55 2 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
man with a " call" or "vision." From the whole mass of beliefs there splits off a body of accredited beliefs which comes to con- stitute " orthodoxy." Heresy is dreaded and banned. Con- formity becomes a more radiant virtue, dissent a blacker sin. The layman loses his immediate touch with the Unseen. Hierarchy rears its crest. The offices of the clergy are magnified. The laity as a whole retreats before the growing insistence on the spiritual eminence of the priests. The prophet yields to the scribe, the cure to the prelate, the local cleric to the central. The pastor becomes less dependent on his flock and more dependent on the higher powers. His opinions are more looked after, and the unsound are ruthlessly routed from all posts of influence.
Art is affected in the same way as religion. In times of little control the artist works as the plowboy whistles from sheer pleasure in free self-expression. But in times of tightening con- trol the artist is impressed with his " responsibility." The irregu- lar is deprecated and pursued. Canons and conventionalities multiply which he cannot evade. In increasing degree the art that is allowed to succeed is churchly, or courtly, or official, or under patronage. The censor reappears, the press is licensed, and the drama becomes a state function.
In the sphere of opinion the confidence that truth in open combat can always vanquish error declines. It is deemed needful to give a fillip to correct opinions and a handicap to the erroneous ones. The maxim that "every sober adult is respon- sible for his acts" is abandoned in order that the agitator may be held responsible for his diatribes and incitements. More- over, tendencies are everywhere sharply looked after. Certain branches of learning are "safe," while others are "unsettling." The curriculum of studies becomes less elastic. Classicism lords it in the schools. Experiments are frowned on and a pedagogical orthodoxy arises. The direct relation of teacher to pupil and parent decays, and central authorities appear for the supervising and unifying and regulating of education. Even in the higher schools the teacher learns to value the favor of the appointing powers more than that of the men he teaches. The freedom of
