Reason and Truth.

Again, there must exist differences of opinion amongst the people of every intelligent community. No two people may be able to see every question of morals, or politics, or science, or religion from the same point of view. You can see this illustrated even if you notice two or three photographers on the top of an eminence taking photographs. You will find that their photographs may differ; they have taken a different point of view, and the camera gives a different result to each. If this takes place in such a mechanical operation as the taking of photographs, what is likely to occur when we are dealing with past history, when we are dealing with personal opinions, when the people are of different branches of the human family and trained in different ways, and when passion perhaps obscures the judgment? We cannot expect unity of thought or action. Have we not known people to exalt the faiths of their ancestors above reason and truth?

We have to remember that in a civilised community each is entitled to do what he likes provided that his doing so does not interfere with the like rights of others. That is true freedom. A man may express what opinion he pleases as long as the opinions are not inciting to disorder, or slandering or libelling other members of the community, and that such expression is not for the purpose of creating riots, or disturbances. There must also be Progress. To obtain Progress there must be the dissemination of knowledge. You cannot expect that people can be wise, or act reasonably, if they are ignorant. Wherever you have page 10 ignorance prevailing you are likely to have a low state of society, and disorder. Russia would not, in my opinion, have been plunged into her present unhappy position were it not that perhaps eighty per cent, of the adults of Russia are unable to read.

All civilised States have recognised the need of knowledge, and that is why we have State systems of education. Without knowledge progress is impossible. There have in the past been endowments made for schools, for colleges, for universities, and just as a State has advanced in civilisation so has there been greater attention paid to the education of the people, and that nation that has had education most disseminated amongst its people has been the nation that has made the greatest progress, and where the people have had the highest ideals of life.

What, for example, in the dim past, differentiated Greece from Persia, or from other nations that existed 2500 years ago? It was that in Greece there was a high degree of culture amongst many of the community. Greece had men like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and many others, and these men were continually questioning each other and trying to find out what the duty of the citizen was to the State in which he dwelt, and the duty of the State to him. I do not know that if to-day one could have a better statement of the duty of a man to a State than Socrates is said by Plato to have uttered before his Judges at his famous trial. May I quote one or two sentences from "Plato's Apology" to show you his idea of the duty of a citizen?—" My life throughout (he said) I allowed myself no rest, "but neglected what most men prize, money-making, family interests, military commands, public speaking, and all offices of the State, as well as plots and factions, deeming myself, in truth, too good a man page 11 to be safe if I entered into such things. I did not go where I could be of use either to you or to myself, but wherever I thought I could do most good to each one of you in private, thither I went, and tried to persuade each one of you not to take thought for his interests before he had taken thought how he might improve himself to the utmost in virtue and in wisdom; nor for the interests of the State before taking thought for the State itself; and in all other concerns to proceed in the same way." And after his condemnation to death, he thus finally addressed his Judges:—

"Wherefore I bear no malice at all against my accusers or against those who have condemned me; but as it was not with this idea, but rather with the intent to do me injury, that they accused and voted against me, it is right that they should be blamed. This favour, nevertheless, I ask of them: When my sons are grown up, avenge your-selves, fellow-citizens, upon them by tormenting them just as I have tormented you, if they appear to care for riches, or for anything else above virtue; and if they pretend to be something when they are really nothing, then reproach them, as I have re-proached you, with not caring for what they ought, and with thinking themselves to be something when they are worth nothing at all. If you do this I shall have received justice at your hands—I as well as my sons. But now it is time for us to go away, I to die, you to live. Which of us is going to the better fate is unknown to all save God."

You will see, therefore, from what Socrates said, that about 2400 years ago there were men so civilised that they exalted virtue, and held it to be the duty of the good citizen to engage in the service of man. Alas! that in the ages page 12 that such virtues were often punished. And alas! that the progress of mankind in civilisation has been so slow.

The struggle must ever be for more knowledge. We are showing that we believe it to be our duty, by the efforts we are making to popularise education, to promote education, so that the people may have more knowledge. We believe that if the people have more knowledge they will be able to reason—they will be able to view every question as wise people. Without knowledge there will be little chance of reason ruling. A man does not become a reasoning animal without training, and perhaps a training of centuries has made reasoning an inherited habit. We ought to know all that has been done in the world before our era, so that we may be guided by human experience: and we ought to know all we can about the wonders of nature with which we are surrounded, and we ought to know of the conquests of man over his surroundings, so that we may fully recognise our place in the universe. A true civilisation is based on intelligence and morality, and not on mere material things. In our search for knowledge we must, ever aim at ascertaining the truth: nothing must ever come between us and the truth. Mankind must continually struggle to maintain truthfulness. There are so many things that are constantly preventing us from striving for the truth; such as present associations, present surroundings, past alliances, what our fathers did, etc. It has been truly said that the hand of the past often strangles the struggle for veracity. We cannot have a civilised people if truth is not exalted. Archbishop Whately said: "It makes all the difference in the world whether we put truth in the first, place or in the second place." Without the love of truth civilisation cannot advance.