But this case is not a possible one 60

There is indeed the natural impulse of sympathy that might tend to make it so 61

But this is counterbalanced by the corresponding impulse of selfishness 63

And this impulse of sympathy itself is of very limited power 63

Except under very rare conditions 63

The conditions of general happiness are far too vague to do more than very slightly excite it 64

Or give it power enough to neutralise any personal temptation 66

At all events they would excite no enthusiasm 67

For this purpose there must be some prize before us, of recognised positive value, more or less definite 67

And before all things, to be enjoyed by us individually 67

Unless this prize be of great value to begin with, its value will not become great because great numbers obtain it 71

Nor until we know what it is, do we gain anything by the hope that men may more completely make it their own in the future 72

The modern positive school requires a great general enthusiasm for the general good 73

They therefore presuppose an extreme value for the individual good 74

Our first enquiry must be therefore what the higher individual good is 76

CHAPTER IV.

Goodness as its own reward.

What has been said in the last chapter is really admitted by the positive school themselves 77

As we can learn explicitly from George Eliot 78

In Daniel Deronda 78

That the fundamental moral question is, ’In what way shall the individual make life pleasant?’ 79

And the right way, for the positivists, as for the Christians, is an inward way 80

The moral end is a certain inward state of the heart, and the positivists say it is a sufficient attraction in itself, without any aid from religion 81

And they support this view by numerous examples 82

But all such examples are useless 83