Chapter 8

THE PRACTICAL PROSPECT.

It is not contended that the prospect just described will, as a fact, ever be realised 183

But only that it will be realised _if_ certain other prospects are realised 185

Which prospects may or may not be visionary 186

But the progress towards which is already begun 187

And also the other results, that have been described already 187

Positive principles have already produced a moral deterioration, even in places where we should least imagine it 187

As we shall see if we pierce beneath the surface 189

In the curious condition of men who have lost faith, but have retained the love of virtue 189

The struggle was hard, when they had all the helps of religion 190

It is harder now 190

Conscience still survives, but it has lost its restraining power 191

Temptation almost inevitably dethrones it 192

And its full prestige can never be recovered 193

It can do nothing but deplore; it cannot remedy 194

In such cases the mind's decadence has begun; and its symptoms are 194

Self-reproach 195

Life-weariness 195

And indifference 195

The class of men to whom this applies is increasing, and they are the true representatives of the work of positive thought 196

It is hard to realise this ominous fact 197

But by looking steadily and dispassionately at the characteristics of the present epoch we may learn to do so 198

We shall see that the opinions now forming will have a weight and power that no opinions ever had before 199

And their tendency, as yet latent, towards pessimism is therefore most momentous 200

If it is to be cured, it must be faced 200

It takes the form of a suppressed longing for the religious faith that is lost 200

And this longing is wide-spread, though only expressed indirectly 201

It is felt even by men of science 202

But the longing seems fruitless 203

This dejection is in fact shared by the believers 203

And is even authoritatively recognised by Catholicism 204

The great question for the world now, and the one on which its whole future depends, is, will the lost faith ever be recovered? 205

The answer to this will probably have to be decisive, one way or the other 206