vanishes with the genuineness of our supposed treasure. We do not like to handle counterfeit coin; we do not value antiquities and sacred relics of modern manufacture, or mementos that no longer represent cherished memories. Much that stimulates the higher life would perish did we doubt the truth of our nature; the glory of the world would depart were the soul lost out of it.
Some interests have sacred claims above others; there is a hierarchy amongst our impulses. Analyze the fact as we way, duty still remains. Moral laws and their practical application are progressively revealed by the relations of men in society. We may believe the laws are there in the nature of things, but that our discovery of them is gradual, as is the discovery of the unchanging laws of physics. The moral problem is the old one of the struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil, between duty and pleasure—the problem of responsibility, character, and destiny. In its modern form it is the problem of utility, that is, of life and happiness. But utilitarianism includes, and ever must include, the happiness that comes from the exercise of the higher spiritual functions, from the sense of duty performed, and from belief in divine approbation.
Interests chosen and pursued reveal the character. Men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles. "A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." The outward act is but the visible expression of the inner life.
There is something more than a pleasing myth in the Greek conception of choosing the lot of life.
