136 The Morality of Nature 



courage fresh from trials which they have survived. It is 

 the spoiled, the over-favored and self-loving, those to whom 

 the world has been so kind that they imagine themselves 

 entitled to continued and increasing support. These are they 

 who do not value life, and who are fortunate if they are to 

 be only tried and disciplined by adversity. For in adversity 

 a cure will be discovered. 



Answers assuring the value of life are the purpose and 

 foundation of morality, which in declaring the value of 

 conduct must declare also the relations of conduct to life. 

 Such a declaration may present itself to an individual in 

 a multitude of ways, but the form desired by the intellect 

 which asks the question, is found by the way of continued 

 reasoning search in that morality of nature, which shows 

 itself as the normal fulfillment of natural law. The future 

 which cannot be foreseen may be inferred from the cer- 

 tainties of the past. The intellect and aspirations of man 

 as he now exists, have been evolved from primitive life 

 under a law of compensation for conduct, and that law may 

 be trusted to continue to operate, and to evolve a future 

 for man correspondingly elevated, even sublime, beyond his 

 present power to understand or criticize; and a knowledge 

 of such a possibility and a faith in his ability for its achieve- 

 ment, may inspire his efforts. 



This is the phase of the study of conduct, especially hu- 

 man, as distinguished from that which is common to all 

 animal life. The self-investigating, self-conscious race 

 stands apart from all the rest in its reasoning knowledge 

 of good and evil and its aspirations and idealization, and in 

 its power to study in advance the way and the goal. There 



