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and in full force in the mind. In this perception of duty is 
involved the obligation of fulfilling it, which is accompanied 
by complacency on obedience, and by a sense of condemnation 
and remorse on disobedience. ‘This is not an acquired but a 
primary faculty of our nature, and remains in active operation 
in all but the most degraded. 
The force of this testimony to our responsibility is some- 
times sought to be evaded by reference to the diverse decisions 
of conscience in different persons. It should, however, be 
remembered that this diversity in detail as to practice may, in 
ail cases, be traced to previous error as to our relations to 
others. Thus, the ruler who has adopted the now-exploded 
notion that he has an unlimited right, by divine donation, to 
command his subjects after his own pleasure, and that any 
resistance of his authority is fighting against God, will feel 
little or no compunction in robbing or oppressing them. But 
although such falsehood, when taught in and from infancy, or 
accepted from common and popular opinion, may, to a great 
extent, pervert the judgment and dim the perception of duty, 
yet it remains a question whether any human being can plainly 
invade the right of others without compunction. And it is 
certain that no man of ordinary mental capacity could adopt 
principles and rules of action palpably in violation of the rights 
of others without self-condemnation. 
It must also be remembered that we cannot learn the 
decision of another man’s conscience by his actions. Selfish- 
ness, avarice, pride, and all other evil dispositions and passions 
contend against the pure, benevolent, and just decisions of 
conscience. We can only be directly certified concerning its 
operation by our own experience, and thence we learn that, 
although its decision may sometimes be silenced by the 
clamour of passion, and at others may be set aside by the 
fallacies of a proud or a grovelling selfishness, yet the whip 
and the sting never fail to fall and to pierce when the voice 
of the inward judge is disregarded. The great broad facts 
with respect to the operation of conscience are these,—it 
perceives obligation and duty, it requires obedience to its 
dictates, and does not fail to bless or curse as they are 
regarded or contemned. 
It is also especially worthy of consideration that the verdict 
and judgment of conscience are primarily in the name of, and 
are ultimately directed to, the great Author of our being, and 
our present Ruler. For, although, in most of the cases on 
which the judgment of conscience is recorded, the action has 
respect immediately to our fellow-creatures, yet the judgment 
proceeds on the assumption that, independent of and above 
