28 
Whether is that it is, as far as appears, not moral at all. It 
implies that all our Deontology is presided over by 
sense. a mechanical and unconscious influence, — which is a 
contradiction ; for if, in the last resort, the praise- 
worthy or the blameable in human responsible action is 
judged in detail by unintelligent power, acting without know- 
ledge of us, and our praise or blame, its whole character is 
changed. Nor is the responsible agent satisfied by this in any 
way. It answers none of his needs. It denies his deep in- 
stinct of superiority as an Agent, and not a mere Thing ; and 
the conviction that as an agent he will be dealt with by an 
Agent Superior to him. (It contradicts too the fact to be 
further dwelt on, that he does not regard himself as the highest 
conscious agent in the universe ; but conceives always at least 
of One above him, however indistinct the conception.) 
Thus at length, in going down into the facts of our being, 
The eharac- we ourselves . inevitably confronted by the 
*reme e U " s °l emn presence of Him with Whom we have to 
nor to be do.” We have no option but to fix our gaze now 
known ‘ on the character of the Supreme Moral Governor 
of the world. And if there is to be any virtue or any praise,” 
we must not shrink from this. 
51 . There is a collateral conclusion which here already forces 
itself on our attention, in reference to that increasing uncon- 
scientiousness of thought and action which we spoke of (§ 6) 
as one occasion of our entering on this analysis, — and it is a 
conclusion which will grow on us now at every step in our argu- 
a practical ment, — that if we be thus by our very nature ac- 
condusionthus countable beings, it will be impossible without 
severe injury to thwart this nature. As in the case 
of all other violation or disregard of the foundation-laws of 
being, there is a certain retribution in the nature of things, so 
specially in this case. The range, too, of responsibility in 
beings like ourselves can only be limited by our powers. There 
is no department of intelligence or action from which we shall 
find that conscience can be excluded, or rather in which it is 
not by nature supreme. This will appear more fully hereafter, 
when we come to see, how we are not merely under the exacting- 
watchfulness of our fellow-men in our accountability to them 
• — and not merely under our own self-judgment as self- 
governed beings— but under a Government which is in perfect 
relation with us, and with the “ always-true.” 
The Chairman. — I am sure that I need not call upon those who are 
present, and who have already manifested their approbation, to express more 
