1860 ESSENTIAL JUSTICE OF NATURE 317 



the wicked does not flourish ncr is the righteous punished. 

 But for this to be clear we must bear in mind what 

 almost all forget, that the rewards of life are contingent 

 upon obedience to the whole law physical as well as 

 moral and that moral obedience will not atone for 

 physical sin, or vice versa. 



The ledger of the Almighty is strictly kept, and every 

 one of us has the balance of his operations paid over to 

 him at the end of every minute of his existence. 



Life cannot exist without a certain conformity to the 

 surrounding universe that conformity involves a certain 

 amount of happiness in excess of pain. In short, as we 

 live we are paid for living. 



And it is to be recollected in view of the apparent 

 discrepancy between men's acts and their rewards that 

 Nature is juster than we. She takes into account what 

 a man brings with him into the world, which human 

 justice cannot do. If I, born a bloodthirsty and savage 

 brute, inheriting these qualities from others, kill you, 

 my fellow-men will very justly hang me, but I shall not 

 be visited with the horrible remorse which would be my 

 real punishment if, my nature being higher, I had done 

 the same thing. 



The absolute justice of the system of things is as clear 

 to me as any scientific fact. The gravitation of sin to 

 sorrow is as certain as that of the earth to the sun, and 

 more so for experimental proof of the fact is within 

 reach of us all nay, is before us all in our own lives, 

 if we had but the eyes to see it. 



Not only, then, do I disbelieve in the need for 

 compensation, but I believe that the seeking for rewards 

 and punishments out of this life leads men to a ruinous 

 ignorance of the fact that their inevitable rewards and 

 punishments are here. 



If the expectation of hell hereafter can keep me from 

 evil-doing, surely a fortiori the certainty of hell now will 

 do so? If a man could be firmly impressed with the 



