THE PROBLEM OF SIN AND THE RACE 203 



for no misstep and no crime, unless counteracted, 

 fails in som^ way to send its blight down the 

 generations. 



Society is responsible for a vicious, sin-gener- 

 ating environment in other ways, however, than 

 that of consent. The sins of the individual be- 

 long also to society, because public sentiment is 

 the ordinary arbiter of what constitutes right and 

 wrong. In one set of circumstances the heroic 

 virtues, such as courage, endurance, and the like, 

 are honoured. A man is helped to be brave and 

 honourable by the conversation he hears and the 

 books within his reach. If public sentiment 

 brands a coward as infamous, few will turn from 

 the face of an enemy. Not many are heroes in 

 their own strength alone. Heroism is a cord of 

 many strands ; in it are woven individual will, 

 tendencies from the past, the influence of exam- 

 ple, and the consciousness of how others will 

 regard actions. A noble character is the result 

 of many causes. It is stimulated by applause, 

 and encouraged by lofty ideals. If a man is 

 situated where little value is placed on life, where 

 the appeal to the sword or pistol is instantaneous 

 and legitimate, he who shoots another is not a 

 lonely criminal. He is an exponent of the crimi- 

 nality in which he lives. A person born in the 



