THE SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1292, 22 November 1911, Page 4

THE SPIRIT OF THE CENTURY.

. 0 : "NOTHING NEW, YET ALL IS NEW." What is the spirit of the twentieth century? According to Sir William Ramsay, D.C.L., LL.D., Emeritus Professor of II uinnnity, Aberdeen University; it is the realisation of the vast expanse of knowledge that wo have yet to acquire. Wo are. now,' he says, far more'keenly conscious.of the infinite amount that remains to learn than wo are of what we have already done. There is, in a sense,- no change in tho situation. There "is nothing' new, ■ yet all is new\ The'change lies..not.'in .the facts around-us,-but- in the spirit of man. Wo feel ourselves more immediately in the prcsenco of God; we know that God is not ! matter; we' have learned that it is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." But some of tho old negations still cling to us, the same unbending resolve f.o dwell .in >the material world, and to bo"convinced that man lives by bread alone, reigns in the renlru of social law "and" social develop- I ■ inont. For-my own part (continues Sii William) I,.have felt keenly the'.suffer- i nigs of ■ the # " world around "me and the evils by which we ure surrounded. I have gone to many social physicians, and have taken part in mnuy meetings and discussions about the cure of those evils. I hear no cure seriously discussed except tho increase of "wages and the increase of idle time. I hear nothing said about the right use of time, and only academic talk about.,the use of' wages/.or.talk, that is worse' than academic. I hear no word about the right education of the voter. If I attend a meeting to discuss"-- the merits of possible candidates for a town .council the last thing that, is mentioned —and it is rarely mentioned at all—is that any candidate understands the principles on which a city ought to be laid" out for the health and education and moral improvement of its citizens. I .have come away from socialistic or municipal meetings with tho stem denunciation of the Roman moralist in my mind, that when tho Gods wish to curst a man. thev grant Him his prayer. What shall we wish for, hope for, pray for? These are the things I want to learn; but about these 1 hear nothing. In education one of tho few measures discussed is to raise tho age under which boys must do no work—the most dangerous of measures, when manipulated by the unwise, for it only increases the boy's idlo time. Scotland was mado by men, who worked when they were boys, and who had very littlo idle it was made by men who walked many miles to school, who had not a school at (lie nearest street corner, who fared poorly and grew tiri" hardy' and 'thrifty." This is a phase through which the nation is passing. Somo parts of the nation stand on one step in the ladder of knowledge, some on another. W« are, however,- learning by degrees, and I havo the confident hope and faith that -there, will be..further progress in true knowledge'throdgho'ut the' nation. One thing is ccrtaiu. No nation can stand permanently.'higher" than tho level of its women. On them depend the ideals and the aims of the next generation. In that lies everything for the future. True education,' which'"implies a higher standard .morally at least ai much as intellectually,' must be universal, and must be wisely planned.