storted by the old
party spirit, there is yet a clearer recognition than of old, that
widely-spread discontent is not a reason for arbitrary suppression, but
for seeking to understand and remove its causes. We should act in the
spirit of Spinoza's great saying; and it should be our aim, as it was
his care, "neither to mock, to bewail, nor to denounce men's actions,
but to understand them". That is equally true of men's opinions. If
they are violent, passionate, subversive of all order, our duty is not
bare denunciations, but a clear comprehension of the causes, not of the
ostensible reasons, of their opinions, and a resolution to remove those
causes. I think this view has made some way: I am sure that it will
make more way if we become more scientific in spirit; and it is one of
the main reasons for encouraging such a spirit. The most obvious
difficulty just now is one upon which I must touch, though with some
fear and trembling. A terrible weapon has lately been coming into
perfection, to which its inventors have given the elegant name of a
"boom". The principle is--so far as I can understand--that the right
frame of mind for dealing with the gravest problems is to generate a
state of violent excitement, to adopt any remedy, real or supposed,
which suggests itself at the moment, and to denounce everybody who
suggests difficulties as a cynic or a cold-blooded egoist; and
therefore to treat grave chronic and organic diseases of society by
spasmodic impulses, to make stringent laws without condescending to ask
whether they will work, and try the boldest experiments without
considering whether they are likely to increase or diminish the evil.
This, as some people think, is one of the inevitable consequences of
democracy. I hope that it is not; but if it is, it is one of the
inevitable consequences against which we, as cultivators of science,
should most seriously protest, in the hope that we may some day find
Philip sober enough to consider the consequences of his actions under
the influence of spiritual intoxication. Professor Huxley, in one of
those smart passages of arms which so forcibly illustrated his
intellectual vigour, gave an apologue, which I wish that I could steal
without acknowledgment. He spoke of an Irish carman who, on being told
that he was not going in the right direction, replied that he was at
any rate going at a great pace. The scientific doctrine is simply that
we should look at the map before we set