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up his mind therefore to think things out for himself. He de-
termined to be swayed by no prejudices. He swept away the
virtues and the vices, the established laws of good and evil,
with the idea of finding out the rules of life for himself. He
did not know whether rules were necessary at all. That was
one of the things he wanted to discover. Clearly much that
seemed valid seemed so only because he had been taught it
from his earliest youth. He had read a number of books, but
they did not help him much, for they were based on the mo-
rality of Christianity; and even the writers who emphasised
the fact that they did not believe in it were never satisfied till
they had framed a system of ethics in accordance with that
of the Sermon on the Mount. It seemed hardly worth while
to read a long volume in order to learn that you ought to be-
have exactly like everybody else. Philip wanted to find out
how he ought to behave, and he thought he could prevent
himself from being influenced by the opinions that sur-
rounded him. But meanwhile he had to go on living, and,
until he formed a theory of conduct, he made himself a pro-
visional rule.
‘Follow your inclinations with due regard to the police-
man round the corner.’
He thought the best thing he had gained in Paris was a
complete liberty of spirit, and he felt himself at last abso-
lutely free. In a desultory way he had read a good deal of
philosophy, and he looked forward with delight to the lei-
sure of the next few months. He began to read at haphazard.
He entered upon each system with a little thrill of excite-
ment, expecting to find in each some guide by which he

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