109 07731 1899 PREFACE. THE papers collected in this volume were read before various societies in Boston and other cities, and were not originally intended for publication. They involve much repetition, and restate ideas to which the author has given expression in other volumes. The only excuse offered for their publication is the repeated call to have the papers, notably the chapter on “Soul Growth,” in permanent form. But aside from this, the chapters naturally group themselves about one central theme,—the restless search after the soul,—which perhaps gives them a reason for being that can only be justified by appeal to human thought at large. For it is not when we consciously manufacture a book that the highest revelations come. The living touch which adds color to philosophy may in fact be wanting where one has carefully planned an intellectual scheme. Nature hides her secrets when man is over-curious. One may close the door alike to inspiration and to love by zealously demanding to know how these blessings come. Truth appeals to the mind in fragments and at its own sweet will. It is life viewed as a whole which reveals the divine method of synthesis. And it is better to be true to the wisdom of the moment than mechanically to fit all knowledge together. |