Summary and Conclusion 4^7 



by which humanity seeks, by intelHgent intervention, to make 

 just, a natural sequence which seems to be inherently lacking 

 justice; but as a law of cause and effect, self-adjusting, and 

 inevitably just. Under this law, continued life potentially 

 immortal is the consequence of certain conduct, and death 

 and extinction the consequence of other conduct. The 

 conduct sustaining life must therefore be called good, and 

 that which fails less good. And the conduct which sustains 

 and uplifts life perpetually is the most good. This best 

 conduct is moral, whether instinctive or reasoned, and the 

 perception of it is morality. Conduct may therefore be of 

 imperfect morality, because of insufficient regard for remote 

 consequence, or may lack goodness, and be relatively bad, 

 because of ill effects. But such conduct is not necessarily 

 evil conduct. Evil conduct must be worse than imperfect 

 where none is perfect. Evil conduct must be the bad conduct 

 which is injurious positively, with a purpose and intent 

 which wilfully disregards morality. 



Life continuing is an endowment of positive and not 

 negative nature, whatever its degree or form. The possessor 

 of life of any grade, is one who has received, and is receiv- 

 ing, that much of surplus, of positive over negative, and may 

 receive more, not as a right, but as a privilege. Some we 

 see receive much of that privilege, and others little; some 

 receive it of high degree, and others of low. Yet all are 

 recipients and therefore debtors. None are creators or 

 creditors, except toward their own posterity. Thus it ap- 

 pears that the enjoyment of life, for a time or for all time, 

 does not come with any title guaranteed, but only with a 

 permissive equipment; which, having sufficed for all gen- 



