VIRTUE AND CRIME 165 



Men who would never have left their homes otherwise, and so 

 did much to advance and raise the general integrity of com- 

 merce, by improving the breeding and integrity of the com- 

 mercial men throughout the world. Again, had it not been 

 for the semi-religious animosity against the Puritan lovers 

 and champions of commercial combination and unionism of 

 that time, Penn and others would never have migrated to 

 America, and so set on foot one of the most active ages of 

 colonisation on sound lines ; whereas up to that time it had 

 only found favour with the outcasts and robbers and the buc- 

 caneers and adventurers, who made up the bulk of the early 

 colonists. 



Hence, we see that cannibalism, superstition, murder, rob- 

 bery, even polygamy and idolatry, have all been the highest 

 virtues at some time or other of evolution, and that as much 

 good has come from these crimes in their day as has or is 

 likely to come out of the virtues we cherish to-day, not least 

 of which are love of wealth, love of power, cruelty, business 

 sharpness, cleverness at making cannons, shells or dread- 

 noughts, but all of which are some day to be as great crimes 

 as murder is to-day. But all these crimes go unpunished by 

 God because they are virtues at the time of their committal, 

 so they not only go unpunished as far as the nation is con- 

 cerned, but in most cases bring God's rewards on the nations, 

 for punishment is reserved by God for the individuals who 

 perpetrate these crimes, or it is visited on the heads of their 

 children, not on the nation. 



But there are three crimes that are visited not only on the 

 individual but on the whole nation also. These are : 



i st. Gluttony and Intemperance. 



2nd. Laziness and Sloth. 



3rd. Slander, Hate and Jealousy. 



These not only bring their punishment on the individual by 

 the curse of poverty, ill-health, crime and degeneration, for 

 nothing produces crime like jealousy and hate. 



The virtues that make a nation prosperous are : 



1. Temperance and Thrift. 



2. Energy and Perseverance. 



3. Justice and Mercy. 



I put these in couplets because they are companion vices in 

 the one group and companion virtues in the other. 



