THE ETHICS OF SOCIOLOGY. 
191 
developes our imaginations and instils desires for something 
higher. 
Such desires should be especially strong in the minds of 
Sociologists. They must of necessity look upon much that is 
painful and perplexing. Social problems are numerous and 
intricate. As with a tangled skein, often there appears to 
be no alternative but to sever the thread. Impatiently to 
tug at them is to make matters worse. Patient and deter¬ 
mined efforts are generally best. Students of society should 
be desirous to rectify that which it may be possible for them 
to improve. That which may ultimately prove a possible 
finality, is so far removed from our sight as to suggest a 
limitless ocean for our sails. Shall we be content with 
attaining to that point which others have deemed sufficient, 
and, consequently, foundered ? 
The answer to that question must come from the 
Sociologist. On him primarily depends the issue. So long 
as he mans the ship of human progress, built on lines laid 
down by students of Nature, will progress be possible. He 
knows best how to trim the social sails to catch the favouring 
breeze. The point for which he aims must be as unattainable 
as are the stars by which the mariner steers his ship with 
more certainty than by the quivering compass. 
It is a glorious Priesthood ! 
He who dons its garb should be indifferent to all that 
cannot contribute to its divine aspirations. 
High Priests lead the way. Conspicuous amongst them 
is Herbert Spencer. Long ages after his body has fed the 
flowers will his mind lead men and women on in that 
procession yearly, daily swelling till it be joined by all 
Humanity. That is the aim of such men as he. 
Was it to gain material wealth that for fifteen years of his 
life he steadily held aloft the lamp of knowledge without 
pecuniary recompense ? I presume that at no time of his life 
lias money-making been his object. He is too valuable to 
others to gain much himself. The incalculable wealth of 
light which emanates from his mind, stored as it is with the 
force of knowledge, is shedding its rays east and west. 
America responds to it, Japan lights up her schools with 
his works. Ably seconded as they are by the writings of 
many others, I am convinced that their influence will be 
increasingly great. 
I am glad that our first efforts as a society are devoted to 
the study of Spencerian lines of thought. He himself enjoins 
us to do so as a preparation for practical application. Surely 
the harvest is ripe, even to rottenness ! The field of humanity 
