,,whither8                              
,,whither8                              
,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york             
,,houghton ,,mifflin ,,company          
,the ,riverside ,press ,cambridge       
#aiae                     ,,copyright1  
#aiae1 ,,by ,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly  
,,company                   ,,copyright1
 #aiae1 ,,by ,,houghton ,,mifflin       
,,company                               
,,all ,,rights ,,reserved               
,published ,may #aiae                   
,,whither8                              
,,whither8                              
,i      ,,in a final division of        
household possessions of my ancestors1 a
  quaint gray chest has brought me a    
heritage of unexpected value in         
packages of letters1 written many years 
ago1 and tossed carelessly here  with   
mouse-eaten diplomas and articles of    
ancient wear4 ,as ,i read1  deciphering 
oftentimes with difficulty the          
old-fashioned handwriting on  the       
yellowing paper1 ,i pause to marvel4    

,what fullness of life is here6  ,what  
richness6 ,what greatness6    ,there are
 letters from a mother to a little      
daughter at school in the  city2 letters
 from an aged father who has been       
visiting his clergyman  son2 glad       
letters1 written to bring joy at        
marriages2 solemn1 and yet  joyous      
letters1 written to console in death4   
,doubtless they are akin to  hundreds of
 others still resting in the corners of 
boxes and old desks1  and to others     
innumerable which have perished1        
recording the experience  of a          
generation1 two generations ago4        
,written out of narrower lives1 so  far 
as mere worldly circumstances go1 than  
those with which ,i come in  contact    
to-day1 they reveal a far deeper life1 a
 profounder hope and  faith1 a          
recognition of wider horizons than most 
of our contemporary  world knows4 ,here 
is a knowledge of spirit as the one     
great reality2 of  divine meanings      
everywhere2 a sense of the greatness of 

the issue in  life as a warfare waged in
 the name of the soul2 faith in the     
undying  character of righteousness1 in 
the endlessness of human hope4 ,words   
are  here traced which take away one's  
breath1 in the grandeur of their  denial
 of that which seems1 in the splendor of
 assurance3 8,my sister  ,mary to-day   
entered upon eternal life--0    ,it is  
not primarily theology upon which they  
dwell3 dogma plays a  lesser part here  
than ,i should have supposed4 ,it is    
upon the inner  sources of hope and     
consolation1 the life-giving power of   
faith1 faith  drawn often from hard     
experience1 faced in the light of a     
great hope4  ,here is a real sense of   
the swift flitting of things earthly1   
and the  great promise therein2 here is 
a constant dwelling upon the ,master1   
the  face of the ,master1 the vision of 
perfectness4 ,those writers repeat      
lovingly his words1 thus bringing one   
another courage in sharp anguish  of    
grief and at beds of illness2 and the   

thought of sacrifice is ever  in their  
minds1 of outer loss that is great inner
 gain4 ,one is aware of  certain        
immovable tenets of hard theology1 but  
,i note that these have  small part in  
their thought1 their feeling1 in the way
 in which faith  vitalizes their daily  
lives4    ,letters that ,i am privileged
 to see to-day are as different as if   
they  were written by a different race2 
chance articles in newspapers and       
journals1 intended to appeal to the     
contemporary public1 reinforce  the     
impression in regard to our present     
absorptions1 our present  limitations4  
,these later letters are no less full of
 human tenderness1  and possibly they   
are more outspoken in regard to it1 but 
they bespeak  an inner poverty1 a       
contrasting narrowness of life4 ,their  
largeness1 if  wide horizons are        
suggested1 is external1                 
geographical1--the largeness  of travel 
abroad1 by land or sea1 of motor-trips  
there or at home4 ,they  are full of    

restlessness1 desire for change1 rushing
 hither and yon4  ,their great concern  
is with material things3 diet1 dress1   
details  of operations1 fluctuations in 
stocks4 ,there is much about reform1    
suffrage1 the fighting of ,tammany1     
measures for the physical betterment  of
 factory boys and girls4 ,there are many
 wrongs to right1 for the  most part    
centring in the body2 but1 in spite of  
my sympathy with each  distinct measure 
and my strenuous efforts to help forward
 some of  them1 ,i feel great sense of  
lack4 ,the horizon is near and          
attainable2  the sky comes down like a  
brass bowl over our heads2 ,i stifle in 
this  world of nostrums1 of remedies1 of
 external cures for moral evils4  ,this 
superficial material optimism which     
ignores the deepest need1 the  deepest  
answer1 fails to suffice4 ,one is aware 
of a lessening life1 a  drying of the   
very sources of vitality2 the old sense 
of illimitable  destiny1 of greatness1  
of the challenge of eternity1 is gone4  

,a kind of materialistic ,epicureanism  
dominates our modern world2 robbed  of  
,eternity1 we mean to make ,time pay to 
the uttermost1--hence this  nervous     
excitement1 this feverish activity4 ,has
 any question been more  absorbing      
during the last decades than the        
question how much space  could be       
covered1 on earth or in air1 in a minute
 of time8 ,back of our  hurry lies      
something deeper than the mere desire to
 excel in this or  that sport1 this or  
that means of rapid transit1 this or    
that business  enterprise or            
philanthropy4 ,it is an unconfessed     
manifestation of our  immense sense of  
loss2 a morbid outpouring of that energy
 which might  work healthily and to     
great ends if the old hope were there of
 endless  destiny4 ,we have but a few   
minutes in which to rob the house of    
life2  let us seize all the articles in 
sight2 death1 the householder1 is even  
now waiting to take us into custody4 ,we
 want as much as we can get2  we want   

all1 and we foolishly think that        
hurrying feet and twitching  muscles can
 win it4 ,we will crowd all into the    
swift1 flitting minutes1  though ,life  
should break in the process4            
,,ii      ,,the question why we1 who are
 the heirs of all the ages1 should be so
  much worse off than our ancestors in  
that which means essential life  might  
well give us pause4 ,in all external    
matters we seem to have made  great     
gain4 ,we are carried about more        
swiftly2 our houses have far  superior  
plumbing2 the goods we purchase are     
delivered more promptly1  and existence 
has in every way become far more        
convenient and easy4  ,is not this the  
age of progress8 ,progress--it is a word
 constantly  on men's lips2 have earlier
 ages ever heard such a din of talk     
about  progress8 ,it would appear as if 
our forefathers had little claim to be  
called happy1 having lived before the   
time of great modern inventions  and    
discoveries2 yet1 with this sheaf of old

 records in my hands1  and many memories
 at work1 ,i am forced to admit that the
 comparison  works the other way4 ,here1
 in these fading papers1 is a sense of  
significance in living1 of illimitable  
destiny1 that makes me ask why  we are  
thus stripped1 robbed1 disinherited4    
,why is it that we seem to  have        
inherited all of life except the point8 
,the willful poverty of our  spiritual  
lives contrasts strangely with their    
quiet sense of great  possessions4      
,after all1 are frenzied motion and     
progress synonymous8 ,any kitten        
chasing its own tail might1 if we were  
really observant1 disprove  for us much 
of our modern claim of great gain4      
,would any age of  real progress talk so
 much about progress1 and so loudly     
count its  achievements8 ,is not much of
 this done to hide the inner sense of   
loss  and lack8 ,perhaps it is from a   
far-off country childhood that ,i derive
  a persistent belief1 not obscured by  
all the noise and dust and glamour  of  

our time1 that real growth is silent4   
,for many and many a day ,i have  heard 
this glowing talk of progress1 of       
widening intellectual horizons1  and for
 many a day have watched the growing    
wistfulness of human  faces4 ,the more  
thoughtful become increasingly sad1     
while the number  of the merely stolid  
increases apace1 as do the restless     
ones1 with  their apparent longing for  
distraction and change4 ,unfinished     
faces1  unsatisfied faces1 are familiar 
to us all4 ,they lack the high record of
  experience greatly taken2 expression  
that denotes profound inner life4       
,to-day we are so comfortable1 so       
enlightened1 and1 with our widening     
philanthropy1 so estimable1 that we     
surely ought to be happy6 ,yet we  see  
few satisfied faces1 such as we can     
remember from long ago1 full of  inner  
content1--faces 8on which the dove of   
peace sat brooding10--and  we pause to  
ask what our boasted progress has to    
offer by way of  compensation for the   

great loss that has come through the    
seeming gain  of these later years8     
,the whole emphasis of life has changed 
since those days2 its focus  has        
shifted4 ,the meanings of existence were
 to our ancestors inner  meanings2 now1 
passionate clutching at externals       
betrays a different  aim4 ,they show    
themselves capable of fault and error in
 these recorded  experiences of old     
days1 yet they are lightened and lifted 
by a great  power2 they touch ever the  
divine4 ,their contrasted reading of the
  significance of life shows most       
emphatically in this3 they thought  and 
felt in terms of the spirit4 ,the modern
 world thinks and lives  and speaks in  
terms of the body1 not of mind and soul4
 ,the soul1 that  secret of personality1
 conceived as a part of one not wholly  
caught in  the mechanical chain of      
things and capable of choice1 was their 
great  concern4 ,to them a little child 
was something sacred1 immortal1 whose   
endless destiny commanded of those to   

whom it was entrusted1 alertness1       
watchfulness1 lest its feet should go   
astray from the narrow path that  led to
 the heavenly hills4 ,words spoken near 
the cradle where the  new-born baby lay1
 turned the spot to holy ground4    ,to 
those of us who are most advanced       
to-day1 a little child is a little      
animal2 few are left who1 in its        
presence1 think of sacredness any more  
than in the presence of a little pig4   
,there is the utmost alertness in       
meeting its physical needs2 there is1 if
 possible1 a trained nurse to  bring    
scientific knowledge to its             
requirements1 to keep loving fingers    
away2 but the ideas that encircle it    
concern for the most part its  body4    
,meanwhile1 the most progressive thought
 of the age is busy with  the question  
whether its standard cannot be raised to
 that of choice  animal stock2 whether  
the infant human being may not be bred1 
as colt  or calf of approved ancestry is
 bred1 by choice of the physically fit4 

,this represents the furthest vision of 
the future2 this is the goal  against   
which the imagination of the present    
dreams4                                 
,,iii      ,,it is an era of the flesh  
and its needs1 its possibilities1--of   
unawareness1 for the most part1 of any  
aspects deeper than the  physical4 ,many
 of us can remember the day when we were
 taught that we  had immortal souls1 to 
whose safeguarding thought and care and 
profound  endeavor must go4 ,the chief  
question was1 8,is it right or wrong80  
,the chief question to-day is1 8,is it  
sterilized80 ,life1 which used  to be a 
brave flight between heaven and hell1   
has come to be a long  and anxious      
tip-toeing between the microbe and the  
antiseptic4 ,it is  not that ,i object  
to antiseptics1 but that ,i object to   
the amount of  good brain-space they    
have come to occupy1 to the exclusion of
 more  important matters4    ,the modern
 world has a new and elaborate dogma of 
the body1 but  conviction 7if it exist7 

in regard to the soul is tentative and  
wary4  ,for many a past year the faith  
has been taught1 the belief has been    
growing1 that physically fit of         
necessity means mentally fit1 that      
physical power is the measure of a man's
 efficiency4 ,the one glory  of our     
college life lies in its sports1 and    
education of mind is  more and more     
giving way to education of muscle4 ,the 
only ideal of  perfection now in        
evidence is an ideal of physical        
perfection2 for  this no sacrifice is   
too great1 no case too onerous4 ,images 
of perfect  bodily development are kept 
before the young1--the ,apollo1 with    
beauty  of sinew and muscle2 but the    
face of the ,christ is growing ever more
  and more dim before their eyes1 and is
 more and more apologetically           
presented1 if presented at all4    ,yet 
this worship of the body1 with its      
elaborate ritual of observances1  its   
priests1 its solemn rites2 its great    
festivals wherein spellbound            

spectators1 fifty thousand1 a hundred   
thousand strong1 in huge  amphitheatres 
witness contests of physical strength2  
this monotheistic  devotion1 made up of 
fears for the flesh1 and hope for the   
flesh1 lacks  much of a true religion4  
,i have often of late wished that some  
one wise enough in knowledge  of things 
,latin would write the history and the  
inner development  of a young ,roman    
,progressive in the early stages of the 
,roman  decadence4 ,what feeling of     
growth and gain would be there to       
record6  ,what assurance of             
outdistancing his crude forefathers6    
,what sense  of widening horizons1 and  
of sudden freedom in laying aside old   
scruples6 ,the point of time chosen     
should be that at which the word        
,salus1 salvation1 began to be          
interpreted as physical salvation1  and 
the persistent concern with bodily life 
marked the beginnings of  decay4    ,the
 one saving grace of our time perhaps   
lies in its generous  philanthropic and 

social effort4 ,we are more sensitive to
 our  neighbor's needs than we used to  
be1 but we have a most limited          
conception of our neighbor's needs1 and1
 with all our quickened  sympathy1 we do
 our neighbor injustice in failing to   
recognize his  deepest necessity4 ,grown
 so pitiful of hunger1 why do we fail to
  realize the spiritual starvation of   
these years8 ,we devise all sorts  of   
machinery for ameliorating his physical 
condition1 for getting him  more pay1   
securing him better dramatic spectacles2
 we teach him that  his house should be 
plumbed1 his children's food sterilized2
 but for  him and for his benefactors   
wider vision would mean great gain4 ,we 
are  feeding the lesser hunger2 that is 
well1 but it is not enough2 we are      
arming him to meet the lesser foe4 ,does
 he1 too1 feel a sense of inner  loss   
and lack in it all8 ,all that ,america  
has to offer may be a poor  exchange for
 the mystic faith brought with him from 
the fatherland4  ,at least we should    

beware lest harm come to our neighbor   
through  our manifold preoccupations    
with the needs of the body1 through the 
contagion of an ideal of material       
comfort as the greatest earthly good2   
for even perfect physical well-being has
 its limitations as a solution  of the  
problem of existence4 ,the destiny of   
man--once terror and  splendor attended 
the word2 it was once a spiritual       
mystery1 connoting  endless endeavor1   
endless opportunity4 ,now the highest   
dream of high  destiny is the porcelain 
bathtub1 or some safe shelter behind a  
wire  screen1 beyond the attack of      
germs4    ,one wonders1 moreover1 why so
 much applied ,christianity to-day fails
  to recognize itself as ,christianity1 
and is disassociated from the  faith in 
spiritual verities which brought it into
 being4 ,now and then  one hears a      
philanthropic scientist claim that the  
new efforts to aid  humanity originated 
with beneficent science1 or an economist
 that the  move toward betterment is the

 result of economic thought1 both       
ignoring  the great force which has kept
 alive through ages the impulse toward  
love of one's brother2 both mistaking   
new methods for ancient motive  power   
and unaware of their own relation to it4
 ,yet back of this recent  effort is the
 impetus of long years of definite      
religious teaching1  with its potency in
 quickening the will1--to be reinforced 
perhaps1  but never replaced1 by the    
teaching of practical efficiency4 ,will 
this  effort to succor continue1 as that
 diviner pity1 that healing done in  the
 name of the ,father1 slips more and    
more from men's minds8 ,will this       
present sense that one's neighbor should
 have similar clothing and  similar     
8modern conveniences0 to one's own prove
 a lasting basis of  human brotherhood8 
,the love of one's fellow man must be   
fed from deeper  springs4    ,we have   
need of profounder faith1 and of more   
poignant fear than this  age knows4 ,i  
am not sure that all the physical       

benefits that could be  imagined or     
enumerated for ourselves or for others  
could make up for  the supreme loss in  
this shifting the attention1 altering   
the whole  emphasis of life in the      
innumerable ways in which the physical  
now  obtains over the mental and        
spiritual4 ,we look longingly back to   
our  forefathers1 who lived primarily in
 the spirit1 with constant sense  of    
spirit-values1 not in the flesh and that
 hoped-for immortality of  the          
flesh1--or the nearest approximation to 
it1--that haunts our world  to-day4 ,in 
our great outer prosperity and inner    
poverty1 our immense  acquisition of    
external knowledge1 and incalculable    
loss of deeper  realities1 our morality 
shifting its great concern from the     
welfare  of the soul to that of the     
body1 we find no symbol so fitting as   
the  old fable of the dog and his shadow
 in the brook4 ,dropping his bone to    
grasp the shadow of the bone1 he went   
hungry away4    ,why this swift         

renunciation of that which has made for 
profounder life  in our ancestors1 and  
the loud cry of ,progress as the        
treasure slips  away8 ,there is no age  
which has known in theory so much       
regarding  orderly development in human 
affairs1 the growth of the present from 
the past1 and no age which has shown so 
little sense of the deeper  meaning of  
these laws4 ,the human race has never   
talked so much of  continuity1 and      
never1 perhaps1 has it made so sharp a  
turn4 ,modern  science has taught us    
much concerning organic growth1 cause1  
and effect  as dominating the physical  
world2 evolutionary theory is the basis 
of our study of language1 of literature1
 of all human institutions4  ,clearly   
and unmistakably comes the teaching of  
our time that1 in all  aspects of life1 
the present is rooted in the past1      
indissolubly united  in unbroken chain2 
but1 curiously enough1 whereas the law  
has been  grasped in connection with    
matters material1 matters intellectual1 

matters sthetic1 in matters spiritual   
there is a sudden halt or break4  ,we   
prattle learnedly of evolution1 but we  
have little conception of it  in that   
which should be the deepest concern of  
life1 the development  of the soul4     
,nature1 we are told1 admits no gaps1   
yet it would seem  that the great modern
 majority turns abruptly from the faith 
which has  sustained human life from    
generation to generation1 ignoring1 as  
no  age before has done1 the best in the
 past4 ,in so doing1 does it not        
repudiate the law upon which our        
understanding of everything else is     
based8 ,distrusting in the study of     
physical life any theory not based  upon
 ideas of growth1 sequence1 old custom1 
in matters spiritual we  demand the     
fresh1 the untried2 not for reverence of
 that which has been  attained1 but     
because we find an idea startling and   
original1 do we  welcome it4    ,when   
,bergson assures us that an element of  
will is to be reckoned with  in all     

growth1 is it because we have drifted so
 near enslavement to a  purely          
mechanical system of thought that we    
hail this as new doctrine  and therefore
 acceptable8 ,if it were whispered      
abroad that the idea  is of unimaginable
 antiquity1 that it has been at the     
basis of every  ethical system ever     
founded1 would his large audiences      
dwindle8 ,if the  idea of ,god1 of      
immortality1 could be advertised among  
the novelties1  instead of among the    
long inheritances1 who would refuse to  
believe8  ,belief in the universe as    
essentially spiritual1 ,god-created2    
belief in  the deathlessness of the     
human soul1 belief in right-doing in the
 light  of these great faiths1 have been
 associated with the age-long growth of 
the race2 can we ignore1 or lightly cast
 aside1 that which has been at  the very
 heart of the spiritual evolution of our
 forefathers8    ,it is not merely in   
matters of religious faith that we find 
this sudden  break with the past2 the   

ignorance shown by many modern leaders  
of the  glory of our literature2 their  
pride in this disregard of 8the best    
that has been thought and said in the   
world02 their assumption that  which    
antedates contemporary discovery is     
worthless1 is full of menace4  ,a great 
thinker of a hundred years ago1 ,i was  
recently told1 is 8a back  number10 and 
therefore valueless4 ,again comes that  
puzzling thought of  continuity1 the    
necessity of recognizing all the stages 
of growth4 ,why  the enormous importance
 of every step in the physical past1    
this slight  regard for the mental      
development8 ,the race-experience1 or   
the best of  it1 is recorded in our     
literature2 here again are the          
foundations upon  which we must build1  
if we are to build truly4 ,here is      
treasure too  great to throw away so    
lightly4                                
,,iv      ,,back of all this absorption 
in physical and material welfare lies1  
of course1 the preponderating           

intellectual influence of the century   
just past1 with its passionate pursuit  
of truth through matter4 ,no  one wishes
 to decry the services of science to our
 knowledge of the  physical world2 the  
great discoveries in the theoretical    
field1 the  great inventions in the     
applied4 ,it is one of the profoundest  
ironies  of human existence that our    
blessings and our curses come subtly    
intertwined2 we mortals forget that one 
seldom comes without the other1  and are
 prone to take as pure blessing that    
which is new4 ,the measure  of curse in 
our latest great achievements may be    
greater than we  dream1 although it is  
difficult for people to believe1 in the 
sweep  of a great movement1 that it can 
mean anything but pure progress in  a   
straight line4 ,yet we move ever by     
zigzags1 this extreme and that4  ,when  
will the race ever learn the art of     
mental equilibrium1 of steady  advance1 
employing all the human faculties1      
instead of exploiting a few8    ,the    

many subtle wrongs done the human spirit
 by this complete surrender  to the     
world of matter1 it would be difficult  
to enumerate4 ,i recall  the emphatic   
assertion of one of the new thinkers1   
arguing with one  who held in all       
sincerity the old1 simple faith3 8,the  
only subject  worth study is man1 man   
considered from a biological point of   
view40  ,the initial genesis1 the       
growth1 the inevitable end1 the physical
  actions and reactions1--that is man   
from the biological point of  view4 ,in 
the presence of people who hold this    
belief ,i feel as if  an extinguisher   
were coming down1 slowly smothering my  
very flame of  life4 ,you doubtless     
recall that iron chamber of ,spanish    
,inquisition  times1 so fashioned that  
it closed in1 day by day1 a few inches  
upon  the unfortunate inmate8 ,so life  
to-day1 for unnumbered people1 grows    
narrower1 threatening extinction4 ,that 
earlier victim had no choice2  one can  
but marvel at the modern folk1 who      

themselves turn the key that  shuts them
 in1 and are content with their         
lessening world4    ,the voices of those
 who claim that mind is a secretion of  
matter1  of those who find the way to   
truth through matter only1 though not   
representing the wisest in our          
intellectual vanguard1 have been heard  
above the others1 and humanity is prone 
to follow where the loud  voices call4  
,whether it is the fault of the leaders1
 or of the forlorn  camp-followers who  
trail after the victorious army1 picking
 up and  misusing scraps of information2
 whether it is the fault of passive     
on-lookers1 ready to believe anything   
that is told by anybody1--be it         
professional utterance or popular       
inferences therefrom1 in many cases     
unwarranted1--certain it is that we have
 spent the greater part of  our lives in
 the shadow of the crass materialism    
which is one of the  by-products of the 
machinery1 intellectual and other1 of   
the period  just drawing to a close4 ,it

 is a doctrine which fits absolutely the
  great and sudden influx of wealth     
during the last decades1 pandering  to  
the same tendencies1 the same           
blindnesses1 a twofold materialism of   
theory and practice4    ,it is a        
materialism stupid1 unfounded1 turning  
its back upon the  earlier idealisms of 
poet1 philosopher1 religious believer1  
not so  much because of reasoning       
processes as because of a sudden        
shifting  of attention4 ,wonderful      
things may be observed under the        
microscope1  wonderful things through   
the telescope2 wonderful things are day 
by  day invented4 ,is it likely that    
there is anything beyond all this8 ,to  
recent generations1 as to that          
progressive dog1 the reflection in the  
water seemed for the moment1 as is often
 the case1 more real than the  reflected
 object2 hence this tragedy of loss4    
,the human mind has been suddenly       
diverted by a loud noise outside2 a     
sudden change of tension results4 ,where

 one looks quickly1 all heads  are      
turned4 ,it is a noise of motor-boats1  
aeroplanes1 engines of all  kinds2 a    
sight of airships1 flying like birds2 of
 submarines1 diving  like fish2 of      
moving pictures with their endless      
panorama4 ,mankind  is childishly       
diverted2 the hearing of the ears1 the  
seeing of the  eyes1--it is enough4 ,the
 skepticisms of the seventeenth and     
eighteenth  centuries tried to reason   
out their origins1 to explain upon what 
they were based2 not so here4 ,this is  
the most unthinking of systems1  not    
troubling to give a rational account of 
itself4 ,thought is out of  fashion3    
nowadays we observe6 ,through this      
preponderance of observation  over      
thought in this great period1 the human 
mind has greatly suffered  in surety of 
process1 in logic1 in differentiation of
 mental processes4  ,the exercise of    
pure reason has become almost obsolete2 
the idea that  thought can be exercised 
apart from sense1 from study of         

phenomena1  is all but forgotten4       
,whether or not we assume that matter is
 the  origin and the end of all things1 
the world of to-day thinks in terms  of 
matter2 is content to live and breathe  
and have its being in matter2  hopes1   
aspires1 and prays1 if it hope1 aspire1 
and pray at all1 in  terms of matter4   
,our very vocabulary is degraded2 the   
most far-reaching symbols of our        
language come seldom into use1 or appear
 with diminished meaning4  ,follow1 for 
instance1 the course of the word        
8infinite0 through the  antics of       
contemporary literature4 ,our           
phraseology has become carnal2  our     
vital terms are terms of physical life4 
,nowhere is the limitation  of          
contemporary thought more apparent than 
in these instruments of  speech4 ,one   
must read again ,wordsworth1 ,shelley1  
,carlyle1 ,ruskin1  ,arnold1 ,meredith1 
to meet great words1 now little         
employed1 that make  you realize the    
utmost reach of life2 in so doing1 one  

pauses in  dismay1 realizing how full   
contemporary speech is of lesser terms1 
how  few employ the greater words that  
tell the inner life of the soul4    ,all
 forms of idealism have suffered during 
the past century of  progress1 more     
through being ignored than through being
 refuted2 there  still are thinkers who 
consider ,kant1 with his demonstration  
of the  universe mind-made1 a wiser     
teacher than any who have followed him1 
yet these have few disciples4 ,of the   
two old hypotheses1 that this is  a     
world of spirit1 that it is a world of  
matter1 the latter has been  the        
predominant choice of our time4 ,that   
choice has been reinforced  by the      
impact of a wonderful physical and      
material development1 while  there has  
been no corresponding gain in the       
spiritual and the purely  intellectual2 
for many years the best of the fine     
young energy of  the race has busied    
itself1 either in investigation or in   
invention1  with the world of matter4   

,we hear endlessly of the great advance 
of  our time1 of the surety of its      
knowledge1 the doing away with baseless 
old idealisms4 ,what1 after all1 has    
been achieved8 ,the origin of human     
thought1 the destination of the human   
thinker1 are as profound a secret  as   
before this unparalleled progress4      
,science1 which has been the great      
intellectual adventure of the last      
century1--to what has it led us8  ,only 
again to that edge of the unknown1 where
 we confront the infinite4  ,it has not 
gained by one hair's breadth upon the   
encompassing mystery  of our lives4     
,v      ,,the special form of idealism  
held by our forefathers1 the ,christian 
faith1 with its great central tenets of 
,god1 immortality1 the  necessity of    
right-doing in the light of these       
faiths1 has suffered  with the other    
forms of idealism during the last       
decades4 ,those who1  intentionally or  
unintentionally1 have attacked1 many of 
those who have  defended1 have alike    

done it injury4 ,of our intellectual    
vanguard1  some have denied1 some have  
ignored1 some have been wisely patient  
and silent1 awaiting the adjustment of  
new wisdom to old4 ,as for the          
first1--surely those who hold           
sense-observation to be the basis of all
  knowledge should take no such vast    
leap into the dark as that involved  in 
denial of these old beliefs4 ,it is when
 certain of these new  thinkers slip    
beyond their own self-defined province1 
and philosophize  in ways contradicting 
their own premises1 that one fails to   
follow  them2 when1 grown bold with     
their conquest of physical nature1 they 
make a vast leap from observation of    
phenomena into metaphysical  statement1 
without consciousness of what they are  
doing1 that one  listens with profound  
distrust4 ,doubtless we have all known  
one or two1  ready to make assertions   
dogmatic beyond the dogmatism of old    
theology1  founded upon nothing but the 
assumption that they1 who can truly     

observe facts in the physical world1    
could assert nothing but fact4 ,i       
respect them when they observe2 ,i      
tremble when they begin to generalize4  
,it is indeed a crowning irony when one 
is called upon to believe1 in  the name 
of discoveries in the world of          
phenomena1 that faith in ,god  and in   
immortality is untenable4 ,because it is
 possible to see with the  aided eye    
organisms unsuspected before our        
day1--this does not prove  that the     
immemorial spiritual instincts of       
humanity have no foundation4  ,the      
assumption that the great hopes of      
mankind cannot be true because  they    
cannot be detected under microscope or  
through telescope1 has  floated in the  
air1 darkening wise counsel1 has assumed
 an authority  never won2 the present is
 full of unnecessary renunciations and  
unproved denials4 ,in the intoxication  
of new discovery regarding the  laws of 
organic growth1 the leap from belief in 
unseen realities to  doubt or to denial 

has been too swift and too absolute4    
,probably1 in  a great majority of      
cases1 thought1 intellectual process1   
has had  little to do with the change4  
,humanity has lost hope without knowing 
why2 the air has been thick with doubt  
and fear4 ,hearing a great noise  in the
 dark1 aware of attack1 many have rushed
 away1 leaving great  treasure1 while   
the enemy was still far from taking the 
stronghold4  ,this new poverty of life  
which we call ,progress is thus1 in many
 cases1  the misfortune1 but not the    
fault1 of those who1 unable to think for
  themselves1 take for granted that the 
most insistent voice must be the  right 
voice4    ,how greatly the defenders of 
the faith1 in much of the warfare1 have 
missed the issue6 ,the time that has    
been lost1 the good territory  yielded  
in contesting the literal interpretation
 of ,genesis1 may well  fill us with    
shame4 ,if the story of the serpent of  
,eden must slip from  dogma to myth1    
must faith in the unseen realities      

therefore go8 ,if our  forefathers were 
wrong in linking the large faith of     
their spiritual  lives indissolubly with
 the story of ,adam and that of ,jonah1 
we must  discriminate where they failed 
to discriminate1 remembering in all     
humility that with their smaller        
knowledge of external things went a  far
 profounder knowledge than ours of      
things spiritual4 ,we must keep  the    
greater2 the less is not to us the      
sacrifice it was to them2 let it  go6   
,if we ask1 why this close linking with 
myth1 who can answer8 ,we  know only    
that the human soul develops slowly2    
shade by shade the  truth grows clear4  
,we1 who have learned something of the  
incredible  slowness of physical        
development1 can afford to have patience
 with the  spiritual1 but we cannot     
afford to let slip back anything that   
the soul  has achieved1 proved1 made its
 own4 ,in the long quarrels over the    
husk1  the kernel has too often slipped 
out of sight2 essentials have gone  with

 unessentials4 ,we can no longer in good
 faith teach the young that  the        
misfortune of our present predicament   
may be traced to eating an  apple2 but  
those of us who are unable to step to   
the marching music of  our time may1 in 
impassioned good faith1 until modern    
thinkers make a  better case against us 
than they have yet made1 teach the young
 that  the great realities of life are  
of mind and soul1 not body2 that growth 
and change are necessary1 fundamental1  
vital1 the very condition of  life2 that
 it is for them to remove reverently    
whatever outer veil may  have obscured  
their forefathers' great light of faith2
 but that doom is  upon them if they    
lose the light4    ,doubtless the       
greatest wrong done the ,christian faith
 by its defenders  was the attempt to   
reduce it to a mere matter of reasoning4
 ,the  pity of it is that1 at a time    
when the whole fabric of ,christianity  
was shaken and the whole spiritual life 
was at stake1 theologians  should so    

have emphasized fact1 clinging to a dead
 literalness of  interpretation6        
,through the long decades of the        
nineteenth century1  trying to meet the 
geologists upon their own ground1 they  
were very  properly worsted4 ,why       
borrow1 and use weakly1 weapons which   
belong  to a different warfare1         
knowledge8 ,sense-perception1 playing a 
large  part1 and rightly1 in science1 is
 neither starting-point nor goal here1  
nor is historical fact4 ,proofs of a    
real religion are not limited  to       
repetition of fact4 ,when they imitated 
the scientists1 in their  demand for    
external evidence1 and imitated them    
badly1 the inevitable  happened4 ,more  
and more their own great world of       
spiritual aspiration  and endeavor was  
ignored by those whose high privilege it
 was to make  known the vitalizing power
 of the faith they held1 its subtle     
answer  to the soul's deepest need4 ,the
 doom of a faith is its loss of inner   
sources of vitality1 its                

8materialization in fact10 and perhaps  
the  ,church has been rightly punished  
for forgetting that its weapons should  
be primarily weapons of the spirit1 its 
world the world of divine  endeavor4    
,this is no time to haggle over         
theology2 the object is not to  save the
 church1 but to save alive the souls of 
men4    ,myth could go2 dogma itself    
could go2 ,christianity would still be4 
,milestones in the path of the human    
spirit1 dogmas have done great  service1
 but none have been great enough to     
express the potential  greatness of the 
spiritual life of the human race4       
,greatly have they  helped2 at times    
they have greatly hindered4 ,seemingly  
necessary  bulwarks in time of stress   
and siege1 the human soul has lived on  
after their demolishing2 the human      
spirit is greater than they4 ,modern    
warfare has demonstrated that great     
forts and intrenchments are  useless2   
that does not mean that there is to be  
no fighting4 ,faiths1  beliefs1         

patriotisms are still there1 but the    
fighting is to be in the  open1 a matter
 of life and death1 the issue an issue  
of vitality4                            
,,vi      ,,we have our choice2 both    
propositions have been made3 we are all 
body1  wholly involved in a mechanical  
scheme of things1 or we are partly      
free1 recognizing within us faculties   
not wholly subordinated to the  rigid   
physical law of necessity1 free to      
choose1 to struggle toward  high aims1  
to succeed in part1 in part1 perhaps1   
fail4 ,pending proof  to the contrary1  
let us assume that our wills have a     
certain freedom4  ,it is at least better
 8strategy and tactics0 in the battle of
 life  than the reverse4 ,in the absence
 of a microscopic test to determine  the
 matter1 it may be well to demonstrate  
the existence of the power  by using it1
 making decisive choice of the finer    
hypothesis1 and  asserting our right to 
do so4 ,perhaps the trouble has come not
 wholly  from the activity of the       

materialists1 but partly from the       
failure of  the idealists to stand by   
their guns4 ,the folly of perpetual     
defensive  on the part of the idealist  
has been abundantly demonstrated in late
  years2 it is for him to take the      
offensive1 to claim and hold his  own1  
ceasing to be shame-faced1 explanatory1 
apologetic6 ,whatever  special form our 
denial of the supremacy of matter may   
take1 whether  philosophic or religious1
 of ,plato and ,kant1 or of ,christ1 we 
should  band together against this      
tyranny that threatens the inner life of
 the  race1 and affirm the supremacy of 
spirit4    ,consider our forefathers'   
faith in the light of a working         
hypothesis1  if you will4 ,it is an age 
of hypotheses2 science is ceaselessly   
busy  with them4 ,its finest            
achievements have followed great        
imaginative  conceptions1 some of which 
have been verified by observed fact1    
some of  which have been disproved1 some
 of which1 neither proved nor disproved1

  are still looked upon as a firm basis 
of knowledge4    ,the odd thing is that1
 in science1 a whole fundamental        
assumption may  go without interfering  
with the validity of the information    
based  thereon2 disproving one          
hypothesis1 science goes serenely on4   
,they  taught me in my college days the 
indivisible atom quite as dogmatically  
as1 earlier1 ,i had been taught the     
literal reality of the story of ,eve    
and the serpent4 ,the fact that the     
atomic theory is now questioned1 if  not
 overthrown1 in no way invalidates the  
truths of chemistry1 while  the passing 
of the serpent has1 in some strange     
fashion1 meant for many  people the     
passing of the ,christian faith4 ,it    
has1 in reality1 nothing  to do with the
 central tenets of the ,christian faith1
 which are3 that  the universe is a     
universe of spirit1 controlled by a     
great spiritual  force1 for great ends2 
that1 for the guidance of stumbling     
humanity1  the great spiritual force    

took human form2 that mere human beings1
  keeping mind and soul intent upon that
 great example1 may work out  through   
love and sacrifice immortal meanings in 
their lives4 ,has any  better working   
hypothesis ever been suggested to       
humankind8    ,science says1 8,here are 
certain phenomena which we can explain  
in no  other way02 and gives its        
splendid guess4 ,why deny to our        
spiritual  life a method freely used in 
science1 the assumption of an hypothesis
  that most nearly explains observed    
facts1 with the hope of proving it  true
 as knowledge grows more profound8 ,why 
may we not say1 8,here are  certain     
persistent hopes1 inner needs1 longings1
 which we can explain  only on the      
assumption that the universe is a       
universe of spirit08  ,these beliefs    
have been associated with the age-long  
growth of the  race1 and are perhaps the
 very condition of its mental and       
spiritual  development4 ,these facts of 
the inner life are as truly facts as are

  those of the outer world1 though      
scientific absorption in matter has     
made mankind forget this4 ,it is strange
 that a generation so fond of           
emphasizing fact should have ignored or 
even denied the most important  facts of
 all1 and so have brought about a       
crushing limitation to our  endeavor4   
,not only in the external world are     
facts to be found3 the  hope1 the faith1
 the long aspiration of the race1 those 
persistent  convictions of enlarging    
destiny which have played so great a    
part  in human growth1--shall these be  
of no account8 ,when such immense       
importance is attached to every phase of
 physical growth in the past1  how can  
we deny the wealth of spiritual         
experience without being false  to the  
very laws of thought8    ,so we ask1 not
 what happened to our remotest forbears 
in the ,garden  of ,eden1 but what has  
happened to our nearer forefathers1     
whose needs  were akin to our own1 that 
will help our human existence4 ,to what 

have  they gallantly held8 ,to what have
 they come back8 ,to what did they      
inevitably turn in cruel times of       
suffering8 ,what are the hopes they     
could not forget1 slow century by       
century of trial1 disappointment1       
aspiration1 agony8 ,persistent faith in 
unending life1 in which should  come the
 crowning of the spiritual endeavor of  
this2 indomitable  belief in            
righteousness1 in distinction between   
right and wrong2 ,god1  a divine wisdom 
working through all the show of         
things1--such was their  faith4 ,our    
forefathers tried and proved it and     
found it good1 living  difficult lives  
and dying hard deaths full of a sense of
 conquest1 of  triumph4 ,their working  
hypothesis has yet to be surpassed4     
,the old teaching--whether or not we    
share the exact shade of  intellectual  
interpretation of ultimate              
mystery--brought a better  sense of     
relative values than we have now1 and a 
far greater chance of  progress4 ,faith 

in soul is a better working programme   
than faith in  body4 ,working forward1  
however eugenically1 toward the ,perfect
 ,brute  is a poor hope at best4 ,there 
can be no growth without the boundless1 
the illimitable1 ahead1 and the great   
hopes1 undisproved1 still shine  before 
us4 ,life must be made great in its     
scope1 its demand1 if it  is to achieve 
greatly4 ,it is a sorry thing to have   
the guiding forces  mere shallow        
intellectual forces1--mere              
intellectualism is always  shallow1--to 
reduce the whole of the hope and the    
wonder and the  terror of life to the   
seeing of the eye1 the hearing of the   
ear1 the  mere logical deduction1 while 
the larger nature sleeps abashed4 ,a    
sound hypothesis must cope with all the 
facts involved2 our working  hypothesis 
of life must reckon with the deepest    
striving of our nature1  its furthest   
longing1 its most imaginative reach4    
,there has been  great waste of unused  
powers in these later decades of our    

period of  progress4 ,half only1 and the
 lesser half1 of the human being has    
been  called into activity2 the better  
part of the human faculties have been   
among the 8unemployed40    ,is it not   
time for the sleepers to waken1 rub     
their eyes1 and say1  8,there is a      
greater in us than you have let us      
recognize4 ,this attempt  to solve the  
problems of human nature while leaving  
the best of human  nature out of account
 has shown its inadequacy4 ,the         
materialistic  interpretation of the    
universe with its attendant cult of the 
body  is a cul-de-sac4 ,life1           
personality1 are full of larger needs   
and larger powers than the present trend
 of thought permits us to  recognize2   
and life must know the diviner hunger1  
the deeper thirst1  if it is to win     
significance40 ,this progress1 which    
ignores the higher  aspiration1 the     
profounder stirring of the              
nature1--shall we be  therewith content8
        ,through hope1 through faith1   

through love's          transcendant    
dower      ,we feel that we are greater 
than we know1    wrote a                
poet-philosopher who dared trust his    
soul as leader4 ,in this  mathematical  
and scientific age there is a dread of  
feeling1 of  impulse2 a fear of this    
greater self that hopes and fears and   
prays4  ,we recognize the great part    
that feeling and impulse play in the    
evolution of the world of living        
creatures2 yet man1 in trying to  solve 
the riddle of his destiny1 is forever   
searching for some narrow  rationalistic
 explanation which will shut these large
 factors out4  ,there is great distrust 
of intuition1 of the imaginative        
faculty1  when dealing with the inner   
life2 yet imagination1 intuition1 hold  
an important place in the study of the  
outer world2 the greatest  discoveries  
in science are1 no less than the great  
achievements of  creative art1 the      
result of imaginative grasp of the      
unrealized4 ,if  intuition1 daring      

conjecture1 afford such signal service  
in winning  knowledge of the world of   
matter1 why should we1 who wish to      
believe  something deeper than that     
world can ever teach us1 be deprived of 
the use of our larger faculties8        
,feeling1 emotion1 play a large part1   
perhaps the best part1 in our sum of    
human wisdom2 passion is a fine         
instrument of discovery1--spiritual     
passion1 of spiritual truth4 ,of  the   
utmost help these can give us we have   
utmost need1 as we have of  imagination1
 the divining power1 that seer into the 
inner realities of  things1 and of 8the 
will as vision40                        
,,vii      ,,it is partly because of the
 largeness of its scope for activity of 
the  entire man1 the fullness of its    
appeal to the whole human being1 that   
,christianity surpasses other idealisms 
as a working basis of life1  proves     
itself the flower of them all4 ,sharing 
with others a purely  idealistic theory1
 faith in the spiritual nature of the   

universe1 it  brings home that faith in 
ways unknown to other systems1 makes it 
human1 a matter of the hearth1 of daily 
life4 ,it is an idealism which  is      
within the reach of the humblest        
intelligence2 in its humanness1  its    
simplicity1 its nearness to the least1  
it may almost be said to be  the only   
working idealism of all time4 ,the      
vision of the ,perfect ,man  appeals to 
the larger self2 feeling is stirred by  
it1 passion touched1  and imagination1  
that power through which alone creative 
work is done1  forever shapes fairer and
 fairer conceptions4 ,no other idealism 
has  the compelling power which brings  
the whole nature into play2 so many     
elements to quicken the will and release
 hidden stores of energy4 ,in  all      
creative work1 mere reasoning process   
lags behind2 life1 with its  high       
spiritual possibilities1 is creative    
work4 ,it is for us to fashion  it in   
accordance with our clearest vision of  
perfection2 we have need  of the largest

 hope that we can muster1 the loftiest  
aim4 ,for shaping  life to great ends1  
for employment of all the faculties in  
the service  of a great idealism1       
impulse1 intuition1 will1 there is      
nothing that  can match the ,christian  
faith in the greatness of its           
simplicity4    ,the old1 old needs of   
life are always with us1 the necessity  
of  consolation in grief and loss1 of   
hope enough to keep us trudging along   
our path4 ,perhaps not even in its swift
 response to these great needs  of the  
human being comes the profoundest proof 
of its supremacy4 ,from  the point of   
view of potential evolution1 from the   
greatness and depth  of its challenge1  
we know its greatness4 ,christianity1   
with the sting  of its challenge for    
eternity1 suggests enough of progress to
 satisfy  the human soul once started on
 its way4 ,what deeper appeal has ever  
come than the thought of endless        
destiny1 bringing the awful necessity   
of living in the light of it8    ,not   

long since1 ,i read in some journal an  
article in which a writer  speaks       
wistfully of our lost hope in           
immortality1 but adds that we do  not so
 greatly mind1 and that our children    
will mind still less4 ,if  this faith is
 indeed gone1 what has happened to rob  
us of so great a  hope1 once            
entertained8 ,how the demonstration of  
organic processes in  the physical      
world1 which has been the great         
achievement of our time1  can be assumed
 to reach to that which is beyond sense 
is hard to say2  it would need eternity 
to disprove the belief1 as it needs     
eternity  to prove it4 ,when you try    
with finite means to define the infinite
  you make trouble for yourself1 and    
perhaps rob the young of inherited      
hopes4 ,if our children do not mind1 it 
will show a phase of degeneracy  in     
them1 of willful shutting off of light  
and life already attained4 ,we  shall   
count them craven if they let go any    
high ideal once conceived1  for that    

means inevitable retrogression2 this    
should be held as the  unforgotten and  
unforgettable hope of the race4 ,what   
mortal1 when the  splendor of such a    
thought had dawned on him1 could let it 
go8 ,the  endless possibility1 the      
infinite opportunity for growth1 the    
challenge  for eternity1--who dare take 
it1 and order his life in accordance    
with  it8    ,again1 this is the        
greatest of all idealisms in that it    
sets for  the human being the hardest   
and the highest of all human tasks1     
self-sacrifice4 ,the wonder of it1 that 
across the old physical law of  survival
 of the fittest by brute means1 supreme1
 unchecked1 unhindered  two thousand    
years ago1 could have crept the gleam of
 a higher law1  strangely contradicting 
it1--the survival of that which is      
fittest in  the individual1 perhaps at  
the expense of the body4 ,the greatest  
marvel  in all the world's history is   
that ,christ could have been2 that the  
very idea of soul1 of human development 

transcending the physical in  utter     
self-sacrifice1 could have come into    
existence is proof enough of  the       
divine4 ,that teaching1 so clear1 so    
unmistakable1 has been blurred  and     
forgotten1 as nation and individual have
 succumbed to the lesser  law1 but it   
still is there4 ,christianity left      
behind8 ,it is millions of  years ahead1
 so far ahead that it is still dim      
before our vision4    ,must ons pass    
before the human race will begin to     
realize how great  was that message1 how
 divine1 how far it reached into depths 
which  nothing else had touched1 how    
high1 how all but unattainable its      
service8 ,is there no chance for this   
,christianity1 with its stern  teaching 
of sacrifice1 of eternal endeavor1 for  
this faith1 never tried  with sufficient
 freedom from the trammels of dogma1    
with the deepest  challenge1 the highest
 possibility that has come before the   
race8    ,since no life can be worth    
living without faith in power           

transcending  nature's manifestations of
 physical force2 without some ideal of  
human  conduct1 of right and wrong1     
rising above the needs of 8biological   
man02 without a sense of further scope1 
of wider opportunity than the  mere span
 of human existence allows2 since our   
forefathers held these  high beliefs and
 lived more greatly than we2 since no   
man has disproved  them2 since the very 
effort to disprove is a contradiction of
 the laws  of thought1 carrying         
processes of reason into depths of life 
profounder  than reason2 since we have  
powers1 capabilities of emotion1        
divination  of higher meanings2 since we
 know aspiration1 hope1 love1 let us use
  these greater powers and let them     
build our greater world4 ,the choice  is
 ours2 why choose the less1 and fling   
away the greater8    ,the only genuine  
progress for us is progress in the inner
 life4 ,we  know the greater meaning1   
the higher significance1 not in the mere
 way  in which the facts of the physical

 world are known1 but in a far higher   
way4 ,by that uncertainty1 full of      
challenge1 which is the condition of    
real growth1 rousing the creative will1 
it is ours to make great our  lives in  
accordance with the loftiest hope the   
race has known4                         
,,viii      ,,much of what ,i have been 
saying was written before this war      
began4 ,in  the great hush that has     
fallen upon the nations1 is it not well 
for  us to stop and ask anew whither our
 progress has been tending8 ,what  words
 have those who have been taught to live
 and breathe and think  in terms of     
matter1 wherewith to voice this awful   
stirring of the  soul8 ,people cry out  
that the ,dark ,ages will come again    
through this  fearful slaughter1 this   
waste of resources intellectual and     
material4  ,have not the ,dark ,ages    
been with us for decades8 ,for mankind1 
more  and more stripped of the deeper   
faith1 the larger hope1 more and more   
cut off from the finer part of his own  

nature1 what darker ages can  there be  
than these shadowed by the dreary       
positivism1 undiscussed and  undefined1 
but merely assumed1 of our day8 ,many a 
thinker must see1  in this present awful
 crisis1 not an isolated phenomenon1 not
 a mere  political event for which a    
train of political causes had been laid1
  but also one of the natural results of
 our ways of thinking1 of our  kind of  
progress4 ,the growth of material over  
spiritual conceptions in  the last fifty
 years is appalling2 to such an end the 
,gospel of the  ,perfect ,brute         
legitimately leads4 ,we may believe     
ourselves through this  struggle        
untouched1 apart1 and watch with wonder 
and surprise1 but the  same forces are  
at work with us1 and potent4 ,this      
terrible1 crashing  exposure is         
something to make us1 who are not in the
 thick of the  battle1 stop and think4  
,we are shuddering at a ,german nation  
,nietzscheized1 brutalized1 as  we      
conceive1 through a brutal ideal2 but   

are the ,germans so far  removed8 ,have 
they not simply adopted1 a little more  
vigorously1 a  little more frankly than 
we1 a doctrine which is becoming the    
moving  force in all countries1         
replacing ,christianity8 ,are they not  
simply  the most progressive of all     
nations8 ,since the theory of evolution 
was demonstrated1 the doctrine of the   
survival of the fittest1 which  should  
be taught as the mere working of a      
physical law1 has come to  be taught as 
ethics1 and an odd confusion of thought 
has come about4  ,how insidiously the   
idea of the biological necessity is     
coming to  be considered the whole      
necessity of man1 we are only now       
faintly  realizing2 the need of         
spiritual struggle1 of spur to that     
instinct  which may save man from much  
that had seemed biological necessity1 is
  becoming more and more dim4 ,it is one
 thing to recognize warfare in the      
physical world1 the strife that attended
 the evolution of man2 it is  another   

thing to exalt this to a code of conduct
 and deliberately teach  it4 ,a         
conscious lowering of nature to the     
first primitive impulse1 a  deliberate  
going backward1 is a very different     
matter from following  these impulses in
 the slow process of growth4 ,if a      
higher thought  comes along your line of
 vision1 woe betide you if you choose   
the  lower6 ,doubtless dragons and      
prehistoric monsters would have behaved 
differently if they had got better ideas
 into their heads2 we shall not  be     
acquitted by posterity if1 after a finer
 ideal has been suggested1  we go back  
to writhing and biting in the slime4    
,i am a plain ,american citizen1 with no
 direct connection with this war1  as   
innocent of having anything to do with  
starting it as the ,kaiser  is claimed  
by his upholders to be2 yet ,i feel a   
sense of guilt4 ,i am  ashamed to look  
the young in the face2 it seems to me   
that1 in some  way1 we older folk have  
betrayed them in letting humanity come  

to such  a pass2 in tampering with the  
ways of thought and of belief which have
  let this thing be4 ,this deification  
of biological man has not as yet  gone  
with us so far as exalting the gospel of
 warfare2 we cry out1 when  we see the  
logical outcome of ideas taught with    
such fervor through the  last decades1  
against the ,german evangel of the      
mailed fist4    ,yet ,england too has   
her theorists teaching the biological   
necessity of  war1 that the fundamental 
laws which govern human conduct are the 
laws  of brute force1 the survival of   
the fittest in death struggle4 ,america 
has been too profoundly influenced by   
,germany in educational matters1  has   
sat too submissively at her feet1 to    
escape4 ,accepting so many  of the minor
 premises of her teaching1 will not the 
major ultimately  follow as a matter of 
course8    ,it is ,germany that has     
carried furthest this materialistic     
modernism1  has perfected it4 ,the word 
,germany has been a name to conjure with

  in swift denial if one but ventured to
 suggest the possibility of a  spiritual
 interpretation of life4 ,high          
intellectual achievement has  been that 
of the ,germany of these later years1   
but not the highest2 she  has kept the  
mailed fist upon the spiritual          
aspirations of mankind1  and has made a 
treaty1 on her own terms1 with the human
 soul1 with  what loss of territory6 ,we
 have not yet accepted the whole of this
  new evangel2 we have doubts1 mental   
reserves4 ,neither have we1 in our      
period of enlightenment1 made gain in   
developing those forces of mind  and    
soul that would enable us to refute it4 
,man1 from a purely biological point of 
view1 indulging in the  biological      
necessity of war in the year of our     
,lord #aiae1 is a sorry  spectacle1 but 
perhaps it is1 as ,mr4 ,shandy said1 8no
 year of our  ,lord at all10 so         
progressive are we4 ,now that we make   
our swift  leap backward many thousand  
years1 we pause to wonder whether this  

means only a quickened pace in a        
direction already chosen4 ,of the       
achievements of the mailed fist the     
,neanderthaler man1 barring a           
difference of weapons1 would have been  
capable4 ,how shall we escape  this     
progress which is utter retrogression8  
,this overwhelming catastrophe has      
brought the issues squarely before  us4 
,it is well that the forces we have to  
fight have come into the  open2 we know 
at last the world we live in4 ,we are   
face to face1 with  a distinctness never
 before presented1 with two great       
principles3 the  law of brute force1 of 
the survival of the fittest1 made into a
 code  of conduct2 the law of           
,christianity1 with its possibility of  
higher  development1 finer progress than
 brute force dreamed1--the growth of    
the greater through sacrifice of the    
less2 soul-achievement at the  expense  
of flesh4 ,in this great hour of need   
shall we let the shallow                
intellectualism of much recent thought  

dominate1 or shall we boldly  choose    
that faith in which the best of human   
life1 from its first dim  stirring to   
triumphant self-sacrifice1 is summed up8
 ,one way lies  inevitable slipping     
backward2 the other way lies progress in
 inner  life too great for word or      
present vision4    ,these are crucial   
moments2 how great the crisis none may  
understand4  ,many an idealist1 lost in 
the more than forty years of materialism
 of  our time1 is praying that out of   
the horror of the present may come      
better things3 a deeper sense of the    
deepest needs of life2 a knowledge  that
 neither material comfort1 nor physical 
health1 nor materialistic  thought can  
wholly satisfy2 a hunger and thirst for 
which only the  spiritual can suffice4  
,suffering bears strange fruit1 and the 
suffering  of the present days and of   
the days to come is incalculable4 ,even 
the  mental anguish of mere watchers of 
the strife may help reveal to the       
modern world as profound need of faith4 

,one thing is evident in all this awful 
crash3 men still are brave2  never      
before1 perhaps1 have they fought       
against such great odds4 ,the  splendor 
of their courage dims our eyes4 ,shall  
the fighters in the  world of spirit1   
8fighters in the noblest fight10 be less
 brave in  defending in the face of     
odds1 perhaps never so great before1    
these  inner truths1 deeper than dogma1 
deeper than theology1 deeper than life  
itself1 the immemorial heritage of the  
race1--longing unutterable for          
righteousness1 for faith in the         
spiritual1 for enlarging and unending   
life8                                   
,,the ,,end                             
,the ,riverside ,press                  
,,cambridge 4 ,,massachusetts           
,u 4 ,s 4 ,a