that perhaps not one of the applauders would he disposed to emulate. It is instructive to observe cases in which the benevolence of public opinion has outstripped that of the law—which, for example, takes no notice of such acts as are enshrined in the parable of the good Samaritan. A man on his journey was robbed, wounded, and left by the wayside. A priest and a Levite successively pass by and take no heed of him. A Samaritan follows, takes pity, binds his wounds, and bears him to a place of safety. Public opinion keenly condemns the priest and the Levite, and praises the Samaritan, but our criminal law is indifferent to such acts. It is most severe on misadventure due to the neglect of a definite duty. But careless about those due to absence of common philanthropy. Its callousness in this respect is painfully shown in the following quotations (Kenny. "Outlines of Criminal Law," 1902 p. 121, per Hawkins in Reg. v. Paine, Times. February 25, 1880):
That is probably what the priest and the Levite of the parable said to themselves.
A still more emphatic example is in the "Digest of Criminal Law," by Justice Sir James Stephen, 1887, p. 154. Reg. v. Smith, 2 C. and P., 449:
A sees B drowning and is able to help him by holding out his hand. A abstains from doing so in order that B may he drowned, and B is drowned. A has committed no offence.
It appears, from a footnote, that this ease has been discussed in a striking manner by Lord Macaulay in his notes on the Indian Penal Code, which I have not yet been able to consult.
Enough has been written elsewhere by myself and others to show that whenever public opinion is strongly roused it will lead to action, however contradictory it may be to previous custom and sentiment. Considering that public opinion is guided by the sense of what best serves the interests of society as a whole, it is reasonable to expect that it will be strongly exerted in favor of eugenics when a sufficiency of evidence shall have been collected to make the truths on which it rests plain to all. That moment has not yet arrived. Enough is already known to those who have studied the question to leave no doubt in their minds about the general results. but not enough is quantitatively known to justify legislation or other action except in extreme cases. Continued studies will be required for some time to come, and the pace must not be hurried, When the desired fullness of information shall have been acquired, then, and not till then, will be the fit moment to proclaim a "Jehad," or Holy War against customs and prejudices that impair the physical and moral qualities of our race.
