THE ETHICAL VIEW OF PROTECTION. 627 



of themselves lie, any more than a heap of bricks will lie ; but 

 they can be made to lie, just as a heap of bricks may be used for 

 the construction of a sham building. We may compare the dis- 

 cussion over a great question to the terminal moraine of a glacier. 

 The word moraine means a heap of rubbish. When a glacier is 

 formed and begins to push its way down a valley, a vast mass of 

 rubbish gathers and conceals its approach from view. If you did 

 not look carefully at one of these terminal moraines, you never 

 would know that there was any glacier ; and after you discovered 

 the glacier you never would know, except by careful observation, 

 that it moved. Yet it does move, slowly but surely, in spite of 

 the rubbish that seems to block its way. The rubbish is pushed 

 on little by little, and in due time the glacier gets to the sea. 

 Every one realizes then that the important thing was not the 

 moraine but the glacier. The moraine has been ground out of 

 sight or is scattered along the path ; but the glacier remains. 



So it is with every great truth that is making its way in the 

 world. It stirs up a vast amount of talk. Some people approve 

 of the truth, and bring their little store of facts to show what a 

 fine thing it will be ; others disapprove of it, and bring the same 

 little facts, arranged in a different way, to show that if this prin- 

 ciple is adopted it will inflict immense damage upon the welfare 

 of society. Many remember how it was when the great question 

 of the abolition of slavery came up in this country. Some men 

 argued against it, ingeniously devising plausible arguments, full 

 of statistics and Bible texts, and assertions that slavery was 

 indorsed by Christianity; and others argued in its favor, with 

 more statistics, and other Bible texts, and the assertion that 

 Christianity and slavery were totally incompatible; and mean- 

 while the principle of human freedom went on working, and in 

 time the slaves were set free. 



How did the man of upright mind and noble heart decide the 

 question of slavery or abolition in the days when that question 

 was before the country ? Did he weigh argument against argu- 

 ment, statistics against statistics, this Bible text against that 

 Bible text ? No. He simply sat down in the quietude of his own 

 chamber and said to himself: "The slaves are men like me. 

 Would I be willing to be a slave ? Will it, in the long run, be 

 profitable to humanity if a portion of the human race remains in 

 bondage ? " And it did not take him long to answer the ques- 

 tion. His own reason told him what the answer was. He de- 

 clared then and there that slavery was wrong, and henceforth he 

 was on the side of freedom. 



Now, a man who takes such a course as that, it matters not 

 how learned or how ignorant he may be in the science of facts, is 

 a philosopher. A philosopher is a lover of wisdom, and it is pos- 



