the minds of parents on the rack; all this to divert attention from the
distressing topic. I fear that in the face of duty we are big children,
and, when that is the theme, seek subterfuges to distract us.

The first sophism consists in asking ourselves if there is such a thing
as duty in the abstract, or if this word does not cover one of the
numerous illusions of our forefathers. For duty, in truth, supposes
liberty, and the question of liberty leads us into metaphysics. How can
we talk of liberty so long as this grave problem of free-will is not
solved? Theoretically there is no objection to this; and if life were a
theory, and we were here to work out a complete system of the universe,
it would be absurd to concern ourselves with duty until we had clarified
the subject of liberty, determined its conditions, fixed its limits.

But life is not a theory. In this question of practical morality, as in
the others, life has preceded hypothesis, and there is no room to
believe that she ever yields it place. This liberty--relative, I admit,
like everything we are acquainted with, for that matter--this duty whose
existence we question, is none the less the basis of all the judgments
we pass upon ourselves and our fellow-men. We hold each other to a
certain extent responsible for our deeds and exploits.

The most ardent theorist, once outside of his theory, scruples not a
whit to approve or disapprove the acts of others, to take measures
against his enemies, to appeal to the generosity and justice of those he
would dissuade from an unworthy step. One can no more rid himself of the
notion of moral obligation than of that of time or space; and as surely
as we must resign ourselves to walking before we know how to define this
space through which we move and this time that measures our movements,
so surely must we submit to moral obligation before having put our
finger on its deep-hidden roots. Moral law dominates man, whether he
respects or defies it. See how it is in every-day life: each one is
ready to cast his stone at him who neglects a plain duty, even if he
allege that he has not yet arrived at philosophic certitude. Everybody
will say to him, and with excellent reason: "Sir, we are men before
everything. First play your part, do your duty as citizen, father, son;
after that you shall return to the course of your meditations."

However, let us be well understood. We should not wish to turn anyone
away from scrupulous re