4 
#cc ,a ,critical ,account of the        
,philosophy of ,lotze1 #ahie1 p4 #ajd4  
#cd ,aliotta1 op4 cit41 pp4 #hi1 #ahg4  
#ce ,encyl4 ,brit41 ',psychology1' #aath
 ed41 p4 #egg4  #cf ,ed4 #ahih1 p4 #ij4 
#cg ,discours sur la ,methode1 #afcg1   
,i,ve ,partie4  #ch ,aliotta1 op4 cit41 
p4 #djh4  #ci ,ed4 #ahic1 vol4 ii1 p4   
#gei4  #dj ,first ,principles1 #fth ed41
 #aijj1 vol4 i1 p4 #fg4  #da ,article1  
',moses1' in ,die ,religion in          
,geschichte und ,gegenwart1 #aiac4  #db 
,ed4 ,mangey1 vol4 i1 pp4 #dd1 #di4  #dc
 ,ibid41 pp4 #hj-agi4  #dd ,ibid41 pp4  

#cjh1 #dbg4  #de ,ibid41 pp4 #bac1 #aba1
 #efb1 #fia4  #df ,conf4 x1 #ac1 #b4    
#dg ,autumn1 #chg4  #dh ,conf4 #a1 #f1  
#c2 x1 #bg2 x1 #bj4  #di ,conf4 xi1 #ac4
  #ej ,die ,soziallehren der            
christlichen ,kirchen und ,gruppen1     
#aiab1 pp4 #bfc-e4  #ea ,de ,fide1      
,disp4 xix1 #g1 #aj2 xx1 #ajg1 #aid4    
#eb ,cognosci ,te ,stesso1 #aiab1 pp4   
#add-g4     ,,vi  ,,moral ,,progress    
,l4 ,p4 ,,jacks   ,from the syllabus of 
all the lectures in this course ,i      
gather that every lecturer on the       
programme is dealing with the question  
of moral progress4 ,this is inevitable4 
,each lecturer must show that the       
particular sort of progress he is       
dealing with is real or genuine         
progress1 and this it cannot be unless  
it is moral4 ,that is itself a          
significant fact and throws a valuable  
light on our subject4 ,it shows that    
progress1 as it is studied throughout   
the course1 is not progress in the      
abstract1 whatever that may mean1 but   

progress for us constituted as we are2  
and since our constitution is           
essentially moral all progress that we  
can recognize as such must be moral     
also4 ,science1 ,industry1 ,government1 
might all claim progress on their own   
ground and in their own nature1 but this
 would not prove progress as we         
understand the word1 unless it could be 
shown further that these things         
contribute to human betterment in the   
highest sense of the word4 ,their       
progress might conceivably involve our  
regress4  ,to believe in moral progress 
as an historical fact1 as a process that
 has begun1 and is going on1 and will be
 continued--that is one thing1 and it is
 my own position4 ,to believe that this 
progress is far advanced is another     
thing1 and is not my position4 ,while   
believing in ,moral ,progress as a fact1
 ,i also believe that we are much nearer
 to the beginnings of it than the end4  
,we should do well to accustom ourselves
 to this thought4 ,many of our despairs1

 lamentations1 and pessimisms are       
disappointments which arise from our    
extravagant notions of the degree of    
progress already attained4 ,there has   
been a great deal of what ,i have called
 philosophic pharisaism4 ,perhaps it    
would be better called aeonic           
pharisaism4 ,i mean the spirit in the   
present age which seems to say ',i thank
 thee1 ,o ,god1 that ,i am not as former
 ages3 ignorant1 barbaric1 cruel1       
unsocial2 ,i read books1 ride in        
aeroplanes1 eat my dinner with a knife  
and fork1 and cheerfully pay my taxes to
 the ,state2 ,i study human science1    
talk freely about humanity1 and spend   
much of my time in making speeches on   
social questions'4 ,now there is truth  
in all this1 but not the kind of truth  
which should lead us to self-flattery4  
,a good rule for optimists would be     
this3 ',believe in moral progress1 but  
do not believe in too much of it4' ,i   
think there would be more optimists in  
the world1 more cheerfulness1 more      

belief in moral progress1 if we candidly
 faced the fact that morally considered 
we are still in a neolithic age1 not    
brutes indeed any longer1 and yet not so
 far outgrown the brutish stage as to   
justify these trumpetings4 ,one of the  
beneficent lessons of the present war   
has been to moderate our claims in this 
respect4 ,it has revealed us to         
ourselves as nothing else in history has
 ever done1 and it has revealed1 among  
other things1 that moral progress is not
 nearly so advanced as we thought it    
was4 ,it has been a terrible blow to the
 pharisaism of which ,i have just       
spoken4 ,it has not discredited science1
 nor philosophy1 nor government1 nor    
anything else that we value1 but it has 
shown that these things have not brought
 us as far as we thought4 ,that very    
knowledge1 when you come to think of it1
 is itself a very distinct step in moral
 progress4 ,before the war we were      
growing morally conceited2 we thought   
ourselves much better1 more advanced in 

morality1 than we really were1 and this 
conceit was acting as a real barrier to 
our farther advance4 ,a sharp lesson was
 needed to take this conceit out of     
us--to remind us that as yet we are only
 at the bare beginnings of moral        
advance--and not1 as some of us fondly  
imagined1 next door to the goal4 ,this  
sudden awakening to the truth is full of
 promise for the future4  ,and now what 
is the cause of these exaggerated       
notions which so many of us have        
entertained8 ,i think they arise from   
our habit of letting ourselves be guided
 by words rather than by realities1 by  
what men are saying rather than by what 
they are doing1 by what teachers are    
teaching than by what learners are      
learning4 ,if you take your stand in the
 realm of words1 of doctrines1 of       
theories1 of philosophies1 of books1    
preachings1 and uttered ideals1 you     
might make out a strong case for a high 
degree of moral progress actually       
attained4 ,but if you ask how much of   

this has been learnt by mankind at      
large1 and learnt in such a way as to   
issue in practice1 you get a different  
story4 ,we have attached too much       
importance to the first story and too   
little to the second4 ,there has been a 
great deal of false emphasis in         
consequence4 ,this false emphasis is    
especially prominent in the education   
controversy which is now going on--and  
the question of moral progress1 by the  
way1 is the question of education in the
 widest and highest sense of the term4  
,people seem quite content so long as   
they can get the right thing taught4    
,they don't always see that unless the  
right thing is taught by the right      
people and in the right way it will not 
be learnt4 ,now education is ultimately 
a question of what is being learnt1 not 
of what is being taught4 ,the process of
 learning is a very curious and         
complicated one1 and it often happens   
that what goes in at the teacher's end  
comes out at the pupil's end in a wholly

 different form and with a wholly       
different value2 and we have the highest
 authority for believing that what      
really counts is not so much that which 
goeth into a man but that which cometh  
out of him4 ,that applies to all        
education--especially moral education4  
,so that if you argue from what has gone
 into the human race in the way of moral
 teaching you may be greatly surprised  
and perhaps disappointed when you       
compare it with what has come out of the
 human race in the meantime4 ,what has  
been taught is not what has been learnt4
 ,it has suffered a sea change in the   
process4 ,nor is the question wholly one
 of learning4 ,there is the further     
question of remembering4 ,i believe that
 a candid examination of the facts would
 convince us that the human race has    
proved itself a forgetful pupil4 ,it has
 not always retained what it has learnt4
 ,emerson has said that no account of   
the ,holy ,ghost has been lost4 ,but how
 did ,emerson find that out8 ,the only  

accents ,emerson knew of were those     
which the world happened to have        
remembered4 ,if any had been lost in the
 meantime ,emerson naturally would not  
know of their existence4 ,i have heard  
of a functionary1 whose precise office  
,i am not able to define1 called 'the   
,lord's ,remembrancer'4 ,it would be a  
great help to ,moral ,progress if we had
 in modern life a ,people's             
,remembrancer4 ,his place is occupied to
 some extent by the study of history1   
and for that reason one could wish for  
the sake of ,moral ,progress that the   
study of history were universal4 ,for my
 own part ,i seldom open a book of      
history without recovering what for me  
is a lost account of the ,holy ,ghost4  
,next to conceit ,i reckon forgetfulness
 as the greatest enemy of ,moral        
,progress4 ,i suppose ,rudyard ,kipling 
had something of this in mind when he   
wrote his poem--      ,lord ,god of     
,hosts be with us yet1     ,lest we     
forget1 lest we forget4  ,another cause 

of our over-estimate of ,moral ,progress
 is that we have thought too much of the
 abstract ,state and too little of the  
actual ,states now in being4 ,our       
devotion to 'the' ,state as an ideal has
 led us to overlook the fact that many  
actual ,states represent a form of      
morality so low that it is doubtful if  
it can be called morality at all4 ,in   
their relations with one another they   
display qualities which would disgrace  
the brutes4 ,and the worst of it is that
 at times these ,states drag down to    
their own low level the morality of the 
individuals belonging to them4 ,thus at 
the present moment we see quite decent  
,englishmen and quite decent ,germans   
tearing one another to pieces like mad  
dogs1 a thing they would never dream of 
doing as between man and man1 and which 
they do only because they are in the    
grip of forces alien to their own       
nature4 ,we have overestimated ,progress
 by thinking only of what is happening  
inside each of the ,states4 ,we have    

forgotten to consider the bearing of the
 ,states to one another1 which remains  
on a level lower than that of           
individuals4  ,the impression has gone  
abroad that the nations of the world    
need to take only one step from the     
position where they now stand to        
accomplish the final unity of all       
mankind4 ,taking any one of these       
nations--our own for example--we can    
trace the steps by which the warring    
elements within it have become          
reconciled1 until finally there has     
emerged that vast unitary               
corporation--the ,british ,empire4 ,so  
with all the others4 ,what more is      
required therefore than one step further
 in the same direction1 to join up all  
the ,states into a single world ,state4 
,but ,i am bound to think we are too    
hasty in treating the unity of mankind  
as needing only one step more4 ,it is   
not so easy as all that4 ,when you study
 the process by which unity has been    
brought about in the various ,european  

communities you find that motives of    
conquest and corresponding motives of   
defence have had a great deal to do with
 it4 ,germany1 for example1 was built up
 and now holds together as a fighting   
unit4 ,whether ,germany and the other   
,states would still maintain their      
cohesion when they were no longer       
fighting units1 and when the motives of 
conquest and defence were no longer in  
operation1 is a question on which ,i    
should not like to dogmatize either way4
 ,certainly we have no right to assume  
offhand that the unifying process which 
has given the nations the mass cohesion 
and efficiency they require for holding 
their own against enemy ,states would   
still remain in full power when there   
were no longer any enemy ,states to be  
considered4  ,but what do we mean by    
,progress8  ,progress may be defined as 
that process by which a thing advances  
from a less to a more complete state of 
itself4 ,now whether this process is a  
desirable one or not obviously depends  

on the nature of the thing which is     
progressing4 ,take the largest and most 
inclusive of all things--the whole      
world4 ,and now suppose philosophy to   
have proved that the world1 the whole   
world1 is advancing from a less to a    
more complete state of itself--which as 
a matter of fact is what the doctrine of
 evolution claims to have proved4 ,ought
 ,i to rejoice in this discovery8 ,will 
it give me satisfaction8 ,that clearly  
depends on the nature of the world4 ,if 
,i am antecedently assured that the     
world is good1 ,i shall naturally       
rejoice on hearing that it is advancing 
from a less to a more complete state of 
itself4 ,but if the nature of the world 
is evil1 what reason can ,i possibly    
have for rejoicing in its evolution8    
,assuming the world to be evil in its   
essential nature1 ,i for my part1 if ,i 
were consulted in the matter1 would     
certainly give my vote against its being
 allowed to advance from a less to a    
more complete state of itself4 ,the less

 such a world progresses the easier it  
will be for moral beings to live in it4 
,our interest lies in its remaining as  
undeveloped as possible4  ,obvious as   
this seems there are some evolutionists 
who take a rather different view4 ,they 
seem to think that any sort of world1 no
 matter what its nature might be1 would 
ultimately become a good world if it    
were allowed to develop its nature far  
enough4 ,it is just the fact of its     
continually becoming more of itself that
 makes it good4 ,but this would compel  
us to abandon our definition that       
progress is the advance of a thing from 
a less to a more complete state of      
itself4 ,for if itself were a bad self  
to begin with all such advance of itself
 would only make it worse4 ,it is       
possible that an essentially bad man    
like ,iago might be converted into a    
good one1 but not by advancing from a   
less to a more complete state of himself
 as he originally was--unless indeed we 
change the hypothesis and suppose that  

he was not essentially bad to begin     
with4 ,so with the world at large4 ,our 
nature being what it is1 namely moral1  
we must first be convinced that the     
world is in principle good before we can
 derive the least satisfaction from     
knowing that it is advancing from a less
 to a more complete state of itself4    
,the alternative doctrine makes a breach
 in the doctrine of progress which is   
inconsistent with its original form4 ,a 
thing develops by retaining its         
essential nature--that is the original  
form4 ,but a bad world which develops   
into a good one doesn't retain its      
essential nature4 ,there comes a point  
somewhere when the next step of progress
 can be achieved only by the thing      
dropping its original nature--a point at
 which the thing is no longer becoming  
more of its former self1 which was bad1 
but is ceasing to be its former self    
altogether and becoming something else1 
which is good4  ,let us apply this to   
progress in three specific              

directions--,science1 the ,mechanical   
,arts1 and ,government4  ,we find that  
the progress of science has enormously  
increased man's power over the forces of
 nature4 ,is it a good thing that man's 
power over the forces of nature should  
be increased8 ,that surely depends on   
the manner in which this power is used1 
and this depends again on the moral     
nature of man4 ,when we observe1 as we  
may truly observe1 especially at the    
present time1 that of all the single    
applications which man has made of      
science1 the most extensive and perhaps 
the most efficient is that of devising  
implements for destroying his brother   
man1 it is at least permissible to raise
 the question whether the progress of   
science has contributed on the whole to 
the progress of humanity4 ,had it not   
been for the progress of science1 which 
has enormously increased the wealth of  
the world1 it is doubtful if this war1  
which is mainly a war about wealth1     
would have taken place at all4 ,or if a 

war had broken out1 it would not have   
involved the appalling destruction of   
human life and property we are now      
witnessing--such that1 within a space of
 two years1 about six million human     
beings have been killed1 thirty-five    
millions wounded1 and wealth destroyed  
to the extent of about fifteen thousand 
millions sterling--though some say it is
 very much more4 ,science taught us to  
make this wealth3 science has also      
taught us how to destroy it4 ,when one  
thinks of how much of this is           
attributable to the progress of science1
 ,i say it is permissible to raise the  
question whether man is a being who can 
safely be entrusted with that control   
over the forces of nature which science 
gives him4 ,what if he uses this power1 
as he plainly can do1 for his own       
undoing8 ,to ask this1 as we can hardly 
help asking1 is to transfer the question
 of scientific progress into the sphere 
of morality4 ,it is conceivable that the
 progress of science might involve for  

us no progress at all4 ,it might be1 and
 some have feared that it may become1 a 
step towards the self-destruction of the
 human race4  ,take the mechanical arts4
 ,the chief effects of progress in the  
mechanical arts have been an enormous   
increase in the material wealth of      
mankind1 and1 partly consequent upon    
this1 a parallel growth of population in
 the industrial countries of the world4 
,it is by no means clear that either of 
these things constitutes a definite step
 in human progress4 ,consider the growth
 of population--the immense increase in 
the total bulk and volume of the human  
race4 ,whether this constitutes a clear 
gain to humanity obviously cannot be    
answered without reference to moral     
considerations4 ,to increase the        
arithmetical quantity of life in the    
world can be counted a gain only if the 
general tendencies of life are in the   
right direction4 ,if they are in the    
wrong direction1 then the more lives    
there are to yield to these tendencies  

the less reason has the moralist to be  
satisfied with what is happening4 ,no   
one1 so far as ,i know1 has ever        
seriously maintained that the end and   
aim of progress is to increase the      
number of human beings up to the limit  
which the planet is able to support2    
though some doctrines if pressed to     
their conclusion would lead to that1    
notably the doctrine that all morality  
rests ultimately on the instinct for the
 preservation and the reproduction of   
life4 ,we have first to be convinced    
that the human race is not on the wrong 
road before we can look with complacency
 on the increase of its numbers4 ,we may
 note in this connexion that mankind    
possesses no sort of collective control 
over its own mass or volume4 ,the mass  
or total number of lives involved is    
determined by forces which are not      
subject to the unitary direction of any 
existing human will either individual or
 collective4 ,this applies not only to  
the human race as a whole1 but to       

particular communities4 ,their growth is
 unregulated4 ,they just come to be what
 they are in point of size4 ,this fact  
seems to me a very important one to bear
 in mind when we talk of the progress of
 science giving us control over the     
forces of nature4 ,so far no state1 no  
government1 no community has won any    
effective control over that group of the
 forces of nature which determine the   
total size of the community in question4
 ,it is an aspect of human destiny which
 appears to be left to chance2 and yet  
when we consider what it means1 is there
 any aspect of human destiny on which   
such tremendous consequences depend8    
,and ought we not to consider this      
before claiming1 as we so often claim1  
that the progress of science has given  
us control of the forces of nature8 ,it 
is strange that this point has not been 
more considered1 especially by thinkers 
who are fond of the word                
'humanity'--'the good of humanity'--or  
the 'greatest happiness of the greatest 

number'4 ,humanity has an arithmetical  
or quantitative side1 and the good of   
humanity surely depends1 to some extent1
 on how much humanity there is4 ,i can  
imagine many things which might be good 
for a ,greek city state of #aj1jjj souls
 which would not be good1 or not good in
 the same sense1 for a community of     
#ajj1jjj1jjj souls4 ,surely it needs no 
reasoning to prove that our power to do 
our duty to others is affected by the   
number of others to whom duty has to be 
done--it makes a difference where there 
are #aj1jjj of men or #ajj1jjj1jjj4     
,similarly with the greatest happiness  
of the greatest number4 ,what is the    
greatest number8 ,a great deal that has 
been said about this would not have been
 said if we had considered that the     
greatest number itself is left at the   
disposal of forces outside the present  
scope of our own will4 ,even the        
proposal to sell our goods and give the 
proceeds to the poor would surely be    
affected1 from the moral point of view1 

by the number of the poor who were to   
receive the distribution4 ,were this so 
small that the poor would get five      
pounds apiece it would be one question2 
were it so large that they would receive
 a halfpenny apiece it would be another 
question4 ,thus we may conclude that the
 progress of the mechanical arts with   
the consequent increase in the bulk of  
the human race has not solved the       
problem of moral progress1 but only     
placed that problem in a new and more   
perplexing context4 ,a similar          
conclusion would meet us if we were to  
consider the parallel increase of the   
wealth of the world4 ,the moral question
 is not about the amount of wealth the  
world possesses1 but about the way men  
spend it and the use they make of it4   
,industrially speaking1 the human race  
has made its fortune during the last    
hundred years4 ,but has it made up its  
mind what to do with the fortune8 ,and  
has its mind been made up in the right  
way8 ,to raise these questions is to see

 that progress from the economic point  
of view may be the reverse of progress  
from the moral4 ,but ,i shall not       
further enlarge upon this--the theme    
being too familiar4  ,the third question
 which relates itself to moral progress 
is that of ,government4 ,now            
,government1 ,i need hardly say1 is not 
an end in itself4 ,it is a device which 
man has set up to help him in attaining 
the true end of his life4 ,to make up   
our minds how we ought to be governed is
 therefore impossible unless we have    
previously made up our minds how we     
ought to live4 ,what might be a good    
government for a people whose end is    
industrial success might be a very bad  
one for a people who had some other end 
in view4 ,well1 then1 are we well       
governed at the present time8 ,are we   
better governed than we were8 ,has      
progress taken place in this department8
 ,plainly we cannot answer these        
questions unless we have chosen our end 
in life and are morally satisfied with  

it4 ,in the history of modern states we 
discover a tendency1 more strongly      
marked in some quarters than in others1 
towards that form of democracy which is 
called responsible self-government4     
,government of the people1 for the      
people1 by the people4 ,the people are  
going to govern themselves4 ,but they   
may do so in a thousand different       
ways--each of which has a different     
moral value4 ,a people may go wrong just
 as fatally in governing itself as in   
being governed by some external         
authority4 ,i confess that nothing ,i   
can learn from the history of government
 entirely reassures me on this point4 ,i
 see everywhere progress towards        
organization1 but then one is bound to  
ask on what ulterior end is this        
organization directed8 ,i see everywhere
 a growing subordination of the         
individual to the ,state4 ,this may or  
may not be a very good thing4 ,what kind
 of ,state is it to which the individual
 is becoming subordinated8 ,there are   

great differences among them--some seem 
to me1 one in particular at the present 
time1 thoroughly bad1 and ,i cannot see 
that the individual gains morally by    
being subordinated to such a ,state--at 
least if he gains in one direction he   
loses more in another4  ,even the social
 unity which ,governments are capable of
 achieving must not be too hastily      
translated into moral progress4 ,we are 
entitled to ask several questions before
 the one can be equated with the other4 
,to begin with1 do men know what they   
want to achieve by their unified life8  
,and if they do know what they want1    
have we not still the right to criticize
 its moral value and say 'this is right'
 or this is wrong8 ,should the time ever
 come when the common will of mankind   
should get itself expressed by the      
decrees of a universal democracy1 would 
moral criticism be at an end so far as  
the said decrees were concerned8 ,for my
 part ,i cannot see that it would4      
,perhaps it were truer to say that only 

then would moral criticism effectively  
begin4 ,as things now are1 we are       
prevented from criticizing the common   
will because none of us knows what      
exactly the common will demands4 ,but if
 it could get itself expressed and      
defined by the decrees of a perfect     
democracy we should know4 ,those decrees
 would reveal the human community to    
itself1 and it is possible that the     
revelation would not be altogether      
agreeable to our moral sense4 ,we might 
then discover that the common will is   
capable of being grossly immoral4 ,so   
far it has been impossible for us to    
make this discovery because no organ    
exists for expressing the common will on
 the human scale1 and even those which  
express it on the national scale are not
 perfect4 ,i am far from saying the     
discovery would be made2 but ,i know of 
no line of argument which rules it out  
as impossible4 ,meanwhile we are        
scarcely justified in regarding the     
common will as necessarily moral until  

we know more than we do of what         
precisely it is that the common will    
aims at and intends to achieve4 ,to back
 the common will through thick and thin1
 as some of our philosophers seem       
disposed to do1 is a dangerous          
speculation--it might perhaps be        
described as putting your money on a    
dark horse4  ,this leads me to say a    
word concerning a phrase which has been 
much in use of late--the ,collective    
,wisdom of ,mankind1 or the ,collective 
,wisdom of the ,state4 ,progress is     
sometimes defined as a gradual approach 
to a state of things where this         
collective wisdom rules the course of   
events4 ,and collective wisdom is       
sometimes represented as vastly wiser   
than that possessed by any individual1  
even the wisest4  ,now if this really is
 so it seems pretty obvious that1 when  
the collective wisdom speaks1 no        
individual can have the right of appeal4
 ,what are you1 what am ,i1 that either 
of us should set up our private         

intelligence against the intelligence of
 forty million of our fellow citizens8  
,that surely would be a preposterous    
claim4 ,the collective wisdom must know 
best3 at least it knows much better than
 you or ,i4  ,but is the collective     
wisdom of the ,state so immensely       
superior to that of the individual1 and 
of necessity so8 ,have we any means of  
bringing the matter to the test8 ,it is 
extremely difficult to do so4 ,not until
 we make the experiment do we find how  
rare are the occasions of which we can  
say that then and there the collective  
wisdom of the community fairly and fully
 expressed itself4 ,acts of ,parliament 
are not good examples4 ,they usually    
represent not the collective wisdom of  
the whole community1 but the wisdom of  
the majority after it has been checked1 
modified1 and perhaps nullified by the  
opposing wisdom of an almost equal      
minority4 ,take as an example the       
history of the ,irish ,question4 ,how   
difficult it is to put one's finger on  

any moment in that tangled story and say
 that then and there the collective     
wisdom of the community knew what it    
wanted to do and did it6 ,so with almost
 everything else4  ,now if there be such
 a thing as the collective wisdom of the
 ,state ,i suppose that the moment when 
we are most likely to find it in action 
is the moment when one ,state has       
dealings with another ,state4 ,that     
surely is a fair test4 ,if ,states      
possess collective wisdom they ought to 
show its existence and measure when they
 confront one another as ,states--when  
,state calls to ,state across the great 
deeps of international policy4 ,what    
should we say of any ,state which       
claimed collective wisdom only when     
dealing with its own individual         
members--with you and me--but dropped   
the claim when the question was one of  
reasonable intercourse with another     
,state similarly endowed8 ,this we      
should say is a very dubious claim4     
,well1 how stands the matter when this  

test is applied8 ,the present war       
provides the answer4 ,the war arose out 
of a type of quarrel which1 had it      
occurred between half a dozen           
individuals of average intelligence1    
would have been amicably settled1 by    
reasonable human intercourse1 in twenty 
minutes4 ,does not this afford a rough  
measure of the collective wisdom of such
 ,states as at present exist in this    
world8 ,does it not suggest that they   
have little faculty of reasonable       
intercourse with one another8 ,and when 
you say that of any being1 or any       
collection of beings1 do you not put it 
pretty low down in the scale of         
intelligence8 ,it is literally true that
 these ,states do not understand one    
another4 ,thus we are driven back upon a
 plain alternative2 either the ,states  
do not represent collective wisdom1 or  
else this collective wisdom is one of   
the lowest forms of wisdom now extant on
 this planet4 ,in either case we must be
 very cautious in our use of the phrase4

 ,we must not infer moral progress from 
the reign of collective wisdom until we 
are assured that collective wisdom is   
really as wise as some of its devotees  
assume it to be4  ,about the idea of    
moral progress1 which is only another   
name for the idea of progress in its    
widest form1 ,i need say little1 the    
question having been adequately treated 
by other lecturers4 ,but ,i will add    
this4 ,belief in moral progress is a    
belief which no man can live without1   
and1 at the same time1 a belief which   
cannot be proved by any appeal to human 
experience4 ,we cannot live without it1 
because life is just the process of     
reaching forward to a better form of    
itself4 ,were a man to say that since   
the world began no moral progress has   
taken place he would thereby show his   
latent belief in moral progress4 ,for no
 man would take the trouble to deny     
moral progress unless he believed that  
the world would in some way be made     
better by his denial4 ,he would not even

 trouble to come to a private conclusion
 in the matter unless he believed that  
his private conclusion was something to 
the good4 ,in that sense perhaps we may 
say that moral progress is proved1 for  
the best proof of any belief is that it 
remains indispensable to the life we    
have to live4 ,but the appeal to        
experience would not prove it--and for  
this reason4 ,a progressive world is a  
world which not only makes gains1 but   
keeps its gains when they are made4 ,if 
the ,kingdom of ,heaven were to become a
 fact to-morrow1 that of itself would   
not prove progress1 if you admit the    
possibility that the world might        
hereafter retreat from the position it  
had won4 ,that possibility you could    
never rule out--except by an appeal to  
faith4 ,a world which attained the goal 
and then lost it would be a greater     
failure1 from the point of view of moral
 progress1 than one which never attained
 the goal at all4 ,the doctrine that the
 gains of morality can never be lost is 

widely held2 but it does not rest on a  
philosophic or a scientific basis4 ,as  
,hume taught long ago1 you cannot infer 
an infinite conclusion from finite      
data--and in this case the conclusion is
 infinite and the data are finite4 ,they
 are not only finite but various3 some  
pointing one way1 some another4         
,finally we cannot prove moral progress 
by appeal to any objective standard1    
such as the amount of happiness existing
 in the world at successive dates4      
,suppose you were able to show that1 up 
to date1 the amount of happiness in the 
world has shown a steady increase until 
it has reached the grand sum total now  
existing4 ,now suppose that you were    
transferred to another planet where the 
conditions were the exact opposite3     
where the inhabitants ages ago started  
with the happiness we now possess1 and  
gradually declined until1 at the present
 moment1 they are no happier than the   
human race was at the first stage of its
 career4 ,now add together the totals of

 happiness for both your worlds1 the    
ascending world which starts with the   
minimum and ends with the maximum1 the  
declining world which starts with the   
maximum and ends with the minimum4 ,the 
grand totals in both cases are exactly  
the same4 ,so far as the total result is
 concerned1 the declining world has just
 as much to show for itself as the      
ascending4 ,valued in terms of          
happiness1 the one world would be worth 
as much as the other4  ,and yet we know 
that the value of these two worlds is   
not the same4 ,the ascending is worth a 
lot more than the descending4 ,why8 ,i  
leave you with that conundrum4 ,answer  
it1 and you have the key to the meaning 
of ,moral ,progress4   ,,books ,,for    
,,reference  ,t4 ,h4 ,green1            
,prolegomena to ,ethics1 ,book ,,iii1   
ch4 #c4  ,lecky1 ,history of ,european  
,morals1 ch4 #a4  ,spencer1 ,data of    
,ethics1 ch4 #ac to #ad4     ,,vii      
,,progress ,,in ,,government  ,a4 ,e4   
,,zimmern   ,when ,i was asked to speak 

to you on the subject of ,progress in   
,government ,i gladly accepted1 for it  
is a subject on which ,i have reflected 
a good deal4 ,but when ,i came to think 
over what ,i should say1 ,i saw that you
 had asked me for the impossible4 ,for  
what is ,government8 ,i do not know     
whether there are any here for whom     
,government means no more than a        
policeman1 or a ballot-box1 or a list of
 office-holders4 ,the days of such      
shallow views are surely over4          
,government is the work of ordering the 
external affairs and relationships of   
men4 ,it covers all the activities of   
men as members of a community--social1  
industrial1 and religious as well as    
political in the narrower sense4 ,it is 
concerned1 as the ancients had it1 with 
'that which is public or common'1 what  
the ,greeks called ,greek3 to koinon and
 the ,romans res publica4 ,the ,old     
,english translation of these classical 
terms is ',the ,commonwealth' or ,common
 ,weal2 and ,i do not see that we can do

 better than adopt that word1 with its  
richness of traditional meaning and its 
happy association of the two            
conceptions1 too often separated in     
modern minds1 of ,wealth and ,welfare4  
,our subject then is the ,progress of   
the ,commonwealth or1 in other words1   
the record of the course of the common  
life of mankind in the world4 ,it is a  
theme which really underlies all the    
other subjects of discussion at this    
week's meetings3 for it is only the     
existence of the ,commonwealth and its  
organized efforts to preserve and       
sustain the life of the individuals     
composing it1 which have made possible  
the achievements of mankind in the      
various separate fields of effort which 
are claiming your attention4 ,lord      
,acton spent a lifetime collecting      
material for a ,history of ,liberty4 ,he
 never wrote it3 but1 if he had1 it     
would have been a ,history of ,mankind4 
,a ,history of ,government or of the    
,commonwealth would be nothing less4    

,such is the nature of the invitation so
 kindly given to me and so cheerfully   
accepted4 ,if you could wait a lifetime 
for the proper treatment of the subject 
,i would gladly give the time2 for1 in  
truth1 it is worth it4  ,what is the    
nature of this common life of mankind   
and with what is it concerned8 ,the     
subjects of its concern are as wide as  
human nature itself4 ,we cannot define  
them in a formula3 for human nature     
overleaps all formulas4 ,whenever men   
have tried to rule regions of human     
activity and aspiration out of the      
common life of mankind1 and to hedge    
them round as private or separate or    
sacred or by any other kind of taboo1   
human nature has always ended by        
breaking through the hedges and invading
 the retreat4 ,man is a social animal4  
,if he retires to a monastery he finds  
he has carried problems of organization 
with him1 as the promoters of this      
gathering would confess you have brought
 with you here4 ,if he shuts himself up 

in his home as a castle1 or in a        
workshop or factory as the domain of his
 own private power1 social problems go  
with him thither1 and the long arm of   
the law will follow after4 ,if he       
crosses the seas like the ,pilgrim      
,fathers1 to worship ,god unmolested in 
a new country1 or1 like the             
merchant-venturers1 to fetch home       
treasure from the ,indies1 he will find 
himself unwittingly the pioneer of      
civilization and the founder of an      
,empire or a ,republic4 ,in the life of 
our fellows1 in the ,common ,weal1 we   
live and move and have our being4 ,let  
us recall some wise words on this       
subject from the ,master of ,balliol's  
book on the ,middle ,ages4 ',the words  
,church and ,state'1 he writes1         
represent what ought to be an alliance1 
but is1 in modern      times1 at best a 
dualism and often an open warfare4444   
,the      opposition of ,church and     
,state expresses an opposition          
between two sides of human nature which 

we must not too      easily label as    
good and evil1 the heavenly and the     
earthly1      the sacred and the        
profane4 ,for the ,state1 too1 is divine
 as      well as the ,church1 and may   
have its own ideals and      sacramental
 duties and its own prophets1 even its  
own      martyrs4 ,the opposition of    
,church and ,state is to be             
regarded rather as the pursuit of one   
great aim1 pursued by      contrasted   
means4 ,the ultimate aim of all true    
human      activity must be in the noble
 words of ,francis ,bacon 'the          
glory of ,god and the relief of man's   
estate'4#ec  ,bacon's words form a      
fitting starting-point for our          
reflections3 for they bring vividly     
before us both the idealism which should
 inspire all who labour at the task of  
government and the vastness and variety 
of the field with which they are        
concerned4 ,looked at in this broad     
light1 the history of man's common life 
in the world will1 ,i think1 show two   

great streams of progress--the progress 
of man over ,nature1 or1 as we say      
to-day1 in the control of his           
environment1 and the progress of man in 
what is essentially a moral task--the   
art of living together with his fellows4
 ,these two aspects of human activity   
and effort are in constant contact and  
interaction4 ,studied together1 they    
reveal an advance which1 in spite of    
man's ever-present moral weakness1 may  
be described as an advance from ,chaos  
to ,cosmos in the organization of the   
world's common life2 yet they are so    
distinct in method and spirit that they 
can best be described separately4  ,let 
us first1 then1 consider the history of 
,government1 as a record of the progress
 of man's power over ,nature4  ,human   
history1 in this sphere1 is the story of
 man making himself at home in the      
world4 ,when human history begins we    
find men helpless1 superstitious1       
ignorant1 the plaything of blind powers 
in the natural and animal world4        

,superstitious because he was helpless1 
helpless because he was ignorant1 he    
eked out a bare existence rather by     
avoiding than controlling the forces in 
the little world by which he found      
himself surrounded4 ,human life in its  
earliest stages is1 as ,hobbes described
 it1 nasty1 brutish1 and short4 ,man was
 the slave of his environment4 ,he has  
risen to become its master4 ,the world1 
as the prophetic eye of ,francis ,bacon 
foretold1 has become ',the ,kingdom of  
,man'4  ,how complete this conquest is1 
can best be realized perhaps by         
considering man's relation to the lower 
animals4 ,when history opens1 the       
animals are in their element2 it is man 
who is the interloper4 ,two thousand    
years ago it was not the ,society of    
,friends but wolves and wild boars who  
felt themselves at home on the site of  
,bournville ,garden ,village4 ,to-day we
 are surprised when we read that in     
remote ,east ,africa lions and giraffes 
venture occasionally to interfere in the

 murderous warfare between man and man4 
,man has imposed himself on the animals1
 by dint of his gradual accumulation of 
knowledge and his consequent power of   
organization and government4 ,he has    
destroyed the conditions under which the
 animals prospered4 ,he has1 as we might
 say1 destroyed their home life1        
exposing them to dangers of his own     
making against which they are now as    
powerless as he was once against them4  
',it is a remarkable thing1' writes ,sir
 ,e4 ,ray ,lankester1       which       
possibly may be less generally true than
 our present      knowledge seems to    
suggest--that the adjustment of         
organisms      to their surroundings is 
so severely complete in ,nature         
apart from ,man1 that diseases are      
unknown as constant and      normal     
phenomena under those conditions4 ,it is
 no doubt      difficult to investigate 
this matter1 since the presence of      
,man as an observer itself implies human
 intervention4 ,but it      seems to be 

a legitimate view that every disease to 
which      animals 7and probably plants 
also7 are liable1 excepting as      a   
transient and very exceptional          
occurrence1 is due to ,man's            
interference4 ,the diseases of cattle1  
sheep1 pigs1 and      horses are not    
known except in domesticated herds and  
those      wild creatures to which      
,man's domesticated productions have    
communicated them4 ,the trypanosome     
lives in the blood of      wild game and
 of rats without producing mischief4    
,the hosts      have become tolerant of 
the parasite4 ,it is only when man      
brings his unselected1 humanly-nurtured 
races of cattle and      horses into    
contact with the parasite1 that it is   
found to      have deadly properties4   
,the various cattle-diseases which in   
,africa have done so much harm to native
 cattle1 and have in      some regions  
exterminated big game1 have per contra  
been      introduced by man through his 
importation of diseased      animals of 

his own breeding from ,europe4 ,most1 if
 not all1      animals in extra-human   
conditions1 including the minuter       
things such as insects1 shellfish1 and  
invisible aquatic      organisms1 have  
been brought into a condition of        
'adjustment' to their parasites as well 
as to the other      conditions in which
 they live3 it is this most difficult   
and      efficient balance of ,nature   
which ,man everywhere upsets4#ed  ,and  
,sir ,e4 ,ray ,lankester goes on to     
point out the moral to be drawn from    
this development4 ,he points out that   
civilized man has proceeded so far in   
his interference with      extra-human  
nature1 has produced for himself and the
 living      organisms associated with  
him such a special state of things      
by his rebellion against natural        
selection and his defiance      of      
,nature's pre-human dispositions1 that  
he must either go      on and acquire   
firmer control of the conditions1 or    
perish      miserably by the vengeance  

certain to fall on the      half-hearted
 meddler in great affairs4 ,we may      
indeed compare      civilized man to a  
successful rebel against ,nature1 who1  
by      every step forward1 renders     
himself liable to greater and           
greater penalties1 and so cannot afford 
to pause or fail in      one single     
step4 ,or again we may think of him as  
the heir to      a vast and magnificent 
kingdom1 who has been finally           
educated so as to take possession of his
 property1 and is at      length left   
alone to do his best2 he has wilfully   
abrogated1      in many important       
respects1 the laws of his mother ,nature
 by      which the kingdom was hitherto 
governed2 he has gained some      power 
and advantage by so doing1 but is       
threatened on every      hand by dangers
 and disasters hitherto restrained3 no  
retreat is possible--his only hope is to
 control1 as he      knows that he can1 
the sources of these dangers and        
disasters4  ,the time will come1 not too

 long hence1 as ,i believe1 when men    
have realized1 with the scientists1 that
 the world is one kingdom not many1 and 
these problems of man's relation to his 
non-human environment will be the first 
concern of statesmen and governors4 ,in 
some of our tropical colonies they have1
 perforce1 become so already4 ,if you   
live on the ,gold ,coast1 the war       
against malaria cannot help seeming more
 important to you than the war against  
,german trade3 and in parts of ,central 
,africa the whole possibility of        
continued existence centres round the   
presence or absence of the tsetse fly   
which is the carrier of sleeping        
sickness4 ,some day1 when means have    
been adopted for abating our fiercer    
international controversies1 we shall   
discover that in these and kindred      
matters lies the real province of       
world-politics4 ,when that day comes the
 chosen representatives of the human    
race will see their constituents1 as    
only philosophers see them now1 as the  

inheritors of a great tradition of      
service and achievement1 and as trustees
 for their successors of the manifold   
sources of human happiness which the    
advance of knowledge has laid open to   
us4  ,if the first and most important of
 these sources is the discovery of the  
conditions of physical well-being1 the  
second is the discovery of means of     
communication between the widely        
separate portions of man's kingdom4 ,the
 record of the process of bringing the  
world under the control of the organized
 government of man is largely the record
 of the improvement of communications4  
,side by side with the unending struggle
 of human reason against cold and hunger
 and disease we can watch the contest   
against distance1 against ocean and     
mountain and desert1 against storms and 
seasons4 ,there can be few subjects more
 fascinating for a historian to study   
than the record of the migrations of the
 tribes of men4 ,he might begin1 if he  
wished1 with the migrations of animals  

and describe the westward progress of   
the many species whose course can be    
traced by experts along the natural     
highways of ,western ,europe4 ,some of  
them1 so the books tell us1 reached the 
end of their journey while ,britain was 
still joined to the continent4 ,others  
arrived too late and were cut off by the
 straits of ,dover4 ,i like to form an  
imaginary picture1 which the austerity  
of the scientific conscience will1 ,i   
know1 repudiate with horror1 of the     
unhappy congregation1 mournfully        
assembled bag and baggage on the edge of
 the straits and gazing wistfully across
 at the white cliffs of ,england1 which 
they were not privileged to             
reach--tendentesque manus ripae         
ulterioris amore1 'stretching out their 
paws in longing for the further bank4'  
,our historian would then go on to      
describe the early 'wanderings of       
peoples' 7,voelkerwanderungen7 how whole
 tribes would move off in the           
spring-time in the search for fresh     

hunting-grounds or pasture4 ,he would   
trace the course of that westward push  
which1 starting from somewhere in ,asia1
 brought its impact to bear on the      
northern provinces of the ,roman ,empire
 and eventually loosened its whole      
fabric4 ,he would show how ,europe1 as  
we know it1 was welded into unity by the
 attacks of migratory warriors on three 
flanks--the ,huns and the ,tartars1 a   
host of horsemen riding light over the  
steppes of ,russia and ,hungary3 the    
,arabs1 bearing ,islam with them on     
their camels as they moved westward     
along ,north ,africa and then pushing   
across into ,spain3 and the ,northmen of
 ,scandinavia1 those carvers of kingdoms
 and earliest conquerors of the open    
sea1 who left their mark on ,england and
 northern ,france1 on ,sicily and       
southern ,italy1 on the ,balkan         
,peninsula1 on ,russia1 on ,greenland1  
and as far as ,north ,america4 ,then1   
passing to ,africa and ,asia1 he would  
describe the life of the pack-saddle and

 the caravan1 the long and mysterious   
inland routes from the ,mediterranean to
 ,nubia and ,nigeria1 or from ,damascus 
with the pilgrims to ,medina1 and the   
still longer and more mysterious passage
 through the ancient oases of           
,turkestan1 now buried in sand1 along   
which1 as recent discoveries have shown 
us1 ,greece and ,china1 ,christianity   
and ,buddhism1 exchanged their arts and 
ideas and products4 ,then he would tell 
of the great age of maritime discovery1 
of the merchant-adventurers and         
buccaneers1 of their gradual            
transformation into trading companies1  
in the ,east and in the ,west1 from     
companies to settlements1 from          
settlements to colonies4 ,then perhaps  
he would close by casting a glimpse at  
the latest human migration of all1 that 
which takes place or took place up to   
#aiad1 at the rate of a million a year  
from the ,old ,world into the ,united   
,states4 ,he would take the reader to   
,ellis ,island in ,new ,york harbour1   

where the immigrants emerge from the    
steerage to face the ordeal of the      
,immigration ,officer4 ,he would show   
how the same causes1 hunger1 fear1      
persecution1 restlessness1 ambition1    
love of liberty1 which set the great    
westward procession in motion in the    
early days of tribal migration1 are     
still alive and at work to-day among the
 populations of ,eastern ,europe4 ,he   
would look into their minds and read the
 story of the generations of their      
nameless fore-runners2 and he would ask 
himself whether rulers and statesmen    
have done all that they might to make   
the world a home for all its children1  
for the poor as for the rich1 for the   
,jew as for the ,gentile1 for the yellow
 and dark-skinned as for the white4     
,let us dwell for a moment more closely 
on one phase of this record of the      
conquest of distance4 ,the crucial      
feature in that struggle was the        
conquest of the sea4 ,the sea-surface of
 the world is far greater than its      

land-surface1 and the sea1 once subdued1
 is a far easier and more natural means 
of transport and communication4 ,for the
 sea1 the uncultivable sea1 as ,homer   
calls it1 is itself a road1 whereas on  
earth1 whether it be mountain or desert 
or field1 roads have first painfully to 
be made4 ,man's definitive conquest of  
the sea dates from the middle of the    
fifteenth century when1 by improvements 
in the art of sailing and by the        
extended use of the mariner's compass1  
it first became possible to undertake   
long voyages with assurance4 ,these     
discoveries are associated with the name
 of ,prince ,henry of ,portugal1 whose  
life-long ambition it was1 to quote the 
words engraved on his monument at the   
southern extremity of ,portugal1 'to lay
 open the regions of ,west ,africa      
across the sea1 hitherto not traversed  
by man1 that thence a passage might be  
made round ,africa to the most distant  
parts of the ,east4'  ,the opening of   
the high seas which resulted from       

,prince ,henry's activities is one of   
the most momentous events in human      
history4 ,its effect was1 sooner or     
later1 to unite the scattered families  
of mankind1 to make the problems of all 
the concern of all3 to make the world   
one place4 ,prince ,henry and his       
sailors were1 in fact1 the pioneers of  
internationalism1 with all the many and 
varied problems that internationalism   
brings with it4 ',in #adhf1' says the   
most recent history of this development1
       ,bartholomew ,dias was carried by
 storm beyond the sight of      land1   
round the southern point of ,africa1 and
 reached the      ,great ,fish ,river1  
north of ,algoa ,bay4 ,on his return    
journey      he saw the promontory which
 divides the oceans1 as the      narrow 
waters of the ,bosphorus divide the     
continents1 of the      ,east and ,west4
 ,as in the crowded streets of          
,constantinople1      so here1 if       
anywhere1 at this awful and solitary    
headland      the elements of two       

hemispheres meet and contend4 ,as ,dias 
saw it1 so he named it1 ',the ,cape of  
,storms'4 ,but his      master1 ,john   
,,ii1 seeing in the discovery a promise 
that      ,india1 the goal of the       
national ambition1 would be reached1    
named it with happier augury ',the ,cape
 of ,good ,hope'4 ,no      fitter name  
could have been given to that           
turning-point in      the history of    
mankind4 ,europe1 in truth1 was on the  
brink      of achievements destined to  
breach barriers1 which had      enclosed
 and diversified the nations since the  
making of the      ,world1 and commit   
them to an intercourse never to be      
broken      again so long as the ,world 
endures4 ,that good rather than         
evil may spring therefrom is the        
greatest of all human                   
responsibilities4#ee  ,the contrast     
between ,constantinople and the ,cape1  
so finely drawn in these lines1 marks   
the end of the age when                 
land-communications and land-power were 

predominant over sea-power4 ,the ,roman 
,empire was1 and could only be1 a       
land-power4 ,it is no accident that the 
,british ,commonwealth is1 as the       
,american ,commonwealth is fast         
becoming1 predominantly a sea-power4    
,how was 'the greatest of all human     
responsibilities'1 arising from this new
 intercourse of races1 met8 ,knowledge1 
alas1 is as much the devil's heritage as
 the angels'3 it may be used for ill1 as
 easily as for good4 ,the first         
explorers1 and the traders who followed 
them1 were not idealists but rough      
adventurers4 ,breaking in1 with the full
 tide of western knowledge and          
adaptability1 to the quiet backwaters of
 primitive conservatism1 they brought   
with them the worse rather than the     
better elements of the civilization1 the
 control of environment1 of which they  
were pioneers4 ,to them ,africa and the 
,east represented storehouses of        
treasure1 not societies of men2 and they
 treated the helpless natives           

accordingly4       ,england and ,holland
 as well as the ,latin monarchies       
treated      the natives of ,africa as  
chattels without rights and as          
instruments for their own ends1 and     
revived slavery in a      form and upon 
a scale more cruel than any practised by
 the      ancients4 ,the employment of  
slaves on her own soil has      worked  
the permanent ruin of ,portugal4 ,the   
slave trade with      ,america was an   
important source of ,english wealth1 and
 the      philosopher ,john ,locke did  
not scruple to invest in it4      ,there
 is no ,european race which can afford  
to remember its      first contact with 
the subject peoples otherwise than with 
shame1 and attempts to assess their     
relative degrees of      guilt are as   
fruitless as they are invidious4 ,the   
question      of real importance is how 
far these various states were able      
to purge themselves of the poison1 and  
rise to a higher      realization of    
their duty towards their races whom they

 were      called by the claims of their
 own superior civilization to           
protect4 ,the fate of that civilization 
itself hung upon the      issue4#ef     
,the process by which the ,western      
peoples have risen to a sense of their  
duty towards their weaker and more      
ignorant fellow citizens is indeed one  
of the chief stages in that progress of 
the common life of mankind with which we
 are concerned4  ,how is that duty to be
 exercised8 ,the best way in which the  
strong can help the weak is by making   
them strong enough to help themselves4  
,the white races are not strong because 
they are white1 or virtuous because they
 are strong4 ,they are strong because   
they have acquired1 through a long      
course of thought and work1 a mastery   
over ,nature and hence over their weaker
 fellow men4 ,it is not virtue but      
knowledge to which they owe their       
strength4 ,no doubt much virtue has gone
 to the making of that                  
knowledge--virtues of patience1         

concentration1 perseverance1            
unselfishness1 without which the great  
body of knowledge of which we are the   
inheritors could never have been built  
up4 ,but we late-born heirs of the ages 
have it in our power to take the        
knowledge of our fathers and cast away  
any goodness that went to its making4   
,we have come into our fortune3 it is   
ours to use it as we think best4 ,we    
cannot pass it on wholesale1 and at one 
step1 to the more ignorant races1 for   
they have not the institutions1 the     
traditions1 the habits of mind and      
character1 to enable them to use it4    
,those too we must transmit or develop  
together with the treasure of our       
knowledge4 ,for the moment we stand in  
the relation of trustees1 teachers1     
guides1 governors1 but always in their  
own interest and not ours1 or rather1 in
 the interest of the commonwealth of    
which we and they1 since the opening of 
the high seas1 form an inseparable part4
  ,it has often been thought that the   

relation of the advanced and backward   
races should be one purely of           
philanthropy and missionary enterprise  
rather than of law and government4 ,it  
is easy to criticize this by pointing to
 the facts of the world as we know      
it--to the existing colonial empires of 
the ,great ,powers and to the vast      
extension of the powers of civilized    
governments which they represent4 ,but  
it may still be argued that the question
 is not ,have the civilized powers      
annexed large empires8 but ,ought they  
to have done so8 ,was such an extension 
of governmental authority justifiable or
 inevitable8 ,englishmen in the         
nineteenth century1 like ,americans in  
the twentieth1 were slow to admit that  
it was2 just as the exponents of        
laissez-faire were slow to admit the    
necessity for ,state interference with  
private industry at home4 ,but in both  
cases they have been driven to accept it
 by the inexorable logic of facts4 ,what
 other solution of the problem1 indeed1 

is possible8 ',every alternative        
solution'1 as a recent writer           
remarks1#eg       breaks down in        
practice4 ,to stand aside and do nothing
 under      the plea that every people  
must be left free to manage its      own
 affairs1 and that intervention is      
wicked1 is to repeat      the tragic    
mistake of the ,manchester ,school in   
the economic      world which protested 
against any interference by the ,state  
to protect workmen 444 from the         
oppression and rapacity of              
employers1 on the ground that it was an 
unwarranted      interference with the  
liberty of the subject and the freedom  
of trade and competition4 ,to prevent   
adventurers from      entering the      
territory is impossible1 unless there is
 some      civilized authority within it
 to stop them through its      police4  
,to shut off a backward people from all 
contact with      the outside world by a
 kind of blockade is not only           
unpracticable1 but is artificially to   

deny them the chances      of education 
and progress4 ,the establishment of a   
genuine      government by a people     
strong enough and liberal enough to     
ensure freedom under the law and justice
 for all is the only      solution4444  
,they must undertake this duty1 not from
 any      pride of dominion1 or because 
they wish to exploit their              
resources1 but in order to protect them 
alike from      oppression and          
corruption1 by strict laws and strict   
administration1 which shall bind the    
foreigner as well as      the native1   
and then they must gradually develop1 by
      education and example1 the        
capacity in the natives to manage       
their own affairs4  ,thus we see that   
the progress in knowledge and in the    
control of their environment made by the
 civilized peoples has1 in fact and     
inevitably1 led to their leadership in  
government also1 and given them the     
predominant voice in laying down the    
lines along which the common life of    

mankind is to develop4 ,if we are to    
look for the mainspring of the world's  
activities1 for the place where its new 
ideas are thought out1 its policies     
framed1 its aspirations cast into       
practical shape1 we must not seek it in 
the forests of ,africa or in the        
interior of ,china1 but in those busy   
regions of the earth's surface where the
 knowledge1 the industries1 and all the 
various organizations of government and 
control find their home4 ,because       
organization is embodied knowledge1 and 
because knowledge is power1 it is the   
,great ,powers1 as we truly name        
them1#eh who are predominantly          
responsible for the government of the   
world and for the future of the common  
life of mankind4  ,in the exercise of   
this control the world has already1 in  
many respects1 become a single organism4
 ,the conquest of distance in the       
fifteenth century was the beginning of a
 process which led1 slowly but          
inevitably1 to the widening of the      

boundaries of government4 ,two          
discoveries made about the same time    
accentuated the same tendency4 ,by the  
invention of gunpowder the people of    
,europe were given an overwhelming      
military superiority over the dwellers  
in other continents4 ,by the invention  
of printing1 knowledge was              
internationalized for all who had the   
training to use it4 ,books are the tools
 of the brain-worker all the world over2
 but1 unlike the file and the chisel1   
the needle and the hammer1 books not    
only create1 but suggest4 ,a new idea is
 like an electric current set running   
throughout the world1 and no man can say
 into what channels of activity it may  
not be directed4  ,but neither travel   
nor conquest nor books and the spread of
 ideas caused so immense a              
transformation in the common life of    
mankind as the process beginning at the 
end of the eighteenth century which is  
known to historians as the ,industrial  
,revolution4 ,as we have spoken of the  

conquest of distance perhaps a better   
name for the ,industrial ,revolution    
would be the ,conquest of ,organization4
 ,for it was not the discovery of the   
steam-engine or the spinning-jenny which
 constituted the revolution3 it was the 
fact that men were now in a position to 
apply these discoveries to the          
organization of industry4 ,the ancient  
,greeks played with the idea of the     
steam-engine3 it was reserved for       
eighteenth-century ,england to produce a
 generation of pioneers endowed with the
 knowledge1 the power1 the foresight1   
and the imagination to make use of the  
world-transforming potentialities of the
 idea4 ,the ,industrial ,revolution1    
with its railways and steamships1       
telegraphs and telephones1 and now its  
airships and submarines and wireless    
communication1 completed the conquest of
 distance4 ,production became           
increasingly organized on international 
lines4 ,men became familiar with the    
idea of an international market4 ,prices

 and prospects1 booms and depressions1  
banking and borrowing1 became           
international phenomena4 ,the           
organization of production led to an    
immensely rapid increase of wealth in   
,western ,europe4 ,the application of   
that wealth to the development of the   
world's resources in and outside ,europe
 led to a correspondingly huge advance  
in trade and intercourse4 ,the          
breakfast-table in an ordinary ,english 
home to-day is a monument to the        
achievements of the ,industrial         
,revolution and to the solid reality of 
the economic internationalism which     
resulted from it4 ,there is still       
poverty in ,western ,europe1 but it is  
preventable poverty4 ,before the        
,industrial ,revolution1 judged by a    
modern standard1 there was nothing but  
poverty4 ,the satisfying physical and   
economic condition which we describe by 
the name of comfort did not exist4 ,the 
,italian historian ,ferrero1 in one of  
his essays1 recommends those who have   

romantic yearnings after the good old   
times to spend one night on what our    
forefathers called a bed4 ,mr4 ,coulton1
 in his books on the ,middle ,ages1 has 
used some very plain language on the    
same text4 ,and ,professor ,smart1 in   
his recently published posthumous work1 
pointing a gentle finger of rebuke at   
certain common ,socialist fantasies1    
remarks3       ,there never was a golden
 age of equality of wealth3 there       
was rather a leaden one of inequality of
 poverty4444 ,we      should speak more 
guardedly of the riches of the old      
world4      ,a careful examination of   
any old book would show that the        
most splendid processions of pomp and   
luxury in the ,middle      ,ages were   
poor things compared to the parade of a 
modern      circus on its opening       
day4#ei  ,such prosperity as we enjoy   
to-day1 such a scene as we can observe  
on these smiling outskirts of           
,birmingham1 is due to man's ,conquest  
of ,organization and to the consequent  

development and linking-up1 by mutual   
intercourse and exchange1 of the        
economic side of the world's life4  ,so 
far we have been watching the progress  
of man in his efforts to 'make himself  
at home' in the world4 ,we have seen him
 becoming more skilful and more         
masterful century by century1 till in   
these latter days the whole world is1 as
 it were1 at his service4 ,he has       
planted his flag at the two poles3 he   
has cut a pathway for his ships between 
,asia and ,africa1 and between the twin 
continents of ,america3 he has harnessed
 torrents and cataracts to his service3 
he has conquered the air and the depths 
of the sea3 he has tamed the animals3 he
 has rooted out pestilence and laid bare
 its hidden causes3 and he is           
penetrating farther and ever farther in 
the discovery of the causes of physical 
and mental disease4 ,he has set his foot
 on the neck of ,nature4 ,but the last  
and greatest conquest is yet before him4
 ,he has yet to conquer himself4        

,victorious against ,nature1 men are    
still at war1 nay1 more than ever at    
war1 amongst themselves4 ,how is it that
 the last century and a half1 which have
 witnessed so unparalleled an advance in
 the organization of the common life of 
man on the material side1 should have   
been an age of wars and rumours of wars1
 culminating in the vastest and most    
destructive conflict that this globe of 
ours has ever witnessed8 ,what          
explanation could we give of this to a  
visitor from the moon or to those       
creatures of inferior species whom1 as  
,sir ,e4 ,ray ,lankester has told us1 it
 is our function1 thanks to our natural 
superiority1 to command and control8    
,this brings us to the second great     
branch of our subject--the progress of  
mankind in the art of living together in
 the world4  ,government1 as we have    
seen1 covers the whole social life of   
man3 for the principles that regulate   
human association are inherent in the   
nature of man4 ,but in what follows we  

shall perforce confine ourselves mainly 
to the sphere of what is ordinarily     
called politics1 that is to the         
recognized and authoritative form of    
human association called the ,state1 as 
opposed to the innumerable subordinate  
or voluntary bodies and relationships1  
which pervade every department of man's 
common life4  ,the progress of          
,government in this second sphere may be
 defined as the deepening and extension 
of man's duty towards his neighbour4 ,it
 is to be reckoned1 not in terms of     
knowledge and organization1 but of      
character4 ,the ultimate goal of human  
government1 in the narrower sense1 as of
 all social activity--let us never      
forget it--is liberty1 to set free the  
life of the spirit4 ',liberty1' said    
,lord ,acton1 who could survey the ages 
with a wealth of knowledge to which no  
other man1 perhaps1 ever attained1      
',liberty is not a means to a higher    
political end4 ,it is itself the highest
 political end4 ,it is not for the sake 

of a good public administration that it 
is required but for security in the     
pursuit of the highest objects of civil 
society and of private life4'#fj        
,government is needed in order to enable
 human life to become1 not efficient or 
well-informed or well-ordered1 but      
simply good2 and ,lord ,acton believed1 
as the ,greeks and generations of       
,englishmen believed before him1 that it
 is only in the soil of liberty that the
 human spirit can grow to its full      
stature1 and that a political system    
based upon any other principle than that
 of responsible self-government acts as 
a bar at the outset to the pursuit of   
what he called 'the highest objects of  
civil society or of private life'4 ,for 
though a slave1 or a man living under a 
servile political system1 may develop   
many fine qualities of character3 yet   
such virtues will1 in ,milton's words1  
be but 'fugitive and cloistered'1       
'unexercised and unbreathed'4 ,for      
liberty1 and the responsibilities that  

it involves1 are the school of character
 and the appointed means by which men   
can best serve their neighbours4 ,a man 
deprived of such opportunities1 cut off 
from the quickening influence of        
responsibility1 has1 as ,homer said long
 ago 'lost half his manhood'4 ,he may be
 a loyal subject1 a brave soldier1 a    
diligent and obedient workman3 but he   
will not be a full-grown man4           
,government will have starved and       
stunted him in that which it is the     
supreme object of government to develop 
and set free4  ,it is idle1 then1 to    
talk in general terms about the         
extension of government as a good thing1
 whether in relation to the individual  
citizen or to the organization of the   
world into an international ,state4 ,we 
have always first to ask3 ,what kind of 
,government8 ,on what principles will it
 be based8 ,what ideal will it set      
forth8 ,what kind of common life will it
 provide or allow to its citizens8 ,if  
the whole world were organized into one 

single ,state1 and that ,state1 supreme 
in its control over ,nature1 were armed 
with all the knowledge and organization 
that the ablest and most farseeing      
brains in the world could supply1 yet   
mankind might be worse off under its    
sway1 in the real essentials of human   
life1 than if they were painted savages4
 ',though ,i have the gift of prophecy  
and understand all mysteries and all    
knowledge3 and though ,i have all faith1
 so that ,i could remove mountains1 and 
have not charity1 ,i am nothing4'       
,government may be the organization of  
goodness1 or the organization of evil4  
,it may provide the conditions by which 
the common life of society can develop  
along the lines of man's spiritual      
nature3 or it may take away the very    
possibility of such a development4 ,till
 we know what a ,government stands for1 
do not let us judge it by its imposing  
externals of organization4 ,the ,persian
 ,empire was more imposing than the     
,republics of ,greece3 ,assyria and     

,babylon than the little tribal         
divisions of ,palestine3 the ,spanish   
,empire than the cities of the          
,netherlands4 ,there is some danger     
that1 in our new-found sense of the     
value of knowledge in promoting         
happiness1 we should forget what a      
tyrant knowledge1 like wealth1 can      
become4 ,no doubt1 just as we saw that  
moral qualities1 patience and the like1 
are needed for the advancement of       
knowledge1 so knowledge is needed1 and  
greatly needed1 in the task of extending
 and deepening the moral and spiritual  
life of mankind4 ,but we cannot measure 
that progress in terms of knowledge or  
organization or efficiency or culture4  
,we need some other standard by which to
 judge between ,greece and ,persia1     
between ,israel and ,babylon1 between   
,spain and the ,netherlands1 between    
,napoleon and his adversaries1 and      
between contending powers in the modern 
world4 ,what shall that standard be8    
,it must be a similar standard--let us  

boldly say it--to that by which we judge
 between individuals4 ,it must be a     
standard based on our sense of right and
 wrong4 ,but right and wrong in         
themselves will not carry us very far1  
any more than they will carry the       
magistrate on the bench or the merchant 
in his counting-house4 ,politics1 like  
business1 is not the whole of           
life--though some party politicians and 
some business men think otherwise--but a
 department of life3 both are means1 not
 ends2 and as such they have developed  
special rules and codes of their own1   
based on experience in their own special
 department4 ,in so far as they are     
framed in accordance with man's         
spiritual nature and ideals these rules 
may be considered to hold good and to   
mark the stage of progress at which     
,politics and ,business have            
respectively arrived in promoting the   
common weal in their own special sphere4
 ,with the rules of business1 or what is
 called ,political ,economy1 we have at 

the moment no concern4 ,it is the rules 
of politics1 or the working experience  
of rulers1 crystallized in what is      
called ,political ,science or ,political
 ,philosophy1 to which we must devote a 
few moments' attention4  ,we are all of 
us1 of course1 political philosophers4  
,whether we have votes or not1 whether  
we are aware of it or not1 we all have  
views on political philosophy and we are
 all constantly making free use of its  
own peculiar principles and conceptions4
 ,law1 the ,state1 ,liberty1 ,justice1  
,democracy are words that are constantly
 on our lips4 ,let us try to form a     
clear idea of the place which these     
great historic ideals occupy in the     
progress of mankind4  ,the great        
political thinkers of the world have    
always been clear in their own minds as 
to the ultimate goal of their own       
particular study4 ,political thought may
 be said to have originated with the    
,jewish prophets1 who were the first to 
rebuke kings to their faces and to set  

forth the spiritual aims of politics--to
 preach ,righteousness and ,mercy as    
against ,power and ,ambition and        
,self-interest4 ,their soaring          
imagination1 less systematic than the   
,greek intellect1 was wider in its sweep
 and more farseeing in its predictions4 
',as the earth bringeth forth her bud   
and as the garden causeth the things    
sown in it to spring forth'1 says       
,isaiah1 in magnificent anticipation of 
the doctrine of ,natural ,law1 'so the  
,lord ,god will cause righteousness and 
praise to spring forth before all the   
nations4' ',peace1 peace1 to him that is
 far off1 and to him that is near1 saith
 the ,lord1 and ,i will heal him3 but   
the wicked are like the troubled sea    
when it cannot rest1 whose waters cast  
up mire and dirt4 ,there is no peace1   
saith my ,god1 for the wicked4' ',out of
 ,zion shall go forth the ,law and the  
word of the ,lord from ,jerusalem4 ,and 
he shall judge between the nations and  
shall reprove many peoples2 and they    

shall beat their swords into plowshares 
and their spears into pruning hooks3    
nation shall not lift up sword against  
nation1 neither shall they learn war any
 more4'#fa  ,it was1 however1 ,plato and
 ,aristotle who first made politics a   
branch of separate study3 and1 unlike   
many of their modern successors1 they   
pursued it throughout in close connexion
 with the kindred studies of ethics and 
psychology4 ,their scope was1 of course1
 confined to the field of their own     
experience1 the small self-contained    
,city-,states of ,greece1 and it did not
 fall within their province to          
foreshadow1 like the ,jewish ,prophets1 
the end of warfare1 or to speculate on  
the ultimate unity of mankind4 ,their   
task was to interpret the work of their 
own fellow-countrymen on the narrow     
stage of ,greek life4 ,their lasting    
achievement is to have laid down for    
mankind what a ,state is1 as compared   
with other forms of human association1  
and to have proclaimed1 once and for    

all1 in set terms1 that its object is to
 promote the 'good life' of its members4
 ',every ,state'1 says ,aristotle in the
 opening words of his ,politics1 'is a  
community of some kind4' ,that is to    
say1 ,states belong to the same genus1  
as it were1 as political parties1 trade 
unions1 cricket clubs1 business houses1 
or such gatherings as ours4 ,what1 then1
 is the difference between a ,state and 
a political party8 ',if all             
communities'1 he goes on1 'aim at some  
good1 the ,state or political community1
 which is the highest of all and which  
embraces all the rest1 aims1 and in a   
greater degree than any other1 at the   
highest good4'  ,why is the ,state the  
highest of all forms of association8    
,why should our citizenship1 for        
instance1 take precedence of our trade  
unionism or our business obligations8   
,aristotle replies1 and in spite of     
recent critics ,i think the reply still 
holds good3 because1 but for the        
existence of the ,state and the reign of

 law maintained by it1 none of these    
associations could have been formed or  
be maintained4 ',he who first founded   
the ,state was the greatest of          
benefactors4 ,for man1 when protected1  
is the best of animals1 but when        
separated from law and righteousness1 he
 is the worst of all4' ,or1 to put it in
 the resounding ,elizabethan ,english of
 ,hooker3 ',the public power of all     
societies is above every soul contained 
in the same societies4 ,and the         
principal use of that power is to give  
laws to all that are under it2 which    
laws1 in such case1 we must obey1 unless
 there be reason showed which may       
necessarily enforce that the law of     
,reason or of ,god doth enjoin the      
contrary4 ,because except our own       
private and probable resolutions be by  
the law of public determinations        
overruled1 we take away all possibility 
of social life in the world4'#fb ,the   
,greeks did not deny1 as the example of 
,socrates shows1 the right of private   

judgement on the question of obedience  
to law1 or the duty of respect for what 
,hooker calls the ,law of ,reason or of 
,god4 ,against the authentic voice of   
conscience no human authority can or    
should prevail4 ,but ,aristotle held1   
with ,hooker1 that obedience to law and 
faithful citizenship are themselves     
matters normally ordained by the law of 
,reason or of ,god and that1 as against 
those of any other association 7,greek3 
koinonia71 the claims of the ,state are 
paramount4 ,in other words1 he would    
deny what is sometimes loosely called   
the right of rebellion1 whilst not      
closing the door to that duty of        
rebellion which has so often advanced   
the cause of liberty4 ,when ,aristotle  
speaks of the ,state1 moreover1 he does 
not mean a sovereign authority          
exercising arbitrary power1 as in       
,persia or ,babylon3 he means an        
authority administering ,law and        
,justice according to recognized        
standards3 and he is thinking of ,law   

and ,justice1 not simply as part of the 
apparatus of government but as based    
upon moral principles4 ',righteousness'1
 he says1 'is the bond of men in ,states
 and the administration of ,justice1    
which is the determination of what is   
righteous1 is the principle of order in 
political society4' ',of ,law'1 says    
,hooker1#fc here as elsewhere echoing   
the ancients1 'there can be no less     
acknowledged than that her seat is the  
bosom of ,god1 her voice the harmony of 
the world4' ,the ,state takes precedence
 of the party or the trade union        
because1 however idealistic in their    
policy these latter may be1 the ,state  
covers all1 not merely a section of the 
community1 and is able not merely to    
proclaim but to enforce the rule of law 
and justice4 ,put in modern language1   
one might define the ,greek idea of the 
,state as the ,organization of ,mutual  
,aid4  ,the ,greek ,states did not      
remain true to this high ideal4 ,faced  
with the temptations of power they      

descended almost to the level of the    
oriental monarchies with which they were
 contrasted4 ,but even had they remained
 faithful to their philosophers' ideal  
of public service they would not have   
survived4 ,unable to transcend the      
limits of their own narrow              
,state-boundaries and to merge their    
ideals with those of their neighbours1  
they were helpless in the face of the   
invader4 ,first ,macedonia and then     
,rome swept over them1 and political    
idealism slumbered for many centuries4  
,rome gave the world1 what it greatly   
needed1 centuries of peace and order and
 material prosperity3 it built up an    
enduring fabric of law on principles of 
,reason and ,humanity3 it did much to   
give men1 what is next to the political 
sense1 the social sense4 ,it made men   
members of one another from ,scotland to
 ,syria and from ,portugal to ,baghdad4 
,but it did not give them 'the good     
life' in its fullness3 for it did not1  
perhaps it could not1 give them liberty4

 ,faced with the choice between         
efficiency and the diffusion of         
responsibility1 the rulers of the ,roman
 ,empire unhesitatingly chose           
efficiency4 ,but the atrophy of         
responsibility proved the canker at the 
heart of the ,empire4 ,deprived of the  
stimulus that freedom and the habit of  
responsibility alone can give1 the      
,roman world sank gradually into the    
morass of ,routine4 ,life lost its      
savour and grew stale1 flat and         
unprofitable1 as in an old-style        
,government office4 ',the intolerable   
sadness inseparable from such a life'1  
says ,renan1 'seemed worse than death4' 
,and when the barbarians came and       
overturned the whole fabric of          
bureaucracy1 though it seemed to        
educated men at the time the end of     
civilization1 it was in reality the     
beginning of a new life4  ,amid the     
wreckage of the ,roman ,empire1 one     
governing institution alone remained    
upright--the ,christian ,church with its

 organization for ministering to the    
spiritual needs of its members4 ,with   
the conversion of the barbarians to     
,christianity the governing functions   
and influence of the ,church became more
 and more important2 and it was upon the
 basis of ,church government that       
political idealism1 so long in abeyance1
 was reawakened4 ,the thinkers who took 
up the work of ,plato and ,aristotle on 
the larger stage of the ,holy ,roman    
,empire boldly looked forward to the    
time when mankind should be united under
 one government and that government     
should embody the highest ideals of     
mankind4 ,such an ideal seemed indeed to
 many one of the legacies of the        
,founder of ,christianity4 ,the familiar
 petition in the ,lord's ,prayer3 thy   
kingdom come1 thy will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven sounded1 in the ears 
of ,dante and ,thomas ,aquinas and      
innumerable theologians and canonists1  
as a prayer and a pledge for the        
ultimate political unity of mankind on  

the basis of ,christian ,law4 ,such a   
belief was indeed the bedrock of        
mediaeval political thought4 ,to devout 
,christians1 brought up in the          
oecumenical traditions of the ,roman    
,empire1       'every ordering of a     
human community must appear as a        
component part of that ordering of the  
world which exists      because ,god    
exists1 and every earthly group must    
appear as      an organic member of that
 ,civitas ,dei1 that ,god-,state1       
which comprehends the heavens and the   
earth4#a 444 ,thus the      ,theory of  
,human ,society must accept the divinely
 created      organization of the       
,universe as a prototype of the first   
principles which govern the construction
 of human      communities4444          
,therefore1 in all centuries of the     
,middle      ,age1 ,christendom1 which  
in destiny is identical with            
,mankind1 is set before us as a single1 
universal ,community1      founded and  
governed by ,god ,himself4 ,mankind is  

one      mystical body2 it is one single
 and internally connected      people or
 folk2 it is an all-embracing           
corporation1      which constitutes that
 ,universal ,realm1 spiritual and       
temporal1 which may be called the       
,universal ,church1 or1 with      equal 
propriety1 the ,commonwealth of the     
,human ,race4      ,therefore1 that it  
may attain its one purpose1 it needs    
,one      ,law and ,one ,government4'#fd
   ,but the mediaeval ideal1 like the   
,greek1 broke down in practice4 ',where 
the ,middle ,ages failed'1 says the     
,master of ,balliol1 continuing a       
passage already quoted1 'was in         
attempting 444 to make politics the     
handmaid of religion1 to give the       
,church the organization and form of a  
political ,state1 that is1 to turn      
religion from an indwelling spirit into 
an ecclesiastical machinery4' ,in other 
words1 the mediaeval attempt broke down 
through neglecting the special          
conditions and problems of the political

 department of life1 through declining1 
as it were1 to specialize4 ,while men   
were discussing the ,theory of the ,two 
,swords1 whether the ,emperor derived   
his power directly from ,god or         
indirectly through the ,pope1 or whether
 the sword should be used at all1 the   
actual work of government in laying the 
foundations of the good life was        
neglected4 ,not only ,liberty but       
,justice and ,order were largely in     
abeyance and the range of ,state action 
which we to-day describe as 'social     
legislation' was not even dreamed of4   
,absorbed in theory or wrapped in       
ignorance1 men forget the practical     
meaning of ,statehood and its           
responsibilities4 ,central ,europe      
languished for centuries1 under a sham  
,empire1 in the unprogressive anarchy of
 feudalism4 ',the feudal system'1 it has
 been said1#fe 'was nothing more nor    
less than the attempt of a society which
 had failed to organize itself as a     
,state1 to make contract do the work of 

patriotism4' ,it is the bitter          
experience which ,germany went through  
under the anarchy of feudalism and petty
 governments1 lasting to well within    
living memory1 which by a natural       
reaction has led the ,german people1    
under ,prussian tutelage1 to cling to   
the conception of the ,state as ,power  
and nothing more4  ,the study of        
politics had to become secular before it
 could once more become practical1 and1 
by being practical1 ministering to      
practical ideals and enlisting practical
 devotion1 become1 as it were1 sacred   
once more4 ,where the well-being of our 
fellow men is concerned it is not enough
 to be well-meaning4 ,government is an  
art1 not an aspiration3 and those who   
are concerned with it1 whether as rulers
 or voters1 should have studied its     
problems1 reflected on its possibilities
 and limitations1 and fitted themselves 
to profit by its accumulated experience4
  ,since the close of the ,middle ,ages1
 when politics became secular1 the art  

of government has advanced by giant     
strides4 ,invention has followed        
invention1 and experiment experiment1   
till to-day skilled specialists in the  
,old ,world and the ,new are at hand to 
watch and to record the latest devices  
for dealing with a hundred difficult    
special problems--whether it be the     
administration of justice or patronage1 
the organization of political parties1  
the fixing of ,cabinet responsibility1  
the possibilities and limits of         
federalism1 the prevention of war4      
,there has1 indeed1 been as great an    
advance in the political art in the last
 four centuries and particularly in the 
last century1 as in the very kindred art
 of medicine4 ,the wonderful            
concentration of energy which the       
various belligerent powers have been    
able to throw into the present war is at
 once the best and the most tragic      
illustration of this truth4 ,man's      
common life in the ,state is more real1 
more charged with meaning and           

responsibility1 more potent for good or 
for ill than it has ever been           
before--than our predecessors even in   
the time of ,napoleon could have dreamed
 of4  ,the greatest inventors and most  
skilful practitioners of the political  
art in the modern world have been the   
,english1 for it is the ,english who1 of
 all nations1 have held closest to the  
ideal of freedom in its many and various
 manifestations4 ,superficially         
regarded1 the ,english are a stupid     
people1 and so their continental        
neighbours have often regarded them4    
,but their racial heritage and their    
island situation seem to have given them
 just that combination of experience and
 natural endowment necessary to success 
in the task of government4 ,taken as a  
whole1 the ,english are not brilliant1  
but they are clear-headed3 they are not 
far-sighted1 but they can see the fact  
before their eyes3 they are ill equipped
 with theoretical knowledge1 but they   
understand the working of institutions  

and have a good eye for judging         
character3 they have little constructive
 imagination of the more grandiose sort1
 but they have an instinct for the 'next
 step' which has often set them on paths
 which have led them far further than   
they dreamed2 above all1 they have a    
relatively high standard of individual  
character and public duty1 without which
 no organization involving the free     
co-operation of man and man can hope to 
be effective4 ,it is this unique        
endowment of moral qualities and        
practical gifts1 coupled with unrivalled
 opportunities1 which has made the      
,english the pioneers in modern times in
 the art of human association4          
,englishmen1 accustomed to what         
eighteenth-century writers used to call 
'the peculiar felicity of ,british      
freedom'1 do not always remember how far
 their own experience has carried them  
on the road of political progress4 ,they
 do not realize how many problems they  
have solved and abolished1 as the art of

 medicine has abolished diseases4 ,when 
they hear speak of the eternal conflict 
between ,nationality and ,nationality1  
they often forget that a war between    
,england and ,scotland has long since   
become unthinkable and that the         
platitudes of ,st4 ,andrew's ,day are   
still paradoxes in ,central and ,eastern
 ,europe4 ,when they are told of ,states
 where the spontaneous manifestations of
 group-life1 non-conforming sects1      
workmen's associations1 and ordinary    
social clubs1 are driven underground and
 classed as dangerous secret societies1 
they should realize how precious a thing
 is that freedom of association which is
 one of the dearest attributes of       
,english liberty4 ,so too when they read
 of monarchical and military supremacy  
in a country like ,germany1 which is    
still politically speaking in the stage 
of ,england under the ,tudors1 or of    
,russian autocracy1 or of the struggle  
over the ,king's prerogative which has  
been taking place in ,greece4 ,if we    

believe1 as we must1 in the cause of    
liberty1 let us not be too modest to say
 that nations which have not yet        
achieved responsible self-government1   
whether within or without the ,british  
,commonwealth1 are politically backward1
 and let us recall the long stages of   
political invention by which our own    
self-government has been achieved4      
,representation1 trial by jury1 an      
independent judiciary1 equality before  
the law1 habeas corpus1 a limited       
monarchy1 the practice of ministerial   
responsibility1 religious toleration1   
the freedom of printing and association1
 colonial autonomy--all these are       
distinctly ,english inventions1 but time
 has shown that most of them are        
definite additions to the universal art 
of government4 ,we can survey the       
,balkans1 for instance1 and say with    
confidence that one thing1 amongst      
others1 that those nations are in need  
of is toleration1 both in the sphere of 
nationality and of religion3 or declare 

of the ,united ,states that their       
industrial future will be menaced till  
they have freed ,trade ,unionism from   
the threat of the so-called law of      
,conspiracy3 or ask of our own so-called
 self-governing ,dominions whether they 
are content with a system that concedes 
them no responsible control over the    
issues of peace and war4 ,this is not to
 say that our own governmental machinery
 is perfect4 ,far from it4 ,it was never
 in greater need of overhauling4 ,it is 
only to reaffirm the belief1 which no   
temporary disillusionment can shake1    
that it is founded on enduring          
principles which are not political but  
moral4 ,to compare a system which aims  
at freedom and seeks to attain that aim 
through the working of responsible      
self-government with systems1 however   
logically perfect or temporarily        
effective1 which set no value on either1
 is1 as it were1 to compare black with  
white4 ,it is to go back on the lessons 
of centuries of experience and to deny  

the cause1 not of liberty alone1 but of 
that progress of the spirit of man which
 it is the highest object of liberty to 
promote4  ,we have no time here to      
discuss in detail the various ,english  
inventions in the art of politics1 but  
we must pause to consider two of the    
most important1 because they are typical
 of ,british methods4 ,the first is the 
invention called the ,principle of      
,representation4 ,representation is a   
device by which1 and by which alone1 the
 area of effective government can be    
extended without the sacrifice of       
liberty4 ,it is a device by which the   
scattered many can make their will      
prevail over the few at the centre4     
,under any non-representative system1   
whether in a ,state or a ,church or a   
,trade ,union or any other association1 
men always find themselves set before   
the inexorable dilemma between freedom  
and weakness on the one hand and        
strength and tyranny on the other4      
,either the ,state or the association   

has to be kept small1 so that the       
members themselves can meet and keep in 
touch with all that goes on4 ,or it is  
allowed to expand and grow strong1 in   
which case power becomes concentrated at
 the centre and the great body of       
members loses all effective control4    
,the ancient world saw no way out of    
this dilemma4 ,the great ,oriental      
monarchies never contemplated even the  
pretence of popular control4 ,the       
city-states of ,greece1 where democracy 
originated1 set such store in           
consequence by the personal liberty of  
the individual citizen1 that they       
preferred to remain small1 and suffered 
the inevitable penalty of their         
weakness4 ,rome1 growing till she       
overshadowed the world1 sacrificed      
liberty in the process4 ,nor was the    
,christian ,church1 when it became a    
large-scale organization1 able to       
overcome the dilemma4 ,it was not till  
thirteenth-century ,england that a way  
out was found4 ,edward ,i in summoning  

two burgesses from each borough and two 
knights from each shire to his model    
,parliament in #abie1 hit on a method of
 doing business which was destined to   
revolutionize the art of government4 ,he
 stipulated that the men chosen by their
 fellows to confer with him must come1  
to quote the exact words of the summons1
 armed with 'full and sufficient power  
for themselves and for the community of 
the aforesaid county1 and the said      
citizens and burgesses for themselves   
and the communities of the aforesaid    
cities and boroughs separately1 there   
and then1 for doing what shall then be  
ordained according to the ,common       
,council in the premises1 so that the   
aforesaid business shall not remain     
unfinished in any way for defect of this
 power'4 ,in other words1 the members   
were to come to confer with the king not
 as individuals speaking for themselves 
alone1 but as representatives4 ,their   
words and acts were to bind those on    
whose behalf they came1 and those who   

chose them were to do so in the full    
knowledge that they would be so bound4  
,in choosing them the electors          
deliberately surrendered their own share
 of initiative and sovereignty and      
combined to bestow it on a fellow       
citizen whom they trusted4 ,in this way1
 and in this way alone1 the people of   
,cornwall and of ,northumberland could  
bring their wishes to bear and play     
their part1 together with the people at 
the centre1 in the government of a      
country many times the size of a        
city-state of ancient ,greece4 ,there   
had been assemblies before in all ages  
of history3 but this was something      
different4 ,it was a ,parliament4       
,representation seems to us such an     
obvious device that we often forget how 
comparatively modern it is and what a   
degree of responsibility and            
self-control it demands both in the     
representative and in those whom he     
represents4 ,it is very unpleasant to   
hear of things done or acquiesced in by 

our representatives of which we         
disapprove1 and to have to remember that
 it is our own fault for not sending a  
wiser or braver man to ,westminster in  
his place4 ,it is still more unpleasant 
for a representative to feel1 as he     
often must1 that his own honest opinion 
and conscience draw him one way on a    
matter of business and the opinions of  
most of his constituents another4 ,but  
these are difficulties inherent in the  
system1 and for which there is no remedy
 but sincerity and patience4 ,it is part
 of the bargain that a constituency     
should not be able to disavow a         
representative3 and that a              
representative should feel bound to use 
his own best judgement on the issues put
 before him4 ,to turn the               
representative1 as there is a tendency  
to do in some quarters1 into a mere     
mouthpiece with a mandate1 is to ignore 
the very problem which made             
representation necessary1 and to presume
 that a local mass-meeting can be as    

well informed or take as wide a view as 
those who have all the facts before them
 at the centre4 ,the ancient ,greeks1   
who had a strong sense of individuality1
 were loth to believe that any one human
 being could make a decision on behalf  
of another4 ,in the deepest sense of    
course they were right4 ,but government1
 as has been said1 is at best a rough   
business4 ,representation is no more    
than a practical compromise3 but it is a
 compromise which has been found to     
work4 ,it has made possible the         
extension of free government to areas   
undreamed of4 ,it has enabled the       
general sense of the inhabitants of the 
,united ,states1 an area nearly as large
 as ,europe1 to be concentrated at      
,washington1 and it may yet make it     
possible to collect the sense of        
self-governing ,dominions in four       
continents in a ,parliament at ,london4 
,all this lay implicit in the practical 
instructions sent by the ,english king  
to his sheriffs2 but its development    

would only have been possible in a      
community where the general level of    
character was a high one and where men  
were1 therefore1 in the habit of placing
 implicit trust in one another4 ,the    
relationship of confidence between a    
member of ,parliament and his           
constituents1 or a ,trade ,union leader 
and his rank and file1 is a thing of    
which public men are rightly proud3 for 
it reflects honour on both parties and  
testifies to an underlying community of 
purpose which no passing disagreement on
 details can break down4                
,representation paved the way for the   
modern development of responsible       
self-government4 ,but it is important to
 recognize that the two are not the same
 thing4 ,responsible self-government1 in
 its modern form1 is a separate and more
 complex ,english invention in the art  
of government4 ,a community may be      
decked out with a complete apparatus of 
representative institutions and yet     
remain little better than an autocracy4 

,modern ,germany is a case in point4    
,the parliamentary suffrage for the     
,german ,reichstag is more              
representative than that for the        
,british ,house of ,commons4 ,the       
,german workman is better represented in
 his ,parliament than the ,british      
workman is in ours4 ,but the ,german    
workman has far less power to make his  
will effective in matters of policy than
 the ,british1 because the ,german      
constitution does not embody the        
principle of responsible                
self-government4 ,sovereignty still     
rests with the ,kaiser as it rested in  
the thirteenth century with ,edward ,i4 
,the ,imperial ,chancellor is not       
responsible to the ,reichstag but to the
 ,kaiser1 by whom he is appointed and   
whose personal servant he remains4 ,the 
,reichstag can discuss the actions of   
the ,chancellor3 it can advise him1 or  
protest to him1 or even pass votes of   
censure against him2 but it cannot make 
its will effective4 ,we can observe the 

working of similar representative       
institutions in different parts of the  
,british ,commonwealth4 ,the provinces  
of ,india and many ,british ,colonies   
have variously composed representative  
assemblies1 but in all cases without the
 power to control their executives4 ,the
 self-governing ,dominions1 on the other
 hand1 do enjoy responsible             
self-government1 but in an incomplete   
form1 because the most vital of all     
issues of policy are outside their      
control4 ,on questions of foreign       
policy1 and the issues of war and peace1
 the ,parliaments of the ,dominions1 and
 the citizens they represent1 are1      
constitutionally speaking1 as helpless  
as the most ignorant native in the      
humblest dependency4 ,representative    
institutions in themselves thus no more 
ensure real self-government than the    
setting up of a works committee of      
employees in a factory would ensure that
 the workmen ran the factory4 ,the      
distinction between representation and  

effective responsibility is so simple   
that it seems a platitude to mention it4
 ,yet it is constantly ignored1 both in 
this country by those who speak of      
,colonial self-government as though the 
,dominions really enjoyed the same      
self-government as the people of these  
islands1 and by the parties in ,germany 
whose programme it is1 not to make      
,germany a truly constitutional country1
 but to assimilate the retrograde       
,prussian franchise to the broader      
representation of the ,reichstag4       
,wherein does the transition from       
representation to full responsibility   
consist8 ,it came about in ,england when
 ,parliament1 instead of merely being   
consulted by the sovereign1 felt itself 
strong enough to give orders to the     
sovereign4 ,the sovereign naturally     
resisted1 as the ,kaiser and the ,tsar  
will resist in their turn2 but in this  
country the battle was fought and won in
 the seventeenth century4 ,since that   
time1 with a few vacillations1          

,parliament has been the sovereign      
power4 ,but once this transfer of       
sovereignty has taken place1 a new      
problem arises4 ,a ,parliament of       
several hundred members1 even though it 
meets regularly1 is not competent to    
transact the multitudinous and complex  
and highly specialized business of a    
modern ,state4 ,the original function of
 ,parliament was to advise1 to discuss1 
and to criticize4 ,it is not an         
instrument fit for the work of execution
 and administration4 ,having become     
sovereign1 its first business must be to
 create out of its own members an       
instrument which should carry out its   
own policy and be responsible to itself 
for its actions4 ,hence arose the       
,cabinet4 ,the ,cabinet is1 as it were1 
a distillation of ,parliament1 just as  
,parliament itself is a distillation of 
the country4 ,it consists of members of 
,parliament and it is in constant touch 
with ,parliament2 but its methods are   
not the methods of ,parliament but of   

the older1 more direct1 organs of       
government which ,parliament superseded4
 ,it meets in secret3 it holds all the  
strings of policy3 it has almost        
complete control of political and       
legislative initiative3 it decides what 
is to be done and when and how3 it has  
its own staff of agents and confidential
 advisers in the ,departments and       
elsewhere whose acts are largely        
withdrawn from the knowledge and        
criticism of ,parliament4 ,a modern     
,cabinet in fact is open to the charge  
of being autocracy in a new guise4 ,such
 a charge would1 of course1 be a gross  
overstatement4 ,but there is no doubt   
that the increasing complexity in the   
tasks of government has led to a        
corresponding growth of power and       
organization at the centre which has    
strengthened the ,cabinet immeasurably  
of recent years at the expense of the   
direct representatives of the people4   
,there are1 however1 powerful influences
 at work in the opposite direction1     

towards decentralization and new forms  
of representation1 which there is no    
space to touch on here4 ,suffice it to  
say that here1 as elsewhere1 the price  
of liberty is eternal vigilance4        
,england1 then1 and all who enjoy the   
full privileges of ,british citizenship 
have been placed by the progress of     
events in a position of peculiar        
responsibility4 ,the twentieth century  
finds us the centre of the widest       
experiment of self-government which the 
world has ever seen2 for the principles 
of liberty1 first tested in this island1
 have approved themselves on the soil of
 ,north ,america1 ,australasia1 and     
,south ,africa4 ,it finds us also       
responsible for the government and for  
the training in responsibility of some  
#cej1jjj1jjj members of the more        
politically inexperienced and backward  
races of mankind1 or about one-fifth of 
the human race4 ,the growth of the      
,british ,commonwealth1 about which so  
astonishingly little is known either by 

ourselves or by other peoples1 is not a 
mere happy or unhappy accident4 ,it is  
one of the inevitable and decisive      
developments in the history of mankind4 
,it is the direct result of that        
widening of intercourse1 that           
internationalizing of the world1 to     
which reference has already been made4  
,it represents the control of law and   
organized government over the blind and 
selfish forces of exploitation4 ,in the 
exercise of this control we have often  
ourselves been blind and sometimes      
selfish4 ,but 'the situation of man'1 as
 ,burke finely said of our ,indian      
,empire1 'is the preceptor of his duty'4
 ,the perseverance of the ,british      
character1 its habit of concentration on
 the work that lies to hand1 and the    
influence of our traditional social and 
political ideals1 have slowly brought us
 to a deeper insight1 till to-day the   
,commonwealth is becoming alive to the  
real nature of its task--the extension  
and consolidation of liberty4 ,if it has

 thus taken up1 in part1 the work of the
 mediaeval ,empire and has had a measure
 of success where the other failed1 it  
is because of the character of its      
individual citizens1 because despite    
constant and heart-breaking failures in 
knowledge and imagination1 we are a     
people who1 in the words of a stern1 if 
friendly1 critic1 'with great           
self-assertion and a bull-dog kind of   
courage1 have yet a singular amount of  
gentleness and tenderness'4#ff          
99       99       99       99       99  
,we have come to the end of our long    
survey4 ,some of you may feel that ,i   
have fetched too wide a compass and     
given too wide an extension to the      
meaning of government4 ,but if ,i have  
sinned ,i have sinned of set purpose4 ,i
 refuse to confine government within the
 limits of what is ordinarily called    
politics1 or to discuss the association 
called the ,state in isolation from     
other sides of man's community life4 ,to
 do so1 ,i feel1 is to lay oneself open 

to one of two opposite errors3 the error
 of those for whom the ,state is the    
,almighty1 and who invest it with a     
superhuman morality and authority of its
 own2 and the error of those who draw in
 their skirts in horror from the touch  
of what ,nietzsche called this 'cold    
monster' and take refuge in monastic    
detachment from the political           
responsibilities of their time4 ,we must
 be able to see politics as a part of   
life before we can see it steadily and  
see it whole4 ,we must be able to see it
 in relation to the general ordering of 
the world and to connect it once more1  
as in the ,middle ,ages1 with religion  
and morality4 ,no thinking man can live 
through such a time as this and preserve
 his faith unless he is sustained by the
 belief that the clash of ,states which 
is darkening our generation is not a    
mere blind collision of forces1 but has 
spiritual bearings which affect each    
individual living soul born or to be    
born in the world4 ,it is not for us to 

anticipate the verdict of history4 ,but 
what we can do is to bear ourselves     
worthily1 in thought and speech1 like   
our soldiers in action1 of the times in 
which we live--to testify1 as it were1  
in our own lives1 to that for which so  
many of our friends have laid down      
theirs4 ,we are met at a culminating    
moment of human fate--when1 so far as   
human judgement can discern1 the        
political destinies of this planet are  
being settled for many generations to   
come--perhaps for good4 ,if the task of 
leadership in the arts of government    
remains with us1 let us face the        
responsibility conscious of the vast    
spiritual issues which it involves1 and 
let us so plan and act that history1    
looking back on these years of blood1   
may date from them a new birth of       
freedom and progress1 not for ourselves 
in this country alone but throughout    
that kingdom of ,man which must one day1
 as we believe1 become in very truth the
 kingdom of ,god4   ,,books ,,for       

,,reference  #a4 ,man's ,control over   
,nature3     ,ray ,lankester1 ,the      
,kingdom of ,man1 and other essays4     
#aiab4     ,demolins1 ,comment la route 
cree le type social4     ,curtis 7ed4   
by71 ,the ,commonwealth of ,nations4    
,vol4 i1 #aiaf4     ,murphy1 ,the ,basis
 of ,ascendancy4 #aiji4                 
,introduction to the ,study of          
,international ,relations 7,greenwood   
and others74 #aiaf4  #b4 ,political     
,ideals3     ,the ,jews3 ,todd1         
,politics and ,religion in ,ancient     
,israel4 #aijd4     ,greece3            
,aristotle's ,politics1 translated by   
,b4 ,jowett4 #aijh4     ,dickinson1 ,the
 ,greek ,view of ,life4 #aiji4          
,barker1 ,the ,political thought of     
,plato and ,aristotle4 #aijh4     ,rome3
 ,h4 ,stuart ,jones1 ,the ,roman        
,empire4 7,story of the    ,nations47   
#aijh4 ,warde ,fowler1 ,rome 7,home     
,university    ,series74     ,the       
,middle ,ages3 ,a4 ,l4 ,smith1 ,church  
and ,state in the ,middle    ,ages4     

#aiaa4     ,gierke1 ,political ,theories
 of the ,middle ,ages 7introduction by  
,maitland74 #aijj4     ,miscellaneous3  
,wallas1 ,human ,nature in ,politics4   
#aijh4     ,acton1 ,the ,history of     
,freedom1 and other essays4 #aiji4      
,lowell1 ,the ,government of ,england4  
,buelow1 ,imperial ,germany4 #aiaf4     
,,footnotes3  #ec ,a4 ,l4 ,smith1       
,church and ,state in the ,middle ,ages1
 pp4 #bjg-h4  #ed ,lankester1 ,nature   
and ,man1 ,romanes ,lecture1 #aije1 pp4 
#bg-i4  #ee ,the ,commonwealth of       
,nations1 edited by ,l4 ,curtis1 ,part  
,i1 p4 #acj4  #ef ,ibid41 p4 #aff4  #eg 
,p4 ,h4 ,kerr in ,an ,introduction to   
the ,study of ,international ,relations1
 #aiae1 p4 #adi4  #eh ,a still better   
name would be the ,great                
,responsibilities4  #ei ,second         
,thoughts of an ,economist1 #aiaf1 pp4  
#ag-ah1 #bb4  #fj ,freedom and other    
,essays1 p4 #bb4  #fa ,isaiah lxvi4 #b2 
lvii4 #ai1 #ba2 ii4 #c1 #d4  #fb        
,ecclesiastical ,polity1 ,book ,i1 ch4  

xvi4 #e4  #fc ,end of ,book ,i of the   
,ecclesiastical ,polity4  #fd ,gierke1  
,political ,theories of the ,middle     
,age1 pp4 #h and #aj4  #fe ,the         
,commonwealth of ,nations1 ,part ,i1 p4 
#gc4  #ff ,memoirs and letters of ,sir  
,robert ,morier1 ii4 #bgf4     ,,viii   
,,progress ,,in ,,industry  ,a4 ,e4     
,,zimmern   ,in our study of ,government
 we traced the upward course of the     
common life of mankind in the world4 ,we
 saw it in the increasing control of    
,man over his physical environment1 and 
we saw it also in his clearer           
realization of the ultimate ideal of    
government--the ordering of the world's 
affairs on the basis of liberty4 ,we    
have now to turn aside from this main   
stream of social development to watch   
one particular branch of it--to survey  
man's record in the special department  
of economics4 ,we shall no longer be    
studying human history1 or the history  
of human society1 as a whole1 but what  
is known as economic or industrial      

history4  ,it is important to be clear  
at the outset that economic or          
industrial history is a tributary stream
 and not the main stream3 for there are 
a number of people who are of the       
contrary opinion4 ,there has been an    
increasing tendency of recent years to  
write human history in terms of economic
 or industrial progress4 ',tell me what 
men ate or wore or manufactured1' say   
historians of this school1 'and we will 
tell you what stage of civilization he  
had reached4 ,we will place him in his  
proper pigeonhole in our arrangement of 
the record of human progress4' ,did he  
use flint implements or fight with      
nothing but a bow and arrow8 ,did he use
 a canoe with a primitive pole which he 
had not even the sense to flatten so as 
to make it into a serviceable paddle8   
,then our sociologist will put him very 
low down on his list of the stages of   
human progress4 ,for the modern         
sociologist is a confirmed plutocrat4   
,he measures the character of men and   

races by their wealth4 ,just as         
old-fashioned people still think of the 
society of our own country as a         
hierarchy1 in which the various classes 
are graded according to their social    
prestige and the extent of their        
possessions3 so students of primitive   
civilization classify races according to
 their material equipment1 and can      
hardly help yielding to the temptation  
of reckoning their stage of progress as 
a whole by the only available test4     
,thus it is common1 especially in       
,germany and the ,united ,states1 to    
find histories of what purports to be   
the progress of mankind which show man  
first as a hunter and a fisherman1 then 
as a shepherd1 then as a tiller of the  
soil1 and then work upwards to the      
complicated industrial system of to-day4
 ,we are asked to accept the life of    
,abraham or ,david among the sheepfolds 
as the bottom of the ladder1 and the    
life of a modern wage-earner under the  
smoky sky of a manufacturing area as the

 top2 and when we complain and say1 as  
men like ,william ,morris and ,stephen  
,graham are always saying1 that we would
 far prefer to live in ,david's world1  
in spite of all its discomforts1 we are 
told that we have no right to quarrel   
with the sacred principle of ,evolution4
  ,to interpret human history in this   
way is1 of course1 to deny its spiritual
 meaning1 to deny that it is a record of
 the progress of the human spirit at    
all4 ,it is to read it as a tale of the 
improvement1 or rather the increasing   
complication1 of things1 rather than of 
the advance of man4 ,it is to view the  
world as a ,domain of ,matter1 not as   
the ,kingdom of ,man--still less1 as the
 ,kingdom of ,god4 ,it is to tie us     
helplessly to the chariot wheels of an  
industrial ,juggernaut which knows      
nothing of moral values4 ,let the       
progress of industry make life noisy and
 ugly and anxious and unhappy3 let it   
engross the great mass of mankind in    
tedious and uncongenial tasks and the   

remainder in the foolish and            
unsatisfying activities of luxurious    
living2 let it defile the green earth   
with pits and factories and slag-heaps  
and the mean streets of those who toil  
at them1 and dim the daylight with      
exhalations of monstrous vapour4 ,it is 
not for us to complain or to resist3 for
 we are in the grip of a ,power which is
 greater than ourselves1 a ,power to    
which mankind in all five continents has
 learnt to yield--that ,economic        
,process which is1 in truth1 the ,god1  
or the ,devil1 of the modern world4  ,no
 thinking man dare acquiesce in such a  
conclusion or consent to bow the head   
before such fancied necessities4 ,the   
function of industry1 he will reply1 is 
to serve human life not to master it3 to
 beautify human life not to degrade it3 
to set life free not to enslave it4     
,economics is not the whole of life3 and
 when it transgresses its bounds and    
exceeds its functions it must be        
controlled and thrust back into its     

place by the combined activities of men4
 ,the soul is higher than the body1 and 
life is more than housekeeping4 ,liberty
 is higher than ,riches1 and the welfare
 of the community more important than   
its economic and material progress4     
,these great processes1 which the       
increase of man's knowledge has set in  
motion1 are not impersonal inhuman      
forces3 ,men originated them3 men       
administer them3 and men must control   
them4 ,against economic necessity let us
 set political necessity3 and let the   
watchword of that political necessity1  
here as always1 be the freedom and the  
well-being of mankind4  ,with this      
caution in mind1 then1 let us approach  
our subject4  ,what is ,economics8      
,economics is simply the ,greek for     
'house-keeping'4 ,if writers and        
thinkers on the subject had only kept   
this simple fact in mind1 or used the   
,english word instead of the ,greek1 the
 world would have been saved much misery
 and confusion4 ,political economy is   

not1 what ,mill and other writers define
 it to be1 'the ,science of ,wealth'4   
,it is the art of                       
community-housekeeping1 and             
community-housekeeping1 as every woman  
knows1 is a very important if subsidiary
 branch of the art of                   
community-management or government4     
,housekeeping1 of course1 is not a      
selfish but a social function4          
,housewives do not lay in bread and     
cheese simply to gratify their own      
desire to be possessors of a large      
store1 but for the sake of their        
household4 ,the true housekeeper or     
economic man is the man who is          
consciously ministering to the real     
needs of the community4 ,like the ruler 
or minister in the political sphere1 he 
is a man who is performing a public     
service4  ,this is equally true whether 
the housekeeper has a monopoly of the   
purchase of bread and cheese for the    
household1 or whether he or she has to  
compete with others as to which is to be

 allowed to serve the public in that    
particular transaction4 ,just as1 under 
the party system1 which seems to be     
inseparable from the working of         
democratic institutions1 men stand for  
,parliament and compete for the honour  
of representing their neighbours1 so in 
most systems of industry men compete for
 the honour of supplying the public4    
,competition in industry is practically 
as old as industry4 ,in the earliest    
picture that has come down to us of     
,greek village life we read of the      
competition between potter and potter   
and between minstrel and minstrel--a    
competition as keen and as fierce1 we   
may be sure1 as that between rival      
shopkeepers to-day4 ,for the opposite of
 competition1 as has been truly said1 is
 not co-operation but monopoly or       
bureaucracy3 and there is no short and  
easy means of deciding between the rival
 systems4 ,sometimes the community is   
better served by entrusting one         
department wholly to one purveyor or one

 system of management--as in the ,postal
 ,service1 or the ,army and ,navy4      
,sometimes it is clearly better to leave
 the matter open to competition4        
,nobody1 for instance1 would propose to 
do with only one minstrel1 and seal the 
lips of all poets but the ,poet         
,laureate4 ,sometimes1 as in the case of
 the organized professions and the      
liquor trade1 a strictly regulated      
system of competition has been          
considered best4 ,no doubt the tendency 
at the present time is setting strongly 
against competition and towards more    
unified and more closely organized      
systems of doing business4 ,but it is   
important to make quite clear that there
 is nothing immoral or anti-social about
 the fact of competition itself1 and    
nothing inconsistent with the idea of   
service and co-operation which should   
underlie all social and economic        
activity4 ,it is not competition itself1
 as people often wrongly think1 which is
 the evil1 but the shallow and selfish  

motives and the ruthless trampling down 
of the weak that are too often          
associated with it4 ,when we condemn the
 maxim 'the ,devil take the hindmost'1  
it is not because we think we ought to  
treat the hindmost as though he were the
 foremost--to buy cracked jars or       
patronize incapable minstrels4 ,it is   
because we feel that there is a wrong   
standard of reward among those who have 
pushed to the front1 and that the       
community as a whole cannot ignore its  
responsibility towards its less         
fortunate and capable members4  ,it is1 
indeed1 quite impossible to abolish     
competition for the patronage of the    
household without subjecting its members
 to tyranny or tying them down to an    
intolerable uniformity--forcing them to 
suppress their own temporary likes or   
dislikes and to go on taking in the same
 stuff in the same quantities world     
without end4 ,for the most serious and  
permanent competition is not that       
between rival purveyors of the same     

goods1 between potter and potter and    
minstrel and minstrel1 but between one  
set of goods and another3 between the   
potter and the blacksmith1 the minstrel 
and the painter4 ,if we abolished       
competition permanently between the     
,british railways we could not make sure
 that the public would always use them  
as it does now4 ,people would still be  
at liberty to walk or to drive or to    
bicycle or to fly1 or1 at the very      
worst1 to stay at home4 ,competition1 as
 every business man knows1 sometimes    
arises from the most unexpected         
quarters4 ,the picture-house and the    
bicycle have damaged the brewer and the 
publican4 ,similarly the motor-car and  
the golf links have spoilt the trade in 
the fine china ornaments such as used to
 be common in expensively furnished     
drawing-rooms4 ,people sit less in their
 rooms1 so spend less on decorating     
them4 ,the members of the household     
always retain ultimate control over     
their economic life1 if they care to    

exercise it4 ',whoso has sixpence1' as  
,carlyle said1 'is sovereign 7to the    
length of sixpence71 over all men2      
commands ,cooks to feed him1            
,philosophers to teach him1 ,kings to   
mount guard over him1'--to the length of
 sixpence4 ,passive resistance and the  
boycott are always open to the public in
 the last resort against any of their   
servants who has abused the powers of   
his position4 ,a good instance of this  
occurred in the events which led to the 
so-called ,tobacco riots in ,milan in   
#ahdh4 ,the ,austrians thought they     
could force the ,italians in their      
,lombard provinces to pay for a         
government they hated by putting a heavy
 tax on tobacco4 ,but the ,italians1    
with more self-control than we have     
shown in the present war1 with one      
accord gave up smoking4 ,here was a     
plain competition between a monopoly and
 the consumer1 between tobacco and      
patriotism3 between a united household  
and an unpopular servant3 and the       

household won1 as it always can unless  
its members are incapable of combined   
action or have been deprived by         
governmental tyranny of all power to    
associate and to organize4  ,we are     
faced then with a community or household
 which has certain wants that need to be
 supplied4 ,the individual members of   
the community are justified1 within the 
limits of general well-being1#fg in     
deciding what are their own wants and   
how to satisfy them4 ,they claim the    
right to demand1 as the economists put  
it1 the goods and services they require1
 bread and cheese1 poetry1 tobacco1     
motor-bicycles1 china ornaments4 ,in    
order to meet those demands1 which are  
stable in essentials but subject to     
constant modification in detail1 there  
is ceaseless activity1 rivalry1         
competition1 on the part of the         
purveyors--on the side of what          
economists call supply4 ,the business of
 housekeeping1 or what is called the    
economic process1 is that of bringing   

this demand and this supply into        
relation with one another4 ,if the      
members of the household said they      
wanted to eat the moon instead of sugar1
 their demand would not be an economic  
demand3 for no housekeeper could satisfy
 it4 ,similarly on the supply side3 if  
the baker insisted on bringing round bad
 epics instead of bread and the grocer  
bad sonatas instead of sugar1 the       
supply1 however good it might seem to   
the baker and the grocer1 and however   
much satisfaction they might personally 
have derived from their work1 would not 
be an economic supply3 for the          
housekeeper1 acting on behalf of the    
household1 would not take it in4 ,but if
 the demand was for something not yet   
available1 but less impossibly remote   
than the moon1 the housekeeper might    
persuade the purveyors to cudgel their  
brains till they had met the need4 ,for1
 as we know1 ,necessity1 which is       
another word for ,demand1 is the mother 
of invention4 ,similarly1 if a purveyor 

supplied something undreamed of by the  
household1 but otherwise good of its    
kind1 he might succeed in persuading the
 household to like it--in other words1  
in creating a demand4 ,the late ,sir    
,alfred ,jones1 by putting bananas cheap
 on the market1 persuaded us that we    
liked them4 ,similarly ,mr4 ,marvin1 who
 deals in something better than bananas1
 has persuaded us all to come here1     
though most of us would never have      
thought of it unless he had created the 
demand in us4  ,economic ,progress1     
then1 is progress both on the side of   
demand and on the side of supply4 ,it is
 a progress in wants as well as in their
 means of satisfaction3 a progress in   
the aspirations of the household as well
 as in the contrivances of its          
purveyors3 a progress in the sense of   
what life might be1 as well as in the   
skill and genius and organizing powers  
of those to whom the community looks for
 help in the realization of its hopes4  
,it is important that this double aspect

 of our subject should be realized1 for 
in what follows we shall have no        
opportunity to dwell further upon it4   
,space compels us to leave the household
 and its wants and aspirations out of   
account and to direct our attention     
solely to the side of supply2 although  
it must always be remembered that no    
real and permanent progress in the      
organization of production is possible  
without improvements in the quality and 
reduction in the number of the          
requirements of what is called          
civilization4#fh ,what we have to watch1
 in our study of progress in industry1  
is the history of man as a purveyor of  
the household3 in other words1 as a     
producer of goods and services3 from the
 days of the primitive savage with his  
bark canoe to the gigantic industrial   
enterprises of our own time4  ,we can   
best do so by dividing our subject into 
two on somewhat similar lines to the    
division in our study of government4    
,let us consider industry1 first as an  

activity involving a relationship       
between man and ,nature2 secondly1 as   
involving what may be called a problem  
of industrial government1 a problem     
arising out of the co-operation between 
man and man in industrial work4 ,in the 
first of these aspects we shall see man 
as a maker1 an inventor1 an artist2 in  
the second as a subject or a citizen1 a 
slave or a free man1 in the ,industrial 
,commonwealth4  ,man as a maker or      
producer carries us back to the dawn of 
history4 ,man is a tool-using animal and
 the early stages of human history are a
 record of the elaboration of tools4    
,the flint axes in our museums are the  
earliest monuments of the activity of   
the human spirit4 ,we do not know what  
the cave men of the ,old ,stone ,age    
said or thought1 or indeed whether they 
did anything that we should call        
speaking or thinking at all2 but we know
 what they made4 ,centuries and         
millenniums elapsed between them and the
 first peoples of whom we have any more 

intimate record--centuries during which 
the foundations of our existing         
industrial knowledge and practice were  
being steadily laid4 ',one may say in   
general1' says ,mr4 ,marvin1#fi         
that most of the fruitful practical     
devices of mankind had      their origin
 in prehistoric times1 many of them     
existing      then with little essential
 difference4 ,any one of them           
affords a lesson in the gradual         
elaboration of the simple4 ,a      step 
minute in itself leads on and on1 and so
 all the      practical arts are built  
up1 a readier and more observant        
mind imitating and adapting the work of 
predecessors1 as we      imagined the   
first man making his first flint axe4   
,the      history of the plough goes    
back to the elongation of a bent        
stick4 ,the wheel would arise from      
cutting out the middle of      a trunk  
used as a roller4 ,house architecture is
 the      imitation with logs and mud of
 the natural shelters of the      rocks1

 and begins its great development when  
men have learnt      to make square     
corners instead of a rough circle4 ,and 
so on      with all the arts of life or 
pleasure1 including clothing1           
cooking1 tilling1 sailing1 and fighting4
  ,how did this gradual progress come   
about8 ,mr4 ,marvin himself supplies the
 answer4 ,through the action of the     
'readier and more observant minds'--in  
other words1 through specialization and 
the division of labour4 ,as far back as 
we can go in history we find a          
recognition that men are not all alike1 
that some have one gift and some        
another1 and that it is to the advantage
 of society to let each use his own gift
 in the public service4 ,among primitive
 peoples there has indeed often been a  
belief that men are compensated for     
physical weakness and disability by     
peculiar excellence in some sphere of   
their own4 ,hephaestos among the ,greek 
gods was lame3 so he becomes a          
blacksmith and uses his arms4 ,homer is 

blind3 so instead of fighting he sings  
of war4 ,they would not go so far as to 
maintain that all lame men must be good 
blacksmiths or all blind men good poets3
 but at least they recognized that there
 was room in the community for special  
types and that the blacksmith and the   
poet were as useful as the ordinary run 
of cultivators and fighting men4 ,the   
,greek word for craftsman--,greek3      
demiourgos--'worker for the people1'    
shows how the ,greeks felt on this      
point4 ,to them poetry and craftsmanship
 were as much honourable occupations or1
 as we should say1 professional         
activities as fighting and tilling4     
,whether ,homer took to poetry because  
he could not fight or because he had an 
overwhelming poetic gift1 he had        
justified his place in the community4   
,specialization is the foundation of all
 craftsmanship and therefore the source 
of all industrial progress4 ,we         
recognize this1 of course1 in common    
speech4 ',practice makes perfect1'      

',genius is an infinite capacity for    
taking pains1' are only different ways  
of saying that it is not enough to be   
'ready' and 'observant'1 but that       
continued activity and concentration are
 necessary4 ,a perfect industrial       
community would not be a community where
 everybody was doing the same thing3 nor
 would it be a community where every one
 was doing just what he liked at the    
moment3 it would be a community where   
every one was putting all his strength  
into the work which he was by nature    
best qualified to do--where1 in the     
words of ,kipling3      ,no one shall   
work for money1 and no one shall work   
for fame1     ,but each for the joy of  
the working1 and each1 in his separate  
star1     ,shall draw the thing as he   
sees it for the ,god of ,things as ,they
 ,are4  ,progress in industry1 then1 on 
this side1 consists in increasing       
specialization and in the perfection of 
the relationship between the workman and
 his work4 ,man in this world is        

destined to labour1 and labour is often 
described as the curse of ,adam4 ,but in
 reality1 as every one knows who has    
tried it1 or observed the habits of     
those who have1 idleness is far more of 
a curse than labour4 ,few men--at any   
rate in the temperate zone--can be      
consistently idle and remain happy4 ,the
 born idler is almost as rare as the    
born poet4 ,most men1 and1 it must be   
added1 most women1 are happier working4 
,if holidays were the rule and work the 
exception the world would be a much less
 cheerful place than it is even to-day4 
,purposeful activity is as natural to   
man as playing is to a kitten4 ,from a  
purely natural point of view1 no one has
 ever given a better definition of      
happiness than ,aristotle when he       
defined it as an activity of the soul in
 the direction of excellence in an      
unhampered life4 ,by excellence1 of     
course1 in this famous definition1      
,aristotle does not mean simply virtue3 
he means excellence in work4 ,it is     

impossible1 as we all know1 to be good  
in the abstract4 ,we must be good in    
some particular directions1 at some     
particular thing4 ,and the particular   
thing that we are good at is our work1  
our craft1 our art--or1 to use our less 
aesthetic ,english word1 for which there
 is no equivalent in ,greek1 our duty4  
,if happiness is to be found in doing   
one's duty1 it does not result from     
doing that duty badly1 but from doing it
 well--turning out1 as we say1 a        
thoroughly good piece of work1 whether a
 day's work or a life work4 ,there is a 
lingering idea1 still held in some      
quarters1 that the more unpleasant an   
activity is the more virtuous it is4    
,this is a mere barbarous survival from 
the days of what ,nietzsche called      
slave-morality4 ,we are each of us born 
with special individual gifts and       
capacities4 ,there is1 if we only knew  
it1 some particular kind or piece of    
work which we are pre-eminently fitted  
to do--some particular activity or      

profession1 be it held in high or in low
 repute in the world of to-day1 in which
 we can win the steady happiness of     
purposeful labour4 ,shall we then say   
that it ministers to human progress and 
to the glory of ,god deliberately to    
bury our talent out of sight and to seek
 rather work which1 because it is       
irksome and unpleasant to us1 we can    
never succeed in doing either easily or 
really well8 ,no one who knows anything 
of education or of the training of the  
young1 no one1 indeed1 who has any love 
for children1 would dare to say that we 
should4 ,our ,state educational system1 
miserably defective though it is in this
 regard1 is based upon the idea of      
ministering to the special gifts of its 
pupils--of trying by scholarships1 by   
,care ,committees1 by the institution of
 schools with a special 'bias'1 to meet 
the needs of different kinds of young   
people and to set them in the path on   
which they are best fitted to travel4   
,in doing this the modern ,state is only

 trying to carry out the principle laid 
down in the greatest book ever written  
on education--,plato's ,republic4       
,plato's object was to train every      
citizen to fill the one position where  
he could lead the best life for the good
 of the ,state4 ,his aim was not to make
 his citizens happy but to promote      
goodness2 but he had enough faith in    
human nature--and who can be an         
educational thinker without having faith
 in human nature8--to be convinced that 
to enable men to 'do their bit'1 as we  
say to-day1 was to assure them of the   
truest happiness4 ,we of this generation
 know how abundantly that faith has been
 confirmed4 ,and indeed we can appeal in
 this matter not only to the common     
sense of ,education ,authorities or to  
the philosophy of the ancients1 but to  
the principles of the ,christian        
religion4 ,the late ,professor ,smart1  
who was not only a good economist but a 
good man2 has some very pertinent words 
on this subject4 ',if for some reason   

that we know not of1' he remarks1#gj    
this present is merely the first stage  
in being2 if we are      all at school1 
and not merely pitched into the world by
      chance to pick up our living as   
best we can 444 it seems to      me that
 we have reason enough to complain of   
the existing      economic system4444 ,i
 imagine that many of our churchgoing   
people1 if they ever get to the heaven  
they sing about1 will      find         
themselves most uncomfortable1 if it be 
a place for      which they have made no
 preparation but in the 'business' in   
which they have earned their living4444 
,a man's daily work      is a far       
greater thing towards the development of
 the ,god      that is in him than his  
wealth4 ,and1 however revolutionary     
the idea is1 ,i must say that all our   
accumulations of wealth      are little 
to the purpose of life if they do not   
tend      towards the giving to all men 
the opportunity of such work      as    
will have its reward in the doing4  ,and

 of his own particular life-work1       
teaching1 he remarks1 in words that     
testify to his own inner peace and      
happiness1 that 'some of us have got    
into occupations which almost seem to   
guarantee immortality'4  ,let us1 then1 
boldly lay it down that the best test of
 progress in industry and the best      
measure of success in any industrial    
system is the degree to which it enables
 men to 'do their bit' and so to find   
happiness in their daily work1 or if you
 prefer more distinctively religious    
language1 the degree to which it enables
 men to develop the ,god that is in     
them4 ,let us have the courage to say   
that in the great battle which ,ruskin  
and ,william ,morris fought almost      
single-handed against all the           
,philistines of the nineteenth century1 
,ruskin and ,morris1 however wrong they 
may have been on points of practical    
detail1 were right in principle4 ,let us
 make up our minds that a world in which
 men have surrendered the best hours of 

the day to unsatisfying drudgery1 and   
banished happiness to their brief       
periods of tired leisure1 is so far from
 civilized that it has not even made    
clear to itself wherein civilization    
consists4 ,and when we read such a      
passage as the following from a leading 
modern economist1 let us not yield to   
the promptings of our lower nature and  
acquiesce in its apparent common sense1 
but remember that economists1 like all  
workmen1 are bounded by the limits of   
their own particular craft or study4    
',the greater part of the world's work1'
 says ,professor ,taussig1#ga the       
leading exponent of ,economics at       
,harvard1       is not in itself felt to
 be pleasurable4 ,some reformers have   
hoped to reach a social system under    
which all work would be      in itself a
 source of satisfaction4 ,it is probable
 that      such persons are made        
optimistic by the nature of their own   
doings4 ,they are writers1 schemers1    
reformers2 they are      usually of     

strongly altruistic character1 and the  
performance of any duty or set task     
brings to them the      approval of an  
exacting conscience2 and they believe   
that      all mankind can be brought to 
labour in their own spirit4      ,the   
world would be a much happier place if  
their state of      mind could be made  
universal4 ,but the great mass of men   
are      of a humdrum sort1 not born    
with any marked bent or any             
loftiness of character4 ,moreover1 most 
of the world's work      for the        
satisfaction of our primary wants must  
be of a      humdrum sort1 and often of 
a rough and coarse sort4 ,there         
must be ditching and delving1 sowing and
 reaping1 hammering      and sawing1 and
 all the severe physical exertion which1
      however lightened by tools and    
machinery1 yet can never be      other  
than labour in the ordinary sense of the
 word4  ,when ,professor ,taussig       
assures us that 'the great mass of men  
are of a humdrum sort1 not born with any

 marked bent or loftiness of character' 
he is simply denying the ,christian     
religion4 ,to argue the point with him  
would carry us too far4 ,we will do no  
more here than remind him that the      
people to whom the ,founder of          
,christianity preached1 and even those  
who were chosen to be its first         
disciples1 were1 like this audience1    
distinctly humdrum1 and that assuredly  
the ,american ,professor would not have 
discerned in them promising material for
 a world-transforming religious         
movement4 ,what people see in others is 
often a mirror of themselves4 ,perhaps  
,professor ,taussig1 in spite of his    
excellent book1 is rather a humdrum     
person himself4  ,when1 however1        
,professor ,taussig declares that 'the  
greater part of the world's work is not 
in itself felt to be pleasurable' he is 
saying what1 under existing conditions1 
we must all recognize to be true4 ,a    
year or two ago ,mr4 ,graham ,wallas    
made an investigation into this very    

question1 the results of which confirmed
 the general impression that modern     
workmen find little happiness in their  
work4#gb ,but two of the conclusions    
which he reached conflict in a rather   
curious way with the statement of       
,professor ,taussig4 ,mr4 ,wallas's     
evidence1 which was largely drawn from  
students of ,ruskin ,college1 led him to
 the conclusion 'that there is less     
pleasantness or happiness in work the   
nearer it approaches the fully organized
 ,great ,industry'4 ,the only workman   
who spoke enthusiastically of his work  
was an agricultural labourer who 'was   
very emphatic with regard to the        
pleasure to be obtained from            
agricultural work'4 ,professor ,taussig1
 on the other hand1 selects four        
agricultural occupations1 ditching1     
delving1 sowing1 and reaping1 as        
characteristically unpleasant and looks 
to machinery and the apparatus of the   
,industrial ,revolution to counteract   
this unpleasantness4 ,but the most      

interesting evidence gathered by ,mr4   
,wallas was that relating to women      
workers4 ,he had an opportunity of      
collecting the views of girls employed  
in the laundries and poorer kind of     
factories in ,boston4 ',the answers'1 he
 says1#gc 'surprised me greatly4 ,i     
expected to hear those complaints about 
bad wages1 hard conditions and arbitrary
 discipline which a body of men working 
at the same grade of labour would       
certainly have put forward4 ,but it was 
obvious that the question ,are you      
happy8 meant to the girls ,are you      
happier than you would have been if you 
had stayed at home instead of going to  
work8 ,and almost every one of them     
answered ,yes4' ,why were they unhappy  
at home8 ,let ,professor ,taussig       
reflect on the answer4 ,not because they
 had 'rough' or 'coarse' or 'humdrum'   
work to do1 as in a factory or laundry1 
but because they had nothing to do1 and 
they had found idleness unbearable4     
',one said that work took up her mind1  

she had been awfully discontented'4     
,another that 'you were of some use'4   
,another thought 'it was because the    
hours went so much faster4 ,at home one 
could read1 but only for a short time1  
there was the awful lonesome afternoon  
ahead of you4' ',asked a little girl    
with dyed hair but a good little heart4 
,she enjoyed her work4 ,it made her feel
 she was worth something4' ,and ,mr4    
,wallas concludes that it is just       
because 'everything that is interesting1
 even though it is laborious1 in the    
women's arts of the old village is      
gone'3 because 'clothes are bought      
ready-made1 food is bought either       
ready-cooked1 like bread and jam and    
fish1 or only requiring the simplest    
kind of cooking'3 in fact just because  
physical exertion has been lightened by 
books and machinery1 that 'there results
 a mass of inarticulate unhappiness     
whose existence has hardly been         
indicated by our present method of      
sociological enquiry'4  ,it would seem  

then that the task of associating modern
 industrial work with happiness is not  
impossible1 if we would only set        
ourselves to the task4 ,and the task is 
a two-fold one4 ,it is1 first1 to make  
it possible for people to follow the    
employment for which they are by nature 
best fitted2 and secondly1 to study much
 more closely than heretofore1 from the 
point of view of happiness1 the         
conditions under which work is done4    
,the first task involves a very         
considerable reversal of current        
educational and social values4 ,it does 
not simply mean paving the way for the  
son of an engine-driver to become a     
doctor or a lawyer or a cavalryman4 ,it 
means paving the way for the son of a   
duke to become1 without any sense of    
social failure1 an engine-driver or a   
merchant seaman or a worker on the      
land--and to do so not1 as to-day1 in   
the decent seclusion of ,british        
,columbia or ,australia1 but in our own 
country and without losing touch1 if he 

desires it1 with his own natural circle 
of friends4 ,the ladder is an old and   
outworn metaphor in this connexion4 ,yet
 it is still worth remembering that the 
,angels whom ,jacob observed upon it    
were both ascending and descending4 ,it 
is one of the fallacies of our social   
system to believe that a ladder should  
only be used in one direction--and that 
the direction which tends to remove men 
from contact and sympathy with their    
fellows4 ,but in truth we need to       
discard the metaphor of the ladder      
altogether1 with its implied suggestion 
that some tasks of community-service are
 more honourable and involve more of    
what the world calls 'success' than     
others4 ,we do not desire a system of   
education which picks out for promotion 
minds gifted with certain kinds of      
capacity and stimulates them with the   
offer of material rewards1 while the    
so-called humdrum remainder are left1   
with their latent talents undiscovered  
and undeveloped4  ,recent educational   

experiments1#gd and not least that most 
testing of all school examinations1 the 
war1 have shown us that we must revise  
all our old notions as to cleverness and
 stupidity4 ,we know now that1 short of 
real mental deficiency1 there is or     
ought to be no such personage as the    
dunce4 ,just as the criminal is         
generally a man of unusual energy and   
mental power directed into wrong        
channels1 so the dunce is a pupil whose 
special powers and aptitudes have not   
revealed themselves in the routine of   
school life4 ,and just as the criminal  
points to serious defects in our social 
system1 so the dunce points to serious  
defects in our educational system4 ,the 
striking record of our industrial       
schools and reformatories in the war    
shows what young criminals and dunces   
can do when they are given a fair field 
for their special gifts4 ,one of the    
chief lessons to be drawn from the war  
is the need for a new spirit and outlook
 in our national education from the     

elementary school to the ,university4   
,we need a system which treats every    
child1 rich or poor1 as a living and    
developing personality1 which enables   
every ,english boy and girl to stay at  
school at least up to the time when his 
or her natural bent begins to disclose  
itself1 which provides for all classes  
of the community skilled guidance in the
 choice of employment based upon        
psychological study of individual gifts 
and aptitude1#ge which sets up methods  
of training and apprenticeship in the   
different trades--or1 as ,i would prefer
 to call them the different             
professions--such as to counteract the  
deadening influence of premature        
specialization1 and which ensures good  
conditions and a sense of self-respect  
and community-service to all in their   
self-chosen line of life1 whether their 
bent be manual or mechanical or         
commercial or administrative1 or for    
working on the land or for going to sea1
 or towards the more special vocations  

of teaching or scholarship or the law or
 medicine or the cure of souls4 ,no one 
can estimate how large a share of the   
unhappiness associated with our existing
 social system is due to the fact that1 
owing to defects in our education and   
our arrangements for the choice of      
employment1 there are myriads of square 
pegs in round holes4 ,this applies with 
especial force to women1 to whom many of
 the square holes are still             
inaccessible1 not simply owing to the   
lack of opportunities for individuals1  
but owing to the inhibitions of custom  
and1 in some cases1 to narrow and       
retrograde professional enactments4 ,the
 war has brought women their chance1 not
 only in the office and the workshop1   
but in higher administrative and        
organizing positions1 and not the least 
of its results is the revelation of     
undreamt-of capacities in these         
directions4  ,in the second task1 that  
of perfecting the adaptation between men
 and their tools1 we have much to learn 

from the industrial history of the past4
 ,it is natural for men to enjoy        
'talking shop'1 and this esoteric bond  
of union has existed between workmen in 
all ages4 ,we may be sure that there    
were discussions amongst connoisseurs in
 the ,stone ,age as to the respective   
merits of their flint axes1 just as     
there are to-day between golfers about  
niblicks and putters1 and between       
surgeons as to the technique of the     
extraction of an appendix4 ,a good      
workman loves his tools4 ,he is indeed  
inseparable from them1 as our law       
acknowledges by forbidding a bankrupt's 
tools to be sold up4 ,give a good       
workman1 in town or country1 a          
sympathetic listener and he is only too 
ready to expatiate on his daily work4   
,this sense of kinship between men and  
their tools and material is so little   
understood by some of our modern expert 
organizers of industry that it is worth 
while illustrating it at some length4 ,i
 make no apology1 therefore1 for quoting

 a striking passage from an essay by    
,mr4 ,george ,bourne1 who is not a trade
 unionist or a student of ,labour       
politics but an observer of ,english    
village life1 who has taken the trouble 
to penetrate the mind of what is        
commonly regarded as the stupidest and  
most backward--as it is certainly the   
least articulate--class of workmen in   
this country1 the agricultural labourer 
in the southern counties4 ',the men'1 he
 writes1       are commonly too modest  
about their work1 and too               
unconscious that it can interest an     
outsider1 to dream of      discussing   
it4 ,what they have to say would not    
therefore by      itself go far in      
demonstration of their acquirements in  
technique4 ,fortunately1 for proof of   
that we are not      dependent on talk4 
,besides talk there exists another kind 
of      evidence open to every one's    
examination1 and the technical          
skill exercised in country labours may  
be purely deduced      from the aptness 

and singular beauty of sundry country   
tools4       ,the beauty of tools is not
 accidental1 but inherent and           
essential4 ,the contours of a ship's    
sail bellying in the      wind are not  
more inevitable1 nor more graceful1 than
 the      curves of an adze-head or of a
 plough-share4 ,cast in iron or         
steel1 the gracefulness of a            
plough-share is more      indestructible
 than the metal1 yet pliant 7in the     
limits of      its type7 as a line of   
,english blank verse4 ,it changes for   
different soils3 it is widened out or   
narrowed2 it is      deep-grooved or    
shallow2 not because of caprice at the  
foundry or to satisfy an artistic fad1  
but to meet the      technical demands  
of the expert ploughman4 ,the most      
familiar      example of beauty         
indicating subtle technique is supplied 
by      the admired shape of boats1     
which1 however1 is so variable      7the
 statement is made on the authority of  
an old      coast-guardsman7 that the   

boat best adapted for one stretch       
of shore may be dangerous1 if not       
entirely useless1 at      another       
stretch ten miles away4 ,and as         
technique determines      the design of 
a boat1 or of a waggon1 or of a         
plough-share1      so it controls       
absolutely the fashioning of tools1 and 
is      responsible for any beauty of   
form they may possess4 ,of all          
tools none1 of course1 is more exquisite
 than a fiddle-bow4      ,but the       
fiddle-bow never could have been        
perfected1 because      there would have
 been no call for its tapering delicacy1
 its      calculated balance of         
lightness and strength1 had not the     
violinist's technique reached such      
marvellous fineness of      power4 ,for 
it is the accomplished artist who is    
fastidious      as to his tools2 the    
bungling beginner can bungle with       
anything4 ,the fiddle-bow1 however1     
affords only one example      of a rule 
which is equally well exemplified by    

many humbler      tools4 ,quarryman's   
peck1 coachman's whip1 cricket-bat1     
fishing-rod1 trowel1 all have their     
intimate relation to the      skill of  
those who use them2 and like animals and
 plants1      adapting themselves each  
to its own place in the universal       
order1 they attain to beauty by force of
 being fit4 ,that law      of adaptation
 which shapes the wings of a swallow and
      prescribes the poise and elegance 
of the branches of trees      is the    
same that demands symmetry in the       
corn-rick and      convexity in the     
beer-barrel2 the same that1 exerting    
itself      with matchless precision    
through the trained senses of           
haymakers and woodmen1 gives the final  
curve to the handles      of their      
scythes and the shafts of their axes4   
,hence the      beauty of a tool is an  
unfailing sign that in the proper       
handling of it technique is present 444 
',it is not the well-informed and those 
eager to teach'1 he says in another     

passage1       who know the primitive   
necessary lore of civilization2 it is   
the illiterate4 ,in ,california1 ,louis 
,stevenson found men      studying the  
quality of vines grown on different     
pockets of      earth1 just as the      
peasants of ,burgundy and the ,rhine    
have      done for ages4 ,and even so   
the ,english generations have           
watched the produce of their varying    
soils4 ,when or how was      it         
learnt--was it at ,oxford or at         
,cambridge8--that the      apples of    
,devonshire are so specially fit for    
cider8 ,or how      is it that hops are 
growing--some of them planted before    
living memory--all along the strip of   
green sand which      encircles the     
,weald--that curious strip to which     
text-books      at last point           
triumphantly as being singularly adapted
 for      hops8 ,until it got into the  
books1 this piece of knowledge      was 
not thought of as learning2 it had      
merely been acted      upon during some 

centuries4 ,but such knowledge exists1  
boundless1 in whatever direction one    
follows it3 the      knowledge of       
fitting means to ends3 excellent        
rule-of-thumb      knowledge1 as good as
 the chemist uses for analyzing water4  
,when the peculiar values of a plot of  
land have been      established--as1 for
 instance1 that it is a clay 'too       
strong' for bricks--then further forms  
of localized      knowledge are brought 
to supplement this1 until at last the   
bricks are made4 ,next1 they must be    
removed from the field2      and        
immediately new problems arise4 ,the old
 farm-cart1      designed for roots or  
manure1 has not the most suitable       
shape for brick-carting4 ,probably1 too1
 its wide wheels1      which were       
intended for the softness of ploughed   
land1 are      needlessly clumsy for the
 hard road4 ,soon1 therefore1 the       
local wheelwright begins to lighten his 
spokes and felloes1      and to make the
 wheels a trifle less 'dished'2 while   

his      blacksmith binds them in a     
narrower but thicker tyre1 to      which
 he gives a shade more tightness4 ,for  
the wheelwright      learns from the    
carter--that ignorant fellow--the answer
 to      the new problems set by a load 
of bricks4 ,a good carter1 for      his 
part1 is able to adjust his labour to   
his locality4 ,a      part of his duty  
consists in knowing what constitutes a  
fair      load for his horse in the     
district where he is working4 ,so       
many hundred stock bricks1 so many more 
fewer of the red or      wire-cut1 such 
and such a quantity of sand1 or timber1 
or      straw1 or coal1 or drain-pipes1 
or slates1 according to      their kinds
 and sizes1 will make as much as an     
average horse      can draw in this     
neighbourhood2 but in ,london the loads 
are      bigger and the vehicles        
heavier2 while in more hilly parts      
7as you may see any day in the ,west    
,country7 two horses are      put before
 a cart and load which the ,london      

carter would      deem hardly too much  
for a costermonger's donkey4       ,so  
it goes throughout civilization3 there  
is not an industry      but produces its
 own special knowledge relating to      
unclassified details of adjustment4#gf  
,it is this craft-knowledge and common  
professional feeling which is at the    
basis of all associations of workpeople1
 from the semi-religious societies of   
ancient times1 which met in secret to   
worship their patron-god--,hephaestos1  
the god of the metal-workers1 or        
,asclepios1 the god of the              
doctors--through the great guilds of the
 ,middle ,ages to the trade unions and  
professional organizations of to-day4   
,trade unions do not exist simply to    
raise wages or to fight the capitalist1 
any more than the ,british ,medical     
,association exists simply to raise fees
 and to bargain with the ,government4   
,they exist to serve a professional     
need3 to unite men who are doing the    
same work and to promote the welfare and

 dignity of that work4 ,it is this which
 renders so difficult the problems of   
adjustment which arise owing to the     
introduction of new and unfamiliar      
processes4 ,professional associations   
are1 and are bound to be1 conservative3 
their conservatism is honourable and to 
their credit3 for they are the          
transmitters of a great tradition4 ,the 
problem in every case is to ensure the  
progress necessary to the community     
without injury to that sense of         
'fellowship in the mystery' on which the
 social spirit of the particular class  
of workmen depends4 ,it is from this    
point of view that recent ,american     
proposals in the direction of           
'scientific management' are most open to
 criticism3 for they involve the        
break-up of the craft-spirit without    
setting anything comparable in its      
place4 ,in fact1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,taylor1  
one of the inventors of what is called  
the 'system' of scientific management1  
frankly ignores or despises the         

craft-spirit and proposes to treat the  
workman as a being incapable of         
understanding the principles underlying 
the practice of his art4 ,he goes so far
 as to lay it down as a general         
principle that 'in almost all the       
mechanic arts the science which         
underlies each act of each workman is so
 great and amounts to so much that the  
workman who is best suited to actually  
doing the work is incapable of fully    
understanding this science1 without the 
guidance and help of those who are      
working with him or over him1 either    
through lack of education or through    
insufficient mental capacity'4#gg ,along
 the lines of this philosophy no        
permanent industrial advance is         
possible4 ,it may improve the product   
for a time1 but only at the cost of     
degrading the producer4 ,if we are to   
make happiness our test1 and to stand by
 our definition of happiness as         
involving free activity1 such a system1 
destructive as it is of any real or     

intense relationship between the workman
 and his work1 stands self-condemned4   
,if we are looking for real industrial  
progress it is elsewhere that we must   
turn4  ,this leads us naturally on to   
the second great division of our        
subject3 progress in the methods of     
co-operation between man and man in     
doing industrial work4 ,for if man is a 
social animal his power to do his bit   
and his consequent happiness must be    
derived1 in part at least1 from his     
social environment4 ,the lonely         
craftsman perfecting his art in the     
solitude of a one-man workshop does not 
correspond with our industrial ideal any
 more than the hermit or the monk       
corresponds with our general religious  
ideal4 ,it was the great apostle of     
craftsmanship1 ,william ,morris1 who    
best set forth the social ideal of      
industry in his immortal sentence3      
',fellowship is ,life and lack of       
,fellowship is ,death4' ,our study of   
the workman1 then1 is not complete when 

we have seen him with his tools3 we must
 see him also among his workmates4 ,we  
must see industry not simply as a       
process of production but as a form of  
association2 and we must realize that   
the association of human beings for the 
purpose of industrial work involves what
 is just as much a problem of government
 as their association in the great      
political community which we call the   
,state4  ,it is difficult to see the    
record of the progress of industrial    
government in clear perspective for the 
simple reason that the world is still so
 backward as regards the organization of
 this side of its common life4 ,the     
theory and practice of industrial       
government is generations1 even         
centuries1 behind the theory and        
practice of politics4 ,we are still     
accustomed in industry to attitudes of  
mind and methods of management which the
 political thought of the ,western      
,world has long since discarded as      
incompatible with its ideals4 ,two      

instances must suffice to illustrate    
this4 ,it is constantly being said1 both
 by employers and by politicians1 and   
even by writers in sympathy with        
working-class aspirations1 that all that
 the workman needs in his life is       
security4 ,give him work under decent   
conditions1 runs the argument1 with     
reasonable security of tenure and       
adequate guarantees against sickness1   
disablement and unemployment1 and all   
will be well4 ,this theory of what      
constitutes industrial welfare is1 of   
course1 when one thinks it out1 some six
 centuries out of date4 ,it embodies the
 ideal of the old feudal system1 but    
without the personal tie between master 
and man which humanized the feudal      
relationship4 ,feudalism1 as we saw in  
our study of political government1 was a
 system of contract between the lord and
 the labourer by which the lord and     
master ran the risks1 set on foot the   
enterprises 7chiefly military71 and     
enjoyed the spoils1 incidental to       

mediaeval life1 while the labourer stuck
 to his work and received security and  
protection in exchange4 ,feudalism broke
 down because it involved too irksome a 
dependence1 because it was found to be  
incompatible with the personal          
independence which is the birthright of 
a modern man4 ,so it is idle to expect  
that the ideal of security will carry us
 very far by itself towards the perfect 
industrial commonwealth4  ,take a second
 example of the wide gulf that still    
subsists between men's ideas of politics
 and men's ideas of industry4 ,it is    
quite common1 even in these latter days1
 and among those who have freely        
sacrificed their nearest and dearest to 
the claims of the ,state1 to hear       
manufacturers and merchants say that    
they have a 'right to a good profit'4   
,the ,president of the ,board of ,trade 
remarked openly in the ,house of        
,commons after many months of war that  
it was more than one could expect of    
human nature for coal-owners not to get 

the highest price they could4 ,such a   
standpoint is not merely indecent3 it is
 hopelessly out-of-date4 ,looked at from
 the political point of view it is a    
pure anachronism4 ,there used to be     
times when men made large fortunes out  
of the service of government1 as men    
still make them out of the service of   
the community in trade and industry     
to-day4 ,in the days of ,st4 ,matthew1  
when tax-gathering was let out by       
contract1 the apostle's partners would  
probably have declared1 as ,mr4         
,runciman does to-day1 that it was more 
than one could expect of human nature   
that a publican who had a government    
contract for the collection of the taxes
 should not get all he could out of the 
tax-payer4 ,it is1 indeed1 little more  
than a century ago since it was a matter
 of course in this country to look upon 
oversea colonies merely as              
plantations--that is1 as business       
investments rather than as communities  
of human beings4 ,the existence of      

,chartered ,company government marks a  
survival of this habit of mind4 ,the old
 colonial system1 which embodied this   
point of view1 proved demoralizing not  
only to the home government but to the  
colonists1 as a similar view is to the  
working class1 and it led to the loss of
 the ,american colonies as surely as a  
similar attitude on the part of         
employers leads to unrest and rebellion 
among workpeople to-day4  ,we have thus 
a long way to travel before the ideals  
of politics have been assimilated into  
the industrial life of the community and
 have found fitting embodiment in its   
kindred and more complex problems4 ,but 
at least we have reached a point where  
we can see what the problem of          
industrial government is4 ,we can say   
with assurance that a system which      
treats human beings purely as           
instruments or as passive servants1 and 
atrophies their self-determination and  
their sense of individual and corporate 
responsibility1 is as far from          

perfection in industry as the ,roman    
,empire was in politics4 ,renan's words 
about 'the intolerable sadness'         
incidental to such a method of          
organization apply with redoubled force 
to occupations which take up the best   
part of the day of the mass of the      
working population4 ,the bleak and      
loveless buildings1 with their belching 
chimneys1 which arrest the eye of the   
thoughtful traveller in the industrial  
districts of ,england are not prisons or
 workhouses4 ,but they often look as if 
they were1 and they resemble them in    
this--that they too often stand for     
similarly authoritarian ideas of        
government and direction4 ,industry is  
still an autocracy1 as politics was in  
the days before the supremacy of        
,parliament4 ,power still descends from 
above instead of springing from below4  
,it is a power limited no doubt by trade
 union action and parliamentary and     
administrative control3 but it is in    
essence as autocratic as the government 

of ,england used to be before the       
transference of sovereignty from the    
monarch to the representatives of his   
subjects4 ,it was recently announced in 
the press that ,lord ,rhondda had bought
 a group of ,welsh collieries for #b    
millions1 and that as a result ',lord   
,rhondda now controls over #c-a_/b      
millions of capital1 pays #b-a_/b       
millions in wages every year1 and is    
virtually the dictator of the economic  
destiny of a quarter of a million       
miners4 ,rumours are also current'1 the 
extract continues1 'that ,lord ,rhondda 
is extending his control over the press 
of ,wales'4#gh ,the existence of such   
power in this twentieth century in the  
hands of single individuals1 not        
selected from the mass for their special
 wisdom or humanity1 is a stupendous    
fact which must give pause to any one   
who is inclined to feel complacent about
 modern industrial progress4 ,in days   
gone by political power was as          
irresponsible as the economic power     

wielded to-day by ,lord ,rhondda2 and it
 descended from father to son by        
hereditary right in the same way as the 
control over the lives of countless     
,american workers descends to-day as a  
matter of course from ,john ,d4         
,rockefeller senior to ,john ,d4        
,rockefeller junior4 ,if there is any   
reality at all in our political faith we
 must believe that a similar development
 towards self-government can and must   
take place in industry4 ,it may be that 
generations will elapse before the      
problems of industrial government find a
 final and satisfactory constitutional  
solution4 ,but at least we can say that 
there is only one basis for that        
solution which is compatible with a     
sound ideal of government1 or indeed    
with any reasoned view of morality or   
religion--the basis of individual and   
corporate freedom with its corresponding
 obligations of responsibility and      
self-respect4 ,no nation1 as ,abraham   
,lincoln said1 can remain half-slave and

 half-free3 and it was a greater than   
,lincoln who warned us that we cannot   
serve both ,god and ,mammon4 ,it is this
 underlying conflict of ideals in the   
organization of our existing economic   
system which is the real cause of the   
',labour unrest' of which we have heard 
so much in recent years4  ,with this    
warning in our minds as to the          
imperfections of our modern industrial  
organization1 let us briefly survey the 
record of the forms of economic         
association which preceded it4  ,the    
earliest form of industrial grouping is1
 of course1 the family2 and the family1 
as we all know1 still retains its       
primitive character in some occupations 
as a convenient form of productive      
association4 ,this is particularly the  
case in agriculture in communities where
 peasant holdings prevail4 ,but the     
family is so much more than an          
industrial group that it hardly falls to
 us to consider it further here4        
,outside the family proper1 industrial  

work among primitive peoples is often   
carried on by slaves4 ,it was a step    
forward in human progress when primitive
 man found that it was more advantageous
 to capture his enemies than to kill or 
eat them2 and it was a still greater    
step forward when he found that there   
was more to be got out of slaves by kind
 treatment than by compulsion4 ,this is 
not the place in which to go into the   
vexed questions connected with various  
forms of slavery4 ,suffice it to say    
that it is a profound mistake to dismiss
 the whole system in one                
undiscriminating condemnation4 ,slavery 
involves the denial of freedom1 and as  
such it can never be good4 ,but other   
systems besides slavery implicitly      
involve the denial of freedom4 ,some of 
the finest artistic work in the world   
has been done by slaves--and by slaves  
not working under compulsion but in the 
company of free men and on terms of     
industrial equality with them4 ,this    
should serve to remind us that1 in      

judging of systems of industry1 we must 
look behind the letter of the law to the
 spirit of the times and of social      
institutions4 ,slavery at its best      
merges insensibly into wage-labour at   
its lower end4 ,many of the skilled     
slaves of ancient ,greece and ,rome are 
hardly distinguishable in status from a 
modern workman bound by an unusually    
long and strict indenture and paid for  
his work not only in money but partly in
 truck4 ,in order to stimulate their    
productive capacity it was found        
necessary in ,greece and ,rome to allow 
skilled slaves to earn and retain       
money--although in the eye of the law   
they were not entitled to do so2 and    
they were thus frequently in a position 
to purchase their own freedom and become
 independent craftsmen4 ,slavery in the 
household and in small workshops is open
 to many and serious dangers1 which need
 not be particularized here2 but the    
worst abuses of slavery have always     
taken place where slaves have been      

easily recruited1 as in the early days  
of ,european contact with ,africa1 and  
when there were large openings for their
 employment in gangs on work of a rough 
and unskilled character4 ,the problem of
 slavery in its worse forms is thus at  
bottom a cheap-labour problem analogous 
to that which confronts ,north ,america 
and ,south ,africa to-day2 and there is 
an essential difference which is often  
ignored between the educated slave in a 
,roman ,government office who did the   
work of a ,first ,division ,civil       
,servant for his imperial master and his
 compeer working in the fields of ,south
 ,italy3 and between the household      
servants of a ,virginian family and the 
plantation-slaves of the farther ,south4
 ,let us remember1 in passing judgement 
on what is admittedly an indefensible   
system1 that during the war which       
resulted in the freeing of the ,american
 slaves the slaveholders of the ,south  
trusted their household slaves to       
protect the women and children during   

their absence from home and that that   
trust was nowhere betrayed4 ,there is   
another side to ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin as 
surely as there is another side to ,mr4 
,carnegie's paean of modern             
industrialism in his ,triumphant        
,democracy4  ,systems of serfdom or     
caste which bind the workman to his work
 without permitting him to be sold like 
a slave may be regarded as one step     
higher than slavery proper4 ,such       
systems are common in stable and        
custom-bound countries1 and persisted   
throughout the ,european ,middle ,ages4 
,we need not describe how the rising    
tide of change gradually broke up the   
system in this country and left the     
old-time villein a free but often a     
landless and property less man4 ,the    
transition from serfdom to the system of
 wage-labour which succeeded it was a   
transition from legal dependence to     
legal freedom1 and as such it marked an 
advance4 ,but it was also a transition  
from a fixed and1 as it were1 a         

professional position of service to the 
community to a blind and precarious     
individualism4 ,it was a transition1 as 
,sir ,henry ,maine put it1 from status  
to contract4 ,this famous               
nineteenth-century aphorism is eloquent 
of the limitations of that too purely   
commercial age4 ,every thinking man     
would admit to-day that status at its   
best is a better thing than contract at 
its best--that the soldier is a nobler  
figure than the army contractor1 and    
that corporate feeling and professional 
honour are a better stimulus to right   
action than business competition and a  
laudable keenness to give satisfaction  
to a valuable customer4 ,we have always 
suffered from the temptation in this    
country of adapting business methods and
 ideals to politics rather than         
political ideals and methods to         
business4 ,our eighteenth-century       
thinkers explained citizenship itself1  
not as a duty to our neighbours but as  
the fulfilment of an unwritten contract4

 ,our nineteenth-century legal writers  
elevated the idea of free contract      
almost to an industrial ideal2 while1 in
 somewhat the same spirit1 the gutter   
journalists of to-day1 when they are at 
a loss for a popular watchword1 call for
 a business government4 ,such theories  
and battle-cries may serve for a 'nation
 of shopkeepers'2 but that opprobrious  
phrase has never been true of the great 
mass of the ,english people1 and it was 
never less true than to-day4  ,the idea 
of industrial work as the fulfilment of 
a contract1 whether freely or forcibly  
made1 is thus essentially at variance   
with the ideal of community service4 ,it
 is difficult for a man who makes his   
livelihood by hiring himself out as an  
individual for what he can get out of   
one piece of work after another to feel 
the same sense of community service or  
professional pride as the man who is    
serving a vocation and has dedicated his
 talents to some continuous and         
recognized form of work4 ,it is this    

which makes the system of wage-labour so
 unsatisfactory in principle compared   
with the guilds of the town workmen in  
the ,middle ,ages and with the organized
 professions of to-day2 and it is this  
which explains why trade unions of      
recent years have come to concern       
themselves more and more with questions 
of status rather than of wages and to   
regard the occupation which they        
represent more and more as a profession 
rather than a trade4 ,no one has laid   
bare the deficiencies of the wage-system
 more clearly than ,adam ,smith in the  
famous chapter in which he foreshadows  
the principle of collective bargaining4 
',what are the common wages of labour'1 
he there remarks1#gi       'depends     
everywhere upon the contract usually    
made between      those two parties1    
whose interests are by no means the     
same4      ,the workmen desire to get as
 much1 the masters to give as           
little1 as possible4 ,the former are    
disposed to combine in      order to    

raise1 the latter in order to lower1 the
 wages of      labour4444 ,we rarely    
hear1 it has been said1 of the          
combinations of masters1 though         
frequently of those of      workmen4    
,but whoever imagines1 upon this        
account1 that      masters rarely       
combine is as ignorant of the world as  
of the      subject4 ,masters are always
 and everywhere in a sort of      tacit 
but constant and uniform combination not
 to raise the      wages of labour above
 their actual rate4 ,to violate this    
combination is everywhere a most        
unpopular action and a sort      of     
reproach to a master among his          
neighbours and equals4 ,we      seldom1 
indeed1 hear of this combination1       
because it is the      usual1 and one   
may say1 the natural state of things    
which      nobody ever hears of4        
,masters1 too1 sometimes enter into     
particular combinations to sink the     
wages of labour even      below this    
rate4 ,these are always conducted with  

the utmost      secrecy till the moment 
of execution2 and1 when the workmen     
yield1 as they sometimes do without     
resistance1 though      severely felt by
 them1 they are never heard of by other 
people4 ,such combinations1 however1 are
 frequently resisted      by a contrary 
defensive combination of the workmen1   
who      sometimes1 too1 without any    
provocation of this kind1      combine  
of their own accord to raise the price  
of labour4      ,their usual pretences  
are1 sometimes the high price of        
provisions1 sometimes the great profit  
which their masters      make by their  
work4'  ,these words were written #adj  
years ago1 but1 as we all know1 they are
 still true of the working of the system
 to-day4 ,indeed the war has served to  
emphasize their truth by showing us how 
deeply entrenched are the habits of     
bargaining and of latent antagonism     
which the working of the wage-system has
 engendered4 ,it is the defect of the   
wage-system1 as ,adam ,smith makes clear

 to us1 that it lays stress on just     
those points in the industrial process  
where the interests of employers and    
workpeople run contrary to one another1 
whilst obscuring those far more         
important aspects in which they are     
partners and fellow-workers in the      
service of the community4 ,this defect  
cannot be overcome by strengthening one 
party to the contract at the expense of 
the other1 by crushing trade unions or  
dissolving employers' combinations1 or  
even by establishing the principle of   
collective bargaining4 ,it can only be  
overcome by the recognition on both     
sides that industry is in essence not a 
matter of contract and bargaining at    
all1 but of mutual interdependence and  
community service3 and by the growth of 
a new ideal of status1 a new sense of   
professional pride and corporate duty   
and self-respect among all who are      
engaged in the same function4 ,no one   
can say how long it may take to bring   
about such a fundamental change of      

attitude1 especially among those who    
have most to lose1 in the material      
sense1 by an alteration in the existing 
distribution of economic power4 ,but the
 war has cleared away so much of        
prejudice and set so much of our life in
 a new light that the dim ideals of     
to-day may well be the realities of     
to-morrow4 ,this at least we can say3   
that no country in the world is in a    
better position than we are to redeem   
modern industry from the reproach of    
materialism and to set it firmly upon a 
spiritual basis1 and that the country   
which shall first have had the wisdom   
and the courage to do so will be the    
pioneer in a vast extension of human    
liberty and happiness and will have     
shown that along this road and no other 
lies the industrial progress of mankind4
   ,,books ,,for ,,reference  #a4       
,economics3     ,h4 ,clay1 ,economics   
for the ,general ,reader4 #aiaf4        
,ruskin1 ,unto this last4     ,smart1   
,second ,thoughts of an ,economist4     

#aiaf4  #b4 ,man and his ,tools3        
,marvin1 ,the ,living ,past4 #aiac4     
,f4 ,w4 ,taylor1 ,the ,principles of    
,scientific ,management4 #aiaa4         
,hoxie1 ,scientific ,management and     
,labour4 #aiaf4  #c4 ,industrial        
,government3     ,aristotle1 ,politics  
7,book ,i1 chapters on ,slavery74       
,zimmern1 ,the ,greek ,commonwealth     
7chapters on ,slavery74 #aiaa4          
,ashley1 ,the ,economic ,organization of
 ,england4 #aiad4     ,unwin1           
,industrial ,organization in the        
,sixteenth and ,seventeenth             
,centuries4     ,s4 and ,b4 ,webb1 ,the 
,history of ,trade ,unionism4           
,macgregor1 ,the ,evolution of ,industry
 7,home ,university ,library74          
,wallas1 ,the ,great ,society4 #aiad4   
,g4 ,d4 ,h4 ,cole1 ,the ,world of       
,labour4 #aiae4     ,round ,table1 ,june
 #aiaf 7,article on the ,labour         
,movement and the    ,future of ,british
 ,industry74   ,,footnotes3  #fg        
,including the well-being of the        

producers--a point which is too often   
overlooked4  #fh ,on this point see     
,poverty and ,waste1 by ,hartley        
,withers1 #aiad1 written before the war1
 which has driven its lessons home4  #fi
 ,the ,living ,past1 pp4 #bj1 #ba4  #gj 
,second ,thoughts of an ,economist1 p4  
#hi4  #ga ,principles of ,economics1    
vol4 i1 p4 #aa4 ,it is interesting to   
note that in his latest book1 ,inventors
 and ,money-making1 lectures on some    
relations between ,economics and        
,psychology 7#aiae71 ,professor ,taussig
 to some extent goes back upon the point
 of view of the extract given above4    
#gb ,a similar inquiry on a much larger 
scale was made by ,adolf ,levinstein in 
his book ,die ,arbeiterfrage 7,munich1  
#aiaj74 ,he examined #d1jjj workpeople1 
consisting of coalminers1 cotton        
operatives1 and engineers4 ,with the    
exception of a few turners and fitters  
almost all replied that they found      
little or no pleasure in their work4    
#gc ,the ,great ,society1 p4 #cfc4  #gd 

,especially the wonderful results       
obtained from the young criminals at the
 ,little ,commonwealth in ,dorsetshire4 
#ge ,see ,readings in ,vocational       
,guidance by ,meyer ,bloomfield         
7,boston1 #aiae74  #gf ,lucy            
,bettesworth1 pp4 #agh-hj1 and #bad-af4 
#gg ,this sentence is practically an    
unconscious paraphrase of a passage from
 ,aristotle's defence of slavery4  #gh  
,the ,welsh ,outlook1 ,august #aiaf1 p4 
#bgb4  #gi ,wealth of ,nations1 ,book   
,i1 ch4 viii4     ,,ix  ,,progress ,,in 
,,art  ,a4 ,,clutton ,,brock   ,it is   
often said that there can be no such    
thing as progress in art4 ,at one time  
the arts flourish1 at another they      
decay3 but1 as ,whistler put it1 art    
happens as men of genius happen2 and men
 cannot make it happen4 ,they cannot    
discover what circumstances favour art1 
and therefore they cannot attempt to    
produce those circumstances4 ,there are 
periods of course in which the arts1 or 
some one particular art1 progress4 ,one 

generation may excel the last2 through  
several generations an art may seem to  
be rushing to its consummation4 ,this   
happened with ,greek sculpture and the  
,greek drama in the sixth and fifth     
centuries2 with architecture and all    
kindred arts in western ,europe in the  
twelfth and thirteenth centuries1 and at
 the same time with many arts in ,china4
 ,it happened with painting and         
sculpture in ,italy in the fourteenth   
and fifteenth centuries1 with literature
 in ,england in the sixteenth century1  
with music in ,germany in the eighteenth
 century and the beginning of the       
nineteenth4 ,but in all these cases     
there followed a decline1 often quite   
unconscious at the time and one of which
 we cannot discover the causes4         
,attempts are made by historians of the 
arts to state the causes2 but they      
satisfy only those who make them1 for   
they are1 in fact1 only statements of   
the symptoms of decline4 ,they tell us  
what happened1 not why it happened4 ,and

 they all seem to point to two          
conclusions about the course of the     
arts1 both of which would make us       
despair of any settled progress in them4
 ,the first is that the practice of any 
art by any particular people always     
follows a certain natural course of     
growth1 culmination1 and decay4 ,at     
least it always follows this course     
where an art is practised naturally and 
therefore with success4 ,art in fact1 in
 its actual manifestations1 is like the 
life of an individual human being and   
subject to inexorable natural laws4 ,it 
is born1 as men are born1 without the   
exercise of will2 and in the same way it
 passes through youth1 maturity1 and old
 age4 ,the second conclusion follows    
from this1 and it is that one nation or 
age cannot take up an art where another 
has left it4 ,that is where art seems to
 differ from science4 ,the mass of      
knowledge acquired in one country can1  
if that country loses energy to apply or
 increase it1 be utilized by another4   

,but we cannot so make use of the art of
 the ,greeks or of the ,italian         
,renaissance or of our own ,middle      
,ages4 ,in the ,gothic revival we tried 
to make use of the art of the ,middle   
,ages and we failed disastrously4 ,we   
imitated without understanding1 and we  
could not understand because we were not
 ourselves living in the ,middle ,ages4 
,art1 in fact1 is always a growth of its
 own time which cannot be transplanted1 
and no one can tell why it grows in one 
time and among one people and not in    
another4  ,that is what we are always   
told1 and yet we never quite believe all
 of it4 ,for1 as art is a product of the
 human mind1 it must also be a product  
of the human will1 unless it is         
altogether unconscious like a dream4    
,but that it is not2 for men produce it 
in their waking hours and with the      
conscious exercise of their faculties4  
,if a man paints a picture he does so   
because he wants to paint one4 ,he      
exercises will and choice in all his    

actions1 and the man who buys a picture 
does the same4 ,we talk of inspiration  
in the arts as something that cannot be 
commanded1 but there is also inspiration
 in the sciences4 ,no man can make a    
scientific discovery by the pure        
exercise of his will4 ,it jumps into one
 mind and not into another just like an 
artistic inspiration4 ,and further we   
are taught and trained in the arts as in
 the sciences2 and success in both      
depends a great deal upon the nature of 
the training4 ,in both good training    
will not give genius or inspiration to  
those who are without it2 but it will   
enable those who possess it to make the 
most of it2 and1 what is more1 it will  
enable even the mediocre to produce work
 of some value4 ,what strikes us most   
about the ,florentine school of painting
 of the fourteenth and fifteenth        
centuries is the fact that its          
second-rate painters are so good1 that  
we can enjoy their works even when they 
are merely imitative4 ,but the          

,florentine school excelled all others  
of the time in its teaching2 most       
painters of other schools in ,italy     
learnt from ,florence2 and the          
inspiration came to them from ,florence1
 they were quickened from ,florence1    
however much their art kept its own     
natural character4 ,but this school     
which had the best teaching also        
produced the most painters of genius4   
,its level was higher and its heights   
were higher2 and for this reason1 that  
the whole ,florentine intellect went    
both into the teaching and into the     
practice of painting and sculpture4 ,the
 ,florentine was able to put all his    
mind1 the scientific faculties as well  
as the aesthetic1 into his art4 ,he     
never relied merely on his temperament  
or his mood4 ,he was eager for          
knowledge4 ,it was not enough for him to
 paint things as he saw them2 he tried  
to discover how they were made1 what    
were the laws of their growth and       
construction2 and his knowledge of these

 things changed the character of his    
vision1 made him see the human body1 for
 instance1 as no mediaeval artist had   
ever seen it2 made him see it as an     
engineer sees a machine4 ,just as an    
engineer sees more in a machine than a  
man who does not understand its working1
 so the ,florentine saw more in the     
human body than a mediaeval artist4 ,he 
saw it with a scientific as well as an  
aesthetic passion1 and all this science 
of his enriched his art so that there   
has never since been drawing like the   
,florentine1 drawing at once so logical 
and so expressive4  ,the ,florentines in
 fact did exercise their will upon their
 art more than any other modern artists1
 more1 perhaps1 than any other artists  
known to us1 and their painting and     
sculpture were the greatest of the      
modern world4 ,yet the fact remains that
 ,florentine art declined suddenly and  
irresistibly1 and that all the          
,florentine intellect1 which still      
remained remarkable and produced men of 

science like ,galileo1 could not arrest 
that decline4 ,indeed the ,florentines  
themselves seem not to have been        
conscious of it4 ,they thought that the 
dull imitators of ,michelangelo were    
greater than his great predecessors4 ,as
 we say1 their taste became bad1 their  
values were perverted2 and with that    
perversion all their natural genius for 
the arts was wasted4 ,to this day ,carlo
 ,dolci is the favourite painter of the 
ordinary ,florentine4 ,he was a man of  
some ability1 and he painted pictures at
 once feeble and revolting because he   
himself and his public liked such       
pictures4  ,there is no accounting for  
tastes1 we say1 and in saying that we   
despair of progress in the arts4 ,for it
 is ultimately this unaccountable thing 
called taste1 and not the absence or    
presence of genius1 which determines    
whether the arts shall thrive or decay  
in any particular age or country4       
,people often say that they know nothing
 about art1 but that they do know what  

they like2 and what they imply is that  
there is nothing to be known about art  
except your own likes and dislikes1 and 
further that no man can control those4  
,the ,florentines of the seventeenth    
century happened to like ,carlo ,dolci1 
where the ,florentines of the fifteenth 
had liked ,botticelli4 ,that is the only
 explanation we can give of the decline 
of ,florentine painting4  ,it is of     
course no explanation2 and because no   
explanation beyond it has been given1 we
 are told that there can be no such     
thing as progress in the arts4 ,that is 
the lesson of history4 ,we are far      
beyond the ,egyptians in science1 but   
certainly not beyond them in art4       
,indeed one might say that there has    
been a continual slow decline in all the
 arts of ,europe1 except music1 since   
the year #aejj1 and that music itself   
has been slowly declining since the     
death of ,beethoven4 ,but with this slow
 inexorable decline of the arts there   
has been a great advance in nearly      

everything else1 in knowledge1 in power1
 even in morality4 ,upon everything man 
has been able to exercise his will      
except upon the arts4 ,where he has     
really wished for progress there he has 
got it1 except in this one case4        
,therefore it seems that upon the arts  
he cannot exercise his will1 and that   
they alone of all his activities are not
 capable of progress4 ,what do we mean  
by progress except the successful       
exercise of the human will in a right   
direction8 ,that is what distinguishes  
progress from natural growth2 that alone
 can preserve it from natural processes 
of decay4 ,there are people who say that
 it does not exist1 that everything     
which happens to man is a natural       
process of growth or decay4 ,whether    
that is so or not1 we do mean by        
progress something different from these 
natural processes4 ,when we speak of it 
we do imply the exercise of the human   
will1 man's command over circumstances2 
and those who deny progress altogether  

deny that man has any will or any       
command over circumstances4 ,for them   
things happen to man and that is all1 it
 is not man's will that makes things    
happen4 ,but if we use the word progress
 at all1 we imply that it is man's will 
that makes things happen4 ,and since man
 is evidently liable to decline as well 
as progress1 it follows that if we      
believe man to be capable of exercising 
his will in a right direction we must   
also believe that he can and does       
exercise it in a wrong direction4 ,i    
assume that man has this power both for 
good and for evil4 ,if ,i did not1 ,i   
should not be addressing you upon the   
question whether man is capable of      
progress in the arts1 but upon the      
question whether he is capable of       
progress at all4 ,and ,i should be      
trying to prove that he is not4  ,as it 
is1 the question ,i have to discuss is  
whether he has the power of exercising  
for good or evil his will upon the arts 
as upon other things2 and hitherto ,i   

have been giving you certain facts in   
the history of the arts which seem to   
prove that he is not4 ,they all amount  
to this--that man has not hitherto      
succeeded in exercising his will upon   
the arts2 that he has not produced good 
art because he wished to produce it4    
,we1 for instance1 wish to excel in the 
arts2 we have far more power than the   
ancient ,greeks or ,egyptians2 but we   
have not been able to apply that power  
to the arts4 ,in them we are conscious  
of a strange impotence4 ,we cannot build
 like our forefathers of the ,middle    
,ages1 we cannot make furniture like our
 great-grandfathers of the eighteenth   
century4 ,go into an old churchyard and 
look at the tombstones of the past and  
present4 ,you will see that the         
lettering is always fine up to the first
 generation of the nineteenth century4  
,in that generation there is a rapid    
decline2 and since about #ahcj there has
 been no decent lettering upon          
tombstones except what has been produced

 in the last ten years or so by the     
conscious effort of a few individual    
artists of great natural talent and high
 training4 ,if ,i want good lettering on
 a tombstone ,i have to employ one of   
these artists and to pay him a high     
price for his talent and his training4  
,but that is only one example of a      
universal decline in all the arts of    
use1 a decline which happened roughly   
between the years #ahjj and #ahcj4 ,and 
the significant fact about it is that   
when it happened no one was aware of it4
 ,so far as ,i know1 this artistic      
catastrophe1 far the swiftest and most  
universal known to us in the whole      
course of history1 was never even       
mentioned in contemporary literature4   
,the poets1 the lovers of beauty1 did   
not speak of it4 ,they talked about     
nature1 not about art4 ,there is not a  
hint of it in the letters of ,shelley or
 ,keats4 ,there is just a hint of it in 
some sayings of ,blake2 but that is all4
 ,one would suppose that such a         

catastrophe would have filled the minds 
of all men who were not entirely        
occupied with the struggle for life1    
that all would have seen that a glory   
was passing away from the earth1 and    
would have made some desperate struggle 
to preserve it4 ,but1 as ,i say1 they   
saw nothing of it4 ,they were not aware 
that a universal ugliness was taking the
 place of beauty in all things made by  
man2 and therefore the new ugliness must
 have pleased them as much as the old   
beauty4 ,so it appears once again that  
there is no accounting for tastes1 and  
no test that we can apply to them4 ,when
 science declines1 men at least know    
that they have less power4 ,they are    
more subject to pestilence when they    
forget medicine and sanitation2 their   
machines become useless to them when    
they no longer know how to work them2   
there is anarchy when they lose their   
political goodwill4 ,but when their     
taste decays they do not know that it   
has decayed4 ,and with it decays their  

artistic capacity1 so that1 quite       
complacently1 they lose the power of    
doing decently a thousand things that   
their fathers did excellently4  ,but    
here suddenly ,i am brought to a stop by
 a new fact in human history4 ,the arts 
have declined1 but our complacency over 
their decline has ceased4 ,the first man
 who disturbed it was ,ruskin4 ,it was  
he who saw the catastrophe that had     
happened4 ,suddenly he was aware of it2 
suddenly he escaped from the universal  
tyranny of the bad taste of his time4   
,he was the first to deny that there was
 no accounting for tastes2 the first to 
deny1 indeed1 that the ordinary man did 
know what he liked4 ,and he was followed
 with more knowledge and practical      
power1 in fact with more science1 by    
,william ,morris4 ,what both of these   
great men really said was that taste is 
not unaccountable2 that the mass of men 
do not know what they like1 that they do
 not apply their intellect and will to  
what they suppose to be their likes and 

dislikes1 and that they could apply     
their intellect and will to these things
 if they chose4  ,when we say that there
 is no accounting for tastes we imply   
that tastes are always real1 that1      
whether good or bad1 they happen to men 
without any exercise of their will4 ,but
 ,ruskin and ,morris implied that we    
must exercise our will and our          
intelligence to discover what our tastes
 really are2 that this discovery is not 
at all easy1 but that1 if we do not make
 it1 we are at the mercy1 not of our own
 real tastes1 but of an unreal thing    
which is called the public taste1 or of 
equally unreal reactions against it4 ,we
 think that we like what we suppose     
other people to like1 and these other   
people too think that they like what no 
one really likes4 ,or in mere blind     
reaction we think that we dislike what  
the mob likes4 ,but in either case our  
likes and dislikes are not ours at all  
and1 what is more1 they are no one's4   
,taste in fact is bad because it is not 

any one's taste1 because no one's will  
is exercised in it or upon it4 ,when it 
is good1 it is always real taste1 that  
is to say some real person's taste4 ,in 
the work of art the artist does what he 
really likes to do and expresses some   
real passion of his own1 not some       
passion which he believes that he1 as an
 artist1 ought to express4 ,art1 said   
,morris1 is the expression of the       
workman's pleasure in his work4 ,it     
cannot be real art unless it is a real  
pleasure4 ,and so the public will not   
demand real art unless they too take a  
real pleasure in it4 ,if they do not    
know what they really like1 they will   
not demand of the artist what they      
really like or what he really likes4    
,they will demand something tiresome and
 insincere1 and by the tyranny of their 
demand will set him to produce it4      
,that was what happened at the beginning
 of the nineteenth century in nearly all
 the arts and especially in the arts of 
use4 ,it had happened before in         

different ages and countries1 especially
 in painting1 sculpture1 architecture1  
and the arts of use as they were        
patronized by the vulgar rich1 such as  
the court of ,louis ,,xv4 ,but now it   
happened suddenly and universally to all
 arts4 ,there were no longer vulgar rich
 only but also vulgar poor and vulgar   
middle-classes4 ,everywhere there spread
 a kind of aesthetic snobbery which     
obscured real tastes4 ,of this ,i will  
give one simple and homely example4 ,the
 beautiful flowers of the cottage garden
 were no longer grown in the gardens of 
the well-to-do1 because they were the   
flowers of the poor4 ,instead were grown
 lobelias1 geraniums1 and calceolarias1 
combined in a hideous mixture1 not      
because any one thought them more       
beautiful1 but because1 since they were 
grown in green-houses1 they implied the 
possession of green-houses and so of    
wealth4 ,they did not1 of course1 even  
do that1 since they could be bought very
 cheaply from nurserymen4 ,they implied 

only the bad taste of snobbery which is 
the absence of all real taste4 ,for it  
is physically impossible for any one to 
like such a combination of plants better
 than larkspurs and lilies and roses4   
,what they did enjoy was not the flowers
 themselves but their association with  
gentility4 ,but so strong was the       
contagion of this association that      
cottagers themselves began to throw away
 their beautiful cottage-garden flowers 
and to grow these plants1 so detestable 
in combination4 ,and to this day one can
 see often in cottage gardens pathetic  
imitations of a taste that never was    
real and which now is discredited among 
the rich1 so that a border of lobelias1 
calceolarias1 and geraniums has become a
 mark of social inferiority as it was   
once one of social superiority4 ,but    
what it never was and never could be was
 an expression of a genuine liking4     
,now ,i owe the very fact that ,i am    
able to give this account of a simple   
perversion of taste to ,ruskin and      

,morris4 ,it was they who first made the
 world aware that its taste was         
perverted and that most of its art was  
therefore bad4 ,it was they who filled  
us with the conviction of artistic sin1 
and who also in a manner entirely       
scientific tried to discover what was   
the nature of this sin and how it had   
come about4 ,first ,ruskin tentatively1 
and afterwards ,morris systematically   
and out of his own vast artistic        
experience1 connected this decay of the 
arts with certain social conditions4 ,it
 was not merely that taste had decayed  
or that the arts had developed to a     
point beyond which there was nothing for
 them but decline4 ,morris insisted that
 there were causes for the decay of     
taste and the decline of the arts1      
causes as much subject to the will of   
man as the causes of any kind of social 
decay or iniquity4 ,he insisted that a  
work of art is not an irrational        
mystery1 not something that happens and 
may happen well or ill2 but that all art

 is intimately connected with the whole 
of our social well-being4 ,it is in fact
 an expression of what we value1 and if 
we value noble things it will be noble1 
if we pretend to value base things it   
will be base4  ,whistler said that this 
was not so4 ,he insisted that genius is 
born1 not made1 and that some peoples   
have artistic capacity1 some have not4  
,now it is true that nations vary very  
much in their artistic capacity and in  
the strength of their desire to produce 
art4 ,but even the nations which have   
little artistic capacity and little     
desire to produce art have in their more
 primitive state produced charming works
 of real art4 ,whistler gave the case of
 the ,swiss as an excellent people with 
little capacity for art4 ,but the old   
,swiss chalets are full of character and
 beauty1 and there are churches in      
,switzerland which have all the beauty  
of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the cuckoo clocks
 and other ,swiss articles of commerce  
which ,whistler despised are            

contemptible1 not because they are      
,swiss1 but because they are tourist    
trash produced by workmen who express no
 pleasure of their own in them for      
visitors who buy them only because they 
think they are characteristic of        
,switzerland4 ,they are1 in fact1 not   
the expression of any genuine taste or  
liking whatever1 like the tourist trash 
that is sold in the ,rue de ,rivoli4    
,probably the ,swiss would never be     
capable of producing works of art like  
,chartres ,cathedral or ,don ,giovanni1 
but they have in the past possessed a   
genuine and delightful art of their own 
like nearly every ,european nation in   
the ,middle ,ages4  ,so1 though genius  
is born1 it is also made1 and though    
nations differ in artistic capacity1    
they all have some artistic capacity so 
long as they know what they like and    
express only their own liking in their  
art1 so long as they are not infected   
with artistic snobbism or commercialism4
 ,this we know now1 and we have         

developed a new and remarkable power of 
seeing and enjoying all the genuine art 
of the past4 ,this power is part of the 
historical sense which is itself modern4
 ,in the past1 until the nineteenth     
century1 very few people could see any  
beauty or meaning in any art of the past
 that did not resemble the art of their 
own time and country4 ,the whole art of 
the ,middle ,ages1 for instance1 was    
thought to be merely barbarous until the
 ,gothic revival1 and so was the art of 
all the past so far as it was known1    
except the later art of ,greece and     
,rome4 ,for our ancestors' taste did    
indeed happen as art happened1 and they 
could not escape from the taste which   
circumstances imposed on them2 any art  
that was not according to that taste was
 for them as it were in an unknown      
tongue4 ,but we have made this great    
progress in taste1 at least1 if not in  
the production of art1 that we can      
understand nearly all artistic          
languages1 and that what used to be     

called classical art has lost its old   
superstitious prestige for us4 ,not only
 can we enjoy the art of our own ,middle
 ,ages2 but many of us can enjoy and    
understand just as well the great art of
 ,egypt and ,china1 and can see as      
clearly when that art is good or bad as 
if it were of our own time4 ,we have1 in
 fact1 in the matter of artistic        
appreciation gained the freedom of all  
the ages1 and this is a thing that has  
never1 so far as we know1 happened      
before in the history of the human mind4
  ,but still this freedom of all the    
ages has not enabled us to produce a    
great art of our own4 ,there are some1  
indeed1 who think that it has hindered  
us from doing so1 that we are becoming  
merely universal connoisseurs who can   
criticize anything and produce nothing4 
,we have the most wonderful museums that
 ever were1 and the most wonderful power
 of enjoying all that is in them1 but1  
with all our riches from the past1 our  
present is barren2 and it is barren     

because our rich men would rather pay   
great prices for past treasures than    
encourage artists to produce            
masterpieces now4 ,if that is so1 if    
that is all that is coming to us from   
our freedom of all the ages1 there is   
certainly not progress in it4 ,better   
that we should produce and enjoy the    
humblest genuine art of our own than    
that we should continue in this learned 
impotence4  ,but this power of enjoying 
the art of all ages1 though it certainly
 has had some unfortunate results1 must 
be good in itself4 ,it is sympathy1 and 
that is always better than indifference 
or antipathy4 ,it is knowledge1 and that
 is always better than ignorance4 ,and  
we have to remember that it has existed 
only for a short time and is1 therefore1
 not yet to be judged by its fruits4 ,we
 are still gasping at all the artistic  
treasures of the past that have been    
revealed to us like a new world2 and    
still they are being revealed to our new
 perceptions4 ,only in the last ten     

years1 for instance1 have we discovered 
that ,chinese painting is the rival of  
,italian1 or that the golden age of     
,chinese pottery was centuries before   
the time of that ,chinese porcelain     
which we have hitherto admired so much4 
,the knowledge1 the delight1 is still   
being gathered in with both hands4 ,it  
is too soon to look for its effects upon
 the mind of ,europe4  ,but it is not   
the result of mere barren               
connoisseurship or scholasticism4       
,rather it is a new renaissance1 a new  
effort of the human spirit1 and an      
effort after what8 ,an effort to exert  
the human will in the matter of art far 
more consciously than it has exerted    
ever before4 ,it is to be noted that    
,morris himself1 the man who first told 
us that we must exert our wills in art1 
was also himself eager in the discovery 
and enjoyment of all kinds of art in the
 past4 ,he had his prejudices1 the      
prejudices of a very wilful man and a   
working artist4 ',what can ,i see in    

,rome1' he said1 'that ,i cannot see in 
,whitechapel8' ,but he enjoyed the art  
of most ages and countries more than he 
enjoyed his prejudices4 ,he had the     
historical sense in art to a very high  
degree4 ,he knew what the artist long   
dead meant by his work as if it were a  
poem in his own language1 and from the  
art of the past which he loved he saw   
what was wrong with the art of our time4
 ,so did ,ruskin and so do many now4    
,further we are not in the least content
 to admire the art of the past without  
producing any of our own4 ,there is     
incessant restless experiment1 incessant
 speculation about aesthetics1 incessant
 effort to apply them to the actual     
production of art1 in fact to exert the 
conscious human will upon art as it has 
never been exerted before4  ,so1 if one 
wished in a sentence to state the       
peculiarity of the last century in the  
history of art1 one would say that it is
 the first age in which men have        
rebelled against the process of         

decadence in art1 in which they have    
been completely conscious of that       
process and have tried to arrest it by a
 common effort of will4 ,we cannot yet  
say that that effort has succeeded1 but 
we cannot say either that it has failed4
 ,we may be discontented with the art of
 our own time1 but at least we must     
allow that it is1 with all its faults1  
extravagances1 morbidities and blind    
experiments1 utterly unlike the art of  
any former age of decadence known to us4
 ,there may be confusion and anarchy1   
but there is not mere pedantry and      
stagnation4 ,artists perhaps are        
over-conscious1 always following some   
new prophet1 but at least there is the  
conviction of sin in them1 which is     
exactly what all the decadent artists of
 the past have lacked4  ,the artistic   
decadence of the past which is most     
familiar to us is that of the later     
,graeco-,roman art4 ,it was a long      
process which began at least as early as
 the age of ,alexander and continued    

until the fall of the ,western ,roman   
,empire and afterwards1 until1 indeed1  
the decadent classical art was utterly  
supplanted by the art which we call     
,romanesque and ,byzantine1 and which   
seems to us now at its best to be as    
great as any art that has ever been4    
,but a hundred years ago this           
,romanesque and ,byzantine art was      
thought to be only a barbarous          
corruption of the classical art4 ,for   
then the classical art even in its last 
feebleness still kept its immense and   
unique prestige4 ,shelley said that the 
effect of ,christianity seemed to have  
been to destroy the last remains of pure
 taste1 and he said this when he had    
been looking at the great masterpieces  
of ,byzantine mosaic at ,ravenna4 ,now  
we know with an utter certainty that he 
was wrong4 ,he was himself a great      
artist1 but to him there was only one   
rational and beautiful and civilized    
art1 and that was the decadent          
,graeco-,roman art4 ,to him works like  

the ,apollo ,belvedere were the         
masterpieces of the world1 and all other
 art was good as it resembled them4 ,he 
and in fact most people of his time were
 still overawed by the immense          
complacency of that art4 ,they had not  
the historical sense at all4 ,they had  
no notion of certain psychological facts
 about art which are now familiar to    
every educated man4 ,they did not know  
that art cannot be good unless it       
expresses the character of the people   
who produce it2 that characterless art1 
however accomplished1 is uninteresting2 
that there may be more life and so more 
beauty in the idol of an ,african savage
 than in the ,laocoon4  ,this later     
,greek and ,graeco-,roman art was doomed
 to inevitable decay because of its     
immense complacency4 ,the artists had   
discovered1 as they thought1 the right  
way to produce works of art1 and they   
went on producing them in that way      
without asking themselves whether they  
meant anything by them or whether they  

enjoyed them4 ,they knew1 in fact1 what 
was the proper thing to do just as      
conventional people now know what is the
 proper thing to talk about at a tea    
party2 and their art was as             
uninteresting as the conversation of    
such people4 ,in both the talk and the  
art there is no expression of real      
values and so no expression of real     
will4 ,the past lies heavy upon both4   
,so people have talked1 so artists have 
worked1 and so evidently people must    
talk and artists must work for evermore4
  ,now we have been threatened with just
 the same kind of artistic decadence1   
and we are still threatened with it2 so 
that it would be very easy to argue     
that1 when men reach a certain stage in 
that organization of their lives which  
we call civilization1 they must         
inevitably fall into artistic decadence4
 ,the ,roman ,empire did attain to a    
high stage of such organization1 and all
 the life went out of its art4 ,we have 
reached perhaps a still higher or at    

least more elaborate stage of it1 and   
the life has gone or is going out of our
 art4 ,it has become even more          
mechanical than the ,graeco-,roman4 ,we1
 too1 have lost the power of expressing 
ourselves1 our real values1 our real    
will1 in it2 and we had better submit to
 that impotence and not make a fuss     
about it4 ,indeed art really is an      
activity proper to a more childish stage
 of the human mind1 and we shall do well
 not to waste our time and energy upon  
it4 ,that is the only way in which we   
can be superior to the ,graeco-,roman   
world in the matter of art4 ,we can give
 it up altogether or rather put it all  
into museums as a curiosity of the past 
to be studied for historical and        
scientific purposes4  ,but ,i have only 
to say that to prove that we will not be
 contented with such a counsel of       
despair4 ,the ,romans went on producing 
art1 even if it was bad art1 and we     
shall certainly go on producing art     
whether it is good or bad4 ,we have     

produced an immense mass of bad art1    
worse perhaps than any that the ,roman  
world produced4 ,but there is this      
difference between us and the ,romans1  
that we are not content with it4 ,we    
have the conviction of artistic sin and 
they had not4 ,therefore we do not think
 that their example need make us        
despair4 ,they were not exercising their
 will on their art4 ,it was to them what
 a purely conventional morality is to a 
morally decadent people4 ,it went from  
bad to worse1 just as conventional      
morals do1 when no man arises and says3 
',this is wrong1 although you think it  
right4 ,i know what is right from my own
 sense of values1 and ,i will do it in  
spite of you4' ,so far as we know1 there
 were no rebels of that kind in the art 
of the ,graeco-,roman world4 ,but our   
world of art is full of such rebels and 
has been ever since the artistic debacle
 at the beginning of the nineteenth     
century4 ,in fact the chief and the     
unique characteristic of the art of the 

last hundred years has been the constant
 succession of artistic rebels4 ,all our
 greatest artists have been men who were
 determined to exercise their own wills 
in their art1 whatever the mass of men  
might think of it4 ,and what has always 
happened is that they have been first   
bitterly abused and then passionately   
praised4 ,this1 so far as ,i know1 has  
never happened before4 ,there have been 
rebel artists like ,rembrandt1 but only 
a few of them4 ,most great artists      
before the nineteenth century have been 
admired in their own time4 ,but in the  
nineteenth century1 and more and more   
towards the end of it1 the great artists
 have had to conquer the world with     
their rebellion1 they have had to       
exercise their own individual wills     
against the common convention4 ,and it  
seems to us now the mark of the great   
artist so to exercise his individual    
will1 so to rebel and conquer the world 
with his rebellion1 even if he kills    
himself in the process4 ,think of       

,constable and even ,turner1 of our     
pre-,raphaelites1 and above all of      
nearly all the great ,french artists1 of
 ,millet1 of ,manet1 of ,cezanne1       
,gauguin1 of ,rodin himself1 who has    
conquered the world now1 but only in his
 old age4 ,think of ,beethoven1 of      
,schubert1 of ,wagner1 and of all the   
rebel musicians of to-day4 ,but in the  
past the great artists1 ,michelangelo1  
,titian1 even the great innovator       
,giorgione2 ,mozart1 ,bach1 ,handel2    
none of these were thought of as rebels4
 ,they had not to conquer the world     
against its will4 ,they came into the   
world1 and the world knew them4 ,so1 we 
may be sure1 the decadent artists of the
 ,graeco-,roman world were not rebels4  
,there they were like ,michelangelo and 
,raphael1 if they were like them in     
nothing else4 ,if they had been rebels  
we might not yawn at their works now4   
,now1 clearly1 this rebellion is not so 
good a thing as the harmony between the 
artist and his public which has         

prevailed in all great ages of art4 ,but
 it is better than the harmony of dull  
and complacent convention which         
prevailed in the ,graeco-,roman         
decadence4 ,for it means that our       
artists are not content with such       
complacence1 that they will not accept  
decadence as an inevitable process4 ,and
 the fact that we do passionately admire
 them for their rebellion as soon as we 
understand what it means1 that this     
rebellion seems to us a glorious and    
heroic thing1 is a proof that we1 the   
public1 also are not content to sink    
into the ,graeco-,roman complacency4 ,we
 may stone our prophets at first1 but   
like the ,hebrews1 we produce prophets  
as well as priests1 that is to say      
academicians4 ,and we treasure their    
works as the ,hebrews treasured the     
books of the prophets4  ,art1 in fact1  
is a human activity in which we try to  
exercise our wills4 ,we are aware that  
it is threatened with decadence by the  
mere process of our civilization1 that  

it is much more difficult for us to     
produce living art than it was for our  
forefathers of the ,middle ,ages4 ,but  
still we are not content to produce dead
 art4 ,half unconsciously we are making 
the effort to exercise our wills upon   
our art1 as upon our science1 our       
morals1 our politics1 to avoid decadence
 in art as we try to avoid it in other  
human activities2 and this effort is the
 great experiment1 the peculiar feature1
 of the art of the last century4  ,it is
 an effort not merely aesthetic but also
 intellectual4 ,there is a great        
interest in aesthetics and a constant   
and growing effort to charge them with  
actual experience and to put them to    
some practical end4 ,in the past they   
have been the most backward1 the most   
futile and barren1 kind of philosophy   
because men wrote about them who had    
never really experienced works of art   
and who saw no connexion between their  
philosophy and the production of works  
of art4 ,they talked about the nature of

 the beautiful1 as schoolmen talked     
about the nature of ,god4 ,and they knew
 no more about the nature of the        
beautiful from their own experience of  
it than schoolmen knew about the nature 
of ,god4 ,but now men are interested in 
the beautiful because they miss it so   
much in the present works of men and    
because they so passionately desire it2 
and their speculation has the aim of    
recovering it4 ,so aesthetics1 whatever 
some artists in their peculiar and      
pontifical narrowness may say1 is of    
great importance now2 they are part of  
the effort which the modern world is    
making to exercise its will in the      
production of works of art1 and they are
 bound1 if that effort is successful1 to
 have more and more effect upon that    
production4  ,but is that effort going  
to be successful8 ,that is a question   
which no one can answer yet4 ,but my    
object is to insist that in our age1    
because of its effort1 an effort which  
has never been made so consciously and  

resolutely before1 there is a           
possibility of a progress in art of the 
same nature as progress in other human  
activities4 ,if we can escape from what 
has seemed to some men this inexorable  
process of decadence in art1 we shall   
have accomplished one of the greatest   
achievements of the human will4 ,we     
shall have redeemed art from the tyranny
 of mere fate4  ,what we have to do now 
is to understand what it is that causes 
decadence in art1 we have to apply a    
conscious science to the production of  
it4 ,we have to see what are the social 
causes that produce excellence and decay
 in it4 ,and we have made a great       
beginning in this4 ,for we are all aware
 that art is not an isolated thing1 that
 it does not merely happen1 as ,whistler
 said4 ,we know that it is a symptom of 
something right or wrong with the whole 
mind of man and with the circumstances  
that affect that mind4 ,we know at last 
that there is a connexion between the   
art of man and his intellect and his    

conscience4 ,it was because ,william    
,morris saw that connexion that he1 from
 being a pure artist1 became a socialist
 and spoke at street corners4 ,such a   
change1 such a waste and perversion as  
it seemed to many1 would have been      
impossible in any former age4 ,it was   
possible and inevitable1 it was a       
natural process for ,morris in the      
nineteenth century1 because he was      
determined to exercise his will upon    
art1 just as men in the past had        
exercised their will upon religion or   
politics2 because he no longer believed 
that art happened as the weather happens
 and that the artist is a charming but  
irresponsible child swayed merely by the
 caprices of his own private            
subconsciousness4 ,was he right or      
wrong8 ,i myself firmly believe that he 
was right4 ,that if man has a will at   
all1 if he is not a mere piece of matter
 moulded by circumstances1 he has a will
 in art as in all other things4 ,and1   
further1 if he has a common will which  

can express itself in his other         
activities1 in religion or politics1    
that common will must also be able to   
express itself in art4 ,it has not      
hitherto done so consciously1 because   
man in all periods of artistic success  
has been content to succeed without     
asking why he succeeded1 and in all     
periods of artistic failure he has been 
content to fail without asking why he   
has failed4 ,we have been for long      
living in a period of artistic failure1 
but we have asked1 we are asking always 
more insistently1 why we fail4 ,and that
 is where our time differs from any     
former period of artistic decadence1    
why1 ,i believe1 it is not a period of  
decadence but one of experiment1 and of 
experiment which will not be wasted1    
however much it may seem at the moment  
to fail4 ,but if out of all this        
conscious effort and experiment we do   
arrest the process of decadence1 if we  
do pass from failure to success1 then we
 shall have accomplished a progress in  

art such as has never been accomplished 
before even in the greatest ages4 ,for  
whereas men have never been able to     
learn from the experience of those ages1
 whereas the ,greeks and the men of the 
thirteenth century have not taught men  
how to avoid decadence in art1 we and   
our children will teach them how to     
avoid it4 ,we shall then have given a   
security to art such as it has never    
enjoyed before2 and we shall do that by 
applying science to it1 by using the    
conscious intelligence upon it4  ,we may
 fail1 of course1 but even so our effort
 will not have been in vain4 ,and some  
future age in happier circumstances may 
profit by it1 and achieve that progress1
 that application of science to art1    
which we are now attempting4  ,many     
people1 especially artists1 tell us that
 the attempt is a mere absurdity4 ,but  
ignorance even about art need not be    
eternal4 ,ignorance is eternal only when
 it is despairing or contented4 ,twenty 
years ago many people said that men     

never would be able to fly1 yet they are
 flying now because they were resolved  
to fly4 ,so we are more and more        
resolved to have great art4 ,every year 
we feel the lack of it more and more4   
,every year more people exercise their  
wills more and more consciously in the  
effort to achieve it4 ,this1 ,i repeat1 
has never happened before in the history
 of the world4 ,and the consequence is  
that our art1 what real art we have1 is 
unlike any that there has been in the   
world before4 ,it is so strange and so  
rebellious that we ourselves are shocked
 and amazed by it4 ,much of it1 no      
doubt1 is merely strange and rebellious1
 as much of early ,christianity was     
merely strange and rebellious and so    
provoked the resentment and persecution 
of self-respecting pagans4 ,every great 
effort of the human mind attracts those 
who merely desire their own salvation1  
and so it is with the artistic effort   
now4 ,there are cubists and futurists   
and post-impressionists who are as silly

 as human beings can be1 because they   
hope to attain to artistic salvation by 
rushing to extremes4 ,they are religious
 egotists1 in fact1 and nothing can be  
more disagreeable than a religious      
egotist4 ,but there were no doubt many  
of them among the early ,christians4    
,yet ,christianity was a great creative 
religious effort which came because life
 and truth had died out of the religions
 of the past1 and men could not endure  
to live without life and truth in their 
religion4 ,so now they cannot endure to 
live without life and truth in their    
art4 ,they are determined to have an art
 which shall express all that they have 
themselves experienced of the beauty of 
the universe1 which shall not merely    
utter platitudes of the past about that 
beauty4  ,so far perhaps there is little
 but the effort at expression1 an effort
 strange1 contorted1 self-conscious4    
,you can say your worst about it and    
laugh at all its failures4 ,yet they are
 failures different in kind from the    

artistic failures of the past1 for they 
are failures of the conscious will1 not 
of mere complacency4 ,and it is such    
failures in all human activities that   
prepare the way for successes4  ,let us 
remember then1 always1 that art is a    
human activity1 not a fairy chance that 
happens to the mind of man now and      
again4 ,and let us remember1 too1 that  
it does not consist merely of pictures  
or statues or of music performed in     
concert-rooms4 ,it is1 indeed1 rather a 
quality of all things made by man1 a    
quality that may be good or bad but     
which is always in them4 ,that is one of
 the facts about art that was discovered
 in the nineteenth century1 when men    
began to miss the excellence of art in  
all their works and to wish passionately
 that its excellence might return to    
them4 ,and this discovery which was then
 made about art was of the greatest     
practical importance4 ,for then men     
became aware that they could not have   
good pictures or architecture or        

sculpture unless the quality of art     
became good again in all their works4   
,so much they learnt about the science  
of art4 ,they began1 or some of them    
did1 to think about their furniture and 
cottages and pots and pans and spoons   
and forks1 and even about their         
tombstones1 as well as about what had   
been called their works of art4 ,and in 
all these humbler things an advance1 a  
conscious resolute wilful advance1 has  
been made4 ,we begin to see when and    
also why spoons and forks and pots and  
pans are good or bad4 ,we are less at   
the mercy of chance or blind fashion in 
such things than our fathers were4 ,we  
know our vulgarity and the naughtiness  
of our own hearts4 ,the advance1 the    
self-knowledge1 is not general yet1 but 
it grows more general every year and the
 conviction of sin spreads4 ,no doubt1  
like all conviction of sin1 it often    
produces unpleasant results4 ,the       
consciously artistic person often has a 
more irritating house than his          

innocently philistine grandfather had4  
,so1 no doubt1 many simple pagan people 
were much nicer than those early        
,christians who were out for their own  
salvation4 ,but there was progress in   
,christianity and there was none in     
paganism4  ,the title of this book is   
,progress and ,history1 and it may      
justly be complained that the progress  
of which ,i have been talking is not    
historic1 but a progress that has not   
yet happened and may never happen at    
all4 ,but that ,i think is a defect of  
my particular branch of the subject4    
,progress in art1 if progress is        
anything more than a natural process of 
growth to be followed inevitably by a   
natural process of decay1 has never yet 
happened in art2 but there is now an    
effort to make it happen1 an effort to  
exercise the human will in art more     
completely and consciously than it has  
ever been exercised before4 ,therefore  
,i could do nothing but attempt to      
describe that effort and to speculate   

upon its success4     ,x  ,,progress    
,,in ,,science  ,f4,s4 ,,marvin         
',l',esprit travaillant sur les donnees 
de l'experience4'  ,the ,french phrase1 
neater as usual than our own1 may be    
taken as the starting-point in our      
discussion4 ,we shall put aside such    
questions as what an experience is1 or  
how much the mind itself supplies in    
each experience1 or what1 if anything1  
is the not-mind upon which the mind     
works4 ,we must leave something for the 
chapter on philosophy2 and the present  
chapter is primarily historical4 ,having
 defined what we mean by science1 we are
 to consider at what stage in history   
the working of the mind on experience   
can be called scientific1 in what great 
strides science has leapt forward since 
its definite formation1 and in what ways
 this growth of science has affected    
general progress1 both by its action on 
the individual and on the welfare and   
unity of mankind4  ,our ,french motto   
must be qualified in order to give us   

precision in our definition and a       
starting-point in history for science in
 the strict sense4 ,in a general sense  
the action of the mind upon the given in
 experience has been going on from the  
beginning of animal life4 ,but science1 
strictly so-called1 does not appear till
 men have been civilized and settled in 
large communities for a considerable    
time4 ,we cannot ascribe 'science' to   
the isolated savage gnawing bones in his
 cave1 though the germs are there1 in   
every observation that he makes of the  
world around him and every word that he 
utters to his mates4 ,but we may begin  
to speak of science when we reach those 
large and ordered societies which are   
found in the great river-basins and     
sedentary civilizations of ,east and    
,west1 especially in ,egypt and         
,chaldea4  ,when we turn to the quality 
of the thing itself1 we note in the     
first place that while science may be   
said to begin with mere description1 it 
implies from the first a certain degree 

of order and accuracy1 and this order   
and accuracy increase steadily as       
science advances4 ,it is thus a type of 
progress1 for it is a constant growth in
 the fullness1 accuracy and             
simplification of our experience4 ,from 
the dawn of science1 therefore1 man must
 have acquired standards and instruments
 of measurement and means of handing on 
his observations to others4 ,thus       
writing must have been invented4 ,but in
 the second place1 there is always      
involved in this orderly description1 so
 far as it is scientific1 the element of
 prediction4 ,the particular description
 is not scientific4 ',i saw a bird fly' 
is not a scientific description1 however
 accurate2 but ',the bird flies by      
stretching out its wings' is4 ,it       
contains that causal connexion or       
element of generality which enables us  
to predict4  ,before entering on a      
historical sketch of the most perfect   
example of human progress1 it is of the 
first importance to realize its social  

foundation4 ,this is the key-note1 and  
it connects science throughout with the 
other aspects of our subject4 ,knowledge
 depends upon the free intercourse of   
mind with mind1 and man advances with   
the increase and better direction of his
 knowledge4 ,but when we consider the   
implications of any generalization which
 we can call 'a law of nature' the      
social co-operation involved becomes    
still more apparent4 ,geometry and      
astronomy--the measurement of the earth 
and the measurement of the              
heavens--dispute the honour of the first
 place in the historical order4 ,both1  
of course1 involved the still more      
fundamental conception of number and the
 acceptance of some unit for            
measurement4 ,now in each case and at   
every step a long previous elaboration  
is implied of intellectual conventions  
and agreements--conscious and           
unconscious--between many minds         
stretching back to the beginnings of    
conscious life3 the simplest element of 

thought involves the co-operation of    
individual minds in a common product4   
,language is such a common product of   
social life and it prepares the ground  
for science4 ,but science1 as the exact 
formulation of general truths1 attains a
 higher degree of social value1 because 
it rises above the idioms of person or  
race and is universally acceptable in   
form and essence4 ,such is the intrinsic
 nature of the process1 and the         
historical circumstances of its         
beginnings make it clear4 ,it was the   
quick mind of the ,greek which acted as 
the spark to fire the trains of thought 
and observation which had been          
accumulating for ages through the agency
 of the priests in ,egypt and           
,babylonia4 ,the ,greeks lived and      
travelled between the two centres1 and  
their earliest sages and philosophers   
were men of the most varied intercourse 
and occupation4 ,their genius was fed by
 a wide sympathy and an all-embracing   
curiosity4 ,no other people could have  

demonstrated so well the social nature  
of science from its inception1 and they 
were planting in a soil well prepared4  
,in ,egypt conspicuously and in ,chaldea
 also to a less extent there had been a 
social order which before the           
convulsions of the last millennium      
,b4,c4 had lasted substantially         
unchanged for scores of centuries4 ,this
 order was based upon a religious       
discipline which connected the          
sovereigns on earth with the divine     
power ruling men from the sky4 ,hence   
the supreme importance of the priesthood
 and their study of the movements of the
 heavenly bodies4 ,the calendar1 which  
they were the first to frame1 was thus  
not only or even primarily a work of    
practical utility but of religious      
meaning and obligation4 ,the priests had
 to fix in advance the feast days of    
gods and kings by astronomical          
prediction4 ,their standards and their  
means of measurement were rough         
approximations4 ,thus the #cfj degrees  

into which the ,babylonians taught us to
 divide the circle are thought to have  
been the nearest round number to the    
days of the year4 ,the same men were    
also capable of the more accurate       
discovery that the side of a hexagon    
inscribed in a circle was equal to the  
radius and gave us our division of sixty
 minutes and sixty seconds with all its 
advantages for calculation4 ,in ,egypt1 
if the surveyors were unaware of the    
true relation between a triangle and the
 rectangle on the same base1 they had   
yet established the carpenter's rule of 
#c1 #d and #e for the sides of a        
right-angled triangle4  ,how much the   
,greeks drew from the ancient           
priesthoods we shall never know1 nor how
 far the priests had advanced in those  
theories of general relations which we  
call scientific4 ,but one or two general
 conclusions as to this initial stage of
 scientific preparation may well be     
drawn4  ,one is that a certain degree of
 settlement and civilization was        

necessary for the birth of science4     
,this we find in these great            
theocracies1 where sufficient wealth    
enabled a class of leisured and honoured
 men to devote themselves to joint      
labour in observing nature and recording
 their observations4 ,another point is  
clear1 namely1 that the results of these
 early observations1 crude as they were1
 contributed powerfully to give         
stability to the societies in which they
 arose4 ,the younger ,pliny points out  
later the calming effect of ,greek      
astronomy on the minds of the ,eastern  
peoples1 and we are bound to carry back 
the same idea into the ancient settled  
communities where astronomy began and   
where so remarkable an order prevailed  
for so long during its preparation4     
,but however great the value we allow to
 the observations of the priests1 it is 
to the ,ionian ,greeks that we owe the  
definite foundation of science in the   
proper sense2 it was they who gave the  
raw material the needed accuracy and    

generality of application1 ,a comparison
 of the societies in the nearer ,east to
 which we have referred1 with the       
history of ,china affords the strongest 
presumption of this4 ,in the later      
millenniums ,b4,c4 the ,chinese were in 
many points ahead of the ,babylonians   
and ,egyptians4 ,they had made earlier  
predictions of eclipses and more        
accurate observations of the distance of
 the sun from the zenith at various     
places4 ,they had1 too1 seen the        
advantages of a decimal system both in  
weights and measures and in the         
calculations of time4 ,but no ,greek    
genius came to build the house with the 
bricks that they had fashioned1 and in  
spite of the achievements of the        
,chinese they remained until our own day
 the type in the world of a settled and 
contented1 although unprogressive1      
conservatism4  ,science then among its  
other qualities contains a force of     
social movement1 and our age of rapid   
transformation has begun to do fuller   

justice to the work of the ,greeks1 the 
greatest source of intellectual life and
 change in the world4 ,we are now fully 
conscious of the defects in their       
methods1 the guesses which pass for     
observations1 the metaphysical notions  
which often take the place of           
experimental results4#hj ,but having    
witnessed the latest strides in the     
unification of science on mathematical  
lines1 we are more and more inclined to 
prize the geometry and astronomy of the 
,greeks1 who gave us the first          
constructions on which the modern       
mechanical theories of the universe are 
based4 ,we shall quote from them here   
only sufficient illustrations to explain
 and justify this statement4  ,the first
 shall be what is called ,euclidean     
geometry1 but which is in the main the  
work of the ,pythagorean school of      
thinkers and social reformers who       
flourished from the seventh to the fifth
 centuries ,b4,c4 ,this formed the      
greater part of the geometrical truth   

known to mankind until ,descartes and   
the mathematicians recommenced the work 
in the seventeenth century4 ,the second 
greatest contribution of the ,greeks was
 the statics and the conics of which    
,archimedes was the chief creator in the
 third century ,b4,c4 ,in his work he   
gave the first sketch of an             
infinitesimal calculus and in his own   
way performed an integration4 ,the third
 invaluable construction was the        
trigonometry by which ,hipparchus for   
the first time made a scientific        
astronomy possible4 ,the fourth1 the    
optics of ,ptolemy based on much true   
observation and containing an           
approximation to the general law4       
,these are a few outstanding landmarks1 
peaks in the highlands of ,greek        
science1 and nothing has been said of   
their zoology or medicine4 ,in all these
 cases it will be seen that the advance 
consisted in bringing varying instances 
under the same rule1 in seeing unity in 
difference1 in discovering the true link

 which held together the various        
elements in the complex of phenomena4   
,that the ,greek mind was apt in doing  
this is cognate to their idealizing turn
 in art4 ,in their statues they show us 
the universal elements in human beauty2 
in their science1 the true relations    
that are common to all triangles and all
 cones4  ,ptolemy's work in optics is a 
good example of the scientific mind at  
work4#ha ,the problem is the general    
relation which holds between the angles 
of incidence and of refraction when a   
ray passes from air into water or from  
air into glass4 ,he groups a series of  
the angles with a close approximation to
 the truth1 but just misses the         
perception which would have turned his  
excellent raw material into the finished
 product of science4 ,his brick does not
 quite fit its place in the building4   
,his formula i 7the angle of incidence7 
nr 7the angle of refraction7 only fits  
the case of very small angles for which 
the sine is negligible1 though it had   

the deceptive advantage of including    
reflexion as one case of refraction4 ,he
 did not pursue the argument and make   
his form completely general4 ,sin i  n  
sin r escaped him1 though he had all the
 trigonometry of ,hipparchus behind him1
 and it was left for ,snell and         
,descartes to take the simple but       
crucial step at the beginning of the    
seventeenth century4  ,the case is      
interesting for more than one reason4   
,it shows us what is a general form1 or 
law of nature in mathematical shape1 and
 it also illustrates the progress of    
science as it advances from the most    
abstract conceptions of number and      
geometry1 to more concrete phenomena    
such as physics4 ,the formula for       
refraction which ,ptolemy helped to     
shape1 is geometrical in form4 ,with    
him1 as with the discoverer of the right
 angle in a semicircle1 the mind was    
working to find a general ideal         
statement under which all similar       
occurrences might be grouped4           

,observation1 the collection of similar 
instances1 measurement1 are all         
involved1 and the general statement1 law
 or form1 when arrived at1 is found to  
link up other general truths and is then
 used as a starting-point in dealing    
with similar cases in future4 ,progress 
in science consists in extending this   
mental process to an ever-increasing    
area of human experience4 ,we shall see1
 as we go on1 how in the concrete       
sciences the growing complexity and     
change of detail make such              
generalizations more and more difficult4
 ,the laws of pure geometry seem to have
 more inherent necessity and the        
observations on which they were         
originally founded have passed into the 
very texture of our minds4 ,but the work
 of building up1 or1 perhaps better1 of 
organizing our experience remains       
fundamentally the same4 ,man is         
throughout both perceiving and making   
that structure of truth which is the    
framework of progress4  ,ptolemy's work 

brings us to the edge of the great break
 which occurred in the growth of science
 between the ,greek and the modern      
world4 ,in the interval1 the period     
known as the ,middle ,ages1 the leading 
minds in the leading section of the     
human race were engaged in another part 
of the great task of human improvement4 
,for them the most incumbent task was   
that of developing the spiritual        
consciousness of men for which the      
,catholic ,church provided an           
incomparable organization4 ,but the     
interval was not entirely blank on the  
scientific side4 ,our system of         
arithmetical notation1 including that   
invaluable item the cipher1 took shape  
during the ,middle ,ages at the hands of
 the ,arabs1 who appear to have derived 
it in the main from ,india4 ,its value  
to science is an excellent object-lesson
 on the importance of the details of    
form4 ,had the ,greeks possessed it1 who
 can say how far they might have gone in
 their applications of mathematics8     

,yet in spite of this drawback the most 
permanent contribution of the ,greeks to
 science was in the very sphere of exact
 measurement where they would have      
received the most assistance from a     
better system of calculation had they   
possessed it4 ,they founded and largely 
constructed both plane and spherical    
geometry on the lines which best suit   
our practical intelligence4 ,they gave  
mankind the framework of astronomy by   
determining the relative positions of   
the heavenly bodies1 and they perceived 
and correctly stated the elementary     
principles of equilibrium4 ,at all these
 points the immortal group of men who   
adopted the ,copernican theory at the   
,renascence1 began again where the      
,greeks had left off4 ,but modern       
science starts with two capital         
improvements on the work of the ,greeks4
 ,measurement there had been from the   
first1 and the effort to find the       
constant thing in the variable flux2 and
 from the earliest days of the ,ionian  

sages the scientific mind had been      
endeavouring to frame the simplest      
general hypothesis or form which would  
contain all the facts4 ,but the moderns 
advanced decisively1 in method1 by      
experimenting and verifying their       
hypotheses1 and in subject-matter1 by   
applying their method to phenomena of   
movement1 which may theoretically       
include all facts biological as well as 
physical4 ,galileo1 the greatest founder
 of modern science1 perfectly           
exemplifies both these new departures4  
,it is1 perhaps1 the most instructive   
and encouraging thing in the whole      
annals of progress to note how the men  
of the ,renascence were able to pick up 
the threads of the ,greeks and continue 
their work4 ,the texture held good4     
,leonardo da ,vinci1 whose birth        
coincides with the invention of the     
printing-press1 is the most perfect     
reproduction in modern times of the     
early ,greek sophos1 the man of         
universal interests and capacity4 ,he   

gave careful and admiring study to      
,archimedes1 the greatest pure man of   
science among the ,greeks1 the one man  
among them whose works1 including even  
his letters1 have come down to us       
practically complete4 ,a little later1  
at the beginning of the sixteenth       
century1 ,copernicus gained from the    
,pythagoreans the crude notion of the   
earth's movement round a great central  
fire1 and from it he elaborated the     
theory which was to revolutionize       
thought4 ,another half-century later the
 works of ,archimedes were translated   
into ,latin and for the first time      
printed4 ,they thus became well known   
before the time of ,galileo1 who also   
carefully studied them4 ,at the         
beginning of the seventeenth century    
,galileo made the capital discoveries   
which established both the ,copernican  
theory and the science of dynamics4     
,galileo's death in #afdb coincides with
 the birth of ,sir ,isaac ,newton4      
,such is the sequence of the most       

influential names at the turning-point  
of modern thought4  ,galileo's work1 his
 experiments with falling bodies and the
 revelations of his telescope1 carried  
the strategic lines of ,greek science   
across the frontiers of a ,new ,world1  
and ,newton laid down the lines of      
permanent occupation and organized the  
conquest4 ,organization1 the formation  
of a network of lines connected as a    
whole1 and giving access to different   
parts of the world of experience1 is    
perhaps the best image of the growth of 
science in the mind of mankind4 ,it will
 be seen that it does not imply any     
exhaustion of the field1 nor any        
identification of all knowledge with    
exact or systematic knowledge4 ,the     
process is rather one of gradual        
penetration1 the linking up and         
extension of the area of knowledge by   
well-defined and connected methods of   
thought4 ,no all-embracing plan thought 
out beforehand by the first founders of 
science1 or any of their successors1 can

 be applied systematically to the whole 
range of our experience4 ,it has not    
been so in the past2 still less does it 
seem possible in the future4 ,for the   
most part the discoverer works on       
steadily in his own plot1 occupying the 
nearest places first1 and observing here
 and there that one of his lines runs   
into some one else's4 ,every now and    
then a greater and more comprehensive   
mind appears1 able to treat several     
systems as one whole1 to survey a larger
 area and extend that empire of the mind
 which1 as ,bacon tells us1 is nobler   
than any other4  ,of such conquerors    
,newton was the greatest we have yet    
known1 because he brought together into 
one system more and further-reaching    
lines of communication than any one     
else4 ,he unified the forms of          
measurement which had previously been   
treated as the separate subjects of     
geometry1 astronomy1 and the newly-born 
science of dynamics4 ,celestial         
mechanics embraces all three1 and is a  

fresh and decisive proof of the         
commanding influence of the heavenly    
bodies on human life and thought4 ,not  
by a horoscope1 but by continued and    
systematic thought1 humanity was        
unravelling its nature and destiny in   
the stars as well as in itself4 ,these  
are the two approaches to perfect       
knowledge which are converging more and 
more closely in our own time4 ,newton's 
work was the longest step yet taken on  
the mechanical side1 and we must        
complete our notice of it by the        
briefest possible reference to the later
 workers on the same line1 before       
turning to the sciences of life which   
began their more systematic evolution   
with the discovery of ,harvey1 a        
contemporary of ,newton4  ,the          
seventeenth century1 with ,descartes'   
application of algebra to geometry1 and 
,newton's and ,leibnitz's invention of  
the differential and integral calculus1 
improved our methods of calculation to  
such a point that summary methods of    

vastly greater comprehensiveness and    
elasticity can be applied to any problem
 of which the elements can be measured4 
,the mere improvement in the method of  
describing the same things 7cf4 e4g4 a  
geometrical problem as written down by  
,archimedes with any modern treatise7   
was in itself a revolution4 ,but the new
 calculus went much farther4 ,it enabled
 us to represent1 in symbols which may  
be dealt with arithmetically1 any form  
of regular movement4  ,as movement is   
universal1 and the most obvious external
 manifestation of life itself1 the hopes
 of a mathematical treatment of all     
phenomena are indefinitely enlarged1 for
 all fresh laws or forms might          
conceivably be expressed as differential
 equations4 ,so to the vision of a      
,poincare the human power of prediction 
appears to have no assignable           
theoretical limit4  ,the seventeenth    
century which witnessed this momentous  
extension of mathematical methods1 also 
contains the cognate foundation of      

scientific physics4 ,accurate           
measurement began to be applied to the  
phenomena of light and heat1 the        
expansion of gases1 the various changes 
in the forms of matter apart from life4 
,the eighteenth century which continued 
this work1 is also and most notably     
marked by the establishment of a        
scientific chemistry4 ,in this again we 
see a further extension of accurate     
measurement3 another order of things    
different in quality began to be treated
 by a quantitative analysis4            
,lavoisier's is the greatest name4 ,he  
gave a clear and logical classification 
of the chemical elements then known1    
which served as useful a purpose in that
 science1 as classificatory systems in  
botany and zoology have done in those   
cases4 ,but the crucial step which      
established chemistry1 a step also due  
to ,lavoisier1 was making the test of   
weight decisive4 ',the balance was the  
ultima ratio of his laboratory4' ,his   
first principle was that the total      

weight of all the products of a chemical
 process must be exactly equal to the   
total weight of the substances used4    
,from this1 and rightly disregarding the
 supposed weight of heat1 he could      
proceed to the discovery of the accurate
 proportions of the elements in all the 
compounds he was able to analyse4       
,since then the process of mathematical 
synthesis in science has been carried   
many stages further4 ,the exponents of  
this aspect of scientific progress1 of  
whom we may take the late ,m4 ,henri    
,poincare as the leading representative 
in our generation1 are perfectly        
justified in treating this gradual      
mathematical unification of knowledge   
with pride and confidence4 ,they have   
solid achievement on their side4 ,it is 
through science of this kind that the   
idea of universal order has gained its  
sway in man's mind4 ,the occasional     
attacks on scientific method1 the talk  
one sometimes hears of 'breaking the    
fetters of ,cartesian mechanics'1 seem  

to suggest that the great structure     
which ,galileo1 ,newton1 and ,descartes 
founded is comparable to the false      
,aristotelianism which they destroyed4  
,the suggestion is absurd3 its chief    
excuse is the desire to defend the      
autonomy of the sciences of life1 about 
which we have a word to say later on4   
,but we must first complete our brief   
mention of the greatest stages on the   
mechanical side1 of which a full and    
vivid account may be found in such a    
book as ,m4 ,poincare's ,science et     
,hypothese4  ,early in the nineteenth   
century a trio of discoverers1 a        
,frenchman1 a ,german1 and an           
,englishman1 established the theory of  
the conservation of energy4 ,to the     
labours of ,sadi ,carnot1 ,mayer1 and   
,joule is due our knowledge of the fact 
that heat which1 as a supposed entity1  
had disturbed the physics and chemistry 
of the earlier centuries1 was itself    
another form of mechanical energy and   
could be measured like the rest4 ,later 

in the century another capital step in  
synthesis was taken by the foundation of
 astrophysics1 which rests on the       
identity of the physics and chemistry of
 the heavenly bodies with those of the  
earth4  ,the known universe thus becomes
 still more one4 ,later researches      
again1 especially those of ,maxwell1    
tend to the identification of light and 
heat with electricity1 and in the last  
stage matter as a whole seems to be     
swallowed up in motion4 ,it is found    
that similar equations will express all 
kinds of motion2 that all are really    
various forms of the motion of something
 which the mind postulates as the thing 
in motion2 we have in each case to deal 
with wave-movements of different length4
 ,the broad change1 therefore1 which has
 taken place since the mechanics of     
,newton is the advance from the         
consideration of masses to that of      
molecules of smaller and smaller size1  
and the truth of the former is not      
thereby invalidated4 ,newton1           

,descartes1 ,fresnel1 ,carnot1 ,joule1  
,mayer1 ,faraday1 ,helmholtz1 ,maxwell  
appear as one great succession of       
unifiers4 ,all have been engaged in the 
same work of consolidating thought at   
the same time that they extended it4    
,their conceptions of force1 mass1      
matter1 ether1 atom1 molecule have      
provisional validity as the imagined    
objective substratum of our experience1 
and the fact that we analyse these      
conceptions still further and sometimes 
discard them1 does not in any way       
invalidate the law or general form in   
which they have enabled us to sum up our
 experience and predict the future4     
,but now we turn to the other side4 ,in 
spite of the continued progress noted on
 the mechanical side1 it is true that   
the predominant scientific interest     
changed in the nineteenth century from  
mechanics to biology1 from matter to    
life1 from ,newton to ,darwin4 ,darwin  
was born in #ahji1 the year in which    
,lamarck1 who invented the term biology1

 published his ,philosophie ,zoologique4
 ,the ,origin of ,species appeared in   
#aheh after the conservation of energy  
had been established1 and the range and 
influence of evolutionary biology have  
grown ever since4  ,before anything can 
be said of the conclusions in this      
branch of science one preliminary remark
 has to be made4 ,from the philosophical
 point of view the science of life      
includes all other1 for man is a living 
animal1 and science is the work of his  
co-operating mind1 one of the functions 
of his living activity4 ,what this      
involves on the philosophical side does 
not concern us here1 but it is necessary
 to indicate here the nature of the     
contact between the two great divisions 
of science1 the mechanical and the      
biological1 considered purely as        
sciences4 ,for1 though we know that our 
consciousness as a function of life must
 in some form come into the science of  
life1 and is1 in a sense1 above it all1 
we are yet able to draw conclusions1    

apparently of infinite scope1 about the 
behaviour of all living things around us
 and including ourselves1 just as we do 
about a stone or a star4 ,and we are    
interested in this chapter in seeing how
 this drawing of general conclusions    
keeps growing with regard to the        
phenomena of life1 just as it has grown 
with regard to all other phenomena1 and 
we have to consider what sort of        
difference there is between the one     
class of generalizations and the other4 
,for those of us who are content to rest
 their conclusions on the positively    
known1 who1 while not setting any limits
 to the possible extension of knowledge1
 are not prepared to dogmatize about it1
 it is still necessary to draw a line4  
,a dualism remains1 name and fact alike 
abhorrent to the completely logical     
philosophic mind4 ,on the one hand the  
ordinary laws of physical science are   
constantly extending their sphere2 on   
the other1 the fact of life still       
remains unexplained by them1 and becomes

 in itself more and more marvellous as  
we investigate it4 ,the general position
 remains much as ,johannes ,mueller     
expressed it about the middle of the    
last century1 himself sometimes         
described as the central figure in the  
history of modern physiology4 ',though  
there appears to be something in the    
phenomena of living beings which cannot 
be explained by ordinary mechanical1    
physical1 or chemical laws1 much may be 
so explained1 and we may without fear   
push these explanations as far as we    
can1 so long as we keep to the solid    
ground of observation and experiment4'  
,since this was written the double      
process has gone on apace4 ,the         
chemistry and physics of living matter  
are being sketched1 and biologists are  
more and more inclined to study the     
mechanical expression of the facts of   
life4 ,mr4 ,bateson1 for instance1 tells
 us that the greatest advance that we   
can foresee will be made 'when it is    
possible to connect the geometrical     

phenomena of development with the       
chemical'4 ,the process of applying     
physical laws to life follows1 it would 
seem1 the reverse order of their        
original development4 ,first the        
chemistry of organic matter was         
investigated1 then the physical         
attraction of their molecules1 and now  
their geometry is in question4 ,so1 says
 ,professor ,bateson1 the 'geometrical  
symmetry of living things is the key to 
a knowledge of their regularity and the 
forces which cause it4 ,in the symmetry 
of the dividing cell the basis of that  
resemblance which we call ,heredity is  
contained'4  ,but such work as this is  
still largely speculative and in the    
future4 ,it does not solve the secret of
 life4 ,it does not affect the fact of  
consciousness which we are free to      
conceive1 if we will1 as the other side 
of what we call matter1 evolving with it
 from the most rudimentary forms into   
the highest known form in man1 or still 
further into some super-personal or     

universal form4 ,this1 however1 is      
philosophy or metaphysics4 ,we are here 
concerned with the progress of science1 
in one of its two great departments1    
i4e4 knowledge about life and all its   
known manifestations1 which from        
,aristotle onwards have been subjected  
to a scrutiny similar to that which has 
been given to the physical facts of the 
universe and with results in many points
 similar also4 ,but the facts1 although 
superficially more familiar1 are        
infinitely more complicated1 and the    
scrutiny has only commenced in earnest  
some hundred years ago4 ,considering the
 short space for this concentrated and  
systematic study1 the results are at    
least as wonderful as those achieved by 
the physicists4 ,two or three points of 
suggestive analogy between the courses  
of the two great branches of science may
 here be mentioned4  ,we will put first 
the fundamental question on which1 as we
 have seen1 no final answer has yet been
 reached3 ,what is life1 and is there   

any evidence of life arising from the   
non-living8 ,now this baffling and      
probably unanswerable                   
question--unanswerable1 that is1 in     
terms which go beyond the physical      
concomitants of life--has played the    
part in biology which the alchemists'   
quest played in chemistry4 ,it led by   
the way to a host of positive           
discoveries4 ,aristotle1 the father of  
biology1 believed in spontaneous        
generation4 ,he was puzzled by the case 
of parasites1 especially in putrefying  
matter4 ,even ,harvey1 who made the     
first great definite discovery about the
 mechanism of the body1 agreed with     
,aristotle in this error4 ,it was left  
for the minute and careful inquirers of 
the nineteenth century to dispose of the
 myth4 ,it was only after centuries of  
inquiry that the truth was established  
that life1 as we know it1 only arises   
from life4 ,but the whole course of the 
inquiry had illuminated the nature of   
life and had brought together facts as  

to living things of all kinds1 plants   
and animals1 great and small1 which show
 superficially the widest difference4   
,illumination by unification is here the
 note1 as clearly as in the             
mathematical-physical sciences4 ,all    
living things are found to be built up  
from cells and each cell to be an       
organism1 a being1 that is1 with certain
 qualities belonging to it as a whole1  
which cannot be predicated of any       
collection of parts not an organism4    
,the cell is such an organism1 just as  
the animal is an organism1 and among its
 qualities as an organism is the power  
of growth by assimilating material      
different from itself4 ,yet1 in spite of
 this assimilation and constant change1 
it grows and decays as one whole and    
reproduces its like4  ,another point of 
analogy between the animate and the     
inanimate sphere is that the process of 
study in both has been from the larger  
to the smaller elements4 ,the microscope
 has played at least as decisive a part 

as the telescope1 and it dates from     
about the same time1 at the beginning of
 the seventeenth century4 ,since then it
 has penetrated farther and farther into
 the infinitesimal elements of life and 
matter1 and in each case there seems to 
be no assignable limit to our analysis4 
,the cell is broken up into             
physiological units to which almost     
every investigator gives a new name4 ,we
 are now confronted by the fascinating  
theory of ,arrhenius of an infinite     
universe filled with vital spores1      
wafted about by radio-activity1 and     
beginning their upward course of        
evolution wherever they find a kindly   
soil on which to rest4 ,to such a vision
 the hopes and fears of mortal          
existence1 catastrophes of nature or of 
society1 even the decay of man1 seem    
transient and trivial1 and the          
infinities embrace4  ,a third point1    
perhaps the most important in the       
comparison1 is the way by which the     
order of science has entered into our   

notions of life1 through a great theory1
 the theory of evolution or the doctrine
 of descent4 ,in this we find a solid   
basis for the co-ordination of facts3 it
 was the rise of this theory in the     
hands of one thinker of unconquerable   
patience and love of truth which has put
 the study of biology in the pre-eminent
 position which it now holds4 ,but it is
 necessary to consider the evolution    
theory as something both older and wider
 than ,darwin's presentation of it4     
,darwin's work was to suggest a vera    
causa for a process which earlier       
philosophers had imagined almost from   
the beginning of abstract thought4 ,he  
observed and collected a multitude of   
facts which made his explanations of the
 change of species--within their        
limits--as convincing as they are       
plausible4 ,but the idea that species   
change1 by slow and regular steps1 was  
an old one1 and his particular          
explanations1 natural and sexual        
selection1 are seen on further          

reflection to have only a limited scope4
  ,this is no place1 of course1 to      
discuss the details of the greatest and 
most vexed question in the whole science
 of life4 ,but it belongs to our        
argument to consider it from one or two 
general points of view4 ,its analogies  
with1 and its differences from1 the     
great generalizations of mathematical   
physics1 are both highly instructive4   
,the first crude hypothesis of the      
gradual evolution of various vegetable  
and animal forms from one another may be
 found in the earliest ,greek thinkers1 
just as ,pythagoras and ,aristarchus    
anticipated the ,copernican theory4     
,aristotle gave the idea a philosophic  
statement which only the fuller         
knowledge of our own time enables us to 
appreciate4 ,he traced the gradual      
progression in nature from the inorganic
 to the organic1 and among living things
 from the simpler to the higher forms4  
,but his knowledge of the facts was     
insufficient3 the ,greeks had no        

microscope1 and the dissecting knife was
 forbidden on the human subject4 ,then1 
as these things were gradually added to 
science from the seventeenth century    
onwards1 and the record of the rocks    
gave the confirmation of palaeontology1 
the whole realm of living nature was    
gradually unfolded before us1 every form
 connected both in function and in      
history with every other1 every organ   
fulfilling a necessary part1 either now 
or in the past1 and growing and changing
 to gain a more perfect accord with its 
environment4 ,such is the supreme       
conception which now dominates          
biological science much as the          
,newtonian theory has dominated physics 
for two hundred years2 and it is idle to
 debate whether this new idea is        
different in kind or only in degree from
 the great law of physics4 ,it is a     
general notion or law which brings      
together and explains myriads of        
hitherto unrelated particulars2 it has  
been established by observation and     

experiment working on a previous        
hypothesis2 it involves measurement1 as 
all accurate observation must1 and it   
gives us an increasing power of         
prediction4 ,so far1 therefore1 we must 
class it with the great mathematical    
laws and dissent from ,m4 ,bergson4 ,but
 seeing that the multitudinous facts far
 surpass our powers of complete         
colligation1 that much in the vital     
process is still obscure1 that we are   
conscious in ourselves of a power of    
shaping circumstances which we are      
inclined in various degrees to attribute
 to other living things1 so far we      
recognize a profound difference between 
the laws of life and the laws of        
physics1 and pay our respects to ,m4    
,bergson and his allies of the          
neo-vitalist school4 ,not for the first 
time in history we have to seek the     
truth in the reconciliation1 or at least
 the cohabitation1 of apparent          
contradictories4  ,to us who are        
concerned in tracing the progress of    

mankind as a whole1 and constantly find 
the roots of progress in the growth of  
the social spirit1 the development1 that
 is1 of unity of spirit and of action on
 a wider and deeper scale1 there is one 
aspect of biological truth1 as the      
evolutionists have lately revealed it1  
which is of special interest4 ,the      
living thing is an organism of which the
 characteristic is the constant effort  
to preserve its unity4 ,this is in fact 
the definition of an organism4 ,it only 
dies or suffers diminution in order to  
reproduce itself1 and the new creature  
repeats by some sort of organic memory  
the same preservative acts that its     
parents did4 ,we recognize life by these
 manifestations4 ,a merely material1    
non-living thing1 such as a crystal1    
cannot thus make good its loss1 nor can 
it assimilate unlike substance and make 
it a part of itself4 ,but these things  
are of the nature of life4 ,now mankind1
 as a whole1 has1 if our argument is    
correct1 this characteristic of an      

organism3 it is bound together by more  
than mechanical or accidental links4 ,it
 is one by the nature of its being1 and 
the study of mankind1 the highest branch
 of the science of life1 rests1 or      
should rest1 upon the basis of those    
common functions by which humanity is   
held together and distinguished from the
 rest of the animate world4  ,just as in
 passing from the mechanical sciences to
 that of life1 we noticed that the      
general laws of the lower sphere still  
held good1 but that new factors not     
analysable into those of the former had 
to be reckoned with1 so in passing from 
the animate realm1 as a whole1 to man   
its highest member1 we find that1 while 
animal1 and subject to the general laws 
of animality1 he adds features which    
distinguish him as another order and    
cannot be found elsewhere4 ,his unity as
 an organism has a progressive quality  
possessed by no other species4 ,step by 
step his mind advances into the recesses
 of time and space1 and makes the       

farthest objects that his mind can reach
 a part of his being4 ,his unity of     
organization1 of which the humblest     
animalcule is a simple type1 goes far   
beyond the preservation or even the     
improvement of his species3 it touches  
the infinite though it cannot contain   
it4 ,to trace this widening process is  
the true key to progress1 the idee-mere 
of history4 ,for while man's evolution  
has its practical side1 like that of    
other species1--the needs of nutrition1 
of reproduction1 of adapting himself to 
his environment1--with man this is the  
basis and not the end4 ,the end is1     
first the organization of himself as a  
world-being1 conscious of his unity1 and
 then the illimitable conquest of truth 
and goodness as far as his ever-growing 
powers extend4  ,man's reason is thus1  
as philosophers have always taught1 his 
special characteristic1 and takes the   
place for him1 on a higher plane1 of the
 law of organic growth common to all    
living things4 ,in this we join hands1  

across two thousand years1 with         
,aristotle3 he would have understood us 
and used almost identical language4 ,but
 the content of the words as we use them
 and their applications are immeasurably
 greater4  ,the content is the mass of  
knowledge which man's reason has        
accumulated and partly put in order     
since ,aristotle taught4 ,it is now so  
great that thoroughly to master a single
 branch is arduous labour for a lifetime
 of concentrated toil1 and at the end of
 it new discoveries will crowd upon the 
worker and he will die with all his     
earlier notions crying for revision4 ,no
 case so patent1 so conclusive1 of the  
reality of human unity and the paramount
 need of organization4 ,the individual  
here can only thrive and only be of     
service as a small member of a great    
whole1 one atom in a planet1 one cell in
 a body4 ,the demand which ,comte raised
 more than fifty years ago for another  
class of specialists1 the specialists in
 generalities1 is now being taken up by 

men of science themselves4 ,but the     
field has now so much extended and is so
 much fuller in every part1 that it     
would seem that nothing less than a     
committee of ,aristotles could survey   
the whole4 ,and even this is but one    
aspect of the matter4 ,just as the      
genesis of science was in the daily     
needs of men--the cultivators whose     
fields must be re-measured after the    
flooding1 the priests who had to fix the
 right hour for sacrifice--so all       
through its history science has grown   
and in the future will grow still more  
by following the suggestions of         
practice4 ,it gathers strength by       
contact with the world and life1 and it 
should use its strength in making the   
world more fit to live in4 ,thus our    
committee of scientific philosophers    
needs to have constantly in touch with  
it not one but many boards of scientific
 practitioners4  ,the past which has    
given us this most wonderful of all the 
fruits of time1 does not satisfy us     

equally as to the use that has been made
 of it4 ,our crowded slums do not       
proclaim the glory of ,watt and         
,stephenson as the heavens remind us of 
,kepler and ,newton4 ,selfishness has   
grown fat on ill-paid labour1 and       
jealous nations have sharpened their    
weapons with every device that science  
can suggest4 ,but a sober judgement1 as 
well as the clearest evidence of        
history1 dictates a more hopeful        
conclusion4 ,industry1 the twin brother 
of science1 has vastly increased our    
wealth1 our comfort1 and our capacity   
for enjoyment4 ,medicine1 the most human
 of her children1 has lengthened our    
lives1 fortified our bodies1 and        
alleviated our suffering4 ,every chapter
 in this volume gives some evidence of  
the beneficent power of science4 ,for   
religion1 government1 morality1 even    
art1 are all profoundly influenced by   
the knowledge that man has acquired of  
the world around him and his practical  
conclusions from it4 ,these do not1 with

 the possible exception of art1         
contradict the thesis of a general      
improvement of mankind1 and science must
 therefore claim a share--it would seem 
the decisive share--in the result4 ,we  
speak1 of course1 of science in the     
sense which has been developed in this  
essay1 of the bright well-ordered centre
 to our knowledge which is always       
spreading and bringing more of the      
surrounding fringe1 which is also       
spreading1 into the well-defined area4  
,in this sense religion1 morality and   
government have all within historic     
times come within the range of clear and
 well-ordered thought3 and mankind      
standing thus within the light1 stands  
more firmly and with better hope4 ,he   
sees the dark spots and the weaknesses4 
,he knows the remedies1 though his will 
is often unequal to applying them4 ,and 
even with this revelation of weakness   
and ignorance1 he is on the whole       
happier and readier to grapple with his 
fate4  ,if this appears a fair diagnosis

 of the ,western mind in the midst of   
its greatest external crisis1 the reason
 for this amazing firmness of mind and  
stability of society must be sought in  
the structure which science and industry
 combined have built around us4 ,the    
savage1 untutored in astronomy1 may     
think that an eclipse betokens the end  
of the world4 ,science convinces him    
that it will pass4 ,just so the modern  
world trained to an order of thought and
 of society which rests on world-wide   
activities elaborated through centuries 
of common effort1 awaits the issue of   
our darkened present calmly and unmoved4
 ,the things of the mind on which all   
nations have co-operated in the past    
will re-assert their sway4              
,fundamentally this is a triumph for the
 scientific spirit1 the order which man 
has now succeeded in establishing       
between himself and his surroundings4   
,the country is demanding--and          
rightly--a stronger bias in our         
educational system for teaching of a    

scientific kind2 but teachers and       
professors are not unnaturally          
perplexed4 ,they see the immeasurable   
scope of the new knowledge2 they know   
the labour1 often ineffective1 that has 
been expended in teaching the rudiments 
of the old 'humanities'4 ,and now a task
 is propounded to them before which the 
old one with all its faults seems       
definite1 manageable and formative of   
character4 ,the classical world which   
has been the staple of our education for
 #djj years is a finished thing and we  
can compass it in thought4 ,it lives    
indeed1 but unconsciously1 in our lives1
 as we go about our business4 ,this new 
world into which our youth has now to   
enter1 rests also on the past1 but it is
 still more present2 it grows all round 
us faster than we can keep pace with its
 earlier stages4 ,how then can such a   
thing be used as an instrument of       
education where above all something is  
needed of clear and definite purpose1   
stimulating in itself and tending to    

mental growth and activity in after     
life8 ,we could not1 even if we would1  
offer any satisfactory answer here to   
one of the most troubled questions of   
the day4 ,decades of experiments will be
 needed before even a tolerable solution
 can be reached4 ,but the argument      
pursued in this and other essays may    
suggest a line of approach4 ,this must  
lie in a reconciliation between science 
and history1 or rather in the           
recognition that science rightly        
understood is the key to history1 and   
that the history best worth study is the
 record of man's collective thought in  
face of the infinite complexities1 the  
barriers and byways1 the lights and     
shadows of life and nature4 ,from the   
study of man's approach to knowledge and
 unity in history each new-coming       
student may shape his own4 ,he sees a   
unity of thought not wholly             
unattainable1 a foundation laid beneath 
the storms of time4 ,to a mind thus     
trained should come an eagerness to     

carry on the conquests of the past and  
to apply the lessons gained to the      
amelioration of the present4  ,this we  
may hope from the well-disposed4 ,but   
for all1 the contemplation of a universe
 where man's mind has worked for ages in
 unravelling its secrets and describing 
its wonders1 must bring a sense of      
reverence as well as trust4 ,it is no   
dry category of abstract truths to which
 we turn and would have others turn1 but
 a world as bright and splendid as the  
rainbow to the savage or the forest to  
the poet or the heavens to the lonely   
watcher on the ,babylonian plain4 ,the  
glories and the depths remain1 deeper   
and more glorious1 with all the added   
marvels of man's exploring thought4 ,the
 seeing eye which a true education will 
one day give us1 may read man's history 
in the world we live in1 and read the   
world with the full illumination of a   
united human vision--the eyes of us all4
   ,,books ,,for ,,reference  ,alcan1   
,de la methode dans les ,sciences4      

,mach1 ,history of ,mechanics1 ,kegan   
,paul4  ,thomson1 ,science of ,life1    
,blackie4  ,thomson1 ,science in the    
,nineteenth ,century1 ,chambers4  ,new  
,calendar of ,great ,men1 ,macmillan4   
,the ,darwin ,centenary ,volume4        
,bergson1 ,creative ,evolution4         
,,footnotes3  #hj ,see ,lewes1          
',aristotle1 a chapter in the ,history  
of ,science'4  #ha ,h4 ,bouasse1 ,la    
,methode dans les ,sciences1 ,alcan4    
,,xi  ,,progress ,,in ,,philosophy      
,j4,a4 ,,smith   ,to contend that there 
has been progress in ,philosophy may    
seem but a desperate endeavour4 ,for the
 reproach against it of                 
unprogressiveness is of long standing3  
where other forms of human knowledge    
have undoubtedly advanced1 ,philosophy1 
in modern times at any rate1 has 7so it 
is said7 remained stationary1           
propounding its outworn problems1 its   
vain and empty solutions4 ,because of   
this failure it has by common consent   
been deposed from its once proud        

position at the head of the sciences and
 obliged to confess1 in the words of the
 ,trojan queen3                    modo 
maxima rerum     ,nunc trahor exul      
inops4  ,the charge of unprogressiveness
 is not made against it by its foes     
alone2 the truth of it is admitted by   
some of its best friends4 ,if ,voltaire 
exclaims ',o metaphysique1 metaphysique1
 nous sommes aussi avances qu'aux temps 
des ,druides'1 ,kant sadly admits the   
fact1 sets himself to diagnose its      
cause1 and if possible to discover or   
devise a remedy4 ,yet we must remember  
that it was philosophers who first      
descried those currents in the world of 
events which the non-philosophic1       
borrowing the name from them1 call      
,progress1 who first attempted to       
determine their direction and the       
possible goal of their convergence1 and 
laboured to clear their own and others' 
minds in regard to the meaning1 to      
capture which the name was thrown out as
 a net into the ocean of experience4    

,nor must we forget that it was in their
 own chosen field--the world of human   
thoughts and actions--that they from the
 beginning seemed to themselves to find 
the surest evidence of the reality of   
,progress4 ,while the world that        
surrounded and hemmed them and their    
fellows in might or must be regarded as 
unchanging and unchangeable1 doomed for 
ever to reproduce and monotonously      
reiterate whatsoever it had once done   
and been1 the mind or spirit of ,man in 
its own realm seemed capable of going   
beyond all its past achievements and    
rising to new heights1 not merely here  
and there or in isolated instances but  
in such numbers or masses as to raise   
for long periods of history the general 
level of human efficiency and welfare4  
,it is true that many of those who noted
 these advances or profited by them did 
not always admit that they took place   
in1 or were due to the agency of1       
,philosophy4 ,the advances were most    
often credited to other powers and the  

new territory claimed by their          
representatives4 ,the contributions made
 by ,philosophy to the general          
improvement of human life were and are  
obscure1 difficult to trace1 easily     
missed or forgotten4 ,it came about that
 the philosopher was misconceived as one
 indifferent to ordinary human interests
 and disdainful of the more obvious     
advantages secured by others1 pressing  
and urging forward and upward into a    
cloudland where the light was too dim   
for the eyes of man and the paths too   
uncertain for his feet4 ,unsatisfied    
with the region where ,man had learned  
by the slow and painful lessons of      
experience to build himself a habitable 
city he dreamed of something higher1    
aspiring to explore beyond and above    
where the light of that experience shone
 and illuminated4 ,perhaps the main idea
 that the name of ,philosophy now to    
most suggests is that of a ,utopian     
ideal of knowledge so wide and so high  
that it must be by sane and sober minds 

pronounced for ever set beyond the reach
 of human faculty1 an ideal which       
perhaps we cannot help forming and which
 constantly tempts us forward like a    
mirage1 but which like a mirage leads us
 into waste and barren places1 so much  
so that it is no small part of human    
wisdom to resist its subtle seductions  
and to confine our efforts to the       
pursuit of such ends as we may          
reasonably regard as well within the    
compass of our powers of thought and    
action4 ,it is folly1 we are told1 to   
adventure ourselves upon the uncharted  
seas into which philosophers invite us1 
to waste our lives and perhaps break our
 hearts in the vain search for a        
knowledge that is for ever denied us4   
,after all1 there is much that we can   
know1 and in the knowledge of which we  
can better the estate of ,man1 relieving
 him from many of his most pressing     
terrors and distresses4 ,to cherish     
other hopes is to deceive ourselves to  
our own and our fellows' undoing1 to    

refuse them our help and fail to play   
our part in the common business of      
mankind4 ,there is surely in the world  
enough suffering and sorrow and sin to  
engage all our energies in dealing with 
them1 nor are our endeavours to do so so
 plainly fruitless as to discourage from
 perseverance in them4 ,where in this   
task our hearts do faint and fail1 are  
there not other means than the          
discredited nostrum of ,philosophy to   
revive our hopes and recruit our forces8
 ,it was only1 we are sometimes         
reminded1 in the darkest days of human  
history that men turned desperately to  
,philosophy for comfort and             
consolation--how surely and             
demonstrably1 we are told1 in vain6     
,when other duties are so urgent and    
immediate1 have we even the right to    
consume our energies otherwise than in  
their direct discharge8 ,and is it not  
presumption to ask for any further light
 than that which is vouchsafed to us in 
the ordinary course of experience or1 if

 that is insufficient1 in and by        
,religion8  ,much in this plea for a    
final relinquishment of aid from        
,philosophy in the furtherance of human 
progress is plausible and more than     
plausible4 ,yet the hope or1 if you     
will1 the dream of attaining some form  
or kind or degree of knowledge which the
 sciences do not and cannot supply and  
perhaps deny to be possible1 some       
steadiness and firmness of assurance    
other and beyond the confidence of      
religious faith1 is not yet extinct1 is 
perhaps inextinguishable1 and though it 
often takes extravagant and even morbid 
and repulsive forms1 still haunts and   
tantalizes many1 nor these the least    
wise or sane of our kind1 so that they  
count all the labour they spend upon its
 search worth all the pains4 ,not for   
themselves alone do they seek it2 they  
view themselves as not alone in the     
quest1 but engaged in a matter of       
universally human moment4 ,in the       
measure in which they count themselves  

to have attained any result they do not 
hoard it or grudge it to others4 ,the   
notion of philosophic truth as something
 to be shared and enjoyed only by a     
few--as what is called 'esoteric'--is no
 longer in vogue and is indeed felt to  
involve an essential self-contradiction2
 rather it is conceived as something the
 value of which is assured and enhanced 
by being imparted4 ,those who believe   
themselves to be by nature or 7it may   
be7 accident appointed to the office of 
its quest1 by no means feel that they   
are thereby divided from their fellows  
as a peculiar people or a privileged and
 exclusive priesthood1 but much rather  
as fellow servants enlisted and engaged 
in the public service of mankind4 ,least
 of all do they believe that their      
efforts are foredoomed to inevitable    
failure1 that progress therein is not to
 be looked for1 or that they and their  
predecessors have hitherto made no      
advance towards what they and1 as they  
also believe1 all men sought and still  

seek4 ,to them the history of           
,philosophy for say the last two        
thousand years is not the dreary and    
dispiriting narrative of repeated error 
and defeat1 but the record of a slow but
 secure and steady advance in which1 as 
nowhere else1 the mind of ,man          
celebrates and enjoys triumphs over the 
mightiest obstacles1 kindling itself to 
an ever-brightening flame4 ,reviewing   
its own past in history the spirit of   
,philosophy sees its own inner light1   
which is its act and its essence1       
constantly increasing1 spreading ever   
wider into the circumambient dark1 and  
touching far-off and hitherto           
undiscovered peaks with the fire of a   
coming dawn4 ,in place of the starlight 
of ,science or the moonlight of         
,religion it sees a sun arise flooding  
the world with light and warmth and     
life4 ,high hopes1 high claims2 but can 
they be made good1 or even rationally   
entertained8 ,suffice it here that they 
be openly avowed and proclaimed to be   

laid up in the heart of the philosophic 
spirit1 'dreaming'1 and yet with waking 
eyes1 'of things to come'4 ,or rather   
shall we not say1 seeing that its eyes  
are unsealed and the vision therefore no
 dream1 beholding a present--an         
ever-present--,reality8  ,it was        
,philosophy1 or philosophers1 as ,i have
 said1 that first discerned the fact of 
,progress1 named it1 and divined its    
lineaments4 ,to ,philosophy the name and
 notion of ,progress belongs as of      
right--the right of first occupation4   
,merely to have invented a name for the 
fact is no small service1 for thus the  
fact was fixed for further study and    
examination4 ,but with the name         
,philosophy gave us the idea1 the       
notion1 and therewith the fact began to 
be understood and to become amenable to 
further and further explanation4 ,to    
this further explanation ,philosophy    
gave notable assistance4 ,to 'elaborate 
our concepts' has been said to be the   
whole business of ,philosophy1 that is1 

to arrest the vague and shifting        
meanings that float before our minds    
loosely attached to the words of        
ordinary careless speech1 to fix their  
outlines1 distinguishing1 defining1     
ordering and organizing until each mass 
of meaning is improved and refined into 
a thought worthy to be called a notion1 
a fit member of the world of mind1 a    
seat and source of intellectual light4  
,in this work ,philosophy proceeds and  
succeeds simply by reflecting on        
whatever meaning it has in whatever     
manner already acquired2 it employs no  
strange apparatus or recondite methods1 
only continues more thoughtfully and    
conscientiously to use the familiar     
means by which the earlier simpler      
meanings were appropriated and          
developed1 following the beaten tracks  
of the mind's native and spontaneous    
movement4 ,much more rarely than the    
sciences has it recourse to a technical 
vocabulary1 being content to express    
itself in ordinary words though using   

them and their collocations with a      
careful delicacy and painstaking        
adroitness4 ,to follow it in these uses 
demands an effort1 for nothing is       
perhaps more difficult than to force our
 thoughts to run counter to our         
customary heedless use of words and to  
learn to employ them even for a short   
time with a steady precision of         
significance4 ,yet unless this effort is
 resolutely made we must remain the easy
 prey of manifold confusions and errors 
which trip us in the dark4 ,our words   
degrade into tokens which experience    
will not cash--tangles of symbols which 
we cannot retranslate4  ,but ,philosophy
 is more than the attempt to refine and 
subtilize our ordinary words so as to   
fit them for the higher service of      
interpretative thought1 more even than  
the endeavour to improve the stock of   
ideas no matter how come by1 by which we
 interpret to ourselves whatever it     
imports us to understand4 ,all this it  
is and does1 or strives to do1 but only 

as subsidiary to its true business and  
real aim4 ,all this it might do and do  
successfully1 and yet make or bring     
about no substantial progress in itself 
or elsewhere4 ,and when progress in     
,philosophy is spoken of1 it is not     
either such improvement in language nor 
such improvement in ideas that alone or 
mainly is meant4  ,what is claimed for  
7or denied to it7 under the name of     
,progress is an advance in knowledge1   
knowledge clear-sighted1 grounded1 and  
assured1 knowledge of some authentic and
 indubitable reality4 ,it is by the     
attainment of such knowledge1 by        
progress in and towards it1 that the    
claim of ,philosophy to be progressive  
must stand or fall4 ,to the question    
whether it can make good its claim to   
the possession and increase of this     
knowledge we must give special          
attention1 for if ,philosophy fails in  
this it fails in all4  ,the oldest name 
for the knowledge in question was simply
 ,wisdom and1 in some ways1 in spite of 

its apparent arrogance this is the best 
name for what is sought--or missed4 ,yet
 from the beginning the name was felt   
not sufficiently to distinguish what was
 meant from the high skill of the       
cunning craftsman and the worldly wisdom
 of the man of affairs1 the statesman or
 soldier or trader4 ,in the case of all 
these it was difficult to disengage the 
knowledge involved from natural or      
trained practical dexterity4 ,what was  
desired and required was knowledge      
distinguished but not divorced from     
practice and application--'pure         
knowledge' as it was sometimes called2  
not divorced1 ,i repeat1 for it was not 
conceived as without bearing upon the   
conduct of life1 but still              
distinguished1 as furnishing light      
rather than profit4 ,for good or evil   
,philosophy began by considering what it
 sought and hoped to reach as           
pre-eminently knowledge in some         
distinctive sense1 and having so begun  
it turned to reflect once more upon what

 it meant by so conceiving it and to    
make this meaning more precise and      
clear4 ,so it came to present to itself 
as its aim or goal a special kind or    
degree of knowledge1 to be inspired and 
guided by the hope of that4 ,practical  
as in many ways was the concern of      
ancient philosophy--its whole bent was  
towards the bettering of human life--it 
sought to achieve this by the extension 
and deepening of knowledge1 and not     
either through the cultivation or       
refinement of emotion or the            
organization of practical1 civil or     
social or philanthropic activities4 ,it 
laboured--and laboured not in vain--to  
further the increase of knowledge by    
defining to itself in advance the kind  
or degree of knowledge which would      
accomplish the ultimate aim of its      
endeavour or subserve its               
accomplishment4 ,hence we must learn to 
view with a sympathetic eye its repeated
 essays to give precision and detail to 
the conception or ideal of knowledge4   

,in form the answer rendered to its     
request to itself for a definition1 was 
determined by the principle that the    
knowledge which was sought and alone1 if
 found1 could satisfy1 was knowledge of 
the real1 or as it was at first more    
simply expressed1 of what is1 or what   
really and veritably is4 ,refusing the  
name of knowledge except to what had    
this as its object1 men turned to       
consider the nature of the object which 
stood or could stand in this relation4  
,with this they contrasted what we1     
after them1 call the phenomena1 the     
appearances1 the manifold aspects1      
constantly shifting with the shifting   
points of view of the observer or many  
observers of it1 inconstant1 unsteady1  
superficial1 mirrored through the senses
 and imagination1 multiplied and        
distorted in divergent and changing     
opinions1 or misrepresented and even    
caricatured in the turbid medium of     
ordinary speech1 like a clouded image on
 the broken waters of a rushing stream4 

',it'--so at first they spoke of the    
object of true or 'philosophic'         
knowledge--was one and single1 eternal  
and unchangeable1 a universe or         
world-order of parts fixed for ever in  
their external relations and inward     
structure4 ,in each and all of us there 
was1 as it were1 a tiny mirror that     
could be cleared so as to reflect all   
this1 and in so far as such reflection  
took place an inner light was kindled in
 each which was a lamp to his path4     
,knowing--for to know was so to reflect 
the world as it really was--knowing1 man
 came to self-possession and            
self-satisfaction--to peace and joy--and
 was even 'on this bank and shoal of    
time' raised beyond the reach of all    
accidents and evils of mortal           
existence--looking around and down upon 
all that could harm or hurt him and     
seeing it to be in its law-abiding      
orderliness and eternal changelessness  
the embodiment of good4 ,so viewing it1 
man learned to feel the ,universe his   

true home1 and was inspired not only    
with awe but with a high loyalty and    
public spirit4 ',the poet says ,dear    
,city of ,cecrops1 and shall ,i not say 
,dear ,city of ,god8'  ,the knowledge   
thus reached or believed to be          
attainable was more and more            
discriminated from what was offered or  
supplied by ,art or ,science or         
,religion1 though it was still often    
confused with each and all of them4 ,as 
opposed to that of ,art1 it was not     
direct or immediate vision flashed as it
 were upon the inner eye in moments of  
inspiration or excitement2 as opposed to
 that of ,science1 it was a knowledge   
that pierced below the surface and the  
seeming of ,nature and ,history2 as     
opposed to that of ,religion 7which was 
rather faith than knowledge71 it was    
sober1 unimaginative1 cleansed of       
emotional accompaniment and admixture1  
the 'dry light' of the wise soul4 ,true 
to the principle which ,i have stated1  
ancient ,philosophy proclaimed that the 

only knowledge in the end worth having  
was knowledge of ,fact--of what lay     
behind all seeming however fair--,fact  
unmodified and unmodifiable by human    
wish or will2 it bade us know the world 
in which we live and move and have our  
being1 know it as it is truly and in    
itself1 and knowing it love it1 loyally 
acquiescing in its purposes and         
subserving its ends4 ,in all this there 
was progress 7was there not87 to a view1
 to a truth 7how else shall we speak of 
it87 which has always1 when apprehended1
 begotten a high temper in heroic       
hearts4 ,surely in having reached in    
thought so high and so far the mind of  
man had progressed in knowledge and in  
wisdom4  ,but now a change took place1  
from which we must date the rise or     
birth of modern philosophy4 ,hitherto on
 the whole the mind of man had looked   
outward and sought knowledge of what lay
 or seemed to lie outside itself4 ,so   
looking and gazing ever deeper it had   
encountered a spectacle of admirable and

 awe-compelling order1 yet one which for
 that very reason seemed appallingly    
remote from1 if not alien to1 all human 
businesses and concerns4 ,now it turned 
inward and found within itself not only 
matter of more immediate or pressing    
interest1 but a world that compelled    
attention1 excited curiosity1 rewarded  
study4 ,slowly and gradually the        
knowledge of this1 the inner world--the 
world of the thinker's self--became the 
central object of philosophic           
reflection4 ,the knowledge that was most
 required--that was all-important and   
indispensable 7so man began explicitly  
to realize7--was knowledge of the ,self1
 not of the outer world that at best    
could never be more than known1 but of  
the self that knew or could know it1    
that could both know and be known4      
,henceforward what is studied is not    
knowledge of reality--of any and every  
reality--or of external reality1 but    
knowledge of the ,self which can know as
 well as be known4 ,and the process by  

which it is sought is reflection1 for   
the self-knowledge is not the knowledge 
of other selves1 but the knowledge of   
just that ,self which knows itself and  
no other4 ,thus the knowledge sought is 
once more and now finally distinguished 
from the knowledge offered or supplied  
by ,art or ,science or ,religion3 not by
 ,art1 for the ,self cannot appear and  
has no seeming nor can it any way be    
pictured or described or imagined2 not  
by ,science1 for it lies beyond and     
beneath and behind all observation1 nor 
can it be counted or measured or        
weighed2 not by ,religion1 for knowledge
 of it comes from within and the        
disclosure of its nature is by the      
self-witness of the ,self to its self1  
not by revelation of any other to it4   
,thus there is disclosed the slowly-won 
and slowly-revealed secret of modern    
,philosophy1 that the knowledge which is
 indispensable1 which is necessary as   
the consummation and key-stone of all   
other knowledge1 is knowledge of the    

knowing-self1 self-knowledge1 or1 as it 
is sometimes more technically called1   
self-consciousness1 with the corollary  
that this knowledge cannot be won by any
 methods known to or specially          
characteristic of ,science or ,art or   
,religion4 ,to become self-conscious1 to
 progress in self-consciousness is the  
end1 and the way or means to it is by   
reflection--the special method of       
,philosophy4  ,this is the step in      
advance made by the modern spirit beyond
 all discoveries of the ancients2 it is 
the truth by the apprehension of which  
the modern spirit and its world is made 
what it is4 ,not outside us lies ,truth 
or the ,truth3 ,truth dwelleth in the   
inner man--in interiore hominis habitat 
veritas4 ,is this not progress1 progress
 in wisdom1 and to what else can we     
ascribe the advance save to ,philosophy8
  ,it was one of the earliest utterances
 of modern ,philosophy1 and one which it
 has never found reason to retract1 that
 the ,self which knows can and does know

 itself better than aught else          
whatsoever1 and in that knowledge can   
without end make confident and          
sure-footed advance4 ,to itself the     
,self is the most certain and the most  
knowable of all realities--with this it 
is most acquainted1 this it has light in
 itself to explore1 of this it can      
confidently foresee and foretell the    
method of advance to further and further
 knowledge4 ,it knows not only its      
existence but its essence1 its nature1  
and it knows by what procedure1 by what 
ordered effort or exercise of will it   
can progress to height beyond height of 
its self-knowledge4 ,i say1 it knows it1
 but it also knows that that knowledge  
cannot be attained all at once or taken 
complete and ready-made1 for it is      
itself a progress1 a self-created and   
self-determined progress1 and on that   
condition progress alone is or is real4 
,for it to be is not to be at the       
beginning or at the end of this process1
 but to be always coming to be1 coming  

to be what it is not and yet also what  
it has in it to be4 ,of nothing else is 
,progress so intimately the essence and 
very being2 if we ask ',what progresses 
or evolves8'1 the most certain answer is
 ',the spirit which is in man1 and what 
it progresses in1 is knowledge of       
itself1 which is wisdom'4 ,speaking of  
and for ,philosophy ,i venture to       
maintain that nothing is more certain   
than that that spirit which has created 
it has grown1 is growing1 and will ever 
grow in wisdom1 and that by reflection  
upon itself and its history--nor can the
 gates of darkness and error prevail    
against the irresistible march of its   
triumphant progress4  ,as we look back  
the history of ,philosophy seems strewn 
with the debris of outworn or outlived  
errors1 but out of them all emerges this
 clear and assured truth1 that in       
self-knowledge lies the master-light of 
all our seeing1 inexhaustibly casting   
its rays into the retreating shadow     
world that now surrounds us1 melting all

 mists and dispelling all clouds1 and   
that the way to it is unveiled1 mapped  
and charted in advance so that          
henceforward we can walk sure-footedly  
therein4 ,yet that does not mean that   
the work of ,philosophy is done1 that it
 can fold its hands and sit down1 for   
only in the seeking is its prize found  
and there is no goal or end other than  
the process itself4 ,for this too is its
 discovery1 that not by1 but in1 endless
 reflection is the ,truth concerning it 
known1 the ,truth that each generation  
must ever anew win and earn it for      
itself4 ,the result is not without the  
process1 nor the end without the means3 
the fact is the process and other fact  
there is none4 ,in other forms of       
so-called 'knowledge' we can sever the  
conclusion from its premisses1 and the  
result can be given without the process1
 but with self-knowledge it is not so   
and no generation1 or individual1 can   
communicate it ready-made to another1   
but can only point the way and bid      

others help themselves4 ,and if this1 so
 put1 seems hard doctrine1 ,i can only  
remind you that to philosophize has     
always meant 'to think by and for       
oneself'4  ,it is perhaps more necessary
 to formulate the warning that what is  
here called self-knowledge and          
pronounced to constitute the very       
essence of the spirit that is in man1 is
 far removed from what sometimes bears  
its name1 the extended and minute       
acquaintance by the individual mind with
 its individual peculiarities or        
idiosyncrasies1 its weaknesses and      
vanities1 its whims and eccentricities2 
nor is it to be confused with the still 
wider acquaintance with those that make 
up our common human nature in all its   
folly and frailty which is sometimes    
called 'knowledge of human nature'2 no1 
nor with such knowledge as psychological
 science1 with its methods of           
observation and induction and           
experiment1 offers or supplies4 ,it is  
knowledge of something that lies far    

deeper within us--'the inward man'1     
which is not merely alike or akin but is
 the same in all of us2 beneath all our 
differences1 strong against all our     
weaknesses1 wise against all our        
follies1 what each of us rightly calls  
his true self and yet what is not his   
alone1 but all men's also4 ,as we       
reflect upon it duly1 what discloses or 
reveals itself to us is a self which is 
both our very own and yet common or     
universal1 the self of each and yet the 
self of all4 ,the more we get to        
apprehend and understand it1 the more we
 become and know ourselves1 not so much 
as being but as becoming one with one   
another2 the differences that sunder us 
in feeling and thought and action       
melting away like mist4 ,the removal of 
these differences is just the unveiling 
of it1 in which it at once comes to be  
and to be known4 ,in coming to know it  
we create it4 ,the unity of the spirit  
thus becomes and is known as indubitable
 fact1 or rather 7,i must repeat7 not as

 fact1 as if it were or were anything   
before being known1 but as something    
which is ever more and more coming to   
be1 in the measure in which it is coming
 to be known--known to itself4 ,for this
 is the hard lesson of modern           
philosophy1 that our inmost nature and  
most genuine self is not aught          
ready-made or given1 but something which
 is created in and by the process of our
 coming to know it1 which progresses in 
existence and substantiality and value  
as our knowledge of it progresses in    
width and depth and self-assurance4 ,the
 process is one of                      
creative--self-creative--evolution1 in  
which each advance deposits a result    
which prescribes the next step and      
supplies all the conditions for it1 and 
so constantly furnishes all that is     
required for an endless progress in     
reality and worth4 ,this is the process 
in which the spirit of man capitalizes  
and substantiates its activities1       
committing its gains to secure custody1 

amassing and using them for its         
self-enrichment--in which it depends on 
no other than itself and is sovereign   
master of its future and its fate4 ,this
 is the way in which selves are made1 or
 rather1 make themselves4  ,this is the 
discovery of modern ,philosophy1 the now
 patent secret which it offers for the  
interpretation of all mysteries and the 
solving of all problems--and it offers  
it with unquestioning assurance1 for it 
has explored the ground and has awakened
 to the true method of progress within  
it4 ,and as ,i have said or implied1 to 
the reflective mind regress is          
impossible1 it cannot go back upon      
itself1 and with due tenderness and     
gratitude it has set behind it the      
things of its unreflective childhood4   
,it stands on the stable foundation of  
the witness of the spirit within us to  
itself1 to its own nature1 its own      
powers and its own rights2 it knows     
itself as the knower1 the interpreter1  
the teacher1 and therefore the master   

and maker of itself4 ,yet we must not   
identify or confuse this our deeper or  
deepest self which we thus create with  
the separate selves or souls which each 
of us is2 it is not any one of them nor 
all of them together1 unless we give to 
the word 'together' a new and more      
pregnant sense than it has yet come to  
bear4 ,it is not the 'tribal' or        
'collective' or 'social' self1 for it is
 not made by congregation or collection 
or association1 but by some far more    
intimate unification than is signified  
by any of these terms1 namely by coming 
together in and by knowledge4 ,it is the
 spirit which is in us all and in which 
we all are1 which is more yet not other 
than we1 without which we are nothing   
and do nothing and yet which is         
veritably the spirit of man1 the        
immortal hero of all the tragedy and    
comedy--the whole drama--of human       
history2 it is of this spirit as it is  
by it1 that ,philosophy has in repeated 
and resolute reflection come to know the

 nature and the method of its progress4 
,such knowledge has come into the world 
and prevails more widely and more       
potently than ever before2 possessed in 
fullness by but a few1 it is open and   
available to all and radiates as from a 
beacon light over the whole field of    
human experience2 at that fire every man
 can light his candle4 ,this is the     
light in which alone the record of man's
 thoughts and achievements can be       
construed and which exhibits them as    
steps and stages on that triumphant     
march to higher and higher levels such  
as alone we can rightly name ,progress4 
,where else than in ,history1 and1 above
 all1 in the ,history of ,knowledge1 is 
,progress manifested1 and in that where 
more certainly than in the unretreating 
and unrevoked advance towards a deeper1 
a truer1 a wiser knowledge of itself by 
the spirit that is in and is1 ,man8     
,yes1 such knowledge1 truth and wisdom  
now exists and is securely ours1 though 
to inherit it each generation and each  

individual must win it afresh and having
 won it must develop and promote it1 or 
it ceases not only to work but to be4   
,for it exists only as it is made or    
rather only in the act and fact of its  
progress1 and so for it not to progress 
is at once to return to impotence and   
nothingness4 ,and it is we who maintain 
it in being1 maintaining it by endless  
reiterated efforts of reflection1 and so
 maintaining it we maintain ourselves1  
resting or relying upon it and using it 
as a source of strength and a fulcrum or
 a platform for further effort4 ,upon   
self-knowledge in this sense all other  
'knowledge' reposes2 upon it and the    
knowledge of other selves and the world1
 which flows from it1 depends the       
possibility of all practical advance4   
,in the dark all progress is impossible4
  ,but since this discovery was made and
 made good1 the spirit of ,philosophy   
has not stood still2 it has gone on1 and
 is still going on1 to extend and deepen
 and secure its conquests4 ,once more it

 has turned from its fruitful and       
enlightening concentration on the inner 
self and its life to review what lies or
 seems to lie around and outside it4 ,it
 finds that those who have stayed1 or   
fallen1 behind its audacious but        
justified advance in self-knowledge1    
still cherish a view of what is external
 to this 7the true or real self so now  
made patent71 thoughts or fancies which 
misconceive and misrepresent            
it--thoughts persisted in against the   
feebler protesting voices of ,art and   
,religion and so held precariously and  
unstably though apparently grounded upon
 the authority of ,science4 ,to the     
unphilosophic or not yet philosophic    
mind the spirit of man1 already in      
imagination multiplied and segregated   
into individual 'souls'1 appears to be  
surrounded with an environment of alien 
character1 often harsh to man's         
emotions1 often rebellious or           
untractable to his purposes1 often      
impenetrable to his understanding1 and  

in a word indifferent or hostile to his 
ideals and aspirations after progress   
and good4 ,nay1 the individual souls    
seem to act towards one another         
separately and collectively as such     
hindrances1 and again1 each individual  
soul seems to be encrusted with         
insuperable impediments4 ,even the light
 within is enclosed in an opaque screen 
which prevents or counteracts its       
outflow1 so that the spirit within is as
 it were entombed or imprisoned4 ',wall 
upon wall1 the gross flesh hems us in1' 
we cannot communicate with one another  
or join with one another in thought or  
deed2 and the hope of progress seems    
defeated by the recalcitrant matter that
 shell upon shell encases us4 ,the world
 of our bodies1 of the bodies and       
spirits of others1 and all the vast     
compages of things and forces which we  
call ',nature' blinds and baffles us1   
mocks our hopes and breaks our hearts4  
,how idle to dream that amidst and      
against all this neutrality or hostility

 any substantial or secure advance can  
be made6  ,in answer to all these       
thoughts1 these doubts and fears1       
,philosophy is beginning with increasing
 boldness to speak a word1 not of mere  
comfort and consolation1 but of secure  
and confident wisdom4 ,all this         
so-called 'external' nature and         
environment is not hostile or alien to  
the self or spirit which is in man1 it  
is akin and allied to it as we now know 
it to be4 ,whatever is real and not     
merely apparent in ,history or ,nature  
is rational1 is of the same stuff and   
character as that which is within us4   
,it too is spiritual1 the appearance and
 embodiment of what is one in nature and
 mode of being with what lies deepest   
and is most potent in us4 ,so far as it 
is not that1 it is appearance and not   
reality1 woven like a dream by          
imagination or endowed with an unstable 
and shifting quasi-reality by our       
thoughts and suppositions and fancies   
about we know not what4 ,not that it is 

an illusion1 still less a delusion1     
rather what it is is the outward and    
visible sign of an inward and spiritual 
reality1 a symbol beautiful1 orderly1   
awe-inspiring yet mutilated1 partial1   
confused1 of something deeper and more  
real1 the expression1 the face and      
gesture1 of a spirit that1 as ours does1
 knows itself1 its own profound being   
and meaning1 and does what it does in   
the light of such knowledge1 a spirit   
which above all progresses endlessly    
towards and in a richer and fuller      
knowledge of itself4 ,what we call      
,fact--historical or natural--is        
essentially such an expression1 on the  
one hand a finished expression1 set in  
the past and therefore for ever beyond  
the possibility of change and so of     
progress1 an exhausted or dead          
expression1 on the other hand a passing 
into the light of what was before       
unknown even to the expresser's self1 an
 act by which was made and secured a    
self-discovery or self-revelation1 a    

creative act of self-knowledge and so   
significant and interpretable4 ,this    
double character of events in ,history  
and ,nature is dimly descried in what we
 specially call 'nature'1 but comes more
 fully into view in the sphere of human 
history1 where each step is at once a   
deed and a discovery1 a contribution to 
the constitution of the world of fact   
and a fulguration of the light within   
illuminating facts as the condition of  
its own inexhaustible continuance4 ,the 
world of ,fact1 artistic or aesthetic1  
scientific1 moral1 political1 economic1 
is what the spirit builds round itself1 
creating it out of its own substance1   
while it itself in creating it grows    
within1 evolving out of itself into     
itself and advancing in knowledge or    
wisdom and power4 ,and out of its now   
securely won self-knowledge it declares 
that it--itself--is the source and      
spring of all real fact whatsoever1     
which is its self-created expression1   
made by it in its own interests1 and for

 its own good1 the better and better to 
know itself4 ,nothing is or can be      
alien1 still less hostile to it1 for 'in
 wisdom has it made them all'4 ,looking 
back and around it re-reads in all fact 
the results of its own power of         
self-expression4 ,nothing is but what it
 has made4  ,all this might perhaps have
 been put very simply by saying that    
ever since man has set himself to know  
his own mind in the right way1 he has   
succeeded better and better1 and that in
 knowing his own mind he has come to    
know and is still coming to know all    
else beside1 including all that at first
 sight seems other than1 or even counter
 to1 his own mind4 ,he has learned what 
manner of being he is1 how that being   
has been made and how it continues to be
 made and developed1 and again1 how in  
the course of its self-creation and     
self-advance it deposits itself in      
'fact' and reflecting on that fact rises
 beyond and above itself in knowledge   
and power4 ,he is mind or spirit1 and   

what lies behind and around him is      
spiritual4 ,as he reflects upon this the
 meaning of it becomes ever more clear  
and distinct1 ordered and organized1 and
 at the same time more substantial1 more
 real1 more lively and potent4 ,in      
becoming known what was before dead and 
dark and threatening or obstructive or  
hostile is made transparent1 alive1     
utilisable1 contributing to the         
constantly growing self that knows and  
is known4 ,here is the growing point of 
reality1 the fons emanationis of truth  
and worth and being1 evidencing its     
power not as it were in increase of     
bulk1 but in the enhancing of value4    
,and surely here is ,progress1 which    
consists not in mere enlargement or     
expansion but in the heightening of     
forces to a new power--in a word1 in    
their elevation to a more spiritual1 a  
more intelligent and therefore more     
potent1 level4  ,to the artistic eye the
 universe presents itself as a vast and 
moving spectacle1 to the scientific mind

 as the theatre of forces which repeat  
their work with a mechanical uniformity 
or perhaps fatally run down to a        
predestined and predictable final       
arrest1 to the devout or religious soul 
as the constant efflux of a beneficent  
will1 unweariedly kind1 caring for the  
humblest of its creatures1 august1      
worshipful1 deserving of endless        
adoration and love1 while to the        
philosophic mind it is known and ever   
more to be known as the self-expression 
of a mind in essence one with all minds 
that know it in knowing themselves1 know
 it as the work or product of a mind    
engaged or absorbed in knowing itself1  
and so creating itself and all that is  
requisite that it may learn more and    
more what is hidden or stored from all  
eternity within its plenitude4 ,at least
 we may say that the conception of a    
,mind which in order to know itself     
creates the conditions of such          
knowledge1 which wills to learn whatever
 can be learned of itself from whatever 

it does1 supplies the best pattern or   
original after which to model our vaguer
 and more blurred conceptions of        
progressive existence and being         
elsewhere4 ,it furnishes to us an ideal 
of a progress which realizes or         
maintains and advances itself1 for it is
 independent upon external conditions4  
,the ,progress of ,philosophy or of     
,wisdom is a palmary instance of        
progress achieved out of the internal   
resources of that which progresses4 ,and
 after this pattern we least untruly and
 least unworthily conceive the mode of  
that eternal and universal ,progress    
which is the life of the ,whole within  
and as part of which we live4  ,the aim 
of ,philosophy is not edification but   
the possession and enjoyment of ,truth1 
and the ,truth may wear an aspect which1
 while it enlightens1 also blinds or    
even at first appals and paralyses4 ,and
 certainly ,reality or ,philosophy as   
has come to know it and proclaims it to 
be1 is not such as either directly to   

warm our hearts or stimulate our        
energies4 ,not to do either has         
,philosophy come into the world1 nor so 
does it help to bring ,progress about2  
nor does it offer prizes to those who   
pursue either moral improvement or      
business success1 nor again does it     
increase that information concerning    
'nature' and men which is the condition 
of the one and the other1 yet to those  
who love ,truth and who will buy no good
 at the sacrifice of it1 what it offers 
is enough1 and to progress towards and  
in it is for them worth all the world   
beside2 it is1 if not the only real     
progress1 that in the absence of which  
all other progress is without worth or  
substance or reality4 ,in the end1 if   
any advance anywhere is claimed or      
asserted1 must we not ask3 ,is the claim
 founded on truth1 is the good or profit
 seemingly attained a 7or the7 true     
good8 ,to whom or to what is it good8   
,can we stop short of the endeavour to  
assure ourselves beyond question or     

doubt that we are right in what answers 
we render8 ,and where or by what means  
can we reach this save by turning inward
 on meditation or reflection1 that is by
 philosophizing8 ,greek3 ,ei            
philosopheteon philosopheteon1 ei de me1
 philosopheteon2 pantos ara             
philosopheteon4 ,thither the mind of man
 has always turned when the burden of   
the mystery of its nature and fate has  
weighed all but intolerably upon it1 and
 turning has never found itself         
betrayed1 but from knowledge of itself  
has drawn fresh hope and strength to    
resume the uninterrupted march of       
,progress which is its life and its     
history1 its being1 its self-formation1 
in courage moving forwards in and       
towards the light4 ,it is as if such    
light were not merely the condition of  
its welfare1 but the food on which it   
lived1 the stuff which it transmuted    
into substance and energy1 out of it    
making1 maintaining and building its    
very self4 ,so under whatever name1     

whether we call what we are doing       
,philosophy or something else1 the      
search for more and more light upon     
ourselves and our world is the most     
indispensable activity to which the     
leagued and co-operative powers of ,man 
can be devoted4 ,fortunately it is also 
that in which success or failure depends
 most certainly upon ourselves and in   
which ,progress can with most confidence
 be looked for4 ,in it we cannot fail if
 we will to take sufficient trouble2 the
 means to it are open and available2 it 
is our fault if we do not employ them   
and profit by them4 ,if we have less    
wisdom than we might have1 it is never  
any one's fault but our own4 ,the door  
of the treasure-house of ,wisdom stands 
ever open4   ,,books ,,for ,,reference  
,c4 ,c4 ,j4 ,webb1 ,history of          
,philosophy 7,home ,university          
,library74  ,burnet1 ,history of ,greek 
,philosophy4  ,e4 ,j4 ,bevan1 ,stoics   
and ,sceptics4  ,hoeffding1 ,history of 
,modern ,philosophy 7translated74       

,royce1 ,the ,spirit of ,philosophy4    
,merz1 ,history of ,european ,thought in
 the ,nineteenth ,century4     ,,xii    
,,progress ,,as ,,an ,,ideal ,,of       
,,action  ,j4 ,a4 ,,smith   ,throughout 
this course of lectures1 now come to its
 close1 we have together been engaged in
 a theoretical inquiry4 ,we have been   
looking mainly towards the past1 to     
something therefore for ever and in its 
very nature set beyond the possibility  
of alteration by us or indeed at all4   
',what is done not even ,god can make to
 be undone4' ,were it otherwise it could
 not be fact or reality and so not      
capable of being theorized or studied4  
,in the words of our programme we have  
analysed what is involved in the        
conception of ,progress1 shown when it  
became prominent in the consciousness of
 mankind and how far the idea has been  
realized--that is has become fact--in   
the different departments of life4 ,we  
have taken ,progress as a fact1         
something accomplished1 and have        

attempted so taking it to explain or    
understand it4 ,we have not indeed      
assumed that it is confined to the past1
 but have at times enlarged our         
consideration so as to recognize its    
continuance in the present and to       
justify the hope of its persistence in  
the future4 ,some of us would perhaps go
 further and hold that it has1 by these 
and similar reflections1 come to be part
 of our assured knowledge that it must  
so continue and persist4 ,but however we
 have widened our purview1 what we call 
,progress has remained to us a course or
 movement which still presents the      
appearance of a fact which is largely1  
if not wholly1 independent of us--a fact
 because independent of us--to which we 
can occupy no other attitude than that  
of interested spectators1 interested and
 concerned1 moved or conditioned by it  
but not active or co-operative in it4   
,so far as it is in process of          
realization in the vast theatre of      
nature1 inorganic or organic1 dead or   

living1 that surrounds us1 it pursues   
its course in virtue of powers not ours 
and unamenable to our control4 ,and even
 when we view it within the closer      
environment of human history its current
 seems to carry us irresistibly with it4
 ,its existence is indeed of very       
practical concern to us1 but apparently 
all we can do is to come to know it1 and
 knowing it to allow for it as or among 
the set conditions of our               
self-originated or self-governed actions
 if such actions there be4  ,the clearer
 we have become as to the nature of     
,progress1 the more it would appear that
 it must be for us1 because it is in    
itself1 a fact to be recognized in      
theory1 taken into account and reckoned 
with4 ,it is or it is not1 comes to be  
or does not come to be1 and what we have
 first and foremost to seek1 is light   
upon its existence and character as it  
is or occurs4 ,light1 we hope1 has been 
cast upon it4 ,we have learned that in  
its inmost essence and to its utmost    

bounds ,reality--what lies outside and  
around us--is not fixed1 rigid1         
immobile1 was not and is not and cannot 
be as the ancient or mediaeval mind     
feigned or fabled1 something beyond the 
reach of time and change--static or     
stationary--but is itself a process of  
ceaseless alteration4 ,we have learned  
also to be dissatisfied with the        
compromise which1 while acknowledging   
such alteration1 all but withdraws it in
 effect by asserting it to be either in 
gross or in detail a process of mere    
repetition4 ,the system of laws which   
science had taught us to consider as the
 truth of nature is itself now known to 
be caught in the evolutionary process1  
and to be undergoing a constant         
modification4 ,as in the modern state1  
so in ,nature1 the legislative power is 
not exhausted but incessantly embodies  
itself in novel forms4 ,nature          
itself--natura naturans--is now         
conceived1 and rightly conceived1 as a  
power not bound to laws other than those

 which it makes for or imposes on       
itself1 and as in its operations at     
least analogous to a will               
self-determined1 self-governing1        
creative of the ways and means by which 
its purpose or purposes are achieved4   
,what that purpose is we have begun to  
apprehend1 and to see its various       
processes as converging or co-operating 
towards its fulfilment4 ,in the         
mythological language which even        
,science is still obliged to use1 we now
 speak of ,nature as 'selecting' or     
'devising'1 and we ascribe to it a large
 freedom of choice wisely used4 ,we can 
already at least define the process as  
guided towards a greater variety and    
fullness and harmony of life1 or 7with a
 larger courage7 as pointed towards a   
heightening or potentiation of life4 ,so
 defining its goal we can sympathize    
with and welcome the successful efforts 
made toward it1 and so feel ourselves at
 heart one with the power that carries  
on the process in its aspirations and   

its efforts4 ,but still1 we cannot help 
feeling1 it and all its ways lie outside
 us1 and to us it remains an alien or   
foreign power4 ,i venture to repeat my  
contention that this is so just because1
 however much we come to learn of its   
ways1 we do not feel that we are coming 
to understand it any better1 getting    
inside it1 as we do get inside and      
understand human nature4 ,its progress  
is a change1 perhaps a betterment1 in   
our environment--in externals--and takes
 place very largely whether we will and 
act or no4 ,the larger our acquaintance 
with it1 the more does its action seem  
to encroach upon the domain within which
 our volitions and acts can make any    
difference4 ,even in social life we seem
 in the grip and grasp of forces which  
carry us towards evil or good whether we
 will or no4 ,ducunt volentem fata1     
nolentem trahunt4 ,the whole known      
universe outside and around us presents 
to us the spectacle of what has been    
called a de facto teleology1 and just   

because it is so1 and so widely and     
deeply so1 it leaves little or no room  
for us to set up our ideals within it   
and to work for their realization4 ,the 
fact that the laws which prevail in it  
are modifiable and modified makes no    
difference2 they modify themselves1 and 
in their different forms still constrain
 us4 ,and no matter how increasingly    
beneficent they may in their action     
appear1 they are still despotic and we  
unfree4 ,the rule of laws which ,science
 discovers encroaches upon our liberties
 and privacies4 ,what we had hitherto   
thought our very own1 the movement of   
our impulses and desires and            
imaginations1 are reported by science to
 be subject to 'laws of association'1   
and we are borne onwards even if also at
 times upwards on an irresistible flood4
 ,we remain bound by the iron necessity 
of a fate that invades our inmost       
being--which will not let us anywhere   
securely alone4 ,i repeat that it       
matters not how certainly the trend of  

the tide1 which sets everywhere around  
and outside us1 is towards what is good 
or best for us1 it still is the case    
that it presents itself as neither      
asking for from us nor permitting to us 
the formation of any ideals of ours nor 
any prospect of securing them by our    
efforts4 ,were the fact of ,progress    
established and conclusively shown to be
 all-pervasive and eternal1 it still    
would bear to us the aspect of a        
paternal government which did good to   
and for us1 but all the more left less  
and less to ourselves4  ,this will      
doubtless be pronounced an exaggeration1
 and we may weakly refuse to face the   
impression naturally consequent upon the
 progress we have made in the           
ascertainment of the facts concerning   
the world in which we live4 ,but does   
not the impression exist8 ,the hateful  
and desolating impression made on us    
earlier by the thought of a 'block'     
universe1 once for all and rigidly fixed
 in unalterable and uniform subjection  

to eternal and omnipresent law1 has     
dissolved like the baseless fabric of a 
vision4 ,and why8 ,just because being   
found intolerable it was faced and put  
to the question4 ,now that there has    
been substituted for it the spectacle of
 a universe necessarily or fatally      
evolving--or1 as we have said1          
progressing--does it not1 while still   
evoking the old awe or reverence1 do    
anything but still daunt and dishearten 
us8 ,what is our part1 we ask1 our very 
own part within all this8 ,what can we  
within it do8 ,and the answer1 that it  
is ours1 if we will1 to enter into and  
live in the contemplation of all this no
 longer appeals to us4 ,in such a       
progressive universe we can no longer   
feel ourselves 'at home'4 ,in it our    
active nature would seem to exist only  
to be disappointed and rebuffed4  ,the  
only progress which we can care for is  
the progress which we ourselves bring   
about1 or can believe that we bring     
about1 in ourselves or our fellows or in

 the world immediately around us4 ,so   
long as what is so named is something   
devised and executed by a power not our 
own--not the same as our own--it may    
call out from us gratitude and          
reverence1 but the spectacle of the     
reality of such ,progress cannot        
exercise the attractive force nor1 so   
far as it is realized1 beget that       
creative joy which accompanies even     
humble acts in which we set an ideal of 
our own before ourselves1 and see it    
through our efforts emerge into actual  
existence4 ,a practical ideal must be   
through and through of our own making4  
,it must be devised by us and set to    
ourselves for our pursuit1 and its      
coming to be1 or be real1 must be our   
doing4 ,the very idea of it must be our 
own1 not given or prescribed1 still less
 imposed1 and the process towards it    
must be our doing too4 ,that there      
should1 on their view of it1 ever be    
protest and rebellion against its       
tyrannous demands appears to me         

reasonable and right1 and those who make
 it to be guarding the immediate jewel  
of man's nature4 ,we should1 we might   
say1 if this were the whole truth about 
the universe1 acknowledge ourselves as  
its sons bound to gratitude and         
obedience because of the fatherly care  
for us1 but it would be an essential    
complement to our family loyalty that we
 should insist upon and make good our   
claims to be grown-up sons and fellow   
citizens1 declining to pronounce it     
wholly good1 if those claims were denied
 to us4 ,now all these conditions seem  
to make straight against the possibility
 of regarding ,progress1 in the view of 
it we have hitherto taken1 as an ideal  
of our action4  ,in view of this        
character of the known fact of          
,progress1 so discouraging and disabling
 to our active or practical nature1     
certain suggestions have been made which
 are thought to relieve us from these   
effects4 ,it is said sometimes that this
 fatal--if beneficent or beneficial1    

still fatal--progress leaves as it were 
certain interstices in the universe     
within which it loses its constraining  
force1 petty provinces but sufficient1  
where man is master and determines all  
events1 from which even1 it is sometimes
 conceded1 some obscure but important   
influences are permitted to flow1       
modifying his immediate surroundings1   
little sanctuaries where the spirit that
 is in him and is his devises and       
realizes ideals of its own4 ,but the    
notion of such sacrosanct and inviolable
 autonomies is being steadily           
undermined1 and they are felt1 as       
science becomes more dominant over our  
imaginations and emotions1 to be no more
 than eddies in the universal stream1   
only apparently distinct and            
self-maintained1 means made and broken  
for its purpose1 really products and    
instruments of the world-progress4 ,at  
any rate1 it has been denied that they  
can rightfully be thought to stand      
outside it or themselves to exercise any

 effect upon their fortunes and their   
fate1 still less upon their environment4
 ,another suggestion fully and frankly  
acknowledges this1 but though denying to
 us any power to affect either the form 
or the direction of the currents on     
which we are borne along1 declares still
 open to us the possibility of affecting
 their speed1 and bids us find          
satisfaction in the thought that by     
taking thought or resolve we can hasten 
or delay their and the universal        
movement4 ,still another view1          
abandoning even that hope1 proclaims one
 last choice open to us1 namely1 that of
 sullen submission to1 or glad and loyal
 acquiescence in1 its irresistible sway4
 ,but surely all these suggestions are  
idle1 and but for a moment conceal or   
postpone the inevitable conclusion that 
if ,progress was1 is and must or will   
be1 that is1 is necessary1 what we think
 or do makes no difference1 and can make
 no difference to or in it4 ,whether or 
no we convert the fact into an ideal1   

whether or no we set it before as our   
aim and exert ourselves to work for it1 
it goes on its way all the same4 ,either
 then it is not a fact1 never was1 and  
never will be a fact1 or it is no       
possible ideal for which we can act4 ,to
 be or become a fact1 it must be        
independent of our action or our consent
 or our liking2 if it is not all these  
it is not an ideal of action1 or at any 
rate not so for us4 ,i must repeat that 
what is or can be an ideal of action for
 us must be wholly and solely of our    
making1 the very thought of it          
self-begotten in our mind1 every step to
 its actual existence the self-created  
deed of our will4 ,not that either idea 
or act comes into being in a void or    
without suggestion and assistance from  
without us1 but still so that the       
initiative lies in what we think or do1 
and so that without us it is unreal and 
impossible4 ,it is enough1 indeed1 that 
we should be contributory1 but the ideal
 must be such that without our          

irreplaceable co-operation it must fail4
 ,the only ,progress in which we can    
take an active interest or make an ideal
 of action1 is one which we conceive and
 execute1 and that the fact we call     
,progress is not4  ,so far we have found
 much argument to show that what we have
 hitherto called ,progress is not and   
cannot be an ideal of action1 or at     
least of our action4 ,and now we must   
face another argument more plain and    
apparently fatal1 indeed1 specially or  
peculiarly fatal4 ,for the very notion  
of ,progress is of a process which      
continues without end1 or we have the   
dilemma that it is either endless or    
runs to an end in which there is no     
longer ,progress but something else4 ,in
 either case it is not itself an end or 
the end1 and whatever an ideal of action
 is1 it must be an end--something beyond
 which there is nothing1 which has no   
,beyond at all4 ,to set before oneself  
as an ideal of action what one certainly
 knows to be incapable of attainment or 

accomplishment1 incapable of coming to  
an end--that is surely futile and vain4 
,without a best1 better or              
better-and-better has no meaning1 and   
when the best is reached ,progress is no
 more4  ,the objection may be put in    
various ways1 as thus4 ,what we seek or 
want or work for1 is to be satisfied1   
and satisfaction is a state1 not a      
process or a progress4 ,or again1 acting
 is a process of seeking1 seeking and   
striving for something1 and surely the  
seeking cannot itself be the object of  
the search4 ,or once more1 what we act  
for is1 as we must conceive it1         
something complete1 finished1 perfect1  
but ,progress is essentially something  
incomplete1 unfinished1 imperfect4 ,we  
all feel this1 and at times at least the
 thought that what we seek flies ever   
before1 affrights and paralyses3        
recoiling from such a prospect1 we set  
before our imaginations as the reward or
 result of our labours1 not movement but
 rest1 not creation or production but   

consumption and fruition4 ,we dream of  
one day coming to participate in a life 
or experience so good that there is no  
change from less good to more good      
possible within it1 and which1 if it can
 be said to progress at all1 only1 in   
,milton's magnificent words1 'progresses
 the dateless and irrevoluble circle of 
its own perfections1 joining inseparable
 hands with joy and bliss in            
over-measure for ever'4 ,once this ideal
 has presented itself to our hopes or   
desires1 it degrades by comparison with 
it to a second-best1 the former ideal of
 endless development from lower to      
higher4 ,what we want and seek is to be 
there1 to have done with getting there4 
',here is the house of fulfilment of    
craving1 this is the cup with the roses 
around it4' ,compared with this1 how    
disconsolate a prospect is that 'of the 
sea that hath no shore beyond it1 set in
 all the sea'--the endless voyage or    
quest4 ,not ,progress is or can be the  
end1 but achievement and the enjoyment  

of it4 ,the progress is towards and for 
the end2 the end is the supreme good and
 the progress is only good because of   
it1 because it is on the way that leads 
to it1 the way we are content to travel 
only because it leads there4 ,once more1
 and on still surer grounds1 we must    
pronounce what we have come to know as  
,progress to be no possible ideal of    
action4 ,what draws us on is the hope of
 something to be attained in and by the 
progress4 ,to take ,progress1 which on  
the one hand is a fact and on the other 
is an incomplete fact1 to be the end of 
our striving and our doing is to        
acquiesce in a self-contradiction4  ,yet
 the counter-ideal of a state in which  
we shall simply rest from our labours   
and sit down to enjoy the fruits of them
 does not promise satisfaction either1  
and so cannot be the end or ideal4 ,our 
desire and our endeavour is not for a   
moveless1 changeless1 undeveloping      
perfection4 ,in fact1 so often as the   
dream of such a state attained has      

presented itself1 it has to thoughtful  
minds appeared anything but attractive  
or desirable4 ,our desire is to go on1  
and for that we are willing to pay a    
price--nay1 it is for more than merely  
to go on1 it is to advance and increase 
in perfection1 so much so that the ideal
 itself once more slews round into its  
opposite and the search appears worth   
more than the attainment4 ,it seems that
 we were not on the other view so wholly
 wrong1 but must try so to frame our    
ideal of action as to unite both        
characters and satisfy both demands at  
once1 so that it shall be at once a     
state and a movement or process1 an     
achievement and a progress1 a rest or   
quiet and a striving after it1 a        
perfection and a perfecting4 ,the       
combination at first sight appears      
impossible4 ,yet both characters it must
 combine4 ,here again1 ,i must confess  
that the idea of mere ,progress1 even as
 achieved by our own efforts1 seems to  
me to omit something essential to an    

ideal of action--of what is worth while 
our acting for4 ,what is to be an ideal 
of action must have the character of a  
fulfilment--something to be consumed1   
not merely eternally added to4 ,for this
 character of the 7or any7 ideal of     
action the best name is fruition or     
enjoyment4 ,and the defect in the       
conception of it as ,progress is that it
 seems to postpone this without a date4 
,let us put this truth which we have    
discovered concerning ,progress in a    
nutshell1 hiding or disregarding the    
internal contradiction4 ,what is the    
nature1 what is the kind of reality1    
which we have learned to ascribe to     
,progress 7for we did pronounce it real 
and essentially capable of being        
realized78 ,it is that it is fact1 yet  
fact not made but in the making2 it is  
just the name for what is real only     
through and in the process of becoming  
real or being realized4 ,now ,i have    
already elsewhere pointed out that while
 a realization which is also a reality1 

or a reality which is also a            
realization1 is in nature or what is    
external to us a mystery and a puzzle1  
it is just when we look inwards the open
 secret of our being2 in our life or    
action regarded from within1 it appears 
as something which is only dark because 
it is so close and familiar to us that  
inspection of it is difficult1 not      
because it is in itself opaque or       
unintelligible4 ,to its exemplification 
or illustration there we must turn for  
light upon our problem4  ,let us for the
 time disregard the pressure exercised  
upon us by the suggestions of physical  
science1 or even1 ,i may add1 popular   
and imaginative or opinionative--which  
is ,latin for 'dogmatic'--,religion1 and
 examine how ,progress takes place1 or  
is realized and real1 within our        
spirits1 or that spirit which is within 
us4 ,the inward process is one by which 
that spirit is or is real only in the   
act or fact of being or coming to be    
realized1 or rather of realizing itself1

 and the way in which it so becomes or  
makes itself real is by acknowledging   
its own past1 treating it as fact1      
recognizing its failures or             
imperfections therein1 projecting on the
 future an idea or ideal of itself1     
suggested by those apprehended wants or 
defects1 of what it might be1 and using 
that to supply itself with both energy  
and guidance1 drawing from its own past 
both strength and light4 ,in all this it
 acts autonomously1 out of itself1 and  
creates both the requisite light and the
 indispensable force1 making its very   
limitations into new sources and        
reservoirs of both4  ,we do not         
sufficiently note and hold and use the  
indubitable truth that1 in              
contradistinction to what we call       
,nature1 the forces of the spirit       
reinforce and re-create themselves in   
their use1 are in their use not consumed
 but reinvigorated1 not dissipated or   
degraded but recollected and elevated1  
not expended but enhanced4 ,there is in 

the realm of spirit which is our nature 
and our world no law of either the      
conservation or the degradation of      
energy4 ,we must not allow ourselves to 
be brow-beaten by arguments drawn from  
the obscurer region of physical and     
external nature4 ,we know ourselves to  
be energies or energizing powers which  
increase and do not waste by exercise4  
,that is what we ought to mean by saying
 that we are wills and not forces1      
spiritual not physical or natural       
beings4 ,if need be to confirm ourselves
 in this knowledge1 let us think of what
 takes place1 has taken place in the    
advance of knowledge1 and particularly  
of the most important kind of knowledge1
 viz4 self-knowledge1 how we make it by 
our reflection upon what we have already
 in respect of it achieved1 recognize   
how it or we have fallen short or       
over-shot our mark1 define what is      
required to make good its deficiencies1 
and find ourselves thereby already in   
actual possession of the preconceived   

supplement4 ,the real1 the fact1 what is
 attained or accomplished in and by us1 
prescribes and facilitates1 or rather   
supplies1 its own missing complement of 
perfection4 ,the process carries itself 
on1 the progress realizes itself1 the   
ideal translates itself into the fact or
 actuality3 it accomplishes itself and  
yet it is the doing of our very self1 of
 the spirit within us4 ,all this is not 
merely our doing1 it is our being1 it is
 the process by which we make our minds1
 our souls1 our very selves or self4    
,that man is essentially an1 or rather  
the1 ideal-forming animal 7or rather    
spirit7 has long been noted1 and also   
that the formation of ideals is an      
indispensable factor in his progress1   
which is his life and very being4 ,but  
all the same1 this is sometimes put in  
such a way as to make action1 or at     
least human action1 a dispensable       
accident in the universe1 an ineffective
 and unsubstantial unreality1 while at  
the same time those who put it thus1    

profess to see through the illusion and 
to enjoy moments of insight which       
recognize its nullity4 ,this way of     
putting it in my judgement intolerably  
misconceives and misrepresents the      
truth4  ,our ideals of action must be   
self-made or self-begotten1 but yet they
 must be congruent with known fact2 but 
the manner of such congruence is hard to
 see1 hard to express4 ,ideals cannot be
 themselves facts1 and therefore cannot 
be known1 but on the other hand they    
cannot be mere imaginations or          
suppositions or beliefs1 still less1 of 
course1 illusions or delusions4 ,they   
are not visionary1 and the apprehension 
of them is a sort or degree of          
perception4 ,they point beyond          
themselves to some higher fact which is 
not cognizable by our senses or perhaps 
our understanding1 but which is yet     
genuinely cognizable and so in some high
 sense fact4 ,yet they are not1 as we   
envisage them1 the fact to which they   
point1 but a substitute for or          

representative of that--an anticipation 
of or prevision of it1 a symbol of a    
fact4 ,their own kind or degree of      
reality is sometimes called             
'validity'--a term ,i do not like3 it   
might be more simply named 'rightness'  
with the connotation of a certain       
incumbency and imperativeness as well as
 of an appeal or adjustment to our      
nature as we know it2 or perhaps all we 
can say is that their reality--it seems 
a paradox that an ideal should possess  
'reality'--consists in their            
suggestiveness of modes of action and   
their applicability to it1 all this     
being supported by the conception of a  
state of affairs beyond and around us   
which makes it 'right'4  ,if all this is
 so1 ,progress as an ideal of action    
cannot be precisely identical with      
,progress as a fact or object of actual 
or possible knowledge4 ,we can never    
know what we are aiming at4 ,but though 
different1 the two are and must be      
congruent1 and this may be enough to    

justify us in using the one name for the
 two4 ,unless there were ,progress as   
fact everywhere and always in the       
universe--outside us--in ,nature and    
,history1 and unless we took ourselves  
genuinely to apprehend this1 we could   
not form the practical ideal of         
,progress1 or at least the ideal could  
not be right4 ,but the difference       
remains1 and we must be prepared for and
 allow for it2 though we can use the    
knowledge we obtain of the fact of      
,progress to control and guide our      
formulation of the practical ideal1 we  
cannot identify the one with the other4 
,our imagining and our supposing of what
 is best for or obligatory upon us to do
 or work for1 must go on under          
conditions--the conditions of what we   
know as to the nature of ourselves and  
our surroundings--and yet under these   
conditions has a very large liberty or  
autonomy4  ,the ,progress which is to   
serve as a practical ideal is not and   
cannot be the ,progress that we know1   

but must be the result of imagination or
 supposition1 and it is high and        
necessary wisdom to trust our           
imaginations and aspirations4 ,the forms
 which it rightly takes cannot be       
determined by what we have learned in or
 from the past2 it cometh not with      
observation1 and the sources of         
experience cannot of themselves supply  
us with it1 and though it comes in and  
with experience1 it does not come from  
or out of it4 ,yet it is due to an      
impression made upon us by the ,universe
 as we by our faculties apprehend it1   
and is not merely subjective or of      
subjective origin4 ,begotten of the     
imagination1 it is appearance1 not      
ultimate reality1 and it cannot be      
thought out or wholly evacuated of      
mystery and perplexity4 ,is this not    
involved in the language we use of it1  
proclaiming it practical and therefore  
not theoretical8  ,nevertheless1 while  
,i must acknowledge this insuperable    
difference between the ,progress we can 

make our end or ideal and the ,progress 
we believe that in ourselves and around 
us we apprehend1 ,i still would lay     
renewed stress upon the congruence and  
affinity of the two1 and urge that the  
perception of the one--the ,progress    
without us--and the pursuit of the      
other--the ,progress within us--support 
and fertilize each the other4 ,the more 
we know or can learn of the one the more
 effectively do we pursue the other1 and
 conversely4 ,the light and the fruits  
are bound together3 the theory and the  
practice of ,progress cannot be         
dissevered without the ruin of both4    
,the ideal of ,progress which we present
 to ourselves is and must be one which  
is partly determined or limited by past 
achievement and partly enlarged by the  
study of what powers higher than our own
 have accomplished and are              
accomplishing4 ,the formation of it must
 move constantly between a respect for  
what has been achieved and a worship1 so
 to speak1 for what is far better than  

anything that yet has been or become    
fact1 and therefore incumbent or        
imperative upon us4  ,the mode and      
manner of the ,progress which is        
achieved in the ,universe has become in 
various ways clearer to us and opens out
 undreamt-of possibilities1 and our     
assurance of its reality is ever more   
and more confirmed1 while on the other  
hand its actual or past results at the  
lower level of nature have grown and are
 growing more familiar4 ,we see that    
,progress is the essential and therefore
 eternal form of life and spiritual     
being1 which endows it everywhere with  
worth and substance4 ,with this comes   
the conviction that the source of all   
this lies inward1 in that inwardness    
where our true selves lie and springs   
from the very nature of that4 ,the      
spirit which is within us is not other  
than the spirit which upholds and       
maintains the whole ,universe and works 
after the same fashion4 ,and with regard
 to this its manner of working1 we have 

learned that it proceeds by taking      
account of its own past achievements1   
imagining or conceiving for itself tasks
 relevant to these but not limited by   
them1 and finds in that the conditions  
and stimulus to their actualization4 ,it
 is our business to imitate this        
procedure and so to contribute to the   
advance of the whole4 ,no work so done  
is or can be lost4 ,we are justified in 
supposing that in so doing we are       
leagued together in effective           
co-operation with one another and with  
all other forces at work in the whole4  
,in and through us1 though not in and   
through us only1 ,progress goes on1     
drawing us along with it4 ,inner and    
outer ,progress1 free allegiance and    
loyal subjection concur and do not      
clash1 and the world in which we live   
and act appears to us as it is--a city  
of ,god which is also a self-governed   
and self-administered city of free men4 
,but above all1 what it prescribes to us
 is the duty--another name for 'the     

ideal of action'--to seek first light as
 to the true nature of our world and    
ourselves1 dismissing and disregarding  
all appearance1 however charming or     
seductive4 ,unless we learn to see      
,progress as universal and omnipresent  
and omnipotent1 we shall set before     
ourselves ideals of action which are    
false and treacherous4 ,we must exert   
ourselves not merely to apprehend1 but  
to dwell in the apprehension and vision 
of it4  ,and if there were no other     
reason1 we should know it for the right 
ideal--this command first to seek       
light--because it is the hardest thing  
that can be asked of us or that we can  
ask of ourselves4 ,but what is thus     
asked is not mere ,faith and ,hope1 but 
a loyal adherence to the knowledge which
 is within us4  ,is this not the        
hardest8 ,to-day1 when over there in    
,france and ,flanders1 and indeed almost
 all over ,europe1 as in a sort of      
,devil's smithy1 men are busied in the  
most horrid self-destruction4 ,the      

accumulated stores of age-long and      
patient industry are being consumed and 
annihilated2 the works and monuments of 
civilized life are laid low3 all        
physical and intellectual energies are  
bent to the service of destruction4 ,the
 very surface of the kindly and fertile 
earth is seamed and scarred and wasted4 
,and the human beings who live and move 
in this inferno1 are jerked like puppets
 hither and thither by the operation of 
passions to which we dare not venture to
 give names1 lest we be found either not
 condemning what defiles and imbrutes   
our nature or denying our meed of praise
 and gratitude to what ennobles it4 ,all
 this portentous activity and business  
flows from no other fount and is fed by 
no other spring than the spirit which is
 within us1 that spirit which has       
created that wealth1 material1 artistic1
 spiritual1 which it is so busily       
engaged in wrecking and undoing4 ,it is 
still as of old1 making ,history1 making
 it in the old fashion with the old ends

 in view and by the exercise of its old 
familiar powers4 ,and if in this tragic 
scene or episode we cannot still read   
the features of ,progress1 our theory is
 a baseless dream1 and we can frame no  
valid or 'right' ideal of action4 ,for  
except to an environment known to be    
still1 because always1 the work and     
self-expression of a spirit akin to1 and
 indeed identical with our own1 and     
except as knowing ourselves to be still1
 because always1 in all our ways of     
working its vehicles and instruments1 we
 can neither define nor realize any     
ideals of action at all4 ,this war is   
not an accident1 nor an outburst of     
subterranean natural forces1 but the act
 and deed of human will1 and being so it
 cannot be merely evil4  ,what1 then1   
can we read not into1 but out of1 the   
tragic spectacle now being enacted1 not 
merely before but in1 through1 and by   
us8 ,unless we have all along been      
mistaken1 the victims of mere delusion  
and error1 here1 too1 there has been and

 still is ,progress4 ,primarily and     
principally what is taking place1 is a  
tremendous revelation of the potencies  
which in our nature--in that which makes
 us men--have escaped our notice and    
therefore1 because unseen or ignored1   
working in the dark1 have not yet been  
drawn upon and utilized4 ,there has been
 and still is going on1 an enormous     
increase of self-knowledge4 ,at first   
sight this seems wholly an opening up of
 undreamt-of evil4 ,side by side there  
has come to us a parallel revelation of 
undreamt-of good4 ,i must bear witness  
to my conviction that we are beholding a
 tremendous inrush or uprush of good    
into man and his world4 ,but what ,i    
wish to dwell upon is the growing and   
ever-confirmed revelation of an intimate
 relation or connexion between the two  
which is the very spring of ,progress1  
viz4 that the supply of good is not only
 adequate and more than adequate to the 
utmost demand made upon it1 in the      
combating of the evil1 and that for this

 reason1 that while on the one hand the 
evil that impedes or counter-works the  
good is itself of spiritual origin1 its 
existence and power is conditioned by   
the law that it must evoke and stimulate
 the very power which it attempts to    
crush and defeat4 ,this is1 as ,i have  
said1 the now discovered and known      
spring of ,progress both within and     
without us1 that whatsoever is evil1    
evil just because it is enacted and does
 not merely occur1 passes within the    
reach of knowledge and understanding1   
and in the measure that it passes into  
the light1 not merely loses its sting   
and its force1 but is convertible and   
converted into a strengthening condition
 of that which in its first appearance  
it seemed merely to thwart4 ,even       
regress is seen to be a necessary       
incident in progress1 and the seasons   
which we call periods of decadence to be
 occasions in which the spirit          
progresses in secret1 recruiting itself 
not by idleness or rest1 but genuinely  

refreshing and recreating itself4  ,the 
view here suggested is no sentimental   
optimism4 ,the drama of the universe is 
no comedy or even melodrama1 but a      
tragedy or epic of heroism1 and more    
especially is this the character of the 
history of the spirit which is in ,man  
and is ,man4 ,the evil we enact is real 
evil1 the only real evil1 the checks    
which our disobedience or disloyalty    
imposes upon the course of good1 are    
genuine retardations or frustrations2   
nevertheless they are not wholly evil1  
for nothing is such1 but are the means  
which the spirit that has begotten them1
 utilizes in its eternal ,progress and  
wins out of them a richness1 a complex  
and varied harmony to which they are    
compelled to contribute4 ,our ideal of  
action must therefore in principle      
acknowledge as essential1 what ,i have  
called the 'tragic' character suggested 
by the spectacle of the war1 the fear   
and agony which we imagine in ,nature   
and comprehendingly discern in human    

history4 ,the ,progress which we can    
achieve or contribute to--which we can  
make our ideal of action--is one which  
cannot rightly be conceived otherwise   
than in its essence a victory over evil1
 and that it may be evil1 it must come  
and be done in the dark4 ,for the spirit
 in progressing deposits what1 being    
abandoned by it1 corrupts into venomous 
evil1 but except in meeting and         
combating that1 it cannot progress4 ,and
 it can only combat it by getting to    
know it1 for in darkness and ignorance  
it can make no secure advance4  ,it has 
been profoundly said that to know all is
 to forgive all4 ,let us rather say that
 in coming to know its own past1 the    
,spirit which is in ,man can without    
undoing it--that it cannot--make it     
contributory to its own wealth of being1
 can1 as ,i have said1 utilize it for   
its own purposes1 which are summed up in
 the knowing of itself4 ,there is and   
can be nothing in its deeds which it    
cannot know1 and so digest and          

assimilate and absorb into its own      
substance4  ,in this interpretation of  
the meaning--the veiled but not hidden  
meaning of what has taken place and is  
taking place in the world--or rather in 
us and enacted by us1 ,i seem to myself 
not to be expressing any private        
imagination or supposition which may or 
may not be so1 but a certainty that it  
must be so4 ,either it is so or 'the    
pillared firmament is rottenness and    
earth's base built on stubble'4 ,and    
this means that everywhere and always1  
but most specially and centrally and    
potently in man's spirit1 there is      
,progress1 in spite of checks and       
hindrances which come from within it1 a 
constant if chequered advance in true   
worth or value4 ,and that knowledge ,i  
build on grounded and reasoned hope that
 it will and must continue--how1 ,i do  
not know1 but can only surmise and      
conjecture and imagine4  ,to the        
question1 ,what1 then1 ought we to do8  
,i can only reply first and foremost1   

,labour to retain this truth1 fostering 
and developing it1 verifying it as we   
have been doing in all the varied       
departments of human experience1        
exercising our imaginations while at the
 same time sobering and controlling them
 by the light that comes from it4 ,if we
 are true to it and do not through      
slackness forget and lose it1 we shall  
find arising spontaneously out of the   
depths of our self worthy and feasible  
ideals of action1 the pursuit of which  
will not betray us or leave us without  
an ever-growing assurance that in       
bending and directing all our powers to 
their realization we are the agents of  
that ,progress which is the source of   
all being and all worth whatsoever4 ,if 
we will to learn from our own past1 we  
can convert anything that is evil in it 
into an occasion1 an opportunity1 a     
means to good which without it were not 
possible4 ,thus we can even do what     
seems utterly impossible1 for we can    
without forgetting or ignoring or       

denying1 forgive ourselves even the evil
 which we have done4 ,yes1 even the     
darkest and worst evil1 the disloyalty  
to ourselves1 to the best and deepest   
within us1 which all but achieved the   
impossibility of finally defeating the  
march of ,progress4 ,for the basis and  
ground of our belief in the reality1 and
 therefore the eternity1 of ,progress   
lies in this1 that the now known nature 
of the ,spirit which is in ,man and not 
in ,man alone1 is that it can heal any  
wounds that it can inflict upon itself1 
can find in its own errors and failures1
 in its own mistakes and misdeeds1 if it
 only will1 the materials of richer and 
fuller and worthier life4               
----------------------------------------
----------------------    ,transcriber's
 ,notes                                 
,page #bf3 ,opening and closing quotes  
added to ,beg humbly         that he    
unlock the door4                        
,page #hi3 ,suma ,theologica sic        
,page #ib3 course amended to coarse     

,page #afe3 preventible amended to      
preventable                     ,page   
#bii3 missing word is added 7so far as  
it is              realized7            
,the footnote number is for footnote #ha
 is missing in the         original     
text4 ,the location of the number that  
has been          added is only an      
assumption4                             
,discrepancies between the ,table of    
,contents and chapter          headings 
7,government_/,progress in ,government2 
,industry_/,progress in ,industry2      
,art_/,progress in ,art2                
,science_/,progress in ,science and     
,philosophy_/,progress       in         
,philosophy7 have been retained4        
----------------------------------------
----------------------