THE SOCIAL REFORMER 



times, and all his wisdom he gets by inheritance. He 

 " moves with the larger march of human destiny." 



I do not deny that the realm of man's history is intri- 

 cate, nor assert that the laws that make the life of human 

 society one marvellous evolution are simple or on the 

 surface. A fixed and determinate science of its phenomena 

 we shall never have. 1 Indeed, a fixed social science would 

 be false, for the phenomenon it would explain is a growing, 

 and therefore an ever-changing, fact. Simple prediction 

 cannot be had in this region, as in that of physical facts. 

 Nevertheless, growth has its laws, even though they are 

 the laws of change, and it implies an ever-living, self- 

 enriching identity : the reason and will for good which 

 have created society have their great uniformities as well 

 as the stars and planets. And these laws are being dis- 

 covered. As in the field of natural science, theory and 

 practice, abstract speculation and practical invention, have 

 gone hand in hand, inciting and aiding each other to 

 advance, so in the moral and social sphere do the theory 

 and practice of life reflect light upon one another. Social 

 life is an experiment on which all men are engaged and 

 on which every man throws some light. 



But the sad and amazing fact is, that our pursuit of 

 truth in this realm proceeds without method. We recog- 

 nise the vital importance of social problems ; we know 

 that here, if anywhere, the intellect of man should summon 



I 1 do not say this because I share the view, not even yet quite 

 extinct, that at the core of character there lies hid an insulated self, 

 or at the core of the self an incalculable will. Such a self, or such 

 a will, is supposed to be a condition of freedom. But it would be either 

 undetermined, that is, it would be a self or a will which could do nothing 

 whatsoever ; or it would be determined by chance, which is not only 

 necessity, but irrational necessity. 



