"I apologise for the personal form of my appeal. A clergyman is apt to forget that he is not in the pulpit. Of course I speak of men in general. Taking society as a whole, the big and the little, the rich and the poor, I think that it grows better from year to year, and not worse. I think, too, that they who grumble at the times, as Horace did, and declare that each age is worse than its forerunner, look only at the small things beneath their eyes, and ignore the course of the world at large."
"But Roman freedom and Roman manners were going to the dogs when Horace wrote."
"But Christ was about to be born, and men were already being made fit by wider intelligence for Christ's teaching. And as for freedom, has not freedom grown, almost every year, from that to this?"

"I apologise; a clergyman is apt to forget that he is not in the pulpit. Of course I speak of men in general. Taking society as a whole, I think that it grows better from year to year, and not worse. I think, too, that they who grumble at the times, and declare that each age is worse than its forerunner, look only at the small things, and ignore the course of the world at large. And as for freedom, has it not grown almost every year? 