The Spirit of the Age [pp. 419-425]

1875.] THE SPIRIT
any chance for a reaction; in most there
is the certainty of a continuous advance.
The mob in its fury against oppression
may run into lamentable extremes in the
other direction, but there is little danger
of such a blunder with learned men
leading civilization, amid the indifference of the majority, against the interests and prejudices and in defiance of
the curses of numerous and powerful
conservatives. And such is now the
leadership of the cause of progress.
The complaints are due to the ignorance of the spirit of the age. Progress
has not yet gained a full consciousness
of itself; and this fact is one of the chief
obstacles in its way. A large proportion of mankind do not understand that
society is improving. They see a vast
amount of injustice and suffering about
them, and they are discouraged. If
they could comprehend the rapidity with
which ancient abuses are correcting
themselves, or if they were confident
that there is a continuous advance even
at a slow rate toward better conditions, they would feel a stimulus to exertion. Whenever the mass take zealous hold of the cause of justice and
equal rights, they will give it a great impetus. Many who now side with superstition and oppression, do so in ignorance; they imagine that the world will
always be full of political and social
wrong, and that they may as well get
any profit they can by mean selfishness.
They have not yet acquired a proper
feeling of that culture discipline which
will in the future inspire a large class of
the people, as military discipline inspires
soldiers to struggle for a common cause.
Armies are filled with a class - spirit
which becomes so strong that death is
preferable to the violation of its main
rules. It requires them to abstain from
everything that would weaken their efficiency as an organization for attack or
defense, but does not forbid them to in VOL. 24. - 28.
OF THE A GE.
425
flict the most horrible outrages on the
enemy. He who will maintain discipline
and good feeling in camp and on the
march, and fight to the last gasp for his
flag whenever occasion presents, is too
valuable to be rejected because he becomes a fiend in the sack of a hostile
city. His devotion to his associates
weakens his regard for the rights of outsiders. A similar influence pervades all
separated classes. The stronger the line
of separation, the more unjust they can
be to all beyond it. Nobles, priests,
slave-holders, and trades-unionists have
often become ferocious in defense of their
plans of aggrandizement. They may pretend to be governed by high moral principle, but no large class of tyrants has
ever willingly surrendered power.
What the world now wants is a culture discipline, based on education, refinement, and an understanding of the
magnitude of past and the certainty of
future progress- recognizing the common brotherhood of man, the mutual
interest of all to suppress class-privileges and petty injustice, and the necessity of contributing to the welfare of the
community as a whole, as the best and
only means of securing the happiness of
individuals. We have abandoned the
national folly of trying to keep other
countries poor and weak for the purpose of aggrandizing our own; and the
companion individual folly must be discarded too. A common interest binds
all men together; as they advance, they
learn to work in mutual helpfulness and
good-will. The culture discipline needed
to govern and guide the general co-gperation will surely come; it is already observed among many of the leading thinkers of our time, for whom some of the
highest pleasures lie in laboring for progress, and in contemplating the grandeur
of its march and the certainty of the
increase of its power in geometrical ratio as time advances.