_Questions which present themselves._--Without further consideration of this point, we pass at once to the investigation of the subject itself. Our inquiries relate principally to the _nature_ and _authority_ of this faculty. On these points, it is hardly necessary to say, great difference of opinion has existed among philosophers and theologians, and grave questions have arisen. What _is_ this faculty as exercised; a judgment, a process of reasoning, or an emotion? Does it belong to the rational or sensitive part of our nature: to the domain of intellect, or of feeling, or both? What is the value and correctness of our moral perceptions, and especially of that verdict of _approbation_ or _censure_, which we pass upon ourselves and others, according as the conduct conforms to, or violates, recognized obligation? Such are some of the questions which have arisen respecting the nature and authority of conscience. I. _The Nature of Conscience._--What is it? A matter of _intellect_, or of _feeling_; a _judgment_, or an _emotion_? A careful analysis of the phenomena of conscience, with a view to determine the several elements, or mental processes, that constitute its operation, may aid us in the solution of this question. ANALYSIS OF AN ACT OF CONSCIENCE. _Cognition of Right._--Whenever the conduct of intelligent and rational beings is made the subject of contemplation, whether the act thus contemplated be our own or another's, and whether it be an act already performed, or only proposed, we are cognizant of certain ideas awakened in the mind, and of certain impressions made upon it. First of all, the act contemplated strikes us as _right_ or _wrong_. This involves a double element, an _idea_, and a _perception_ or _judgment_. The _idea_ of right and its opposite are, in the mind, simple ideas, and, therefore, indefinable. In the act contemplated, we _recognize_ the one or the other of these simple elements, and pronounce it, accordingly, a right or wrong act. This is simply a _judgment_, a perception, an exercise of the understanding.