which is so far from simple that the plain man re-
coils from it. Why question the wisdom of our
ancestors, the system which has worked--not per-
fectly perhaps, but still has worked--and has
made us what we are? Let us do our duty in
that state of life to which it shall please God to
call us, and be thankful that we are members of a
stable community with stations provided for all
respectable people to fill. Unfortunately we can-
not dispose of the question in this manner. Our
standards criticize themselves. We have spoken
of defined and recognized rules which are not dif-
ficult to apply. But if we look closely into the
network of current ideas of conduct we shall find
not one standard but several. There are codes of
law and custom, good manners and good taste,
partly supplementing, partly correcting one an-
other. In particular, behind the code of ordinary
respectable society are principles higher and more
austere, intolerant of much which the working
standard allows. In large measure these princi-
ples are embodied in the teaching of the Churches
and in that sense belong to the officially recognized
tradition. The shifts and devices by which they
are accommodated to the working standard form
the familiar theme of the satirist, and do not con-
cern us for the moment. Our point is merely that

-x-