darkens his eyes and dries up the wells of his humanity to be
forever in search of doctrine. We need wholesome, experiencing
natures, I dare affirm, much more than we need sound reasoning.


III

Take life in the large view, and we are most reasonable when we
seek that which is most wholesome and tonic for our natures as a
whole; and we know, when we put aside pedantry, that the great
middle object in life--the object that lies between religion on
one hand, and food and clothing on the other, establishing our
average levels of achievement--the excellent golden mean, is,
not to be learned, but to be human beings in all the wide and
genial meaning of the term. Does the age hinder? Do its many
interests distract us when we would plan our discipline,
determine our duty, clarify our ideals? It is the more necessary
that we should ask ourselves what it is that is demanded of us,
if we would fit our qualities to meet the new tests. Let us
remind ourselves that to be human is, for one thing, to speak and
act with a certain note of gentleness, a quality mixed of
spontaneity and intelligence. This is necessary for wholesome
life in any age, but particularly amidst confused affairs and
shifting standards. Genuineness is not mere simplicity, for that
may lack vitality, and genuineness does not. We expect what we
call genuine to have pith and strength of fiber. Genuineness is a
quality which we sometimes mean to include when we speak of
individuality. Individuality is lost the moment you submit to
passing modes or fashions, the creations of an artificial
society; and so is genuineness. No man is genuine who is forever