82 i REPORT— 1002. 



appreciating the arguments used on the other side, it is unlikely that they will 

 ever be able to admit their force. 



So long as the forces of Nature were not tamed to the service of man, they 

 could be neglected ; Siinitary sins were alone found out and punished with 

 unsparing severity. But now it is otherwise. To succeed in competition with 

 others we must be able to avail ourselves of every opportunity ; and wide under- 

 standing is demanded of us. Moreover the growth of knowledge has induced 

 Fevere mental hunger ; the feeling that the dainty dishes provided by Nature 

 should be in no seltish manner restricted to the few is a growing one ; altruism is 

 a growing force. We feel that we are called upon to counteract the evils arising 

 from the growth of our cities ; from the concentration of workers in large bodies ; 

 from the minute subdivision of labour ; from the depressing conditions under 

 which the masses daily toil. To provide relief and healthy occupation for leisure 

 hours, to secure that vacuity of mind and pettiness of motive shall no longer 

 be the sore affliction they now are, we must take all the requirements into con- 

 sideration and define with utmost minuteness the task in hand ; broader and 

 higher ideals than those now prevailing must be established, practical require- 

 ments must be met. To secure the right attitude of mind for this task will not be 

 easy. Few realise, few know, how signal is our failure to appreciate our power, 

 how deplorably we neglect our opportunities. The bareness of the fare we provide 

 is nothing less than shameful in view of the rich possibilities which lie readj- to 

 hand. In saying that 



A primrose by a river's brim, 



A j'ellow primrose was to him 



And it was nothing more, 



the poet has well pictured our average atiitude towards our surroundings. To the 

 majority indeed a primrose is scarcely a primrose ; it is unseen. It is little short 

 of impossible to account for our callous disregard of the wondrous beauty of the 

 multitudinous objects displayed in Nature's realm, our willingness to remain 

 ignorant of the meaning of the mysterious changes which are ever happening 

 before our eyes. That familiarity should breed such contempt is passing strange ; 

 but how great the guilt in these days of those who allow the contempt to grow 

 up, knowing as they must that the ignorance is ea.sy to dispel, knowing also that 

 those versed in the mysteries have ever .sought to lay bare all that is within their 

 ken. The failure on the part of those who have the charge of education to make a 

 scientific use of the imagination is nothing short of complete ; there is nothing to 

 show that the imagination is ever called into play. 



Surely it were time to make some real effort to imbue all with a proper 

 understanding of their surroundings, to create in all minds a higher and reverent 

 interest in life. 



It is a sad reflection and a grievous blot on our civilisation that our 

 spiritual advisers are mostly so little regardful, so destitute of understanding, of 

 the works of that Omnipotent Power which all must recognise and humbly submit 

 to whether or no allegiance be ackjiowledged in doctrinal terms: they before 

 all others should be prepared to consider their inmost meaning and to direct 

 attention to their wondrous mechanism. V.'e indeed need to send forth a new 

 mission charged with the holy duty of enabling man to appreciate and acknow- 

 ledge the beauty of the universe as well as of preparing him to be a thoroughly 

 ettective worker, thus fitting him for the true, unselfish and reverent enjoyment of 

 life. To use the apt words of the Master, quoted by the Poet at the Breakfast- 

 table : 'if for the Fall of man, science comes to substitute the Rite of man, it 

 means the utter disintegration of all the spiritual pessimisms which have been 

 like a spasm in the heart and a cramp in the intellect of men for so many 

 centuries.' 



If we can but make sweet use of our present adversity, though we may not be 

 exempt from public haunt but live even in crowded cities, we shall unquestionably 

 soon find 



. . . tongues in trees, books in the babbling brooks 

 Sermons in stones and good in cverij tlting. 



