LAW IN POLITICS. 409 



and there comes again and again from age to age, 

 a spirit of hatred even against good itself, when 

 that good is the work of any one who " followeth 

 not US." It is a force, nevertheless, rooted in the 

 Nature of Man, implanted there as part of its con- 

 stitution, and like all others of this character, 

 given him for a purpose, and having its own 

 legitimate field of operation. Nor is that field a 

 narrow one. The Spirit of Association is the 

 fountain of much that is noblest in human charac- 

 ter, and of much that is most heroic in human 

 conduct. For all the desires and aspirations of 

 Self are not selfish. The interests of Self, justly 

 appreciated and rightly understood, may be, nay 

 indeed must be, the interests also of other men — 

 of Society — of Country — of the Church, and of 

 the World. 



And so it is that when the aim of any given 

 Association is a high aim, directed to ends really 

 good, and seeking the attainment of them by 

 just methods of procedure, the spirit it evokes 

 becomes itself a new " Law " — a special force 

 operating powerfully for good on the mind of 

 every individual subject to its influence. Some pre- 

 existing motives it modifies — some it neutralises — 



