TJ Now we must know that every excellence which is peculiar to a thing is lovable in that thing : as in a man to be well bearded, and in a woman to have her face entirely free from hair ; or in a setter to have a good nose, and in a greyhound to be fast. And the more peculiar to a thing the excellence is, the more lovable it is. Hence, although every virtue is lovable in man, that is the most lovable in him which is the most human ; and this virtue is justice, which is so lovable that, as Aristotle says in the Ethics, even her enemies love her, namely, thieves and robbers.2
1 Abdullah bin Al Mubarak. 2 Dante, Corw. ii. 2 (trans, by Toynbee).
i9o THE LASH OF THE LAW
(2) And if man has a right to his property, much more has he a right to his life. It is strange how long the system of slavery lingered on with its systematic disregard of the most elementary rights of man. The slave as the living machine, without rights and without recognition, remained as one of the most gigantic monuments of the perversion of the idea of justice in the minds of those who, on the whole, loved justice and conceived themselves to be just. And we must remember that slavery still exists even in the most free countries. There are those who are enslaved by the advancing tide of luxury, which demands more and more ministers to its selfish enjoyment. Men and women crowded together without decent accommodation, forced to live close to those to whose luxuries they minister, men and women who toil day and night to make luxuries cheaper for those who insist on having more and more of them and paying less and less for their enjoy- ments, who are dressed in finery which represents the lives of men, and eat and drink the good things which have been purchased from barely remunerated labour. There is the slavery, again, which lives on the sin and degradation of others, one of the most appalling spectacles of modern civilization — men who profess to believe in Christ, or who at least live in a Christian land, openly despising and degrading souls for whom Christ died. No more fearful denunciation runs through the pages of the Bible than this: " Woe unto the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that offences come: but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh ! "
^| In Birmingham one of the principal home industries is carding hooks and eyes. First the eyes are stitched on to the card. Then the hooks are linked into them, and finally stitched on to the card — 384 hooks and 384 eyes have to be linked together and stitched on to a card for the munificent wage of one penny ! And the worker has to provide her own needles and thread. With incessant work she may earn three shillings a week. What wonder that the children, even at the age of five years, are pressed into the work. One mother said : " You must either make the children work, or let them starve." A machine has been invented to do this work, but it is cheaper to employ low-paid human labour. In this industry, as in many others, the workers, who are often widows with young families, are able to live only through out- door relief, or charitable gifts. They do not earn their living:
ACTS xxiv. 25 191
they are subsidized out of the rates, and their subsidy is really a grant in aid of wages, and so long as it is given, will keep down wages.1
(3) If a man has a right to his life, he has also a right to that which makes for happiness in life. How very little we think in our ordinary conversation of the value to our neighbour of his reputation, his character, or his position. The smallest caprice is looked upon as sufficient to justify the sarcastic cut, the cynical stab, the damaging suggestion which demolishes, to our satisfac- tion, our neighbour's too exuberant life.
When over the fair fame of friend or foe The shadow of disgrace shall fall; instead
Of words of blame, or proof of thus and so, Let something good be said.
Forget not that no fellow-being yet
May fall so low but love may lift his head :
Even the cheek of shame with tears is wet If something good be said.
No generous heart may vainly turn aside In ways of sympathy, no soul so dead
But may awaken strong and glorified, If something good be said.
And so I charge you, by the thorny crown, And by the cross on which the Saviour bled,
And by your own soul's hope of fair renown, Let something good be said.
2. Justice to God. But if Justice is the virtue which bids us do that which right requires in our dealings with our fellow-men, Christianity, in the higher light which she has thrown upon these virtues, has felt even more that Justice is the virtue which bids us do what is right in our dealings with God. Every Christian, who thinks at all, feels that God has a right to the service and obedience of His creatures.