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I cannot, however, but see that, if Nature has laws at all, 

 they must be universal, and if cause and effect underlie all 

 her phenomena, then there must be many to whom life has 

 been but a curse ; and although we must not therefore regard 

 them as personally irresponsible, yet we must admit that 

 even the strongest and the best, those whom Nature has 

 endowed with the greatest power of resisting evil, might 

 likewise fall and fail, thus handicapped by Nature, and amid 

 such life surroundings. 



I must confess to having no faith in that selfish, stilted 

 theology which regards all men from the same human 

 standpoint, ignoring in most the heritage of evil, making 

 no allowance for the various circumstances of their lives, 

 and pouring out the vials of their wrath upon the sinner 

 rather than the sin. We are all differently constituted by 

 nature, and we have all a different environment in life ; 

 and whilst remembering ever that "it is human to err," 

 we should not forget that what may be a temptation to one 

 man may be none at all to another, and act towards our 

 weaker brother accordingly. Whilst admitting that all men 

 are morally responsible for their actions, it appears to me, 

 in the light of heredity, and with regard to the differences 

 of our environment, morally impossible that a God of 

 infinite love and mercy can judge us all alike as we too 

 frequently do each other. In the meanwhile, whilst 

 allowing theologians to settle such disputes amongst them- 

 selves, I boldly affirm that heredity governs man alike in 

 his physical, mental, and moral nature, whilst with variability 

 it develops and maintains his individuality, which differs 

 from that of every other of his kind. 



