Moral Consequences of Heredity. 355 



has been said about this invariable basis, but very little has been 

 fixed. Without actually attempting to do so here, it is enough to 

 state how the question presents itself to us. In the first place it 

 is evident that if this common basis exists if there be a certain 

 number of moral truths serving as a foundation for all the rest, 

 however diverse and complicated, and as a criterion to qualify our 

 own acts and those of others then this ultimate law must be very 

 general in its character, and consequently very vague. Since, ex 

 hypothesi^ it must be found at the root of every moral act, present, 

 past and future, actual or possible, and as consequently it 

 applies to an incalculable number of facts, it can only be ab- 

 stracted by a very elaborate process; and the operation whereby 

 we thus pose it in abstracto is, though it has a certain scientific 

 utility, really artificial. The law is not thus presented to us 

 simply and nakedly ; we always find it as an integral part of a 

 whole. But those ultimate elements which seem to lie at the root 

 of every moral act, and which abstraction isolates, are these : seek 

 your own good seek the good of others. These formulas may 

 be thus translated : respect yourself respect others ; but this 

 latter expression is more concrete and consequently less general 

 than the other. These formulas alone appear to us to be ultimate, 

 because they alone are natural; and they appear natural to us 

 because they are those absolute conditions of existence of which 

 we have already spoken. 



If this be admitted, we are, perhaps, in a way to draw a suffi- 

 cient line of demarcation between the invariable and the variable 

 in morals. These ultimate precepts represent only a very small 

 part of the acts which we call moral ; they are only one element 

 among many. Every moral act, such as is every moment per- 

 formed among civilized people, may be likened to some very 

 complex compound, to some highly complicated motion, or to 

 some organic product. The moral element proper enters into it 

 as a component part, but it must combine with a great number of 

 other elements to produce the total act. This is the reason why 

 it often escapes our notice. For instance, the act of studying 

 mechanics may seem to bear no relation to the two formulas 

 already stated. On reflection, a true relation will be discovered 

 between them. But as this act is highly complex, presupposing 



