THE BEST POLICY. 157 



ceive themselves to their own discredit, and 

 underrate the true strength of the moral feelings 

 in their inner personality. If asked wliy they do 

 not do certain dishonest or disgraceful actions, 

 they will probably answer glibly enough because 

 they would be imprisoned or otlierwise punished 

 for them. But, as a matter of fact, the real 

 deterrent in most cases, with all worthy persons, 

 is not the fear of external punishment; it is the 

 natural, almost instinctive hatred of the wrong 

 action. Tliere are instances in which this is so 

 immediately apparent that nobody can for a mo- 

 ment fail to perceive the truth as soon as the 

 issue is fairly presented to him. Why, for in- 

 stance, do we habitually abstain from grossly ill- 

 treating or cruelly abusing dumb creatures? Is 

 it because the officers of the Societv for the Pre- 

 vention of Cruelty to Animals are always on the 

 alert to detect us if we do, and to inflict upon us as 

 penalty a paltry fine, not exceeding forty shillings? 

 Surely not! It is because we cannot endure in 

 our own minds the bare idea of brutal behavior 

 towards a helpless and inoifensive animal. It is 

 because an innate shrinking would hold us back 

 from kicking or beating it, even if we were, for 

 experiment's sake, to make a sort of vain attempt 

 at so doing. This internal repugnance to any 

 wrong act is, in fact, the true test whether in any 

 particular respect we are perfectly or imperfectly 



