Poincare, Henri

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THE .MORAL CONCORD/I!V THE LATE HENRI POIXCARE.T()-DAY'S assemblage brings together men of very differentideas, who are united only by a common good will and anequal desire for the good ; doubtless nevertheless they will readilyunderstand one another, because though they may not be agreedas to the means, they are in accord as to the aim to be attained,and it is only that which counts.We have recently read, and ma\' still read on the walls ofParis, bills announcing a contradictory conference on "the conflictof morals."Does this conflict exist. ct)uld it exist? No. Morality maybuttress itself with a multitude of reasons. Some of them aretranscendent : these are perhaps the best and surely the noblest, butthe}- are the ones debated : one there is at least, perhaps a littleUKjre of the earth earthy, upon which we camiot fail to be inaccord.The life of man. in reality, is a continual struggle: againsthim rise up forces, blind doubtless but formidable, which wouldpromptly down him. which would destroy him, overwhelm himwith a thousand misfortunes, if he were not constantly uj) inarms to resist them.If we enjoy at times a relative rest, it is Ijecause our fathershave fought hanl ; let our energy, let our vigilance relax but aninstant, and we lose all the fruit of llieir battles, all they liaxe wonfor us. Thus humanity is like an army in war. livery army hasneed of di.scipline. and il is not enough for it to submit to discijilineupon tlie day of battle; it must bend to it in times of peace. ( )ther-wise defeat is certain, no bravery can save tlie day.' F^L-ad l>y llciiri Poincaic at the inaiij^iiral meeting of the ImciicIi Leaguefor Moral Education, three weeks l)efore his death, his last appearance inpublic. Iranslated by Georye Bruce llalsted.THE MORAL CON LORD. 607What I have just said appHes equally well to the strugglemankind must sustain in order to live ; the discipline it must acceptis called morality. The day when this should be forgotten human-ity would be vanquished beforehand and plunged into an abyss ofevils. On that day. moreover, it would undergo decadence, it wouldfeel itself less beautiful and, so to speak, smaller. We shouldmourn not only because of the evils which would follow, but be-cause the beautiful would be obliterated.On these points we all think alike, we all know whither it isnecessary to go ; why do we differ when it is a c[uestion of the waythither ?If arguments could accomplish anything, it would be easy tobe in harmony. Mathematicians never argue when it is a questionof knowing how one should demonstrate a theorem, but here thematter is wholly different. To establish morality by arguing is tohave your labor for your pains ; in such matters there is no argu-ment that cannot be answered.Explain to a soldier how many evils defeat engenders, and thatit will compromise even his personal safety, and he may alwaysanswer that this safety would be still better guaranteed if othersdid the fighting. If the soldier does not answer thus, it is becausehe is mute from some force or other that silences all argument.What we need is a force like that.Now the human soul is an inexhaustible reservoir of forces, afertile source, a rich spring of motor energy. This motive forceis the emotions, and it is necessary for the moralists to capture,so to speak, these forces and direct them in the right way, just asthe engineers subjugate the forces of nature and bend them to in-dustrial needs.Rut—and here the diversity arises—to make the same machinego, the engineers may have recourse indifferently to steam or tohydraulic energy;just so the professors of morals can at their willput in action one or another of the psychologic forces. Each willnaturally choose the force he feels in himself. Those which mightcome to him from without, or which he might borrow from a neigh-bor, he would handle only clumsily ; they would be lifeless andwithout efficacy in his hands. He will forego them, and withreason. It is because their arms are different that their methodsmust be ; why should they bear ill will toward each other ?And meanwhile, it is always the same morality that is taught.Whether you look toward the general good, whether you appealto pity or to the emotion of human dignity, you always reach the608 THE OPEN COURT.same precepts, those which can not be forgotten without the nationsperishing, without at the same time miseries muUiplying and manbeginning to decHne.W'h}- then do all these men who, with different weapons, com-bat the same enemy so rarely recall that they are allies? Whv dosome at times rejoice over the defeats of the others? Do thevforget that each of these defeats is a triumph of the eternal ad-versary, a diminution of the common patrimony? Oh, no! we arein too dire need of all our forces to have the right to neglect any;so we repress not one. we only ])roscribe hate.Truly hate also is a force, a very powerful force ; but we cannot use it, because it contracts, because it is like a telescope intowhich one can only look through the large end. Even betweenraces hate is fatal, and it does not make true heroes. I know notwhether, beyond certain frontiers, they hope to find advantage inmaking patriotism with hate ; but that is contrary to the instinctsof our race and to its traditions. French armies have alwa}s foughtfor some one or for something, and not against some one ; they havenot fought less well for that.If within the country the parties forget the great ideas whichmake their honor and the reason for their existence and recall onlytheir hate—if one says: *T am anti-this," and the other replies: "Iam anti-that"—immediately the horizon narrows, as if clouds hadfallen and had veiled the peaks. The vilest means are employed ;men recoil neither from calumny nor from secret accusation, andthose who show surprise at this become suspects. W'e see peoplearise who seem to have mind only for lying and heart only forhate. And souls that are not vulgar, if only they take shelter underthe same flag, reserve for them treasures of indulgence and attimes of admiration. In the presence of so many opposing hates,we hesitate to wish for the defeat of one. which would be thetriumph of the others.Behold all that hate can do. and this is exactly what we donot wish. Let us then draw closer together; let us learn to knoweach other and thus to esteem each other, in order to pursue ourcommon ideal. Let us guard ourselves against imposing uniformmethods upon all. It cannot be done, and besides it is not to bedesired. Uniformity is death because it closes the door to allprogress ; and moreover all constraint is sterile and hateful.Men differ, some are refractory; just one of your words mavwin their heart, while rdl the ri'mriindi-r of \(Hn' discourse wouldleave them indifferent. I cannot know wbetlicr this decisive wordTHE MORAL CONCORD. 609is not the very one you are about to say when I forbid you to sayit!. . . .But then, you see the danger: these men, who will not havereceived the same education, are called to knock against one anotherin life. Under these repeated shocks their souls will be shaken, willbe modified, perhaps they will change faith.What will happen if the new ideas they come to adopt are thosetheir old masters represented to them as just the negation of moral-ity? Will this habit of mind be lost in a day? At the same time,their new friends will teach them not merely to reject what theyonce adored, but to scorn it. They will not retain for the generousideas which cradled their souls that tender memory which survivesfaith. Their moral ideal risks being involved in this general ruin ;too mature to undergo a new education, they will lose the fruits ofthe old.This danger will be exorcised, or at least diminished, if welearn to speak only with respect of all sincere eiTorts which othersmake by our side ; this respect would be easy for us if we knew oneanother better.And this is just the object of the League for Moral Education.To-day's celebration sufBciently proves that it is possible to have anardent faith and to do justice to the faith of others, and that in sum,under different uniforms, we are only, so to speak, different divisionsof the same army, fighting side by side.

The Moral Concord.

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The Moral Concord.

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