334 THE REIGN OF LAW 



is exposed, indeed, to the lower motives in common 

 with the beasts. But there are others which ope- 

 rate largely upon him which never can and never 

 do operate upon them. Foremost among these 

 are the motives which Man has the power of 

 bringing to bear upon himself, arising out of his 

 power of forming Abstract Ideas, out of his posses- 

 sion of Beliefs, and, above all, out of his Sense 

 of Right and Wrong. So strong are these motives 

 that they are able constantly to overpower, and 

 sometimes almost to destroy the forces which are 

 related to his lower faculties. Again, among the 

 motives which operate upon him Man has a select- 

 ing power. He can, as it were, stand out from 

 among them, — look down from above them, — com- 

 pare them among each other, and bring them to 

 the test of Conscience. Nay more, he can reason 

 on his own character as he can on the character 

 of another Being, — estimating his own weak- 

 ness with reference to this and the other motive, 

 as he is conscious how each may be likely to 

 tell upon him. When he knows that any given 

 motive will be too strong for him if he allows 

 himself to think of it, he can shut it out from his 



