Editorial December 10, 1904 Issue

The Vitality of an Idea

The world cannot overestimate its debt to those who, in any line of research, endure "unto the end." Their "footprints on the sands of time" assure those who come after them that the multitudinous ideas of Mind have an inherent vitality which inspires all those who are identified with their unfoldment in human consciouness.

The daily papers tell the sad story of the recent passing on of an inventor when he was seeking to bring to successful completion a daring experiment in navigation. The incident recalls the experiences of many brave men who have striven to liberate themselves and others from the limitations which are incident to a material sense of existence, the pathetic and inspiring experiences of those who have discerned new ideas and made them practical.

In the unfoldment of a new idea, whatever the nature of the discovery which leads away from the beaten path, the experiments necessary to its demonstration are usually fraught with difficulty and danger. The belief in material law, like an insurmountable wall of rock, seems to bar the way to progress, and the discoverer must challenge the popular sense of the authority of processes which have long passed current as laws. Then there is often a long and lonely period of experimentation, attended by self-sacrifice and privation, and when at length the discovery is offered to the world, there is doubt and incredulity on the part of friends, and cruel mockery, if not actual persecution from the public whom it would benefit. It sometimes happens, too, that at the first sign of assured success, a dishonest claimant comes forward to demand another's hard-won reward.

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