30 EDUCATION 



an era in which mankind came to fuller self-consciousness, an era of 

 more rapid expansion and diffusion of the powers which make for 

 life, in which the passion for freedom and knowledge that is inborn 

 found an environment exceptionally favorable to its exercise. Men 

 became aware of the universal applicability of the forces they had 

 inherited. They invented new and more perfect machinery, and by 

 their aid attained a marvelous power, enabling them to fly rapidly 

 over continents and oceans, to write their thoughts with a pen that 

 reaches thousands of miles, to talk to one another despite forbidding 

 space, to make the lightning illumine their homes and cities with 

 a steady glow, the sun to impress the images of all things on solid 

 matter, and types quickly to multiply the printed page in millions 

 of copies. 



It was an epoch in which the human mind applied itself with 

 irresistible energy to the intelligible universe. Nothing escaped 

 observation. It measured the velocity of light, it weighed the suns 

 and determined the elements of which they are composed, it de- 

 ciphered the story of the earth's evolution from a molten mass till 

 it became the dwelling-place of man, it established the theory of 

 organic evolution, the germ theory of the zymotic diseases, the 

 molecular theory of gases, the theory of the conservation of energy 

 and of the uniformity of nature. It was a century in which not 

 single minds alone, but whole peoples, were stirred to a higher and 

 more persistent self-activity. The marvelous advance in science, 

 in the arts, in control over the forces of nature, enlarged the thoughts 

 and aspirations of men, giving them a self-confidence which made 

 them quick to believe and be certain that what had been achieved 

 was but a token and promise of the infinite possibilities which the 

 persistent intelligent efforts of multitudes striving for truth, liberty, 

 and power should and would make real. Its victories were victories 

 of mind over matter, triumphs of enlightened nations over the 

 ignorant; and the whole course of events tended to confirm popular 

 faith in the might and worth of education, which ceases to be the 

 concern of scholars merely, and becomes the chief interest of govern- 

 ments and states. The democratic spirit, compelling faith in equal 

 opportunities for all, brought about a general recognition of the truth 

 that the first and greatest of opportunities is opportunity to educate 

 one's self; that the most effectual help a man can render his fellows is 

 to teach them to become intelligent, self-controlled, and self-sufficient. 

 They are mockers who will talk of the brotherhood of men and yet 

 consent that any should remain in ignorance. It is God's will that 

 his children know and love, and they are not Christians who refuse 

 to cooperate to make his will prevail. The mightiest powers which 

 manifest themselves in his universe are intellect and will, and it is a 

 law that to act rightly they must be educated to act rightly. Work 



