in  so  backward  a  condition  that,  we  need  not  be
surprised  at  not  finding  these  truths  recognised  in
the  commonplaces  which  pass  current  concerning
the  progress  of  society. These  commonplaces  an-
swer much  more  to  our  prejudices  than  to  our  con-


430


Part  Two,  Sec. B — Occupation  and  Economy


victions. The  strong  disinclination  of  most  men  to
regard  morality  as  advancing  seems  to  be  especially
powerful  when  the  virtues  on  which  Contract  de-
pends are  in  question,  and  many  of  us  have  an  al-
most instinctive  reluctance  to  admitting  that  good
faith  and  trust  in  our  fellows  are  more  widely  dif-
fused than  of  old,  or  that  there  is  anything  in  con-
temporary manners  which  parallels  the  loyalty  of
the  antique  world. From  time  to  time,  these  pre-
possessions are  greatly  strengthened  by  the  spec-
tacle of  frauds,  unheard  of  before  the  period  at
which  they  were  observed,  and  astonishing  from
their  complication  as  well  shocking  from  crimi-
nality. But  the  very  character  of  these  frauds  shows
clearly  that,  before  they  became  possible,  the  moral
obligations  of  which  they  are  the  breach  must  have
been  more  than  proportionately  developed. It  is
the  confidence  reposed  and  deserved  by  the  many
which  affords  facilities  for  the  bad  faith  of  the  few,
so  that,  if  colossal  examples  of  dishonesty  occur,
there  is  no  surer  conclusion  than  that  scrupulous
honesty  is  displayed  in  the  average  of  the  trans-
actions which,  in  the  particular  case,  have  supplied
the  delinquent  with  his  opportunity. If  we  insist  on
reading  the  history  of  morality  as  reflected  in  juris-
prudence, by  turning  our  eyes  not  on  the  law  of
Contract  but  on  the  law  of  Crime,  we  must  be
careful  that  we  read  it  aright. The  only  form  of
dishonesty  treated  of  in  the  most  ancient  Roman
law  is  Theft. At  the  moment  at  which  I  write,  the
newest  chapter  in  the  English  criminal  law  is  one
which  attempts  to  prescribe  punishment  for  the
frauds  of  Trustees. The  proper  inference  from  this
contrast  is  not  that  the  primitive  Romans  practised
a  higher  morality  than  ourselves. 