fitness for thy nobler life hereafter.



HEROISM



It is an open question whether the policeman is not demoralising
us; and that in proportion as he does his duty well; whether the
perfection of justice and safety, the complete "preservation of
body and goods," may not reduce the educated and comfortable
classes into that lap-dog condition in which not conscience, but
comfort, doth make cowards of us all. Our forefathers had, on the
whole, to take care of themselves; we find it more convenient to
hire people to take care of us. So much the better for us, in
some respects; but, it may be, so much the worse in others. So
much the better; because, as usually results from the division of
labour, these people, having little or nothing to do save to take
care of us, do so far better than we could; and so prevent a vast
amount of violence and wrong, and therefore of misery, especially
to the weak; for which last reason we will acquiesce in the
existence of policemen and lawyers, as we do in the results of
arbitration, as the lesser of two evils. The odds in war are in
favour of the bigger bully, in arbitration in favour of the bigger
rogue; and it is a question whether the lion or the fox be the
safer guardian of human interests. But arbitration prevents war;
and that, in three cases out of four, is full reason for employing
it.