190 
THE ETHICS OF SOCIOLOGY. 
that to “get on” is “ to employ as few men as you can, work 
them as hard as you can, pay them as little as will retain 
their services, and accumulate wealth as if for life here and 
hereafterand, it may be added, die in poverty as a 
millionaire. 
With some exceptions, those men of Science, Art, and 
Literature, who have done most to benefit mankind, have, in 
a material sense, derived comparatively little from their 
labours, and yet how wealthy are they in posthumous apprecia¬ 
tion ! To question them as to what constitutes “getting on” 
is to have it defined as the acquisition and distribution of 
knowledge. An acquisition, which, unlike that of commerce, 
is not obtained at the expense of human suffering and loss. 
A distribution free from the defects of charity, in that it is 
the more helpful, as it is more dispersed. 
It is needless to trouble ourselves with further inquiries, 
only to obtain greater confusion of thought as to what is im¬ 
plied by “ getting on.” They may be grouped into three 
orders:—The first, Idealistic;—Secondly, The practical only; 
—and thirdly, A combination of the two first. 
Now the Idealistic may be, and generally is, ridiculed 
by the practical minded only, but human progress in civilisa¬ 
tion must ceasewitli Idealism; without an ideal, development 
is impossible. 
Ideals are to us what the bloom is to the seed. Each is 
an incentive to something higher and nobler. When the 
plant has bloomed it has attained to its ideal, and the seed 
falls only to repeat the struggle. Or, mayhap, its fall may 
mean extinction. 
In like manner have nations bloomed and faded as their 
ideals have been kept within practical limits. Only so long 
as the ideal, as a motive, is in advance of the practical, can 
individuals and nations progress in civilisation and culture. 
Whilst the practical is subservient to the ideal, life is vigorous 
and progressive. 
It is not even necessary, perhaps not desirable, that the 
ideal shall be capable of definition, The evolution of organic 
bodies adapts itself to the varying conditions of life. So 
must our ideals. 
We commence life with such a burden of ignorance that 
to be rid of it all would require constant efforts for more 
years than are allotted to man. Still, the process is so 
fascinating that possibly life without ignorance would be a 
dull affair. 
To hunt out and destroy misconceptions, and store in their 
place that which shall shed more light on all around us, 
