The Irish standard., 1915-07-10

he thinks, to some good or bad con
sequence proceeding from some we'll
defined antecedent personal action, he
reaches the following novel conclu
sion: The aggregate of an indefinite
~ large number Of human beings IL
to be assigned to relatively small
number of persons taken apart from
the total In which they are combined;
and that the moral responsibility Of
each individual Of the smaller grour
Is determined by the remote results
achieved by the whole multitude: Fl
nally, that the responsibility as thus
determined, is itself the determinan,
factor in appraising the moral value
OF the individual mans intentions and
actions.
The absurdness Of such an inference
indicates at once the falsity of the
underlying assumption and the radical
weakness Of Recommendation as an aid
to the philosophical Interpretation Of
history.
In this connection 1t may be proper
to answer as best we may the query
OF the earnest student of history who,
accepting as an undeniable truth the
existence of Providence is neverthe.
less perplexed as to how any worthy
cause such as that here considered
one that involves the. question of per.
sonal responsibility-can eventuate in
moral evils, and yet not be related as
cause is related to effect.
To such a query we may answer in
this wise: That they are not so re-
lated is, in itself, a striking evidence
of the perfection of the ways of Di-
vine Providence; for we should expect,
in fact, to find due perfection in the
laws which an All-wise Ruler has or
dained for the government of his
world. Now, considering the complex
tiles of human life, the manifold
thoughts, desires, and purposes of
mankind, the struggles, moral, mental
and physical, of untold millions in the
ever shifting environment of political
and social revolutions, all combining
to produce an endless variety of cross
purposes,-we do find, nevertheless,
convincing evidence Of the aforesaid
perfection.
We find it in a mode of government
which meets the actual exigencies of
mankind in this world of changing &C.
tivities. It gives free scope to human
thought and free-will within the limits
which right reason sets as the ap-
proved rule Of human conduct; it ap-
proves the good and rebukes the evil
that men do. On the other hand, that
law does not hold men responsible
for the effects consequent upon mans
acts when such acts are done under
the terms which right reason dictates.
Plainly, then, the alleged relation
between good personal causes and ul-
innate bad effects is not verified, Ell
ther on the priori ground of Prov
idential guidance, nor yet on any legit.
innate inference from the actual facts
of experience. To him, however, who
will insist that many grave evils at
tended the execution a, the great de
sign, such as the scandal Of the "Great
Schism," and the prolonged strife be
tween the popes and the emperors
and that such concomitants prove the
folly of the design and the moral def
cheney of those who attempted to real
ize it one may give a satisfactory SO
luton of the implied doubt as follows:
Gods action in the field of historical
events, as elsewhere, is necessaril,
adapted to the essential demands Of
human nature, and therefore to the
exigencies of the social conditions un
der which men may happen to live
Accordingly, God grants to all men the
actual use of the moral freedom thai
belongs to them as rational beings
Now If God who is infinitely wise
deems it meet and just to allow some
admfxture of evil actions with the
good actions of men engaged in the
pursuit of some worthy end, ther
surely there can no reasonable ground
for validating the given objection; II
Is inadmissible therefore as an argu
ment: For it is based upon the in
trinsically false premise that there
can be no positive, good element il
the actions or the designs Of mer
when any moral defects accompany
or follow the exercise Of their proper
rational activities.
On the admittedly true hypothesis
that there is Divine Creator and ALL
wise Ruler of the universe, we must
admit that no just or righteous cause
!. g., one involving the moral, relig
ious, and social welfare OF nations and
of mankind, can ever wholly perish
from the earth. even though 1t may
appear to be overborne by the weight
of accumulated evils; for. In the words
of Saint Augustine: Deus omnipot
ems nullo modo sineret nahum aliQuod
esse in operibus suis, nisi usque adeo
esset omnipotens ct bonus, ut bene
faceret ethan de malo." (Enchir
caput H.
1t is true that in the fall of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty disaster over
took the scheme: the union of the