ecessary, by an infusion of
youthfulness. We shall wait long if we wait

"Till old experience do attain
To something like prophetic strain."

There is a more serious cause of hopelessness, in the complexity of
modern civilization. Its very teeming life, its wealth, its
multiplicity of activities and passions, overwhelm the mind in its
moments of fatigue like a devouring chaos. One longs for the day when
the house of {170} civilization shall be completed, so that one may
dwell in it in peace.

We are, it is true, in a time when there is still rough work to be
done. But it is not blind work. Never has society been so clear as to
its several special ends, never has so little effort been due to chance
or compulsion. Nor is it ineffective work; for man now works with good
tools and the help of many hands. And there is consolation in the fact
that the foundations of civilization are laid wide and deep in charity
and welfare. There remains the perpetual task of re-establishing a
spiritual order which has been strained and wracked by the heaving of
many forces. But when the sanctuaries and altars are restored it will
prove to be a new order, richer, more liberal, and more complete than
any since men began to live.

{171}

CHAPTER V

THE MORAL CRITICISM OF FINE ART

There are certain human activities which not only are of special
interest on their own account, but also hold a position of pre-eminence
in civilization. Such are science, philosophy, the love of nature,
politics, friendly intercourse, and fine art. The last of these
activities enjoys a peculiar distinction because it is monumental. It
not only calls into play all of the more refined capacities, but also
records itself in permanent and worthy form. Hence the fine art of any
period comes to be taken as an index of its remove from savagery.

In submitting fine art to moral criticism, I shall use it as the best
representative of the whole class of activities which I have just
described. If we have not been wholly astray in our analysis of the
good, it should appear that these activities owe their pre-eminence not
to their bare quality or tone, but to their humanity, that is, to their
connection with a harmonious, just, and progressive state of society.

{172}

It is hard for a moralist to approach such a subject without timidity,
especially if he is concerned with his reputation for enlightenment.
For there are many who think that