ON HUMAN NATURE AND ITS CAPACITIES FOE VIRTUE. 1.05 



in them. For there exist in our nature, together with 

 the undoubted fact of benevolence and love of others, the 

 opposite facts of anger, resentment, an instinctive dislike 

 and antipathy to certain persons, together with some- 

 thing very like the seeds of what Professor Bain calls a 

 principle of malevolence. This eminent authority on 

 questions of psychology is inclined to believe, from the 

 hate that may long burn " with almost unremitted glow " 

 in men, as well as for other reasons, that there exists an 

 original principle of malevolence in our imperfect nature ; 

 and certainly, whether it be original or no, none can shut 

 their eyes to the facts of anger, resentment, hatred, envy, 

 and instinctive dislike existing all around us in the 

 world. Besides the benevolent affections, there are also 

 the malevolent ; as well as philanthropy, there exists in 

 germ the principle of misanthropy a dislike instead of 

 a love of humanity, and not uncommonly something 

 resembling a contempt for human nature ; and, un- 

 happily, these last sentiments are quite as likely to be 

 developed in our contact with men, by the scorching 

 probation of life, by the terrible battle for existence, in 

 which, as at times we are inclined to think, it is the 

 " unfit " who chiefly " survive " and the unheroic who 

 succeed. There are always amongst men, as r the master 

 of the human heart and the sounder of all experience 

 knew, spirits of the stamp of Timon 



With his noble heart, 

 That, strongly loathing, greatly broke. 



There are still men like him, generous, magnanimous, 

 open and true, whose loving dispositions and noble 

 natures become poisoned by their life experience, who 

 are stung to madness and universal dislike by the selfish- 

 ness and heartlessness of men, by the wrongs received, 



