as，indeed，wehaveaccepteditwithregardtoallthedeeperflowandfinerexpressionoffeelingeveninthedomesticrelations:foritseemedpedanticandfutiletoprescriberulesforthis，oreven(thoughwenaturallyadmireandpraiseanynotungracefulexhibitionofintenseandgenuineaffection)todelineateanidealofexcellenceforalltoaimat。Still，thereseemedtobeanimportantsphereofstrictduty——howeverhardtodefine——intherelationsofchildrentoparents，etc。，andeveninthecaseoffriendshipitseemscontrarytocommonsensetorecognisenosuchsphere；asitnotunfrequentlyoccurstoustojudgethatonefriendhasbehavedwronglytoanother，andtospeakasiftherewereaclearlycognisablecodeofbehaviourinsuchrelations。
Perhaps，however，wemaysaythatallclearcasesofwrongconducttowardsfriendscomeunderthegeneralformulaofbreachofunderstanding。Friendsnotunfrequentlymakedefinitepromisesofservice，butweneednotconsiderthese，astheirviolationisprohibitedbyadifferentandclearermoralrule。Butfurther，asallloveisunderstoodtoincludeadesireforthehappinessofitsobject，theprofessionoffriendshipseemstobindonetoseekthishappinesstoanextentproportionatetosuchprofession。Nowcommonbenevolence(cf。ante，§；5)prescribesatleastthatweshouldrendertoothermensuchservicesaswecanrenderwithoutanysacrifice，orwithasacrificesotriflingastobequiteoutofproportiontotheservicerendered。Andsincetheprofessionoffriendshipthoughthetermisusedtoincludeaffectionsofvariousdegreemustimplyagreaterinterestinone’sfriend’shappinessthaninthatofmeningeneral，itmustannounceawillingnesstomakemoreorlessconsiderablesacrificesforhim，ifoccasionoffers。Ifthenwedeclinetomakesuchsacrifices，wedowrongbyfailingtofulfilnaturalandlegitimateexpectations。SofarthereseemsnosourceofdifficultyexcepttheindefinitenessinevitablyarisingfromthewiderangeofmeaningscoveredbythetermFriendship。Butfurtherquestionsariseinconsequenceofthechangesoffeelingtowhichhumannatureisliable:first，whetheritisourdutytoresistsuchchangesasmuchaswecan；andsecondly，whetherifthiseffortfails，andlovediminishesordeparts，weoughtstilltomaintainadispositiontorenderservicescorrespondingtoourpastaffection。Andonthesepointstheredoesnotseemtobeagreementamongmoralandrefinedpersons。For，ontheonehand，itisnaturaltoustoadmirefidelityinfriendshipandstabilityofaffections，andwecommonlyregardtheseasmostimportantexcellencesofcharacter:andsoitseemsstrangeifwearenottoaimattheseasatallotherexcellences，asnonemorenaturallystirustoimitation。Andhencemanywouldbepreparedtolaydownthatweoughtnottowithdrawaffectiononcegiven，unlessthefriendbehavesill:whilesomewouldsaythateveninthiscaseweoughtnottobreakthefriendshipunlessthecrimeisverygreat。Yet，ontheotherhand，wefeelthatsuchaffectionasisproducedbydeliberateeffortofwillisbutapoorsubstituteforthatwhichspringsspontaneously，andmostrefinedpersonswouldrejectsuchaboon:while，again，toconcealthechangeoffeelingseemsinsincereandhypocritical。
Butasforservices，arefinedpersonwouldnotacceptsuchfromaformerfriendwhonolongerloveshim:unlessinextremeneed，whenanykindoftieis，asitwere，invigoratedbythealreadystrongclaimwhichcommonhumanitygiveseachmanuponallothers。Perhaps，therefore，therecannotbeadutytooffersuchservicesinanycase，whentheneedisnotextreme。Thoughthisinferenceisnotquiteclear:forinrelationsofaffectionweoftenpraiseonepartyforofferingwhatweratherblametheotherforaccepting。Butitseemsthatdelicatequestionsofthiskindaremorenaturallyreferredtocanonsofgoodtasteandrefinedfeelingthanofmoralityproper:oratleastonlyincludedinthescopeofmoralityinsofaraswehaveageneraldutytocultivategoodtasteandrefinementoffeeling，likeotherexcellences。
Onthewhole，then，wemaysaythatthechiefdifficultiesindeterminingthemoralobligationsoffriendshiparise(1)fromtheindefinitenessofthetacitunderstandingimpliedintherelation，and(2)fromthedisagreementwhichwefindastotheextenttowhichFidelityisapositiveduty。Itmaybeobservedthatthelatterdifficultyisespeciallyprominentinrespectofthoseintimaciesbetweenpersonsofdifferentsexwhichprecedeandpreparethewayformarriage。
1passnowtothethirdhead，Gratitude。
Ithasbeenalreadyobservedthattheobligationofchildrentoparentsissometimesbaseduponthis:andinotheraffectionaterelationshipsitcommonlyblendswithandmuchstrengthenstheclaimsthatarethoughttoariseoutoftherelationsthemselves；thoughnoneofthedutiesthatwehavediscussedseemreferableentirelytogratitude。Butwheregratitudeisdue，theobligationisespeciallyclearandsimple。Indeedthedutyofrequitingbenefitsseemstoberecognisedwherevermoralityextends；
andIntuitionistshavejustlypointedtothisrecognitionasaninstanceofatrulyuniversalintuition。Still，thoughthegeneralforceoftheobligationisnotopentodoubt(exceptofthesweepingandabstractkindwithwhichwehavenotheretodeal)，itsnatureandextentarebynomeansequallyclear。
Inthefirstplace，itmaybeaskedwhetherweareonlyboundtorepayservices，orwhetherweowethespecialaffectioncalledGratitude；whichseemsgenerallytocombinekindlyfeelingandeagernesstorequitewithsomesortofemotionalrecognitionofsuperiority，asthegiverofbenefitsisinapositionofsuperioritytothereceiver。Ontheonehandweseemtothinkthat，insofarasanyaffectioncanpossiblybeaduty，kindlyfeelingtowardsbenefactorsmustbesuch:andyettopersonsofacertaintemperamentthisfeelingisoftenpeculiarlyhardtoattain，owingtotheirdislikeofthepositionofinferiority；andthisagainweconsiderarightfeelingtoacertainextent，andcallit`independence’
or`properpride’；butthisfeelingandtheeffusionofgratitudedonoteasilymix，andthemoralistfindsitdifficulttorecommendapropercombinationofthetwo。Perhapsitmakesagreatdifferencewhethertheservicebelovinglydone:asinthiscaseitseemsinhumanthatthereshouldbenoresponseofaffection:whereasifthebenefitbecoldlygiven，themererecognitionoftheobligationandsettleddispositiontorepayitseemtosuffice。And`independence’alonewouldpromptamantorepaythebenefitinordertoescapefromtheburdenofobligation。Butitseemsdoubtfulwhetherinanycasewearemorallysatisfiedwiththisasthesolemotive。
Itispartlythisimpatienceofobligationwhichmakesamandesirousofgivingasrequitalmorethanbehasreceived；forotherwisehisbenefactorhasstillthesuperiorityofhavingtakentheinitiative。Butalsotheworthiermotiveofaffectionurgesusinthesamedirection:andhere，asinotheraffectionateservices，wedonotliketooexactameasureofduty；acertainexcessfallingshortofextravaganceseemstobewhatweadmireandpraise。Insofar，however，asconflictofclaimsmakesitneedfultobeexact，wethinkperhapsthatanequalreturniswhatthedutyofgratituderequires，orratherwillingnesstomakesuchareturn，ifitberequired，andifitisinourpowertomakeitwithoutneglectingpriorclaims。Forwedonotthinkitobligatorytorequiteservicesinallcases，evenifitbeinourpowertodoso，ifthebenefactorappeartobesufficientlysuppliedwiththemeansofhappiness:
butifheeitherdemanditorobviouslystandinneedofit，wethinkitungratefulnottomakeanequalreturn。Butwhenwetrytodefinethisnotionof`equalreturn’，obscurityanddivergencebegin。For(apartfromthedifficultyofcomparingdifferentkindsofserviceswherewecannotmakerepaymentinkind)。Equalityhastwodistinctmeanings，accordingasweconsidertheeffortmadebythebenefactor，ortheservicerenderedtothebenefited。Nowperhapsifeitherofthesebegreat，thegratitudeisnaturallystrong:fortheapprehensionofgreatearnestnessinanothertoserveustendstodrawfromusaproportionateresponseofaffection:
andanygreatpleasureorrelieffrompainnaturallyproducesacorrespondingemotionofthankfulnesstothemanwhohasvoluntarilycausedthis，eventhoughhiseffortmayhavebeenslight。Andhenceithasbeensuggested，thatinproportioningtheduesofgratitudeweoughttotakewhicheverofthetwoconsiderationswillgivethehighestestimate。ButthisdoesnotseeminaccordancewithCommonSense:forthebenefitmaybealtogetherunacceptable，anditishardtobindustorepayinfulleverywell-meantblunderingefforttoserveus；thoughwefeelvaguelythatsomereturnshouldbemadeevenforthis。Andthoughitismoreplausibletosaythatweoughttorequiteanacceptedservicewithoutweighingtheamountofourbenefactor’ssacrifice，stillwhenwetakeextremecasestheruleseemsnottobevalid:e。g……ifapoormanseesarichonedrowningandpullshimoutofthewater，wedonotthinkthatthelatterisboundtogiveasarewardwhatbewouldhavebeenwillingtogiveforhislife。
Still，weshouldthinkhimniggardlyifheonlygavehispreserverhalf-a-crown:
whichmight，however，beprofuserepaymentforthecostoftheexertion。
Somethingbetweenthetwoseemstosuitourmoraltaste:butIfindnoclearacceptedprincipleuponwhichtheamountcanbedecided。
ThelastclaimtobeconsideredisthatofSpecialNeed。Thishasbeensubstantiallystatedalready，ininvestigatingtheobligationofGeneralBenevolenceorCommonHumanity。Foritwassaidthatweowetoallmensuchservicesaswecanrenderbyasacrificeoreffortsmallincomparisonwiththeservice:andhence，inproportionastheneedsofothermenpresentthemselvesasurgent，werecognisethedutyofrelievingthemoutofoursuperfluity。ButIhavethoughtitrighttonoticethedutyseparately，becausewearecommonlypromptedtofulfilitbythespecificemotionofPityorCompassion。Here，again，thereseemsadoubthowfaritisgoodtofosterandencouragethisemotion——asdistinctfromthepracticalhabitofrenderingpromptaidandsuccourindistress，wheneversuchsuccourisjudgedtoberight。Ontheonehand，theemotionalimpulsetendstomaketheactionofrelievingneednotonlyeasiertotheagent，butmoregracefulandpleasing:ontheotherhand，itisgenerallyrecognisedthatmistakenpityismorelikelytoleadusastraythan——e。g——mistakengratitude:asitismoreliabletointerferedangerouslywiththeinflictionofpenaltiesrequiredforthemaintenanceofsocialorderorwiththeoperationofmotivestoindustryandthrift，necessaryforeconomicwell-being。
Andwhen——toguardagainstthelast-mentioneddanger——wetrytodefinetheexternaldutyofrelievingwant，wefindourselvesfacetofacewithwhatisnomereproblemofthecloset，butaseriouspracticalperplexitytomostmoralpersonsatthepresentday。Formanyaskwhetheritisnotourdutytorefrainfromallsuperfluousindulgences，untilwehaveremovedthemiseryandwantthatexistaroundus，asfarastheyareremovablebymoney。AndinansweringthisquestionCommonSenseseemstobeinevitablyledtoaconsiderationoftheeconomicconsequencesofattempting——eitherbytaxationandpublicexpenditure，orbythevoluntarygiftsofprivatepersons——toprovideasufficientincomeforallneedymembersofthecommunity；andisthusgraduallybroughttosubstitutefortheIntuitionalmethodofdealingwithproblemsofthiskindadifferentprocedure，havingatleastmuchaffinitywiththeUtilitarianmethod。
Inconclusion，then，wemustadmitthatwhilewefindanumberofbroadandmoreorlessindefiniterulesunhesitatinglylaiddownbyCommonSenseinthisdepartmentofduty，itisdifficultorimpossibletoextractfromthem，sofarastheyarecommonlyaccepted，anyclearandpreciseprinciplesfordeterminingtheextentofthedutyinanycase。Andyet，aswesaw，suchparticularprinciplesofdistributionoftheservicestowhichgood-willpromptsseemtoberequiredfortheperfectionofpracticenolessthanfortheoreticalcompleteness；insofarasthedutieswhichwehavebeenconsideringareliabletocomeintoapparentconflictwitheachotherandwithotherprescriptionsofthemoralcode。
Inreplyitmayperhapsbecontendedthatifweareseekingexactnessinthedeterminationofduty，wehavebegunbyexaminingthewrongnotion:that，inshort，weoughttohaveexaminedJusticeratherthanBenevolence。Itmaybeadmittedthatwecannotfindasmuchexactnessaswesometimespracticallyneed，bymerelyconsideringthecommonconceptionsofthedutiestowhichmenarepromptedbynaturalaffections；butitmaystillbemaintainedthatweshallatanyratefindsuchexactnessadequatelyprovidedforundertheheadofJustice。ThiscontentionIwillproceedtoexamineinthenextchapter。
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