aristocratic and selfish, if not often lacking in moral quality. In any case, it was too little related to the practical world. The tendency today is toward the other extreme-to make nature the god, results and success the chief aim, the conveniences and comforts of life the source of happiness. The present movement unduly emphasizes industrialism, and regards social progress as almost exclusively improvement in physical well-being. Idealism harmonizes the opposing views of life and presents a culture which is rooted in the world of today, but reaches upward into the sunlight of the spiritual world. It teaches that the spiritual life comes to consciousness through nature and labor and real problems. True culture regards not alone man's work and its results, but his attitude toward his work, his whole spirit and purpose, the causes he makes his own, and the kind of faith that is to him the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Does idealism meet the need of the world today-a world which is viewed as rich in things but poor in spirit, which is restless and dissatisfied and eagerly awaits a new vision? You may say: Here is nothing new; you are showing only the old concepts of the True, the Beautiful and the Good, of Conscience and Duty. If true, perhaps so much the better; but the view may be from another angle, which reveals more clearly

their truth and value. That we may see more plainly what idealism means, see that it is only a definition of that which we instinctively feel but needs to be made a matter of thought and powerful conviction, let us illustrate further from common experience: Take the literature of the world which depicts soul-dramas; what is it that always arouses the deepest, most widespread and permanent interest? It is some tragedy of the soul in which the hero has finally said yes or no "to a principle which the ages have held inviolable-a principle which indeed is absolute and timeless. If he fails in the crisis, if he compromises, if his atonement is not equal to the fault, there is a feeling that absolute values have not been upheld, a verdict that the moral is worthless. And the same experience follows when charity to whom charity is due has not been shown in the right degree. These dramas are in the spiritual realm, where the demand is imperative that the soul ever turn toward the true and right; and here the real psychology of ethics is found. The essence of idealism is implied in phrases so common as to prove a universal consciousness of spiritual life"He betrays his real self "; " He is condemned by his own inner judgment." Idealism is not difficult to understand in the concrete. The need is to give it the dignity of a philosophy, to make evident that it represents a supreme reality, to

create a vivid consciousness of the transcendent worth of all true ideals, to show the poverty of the soul that lacks the spiritual vision.

If honesty and justice were a passion of the mind, like the aristocratic sense of honor in the age of chivalry, many problems of business, politics, and social equity would be solved. If the Golden Rule carried conviction, and its spirit pervaded society, there would be a speedy betterment of all human conditions of suffering and injustice. In short, if there were a clear view of the world of spiritual values, all that we describe as empty, feeble, shallow, trivial, without meaning or purpose, would lose much of its charm; all that is vile or unjust or false or that creates ugliness where beauty might be, would appear abhorrent; all that is destructive of any human good, or is obstructive of real progress, would be felt as a crime. The emptiness of mind, the poverty of heart, the separation from the true social order and the constructive forces of the world, the estrangement from the purposes of the Universal Will, of a negative life or a life of mere pleasure, would be revealed, and the sense of barrenness and isolation would fill the soul with despair. On the other hand, all industry, all that helps society and state, all that makes for beauty, truth, justice, morality, religion, all leadership that sustains present values or creates new ones, would bring a feeling

of being "at at home" in the world, of human fellowship, of "at-oneness" with the purpose of the universe. Idealism thus may be the source of a great life motive, of inspiration. By it the fragments of life may be united into a whole. By it we may get an ever increasing wealth of mind and heart and will. By it we may gain more than riches-a view that gives a meaning to labor and a purpose to life. Moreover, idealism has a universal application. All forms of honest and useful work, done in a spirit of devotion and service, are alike in quality-that of the laborer, of the poet, of the saint. Whoever digs a ditch and does it honestly and well, when he might shirk without discovery or loss, does it well because he would feel himself less of a man if he fell short of his full duty, has a motive of like quality with that of the hero whose deed will be told in history. And his motive has an absolute value, is absolved, freed, from merely material or selfish interest, is in the realm of ideals which are complete in themselves, where all right endeavor has a meaning, all virtue a reward. Goethe has a happy description of the place and import of humble work. He says, "Practice till you are an able violinist, and be assured that the director will have pleasure in assigning you a place in the orchestra. Make an instrument of yourself, and wait and see what sort of place humanity will

grant you in universal life. Everyone needs to serve from the lowest rank upward. To limit one's self to one craft is the best. To the narrow mind it will be, after all, a craft; to the more intelligent, an art; and the most enlightened, when he does one thing, does everything; or, to be less paradoxical, in the one thing which he does rightly, he beholds the semblance of everything that is rightly done."

Is idealism aristocratic, or is it adapted to democracy? That it is a philosophy for the people is shown in two ways: It is in its very nature altruistic; it upholds the standards that alone will make a successful democracy. Altruism should be broadly understood. Society is based on the idea that each count, not only as one, but one for service; that each shall do something helpful, or, at least, be something that shall radiate a genial influence. But service is found not only in labor efficiency, charity, but in enlarging the boundaries of human knowledge; in culture, if it lets its light shine; in the flash of genius that illumines the mind and arouses the spirit of a people. It is a helpful thought that much of the so-called practical spirit of the time is really altruism, a demand that a man shall show his right in society by his service. Again, idealism is adapted to democracy, because it stands for the highest aims of humanity; and democracy, in coming to