Bulletin of the Santayana Society, No. 15 Fall 1997

              37
The objective nature of pure spirit leads to charity towards others, springing from
a spiritual understanding of their suffering and the ideals they embrace. However, this
charity takes on a detached form. Not being directed to an improvement in one's own
situation, it may be more a sympathy with other spirits than a call for improvement in
their well-being. Such is the nature of pure spirit, which turns to eternal themes, away
not just from the self but from other selves as well.
7.1 "Without in the least quarrelling with nature, spirit is in its interests somewhat
withdrawnfrom nature...; the very study of nature questioning nature and even
in loving and praising nature loving and praising it only for being friendly to the
spirit. ... A study of the realm of spirit is therefore an exercise in self-knowledge,
and effort on the part of spirit to clarify and discipline itself (RS viii-ixj.
Only a few exceptional persons are disposed to adopt a spiritual ideal. Even with those
few, the spiritual bliss they describe cannot be more than occasional, although it is a
genuine one. "Spiritual insight is possible only at the top of life" (RS xi). Psyche has
urgent concerns beyond those of pure spirit, even though mystics might wish to purge
themselves of personal worries through meditation.
7.2 "However much a naturalist may celebrate or even share the free life of spirit, he
cannot consistently assign to it more than a relative importance. Salvation and
enlightenment may be all-importantfrom the spiritual point of view, but this point
of view has no absolute pre-eminence in the universe'* (RS xi-xii).
For all persons, even those who do not adopt spirituality as an ideal, life is enriched by
spirit. Their attitude to life will be changed by contemplation, without perhaps any
major change in the external activities pursued. They may benefit from a spiritual ideal,
without detriment to psychic integrity. One can be firm in defending one's own
interests, with a good conscience, while being charitable towards others.
ANGUS KERR-LAWSON
University of Waterloo
The Santayana Edition
The Santayana Edition received a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities supporting our work through June 1999. Compared to our previous grants,
NEH funding was reduced and caused a realignment of editorial staff. The principal
result was that our Assistant Editor, Brenda Bridges, was "down sized" to a half-time
position. Although the reduction in funding is not a simple matter, receiving any funding
at all is a remarkable accompHshment The U.S. Congress cut NEH by forty percent, and
internal restmcturing at the endowment led to a 10% reduction in funding for scholarly
editions. Large numbers of projects, some with a long legacy of distinguished work, did
not receive funding and are now struggling to exist. Last fall, I was elected President of
the Association for Documentary Editing, an international organization representing
almost all scholarly editions underway. Without question, this year is a difficult one for