The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1910. BETTER OR WORSE?

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1910. BETTER OR WORSE?

A distinguished' Englishman recently declared that it is a glorious privilege to live in, the opening years of the', twentieth century, for the outlook is full of hope arid promise, and the possibilities of-progressive development' are ; : practically ; unlimited. Such inspiring thoughts cannot fail to produce a strong tendency to optimism in a self-confident and : successful race our own; but this bright picture, has another side, and some of the tendencies of the .times fill many thoughtful minds with doubt and misgiving. The question is being very seriously asked as to whether we are really better or happier, notwithstanding the long list of discoveries of scientists and' inventors and the unprecedented multiplication of comforts and luxuries.! "Is the world growing better or worse?" The Rev. Dr. Gibb stated this .question and endeavoured to answer it in the course of a very interesting sermon in St. John's Presbyterian' Church on Sunday last. After carefully weighing the evidence for each point of view he left the two sides of the scale pretty, evenly balanced, though the general impression conveyed was, on the whole, pessimistic.. An outlook on the world which sees nothing better than \i "warfare against evil everywhere ■■ and complete conquest of evil nowhere" is certainly not optimistic, for optimism' demands the eventual triumph of the good. The battle may be long and progress may be slow; but there must he some progress, and right must in the end prevail or the creed of the pessimist is justified., 1 As a matter of fact this question: "Are things getting better or worse?" is a most difficult one to answer satisfactorily. We are not in a position to pass an unbiased judgment on our own generation. In the thick of the fight ourselves, our point of view is so narrow and so close that we cannot rightly, appreciate the relative value of things. , The world may be for a mordent caught in a temporary backwash, or we may be living in a momentary eddy in the. great stream of life, we 'think_all things are amiss; whereas the historian, from his larger and more detached outlook, which sweeps over long periods of time;' may see a steady onward movement. It is in this comprehensive idea of a progressive evolution that rational optimism must find its ultimate justification, though it must be borne in mind that all processes of evolution, are not necessarily profor as Dr. F. B. Jevons has reminded us_ "a society in its decay, an art in its decline, _ is evolved out of a previous healthier state_ or more flourishing period, but is not, because later, therefore better." It would be sheer folly to shut our eyes. to the evils that beset us on every side—moral, social, and physical; but on the other hand we should not let the contemplation of tho darker side of present-day life generate in us a morbid incapacity to sen the great forces that are making for human betterment. We live in an age of transition, and in such crises of national history, when new tendencies aro at work the ultimate results of which can only be vaguely imagined, people arc apt to think that the world is moving on to disaster. Men are always prone to fear the unknown. The event, however, has proved over and over again that temporary gloom and uncertainty have only been- the preludes to a larger and fuller national life. He.

ferrrng to a former period of transition, Db, Stubbs, in his constitutional history, writes:

The historian recognises the law of the progress of this world, in which the evil and debased elements are so closely intermingled with the noble and the beautiful, that, in the assured march of good, much that ■is noble and beautiful must needs, share the fate of tho evil and debased. If it were not for the conviction that, however prolific and progressive the evil may have been, the power of good is more progressive and mor* prolific, the chronicler of a 6ystem that seems to be vanishing might lay down his pen with a heavy heart. The most enthusiastic admirer of medieval life inns'grant that all that was good. and. great in it was languishing even' to death; and the firmest believer in progicss must admit that as yet there were few sighs of returning health. The sun of the Plantagenets went down in clouds and thick darkness; the coming of the Tudors gave as yet no promise of light; it was "as the morning spread upon the mountains," darkest before the dawn.

No unbiased mind can possibly contend that the outlook to-day is _ as depressing as it was in those closing years of the fifteenth century; and, coming to modern times for another illustration, a glance at the state of England a little more than a hundred years ago, when new ideas were replacing the old after the birththroes of the French Ecvolution, is equally instructive. In his Collections and Recollections, Mr. G. W. E. Russell writes:

All testimony seems to me to point to the fact that towards the close of the eighteenth century religion was almost extinct in the highest and lowest classes of English society. The poor were sunk in ignorance, and barbarism, and the aristocracy was honeycombed by profligacy'. Morality, discarded alike by high and low, took refuge in the great middleclass, then, as now, deeply influenced by evangelical dissent. A dissolute heirapparent presided over a social system in which not merely religion, but decency, was habitually disregarded. At his wedding he was 'so drunk that his attendant dukes could scarcely support him from falling.. The Princes of the Blood were notorious for a freedom of 'lifo and manners which would be ludicrous if it were njt shocking. Hari drinking was tho indispensible accomplishment of a fine gentloman, and great estates were constantly changing owners at the gam--1 ing table. The olosing years of the eighteenth century witnessed the nadir of. English tirtue.

Our national life has certainly improved sinoe the age described by Me. Russell, and other periods in the history of our race teach the same lesson. It is decidedly a lesson of hope. The mid-Victorian age may have been more _ respectable than our own, but it is open to doubt whether it was really better. However, it would be a great mistake to mislead ourselves into the comfortablo delusion that wo are destined to drift on by a kind of inevitable necessity to a more and more - glorious future.' It is true that our fate is largely in our. own hands; but progress can. only_ be asr Wred by boldly grappling with the great problems of life and thought which surround us. The evils, of our day must resolutely be grasped and ponquered; but before this can be done men must really believe that the thing is worth doing,'\and that life is worth living. This is the message of one of the newest and most hopeful schools of modern philosophy, which,' to .'quote the words of De. Bouteoux, Professor of Modern Philosophy in the University of Paris, emphasises "faith, representation of an ideal, and enthusiasm," as the three most fruit-' ful • conditions - of human progress, and contends that only when life cap be proved to be worth living—which is the work of religion—can science defend her task of showing how the. fuller, life 'can bo made : life "ever ampler, richer, deeper, freer, as well as more beautifuland more intelligible." These ideas are' in keeping with that conception of modern history which bids us look forward with, hope to the gradual realisation of our noblest aspirations, instead of backward with regret to good' old days that never really existed. A recent writer puts the position very well.in the following words: "Although the heroes' of imagination may have been more highly adorned than their historic prototypes, the latter, with all their faults, are more lovable for they are nearor to ourselves: they are even nobler with the stains of their conflicts upon them than in their unreal and lifeless perfection." After passing through this process of disillusionment one sees more clearly than ever "that the' 'increasing purpose' runs through all; and the golden age which we thought to be in the distant past turns out to be before us and not behind."