412 LESSONS FEOM NATUKE. [CHAP. XIII. 



Even if I congratulated himself and his subjects, my personal feelings 

 would be rather grim. In like manner, the knowledge that my own 

 lot, and the lot of those I love, was a very miserable one compared 

 with what my descendants would inherit a thousand years hence, 

 could not give me a very cheerful view of life in general. Nor is there 

 any selfishness in this, for selfishness does not consist in highly valuing 

 our own happiness this is surely what the angels do but in being 

 willing to sacrifice the happiness of others in order to secure our own. 

 &quot; The hope of improving the condition of others in whom our affec 

 tions are interested is indeed one of the highest motives for exertion ; 

 but to suppose that we can carry such affection forward to far distant 

 generations is to misinterpret human nature. The feeling which is 

 mistaken for such transcendental love is a sentimental product of the 

 imagination, which seeks to render the hope of individual immortality 

 unnecessary to our happiness, by persuading us to forget the individual 

 and to think only of the race. The feeling is false to nature, and can 

 never be a real power in the world.&quot; 



Before quitting finally the question of public education 

 TWO ambi- we ma 7 notice an ambiguity lurking in the term 

 guinea, a sectarian education.&quot; 



In the first place, what is &quot;sectarianism&quot;? There are 

 people who seem to imagine that an opinion may be an 

 &quot;opinion in general.&quot; But, in fact, each opinion must have 

 a definite existence, just as no man in general exists, but 

 only definite individual men. Every man, as certainly as he 

 has eyes of a definite colour, and a nose of a definite form* 

 must have definite opinions on the subjects which occupy his 

 thoughts, even though it be the sceptical one that certainly 

 has not been, and cannot be attained. Thus with regard to 

 philosophy and religion, to bring up men without attempting 

 to give them definite teaching on such subjects, is the same 

 thing as directly teaching them that philosophy and religion 

 are unimportant matters, possessing no certainty whatever. 

 This view is just as definite, just as sectarian as any other ; 

 and those who hold it will tend to sympathise with and aid 

 each other, just as will the holders of any other philosophical 

 or religious opinion. 



A similar ambiguity to that which clings to the word 

 &quot; sectarianism &quot; attends the popular use of the term &quot; educa 

 tion &quot; itself. Education means the cultivation of the whole 



