Goshen College - Maple Leaf Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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154 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. JUNE The Trend of Modern Civilization . .X -X X WILLIAM W. OESCH, A. B. fMajor Subject History.J It has been said that the proper sturdy of mankind is main. One of the most interesting phases of this study is h-is cifvilizatifon, that is, the study of the processes through whlich he has passed antd of the institutions and ideals he has fostered, in his effort to elevate himself into a higher plane of thought, deed, and aspiration. Gen,- erally speaking the civilization of an age or ofapeople iinds its clearest ex- pression in the institutions that if fosters and perpetuates. If this be true, in our efforts to arrive at a fair- ly good understanding o-f a-n age we have only to study well its institu- tions. political, social, intellectual, moral and industrial. As the politi- cal organization of society-that is the state-does probably the most to insure pemanenoy to all others, it shoul'd perhaps receive clrief con,- sideration. ' There is no age in which we should be more interested than the prese-nrt. The fact that irt is the one in which we live, that it is the one whose vitality We share, that it is the one Whose pulse-beats We feel the most keenly, makes it amply wforth while that We should attempt to understancl it. We are interested in past cilviliza- tions, it is true, but only to the extent that they help us to understand the present, and as they serve as mile stones, indi-ca.tin,g the path that man has traveled in his upward trend. It is a rather comfmon-place idea that our present civilization, is based upon the Hebrew and Graeco-Roman. But any one Who wiill attempt a compari- son of our present institutions and ideals with those of former civilliza- tions, whether in the near or remote past, will soon realize that the main features of our present civilization are quite unique and exceptional. We need but go black several 'hundred years in the history of Europe until we arrive at that period Where the insti tutions that survived from the classical or previous ages encountered and passed thnough a veritable maelstrom. New institutions arose differing in many instances vastly fro-m their pro- totypes. VVherein then does the uniqueness of our modern clivilization lie? One of fthe most striking exceptional fea- tures of it lies in t-he new anld exalted value it has placed upon the indivi- dual. Under the old civilization the in- dividual existed for the state, his good was made subserviant to that of the state. In Greece we find that the

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 153 purposes and works of the greatest lit- enary masters, we observe mucfh vari- ety in their contributions to life. Shakespeare aimed to portray every subtle characteristic of human nature, but presented also a worthy philoso- phy of life, Ytfordswloirt-h aimed to study the mystery of man's relation to nature and God, but in doing so gave us sermons of deepest spiritual truthg Tennyson in his elegy, in Mlem' oriam, aimed to Study the painful suf- ferings of a sorrowing heart and taught us the necessity of a final child- like confidence in a great Godg Burns poured forth his spontaneous inspira- tion in lyric song and in doing so por- trayed the beapty of the lowly and hvonest lifeg in tihe same manner Browning and George Eliot aimed to fathom the secret processes of human, thought, but gave a greater legacy of life lessons on love and sincerity. The productions of these authors are mark- ed with great sincerity and by a su- perior view of life and its meaning. They lived and toiled primarily for their ant and thus gave to the world the pnoducts of their loftiest inspira- ti-on. But the way through which the prophet of literature brings his mes- sage to perfection and world recogni- tion is not one of ease. He must Find an avenue of expression that will ap- peal to the disposition of the reading public. If his works are creative in form and content, it is possible they shall not at once be acceptedg yet this fact should never discourage an au- thor in his attempt to produce what he considers the most valuable contribu- tio-n to civilization. T The greatest creaitive genius may be rejected by his own generation, but that is no final indication that he is unworthy or that his productions will not live. In rare cases he may be a man whose life is uneven and faulty bu't that fact does not take away the truth of his message or pnove that it came fro-m unworthy inspiration. The fact that a literary master is human and is consequently a v-ictim of ordinary lhuman passions should not cast a blot upon a produc- tion that came into form during his best moments. It is his message and it contribution, to the problems of life that we must consider in our judg- ment. E The everlasting voices of literature are those who' persist in expressing the deepest feelings of the heart in the most natural form of expression. As we glance at the wellworn volumes in our libraries our eyes fall upon the names of the noblest characters of the ages Whose persistent influence burns deeply into our lives. They lirved and toiled in a world of changing emotions, rejoicing or weeping in sympathy with their brother men, struggling through poverty or neglect, but leaving on their stained pages words of undying power for coming generations. They breathed forth messages that should have found a reception in the hearts of their own brethern but wfhose greater interpretation and power was destined for men of the future. 'We have noted the processes through which literary masterpieces are creat- ed, the prophetic insigiht and passion- ate convictions which compel the author's ihand, the pathetic situation of those whose lives are burned out for the world and whose eftiorts are not appreciated until they are goueg but a far more inspiring thought is fContinuecl on page 1741

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 155 state showed so-me concern for the physical and intellectual training of its constituents, but it did so with the idea that it could thus develop a bet- ter citizen, who could best further the interests of the state. VVe must not suppose that the mission of the state as generally conceived was always an unvvorth-y one. In the case of the jewish anfd Athenian state, the nations were conscious of a high and worthy mission to accomplish. But in each case the end sought was not to develop a high type of individual, but to in- sure the supremacy of systems and at- tain to a national ideal. The center of political gravity lay in the state and not in the individul, accordingly there were few rights that a man possessed that the state wats bound to respect. Not only was personal iniative crush- ed in blind obedience to sylstems in which individual rights were ignored, but quite generally he was under the absolute control of an individual or, hierarchy of individuals who possess- the power of life and death over him. The Roman citizen soldier counted for little except as he was instrument- al in extending the empire of the Caesars. The many, comprising the middle and lower classes of society, existed for and were used for the pur- pose of furthering the interests of those who ruled over the-m. These condi- tions existed practically up to the time of the English Revolution. Now under such conlditions, equality of opportunity for the highest de- velopment of the individual and for the fullest expression of personality, was practically denied to a great ma- jority of men. It is not to be sup- posed that such confdi'tio-ns could long exist when once the minds of men were aroused to the injustice of it. Such a time came during the seven- teenth and eightenth cengturies. It was in the minds -of the political philosophers of the age, such as john Locke, that political ideas were con- ceived that were to revolutionize whole systems of government. These ideas were: that the rights and powers of 'government were Originally inher- ent in the people. A natural out- growth of this idea was the doctrine of the native equality of all me-n. Its propogation resulted in the attempt to enthrone the individual in, all his rights, powers, capacities, and oppor- tunties. This attempt was directly or indirectly responsible for most of t'he rervolutionsi and uprisings within the governments of Europe during these cenfliuries. So thoroughly were the minds of men imbued with the idea of freedom, and equality that there is scarcely a political document, in the nature of a constitution, drawn up during this period, that does not in some form or other assert the native equality of men. Our declaratio-n of independence asserts, that all men are created equal, that man is endow- ed with inalienalble rights, that gov- ernment derived their just powers from the governed, claims that would have seemed most startling to the peo- ple of several hundred years earlier. Almost every state constitution drawn up in Afmerica prior to the nineteenth century contained its bill of rights, in wlhich the foregoing so-called rights of man were enumerated. Quite na- turally political system would have to be altered to meet these new ideas. This violent changing of the center of