Outgoing and Incoming Centuries

1901

The New York Outlook publishes an exceedingly interesting review and interpretation of the century just closing, the distinctive characteristic of which it finds to have been freedom — in science freedom of investigation unhampered by either the scientific or theological theories of the past, in education freedom to teach all the people all truth on all subjects without that fear of universal education which even educators themselves felt in former times, in theology freedom from traditionary dogma, upon which our forefathers believed the whole structure of organized religion rested; in ethics freedom to apply the practical test of ethical result to every problem of conduct and to every man in every station, in politics freedom from despotic control of the many by the one or the few, in industry freedom of the workingman to determine the conditions in which a man's work shall be done, in literature freedom to give expression to life as it really is instead of to life as a little band of writers think it should be.

With freedom as the chief characteristic of the nineteenth century the first duty of the twentieth century, says The Outlook, is to use that freedom in religion, politics, society, art, literature, so as to maintain the highest ideals and minister to the largest life. The work which lies before the twentieth century is as great as that which the nineteenth century has accomplished.

It is impossible to forecast the probable advances in science, whether practical or theoretical, nor is it easy even to indicate what fields remain for it to conquer. Of this we may be sure: The principle of evolution which it has established, which is the basis of moral as well as scientific progress, will not be lost to the world. In education we have to adjust our school system to the rapidly growing sphere of knowledge so that it will deal with all subjects without being superficial in any and will train the moral faculties without giving to the training a denominational or dogmatic character. In politics the rights of men are theoretically recognized in England and America and measurably in all western Europe as the basis of government, but the rights and duties of nations toward each other have yet to be defined by a gradual development and application of international law and a solution of the problem.

What are the duties which the civilized nations owe to those that are uncivilized or semi-civilized? Brotherhood is as yet an academic opinion or an ethical sentiment. The work of the reformer, whether in thought or in action, is to formulate its principles, to learn what are the fundamental obligations of man to his brother man and to apply them to the solution of current social problems.