THE CALL OF THE LAND 



in their selfish tendency to let society go its 

 way alone, and consequently ignore its in- 

 terests save when they see chances to ad- 

 vantage themselves by manipulating them. 



It thus comes to pass that unselfish and 

 constant regard for public affairs is a phe- 

 nomenon. There is occasional interest. We 

 love our country. Let her be attacked by 

 traitors from within or by enemies from 

 without, mighty armies would rise ready to 

 die for her. But zeal of this sort is sporadic, 

 unsteady, intermittent. Would-be good 

 citizens forget that peace needs its heroes 

 no less than war, that the social structure 

 may fall from dry rot as well as from a 

 cannonade. 



This coldness toward public affairs comes 

 not from men's sheer selfishness so much as 

 from certain false views which have had 

 and still have alarming vogue. 



In religion we have been trained for 

 generations sharply to distinguish between 

 the sacred and the secular, and to place 

 political and social duties in the secular 

 class. Although nowadays we are not sel- 



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