The Old order changeth, giving place to New; and it would be well to
realise this everlasting fact before we decide that the world is
waxing evil, and the times are waxing late. And who can say that out
of the seething of the present some noble and glorious ideals of life
for men and women may not spring?
Surely it is unwise to read in the writing upon the wall, as so many
do, only a pessimistic presage of inevitable death. If there is
writing for students of evolution to read, then it should be taken as
a warning indication which direction to avoid and which to take.
Unrest is a sign, not of decay, but of life. Stagnation alone gives
warning of death.
And there are a number of facts to be faced before we can give an
opinion either way.
The first of these is, that all civilised nations are endeavouring to
stamp out ignorance and disease, and that an enormous advance in this
direction can be observed in the last fifty years. And, taking a
general view of the civilised peoples, a far greater number of their
units now lead less dreadful and degraded lives.
And surely these indications of mankind's advancement are as plain as
are some other signs of decline.
The stirring up of the masses by insufficient education is bound to
produce unrest, and until the different elements have assorted
themselves into their new places in the scheme of things, how can
there be tranquillity? All is out of balance, and has disturbed the
machinery of the country's life, for the time being. But if the aim
has been for enlightenment, the eventual outcome must be good.
All scum in a boiling pot rises to the top, and makes itself seen,
concealing the pure liquid beneath, until it is skimmed off. And so we
have political demagogues shouting the untenable fallacy that all men
are equal, together with other flamboyant nonsense; and hooligan
suffragists smashing windows. But all these are only the scum upon the
outside of a great upward movement in mankind, and are not to be taken
as the incontestable proof of the vicious condition of the whole mass.
The spirit that is abroad, though one of great unrest, is not one of
decadence, but of progress. But it would be folly not to admit that
there are aspects of it which presage disaster unless directed, just
as the pot will boil over if not watched.
It may be interesting to scrutinise, with unemotional common sense,
some of the causes of the present state of things, and perhaps from
this investigation come to some conclusions as to their remedy or
encouragement.
Nature, whether human, animal, or vegetable, will not be hurried, or
she produces the abnormal. Until about a hundred years ago everything
seemed to be moving on with a very slow and gradual evolution. Some
things changed a little, others it would seem, not at all. And then,
after the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Science and
Invention appeared to join hands, and, with small beginnings,
gradually assuming mammoth proportions, to revolutionise the very
universe. The result has been to make life easy to a class which
formerly had to work hard for the bare necessities of existence. With
this came education. The lowest of the people were taught to read and
write, and the most ill-chosen and elementary book-knowledge was flung
upon unploughed soil, unprepared for its reception. Nature was
hurried, and began to produce, not fair flowers at once, but the
abnormal and diseased. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
The education these crude minds received was not of the sort to show
them their ignorance, and implant in them a noble desire for more
teaching, so as to achieve a gradual advancement, but was just
sufficient to stir up discontent with what was, and produce countless
square pegs, clamouring to get into round holes for which they were
unfitted.
Mechanical inventions did away with numbers of home duties, and even
the meagre education the masses then received was enough to cause them
to throw grave doubts upon the accepted religion of the country. The
timid souls were released from the fear of hell, as a powerful factor
for the determining of their actions. The bold felt they would have
the support and sympathy of numbers of their fellows in breaking up
old beliefs, and the intelligent of both kinds refused to swallow many
of the dogmas any longer.
Thus the bridle which, through the Christian ages, had guided mankind,
became as a mere thread. And all these loosened steeds ran wild and
are still running wild, until enlightenment shall come to them, and
they will perceive that each individual is responsible to God for
himself.
The cry that the churches are emptying is perhaps true; and if it is a
fact, then of what use to lament it? It would be more logical to
search for the cause. If people do not come of their own accord, there
is no law to oblige them to do so. Consequently, if the churches wish
for their return, it is their business to provide fare which will
induce them to take this course.
Education has encouraged men and women to think for themselves, and
the religiously minded, who would willingly remain under some
guidance, have begun to perceive how very wide apart Christ's
beautiful teaching is from the interpretation of it which they often
receive in church; while the others, who had never any religious
aspirations at all, are glad that the weight of public opinion and
custom no longer forces them into irksome attendance. To fill churches
with worshippers drawn there largely through hope of Heaven or fear of
Hell, or because it was considered respectable and custom bound them
to conform to its mandates, surely could not have been very acceptable
to God. And the percentage who went truly to pour forth their love and
worship, are still pouring it forth, because it came, and comes, from
their hearts whether they attend church or no.
The modern spirit is full of what Edmond Holmes calls the desire to
ask the teacher or person in authority for his credentials. And if
these are not entirely satisfactory, the influence he can hope to
wield will be nil.
To deplore anything that may happen to a country, or to ourselves, is
waste of time. We should search for the reason of it, and if it proves
to be because there is some ineradicable cause, intelligence should
then be used to better the condition which results. Worship of
something glorious and beyond ourselves will always swell the human
heart, and if the accepted forms of the religion of a country can no
longer produce this emotion, it is not because the human heart is
changing, but because there is something in those forms which no
longer fulfils its mission.
The cry of the fear of the net of Rome is futile also. People drift to
where they belong, and Rome seems to offer to take all spiritual
responsibility from the shoulders of her children. It gives them an
emotional satisfaction which brings comfort to all, and amongst these
any of hysterical nature probably become far happier and better
citizens under her wing than they would otherwise have been. No nets
will catch the expanding soul which is rising out of its paltry self
into ideals nearer to God.
During the earlier days when religion held sway in England over at
least nine-tenths of female lives, superfluous women were content as a
rule to lead grey, uneventful existences, making no more mark on their
time than if they had been flocks of sheep. But with the breakdown of
this force, and greater freedom of ideas, they have brought themselves
into prominence--the scum as a shrieking sisterhood, and the pure
elements unobtrusively, as leaders of countless noble works.
Meanwhile, in every class of the community the desire "to move" is
felt. Travelling, formerly the luxury of the rich, now is indulged in
by an ever-increasing company. The aspect of family life is changed,
and amusement is within the reach of all.
It is not reasonable to suppose with this total alteration in the view
of existence, that many things that we held beautiful and sacred
should not have gone by the board--things such as filial respect,
gentle manners, chivalry, obedience. We are undoubtedly in an
unpleasant state of incompletion as a nation to-day, but by no means
in one of decadence. And if only the two great dangers do not swamp
us--a mawkish and hysterical humanitarianism, and the heedless pursuit
of pleasure as the only end--the upward tendency of progress is bound
to go on. Inventions, aided by science in all its ramifications, have
made life pleasant, and all these benefits have come too quickly for
the recipients to be prepared to receive them with calm. Their
equilibrium is disturbed, and they are led into exaggerations, and so
the ugly side of the spirit of the Great Unrest is born. But,
underneath, the English people are a sane, healthy stock in mind and
body, and when education has opened their minds and broadened their
understanding, they will surely allow their birthright of common sense
among the nations to have sway again. Instead of standing aside and
lamenting that times are evil and that the nation is going down hill,
it behoves all thinking people to gather their forces together and
seriously apply themselves to consider how they can better this
condition of things. In their daily life they can do so by setting up
a high standard of sanity and right behaviour, by the encouragement of
fine aims and high ends, by the firm avoidance of hypocrisy and
hysterical altruism, and by intelligent explanation to those under
their care of the reason why individual responsibility is necessary
for the welfare of the community at large.
And a most important lesson for every one to learn is the law of cause
and effect. The great rush of modern life is apt to produce an
inconsequence of action. Anything good or bad is indulged in without
time for thought as to its result. But the law of the boomerang is
immutable, and its action goes on for ever--_what we send out we
receive again, sooner or later, for good or ill_.
The first principle of that great and wonderful wave of "New Thought"
which is sweeping over America, and is beginning to find some
understanding in this country, is that the responsibility of each
individual's well-being rests with himself, and that his environment
is the result of what his consciousness has been able to attract to
himself.
And, as no one limits us but ourselves, as soon as a man's
consciousness begins strongly to create in his own mind new and better
conditions, he will inevitably draw them to himself in fact. From God
there can emanate nothing but Good. It is the individual's own action
which brings his punishment, or reward. If this fundamental principle
could be investigated by responsible scientists, unhampered by
theological influences, and with no prejudice as to the idea's being
regarded as a mere _culte_, its exactness could perhaps be
mathematically proved beyond a cavilling doubt. Possibly then the
doctrine might be allowed to be taught in the public schools, to the
everlasting benefit of the growing race.
To say the least of it, it would inculcate an immense self-respect.
There should not be, and I believe there is not, any law which can
prevent the lowest in the land from rising to the highest place--_if
he is fitted for it_. It is the ceaseless cry of the unfit unit for
some situation above his capabilities, which is a distressing feature
of modern life. But, even in this, the spirit shown in the desire to
rise is good; while if he had the will to fit himself for what he
aspires to, it would be splendid and great. And these are the men and
women who succeed, no matter what avocations they may be engaged in.
The others, the shouters, only hamper the wheels of progress and fall
eventually as the dust in the ruts.
Formerly there was a hard line drawn between "gentlemen" and common
men. And there were all sorts of things that, however bad he might be,
a "gentleman" did not do; or if he did commit these actions, his
punishment was swift. He was obliged to face the ordeal of a duel, or
he received the cut direct from his own class.
These ideas of behaviour, accompanied by the responsibility for the
welfare of numbers of tenants upon his property--responsibility very
often nobly sustained--produced in the old English aristocrat a very
fine specimen indeed. And from him downwards in all the social
classes, a high tone of honour was maintained. But now the democratic
idea is sweeping away these classes and these standards. The State is
taking the power for good from the individual, and the machine is
crushing the man; so it behooves all serious thinkers more than ever
to use their logical common sense to supply the place once occupied by
the old ideals. Nothing is so arrogant as ignorance--and loud shouting
ever concealed an empty pate.
Part of the crude spirit of the Great Unrest of to-day manifests
itself by the effort of those beneath to demonstrate _in words_ that
they are the equals of those above them. And, pitiful and ridiculous
as this is, the spirit arose in good. It is because those underneath
_desire_ to be the equals of those above them, that they use the only
means their limited understandings provide them with, to try to obtain
their ends. You never hear of numbers of people shouting that they are
the equals of the tramp in the street!
So it shows that even in this, the Great Unrest is an uplifting force.
And when reason and education have directed its current, surely we may
hope that we shall arise again as a nation, like a giant refreshed
with wine.
The study of the atavism of races, the study of heredity, the study of
the influence of the welfare of the mother upon her unborn child, are
all useful and expanding studies for ordinary thinking minds, and are
quite within the scope of the average intelligence. But the modern
hatred of all restraint--another failing born in the good of desire
for freedom--makes it difficult to preach any course of action which
would involve curtailment of time or pleasure.
You often hear people say about some misfortune, "Just as I expected,
such and such happened," and they do not stop to realise that their
expectancy helped the thing which they feared, to materialise. No one
can deny the force of imagination. Its existence has been abundantly
proved. For instance, there was a case which was in the newspapers
some time ago, of the guard on a Russian train who believed he was
locked into the cold-storage van, and wrote a letter describing how he
was being frozen to death. And he was actually found dead in the
morning, although the temperature of the car had never gone below
freezing point!
People will readily credit this, but will ridicule the idea that their
own imaginations are daily helping or hindering their own and others'
lives.
Marconi demonstrated that messages can be transmitted by wireless
telegraphy, and his discovery became a thing of commercial value. So
it was believed in as nothing marvellous, but merely as a new
departure of science. Yet the numberless proofs of other currents
beyond our actual sight which manifest themselves each day in every
life, and influence it, are unconsidered quantities, if not actually
denied.
But there they are; and though, as the demonstration of an exact
science, they are laughed to scorn, their force is unconsciously
admitted in a hundred cant phrases, such as, "He was under an evil
influence,"--"She makes you feel better because she is so cheerful,"
etc., etc.--Both these things here alluded to as forces are
intangible, and yet are real proofs of the power of imagination.
This shows how tremendously important it is never to allow our
imagination to run into prognostications of evil, either in
predictions for our country, for ourselves, or for our friends. Each
unit should try to help the great force for good by sending forth
strong positive thoughts for its upliftment.
Think, for a moment, under what a terrible shadow the soul of
Christian man has lain for these many hundred years! Ever since the
doctrine of original sin was forced upon his belief, his soul has come
into the world handicapped by millions of thought-currents expecting
it to do evil, unless continuously controlled and curtailed and
punished into a semblance of good! It cannot be wondered at, then,
that sometimes these forces become too strong for it, and it does fall
into sin. But what an insult to God, the source of all love and beauty
and holiness, to suppose He would permit a tarnished atom of Himself
to reach the exquisite world He has created!
All who wish for enlightenment upon this subject, and as to how they
should view their children and their race, should read Edmond Holmes's
masterly work upon elementary education, "What Is, and What Might Be."
We cannot stop the force which our own action, in giving education to
the lowest people, has put in motion, and which has produced, from
their status upward, the "Great Unrest." We can hardly even hope to
control it; but we can and must do all in our power to guide and
direct it into channels for the good and glory of our dear country,
making it, as the fire Prometheus stole from heaven, an incentive to
noble actions and great ends.
Could not the people with large influence, who are interested in this
matter, band together and discuss some scheme for the sending out of
lecturers all over England who would explain, with common sense
entirely stripped of all politics or religion, to the rising
generation, the vast importance of individual responsibility--the duty
of all citizens--the glory of helping the great force aright?
Explanations, in a practical and simple form, would do more than a
thousand laws, or all the thunders from the pulpit or the platform. If
the children in every school could be made to feel they are all little
men and women, full of God's gift of a soul, able and willing to help
the raising of their country, they would soon graft a new spirit into
their homes. They would respond as readily as do the hundreds of brave
men who volunteer for active service, and probable death, to reinforce
a fire-brigade, or a life-boat's crew. Children are so wise when their
fine instincts are appealed to.
If only this fundamental principle could be understood--that each
individual has in this life, or some former one, attracted to himself
the exact environment that he is now in--and that it lies only with
himself whether he remains in it, or lifts himself out of it, there
would be no more class hatred, no more railing against hard luck and
injustice, but a steady increase of betterment all over the world.
The unfortunate thing is, that nearly all writers and talkers and
lecturers, who are enthusiasts, and therefore really believe in what
they are preaching, have so little common sense.
They carry away their readers or audiences for the moment upon the
current of their own divine enthusiasm, but when their utterances come
to be measured by the cold light of fact, the logical conclusions are
so faulty, that the whole, which contained many thoughts of great and
beautiful worth, is dismissed as the ravings of a dreamer, and ceases
to have any effect.
The main attribute of any religion, of any ethical teaching, of any
principle--to be of use to men and women at the present stage of their
development--_must_ be incontestable common sense. Ridiculous
sentimentality should be ruthlessly crushed, and investigation of the
meaning of Nature should be strenuously encouraged. And with clear
eyes we should try to see the truth. Let those born fighters who like
fighting for fighting's sake, and who now wage war against windmills,
being armed with prejudice and false conceptions of man's place in
relation to God, turn their belligerent powers to the demolition of
the double-headed Hydra, Hypocrisy and Deceit.
It is the duty of every true man and woman at this hour of their
country's day to begin to THINK, to weigh for himself or herself the
meanings of the signs of the times, to use their critical faculties,
to face facts honestly, unhampered by prudery, convention, or the
doctrines of the Church. And then they will see for themselves that
the Great Unrest is a force, the direction of which, for good or ill,
lies in their own hands. And according to the way they fulfil the
responsibility entailed upon them in this matter, they or their
children will reap the reward, or pay the price. The Great Unrest in
its seething is still molten metal, which can be poured into what
mould we will.
To call this Great Unrest a sign of decadence and a presage of
destruction, would be as fallacious as to say that electricity is an
entirely mischievous force. Both are mischievous when undirected, and
both are glorious when used for good.
The test of the expansion of man's soul is the extent of its outlook.
The puny spirit sees an hour or two ahead; the more advanced probably
conceives plans to benefit himself and his loved ones day by day. The
developed soul desires the good of his country. But the soul that is
infinite and emancipated sees into eternity and demands of God the
regeneration of humanity.