a manner that might fill animals with stupefaction and
terror; and if it were in their power they might set themselves to
teach man, that he might become equal to themselves. Men without
conscience are like animals without the instinct of self-preservation;
madmen rushing on destruction.

What shall it profit man to discover by means of science the law of
physical self-preservation in its most minute details, if he has no
care for that which corresponds in man to the "instinct" of his own
salvation? If an individual has a perfect knowledge of hygienic
feeding, of the manner in which to weigh himself in order to follow
the course of his own health, of bathing and of massage, but should
lose the instinct of humanity and kill a fellow-creature, or take his
own life, what would be the use of all his care? And if he feels
nothing more in his heart? if the void draws him to it, plunging him
into melancholy, what does his well-nourished and well washed body
avail him?

Good is life; evil is death; the real distinction is as clear as the
words.

Our moral conscience is, like our intelligence, capable of perfection,
of elevation; this is one of the most fundamental of its differences
from the instincts of animals.

The sensibility of the conscience may be perfected, like the aesthetic
sense, till it can recognize and at last enjoy "good," up to the very
limits of the absolute, and also until it becomes sensitive to the
very slightest deviations towards evil. He who feels thus is "saved";
he who feels less must be more vigilant, and do his utmost to preserve
and develop that mysterious and precious sensibility which guides us
in distinguishing good from evil. It is one of the most important acts
of life to examine our own consciences methodically, having as our
source of illumination not only a knowledge of moral codes, but of
love. It is only through love that this sensibility can be perfected.
He whose sense has not been educated cannot judge himself. A doctor,
for example, may be perfectly informed as to the symptoms of a
disease, and may know exactly how cardiac sounds and the resistance of
the pulse are affected in diseases of the heart; but if his ear cannot
perceive the sounds, if his hand cannot appreciate the tactile
sensations which give the pulse, of what use is his science to him?
His power of understanding diseases is derived from his senses; and if
this power is lacking, his knowledge in relation to the sick m