unishes most of our actions in the degree that they
approach, or deviate from, certain laws that are essential for the
preservation of the race. It is evident that if I sow my field, I
shall have an infinitely better prospect of reaping a harvest the
following summer than my neighbour, who has neglected to sow his,
preferring a life of dissipation and idleness. In this case,
therefore, work obtains its admirable and certain reward; and as work
is essential for the preservation of our existence, we have declared it
to be the moral act of all acts, the first of all our duties. Such
instances might be indefinitely multiplied. If I bring up my children
well, if I am good and just to those round about me, if I am honest,
active, prudent, wise, and sincere in all my dealings, I shall have a
better chance of meeting with filial piety, with respect and affection,
a better chance of knowing moments of happiness, than the man whose
actions and conduct have been the very reverse of mine. Let us not,
however, lose sight of the fact that my neighbour, who is, let us say,
a most diligent and thrifty man, might be prevented by the most
admirable of reasons--such as an illness caught while nursing his wife
or his friend--from sowing his ground at the proper time, and that he
also would reap no harvest. _Mutatis mutandis_, similar results would
follow in the other instances I have mentioned. The cases, however,
are exceptional where a worthy or respectable reason will hinder the
accomplishment of a duty; and we shall find, as a rule, that sufficient
harmony exists between cause and effect, between the exaction of the
necessary law and the result of the complying effort, to enable our
casuistry to keep alive within us the idea of the justice of things.

7

This idea, however, deeply ingrained though it be in the hearts and
minds of the least credulous and least mystic of men, can surely not be
beneficial. It reduces our morality to the level of the insect which,
perched on a falling rock, imagines that the rock has been set in
motion on its own special behalf. Are we wise in allowing certain
errors and falsehoods to remain active within us? There may have been
some in the past which, for a moment, were helpful; but, this moment
over, men found themselves once again face to face with the truth, and
the sacrifice had only been delayed. Why wait till the illusion or
falsehood which appeared to do good begins to do actual harm,