It is a historical fact that Communism had its origin in its modem form in materialistic atheism ; in the denial of God, who has the right to give laws to men, and the power and the purpose to enforce those laws by the retributions of justice ; in the belief that the present life is the whole period of existence allotted to men ; and that the enjoyments of this life are, therefore, all that men have to desire or expect. These principles had long been inculcated by such men as Rousseau, Voltaire, d'Holbach, Diderot, and others. To produce a conflagration, however, there must be not only fire, but combustible materials. These materialistic principles would have floated about as mere speculations, had there not been such a mass of suffering and degradation among the people. It was minds burdened with the consciousness of misery and the sense of injustice which were inflamed by the new doctrines, and which burst forth in a fire that for a time set all Europe in a blaze. "We must not attribute all the evil either to the infidels or to the people. Had it not been for the preceding centuries of cruelty and oppression, France had not furnished such a bloody page to the history of modern Europe.
" LTnternationale " for March 27th, 1870, expressed succinctly the Object of the International Society : " The rights of the work- ing-men, that is our principle ; the organization of the working- men, that is our means of action ; social revolution, that is our end." It is " working-men, " artisans, not the mass of the peo- ple, educated or uneducated ; but a single class whose interests are to be regarded. It is not a political revolution, the change of one form of government for another, that is the end aimed at ; but a social revolution, a complete upturning of the existing order of society.
As this institution is looming up with such portentous aspect in every direction, the question is, How is it to be met, and its influ- ence counteracted ? Open outbreaks may be suppressed by force, but the evil cannot be healed by any such means. Artillery is inefficient against opinions. If Communism, as organized in this society, owes its origin to the causes above specified, the rational method of procedure is, to correct or remove those causes. If Communism is the product of materialistic Atheism, its cure is to be found in Theism ; in bringing the people to know and be- lieve that there is a God on whom they are dependent and to whom they are responsible ; in teaching them that this is not the only life, that the soul is immortal, and that men will be rewarded or punished in the world to come according to their character and
434 PART m. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
conduct in the present life ; that consequently well-being here is not the highest end of existence ; that the poor here may here- after be far more blessed than their rich neighbours ; and that it is better to be Lazarus than Dives. It will be necessary to bring them to believe that there is a divine providence over the affairs of the world ; that events are not determined by the blind opera- tion of physical causes ; but that God reigns ; that He distributes to every one severally as He pleases ; " that the Lord maketh poor and maketh rich ; " that it is not the rich and the noble, but the poor and the lowly, that are his special favourites ; and that the right of property, the right of marriage, the rights of parents and magistrates, are all ordained by God, and cannot be violated without incurring his displeasure and the certain inflic- tion of divine punishment. To imbue the minds of the mass of the people, especially in great cities, will be a slow and difficult work ; but it is absolutely necessary. If Materialism and Athe- ism are practically embraced by the mass of any community, it will inevitably perish. The religious training of the people, how- ever, is only one half of the task which society has to accomplish, to secure its own existence and prosperity. The great body of the people must be rendered comfortable, or at least have the means of becoming so ; and they must be treated with justice. Misery and a sense of wrong are the two great disturbing ele- ments in the minds of the people. They are the slumbering fires which are ever ready to break out into destructive conflagration.
Violations of the Eighth Commandment.
It may well be doubted whether society is more in danger from the destructive principles of Communism, than from the secret or tolerated frauds which, to so great an extent, pervade almost all the departments of social life. If this commandment forbids all unfair or unjust appropriation of the property of others to our own use or advantage, if every such appropriation is stealing in the sight of God, then theft is the most common of all the out- ward transgressions of the decalogue. It includes not merely vulgar theft such as the law can detect and punish, but, —
1. All false pretences in matters of business ; representing an article proposed for purchase or exchange to be other and better than it is. This includes a multitude of sins. Articles produced at home are sold as foreign productions, and the price asked and given is determined by this fraudulent representation. Shawls of Paris are sold as Indian ; wines manufactured in this country are