620 The American Naturalist. [July, 
this world, shows that the believer was guided by expediency, but 
truly of a higher kind. Surely the conventional ideas of right 
and wrong, even in this day, make a grand mess. The biases 
are innumerable that are created by rank, caste, prejudice, relative 
degrees of ignorance and intelligence, training, education, and 
nationality. A single instance can be cited: the term “ morga- 
natic,” which is a wink at the license of royalty. “ The king can do 
no wrong.” Princes may be debauchees, drunkards, vicious, but 
they are defended, and their most public outrages are denied or 
condoned. Even dictionaries smile complacently at the villiany of 
nobles by giving a definition that does not include all that is 
known to be the meaning of the word morganatic. 
However much we may assert to the contrary, and even though 
upon reflection we acknowledge to ourselves that wealth and good 
looks should not be measures of respectability, the childish trait 
is universally prevalent, even among civilized adults, that the good 
looking man, the well-dressed man, thé wealthy man, is alone the 
good man. Poverty is regarded as evidence of punishment for 
wickedness. The every act of the bulk of mankind proclaim 
this to be a deep-rooted belief. 
But surely there is a conscience, private and public, that works 
for final good. Undoubtedly. But we can understand that con- 
_ science, and its peculiarities and well-known inconsistencies, if we 
can bring ourselves to calmly inspect its origin in the law that 
the altered or acquired habits of one set of ancestors may greatly 
affect the conduct of their descendants. For instance, A is a 
murderer and freebooter, living many centuries ago, when to be 
otherwise was scarcely the rule. His surroundings and associa- 
tions made him such. His child, B, at a later time and under 
better influences, is taught a disrelish for his parents’ pastimes, but 
could easily relapse, as the inherited instincts were strong within 
him. 
The good influence is’ kept up, however, and the grandchild, C, 
does not murder or plunder, because he has inherited a corrected 
disposition, which is intensified by the circumstances under which 
he lives. The great grandchild, D, by persistence of these con- 
_ ditions, would as surely be benefited by the inheritance for good 




