OBEDIENCE 173 



wholly indifferent as to whether it is carried out, or even 

 to prefer that he should not be followed and imitated, 

 but this would not in any way affect the action of the flock. 

 Similarly, when leaders of fashion are imitated by people 

 who are not of their class, it is certainly not at their com 

 mand, and not always to their unmixed gratification. In 

 the same way, when a man, notwithstanding occasional 

 misgivings, votes, dresses, dances, eats, and drinks in some 

 particular way because he sees his neighbours do the same, 

 he is not merely on that account to be called obedient, 

 though he may be called compliant. 



In another large number of cases the answer to Mr. 

 Bryce s questions will be that the compliance is prompted 

 by prudence. Men are commonly careful of their reputa 

 tions, and are soon taught that society is not tender to the 

 reputations of people who are independent or eccentric. 

 Or they are ambitious, or desire wealth ; and eccentricity 

 would be likely to be in their way. In other words, a reason 

 able calculation from experience convinces them that 

 it would be to their advantage to comply. Prudence in 

 these cases may act by itself, or it may reinforce other 

 impulses, such as the tendency to imitate, or the tendency 

 to obey ; but it is not the same thing, and it may readily 

 be discriminated. By prudence we mean the gift of intel 

 lectual foresight, acting in combination with the impulse 

 to seek pleasure and avoid pain. If obedience were merely 

 a special case subsumed under this combination, we might 

 reasonably expect that, in its actual exhibition, the degree 

 in which it was found in any particular race would vary 

 directly with the combined qualities. That is to say, that 

 the most obedient races would be those in which the intel 

 lectual faculties and the sensitiveness to pleasure and pain 

 were most highly developed. But this is not the lesson 

 which is taught by history. The Romans and the Spartans 

 may be selected as races which were conspicuous for their 

 obedience to the will of their parents, the laws of their 

 country, and the commands of their generals; but it will 

 hardly be said that they were distinguished above their 



