ON HISTORY
Of all the studies by which men acquire citizenship of the intellectual commonwealth, no single one is so indispensable as the study of the past.
Mankind is in mortal peril, and fear now, as in the past, is inclining men to seek refuge in God.
Everybody knows Wells’s Time Machine, which enabled its possessor to travel backwards or forwards in time, and see for himself what the past was like and what the future will be.
The decay of traditional religious beliefs, bitterly bewailed by upholders of the Churches,
welcomed with joy by those who regard the old creeds as mere superstition, is an undeniable
fact. Yet when the dogmas have been rejected, the question of the place of religion in life is by
no means decided.
Teaching, more even than most other professions, has been transformed during the last hundred years from a small, highly skilled profession concerned with a minority of the population, to a large and important branch of the public service.
In relation to any political doctrine there are two questions to be asked: (1) Are its theoretical tenets true?
(2) Is its practical policy likely to increase Human happiness?
The philosophy which has seemed appropriate to science has varied from time to time. To Newton and most of his English contemporary’s science seemed to afford proof of the existence of God as the Almighty Lawgiver: He had decreed the law of gravitation and whatever other natural laws had been discovered by Englishmen.
Before considering how to educate, it is well to be clear as to the sort of result which we wish to achieve. Dr Arnold wanted ‘humbleness of mind’, a quality not possessed by Aristotle’s ‘magnanimous man’. Nietzsche’s ideal is not that of Christianity. No more is Kant’s: for while Christ enjoins love, Kant teaches
Language, like other things of mysterious importance, such as breath, blood, sex and lightning, has been viewed superstitiously ever since men were cap able of recording their thoughts. Savages fear to disclose their true name to an enemy, lest he should work evil magic by means of it.