VERACITY. 



199 



grounds of his beliefs and judgments, no less than for frankness and 

 courage in the expression of them. In a word, we must insist on 

 enlightenment — on the intellectual as much as the narrowly called 

 moral aspect of the matter. 



And this leads us to the conclusion that veracity, at bottom, sig- 

 nifies nothing less than the cultivation of a love of truth for its own 

 sake, and is, therefore, fundamentally synonymous with intellectual 

 integrity, absolute soundness and sanity of mind. Observe, then, 

 the further implication. To complete our conception of veracity 

 we have to remember that it means not alone speaking the truth, not 

 alone proper care in ascertaining what is truth, but also thorough- 

 going, unhesitating readiness to accept fact as fact, no matter how 

 unpleasant it may seem to be. This point needs emphasis ; for, hard 

 as it may appear to have to say so, there are very few of us who are 

 not, at some times, under some circumstances, guilty of imagining 

 that what we like is the final measure and criterion of what is; few, 

 therefore, who in practice live up to that ideal of complete mental 

 honesty which demands repudiation of all prejudice, snap judgment, 

 self-delusion, make-believe, a stern determination to see things as 

 they are, and the corresponding willingness to adjust ourselves reso- 

 lutely and without murmur to what is shown to be reality. Pre- 

 sented with a new idea, we are too often inclined to ask — not. What 

 is the evidence for or against it? but. How will it suit my tastes? — not, 

 Is it true ? but, How is it likely to affect my present creed ? But only 

 when we feel able to declare with Clough, " Fact shall be fact for me, 

 and truth the truth as ever " ; to realize with Amiel that " the 

 world must adapt itself to truth, not truth to the world"; and 

 acknowledge with Froude that " whatever the truth may be it is best 

 that we should know it " ; and, at the same time, carrying these 

 principles out into practice, make them the impelling and guiding 

 forces of our lives — then, and then only, have we a right to say that 

 our intellectual foundations are deeply and firmly laid. 



But such a result requires self -culture of the widest as well as the 

 severest kind, for it calls for balance and regulation of feeling no less 

 than for mental alertness, vigor, clearness, and honesty. Before we 

 can " see life steadily, and see it whole," we must have the entire 

 nature under the complete control of that conscience of the intellect 

 to which reference has been made; we must have trained ourselves 

 up to a degree of fortitude sufiicient to bear without flinching what 

 Bagehot once described as the sharpest of all pains — the pain of a 

 new and unwelcome idea. Often enough a fresh truth will bring 

 us not comfort or the sense of satisfaction, but the reverse of these — 

 doubt, misgiving, heart-anguish, agony of mind. The peace and 

 joy which we once found in an older order of thought may hence- 



