RATIONALISM AND SCIENCE 57 



development of the ideas of loyalty and chivalry. 

 These races, and indeed all great races, have 

 added some adornment to the temple of humanity, 

 and made the life of each succeeding generation 

 a thing of higher and nobler possibilities. No 

 doubt they have all had defects to balance the 

 excellences, the Jews narrowness and fanaticism, 

 the Romans hardness and cruelty, the Greeks 

 frivolity and want of moral purpose, the Teutons 

 the vices of an aristocracy. But to every man 

 whose eyes are not jaundiced by cynicism, these 

 great national inspirations, in spite of all draw- 

 backs, will appear as the rich legacies of the past, 

 making life in the present worth living. 



Savages and barbarians below a certain stage 

 of development have attained a definite organiza- 

 tion, what may be termed an equilibrium. They 

 often go on from century to century without any 

 great change. It is the rise of ideas which breaks 

 the crust of fixed custom. The innovators are 

 commonly regarded as destructive and mis- 

 chievous, so that the path of progress is strewn 

 with the bones of martyrs. It is through the self- 

 devotion of the few that the many climb painfully 

 to a higher level. 



The ideas as they rise from the unseen depths 

 of consciousness usually first make themselves 

 known in action. They affect will and emotion, 

 which are nearer akin to the unconscious, before 

 they seek justification in thought. But sooner 

 or later the rational part of man must be satisfied 



