Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-08-19
The Moral Sense.

oDiigatlon- lie percelves himself n
, lated to other creatures around hin
and he knows ultimatly that h
ought to do to those creatures as b
wishes them to do by him. Inser
arably associated swith 5this funda
mental sense of duty is the rule O
obedience to legitimate authority
Inc helplessness of infancy and o
childhood is not greater than woulc
be the helplessness Of the race if tn,
disposition to accept and to obey
authority were wanting in US.
1t is implanted in our nature onl,
because it is the first necessities o,
our life. and a fundamental condi
ton Of the development Of our pow
ers. All nature breathes the spirit
of authority and is full of the sexer.
else of command: Thou shalt" or
Thou shalt not, are woIds contin,
aally on her lips and all her iniunc-
tions and all her prohibitions are
backed by the most tremendous
sanctions. Moreover the most tre-
nendous of these sanctions are of,
ten these which are not audibly pro-
claimed, but those which come upon
us most gradually and most unper-
ceptibly, and after the longest lapse
OF time. Some of the most terrible
diseases which affiict humanity are
known to be the results of vices, and
what has long been known of some
OF these diseases is more and more
reasonably expected Of many others.
The truth Is We ars born into a sys-
tenn OF things in which every act car
ries with it by indissoluble ties of
consequences reaching to the most
distant future, and which for the
whole course Of time affect our own
conditions, the conditions OF other
men, and even the conditions of ex-
ternal nature, and yet we cannot see
those consequences beyond the short
est ways, and very often those that
lie nearest are in the highest degree
deceptive. AS an index to ultimats
results neither pain nor pleasure can
be accepted as guide. With the
lower animals, indeed, these for the
most part, tell the truth, ''the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth.
is all that the creature has,
and IN the qualification of it, the
highest law OF the animal being is
fulfilled. In man the appetite has
its Own indispensable function to dis
charge. But it is lower function
and amounts to nothing more than
that OF furnishing to reason a few of
the primary data on which it has to
work-a few, and 2 few only. Phys
lcal pain is indeed one of the threat.
erings Of natural authority; and phys
cal pleasure is one Of its rewards.
But nelther the one or the ether
'orns moro than q mere fraction ofi
hat awful and imperial code under
which We live. 1t is the code of al
everlasting kingdom, and of a iuris- |
prudence which endures throughout |
III generations. Il is a code which ,,
'',' t'n''a!lT :.hooss-, on man the |
abandonment Of pleasure and she en- |
luranco Of pain, whenever and .wher-
Yer the highest purposes of its law
lemand OF him the sacrifice. NorI
las this spirit Of authority evor been |
1lthout It's witness in the human spir-
!, or its response in the human will. !
IN the contrary in all ages of the
Torld, dark and distorted az have
'een his understandings of authority
nan has been prone to acknowledge |
t, and to admit it az the basis of OBJ
igation, and the rule of duty. This
t all events is one side of his char
cter, and it is universally recogniz-
d IS the best We now perceive o
marked difference between the NOR
| nature and the intellectual nature
/ man. In the work of reasoning,
ne perceptions which are primary
re al in all. It is true that here al
0 the applications may be infinite,
nd the doctrines Of utility have
heir legitimate applications In en-
orcing by the sense Of obligation,
whatever course of conduct reason
nay determine to be the most fitting
nd the best. Tbs sense of cbliga-
Ion IN itself is Ike the sense of logi.
al sequences, elementary, sndli it,
8 part and parcel of our mental con-
truotion. But unlike the mSre |
ense OF logical sequence, the sense
II moral obligation has one neccss-
airy and primary application, which
rom the earliest moment OF mans
existence may well kave been all suf-
icient. Obedience to the will of |
egitimato authority is the first duty, |
md the first idea Of duty in the mind |
II every child. These elementary |
:enceptions go together, and consti-
ute in universal man the moral sense.
The feeling of obedience to legiti-
nate authority is inseperatsly asso-
lated with the fact that ell men are
'orn helpless, absolutely dependent |
nd subject to parents. The feeling
II obligation Is similarly founded on
'ur conscious Community OF nature
Nth other men and Oh the conse-
luent universal applicability to them
# our estimates OF good and evil
Communicated.
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