proved.  For, since Mr. Mansel has discarded as a fiction any ‘absolute law of duty,’ it is hard to conjecture whence he could derive any compulsory choice of rules.  Why God commands some things in preference to others—­whether from a regard to the happiness of all his creatures, or of some only; whether with, a view to his own glory, or from conformity with some abstract notion—­has been much disputed, and it is quite conceivable that he may not adopt any of those objects.]

[Footnote 26:  For help in understanding Kant’s peculiar phraseology and general point of view, the reader is referred to the short exposition of his Speculative Philosophy in Appendix B.]