by his capacity to draw from it the
satisfaction of the abnormal appetite of unregulated passion. In this
mood he totally disregards the laws of society and seizes every
opportunity that presents itself to prey upon it and he thus becomes an
anti-social being. Through all ages up to the present, society has at
the cost of much effort and suffering been progressing, stage by stage,
towards a higher order. Each advance purchased at such a price, becomes
a free gift, by inheritance, to the next generation, and from this
inheritance still further progress may be made. It is quite possible
that in a dissolute age retrogression may set in and the ground be lost,
in which case its recovery becomes the arduous task of a succeeding
regenerate age.

With each advance that it makes society embodies in its institution the
principles of social life such as it has been able to discover them.
These principles being finally accepted, we must assume that they are
eternal or else we are compelled to admit that society may be for ever
at fault, that its development does not correspond with the true
development of man, and that this present life is in no wise preparatory
for a future. Though we declare that the principles of society are
eternal, the social institutions which embody them are merely temporal,
and may change with time and circumstances. They are, nevertheless,
binding upon our allegiance, and any attempt to overthrow them becomes
the anti-social act of the criminal and is a punishable offence. The
criminal is an enemy to social advance. He profanes that which society
holds sacred, he scatters that which society, at great cost has
acquired, and he attacks society at its most vulnerable points.

What, then it may be asked, are the causes that produce this anti-social
being? In the case of the sane criminal, an immoral basis underlies all
causes, and without this they would each and all be impotent. Some
causes, as e.g. alcoholism, are the result of the individual's
immorality; others again are independent.

The principal causes are:--A bad ancestry (heredity), bad domestic and
social conditions, alcoholism, imitation, and stress of circumstances.

=Heredity.=--Among unscientific people there are many extravagant
theories held, some even affirming that from the moment of conception a
child's character may be determined as criminal, as if character
underlay habit instead of habit evolving character.

It is therefore necessar