THE MEANING OF INFANCY 



warfare has diminished while the sphere of in- 

 dustry has enlarged, the need for absolute con- 

 formity has ceased to be felt, while the advan- 

 tages of freedom and variety come to be ever 

 more clearly apparent. At a late stage of civi- 

 lization, the flexible or plastic society acquires 

 even a military advantage over the society that 

 is more rigid, as in the struggle between French 

 and English civilization for primacy in the 

 world. In our own country, the political birth 

 of which dates from the triumph of England in 

 that mighty struggle, the element of plasticity 

 in man's nature is more thoroughly heeded, 

 more fully taken account of, than in any other 

 community known to history ; and herein lies 

 the chief potency of our promise for the future. 

 We have come to the point where we are be- 

 ginning to see that we may safely depart from 

 unreasoning routine, and, with perfect freedom 

 of thinking in science and in religion, with new 

 methods of education that shall train our chil- 

 dren to think for themselves while they interro- 

 gate Nature with a courage and an insight that 

 shall grow ever bolder and keener, we may ere- 

 long be able fully to avail ourselves of the fact 

 that we come into the world as little children with 

 undeveloped powers wherein lie latent all the 

 boundless possibilities of a higher and grander 

 Humanity than has yet been seen upon the earth, 



October, 1883. 



291 



