A CRITICISM OF MORALITY. 



47 



of it by this method is impossible. The second way in which man 

 works towards a solution is by the expansion and growth of his own con- 

 sciousness, and is ultimately by far the most important though the two 

 methods have doubtless continually to be corrected by each other. In 

 fact, as man actually forms a part of society externally, so he comes to 

 know an &feel himself a part of society through his inner nature. Grad- 

 ually, and in the lapse of ages, through the development of his sympa- 

 thetic relation with his fellows, the individual man enters into a wider 

 and wider circle of life the joys and sorrows, the experiences, of his fel- 

 lows become his own joys and sorrows, his own experiences he passes 

 into a life which is larger than his own individual life forces flow in 

 upon him which determine his actions, not for results which return to 

 him directly, but for results which can only return to him indirectly 

 and through others ; at last the ground of humanity, as it were, reveals 

 itself within him, the region of human equality and his actions come to 

 flow directly from the very same source which regulates and inspires 

 the whole movement of Society. At this point the problem is solved. 

 The growth has taken place from within ; it is not of the nature of an 

 external compulsion, but of an inward compunction. By actual con- 

 sciousness the man has taken on an ever-enlarging life, and at last the life 

 of humanity, which has no fixed form, no ever-valid code ; but is itself 

 the true life, surpassing definition, yet inspiring all actions and passions, 

 all codes and forms, and determining at last their place. 



It is the gradual growth of this supreme life in each individual which 

 is the great and indeed the only hope of Society it is that for which So- 

 ciety exists : a life which so far from dwarfing individuality enhances im- 

 mensely its power, causing the individual to move with the weight of the 

 universe behind him and exalting what were once his little peculiarities 

 and defects into the splendid manifestations of his humanity. 



To return then for a moment to the practical bearing of this on the 

 question before us, we see that so soon as we have abandoned all codes 

 of morals there remains nothing for us but to put all our qualities and 

 defects to human use, and to redeem them by so doing. Our defects 

 are our entrances into life, and the gateway of all our dealings with others. 

 Think what it is to be plain and homely. The very word suggests an en- 

 dearment and a liberty of access denied to the faultlessly handsome. 

 Our very evil passions, so called, are not things to be ashamed of, but 

 things to look straight in the face and to see what they are good for for 

 a use can t>e found for them, that is certain. The man should see that 

 he is worthy of his passion, as the mountain should rear its crest conform- 

 able to the height of the precipice which bounds it. Is it women ? let 

 him see that he is a magnanimous lover. Is it ambition ? let him take 

 care that it be a grand one. Is it laziness ? let it redeem him from the 

 folly of unrest, to become heaven-reflecting, like a lake among the hills. 

 Is it closefistedness ? let it become the nurse of a true economy. 



