Faith, 245 



one, those acts towards society and each member 

 of it, which shall be best for both. These desires 

 differ greatly in their strength, as a whole, or in 

 their comparative strength, even in members of the 

 same family. They may be strengthened by exer- 

 cise, but are never weakened by it. One of them 

 may be brought to the aid of the other, or be made 

 subservient to it, as when knowledge is sought for 

 the sake of the power it will give ; or knowledge, 

 property, and power are all sought for the sake of 

 the esteem they will secure. Either of these in- 

 stincts may become the master, and all the others 

 ready servants ; but the one that is master has no 

 power of rightly controlling or limiting its own ac- 

 tion even. The controlling and limiting power is 

 still beyond. 



Very different in its action from the Desires, but 

 standing high, as an instinctive principle of progress, 

 is Faith, or confidence in persons. It may be 

 shaken, or directed in its action by experience, but 

 it does not come from experience. So strong is it, 

 that no amount of suffering from lying and deceit, 

 will destroy a man's trust in the words of all his fel- 

 low-men. It is natural for him to believe them, 

 and to trust them, as soon as the time comes when 

 it is necessary that he should trust them. In child- 

 hood the trust is mainly centred on the parent, or 

 the one in the parent's place, as it is best for the 

 welfare of the child it should be. 



Although we may say, in our haste, that all men 

 are liars, we naturally trust men, till we have been 

 often deceived; and then we distrust them only 



