That, I hope, disentangles the many knots into which thousands of learned men have tied the simple subject of free will; and disposes of the claim that man is responsible because his will is free. But there is one other cause of error, akin to the subject, on which I should like to say a few words. We often hear it said that a man is to blame for his conduct because "he knows better." It is true that men do wrong when they know better. Macbeth "knew better" when he murdered Duncan. But it is true, also, that we often think a man "knows better," when he does not know better. For a man cannot be said to know a thing until he believes it. If I am told that the moon is made of green cheese, it cannot be said that I _know_ it to be made of green cheese. Many moralists seem to confuse the words "to know" with the words "to hear." Jones reads novels and plays opera music on Sunday. The Puritan says Jones "knows better," when he means that Jones has been told that it is wrong to do those things. But Jones does not know that it is wrong. He has heard someone say that it is wrong, but does not believe it. Therefore it is not correct to say that he knows it. And, again, as to that matter of belief. Some moralists hold that it is wicked not to believe certain things, and that men who do not believe those things will be punished. But a man cannot believe a thing he is told to believe: he can only believe a thing which he _can_ believe; and he can only believe that which his own reason tells him is true. It would be no use asking Sir Roger Ball to believe that the earth is flat. He _could not_ believe it. It is no use asking an agnostic to believe the story of Jonah and the whale. He _could not_ believe it. He might pretend to believe it. He might try to believe it. But his reason would not allow him to believe it. Therefore it is a mistake to say that a man "knows better," when the fact is that he has been told "better" and cannot believe what he has been told. That is a simple matter, and looks quite trivial; but how much ill-will, how much intolerance, how much violence, persecution, and murder have been caused by the strange idea that a man is wicked because _his_ reason _cannot_ believe that which to another man's reason seems quite true. Free will has no power over a man's belief. A man cannot believe by will, but only by conviction. A man cannot be forced to believe. You may threaten him, wound him, beat him, burn him; and he may be frightened, or angered, or pained; but he cannot _believe_, nor can he be made to believe. Until he is convinced. Now, truism as it may seem, I think it necessary to say here that a man cannot be convinced by abuse, nor by punishment He can only be convinced by _reason_.