"'Nay,' quoth Conscience to the King, and kneeled to the ground,
So at length Conscience set forth to bring Reason to decide.
His conscience, however, immediately started at this suggestion, and began to upbraid him with ingratitude to his benefactor.
By this friendly aid of Fear, Conscience obtained a compleat victory in the mind of Black George, and, after making him a few compliments on his honesty, forced him to deliver the money to Jones.
"I'm glad of that," said Jim; "for I, also, have a conscience, and it tells me not to crush in your skull with a blow of my powerful hoof."
"You have a good conscience, friend Horse," it said, "and if you attend to its teachings it will do much to protect you from harm.
The director of her
conscience was astounded at having the case presented to him thus with the simplicity of Columbus' egg.
We might say (without in the least imputing crime to a personage of his eminent respectability) that there was enough of splendid rubbish in his life to cover up and paralyze a more active and subtile
conscience than the Judge was ever troubled with.
When literature becomes a duty it ceases to be a passion, and all the schoolmastering in the world, solemnly addressed to the
conscience, cannot make the fact otherwise.
How- ever, even inquests went out of vogue at last, and ceased to torture Tom's
conscience.
But we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's sword, or like unto it; that is, to propagate religion by wars, or by sanguinary persecutions to force
consciences; except it be in cases of overt scandal, blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against the state; much less to nourish seditions; to authorize conspiracies and rebellions; to put the sword into the people's hands; and the like; tending to the subversion of all government, which is the ordinance of God.
"I can imagine nothing more unpleasant than to own a
Conscience," and he winked slyly at his friend the Lion.