acquisition of knowledge, he is an object of respect, no matter whence that disposition was derived. The same is true with re- gard to amiable or unamiable dispositions. It cannot be denied that there is a great difference in men in this respect. Some are morose, irritable, and unsocial in their dispositions, others are directly the reverse. The one class is attractive, the other repulsive ; the one the object of affection ; the other, of dislike. The instinctive judgment of the mind is the same with regard to dispositions more clearly moral in their nature. One man is selfish, another gen- erous ; one is malicious, another benevolent ; one is upright and honourable, another deceitful and mean. They may be born with these distitictive traits of character, and such traits beyond doubt are in numerous cases innate and often hereditary, and yet we are conscious that our judgment regarding them and those to whom they belong is entirely independent of the question whether such dispositions are natural or acquired. It is admitted that nations as well as tribes and families, have their distinctive characteristics, and that these characteristics are not only physical and mental, but also social and moral. Some tribes are treacherous and cruel. Some are mild and confiding. Some are addicted to gain, others to war. Some are sensual, some intellectual. We instinctively judge of each according to its character ; we like or dislike, ap- prove or disapprove, without asking ourselves any questions as to the origin of these distinguishing characteristics. And if we do raise that question, although we are forced to answer it by admit- ting that these dispositions are innate and hereditary, and that they are not self-acquired by the individual whose character they con- stitute, we nevertheless, and none the less, approve or condemn them according to their nature. This is the instinctive and neces- sary, and therefore the correct, judgment of the uiind.
This the Common Rule of Judgment.
2. As in water face answei-eth to fiice, so the heart of man to man. What we find revealed in our own consciousness we find manifested as the consciousness of our fellow men. It is the instinctive or intuitive judgment of all men that moral dispositions ■ierive their character from their nature, and not from their origin. In the ordinary language of men, to say that a man is naturally proud or malicious is not an extenuation, but an aggravation. The more deeply these evil principles are seated in his nature, and the less they depend upon circumstances or voluntary action, the more profound is our abhorrence and the more severe is our condem-