THE PROBLEM OF FAITH 235 



says : " The man who inherits from his parents 

 an impulsive or easily tempted nature and an 

 inert will and judgment, and commits a crime 

 under the influence of strong emotion, can no 

 more be placed in the same category of responsi- 

 bility with a man of more favourable constitution 

 and temperament, than can a man who steals a 

 loaf under the pangs of starvation, with the mer- 

 chant who commits a forgery to afford him the 

 means of prolonging a guilty career." ^ All are 

 not alike. The greatest sin is sin against the 

 greatest light and with the greatest ability to 

 resist. He who is weakened and diseased because 

 of the vices of his ancestors reaches the period 

 of accountability with his hands tied. Those 

 who look beyond a universe of forces and laws 

 to a Father whose heart loves all His children 

 must not forget that He bears our griefs and 

 carries our sorrows, and in all our afflictions is 

 afflicted, and that what is inherited, instead of 

 adding to a man's condemnation, if justice and 

 love are not lies, is counted in his favour. Neglect 

 to make allowance for the facts of heredity, and 

 the classing of all transgressors in one common 

 herd, as if all the good belonged above a certain 

 invisible line and all the wicked below it, has 



^ A Physician'' s Problems, Elam, p. 59. 



