WHAT PRAGMATISM 18 585 



flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called," but rather those 

 who have become as little children, single-minded and simple-hearted. 

 We are still passing through one of those great transitional eras of 

 human thought which recur at somewhat irregular intervals. It may 

 be said to have begun some fifty years ago with the launching of the 

 evolutionary hypothesis, but when or what the end may be no one can 

 say. "Whatever the result may be, whether for good or ill, things will 

 never be just the same again. 



But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder, 



Shall wholly do away, I ween, 



The marks of that which once hath been. 



There is a spirit of unrest in the air which has invaded and seriously 

 affected, not only philosophy and science, but religion and government. 

 In fact, it would seem that all things are being called in question, and 

 that " there is a general reaction against uncritical acceptance of the 

 authority of tradition along all lines of thought." What may ulti- 

 mately survive or what may perish we cannot tell. Some of us believe 

 that the pragmatic movement is one of the contributing causes, per- 

 haps the most important, toward bringing about this condition of 

 affairs. We think that it has already accomplished a most salutary 

 work in philosophy and religion, which is far from being finished, 

 and we look for it to make its presence strongly felt along educational 

 and governmental lines. We believe that it is destined to invade our 

 law-making bodies and courts of justice, where it must be admitted 

 that it is sorely needed. In fine, we believe that the days of blind 

 authority and antiquated precedents are numbered, and that the prin- 

 ciple of pragmatism will perform a like mission in the world to that 

 of the woman's leaven in the three measures of meal. It has been 

 ironically spoken of as " a new gospel in philosophy." To some of us 

 it has proved to be a veritable gospel indeed — a gospel of freedom, an 

 evangel of hope. 



VOL. lxxv. — 39. 



