ception of justice and in its sympathetic relation to creation, is the surest measure of individual and national progress. Various intellectual theories may be formed as to the origin and growth of conscience. It may be held to be intuitive—springing up as inevitably as the instinctive feelings born with the natural relations of life; or it may be looked upon as gradually evolved—the ‘result of countless experiences of fear, love, utility, transmitted through generations.’
But however originating, conscience is a positive and potent fact. It is, indeed, the mightiest factor in social life. It is the great controller of selfhood. It enlarges human character and guides human conduct. The deepening of this principle through the growth of justice and sympathy marks an advancement in the type of humanity. Increasing respect for life is one of the clearest signs of growing conscience. Our reverence for the principle of life grows with our enlarging intellectual perception of its universality and its unlimited power of development.
As life is marked by activity, and cannot remain stationary, so conscience shares this law of life. It must inevitably advance or retrograde.
