In
ancient Attica the idea of beauty, proportion, or harmony in life so
pervaded the minds of the citizens that the surplus revenues of the
State were devoted to the beautifying of the city. We find that love
for beauty in its art, its literature, its architecture; and to Plato,
the highest mind in the Athenian State, Deity itself appeared as Beauty
in its very essence. That mighty mid-European State, whose ambitions
have upset the world, seems to conceive of the State as power. Other
races have had a passion for justice, and have left codes of law which
have profoundly affected the life of nations which grew up long after
they were dead. The cry of ancient Israel for righteousness rings out
above all other passions, and its laws are essentially the laws of a
people who desired that morality should prevail. We have to discover
for ourselves the ideas which lie at the root of national character, and
so inculcate these principles that they will pervade the nation and make
it a spiritual solidarity, and unite the best minds in their service,
and so control those passionate and turbulent elements which are the
cause of the downfall and wreckage of nations by internal dissensions.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159