A man may be convinced by a long train of cogent reasoning that he will go to hell if he visits a certain house; and yet he will do so in satisfaction of a half conscious craving, whose existence he is ashamed to recognise.

It may be that when a preacher makes hell real to him by physical images of fire and torment his conviction will acquire coercive force.

But that force may soon die away as his memory fades, and even the most vivid description has little effect as compared with a touch of actual pain.

At the theatre, because pure emotion is facile, three-quarters of the audience may cry, but because second-hand emotion is shallow, very few of them will be unable to sleep when they get home, or will even lose their appetite for a late supper.

My South African trooper probably recovered from his tears over 'Our Boys' as soon as they were shed.