ght.

Rosalind thought it very beautiful that Miranda's first glance at men
should have discovered them so fair and noble; there was evil enough in
some of them, but standing beside Prospero Miranda saw only the "brave
new world." I remembered at that moment that even Caliban discloses to
the Imagination the germ of a human development; has not another poet
written his later story and recorded the birth of his soul? It was
characteristic of Rosalind that she should see the people in the
marvellous drama through Miranda's eyes, and that straightway the whole
world of men and women should reveal itself to her in a new light. "To
see the good in people," she said, "is not so much a matter of charity
as of justice. Our judgments of others fail oftenest through lack of
Imagination. We fail to see all the facts; we see one or two very
clearly, and at once form an opinion. To see the whole range of a
human character involves an intellectual and spiritual quality which
few of us possess. There is so little justice among us because we
possess so little intelligence. I ought not to pronounce judgment on a
fellow-creature until I know all that enters into his life; until I can
measure all the forces of temptation and resistance; until I can give
full weight to all the facts in the case. In other words, I am never
in a position to judge another."

The Poet evidently assented to this statement, and I could not gainsay
it; is there not the very highest authority for it? The time will come
when there will be a universal surrender of that authority which we
have been usurping all these centuries. We shall not cease to
recognise the weakness and folly of men, but we shall cease to decide
the exact measure of personal responsibility. That is a function for
which we were never qualified; it is a task which belongs to infinite
wisdom. The Imagination helps us to understand others because it
reveals the vast compass of the influences that converge on every human
soul like the countless rivulets that give the river its volume and
impetus. To look at men and women through the vision of the
Imagination is to see a very different race than that which meets our
common sight. To this larger vision, within which the past supplements
the present, the great army of men and women moves to a solemn and
appealing music. The pathos of life touches them with an indescribable
dignity; the work of life gives them an unspeakable nobility.