THE DRAMA IN RELATION TO TRUTH 
The patriotic spirit, or love of country, as an incidental senti¬ 
ment leading upward to a wider love embracing all countries 
and races, has its place in the individual’s and nation’s de¬ 
velopment. 
The fond striving of the patriot should be a means, not the 
end of endeavor. Lotze, in his last work, which is a summary 
of his comprehensive system, opposes strenuously “the dei¬ 
fication of the state, a manifestation of which he sees in the 
fact that the state is conceived of as an end in itself.” 
A patriotism limited exclusively to any particular land is 
not desirable in itself, since this kind of patriotism is a species 
of selfish love, and must tend to contract certain sides of the 
human character which are very important sides to expand. 
But the love of country, or a localized patriotism so strongly 
innate in the hearts of many, is a divine germ which will grow, 
if nurtured, into a perfected bloom of universal love. 
The advance of peoples is correlated with rightly directed 
individual effort. The progressive unfolding of the state and 
nation depends upon the earnestness of the effort and the 
highest possible development of the individual. To find out 
the paths leading to truth, love, and charity, and to reverence 
the high endeavor of others, whether at home or abroad, is 
a goal for individual effort. This effort of the individual is 
the first step toward a free and noble life. Once to have 
attained these vistas, is to realize the inseparableness of the 
development of the multitude from that of the individual. 
In the cause of truth, the drama and stage may be used as 
strong levers in overturning false idols. 
1 Paper read before the New England Women’s Club, December io, 1894. 
The subject given to be treated was, “The Relation the Drama has to Patriot¬ 
ism.” Printed in Poet-Lore, pp. 149-154, March, 1895. 
