The Scholar and the State

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Excerpt from The Scholar and the State: And Other Orations and AddressesHE publication in this form of the papers contained in this volume originated in a re quest from its publishers, and not in any proposal or suggestion of mine. I am glad of the Oppor tunity to say this, because it gives me the further Opportunity to express my indebtedness to them for a privilege which I am thankful to embrace. There are two dangers to which religious teach ers, or those holding ecclesiastical Office, are liable. One of them is that of disassociating themselves from the life of the communities in which they live, and of cultivating a habit of what seems like indifierent reserve to the civic and social interests of their age and nation. The other is that of ob truding themselves into such questions in such a way as seems to forget that, in its highest aspect, the Kingdom of their Master is not of this world. But there is surely a third alternative. A priest or minister does not cease to be a citizen. One whose supreme allegiance is spiritual may not pre tend that he has no other. His Office, his gifts, his learning, his experience, his counsels, such as they are, may wisely be used to serve the State as well as the Church. He may not organize parties, nor devise policies, nor attempt to manipulate a caucusor a canvass. But he may strive to lift all local questions into their highest atmosphere, and he may wisely use such gifts and Opportunities as may have been intrusted to him, first to disassociate local questions, movements, or occasions from their merely local aspect, and then to bear witness al ways to the demands of that eternal righteousness without perpetual reference to which no state or scheme can end otherwise than in ultimate failure and ruin.Along such lines the papers that follow have sought, under varying conditions, to move. Some of them represent occasions where only the most partial and fragmentary treatment of large themes was possible, and others are the imperfect report of utterances originally wholly unwritten, and de livered without manuscript or note of any kind. Their literary defects therefore cannot be so appa rent to any other as to their author. The sub stance of what they affirm, on the other hand, stands for what are, in such connections, his stead ily deepening convictions. He will be glad and thankful if in any way they may stimulate edu cated men, whether ministers of religion or others, to bear their testimony in the interest of civic righteousness, and to use their gifts and Oppor tunities in willing service for their fellow-men.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.