96 LESSONS FROM NATURE. [CHAP. V. 



what is meant by this human mental power, because ambiguity 

 A definition and misunderstanding respecting this matter are 

 of morality. ^ j eag ^. ag comm on as in the matter of language. 

 13y this power is not meant merely a feeling of sympathy, a 

 deference to the desires of others, or some emotional excite 

 ment tending to produce materially kind and benevolent 

 actions. Still less is meant the volitional impulse which in 

 all cases directly produces such action itself, since this may or 

 may not be &quot;moral,&quot; according to the circumstances of each 

 case. What is meant is an intellectual activity evinced 

 by the expression of definite judgments passed upon certain 

 modes of action abstractedly considered. The existence of 

 kindly social customs cannot be taken as necessarily proving 

 the existence of such intellectual activity in the absence of 

 some intimation by word or gesture of a moral apprehension. 

 No preference for the interests of the tribe over self, or 

 anger at the absence of such preference, is moral unless there 

 is a judgment that such preference is &quot;right.&quot; Similarly, no 

 amount of gross or atrocious habits in any given tribe can 

 be taken to prove the entire absence of morality. The liking 

 or disliking (and therefore the frequent practice or neglect) 

 of certain actions is one thing; the act of judging that such 

 actions, whether pleasant or unpleasant, are &quot; right &quot; or 

 &quot; wrong &quot; is an altogether different thing. 



A man may, for instance, judge that he ought to renounce 

 a tender friendship without its becoming less delightful to 

 him to continue it. Another may perceive that he has acted 

 rightly in foregoing a pecuniary advantage, though mentally 

 suffering acute distress from the consequences of his just act. 

 Again, differences of judgment as to the goodness or badness 

 of particular concrete actions have nothing to do with the 

 point we have to consider. Thus the most revolting act that 

 can well be cited, that of the deliberate murder of aged 

 parents, monstrous as the act in itself is, may really be one 

 of filial piety if, as is asserted, the savage perpetrators do it 

 at the wish of such parents themselves and from a con 

 viction that thereby they not only save them from suffering 



