all others, inspires men and women with the noblest ideals, and stimulates them to work them out in the activities of loyal service.
§6. Moral Progress and Optimism. For thousands of years these moral institutions, the church, the state, the school, and the family, have been in existence; and sometimes we feel a doubt whether, after all, the toil of ages has not been in vain. Have these institutions succeeded in raising the general level of character and improving the general conditions of life? Can we indulge any sure and certain hope that the work of education will be increasingly fruitful? Or is the apparent progress of the world illusory?
The question whether there has been moral progress in the past is a question of fact. On the whole, it is generally agreed that if we survey the history of the world as a whole, it is possible to trace a general movement, which, in spite of many reactions and retrogressions, has been one of moral advance. The great moral institutions are in many respects more powerful than ever they were, and on the whole they maintain with greater equity than in any previous age the rights and duties, the privileges and obligations, of their members.
But even those who would be inclined to deny that the world has seen any real moral progress are prepared to admit that in all the tale of history, discouraging as it often is, there is nothing to prevent us cherishing the hope that the future will be better than the present. We have a right to this hope, and it is only as this hope becomes an ideal to inspire our work, that we can render our best service. Only the optimist can give loyal and whole-hearted service.
