Again  it   is   said  that   "cases  occur  where   the  legal
rule  does   not  profess  to  fulfil  anything  like  perfect   justice,
but  where   certainty  is  of  more   importance  than  perfection,
and  an  imperfect   rule   is  therefore  useful  and  acceptable."
But   if  the   rule    is   "useful"    it   is  because   the  experience   of
the  people   has  found  it   to  be   such,   and  if   it   is   "acceptable"


745


it  is  because  it  accords  with  the  level  of  the  external
morality  of  the  race.  If  it  is  "imperfect"  it  is  only  so
because  we  measure  it  by  a  higher  standard  than  that  fur-
nished by  the  morality  prevalent  at  its  creation  and  out  of
which  it  grew.   No  law  ever  has  reached  or  ever  will  reach
"perfect  justice".  That  is  an  ideal  standard,  always  above
and  beyond  human  morality;  which  changes  with  the  years  and
the  growth  of  intelligence,  and  always  floats  higher  with  an
evasive  lift  the  more  we  olisi^'^   towards  it.  The  Law  does
the  best  that  it  can  in  the  light  of  its  time,  and  that  best
is  measured  by  the  morality  from  ^ich  it  draws  its  material.
