54 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



principles, goes on living and enjoying life. Hence these tears, 

 and these savage diatribes against an imaginary dogmatic opti- 

 mism on the part of his opponents. To him they perhaps seem 

 optimists, as not sharing his pessimism ; to their own apprehen- 

 sion they are simply children of their age, listening to its teach- 

 ings with earnest attention and trying to utter the message they 

 receive. 



What, after all, would Mr. Mallock have ns do ? He says 

 that there is no evidence of any meaning or of any general pro- 

 gressive movement in human history — none that " would be ac- 

 cepted either in physical or philosophical science/' Yet he wants 

 us to believe on some a priori ground, which he is prepared to 

 present, that life has a meaning and does exhibit progress. If we 

 will only accept the light that he offers, we shall see that " life is 

 full of august meanings " ; but that light, he plainly tells "us, is 

 not the light of science. In the same way he offers to invest with 

 infinite significance and value any little services we may render 

 to humanity — services which, considered simply as offered by man 

 to man, would not be worth taking into any kind of account. The 

 method in this case is to bring our offering to Christ, who " judges 

 it by the effort and the intention." The altar of humanity, then, 

 is not a sanctifying altar ; and men must be assured of a high 

 rating for their sacrifices before they will be content to make 

 them. " The love of humanity without faith to enlighten it, and 

 nothing to justify it beyond what science can show, is as absurd 

 as the love of Titania for Bottom." The reply to this is that long 

 before what Mr. Mallock speaks of as " faith " was known in the 

 world the nobler spirits among men had a love for humanity, and 

 were further ennobled, not made ridiculous, by their love. From 

 the commencement of history, indeed, down to the present day, 

 there has been but one way of being noble, and that has been 

 by caring for one's fellow-men. That way some have found out in 

 an eminent degree, and multitudes in a lesser degree, without any 

 aid from theological fancies. In the present day, when the laws 

 of social development and the true relations of individual life are 

 so much better understood than formerly, there ought to be, and 

 there is, much more to nourish in individuals a rational regard 

 for the general welfare. The love of Titania, whether for Bot- 

 tom or for Oberon, supplies no apt illustration here, since the case 

 is not one calling for romantic love, but simply for loyal devo- 

 tion to a recognized source of good — to that higher life of society 

 without which the individual life would wither and starve. 



Mr. Mallock's terms are too hard. Much as we might wish to 

 read those " august meanings," much as we might wish to feel 

 that our gifts to humanity received instant recognition and sym- 

 pathetic appraisement, if it is a question of reinstating the Tar- 



