172 Spiritual Evolution of Society 



so that good health is an impossibility, and who are 

 suffering mental torture from the dread of unemploy- 

 ment or the sight of their loved ones gnawed with 

 hunger ? Would not imagination in this case add to 

 the misery ? It cannot be too strongly insisted that 

 until you create a healthy and comfortable environ- 

 ment for the toiling millions, with leisure to devote 

 to intellectual pursuits, it is hopeless to talk of the 

 exercise of imagination. 



Again, what profit can it be to tell a man whose wife 

 and family are starving, " Seek ye first the Kingdom 

 of Heaven and all these things shall be added unto 

 you " ? If the subject were not so painful, the advice 

 would be positively laughable ! The first thing to 

 do is to feed him and those dependent on him, and 

 see to it that such circumstances cannot occur again ; 

 then when his mental anguish as well as physical pain 

 have been relieved, talk to him of the Bread of Heaven 

 and the wine of angels. But not till then ; otherwise 

 one can expect and will receive nothing but curses 

 upon this hypocritical cant. The sympathy he feels 

 for his brother-man and the determination to stand 

 together until something like comfort is secured is 

 a far nobler and grander thing under the circumstances 

 than the study of the imagination. 



In regard to the kind of work Mr. Machen is in error 

 again. No doubt the ideal work for man is the tillage 

 of the soil and the reaping of the fruits of the earth. 

 But mechanical work can be most interesting and 

 become a real pleasure provided the wages are suffi- 

 cient to supply all necessary comforts and the hours of 

 labour not too prolonged. These are the two cardinal 

 mistakes in industrial life hitherto ; and they must be 

 remedied, so that for every man there shall be com- 

 fort and leisure. Then only will he come under the 

 full influence of the spiritual evolution operating in 



