O.M. Yes. This is the law, keep it in your mind. _From his cradle to his grave a man never does a single thing which has any_ FIRST AND FOREMOST _object_ _but one_—_to secure peace of mind, spiritual comfort_, _for_ HIMSELF. Y.M. Come! He never does anything for any one else’s comfort, spiritual or physical? O.M. No. _except on those distinct terms_—that it shall _first_ secure _his own_ spiritual comfort. Otherwise he will not do it. Y.M. It will be easy to expose the falsity of that proposition. O.M. For instance? Y.M. Take that noble passion, love of country, patriotism. A man who loves peace and dreads pain, leaves his pleasant home and his weeping family and marches out to manfully expose himself to hunger, cold, wounds, and death. Is that seeking spiritual comfort? O.M. He loves peace and dreads pain? Y.M. Yes. O.M. Then perhaps there is something that he loves _more_ than he loves peace—_the approval of his neighbors and the public_. And perhaps there is something which he dreads more than he dreads pain—the _disapproval_ of his neighbors and the public. If he is sensitive to shame he will go to the field—not because his spirit will be _entirely_ comfortable there, but because it will be more comfortable there than it would be if he remained at home. He will always do the thing which will bring him the _most_ mental comfort—for that is _the sole law of his life_. He leaves the weeping family behind; he is sorry to make them uncomfortable, but not sorry enough to sacrifice his _own_ comfort to secure theirs. Y.M. Do you really believe that mere public opinion could force a timid and peaceful man to— O.M. Go to war? Yes—public opinion can force some men to do _anything_. Y.M. _Anything_? O.M. Yes—anything. Y.M. I don’t believe that. Can it force a right-principled man to do a wrong thing? O.M. Yes. Y.M. Can it force a kind man to do a cruel thing? O.M. Yes. Y.M. Give an instance.