THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY. 717 



depression of the other, and a decreased regard for the institutions it 

 originates. Speaking of the " so-called National Liberals," he says : 

 " A friend of mine was lately present at a discussion, in the course of 



which a professor of philosophy, of the University of , was very 



eloquently, and with perfect seriousness, contending that only one 

 thing was now wanting to complete our German institutions a na- 

 tional costume. Other people, who, no doubt, are fully aware of the 

 ridiculousness of such things, are, nevertheless, guilty of an equally 

 absurd, and even more intolerable encroachment on individual liberty ; 

 since, by proposing to establish a national church, they aim at con- 

 straining the adherents of the various religious bodies into a spiritual 

 uniform. Indeed, I should hardly have thought it possible that a Ger- 

 man government could encourage such monstrous propositions, if they 

 had not been expounded to me at the Ministry of Public Worship." 



Saying no more about patriotism and its perverting effects on socio- 

 logical judgments, which are indeed so conspicuous all through history 

 as scarcely to need pointing out, let me devote the remaining space to 

 the perverting effects of the opposite feeling anti-patriotism. Though 

 the distortions of opinion hence resulting are less serious, still they 

 have to be guarded against. 



In England the bias of anti-patriotism does not diminish in a marked 

 way the admiration we have for our political institutions, but only here 

 and there prompts the wish for a strong government, to secure the en- 

 vied benefits ascribed to strong governments abroad. Nor does it 

 appreciably modify the general attachment to our religious institu- 

 tions, but, only in a few who dislike independence, shows itself in advo- 

 cacy of an authoritative ecclesiastical system fitted to remedy what 

 they lament as a chaos of religious beliefs. In other directions, how- 

 ever, it is displayed so frequently and conspicuously as to affect public 

 opinion in an injurious way. In respect to the higher orders of intel- 

 lectual achievement, undervaluation of ourselves has become a fashion, 

 and the errors it fosters react detrimentally on the estimates we make 

 of our social regime, and on our sociological beliefs in general. 



What is the origin of this undue self-depreciation ? In some cases, 

 no doubt, it results from disgust at the jaunty self-satisfaction caused 

 by the bias of patriotism, when excessive. In other cases, it grows out 

 of affectation : to speak slightingly of what is English seems to imply 

 wide knowledge of what is foreign, and brings a reputation for culture. 

 In the remaining cases, it is due to ignorance. Passing over such of 

 these self-depreciatory estimates of our powers and achievements as 

 have partial justifications, I will limit myself to one which has no justi- 

 fication. Among the classes here indicated, it is the custom to speak 

 disparagingly of the part we play in discovery and invention. There 

 is an assertion occasionally to be met with in public journals, that the 

 French invent and we improve. Not long since, it was confessed by 



