1 66 Spiritual Evolution of Society 



of that faculty which is peculiar to man ; that is, the 

 faculty of imagination." There is no doubt an element 

 of truth in this somewhat categorical statement. No 

 doubt it is true of the man of many possessions who has 

 not solved the secret of happiness by the aid of ac- 

 cumulated riches, but it cannot be said to be so in 

 dealing with the case of the poor man who from the 

 cradle to the grave is forced to live, as are one-third of 

 our population, below the poverty line. The right use 

 and ordering of the imagination cannot bring true 

 happiness and joy and peace when he has ever before 

 him the spectre of ill-health, of starvation for his wife 

 and family. Is it not the very travesty of consolation 

 to talk to such a man of the right use and ordering of 

 the imagination ? No doubt the exercise of this faculty 

 universally will be of the greatest benefit to humanity 

 when once society has been reorganised, so that there 

 is sufficient for all men's wants and no one need suffer 

 the horrors of anxiety with regard to those they love 

 when illness cuts off the means of subsistence. 



When such matters are discussed we constantly hear 

 the reiteration of the phrase : "As long as human 

 nature is what it is, the thing is impossible." But 

 human nature has altered and is altering ; the outlook 

 has widened ; men have got away from " self " to a 

 very large extent ; the process is one of evolution, and 

 is therefore slow. To be lasting it must be so, and, as 

 pointed out already, it could not have originated nor 

 continued without a fundamental change in the nature 

 of man. This came with the advent of Christian 

 altruism ; it grew at first very slowly and imper- 

 ceptibly, but latterly with greater and greater force, 

 until now it may be said to be the main factor in human 

 affairs, affecting as it does the relation between man 

 and man, master and employe, capital and labour, all 

 legislation for the betterment of humanity and 



