Mr. Leslie Stephen on Tuesday delivered, in Essex Hall, Strand,
a rather fine lecture on "Sociology," marked by much of his felicity in putting old truths into a new dress. He noticed, he said, a tendency to-day, which was a day of science, to think "that the right frame of mind for dealing with the gravest problems was to generate a state of violent excitement, to adopt any remedy, real or supposed, which suggested itself at the moment, and to denounce everybody who suggested difficulties as a cynic or a cold-blooded egoist ; and therefore to treat grave chronic and organic diseases of society by spasmodic impulses, to make stringent laws without condescending to ask whether they would work, and the boldest experiments without considering whether they were likely to increase or diminish the evil." That, he thought, was wholly unscientific. We should look at a map before we set out for Utopia, and "organise our enthusiasm." In other words, we should not mistake good intentions for statesmanlike sense. That is what Unionists are always preaching; but Democracy is a child who on some points will learn nothing except from experience. "Will fire burn my pinafore ? Let me see."
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