Morality and Free Thought (translated from the Revue des duex Mondes) [pp. 494-513]

506 MORALITY AND FREE THOUGHT. [July,
cate and firm analysis of M. Janet demonstrates, peremptorily,
to my mind, that this sublime devotion was an imperative duty
in the case of the Archbishop. Who does not see, he exclaims,
that in the idea of an evangelical minister, more than in any
other calling, is embraced the obligation of devotedness? Certainly, no one can foresee how and where this devotion is to be
exercised. and as, thanks to God, civil wars are very rare, this
particular kind of devotion which inspired the Archbishop
to the terrible test in which the country was overwhelmed
could not be foreseen ~ priori. There is, therefore, no rule for
this circumstance; now, accustomed to apply the word duty
only to actions of frequent occurrence, people think there is no
duty involved when an exceptional act is discussed. This is
not all, the moral faculty not reaching in all men the same degree of elevation and purity, the same idea will not occur to all
in the same circumstances. Now, so long as the idea of performing an action has not suggested itself to our minds, it is
evident that this action is not obligatory; once the mind has
conceived of it, it is a duty to be performed. Suppose that
the Archbishop, having conceived this thought, had recoiled
from the execution of it, he would certainly have experienced
the same remorse that we invariably experience when we fail
in the strictest duties. He would have experienced the feeling
of inward humiliation, of moral diminution, and how could
this be if he had not the consciousness of failing in duty? Let
us not then say that M. Affre did more than his duty; this
mode of speaking is not exact; let us say that he conceived
the highest, most sublime idea of his duty, an idea undoubtedly of which few men, even among the best, would have felt the
force as keenly as he did. In thus expressing ourselves we are
not guilty of philosophical heresy, and in rendering to the
hero the homage that is his due, we render the same homage
to the sacred ministry which filled his noble heart.
The originality of M. Janet's book consists in this union of
the most elevated theories and the most precise applications.
In our day, those philosophers are rare who, though using with
ease the language of abstractions, know how to enforce their
arguments by examples from real life. They are afraid of appearing feeble if they are not lost in the clouds. True strength,
like true pliancy of mind, is recognized by other marks. It