Sad, but not hopeless! Dark, but not without a gleam of light on the
horizon! For I can conceive a time when, by improved chemical science,
every foul vapour which now escapes from the chimney of a manufactory,
polluting the air, destroying the vegetation, shall be seized, utilised,
converted into some profitable substance; till the black country shall be
black no longer, the streams once more crystal clear, the trees once more
luxuriant, and the desert which man has created in his haste and greed
shall, in literal fact, once more blossom as the rose. And just so can I
conceive a time when, by a higher civilisation, formed on a political
economy more truly scientific, because more truly according to the will
of God, our human refuse shall be utilised, like our material refuse,
when man, as man, even down to the weakest and most ignorant, shall be
found to be (as he really is) so valuable, that it will be worth while to
preserve his health, to develop his capabilities, to save him alive,
body, intellect, and character, at any cost; because men will see that a
man is, after all, the most precious and useful thing on the earth, and
that no cost spent on the development of human beings can possibly be
thrown away.
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