ABSTRACT
We all ought, of course, to be highly virtuous, but the degree to which we ought to proclaim our own virtue depends upon our profession. A horse dealer or a bookmaker is not expected to have an air of piety, a sailor is not expected to be as nice in his diction as a family physician. The professions in which a man is allowed to behave in a natural manner are, of course, on the whole less lucrative than those in which a high standard of humbug is required. The corporation lawyer, the corrupt politician, and the popular psychiatrist are expected to utter moral sentiments with profound earnestness and great frequency, but in return for this hard work, they are allowed a suitable remuneration. There are, however, two professions in which a high standard of edification is demanded without being paid for in proportion to the moral and intellectual damage that it entails: these two are the professions of teaching and preaching. With regard to preaching, I will say nothing, since edification is of its essence, but in the teaching profession the supposed need of edification is disastrous, and we shall never get a sound population until every teacher who can be proved to have edified is dismissed on the spot.
