98 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



What are the means by which these ends shall be accomplished ? 

 Shall we rely solely upon our supposed consciousness of what is right 

 and what is wrong, and let moral teaching consist simply of appeals 

 for obedience to the dictates of conscience ? That which is termed 

 conscience is, in a large degree at least, a matter of inherited tenden- 

 cies, education, and intellectual development, and varies with the in- 

 dividual, his surroundings, and the age in which he lives. 



That which seems right to the mind of one man often seems wrong 

 when presented to the intelligent judgment of other men. The con- 

 science of the average member of a civilized community differs widely 

 from the conscience of the average member of a savage tribe. To the 

 American Indian, revenge is a virtue ; to the Quaker, revenge is a 

 crime. To Gautama, to Jesus of Nazareth, and to their ascetic dis- 

 ciples, the total rejection of personal interest or advancement absolute 

 unselfishness and self-abnegation, unlimited benevolence, and an entire 

 absence of the desire or habit of self-protection were the greatest 

 virtues and most obligatory duties. 



On the other hand, the constitutions of all civilized governments, 

 whether written or unwritten, the principles of the civil as well as those 

 of the common law, and the teachings of wise men of ancient and of 

 modern times, recognize as a duty the protection of individual or selfish 

 interests. They recognize as just and necessary the restraint and pun- 

 ishment of wrong-doers, and the protection of the rights and interests 

 of the individual in person and property. Educated to look upon these 

 and kindred principles as embodying correct rules of conduct, we view 

 with approval the resistance of oppression and injustice, and even the 

 spirit which resents and punishes insult. 



There can be no doubt that these are conflicting views of duty, 

 but both extremes have been honestly maintained, and still are in some 

 degree. It hardly admits of a doubt that men of pure motives and 

 good intentions have committed acts of cruelty and inhumanity in the 

 belief that they were simply discharging duties perchance religious 

 duties. 



All these things point to the fallibility of human judgment regard- 

 ing standards of duty, and the imperfect development of ideas of right 

 and wrong. They furnish no excuse, however, for drifting through 

 life without an attempt to investigate or discover the principles of the 

 science of duty, or for neglecting to govern our actions by those prin- 

 ciples, so far as we may be able to recognize them. 



With the waning and crumbling of a faith in any books or records 

 as containing absolute or inspired standards of duty, the study of the 

 science and data of ethics should, it would seem, become one of greater 

 interest and attention than ever before. 



Whether we regard the ability to distinguish between right and 

 wrong conduct as in a great degree inherent in the human mind, or 

 as having arisen in the course of the evolution of the race, as a sense 



