142 FROM COMTE TO BENJAMIN KIDD PART m 



top and every one else below"? Matters are not 

 improved but rather made worse when the word 

 " compromise " slips out as a synonym for " equilib- 

 rium." Is not almost everything a compromise 

 from some point of view ? The extortioner, the 

 slayer of human lives, the cheat, " when he thinks of 

 his opportunities," may, like Clive, be " astonished at 

 his own moderation." You and I both claim some- 

 thing ; half to me and half to you is a compromise ; 

 but ninety-nine per cent to me and one per cent to 

 you is also a compromise. I may even persuade 

 myself that a hundred per cent to me is a com- 

 promise, because I suffered you to get away with 

 unrifled pockets. What possible light then is ob- 

 tained by naming good conduct "a compromise"? 

 A further objection remains. " Compromise " is the 

 worst possible word for describing moral behaviour. 

 Morality, as Mr. Alexander bears witness, imposes a 

 law, and that law requires unconditional obedience. 

 If we follow it out, our own nature will blossom into 

 its true richness and fulness ; but for this the knife 

 is as necessary as the watering can ; the path to 

 moral self-development lies through self-sacrifice. 

 Where is there room for talking of compromise in 

 such a process ? The law indeed gives his due to 

 each man, and also to each impulse. The "stern 

 lawgiver" wears "the Godhead's most benignant 

 grace " ; but no wrangling of private interests, no 

 arbitrary delimitation of incompatible claims, will 

 produce morality. In a word, morality involves 

 order, equilibrium, peaceful settlement of competing 

 claims ; but equilibrium and still more plainly, 

 compromise neither includes nor leads to morality. 



