be tempted to think his neighbour unconscionably long
of getting hanged? It is probable that nearly all who
think of conduct at all, think of it too much; it is certain
we all think too much of sin. We are not damned for
doing wrong, but for not doing right; Christ would never
hear of negative morality; thou shalt was ever his word,
with which he superseded thou shalt not. To make our
idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the
imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our
fellow-men a secret element of gusto. If a thing is wrong
for us, we should not dwell upon the thought of it; or
we shall soon dwell upon it with inverted pleasure. If
we cannot drive it from our minds--one thing of two:
either our creed is in the wrong and we must more
indulgently remodel it; or else, if our morality be in
the right, we are criminal lunatics and should place our
persons in restraint. A mark of such unwholesomely
divided minds is the passion for interference with others:
the Fox without the Tail was of this breed, but had (if
his biographer is to be trusted) a certain antique civility
now out of date. A man may have a flaw, a weakness,
that unfits him for the duties of life, that spoils his temper,
that threatens his integrity, or that betrays him into
cruelty. It has to be conquered; but it must never be
suffered to engross his thoughts. The true duties lie all
upon the farther side, and must be attended to with a
whole mind so soon as this preliminary clearing of the
decks has been effected. In order that he may be kind
and honest, it may be needful he should become a total
abstainer; let him become so then, and the next day let
him forget the circumstance. Trying to be kind and
honest will require all his thoughts; a mortified appetite

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