Mr. Oseba's Last DiscoveryBell, George W. (George William)
Science
Mr. Oseba's Last Discovery
Bell, George W. (George William)
New Zealand -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
All these countries have succeeded, if Mr. Oseba's arguments are valid,
in some measure in developing the "master motive," or in realising the
national ideal.
"Well, my children," said Oseba, "the force of Zelania as a social
leader is also in her ideals, and as the conspicuous happiness and
prosperity of a people are the best evidence of a benign rule, the
appreciation of her ideals has proved their utilitarian virtues.
"Well, by some exploit in mental gymnastics, the Zelanians have
chosen the highest possible ideal, Justice--the enthronement of the
individual--and with the inherited instincts of the race and a most
favorable environment, it was to be expected that, with the ripening of
the yearnings of man, humanity should find its highest type in these
Romantic Isles.
"In closing, allow me briefly to recall to your minds a few of the more
important features of my argument on these most interesting themes.
"I have reminded you, my children, that liberty never gained a victory
in an old, well-established, and wealthy nation.
"I have reminded you that with great wealth and population people
become conservative, the rulers cling to inherited power, the wealthy
fear change, and the mass, by custom becoming loyal, reform is
impossible--or at best, progress is slow indeed.
"I have reminded you that commerce is the basis of modern civilisation,
but that only people inhabiting the water-front have ever become
sufficiently commercial to materially influence any considerable
portion of mankind; and I have reminded you that it was only through
the colonial enterprise of commercial nations that the great
progressive movements have been carried on.
"Further, I have reminded you that only in the colonies, in new and
isolated communities, far removed from central authority, where novel
conditions required novel methods, is self-reliance nourished, liberty
aroused, and social progress made possible.
"And, I have also further reminded you, that of all the tribes, races,
or nations that ever loafed about the earth's surface, those of
Phoenicia, Greece, and Britain were alone capable of breaking away from
inherited customs, and asserting freedom of action, or of so adjusting
themselves to the requirements of a new environment as to develop a
state of society differing materially from that of the old order of
things.
"Then, too, I have shown you the social outposts of all the nations,
and how improbable it is that they should advance any further by their
own inherent force.
"I have reminded you also, that the total or aggregate of human rights
is the same in all states, regardless of form or population, that, like
elbow-room, individual rights decrease as the numbers participating
increase, and that of all things a great population is least to be
desired, and an over-population the most to be dreaded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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