Is it possible that right here may be the main and underlying cause of
the so-called "demoralization" of the present generation? Is it possible
that the "impossible notions" and the equally "impossible conduct" of
the up-to-date young people which grandmother finds so shocking are
traceable to this source? Is it possible that faith, honor, loyalty and
other ideals and aspirations of man's better nature, are being neglected
and corrupted by the methods of modern science and the rule of reason?
The very idea of such a possibility, when it first dawned upon me,
seemed like such a palpable absurdity that I put it aside, yet as I
followed the other trains of thought which have been under discussion,
this idea kept recurring with greater and greater persistency. If it
happened to be true, the lesson to be derived from it might prove so
important and helpful to struggling humanity, that it appears to me,
now, entitled to careful consideration.
Let us begin with a general commentary and ask ourselves--How comes it,
while scientific methods have achieved such amazing results in the
material world, they have not succeeded equally well in improving the
inner nature of man? How comes it that science, with all its
investigations and accurately reasoned conclusions, cannot show the
individuals of the present day how to make better paintings than Raphael
or Titian? Or better statues than Michael Angelo? Or better music than
Chopin or Wagner? Or better literature than Moliere or Shakespeare?
It can show him how to make a hundred times better ship, or factory, or
surgical operation; but when it comes to this other kind of thing, it
appears to have made no improvement at all.
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