rely."

The First Chapter bears the memorable heading--"Sweetness and Light"; in
reference to which Lord Salisbury so happily said that, when he
conferred the degree of D.C.L. on Arnold, he ought to have addressed him
as "_Vir dulcissime et lucidissime_." In this chapter Arnold lays it
down that Culture, as he understands the word, is, in part, "a desire
after the things of the mind, simply for their own sakes, and for the
pleasure of seeing them as they are." But he goes on to say that "there
is of Culture another view, in which not solely the scientific passion,
the sheer desire to see things as they are, natural and proper in an
intelligent being, appears as the ground of it. There is a view in which
all the love of our neighbour, the impulses towards action, help, and
beneficence, the desire for removing human error, clearing human
confusion, and diminishing human misery, the noble aspiration to leave
the world better and happier than we found it--motives eminently such as
are called social--come in as part of the grounds of Culture, and the
main and pre-eminent part. Culture is then properly described not as
having its origin in curiosity, but as having its origin in the love of
perfection; it is a _study of perfection_. It moves by the force, not
merely or primarily of the scientific passion for pure knowledge, but
also of the moral and social passion for doing good.... There is no
better motto which it can have than these words of Bishop Wilson: "To
make reason and the will of God prevail." Thus the true disciple of
Culture will not be content with merely "learning the truth for his own
personal satisfaction"; but will try to make it _prevail_; and in this
endeavour Religion plays a commanding part. It is "the greatest and most
important of the efforts by which the human race has manifested its
impulse to perfect itself"; it is "the voice of the deepest human
experience." It teaches that "The Kingdom of God is within you," and
that internal perfection must first be sought; but then it goes on, hand
in hand with Culture, to spread perfection in widest commonalty.
"Perfection is not possible, while the individual remains isolated." "To
promote the Kingdom of God is to increase and hasten one's own
happiness." Finally, Perfection as Culture conceives it, is a harmonious
expansion of _all_ the powers which make the beauty and worth of human
nature: "and here," says Arnold, "Culture goes beyond Religion, as
Religion i